Sunday Fun!

Well, Sunday was crap for weather, but great for agility!
The one day trial was tons of fun!

I'm so proud of my little Bizzie - she ran great 3 out of 4 runs - we were first dog on the line for the first class (Steeplechase) & she was clean until the 3rd last obstacle when she took the wrong end of the tunnel (not sure why - I must have taken a step that way before she was committed).

The standard round had a few problems - distracted at the end of the arena by the horse poop, & blew a couple of contacts, but her weaves are getting very good!

She Q'd in snooker with 3 sixes (a pinwheel of jumps) & finished the closing! That's her Starters Snooker title! Yeah - pretty good for a rookie!

Last run was another Steeplechase & she ran awesome - 2 sets of 12 weaves & a few rear crosses, which we're still working on, & she Q'd, which is her first Steeplechase Q - what a good girl!


Blast had a pretty good day - it was a small trial, so maybe it was slightly less distracting for him.

He missed a few obstacle in the first steeplechase, but I just let him keep going & made no corrections...

He did the first half of the standard course very well, then blew a contact & missed the weave pole entry, but did go back & do them, so really he did quite well.

I did the same Snooker path with him that I did with Bizzie & he Qualified as well! It wasn't necessarily pretty - but we got it done! Good Boy!
That's his Starters Snooker title as well!

Steeplechase 2 was a weird run - he started off slow & seemed to be really concentrating, then with 3 obstacles to go (we were clean) he went & pooped - note to self - if he's slow, take him off the course!!

Since it was a smaller trial, I had only 1 dog between Blast & Bizzie, so it was difficult to be organized - I worked every Adv class & ran in every Masters & Starters class... I also had another dog with me that I was babysitting so I had to look after her as well. Wayne did take them out to potty a few times, but he doesn't know Blast like I do, so he didn't wait for him long enough to potty very well.

Boo Q'd in both Steeplechase runs, had 5 F in Standard when he ran past the chute (odd) & did a backjump in snooker (my fault). He wasn't running very fast - not sure if he's sore.

All in all, it was a fun time, a nice relaxed trial & fun courses!

Crazy Weather!

Yesterday it was beautiful - probably +15 and most of the snow was gone from my back yard.

Here's a view this morning - & it's still snowing!

I guess it's back to the basement for some practice!

Training Troop Trial

Well, I have mixed feelings about our results this weekend. I had the young dogs entered in a full trial for the first time. Running 3 dogs & trying to volunteer makes for a very busy weekend, especially when the young ones need lots of prep time before going into the ring...


I had Boo entered in 6 events, the most he's run since last summer... he did fine, but I thought he was tired on his jumpers round, which was the end of the day on Saturday. He Q'd 3 out of 6 runs, but 2 of the non-Q's were my fault - in Gamblers, my little guy who hated distance, stayed out & ran the line of jumps when I should have given him a better cue to come in to the teeter.
On one of the standard rounds, I walked the course wrong, so I was a little disorganized & pulled him past a jump, so it was totally my fault. The last non Q was in Snooker, when he freaked out at the judge while he was in the weave poles - quite strange really - the judge was great about it, she backed right up & he went back into the weaves .. & she came & talked to him at the end of the run.


Bizzie was really "off" on Sat - rang around the ring like a mad woman in Gamblers, then seemed apprehensive in the 1st Standard round & peed in the ring! Just when I thought she couldn't get worse, the next round she pooped in the ring! (she had just been outside before each run...)
I can't even remember her jumpers round, but there were some off courses...
I'm thinking she might be coming into heat, because she was sure acting strangely & not listening at all.
Steeplechase was the first run on Sunday, so I just ran her in a big loop around the ring & she did that very nicely. Then she actually Q'd her standard run & was a very good girl. Team was a gong show since I had Wayne run Blast as her partner - both of them were extremely naughty.
We got a good start in Snooker until she saw Wayne (who was polesetting after I asked him not to!!) & promptly jumped into his lap & I had trouble getting her focused again, so we ran out of time.

Blast had some good moments although he didn't get any Q's. His focus is improving in very small increments.. He had issues with the weave poles (which we had just practiced a bunch on Friday!) We really have to work on our timing - he has such a large stride & likes to work away from me - totally different from Boo. He was eliminated in the standard round when he also pooped in the ring, right after Bizzie did... how embarassing! they'd both been out to potty, but he did have diarrhea - no more beef heart for him I guess...


I think I need to continue with the Relaxation protocol that I've started with Blast - he gets so over the top that he really can't focus, although he really tries.
Bizzie was quite bratty, I'm thinking some obedience work might be in order for her.
Boo seems to need some proofing in the weave poles.

So much work to do, so little time!

ASCA trial

This weekend was the ASCA trial out at Wet Creek. It was so cold, I took Blast out to pee & he picked up 2 feet, then just laid down, I felt so bad for him, he doesn't like the cold at all. With the wind chill, it was probably -30.

The trial was lots of fun, kind of a cross between NADAC & AAC I'd say. There's no tire or chute or spread or double jumps. The contacts are all rubber coated. The courses were fairly challenging, but there are no refusals, so that really helps with the young dogs. There were 3 Gamblers, 5 Jumpers, and 4 Standard rounds, so lots of running! I just entered the young ones to see how they can cope with a full trial & they did pretty well, although Blast was absolutely exhausted by the end of Sunday! Boo was pouting cause he didn't get to play.

The Good News:

Bizzie earned 4 Q's, so she got a Novice Gamblers titles & a Novice Jumpers title.
Blast also earned 4 Q's, so he got a Novice Jumpers title too.
Blast also received a Standard Q, which is quite an achievement for him (who hates to slow down for contacts, etc.)
Cactus made most of her contacts, so maybe the rubber contacts will help her!

The Bad News:

Bizzie left the ring twice off the start line, so was eliminated... not even sure what set her off.
Bizzie did a "flying teeter" at full speed (it never even moved) - I don't think she even noticed, just kept running.
Blast had some major zoomies (just when we thought he was getting better), but there were a lot of strange dogs & people there, so I think that affected him.


The Funny News:

The judge was quite taken with the "giant papillon" & wanted one of his puppies when I breed him! Of course he is NEUTERED!

Stupid Neighbors

Well, I got a complaint from the city yesterday about my dogs barking.

Kind of interesting since Wayne got one too & his dog is debarked!

Yes, our dogs will bark at birds, kids on the trampoline appearing over our fence, etc. but they only bark once or twice & they're in the house!

Wayne spoke to the neighbor who complained (although she didn't bother to say a word to us) & she said that she can hear the dogs bark in our den (whose window faces their front door) - she has 3 adult kids living at home who all SLAM the front door every time they go in & out -( it actually wakes me up every Sat nite about 2 AM. ) so the dogs bark when they hear the door slam... Now I'm not sure I want my dogs to be quiet when they hear a noise outside - this has become a big city with lots of break ins...

I guess the next time her kids park ACROSS the end of our driveway, I will call a tow truck - no more Mrs Nice Guy!


There, I feel much better now!

The Past Week...

On Wed, we did the Wee Wed trial with Bizzie & Blast... the courses were standard & jumpers.

The Starters Standard course was quite difficult (I thought) and out of 26 dogs, there were no Q's (and quite a few were higher level dogs running FEO)

Blast did quite well, had 5 faults & only once did he take off & he came right back.

Bizzie had fun! She got caught up in that tunnel vortex thing & had 15 faults... she also vaulted off the Aframe & the teeter (I'm sure Cactus has been coaching her on the side!) She did a beautiful running contact on the DW though.



The jumpers course was very nice, both the dogs had 5 faults - Bizzie actually had a faster time than Blast! - she was really runnin', so I was quite pleased with the way they both ran.



I did the Kathy Keats seminar with Blast on the weekend & he did awesome. It was good to hear how Kathy was impressed with his improvement. One thing she mentioned to me was that he has such a huge stride for a little dog, I have to be aware of his take off spots & his committment point to the jumps. Anyhow, I was proud of how well he behaved!



On anther note - the soft tent I tried out with Bizzie & Blast together didn't work so well... Blast kept hamster rolling it & Biz was getting tossed about, so Blast went back to his regular kennel & Bizzie was happy having the whole thing to herself.



We also had a practice at the Fez Dome, so I had a chance to practice with all 3 dogs... Bizzie used to have a great teeter, but I think she's too excited to stay on it until it tips & she's jumping on from the side, so I have to figure out how to fix that. I'm still having trouble getting her to run down the Aframe.. if it's not too cold out this week I can work on that in the back yard.