Agility Olio

SUMMARY: Friends and families and foods and fun.

Yessss, agility trials are about the agility--

Like switching out of one's mild-mannered, everyday persona shoes into your secret identity as Super Duper Fleet-Footed Agility Handler Extraordinare shoes.

Like basking in the glory from previous agility incarnations, such as our 2000 USDAA Nationals Grand Prix semifinalist shirt from Jake and I ran in Del Mar.

Like seeing both dogs looking eagerly out at you--can we run NOW, huh can we?

Like seeing both dogs actually really there in the final round of Steeplechase.

And seeing that Tika is guaranteed some Steeplechase actual cash moolah if we don't go off course. Thanks to everyone else who Ed in the first round or scratched from the second round! Bonus! Boost was seeded 10th going into this round, but ended up placing 6th mostly because we didn't go off course.

And like taking home some cash when both dogs did well enough in that Steeplechase round.

But it's also about toys! Tika really loves to tug on these. So do lots of other dogs. There is a lot of tugging in agility. And so there are billions of these lying around everywhere you go with agility people now, and people always seem to pick them up thinking that they're theirs, so about once a year I need to buy another five Udder Tuggers.

And it's about food!

And of course it's all about friends AND all about clothing!

This is Arlene who, when she's not Super Duper Agility Corgi and Sparkle Handler wearing agility Corgi tie dye, goes to movies with me most nonagility weekends.

This is Kathy and little Millie. Millie wasn't too sure whether she liked agility for a long time, but she has apparently decided that she does, because she had some really nice fast runs this weekend. Millie is five. Most people in agility except me wear shorts when the weather is nice.

This is Mike and Trane. Trane, like many agility dogs, loves to tug, and the leash makes a convenient toy. Mike has many pieces of clothing and baseball caps that say "Trane" or "Nothing Stops A Trane." Mike and his wife raise sheep. His wife spins and dyes yarn (and sells it), weaves and knits and all kinds of clever things like that (and sells the results). Mike is a good spouse and demonstrates the very entertaining hat that his wife made, even though it is quite sweaty under there on a warm day. He thinks maybe November would be a better time to demonstrate it. Maybe his wife should knit one that says "Trane". 

And then, of course, agility is all about family!

This is Boost's littermate Bette and "Auntie Mary," who calls Boost "Boostie." Bette is very fast and very accurate. Mary also teaches agility classes and is fast and accurate, too. Bette is her third agility dog--her first was a Golden Retriever who was not too fast but did good anyway. Her second was the super-reliable Skeeter, an Australian Cattle Dog, who was one of Tika's teammates the year that we made it to the USDAA Nationals Team Finals. We were all very excited.

This is Boost's littermate Beck. She is not blue merle like so many of their relatives are. But she loves to do agility and to get up close to see that silly human who is making silly noises at her.

This is Donna with Boost's younger half sister Quas. Quas is the sweetest, gentlest, most loving dog you could imagine. And unlike most border collies, she actually brings any toy that you throw ALL the way back to you instead of dropping it ten feet out and assuming that since you've got two legs, you're capable of walking to it. Donna is a score table wonk like me and also show secretary extraordinaire. There's a lot of extraordinaireness in agility. There is also a lot of tugging on leashes.

This is Boost's half brother and Quas' littermate, Rowdy. Rowdy jumps 26", while Boost and most of Boost's relatives jump 22". Rowdy had an amazing weekend this weekend--he won 9 out of the 11 classes and, alas, placed only 2nd in another one. His person, Cheri, was understandably pretty happy.

There is also leash tugging among dogs who place first in 9 out of 11 classes.

This is Roulette, who is sister/littermate to Quas and Rowdy. She's also a fabulous little agility girl, and blue merle, and has that half blue, half brown eye similar to Boost's. She certainly has Boost's ears, AND she wears exactly the same style of blue-leopard-print slip lead that Boost does when going to the start line to run agility. Because it's just perfect for a spotty blue merle dog.

I somehow never got a photo of Quas' and Rowdy's and Roulette's littermate Quik, who is Boost's half brother and who was also there and who is also pretty darned fast and talented. His handler is the one who was Mary's and my third teammate, with Brenn, when we were in the Team Finals.

This is Kiwi, who is Boost's older half sister. Kiwi is one of those blazingly fast dogs whose run you'll miss if you glance away for even a second. Kiwi's handler is the wife of Beck's handler.  Lots of family there. Kiwi is also black and white and has those special pointy ears. And she has a red tug toy that if stupid human would pay more attention would understand that toy want tugging NOW! Because agility is all about tugging! (And Carol in the background has amusement.)

This is Ruthie, who is the daughter of Smarty Joanz who is, OK, older half-sister to Boost and littermate to Kiwi. So I guess she's a half-niece? Ruthie is very young, just starting agility, but like so many of Boost's relatives, is a blue merle with heterochromic eyes. She wishes that stupid camera would get out of her way so she can see where her Human Dad is out there on the agility course. She runs with the same man who runs Beck and who is married to the woman who runs Kiwi. Yes, LOTS of family here this weekend.

There were also some other people there with dogs who were not related to Boost in some way. At least, I think so.

The Agony and the Ecstacy

SUMMARY: Another USDAA weekend under the belt.

(Photos by Erika Maurer.)

What a weekend.

Weather was perfect.

Friends were fun.

Both dogs were healthy and happy and eager to be running.

Tika picked up 6 more Qs towards her LAA Platinum (out of 9 Qable runs), pretty good work. Now only 26 to go. Even eked out a Snooker Super-Q somehow, and a first place in the second Snooker (although not a Super-Q). And a 1st place in Steeplechase Round 2 (made easier by the fact that we were the only team who ran in our height class).

Both dogs qualified in Steeplechase Round 1, and both brought home a little cash from Round 2! That never happens! (Together, the amount almost pays for one dog's entry into Steeplechase. But that's not the point.)

Boost did not knock one. Single. Bar. In. Eleven. Runs. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone. Very very happy and I don't know what to credit that to. Someone joked, "is she on drugs?", and I said yes, but just antibiotics--oh, and hydroxizine for itching--and suddenly I had this flashback to some other weekend where she didn't knock bars and was on some kind of drug and I wondered whether that affected anything. Wish I could find supporting info for that memory. Will have to figure out how to search for it among all my posts. Jeez, it would be terrible if the only time she ran that well was when she was drugged up somehow.

Boost's contacts were all perfect.

She and I had some amazing runs. Including:

A Jumpers Q!!!! That's 5 and her Jumpers Master title! I thought I'd never see the day!

So, yeah, there were a lot of very, very happy things indeed.

And then, there was the agony.

The Jumpers run that Boost did perfectly on and then, 3 obstacles before the end, I put my front cross in the wrong place and pushed her past a jump. Augh!

The Snooker run that we did the opening perfectly and really fast and then, on the spot where I knew I'd have trouble (threading between two jumps to get to the correct one), I tried pulling her to me and it didn't work; she went off course. (I ran Tika after that and, instead, did sort of a front crossy thing and it worked much better. Sigh.) So another handling error.

And then ending the day Sunday:

• The Standard run that was perfect and gorgeous and fast and driven and we were flying and doing all these complicated things with perfect execution-- except in one spot where she was ahead of me going into the chute, which fed into a jump right in front of her and she ran towards it but then turned back to me to see where I was before going over it--refusal! Right in front of her! And I was running towards it! And saying "Go! Hup!" Why why why why why?
• The Grand Prix run that was A-MAZ-ING through 18 of the 20 obstacles, I was running on air, it felt so astonishingly world-champion-like, to the Aframe, where she was stopped perfectly. Only 2 jumps to the end.  I calmly walked through a front cross so that we could do the last two obstacles in a nice smooth arc, released her--and she was so busy looking at me that she never even looked at the first jump, which actually saved her because the judge didn't call a refusal when she almost backed into it her way towards it. Finally went over it, but then, running straight at the last jump, she got so busy looking at me AGAIN that she kind of peeled around in front of me and pushed backwards past the plane of the jump, and so we DID get a fault, on the last *@&*!* jump! Why why why why why? 
• The Snooker run that we did the opening perfectly and really fast and got through 4 in the closing and all we had to do for #5 was run in a straight line and I did and she was so busy looking at me that, when she realized there was a jump in front of her, she dodged around it! Why why why why WHY? I was there to work it, my line was perfect, my feet were in the right direction, I was running through it, not stopping... Auuuuughhhh!

And those were my last 3 runs of the weekend, so those are the ones that really stick in my head, even now, 4 hours later. I just don't understand. I can't think of anything that I did wrong on those, and I don't understand why those jumps were any different from any of the other more challenging obstacles we'd done all the way through the rest of the courses--those were the *easy* bits in each case!

Of course I have no video to analyze.

Deep quivering sigh.

Oh, my beautiful Boost, it is SO nice when you run fast and well and take obstacles and I can run and be there to work every jump, but why does it suddenly fall apart like that? People watching me said that maybe I was too excited, but actually in both those cases I felt completely calm because those parts were almost gimmees. And I really don't believe that I did anything wrong on any of them, and no one identified anything specific that I did in any of them.

Anyway.

I am trying to bask in all the amazing runs where Boost and I did 95% of each run correctly and fast and accurately and like an actual masters level champion winning team. And the lack of bars down. And the Jumper's title.

But that Thing that I don't understand, that Mysterious Why, will drive me nuts forever.

P.S. About Those Platinum Lifetime Awards--

SUMMARY: The peer pressure is intense!

To date, only 97 dogs have ever made it to Platinum Lifetime... and 14 of them are in my club (The Bay Team)! And 5 of them are still competing.

Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Lifetime Platinum
My friends all have got one, it just makes me numb
Worked hard all those trials, and maybe I'm dumb,
But Lord, won't you buy me a Lifetime Platinum.

(Addendum May 2016: I never really thought I'd get there. But Tika was so close--missing just a dozen points out of the 500 required when she abruptly had to retire.  Ah, well, close is pretty good.) 

USDAA This Weekend

SUMMARY: Out of town in Turlock

Welllll we'll see how the little bit of bar-knocking medicine I've given Boost lately helps at all. For the last month or so, I've been trying to stop her in class and in the yard every time she knocks a bar and give her a time out.

Opinions are mixed on whether this is a good idea. I've read some trainers who believe that this just stresses the dog out more. On the other hand, Boost's sister Tcam, who had a tendency to knock bars and got this same treatment I've been doing, just ran two clean runs at the World Championships and placed third in the Jumpers competition. Tcam never looks stressed out to me when we're in class--she is one happy, eager dog with a happy, eager handler.

In class last night, Boost knocked 4 or 5 bars (I'm supposed to be counting but I lost track). Not a good average. On the other hand, her last run of the evening was super duper.

Tika has been--I dunno, getting older? For the last 3 nights in a row, when she got to the stairs to go up to bed, she put one foot on the step, backed off, put it on again, hesitated--looked like she'd forgotten how to climb stairs. Or maybe something hurts when she does it, but she looks fine running in the yard and I've not seen her looking stiff....

Oh, wait, except last night in class when I tried to get her to stretch out against my chest, she wouldn't extend her front legs fully.

Oh, crap, I forgot about that. Well, too late now to find a chiropractor. Maybe it's time to dig out that How To Massage Your Dog video that I put a ticket in for in a worker raffle and won. She did look good running in class, so maybe we're OK.

My knee has felt good the last couple of weeks--I felt like I was really moving comfortably and quickly around the course last night. Hope it holds up.

Weather, thank goodness, is supposed to be mild this weekend, and although rain is coming, it's not supposed to arrive until Monday. Perfect!

I have no specific goals except to try to relax and enjoy whatever happens. The underlying goals are still, as always, to get Jumpers Qs and Snooker SuperQs with Boost, and just as many Qs as I can with Tika in the hopes of maybe being able to finish her Lifetime Achievement Platinum (500 Qs, and we need only 31 more). Not sure we're going to get there.

This weekend, out of 100 dogs competing, only three are older than Tika. But, well, they're still going, and Jake was still going at 15 (well, one run a day; and I've never known how accurate his age estimate was). So, we'll see. If we get there, that would be nice, but I think I'm done running all over the place weekend after weekend trying to get Qs.

So, here we go! Hope you all have a nice weekend doing whatever you're doing, too.

Thank Goodness For Medicine

SUMMARY: Boost: Bladder infection.

Yes, Boost has a bladder infection, and a pretty good one, too. I feel better about the accidents that she had--it wasn't me or her screwing up, it was her infection.

SOOOOO my fourth 30-minute-one-way drive to the vet and back in 6 days, this time to pick up the antibiotics. And say goodbye to another $59.

Now I'm wondering...Tika's been doing a lot of licking lately in that same, er, area, and sometimes a little difficulty peeing. Could *she* have an infection, too? Do I want to spend another $200 to find out? Ack.

I may moan about the costs, but in truth I thank goodness that we have tests to figure out what's wrong and the means to treat it.

Go, Sister Dog and Team USA!

SUMMARY: Great results at the worlds.

[One of the] World championship of dog agility is taking place in Prague this week.

The first event was Big Dogs Team Jumping. Boost's sister Tcam (Bay Teamer) is on that team, as well as another Bay Teamer dog, Icon, and two others.

And they won! Just tenths of a second combined score ahead of Slovenia's team! And looks like Tcam was 3rd out of well over 100 of the best dogs in the world! Whoooo! There she is in the very middle on the top step of the podium.  (Team flanked by coaches Nancy G and Kathie L, also Bay Teamers.)

(Thanks Jennifer V for the capture off the video feed, I believe.)

(And a more official photo; not sure who took it. Tcam's the blue merle, of course.)

 

Welcome to October in South San Jose

SUMMARY: Wordless Wednesday

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

DOGDAY

The Scary Vet Adventure

SUMMARY: In which we are all traumatized.

September was a rough vet month for all of us here at Taj MuttHall.

On Sept 16 and 17, Tika was suddenly in so much pain that she could barely stand up (as described here). We ended up at the vet for problem analysis.

Tika abhors going to the vet. So much so that, normally, I give her a tranquilizer an hour before we leave the house. Even so, she completely over-dramatizes the vet experience. For example, I pull into their parking lot, I pop out quickly, open the tailgate--and Tika is lying in her crate (instead of the usual "Let's go!" pushing to open the door), shaking. Quivering. How does she even know? Are the noises in that area so unique? I can't imagine that she smells much there--the windows aren't open. But who knows how--she knows.

I coax her out, and as we approach the door, she pulls on the leash away from there. In the waiting room, she paces and whines and will not settle, occasionally throwing herself at the door to get out. In the examination room, waiting for the vet to come in, she paces frantically in a clockwise circle around my chair, occasionally throwing herself at the door to get out. You know, those vets stick things where things should never be stuck.  She survives; she's actually very good through the exam, just panting heavily and tense and I have to hold her front end firmly.

I like my vet, but my wallet hates going to the vet, too. I can feel it quivering as we approach the front door.

Tika, as previously reported, decided just before we left for the vet that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her (which the vet confirmed), but I didn't give her a tranq this time because I wanted a better evaluation of her state. So, even for an evaluation that everything is OK, my wallet had things stuck where they should never be stuck--the credit card into the card reader.  $57 for the office visit. $55 for a refill on her Rimadyl for future painful episodes. And the standard $5 for "medical / toxic waste environmental fee". It's printed permanently on their invoices.

Meanwhile, Boost has had some potty issues. A week after and again two weeks after her prednisone stopped, but after she started hydroxyzine (all for her over-the-top scratching), she peed on my bed while lying there. The first time it was right after we went up to bed and she didn't want to go outside before that, while I brushed my teeth. Behavior? Illness? Medication?

So *she* went to the vet last Friday for an exam, and returned again this morning to give a urine sample. We arrived and I opened the tailgate--poor Tika is lying hunched in the back of her crate, quivering. Boost is not fond of the vet, either, but what a difference. The office door was ajar this morning, and she pushed it open to go inside. Her tail starts wagging--maybe it's an "I'm unhappy or worried" type of wagging, and she does tend to snuggle up to me a bit, but SO different from Tika! After the vet examines her, Boost gets off the table and lies down, completely relaxed. SOOOOOO different!

But my wallet still quivers: $57 for the office visit. $40 for "cystocentesis" ("a veterinary procedure where a needle is placed into the urinary bladder through the abdomen of an animal and a sample of urine is removed"), $54 for general urinalysis, $136 (!!) to culture the urine to check for a bladder infection.  And, of course, $5 for  "medical / toxic waste environmental fee".  Holy smackeroons.

Well, we will all soon recover from the trauma, I'm sure. Whoever thinks that owning a dog is cheap entertainment is in for a shock.

Vacation Day 8: Disneyland AND California Adventure

SUMMARY: Wordless Wednesday.

(For those who want to know--top to bottom:
"Mine! Mine! Mine!" seagulls at Finding Nemo Submarine Ride (DL);
real volunteer green heron enjoying the sun in the castle moat (DL);
chandeliers in store on Main Street (DL);
Red Trolley in Buena Vista Street (CA);
Elias building in Buena Vista Street (CA);
Grizzly Peak waterfall (CA);
Pixar Parade dancers (CA);
Radiator Springs in Cars Land (CA);
Cozy Cone Motel (refreshment stands) in Radiator Springs (CA);
Jazz band bass player Buena Vista Street--and he knew exactly where the cameras were (CA);
Bubbles in Buena Vista St. (CA);
car hood ornament Buena Vista St at Oswald's Gas Station (CA);
friend and me with Cathay Theater behind us (CA);
Walt and Mickey arriving in California (CA);
lockers in Buena Vista Street (CA);
Sleeping Beauty Castle reflection (DL);
sister and her husb on Peter Pan ride (DL);
Timothy Mouse on Dumbo ride (DL);
friend and me on Dumbo ride (self-portrait) (DL);
Sleeping Beauty diorama in the castle (DL);
It's A Small World scene (DL);
Small World and train and topiary (DL);
bro-in-law, sister, and me in traditional photo location at front of Disneyland (DL);
tiki in Adventureland (DL);
crystal castle in glass shop (New Orleans Square) (DL);
pirate paraphernalia New Orleans Square (DL);
Sleeping Beauty Caslte clock (DL);
Dead Men Tell No Tales (Pirates of the Caribbean) (DL);
Dry is Not An Option after we rode both Grizzly River Run and Splash Mountain;
umbrellas at Pacific Pier (CA);
on the monorail (DL);
sister looks back on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride (DL).)

For more Disney Wordless Wednesdays:

Old Dog, Sore Dog--Or Not

SUMMARY: Tika -- physical and mental challenges.

To make a short story long--

I'm a long way from catching up on writing down what I did during my two weeks of vacation, but one thing I did the last week was a lot of walking and hiking with the Merle Girls.

Sept 11 (Tuesday) we hiked up Coyote Peak at Santa Teresa Park--not from the base (1000 feet up) but starting about 1/3 of the way up--on leash. Tika did OK but seemed at times to be lagging, both uphill and downhill. Of course, so was I. The peak was wreathed in clouds when we started, but by the time we reached the peak, it was sufficiently warm to make us want to rouse up some shade somewhere. We did under 5 miles that day.

Wednesday the 12th and Thursday we just walked to the usual park for some frisbee (about 2 miles round trip on the level). Tika doesn't much play frisbee any more--she always liked sniffing and exploring, but now she really doesn't seem to want to run for the frisbee more than half a dozen times.  Boost is OK with that, but it makes me a little sad to see the dog of boundless energy now have bounds.

Friday afternoon the 14th I planned a nice long walk on the level along the Coyote Creek Trail, which is actually paved most of its length. We started in the very late afternoon; still warm, but the sun was sinking fast. I figured that we could get in 3 miles one way before the sun hit the horizon and then walk back the same route at dusk, but by 1.5 miles, Tika was dragging so much that we turned back and got in barely 3 miles.

And, of course, every morning and afternoon we play in the yard--tossing the toy, playing tug of war, maybe doing some weaves and jumps.  Which I did Sunday morning the 16th, then went off to see a movie and get some groceries.

When I came home, Tika didn't want to stand up.  When I tried to encourage her with a treat, she cried in pain every time she tried.  I gave her a Rimadyl  and left her alone for about 3 hours. She did, finally, stand up, but walked painfully and hunched and slowly down the stairs for dinner, which she ate enthusiastically.

But she wouldn't do a nose touch to my hand or anything else, not even sit, and then she went back upstairs to bed. (Funny that whenever she's not feeling well or in pain, she always goes upstairs to lie on my bed--which she has to jump up onto.)

Anyway, after another hour of her again being in crying pain whenever she tried to stand, I decided to take her to the Emergency Clinic. Because what dog worth their salt ever goes over the deep end during regular business hours when the regular vet is in the office? I *carried* her downstairs and set her down in the car, and she immediately lay down and looked miserable. (Usually seh loves looking to see what's going on.)

When we got to the Clinic and I opened the car door, she immediately stood up and wanted to get out and didn't want me lifting her. She pulled intensely on the leash, wanting to go explore (although still obviously hunched over). I walked her and Boost around outside, and since she could do that OK, so I decided NOT to go in to the Emergency Clinic and save myself a bundle.

Instead, I stopped at the local park and walked both dogs around on leash. Tika had a lovely poop and then her head and tail came up and she looked quite happy and normal. But, after we'd been home for a little while and she'd been lying down, it started all over again.

In the morning, same thing. I gave her another Rimadyl, but she didn't want to go outside or do anything. So I called the regular vet and made an appointment for 4:30 that afternoon. All day Tika looked miserable and yelped and cried whenever she tried to stand up--which she would do, but oh the poor suffering thing looked so miserable when she tried to walk!

It's about a half hour drive to the vet (there are closer ones, but I like this one), so I was keeping an eye on the clock about 3:45 while Boost and I were out in the yard playing, when suddenly WHO should come LEAPING through the doggie door, JUMPING down the steps, and BOUNDING across the yard, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ME WANT TUG! ME RUN RUN RUN!

Jeez, smack me with a spoon! Five minutes before, and for the previous 26 hours or so, she'd been in agony.

Anyhoo, we DID go to the vet and he couldn't find ANYTHING sore about her. He thinks it's probably the arthritis in her neck--he'd warned me before (and this has actually happened before) that if she tweaks her neck just the wrong way, it'll pinch a nerve and could be extremely painful.  So apparently she somehow UNtweaked her neck and everything was fine.

We decided on three days of rest and rimadyl to make sure that any inflammation had a chance to ease up.

On Friday (4 days after that), I decided to try another hikey walk. It was dinnertime, but I figured that it was better to hike first, maybe about 4-5 miles of nice brisk walking, and eat afterwards. I picked  a nice, easy, on-the-level hike along the Los Alamitos Creek Trail, also paved, winding among the trees, a nice pleasant walk not far from home. We got there and started walking, and Tika started out sniffing and brisk, but within the first half mile got slower. And slower. And slower. Not showing interest in things. Not pulling on the leash at all. Even lagging behind me by the 3/4-mile marker. I was determined to do at least one mile before turning back.

I was pretty bummed that she was still (or again) in such sorry shape after all that rest, and still on rimadyl, and feeling sorry for myself that my hiking and agility companion was getting old. Poor me. Poor dog.

At the 1-mile marker I sat on a bench to give her a break and do a little massage, then rest. She seemed happy for the attention and not actually in pain.

(Oh, and as I sat there, another agility person jogged by with her dogs and we were both surprised to see each other there.)

Finally stood up and asked Tika what she wanted to do. She immediately leaned into the leash in the direction of back-to-the car. She *pulled* me almost the whole mile back to the car, walking briskly and determinedly and I had to keep reminding her to ease up. As we raced back towards the car, I pondered Tika's sudden recovery and energy, and it dawned on me:

It was #$@%* DINNERTIME and Tika wanted ME GO EAT, not stupid walk, not stupid get further away from food. She wasn't slow because she was in pain or getting old, but because she was getting farther away from dinner!

So.

Sunday, I mapped out a nice aggressive 6-mile hike at Sunol Regional Park with plenty of uphill and downhill. We got a later start than I'd have liked--hit the trail about 9:30--and the day warmed rapidly. The first .6 miles were all uphill, and it just about wiped me out. We stopped twice for drinks and, among the three of us, polished off the two one-liter bottles of water I'd packed. I still had a very large bottle of water left, but I couldn't face another mile of uphill trail and wimped out onto an easier trail that headed gradually back down.  So, again, we got in just about 3 miles.

But it was off-leash, which was very nice for all of us. And Tika looked like she was doing better than me, although neither of us as perky as Boost--but even Boost wasn't racing back and forth with energy that day.

In the end, we all seem to be fairly healthy, getting older, slowing down, but not in any great physical distress, thank goodness.