The butterfly throw was one of the first tricks we learned with Lilli. I think John Arnett introduced us to the butterfly flow in our first ever lesson with him. Lilli took to them right away. Then 6 months later we went to disc dog camp at Pawsitive Vybe and learned new grips and tricks. After the Paws camp this past summer, we added the butterfly vaults and my favorite, the butterfly backflip – which was the favorite trick in Lilli’s first competitive freestyle routine at Canis Major #1!
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We’ve shared over and over about how Leilani is developing very slowly as a disc dog…slower than we’d like. For about 6 months, she’s been eating grass in the middle of very short sessions, even right in the beginning of sessions. She still loves the disc, but the disc practice outside has been very unproductive. We’d settled in that we’d focus on her being our “trick dog” since she loved shaping so much and didn’t seem to stress at all during long shaping sessions. We were hoping that in the next 6 months or so, she’d settle in.
Read more on Finally Flippin in Puppyville…
We’ve been practicing religiously lately – at least once a day with each dog plus shaping in the evenings and posting NONE of it to the blog… Sorry folks.
Emily requested a Leilani fix today – so shall she receive.
Read more on Leilei Cuteness Caught on Tape…
I generally like to write on topics or do updates but today I just want to ramble. I have been thinking about this for a while and wanted to share it. It’s not anything new or amazing, it’s just on my mind. We all have tendencies in life and as trainers. I find that our dogs while different tend to have some similar strengths due to what I would call our confident skills. I watch some of the top disc dog teams and their routines sort of seem the same from event to event. They have their trademark moves and skill sets. It makes sense and I am not saying that there are not constant tweaks and innovations. Moreso i am wondering what skills my dogs have that i have not discovered due to habits or routines I may have formed in training and play. Flipping for example could be a place where someone else could throw the disc and get an entirely different motion from my dog. I will wrap this up with a pledge to seek out new life on new planets by forcing myself out of routine. Like closing one eye or throwing all lefty or copying someone else’s routine. Ron Watson and Apryl Lea have a cool idea to write the skills and sequences on note cards, mix them up and go. This doesn’t address skills i do not know but does change flow.
Read more on January Ramblings…
It has been a lot of fun playing and learning with the dragondogs this month. Not everything has gone as planned and all of that melts away when we are being with our dogs. Andrea has gotten back into the groove of obedience training, working on the sit prettys, back ups, and “tell me’s”. Kai is a disc prodigy learning new tricks in minutes. Lilli’s winter coat is so thick she looks like a bear, albeit a teeny tiny blue merle colored bear.
Read more on December DragonDogs Update…
This month looks to be another brilliant month with our amazing dogs, Lilli, Kai and Leila. Having missed the last 2 weeks of Canis Major due to our dogs in heat. Leila’s first heat was pretty uneventful and will hopefully solve the issue of her um *cough* “inny”. So we are super stoked to participate in the final week with the the Central Florida Disc Dog Club. And both Andrea and Kai will begin their freestyle careers this week though not together. Andrea will have her first routine with Lilli and Kai will be hitting the field with me. Both are excited, nervous, beautiful, wonderful…ok…you get the point.
Read more on December DragonDogs Preview…
