Trying to be motivated: weaves

SUMMARY: After class, after New Year’s, after who knows what, but something clicked…

Zorro's agility class worked on weaves again today. We have been practicing in class off and on for however long I’ve been taking classes, since last July? So… That’s once a week, maximum, with a lot of outages on my part for one reason or another. And Z is doing fairly well today... got the spread poles all the way in (so they're no longer spread), but with 2 guides still on. We struggled a bit with that, but looking pretty darned good! But not so good for having started maybe 5 months ago! Because--

--today, while the other dog kids were weaving, I kept thinking: I taught Tika the weaves in 3 weeks. I taught Boost the weaves in two weeks. Doing it in my own backyard, because I have actual weave poles. But I have not done that with Zorro. And why not? I don't know.

Also, in class, I use treats with Zorro, because he won’t play with a toy there. This has been a problem in every class we’ve been to: He won’t even play with his Jolly Ball or his Flat Ball or his Squeaky Snake, and those are his favorites. So today I thought, I think I know how to get a dog to start playing with toys in places other than at home, such as at agility class. He sure loves playing with toys here. He seems to enjoy class, but I'm sure would enjoy it more if there were more play. So, why haven't I worked on it? I don't know.

That has been my question for the last four years: Why am I not interested in doing anything with these dogs? I mean, they’re good boys. They’re smart. They are eager. Chip worries some and Zorro gets over-eager, but they’re perfectly willing to do things with me if I actually try to do things. Oddly, for some reason, today, I thought: well, it’s a beautiful day, the weaves are right there outside the back door, let’s go home and practice some. So I went out in the yard…

...last week I dug out the old rope toys, which I've never played with with these dogs, because… For whatever reason. Today in the yard I played tug and fetch with Zorro with the rope for a bit to get him excited about it. He tried switching to his flat ball a couple of times, because it was there in the middle of the yard, but I got him back onto the rope, and then we played with that for a while. So, that’s step one on the toy parade.

I tried that with Chip, and he turned and ran away. "I don’t know what you want from me, mom, I’m stressed." So I just played with him a little bit, no toys or treats, and left it at that. (He doesn't play with toys much, even with his favorites.)

Then I started working on backchaining weave poles. I have used that in the past for training the weaves, using the hand in the collar method with a toy or treats. Which I’m not going to try to explain.

Anyway: I started backchaining at the end of the weaves with Zorro with treats for now. He didn’t quite get it at first, but he is now driving forward from the next-to-the-last pole through the last pole, which is what I want! Personally I think this is a better method for teaching them, so we'll see whether I can get all the way to the beginning of 6 weaves before class next  week.

Tried some of the same with Chip, with whom I have never done any weave poles, because… For whatever reason. With him, I also have to work on training that it’s OK for me to pull him around by his collar, nothing terrible is going to happen, whether I pull back or forward, he just needs to go along for the ride, and get treats constantly as I’m doing it. I have worked on that off and on the whole time I’ve had him. I need a lot more on and a lot less off.

And then I managed to get a very few attempts at back chaining the last two poles. He seemed a smidgen more relaxed each time.

Then I was tired all over, and it wasn’t even that much work. Reminds me of several things:

• When I taught Tika, I was 19 years younger. With Boost, maybe 15. And they were 2 years old and about 1 year, respectively, and I had been doing pretty much daily training of all kinds with both from the day they came home, with toys. Meanwhile, Zorro is 5 and a half, and Chip is 8 and a half.  
• It feels good to work confidently on something and seeing achievement quickly. That was something that appealed to me about agility originally.
• It feels good to  be tired--not exhausted or in a lot of pain--all over my body. I'm really out of shape, I'm aware of that, but I was able to do these things today. That also was something that appealed to me about agility originally.

Sometimes I think, so many years of opportunities wasted for having more fun with them and building more of a relationship with them.  And then sometimes I think, OK, for whatever reason--depression or grief or pain or training fatigue or maybe all of those, dunno, I've had lots of excuses--for whatever reason, I've needed a break. 

Not sure whether the break is over, but today was good.

Zorro Gets the Weaves!

SUMMARY: A wee liddle bit of agility class.

I've been doing stealth agility classes with Zorro. At Fetch Sam (a small indoor facility closer to downtown, with solid rubber mat flooring). Not instructors I've worked with before, no one I know in our class, etc. Not deliberately avoiding anyone, but Fetch Sam is perfect for us at the moment: My knees are so bad that all I can do is hobble with him. A small "ring" and a smooth surface are ideal for me. And it's indoors, so no wet surface to slip on. And it's only 10 minutes from my house (traffic willing), which isn't true anywhere else.

Started at the end of June, mostly for something to do with him to get him around other dogs more often, in a controlled environment, and to take an edge off his energy since I'm doing nothing else with him. Really, doing pretty much nothing else but a little bit of throwing a toy in the yard when I feel like it. Class was "Jumps and Tunnels" and I figured I could just keep enlisting in that. He does tunnels in my yard all the time on his own, and will send to them all the way across the yard.

In class: "Come ONNNN Human Mom!!"

Turned out that sending to tunnels that have been in exactly the same places in my yard since he arrived 4 years ago does not translate to going into unfamiliar tunnels from even a few feet away (go figure! Doh Human Mom!), so that has been an ongoing challenge.  Here's just jumps, tire, tunnel, from July, when he actually DID go into the tunnel (this was our 2nd or 3rd time trying this sequence).

I feel as if I'm completely relearning how to get around a course, too. I know exactly how I want to "run" it with him--my brain  and yet then am nowhere near where I intended to be, even with the small field and courses with only 3-7 obstacles. Different when you can't move well or fast--I mean, after nearly 2 decades of living and breathing agility with 4 different dogs, I still know where I need to go, what I need to do: But doesn't translate when I start moving! Yikes!

Despite owning a full set of agility equipment , I just stopped doing anything after Tika & Boost stopped, so everything he has learned has been in class once a week (or, on average every 2 weeks, I suppose, given time I've been gone for Reasons or when classes were called due to heat).

And I didn't stick with Jumps and Tunnels class: We went ahead to Contacts and Weaves and that's essentially where we've been after the 6th week.

They teach weaves there using using offset poles with channels (guides) on only one side of only the first 4 poles on a set of six. We've not made rapid progress--weaves are the most challenging thing for dogs to learn, I think, particularly without plenty of practice--and the class hasn't covered them every week, either.

Then I missed several weeks due to my planned absences, unplanned illnesses, and such. We just went back last week for the first time since mid-October. He was still not really getting the weaves, although he has slowly managed to get from widely offset poles to gradually narrower ones, but usually taking several attempts to get through even 6 in that situation.

I tell you this to tell you that today, in class, he did the first time through on the wide-ish offsets as if he's been doing them his whole life. We narrowed them; ditto. Narrowed them again, ditto. Narrowed them yet more, and I went a little fast so he popped out, but then did them fine. Not flying through them, but at a low trot, anyway, and clearly getting the weaving idea, and, like, boom! Dog is getting weaves! He's so smart. If I'd ever once done a whit of training with him outside of class, he'd be super by now.

I'm so happy with my little guy. And, BTW, he loves class and has loved it pretty much since we started doing contacts there (wow, running and climbing AND treats at the end?!?!). Maybe someday he'll be able to do enough to put him in a fun match.

He's five and a half already, and has gotten overweight this year, shame on Human Mom--*I'm* not feeding him anything more or different, and not sure whether I can chalk it up to all the Squirrels he ate during the year... But, you know, not an insurmountable issue.

No videos to show. Maybe next week I'll ask someone to film us doing something.

Eine Kleine Agility Training

SUMMARY: New dog, new handler, new class, some pondering

Today Zorro and I started with the first session of a 4-week class of agility-for-fun, Jumps and Tunnels. I felt so clumsy with even basic things, and it occurs to me: It has been 14 years since I last started a new dog in agility. (Discounting a very few previous class sessions with Zorro.)

New agility dog in 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005... I sort of figured it would keep going on like that. But nooooo--  Even had I been healthier, Chip arrived in 2014, so a big gap there. And Zorro in 2015. It should be time for me to be thinking about a new agility dog because my current ones would be getting up there in age!

Funny how things work out.  Instead, today I fumbled over how to get a leashed dog over a jump, how to use treats to lure a dog to turn with me, and how to do anything without bending over and waking up my back or my knee.

Today's lesson was nose touches to your hand (we had that down already), following your hand to circle with you as you move and turn into you as you turn (ditto), standing perpendicular to a jump and having your dog go over and back while tossing treats, then the same thing at an angle, then "around the world" from different angles. Then going through a very short tunnel, then a gradually longer tunnel, then jump-tunnel. Whooo!

I had to jam a treat in front of his nose as he blasted out of the tunnels to get him to not just keep going. Toy, even filled with treats, didn't cut it.

Zorro still won't play with toys anywhere but here at home, where he's crazy about them. Have known this for 4 years. No good excuse for not having worked on it. Should do so. Because it's a very fun feature to have in a dog.

BUT other than being super-excited to start with, he was really a Good Boy, willing to do All The Things for Zukes Minis and never running after any of the other dogs. And it all wore him out, which is really what I had in mind all along.

Tricks Dog Zorro

SUMMARY: AKC titles applied for.

Last winter, Zorro and I did Circus Dog classes. Not the intense, full-day classes that you can get in some places, and the tricks were fairly basic--a lot of overlap with what I taught Remington on my own, back in the day.  And Zorro already knew several of them before we got to the class.

He loved the class, loved doing things, the attention, and the treats. He picked things up quickly: In class, we'd work on each trick for about 10-15 minutes, and for almost everything, by the end of that time he'd be doing the trick with little assistance. (Some we really struggled with, though.)  Maybe not spectacularly--for example, he'd hold something on his nose/face for a few seconds, but not a lot longer than that until we practiced a lot more.  We practiced at home on most (those we had the gear for).

At the end of it all, we put together a routine that we performed in front of the rest of the class (required for graduation).  For someone who's spoken in front of sometimes huge crowds in my life, I was by far the more nervous participant of the two of us, and despite having crib notes, left out several things (and left a key component of one of our tricks at home).  (And OMG! What's with my jeans in that video?!)

Still, the instructor verified that Zorro could do at least the minimum number tricks for each of 4 of AKC's Trick Dog titles, so filled out and signed our title application forms for Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Performer.

I'm not always a super fan of AKC, and I waffled about this for a long time, but today I registered him with AKC for  his mutt-dog (er, sorry, "Canine Partners") registration number, scanned copies of all the forms, and put them with a check into an envelope to mail on Monday. Then it's just waiting!

Here's the cleaned-up routine that I'm sending in for the Performer title.

Circus Dog Class!

SUMMARY: Tricks, week 1

Fetch Sam is a dog-training indoor facility near downtown San Jose. Main focus is dog agility, but that means that it's plenty big enough for a group of dogs to work on tricks, too.

Mackenzie and her Human Mom, Zorro in his crate. Mackenzie is a tres wee dog.

Saturday was our first class out of 5 spread over a month and a half. I had asked whether I could do both dogs at once (paying for both of course), but the instructor suggested that I could maybe alternate weeks, but not both at once. When class got going, I could see what that wouldn't have worked with 2 dogs, one handler.

Had to decide whom to take to week 1 and opted for Zorro.

He did very well even with other dogs around; only one brief HEY STOP LOOKING AT ME barking session, but mostly seemed comfortable to be there, not too overly stimulated, and briefly met a 6-month-old lab nose to nose. Mostly we were all maybe 20-30 feet apart from each other, working on the assigned tricks.

First week we did an intro to clicker training (which I've been using for ages) and the following:

• Target training: (which this week was really "go to your mat" for which she supplied towels) I've been doing "go to your bed" with the dogs with a bit more than casual intent for a while, so they have the basic idea and Zorro had little problem with this from up to a few feet away.
• Shake: Both dogs already do "shake" (with right paw) and "shake left" (with left) very well.  So in class I worked on getting him to give me both paws first with shake, then with shake left; he was reluctant to get both paws off the floor at the same time although lordy knows he does that often enough at hom.
• Spin: Both dogs do "left" and "right" spins already; zorro has "right" on voice command almost all the time and "left" almost on voice command; Chip isn't there yet with just voice command, but the finger reminder is almost faded away. During class, I worked on having Zorro do 2 or 3 in a row before getting a treat (so, like 2/treat, 1/treat, 2/treat, 1/treat, 3/treat, 2/treat, 1/treat...)
• Take it: Haven't worked on this with these dogs ever. Zorro of course will grab a toy in my hands when I tell him to Get It at home, but he has no interest in toys at all away from house/yard, so this will take some work; in class, he was starting to open his mouth instead of just butting it with his nose, yay.
• Roll over: I think I worked with them a bit on this when Zorro first arrived, but not much and not since then, so we're really at square One, or maybe one and a half. But much more willing to go over than, say, Remington, with whom I had to start by first lifting one foot slightly and rewarding, and going very very very piecemeal.
• Sit pretty: Definitely worked with them a few times, again, back when Zorro was new here, but not really since. He was getting it in class after initially wanting to stand up on his hind legs, not sit up.

Mackenzie and her Human Mom (friend Arlene) also already knew some of the tricks but were just learning others.  I think that some of our other classmates also knew one or two of some of these ahead of time, but we all have things to work on.

Like, for example, THIS vast display of naughtiness, Mr. Zee!!!, which I found this evening on my effing kitchen table, my beautiful all-white CLEAN kitchen table, after being gone all day:

So SOME of us have a few more things to work on outside of class than others.


Ya think we're dog people? With mostly nonpurebred dogs, both?

Busy on Facebook, not too much here

SUMMARY: Plus, well... photos, life, work, house, downsizing...

In an attempt to motivate myself to do something with the dogs that I have, not that the dogs that I wish were still alive (although Tika would now be 17 and boost 13...so hard to believe that it has been almost 3 years), I signed up for a tricks class--er, sorry, Circus Dog class.

Not that I don't know how to teach my dogs tricks (to wit: Remington), just finding motivation to do anything with them is so hard. Not that they're bad dogs or don't want to learn or aren't quick learners.  I think that I really still want to do agility. But it hurts. So fuggit.

But enough of that.

Instead, I've been working on firming up their Left and Right turns, and their Shake Left and Shake Right, and of course they're both excellent at nose Touch to the back of the hand. Started working on Crawl with Zorro and on walking backwards with Chip and backwards up the stairs with both of them--all of these barely begun and only occasionally worked on. But I have been doing Get In The Box since it's soooooo simple to teach and fun for others to see when they really get it down and useful for random occasions.  They're both pretty regularly getting into the very long box now. And I have one that's about 1/3 that size; would like to have one in between those sizes but don't and am disinclined to cut up one of the boxes that I have because I am in fact gradually filling them with Things To Go Away and taking them Away.

They like it.  Or the treats. Or the attention.

I had a month after I signed up to actually teach them all the tricks that are likely to be in the 5-week course so that they'd be more relaxed with familiar activities since I don't do nuthin' with them anywhere pretty much ever.  But, you know, Christmas, New Year, grieving, movies, work, whatever, rationalizing away my inactivity. We'll get there gradually through the class. Just found out that a good friend also signed up (also a former agility-champion-maker slowed down by physical limitations but who has always taught her dogs tricks and competing in a bunch more dog sports than I do), so that'll be fun, too.  Looking forward to it.

I should post some photos, since I have so many trillions. Maybe later.

Class Activites This Week

SUMMARY: What we worked on in class yesterday.

Raw notes primarily for myself and a classmate. Gives just a flavor of what we've been working on since June.

1. Loose leash walking in a circle, both directions, dogs on both sides for each direction.
   Keep dog's attention on you--if attention wanders, your rate of reward is too low.  If dog moves away from you, turn 180 from direction he's going and walk.  Remember to release and play pretty often.
2. Always always maintain criteria for exiting the crate. 
   (I've been 99.5% consistent with Zorro.  Lately he seems to have decided that sitting to wait for exit isn't as good as lying down to exit. I think he's just experimenting. We'll get through this.)  (Oh, realized that he doesn't send to his crate very well from more than a couple of feet away--confused because we haven't worked on it. I'll work on it. Maybe.)
3. Periodically stop and ask for a sit or a down. Work on getting fast responses.
   (Zorro is pretty good on the down almost all the time, but for some reason is confused about sitting and turns it into a down.)  Keep working on gradually introducing distractions (food descending in your hand slowly, etc.).  (Oops. I haven't been.) This week Penni walked closer and closer to the dogs, giving us warning so that we could up the rate of reward.  (Zorro did pretty darned good at paying attention to me after a quick glance away.)
4. SIDE NOTE: Watch for your dog's brain frying.
   If looks like he's had too much, work loose-leash walking back to the crate for him to get a little rest. (Zorro survived until just about the end of class.  My brain, however...) Per Moe, young dogs are still forming pathways and being shaped by all of their experiences. SHORT training sessions. Can easily do 3 or 5 or 7 sessions through the day of 2-5 minutes depending on your dog.
5. Step-behinds.  Dog in sit. Stand next to him. Feed treats in front of him. Step back beside his thigh. Keep feeding in front of him. Step quickly across to his other side, keep feeding in front of him, but not if feet move or stands up. Fine if dog's head swings to follow you, but you want dog to always be focusing forward (and it's easier for them to keep their balance).
6. Line-ups--dog standing, sitting parallel to you, not at an angle or in front or off to the side.
   Moe just demonstrated this, didn't assign or have us do. Goal is to have dog move rear end back towards you.  Hand in collar, keep head in position close to you just as a pivot point, step across (into) muzzle so has to turn head, which should swing butt. Keep stepping across until he moves butt and then reward.
7. Restrained recalls, 2 each acceleration, deceleration, shoulder turn, front cross into dog, one of each on each side.
   Agility is about fun and fast. You don't want dog walking or trotting to you, but running full out. So quickly get to position and quickly release the dog. If dog won't let you go very far, work on those durations for sit and meanwhile release ASAP just before they're ready to break on their own.  When you throw toy on accels, don't just watch, run to meet dog.  (Zorro is now at least chasing a "lotus" toy with cheese in it. Still won't play with it or anything, but that's progress, and he didn't take off on his own to go exploring.)
8. Contact trainer board; wobble board or bang game.
   Trainer board: Try to get dog to hop on right up at the end, not in the middle and step/walk to the end.  The instant that all 4 feet are on the board, feet quickly on the end of the board, before the dog has a chance to look up at you; want him focusing on the end of the board.  Ditto bang game.  (Zorro was doing fine then started skewing his back feet away from me off the board. Waited for him to fix it, which he eventually started doing again.)
9. HOMEWORK: Work on strong touch to target held in your hand.
   

No class next week. It's USDAA Western Regionals Championship Weekend hosted by The Bay Team, as it is every year.  I have signed up to work just one day.  

Class for Zorro

SUMMARY: Foundations for Agility, mixed results

(The shadows--see what I did there?)

Three or four months ago, I signed up me and Zorro for a Foundations (of agility) class in Morgan Hill with instructors whom I know pretty well, but this is the first time I've taken classes from her/them.

First, let me say that the primary and backup instructors are wonderful. Their instructions are clear, their demo dogs are useful in demoing what they are trying to convey, they work their way through all of the basics in a careful, methodical, rational way so that in theory the handlers and dogs come away with the best possible foundation for becoming agility stars or at least fun companions.

I say theoretically because I'm a lazy, slovenly, excuse-ridden participant. More in a bit.

Second, let me say that the class is intended for (older) puppies. Zorro was 2 when we started, although I sure have seen a lot of puppy in him. Some of the students have never done agility or similar basic obedience training. Some students have trained and run multiple agility champions. So it's a mixed class of people, but the instructors are careful to make sure that the *dog* gets the information that he needs, and to remind us that every dog is starting from scratch even if we think that we know what we're doing.

Which is lovely for Zorro; just being there, in fact, is wonderful training for him as he learns to be around other dogs and to pay attention to me in an environment that's interesting in every direction. We've seen a lot of improvement in him in these 3-ish months.

In short, it's a great class and I feel privileged to be part of it.

Chip comes along for the ride and gets to get out for a while before class (if I'm early enough) and after class to practice some of the things that I practiced with Zorro in class.  Apparently the field is plenty interesting.

However, for me, here are the things:

• I really wanted a Saturday morning class because weeknight evenings can be frantic after work, with traffic and stress and all, and so much else goes on on weeknights. However, this class starts at 8:00 a.m., sharp, and it's 30 minutes from here. Sooooo I'm getting up at 6:45 to the alarm, with barely enough time to dress myself, collect my stuff and my dogs, and be on my way.
  
  BUT: I had grown to despise getting up early to the alarm for dog agility after 18 years of it, and now I find that I still resent it deeply despite a long break from agility.  It was my choice to sign up, but, ugh, dragging myself out of bed, bleah.  Affects me more perhaps because I've not been sleeping well.  (That's a different story.)
  
  Also, if I've had a rough week physically and am particularly painful Friday night, I'm just not going to get up and go. Also, if I've had a very bad night and am awake until 4 in the morning, I'm just not going to get up and go.  Also, well, hmm, surprise, there are other things that happen on Saturdays sometimes that I really want to do but can't if I don't get home until 10 a.m. So maybe Saturdays and/or 8 a.m. are not good for me personally.
  
  I realize that I am WAY WAY WAY over the excitement of being out and about before most of the rest of humanity, on the road, in the early light--at least, for dog-related things.  The other day, I did it (up at same time on Saturday, drive 30 minutes) for something new and different, and it felt so much better.
• I had been neglecting my dogs' trainings. Chip has been here over 2 years, Zorro over a year, and other than shaking hands and doing nose touches to my hand, they barely know more than when I brought them home.  But it was tough to do much with them, because my damaged bodily parts start hurting so quickly. At least, I think that was my excuse. I dunno, I would get excited for a day or 2 and then back to, eh, whatever.  SOOOOO I thought that going to class would be perfect for me. I've always been a bit competitive (duh) and I've liked being able to go to classes having done the homework and maybe more, over all these years.
  
  BUT: Turns out that it hasn't motivated me much at all, telling my that my reluctance is pretty deep (already knew, but just thought this would help). I think that some of it is how much I still miss my Merle Girls themselves and also all that they could do.  Maybe something else in addition to the physical aspect, but dunno what. Dunno. Dunno. I come home from class feeling excited and energized, but within a few hours, it's gone.  I occasionally practice some things.  Some things more than others.  But very little of any of it, in truth.  Zorro's amazing improvements in class have more to do with what I said earlier, him just learning to be in that environment and how to pay attention to me.

I haven't decided whether to drop the class.  I feel in some ways that it's my only chance to drag me out of my doggie doldrums and my training truancy.  Still, now I'm starting to feel that I'm behind so many other people with their little tiny cute puppies who now already do more than both of my dogs put together.

Well, OK, maybe not that much or for everyone, but some people, you know who they are, the people who go home and do their homework and also have experience training their previous dogs.

Instead of going home and blogging. Reading facebook. Editing photos.  Napping.

Mine are such smart, active boys, though, and deserve and need more intellectually and physically than I'm giving them.  So I can feel badly about it and still not get up and do anything about it.  Tsk.  Humans.  Yet I'm paying for a class that I'm attending barely more than half the time.  (That wouldn't have happened in the olden days, either.)

This isn't even what I was going to blog about.  So that will come in a separate post.

Well, OK, some improvement: A year ago I wouldn't have been able to get this photo at the park at all.  This time I barely got it; every time I moved away to set my camera, Chip sat up. And then start to move. And so then Luke would move. BUT I did get this, and they didn't run off while I wasn't holding their leashes here, and that's an improvement.

Well, This is a Bit More Complicated Than Expected

SUMMARY: Luke and company.  With only 2 interruptions.

This new dog is not, by any means, housebroken.

I'm trying to start over from scratch. I take him outside every time he comes out of his crate, after he's eaten, after he's played, and before I bring him into the house if he's been out in the yard for a while. And yet I had TWO pees in the house today:

1. He and Chip were playing in my office, and then he played alone with his newly discovered Love, the Giant Dog Cushion.
   
   
   (This is after I had to soak with bitter apple the corner of the cushion's cover where the zipper pull is because he was determined to chew it off.) I was counting some things while sitting at my desk. Luke stepped away from the cushion and stood there panting. I dropped the file back into the drawer so that I could take him outside, and I said, Come On, and he bent his back legs and peed right there on the carpet. I had taken him out and watched him pee less than half an hour before that.
2. I was lying on the couch. He and Chip had been playing. As often seems to happen after play sessions, it ends with Chip lunging and snarling at him. I managed to talk them apart and was soothing Chip. I stood up and walked briskly towards the door, saying, Let's go, Luke! and he briskly dashed ahead of me, stopping suddenly to pee on the sofa cushion leaning under the dining table.

Jeez. I don't know how to manage this!  I suppose I should post a photo of the huge pile of rags I've used in the last week.  I've had to refill the Nature's Miracle squirt bottle 3 times from the gallon refill.

Yesterday I think it was zero times, but he was in his crate and I was gone for over 8 hours total.

The day before, 3 times. Once I wasn't paying attention, and the other 2 times, somewhat like today, I was paying attention. And a few other times in the preceding days. Potty training feels like it's getting worse, not better.

I had not expected this.

[Hola! Just now it's been just over 15 minutes since last pee. Since then, a bit of playing with Chip, a bit of chewing on a bone, and then Luke just got up and started wandering around, nose down. Whipped him outside and sure enough he peed a bathtub-load! Where does a little dog like him KEEP all that pee? This is the problem--peeing. all. day. long, and me taking him out--all. day. long. But this time, at least, I won.]

I don't like the way the play often ends between the two of them, and I can't see what's making it happen that way. I'm delighted that they'll play wrestle for 3 or sometimes 15 minutes, and often in that casual we're-both-lying-down-and-gently-interacting kind of play. But, so often, suddenly Chip is going after Luke, and Luke today is starting to return the action.

I don't know whether to try to keep them separated all the time, or to just break up the play quickly after it starts, or what. Darn it.

Luke does not return thrown toys and in fact doesn't even always chase them. If I try to play with him with a toy, he ignores me or he grabs my hand & wrist & fingers (whatever's available), neither of which is lovely.  I thought that it wasn't hard enough to hurt, but sometimes it is when I'm not in an easy position to get him off, and I'm realizing that, yep, after a week, my wrists and hands are bruised.  (Here's a truly gentle finger grab.)

 I can interact with him with food, and that's mostly it so far.

He has definitely graduated from finding dog toys everywhere (for days I kept being amazed at how well he knew which were dog toys and which weren't for the most part), but now he's in full-on assault on anything that I might have worn (shoes), touched (something that fell on the floor), moved (wastebasket full of stuff), etc.

On the up side, he's still just as cute as ever.

He's very smart. I love it when he makes that eye contact to get a treat for something.

He made me laugh (and curse) at the same time,  as I tried to keep him in the kitchen with me by closing the doors during the times I was there--and within a day he had figured out how to jump down (and back up) through the railing overlooking my carpeted office.

Like Boost used to do.  Of the six dogs I've had in this house, these are the only two to do that. (Jake used to jump down, but never back up.)

[Whoa, look, now he has a pair of my underwear!  We're not into "Drop it," apparently, and I have to get his attention that I have treats before he'll consider whether it's worth it to come back for it. Nope, doesn't want the kibble in the pocket. I race for the Zukes in the cabinet while he races for the yard. Didn't I close off my bedroom door? Oh, right, moved it when I went upstairs for pain pills a bit ago. Up I go to close it off again.]

He never stops moving until he sleeps.

I managed to get some of his sewing-needle-sharp toenails clipped this morning, but it took a long time; I'd hold his paw, stick a treat in his mouth, grab my clippers, line them up on his toenail, and he'd be wiggling and grabbing at my hand already.  Not a lot, not like in terror, but like as in come on don't keep sitting here holding my paw!

He's getting better and better at sitting in the back of his crate and waiting for a release when I open the crate door (thank you, crate games), but getting onto the floor and back up, or bending to do it, even if I drag a chair over every time (which I stopped doing after the first day, jeez).

[OK, he's decided that it's time to jump on my hands and grab them, and I have to disentangle him and get him into his crate again. DEFINITELY nap time again, even though it's only a little before bedtime. Just like a toddler, I can tell when he needs a rest by the increasing level of brattiness. So far, he's never giving himself the luxury of just lying there.]

He comes in from the garage quickly after I go out for something and come back in, even if he's distracted, because he comes when I call (not from anywhere else, but from the garage).  I always have to remember how very long it took for Tika to decide to pay attention when I called her in from the garage.  A long long long long time, and I think she was older than Luke when she got here.

But All day long during the times when he's out of his crate (back in every couple of hours so I can rest or when he starts acting like a brat) it feels as if I'm constantly practicing back-away-from-the -treats-and make-eye-contact or stay-away-from the table-top or don't-get-into-the-trash or please-go-pee or I dunno whatever, dispensing treats often for many things and some things I see improvement but jeez I am physically exhausted.

Tired.

TIRED. And sore.

I keep reminding myself: You knew he'd need work. You know that you'd have to give it at least 6 weeks to figure things out into a calmer life. You knew these things.  I just didn't expect to be working on the things that I'm working on, I guess.

And with all of this, I completely forgot about Chip's class yesterday morning, darn it.

Working on that Snooker Super-Q

SUMMARY: Steps I'm taking.

So, for the first time in many, many months, I've had the energy and enthusiasm to focus on improving Boost's agility performance in hopes of getting that danged last Super-Q.

I've actually been working on bar-knocking in the yard.

I actually rented the big field last saturday morning and again this coming saturday morning to practice just having Boost drive ahead over jumps. Basically I dropped toys in various places around the field where I could drive her over 2, 3, 4, or more jumps to get a toy. I felt that Saturday went well--she's very happy to drive ahead when she thinks there might be a toy out there. I noticed that she knocked bars when she wasn't sure where the toys were going to be, hmm, something to think about.

It was pretty warm, even at 8 a.m., so we rested quite a bit between runs.

Tika wanted to bark while I was running Boost--this is a no-no, don't want to disturb the neighbors, but if I ran her through 5 or 6 obstacles and then gave her treats, she'd be quiet for a while. Not sure what I'm going to do this weekend--have been instructed "NO barking," so we'll see whether it's cool enough that I can leave her in the car.

Anyway, will work on more of the same this Saturday morning--I decided to sign up ONLY for Sunday of this weekend's 3-day USDAA trial in Woodland, because that's the only day with a Snooker, and I just don't want to be out in the heat in the central valley for 2-3 days.

Tonight in class, there were only 2 of us! I asked whether JB would be willing to do some private lessons/evaluations on snooker, and then we agreed to spend most of class trying to do various snooker-like runs. Boost didn't knock a single bar! And she got all her weave entries! I made a few handling errors, but got no refusals, either. I hope this carries over to Sunday's competition; would sure be nice.

My back is still a mess, but my core muscles are getting stronger as I do my exercises (not as often as ideal, but enough that I notice a difference) and I've been doing some exercycling in lieu of hiking to try to let my foot continue to rest but still work my legs and cardiovascular system. I felt pretty good in class tonight, but with only two of us, I turned into a pumpkin before the full class session and came on home.

But, in other words, the enthusiasm that I've had in the past but not for a long while is back. Trying to hold onto it and keep on going.

How Are We All Doing?

SUMMARY: Reporting on Human Mom, Boost, and Tika.

Tika is refusing food more and more often. I'm not happy about this. Don't know whether it's her meds or her health. Need to call the vet to discuss. Not convinced that taking certain drugs to help her heart or her cough is good if it means that she loses interest in food. Until this morning, she was happy enough to eat the new fancy expensive kibble that I just bought--as long as I didn't intermingle regular kibble, which really ruined the whole thing, you know. But hand-feeding still worked. This evening she didn't want to eat much of it at all.

She even almost turned down her guard-the-house-goodie this morning when I left for work--and she's not rejected that before. (It's just a dry biscuit, but until now has been eagerly accepted.) No problems tonight in class, though, sucking down those Zukes minis!

Human Mom had a rotten night last night, what with back/leg pain, a cough that wouldn't quit between about 2 and 3 a.m., two dogs that needed to go out in the middle of the night at different times, and a sometimes coughing dog. H.M. got most of her sleep between 7:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. Amazing I made it through the day. But work was interesting and urgent today, which helped.

And then, even more interestingly, felt really good in class tonight running Boost. Was able to actually run, fast for me anyway, without pain. That bodes well for the weekend. Still, the back and connected leg pain are such a...pain. Standing there, watching someone else's run, turned my head or some other innocuous minor movement, and whack! Sudden pain in lower back and I had to take steps to ease it out. So we didn't do a whole class this evening; want to save myself for the Regional Championships this weekend in Prunedale.

Boost--well, wow, what a great night in class! Not a single bar down! No nasty runouts (except pretty obvious handler errors) or refusals. Wow! Well, OK, couple of missed weave entries, darn it, she will just never be as good as Tika at the weave entries. And that's the thing we've most practiced through the years. OK, anyway, maybe it was because I was moving more comfortably and faster, dunno, but what a pleasure it was! Hoping that it lasts through at least some of the weekend.

See folks there Saturday through Monday; I bailed on Friday's events for various reasons. Weather should be great, people should be wonderful, maybe we'll get a Q or two.

Thursday's Class and Excitement

SUMMARY: In which Human Mom has pain, Boost runs with her sister's handler, and some people have lots of enthusiasm.

When I arrived at class last Thursday evening, the weather couldn't have been better. Still daylight at this time of year (O!, that it would be like this all the time!), neither hot nor cold, shirt-sleeve weather, a beautiful evening.

And when I did a warm-up run with Tika, my lower back muscles hurt so much that I could barely trot. I warmed up even more, and lay on the grass and did various fix-the-back things, and the back eased off, but still felt the aches in my knees and foot. Why do I do this, go to class like this? (Well, that's meant to be rhetorical, but I'm always one to answer rhetorical questions-- (a) dogs seem to like agility (b) it gets us all out of hte house and doing something active (c) I'm in denial about my ailments.)

Boost and I are having very very few runouts or refusals in class these days, and the few times that we do, I have an instructor to point out why what I thought I was doing wasn't what i was actually doing. This is why I'm supposed to videotape myself, so I can see what I wasn't doing on my own every time. Bah.

But the bars still come down.

By the end of the class, I just couldn't run any more. T-Cam's mom (T-Cam/Boost have the same parents) seemed delighted at the chance to run Boost for the last run of the evening. This is the second time they've done a run in class. Last time, several weeks ago, Boost was very uncertain and followed Silvina around the course only tentatively, then ran to me as soon as possible. Both times, S wooed B with treats, since Boost wouldn't get into playing tug with a "stranger" (someone she's only seen in class every week off and on for 8 years, you know). This time, Boost went with her willingly and even eagerly, and stayed with her all the way through to the end, and wanted to stay with her after S dropped her off with me! (Dang, why are S's freeze-dried liver treats better than my freeze-dried liver treats?) Boost still held back while running, but not nearly as much as last time. And they had a couple of refusals while Boost watched S so very closely, but S figured out how to fix it the next time around.

S is so happy and enthusiastic with her dogs, and with mine, too. I try to emulate people like her, who have so much energy and excitement with their dogs and just don't let up, but wow, it's exhausting for me! She's not unique among top dog handlers; so many of them are so very good at making their dogs feel special and excited and supercharged. If I do that at their level for a couple of runs, I'm so burned out that I'm ready to sleep for a week. I'm certainly better at it than I was when I started back in 1995 (gasp). But I'm basically a mellow, reserved sort of person even when I'm excited or happy. You know the stereotypical really excited person, who jumps up and down and claps their hands? I would never be that person. If I won the lottery, I'd most likely grin a lot. I might even high-five someone, or pump my fist and say "Yesss!" For me, that's very excited.

Anyway. Wish everything would get better spontaneously. Because as it is, now I have an excuse for not practicing with Boost to fix our agility issues, whereas before I had no excuse, just didn't do it.

Ah, yes, well, this is all so typically me. My dogs are wonderful and I love them dearly. How can I resist that bright-eyed, sharp-eared Tika stare over the desk, saying "Come ON! Let's GO!" She doesn't care what or where, just let's move it! So, guess I'd better move it.

See y'all later.

[Stands up. Tika pumps fist, says "YEsss!"]

More Agility

SUMMARY: Because one weekend of USDAA in a row wasn't enough.

Aaaaaannnnnnd we're off to Turlock, where the weather is expected to be about 20 degrees (F) higher than normal for this time of year. This is why this trial was moved from mid-June to the beginning of May: To avoid the excessive Central Valley heat. Ha, how's THAT workin' for us?

Ah, well, it's supposed to be 10-15 degrees cooler on Sunday, thank goodness. Plus we're going to have a grand potluck ("Pre-Cinquo de Mayo") Saturday evening, and that's always fun.

Tika's signed up for only one run, on Saturday, and not sure whether I'll run her since it's going to be the middle of the day and she's not been doing as well in the heat in the last year or so. Never used to bother her, but, sigh, it sucks getting older.

Saturday is all the usual classes and tournaments, and then Sunday is all Team. Boost is teamed with two Kelpies, Drover and Betty, with the team name Dogs Gone Wild, which should be pretty apt for our group. All very fast dogs, some of whom have been known to be a little challenging to handle at times. But all good masters-level dogs (I'll include Boost in that, yes I will).

Boost and I did OK in class Thursday evening despite the warmth--only 2 other classmates showed up (others are either off at AKC World Team Tryouts or taking the night off) so we had a lot of chances to run. Boost's weave entries were SOOOOOOOO broken! Curse it all anyway!

And of course bars came down.

But she worked hard at all the drills even when I messed up and had to keep repeating and seemed to be enjoying herself. Tika got a couple of short runs and although she looked excited, wasn't all that fast--heat?

As usual I'm trying to get a steady reading on how I feel about the weekend, but the needle is hopping all over. Good friends will be there, the trial won't be too huge, I'm working score table again so will be able to do a lot of sitting in the shade. At some moments I'm excited about running Boost (when I think of our best portions of runs) alternating with really wishing I were spending the weekend going to movies (when I think of those single moments in each run when all the hope drains away...). Looking forward to team--I think--because in team knocked bars and refusals don't hurt you NEARLY as much as in regular classes.

Maybe I'm just overheated. Hope I can sleep easily tonight... it's later than I had planned, I'm not quite all packed; looks like I'm hoteling it again because I can't bear the thought of trying to set up MUTT MVR to sleep in, although I think it'll be a perfect weekend weatherwise for it.

Guess I ought to give the usual place a call and see whether they have a room. And throw some clothes into a bag and get to bed.

Keep cool, y'all!

Hopes Are Up

SUMMARY: A good evening in class.

I love going up in the hills to class at this time of year.

A few pointers from the instructor.

Sunset over the south Bay Area. South end of san Francisco Bay
is the light area near the horizon on the right.

The only bar that Boost knocked all evening came while I  struggled to get my handling correct for a tight backside/wrap and she pretty much crashed the jump and jump wing; not her fault. She ran fast, worked away from and ahead of me, had lovely contacts. And I mostly got to where I needed to go, but boyyyy do I need to start doing some sprints at home (have I said this before?). It felt great.

EXCEPT for the dang left turn into the weaves. Yes, her long-time bugaboo has returned in force. I finally took her off to the back field for a bit of remedial weave entries and she was starting to get it again. Otherwise, her weaves were their usual amazing speed and she stayed in them even when I moved a long way away laterally. And entrances while bearing *right* were awesome.

Tika got one practice run at 16". She's just not confident about her moves when she can't hear me, but she looked happy to be doing it, and that was the point.

Waiting our turns.

Funny things-- I hooked the Merle Girls' leashes to a pole and went to walk the first course. A minute or two later, a classmate came hurrying by with Boost pulling on her leash... Oh, no, wait, that was Boost's sister, Tcam. So funny, they pull in exactly the same way and their stance and markings are so similar.

So, halfway through the class, I finished an exercise and put Boost in a Down facing me with her back to the end of the exercise. Tcam's mom had already run Tcam, then went back a few dogs later and ran her other dog. When she finished that run, she started towards me, stopped, pointed to Boost (whose back was towards her), and said, "Is that mine or yours?" She thought she had left Tcam in that exact spot, and from behind, they are REALLY hard to tell apart! Yes, Tcam had wandered off a dozen feet or so. So clear that they are sisters! I think Boost is inspired after Tcam's amazing showing at the World championships and at the AKC nationals finals recently.

All in all, a pleasant evening, cool but not cold, good friends, the usual discussions about agility shoes (should one care more about the treads or about the fact that you can get a style that's blue and purple? Tough call), and beautiful views.

Same view, 90 minutes later

Class with a swollen head

SUMMARY: Well--it only just felt like it.

I've had a cold all week. Entire head has felt like it's full of fluid. Brain doesn't function well like that. Sleeping or at least lying down a lot. Doing completely mindless things and not doing them very well.

Example: Tried to do a quick grocery trip while completely congested and foggy (me, not the traffic or weather). Needed milk, fruit, kleenex (er--facial tissue) since I've emptied 3 boxes this week. Checked for sanitary wipes at the store entrance--container is empty and stuffed with trash. Conscientiously touched everything with my hand in my shirtsleeves instead of my bare hands. Put some frozen foods and fruit into the child seat of the cart. At the self-serve checkout, scanned everything from the child seat and put the bags back into the child seat. The Monitor Person asked, "Do you mind if a put a sticker on your milk so that they don't think you're stealing it?" Milk? Oh, crud, yup, I did put a gallon of milk into the main part of the cart. And I hadn't paid for it. So paid for it, put it back into the main part of the cart. Out to the parking lot, loaded the bags into my car, took the cart to the nearest return point. Got into car. Thinking....thinking... oh, crap, milk. Got out of car, retrieved milk from cart. Home. Sat in car in garage for a few minutes thinking how nice a nap would be right there and now. Thinking maybe back to bed would be good. Realized I hadn't gotten more klee...facial tissue. Had to go back the next day for that.

Anyway. Felt a little better today. Head swimming and thick when I first got up, so took some decongestant. It helped. Still not perfect, but better than yesterday.

So decided to go up to class this evening.

OK, dumb-- a quarter of the way up the mountain, the pressure started building. Halfway up, it was so hard and thick in my head that I pulled over to the side of the road for 5 minutes to see whether it would ease up. Didn't want to bust an eardrum. Didn't hurt, though, just crazy disorienting, like my head was in a bucket of water sort of, so drove the balance of the 1200 feet or so up. Never occurred to me to take another decongestant before heading out there. Head/ears NOT happy--could barely hear anything, and what I could hear whanged on my eardrums like they were 50 times louder than normal, they were stretched so tightly, I guess.

I wanted to share some snacks for Tika's birthday. Lots of other people showed up this week with snacks, too--when it rains, you know--.

So I said there was no way I was going to be running and would anyone consider running Boost for me, because she really wants to run. I wasn't sure whether she would--last couple of tries, no interest, wanted to go back to Mommy. Had three expert volunteers, but one friend ran her all 3 runs. Fun to see my dog working. Kept my fingers in my ears. Funny/odd. Someone said she's not running as fast as she does with me, but she still looked pretty good and ran really nicely. She had a couple of the same problems I have--couple of bars down, needing to really work each jump even when they're straight in front of Boost, but Boost stuck with her and paid attention all through the run. Pretty cool.

After 3 runs, my ears had gradually eased back to normal, but my sinuses were pulsing. So I headed down the mountain, and of course now the pressure reversed itself so my head got all funny by the time I reached the bottom.

Sigh. At least Boost was happy because she got to run; I was happy because she got to run and because she was willing to work with someone else; Tika was happy because she got a bunch of treats; I was happy again because I got a couple of chocolate-covered strawberries (someone else brought those); and now I think I've learned my lesson about going up mountains with a head cold without decongestant.

Now taking my weirded head to bed.

Hi. Happy 2013.

SUMMARY: Agility class tonight.

Have not been doing or thinking about agility much. Haven't been practicing at home--yard is muddy, has been wet and coldish, I've been busy. Class was in hiatus for 2 weeks, then I had a cough and didn't go the following week, so tonight was the first time in 4 weeks that we've been to class.

Boost was VERY happy to be there.

She ran very nicely, very fast, good contacts, sending away to stuff nicely so I could get into position, etc. Her weave pole speed is still amazing to all who see it. She is fun to run! Our issues were:

• Knocking a bar
• Not being able to enter the weaves correctly when turning left (a known long-time issue)
• knocking a bar
• knocking a bar
• knocking a bar
• ...well, like that.

Since Tika is now retired, I try to think up ways to keep her feeling appreciated and active. While other folks were running, I'd take her out to a couple of jumps (at 12") or tunnel that no one was using and do a tiny bit of agility with her, then a bunch of tricks. Funny thing: Discovered that if I just hold her still at the beginning of a set of weaves and let her go to do the weaves, she doesn't do them. She and I both have to be running towards them.  Anyway, she seemed to enjoy herself, and she got lots of treats.

On the way home down the twisty mountain road, my speed was about 35MPH on a straight-away (speed limit 40) when a skunk ran out of the weeds and straight across the road directly in front of me. By hitting the brakes hard and swerving behind him as he ran, I avoided hitting him. But, as I sat there at a standstill with the car at a bit of an angle on the narrow road, as soon as he got to the other side, he raised his tail in my direction. I managed to burn rubber out of there before he got me. Wouldn't that have been gratitude for saving his life?

Now I can go back to not doing or thinking about agility much for the next week.

Class This Week and Stuff Like That

SUMMARY: Boost: Bars. Tika: What the heck?

Tika is on two weeks' rest per the vet's instructions. No running, no tug of war. Walks are OK. She, of course, wants to run and play and is starting to look dispirited when once again I'm throwing the toy for Boost to chase while distracting Tika with treats tossed into the lawn. Oh, she likes the food, but it's so clear when we go outside and she bounds into position, ears up, eyes bright, and then instead of running, all I'll do is nudge the toy around while she's hanging onto it--she likes that, but not as much as running and tug and is just kind of giving up on me.

Last night was class, so Boost ran all the exercises. Had several bars down. Of course, usually Tika does half the exercises, so Boost had more opportunities to knock bars. After knocking hardly any last weekend.

Maybe the lawn was too damp.

AND she still can't do that entry bearing left into the weaves--you know, the entry that's supposed to be easy because the dog wraps around the first pole? This is the same entry she's always had trouble with. I don't think she ever really got that "the first pole is to your left," but instead thinks it's "go between the first two poles." Well, we have 3 months in which to practice. If I feel like it.

Tried to keep Tika feeling not attention deprived during class. Between runs, did some tricks for treats, trotted her out to the backfield to go over an 8-inch jump a couple of times, practiced some downs on the table. And gave her a lot of rubbing. Still, she went from looking excited about being there to "ok, whatever."

This will be hard on both of us, another week still to go. I'll be glad when we get the ultrasound done on Monday to find out what her heart's strength really is right now.

And my knee suddenly started hurting last night after a few weeks of wonderfulness. Seems OK today so far. Just weird.

Thinking about how/when i want to have a retirement cake for Tika. Well... for me, anyway. I'm sure she'd get some, too. Any excuse for frosting, though.

The emergency vet last weekend said she was busy admiring what great teeth Tika has. Guess we've done something right--and/or she had pretty good teeth genes. Except for that one cracked/abscessed tooth that had to come out a couple of years ago, and a few tips that look like they've broken off (versus worn down), they look pretty good to me, too.

Planning on going for a 4-6 mile walk on the level tomorrow with a friend. Normally I'd take the dogs, but I'm thinking that might not be what the vets had in mind when they talked about a walk to the end of the street. (Actually we've been doing about a mile and a quarter a day, which is less than our "normal" walk, and doing it somewhat more leisurely than usual.) Hm. Maybe I'll just leave them home this time. :-(

Still, generally, I've been pretty lucky with my dogs. Tika has done very well until a pretty good age. And Boost *likes* doing agility, even if we have some issues out there on the field.

Anyway, I think I'm rambling. Off to bed early tonight and hope for another sunrise like yesterday's:

A Good Night At Class

SUMMARY: Boost and Human Mom do well; Tika--well--

It's been two weeks since our last class; the Power Paws instructors were all off at Power Paws camp last week. We didn't do camp this year, so we were on our own for practicing.

We haven't done much in the last couple of weeks. I did set up a straight tunnel in the middle of the yard (usually they're in U shapes around the sides of the yard to give the dogs somewhere to run and keep running back into the yard). This is because, at our last trial, Boost (a) didn't seem to understand about sending to the far end of a tunnel where the opening wasn't facing her, and (b) tends to come out of tunnels and chutes and then turn back to me instead of taking the following jump.

So I set up jumps past either end of the tunnel and practiced a little bit of both of those scenarios.

Did just some random jumps and things with Tika to try to be sure that she stays in shape.

Practiced a few dogwalks and teeters. A few table downs.

Wednesday night and yesterday morning it rained a bit around here. Not a huge amount, but enough to get the ground and the grass wet, and enough so that, when class time rolled around in the evening, when the temperature hit the dew point, everything turned wet wet wet--jump bars, grass, dogs, everything.

Typically in class I alternate runs between Tika and Boost, so they're both getting half a class worth of runs. Two weeks ago, Tika ran well in her first two chances, and then on the third one, she seemed slow and uninterested, so I put her away and ran Boost instead for the rest of the evening.

Last night, Tika ran beautifully in her first run, although it seemed to me that her rear end slewed out from beneath her on many turns. Still, she was bright-eyed, happy, and eager. A break for her while I ran Boost once, then the next time I got Tika out, all she wanted to do was sniff the ground around the start line. I tried to jolly her into paying attention and running, tried restarting her, clapping hands, offering treats. Sniff sniff sniff.

Well, sniffing can be a huge displacement behavior--"I'm stressed and don't want to do this." With Tika, it's sometimes hard to know, as she is SUCH a food hound, and a damp ground probably has even more interesting smells. But when I finally grabbed her collar and almost pushed her over the first jump, she ran with me, but not particularly fast or drivingly. Not droopy or sore looking, just--not all there. So she was done for the night.

She certainly had no issues like that at our last trial. Maybe class isn't exciting enough for her, or the runs are too close together, or,  I think, maybe all that slewing around in the first run made her uncomfortable or nervous, or I dunno--just another sign that she's not going to be doing agility forever.

Boost, meanwhile, ran great! She had two bars down for the evening, and for once I was alert enough to catch her each time before she got to the next obstacle to give her a time out. Everything else was wonderful. Even better, *I* felt great last night--knee didn't bother me at all, I felt like I was hauling butt around the field, getting in what felt like aggressive crosses and such. This doesn't always happen, so it felt good all around. A couple of classmates even commented on it.

If only that all holds up for another week--our last USDAA, and last trial period, for the year next weekend.

THIS weekend, I'm off to a two-day seminar featuring THE Bob Bailey and Dr. Sophia Yin, who is another expert on dog behavior. A sampling of topics:

• "Dog training: Craft or Technology--is there a diffence?"
• "The difference measurement makes: Lessons from the treat and train project"
•  "Your mind's saying one thing, but your body's saying another: The subtle differences in technique that make one handler exceptional and another so-so"

Looking forward to it, even if it is two days of lecture!

Two Steps Forward, Two Steps Back

SUMMARY: Boost's jumps and weaves; Tika in general.

Well, Thursday night's class was interesting for the Merle Girls.

Back up a step.

Last weekend, Boost handled beautifully, as if runouts and refusals had never been an issue. But, out of 12 runs, Boost knocked 10 bars. Ten! That's, shall we say, excessive. And although her weaves, which have been really excellent for several trials now, were perfect on Saturday, on Sunday out of 4 weaves, she missed one entry and, on another, popped two poles early.

The weaves were nuts, because I've been practicing weaves and not much else lately. So we might just be in another one of her sine-wave cycles (I should plot it out sometime) of not knowing how to do weaves.

The bars were nuts, so I actually had the energy and determination to do bar-knocking drills at home three days this week so far.

So, in class last night: Boost popped out of the first set of weaves FOUR times IN A ROW! Jeez!

But she continued her awesome running style from this weekend--nice run after nice run after nice run, just the way I always imagined it would be with her.

And the entire evening, she knocked or ticked only ONE bar!

Hi C-Era Interstellar Propulsion: Always a challenging border collie.

Tika, meanwhile, had a pretty nice weekend of competition: Qed 6 out of 8, and missed Qing in each of the jumpers by one bar, which has been unusual for her since she moved to performance. She placed 2nd in both Steeplechase and Grand Prix, which is pretty good for an 11.5-year-old dog.

But in class, all kinds of things went awry that I'm assortedly attributing to her not hearing well, possibly her not seeing well, and me not being fast enough to compensate for what always used to work well. After each of our garbled runs, I wondered how we ever manage to Qualify at all with this kind of handling and confusion.

Now, if I stop because we've gone astray in class, she *immediately* goes into "I'm looking for treats somehwere in the grass here" mode. She used to do that quite a bit when she was a young dog, but not much at all for several years. I'm taking it as a sign of stress rather than her really being naughty--I think she really doesn't understand what I want and probably doesn't understand why I'm not SAYING anything (do dogs realize that they're going deaf?).

Anyway, everyone presents challenges, including myself. Last week in class, I felt fleet of foot. This week, legs dragging. What's the difference? No idea.

Soooooo we might do a few more drills today and tomorrow.

This weekend, Friday through Monday, is the Western Regional Championships, and for only the 2nd time since 1995, I'm not going--well, except that I gave in an signed up for just the first two classes Sunday morning: Jumpers and Snooker, hoping to get that last Snooker that Tika now needs for her PDCH-Gold at our home club. If I don't stress out too much about it, which I'm wont to do.

So, if any of you are there, I might see you during my brief appearance Sunday morning. Otherwise, good luck at whatever you're doing this weekend, and have a great time.

Bar Knocking, Weaves, and Oldness

SUMMARY: Boost training update, Tika aging update.

In class last night, on the first exercise, which I wasn't sure I could get through, Boost and I did great. Except that she knocked 2 bars.

Our instructor complimented Boost's run and said that she's ready to help me go back to working on bar knocking any time I'm ready. I said, OK.

We started on this a couple of times in the past and then decided that getting Boost to actually do obstacles was the bigger issue. This issue hasn't gone away, but she *does* look really nice in class a lot of the time these days. Did it take her turning 7 to start getting the idea of what's going on?

So the first step is that I need to stop her (in training or class) as soon as she ticks or knocks a bar. This is harder than it sounds--I'm so busy trying to figure out whether I can actually do the body work for a serpentine-to-rear-cross that the fact that she's ticked a bar is invisible to me. Or so busy trying my darnedest to get 3 obstacles ahead so I can do a deceleration for a threadle that the fact that she's knocked a bar is not high on my radar. But I think I was doing better by the end of class.

I also need to count--all the bars that she attempts, and all the bars that she ticks or knocks. That was hard just in class! If we stopped partway through an exercise, and restarted some other part of the way through, repeat 3 or 4 times, jeez, how many bars did we actually attempt?

I have not been doing tons of agility work at home.

About the only things I've been practicing with either dog are table-downs with Tika and weave entries with Boost, who appears to have decided recently that a weave entry, instead of being an entry with the first pole to her left shoulder, is one of:
* Enter between the first two poles, but starting from whtever direction she's coming.
* Enter between the second and third pole, starting from whatever direction she's coming.

It's insane. We've been working on weaves for almost 7 years and she's still not figured out the real rules. Or, at least, she gets it for a while, then somehow decides that that's not what it is after all.

Anyhoo--we've been practicing weave entries.

Homework from class this week is assorted moves-to-rear cross: threadle to rear, serpentine to rear, front to rear. After all these years of agility, I am still not coordinated!

Tika, meanwhile, I swear is still getting deafer. Yesterday in the quiet kitchen, she was lying facing away from me, and I had to say her name 3 times, louder each time, before she turned her head to look at me, but in a "did I hear something?" fashion rather than "my name is being called in the kitchen! yay!" which would be normal.

Her energy level does seem lower lately. She still runs after her ball full-tilt, but might chase it only 2 or 3 times before rushing into the shrubberies to continue excavation on her tunnel to China. She doesn't bother getting up off her bed often now when I'm doing something with Boost.

We're planning on hiking several miles this weekend, and none of us have done much hiking or walking lately, just too busy & distracted. Hope things go well for all of us on the trail.