July 2008 - Posts

• We kicked butt in class today and a vid of the past trial

  We started our second class today which is a higher level class with more course work. This class is consists of teams already performing in the ring at the Novice/Open level. We have in this class, two Springers, two Shelties, and three Jacks! (Chloe, Emma, and Scamp) Our first run was so awesome and fast! I used some lateral and distance work. Denise setup a trap on the course which got one or two dogs but we ran so clean and fast. Although there was a hiccup which wasn't caused my me or Chloe as it was caused by Scamp. You see, Scamp seems to fancy Chloe and he gets all excited to everytime he sees her. His tail wags constantly, he is smiling and then there is his high pitch whiney bark. As we drew close to him, he started barking and it stopped Chloe's flow. So I grabbed my disc and get her all jacked up and we finished the course clean. Alright, I lied, I got complacent on the send to the second tunnel because after that was the jump. I got scolded for it but nevertheless, I was very happy with Chloe and Denise showed alot of excitement as well.  And since Chloe was Scamp's weakness, Denise wanted to work on his start line stays. So she asked me to take Chloe out there in the ring and play with her. Scamp was locked on her and the toy. Jan - his handler - had some difficulty trying to get him focused onto her but he finally did it. Good boy! Jan and Denise kept on telling me that they haven't seen him that excited in a long time. I told Jan that Scamp has to get the OK from Chloe's brother Scout. Hehe. Boy is he in for a treat to see the "Hulk" of Jacks. Scamp may jump 16" but he looks like he is about 14" and in a smaller package when I compare him to Scout. Scout is roughly 16+" and over 20 lbs of muscle. Scamp and Chloe are somewhat similar in length. Our second run was modified and we had to work on a send to tunnel which was a lot further than what I was working on. It was AF, jump, tunnel and then several jumps which opened up the dogs for some speed. While the first run tunnel send was marvelous this one was horrible as I was trying to get a farther send. I think the longer hold on the AF is what threw me off my rhythm as Denise wanted the 2on/2off contacts to be held a lot longer. On the first tunnel send at the first run of the day, I called out "tunnel" as soon as I called "break" off the AF however, with this delay, I was all out of whack. I had to modify the timing and basically baby her to the tunnel. So I know I am going to have to work on this more at a farther distance. I did screw up the last jumps because I was worried about hitting the wall and trust me, I ran into the column once at full speed and braced myself. Since I was worried about hitting the wall, I slowed down and convergence with the Chloe which started to make her turn towards me thus pulling her off the last two jumps. I ran it again and I hauled ass to the end and then pushed off the wall. Denise did tell me at the rate Chloe and I are going we'll be taking the "Excellent" course/classes in no time. I still haven't told her ....   _________________________________________   I posted a video of the Novice Jumper class on the last day of the trial. You'll see Cash, Ellie, Scamp which all three are Jacks and Molly, a Pembroke Corgi that is Chloe's classmate at her first trial. Now the owners of Cash and Ellie are actually mother and daughter and I think Cash and Ellie are son and mother or daughter. I forgot. They are really small Jacks. Chloe is bigger boned compared to Cash even though they jump at the same height. Ellie is so tiny.  Well here's the video: http://www.vimeo.com/1431861   Posted Jul 30 2008, 10:35 PM by jdata with no comments

• New command for the dogs to learn

  Back. The command is used in agility to have the dog turn away from you and head into the first obstacle they see. Its great to use when the dog is coming down the AF or DW and then into a tunnel.  Teaching the command was rather simple since it is primarily cue from the outside hand when doing a rear cross. So I just started off with having the dog in the heel position and then move the outside as if I am about to do a rear cross and the dog just moves his ahead away from me. Click. Treat. I continued several repetitions on each side. Chloe already got the gist of it since I have been slowly working on it since we were introduced to it. Scout took a little longer but he got the idea of it. I am not looking for perfect at this point as I just want their head to move away from me. But after several repetitions they were already doing 180s. So we're moving in the right direction. Posted Jul 29 2008, 03:33 PM by jdata with no comments

• Time for another run thru and then another

  There is an AKC dog show this weekend - I think it starts on Thursday - and it will have a run thru on Saturday. We figure this would be a great time to put Chloe in a stressful situation where light-coated big dogs are concerned for some CC training in the ring to get her over the hump. The show will be in Canfield, OH which is only an hour away and check-in starts at 3:30PM. Small dogs are being run first so we need to get there early. Hmm. I wonder if I should just drop off at the ring where all the Golden Retrievers are showing? On Wednesday, I have been thinking about going to Frank Yang's place (Flashpoint Agility) since he is holding a run thru and his facility has both grass and dirt rings. But its a 3 hour drive.  Then on Tuesday, we're going back to the "Wigs and Waggles" run thru as it will be their last one for the year. Now to hope for the gas prices to continue to drop although it really hasn't affected me much Posted Jul 29 2008, 09:46 AM by jdata with no comments

• Great sessions today

  (Second attempt in writing this)  First session was around 11 this morning which entailed working on collection and helping the dogs to understand how to adjust their stride. A course was created where two tunnels opposed one another and in between them were two jumps on one leg and a solo on the other. Chloe was first to go and she was rather peppy and fiery. While the success was high but not near the 90% percentile, it showed promised. She is fine when collecting with one jump but add another she has a problem identifying when to adjust her stride thus a lower success rate. This will be ongoing work thats for sure. Scout's turn was OK but I started to think that this could be too much for him in which I could actually destroy his round jump form - think Chloe - so I backed off and continued working with jump, tunnel, and jump. When we started working on crosses, I noticed that Scout needs more work on the rear cross. Chloe was like this last year and we worked a lot on it. So this gets added to the list of "things to do". Also, I noticed his tunnel sends were rather weak since he was so caught with my body language. I forgot I was not dealing with Chloe so I had to literally get close the entrance. This work would continue in the second session. I was pleased with both dogs in the first session and I see a glimpse of the old Chloe coming back to me prior to the dog attack. She seems rather focused on me and she could read my crosses and do what I asked of her. You know that feeling when you and your dog is running and making up a course on the fly, you feel that connection between you and the dog. The dog reads and listens what you ask and does it on a whim. As the connection gets stronger, the distance can start to increase and the confidence between you and your dog goes even higher. Thinking alike... The second session happened around 8 after dinner. It entailed a course layout presented in this month's Clean Run isssue which worked on weave pole performance; speed and entries. The course consisted of 2 - 6 poles, 3 jumps and a tunnel. Chloe was still sassy from this morning and her performance showed it. She was light in her step however, I noticed she wasn't driving through the poles so that is planned for Sunday. Our intimate connection continued as I kept on making up the course as I go. She got the rewarded when she was coming out of the tunnel or about to finish the weaves not when she finished with a jump. When it was time for Scout, I did not know what to expect and for sure, his starting line stay needs work. But when he got moving he was nailing those entries and completing the poles! I was surprised and impressed by him. His success rate so far is around 80% and he is starting to "get it". Then we reverted back to tunnel send work and I use my infamous green football. I would send him from a close distance to the tunnel and then started to work further back. When he was in the tunnel I ran like a bat out of hell and then tossed the football. I am trying to get him excited to run when he is in the tunnel. Because Chloe is a like a little devil when she is in the tunnel, its like a speed rush for her because she comes out looking to hunt down something. We'll contine to work on this but in all, he did really good. Now my kids are laid all out on the couch or recliner as they are normally taking their nap by 6-7 in the evening in which they are out for most of the night until I brush their teeth or do last call. I think Jen would be shocked to see how Scout is now. I think she'd be proud of him. Posted Jul 25 2008, 09:23 PM by jdata with no comments

• The pups sessions today

  We started around 10 or so and the plan was to work on wraps or tight turns with several jumps. Actually the layout can been in Linda's DJS book but its the same layout we were doing in class since Denise wanted to work the foundation during summer. We worked on collection, post, and front crosses.  This was Scout first time to do more than 2 jumps and I am very pleased with the results. We ran the 'clock' and a lot of recall to heel/collection drills. He is doing really well. When it was Chloe's turn, I increased the difficulty by making the last jump perpendicular to the rest and then did lead out to push and a front cross. She did really good. She hugged that upright like I wanted. My goal was to understand how to get the kids to adjust their stride for a tighter turns and for me to initiate the correct timing for them to suceeed. We had another session in the afternoon. For Chloe, it was mainly serpentine and threadle work. This is tough on the handler to maneuver. I was using Linda's backy uppy for the threadle and its diffcult to run sideways or backwards. The serpentine I laid out what Karen Holik had given out. That was tricky to do so I backed off of it until Chloe and I become as "one" because since the dog attack, she isn't as focused. Scout's session entailed heelwork. And boy did he make me proud! He stuck to me like glue, we did walk the line stufff with crosses and such. I ran, stopped, spun him around, when backwards. He was there and focused on me. What a good boy! We have come a long way thats for sure. I put him in a sit-stay and walked in which I was working on some distance. I was 30' away and he held it. I ran, waved my arms and he stayed planted on his butt. Atta boy!   Posted Jul 23 2008, 07:58 PM by jdata with no comments

• No guts, No glory ... road work and more

  It has been nearly 3 years since I started running/sprinting on our neighborhood hill. Our hill is challenging because its grade is around a 7-8% and roughly an quarter mile however it doesn't stop there, it goes through the woods and into another neighborhood continues upward another quarter of a mile. The hill is such a challenge that the high school team and running enthusaists like to run on it. This hill is nasty in the winter and its one of the three bad hills in "Mudville" so prepared to wait for PennDot to show up to clear the way if you don't have a capable vehicle which really sucks! Been there, done that! FJ is here now Now on the hill is the main road which is sectioned off with streets A-H, we're on the last street. So since I started increasing sets and reps during workouts where I had left off 3 years ago, it was time to get back to running. The last time I ran the hill, I sprinted all the way to G street and mind you, at that time, I was a smoker and a lot lighter! Since I had quit smoking I put on the pounds and now in the process of losing it. And you know, I really think the nicotine helped out a lot with the weight loss as it was a lot easier. Now, making it up to E Street is a chore itself because at that point, you are winded and your legs are burning. I was really curious to see how far I would go but I really did not want to push it since it had been awhile. I walked all the way the hill and crossed the street then stretched. Then I was off! The first two streets go by rather easily. I am not winded at all. C Street comes, OK, there is some muscle work and D comes in and my legs are telling to stop and I am slightly winded. Now I know I could have gone to E street since this stuff is all mental. I did 3-4 deep breaths and I was fine. I guess my lungs seemed to be healed. So I walked up to E Street and then sprinted to F and took a breather to G. And then sprinted the last street, H. My heart was pounding but I didn't feel like I was dying. I sure wasn't winded. But I can tell I was running with more weight. I feel sluggish when running. I am actually pleased with myself so far and will continue to do to this for the remaining warm days. All this was sparked because I am 75% near the capacity where I left off when I last worked out some 3 years ago. So what the hell, let's just do it! I started back up working out again at the beginning of this year. Progress has been slow because I was making it so but its now time to kick it into gear. I am pleased that not all my strength is not lost however some girth is gone that I do know. No more 18" arms but hey, doing 300 push ups now and i hope to be in the 400-450 by Fall. That's where I was. Now ab work has always been a task because my kiddies love to attack me while I am on the ground because they either want to play or want attention.   Posted Jul 23 2008, 07:31 PM by jdata with 1 comment(s)

• Cat owners, why must you...

  Alright, we have neighbors that have moved in on the corner and they have a GSD and young kitty. Both animals have free reign in their yard which is fine by me however, there's a point when your pet(s) crosses into my yard. The GSD isn't the problem as she pretty much stays in the yard, its the cat. It is owned by the youngest in the house and she doesn't control it. On several occassions, this cat plays game and taunts from the street which throws my kids into a frenzy because they want to tear the living shreds out of it. This is the not the first "loose" cat walk through the yard and get scared the living crap out of itself and they don't comeback. I find it fair game, if you don't want to take responsible of your cat, then fine. I really don't understand the gist of having loose cats in the neighborhood. But I digress. Look, there's a point where all this BS has to end and tonight clearly shows why. We're all sitting there watching the news and this little freaking cat (I figured this out later) goes to the storm door - mind you the front door is open and peeks through the glass. Dumbass move! Scout rears up and runs straight for the door and bangs the hell out of it. I originally thought it was a firefly/lightning bug. He rings the bell and I take him out. The neighbor is taking out her american bull dog and her yappy chihuahua which usually gets my kids fired up. So he is locked on the little white dog - think prey - and we go off the porch and turn around the corner and this little freaking cat pops out of nowhere and tries to run up the tree. I am surprised and pissed at the same time and Scout is on his hind legs to kill this freaking so I let up on the lead to scare the daylights out of it. I talk very loudly how incompentent the owner is and she is playing fire and she is out there on the porch on the phone. The little cat is hiding behind the hose box and Scout does not want to let up so I let more slack out and run with him and the little *** runs off. He does his thing and I take him back inside. So I am fired up because this is BS and the owner should be taking her of her property. So back inside, Chloe wants out and she catches the scent. Hackles go up and she is rocked to kill something. Turn the corner and the cat is back and jumps from the bushes and tries to climb up the tree. It falls and I let more slack out of the lead and Chloe wants to kill this thing really bad. And I will not lie my primal instincts for the hunt begins. Chloe is pulling hard to tear into this thing and I hear the neighbor huffing and puffing and talking loudly so I tell her to take care of her cat. Next time it is back on my yard, fair game. I told its BS that people let these cats and dogs loose around the neighborhood. She has been warned. An hour later, last call, Chloe is locked onto their porch and the kitty comes out. She really wants that thing. Scout, OTOH, is busy being a cow and grazing. Listen, I don't hate cats and in fact, when I first moved up here there was a cat that I ended up taking care of and getting close to. But this loose pet crap has to go stop. On walks, I'll do my duty to keep my kids safe and away from yours but most owners don't do their part. Posted Jul 22 2008, 11:23 PM by jdata with 2 comment(s)

• Positive thinking for the week

  That's right naysayers, negative Nancys, bittching Bettys, nagging Nadias! I got something for you. Hehe A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. I am going back into the heat and play with my "kids". Posted Jul 21 2008, 04:29 PM by jdata with no comments

• Reasons The 80's Were A Cooler Time To Grow Up Than The 90's

  This maybe me old but I get a chuckle out of it.   Reasons The 80's Were A Cooler Time To Grow Up Than The 90's  permalink -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10) MTV actually played videos in the 80's. 9) There were only one kind of Nike tennis shoes (white with a red swish), and they didn't cost $125. 8) A comb in your back pocket is more practical and less painful than a ring through your nose. 7) In the 80's playing video games actually meant going out to DO something. 6) In the 80's, when you were out partying, you didn't have to worry about your Mom calling you on your cell.  Actually in my experience the beeper was a great annoyance! 5) In the 80s we didn't have to worry about getting our heads blown off at school -- unless you put a whole pack of Pop Rocks in your mouth and drank a coke. 4) Debbie Gibson vs. Britney Spears. New Kids on the Block vs. NSync. New Edition vs. Hanson. OK, that one's a draw. 3) In the early 80's there were kids in your high school who could BUY ALCOHOL LEGALLY. 2) Feathered hair was easier to care for than dreadlocks. 1) In the 80's you didn't have to worry about your pants falling down all the time. Posted Jul 21 2008, 04:25 PM by jdata with no comments

• Great progress so far

  The kiddies have been getting some quick short sessions as we moved up to the Intermediate exercises in the AP book, contact work and weaves! Chloe had a minor setback while working on the weaves via leash method in where she would not pull me through the poles so I had to do some quick thinking to get her to forget the 'obedience' mindset. After two days, progress is made and we're back up to where we left off! Scout, my boy, he is doing all 12 poles with no popping out at 10 and 11, however, we still need to work on entry work whe he is on my right near the 7-9 o'clock position. He is drivey and expect a pole or two to get popped off. He moves the whole assembly and what is interesting is that I have started to drive him through the poles yet! As for footwork, he can't decided to do a one foot or the hop. The height difference between the two is four inches or so and Chloe has a good six months lead time on him which you can see her clearly faster and consistent than Scout. She is faster through the poles by several tenths and I hope to narrow this down. Contact work. Speed wise, Chloe is faster on the teeter than Scout. Scout is faster on the A-Frame which BTW is awesome. Chloe seems to be slow going down which I think is attribute to either my motion or the slats ( I am thinking about removing them entirely). From now on she won't get rewarded until her performance increases. Moving to the 36' dog walk, Chloe is faster at first and then Scout catches up because of the same syndrome as on the AF, she slows down on the ramp. Jump work. I learned something with my location in reference in how Chloe reads my cues. I noticed to get a tighter turn that I have to pull off earlier than to go too deep towards the jump as it will tell her to extend thus jumping too far. I have to pull off the jump and decelerate some 10-15' away from the jump; go any less then this, she'll fly away wide. She is reading my motion perfectly. I attempted to do an exercise (tunnel and 3 jumps) set out by Linda on the mailing list and tried running it several ways and learned something. Chloe is locked on to my motion cues. I even tried to do an "out" command to a jump and her line was so ugly that it would have caused some time or perhaps I was using the verbal command too late? Now Scout. This is all new to him because now he gets to play with the tunnel a jump from the intermediate exercises. All went well until we started working on sends to the tunnel, he would most of the time go in and then back out. So I figured that I wasn't giving enough forward cues so on we went and he was still pulling back out. Anymore forward cue to the tunnel I'd be stepping on the tunnel. So I started to do something they tell you not to do, I threw some chicken as I bowled my hand towards the tunnel and he got it. Try it again, he didn't. We try again and again and his tail is starting to drop. Uh oh, better think fast. I tried razzing him up and send him to the tunnel and he goes in and comes back out then... he pees in the tunnel and then runs to the other side and pees. I am wondering if he had to go pee all this time. So we took a break while I hosed off the tunnel and got Chloe and worked a bit. Then I brought him back out and continued where we left off, he was fine. So maybe he did have to go which was causing dilemma? Posted Jul 20 2008, 07:33 PM by jdata with no comments

• Media does it job, Negativity sells!

  So today I am curious to see the views on the blog entries and it seems that the entries with the most hits are the one with negative titles and experiences. Is that messed up or what? I don't know if one likes to see someone suffer, feel one's pain, or make themselves feel better because someone else got it worse than they. What gives? So I guess, I'll title blogs with negative words. hehe  Posted Jul 18 2008, 10:50 AM by jdata with no comments

• Moving to the next level

  For the past several months we've been doing beginner jumping exercises in Linda's book once or twice a week and the dogs are getting it. So now it is time to move up to the intermediate level. These exercises have helped Chloe understand to adjust her stride and we will keep jumping against the wall and couch until she nails it down. Her jumps have gotten rounder and tighter on most circumstances. Scout's jumps are rounder and tight and you can see the structural differences between the dogs. Both dogs read my motion correctly and know when to do true collection.   Posted Jul 16 2008, 09:30 AM by jdata with no comments

• Videos uploaded!

  Training on 07/06/08 http://www.vimeo.com/1316455 Wags n' Wiggles Run thru July 9, 2008 thru. 2nd run as first run wasn't recorded http://www.vimeo.com/1318351 Wags n' Wiggle Run Thru July 9, 2008 #2. 3rd and 4th runs back to back. http://www.vimeo.com/1318946   Posted Jul 10 2008, 11:58 PM by jdata with no comments

• Back from the run thru!

  We went to this yesterday and it went very, very well! It was held in a lady's fenced-in huge yard. We have 3 of the runs on video and I will have to uploaded them to Vimeo in the next day or so. Our first run was on the novice course and the last three were done on the excellent course and we ran the outer perimeter for contact work. Now there were no light-coated big dogs though but we found out the Laurie is indeed a distraction for her. haha. Chloe's weakness. Scout was a bit over the top but he had a good time. He met more dog and he and I played fetch while 2 border collies played frisbee. Surprised that he stayed focus on me some 80' away. I'll post the url soon   Posted Jul 10 2008, 11:34 AM by jdata with no comments

• Meeting the other dogs

  So last Saturday we went to Lanie's house to give her a birthday cake and to visit Kayden, the newborn. We or really it was I that wanted to bring the dogs over so that Chloe can get over her light-coat big dog fear, Scout could meet Riley and Joey. This was going to be interesting because certain big dogs triggers something in Scout to lunge towards them. The trip would be short, really, round trip its like 4 miles. Short trips in the FJ isn't going to look to good on the MPG log. Nevertheless, Scout was an anxious little bugger and I found out why once we got there after making several stops along the way. He had to go in a big way when I took them out of the crates and walked them around for a bit. Now Riley and Joey were tied out and they were overly excited hopping around like big kanagroos. Mind you, these dogs aren't trained in no way so we're about to see how bad this can get. Picture this; we have two JRTs (high energy), siberian huskey (high energy well not so much he is doped up on phenobarb and he is way overweight! 72 lbs!), and a border collie mix Joey. By observation and experience I already know what's going before we even get into the yard. My first thing to so is get my dogs under control as they were being fed by the two dogs being restrained by the tie-outs! So thats when I walked them away so they do potty if need be which they did. When I turned back, the dogs were being fed again by the jumping, barking, and lunging dogs so I put them in a sit stay and talking about whine and whimpering. I waited until they calmed down, gave me the eye contact and did the command. I waited a bit and then took a step. If they got out of control again, I'd stop and repeat. They got the hint but once we neared the property the aroma swept over them so primal instincts kicked in. At this point, Thor - Lanie's other half - brought the dogs in and I hoped he figured out the Riley and Joey were making things worse by restrained by the tie-out. Our JRTs were starting to get out of control so I stopped at the foot of the steps until they calmed down and then we proceed. Then Joey peeks her head out and they go out of control again. And you know its really difficult to train your dogs when things out of your control when the other end doesn't know what to do. Now after finally restraining Joey, I went through the door. The JRTs were pumped up again and started to pull, I let it go and what do you know, no conflicts whatsoever. My major concern was Joey since she hasn't been socialized much and if there has been socializing it may have been with only Riley. She is a very timid, low confidence, and fearful dog as she always is either under something or behind someone. They don't do enough to help her out but then again if you look at Riley's situation (siezures, overweight) you can see why. This is a perfect example of how dogs are just convenience more than anything else. Chloe was handling the meet very well. Her tail stayed up and she greeted Riley happily. Riley was looking forward to me as he didn't pay attention to anyone else. He knows who the real leader is. Haha. Actually I think its because I am the only one that gives him mental and physical stimulation. IOW, he gets his attention and his physical exercise. He really is a sweet and loving guy that hasn't been given a chance to experience life because he has mainly been indoors. Sad really. Scout was being the *** toddler that would browse and sniff around. He is wagging his tail and then he finds the toy bin! He digs and prods and takes out toys which were mainly ball type toys so he could ask someone to play fetch with. There was on instance where Joey got a listen on boundaries and limits on how to play. Thor was tossing a big soccer ball and Scout go out and get it. Joey would then prance and hop around in excitement. Riley would continue where Joey left off with howling. Chloe would be under the table chewing a rope toy. Oops. Anyhow, Scout came back and Joey hopped over his back; now she wasn't touching him but he didn't like it and he turned around. He started barking and nipping at her mouth. Scout and Chloe would get to experience Kayden close up as he was bouncing and jumping in his chair in the doorway. All the dogs would have to get an encounter with him because he was in the way to the kitchen. Chloe had a hard time getting through at times because his jumping. Scout and Chloe would sniff him up close. Riley being so wide would actually spin the poor guy. That was funny. All in all, it was a good visit and experience. Posted Jul 08 2008, 11:55 AM by jdata with no comments