crufts blooper

This is so funny-not so much what happens on course, but what happens after they finish.

does the universe hate me?

Someone out there must hate me.
Today at Willards Woods I was walking and a dog came over and was hanging out with us. There was no owner in sight. I took a look at the tags and realized it wasn't a local dog, so I figured it must be lost. I put a leash on it and was able to find the owner, who was very appreciative. He was almost in tears. I was happy to help him-I hope someone would do the same for me.

Not 15 minutes later, Spot and Shelby took off, headed for the road. They actually ran out into the road. Spot was good, and came to me so I could get the leash on, but Shelby was a little bitch and would not come near me. I had to chase her through 2 yards. I was so angry with them both. They know better. So then we went home right away.

Why today of all days?


Ugh.

Shelby rocks

I have to say, I'm very impressed with Shelby's progress in agility. The hardest obstacle by far is the weave poles. I haven't really been sure if Shelby understands them yet. Then on Tues, we did a little exercise and included weave poles in a sequence. I was told to direct Shelby to the poles, but not walk with her or assist her in any way. If she performed all 4 poles, it meant that she understood the group of poles as a single obstacle, which is very good. And she did! I just pointed and said "weave" and then I stood still. Shelby took all 4 poles without looking to me for help. I was so excited! Now I need to work on giving her more confidence in the poles so that she can do them a little more aggressively.

It looks a little like this-although this person is luring the dog through the poles with her hand. That's not the best way to do it, because if you want to compete, it's better to have a dog who can do the poles independently, so you can use that time to get set up for the next obstacle.

Show and Go

So Shelby and I headed up to Riverside Canine Center in Nashua, NH on Saturday to check out a Show and Go. A Show and Go means it's not a trial or anything, but they set up courses and you can just show up and run the course, usually for $10. I didn't know what to expect, but it was very low key. There were maybe 8 people there. I probably could have run Shelby, but I was more interested in exposing her to a new place and new dogs running around. She did very well. She was friendly, but I was able to keep her attention most of the time. She was excited by the other dogs running the course, which is good. They have run-thrus at Gemini Dog every Sunday night, so I might try that soon. I also just got word of a trial in May that will have a pre-novice class, so we might sign up for that too.