Awesome Practice

I just got back from a practice at the barn.. what a great practice - there was nobody there, so I worked on some of the Kathy Keats jump exercises. Blast is such an awesome boy when there are no distractions - he was really good - did the exercises fast & correct, read all my crosses & was really focused. Too bad he can't do that in a trial setting.... I have him entered in the ASCA trial on Sat, so we'll see what happens.


Bizzie did pretty well too - she does go off to sniff the horse poop once in a while, but all in all she was a good girl. We worked on her weave poles, as usual. She still doesn't do well on off side, but if I stay behind her a bit she does better. She's quite funny - she starts to squeak when she gets near the end. I have to really watch her where the 2 sets of poles join or she gets confused & either pops out or does some fancy dance & ends up on the wrong side of the pole. Her jump work is getting better - she's starting to drive ahead more.


I ran Boo through the jump exercises a couple of times & he did well, but he didn't have enough speed to do the rear crosses that well, I had to slow down quite a bit so he was ahead of me.


I brought Cactus with me & worked on rear crosses with her. She gets so high I think it's hard for her to concentrate on learning new skills - we spent some time on getting her to settle down a bit & also to take her treats nicely - she drew blood last week grabbing a treat from me & that didn't go over too well!

To Stop or Not to Stop - the Sequel

Well, Blast & I have been working on his 2o2o on the A-frame this week. He really seems to be understanding what I want. He's offering it at class every time he has a chance. Next step is to get him to "assume the position" even when I don't stop, which he does sometimes, but still needs work. He's trying hard & we are having some successes, so I'm happy with my decision.



We played a fun game at our last agility class this week. It's called Double Dog Dare Ya!

You have 40 sec to accumulate as many points as possible - clock starts & stops on the table...

each piece of equipment is worth points - similar to gamblers - but every time you go over the A-frame successfully, your points are doubled! Great fun - unfortunately, I have a hard time estimating how much time I have since we were over time both runs!

Which one is the real Bee?

This is Bizzie surrounded by her Bee friends...

Poor Bizzie is feeling sorry for herself since she's in heat... she lays on the couch moaning.. I wonder if dogs get cramps? All she does is sleep, eat, and yip at the boys if they get near her!
I did manage to do a little training with her this week & she's still willing to work, so that's good.
She does awesome in training, but we need to add distractions so that she can focus a little better in an actual trial. I have her entered in the next CAA trial, so we'll see how that goes!

To Stop or Not to Stop...

Well, I'm seriously considering scrapping the running contact on the A-frame for Blast - I know it's probably less demanding on his body, but I think it's too confusing to have a 2 on 2 off on the dogwalk & a running contact on the frame. He's started to use the Cactus method where he vaults off way above the yellow!

I know I probably haven't trained it properly - using the box method, but in class he's offering the 2o2o on the A-frame every time he gets a chance & he doesn't like to be wrong.. so maybe I should just bite the bullet & be consistent with what I'm training on contacts.... and after the Masters Gamble at the last trial, I see where it is sometimes an advantage to have a stop!

Any opinions?

Drum Roll Please..

And the Winner is.... Boo!

At the Training Troop Hallowe'en Trial Boo won the best dog costume with his clown impersonation! That's cause he was such a happy boy - not!

Blast was Crazy Frog but he had a hard time keeping his costume on...

Miss Bizzie had to stay in the car since she is in heat - and she had such a great costume, too... oh well, she can wear it next year.

What a fun trial it was - everyone seemed so relaxed on Saturday especially.
We had no Q's this weekend, but we had lots of fun - Boo ran well, but didn't get the gamble, I see a big training opportunity here for verbal directionals!

Blast did 4 runs on Saturday, which is the most he's ever done & he got better with every run - his jumpers round was really good, only 5 faults for running past a jump, it was a tough line for me to get in front of him, so he just ran ahead. On Sunday, he only had one run & kinda lost it & had a zoomie, but he did come back & finish the course with just 10 faults.
He was such a good boy, he got a new collar & leash!

Cactus did much better since Wayne has been growling at her! She won her Steeplechase class & got a Q! That's the first one in a long time!

Pre-Hallowe'en Howler

This weekend is the Hallowe'en Training Troop trial, so today we're getting stuff ready.

The costumes are done, whether or not we can keep them on the dogs is another thing.. of course Cactus doesn't want to dress up - it's so beneath her! She's been getting in shape for the trial by chasing Boo & grabbing his tail - it's really the only toy she likes!

Blast is the toy lover in our house - first thing in the morning he finds a toy & is so excited to see it! He throws it in the air & chases it! What a goofball! He's such a happy boy!

While all the fun is being had, the princess Bizzie is laying on her favorite chair trying to look pretty! She's grounded this weekend, but we won't talk about that!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Well, it was another busy weekend, as usual. Cooking dinner for 10 really cut into my doggie time!





We went out to Wet Ck to our club practice on Sunday.





Blast is doing better paying attention, but he did have one major zoomie which was probably my fault since I corrected his weaves one too many times - he can't take the pressure. I've been teaching him some tricks (which he loves!) to try to keep him busy & focused - at least that's the plan...

He did something rather odd at class last week - he limbo'd under a jump, but jumped all the rest. We put the bar down to 10" & he did the same thing.. and even left the bar up! Weird!





Bizzie did quite well - she's getting pretty good footwork in the weaves until she comes to the join between 2 sets of 6 weaves & then she takes little tiny steps till she gets the rhythm again - hopefully this will improve with practice. She still stops suddenly & stares at me every so often - I think she 's thinking - hey - where's my cookie? We have to deal with the cookie issue since at the last trial she ran off course after the first obstacle to try to climb up on the table to get her treats where I left them! She can be quite the little brat! Good thing she's cute!





I'm still resting Boo quite a bit - but he just wants to get out & run! He's running well these days, but now we need to work on tighter lines... always something!





I ran Cactus a little since Wayne couldn't come with us & whaddyaknow - she hit all her contacts, even when I kept running.... Hmmm... Now if she could just remember that the teeter is not a trampoline!

ROBBED!

Today I'm feeling bad for my daughter (who's 6 mo pregnant).
When she got home from work last night she noticed the front door looked funny - sure enough, someone broke into their home, (which is in a really nice neighborhood.)
Her first concern was Finnegan, her giant muppet aka Labradoodle, or the Pony as my mom calls him. He was locked in the laundry room - and just fine - some watchdog - she needed one of those "Yappillons"...

Anyhow, bottom line is the front door is damaged so they have to replace that, the thief stole their big screen TV, their other TV, all their Wii games, but not the Wii..., both their cameras, one was almost brand new & a bunch of jewellry with sentimental value, a custom pendant Kory made for Anita with a tanzanite from Africa, her great grandma's pearls, etc.
I feel so bad for them - they're both really busy at work right now & trying to get everything ready for the baby, & now they have all the hassle involved with insurance & buying new stuff...
Both sets of neighbors were home all day & heard or saw nothing!

I guess the moral of the story is be aware, hide your good jewellry, & make sure you have insurance!

Hallowe'en

We have a Hallowe'en trial to go to soon, & I have to come up with some costumes for the dogs.

Last year, Boo was a cowboy & won a prize, although he certainly wasn't impressed. Check out his photo!

Not sure what he'd like to be this year...

I have an idea for Bizzie - I went to Build A Bear & bought her a little outfit, but I'm not sure she'll cooperate & keep it on.

I had an outfit for Blast as well last year, but he got it off before we went 3 ft.

Trying to keep 3 dogs in costumes at one time is ... well.. like eating soup with a fork..

Caught in the Act

Well, my better half, Wayne, has a sheltie called Cactus, who it turns out is quite a little sneak.

Tuesday morning Wayne left to go hunting & left Cactus loose in the kitchen - the rest of us were still in bed. Well, when I got up, I found Cactus standing on the kitchen table, munching on an apple (which was still in the bag). I'm not sure what possessed her since I always have a fruit bowl on the table & no one touches it.

The funniest part was she saw me coming & thought OH CRAP! but she couldn't figure out how to jump off the table! Remember this is an agility dog! Anyhow, we all got a giggle first thing in the morning...and she only ate one apple!

Poochie Mama & the Papillons

I've decided to get with it & try to start my first blog. Since I'm not one of those "young'uns", this may be quite a feat for me!

Although I'm now retired from my "paying" job, I'm as busy as ever trying to train my 3 dogs.

I have 3 Papillons, (in case you haven't guessed!) - Boo, my first, and who'd have thought he'd turn out to be the good boy! Blast is my second, who's a party animal rescue giant mutant boy,

and Bizzie Bee, the princess, who just turned 2 yrs old & I've had since a puppy.