Dog Updates

Well a lot's certainly happened since my last update!

The owner/co-owner of many of the dogs I've blogged about and I had some personal issues we couldn't work through and ended up going our separate ways. Hawk has since moved to her new home in Ohio where she'll continue to do agility with her new family, and Rhymer has moved to his new home in South Carolina where he will also continue to do agility with his new family.

Merlin is still very much here, and seems to be feeling better than ever! Dewy has also made it clear he isn't ready to retire, so we're working on finding things he can enjoy doing. Rio has also found new joy in clicker training, so who knows - maybe he'll decide to try something like rally, or possibly agility. We'll see :)

Here're the videos from Hawk and I's last weekend trialling together

Lafayette, IN Agility Trial & UKC Conformation Show

Well we've had a busy two weeks! We had a trial in Lafayette, IN on the 2nd and got to run on GLKC's new flooring, and then the next weekend we had a UKC Show in Danville, IN and got to try out UKC with the CATS club. Then this week has been finals - so finally I have time to write about the past few weeks!

I had Hawk, Rhymer, and Cloud in the agility trial. Cloud hasn't done much agility (he's sort of a novice dog in excellent) and this is his first time in a trial with me, after only a few weeks training together.

Hawk - 12" Excellent A in both STD & JWW (had 1 AX leg & 1 AXJ leg)
Cloud - 16" Excellent A in both STD & JWW (no AX/AXJ legs)
Rhymer - 16" Excellent B in both STD & JWW (8 MX legs & 9 MXJ legs)

Hawk's Standard run was the only qualifying run, but the other runs were "almost but not quite". Hawk's Standard run felt great, and was TWENTY seconds under time! She finished in first place, with the fastest qualifying time of any 12" or 16" dog on that course :)

Her JWW I didn't hang back quite long enough to get her to turn to the right jump - oops!



Then the next weekend Merlin, Selkie and I headed to our first UKC Conformation show. Merlin hasn't really anything to do since July, so he was absolutely thrilled to be out doing something special again. This was Selkie's second dog show - her first was a puppy match at Ft Wayne last month. She's still not old enough for the regular classes, but they offered a class for puppies 3-6 months old so we entered her in that.

They had a blast! In the first show Saturday, Merlin beat the other Shelties for 35 points toward his championship and placed 2nd in the herding group! Selkie won "best 3-6 Sheltie". The second show (also on Saturday), Merlin again beat the other Shelties for 35 points and Selkie again won "best 3-6 Sheltie". In Sunday's first show, the other Shelties didn't show up so Merlin won the breed for 25 points and again placed 2nd in the Herding Group, and Selkie was again "best 3-6 Sheltie". Then Sunday's second show was amazing! Merlin needed just to get his first place ribbon in his class to finish his championship, and he and Selkie were the only Shelties that showed up. Merlin won the breed, then won the Herding Group, then he went Reserve Best In Show! And to top it off, Selkie had once again gone "best 3-6 Sheltie" but followed that up by winning Best Puppy In Show! Woohoo!!!

So Merlin is now UKC CH Faerie Magic Touch PT AX AXJ SSA CGC (one Pairs leg short of his AD), and is a UKC Multiple Group Placing, Group Winning, Reserve Best In Multi-Breed Show winner :)

Can't wait til he's up for doing agility in the Spring - I've really missed doing things with him. And who knows - maybe a UKC GRCH and an AKC CH will be soon to follow! :) I'm counting down the days til Selkie can do real conformation shows - she's such a riot to be in the ring with.

FWOTC - Fort Wayne, IN

GREAT weekend! Hawk and Rhymer were both entered. Hawk needed one more OAJ leg to finish her title, and was in Excellent A Standard for the first time. Rhymer was entered in Excellent B JWW & Standard, needing 2 legs for his MXJ and 3 legs for his MX.

Saturday:

Hawk
Standard: Oops! Missing your walkthrough may leave the handler disorientated :) My fault on both flubs, but we did about as well as everyone else on that course. I was happy with how well she pulled through that last sequence (pin wheel to the teeter to the end).

JWW: Was really pleased with this run, just need to get faster weaves in trials. :)



Rhymer
Standard: The way I did the lead-out was a little different than most people. A lot of people chose to lead out on the other side, but I thought the left side gave the dog a clearer idea of where to go. I elected to layer the extra jump to better tuck Rhymer into the chute. We could've tightened the exit of the weaves to the tire, but I like his speed through the weaves. Not sure what the stop on the Aframe was for, but we've been kind of off training since his last trial (had some chiropractic work done). Since he was behaving himself, I let him have some fun on the rest of the contacts. I was very pleased with how nicely he tucked in to the approach to the teeter.

JWW: Was very pleased with this run on his part - we need to work weave pole exits apparently! I didn't want to push too hard too soon for the turn but pushed too late - good dog for saving my butt!! He was a little too "YEHAW!" on the large pinwheel and we need to work on tucking in a little tighter. Double Q though! :)




Sunday:

Hawk
Standard: Mostly could just use tighter turns - I may set up the tunnel - triple - serpentine - aframe sequence to figure out a different way to handle that. I didn't see anyone figure out a smooth way to handle it. Much happier with her weaves this run.

JWW: Fairly happy with this run for a twisty course - could've snugged up a couple places (like the weave entry) or pushed a little more for speed, but I wasn't sure how she'd handle on one of these courses.



Rhymer
Standard: Who knows on the teeter! A lot of dogs were having teeter problems on that course. Same problem as Hawk on the tunnel - triple - serpentine - aframe. I figured since we'd NQ'ed we'd do the 2o2o contacts. Pretty happy with the rest of the run.

JWW: Like how this run went (could've snugged up a few places but twisty is not his forte). I'm kicking myself for how that rear cross went at the end! I think we needed the rear cross to suck him back that way but he sucked too far back and we missed it completely. Oops. :)

Terre Haute Kennel Club report

Yup I still LOVE the facility -- could have done without all the death-trap walnuts though! Despite being attacked by walnuts, a beetle, and the very very loud concert in the building next to the trial it was a VERY fun trial.

Hawk, Rhymer, and my teamwork was all a little "off" this weekend but Rhymer hasn't trialled since about this time last year, and Hawk hasn't trialled since the beginning of July. So being the first time back out in quite a while (and Hawk's 3rd trial ever), I was fairly pleased with how it went overall.

I haven't got the videos uploaded yet, so I'll post a link when I get that up.

Results:


Rhymer

• 9/29/07 - Excellent B JWW - Q - 1st place - 31.28 seconds, 14 MACH points - MXJ leg #7
• 9/29/07 - Excellent B STD - NQ - did not stop on his Aframe, called the run
• 9/30/07 - Excellent B JWW - Q - 1st place - 32.16 seconds, 14 MACH points - MXJ leg #8
• 9/30/07 - Excellent B STD - NQ - did not stop on his Aframe, called the run

(He tests his contact stops every 6-12 mos to see if I'm still serious when I ask him for them. Clearly he knows I am now!)

Hawk

• 9/29/07 - Open JWW - NQ - a couple refusals due to my bad timing
• 9/29/07 - Open STD - Q - 1st place - 69.62 seconds (held contacts) - OA leg #1
• 9/30/07 - Open JWW - Q - 1st place - 33.58 seconds - OAJ leg #1 - bad timing again
• 9/30/07 - Open STD - Q - 1st place - 73.88 seconds (held contacts) - OA leg #2

Off to Indiana Collie Club's trial next weekend, and Fort Wayne's trial shortly after that!

Trial: Agility Club of Indianapolis (Indianapolis, IN)

Overall a very nice trial. The club members were friendly and had a lot of fun doing neat things for the 07-07-07 trial day. My only real issue was the footing - I love natural footing (dirt, grass, etc), and this was indoors on Astroturf. It was surprisingly slick (I found myself sliding on it a bit, and Merlin was as well [not a blazingly fast dog by any means]), and I was amazed at how much my feet and legs hurt by the end of the day! Other people seemed to be oddly sore as well, so I can imagine the dogs were probably feeling the effects from jumping on that surface as well. Glad to hear the next trial this club holds will be at a different location on the better Astroturf (with the pellets for cushion and traction). The Merrillville trials use that footing and I absolutely love it!

Hawk got her first permanent card measurement first thing Saturday by Gail Storm at 14" exactly. She quickly got accustomed to the trial atmosphere and settled in to her crate for a nap while I walked the course and then ran Merlin in Standard.

Merlin had a nice run other than skidding off the pause table (I didn't realize the table was slicker than he was used to). Quite satisfied with that! Later in the afternoon Merlin ran in JWW and had another nice run, and qualified for his 4th MXJ leg! Woohoo!


Hawk's first run was in JWW. It was a very open course which she thought was a riot. Other than missing a jump and going back for it (and me trying to put in an ugly front cross) it was a lovely run, especially for her first time! I couldn't have been more pleased with it. Then in Standard she did it again with another lovely run on a challenging novice course, with just one refusal again (on the aframe). She qualified both runs for her first leg each, as well as a first place in both classes!


Sunday seemed to run better as far as ring conflicts. Merlin ran in Standard and was raring to go, with a lovely run to get his first MX leg! He just wasn't the same dog in JWW though, and our teamwork fell apart. We missed course time by 3 seconds, and Merlin is now sitting out of agility for a while. His back appears to be really bothering him, and his shoulders and neck are stiff after the bad slip he took landing off a jump in that JWW run. I'll post more updates on his recovery process as we go along, but I'm definitely pulling him from the CISSC's agility trial this coming weekend. Tuesday he's got an appointment with Karin Gose for some Reiki, and that should hopefully help him until his veterinary chiropractor (Dr. Mark) comes back from PA.


Hawk had very nice runs on Sunday, with one refusal in JWW (just didn't see the tunnel) and two in Standard. Strengthening her ability to go looking for the correct obstacle is on our list of things to work on. She again Q'ed in both runs for her second leg of each title, and again with first places in each!


Overall it was a rollercoaster weekend - between Hawk's awesome first weekend and Merlin's injury, it just goes to show you should never take ANY run with your dog for granted. I believe there's a saying, "life's a journey, enjoy the ride." Couldn't have said it better myself.

Chute and Broad Jump

Tonight since it's so hot we waited to do dinner until about 7 PM. Hawk's close to the jump height cut-off in AKC, so every ounce counts - she gets the same amount of food as usual, but instead of working for treats we're working for dinner (she doesn't seem to mind). I measured her at 13 1/2" the other night, so hopefully she'll get safely in the 12" class (cut-off is 14").

I didn't want to drill her with her first trial tomorrow, so we focused on the chute and the broad jump. She had a little trouble remembering the point of the chute, but soon she was zooming through it, so we focused on coming out straight, with her head down. She seems to be getting it, but I certainly won't be running too close to the chute, just in case!!

The broad jump is going great - the only issue is she tries to "wrap" it if I'm not close enough to her, and doesn't jump the entire thing. I think with the jump standards there she would be fine though, and she was jumping much straighter by the end of it.

I think they actually turned out to be a good pair of obstacles to pair together in one lesson, since she had to focus on making sure she's completed the obstacle before attempting to "wrap" it.

Merlin and I worked a little bit on the chute as well, since he had a bad chute experience in April (got stuck in a wet chute), just to give him some more positive chute experiences before this weekend and next.

Instead of having the goal of qualifying, I usually have a couple things I want to try for in our runs. If we achieve those things, make progress toward them, or do something else wonderful I'm generally pleased with the run (regardless of whether we Q or not). So.. goals for this weekend.

Goals for Merlin
- speeding up! I'm going to attempt to really rev him up on the start line and then go, and avoid start line stays if at all possible. He can do them, but he slows down.
- remember for me to slow down on the bottom of the contacts! If I slow down, he'll hit his contacts (we stopped 2o2o'ing because he would get very slow and worried, regardless of how enthusiastically we worked on it).
- trust him to find the weave entry.

Goals for Hawk
- hold all contacts!!!!!!!!!!!
- support the broad jump and chute as much as possible.
- let her weave as independently as possible.