Oh baby dog

Spencer is so very much the baby dog. I find it cute. He'll get there eventually, but right now I have no expectations of him.

It's odd, I'd think I would? I did with Baxter. Maybe it's that Baxter had been training for a lot longer and I after hearing/deciding that we were ready I expected for us to do really good? Maybe it's just the difference in the boys and the fact I would have never thought that Spencer could do this? Or the fact I did it with Baxter and I'm not worried about it anymore. Who knows. It's a neat place to be though.

Spencer did well for how long we've been practicing. Most of our difficulties are a combination of him being a baby dog and not having the obstacle commitment that I think he should have. I just need to support Spencer a little bit more than I do. He's also learning to "read" what my hands are doing vs what my body is doing, so I need to be aware that lateral distance will likely pull him off of a obstacle regardless of what I am indicating with my hand. This is what makes jumpers challenging for us.

The rest is coming along.

The interesting part though, is the people at the CAA trial. Spencer was so scared I had people give him treats when he first started coming to trials with Baxter and I. What I neglected was to first tell him to go visit to get those treats, so he was the one initiating the visiting. I have said on a few occasions I would rather a dog that wants to go visit people rather than one who is scared of them, and apparently Spencer heard that!

He went visiting ring crew and judges in pretty much every run, or thought about it. In fact, in one of his gamblers once I got his attention over the second jump in the gamble, you can see him notice the timer/scribe right on the other side of the jump and go see them, not even looking at me for any further handling commands.

Oops!

The other thing I need to keep in mind is that this is Spencer, not Baxter and I need to work on tugging in/around the arenas as a reward. He loves it, but since I dropped the ball a little on his early training I get a lot of don't wanna, don't hafta moments. If I want the toy to be rewarding in agility, I need to keep using the toy in agility and not just go with food because it's easier.

In the Nov Whee Wed trial yesterday Spencer ran in his first advanced Gamble and then in Steeplechase for fun.

We've made some headway with running off to visit. He had a really good line to go visit a couple of times but was a good little dog and stuck with me.

I do very much need to work on his distance skills and my distance handling skills. Advanced gambles are a whole lot less easy than the starter ones! Round obstacles are also a focus for the next little bit. He keeps dekeing off of the chute at the last second, but will go through once I send him again, which not quite the chute performance I want to be rehersing. Rear crosses into tunnels and tunnels in general are also going to be a big thing. Most small dogs love tunnels, so we'll work on tunnel love and speed through them.

So many things to do! But he's a fun little dog, it'll be a blast when he really gets it and it's the journey that's fun!

Getting there

Baxter and I are starting to get there as a team. I've got a fairly good idea of what he understands well and what I have done a less than stellar job of teaching/proofing - like his running dog walk or independent contact obstacle performance. Since Baxter is a small dog, as a handler I am forgiven a multitude of sins - but we have a different set of struggles that large or drivey dogs don't see.(I suppose the word is actually driven, but I like my word better!) 

Yep - this is another gamble post!

Gamblers is likely my least favorite game. Ranks right up there with Steeplechase. Mostly because my dog and I struggle with it.

It took 6 months for Baxter to get his first Starters Gamblers Q. I try not to think about that often, but as we're moving up getting closer to that big title it's on my mind a little. There is always that one last thing you're stuck on to get your ATChC - usually a game since you play fewer of those and it's just a numbers thing. With Baxter I'm fairly sure it's going to be Gamblers and not just because it's a numbers thing.

Since I know distance is a weakness it is something I'm working on. I've done several distance work classes and it's something I try to practice each time I'm out with the dogs. Happily, there are a lot of failed gambles in my little collection of course maps that I can draw from!

The other thing I find a struggle with gamblers is planning a path and getting enough points. It's bad enough that the gamble itself is hard, but getting enough points for the run to qualify IF you manage to get the gamble is a stress in and of itself. I find my biggest quandary is the mini gambles. They're the quickest way to get the points, but if your dog struggles with the mini's they're a huge time suck and a motivation suck for your dog as well if they become frustrated or confused about your handling and then disconnect just in time for that buzzer to go. But, not enough points and it doesn't matter if you get the final gamble. It's catch 22 type situation.

However, I had a great time with both Gambles runs at CAA's Remembrance Weekend Trial (my name for the trial, not theirs!)  Come to think of it now, I've had good luck with CAA's trials and gamblers runs. Baxter actually got his first 2 Starters Gambles to get his SGDC title at their trial in Feb!

Our first gamblers run was good. I found a good path, tried a mini that I didn't need to get as a actual mini for enough points and was even able to "practice" the weaves for the Standard run following Gamblers. As if that wasn't enough, I not only got to have my cake I got to eat it too, when he actually got the final gamble. Walking the course and looking at the map I thought the final would be harder for the small dogs than the large ones, but the off course teeter/jump discrimination on the gamble actually favored the little guys.

The gamble on the second day was much more challenging for us. The mini gambles were both tough independent contact obstacles (Aframe and dogwalk) and I was beginning to panic about a plan. So I talked to a friend, actually, the same friend I talked to this time, in the summer when I was struggling. She didn't point out a plan, just talked about hers, but she wasn't worried that her dog couldn't do the mini's either. I stopped freaking out in my mind and built a nice little path for my dog to get his points once I wasn't blinded by panic/worry.

No, really no one else would be walking "my" path, but the whole point in agility is to know and run YOUR dog. So I did. I even had a sneaky "cheater" part to my plan to show him the hard pieces of the gamble in a legal manner.

Long story short, we did a good opening path. He had enough points. We were in a good position when the buzzer went. We didn't get the gamble, but that was okay. On our way off the course the judge told us it was a good opening. I was happy with that. Heck, I was more than happy, I was ecstatic with that! I'm moving in the right direction. I honestly was thought I'd need to put him into veterans for more time/fewer points needed because we just weren't making enough points in the time. Now, it's a maybe, not a for sure thing.

And I'm slowly learning the mental management side of the game. I didn't screw up either of our jumpers runs, which are usually the hardest to memorize because of how twisty they are! There is still much more work to be done as I messed up the easy part on Team and totally gave him the wrong handling directions in Challenge, but it doesn't feel like a insurmountable challenge anymore!

Fantabulous ...

... and late. This cold, dark winter stuff is not helping me stay up and write blog posts!

The weather Nov 10 & 11 might have been brutal (-20*C is not good for dog feet) but the weekend itself was awesome!

Spencer's vet appt on Thurs yielded favorable news. I was mentally prepared to hear he had  a grade 3/4 luxating patella, needed surgery and that any strenuous physical activity was out for the foreseeable future. The vet couldn't actually get his knee to pop out, since Spencer was pretty tense. There was more movement in his right vs his left so we went home with some glucosamine supplements and exercises to help strengthen his leg muscles and allow them to help hold his knee in place. As for activity, his behavior/performance should be a guide. For now we'll try the exercises and some rehab/physical therapy and hopefully hold the deterioration off and prevent the need for surgery.

The trial was almost as awesome as the news from the vet. I didn't get any pictures, but I did get video once I have a few free minutes to edit it!

The boys were fantastic. Baxter was so hyped to be playing agility again. He did very well and was very enthusiastic. He came home with 2 Master Jumpers, 1 Master Standard and 1 Master Gamblers Q's, so 4/8 runs, which is a whole lot better than we've been doing in the Q department recently! My performance with Baxter is a little hit and miss - "his mistakes" were really mostly all handler error, but I think I am getting a bit better?

Spencer was a awesome little dog for being in a new venue. He was a little nervous about the venue and had issues with pottying on Sat night/ Sun morning until our awesome agility friend let us borrow some of her fantastic dog booties so he could go poop in the snow. He was quite the baby dog with some silly little moments, but all in all I think he did fantastic. Looking back I realize that I should have done a lot more playing with him between/before runs, and getting him to tug, but he did very well.

Since I'm still working on his teeter, he was just entered in the games where I can avoid that obstacle without just running him past it. He ended up coming home with 2 Q's in Starter Gamblers and 1 Starter Snooker, Qing in 3/5 runs. So different from Baxter who didn't get a gamble for 6 months (I'm sure it helps that I know a little better what I am doing now!) In the exact opposite though, Jumpers is much harder with Spencer than it was with Baxter.

Magical Monday

Ahh yes, a return to looking forward to Mondays. It's a strange feeling. I'm sure agility Mondays have some special magic that non-agility Mondays are lacking!

Stop bothering us. This Monday sucks, there is no agility today!

With his leg issues still unresolved Spencer was benched this Monday, so I had to pull in my backup-alternate-Chihuahua. Well, I didn't "have to" but I thought it would be a decent opportunity to see what she does.

After her recent bout of attentiveness practicing at Wet Noses, and then at Wet Creek I was curious how Penny'd do in a class with even more distractions. Other dogs to bark at, people to wiggle at, a whole new environment. PLUS horse poop!

The idea is if she will actually work with me in a class I might think about training her enough to trial sometime (she has no weaves and not a whole lot of ground work foundation.) Especially if Spencer is eternally gimpy but isn't doing anymore damage to himself - I'll drop him to 6" so its easier on his leg. Then I could have "Team 6 Inch Specials" and we'd be pretty much the whole 6" class in a trial!

Chihuahua's (or at least Penny) aren't going to set any speed records, but it's pretty darn cute to watch those tiny dogs scramble up the A-frame and do agility like the "real" dogs. I like to think that if I can teach these guys to do agility I could do a really good job with a high drive agility breed, different challenges though, that's for sure.

Penny did pretty darn good in class for the amount of work I've put in with her (ie: not much since the foundation classes over a year ago ...) No chute bobbles. Mostly good on the jumps - she likes AAC's 6" MUCH better than CKC's 8" She had some troubles with the Aframe which is sanded. I don't think she's ever been on a sanded one before so she didn't get enough momentum and the slats are pretty far apart for a toy dog to get much traction. She was doing it after a couple of tries though!

Baxter was lovely again as well. Beautiful weaves in deep sand. Some start line issues, but then again in a trial I hardly ever ask him to hold a start line. We have been doing running starts for over a year. I started with them for enthusiasm and just kept it since I don't need much lead out to stay ahead of him. Good to practice them though, easier to do a LOP (lead out pivot) instead of doing it on the fly and risk sending them over the wrong obstacle. More a issue with larger dogs with a bigger stride, but still.

I am such a good, fluffy dog!

Our class is relatively small, which means lots of time to work on stuff. The other dogs in class are young/new as well, so I don't feel so out of place with Penny or Spencer. Sometimes it's hard feeling like you should still be in something with your unusual size or breed, especially if you're struggling.

They make me appreciate Baxter a whole lot for all the things he does right (and wrong even, since the wrong is pointing out my failings not his!) He should be fairly good at what we're practicing! We've been training in agility for over 3 years now and trialing for 1. We're still learning to work together, and I make noobie handler mistakes with him, but we're finally starting to click as a good team. I think I've finally got my mind wrapped around not being stressed, still running the course as best I can "competitively" It's fun to run, I don't worry what will motivate him or stress him out because we've kinda been there and done that. It's nice and fun, and sort of comfortable.

He's just a good dog who tries for me. I absolutely adore him, especially on cold days like to day when I'm home sick and he is snuggled up leaning against me.

I am a good dog laying on my bed hiding with the blankets.

Sometimes you have to hide somewhere else, but I am still a good dog!

Tomorrow is Spencer's vet appt and then this weekend is the CAA Remembrance Day trial, hopefully both go well. Our Flyball team has some other people who will be there on Sunday, so that is cool too! I might even bring my camera to the trial and get some pictures that don't suck.

Ups and Downs

It's been a interesting week and a bit, that's for sure.

First, we didn't get into the TT's Halloween trail, which was a bit of a disappointment. That was Baxter's "first" weekend trial last year. I even tried seeing if just Spencer could get in. Nada. I know, these things happen, but it's never fun to find out you got wait listed. I was looking forward to hopefully getting Baxter's MADC and a new club's title ribbon for the collection on my wall!

All dressed up, but no where to go

However allaying the disappointment, Monday night after the trial heralded a return to agility class. Something to look forward to! It's back in the Hebson Arena (super fun to find if you haven't ever been there, NOT!) I was interested in how Spencer would do in a new place. Especially a new place with mice/cats making regular appearances and horse poop to distract him from paying attention to me.

On the plus side, once we (I) braved the horrid fog that was as thick as pea soup and made our white knuckled way to the arena, Spencer wasn't too distracted to work. On the down side, the footing in this arena is different than any other surface we've run on before. It's regularly used as a riding arena and is quite loose/hard to run in sandy dirt. Spencer sometimes has a hitch in his stride where he skips with his right hind leg. This was VERY apparent at Hebson, due to the footing I think.

Dr. Google and some experienced dog people think it might be a luxating patella (slippy kneecap) which I knew was a congenital health issue, but I didn't realize that it isn't uncommon to develop it later in life as well. Several different vets have looked at him and no one has ever noticed him having issues, but because of the severity of it on Monday I want him checked out again to determine what exactly is up with him. It doesn't seem to bother him, but it sure bothers me!

Why do you keep looking at my leg lady?!

Baxter was also very happy to return to classes. Slightly less happy to share my attention with Spencer but still a very good boy. He did awesome and nailed his weave entry and was quicker to complete them. It was apparent enough that our instructor commented on how we must have been working on them over the summer. It was great to see my hard work paying off!

Spencer had a vet appointment with a rehab vet on Halloween to get his leg issue sorted out. That was the quickest I could get him in unless I wanted to wait over a week. The downside was the appt was for 5 and TT's Whee Wed trial that Baxter was entered in wants the first dog off the line at 7 - not a whole lot of time.

I figured it was more important to get Spencer checked out, and if we missed Baxter's first run it wasn't the end of the world. We got to the clinic really early, like 4:40ish, so we could get the first time paperwork and questions out of the way and still see the vet by 5.

Apparently I neglected to pay Murphy off so that my plan could go off without a hitch. The appointment before me was late getting there, since I doubt they only schedule 15 min between appointments. Then that dog needed extra diagnostic tests. THEN the owner got bad news (thin walls + waiting boredom = lots of overhearing.) So at 5:45 I went out to the front desk and asked to please reschedule since I had been waiting an hour by then. Which was annoying as I had to take time off work to get the dogs to make it to this appointment to begin with.

Cue panic that I'm not going to make it to Wet Creek in time for the trial! We made it though, with some time to spare, and no, I didn't break the sound barrier speeding to get there either.

So you'd think after our stellar Monday night class that we'd have some great runs, right? Maybe a couple Q's? Yep. Nope! Murphy strikes again and Baxter won't weave. First run he was good, just popped out early on the last pole. Ok, maybe I pulled off and didn't support them to the end? Rev him up, start him over and he does it great, maybe he just needed a reminder that yes, you do need to do all 12 poles here.

2nd run was team. This time he popped out of the weaves 3 from the end. Oookkkaayyy .... Put him back in, and babysit. Pop, 3 from the end again.

His jumpers run though, was lovely. His handler was just a noob and I didn't support/cue a jump properly so he missed it. I didn't think the angle was that odd while walking it, but several other dogs had the same issue.

Ah well. On the final up side. Today was time change. I love my dogs. No one moves in the morning until I go to get up. It's great. The dogs and I can sleep to noon or get up at 6 am, LOVE it! After the emotional roller coaster of a week, I needed the hour!

No! It's not up time yet!