Go! Dog Go! Agility Trial

Well the weekend is finally over. It was the longest two days ever. We hosted our first Go! Dog Go! AAC Sanctioned agility trial this weekend and it was great. Things went great, we didn't have any nastiness, and I got alot of positive feedback from competitors. I am however pretty exhausted- there is alot to do when you are hosting a trial and it seems that there is always something to be done. We had a lot of support from all of our students and everyone pitched in to help- so without them it wouldn't have run nearly as well.

It was the first trial for almost all of our students and I am super proud of everyone. We totalled the Q's and over a quarter of the total Q's were from our group!!! It was amazing to see them, and I got goosebumps, and teary eyed seeing them out there... :o)

I ran Wicca aswell and she did great. She is getting better and better all the time and there was no exception this weekend. We had two Q's this weekend and only one knocked bar (on snooker of course) We did however get out of starters jumpers finally- see the story in the previous post. Wicca was amazingly fast in the heat and didn't seem to be bothered by the high 30's temperature and the hot wind...

Here are a few more pictures from the weekend of Wicca

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...