A New Year

Wow, I can't believe it's been six months since I posted!

We've been very busy with Agility and Earthdog.

Spot has been working on the last leg for his Master Earthdog title, but we weren't able to get it this season. He has a problem in that he likes to back up when it is time to take him out of the tunnel. So we will work on that this Spring. Also, his mark could be better, so we'll work on that too. Spot will be 13 in July, and I am starting to see he is looking older. He still has energy and loves to work, which is good. And earthdog isn't too taxing, so I hope he can compete for a many more years.

We've also been working on agility. Spot is in level 3 in everything except Standard, because he can't weave yet. So we are working on that. We recently tried using a target at the end of the weaves, because he understands this concept from the jump grid work we did. He seemed to pick it up really quickly and we have been practicing a little bit each night. I entered him in Standard level 2 in a trial in February, so hopefully we will be ready!

Shelby has also been practicing agility. She competed in early Sept in Vermont at Muddy Paws. My instructor suggested it because the ring is in a barn and we were able to close the doors so no other dogs would be around. Shelby was nervous, and very alert to other dogs, so we worked on that. She was happy to do agility, but did disconnect to go check the doors to see if other dogs were around. I hoping to enter her in the next trial at Gemini, since we can close the gate during her runs. We'll see. I wish I could trial with her, because she is really skilled and it is fun for me, but I don't want to stress her out.