Decisions, decisions

Trying to decide if I should take Bizzie to Nationals...  I was 90% sure we wouldn't go, but I'm having second thoughts...  It's a lot of money, but I can share expenses...  she's not all that consistent, if it rains, she likely won't run well... she's been pretty cheeky, but is running fast...
I likely won't go next year (assuming we qualify) cause it'll likely be in the east which is too far to travel...

If I stay home, I can do the AKC show here at Spruce Meadows...

Hmmm, I just have a couple of days to decide.... what should I do???

Regionals is a wrap!

Regionals is now history!  What a great event it was - the venue was awesome - very large, lots of shade trees, oodles of places to bench, off leash trails, great weather - what more could you ask!
The organizers from Flashing Canines did a wonderful job - didn't see a glitch all weekend.  We camped in the parking lot, which is the only way to go when you're bringing 6 dogs!

Ditto reminded me that she really can jump out of a 3ft x-pen but she was a good girl other than that! 
My goals for the weekend were for Bizzie to have fun & run & I really was hoping she would qualify for the first time... for Blast, I was hoping he could stop worrying & improve on his last year's result (11th place)

So Bizzie ran really well, but I wasn't really used to the fast, happy Bizzie so we had a few oopsies... some my fault & some, well, she can be pretty naughty.  She lost us about 10 sec in the last jumpers round by wandering around the start line (took offense to me asking her to wait!)
  She got the first gamble, was clean in the first jumpers, but took a wide turn in standard & took the wrong jump then fiddled around at the weave pole entrance.  She didn't get the second gamble cause she kept going out after the out jump & took an extra one for good measure then finished the gamble perfectly!
  The second standard my motion kept her moving forward after the tunnel instead of turning so we had a costly off course, then she thought she was finished after the dogwalk & ran off so it took a few seconds to get her back to do the last jumps.
  Anyhow, to sum up, she qualified with over 400 points & was 7th in her division... she also tugged in the warmup which is a huge thing for me - she's never been able to do that before ever!  So it was a very successful regionals for miss Bizzie B!

Blast didn't have the greatest weekend - he was very worried & distracted for almost every run.  He did manage to get the first gamble & had a clean jumpers run on Sunday.  He bailed off the teeter twice, something new for him, & did a lot of wandering around between obstacles.  He did qualify in 8th place & actually got a 3rd in the Gamble, but he had less points than last year & seemed more stressed.  That may be his last agility trial, I really don't want to force him to do something that stresses him so much.

I'm undecided about Nationals - probably won't go, but if I do, I will just take Bizzie...  she really was a good little girl!

My trip to the WAO

What a great trip!  I've been back for a week now & of course I'm sick from airplane air.... seems to happen every time I go on a big trip.


Hotel ter Brughes



We had about 5 days to sightsee before the competition began, so we saw Amsterdam, Bruges (Belgium), Aachen (Germany), Maastricht (Belgium).  Europe is just so different from Canada - people seldom worry about many things we seem to get uptight about.   Dogs are allowed everywhere & are seldom neutered.  People are responsible for their own safety when walking on the streets - it's a little scary in the big cities - there are trains, cars, bicycles, all driving fast & the intersections are almost every man for himself!

If you ever get the chance to visit Bruges, you must go - it's such an interesting old city (I think it's a city). The hotel where we stayed was built in the 1500's.. updated of course, but very interesting.

We saw a beautiful cathedral in Aachen, gorgeous stained glass everywhere...    We had a great bunch that travelled together - 7 of us in 2 vehicles! 


The event was held at a huge equestrian facility.  There were 2 outdoor rings & 1 indoor ring.  It's a little confusing to know what is going on - we did have running orders for the individual events but not the team events.  The courses were very tight for the large dogs, the double jumps were huge - as wide as they were tall - many of the dogs crashed but got better as the days went on...

There were some amazing dogs & handlers - some interesting handling & some slower dogs as well....  Canada did well & we did earn some medals....  I think the experience was awesome & it was great fun to go with no stress & just be there to cheer on the team! 

My Big Adventure!

Well, I am off to cheer on the Canadian team at the WAO in Belgium... just 2 more sleeps!
It will be nice to have a break from all my responsibilities, but I'll miss the dogs like crazy...
There are quite a few team members from Alberta, so it should be lots of fun!  Hope to do some sight-seeing as well.

It is only a short time until our Regional competition, but I'm hoping the break will be good for all of us.
Bizzie has been licking obsessively again - still not sure if it is allergies or stress or just habit.  She hasn't been running very well at the past couple of trials - starts the course then stops suddenly & just looks at me.
My thoughts are: 
  - she's hurting (has been to the chiropractor)
  - she hates Blast (ran fine when I took her to a Wee Wed trial by herself)
  - she's jealous of the time I spend with Ditto
  - she has allergies (now on raw diet)
  - she was upset because Critter was in heat

Other thoughts - She runs awesome at practices,
                        - She sleeps more than the rest of the dogs
                        - She only plays with me apart from the other dogs
                        - She's just a princess?

Anyhow, she will have quite a nice break while I'm away so hope it does some good.
I'm going to have a blood panel done again as soon as I'm back just to rule out anything physical.
If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears!

help I can't keep up!

New technology is driving me crazy - everytime I buy something new I have to strain my brain to learn how to use it!  Finally got used to my iPhone now I bought an iPad...  I need to keep a young person around at all times to help me!  'That's my rant for the day!

On the dog front, we've had some successes & some not so great results... 
Blast is somewhat of a loose cannon - never too sure what I'll get in a trial situation.  I've started giving him some flower extracts to relax him but haven't had many opportunities in trial situations to see if it's making a difference.

Bizzie remains a puzzle.  We did 3 days of trials on 2 different weekends with lousy results.  She would start off running then suddenly stop completely... never did a set of weave poles  in any course.  Then I took her by herself (no other dogs) to a Wed evening trial & ran her FEO & she ran just fine.
I really suspect that our other female being in heat is really affecting her even though she is spayed.  I don't think there's any science to support that, but it's my gut feeling.  I'm giving her a break right now which is a little scarey since we won't have any more trials before Regionals to see how she is...
She is still licking her leg a lot, which is driving me quite crazy...

Ditto is now 14 months & doing great.  I took her to a fun match last weekend & she behaved quite well. It was her first time outdoors & she ran happy, held all her contacts & was relaxed enough to play. 
She's a happy little girl & loves to work so that makes training her tons of fun!

A Year Flies By!

I can't believe that a year has passed since bizzie had her last litter of pups! Yes, Ditto & the gang are a year old now! It has been fun times, that's for sure - she's such an energetic, happy little girl.
Her scent hurdle training is coming along really well. She almost always can find her own bell & she seems to love the game! Bringing it all the way back is what we are working on right now - sometimes she gets excited over the jumps & drops it... Next order of business is working with distractions. It's become difficult for her to work in open spaces when there are other dogs around - which is something I've worked on from the get go with her. I have to remember she's still very young & we will work through this.
We've started her 2x2 training again - took a break from it to work on other things... she retained what we did a month ago, so I was happy with that... she's almost weaving 4 poles now.
Because she is so much fun to work with I have to remember to spend enough time with my other kids!
Bizzie is doing well - seems to be feeling good. Blast has taken a step backwards again - not sure why... I think he is very jealous of Ditto, so he needs lots of one on one time with me.

We are entered for one day in a trial this weekend, so will see how they are doing!

New Skills for a New Year

I've decided to try to learn a new dog sport for 2012. I'm planning on training Ditto for scent hurdles. She finally learned to retrieve so that's a good start! Our next goal is to get her to carry the dumbell all the way back to me. She tends to drop it too early. I have no idea if she has a "good nose" or not, but guess I'll find out! In a couple of weeks she will be a year old - can't believe how fast that year went...

Her agility training is going well - I did a lot of foundation work with her first, so that helped a lot. We haven't trained the table yet, so that will be next. Currently we are working on weave poles, using the 2 x2 method, which is new to me. I'm in no hurry, so it may take a little while. She has a good teeter, understands 2 on 2 off for the contacts (which will be a work in progress) & has just learned to go through the chute. She's jumping 6" now with no problems, so hope the transition to 10" will be seamless. We're just starting to work Rear Crosses, so there's still a long way to go, although she seems to follow my motion quite well so far!

I probably won't start to trial her until she's at least two or later if she's not ready then... I already have enough on my plate with my other 2 dogs! Although they're all papillons, they're all very different from each other, which makes running them a challenge!