I've just had a very exciting email from Kriszty to tell me that Secret has just passed her herding assessment at the Binnaburra Sheep Trial with Richard. That means she can go onto the Sporting Register and is now officially "Mac's KeepaSecret". Richard has told Kriszty that Secret is showing heaps of potential on sheep and should go very well for her in the Three Sheep Trialing world. So Kriszty is planning to go on with her herding with Secret and will work towards hitting the Novice yard trials some time in the future. I'm sure they will do very well.
I have to say that the MickSal pups are such a talented bunch (not that I'm biased or anything)!
Sonic the Border Collie and Friends
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Eleven months and counting
I called into the Canine Association last Friday and put in Sonic’s paperwork to get him registered as an Associate dog. After a bit of indecision about whether to just leave it as Sonic or not I went with my original choice of “Supersonic”. As he does everything at 100mph it felt like the right thing to do. When I get his paperwork and registration number back from Canine I will organise to get him measured. I’m really keen to get it done as I have a small paranoia about him going over 54.5cms…I don’t think he will but I will feel much better for getting it done.
We’ve had quite a few training disruptions of late with the wet weather. He loves his training so much that I hate having to miss it. I’ve been doing a little bit at home but it’s not quite the same. Training itself is progressing quite well. Most nights he is very good and handles the distractions easily. Other nights he has trouble focusing and goes over threshold very quickly. Those nights I just concentrate on calming him down and getting him switched back on. I’ve been training him closer and closer to the action and even spend some time sitting him near dogs doing fun stuff (like charging through tunnels) while rewarding him for being calm and looking at me. For a dog as highly visually stimulated as him it is a big ask, but he normally does pretty well.
He still goes through stages where one week he will do beautiful two on two offs on the end of the dog walk with loads of nose touches and stay on until I release him. Other times he is all over the place and throws a couple of nose touches at me before getting off again before being released. However his speed and enthusiasm is picking up so I guess it’s all part of his learning process and confidence in what he’s doing. It will still be quite a while before I feel confident enough to commence the back chaining process!
Recently I set up two uprights at home 6ft apart with both jump bars set at 150mm height. I was curious to see what he’d do considering that he does 5 jump bumps like a seasoned professional. Interestingly he just could not do them. He would do each one on it’s own no problem, but as soon as I asked him to do them one after the other he just ran around them. Goes to show the impact that can occur when you change the picture on them. All I did was just break the jumps down and I think I got one or two where he would do both but he really was like a fish out of water. I am keen to try it again soon to see if he copes any better!
I have been starting to think about his training program once he reaches 12 months (only one more exciting month away!!). The only thing I’m certain about at the moment is that I’m going to hold off on any weaving training until after I get back from the Nationals in September. That will put him at 14 months so I will feel much more confident that he will be physically ready. To watch him free run you would say he is very coordinated, particularly after experiencing the heart pounding fear of seeing him coming directly towards me full pace and then screaming to a halt only two strides in front of me before zooming off the other direction. However doing new tasks is a different thing altogether and I’m happy to wait. Other than that his coordination when it comes to digging 3km deep holes in my back yard appear very, very good…
We’ve had quite a few training disruptions of late with the wet weather. He loves his training so much that I hate having to miss it. I’ve been doing a little bit at home but it’s not quite the same. Training itself is progressing quite well. Most nights he is very good and handles the distractions easily. Other nights he has trouble focusing and goes over threshold very quickly. Those nights I just concentrate on calming him down and getting him switched back on. I’ve been training him closer and closer to the action and even spend some time sitting him near dogs doing fun stuff (like charging through tunnels) while rewarding him for being calm and looking at me. For a dog as highly visually stimulated as him it is a big ask, but he normally does pretty well.
He still goes through stages where one week he will do beautiful two on two offs on the end of the dog walk with loads of nose touches and stay on until I release him. Other times he is all over the place and throws a couple of nose touches at me before getting off again before being released. However his speed and enthusiasm is picking up so I guess it’s all part of his learning process and confidence in what he’s doing. It will still be quite a while before I feel confident enough to commence the back chaining process!
Recently I set up two uprights at home 6ft apart with both jump bars set at 150mm height. I was curious to see what he’d do considering that he does 5 jump bumps like a seasoned professional. Interestingly he just could not do them. He would do each one on it’s own no problem, but as soon as I asked him to do them one after the other he just ran around them. Goes to show the impact that can occur when you change the picture on them. All I did was just break the jumps down and I think I got one or two where he would do both but he really was like a fish out of water. I am keen to try it again soon to see if he copes any better!
I have been starting to think about his training program once he reaches 12 months (only one more exciting month away!!). The only thing I’m certain about at the moment is that I’m going to hold off on any weaving training until after I get back from the Nationals in September. That will put him at 14 months so I will feel much more confident that he will be physically ready. To watch him free run you would say he is very coordinated, particularly after experiencing the heart pounding fear of seeing him coming directly towards me full pace and then screaming to a halt only two strides in front of me before zooming off the other direction. However doing new tasks is a different thing altogether and I’m happy to wait. Other than that his coordination when it comes to digging 3km deep holes in my back yard appear very, very good…
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Basil and Sybil
Sybil, Secret & Basil
Sybil
Sybil
Basil
Basil
(All photo's by Sam Weaver)
Basil and Sybil are growing up on the farm and both are doing well. Basil is learning to be a sheep dog and Sybil is just enjoying life. Unfortunately Sybil has a problem with her heart so there is no pressure on her to do anything but have a fun time while she is in good health.
Basil is the furry one of the family with by far the longest coat of all the pups. I really like Basil, I think he is a really nice looking dog. Perhaps at some stage Sam will do some agility with him too, when she decides she'd like another Novice dog to compete with!
Keep a Secret
(All photo's by Sam Weaver)
Time to see how Sonic's big sister is going. Secret was born first, Sonic last and when they were puppies she was almost double his size. But you wouldn't know it now. Secret is a diminutive little thing but manages to make up for it with a larger than life personalilty. She certainly doesn't let you forget that you are in her presence!
Young Secret is down on the farm in Kojanup at the moment with Sam and Richard so Sam has very kindly sent some brilliant photo's of the crazy little lass while she's there - thanks Sam :-).
Unfortunately Kriszty and I don't train at the same grounds so I haven't had the opportunity to see Secret in action at training. Secret is such a feisty little miss and I have no doubt that she will be really exciting and will rock big time when she eventually hits the agility world.
It is planned that Secret and Sonic are going to be Strategic Pairs partners in the future and I have visions of utter chaos on the course! I have no doubt it will be a lot of fun though...
Monday, June 23, 2008
Billy Boy
Gillian has been kind enough to send me some photo's of Billy to post on Sonic's blog. The last photo's of Sonic's siblings were back when they were really little so it is lovely to get some of them as almost grown ups. They all look so alike you could never think that they weren't related! Billy is a little taller than Sonic but they both have legs that go on for miles and a "butter wouldn't melt in their mouths" expression (Gillian and I know the real truth)! I have no doubt that Gillian is getting as much joy from having Billy as I am from Sonic. When I do have the oppurtunity to see Gillian working with Billy I can see that he loves to work and even at this age is totally focused and loving his training. I'm so looking forward to seeing him develop into an amazing agility dog.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Chasing bubbles
Come over here little bubble...
and gotcha
My two boys :-)
I dug out my forgotten bubble machine and some peanut butter flavoured bubble solution this afternoon for some bubble fun for Sonic. He totally loved it and was avidly catching bubbles until the solution ran out. Naturally I had to get my camera out to catch the action.
So next time it's pouring with rain outside I'll know how to entertain my energetic puppy!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Winter holidays
Sonic modelling his new winter rain jacket.
Sonic's big blue bunny - pre bashing
Big blue bunny - post bashing...
It is a hideous, horrible wet day today so seemed like a good day to blog. Not that I don’t like the rain, it’s just that it hasn’t let up since it started at 7am this morning and it means a boring day stuck inside the house.
Mind you the dogs seem more than happy curled up on their beds in the house. My partner and I just returned from six glorious days down at Margaret River, which focused on drinking, eating and sight seeing (in that order…). That meant that the dogs had to go to the kennels for the week. From what Judith told me when I collected them yesterday, they all conducted themselves extremely well (even Sonic!) and other than Riot having a ripped toenail (with much sooky facial expressions and sighing when I cleaned and bandaged it up yesterday) they seem none the worse for wear. I dare say that the quietness in the house today would be due to kennel recovery time!
I took Riot and Sonic to Simon Leanings last Saturday to have some fun. Sonic only had a very brief go on the sheep. He was much more animated this time and spent a bit of time charging around and barking at the sheep. In between the silly stuff he showed some nice work. I did quite a bit with Riot and although he started off a bit rough he was really working well at the end of the morning. When one of the younger more inexperienced dogs lost the sheep out the back paddock Riot and I were able to go and get them and bring them back quickly and quietly which was really fun.
I’ve been working hard on Sonic’s 2o2o on the end of the dog walk bringing my rate of reinforcement up very high. He seems to be getting more confident but I will hold off any back chaining until I’m really happy with his understanding of the position. I’m even getting some nice nose touches without the target on the ground. We’ve also been mucking around with the flexi tunnel. It was initially a bit crazy but I’ve incorporated start lines in front of the tunnel as well so some semblance of control is introduced! With all the groundwork I’ve been doing with him I have to say I’m very happy with his understanding of my body position. Even working on the tunnel you can see that depending on where I’m standing when he comes out of the tunnel he knows exactly where he needs to be.
I love doing recalls with him and his start lines are great. If I add a front cross into his recall mix he gives me an excited growl when he turns. I’ve started doing post turns as well. I’m glad I did as initially he kept trying to turn in behind me so I think it’s important that he understands those too before doing any formal jumping grids.
I did another quick measure of Sonic this morning and I got him at just under 53.5cm. I’ve found in the past that when formal measuring is done they tend to be about 1cm taller than what I get so even taking that into account he should comfortabley come in to the 500 height class. I’m happy for him to be on the higher side, as hopefully it will help to make him more competitive.
Mind you the dogs seem more than happy curled up on their beds in the house. My partner and I just returned from six glorious days down at Margaret River, which focused on drinking, eating and sight seeing (in that order…). That meant that the dogs had to go to the kennels for the week. From what Judith told me when I collected them yesterday, they all conducted themselves extremely well (even Sonic!) and other than Riot having a ripped toenail (with much sooky facial expressions and sighing when I cleaned and bandaged it up yesterday) they seem none the worse for wear. I dare say that the quietness in the house today would be due to kennel recovery time!
I took Riot and Sonic to Simon Leanings last Saturday to have some fun. Sonic only had a very brief go on the sheep. He was much more animated this time and spent a bit of time charging around and barking at the sheep. In between the silly stuff he showed some nice work. I did quite a bit with Riot and although he started off a bit rough he was really working well at the end of the morning. When one of the younger more inexperienced dogs lost the sheep out the back paddock Riot and I were able to go and get them and bring them back quickly and quietly which was really fun.
I’ve been working hard on Sonic’s 2o2o on the end of the dog walk bringing my rate of reinforcement up very high. He seems to be getting more confident but I will hold off any back chaining until I’m really happy with his understanding of the position. I’m even getting some nice nose touches without the target on the ground. We’ve also been mucking around with the flexi tunnel. It was initially a bit crazy but I’ve incorporated start lines in front of the tunnel as well so some semblance of control is introduced! With all the groundwork I’ve been doing with him I have to say I’m very happy with his understanding of my body position. Even working on the tunnel you can see that depending on where I’m standing when he comes out of the tunnel he knows exactly where he needs to be.
I love doing recalls with him and his start lines are great. If I add a front cross into his recall mix he gives me an excited growl when he turns. I’ve started doing post turns as well. I’m glad I did as initially he kept trying to turn in behind me so I think it’s important that he understands those too before doing any formal jumping grids.
I did another quick measure of Sonic this morning and I got him at just under 53.5cm. I’ve found in the past that when formal measuring is done they tend to be about 1cm taller than what I get so even taking that into account he should comfortabley come in to the 500 height class. I’m happy for him to be on the higher side, as hopefully it will help to make him more competitive.
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