Greensboro-
We only showed Clover on Saturday and she had a very nice Best of Breed win. Sunday we also have Bacchus and Flirt. They were winners dog and winners bitch and both earned a point.
Concord-
What a day Friday was. First we have Open JWW for Venus. She had a beautiful run! 9 seconds under course time, no faults. So she was 3rd place got a Q and earned her OAJ title!!! Whoo!
It is looking like a big conflict between conformation and breed so I move Venus to run first in Open Std. We have an ok run, 1 refusal at the weaves and 1 offcourse since she couldn't resist a dog walk until she was on it lol. Ended up with a Q though and a horrible time of 1 sec under SCT. Something didnt work right with the timers and they asked if I wanted to run again for time. Since I was in a hurry for conformation anyways I said no ad went to go show. Somewhere between Venus' two runs Bacchus attempted his run which consisted of do 2 obstacles and then jump on me.
Bacchus goes in and is Winners Dog but he was the only one. Flirt took Winners Bitch for 1 pt. Then we go in for breed and the judge can't take his eyes off of Bacchus. He ends up giving Bacchus Best of Breed over some very nice specials! Clover took Best of Opposite to him. He also made a cut in a very nice group.
Saturday we only had Flirt in conformation and nothing for her that day. Bacchus put on an entertaining performance in agility again. Venus pooped in the ring in Ex JWW! Our first time ever in Ex and she poops! I was so embarassed. I had just walked her but she was being stupid about the grass being wet. I don't really remember what happened in Std as far as why we didn't Q. It was a fairly nice run and I know there was a refusal at the weaves. I'm pretty sure it was another refusal somewhere.
Sunday we had Bacchus, Clover, and Flirt all in breed again. Flirt lost. :( Bacchus was Winners Dog and Best of Winners for another point. Nothing for Clover. Venus was very very slow on Sunday. I'm not sue what was going on, maybe she was just very tired. She had a pretty run in Ex JWW with 1 refusal on weaves. Other than that a clean run so I am thrilled with that. In Open Std 2 refusals but neither of them on weave poles! She did those right the first time.
Overall a very good 2 weekends. We hae a lesson with Ronda tonight so I might have another update tomorrow. There was someone videoing at the trail so I will post those videos when I get them.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
NADAC Trial
This trial was very interesting. Bacchus was wild and crazy and Venus was weird and hormonal.
Nov Weavers-
Bacchus- He was very wild and never did a set of weave poles correctly. He'd do a tunnel and then run around crazy and come back and do the next tunnel. I did tell him sit at one point so I could get him to settle and he actually did sit so that was good.
Venus- She had an idiot owner in this run. I forgot the NADAC rule about no collars so we had to quit the run.
Nov Jumpers (Sat)-
Bacchus- Wild and crazy again but he put a good effort into it. Knocked a bar and came back over a jump the wrong way.
Venus- She knocked a bar so I had her down and we left the run.
Nov Jumpers (Sun)-
Bacchus- He had me very worried about this run. He left the warm up jump when we were working that and went to visit people. He was erxtremely hyped so I had no clue what would happen in the ring. He was on the verge of out of control the whole time but did well. He did a nice call off on a tunnel and was trying to listen. As we got close to the end he leaped on my play growling and being wild. I got him to quit that and we finished up the course. He was entertaining.
Venus- She looked to me like she slipped after a tunnel and couldn't get her fet right to jump so she knocked the bar. I was going to let it go but she was so upset that she totally shut down.
Nov Chances-
Venus- Still upset from the previous run she was off in her own little world here.
Nov Reg 1 & 2-
Regular 1 Venus Qd and got her title! She was doing a little bit better dealing wth the hormones and had a nice run. Regulr 2 I didn't care abut I just wanted her to stay happy. Itwas very messy but she did ok.
Nov Touch N Go-
Another Q for Venus! She seemed much happier during his run.
Tunnelers-
Venus did well but we had a collision with each other and then she missed the last tunnel. I did get her in it but we were over time so no Q. There were a lot of dogs missing that last tunnel.
Bacchus washyped outside the ring watching tunnelers. Once we were in the ring he did good and would wait to find out which tunnel I wanted him in. He's understanding that the point of this game to go do the things I want and I think he likes that fact that there are some tricks out there with offcourse obstacles. He ended up with his first Tunnelers Q.
Nov Weavers-
Bacchus- He was very wild and never did a set of weave poles correctly. He'd do a tunnel and then run around crazy and come back and do the next tunnel. I did tell him sit at one point so I could get him to settle and he actually did sit so that was good.
Venus- She had an idiot owner in this run. I forgot the NADAC rule about no collars so we had to quit the run.
Nov Jumpers (Sat)-
Bacchus- Wild and crazy again but he put a good effort into it. Knocked a bar and came back over a jump the wrong way.
Venus- She knocked a bar so I had her down and we left the run.
Nov Jumpers (Sun)-
Bacchus- He had me very worried about this run. He left the warm up jump when we were working that and went to visit people. He was erxtremely hyped so I had no clue what would happen in the ring. He was on the verge of out of control the whole time but did well. He did a nice call off on a tunnel and was trying to listen. As we got close to the end he leaped on my play growling and being wild. I got him to quit that and we finished up the course. He was entertaining.
Venus- She looked to me like she slipped after a tunnel and couldn't get her fet right to jump so she knocked the bar. I was going to let it go but she was so upset that she totally shut down.
Nov Chances-
Venus- Still upset from the previous run she was off in her own little world here.
Nov Reg 1 & 2-
Regular 1 Venus Qd and got her title! She was doing a little bit better dealing wth the hormones and had a nice run. Regulr 2 I didn't care abut I just wanted her to stay happy. Itwas very messy but she did ok.
Nov Touch N Go-
Another Q for Venus! She seemed much happier during his run.
Tunnelers-
Venus did well but we had a collision with each other and then she missed the last tunnel. I did get her in it but we were over time so no Q. There were a lot of dogs missing that last tunnel.
Bacchus washyped outside the ring watching tunnelers. Once we were in the ring he did good and would wait to find out which tunnel I wanted him in. He's understanding that the point of this game to go do the things I want and I think he likes that fact that there are some tricks out there with offcourse obstacles. He ended up with his first Tunnelers Q.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
I am crazy!!
We have a show coming up later in November and I must be insane. It's a 3 day show with agility and conformation. So here is the schedule:
Friday & Sunday
Conformation- Flirt, Bacchus, Clover
Agiity- Bacchus (1 run), Venus (2 runs)
Saturday
Conformation- Flirt
Agility- Bacchus (1 run), Venus (2 runs)
Flirt will be the most important thing since she's a paying clinet dog rather than one of my spend your money dogs lol. Hopefully I won't overly stress myself. And yes I know those that know me are saying yeah right about that.
This weekend is the NADAC trial. I hope that when I get off work at 12 that I can make it over to the trial in time for Bacchus and Venus' runs. Hopefully I can find someone to video all of the craziness. 8 runs on Sunday! I don't think I'm ready.
Brandy
Friday & Sunday
Conformation- Flirt, Bacchus, Clover
Agiity- Bacchus (1 run), Venus (2 runs)
Saturday
Conformation- Flirt
Agility- Bacchus (1 run), Venus (2 runs)
Flirt will be the most important thing since she's a paying clinet dog rather than one of my spend your money dogs lol. Hopefully I won't overly stress myself. And yes I know those that know me are saying yeah right about that.
This weekend is the NADAC trial. I hope that when I get off work at 12 that I can make it over to the trial in time for Bacchus and Venus' runs. Hopefully I can find someone to video all of the craziness. 8 runs on Sunday! I don't think I'm ready.
Brandy
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Last National Report and Veni video
The rest of te National was ok. Bacchus got 4th in his weight pul class. Flirt was 4th in her Sweepstakes class and 2nd in her regular class. I also made the cut in breed with Ana, a friend's special.
I've been working weaves with Venus again trying to get the speed back.
Our next trial is a NADAC trial Nov 1 & 2. Bacchus and Venus are both doing Jumpers and Weavers on Saturday. Sunday Bach is doing Jumpers and Tunnelers, Venus is in Jumpers, Chances, Tunnelers, 2 rounds of Regular, and Touch and Go.
I've been working weaves with Venus again trying to get the speed back.
Our next trial is a NADAC trial Nov 1 & 2. Bacchus and Venus are both doing Jumpers and Weavers on Saturday. Sunday Bach is doing Jumpers and Tunnelers, Venus is in Jumpers, Chances, Tunnelers, 2 rounds of Regular, and Touch and Go.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Samoyed National- Tuesday
Ok so I had a lot going on that day at the National. Flirt (client puppy) had Futurity. Venus and Bacchus had agility runs. I got my friend Donna of Wintersong Samoyeds to show Flirt for me. It was Flirt's first time in the ring and they did great together/ Flirt was 3rd in a class of 14.
Venus' first agility run was Open Standard. She was hyped up (barking while doing the warm upjump) and I was concerned about her keeping bars up or not. She did 2 jumps and went wide and missed the 3rd. Then we had 2 refusals at the weaves and she never did do them correctly. Her table performance was interesting, she kinda slid onto the table. Her contacts were wonderful. The teeter was fine, the a-frame was nice, and the dogwalk was beautiful. Overall I was very happy with the run as a whole. Then we had our JWW run and again nice but some problems. I was able to leave her at a tunnel and run and she blasted out of there.
Next up was Bacchus' first ever run. I was very nervous about what kind of craziness he might decide to do. He stayed calm and ran well. He was slow and very distracted. I'm not really surprised since he hasn't really done agility anywhere away from home. He had one refusal that was my fault for confusing hm. Weaves took a little bit to get started because of the distractions. He got his first Q and a 1st place.
Then we had FAST which was the first time for Bacchus and Venus. Venus did a wonderful job and had a nice run for her first Q in FAST. Bach's run was random and sporadic lol. I was avoiding contacts, wanted him to do weaves, and he had never seen a chute which was part of the send.
Venus' first agility run was Open Standard. She was hyped up (barking while doing the warm upjump) and I was concerned about her keeping bars up or not. She did 2 jumps and went wide and missed the 3rd. Then we had 2 refusals at the weaves and she never did do them correctly. Her table performance was interesting, she kinda slid onto the table. Her contacts were wonderful. The teeter was fine, the a-frame was nice, and the dogwalk was beautiful. Overall I was very happy with the run as a whole. Then we had our JWW run and again nice but some problems. I was able to leave her at a tunnel and run and she blasted out of there.
Next up was Bacchus' first ever run. I was very nervous about what kind of craziness he might decide to do. He stayed calm and ran well. He was slow and very distracted. I'm not really surprised since he hasn't really done agility anywhere away from home. He had one refusal that was my fault for confusing hm. Weaves took a little bit to get started because of the distractions. He got his first Q and a 1st place.
Then we had FAST which was the first time for Bacchus and Venus. Venus did a wonderful job and had a nice run for her first Q in FAST. Bach's run was random and sporadic lol. I was avoiding contacts, wanted him to do weaves, and he had never seen a chute which was part of the send.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Lengthy National Updates- Herding
Ok so I will start with Monday and go from there with results and thoughts etc.
Monday- Herding
This was one of the worst things I have seen in a long time. The sheep were flighty and heavy at the same time. The first JHD run there was an opening in the fence and the sheep could wedge themselves behind a gas tank and you could't get them out. The sheep didn't want to be near people or dogs. One dog pulled from th morning JHD run based on how the sheep acted the day before. The other two dogs in the morning struggled and both were backed down a little by the sheep. Neither dog gave up though and they did a great job trying to move the sheep.
So my first run was Venus' 1st leg of her HCT. We made it through and she passed.
Next was Bacchus' 2nd leg of his HCT. He passed and earned his HCT.
Then it was time for Bacchus to attempt the JHD course. One of the 2 dogs from the morning ended up deciding to do HCT instead of JHD. The other dog started ff well but then was limping. I probably caused most of our problems in his JHD run but it was tough.
The blue is where the sheep came in the fence. We had a big problem navigating that area. The pink X nar that is where the sheep would often get "stuck". They would turn andstare at Bacchus but he seems to have enough power that they won't do anything more to scare him. I could send him along the fence there and get the sheep moved. We did ok with the bottom left panel (green square) when looking at the picture. We had real big problems at th 2nd pink X. Bacchus is the greenish arrow and the shep are the grey. To get them out of that cornerI sent him against the fence. Once the sheep moved they took off bac to the pen where they started and I would have to start over. If I sent Bacchus in the other way they would just bolt back the direction we had come from and be back at the pen again. We'd start over and work out of that first corner and get stuck again at the 2nd corner. We did manage to get the 2nd panel (green square on bottom right) somehow. I think it was pure luck. I couldn't figure out how to get the sheep off the fences and into the center panel. We ran out of time. :(
Bacchus was the only dog to make it through 2 panels that day so that was really good. I didn't get video on my camera but someone else did. Once I get that I will post it.
Venus then had her run fo her 2nd leg of the HCT. By this point the sheep were irritated and were refusing to move for many of the dogs. They would charge the dogs and refuse to move. When the Border Collies came in to change stock they had to grip the sheep multiple times to make them move. Venus was doing well until she got charged and hit by a sheep.
That night her foot was a little bit swollen but it was fine by the next day.
Monday- Herding
This was one of the worst things I have seen in a long time. The sheep were flighty and heavy at the same time. The first JHD run there was an opening in the fence and the sheep could wedge themselves behind a gas tank and you could't get them out. The sheep didn't want to be near people or dogs. One dog pulled from th morning JHD run based on how the sheep acted the day before. The other two dogs in the morning struggled and both were backed down a little by the sheep. Neither dog gave up though and they did a great job trying to move the sheep.
So my first run was Venus' 1st leg of her HCT. We made it through and she passed.
Next was Bacchus' 2nd leg of his HCT. He passed and earned his HCT.
Then it was time for Bacchus to attempt the JHD course. One of the 2 dogs from the morning ended up deciding to do HCT instead of JHD. The other dog started ff well but then was limping. I probably caused most of our problems in his JHD run but it was tough.
The blue is where the sheep came in the fence. We had a big problem navigating that area. The pink X nar that is where the sheep would often get "stuck". They would turn andstare at Bacchus but he seems to have enough power that they won't do anything more to scare him. I could send him along the fence there and get the sheep moved. We did ok with the bottom left panel (green square) when looking at the picture. We had real big problems at th 2nd pink X. Bacchus is the greenish arrow and the shep are the grey. To get them out of that cornerI sent him against the fence. Once the sheep moved they took off bac to the pen where they started and I would have to start over. If I sent Bacchus in the other way they would just bolt back the direction we had come from and be back at the pen again. We'd start over and work out of that first corner and get stuck again at the 2nd corner. We did manage to get the 2nd panel (green square on bottom right) somehow. I think it was pure luck. I couldn't figure out how to get the sheep off the fences and into the center panel. We ran out of time. :(
Bacchus was the only dog to make it through 2 panels that day so that was really good. I didn't get video on my camera but someone else did. Once I get that I will post it.
Venus then had her run fo her 2nd leg of the HCT. By this point the sheep were irritated and were refusing to move for many of the dogs. They would charge the dogs and refuse to move. When the Border Collies came in to change stock they had to grip the sheep multiple times to make them move. Venus was doing well until she got charged and hit by a sheep.
That night her foot was a little bit swollen but it was fine by the next day.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
National Updates
It's been a crazy week so far. Quick update- Bacchus got his HCT and 1st leg of his NAJ. Venus got the first leg of her NF. Flirt took 3rd in Futurity and 4th in Sweeps!
Lots of things to talk about after I get home.
Lots of things to talk about after I get home.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Happy Birthday Clover!
The first night I saw Clover
HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY CLOVER!!!
Clover is an amazingly special dog and I will never have another like her. She was MY first dog. My others were never actually registered in my name. I will never again have a champion at 7 months old. I will probably never again have a 2 time National Specialty Award of Merit Winner. She was my first ever agility dog.
Clover is the easiest dog I have ever lived with. She learns easily and wants to please. She tries her hardest to never be a "bad dog". She is the mother of my first actual litter.
Clover is a lovely girl and very sweet. She never causes trouble with any other dogs. Clover is a once in lifetime dog that we have been so blessed to live with.
Brandy
HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY CLOVER!!!
Clover is an amazingly special dog and I will never have another like her. She was MY first dog. My others were never actually registered in my name. I will never again have a champion at 7 months old. I will probably never again have a 2 time National Specialty Award of Merit Winner. She was my first ever agility dog.
Clover is the easiest dog I have ever lived with. She learns easily and wants to please. She tries her hardest to never be a "bad dog". She is the mother of my first actual litter.
Clover is a lovely girl and very sweet. She never causes trouble with any other dogs. Clover is a once in lifetime dog that we have been so blessed to live with.
Brandy
Monday, September 22, 2008
Ugh... A-frames! & Rio
I am still trying to figure out what to do about Venus' aframe. I'm just not finding anything so far that works well without some degree of injury (leaping when she's hyped up, slamming her front, or jamming toes!)
It's looking a bit crazy for my agility day at the National. Thy are doing Ex Std starting at 8am. After that is Ex JWW. There are a total of 42 runs between those 2 classes. Next will be Open Std which Venus is in. Flirt (client dog) is at 9am after 6 dogs, then there are 15 in her class. Pretty much I need 9-10 am to focus on Flirt and that looks like when Venus will be running. Of course. I have someone to cover Flirt for me but I had really wanted to take her in for her first time.
I can't believe I leave on Saturday and I have NOTHING done! My list today is mow the grass, do lots of laundry, gather show clothes, wash dogs, plus i have to go to work.
2 people I am staying with have laptops they are brining, I think. Hopefully I will have internet access and can update this blog. I may use it for results too so it might be non-agility for a while.
Ok one of my all time favorite Shelties is going to be in his first agility trial Oct 4th and 5th. Rio is one of Jenn's dogs and he's just adorable. Hehe before we went to Canada Jenn had to go to work or school one morning. After she left we decided to go back to sleep. Rio cae and took a nap with me. He's jut that sweet cuddly kind of dog. He is nervous about things sometimes and it is a huge deal that he has made it far enough that he is ging to be in an agility trial! I hope there is video!
Brandy
It's looking a bit crazy for my agility day at the National. Thy are doing Ex Std starting at 8am. After that is Ex JWW. There are a total of 42 runs between those 2 classes. Next will be Open Std which Venus is in. Flirt (client dog) is at 9am after 6 dogs, then there are 15 in her class. Pretty much I need 9-10 am to focus on Flirt and that looks like when Venus will be running. Of course. I have someone to cover Flirt for me but I had really wanted to take her in for her first time.
I can't believe I leave on Saturday and I have NOTHING done! My list today is mow the grass, do lots of laundry, gather show clothes, wash dogs, plus i have to go to work.
2 people I am staying with have laptops they are brining, I think. Hopefully I will have internet access and can update this blog. I may use it for results too so it might be non-agility for a while.
Ok one of my all time favorite Shelties is going to be in his first agility trial Oct 4th and 5th. Rio is one of Jenn's dogs and he's just adorable. Hehe before we went to Canada Jenn had to go to work or school one morning. After she left we decided to go back to sleep. Rio cae and took a nap with me. He's jut that sweet cuddly kind of dog. He is nervous about things sometimes and it is a huge deal that he has made it far enough that he is ging to be in an agility trial! I hope there is video!
Brandy
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Todays practice
I took Venus out today to work on contactsd and motivation. It was a wonderful training session! I took a target for Venus and worked a little on driving to the target. I kept food on the contact the whole time so it was all her rewarding herself. I wasn't worried about her rewarding something bad because if she jumped off too high she would land past the food and I could get it then before she could. She thought that was a fun game. I put it at the end of the a-frame and got beautiful contacts from her. She was doing a 2o2o most of the time and driving to it rather than trotting down to it. Then I tried the dog walk. First time was a little slow but then she started running quickly up and across and only a little slow down on the down side.
I then decided to try it with the weaves. The first time was about her normal speed but the 2nd time she flew through the weaves to get to it. We even started back away from the weave poles and she drove to them, hit the entry, and blasted through them all. Yay Venus!
Brandy
I then decided to try it with the weaves. The first time was about her normal speed but the 2nd time she flew through the weaves to get to it. We even started back away from the weave poles and she drove to them, hit the entry, and blasted through them all. Yay Venus!
Brandy
Monday, September 15, 2008
Crazy Venus!
Venus has been very hyped up the last few weeks. The weather has been awful lately. It is either extremely hot and humid or raining. Neither of which work to go tire her out.
Saturday I took Venus and Bacchus herding. We went through exactly what we needed to do for the HCT and JHD at the national. I was still very nervous about it. Both dogs did fairly well, it was mostly me having the problems. On Sunday we went herding again. This time in a different location and totally different sheep. It went well and we were able to use it like the trial. I think both dogs and I will be fine at the national. Bacchus held his stays amazingly well.
Today I took them both out to do agility. I had my mom come along to help with distractions. It was the perfect night to work on this. The woman who owns the equipment had her dogs out in their fenced yard. There is another fence that backs up to the field and those dogs were out and barking. My mom was standing around playing with Venus. It was a big test for Bacchus but he did extremely well. This worked for Venus some too because she got even more hyped up when she saw me working Bacchus. She did pretty well but several misses on the a-frame. She also had one crazy a-frame performance. She ran up, did a huge jump over the top and landed in the yellow. *sigh* I was glad to see the ethusiasm tonight though.
Brandy
Saturday I took Venus and Bacchus herding. We went through exactly what we needed to do for the HCT and JHD at the national. I was still very nervous about it. Both dogs did fairly well, it was mostly me having the problems. On Sunday we went herding again. This time in a different location and totally different sheep. It went well and we were able to use it like the trial. I think both dogs and I will be fine at the national. Bacchus held his stays amazingly well.
Today I took them both out to do agility. I had my mom come along to help with distractions. It was the perfect night to work on this. The woman who owns the equipment had her dogs out in their fenced yard. There is another fence that backs up to the field and those dogs were out and barking. My mom was standing around playing with Venus. It was a big test for Bacchus but he did extremely well. This worked for Venus some too because she got even more hyped up when she saw me working Bacchus. She did pretty well but several misses on the a-frame. She also had one crazy a-frame performance. She ran up, did a huge jump over the top and landed in the yellow. *sigh* I was glad to see the ethusiasm tonight though.
Brandy
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Not much going on
Sorry for the lack of updates this last month. We really haven't been doing much. It's just so hot outside that I haven't been training anybody.
We may be doing a show and go this weekend but it just depends on my schedule and the hurricane! It is scheduled from 9-1 on Saturday. Of course I work 9-12 and it is about a 30 minute drive to the site. Hmmm, by the time I get there I will have to squeeze everything into 30 minutes during a very hot part of the day! I'd like to take Bacchus and try him at a semi-trial like situation before the Sammy National. This is all assuming that Hurrican Hanna doesn't rain on it too bad to cancel. It'd be good for me though if they reschedule for Sunday.
We haven't had a lesson with Ronda in a long long time. I thin the next one is Oct 6th which will be the day I get back from Kansas so I won't be going to that. For those that are interested here's our preliminary schedule for the National:
Saturday September 27th- Leave NC and head out for the National. We'll stop somewhere and stay when we get tired.
Sunday Sept 28th- We continue along and arrive in Cameron, MO for herding on Monday.
Monday Sept 29th- Bacchus tries for his 2nd leg of his HCT and 1st leg of his JHD. Venus will try for both legs of her HCT. Then we head over to Topeka, KS and get unloaded and set up for the show. That night is novice weight pull which I might put Venus in.
Tueday Sept 30th- Agility for Venus and Bacchus. Venus will be in Open standard and JWW and Novice FAST. Bacchus will be in Novice JWW and Novice FAST. Then weight pull competition for Bacchus.
Wednesday Oct 1st- Relax! As of right now we aren't doing anything that day.
Thursday Oct 2nd- Dog class judging for Bacchus.
Friday Oct 3rd- Another day of relaxing and watching for my group.
Saturday Oct 4th- Best of Breed competition for my naked Venus.
Sunday Oct 5th-6th- Drive home and rest.
If I end up with a little more space I will be taking a puppy to show which will add showing her on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Nothing like a dog crazy week!
Here's a couple of recent videos since my last post. The first is just a little practice I did with Bacchus. I really need to quit procrastinating and start training him a 2o2o. I tried to keep him slow and calm on the weave poles. I am really afraid he is going to break one.
This next video is Venus' cool new trick. I've always wanted a dog that would do this.
We may be doing a show and go this weekend but it just depends on my schedule and the hurricane! It is scheduled from 9-1 on Saturday. Of course I work 9-12 and it is about a 30 minute drive to the site. Hmmm, by the time I get there I will have to squeeze everything into 30 minutes during a very hot part of the day! I'd like to take Bacchus and try him at a semi-trial like situation before the Sammy National. This is all assuming that Hurrican Hanna doesn't rain on it too bad to cancel. It'd be good for me though if they reschedule for Sunday.
We haven't had a lesson with Ronda in a long long time. I thin the next one is Oct 6th which will be the day I get back from Kansas so I won't be going to that. For those that are interested here's our preliminary schedule for the National:
Saturday September 27th- Leave NC and head out for the National. We'll stop somewhere and stay when we get tired.
Sunday Sept 28th- We continue along and arrive in Cameron, MO for herding on Monday.
Monday Sept 29th- Bacchus tries for his 2nd leg of his HCT and 1st leg of his JHD. Venus will try for both legs of her HCT. Then we head over to Topeka, KS and get unloaded and set up for the show. That night is novice weight pull which I might put Venus in.
Tueday Sept 30th- Agility for Venus and Bacchus. Venus will be in Open standard and JWW and Novice FAST. Bacchus will be in Novice JWW and Novice FAST. Then weight pull competition for Bacchus.
Wednesday Oct 1st- Relax! As of right now we aren't doing anything that day.
Thursday Oct 2nd- Dog class judging for Bacchus.
Friday Oct 3rd- Another day of relaxing and watching for my group.
Saturday Oct 4th- Best of Breed competition for my naked Venus.
Sunday Oct 5th-6th- Drive home and rest.
If I end up with a little more space I will be taking a puppy to show which will add showing her on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Nothing like a dog crazy week!
Here's a couple of recent videos since my last post. The first is just a little practice I did with Bacchus. I really need to quit procrastinating and start training him a 2o2o. I tried to keep him slow and calm on the weave poles. I am really afraid he is going to break one.
This next video is Venus' cool new trick. I've always wanted a dog that would do this.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Recent training
I have mostly been working Venus on her a-frame. Here is the first video of just seeing what her aframe is like when I run and do crosses. This run is what I do while training her. This is her natural aframe performance.
This next video is a little of Bacchus. Look at him focusing with the dog barking! I am so pleased with the focus I got from him that night. His first trial will be in September at the Samoyed National. We'll be doing JWW and FAST if they offer it. He doesn't know contacts yet. If we do FAST we will avoid the contacts and just run for experience.
The next part if working Venus on the aframe again. You will see her tail is down while working. She is nervous there sometimes because there are dogs in a fence that bark at her. At trials I generally don't relax and just run with her aframe like I do at practice. I figured since I can't seem to get that through my head maybe I can train her to my stupidity! First you will see me slowing/stopping. You may notice most of the runs are from the right to left side of the screen. That's because the woman who owns the equipment has a pvc square on one side. Since Venus understands that I wanted to see her aframe without that square involved. To get that on the down side we had to go right to left. The first run is the wrong direction and I think she responded to that box. 2nd and 3rd runs you will see she comes off high and to the side. 4th-6th runs are nice. She goes right to the end of the board.
Then I switched to leads outs at the aframe. The first one wasn't much of a lead out and it was a very nice run. That is her aframe that I love! The next one she came off high. Next 2 are good but one going the wrong way with that box.
We did one more training session with the aframe on another day. This time I worked bending over as she comes down. Thats another thing I tend to do at trials despite the fact I know it makes her jump instead of go down the contact. The first time she jumped off high. The next time was in the yellow but higher than I wanted. The rest were clean.
I'm going to try and video a game we play in the house tomorrow. It is a way to work agility in the house some without actually having obstacles in the house. It is how Venus has learned some things like "go around". I was shocked at how well she understood it at a jump when I had never used it that way before.
Brandy
This next video is a little of Bacchus. Look at him focusing with the dog barking! I am so pleased with the focus I got from him that night. His first trial will be in September at the Samoyed National. We'll be doing JWW and FAST if they offer it. He doesn't know contacts yet. If we do FAST we will avoid the contacts and just run for experience.
The next part if working Venus on the aframe again. You will see her tail is down while working. She is nervous there sometimes because there are dogs in a fence that bark at her. At trials I generally don't relax and just run with her aframe like I do at practice. I figured since I can't seem to get that through my head maybe I can train her to my stupidity! First you will see me slowing/stopping. You may notice most of the runs are from the right to left side of the screen. That's because the woman who owns the equipment has a pvc square on one side. Since Venus understands that I wanted to see her aframe without that square involved. To get that on the down side we had to go right to left. The first run is the wrong direction and I think she responded to that box. 2nd and 3rd runs you will see she comes off high and to the side. 4th-6th runs are nice. She goes right to the end of the board.
Then I switched to leads outs at the aframe. The first one wasn't much of a lead out and it was a very nice run. That is her aframe that I love! The next one she came off high. Next 2 are good but one going the wrong way with that box.
We did one more training session with the aframe on another day. This time I worked bending over as she comes down. Thats another thing I tend to do at trials despite the fact I know it makes her jump instead of go down the contact. The first time she jumped off high. The next time was in the yellow but higher than I wanted. The rest were clean.
I'm going to try and video a game we play in the house tomorrow. It is a way to work agility in the house some without actually having obstacles in the house. It is how Venus has learned some things like "go around". I was shocked at how well she understood it at a jump when I had never used it that way before.
Brandy
Monday, July 7, 2008
Concord Weekend
Lots of good, lots of ugly, and some bad. Out of 8 runs Venus Qd in 2 and had to leave the ring early in 3.
Froday- We started with a standard run. I made a mess out of that run. Venus refused her weaves on the first try. Then I turned to the table too soon and Venus turned with me instead of taking the jump. After the table I tried to get her into a better angle for the chute. I turned her too late so she missed it. Then she didn't hold her dog walk contact again, so she had to lie down and leave. In JWW she refused the weaves the first time. Then at a serpentine I didn't make it clear enough which jump I wanted her to take so she came back to me to see. I had an accidental blind cross too. I find myself getting in her way a lot on front crosses. When I did it I knew she was going to land behind me. The only thing to do was to stick out my hand and hope she read it. She did. It was a very nice run on a tricky course.
Saturday- Just beofre leaving on Friday I was talking with some people and we were dicussing liking running a particular dog over another. On the way to the show Saturday morning I started thinking about that more. When I was running Clover I never would have picked an agility trial over a conformation trial. With Venus I will. Why do I enjoy running Venus so much more? I think it is the fact that she loves it and she loves to run. So it finally hit me, like everyone has been telling me. I have to quit trying to control every little thing and let her run fast. That was my goal for the rest of the weekend. It also meant I needed to trust her to do things a little better.
In standard it started off very nice. I called her while she was taking a jump and caused her to knock the bar. She hit her weaves wonderfully in this run, probably because I was more relaxed and letting her just run. I left her at the table. She was in a sit and I walked away to the next obstacle. Since it was the a-frame I thought she might miss the contact with the speed she was going to have since I left her. Add to the fact I tried to front cross there, yeah she missed it. I also got in her path a little and caused a refusal. She held her dog walk nicely though. She did her parts of that run very well and ran fast. She was so happy when we left the ring.
In JWW she was running good but knocked a bar. She also refused her weaves in there. I felt she should have kept that bar up so she had to lie down and leave.
Sunday- Because of the speed the day before she was hyped to run on Sunday morning. In typical hyped up Venus fasion she knocked the 2nd jump (4th obstacle). Plowed down the triple, she hit the bar with her chest which is what she usually does when she's not thinking. I attempted to get away with downing her and then continuing to run. It didn't work and we got whistled off the course. Oh well.
I started stressing that afternoon about our JWW run. I had finally gotten my mom to come watch us and all she saw that morning was Venus being bad. I wanted her to see us run and I just really wanted to run. This run was probably slower than I would have liked because I was nervous and careful. We talked about "bad bars" before going into the ring and I really didn't want to have to stop running the course because of that.
Venus held up her end of the run. She had another clean run, hit her weaves, and had no faults. She came in 2nd place to a very nice BC.
Brandy
Froday- We started with a standard run. I made a mess out of that run. Venus refused her weaves on the first try. Then I turned to the table too soon and Venus turned with me instead of taking the jump. After the table I tried to get her into a better angle for the chute. I turned her too late so she missed it. Then she didn't hold her dog walk contact again, so she had to lie down and leave. In JWW she refused the weaves the first time. Then at a serpentine I didn't make it clear enough which jump I wanted her to take so she came back to me to see. I had an accidental blind cross too. I find myself getting in her way a lot on front crosses. When I did it I knew she was going to land behind me. The only thing to do was to stick out my hand and hope she read it. She did. It was a very nice run on a tricky course.
Saturday- Just beofre leaving on Friday I was talking with some people and we were dicussing liking running a particular dog over another. On the way to the show Saturday morning I started thinking about that more. When I was running Clover I never would have picked an agility trial over a conformation trial. With Venus I will. Why do I enjoy running Venus so much more? I think it is the fact that she loves it and she loves to run. So it finally hit me, like everyone has been telling me. I have to quit trying to control every little thing and let her run fast. That was my goal for the rest of the weekend. It also meant I needed to trust her to do things a little better.
In standard it started off very nice. I called her while she was taking a jump and caused her to knock the bar. She hit her weaves wonderfully in this run, probably because I was more relaxed and letting her just run. I left her at the table. She was in a sit and I walked away to the next obstacle. Since it was the a-frame I thought she might miss the contact with the speed she was going to have since I left her. Add to the fact I tried to front cross there, yeah she missed it. I also got in her path a little and caused a refusal. She held her dog walk nicely though. She did her parts of that run very well and ran fast. She was so happy when we left the ring.
In JWW she was running good but knocked a bar. She also refused her weaves in there. I felt she should have kept that bar up so she had to lie down and leave.
Sunday- Because of the speed the day before she was hyped to run on Sunday morning. In typical hyped up Venus fasion she knocked the 2nd jump (4th obstacle). Plowed down the triple, she hit the bar with her chest which is what she usually does when she's not thinking. I attempted to get away with downing her and then continuing to run. It didn't work and we got whistled off the course. Oh well.
I started stressing that afternoon about our JWW run. I had finally gotten my mom to come watch us and all she saw that morning was Venus being bad. I wanted her to see us run and I just really wanted to run. This run was probably slower than I would have liked because I was nervous and careful. We talked about "bad bars" before going into the ring and I really didn't want to have to stop running the course because of that.
Venus held up her end of the run. She had another clean run, hit her weaves, and had no faults. She came in 2nd place to a very nice BC.
Brandy
Thursday, July 3, 2008
First Open Jumpers Leg!
Whoo Venus was on today! It started with a run jumpers course. It was a clean run and we got lots of nice comments on it. She did something funky at the weaves but I'm not sure what. Venus ended up with a score of 100 and 1st place out of a class of 14! Yay Venus!
Our standard run went very well except a few things. She didn't hold her dog walk contact. I was testing her with running on like I do in practice and she didn't hold. Since she's been kinda down lately and I was in shock I let it slide. That will probably come back to bite me. She did her weaves poles on the first try, another yay! When we got to the A-frame I got a little nervous about it and I leaned forward. (Newsflash for me- that doesn't help them go lower on the board and makes her more likely to jump off) She missed her contact on the a-frame. Other than that a very nice run.
A friend of mine videoed the jumpers run on her camera. Hopefully I can get a copy of that. Here's the standard video but I have to warn you the quality is bad on it. Some dog of mine slimed the lens and I haven't been able to get it off. Add that to the fact it's meant to take pics not video so it has bad quality anyways.
My favorite part is the nice turn from the tunnel to the dog walk.
Our standard run went very well except a few things. She didn't hold her dog walk contact. I was testing her with running on like I do in practice and she didn't hold. Since she's been kinda down lately and I was in shock I let it slide. That will probably come back to bite me. She did her weaves poles on the first try, another yay! When we got to the A-frame I got a little nervous about it and I leaned forward. (Newsflash for me- that doesn't help them go lower on the board and makes her more likely to jump off) She missed her contact on the a-frame. Other than that a very nice run.
A friend of mine videoed the jumpers run on her camera. Hopefully I can get a copy of that. Here's the standard video but I have to warn you the quality is bad on it. Some dog of mine slimed the lens and I haven't been able to get it off. Add that to the fact it's meant to take pics not video so it has bad quality anyways.
My favorite part is the nice turn from the tunnel to the dog walk.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Monday's lesson and trial tomorrow
Monday's lesson went very well! I was so proud of Venus. She was back to her typical self. She ran very well, hit her weave entry every time and ran with nice tight turns.
She has my hopes up that she will be my lovely dog to run again this weekend. We have 4 days of trials and I'll be home each evening to post. I plan on getting video but I have to get batteries!
Brandy
She has my hopes up that she will be my lovely dog to run again this weekend. We have 4 days of trials and I'll be home each evening to post. I plan on getting video but I have to get batteries!
Brandy
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Bad Blogger- Again!
Ugh I haven't blogged in a while. I need to catch up with what all has been going on.
June 2- Lesson with Ronda
I had a slow unmotivated dog all night. It was hot but I don't think that's what her problem was. After she comes in season she seems to have a false pregnancy a few weeks later. She acts really odd, gaurding toys, won't play with the other dog, not very interested in food.
June 8- Sanford Trial
I had the same dog that I had at practice. It was a mess, and it just didn't go well. She was unfocused and just not with me. We weren't a team at all.
June 16- Another Lesson with Ronda
It started off with the slow boring dog. She came around a jump instead of jumping it and just looked bothered to be there. I pushed her through one course ok and it's like a switch flipped. Oh yeah, agility! I know how to do this!
The rest of the evening was much much better.
June 21- NADAC trial
Our first run was tunnelers. The one class that we could title in if it went well. I didn't warm her up at all. We just went in after watching Border Collies (her favorites to watch) and I got her revved up and let her go. It started off well until I fell after the 3rd tunnel. She was zipping around me considering diving on the ground to cuddle lol. The rest of the run was nice and she Qd!
The next run was Chances. She has been really clingy lately so I wasn't sure if she would be able to do the gamble or not. No problem, and she ran the course wonderfully.
The next runs were jumpers and regular. Qs in both of those runs. I was happy how both went and she was running nicely. I felt like I had my dog back.
Last was weavers. I didn't stay to see if she Qd or not but I think she came backwards out of a tunnel. It just didn't look right when I saw her heading for the last tunnel. She did 2 of the 3 sets of weave poles correctly on the first try. She ended up weaving 5 times and getting all but the one correct with one try. Yay Venus!
4 Qs out of 5 runs last night, I'm thrilled.
Brandy
June 2- Lesson with Ronda
I had a slow unmotivated dog all night. It was hot but I don't think that's what her problem was. After she comes in season she seems to have a false pregnancy a few weeks later. She acts really odd, gaurding toys, won't play with the other dog, not very interested in food.
June 8- Sanford Trial
I had the same dog that I had at practice. It was a mess, and it just didn't go well. She was unfocused and just not with me. We weren't a team at all.
June 16- Another Lesson with Ronda
It started off with the slow boring dog. She came around a jump instead of jumping it and just looked bothered to be there. I pushed her through one course ok and it's like a switch flipped. Oh yeah, agility! I know how to do this!
The rest of the evening was much much better.
June 21- NADAC trial
Our first run was tunnelers. The one class that we could title in if it went well. I didn't warm her up at all. We just went in after watching Border Collies (her favorites to watch) and I got her revved up and let her go. It started off well until I fell after the 3rd tunnel. She was zipping around me considering diving on the ground to cuddle lol. The rest of the run was nice and she Qd!
The next run was Chances. She has been really clingy lately so I wasn't sure if she would be able to do the gamble or not. No problem, and she ran the course wonderfully.
The next runs were jumpers and regular. Qs in both of those runs. I was happy how both went and she was running nicely. I felt like I had my dog back.
Last was weavers. I didn't stay to see if she Qd or not but I think she came backwards out of a tunnel. It just didn't look right when I saw her heading for the last tunnel. She did 2 of the 3 sets of weave poles correctly on the first try. She ended up weaving 5 times and getting all but the one correct with one try. Yay Venus!
4 Qs out of 5 runs last night, I'm thrilled.
Brandy
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Upcoming trials
We had a lesson on Monday. Venus did very well especially considering she was in season and hasn't worked in a while. We had weave pole entry issues again. *sigh*
Upcoming Trials:
June 8th- AKC- Sanford, NC
June 21st- NADAC- Youngsville, NC
July 3-6- AKC- Concord, NC
Update on Bacchus:
OMG this dog is so cool. After 7 days of training the channel method he has amzing weaves. This was filmed on the 8th day. He even is letting me do rear crosses!
Upcoming Trials:
June 8th- AKC- Sanford, NC
June 21st- NADAC- Youngsville, NC
July 3-6- AKC- Concord, NC
Update on Bacchus:
OMG this dog is so cool. After 7 days of training the channel method he has amzing weaves. This was filmed on the 8th day. He even is letting me do rear crosses!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
I've been slack!
I haven't posted in a while but there really hasn't been much going on. Venus was entered in a trial last weekend but she came in season. :(
I've been working Bacchus on his weave poles. Here's the latest video:
I'm entering trials tonight so I'll post in a few days what trials we're going to.
I've been working Bacchus on his weave poles. Here's the latest video:
I'm entering trials tonight so I'll post in a few days what trials we're going to.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Perry, Ga trials
So we went down to Perry, Ga for the agility trials and conformation shows. The conformation shows sucked for us all weekend. It was one of the worst weekends we've had in a long long time. Oh well.
With Venus being so brainless lately I thought I'd use these trials as training. Friday morning started early and Venus had to be measured. She ended up measuring 21 3/4 for her final measurement. I don't have to stress about that anymore.
Our first run was Open JWW and I knew it was going to be bad. It started at the warm up jump, Venus was barking as she was jumping. Then when I was walking her into the ring she was hopping on her hind legs to get to the start line. Venus jumped 2 jumps and then plowed through the third one. I downed her and we left the ring. She looked shocked that I had stopped the game so soon. Then we did down stays outside the ring, she wasn't happy.
That afternoon was our standard run. The run started off ok except Venus missed her a-frame contact. Since she doesn't have a command or specific behavior for it I let it go because she doesn't know anything different. All the more reason for me to quit being lazy and get my a-frame painted and together for her. We had a little problem at a tunnel under the dog walk. It was teeter to the further tunnel entrance. I don't think I rotated enough for her to see the tunnel entrance. The tunnel was u shaped under the middle of the dog walk. When I sent her to it she saw the dog walk. She gave me a weird look since it was a bad angle to get on the dog walk from but she tried it. I got her off the dog walk but she stepped on it again to get back to the side I was on and then into the tunnel. It was a sit on the table and that went well. No sliding off the other side! Then we got to the weaves. Venus weaved! She hit the entry and weaved 12 poles like she's never had a problem. Blew my mind completely.
Saturday we started with JWW again. It was a very nice run and I got to play with my handling a little bit. Again Venus hit her weave entry without a problem. She did pop out at the 10th pole but I started her again and she was fine. Next was a jump to the tunnel and then to another jump. Instead of running to and along the tunnel with her I stayed on the other side of the jumps. I sent her over the jump and to the tunnel and I stayed on the landing side of the next jump. It was beautiful but I tend to get excited about things like that and forget we still have more of the course to run. Luckily Venus picked up the next jump and we were back on track. I rear crossed the 2nd to the last jump and caused her to knock the bar. Ahh we were so close to that Q.
In standard we had teeter to the far end of the tunnel again. Venus headed straight for the wrong end of the tunnel after the teeter. I called her off but her head was already in the tunnel so I think we got a fault for that. She did come back though and I got her around to the other end of the tunnel. Of course by then she was thinking I was nuts, she was going in the tunnel, I called her away, and then sent her into the tunnel lol. Then we had issues at the dog walk to a tunnel. It was one of those where the tunnel went from beside the down side of the dog walk and came out on the other side. She had no clue what I was trying to get her to do after she went down the dog walk. She went back on the dog walk once and probably had a refusal there too. She hit her weaves again no problem and weaved all 12. The table was close since it was a down. She wobbled on the edge some but didn't fall off. It was a straight line to the finish and we were running and for whatever reason she didn't take the last jump. Since she had been so good otherwise (no missed contacts, good weaves and table, no bars) I didn't go back and make her do it. I just let her jump in my arms and be happy.
Sunday morning we started with our standard run. We had the same dog walk to tunnel thing again that day. We do the dog walk and into the tunnel and it went great. As we are running I start hearing a whistle. I look at the judge and hear her say just let her keep running. I had no clue what had happened and I'm racking my brain trying to figure out what we did wrong. We got to the weave poles and again Venus hit her entry and was weaving. Unfortunately she had to stop and sniff something so we got a refusal. I started the weaves over and she did fine. Another sit on the table that went well, then we finished up the course. OMG, we did it, our first open Q! I was so excited but nervous because what had the whistle been about?
The judge came over and it was because the e-timers had messed up. They told me I could take the time they had which was wrong or I could run it again. I was going to run again because I thought it would be good for Venus. They told me all I had to do was complete the course, bars, contacts, refusals, etc didn't count. The problem with the timers turned out to be that when a dog would start in the excellent ring it would start the timers in the open ring. The more I sat there and stressed while they worked on the problem the more nervous I got. What if I couldn't get Venus to weave and we went way over time and lost our first Q. I decided to leave it alone and take the time we had. We were 10 seconds under course time even with the timers starting early. Yes it might knock me out of a placement but I'd still have my Q. We ended up with a 3rd place anyways! The 1st and 2nd place dogs had no faults so we couldn't have beaten them with a faster time anyways.
We had a 6+ hour drive home so we decided to leave after conformation and not worry about the JWW run.
Sorry I have no video because I thought every run might be a down and leave the ring after a few jumps like our first run Friday.
Brandy
With Venus being so brainless lately I thought I'd use these trials as training. Friday morning started early and Venus had to be measured. She ended up measuring 21 3/4 for her final measurement. I don't have to stress about that anymore.
Our first run was Open JWW and I knew it was going to be bad. It started at the warm up jump, Venus was barking as she was jumping. Then when I was walking her into the ring she was hopping on her hind legs to get to the start line. Venus jumped 2 jumps and then plowed through the third one. I downed her and we left the ring. She looked shocked that I had stopped the game so soon. Then we did down stays outside the ring, she wasn't happy.
That afternoon was our standard run. The run started off ok except Venus missed her a-frame contact. Since she doesn't have a command or specific behavior for it I let it go because she doesn't know anything different. All the more reason for me to quit being lazy and get my a-frame painted and together for her. We had a little problem at a tunnel under the dog walk. It was teeter to the further tunnel entrance. I don't think I rotated enough for her to see the tunnel entrance. The tunnel was u shaped under the middle of the dog walk. When I sent her to it she saw the dog walk. She gave me a weird look since it was a bad angle to get on the dog walk from but she tried it. I got her off the dog walk but she stepped on it again to get back to the side I was on and then into the tunnel. It was a sit on the table and that went well. No sliding off the other side! Then we got to the weaves. Venus weaved! She hit the entry and weaved 12 poles like she's never had a problem. Blew my mind completely.
Saturday we started with JWW again. It was a very nice run and I got to play with my handling a little bit. Again Venus hit her weave entry without a problem. She did pop out at the 10th pole but I started her again and she was fine. Next was a jump to the tunnel and then to another jump. Instead of running to and along the tunnel with her I stayed on the other side of the jumps. I sent her over the jump and to the tunnel and I stayed on the landing side of the next jump. It was beautiful but I tend to get excited about things like that and forget we still have more of the course to run. Luckily Venus picked up the next jump and we were back on track. I rear crossed the 2nd to the last jump and caused her to knock the bar. Ahh we were so close to that Q.
In standard we had teeter to the far end of the tunnel again. Venus headed straight for the wrong end of the tunnel after the teeter. I called her off but her head was already in the tunnel so I think we got a fault for that. She did come back though and I got her around to the other end of the tunnel. Of course by then she was thinking I was nuts, she was going in the tunnel, I called her away, and then sent her into the tunnel lol. Then we had issues at the dog walk to a tunnel. It was one of those where the tunnel went from beside the down side of the dog walk and came out on the other side. She had no clue what I was trying to get her to do after she went down the dog walk. She went back on the dog walk once and probably had a refusal there too. She hit her weaves again no problem and weaved all 12. The table was close since it was a down. She wobbled on the edge some but didn't fall off. It was a straight line to the finish and we were running and for whatever reason she didn't take the last jump. Since she had been so good otherwise (no missed contacts, good weaves and table, no bars) I didn't go back and make her do it. I just let her jump in my arms and be happy.
Sunday morning we started with our standard run. We had the same dog walk to tunnel thing again that day. We do the dog walk and into the tunnel and it went great. As we are running I start hearing a whistle. I look at the judge and hear her say just let her keep running. I had no clue what had happened and I'm racking my brain trying to figure out what we did wrong. We got to the weave poles and again Venus hit her entry and was weaving. Unfortunately she had to stop and sniff something so we got a refusal. I started the weaves over and she did fine. Another sit on the table that went well, then we finished up the course. OMG, we did it, our first open Q! I was so excited but nervous because what had the whistle been about?
The judge came over and it was because the e-timers had messed up. They told me I could take the time they had which was wrong or I could run it again. I was going to run again because I thought it would be good for Venus. They told me all I had to do was complete the course, bars, contacts, refusals, etc didn't count. The problem with the timers turned out to be that when a dog would start in the excellent ring it would start the timers in the open ring. The more I sat there and stressed while they worked on the problem the more nervous I got. What if I couldn't get Venus to weave and we went way over time and lost our first Q. I decided to leave it alone and take the time we had. We were 10 seconds under course time even with the timers starting early. Yes it might knock me out of a placement but I'd still have my Q. We ended up with a 3rd place anyways! The 1st and 2nd place dogs had no faults so we couldn't have beaten them with a faster time anyways.
We had a 6+ hour drive home so we decided to leave after conformation and not worry about the JWW run.
Sorry I have no video because I thought every run might be a down and leave the ring after a few jumps like our first run Friday.
Brandy
Monday, April 7, 2008
Lots going on.
Ok so I've decided to start training Bacchus for agility. Clover is also doing some training, since I am interested in running contacts and she is retired I figured she'd be a good one to experiment with. I will post videos of them as I go.
Venus was supposed to have a lesson with Ronda last week but the weather was so bad that it was cancelled. She hasn't gotten to train in a while now.
We had a conformation show this past weekend and Clover was Best of Breed both days and made a cut in the group. That was nice for my first show of the year.
We leave on Thursday for Perry, Ga for conformation and agility. It's always a busy weekend but this will be my first attempt there at juggling both despite the fact I've said I'm never doing conformation and agility at the same show again. I never learn.
A friend of ours was hit by a car last week while he was walking. Of course whoever hit him didn't stop and kept going. Both of his legs are broken and when he gets out of the hospital he's coming to stay with us. This will be a chance to put Venus' talents to good use. Venus will pick up anything and bring it to anyone. She'll even get coins of the kitchen floor and bring them to us. Since he will be in a wheelchair and in bed if he drops something he can use Venus to get it for him. I hope she'll listen and work for him. It'd be helpful for when he's here by himself. I'll see if I can get video of her working that tonight.
I don't think I've shown this before but it's an example of things Venus likes to do and learn.
Venus loads silverware in the dishwasher. This video was after 3 or 4 days of training.
Brandy
Venus was supposed to have a lesson with Ronda last week but the weather was so bad that it was cancelled. She hasn't gotten to train in a while now.
We had a conformation show this past weekend and Clover was Best of Breed both days and made a cut in the group. That was nice for my first show of the year.
We leave on Thursday for Perry, Ga for conformation and agility. It's always a busy weekend but this will be my first attempt there at juggling both despite the fact I've said I'm never doing conformation and agility at the same show again. I never learn.
A friend of ours was hit by a car last week while he was walking. Of course whoever hit him didn't stop and kept going. Both of his legs are broken and when he gets out of the hospital he's coming to stay with us. This will be a chance to put Venus' talents to good use. Venus will pick up anything and bring it to anyone. She'll even get coins of the kitchen floor and bring them to us. Since he will be in a wheelchair and in bed if he drops something he can use Venus to get it for him. I hope she'll listen and work for him. It'd be helpful for when he's here by himself. I'll see if I can get video of her working that tonight.
I don't think I've shown this before but it's an example of things Venus likes to do and learn.
Venus loads silverware in the dishwasher. This video was after 3 or 4 days of training.
Brandy
Monday, March 24, 2008
Good Dog/Bad Dog
Yesterday we did the AKC trial in Youngsville, NC. Venus got her first official over 2 years old measurement! She measured 21 1/2, yay. Venus has always measured at 21 1/2, we measured her at that at 9 months old, at 17 months at her first trial, in Jan her under 2 by the VMO, and now her 1st over 2.
So now onto the runs:
Open Standard- There were so many nice things about this run. I started with a 2 jump lead out, she was so excited but stayed like a good dog. The tunnel entrance was beside the dog walk on the far side from me. I didn't really want to have to run all the way with her because I would be stuck and she'd get out of the tunnel and I wouldn't be in a spot to tell her where to go next. I decided to use "get out" and it worked great. She went into the tunnel no problems. She missed her weaves on the first try but we got all 12 on the 2nd try, yes! That is a big improvement over what we've done at recent trials. She did great on holding her contact at the bottom of the dog walk but almost messed up the table. I told her go table and she blasted full speed at it. I yelled table again hoping she'd think about the fact you can't blast onto it. She flew up, slid across, and wobbled on the edge, somehow she stayed on. Lol, someone told me later that my dog has good brakes. After the table was the broad jump, yes in open. Venus ran right across it, silly dog. I had been so nervous about that in novice and we had no problems, of course we had a brain when we were in novice also. The rest of the run was nice though.
Open JWW- It was a very tight course and I had no clue if Venus would be able to control herself or not out there. The answer is no but I never got to really find out on the tight part. She crashed the 2nd jump on the course and I was mad. I didn't do a front or rear cross there, I wasn't in her way, and I didn't say her name. I saw no reason for her to do that other than out of control craziness which I don't like. I called her back to me and told her down. She looked shocked that I asked her to do this in the middle of an agility trial. She dropped her head and tail and I again told her down. Lol, she laid down and rolled over and looked pitiful. I thanked the judge and we left the ring. He might have let us keep on running but I wanted to make a very clear point to her. Since it was only the 2nd jump she knew I wasn't happy and I was ending the game very early.
Whenever we've finished a course she loves to jump into my arms and have me hold her. It works out well because I think it's cute and I can't be upset with her when she's up in my arms. So even after a messy run we are both happy. Well there was no jumping in the arms so another clue to her that I wasn't happy.
At the last two trials I have gotten lots of very nice compliments from people about Venus. Mostly from people who saw her at the seminar. There are two things I keep hearing again and again; they've never seen a Samoyed that has as much speed/drive/motivation as her, and that I should be happy with the wild and craziness and that it will get better as far as me knowing how to handle it.
Brandy
So now onto the runs:
Open Standard- There were so many nice things about this run. I started with a 2 jump lead out, she was so excited but stayed like a good dog. The tunnel entrance was beside the dog walk on the far side from me. I didn't really want to have to run all the way with her because I would be stuck and she'd get out of the tunnel and I wouldn't be in a spot to tell her where to go next. I decided to use "get out" and it worked great. She went into the tunnel no problems. She missed her weaves on the first try but we got all 12 on the 2nd try, yes! That is a big improvement over what we've done at recent trials. She did great on holding her contact at the bottom of the dog walk but almost messed up the table. I told her go table and she blasted full speed at it. I yelled table again hoping she'd think about the fact you can't blast onto it. She flew up, slid across, and wobbled on the edge, somehow she stayed on. Lol, someone told me later that my dog has good brakes. After the table was the broad jump, yes in open. Venus ran right across it, silly dog. I had been so nervous about that in novice and we had no problems, of course we had a brain when we were in novice also. The rest of the run was nice though.
Open JWW- It was a very tight course and I had no clue if Venus would be able to control herself or not out there. The answer is no but I never got to really find out on the tight part. She crashed the 2nd jump on the course and I was mad. I didn't do a front or rear cross there, I wasn't in her way, and I didn't say her name. I saw no reason for her to do that other than out of control craziness which I don't like. I called her back to me and told her down. She looked shocked that I asked her to do this in the middle of an agility trial. She dropped her head and tail and I again told her down. Lol, she laid down and rolled over and looked pitiful. I thanked the judge and we left the ring. He might have let us keep on running but I wanted to make a very clear point to her. Since it was only the 2nd jump she knew I wasn't happy and I was ending the game very early.
Whenever we've finished a course she loves to jump into my arms and have me hold her. It works out well because I think it's cute and I can't be upset with her when she's up in my arms. So even after a messy run we are both happy. Well there was no jumping in the arms so another clue to her that I wasn't happy.
At the last two trials I have gotten lots of very nice compliments from people about Venus. Mostly from people who saw her at the seminar. There are two things I keep hearing again and again; they've never seen a Samoyed that has as much speed/drive/motivation as her, and that I should be happy with the wild and craziness and that it will get better as far as me knowing how to handle it.
Brandy
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Charlotte, NC trials
Ok so there is a reason that I call this blog agility laughs. If you are running a Samoyed in agility you have very few options. Mainly, laugh with them or turn red, hide your face and never appear at an agility trial again. (I actually did the 2nd choice after an obedience match with one of my Sams many years ago.)
Venus did her most Sammy like performance this weekend. She is still trying to listen and she doesn't seem to mean to be bad but she was out of control. If I got too close to the ring gate while walking by she would try and drag me into it. I love the enthusiasm with this dog!
We ended up with 4 NQs this weekend. I wasn't surprised. Her behavior about agility lately has been crazy. She's just so excited she does things like flying off the a-frame or wildly doing the teeter. We had lots and lots and lots of weave refusals this weekend. I'm going to see if I can go to someone's house and work weaves where she'll be excited enough for there to be issues.
There were handler issues also, again not surprised. For some reason I don't seem to be able to get it through my head that I can't push Venus off away from me. It just doesn't happen at this point. I need to do a cross of some sort so she knows where to look next. Eventually I will have that ingrained in my mind and remember to do it.
Run first, think later. Examples: flying off the top of the a-frame, crazy out of control teeter at our lesson, literally running into the tunnel at the trial. Hopefully the thought will come back soon. Our next trial is March 23.
Here's a fun video for everyone.
Brandy
Venus did her most Sammy like performance this weekend. She is still trying to listen and she doesn't seem to mean to be bad but she was out of control. If I got too close to the ring gate while walking by she would try and drag me into it. I love the enthusiasm with this dog!
We ended up with 4 NQs this weekend. I wasn't surprised. Her behavior about agility lately has been crazy. She's just so excited she does things like flying off the a-frame or wildly doing the teeter. We had lots and lots and lots of weave refusals this weekend. I'm going to see if I can go to someone's house and work weaves where she'll be excited enough for there to be issues.
There were handler issues also, again not surprised. For some reason I don't seem to be able to get it through my head that I can't push Venus off away from me. It just doesn't happen at this point. I need to do a cross of some sort so she knows where to look next. Eventually I will have that ingrained in my mind and remember to do it.
Run first, think later. Examples: flying off the top of the a-frame, crazy out of control teeter at our lesson, literally running into the tunnel at the trial. Hopefully the thought will come back soon. Our next trial is March 23.
Here's a fun video for everyone.
Brandy
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Seminar and Lessons
Ok, so let's start with the Silvia Trkman seminar. The courses were difficult but doable. Venus had a very good time and I learned to think a little differently. One thing she focused on was making the best line for the dog. Some places I saw it on my own but others I didn't and I would have handled it in a way that was tougher for the dog.
Remember how hyped up I said Venus was at the warm up jump during the last trial? Well since she is really liking agility this excitment is becoming her usual thing. I didn't warm up with a jump with her at the seminar, and that was a huge mistake. The course was jump then a-frame and that's as far as we got. Venus flew over the jump, up the a-frame, over the top, and never touched the down side. She was ok and didn't really seem bothered by her fall other than maybe that was a bad idea.
Despite being hyped she still listens which surprises me. Silvia liked her speed and thought we could get some nice times. She also said I need to quit trying to slow her down and control her, lol. I am still having a hard time with Venus' speed but it's getting better. I didn't video because it looked like most people were wanting to watch and not fool with a video camera.
Then last night was a lesson with Ronda. Venus had some nice runs and started off with nice weave poles. The longer we worked the worse they got though. She started a little out of control on the teeter and tire, but she did some very pretty a-frames. We have our next lesson the end of March with her.
We have a trial in Charlotte, NC this weekend. It will be Venus' first 2 day trial. We'll see how that goes.
And since I haven't posted a video in a while here's one of some things Venus is learning.
Brandy
Remember how hyped up I said Venus was at the warm up jump during the last trial? Well since she is really liking agility this excitment is becoming her usual thing. I didn't warm up with a jump with her at the seminar, and that was a huge mistake. The course was jump then a-frame and that's as far as we got. Venus flew over the jump, up the a-frame, over the top, and never touched the down side. She was ok and didn't really seem bothered by her fall other than maybe that was a bad idea.
Despite being hyped she still listens which surprises me. Silvia liked her speed and thought we could get some nice times. She also said I need to quit trying to slow her down and control her, lol. I am still having a hard time with Venus' speed but it's getting better. I didn't video because it looked like most people were wanting to watch and not fool with a video camera.
Then last night was a lesson with Ronda. Venus had some nice runs and started off with nice weave poles. The longer we worked the worse they got though. She started a little out of control on the teeter and tire, but she did some very pretty a-frames. We have our next lesson the end of March with her.
We have a trial in Charlotte, NC this weekend. It will be Venus' first 2 day trial. We'll see how that goes.
And since I haven't posted a video in a while here's one of some things Venus is learning.
Brandy
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
She did it!!!
We did the trial in Youngsville, NC yesterday. It was a 2 ring 1 judge trial so we didn't have to get up extremely early to make the drive out. When we got there Venus was very hyped up. We walked around and watched for a while to calm her. Eventually it may be fun to run her when she is pumped up like that but I'm not ready for it. I don't think she could mentally run like that and still listen either.
It came time for Open JWW and we went to work on the warm up jump. She was blasting over it at full speed ready to zoom somewhere as fast as she could. She listened though and behaved well. We went and waited at the ring for our turn, Venus isn't patient and kept trying to lunge into the ring. :) I'm glad she's that excited about doing this.
It was a nice course that I thought would be good for our first open run. It started off great and Venus was flying! She was ahead of me for the weaves but she hit her entry! Yay Bean! Jenn, a friend of mine who is my online agility instructor, thought maybe I've been crowding Venus on the weave poles at trials since I don't get near as close when I'm training. I really think she's right because Venus did much better out ahead of me. Check out the link to her blog Agility Addiction
over there------------------------------------------>
She did end up with a refusal on the weave poles because she entered so fast she didn't turn back in time to get the 2nd pole. It's always one issue or the other on the weaves but I'd rather take the speed issue than the entry issue. I started her over and she did a wonderful job on all 12 poles.
Silly dog, knocked the very next bar. Again she was flying and was 2 more jumps ahead before I could say anything about the bar. Since she was that far ahead I didn't down her but I did call her back to me to make her settle. There was no cross at that jump, I didn't call her, and it was her first run of the day so I couldn't think of any good reason for her to have knocked that bar other than being on the verge of out of control. I think I caused a refusal calling her back to me but at that point it didn't matter. The rest of the course was good until the last jump. She doesn't understand "go on" yet and she turned back into me at the last jump and went around it. Since we had NQed with the knocked bar I didn't worry with it.
The next run was Novice standard. We just needed the one leg for our NA. Again she was nice and fast, I think I'm getting better at handling her with some speed. We did a beautiful rear cross at the tunnel. She was far enough ahead I crossed before she was in the tunnel. She locked onto the tunnel when I said tunnel and did a very nice job. We had issues at the weaves again. She missed the entry, I was standing very close. The course was coming off the a-frame, the tunnel to the left, a jump to the right, and the weaves straight ahead. I wanted to be close to be sure we got weaves instead of the tunnel. Since it was novice I wasn't real concerned with a refusal on the weaves since they don't count, yay.
The rest of the run was going great until the end. She came out of the shoot and went to the left some and saw the table. If there is ever an obstacle that will draw Veni's attention and make her take an off course it is the table. She was running full speed for that table. I called her and she slid to a stop very very close to the table. It blew her mind that I wasn't coming over there and she seemed a little upset that she had gone off somewhere without me. Remember she's my velcro dog. She came flying back to me and over the very last jump for a Q, 1st place and the last lef of her NA!
Venus ended up with a 100% Qualifying rate in AKC Novice!!! I am so thrilled with how she's done so far.
Brandy
It came time for Open JWW and we went to work on the warm up jump. She was blasting over it at full speed ready to zoom somewhere as fast as she could. She listened though and behaved well. We went and waited at the ring for our turn, Venus isn't patient and kept trying to lunge into the ring. :) I'm glad she's that excited about doing this.
It was a nice course that I thought would be good for our first open run. It started off great and Venus was flying! She was ahead of me for the weaves but she hit her entry! Yay Bean! Jenn, a friend of mine who is my online agility instructor, thought maybe I've been crowding Venus on the weave poles at trials since I don't get near as close when I'm training. I really think she's right because Venus did much better out ahead of me. Check out the link to her blog Agility Addiction
over there------------------------------------------>
She did end up with a refusal on the weave poles because she entered so fast she didn't turn back in time to get the 2nd pole. It's always one issue or the other on the weaves but I'd rather take the speed issue than the entry issue. I started her over and she did a wonderful job on all 12 poles.
Silly dog, knocked the very next bar. Again she was flying and was 2 more jumps ahead before I could say anything about the bar. Since she was that far ahead I didn't down her but I did call her back to me to make her settle. There was no cross at that jump, I didn't call her, and it was her first run of the day so I couldn't think of any good reason for her to have knocked that bar other than being on the verge of out of control. I think I caused a refusal calling her back to me but at that point it didn't matter. The rest of the course was good until the last jump. She doesn't understand "go on" yet and she turned back into me at the last jump and went around it. Since we had NQed with the knocked bar I didn't worry with it.
The next run was Novice standard. We just needed the one leg for our NA. Again she was nice and fast, I think I'm getting better at handling her with some speed. We did a beautiful rear cross at the tunnel. She was far enough ahead I crossed before she was in the tunnel. She locked onto the tunnel when I said tunnel and did a very nice job. We had issues at the weaves again. She missed the entry, I was standing very close. The course was coming off the a-frame, the tunnel to the left, a jump to the right, and the weaves straight ahead. I wanted to be close to be sure we got weaves instead of the tunnel. Since it was novice I wasn't real concerned with a refusal on the weaves since they don't count, yay.
The rest of the run was going great until the end. She came out of the shoot and went to the left some and saw the table. If there is ever an obstacle that will draw Veni's attention and make her take an off course it is the table. She was running full speed for that table. I called her and she slid to a stop very very close to the table. It blew her mind that I wasn't coming over there and she seemed a little upset that she had gone off somewhere without me. Remember she's my velcro dog. She came flying back to me and over the very last jump for a Q, 1st place and the last lef of her NA!
Venus ended up with a 100% Qualifying rate in AKC Novice!!! I am so thrilled with how she's done so far.
Brandy
Friday, February 8, 2008
Whoops!
It seems I forgot to actually post the last post I made. Atleast it had saved and I could just add it!
No real updates because we haven't been doing much. We've been working weave entries again but she does so good at home. I found another trial to enter, yay! Our next trial will be in Youngsville on Feb 24.
Brandy
No real updates because we haven't been doing much. We've been working weave entries again but she does so good at home. I found another trial to enter, yay! Our next trial will be in Youngsville on Feb 24.
Brandy
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Venus NAJ!
Yay Venus! The runs were much better on Friday and I didn't feel like such an idiot running her, lol. We had a little bobble in JWW where I didn't give her enough information. She ended up with a nice time and 3rd place. In standard she had a very nice run, held her dog walk contact yay, and had a little bit of issue with the weave entry. She ended up with her first 100 and a 1st place in the Novice B 20' class! We just need on more leg in standard for her NA. Venus is 5 for 5 in AKC so far.
Look at her a-frame, I really hope she will keep that and it will stay her natural striding on there.
We have no more agility until March, ahh!!! March 2 we have a seminar with Silvia Trkman, March 3 a lesson with Ronda, and 8 & 9 an AKC trial!
Brandy
Monday, January 21, 2008
BTCA Trial
Ok, so we went and did the trial in Sanford yesterday after lots of stress. On Friday they were predicting 2-4 inches of snow here and worse to the south and east of us. Guess where Sanford is? So I was trying to decide if I needed to drive over while it was snowing on Saturday and get a hotel or just wait here and try in the morning. When I looked at the premium list there was only one hotel that allowed dogs. I figured it was probably booked so I stayed home to wait and see. The roads were fine in the morning so we drove down.
Our first run was jumpers. It looked like a nice course with a couple of front crosses. The problem was the very first obstacle. It was a curved tunnel followed by a double. In excellent several of the people that led out the dogs came to them instead of in the tunnel. Since Venus had problems getting in the tunnels at the show and go I didn't want to risk it. I had to start with her on my left but then quickly needed her back on my right. I didn't want to rear cross the double because I thought she might knock a bar. The plan was to do a front or blind cross after the tunnel. That didn't happen and I messed her all up.
Second run was standard. Another nice course where I decided to be a really bad handler and try to mess my dog up. Our goal was for Venus to hold her dog walk contact which she did!
So final results are better than expected. Venus Qed in both standard and JWW and came in 2nd in both.
Our next trial is this Friday!
Brandy
Our first run was jumpers. It looked like a nice course with a couple of front crosses. The problem was the very first obstacle. It was a curved tunnel followed by a double. In excellent several of the people that led out the dogs came to them instead of in the tunnel. Since Venus had problems getting in the tunnels at the show and go I didn't want to risk it. I had to start with her on my left but then quickly needed her back on my right. I didn't want to rear cross the double because I thought she might knock a bar. The plan was to do a front or blind cross after the tunnel. That didn't happen and I messed her all up.
Second run was standard. Another nice course where I decided to be a really bad handler and try to mess my dog up. Our goal was for Venus to hold her dog walk contact which she did!
So final results are better than expected. Venus Qed in both standard and JWW and came in 2nd in both.
Our next trial is this Friday!
Brandy
Thursday, January 17, 2008
No Lesson but Practice
Our lesson with Ronda was cancelled this week. I was stressed about not getting one more practice in before the trial so Beth let me come out on Monday. She gave me a few sequences to work.
Venus held her dog walk contact well which is what I was worried most about. Bars stayed up, weaves were good, and she was paying attention. She is actually starting to look for obstacles so I was able to do have her do a pinwheel while I stayed to one side of it. I then worked her on just the serpentine part of it so that I could get either or out of her.
Sunday is our trial and I'm very excited. I had been so pumped for the trial back in Nov when Venus came in season and we haven't had a chance for an AKC trials since then. This will be Venus' first standard AKC run and her 2nd AKC jumpers run. Wish us luck! I plan on posting as soon as we get home and hopefully I can get someone to video.
And just for fun, Venus' newest trick:
Brandy
Venus held her dog walk contact well which is what I was worried most about. Bars stayed up, weaves were good, and she was paying attention. She is actually starting to look for obstacles so I was able to do have her do a pinwheel while I stayed to one side of it. I then worked her on just the serpentine part of it so that I could get either or out of her.
Sunday is our trial and I'm very excited. I had been so pumped for the trial back in Nov when Venus came in season and we haven't had a chance for an AKC trials since then. This will be Venus' first standard AKC run and her 2nd AKC jumpers run. Wish us luck! I plan on posting as soon as we get home and hopefully I can get someone to video.
And just for fun, Venus' newest trick:
Brandy
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Happy New Year!
Venus and I went to a Show and Go on the 1st at Doglogic again. The course was hard and Venus and I struggled on it. I have a video of her doing one run on each course. She refused almost every tunnel that day which is odd for her. She had a hard time with the weave entry on the standard course so we worked that after it was over. Again she didn't want to hold her dog walk contact there. I am hoping it is just that equipment and that it isn't going to occur at trials. I was thrilled with the weave entry on the jumpers run!
Here's the video from the show and go.
We have a few things coming up this month:
Jan 14- Lesson with Rhonda
Jan 20- AKC Trial
Jan 25- AKC Trials
Brandy
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