seriously, i need to stay on top of this :)
ok, ok - wednesday classes first.
agility - lydia brought bunny for a drop in (though debbie wasn't convinced she could do a drop in, she did pretty well - first, lydias done agility before and second, ive kept her abreast of what we've been doing in class so she's been able to work some of the stuff and third, she's done some stuff with chris during merc's lessons).
started with reviewing some things - targets, on the ground, driving them to the target, etc. berlin loves her target, she's almost OCD target. practicing last night i am having issues getting her to hold her target position because she wont play alone with the toy, and since debbie doesnt want the food delivered on the target, im not sure how to get her to hold her position since my dogs will both offer the touch and then immediately return to me - they dont just push their heads down repeatedly. major difference between dobe and bc!
we worked on handling and circles - for some reason berlin hates this and kept trying to cut behind me so i had to catch her back on each hand i was handling her on, ill have to work on this more. of course, its disgusting outside right now so the last thing i want to do is go and run around outside.
then we worked on front crosses on the flat. i need to be careful with my arm position and keeping her far enough behind me. practicing this at home last night with rah was TOUGH because he's never far behind me!!!!
then we reviewed the wraps we had done the week before (apparently i had also been an overachiever and had practiced the wrong wraps too - i had been doing pulls and sends and all these different things but berlin will go around anything, so good for us), and then we incorporated the front crosses into sending them around the stanchion which berlin liked.
went home for a bit, and then came back down for open later that night. i dont remember much that was too distinctive about open, so ill just say we did open :)
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
i didnt make it to the show, and i didnt know what else to do today but be with my dogs, so we went for 3 walks, i believe. until rah and berlin tried to eat a horse and we had to come home. (or did the horse try to eat rah? he's not saying).
i felt incredibly guilty because berlin pooped at the park and i turned to go get a poop bag and i couldnt find the poop when i got back - it was MIA. completely gone. to make up for it i tried to pick up other trash around the park but i seriously spent 30 minutes wandering the area looking for her poop and it was gone. (i mean, its a rawfed poop and she has rabbit poop to begin with - so it should disintegrate and be gone in days) but i felt really guilty.
then the walk down the road, which was fun - but berlin wants to eat the horse, and rah was just in prey mode - until the horse charged the fence and rah said "I GIVE I GIVE I GIVE" and i swear to god i've never seen him move so fast. i mean, i'd probably run too if a half ton animal was coming at me like that horse.
i felt incredibly guilty because berlin pooped at the park and i turned to go get a poop bag and i couldnt find the poop when i got back - it was MIA. completely gone. to make up for it i tried to pick up other trash around the park but i seriously spent 30 minutes wandering the area looking for her poop and it was gone. (i mean, its a rawfed poop and she has rabbit poop to begin with - so it should disintegrate and be gone in days) but i felt really guilty.
then the walk down the road, which was fun - but berlin wants to eat the horse, and rah was just in prey mode - until the horse charged the fence and rah said "I GIVE I GIVE I GIVE" and i swear to god i've never seen him move so fast. i mean, i'd probably run too if a half ton animal was coming at me like that horse.
ode to a good dog
hallebird, you will be missed. i dont know the words to express how sad i am that you are gone - i remember vividly picking you out at the shelter 12 years ago almost to the day, and bringing you home. and today, i let you go.
will it ever happen?
i dont think im going to make it to the show today. i got a call from my mom early this morning that her dog isn't doing well, and im going in to work today to put her down.
i care very little about missing the show. but this is the shittiest part of my job - putting down the animals i know and love so much. i cant write much more right now.
i care very little about missing the show. but this is the shittiest part of my job - putting down the animals i know and love so much. i cant write much more right now.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
no class tonight because everyone is showing at the new brunswick shows, in which rah is showing tomorrow.
had class yesterday - started with roo's agility foundations. we worked more target work, and moved the target to the ground and started driving them to the target. then we incorporated the hoop work and driving them through the hoop to the target- berlin was the only one that got this. she wants all their contact work to be completely independent of handler, so this is the foundation of this - driving through an obstacle/over/in and understanding how to get to the end and hold a position no matter where i am.
we then started working on running and having the dog respect our speed on both sides - accelerating, decelerating, and having the dog not get in front of us.
then we started working wraps around jump stanchions on the left and right, and berlin was awesome at that despite never having done it? (working it tonight and she's great on the left at home, a little worse on the right but we'll get there!) and ended with more table work. debbie says she's a spitfire again and would take her home in a heartbeat :)
open last night - heeled a lot and i clicked rah a lot for head position and maintaining the eye contact i want at all times - his about turns have been spotty because he's dropping his head so he goes wide, but we fixed that last night. then did inviduals (after rah tugged and dragged me all over the floor after we were all complaining how sore we were from heeling!)
worked ROF with all the toys on the floor, including rahs jute tug - he did awesome for that. DOR's were good, but towards the end he started second guessing himself again and thought he missed a drop so i had to intersperse a lot of regular recalls. kathy was distracting him hardcore by whispering in his ear while he was waiting and walking with him and waving her arms and he did awesome. didnt look once at the toys on the ground.
ROH was nice, and he's correcting himself nicely for being crooked on the front since we've been using his box. i see it working a bit in the shows, but its going to take a lot of muscle memory, a lOT.
forgot to do broad jump :(
stays were fine, even though just about everyone else broke
tomorrow is an AKC trial, and i think im skipping sunday's AKC trial for schutzhund with berlin. we shall see - i hear the rings are super super tiny, so...
the show i skipped last week was a doozie. luna, the aussie we train with was out in the B classes for her first time - took utility B for 37 OTCH points (WOOHOO) and almost had open with a 99.5 but she had an automatic finish due to judge pressure... either way, she's over 1/3 of the way to her OTCH already! secret, kathy's youngest BC got her first two open legs and held her own in the B classes and placed with OTCH dogs, so that was nice. i thnk she had 6's and 7's.
ah, surrounded by greatness. maybe some will rub off :)
had class yesterday - started with roo's agility foundations. we worked more target work, and moved the target to the ground and started driving them to the target. then we incorporated the hoop work and driving them through the hoop to the target- berlin was the only one that got this. she wants all their contact work to be completely independent of handler, so this is the foundation of this - driving through an obstacle/over/in and understanding how to get to the end and hold a position no matter where i am.
we then started working on running and having the dog respect our speed on both sides - accelerating, decelerating, and having the dog not get in front of us.
then we started working wraps around jump stanchions on the left and right, and berlin was awesome at that despite never having done it? (working it tonight and she's great on the left at home, a little worse on the right but we'll get there!) and ended with more table work. debbie says she's a spitfire again and would take her home in a heartbeat :)
open last night - heeled a lot and i clicked rah a lot for head position and maintaining the eye contact i want at all times - his about turns have been spotty because he's dropping his head so he goes wide, but we fixed that last night. then did inviduals (after rah tugged and dragged me all over the floor after we were all complaining how sore we were from heeling!)
worked ROF with all the toys on the floor, including rahs jute tug - he did awesome for that. DOR's were good, but towards the end he started second guessing himself again and thought he missed a drop so i had to intersperse a lot of regular recalls. kathy was distracting him hardcore by whispering in his ear while he was waiting and walking with him and waving her arms and he did awesome. didnt look once at the toys on the ground.
ROH was nice, and he's correcting himself nicely for being crooked on the front since we've been using his box. i see it working a bit in the shows, but its going to take a lot of muscle memory, a lOT.
forgot to do broad jump :(
stays were fine, even though just about everyone else broke
tomorrow is an AKC trial, and i think im skipping sunday's AKC trial for schutzhund with berlin. we shall see - i hear the rings are super super tiny, so...
the show i skipped last week was a doozie. luna, the aussie we train with was out in the B classes for her first time - took utility B for 37 OTCH points (WOOHOO) and almost had open with a 99.5 but she had an automatic finish due to judge pressure... either way, she's over 1/3 of the way to her OTCH already! secret, kathy's youngest BC got her first two open legs and held her own in the B classes and placed with OTCH dogs, so that was nice. i thnk she had 6's and 7's.
ah, surrounded by greatness. maybe some will rub off :)
Sunday, March 15, 2009
weekend wrapup
so, the weekend wrapup...
the ASCA trial first.
rah rocked. he got two legs towards his CDX with a pair of 196's, and first in his class each time.
the breakdowns:
heel free/fig8 - lost 3 in the first trial, 2 in the second trial
DOR - lost 1/2 in the first trial, 1 in the second trial
ROF - 1/2 in the first trial, none in the second
ROH - none in the first trial, 1 in the second trial
BJ - none in the first trial, none in the second trial (WOOHOO)
out of sights were fine (WOOHOO)
so we're 2/3 of the way to our ASCA CDX there - i dont know when we will get to finish it...
i did opt to show berlin, but i had doubts. in ASCA you do the sits/downs first, and berlin is clearly confused about if we're doing sit stays v. recalls - all the other dogs broke the downs and sits pretty much, and when she's the only one there she just cant handle it :) she held one sit, and in the other trial she held one down :) combined, an entire stay :)
the individuals for the first trial, had she done the stays, she would have had a 192!!! not bad - she lost 2.5 on lead, none on the SFE, 4 on the heel free, and 1/2 for the recall. but she sniffed a gate when i made a right turn and scratched at the about turn.
by the second trial, 5 hours later, she was exhausted and not really ready or willing to work, and total poopy face. did the on lead, but by the off lead she was laggy and all over, i played games with her in the ring and called it a day.
today was the CDSP trials -
berlin finished her CD-H with a 193.5 and first in her class ,and i promised her if she finished in the first trial i wouldnt show her in the second trials. her heel on leash wasn't pretty. for some reason she was very focused on the person who walks against us in the ring, and was giving them the hairy eyeball, and she took the whole side of the ring to clue into heeling. moving stand was perfect (how are her stands her best thing??? when its the one thing rah consistently screwed the pooch on today?), her fig8 was bad on the outer post, her recall was very nice and perfect, her stay was perfect.
rah... rah... rah's novice entry was first. his heeling wasnt terrible, but apparently i used the wrong hand for his moving stand and he moved all four feet and we lost a ton of points on that (6!) ... but it didnt matter, because he BROKE THE HONOR !!!!!! so no q in that class for us. he doesn't view that as a stay, since im there with him...
on to open. nice class, go outs were iffy but there, we q'd for our first CDX-H leg with a 187.5 which was 3rd in the class.
second trial, since berlin was pulled, it was just noodle. open...
open was a heartbreaker. he was working almost a perfect class. heeling was perfect. lost 1 point on the ROF (crooked front). ROH, DOR - perfect. he had a 199... and the go out was broken. no go out at all, NQ. heartbreaker.... it would have been HIT. he's completely confused on the whole go out issue right now, i cant blame him.
his novice class he had a 190 - we lost7 points on heeling???????? im not even sure WHERE, but thats what our score sheet said. same judge as our open class, so go figure... but he held the honor down. so we q'd there, first leg towards his novice championship.
so im happy for rah and his open performances, and berlin for finishing her CD-H, but im also troubled by rah's go out performances and berlin's pooping out. ups and downs, ups and downs.
im exhausted.
the ASCA trial first.
rah rocked. he got two legs towards his CDX with a pair of 196's, and first in his class each time.
the breakdowns:
heel free/fig8 - lost 3 in the first trial, 2 in the second trial
DOR - lost 1/2 in the first trial, 1 in the second trial
ROF - 1/2 in the first trial, none in the second
ROH - none in the first trial, 1 in the second trial
BJ - none in the first trial, none in the second trial (WOOHOO)
out of sights were fine (WOOHOO)
so we're 2/3 of the way to our ASCA CDX there - i dont know when we will get to finish it...
i did opt to show berlin, but i had doubts. in ASCA you do the sits/downs first, and berlin is clearly confused about if we're doing sit stays v. recalls - all the other dogs broke the downs and sits pretty much, and when she's the only one there she just cant handle it :) she held one sit, and in the other trial she held one down :) combined, an entire stay :)
the individuals for the first trial, had she done the stays, she would have had a 192!!! not bad - she lost 2.5 on lead, none on the SFE, 4 on the heel free, and 1/2 for the recall. but she sniffed a gate when i made a right turn and scratched at the about turn.
by the second trial, 5 hours later, she was exhausted and not really ready or willing to work, and total poopy face. did the on lead, but by the off lead she was laggy and all over, i played games with her in the ring and called it a day.
today was the CDSP trials -
berlin finished her CD-H with a 193.5 and first in her class ,and i promised her if she finished in the first trial i wouldnt show her in the second trials. her heel on leash wasn't pretty. for some reason she was very focused on the person who walks against us in the ring, and was giving them the hairy eyeball, and she took the whole side of the ring to clue into heeling. moving stand was perfect (how are her stands her best thing??? when its the one thing rah consistently screwed the pooch on today?), her fig8 was bad on the outer post, her recall was very nice and perfect, her stay was perfect.
rah... rah... rah's novice entry was first. his heeling wasnt terrible, but apparently i used the wrong hand for his moving stand and he moved all four feet and we lost a ton of points on that (6!) ... but it didnt matter, because he BROKE THE HONOR !!!!!! so no q in that class for us. he doesn't view that as a stay, since im there with him...
on to open. nice class, go outs were iffy but there, we q'd for our first CDX-H leg with a 187.5 which was 3rd in the class.
second trial, since berlin was pulled, it was just noodle. open...
open was a heartbreaker. he was working almost a perfect class. heeling was perfect. lost 1 point on the ROF (crooked front). ROH, DOR - perfect. he had a 199... and the go out was broken. no go out at all, NQ. heartbreaker.... it would have been HIT. he's completely confused on the whole go out issue right now, i cant blame him.
his novice class he had a 190 - we lost7 points on heeling???????? im not even sure WHERE, but thats what our score sheet said. same judge as our open class, so go figure... but he held the honor down. so we q'd there, first leg towards his novice championship.
so im happy for rah and his open performances, and berlin for finishing her CD-H, but im also troubled by rah's go out performances and berlin's pooping out. ups and downs, ups and downs.
im exhausted.
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