I snapped the above shot of "Double Trouble" after they came in from playing this morning. We've developed a new morning routine that seems to make everyone happy: All dogs go out to potty, all dogs come inside to eat, all dogs go back out again after I eat breakfast, Luke & Kaiser come back inside after a short while and I leave the Border Collies outside to go crazy.
And good heavens, do they ever go crazy!! Max seems to be catching on to the, "You chase me, then I chase you" game, which has made Secret very happy. She is always willing to be the chasee if need be, but she really enjoys having her time as the chaser. Max wasn't comfortable with this at first, but he's getting the hang of it now and they have so much fun ripping around the yard. They also do a fair amount of wrestling, and as a result they tend to come in sopping wet. This morning must have been more running and less wrestling, because they weren't too bad for a change!
We have a trial this weekend, so Bethany & Rascal came over to practice last night. I thought they would benefit from jump work, so I went online yesterday and found the following course at http://www.agilitycoursemaps.com. I love that web site and it's my go-to resource since I'm inept at designing my own courses.
Although it's an AKC course, I thought it offered a fair amount of NADAC flavor with the nice flowing sequences. But better than a run-of-the-mill NADAC Jumpers course, because it also includes weaves! Honestly, one of the reasons I feel I would like to give AKC a try with Secret is because I think the JWW class is fantastic. I always like to set them up because they tend to offer so much versatility.Secret totally kicked the course's butt. She was actually the only one who ran it completely clean (Luke knocked a bar and Kaiser had his moments where he was distracted and had to go visit Rascal). I was so proud of her! She even managed to nail that super weird weave entry when we reversed the course and ran it backwards.
And the best part is that she did it all for the ball!! Yay! Go Secret! We seem to have finally migrated past the, "I must have food for my work" phase, even though she saw Kaiser & Rascal getting treats.
She did get tired at the end, though, so I let her jump at 12" for her last run-through. One thing about having Max around, Secret sure gets worn out each day.
And just for a quick update on the Max saga -- Earlier this week I got a signed & witnessed surrender form, so we will NOT be going through the "I want him back" drama again.... Max goes to the vet this afternoon to get updated on his rabies & distemper, and also for a heartworm test to make sure everything is okay in that department. He'll come to the trial this weekend to meet people and then next week I'll likely see if I can get him listed as a courtesy post on a couple of rescue sites. I'm hoping I can get him placed without actually signing him over to anyone, but we'll see.
Wow - I didn't know about that agility course map website, it looks pretty good. Are you going to start doing AKC with Secret as well?
ReplyDeleteI don't plan to pursue it heavily, but I figure I might do the local trials if they fit into my schedule. I've had people give me a hard time because I have made comments about how easy it is to put a MACH on a dog -- Granted it takes plenty of time, money & effort, but I think it's an achievable feat for most dogs because you aren't required to have a great amount of speed or specific skills (like distance). So I figured maybe I should "put my money where my mouth is" and do it. AKC isn't really my flavor of agility, but we'll see.
ReplyDeleteMy main goal is USDAA. I'll start her out in NADAC with the lower jump heights and look at starting USDAA as she gets closer to two, since she'll be jumping 26". USDAA is supposed to be rolling out a Vet program in January, which will also allow Luke to play if he can jump 16" in Performance. Kaiser will run 12" Performance, and I think he'll really like the courses (well, minus the table, but now that I have one we can work on that!).
I have enjoyed NADAC, but I'm ready for a change.
Although in a perfect world (ie: if I had a sugar daddy), I'd be out there trialing every single weekend in every organization possible. :)
It's interesting to hear what people think about different agility venues. I know that when I was at a NADAC trial, people were talking about how much they hated USDAA and AKC :) There are amazing handlers in both AKC/USDAA down here. (Not too many NADAC trials in my area.) No way I can run Nari in AKC unless AKK get FSS status (doesn't look like that will be happening anytime soon), which is too bad because AKC dominates my area.
ReplyDeleteAh yes, don't we all need a sugar daddy! I'm waiting for a big lottery win since I've missed my sugar daddy opportunity :)
Many NADAC people are anti-AKC, and it tends to go both ways. Many USDAA people are also anti-NADAC, but I have several friends who do NADAC & USDAA. NADAC has been falling out of favor in this area for whatever reason -- Could be because CPE Nationals is being held in Minnesota in 2011, so we are SWAMPED with CPE trials right now -- Or it could be because people tire of the never-ending change that is par for the course with NADAC.
ReplyDeleteRight now Sharon is obsessed with the EGC stuff, and I can so see NADAC going in that direction. I've thought that the courses lately have all been getting fairly stale and all with a similar flavor -- I like that USDAA courses have more variation, likely because each judge designs their own -- And of course, they have more obstacles to choose from!
I think Kaiser would do fine on AKC courses (Luke would hate them). And technically, one could show an AKK in AKC via the Canine Partners program, but it requires that the dog be spayed or neutered -- and well, I'm not neutering Kaiser just so he can run in AKC. :o)
I'm done with TDAA because Kaiser hates it -- And other than that, the only venue I really can't see myself doing is CPE. I put my foot down with that one, I see absolutely no challenge in CPE. Sometimes I think your dog has to die on the course to not qualify. Obviously an exaggeration, but I feel it's much too easy.