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When I met my new Cardigan puppy up at the airport, I felt like a contractor
must when first examining the blue print of a complex building. As I cradled
the cute brindle puppy in my arms, I was eager to begin construction of
my multi-task dog. Because this was a breed that I had never owned before,
I knew the construction would probably require the help of many subcontractors.
It was my job, however, to provide a solid foundation, ensuring that each
of my puppy's performing parts would fit together. To me the most important
foundation for a multi-task dog is the puppy's desire to be with and play
with his human. The first week with Ripley was devoted to teaching him
his name, and to playing recall games that involved each family member
calling and rewarding him for coming to us.
At twelve weeks of age, Rip was accustomed to his crate at night. Still,
I kept him right beside my bed in order to hear him should be need to go
potty or get lonely in the middle of the night. Because I had been warned
by other performing Cardi owners to socialize, socialize, socialize, I
took him everywhere with me. He accompanied me to pick up my daughter at
grade school, to work at the Red Cross when I was on call, to Saturday
morning dog-training sessions, to kennel club meetings and he attended
an obedience trial where he was virtually handled by everyone (in 1991,
a Cardigan in Idaho was quite a novelty).
Just as a cement truck mixes the concrete for a building's foundation,
so Ripley's socialization was carefully mixed with play fetch training.
The desire to bring a toy to a human has long been used as an indicator
in puppy selection for guide dogs. We taught Ripley to fetch in the hallway
of our home (with all the doors closed) a game we called "Bowling for Corgi."
Each puppy varies in regards to the texture, weight, sound of, and flavor
of items that they prefer to hold in their mouth. It is the owner’s responsibility
as contractor, to find out what toy excites their particular puppy. For
this, a large variety of toys needs to be on hand. Sometimes the owner
must work to bring out the prey drive by dragging the toys around on a
string. I was lucky because Ripley's breeder, Norma Chandler, had started
him on a small fleece squeaky, and had shipped it with him. Within a few
days he always brought us his squeaky after it was tossed. Living with
a ball fanatic Labrador, he easily switched his prey drive to round rolling
objects. His favorite was (despite his comparable diminutive size) a 3"
diameter, heavy, solid rubber hall. As the ball rolled the length of the
hallway, he chased it, bit at it and tried to stop it. With his tiny puppy
teeth embedded into the ball, he struggled to pick it up off the floor,
and awkwardly trundled back to us with his prize. When he was 100% reliable
in the hallway with the doors closed, we opened up one room at a time allowing
the ball to ricochet off the hallway walls into the bedrooms. Inadvertently
this game, and the resultant “find-the-ball-no-matter-where-attitude” it
propagated in Ripley, became the framework for all Open and Utility retrieving
exercises, including, after we began playing it with the lights out, scent
discrimination. The reward of fetching became his primary motivator in
agility, obedience, and conformation training.
Norma, my first sub-contractor, gave me valuable tips on table stacking.
I used food treats, but only after I got the right "look" by showing him
the ball. Two Pembroke-showing friends, Louise Clements and Judy Banducci,
taught me to trim his toenails by holding him upside down on my lap. I
haven't ever questioned their rational of keeping the table a flin place
and off limits to nail trimming, even though I know that Ripley relaxes
best at shows, sleeping upside down on my lap in almost exactly his toenail-trimming
pose.
Sometimes Multi-task dog owners can't overcome their own or someone
else's superstitions. I purchased everything Louise, Judy, and Norma deemed
necessary to groom him for the breed ring, and with their help, and the
use of a large mirror, I learned to gracefully place him on and off the
table. Because at dog shows, I had seen Cardi's cringing fearfully after
being unceremoniously plunked on the table, it seemed that careful table
training was necessary for the framework of conformation showing. For gait
training, I enlisted neighbors, family, and friends to hold treats and
toys at the end of the sidewalk in order to teach Ripley to charge boldly
up to people, as he would have to do in the breed ring with the judge.
Years of stewarding at dog show paid off when I remembered that some judges
dangle or toss keys in front of the dogs on the return.
Along with learning to fetch his ball, metal articles, his dumbbell
(when it was so big he could only pick it up correctly from the bar), field-training
bumpers (now his absolute favorite), the newspaper, and the mail, Ripley
learned to fetch my car keys. I’ll never forget the surprised look, grin,
and the win Ripley earned from one judge who tossed his keys. Ripley stacked
for a second, pounced on the keys, fetched them up and then sat up and
offered them back to the judge. Cute dog tricks work!
In the first month I had Ripley, he showed a propensity for sitting
up. Because he was too young to do serious obedience work, I taught him
to offer this behavior on command. Owners must observe the multi-task puppy
for behaviors it consistently offers, and then turn the behavior into a
trick. A puppy, which likes to lie on his back, can easily be taught to
roll over or play dead. The parlor tricks, silly as they seem, assist in
the framework of a multi-task puppy's obedience training. The puppy learns
"how to learn", and this I believe is an incredibly important concept for
a performance dog.
The pup, which has learned what brought rewards (food, toys, or praise)
from his owner, learns subsequent new behaviors in a shorter time than
the previously learned behavior. Being capable of performing these parlor
tricks anywhere, in the face of distractions (children at a park, people
and other dogs in a feed store, etc.) enables the multi-task puppy to focus
on his owner and the command, and to develop the confidence to happily
perform. Ripley had learned an entire repertoire of parlor tricks in his
first 6 to 9 months, but I still wished to increase his confidence and
selected agility, the highly touted confidence builder, for our next endeavor.
The year we lived in Denver we were lucky to have access to training. Ripley
was about ten months old when we first tried agility. He enjoyed the various
obstacles, although the teeter-totter took a little bit of friendly coercion.
We did not attempt any jumping until I had successfully taught him the
command and he was reliably hopping over a jump stick. We were lucky that
Barbara Handler taught our first novice obedience class. The multi-task
dog is quite capable of, in fact seems to enjoy, the stimulation of various
activities. In this same first year, Ripley learned to do a "go out" down
the hall to a treat on a plastic lid, and taught himself scent discrimination
(articles) in 30 minutes. I also exposed him to sheep, just in case I would
ever have the time and the knowledge to learn about herding.
For a while it seemed that Ripley was the proverbial "jack of all trades,
master of none," but a building under construction evolves from the ground
up: foundation, walls, electrical, plumbing, insulation, roof, and so on.
The foundation of my multi-task puppy had been laid; the framework of many
of the rooms was up. The next step would be to select and complete construction
of one of the rooms.
Conformation showing was my first choice with Ripley. Unlike a later-maturing
breed, a Corgi puppy can be quite showy and mature-looking. A Labrador
retriever by comparison could be in any one of a number of uncoordinated
growth stages until after 2 or 3 years. Due to lack of competition for
points, however, I didn't bother to seriously show Ripley until just after
he turned two. He won his first two shows and the next three, which were
majors, some four months later. At the same time, I was really working
on Ripley's obedience - specifically focused attention while heeling, and
straight fast sits. To those who refuse to teach a sit for food, thinking
that it will ruin their conformation dog, I say “phooey,” and wonder why
anyone would openly admit that their dog was too dumb to learn two things
at the same time. My multi-task Cardi was trained to the word "show" for
attitude (ears up and tail down) for gaiting and stacking. A dog trained
to know the stand command, isn't going to sit in the breed ring. Focused
heeling doesn't ruin a dog for gaiting in the breed ring either, if you
give the behavior of gaiting out in front a name.
The multi-task dog has absolutely no problem switching from one event
to the other, because the owner has trained the dog to respond to commands
in the various situations. The properly trained and proofed multi-task
dog also notices the difference in the equipment being worn. Ripley finished
with another major at the next show we entered, and within 6 months had
his CD with scores qualifying him for the Regional Obedience Championships
the next summer When he earned his CD, he already knew all the Open obedience
exercises. He finished his CDX the following fall, when he was trained
through the basics for utility. Having my friend, obedience instructor
Alice Peterson, as a sub-contractor willing to follow my construction time-line
was of utmost importance.
Imagine the confidence a handler feels going into the novice ring knowing
the dog can work open, or competing in open A when the dog knows utility.
The multi-task dog loves training all of the exercises. Indeed long before
the AKC scrambled the open and utility exercises, or designed the versatility
class, my multi-task Cardi was routinely training all of the exercises
in random order. It made him think, and multi-task dogs love to think.
The construction of my multi-task dog was right on track when Ripley also
qualified in open for the regional obedience championships. Participating
in these competitions had been in the construction plans from the beginning.
It was at this point that I put obedience on hold to begin construction
in a different room.
We started herding when Ripley was four and a half years old, spending
about five months of Sunday afternoons training. Once Ripley figured out
what he was supposed to do, his instincts took over. His time with the
sheep gave us a break from obedience, and fit nicely into the construction
plans because winter in Idaho is a difficult season for utility training
(we have no training building). Herding savvy sub-contractor, Judy Garbarino,
assisted me with this part of the construction, and Ripley earned his PT
in May. Within six months he had easily finished his UD. With three rooms
(CH, UD, PT) completed on my multi-task Corgi, I decided to add the framework
of another, when our kennel club sponsored a tracking seminar.
To date, tracking for us, is like having a partially finished porch
on the building. The floor is in, but the area won’t be screened in for
several more years. In other words, we have the books, the equipment and
started off with much success (he loves to track), but as builder of my
multi-task dog, I decided not to get serious until Ripley was too old to
do more energetic activities like agility. Because there was no agility
in Boise, a good friend, Kathy Codd, became my next sub-contractor. Together
we decided to persuade our all-breed club to purchase equipment and jump
on the agility band wagon. Owners of multi-task dogs need to be creative
in enlisting support for various activities. During the previous year,
Kathy and I also persuaded the kennel club to sponsor a herding clinic.
The multi-task owner must be ready to press for whatever advantage in construction
they can find, even if it means taking on the job of running a seminar,
or acquiring and building agility equipment What some people won't do for
their multi-task dogs! Ripley had earned one UDX leg when I took over multi-task
construction of a 3 year old Labrador. Suddenly I was responsible for two
buildings! Ripley was seven years old when he earned his NA. He ran courses
slowly, refused to run ahead of me, and continually looked over at me.
This behavior was so different from the gusto with which he had tackled
everything else that it should have been an obvious signal to me that something
was wrong. Why was my multi-task dog acting so out of character? Within
4 months I had the answer. One of my heart valves had become diseased and
I was in congestive heart failure. I will never know if Ripley realized
something was medically very wrong with me, but I would not put it past
him. In the months of recovery after my open-heart valve-replacement surgery,
my multi-task Corgi was continually by my side. Perhaps in the future,
I will additionally try therapy dog work with Ripley. As a multi-task contractor,
I erected that framework by accepting an invitation to take Ripley in costume
to visit nursing home residents on Halloween. It is always wise, with a
multi-task dog to keep your options open.
After my recovery, I continued Ripley's agility training while my Lab,
who had earned his CH and CD, was earning his Junior Hunter and his CDX
titles. Ripley has to date, at 10 years of age, completed his NAJ, OA,
and OAJ. Interestingly enough, lack of speed is no longer an issue, now
that his partner is healthy. With a Lab close to eight years old showing
in Utility, Grandfather Time is ticking away the jumping life on both of
my multi-task dogs. I have opted to spend my limited time and resources
on Mikey the Lab, although I keep Ripley, in lean well-muscled working
condition and try to work and play on agility equipment every couple of
weeks, just in case.
Construction of the multi-task dog is a challenge of time and resources.
Obtaining various performance titles while living in an isolated place
such as Boise, takes not only careful advance planning, but also creativity
and flexibility. Besides the already mentioned sub-contractors, I would
be remiss if I didn't mention how thankful I am for the support and assistance
of my husband and children. My son, who is now thirteen and with whom Ripley
sleeps every night, has often said after Rip completes another title, "So
now he's done, right?" To him and to all owners of multi-task dogs I can
honestly say that the construction of a multi-task dog is never done.
As with any building, there is always room for an addition or a remodel
of the original plans. There are so many venues available for these talented
dogs that I cannot imagine choosing to retire one completely. The owner
may eventually run out of stamina, but never the dog. Continue to watch
your dog's behaviors, investigate ways in which you can build the behaviors
onto your foundation, and seek out some activity you and your multi-task
dog can enjoy. Why not too long ago, after intently standing guard over
a small hole by our patio, Ripley caught a mouse! Maybe I'll have to petition
the AKC to allow the Cardigan Welsh Corgi into earthdog trials.