Trio of matches

starting next Sunday there are three matches to get out to.  One of which is my building but the other two are in new or fairly new environments for my dogs.  I plan to go to all three matches.  It will be a great chance to see how Gali does doing "Trials" three weekends in a row.  Well four really since the following weekend he is entered in a trial.  I haven't been practicing any run throughs with Gali, just doing some proofing drills and mixing up the exercises to keep it interesting. 
It is funny how time progresses on.  I can remember having a conversation with my friend Susie and saying that I couldn't fathom ever running Gali in utility.  He still felt like "the new dog".  Not that I ever had any doubt about if he could do it or not, but I just couldn't get the picture in my head.  Now I have the same feeling about Ribbon, and Gali feels like an old pair of comfortable slippers.  I wonder how long it will be before I write about Ribbon getting ready for her utility trails??

On unrelated matters...Static electricity is driving me insane!!! my dogs are starting whince as I reach to pet them, knowing there is going to be a shock.
Also, watched Julia/Julie last night - really good movie - watch it if you get a chance.  Now I want her cookbook!!

Social Club

One of the new things we will be doing this year is inviting our students and friends to join us for some extra training time. I am really looking forward to it. It is a way to put to the hall to use instead of letting it sit empty. But truthfully it is a way for me to get an opportunity to train with some distractions around. I can do whatever I want, I am not teaching or setting up any drills so it presents are great chance to put some time in on Ribbon and Gali.

The question is, what will I do?

Gali needs

• Work on cold turkey go-outs in different directions.
  
• Signal work from various distances
  
• Scent work with focus on fronts and finishes
  
• Heeling (my favourite!!)
  
• Play games with him
  
• Moving stand (because there will be people to examine him!!)
  

Ribbon needs

• Rear end work particularly on right turns and outside post of figure 8. The batting cage drill would be good for this
  
• Halts with and without footwork
  
• Add variety by including signals, jumping and some retrieving
  
• Fine tuning heel position with some proofing drills like slow pace turns
  
• Fronts with a chute
  
• Duration heeling to build up how long she can work for
  
• Stand for exam, not that this ever bothers her, but she still has to do it
  
• Sit and down stays during distractions and with other dogs (because there will be people to do them with!!)
  

Very excited!! First on the agenda today though is Ribbon's herding lesson, busy, busy day!!

Always and Never

Two words you shouldn't hear when talking about dog training. "I would never do that when teaching a dog to do..." or "I would always do it this way". Certainly my life would be easier if I could say "ALWAYS teach your dog to do a drop signal from a stand" "NEVER let your dog do that." But there is so much opportunity to let the dog show us what makes sense to him please don't cut yourself off to finding different ways of getting to your goal because someone tells you this is the ONLY way to get the job done.

However you should still have a plan of attack on how to teach a dog a skill and you should have in your mind a perfect mental picture for how the exercise should be completed. But the path you take getting there can take many different avenues and keeping an open mind in your training session will keep your training time less stressful for both you and the dog.

ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS AND NEVER FORGET IT!!

My Dad

I haven't posted in a while. The last part of this year hasn't gone well for my family. On November 14^th, my Dad died very suddenly. He had a heart attack while he was driving down the country road we live on to get a battery from the store. I saw him go down the driveway and he simply never came back. My family's world has been turned upside down. We are thankful for a few things. First of all no other vehicle was involved. Secondly Mom, Dad, Chad and I had been out sheep herding that afternoon and we had had a great time. My dad's dog Pepper worked really well and he was very happy. It was a good day.

Chad and I spent a lot of time with parents, we went to the Canadian Open golf tournament for the past five years and last year went to the US Open and this year our trip took us to the Bridgestone Invitational. We had a lot of fun on those trips and there are so many fond memories. We also did a lot of dog stuff together, going to agility and obedience trials over many years. I am very lucky that I have no regrets about my relationship with my dad. I miss him terribly and I have never experienced such deep sadness. I feel like I haven't been able to breathe since the policeman told me my dad was dead.

In December of last year I lost two dogs seven days apart and so have been also dealing with the anniversary of Quinn and Presto's deaths. I feel like I am surrounded by sadness. I know this will get better or at least easier to cope with. But right now I feel consumed by grief.

I didn't want the end of this year to pass without posting what has been going on. My dog's Gali and Ribbon have been trying to make me feel better. They have been remaining very close to me and in the two times I have trained since losing my dad they both have worked really nicely and looked disappointed when training time is over. In the New Year I plan to rewrite my goals and start working towards them. Gali is really ready to get back into the Utility ring and Ribbon is ready to matches at the Novice and Open level.

Here's to a better year in 2011

So Close

Gali has officially lost his utility virginity! He did really, really well. The only thing we missed was the last jump on the second half of the directed jumping exercise. When I signalled him to go to the jump on my right he took the jump on the left. I will have to look at the video to see if I moved my left hand as I gave the signal with the right. It is disappointing to not qualify, but I am so happy with the way he worked. I think he quite enjoyed it. It felt good to be back in the utility ring, it has been awhile.

We had some bobbles during the routine, such as lying down on the turn and sit for the first go-out. He did that at the match too. So I officially have that problem to fix. I will have to try to create that during training and see what I can do to fix it. On the moving stand he moved his rear feet away from the judge during the exam, she very nicely tried to move his back to which Gali gave her a look and put his feet back where they were. It was sort of funny. So one more thing to work on is that I need to get more people to examine him and have them approach from different angles and then I can reward him for holding his position. Also for go outs I have get to more different places and practice having him go in a direct line in strange environments.

I had Echo entered in Novice Rally. She is Chad's thirteen year old Border Collie. I have shown her a couple of times before. I wanted to finish her Novice title and use it as practice for the US Nationals in a few weeks. She did great. We were second in the class with a 99 and she seemed to really enjoy herself. She even had fun walking around the show making friends with people. I would see her during the day laying in her kennel watching people doing things and wagging her tail at them.

I have posted both these videos on YouTube if you would like to check them out, search for Buhund doing utility and Echo Novice rally and you should find them. If not I think I can post them here in the blog. I am just not sure how to do it yet.

Gali's next trials are about a month away. I can't wait!!!

Match night

Tonight was the fun match at the hall where Gali and I will be trialling on Sunday. I also took Ribbon along to do Novice (and to make Gali jealous!) I was feeling pretty good about how things were going, when I trained Gali on Thursday he was amazing. I did a run through in the training hall including a warm up how I have planned for the trial. During the run through the only glitch was that I somehow managed to step on Gali's tail. Quite a feat given that he has a really tight Buhund tail. So I had one finish that he didn't sit, but I can't really blame him. Other than that he was really, really good. I jackpotted him after the signals and fed in a few other places, but went from exercise to exercise.

So tonight at the HDOC match he was feeling pretty perky. He had a large dump while I walked him outside, so he was feeling rather fresh. (You probably didn't want that detail, but there you go). We repeated what we did on Thursday with a warm up and also included a game of tug on his leash. We went from exercise to exercise; I had a no sit on one finish again. We got down to the last jump (bar jump against the baby gate) as I sent him to the bar jump the Novice dog in the next ring halted in line with the jump and Gali pulled off the jump. I quickly took him back out to his go-out spot and redid the jump and he was fine. One other thing that happened was he laid down on his first go out instead of sitting. Not sure why, he hasn't done that in a very long time. When he sat on the second go-out I praised him, hopefully that will help. His heeling was really nice and his fronts where quite good. And he is so darn cute!!!!

I did learn a couple of things about the venue. Sound proofing panels have been added to help with an echoing problem they had, I think it deadens the sound, so I needed to project my voice a little better. The other thing that I learned was that Gali had no problem with the siding on the wall for a go-out surface; he just marched out there and did his thing. So overall I am feeling pretty good about Sunday. I think our team work is pretty solid and Gali is relaxed about his jobs.

Ribbon did a nice job tonight too. I was really focused on Gali, so my run with her felt a little choppy and she got into trouble for losing attention on the fast pace. She was distracted by the utility ring beside us. Her attitude was really up. Nothing seems to bother her. I am really glad that I had asked for her to be videoed (thanks Dawn!!) on the video you can see how hard she is working and how happy she is while heeling. On the figure 8 she is really using her rear end around the circles. As the run went on her sits got a little crooked, but she was pretty excited. On the recall she came beautifully and popped up in the air and came down really slowly with her front end into a perfect front. For some reason I sent her to the right for her finish, which isn't her best finish, but she an okay job of it. I would like to see her go around faster and sit closer, but the foundation work is all there. Judging by tonight I would say we are about a year away from entering Novice.

I am ring stewarding tomorrow as one of the many requirements to apply for judging licence. I am so excited to see how all the Companion students do. Everyone looked fantastic at the match tonight. There are students in every level!!! I better adjust my eating plan and leave room for lots of cake!!!

Still counting

When I trained Gali last night, I was trying to squish it in before classes started. It didn't go as well as I had hoped. He was distracted by everyone arriving and I had to get on his case about working with distractions. This was not what I wanted to achieve during my training session. He did do quite a number of things really well. His attitude was quite nice, even though he got into trouble over running to the door to greet Jaimie arriving to teach her rally class. I was able to settle in and just stay focused and keep Gali on task and get some good feelings out of the session.

A few minutes ago I went to the hall with lots of time to spare and I worked on articles (which he missed the first one), Front exercises, Heeling with turns at a slow pace and random rewards for different elements of heeling. When I worked on my signals I worked from a much further distance than will be required this Sunday. He was AWESOME!!!!! I always say that Gali is a fun little dog to live with and to train, but what I sometimes overlook is how talented a dog he is. I really want to showcase that side of Gali at the trial this weekend. I am so lucky to have a dog like him.

My plan at the trial is to arrive with lots of time to spare. I know from past experience that Gali likes to do something as soon as possible at the trial site. So I will do some heeling with him and a few signals. But I will also need to find a time closer to our run to calmly warm up without having to keep my eye on the ring. Gali needs to have energy from my, but he really needs me to be calm and focused to lead the team.

Five days to go....

 

Also, I did a no-food run through with Ribbon in her rally class last night and she was amazing!!! Her eyes never left me, we moved together as a team and her rear end was fantastic. It feels really good to have her work this well as we approach the speciality and the fact that I am hoping to enter her in some pre-novice trials and rally trials this fall while Gali is out doing utility.