They call me spoiled....

Everyone say's I'm spoiled and Mommy says nope! Spoiled pups have no manners! I am pampered not spoiled. :) I have perfect manners... well... most of the time!

My life right now is so much different from my racing life. I have 3 huge dog beds, the biggest crate that they make, tons of these things called toys (I'm still trying to figure out how to play with them), and I always have a rawhide to chew on. I learned how to 'beg' for food from the cat! They laugh at me since I only beg for cereal right now...

I know how to sit, lay down, and wait. I love to go visit strangers! Those strangers keep getting scared of me though... :( I am an expert car jumper! Car rides are so much fun. I don't even care if my nose gets frozen in the wind.

I do get scared and lonely when my parents are at work. The neighbors sometimes even hear me crying. I started having to wear my muzzle in my new beautiful crate. My parents are worried I might hurt my teeth chewing on it, plus that was an expensive crate! I just have to get used to things again. The holidays threw me off, it's hard to remember what normal is again.

Here are some more pics of my pamperedness!

This home stuff.....

Well on Saturday 1/3/09 I will have officially had my very own family for 3 months! It's amazing the crazy stuff that has happened to me.

So far I've dug a hole in the front door (shh.. we don't talk about that anymore) Eaten a metal crate ( I just was telling Mom and Dad that I wanted a bigger and better one) Tried to eat a kitty, but know now that they are friends, not food. Those kitties are funny little creatures.

I met a couple crazy loud dogs named Max and Belle. I might had bitten Belle in the butt this past weekend... but she jumped on my head and was asking for it! We really do like each other. Max is a big dog. He constantly barks and barks and barks. He always is pestering those humans for a biscuit or rawhide or some loving. His barks are so loud they make the windows rattle. Max the tank really needs to learn some manners. A week ago I was standing politely like I was told to in front of the open back door at Max and Belle's house. Waiting for Mommy to stop talking and take me home. Max just went barreling right through me! Went between my hind legs picked me up and carried me on his back down the stairs! Once a realized I was outside I ran back in to make sure Mom wasn't mad at me. I tried to wait I really did! Mom and all the other humans were laughing really hard so I don't think they were mad at me.

Max and Belle also have an evil kitty named Cutie Cat. This feline is much more evil than my 2 are. (my kitties, sounds good doesn't it?) Anyway, Cutie Cat smacked me in the nose on Christmas morning! I didn't even do anything. I know not to look at or walk up to , or chase those kitties. She walked right up to me sniffed me like we were going to be friends then bam.

I got her back though! Mom and Dad left me over there all by myself with the craziness on Sunday. They had to go to a Christening (whatever that is) and it was far far away. I was laying on the sleeping bag by the Christmas tree and I see her sneaking up on me out of the corner of my eye. Creeping closer and closer.... I looked Grandpa in the eye (kinda telling him to 'watch this') then turned and gave a single bark to Cutie Cat. HAHAHAHA little furball ran upstairs as fast as she could. I didn't even have to move a muscle. Just laid there like a good pup and watched her run away. It's all in the timing....

Pics of me and my new friends!

Changing of the blog!

My blog is now going to be written by Rainy. :)

3/13/2008 Fifth session of clicker training

We had a MAJOR breakthrough today! Leo finally understood targeting. It was definitely the light bulb moment! Previously he knew what I wanted and just completed the task and went "oh look I get a cookie." I try to always feed his treat about 1/2 from where his nose is normally and his chest. Well after a couple targeting clicks I started noticing that his nose was in the 'treat place' way before I could get the treat there. Now I actually hold a treat in my left hand before I ask for him to target, so I don't have to fumble around to get the food out of my pocket. He was STILL getting his nose back there before my hand did.

Leo touched the OJ container, heard the click, swung his head in and was going "hello?? where's my treat?? I know I get one! Right here! I get one right here!" Smart little pony (or er.... humongous pony) I have the target on a stick. This was the first session that I could move the target as high up as i could get it and Leo would reach way up to touch it, and still get his head tucked in asap for his treat. I could walk all the way across the paddock and he would walk all the way across to touch that target and get his treat.

Unfortunately the light bulb moment didn't cross over to backing up. Leo would still back up when asked, just didn't anticipate and tuck his head in for his treat. We're still only working on picking up his front feet so I can be close by with a treat. He did less backing up today when asked to pick those hooves up, but still backed up at times. I wonder if it's because I do the backing up exercises right before the 'pick up your hoof' one. I'll try to switch it around next time to see if it works better.

I added in a couple new things. I started asking him to lower his head, by placing my hand at the top of his neck behind his ears. We only did that 4-5 times. I don't think we're ready for that one yet. I have a feeling he wasn't putting his head down because I was asking him to, but rather he was going for grass! Whatever works! He still got clicked and treated. :)

Next I tried to get him to target my hand. Leo picked it up within 2 tries. After those first 2 targets, I started walking a couple feet away and asking him to come to me and touch my hand. He did it without hesitation. By this point I was starting to run out of treats and we had been working for longer than usual. I ended the session by going back to targeting the OJ container. Then we had a nice yummy apple and plenty of scratches. I'm so excited! I just may try and go out to the barn Saturday night to fit in another training session. I can't believe he remembered so much after not doing any clicker training for a good 2 1/2 weeks.

3/11/2008 Fourth session of clicker training

I've had some personal stuff going on in my life so I haven't been doing the clicker training. We started back up today and Leo didn't forget a thing. We always start with targeting on my OJ container. Then we move on to backing up. Today we added a new thing into the mix. Picking his 2 front feet up. My goal is to have him hold his own feet up for me and I'm sure his farrier wouldn't mind it either! LOL I just stood by his shoulder and ran my hand 1/2 down his cannon bone. Eventually he shifted the weight off that hoof, so I clicked and treated. It only took 2 times before he was actually picking his foot all the way up. We only worked on his 2 front feet. I wanted to be close to his head so I could still treat quickly. The problem I ran into was that he would start backing up, which technically DID lift his feet. Just not quite what I was picturing! Maybe it was because we worked on backing right before we switched to the feet? Time will tell I guess.

2/21/2008 Our third day of clicker training

What a change from Tuesday! Leo acted like an old plow pony! We had so many breakthroughs last night. I've worked with Leo for a year now and he's never been relaxed on the lunge line. Never has relaxed enough to put his head down or even walk on the lunge line. His gait is always a fast trot at the very minimum. I worked on keeping him nice and relaxed this time.

I also tried some big NO-NOs from how I was taught to do things. I was always taught you need to face the horse while lunging and always stay 'behind' their forwards motion. I was taught to keep a straight line from elbow to the horses mouth, and keep the other arm free for encouragement. Plus I always stay on high alert to make sure the line isn't dragging on the ground for the horse to get tangled up.

This time I had Leo out on a circle trotting around and I just stood in one place. Not turning as he went around the circle. As he trotted behind me I just switched the end of the lunge line from one hand to the next behind my back.

Before I even attempted this, I made sure I was in a locked ring so if Leo got loose he could go anywhere. Plus I knew that if he ended up stepping on the lunge line he wouldn't freak out. He would stand there and wait for me to help him out. I also knew he wasn't going to do something stupid behind my back, like trying to run me over.... etc

By standing in one spot and not facing Leo for the entire circle it made him much more relaxed. He used the full lunge line and stayed out in a larger circle, it's usually a challenge to keep him out on a larger circle, in both directions. His trot rhythm slowed down and smoothed out.

After we had gone both directions I even got him to calmly walk on the full lunge circle in both directions! The first time ever! He was calm and even stretched his head down to the point where his nose was only inches off the ground. (no he wasn't trying to eat grass! lol)

This takes our whole relationship to a new level of trust. :) I'm so excited. Afterward we went back to the barn to do grooming and clicker training.

I put my target on a stick today, so I could move it around easier. It worked well. We worked in a small paddock and Leo left a couple times to go eat some dead grass. I was able to distract him from the grass most of the time. :) We also worked on backing up. I placed my had on his chest and just waited for him to shift his weight back. As soon as he did, I clicked and gave a carrot. This new exercise caused our light bulb moment! As soon as I clicked Leo started looking to me for a treat. During our next session we may work on picking his feet up..... it would be wonderful if Leo started holding his own feet up! lol much more back friendly.

I can't decide if Leo is just finally starting to trust me more or maybe it's because I'm ready to trust him....

2/19/2008 Our second day of clicker training

Phew... I felt like the boys had me in a 3 Stooges episode last night. LOL First Leo decided he did not want to be caught. Of course he waited until I was 2 feet away before turning and running into the lower paddock. Like a little kid going "nah nah nah boo booo"

Then Orion decides it looks fun and runs after Leo. Teddy was the smart one who decided to just watch the fireworks. Once I got to the lower paddock, Orion decided he was going to stay in between Leo and I so I would have no hope of catching the little bugger. So I herded Orion back up into the upper pasture and shut the gate.

After 15 minutes of trotting, cantering, and galloping around Leo finally decides he can be caught. So on goes the halter and up to the upper paddock we go hiking. Once we get up there Orion decides he is going to try and nose around Leo's butt, attempting to herd him away from me. Leo (being the good boy he is) ignores Orion and keeps walking next to me. Orion and I had a discussion about how once I'm in the paddock, I AM THE BOSS, not him. :) Thankfully Orion's sensitive enough that all I had to do was give him the evil eye, puff up, and take a few steps toward him. After 3-4 repeats of this Orion decided he would follow us at a respectable distance and behave himself.

Meanwhile Leo is as high as a kite. Jigging all over, prancing around and acting like a 2 year old! I think he's got spring fever. We got the lunge line out (in the mood he was in I didn't trust him to not try and jump out of the riding ring if he was free lunged) and walked back to the ring. Surprisingly the ground was nice out there! Partly because it's on a high spot and the water drains out into the field on either side. Mostly because no one's been out there tearing it up with their hooves when it's icky out. :)

Poor Leo reached the end of his boredom tolerance. He needed to get out and do something physical. We just trotted around in circles nice and slowly. He's usually very hard to lunge going to the right, he wants to run backwards, spin around to the other direction, etc. Going to the right he wants to cut in, which makes him unbalanced and harder to go in circles that direction my himself. He was perfect both directions last night. Leo had a nice and balanced trot the entire time.

He really put his mind to what he was doing and trucked around. We didn't do much since he has been a pasture puff for months. I didn't want to make him sore or too tired. When we were done he was so cute. He came to the middle of the circle where I was standing, put his head in front of me, and let out this huge sigh of relief. It was a kodak moment. The poor guy just needed to do something to take the edge off.

Once Leo had his brain back we headed back to the barn for a nice brushing and some clicker training.

We only did a little bit of clicker training last night no more than 5 minutes. We also went back a step, I held my target the entire time. Each time I moved it was only a few inches away from where it had been before. I even did stretches to each side. I just held the target by his withers where I would normally hold a carrot for stretches. He swung around touched the target and got his yummy treat! I was amazed! I think Leo understands much more than I thought he did.

It was the fastest 5 minutes of training ever! Plus I made sure I took the target away after he touched and I clicked, then didn't bring it back until I had the next treat in my other hand. It worked better that way. I kept a step ahead of him and was ready to shove the treat in his mouth seconds after he touched it and milliseconds after he heard the click. I think we're both having fun. Yup Leo is very treat motivated!

The farm was so pretty last night. The sky was mostly cloud free and the moon was full. All I could do was laugh as I drove home last night. Life is never boring with those 3 ponies.....

My next clicker training session should be on Thursday this week. I can't wait!

2/16/2008 Our first day of clicker training

I'm Jessica, 24yrs old, married, living in DE, have 2 cats, 2 frogs, 1 turtle, misc fish, plus crickets to feed the frogs with. :) I don't own my own horse yet due to a lack of money. I am very blessed to have a dear friend who has horses, but doesn't ride anymore. I get to play around with her Nokota named Leo.

Leo and I had our first clicker training session today. :) We went through LOTS of carrot slices. I chopped up each baby carrot into 3 pieces, so I had bunches. I used a empty 1/2 gallon OJ container for a target. I'm too cheap to buy a 'real' target, so trash sounded like a good idea. :) Sorry guys, but no pictures. I had a hard enough time holding the OJ carton, clicker, and getting the treats there fast enough, clicking at the right time... it was all very confusing.

I tried to work him w/o a lead and halter on, but he kept leaving me at first. lol I don't have a stall or grass free paddock to put him in. I could always work him in the main paddock that he lives in (definitely no grass there, only mud) but then I would have to content with the other 2 horses trying to figure out what we're doing.

We ended up working in the empty barn aisle. 1/2 through I just dropped the lead since he didn't look like he was going to mosey on outside to eat grass again. Leo's usually pretty good about personal space and if he tried to 'mug you' it's not hard to discourage it and your not going to get hurt. His extend of mugging was to flatten his nose against my jean jacket pocket, breathe this HUGE sigh, and wiggle his nose from side to side. I had to try hard not to laugh. I'm sure he was thinking, "Well, your going to give them to me anyway, so lets speed this up!"

When I first started working with him a year ago, he wasn't very good about personal space. All I have to do now is square my shoulders and give him 'the look.' He steps right out, and starts paying more attention :) Leo's a pretty sensitive guy and it's easy to over correct and get him flustered. There's not really any glaring behavior problems I hope to fix with clicker training. I'm hoping it will just be fun for both of us to work on together.

The first, second, third, and probably fourth time he touched the OJ carton with his nose it was by sheer luck. LOL We worked for about 10 minutes before he started to loose his attention span (or maybe that was me, not him...)

Basically I waited for him to touch the OJ carton with his nose, then clicked asap and shoveled a treat into his mouth after the click withmy other hand. I think he's supposed to touch the carton, hear the click, then look to me for a treat.

That's not really what happened. lol I think I either got the treat there too fast or too slow. Then at one point he wanted to try and figure out what was so special with this carton, so he tried to throw it. :)

Then I turned him loose in a small paddock to graze while I groomed him. After our relaxing grooming we worked for another 5 minutes. By then I was frozen and it was time for me to get in my car and blast the heat during my hour drive home.

Overall it was a unique experience. I only accidentally clicked 3 times (I certainly could have screwed up more!) By the end, Leo figured out that I wanted him to touch the carton with his nose, not sure he connected that with the treats I was shoveling in his mouth. I definitely think he missed the connection with the clicker. Oh well we'll keep trying until his light bulb goes off.

I feel a little disappointed, I thought his light bulb would go off really quick, but I'm sure I was hindering his thinking process. Does anyone know when I should give the treat? Should I click and wait for him to look at me? Or click and just shovel it into his mouth where ever his head is?
any help or advice would be very appreciated. :)