yay!

 WICCA GOT OUT OF STARTERS JUMPERS!!!!!!!! YAY! She almost killed herself in the process but we didn't knock any bars and it was beautiful, and done in 20seconds...I was thrilled...The almost killing herself part was the crash through the tire (the first obstacle) where she did a very flashy 360 in the air, landed on her head and kept running....my god this dog scares me....

 

more news about the weekend to follow when I have more time

 

 

 

The Countdown (s)

So lots of things are happening right now.
Our trial that we are hosting is in 3 DAYS
I have exactly 7 working DAYS at the kennel left
I am going to a seminar with Shannen in 8 DAYS
I am going to the Cardigan Nationals in 9 DAYS
and, the Daycare officially opens in just about 2
WEEKS!

Our first ever Go! Dog Go! Sanctioned AAC Trial is
this weekend- it has been lots of work so far but I am
pretty excited about it. It should be lots of fun- our
trial site is great and our core group of people have
been just awesome so hopefully everything runs
smoothly...I have taken Friday off of work so that I
can do all the last minute stuff....

The AKC Show is going to so much fun. It is 5 days of
visiting, shopping, hanging out with friends and
meeting lots of nice people and dogs. And of course
running my own dog...I am camping on site, and am
taking the three corgis...Kate is going to stay at my
parents. It will be Vito's first camping trip, and his
first time at such a big show. I think he will do well
though. Sam is coming even though he isn't doing
anything. I feel so bad leaving him at home, I figured
he could come and torment all my friends with his
barking....hehehe.....And Wicca is going to be running
her little tail off.

Mondays, Agility and the River

It is monday...I hate mondays. Mondays mean work. Specifically Mondays mean an extra long day- Work at the kennel from 6:00-6:00, and then teach from 6:00-9:00. It also means there are lots of dogs at the kennel. Which means lots of cleaning and lots of barking. This Monday I am tired. I have a kink in my back somewhere and I could really go for a nap (it's 7:59am) hehe...
But enough complaining...

Yesterday was a fun day, We did agility in the morning, which was fun- we had a course set up for our students to practice "trial" stuff - and to go over AAC Rules again. I ran Wicca and she was pretty bad...well, I was the bad one I suppose. For whatever reason Wicca has lost some of that great obstacle commitment she had- specifically jumps. She obviously has some anxiety about jumping now...*sigh*

After agility in the A.M. I took Wicca and Vito swimming at the river-Vito hadn't been to the river yet- he had so much fun! He was a little unsure at first, but got more and more brave about fetching sticks and toys. The first time her actually swam he went under for a second or two when he tried to get the stick, but once he got that sorted out he was great. It was very cute, too bad I forgot my camera....Wicca of course had a blast. I went with my friend Jolayne and her border collie Tag (and her human baby Aislyn) Wicca and Tag swam almost non stop for more than an hour- Wicca's leg actually had a cramp! She was pretty tired last night and slep from the minute we got home until this morning!

I am going out in about 15 minutes or so to work Weave pole entries with Wicca. Tunnels and Weaves....a set of 6, two sets of 3 and a set of 12...with lots of tunnels....My plan is to reward for entries so we'll see how that goes...

So that's my post of the day...I am finding posting is easy again- I am posting mostly through my email so I don't actually have to come to the blogger site...it's pretty handy...

A Day Off

So it is a Saturday and I am sitting at home wondering what to do with my day! I can hardly believe that I have nothing planned...Well, I have an obedience lesson at 10:00 but beyond that my day is free. That doesn't happen very often!

It is kind of overcast today so it isn't likely to get toooo hot today- which is a good thing! Tomorrow I am going out to do some agility- we are setting up a course and having some run thru's. It should be fun. Our trial is next weekend, I can't believe it! It seems like July has flown by. Thankfully lots of the stuff is done already, just a few last minute things need to be done...

I taught Wicca how to play basketball yesterday- it was really cute. My friend gave me this little toy basketball hoop and I thought it would be fun to teach wicca how to "score" She caught on really quick and is very proud of herself. I am going to teach Sam too, but I know that he will probably wreck the ball in his excitement!

So yeah, nothing exciting to report- just a relaxing weekend....

-amanda

Sunburned

So I am back from the CKC agility trials held at Indus
this weekend. First things first- it was hot...really,
really hot. I of course neglected to put sunscreen on
and am now burnt to a crisp. My shoulders are hot
enough that you could fry an egg or two on
them....Geesh. What was I thinking!

Wicca was great, actually she was better than great.
She was awesome. We had only one off course the whole
weekend, had fabulous weavepoles, I layered every
chance I got and she had pretty good contacts. We did
however manage to knock a bar EVERY run except one.
*Sigh*
Damn those bars, really. It makes me really
frustrated. Wicca is such a good dog but she has to
learn to pick up her feet- it is getting rather
ridiculous- and expensive. She would have Qualified
EVERY run except she knocked a bar or two. Never more
than two. Three times it was the last bar- and we have
been working hard on that but I will have to work even
harder to fix it.

We did manage to have one qualifying run- the last run
of the weekend- JWW. It was probably the WORST run of
the weekend but she didn't knock any bars. It was
choppy and we almost lost it when she didn't commit to
a jump, I had to take her back and resend
her....everyone was cheering for us which felt good,
but I am pretty frustrated with the one bar thing.

Oh, and another thing that popped up- going down on
the start line....she was pretty bad about it actually
and I had to reset her a few times. She didn't break
once though and got all of her contact except one (and
by got I mean stuck it until I released. Wicca hasn't
actually missed a contact since....never...)

So my new training plan for her- JUMPING. JUMPING..
JUMPING AND JUMPING.
I really want her to not knock any bars at AKC.
Really, really, really. It will really suck if Guiness
beats us...Although I may be hanfdling him
anyways...but still Wicca is an amazing dog if she
would just pick up her feet...
So we are going to do jump chutes EVERY day. I don't
care if I have to go out and do it in the dark, or
come to work half an hour early. We are jumping EVERY
day....that's that.

Vito and Sam got to stay home and my dad came over to
stay with them. It was a CKC event so Vito isn't
really allowed, and Sam gets too wound up....Poor
Sam...

-Amanda

Hot, Hot, Hot

Well it is mid July already- hard to believe. And it is VERY hot....Half the time I feel like I am melting. And it is only supposed to get worse....

Anyways, on to a cooler subject...(lame, I know but still funny)

I am changing jobs soon and I am feeling very, very good about it. The kennel has been a great place for the past year but I am getting more and more frustrated working there (becuase of things I won't discuss here) and when I had an offer from a friend to work at her just opening Doggy Daycare- AFTER some deliberation I jumped at it. I think it will be more like what I thought the kennel was. - A place where dogs can play, get exercised, stimulated and attention. I am really excited about it and will let you know how it goes. My current boss is still unaware that I will be leaving- he is in France for the month so I will talking to him as soon as he is back. I am debating about sending an email to him a few days before he gets back...The daycare will be opening the second week of August (the 13th) So in a little over a month I will be working at Paws on the Run....Fun!

The picture above was taken at the AAC Regionals a few weeks ago...same with this one. This one is funny because of her tail- she has always had a high tail set but this is ridiculous! :)

Wicca has been getting better and better. I am really happy with how she is doing. We have been working hard on our weave entries and jumping. Her contacts, startlines, discrimination and distance are all really great right now, but I know that one of those is bound to take a beating soon...We have a CKC Agility trial this weekend- hopefully we can finish up our Novice title. And then our Go! Dog Go! Trial is the 28th weekend- it will be very fun- but lots of work, and then the weekend after that is the big AKC Show in Calgary- it is the Cardigan National Specialty and I have Wicca entered in Altered...(hehee) Agility, and Rally...It should be very busy, and very fun.

Sam is still lame. It makes me sick.

Vito is growing up to be quite a good littel dog- thankfully he has been doing quite a bit of growing in recent weeks and is more and more energetic. Which is a good thing. We have done some agility stuff- but mostly we are working on just being a good dog.

I have a training plan made up for him

What he knows:

Sit- 100%

Down- 100%

Stay- 50%

Come- 80%

Touch- 100%

Target 75%

Watch 50%

Fetch 30%

Heeling- 80% (10-15 steps)

Swing 50%

Finish- (left) 75%

Bottom- 50%

Things to work on:

Fetch

Watch

Target

Swing

Heeling

Bottom

Things to Teach in the next 6 weeks

Stand

Go

Ready

Rear Cross

Front Cross

High Five

Left

Right

And I wonder why I am tired!!!!

Anyway- I won't promise to write more as it never seems to happen but I will try and make it here more frequently...

By a hair....

Well, once again I had great intentions to post more often but well....real life gets in the way I suppose...
So, on to the news..

This past weekend was the AB/NWT Regionals and Wicca and I competed and Qualified!!! It was a great weekend and I am very proud of my little dog. We have come a LONG ways in a year and I cannot beleive what a good dog she has become. We had some really stellar runs- and runs that made me go "oh my...that was rough." :o)

Over the course of the weekend we didn't have one blown start line or one blown contact. We had a few (I think 4 overall) knocked bars and of course some blown weave pole entries. We had AWESOME Gambles- we almost had the first one and she knocked the bar on the last jump (and we've been working SO hard at that...dammit ;o) )
The second one I rushed and she took the wrong obstacle but the point gathering was great. We got lots of mini gambles, and earned a lot of points. Her standard runs were not too bad- the one on Saturday was good. I did a decent job of handling her, the one on Sunday had a rough start- an awesome middle and a horrible end. She FLEW off the teeter- which was the second last obstacle, after doing the middle portion of the course beautifully- a long fast row of jumps without one bar down and then she goes and does a superman impression off the teeter. Her teeter fly off costed us 2nd place overall...not that I'm competitive... hehe
The jumpers were pretty good. Small amount of bars knocked, and only one weird Wicca moment...The saturday jumpers was good- Sunday was interesting. There were three tunnels in the middle of the course in clover leaf pattern. She was doing great- hadn't sucked into the wrong tunnel or anything. I sent her tunnel and she went OUT around them all...what a silly dog...she earned us a refusal and then with me scrambling to get where i needed to be I didn't give her directions soon enough and we earned an off course aswell....

So over all we earned 306 points..you need 300 to qualify....we made it by a hair and I am thinking seriously of going to Nationals...I still have some things to iron out but I think it will be something that I will always remember and I may not get another chance- they are raising the points needed next year by a 100 and well...ya never know...so I might aswell take the chance when I have it...
Oh- we placed third in our class and were only 20 points behind 2nd place...We did good, Wicca and I, and I am very proud of us....

I didn't get any pictures but there was a photographer there so I am going to scope out her website and see if she got any...

I will post more later about the other beasts...

untitled

So it is the end of may- and I haven't posted anything at all...

Sam is still lame- he does not seem to be really improving lately. It is pretty frustrating and I am not sure what I need to be doing now. I am going to contact a second canine rehab person- one that deals with dog sports. Maybe she might have more ideas or suggestions.

Wicca is great. She and I went into the Open ring for the first time a few weeks ago in Medicine Hat and it was pretty good. We didn't pass neither times, but her heeling was the best yet and she was pretty excited to be there! She broke her stays- and she walked over the broad jump once. So we have lots of things to work on. Agility wise we have been doing quite a bit. I went to a Terry Simons seminar and it was fantastic. I felt pretty good by the end of the weekend- usually I feel like I am not a good enough handler for my dog- but at this seminar I felt just the opposite! I did a damn good job with my dog and I am pretty proud of that.

I changed Jack's name to Vito. He came with the name Jack and I wasn't going to bother changing it but I know a few human babies named Jack and when I started thinking about names and the name Vito came up I knew it was him!
Vito is an amazing little guy- he gets cuter as the days go by. He is VERY border collie-like. He may be short but his little brain is hardwired to be a border collie! He is very smart and will pick things up after a few repetitions. Vito is sensitive but can be quite a little jerk all at the same time. He has been really fun so far to work with and he is becoming a toy maniac!!! He will tug just about anywhere and will actually work for a toy now. Vito is pretty much over his weirdness from when he first came. I have taken him everywhere with me and he is now running up to people and is pretty outgoing MOST of the time.

I can't believe it is APRIL!!!

Wow! It has been a while. I can't beleive I haven't posted anything since december.
Actually if the blogger people care most of the reason I didn't to begin with was the new google thing. Everytime I tried to log in it would freeze my computer. Ticked me off so I stopped trying.
Anyway...

Where to start.
There have been a few trials since December. Lots of fun training. A seminar which was awesome. Oh- and I have a new dog!

I can't remember the trials very well. I will have to look back in my record book to see how we did. Training wise we have been doing a ton. Wicca and I are doing well. I am learning -still- how to handle her and I have seen a lot of improvements in her. We have been doing lots of jump work- still- and I dropped her to 6" specials in AAC. I was getting really frustrated about the one knocked bar thing and I really think that part of her problem is her build. Although we had Kim Collins here for a seminar in march and she disagrees completely- she said that it is me (of course) and Wicca not knowing how to jump. Which I kinda disagree with because we have done jump work- but not enough I do admit to that. So anyway- 6" is better for her physically regardless.
Sam was doing fantastic. He is such a good boy and we were working hard at getting some more distance work, better discriminations and jump patterns. And then he went lame. It sucks. I was very sad. I have since realised that he IS okay and will not die. nor does he particularily feel alot of pain so it is okay. It took a while to say that really. Anyway- it was a week before the seminar- I noticed he was a bit lame on a monday- put him on full rest for a week and he seemed to be better. Did a few things at the seminar with him and by sunday afternoon I knew something was definitely wrong. I waited a week- again lots of rest. Took him to the vet- he gave me anti-inflammatories and said no stairs, no jumping. It is for sure his right hind leg- but the vet could not diagnose the actual problem. We did xrays which showed good hips, good knees and no obvious problems. A week later and he was still limping. Again to the vet- a different one this time. She gave me more anti-inflammatories and strict crate rest. Sam is very unhappy. He is grouchy and miserable therefore everyone else is.
Last week however a dog physio lady named Genie came to see Sam and the difference is amazing. He is doing SO well. She has come a total of four times now and she really knows what to look for and what to do with him. We have been strictly following vet orders of crate rest, and between that and the physio he is doing well. He will be off his feet for at least another four weeks and off agility for at least 3 months. It sucks. He wants to play and really puts up a fuss when he is left home. Poor Guy...

On to other news, I have a new dog. There, I said it. I HAVE A NEW DOG!
wow.
His name is Jack or Jackson or Jack @$$, depending on the day. He is a border collie, corgi cross who is very adorable. His story is a typical one- he was purchased by a family with four children two of which have no idea about how to play with a puppy. So by 16 weeks old little Jackson had taken a few chunks if face off them and was a very suspicious and angry little puppy. I took him to foster. But after the first few weeks he has grown on me. I am a sucker for "problem" dogs I suppose. Jacks issues are food possesiveness, he can be a bit snarky with other dogs, he isn't always friendly to people and he really hates being told what to do!!! Besides all that he is a doll and I am growing more and more in love with him. He is a genius- really. He is very smart, very food motivated and has this border collie sweetness that I don't realy have with the corgis. I am in love, and Jack is staying even though I really don't need another dog, and I really didn't need a mutt, but oh well. :)

So that is my life the past few weeks in a nut shell. I have been working my tail off to buy a car, fix a car, insure a car, get a license etc. and then had to shell out the majority of that money for Sam.....some things never change I suppose.
Now that my computer seems to not mind the whole google sign in thing I will be back to posting on a regular basis.

-amanda

Wicca earns her CD

Wicca finished her CD degree last weekend at the Calgary Canine Center. She already had one qualifying score from Medicine Hat in the summer and recieved the last two needed on the the 26th of November. We have been training alot and she has improved so much in the past few months. At the trial however she was pretty rotten, she was actually nervous I think but even with encouragement do you think she would sit? not a chance. So we missed every sit, but we had a decent recall, good heeling, and she did her long sits and downs no problem. Now we can pursue our Open and Utility exercises full time. She has pretty much all the open exercises down pat and we just need to polish and fine tune some small stuff. We haven't worked much on out of sight stays though so will be tackling that fixing some other problems that popped up.

I am very proud of her even with her poor performance. She is a great dog and is still young, she has quite a bit of growing up to do, and she and I need to learn to work better as a team. It is all a work in progress I guess!

agility stuff

Well, lots has happened in the past few weeks. I guess I'll start in order

Agility Trial- Balzsac
-Sam Q'd in Jumpers. Wicca ran really well, still blowing me off on contacts, missing weave entries, but had good start lines

Private Lesson with Shannen- Was awesome! We had a blast and Shannen always has really great ideas for stuff- She suggested I actually put a command to a "tight" around a jump for Sam and Wicca, and also had some really good reminders about being consistent with the little things- treating low on contacts, demanding a nose touch etc. Also she showed us the "gates" on the weave poles and I am totally going to try that with Sam- he has been the hardest dog to teach weaves, I think this will just help him to "get" it. Overall, It was very worth the drive and Sarah and I are going to do it again on the 25th of Nov.


Have been practicing alot lately, Sam offered 6 poles by himself, no gates, and I was about 8 feet behind him. He is really starting to get it, I am so excited! Wicca is doing awesome with her contacts and start lines. I feel that we are finally getting somewhere. There are moments of brilliance in this dog- of course she usually burst s my bubble by promptly [plowing into a jump or something stupid.

Nov 11- AAC Agility trial- Calgary agility
We went up just for the day and my dogs did awesome. No Q's but huge improvements with both of them.
Sam weaved 12 poles in Adv. Std. It was amazing- he nailed the entry and stayed in the whole way! He was a very good boy all day and had some great runs. I think I may have to be more clear with him what I expect for the contacts though. With all this confidence his speed is way up and he missed two contacts today. And I need to start incorporating the spread and the double more into training- both dogs knocked those today.
Wicca had rock solid start lines, and STUCK EVERY CONTACT! I am so happy with her, she was really really great today, she nailed a few weavepole entries and overall was jsut a really great dog today.

-amanda

Fun Weekend

We had a great time at the Training Troop Trial in Blazsac this weekend. I had Wicca entered in the whole trial and Sam in four games- Snooker, Jumpers, Gamblers and Team.

Wicca had a great weekend- she ran really well for me- getting the masters gamble but not enough points...She had some moments of Frenzy but I only took her off early once. Her best run was a standard- We had a great start line (the no leash thing works amazing!) and made it half way around the cours with no faults and the whistle blew- the timer malfunctioned- so we got a re run- we had some faults (two bars I think) and I made her redo her dogwalk but it was smooth and felt good. She had a good jumpers run aswell but I was too far behind from where I had planned to be and didn't handle it very good. Snooker was a bust (as per usual :o) ) She right off the bat changed my plans but I thought quick enough and salvaged the opening- we were just starting the closing when instead of taking the tunnel she took a jump that was beside it...too bad....The last run of the weeekend (literally)- Std 3- She and I worked really, really, well together. I was where I needed to be and I thought that we did really well. Her bar knocking this weekend wasn't bad at all- maybe one or two per run but she is getting much better about it.

Sam had a good weekend aswell. He got the Gamble but ran out of time so didn't Q- but it was still a great run. Snooker was really fun- He did really well but dropped a bar in the closing...
His Jumpers Run was amazing- he ran fast and took direction really well. He had a bobble at the tire (refused it two times before taking it) but he still had the third fastest time in the class! So now he moves up to Advanced Jumpers at the next trial. Team he was a little wild! He ran really wide over jumps and out of tunnels so had a few off courses- but.....he weaved 12 poles! I was amazed...he did it with very little help from me and was pretty quick about it!
I am going to start entering him back in standard runs soon.

Things I need to work on:

Sam
- tight turn on jumps
-tunnel/tunnel discriminations
-tire
-weaves

Wicca
-contacts (sticking)
-weave commitment
-spread/double

...

The dogs have been doing great lately. I changed jobs a while back and now work at the Boarding Kennel where we keep our agility equipment- Which means a) that the dogs get to come to work with me! and b) that we get to do even more agility!

In even the short time I have been here I have seen noticable results. I work the dogs every time I bring them for about 15 minutes. This is on top of our regualr practices.
Wicca's weaves are very much improved- no frustration, hitting entries and she is nailing contacts and we also practice "stay" she has to stay while Sam is working and it almost kills her but she does it....mostly...I think that this will really pay off at trials.

Sam is doing really, really, well- he is such a neat dog. He is in advanced standard now- which means he has to be able to weave without me- so he didn't get to play at the last trial at all and only gets to do a few games at the next one....So weaves have been a major project but I am happy to say that with the extra practice he's finally getting it....I have him entered in Nov in one advanced titling so we'll see how that goes.

We are off to a trial this weekend in Calgary and then there is another one In November, and I entered Wicca in an Obedience trial at the Canine Center for Nov29.....aaagh! We have been practicing alot and she is doing really well so hopefully we can keep it up and come away with a leg or two!

-amanda

Start Line

Sarah and I ventured to Medicine Hat for the day on Saturday- I had Wicca entered in just three standard runs. Sam is still figuring out the weave pole thing so until he gets it he won't be running much at trials anymore....

So- our first run was pretty bad. Wicca was frantic at the start line- didn't knock the first bar however....She did blow the contact on the dowgwalk- so i made her do it again- she ran the first half of the course pretty well after that. -And then she blew the wall...so I picked her up and ended the game. Wicca was a little annoyed I think....
I have been playing around and testing different things at trials- we have our warm up down pat and it seems to work fairly well.. We do heeling, attention, weave through legs, over a few jumps, stretching and stays.
The next run (Std#2) I took her lead off before we got in the ring and took advantage of a timers delay and set her up and made her wait- I walked away- and rewarded the stay, came back to her and released her and played with her. and then set her up again. It was amazing! I did it two times before they were anywhere near ready for me and we actually had a solid start line! It was a good run- except for the dogwalk and wall contacts she didn't stick- (I made her redo them...) but otherwise I felt good about it. She took my direction really good- and wasn't too frenzied.
Std#3- I did the same thing at the start- no leash up to the line, down, stay, release and reward, set up- lead out and Go! It seemed to work really well. This run was a bit better- She still broke her contacts but she was very controlled- and listened really well- she even almost had perfect weaves! She blew past the entry but the second time I sent her in she went in no problem....

So I think some key things I learned-

Long Warm Up- which is hard sometimes with her being the first dog.
No rushing at the start line....
Leash off before I get her in the ring- I am confident she won't leave me and take off onto equipment.
Be confident in the lead out....

Sarah had a great day with Bird- his first time in Masters Standard and he Q'd Bang, bang, bang...to get his MAD! What a great guy!

Gyp and Wicca got to have some girl time and played well together for the most part- Wicca is pretty selective as to who she'll interact with- she's very much a dog snob....

-amanda

Pictures

Here is two new photos of the corgis'!!!! Sarah took these in Kimberly at the AAC trial. They are just too cute together!

Sam ADC!

Well- I entered Sam at his first full AAC trial and he earned his Agility Dog Of Canada! I can't believe this dog! I entered him even though he still isn't weaving properly but thought that the ring experience would be good for him....Well- he weaved for me (with some help) and managed to qualify in five runs! Three standard Q's - which gives him the ADC and a Snooker Q!
He worked really, really well for me...

Wicca was great this weekend too! We had our best run ever and almost had the masters gamble (the buzzer went before she could hit the table) but wow! she worked really hard- we had one awesome weave entry- great contacts (except for two runs- which i reinforced and made her do correctly), great tables and even had a few start lines...

The funniest part of the whole weekend is that with Wicca and I it is apparently impossible to get a Snooker Q and Sam did it on his first try!

What a great weekend!

End of Summer

Well it is almost the end of Summer. I have been very, very busy. Every weekend I have either worked or attended some sort of dog event. The dogs are all doing great- and they have all done alot over the summer. I will just sort of highlight what has happened.
Starting with the most recent
August long weekend- AKC Show
-Sam earned a leg on his Rally title with a 205/210
-Sam earned a NADAC Tunnelers leg
-Wicca ran both NADAC and CKC- was a raving lunatic mostly but we had some really good runs.

Paws N' Effects Trial- beginning of August....I think
Wicca ran pretty well. I need to be a better handler for her but we are working better over all as a team. Sam did really well. He is very consistent and is learning what dog shows are really about- fun!

Shannen Jorgensen Seminar July sometime
Awesome! It was a very good seminar and I learned alot about my dogs. It was a great weekend and it was really nice to have some feedback on Wicca and Sam. She had some really great advice that seems to be helping a bit with the bar knocking and teaching her that there are consequences for her actions. Also learned some really handy things for teaching weave entries and such....

Kate has been really good- she hasn't been out to any of the above events but I have taken her a few times out to agility and have jsut enjoyed being around her. I'd like to find something that her and I can do together but unfortunately I just don't have the time or the means right now...


Those are the highlights- And the stuff that I can remember off hand. Now that my life is hopefully slowed down a bit I will be back to keeping track of stuff here.
When I have time I will come back and type exactly what the dogs did and stuff.

May 20 something....

How time flies!!!

I can't believe it is already the end of May....Summer has just begun and already every weekend is crammed full of dog stuff!
Here is some doggy news....

Wicca earned a leg on her CD- she did really well but was quite stressed about half way through our routine...I think that although I thought we had gotten past her obedience ring nerves she still has quite a bit of growing up to do...I am going to wait probably another year or so until ptting her back in- In the mean time I am going to get her out to as many fun matches as I can.
Agility wise we have been working hard. Regionals is coming up in a few weeks and there are still quite a few kinks to work out. We are working really well together- finally. But there is still a lot of training on both our parts...I have been working on my handling, and being able to get where I need to be and have stopped worrying about her- She is learning to listen even when she is excited and is consistently holding a start line, not popping of the table and is less frustrated about the weave poles.
We are having a seminar the first weekend in July and I am hoping she will have some good tips and suggestions for us.
Here is a cute picture of Sam and I- at a Rally seminar...Whenever I reward him he jumps straight up like a Kangaroo!
He is doing great. His heeling is getting better and better. He is a very happy, up beat heeler and I'd like to keep him that way. I am also working on his weaves. i have decided to try Susan Garret's two by two method and it is going really well. The rest of his agility stuff is going awesome. He is much more confident on his contacts and and is a great jumper. I have started doing harder sequences and am hoping to enter him in August at the AKC show...

Kate is awesome. She is coming "out" about once a week either to obedience, agility, or just to run around the training yard and seems to be enjoying herself. She is really turning grey these days....but is still acting young and being cute.....
More updates and new pictures coming soon!!!!

update

We have been very, very busy over the past month. The dogs are all doing great and are enjoying our mild winter (we have only had a few cold, snowy days)
We have been to two trials in the past few weeks- in the middle of the month we went to an AAC trial in Calgary where Wicca ran very well- she earned two Q's- one in advanced Gamblers and one in Team....her other run were pretty good but her lack of a solid start line and my lack of control did us in on the other runs. This past weekend was a One Day NADAC Games trial and it was a lot of fun. I have never played tunnelers, touch 'n go or Weavers before so it was really neat to see. I of course didn't enter Wicca in tunnelers- I feared her little brain may explode by the third tunnel...but Sam played! He did great. It was his first competition ever and he had a blast. The first one he was a little hesitant but still Q'd, but by the second one he was way more confident and dove into the tunnels like a mad man- earning a second Q!
I had Wicca in two touch n go games...touch 'n go is just tunnels and contacts so I figured Wicca would love it...she did....a little too much....
The first course she did pretty well....her "oops" were my fault- I didn't give her clear enough directions...the second one Wicca was pretty wound up...blew her start line out right and by the middle of the course was a crazy beast and I picked her up to take her off......I am sure we'll get our act together someday....I hope....

In the mean time we don't have another trial for a few weeks now so I am going to take that time and work on start lines...at this point with her all I care about is that she stays on the line...I have to change my criteria and be tough about it...no couching, no whining, no scooting....no breaking....I'll keep you posted....

With Sam I am going to start working on weaves. This past weekend he proved that he is ready to be out and handled being in the ring like a pro...we just need to improve his contact equipment performance and start those weaves.......

Kate stayed home both of those weekends but I did take her out to practice last week. She had a great time...I kept things really short, only ran her about 4 or 5 times and quit as she was showing signs of being bored....hopefully we can get her back into the groove sometime this summer.....

news

Well I am glad the holiday season is over....it always seems like an awful lot of work for one day....

Anyway, we are back from an AAC agility trial this past weekend and boy was it fun. Wicca was a dynamite! This was the first full trial and her first runs with weaves and she did great. She nailed her entries and only popped out when there was 12 and a tunnel after but I made her work through it and I was very proud of her. Her pole knocking was minimal- and overall I was very impressed with my little girl she ran fast and listened very well.

We have yet had the chance to run Snooker- she breaks the line and we end up getting whistled off right away- this was our third try and we blew it yet again...what a goof she is....

Her jumpers round was amzing she had the fastest time- of 19seconds! She was flying AND listening.....

Team was so fun- Kaleb and her were team partners and it was a blast.....Wicca ran her half clean.....Her first clean anything.....Kaleb was showing off for her and had a few faults but it was still a really great run....

Her standard runs on saturday were okay- she held her contacts but I wasn't paying attention and didn't handle her very well....
Her sunday standard was awesome- we layered part of the course, nailed 12 weaves and if not for the end jump/chute discrimination we wound have Q'd....I told her chute and wicca took the jump instead....It was my fault- I should have stayed in her head more instead of just assuming she would take it....

Overall it was a fun weekend....We slept in the barn which was an adventure (but not as bad as you would think) and even though It was an exhausting weekend I am very satisfied with how my dog and I did....

We do have some things to work on though
-staying down on the table- she likes to hover and is a bit slow going into the full down
-start lines.....I didn't have them for much of the weekend....