Schedule revisions

Please check the post below for revisions. Two Wednesday classes in June are canceled. The changes are in italics and in a lighter color. There will be only one Focus Class in June and topics have been added. The arena will be closed for two Thursdays.

We will be in Auburn, Washington with Susan Garrett. If you are interested check her website or contact us.

Mark Your Calendar

EVENING CLASSES
These are 6 week sessions. Dropping In is not permitted
.
Session 3
May 20, 27, June 3, 10, July 8, 15
Session 4
July 22, 29, Aug 5, 12, 26, Sept 2

Class #1 at 5:40 Be on the field ready to work at 5:40
Class #2 at 6:45

If everyone plans to arrive on the half hour, you'll all be on time!

THURSDAY OPEN ARENA
Starting in JUNE the agility arena will be available for practice during the summer from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. Note: arena will be closed on June 18 and 25.

One side of the field will concentrate on jumps, tunnels and/or weaves. The other will have the contacts. We will have sequences marked with cones. If we have any handling suggestions, they will be posted by the water faucet. You should use the time to improve your skills not run long courses. If someone else has run a 10 obstacle sequence and you want to do only the A-frame, figure out the length of time or perhaps work it while they walk their course. Please DO NOT move equipment!

Cost is $5 for a dog enrolled in a 6 week session.
$13 for dogs not enrolled in a session.

FOCUS FRIDAY at 6 p.m. on select dates below
Each class will focus on one skill (i.e. weaves, 270's, rear cross)

June 5 - REAR CROSSES
tentative dates for future classes:
July 10 - WEAVE ENTRIES
July 31
Aug 21 or 28 or both

Cost per class:
$10 for a dog enrolled in a 6 week Wed. session
$18 for dogs who are not

Next Focus Class

We will not be having a Focus Class in May.

Friday, June 5 is a date we are considering. Pencil it on your calendar and let us know if you are able to come. Which of the following would you like to FOCUS on: weave entries; contacts; rear crosses; serpentines; 270's?

It's Hot!

It's hard to resist putting up puppy photos. The other day when Sam and I puppy sat, it was interesting to see how quickly Ube realized there was a big hole with water in it! I missed the first shot in which he didn't get this close but immediately turned away and knew it was there after that.

Looks like we're in for some hot weather the next few days!

Ube Being Funny

Sam and I puppy sat today. We had a lot of fun with the busy boy!

Changing Faces

If you scroll down to the bottom of all the posts you'll find a slideshow of the Tandem Dogs. The oldest photo was taken in 1996. Donna had the Belgian and Aussie and I had the two Shar-Pei. Somewhere about that time an obedience judge at a seminar dinner asked me if I'd ever thought of having another breed. I very honestly said no I loved the breed and was/had been doing tracking, obedience, conformation and agility with them. I eventually had 5.

It matters not what breed we have or what we do with them, because they all become special. Susan Garrett believes that a dog comes into her life for a reason. Mine certainly have and I could tell you a life's lesson or two I learned from each of them. Mine have also come into my life at very important times. The Shar-Pei had various health problems and Pei, my Aussie, came at one of those times as did Echo, my Collie. Coffee Bean came before I knew I would loose Pei.

As Donna starts down a new road with Ube, I wish her lots of joy, love and fun. If in the process they gather a bucket load of ribbons and titles it will be frosting on the cake, because Ube was meant for Donna and Mike!

They Grow Up So Fast!

Friday is Coffee Bean's 2nd Birthday.

It is also the day that Donna and Mike pick up their new puppy Ube.

Happy Birthday Coffee!

Congratulations Donna and Mike!

Welcome Ube to a whole lot of fun and endless possibilities!

Happy Easter to everyone! Enjoy the weekend with your dogs and family.

Sue and Indy - Beautiful Contacts!!

Video of Sue and Indy - Good job, watch and pay attention to the contacts, they are GREAT!!!

May Evening Classes

The majority preferred Wednesday evening for class.

May 20, 27, June 3, 10, 17, 24

Class #1 at 5:40
You can arrive at 5:30 to be on the field ready to work at 5:40

Class #2 at 6:45

If you have never taken the opportunity go visit Susan Garrett blog, do so now. Check out the comment for today April 1st. There is a video from the 1950's. It is a great video. Inspiring, funny, and just plain good.


http://susangarrett.wordpress.com/

A Beautiful Sunday

Everyone did a great job setting bars and getting to the line on time yesterday. Hope you enjoyed the rest of a beautiful day.

Remember to mark April 15 on your calendar for the Focus Class. Let us know in a comment if you are planning to attend. If you have a suggestion for future topics/skills let us know. For example: weave entries, contacts, rear crosses etc.

Here's a photo of the Tandem Dogs taken last year. Donna will be adding a youngster very soon to the mix of colors/breeds.

Focus Class

Focus class - We are going to be adding something new, Focus classes. We will be offering a focus class outside of the regular classes. During these classes we will focus on things like Contacts, Weave pole entrances, Serpentines, etc. If you have something you would like to see a focus done on, let us know. Suggestions always welcomed.
The first focus session will be April 15th at 6 pm, This class will focus on Starts. Running with, LOP, push, Front cross, and others. Length of the class will be 1 hour to 1.5 hours. Once we move to evening classes, we will most likely move these classes to Fridays. We will do at least 1 a month possibly 2. Cost will be $10.00 if dog is already enrolled in a class, or $18.00 if dog is not enrolled in a class.

Weekend Report

Rain managed to stay away from the trials this weekend although the wind and cold remained. I think everyone was surprised to find the sun out today!

We've heard from most who attended the agility trial. On the whole handlers were pleased with their dog's performances. Some q's, some not, but I think everyone went away knowing where work/practice needs to be done. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we'll have time to practice before the Davis weekend.

Several went to obedience/rally trials on Sunday. Christy and Zorro came away with two blue ribbons in advanced! - Congratulations.

See everyone on Sunday.

Evening Classes

When you respond to your day of the week preference, please indicate the other evening as to if you can make it that night or if it is impossible, (choices 1 is Monday, my choice 2 is Wednesday. or #1 is Monday, #2 Wednesday, can not make). It will make the planning easier. Thank you!!

Class Dates for Next Session

Because of a rain make up, the new session starts on Sunday March 29 and will be only 5 weeks. Dates are March 29, April 12, 19, 26 and May 10. Cost is $75. Please make checks out to either Donna or Sydney. Thank you Katherine, Dick and Helen Marie for paying in advance.

EVENING CLASSES
After the May 10 Sunday class, we will be switching to evenings. Both classes will be on the same night. Would you prefer Monday or Wednesday. Please reply in the comment section and list your preferences as #1 & #2.

Can the first class come at 5:30 and the second at 6:30? Let us know.

It was a Cold and Windy Weekend!

But the rain stayed away!

Echo and I had just plain fun on Saturday stretching our legs. Sunday we were more in sync and started the day by earning our Open Fast title with a 2nd place. Our Standard run was very pretty except the dw contact to weaves. Besides the ribbons, I also came away with some nice photos from Mt. Diablo and Vallejo's trials. Be sure to purchase photos of your dog. Once your dog is no longer with you, you will wish you had more photos to remember your times together. The ribbons won't mean that much anymore.

Saturday I ran Inc in Standard for Donna. If he hadn't run by the A-frame looking for "mom" we would have had a clean run! Sunday he ran with me in Fast but then decided he'd rather be Donna's dog.

Kerry, Magnum, Merlot and Riley were also at the trial. Their handlers can comment on their runs, but I have it on good authority that Kerry earned his first leg in JWW!

Class Reminders -

Reminders just want to take a moment to remind people to try to arrive early enough to class to potty your dogs and to have them on the arena at the start of class in their crates and handler ready to walk the first course. You should also have water in your dogs crate available to them at all times. We try to supply some water bowls, but you can also bring one for home for your dog. When I go to a class I always bring water and a bowl with me.

We strive to start class on time, and probably have a 94% rate for doing so. Also, when it is time to change bar heights everyone should be helping but the dog that just ran and the dog to run next. We have decided to acknowledge Peggy with a 50% off certificate for one session. Peggy is ALWAYS setting the bars and at times is the only one doing so. It is the responsibility of people in class to set the bars.

We are planning in June to have a weekend workout. We plan to set up a day of box work and a day of course work. We will let you know the dates. This will be a no-charge weekend, but we may ask that you participate both days. As it gets closer, we can plan a lunch either ordering pizza, or pot luck. Details to follow. Also if there is something specific that you want to work on, let us know.

For those of you entered in the trial this weekend - GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, AND PRAISE YOUR DOG!!!!

Dogwalk - Tunnel

Click on the link below for a real shocker. It's Sydney and Pei in Sonora 2002. Can you believe I never purchased that video clip. Silvina still has it on her website and sent me the link.

http://www.agilityinmotion.com/movies/030906-Pei.html

I don't think we'll find anything this weekend that challenging.

Romp in the Grass

Since the rain is gone for now, take the time and take your dog(s) our for a run. It a good time of the year to do it. No fox tails yet, or bad weeds or snakes!! Let the dogs play and run and just have fun. Attached is a picture of Cricket, you can see the smile on her face. It's good exercise for the dogs, it gives you a chance for a walk in the fresh air, and time with your dog. Enjoy!!! We do!!

Record Keeping -

If you are just starting to trial you want to think about saving those course maps. i use to keep all of the maps in a folder. Now I scan them and keep a computer file on them. I also mark the map as to what we did, where I crossed, type of cross, errors on my part. If the dog did all of his contact, weave poles, etc.......... Reason to do this - If you start NQ'ing, you have a resource to see if there's a pattern. I'm attaching one of my maps for you to see.

Besides keeping records this way, you should keep track of legs earned in a record book. Sydney and I have books that are available through Clean Run. I note in this book our legs, with important information such as the judge. Since when you earn a title you have to have at least 2 different judges. There are also computer programs for this purpose. Another think to calculate is yards per second, but we'll get into that later. You could also keep am Excel spreadsheet. I like the book because I take it to the trials with me and write the information in at the time. I have also started putting green stars on the qualifying runs, and colored blue, red, yellow or silver to designate a placement.

One last comments, you can also check out your dogs standing on the AKC web site.