Bailey never holds still. Here she is mid-roll

that I have been on an epic journey involving my horsemanship. I went along fine for years, quite fearlessly, with no trouble at all from my mounts. Then, I got a little (ahem) older, and along came a horse (chestnut mare Allie) who didn't appreciate my bossy attitude. We had some spectacular confrontations that left me shaken to the core, any confidence I had in my abilities to ride, let alone train, was vaporized. I spent considerable time sulking, in a despair that no animal would ever want anything to do with any kind of partnership involving me.

Then, along came Bailey. Bailey's a black lab who was dumped here at our farm a few years ago. She could be legitimately classified as a "crazy dog". Her default behavior is jumping. Like she as springs for legs. For the most part I've stifled her her urge to jump and put feet ON people - but that doesn't stop her from springing along beside me as a walk, leaping shoulder high and occasionally planting a friendly lick to my cheek. Which I allow as long as no muddy paws touch my clothes. A little weird, but she's a happy girl, and tries really hard to please. As I worked on helping her improve her manners, she proved to be an astoundingly willing pupil - and would try anything I asked her to do. If she didn't understand a request, she just kept offering up answers until she got it right. And jumping.

So an idea hatched in my head. Finally, an animal who is totally interested in working with me - no matter how badly I messed up - she just kept trying. In between bouts of leaping around. It was the perfect solution for my lack of confidence. A happy-go-lucky dog that was always ready to learn, AND was not one bit scary or dangerous to interact with. Unlike my poor Allie who'd learned to consider freaking out as her best option whenever my cues got muddled or I lost my confidence.

I signed Bailey and I up for an obedience course and she passed her tests with flying colors under the tutelage of a lovely positive trainer who helped me work on my cues, timing, and rewards. There's a story about that here. Even though it wasn't part of the curriculum for the class, at home I experimented with makeshift jumps (buckets with broom handles across) to take advantage of Bailey's propensity for flamboyant leaping. Soon, I could hold any sort of rod (usually a broom handle) and she'd joyfully leap it - back and forth - until I told her to stop. It is a game she never grows tired of.

Tony Hoard and Sprocket (the Rocket) . Sprocket's a heeler mix who was rescued from a shelter. The dogs all wore little boots to give them traction on the slick wood floor.

Recently, the Jay County Humane Society hosted a fundraising event featuring Tony Hoard and his troupe of amazing performing dogs. I attended with my parents and son, and was totally impressed with what I saw. High energy dogs, zooming around catching frisbees, jumping over things, doing acrobatics, etc.

His proclaimed "crazy dog" Sprocket had a special frisbee that, as a reward, he was allowed to attack like some sort of rabid fiend. Not what I would expect to see as a conventional reward, but it was apparently very meaningful to this particular dog.

As we watched the variety of tricks, at one point Tony squatted down, held his arm out at shoulder height, and his dog raced toward him and leaped smartly over his outstretched arm. "Cool !" I thought. I immediately commented to my son that I was sure that my Bailey could/would do that trick with absolutely no problem.

The performance came to an end and I made the hour long trek home. It was quite late when I got here, and time for the dogs to go to the barn to sleep in their cozy straw nest for the night (as opposed to barking all night at the neighborhood coyotes and keeping us all awake)

Even though it was bedtime and I was really tired, I just had to try the jump over the outstretched arm trick. I squatted down and held out my arm and told her to "JUMP!" She just wasn't getting it. She kept running up and sniffing my hand - which was, sensibly, a variation of a targeting exercise that we'd learned in the obedience course. Then, I had the bright idea to get the broomstick that she already knows how to jump over, and hold it out as an extension of my arm - until she figured out that I wanted her to jump over my arm.

More background: Whenever this dog sees me get out the broom - she excitedly starts randomly leaping around in anticipation. So, when I squat down to hold it out to the side, she isn't expecting that and she is still randomly jumping. Except this time my face is down on her level, and she leaps into me. Her head hit me right in the chin. Hard. It knocked me down. I bit my tongue and can feel crunchy pieces of broken tooth in my mouth because we collided so hard.

At this point, I am sitting there on the barn floor, trying to sort out if the impact has knocked a crown off my tooth (only recently repaired from an unfortunate "Milk Dud Incident"), and figuring out where all the blood in my mouth is coming from... still holding the broomstick in my hand. As the stars start to recede from my field of vision, I can see that Bailey's there, frantically jumping over it - back and forth - over and over again - waiting for me to notice her. I can't help but laugh at her continued effort, even though my jaw feels like it's quite a bit further to the right than it really should be.

Fortunately, it must have been just a small chip off the still attached crown (or somewhere else) because I never could figure out where that grit in my mouth came from. And I didn't have a bruise on my face, thankfully, but my neck was sore from being torqued by by the hit to the side of my chin. So much for dog training as a completely safe endeavor. I never considered that I could get clocked in the chin like a boxer by a 50# dog!
 
As a follow-up, not to be bested by the unfortunate chin incident, I figured out a safer way to practice this trick. Rather than issue the "JUMP !" command willy nilly, I instead place Bailey in a sit/stay position a short distance away. Where she can barely contain herself, tail wagging and butt wiggling, until I then give the "JUMP!" command. I am a lot safer - as her focus is on what she's supposed to be jumping, and she heads straight for it as soon as she's told to.

My next plan of action is to attempt to get some video of these silly antics, so I can share with you all. Still pics are a dismal failure as all I can capture is a black blur...

I'm Listening With A Broken Ear here
Don't Dump The Dog here

Bad Dog - A Love Story here
Gina's Stupidest Dog Training Mistake here
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Pony Girl Sweat & Trapper Hat 50% OFF here
Crappy Products here
BUCK DVD HALF PRICE here
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Beautiful Jim Key book a true story here 
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Dump Him, Marry the Horse here
Doctor is In Horse Thermometer here
Cowgirl Note Cards here
 PROTECT THIS RIDER pendant here