we started out class running a 'jumpers' course, then we broke up into our groups and worked on portions of that same course.
Rosie warned us this is no novice course...
the course started out with 2 pinwheels, 1 left (1,2,3) and 1 right (4,5,6), creating an 'S'. then a hard 90d left turn to a straight tunnel (7), a vertical (8), the right hand side of a 180d tunnel (9), a hard left 90d to a vertical (10) and on to another, very big, right pinwheel including a triplebar (11,12,13), back thru the right hand side of the #9 tunnel (14) to a vertical (15), to the weaves (16). out of the weaves a hard 90d left and back out over the #2 & #1 jumps (17,18).
when we ran the course we had a couple of tough spots... after the #7,8 combination, she was so far ahead of me that she went to the wrong side of the tunnel... then i got so flabbergasted that i went off-course and pulled her off the #12 jump and skipped it entirely... then, after the weaves we missed our left turn and she bolted over the #3 jump instead of the #2. That was a tough spot for everyone, including the advanced dogs.
we did have one shining moment... i led out past the first 2 and sent her right thru both pinwheels to the tunnel. most of the others had problems with that combination.
after we broke up into groups we worked on the 8-14 combination. she did try to run off a couple of times but was 'herded' back to me by lynne and rosie. after that she stayed pretty focused. then we swapped sides and worked on #1 - 6. since that had not been a problem in the first place, it was just fun to do it again... then we merged the class back to work on the 16-18 combination and she nailed that on her first try. :)
so, needless to say... i was pretty proud of my little girl last night!
10.31.2007
10.24.2007
NCA week 2
we tried some of the things I mentioned last week... kept her in her crate at home all day except for potty runs at noon and 3. no breakfast or dinner. when we got there I put her crate just outside the arena and kept her in there between runs. also brought a toy to tug with if she did really well...
we split the arena front and back this time instead of side to side... it seemed we had more room that way. our group last night was just 2 dogs... Waste' and Marley. Marley is a superfast, supercharged, very sweet mix. she makes Waste' look slow. because she is so active, she drives Waste's herding instinct crazy. hence, the crate. this worked very well early on in the class. we took turns with Marley working first at 24", then us at 20". the first exercise was simply a jump to a 90d left turn to the a-frame, concentrating on our contact on the a-frame. always for us, concentrating on handler focus. Waste' first bypassed the a-frame and ran right for the other group. Lynn was waiting for it and scolded her back to me. It made an impression. the second time thru she hit the a-frame and down contact, looked at the other dogs, then looked at me... big treat for that! then we did a pinwheel to the chute. she took off for the other dogs after the 2nd element of the pinwheel, Lynn scolded her again - a little harsher - and it made an even stronger impression. the 2nd time thru she nailed it. ah, i love a quick learner!
then we moved to the back side of the arena. we did several combinations - each one was better than the last... dogwalk to tunnel to weaves, weaves to tunnel to dogwalk, dogwalk to tunnel to jump to teeter to tunnel and finally jump to right hand tunnel to weaves.
after awhile, going into the crate between runs worked well, but then she started getting bummed out... but she was doing better in the ring at that time, so i pulled out her new tug toy which she decimated! i think if i just brought a couple of shop towels that she could tear up that would make her happy... she does LOVE to shred!
all in all it was a good class... i hope we keep up this trend...
we split the arena front and back this time instead of side to side... it seemed we had more room that way. our group last night was just 2 dogs... Waste' and Marley. Marley is a superfast, supercharged, very sweet mix. she makes Waste' look slow. because she is so active, she drives Waste's herding instinct crazy. hence, the crate. this worked very well early on in the class. we took turns with Marley working first at 24", then us at 20". the first exercise was simply a jump to a 90d left turn to the a-frame, concentrating on our contact on the a-frame. always for us, concentrating on handler focus. Waste' first bypassed the a-frame and ran right for the other group. Lynn was waiting for it and scolded her back to me. It made an impression. the second time thru she hit the a-frame and down contact, looked at the other dogs, then looked at me... big treat for that! then we did a pinwheel to the chute. she took off for the other dogs after the 2nd element of the pinwheel, Lynn scolded her again - a little harsher - and it made an even stronger impression. the 2nd time thru she nailed it. ah, i love a quick learner!
then we moved to the back side of the arena. we did several combinations - each one was better than the last... dogwalk to tunnel to weaves, weaves to tunnel to dogwalk, dogwalk to tunnel to jump to teeter to tunnel and finally jump to right hand tunnel to weaves.
after awhile, going into the crate between runs worked well, but then she started getting bummed out... but she was doing better in the ring at that time, so i pulled out her new tug toy which she decimated! i think if i just brought a couple of shop towels that she could tear up that would make her happy... she does LOVE to shred!
all in all it was a good class... i hope we keep up this trend...
10.17.2007
NCA week 1 - 2nd time thru
class last night was mixed... when she worked, she worked very well... but she ran over to other dogs even more than usual... she even blew thru the barricade at one point... i stayed after to talk with both the instructors to try to come up with some solutions. it seems she is 'disconnecting' from me. the other dogs are more interesting than the work and more interesting than me. carrie made the observation that this all started right around the time after our trip down to florida with the dog. she sensed how i was feeling about dad and not enjoying my self as much. so, we need to make this fun again. some of the steps we are going to put into action will be:
1. no breakfast or dinner on day we work out. i have always withheld dinner, but now we really want her hungrier.
2. crate her during the day we work out. no free in and out to chase squirrels and bask in the sun. this will make 'coming out' more fun.
3. crate her between runs during class. less stress and distractions when she is in crate.
4. set her up during class with an active dog... when she makes a move to run away, i can grab her and let her know this is unacceptable... this will not be popular with some people, but i believe this is one time that she needs some negative impact. she is pretty sensitive, so it'll be a gentle reprimand... but very, very firm.
5. i brought a water pistol and gave that to rosie to use on the other side.
Obviously, i'm very frustrated with this which makes her frustrated also... but i'm sure we'll get this worked out!
1. no breakfast or dinner on day we work out. i have always withheld dinner, but now we really want her hungrier.
2. crate her during the day we work out. no free in and out to chase squirrels and bask in the sun. this will make 'coming out' more fun.
3. crate her between runs during class. less stress and distractions when she is in crate.
4. set her up during class with an active dog... when she makes a move to run away, i can grab her and let her know this is unacceptable... this will not be popular with some people, but i believe this is one time that she needs some negative impact. she is pretty sensitive, so it'll be a gentle reprimand... but very, very firm.
5. i brought a water pistol and gave that to rosie to use on the other side.
Obviously, i'm very frustrated with this which makes her frustrated also... but i'm sure we'll get this worked out!
10.10.2007
Tweener week between sessions
38 seconds! 17 obstacles in 38 seconds. dang.
Last night was fun night. We had 2 identical courses side by side and ran 2 dogs at a time. Well, everyone else did... I opted out of running side by side and ran alone, for focus reasons. We ran the course 4 times; the last 2 we just reversed the course. We also didn't time the last 2... I was just happy to have the time we got on our first run.
The course looked simple; a diagonal line, circle, and diagonal line. The jumps were so close together tho, that everyone was going off course... even the advanced dogs.
She was SO keyed into me and SO fast! What fun!
Next week we start up our next 8 week session.
Last night was fun night. We had 2 identical courses side by side and ran 2 dogs at a time. Well, everyone else did... I opted out of running side by side and ran alone, for focus reasons. We ran the course 4 times; the last 2 we just reversed the course. We also didn't time the last 2... I was just happy to have the time we got on our first run.
The course looked simple; a diagonal line, circle, and diagonal line. The jumps were so close together tho, that everyone was going off course... even the advanced dogs.
She was SO keyed into me and SO fast! What fun!
Next week we start up our next 8 week session.
10.03.2007
Where I've been & NCA week 8
Many things have transpired since I last wrote... we did not go to Heartnut as planned. I received a call from my sister, Kathie - who was visiting with my folks down in Vero Beach, Fl. My Dad had taken a turn for the worse and was rushed to the hospital. I grabbed a flight on Northwest Airlines from Indy to Orlando on Sunday. I was scheduled to arrive there around 10:15a and Roni, my middle sister, was scheduled to arrive around 2ish. The plan was for me to wait for her, rent a car and drive down.
That flight never left the ground due to a left engine that would not start. I was re-booked onto American Airlines thru O'Hare. I didn't arrive in Orlando until 6:30p. I had 1" blisters on the balls of both feet from walking thru the O'Hare terminal. Roni did not wait for me. Kathie, however did show up, but my luggage did not. After filing a missing luggage report with American, we made the trip down to Vero. My luggage finally arrived on Tuesday night.
Kathie and Dad had made the decision to move from the hospital to hospice over the weekend. They told him that they would keep him comfortable. Because he was coughing so badly, they gave him some extra morphine to make the trip. He never woke up.
By the time I got there Sunday night, he seemed to be resting comfortably. I did feel him squeeze my hand when I told him I was there. We all stayed with him until he passed very peacefully on Wednesday morning, September 12th.
Kathie, Roni and I stayed with Ma thru the rest of the week. Kathie drove back to Texas and Roni and I flew out of Orlando - all on Saturday.
The next two weeks, the kennel club was closed for the installation of the new floor. This week we returned to class after a whole month.
we had a combined class last night... that means the novice, intermediate and advanced dogs all ran courses. we got to run our course twice and she did great on both! i was so sure that she would be totally flaky since we haven't run since 9/4... well, except for practice in the back yard.
the course was the tire (1) on a bending left line to a vertical (2) and the a-frame (3) (with tunnel entrance on right). after the a-frame a right 90d turn to a square oxer (4) and another 90d turn to 2 verticals (5,6) and a tunnel under the dogwalk (7). a 180d from tunnel to up the dogwalk (8) and then to the table (9) for a down count of 5. on to the weaves (10) (with her on my right makes for a difficult entrance), a back-track to another tunnel (11), 90d left turn to vertical (12), 90d left turn to teeter (13), back thru tunnel (14) under the dogwalk and then thru tunnel (15) under the a-frame.
the main problem we had was speed. this new floor absolutely PROPELLED her! she hit the table so fast, she slid off and she also slid off the teeter sideways. the second time thru she slowed herself down to compensate... the #3 was still an issue... with the tunnel entrance on the right of the a-frame, she thinks i want her to go to the tunnel instead of up the a-frame... because i have to fade out to the right to run by it... i finally had to do some interesting footwork and stand in front of the tunnel entrance to send her up the a-frame, then scoot around the tunnel to catch up with her on the down side of the a-frame...
That flight never left the ground due to a left engine that would not start. I was re-booked onto American Airlines thru O'Hare. I didn't arrive in Orlando until 6:30p. I had 1" blisters on the balls of both feet from walking thru the O'Hare terminal. Roni did not wait for me. Kathie, however did show up, but my luggage did not. After filing a missing luggage report with American, we made the trip down to Vero. My luggage finally arrived on Tuesday night.
Kathie and Dad had made the decision to move from the hospital to hospice over the weekend. They told him that they would keep him comfortable. Because he was coughing so badly, they gave him some extra morphine to make the trip. He never woke up.
By the time I got there Sunday night, he seemed to be resting comfortably. I did feel him squeeze my hand when I told him I was there. We all stayed with him until he passed very peacefully on Wednesday morning, September 12th.
Kathie, Roni and I stayed with Ma thru the rest of the week. Kathie drove back to Texas and Roni and I flew out of Orlando - all on Saturday.
The next two weeks, the kennel club was closed for the installation of the new floor. This week we returned to class after a whole month.
we had a combined class last night... that means the novice, intermediate and advanced dogs all ran courses. we got to run our course twice and she did great on both! i was so sure that she would be totally flaky since we haven't run since 9/4... well, except for practice in the back yard.
the course was the tire (1) on a bending left line to a vertical (2) and the a-frame (3) (with tunnel entrance on right). after the a-frame a right 90d turn to a square oxer (4) and another 90d turn to 2 verticals (5,6) and a tunnel under the dogwalk (7). a 180d from tunnel to up the dogwalk (8) and then to the table (9) for a down count of 5. on to the weaves (10) (with her on my right makes for a difficult entrance), a back-track to another tunnel (11), 90d left turn to vertical (12), 90d left turn to teeter (13), back thru tunnel (14) under the dogwalk and then thru tunnel (15) under the a-frame.
the main problem we had was speed. this new floor absolutely PROPELLED her! she hit the table so fast, she slid off and she also slid off the teeter sideways. the second time thru she slowed herself down to compensate... the #3 was still an issue... with the tunnel entrance on the right of the a-frame, she thinks i want her to go to the tunnel instead of up the a-frame... because i have to fade out to the right to run by it... i finally had to do some interesting footwork and stand in front of the tunnel entrance to send her up the a-frame, then scoot around the tunnel to catch up with her on the down side of the a-frame...
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