Mimzy's Progress

Well, Mimzy continues to surprise me. Every time I assume she doesn't know something she proves to me she does. I guess I should start trusting my dog. In the past few weeks we've finally really started to mesh, and I'm getting very excited about it! She has moved up to intermediate class at Terry's (it's about time!) because she's finally getting her contacts down, and last Monday night in class she actually did an entire standard course (a hard one) with little difficulty! I plan to enter her in several classes, including standard, pairs, and gamblers, in College Station for the USDAA trial in August. I'm also hoping to finish both Landon and Deets' Performance 1 Dog titles.

This afternoon, Mimzy and I worked on some discrimination, which for you non-agility people is exactly what it sounds like- when there are two obstacles placed right next to eachother (for examble, a tunnel and a jump) you must use your body to tell the dog which one to go to, so you either push to the outside obstacle, or pull to the inside. With Mimzy, because she is so tunnel-focused, it is best for me to give her an RFP (reverse flow pivot), or as Terry likes to call them, a "Reach-In-And-Grab"... where you turn your body into your dog and say their name to get their attention pulled off of the obstacle and onto you. Mimzy is actually really good at this... when I can make my body do what my mouth says.

We have also been working hard on "go", so that she is learning that "go" means to go out in front of me and take whatever obstacle is there. She's finally to the point where I can tell her to "go" on a straight line of jumps and she will dart out in front of me and take the jumps as fast as she can.

The big thing we've been trying to master is the weaves. Mimzy has just gotten to the point where I'm really happy with her 24" weaves, but she seemed to have a lot of difficulty with the smaller-spaced pole, like the 20". She finally demonstrated to me today that she knows how to do them.

College Station USDAA 6/19-20/10

Friday we made the three hour drive down to College Station Texas to go to a USDAA trial at the Louis Peirce Pavillion at Texas A&M. I had only entered Deets, thinking that despite being air conditioned inside, Landon would still refuse to run in the heat of Texas summer. When I got there and found myself shivering and teeth clattering in the arena, I wished I had entered Landon after all.

Saturday, Deets just didn't seem to be on the same page as me. He was running ten times faster than he usually runs, but wasn't listening to me, either. We NQ'd in Standard, and in Gamblers, and by our last run of the day he was finally listening again. He got his first Snookers leg with a first place and a really nice time. Unfortunately, I do not have it on video.

Sunday, Deets was in a better place and he and I had a great time running. He got his second Gamblers leg with a 1st place, and got his third and final P1 Standard leg for his P1S title... the first title to his name. He also got a blue ribbon in that, class, as well.

His P1 Jumpers run was fantastic, but he dropped a bar because I called him to me too soon. Even still, it was one of the most fun runs I have ever done and we both had a blast doing it! He finished in 16.89 seconds.



Monday night I took Landon to class in Deets' place since Deets ran so hard over the weekend. He had fun but was so hot he wasn't really into class.

Mimzy, on the other hand, had a GREAT class and is really starting to show potential and demonstrate that she knows what her job is. She is moving fast and deliberately, and is learning to really listen to me. In other words, she's learning handler focus instead of obstacle focus. She's finally getting her contacts on the A-frame and the dog walk, and doing so well. I have a few things I really want to get her working on, like getting her to hit the down-side of the A-frame hard and fast and clearing the apex. I also want to work on her go-outs, so she really knows that when I say "go" I mean for her to run as fast as she can away from me. Her weaves are looking good but are not accurate, which is simply my failure with working on them lately. Either way, she should be ready to try her hand in the standard ring at the trial in College Station in August.

Landon and Deets have an obedience practice trial this weekend, as Landon is ready for the Open ring and Deets is ready for Novice... or so I believe they are. This weekend will demonstarte to me if they are or not. If they are, we will be going to an AKC obedience trial in Longview in a few weeks.

USDAA McKinney Memorial Day Weekend 2010

Memorial Day weekend was a very successful weekend for us! We went up to McKinney for the USDAA trial and came home with quite a handful of ribbons! I didn't manage to get videos of all the runs but I got most of them.

Saturday first thing was Gamblers, and Deets was the only one entered. He Q'd to get his first Gamblers leg and first place and an admirable 56 points!

Then came Standard, where Deets got his first Qualifying leg with 2nd place and a time of 40.61 seconds.



Landon got his third Q in P1 Standard to finish his P1S title, with third place and a time of 47.09 seconds.



Jumpers was after standard. Mimzy competed in Starters jumpers at 26" and had a nice run and would have qualified but took down the double. She and I are still learning to mesh well together and I think I need to let her grow up a little before she competes further, so I do not plan on entering her again until the fall or winter.

Deets had a very nice jumpers run but took down the penultimate bar. I am still proud of the run because I felt we worked really well together.



Landon competed for the second time in P2 Jumpers, and Q'd with a second place and time of 34.57 seconds. This was his first leg toward his P2J title. He was mister old reliable this weekend, and I really enjoyed running him.



On Sunday, I actually had to walk Mimzy off the course in Jumpers, as she decided to go visit the judge and a ring steward and then got pretty out of control on the course, and I decided I wasn't going to permit her to get away with those antics in the ring and picked her up and walked her off. That's okay, she's still such a baby.

Deets broke his start-line stay in Jumpers on Sunday and ran right into me and took out a jump. He was in trouble for that, but the rest of the run was nice.

Landon Q'd again in P2 jumpers on Sunday and now only needs one more leg to move up to Masters Jumpers. I didn't get the run on video and I wish I had, but he did get 2nd place with a time of 30.69 on a pretty gnarly course. I was very proud!

Sunday was MY very first time to ever compete in Snookers, and with the help of a fellow TOTC club member plotted out a very nice course for Deets. Again, not on video, and I so wish it were. We took the weaves twice because they were the 7 point obstacle and we got all our opening done and got mostly through the closing, but we got whistled off because Deets bailed on the teeter totter. That was very unusual for him and I was confused, but oh well. The judge complimented me on a very nice run and Deets still got first place. Not a single P1 dog qualified in Snookers on Sunday. Deets was just shy of Qing with 31 points.

Last on Sunday was Standard. Landon had finished his P1 standard title on Saturday but wasn't able to move up the next day, so he got another P1 Standard leg (a fourth) which was just icing on the cake. He was having fun this weekend and was a joy to run. He got third place with a time of 54.87 seconds.




Deets had an adventure in P1 Standard on Sunday. I think he was very tired and wasn't really into the run, but still did what mom told him to do. After dogs had been running down the dog walk all day, Deets happened to be the unlucky dog who suffered the dog walk falling out from under him after the pin that held the down-ramp onto the board fell out, and wasn't noticed by any of the ring crew. Deets did not seem phazed, but the noise of the board collapsing made me nearly have a heart attack. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it so that Deets would not get upset reading off of me, so I sent him to the table and waited to hear what the judge would do. He finished the run and still Q'd for his second standard leg, and the judge ran up after we were done and said she would let me bring him back in the ring and run him over the dog walk as many times as I wanted to make sure he wasn't upset by it. He wasn't, but I sure was glad it was him and not Landon who had gone just a few dogs before. If it had been Landon, I would be re-training the dog walk from step one again. What a good boy, Deets!



So, a few things I noticed this weekend that I want to work on with the dogs... Landon and I still need to work on our cross-behinds, because we are getting to the point where we are going to have to perform them in the masters jumpers ring. Deets has a nasty habit of stopping on top of the A-frame and that needs to be stopped. Mimzy just needs to grow up and learn not to go visit people in the ring, so I am going to start setting her up for that in class and having people ignore her.

USDAA Trial May 15/16

Well, this trial was interesting. Saturday it seemed like the dogs just couldn't get their heads screwed on straight, and Sunday I just couldn't seem to find mine! But, it did give me a chance to see what we need to focus on, so that is a good thing.

First, Landon and Deets competed in standard, and Landon blew a contact on the A-frame and Deets went off-course so they both NQ'd. In gamblers, Landon just wouldn't go out to the tunnel across the gamble line, which is something we have been working on and he really seems to only have an issue with it at trials, but not in practice. Deets went off-course again, and both of them just didn't seem like they wanted to be there.

Sunday was a much better day. Deets had a really fantastic standard run and ALMOST qualified but I made a stupid little skip-step right at the last just and he took down the last pole. Woops!



Landon had a great, steady standards run and qualified as well as taking first place. That is his second leg toward his P1 standard title so he only needs one more to move up to P2.



Landon finished his P1 jumpers title last trial so he was moved up to P2 (advanced) jumpers for this trial. He went off-course, despite my best efforts to keep him on it... and what do you know, the jerk of a dog who wouldn't go out to the tunnel the day before in gamblers just trotted right into a tunnel I was trying to pull him off of. Blah! Again, my fault, and something we need to work on.

Deets, however, had an AMAZING jumpers run! He used to be such a bar-knocker but I believe he's finally gaining his confidence over poles and now most knocked bars are my fault. I wasn't expecting him to Q in jumpers because there's so many bars he could possibly bring down, but low and behold, he Q'd with a blue ribbon and a time of 16.29 seconds, less than half the allotted course time. He also beat 7 Border Collies for time! It was Deets' first Q in USDAA.



Sunday was Mimzy's USDAA debut, and the first time she would be running in a new place that wasn't her home training center. I was doubtful, and convinced we were just in the ring to have fun and get used to being in the ring. She really surprised me, and competing at 26" at the Champion level took her first Q at her first USDAA trial, and first place!




Her run around the jump in the pinwheel was my fault... just me and Mimzy not being well meshed yet, along with me having trouble remembering how to run two very different dogs back to back on the same course. Her little detour right before the last jump to see the scribes at the judge's table was a repeat on the CPE trial a few weeks ago, and I attribute that to her little baby-brain. Again, something we can work on.

Monday night Deets and Mimzy went to class with Miss Terry and Deets and I worked on a very gnarly jumpers course from 2005 that Terry said was the hardest course she'd ever seen. Deets and I managed to do it perfectly the first time, with not a single bar knocked. Mimzy was goofy Monday night, and Terry and I spent most of the class time laughing at her. She's such a babyface, it's so easy to forgive her. :)

We have a USDAA trial in McKinney on the 29th and 30th, and then we will slow down quite a bit for the summer. Landon just absolutely refuses to run agility in the summer because of his big black coat so he and I will focus on obedience. I have joined the Tyler Obedience Training Club and Landon and I joined the drill team. We have our first practice tomorrow night. I am hoping that by the end of the summer Deets will be ready for Novice and Landon will be ready for Open.

It's starting to get really hot out there so remember your dogs need lots of water and lots of fun time at the lake or river or whatever is close to you!

CPE Trial 5/8-9/10

Well, we competed in our first CPE trial this weekend and had a blast! It was hosted by CMStreek, our home training center and Terry Dyck, our instructor. All three dogs ran in multiple classes, so I'll take this in order.

Saturday, Deets and Landon both competed in Standard Level 3, and both NQ'd because they took off-courses and went in a tunnel instead of up the dog walk. My fault, a learning experience.



Then, Deets competed in Jackpot Level 3 which is just like Gamblers in USDAA but with a different name. He had a flawless run, the distance obstacle was the weaves which Deets is amazing at thanks to his 2X2 training, and he won first place and got his first ever Q!



After that, Deets and Landon competed in Jumpers Level 3 and Landon Q'd with a first place but Deets knocked too many bars and went off course into a tunnel so no ribbons there. Then, Mimzy competed in her first show ever, and ran Jumpers Level 1. I was actually very pleased, despite the fact that she went off-course and took down three bars and decided right before the last jump to go say "hi!' to Terry. Oh well! She ran with me and that was what I was worried she wouldn't do!

Sunday was a much better day! Landon hit a bar and NQ'd in standard but Deets had an awesome run and got his first standard leg with a first place!



Then, Deets and Landon competed in Level 3 jumpers and both got a Q, but Deets knocked a bar and incured a fault so he got 2nd place to Landon even though he was 12 seconds faster.


After that, Mimzy competed in level 1 again and did SOOO much better! She got a little distracted by the yummy food cart and then had an off-course because I pushed her too far foreword, but did very well otherwise and even got her first qualifying score and FIRST place!


The last run of the day was Deets' Jackpot level 3 class again, and he ran beautifully and did a great job and got his second Q toward his title and first place again!



Some random pictures from the weekend...

Mimzy Weaves and Teeters

Well, today is all good news. The specialist said that there is nothing wrong with Deets other than the fact that his L2 vertebrae is just a tad funky-shaped in the arch on top, but that it isn't causing him any pain or discomfort and gave him the all-clear to run and compete as normal.

Mimzy is progressing quickly and while working on her jumping on the end of the teeter board and targeting to the bottom she decided that it was just easier to run up the whole thing and do it herself. She's even got down that she has to run all the way to the end of the board and crouch down to hold on, and she did it over and over again and loved it! I will get video soon.

She's also finally progressed to doing all 12 weave poles, and doing them quickly and well. She likes to do them too!

This weekend we are off to northern Arkansas for a bike race/fishing trip on the White River, something all the dogs always enjoy. Pictures soon!

A Day at the Lake

Well, it's been an interesting week. First, the foster puppy we obtained who was supposed to go to her new home Friday was diagnosed with parvo Tuesday night, so the last week has been one big parvo puppy mess. "Sam" went downhill fast on Friday night and has been hospitalized all weekend, and was not expected to make it, but she has! So we haven't been out to train just out of courtesy because we're dealing with parvo in the house.. er... garage.

Wednesday morning I took Deets to see Dr. Reeves here in Tyler to rule out the possibility of his bar knocking being caused by any pain, and Dr. Reeves said that his L1 vertebrae is raised and that I should stop running him immediately and pull him from all competition, we should do an x-ray, and start on chiropractic adjustments. At first I was very upset by this news, but the more I have thought about it and the more I have discussed it with my vet at home and with a friend who is a musculoskeletal specialist in canines I have decided that stopping Deets from running altogether right now is pretty extreme, considering he is not showing any sign of actual pain and he loves his job. I am going to continue to run him at lowered jump heights and go easy on him, and I am going to let him compete in our USDAA trial the third weekend in May, though I pulled him from the CPE trial on May 8/9th. This week Deets and I are going to Dallas to see the specialist and have x-rays done and see what needs to happen. I like Dr. Reeves a lot and I greatly respect his opinion, but I think that stopping Deets from running altogether right now is a little extreme and I trust the opinion of the specialist more... who wouldn't?

So, since we haven't been running this week the dogs and Yater and I went on a day trip to Lake Tyler to have fun. Enjoy the pictures!




Here is Landon being my guard dog... he loves to just sit and watch mom.





























The Catahoulas LOVE to fish! They watch the cork bounce up and down in the water and then try to eat the fish when you pull it up.














Look! We got one!















Deets is in his element.















Me and my little girlfriend.















This was funny, I can't believe Yater got it on film. I'm pretty sure the dogs were plotting against me.