GOOD DAWGS

Dogs are good for lots of things: entertainment, love, companionship, an excuse to exercise - many many things. One aspect of living with dogs I don't often consider is the value of protection.
Many years ago I was dog sitting my aunt and uncle's dog Jenny and was walking her quite late at night through a local park. Now I was young and quite often out and about late at night so this was really nothing special. However, that night, Jenny who was just a sweet lovable lab type mix was very alert to the chap walking behind me in the park. She hung behind me, made hard eye contact with him a number of times and grumbled at him. He followed us for a little but then quite suddenly gave up walking on the lot path and struck out across the park on the rough grass (not a way to get to anywhere). I'm still not sure if we alarmed so much he's still lost or if he had nefarious thoughts- either way I'm grateful to Jenny for protecting me- at least in her mind.

Two nights ago I let the dogs out a little later than usual. Sally silently took off FLAT out for the chicken coop. Weird I thought in the 1 second of peace I had. Then Brody and Hank started to run for the same location except they were growling and barking. By the time we got out there all seemed calm except a pair of nail marks on the side of the coop and the latch for the door being knocked down. Scary. I'm even more sure that the dogs averted a disaster (to us and the chickens) Friday night than I am Jenny saved me.

What good dogs!

Gus's saga

poor Gus had surgery yesterday - to remove a foreign body. A weird little organic plug of something - maybe a decoration? or something bizzarre... she has HUNDREDS of stitches now - including in her intestine. It was an interesting surgery to watch.. I've seen too many lately though it seems. Dr Au removed a broken tooth and did a quick dentistry too as Gus's teeth were covered in tartar and the exploratory surgery had gone so relatively quickly. (She was under for about an hour) She was very slow to wake up and very stoned all night. I am looking forward to getting her this afternoon though - she sleeps better here even in a crate! She's got a collar on and will have to wear one when she can't be watched (can you imagine if she opened her insides up again- I'd die) but luckily I will be able to organize things to watch her pretty closely. It's amazing to me i haven't actually had to go through this before... and if I was going to do this I would have thought it would have been one of the piggy lab mixes or Sally who would put me through it! Not smart little goosey Gus... ahhh well life's a learning curve and this has happened now for a reason! Think good thoughts for the naught gal and quick healing! The agility dogs have missed their workouts this week - they are DYING to get back into it... hopefully I cna work them when Gus is snoozing ;)

Gamblers

have I mentioned Brody isn't much of a gambler? (Well I'm not either so maybe it makes sense) We attended a workshop this weekend that was HARD work for Brody. He's used to being a superstar at class so that was a new experience for us - I felt badly holding everybody back but still learned a ton about my weaknesses and things to keep in mind for gamblers classes so that was great and worthwhile. Sally had a great time working on her chute skills too so that made it even more worth it :) yay Kathyn yay Janet

What a start to 2008!

Sally and Brody and I went to Morningstar trial in Kingston on Friday and Saturday. Thea was off and on lame so she had to stay home but I think she enjoyed being cuddled in front of the fire. Brody was in a funny mind set - but so was I so it seemed fair to me. He did pull together 2 VERY nice snookers runs in the advanced level (one of Brody's sweeps) and earned one advnaced standard leg so he only has one leg left at that too. He's run very few advanced classes - maybe 4 -5 tops so to have 2 legs done is great. His q rate is rapidly improving but even more importantly he's having a blast!His masters jumpers runs were pretty darn ok too - he fell for one trap in the first run but was fast... second run was slow and careful - and went 5 seconds over time but sped up as the course went on. Sally was attacked - badly and frighteningly by a dog who left the ring to get her. Sally only tried to get away and was totally submissive and appropriate (though she screamed very loudly) . The judge has written a report asking that the attacking dog be banned- be interesting to see if I hear anything about it. She is recovering quite nicely - thank heavens but it really was very traumatic for a whole lot of people and dogs.

Snookers

I LOVE the concept of snooker

all that thinking in one place ... and it works for velcro dogs too - I can take as long as I want in the opening and see how far I can get in the closing

From the very first time I tried it at Morningstar in May 2007 I was hooked... I think it might be fair to say snookers is a cause of my addiction to agility. Brody and I laid out a thinking course - red - 6 point teeter- red- 6 point teeter - red- 7 point weaves and then he was in the perfect place to start the closing ... number 2 tunnel; 3 tunnel; 4 aframe; 5 long spread out sequence of jumps (our downfall- we took wayyy too long here) and then back on 6 the teeter ...SCREEEEEEEEEE the whistle blew as the board was tipping- making our first snookers outing just ONE point short of what we needed- actually I was glad as more time in starters snookers class will pay off when we get higher up.

With Sally's only snookers outing she was eliminated bing bang - red jump, tunnel, second tunnel - SCRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEE - she'll work so far away from me that convincing her NOT to make up a course on the way back to me will be tricky - she is a gal and a half tho

Thea did really well in her first snookers outing (CPE) she easily got the points needed for her q and had a blast doing so

AAC she's running well - she's zippy enough that I can aim to do either sequences and adores the frame too so can easily do it 4 times in a round .. that evil teeter came to early on our last course tho - worth only 4 points it meant her run stopped at 29!

I'd love a trial that was just snookers :)

twas the night before the night before Christmas

and all around the dogs were collapsed in their beds,
with visions of varied things dancing in their heads.
Brody dreamed of weave poles that lead to the fridge
while Thea's head was full of cushioned images
Sally dreamed the crazy dreams that young dogs do
while Hank's thoughts were sober and true!

The people were scrambling to get things done
but the dogs made them stop and have some fun!

We are on HOLIDAYS - 2 whole weeks I hope - and I'm sitting here working on the next major school assignment - the final product is coming together fast which is good as I've done tons of leg work on it but I was worried it would be slow to gel .. hopefully I'll be done by tomorrow night and then can take a real break til I have to get my head around the next (and last) assignment!

a perfect agility blessing to head in 2008 with

Agility Blessing

May the tunnels not have too much suction,May the course be fun and fast.
May your dog not stop to say "hello"to the photographers they pass!
May the table not be too slippery,May the chute house no scary beasts,
May all the yellow parts be touchedwith one little toe, at least.
May the wind be always at your back,May no bars fall on the ground.
May the A-frame have no stop sign on the top,May the judge's whistle never sound.
May your dog obey all correct commandsAnd ignore the ones that are wrong.
May your heart be light, your feet be sureand the bond with your dog grow strong.
At the finish line, may great joy abound,regardless of your score,
You have your dog, your dog has you,,and who could ask for more?

Written by: PJ Hughes

well we stayed home

and that was a very very very smart move ...
the weather is wild out there - we got stuck on the side streets ... (drove out of it but crazy nevertheless)

worked Sally on wait and mat work ... did 50 nose touches too ;)
Brody did his tricks
and Thea hated the snow and salt

WAIT Sally

poor Sally all she does is WAIT - she has to wait for breakfast, lunch, dinner, to go out of the door, to come in, to get a cookie, to get a toy, to get in the car, to get out of her crate, to get her leash on .... if she wants it she has to wait. Some things are WAYYYYYYYYYY harder to wait for then others tho - what a girl!

why oh why do I have agile dogs?

agility is wonderful but .....

Sally can leap over the back of a wingchair

Brody will jump up onto a display table at the royal or all about pets just to say to people who are ignoring him (after being encouraged to do so ONCE)

Brody won't wait in a low ex pen for me (though I can leave him on a chair for half and hour with a wait cue)

Sally after practising table outside on a picnic table and some end tables thought maybe table inculded the dining room table

Sally thinks putting feeties up high on a chair and stretching to reach stuff on the mantel is just a new limbering motion

yah ... agility is great ;)

class night

tonight's class was interesting - lots of teeter work - board on ground, teeter between tables, surfing game Sally was amazing! Sophie was brave and happy too - fun to watch. 2x 2s from all kinds of angles ... no sweat 3 jumps across the space with the beginnings of a rear cross behind the dogs...

Practise makes perfect

well perfect practise does anyhow! Took it very slow and easy with Thea on the teeter tonight .. she looked ...I clicked... she touched ... I clicked- I sat on it and rewarded her for getting on it ... she was moving around on the bottom half of the board pretty well and we did tons of listen to the bang and treat her ... hopefully we'll have a break though soon! Brody was having fun running and on the teeter too. Sally was hilarious - like thats anything new! She bounded and bounced and raced through the 2 X 2s... she is too much! Sophie was a super star too :)

One of the toughest things

I'm finding about agility is figuring out my scheduling issues

can I do one day of a trial and get what I need/want from it?

should I do two days?

how many classes can each dog do?

how many classes my pocket book afford?

can I cope with running at all three levels?

Jan 4 and 5 should be hiliarous - I'm doing something like 16 runs bwteen three dogs - its a good venue for me to push myself a bit -the kingston folks know me and will laugh with me adn the starters/advanced ring is totally enclosed hockey ring - it actually bothered me when I first ran in it (just been there once) but Brody was instantly ok with it - so hoping the girls are too

I have to decide how to move Brody up for the upcoming weekend too - still can't wrap my head around that ... nobody told me about the administrative thinking involved in agility when I started playing ;)

cheers

(the picture here is one of the only dogs here who will never do agility - Ibby has actually just found his forever home - and while I'm happy for him I'm also very sad for me..thanks to Nancy Franklin for her amazing picture!)

Class night

Class is always fun. Tonight there were only three dogs so we all got to work lots. Sally was hitting weaves entries from all over the place - very nice to see. Ran full height teeter between two tall tables - easy peesy for the brave girl! Zipping circle at the end too - loads of fun. Brody came and watched and got treats and burned up lots of calories wishing he was playing. Sally's sister Sophie was great to watch as always too :)

WAHOOOOOOOO

go brody
go brody
go brody

Brody finished his starters games title today with a smoking team run ... not one wrong foot or even a close to wrong foot - which was lovely as his partner was SLOW SLOW SLOW ... as a team we used up almost all the very generous time and Brody was smokin'

our advanced standard runs were good too but one little bobble in each kept the qs at bay ....

he has tons of energy tonight and is raring to play again ;)

thea ran a sweet little snookers run ... 29 points and the teeter was only the 4th obstacle ...brody's snookers run was simply awesome ... one little blip out towards the in gate meant 36 points not 42 but he only needed 32 for the q ;)

WAHOOOOOOOOOO

Brody Rocks ...

Nice day today :) tho too cold for my little guys

the first run of the day was Thea's starters jumpers .. if the chute had been a bit later on course I suspect she would have blasted through it ... sadly as the second obstacle it looked too hard to the little bug

She did the rest of the course flat out and with great joy tho ;)

Then Brody had masters jumpers - he ended up fourth in his group with one run out- there were nine dogs in his group - I was worrying about a complicated serpentine coming up and didn't give him the info he needed about the moment we should both have been in so he tried to guess the course ... however 5 faults was pretty impressive for our first try on a course many of the folks who have been running for ages thought was tough!

Our two advanced standard courses were quite nice too - the first course Brody missed the entry to the weaves .. they were new weaves so I wasn't totally shocked - the second course he simply slid off the far side of the table - I didn't get there fast enough... DUH

the snookers course was sweet tho - Thea ran her heart out for 3 sevens and looked fluid doing so - unfortunately the teeter was obstacle 4 and it stopped us :( but she got 29 points - one of the highest scores
Brody was a bit distracted but responsive - we did 2 sevens and one five (I wasn't sure he'd do the aframe three times honestly) and was 2 footsteps from completing the number 6 series ... however he wracked up 36 thrilling points for a Q!

Only team left for his starters games title ;)

a fun day all round - for all three of us

Let's Get the Party Started

What a fun weekend being guinea pigs for the poor new acc judges was. It was freeeeezing which Brody and Thea were NOT impressed by. They thought lying on an iceberg was NO kind of fun but ran well apart from that. Sally had a blast and tried so HARD to be good - I was chilled to the bone but felt it was well worth the long drive and cold!

Lovely weekend

Didn't do a darn thing in a formal sense with agility training ... marked and rewarded attention from all dogs and did fitness work but apart from that we were all mellow in front of fire ;) Picked up the teeter totter - thanks Jennifer! Hoping the space thing works soon as the truck is FULL!

oops meant to include pictures ;)

The big picture of Sally is from over a year ago when she was at death's door. Her eyes are twinkling here but she was one unhealthy little girl. She had parasites she couldn't shake, intestinal issues that prevented her getting any value from food, and an immune system that was non exsistent! The small picture is her this fall blasting through a tunnel on course and full of herself!

The difference is truly amazing.

another night of fun fun fun

well apart from the essay that is! Got my marks and comments in on time- always a challenge for me... and then headed off to agility class.
Sally is a wild woman there- of course I realized on reflection that she gets wound up then gets to run ... guess I'll have to speak up and sit out a turn if she's getting too wired

Wild can be good though too - she was hitting the 2 x 2 weaves from anywhere - ANYWHERE and wrapping around the last pole to see what a good job she'd done

She was enthusiatic about everything in fact :)

She's a quick little monkey - as Nancy pointed out last night if she'd stayed in her adoptive home and healed they wouldn't have known what to do with her ( she was adopted because she was so laid back - HAHAHAHA)