Talking about obedience trials the other day.

Roscoe's last leg on his CD was at American K9 Country. We were chatting about whether or not they put down obedience mats or just did the trial on the rubber mats. I had to go back and find the photo of him doing his stays next to the Irish Wolfhound. Poor tiny boy, looks SO weeny next to that dog. Notice his "Flying Nun" ears.........a little stressed?........ya think??? So, they apparently do obedience trials right on the rubber. I simply couldn't remember.

Our next trial is coming up. Rally-O at the Wyndham in South Portland for the Collie Club trial. I am a little nervous about his performance on carpeting. The last trial we did on carpet he sniffed a LOT, but it was the day after the MinPin Specialty banquet and breed dogs had been on that carpet, also. It SMELLED! We need to practice a few things, since he is now a member of the 100 club, we are expected to get a 100! I would be fine with a 99....maybe. He has been SO high at Rally class lately. Like high to the point of heeling on his back feet, which we looked up and there is no rule against it. So long as he is in heel position. But, it looks sloppy and crazy and frantic. However, our experience is he settles and gets serious at trials. Never forging like he does at class. It's the same way in agility. In agility he is NUTS in practice. Absolutely NUTS, taking obstacles here and there, zooming off to take things WAY away from me. At trials, not so much. The stress? The environment, me? Who knows, but trials are always a little less exciting. In obedience we are both more reserved and careful and precise. Hopefully.

Funny, with Spur trials seem to be pretty exciting, which is nice. I think eventually Spur will starting finding trials WAY more fun than practice, but time will tell. He is still way too young and early in his "career" to know how it is going to go. He is SO different from Roscoe.

Mole munching and more sideways photos, damn it!

So, I did say you wouldn't see any rodent parts, but I guess there was still a tiny bit hanging out. :O Most of it was already choked down, but this is what I first saw when I panned my camera over to Roscoe. (BTW - I never did get a better photo of The Spurminator on the hill. Oh well.)The next swallow and it was gone........ Looking for "leftovers"?.....

OK, so what the HECK with the sideways photos????? I was SURE I had it figured out. I just don't get it! I have them saved right on picassa in their files, but they still end up loading here sideways!!! >:/ This is Precious, sleeping in the warm sun. Who was it that said picassa was the way to go?????.......

And this is the result of our Pileated Woodpecker pair.............

Huh, and this photo I cropped, so what the HECK???? I took this of Spur running FULL out on his dog walk at home. I am pretty sure his next step puts his back feet just at the top of the contact zone, darnit. That's just how he strides - when full our running. I am just going to have to live with that and probably get pissed at a lot of judges who can't judge back feet on contacts.....sigh........ If I can GET full out running on his dog walk in trials. It's his happy place, at home. Running.........full out.........

More winter shots! Sideways!

OK, I was told to download picassa for my photo program. Trouble is even though I have rotated the photos in the program, they STILL come up sideways????? It is EXTREMELY frustrating. Have I told you lately how much I hate computers? But, really I DO love them. WHAT???? It is a love/hate relationship, for sure. Makes me NUTS!

Here is adorable little Leta looking out from the barn as I do chores - SIDEWAYS - ARGH. She is SO cute and SO friendly now. She will be starting a training program come warmer weather. Too cold for treats right now and bare hands, handling the treats, but she will be doing some training come spring. She is SO silly and active and adorable. I just love her!! Very much still feral, but she LOVES me. And here is FAT Juno. She is an older gal and still very feral. She lets me pat her, ONLY if I approach slowly or happen to catch her in her snuggle bed. She is SO sedate and inactive. I have her on DIET food now. I am hoping come spring she will be more active, but basically she is a "retired" older gal and just hangs out, sleeping and eating her diet food. I am limiting it now, even in the dead of winter because she is SO fat. :OMy three posing on the boulder. They look so detached? I think they are listening. The critters are active right now with the sun warming up the soil during the top of the day. Roscoe caught a mole/vole/shrew yesterday. Ate it up in one gulp. I have learned that once it's nearly down there is no stopping him. I can grab, shake and scream, but that little buggar can swallow something SO fast it is AMAZING! I'll post those photos tomorrow. Don't worry, there will be no rodent parts coming out of his mouth, it was gone before I realized it, choked down and swallowed like a snake would swallow a frog - whole. Well, not so slow, but similar in it's process? I was busy photographing Spur again at the top of "Road Kill Hill" and before I knew it said rodent was half way down Roscoe's hatch, so I clicked away at the gulp! ICK!

Dead of winter

Out back on the farm we have a small hill we call "Road Kill Hill". It's a dead zone, where the farmer leaves dead ground hogs that were trapped and killed on the farm so they can watch the turkey vultures have a meal. They actually haven't left anything there in a long time, but we still call it that. It's just a small knoll/rise and full of rabbit? holes? Could be ground hog holes, but they don't look big enough. The dogs LOVE Road Kill Hill. They love sniffing out the rodents, on occasion catching a dumb mole or mouse. In the summer it is loaded with grasshoppers to catch. This time of year, it's pretty quiet but there is some rodent activity. The dogs love it no matter what time of year!!

The sun was SO bright the other day I tried to capture the blue sky background, the dead golden grasses contrasting Spur's incredible coloring. Somehow the sky didn't come out as blue and Spur's coat didn't shine like I remember. I think what I did wrong was not set up with the sun completely behind me. The sun was off to my right a little. (if you click on the photos I think they will come up full version - bigger) And Spur was SO focused on something on the horizon he wouldn't look at me. And then any time he did he came running to me!

Perhaps if I had just come up closer on this one. But, look at that TAIL! LOVE that tail.....

He is about to pounce on something in the grass. And, look, even Spur squints in this bright light.....

See, I called his name and here he comes, Roscoe quickly behind him!....

It's the dead of winter and the grass is sure showing it. Not much green around right now.

Goodbye blanket of denial! Covering up with blame!

You left me feeling chilly, denial. Blame is warming me now.

I can't deny it any longer. Colby is going blind. OK, so that sounds so melodramatic, but seriously she is losing her sight and it is affecting her performance and daily life. Affecting her performance in agility so that I must be smart and not allow her to do things that put her in danger or chip away at her trust in me, like what happened at the trial last weekend. She forgave me, I think. The trial was an "eye opener", .......geez, pun intended, a BAD one, but hey................ She can barely open her eyes on a bright sunny day! She has PRA - Progressive Retinal Atrophy. This was diagnosed last year, although as I looked through her photos I think it started long before. My photographer friend, Helen Peppe, was always complaining about Colby squinting!

The eye is made up of the cornea (outer part that covers the eye), the lens (the colored part that allows light in) and the retina (the back part of the eye that is essentially the "film", allowing light to be processed into colors and signals through nerves to the brain). The retina has photo receptors, rods and cones, and those break down and deteriorate with PRA. This is what Colby has. Asking her to judge jumps and tunnels and walk a long plank or teeter in agility is not such a good idea any more. Perhaps mid-summer when the sun is high and shadows not so bad we will see how it goes. Yesterday, when that photo was taken, it was extremely bright out and she managed to catch Charlee Bears in her mouth, so her day light sight isn't so bad, yet. Her ability to see in low light and shadows and her night vision is definitely affected. The other night she nearly refused the stairs before bed, then did them ever so slowly. I may put some bright marker, or paint some shape (how about a yellow paw print!!), on my risers. Right now my stairs are pine board with dark maroon painted risers.

It's sad, I can't deny this any longer. I want to cast blame. I blame my vet for not seeing it sooner (it isn't treatable, so what good does that do?). I sometimes think I should have waited to do her knee surgery until her eyes broke down more. That would have given us those six months to compete, instead she was recovering from knee surgery. Having those months back with good eye sight would be nice. but would that have been good? I dunno. I wish her ophthalmologist had prepared me better. I DID ask for advice on her doing agility and what to look for, but she was so vague. I wish for the time and money I spent she had given me more information and guidance. Blame, blame, blame, sure feels about as good as denial. Warm and pink and fuzzy. No...........

Start line, smart line!

OK, I need a start line behavior. I remember someone, some clinician? Some instructor? Some author? Someone saying to me once that start lines should be treated like any other "obstacle". Trained as if it is obstacle #1. Actually, I do believe that person was saying "start line stays" should be treated that way. Well........I don't DO start line stays. I did, once before. For years with the MinPins. They are obedience dogs, they stay. I can't even remember the day I made the decision to stop doing start line stays. It was years into our competition. Colby doesn't mind start line stays and does fine! She's not that much of a worried dog. Stays don't bother her much. She'll stay, she's a good little girlie.

Roscoe? Stays can totally bum him out. Self control work is very hard for him and leaving him in a stay sometimes breaks his trust in me. I can see it in him. He looks at me like I have betrayed him. Seriously, he can bore those eyes into my head like a drill sometimes. Like Cin's pup Zep. Ever look directly into HIS eyes? He will bore a hole and suck out your brain cells!!! Roscoe, he just tells me I suck and leaving him in a stay is a BUMMER MAN!!

The day I quit start line stays with Roscoe I had a DOG out there. I had a partner. He breathed such a sigh of relief!! It was THAT clear. We never did another. I have struggled a lot with simply running, however. Instructors sometimes don't even know how to deal with running starts. I have been to seminars where they want me to "just try" the start line stay. I have to argue and explain that what I need MOST is help dealing with a running start line, thank you very much!! Amazing how hard that is for some.

OK, so that's the trouble. Most instructors do start line stays. It's well practiced, they train it, they do it, it's the deal, Muffin Heads. Start line stays! Running starts, not so much. And I need help with it. I need help dealing with the mental preparation. I am going to try to train the bouncy game better with Roscoe. He likes it, he's well trained to do it, I think I can make it a regular occurance at start lines.

Spur - I need to figure something out. Stays are uncomfortable for him, too. And "uncomfortable" isn't the right feeling to start an agility course with, now, is it?? Right now I am doing a rev up sort of game that I can see he is figuring out. I say "Ready, ready, ready??? GO!" and he does get ready and I see him looking at which obstacle he needs to be ready for. However, it isn't fluent, it isn't well practiced and I haven't done it that well at a trial, yet. I tried the bouncy game with him last weekend, but that also isn't all that well trained. He does it, but it isn't fluent like with Roscoe. I do have a new trick I just trained that he loves and he DID at the trial last weekend just outside the gate. A jump off my leg to a little flip like move. However, I am not sure that's the best start line performance? It means I have to perform something and that may make me a little behind on my take off? I don't know. I may try it. I need impulsion from him at the start, so that's my next project.

I have done TONS of rev up games with toys. Holding his collar until he is straining and releasing with impulsion to a toy. But, that's not all that realistic for us at a trial. I won't be taking a toy into the ring. I need a behavior I can take into the ring and use to get impulsion at the start.

USDAA trial report from the weekend.

Saturday was a difficult day. Left the house around 4:30 with sub-zero temperatures. YIKES! Missed the entrance to the facility because my tire warning light went on just as I was passing the place. Drove about five miles past before realising it! How did that happen??? I have been to American K9 Country like a million times!!! I am a dumb ass, but that light kind of freaked me out! OK, so in sub-zero temps, sometimes that light will come on. Checked tires on my way home, all were fine. Another Nissan owner was at the air pump, too, and said......"Must be a Nissan thing!". OK, I guess, what a pain. It went on and off all weekend! >:/ Thanks, Nissan, you are not my friend any more! Time waster, gas waster, worry waster. What a waste! Tell me when my tires REALLY need air, please!

Getting the poor dogs into the TINY crate room where I had to stack all three on top of each other wasn't easy. Their tiny paws kept freezing and at one point I had a dog under each arm after they quit walking because of frozen paws. Poor things!! Glad they are tiny, carrying two border collies.......well.......that ain't happenin'. But, the crate room seemed nice and warm and I covered them up with lots of snuggle beds and the Pin Heads had their coats on. Even with the screamin', howlin', screetchin' dogs in crates next to us, it seemed warm and cozy. Really? It was just hard. Just difficult, just a pain in the ass, but whatever, I know it can be like that and amazingly, my dogs handled it pretty OK. My friend Laura just kept her dog in her car and ran the car, like all day! :O Her dog was happy! I know, I checked on her once while Laura was being a good agility competitor and being ring crew. I checked on Justice. Sweet Justi was warm and toasty, no screamin' jack russells next to her, she was all by herself in her toasty warm car, smiling at me when I got in to check that she was still alive and not asphyxiated. I guess that can happen with a car left running. Not likely, but possible?

Roscoe ran really well. We were not at all together, I felt rushed, claustrophobic, irritated by my tough morning, and in general not right. I haven't run on rubber in a while and it was an adjustment to me. Roscoe did great, not SUPER crazy high like he is in practice lately, but great! No real shut downs, so I was very happy. Colby, on the other hand, was not very happy. She did everything I asked, except the teeter. She flat out refused it, so I didn't push it and we just went on. She did it in her gamble class, but wasn't happy about it. She just didn't look happy the whole day. I made the decision she needs to pretty much retire. I don't know if it is her eyes or not. She refused a tunnel, too, which is REALLY unlike her. So, her retinal atrophy may be affecting her more than I think. It's sad for me, but I am not sure it is really sad for her. I think she is perfectly happy to retire and maybe just do some Rally-O or just be my Top Dog! She's top dog here now, being eldest bitch. That's just the way it is right now and she knows it and likes it. I love the little bitch, she is my girl! :D But, it is still a little sad. She was such a great agility partner for so long!! And she is not even 11, will be in June, and in every other physical way I think is in great shape. Her knee is better than ever, she runs like the wind at the beach and the fields. I think agility and adjusting to light and having to judge jumps and tunnels and going from dark to light is simply too hard for her eyes? I don't know, but it sure seems that way, so she is retired now! I may run her in a few outdoor trials mid-summer when the sun it at the top of the sky, but I'll just have to see how it goes in practice. She much prefers running outdoors, but light is more iffy with shadows and such. Mid-summer might not be so bad?

Sunday was Spur's day! All about Spur. No Masters classes Sunday, so the Pin Heads stayed home -

We had a GREAT day on Sunday!! I think the little buggar really enjoyed his time alone. I was kind of surprised. The only doggie friend he had there was Zep and that didn’t last long since they left early. He was left with just his fans and he has quite a fan club that is just getting larger! :D I think that’s really fun for him, visiting with his fans. It makes the trials really special and helped him a lot yesterday.

His first run was tire to straight on dog walk and I didn’t handle it well and he refused the dog walk, but I regrouped and insisted, so he did it trotting, but he did it. Then ran well and did a super teeter, but got really frightened by the bang. Thankfully, the next obstacle was the table which, strangely, he LOVES, so he zoomed to it and plopped in a down and shook, ears going up….then down…then up….all worried, but his tail was swishing the whole time. Then he avoided the next jump which I made no big deal about, and thankfully again the next thing was poles, which he loves, so he recovered well and ran nicely looking really happy. The next class was gamble and I made a nice opening (jump, weaves, tunnel to dog walk), he ran his dog walk (no trotting) and did his gamble looking REALLY happy!! We got a lot of nice comments.

I snookered us in snooker which was a little bummer because the last obstacle was the teeter and I was looking forward to being able to run out of the ring and jackpot him with cookies, but he didn’t care and ran well!! So, since he was looking SO happy I stayed for jumpers (5:20) and he ran clean!! Everyone thought he looked really happy and I had nice comments, so I am VERY pleased. That was the most runs he has ever done and that is a hard place to trial, I think. He did SO well!! His fan club is growing LARGE! He did run to say hi to the leash runner before starting in jumpers, but I called him away and just started. He does think EVERYONE wants to say hi to him now, which is OK! I think he is serious enough about his work that he would not go visit while running…….. too much. LOL!

I am very proud of the little buggar! I did see a woman there who had fostered one of the older mini-aussies from Spur’s kennel and she kind of bummed me out. She couldn’t even remember the dog’s name and said words like when she finally “got rid of him” and stuff like that. I didn’t like her the rest of the day. She wasn’t even nice to her own dogs. But, I didn’t let her bother me too much. I hung out with Beth, who I really like and whose portie Nellie looked AWESOME, and Jen was there with Gordon, the weim, who I really like. They did great!! Her first USDAA trial with Gordon! And Shona, who is really nice and her dog Nevis just looks so clean and uncomplicated, pretty aussie with a stripe down his nose like Spur's.

For a dog with some major issues about sounds, sights, teeters and things falling or being bumped, this seemed like a really hard place for Spur to run, but he held it together and gave me a GREAT effort! I know we can build from this and things should just get better and better. I know, I am not in denial, I know things could fall apart and we may have melt downs in the future over silly things, I know that. I know he may struggle to get speed going and to look really confident, for a long time, but I do think the more we do and the more we get out the better he is going to get. I think he is starting to enjoy trials, learning they are fun times! He is work in progress, for sure, but he looked OK! It was nice to hear good words of encouragement from fellow competitors. Many know his issues and worries, and saw him struggling with stuff earlier in his young life, so they know how hard it has been for us. Good little Monkey Pants Punkin Head had his Big Boy Pants on yesterday! All by himself, no Pin Heads for support, he held it together all day. Four runs - good Little Spurminator!!

His standard run. Idiot that I am just ran right past the dog walk, leaving him unsupported and in the dust. Geez!!! -

His gamble run for a third place finish!! Started a little slow - we need a start line consistent behavior. Something I lack with Roscoe, too! I always feel insecure at the start line because I don't want to waste time and be one of those competitors that people are saying to themselves......."Oh for crying out loud, just GO!!" We need mental preparation, start line focus. I am unsure of my own start line behavior, ....what? I need start line behavior?? Yes, but whatever, I continue and we start, somehow, we just go........and,...... he loves his weaves, so that helped him, then the tunnel to the dog walk was good -

It was a good day for The Spurminator!