Chudleigh is a GENIUS

All my dogs are smart, I have taught them many things that they have easily mastered, and sometimes they just plain surprise me with something.

Today surpasses all those surprises. 

Tuesday is garbage day for my neighborhood.  For us that means we have to have our wheeled recycle container and wheeled garbage bin out next to the curb first thing in the morning so the automated truck can empty them.

I let the dogs out for their first potty trip of the day and Chudleigh stopped at the foot of the steps and stared at the blue recycle bin.  They he looked back at me with a quizzical expression on his face, then deliberate turned his head slowly back at the recycle container and pointedly stared at it for a longer period of time before looking back at my face again.  I had to tell him that although Tuesday is our garbage day since it is Christmas tomorrow will be garbage day, and I thanked him for being such a good boy to remind me to put the trash out.

I was totally blown away.  I know my dogs can count, but I had no idea Chudleigh knew the days of the week.

Lightning Strikes Again!

Today was another super agility day, 5 entries and 3 Qs.  Rollo ran T2B first thing and although he didn’t qualify I was greatly encouraged that he was able to complete the course. The first time he did it the buzzer went off when he still had a few obstacles left to do.  The weaves slowed him down with 3 stops in the poles to hopefully check specks in case they were food.  He did complete the weaves without popping out though and everything else was spot on.

He ran open jumpers for his very first time today as I moved him up last night and darn if he didn’t qualify!  He was 5 seconds over time due to popping out of the weaves so his Q was an 85 point squeaker.  He was the only qualifier in his class and got a pretty blue rosette.

His open standard run was total chaos, he was distracted and acted like he had never even seen the contact equipment before as he wildly ran by everything.  I guess 2 long days of agility just overloaded his little doggie circuits so I carried him off the course.  He is happy enough, so it must have been sensory overload.

Chudleigh finished the day in grand style qualifying in 100% of his classes!  He finished his novice jumpers preferred title with a clean run and 14 seconds under course time.  Then he did open standard preferred and was so fast he sailed by the final jump so I had to circle it and redirect him.  Even with the side trip he was 17 seconds under course time.  I was very pleased that he stayed on the table, but I did use my big outdoor voice when I said STAY after softly commanding table. 

Chudleigh is a very VERY good boy.  As you can see by the tightly cropped picture he is rapidly graying.  He will turn 6 in May.  I am thinking I will keep him in preferred as jumping 20 makes more sense than having him do 24 with all his poor body has been though.

What a finish to the year.  Our next competition will be the Border Terrier trial the first weekend in January.

Best agility day EVER

It is a good thing I like agility because we left the house at 6:15 this morning and got home at 6:00 tonight!  We entered 6 classes and qualified in 4, and it really should have been all 6.

First class of the day starting at 8:00 was novice FAST which I entered both boys in.  They ran small to tall so Rollo was the 5th dog on the line.  He did great, nailed the send and we got a very respectable  score.  Unfortunately the timer messed up so we had to re-run for score.  The judge said not to worry about the send as he did it fine so when he backed out of the tunnel in the send I didn't re-do it and just went on.  Bad move, that was a huge misunderstanding on my part and the judge said she was sorry but couldn't qualify me for that.  I told her that since he had handily qualified the first time why couldn't I just take minimum score of 50 to keep the Q.  She said that would work so that is why his score was 50 points, which still gave him a 2nd place.

Poor Chudleigh was robbed.  The brainless steward that was the chute straightener did NOT straighten the chute and Chuds got all wadded up in it.  The poor guy was struggling to get through it and it wasn't letting him, I was amazed it didn't come off the barrel.  Anyway he had to give up and come back out the entrance.  Unfortunately that was the 2nd obstacle and was worth 9 points so there wasn't enough time to get the required 50 points and make it to the finish jump to stop the clock.  He got the send and even sailed through the weaves speedily for 10 points.  The judge at least let he put him through the chute after we were done so he wouldn't have a a problem and he went through it fine.  She was muttering that she had never seen a dog get tangled up like that in a short chute.  Well, if the stupid  chute fluffer doesn't do it correctly it will happen.  I hope her day job isn't packing parachutes.

Then we got to hang out for hours until Rollo had open standard.  He was flying along great, wonderful concentration, everything spot on UNTIL the weaves.  He got the entrance and was zipping though them when around the 7th pole he spotted a tiny brown pebble on the weave base that looked EXACTLY like a  piece of kibble!  He stopped to sniff and in his disappointment that it wasn't a yummy treat lost count and missed a pole.  Being open I redid the weaves as we are allowed one screw up and can still qualify.  He sailed thought them perfectly and finished the course, but the time killed us.  We lost 18 points in time faults plus the 5 for the table fault.

Everything else was rosy.  In novice jumpers they both qualified with perfect scores way under course time although Chuds was a 2nd place.  Rollo did a 42 second course in 33.47 to finish his novice jumpers title.  Chudleigh got his 2nd jumpers preferred leg doing a 45 second  course in 30.50 seconds.

Final class of the day was Chudleigh's novice standard.  He had one mess up.  Due to great speed he sailed off the table and had to hop back on.  Even with that he had a faster course time than the 1st place dog but 100 beats a 95.  He did a 74 second course in 53.05.  I am in awe, I have my Chudleigh back.  He feels good and looks wonderful.  Not too shabby for a dog that had a grim 30% survival chance intoned by the cancer department up at Davis.

Tomorrow we get to play again.  I hope we get home earlier.  Driving home from Santa Rosa in the darkness and rain was no fun.  Traffic was quite heavy and the oncoming headlights were brutal. Poor Charlie had white knuckles.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We spent Thanksgiving weekend in Moab with family.  5 adults and three collies shared a Subaru Outback. 

 Friday we drove to Dead Horse Point State Park to walk and take in the view of the Colorado River.

 Saturday we started off with a 3 mile round trip hike, to Corona Arch (behind Coffee).  

Getting to the arch itself was tricky!  There is a ravine behind Coffee so we had to climb up and around.

In the photo below you can see people that look like ants.  We had to scale UP the rocks from where they were to about the middle of the photo (see a tiny person).  First try both dogs had their nails out and got no where.  Second try we had them on a short leash on our right with our left hand on the cable to pull ourselves up.  Going down was easier for the dogs, but awkward for us.  Their rears held their weight back.

Photo on right doesn't show how steep and slick the surface was.

Sam and Echo walked along the Colorado river chatting with hikers while we did the climb.  

There they are in the road waiting for our return! 

After lunch we drove around Arches National Park.

We left just as the sun was setting.

Moab is 3 hours from us.

It was a fun weekend and the weather was gorgeous!

Hope you all had a good weekend too!  Sydney

Donna and I took the dogs out to Buchli Station for a pre Thanksgiving Run. The weather was perfect. The sky was clear and most importantly for our 3 the ground was wet and the ponds were full. They had some joyful comes through the pond amidst a lot of play. Ube and Lea began the day with a quick kiss before they went wild. Jennifer

CHUD'S CANCER RECHECK

Super news, all the testing today up at Davis showed no sign of cancer. They did bloodwork and an abdominal ultra sound. Also his weight is slowly coming down from a high of 73 to 69 1/2 today. They were thrilled as they well know how hard it is to lose this prednisone weight with his screwed up metabolism due to the chemo. Of course his normal weight is around 62 lbs so we still have a ways to go. Unless we see something alarming he goes back in 3 months for another check up. Christy

Stuff

Hi all!! Christy, great jobs with the dogs. How in the C man doing?? Be sure to sign your names when y post. I now have a new vehicle, my old one totaled in a car accident. More on that later. Donna

1st Snow

Nov 10 - that's all the snow we got - east side of house.

Nov 12 when we could see the La Plata Mountains to the west.

    Last few days it has been in the 20's at 6 a.m. but warms up with the sun - mid 40-mid 50's .   I was actually out in the yard with a sweater at 1 p.m. yesterday!  If the wind isn't blowing it is quite nice.  Sunny and dry.  But there is a thick piece of ice on the koi pond that stays all day.   

Sydney and the girls send Happy Thanksgiving wishes to everyone!

Norcal Golden Trial 11-11-12

I am bumbling my way though this, as I am a beginning blogger lol.

The past 2 days we were up in Santa Rosa competing with the boys.  I THOUGHT  I had NQ'ed in every possible way over the years but today was a new one for me.  On Chudleigh's standard run he came around the wrong side when I did a front cross and to keep from falling down when he hit me I threw my hand out to catch my balance, but I hit the wing and brought the whole jump down!  Yup, I dropped the bar instead of my dog!  Shame on me, except for that fiasco he would have q'ed.                       

With all of Chud's medical problems I bumped him down to novice preferred as he was unable to get even close to course time.  Wouldn't you know his first time in the ring doing novice jumpers he was so kerflummoxed at seeing only 6 weave poles that he popped out at the 5th pole looking for the rest, and this was just as I blinked and turned my head to see  where we were going next.  Now remember this is a dog with his AXJ so you would THINK he could handle 6 poles.  Um,  with boxers you don't think.                                                                                                                     

Yesterday in standard Chuds bailed on the teeter but did everything else fine.            

Yesterday Rollo was more confident in the ring and in both of his runs he ran over to introduce himself to the pole setter, eating up far too much precious time.  He made his open standard debut and it took him 2 tries to get the weaves so even if he hadn't gone visiting we wouldnt' have qualified.

Today I tried T2B with Rollo.  Um, in a nutshell he ran out of time due to a LONG visit with a pole setter.  He ran well though and I was pleased, the buzzer sounded when we were 3 obstacles from the finish.  

Rollo's open standard run today was better, no visiting and if it hadn't been for Trolls in the tunnels he would have qualified!  He aced the weaves, and galloped along paying great attention.  The tunnels were dark and the entry was straight on with a very sharp U in it.  Too scary, he popped out and refused to go back in.  Same thing with another tunnel.  Darn those tunnel monsters.

As I said earlier, Chudleigh's standard run would have qualified if I hadn't run into the jump.  He bravely did his teeter and I was very pleased.

Final class of the day for both of them was novice jumpers and they BOTH QUALIFIED!  Hallelujah, Charlie is always so pleased when "his" dogs qualify.  For some reason Chuds fluffed the weaves and popped out at the 5th pole but I saw it and brought him back around to redo them.  That ate up precious time so I ran as fast as I possibly could to save the run as the clock was not our friend.  I didn't collapse  and his 93 was all time faults.

Thankfully there were about 18 dogs until Rollo went in which game me time to catch my breath.  This dratted congestive heart failure is such a nuisance sometimes.  Rollo missed a jump and we had to circle  and redo it which ate up time so his score was a skin of his teeth Q with an 85. 

Chuds has really aged and I think he looks a lot like Zorro with the greying eyebrows.  He sees the oncologist next week for a recheck but so far so good.  I am still trying to get his prednisone weight off, and it is a hard battle.  The drugs really messed up his metabolism.                                                                       

                                                             

                                                              

Hi!

The girls saw snow last weekend!  Coffee for the first time.  At first she didn't want to step on it but was fine once she did.  We went to visit our nephew as the cold front arrived.  We had a beautiful  sunny/ blue sky five hour drive through the mountains until about a half about out when the snow started to blow.   David is north of us and at higher elevation.  Next afternoon the sun was out and snow started to melt.   The girls had a great time running with their dog,  Hobbs!  When we got back to Durango a few days later we were back to upper 60's and sun.  We did not have snow or rain here.   We are in a drought so either is wished for!

I've enjoyed hearing what Christy and her gang have been up too.  I hope the rest of you will keep in touch now that Donna has set this up for us. 

Healing thoughts go to Donna and Mike after their accident.  

Sydney, Echo and Coffee

Views and Wildlife

View from Rim Drive a few minutes from our house.  That's the high school, fairgrounds and Recreation Center next to the Animas River

 Below you see the bear prints I spotted on the driveway a week ago.  This morning this fellow showed up in the back at 7:50.  Earlier at 7:15, Coffee barked from the window and I saw a mother and two cubs.    I pressed a "boat horn" they had here and away they went!  The recent fires, plus the drought have the bear looking for food.  They like to eat acorns and fruit.  We have oak trees on the property!

 This buck was spotted out the front window.  There is a salt lick there and a small water "hole".

I almost forgot, I spotted a coyote this week on the driveway while walking.  It was almost the size of Coffee!  The deer and coyote are more brown in color than the ones in CA - and they are not as thin!

Hope your summer is going well.  We are still unpacking but take time to explore the area or run errands each day.  Miss you all!  Sydney

Just received an e mail from Sydney, boy is she having adventures in just getting their stuff. Here is a quote from her email- Two weeks late  and what a day that was!   Friday at 9 -  Driver calls to say he will be here at 10 a.m.  He calls back at 10 a.m. to say that his semi cannot make it through the “round abouts” in the housing development!  We meet him and drive him to a rental company to rent a small truck.  The driver and two men make multiple trips back and forth the mile to our house.  It takes 7 hours!   It was wrapped and loaded in 4 hours in Napa.  At 4:30 while unloading the last load we get one of those Colorado thundershowers.  For 15 minutes it poured like mad - the men put the beds together.   Sam and I both worked like crazy while they unloaded.  Pointing out what went downstairs etc. and Sam unloaded his books in his "Wine and Book" Room.   It was a very long day.   Just think that included clothing.

Hello from Colorado

Echo and Coffee were great travelers

 When we arrived they enjoyed looking for chipmunks and bunnies down on the patio!

We often see deer and and bunnies.  The chipmunks love siting on the patio in the morning to munch on whatever they eat.  They are SO CUTE!  Two nights ago we saw a black bear 70 ft from the front door.  I had just come back from a walk at 8:45!

Thinking about  you all.  Have a great "rest of the summer".   Sydney

Good Bye Zorro...........................

It is with much sadness that Good Bye is said to Zorro.....................

Zorro will be missed by his family Christy and Charlie along with the other dogs at home.  He will be missed by his agility friends and others who know him.  Zorro accomplished much is his short life, he and Christy earned agility titles, obedience titles, rally titles, but most of all the title of friend!!  That is a title that will be with everyone who knew him.  Zorro was treasured by Christy and for that I know Zorro is blessed.  He had an incredible life, got to do much and see much.  But again most of all and the most important was the love he shared with his family.  With heavy hearts right now over the loss, but to brighter days and the memories that you will  always have. 

Be sure to go back and review the November 8th post for a slide show of Zorro......

Rain! and April Schedule

Class is cancelled for today.

April and Summer Schedule:

 Wednesday evenings

5:45 to no later than 7:30

(length will be depend on size of class)

PLEASE

Be on the arena ready to walk the first exercise at 5:45.

Let's all help set jump bars.

See you soon!

One In A Million

Am/Ntl/Intl CH Starline's Magnum Champagne, UDX, VER, RAE, JH, NA, NAJ, OAP, AJP, CGC 

March 3,
We continue to work on rear crosses, and the dogs and handlers are progressing nicely.  We also did a LOP, which all handled well.  For the teeter exercise, Rollo did a full !!!height teeter!!!!!!  Good boy!!!  We had a visiting dog and handler in class, offering a good distraction, I was trilled that Ube did not go visit during his runs, which is a hugh success for us.   More rear cross work this week, and other course work.  Keep it up, your doing a good job handlers!!!!

Saturday, February 25
This week in class we continued our work on rear crosses.  Building on what was done in previous weeks, improving our dogs and our skills.   The building of teamwork.

Am exercise was done doing GO's to the table and over a line of jumps.  More teeter work was done with two teeters added to the exercise.  
During the week, practice your rear crosses without equipment.  We have done this in the past but here is a quick reminder.  Sit your dog in front our you.  You take a couple of steps back (directly behind the dog) and then take a couple to the right or left, lets do this one to the left, so your current position is two steps behind the dog, and two steps to the left of the dog.  Start moving to the right side of the dog, as your pass behind the dog, the dog should turn its head to the right, praise and release.  It the dogs looks the other way, stop and start again.  If you have questions, let us know.

See you next week..........................

Class on February 18th -
We started off the class with brownie walnut cookies as a tribute to both Ube's third Birthday on Feb. 12th, and the 18th was four year since I lost Derby.  Yesterday I realized it was Zuni's Birthday, so the celebration should have included her.  It was a celebration of life, here and after.

Class, on this day we continued work on the rear cross.  The exercise was harder and more difficult for several of the dogs (except Coffee), always one in the group.  We did a teeter exercise that was a circle going teeter, tunnel, jump, tunnel, teeter, tunnel, jump, to a different teeter.  Now this exercise was challenging for all handlers.  Ube and I had problems going to the second teeter wanting to take the tunnel, where everyone else had problems on the first pass, with the dogs wanting to take the second teeter instead of the tunnel.  It was really fun to watch, maybe stressful for the handler, but still fun to watch.   Oh, I don't want to forget that Rollo did a full teeter, on both the second and third height adjustments.  Keep it up, your almost there.   

Also we need to give a hey, wippee, to Christy and Chugs, for a great job at the trial on Sunday and Monday.  The Q'ed in Time to beat, 13 dogs ran the course and only 5 qualified.  Keep it up. 

This week for those at class we will continue working on the rear cross, and also another teeter exercise.  Can't wait until the weekend...............................................................

Saturday, February 11
On this day we worked on the rear cross handling move.  I lot of time was devoted to this as this can be a difficult move for some dogs and handlers.  Towards the end, the dogs started picking up the cue.  Which is staying behind the dog and deceleration. 
We also did a weave pole drill, a lead-out pivot drill, and worked the teeter more.  Before we knew it, class was over.  On the 18th, we will continue our rear cross training.  So have a good week until then............

Saturdays Class, February 4th -
For this class we covered the following:

An exercise was done incorporation all of the Front Cross positions that we have worked on over the past few weeks.  Those at class has some struggles, but end the end everyone was successful.  We did another table exercise, trying to trick the dog into going to the table but they were just to smart on this day.  Another exercise was a teeter sequence, and with Sticker we just worked on the teeter itself and advancing his position on it.  The a weave pole exercise was done and the scooby doo dogs are going a great mob with the weaves.  A small jump grid was done, and also the jump spider.  It was a very nice morning and everyone seemed to enjoy the morning. 
Sorry for the delay in getting this posted, this Saturday we start work on the rear cross,,,  see you later.........................................

Saturday January 28th
In class we reviewed the "Go" command, FC on the outside of the box or jump,  Teeter exercise, with the dogs going at the teeter with speed and drive maintaining a position on the end of the teeter until release to the tunnel ahead. 
Just for those of you who are curious I can't give you the exact starting date on the teeter, I don't have that training log out, but on January 21, 2011 we worked with the dogs and squirt cheese on the bottom of the teeter.  They've come a long way!!!! 
The FC exercise we did on both the right and left sides, did you or your dog have more problems on one side, if so not it, and remember it.  That is very important information.  Till next week, happy training......................................

Class Saturday January 21 -
This class had a focus on two handling moves, the Front Cross and the the check command.  Each of these handling moves was done at least twice in different exercises. 


The front cross that was worked on was the diagonal front cross.  This is a front cross that is preformed on a diagonal line between two obstacles, with the handler crossing as close to the next obstacle as possible. 


The check is preformed when the cog is asked to turn back, or around a jump.  The handler does not pass the plan of the obstacle when this command is being used.  It is also used when the dog is ahead of the handler. 


Next was the teeter.  Dogs that can handle the teeter did it three times coming off of a jump. 


Other pieces of equipment used was the tire, jumps and tunnels.  Weather was cold, stormy and windy. 


Have a great week, and see you Saturday...............................

Week 1 Review

This year we will post what was worked on each week in class.

This Saturday was a cool but sunny day.

We worked on:

Front Crosses

Teeter Tunnel Teeter

Jump and Tunnel Sequences

Weaves

The dogs seemed happy to get back to agility!

The Year 2011 in review……………………………………..

During the course of this year our young dogs have been introduced to quite a few agility moves and groves.  Some of which either the dogs and or handlers are not proficient at yet, but both have been introduced to the move, or piece of equipment.  I am going to list a few of the things that the dogs have been introduced to this year. 

Send to the crate; sent to the tunnel; front cross, rear cross, lead out pivot; serpentine, 270 turn, treadle, go’s, tug on table, pinwheels of all shapes and sizes; teeter training, tug on contacts, tight turns, loopy turns, tire, broad jump, triple jump, all sorts of jump grids, transitions – acceleration, deceleration; box work, focus ahead, 180 turn check, side, close, one jump exercised call offs, etc………………………………… Whew, I’m tired from just listing some of the things we did this year!!!!

Let’s not forget the WEAVE POLES!!!!  Many, many accomplishments.  Be proud of yourself and your dog, you have done a great job. We can no longer refer to this class as the beginning class they are now called the Scooby-Do class,  because we can do.  

In 2012 we will tackle CONTACTS. 

What will the year 2012 hold, only things that dreams are made of……  Many more happy days of training to you and your dog(s). 

The advanced class will continue working on and improving
both the dogs skills and the handlers.  So that both of you are comfortable with any move necessary in a trial situation.

HAPPY NEW YEAR - FROM SYDNEY AND DONNA