Two weeks until our first Obed trial?!

This month has sort of flown by.  So many things going on that I haven't been paying attention to a calendar much!

My club is hosting a two day Obed trial on the 10th/11th of Feb.  Naturally, because I am apparently a glutton for punishment, I entered the trial without the "I'm sure of a Q" feeling that I used to rely on prior to mailing a check.

This will be the first trial for both Rocket and Kaylee.  Yes, I'm insane, and I'm showing two novice dogs at the same trial, and in the same classes.  We *should* be able to handle everything, and if they both do what they did last night while we were training, we should be able to pull Qs out of our butts for Beg Novice and Rally Novice.

In a perfect world, by Feb 18th, they will each be:

Bruda Up Like a Rocket BN RN TT CGC TDI; and
U-CH Bruda Whip Up a Dream Debut BN RN TT CGC TDI
(They'll be entered in another trial Fri the 17th, in the same classes.)

I don't want to get my hopes up too high, but I've been blessed to have the opportunity to train two fantastic dogs, and I know they both have bright futures!  Kaylee's only handicap is me, and Rocket's only handicaps are me and his two little friends. 

I'm still sticking with the goal of showing them both for their CDXs in Sept at Dobe Nationals this year.  :)

Embellishment is what a bedazzler does.....

My dad's side of the family is naturally sarcastic, dry humored, and full of bullsh*t.  Growing up, I was exposed to all kinds of exaggerated tales and stories, gleefully shared for a family laugh.  Because of this, I can spot BS from a mile away.  Right now, I'm calling BS on a few things I've had the pleasure of reading or hearing about lately.

I get it.  I'm a competitive person.  I'm sure I've exaggerated my share of stories - after all, it's genetic in my family.  ;)  But what I don't get, and what I don't think I'll ever understand, are people that consistently change and embellish things, simply for attention.  I'm a pretty honest person, so I fail to grasp the point of out and out lying, just to sound "good" or "better."  What's the point?  Isn't lying harder than keeping to the "real" story?

Absolutely NO ONE is perfect. 

There are only two souls you really need to please on this planet - yours and your dogs.  If you aren't happy with yourself - make a change.  If you aren't happy with your dog - change yourself.  Your dog loves you for exactly who YOU are.  They don't give a rip about how awesome you sound.  They don't care how many ribbons you win, or how much experience you think you have.  They don't care what other people think of you.

All they care about is that you love them back.

Don't lie about your faults, shortcomings, and skills.  Don't lie about your dog and their abilities.  Don't lie about things you've done (or not done), or share others' experiences and knowledge as your own.  Stop caring about the opinions of people you don't love, and START being honest.  The only victims in this story are the dogs you share your life with - all because you thought lies made for a better story than the truth.  Spend more time with your dogs, and you'll learn how to be humble, honest, and happy.

I'm going to attempt to make something.....

....using everything in this picture.

I'll take another picture when I get the first set done!

I wonder what they could be..........  ;)

First Agility Trial - Day 2

I learned my lesson from yesterday - don't keep a dog named Rocket cooped up in a crate for 6 hours before running a course!

I let him sniff his merry way all around the stable grounds, then brought him back inside and worked Obed stuff.  Lots of attention, fronts, backing up, and spins with tons and tons of reward.  He was so easily distracted yesterday that I concentrated on when he was giving me attention, and it worked - he would purposely look at another dog and then offer eye contact 1 second later.  I think we got through to one another that horse barn does not automatically = assclownery.

Jumpers was first.  We managed 13 out of 16 jumps!  My goal for the day was 1, so he did a good job.  There was still sniffing, and greeting the ring crew, and I know that I had a handler error or two.

Hoopers was next.  We only had one course fault, but we were over the course time.  BUT, we only had one fault!!

Tunnelers was last.  This dog thinks that tunnels are FANTASTIC.  He was quick and soooo responsive - it was like driving a sports car.  I hope that was a glimpse of things to come in the future!  His only fault was mine - the course was a ton of circles, and in my rush to get in front of him, I directed him to the tunnel and hauled butt, but it wasn't enough to shove him in the tunnel.  Instead, he decided that the shortest route to the tunnel following the correct tunnel was to jump ON the tunnel in his way and use it like a spring board.  Didn't throw off his concentration a bit - he ran right to the next tunnel on the course and continued on his merry way.  He finished only 6 seconds over course time and had the one fault, but otherwise it was a fantastic finish to the day.

I think we both learned a lot.  I need to work on his level of comfort with distractions and his attention span.  I'm looking forward to our next NADAC trial!!

First Agility Trial

I'm calling it that, because I paid for entry fees.  :)

I entered a NADAC trial this weekend, just to see what Rocket and I would be able to handle.  I only entered Jumpers, and it was the last class of the day.  Knowing that my dog has a tendency to get wound up and then sulk when he's not given something to do, I left him in his crate all day, with the exception of two potty breaks and a short warmup on a jump.

He was doing great during our warm up.  I put him away to walk the course, and somehow, in 5 minutes, a horny, disobedient assclown took the place of my well behaved, ready to tackle a course dog.

We were at the starting line.  "Good Luck" says the judge.  I take off his leash, give him a wait, and take a two jump lead out.  I call him.....and he took off.

Not over the first jump.  Or the second.  Or the third.  Do you see a pattern?  We completed NO jumps out of a 15 jump course.  Instead, we visited the leash runner, scared the crap out of a sheltie too close to ring gating, made a beeline for the judge, and then left the ring to sniff another sheltie.

On the plus side, he did come back to me when I called him from in the ring while he was out of it?

Keep your fingers crossed that we can get at least 1 jump tomorrow!

Training Goals - Jan & Feb

I'd like to make it a yearly schedule, but I've found that I can't schedule out reliably that far, so two months is it!

There are two shows in February that I'm planning on entering Kaylee and Rocket in.  Our club show on the 10/11th, and CCKC the following Friday and Saturday.  I'm hoping that in those 4 shows both Kaylee and Rocket can earn their CDs and RNs.  They have spent significant time in both of the venues, and I'm really going to be getting them used to having strangers follow us in a pattern and standing behind them in the next month.  I want them to be as prepared as I can get them!


It looks like I'm adding a third dog to the Dobe rotation.  Yesterday, Leah and I went and picked up Jadore - Bruda Jadore by Shadai - and brought her back to Casa Sizzle for a new experience.  To help her get some Obed under her belt, I've added her to my training schedule.  She's such a sweetheart, and an eternally happy dog.  She is a littermate to Jayne, and Rocket's half sister.  Tomorrow will be her first adventure with a clicker.  I'm really hoping she enjoys it!