Serafina's Story 

pic  by Barb Barjor

   Leo was the obedience demo dog for over ten years and Ivan was my temperament testing and leash manner instructor dog. His sudden passing this winter left me with just Kells, who became very lonely without her boys to boss around. Cris advised me that it was time to get another dog, we were so lonely and Kells could not be left alone un-penned without destroying something.

Leo 1997-2009 , Kells, the black 2000 still living, Ivan  1997-2010 

At Cris's urging I soon  went  up to see Barb of Caledon kennels, and she suggested I take home one of her twelve month old beauty queens to play with for a few weeks and cheer the house up. Barb has always been generous with her kennels. Kells is a Caledon dog that came for socialization and never went home!

 Kells was one of the nicest, easiest dogs I ever trained. I have always said I would be out of business if all dogs were like her. Three major agility championships later she is still gold standard of easy training.

After a stroll in the rain to the kennels, a large, comfortable building with four covered runs the size of my living room, with happy clean bouncing shelties begging to play, I felt a lot less depressed. The second girl dog Barb showed me was doing flips all over the pen. I asked her if she wanted to go home and do flips all over my house and chase the cats. Maybe learn some agility?

Barbs shelties are pampered beauty queens, they are born in the house near the wood stove and TV, handled from birth, raised in  the house then moved to the carport pens, cooed over by visitors, family, friends, groomed  constantly, and live near  the house until they are about 6 months, then they move down to the big kennels and live in the big pens with the older dogs. Barb spends most of her day down at the kennels with her dogs. So Seri was leash broke and had incredible table grooming manners. And slept in a crate at night.  But, nothing else.....

First, and most importantly, a dog moving into my home, whether permanently or as board and train,  gets  a crash course in dog house manners. 

so happy and innocent.....   pic by Barb

I thought I would try to write down some of what happened, the fun and frustrations of a beauty queen turned into a house dog and agility dog in 40 days,

I tell my clients its fast and fun, was I for real?

First lesson  Bonding, before I got the van unloaded my sister and Serafina had bonded over potatoes chips on the back porch.. No room for me. Seri was not really bonded to people, Barb has twelve dogs, so we got to work on cuddle puppy games, holding her, cooing on the lap, Seri learned to like cuddles  and pets in about three days. It took about three weeks to really get her addicted to head pets and body rubs.

Serafina is not house broken!! Clueless. Out to potty every two hours like a puppy. Having accidents like a puppy. Yikes the rug. ( Call Carpet MD  503 357-8306  ) .                                                    

Seri has to learn to play toys, she has not played toys with people, fortunately this comes easy. She worked on the basic "tug game with rules" that all dogs learn.

"Tug game with rules"

 From no toys,, to She who has the most toys wins

Justine gets frustrated day  three. Seri will not work for cookies, just poses like a beauty queen. A great stand off ensures. Takes  Justine four days to overcome show training and teach "action for food" behavior . Kells looks more like a brilliant dog everyday with her huge vocabulary and understanding of house routine. Seri is watching her closely for clues. Seri is starting to understand some hand signals and words

Day five.  A strong  "DOWN" behavior on command shows up!!! Everywhere. Leash manners improve, the first field trip to the feed store to practice  goes well.

 A down -stay position while I cook dinner

 Day seven.  Serifina  gets confused while playing toys and pees on my bed, oh well- needed to wash the blankets anyway. Call Carpet Md, they sure know me.

Day ten .  "Come" command looks good on leash!!! 15 feet with a sit, one minute down, still not house broken.   Good news Cris and I are in love with her, our golden wonder dog, she is so much fun. She is quiet, thoughtful, smart, kisses the cats, instead of chasing the cats.

Val and Quark

Day Eleven , I am getting restless, I need agility feedback, now!, can she do the baby Agility teeter? A good sheltie will /must over come its fear for the trainer on request. I grab some raw hamburger and rush her to the garage to the baby tee and ask for "action". Within 3 mins Serafina is running the plank for hamburger, in 5 mins she hits the end and holds her "contact". My heart leaps, we can do this, we can be a team. 

Serafina is so different from my other shelties,, she is smart like Ivan and Leo, and thoughtful. But- she is very quiet. and not demonstrative at all. Kells yells at me all of the time to hurry up and get going!  I took Seri to a Roger Coor seminar for socialization work and she was quiet, sat on my lap and thought about the entire thing. Scary. I bought two running contact videos,,, and she watched them with me.  hmmm. Super scary.

Serafina has taken over Leo's old spot behind me, at the top of the stairs when I type on the computer. 

Yes ...Its true...WE ARE IN LOVE...Serafina is a sweetheart cuddle puppy with soft golden silken fur. She runs in every morning and gives Cris a good morning kiss as Cris rubs her tummy and plays footsie with her. Although I discourage dogs in the bed or on the furniture with my clients,  an exception can be made to this rule when the dog is being re-homed, like our little darling, and needs some extra cuddling to build her confidence and get used to her new owners .She's not a barker either, one Cris's favorite qualities in a dog. So Cris and I agree...Serafina stays!

Day Fifteen    I am pushing really hard,,,, I need to know if this dog can hold,,,,she is an untested puppy. I am working her with client dogs,, doing demos. She is holding her own with perfect composure and eye contact. Hmm. 

Started Agility Jumping work. plus working the teeter, plus come to hand, plus off leash recall.

Day sixteen   Running off leash work improving, recall is 25 yards now, down stay 2 mins. still not house broken sigh.... 

Barb

Day Seventeen    Victory!!!!    Serafina can do 1/2 full size teeter at agility barn at a full run, yes!!!!!

Day Eighteen  oh my heavens,  a clients puppy, a baby golden doodle Miss Kitty can ring the  Potty Bells and go out in 48 hours of training. Time to forget agility and get back to basics.  We get cracking, Serafina is ringing the Potty belles in three days. It  sure is nice when I am on the computer to hear her ring the bells to go out. Its more complicated to teach than most folks think.

Kitty the wonderdoodle,, can ring the door belles to go out in 2 days!!!! yikes we better get training.

Serafina and the Potty Bells--they work!!!

Day twenty five, Seri's vocabulary  growth is amazing , she now runs in the kennels, stays at the doors, jumps in the car, downs, sits, stays, comes.  She is a 12 month old dog and makes mistakes, but its amazing how fast she has learned all these important basic skills. 

Day thirty Agility skills :  Full  sized teeter at a run!!!!, plus front cross, back cross, dog walk, and started running A frame. Can find the Go board and circle cones. 

Day 35  Seriafina just did her first solo agility demo at Multnomah County Fair. When my friends called and needed  demo dogs I packed up the baby agility equipment in my van and off  Kells, Seri and I  went.  Serafina was solid as a rock and did her entire agility/trick list and walked through the fair having fun. Wow! ...She loves to entertain the crowds as well be a  drop dead gorgeous blonde with a confident know it all attitude! 

Day 40.    Life as  partners is going well, Serafina fits right in, although she still has many skills to learn and can be standoffish and freeze on me at times when confused. We have done a fun match and she ran well, and she is working well with clients dogs. 

Day 45  Off leash recall  wonder!!!!. We had been working on restrained recalls. We were working off leash and Serafina discovered that birds are squeaky toys that fly, low and fast. she got a bird right in front of her and started off at a dead run. I let her get about 15 strides out then yelled "come". She dropped off and wheeled straight back to me at a run!!!! Yes practice pays off.

I had some frustrations, but  using my  basic training skills, the ones I teach my clients, the transition from beauty queen  to house pet agility wonder went well. True victory was the other night, Serafina got out of her crate, got on the bed and gently informed me she had to go out and pee!!!! Much better than peeing on the floor!!!

Kells is happy with her new buddy too, she is the boss and has a new play mate. Tag and wrestle morning and night. Kells leads Seri over the agility jumps for confidence when she is unsure and is still teaching her how to manage the cats..

So Dear Reader, 

Serafina has met my goals for a young dog, I can walk her with a leash on and my hands in my pockets, she went from ignoring me to keeping her eyes on me, she waits inside all doors, kennels quietly in all kennels on command, lies down on command, sits, stays, has an off leash recall of 40 plus feet with her back turned. Plus the Potty bells which is a wonder!

Plus her agility skills; full teeter, full running A frame, dog walk with stopped contact, jumping with directions, tunnel, tire jump, table, no poles yet.

 For Serafina ...she has a loving  family of people and cats. We think she loves us too! She gives us happy smiles and tail wags, and chirpy barks when playing toys. She lives in puppy paradise!

I expected to continue training for six plus months to keep our skill sets, I expect set backs,, that's dog training. stay tuned

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June 13th update     pictures by Cheri Kanaan

Had fun at an agility fun match at Three Rivers, Seri was a good jumper, I sent her off the Tee too fast so we are retraining,,,, 

June14,,,,, agility looks good,,, but chewed up Aunts Joan's Bamboo Knitting needle, will I get more house socks?

June 16,  Seri has really bonded to me.   She has chosen to visit me on the bed and sleep in her crate. Today at nap time she curled up next to me on the bed with her head on my chest and went to sleep like a puppy.!!! I woke up and she was stretched out next to me. 

June 16  One of my clients has a dog with some skateboard issues, We were working those issues and I thought I would introduce Seri to the skateboard, most dogs hate them. She thought it was a moving contact board and tried to push it across the garage. Photos are courtesy of  Emily Boursaw