Summer Training

So finally here we have it, another video of the gorgeous wee Cassie. I certainly think we are getting there. Her confidence on the equipment is growing and some final tweaking like weaver entries at speed will need to be done before she goes in the ring. But otherwise I'm pretty happy with where she's at now she's reached 18 months of age.

 

Getting my green thumb on

I've been feeling a bit nostalgic this weekend after spending most of it working in the garden so I decided to look back at some old photo's of my agility areas humble beginnings. 

When I first started my agility area it looked like this;

October 2010

Today it looks like this;


January 2013

Did I mention that ALL of it has been painstakingly hand planted by me!  At this point in time I recon it's about two thirds done.  So if the weather is kind over the next month and I can get the rest of it weeded, then get some more runners in the ground, by next summer I should have the whole area to play agility on!  It's definitely been my saviour with Cassie.  I don't know how I would have gotten her running dog walk trained without it (and of course my speccy dog walk).

I haven't really done that much dog training since the end of last year.  Mostly because of our usual summer heat which makes it impossible to get more than five minutes of training done before your lathered in sweat.  I decided over Christmas and New Year that we would all have a break (puppies included) and of course then we went to New Zealand for a couple of weeks to go to Kriszty's wedding and have a bit of a holiday while we were there.

New Zealand is a great place.  If I didn't want to live in Perth anymore I could easily live there.  Huge open spaces everywhere, so green and picturesque.  Did I mention they don't have snakes!  I think we'd only been there a day when we drove past a lady walking her border collie's out in hills.  We did all the touristy stuff.  I think Queenstown was my favourite place.  Even though it was busy and full of tourists like ourselves it had a real atmosphere and vibe to it.  And no I didn't go bungee jumping...  I did however go white water rafting and loved it.  We had massive rapids thanks to the huge amount of rain they'd had.  I only fell out once and it was very dignified.  Just don't ask the german girl sitting behind me who I appeared to have kicked in the head on my way overboard....oops!

On the way down (I'm camera side second from the back) in my oversized life jacket.

Yes that would be me doing the splits....what a wonderful moment to be caught on film!

However all good things must come to an end and I'm back at work and back to full training with the dogs.  Cassie is going well and if we can overcome her over arousal issues we'll be hitting the ring hopefully sooner rather than later.  My plan is to enter her in Novice Jumping at the Classic which is on at the beginning of March but I will run her only if I'm satisfied that her running off has resolved and I can run her through sequences without it happening at training.  Then if her jumping run is  successful I will look at entering her in agility as well.  I just want to walk up to that start line 100% confident that she's going to stay with me and it's not going to be too much for her to handle.  It will certainly be very exciting if it comes off!

Little Fizz is going well.  She's in the middle of her first season.  Riot her father has had to go on "holiday" for the next couple of weeks as he can't handle having a girl in season at home.  Boy brain doesn't even begin to describe it.  For all our sanity it was best that he's not here until it's over.  She won't leave poor Sonic alone and of course he's quite bambozzled as to what's going on...  I'm not doing much with her agility wise other than having a lot of fun getting her to chase me and just learn to play.  She's not hugely confident so I don't want to put any pressure on her at all.  I doubt we'll do anything much equipment wise for quite some time to come.  Which is really good considering how much work I have to do with Cassie yet!  Hopefully I should have some video coming very soon....


 

Moving Forward

After a couple of very emotional weeks and saying goodbye to Soda it's been nice to immerse myself back into training with Cassie and Fizz.  Cassie is now just over 17 months of age and it's hard to believe that she is old enough to trial in less than a month.  I had her measured a couple of weeks ago and she is a strapping 26.5cms so into the 200 height she goes.  There is a part of me that would have liked to have seen her make 300 given that there are a lot more dogs competing in that height but hopefully we'll get that opportunity at ADAA trials.

Cassie's dog walk is looking pretty good, although when there is a tunnel in front of it she's not quite so careful as to where her last stride might be.  But generally speaking it's consistently nice and fast and there is no doubt that it's one of her favourite obstacles.  She's more than capable of running a novice jumping course now and she is reading my body and handling really well.  While I'm waiting for my new AF to be build I've started working with a half size AF that I have.  She understands how the mat game works and picked it up really quickly so hopefully the full size one won't take long.  We've also worked our way to twelve weavers and have started see-saw training.

Over summer I'll be working on novice sequences and tying all the bits of equipment together.  Of course our biggest issues is still Cassie visiting everyone.  Although we had a few weeks there were it looked like we'd worked through it her disappearing mid sequence has reappeared.  What can I say, there is such massive value for her in other people and dogs and it's going to take me a lot of work to get through it.  I do have a plan.  How long it will take and how successful I may be is yet to be seen but we have to start somewhere.  I have no doubt we will have some ups and downs for a while yet.  I'm probably feeling a little more frustrated than normal given how much natural ability she has.  I did want her first trial to be the Western Classic in March but I'm not optimistic that she'll be ready and if I have even a sceric of doubt that she won't stay in the ring with me then I won't run her.  Failing that I'll aim for the State Agility Trial in April.  I can't wait to trial her as she's going to be a blast but I'm sure that patience will pay off.  And I have to be even more determined than she is!

  

Goodbye Beautiful Girl

Soda came to me quite unexpectedly in October 1997.  I had realised that my then five month old border collie Murphy needed a companion while I was at work which I happened to mention to his breeder.  She offered me a seven month old black and white border collie female that she was looking to re-home.  And so the legend of Miss Soda-Pop was born.

Her superstar beginnings were rather humble.  I joined a local dog club to start obedience classes with Murphy and my then housemate Felicia came along and joined one of the classes with Soda.  Murphy was a bit of a natural and picked it up pretty quickly.  I was enjoying it so much I wanted to get more involved in obedience so I ventured down to Southern River and the Collie and Shetland Sheepdog Club to join in obedience classes.  It was at the Canine Grounds that I started to meet other border collie people that were into obedience and from there I became involved in the wonderful sport of agility.

Our first team win 2001 Western Classic Agility Teams.  The BC Bandits with Helen & Dee, Rod & Bundy.

Again Murphy was the one who I jumped in with, Soda coming along for the ride.  I had no idea what I was doing and was just trying to learn what I could from those who'd been around a lot longer than me. Both of them learnt about the same speed but because it was Murphy who I'd gotten for obedience and agility I always focused on him not realising the untapped potential that was lurking inside Soda.  So I went through and got Murphy's CD title following on with Soda shortly after.  Then it was onto CDX once again getting the title with Murphy and then Soda.  When we got to UD I started training both of them but found that Soda picked up the scent work so much quicker than Murphy.  With the amount of training required for UD I decided to continue with Soda only.  I have limited memories of Soda doing CDX but bountiful ones of UD.  She just loved it.  I can remember her charging off to get the seek back article and throwing it over her head in the excitement and having to look for it again before charging back to me at full speed.  She'd jump the directed jumping jumps with the same gusto as if it was an agility course.  She would heel all day if you asked her to and my biggest issue was her rushing me and trying to get in front.  I can never remember a time when she'd lag behind.

Western Classic 2003 Masters Jumping winner

When I began agility it was Murphy who led the way.  He wasn't super fast but was extremely consistent and very sensible.  Although Soda showed lots of potential as a young dog it wasn't until Soda was about five that her star started to really shine in agility.  It took me that long to get the hang of handling her properly and when that happened things started falling into place and the wins started to come.  She shone brightest in jumping.  Although if it wasn't for my poor training and subsequently her inconsistent contacts I'm sure she would have achieved far more in agility.  As it was she won over 40 Masters Jumping classes over the course of her career.  Not a bad feat for the early 2000's when there were about half the amount of agility events on that there are now.  She won multiple State Titles, Royal Shows, Western Classics and made the WA National Agility State Team twice, in 2004 being the top point scoring in making the team.  We never managed to win a National final but in 2004 in Canberra she never placed lower than fifth in all the clear rounds she completed.  One of my favourite wins was at the State Agility Trial in 2005 where she won the Masters Jumping class beating not only the local dogs but all the eastern stater's that had come over for the Nationals being held the week later.

ANKC National Agility Trial 2003 - Victoria 

I find that I can't help but think her agility success had a lot to do with all the UD training I did with her.  With all the hours we put in together it seemed to change our relationship.  We developed a very deep bond and understanding of each other.  When we were running a course it sometimes felt that she was reading my mind.

Never happier than at the beach!

In 2004 I started to notice some changes in the way she was running agility with me.  We were getting massive over runs and off courses.  At first I thought it was her just not listening and doing her own thing but then after watching videos back it became quite clear that she wasn't ignoring me rather she couldn't hear me.  Basically over that period her hearing seemed to disappear quite quickly and I ended up retiring her when she was nine.  Apart from the fact that her body was starting to show serious signs of wear and tear the slats had come off the dog walk giving me no way to let her know if she was running up a see-saw or a dog walk.  Obviously there was no question I was going to risk her flying off the see-saw and seriously hurting herself so we called it quits.



Soda enjoyed a long and healthy retirement until probably the last year of her life when she slowed right down.  Her arthritis had made walking slow and uncomfortable for her but being the tough individual that she was she never stopped trying.  In the end at the age of fifteen years and nine months of age it was clear that she'd had enough and it was time to let her go.  A decision I'd been dreading for the few months prior.  But as I'd been told by friends who had gone through the same thing, when it was time there was no doubt in my mind that I had to be brave and let her go.  With one last weekend to spend with her I plugged the very dusty VCR in and sat down and watched hours of old agility video footage with Murphy and Soda asleep by my side. It brought such a smile to my face seeing her in her prime, black coat shining in the sun and such joy on her face.  Such joy on my face.  Soda was without a doubt my one in a million.  She was special and I'll never see another like her.  I'll certainly never forget her.  Rest in peace Soda.

Papillon Panic

Cassie and I are doing a lot of training right now.  It feels like getting this running dog walk done is taking a very LONG time.  I'm sure not many will appreciate it though!  I think most just assume that it's easy to teach a little dog running contacts but to get the drive to a nice low position on the dog walk at high speed with high arousal is hard work.  I know that running contacts take a lot of repetitions but I never quite realised that would mean sessions almost everyday.  Thankfully after four months of work we are almost at full height and I'm seeing her start to launch onto the down ramp and run deep through the contact zone.  I'd like to think we'll be full height in another week or so and then I guess we'll see how it holds.  Suppose I'd better start teaching the a-frame after that!  I haven't been brave enough to do any running contact work at the Dogs West grounds so that will also be another test.

Cassie on the twelve month anniversary of joining our family - 21/10/2012

Speaking of doing things at training we have finally turned a corner with her "visiting" everyone when she's off lead.  The last time she did it she was unceremoniously carried back to the car where she was deposited to watch in shame as I trained Fizzy instead.  Cassie never likes being taken back to the car so I was optimistic that it would have an impact.  I'm not a big believer in time outs but given that it was happening every time I trained her down at the Dogs West grounds I felt that she needed a consequence to her actions.  When I got her back out I put on a brave face and pretended to feel confident about letting her off lead again.  It was a now or never moment.  But to my surprise she didn't even look like running off.  We worked the sequence multiple times and she was totally with me every step of the way.  Since then we have had about four sessions with perfect focus when we start work.  In between she still loves to say hi to her minions but it's only if she gives me what I want first so essentially saying hi becomes a reward for her working.  Last week she blew me away when she ran a sequence surrounded by lots of little fluffies, including shelties, a breed that she adores.  Now she can manage that then hitting the trial ring is starting to become a realistic and increasingly exciting prospect.



Today's after work session at home saw a momentous moment when she did twelve weavers for the very first time.  I had her doing six straight last week so today brought in the second set with a gap.  She did so well that we kept going until we had all twelve in a row.  It's hard not to laugh because she was concentrating so hard to get every opening.  She has a typical little dog style and bounces between them.  Once she stops having to concentrate so hard I have no doubt she will be powering through them.  I'm looking forward to trying weavers with her down at training away from her comfort zone of home.  Or is that my comfort zone...??

Murphy - looking good for a 15 year old!

Best friends - Cassie & Fizzy

We had the Perth Royal Show back at the beginning of October.  Sonic is running so well for me at the moment and it's nice to have that team work going.  It really feels like right now he just knows what I want him to do.  The Royal is never a great trial for him with the agility area being half the size of normal which doesn't suit his stride or running style at all however he tried his heart out and we came away with a third place in Masters Agility and second place in Masters Jumping.  I even got Cassie out in the lunch break and did some work with her in preparation for next year!  Then the weekend just gone in 35 degree heat he managed a win in Masters Jumping on a course that most got caught on.  I wilted rather stunningly in the heat but he didn't care at all.  Not much trialling left for him this year but I will be running him in the WAO try-outs in an attempt to realise my goal of running a border collie at the event.  If he keep going the way he is hopefully we'll have a good chance.

Just call me Naughty

I think that at this point in time I can say that I am no longer officially "obsessed" with running contacts. Probably because Cassie and I appear to have them more or less under control (did I really just say that??).  As I well know this is a week by week proposition and if I happen to be updating my blog when things are going badly I may type something significantly different.  However I think I should just enjoy the feeling of training success while it lasts...it has been known to be a fleeting sensation.

Pretty

I've decided that Cassie is a true "Gen Y".  That being that she will always try the easiest option first.  Doesn't matter how many times we've done something before, if there is a possible short cut, she's your girl.  Initially she managed to get away with this.  Mostly because I was so surprised by what she would try, I didn't have time to react.  My border collies wouldn't dream of being so cheeky.  Cassie a.k.a. "Naughty Pants" apparently has no aspirations to be compared to a border collie or be that well behaved.

We still alternate our training sessions between 2 x 2's and dog walk.  I'm pretty happy with how quickly she's progressed with 2 x 2's and is super close to having them straight.  I tried to straighten the back ones yesterday but she hasn't quite got the hang of finding the entry when they are straight.  I feel confident that after another few sessions we'll get there.  I also need to start doing some sessions away from home to generalise the behaviour.

Fizzy

This week I made a concerted effort to take Miss Personality down to training for further exposure to the distractions that she thus far can't resist.  We started off OK, just doing a jump table combination, but when she spied her Sheltie friend Benny in the distance (who she adores) it was more than she can handle and off she went at warp speed to go visit.  She did come back when I called her but when she repeated the game two more times I was panicking that going to visit while doing agility is going to get built into her agility.  So Cassie went to spend some time in the car while I got Miss Fizzy out.  Then I had a reminder in the difference between a border collie and a papillon as I played with a five and a half month old Fizz off lead without her being even vaguely interested in the other dogs let alone running off.  Something that almost fifteen month old Cassie still can't manage!  Not that I have any right to complain.  She's made agility and dog training more fun than I could ever have imagined!

Weaving, running and jumping

Miss Fuzzy Bear - aka Crazy Ears

As Cassie approaches fourteen months of age things are starting to heat up on the training front.  We are finally starting to get to the “big” dog stuff.  The 2 x 2’s have been dusted off and put out in my training area and after a bit of searching through the bookshelves I’ve relocated Susan Garrett's DVD on how to teach them.  The double box jump grid has been resurrected something I haven’t done in a long time and of course I probably need to re-watch “Great Dog Shame About the Handler” so I can remember more than the one front cross exercise…

Mostly August has been all about obsessing over running contacts.  Today I feel good about them because Cassie and I have just worked through a bit of a “training struggle” however last week I wasn’t feeling so warm and fuzzy.  After I train her tonight I may again feel differently!  But we are getting there which is the main thing even with the ups and downs.  The thing that probably annoys me most is the amount of time I’m spending doing them when I could be doing other things.  And to think that all I’m really trying to achieve is my dog running on a plank of wood!  She has progressed further in a week learning 2 x 2’s than the last six weeks on running contacts.  Anyway I’m determined to see this mission out.

My Miss Personality- aka Cassie

2 x 2’s as always are a joy to teach.  Cassie is learning just as quickly as any of my border collies have and we’re already starting to straighten the poles after only six sessions.  But then she really gets the whole shaping thing so I didn’t really expect any less from her.  Thanks to the time sucking nature of running contacts we are only doing a session every two days but I guess at least it breaks things up a bit.

Sonic

Although I can currently only remember one jumping exercise on the double box grid that one exercise is going well.  I'm jumping her on a mixture of 200 & 250 heights.  I will do some 300 later but I don't want to do too much on 300 until I know for sure if she will measure in to that height.  She only has to jump 250 for ADAA thank goodness.  Although she'll be able to jump 300 when you see how little she is compared to some of the shelties in 300 I really hope that doesn't happen as it will be a huge disadvantage.  I bit like all the poor shelties who end up in 400 height and having to compete against border collies that although small for bc's are substantially bigger than they are.

Probably our biggest training issue is Cassie down at the Canine grounds.  Through no ones fault but my own I'm way down the list of fun things to do when she's down there.  There are lots of bonus's to having Miss Personality but when she wants to personally say hello to every man, woman, child and dog on the Canine grounds it can be a little frustrating.  So we'll be spending some time over the next few months working on how much fun it is to be with me.  Otherwise it won't matter how quickly she learns to weave because she'll never be allowed off lead...

Fizz still isn't doing a great deal of anything, other than growing.  She's really starting to enjoy going to training and getting cuddles from everyone.  She's pretty blase about other dogs.  She really just doesn't seem to care.  Not a bad thing as long as she's indifferent as opposed to worried.  We did our first restrained recalls at training which was fun.  She is so unco.  Cassie is doing her best to teach Fizz to become more nimble during their games of "you can't catch me".  As Fizzy still can't catch her obviously there is a lot of room for improvement!