Happy Howlidays!

I had Spot and Shelby's pictures taken a couple of weeks ago and there were some good ones in the bunch. I tried to get Spot and Shelby in the picture together, but we only got a couple frames. So then I decided to get some individual shots. Shelby's were ok, but she looked a little nervous to me. Spot was a big ham.

Here's Spot's official Christmas pic!

Spot and Shelby Support the Writers Strike

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npqx8CsBEyk

Check out this video!

Spot's first agility class at 4Paws Academy

Last night was Spot's first class in agility at 4Paws. It was a little crazy. Spot was very excited to be in class and it was hard to keep his attention. He was barking a lot when the other dogs were running around and I couldn't get him to keep still for stretching.

I think there were 9 dogs there? We broke into 2 groups and worked on various obstacles. I'm hoping that was just to see how the dogs handle each obstacle. The other dogs seemed more experienced than beginner, so I'm not sure what the deal is with that. They were doing 12 weave poles and sequences!

So I'm going to rent some ring time at Gemini to work on contact training and the table, etc.

Thanksgiving!

Well, it's Sunday night and I do not feel like going to work tomorrow! I got used to sleeping in.

Since I had so much time, and I really didn't want to join the throngs at the mall, we went to Willards Woods 3 times in 4 days. The pups really needed the exercise.

I was happy to see they have made some improvements since the last time we went. There's an area near the stream, leading up to the bridge, where it is usually muddy. Some people tried to put down some branches to walk on, but it wasn't really working. So what they did was make a raised ramp on both sides leading up to the bridge. It almost looks like gravel loosely mixed with concrete. Hopefully it will work long term.

Spot and Shelby were very good. They didn't run off where they weren't supposed to at all. Shelby is getting much better at coming back when I call and can be off lead the whole time, except the parking lot. Probably because I bring cookies and reward her when she comes back to me, or walks near me. Spot's been a lot better about coming when I call also.

Two weeks ago Shelby suddenly started going after dogs her size or smaller, so I've been keeping my eyes open whenever we encounter one, and make sure to have my leash handy. Sat there was a Shiba Inu puppy that I think she would have growled at, but I had her on leash, so I didn't let her meet the puppy. Today Shelby was very good. We met a Corgi with no problem, she just wanted to play. Same thing with a small beagle-they ran and ran together. Then as we were heading out we met up with a Shiz Tzu, which is the same breed that Shelby went after at the seminar. I was tense, but there was no problem. Shelby was very interested, but friendly the whole time and came when I called her.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the agressive behavior was just a fluke, but I'll be on my toes for a while.

Jen Pinder Seminar

On Friday and Saturday I took Shelby to Riverside Canine in Nashua for a 2 day seminar with Jen Pinder. There is a CPE trial coming up there in Jan, so it was good to get Shelby used to the facility, if nothing else.

I was on the fence for a while because I wasn't sure if this was too advanced for us, even though it was an intermediate session. Just because we're competing at the novice level and are pretty inexperienced, in relation to a lot of people. I got an e-mail saying a couple of spots had opened and asked if we would be ok and they said yes, so I signed up, and it wasn't cheap. Most of the people there were very experienced and had been doing agility for a while. Plus, it seemed most of them had taken a private lesson with Jen on Thurs, which I don't think is really fair because then they're ahead of the other people who just take the seminar.

Well, I think I wasted most of my money. Don't get me wrong, I got some good handling advice, but Shelby was only really interested in participating half the time. She did what she hasn't done in a while, which is work for 2-3 obstacles and then disengage and check out other stuff. So I got the usual "you have to be more exciting" advice. Then that stopped working and I got advice to be more forceful, which worked a little. Then Shelby stopped even wanting treats, so I got criticized for not working hard enough to find a toy that motivates her. Shelby has never been one for tugging or other treat toys, but of course she was all for it when the instructor tried it, so I looked like an idiot who doesn't know anything about her own dog. Plus, since she was so detached, I wasn't really able to send the way I know she can, etc. and it made me feel like I haven't accomplished anything with Shelby. Oh-Shelby also decided to go after another dog in the seminar. This is a new thing since last weekend. Now she goes after small light-colored dogs and attacks them. Just what I need!

I do think Jen is a good instructor because she tailored her advice to each participant and was able to break down problems to see exactly which part needed working on, and things to practice.

So, maybe in a year from now, we'll try again and have a better experience. I think this was a long seminar for me and for Shelby, since we've only ever done 4 hour seminars before and this was 2 eight hour days. I just don't think Shelby loves agility enough to be "up" the whole time.

The hunters

Spot and Shelby love to hunt chipmunks when we go for a walk in the woods. At Willards Woods, there are a few stone walls, which is where chipmunks love to hide!
Here's a video of some hunting action. Don't worry, they never actually catch anything. When I pan left at the end, look closely and you may see the chipmunk escape.

A Day at the Beach

Wow, it's been a while since I posted-but then again, no one's reading, so what does it matter?

Anyway, we've had unseasonably warm weather recently, so last Sunday Holly and I decided to take the dogs to the beach. Most beaches allow dogs after Labor Day, or Sept 30th.
We went to Good Harbor Beach in Gloucester. It's well known as a great dog beach. There were a lot of dogs there, as well as people trying to surf in the non-existent waves. It was about 75 degrees, so a perfect day for the beach.
Shelby had never been to the beach before, so I was curious about how she would react to the waves. She didn't really go in the water, but ran around in the waves a bit. She had a good time chasing Spot and meeting new dogs and people. One couple mentioned how sweet she was compared to other Parson Russells they had known.

Shelby's first agility trial

Last weekend Shelby and I entered our first agility trial. It was a CPE trial held at Gemini Dogs in Littleton, MA. I thought this was a good choice because we train there every week, a lot of people we know would be there and CPE is known to be friendly for beginners, offering a variety of classes.

On Saturday, the classes offered were fullhouse, standard, wildcard, and snooker. We entered all except wildcard. Fullhouse is an unnumbered course. The requirements are that you complete 3 single jumps, 2 circles (either tunnels, chute or tire) and 1 contact obstacle (A frame, teeter or dogwalk). You have 30 seconds to run the course, and you get points for each obstacle. The jumps are 1 point, the circles are 3 points and the contacts are 5 points. Then you have 5 seconds to reach the table and stop the clock. At our level, we needed to get 19 points to qualify. We earned 23 points, but then we were 1 second over time, so we lost a point. But we qualified! Shelby was into it-she didn't exactly follow my cues, but with fullhouse, that's ok. We also came in second by 1 point, beaten by our classmate Mary and her papillon Matrix.

The next class was standard. Shelby was a little harder to handle in this class. I really had to work to keep her with me. We completed the course, but we were way over course time and had 17 faults, so we didn't qualify. We did come in second place though.

Then we had to wait through wildcard, which was a big class. I did volunteer to work, so I at least had something to do, helping set the bars. Wildcard is a fun class where the course is numbered, but there are 3 times where you have a choice between 2 obstacles, marked a or b. At my level, I would need to take 1 a and 2 bs.

Finally it was time for snooker. Snooker is a game where the obstacles are both numbered and colored. You need to take one "red" obstacle and then one "color" and then you repeat another red and a color and a red and a color-but you can't repeat the same ones. If you do that successfully, then you have to do "the closing" which is obstacles numbered 2 through 7. The reds are always single jumps. The colors are all the other obstacles, like the tunnel or A frame, etc. Plus you get points for each obstacle you take, based on what number it is. So for example, the course I was planning was red jump (1 pt), tunnel (6) red jump (1) single jump (7) red jump (1) tire (2). That would have been my opening. Then the closing. However, what actually happened was red jump (1) single jump (7) red jump (1) tire (2) extended sniffing and avoidance, and then we were over time. Very disappointing, but everyone was super nice. I wasn't the only one who had an uncooperative dog.
It was really really hot and humid. The heat index was about 101. I was sweating buckets just standing around.

One Sunday Holly, Cara and Spot joined us for another long day. The classes offered on Sunday we jackpot, standard, colors and jumpers. We weren't entered in jackpot, so we were able to get there a little later. Jackpot is a funky game. You get 30 seconds to take as many obstacles as you can and accumulate points. 30 seconds can be a long time! Then the whistle blows and you have to do the "gamble" which is a set of obstacles that have to be completed a specific distance away. The handler has to stay behind a line on the ground and send the dog to the obstacles independently. I didn't think we were quite ready for this, so we didn't enter.


Our first run was standard, and it was really disappointing. Shelby was not into it at all. She barely looked at me-I only got her over one jump before she checked out.

I was really debating just cancelling the rest of the day, but I decided to let her rest, and then work with her on attention, using treats. That seemed to work. Our colors run went pretty well. Colors is a game where there are actually 2 courses that overlap at least 3 times. You have to tell them which class you are going to run. We didn't qualify because we were over time, but we only had 3 faults and came in first place!

Finally we had the jumpers course. Jumpers does not include any contact obstacles. It's all jumps and tunnels and chutes and the tire. Generally, this is a very fast class since the dogs don't need to slow down and be careful on the contacts. Shelby loves to run, so I was feeling hopeful about this course. Shelby was really great-she followed by cues perfectly, and my timing was right on, if I do say so myself! We had a "clean run" with no faults so we qualified! I thought we might take first place as well, but another dog was 6 seconds faster. Holly took a movie of this run with her camera-it was taking like 20 hours to upload here, so here is the Youtube link instead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKUDOC-SnoQ

Junior Earthdog!

It's official-Spot is now Nutting Lake Sweet Spot JE. He earned his second qualifying leg on Saturday and earned his JE title. Very exciting. Plus, he was the fastest dog to reach the rats on Sat and Sun, taking 8 seconds and then 7 seconds. Unfortunately, the AKC doesn't give awards for that. The judges gave him a new nickname-The Weezer-for his disinctive bark while working.

Shelby had a nice time as well, doing some swimming and frog hunting.

Private Lessons

Well finally Spot got some agility time.
I had to bite the bullet and sign up for a private session with Denielle.
We had the place to ourselves for a whole hour. I could get used to that.
This was the first time Denielle had met Spot, so we did all the obstacles so she could get an idea of what he knew, what he liked, or was afraid of, etc. Mostly, I would stand near an obstacle and see what behaviors he offered, and then click and treat the good ones.
Spot had a great time! We did some targeting, and we worked on the plank a little bit. Then we tried the tunnel, which he loved. We also worked on weave poles and the teeter. We also did some jumping.
The only thing that he didn't like was stretching. So I'll have to work on that a bit.
All in all, it went well and Denielle thought Spot was so smart and so cute. I agree!