What FUN!!!

I had a hectic late afternoon. Left work early to get home and grab Betty and Cash and race to the vet for Betty's "well puppy" checkup. As I was getting ready to leave I tossed their leashes on the floor. Denny got my attention and said, "Look." There was Cash with Betty's martingale leash already on. I swear I tossed it on the floor and heard it hit, but somehow he had managed to get it on, and properly too. Too funny. Betty's heartworm test was negative, hips and stifles tested out great, fecal negative, heart and lungs sound great, eyes and ears clear. Yup, she's just about perfect!

And then off to rally class. Cash was his usual happy, generally focused guy. Not as much sniffing tonight, yay! Toward the end of class he tends to get somewhat disinterested and wants to go play on the agility equipment. Wrong night, buddy.

BUT, after class was the fun stuff! Cash and Betty got to race and run with the other smaller dogs and chase tennis balls on the padded floor with all the equipment cleared out of the way! They had a blast and what a great way to burn off some energy. There was Griffon (papillion) and his housemate, a little puff Chinese Crested whose name I can't recall, Milo, Levi, Lily and Otis (miniature schnauzers), Frisco (rescue pom/pap mix) along with Cash and Betty. The tennis balls and dogs were flying. Otis is only about 12 or 14 weeks old, but held his own with the "big kids" and decided that Cash's tug rope was just the ticket. I'm totally annoyed at myself that I didn't bring my video camera, but I'm sure we'll do it again. All of the furkids are now crashed in their crates for the night.

Last night of this agility session

Last night was our final class for this session of agility. I took both Cash and Betty and got there early to acclimate Betty. Not that I needed to by any means. She is a social butterfly and loves everyone. She greeted humans and dogs alike but it is clear she was well raised by her Mamma to be respectful of older dogs. I don't think she has ever met a person she didn't like.

I put both of them in a large crate while I helped set up equipment. They just laid there quietly watching people and dogs arrive and the activity around them. All that changed in a heartbeat once the first dog was flying through the course. Betty leaped to her feet and started SCREAMING to join in.

I was very grateful Katie stopped by to watch the class and asked her to take Betty with her and sit on a chair in the far corner so she could still see what was going on. I gave Katie some chicken from last night's dinner as a treat for Betty if she sat quietly. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me because the look on Betty's face from across the room was priceless. She had her eyes lasered in on every dog that ran. Katie said later that although she couldn't be heard from more than a few feet away, Betty was quivering with anticipation and making a high pitched, although quiet, squeal. Me thinks the girl has DRIVE!

She's going to be fun to train! She has already learned sit and down in just the short time she has been here, sleeps all night in her crate (THANK YOU BELINDA!) and is just a joy to have around. She will be accompanying Cash to rally class tomorrow night.

Although Cash had awesome weaves with several difficult entrances and solid contacts, he will once again be repeating the Obstacles class and not moving on to the Handlers class because he has teeter *issues*. Sigh......

I was disappointed for about a minute but decided that I would rather have him SOLID in all aspects than move on and have to go back and retrain something in the future.

The BIG NEWS!!!

Please welcome Impulse Inside Straight.


Yup, Betty is here! After much dithering on our part, Betty joined our family yesterday. We owe huge thanks to Belinda and Alex Miller for entrusting her to us.

My goal has always been to put titles on both ends of a dog's name. I have owner handled several dogs to their championships in my lifetime and put a performance title on another, but never on the same dog.

My plan is to work with Betty in rally and agility foundation while she is growing coat. So far Keegan and Cash have been okay with her. Keegan gets along with pretty much any dog. Cash's nose has been a little out of joint but he met his match for pure speed when the poodle zoomies started this morning and Betty joyously joined in. That seemed to solidify her place in our little pack. We've only had one small skirmish when Cash approached Betty while she was busy with a bone. She left no doubt WHO the bone belonged to and Cash backed off.

The only down side (not really) is I now have TWO velcro poodles. I put a few photos on Flickr for those who would like to see them.

Just a quick note....

Haven't posted in awhile as it's just been NUTS at work and my energy is drained after work, getting home, doing a little training each night, going to class with Cash a couple times a week. I'm pooped.

We haven't received any instructor recaps for the last couple of classes. I miss them as they give me focus for what to work on between classes. Cash has redeveloped teeter *issues*. He is running the chute well. Weaves are solid, tho entrances are somewhat spotty. Contacts are still solid. We have more good things going than bad, so all in all, we're doing okay.

Next Wednesday is the last class of the session and I am hopeful we'll move on to the Handlers class.

ALSO.....

We hope to have BIG NEWS very soon, but until it actually happens I'm keeping the details to myself. Trust me that as soon as it happens, it will be announced...... ;-)

A Good Class!

Notes from instructor:

Week Three: Skills worked: dogwalk/stairs, 4 jump distance grid, sequence with broad jump, winged jumps, focus forward, bang game/teeter, weaves, aframe

Cash: Teeter: Working 4 on board with bang game (he was just sure it was 2 on/off). Did run full teeter several times, had to lure with salmon, but got better each time. Julie is holding board and letting drop carefully. Would only run Cash on full contacts at this point, to build his confidence. Sequence work: Great understanding of FF, broad jump good. Stays good, little bit of yahoo, but came back easily, some sniffing. Dogwalk: Would not run up ramp, so physically placed on each time, backchaining running the full ramp. At end of time, he turned himself onto the ramp and ran full. YEAH!!

I was really proud of the little guy this week. In addition to the skills worked directly with instructors we were able to also work independently on weaves and A frame. His A frame was a little tentative at first but he was soon running it to a 2 on/off that was solid even if I walked away. So solid in fact that he did a handstand to stop and still landed his hind feet on the contact.

If we keep this up we may get into Handler's class yet. Yay!

Back from Vegas!

I had absolutely no time to write about our last Wednesday's agility class before getting home from class, finishing packing for our 30th wedding anniversary trip to Las Vegas and hitting the hay to get up at 3:00 am on Thursday to make our plane. We had a great time, spent mornings at the Lazy River or Wave Pool at Mandalay Bay resort (with a cocktail as an eye-opener.) Went to a crazy restaurant at Excalibur called Dick's Last Resort, saw Mama Mia with a Broadway cast, and reintroduced the hubby to public transportation when we took the double-decker bus downtown to souvenir shop and have lunch. All in all a very relaxing trip.

Our instructor emailed our second week critique:

8/22/07: Skills worked: aframe/stairs, teeter, weaves, sequences with sit stays, focus forward, panel, tire

Cash: Aframe: much better at not running around aframe (there was more room, and it was lower), do not ever correct him for taking it on his own at this point, and when working just on bottom position, always have him get on the side, not run up and turn around. Very nice at holding position, Julie now needs to proof by running past and hanging back. Both of these can be worked just from the bottom position as well.

Sequence work: Set up good, some focus forward, panel fine, 5 ft lateral distance to tunnel, does curve in to Julie, need placement of reward (always away from Julie) to help with this. Struggled with tire (going through side) with lateral distance, need to practice this away from class.

Teeter/weaves: Julie/Cash –
Teeter – Seemed to have no fear of problems with the teeter w/the tables – would take one of the tables out and see how he does then.
Weaves – Very nice using the jump and difficult angles, found the entrances no problem and had very good speed – Julie even did a rear cross once --- had Julie go to the middle of the weave to call Cash through and he missed the entrance – will need to work on that next week --- Was very pleased overall with Cash’s performance on the teter and the weaves.

I didn't see our recap until we got home Monday night, and was relatively pleased. We have had rain here so Cash hasn't had the outside work he had between the first and second class. I'm afraid that lack of practice will show tonight. We'll see......

Where to start?????

So much has happened since my last post.....I pulled out of our driveway for Minnesota on Monday, July 23rd at 6 am. Got to Bill & Sue’s about 4 pm or so. Thank God for Rescue Remedy. I gave Keegan two drops on his tongue about 45 minutes before leaving and he settled himself into his crate propped against the side of it with one eye on me. Said eye started to droop about an hour later and he sagged into a prone position. A few minutes later all I heard was some light snoring. Blissful silence all the way to MN! Yay!

During our 10 days there, the dogs got in some roadwork, rally practice and a little jility, but no dock diving since the lake was too rough. I did catch enough walleye that I needed to borrow Bill’s license to transport them back to Nebraska.

While I was in Minnesota our daughter made some major decisions in her life that impacted ours. She and the bf of four years broke up, she gave up her apartment and asked to move home for a year or so. Of course the answer was "Yes", however she also has a CAT! It has worked out well since Isis moved in while the dogs and I were gone and was able to become accustomed to the house without having to contend with the normal four footed residents. One little rub was that I was bringing Bill & Sue's 12 year old Shih Tzu, Dolly, home with me while they were on an Alaskan cruise and neither Dolly nor my dogs had ever been around a cat, much less lived with one. I am happy to say that all of them get along famously. Dolly and Keegan walked in, looked at Isis, and walked right by her as if she weren't there. Cash, on the other hand, wanted to play. RIGHT NOW!!!

Cash and I started our next session of agility on Wednesday, August 15. We're still in Obstacles, but since we have some *issues* to work on, that's okay. Here is our instructors' recap of our first week:

8/15/07: Skills worked: aframe/stairs, weaves, set point jump, 4 jump bounce grid, chute, tire, small sequenceCash: Weaves: great, independent of Julie. Focus on entries this week in training. Aframe: refused to run full low aframe, end performance was solid (2 on/off, nose touch minimal, stayed in position well) Suggested getting to club to build his confidence on running full aframe. Chute, cannot do independently, did ok with me holding all length open at the end. Tire was good, Set ups were good. Sequence was fine with me holding the chute open, but dropped after dog committed and dog stayed in it. Rewards good.

I think his A frame reluctance was due to not seeing one in awhile and the way it was set up he didn't have enough room to build speed to climb it. I love the fact that these instructors send an email recap the day after class so we can refer to it while trying to remember what to work on for next week. I've got a brand new chute in the garage, so I'd best get it unpacked, put together and in use, pronto.