Aussome Dogs

Longshot.

2012-02-01T22:39:00.001-05:00

Java has kind of taken a back seat for awhile, so time to thrust her back into the limelight. All dogs teach you something right? Or at least there's something to learn from the training journey. With Java, it's been how to be brave. Man up. Own it. She's such a shy, little thing. Never wants anyone to see how awesome she truly is. I could seriously anthropomorphize, which I have, but she's the dog closest to my actual personality, I'm lucky to have my little shadow of myself. Her very being puts me in a controversial position with some Aussie owners and while I hate that, it's just like Java to make me have to stand up for HER. :)

(such a nerd)

She's got SO much talent, I wish I could squeeze it out of her. I am patient though, as I learned a lot with Trin. It will come, and watching the pot boil will only make it take longer.

Java was scared of judges (or lack of criteria, ahem) so I retrained her to running contacts back in 2009. Not that I don't understand criteria, just that it made Java more nervous to have to fully stop and then she had time to look around so I started *early* releasing her, not even quick releasing. She never got sticky, she just stopped... stopping. So I trained her to run, and she took to it pretty quickly, not in 3 weeks per say, but it was my first time training running contacts. ;)

(by Kat Fahle)

I always knew this time would come. Where she actually starts speeding up, and the striding gets a little off. One hit AF's are becoming common. For a long time, I didn't want to train her dog walk because she'd miss like 10 and then trial she'd be 100% (because she's going much more slowly). But she missed both at DOI so I felt compelled to train and they're edgy. So back to foundation we go. It's fun though and if I'm training it, I can add more speed to it. Win, win.

Her weaves looked awesome all weekend, so I'm excited about that. I was starting to wonder if she would speed up. And then she did. Still not there in shows yet, we'll see. It's a mixed bag with Java and I can't ever count her out. In running courses, I'm feeling very winded with her, which I just don't with Kate. Of course, Kate will drive to stuff but I think it's more than that, it's all the talking which I need to consider more carefully. Is it helpful? I think so.

All Aussies! :)

I really struggled trying to decide on nationals with her. Lots of money to just go, when I don't think she's quite ready yet. But I wasn't sure how Trin would do either... So, I'm looking forward to AKC nationals with Java and making a concerted effort to prepare her for that. And er, two more standard Q's if we want to go to tryouts. I'm on the fence, I need to see how she does at Nationals before I drag her to tryouts, for MY benefit. She'd need to stop on the table in order to go anyway. :) Off to a trial at our old training center this weekend, so excited!

Here's some video to Easy Way Out by Gotye, who if you haven't heard of him yet, I can guarantee you will soon, you know, aside from this post.

Novel Intentions

2012-01-26T07:39:00.000-05:00

I'm going to start a novel soon, she said, but not now.
I'm too tired to hear myself write, she added. -StoryPeople

First, most importantly, or less trivially,HAPPY BIRTHDAY to BAYER!!! He turned 8 exactly a week ago. Wow. Time flies. Istill need to get around to telling you all the story of how we got into dogs,that has a lot to do with Bayer. He celebrated his birthday like most otherdays. Which isn’t too bad. This past weekend he got to train some kids how tothrow discs, quite a special job. He’s a good boy.

Java and I did a USDAA show in Orlando. Shewas mostly awesome though missed her dog walk in GP (again) and in Masters STD.We did get a Pairs Q, Snooker Super Q and a Gamblers Q. That gamble wasawesomeeee! I really didn’t think she would get that one. She was on and offagain and I’m not sure what to make of that, but we’ll keep plugging alonguntil I figure her out. Definitely the heat on Sunday got to her, she wobbledout of the ring. Poor thing. I am taking the Bean to Reno officially though andwe’ll do our best. Looking forward to my first solo trip with her! The Aussiepeople at Nationals will LOVE her! LOL

(By Kaimen Miller)

(By Vince Maidens)

Trin. Oh Trin. I wavered so strongly on myretirement plan for her that I almost, as in, completely filled out registeringher for AKC Nationals. I mean, she could go. She’s in good shape, it’s only twomonths from now. But that needs to be about Java. Then what? I’d like to avoidaframes and weaves, so USDAA jumpers? P3? Yes. Well, no. $10? Yeah, I can justdrag her along to training days and run her around. She’ll like that.

Retirement is harder than I thought. And Iknew it would be hard. For real this time. Maybe? Sigh. I know Trin doesagility because I’ve trained her to like it. I trained it like I’ve nevertrained anything in my entire life. With focus so strong that possibly attimes, no, definitely, it has negatively affected my quality of life. It wasworth every bit of effort, every temporary set back and even thepermanent ones, though I do regret that. So when we leave for a show, Trin issad. She wants to come. She wants to sleep on the couch, but she wants hertreats too. So I’ve been dragging her around and she seems confused right now,but I know she’ll adjust.

Me? Well, that’s different.

Running Trin got to be so easy, likebreathing. I could plan exactly and execute easily. By the time I startedtraining Kate I thought I was a great handler! Ha! Trin made me look good, andshe taught me everything I knew. Not only is running her MY ego boost but itfeels so natural, I’ve never done agility without her in the equation. I knowthere is something not right about trialing her in agility until she canno longer do it, because I WANT HER. Can’t do that. She could run now though,and there’s the rub. She would be the best she ever was. Right now. When thatday comes that she’s not better, like I was seeing a bit last fall… I can’t, Iwon’t watch that. At some point, Trin will slow down. She might start knocking bars,or crawling down contacts, or hey, avoiding things. I don't want to wait to seethat day, even though I see glimpses now. While cherished, I can'tstand to look at theseInvitational photos of her,I might buy the onein the tunnel and theone of us in the finals heading to the weaves. She looks so grayed, somature. :(

And what is there left for her to prove? She's made the finals atevery national event she's been to. She's earned a C-ATCH, MACH and ADCH. She'seven qualified for nationals a few times... There's a couple lingering goals,like High in Trial at DACOF and running clean in a finals but maybe settingsome new goals will be just as fulfilling. An obedience CD? tracking?

And besides, I can’t afford to trial 3dogs.

It still stings though. I’m still waveringevery day on that decision.

More Pretty Pictures

2012-01-03T21:50:00.000-05:00

Java didn't have any fantastic runs this past weekend so I'm trying to not blog about that. She sure is cute though. I love the pic of the Gingerbread man on top of her head. Java, 50% stopping on tables isn't going to cut it.

Trin is quite enjoying the retired life, sunbathing and relaxing. She mugged LOTS of treats at the trial and even got her picture taken by a very close-talking European woman. Nice lady, she had a Trin look-a-like at home.

Oh and she's enjoying lots of this:

Bayer and Fergie have been up to the usual. Same ol, same ol. Getting ready for Bayer's probably last season of competition. Dammit. Our dogs need to stop getting older, right now. What I don't have a good shot of is Fergie catching like 10 over Bayer's head!!! yeah!

And Earl's been settling down and being more appropriate with new dogs:

He goes home (for real this time) tomorrow! Bye Early, it's been fun. :)

Ups and Downs Day 3

2011-12-19T16:44:00.000-05:00

Day 3 had many ups and downs. Down- Starting with 4:45am packing and loading the car. Up - seeing the JWW course, and feeling confident about it, seeing the hybrid course and loving it. Down - being asked as I'm stepping to the line if I can be filmed by the ABC news and then interviewed directly after my run. Up - Not letting that affect my run! :) Down - Trin was skipping her rear left leg after we finished the interview. :(

(two rounds clean!)

I was very worried, being already emotional about the whole end of her career thing. Poor Trin, I checked her pad, gave her a good massage and walked her until I didn't see it anymore. Massaged her some more and put her up to rest. We had to do the Mini Amerie group photo where I was surly and aggravated (feeling guilty now), and as soon as I was done with that, we went to the warm car to rest. (It was cold yesterday!) My ears were ringing, head pounding. I was stressed. Should I run Trin in Round 4 if she's lame? Some time with my eyes closed in the quiet, warm car, away from the activity of the show did me well. I decided to let it go, if Trin looked fine, I needed to accept she was. We walked back and I didn't see much though something still looked a bit off. She's always dragged the tips of her toes, she's really not the best built dog in the world.

Round 4 - hybrid, was my favorite course of the weekend, and maybe my favorite run. I really liked our finals run too. Trin was FIRED up, crazy eyed, screaming at me. I think just before that run I figured out the secret to getting her so crazy. I got her out a bunch of times to do some tricks and short walks to keep checking for any lameness and I think the up and down of getting rewards and then getting put up, made her wild. Tested again for finals, confirmed. Fascinating. I didn't feel any pressure at all for Round 4, it was easy to relax and run. So odd that Round 2 was my most stressful round this time.

(part of the finals course I was most worried about)

And then finals, the course looked alright, but I asked for help anyway. One of the big reasons I committed to the event, even though I had reservations about the breed change thing, was to work on my mental game. I knew I could run a series of rounds clean with focus, but I hadn't run finals clean at nationals and I wanted a do-over. So, I was SURE we were running clean. There was no way anything could go wrong because I was going to be perfect. Determined. Focused. My only bobble was to over call Trin in the chute, she only needed a "chirp" to turn, but I called her like I was running mac-truck Kate and then I took a step to the left after the weaves, it's tiny but I'd rather that line have been straight. Trin's contacts and weaves were perfect, the best I could have asked of her. I don't know why she ran by the teeter, I had my eye on her, I can see she was aimed for it correctly, I just felt her converge on my line and pushed back a second too late, making her jump over my leg. The only thing I can guess is whatever was wrong with her earlier in the day made her not want to do a teeter, but possibly I should have been watching more carefully. Everything else was as close to flawless as I have the ability to produce on course, so I really am proud of myself and SO proud of Trin for everything she did all weekend. This really was her standout performance, as it should be.

(video to We Are Young, Fun. feat Janelle Monae)

Very strange to listen to the finals run with sound, oddly enough people *were* watching, and... rooting for us? ;) Only because I have watched the teeter miss slowly, agonizingly, tons of times; now I always laugh, giggle even, the people in the background, who surely I've never met, hands clapping down over mouths and heads. So sweet.

For the event, we were awarded:

#1 Miniature American Shepherd for 2011 (hahahaha) But yay! (also would have been #1 Australian Shepherd, but who's counting? ;) I'm very glad Nika got that honor.
#2 FSS/Misc Group Agility dog ($150 cash prize!) (would not have been #2 herding dog with the Aussies - so ha)
#3 seed 16" dog going in to the finals!!!!!!!

2-time AKC National Finalists with a 2/2 record of making finals!

Not for the event, but seriously, there is no one more proud of what her and I have accomplished together than I. She did so well, and accomplished everything I ever asked of her. Except that running clean in a finals thing, but I made that condition later, so I won't hold it against her. So what adventure will we move onto next? as we sat at the top of the stands watching the remaining finals runs, Trin gazing over my shoulder. I followed her eyes to the dock diving pool. I know Trin, I know. More swimming.

Then again, she is qualified for Reno. ;)

Magic Wristband! Day 2

2011-12-17T20:30:00.000-05:00

Turns out the wristband allows you to go ANYWHERE. So, maybe it's not so bad after all. :) The show today was PACKED. Everyone loves "Meet the Breeds," so many people. I watched some obedience, amazing. Someday I want to try that. Trin did some dock diving which may have been a mistake, so forget that pool now, kthx Trin. I think the Irish Wolfhounds were the best breed I met that I didn't already know well.

(Kaimen and Merritt decorated the cake in Trin's honor!)

Trin was just a perfect, little dog today. I did all the front crosses in STD and felt really good about that run. It just flowed. Trin was great, saved the weaves and had nice contacts. We came in 14th place, I think. JWW, well, I was nervous. Really nervous. Which hasn't happened to me in a long time. I was scared of the course, not sure if Trin had the skills I was going to ask her to perform. Kate's changed how I handle in a lot of ways and most of that makes sense to any dog, but I wasn't sure about Trin's serpentine skills. I wanted to be sure. Trin did it though, she ran clean, fairly fast and not too many wide turns, for 8th place!! Yay!

So two clean runs for Trin, and she's currently sitting in 7th overall. I think. They haven't posted the official stuff yet. Don't quote me on any of the placements, every time I look they seem to change. We have JWW and a hybrid class tomorrow and then if we're clean in those maybe we'll be lucky enough to run in the finals. :)

What makes the Invitational so interesting, is the breeds. Certainly. I saw amazing agility dogs, everything from ACDs to Weimaraners, and a really cool Basenji I've stalked on the internet. It truly is a showcase of the best of the breeds, a perfect compliment to AKC's Meet the Breeds. The downside? Only one of each breed, in each height, makes the finals. All 5 of the mini Aussies are in 16", so only one can go in the finals. Tough, because I want to root for them all to make finals! The (not mini) Aussies are really nice this year too. I met most of the other minis today. Cute. I guess we're all going to take a picture together tomorrow. Commemorative. Trin is currently leading the minis, but not by much. Fingers crossed for clean and fast runs tomorrow!

Oh! Some good things happened today. I went to Starbucks at 5:30am and they were playing Christmas music but as I walked in the barista changed the music. It's quiet for a beat and then Spoon, The Underdog starts playing. I tried not to openly weep. Sorry coffee (and extreme sleep deprivation) makes me emotional, can you hurry with that? Oh Trin, I should have tried the last show to be a local one so I could cry all I want. The next song was equally powerful, and one of my very favorites. I think that was just the best possible moment of the day. Then, I get to the event and one very famous agility handler waves at me. Me? I awkwardly turn around, but there is no one behind me. I turn slowly back, still waving. Um, hi. She was the first person I ever took a seminar from, and one of my Aussie idols. Who can't guess now? LOL she also gave me a high five later. Wow, I am 10 shades of cool these days. ;)

Invitational Day 1

2011-12-16T21:51:00.001-05:00

Going to attempt the nightly blogging thing. :)

So, wow. Something really, really, really cool about the big shows. It's definitely a different feel than Nationals though, I don't know if it's all the different breeds (which is REALLY neat), or maybe that now I know what the barcode thingy is and how to put my number on, I'm just more laid back. The weekend wrist band is a little annoying (want it off now), do I really need that, and a ticket, and my barcode tag? Ah, the sacrifices. ;)

(Trin wondering why we aren't doing the dock diving pool instead)

So Trin was awesome in "warm up FAST", she did everything perfectly except her dog walk contact. We didn't attempt the gamble. I even threw in a back side and a rear cross, unplanned which looks slightly choppy in the video, but hey, I feel good that we could do either should the need arise over the weekend. Oh Trin, who would have ever thought you would need back sides of jumps in your career? Turns out she needed to go potty and almost went in the ring at the end of her run. Oops. She's not a fan of the 5'x5' potty squares, so she seemed like she was good. I'll find her some real grass tomorrow.

The conformation was... interesting. It's just not my thing. The shopping over there is GREAT though. Some super cool stuff that makes me wish I hadn't spent all my money already. :) The hotel room was a splurge, gosh it is nice though. My room is huge, I could do front cross drills with all the open space! I got a good room number too, which is a definite plus for the weekend.

So tomorrow the rounds count, we'll do Standard and Jumpers with weaves, and then Sunday, JWW and a hybrid round. If we run clean in all 4 of those AND we're the fastest mini Aussie, er Mini Amerie, we get to go to the finals! Trin could definitely do it, I feel good, I can't wait to run. I'm in a good running position tomorrow too, enough dogs to get a feel for the course but not so many you're fatigued from watching.

Fatigued. Hahahahah. Yeah. Tomorrow starts at FIVE FORTY FIVE AM. That is just brutal. My walk through is at 6:15 and my first run about 8am. I hope there is a good source of caffeine somewhere around here. Good night. :)

Trin's last show.

2011-12-12T22:40:00.000-05:00

Trialed both the Aussies girls this weekend, they were Aussome!

Java Q'd in Jumpers both days and bounced off the table in STD both days! ha! Here is one of her STD runs that I just LOVED. I made sure to be really vocal with her, she likes that. I had two strangers come up to me afterwards to tell me she was awesome, and... ask me about what kind of dog she was. Oh boy. Invitational is in town, that's for sure. :) It was so good to be running her though and I couldn't stop smiling during her runs.

Trin was perfect. Duh. I attempted a blind cross in STD Saturday that I didn't want to try with Kate (needed that Q) and of course Trin doesn't know those quite yet, nor did I do it right. ;) Anyway that was our only fault all weekend. She looks slow to me in most of her runs, except the last run. Which was pretty special. I had been frustrated with Kate's run and Kate in general, Sunday. But this show wasn't about Kate. It wasn't about Java.

It was about Trin.

Her last local show, at Palmetto, where we practically "grew up" together. So many shows there. So many successes and failures there. We got our MACH there. As I got her out of the car for her last run, a sense of peace and wistfulness came over me. I was smiling. Calm. I didn't care if we qualified, as I have sooooo many times, on a STD Q in the morning. Oh, please 2Q. Trin's not getting a MACH2 or going to Nationals or Invitationals again. Just for fun, let's rock, girl.

And so we did, and we didn't win the class, but that doesn't matter. We played together and Trin was perfect as she always is these days. It makes looking back on our struggles seem like it was easy to get her here. While I know it wasn't, I remember chasing her all over our college neighborhood trying to get her to come back at 2am, 5am, 3pm. LOL Pulling my single jump out to the courtyard and not really knowing what to do, but I was doing something.

I got organized tonight for the Invitational. Made myself a Trin playlist for walkthroughs, started crying from nostalgia, realized I missed the opportunity to sign up for a banquet. Oops. Well $25 is a bit much for dinner anyway. I'm getting a hotel room now, but I'm kind of keen to that idea, just me and Trin. So relaxing. Haha, that means me and Christmas Kindle will have lots of bonding time. :) I'm so excited. I'm sad, wistful. I'm calm. I'm nervous with anticipation.

Trin will be perfect, and I can't wait to try to be perfect for her. Our last show!

Rewind. Again.

2011-11-28T23:30:00.001-05:00

I love rewinding, when the first part of this video was taken, we DID still have a few tapes. And they still put tape players in cars. :)

So this weekend we cleaned out some storage and I found this clip of Trin's first Nov A Q. (Too cheap to pay to convert it from WM, sorry about that) I know it was Q, but I think there are 3 refusals? Maybe the judge didn't call the table. Anyway all the awkward goodness of Nov A. Talk about uncoordinated. :D Trin was a "runaway bride" and she never wanted to stay in the ring, the day before this video (I also have) she left the ring after three obstacles. This was around 8 months after our trial debut. Yeah. We still looked awkward.

Anyway, it's always fun to look back (and try not to cringe). ;) The second video is from the peak of my sickness so my running isn't great, but fortunately Trin WAS. Look at those weaves and contacts! Yay! The third clip is PSJ finals last weekend, it was SUPER hot and Trin was tired, the second time through the poles she is like WTF? But she's stayed with me and I'm really proud of her turn in the opening and rear cross at the end. She's such a good girl, not sure where I would be without the sum of all of these runs.

Oh and Viva La Vida, by the Dirty Heads (not Coldplay), it fits.

Catching Up

2011-11-23T07:53:00.001-05:00

Oh wow. Talk about blogging slacker. If you only read this one, you're probably confused. I have been sick and I didn't have enough energy to focus on two blogs.

The Aussie girls have done well in the few trials I've entered them in. Java's running slowly but is doing everything asked of her, I think she's just trying to pace me. My poor running ability affected our consistency for awhile but I look forward to that correcting itself. Trin is running just great now, she got 4th in PSJ finals this past weekend, slow weaves, but she won a couple classes at the AKC shows she's been in. I should pull that video, she had a kick ass STD run recently.

(the sign got a little wet)

Gary did the Great American Teach In this year. We got some pictures.

Trin takes this stuff very seriously. It's an important job making kids smile.

Bayer!!! The kids just think this is like meeting Bono. Right. Except they don't know who Bono is so it's better than meeting Bono. Gary said before he even gets Bayer out of the car the kids start chanting. Nothing like whipping a bunch of second graders into a frenzy. :)

Jelly Bean!! It's a bit confusing to have a dog named Java Bean I guess. She looks surprisingly bigger from this perspective and is not surprisingly not catching a disc.

This is a friend of ours, Mike, showing Fergie to the kids. Fergie loves this job too.

It's all about Trin now though. My FB profile picture has been changed to this, Trin looks SO happy:

And I'm SO looking forward to the Invitational with my girl, it's bittersweet too, I just can't afford to trial all three. I've decided to only take Java to nationals in Reno, she can fly in cabin which is a big deciding factor too. I haven't done enough AKC to really pull out another Invitational invite with Trin and while I thought about getting her a MACH2... it seems kind of silly now. I mean, would she care? Not even a smidge. She does it for me, it's almost couch time Trin, almost. So we're doing an AKC show in 2 weeks and then the Invitational. I only entered Java and Kate in the New Years show. It's going to be ok. Really. Trin is going to love retirement, it's just me who has a hard time LETTING her.

agility photos by Kristie Moser

AWI - UFO ... ?

2011-10-17T23:04:00.004-04:00

So Bayer did well at AWI, actually outstanding, the boy caught EVERY toss and catch throw!! He tied for third in the cash TP toss and catch but lost the tie breaker with his infamous (and only) prejumpulation. He also caught the handstand throw, cause Gary finally threw it right ;)

They missed USDDN due to the stones, see Kate's blog for more details, but now they are off to UFO to try to defend their 2010 Freestyle World Champions. Aww yeah. Go Bayer!

Then... we have Canis Major series, still remains to be seen if Bayer will compete in enough of those to actually "compete" but he was the 2009 CM Champ so time for other people to win. Fergie? If she wants to!

After that... who knows. Bayer's going to be 8 in like 2 months... that's insane. Bayer and Trin need to stop getting older RIGHT. NOW. Trin's doing well with her increased activity and strengthening, which worries me that it wasn't lack of strength causing the crashing. She's entered in one day of the trial this weekend and then nothing more until mid-November, to start gearing her up for the invitational.

Java fine and appears to be normal, some COOL temps this weekend so it will be fun to see how fast she goes!! I love that little dog.

Sort of a lot rambled together.

2011-10-04T21:53:00.001-04:00

So the Aussie girls had their first three trials since July these past few weeks. My consistent girls… each, had few Qs.

Java, just didn't seem right at first, slower, and skipping jumps, sometimes running by the aframe, missing weave entries, taking lots of off course tunnels (she's always done that, don't start your dogs career by doing lots of tunnelers runs). Finally, this past weekend things seemed more "on" for her. We Q'd in PSJ and PGP (so close! a missed dw). Otherwise no masters Q's but that was on me. So maybe the heat was getting to her and our first cool weekend she seemed much improved.

Trin's been mostly perfect, as usual, just some weird things. Twice she's come off the teeter, once she bounced off in a dramatic fashion. (Seriously click that.) She crashed two jumps in two different trials, like completely taking the jump out. Trin has knocked a total of *2* bars before this crashing started, both were my fault for being in her jumping path. These crashes both happened on straight lines, one she took off entirely too early and the other she didn't lift enough. Also, once she stopped dead in front of the last jump like she never even saw it. All of that is quite disconcerting, so I'll get her eyes checked out, and also start working on some more serious conditioning for her. She seems happy to be trialing and her contacts and weaves seems normal. I ran her on a P-team this weekend and they came in 2nd getting a medal. For Trin I'm mostly focusing on the Invitational and thinking that will be her last big event. I keep saying that to myself... we'll see.

Filled out my Invitational bio… I didn't fill one out for nationals, thinking we wouldn't be in the finals. ;) I always ponder at the question, “Where do you train?” As Tori said when we were filling them out for Nationals, “In my head” which is true, a more applicable answer for me would be “anywhere” or “everywhere” but for this time I wrote “with friends” which makes me happy and is totally true. The bio is tough… what do you say? I’m a 28 year old dog training enthusiast and I have the best dogs in the whole world? I ended up saying… “Trinity is Sarah's first dog, and she is a rescue. She has a MACH and has been an AKC National Agility Finalist. Her breed was recently changed from Australian Shepherd to Miniature American Shepherd, while unexpected, a nice surprise as it came with an invite to this event.” Hoping I can have Trin back to normal by December.

This weekend Kate and Bayer are off to Purina Farms for AWI finals, a trip I'm very much looking forward to. Lots of good friends and good times, and a visit with an old family-friend. I'll most likely be dead on my feet by the end of it from watching Tori on livestream all night but hey, sacrifices.

And on a different note, today is one of my best friends from high school's 29th birthday, he was adorably handsome, funny, clever and gay. He was my prom date, though we left prom rather quickly and went to the beach instead. We met in 8th grade, talked on the phone all night and skipped school together several times after he got a car in 10th grade. We would mostly just play video games and go on long walks, making up stories and predicting the future. He never really had a future in mind for himself which is unfortunate because I'd love to say he accomplished it. I know he is very proud of what my dogs have accomplished, even though I don't believe in heaven. He passed away in 2009. Happy birthday, Ruben.

They left me with your shadow,
saying things like
Life is not fair
& I believed them
for a long time.
But today,
I remember
the way you laughed
& the heat of your hand in mine
& I knew that
life is more fair
than we can ever imagine
if
we are there to live it

-Story People

Potential Energy

2011-09-06T12:23:00.002-04:00

My life had such potential, she told me, before I found out how much work was involved. - Story People

I just wanted something to use to go with this picture. It fits Trin perfectly though, I think retirement will suit her just fine... if only I would just let her retire. ;)

First agility trial of the season in less than TWO WEEKS!!

Bayer FINALLY Q'd for AWI finals this past weekend, and he came in 4th in the UFO Major, which bumped him up a bit in overall points.

Trin's Invitation

2011-08-23T23:11:00.000-04:00

I'd like to apologize for this huge delay because well, I'm lazy. :)

Not been doing much these last couple of weeks with the dogs. Lots of swimming and dock diving, not much of anything else. I did break the slump today and work all 4 dogs (Bayer's in Ohio) on weave poles just before a storm. It was windy and cool and I'm sure my neighbors thought I was nuts, probably a small lightning risk. Eep.

So Trin got her invite to the AKC Agility Invitational (as #6) Miniature American Shepherd. I thought about it for all of 20 minutes and signed online and entered. It's so cool to get invited and to not have stressed about it all year, I even skipped Trin in a few shows in the spring! If it weren't in my backyard, I maybe would have reconsidered but it's a cool event and I can sleep in my own bed! Plus it's so apropos since I was retiring Trin after nationals! lol

I entered the Friday FAST class, which is ironic, I haven't entered FAST in years! Not sure I'll go but it would be nice to get an idea of the footing, so I probably should.

I look forward to the event. I've never been so I don't know quite what to expect competition wise, or all the rules, but I hope we do our best. Mostly it's great for me to practice focusing at a big event. No better to do it with than my Nov A dog!

So here's a Trin highlight from Perry, quick, and a song that doesn't fit but I like this song so...

Bayer in Colorado

2011-08-12T08:32:00.000-04:00

LOL I am such a slacker! Bayer did well at the CCC... sort of. Typical, I guess. His FS was average, earning him 6th for the cut. Although Gary had 4 decent throws Bayer missed two for a total of 6.5 points, which put him in 9th place. Bummer. In the Quad, most of you know... out of 12 throws Bayer caught three. See Kate's blog for the rest... it's disappointing, a lot of people wanted to see Bayer win the Quad series, and even though I was rooting for Kate, I would have been happy to see Bayer get another National on his list of accomplishments. That's alright though he's had a fantastic career so far. Some photos by Tim Zimmer:

I took some video too, not sure I'll get around to posting it though.

Summer lull continues... I don't even have the enthusiasm to work on Fergie's running contacts. :( I did however order new checks which arrived this week and I sent out entries for Sept yesterday... ouch. Trialing three dogs is insanely expensive. I might need to start up a second job! lol

Another post coming this weekend, but if you're my friend on FB you already know... Trin's going to the Invitational. Oh boy!

All together now. Awwwwww.

2011-07-28T22:17:00.001-04:00

So I mentioned a Sheltie puppy on Kate's blog last week. I have a weakness for smaller Shelties. I used to run a tiny Hemi occasionally and I enjoyed that probably more than even running Kate, boy she was a wild ride! Still, I don't think Sheltie is a breed I'll ever own, just not my thing. Never say never though.

I introduce to you my friend's puppy - Slick

(Slick with his daddy!)

Not much going on around here. Summer lull. Java went to agility class this week, a little disc here and there. Swimming. Trin and Java are swimming freaks, thank God because otherwise they wouldn't be in any kind of shape at all this summer. Gotta have an off season though, and this is it.

Fergie's tiny training sessions are going well, she is a funny dog to work. She actually smiles. Like moves her lips. It's the strangest thing, I need to photograph it. Bayer's being Bayer. Life is good when you are a disc dog rockstar. He's off to Denver next weekend to try to beat Kate in the Quad. Good luck boys. Cough. ;)

An interesting Bayer Quad video if you're interested... here

Brief - Perry and Purina

2011-07-19T22:38:00.000-04:00

I'm having a hard time putting together a video. I don't think I'll do a full videos, so for the 15 of you who will watch it, maybe I'll do a highlight this weekend since I don't have any formal plans.

Trin was off all weekend and so was I. Waaaay too focused on Kate to think about how to handle my Aussies. I'm disappointed in myself. Poor Trin, she might need an adjustment or something. Teeter and Aframe refusal NQ's, plus me getting lost on course once, no double Q's.

Java's weaves were the issue on Friday, missed them in both runs. Then Sunday I finally got a 2Q with her! Whew. Kinda cool, really enjoyed those runs. Now Trin and Java both have 11 2Q's for MACH2 and MACH.

Gary and Bayer went to Purina farms to try to qualify for AWI and play in the Quad, unfortunately a low TC round (story of their life) kept them from qualifying in AWI. The Quad was interesting, Bayer struck out in his heat but came through the last chance heat with an 84 and 86.5 (which beats Kate's longest). Then they managed to push their way to a win in the finals! So now Bayer gets to play in Denver and if he wins - he'll beat Kate for Quad champ. Pretty cool for Gary getting to be leading the series with TWO dogs. Badass.

Fergie stayed with some friends who recently moved into the same apartment complex I lived in in college. Talk about flashbacks walking into their apartment! Wow. Can't believe that was almost 10 years ago. I'm old.

Oh, one more thing. Invitational points are done... and Trin finished in 6th. So now we wait to see if someone doesn't want to go. I'm open to it working out either way, I think I will go if I do get an invitation. Would be fun, one more thing to check off the list with my Novice A dog. :)

Java's return to agility!

2011-07-13T21:54:00.000-04:00

I ran both the Aussies today in Perry. For the rest of the week they are alternating days, they usually slow down by the 3rd day and I don't have the money or need to show them all 5 days, they're already Q'd for nationals and MACH's just turn up in time. So tomorrow is Trin, then Java Friday, Trin Saturday and Java Sunday.

Trin was clean in JWW, nice run, I was happy with it. Even though I was nervous for some reason? Good times. Unfortunately, in STD, there was an awkward approach to the teeter, so I attempted a rear cross on the flat and executed a hair too early so she stopped getting a refusal. Oops. Perfect Trin as always.

Java. Oh Java. :) I haven't really trained her much since her spay, I can still see her incision line which bothers me a bit, the fur on her belly isn't growing back very quickly. JWW was first and she was a bit squirrelly, running behind me but luckily into the correct end of the tunnel. We managed to get through clean and... win the class. Huh. Ok. STD was an interesting course, from a judge who I admire. It was a full circle around to the dog walk so she had lots of speed getting on, nice contact to a table. Which is challenging for her, lots of speed but she held her table! Yeah! But oops off course to the weaves right after. I could have done more to call her in, I didn't anticipate her draw to the poles but that is pretty much the only thing I've worked on recently with her. Oh well. Good Bean. Nice being back on course with her.

Delicious Cracker Barrel breakfast for dinner. :)

"Lion" Weekend

2011-07-04T21:32:00.000-04:00

I tried to quit caffeine this weekend. Well, truthfully I was invaded by sugar ants, and they took over my coffee machine. And everything else. It was disturbing, they were everywhere. I keep my kitchen fairly clean but they came in a steady line anyway and multiplied, soldiering on into every nook and cranny. They even turned up in my master bath? Sorry, no food there guys. My coffee machine needed cleaning I guess. I got Terro. It's the shit. I enjoyed watching the ants clamor over each other to drink the Terro. I couldn't peel myself away. They LOVED it! They came in droves! It was fascinating. By morning they were all gone. Every single ant. And so was my pounding headache, I'll have to try to wean myself slowly next time. Coffee is so lovely.

The downside of not drinking coffee was that I could hardly wake up. On safari we called this a "lion" (lie in - get it?) The dogs and I slept until noon every day, then they slept some more while I watched movies. Of the movies I saw, Salt B+, Secretariat C, Social Network B, Percy Jackson B-.

The dogs sleeping:

Kate's not really sleeping, she trying to communicate how desperately important daily work is for her psyche.

I took them swimming a few times, they all had a blast. Fergie even got to do some agility with me this weekend.

On the way home from Independence Day celebration of lots of food I saw a double rainbow. The lower one looked to have extra rings to it. Interesting though hard to see on these photos that I definitely did NOT take while driving. ;)

Gary and Bayer had a good time in New York. They won the Classic Plastic division of the Skyhoundz Extreme Distance Qualifier on Saturday, but unfortunately Bayer burned a pad sometime during the day so he didn't get to play in the AWI Qualifier on Sunday (it was pouring down rain too, not great conditions for a ripped pad). So hopefully they qualify at Purina in a few weeks. Bayer's making his Quad comeback there as well! :)

Fergie at DACOF

2011-06-28T22:04:00.000-04:00

Considering the lack of training and practice Fergie has had with Gary this year she did exceptionally well. She is such a good, little consistent dog. I was curious to see what would happen with her contacts. I've been working on her dog walk for about 3 weeks, just a table and one board, so not surprisingly the behavior didn't transfer. I'd also done 2 sessions with her aframe, just messing with her striding, interestingly enough, that did seem to transfer, 2/3 of her frames were very nice running frames! Hmm. Sadly, if I trial her this year to really see how her contacts are, she'll place out of open and not be able to run open at DACOF next year. So... contacts under wraps until next year ;)

See Kate's blog on explanation for these pics. :) Trin is the most adorable dog, like, ever.

Eight is Great

2011-06-27T22:01:00.000-04:00

Trinity is 8 years old today. What a wild ride it's been! :) From Australian Shepherd to a brand new breed - weeee!

Trin freakin ROCKED DACOF. So, so, so proud of her. It's always been a goal of mine for Trin to win HIT at DACOF. Since the first year I ran her when she hated it and I wished to never trial again. Ohhh we've come a long way since 2006.

FAST was a disaster. Waking up at 4am and then thinking strategy is not my forte. Damn. We got a whopping 32 points. Then we won STD and Jumpers later on Saturday so yay! Winning those classes says a lot, we didn't win by much but a tenth of a second is still a win. Sunday morning we held our long standing tradition of screwing up STD on Sunday at DACOF and missed the weave poles. Twice. Then we went and won JWW in the afternoon by almost 3 seconds. Trin... winning JWW... who woulda thought?

We usually place well in STD because she has fast contacts, weaves have never been our strong suit and add just jumps and we usually won't place but sometime this year, right around when I said I was going to retire her, we started placing in jumpers and heh, sometimes winning. ;) How cool.

So my eight year old puppy is running the best she ever has, we didn't get HIT at DACOF but it's still her last year. She ran great and she has had a lot of huge successes at DACOF, I'm very happy with three wins in the three classes we ran clean.

So for Trin's birthday she got to go swimming in the cement pond, eat popcorn and cheese and I let her ride in the front seat, she loves that. She had to share with Kate and Java but she seemed ok with it.

Tomorrow I'll post Fergie's video and a recap.

Jokes on Me.

2011-06-22T10:04:00.000-04:00

My Miniature American Shepherd.

So here I thought I had a choice. I received a letter from the AKC this week stating that Trinity’s breed has been changed to Miniature American Shepherd. I cannot describe the bizarre feeling to receive such a letter. Trin’s been an Aussie since the day I rescued her. How can she be anything else? Because she has an ILP and is under 18” (just – 17.78”) and I do not have a pedigree to prove her heritage, she is no longer an Aussie. How strange.

It’s ironic. All this Mini Amerie stuff came up (IMO) because the Aussie folks didn’t like mini’s taking their spots in the invitational. Fair enough. They say: Mini Aussies are not Aussies. Ok. But my Aussie (Java) can be changed to a Mini Amerie, because she IS an Aussie that is small? Confusing. What would they do if I do try for the invitational with 13.5” Java? Is it ok because she has an Aussie pedigree? I feel like beating those wicked fast 12" Shelties is just as hard as beating a 20" BC. Rhetorical, of course. I’m sure there would be upheaval and I don’t like that much attention. I’m sure Java’ll get enough attention for me to want to crawl in a hole at nationals.

Speaking of the invitational. My letter stated that I should check the records because Trin may be eligible for the 2011 Agility Invitational in Orlando in December. Gulp. What a mockery of my waffling of trying out for the invitational while it’s so close to home. Trin’s in 5th place. They take the top 5 dogs. Qualifying period ends June 30th so depending on how the points finish out she may or may not be invited. As a Mini Amerie.

I still am not sure if I’ll go. At first I was appalled. Then I thought, why not? Then I imagined us running in the finals and the announcer gleefully declaring, “Trinity is one of the first Miniature American Shepherds!” and my stomach turned over. No she’s not. Well maybe. Who knows? Technically she could be part Sheltie or part Border Collie, so I guess I really shouldn’t care what they call her. I still get to play with my dog and the competition would be really good for me mentally. The more big stuff I do the easier it will be for me. Just like making the finals at AKC nationals this year, I kinda hope some of the other Mini Amerie’s take the choice away. But even if Trin doesn’t end up in the top 5, any AKC show I run her at from here forward she’s still not an Aussie. Also a mockery of her retirement plans as I either accept it and run her or retire her. Hmm. Such a bizarre situation.

The Little Dog

2011-06-14T21:33:00.000-04:00

Java's doing much better, actually she decided on Sunday she was better. I love the point when they're all like, "look, I'm fine, let me work." I've kept her pretty subdued until today. Above, she is sunning herself on Saturday. She and Trin both just really enjoy laying out in the sun.

Tonight I let her and Fergie play a bit of tug with the floppy Atom.

Java's in a unique position in a dog's life right now. She's an AKC registered Aussie. But according to this (from the AKC - see bullet #2 for Kate's nightmare lol table with a tunnel wrapped around it) I could change her breed!

"...The ballots asked the membership for approval to open the AKC Stud Book to allow individuals to voluntarily remove dogs from the USASA Stud Book registered from the NSD pedigrees or are the descendants to create a new breed to be named the Miniature American Shepherd...

"Both ballots were overwhelmingly in favor of this proposal...

"The decision to change a registered Australian Shepherd to Miniature American Shepherd will rest with each individual owner..."

aww and they'd even take my MACH, AKC agility finalist too!

"Any dog that is currently a PAL/ILP or registered Australian Shepherd may be converted at the owner’s request to a MAS."

You see, Java's not an Miniature American Shepherd. Sure, I guess you could call her a mini Aussie. She's an Australian Shepherd that just happens to be freakishly small. Did you all see this dog on the cover of Clean Run? He's Java's brother. Yep. At first agility folks made comments to me about her, but mostly they don't now. I think they're either used to seeing us, or just say it when I'm not around. ;) Nahh I have faith in dog people, they love dogs, sometimes they show it by trying to protect what they love (big, over done, bear-shaped Aussies) and sometimes nature throws out an Aussie that looks a bit like a long haired Chihuahua. I love her anyway. She's the best Aussie I have and there's no way I'm changing any of my Aussie's breed.

Post Op

2011-06-08T22:19:00.000-04:00

Dropping Java off this morning was tough. I handed the leash to the tech and said, "hold on tight, she won't want to go with you." But somehow as I was exiting through the door a little red dog came shooting past me. ;) It was hard to hand her over for the second time in a matter of minutes. They did a great job, said her blood work looks perfect, her anesthesia went well, she even got her nails clipped! When I picked her up she was quite lucid and VERY happy to see me. She's been resting comfortably in her crate all evening. I made her a little pillow bed because Java Beans don't like to sleep on hard surfaces. She looks quite svelte with no under fur! lol

Good Luck Bean!

2011-06-07T22:31:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow morning I take Java in to get spayed. She'll have blood work done first, and then if all looks good, she'll get her first ever anesthesia and surgery. Kate says: "eh, no big deal!"

I took the dogs to the lake tonight for one last swim for Java before she is on crate rest for a few weeks. Of course I am nervous for her, but I'm sure she'll be fine. Poor thing, no breakfast tomorrow, very sad.

Java at the USDAA Southeast Regional

2011-06-06T13:50:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday Java Bean!!! I can’t believe she’s 5 years old! What an amazing little dog she has been, she truly embraces the lap dog concept. I think that’s why she never grew.

Java did quite well at the regional. Historically, at 16”, she tends to go around some jumps if she feels like she can’t make the bar, and due to my handling she did go around 2 jumps this weekend. One I never saw, so we E’d jumpers and the other I fixed. We had a modest plan in Snooker and would have placed 4th had she not tried to kill herself on the first aframe. She’s never done that before, I wasn’t sure if I should go on or stop to see if she was ok. She looked alright though so we continued on. Ran well the rest of the weekend, seemed fine. STD was a nice run, though she choked on a treat in the opening and lost several seconds. Gamblers, ahh we didn’t make the gamble – damn.

Saturday, she ran her portion of the relay clean, a bit wide, but clean. She also ran Advanced STD clean so we are FINALLY out of advanced!! Yay! Now we can go to Masters and finish an ADCH. Java has 10 2Q’s so now I wonder if she will MACH or ADCH first? My guess would be MACH simply due to the number of AKC trials vs USDAA trials available to me. I will finish her ADCH but put her in P for tournaments next year. I don’t want to try to be competitive at 16” with her, she’s really too little and my goals aren’t aligned with USDAA for her competitively.

Other than the kamikaze aframe in Snooker I was pleased with Java’s contacts. USDAA has the smaller dog walk zone and Java’s been hitting high in AKC a lot so I was worried about her dw’s this weekend. She didn’t miss one. Also her weaves were pretty solid, only missing once, and I just went on as I felt like it wasn’t conducive to her mental state to keep trying. That was IHC standard which isn’t shown on the video. Poor thing, I was SO nervous. Regionals was really good for my mental game though, I’ll talk about that more in Kate’s post.

So Java ended up with a team Q and her AAD. Now, for the sad news. She’s getting spayed on Wednesday. I’ve put it off forever… time to finally do it. I’m scared and I know I will be very sad to see her hurting and in pain, but it needs to be done and she has about 5 weeks off until her next show. Fingers crossed her surgery goes well and I look forward to a healthy, happy Java Bean back in a few weeks.

Video with Sail Away by Sister Hazel:

Memorial Day Weekend Report

2011-05-31T07:27:00.001-04:00

The Aussies did well! Both earned two more double Q's and lots of points and placements. I am so happy that they both are running the best they ever have. Trin was a bit slower this weekend but it was *really* warm and humid so I can't blame her. To be honest I struggled too.

Saturday, Java was SUPER speedy in JWW. Look at the little Bean go! Then we had an off course in STD but I left her dog walk in the video. Even though a high hit boyyy she is flying! :) Sunday and Monday Java 2Q'd with speedy runs (though not as fast as Saturday's) and all placements. I need to work on weave entries as I had to hang back to let her get in all weekend and also turns off the aframe. Summer homework. I'm really excited about taking Java to nationals though, I think in another several months she'll be doing quite well.

Trin 2Q'd on Saturday and Monday. Sunday we double NQ'd! Gasp! In JWW I didn't handle the pinwheel (in the video) and in STD she popped out of the poles but it was really hot in the sun and I think she just lost her footing. Trin mostly placed 2nd all weekend to a really nice BC, she was good though and I'm very happy with her runs.

Song is a little slow, but I just love it. I Believe by Three Legged Fox.

Gary took Bayer and Fergie to Freedom Weekend Aloft for a USDDN event. Bayer got 2nd place on Saturday for a $250 travel voucher. Unfortunately, he came up lame after the event Saturday with something up with his toe so he's on crate rest now. Fergie... well, she's Fergie. :)

Java's on a team for USDAA Southeast Regional this coming weekend, and Trin is in reserve running IHC standard only.

Blind Crosses

2011-05-28T23:39:00.000-04:00

I've never been a big user of blind crosses I'm generally fast enough to get front crosses done with the Aussies. Recently though lots of handlers have been starting to incorporate them so I've studied them in European videos and some American handlers. I've played with a particular blind cross turn at home a bit as well. At the seminar this week MEB showed us a few that she's been using.

Today in the show I was trying to figure out how to get a nice line on the serpentine without a lead out for Java, suddenly it occurred to me I could do the blind cross while she was behind the wing. I'd never tried them with Java or Trin but was pretty confident I could do it. So I did it with Java and it worked! Then I did it again with Trin for fun. The judge came up to me after the class was over to ask what I did. LOL!

Java was clean in JWW but had an off course in STD, Trin, of course, 2Q.

National Java Bean

2011-05-15T21:35:00.000-04:00

Most of you read Kate's blog I think, so you know I did one day of a show this weekend. I was staying with friends and I thought that I'd not enter Trin so that'd be less dogs to bring with me and also I was still committed to cutting back her shows. Ugh. What a bad decision. I *really* wanted to run Trin. I was planning to leave her home but I just couldn't do it, so she came along and got to hang out a little. Retirement is too hard. Forget it.

Java did GREAT though! Last time we were in Vero she was fat and she didn't do very well, so I wasn't sure if the environment might have been part of it or if it was solely her being fat. She was very quick though in both her runs, won STD by over 3 seconds and then did quite well in JWW. I didn't stay for the class to finish so I don't know where she placed in Jumpers. It was a small show, so that's why I'm assuming she placed. That was Java's last 2Q for nationals! Yay! Since it's in Reno a much better chance of me taking Java who can fly under my seat.

No video, iMovie is still broken :(

You have... how many dogs?

2011-05-11T22:24:00.000-04:00

Lots of you reading this also cringe at that question I bet... at least when outside of your dog friends. It's always hard to explain to someone who isn't a "dog person" why it is you have so many dogs. You know, the coworker who always brings you some random dog question, because, well, "you have like 4 dogs right?" ...er... right. Or the family member who is all, "how many now?" sweetly, but you know they are thinking "crrrazzyy dog lady" I always want to just count my dogs when someone asks; let Gary count his separately. It's always fun when a "people friend" or family member attempts to name all of the dogs, like a memory game and fails miserably and the whole time you're going, "really, it's ok" (please let's talk about something else)

We have his/hers dogs. I know, it doubles the number. Rapidly. We tried to share Trin and it just didn't work, so we got Bayer and then from there we were always separate. I think it's best for us, our dogs all get cross trained, if we both want to compete on the same weekend - we can.

Fergie is doing well for me, I can see how much work she really needs to build confidence though. I always say confidence, I'm sure there is a better word. Self assurance, bravery, resolution, commitment and even, heart. It's what makes the difference between a good dog and a great one. It's not innate, it has to be built. It doesn't come with drive, it's alongside. Kate has drive coming out of her ears, but I still have to build this into her, through training and positive associations. Fergie's weaves are being retrained, sort of, my weaves are really pathetic so I'm training entries on 4 poles with stick-in-the-ground. She's made great progress in several sessions.

Bayer and Trin are getting older and that hurts to consider. I could have 20 dogs, but can I just keep them where they are *right now.* Trin might still get better but she's the best she's ever been. Bayer already doesn't jump as high for the disc, he knows his body isn't 2 and so he does less. It's amazing how he knows. He's not in pain and he's certainly not at retirement yet, but freestyle is rough on a dog and he shouldn't play much past 8 or 9. He'll be 8 in just over half a year...

So it comes time to think about another dog as it takes about 2 years to train a dog to the competition level. 6 dogs? That sounds like a lot... then I consider breeding Kate in a year or so... 7? ouch. So Fergie's for adoption! Just kidding. That's not even a funny joke, I want to cry when I see people do that. It breaks my heart.

I remember one time when we added a dog, I want to say Fergie, but sadly I can't remember which. My dad, who has always been supportive of dog stuff (all of our parents have) but my dad, who doesn't always sensor himself says, "well what? you're just going to be living in filth and squalor soon with that many dogs!" It still makes me chuckle because my immediate mental image was us living in the country in a double wide, with dogs and sheep and stuff sort of in disarray but also in order. It made me smile. Why yes, that sounds lovely. For the record, my house is actually kept pretty clean, even with, gasp! five dogs.

So all this to confess: Gary's on the list for a Border Collie puppy this fall. I don't think anyone's shocked, but maybe. I half expected him to get an Aussie. Kate is a strong sales woman. I like the breeding, a lot. So does he, because it's related to Kate. We considered both keeping Kate puppies but that would be incredibly difficult to handle, especially since neither of us are at liberty to work from home or better yet, quit our jobs. So alas... looks like my favorite question might have a different answer later this year. :) (and hopefully you've enjoyed the gratuitous Java puppy pics)

Dock Dogs

2011-05-04T21:58:00.001-04:00

Java is just so damn cute.

Trin... lol

No hand is safe!

Trin and Java at USDTC AKC show

2011-05-04T07:47:00.000-04:00

I posted Friday night so you already know, Trin got a double Q and Java ran really fast and was awesome. :)

Saturday both girls did really well. Java double Q'd, almost won STD, aside from a wiiide turn out of the chute. One of these days I will remember to cue turns out of the chute BEFORE my dogs go in. ;) Java's JWW run was clean but could have been faster. Trin missed her frame (questionable) in STD so since I felt like Java could have been faster in JWW I decided to really push on Trin's run. Boyyy she was FLYING. Trin got 2nd in that run, shown first on the video, but if we had a nicer turn at the end she definitely would have won the class. Trin - win JWW? I'm just amazed at how she keeps getting *faster,* she's 8!

Sunday I was pretty tired from staying up quite late, and that third day fatigue thing really settled in on me by afternoon. Standard in the morning, Trin was clean AND fast, so she was able to keep up her speed all weekend in the heat too. I was running Kate in Open JWW around the time of Java's STD run and didn't give Java enough warm up. She was squirrelly in her run and immediately pooped afterwards, guess she needed more time. Damn. She missed her first competition dog walk in... a year? Fortunately there were many other faults- hah. Jumpers I screwed up both girls, doh. Just didn't have the mental power left for either of them. Really should have tried caffeine or something.

Videos, Trin - Rusty Halo by The Script and Java - Ten-Twenty-Ten by Generationals (free track on Amazon)

Highlights. Java got all three tables! I even ran her up to a few without super collection. Also Bean was really moving in all of her runs. Her jumpers Q was fast enough for a WTT score. Cool. Trin was faster than she's ever been and I've learned that I can push her poles to be a bit faster now. Fun! Look at her go!

Lowlights. Java's weaves have deteriorated from lack of practice (Kate broke my poles). Trin's contacts have become a completely random performance. She took me seriously when I said she doesn't have to stop on her frame anymore. She missed the contact on Saturday, our only fault all day, really all weekend if you don't count the last run. Not sure what I want to do about her aframe... really don't think a 2o2o is the best option at her age, but her striding is really pretty set. Need to think about that one a bit.

Excellent Only

2011-04-29T23:19:00.000-04:00

Excellent only days fun. I guess the only time they are not as much fun is when you have a novice dog who you want to run too. ;) The day felt exceedingly slow, but sleeping in until 9 was amazing.

Java had a double NQ. But who cares? She was AWESOME. Very speedy in both her runs, STD was super fun, she *RAN* to the table and didn't hop off. Big win there. We had an off course but that is because I sometimes fail as handler. Java was also brilliant in jumpers, unfortunately she missed the entry to the weaves. I really need to get some weave poles so I can refresh her training. Still it was a lovely run as well and I'm so pleased to see her speed coming back.

Trin. Hah. Perfect dog. Of course.

Aussies and Fergie

2011-04-26T19:29:00.001-04:00

I am so remiss in posting about the Aussies (with whom, I lump Fergie, a tail does not make her a BC). No just kidding, Fergie's a BC, she's just a shy, special one. So let's start with my personal fave, Java Bean. Beans is back to 15lbs and is looking really good. I got to practice twice with her last week and was SUPER happy with how her contacts and jumping, everything, looked. She was smoking me on her dog walks. Also got her MX in the mail the other day. Surprise! :) Java and I competed in Augusta this weekend and she ROCKED. She was all over the disc. So proud of her!

As most of you probably already know, Bayer KILLED it in distance in Augusta. He *almost* won all three divisions, coming 2nd in the classic plastic by 7 feet (something like that). Unfortunately, he's not Q'd for Skyhoundz FS/DA this year so he'll probably only go to Worlds for distance. Gary's goal is to do Quads with Kate, AWI with Bayer and potentially UFO. Can't afford to do them all this year. :(

And Miss Fergie... well looks like the reigns are being turned over temporarily. Fergie's been having some confidence issues this year with disc dog stuff, not wanting to go get the disc. Gary doesn't have time to work with her (and let's be honest, patience to build confidence) so I'm going to start working her more in agility and see if I can build her up that way. She is a naturally gifted jumper, best of the five. Since she's not really trialing (aside from DACOF) I'm going to try to put some running contacts on her this summer. I think she's got a body type that will lend well to that, as well as a good brain for that kind of work. I need another training project like a hole in the head but hey, should be fun and maybe I can get Fergie confident enough to want to play disc again too!

Trin... ah, where to start? I'm still floating from our nationals performance... of course we haven't done much agility together since then. We did some training over the weekend and that went... horribly. :) Big smile. Seriously. She is too fun. Tentatively my plan was to finish her Q's for AKC nationals and then let her take the summer off. She's almost done, needs one more 2Q. But now that I know nationals are in Reno, I also know she won't be going. I could consider Tulsa for her in 2013 but she'll be 10 and I really think it's time we take a new journey... unless... I decide to sink money this year into the invitational. Being in Orlando really, might be worth a shot. She's SO consistent. We'll see. As much as the idea of retirement sounded good in theory, how does anyone ever do it?

I've not looked forward to an agility weekend as much as this one in a long time. I love this show, mostly because it always falls around my birthday. Last year Java got her AX. The year before Kate was born Saturday night. The year before that, Trin had her first perfect weaving weekend. It's been a good show for me. I have a hellish week to get through, but Friday off and I don't want to think about the price of *any* beverage for those 72 hours. Tori's staying with us (it's her birthday too) and so we're going to eat lots of ice cream and cake which will help me totally forget my choking deadlines at work! yay! (isn't it almost sad that I'm looking forward to eating as much as agility?)

Marginal Family Portrait

2011-04-14T22:58:00.001-04:00

Took the dogs swimming last night and tried to snap this shot in the drying off portion. Yay for Fergie and Bayer looking normal! Trin serious as always and Kate nerdy as always... and Java Bean. She is just the most adorable little bean ever. (Click to make larger - totally worth it.)

Post Nat's

2011-04-06T23:19:00.000-04:00

Apparently lots of people who went to Nationals are getting sick. Some people are saying that folks always get sick from showing in that location. I'm not getting sick though, this congestion and scratchy throat are going to be gone tomorrow. I'm sure standing in freezing cold barns for three days, not eating, stressing, celebrating etc didn't help. I loaded up on dark chocolate (zinc) and sure, some spinach in lentil soup, and an orange. I even bought tissues, so I'm not getting sick. :)

There's Trin, on the score board with 300 points and a total time on course of 97.92 seconds. That's right folks. Less than 2 minutes on course, hundreds of dollars on hotel, gas, food, not to mention entry fees to attend nationals and entry fees and travel expenses to qualify for nationals, but making the finals with your underdog - priceless.

And here is a lovely rap video made by my friend Katie Johnson. Really this just awesome. I had to make sure I included this here so I can find it in 5 years.

The only other thing I wanted to do was take a picture of Trin with her ribbons and the shirt but I haven't gotten around to that yet. Maybe sometime this weekend. Trin's enjoying a week off, she's been sleeping in my bed almost nonstop since we got home. Girl knows how to get comfortable. I am not getting sick.

Trin on the way to Nationals (Are we there yet?)

Never Give Up.

2011-04-05T15:02:00.000-04:00

It's not the critic that counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or whether the doer of deeds could have done them better...The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust, and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and often comes up short again and again. Who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause. And who, if at best in the end, knows the triumph of higher treatment and high achievement, and who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his soul shall never be with those cold and timid ones, who know neither victory nor defeat. - Theodore Roosevelt

So I've worked on this post in my head for a few days. I'm not sure why I blog, except to keep record of my events for myself and friends/family to keep up with what's going on. A lot of times I want to say these deep and profound things but I don't write them here because it's not the content that I usually seek to fill this space on the internet. Here it goes, a bit long, but maybe it will inspire someone to stick with their young agility prospect...

sunrise leaving nationals

Trin was not an easy puppy, nor an easy adolescent. She was infested with ticks when we got her, she was being kept in a yard with a bunch of other dogs and when food was put out, it was put out for all the dogs, so she learned that eating quickly equaled survival. She was tabula rasa and that's what I wanted. I was fully into the Psych program at USF and looking for a b-mod project of my own. Boy did I get one. Her separation anxiety was so bad that she would empty her bowels if I just left the room. I tried to teach her tricks but that went slowly as she could barely focus for more than a few seconds, food put her mind into crazed overdrive.

I trained her weave poles to be any entry she wanted. Then I trained them again. And again. And again. I particularly remember a show one fall where we had been in excellent for almost a year and 4 runs in a row our only fault was weave poles. I went home crying. A local agility judge told me I had two choices, (as Trin could weave in other situations), I could spend the money to show and not Q or I could take long breaks and see if she got better over time. The breaks sounded like quitting to me. Instead, I decided it didn't matter anymore, if we never Q'd at least I was still running my dog. To this day her weaves aren't "world class" but she does them, and I still don't care, it's her choice.

Our first few years of shows were disastrous, Trin would run away from me in every run. She never wanted to stay in the ring. She was highly distracted and would sniff or run off. Visit ring crew, steal food from spectators, you name it. I remember years into our career, we had some small successes, I had a friend videoing and Trin left the ring to run off in a field. Someone behind camera says "if that were my dog I wouldn't even do agility." That comment has stuck with me. I wouldn't say it has driven me though, just that it makes me sad, many, many handlers would have given up on this special dog... we should never give up. Believe in your partner as much as she believes in you.

See, the thing is, ever since Trin was very young I could see the potential in her. I had to learn patience. Give up timelines, give up goals, and change goals, realign my sights. I had to believe in my dog and persevere over challenges. I had help along the way of course, great friends for support, great instructors to teach me how to handle and how to better communicate with my dog.

Nationals was amazing. If you read my Tick Tock post before I changed it, you would have seen that my reason for going was to work on my mental game. I didn't expect to make the finals (though I thought it was a possibility). I knew that being in that environment was bound to be high stress for me and I wanted to learn how to function under that. Friday I didn't do very well, off courses and I was certainly a little nervous. Saturday I got my focus down and got myself where I needed to be mentally to perform. When I saw where I was placed Saturday night (23rd) I knew I had a good chance to make finals if I ran clean in Hybrid. I'll admit, I didn't push as much as I could have in Hybrid. I was scared of making the finals. I was there to work on my mental game, and yet, making the finals was more than I thought I was ready for. Tori, being the good friend she is reminded me, "what's the worst that could happen?" When I said I might fall on my face doing the last front cross, she said, "but the video will be *epic*!"

Speaking of good friends... there's nothing like having a great support system. Nationals was fun because of that. I made new friends, but had old friends there too. I got notes from friends over the weekend that meant a lot to me, and a very special e-card when I got home, you all know who you are. If I had left the sound in my video you'd think I was one of those famous handlers if you could hear the cheering after my runs... I am so thankful for all the support.

So my first nationals, with my first dog, who by all odds should never have even become a champion, is now also a national finalist. I think it really hit home when Tori and I were sitting in the stands watching the 8" finals, a spectator says to his daughter, "these are all the top handlers in the country." I look over at Tori (who was soon to become a national champion - again) and I thought to myself, am I really a top handler too... wow. Just to be included in that group of people, agility rockstars by all accounts, I am beyond proud. I took my little rescue puppy there, I believed in her when no one else did, we climbed a mountain together, we are a team, we believed in each other. I am forever thankful for such a special journey. Really Trin, you can do whatever you want now.

Yeah. That just happened.

2011-04-03T22:41:00.000-04:00

I'm still in shock. Trin? National Finalist?

I have a lot to say, I will write soon. Now, I need to just let it all sink in.

The details, in writing.

Hybrid was a FUN course. Definitely my favorite all weekend. Trin had a wide turn in the opening and I panicked a little, totally changed my plan from what I had walked but it worked out. Trin was fairly fast, the wide turn cost us at least a second. Nice contacts, very nice weaves. I wasn't sure we'd make it, and I honestly wasn't sure I wanted to make the finals at that point. So I went to the other building, watched Tori rock Hybrid with Rev and then... the scores got posted.

I went through probably every emotion there is and back. I went to the bathroom and lost it privately for a few minutes. I mean, really? Trin?! She wasn't even in last of the finalists, she was solidly in.

Then, Finals. By the time I walked to the line I wasn't even nervous. I almost was at my perfect mental state, and I mostly didn't hear the announcer. We had wide turns on the dirt, and we almost made it but off course, definitely a tricky part and I should have moved differently, but alas, it happens. Her weaves were awesome, turn up the dog walk was nice, running dog walk? yeah. Then the closing line, really I think her yps was more than most BC's for that. She has a great go-on. :)

So anyway I'm so super proud of Trin. She brought everything she had to nationals for me and worked as a great little teammate. Retirement? We'll have to talk I guess. ;)

(photos by Tori Self)

2011-04-02T22:03:00.000-04:00

I can't think of a title for this post. I don't even know how to say how pleased and proud I am right now. Trin was incredible today, truly could not have asked for more from her.

Jumpers first this morning, tunnel start, which she loves. I was the 221 dog out of 260. I walked at 7 something and didn't run till almost 1. The waiting around was tough, I was tired and sore before I even ran just from standing and watching all morning. Truly, just to be here, just to see the runs... it's amazing. I feel like I'm walking around with agility rockstars everywhere. SO many great runs today, and a lot of them by my friends! Anyway back to Trin, jumpers was not "hard" but had a challenge to it where people had to make a choice on a jump. I wrapped the "easy" way because it was something we had done recently in a show and I knew we had the skill. The other way included a rear cross which I thought we could do but I went safe. I was definitely slowing Trin down a bit trying to go clean and being careful. We did it though, 47th place. A respectable run and time.

Standard, as soon as I looked at the course, I knew it was a good one for us. It had some challenge to it, and you really had to work almost every obstacle which helps me stay focused. I am most pleased with our standard run as I felt like almost all of it was flawless. One of our best runs for sure. I'm soooo proud of her contacts, I wasn't asking her to stop but she was totally trying to. What a good girl she is. She came in 30th in this run, very respectable.

Overall she's sitting in 23rd right now. I don't know exactly how many go to the finals and I'm not going to look. All I can do is do our best in hybrid tomorrow morning and see what happens. I'm an earlyish draw, #62 so that should be nice to finish up relatively early and then soak in the challengers and finals rounds from the heated building. We're running the east barn tomorrow, better surface, so I'm happy about that.

I am just so proud of Trin... by all odds we should not be sitting where we are right now, she has come so far. I am just in awe tonight. What a good girl.

Fast and Slow

2011-04-01T22:02:00.000-04:00

I think most people are keeping up on FB so I'll try to keep this brief.

Trin was great today, fast in both runs and her contacts were nice. I think I've figured out why she is being so weird though, she's not used to being the "only" dog. She was pretty stressy when I got her out of the car for jumpers didn't want to walk on leash, just being overall weird. The second we walked into the arena, she was like "whew! we're here for agility!" and all was right with her world.

Jumpers was super fun, we did a very nice threadle but got an off course tunnel that I just totally didn't expect and so I didn't handle properly. It's funny now, I was so shocked that Trin did it, I just laughed and kept going. She had a lovely rest of the run, but I found the announcer somewhat annoying.

Standard was a perfect storm of bad luck. On the way in she stabbed herself in the foot with a stick, which I promptly pulled out but she was lame for a few more minutes. Then we got held up and held up and Trin doesn't do well with waiting. So by the time we got to the start line she wouldn't even sit so I ran with her. She came out of the poles early (maybe her pad was bothering her still?) and then we had another random off course to the aframe - with a very nice contact.

We so rarely have off courses and to have two in one day, makes me chuckle. Go Trin GO! I need to focus on every obstacle tomorrow. We'll do better, I'm sure of it. :)

Off to get some sleep, starts 30 mins earlier tomorrow and again earlier on Sunday. Waaah. I think I burned tons of calories shivering today!! And had so much fun hanging out with people who I only see 1-2 a year. I have video, it will have to wait until I get home since the internet sucks here.

2011-03-31T22:05:00.000-04:00

I have three photos to share but they won't post. :(

Everyone must be trying to use the internet here at the hotel. I brought mifi but I am too tired to drag it out and set it up, so pictures tomorrow.

Our final leg of the drive this morning wasn't too bad. A bit of dense fog through Shenandoah Valley but otherwise weather has actually been decent for the driving portion. (knock on wood)

It's cold. Really cold. Supposed to snow tonight. Really? I don't want to drive on snow. Please let me get to the show safely. Trin is in the middle of the pack in both her runs tomorrow. I am planning to crate out of the car and spend some time in there with the heater on. It's cold in the arenas! I'd rather it be cold than hot though, Trin runs better in cold weather.

The two arenas with the rings are pretty far apart, a good 5-10 minute walk, but the dirt looks excellent in both arenas. The equipment is all shiny and new. Pretty exciting walking in and seeing everything this afternoon. We're really here! I didn't run her in Time 2 Beat, she's really better off with less runs.

Last thing of note is Trin seems a little creeped out in the hotel tonight, she's staring at the walls. Odd behavior for her.

More tomorrow, with hopefully pictures!

Safe(r) Travels

2011-03-31T00:18:00.000-04:00

Well I managed to "wreck" my car backing out of the driveway. Oops. Really not sure if that means all wrecking is out of the way now or if I should have just stayed home, time will tell. That long scratch is the wreckage, the other white spots are lights at the gas station.

Trin tried to drive but I persuaded her to move over. She did great on the first leg of our trip. At one point she was completely flipped upside down in the passenger seat, quite comfortable. She's glad we stopped for the night though, I can tell she was happy to really stretch out. We're in Orangeburg, SC. Only about 4.5 hours from Lexington. At this rate I could sleep till like 9 and make it with plenty of time to explore, but I'll probably get up earlier and hit the road. Got mountains to travel tomorrow, have no idea what those are ;) but looking forward to some pretty views. Too bad driving and taking photos is quite difficult.

2011-03-30T10:57:00.000-04:00

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Circa 2003 - comb over ear

We leave today. Trin got her bath, she smells good. She watched me pack last night with her usual expression of worry and forlornness. She hates being left behind, Java and Kate haven’t been left behind enough to worry yet. I left the passenger door of my car open this morning while I went inside to get my lunch, when I got back to the garage Trin was firmly planted in the front seat. She’s ready for her trip.

I’m hoping to leave around 6pm and get 6-7 hours of driving in. I was planning to sleep at a rest area but when my ever practical husband asked me if my life wasn’t worth the $50 motel room, I decided I will probably get a room. And a shower.

I downloaded a few new CD’s yesterday, including AWOLNATION’s album, some Daniel Tosh standup and some other albums that were on sale. I have a 24 hour book on CD that is supposed to be pretty good. I just want to be there already, though truthfully, I really am looking forward to the drive with all my media.

I’m keeping my camera out and hoping to make a photo-log of our trip. I also made a FB group of people who I thought might want hourly updates and if you’re reading this you’re likely one of those people, except if I don’t know you, or (ahem), you aren’t on FB. I am going to try to blog though from my trip which I am sometimes successful at and other times not so much.

I am so not getting anything done at work today...

Tick Tock

2011-03-28T22:10:00.001-04:00

The clock ticked as loudly as rain on glass. I like trains because they make sounds that fit their bodies. – Brian Andreas.

It's raining pretty much until I return from Nationals with Trin. I just want to fast forward to Thursday night please. The driving will be tough, by myself, but I've got some things to keep me entertained.

In spite of no video, Trin rocked yesterday. She had three lovely contact performances. No complaints from me at all. She was a little tentative in STD, we got held on the start line and that stresses her out. She kept wanting to sit facing away from the first jump, I had to physically turn her around, it made me laugh though. She was clean in STD but no placement because of a spin out of the chute.

JWW was a really nice run! (Apparently!) The video is on a friends camera so I'm looking forward to seeing it. Trin won the class, she hasn't won JWW very often. Our lines were pretty spot on. I chickened out on rearing the weave poles to ensure the 2Q, way to reward my decision universe. :)

We leave Wednesday after work and I'll drive until I need some sleep then drive the rest on Thursday. We're not running in Time 2 Beat on Thursday since Trin doesn't need more runs for the weekend. I'm looking forward to Friday the most as the ISC denotes that the courses should be more "challenging." I feel like Trin is really ready, there's nothing else I want to do to prepare her, except maybe give her a bath tomorrow.

Is it Thursday yet?

Power of the Cuz

2011-03-27T20:03:00.000-04:00

Aww the Bean is getting her speed back! Yay! She did really well today, got a 2Q and tons of points. So happy for her. I brought her cuz ball to the ring with us and even though she wouldn't play with it next to the ring, she would play a little game with me in the stands. I would set it out and hold her back and use our little "explosion" cue (I mentioned about training this a few months back) and then I used it on the startline. As she took off in STD I was surprised and I didn't realize that my planned front off the dog walk was SOOO not happening until the very last moment, hence the awkward rear cross on the flat. Silly aframe, she's a good girl and knows to put in that second stride. Very nice teeter, LOTS of dogs flew off today.

Her jumpers run was equally lovely, a bit slower overall, but she was running for me. She rocked today. I'm glad she didn't qualify for nationals, since she's been "off" but I'm also glad that she's now halfway qualified for next year. ;)

(Trin's post coming... but she was perfect too, and even won JWW!)

Spring Forward

2011-03-13T22:36:00.000-04:00

No Q's for Gary's dogs at the USDDN event this weekend. :(

My agility weekend was very nice, well mostly. This trial was our continuation of warming up Trin for AKC Nationals. Trin was awesome, and as usual, she was perfect. Unfortunately we only Q'd in STD each day. I flubbed up JWW for her yesterday. Then today NQ both girls in JWW, but good because, I learned I need to train a certain skill (and handle more clearly), so we'll get right on that. I really do love homework weekends. I felt like Trin was on though, and I'm feeling very confident for nationals. She was pushy on her contacts this weekend, wagging her tail at the start line (tunnel start) and just overall really happy to be on course.

Java is looking better, down 2 lbs now. She had a great STD run yesterday, lots of challenges. I really liked the STD course on Saturday. She was clean in JWW too so we got a 2Q! Today we had an OC in STD. One of the downfalls of a running dog walk. A very pretty contact though! She was confident both days and looks to be running faster. Not up to New Years weekend speed again yet, but we'll get there.

Mental note: I had a hard time with my autopiloting this weekend. I feel like I might be getting sick and I struggled this morning with the time change. I don't know how coherent this post will even be with how sleepy I feel. Yesterday in JWW with Trin, I started handling the open closing, and then did an unplanned fx with Kate, similar to the fx we did in Ex. I realized I'm on autopilot in my runs, which is a good thing, I think, but does allow for some of these errors while I'm running nested courses.

I love this song by Carlos Bertonatti - it so fits my girls.

Aussie Update

2011-03-09T16:22:00.000-05:00

Bayer, Fergie, and Java competed in a UFO local last weekend. I don't know many of the details but Fergie came in 2nd overall and Bayer in 3rd. Poor Bayer just can't score in TC to save his life... or is it Gary? lol ooooh. Trin got to go as cheerleader while Kate and I competed in agility.

This weekend Bayer and Fergie are headed down to South Florida to compete in a USDDN event, while Trin, Java and Kate are staying home with me to compete in agility. I'm so looking forward to running all my girls this weekend. Java and Kate are doing USDAA next weekend, Trin gets a week off. Then all three again the last weekend in March. Trin and I should be fine tuned for our Nationals debut the first weekend in April.

Java's been "working out" regularly and has lost a pound as of two days ago, possibly more by now. She's been swimming regularly and really *looks* more fit to me already. I guess we'll see how she does this weekend. In addition to her daily running/swimming regimen, I've also been working on that pesky table. Her most common time to jump off the table is from a teeter, so while I've so kindly been loaned a teeter, we've been practicing that. Also, I have a straight tunnel pointed at the table for extra collection skills. Heh. Well, we're failing a lot in training so I guess that's a good sign! :) Jumpin' Java Bean. Yeah, that pretty much says it all.

Some photos by Kat Fahle from last weekend:

<-- Classic.

2011-03-03T20:00:00.001-05:00

Boot camp has begun for Bean! Yesterday all the dogs went swimming at the lake. I made sure Java did lots of it. She was actually pretty competitive for the stick and jumped most of the time. I was throwing farther than I ever have! I felt like Henry Rowengartener in Rookie of the Year. Lol! So the dogs were swimming farther than usual. Also it was windy yesterday and the disc would get carried off a bit so they would have to swim around to find it.

Sitting on the dock in the cool air, watching the dogs have a great time, reminded me that I need to make an effort to do more of that. Java’s on a swim at least twice a week program in addition to her wind sprints. Tonight she played lots of frisbee and ran around a big yard.

So, does this look like a dog that is ready to retire from agility in 3 months? No, I didn’t think so either.

Photos by LS Photosmith. Not sure how long the pics will show up, looks like she's starting to disable the embed to blog function. :(

Just a Fat Girl

2011-03-01T21:05:00.001-05:00

Well all signs point to Java being healthy... and fat. She's 5 lbs over where I like her and at her size 5 lbs is like a quarter of her weight. She's heartworm negative and negative for Anaplasmosis, Lyme and Ehrlichia. My vet listened to her heart, looked at her teeth, ears, toes, checked her thoroughly and pronounced her healthy. If the weight doesn't come off easily we might be dealing with something but we'll see. She thinks her metabolism might be changing and that caused some of the weight gain. Java was a BUSY youngster, like never slept, ever. Kate is that way too. So perhaps now that Java is almost 5 and settled down she's needing less food. I could see if I were 25% fatter how I wouldn't want to climb a 5-6 aframe when I was 13.5" tall. Poor Bean. 50 yard wind sprints start tomorrow, get ready little girl. :)

Photos from the show this weekend, tight turns and running dog walk... and hey - nice shoes ;) Photos by LS Photosmith

Vero AKC for Trin & Java

2011-02-28T21:27:00.000-05:00

Saturday I was just not on. My girls were though! Trin was fast in both of her runs, she missed her aframe contact in STD – weee! and then she missed a jump in JWW that I should have cued better, I just took it for granted. Java ran well in STD on Saturday, but bounced off the table for the bazillionth time. We even practiced that Friday night to remind her! I just need to really manage her approaches to tables to get her super collected. She was clean in JWW, for a 3rd place but she was slow.

Sunday I showed up with my brain, I focused on my walk throughs, and made good handling decisions. Trin 2Q’d like the perfect little dog she is. Nice runs, though not as fast as she was on Saturday. I need to figure out how to get my Aussies to have consistent speed throughout a weekend. Java made me very sad on Sunday. She ran around the aframe in STD, knocked the double, skipped weave poles. She was slow and looked uncomfortable. I was so distraught by this (since she’s been “off” for awhile) that I couldn’t decide whether to run her in JWW or not. A friend said that I might learn more by running her and watching, so I ran her. She wasn’t clean, or fast, but she missed a jump and it was because I took my eye off her to look down the closing line. She did let me leave her in the weave poles though which is a skill we’ve been practicing a lot, so that’s a plus.

I’m just not sure what’s up with her. Maybe she was stressed about the hectic environment there? I stretched her out real well before JWW Sunday and she seemed fine, nothing I moved bothered her, or made her face change. She leaned into the stretches like she normally would and was happy doing them. Her gait looks fine. Gary suggested a tick panel, which is a good idea, so I made an appointment for tomorrow afternoon. She’s put on a little weight recently so I’m going to focus on getting that off and building muscle. Considering I thought she ran well her first run it does seem interesting that she progressively got slower and more uncomfortable throughout the weekend. Anyway, I could ramble, Java is my favorite dog, (shh don’t tell Kate or Trin) so it’s even harder for me to see her not being herself. I’m so worried about her. :( I want my Bean back.

Fun compilation of the girls this weekend:

AWI/Quad 2011

2011-02-23T22:14:00.000-05:00

See how motivated I am to post when things didn't go as successfully. ;) Bayer and Fergie both did quite well in FS on Saturday's AWI Qualifier. Unfortunately, Fergie just wasn't connecting on the catches but she was there for everything and seemed into the game. Bayer had two great FS rounds, his 2nd round I think had two drops, but both dogs didn't have great TC rounds so... no Q's for the Aussome Dogs. Bummer. Now we have to travel to Q and hey, 2 Quads are with AWI Qualifiers. lol I will chalk it up to lack of focus for Gary running the event and coordinating Bark Network coverage all day as well. He definitely enjoyed working with Bark Network so it was worth it. Bayer did get 2nd in the CF-FDC Challenge portion of the event and won a pretty big trophy to add to the collection. Good boy, Bayer-dee.

Oh yes, the tongue helps distance!

Java Bean was awesome in the Quad.
On Saturday in TC she wasn't getting to the disc and I was beginning to worry. I already said how she wasn't herself at the USDAA show a few weeks ago, I felt the same about her performance on Saturday. I wondered if she was sick or hurting somewhere. Sunday she pulled out all the stops though and was perfect, she was her amazingly athletic little self and showed why she's the best and smallest Quad dog. Unfortunately, by the time our heat came up I already knew Kate and Gary were in the finals and I'll admit it, I was pretty distracted by that. The Men's Open of the Quad is more exciting to me than my own wimpy division, yep. But I threw well enough in the cross wind, got beat in the last round of my heat. I can throw better, but I couldn't at that time. So no finals for me and Bean. I need to try to focus in future Quads, even if Kate is already in the finals with Gary. Sorry Java.

No freestyle video. Dunno why, I should have gotten up and taped it but Bark Network did and I'll post a link if they upload the footage at some point. My girls and I are off to do some agility this weekend! First show in awhile where I'm running all three girls. Trin has had over a month break from agility, weee this should be pretty fun! :)

Season Prep

2011-02-17T21:41:00.000-05:00

I sat down today at work and looked at my schedule to plan out my vacation for the year. I've used one of my 16 days already... but I do get 19 more Friday's. Still trying to save money, but somehow I planned 14/16 days by July 1st. Err... that's not good, and definitely not realistic. :(

AKC Nationals might take a big chunk of time, but I want it that way. Just me and Trin. I'm looking forward to it just being us, she and I have grown up together in a way, and now that she's a perfect dog it will be such a fun trip, just doing our thing. I can get there in one day but I want to take some time, visit some family, see non-dog friends, and climb up the side of a mountain (it's so flat here). Nationals itself will be really fun too, I'm very, very much looking forward to our first big event.

The Aussome Dogs are off to Lakeland this weekend for our club's biggest event of the year. Maybe biggest event that isn't a worlds. We have over 200 competitors this weekend, 12 states represented, the weather is predicted to be absolutely stunning, and I'm soooo looking forward to some Vitamin D. Bayer and Fergie are trying to Q for AWI and Kate is hoping to win a Men's Open. I'm playing Java in the Quad and Trin is chillin out, being head cheerleader.

Oh and it's all being live streamed on Bark Network! You should totally click that link and see that awesome photo by Kat. ;)

Fergie and Java KETCH USDAA

2011-02-06T22:02:00.000-05:00

Fergie had a decent weekend, in spite of looking awesome for me in her weaves in training on Friday she was extremely stressy for Gary. She got 2nd in jumpers to Kate, by less than a second, unfortunately no one got that run on tape. :( I did catch her Snooker run this morning though, not bad!

I also have Java's two runs from today on video but I'm not going to post them. She was slow in jumpers and seemed to really be struggling with 16" jumps. Gary said she wasn't slow and that my idea of fast has changed with Kate but she was. We're still in Advanced Stranded because she ran by the aframe, her dog walk was really nice though.

Java gets to take a weekend off and then compete in the Quad and then an AKC show. Hopefully she's out of her funk by then.

Ferguson turns 4

2011-02-05T00:48:00.001-05:00

So we actually forgot, because her designated birthday is the 1st. We rescued Fergie, she was a stray in Atlanta, taken to a shelter, picked up the next day and the following day broke with Parvo and Rachael, Fergie's hero, got her started on meds right away and she made a quick recovery. We found out about Fergs through the CFDDC yahoo group; Gary had been looking for a new dog and wanted a Border Collie.

I asked Rachael a million questions, she sent me video. I knew Fergie was going to be a bit of a project dog, but thought she seemed really sweet and Gary liked her a lot from pictures and pretty much trusted my judgement on her being a good fit. I liked that she sounded very comfortable with people; she certainly is. We drove to Georgia once she was fully recovered from Parvo, rescued her with the intention to get her spayed and x-rayed. Her hips came back excellent and she recovered quickly from her spay.

Initial disc training was interesting, we had to get creative. Motivation was hard, at times, still is, at times. Fergie's a lady and she has to be treated like one. No wet grass, no getting dirty, if she's not feelin' it, you can't make her. She has a certain spark about her though, when you really get her going, where she can make the magic happen, that's how she became the 2010 Florida State Freestyle Champion, winning a UFO Major.

She's done well in agility too, unfortunately, Gary doesn't pursue it much. They are showing in USDAA this weekend though which hopefully will go well. I had today (Friday) off for flex time, so I took all 4 girls to train today. I did a ring rental, and believe it or not, almost sweat to death. It was 86!!! Fergie did awesome though, contacts were spot on, weaves were perfect - even getting in some hard entries. Her jumping was GORGEOUS. She truly is the most natural jumping dog I've ever worked with.

We forgot on the 1st. I remembered tonight while I was making the dogs dinner. When I told Gary we forgot Fergie's birthday he said, "well it's not her real birthday so it's hard to remember." I chose February 1st to be Fergie's birthday by calculating her approximate age, and then reading almanacs to see what day seemed good. Sort of hokey, but hey. Anyway a very happy birthday to Duke's Duchess of Disc.

Vintage

2011-02-02T23:14:00.001-05:00

Going through some very old pictures tonight. This was before I had jumps. I'm not sure what I was trying to accomplish with this whole set up... I was determined to have an agility dog though. :)

Java Coursework

2011-01-30T15:37:00.000-05:00

Java got to play on some international courses yesterday. The first course is a David Powell small/medium jumpers course. Map above. The second course is the ISC Jumpers course from the recent PNW show. I had Tori run Java on it just to see how she'd do. Java only loves me and so it's pretty cool to see that she'll run for someone else if they have the cuz.

Aussie Takedown!!

2011-01-24T23:22:00.001-05:00

Java always wins. Always.

Bayer Turns 7

2011-01-19T09:14:00.000-05:00

I'm a little late with the post. Bayer's birthday was actually yesterday. Gary and I spent hours working on a solution for the AussomeDogs website last night and I fell asleep before I could post. The website is finally getting updated though! (Just please only view it in Safari or Chrome right now)

Bayer had a great birthday, Gary took him to the "toy store" and Bayer got his favorite toy. Seriously. He has a big, yellow dumbell toy, we have to replace every couple months. He takes it outside to pee, he sleeps with it in his mouth, it gets stinky and Java or Kate rip it open, though they mostly respect that it is Bayer's toy. After the toy store, all the Aussies and Fergie got to practice disc at the park, everyone celebrates Bayer's birthday!

Trin, Java, Bayer's toy and Bayer - circa 2007

Gary and Bayer in his first FS competition - circa 2006?

What a bored college student does with her dog and her husband's puppy on a rainy afternoon, that's my old kitchen in our town house - circa 2004

ADCH Trin Video

2011-01-16T23:56:00.000-05:00

Trin's videos generally get about 20-30 views so I figure it's ok for me to use this song. :) It's how I'd express it anyway. She has been such a great first dog, patience. Patience. Patience. And perseverance. Trin felt fine the next day after gorging herself on Rev's food. She didn't even get sick.

A Trin story. At Trin's very first disc dog competition (as it took us awhile to convince her to play after Bayer started) she was still not quite into the game. It was a big event, the biggest one our club hosts, 2006. Lots of out of town guests. So I step to the line, throw my measly 20 yarder. The disc lofts out there and Trin barks at it most of the way until it comes time for her to catch it, then she loses complete interest and veers off sniffing. So I run out to get the disc, she runs back with me barking, excited. Alright. Send her around again and throw the disc but then I realize she never came out from behind me. The disc is flying down the field, and I hear a child behind me on the sidelines. Crying. Whirl around and Trin, literally, has an entire hotdog, bun and all, that she is wolfing down right in front of a sobbing child. That's my girl. :)

ADCH Trinity!!!

2011-01-14T22:21:00.001-05:00

We had a lovely Snooker run for our last Super Q. The video isn't uploading from here, slow internet connection, but I'll get it posted within a couple days. I had a modest plan of 3,5,7,7 (which also would have earned me the super Q) but I decided to go with a more aggressive plan of 5,7,7,7. I was 2nd from last 22" to run so I knew I didn't need the aggressive plan but I went for it anyway and we got 2nd place. Ironically, we got 2nd place on our MACH run too. :)

So Trin is now:

C-ATCH MACH ADCH Duke's Triple Threat "Trinity" RN, MX, MXJ, MAD, TM

We got to Tori and Rev's for the night and she celebrated by eating all of Rev's food that she could fit into her belly. She waddled into the room where we are using the internet and belched and we knew she'd been chowing down. Hopefully she is ok tomorrow but even if she gets sick, I'm sure she'd say it was worth it. ;) Trin's never been afraid to let her inner fat girl show.

To Infinity!

2011-01-12T19:09:00.000-05:00

Infinity is just one of the many random words that has been associated with my wonderful, first dog. You know Trinity-Infinity. It just goes. I hung out with one of my best buddies from HS this past weekend, it was awesome, roller blading, relaxing, amazing food, and starbucks. She took some great shots of Trin relaxing poolside:

(wish the chick with the camera would go away)

(maybe if I pretend to be asleep?)

(leave me alone!)

This weekend we'll take another stab at her ADCH, two tries at a Super Q, pretty sure we'll do it.

Java's supposed to run, supposed to get a GP Q for Regionals in case I actually do go for once. Supposed to finally get out of Advanced. She has other plans unfortunately, so she'll probably stay home. For the next three weeks. Bummer. At least she won't miss any other shows though.

Nationals. Officially.

2011-01-08T20:09:00.000-05:00

Trin is officially entered in AKC Nationals in Virginia. Very exciting.

Fun with Numbers

2011-01-06T13:13:00.000-05:00

So with the thought that maybe I would take Java to WTT... Just to run the courses, of course, ;) and cheer on my friends, and watch some amazing agility. I need a competition record. I keep my ribbons but I never kept a record before. It took me quite a while to get all the data put in, and as I went I thought of more data categories I wanted, so I had to go back. I even put Fergie in there, though I didn't have much data, she's been in less than 10 shows - ever.

Review writing is probably one of my least favorite parts of my job. It always comes after the most hellish month of the year. It's nauseatingly reminiscent of writing short essays in college. About topics that I didn't like, or a book I didn't have time to read. And now imagine writing them about someone who you then have to recite it to later, in front of your manager. I very much dislike it. I have a hard time writing in the busyness of my office, we have no walls, just desks. Some years I book a room and hide myself, some years we're allowed to work from home, this year we had to go in on our holiday for New Years. Not for nothing though, I get a day later in the year, and it was an easy day. Rambling. So I've had my work PC at home nights, to write reviews. Reviews that read like poetry.

Hello MS Excel. We are daily acquaintances at work, I live in Excel. So I created the most badass competition record spreadsheet that has ever existed. So much data. I get all glazed over looking through it, what's Java's most common fault? (table) Trin's Q percentage on dirt? (100% aside from the MACH trial) Java's average YPS on grass? (4.86 - JWW) I made a graph that shows YPS on JWW vs STD by date. I made a pivot table that shows Q percentages by other characteristics (surface, judge, class). It has multiple formulas and it is a work of fucking art. Thank you Corporate America, I have learned something useful after all. ;)

Turns out Java needs to be faster in JWW to get her Q's, so I need to be faster. I have done some brainstorming. Tonight we started on what I'm going to dub "an explosion cue." When Trin had zero recall, I used the word "Hurry" and linked it to everything amazing. Java loves the cuz ball most. So cuz ball out, jump between us. I'm even going to start her a specific way, push her back, "cue" and go. What's the cue? I'm open to ideas. For now it's been "Ready, Set, Go" but I think I can come up with something more clever... Also working (as always) on speeding up her weaves, and definitely working her table, being our most common fault, though she actually has the speed in all of her standard Q's. I have intermittently been putting Java through Kate's jump training but I am going to go back to that now and revisit some things that are in "the book" that I think will help with her scope. Better scope = less strides = faster time. Chances are we won't make WTT (this year) but I am excited about our new training plan. It's fun to finally have arrived with the Bean, we can truly compete. I'm excited about her future, and she's excited about playing with me and the cuz everyday! :)

Creativity!

2011-01-04T15:55:00.000-05:00

First is she not the cutest dog that ever lived? :) Giant Beanie eyes!

Java's squeaky toy fell (er was possibly pushed) into the pool. She was too cold to swim so she tried to creatively retrieve her toy:

Pure determination:

Trin & Java AKC New Years Palmetto

2011-01-02T18:00:00.000-05:00

Well an AWESOME start to 2011! I could not be happier with my perfect, little Aussies. Trin got two more 2Q's, she placed 4th in both her standard runs this weekend. She is doing so well, I'm very excited to run her at nationals. She's just perfect. :)

Java!!! Oh man. Ok, so I never post, my dog beat... etc kind of things. It's silly, any given day right? But not Java. My area is pretty competitive in the 12" class and I've been watching my times and over the past year Java has been no placements, low placements and finally she's won a few classes. She won a standard in Jax back in October, then at KETCH last month, but, usually when the really fast dogs NQ. Saturday, she won, and the fast dogs Q'd. GO BEANS! I *know* she has it in her to be at the top, and she proved it. Unfortunately, on Sunday some handling errors, so we got 2nd. ;) She was awesome this weekend though, and I watch the standard run where she won and I think, I know we can do even better than that. I'm so excited to see what 2011 brings for the Beans. She picked up a 2Q on Saturday and a whole bunch of points this weekend.

Thanks to our 2010 Sponsors

2010-12-28T07:30:00.000-05:00

I needed to make this post many times over but without Bayer none of this would be possible. Gary and Bayer have had a great year three-peat Canis Major Super Open champs, UFO World Finals Freestyle All Star Champion, plus many other GREAT rounds this year.

And not to be forgotten, little Fergie, 2010 Florida State Champion.

Many thanks to our sponsors that helped them get there. We've been happily (exclusively) using Hero Discs all year. Gary and Bayer are so proud and honored to be a part of the Hero Disc Team. The Atom was released this year, which I feel very involved with, having the idea for the name, as well as asking and begging that they make a micro disc so Java could represent the Hero discs as well in MicroDog.

Also our dogs have easily made the switch to Canidae, Grain Free, All Life Stages dog food for the better part of the year with no health issues and they all have nice coats, nice teeth and consistent... yeah. Both Gary and I are proud to be a part of the Canidae team and all 5 "aussome" dogs are sponsored by Canidae. I've fed raw in the past and making the switch to kibble was a difficult choice, but overall I've been quite pleased and it actually works out really well for trick training! Hard to clicker train when you're handing the dog a chicken neck. ;) Special thanks to Canidae for the mixed popcorn gift, I could NOT stop eating them! Also our dogs LOVE the snap biscuits and Fergie (literally) almost breaks her leg trying to get in her crate for them.

Special thanks to both of our amazing sponsors and looking forward to a continued partnership in the future!

T/J Goals and Reflections on 2010

2010-12-24T09:24:00.004-05:00

Trin: 2010 has been an awesome year for the Finity. She finished her MACH, got all but one leg for her ADCH and she became the most consistent partner ever. She’s done so well it’s hard to write that I’m looking at retirement for her. She’s the fastest she’s ever been and she’s sooo consistent. She'll be 8 this year and she doesn't truly have the structure for week after week competing.

Trin couldn’t care less if she never did another set of weave poles or another aframe. She does agility for the food at the end, not for me, not because she intrinsically enjoys it. She’d take dock diving or hiking/sniffing through the forest over an agility run any day of the week. My plan for 2011 is to get her Q’d for 2012 AKC Nationals (shouldn’t take too long) and in that time frame prepare ourselves for 2011 AKC Nationals in April. Trin and I are going to Nationals alone, just me and her. I have no expectations, aside from enjoying ourselves, laying down the best runs we can as a team and experiencing my first Nationals with my first agility dog.

After April, I’m not sure, we’ll see how spring plays out. She’ll get her ADCH sometime in Jan/Feb/March but I’m only running her in Masters Snooker and probably won’t do much USDAA with her besides a random PVP team here and there for fun (like at a Regional). I’d really like to take up tracking with her as I’ve always thought that’s something she’d really enjoy. And who knows, maybe we’ll find ourselves back in the terrifying obedience ring and get a CD.

Java: 2010 for Beans has shown immense improvement. Back in January I was still retraining her contacts, she did 3 shows in the Spring and one over the summer and came back in the fall ready to really compete. I so badly wish she could have Q’d for AKC Nationals but the consistency just wasn’t quite there yet. I’m happy to report she didn’t miss any contacts in the fall which is pretty awesome. Her dog walk has gotten faster and faster and just this week – FASTER. Her frame went from mostly 3 strides to 2 strides and overall she’s just become a more responsive partner. I absolutely adore running her and I know she loves running for me.

(photos above by Alexis Hernandez)

I’d like to Q Java for AKC Nationals in 2012 and barring it being in Alaska or something (though that would be kinda cool – ha no pun intended) actually run her there. She’ll be a hit with all the snobby Aussie folks especially when they take a look at her pedigree. I want to continue chipping away at her MACH/ADCH and maybe get those in 2011 but they'll come eventually. I’d like to also qualify her for USDAA nationals, if by some chance Kate gets super consistent and qualifies too, then I’ll probably go. Otherwise just for Java, probably not, as 16” is somewhat high for her.

Two other things I’ve been toying with in my head, that are sort of beyond our reach at this point but it's fun to dream big. Believe it or not, she only needs one 2Q and a couple individual Q’s and she’s qualified for FCI World Team Tryouts (small dog because she is under 13.75”). Now, I know what her limitations are and I know she's not going to win on (this year ;) or be chosen, but it would be really fun to run the courses and then get to cheer/watch my friends who actually MIGHT make the team (ahem Tori & Rev). The other idea (and more likely one) is the AKC invitational is in Florida the next few years so it would be fun to try for that. It would cost A LOT of money but I think Java will have the consistency for it if I spent the money to qualify, we’d also get a ton of practice together as a team. Qualifying starts in the summer so we'll see how things are going at that point, Trin will be mostly retired and Kate... who knows?

(two photos by Kat Fahle)

So now that I’ve put all that out there into the universe, time to work towards those ideas, goals, hopes. Thanks for reading (if you’ve actually made it this far). Below Java stands in the way of Kate showing she's the super star. ;)

Both my girls (and Fergie) are officially dropped from agility classes, while I know the weekly time on equipment is really good for them, the $ to put them in a class where I am running them mostly clean (and not getting much feedback) isn't really justified. For 2011 I need to make a conscious effort to keep up their training and practice skills they need, and travel to friends house to work courses, and possibly put Java in a few seminars with some of my favorite instructors. Thanks to all my awesome friends with yards big enough for equipment in advance!

Partners

2010-12-09T15:31:00.000-05:00

Tied together by stuff too difficult to explain to someone new - Brian Andreas

(photo by Tori Self)

TBAC's First Show

2010-11-26T23:29:00.000-05:00

Last year our agility training "center" started an AKC club so we could host shows. Today was our first official show, and it went off really well. Running shows is NOT an easy task and *everyone* is a volunteer so it always pleases me to attend a show where it's done flawlessly. I thought it went well, but hard to say from an outsiders perspective. Especially since we didn't finish until close to 7.

Java Bean is so cute. :)

Ahh the gray on her face! :(

Trin and Java continue to be amazing little dogs. Trin got another double Q and two 2nd places. Java had an off course in JWW (doh!) but she came back to win STD in the afternoon. Go Beans! I have video, but I'm not going to upload it now because the quality isn't awesome and I'm running out of space this week on my vimeo account. :)

Something interesting about the video though. When Trin was young (and wild) I had some "educational" comments in the background of my videos. I have been hurt but also enlightened in the past. Today's videos are kind of funny to me. At some point in the last couple of years, I've become a "good" handler, someone to watch. Two different runs today, two different groups of people talking about my handling (in a good way). I think they didn't know Donna was filming since she was sitting in the chute straightener chair (which is why the video quality isn't amazing, though interesting angle and everything I need to see is there). It's still somewhat surreal to me that people want to watch my runs. When did this happen? I have a hard time telling myself no one is watching... but then again, as Lanny tells me, they won't remember my run 3 seconds after I put the leash around my dog's neck. Whew!

Anyway sort of a positive spin on the day for me. Hopefully they found my handling helpful. :) Did I mention how awesome my little girls are?

Like it's Quidditch

2010-11-26T21:22:00.000-05:00

Oh wow. So Tori made this video and it took me a few days to even realize it. That's how in touch I am on the internet. Holidays and all. ;) But still, Team Awesome does freakin rock and you totally wish you were cool enough to make a video to this song.

Trin and Java DOI Nov 2010

2010-11-21T22:40:00.001-05:00

The video is currently uploading. I have a feeling it might be awhile, so I'll post this and you can check back if you wanna check it out. ;)

Trin was, as usual, perfect this weekend. She felt pretty slow at 22" and I wonder if maybe I should have given her a few practice reps at that height instead of just showing up at the show not having run 22" in ??? but she did fine, didn't knock a single bar. Friday she picked up that last Masters Jumpers Q, but in Snooker we bobbled on a 7 in the opening so ran out of time for the closing. Saturday she Q'd and won Pairs with Tori and Rev, then also picked up her last Gamblers Q. Then I made a conservative-ish plan for Snooker and ended up getting third and a Super Q, but geez, I don't think I've ever clapped so much in a run. Sunday, Trin only ran in Jumpers and she Q'd... of course. So now she is down to one Super Q for her ADCH! Yay!

Java had a pretty good weekend. She picked up a Master Jumpers leg Friday, but decided to spaz out before our GP run and ran around the first jump and back jumped it. So we were whistled and I didn't run the course because she ran away from me to get cookies I think. Then Adv Std on Saturday morning, SO close but we had an off course after she ran by the frame. She Q'd and got 2nd in Rd 1 of SC though. Sunday, finally got our first Adv Std leg! In SC finals we had an AWESOME run going and even though I thought I cued a turn pretty clearly the off course tunnel was too tempting. No video though so I can continue to blame the tunnel. ;) Still really happy with that run. She was clean in Jumpers Sunday afternoon but slipped (it was raining during her run) and knocked her face into a bar.

I got a decent tan, and had a lot of fun seeing Harry Potter Saturday night. The girls all got to swim in the lake Saturday night, which I'm 99% sure my Aussies found more fun than actually doing agility.

Trin and Java DOI Nov 2010 from Sarah Duke on Vimeo.

ADCH Countdown!

2010-11-17T10:41:00.001-05:00

So not only does my dog, who by most odds, should probably never have been successful, have two agility championships, but possibly a third this weekend! I decided to get an ADCH on Trin once she started running confidently which, in reality, was not all that long ago (mid 2009). She needs one Jumpers, Gamblers and Pairs. Those three should be no problem (as long as my pairs partner is clean ;), well gamblers might be tricky but doable. Now the two Snooker SQ’s will be the hard part. There are only two Snooker opportunities this weekend, so we pretty much gotta lay it down both runs. We’ll see. Crossing my fingers for 4 reds so I can add strategy, Trin’s just not fast like a BC. If she doesn’t get it this weekend, I won’t be heart broken or anything, we’ll get it in January or February, or maybe even March next year. It would be kinda cool to get her ADCH at KETCH since Wendy helped me “fix” her. I was trying to save a jumpers run for her ADCH but I think it will come down to a Super Q so that’s actually a good thing for me, since then, no one will expect me to run around the ring. ;)

VFF's

2010-11-12T21:37:00.001-05:00

So I finally caved to the "Revolution" and got some Vibram Five Fingers. I dragged my friend to the mall with me, a horrid and disgustingly sweet smelling place, and tried on all the different models. I wanted ones that came in black but alas the Bikila's fit me the best. So I got the gray/green ones, since green is my favorite color this month. My main objective is to get more grip with the earth since I've been slipping in dirt, which is how I tweaked my knee I'm pretty sure. I like driving in them! They still feel weird just as I put them on but after a few minutes I can't feel them anymore but I can feel the earth and it is truly a unique experience. Running in them, there is a definite advantage. I can feel my toes splay while I run and it feels good, natural, right. A lot of people have asked me about arch support, and I don't know? My feet didn't hurt or anything after wearing them all weekend for the IPOC show. Now training late into the night when it got cold... I didn't notice at first but driving home I realized my feet were numb. In conclusion, wish I had tried them sooner ;)

an unexpected pleasantry:

Homework Weekend

2010-11-07T21:32:00.000-05:00

Similar to last year, my dogs and I were not "successful" at the IPOC show this weekend. A lot of missed poles for my girls, and since these were 24" weaves I'm thinking it's the dry grass. I have very thick St Augustine and we train on dirt so they aren't used to holding their footing on dry grass. No excuses though we definitely need to work on it.

This venue is very "visually distracting" which I think is the cause of most of Java's NQs this weekend. With people sitting all along the rings sides she was constantly "scanning" which you can even see in my highlight video if you watch closely. So I think it was good she got out and worked it in this environment but kind of sad because I don't think she'll Q for nationals now with only 3 chances at 3 2Q's. :( Next year Beans.

On the flip side Trin was HAULIN' this weekend, she won two classes and got a 3rd (I think). She LOOOVES cold weather and with lows in the 40's she was in heaven. I wish all shows could be cold so she'd run like this but I enjoy it while we have it. She had a couple faults (even fell off the teeter!) but ran her little heart out for me and I love her for being such an honest dog.

Trin & Java IPOC Highlights 11/2010 from Sarah Duke on Vimeo.

MACH Duke's Triple Threat MX, MXJ, XF, RN

2010-11-03T07:38:00.001-04:00

The video!!!

MACH Trinity from Sarah Duke on Vimeo.

Last night was Trin's first step towards "retirement." I've stopped paying for an agility class for her since I can maintain skills on my own at home, and really, she already knows it all. Still, when I got home and saw her sitting there, all indignant, I felt awfully wistful about not getting to run her on those sequences last night. I think her and Java might have to flip spots for a few more sessions before I fully retire Trin from classes. At least we have another 3 day trial this weekend... can Trin get 3 more 2Q's? lol

Good Times Halloween :)

2010-10-31T20:24:00.000-04:00

Well we ended up having a great weekend. Twice Panera soup, and twice Starbucks coffee. The literal life of luxury. And the best part? I have the most awesome dogs in the world! Aside from the rockyish surface of the rings, I really, really enjoyed the venue and would like to go again next year. Indoors but also open so plenty of fresh air where the dogs are crated and the weather was gorgeous. Arena was pretty dusty, but I only went in there to walk, run or video and managed not to get a sinus headache. There is a nice, quiet horse trail at the trial site where I took my dogs off leash hiking Saturday morning (since we weren't gonna run until 1ish) and they had a GREAT time tearing around the woods, getting covered in stickers and burrs. In addition to huge fields where they could chase Frisbees and just run around being dogs it was perfect. Oh and not to forget free wifi.

(hanging with Rev)

Trin had another perfect weekend, she's pretty much awesome like that these days. A couple bobbles but nothing faulted, she placed in every run except the last jumpers run where she came in 5th. I think we were both pretty tired and honestly that is something I need to work on in myself and my dogs, that 3rd day fatigue. I tried some interesting things handling wise since I really don't care what happens now, some were big wins and some were... not. :) Also her first weekend with her "running" frame. Anything I can do to lessen the stress on her body and extend her career. We'll see how it plays out with no training.

Trin Jax AKC Halloween 2010 from Sarah Duke on Vimeo.

Beans was AWESOME! We finally found some of that consistency that I know is in there. She stopped for EVERY table, nailed EVERY weave entry, hit EVERY contact. We had a small bobble (not filmed) in standard this morning where she took the tunnel instead of the frame. I didn't handle it correctly though so that's on me, guess if I can't be perfect, 11/12 isn't bad. ;) (Oh how Kate will humble me!) Back to Java though, I couldn't be more proud of her. It's all coming together now, wait till ya'll see the increase in speed as confidence continues to grow, this little girl is gonna rock! Well ok, she already does. Placed in every run, one 1st, two 2nds and two 3rds.

Java Jax AKC Halloween 2010 from Sarah Duke on Vimeo.

Trin's MACH video is coming soon. Like tomorrow soon. I keep changing it. It's such a personal experience for me, I'm not sure how to share it with the world.

Bayer @ UFO World Finals 2010

2010-10-30T14:04:00.000-04:00

Gary and Bayer led the competition the whole weekend until the very last TC round. Go figure, the achilles heel of a big leaper, and yet, for once it wasn't the leap! Even if they had won the whole competition they wouldn't have won the UFO World Cup due to points. I think they ended up 3rd in the competition and 4th overall.

Here is one of their FS rounds posted by LeRoy Golden, thanks! Bayer rocked his FS all weekend and won first place in the UFO All Stars for the year in Freestyle. Pretty cool!

Good Day for Agility!

2010-10-29T19:29:00.000-04:00

OK, OK, I know I need to make the MACH video and get it posted, I also need to post about Gary's trip to San Diego and about how Bayer won Freestyle All Stars at the UFO world finals... I'm working on it, ok! Anyway Trin, Java and I are out of town for another 3 days of agility. Both girls rocked it today, placing in all their runs, with a double Q each. What good dogs!

Check out the turn off the dog walk for Java, good Beans putting in the extra stride to make it happen, just like we practiced!

Now to take a shower and relax a bit, even though this hotel had a review calling it "ghetto fabulous" I can't complain! A Starbucks and Panera in the parking lot... yeah I think we'll survive.

Java's Weekend

2010-10-28T11:18:00.000-04:00

While I work on the MACH video here are Java's runs that got video'd from the weekend. She only Q'd 2 of 6 runs, knocked triple on Saturday's JWW run kept her from Qing in JWW all weekend. We need some more consistency in STD. I complain, a lot, about the teeter - table combo. I mean really, are there no other choices? This is the only challenge we've seen locally since last spring. I'm tired of it, but yet, we still failed it 1/3 tries this weekend. I am proud to say she hit ALL of her contacts, and I played with my new iMovie and slowed down some of the dog walks, Saturday's was the best - 1.7 seconds. Sunday we saw our first turn off the dogwalk in competition and even though it was not the fastest, she got it done with a smooth turn off the off-course jump. Also her weaves are getting faster in shows so it appears the training we've been doing at home is paying off! I love running my little Bean and though it doesn't look like we'll Q for Nationals, still have 9 tries to get those 5 2Q's!

Java SPDTC 1022-2410 from Sarah Duke on Vimeo.

MACH Trin

2010-10-24T19:58:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Tori for taking these photos in my front yard after the show. Trin got her MACH in style this weekend, waiting until the VERY last day :) Friday we had two beautiful, fast runs. She placed 2nd in STD and then had an OC tunnel at the very last obstacle. Doh. Saturday, I messed up STD so we rocked JWW and placed but I don't remember where. Today Trin got 4th in STD, she was definitely stressing, probably thinking, "why are you so weird all the sudden?" and then I was pretty calm in JWW, I knew it was an easy course so we just went out there and got it done - 2nd place too. As I rounded the last turn the whole arena seemed SILENT - lol. Thanks guys, a longer post forthcoming. I need sleep.... and I get iLife 11 tomorrow so I want that to make a completely mind blowing MACH video. ;)

Beginning the Journey

2010-10-19T08:30:00.000-04:00

These photos are from Trin's first Novice-A Q's. At the old Bonjon location, where there will never be shows again because there are now massive town homes. :( I was paralyzingly nervous (even though we had been competing in NADAC for about 6 months) and my handling was *atrocious*. Makes me all sappy to think about how much Trin has been through and still is willing to run for me. She is SUCH a good girl! (look how deep her copper is in these pics!)

First time getting measured with a real wicket, (vs the PVC squares they use at NADAC), Trin came in at 18.5". I had expected/hoped she would be under 18" so she could jump 16". I think it was a combination of both of our nerves, and the VMO was in a rush so he was a bit forceful when Trin didn't want to cooperate. Luckily, she was remeasured later in the year at 17.63" so the rest of her career she could jump 16". For this show though, she was at 20" and of course, she didn't knock any bars.

My first dog's stopped contacts, still the best I've ever trained... hmm thanks to Kat. And meat flavored baby food. Trin always had good contacts, it was the one thing I never had to worry about. Running away to visit the ring crew or jump in the lake on the other side of the fence... different story.

Weave poles... were also another story. See how Trin is looking at the top of the poles? Her head is up. It took me years to correct this issue, and still when Trin is tense her head comes up. I hate to think about it, but I spent thousands of dollars on shows where our only fault was weave poles. Some people told me I should give up, some people said I should keep trying until she got it right, some people didn't know what to say, so they just listened. Sometimes I would cry about it. At shows. Thankfully my friends didn't "unfriend" me while I would lament weekend after weekend. My ultimate decision was to let Trin skip the poles if she wanted to. After my poor training of them, even once they were actually trained, the stress was still there. I had to learn to let go. To not care. To just enjoy running my dog, Q or no Q... and guess what, pressure off, weaves improved. Trin figured out it didn't matter anymore, and she was less stressed about completing them at shows. As a person who thrives on competition and success, she taught me how to look at the bigger picture, how to not be as outcome oriented at the micro level. Lessons that would have taken me many years in the "real world"

Also never had table issues with Trin... I remember she used to "Elvis" lip at me when I asked her to down. I never understood what that was about. Now that she is all barky and truly comfortable with herself, it was just her way of smiling back at me.

Our first Q! (those are some socks!) I could write a book about mental management based on the things I've learned running Trin, but it would just be a book about our journey, and everyone has to experience their own journey. I have grown up a lot through training Trin. She has made me a better person. She has grown into the dog I imagined when I first told Gary I wanted an Aussie, and he said, "No DOGS!" LOL (we all know how that story ended). If I'm sick or sad, Trin's the dog I want in my lap, and that's about the only time she'll gladly sit there, as long as I need her to.

This weekend we go for our 20th double Q. We've had the points for a long time now, we actually have twice the points we need. Consistency has always been our struggle. I'm feeling really confident about getting it done this weekend. I'm not nervous at all, but I am excited beyond words and anxious. I worried blogging about it might jinx us, but even if it doesn't happen this weekend, it WILL happen. Blogging is therapeutic anyway for me, and reliving our first AKC show in my memory through this post has been really gratifying. We've come a long way baby.

Disc Dog Slacker

2010-10-18T22:55:00.000-04:00

Lots of you have asked me how Gary and Bayer did at Purina. I suck, should have posted something, I waited for some pictures or video at first but nothing was ever posted, so... they did not win, obviously. ;) The team that won, Shaun and Shack from Japan. Amazing.

Bayer did however win another Canis Major, putting them solidly in the lead for Canis Major points. Unfortunately, Gary's off to San Diego this weekend for the UFO World Finals and so he'll miss one, which will probably mean he can't win the series, maybe his division though. Best of luck to them this weekend!

The girls (all of them) and I are staying home this weekend and going to a 3-day agility trial. I'm pretty excited! I have been waiting a LONG time for this show.

Really, she is just a wild eyed, freak dog. But so damn cute. ;)

All photos by Kat Fahle

Varying States of Agility

2010-10-03T20:38:00.000-04:00

Hey Fergie, what did you think of the FCI Agility World Championships?

Freakin' AMAZING!!!

Absolutely stunning to watch agility at that level. I have to thank Agility Vision for the awesome coverage this weekend. If they could just move the event to the Eastern time zone next year? k, thanks! ;) Though waking up at 2AM is truly a physical struggle, once I would get my mac going with the video it would keep me awake for the most part. I did doze in and out both mornings and had some strange dreams with German dialouge and "The Macarana" going on.

Actually Fergie was an expert bed snuggler this weekend with her daddy out of town. I watched the coverage from my MacBook in bed. Seeing agility that precise and at that level of challenge makes me eager to train all my dogs and myself to be able to handle courses like those presented at WC. The small dogs were just as "inspirational" as the large dogs. I don't know about making "the team" or feel like I am qualified to represent people, but I think it would be incredible to run against the best in the world, at an event like that, truly world class. Check out some of the videos Fannie Gott posted here.

I went to the USDAA show in Palmetto on Saturday, I entered Sunday but bailed due to lack of sleep and needing to pick Gary up from the airport. Trin was perfect as usual, the gamble was not one meant for her and she did very well in Pairs too, no Q though. Java was only in Adv STD and well... we haven't had a run like that in awhile. She started off with an off course tunnel, leapt off the dog walk, vaulted the table, skipped weave poles, ran by the aframe... lol she was WILD though. So I'll take speed in exchange for accuracy though the dog walk was a little disheartening. Wish I could have made it for my runs today but oh well.

Aussies Pose with Flower

2010-10-03T19:00:00.000-04:00

Go Bayer!!!! 09 PIDC National Champ!

2010-10-02T06:26:00.000-04:00

Good luck to Gary and Bayer today at the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge National Finals in defending their National Champion title from last year!!!! You can watch them on BarkNetwork.com live feed starting at 11:15 AM EST, if you only care about disc dogs, they'll probably be on around 3PM EST.

Photos by Tom Clements

Bayer and Fergie as Skyhoundz World Finalists

2010-09-28T22:09:00.000-04:00

Saturday Bayer competed in Open FS against 28 other teams qualified through regionals around the world. Gary and Bayer had awesome FS rounds, with 9.5 catch ratio both times. They scored a 35.5 (out of 40) the first round and 37.5 the second round. Sorry the second round in the video is all choppy, the sound cut out and I kept thinking it was ending, and also sorry for my silly commentary (OMG Shut Up)... I'm not videoing anymore ;) Anyway they ended up 11th due to a 7 point D/A round. Bayer was perfect, caught every toss, even all the out of bounds ones. Full results here.

Saturday's competition was only open FS and the brand new Youth division. I will openly admit to getting a little choked up watching the kids. Our local, a 3 year old girl, soon-to-be kicking my ass in the quad, was so amazingly confident out there. She only has about 4 tricks but man, I didn't even know my address at 3! The other kids were awesome too, its so cool seeing a kid connecting with a dog like that for the first time. Kinda like how I got choked up watching novice at the last trial. Ugh... or maybe I'm starting to become a sap! lol

Fergie... Poor girl. She is such a princess... er duchess... right. It was drizzling pretty much all morning on Sunday so Fergie was forced to play in the rain. She did well her first round, Gary kept them mostly close in the 3's and they got a 17.5. Second round was going well too, 13.5, last throw, woulda been another 3.5, and Fergie got about 10 yards out and was like, "wait a sec, why am I playing in the rain - eh fuck it" and jogged off towards our tent. Even so, they made the finals but unfortunately, one errant throw out of bounds, right into the crowd. The fans threw the disc back onto the field but of course, it was too contaminated for the duchess now and Gary had to run out to get it. They only had 7 points and one more throw so Gary did his handstand toss which, of course, Fergie missed, but it was actually a really nice throw. I didn't take video of any of Fergie's rounds, mostly due to the rain.

no matter how you finish it's about spending the day with your best friend. :) (haha sappy comment of the day!)

Last Chance Qualifier

2010-09-24T22:25:00.000-04:00

Last chance qualifier in Chattanooga. Pretty freakin hot day for "autumn". Thankfully it's supposed to cool off as the weekend progresses. Not a successful day in terms of Q's but all our dogs did great and sometimes you win some, sometimes you don't.

Bayer made the cut for D/A but just couldn't get it done to qualify. I believe they came in the top 10 of 140+ teams today! (We left before results)

Kate just missed the cut by 1/2 a point, had she jumped for a few... ;) She did awesome today and I got one round on video but the quality might suck, it was really bright out and I couldn't see the display very well.

Java did awesome as well, better than expected in FS! She made the cut, but unfortunately a mishap in her D/A round just got the better of her. She took off for the first disc and caught it 3.5, great catch by her, but just as she was coming back another dog came onto her field after a shanked disc. All the judges came together right around her and she started looking for me and ran off the field. They gave Gary the option to keep the catch or to start over. Since she's not very accurate he kept the catch but then someone had to hold her on the field... ? It all happened so fast, I don't think we really thought about it. She wouldn't want to be held by a stranger so Gary had me hold her. I put her disc in front of her and when they said go, I released her she grabbed her disc and ran down to Gary. Yay! But he threw off and then she couldn't find me again. She dropped the disc and Gary had to run down the field. Just off their mojo. So she still had another round of FS but we scratched her since she wasn't going to Q without at least one more catch in D/A. Really, sometimes luck just isn't with you, in hindsight, he should have started over instead of having me release her b/c then she was confused where I was. She played great though. She rocked the Hero atoms!

Fergie... hasn't had a round like today in awhile. She was very stressed and aside from pooping on the field, she was hardly catching anything. A big event and I think she didn't have enough warm up. She seems to be feeling fine otherwise, so just not her day.

No big deal. Still have Bayer tomorrow, Fergie Sunday and Bayer in Pairs on Sunday. We got done early enough we got a round of disc golf in. The park was a bit... scary, gun shots and sirens, scary. We survived though and the park was quite pretty. I love Tennessee.

Off to Skyhoundz Worlds 2010

2010-09-23T19:02:00.001-04:00

(this is what I mean when I say Kate looks like a nerd in group shots)

We're on the road to Chattanooga to compete in Skyhoundz World Championships this weekend. Tomorrow is the open qualifier and we went a little crazy with entries. Bayer is already qualified in FS and Pairs FS and Fergie in D/A. Java came in 3rd (only 2 Q) in our qualifier and they take 4 at the open so she is trying out for MicroDog again, with Gary again. Fergie is trying for Open FS, Bayer for D/A. Kate is entered in D/A with both Gary and I, so two chances, but the D/A field is SUPER deep at the open qualifier, sometimes over 100 teams. Video and photography will be in full effect this weekend so I'll try to update, but if past Skyhoundz Worlds are any indicator, I won't have time to blog at night, no promises. :)

Java MXJ

2010-09-20T14:47:00.001-04:00

Just looked online and noticed Java got her MXJ on Saturday!

Canis Major 1

2010-09-20T10:59:00.000-04:00

So Canis Major #1 in the books! Bayer had a decent FS round, more misses than usual but the wind was pretty brutal and gusty on Saturday. They got 9 points in TC, which was enough to secure them first place in Super Open!!! Go Bayer!

(he *has to* get air even if he can't get up)

Fergie had an awesome FS round, one of her driviest I’ve ever witnessed but was a full point less than Bayer overall in FS. Then she got a goose egg TC round so no CM points for the Fergs.

(please note the man in the background with a broken tent for supporting evidence of the wind, you can click to enlarge)

Java played one round of TC with Gary, maybe made one catch. A lot of REALLY fast running by the Bean but not a lot of really solid tracking. ;) I entered her with Gary so they could practice TC in the event that next weekend they try out for microdog in the open qualifier at Skyhoundz. We ended up scratching her second round since we were running out of light on the field and needed to get all the rounds done by 9PM.

(uh Java, the disc is behind you)

Wanna know more about Canis Major... click here

All photos by Kat Fahle

Sarasota show in Palmetto

2010-09-19T21:16:00.000-04:00

The girls and I had a great weekend down in Palmetto! Have I mentioned I love my dogs? It is still really hot down here in the Florida swamp and while we had some nice Palmetto breezes on Saturday morning, Sunday had none of the sort. I think both my girls were pretty hot for their jumpers runs each day. Also the jumpers ring was very dry this weekend so the dogs were sliding a bit, you can see even Trin trying to get her grip and she's not a super fast dog.

Trin got 2Q's number 18 and 19 this weekend. In spite of some, uh, interesting (er, late) handling choices by me we managed to Q in Std on Saturday. Jumpers was a nice run, she was stressing through a lot of it though, not sure why, you can see her sniffing around turns. Today we had two really nice, smooth runs. It has gotten to be so easy running her. I got all choked up thinking about her getting a MACH... seems crazy. She's such a good girl. (oh and this is not the song I picked for Trin's video, guess I should proof listen before exporting and uploading, too late now, enjoy Mumford and Sons - Roll Away Your Stone)

Trin SOTC Sept 2010 from Sarah Duke on Vimeo.

Java was a great little dog this weekend too. We had a table refusal on Saturday but she tends to be really bouncy coming off the teeter. Of course, similar set up on Sunday, teeter-table and I practically stopped her and then put her on. Wasted a couple seconds there for sure. Java's contacts were REALLY pretty though. She two-strided both her frames this weekend, just like we've been practicing at home. Her dog walk was high on Saturday but perfect Sunday. We missed a jump in JWW on Sunday, she was kinda funny in that run, looking around like she was unsure and it's not like her to stick right with me, so no big deal. We had two *very* close to double Q's this weekend and her times were pretty close to the winning times each run which is encouraging! (Java's song is Hold Fast by Bastard Suns, I like the message in this song :)

Java AKC SOTC Sept 2010 from Sarah Duke on Vimeo.

I stayed late to film my friend in novice and it was quite the experience watching the whole novice class this afternoon. Really big class, beginning of the season and a lot of new agility handlers coming out for the first time. It was both painful and beautiful to watch. Made me reminiscent of my first terrifying shows with Trin, and reminded me of how far we've both come along our journey. Also it was so wonderful to see how happy the handlers were when they did well. The joy of running your dog clean for the very first time. Nothing like it. Had me getting goosebumps and I'd been watching fast, clean teams all day. Just something special about these baby dogs. I want to enjoy even second of my debut with Kate and I need to keep that novice magic in mind. ;)

Canis Major 1 in the books but I'll have to post about that tomorrow... yawn.

I love my dogs.

2010-09-11T20:19:00.000-04:00

The girls and I went down to West Palm beach last night, made great time getting there and saw an amazing double rainbow on the way that I swear I could see where it actually touched the ground and the ground glowed. When we got to the hotel, I realized I had left my ID at home. Shit. I tried everything with the check-in guy, aka douche bag. Even though I had every other form of ID and several other picture ID's he would not allow me to check in. So I called my friend staying in the same hotel, she said she'd just get me a room. Well apparently this is illegal? and it's called "fronting." We argued for a bit but then we were firmly told we needed to leave.

So I drove over to the show site and made myself a little bed in the van out of blankets and towels. Not exactly comfortable and even though (probably because) I had the car running, the floor was really HOT. So about 11:30 I curled up in a ball on one of the front seats. At least it was cooler there. Around midnight, a police officer stopped by. Running van, deserted parking lot, rich ass neighborhood. My heart was pounding so hard I was sure he could hear it from outside the car. All I could think is he was gonna say I couldn't sleep there and I didn't know what I was going to do besides start sobbing uncontrollably. I decided to pretend to be asleep. He shined his light into every window, saw the dogs, who thankfully didn't bark, just stared at him. He shined his flashlight on me for a long time. So long that I didn't know if he was trying to wake me up, or studying me for injuries or what. Finally, he gave up on me, got back in his car and parked 5 spots away for the rest of the night. I didn't fall asleep for a long time after that, but did drift in and out the rest of the night, mostly worried about the van not being able to run all night. I don't know if he was parking nearby to protect me or watch to make sure I didn't vandalize something but I felt much safer in my locked, running van knowing he was there.

I woke up at 5 and he was still there but left promptly at 5:30, so I changed clothes and went to "shower" in the dark bathroom, guess the lights are on a timer. My shower consisted of washing my face in the sink and brushing my teeth. Almost as fun as camping would have been in Hattiesburg. Except I was alone in the dark. I DID get the BEST parking spot at the show site though! lol

In spite of my eventful evening, I felt well enough to run my dogs effectively. Both Trin and Java were perfect in all of their runs. Trin missed the gamble, but it was, as always, my fault, I couldn't create motion and she won't take a jump with me just standing there. Trin and Gunner had a clean pairs run but I didn't stick around to see where we placed.

Java missed her dogwalk in Adv STD but it was close and she was running really confidently. She let me rear cross the weaves, downed on her table and was perfect otherwise, just the dogwalk. Then 30 mins later she won Grand Prix with a lovely dogwalk. GP had a tunnel straight off the end of the dogwalk but you didn't take the tunnel you had to take a jump, pretty challenging since dw is #2 and I don't have a lead out! :) She was a very good girl and kept all the bars up at 16" and I was pushing her ability to jump and turn in that run. So proud of my bean. Really, really wish I had video of both her runs today.

I decided to head home and skip my runs for tomorrow. I wasn't down with doing the vagrant thing again and a couple people offered me a place to stay (actually, said they would ask the person they were staying with) but I was so exhausted after everything I just wanted to be in my own bed tonight. So I'm home... and asleep...

First Show of the Season!

2010-09-10T09:41:00.000-04:00

My girls and I are headed down to West Palm Beach this weekend for a USDAA trial. I waffled about this show, since it’s a 4-hour drive and Gary said no way was he going. I’m not a fan of driving. By myself anyway. But we’re about to embark on an epic season of shows to try to Q Java for AKC nationals so I figured this will be a good warm-up as a “first show back” for the girls. None of us have competed in agility much less ran full courses since July.

Trin is only in what she needs for her ADCH, so only a few classes. Snooker, Pairs and Gamblers. She also needs a jumpers leg but I’d like to get that last so I didn’t enter it. I did enter Java in Masters Jumpers but probably won’t stick around for it since it’s the last run on Sunday. Java’s in Advanced STD (she needs 3 legs) and Grand Prix. Lots of contact practice! I shoulda entered her in Gamblers too but saved the money for my sweet Motel 6 room. ;) Kate’s coming along as head cheerleader and is super pissed about not getting to do ANY agility all weekend.

aaand we’re gonna try to hit the beach Saturday afternoon…

Java's Running Contacts Summer 2010

2010-09-05T00:02:00.000-04:00

So I've been doing a lot of polishing on Java's running contacts this summer. A montage of Java's running contacts in training and trials from summer 2010. I wish these were in chronological order so you could see the progression in speed. Her dog walk at the beginning of the summer was 2.3-2.5 seconds and now as fast as 1.8 this last session. Also, I've been working on getting her to two stride the frame (vs 3 strides on the down). I have a feeling with more drive and confidence she's gonna leave out that 3rd stride anyway so we might as well train for it. Some teeters and weaves thrown in for fun. She's such a fun little dog to work, special kid mentally, but so am I. ;)

Java's Running Contacts Summer 2010 from Sarah Duke on Vimeo.

Oh and just a side note. Silvia does not use stride regulators for any of her contacts. The one on the dog walk was an experiment with Kate and I used the same tools I'm using for Kate's frame to encourage a 2-strided frame on Java. Bean has never needed stride regulators to perform the obstacles correctly, and I never used them to train her initially. However, they have not had a negative effect and I found them to be useful to encourage (or show) Java that she can use less strides to meet criteria.

I can not wait to see what the next few years brings, she's just going to get faster. :)

*For those of you who haven't been following all along, I retrained Java because she was scared of the judges in trials and she would blow off the stop on contacts anyway. She would usually hit yellow but it was slow and unconfident. I figured, let's take a year off to let her grow up and in the meantime, try out running contacts. So glad I made the switch. It's been perfect for her!

Flying Squirrel!

2010-09-03T21:53:00.000-04:00

Naperville

2010-08-30T19:30:00.000-04:00

We aren't going to Naperville this year. Pretty bummed but I'm sure we'll find some way to make it up to the dogs. Only Bayer is really disappointed.

Autumnal Musings

2010-08-19T21:37:00.000-04:00

Have I mentioned how hot it is here? ...I can NOT wait until Fall. August is just fucking brutal. (Yes I did need to use the "f word" to describe how hot it is.) Fall brings cooler/drier air AND shows! I am so deprived.

So Trin needs one more 2Q for AKC Nationals and three more for her MACH. I swore I wouldn't keep track for the MACH, but if you want to know for nationals you end up keeping track. I feel really confident that we'll be able to get those 2Q's easily. Trin should get her MACH in 2010. And that's just crazy. If things work out right she'll also get her ADCH this fall too. She needs 3 pairs though, so no pressure if you partner with me. ;)

I wanna take Trin to nationals this year for a couple reasons. She's 7 and once she finishes her championships I am going to get her x-ray'd to see how everything is looking. Trin doesn't have awesome structure so we'll take a look and make a decision. I'm thinking she'll retire by 2012, though I'd love it if she surprised me. So AKC nationals in March 2011 (VA) is maybe her last chance to go, her only chance; we've never been. It's something I'd love to do with her. My first agility dog.

Which brings me to Java. If I'm taking Trin to nationals and it's drivable distance, I might as well try to qualify Java too. Beans has one 2Q and like 100 points. So she needs 5 2Q's, and I'm confident the points will come before we get the 2Q's. It's totally doable... especially considering she can just stand on the table - thank you AKC! I planned out my fall schedule and there are 16 trial days I can go to for those 5 2Qs. So we only need to 2Q 1/3 of the time! No problem! lol. Seriously though, how absurd will it be to run my AKC/ASCA Aussie at AKC Nationals in the 12" class? Bring on the hate!

I'm thrilled with how Java's contacts look these days. I am working on a video of her dogwalks but it'll be a few weeks because, well, a handful of 2ish second dog walks only makes like a 15 second video. Need more footage. Java can only do like 4-5 dogwalks a session and usually I do only 3.

I'm posting a video tonight on Kate's blog of the weave exercise I've been working with the girls. It's desinged to test angles from both sides and fast entry from a straight tunnel. Also been practicing rear crosses and pushes and everything else. Java's improved quite a bit and Fergie has as well. Ferg's plans are still undecided for the fall, probably a lot of disc and we'll see if maybe some agility can fit in her schedule ;) she's Bayer's roadie and possibly his rival a little bit too.

All photos by Kat Fahle (thanks for the speedy delivery too!)

Bayer in Denver 2010

2010-08-15T10:36:00.000-04:00

Made a video of Bayer in Denver, sorry the first round is so chopped up. Was trying to get time down and my stupid comments out. :) Bayer came in 3rd in FS and 3rd overall for the UFO major holding onto his 2nd place in the world cup standings. Bayer was the only dog that had to go in the rain for his final round and based on how, um... not good, the round was, I'm thinking the judges took that into account when they scored the round. Also a short clip of Gary's FS round with Molly, borrowed dog from Matt D and Kerry S, just for fun. They had a 14.5 in FS with zero catches! :D

The Quad went well for Bayer, he was in a "easier" heat so was able to make the finals with less than the maximum amount of throws. Unfortunately, the long weekend without being conditioned and/or lack of breathable air up in the mountains, Bayer just was not getting to the catches and so they struck out in the finals coming in 4th place. They did hold their record for the longest MISS of the day... 87 yards this time. Maybe I finally have Gary convinced to play Kate in next years Quad. She'd get there. ;)

Bayer in Denver 2010 from Sarah Duke on Vimeo.

Disc Golf and the Plague

2010-08-14T18:39:00.000-04:00

While we were in CO, we played disc golf one night. Besides Gary "almost" getting a concussion running into a tree (yeah), we had a really good time. These adorable, little prairie dogs were everywhere! You couldn't hit them with a disc (I tried), sure enough they'd run down their hole in time and never came out when we were anywhere near them.

However, they carry the flea that carries the bubonic plague which makes them WAY more creepy than they appear. Little plague ninjas.

All clear! ...err yellowy clear

2010-08-13T19:24:00.000-04:00

Java went back to the vet today for her follow-up. They attempted to draw her urine through a needle but Java said, Hell. No. So we walked her around for bit and got some pee into a ladle and a few minutes later: No Crystals! Everything looks great! I am so happy and the best part was that I researched on my own and made my own treatment plan and it worked. I'm so glad I didn't go with the Hill's diet as she'd STILL be eating it. I am a bit suspicious that the first crystals were caused by the sample cooling for so long. That makes me think I just wasted like $150 though so I'm not going to think about that.