GT, Vyne and Tun Wells Agility Shows

Well Agility season is back in full force. I have had mixed emotions about the competitions but I do so love running Zen. I have found the UKA shows better for me this year as they don't bring back so many memories of Hex. The Championship shows...well that is another story. Vyne was not good for me; all I kept thinking of was Hex. It did not help that her 4th birthday would have been on 5th May. My heart just was not into the Champs at Vyne and so I skipped the Beacon Champ this weekend. Last year I loved running the Champ classes but that feeling is gone right now. I just may skip the Champs this year; I will take it day by day (or weekend by weekend!) Zen has nothing to prove; I think she has 9 Champ Tickets and 4 reserve Champ tickets.

The one good thing about Vyne was that I got a chance to run Corrie again. Here she is running a Grade 3-5 jumping. Corrie placed 22nd out of 250 dogs; strangely I would have never thought I would be happy with a 22nd Place rosette and yet I was thrilled!



My sweet Zen turned 6 years old on 30 April! She is starting to coat up again after the pups and is looking good. I liked this photo as it shows how Zen turns so tightly. I think if those jump cups were not at her eye level she would even be tighter! Look at those thigh muscles!



I just liked how she was smiling on this jump photo.



The GT UKA show was good for us. Lots of chances to train in the ring and Zen had some good runs. Here is one run we did in the Royal Canin Qualifier. The first time we got to the weaves before a dog ran in to the ring to confront Zen. It was interesting to watch this as I had not seen the dog coming. When I watched the video back I could see the dog had it's eye on her almost from before she got onto the dogalk. Thank goodness Zen did not react to the dog or try and run away as I think she would have been chased. Zen is not the bravest dog in the world and something like that would really bother her.



We ran again right away as Zen does best without alot of waiting around the rings. I was really pleased with this run and she did not seem to be affected at all from the experience.



There has been much talk lately about the number of dog fights, dogs chasing and dogs getting hurt at shows. I know of so many dogs that have been bitten just over these past few weeks and so many shelties that have been hurt/killed over the past few years. It does make me very nervous about having the pups at shows although I know it can happen anywhere. Just today at the vets a lady was telling us how her dog was attacked on a walk by a staffie.

I know these things do happen but am just amazed at the people who do not take responsibility. I did not know who owned this dog that ran into the ring after Zen but was but was grateful that the owner took the time to find me afterwards and apologize. Sometimes that is all it takes to diffuse a situation and am amazed at the number of people at shows who forget how to be polite and civilized. I think almost everyone I know has had their dogs bit at least once ringside. What worries me is that I think I would not be able to control myself if one of my pups got hurt and I would end up in trouble! I think that is when my New York background would come out in full force!

The GT show was three days long and so brought the caravan and camped. It was very relaxing and I am looking forward to our next camping show in July. :-)

When not hanging out ringside the pups have to be in a puppy pen as Itzy has learned how to escape under the windbreaks around the caravan. She decided she wanted to sit on TOP of the crate in order to have a better view.



Meanwhile Pax likes to sleep in the sun on the lounge chair. In this photo we just woke her up when we tried to sneak up for a photo of her sleeping. I don't know how she heard us as she is almost totally deaf now.


This weekend ,since Zen and I had saturday off,we had a nice day at home, got the back lawn cut and set up a new course in the back garden. We went to Tunbridge Wells on Sunday. I like the Tunbridge Wells show as it is only 40 minutes away and the weather was good! It turned out to be a very good show for me and Zen. Zen ran 100% clear runs and came 2nd in a tough Crufts Singles, 3rd in the Olympia Qualifer (which qualified us for the Olympia Semi final!) and 2nd in a fast Grade 6,7 jumping. We still have lots of training needed to get ready for the EO and the World Champ try-outs in July but that is half the fun!

Zev and his tongue

Last weekend we had a chance to spend a little time with Zev (Zen's 1 year old son). I cannot believe we did not notice the tongue situation until we looked at the photos! Poor Zev he will never live it down; he has the worlds funniest sheltie tongue! Luckily he is a lovely happy boy in every other way.

That tongue was doing all kinds of flopping around!



Worlds longest sheltie tongue!



How about this way?



Luckily there is room in that mouth for his favorite kong toy!



Zaz had a lovely run with Zev. It was amazing to see how she mirrored him in his movements. Zev was so good with her; slowing down when needed and always watching where she was as to not run her over.





What a happy boy.

Spring updates: EO, Crate Games and Puppy training

So a few weekends of agility have now passed by. It is nice to be getting out and competing again. I have Zen to run and am working on getting us both fighting fit for the European Open 2009. I am so proud that Zen has qualified for the EO this year. I had not tried out with her last year due to puppies and this year I knew we would struggle slightly from being out of action for the past few months. Even so Zen did me proud and qualified as one of 4 medium dogs to represent Great Britain at the European Open.

Here is our jumping run. There were some loud call offs as the course did not really "flow"! There was lots of large gaps with tempting obstacles either side. I was amazed we got around this course and, along with many other handlers, said something like "f...ing hell" when I got near the finish line. ( BTW stop reading now for this next section of "too much information") This 1st run was difficult for us as we had just spent the previous week with a severe stomach virus or food poisoning leading up to us having to hit the emergency clinic for a injection to help me stop vomiting after 12 hours straight. That was a tough week and I had not had a full meal up to that day! (not that I couldn't do with missing a meal or two!) I really felt that towards the end of that course that I would not be able to continue. My legs felt like jello and I was too weak. But somehow the adrenalin kicked in and we finished out the day with 3 clears and made it to the final where we came, I think, 2nd. We finished 3rd overall. Zen is just a great dog and I am so proud to be representing my adopted country again.



The puppies are just growing and growing. They are becoming real dogs! Training-wise I am attending a puppy "play and learn" class with Zaz. It is a nice class with similar minded people which makes it more fun. Unfortunately I have not yet found a class for Itzy but I am still looking. I wish they had two of the same class in a row! This class is sort of a "pre agility" which is nice; no equipment but lots of basics and fun things. I have been proud of Zaz as she is just so into her training. She works well for food and offers behaviors yet her tuggy and retrieving is coming along great. I am NOT taking that for granted and we are working on tugging and play retrieves ALOT with both pups.

Our "CRATE GAMES" experiment is continuing. Today it was raining and I cancelled lessons, so I watched part of the DVD again. I started with a little "yer in yer out" to warm them up and then worked on the next session called "collar grabs". Both pups seemed to catch on quickly and it was nice to see them staying so well in the crates when the door was open. Hopefully that will only help my startlines stays in the future. Probably the only glitch I had was with Zaz who upon returning to the crate would start offering behaviors in the crate and got a little frustrated with me which caused the occasional yip yip. As this was our first time doing the "collar grab" session; I am hoping that this will decrease in time. I think, according to the dvd, I can stay at this level for quite awhile before adding the "scholarly elements".

This past weekend we attended a local UKA agility show. It is the closest agility show to me as it is only 5 minutes down the road. I can not pass up that opportunity. I do love the UKA shows as having the opportunity to train in the ring in a competition setting is so invaluable. I love to see Zen's face when she hits the perfect contact position and I am able to surprise her with her toy.

I also had the opportunity to run "my" border collie Cory in jumping on Saturday at UKA. The pressure was on as so far we have had 2 runs and both have been clear. I shouldn't have worried as Cory was a star and we went clear and came in 2nd only 10ths of seconds behind the winner. I really enjoy running her and am glad for the opportunity. It can only help me with my own handling although it feels like I hardly handle Cory; she just seems to know what to do. Karen jokes that Cory is not really that fast but she is the perfect speed for me right now. :-)



This coming weekend is another weekend of UKA shows followed by our first championship show of the year. It will hopefully be our last camping show until August. Why "hopefully" you ask? Well I cannot tell you as it might jinx us but will update you all in a few weeks!

Bluebells 2009

We took this photo during a muddy walk yesterday. It was nice to spend the day home with Dennis and the dogs after the long trip up to the European Open Tryouts the day before.

Although she doesn't get much blog time Pax is still very important to me. I asked Dennis to cut a hole in the wood panel under the caravan bed so that Pax can sleep in her own personal den away from the riff-raff. At 12 years old Pax's crankiness is increasing and she needs her own personal space. There is loads of unused room under there! We brought her into the caravan to try it out and she LOVES it. Our caravan is not that big so this will make having 5 dogs in the caravan a little easier at night.

Here she is trying it out!

Girl Power Water Babies

Zaz and Itzy have now been to the doggy swimming pool twice. I was quite pleased with their reactions to the place and to the water. Neither pup was bothered by the new surrounding or the strange noises of the swimming pool and that was great.

The ladies at the pool were very patient getting the pups used to the water.



Luckily the pool is full of other creatures to tempt puppies.



They are both at the point now that they are swimming smoothly but Zaz started out splashing quite a bit!



The toys helped but Itzy splashed too.



Itzy doesn't wear a life jacket because they did not have two tiny jackets and she seemed the most comfortable in the water. Neither pup willing to swim away from the sides just yet.



But the chickens are calling and hunting chickens is serious bizness. Itzy stalks, attacks and holds tight to that wiley chicken.





At the start Zaz was all business and just wanted to swim out of the pool bypassing any stray farm animals.



But now she will pick up a toy on her way.



And she is becoming quite the chicken hunter like her grandma True.



It is so great to be able to introduce them to water so young and it is even better that the doggy swimming pool is 1 minute down the road from me!

Easter Celebration 2009

I snapped these photos just now. We have one sunbbeam coming through the front door and Itzy and Zaz took turns lying in it! I have heard from other owners of Zen x Tazz pups that their pups love the warmth of a fireplace or sun. This is the first I have noticed it in my own dogs.



Overall we had a good Easter weekend at the agility show. The weather was not great but it was nice to get the caravan out anyway. It was the puppies first time in the caravan and sleeping away from home! They both did really well and we rigged up one soft crate and one little pop-up baby tent to be able to crate both pups at night in the caravan. They are not trustworthy enough to let sleep out at night!

We have finally realized (doh!) that,even with both Dennis and I walking one pup each, the pups do better walking around the rings alone. So if you saw us just walking around and around and around the rings that was why! :-) Walking without their sister near-by makes each pup a well-behaved pup!

I was saddened to see that little Fozzie was bit ringside. While we love to take the puppies out to socialize it is so worrying to know that they can easily get hurt. All it takes is one bad experience for a pup to have a life-long fear. I wish people would think more about others. Nuff said.

The OBay shelties did really well this weekend but the highlights included Kizzy (Zen's daughter) winning the Small Grade 6/7 tournament and coming 2nd in two classes on her first weekend out in Grade 6. AND Todd (Hobb's son) coming 1st in his Grade 5 agility and moving up to Grade 6! I can't wait to see both Kizzy and Todd running in Champs next year (or even possibly this year!). Zen, as usual, was a star and won me two easter eggs. I feel that she is really ready for our EO try-outs next weekend.

I am too tired to go into detail of the weekend but thought you might enjoy my latest run with my gorgeous red and white borrowed Border collie Corrie. I don't know how she ended up placing in this class but she was lying 11th (179 entered) after we ran. So in my mind she stayed there! hahaha To be honest, I don't really care what she placed as I just enjoyed running her so much. She is such an honest dog and she seems to run the course without my help really.

Crate Games update

Well it was raining today! So I spent about 1.5 hours working on our first try at Susan Garrett's "Crate Games". Zaz and Itz both got through to Stage 3 in under an hour which was good. I won't try to explain the DVD but just make a few comments on our first try.

I used a wire crate that both pup had not been in before. I could see them easier than in their regular hardshell crates. I am not sure how to continue holding "criteria" with their regular sleeping crates. Dennis gets the pups up to feed them in the morning and it might be too much to ask him to deal with watching to see if the pups sit first ect. so early in the morning. Do I get up and do this for a few weeks? Ughhhh. I think I just got myself into a pickle.

Some thoughts:

• I should have had more treats! I had hotdogs but really how many hotdogs can you feed one little sheltie puppy? I added some Burns fish treats to cut down on the hot dogs. In hindsight I should have picked up some more cheese and chicken to cut up. But I was determined to do this today and didn't want to run out to the store!


• My back hurts from all the bending!


• According to the DVD the pups are supposed to go into a sit when you put your hand on the crate. I was unsure about how to get this to happen especially since Zaz has more of a default down. So it took longer to get her to figure out to pop into a sit. She was offering me downs and spins! She got there eventually but there was some frustrating barking on her part. I know I could have lured her into a sit or used a command but I wanted to follow the program though as described on the DVD as much as possible.


• Both pups once in and went through to the "yer out yer in" stage pretty easily once started. The trouble was getting them to come out on a release cue. I obviously haven't worked their release word very much! So I am happy to have realized that and hope that this game will improve their understanding of a release word.


• The personality differences in how the two pups worked through this was so interesting.

So there you go; we are up to Stage 3 but I am not really sure how to progress now. I think I will move the crate into different rooms and work with each pup on distractions for a few days adding "yer in yer out" once or twice a session? Then move onto "collar grabs"? Any ideas?

I am feeling quite "anorak-y" doing this! (see if the Americans can figure out that term?) :-)

Zaz and Itzy had another swim session yesterday. Photos to come!

My newest Border Collie "Corrie"

Since Johanna wouldn't let me keep Whizz; I have borrowed another border collie to run! :-)

Thanks Karen for letting me run the gorgeous Corrie. She came 4th in this class of 40 plus dogs. I need to dress appropriately because Corrie's name is "Pretty In Pink". First run and it was clean; maybe I should stop while I am ahead? ggg

Crate Games and puppy thoughts

I have been going through photos of Zen as a youngster to try and see if Zaz looks like her at all. I found this photo of her at 6 months old that I just loved. You can see why Zen is so athletic now when you sit back and look at her at 6 months old. I hope that Zaz and Itzy have her athleticism when they grow up. I am so glad I have kept both Zaz and Itzy; it was a decision of the heart and I do not regret it at all.

OK so I am hoping to sit down this week and work on Susan G's "Crate Games" with the pups. I am hoping it will help me with teaching good stays as both Itzy and Zaz are wiggle butts and I have done no proper stay work yet. This will be something new for me as I am into trying different training methods with these pups just to keep me excited about training again.

I keep putting it off so I need motivation! Please someone tell me that they have done it and it was worth the time and worked fab for them? And you are not allowed to respond if you are under 30, slim and scandanavian. Or if you live in Canada. ggggg

I was tempted to just teach one of them Crate Games and see if they were different when they got older but cannot be bothered to do the scientific experiment. ha!

I am going to sit down and re-watch Crate Games tomorrow as it looks like it will be a rainy day and I have a feeling I will have to cancel lessons.

Gosh I just realized I have posted 4 blog posts in less than 24 hours! Am I sad or what? :-)

Who's the bad puppy AGAIN

MY gorgeous Border Collie Whizz

I was so lucky to "own" a special Border collie called Whizz in 2002. Whizz lived with us for about 6 months and I could have gladly kept her forever. She was the perfect show dog and the perfect companion. Whizz turned 13 years old yesterday! She lives with Johanna but I still think of her as MY border collie. :-)

Here are some of my favorite photos of my time with Whizz. We love you Whizz!

Whizz took me to my first Crufts. She was a doll to show; the ultimate show dog. I loved trying to talk Danish to her in the ring. Bless her she did her job no matter that I told her "go paint" and "stow" which probably sounded like gibberish to her. But I could say "Miss katten" to get her ears up at the right time!



She fit into our family perfectly.

But there was one dog that did NOT love Whizz and that was Joy. Joy and Whizz battled for the spot of "Queen Dog". This is why this photo is so amazing! Probably the one and only time they slept in the same dog bed. I love that look in Whizz's eyes as she watches Joy!



Whizz came with us as the only dog on a trip to Devon. It was the greatest trip; sunny and warm and beautiful all week. Whizz is the perfect dog to travel with and she made friends wherever she went.

Happy Birthday Miss Whizz!

Zaz and Itzy are not puppy school drop-outs

It seems hard to believe that Zaz and Itzy turned 4 months old last week. They spent the last two weekends coming with me and Zen to some UKA agility shows. I was so proud of how they dealt with the new environment, noises and all the dogs.

Here is some very serious directional training that I worked on ringside at the UKA show. This training is essential if you want a great agility champion. It does require friends that drink too much and have to lie on the ground.



Yesterday was the Sheltie Agility show and they both came with me and Zen. Again they were very well behaved and got some great socialization and training. I am concentrating on getting them to focus on me while agility is going on in the rings and also doing short sessions of tuggy ringside. It is a work in progress but that is the fun of puppies; each step is a step in the right direction and they can do no wrong. They both were so tired today after the 3 day agility extravaganza. Come to think of it I am very tired too!

This week my focus is going to be on teaching a wait and continuing work on their retrieves. So far my teaching of wait has been hindered by the fact that I have been working too hard on teaching "reverse". haha Everytime I get them to be still for one second they throw in a reverse.

Tonight was our last night of "puppy school". It has been very helpful in increasing both pup's confidence. We did puppy games tonight including the "Musical Rings with the fastest sit", "Fastest down", "longest wait" "best table exam" and "best trick". Each puppy in class won a little bag of treats for winning one of the games and every pup won something. It was just a little bit of fun but it was so fantastic to see each puppy really do well. All the pups got a round of applause for each win and for their tricks. Every pup in class has improved and you could see such a change over the 6 weeks. I was so impressed by most of the handlers as they were all pet owners with their new pups and had no background of training at all.

Zaz won the best "exam on table" as she did a perfect show stack like she was being examined on the show table. The instructor said "oh you must have been practicing" and of course we had not. haha I just know how to fake it! While everyone else has been practicing their sits, downs and stays; I have been working on important things like "bang" "reverse" and "tuggy". I will get serious soon....yeah right.

Itzy won best trick. Right before class I gave Dennis a quick lesson on "rights and lefts". Itzy performed them perfectly and won.

Here are the graduates with their diplomas, ribbons and prizes.

Zavvi

Little "Pork Chop" is growing up! I know it is my fault for naming a puppy Pork Chop but Marilyn keeps having people ask how "Pork Chop" is doing. haha. Her new, much nicer, name is Zavvi and it really suits her.

Since I have not seen Zavvi since she left at 8 weeks and I am grateful that Marilyn keeps me updated with photos. Thanks Marilyn!

It is so funny to find out different funny quirks that each puppy has. It turns out that Zavvi, like Itzy, loves to dig in her water bowl and spread water all over the kitchen floor. I don't know where that trait comes from but I blame the sire as that is much easier! Zavvi is also a lover of swimming. Last week I took Zaz and Itzy swimming and it looks like Itzy is also a natural water baby. I hope to get photos or videos during their next session.

Anyway, here are some new photos of the lovely Zavvi. Enjoy!

Zaz 16 weeks old

Just to show that it's not all about Itzy. Here is Zaz this weekend on her walk. The pups turned 16 weeks old today.

Zaz is so much fun to train. What did we all do before clicker training? I cannot remember that far back!

We have a two weeks left in our little local village hall puppy class. It has been good; very basic but good exposure for the pups. The funny thing is that neither Zaz nor Itzy will play with the other pups during the controlled puppy play-time. I think because they have each other they don't find these puppies very interesting. Itzy is actually afraid of the little Shih-tzu in the class! You can see on her face that she just would rather NOT say hello to THAT pup!

I am very excited because we will start a more agility based puppy class in 3 weeks. It is a class that both Zen and Hex went to as pups and I really enjoyed it. It is a long trip to get to (over 1 hour) but worth it. The only problem is which pup do I work? It is a day class so no chance of Dennis helping out this time.

It was so windy and rainy today and we had just a few minutes of no rain for me to run out and do some video. It was one of those days where it would be pouring with rain one minute and sunny the next and then a gale force wind would pop up. I cancelled any lessons today so had some good training time with the pups. I am working on their retrieves right now; it is a slow process but fun to see their little brains working it out. Just to prove that Zazzer actually does things too; here is two videos I took this afternoon It is not easy to video, command, click and give food! I guess if I was smart I would have a tripod for my video camera but then what fun would that be?

Coordination and Balance training

On Sunday after a nice lie-in, lunch and walk with the dogs we took Zaz and Itzy to a Coordination and Balance Training class. The class was given by Hannah. It was a great class and well worth bringing any young pups. Thanks Hannah we really enjoyed it!

So on a beautiful Sunday afternoon we packed up the entire Obay crew and went off to Karen for lunch and a walk.

The whole sheltie crew fits nicely in my new car cages. I think the oldsters up on the top bunk enjoy their own personal crates and great views out to the world.

The three sisters (Zaz, Itzy and Yaz) could not be more different in personalities and looks. I love seeing how each personality develops. I do not like to give "labels" to each pup because people take it too seriously when you do. Instead I just like to enjoy watching them grow and develop into their own unique character. I think their characters are definitey also shaped by our own preferences.

Zaz and Itzy definitely like to stick together. Zaz especially doesn't see the point of other dogs besides her own little pack.



Hannah's "Balance and Coordination"class exposed the puppies to new wobble boards to wobble, cavelletti poles to trot over, ladders to coordinate their feet and ramps to help them learn to shift their weight. Everything very easy and slow for the pup-lets. Neither Zaz or Itzy had done work on the ladder yet nor the ramps or cavellettis. The most interesting thing about the wobble boards was something that no one would have guessed when watching Zaz on them that day.

Earlier that week Dennis made me a new wobble board for the pups as the only other wobble board they had been on was their baby one. I put the wobble board on our new paved area and just took it for granted that both pups would go on with no problem. Itzy seemed to have no trouble and pounced right on it and was soon doing her rights and lefts on the board. Zaz is much heavier and the first time she put her feet on the board it slammed down onto the slate paving and gave her a little jolt. That was it; she was not going near that thing again! I sat next to it and just tried to encourage her on it and she would circle the board confidently but just refused to put her feet on it. It became a game of just how close could she get to the board without touching it!

Yes! Our first training challenge! I was so psyched and couldn't wait to train. (get "That Winning Feeling" by Jane Savoie if you want to understand that joke right Diane and Ann?) Well really I wasn't that positive about it initially; my bad trainer brain just wanted to plop her on the board and say "get over it"! But then I sat back and thought "What would Susan Garrett do?" and I felt calm again. I would look at this as a challenge and shape it!

So we did and I clicked her for looking at it, nose touching it (she did lots of that!) and finally putting a foot on it. I also brought her out with Itzy and while Itzy was playing on it and getting treats; soon Zaz was getting more and more worked up over missing out. We did just 2 minute sessions 2-3x per day for 2 days and by the 2nd day she was on the board and doing her tricks happily. Result!

So you can imagine how thrilled I was that at this training class Zaz had no issues on any of the wobble boards even the big one that took the small pups for a magic carpet ride not unlike any Disney theme park ride!



I worked mainly with Zaz during the training but did bring Itzy out when I wanted to give Zaz a break. Both pups dealt with the new environment well and were focused on working with me. What more can you ask at this age? You would not be able to tell by these two videos that Zaz was worked with at all! Why does Dennis only do photos and videos of HIS dog? Itzy on the large wobble board. Itzy in the ladder. Itzy Itzy Itzy....