Sunday Salutations and Keeping Your Cool

This week we discuss keeping yourself cool (mentally). We didn't realize HOT wasn't an acronym but a description of the dog training club. There's puppy pictures and video of Crokell judging Anna.

Keeping cool in Houston is no joke, and even less of one when you are competing in dog shows with a huge black Newfoundland Dog. A dog that thinks anything above 65F is too warm. This weekend was the first weekend that Crokell and I competed at Houston Obedience Training (HOT) dog club in their October show and … well it was HOT. Still, we had a good time, even if the two weeks of fairly light practice caught up with us and our scores were less than desirable.

But I learned a lot, not just about dog training, but how to handle keeping my cool and a little on how to keep Crokell cool as well. We are going to try out some of the advice and if it works, we will post about creating a cool mat for Crokell that won’t get punctured and leak everywhere.

It was wonderful to see some of the other competitors that I met at the NRG Show earlier this year. Nando, the small dog in the foreground below, is from one of our new friends and trainers. But, I am going to let Tod taking from here.

Hot in the Lone Star State

Tod here! This weekend we took Crokell to a local dog competition. For those of you not local to us, it is still in the 90s Fahrenheit in our part of Texas.

This becomes important.

It was in the 80s inside at the competition. (Likely close to 85, because even I was overwarm. -Anna)

That gave us two different lessons this weekend.

First, keep your cool (in general) but especially when training or competing with your dog. The dog doesn’t know anything important is happening. He might realize you’re stressed for some reason, but he’s going to react how he thinks is best… or in Crokell’s case not react.

For those unaware, this means for a Newfoundland Dog that they don’t perform in high temperatures. Crokell will play a lot with Dante in the 60s. In the 70s, he’ll play a little. In the 80s and up, he’ll put up with Dante. But he won’t play. He will walk over to the door and just press his head against it, waiting to be let back into the house. Unlike Pete (from Heinlein’s Door into Summer), Crokell is always looking for the Door into Winter.

Did I mention it was in the 80s inside the building? And in the 90s outside? We kept Crokell in the car with the air conditioning on high just to keep him a little cool. Due to the variations on times for each dog to run and how the competition works, he still had to spend a good bit of time inside before his run.

Second, some dogs just don’t function well in the heat. We were told even the Golden Retrievers were sluggish due to the heat. But you just have to love the big guy - he’s doing the best he can.

Still, Anna and Crokell competed in two events this weekend. Intermediate Rally and Preferred Novice (obedience).

Intermediate Rally

In rally, earlier and a little less warm (you can’t call it “cooler”), Crokell did acceptable. Not up to his usual standards but enough to qualify on both runs (Saturday and Sunday). Qualifying means you got at least the minimum score (70) needed for the run to count towards a title.

At NRG, Crokell’s first rally Intermediate score was like 95 and Anna didn’t have to redo any signs. In rally, you can redo a sign you feel you missed. Missing a sign costs 10 points and redoing is 3 points plus whatever mistakes you make. So you want to do it sparingly.

This weekend, though, he barely squeaked by and Anna ended up trying to redo more than one sign because he was sluggish or didn’t respond, and still ended up missing two signs both days.

Even with that he got passing marks much to Anna’s surprise. When the judge announced Crokell qualified. Anna gasped “What!” One of the other competitors laughed and reminded her “The correct response is ‘thank you’.” At which, Anna’s senses returned and she thanked the judge.

I was watching the judge, and she thought it was pretty funny.

So, by the end of the weekend Crokell qualified for his Intermediate Rally title.

Slowly.

Barely.

But he managed it.

Preferred Novice

Preferred Novice (a style of obedience) was another story.

In rally, you can talk to you dog all the way through it. Keep their attention. Give praise, provide guidance. and generally interact with your dog. It’s a lot like how you are probably act with your dog in day to day life.

Or you can just have a one-sided discussion if you wish.

In obedience, there are very specific times you can give very specific commands (and sometimes only verbal or only hand signals). And during the on-leash and off-leash heel, you are allowed one and only one correction/command for the those two portions together.

The first day, Crokell followed Anna around at the extreme end of the leash… Not at all in a “heel” position. Then in the off-leash portion, as they passed the steward’s table shortly after the start, Crokell stopped. He stood there and watched Anna walk the course until she was on the far end and the judge called a stop.

As Anna returned to Crokell laughing, the judge remarked, “He was watching and judging you!”

(I mean, my foot work does need work. The judge was really wonderful. ~Anna)

Crokell and Anna went on to finish the run, but received an “NQ” or “Not Qualifying” meaning they could not receive a score which would let it count towards the title.

Anna was wonderful during this. Yes, I like to brag about my awesome wife. (blushes and hides… ~Anna)

Crokell can and does do much better. But all through it, Anna was calm and cool.

Even if Crokell was too hot.

He got praised after each section when praise was allowed. Below is the part where Crokell just stopped and watched Anna. When she returns to him, Anna ruffles and rubs his ears. It’s obvious she loves the big lummox.

The next day was even hotter. Ten yards from the car, Crokell’s fur was already warm enough that we would have brought him in from a walk. However, we came prepared and had icepacks to use on him. And he was hand fed frozen carrots before his runs.

This time, Crokell didn’t stop.

He didn’t heel particularly well either. But Crokell did follow Anna through the course…

Following being the key word.

Good enough that he got a qualifying run. I heard the judge tell a steward, “it wasn’t a border collie heel, but he followed her through the course.” (I was a sad run, but we will do better. ~Anna)

The judge also told Anna that she was a “good handler”. I think that was because of how calm Anna was during everything. How much it was obvious that she loves Crokell. And how much it was obvious that Crokell loves her - his favorite part of the course was the recall, when he gets to run to her.

And she was so calm and collected the whole time. I saw other competitors who, while they did nothing wrong, were obviously more upset with their dog for lesser infractions that what our overheated Newfie managed.

And that’s a reward all its own.

Tip of the Week

Keep a small hamster in your pocket; their endless energy can inspire you to tackle the toughest challenges with enthusiasm. (Or maybe just frozen carrots for your puppy when it is too hot.)

Question of the Week

And in keeping with the theme of an overheated, slow, exhausted Newfie, what's the most energetic thing your pet has done at the most inconvenient time?

~Tod and Anna