Technology for good and bad...

So I finally sent my sad little iPhone back yesterday. the backlight stopped working a mere few weeks after I bought the thing. :( I just got the box last week to ship it back, but have been putting it off because even though it doesn't work great it's still something! Hopefully I will get the new one back in about a week or so. In the meantime I have a borrowed phone, but it's just a phone. Nothing fancy.

To keep me entertained however...a new toy! I saved up for a while and finally had enough to buy myself a laptop! I haven't had a computer at home for a few months. It was even on sale and came recommended to me by a computer friend. My internet won't be hooked up until Saturday- but I've still had a good time learning Windows 7. My work computer is a MAC, and my old PC was, well old and crappy. :)

The great thing about having a computer at home will be photos. I can take and upload photos as often as I want. :) So we all will benefit.

Supa' Stars..

Wicca- the good, and the naughty....we had some rough spots, but mostly I am pretty happy with her this weekend.


Pixel- just jumpers for now. Masters Jumpers. I am amazed.

Weekend in a nutshell

Pixel-
2 masters jumpers q, an advanced standard q, and a advanced snooker q....

Wicca
masters snooker q, some really awesome runs, and one really naughty run...

and bed bugs.....

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Pixel is amazing. Seriously. She is such a good girl. She just does what I tell her to do. I can't get over it. She got not one, but TWO masters jumpers q's this weekend. Masters. Like 20 obstacles with serpentines, and threadles, and push thru's.

Wicca was fantastic. She is running really well and I feel that we are really connected. She had some "almost" clean runs that I was proud of my handling, and of my dog. Even in the really naughty jumpers run on Sunday she had some pretty great moments.

I will have video later today.

Oh, and the motel we stayed at had bedbugs. Thankfully I brought my own sheets/bedding but now have to freeze, and then wash everything that was in the room. Ugh, Seriously gross.

Mmmmm....cake

Last night we had a 5 year GO Dog GO Party BBQ and Potluck. It was lots of fun- and one of our students surprised us with this cake!

Isn't it incredible?

It was so realistic that there was even a bar down...now, who was blamed for that do you think?

Agility Weekend II

This time to Medicine Hat. It should be a fun weekend- although it is supposed to rain, rain, rain and rain some more. I am not looking forward to being cold and wet for two days. But the agility part will be fun. Kim C is one of the judges so her courses are sure to be tough, and technical.

I have just the girls entered- the boys will stay home this time. Where they will be warm and happy all weekend...

Growth.

just over 5 years ago Sarah and I decided that we needed a change. she bit the bullet and bought a set of agility equipment and the rest is history. when we first started out we had a handful of students who came with us. Now, five years later we have over 60 students and friends. It is pretty incredible to think about.

so thanks. to all our students, and friends for supporting Sarah and I in this venture. We appreciate it!

The things we do for agility...

For something that really is a tiny part of our lives with our dogs I sure find myself thinking about Agility a lot. Trying to figure out ways to be better, to push myself, and my dogs more. In the whole scheme of things Agility is just a game, a fun weekend away, a night out, a puzzle really.

In any case there are a few things that need to change in my dogs lives that will make them better agility dogs. And really by "them" I mean Pixel. Pixel is a funny dog. She is quick, really quick. Not as fast as Wicca but still fast. Why then does she trot around the course at agility? Well, why should she when she has fun for free, and toys, and playing, and wrestling whenever she wants.

So all the toys are going away in the house. And by all the toys I mean anything that can be perceived as a toy- old bones, boring yard toys, etc. She needs to see value in toys, and wanting to be with me and this is a quick, easy way to do that. She is going to hate it and will be very confused when she discovers that Lambie, Rooster and all her other favorites are not in the toy box. It may even be a little sad...but how excited will she be when she sees lambie at agility next week?

It is something I recommend to students a lot. And have done in the past. It seems pretty mean, but really they do just fine. :)

I will also be enforcing the "no wrestling in the house" rule. Wicca's gonna be mad.

The Forest 36/52

The Forest 36/52, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

not only was the trial fun, but it was beautiful and provided me with some new scenery for Boone's 52 weeks project. :)

Kimberley Videos

Wicca


Pixel

OMG

What a great weekend I had. It was probably the best agility weekend I've had in forever.

Not only did I feel connected with my dog (Wicca) in every run, but we had some AWESOME runs, and Q'd in Jumpers. In Jumpers! Do you know how long it has been since we've had a Q in jumpers? January. Serious.

I am so proud of my dogs I could burst.

I will have more time tomorrow to do up some video, but for now here is the breakdown.

Wicca-
Saturday
Gamble- Q- 94 pts. Tough gamble- a turn off the teeter out to weaves. This is her 13th gamble Q.
Std 1- one bar. serious.
Std 2- one bar. serious!
Jumpers- one bar. omg serious!
Sunday
Std 3- 15 faults. a bar or two? and something else? can't remember.
Steeplechase- Jolayne tried to run her and the weiner ran to me! I ran Tag and Q'd. :)
Snooker- Q- 47 points. Super fast path- thanks Sarah!
Jumpers- Q. FASTEST TIME OVERALL. 28.19 Seconds. Serious.

I am so proud of her- she listened SO well, and tried very hard. The bars were my fault, not hers. She worked her butt off. I have a very great dog.

Pixel
Saturday
Std 1- 5 faults- dogwalk contact....
Std 2- Q! This is her starters title! ADC
Adv.Gamble- it was a little too tough for her- a turn out of the poles to a jump.
Adv.Jumpers- Q! She moves to Masters!!!! Not even kidding. It is pretty unbelievable!
Sunday
Adv. Std 3- 5 faults- i think a refusal
Snooker- she was a little naughty and we got tweeted on out closing.
Steeplechase- clean, but we had to redo the weaves, and were over time.
Mas.Jumpers- clean, but overtime. (4 seconds) She was pretty tired after the weekend and was definitely slower.

I am so proud of this dog- she seems so young, and inexperienced to be running such tough courses. It just blows me away. We have lots of work to do though, and lots to improve on. Mostly speed, and motivation. :) Oh, and those contacts and weaves.

Boone
No Q's, but lots of pretty great moments. He had a bit of a rough start on Saturday. Very disconnected, and flighty. Didn't leave the ring or anything, but was certainly doing his own thing for parts of the weekend. I was thrilled with his contacts and weaves though- he has improved so much with those. I've decided with Boone that part of his issue is that he becomes overwhelmed on long courses (i.e masters). I am going to run him FEO in starters for a bit, and build up to longer, tougher courses at trials. At home I am only going to do tough stuff with him, with lots of rewards, and hopefully it will make things seem easier for him.

Some random photos
The lethbridge Go Dog Go'ers...we took up half the trial almost!



We had a great potluck BBQ, and campfire Saturday night. It was a great end to the day!



Videos Tomorrow!

Go Team. :)

Our Scenthurdle team. It's amazing how far all the dogs have come in a short time. I'm pretty excited about it. Our first official race will be in November.

Aside from the dogs on the video we have four more who are still training fetch and discrimination. Pretty Cool eh?

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This weekend the dogs and I are heading to Kimberley BC, for an Agility trial. Should be a fun weekend!

People Suck, and that annoys me.

I seriously am amazed I can make it through a day without swearing at, hitting, or punching someone. People are dumb. Seriously dumb. They don't listen, and generally do exactly the opposite of what you've told them. It annoys me, and makes me grumpier than I am normally............

I don't know why I even bother doing rescue anymore. I can hardly stand to talk to stupid people, and just when you think you've weeded out the losers. BAM. Loser. Major Loser. It's frustrating, and heartbreaking all at the same time.

Missy is a great little jack russell who we've had for FOUR MONTHS. That's months folks, not weeks. She is a great dog- happy, obedient, great in the house, loves all people. Her hang up? Dogs. She is aggressive and cannot live with other dogs. She lived with mine perfectly fine because *I* am the boss, but it was important that she go to an only dog home (and no cats....). So, finally- the perfect person for her applies, everything is great. I tell her all about the dog and what her issues are, and how she will never be the kind of dog that can live with, or engage with other dogs. She can tolerate them as long as they aren't in her space, but you have to be on her. All the time. So what does this perfectly capable, smart person do only two days after taking her home? That's right. Introduce her to her friends dogs. "They only wanted to play" were her words. She was horrified at Missy's behavior and now wants to return her. Of course we will take her back. But seriously.........WHY DON'T PEOPLE LISTEN?!

I just don't get it. Perhaps I should have re-worded dog aggressive to "will try and rip off other dogs faces if they approach her..."

Sigh.

Blast from the Past

Baby Vito. Before I decided to keep him. Seriously cute.

Early Morning Ramblings..

Pixel has been the easiest dog I've ever owned to train. She is just so smart, and wants to please me (which is where she and Wicca differ the most). Everything I ask Pixel to do she does without question, and with gusto.

She earned her rally title in three straight attempts (although spread out as I don't trial much). She has been to two full agility trials, and one day- and is only one Q away from her Starters Standard title. She is in advanced in everything else, and only one Q away from being in Masters jumpers.

Is the dog a genius? Or just a well trained dog, handled by an experienced handler?

Yes, she is smart and she is a very good dog. But her success is due to her training, and my handling. When she was a puppy I knew what I wanted, and devised a plan to get there. With the exception of her contacts she is exactly where I thought she'd be at this age.

With a different trainer and handler Pixel would be a very different dog. I truly believe that our dogs are what we make them. Yes, there are some dogs that are brilliant despite their owners, but imagine how great those dogs would be with good training!

I think that all dogs have potential to do great things- and that we as owners need to step up our training for our dogs. If I had known then what I know now Wicca would be incredible- not just a fast dog that flings herself around the course. But of course we all need to start somewhere, and with each dog we become better trainers....or so we should hope!

I am looking forward to great things with Pixel. She not only has natural ability, but she has had great training. As long as I continue to do my job, she will do hers.

Relaxed and Refreshed

I had a great long weekend with the dogs. Mostly we laid around the house and went for walks. I did the odd rescue thing, and did some training. But mostly did whatever I wanted. Yay for Long Weekends!

Impending Collision...

Collision..., originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

I laughed out loud when I saw this photo. Not great technically, but a great story.

Oh, and Wicca (whose nose you can just barely see on the left) got the toy....

Sibling Rivalry

Sibling Rivalry, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

Wicca ALWAYS gets the toy...and Pixel always chases her, and Boone always chases Pixel, and Vito is rolling around on the grass behind me completely oblivious...

lol

I took all the dogs to the park near my house and had a great time with them. I sat on the grass and enjoyed the sun, and the dogs ran, and ran, and ran, and ran some more. I have tired dogs now.

Happy long Weekend everyone!

Vito's video...

this dog makes me laugh so much. he could NOT focus on what I wanted him to do, and all I could do was laugh at him.



here is the non music version as youtube is being weird about the song...the song really makes the video though, you will all just have to imagine Hootie and The Blowfish- All I wanna do is be with you....

Happy Birthday Kate!

It's hard to believe she is 12 years old. She still looks pretty awesome for an old Shepherd. She's been dealing with Pannus for a year now and it is under control and not bugging her much. She still beats up Drew, and plays the odd game of fetch. Mostly though she likes to lay in the sun at my mom's feet. Her mobility is getting worse and worse- she is pretty unsteady on her feet some days, but she is happy, and can get from A to B although slowly.



I am grateful that I still have her at 12. I go and see her as often as I can, and cherish the moments we spend together. She still adores me although I think that my mom has taken over as "the one whom must be followed". She has been a great dog- one that has taught me a lot. She is still funny and playful- she can de-squeak a plush toy in under five seconds, and de-stuff it in ten. :) She doesn't listen at all anymore, she is not deaf- just selective. She is quite the princess in her retirement....



I love this dog. Happy Birthday Kate.

Thank you to Wendy for the wonderful photos.


This post is a day late (but not forgotten, just couldn't find the disc of photos and then forgot them anyway! !)

Photos Galore!

Wendy set up shop on the weekend as the trial photographer and got some GREAT shots of my dogs. There were LOTS to choose from, so I made a collage of a few of my favorites of each dog.