HT match yesterday!

The Spur-minator ROCKED!!! I wasn't sure how he would do indoors after his last indoor on rubber trial where he kind of melted down. I didn't linger inside with him for long before his run. There really wasn't any room for that, so we basically got in the building to the start line and ran!! I think he likes that. No cringing hearing a loud, banging teeter as he waits to run, just get in and RUN!
I tried to "test" his contacts by running as fast as I could and trusting him, but I do slow down some. Regardless, he NAILED them four times!! I only have two on film, but he did two before that nearly identical. Good little Spur Man!!



Roscoe, kind of down. Not sure what his deal was, he has always liked running there, but he was a little off.

I LOVE slow motion video!!

Must, must, MUST figure that out for my own videos!!

This is SO cool! Kind of scary obstacles, though. OH MY, that TIRE!!! YIKES!!! This is somewhere in Europe. Those Europeans just GO for it!!! -

More Spur's running contacts

He looks a LITTLE faster in these. I wish I could figure out slow motion. I don't think youtube editor has that. I think I need to get some help with my handycam program and start using that. The flip definition is SO crappy.

What I think I see happening is he does a nice, speedy up, then adjusts his stride on the top, slowing a bit to get the right stride down. This is by far the greatest training challenge I have ever had. When I see an awesome running contact I just wonder how the heck did they do it? I mean, I KNOW how Silvia does it. She explains it well, but she makes it sound easy......."just let them run it". OK, she doesn't say JUST that she does explain they need to know when they are wrong and when they are right, but it sure seems to take a lot of time. I do think Spur knows what to do, he just needs to figure out his stride. If I can get THIS speed at a trial I would sure be happy. When I watch these I do see that I am usually a bit ahead. I send into the tunnel and RACE to the end, so I am a bit ahead. In a trial that is hardly ever the case, so I will try that.



Tomorrow I am going to merge some of the trial videos together to compare some of the different handling I use with each dog. I LOVE this new merging ability!! I feel so techogeeky!!!!

Old age sucks, but what can you do about that?

Well, you can make it as nice as you can and that's just really all you can do. And add drugs. Good drugs. Substance abuse. Maybe? But, really Muffin Heads, when you are like 100 years old what's a few added substances?

This is my beloved Zeus this spring....

This is him just the other day.......... He has had a rough summer. Diagnosed with insufficient thyroid disease and now on supplementation. Then developed some sort of irritable bowel disease. He took a turn that looked to be nearly the end. So, we added drugs. Lots of drugs. He is on thyroid supplement, metronidazole for his bowels and prednisone. He's actually doing very well!!!! He is simply amazing, really, as I watch him gimp along the fields and driveway, it amazes me that one of our residence foxes hasn't decided on him for a snack. My thought is that he must smell like death and disease? Or he is feistier than I think! He has been "feral" his whole life, we think. We got him about 10 years ago and put him at about 17 right now? Not really sure he could be older or younger. He has very few teeth left.
I consider him a hospice case and I do wish he would enjoy coming inside to be warm as the weather gets colder. HE has NO intention of coming inside. Every time I bring him in, he wants out. In a big bad way. But, I have snuggle safe disks for his beds, which work really well. I am thankful every time he appears for his meals and medicine!! He has lived a good long life, already!!! His life is full!! He seems to like his drugs

Love this chick!

Greatest trainer ever! I mean, seriously, this is a 6.5 month old puppy!!!

Videos of the dirt agility

Roscoe's PGP. Love how he really digs in after the wrap at 3!! He didn't read my front cross at the jump after the chute well. WAY wide there! Dog walk contact, awesome dude!!



Spur's PGP. A little slow off the start line. That's a buggar for us and something we need to work on, for sure. Not his speediest work, but confident and happy! Love how he reads the front cross at the jump after the chute. AND TOTALLY love his teeter!! The cause of many of his melt-downs is becoming a "non-issue"!!! That damn teeter hurt his trust in me and has been such a long, hard road back to trusting in me. It was a very loud teeter and it didn't seem to faze him hardly at all!! He cringed a few times outside the ring hearing another dog bang it, but doing it himself didn't seem to bother him too much!! Good Little Monkey Pants!!!

And good little Spur Man for running his contact nicely! Very pleased with both dog's contacts that day!!!

Dirt, dirt, dirt, we LOVE dirt!

What more can I say? Dirt agility is THE BEST!!! Of course, staying with the in-laws only 6 minutes away is sweet, too! I mean, with all the talk of bed bugs, staying in a nice home is just SAWEEEEEET! Even though we did spot a chipmunk running through the livingroom one morning. The dogs missed it.

And the dirt. OH the dirt!!! I think Spur would say that field turf is just as nice and I will agree with him cuz it's not dirty, but Roscoe? DIRT!! Muffin Heads, it's just HIS FAVORITE!!! He gets all squeaky and pumped up and runs like the manic MinPin I know he is. He LOVES it!! I love it. It's grippy and soft. I read on facebook one competitor complaining it was hard packed dirt. Huh? I didn't think so at all. I thought it was LOVELY!!! Yes, there were some areas more packed then others, but far nicer than running on rubber. And Spur liked the big trial and busy scene. He feeds of that, for sure. The one down run we had was when they stopped to change the table height and it was all quiet just before his run. I have to try to keep his energy up and the atmosphere charged for him before his run. He definitely likes the busy, loud atmosphere!! Funny little guy!

We had a great time and I only wish we had done both day. Lisa had to get back to grade papers. Next time? Both days. I LOVE that site!! My dogs LOVE that site!! It's dirty, yes. And it was a little cold, but I dressed right. Roscoe did fine. I had his coat and took it off at the last minute. He was happy as could be!

Spur beat him in PGP, which he SHOULD, but I am still happy about that. He should always beat Roscoe, but his worries sometimes prevents that speed at trials. He beat Roscoe by over a second, so that was nice. His turns were tighter, that's all, really. Roscoe was maybe running with more intensity, but because he was he went wide several times. Both boys nailed their contact even though it was the second to last obstacle heading straight for the outgate. Always a risky one. That yeehaw as we finish up can often produce a leap. Nope, both boys ran beautifully right through the contact with perfect hits!! I was very pleased!! I'll post the videos when I get time.

This week, YIKES..........one very busy week for me!

Glastonbury CT horse barn you are in our future!! I won't be doing the November trial there.......brrrrrrrrr.......but, next April that trial site is a DEFINITE in our future!! Dirt, the boys LOVE dirt!