Monthly Archives: May 2010

Distance Drill 1

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So, if my memory and notes serve me correctly…the first distance drill only involved one obstacle. In this case I used a jump, but I also remember him having several stations set up and one would be with a tunnel, one with a tire, etc. So, I should probably make a point of switching obstacles out so that the dogs generalize what we’re doing to any obstacle.

Anyway, back to the drill. It just involves setting the dog almost in line with the obstacle, with enough space left between for you to set yourself up in what forms almost a triangle with the dog and the obstacle. You are a little ways out to the side of where the dog is positioned. I don’t know if that makes sense or not now that I’m typing it. Once you’re in position you take a step in the direction of the obstacle and the dog, hold your arm out and tell the dog “out over”. As soon as they’ve committed to the obstacle you toss a reward in front of it.

Gradually you increase the distance to the side of the obstacle where the dog is and also where you are, so that they have to actually seek out the obstacle. Still with me? I’m not the best at explaining this. Anyway, I took Layla, Zoe, and Raven out and did this drill. They were all doing really well. Raven especially. Here’s the video…

First Layla…

Then Zoe…

Then Raven…

I have Dare to thank for all the obnoxious barking commentary in the background of the videos. She wasn’t happy in the least that she was inside while they were playing. I don’t think any eczema treatment will help with barking, or maybe I’d be looking into buying some.

I need to look at my notes, but I think all the girls are ready to move on to the next distance drill. If I remember right, they got much more difficult pretty quickly. Stay tuned…

Improving Distance Skills

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After Zoe managed to complete her Elite Gamblers title this last weekend I got to thinking…maybe improving her distance skills wouldn’t be impossible after all. I keep putting it off with her because she’s older and I just know that teaching her new skills turns into such a fight sometimes. Especially since she’s an opinionated girl that thinks that she knows how everything is done already. LOL But the way she’s running, she’s not ready for the retirement home, checker boards, ping pong tables and a hammock just yet. So, maybe I should just give some distance training a try with her. What do you think?

I thought I’d set up the first drill today from the beginner’s day of that Jim Basic distance seminar that we audited last year. For sure I’ll work it with Layla, and I might even see what Zoe thinks of it too. We’ll see how it goes. I have every intention of my younger dogs having better distance training than Zoe got in the beginning. I’ll try to set up the camera and post something later on this evening.

Penny Hates Thunder

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We had a couple warm days over the weekend which was nice for the agility trial, but now we’re having rain and unfortunately thunderstorms. Penny just hates thunder and lightning. Funny how she’s the only one of the 7 that it seems to bother. I tried Melatonin a couple of years ago, but didn’t really notice that it did much to help her anxiety. So, now I just try to make sure that she can get somewhere that she feels comfortable and wait out the storm. Thankfully even though the rain lasted most of the day today, the thunder only lasted for a little while.

I don’t share Penny’s dread of storms, but they don’t really thrill me either. They would probably rank somewhere in there with spending time looking up my credit reports. Probably part of the reason I don’t enjoy the storms is that the boarders are confined to the smaller gravel kennel area for exercise and play, instead of being able to run in the field. So far the 5 dogs that are boarding have been satisfied with the smaller area, but only one of the 5 is a very big dog. Tomorrow I have 2 more dogs coming in, (two Golden Retrievers), so it would really be nice if the field has a chance to dry out a bit so they can all play. 7 dogs doesn’t sound like much probably, but when they have to be switched around for exercise/potty times in the small area, it’s not so fun.

Hopefully these storms will roll through and the sun will be out again soon. Then we’ll get to see Penny’s smiling face again.

Video From ASCA Agility

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Ok, so far I’ve managed to get a couple of the videos from this weekend, uploaded. Unfortunately, I didn’t get either of Zoe’s Gamblers Q’s filmed. :-( I usually don’t even bother to ask anyone to film Gamblers because it’s almost always a mess. Guess it just goes to show that I shouldn’t assume the worst.

Here’s one of the Standard runs from Saturday.

And here is one of her Jumpers runs from Saturday.

In other news…my husband went into the cabinet shop the other day to pick up something, and he got some really sad news. I guess they are finishing up a couple final jobs, and then they are closing their doors permanently. I’m so relieved that my husband was able to find a job when he did. At the same time, it’s just heartbreaking to think of the situation that his old boss is in now. He and his family are absolutely wonderful people. I really, really hope that something works out for them soon!

ASCA Day 1

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Day 1 of the ASCA trial went great! It’s another super small trial. I love that it’s small, it makes the atmosphere nice and relaxed. II don’t think it’s necessarily a good thing for the club that’s putting the trial on though, so I sure hope they were able to make enough to cover their expenses.

It’s always fun to catch with everyone and hear all the new dog news. A friend of ours is expecting puppies. That’s always exciting news, but at the same time, I’m glad it’s not me having to worry about prenatal vitamins and all that kind of stuff. I just like getting to play with the puppies that someone has to do all the work and worry about. :-)

Zoe q’d in 5 of the 6 classes we ran today, one of them even being a Gamblers class. That’s the hardest one for us. I was really happy about that run. :-) I did get some video of a few of the classes, but I haven’t had a chance to upload what we got yet. Maybe tomorrow after I get home, I’ll get the runs up for the weekend.

After the trial I took the dogs on a walk, thought I’d give Dare a chance to burn off some energy since she didn’t get to do much while Zoe was running at the trial. I got some fun pictures of Zoe along the way. I think she had a pretty good day.

Dare Ear Update

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Ok, so here’s the before and after pictures of Dare today.

I’m still getting used to it. Doesn’t quite look like my little wild child that I’ve grown accustomed to anymore. Honestly, I don’t know what to think. I kind of like all my shelties with their individuality and their not quite conforming to the picture perfect standard. But for now, Dare is a very pretty girl, and he ears look much more like they are supposed to look. No guarantees that it’ll stay this way forever though. LOL

Sheltie Ears

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Everyone knows that if you’re looking for those appropriately tipped, beautifully groomed sheltie ears, you won’t find it here. Twist and Layla both have prick ears, Raven has these really heavy, almost Aussie looking ears and Zoe has one tipping and one not most of the time. The only thing I can say in my defense is that they are all brushed and you won’t find any mats in those ears. You can see what I mean in this picture from back in December. I can almost feel the real sheltie people out there cringing already. LOL

When Dare came along and her breeder showed me how to get her ears to tip nicely, I was happy to oblige, although I really don’t think having tipped ears or not is earth shattering in and of itself. I really kind of figured that if I got the ears to tip, (which we did) that would be the last of the ear discussion I’d hear. Well…I was wrong. As of late, the hair on her ears has gotten a bit out of control. Here’s what I mean…

Several people have recently brought it to my attention that I really need to trim up these out of control ears. :-P I find the thought a little daunting. I have visions of how my own hair has looked after I’ve attempted to “trim” it myself. LOL I’m convinced that if I tackle this on my own, Dare is going to look like the moths have been chewing on her ears.

No more procrastinating though. Today is the day. Nope, we’re not in a quest for diets for quick weight loss today. Today Dare is having pictures done with her friend Jet and I decided to break down and get her groomed up and get those cute little tipping ears looking proper again. I will tell you that I’m not doing it myself though. I’m taking her to a groomer friend and hopefully she’ll give me a little hands on tutorial on what to do. Stay tuned for how the ear “make-over” turns out…

Zoe HATES Baths

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Today was bath day for Zoe and Dare. Gotta get them both spiffed up to leave for the ASCA trial this weekend. Honestly, none of my dogs enjoy getting a bath. But Zoe just hates it! The odd thing about bathing Zoe is that even though she doesn’t have a really nice thick Sheltie coat to speak of, what coat she does have, just absolutely resists drying once it’s wet. Even after she’s been blown dry, she still seems to be chilled. I guess she’s a lot like me in that respect. Once I get cold, it takes forever for me to get nice and toasty warm again.

Anyway, I think if Zoe could speak to me she’d probably tell me “Mom, why don’t you just relax, maybe spend some time searching for some equestrian clothing or dog agility equipment, or youtube videos…” Pretty much anything else that might distract me from bathing her. LOL Sadly for Zoe, I was able to fight the gravitational pull of the computer chair today long enough to get the girls bathed. I couldn’t resist taking a picture because I think she’s she’s so funny when she’s all wet though. She didn’t think it was quite as funny as I did.

What Day is it Again?

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Once again I think I’ve managed to try to cram too much into a week, and so I find myself waking up all disoriented thinking, “what day is this again?” “Is today the day I need to pack, or bathe dogs, or is today the day I have to do my house cleaning job, or is today my hair appointment?” Bleh. Too bad there isn’t an online backup for my brain, like there is for the computer.

My mom was saying the other day that my dad woke up all disoriented and didn’t know what was going on and where he was and it really upset him. They are both in their 70′s and my dad seems to me to be very concerned that he is losing his memory and stuff. It makes me sad to see him worry about it so much. I don’t know that what he’s experiencing is any different from what I experience so often. It just seems that the system we live in today is geared to keep us so busy that I don’t think most of us have a good idea of where we are most of the time. Of course, maybe that’s just me hoping that my parents really aren’t getting older too. I don’t like to accept that idea either.

Anyway, now that I’ve figured out what day it is…I should get to moving. I do have to do my house cleaning account this morning. Then I have an appointment for a hair cut this afternoon. I have a boarder coming in this afternoon too. Then meeting tonight. Hopefully some where in between that stuff I’ll have time for some training with the girls. The weather is aweful today. Rainy, windy and COLD. Guess it’ll be training in the barn again.

Getting Old?

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So, a subject that kept coming up while we were at the Obedience trials last week was how old our dogs were getting to be. There seems to be a quite few of us that have dogs that are about 9 years old. Twist and Zoe are both nine, although Zoe will be 10 next month. It’s hard to believe.

Fortunately, both Zoe and Twist are in really great shape for their age. Some of the dogs that were also 9 years old looked lethargic and arthritic, and I probably would have assumed that they were much older than 9 if I didn’t know them personally. I don’t know if I’m just in denial that my dogs are getting older or what, but I don’t think either Zoe and Twist look like that. Zoe is starting to get a few white hairs in her muzzle, but she can still give me a run for my money on the agility course. Twist for his part is just ageless. I don’t think the passing of time has any effect on him. LOL He seems the same today as he did the day I got him from the shelter.

For that matter, Penny and Lucy are doing really well for their age too. Penny is 12 now and Lucy is 11. I can see on long walks that Penny doesn’t have as much energy as she used to, and she doesn’t seem as interested in giving jack rabbits a good game of chase like she did when she was younger, but she’s still very active. No signs of arthritis for her. Lucy is like Twist. I don’t think she’ll be needing any life insurance leads any time soon. She can still clear the 3 foot fence with ease, (much to my dismay!)

Anyway, I guess it should just be a wake up call for me to appreciate the good health that all our dogs seem to be enjoying. I really shouldn’t take it for granted.