Jump Grids!

Okay, honestly I don't really even have that much to talk about today. I just thought this picture I caught of Secret was too cute not to share. Yawn! She was not in the mood to be photographed.

I actually meant to post this yesterday, but never got around to it. Obviously it's not of very high importance. :o)

I had a very short time period to work the dogs on Wednesday evening before leaving the house, but I managed to make the most of it! My main objective was to get Kaiser some time on the dog walk before our trial this weekend, but I wanted to do more than just that with Secret -- So I set up a jump grid.

I very, very briefly tried to introduce her to this right at the beginning of her agility training. This was before she really had any jump commitment installed whatsoever and it was, in general, a giant fail (even with really low jumps). Because of this, I wasn't really sure what to expect this time.

It went very well! I started her out at 16" jumps while I fiddled with the distance. Once I was satisfied with the spacing, I moved the line of four jumps up to 20" and she handled it with ease. I added a fifth jump set at 24" and made it a bigger bounce stride and she read the distance very well. Impressive!

The only thing I really noted is that she seems to land somewhat heavy on her front end. I think it would be advantageous to do more grid work to get her snapping up her front end a bit more -- Or maybe that's just a horse term.... At any rate, I think we've done a lot of work on jumping in extension and not so much work with jumping in collection, and that's where the heaviness in the grid came from. She managed to get through it well enough, though, so I think she will pick it up quickly.

Unfortunately, our training days at home are quickly coming to an end.... I am now seriously considering driving up to Ann Braue's training center in Eau Claire a couple of times per month for lessons. I haven't had any training in heaven knows how long, so it would be good for both of us!

Secret is 15 months old! Video!

In honor of Secret turning 15 months old today (old enough to compete in AKC, although we won't be doing that for a while), last night I set up a USDAA Advance Standard course to work her on -- And of course I had my wonderful cousin, Bethany, video it for Secret's blog!

I am just tickled pink with how well Secret ran this course. She is awesome.

I believe I have mentioned it previously, but a couple of weeks ago I almost doubled Secret's food intake. It was hard to admit, but she was pretty skinny and I think that may have contributed to her quickly dwindling energy when we worked. She has filled out a little bit now, but I have noticed a pretty drastic increase in her energy and desire to continue working. I can't have her getting too heavy because she will have to jump high, but she is looking a bit more "presentable" and not so orphan thin these days.

At the end of the night we played with everyone on weaves. Here is the video I put together for that!




As you can see, Secret has chosen "hopping" as her preferred weaving style. I've decided not to mess with it. She still has decent speed and, most importantly, she is happy. Maybe some day she'll switch to swimming on her own, but for now I'll leave good enough alone!

I don't think we'll get in any more training this week. This afternoon I'm taking the boys to the chiropractor, then I have Humane Society stuff the next two days. We have another NADAC trial here in La Crosse this weekend, so Secret will get another weekend of socializing -- and maybe, just maybe she can play on the equipment at the end of it all again!

Slow week...

It's been a slow week here, but you know I'm loathe to let an entire week pass without a blog posting for Secret.

We did manage to do some training on Monday of this week. I set up a super fun Advanced Standard USDAA course for everyone to play on and Secret did GREAT! Other than a momentary brain fart on the weave poles (I think it took five attempts before it clicked and she went, "oh, that's what they are!"), she was just super. The table still needs some work, as she did have some issues sticking it when it was part of the course. Her "auto down" also isn't quite as fast as one would hope, but that's what you get when you spend three sessions working on it then don't touch it again.

Secret hasn't seen a chute for ages thanks mostly to the crazy wind we always seem to have, but she sailed right through it without a problem. I also set up a "hobo double jump" (made of two jumps stacked together) and this was the first time she's seen anything other than a single jump. Again, no biggy. Really, the only thing I'm missing now is a broad jump. I suppose one of these days I'll have to put one together so she sees one before her first AKC or USDAA competition. Someone on Craig's List is selling a set of competition obedience jumps that includes a broad jump for $125 and I am tempted....

Yes, Max is still with us... We met a really nice couple at our last agility trial and I had high hopes that things would work out and he would find a home with them. I haven't heard from them since then, however. :o( Max has started to do well with his agility work, though! His wait is improving daily (for lead-outs) and he's starting to connect jumps really well (not quite so focused on my hand) and he also does the dog walk! I have yet to introduce him to the a-frame or weave poles. We've kind of touched on the teeter, but not to any great extent. I need to make a more updated (and shorter) video of him and get him posted around more places on the internet.

This week has been so bad for training. Tuesday evening I worked at the Humane Society, followed by the entire day on Wednesday (I filled in because we were short-staffed), then last night we had theater tickets. Tonight isn't looking all that great for training, either, since I have a 4:30 vet appointment with Luke. Argh. Hopefully we can do something quick -- Like weave poles, since apparently I have let that slide!

Daylight savings time ends this weekend. I hate that it gets dark by 5:00 p.m. It's only going to get harder to train from here on out. Nothing ever panned out from my Craig's List post asking for an arena to rent for the winter, so I have yet to figure out what we're going to do. I can see breaking down and putting Secret in a class at the dog center in January, otherwise there is no way she'll be able to make her planned debut in February when she turns 18 months. I hate living in an area with so few training options.

I've also considered driving considerable distances to attend run-throughs that I see advertised in Minneapolis, Madison, etc. Anything to get her on equipment, I figure!

Remote Trainers Rock

A while back, I entered Luke into a contest on Facebook. The company, PetSafe, was doing what they called a "Best Moments" contest, where users were asked to submit photos and stories to compete for the honor of Best Moment. The prize was a $100 Visa gift card, which I believe was actually awarded to both first & second place.

Luke's story of being diagnosed with Addison's Disease and then coming back to get his NATCH less than a year later made the cut and was one of the top five finalists that moved on to voting. For a while, thanks to the help of all of my wonderful friends, Luke actually led the voting! We were beat out in the final hours, though, and we ended up third.

Laura from PetSafe contacted me to say that she was sorry I didn't win, as she was really touched by Luke's story and photo (I submitted our NATCH photo with the judge). She asked for my address to send me one of their new "Cinch-it" collars as a consolation prize.

In passing, I had mentioned that I was shopping for a remote trainer and wasn't sure which one would be best to buy. Laura never really answered my question directly, but told me to check my package for a surprise when it arrived.

Well, FedEx left me a package yesterday. I thought it was rather large for the expected Cinch-it collar (which is pretty cool, by the way!), so I tore right into it. I almost fell over when I saw the Venture Series remote training collar inside. HOLY COW. That is the best collar they sell! I saw it on the web site and was pining over it, but there was no way I could spend that kind of money on a training collar. One of the nice things about it (other than working from a distance of 1000 yards!) is that it gives you the option of adding a second collar to the remote. Always a nice option down the road!

My main use/need for a training collar is for Luke's barking in the car issue. And his barking in the yard at 6 a.m. issue.... Basically just his barking. I also have thought on numerous occasions that it would be MIGHTY HANDY to have a way to "reach out and touch" Secret in those times when she chooses to blow me off to go eat nasty stuff on our walks.

Today I got to put the collar to the test for the first time with Secret (it has already worked miracles with Luke, by the way). She was instantly put off by it a bit, but mostly just because of the long excess of flap that is necessary to make it fit both Secret & Luke. She got used to it and went on her merry way in no time.

I hate to say I was waiting for her to mess up so that I could use the collar, but well, I was.... Of course, it seemed like it would be a day where she would put no foot wrong! Maybe Luke told her about the collar's "power?"

As luck would have it, some critter left a nasty pile of poo in the middle of the trail. All of the other dogs listened to my "leave it!" command, but Secret did her usual routine of, "I'm going to scarf this as fast as I can and run away so that you can't catch me while I gobble it down!!"

The remote trainer was set at a paltry level two, as this is the level that has gotten a reaction out of Luke. After giving Secret appropriate warning, I pressed the button on the remote and got ZERO reaction. Quickly up to three and still nothing, as she ran off with her prize. I was losing my training opportunity when she didn't react to level four, so I pressed the "boost" button on the remote to quickly send it up two levels. All of the sudden Secret popped all four feet off the ground and let out a little squeak as her tasty poo treat went flying out of her mouth. I quickly followed up with praise and rewards. Good girl!

I had purposefully taken the route that lures Secret through the fence. As I figured, she took off towards the same spot in the fence on our way back. I called for her to stop and, of course, she didn't, because there is tasty cow poo on the other side! Right as her head went through the strands of barbed wire, I popped her with a short burst on level four. There was no dramatic reaction from her whatsoever, BUT, she stopped. She stood there for a moment, thinking, then looked back at me. I called her again and.... She came! Good girl! I won out over poop!

While I realize there are other ways to address this training issue (namely, making us both miserable by keeping her on leash or a long line, which I don't like since 99% of the time she is perfect), I am very appreciative to the folks at PetSafe for helping me get my point across in this quick and painless fashion!

I know I talk about Bethany & Rascal from time to time on this blog, so I just wanted to share what Bethany brought me as a gift! She is so sweet.

Moooo....

You might recall that someone was darn near terrified of sheep back in August. It took what, three people to get her to interact with them?

But cows? Oh my, cows are AWESOME! Cows are not scary at all!

Today on our walk from hell (winds gusting at 60+ mph and freezing cold rain that joined us halfway through), Secret went venturing on a poop patrol. She made the original joyous discovery a couple of weeks ago, so now whenever we go walking in that direction, we must always go investigate to see if there is any new poop to be found. This involves the very naughty task of going through a barbed wire fence where she can't be followed...

The cows have been out in the fields adjacent to the trail almost daily for some time now. Luke is usually my "cow dog" and takes great joy in barking at them and chasing them away from the fence (if they happen to be there). Secret has almost always stayed up on the trail by me and has shown relatively little interest in the cows.

But not today. She was going about her merry business of ignoring my yelling and eating her prized poop when she suddenly noticed that the cows were coming to investigate her (FYI, these cows are NOT scared of dogs at all). Suddenly her whole demeanor changed and she ran to meet them head on.

Apparently she decided that the cows needed to be rounded up, so she stood down the rogue cows and faced them off until they turned around to go join the rest of the herd. When she accomplished her mission she noticed that she had forgotten one lone cow several yards back, so she went and got that one and took it to the rest. When she felt her mission was completed she took a lap to survey what she had done and then came sprinting back (through the mud....), squirted back through the fence and up the bank to me. She was quite proud of herself.

I struggled to find it in myself to be mad at her...

Trial Weekend!

Secret tagged along to another NADAC trial in La Crosse this weekend. As much as we enjoy traveling, it's always nice to have a hometown trial to be able to return to our own bed at night. We haven't had a trial in La Crosse since July!

I had absolutely no idea how I was going to fit four dogs and all of the necessary supplies into my car. I've gotten it down to an art form for fitting in the stuff for the three dogs, but I was at a loss as to how I would arrange for four. As it ended up, they dogs had to ride on top of one of the big crates. I covered it with blankets & pillows best I could to make it a more comfortable ride for them, but I figured nobody could complain too loudly about a 30 minute drive.

Secret was a very good girl at the trial this weekend. She seems to get less cranky & more friendly with each trial that passes. There were a couple of dogs that came on Sunday (big, fluffy, black dogs -- something we don't like...) that caused her to pretty much sit and rumble in her crate all day, but otherwise she really wasn't too much of a pest for a change. I think having Max next to her made her feel less persnickety when I took the boys outside without her. She may have also appreciated having room to stretch her legs, as this weekend she got Luke's BIG green soft-sided crate (since I figured Max would be better off in the wire crate...).

Secret met Pearl this weekend, our friend Karen's new rescue, and had a fun time playing! They have very similar play styles. Secret did very well with new dogs this weekend, only really having issue with the big black ones (I'll never understand this, she LIVES with a big black dog!). She was also Max's security blanket when he was out & about, helping him to be more comfortable around all of the strange dogs. Max's friendliness with people also seemed to rub off some on Secret!

The trial got done very early on Sunday and nobody made a move to dismantle the Touch-n-Go course that ended our day. Practically everyone was gone by the time I had the majority of my stuff loaded into the car, so I grabbed Secret and decided to run her through the course. She has never been on contacts other than mine at home, so I figured it would be a good experience for her.

Oh my goodness, she totally nailed it! And not only that, but she went over them with confidence and speed! I was using what was left of my cheese for her reward -- No toy -- but she did very well and was having fun. I was excited to see how well she performed in a new environment.

Max may have found a home this weekend. There was a couple who stopped by the trial to watch on Saturday and overheard me talking to some friends about Max. They spent some time with him and then came back on Sunday to see him again. I believe the husband is smitten with Max, but the wife is still on the fence because she's not sure if he'll live up to her agility aspirations or some such thing. The poor guy just needs some work! At any rate, they are my best lead to date, so we'll see where that goes.

Meanwhile, Secret is in LOVE with him. She will miss Max a great deal when he finds a new home.

Secret Rocks JWW!

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.

It's painted! (The table, or Secret?)

See that nice splotch of blue paint on Secret's foreleg? Yeah.... Still not entirely sure how she got that. I can somehow picture how Max got blue paint in his tail, primer on his back and blue paint across his side (he was the worst, obviously!), but that big splotch on Secret's leg? It kind of befuddles me.

I was OFF on Saturday -- No work, no trials, no nuthin, -- So I took advantage of it and got my table project finished. That sucker has a grand total of three coats of primer (one being the sand layer) and two coats of color. It should survive living outside for 2/3 of the year.

There was still a little sun left after the last coat of paint finished drying and I finished posing everyone for pictures, so I decided to grab the clicker and do Secret's first session of learning the automatic down on the table. It should be no surprise, but she picked it up in an instant. We'll obviously need to proof it over several more sessions, but it stuck with her enough that she remembered to do it when I asked her for the table yesterday. Not lightning fast, but she went into the down without being asked when I didn't say anything. So we're off to a great start, but we'll keep working on it. We started with the 8" table and will move up to the 12" table for our next session.

Bethany & Rascal came over for practice on Friday and I set up the Elite Regular course that I ran with the boys in Zumbro Falls. Secret was AWESOME on the course. We did all of it with the Jolly Ball, too -- No food! I broke it up at first and rewarded her in various sections (contacts & weaves, mainly), then put it all together in the end. She rocked it. The only hitch was a tunnel contact discrimination where the tunnel was to the inside. I don't recall that we ever got that one on the first try. Something more to practice, I guess! I'm guilty of not setting up that particular sequence very often because we so very rarely see it in trials.

While waiting for one of the paint layers to dry on Saturday, I set up the Chances course from Zumbro Falls. I just ran it like a regular course with Secret, but it gave us a great opportunity to work on our, "OUT Tunnel!" cue, since she tends to be such a contact-sucker. Something seemed to really click with her and she started to really sight in on the tunnel and go for it without as much body blocking as is normally required. This course layout also offered great opportunity for rear cross work (with jumps & tunnels) as well as some pretty good sending. Secret is doing so great for a baby dog in those areas.

I worked at the Humane Society yesterday, but I did still manage to get in a little bit of training. My main motivation is that the boys have a trial this weekend and Kaiser desperately needs schooling on his running dog walk -- So I figured everyone may as well work so long as the contacts are set!

I used it as an opportunity to school Secret on her contacts using her Jolly Ball. She's always more likely to break when she's jazzed up for her toy. She surprised me and totally nailed her a-frame several times, so I didn't push her on that too much. The dog walk caused more of an issue, not only in that she struggled to stop, but a couple of times she just went flying off the center plank! I slowed her down a little at that point and didn't ask for so much distance between myself and the dog walk. When I moved in a bit it seemed to take some of the pressure off her and she gave me a really nice performance.

It was nice to see some real speed with her contact performances. I've noticed she's been starting to get slower & more careful about hitting her two-on/two-off position lately.

Have I said lately how much I love the Jolly Ball company? :o) It brings so much out of Secret! Even if the handle area is just one big gaping hole now....

We have a TABLE!

Oh happy day, we finally have a pause table at home! My parents gave me money for my birthday back in AUGUST that I earmarked for my table project, and it took me *this long* to actually get around to it. I had to special order the corner pieces and I've even been sitting on those for weeks.
My dad is awesome and pretty much did all of the work involved. I stood there and watched. :o) Having a woodworking factory certainly does help with the construction process, however, as he slapped the table top together lickety-split and we used the radial saw to slam out the PVC pretty quickly.

The only real wrench in the project was the fact that the 1 1/2" Schedule 40 PVC was *not* going to fit into the 1 1/2" Furniture Grade PVC parts. Sigh. What is up with that? I never experienced such an issue with the other stuff I've built, but these parts were not going to go together. We had to do a lot of sanding to get the pipe small enough to fit relatively easily into the fittings. It was such a giant pain in the butt that we ended up only doing the 24" and 12" legs. My dad had done enough, so I said I would just finish the 8" & 16" legs by hand at home (eventually....).

I stopped at the hardware store on the way home to pick up some sandpaper and primer paint. After our picture posing session I got to work in the garage and was able to primer the entire table, top & bottom, before bed. It will need at least one more coat of primer over the entire thing, then perhaps still one more coat on the top that will be the sand layer, to be covered by paint (my standard yellow & blue!).

I don't anticipate any problems whilst training Secret to do the table. She is quite enamored with it already and will perch on it at any given chance. I figure we'll dust off the clicker to help teach the automatic down -- A given now that AKC has gone to a position-less table and USDAA still requires a down every time.

In other news, our Max story has encountered a hitch. Yesterday afternoon I received a call from Max's previous owner, Bobby, who has decided she wants him back. I explained to her why I felt this was a bad idea, as Max has come to expect a good deal of exercise each day since he's come to live with me. He was starting to pop out of his seams with her, and now I fear it would be even worse. A tiny apartment with an inactive person is NOT the proper home for a young Border Collie. She trusted me to find him an appropriate home, and I don't feel her home fits that description, so I cannot in good conscience return him to her. She is thinking about all that I told her yesterday and I am to call her this afternoon to talk about it. I hope she comes to her senses, as I will find it very hard to outright say, "NO, you may not have him back." I fear that even if I did allow him to go back, within the span of a week she would realize that she made a mistake and I would have him back again. All that shuffling around is so unfair to Max and we really need to keep his best interests in mind.

Secret has "made it!" :o)

Secret found a stick on our walk today. It made her sublimely happy.

Do you recall the photo shoot we went to in July for "Chuckle Pup" leashes & collars? I am a "fan" of CP on Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/ChucklePup?ref=ts ) and have been keeping an eye out to see if anything ever came of the photo shoot, but I was starting to think she had decided to pursue other options or something.

This morning Adrienne posted that her web site was up. It is very bare-bones right now and doesn't really have any content -- BUT, it has a front page. And just LOOK who made the front page!!

www.chucklepup.com

How neat is that? Secret's picture got chosen! I admittedly find it a little odd that they used not only a picture that doesn't have any of her product in it, but also a shot that wasn't even taken as part of the shoot. The "beauty shots" were supposed to be a perk to those of us who came, since it wasn't a paying gig and all.

But who cares?! I think it's awesome.

I've more or less given up on the whole animal actor gig, mostly because I have never seen Barbara post Secret (or Kaiser) as an "option" for any of her clients. I have absolutely no idea what to think about that, and I've stopped really caring. There seems to be a core little group that she consistently pulls from, and there isn't much I can do about it (I doubt throwing a hissy fit and being a classic "stage mom" would do me any favors). Secret's picture got picked from the 100's of photos taken that day, and I'm just tickled.

Max is still with us. The home visit we did last Wednesday didn't pan out, as they just aren't ready or able to bring in another dog while their old, ailing, debilitated dog is still around. The dog is pretty much on his last leg and will likely not live all that much longer, but there is no way I would ever suggest to have one dog put down just to bring in another (the wife is leaning that way, but I had to side with the husband on that one).

He's doing well with my crew. Max & Secret still go crazy playing with each other -- That is, when Kaiser doesn't step in to stop the action (at which point I generally have to step in and remove Kaiser...). Max has even went so far as to try to initiate play with Luke, which is HUGE!

I need to get a bio typed up and posted to the local agility lists to see if there is any interest. I have to admit to taking my time getting around to it, as I really don't mind having him around. Secret sure seems to like it.

One thing Secret probably really likes is that she is no longer crated when I leave. Max has taken over the wire crate in the living room, which happens to be the only Border Collie-sized wire crate in the house. I do have multiple soft crates, but I always hesitate to leave a dog unsupervised in one of those. I'm sure Secret would be fine, but I just haven't bothered. Instead, I decided to take the leap and just leave her out all day. It was the next logical step after graduating from her half-days of freedom, which she has handled well.

The only real issue is with the Kongs. We did lose another Walmart knock-off last Thursday, which I replaced with a real Kong -- the super-tough black variety. I'll replace the Walmart versions as needed and hopefully she can't destroy the Kongs. She was fine on Sunday, so fingers crossed! I'm working the late shift at the Humane Society tonight, so the dogs will get Kongs to tide them over until I get home to make dinner. I spoiled them and stuffed them half full with chicken in addition to the canned food & peanut butter. My dogs are spoiled rotten, it's no wonder Max thinks he's in heaven....

But he still sleeps in a crate next to the bed at night, so don't go thinking he's mine or anything! ;o)

Zoooooom!

The above video is what we worked on last night. After Rascal's first NADAC trial this weekend (he was awesome, BTW), it became apparent that we needed to do more work on obstacle focus and driving forward. The jump arc is something I've been playing around with Secret for a while now and her obstacle commitment has gone way up. Not to mention her speed! :o)

I like the arc because it's quick & easy to set up & leave standing in the yard. I'll usually integrate it into Secret's play sessions on nights when I'm too lazy to do "real training." She seems to think it's great fun! All of the jumps are at 20" now, but I figure I'll soon start to bump them up again. The arc will be a good spot to increase height, I think.

We had so much fun in Zumbro Falls on Saturday! Secret was a good girl at the trial. I took her out during one of our breaks and we went to the big field beyond the ring to play fetch & tug. I just pulled one of the random toys we'd gotten at a previous trial out of the bag and thankfully she was in the mood to play with it. She was able to burn off a lot of energy, which is good since there is always so much down time for her at trials. Secret got to come out and meet a friend's 11-week old BC puppy, too -- And it was SO CUTE! She kept play-bowing and bouncing around him, letting him jump all over her. Secret loves puppies.

The highlight of her day was surely after the trial when we let all of the dogs run around together. Greg was there with Peppy & Neeko, plus we also had Rascal. Kaiser even got to go off leash since it was a giant field and there wasn't anywhere nearby that he could get himself into trouble. They had so much fun! It was neat to see all the Border Collies (and a Klee Kai!) running around together.

Speaking of dogs running around, I have another video to share!



Max is home with us. I picked him up Sunday evening on my way home from the Humane Society. Bethany came over and helped me take all four dogs for a walk together. Secret was horrid at the start and kept trying to attack Max (much like she started when we did our walk last week). She got better, though, and by the time we returned to the house and let everyone loose, everyone had settled and the introductions actually went quite well.

Since then, Secret has decided she loves Max. They play, and play, and play, and play some more. Max thinks my back yard is Disneyland and generally wants to go straight back outside after we come in from playing. The weather has been nice, so I've been letting them burn off a lot of energy out there. Kaiser likes to control things a lot, so after a while I call him inside so that Secret & Max can have their fun, Border Collie-style.

Tomorrow I'm taking Max to meet his potential new owner. If it works out, she has already expressed that she would like to come over for play dates and to start Max's agility training with me. I'll miss him, but it will be awesome if I get to keep in touch and still visit!

Oh! I finally have a weight update. I stopped into the vet's office and took all of the dogs in for a weight check (individually...). Secret is 42.5 lbs -- So I think she lost weight? Or at least she's holding, and she's looking great.

Meet Max!

I'd like everyone to meet Max! It sounds like he will be coming to live with us for a short while until he finds his forever home. It will be Secret's job to teach him to be a dog and learn to play well with others.

Max currently lives in an elderly assisted-living type community and lived in an in-home daycare in his previous life. He isn't getting enough activity in his new home, so I said I would help to find him something more appropriate. I can't say no to a cute Border Collie!

Max is awesomely well behaved and has super manners, but he is sorely lacking in dog skills. Apparently he was raised with a Shepherd/Collie mix in his last home, but I have a feeling this is the only dog he has ever known. We did a dog meet yesterday with all of my dogs (one-on-one) and Max was very scared & reactive to them. It is because of this that Max didn't come home with us last night -- We have a busy weekend coming up and I didn't think it was the right time. By the sounds of it, he will be coming home on Sunday.

Secret did her very best to try to make friends with him, but she was very unsure of the energy he was throwing off. She spent a lot of time in her submissive belly-up position (occasionally "singing" to him, which I don't think helped!), and by the end of our visit Max did approach to sniff her briefly. I think he'll come around fairly quickly. If things go well, I already have his next home lined up. If that doesn't pan out for whatever reason, I figure I'll post him on the MN and WI/IL agility lists to try to find him a home. If anyone reading this is interested in Max, please let me know!

Secret has been doing just super in her training. On Monday I had the jump arc set up as well as a set of 12 poles thrown in for fun. This allowed us to play with entries, and of course, work on weaving all 12 poles. She did awesome! All of her work was done for the increasingly ripped-up Jolly Ball. Man, I love that thing!

Last night, Bethany & Rascal came over for our last night of practice before the big event -- Rascal will be in his first agility trial this weekend!! They are coming to Zumbro Falls, MN with us for a fun-filled day of NADAC. I am so excited for them.

We set an Open Regular course to work on last night and all dogs (except Kaiser!) jumped 20". I ran Luke first, and then it was Secret's turn -- I made sure to run her BEFORE she saw one scrap of food, in the hopes that she would work for her ball. She did!! She did a whole course for her Jolly Ball, and she was AWESOME. Now, the handler needed a good smack in the face because I completely threw all of my criteria out the window (stop on contacts? what is that?). But after realizing what a moron I had just been, I did go back and we did it properly, STILL using the Jolly Ball! Sweet!!!

When we reversed the course, Secret had her eye on Kaiser's treats that she had been watching get doled out in front of her. Because of this, I didn't even attempt to bring out the Jolly Ball, although she might have surprised me. She still did very well with this run, but was definitely slower and required me to assist her a bit more. I should note that her distance work with the ball was *phenomenal.*

But we'll get there -- She's doing just great and I'm so happy with her progress of late. I definitely slack off on the contact practice. For what it's worth, we'll likely work on that tonight, if nothing else because Kaiser desperately needs his running dog walk re-schooled before Saturday.

Blankies!

When I got home from work yesterday, there was a box in front of the door, all wrapped up in plastic to keep it safe from the horrid, torrential rains we've been getting. It was a box from Schneiders! What does that mean? Secret's new blankie came!

It's still just a wee bit on the large side for her, but going down to the Medium would no doubt be much, much too small. Maybe she'll fill out some day. :o) Overall, Secret didn't seem all that keen on wearing her blankie, but I'm sure she'll appreciate it when the cold weather hits. The poor girl has no fat or hair to keep her warm, after all.

Kaiser got a blanket, too! I ordered one for him last year, but with all of the issues I had with them being sold out and out of stock, I eventually gave up. That's why I decided I'd better get with it this year and order early. If anyone is interested, you can find these blankets at www.sstack.com . Great value, great product!


Secret finally succeeded in ripping the handle off her Jolly Ball yesterday. Yay... We'll see if I can still manage to hold/throw it. Hopefully I find a way, because holy cow will she run for that thing! I set up an arc of 7 jumps to send her through and she absolutely FLEW through the sequence for the Jolly Ball! Yay for speed!!!!

Jolly Balls are Jolly Good Fun!

Last week we received a shipment from Schneiders Saddlery (www.sstack.com) with dog blankets for the upcoming winter season (booo!). Secret's was too large, sigh. So hers was sent back and exchanged for a smaller size. Hopefully that fits -- And don't worry, there will be pictures posted when it arrives. :o) She looks super cute in the pink plaid design!

One thing that DID come (and it fits just fine) was Secret's new Jolly Ball. Luke has one (his is red) that he goes crazy for, but it's popped & deflated, so we really haven't played with it much. I thought Secret would enjoy one (and needed to add $$ to my order to hit "coupon level"), so I added one to our order.

Secret was slow to warm up to it at first. She didn't really understand what was so fun about it. But I turned her loose with it on Friday while I cleaned the car, and apparently she discovered that it was loads of fun. Luke was going crazy with his at the same time, so perhaps that helps. Sibling rivalry seems to help everything. Granted, one of the best things about the Jolly Ball, in Secret's opinion, seems to be chewing off the handle -- So we must put an end to that. Luke ripped the handle off one of his and they aren't much fun after that!

Last night we were playing "dual Jolly Ball fun" between Secret & Luke and boy did she think that was fun! I believe it's about the fastest I've ever seen her run after a toy. Of course I had to see what she did over jumps for it -- Alas, the wind had blown over all but one jump (and I, of course, was too lazy to set any) -- But she really jetted over the single jump and alternately really dug in when I sent her and called her back. I do believe I'll have to get off my butt, set a jumping drill and try sending her through with the Jolly Ball as her reward. We might see new levels of speed from it. :o) The most shocking part was that she kept running to the point of being pooped -- It is a rare thing that will get her worked up enough to make her tongue hang to the ground. Some people might say she likes to conserve her energy -- Frankly, I just think she can be lazy. lol

We got up way too early (4:15 a.m.) on Sunday to drive down to Madison for a NADAC games trial with the boys. Everyone kept asking me why Secret wasn't running -- I guess she's been around so long that it seems like she should be old enough by now. Alas, the clock is still ticking.... February seems so far away.

Secret was pretty well behaved at the trial, although I hear she was doing some barking & growling at people when I wasn't at the crating area. She was exceptionally well behaved when out and about with me, however, which makes me happy. And I'll never find a better co-pilot for the drive down & back -- Although how she finds a comfortable position to sleep in while crammed in the front seat is beyond me!

Video Update -- Courses!

I took the above shot from the deck -- I think it makes Secret look like a puppy! :o)

Bethany & Rascal came over last night for some course work before their fun match this weekend. I took advantage of this and decided it would be "video day" for all! Why didn't I think of this sooner? ;o)

Secret did awesome! There were a lot of distractions going on -- The neighbor was mowing, Kaiser was screaming, Luke was barking, Bethany was standing there with the video camera...

I didn't even TRY to use toys in this session. Once Secret has seen other dogs getting treats, that's all she wants, so I rolled with it. That said, I think her speed was pretty good considering there were no toys involved! Her contacts & weaves are stellar, for sure.

For 13 months old, I'm not sure I could be happier with her progress!



She's such a good girl! I think we're going to have so much FUN when she starts trialing!

Rollin' Sixes

Last night I finally decided to revisit the 2 x 2 weave program where we left off -- which is introducing the second set of six weave poles about 15' - 20' past the first set. Heaven help me, but I just haven't been able to make myself commit to the program since we completed the first six days of weave training. We have been including weaves in our other exercises, but have not focused exclusively on the weaves, themselves.

I set up a trio of jumps coming into and out of the two sets of weaves to offer some variation and to continue to work Secret's entries. I used the bumper as a reward in the first session and switched to the fluffy tug and then the Wubba in session two (probably should have stuck with just the bumper...).

As outlined in Susan's program, we started out with a refresher of the just the first set, followed by introducing the second set on their own before connecting them. I started out with the two sets about 18' feet apart and Secret did a really good job at driving through both sets without missing a beat. We worked from all angles and threw in front & rear crosses.

I moved the poles to about 10' apart for the second session. Secret handled this just fine, but she lost steam fairly early on in this session. It didn't seem so much like boredom with the toy or the drill, but more that she just seemed quite tired. I was happy with the work we'd done for the night, so I decided to just call it quits at that point. When she's tired, she's done!

This was the first time I'd worked her on 20" jumps before & after the weaves. She didn't even blink at the change and we only had one knocked bar when she jumped flat.

(Like the dirt smudge on her cheek? Apparently jumping in the pond wasn't enough to clean it off!)

Secret had another good weekend testing the waters of being left loose while I worked at the Humane Society. Once again, Bethany took on the duty of letting them out mid-day. As we did last weekend, I crated Secret and gave all of the dogs their frozen food toys when I left in the morning around 8:00 a.m. Bethany comes between 1:00 & 2:00 to let them out and have a play date with Rascal. I guess she typically stays for 45 minutes or so, then she leaves Secret out of her crate until I come home, usually by 6:00 p.m. On average, Secret is up to about 4 hours out of her crate.

On Saturday, everything looked to be in place when I got home. I noticed, however, that all of the food toys were on the floor. Bethany and I had talked about putting stuff up when she left after the "Life Saver Incident" the weekend prior, but I figured she had just forgotten to do it. Secret had chewed a piece off Luke's on Friday night when I left them all home for a few hours, and then on Saturday I discovered that she chewed a piece off Kaiser's. Unlike the Life Saver toy, however, she doesn't seem to ingest the pieces of these toys -- I found the chunks both times.

Bethany called Saturday night to check in and see how the dogs were. I told her everything looked good when I got home, but then told her that I think we do need to put up the toys when she leaves because Secret is still eating them. Bethany's response was, "I did put them up! I put them on the table!"

Naughty, naughty Secret! She must have climbed onto the chair and gotten them off the table! What is so odd about this situation, however, is that there were three open bags of treats that have been on the table for some time, so that Bethany or my parents could feed them when letting the dogs out. She took all three toys off the table but left the treats? One of my friends noted that she did that because she knew that Bethany would get the blame for it. lol I wouldn't put it past her!

So because of this, on Sunday Bethany put the toys on the bar instead of the table. This seems to have done the trick and everything was untouched when I got home.

I have to get a course set up tonight or tomorrow for Bethany & Rascal to practice on before their fun match this weekend, which means that Secret should get in some course work this week. What I think we really need, though, is more jumpers work -- But Rascal needs to do contacts, so I'll be setting a regular course.

Oh! I finally got my PVC corners in the mail yesterday -- So it's time to head to Menard's to pick up supplies to *finally* build my table!! Something new for Secret to learn, and since I plan to teach it through shaping, I'm sure she'll love it.

Layering!

The above photo is the course map for our exercises last night. The boys were due for some distance training and I figured this set-up also gave me several things to work on with Secret!

Most notable was the layering drill at the start of the course. The distance line on this course map is for the Elite level, but even the Novice dogs on this course had to stay to the left of the double jumps. Talk about an evil test for Novice dogs & handlers!!

I don't believe I've done even a hint of layer work with Secret yet, so my expectations weren't terribly high for this exercise. Imagine my surprise, then, when she nailed it -- repeatedly! She really sighted in on her line and stuck to it. She never encroached on my space to come in to the inside jumps. Wow, what a good girl! I guess I'm installing a space bubble on her similar to the one Kaiser has -- Which can be a good thing and a bad thing....

We played with distance on the top portion of the course as well. It was fun to see Secret come blasting out of the tunnel and zooming through the hoops -- She had some speed last night! I was able to successfully get a good 10'-15' of lateral distance through that section, which allowed me to front cross at the bottom of the number 9 jump. I was also able to hang out by the number 9 jump while she sent to the tunnel and recalled through the hoops, so I was very impressed with her last night.

Space got a little tight at the bottom of the course, so I left the a-frame out and substituted the tire jump & a hoop for the finish. One of these days I'll stop being lazy and put contacts into more of our course work...

We also ran the course backwards, which involved a rear cross from jump 9 to the hoop at the top -- The angle was a little funky, but Secret didn't have any issue with it. I think I need to be a little more prompt with my cues, however, because several times I catch her looking back at me for direction and as soon as I tell her where to go she's off and sighting into the obstacle.

I didn't attempt the "out" line of jumps in the backwards course. I had done that with Luke and it was just nasty hard, so I kept things simple & happy by having her just run the inside line. She drove forward very nicely to finish up the last jump a good 20' ahead of me.

All of our work in the first session was done with the bumper. I tossed her into the rotation when I brought the boys out to work -- But then she'd seen Kaiser getting treats and was no longer interested in toys. The surprising news is that we did a couple of runs after Bethany & Rascal left (using food) and she was speedy & accurate.

Also of note, I bumped all of the jumps up to 20" for the stuff we did while Rascal was there & after -- This is the first time we've really put together several jumps at that height. Secret seemed a little unsure of this at first, but by the end of the night she was sailing through the sequences with ease. We'll stay at 20" for a while before bumping up any higher, I think. I want to be sure she's confident at this height before going up again. Ultimately, we'll have to get to 26" if we plan to run in the Championship classes in USDAA. She will be a 24" dog in AKC. Speaking of, I still haven't sent in for her PAL....

You ate what?!

This weekend I experimented with leaving Secret out for half-days while I worked at the Humane Society. "Auntie Bethany" was on duty each day to come let the dogs out in the afternoon, so the plan was for me to leave Secret in her crate in the morning and Bethany would leave all three dogs loose when she left.

It sounds like all of the dogs enjoyed their play date with Rascal both days. Apparently, though, Secret got a bit possessive over Bethany during their visit on Sunday and bit Rascal in the ear! That wasn't nice.

At any rate, Secret has always been fairly obsessed with Kaiser's "Life Saver" toy that I use to put his treats into when I leave the dogs (the other two have knock-off Kongs). It's never been a bit deal -- I sometimes let her play with it for a bit and have always taken it away from her when she starts chewing too roughly on it.

Well, I should have known that this would happen! This is what I found on the floor when I came home on Saturday (chap stick tube is for size reference).


That's all that was left of the Life Saver -- It's slightly less than 1/4 of the original. I started digging around under the couch and looking under pillows, HOPING that I would find the other pieces, but I knew it was pretty futile. Sigh. All I could really do was cross my fingers and hope that she had chewed it into small pieces that would pass easily.

The good news is that she did tear it into nice bite-sized pieces before eating it, as was evidenced by the NUMEROUS small pieces that appeared in her poo starting Sunday and continuing through Monday. Lovely, Secret. Just lovely. At least it doesn't seem to be causing any issues, unless you count the bad gas it seemingly gave her.

Bethany made sure to pick up the food toys before she left on Sunday, but this didn't stop Secret from finding her own fun. I would have NEVER pegged her to scavenge for stuff, so I was quite surprised to find one of our fleece tuggy ropes in pieces on the floor when I came home. One can never know if she was after the tuggy or the tennis ball I had placed next to it Saturday night (found under the couch when looking for pieces of the Life Saver!). The tennis ball was untouched on the floor, likely where it landed, so I'll take a gander that the tuggy was the pursued prize. The good news is that it doesn't appear that she ingested any of it.

So we have two attempts at half days of freedom and two fairly benign infractions. Basically, I need to do a better job of cleaning up the house before I leave her loose! I work again this weekend, but don't know who will be coming to let the dogs out yet. It might be interesting to try reversing the schedule and letting her be loose in the morning and crated in the afternoon. My only worry in that situation would be having my parents or Bethany come in to a big mess -- Unlikely, but entirely possible!

I got the weaves out yesterday and surrounded them with jumps to work on entries & exits. Secret did well in her first session, but wasn't so into it for her second session (using her Wubba for that one). She seemed tired, though, so I won't dwell on it too much. The work we did get done was very good, though -- She's still doing very well with front crossing at the top of the poles and rear crossing at the bottom! Love, love, love it. I really must buckle down and get her going on twelve poles, though. I've been much too lazy with training again lately.

Bumper Weaves!

Okay, so I've been a slacker. Big time. I was home all weekend and we did almost no training whatsoever. What a bum I am.... So really, I don't have any big news to share that Secret is now a super huge expert on a set of 12 poles. ;o)

What I *can* share, though, is that we have achieved success in using a TOY to reward for the weaves and it is resulting in SO MUCH MORE SPEED! Accuracy? Yeah... That one kind of went down the toilet, but it is getting better and Secret is learning to think a bit more. Weaving while jazzed up for a toy definitely requires more concentration from her than jumping while jazzed up for a toy.

We have been working just on the set of six 2 x 2's and I have them opened up a bit to encourage her to find her footwork. It's starting to work, as yesterday I caught her single-stepping a few times!

So what miraculous toy has brought about this single-stepping monster, you might wonder? It's a BUMPER!

Secret is loony-tunes over sticks and I have considered on numerous occasions that I should buy her one of those silly toys that resembles a run-of-the-mill stick. Unfortunately, I have not been successful in finding one locally, nor have I placed any orders online recently (sorry, not going to make a special order for a plastic stick!).

Our swimming escapades have also led me to desiring a floating toy for Secret -- One that is more desirable to her than balls (which she lets float down the river...). I recalled that she showed interest in Ailie's bumper this spring during our very first trip to the beach, and I figured they were about as "stick-like" as general toys come.

I stopped at Petco last week to pick up a bag of food (side note: We are trying Wellness Core for the first time and it's a hit!) and searched long and hard to find a bumper -- ANY bumper -- amongst their toys. My goodness, apparently they aren't a popular toy in this area. I scanned the area about four times before I finally found this one hiding:

It's a Chuckit! Amphibious Bumper toy and it was a hit from the moment I showed it to Secret! We haven't yet had the opportunity to take it to the river -- And to be quite honest, I am hesitant to do so without making sure she is highly emotionally attached to the toy. I am not keen on watching $12 float down the river only days after buying it.

So in the mean time, I've been just playing with Secret & the bumper in the back yard. She loves to fetch it and tug it -- It's not often that she gets so enthusiastic about something that doesn't even squeak (or have fur on it!). I more or less decided to try using it with the weaves on a whim and was pleasantly surprised at how well it works. So we'll keep at it and hope the streak continues!

I have been slacking on Secret's jump work since we started the weave training, so last night I set up an "S" shaped sequence using about seven jumps. I brought out her Wubba this time, so as not to over-push the bumper and lose any of its appeal. All jumps were set at 16" and she flew through the sequences! I'm very happy with how her jump commitment is growing -- There were a couple of times when I totally failed to support her line on the curves and she went out and found the jump on her own. This is an area where she previously would have cut in to follow my motion, so I'm very proud of her for this. Her rear crosses & speed were fantastic and she was great. We need to start focusing on more jump sequences and drills in the coming weeks. Winter will be here before we know it. :o(

Pictures from Herding Day!

This morning I found a happy surprise! Border Collie Rescue of MN posted pictures from the herding fun day on their Facebook page!

I was surprised to see how nice Secret's shots turned out. She actually looks focused and engaged in most of them -- Although you'll see there is a shot or two where she is clearly just on the chase. :o)

No surprise that they captured a shot of Secret doing what she does best -- Trapping & holding sheep in the corner! :o)

We had fun with Rascal last night. I played with Secret on our Novice course for a few minutes before they arrived and she did great! This was the first time I tried incorporating the weave poles into a course and she nailed it each time. I had opened up the weaves to encourage her to single-step, but I don't think I opened them quite enough. I'll play with that more this weekend.

We had an unfortunate incident of "littering the course" with treats from Bethany's treat pouch. I didn't realize quite how bad it was until I took Secret out for a turn while Rascal was getting a break. She COMPLETELY blew me off and went off looking for treats. The speed at which she went from running with me to nose on the ground was amazing -- I'm still trying to figure out how she even could tell there was food on the ground so quickly, but once she found the first one that was the end of it. She blew me off so badly that I ended up putting her in her crate in the house for a bit. I realize treats are terribly tempting, but that behavior is not cool.

The good news is that the dogs cleaned up all the treats during play time, so when we went to play on the course again after Rascal left, Secret was a million times better and ready to play. She's getting better at her "out tunnel" already and also had a couple of great rear crosses on course.

I set up a set of 12 weave poles for Bethany & Rascal to try and this was still set up during Secret's last session. My intentions were not to just throw 12 poles at her like this, but I figured what the hell, why not see what she does? She nailed them on her first time through! Huh, go figure! :o) She did pop early a couple of times with me on the off side, but I let her go slow and figure it out once and after that she had it.

I still plan on setting up two sets of 6 as suggested in the 2 x 2 program, but it was fun to see what she would do on a solid set of 12 so early in the game. She's a smart little girl.