Long Weekend
Agility class went well on Thursday. We introduced the teeter in Level 1 and all of the dogs did it very well. Going slow is making a huge difference. Plus, we have higher drive dogs in the class which helps alot. They are not scared of much of anything. Level 2 is only 2 dogs and 1 didn’t make it but we had a few others who were there work their dogs to give the other dog a buffer. By the end of the classes I was too tired to work my guys. Plus, Copper had just hurt one of his nails pretty bad so I wasn’t going to do anything with him.
Friday Karl and I went to see Harry Potter’s 3rd movie. Or is it 5th? I can’t remember. It was good. It deviated from the book more then past movies have but it was still a good movie. That night, overnight, we had a nasty storm come through. I woke up a few times but was too tired to get up. The next day there were alot of trees down. Especially in Cottage Grove.
Saturday we finally went to SchH training. It’s been awhile since I’ve gone on a Saturday. Boy, have I been messing Vada up. She can’t do a down without handler help now. I’ve been lazy in agility and anytime I down her to go walk a course or whatever I give her the command and point to the ground. Now she expects that. So I need to do motion exercise just next to me and do a variety of positions and then reward her. I had her retrieve the SchH III dumbbell. She had no problem with the weight. Donna came over and gave me some homework to work on her drive with retrieving the dumbbell so she comes back faster. We did the retrieve over the jump with her toy. The first time out she was lazy and jumped only half over the jump and knocked the whole thing over. So we worked on finding her best spots for me to stand and me to throw the dumbbell to so she doesn’t tick the jump. In protection we worked on keeping her clean when she goes in for the bark n hold. She can do feet but if she puts her mouth on the sleeve then I say no and platz. Then I walk up and fus her away and try again. This is our second time of doing it. The first was in the blind and this time was out of the blind. I think out of the blind is better so there aren’t any bad associations with the blind. We’ll work on it again this Saturday and then the following I’ll be going to the OGI training event so I can work on their field and on their helpers. I’m not sure yet what I’ll do for keeping her clean.
Sunday we had flyball practice. I brought Seven and Vada. We only had 6 dogs to work so we worked them all twice. Seven is doing great. He started having trouble catching so John made it so he had to steal it and then had the box half cocked. Vada’s first session went ok but I was not happy with it. So John and I talked about it. We ended up changing some props – like making the slanted board a longer board so she can’t step around it. I moved props in a bit closer then they were last week too. And we moved the angled board more to the right. She did the first one great but then they got worse. Watching the video later I saw that her butt was hitting the upright on the right. I had a feeling that was part of the problem so I moved that over a bit and then she had some good box turns that I was finally happy with. I just wish I had more time to work her at home. I suppose I just have to setup the box and props in the garage and work her once a day for 5 reps just like with her dumbbell work. It was a nice practice. That night Karl and I had our last dance class in this level 1 set. It was fun and I think we learned even more by doing it a second time. Also, that morning I took the dogs out tracking. I tracked at Medtronics. The grass was short and really dry. It was kind of windy out too. Vada’s track was at least 600 paces. I had 5 corners in it. It was all serpentine legs. One article on each leg. It was aged an hour. It was hard for her but she kept working it (20 minutes) and got it all done and got all the articles. She only got lost a few times and not by alot. I think she liked the challenge. I did a short serp with Copper. It was on nice green (watered) grass with a few articles. He didn’t do very well. Not sure what’s going on with him but his sniffer isn’t working so well. Might be his meds?
Monday night was agility class with Vada. She didn’t knock any bars. Maybe her crash on Saturday made her start thinking about jumping a bit more. Jean suggested that if she knocks a bar that I should down her and go fix the bar. But we didn’t have a chance to try it out. LOL She did really well for her second week in a row. I did well too. Not sure if the courses were easier or what. After class we went to the Washington County Fairgrounds and tracked. This time I did a straight line track with Vada. I did about 6 articles every 20 paces. I’m also remembering to bait the line up to the scent pad. I had forgotten to do that for a long time. Mike Hamilton’s mini seminar at the St Croix trial reminded me. I was a bit more involved this time and made comments when she wasn’t exactly on the track or she missed the article. The wind was blowing pretty strong and the grass was dry and short. There was so hay on the field too and menure. She seemed to like the exercise. The track wasn’t aged very long. I did the same for Copper with bigger articles and 4 of them. He did ok. Sometimes he seems like he might be getting an understanding of articles. I need to work with him on just articles. But really it’s just about fun for him. He’s 10 years old after all. I found a lump on him in his ribcage last night. I’m sure it’s just a fatty lump but it was a reminder that their lives are so short and I could get news any day that he’s only got a day or two left. So I should keep things happy and fun with him and appreciate him and help him enjoy life. After Copper’s track I worked Vada on her dumbbell retrieves. I’ve worked on them 3 days in a row now. Sunday I did it after flyball practice. She looks so dumb. She runs out to retrieve it and she can’t find it. Donna said it’s because she is use to me throwing it to the same place every time so she is taking it for granted. I think that she is not watching the dumbbell and she is watching me too much. Hopefully she gets over it as she looks pretty dumb. LOL I need to throw it all over into different locations. So then I let Copper out of his crate and we walked around the fairgrounds a bit so they could run and be free for a bit. By the time I got home I had messages from Karl and mom and Dianna called later all to make sure I was ok. It was lightening all night but that was all I saw. Apparently a big storm was just over my house. Smartly, I parked in the garage as it hailed for a minute or two but then stopped. It only rained a minute or two also. About 11pm another storm came through and that really brought alot of rain and wind. I had to close windows as it was raining into the house. Quest got out of the porch and killed a baby bunny. I heard it scream. I was sad for the poor bunny. They are so cute. I went out and got Quest and closed the porch door. I need to tape the baby gate up on the outside door again. He’s obsessed with going out and hunting now. Logan didn’t even try which was surprising. But no storm damage at my house last night either.