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
Monday, September 15, 2008
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
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