Here’s Twist actually paying attention. Glad this was caught on film. LOL

And the dumbell throw. I just love the expression on Twist’s face, and here’s the tricky part…see if you can find the dumbell in the picture. It’s there, somewhere…LOL

And the final one. The broadjump. Maybe they should have set up some convex mirrors so I could have seen how goofy I’d look in this picture. Good thing Twist is such a handsome boy.

Thanks to Randy Gaines for the photos!!!

Twist was qualifying today when we went in for stays. He was very distracted though so it wasn’t one of his better days. He had trouble transitioning from one exercise to the next and getting refocused, but nevertheless, he was qualifying. But, he went down on his out of site sit stay. Hopefully tomorrow will be better for him.

Dare did a great job. She was first dog in her class. I always hate going first. Makes me nervous and I like to watch how other people go through the course. But, it worked out fine. Dare scored a 98 out of 100 and ended up in a tie with two other dogs for first place. Of course, they break the tie based on time, and we were slower than the Border Collie, but faster than the Westie, so we ended up in second place today. I’ll post her video on her blog.

I’ve been joking around with everybody because the clothes I brought for the weekend matched the dogs. But today, I wore black, so maybe it was Dare’s day. I told Twist I’d wear the brown outfit for him tomorrow, so maybe he’ll finish his CDX tomorrow. LOL Then I can switch back to a black and white outfit for Dare on Sunday. Wouldn’t it be nice if the dog’s success in the obedience and agility rings was directly affected by our outfits? Hehe, I think I’d spend a lot more time shopping for women’s apparel if that was the case. Since it’s not, maybe I better stick to good old fashioned training instead.

My cold seems to be giving me a little break during the days now. Just recurring at night to keep me awake coughing, but I’m grateful for the improvement!

In the meantime, I’ve had time to do some thinking. I know that one of the areas my training can use improvement is in taking the dogs to places away from home (other than classes), to help them generalize behaviors. For some of the dogs, it isn’t a huge problem, but for others…I think it has the potential to really make me regret my lack of motivation. So, I’m challenging myself to take the dogs to a different place to train, once a week.

Today we went to a place we’ve never trained before. It was great! I took the weaves and jump for Layla, and my friend brought her ring gates to work obedience. Layla came out and did the weaves like a pro. I put her away and worked with Dare for a bit on some obedience and then got Layla out again. I asked for my friend to stand close to where we were weaving to serve as a distraction. I’m super happy to report that Layla went to visit her quickly right away, but once we started weaving, she stayed focused and did great! So, maybe we’re on to something. It may not be the newest theory on how to treat acne but I think it might be a successful theory on how to improve our training.

When Zoe and I first got involved in Agility we competed in NADAC/ASCA. It was a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere and we had enough trials within driving distance to make it possible to title and progress. Then those two venues split. In Utah it seemed that most of the clubs decided to still offer ASCA, not NADAC. That was fine with me. However, by that time, I’d ILP’d Zoe and had started competing in AKC. Although AKC intimidated me initially, I found that it actually was a great fit for us. There is more of it offered in Utah than anything else, (in fact more than I can afford to do now). So we switched our focus to AKC, and it’s been a good decision for us. We’ve had a lot of fun and success in AKC.

When I got involved with Obedience, I stuck with AKC. I did try other venues, but I didn’t really pursue it. I’ve tried to figure out why, but I don’t really know. It’s certainly not that I don’t like them. I like the variety of exercises in UKC and I like the fact that in ASCA obedience the stays are first, rather than last. But in the end, I’ve stuck with AKC.

In agility, we have AKC, USDAA, ASCA, DOCNA, and now there is another new agility venue attempting to start up here, UKI. I am going to take Layla to their funmatch in June, but I honestly I’m doing it more for the experience of getting Layla to a funmatch than to really get involved in another venue. Maybe if I saved a ton of money on whole life insurance quotes I’d have enough money to branch out into more venues again. LOL

Sadly, though I don’t expect any miracles and I don’t think I’m alone in my lack of extra finances or time right now. I love the options of all the venues and I don’t want to see any of them disappear, but I don’t realistically think that I will be doing much to support them. This year I am doing all three of the local ASCA agility trials with Zoe, and I did the DOCNA agility trial to qualify for Championships, but that’s going to be the extent of my entries into other venues I’m afraid. Anyway, those are my rambling thoughts for this morning. Back to training this afternooon…

And here is day two.

Anyway, I got home and my husband and I were watching tv and a commercial comes on. My husband says, “that’s the boy”. Meaning, Twist was on TV. Of course, I missed it. But someone else was watching and could stop the frame with Twist in it, and sent me a picture. (Thanks Cyn!) So, here’s the proof. Twist’s a movie star. Well, maybe not quite a movie star, but close enough for us. Good thing he doesn’t need to be all concerned about acne scar removal for his closeups.

The funniest thing to me is that he’s the only dog in the picture that seems to be distracted by something behind him. I don’t know if it was the cameraman, or what. But one good thing about out of site stays…I don’t have to watch him and be a nervous wreck. I just leave and hope for the best. Fortunately both today and yesterday, he held the stays, even with that poltergeist head move of his going on.

Raven also qualified in Rally today. So, that finished her Novice Rally title. She finished with a first place too! Best of all, she was comfortable and happy in the ring. It’s so nice to see her looking like she does at home when she’s working. She can do some really cute work, but I think her nerves were just getting the best of her for a while there. Maybe she’s grown out of that now.

So, one of the really fun things about the Specialty is all the special prizes. Our friend that organizes the Obedience portion of the specialty each year does a fantastic job! She makes sure that no one goes home empty handed, and usually you leave with so many things that you have trouble getting it all in the car! Makes for a nice relaxed, cheerful atmosphere at the show. No need for wrinkle creams to get rid of frown lines at this show! Everyone leaves with a smile on their face. This year, Twist got the special prizes, (but he’s sharing with his sisters). Here’s some pictures from today!

Twist getting his High in Trial ribbon!!!

Twist and Raven posing with all their goodies

Anyway, I think I’ve had about all the fun I can take for today. Gotta try to get some rest so I can get up early and drive to Salt Lake. I’ll post tomorrow about how everything goes at the specialty!

I also have to remember to pack up the items that were donated for the Sheltie Rescue of Utah raffle. Good thing I’m writing this post, since as I’m writing I’m adding to my packing list. LOL I got to serve as the Southern Utah drop off point for people this year and we got some nice dog beds and fleece blankets donated. I think it was a small pittance of what the Northern Utah drop offs received, but that’s ok. The person in charge said there was such a great response, she may have enough items to do more than one raffle. So, that’s good news for Sheltie Rescue!

I suppose I should probably try to get in some last minute training with both Twist and Raven, since he’s in Open A Wed. and Thurs. and Raven is entered in Rally. Which reminds me…I need to get to the post office and see if my trial confirmation has arrived for Thurs. yet. If not, I better contact Onofrio and see what’s going on. They’ve cashed my check for my entry, so I assume I’m entered, but it’s getting pretty late to not have the judging schedule and confirmation here yet.

I need to get the boarders information organized so I can get some help in here mid day on Wed. and Thurs. while my husband is at work. Bleh. That’s always a pain. I won’t complain too much though, since it’s nice to have boarders. I don’t think there is going to be much extra time to sit around and learn more about the latest acne treatments, that’s for sure.

I have to call my house cleaning account and see if they want me to come clean this week too. I kind of hope they want to wait a week, but at the same time, the extra money is always nice. Anyway…enough rattling on for now, I’ve got to get busy finishing up some of these things before it’s Tues. night and I’m wondering what happened to all my time.

There was one little incident that was pretty unexpected. One of the Malinois puppies, grabbed the string on the helium balloon that was serving as a distraction on the edge of the area where we were training. The puppy took off running as fast as she could with her prize, but then the string tangled around a hind leg and then she spooked. Ugh! She was darting around the building with the balloon “chasing” her. With Layla being sound sensitive, she was a little spooked. Fortunately, both Layla and the puppy were confident enough to investigate the balloon after a while. So, I don’t think any permanent damage was done. My friend said that she thinks Layla is probably just going through a stage where we need to take it easy and not work on anything new, just work on maintaining things that she’s already confident about.

These puppies are sure making training days more lively. I sure am glad they are past that really wild, chewing and biting stage. No protective clothing is necessary anymore. LOL The last male in the litter is flying out to his new home on Sat. I get to ride along to take him to the airport. He’s going to a great home, I’m really happy for him.