Thursday, April 26, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Boarding Blues
We went to Wisconsin for the weekend, hanging it with my fiancé's family for a first birthday party. I wanted to take the dogs to class on Friday night, so we had to take a super early flight Saturday morning. That meant our regular short-term boarding facility was closed.
An agility friend was kind enough to provide doggie taxi services. He lives near us, and had class Saturday morning anyway, so he was to pick the pups up after his class and drop them off at the kennel. Poor guy ended up not feeling well, but drove over for the dogs anyway. Thank you, DL!
So the dogs are spending Saturday through Monday at Best Friends Pet Care. They are kenneled together and get a few hours of group play each day. What drove me crazy when I set up the boarding, is that I had to pay extra for the dogs to go outside to potty! Are you kidding me? I have zero desire for them to learn (or re-learn, in Maxwell's case) that going to the bathroom indoors is acceptable.
Sadie isn't the biggest fan of group play, but does okay. I'm guessing Maxwell is having more fun. Hopefully he found a few really well-matched friends to run and rough-house with. I any case, the dogs seem to be doing well enough. The kennel sent us a picture of them during play time.
It looks like Sadie is saying Please take me home? You can see Maxwell in the background, tail high, looking happily alert.
I pick the pups up tomorrow after work. They should be bathed, nails trimmed, ears cleaned. And Maxwell is getting his feet trimmed. Bye-bye furry toes! Neither dog loves being groomed, but Sadie was getting a bit smelly. And they both needed some serious fur removal. Hooray for shedding season, right?
I miss the doggies, and it'll be quiet in the apartment tonight.
An agility friend was kind enough to provide doggie taxi services. He lives near us, and had class Saturday morning anyway, so he was to pick the pups up after his class and drop them off at the kennel. Poor guy ended up not feeling well, but drove over for the dogs anyway. Thank you, DL!
So the dogs are spending Saturday through Monday at Best Friends Pet Care. They are kenneled together and get a few hours of group play each day. What drove me crazy when I set up the boarding, is that I had to pay extra for the dogs to go outside to potty! Are you kidding me? I have zero desire for them to learn (or re-learn, in Maxwell's case) that going to the bathroom indoors is acceptable.
Sadie isn't the biggest fan of group play, but does okay. I'm guessing Maxwell is having more fun. Hopefully he found a few really well-matched friends to run and rough-house with. I any case, the dogs seem to be doing well enough. The kennel sent us a picture of them during play time.
I pick the pups up tomorrow after work. They should be bathed, nails trimmed, ears cleaned. And Maxwell is getting his feet trimmed. Bye-bye furry toes! Neither dog loves being groomed, but Sadie was getting a bit smelly. And they both needed some serious fur removal. Hooray for shedding season, right?
I miss the doggies, and it'll be quiet in the apartment tonight.
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Weeeeee Are The Chaaaaaampions My Frieeeeeeeend!
I can't believe it's been nearly a MONTH since my last post! Actually, I guess I can. But I've got so much to say, and just been ridiculously busy. I guess I'll start with current events, and work my way backwards (ish) in future posts.
We had a lovely trial Saturday and Sunday in Goshen, NY. The site is a huge (and beautiful) horse farm, with the ring set up in their indoor riding ring. Sadie had run their once before, way back, but it was a cold and rainy day. This weekend turned out sunny and warm, but not too sunny or too warm for the most part. Just perfect agility weather. I had no voice, due to being rather ill, but enjoyed things nonetheless.
Maxwell was just in Standard both days. My goal for him was to work well near the ring, take two or three obstacles once on course, and leave the ring together. With that in mind, he was brilliant. On Saturday he took the tire jump, a bar jump, said a quick hello to the table, then ran the teeter for a perfect stopped contact. I thanked the judge and carried him to his leash, running out for a huge reward. Yay chicken!
On Sunday I had plan A (tire, teeter) and a plan B (tire, teeter, bar jump, A-frame). I would choose on-course based on his focus, and either way we ended on a contact, making him an easy catch. He decided to run plan C... the first seven obstacles. I only let him past the A-frame because he was dead-on following my cues and had relatively relaxed posture. It was only once we zipped through the chute that puppy-brain kicked in again, and he careened past jumps to eye the table. I asked him to TOUCH, and he did an about-face, ran to me, and let me carry him to his leash. Good boy!
Sadie had a beautiful Standard run on Saturday, flowing through the course and following my cues perfectly. Oh, except that bar she ticked down. The first one of the course. Drat! Sunday was worse, with her going all goofy on course. Wrong end of the tunnel! Back-jump the broad jump! Take it the right way, but diagonally! And knock over the standard! Wheeeee! So, no NA title for her this weekend.
Sadie's jumpers was quite another story. The Novice course on Saturday was nice and flowing, and she nailed it. No faults, well under time. She has a nice shiny blue ribbon and a NAJ title! That meant she moved up to Open for Sunday's run. It was a beautiful course, with many lead changes and a weaving rhythm to it. She ran like a dream. We used all rear crosses (must have been six of them) including the weave entrance. She got a single refusal at the weaves, having stuck the entrance but then seeming to get confused by the rear cross. And she was 0.1 seconds over time. That still got her first place, and her first Open leg!
A quick pat on the back for myself: I think that was the first time I've walked a course and not just considered front vs rear crosses, but verbal vs non-verbal rear crosses. I'm finally getting skilled enough to effectively use Sadie's different responses to verbal and non-verbal cues.
I'm extremely pleased with both pups. They ran beautifully, despite me not feeling great. It can't have been easy for them to get used to my raspy, harsh voice so suddenly. And it meant I couldn't use volume to communicate urgently with them. They just kept with me, and followed my physical cues. I LOVE those dogs!
We had a lovely trial Saturday and Sunday in Goshen, NY. The site is a huge (and beautiful) horse farm, with the ring set up in their indoor riding ring. Sadie had run their once before, way back, but it was a cold and rainy day. This weekend turned out sunny and warm, but not too sunny or too warm for the most part. Just perfect agility weather. I had no voice, due to being rather ill, but enjoyed things nonetheless.
Maxwell was just in Standard both days. My goal for him was to work well near the ring, take two or three obstacles once on course, and leave the ring together. With that in mind, he was brilliant. On Saturday he took the tire jump, a bar jump, said a quick hello to the table, then ran the teeter for a perfect stopped contact. I thanked the judge and carried him to his leash, running out for a huge reward. Yay chicken!
On Sunday I had plan A (tire, teeter) and a plan B (tire, teeter, bar jump, A-frame). I would choose on-course based on his focus, and either way we ended on a contact, making him an easy catch. He decided to run plan C... the first seven obstacles. I only let him past the A-frame because he was dead-on following my cues and had relatively relaxed posture. It was only once we zipped through the chute that puppy-brain kicked in again, and he careened past jumps to eye the table. I asked him to TOUCH, and he did an about-face, ran to me, and let me carry him to his leash. Good boy!
Sadie had a beautiful Standard run on Saturday, flowing through the course and following my cues perfectly. Oh, except that bar she ticked down. The first one of the course. Drat! Sunday was worse, with her going all goofy on course. Wrong end of the tunnel! Back-jump the broad jump! Take it the right way, but diagonally! And knock over the standard! Wheeeee! So, no NA title for her this weekend.
Sadie's jumpers was quite another story. The Novice course on Saturday was nice and flowing, and she nailed it. No faults, well under time. She has a nice shiny blue ribbon and a NAJ title! That meant she moved up to Open for Sunday's run. It was a beautiful course, with many lead changes and a weaving rhythm to it. She ran like a dream. We used all rear crosses (must have been six of them) including the weave entrance. She got a single refusal at the weaves, having stuck the entrance but then seeming to get confused by the rear cross. And she was 0.1 seconds over time. That still got her first place, and her first Open leg!
Ok, technically two shiny blue ribbons, but one is for her new title
A quick pat on the back for myself: I think that was the first time I've walked a course and not just considered front vs rear crosses, but verbal vs non-verbal rear crosses. I'm finally getting skilled enough to effectively use Sadie's different responses to verbal and non-verbal cues.
I'm extremely pleased with both pups. They ran beautifully, despite me not feeling great. It can't have been easy for them to get used to my raspy, harsh voice so suddenly. And it meant I couldn't use volume to communicate urgently with them. They just kept with me, and followed my physical cues. I LOVE those dogs!
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