Category Archives: agility

Hurry Up and Wait!

Posted on by
7

The next few days are going to be busy. I am sitting waiting right now for a client to pick up their dog. I hate waiting for people. It seems like that’s what a majority of my time is spent doing with the boarding kennel. Waiting for people to pick-up/drop-off dogs. It wouldn’t be so bad if you could count on them showing up at a specific time, but you just can’t. People tell you that they’ll be there at one time and then show up hours later. It’s very frustrating because it means that you are tied to the house, and can’t leave.

Anyway, in the meantime, today I’m trying to get a packing list together so that I can be ready to leave Friday morning for Salt Lake. Zoe is entered in a DOCNA agility trial this weekend. I was only planning on travelling with Zoe and Layla this time, but there is an obedience ring set-up on Friday if we can get there early enough that would be ideal training for Twist and Raven. So…it’s looking like I’ll be bringing all the Shelties but Rogue this time. She’ll have to stay home with her dad and keep things in line here.

I have a three boarding dogs going home tomorrow, and at least one coming in, and then I have agility class with Zoe and Raven, and somewhere in between that I’d love to get a chance to bathe everybody. It’s not looking real promising though. LOL I almost forgot I have the cats that I’m watching for some friends while they are in Indiana too. All in all, it’s going to be a busy last half of the week, but I think alot of it is going to be spent hurrying up to sit around a wait for people.

Training Basics

Posted on by
6

If you look at this blog lately, it looks like we’ve spent the winter sleeping and taking pictures. LOL Admittedly, during the winter, my training seems to take a dive. I have trouble getting motivated to do a whole lot when it’s cold outside. That being said though, we have still been training (at least a little). Fortunately, we have a friend who has a heated indoor building with mats where we can meet to train about once a week. I don’t know what I’d do without her! Another friend of ours has recently acquired an Aussie puppy that’s Layla’s age, so we’ve been driving the 1/2 hour to train together in the heated building.

Which brings me to the title of this post. I’ve been working with Layla on some basics, like “sit”, “down”, “stand”, “here”, “wait”, targeting (both nose and paw touches), walking on leash, etc. I love training the basics again. It gives me a chance to evaluate my training and try to improve my skills. One thing that I know I want to improve this time around is my distance work. I seem to be able to teach the basics, but then I’ve got a hole in my training where I don’t seem to ever teach them to work away from me.

So, I made up a chart that includes the things that we’ve worked on, and then gives me different criteria for the same skills. For instance. “Sit” She is pretty reliable at a close distance 1-2 feet away, but more than that…we need to work on. So, I made small goals of increasing distance to 3-5 feet away and so on. Same goes for changing criteria of training in the house as opposed to training outside in the yard, to training in a new building, to a public park, to a trial site. We’ll see how it goes. I don’t have any doubts that Layla is capable of doing great things, it’s just a matter of me figuring out the best way to work with her to achieve them.

Refocusing…Again

Posted on by
3

After wallowing around in a pool of my own disappointment for most of the day yesterday, I was brought to my senses by the dogs running and playing in the sunshine (and mud) in the yard. They weren’t disappointed at all by the fact that I’d cancelled our trip. They couldn’t have cared less. LOL They were enjoying the day. It was just what I needed to refocus my thoughts onto being grateful for what we have, not focusing on what we don’t have.

1. The fact that my husband can’t reasonably take vacation time off work right now isn’t something bad, it just means that he still has a job, (which is something to be grateful for, not begrudge).

2. Even though we didn’t get to actually compete at the Nationals, I need to focus on the fact that it was a nice accomplishment to meet the qualifications.

So, a big thanks to my 7 happy, muddy dogs for reminding me of what a great life we have! :-)

The Trip is Cancelled!

Posted on by
12

I’ve known for the last month that our trip to North Carolina with Zoe to compete in the AKC Nationals was not looking good. My husband came home the first part of January from work and told me that it was so slow that they were considering lay-offs. Being the perpetual optimist that he is, he wasn’t ready to cancel the trip. He wanted to wait till Feb. to see if things had picked up, as there was still a small possibility of things working out. So, I put off posting about this till we made a final decision. As the month wore on, the lay-offs became a reality for some of the employees, including a very good friend of ours. :-( It wasn’t till last week that my husband finally said: “It doesn’t look very good for our trip to Nationals…” then he finished by saying: “but, it’s only Wednesday!” LOL

February is now here and we’ve made the decision to cancel the trip. It seems that for the moment his job is still “secure”, although I don’t think any jobs are secure these days. The problem is that with the lay-offs they need all the remaining employees to be able to step up “if” more work comes in, and so taking a two week vacation is just not possible right now. :-(

I’d be lying to say that I’m not incredibly disappointed! I kind of felt like this was a once in a lifetime shot to compete with one of my dogs at a National level…but life goes on.

Video of Zoe’s Agility Run’s 01-24-09

Posted on by
6

OK, Here is my first attempt at posting a video on this blog. Let’s hope it works. I can’t figure out how to separate the two runs on the disk either, so you’ll all just have to deal with watching both of Zoe’s runs on Sat. Sorry. The first run is her Ex Standard run and the second is her Ex. Jumpers with Weaves run on Saturday.

Nice Weekend

Posted on by
2

We’re home, and we had a really nice weekend at the agility trial. Raven finished her Novice FAST title, and probably would have qualified in her Ex JWW class too, except for the fact that I forgot she was running in Excellent and nearly missed her turn. I realized my mistake in time for her to still be able to run, but it was rushed and I think my mistake made her nervous from the start. She had a refusal at the first jump and then she went on to finish the run nicely. I was really pleased that she was able to recover that well. I think the year off has helped her alot.

Zoe and I still didn’t get that last Excellent FAST leg that we needed for her title, but that’s ok. She’s still running well, and we’re having fun. I did alot of thinking over the weekend about whether or not I wanted to continue to compete with Zoe in AKC and try for a MACH II, and I think I’ve made my mind up that it’s just not worth it for us. Zoe’s going to be 9 in June, and it took us a good solid two years worth of trialing to get the first MACH, and I just don’t think I want to be pushing her that much as she approaches 10. Not that she’s ready to retire by any means! I just think we’re going to switch over to another venue for now. DOCNA is the most appealing to me because the courses tend to be a little more open and flowing, and it also offers alot of options in jump heights as the dogs age. I think it will be a nice change of pace for us.

Layla had a great weekend too. We went back to visit Barbara and Jim at Sheltie Rescue to finish her adoption paperwork on Thurs. night. While we were there she got to play with the two other 4 mo. old Sheltie puppies that are available for adoption as well as Abbey, Barbara and Jim’s own Sheltie girl. Then she got to go play with her friends Tatum and Muffit at Cynthia house. They ran and ran and barked and had a great time. Friday and Saturday Layla came with us to the agility trial and she got to do some attention work in the new place as well as socialize a little. She even did some targeting by our crating area. The biggest thing she learned was how to do stairs. Didn’t take her long to figure out the stairs at Cynthia’s house and at the trial site, and by the end of the weekend, she was prancing up and down them like she’d been doing it for years. LOL Once again, I forgot the camera, but fortunately Cynthia had hers, so when she has time, maybe we’ll post some pictures of the crating setup at the trial.

Going to be a Busy Week

Posted on by
8

This week is going to be hectic! We’ve got a bunch to squeeze in before we leave on Thurs. to go to Farmington for our first agility trial of the year. It’s a three day trial, but I’ve only entered the first two days. I’m pretty nervous about running with Raven again. It’s been almost a year since she’s trialed. She was getting stressed out at trials so we took so time off competing, tried to concentrate on our training, and did some fun little demo things to try to build her confidence. I guess it’s about time to see if it’s helped her.

Zoe’s pretty steady, so running her doesn’t make me nervous, we just have fun! I’m hoping that Zoe can finally get that last FAST leg that she needs to finish that title. Distance work with Zoe has always been a weak point. LOL

Layla is coming along to just get used to the trial atmosphere. This will be her first trip! I think she’s going to do well, (I hope). She’s a really good little traveler on the short day trips that we’ve taken so far.

Rogue and Twist are going to stay home to keep Penny, Lucy and their dad company for the weekend. I doubt that Rogue will be very happy about being left with him, but I just don’t see any sense in stressing her out more than normal in a trial environment, till we can get her medication regulated. If we can get things figured out for her so that she is comfortable at home then we might start taking her on the road a bit again, but until then we’re just slowing things down for a while.

Where Did 2008 Go?

Posted on by
11

Well, another year has come and is nearly gone already. I don’t know where the time goes anymore! It’s been a year full of great accomplishments, a big loss, some continuing struggles and new beginnings. Wow, we really crammed alot into a year! LOL

Zoe earned her MACH, to become the first Sheltie in Utah to have that title. She also qualified to go to the AKC National Agility Championship in North Carolina in March, and we’re really looking forward to that trip!

Zoe's MACH chair1Zoe Carson City 2003

Twist tried his paw at regular obedience this year, and in his first Novice Obedience class, took first place and earned the High in Trial at the Utah Sheltie Specialty! Woohoo, Twist. He went on to finish his CD in September. Now we’re working on moving into Open Obedience!

twist cd

Raven took a break from competing in agility for most of the year, but she did try Rally Obedience at the Utah Sheltie Specialty, and she qualified first time out. She’s entered in an agility trial in Jan., so we’ll see if the break from competition and the training we’ve been doing have paid off. In the meantime, she says that she doesn’t mind just chilling out and chewing on a bully stick.

Picture 1590

2008 was a great year for Penny! She got to try out for a tv commercial, and even though she wasn’t chosen, we had a great time! Of course, now she thinks she’s a star and we’re just staff that here to serve her. LOL

penny2

We said goodbye to Jessie this past August. :-( It was an unexpected loss, and she is greatly missed!

jessie 11-28-06

 

Our attempts to help Rogue overcome, or at least manage more successfully her anxiety issues…continue. The last year has allowed us to meet some wonderful people. I feel really grateful to have found such great support and guidance as we work with Rogue. We hope that 2009 brings more progress for Rogue.

rogue bw

As for Lucy, she’s enjoyed another year of being Lucy. There’s really not much more you can say. To Lucy it’s not the end of one year or the beginning of another…it’s just a wonderful day to be alive!!! :-)

Picture 2132

 

Lastly, I guess it’s time to admit that the little foster girl, (formally known as Lucy), has found her permanent home, with us. I knew there was a reason we hadn’t done any fostering for several years! LOL For obvious reasons, we’ve changed her name. My husband got to re-name her, and he’s chosen “Layla”. I looked up the meaning of the name and it’s “dark beauty”, so I guess he did a pretty good job, for just pulling a name out of the air…he doesn’t overanalyze naming like I do. Hehe. I don’t know that I’d describe her as a beauty just yet, more of a cutie at this point, but I’m sure she’ll grow into the name.

IMG 1992

 

 

So, I guess that about sums it up!

Zoe’s going to the AKC National Agility Championships!

Posted on by
7

I didn’t want to post till I actually had the entry in, but Zoe qualified for the AKC National Agility Championships this year! I’m really proud of her, I’ve been so fortunate to have her as my first agility dog.

This year the Nationals are being held in North Carolina at the end of March. Yes, I know…it’s an absurdly long way to drive from Utah for an agility trial! LOL However, my husband and I decided to take his vacation time from work and drive out there to compete in the trial, and then sightsee on our way home. We did that a few years ago when we went to St. Louis for the Sheltie Nationals, and we had a great time. So hopefully this trip will be just as much fun!

I’m excited and nervous and anxious, all at the same time. :-)