Seminar/Challenge/AWI/Quad weekend Part 2

OK... so we covered all the awesome news about Tali... now on to the rest of us.

Friday's seminar with Ron Watson and Apryl Lea - We had a great time. It was really cool to have disc dog training in a format that I'm used to learning dog stuff. Up till now so much of disc dog training has been "figure it out yourself". I find it kind of nice to have someone actually talk about in depth foundation training, etc. Of course coming from an agility background that's what I'm used to so it makes sense that part of the seminar would appeal to me. Jack isn't the best student in the world (teachers often are not) but he enjoyed it very much and we both learned a lot. Jack worked Tali in the seminar and I worked Max. I did play with Groovy during down time and she did quite well. Very focused on me and the disc and considering I was playing in a sheep pasture filled with sheep treats I was pretty happy about that!

Exciting side note!!! In a change of events... Maximo is staying! Mom had a change of heart the Thursday before we left for Orlando. She wants to give it a go with Max. They are going to fence in their yard which should help get him some exercise without him having to be leash walked for it. Hopefully this works out well for them, for Max and for us too. It's very exciting to see Jack work frisbee with Max. It'll take a while for them to become competitive for various reasons 1) he doesn't live with us and they only get to work together 2-3 days per week 2) Max has some foundation stuff to learn (like "drop") but he gets better every session. Someday though I think they will be a very competitive team.

Challenge/Quad: Max did OK with me in toss n fetch. While he is a freestyle maniac he loses focus in distracting environments in toss n fetch. Nothing that can't be overcome and he was getting better as the weekend progressed. I played with Max in the quad. We don't really have any timing down so we didn't do all that well but we did get a 34 yard catch and that isn't too bad. He was a good boy all weekend and the girls (Tali, Jam and Groovy) ended up loving him by the time the weekend was over.

Groovy - Groovy did great on Friday as I mentioned. I didn't work her in the seminar as I thought it'd be too much on her not to mention she isn't really old enough to be doing a lot of the disc dog stuff. She did do great the times I did play with her. Her focus and drive are really coming along nicely. We learned several tidbits at the seminar that will help us in our training with her and I'm already seeing a difference in her since then. Groovy also did great at the hotel (minus a few minus of slipping her leash and not wanting to come back - giving me a heart attack because she went both near a pond - think gator bait - and near a road at 10pm at night). She slept well, she did well with the hallways, elevators, strangers with just a few woofs here or there. Groovy did not do well at the competition site however. Saturday morning she got out of the car all happy and seemed quite normal walking over to the tent. A couple of hours later I went to get her out of the crate to walk her and have her meet my aunt who came to watch. She was huddling in the back corner shaking. Not good and I have no idea what set her off as her crate was covered and it was Jack on the sound system. It might have been a barking dog in the next tent but who knows. She had done so well at the Canis Majors in November I thought we had made it over this hurdle but I guess it's 2 steps forward 1 step back... or maybe 1 step forwards and 2 steps back some days. After I did get her out of the crate I let her spend the rest of the day crated in the car which she was much happier about. When I walked her I kept her away from the crowd and she did fine. She even played some frisbee with me later that night as Jack was helping pack up the club stuff. I was impressed again with her drive and focus - but mind you - there were maybe only 15 people left and there were quite a ways away - but you got to start somewhere. Interestingly enough she was "normal" back at the hotel that night. Sunday we didn't even get her out much - again she was crated in the car and was very happy about that. We just walked her a time or two and kept her at a distance. This weekend we have a competition that's local. I'm going to bring her but I'm going to keep her crated in the car and I plan to make a point of walking her, rewarding for confidence and playing disc as close to the competition as she is comfortable. We'll see what happens. She really is at the age where aussies generally get spooky about stuff... the "problem" with Groovy is that she's been spooky on and off since she was 11 weeks old. Last weekend aside I think we are making progress and I really see her drive for the disc increasing every week so I'm sure that will help when we can play in some of these places that scare her.

Speaking of drive increasing... I played disc with her Monday night. Jack usually gets home first and gets to play disc with her on the weekdays. Well he had to work late so I got home first. I didn't feel well and was missing her agility class so I made a point to at least get her out for a few minutes to get the beans out. WOW! We had an awesome session! Here's a pic of her from Sunday - she turned 11 months old on Tuesday!

Ron Watson seminar/CFDDC Challenge/AWI Qualifier/Quad weekend - Tali

By the title it looks like we had a busy weekend last weekend... and well we did! Busy but fun!

I started to write a whole weekend wrap up but found it to be too long and cumbersome as one post so I am going to break it down by doing one post (this one) that focuses on Tali's weekend and then another one that focuses on the other 3 dogs that went with us and our experiences.

Friday was a disc dog seminar with Ron Watson and Apryl Lea of Pawsitive Vybe. What a great experience. More on that in the next entry. Tali was kind of a putz (in other words distracted and not drivey) at the seminar but we really didn't work the dogs much at all so it was OK.

Saturday was the CFDDC Challenge and AWI qualifier (Ashley Whippet Invitational)... Jack hoped they'd do well but didn't really figure they'd be able to make the top 5 considering who all we knew was coming to the competition. For their freestyle round Jack wasn't at the top of his game (he was sick with a sinus infection and had been all week). He didn't get off a few of his tricks and sort of fumbled a few others but none in a way that caused bad tosses or dropped discs. In fact several folks complimented him afterwards and we both were kinda like "???" BUT I guess when they don't know the routine by heart like Jack and I know his you don't really know what was missing! As for Tali's portion of the routine... she was on fire! She was drivey, focused and accurate. The best I've seen her do yet I think. Jack and I both felt really great about that but still didn't figure they had finished in the top 5. Tali definitely carried the team though and in the end they actually ending up placing 5th in the AWI qualifier! We were shocked to say the least! Below is a pic of Jack with the other qualifiers... Congrats go out to Danny Venegas and Jumpin' Jack, Gary Duke and Bayer, Angela Ewtushik and Rally, Donna Schoech and Diva. And also there is another pic of Tali during freestyle that day.





Sunday was the quad. Ruckus is on R&R for a bum back right leg (recurring injury spot) so Jack had to choose between playing Maximo and playing Tali. Max hasn't really practiced the long bombs with Jack so Jack played with Tali even though the Quad has never really been her thing. As is normal for her in the quad she wasn't driving to get the discs and as such had a lot of misses. In her 1st round with Jack he just had to play safe to move on and that worked out fine, but when he needed her to go longer she just wouldn't kick it in high gear. She was the same way with me last year though we still managed to make it to the finals. It's strange since the quad field is so wide and there is hardly any crowds on the sidelines. She can do regular D&A in a more crowded environment just fine so there must be some sort of vibe going on at the quad that makes it feel different for her. Who knows... no big deal though as neither Jack nor I have the distance in our arms to win our divisions anyway! It's just a lot of fun to play and especially to listen to the trash talk! :)

Sooo... overall a great weekend for Tali. I'm really anxious to see the day when both Jack and Tali are "on" at the same time during freestyle and see them play in a competition like I see them play at home all the time. That hasn't happened yet but someday when the planets align just right it should be quite the thing of beauty! :) Oh - and of course Jack is already tweaking their routine with stuff he learned at the seminar. That should be fun to see the outcome of as well!

Bad blogger indeed...

Been MIA for a while... I guess that means nothing major to report. Tali and I have done some trialing in CPE and USDAA. We got a new dogwalk the other day! Woo hoo! That'll be nice to have. Next piece of equipment to get is a table I think. Table issues killed us one day at USDAA.

Groovy's been doing good in agility class. She kinda sucks at collection work. She CAN do it - just doesn't come natural to her like it does Tali. Then again she is SO long in the body she isn't really built for it. Her disc drive is increasing! We still have to get the message across that the best thing about disc is catching it vs. just running with it while it flies but that'll come.

This month mom and dad got a new dog - a rat terrier/cattle dog mix. His name is Maximo. Unfortunately he has proved to be too much dog for them so he's looking for a disc dog home. He's a great dog though - wonderful disc drive and athleticism. I wish Jack and I could keep him but I don't think he and Ruckus would get along. And really he needs a home that has more time for him than we do with working full time and having 5 dogs already. It'll suck to get beat by whoever takes him though - he has every ability to be a top level disc dog. We will miss the little dude for sure.

This weekend coming up we have a big disc dog event. The CFDDC Challenge and Quad and on Friday we'll be attending a disc dog seminar with Ron Watson. Should be lots of fun. Will post with our results after the weekend!

Here are some favorite pics from the past month...

Love is in the air!

Not sure why - but Ruckus has been a big fan of Jam lately. Maybe Groovy is starting to smell like a real girl vs. a puppy girl and he just hopes its Jam and not Groovy! LOL

Mickie Moo

I love Mickie! She doesn't get much mention on Facebook or the blog since she is retired but oh how I love this dog. I was getting some pictures off of Jack's camera and came across this one I had forgotten he had taken back in October. Mickie is the best snuggler in the world and has always been super in tune with me about knowing when I need a snuggle. It'd be nice if she didn't have sand people eyes in the pic - but I still love this picture just the same!

Finally going to register my dog!

I figure its about time to get Groovy registered with ASCA (and Jam too for that matter - though most of the delay with her was the breeder not me). As a result I have to take some pictures. You'd think that'd be easy considering how addicted to taking pictures of dogs I am... but taking pictures of them stacked from the sides and the front isn't my idea of fun so it hasn't gotten done. Two out of 3 angles were successful yesterday with Groovy. Still have to get acceptable photos of Groovy from the front and Jam from all sides. Below are the two "good" ones. I definitely should never show in conformation!





And an action shot for good measure!

MIA!

Where the heck have I been? Sometimes I'm not even sure. Basically though the past 3-4 weeks have been pretty insane. First my mom's dog AJ passed away at too young of an age due to heart failure (Ruckus' half brother). Very painful for all of us. Then my dad got a bacterial infection in his blood and landed in the hospital. Got sort of better and came home then quickly landed back in the hospital again. He had surgery on 12/23 and finally came home this past Sunday. Needless to say that leaves little time or wanting for me to blog. It does however remind me how important family is! Also my Facebook "family" was tremendously supportive with prayers and good thoughts... all were much appreciated.

The dogs hung in there... between lack of daylight and our crazy schedule they haven't gotten loads of attention but still have gotten enough.

Tali has trialed quite a bit lately. At a CPE trial earlier in Dec. she Q'd 9 out of 9 runs - all in level 4 or 5. She finished as the runner up in the Super Sport division of our Canis Major competition. Recently she finished her Novice Std title and Open Jumpers title in ASCA. A great month for her overall!

Jam - is well Jam. An awesome pet and occasionally a good performance dog. Maybe someday she'll want to do more but we'll see. Like I said though - she's a great pet and excels at that job! :)

Mickie and Ruckus are aging with dignity. Ruckus still goes all out for his discs - I have to remind Jack that the boy is 9.5 years old and to take it easy sometimes. Mickie is a wonderful snuggle bug and constant couch companion. She'll be 11 soon - hard to believe.

Groovy is... well... most often lately we call her "Destructo Dog". She continually finds new ways to get into trouble. I remind Jack that difficult puppies often make wonderful adults (Mickie is our case in point). We'll just keep our fingers crossed that is actually true. She is doing well in agility class and we've started herding recently and she's quite the natural. We are still working through some fear issues but she is slowly doing better.

Well that kinda catches us up... below are some of my favorite pics from December.






Herding photo by Sarah Duke