Bay Colony Daschund Club Earthdog Trial-Day Two

On Sunday, I slept in a little bit and arrived at the site around 10:30. Still, Senior didn't start until about 12:30. A few people didn't show up, so there were only 5 of us. Of course, Spot was last. They had changed up the tunnel a bit, and had switched the location of the den and the false exit. Spot just made it to the rats in time after going in and out of the entrance and false exit 2-3 times. I heard the judge say "yes!" when he got to the rats, and when I heard that I figured we were good. Well, for some reason Spot decided to work the false den. The only thing I can think of is that the false den was the actual den the day before, so maybe he was confused. They removed the rats and Spot didn't even notice-he kep working the false den! I called and called, and finally when he stopped for breath, I called again and he came to me. A very weird day. The judge had never seen a dog do that before, so it was a learning experience all around!

There was a camera crew on site, but they weren't filming earthdog. It was a crew filming for Animal Planet. They were filming all the daschunds for a show called Dogs 101. They certainly got a lot of film-there were lots of different colors, coats and sizes.

Bay Colony Daschund Club Earthdog Trial-Day One

Today I arrived in Brimfield around 9:20 to a parking area of dubious suitability. I could see some tire marks in the turf where it seemed someone had already been stuck. However, I had no choice but to enter, so I bravely plowed through the trench to park the Passat. In actuality it was ok, but the ground squished disconcertingly underfoot. I wasn't sure what that foreshadowed for the day ahead.




















I left Shelby at home, knowing that it wouldn't be a super long day. I had to wait for Master to finish, and that took some time, even though there were only 4 braces. Then the judge decided to relax for a bit (the very idea!). Finally they started Senior around 12:15. Spot and I were #14 out of 15, so we didn't get to go until around 1:30. It was agony waiting and waiting. At least the weather and the company were good.

This was our first attemp at Senior at a trial. The judge made a point of saying that once you recall your dog, you may call from the entrance, and once they exit the earth you can go and get them. However, and this is important, you can not call once you go to get them. You can only call from the entrance.

When it was our turn, Spot was ready to go-he almost slipped my hands and passed the markers, which would have sucked. Once I released him he ran directly to the entrance, popped his head in, turned around and looked at me, then went in again. He went directly to the rats and started work. He worked the full 90 seconds, barking and biting and digging. Then they removed the rats. The judge didn't immediately say "call your dog". He waited a minute then gave me a signal. So by that time Spot was already leaving the rats, and I only called once before he was out the false exit. He saw me and wanted to come, but there was brush in the way, so I tried to get him, but realized I couldn't. I saw that Spot was turning around to go back into the tunnel, but knew I couldn't call him from where I was or we wouldn't Q. So I turned and ran back to the entrance, hoping Spot would follow. Once I got back to the entrace I called him again, since you can call as much as you want from there. Spot came and I grabbed him and we Q'd. Yay! I think the judge got a kick out of it, he said "good for you!" Out of 15 dogs, there were 4 Qs.

H-H-H-Hot

Sunday we had earthdog practice in Boxboro. It was a hazy, hot and humid day. It didn't seem too bad when we started at about 10, but it got progressively more oppressive as the day went on. Thank god the sun wasn't full yout, or it would be been over 100 degrees I think.

I treid Shelby in IQ again. Honestly, she doesn't do as well when we train with Nancy-she does better with Gloria. I guess I feel like Nancy rushes. I would have worked her a couple more times. She worked the rats, but hesitates going into the tunnel, so I might contact Carolyn and see if we can do a 30 minute session with her rat.

Spot did well in SE. He went into the tunnel like a rocket-no issues this time with bouncing out. He came out the false exit, but turned right around and went back in and worked the rats the full time. When I did the recall, he was a little slower. He came out the false exit, but because of the layout, I couldn't go around and grab him, so I called him through the tunnel and he came out the exit. I wasn't sure if I could keep calling, but they said yes, you can call as much as you want, and once he's above ground you can go over and grab him. So I have high hopes for next weekend!


In this photo, the person on the right is at the entrance, and the people on the left are at the rats. The tunnel kind of goes straight, then left, then right, then left. :-)

Snugglies

Spot and Shelby both love to sleep under the covers and cuddle. I got a chuckle when I looked over to see Shelby borrowing under the pillows on the couch!

The perils of off leash

Check out this video of a British JRT who was stuck in a pipe for a week after chasing a rabbit.

A good week of agility class

This week we were back to class after having last week off due to the July 4th holiday. Spot and Shelby were both excited to be back at Gemini.

Spot had class on Thursday. We worked on contacts, the teeter, the chute and tunnels. I added a jump before and after the tunnel to work on a short sequence with a landing side front cross. Spot did well. Then Carolyn had us work on a pinwheel sequence. Spot was awesome as usual. He didn't need too much help figuring out the path to take. At one point he started doing it on his own, I didn't even really cue him. He just loves to work so much.

Tonight Shelby had class, and we had decided to do the same couse we worked on last time, since it was quite challenging. We worked on the opening tonight. The opening was the chute, to jumps in a line, then a third jump to the A frame. For the third jump, we needed to do a flip. Shelby loves flips! So our run went very smoothly. After the A frame, we did two jumps to the table. We had a choice of doing a front cross after the second jump, or doing a rear cross and bringing the dog around the other side. I did the front cross the first time, since that's what came most naturally, but Denielle had us work on the rear cross, since the timing was a little trickier and she felt it's motivating for the dog to be able to jump extended, rathern than having to collect themselves. We did it 4-5 times before I got the timing down. Then we got to run the end section once, which had the 4 rear crosses, and that was no problem. Then we got to run the entire course, which was a treat. Shelby did wonderful-she's really liking agility itself now. She's staying much more engaged and wants to take obstacles.

So all in all, it was a good agility week.

Shelby's favorite toy

Years ago when Holly got her dog Cara, she bought her a unique toy that looked kind of like a mace-one of those medieval weapons with a spiked ball on the end of a chain. Well, Cara wasn't really a "toy" dog. When I got Spot he liked playing with it, but it was nothing special.

When I got Shelby it became on of her favorites. As a puppy she would drag it around behind her. As she got older, she started shaking it and she would hit herself in the head, on the side, all over! I had never seen another dog with this toy, or seen it in a store. But-on Sat I was in Petco and I saw the toy! And it was 50% off! So of course I bought one. Here is a video of Shelby playing with the toy.
I took it with my cell phone, so you may want to take a hit of Dramamine first. :-)

Not even a crack

Wow, the stupidity of people continues to amaze. Yesterday it was about 85 degrees with high humidity and someone leaves their dog in the car on a North End street. Bad enough they leave the dog, but they don't even crack the windows at all. Kudos to the Fire Dept. and their response to help get this dog out of the car. The video is a little long.

Death in the afternoon

Today I finally got around to doing some weeding in the raised bed along side the house. The dogs were outside with me. The beds are fronted by fieldstone and the dogs usually like to nose around in there. As I was weeding, I noticed Shelby getting really excited-her tail started going like crazy. Soon Spot joined in and they were digging at the stone. Before I could stop them, they managed to loosen some stones and a few fell. As I went over to fix them, Shelby started rooting around at the base of the wall and I heard squeaking.

Next thing I know, Shelby has a rodent in her mouth! She drops it and it starts to run away, but Spot jumped on it and started chomping. Ewww. I got him to drop it, but before I could pick it up, Shelby was on it again and I couldn't get it back. I think it was a vole. It looks a lot like a mouse. It was dark gray with pink feet. Don't worry, the picture above isn't of my dead vole. I guess that solves the question of whether or not Shelby's prey drive has developed.

Thank God the 4th is over

Not that I don't appreciate the freedoms we have as Americans or anything, but I am glad the 4th is over. It seems every yahoo in my town likes to stock up on illegal fireworks and set them off for a period of about 6 hours straight. This drives Spot crazy. He hates loud noises. So all these fireworks in combination with the thunderstorms we've been having have me at the end of my patience!

Take Your Dog to Work Day

On Friday June 20th, I organized a small group for Take Your Dog to Work Day. I also brought Spot along, just because we had more small dogs than large participating and I was a little worried about how Shelby would react.


It was a fun but hectic day. I only got the ok on Wed, so I had to get the schedule together in a rush. We ended up having 8 dogs come in and we had a little party in the afternoon where we bobbed for hot dogs, tried to see who could catch the most "pupcorn" and showed off tricks.

The goal was to get some PR for my company that would help in recruiting. We did end up getting pics on Boston.com, which was great.

I'm hoping we can do the event again next year.