Outreach

I finally bit the bullet & signed up for outreach for 2010.

I know I need some help with my training, so hopefully the consistency in the system will help.
The first day much of our time was spent doing jump exercises. I worked the exercises with Blast, & he did very well, of course it's me that needs the work! I have been working on Blast's focus & I think it is improving, so he was able to work with other dogs present. He is now also waiting quietly in his crate when not his turn, which is a big thing to me, since he can be quite a barker.

The second day was all about contacts & weaves, which is the area where we need the most work.
As soon as Blast came into the arena & saw all the contact equipment, his demeanor was quite different.... he was more stressed, (as was I), seemed to forget some of what we've been working on, and I could really see that he doesn't understand his job as far as contacts are concerned.

He did pretty well with some of the weave pole drills, and managed to keep focus through that part of the exercises, which was good, since it was at the end of the day.

I've decided not to trial him for the next month or two, (maybe a jumpers round so that he can still be exposed to the trial setting) and really spend some time training contacts.

Trial results

We did the Training Troop trial on the weekend, & as usual it was a fun time!
The dogs did pretty well, although I'm going to take Bizzie to the chiropractor for a check up - she didn't seem herself & was running slow much of the time, which is not her style. She did manage 2 Adv Standard Q's, but I've been working hard on her start line & it was really good 50% of the time & sucked the other 50%. She ran off a couple of times, so her focus wasn't great, but we'll work on that. She's been pretty sucky at home too, not interested in playing much, so I'm just going to get her checked out & make sure everything physically is good. She almost got the gamble, but turned the wrong way out of the tunnel, sigh, another thing to practice in training! I carried her off the snooker run, she slipped off the teeter cause she was watching me, & we were both tired at that point, so we ended the day with that.

Boo only Q'd one run out of five, but it was a difficult Challenge run & it was really nice, other than his slow teeter. His little friend Loralei, who is Lynda C's young student, ran him in Jumpers & did a great job, their timing was just a little off... she's a great little handler! He did get the gamble beautifully, but we were short points in the opening due to some bad handling on my part. Our snooker ended abruptly with a back jump...bad dog... bad handler!

I was very happy with Blast this weekend, he had some really nice moments - he managed one Adv Standard Q, but he was running quite well. He still balks at the weave poles when he's feeling insecure, so that cost us a refusal in one of the standard courses. He had an awful Snooker round, but he had to go outside to go potty, so at least I can read the signs now... he used to have stress diarrhea in the ring not so long ago.

Two long days at a trial running 3 dogs is hard on my body, I may have to consider just entering one day per weekend in the future, although I'd like as much practice as possible before Regionals!

The Past Year's Achievements

I was just thinking about how many things I still need to work on with my dogs - with Nationals here in Calgary this year, I think everyone is training harder than ever.
Then I stopped to think about what we have achieved in the past year & I checked out our AAC achievement pages. We really didn't do too bad!

Boo, who is now 5 yrs old, earned several Q's this year, despite the fact that I don't enter him in full trials since I found he's much better with a couple of runs each day. He actually got 32 Masters Qualifiers, as well as his Ex St Silver, Ex Sc Bronze, his VBA (Versatility Bronze Award), & his Silver Award of Merit. He also won his division at our AAC Regionals this year & placed 7th at Nationals.
If you had seen this dog trialing the first couple of years, you'd be surprised too!

Blast, who is my crazy giant papillon, earned 15 qualifiers, his Agility Dog of Canada & his Starters Games Dog of Canada. This was a huge accomplishment for this guy who used to zoom around the ring doing laps!

Bizzie Bee, who took 4 months off to have a litter of puppies, also did very well.
She earned 9 qualifiers, & her Agility dog of Canada & her Starters Games Dog of Canada. She said she's not doing the puppy thing again this year, so hopefully we will get some quality training time in!

Well, I still feel over whelmed with all the training we need to do, but I do feel we accomplished some big goals this year, so now it's onward & upward for 2010!

Fun Match in Olds!

Yesrerday we drove out to Olds to play at a fun match. It was of course a great time with lots of food, good friends, & great dogs.
Lynda, who organizes this fun match every year has a young student who is maybe 9 or 10 yrs old. She was there with her big lame dog. Unfortunately, he was too lame to run at all, so I offered to let her run Boo for me. Well, what a surprise! They ran really well together - she's a great little handler & I was so shocked that Boo ran for her - he of the velcro variety for so long!
It really made my day to see the smile on this little gal as she ran masters courses with her rent a dog! She also ran another sheltie for someone (BJ) & did a great job with him as well.

Bizzie & Blast haven't had much practice lately, & it really showed. Bizzie was pretty naughty on the startline again, but she ran quite well. Blast was really worried, didn't want to play with his toys, & wasn't very focused on course. He really has a tough time with new surroundings.

Anyhow, a good time was had by all (thanks Lynda!) & we better get some practice in this week since we have a couple of trials coming up soon!

Merry Christmas!

Only 2 more sleeps till Christmas Day!
We will be spending Christmas day with my daughter & her family this year. My grandson was a Christmas baby last year, so he will be one year old on the 25th! I just had to show everyone how cute he is!









As a treat, I bought a package of frozen chicken necks for the dogs - I've never fed them raw anything before, but they sure enjoy them! After that, I wrangled the dogs to sit under the Christmas tree for our annual photo - anyone who's done this knows it takes a lot of patience & a whole lot of luck! So, Merry Christmas from our home to yours!






Blast, Bizzie, Boo, Critter & Cactus

A scary morning

Well, I had a scary morning yesterday. Blast didn't want to get out of bed in the morning... very odd for him, since he's the one who wakes up excited to begin a new day.
He came downstairs & laid on the kitchen floor shaking - not a good sign. I couldn't see anything physically wrong with him - he went outside & did his business, no problem.
Anyhow, I took him to the vet where he had the once over. His temp was 40 & the concensus was that he's picked up a virus. No other symptoms except the fever.
He had a shot of anti-inflammatory medication & by the time we got home, he was already feeling better. Today, he's like a new man! Thank Goodness! I'll have to watch the other dogs to make sure they haven't picked up the same germ. It's good to have the crazy, playful Blast back!

December weather & this & that..

I think in my last post I referred to another trip to Edmonton for an agility trial - well, the weather didn't co-operate, the Hwy was closed & we didn't make the trip. Very disappointing!
It's been really cold & snowy here for some time now. We haven't been doing any training at the barn at all, so really, the dogs have been having a break from running any sequences or anything. We have been working on some tricks though.
My intentions were great as far as doing some training in the basement, but with several family birthday parties & Christmas coming soon, we haven't really done much.

I have had updates from the owners of Bizzie's puppies though (3 of them anyways), so here's a couple of photos of the pups at 5 months..



This is ZipR - the only black & white puppy -she
looks the most like Bizzie Bee. She is living in Victoria.













This is Pint - the smallest little boy - he looks a lot like his daddy, Leggo. He lives in Edmonton.
(photo taken by David Geertsen of Blackstone Images. )












This is Mika - she was the biggest puppy & is now living in Mexico!











The other puppy, Clifford, is living in Edmonton, but I have no photos of him as yet.