the shade of the rowanTree

Tsunka Waste' NAP NJC CGC

2010-11-18T08:56:00.001-05:00

Brags: Waste' tested and got her CGC during our trip to Amarillo, Texas! A big thank you to the Amarillo Obedience Club for their big Texas hospitality!!

http://www.aotcdogs.com/

end of August goings on...

2010-08-28T14:26:00.003-04:00

it's been a busy August! shift change from 5 to 4 day weeks... i have my weekends back! i applied to work from home, didn't hear so applied for an IT position, got offered work from home, interviewed for IT position, decided I'd rather work from home, but now still waiting for the 'home visit' and office set up for home... nothing ever move fast in corporate america! nothing is set in stone yet.

Waste' got booted out of class. she was a bad girl and tried to 'herd' teddy. not pretty. so we've been working with Lynne Sherry 1on1... Lynne is FANTASTIC! I am always learning something new from her. Waste' is fab. she does EVERYTHING i ask her to... even if it's wrong... yep, that's called handler error!!

Dan is, as always, the most amazing man ever.

I have been diagnosed as diabetic, but trying to handle with diet alone... have given up all white carbs... taters, rice, pasta. clothes are even beginning to feel looser.

so, that's all fer now. ciao!

odd...

2010-06-07T20:35:00.001-04:00

I tried to copy and paste some info from FB into my post here and all I got was a big open nothing of a space. argh.

I Promise!

2010-06-07T20:17:00.006-04:00

I will return to posting here... even if it is just a copy of my facebook status... I wish there was a way that FB would auto post my status to here... and keep it as a post... ah well.

here is a sample of some recent relevant posts...

pruned, trimmed, placed hoses, broke sprinkler, fought w/hoses, fittings and sprinklers, fertilized, did laundry, dishes, ordered pizza & wings, watched Young Victoria...

Oh how I luv sleeping in!!! Dan has made coffee and CBS Sunday Morning is on the dvr.
Now I'll put some bacon on the GF grill, cook up some eggs & taters, then start the day

I have a very good furbaby!!

garden is planted including, but not limited to musk melons, maters -cherry & large-, bell peppers, jalapenos, greens, spinach, lettuce, flowers, cilantro, dill, rosemary, lavender, basil... chicken stirfry w/rice noodles for dinner... now a shower and bed... i'm pooped.

Older that those... my Mom passed away the Sunday after Thanksgiving. She is with my Dad now and much happier I am sure. We had a wonderful memorial ceremony in April when their ashes were interred at Jacksonville National Cemetery.

I'm working a new shift... Tuesday thru Saturday, 6am - 3pm. mostly liking this, altho this puts a glitch in reenactments and agility trials.

Speaking of agility. We have resumed! Waste' LOVES the new rubberized contacts! she will now actually run down the backside of the A-frame.

Dan is still the main man in my life... he always makes me feel so lucky. :)

Now, we need to be lucky enuf to win the lottery!!!

First ever 'away' agiltiy trial

2009-07-01T17:54:00.002-04:00

What a great weekend! We won 2 first places, got our second novice preferred title and an open 'Q'! Will post some photo's too.

2nd Agillity Trial

2009-02-08T03:45:00.004-05:00

2 more Q's and our first Title! NPStd
She was fabulous and I am so proud of her... and me for not going off course!
I'm posting videos tonight - you can see them on my You Tube page... including a rare moment of her sleeping, bellyup on the couch.

New videos uploaded!

2008-12-21T03:50:00.002-05:00

You can view them on You Tube @ http://www.youtube.com/trishgunther

3 Ribbons!

2008-12-09T21:21:00.005-05:00

We made it through our first Agility Trial!

You know, I haven't been posting lately because she has become so gooooood, that was all I had to say... not much material! The bad things are so entertaining! But so are the exceptional things...

Yep, we did Novice preferred jumpers with weaves and Novice preferred standard on both Saturday and Sunday. She was amazing.

We got an off-course early on the first run - just an overrun to the wrong jump, but finished the rest with no faults and under time.

Our second run brought us our first ribbon ever... 2nd place with just 5 faults.

Sunday we had 2 runs and 2 first place ribbons including one course @ 23 seconds.

I couldn't ask for more!!

I hope to get some video up soon... Dan came with me as moral support, puppy sitting and videographer. He is so good to me. :)

another 8 weeks & Theatiki

2008-07-23T22:53:00.004-04:00

We've begun our next set of classes... She is getting better all the time, so it's hard to not sound repetitive. Well, she must have read my mind because she decided to be a clown again last night.

Remember all the trouble we had with the teeter? Well, it has moved to the top of her favs to the point of obsession. As an example: a vertical towards the teeter, right hand turn to a left tunnel, out of tunnel and to the teeter. I set her up and stood IN FRONT of the teeter to block it (2 tries) and she all but knocked me over just to get to the teeter. We all had a good laugh over it. I realized that if I angled her a bit more and used more body with arm movement toward the teeter, then she gave in and did it right. Thank you Karen, our guest trainer for setting me straight!

On an 18th century note, we got to set up and use our new wall tent, cots and mats - I did wake up on Friday night to the biggest dang spider I have ever seen! I didn't realize I could still move that fast! It was a good weekend... we had a lovely pipe ceremony for Colleen headed by Mike Stevens. The weather was mostly good, the mulberries very sweet, but my bare feet still have a touch of purple stain and Waste's white belly had her share of pretty purple as well!

A very dear friend has passed

2008-06-28T00:02:00.003-04:00

There has been a picture of my friend Colleen 'Hester' Gilbert on my blog for several months encouraging visitors to vote for her.

This past Wednesday, instead of leaving for Ft. Ticonderoga, NY for yet another jaunt into the 18th century, she left on a much longer trip to a far more fantastic realm.

Everybody loved Colleen. There have been posts on forums and dedicated pages throughout the web. This is my small contribution.

I'm including some of my favorite pictures that I've taken and one of Dicey, Me & Hester at Mansker's Station a couple of years ago. I was honored that she used one of my pictures as the front of one of her always anticipated Christmas cards! I also have to note that if it wasn't for Colleen, I may not have hooked up with the man of my dreams... Dan Russell.

Colleen, if you are reading this over my shoulder...

I am sooooooooooooo mad at you for leaving us without saying goodbye! I cannot believe you won't be there the next time we set canvas with a hug and a smile, a laugh and even a good, hearty belch. I miss you so much already.

4.8.8 novice agility week 4

2008-04-08T22:12:00.002-04:00

We had a combined class tonight and ran relays. I was surprised at how well she did... no running off to the other dog and total focus. We missed a very tough entrance into the weaves and I accidentally pulled her off the tunnel a couple of times... but she was very good in all.

catching up... again

2008-04-04T20:28:00.002-04:00

With the conversion from Insight to Comcast, I've been soooooooooooooo pooped that I don't even want to get on the computer when I get home. That translates into not checking my emails and not keeping up with my blog.

Hopefully things will slow down soon at work and I can get back to my regular schedule.

In the meantime, Waste' has been sound since our second acupuncture treatment and we started back with classes. I'm bringing her back slowly. The jumps are down to 16" and for the first couple of weeks the contacts were brought down low.

Last week was the first week we did the a-frame at full height and she nailed her contact without any hesitation.

The only problem that we've been experiencing is that, after a December through March layoff, she misses this sooooooooooooo much, her enthusiasm is uncontainable! LOL

She is running so incredibly fast and confident... even over the teeter... I know we'll be back on track in no time.

Reenactment season will also be starting soon. This month! I'm also looking forward to getting the garden started and the weather to finally turn warm.

It's all good.

Sorry that I have been derelict!

2008-01-26T20:03:00.000-05:00

Waste' went to the vet and got put on meds and house arrest... the main result being Dan and I driven a bit mad.

Her limp gets better then worse... then better for days. It's almost like she sleeps wrong and it falls asleep.

I called the vet back for another follow up, but she has not yet returned my call.

I am considering going to an alternative vet in Battleground, or Noreen in Brookston. But concentrating on just getting her to rest right now...

In the meantime my place of employ, Insight, is changing over to Comcast. It's going to be a slow, soft transition... all the behind-the-scenes stuff changing first.

It amazes me at how many customers are flipping out over 'the change'... it began officially on January 1 and was advertised as such.

Immediately customers began jumping to conclusions. They assumed all changes were going to happen on that day without any prior warning or preparation. One customer called in December all mad that we have not warned him or made any preparation yet. I tried to explain to him that the preparations begin on 1/1 and that it will all be just fine. He called me a liar and accused me of not being straight with him.

Some customers - with bad debts - called in trying to set up new accounts assuming that any debts with Insight would be wiped out. Then they got angry when they found out that they still have to pay them or get sent to collections.

It's been an interesting month at work to say the least and I'm sure we'll see more interesting things to come.

Please wish Waste' luck with her lameness and send some good energy her way if you will.

Tweener weeks, Fun Night

2007-12-19T10:24:00.000-05:00

happy hump day b4 Christmas!

We didn't go to fun night doing relays last week, 'cause she came up with a limp again... other foreleg this time. :( We did do a ring rent that Thursday and she started out fine, but started limping toward the end of the hour. I think I just didn't wait long enough. By the time of our next Fun Night, she was fit as a fiddle and ready to run.

This was our last 'fun run' for the year... next Tuesday will be Christmas and the following new year's! a few of us still have some plans to rent the ring for some extra work in the meantime...

We did a 'tunnelers' run and a 'touch and go' run last night... with a Christmas twist.

Tunnelers is just like it sounds... no jumps or contacts or weaves... just tunnels and the table.

it starts with a right 90d tunnel to 2 tunnels side by side and we have to take the right one which bends another 90d right, to a left 80d tunnel to another left 90d tunnel back to the right side of that double tunnel - this time the right side going the other way and out to the table. put the dog into a down-stay, walk to a people table loaded with Christmas presents. Pick one and unwrap it - some were wrapped with duct tape and other nasty stuff to make us slow down - I got one of those and it was a skinless tennis ball - icky! If your dog moves, you have to leave your present, reset your dog and return to unwrapping your present. Then, once unwrapped, you have to carry the present with you as you finish the course...
from the table thru 3 more tunnels!

First, I have to say that I did not bring a difficult to unwrap present. I put several squeakies and a large biscuit in a bag... just carrying them is what presented the difficulty! too much fun. :)

I was a bit concerned because she has been having some dis-interest problems with tunnels lately... she did opt for the left tunnel two or three times and we finally got the right one... she all but fell asleep in her down-stay... no inclination to move there at all... what a good girl... then she ran by a couple of tunnels looking for something else... but she came back and got them just fine.

after we all got our presents, we did a 'touch and go' course... this added contacts to the tunnels... it was the tunnel to the dog walk to a tunnel to the a-frame, to the right side (far side) of the tunnel to the teeter, a hard right (40d) to a tunnel to a left 90d turn to the dogwalk (easy to cut corner and slide off), to a right 90d to the table to 3 more tunnels.

this time, after we completed our course, we got to 'steal' someone else's gift.

She nailed each and every one of her contacts and waited while I led out... she hit the teeter so hard I thought she was going to slide off... She had her claws dug in so deep, that she was losing traction... but she stuck it and gained a big jackpot for that!

like before, we drew names for order of go... we were lucky enough to get picked last so i got to trade our tennis ball for some Bil-Jacs and huge biscuits.

We got some amazing feedback from the advanced handlers again... She just makes it so fun!

We all wish you all the Merriest of Christmases and the Happiest of New Years!

Love, Trish, Dan & Waste'

NCA week 8

2007-12-05T10:42:00.000-05:00

This was our last class of the 8 week session again. Time flies when you are having agility fun! As is our habit, the 4th and 8th weeks we meet as a combined class and run courses. This time we did standard and jumpers.

The standard course started over a vertical (1) coming home and a right 180d to the teeter (2). Off the teeter there were two verticals (3&4) at precarious angles, left and right, the 2nd dropped us on the left side of the weaves (5) - a hairy angle! Then to another vertical (6), the right side of the gray tunnel (7), up the dogwalk (8) and onto the table (9). From the table we went back toward the dogwalk, but went into the yellow tunnel (10), out to a vertical (11), hard 90d left to the 6 jump (12), hard 90d right to another vertical (13), up the a-frame (14), another vertical (15) and the chute (16).

Not one of the novice dogs got the 10- 13 combination. There was nothing novice about it... it was evil and we told the course designer so... (he is part of the advanced group). He took it with dignity and a sense of self-satisfaction. He knows we love the challenge! After we ran the course the first time, we walked it with him and discussed the ways we could have handled it better.

The 2-4 combination presented a challenge to most of us, but since I'm really working on her contacts and stays, I left her on the teeter and took a good lead out over the next 2 that got us to the weaves in good shape. I did a rear cross behind the entrance to the weaves which (I thought) put me in good position for the tunnel to dog walk. Matt was surprised it worked for me, 'cause he thought it would send her to the left tunnel, but it didn't. It worked great! I was the only one of both groups who did that.

Then there was the table to tunnel. I took a lead out and stood in front of the dog walk to force her into the tunnel... that put me so far behind her at the out of the tunnel that i had her spinning left and right thru that evil combination I mentioned above. We never went off course, but wasted a lot of time.

During the walk-thru, Carrie said I should trust her more and send her out to the tunnel... I did on the next run and it worked great, but we were still discombobulated thru the evil combo!

The a-frame thru to the finish didn't present any problems at all. As a matter of fact, on the second run - for practice sake - Rosie & Jetta and Karen & Sadie stayed in the ring to distract us... and not one little glance their way thru the whole thing! :-D

The jumpers course was next. The same first jump (1), going away to an offset vertical (2), then the original jumps 3&4 (3&4) and a right bending line to a square oxer (5), a 90d right to a vertical (6), a pinwheel left (7&8) to the right side of the gray tunnel (9), out over a vertical (10) to the weaves (11), left over 3&2 (12&13), across the ring over a vertical (14), 90d left over a right pinwheel (15,16,17) and finish going home over 18. phew!

I was sure I was going to go off course, but I didn't. I led out past the 2nd jump and almost to the third... I heard an "ooooooooooo" from the class... this was a brave thing... maybe foolhardy even... it would have worked if I hadn't gotten jumpy and pulled her off the 2nd jump... but at least we tried! I also got ahead of her and pulled her off the weave entrance... my bad... but we got them on the second try... everything else she nailed... she even worked way off from me thru the pinwheels and we got some great rear crosses in! when finished we received great applause and someone even asked "can she do windows too?". Oh, I'm so proud of my little girl!

Next week is a 'tweener' week and there is rumor of a relay race... hmmmmmmmmmm
stay tuned...

NCA week 7

2007-11-28T09:51:00.000-05:00

had class last night and she was fantastic... we still had some problems with our rear crosses (that's where she is on one side of me and we have to turn towards that side... making me cross behind her to go towards the next jump) not only does she not understand it, i am having some coordination issues with it myself. instead of landing on the opposite lead, she lands on the near lead and spins a 180 b4 going to the next obstacle.

except for a couple of 'let's go visit with Marley' episodes towards the end of class, her focus was great!

NCA week 5&6

2007-11-21T08:24:00.000-05:00

Well, we skipped last week 'cause I was sick and could not breathe with a head cold and chest congestion. But we made it this week and we're feeling oh-so-much better!

I don't know if it was the break, but she was very, very good last night... we started on the teeter - since she had spooked so badly on it 2 weeks ago. Our high-octane treat last night was steak. It was pretty funny when I made dinner last night... on one burner was hamburger helper for Dan and I, and the other burner was steak for the dog... it just seemed wrong...

Anyway, with great encouragement and lots of little steak bites... she is, once again, friends with the teeter. We also worked on the broad jump and a-frame - she did great on her contacts with the a-frame! After we switched sides we worked on obstacle discrimination again... this has been, and continues to be a big challenge... I put her right in front of the tunnel and she still tried to scoot around me to go up the dog walk. We've decided to start 'paying' her more for tunnel work (treats) to make them more enjoyable. Lynn did say that sometimes we take tunnels for granted and that can lessen their value to the dog.

After a few practice runs, she was doing better... but this still needs a lot more practice. we also did some weaves and combinations to the weaves... I really have to work on my handling skills there... if i stop or slow down, she misses a weave and if i get ahead of her, she skips a weave...

Above all, her focus was 98% better! She only started to run over to the other dogs once and i growled at her to come back and she did... of course she got steak for that too! (coming back, not running away).

There is a 'show 'n go' this Sunday which is basically a mock show. I think we'll try it to see how we do... at least it will be fun.

NCA wk 4 - combined

2007-11-07T10:52:00.000-05:00

class last night was nerve-wracking and fun...

Twice during each series we combine the advanced and novice classes and run a full course as if we were at a show. we did the F.A.S.T. class and had a chance to run it twice.

That stands for Fifteen And Send To. The object is to accumulate points within a set time frame, 32 seconds for the 20 inchers. There are 15 obstacles of varying values and a 'send to' combination. The 'send to' is a distance challenge. For novice this means a line on the ground 5' away from 2 - 3 obstacles that I have to, literally, send her through from that set distance. There are 6 bar jumps (1 pt each) that can be taken up to a value of 6 points and 9 other obstacles (2-10 pts) can only be completed 1x for points. Weaves are mandatory - 6 for novice.

The first time thru I tried to do too many obstacles, and ran into a few glitches - so ran over time...
We ran the bonus first. That was a tunnel to the tire at a 5' distance. She aced that. The plan was to turn left to the square oxer and we made that - after jumping 1 extra jump (no harm), then on to the tunnel... well, she shot over to the chute - backwards - looking for the entrance, silly girl - didn't find it so went for the tunnel, then teeter. She stopped half way across the teeter and jumped off... not sure why, but she just spooked. Since this was for time, we continued on to the a-frame and weave poles - she missed her entrance, so those 10 pts did not count. We tried the teeter a second time with the same results :( and then finished the course... 44 secs and 43 points.

We tried a different course 2nd time around. The bonus send to was great and we stayed on a left pinwheel of 3 single jumps to the tunnel to the chute and on to the weaves... missed our entrance again. :( then up and over the a-frame to the finish. The only glitch was the weaves which gave us a score of 53 (50 for a q) and a time of 24 secs!! woo hoo!!!!!!!!

After everyone ran their second course, we had a chance to school the teeter and weaves with not very much success... looks like we'll have to do some remedial work on both!

Overall, tho, I am very happy with her... she was even VERY well behaved outside of the arena. I hope to get some of the video of it posted on my blog over the weekend.

NCA week 3

2007-10-31T10:16:00.000-04:00

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!

NCA week 2

2007-10-24T09:57:00.000-04:00

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...

NCA week 1 - 2nd time thru

2007-10-17T09:01:00.000-04:00

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!

Tweener week between sessions

2007-10-10T08:20:00.000-04:00

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.

Where I've been & NCA week 8

2007-10-03T12:15:00.000-04:00

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...

Thursday ramblings

2007-09-06T09:09:00.000-04:00

good thursday morning

it's raining and plans to rain all weekend it appears. we are supposed to go camping at heartnut festival near camp atterbury. i am imagining the smell of wet dog combined with wet canvas. yummy. i completed my tarot readings sign for this weekend too. i've been procrastinating on that for 3 years. i don't imagine there will be a throng of people waiting in a rainy line to hear their soggy fortunes.

on the other hand, i have taken off friday and monday for travel time, and we do go by edinburgh outlet mall on the way down. i've left the decision up to dan. he has a second sense about poor weather.

Free Friday and NCA, week 6

2007-09-05T00:02:00.000-04:00

I never told you how well she did last Friday night, did I? After practicing on our contacts on Thursday, she nailed them all on our run-thrus on free Friday. Instead of running the entire course, I broke it up into sections to keep her focus. This worked pretty well.

Tonight she started out great. We did dogwalk to a right pinwheel. see diagram 9.4.7b.

Then a jump (facing the right side of a tunnel) to the left tunnel and out towards a right-turn vertical - it kinda looks like a bow tie. see diagram 9.4.7a.

The next exercise is where she lost it... the dogwalk and uturn to tunnel... she ran down the dogwalk and ran off to visit the dogs next door... :( see diagram 9.4.7c

then we switched sides.... on the other side we nailed our 12 weaves, the oxer and the a-frame. no diagram needed. she is picking up speed thru her weaves all on her own. :)

so, in a nutshell, she was good when she was good and very badly behaved the rest of the time... it reminds me of that children's rhyme about a girl with a curl right in the middle of her forehead!

Rosie suggested I bring a water pistol or spray bottle with me next week... it may just work.

Ring Rent Practice, Thursday night

2007-08-31T09:52:00.000-04:00

Well, we rented the ring last night with Amanda & Skeeter and it was fabulous to have just 2 of us in there. All the contacts were down to 'puppy height', but that was fine with me... since our object was to work on our contacts, it actually made it easier for her to stop on the downside - especially the a-frame. I tried to send her out to the a-frame too, but she still wants to head for the tunnel if it is on the 'near' side. More practice needed here.

She did much better on her contacts on all 3, the a-frame, dogwalk & teeter. Her contact on the teeter has always been good, but we threw that in just to have some fun. She also nailed all 12 weaves. I did try to push her speed once and she missed a few in her rush, so we slowed it back down again.

After a half-hour of working straight, we were both toast and look forward to 'free Friday' tonight. The object tonight is nothing but focus... even if we don't jump anything at all.

The weather has cooled down tremendously (it was 74 by the time we left last night) and that also adds to our successes!

NCA, week 5

2007-08-29T09:53:00.000-04:00

Class went well again last night. We were in split classes again; Whitney and I with Buddy and Waste'.

We started over a combination of tire to a-frame, right-hand u-turn to tunnel. Again, Waste' kept aiming for the tunnel instead of the a-frame. Lynn said it is probably because I have to 'fade' left to go around the tunnel entrance and that is drawing her towards it, instead of the a-frame. We slid the tunnel under the a-frame and sure enough, she went right over it. That will take some additional practice - I think sending her to the a-frame from a distance, whether there is a tunnel there or not.

Next we did the dogwalk to the table - back and forth several times, working on her contacts. Now, Lynn said letting her sit on her contact is okay if that is what is comfortable for her. I can always skip it when it comes to competition. We can live with that. Her table was excellent, as usual.

Oh, as an aside... she has taken to jumping up on the old maple stump at home... that is about 4' high and 4.5' across... who needs to build a table when we have one built in!! LOL she is turning into a mountain goat, jumping from one stump to another!

Back to class, then...

After the dogwalk/table exercise, we swapped sides with Rosie's group. There we worked on weaves... and did excellent! also did some pinwheel work with front and rear crosses, also incorporating the teeter. We still have some work to do on our rear crosses and making sure she is on the correct lead going in.

I'm hoping to do some more work this Thursday with Amanda and Skeeter, and Friday on free night. It's supposed to cool down again and I know she'll enjoy herself more when she doesn't get so hot. We also have a vet appointment on Saturday for our annual vaccinations, etc. I'll also ask Dr. Jackson about her weight and her limp... she hasn't been limping now for a week or so, but will still check it out.

my ilp submissions

2007-08-25T21:43:00.000-04:00

Well, I finally got my card reader operable
again and got the pictures off the camera that
I took for our ILP (Independant Listing Priviledge)
submission - so that we can compete in AKC events.

So, here they are... front shot and side shot... isn't she a pretty girl??

NCA, week 4

2007-08-22T11:05:00.000-04:00

We had our combined class last night and ran courses. Both advanced and novice dogs. The ring was set up with 'nested' courses - that means the placement of the obstacles does not change, but the order does - based on level. We ran a novice standard and novice jumpers with weaves.

The standard course was a vertical (1) to the dogwalk (2), a right hand turn to the weaves (3), left over a vertical (4) thru the left opening of a tunnel (5) to the a-frame (6), right u turn to a tunnel (7) that goes back under the a-frame, left to a vertical (8) and on to the teeter (9), another 2 verticals on a left-bending line (10 & 11), back over the dogwalk (12) to the table (13), then finish over 2 more verticals coming home (14 & 15)

we ran this one twice. first time thru I forgot to do a front cross to the weave and we got bamboozled. between 5 & 6 she got sucked into the tunnel instead of up the a-frame [note: the opposite problem that we had last week with a choice of tunnel or dogwalk]. after we managed the a-frame, she lost focus and started running toward other jumps, but i got her back to do an awesome 8-11. coming home over the dogwalk, she got away from me again... trying to go out the door to the cooler outside... got her back and did a super table and finish over 14 & 15.

2nd trip thru, we nailed our front cross between 2 & 3 and she got all 12 weaves. I got her eye coming out of 5, hit the a-frame and zipped thru 7. by the time we got to the teeter, i was getting pretty winded and couldn't get the words out, but she nailed it and the rest of the jumps while I just ran to keep up. Damn. I was really sucking air after that one! LOL

The JWW did not include any contact obstacles. It started out over 3 verticals (1,2,3) to the tunnel under the dog walk (4) to the weaves (5) and on to the right side of the tunnel (6), back to a vertical (7) sending us into a wicked pinwheel of 4 more verticals (on a circle) (8,9,10,11), back thru the 4 tunnel (12) and finish over the first 3 (13,14,15).

She did very well until after the #6 tunnel... I lost her to the teeter. She just stood at the apex looking back at me like... 'are u coming?'. After resuming, the pinwheel was not as daunting as it appeared and she nailed the #12 tunnel and finish.

It was great watching all the more advanced dogs run and the problems that they had to deal with too. It made me feel like there is hope for us! LOL

NCA, week 3

2007-08-15T08:34:00.000-04:00

We had class cancelled last week because of heat. It was 98 outside and who-knows-what inside. That week will get tacked onto the end so we won't miss anything.

Also, last week, she started up a limp. Worse when she woke up from a nap and it always worked out. I did lots of manipulations and felt for heat, but could not pinpoint it. From the way she limped, it appeared to be in her right front shoulder. Well, Tuesday morning she woke up limp-free. It was like she knew class was that night. I resolved to go ahead, but keep a close eye on her. Thru the course of the evening she never took a bad step and she woke up fine this morning as well. Who knows what she might have done to herself!!!

Class went well last night. Whitney and Buddy didn't make it, but Amanda and Skeeter did. Waste' was happy to see Skeeter - they're ol' buddies

We first worked on obstacle discrimination... the tunnel entrance next to the dogwalk... we did very badly with that... she would go into the tunnel and then come back out the entrance to go over the dogwalk! at one point she laid down in the tunnel and wouldn't come out. it was a loosing battle so we moved on to the next exercise.

That exercise was 2 jumps to either another tunnel or the teeter. they were not right next to each other so the handling was much easier. She did very well with that, both pushing and pulling. (pushing means sending her away from me, pulling is drawing her towards me).

After that exercise, we swapped sides w/Rosie's more advanced group. There we worked on weaves and pinwheels.

You can tell that she is getting more comfortable with the weaves... she increases in speed as she goes thru... kinda like "oh, I get it!"

We did the pinwheel 3 different ways... each time we approached from a tunnel... the 1st way was a post turn - I stand in the middle and send her over 3 jumps in a half circle. With that one, she drove wide over the second and had trouble making the third and brought a pole down. 2nd, I send her over 1 & 2 with a front cross to the 3rd. That brought her to the 3rd on a much better line. 3rd i did a rear cross between the tunnel and the 1st which sent her to the 2nd and I pulled her to the 3rd. This one involved less foot travel for me and shaved seconds off.

So, in all, it was a good night. We'll have another chance to work on the tunnel/dogwalk discrimination another time.

New Class! Novice Competion Agility, week 2

2007-08-01T11:39:00.000-04:00

We missed our first week, since we were in Florida visiting the folks. While we were down there, we did get to work out with Cissy of Best Behavior Dog Training. She is awesome!

The course was outside and the first time we have ever worked away from home. Poor Waste' was so flabbergasted to have been either on a leash or in the car for 6 whole days that the freedom of the arena was too much for her to bear... all she wanted to do was run and sniff!! Cissy suggested some great things to try to increase her focus - many of which we already do, including obedience work (she's getting so good at rally!). But we did complete all the obstacles one at a time, including all 12 straight weave poles and the teeter! I expected strange obstacles to be the problem, not her focus! LOL

So now we are on our 2nd week of our new class. a new group of dogs, and you know what that means to Waste'... shall we say that our 'focus' suffered greatly.

all in all, she did well. there are 2 instructors for this class; Rosie & Lynne. both have been very successful in agility themselves. Rosie has shelties and Lynne has poodles (1 reminds me ALOT of Jocko!) we worked with Lynne last night and I like her very much. we started out with some handling and discrimination exercises.

the first exercise had us over 2 verticals heading toward both the a-frame and a tunnel. Lynne had us 'pull' the dogs thru it - we stayed on the left side and called the dogs to us thru the tunnel.

second, we jumped a vertical on a bending line to a triple bar with a front cross and hard right turn back to the tunnel. if the front cross was not done correctly, they may go off course to another vertical or up the a-frame... or, if your dog really isn't paying attention to you, they go chasing ruckus, the jack russell.

our third exercise was the same first two jumps to the a-frame and we worked on our down-side contact. Lynne asked me what kind of contacts I've been working on and i told her we've been doing 2o2o (2 on [contact], 2 off [contact]), but have been having problems with that on the a-frame. we used a target and she ran right by it. the second time thru, she stopped for it, but swung her butt around. Lynne says Waste' is trying to tell me this is too difficult for her to do and we can do a different kind of contact for a-frame only.

then we moved to the other side of the ring and worked on weaves. she did all 12 straight weave poles and even had a bit of speed with it! then, coming from the right, she got into her nose-pushing, but got thru about 10 of them... Lynne said we could leave it at that...

after that exercise, we moved on to the dogwalk and contacts there... she did great!

finally, we did jump, teeter, jump. we found that we are slowing down a bit too early, that we should wait another stride to allow her weight to drop the teeter more quickly, shaving off seconds of our time.

it was a hot evening (91), so we quit with that... came home and fell asleep on the couch in front of Law and Order. LOL

ABA, week 4

2007-07-17T10:43:00.000-04:00

what do most people do after a long, fun, camping weekend that leaves them sore and exhausted? certainly not work an extra hour for overtime then run home, grab the dog to go run around an agility course! that is why i am not most people, i guess.

class last night went well. Lynn, from the novice competition class, watched both Whitney & i to evaluate whether we are ready to move up or not. we ran a course first. according to Whitney this is the same course the 4Hers ran last weekend. so, the pressure was on to be better than the 4Hers! LOL

we started on a soft right bending line, from a vertical (1) to dogwalk (2) to tire (3), then a hard right (front pivot cross) to a vertical (4) on a -sortof- straight line to the triple bar (5) and on to the teeter (6). a 90 right turn to a vertical (7) which gave us a great entry into the weaves (8) and on toward the table (9), sit for a count of five and off to the a vertical (10) to tunnel (11), the a-frame (12) and finish over a vertical (13).

there were a couple of 'traps' in this course. after the tire (3) was a set of weave-o-matics on a straight line. waste' LOVES her w-o-m's!! so it was up to me to make sure she didn't get 'sucked' into them. i over-acted on my front pivot cross and got more of a u-turn than a hard right... then i got confused and she got confused and she started barking and i started laughing. Carrie said i only encouraged her misbehaving by laughing, but if you can't have fun doing this stuff, it's not worth doing. and i am a firm believer in laughing at yourself for your own mistakes - no need to get your panties in a bunch.

so, we straightened ourselves out and sent her over 4 & 5 and a 'go-out' to the teeter (that one made me nervous, but she nailed it ). she also nailed all 12 weaves and got jackpots all around.

after running our course we broke down to different groups and Christie worked w/us on some jump handling exercises. Waste' is so good about reading my body language that we did our threadles in and out w/out any incident - well, until our last try.

i put her in a sit-wait and led out, then called her to jump. she sat. i called again. she sat. i begged her to come. she sat. Christie made the comment... 'i think she's done for the evening'
LOL
she had made her point and we jumped just a couple more and quit for the evening. she was a pooped puppy.

we also got some great photos of her to apply for her ilp, but my card reader on my pc has pooped out. I'm looking at alternatives to getting them sent. bummer.

ABA, week 3

2007-07-11T09:48:00.000-04:00

it did cool off some last night for class... i think it might have been in the low 90's indoors...
my new haircut does not lend itself very well to a ponytail, so i slapped a wet scarf on to keep myself cool.

as usual, we ran a course first. we began w/a right bending line over a vertical (1) thru the tire (2) to the tunnel (3). out of the tunnel I did a front cross to a left bending line over another vertical (4) and over the a-frame (5) where I did another front cross to a pinwheel of 4 verticals (6,7,8,9 - the 9th was really jump 6). Then a go-out over a triple bar (10) and on to the table (11). there we did a down for a count of 5 and lit off for the dogwalk (12), thru the weaves (13), onto the teeter (14) and finish over a final vertical (15).

we lost time at the table... again, she just milled around it instead of jumping up on it... not sure of her reluctance, but
we did get on it and had a good down... she absolutely aced the rest of it and came in with good time! :D

after running the course we worked on front crosses, rear crosses and post turns... our only problem there was that we were jumping towards some of the other dogs in class and she just ran over there to them to play... silly girl.

after class we took some pics of her to submit for her ilp number... i don't remember what that stands for, but it is a registration number w/the akc so we can compete!! :D

ABA, week 2

2007-07-03T09:59:00.000-04:00

either we are going thru a case of the terrible 2's or the heat is getting to her. or a combination of both... last Friday night was free ring night and she was a barking basket case with all the dogs working at once in the ring, so we went into the rally ring and worked on that - which, btw, she did terrific on!
after working on our own, we returned to the agility ring and everyone was taking turns individually - much more to our liking. she worked well then until we got to the teeter. then she flew over that, without letting it drop, and scared herself to death... so, we kept at just the teeter until she was doing it well again... silly girl.
last night she was in her barking madness again. then, when we ran our first course, she did very well and nailed both set of weave poles, her a-frame and teeter! when we split up, however, she bailed off the a-frame half way up... for no valid reason and then did not want to do it on second try... on the 3rd try she did it very well and received a great jackpot for doing it... each time we took a break - instead of looking for water - she would drag me to the outside door... it was 10 degrees cooler outside. i think the heat really affects her. we ended on a good note with a good a-frame, table and teeter.

Advanced Beginner Agility, week 1, new group

2007-06-26T08:32:00.000-04:00

last night was not our best class.

I'm not sure if it was the size of the class - about 6 or 7 dogs - or if the later start time (8p), or a combination of both... about half way thru the class, she just lost all enthusiasm and copped a 'well, if i HAVE to do it, i will, but i really don't want to" attitude. She was much more interested in the new dachshund and the golden/poodle mix (he looked more like a puli). Or, maybe it was past her normal bedtime and she IS a creature of habit!

she did ace her weave poles - from both sides - and her teeter. she just did not want to do her tunnels or the table.

i guess we all have off days and last night was ours. we still had fun.

Week 8, Advanced Beginner Agility

2007-06-22T09:46:00.000-04:00

Last night was our last remedial work on the teeter... we took away the 8" table! The first time, well, I didn't know a dog's eyes could get so BIG! That xtra 8" drop was pretty scary, but she did it 3x in a row with lots of jackpots. Later, during class, we did it 2 more times and she nailed it... of course, I will continue to jackpot her each time we do it and make it her favorite!

we did a "Jumpers course" last night... no contact obstacles, just jumps, tunnels and weaves. She did very well on the first course - our homework on 'get out' and 'go' showed - so did our homework on weaves. Our 2 biggest problems continue to be our rear cross, in which she spins it the wrong direction and the square oxer, that she continues to drop poles.

She was a pooped puppy by the end of class.

Starting tonight, the GLKC is having open night - free ring rents! You bet we'll be there!

New group starts next Monday @ 8p for another 8 weeks...

Tweener week

2007-06-12T10:14:00.000-04:00

well, we worked out last night in lieu of this Thursday. We have our monthly meeting this week instead of class.
Since she did so well on the teeter last week, I wanted to work on it again to 'keep it in her head'.
I made the right decision.
We warmed up and then did the a-frame, some weaves and the dog walk, concentrating on our contact zones. I put the 8" table under the start of the teeter (that's where we left off last week) and 'jack-potted' her (that's a handful of treats) each time we did it. At first (I swear) she held her breadth at the 'hit-it' point (right after the pivot), but she did hit her contact and released off of it very well. We ran the teeter about 3-4 times, then a few other obstacles, then the teeter another 3-4, then took a break. We repeated that 2 more times w/in an hour. The last time, since she was showing a remarkable gain in confidence, I decided to incorporate the teeter into a small course. We did tunnel to dog walk, to tire, to chute, to table in a down-stay. I led out from the table to the teeter. She hit that teeter at 175mph, hit her pivot and finished on her contact with a sit. I have never, ever seen her run so fast and stop so quickly.
Dang!

week 7

2007-06-08T08:13:00.000-04:00

it was soooo hot yesterday! we just did a lot of short exercises last night w/a lot of breaks and drank a lot of water...
we did more contact work and teeter... we're down to the low table to start and riding it down... she was a bit more scared, since it was a MUCH larger drop, but she did it fine a few times in a row... not confident, but you could tell she put a bunch of thought into it... next week is our meeting, so no class... Alicia and i will rent the ring on monday to practice on our own - just to keep it in her head. Our homework is to work on our 'go' which means to go jump out ahead of me, our 'get out' which means to move laterally away from me over a jump and learning 'right' from 'left'.

week 6

2007-06-01T09:26:00.000-04:00

class was great, as usual... we started on the teeter from the low table to the ground and she did not like it... she started jumping off it again... :( so, we went back to 2 tables; from the large one down to the small one... we encouraged her to stay on... Carrie thinks that if Waste' runs it and it drops right after the pivot, that kinda freaks her out... so we are teaching her to "hit it" which means to stop right after the pivot and ride it down, then release her. That worked better b4 and so we'll go back to that. we finished by dropping the small table and going from big table to the ground. Next week we'll start w/that and move down to the small table.

Christie set up another course for us... there are 3 levels of courses for the AKC: novice, open and excellent. Last week we did a novice course... this week, just to test us, she set up an excellent course... this includes what is fondly referred to 'city driving' and 'country driving'. City driving is a bundle of obstacles very close in proximity w/lots of tight turns and country driving is running like hell to keep up with her! Since she has a great 'wait' (that is where I leave her and 'lead out' over the first few jumps), I decided to lead out past the third jump - a gamble for a novice dog, but, as long as I can keep her eye, I thought she'd do it. She did, but then I directed her towards the broad jump as the 4th, instead of the vertical... oops! I was so worried about the first 3, that I blundered the 4th... LOL. So, we started back up at the vertical to the A frame, nailed the contact and made her wait there while I lead out over the tire and the next 'bundle'. This was the tire forwards to a vertical, hard right and jump towards me over another vertical, another hard right and out over an oxer to the tunnel. Coming out of the tunnel, I did a front cross and sent her over the dog walk and another 'wait' on that contact. After that I lead out over the broad jump, a hard right turn over another vertical and slowed down for our entrance into the weaves. Out of the weaves forward to a vertical, a hard left, skip the teeter and on thru the shoot and forward over the final vertical. Damn, I was a bit winded by the end!!

Then we split up and worked on the tire combination. She keeps pulling a pole over the oxer... guess we need to work on more spread fences!

After the class some wanted to run the course a second time... this included Carrie... she asked if she could run Waste'... it was fun to watch her run for someone else... I also got both courses on video... hopefully will get them posted to the blog.

week 5 agility

2007-05-25T09:24:00.000-04:00

class last night was amazing... we went in early again to work on the teeter... going from the big table and down to the ground, she nailed it 3x in a row... she even sat on bottom contact of the teeter and waited each time. So, even tho we had rented the space for a half hour, we worked for a total of 10 mins and were happy. Then class started w/a biggie... we had to crate our dogs and walk an 18 obstacle course... Waste' just laid right down and uttered not a peep.

The course was long and varied... She just nailed it.

after we all ran the course, we split up and worked on elements of the course... carrie set the training weaves straight... now, these are the type of training weaves that are in a straight line, but are hinged at the ground and will angle out left, right, alternating. Waste' slowed down when she came to them and deliberately and methodically, with her nose, pushed them aside. first left, then right - instead of weaving thru them. Damn! no one could believe she actually thought that out... she is a cheat!! LOL guess we'll have to stick with the channel weaves from now on... she can't move them... what a stinker!

5/17 - class last night & Culver last weekend

2007-05-18T15:28:00.000-04:00

Yep, she was good again! We did more gridwork and handling exercises. We also got her pausing and 'riding' the teeter down to the ground. Her dogwalk is getting more and more confident and her weave poles were so-so. She was also getting pretty tired by the end of another hour and a half!

I also have to say what a great time we all had at Culver Academy last weekend. One girl took Waste' off my hands during setup of camp and several other students pitched in to help us! The guys did a bunch of drilling and many demonstrations of cannon and musket fire. Waste' took it all in stride. She is recognizing Dave's voice when he calls out the drills and knows it precedes the gunfire. They had hoped to have the 3-masted ship in the water, but were unable to get her out in time for the event. Hopefully we'll have a chance to board her next year!

I encourage you to visit their website. I'll add it to my list of links. The webcam of the Parade Field from the Riding Hall shows most of the area that we camped in and also a beautiful view of the lake.

Class update

2007-05-07T08:17:00.000-04:00

She makes it easy. Carrie agreed and said she will be the kind of dog that will 'save my butt when I really need it'.

We got there early to do our 1on1 contact work. We had a couple of problems w/the dogwalk to begin with and it was more MY lack of confidence than hers. After a couple of trys, she was back to her old 'tackle it' attidude. The we hit the A-frame a few times - no problem there. Then Carrie set up the teeter to try a new exercise. She put each end under a table; the start table higher than the end one. The object is to move from one table to another. Waste' did not even blink. She rode that teeter down like she's been doing it all her life. We did all this in less than 15 minutes, so we took a break before class started.

The first half of class we did grid work. Christie began explaining the exercise and I had to interrupt her. I made the observation that this is gridwork and it is designed to teach her to rock back and round over her fences to jump in a better style. I told her that I had trained horses for 30 years and I may not know about agility, I do know about jumping! She got pretty excited and said I could probably teach her a few things.

It was first set up as 3 bounces to a one stride. As the height increased, she began to jump like a pretty little hunter! Dang, she can be good with those wheels. Then we worked on a half-circle exercise: 3 jumps set up on a pinwheel; all three left-hand standards touching each other. She got that pretty easily too.

She was also pretty pooped by the end of the first half hour. With Carrie we put some consecutive obstacles together including working on obstacle descrimination. A tunnel was placed under the A-frame so both entrances to the tunnel framed the face of the A-frame. The object of the exercise is to send her to the tunnel and not the A-frame. She nailed it each and every time. The we did some serpentines. She nailed the serpentine so well, Carrie had Christie come watch. Christie made the comment that this is a very advanced exercise. (see me brimming with pride).

Then we worked on the training weave poles at about a 2" spread. The only problem she had was with the one short pole... she kept missing that one...

Since she nailed every thing we asked her to do on the coursework, we quit a bit early.

I'm a slacker...

2007-05-02T12:47:00.000-04:00

Geez! I am just too busy with myself to get my fingers typing into this blog! I keep promising to blog more frequently, but have failed.

I have to brag... my little girl, Waste' is doing soooooooooooo well! We have had some problems w/our contacts - especially the teeter and we're working on that remedially w/Carrie. But our jumping control and weaves are just hot.

Our event season for re-enacting is upon us. We are going to Mansker's Station in Goodlettsville, TN this weekend. Tstorms are forecast. :(

Dan's daughter, Rita, got married and it was a fabulous day. I've been working on video of the whole weekend. Will add it when I get it done...

3.13.07

2007-03-13T15:55:00.000-04:00

Well, we worked out last night. There were some others there - Christie and Jill - working their puppies so the contact obstacles were down to puppy height. I know Carrie told me to avoid all contact obstacles, but I figured the a-frame would be safe. I was right. She still loves her a-frame! We did not try the walk or the teeter - will wait until I work again w/Carrie. We did work on the weave poles, the table and of course the a-frame and some jumps. She just wanted to flirt with Rev, the Bernese puppy! Of course, we just had a bunch of fun. We've got the ring rented again for Thursday night w/Amanda and Skeeter.

Monday the 12th of February

2007-02-12T16:51:00.000-05:00

Well, no agility last Thursday since there was a GLKC meeting. We reviewed the rules. It was very informative - since I hadn't gotten thru reading them myself yet!

I rented the arena w/Amanda and Skeeter on Saturday. I worked primarily on jumping from one to another, going PAST the contact obstacles. She did remarkably well. She's such a good girl. :)

We are under a blizzard warning tonight. I sure hope it'll clear by this Thursday!

addendum 3.12.07
what a blizzard it was! had to have guys w/4wheel drive trucks come to pick me up and bring me to work for days and days. Then I got sick. Then I got better. Then I got sick again. Poor Waste' was sweet and cuddly when I was down and out.
Then I got sick again and went to the doctor and asked her to 'fix me'. I was so tired of being sick!

In the meantime we did work with Carrie a few times. We tried to introduce the teeter and she got scared to death. Now she does not even want to go up on the dogwalk. Carrie said she has some tricks up her sleeve, but we will avoid contact obstacles until we work together again. I'm renting the ring tonight and we'll work on our weaves and jumps.

Tuesday, January thirtieth

2007-01-30T08:07:00.000-05:00

It's cold. We are finally experiencing winter. I get off work when it's dark so we can't work outside on our equipment. Poor Waste' is bouncing off the walls.

We started our 'private lessons' last week and worked on some handling techniques. Damn. Once I get it, I'll remember it, but for now I feel like SUCH a clutz! She gets it now. She watches me so closely I have to be very careful my body language points her in the right direction!

No class this week - there is an agility match at the club this weekend. We will resume next week.

I've been busy adding video to this site as you can tell. I would like to find a template that would put my text posts in the right, narrow column and the videos in the wider, left column. I don't like that you have to scroll down to find the posts. I thought about putting the videos in the right column w/smaller windows, but nah. Don't like it. So, if anyone has any suggestions - Lauren, maybe? I sure would appreciate it. -edit- I think I found a template to suit my needs. Again, please comment and send me your feedback!

On a sadder note, Barbaro died yesterday. What a great, game horse in so many ways. New Bolton is awesome in their efforts to save his life. The racing industry will have to search long and hard to find another like him.

Agility week 2

2007-01-15T17:55:00.000-05:00

Well, we really didn't have a week 2 yet.
Our GLKC dinner was that night and most of us didn't really want to go to that instead.
So we rented the ring and worked on our own.

The A-frame was way up there and she just flew over it. I worked on slowing her down a bit on
the downside so she did not miss her contact point. Then we worked on the weave poles about 6" spread. She flew thru those as well. Then we tried another set of poles that angle left and right. HOLY COW! She really loved those. We also worked on the table and angling jumps and
following the 'all-mighty finger'. She's doing pretty good with those as well.

Now they want to change the time to 6:30. Since I work until 6pm that just is not going to
work. I emailed Christie and she has been wonderful in offering options. I think what we're going to end up doing is meeting with Carrie at 7:30 and work for half-hour increments just one on one... oooooooooooooooooo private lessons!! One just can't complain about that. When Carrie gets back from Florida we'll iron out the details.

This week will be another drop-in with no trainer. I like getting the chance to work her indoors since the back yard has now changed to white.

We also have begun to 'get' our next trick... waving. It is oh-so-endearing you just can't help but go awwwwwww.

week one - advanced beginner agility

2007-01-05T08:18:00.000-05:00

Last night was our first night in advanced beginner agility. Waste' & I are the only 'new' students. Everyone else has been thru this class a time or two before. Carrie, the assistant in our last class is the assistant in this class - she's the one who finally got us over the a-frame freeze. So, it's nice to have a familiar face to work with.

We split into 2 groups. One was most of the returning dogs and mine was made up of us and a chihuahua - oh i forget her name. They put her with us because she does not like to do anything at full height and his having huge issues with the weave poles.

So, first we did the training weave poles, spread about 6" apart; no guide wires. At that spread, Waste' just breezed thru... once they are closer, she has a tougher time. Then we did some handling exercises.
1. a circle of obstacles: a verticle, right tunnel, verticle, table. Carrie suggested I drop our leash at the table. Well, she just bounced the table and went for the leash. So, we decided I'd hold my own leash and not leave it as a temptation.
2. using a front cross: verticle to left tunnel - i have to cross in front of her as she is jumping obstacle and change hands, directing her to left entrance of tunnel (this proved very difficult to get thru my head) - to the verticle and bench. She does hit the bench pretty hard; hard enuf to make it skid across the floor. Thank fully this does not seem to spook her at all.

After we finished those exercises we moved over to work w/Christie. She wanted to evaluate Waste' and I on the contact obstacles. We also worked on some new handling techniques. There were 2 verticles on a bending line, leading to a tunnel. Unfortunately, the first verticle also headed us straight to the a-frame set at full height (which we have never done). Well the first technique was to leave the dog in a wait position angled to the first verticle. I am to position myself half way between the 2 verticles, point my left foot at the tunnel and raise my right hand and finger to get her attention. At this point she is to jump v1 towards me and then follow my body language around the bend, putting her in a straight line for the tunnel. If you remember, tho, this also puts her in a close proximity aiming at the a-frame. So what do we do? Yep, you guessed it... over v1, right past me and up over the a-frame, hits the bottom, turns around and back over it. After her 3rd trip over, I caught her. We tried this 2 more times w/the same result. I'm thinking that there is no problem with full height there! Christie finally came up with the great idea to put a gate in front of the a-frame which broke poor Waste's heart, but we did great over the exercise!

So that was it for last night. Next week is the GLKC dinner, so no class and Christie will be out of town on the 18th - we may do a drop in and work on our own that week.

2007-01-03T21:25:00.000-05:00

My Dad, Ma & cousin Ricky - I mean, er, Richard. He stopped by while I was in Florida visiting - haven't seen him for almost 30 years!

2007-01-03T21:21:00.000-05:00

The caber throw... part of the Highland Games...

Oh my!

2007-01-03T21:18:00.000-05:00

Feast of the Hunter's Moon 2006.
My friends and more friends...

A New Year

2007-01-03T08:46:00.000-05:00

Wow. 2007. What a year 2006 was!

My tax check brought me a new cam-corder. I knew I had to purchase and install a firewire in the pc to upload my new videos, but that would have to come later - actually bought it just a month ago! But I have had some fun taking odd videos of assorted antics over this past year.

Dan found a job up here in Lafayette and moved in. This left his mom, Rose, at home. That seemed to trigger a dimentia that we suspected but were not aware of it's severity. According to the doctors, it is not Alzheimers... just a type of 1 minute loop of short term memory. She realized it herself as well. It was a very difficult move, but we found her a home. She is comfortable and well-cared for, if not happy. She truly misses her home, but is not able to care for herself alone.

Then, with all this stress and many years of smoking, Dan had a heart attack in June. After surgery & stints & a very long recovery, he is now doing very well - except for the odd cigarette sneaked in. His bad cholesterol is actually down to 58!!! He is really enjoying working at the Historical Lahr House and the people he works with... (see pic of Scott singing in blog below - that's his boss) I'm so glad that has worked out for him.

Our event season was light. We drove to Theatiki in Bourbonnais, IL in our civvies. The radio had heat warnings issued, telling everyone to stay in their homes with a/c. Where were all our friends? Yep, dressed in wool uniforms, playing with guns. I've got a few videos of that weekend that I will try to post later. Like I said earlier, we were in shorts and tanks. July was too early for Dan to try to stress out in that heat.

Later in the year Waste' and I began and finished our first agility class. Poor Dan was pressed into making pvc jumps for the back yard as well as a shoot and teeter board. In the beginning, the jumps were easy and the contact obstacles scary. She continued to jump off the dog walk and froze half way up the A frame. With much encouragement and treats these are now her favorite things to do. She especially likes to 'pose' for praise on the contact points.

Our next class begins tomorrow. It is at a later time so if we make noise on the teeter board (she LOVES to slam it down), it will not disturb the beginner class in the next arena. Waste' got a new slip/tug lead for Christmas and we cannot wait to try it out!

I did get to visit my folks for a time this past Fall. My dad had some surgery, so we timed it that I would arrive just as he was released. That worked out well. I even had the chance to teach my mother how to gas up the car for herself. This is unbelievable to me as she had driven a truck as a WAC in WWII - but true nonetheless. I have to say that he looked much better when I left than when I arrived. The largest frustration of all of this is the inept communication between the hospital, surgeons and doctors. I will refrain from going into detail. You are welcome.

While I was down there, my mother presented me with a list of computer issues. One was a problematic keyboard. I never addressed that because it never happened during the whole visit. It did reappear after I left, however. I suggested she call Dell. When ordering them a new computer, I opted for Dell because I had heard how great their customer service is. Well, I was wrong! They (my mother and Dell) spent hours on this problem - days even. Dell sent them a new keyboard and mailed me a bill for it. It appears Dell's customer service is yet another who has outsourced to India. My mother is 84 years old and could not understand a word they said. After a couple of months of this she called the magazine 'Smart Computing' and they resoved it within a half-hour. 'Smart Computing' rocks!

So, that brings my life pretty much up-to-date. Will hope to post more photos and videos soon.

Slainte!

Feast 2006

2006-10-09T22:23:00.000-04:00

7am on Sunday morning...
sunrise thru the mist on the Wabash River
a lonely canoe
waiting

Fall 2006

2006-10-09T21:30:00.000-04:00

It's been awhile since I've posted... life has been busy. Waste' & I finished our Rally Obedience with a better understanding of each other and increased enthusiasm for the sport. This fall we started what we really wanted to do...

AGILITY!!

we are 4 weeks in and my dog is just eating this up! tonight she literally ripped away from me just to go ove the A frame... she is such a pistol!

Our re-enactment season is also coming to a close. i got a bunch of great photos at Feast of the Hunter's Moon this past weekend. i'll most them here soon.

so, that is where we are as of 10.9.2006

t.

Rally Obedience week 2

2006-01-27T08:03:00.000-05:00

I just have to brag… she was sooo good last night in class!
Again, to describe this class: it is called Rally Obedience and it is much like Dressage… you go into the arena and perform a set pattern. Instead of memorizing your test, however, there are signs on cones with commands on what to do when u reach them (if only Dressage were so easy!) (not that i am saying this'll be easy, but at least we don't have to memorize the test!)

Well, we worked on very basic signs last night: start, fast pace, normal pace, halt & sit, finish. Well, if anyone did their homework, that would be easy, right? The trainer asked me why she did it sooo well in the pattern, but then so distracted elsewhere?

That's my Waste'!

Our homework is to work on new signs: halt, sit & walk around dog; u turn; 270° turn; halt, sit, down; halt, sit, down & walk around dog; side step;

After the class we were talking about the difference between finish left and finish right. She asked if we knew what that was. Jo jo had one of the best finishes that judges ever saw and they told me that! So, I raised my hand and said we have a pretty good finish left… so, she asked us to demonstrate.

She just nailed it, as she usually does! What a good little girl!

2006-01-19T22:37:00.000-05:00

RALLY OBEDIENCE CLASS Week 1

Well… there were 22 dogs present… and I have to say that considering all that chaos, she did pretty well on her first rally class. Not excellent… I’ve been working on everything but walking on leash… and boy, did it show! So, now it is back to the homework drawing board and learning how to heel all over again… one of her biggest downfalls is she gets so thirsty half way thru the class that she loses all attention for me… so I need to find a way to port water… maybe a sippy bottle?? I’ll have to experiment… any suggestions??

The trainer is splitting the class 3 ways: 1. returning dogs @ 6pm, 2. beginning dogs @7pm & 3. beginning dogs @ 8pm. We’ll be in the 3rd group – which will come in handy when I work late.

Stay tuned…

2006-01-10T21:55:00.000-05:00

Daddy's girl

2006-01-10T21:54:00.000-05:00

Daddy's girl from hell... look at those teeth!

Dan's new powder horn...

2005-12-25T16:12:00.000-05:00

and a book on how to complete it! just like he really NEEDS another project! LOL

Christmas 2005 present for Waste'

2005-12-25T16:09:00.000-05:00

Joe & Kris 1985

2005-12-15T22:34:00.000-05:00

Casey & Fury

2005-12-14T12:35:00.000-05:00

sisters

2005-12-14T12:34:00.000-05:00

Elaine

2005-12-14T12:33:00.000-05:00

Kathy & Elaine

2005-12-14T12:32:00.001-05:00

Dan and I

2005-12-14T12:32:00.000-05:00

Mike, David & Ale'

2005-12-14T12:28:00.001-05:00

Mack & Kathie

2005-12-14T12:28:00.000-05:00

2005-12-14T12:25:00.000-05:00

This was Christmas last year... i was going to use it as a Christmas card... we miss you Cully

Breeanne and her daddy

2005-12-14T12:21:00.000-05:00

we miss you Bryan.

Breeanne

2005-12-14T12:20:00.000-05:00

Cindy dancing at Heartnut

2005-12-14T12:19:00.000-05:00

Sam & Breeanne

2005-12-14T12:17:00.000-05:00

a beautiful picture of my mother

2005-12-14T12:15:00.000-05:00

a good pic of my Dan

2005-12-14T12:13:00.000-05:00

Scott singing at Hunter's Pub down under

2005-12-14T12:12:00.000-05:00

kathy & jamie

2005-12-14T12:08:00.000-05:00

2005-12-14T11:59:00.000-05:00

another shot of Waste' s first day home

Merry Christmas!

2005-12-11T22:56:00.000-05:00

from Trish & Waste'Tsunka

Winter 2005

2005-12-10T21:32:00.000-05:00

Yes, winter does not arrive for another 11 days. Yet we are under 7" of snow with more coming... the roads have not been cleared because the town of Lafayette does not want to use too much salt because it's price has risen so high. Our average temperature for the past couple of weeks stays below 20 degrees.

The puppy loves it.

Speaking of the puppy... I have never in my life experience so much energy in such a small package. She is very loving, she is sweet and she is incredibly driven. If i am not directly working with her, she is competently and quickly destroying something.

She is like all the dogs I have ever owned, all wrapped up into one bundle of tnt. She has the smarts of Rusty, the Border Collie mix; she is a thief, shred-artist and terror like the Dobie/Shepherd, Jo Jo; the quickness and speed of my Greyhound, Conna and the schmaltz and sweetness of the Dane/Lab cross, Cully.

We have just finished our 2nd clicker class and will start working towards obedience after the holidays. This is a good thing. She needs a job, a mission. Without this she would drive a sane woman crazy.

Waste'Tsunka and her big stick

2005-12-10T18:29:00.000-05:00

2005-12-10T18:28:00.000-05:00

I know I buried that stick somewhere around here...

action shot!

2005-12-10T18:27:00.000-05:00

2005-12-10T18:26:00.000-05:00

sit and wait... man, that snow is cold on my butt!!

2005-12-10T18:25:00.000-05:00

OH! a bird flew by...

2005-12-10T18:24:00.000-05:00

that snow tastes goooooooood!! check out the tongue

my pretty girl

2005-12-10T18:21:00.000-05:00

I like this photo best so far... she is such a ham

Halloween 2005

2005-11-06T01:04:00.000-05:00

Waste'Tsunka & Dan

2005-11-06T01:03:00.000-05:00

Koh Koh Mah 2004

2005-10-18T22:08:00.000-05:00

volley from the bridge

Hester

2005-10-18T22:06:00.001-05:00

napping in her wheelbarrow @ Manskers Station 2004

Cully

2005-10-18T22:06:00.000-05:00

Dicey Riley, Me & Hester

2005-10-18T22:04:00.000-05:00

Theatiki 2004

2005-10-18T22:02:00.000-05:00

what's wrong with this picture? can you tell?

2005-10-18T21:58:00.000-05:00

Halloween 2004

2005-10-18T21:55:00.000-05:00

Me & Dan

Cully & Breanne

2005-10-18T21:54:00.000-05:00

Cuchullain

2005-10-18T21:52:00.000-05:00

My old dog Cully. He died this year of bone cancer. we sure do miss him.

she really was little when she first came home!

2005-10-18T21:48:00.000-05:00

Waste' & Hester

2005-10-18T21:43:00.000-05:00

at Heartnut Festival this year! visit her webpage at: http://www.geocities.com/hester_purefinder/Hesters_Home.html