Where we'll be... (click for upcoming show schedule!)

 

23 August 2008 ~ Josie's Aframe re-train & other contact antics!

4'0" AF, 3 August -- 4'8" AF, 4 August -- 4'8" AF, 6 August -- 5'6" AF, 7 August -- 5'6" AF, 8 August -- 5'6" AF, 10 August --
5'6" AF, 13 August (also comparing dogwalk speeds between my two girls) -- Head to Head dogwalk comparisons--
5'10" AF, 20 August -- 5'10" AF, 21 August

18 July 2008 ~ DFWMGRC AKC ~ Madison's a Superstar ~ Ivie wins multiple JWW!!

Though our Q-rate wasn't as high as we had hoped -- there is nothing but success and happiness surrounding our performances this weekend!!

The girls and I all packed up and headed to Fort Worth for a weekend of AKC with the Golden Retriever Club. We saw a lot of great runs by a lot of our friends! I was lucky enough to have people there to immortalize some very entertaining moments in the ring.

First, I'll do the Josie, since normally she's the most highly bragged about, you might be glad to hear that this weekend she had the lowest ribbon count in my household!! Oh, but she had some GREAT runs! A stellar Std run on Saturday was shot by my hard calling her off a jump she was supposed to take -- Brilliant, Emily!! :) Josie may be looking to do a little handler upgrade before the next show, so if you're up for it... ;-) on Sunday, her JWW was the fastest time of all dogs, in all height classes!! (except for one dog, who left out the tunnel...so I'm not sure that counts!) She was jumping 24", which is 4+" over her shoulders, so that's pretty good for a little munchkin! Too bad she took one little bar. I didn't handle it as planned and therefore wasn't smoothe at the instant where she knocked the bar. Again...she sure would be amazing with a better handler!!! :) OH, and let's not forget that I earned yet ANOTHER (that's 4 thus far in 2008) Kiss the Dirt keychain during Josie's Standard run on Sunday. Need I say it again?? Nice dog, shame about that handler....!!! :')

Ivie had a spectacular weekend!! The only way it could hav gone better is if she hadn't gone off course in both Std runs. BUT...they were both due to my handling. Ivie did her job 110% this weekend. She did not fault a SINGLE obstacle! No bars down, no missed contacts, no refusals...no faults for Ivie! Just me sending her off course. Stellar handling!! (I guess it's a good thing I'm doing the Stuart Mah seminar beginning of September, eh??!!!) Ivie won both rounds of JWW this weekend!!! She's in ExcA. On Saturday she would have been 2nd place to Jody's Gator, if she was in ExcB. On Sunday, though, she would have been first place in ExcB!! YAY Ivers!!! & the run wasn't even as smooth as it could have been, Mrs. Tunnel-Eyer!!! I'm just thrilled with how Ivie's doing. The weirdie neck thing's just a memory and we're working on putting it far behind us!! Onward & Upward!

Now for the REAL NEWS...
Maddie reliably plays agility with me these days!!! Sure we have moments of disconnect on course...and she still likes to take pre-emptive 'victory laps' on occasion, but she's making so many strides towards becoming a very reliable little agility dog! Her weaves kept us from Q'ing the first three runs of the weeked but we finally fought through it and came out on top!!! I cheered so much when she did her weaves that she started to celebrate a little...but I got her back, finished the course, and got her first Standard Q in any venue, EVER!! Gosh, I just LOVE running agility with my Madison! She is going to work through this weave stress and come out on top and be a force to be reckoned with in the 16" class!! (of course, she measures into the 12" class but there's no need for that) Madison says: never give up on the underdog!!

Josie's Runs -- Ivie's Runs -- Maddie's Runs

27 July 2008 ~ 4-day Hattiesburg USDAA

Team on Thursday:
Josie's team (Annie, Amaze, Josie) were in 1st place after the 1st two classes. Going into relay, we'd dropped to 2nd by about 3 points, to a team with TWO world team dogs on it. (Sizzle & Marvel). We made up ground with Relay (even WITH Amaze's R !!) and ended up coming in 2nd by 0.8 points!! To a WORLD TEAM team!!! WOOHOO Baby Josie-Girl!! Josie did SO well in Team. She WON the first class of the weekend (Team Gamblers), and won the highest points out of ALL the dogs that were entered!! Her dogwalks were to die for!! LOVE the dog :o) She was 2 sec ahead of the next fastest time in Team Standard (TWO SECONDS!!!!!) but missed her AF contact (good thing I'm workin' on that from here to Labor Day!). She also placed somewhere in Team Jumpers. Jumpers of all things!! I noticed after the first two runs, that Ivie was NOT herself. :( Turns out she had burned blisters into all of her pads last weekend racing around my friend's pool deck being crazy. So she was NOT herself, but I finished up running team, using Lori's "Nu Skin" and all. I did not push her for speed or tight turns, just let her float! She stilll came in 4th in Team Standard, hurt pads and all!! Ivie's team also Q;d though we weren' really 'up there' like Josie's team :)

Thursday Evening:
Gamblers: I mis-cued Josie for this gamble, but had she gotten it she would have won, points-wise. Ivie got 4th & Q!!! YAY for a gamble dog!!
Snooker: I scratched Ivie. Josie did very well, and earned 3rd & SuperQ with 44 points on a tough course!!
Jumpers: I scratched Ivie and caused an R with Jos. Ugh!!

Friday: Josie is in 26" in everything but Standard.
Gamblers: Ivie gets her Q even though I'm REALLY in the wrong place to start the gamble!! She's SUCH a good girlie!! She got 4th & Q. If it wasn't for her hurt feet making her 1/2 speed, and missing a WP...she'd have won the class. Josie WON 36" Gamblers, 1pt ahead of Scorch!!! She kept ALL her bars up!!!!!!! :) LOVE the Monk :)
Standard: Ivie took 3rd & Q, bad pads and all! (it was the last class I ran her in). Josie had a GORGEOUS run, and would have AGAIN won by OVER 2 seconds over everyone (WT dogs included!!!) but she missed her AF. (Still a good thing I'm working on that coming up!!!!)
Steeplechase: Josie had the FASTEST time of all the 26" dogs!! She took bar #2 because she was NAUGHTY on her start line, but she had a LOVELY run otherwise!!! :) Even got her AF's and stopped in her down for a split second!!! She came in 2nd & Q because she took that bar. It was otherwise a pretty to-die-for run!!
Jumpers: I ran Paula's Zen and it was SO fun!!! We Q'd!! Josie ran BEAUTIFULLY. She's still adjusting to 26" and took 1 bar going into a tunnel but I was very proud of the run. Joleen complimented on how nice Josie looks at 26" after that run, so that was a nice ego boost!! :)

Josie's Titling Runs -- Josie's Team Runs

18 July 2008 ~ Website Maintenance

I have been working on doing some updates to the site recently. As you may have noticed, there is a link to my upcoming show schedule right above this here paragraph. If you click on that, you can see where the girls and I will be for the forseeable future. If I'm missing a show I should be attending...please do let me know!! :)

I updated pictures and information on the "Emily" page, so be sure to check that out. More updates to come on that page, for sure! It was a little barren. Writing about the kids is just so much more fun...and so much easier!

I'm planning to write some articles on training, some FAQ's that I get, and other such things. If anyone has any specific topics they'd like to see me write on, please do let me know. I have an article on "what to do with a pup" already written, just not posted yet. That's a project for another day. I have to get ready for my weekend now.

If you have any ideas on what you'd like to see me write about, a general question, or anything really...feel free to e-mail me at emdogs@gmail.com!!

10 July 2008 ~ Ivie is home!!

I will warn you, the following gets pretty graphic (aka ookie), so if you have a weak stomach for blood and stuff...I'd suggest you not look much further. Suffice it to say Ivie came out of anesthesia just fine and is back to normal, aside from the latex tube draining her insides out...!!!

I just have to start off saying Ivie is one helluva dog. They didn't want to put her collar or a leash on her when I went to pick her up, for obvious reasons. They opened the door to the back, and let her out of her crate in there. She heard me and got so excited, started wiggling out of her skin. Then you could see she was like "wait a minute, I've gotta say goodbye to my friends!!". There were about 4 vet techs plus the vet and she wiggled and jumped up for petting from each person she passed, and THEN she came to me. It was like she was telling them "no hard feelings, I still love ya!" What a goofball she still is. You'd never know this dog is 7years old.

We had a pretty uneventful evening. I kept her seperated from her sisters simply because I didn't want one of THEM to go tugging on the latex thing, or playing tuggie with her and having her strain her neck too much. With the stress of the day, and the meds, she happily obliged and spent the evening with me in the computer room while the other 3 girls (red merle BC Lucy is staying with me for the week & she & Josie are partying hard!!) entertained themselves downstairs for the most part playing BCWF (Border Collie Wrestling Federation), with Maddie Mayhem serving as referee, no doubt!

Without further ado (I had to put a lot of verbiage in so that the pictures did not pop into view for those that don't wish to see them!)...

This is Ivie, taken in my car in the parking lot yesterday morning right before we went into the vet's office for surgery:

This was taken right when we got into the car after her day at the vet (notice I got smart and just used a ball to keep her attention this time!!)

The culprit: a bit of spear grass after all!! It is only about 3/4" long, but my oh MY what damage it did!!

10 July 2008 ~ Ivie has surgery today

I just wanted to keep you updated...

I took her in the week before we left (June 30th) to have it lanced/drained. It drained for a few days, and appeared to be totally gone aside from the hole that needed to close up. It appeared to close up and start the healing process, but as the weekend wore on in Colorado, it just started filling up again :( Upon returning home from Colorado earlier this week, Ivie had a re-check at the vet. She wanted to schedule surgery for her neck 'as soon as possible' *sigh*

It still doesn't bother my tough cookie one bit, but I know it has to get old, all this poking and prodding on her neck! It's going on over a month now since this whole evolution started. Her first round of meds were Prednisone & Clavamox. 2nd round was Baytril & Clavamox. She just finished a round of Baytril & Amoxicillin (sp?). While it isn't as discoloured or hard as it has been in the past, it's still not acceptable as an end result!

I took her in this morning to be sedated and they are going to scope her throat and then decide if opening her up to remove whatever it is, is the best line of defense. I just hope it's over soon. My Poor Ivernator doesn't need all this!!! :'(

So, please, keep her in your thoughts today.

A reminder of what she looked like upon returning from the Perry Regional, and about that it looked like before getting lanced a week ago:

8 July 2008 ~ USDAA Rocky Mountain Regional, Brighton, CO (What a weekend!!)

The girls and I have just returned from an 1,800 mile journey to and from the Rocky Mountain Regional in Brighton, CO. We had a grand ole time!!! Here's the long version of the update.

EE and I packed up the girls (Josie, Ivie, & Hemi) and got on the road on Wednesday afternoon. The plan was to drive as far as we could and then get a hotel room. Well, we just kept talking and driving and talking and driving… We took a nap in the car somewhere in Kansas around midnight, then woke up and continued on. By the time we were both REALLY tired, we were only about an hour and 20 minutes out. You can't stop when you're THAT close!! We got to CO about 4am, no hotel rooms to be had. So, we went to Denny's, had an early breakfast, and then slept in EE's van in the parking lot until about 9:15am :) Then we ran a couple errands and checked into the hotel at 11am, and napped Thursday afternoon away. Fun times!!! :)

We set up at the show site Thursday afternoon, and we were especially intrigued by the 4" grass in the rings…um…you don't see that every day!!

Friday started off with Team Gamblers. Both girls did well. I ran SMACK into the judge (Scot Bartley) when Josie was on the dogwalk. He was all sorts of in my way!! It was funny, but it threw off my plan so the rest of her run wasn't exactly as planned. But we held our own. Ivie's team was in 1st place after Gamblers. YAY for that!! :)

Team Standard was an interesting, fun course. Lots of E's!! Ivie took 4th place with an awesome run!! I caused Josie to back-jump. Doh! (as in she took it the wrong direction the first time, not that she took it the right direction, THEN the wrong direction…no, just sent her around the back side of the jump!) Ivie's team was still in 1st place after Team Standard :)

Masters Standard was a very nice course. Josie had a SMOKIN' run (besides a couple little slow-ups caused by me), and took 3rd place, only 1sec behind Rage, the 2007 GP winner!! I was super proud of that run!! That was Josie's Masters Standard leg #6! It CAN be done! Post-ADCH legs are easier than getting that last ADCH leg for sure :-P

Steeplechase round1 was the last run of the day. Ivie had a great run, hit the weaves TOO hard and got tangled in them, so we restarted. Her time was still fast enough to Q. She's such a wonderfully consistent girl these days. Josie took 2 bars (1 was all me), and was 26.41sec while Encore took 1 bar with 26.31sec. So, it really was a good run – but me causing the one bar, also trickle-down effect caused the 2nd, I think :( Oh well – we'll get it in Fort Worth!!!

Saturday we got to the show site and OMG, our crating area was a disaster zone!!! Apparently some super strong 'mini-tornadoes' called Micro-bursts came swirling through overnight. Someone else's shade tent had smashed into mine and it was totally mangled. Thankfully my good friend Val Henry was RV'ing it and saw the carnage and tried to save my stuff best she could. THANKS for that, Val!!!! My shade tent was salvageable until the micro-burst that happened late Saturday morning as we were talking Team Jumpers. It was just 100% demolished after that. We bungee-corded it all up to make do for while we were there, but…it didn't make the trip back to Dallas :( I took pics of the final product – you'll see!!!

We started off the day with Team Snooker. Ivie self-prescribed herself a 6 instead of the first 7 (who does a teeter when a tunnel's RIGHT THERE??) ;) but she ended up with 6,7,7,7 and closed, so she only left 1 point on the table. Her two teammates (Reagan & Juice) all got 7,7,7,7 & close, so we were still in first place after Snooker!!!

Team Jumpers was a nice course – very boxy, but nice! I caused 1 R with Ivie, and Josie, too. Juice of course ran clean in Jumpers, and I think Reagan only had 1 bar or something. Consequently, we were in first place going into Team Relay Sunday morning!!!!

Masters Gamblers was a booger of a course. Only something like 4 dogs got the gamble. & it was a Cherie Whittenberg gamble. Craziness!!!

Grand Prix round 1 was a nice course. Ivie went clean and got herself into round 2 even though she already had a bye anyway. With Josie I caused 2 refusals, so no local Q, but I'd used her bye to get into round2 anyway. So, no harm no foul:)

Steeplechase round 2 – Ivie had a GORGEOUS run, and took the 3rd bar to the end :( Still no Steeple bye for us. A huge bummer & a half!!! She was a GOOD girl, though. LOVE my Ivernators :)

Sunday started off with a bang…in a way :) Team Relay was the first class of the morning, and Ivie's team had a 90-pt lead going into Relay. Only about 6 teams could even catch us if we had an E. Juice ran clean…Ivie ran clean…Chris E'd with Regan. Priceless. So we figured we hadn't won and whatever. Josie's team, which hadn't been Q'ing all weekend…took 5th in the relay, with one of only 9 (of 30) non-E'ing team relays. As in – out of 30 teams that ran in Relay…only 9 had zero E's. All 6 teams that could catch Ivie's team all E'd too…so…in the end…"Reagan Runs on Ivie Juice" WON the Regional DAM tournament!!!! We got a nice plaque, a big ribbon, all that :) Since we E'd, the number of teams Q'ing went from 8 to 17, and Josie's team (with an E-less relay) went from 26th to 14th, so we ended up with a Q! Which is great since that was one of the main reasons EE wanted to go to the Regional to begin with!

GP round 2 didn't go as planned. I got out of position and sent Josie up the dogwalk instead of up the teeter at obstacle #5. Bummer & a half!!! (I said that on course and the judge laughed out loud at me!!!) Even with that, she was only 3sec off the winning time, so…she had a smokin' run…just a little detour… :) Ivie was having a GREAT run (she already had a semi bye from Perry, so I was just truckin' it with her) but I rotated too soon and caused her to come around a jump. She still got her 2nd semi bye, though, so, whatever :)

Masters Snooker was after Relay, and both girls Q'd! Ivie actually got a SuperQ!! Yay for that!!!

Masters Pairs was…interesting! I ran Ivie first… It was a MESS and a half!!! It went weaves-double-tunnel. I was crossing in front of the double and somehow ended up in a summersault on the ground, just a backwards summersault, then I picked myself up and kept going. We got to obstacle 9 to 10 which was tunnel to tunnel, and I tried to cross between the two tunnels, and Ivie PLOWED me down, I SLAMMED my hip on the ground *ouch*, and I rolled TWICE on the ground. I sent her into the tunnel (after getting 1 R), and then over the final jump. I'm just thankful it was no more than 12 obstacles – who knows how many more times I might have fallen…!!! I am SO SORE today because of it. Ouch ouch ouch… But, both girls got their pairs legs!!! :) YAY :) & that was Josie's RCH-Bronze title!! Yay for the super-pupper!! :o)

We drove straight home…and here we are!!

Happy 4th of July, everyone!! I hope you had a great weekend!!! (Chris, Marcus, and I went to watch fireworks on the 4th and we were so close that we had burning embers landing near us!!!) FUN times !! :)

30 June 2008 ~ My girls take AKC by storm!

My girls had some tremendous runs in Monroe, LA, at our first (and possibly last!) ever travelling to an AKC show. Only 2 runs a day...not sure I'll ever get used to that!! But we had a blast. Both girls earned their OA and OAJ titles!! They took 1st & 2nd in ExcA Standard on Sunday (would have had 2nd & 3rd in B, behind Jane & Susie...!!!). Yay, girlies!!

16 June 2008 ~ Never Say Never (a.k.a. "Maddie gets an agility title"!!)

Some of you may remember a video I sent out in April, after my many failed attempts (over the years) at running my beloved JRT Madison, finally came to pass, and she got her first ever Q. (video is here).

I entered her and ran her in Caddo Mills at the DDS show at the end of May as well, but she was too busy making sure the menacing man on the billboard at the back of the ring was under control, to stay under SCT, so our two runs there ended in the usual fashion, though even those were far improved upon runs in years past!

THEN I took the Mini-Maddie to the CCS USDAA night trial this past weekend, and boy did she surprise me!! It was games-only, and I entered her in Gamblers and Jumpers each night. She seems to really like Jumpers, and I figure Gamblers is a 'safe' enough class to enter her in as we will get at least 30 seconds in the ring before getting whistled out...right?? :)

Our first run was Gamblers, and she just couldn't quit hunting *sigh*.

Then Jumpers was not long after, and wouldn't you know it, she pulled herself together for a 2nd & Q!!

On Saturday night, Jumpers was the first run for Starters. Unfortunately, I was running 2 dogs in Masters Pairs at the EXACT same time I was supposed to run her in Jumpers in the other ring, but thanks to my wonderful assistant, Kathy, I managed all right! Maddie ran her best out there in the hot sun and boy if she didn't just whip right through that course and earn herself her first ever agility title!! "Maddie earned an agility title" is just not a sentence I ever dreamed of uttering!! What a babe!! I was so super proud of her I could bust!! YAY for her SJ title!!

At about 2:45am she also managed to get her first Gamblers Q! It wasn't as fluid as the Jumpers runs, but I'll work on a more 'flowy' opening for next time. There WILL be a next time!!
She went 3 for 4 for the weekend!! WOoHOo Maddie!!

So, for those of you that are frustrated and think it can't be done or that you'll never make progress...I'm here to tell you that if MADDIE can earn a TITLE...you can too!!!

Her runs from this weekend are here.
(I've excluded the first Gamblers run, as I'm sure you've seen a JRT hunt before -- not very agility-video-worthy, really!!)

14 June 2008 ~ Lovin' the Night Trial!!

 

 

13 June 2008 ~ Clearing the Air

It has been brought to my attention that I am being bashed for my actions last weekend, on a Yahoo! group. I don't feel like dignifying the poster's comments with a direct response, but just in case anyone else has similar concerns, I feel like I should address it here.

First, here is what was said about the Ivie situation:

...I thought I would address an issue that has me sick to my stomach.
I don't feel that any dog sport/a bit of ribbon (or money) (or ego) is worth risking a dog's health.
I'm as happy as everyone that Ivie's throat mass was spear grass and not a tumor. The vets were wrong if they said she was fine to run—they didn't have the diagnosis to make that call by the side of an agility ring. Sometimes we hear what we want to hear in a situation like that. The wisest thing to do would have been to find out what was wrong with a dog's throat before asking it to race around at warp speed for no reason other than the owner's glory. Just because an animal WANTS to do something doesn't mean it should be allowed to. Safety first would have been the prudent decision on the part of the human.
That's all I'm going to say and I'm not wanting to start a thread on this or intending to bring a shadow over the chat group, so just read and know that's where I stand on the subject.

Let me just say that the assumptions in here are so wrong I just don't know where to start.

I'll start by saying that I was all about pulling her as soon I found the mass! I started crying and asked the opinion of my friends and also a vet that was crated nearby. After tears, and talking it over with lots of people, it was decided that if the "thing" was really what everyone assumed it was (the c-word), and it progressed THAT rapidly, then that weekend may well be the last chance I have to run with her and be a team with her, and do the thing she loves most in this world. We could feel and tell it wasn't AROUND the throat, just on the front, so as long as she showed no sign of trouble with breathing, it was decided that she would be allowed to run. I say allowed because to take a dog like that to a show and NOT run her...is cruel.

Everyone told me that she would be more stressed if she didn't get to run, having to be there and listen to agility all day long and see me take Josie out, but never take her out? She'd go crazy! This dog loves agility more than anything in this world, save me of course. :')

It was also a common feeling that if, god forbid, she did pass away while running that weekend...she would have died doing the thing she loves most in this world -- playing agility with me. I did not want to take that away from HER.

You can ask anyone that sat with me in the stands...I cared NILL about the ribbons, the placements, the bars coming down, NONE of that mattered to me. Ivie knocked bars in a few of her runs, and she NEVER knocks bars. Did I care? No! If it was all about my ego, I'd likely have cared!! I was teary-eyed and excited and happy every time I came off the course with her, just like I am every time we run (well, I'm not normally nearly crying, but you know what I mean). I was just SO happy to be out there playing with one of my best friends, and knowing she was having the time of her life with me, too.

The joy on her face...THAT is why I ran her. I ran her not to win or collect some ego boost. I ran her so that she could run. So that she could get that high I know she gets each and every time we run together. She shares that high with me, and running her is so exhilerating!!

Another thing -- who is she to say "the vets were wrong" -- is she a vet? Was she there to feel the mass and advise me against running? Believe me, I was right on the edge of pulling her completely and had anyone told me I should -- I would have, in a heartbeat!! But everyone felt it was the best thing FOR HER, to get to run. To go on as normal, to not stress, as stress would likely just make the situation worse.

"To race around at warp speed for no reason other than the owner's glory". The poster of this obviously has NO idea who I am, what I stand for, or how much I adore my dogs. Agility is not about MY glory -- not EVER!! It's about my DOGS, showcasing THEM, and our relationship, and having fun TOGETHER. It is NOT a one-sided thing!! My dogs love playing agility more than they love eating, and only one of those things is actually required for survival...if you ask my dogs, they'd say it's agility! So, that statement couldn't be further from the truth. Anyone that knows me, knows that. It's a shame people have to be judgemental and make unfounded assumptions on situations they know nothing about. It's an unfortunate world we live in, really!!

So, I hope that if any of you had concerns about my motives, that I have cleared them up. Feel free to hash it out with me, ask me questions, whatever. I know I made the right decision, and I know Ivie's a happier dog today because of it. & that's that!

Now go and have a great weekend, kiddos!! We have a local USDAA night trial and I'm so looking forward to it!! Ivie will be wearing an easy walk harness instead of a neck collar, of course. Even though she's stoic, I don't want her to be uncomfortable...so, we'll see how this goes :) I wish I had a tuggie leash with a clip on it...sure would make things easier between now and when she's all better!!

8 June 2008 ~ USDAA SE Regional in Perry, GA!!

Now that the scary stuff is over with, I can concentrate on the good that happened this past weekend.

The girls & I had a FABULOUS time in Perry, Georgia!!

I will spare you play-by-play analysis…as I will be posting video if I can ever get it downloaded and edited!! I have a show this weekend, but it's a night-time show, so I *should* have Friday afternoon and then Sunday afternoon to work on the Perry video. Then I have a weekend off showing so I'll be able to get all caught up with video editing :)

Both girls ran clean (no E's!!) in all the team events, and both earned team Q's!! One of Josie's teammates had a single E (in standard), and even with that we still finished 14th out of 66 teams!! We woulda been right up there with a non-E!! Ivie's team had one teammate with 2 E's (in jumpers & relay) and still we finished 20-something out of 66, earning a Q as well!! YAY girlies!!! :)

I will say, that Ivie dropped a few bars, her first bars in months. I blame those on the tennis ball stuck in her throat, for sure!! Poor girlie tried her heart out!!

Ivie did SO well in GP round 1!! She earned 4th place out of 98 dogs!!! 4th place for the Ivernator!! Woohoo!! She was only 0.30 seconds off of Stuart Mah/Qwik's time!!! The Ivernator!! Only 0.30 behind Qwik – who'da thought?? & with a HUGE infection in her neck, no less! That's a true champion right there!! She ended up 10th in GP round 2 on Sunday, too. Not too shabby, I dare say!!! Grand Prix Semi-final bye for the Ivernator!!

Josie had a SMOKIN' Team Standard run on Friday. She was 0.03sec of first place, but left the teeter early so she ended up not placing in that run. I was SUPER proud of that run, though, because it E'd a LOT of dogs, and my baby girl made it through with flying colours!! What a babe!!

In Steeplechase Round 1 on Saturday Josie had an AWESOME run going, I just mis-cued a rear cross (bad handler!) which caused a spin after the jump, which cost us a placement. But we still made it to round 2 where she woulda earned her semi-final bye if it wasn't for the tail hair (??) that touched the broad jump (I've still yet to see on the video that she actually hit the dern thing!!) Ivie also made it through round 1 of STP (with a bar, that's how smokin' she was!!) and then just wasn't jumping like her normal self on Sunday morning in round2, so she took 1 bar. (the way the numbers ended up, you had to be clean in round 2 in the 22" class in order to make it through, and not all dogs that were clean even made it!!).

Josie had a killer run going in Grand Prix round 2, and then I caused the first (& only) off course of the weekend. SO SAD!! I sent her around a jump and then she back jumped it. AH. Ah well…we'll get that bye in Fort Worth, no doubt!!

I got SO many people coming up to me and asking me how old Josie was, where she came from, etc. Some people knew her from youtube, some from the USDAA website, some from MY website…it was really cool!! I also took some video of some of the other competitors and hope to get that edited, too.

 

1 June 2008 ~ Josie and Ivie both do well at DDS in Caddo Mills!

 

18 May 2008 ~ ADCH Josie (youngest ADCH ever)! Josie wins GP & Steeplechase, & earns TM-Bronze!

Today was one of those days for the history books.  I hope I never forget that feeling I got at jump #18, the "OMG, we might just do this...!!!"  I hope I never lose the magic that overtook me as I jumped up and down doing what was deemed the '2-footed hippy-hop' when I was growing up, that I couldn't help but exhibit as my baby Josie ran a clean Standard run this morning.  The energy from the crowd...the magnitude of what we had just achieved...I hope I never forget that.

(((The course was  a booger of a course, too.  Out of 60 or so dogs in the Masters/PIII class, two 22" dogs Q'd, one 26" dog Q'd, and 3 PIII dogs Q'd.  &.that.was.it.  It was a TOUGH course...!!!)))

Josie is my first agility dog to train from a pup to a fully trained dog.  & she is now the youngest dog to ever hold the title of ADCH.  Spiffy (& Linda M) achieved the ADCH in 1997 as the youngest dog, and we broke that record by about 3 weeks.

& here we are.  ADCH Josie.  I can still hardly believe it. 

It's the relationship that we have that has brought us this far.  I did not start strict agility training with her when she was very young.  I did not push her before she was physically ready.  I did everything in a safe manner, and she trusted (& trusts) me so fully that she grew into this wonderful agility dog in what seemed like a matter of moments...!!  All I had to do was point her in the right direction, and she has always done her part!

Josie is wonderful, and I wish everyone that ever owned a dog could have ONE with whom they shared the closeness that Josie & I do.  It's beyond description. 

You'll see in the video that I did two blind crosses.  One after the dogwalk in Standard, and one after the Aframe in Grand Prix.  Neither of those were planned!  They were front crosses that I felt it would be fine to blind cross and WOW, it worked...!!!  That's what I mean, though...she reads my mind...!!!

I did let my adrenaline get the best of me and I quick-released (but I DID release!!) the contacts a bit in these runs, but look at that held teeter in GP...and still a win by a second and a half!!!  My baby dog amazes me all the time!!

I put the course maps in this video and I only left them on for 5 seconds, so if you want to really study them, you'll want to pause the video.  If you can't see the numbers well enough, just write and ask for the course maps and I can send them to you.  Video can only do so much...hence the drawing of the paths on the maps!

Thanks for all the support for me and Jos since I got her, but most especially since the 'ADCH-hunt' began.  You can't help but have it on the brain when you're only 1 Q away.  I really need to step up my mental game the next time I'm in this situation!!  :) 

In this video, you'll see our ADCH run (2nd & Q), our winning Grand Prix run (1st by more than a second), and our winning Steeplechase run where we had a time of 26.95, second place was 27.89.  WHAT a weekend for the Jos!!  She was smokin' it out there!!

I am beyond proud of my Josie-Monkey, and cannot wait to see what the future holds for us.  She is my special, special girlie.  !!!

12 May 2008 ~ ALMOST ADCH (yes, again!), and Ivie wins Steeplechase, and earns GCH-Gold!

The girls & I had a great weekend in New Caney (Houston), Texas!! It was HOT HOT HOT Friday & Saturday but nice & breezy and full of decent temps on Sunday. !! The clouds actually started rolling in on Saturday afternoon and took away some of the beating rays -- a welcome change!!

Friday night we had Gamblers & Steeplechase Round 1.
Gamblers was good in the opening for both dogs, but I mishandled the close, so no Q for either girl. This is a rarity in Gamblers, so I'm not too worried about it.
Steeplechase was a TOUGH course. Cherie didn't design it, the course reviewer butchered it. But, Ivie ran it fast & clean and WON round 1. It was such a nice run! (It's the first one in the video). I held Josie's AF and got a little turned around, so while the beginning was nice, I was playing catch-up the whole rest of the time after the AF, so, not worth posting. She still ran clean and Q'd, and did well in round2 (two AF's, ack!!) despite me :)

Saturday;
We started off with Gamblers again. This time both girls Q'd. I think Ivie got 3rd & Q, and Josie didn't place because I did a less point-intensive plan for her, I tried to mimic the Standard course as much as possible to 'practice' before running it for real ;) That was Ivie's 35th Masters Gamblers Q, thus earning her her GCH-Gold (Gamble Champion Gold) title!! Yay, Nay-nay!!
Standard was a LOVELY course! Ivie Q'd & took 4th place (yay Nay!!) and as far as I'm concerned, Josie Q'd and got her ADCH. A refusal was called at the table, but come on, SERIOUSLY?!?! See for yourself. *sigh*
Jumpers was a brutal course but my girls did very well!! If it wasn't for me getting in their way on the next-to-last jump (with BOTH GIRLS!!) they both woulda Q'd, with Josie first & Ivie 2nd. Josie was 1.5sec ahead of the fastest time, Ivie a few tenths of a second behind her. Even if they had kept that bar up, I doubt it woulda taken an extra second!! So, GOOD GIRLS!!!
Steeple round2 was awesome for both girls yet I messed up the next-to-last jump just like I did in Jumpers. DANGIT!!!
I had dinner plans so I skipped out on running Snooker. It was getting really late and I had to get showered and back out the door...!!! My dogs have enough Snooker Q's, it's not going to kill us not to run one class :)

Sunday;
Masters Pairs, both my girls did well but Ivie's partner E'd, and Josie's partner matched her in faults so we were over the Q by like a second or something. Ah well!
Standard was a zinger of a course. !! Ivie took 4th & Q again, with her held contacts (good girlie!!), and Josie went off course after #5 (the blue wingless in front of the AF) and took a big wide turn and hopped the finish jump. She was just sliding and by the time she righted herself...THERE was the jump! ah well. There's always next time..!!!
Grand Prix was a fun course!! Ivie wasn't entered since she has her 2 vouchers already. Josie woulda won by over 2 seconds if I'd just not flubbed up the cross at the AF to cause a missed contact call. Bummer!! AWESOME run by the pupper-do, though!! AWESOME run!!! It felt very good!!

17 April 2008 ~ ALMOST ADCH, and Josie gets her GCH!!

Both girls did an awesome job at the show. Ivie took 3rd & Q in Grand Prix, Josie had the 2nd fastest time but got called for a teeter flyoff. Both made it to Steeplechase Round 2, and ended up winning me back $37 of the $40 I paid into the class. Not bad, not bad at all!!

 

16 April 2008 ~ Maddie does agility...(??) !!!

Most of you know me, these days, for running my two 'fast & furious' border collies in agility. Those that have been around for a few years might remember my little Jack Russell Terrorist, my little "Mini" Maddie. She is the first dog I ever owned as "my" dog, in college. I got her as a companion, a running buddy, a best friend...not an agility partner.

I did not even know what agility was until 2003, when Maddie was already over a year old. I started in classes somewhere else, but came to train at Best Friends with EE shortly thereafter. EE was SO helpful and SO understanding of all our 'issues'. We tried and tried to get Maddie to want to do agility in the ring (and WITH ME), but it seemed like an uphill battle I'd never win.

I decided to "pre-retire" her in December 2005. We still dabbled in classes for a few months, but in May of 2006 I got Josie as an 8wk old puppy and I focused that extra time/energy on her foundation training. Then Ivie fell into my life in October 2006 at 5.5yo and Maddie delved even deeper into "just being a dog"-dom.

A few weeks ago, EE convinced me to 'give Maddie another shot' and bring her to class one night. She surprised the hell out of us both by being focused/attentive/NON-zooming for the entire hour. I took her to Calera and did 1 run with her that weekend, and she STAYED WITH ME. BIG PROGRESS!!!

Then we went to another class the following week, an Open level class. EE convinced me to enter her in the DAWG trial in at least one run, since she'd done SO well in class that week. So, I did. & am I EVER glad for that kick in the butt!!!

After a very interesting chain of events in the time leading up to her 're-debut', Maddie focused like a champ (only 1 little sniff, and a late rear cross from me) and finished her FIRST COURSE EVER in Starters Jumpers, the last class on Sunday at DAWG USDAA.

If you ever think about giving up on your dog; don't. Maybe you need some time off. Maybe he/she needs some time to 'think about things'. Maybe you just need to BREATHE. For me, it took getting a dog (well, I ended up with 2 but the 2nd was an accident!) to focus on agility with, and that took all the pressure off Maddie, to perform.

& now...well...now...there is hope!!! & it makes me unbelievably happy!! Words cannot express my gratitude to this dog for introducing me to this wonderful sport, and all the friends I have made through this agility journey thus far...it's all so remarkable. & all because of this little 11lb white dog!!!

7 April 2008 ~ GCKC AKC Agility Weekend!

This weekend was great!!

-- Josie got her first Q in Open JWW on Friday, then had a case of the bad handlers in today's JWW run. She had a gorgeous 1st & Q run in Open Standard today, beating her elder sister by 2sec!

-- Ivie had a great time in JWW this weekend! 1st & Q in NovB on Friday for her NAJ, then 1st & Q today at her first try in Open! She had a bit of a naugthy streak in Friday's Open Standard but pulled it together for a beautiful 2nd & Q in Open Standard today!

 

 

30 March 2008 ~ Josie turns 2 years old!!!

30 March 2008 ~ DCNT AKC Agility Weekend!

-- Josie had two awesome NovB JWW runs (one 6.84yps, one 6.5yps) for 2 1st & Q's and her NAJ title on her second birthday!!! She also had 2 good Open Standard runs thought neither resulted in a Q.

 

 

-- Ivie had 2 lackluster (bar Sat, OC Sun) NovB JWW performances, but got her NA on Saturday with a 1st & Q and had a lovely Open Std run but was called for a teeter flyoff.

23 March 2008 ~ What a Weekend!!! LAA-Bronze Ivie!! More DAM Wins!!

Summary:
Ivie:
2 for 4 in Snooker for Snooker Champion Gold - SCH-Gold - title (35 Masters Snookers Q's)
2nd place DAM Team Tournament
Q in Grand Prix, 2nd & Q in Steeplechase
2 for 2 in Pairs
4 for 4 in Gamblers
2 for 4 in Jumpers
Earned her Lifetime Achievement Award Bronze - LAA-Bronze - title (150 Masters Q's, with at least 15 in each class, including Tournaments)

Josie:
3 for 4 in Snooker for Snooker Champion - SCH - title (10 Masters Snookers Q's)
1st place DAM Team Tournament (her 3rd DAM win) for Tournament Master - TM - title (10 Tournament Q's)
1 for 2 in Standard (that leaves only 1 Standard Q to ADCH!!!!!!!!)
1 for 2 in Pairs
2 for 4 in Gamblers
2 for 4 in Jumpers

Thursday...
Gamblers -- Josie & Ivie both Q'd. After 4 days of running I forget placements, but those were abundant as well as normally when we Q, we place, but...I'm too tired to sort through ribbon labels tonight. Suffice it to say, they both Q'd :)
Standard -- Josie Q'd!!!!!!!! That was #4...just ONE MORE...that's ALL she needs for ADCH!!! 1 week shy of 2 years old, and only ONE Q away from ADCH. Unbelievable. Ivie ran with my friend Donna and did NOT to well for her. She had no respect for her at all!! She normally does really well running for other people -- not sure what her problem was!! (I ran her dog before Josie to 'practice', so I let her run Ivie in trade)
Snooker -- Both girls Q, Josie SuperQ's!!
Pairs -- Josie & Ivie both Q'd
Jumpers -- Ivie Q'd!!! (OMG!!!!!!!!) It was a LOVELY run, and OMG if she didn't just nail it!! Josie had a GORGEOUS run but I cued a pull-in too late and she came around the jump, so I just continued on for the E, to keep the flow. GOOD girlie...did just as I asked of her!!

Friday...
Gamblers -- Josie gets SO CLOSE but I cue her late for a jump and she jumps the STANTION/WING and ticks it going over. OUCH!!! Ivie Q'd and placed.
Team Standard -- Ivie placed 3rd and Josie took 4th! After this round, Josie's team was in 1st (team took 1st, 2nd, and 4th places in 22") and Ivie's team was in 5th (one dog on her team E'd; missed a pole her owner didn't notice!!)
Snooker -- both girls did the same WEIRD off course thing that I'll really have to analyze the video on WHY they both did the SAME thing when I handled it differently!! No Q's. Weird!!
Team Snooker -- Josie had a GREAT opening but I miffed it in the close on #3. Ivie had a great opening and got to #6 in the close. If it hadn't been for some weird spots we woulda closed for sure. After Snooker Ivie's team moved to 1st and Josie's team sat in 2nd.
Jumpers -- This was a FUN, and FAST course. It had a 4-jump serpentine in it!! I did some CRAZY front crosses. The crowd was really rowdy and was cheering everyone on. I also ran a friend's dog, and she was GORGEOUS in the run, but I lost my footing, was tripping trying to catch myself the whole last line out (4 straight jumps) and I fell right at the last jump and she took that bar -- darn!! It was a BAD FALL, too...It HURT!!! My left leg is currently blue from the knee all the way to the middle of my shin. It feels SPECIAL........
Team Jumpers -- Both girls did very well. In fact, IVIE WON TEAM JUMPERS...WTF?????? Josie was right on her tail, about a half second behind her. I was so proud of them!!! After this run, Ivie's team was in 3rd, and Josie's team moved to 1st.

Saturday...
Team Gamblers -- Both girls did great and racked up a lot of points!! One dog on Ivie's team got the most points of ALL the dogs (a 12" papillon!!!) so that moved us to 1st and Josie's team to 2nd.
Gamblers -- Ivie ran with a 12 year old girl she'd never met before and she did so well for her!! The girl was really nervous and she sorta shut down on Ivie in the middle of the opening when she accidentally pulled Ivie outta the weaves, but they went on to Q on a gamble that NOT a lot of dogs got!! Ivie's certainly a gamblin' dog!! I flubbed it with Josie, taking too long to position the gamble and she did it but was .21 over time. Oh well -- she's a great gamblin' dog, too!! :)
Grand Prix -- Ivie had a WONDERFUL run, and got herself a Q!! After watching dogs run, I realized I had ZERO chance of getting to a front cross I'd planned in my walk-thru. :( I messed it up with Josie and ended up costing us a Q. It's okay, though, she was a GOOD girl!!!
Pairs -- Ivie Q'd with Paula and Zen for the 2nd time in a row!! Yay Black/white babes!!! :)
Steeplechase -- Ivie ran beautifully and took 2nd & Q in the 22" class. Josie ran in 26" for the first time ever and kept her toes up!! I didn't realize it until afterwards that she had never seen a long jump set for the 26" dogs before -- whoops!! It's 16" longer than for the 22" dogs and she didn't have a problem with it at all!!! I've recently lost about 20lb so my pants I was wearing...were sorta falling off...so when I was pulling them up during Josie's run, I was really late calling her to turn for a couple jumps, causing a bar 1 time. She had the FASTEST TIME in her class, though!!!! Good enough for 3rd place!! WOooWWwoooooo!!! GOOD JOB for her first time at 26"!!! (her first bar all weekend -- I'm okay with that!!!)
Snooker -- Josie got a SuperQ, with a 6,7,7 plan -- there were too many slower dogs needing SQ's -- I couldn't take them away doing 3 7's but I got one anyway -- oh well!! :)
Jumpers -- Donna ran Ivie and she got an R or 2. As I was about to go in the ring, someone walked up and said "I want to run Josie" so she did. Josie had NEVER met this woman before in her life. She was not really 'Josie speed' but she was a respectable speed and sped up as the run went on. The handler did a funny front cross and Josie took 1 bar but I was SO proud of my little baby running so well for someone else -- especially someone she didn't know!! It was by no means an easy course!!! I was expecting an R or 2 but just the one bar -- I was so proud of her!! :)

Sunday...
Team Relay -- Josie's team was fast and clean, winning the relay by a mile. Ivie's team had 5 faults on each leg. Ivie's team ended up placing 2nd (which was great since Elise Pinney's dog Fame needed it for his ADCH!!!) and Josie's team WON the DAM tournament!! That's THREE team tournaments she's played in...and THREE team tournaments she's WON!!! What a phenom she is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was Josie's Tournament Master (TM) title!!!
Gamblers -- Josie and Ivie both, once again, made a really hard gamble look like a piece of cake!! It was U-tunnel-out weave-outjump-outFURTHERjump. LOTS of gamblin' dogs missed it, but my girls both got it! That made Ivie 4/4 on Gambles for the weekend, and that was her 11th Q of the weekend, and since she came into the weekend with 139 Masters Q's...those 11 made it her Lifetime Achievement Award - Bronze (LAA-Bronze) title!!!!!
Standard -- I ran my friend's dog and Q'd with her. Then it was Josie's ADCH on the line. I was SO nervous, and she totally sensed it. She broke her SLS for the 1st time EVER...and came around the first jump, for an R. We didn't even get to run the EASY course...our ADCH course :( :( :( I was totally out of it for Ivie's run. Poor girl.
Steeple Round 2 -- I had to run my friend's dog, Ivie, AND Josie in the finals. I had someone else run Ivie and I ran Josie in 26" and took 1st place for the first place prize money!! 26 INCHES!! YAY baby dog!! (She once again did NOT tick the long jump even though LOTS of 22" dogs did!!!)
Snooker -- Both girls Q'd on another 6,7,7 plan!! This was Josie's Snooker Champion (SCH) title!!! This was Ivie's Snooker Champion Gold (SCH-Gold) title!!!
Jumpers -- BOTH GIRLS Q'D IN JUMPERS!!!! OH MY!!!! WHAT A WEEKEND!!!

Three weeks until our next USDAA show...
ADCH, here we come!!!!!!!! :)

16 March 2008 ~ Local USDAA fun!!

Great times with my Lock-Eye girlies this weekend! We had the last two weeks off...we were all SO ready to get back to it!!

I've been training and starting to trial with a running Aframe for Josie. She seems to like it better than lying down at the end, and naturally strides through the yellow far better just running it. She was leaping a little too high (in the yellow but still too high for comfort) with the 4OTF on the frame and I think it was just not natural once she sped up to the WARP SPEED that she now runs at!! Her speed now is like a gazillion times faster than when I trained those lovely contacts of hers!!! So, running aframe is the name of the game right now. She still sort of pauses at the bottom, which is good to get a head check once she's 'landed'. Notice the AIR she gets over that frame!! Whooooooaa Nelly!!

Ivie had some really SPECTACULAR runs, she and I are REALLY clicking as a team lately!! Too bad there's no video of our AWESOME Standard Q from Saturday. It was a thing of beauty, it truly was!!!
Sharon, you will especially appreciate the 'celebrity handler' in today's Jumpers run. You'll see what I mean...:')

8 March 2008 ~ Josie is the smartest dog...ever!!

The description: (as seen on the video page)
4 days ago, I introduced Josie to picking up a toy and putting it in a basket. She mastered that in under 5 minutes.

That then morphed into the Easter Egg Hunt (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua46O7zPxmY) later that evening when I was inspired by all the festive bits on sale when I stopped on my way home from work.

The end goal of it all was to be able to put a coin (a quarter, specifically) into a small opening of a jar/bottle (like Shebang did here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBHEItIwP-Y.

In order to do this, I would have to get Josie comfortable having something metal in her mouth. I knew from previous experience of asking her to bring me my glasses that this would probably be the trickiest part of the trick. So my wonderful agility instructor (http://www.youtube.com/user/eedogs) loaned me a teeny tiny metal dumbbell. I might have to get a picture of Josie holding it because it's darn funny! It's like shih-tzu sized or something :) It rests snug on her cheeks when she carries it ;)

Within a couple minutes she was retrieving that like a champ. I began to think to myself "well, this coin in the bottle trick might not be such a pie in the sky idea after all!"

To get her used to having something small in her mouth and not swallowing it, I had her put ice cubes into a cup. She thought this was fun until her mouth was frozen and she sat there and sneezed for a few minutes. I decided she had the idea, and introduced the quarter this evening. She somehow knew exactly what I wanted, and started retrieving it immediately. Good pup!

I didn't tape the first bit of training tonight, and I wish I had as she got the 'finished product' four other times at the end of the first session with the big bottle! Oh well :)

The first part of this video is showing the 'end product' and then I go through explaining how I trained it from the introduction of the glass container to the end.

If you would like any further explanation just send me an e-mail. I'll answer in as much detail as I can!

I hope you enjoy! We'll perfect this and be back to share sometime in the future. I just wanted to share our progress :)

5 March 2008 ~ Clicker-ing Rocks!!

I had to go home over lunch to meet my new cleaning lady at the house to give her a key and show her around, so while I was waiting for her, I decided to introduce the 'put that in the bin' trick. So I got a ball and a small basket and first shaped the nose going into the box (that took about 10 seconds), called it 'basket'. Then I told her to get the ball, and put it in the basket. The first couple times she tried she'd drop the ball outside the basket, stick her nose in the basket, then pick the ball back up and put it in. I clicked this only twice as it was close (she had taken the ball TO the basket, after all), but not the end product. The times she did this, though, when she went to pick the ball back up she'd give a little 'irritated grunt'. It's SO cute when she does this. Hehe. She made the same noise the other day when we were working on the toy discrimination. When she wasn't getting it right away she'd do the frustrated noise when she finally understood. It's quite endearing. Anyway, after about 5 minutes of this I was in the middle of the living room, the basket was on one end of the room, and I'd throw the ball to the other side of the room. I'd say 'get the ball and put it in the basket' and she'd dutifully do just what I asked. I was really quite impressed that she did it so quickly!!

Now I'd like to see anyone train that THAT quickly, without a clicker!! Clicker-trained dogs are simply amazing!

THEN.
On my way home from work I decided to stop off a the store for something. I saw all these easter eggs and easter baskets. I got the great idea of putting her new trick with these items. So I took them home and after the carpet cleaners left, I sat down with eggs and basket and in just a few minutes, we had mastered that as well!! It was already dark by this point, though, so I plan to videotape Josie's easter egg hunt tomorrow after work. The outdoor lighting will be so much better for the video :)

We are performing for a child's birthday party on Saturday and I plan to do an easter egg hunt for them. I think they'd like it. We'll also be doing some 'backyard agility' but they will be pretty young children, so I think the easter egg hunt will be a hit. Just one of those ideas that sort of evolved from nothing in no time! :) I'm excited about it.

The END RESULT, the whole reason why I wanted to train her to put anything away to begin with was to be like Ivie's former sister in her former home, and to be able to do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBHEItIwP-Y So we borrowed a metal dumbbell from my agility instructor tonight to get her used to having metal stuff in her mouth as she's not that keen on it. In only a few minutes I had her not only taking it into her mouth but going all the way across the room and retrieving it and putting it into the easter basket along with the eggs!! Now I just need to get her to pick up a quarter and to target to the mouth of a Snapple bottle and we'll have it.

Gosh, I do so LOVE these clicker trained dogs!! THANKS for starting them off with the wonderful clicker beginnings, Michelle!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't think I could have done all this without you!!!!!!! :o) This dog ROCKS!!!

28 February 2008 ~ Beautiful day with my Jos-Monk

What a lovely day today was!!

I took Josie to work with me today. Now, I couldn't take her *into*work, but I took her *to* work. She slept in the car in the parking garage (it was a lovely 50degree day, she was fine!) for the first 4 hours, until I got off for the afternoon. When I got back to the car I was greeted by the sweetest 'sleepy face' ever. I just LOVE this little wonderdog. She warms my heart with all her special little ways she has about her.

I had a while to 'waste' over my lunch hour so Josie and I sat at Starbucks and I read my book. (I'm reading Cell by Stephen King, almost done -- great book!!) Then I took her with me to an appointment I had, and we again had a few hours to kill until the next place we had to be. We were in downtown Dallas so I thought we'd swing by the dog park, someplace I NEVER go. It's actually not a bad park, it's on the lake which Josie loves a bunch :) I just don't like that it gets so overrun with dogs and their idiot owners. But today I felt it was only right to let her run a little since she'd been such a good girl in the car. For the next two hours I sat at the dog park on a bench and read my book while Josie found sucker after sucker to throw the ball for her time after time. She had an absolute blast and everyone just fell for her. They would all throw the ball for her a few times, then come over to me to kinda say 'is it okay?' and then proceed to throw it a bunch more times.

Just now the poor dear was sitting here licking a rear paw. She tore off a good bit of a paw pad on her right rear paw. Poor babe!!

I just had a blast with her today. She's so much fun to be around, and I love how she just lights up every room she's in, be it a room or a park or anywhere else. She's just the most wonderfullest girlie doggie in the whole wide world and I love her to itty bitty bits :o)

That is all, really. :)

25 February 2008 ~ ADCH-Bronze Ivie!!

It was a hairy Jumpers course, but we pulled through and came out with 3rd & Q for her ADCH-Bronze!! I am SO thrilled!!! :)
Someone signed her bar 'pretty good for a free dog' - hahaha!! Almost exactly 11 months ago, Ivie earned her ADCH. She promptly injured her toe and took 4 months off from showing. For only being back 7 months and getting her ADCH-Bronze already...I am SO proud of her. !!!

We were really working nicely as a team this weekend. She felt awesome to run and our times we evidence that I was feeling it right! Her GP voucher-winning run was 6.1yps!!!

That's all the updating for tonight...I'm plum exhausted!!

Last run of the weekend, so all the equipment's already in the trailer!!

 

24 February 2008 ~ Ivie wins 22" GP and earns her first ever voucher!!

Before I tell you the funniest thing ever, the thing that made me lose my voice I laughed so much, I must preface it with everything that happened today. The show was AWESOME.
First was Pairs and Josie teamed with Annie & Jack West and turned in a PAIRS COURSE time of 28.10!!! Are you kidding me?!?! It was insanely fast!! So we smacked that one outta the park, got 1st & Q and all that jazz.

Then Grand Prix. Chuck Thompson (some of you may know him) ran first with Crash and they had a NICE run, but the timer malfunctioned. So he got to rerun for time (this time knocking a bar, to no fault). In GP?!?! Whatever. So he got to run again, and ran it in 27.60. Josie ran a few dogs after him and I lost some time by chickening out on a front before the dogwalk, so she clocked a 28.34 I think. Ivie was the last 22" dog to run. She had a killer run, and even though Crash & Chuck had had a 'practice run' beforehand, Ivie smacked down a 27.01sec run!!! WOWZA!!!! SO...Ivie got her first Grand Prix voucher!! Snatched it outta Chuck's hand at the last possible second!! WOOHOO!!!! GO IVERS!! Josie came in 3rd, still very respectable :) Everyone said that when Ivie took off the start line in GP that she just had rockets coming out her rear end. Oh MY. Unfortunately this is the one run not on video. Doh!! Woulda liked to have seen those rockets :)

Then Standard. I ran Josie first and since I'd need to go 2 for 2 in Standard this weekend to get Josie's ADCH, I was feeling a lot of pressure. That didn't sit well with me and I ended up causing a refusal in an otherwise LOVELY run. DOH!!! Ivie was SMOKIN' again, then the jump before the end she took the obvious off course jump after the dogwalk instead of the not-as-obvious finish jump. I SCREAMED this terrible noise, then said 'SERIOUSLY?!?!?!' The judge laughed at me :') She would have won that class if not for the flub up. UGH. Ah well :)

Steeplechase was a nice, fun, FAST course. Josie ran it in 28.95sec. That was a whole second faster than ANY OTHER DOG. Where did those turbo-boosters come from??!!??!! Josie took the bar after the weaves on pass 2, though, so she ended up in 3rd. Ivie had a 29.97sec run (2nd fastest time -- go LESnider girls!!!) and came in 1st!! So I have a 1st and a 3rd seed in tomorrow's finals. Ivie really was running SO nice, and I got gutsy and tried a crazy front cross out of a tunnel. I made it.Phew!! (I have it on video!!)

Snooker was a total screw up on MY part...twice. Let's not talk about it. :)

If you know me, you know I hate Jumpers. Last class of the day...
Josie ran first, and smacked down a 2nd & Q!!!!!!!! WOOHOO!!!! That was her JM title!!! WOOHOO!!!! That leaves only 2 Standards for ADCH. 2 Standards, are you kidding me?!?! WOW. She's my BABY...my BABY!!!! Ivie had an AWESOME, once again turbo-charged run going and then somehow we miscommunicated and got a R. It was SO.SAD. :'(

You know, Ivie didn't knock a SINGLE bar today!! I'm so happy with that!!! I love Iver, she's a wonderful girlie -- and now she has a voucher to prove how awesome she is on course!! :)

Okay, so the funny stuff :)
So I went to dinner with some friends tonight. We had tex-mex, complete with the obligatory mass quantity of margaritas to go on top of all the wine we had at the show ;) It was a GORGEOUS day, and a gorgeous evening. About 60degrees out, a nice cool breeze, all that jazz. So we ate real near the show site for those that were staying there, whereas Donna and I are at her house about 20 miles away. So we leave Josie, Ivie, Siryn, and her Pomeranian named Puppy (the one seen snuggling with Ivie in pictures a couple months back) in the car while we eat. They're all REALLY tired, so of course all they're going to do is sleep.
My car is a small black SUV with personalized animal-friendly license plates and a magnet that has a picture of a crouching BC and says "Border Collie -- Everything Else Is Just a Dog".
We got back to the car after dinner and there's a McDonald's napkin folded and put under my windshield. & this is what is says, & I quote...:

"If you were really pet friendly why did you lock up your dogs in you trick to go eat dinner?"

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHHAH!!! As if *I* am not pet friendly...?!?!?! Perhaps the mere fact that the dogs are OUT with me while I find myself in the position of NEEDing to eat...would suggest perhaps I was doing something with them? I don't know, like spending thousands of dollars a month on their upkeep, well-being, and extracurricular activities???! I mean, are you serious?!?!
It was me, Donna, Elizabeth Armstrong and Renee King and we just kept passing this note back and forth and reading it out loud and laughing our BUTTS off!!! I mean...can it GET any more pet friendly than me?? Really?!?! Ah...the thought just made us all nearly bust open at the seams!!

So, that's my funny story. Someone thinks I'm not very 'pet friendly' HAHAHHHHAAA!!!

17 February 2008 ~ Josie goes MAD!!

I decided at the last minute to make a "there & back" trip to a USDAA show 3 hours away this weekend. I entered the show at the end of last week, just wanting another shot at getting a Standard for Josie's MAD. I trekked it out there and boy am I ever glad I did!!

We came away with a Standard, a Relay, and a Gamble. The Standard earned her MAD (Master Agility Dog) title, and the Relay earned her RM (Relay Master) title!!! Definitely a good last minute decision!!

I only took Josie. I had never taken her to a trial by herself, either to compete or just to watch. She's always been one of at least two. Oh MY did she ever enjoy herself!! Between the agility, the soccer-playing (her BC buddy, who is a full sibling to Grace's Click, has taught her the joys of playing with a soccer ball), the hiking through the woods and streams...she is one tired girlie tonight!!

I am so proud of the MAD, I could burst! She's only 3 Q's away...tick tick tick...

Here's some video from the weekend...first run is the MAD run !!

12 February 2008 ~ The World's Most Annoying Toy

 

11 February 2008 ~ The Weekend of the Ivernator!!

 

The weekend in Words:

For IVIE...
Friday:
2nd & Q in Pairs,
2nd & Q in Gamblers,
no Q in Snooker.
Saturday:
Ran HER ½ of pairs beautifully but her partner E'd,
Q'd in Grand Prix (would have been in 3rd place but knocked the 1st bar because she 'schooched' on her SLS),
3rd & Q in Steeplechase
1st & Q in Standard
No Q in Gamblers (my mistake!)
Sunday:
2nd & Q in Standard
Q in Snooker
4th & Q in Jumpers
3rd in Steeplechase round2
I was so proud of her!!! She earned her Standard Champion Bronze title as well as her Tournament Master Silver titles this weekend. (The first bar in Grand Prix was the ONLY bar she knocked all weekend!!)

She is only ONE JUMPERS Q AWAY from ADCH-Bronze! I am so proud of her!!

Josie had a bunch of GREAT runs, too. She came in 3rd & Q in Jumpers on Sunday…and got a 3rd & Q in Pairs on Friday. She was just one little mistake out of a lot of Q's. I sent her off course in an otherwise LOVELY Standard run on a HARD course on Saturday. Then she just couldn't get up over this one jump that was in a crater in Sunday's standard. She knocked it with her tail – #@)%_%*$%)()@#@!!! (The ONLY bar she knocked all weekend!!) She was a good, good, girl, though, and we now need 3Std, 1Jmp, & 1Relay...for...you know!!!

She had an AWESOME pairs run on Saturday but her partner off-coursed. That's the name of the game I suppose :)

6 February 2008 ~ Holy Crap, Batman! I'm ashamed to say...

Last night I taught Josie a totally cute version of 'shame' in like 5 clicks. That was ridiculously easy. (before you ask, no, I didn't tape it...I've been wholly unsuccessful teaching it with other dogs in the past and was not expecting anything better with this dog!!) WTF has been holding me back?? I simply free-shaped it and my GAWD is it ever cute!! I hope to get some video of it this weekend.

Anyway. If nothing else, this potential TV opportunity will certainly expand mine and Josie's "bag of tricks". We worked for a while, for her dinner, last night and tonight. I decided to just do kibble because, well, let's face it, that's a lot more sanitary than raw chicken bits!! I also taught her 'bang bang' (play dead) and how to 'woof' on command. Three commands in one night -- not bad! Then tonight I taught her to roll over from a stand, to stand from a sit or down, and to shame from a stand. The shame is reliable and uber cute. OMG it's frickin' adorable, I can't get over it!!

&, seriously, how she picked it up in UNDER A MINUTE is insane. Forget the damn tape on the nose stuff -- that's for the birds!! The method I dreamed up in the car the other day is far superior!!! I shall go back and retrain Ivie and try to train Maddie to do this too.
I simply told her to down. Then ignored her and she sniffed the ground around her, when she got close to the paw, I clicked. I did that twice, then I put a kibble on her left paw. When she went to eat it, I clicked. Then she touched her paw with her nose, so I clicked again. Then she put her paw on her noise -- VOILA!! MY WORD that was quick!!! I love it!!!

Now I say "are you ashamed??" and she puts paw on her snout. Oh, word...this dog beats all else!!

Not to mentionthis tiny little girl has a freakin' HUGE bark for a little girl!!! It's hilarious :)

3 February 2008 ~ KFA USDAA fun!!

The DAM team courses were pretty brutal. I won't do a play-by-play on those...but suffice it to say...you'll understand if you take a look at the course maps! (In order that they ran...who in the world puts Jumpers first??) My girls placed in nearly all of the events, both of them did. YAY girlies!! :) YAY for top ten tournament points :)

Team Jumpers
Team Gamblers
Team Snooker
Team Standard
Team Relay (Josie's team won the relay, and won the tournament, overall!! Ivie's team won the bronze medal!!)

Saturday Started off with Masters Gamblers. Ivie was first. I took her over jump-tire-Aframe-weave-tunnel and instead of coming into me to get back into the weaves, she negated her gamble by shooting off over the jump with a 2 on it. DANGIT!! So, of course, we end up with a LOT of points, and she aces the gamble...since she alreade negated it in the opening --- perfect!! *sigh* Josie did a great opening, and LISTENED so as NOT to negate her gamble...then I stepped on the line while she was doing the gamble. Doh!!! 1 dog Q'd, and Ivie ended up in 2nd place since she had the most points out of any dog in the opening. Silly negating gamble dog!!

Masters Standard was 2nd on Saturday. I ran Ivie first and she popped out at pole 10 in the weaves. WTF?? Ivie does not pop out of weave poles!! (About 15 dogs in the class popped out at that same pole -- there was SOMEthing not right about those poles!) Of course after that she ran beautifully, and flawlessly!! She really held her 2O2O contacts nicely ALL weekend long. She was a good, good girlie!! Josie got a refusal between the teeter and the tunnel because I did a weird crossy-thingie, and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She had lovely contacts and was otherwise wonderful!! :)

Grand Prix came upon us and I was actaully a little nervous (I'm never nervous) -- I really wanted to get a 'bye' since both girls are 100% qualified for Nationals already. Ivie ran it beautifully but took 1 bar. Her first bar all weekend -- so I can't complain!! She still got another Q to add to her collection -- just 1 more tournament leg for Tournament Master Silver for the Invernator!! :) Josie went out there and NAILED it. She had awesome contacts (which I held), beautiful turns, amazing lines, lightning-fast weave poles...and the fastest time of anyone!!! Josie won 1st place, a Q, and a voucher!! So she won the 'bye' which puts her 1 step closer to making the finals at Nationals this year!! Yahoo!!!!

Snooker ended our Saturday, and I did a rather non-stellar job with both my girls. Neither Q'd, but, then again, NO DOG Q'd on this course. Not ONE. The first place dog in 22" had 30pts and Ivie had 28pts which was good enough for second place. We were all floored. These are all dogs in the top ten of Snooker years running...I don't know WHAT was up with this course but it was terrible!! Ivie did 6,6,7 and then knocked the triple because I was all discomobulated and trying to save from getting an R. Dang... Josie did 6,6,7 and instead of the 2, I sent her back over that red right there...wtg Emily! Sometimes...I swear...:')

Sunday started with Standard -- that is not my favourite way to start a day, but, it is what it is :) Josie turned in a smokin' time that was 4sec faster than the only other dog to Q, which was a 26" dog. Ivie got a refusal/run-out at 16. It was set up where the jumps were more parallel than in the course map. It was a ridiculous little turn and if the dogs were clean up until that point, most were either knocking 15, going into the tunnel for an E, or getting a R at 16. Oh well -- Ivie still had the fastest non-Q'ing time so Ivie took 2nd place to Josie's 1st!! :)

Next was Masters Pairs. I was not a huge fan of this course, like...at all. Only one team Q'd -- that was Ivie & Riggs - for a 1st & Q!! Due to a combination of faults, Josie & her partner Detour (Riggs' 1/2 brother) were 0.17sec from Q'ing -- DANGIT!! Josie's pair got 2nd place to Ivie's 1st!!

Masters Jumpers finished off the weekend. Josie & Ivie both Q'd, and took 1st & 2nd place!! They were the ONLY two Masters dogs to Q in Jumpers!! Since it was the only effective handling strategy, I'll go over it with you :) I lead out to 3, post-turn to 5 (with a pre-cue/front cross wrap) then went up through the middle to 6 and rear-crossed. Then I put in a LSFC (landing side front cross) after 9. Dog on right through 13, then another LSFC between 14/15. Then a left/right/left to the end! GOSH I wish I had this one on video!! After the trial, the judge came up and told me what a great job I did on that course. She must have been expecting another 0% Q-rate on this course, like Standard and Snooker yesterday!! Josie ran 143yds of this course in 22.30sec...that makes it a 6.4yps run!!! That's pretty speedy, if I do say so myself!!

I'm SO thrilled with how we did this weekend!! I have another 3-day show this coming weekend. Josie is now 3 Standards, 2 Jumpers, and 2 Relays from ADCH. WOW. :)

2 February 2008 ~ The BABY WINS!!

Today was SO wonderful...

The highlight of the day...
My baby Josie WON GRAND PRIX!! Which means she gets a voucher to get into the 2nd round at the Regional!! Wowza!!
She had a wonderfully smokin' run, and kicked some serious booty. I am SO proud of her!!!

Yahooooooooooo!!!

1 February 2008 ~ KFA USDAA, Day 1

We still have 2 days to go, but...

Today was so great!!! It was only 5 team runs but we had a lot of good things in those runs!! Both girls placed in the top 3 in all the team classes!! My Josie dropped some jaws from people that hadn't seen her run since she turne 18mo.

Josie had the 2nd fastest time in Jumpers. Only Crash (a Top Ten Jumpers dog) beat her by .5sec. Ivie also had a pretty good time, only half a second behind Josie. Good Ivers! :) This is remarkable since Jumpers is my nemesis :) ;)

Josie's team name was "Got Baggage?" because every dog on the team brought 'baggage'. Josie is a puppy. Heaux (black lab) is coming into season ANY DAY, and walks like she has a pineapple between her legs. Zip (BC) has a MACH2 but has never done a single day of USDAA before.
& Ivie's team name was "Wave of Destruction" because her two teammates were Crash (BC) and Krusher (Mini Schnauzer).

My two teams were in 1st/2nd all day long :) It was a lot of fun!!! Ivie's team was actually in first place for the first 3 classes. Crash E'd Standard, so we went to 2nd and Josie's team went to first. Then Josie's team won relay so we solidified our win! Ivie went WAY out of her way to E relay, so that dropped us to 3rd place in the end. Both Q'd and got medals though -- yippee!!! :)

We got lots of tournaments points, too, because my girls placed in most of the classes - Ivie won Team Gamblers :) YAY Ivers :)

Anyway, we had a great time, and I did as well as I could!! Two Q's for 2 runs today :) Each girl had the possibility of one Q...and each got one!! Doesn't get any better than that!!

I am SO excited about this win for Josie -- this is her 2nd try at team...her 2nd Q in team...and her 2nd WIN in team!!! We didn't even set out to 'win' this time (or last!!!). Josie & Heaux are both already Q'd for Nationals, and the AKC-dog had never jumped 22" before :-P To end up winning the whole thing -- SO EXCITING!!! Gosh, I LOVE THESE Lock-Eye girlies of mine!!!!! They are all MINE MINE MINE!!! :) SPECTACULAR Girlies!!!!!!!!!!!

27 January 2008 ~ Training Today

It was a lovely day outside. A balmy 43 degrees in the heat of the day :) I decided to take the girls out to the training field to let off some steam since it was raining and yucky all day yesterday which meant limited play time.

I took some video of Josie & Ivie on contacts, etc. I took a lot of 'fun' footage but have not edited much of it yet. That just takes so long!!! I'll work on it tomorrow probably :) I got some great video of my Madison being a JRT. She cracks me up :)

Josie's dogwalk:


Ivie's agility plus ball-play:

23 January 2008 ~ HHAT USDAA...in Pictures :)

This past weekend we showed at a local USDAA show. It was 23degrees before the wind chill on Saturday morning, and the facility is always cooler inside than outside in the winter, and the opposite in the summer -- how convenient! Anyway...my girls and I had a blast and I found some pictures that a photographer took. I love the one of Ivie where you can see her breath!! So cooooold!!

This first one is my favourite. It's just so 'her'.

& this second one is so 'Ivie'


(click for full size below)

Cold BREATH!!!

2 January 2008 ~ HHAT USDAA Weekend Results...In Video :)

Josie:

Ivie:

21 January 2008 ~ Control Thyself!!

So I was clicker-training Josie to do useful things like close boxes and what-not the other day… I went upstairs for some reason and left Jos downstairs. She normally follows me, but didn't this time, knowing full well the Living Room is where the clicker training takes place, and she was hoping for more! (I think my phone was ringing upstairs or something?)

Anyway, so I realized while I was up there that I had left Josie unattended with the bowl of training treats just sitting there on the ground for the taking. (bad mom!!) So I peaked over the ledge into the living room (it's open from the upstairs hallway), all sneaky-like. I saw her walk over to the bowl of treats, take a big sniff, and turn her head, trot away, and lay down on her dog bed, staring at the treats from across the room. She had every opportunity to just munch them down but she made the right choice!!

I mean…most kids don't have that much self control with a cookie jar – and my little baby doggie just chooses the right thing to do in every situation. Could she BE any more perfect?? I of course gave her treats once I got downstairs…that behaviour deserved reward!
I also put her 'hot dog retrieve' to the test this weekend. Someone had dropped an entire piece of string cheese on the ground between the practice jumps. I told her to go get it, and bring it to me. So she did, without so much as thinking about nibbling on it, and happily traded me the entire piece of cheese…for a little game of tuggie! I haven't even worked that trick in nearly a year!!

What an ANGEL she truly is!! So…when does cloning become common place, anyway?

17 January 2008 ~ My Suzie Q

In the midst of everything that's been going on lately (not dog related...therefore not interesting, right?!), I forgot to tell the story of how Miss SuzieQ found her forever home! So here goes...

Over the last year I have noticed my SuzieQ growing increasingly...unhappy.
All she wants in life is to sit around the house and be lazy and be petted and fed!! I'm more active, I like to do active, interractive things with the girls -- sitting around and petting gets boring for me long before it's boring for SuzieQ!

She also dislikes Ivie -- a lot. She always grumbled at Ivie when she'd walk by, and on occasion she'd lash out at her for absolutely no reason. So there was always this tension between the two of them.

When I travel, I always leave SuzieQ & Madison (my JRT) with a friend of mine here in Dallas who loves them like her own. While I was trialing for 5 days over New Years, my friends' brother and his family came to stay with her too. They fell in LOVE with her. I had been going back and forth about rehoming her for the past 6 months or so. Only thing is I was always so picky in my 'must haves' for her new home I figured I'd just never find a home suitable and never took it any further. Well, they just adored her. The mom (Susie) is a stay-at-home housewife and mother and just wanted a dog she could lay around on the couch with, etc. How perfect!! They are very well off and can give her all the care and attention and special foods that she needs. She's allergic to grains so I made them promise to stick to a grain-free diet and strict feeding instructions since she has the tendency to pork up, that's the corgi in her!!

So, they came and picked her up from the Dallas area and took her back to Houston last weekend. The dynamic in my house has drastically changed for the better and everyone is happier. My JRT always got shoved outta the way by SuzieQ and she's lovin' life right now! Plus she LOVES Josie, and wants to play with Ivie, and without the Fun Police (SuzieQ) around to stop her, she gets to play all the time!

It was a hard decision to let her go on to a new home, but I know I did my part in her life. I rescued her the day she was to be put down. She had heartworms, so I had them treated. She was TOTALLY unsocial, and now she's a therapy dog. She couldn't see another dog on leash and not try to eat it, and now she's an agility dog competing at the Masters level. I think I played my part in her life, and I think she played an important one in mine, and my last favour to her was to let her 'retire' to this wonderful home where she will get all the love and attention she could ever want. They renamed her CindyQ since the mom's name is Susie :) (Cindy, short for Cinderella!!)

So, that's my story!! SuzieQ - gone but not forgotten!!

16 January 2008 ~ She's So Tricky...

Just a short little montage of some Josie tricks, with a bout of extreme cuteness at the end.

 

15 January 2008 ~ Josie kicks NADAC's ass

Went to a 'FUN-Raiser' in Calera, OK with Jamie last weekend. I wanted to work contacts, so I just entered Standard, and 2 rounds of jumpers since I was there already! I couldn't bring myself to pay for Hoopers...aye!!

Josie did very well -- it was funny; she was SO confused...kept looking for me for direction and I kept telling her "no, it's all right -- just run in a straight line!!" She's never really been run on courses like thi