Clever Dog Training Blog

Cascade SDT

2009-07-29T22:42:00.000-04:00

Fourth of July:

Prior this day, I had been training Caper hard, for -oh, six days or so.

Which is not entirely accurate, as since Caper was about two, I've been trying to figure out how to herd sheep with my dog. In an apartment. In Florida. So, he's seen sheep. He can wear. Really well. That's about it.

The six days were for the outrun and flanks.

I was going to enter Mad River. But it was cancelled.

No sheepdog trial? After spending the summer in Vermont on a sheep farm?

So I entered one sooner. We had a month to prepare. I'm not sure what happened to it. It turned into the six days.

My brother and parents were up from Florida around the time of the trial. So, they watched. I did try to back out. They said, it doesn't matter, they don't know what sheepherding is supposed to look like, anyway. Caper is perfect.

Dang it.

So I stepped out onto the field, with probably no outrun, no experience, no clue. Caper won. The video is cute. The fancy video has music.

I ran the next day, also, and Caper was second. The outrun was worse (which is saying something), and the sheep made the fetch panels, honestly, backed some combination of Caper and luck. I was stunned. The field had been moved up, and I had been watching people pen. So I had an idea for the pen. And the sheep actually got in the pen. Then I stared at the pen, wondering if I should close the gate. (Er...yes?)

I had my back to Caper. What was probably .05 seconds, but felt like eons to me, also most likely felt like eons to Caper. So he swung around and took them out of the pen just as I was about to close them in the pens. Oops.

Ok. Fine. Now I can practice trying to recover, right? Someone told me you had to drive them away, and then bring them back. I think my first attempt was the best. After that, it deteriorated into the sheep wanting to go to the exhaust, me trying to figure out if I was allowed to send Caper that way per the rules, and wondering how I could drive them away having not taught my dog to drive.

Next year.

Photos

Reef's mama, Tap:

Spelling bee winner:

He studied a lot.

Agility, Nutshell, Comprendes, Done.

2009-07-19T20:28:00.011-04:00

We'll just knock these all out. Shall we?

All Dogs USDAA

Indoors.

I don't remember this at at all. But apparently I have a run on video. Just one.

Advanced Jumpers: Q/1st. Weird rear cross.

Agility Vision's Lo Baker Seminar

Ok. Decision. Caper: STD entries, or actually train my puppy.

Train puppy.

It rained at the seminar. A lot. But the property was beautiful. I really like Lo's jumping program, with my own cues used, instead of the suggested ones. I now have a much better understanding of jumping off the rear versus the forehand.

Reef did not get a lot of working time -this I expected with her minimal experience, but it would not have mattered otherwise. The seminar was inexpensive and informative, but geared toward making the DVD. Next time, I think I would wait and buy the DVD.

I really like what this company is doing, and it's in line with what myself and others have been doing -using easily accessible technology to study agility.

Not to mention, you won't see someone in seventeen different outfits. With the sun at their backs. Hopefully. Not that there can't be good information in spite of seventeen outfits, but:

It's about time someone figured that out.

I probably would just prefer to audit seminars in general, unless I had a specific problem I could not solve with the resources I have.

Didn't know that. First seminar. Now I know.

Seminar:

Lo Baker's new pup:
Littermate to Reef.

BARK USDAA

Another indoor trial.

I was actually not looking forward to doing agility. Indoors. I skipped the first day, and instead was outside. Watching a USBCHA trial. (To be continued.)

You know what? I love Astroturf.

Love.

Caper looked athletic. It could be his recent training with extension. It could be because I'm a slightly better handler.

But I think he just really liked the astroturf. Reef is athletic.

Caper? He tries.

(How do you think they get the dog hair out, by the way? Out of astroturf?)

I only entered STD and Jumpers -I needed two Standards for his AAD. One of which I skipped.

(I really like being outside.)

Advanced Standard: NQ. Ok. First. Greg Fontaine was the judge. I never pay attention to judges. But this is the second time I've been to a trial he has judged. Both times I've thought the courses were some of the most fun ones I've run.

Not easy. I lost Caper. But fun. I would actually enter a trial simply because Greg was designing the course. I've thought most courses up here for Advanced have been a bit dull so far.

You know. In my limited experience of USDAA trials. Or any agility trial. Gives me instant credibility.

Second. Caper was really pretty. We went in about ten different directions. But I thought he looked really pretty.

Advanced Jumpers: NQ/bar. But really fun.

I ran Click. I thought he was going to run into me. He wasn't turning on the lead out. So I sat there. And thought about it. Then: freight train. RUN.

Click is Caper's littermate, but Click is not Caper. As in, maybe Caper is forgiving of me being late. Click is not. Click is out for blood.

I love running other people's dogs. Even if they scream and take the back of my knee out.

The end.

Not really. I'm sorry.

As a temporary Canadian, my next trial won't be until somewhere around May, 2010.

Except AAC Nationals.

I keep forgetting about it. While at a camp this week, a person kept arriving in the afternoon to practice for an upcoming trial. I thought, that's nice. I like that dog. They're friendly. Must be a big trial. I hope they do well.

That was my competition practicing.

Huh.

AAC Quebec Regionals: Photos

2009-07-17T21:11:00.013-04:00

These pictures are brought to you courtesy of a good friend.

There's a picture of me and Caper standing near those actually standing on the podium. It was one of the more awkard photos of my life. Like, hi. May I go?

The grounds:

AAC Quebec Regionals

2009-07-17T21:07:00.000-04:00

In Canada, you need to know a few things:

(1) Our Gamblers pales in comparison,

(2) National qualifications are earned only by gathering the required amount of points at your Regionals, and:

(3) Points were accumulated in a time plus faults manner. Ish. You started out with a certain number of points, and lost them as you made more mistakes. If you ran clean, you got extra points for being under SCT.

In the end, Caper qualfied for Nationals, place 6th overall, and got a pretty ribbon.

(I like ribbons.)

It sounds particularly impressive. But, eh. There were not a lot of dogs there.

If I'm being honest.

Friday

I was supposed to enter two Steeplechase rounds, for fun. I was sick. Grace, whom I had avoided like the plague, as I believe she had the plague, got me sick. I could have fallen asleep on a rock and felt comfortable.

So I skipped Steeplechase.

Saturday

Gamblers 1: Not clean. We actually did several mini-gambles and got a fair amount of points. We missed the main gamble, missed contact. It was truly my fault for not stopping -with his very dependent contact, I was still moving forward.

Standard 1: Clean, 2nd. Honestly, by some sort of miracle. What you see, is not what I planned to do. Caper was a tad peeved for having to redeem our team countless times on this course.

Jumpers 1: Not clean. I pulled him off of a correct jump, as for a moment I thought it was incorrect. Tough course.

Sunday

Gamblers 2: Clean. Collecting points was a complete and utter disaster. Caper saved the gamble by listening to a panicked LIE DOWN.

Standard 2: Not clean. I lost track of where I was, blocked the weave pole entrance, and earn a refusal. I tend to do that a lot.

Jumpers 3: Clean. Easy, smooth course. We were pretty wide though -no where near the top times.

Photos

Grace and the incredibly sketchy slide.

And they thought I wouldn't fit...

Me and the boys (niece refused to pose):

Over agility, any day:

And Red Dog with one of his fans:

In conclusion, this happened over a month and a half ago.

People always tell me I'm on the ball.

NOMAD USDAA

2009-07-02T11:03:00.000-04:00

Tiny little trial held at the Von Trapp Family Lodge. Which was absolutely gorgeous.

Saturday

Advanced Standard: NQ, skipped a weave pole.

Advanced Gamblers: Q/1st. I missed the walk through playing with Reef. Gamble was easy, but involved a contact. I always Q in the things I never expect to Q in.

Grand Prix: Meh. When do I ever do well in this?

Steeplechase Rd. 1: Q/5th. With a rather insane number of faults. Because Caper is just that fast. Or no one was entered.

Sunday

Advanced Standard: NQ. Think I slept through the course...

Advanced Snooker: Q/1st. In my head this was so pretty. In reality it was not. And involved Caper vaulting off the timer's lap.

I'm sorry, timer.

Advanced Jumpers: NQ/bar. I lost him, my sunglasses were falling off, they've stretched, I currently hate my sunglasses, they're Oakleys, lost Ray Bans, I miss you.

So clearly I was really concentrating. I had him going nicely over the first four obstacles.

I fixed my sunglasses later. Which is nice.

Steeplechase Round 2: 3rd, $10. Large number of faults, 4 dogs in the class. I tried to really push Caper, but he was tired.

We are so going to USDAA Nationals now.

Not really.

Photos

Doc poses.

Doc barks just like Caper.

This is a picture of Caper with his two littermates. If you can't tell. I can't help it if the Nikon naturally focuses on the best one.

I have no idea what his back leg is doing.

Photo by Grace Smith.

Click, Grace Smith's dog.

Click is a tad fluffy. He desperately wanted to be a conformation collie, but -alas, he got stuck as a working dog. Who actually has to work.

Poor Clicker.

This is Blaze. Blaze is my new favorite red dog.

All right. Blaze is my only favorite red dog.

Kevin Evans Clinic

2009-06-26T23:28:00.016-04:00

Kevin Evans Clinic Photos

Caper

I like this one because you can see Caper's earnest little face in it.

No comments from the Peanut Gallery. Thank you.

Reef

The whole truth -Reef on a walk up. Reef can't walk up. Reef can "stop", and Reef can "go".

I'm maybe guessing I asked her to walk up. This may have been Sunday. I was tired on Sunday.

A tad late.

Reef sulking. She quits. Rules suck.

Reef wants to know if there will be any more rules.

All photos by Grace Smith.

Hi. I'm Cold.

2009-05-28T23:45:00.007-04:00

Florida. Hot.

Massachusetts. Not Hot.

Do you know what the temperature has been for the past few days?

Do you know?

It's been raining here. And by raining, I mean misting. I am no longer on a peninsula, and the clouds have nowhere to go. If a hurricane came by, I am estimating it would last about a month.

Fifty degrees.

Take those jeans, said I? No. Surely not. Two pairs will do. Favorite brown jacket, said I? No. It is a very pretty jacket. It is very insulated, I will not need it, and it will get Sheep on it. And Dog.

This is what winter feels like in Florida. Including the mist. Since Florida is humid, and Massachusetts is not. At least the mist has not abandoned me along with all of my winter clothes, packed in boxes and awaiting their passage to Canada.

What I do have is shorts. And very light t-shirts. I can't even wear them. I've been wearing actual t-shirts. Because they're heavier. And sweatshirts. I went running in my hiking pants today. I believe I looked stunning.

Anyway. I do like it here. A lot. I am wondering now, though, if there is some validity to the claim I should not rent the farmhouse on four acres with a pond that is not close to campus.

Not close means not within walking distance. There are not many stoplights, or stop signs. So, not within walking distance is generally referring to the middle of nowhere.

If I can't pack clothes, what other key factors are I not taking into consideration?

(Did I mention it was a farmhouse? On four acres? With a pond? On four acres.)

In two years I'm getting sheep. Oh, yes. I am. Hello, sheep.

All of this is not what I meant to write. I'm just sitting here with the heat on.

(Really.)

I started jump grids with the dogs. It went horribly. I started over. It went much better.

Reef is at three 20" jumps about 12 feet apart. She is bouncing them easily. She stopped crashing jumps and is looking where she is going instead of guessing. I'm very pleased with her.

Caper.

I did not teach Caper to extend. I did teach Caper to collect. Back in January I started to realize his jumping looked- odd. Not bad. But something was missing. I couldn't quite put a finger on it.

It took awhile.

Light.

[Pause]

Bulb.

It's painfully obvious to me now, but if you watch his jumping videos, he doesn't extend.

Honestly. I wonder if someone sat on the sidelines going, "Nice dog. But it doesn't extend." Relay. Relay the information.

I could not get him to extend at all in early May. Now he is. It's very hard. I really have to wind him up and shut off his brain. I'm having to move things in inches, not feet. Very rarely can I be behind. But driving forward alone has never been his forte, so it is something I did teach Reef. She might have been like that naturally, but I put the idea in her brain every chance I got.

It is so frustrating to see him full speed, putting an extra step in. He has to work hard to get that step in. It's such a quick step, too. It's not a stutter-step; he's actually putting two strides in. Sometimes I don't think Reef is any faster, she just has the potential to be more efficient and is more naturally driven for this sort of thing.

Caper will get there eventually, though.

He is much too intelligent not to. He applies everything I teach him. This might just take a little longer.

I started contacts with Reef. She has a down at the end of a board. I haven't maintained it. And I hadn't done anything with it. It was very driven, on her own.

I bought a mousepad, which is going to now mark her lie down. I think I can get it drivier with more specific instructions. And more accurate. Before, I think, I was being too vague. But vague doesn't really bother Reef, so it wasn't particularly noticeable. She just had a thought bubble with GO and STOP typed in by me. I'm just adding STOP THERE.

Also, I'm trying to be patient. Gabrielle (Zing, Q, and Quiz) is patient. Look at Zing's contacts.

I can be patient. Really. I can.

Don't look at Quiz's contacts. I'm trying to be sensible. Quiz's contacts make me un-sensible. Experimental is not sensible.

That's what Caper, the sensible dog is for. To be un-sensible with.

Spell check is telling me unsensible is not a word. My high school english teacher told me I put commas in places where they shouldn't be. My law school bound friend said I wrote too many non-sentences. Dramatic and effective, but too many.

Faulkner didn't use apostrophes.

That argument has never really worked in my favor, though.

Free Puppy.

2009-05-26T22:41:00.004-04:00

I drove to Massachusetts.

I drive a very small car. I did manage to leave the entire back seat open for both dogs, but Reef was not appreciative. Despite being thrown backwards (you think I'm kidding) she retired for most of the 22 hour car ride in someone's lap. She wouldn't sleep elsewhere, unless it was on Caper's head, and for his and our sanity, she sat up front.

Also, she's really quite cute. Furby-like. I never had one. But now I have a real one.

Day One in Massachusetts had her in someone else's house she didn't know. They would be on one side of the room. Reef would be on the other. They would move. Reef would walk to the other side of the room.

Typical. Enjoy the moment however, as once Reef likes you, she will not leave you alone. She's a boomerang. A furby shaped boomerang. "I love you!" she says. Sprints. Comes back. "I love you!". And so on. Which happened.

Everything was all good until today. In four short days of constant activity, Reef's off button has, well, turned off. She had a fabulous one. It is gone. Some sort of sugar high. Eroded away.

May I remind you, again, that at Reef's age, Caper played frisbee off leash in front of the Washington Monument. Tourists clapped. People took pictures.

I didn't do anything with the dogs today. I wasn't feeling up to it. My god, I appear to have inflicted some sort of institutional torture through this on Reef, who would NOT lie down. Should she see anyone out the window, she jumped on my head and cried. No, Reef, I am not letting you outside with them.

She ran everywhere. She barked in Caper's face. She said she had to go pee. I hobbled to the door and let her out to pee.

Oh, such a mistake. Seriously, I have never run into anything as this as completely frustrating in my life. Standing by the door, waiting for the darn dog to come in. I stare at her. She stares at me. If I move forward an inch, she takes off running, spins, and stands, from a distance farther away.

As if, should she keep at it, I will magically relent and come outside to play.

Which has never happened.

What has happened, is, in frustration, I run. She runs. I run. She runs. If I could tackle that little thing, I would throw her into the basement.

Hah. Catch her. That's funny.

I have never seen a dog just show absolutely no remorse. She looks at me like I'm her mini science experiment. If I do A, how does Tracy react? What if I do B?

Ah, interesting. Must remember to try B again. That shade of purple is exquisite.

We had reached a sort of truce. If I can get within 10 feet, using a complex bit of body language causing her not to run, she puts her little ears back, and comes. I tell her how wonderful she is. Though by that point the little voice in my head is certainly saying other things. Sometimes I put her inside, then take her out to play. I call her, she comes, we go inside. We go outside.

Not today. She was not coming. She thought it was funny. I finally called a family member outside. Reef ran right up to them, oh-so-sweet and all sugar. Help me, she said. That girl over there is going to eat me.

Probably not the most inaccurate description, though I am usually good at hiding it. Reef has the highest form of technological girl-in-eating-mood sensor. It never helps me get Reef back. A softer dog, sure. A softer dog wouldn't be doing that, in the first place. I believe Reef is about as sensitive as a brick.

I have 200 yards of very light rope I ordered from Gun Dog Supply, when she used to do this before. Then she hit one year old, and the behavior stopped. I think the incredible humidity and near heat stroke after playing would help. Air conditioning.

I got out my 200 yards of rope today. Hah. Take that.

The difficulty will be in setting her up. She's very smart.

So. That's not all. Reef barks. Reef has always barked, but I think she picked up a thing or two from the golden retrievers, and remodeled it in border collie fashion.

For instance, the doorbell rings. Every golden barks. Caper and Reef alike, cannot believe they are barking for no reason. Caper runs upstairs, hides, and peeks around the corner. Reef barks. Person opens door. Goldens act like golden retrievers. Reef acts like a border collie, and is still barking.

No, Reef. Golden retrievers. They retrieve paper. And socks. One just fetched a deck light cover to me. Really. You should not be trusting them.

So, tonight, when I let the dogs out, Reef barked. It was dark, and the neighbors were outside. Caper would have run up to the neighbors in sheer glee, darkness and all. But Reef barked. Caper thought. Caper thought perhaps he should go inside. Just in case.

This is the second time Reef has done something like that. Completely evaporated Caper's happy confidence in one fell swoop. I become completely crushed at my completely crushed dog. Reef, do you know how much work it took at first to convince him he was the best dog on the planet? Reef is like the sibling that tells you your finger painting of a rainbow sucks.

I swear, training dogs is such pain. Long line. Treats. Treat for Reef shutting up, treats for Caper being happy.

I cannot wait to work Reef on sheep this summer. It helped so this spring.

Ok, well it's spring here. I mean back when it was spring in Florida. Even though the trainer once said she might make a good cattle dog. And agility dog. Reef was demonstrating her speed.

She said Caper was natural. She also said Caper was a bit of a fluke, and that most of her pups were like Reef.

Ok. Reef wasn't that bad. But the trainer understood her, and I was relieved.

Reef. Honestly. You are lucky you are a cute furby.

Watch me just go and get another Reef in six years or so. I complain, but, who doesn't want to be bent over in pain attempting to coerce, convince, or cajole a dog into coming inside?

Everyone wants to. Don't you think any differently.

As a disclaimer, yes, I can train a dog. Yes, I understand why she won't come in, how I can prevent it, and how I can fix it. No, I am not tackling Reef.

Only in my head.

Tampa, FL USDAA

2009-05-16T23:27:00.010-04:00

Greg Fontaine. Cool judge. Very relaxed (but still efficient).

Saturday

Epic fail.

Advanced Gamblers: I won't go there.

Advanced Jumpers: Caper didn't read an opening front cross on a pinwheel, off course. Caper. All Caper.

Not really.

Advanced Standard: Not overly terrible. Not overly great. First bar for confused start-line. The rest was fine. Not perfect. I tried new things. But fine.

Sunday

Advanced Snooker: Eliminated. I was very disappointed, actually, it felt like the one run where everything was going right. I was going for four reds, and Caper had to do some very good collection and tight turns. He was being perfect, absolutely perfect. I forgot my feet and the red jump I thought I was taking was a few feet away -I was actually taking a blue. Whistles are cutting.

Advanced Standard: Oh well. Knocked bar, bad rear cross. I let him run the dogwalk after and he got three paws in. Highlight of the weekend. Woo.

Of course, I've really done so badly for quite awhile it's not a downer. Except for Snooker.

That one hurt.

I have to say I would not support this trial again, unfortunately. I left early, so can only provide an account of the facts. As a very small arena, shade was only available in an aisle between the rings. Most people set up their chairs there, and rotated them to watch both rings. My friends and I set up towards the end of an aisle, and talked and stayed there all day Saturday. Caper slept under my chair, except for when I was gate stewarding our own Advanced Standard class; Greg Fontaine had kindly coordinated and tweaked the class to allow us to run during Steeplechase.

After Advanced Standard was over, I left. Apparently, a dog had dug a medium sized hole in the aforementioned aisle. (Arena, dirt.) The director of the trial specifically asked my friends who dug the hole, and upon them not knowing, demanded to know how that was possible, when the hole was where we were sitting? (It was actually a few chairs down -among the 35 chairs or so in the area.)

It was said that, the next day, the area would have a sign saying, "no dogs allowed" -the coolest, only shaded area, unless you brought a tent. Also -to whomever dug the hole, the director is going to make sure that entry, "gets lost in the mail next time". I do not know if that applies to myself, or one of my three friends, as it was said to them, one of whom had been considering private lessons at the facility.

I don't mean to be biting, and I hesitate to write this as I own an agility based business. Just, as a common sense notice, perhaps, if you cannot handle a dog-like behavior one dog out of the hundred entered is bound to have, you should not be hosting a dog trial?

Cool dirt, humid day, moment of oversight by an owner, easily remedied in twenty seconds or so.

However, agility is just a game, and trial hosts and all that goes into it are simply referees; you play the game with the variables involved for the day. Perhaps the hole was one too many incidents cascading over in this particular referee's life. They are not my shoes, I do not know.

I suppose it would have been wrong to arrive on Sunday and sit there holding a small shovel.

Reef told me to.

KAPOW.

2009-05-02T23:49:00.007-04:00

Reef's got nuthin'.

I mean, absolutely nothing. The only reason she gets icecream, or steak, is because Caper is sitting next to her throwing out every trick he can possibly think of. And then some.

I stopped teaching Reef clicker tricks soon after I got her. I felt like it wasn't being beneficial. Now it is. I can't explain it, and maybe it's just me -but there it is.

Caper was only a couple of months old when I taught him "wave". His wave is so deliberate. Pawing the air, like an acutal polite hello. Complete with accent. I haven't decided which accent.

After I taught him wave as a pup, he sauntered over to my parents. They had crackers. Caper likes crackers.

Wave.

Being my first border collie, I was stunned at his ability to generalize. He was adorable. He got a cracker. He waved again. He got another cracker.

This, clearly, is a lesson Caper has taken to heart. If he wants something, don't look at him. I know he's a dog. But he just told me he loved me undyingly. I believe it. Caper is so astute and practiced, that he can tell you this without looking at whatever edible item it is that he wants.

He's good. Very good.

So, out of pity, I started to teach Reef to wave. She wasn't getting it with slight build-up motions. I gave in, picked her foot up, and clicked.

Oh. That's what I wanted?

KAPOW. Click, please. Reef's wave is not sweet and kind. It's an awkward looking wave, completed intently with a piercing focus. Pick up the foot. KAPOW. Repeat.

Reef wagged her tail when I praised her for it. That's a first. See. You don't always have to be so goal-oriented, Reef. We can have fun, too.

The thing I've learned, though, about working with Reef -the longer the session, the closer she gets to you. She can't help it. She's so concentrated and enthusiastic, she inches closer. I push her sit back, but every third wave or so, it's KAPOW. IN YOUR FACE.

I mean, you really can't criticize that sort of enthusiasm. Even if you're clutching your face in tears.

I only got one session in with Reef, because then my neighbor banged on the wall. Reef was barking intermittently. I forgot where I was: in an apartment.

But goodbye, apartment. I have seen my last of you. Now: Florida, New England, and Canada.

Reef was spayed a couple days ago.

The ten days of rest puts a slight crimp in training plans. I bought a log of treats, to continue waving and whatever else I could think of. Work on lead outs and handling at a walk.

Did I mention that I wanted a golden retriever? Did I mention that I'm probably good on that wanting count for at least a few more years now? Molly ate the treat log, in about a span of 5 seconds. We played and enthusiastic tug of war with what was left in the plastic bag. Molly was apologetically happy as she tugged backwards, but she really wanted to finish the roll. If you please. Thank you.

Molly. You are now responsible for Reef's boredom. If she chases you with her cone on, you will not be rescued by me, though you may ask.

Reef In Agility

2009-04-29T04:31:00.001-04:00

I have one half of me that's sensible. That says, "Don't do that." It's what keeps me from, say, buying the first adorable puppy I come across. And the second. And the third.

The other half usually retorts with something like, "But I want to." Then it comes up with a list of plausible ways of how I could make it work. Sometimes I've tried it. It usually doesn't work. That side thinks I'm Superman.

Reef will be fifteen months old at the end of June.

Fifteen months, to me, sounds too early to compete. Too early to teach to weave.

After this summer, Reef won't get a chance to compete until the summer of 2010 -when she will be over two. Caper was just over two when I got Reef.

Shouldn't she have, you know, won a national championship by then?

There's an AKC trial at the end of July I could enter Reef in. At first, I was incredibly enthused about entering her in Preferred. Perfect. No problem. Then I realized Q's aren't transferable to the regular novice classes. What's the point, then?

Wait. I'm thinking I'm going to Q?

Fine, says the Sensible Side. Just don't enter her at all. You shouldn't be entering her in the first place, and you'll save money.

Enter the I Want side. Look, says the I Want side. There's a trial the weekend before, near family. Wouldn't you like to visit family? Novice is a straight line. Weave poles aren't faulted, so you don't have to drill. Reef is smart. Reef could learn the weave poles in 3 sessions. And why Preferred? Twenty inches isn't that high. Then you could enter her in two trials. And wouldn't it be nice to visit family?

Wait, says the Sensible Side. You were going to visit family that weekend anyway.

But, I'm poor, says the I Want side. I could photograph the trial. How can I be there and not enter? Caper won't be entered. Caper deserves a break.

And so on. And so forth.

It doesn't help that Caper's first trial was DACOF at 16 months, and he won most of his classes. He won his first run, first everything -first run with a border collie, first run with a dog that was truly mine. I have it on VHS. It's funny. We look like dorks.

That's a lot of pressure, Reef.

Caper had the same amount of training time as Reef would have: five weeks.

But Reef isn't Caper.

But Reef is faster than Caper.

Wouldn't I like to play with Reef? Just a little?

Just a tiny bit?

I'm going to ask my Mom.

Moms always know.

Tailwaggers USDAA (4/17-4/19)

2009-04-19T21:16:00.023-04:00

So.

Not that great on paper.

Friday

My morning exam ate my potential DAM team entry. That's ok. We would have been the bell that tolled for our team.

Grand Prix: Train wreck with potential? (Thank you, lone clapping person.)

What's interesting is I sent this run to my Dad, for fun. I got a play by play edit back of all the things I did in this video. Like, back when I played soccer. Pretty amazing. He was dead on. It is partially what he does for a living -analyzing sports video, but, paragraphs of information.

And I thought Caper was just a lil' over excited and me a lil' out of practice. It really boils down to, what Tori keeps continually telling me: be assertive and be consistent, of which I am neither. Yet.

He even pointed out where I could have saved tenths of a second. I can say, "Oh, that was wide", or, "Oh, I could do that better", but, unlike Tori, I do not know where those tenths are. Evasive little things.

(This is just to confuse you.)

Saturday

Advanced Gamblers: NQ. Our opening went something like, "Zero. Zero. Zero, zero, zero." It's all good -we didn't get the gamble anyway. I've been getting a lot of good handling and training advice lately, and I really wanted to work on my handling. So, I never micromanaged the contacts. So, Caper didn't get the contacts.

Advanced Standard: Q/1st. I'm not sure how. Don't ask. My knee was in his face so he couldn't pop out at pole 10. Like a horse investigating your pocket. Oops. Elbow. He wanted to pop out. But a knee was there. Mysterious.

Caper has a stop. I just never use it. I don't like it. He always offers the stop in practice -never in competition. I decided, post-gamblers, that I WANTED A STOP. I want the ability to think on course. I wanted to give Caper good directions. I can't do that if I have to be on top of him. This summer, sure, let's train a running. Right now, though?

The road of fun is ending. At a stop.

Oh. Take that.

Well, he didn't stop. But, it's a start.

Steeplechase: All I remember is a whistle. I think it was from the cheering section.

Advanced Pairs: Q -I paired with Tori Self and Revolution. He popped out at 10 -I wanted to see if I was ahead, if it helped him to stay in the poles. No. Then I had to re-set myself afterwards. You know, with my leg acting as a mammalian fence and all.

(TURTLE. Tortoise?)

Sunday

Advanced Snooker: NQ. I racked up a total of one point. I love Snooker. Snooker hates me. Snooker must always be first thing in the morning, so I arrive with four minutes to spare and do not realize the #5 a-frame was actually an a-frame/tunnel combination. I blame Reef.

Advanced Standard: NQ. This was fun. This was very fun. I liked this judge's courses. I was experimenting with different ways of reminding Caper of "touch" -maybe it had some sort of magic button? For instance, screaming, "YOU TOUCH."

Wrong button. I think it wound him up, instead.

So, after he missed the a-frame (I don't think you can see this in the video), I put him back on it. I thought I would be excused for training in the ring. No. I was not. I am so grateful. That judge -he was my Gamblers and Steeplechase and everything-goes-wrong judge. And he let me finish the course.

The second jump after the table -pay attention. There was an off course option after it to the right that, last week- Caper would have taken. I taught him "side" this week, and tried it at that jump to keep him with me. It worked! It worked so well, I pulled him off the jump. I could not be more infinitely pleased.

Look, I taught my dog something.

Advanced Jumpers: NQ. I was out, Caper was tired. I did not properly cue a turn in my lead out; knocked bar. I also signaled deceleration and a turn as he was taking off for the double, which he then knocked. I still liked that run --I signaled deceleration? And a turn? Ok, late -but, still. There was a turn coming out of a tunnel I also had him slow down for, and then immediately kick it in for the last jump, which was very close in line -a triple. He made it.

Usually with 2 measly Q's I'd be disappointed and depressed, lost without a direction to go in. But I love my 2 Q's. I love all of my NQ's. For the first time, I was able to think in places on the course, rather than just react.

Most of those videos are not seeing the light of day, but I can assure you in some places I think I look much, much better. Some places not. Some places I didn't know what cause and effect would be. I still probably run the course more than the dog. But, instead of staying static as usual, now we get to improve.

I don't even care about getting into Masters -what would be the point? Some of the Advanced classes were tougher. I don't want to be in Masters and fail utterly. I want to be in Advanced and fail utterly, so that when we do get to Masters, we at least look like we belong there, instead of relying solely on un-trained communications.

And of course the confusing starts. Mixed signals. Not watching Caper. Not pushing Caper. Noticing the things I don't notice, so the next time I get a play by play e-mail, it's a little more concise. You know -a mentally processable length.

On the bright side, this weekend I accelerated through the list of "mistakes you've made and will now never make again".

Actually. It's a good thing Tori went first in Pairs. I forgot about the baton.

I only took pictures of my dogs. I know. A break with tradition.

I changed the white balance halfway through these, so they are different colors. I apologize, if, like me, the sole reason you are not sharing some youtube videos right now is because they have a typo in it. Colors. They're not different. What?

And Reef:

Extra personality portrait video:

Hemi Rocks, Reef Cameos (Hemi is Kristie Moser's.)

Rev Acts Like a Border Collie (Rev is Tori Self's.)

Zing Tugs (Zing is Gabrielle Blackburn's.)

And Caper, of course.

Sweet!

2009-04-17T07:00:00.009-04:00

Gabrielle (Zing and the fabulous Q) just sent me a video of Caper from Dog On It --how cool is that?

Advanced Jumpers

This is the run where I was trying to beat Rev.

Now that I look at it, Rev may have been going a tad faster. But we won't think about that --Rev went off course. I win, I winwinwin.

Oh, shoot. Bar. Ahem. Anyway, I almost wonder if he hit with a front paw -I can't tell, he really picks up his butt like, "oh darn!".

I'm really glad this is on video -since we were all back to back, I thought nobody got it. I know I was really trying to make the run tighter -I'm curious to see if I could do that without my other arm coming up like a confused mailbox flag. It's annoying me to watch. Is that a self taught thing? What would other people do?

(Train?)

My favorite part is the triple at the end. He tried really hard.

Now I have to go take an exam. But now I'm taking it happily, and when I can't remember the answers, I shall ponder if that arm should be annoying me, or not.

Also, I suppose it may have been me here, but I think he needs more help jumping (jump training -something I actually do), just so he doesn't have to think about it so much.

Anyway. That was very instructive (and fun) to watch. I think everyone now should go watch me and be as interested.

Not really. I won't blame you.

Maybe I could rotate my shoulders in, instead. Maybe it would be equally annoying but less noticable.

What!? I'm eating breakfast! Chemical means of genetic mutants can include alkylating agents, deamination, hydroxylamine...

I love Jumpers.

Skyhoundz SE Regional

2009-04-15T23:14:00.001-04:00

Came. Saw. Threw frisbee. Left.

Saturday was designated as Caper only. I don't think Caper cared.

Reef was ticked.

Sunday was DA. I discovered this after writing "Distance/Accuracy" three times on my registration sheet. And then someone asked me if I was entering DA.

Oh. Heh. Or you can use common sense. Whatever.

In Round One I could not throw a frisbee.

After Round One: "You need throwing lessons." Yes. Thank you.

In Round Two (we advanced by default of limited Novice entries), I realized I botched up Round One, besides the throwing handicap. I was told, "Your dog gets an extra point if they catch the frisbee."

In the air. They forgot that part. Catch the frisbee in the air. None of my dogs caught a single frisbee, because I wasn't throwing them to be caught. Kind of embarrassing. I mean, what else would you be judging for at a frisbee competition?

Rev: I win. I win, I win, I won.

I was told that, too. Frisbee people do not mince words. But they do let your dog pee on the course -time just pauses. Dogs off leash? No problem. Ten dollar entry fee? Here, have a hat and a frisbee with that.

Thanks to lessons and hindsight, I could throw in Round Two. Molly got stage fright, drove after the frisbee, and would watch it fall. Molly could not then pick up said frisbee. Well, she could, but it took time. I sprinted a lot with Molly.

Look, Molly. A non-retriever fetching. Interesting.

Reef was cute. Reef was a button. Reef was nothing Reef ever is, and was perfect at her first competition. I'm not sure what happened to the real Reef. I'm supposed to say something nice about her. I'm sure everyone who met Reef that day thinks I'm a big fat liar, with a gift for exaggeration.

What I believe happened, is Reef gave her personality to me for the day. I would rather not reflect. Read previous posts on Reef for a synopsis.

Caper got the short end of the stick. My arm was tired. That poor dog cannot jump in the air. He caught it. It looked uncomfortable. Caper is mellow. Caper rolls with life.

Frisbee? Ok. I can do that.

If you just calm down a little.

If he could talk, he would probably say that a lot. Working on it. Not him talking. Me being like Caper, instead of Reef.

Good girl, Reef.

The original Bean.

Bean is Reef's nickname. When I like her.

One day I suppose I should re-learn how to write in complete sentences. I've been particularly disjointed lately.

I hope they have novice classes at the next competition.

I'll be practicing. Oh, will I be practicing.

Extraneous Pictures

Hemi, my new third dog.

Once I pry her out her owner's cold, dead hands.

I like this series for no reason.

I thought Fergie matched the flags. Except you can't see the flags, really.

But I took the picture. And so see them anyway.

I'm Melting

2009-04-15T23:13:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures taken of Reef and Caper, at their first frisbee competition. And Reef's first competition, period. Let it be said (as it will be above), that Reef did not run away. Even when I approached her with the leash.

You may not want to read this. It's not funny. It's not creative. It's me gawking -at my own dogs. Especially Reef. Because she's adorable.

See? Last chance to hit "back".

"Reef" and "adorable" in the same sentence is rather intriguing, though.

Photos by Kristie Moser

First catch, first competition:

(Athletic girlie.)

(Hello, adorable dog.)

Caper -photogenic, yes. Athletic, um...

Molly: Tracy throws frisbee. Molly runs.

Tracy fetches frisbee.

Photos by Tori Self

'Lil Bean:

Good dog Caper.

Miss Molly:

At least the Advantix is working.

2009-04-14T21:29:00.008-04:00

I don't like ticks.

Those people that just pick them off their dogs, with their fingers?

No.

Right now I have about a thousand ticks crawling on me. You can't see them.

They're invisible.

It's rained here. Poured. Stormed. I love storms.

I take it back.

I was petting Reef.

I found two ticks on Reef's leg. Their identifiable white spots mocking me. Laughing at the laundry I will be doing tomorrow. Taunting me with the money I've spent on poisonable prevention. Telling me I will go color blind with Lyme's Disease.

I dragged Reef into the bathroom. On the white tile floor, I believe a minuscule tick was making it's way to me. I smashed it with my shoe.

Just so you know, once upon a time I left for the weekend, and my parents had to watch Reef. They had to take her to the vet; I don't remember why. But it took three people to hold her. Three people to hold a 28 pound dog.

I am all alone.

I did not inspect closely, but I believe the ticks were dead. Even so, I doused them with rubbing alcohol.

This was hard.

The tweezers. I grabbed the tweezers. I hate this part. I can feel their round, smooth bodies as the points of the tool look for the proper place to grab the whole tick, remembering the head, and not squeezing back any blood.

IS THAT NOT DISGUSTING. No question mark. Period. Is that not disgusting, period.

After I've treated one thrashing dog, I have to search the other. I open the door. Caper is hiding under the desk. I call him. He runs. Away. He runs away. I go get him, and he slinks at my feet, looking for a small sliver of hope in my eyes. Perhaps we could skip the search, this time? Eh? Eh?

No.

Caper does not have any ticks. Caper dances in glee. I open the bathroom door. Reef runs -away. I call Reef to me --see? We are friends.

Wha --a FLEA!?

A FLEA.

Fleas carry tapeworms. I know a dog right now who can tell you this.

I don't do worms. I don't do ticks. I don't do fleas.

I need to steal my roommate's vacuum cleaner when she is not looking. I will vacuum any spare flea to death. It will tumble in a vortex of air. A roller coaster without a harness.

I don't do fleas. It could well be a solitary flea from where I take the dogs to go out. It's wet. They want a home. But I found one on my dog. Isn't there some sort of mathematical equation for that?

Before I sit back down to type this, I check the bedspread. (Because princesses don't sleep on carpet. God, no.)

I'm being paranoid, right? Haha, funny. I'm so funny.

There's a dead tick on my bedspread.

I'm sleeping in my armchair tonight.

What if there's a brown recluse? It's got a slip-cover on it. One time I pulled the slipcover off the chair to straighten it and a gangly spider popped out. I don't know what it was. I don't want to know what it was.

Today and I are not friends.

And no more hiking on the prairie. Sorry.

I've said that before.

It's a really pretty prairie.

I'm Not an Idiot, You Know.

2009-04-01T21:08:00.002-04:00

Reef is convinced she can figure out the weave poles on her own. She watches Caper, and on her turn to play runs by or through a couple.

I always feel a little crushed looking at her face. So hopeful. She'll even ignore a jump wrap to go try a do jump-weave.

Oh, Reef. You are not invincible.

DOI USDAA (3/20-3/22)

2009-03-23T21:17:00.001-04:00

Caper

Friday

Steeplechase: Q. Caper was squeaking in the weave poles. (Video)

I ran Hemi in Steeplechase. (Her owner couldn't be there.) I love running other people's dogs. She felt like my dogs. And her weaves are gorgeous. And she turns tightly with no work on my part. And I said "spot", and she hit the contact. I felt liberated. Is that what a trained contact feels like? My god. It's beautiful.

Not the least of all, Hemi just radiates cool. I take her out of her crate. She has no idea who I am. Whatever. Game on. I've never met a dog you could describe as cool. But Hemi is.

So, I sent her off course on the second to last jump -for a split second I thought it was the right jump. I almost did that with Caper, too.

Kristie doesn't know it, but Hemi is mine. Tori also ran her on Friday in Masters Snooker. She was nervous. I probably could have weasled my way into running Hemi there, too. I should have, because Tori came out with a big grin and FUN.

No. My dog.

Saturday

Starters Standard: NQ. Popped out after 10 in the weave poles, and I didn't notice. That was just the beginning of the faults.

Grand Prix: NQ. Basically, it was as if I had picked him up and chucked him into the poles. I really shouldn't do that. On the bright side, he felt really slow to me. He doesn't look too badly in the video -I was very surprised; it was the middle of the day, I was being really conservative, and he felt like molasses. (Video)

Steeplechase Round 2: No, Caper, not that end of the tunnel.

Sunday

Starters Standard: Q/3rd. Haha, I'm out! Goodbye, Starters. Caper popped out at pole 10 (again). Those weave poles are starting to haunt me. He doesn't have issues, they just aren't proofed.

Advanced Jumpers: NQ/2nd. I really need to stop playing around in this class, because now I need a Q. Last time I tried to see if I could do it without walking it. This time I was trying to beat Rev. Tori and I had a friendly competition going, (more talk on my part -I mean, Rev won Steeplechase with the fastest time by 3 seconds...) but it ended when we saw the course. It was impossible to memorize. I had to walk it three times before I remembered what it was.

Rev the Steeplechase winner wants you to know she couldn't have done it without her Clever Dog Productions leash. If you get one, you could win Steeplechase, too.

It was suggested that we all trade dogs. (the dogs being Rev, Caper, and Hemi) which would have been fun. But this Q was keeping Kristie awake at night. And she got it. Actually, they were the only ones to get it. Caper knocked a bar in the last line; I didn't support it and I was really pushing. I'm really pleased with Caper. I even tried to tighten him up, instead of just making it through -he wasn't amazingly tight, but it was a vast improvement. I felt badly he knocked the bar; he was working really hard for me.

Caper had the fastest time of the dogs by a little over a second. But Rev went into the wrong end of the tunnel, and Tori had to put her back, so our comparison was lost. And now I'll never know. It's agony, I tell you.

Here's Rev's run, so you can see what the course looked like. I'm pretty sure our opening was not that fast, so, heh.

Fletcher

Friday

PI Pairs: Eliminated. This was the second time I've ever run Pairs. We were the first, and only, group to go. No one handed me a baton. The speaker said, "Go", so I went. Fletcher was awesome. My partner wanted to know where the baton was.

You know what? I've just driven from North Florida to Tampa, from Tampa to Orlando, I should probably be studying, I remembered everything, I set up everything all by myself, and they want me to remember the stupid baton? What is this, cheerleading camp? Here. Here is a blade of grass. It is doubling as my baton. The baton is out sick today.

PI Snooker: I missed this running Steeplechase. Oops.

PSJ: Fletcher had a clean run, but it was over time. We argued for a very long time about the weave poles. He wanted to go in them, I was telling him that wasn't the correct entry and tried to pull him backwards. He was like, "What are you talking about? There are weave poles RIGHT HERE."

Saturday

PNS: I thought he Q'd, but there must have been a fault (dogwalk?). Sad. Poor guy was roasting by this time and much slower -I can't believe he made it through the weave poles. Florida is hot. (Video)

P1 Snooker: Q. Finally. Fletch had a winning course, but knocked the number 4 jump. It was a slice, and I didn't give him enough help on it. (You need to be really deliberate and obvious running Fletcher.)

PSJ Round 2: 2nd place! I was walking the course for Caper, and went to look at the running order. Um, there's Fletcher's name. First in the running order. Ha. I love Performance. Fletch is such a happy guy -I went and grabbed him ASAP, and he won me $10.

Sunday

P1 Standard: NQ/2nd. Fletcher was having a nice, fast run, but I didn't really tell him the teeter was a teeter. Fletcher can fly.

P1 Jumpers: NQ/1st. I was convinced I could beat Fletcher down a line of jumps. He was booking it for such a big, 6 1/2 year old dog -19 seconds. I was sprinting, he was sprinting, I couldn't beat him for the cross, and caused him to knock a bar.

Please Stop Writing

Overall, it was a great weekend. I did not leave discouraged like I ususally do. I think my handling was much better, and I love it when I see pieces of Caper that can be competitive. I can't wait to really train that darn dog.

I want a golden retriever. I think I was running this weekend with the two most stupid-type-of-happy dogs on the planet. You'd ask Fletch on the line, "do you want to play agility?", and he would almost pull me off my feet.

I'm very grateful to Tori for the videos up there -I couldn't find my camera and was pretty bummed about it. I didn't ask her to video, and tried to blow it off as not important, but she did anyway.

Of course, about 15 of us sat around watching Rev win Steeplechase, but none of us thought to check if anyone was videoing. Smart.

Photos

Zing being still for once.

Carter, my new puppy. Not really.

Carter stealing food and getting caught. Retriever. Fletcher did it too.

All weekend I kept forgetting to zip Caper's crate, and I'd come back to find him like this. Awhile ago I impressed the importance to him (Like so: "You stay in there, got me?" Insert disapproving look.) of staying in his crate.

Caper does not forget lessons.

Partner in trialing without training:
THE Miss Revie returns:

And Blink!

DOI USDAA Photos

2009-03-23T19:00:00.000-04:00

Fletcher

Caper

All photos by Kristie Moser and her enviable Canon lenses.

Snippets -Frisbee?

2009-03-03T20:15:00.005-05:00

I have no idea what the politically correct term for frisbee is. But I know it involves the 'f' being capitalized.

Sort of like no one can make merchandise regarding the NFL or Superbowl. Which is why you see things advertising the Greatest Sports Event of the Year.

I am by no means any sort of frisbee anything. But it is cheap. And sounds mellow. Apparently I can throw it, and the dog can catch it, and that's good enough. I believe the point is to throw it far, but I'm sure I would try that, the frisbee would whip out from my hands at the wrong angle, and come into contact with someone's head. So, I'm going for a nice throw. I think I could make it 20 feet.

Don't laugh. I'm being serious.

Caper isn't going to bring it back. Reef is going to run away. But it's all good.

Actually, if people stand there watching, Reef is probably going to tell them what-for. She does not like idle people. People should have a purpose. Otherwise, they are suspicious.

You are also classified as suspicious if you are wielding giant flags and waving them about, like the high school color guard we ran by today.

They have a purpose, Reef. They're colorful.

I just really want to see if Reef comes back to me when our turn is over. She'll be over a year old. SO SHE SHOULD COME BACK.

Sorry. Little carried away.

Contacts

2009-02-27T22:38:00.004-05:00

Sometimes, like now, I leave my room and then come back. And the plate on my desk looks much, much cleaner than when I left it -like it went through the dishwasher.

Suspicious. I have never, ever caught the culprit at this, and expect by this time the behavior is completely self reinforcing. I also have never, ever had a dog that I had to train not to touch my food. I could leave a plate on the ground, walk out, and it would not be touched.

Not anymore. Reef. You're exasperating. I should have named you an adjective, like 'Caper'. And then I would have 'Caper' and 'Exasperate'.

Anyway, in short:

Reef: No running contacts. Stopped contacts.
Caper: Running contacts.

I taught Reef a semblance of a stop in preparation for the teeter. She transferred it to everything else. No work required on my part. Drive to the end? Ok.

So I started thinking -in light of a very nice stop, how advantageous would a running contact be? I had a hard time giving it up. I could train it. Running contacts are sexy. I want one. I hate stopping.

But it wouldn't be a smart choice, for Reef, with her current style and current personality. I can early release as she gets older, and use games in trials to remind her of what a stop is. Over the years, I expect it to morph into more of a modified running.

I don't think she would be out of control, or not listen, or blast off the end of the board -but, I see only a slight advantage with the running contact, given the speed she is showing me now. If we're at a national competition, and I have Reef, I would want a stop. And there's my answer. So many of the teams I watched on the USDAA Nationals stream had a running contact, and missed. Hopefully if there is a team with a successful running contact, Reef can beat them in acceleration and turning.

I got some good advice on this, and am going to take it. I'm not saying a running contact is unsuccessful, but I think the better choice for this dog is to stop. Reef needs rules. (Like, "Don't be a dishwasher." Not "Don't be a dishwasher, but does not apply when my back is turned".)

Ah. Tiny twinge of regret.

On the other hand, I do think the better choice for Caper is to run. I've spent some time lately working on his teeter, undoing damage caused by the 2o2o nose touch (no regard on my part was put on his back end). Consequently, he has a moderately nice stop now, but, I think he'd be better running.

So I get to train both this summer. I might have trouble with Caper's A-frame -hopefully I can emphasize to him I want him to come down into the yellow. I do think he could get over excited, forget, and still miss. Caper probably thinks he can jump the Sunshine Skyway in one stride. I started the box method, and hope I don't have to resort to it for clear-cut rules; I'm not cut out for that sort of patience and repetition.

And that was my small farewell to Reef's running contact. There may be a slight chance I will take you back in the future, should the stop and I part ways, but it is slim.

Snippets -Reef Training

2009-02-20T21:45:00.007-05:00

I started LM jump training with Reef today. I figured it couldn't hurt -I personally think her growth plates are closed. I was going to do it twice a week, ten times each session, at 8 inches until next month (her birthday), and then slowly bring it up to full height by the end May. Then, more intense jump training this summer.

Reef screamed. By far this is her most favorite thing I've taught her. (Ok -out of the two things I've taught her immature, over-stimulated brain. She doesn't need to learn agility. She needs to learn to how not to annoy Tracy.) She's bopped all over the place since day 1 here, giving my orthopedic-ly paranoid self a small heart attack. And now I was clicking for the bopping. Bop bop bop.

I set the jump up around 20 inches, and turned to release Caper. One of the recent things I've taught Reef is to take turns. She can't handle this more than five feet away from the action, but if I perch her within five feet and reward her frequently, she will stay. And scream if Caper gets it wrong. Reef bopped. Bop bop bop. Where's the treat? Bop. Where's the treat? BOP. WHERE'S THE TREAT. BOPBOPBOP. Over 20".

I think I'll wait a little longer.

Also, I feel like at our herding lesson last week, Reef was a college student to whom I gave my last $50. And she went and spent it on beer.

Photos: First of 2009

2009-02-15T00:36:00.006-05:00

I splurged. Here are Caper's first trial photos of 2009, taken a couple of weeks ago at Dog On It.

Photos are by Pix N' Pages.

Caper's winning Standard run....

...and the Standard run I pulled him from, for looking off in the weaves:

Snippet -Reef Edibles

2009-02-10T17:01:00.006-05:00

Reef ate my brand new jacket, that I bought myself. I really liked it. I got it in the mail yesterday. I've never worn it. I don't have jackets. I live in Florida. It was a light jacket. It was a pretty jacket. It was a cool-day agility jacket. It was a "maybe one day I'll be able to live up north" jacket. It was a running jacket, a hiking jacket, a "this summer is going to be great" jacket. It was very pretty, as far as jackets go. I was pleased to finally wear something that looked both nice, and functional, instead of just functional.

She pulled it through her crate and ate it. Rather, she ate the tag. Was what caught her eye. Then the zipper pull attachments. Then the drawstring on the bottom. All of these were not fatal casualties, had she not torn a hole in it pulling it through the crate.

I'm not sure how she even got it. Magical abilities. It was nowhere near her crate. I think Caper may have knocked it off the bed, which is where he sleeps when I'm gone. Very sad, and I'm frustrated at Caper's unusual lapse into carelessness. Reef wouldn't have even touched it had she been outside the crate. She's in the crate because she's in heat. All the more reason to spay dogs. It may cost you a jacket. I would personally spay her myself at the moment if it were possible.

Also, I think flexi leads are the devil and encourage stupidity. Lady with dog who made me knock the chain off my bike while pedaling my way to my crestfallen new jacket.

Reef also knocked 'd' and 'e' off my laptop last week. Just putting it out there.

Reef on Sheep

2009-01-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

Week 1:

Reef is fast. Then Reef is nice. Reef gets called a nice puppy (for her age), and I try to not smile about it because, hey, she's stuck with me. And I don't know what I look like.

Week 2:

Reef gives everyone who doesn't know her a good idea of her personality. Reef gags on dirt. Then pukes. Then doesn't stop puking, so I pull her off. Reef screams the entire time in the car when not her turn.

Week 3:

Reef is back being a nice-ish puppy. This is possibly because I ran Reef's legs off before I drove out to the sheep. Try to have her wear (?) behind the sheep but she isn't ready. But I did get her to lie down a couple times. Eventually. She started to get the picture.

To be continued.

No, seriously though. Reef has matured a lot in the last month or so -I don't know if working has helped, but I suppose it was bound to happen, eventually. She still is Reef, a perpetual, stubborn PITA. But a nice PITA, no longer an evil one. She's far from perfect, but I've noticed a huge improvement in her attitude, maturity, and willingness to respond.

At least while this is being typed, and behavior while dogs are running at agility trials excluded. Among other things.

I am talking about Reef, after all.

Dog On It USDAA (1/16/09-1/18/09)

2009-01-22T22:46:00.014-05:00

Friday

Freezing cold.

Advanced Jumpers: NQ, bar. Caper: "Where are you going?" *Tink*. Also, I was not paying attention at all. Hence the really wide turns.

So. I was staying with a friend in Orlando. I got as far as to her apartment complex, and my phone died.

There are a lot of apartments in an apartment complex. Also, it was 45 degrees out. And I was wearing only jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweatshirt.

However, I am, luckily, a genius. I discovered and parked by friend's car in the parking lot. And took Caper out, and let him go. After some snuffling, Caper was excited and on to something. Caper loves said friend --loves. He picked an apartment and danced eagerly by it, and was wriggling in happiness as I walked up the path to ring the doorbell. A girl answers the door.

Door Answering Girl is not friend or friend's roommate.

Luckily, the area was relatively safe, gated, and there was a family with a few kids playing outside. Ok. Fine. And I have pepper spray. And Reef. I ring another door bell, and another person answers. "Do you know Renee?" I ask, "She has a black lab; named Sophie?"

"Uh, no." answers Person, "-good luck...there are a lot of apartments...".

No kidding. Thank you, Einstein.

Einstein turns out to be an idiot as I spy friend's lime green walls through a window. Next to Einstein's apartment. By now I have spent half an hour outside in 45 degree weather. Apparently friend does not care that I have fallen off the face of the planet. (Ok, she did. But it did not occur to her to check outside. Renee, do you read this? Renee? I am kidding, Renee. Am I still allowed to come over?)

So, who lives in the apartment where Caper danced in glee?

Cats. That's right, my friends. Cats.

I am never trusting that dog again.

Saturday

Starters Standard: Q/1st

What I did really notice in that video is I am running alarmingly flat footed. Good grief.

Steeplechase: Caper skips 11-12 in the poles, E'd. I turn to ask the judge what happened before I leave -then realize I am allowed to keep going. I would have run this differently if given the chance again, but that's why video is great. Having just 6 weaves poles really punched me this trial. I am so pleased we got through the course intact besides the weaves -go Caper!

Grand Prix: E'd. We waited 40 minutes to go in the ring. I kept thinking it was my turn, and this ring was a little disorganized. I am not mad. It actually was humorous. And then after that, I completely and utterly botched it.

Starters Snooker: NQ. Caper swears that tunnel was a part of my course. He swears it. He was really high and I am convinced he thinks we won that round with only three obstacles.

Sunday

Starters Snooker: Q/2nd. Caper tweaked something in the weave poles, causing him to yelp. I walked him left and right; no limp, and so I finished the course. Afterwards, I walked him out for a very long time and sobbed because I had broken my marvelous dog.

Starters Standard: Eliminated. Everything looked good, so I decided to run Caper. His weaves looked "off", so I pulled him. At first I regretted it -it was for his AD, and no one else noticed him with less weight on his back right; I questioned my paranoia. However, someone had (very nicely) taped it for me, and I do think he looked uncomfortable.

Today is Thursday (four days later), and he is almost 100%. I don't know what happened -it didn't look like a muscle pull.

Advanced Jumpers: NQ. I ran this course without walking it. It was interesting to see all the silly things I did because I didn't have time to think. I had much more fun running it this way, though -good practice and I was bummed out up until that point.

I didn't get to walk the course because I was running Revolution (excuse me -I mean, THE Revolution, the Grand Prix winning, 2nd place in Steeplechase Round 1, bye holding, Revolution) in Starters Jumpers; her owner didn't need the Q. I loved it -I did horribly and ran Rev daintily, like the dainty thing Rev is, when I should have treated her like Reef. Rev graciously put up with me and I learned a lot from it; mostly about positioning and timing.

Photos

THE Miss Revie.

I didn't make up that title; I believe it's what Rev would prefer everyone to call her. When she deigns to notice.

Miss Revie with her AD.

Caper and I will miss you in Starters, Rev.

Hemi, take one:

Hemi, take two:
Feature

Sorry. This was the only photo in focus. And actually, my favorite photo of Caper is him jumping a contact. So. Although, this doesn't really qualify as a quality photo with the teeter slicing out the background. But STILL. I saw Feature.

Proof:

And finally, Quiz:

Feature was very fun to watch; there were a lot of teams at this trial that were fun. The people were fun, the equipment was bright and colorful (my camera always appreciates that), and it was on an athletic field -so sometimes I could take off my shoes (which I would only do in my apartment complex if I wanted to contract a deadly disease). I hate shoes.

Snippets - Lacrosse

2009-01-03T12:14:00.008-05:00

I took Reef to my brother's lacrosse tournament Friday. She rocked it. Besides being very shy. And pulling like no 28 pound dog should be able to pull. And basically being a non-border collie ambassador, by putting down an adorable 5 month old Labrador retriever. (There were peanuts involved.)

I'm not really worried about the shy thing. She'll get over it. Most likely on a cross-country trip similar to Caper's. But it sure is a bummer when someone wants to pet your adorable puppy, and she looks at them accusingly instead of adoringly. Agility, good. College kids, good. Headless kids with sticks? Possibly sketchy. It was just something she didn't recognize, slightly out of her comfort zone.

I'm never around kids. I didn't realize 3 1/2 year olds were so articulate. There was one little girl who clearly wanted to play with Reef, but was being very, very cautious. I felt Reef tug at the end of the lead, and the little girl was looking at Reef, closely and thinking, like little kids can. Reef was looking at the little girl, thinking back. "She's a little unsure", I said.

"I know.", said the 3 1/2 year girl, completely matter-of-fact. Ok. She knows. Clearly though, she has a plan.

All right. This isn't really about Reef. I just thought the girl was very cute. Throughout the day, she gave Reef non-constricting hugs and very soft pats, barely even touching Reef. At one point a person commented, "You're being very gentle with the puppy, that's nice."

"Well...", she said, passing a hand over a sleeping Reef, "...some dogs bite."

That is the most intelligent and cutest thing I've ever heard.

Working: Caper, December 2008

2008-12-17T16:39:00.001-05:00

Blog Remodel Project

2008-12-17T15:23:00.008-05:00

I'm re-structuring this blog in an effort to make it more professional and in-line with both my website and photography blog. It will detail training methods, product reviews, and contain trial write-ups. Videos will have more of a professional edit to them.

Trial write-ups will be the area I will not curtail -I'm terribly wordy and that will be my outlet for it. Everything will be categorized to take or not as you please.

Q: Training methods? What? Are you a professional trainer?

A: No. I suggest to move along to Susan Garrett's blog. Or Daisy Peel's. But I do have a puppy that you are free to watch me experiment with, and an older dog, who I am just now going back and "fixing". Ok. Not really old. He's two. One dog is very soft and loyal, and one is small, evil, demanding, and pushy.

Q: Product reviews? Really?

A: This is my front to get free stuff. Yes. Shameless, but true. I love to play around with training methods, and various training games, toys, etc. I want to know if it works or not, or if it is something I can incorporate into my program.

Ok. Probably no one is going to send me anything to review. But it won't stop me. I purchased a Hit-It board, and, my god, it was expensive and I'd like to tell others if it was worth the money.

I have had offers to review products on my photo blog, but I won't do it. This is training. That is photography. Training is commercial. Photography is not.

All of my mindless rambling below will remain. You commentors are funny.

And all of the above, of course, applies to agility -not working dogs. I don't recommend people to publicly post about how they were ticked at the sheep running into the horses, then the paddock, then the horses, then the woods, as soon as person and dog appeared in sight. Because telling your dog to "go find sheep" in the woods is probably not the smartest move; the few, heartbreaking seconds when they are gone are agonizing, even if sheep, then dog, subsequently appear at your feet. You don't want to give credence to people who sniff, "THAT could be DANGEROUS!" to you at USBCHA trials. At least not publicly.

Oops.

Paws and Pals USDAA (Sunday)

2008-11-30T17:56:00.004-05:00

Starters Snooker: Oops. My alarm didn't go off, so I arrived with Caper in hand and minutes to spare. I think the gate steward thought I was an idiot. It was unfortunately a very easy, fast snooker course, it's just hard to read numbers and run at the same time. NQ. However, despite the ease of the course, no one in Starters 22" Snooker qualified -I think Caper ended up first or second.

Starters Standard: Q/1

Starters Jumpers: Q/1, SJ title.

So, I should read rules. I had no idea you needed 3 STD Q's, and only one in each game to move up. All this time I haven't entered STD because it was $18. Now I see why! I thought, like every other venue, three Q's needed to move up in all. So the extra Jumpers runs were a bit of a waste. But at least I can say we are finally (finally) out of a lower level in something that is not CPE.

My new objective is not to win. It is to get OUT of Starters. Wasted two Snooker Q's -one on point mongering, one for the darn alarm clock. Hopefully next time, + 2 STD Q's.

I like USDAA. I don't like to putter around and just try to Q. Otherwise --really, what's the point in being there? Someone explained the concept of superQ's today to me and I thought that very nicely fell in line with how I thought. Pushing it with no pressure to move up a level. And so I liked USDAA even a little bit more.

Caper is getting really fun. He keeps getting faster.

Reef was such a good girl. She finally learned to stay while I sprinted away this weekend. Very hard for her. We progressed from breaking the stay, to a levitating butt, to actually staying. And she completely ignored other dogs playing, etc., while working with me. It's when I stop working with her that she becomes a handful. I had her watch a lot of agility this weekend, no treats or games, just watching. By the end of it she was sitting quietly in my lap. Intense, ok, yes, but I was not holding her back, she wasn't screaming, and there were no bruises on my legs from her nails digging in.

Paws and Pals USDAA (Saturday)

2008-11-29T21:09:00.015-05:00

Gamblers: Dropped the last bar of the course, NQ. My fault as I eased up but I really think he should cover for me there!

Pairs: My pairs partner was absent; someone volunteered to run twice so that I would have a partner. Caper had a nice weave entry -if the weaves are the positive x axis, the jump before it was at a -45 degree angle, with the dog jumping to the origin if the weaves started at (0, 0). So. Did that make sense? Q/1st

Steeplechase: I entered $20 Steeplechase in place of $18 Standard. I was Really Freaking Nervous. Years of agility and this weekend I finally get to compete in courses that are not big loops or straight lines. I didn't know Steeplechase and Grand Prix were more for speed -they weren't very hard. Before our run, Caper came up limping playing ball. I thought he looked ok to run. Watching the video, maybe not. Definitely looks odd (to me) over the last three jumps. He knocked the red (third jump) in the video. I thought it was my fault when we were running, but now I don't know. The foot he let down was the one he came up lame on. He was medium-fast speed, too, I've definitely felt him run faster than we did. His time was (minus weave bobble) about 5 seconds off the leading time. I feel like he should be able to go faster. Hurt? Turns? Slow weave poles? Maybe that is his normal time? With our bar fault, we didn't make the finals tomorrow -his name was listed on the score sheet, and I think about fifty 22" dogs ran it today -he literally just missed getting into the round 2. Horrible directions from me at the end, too.

On the bright side, the poor little guy looked like he tried really hard not to knock any more bars, and I managed not to panic after knocking said bar.

Sarah (Good Dog Sports) video'd. Thank you Sarah! Steeplechase:

Today I clipped the leash on Reef, and let her out to pee. Except, I clipped the leash on an invisible, non-existent collar, and Reef was not attached to me. The following ensued. Also, for reference point, this is right next to the Steeplechase ring.

Me, in the sweetest voice: "Reef! Come!"

Reef instinctively responds and takes two happy steps towards me, and I actually think she's going to come. Then I see realization dawn on her face. Shit. (I'm sorry, but that's really the merited word for the situation.) I lunge towards Reef and she takes off down the row of people watching Steeplechase. I'm yelling, "Catch her, please, please, someone catch her!", but absolutely no one notices she is loose. She runs up to several people begging for attention, but no one notices, and I am closing in. The only possible exit for her now to evade capture is the Steeplechase ring. She turns.

I don't know how I caught her. I closed the distance in an Incredible Hulk maneuver and tackled her, literally about three feet away from someone's weaving Steeplechase dog -I'm pretty sure she was about to launch herself onto its head. (She would have had to jump down). I landed at people's feet who were surprised to see me. Hello. Loose dog. Then there is a flurry behind me -Caper is following me as I'm trying to catch Reef. He looks confused. While no one noticed Reef, several people shouted "Loose dog!" as I'm lying on the ground with scraped knees, holding an ill behaved puppy, with standing Caper looking at me. People are all set to tackle Caper, but I claimed him.

So if you're at Paws and Pals and want to stop by tomorrow, me and my dogs are the classy, experienced team that always looks calm and prepared. You can't miss us.

Paws and Pals USDAA (Friday)

2008-11-28T20:19:00.009-05:00

"Weave Got Contacts" ended up 14th out of 18 teams. We actually did have contacts -we should have named the team "Weave Got Handling Skills", which would really have been applicable for me. Hey, just put it in the name and apparently it happens...

I had a really nice green dog team -Java, a cute smaller aussie, and Tuff, a sheltie. We were 4th in the standings for a little while. Really, just fix a few tiny things and we would have qualified for Nationals. And it was a fun team.

Team Gamblers: Caper came in 2nd, which I thought was pretty cool. He lost by a point to Jet -I wish I had seen Jet's run as Caper missed the dogwalk contact (my fault).

Team Snooker: We got in 1-7, 1-7, 1-7, 1-6, then dropped the bar of #3 in the closing -NQ. I learned if I signal right, Caper can get some seriously tight turns. Tuff and Java carried us here by placing #1 and #2.

Team Standard: Uh, we all NQ'd. It was a really hard course. My problem was, at the last .o1 second, I decided to completely over handle the weave entry -refusal. I never regained coherent thought after that flub, and ended up skipping a piece and running the ending for flow.

Team Jumpers: Caper was a little slow here in comparison to other border collies. I wasn't really sure how to handle the course. He popped out at weave pole #10 and I had to start them again. I had only moved laterally a tiny bit -but he only sees 6 weave poles ever, so, it's not like it's proofed. I put in two random front crosses that had no better effect than a rear cross. And making it appear as if I enjoy extraneous handling moves.

Team Relay: Sad moment of the day...if we ran clean, there was a possibility we could have Q'd. Java was first and ran really nicely, then it was Caper and I. Caper had a nice 180 (I think -at least I thought that while I was running), and then I stuck by him like glue in the weave poles, since he popped in Jumpers. Because of that, I couldn't move away to the tunnel, and oh, so sad, I sent him over a tiny little 16" off course jump. I just forgot it was there.

Starter Jumpers: I am pretty sure I earned a refusal. But, dropped a bar going into a tunnel anyway, so NQ/2nd. There were a lot of straight lines and he was ripping down them, I should have eased up a little before the jump-tunnel. The ending was a little tricky for Starters -that was really pretty! I think I am finally learning how to tighten him up.

Oh. Reef was better behaved than Caper. I kid you not. Caper gets a little higher on the whole thing every time we trial. I went to the bathroom, and came out, and someone asked me if I lost my dog. Eh? Talking to me? I look to my left. Nobody is there. I look to my right. Nobody is there. Interesting. Apparently they DID mean me.

No, I hadn't lost a dog. Are you kidding me?

Wait. There's no dog in the crate. Oh, crud. Reef is gone. Scan the horizon. Wait. That's Reef. Where is Caper. CAPER?!

So, Caper ripped open a hole that had been started on the screen in the back of his crate. I had pressed the hole against the bleachers. I haven't the slightest idea what possessed him. I know he was looking for me, he's a dork like that. But he doesn't stress, and I'm pretty sure he has a good idea that I would not approve of ripping through a crate and squeezing across a bleacher. Observers said he looked very intense, and then took off. However, 'intense' is open to interpretation as said observers owned small, white 12" dogs.

Anyway, I found Caper on a leash being held by Pati Mah. He did not look in the slightest bit concerned, nor was he overly happy to see me. So, I really have no idea what he was thinking. What a dork. Apparently he was going to be sold on Ebay, unless he answered "yes" to the questions asked of him, including, "Do you have a start line stay?" and "Do you have nice weave poles?". At which he would have been adopted. I'm sure Caper was telling everyone he had an excellent start line stay (liar -he's pushy), and lovely weave poles (double liar), and was friendly, to boot.

Reef on Sheep

2008-11-16T00:10:00.006-05:00

"I may be forced into leaving, but don't even doubt that I'm still watching you. I may be over there, but I'll still be watching. Don't you forget it. Watching." (Sheep just out of the left hand corner in the photo.)

She was good. Border collie. Sheep.

Obedience Slacker

2008-11-09T00:31:00.009-05:00

I am an obedience slacker. I cannot enjoy it. When I trained my first dog, Daisy, the last week of class was heeling. I thought it was torture. My dogs can't heel. My dogs are not properly taught to walk on leashes. I can't, I can't.

The reason I did eventually practice 200-yard stays with Caper is I was chastised by a herding trainer because he did not "down" yet. Caper is a saint. Reef is not a saint.

In short, obedience: Reef < Caper.

I figure she'll learn it eventually, is my point. She's starting tougher stays. We work on come. (And work. And work.) And play. Mostly play.

So I got brave, and decided to take Reef to a public venue where she would have to be patient. I always take Caper. Caper is a saint. Reef is not a saint.

I don't know what happened to Reef. It was my favorite pizza place, where she was required to stay under the table and out of the way of customers. She slept under the table. She did not steal food. She did not bark when teased and played with. In short, she was adorable.

Go Reef.

It's kind of a trippy pizza place. You know, us college hippies.

I debated with myself -is this photography or training? I vote training. I didn't take most of the photos. Puppies just somehow end up in photos.

And she's adorable.

Go ahead, Reef. You earned the right to steal my hot chocolate or cafe con leche like you usually do. I won't get mad.

Nothin' special...

2008-11-06T00:47:00.011-05:00

Just having random fun with the dogs with absolutely no plan in mind. Which is why I have dogs.

That "REEF!" was well deserved. That was about the 10th time she has hit me from behind. I felt a little bad because she looks so darn enthusiastic in the video, but I think it could have affected her less.

Reef is doing pretty well with obedience while playing frisbee, currently. I am now having her down and wait while I run away with the frisbee, getting ready to throw it. I love the havoc this plays with her mind. She does not want to "down -wait", because she knows I am going to run away with the frisbee, and her stubborn little self does not want to concede that sort of defeat. On the other hand, following directions is the only way the frisbee gets thrown, as it is a part of the game. You can see her little mind turning, trying to figure out a way around it, just like she does with "come".

See, I clearly cannot start her on sheep by myself. I bet she would take advantage of me like Whiskey, a horse I trained for class. I had only the barest idea what I was doing.

Frequently I would stand in the round pen, wondering why my horse was being such an idiot, until someone would point out he was playing a game and winning.

That has Reef written all over it.

Running Dogwalk: Test

2008-10-26T22:09:00.004-04:00

Day one!

Ok. So here's my dogwalk at it's lowest height. Unfortunately, I do not get to show off the whole thing in this video. I went to attach the planks...and...it didn't work out very well. To say the least.

Background information: Back in January, or before, perhaps -I decided I'd rather have a running contact. So I started teaching it. Caper had to hit a towel on the end of a plank with a paw. It eventually got raised on a hill before my project was abandoned in April, or around.

The project was abandoned for several reasons, those being:

1. A plank on a hill is no substitute for an actual dogwalk.
2. I could not see the towel from behind
3. I usually clicked late, therefore throwing the toy late, therefore meaning Caper was always looking back at me.

This time I have solved Problem #1. I am working on Problem #2. Perhaps with a self-made hit-it board, or, because I -really- don't feel like building anything else, a real hit-it board bought with a lot of quarters. Problem #3 can be helped by solving #2.

I do not think teaching Caper the actual contact will be the hardest part of this. The hardest part will be getting him to execute it, at speed, away from me. I really want it to be independent of me, and Caper is not particularly independent. I avoid training things that need him far in front of me, because, hey. I have legs. I can run. I'd rather run. But I don't want to rely on beating him to the end of a dogwalk for it to work.

You can see in the video, he actually remembers the towel work a little -when I said "try again", he smacked his paw in the target spot. I experimented with throwing the toy vs. placing it on the ground. I'm sure you can tell between them by Caper's reaction.

What Really Went Down

2008-10-25T23:50:00.007-04:00

So I'm still editing the hundreds of photographs that make me never want to shoot a trial again. And I see this dog. And he looks kind of familiar.

While Kat's photos make Caper look relatively suave and sophisticated...here's what really went down. Photos by Sarah Duke

Ooo. Nice turn.

I'm sorry, is my handling getting in the way of your ability to keep quiet? Does it look like it is my fault that you tripped?

I believe this was the Wildcard Q we still need. Goodbye, Wildcard Q.

Oh, look. Caper with his mouth open. How unusual. It's to maximize oxygen intake. Sort of like whales and krill.

I just included this because it would have been really cute if not for the post. Alas, I do not posses the photoshop skillz to edit it out.

Caper wonders why he's never officially been taught this obstacle.

But he'll roll with it.

Ta-Da!

2008-10-20T00:44:00.005-04:00

I built a dogwalk today!

Actual real-use capabilities currently untested. I had to buy very thin boards, so obviously I need to reinforce them in some way.

I could not fit sawhorses anywhere --too bad as it would have been much less expensive. Instead I made some PVC supports off some pictures I found. They seem a bit wobbly.

Isn't that the case, though? You try to make something cheaply or compact, and you might as well just have bought the real thing. Couldn't do that, though -can't fit anywhere, probably rather heavy, unscrupulous people perhaps stealing it...

I had an awesome dogwalk a couple of years ago, at home. It got chucked in a zealous garage cleaning moment, and when I went home from college to get the boards, they were gone. I made that one with 2" thick boards. That baby wasn't moving even if a Great Dane stepped on it.

I still have my room though. So it's all good.

I painted it lime green. I was going to go for aquamarine, but out of the 300 colors of paint available, strangely, aquamarine was not one.

So at least it's pretty. If not realistic.

I really hope it holds Caper's weight. And doesn't fall over.

CPE Pasco Paws (3-day trial)

2008-10-12T22:13:00.020-04:00

Can you hear Reef in the background?

This trial was a little less hot, so Caper was running faster. Sasha beat Caper in Jumpers both times. I know at least one time it was by .85 seconds. Which is a lot, but I'm going to figure out how to make it up. Should be fun,

Sasha is a rocket. Which is why I want to try.

The video is a little sloppily edited -I was trying to figure out a uniform way to edit all of my agility videos. That doesn't look like anyone elses's, is recognizable as mine, and so on, and so forth...but, in the interest of time, and the 1,000 photos I still have left to edit, I'll do that at the next trial. So I slapped some words on this one and put it up.

Caper's next trial is a USDAA trial in November --we're on a DAM team! A no-pressure kind of team. Agility is getting bigger where I live, and I've found some people who get together and practice 1-3 times weekly. Last night they set up a Masters level USDAA jumpers course. I was a little wigged. Since I had just agreed to do the DAM team. But Caper was fine. He knocked one bar on an early recall to heel, and then he knocked a couple more when I tried to tighten his turns the next go around. That was the first full practice course we have done in over a year. (This place was an agility desert, I'm telling you.)

I'm going to jump him higher in practice (since he is currently used to 20" and jumps 22" in USDAA), but I suppose I'll leave the turning alone. I'm not going to fix that in a month.

Contacts. Contacts in a month. Would be nice. I would also like a table, just in case he was really excited and slid off --I've never formally trained the table.

Also, Caper has great weave entries, but it's almost like his feet get stuck behind him once he starts weaving, sometimes. I'd like a little channel I could leave open and help him get better footwork. (That goes somewhere on my list...)

So Caper Q'd in 11/15 runs this weekend, and would be qualified for CPE Nationals...if two of those Q's had happened to be an extra Wildcard and Standard. But they weren't, and now I have to go find them.

Pictures! Courteously taken by Kat Fahle, of Good Dog Sports. With a really nice $1200 Canon f/2.8 lens.

(See? See!? What were his feet doing???)

All the teeter pictures below are Snooker. I'm kind of addicted to trying three 7's. Caper wasn't nearly as mad in the teeter Snooker as he was in the (video'd) weaving Snooker. And he can get over it. I buy the dog food.

Personally, I think he looks really cute in all of these, but I understand if you want to stop here. Really, I do.

Can't hold it in any more...

2008-10-04T19:36:00.019-04:00

The September AKC Chairman's report can be read right here: http://www.akc.org/about/chairmans_report/2008.cfm?page=9

I would dissect this, and I have, spearing phrases and sentences several times in my head. We'll see.

The reason I don't do AKC trials is not because I disagree with the AKC and everything they represent, it's because I get very bored with only two runs a day. I've been re-thinking this, as I really feel I like AKC-type Jumpers courses best.

But the AKC "Gold Standard"? You mean, when they moved to try and allow registration of pet store puppies a year or so ago? You mean, the backyard bred dogs I've seen (and owned) touted as "AKC registered", with genetic defects? You mean, all those other all breed registries --30, that they mention, represent responsibly bred dogs? I don't think so. I'm going to find two strays from my backyard, breed them, and start my own registry.

None of my dogs that are healthy -a rescue, and two purchased dogs, are officially registered with the AKC. In fact -the AKC delisted the CBCA (where my two purchased dogs are registered) as an accepted foreign registry.

Good.

Losing money? Maybe they should start registering all the doodles. Or, better yet -allow mixed breeds into performance events.

The politics of it all is ridiculous. I would have bought my dogs if there were listed with no registry at all. What matters is responsible breeding based on the buyer's and breeder's ethics and morality, not the registry. The AKC as an institution is not associated with quality, though they seem to think they are.

Edit: This actually prefaced an explanation of breeding border collies. Which I deleted. Though educationally worded, sometimes it is safer not to involved breeding, border collies, and agility in the same sentence. Particularly if you happen to own a small business based on agility.

Unless someone really would like to learn how to differentiate between a working bred dog, and an agility bred dog that has working lines in it. But is not working bred.

Because that's my pet peeve --calling something it is that it isn't. If you wanted is in the first place, why did you buy an isn't? I know what my is, isn't. Do you?

I suppose that was metaphorical enough to keep up there.

September NorAust CPE Trial

2008-10-03T22:34:00.010-04:00

On paper: great. In person: were they at their first trial?

Oops. I'm really glad he didn't break anything:

See. I was torn in sharing this. But I share in the faith that some of you have seen us much better, and if you do or don't have faith in his potential to begin with, well, watching the video isn't going to change that.

I believe Caper got something like 7/10 Q's, 5 1sts, and placed in everything else. We have about 12 more Q's to get before we can enter CPE Nationals. Doesn't really matter -I'm not going if I don't have a competitive dog, and currently I don't have a competitive dog. Yes, it's CPE -but it's still a national competition.

After this trial, I've tried to be more committed to practicing and training. Today, as I picked up all the jumps, a piece clattered to the ground. I picked it up. Then about seven other pieces clattered. And patience is not one of my virtues.

I'm in college, agility is not supposed to be a priority. I'm not in a place for agility to be priority. Nor do I want something as silly as running a dog through a tunnel to be a priority. But as an extremely driven person who loves both sports and dogs, gosh darn it, if I'm going to do it, I would like to be a top competitor. Caper, while not exactly Juice, is a nice enough dog to be a very good agility dog. I like to win. Don't be fooled. I'm a good loser, and a fair competitor, and I have fun when someone beats me out based on talent. I don't care about Q's, or titles -I like the competition. I'm just not currently IN the competition.

At least I have dogs. You should see what happens when I bring my dogs to the dog-less folks at pre-veterinary meetings. Mobbed. Reef thinks it's some sort of puppy Nirvana.

Last but not least, some photos taken by the Suzanne Rider, of Rev'd Up Agility:

(The last one was taken by Renee Jaggie.)

Tracy: 1, Reef: 1

2008-09-23T01:48:00.006-04:00

I got a long line. Pretty much enough said.

I have to say it was a beautiful moment when I said, "Come!" (and practically holding bits of steak), Reef said no, and I said, "Oh really?". It was also nice to see she required only the slightest tug. So no, I wasn't strangling a flopping, resisting puppy on the ground in front of the neighbors.

Reef gets a point for reasons I won't detail, involving the ground, frisbee, and rope burn.

The other thing about Reef, is that she still has no clue I use the English Language to communicate. If I say "sit" or "down" in a sentence, Reef gets an awe-inspired look, thinks about it, then does said action. Do you have to go out? Nothing. Want to play? Nothing. Where's your toy? Definitely not. I got her to get a ball today. I'm not sure if that was a break through, or she dropped the ball, forgot it was there, then joyfully rediscovered it.

I think I could give Caper instructions over the phone on how to hack into the Pentagon.

It's ok. If I tried to get Caper to do a jump-tunnel sequence as a puppy, he would have tripped over his own feet and napped where he landed.

Reef Sequencing

2008-09-18T08:00:00.005-04:00

Reef just absolutely loves agility. I'm glad she realizes it includes me. I'm not always a part of her daily agenda. Acutally, our agendas often find themselves at odds. Mine include things like, her coming when called. Hers include things like, avoiding capture at all cost.

I'm really pleased with how Caper looks here -I thought he would look much slower in the video. He felt very sluggish, but I gave him the option to play and he took it. Jealous thing.

We worked sheep before that. Which is why he was tired. Because, in order to use the sheep, we usually have to get them out of a spot they don't really want to come out of. And then, still in order to use the sheep, we have to keep them from going back to that spot, while moving them far, far away from that spot, so as they no longer feel drawn to it. Then we can practice something.

Reef, Weave!

2008-09-17T10:44:00.001-04:00

I have her entered in a 60 weave pole challenge next week.

Ok. You got me. I don't.

I've decided to teach Reef to weave at 14 months. I really would like to enter her in a trial at 15 months -I will hopefully be in the northeast then, so 15 months would be towards the end of June, 2009, a little before I would leave.

Of course, if she isn't mentally ready (highly possible)...I'm still going anway. It's supposed to be fun, right? I can guarantee at least one of the party (tan, black, and white) would be having fun. My only setback is if she would really be ok, physically to start -even right now, at 2, I think Caper is "all grown up" -15 months, definitely not. I am loathe to get radiographs, because I am 100% confident I do not need to see anything - for once I have no tiny little voice in the back of my brain. Very lovely!

I cannot imagine the look on Caper's face if Reef blew me off on course. He leaves the room if she starts eating something inedible.

However, I did start training Reef in weave entrances, with a clicker. Once every two or three weeks, mostly as a game. This was the second time I've done so -she remembered, and can go away from me, toward me, and finds the correct entrance on-side and off-side.

In a puppy way. Straight. With a couple of bounces. Involving a few look backs and intermittant arguing.

On a slightly related note: Reef is very good at anything involving agility or training. I called her out of a group of 4 other playing dogs, to run through some tunnels. Fine. Good. Check.

If I'm actually asking something, truly saying a command, she stops. Looks at me. Considers it. Says, "No? No. I'm going with no. Your turn."

You little puppy stinker.

She is the worst when we are ending a game. I'm all for putting dogs in situations they can't fail, and we do practice recalls, and I do realize she is only a puppy. A very, very, smart puppy. Very smart puppy. With world domination plans. If I walked Caper down, he would immediately lie down in apathy. Reef flicks an ear back. If that.

Perhaps the 100th time I haul her off in silence, we'll have a breakthrough. And then I can let her off leash in actual, real places.

Yesterday she was rescued. As I was trying to cut her off, she spotted someone taking out their recycling. Reef loves people, so: voila! A savior.

As my neighbor and Reef exchanged greetings (Reef, of course, being an exemplary form of the sweetest puppy on the planet -even sitting when asked), he asked, "Here --were you trying to catch her?"

Catch her? Maybe. Tackle --yes.

Reef Table (5 Months)

2008-09-12T20:25:00.007-04:00

And Caper too. Since he's never been trained on the table.

They want a bigger table.

On an unrelated note:

Where is the running dogwalk? The A-frame? What kind of a liar am I?

I have no dogwalk. Or A-frame. I have all the pieces for a dogwalk. And when I had time to build it, Tropical Storm Fay rained on me for three straight days. And then classes started. I have time to build my dogwalk October 9th. It'll be a lovely day. And the A-frame? I found a friend who welds. Now I just need to find a truck. And a willing friend with a spot to keep it.

Honestly, I do not think the running dogwalk will be hard for Caper to learn. I just want it for reinforcement, and to teach turning.

And for Reef. I could perhaps teach Caper a running dogwalk, without said dogwalk. Reef? Mission Impossible.

Omphf. I'm writing on the floor. And she just stepped on me. Don't mind me. I'm not a five-foot-five roadblock, or anything.

Racing Stripes

2008-09-06T23:57:00.003-04:00

I think it's a sign.

Among other things. Like her stealthy ability to, er, steal food. And not be caught when I say "game over" for anything.

Do you know how hard it is to catch a puppy in a 25 acre field?

Strength Training?

2008-08-29T01:03:00.006-04:00

Nah.

Everyone felt like discussing numbers today, so this is my non-numerical retaliation. (Creative retaliation does not necessarily equal professional videography. But I tried.)

If anyone is interested, I love this video of Click, Caper's littermate, working sheep.

On Vacation

2008-08-22T00:12:00.009-04:00

Reef didn't come. Sorry, Reef.

I want Reef to have an excellent teeter. Caper's teeter: I could have done better. In practice, he doesn't drive to the end well. In competition, he does drive to the end. All in all, clearly not a big deal, as Caper does everything in practice much slower than in the ring. But, I just taught him to go up and over.

Not with Reef. I have a plan.

Actually, I don't really -I never have a plan. I've deleted Reef's plans on the sidebar, because I train everything at once. No plan needed. Organization is over-rated.

Reef's teeter agenda currently includes banging the end of the teeter, running the downside of the teeter, and running down the full length of the teeter; a table is at the either end for minimal teeter movement. I do not want her to get very familiar with where the pivot point is.

In the end, I want a quick 2o/2o. I don't want my dogs to run the teeter. I'm not actually training it. I just assume it will sort of happen. Because Caper's spoiled me like that. He's telepathic.

Here's a picture (horrible, thanks to tropical storm Fay) of Reef's favorite new game:

Reef has no problem with learning everything at once. Because that's how she lives. Doing everything at once.

Toes. Crunch. Pain.

Actual updates on the teeter may vary. Because it's large, I drive a small car, and I frequently forget it at one house or another, to eventually be re-united.

What I'm really trying to say is, I forgot it. Again.

Oh. That Explains it.

2008-08-03T22:36:00.015-04:00

Life with Reef.

Chapter One:

Reef, according to my roommate, is not quite exactly the angel that I've taken her for.

So, Reef has a tendency to bark. (Clearly.) She used to, upon me walking out of the house, scream bloody murder. She's since stopped. She's seriously toned down the amount of barking she graces us with. To zero. I thought.

Apparently Reef has spurts of barking while I'm in class, presumably to inform the world of her puppy woes. I'm sorry Reef --but there is no one to hear them. (Except my roommate.)

I take turns training the dogs in the field. Reef goes first. Presumably so I can tire her out first. (Ha!) She has not barked during Caper's turn, in a long, long, time.

Oh, really? Says my roommate. Miss Reef barks as soon as I am out of range, and stops, as soon as I am in range.

Smart. Oh, so smart.

Chapter Two

Reef rings a bell to go out. Yes. She does.

See, Reef has to pee. A lot. Her bladder is smaller than Caper's. And she drinks more water than Caper. And I could no longer spend every moment watching for her pee dance. So the bell.

Caper rings the bell -rarely. If he does, it's the quietest "ding!", and he waits. And waits.

Reef rings the bell. Ring. Ring. Sees I'm not coming yet. Ring bell. Ring bell. Ring bell. Ten seconds later --she's still not coming? RING BELL. RING BELL. I HAVE TO PEE. RINGRINGRINGRINGRING.

Chapter Three

With all that Reef can do: sit, come, down, stay, wait, sidewalk routine, not eating my car, fetching in turn, fetching it period (Caper?), tunnel, jumpless jumps, table, over, clicker shaping --I've wondered why she *will* steal that item again, why she *will* scan the counter and my person for edibles, and why she *will* jump on the couch and yip in my ear.

Huh. She's only 18 and half weeks old.

That explains it.

I forgot.

Reef: Table

2008-07-31T08:30:00.000-04:00

My nerves are still shot.

Reef -do you see that nice, quiet dog in the background?

NorAust CPE (July 18-19)

2008-07-26T11:00:00.003-04:00

You know it's going to be a good trial when:

1) The judge tries to measure your dog under 20", so that he can jump 16". (Didn't make it.)
2) Night trial. Florida. Sunset.
3) It's not raining.

I'm trying to qualify Caper for the 2009 CPE Nationals. I want to be up north next summer anyway -so why not? I like CPE.

Out of 10 runs: 5 NQ's/5 Q's and 1st places.

I really had to work on not panicking, which caused most of the NQ's. For example, Caper stood up on the start line. I panicked. And ran.

How hard is it to say, "Hey you --SIT."?

He is really, really fun to run -the faster I run and push him, the faster he goes. I like to run, so it works out. I didn't realize he barks the entire time, either -a friend pointed it out.

Here's said friend with dog. I don't think Caper likes her at all.

At all.
Wait. Here's said friend with a 4th place ribbon.

How'd she get that?

I've got video evidence. I really apologize for the quality of the video -I was videoing and watching at the same time...and yelling. This is the first time Renee has done anything in agility, ever -and I handed her a border collie, a course and said, "have at it." Not bad.

Nineteen Q's to go...

Above two photos by Tony Rider, Rev'd Up Agility

Field Practice

2008-07-25T21:30:00.012-04:00

Since I'm supposed to be training the dogs, and all.

Caper:

I set up this for Caper. Simple, right?

At the last CPE trial (post to come) there was a similar set-up, involving three jumps (the middle being a triple). Caper is relatively sensitive, and I was going to turn my shoulders away from the tunnel, to him, and then push him into the closest end of the tunnel. (In reality, I forgot to.)

Didn't matter -Caper locked onto the wrong end of the tunnel. I tried it two different ways, being subtle, then just blocked him to get the correct entrance. I thought it was interesting -I really did not expect him to miss the entrance given proper (usual) directions.

After, we practiced this --an LM exercise shown by Daisy Peel and her new puppy, Solar.

I also didn't expect Caper to have a problem with this -I thought it might be too easy. I wish I videoed as we tried -pretty interesting. His turns were tight, but his brain really had to connect with his legs to work out the footing involved. This was definitely worth a try -I really appreciate Daisy's many videos of training Solar.

Just for kicks, I also took this and practiced some various 180's with the tunnel...

...to see how tight and fast I could get him, and if I could get him to mess up.

Reef:

She is such a tunnel fiend. Reef sees tunnel -Reef runs tunnel. I let this develop for awhile, for her to have fun. Now that she is obviously driven, and can take a little pressure, I'm playing a few games with her. Running near the tunnel and directing her away/calling her off absolutely blew her mind. She got it each time, but was incredibly hesitant --"Are you sure? Really?".

I also worked on a start-line stay -she is very serious. In the end, I did some front crosses with her -she never got any of them the first time, but that wasn't the point -I just want her to realize there are other options then straight ahead.

DACOF 2008

2008-07-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

(Lots of photos here.)

Photos by Andrea D.

So, DACOF 2008 didn't go to well for us.

Not seeing a full field of agility since December may have perhaps lended to that. But it was fun. Caper ended up 8th out of 38 Open dogs -which at least sounds nice. I'm not used to running with Caper, and I frequently forgot to look at him.

Brief recap:

Saturday

Standard: This was the first run. Brutal amount of off-courses. Ow. Again, it helps if you looks at your dog.
Jumpers: You know, I actually can't remember.
FAST: I shamelessly copied Andrea's awesome FAST strategy. It involved every obstacle on the course. I didn't think we would make it, so I made the ending optional. We did in fact make it, except I am incapable of making split-second decisions as to course options, and caused him to drop a four-point double. Ended up 4th.

Sunday

Standard: I was surprised at the short height of the table, and didn't slow down my un-table-trained dog. He was surprised, too -and slid off.
Jumpers: This was probably one of the most fun runs I've ever had with Caper. Since what we did really wasn't going to affect team rankings, we went for it. It was a really tight, fast course -not something we're used to, but we do practice similar pieces. I didn't support a jump before a turn, and earned a refusal, and I got a bit lost for a second towards the end -I'm not sure if I forgot to cross where I meant to, or crossed too far in -but I hesitated, Caper looked at me, and nicked the bar. I still liked this run -hopefully I'll have video of it.

Eventually all the pieces will fit together.

Nice turn:

Photos by Andrea D.

Caper: One Jump Exercise

2008-07-13T00:06:00.011-04:00

I still haven't formulated a specific plan for Caper and jumping -this video was mostly to see what he looked like and build up some muscle for next weekend (CPE trial). And by "formulate a plan", I mean "sit down and read LM and Clean Run".

Brief interlude from Reef, to prevent Caper from overheating. I currently have her jumping at 20 inches.

Kidding.

I noticed both the dogs had a harder time turning to the left -probably me, I feel more comfortable with the equipment on my left, being left-handed.

Trick of the week: "Over"

2008-07-04T23:57:00.003-04:00

I'm not one of those people who can stick out the same behavior, and that behavior only, for one week until it's perfect. So, this is still a work in progress, as is come, down, sit, stay, wait, and the numerous phrases I would like her to catch on to.

Guidelines. A week is a guideline.

No tricks the next couple of weeks, unless someone would enjoy like to take my exams for me.

No takers? Shoot.

And someone was playing a light-up keyboard in the background. Just in case you thought I had that ripping on the stereo.

Training Partner

2008-07-01T22:29:00.003-04:00

I train by myself. For anyone who has done this, it can be excruciating: you want to practice a sequence with five jumps. You pick up all PVC jumps out of your apartment. You hit your decorative sheep bell on the way out -it falls to the ground and clangs. Hopefully not broken. You twist your way out the door, onto the porch, and by some contortion you manage to close the front door.

Shoot. You forgot to open the porch door.You slam open the door, kicking it wide enough that you will have time to squeeze through. The abrupt movement causes rogue pieces of PVC to fall to the ground. You sigh, and walk across the parking lot. Neighbors used to stare. Now, it's just commonplace. You walk to the field, avoiding the giant puddles left by rain. You throw the jumps down -never mind setting them up yet. The fallen PVC pieces have to be recovered, first.

By the time you're finished with all that, you retrieve the dog, who by now definitely knows what is going on, and runs you over as soon as you open the front door.

So, this blog is my training partner. For anyone who stops by, please, please, feel free to criticize. I can take it or leave it. Point out something you may try differently. Point out something that may have lead to a habit you didn't mean to develop.

For example, I accidentally used a jumping program that taught Caper extension, instead of collection. If I saw someone using the same program with their speedy, flat jumping dog, I would say, "Run! Run for your life!".

It really would be the kindest thing to do.

I have big plans. Maybe not. But they are listed to the left.

Dog #1: Caper

Caper is a 2 1/2 year old border collie that happens to be my first agility dog that isn't broken (Daisy), doesn't run out of the ring gleefully before running back in (Daisy), drool on me (Fletcher), or rupture my ear drums (Fletcher).

I did have a rather lovely Clancy, a golden retriever who came to agility later. He asked to, when watching the younger dogs. Clancy was a slow as molasses, didn't know it, and had the heart of Caper.

So, in short, Caper is an experiment. Sorry, Caper. Like I said, I taught him extension. Then I taught him a 2o/2o. Then I started a running. Then, I put a stop back on for DACOF 2008. (Which is this weekend. Caper, please stop. Please.) Next, I intend to continue with the running.

So, for Caper:

1) Collection and general jumping knowledge (Linda Mecklenberg, in Clean Run Magazine)
2) Running dogwalk (I'll tell you what it is when I'm done making it up)
3) Running A-frame (Rachel Saunders, in Clean Run Magazine)

Dog #2: Reef

Reef, currently, is a 15 week old border collie pup. Unfortunately for Caper, Reef is reaping the benefits of my experiments.

For example:

Caper, at a year old -"I suppose he won't break -can I teach him something now?"
Reef, Day 2 in Florida -"Tunnel!" Front cross, rear cross, blind cross, sending, turns. Ok.

On Reef's agenda:

1) Proofing basic commands. Like Caper, Reef seems incredibly focused despite new circumstances. That's not what I mean. What I mean, is, Tracy says, "Come". Today, Reef says, "Of course!". Tomorrow, Reef says: "If I sprint back into the field and jump into the puddle, does that mean we're still playing?" Answer: "No".
2) Liking small children screaming in her ear. So far, so good, actually.
3) Basic moves: acceleration, post turns, crosses, and such, with a tug in the field. Sometimes with the tunnel.
4) One trick a week: I'm not sure how well this is going to work. Sometimes I don't have time. In other circumstances, our trick for this week in "over". She learned it in one clicker session. Think of a week, as a relative time limit.

What's going on later, is to the left.

Caper is also being trained on sheep. More like, I watch, he develops, and I sometimes panic and write long, indecipherable laments to Caper's littermate's owner. And then whatever it was, fixes itself. That, however, you will not find anywhere here, or there.