Update on Ribbon

In May Ribbon got her CD at the Swansea trial in Etobicoke.  She passed 4/4.  Her scores were okay.  She had one 198, which was quite nice.  She had a minor blip in her first trial on the heel free she noticed the judge move her clipboard and she paused for a second and then caught up immediately.  But I could feel she wasn't totally focused and her heeling got a little loose.  But overall I was pleased with her work ethic.  She was pestered by a fly a couple of times on her stays and had another dog come over to visit on another set of stays, so other than my high blood pressure during all of that, Ribbon was just fine!
I had also entered Ribbon in 2 more trials the two weeks following Swansea.  I looked over my videos from Swansea and worked on a few things I wanted to clean up. Namely her fast pace and about turns. Both of these element got loose during the trials.  I realized that when I play with Ribbon I tend to run around and play with her, she jumps up and chases me.  It occurred to me that she looked almost the same when I did my fast pace in the ring.  I decided that I needed to give her a better picture so that she would know how to respond by continue heeling and not seeing it as play.  I decided to lengthen my stride and keep my left arm quiet against my body.  It worked really well in training.  For about turns I decided to try a longer head cue and look more to my right, instead of just to the outside of my right foot like I have done with all my other dogs.  She immediately responded to that and it felt really good.  We had fun training together and I was really looking forward to the trials.  The day arrived and Ribbon warmed up really well, she was relaxed and focused.  We walked into the ring and she was fabulous- her figure 8 was to die for!! (although all of her figure 8's were really good).  All the things we worked on were rock solid!! It felt really, really good.  There were only a few dogs left in the class and then stays.  She was great and when we walked out of the ring, they were waiting for us in the next ring.  I did a quick warm up and played with her for a second and off we went.  I was so proud of her, because in a span of 20 minutes she did two runs and both sets of stays and came out a 198 and 197.5 and both HITS!!!

Yeah Ribbon!!!

We are working hard on our CDX and I have mailed in my entries for 4 trials December 01/02.  Ribbon is REALLY enjoying open.  I have been working on proofing drills and continue to work on making our heeling perfect and fun!

Update on Gali

Sorry it has been so long since I wrote, but I have been busy writing the new edition of "Rally On".  It is in the final stages and just about to go for proofreading.  Hopefully it will be ready for print in the new year.

Gali and I have not been out much this summer.  We do have 3 AE legs in rally, but this summer has been so busy that I could never quite get organized to get to the local trials and with the price of gas it seemed silly to spend all that money for what amounts to 6 minutes in the ring (on a really bad day, I might add!) I am hoping to finish his title as Ribbon is out being shown at the end of the year and into next year.

We didn't ever get our last leg for our OTCH.  I was seeing signs of stress in a dog that LOVES to go to trials and bee bop around the ring.  I will admit to being haunted by the fact that I couldn't finish it. In August I actually started to lose sleep over this - did I give up too soon - am I losing my ability to train a dog? - I was feeling pretty sorry for myself.  In August I lost 3 days sleep over this and decided it was crazy that I was going to put him in one more trial.  I entered one of my favourite trials, knowing that there would be a match the night before.  The deal I made with myself was that I would see how he worked at the match and decide if I would run him the next morning.  I kept the fact that I had entered him to myself.  One of my thoughts was that I was putting too much pressure on myself and not doing my best job with my dog. This thought was a large part of my not sleeping for 3 days!

The night of the match Gali's heeling, front/finishes, articles and signals were really, really good!! I was having fun with him and he was having fun with me.  He was a little hesitant on his go out and didn't take the first jump, but I really felt like I had given my signal too fast for the bar jump and I had also said over instead of bar.  I redid it and he was really good, the jumping looked nice and he seemed comfortable, the second half was fine.  We did glove last, when I sent him out for the glove, he went straight out looking for the glove and he couldn't see it!! The glove was located about 6 feet to his right.  He stopped for a few seconds, put his head way up in the air and started air scenting to find the glove, which he did quickly and returned to me.

I felt my heart sink - these cataracts really are affecting him!  I pulled from the trial the next day and ran him in rally only.  I am at peace with this now.  I would never want my dog to get hurt doing the sport I chose for him.  That is that!!!

Gali and Ribbon

So I am sure you may have guessed that since I haven't posted that Gali didn't pass on Friday. He worked hard but came up short on his second go-out and in Gali's defense he was short by inches. However it was a fail. He did his jumps, he did his signals. His articles were quite nice and his heeling was very good, some bumps on left turns. He did struggle with his fronts; he really wanted to fade off to the side, which is unusual for him. What made me a little sad was to see him get stressed. He walked in on his moving stand and I think he walked in on his first article. He wasn't jumping up on his start ups. All of these things made me decide that I am going to call it quits. For now or forever I am not sure, but I am going to stop and concentrate on Ribbon. In my heart I can't come to terms with asking him to do this if he is struggling because of his eyesight. Throughout his career Gali has always been and an honest, happy go lucky dog and I just can't take that from him because I want to put some letters in front of his name.

I have had a chance to go through my videos of Ribbon's first weekend out and have come up with a plan for training for the next two weeks leading up to the two trials I have her in on Father's Day. She routinely got distracted and fell out of position on the last about turn. I have been working on heeling into barriers and have people call commands for me. One thing my friend Kelly noticed tonight was that Ribbon seemed confused between whether she should stop or turn when I heeled really close up to a chair. My reaction was to slow down my steps and let her make the decision to complete the turn and praised like crazy when she made eye contact (and was also back in position). Kelly's opinion was she thought Ribbon wasn't getting a big enough cue to turn. So we repeated the exercise and I cued by looking about 6 inches outside my right foot (usually I look at the baby toe of my right foot). This made all the difference in the world. Ribbon accelerated into the turn, maintained eye contact and gave me lovely heel position. We repeated the same drill heeling towards a wall and had the same result. Thanks Kelly!

This morning in my Novice class (Susie teaches so that I can train my dog in a class environment) we did run throughs and one of the things Susie thought I was doing was taking too long a stride on my slow and she thought that Ribbon was bumping me because she had to reach so far forward on each step. When I tried the slow again and focused on a more controlled stride length I got a much smoother transition from normal to slow and from slow to normal. Thanks Susie!

During my run through I did have to deal with Ribbon making some bad decisions about looking away and going wide on some turns. With Ribbon I do a freeze correction, which means that I stop and hold her in the position she shouldn't be in and then ask her to return to proper position, praise and then continue. She usually has several steps on being unsure of continuing and then regains her confidence and continues on in position. At that point I praise her and or reward with food.

My goal for these last two Novice trials is to go for a HIT. I have one male and one female judge and I am excited about getting her back out there and learning more about how to best handle her and develop our teamwork!

Tomorrow my training will include Chad calling commands for me, more work on stand for exam, putting into play the things I learned today and mixing it up with some Open and Utility exercises.

Ups and Downs

First the good news... Ribbon did a fantastic job her first weekend out. She passed all four Novice trials. She also won three of her four classes. Her highest score was a 198.5. It was really hot and the days were long. She was a real trooper – which isn't a surprise, given her strong work ethic. We did have a few hiccups along the way. On our first run, during the off lead, something the judge did caught her attention and she lagged quite badly and I gave a second command, and then she recovered nicely and completed her routine with style. Her second trial was her best, she still had a little problem with the end of the heel free routine, but that was the only thing that occurred through the whole routine. On Sunday morning, this was day three in the heat; she did a really nice job. We got heeled into the stewards table on the heel free so she stopped to have a look at the table and then ran to catch up. She also moved on the stand for exam. I also got hit for bumping during my on lead heeling. Which is disappointing since Ribbon never touched me. So I had a bad feeling walking away from that class. However Ribbon did a nice job! Our fourth and final trial of the weekend was under the same judge we had the first time. I was curious to see if Ribbon would have any kind of reaction to her. And in hindsight I should have warmed up my stand for exam, given that she moved during the morning trial. However, I was sort of running between rings with Gali in utility and missed that opportunity. Her heel on leg and figure 8 was really, really good (in fact Ribbon got 4 perfect figure 8's). On the stand she moved ever so slightly, I thought it was more of a move, but on the video she barely moves her foot. However, when I returned to heel position, she stepped forward. So two points lost there. When I released her from the stand she started to move forward but not with me more towards the gate as if she wanted to leave or move away from the judge. I took a moment to call her back to me and asked her to set up into heel position and then heeled towards the set up point for the heel free. As we were moving along together I praised her and got a nice level of intense attention. I felt like we were back together as a team. During the heel free she certainly noticed the judge, but held it together much better with only minor flaws. Her final score for this class was a 195 and she lost 2 marks on the stand, she is right there for another couple of high scores and hopefully a HIT. I have her entered in two more trials in a few weeks and I have a pretty clear picture of what I will be working on.

Oh and on her stays she twice got attacked by a fly (which she really, really hates) and had a dog come to visit her on the down stay, but she remained in position and looked really solid.

Okay, now Mr. Gali – Our first trial was not good – period. He didn't get his second jump, so it was pretty much over before we even started. But I didn't do a very good job over letting it go so the rest of our run suffered. He didn't get his signals either. I don't think the lighting was good for him.

The second trial, I had gotten myself together a little better and was concentrating on each task at hand. I also took some advice from Susie about doing the signal even more away from my body so that he would have a better chance of seeing it. He got his directed jumping, but I held my signal for longer and on the second half I used a verbal command as well. This helped push him towards the jump for sure. It seemed like at one point he almost stopped, figured out where the jump was and then continued on. Our heeling was not our best, Gali missed some sits, but he got his signals and glove and moving stand. So all that was left was the articles exercise. He has always been pretty solid on this exercise so I was feeling pretty good. However, the obedience gods had other plans. As I turned to send Gali to the pile, my foot went underneath the mat and flipped it up, so that it lands on Gali's pasterns. He stopped and didn't know what to do. I didn't want him to worry so I gave him a second command and that was the end of that utility leg – Can you believe it!!!!! His second article was perfect – so good for him!!! I think the judge could have given us a redo, but she didn't. I feel somewhat cursed....

We have one trial on Friday and I have a plan of working him each day and putting the jumps out wider and doing more sequences to give him opportunities to be rewarded during a routine instead of only during training drills. So by 9:30 on Friday he will either have his UD or we will be done – maybe forever maybe just for a few months.

Oh Boy!

 

Bring it on!

Two days to go until Ribbon makes her debut in Novice. She has been working really well and I am so excited to see how she does!!! It is always so fun to show a new dog for the first time. She is entered four times on the weekend. The judging panel is really good, so it will be interesting!

Gali trials in three days, he is doing utility on Sunday (Rally on Saturday). I have him in both trials for utility. I am feeling really confident about showing him this weekend. He has been training beautifully at home.

Here is the update on his eyes. I took him on Tuesday morning and he had some extensive tests. The verdict is that he has iris atrophy (the muscles that dilate and constrict his pupils aren't working as well as they use to) which makes him sensitive to light, plus he does have cataracts in both eyes. The Dr. could see to the back of both eyes. He felt that he didn't have any blind spots but in the center of his eye it would be like looking through the windscreen of your car if it was covered in Vaseline. He sees better at the outer rim of his eyes.

I explained to him what Gali does in obedience and he gave me some tips to help him manage the signals and directed jumping better including wearing contrasting clothing (which other people suggested too). Making the signal a little more methodical will give Gali more time to see it and for his brain to process what it is. The best news is that Dr. Whelan said that "there is no medical reason for him not to compete." – Music to my ears!!!

I have a plan for some black and white clothing for Gali's trials. I trained in the outfit I am going to wear (while his eyes were still under the influence of the drops) and he had no problems at all. I am also going to change into the blouse when I do the match tomorrow to give him another opportunity to get use to the lighting and become accustom to how things will look on Sunday.

Swansea here we come!!!!

The Next Step

At Gali's vet visit, she said that he had cataracts in both eyes. I'm not shocked by this, but it still wasn't the news I was hoping for. My next step is take him to an ophthalmologist, his appointment is on Tuesday. I am hoping to find out how much vision he actually has, is it safe for him to be jumping and how the cataracts progress. I have never had a dog with cataracts before, so I have lots to learn. The timing of the appointment is good because on the 27^th of May Gali is entered in utility trials. Of course I will pull if the ophthalmologist says he shouldn't be jumping. Knowing that Gali has an eye issue, certainly explains a lot of what has been happening.

My theory is that because our utility trials were so spread out, due to my family situation in last few years. I didn't equate our failures in utility to a health issue, but thought it was a training issue. When I buckled down getting ready for his last trial, over the course of those 11 days there couldn't have been much change in his vision, so I think he adapted to my directed jumping cues. So my plan for getting ready for these trials is to do the same things and also include more signal work in addition to directed jumping.

There is a match the night before the trial and I am going to concentrate on those two exercises to give him an opportunity to become accustom to the lighting. And as always I want him to have fun and feel confident going into the ring.

This Monday we are in a rally trial, and also on the Saturday of next weekend. It will be good to get into the ring to do something different together. Gali and I always enjoy doing rally together!

Ribbon is also entered in the trials on the 26/27^th. This will be her debut in Novice. I am really excited about it! We have been working hard on duration exercises and moving between exercises. I think the hardest part about having a new trialling partner is knowing best to warm them up and how to make the most of your time between exercises in the ring. With Ribbon I have been doing a combination of playing with her or heeling between set up points but giving her lots of verbal interaction and both seem to work well. I have a few different games I can play with, so I think I can keep her on track. I have also been working on front, finishes and sit for heeling (when don't you????). Of course because I entered the trial Ribbon has dumped most of her coat, so she is not her fluffy self, but still cute nonetheless.

Lots to do!!

Not yet

Well, it wasn't the result that I was hoping for. We didn't pass. We had routine #3, which starts with directed jumping. I thought at least we will find out quickly if all my work will pay off. His go outs were perfectly straight and he turned and sat on a dime. I had bar jump on the left first and he sailed over it – I was feeling pretty good. He took the high jump on the right without hesitation. His articles were very good. The next exercise was moving stand, I think he stopped pretty cleanly, but for some reason on the recall he moved beside me as if he was going to go direct to heel. However, he changed his mind and came back to a perfect front. So this left signals for the end. I was working hard to keep my nerves down, but my hands were shaking quite a bit. He heeled beautifully, including a little woof just to clear the air. On the down signal, my arm didn't feel right, so he didn't drop, but I have to say that he was paying attention. His attitude was great, so I think the signal was off enough to mess him up. He moved forward a step and started to lie down, but then remained standing. And that was the end of my chance to finish my title that day.

I am certainly disappointed, but not discouraged. I would like to get the title; I am the one that needs to be reinforced!! But my friend Victoria said to me this morning – "You have more to be encouraged by then be upset about." She is right.

So... I have put him in two more weekends, Swansea at the end of May and the LOC on June 01. Also I am on my way to vets in a few minutes to get his check up and I am going to ask her to take a look at his eyes, which is something I have been worrying over for the past few months.

Stay tuned