A sight for sore eyes!

Look what we did today! In between watching the various rounds of the AKC NAC online today, I pulled out all of the jumps & weaves and we played agility! Outside! For the first time this year!

After the awful, snowy, cold & miserable winter we had this year (officially the worst of my lifetime), I had started to feel like we'd never get to play outside ever again. I feel grateful to have our little basement play area so we don't go completely without all winter, but there is just nothing like being able to RUN outside and play on courses again.

I'm lucky to live on a giant sand pit. I know many people around here still have snow, or at the very least, a whole lot of mud. I have a few spongy areas -- mostly off to the right in the photo where there is still snow on the fence line -- but the majority of the yard was great and we didn't have any slipping!

I'd love to try my hand at all of the NAC courses from this year, but we'll have to settle for JWW since I still lack a functioning a-frame. Maybe I'll put that on my list of "next big purchases" (that will never happen). I'm not a fan of the format of AKC Nationals, where you pretty much just go and run one run per day, but even through video you can tell that there is so much energy in the air and it's just infectious. I really would like to experience it one day. Next year it's in Reno, though, and I just don't think I could commit to going that far. I have no idea where it is after that. Probably closer. We'll see.

At any rate, we had loads of fun and everyone did great. I ran Secret at 20" just because I wasn't 100% sure about the ground and figured we should keep it safe & happy. Her weaves got slower and slower as we went along, which makes me really wish I could get her in for a chiro appointment this week before the trial. Unfortunately I just don't see it happening with my schedule, as I already get to go spend one morning at the dentist this week.

Kaiser struggled with the weave entry at first, but then got it. He's such a good boy.

Kizzy surprised me heaps! I broke the course into three parts for her at first since it's been a while since I've asked this much of her. We did the part before the weaves, the weaves, and the part after the weaves. She seemed to get it, so we put it all together and she actually got it! The whole thing! I didn't want to push it, so I left it at that and we just worked on weaves after that. Kizzy has a history of running past the weave entries at trials, so I wanted to work on her hitting and holding them at speed. She did great!

Luke didn't make it on video because I didn't have enough faith in him. I figured we'd just play around a little, so I didn't bother turning on the camera for his turn. Of course he nailed the whole thing on the first go. Good job old man.  :o)

Not to much else to report here, other than that I've been on poop patrol since Thursday. Wednesday night I went into the bathroom before bed and noticed that someone had stolen the used dental floss out of the garbage. Crap. There are two dogs in this house that are known for raiding the bathroom garbage and they both happen to be Klee Kai.

Kizzy had been back in the bedroom most of the night, so I started by dosing her with peroxide since I figured she was my most likely culprit. I put about 2ccs down her at a time and it took 3 doses, but it didn't take her too long to empty the contents of her belly onto the deck. There was dinner, but no dental floss. Sorry Kizzy.

On to Kaiser. Oh my lord. I must have hit him up over 10 times and he would NOT throw up. He'd get all frantic and urpy, just to choke it back down and then settle down again. It took almost 45 minutes to get him to throw up and when he did it was almost all foam and hardly any food at all. Definitely no dental floss present. Argh. I don't know if you can kill a dog by giving them too much peroxide, but I figured it wasn't worth the risk and called it quits. I put a couple of pieces of bread into each Klee Kai and went to bed.

I've been feeding pumpkin since then to help push things through and so far I've seen nothing. Granted, at this point I'm starting to keep a close eye on Luke (and maybe Secret, who knows) because if it did come out of one of the little dogs before I found it then odds are high he would have just taken it himself....

Everyone seems normal, thankfully, but I'm keeping close tabs and monitoring everyone until some sort of "evidence" passes. It was probably over a foot of dental floss, so no small amount -- especially for a little dog. We so do not need a medical emergency in this house.

New Wheels!

It's official! Today I brought home a new dog-mobile! I have lusted after a mini-van for at least the last two years now -- probably more, because things started to really get cramped in the Vue when Secret arrived. Due to various (mostly economic) reasons, I just couldn't stomach a car payment. I'll still likely be looking to pick up something part time to help with the bills, but I feel fortunate to be at a place now where I don't feel like having a car payment will cripple me financially. Without an extra source of income I'll definitely have to be more selective about our trialing choices, though, so I am hoping to find something that will help keep the bank account a little more thriving.

This morning I ordered a cargo cover that will cover the entire back end with all of the Stow-n-Go seats down and I'm going to wait until that arrives before I start playing with crate placement. I'm curious to see what ends up working best. I should probably start shopping for a Luke-sized wire crate one of these days, although I'm sure one of the big soft crates would probably work well enough. We'll have to do some testing to see what everyone likes.

I'm super excited for our AKC trial over in Oshkosh April 4 & 5 now! It will be our maiden voyage and there is a good chance we may just crate out of the vehicle if the weather cooperates. Crating is so tight in that building anyhow, and what with Kizzy's screaming and all I think it might be easier on everyone. I'm thrilled that we even have the option!

I'm also looking forward to being able to relax and not worry that my car is falling apart on me. The Vue was a good ride for the seven years I had it, but things were starting to go on it and it got to the point where it was going to cost more to fix it (bearings & brakes) than it was worth.

The new ride is a 2013 Dodge Grand Caravan with just 9,500 miles on it -- so in my world that's practically brand new! It's the SE model, so it doesn't have any of the "frilly" stuff like auto doors or power seats. I think the only feature I would have really liked in the better model was the power windows in the back. On this model the side door windows don't roll down at all, which would have certainly been a nice feature when crating out of the vehicle in slightly warmer weather. I figure, though, that everyone will be in crates and I can always open both side doors for ventilation if needed.

Now comes the most difficult part -- picking out decals for the new van.  :o)  After what I just went through in removing the magnets from the back of the Vue I know I won't be looking to replace those. We'll go with just the decals this time to make it our own, as I've been told those are actually really easy to remove when you apply heat. The hardest part will be color.... The color of the van is "cashmere," which I have labeled a "silvery-tan" color. Unfortunately I think pink would look horrible on it, so I'll have to do some thinking there. lol

Not too much else to report here. There has been melting occurring, but not at a super fast rate. This is actually probably for the best, as it means we aren't overwhelmed by mud every day and things are re-freezing each night. The ice is gone from about 30% of the yard, I'd say. We're getting there. In the meantime, though, we've been getting out and walking every day. I think we could probably start doing our morning walks again, too, which the dogs will love (I'll have a harder time getting back into that schedule, I'm sure).

Target called again!

Today I got to skip out of work to spend a fun day with the little dogs. We got a call from our "agent" on Sunday telling us that Target was interested in the Klee Kai for their yearly costume shoot again. Last week was their big week where they were shooting from Monday through Friday and this week was pretty much just getting the stuff they missed.

Last week I was just dreading a call from Barbara. Not because I didn't want to do it (duh), but because my work week was just horrendous and filling up with meetings day after day. I knew there was no way I'd be able to get out of work and the last thing I wanted to do was to have to tell Barbara/Target, "no." I was so glad when Barbara called on Sunday and said that she needed us for Wednesday. I did a quick mental check of my meetings for the coming week and I was pretty certain Wednesday was wide open. Hooray! We could go!

Then it proceeded to get very warm... It was 54 degrees on Monday! Everything was melting and muddy -- and here I was, needing to give two Klee Kai a bath -- AND keep them clean. Argh. Lucky for me, I guess, the temperature dropped last night and froze everything up again. The dogs all got locked out of the big yard last night to keep them from going through the 4" puddle at the gate, but this morning I was able to open it again for everyone. Thankfully everyone stayed clean for our big day!

I wasn't sure what we'd be modeling today. Remembering back to our experience last year, we went up during the main week and Kaiser wore five different costumes for them. Then we got called to come back the following Wednesday or Thursday, where he ended up wearing the winter jackets. Because of that, I was pretty much figuring they wanted the little Northern breed dogs to model the winter wear again, but nope, they were still wrapping up costumes.

Kaiser was batting clean-up and was the last dog to be shot. They were actually calling and canceling other dogs that were scheduled for the day because they ended up getting everything they needed ahead of schedule. That meant that Kizzy ended up not getting her chance to shine in the spotlight this time, but she did make a good impression by being a good girl the entire time we were there. I played tug with her while we waited our turn and she was a SUPER good girl sitting in the crate by the production crew while Kaiser got his photo taken. I made sure to step over and give her treats during breaks to reward her good behavior.

Kaiser ended up just wearing the one costume -- a dinosaur -- and then we were done. We thought they were going to do a second costume -- the hot dog -- but it turns out the other set had gotten a couple of dogs in the small costume already and they figured they had enough to choose from. Bummer. Oh well, we'll look for Kaiser on the dinosaur costume this fall! It will be much easier than digging through the five costumes he wore last year to see which one he was chosen for (reminder, he was a bee!).

They did things differently this year, which surprised me. They kept taking pictures of Kaiser just wearing the body of the costume (without the head piece). At first I was like, are they just doing this to test the lighting? Then I learned that they have decided it's "easier" to take the shots separately and then Photoshop them together. Seriously! So they took the body shots, took the costume off, put the head piece on and then shot that. They said they feel it's easier on the dog to do it this way, but I was like, don't you even want to try to do it all at once and save yourself all that post-production work? Oh well, that just makes me even more interested to see the final result. I'll be looking at all of the packages in a new light this year!

We made a special trip down to Northfield, MN on our way hope to stop at CakeWalk bakery. This is the favorite part of our photo shoot journeys.  :o)  Okay, probably mine more so than the dogs since they just sit in the car. Yesterday was my dad's 60th birthday and we didn't even so much as get him a cake, so this was my way to make up for that. I sent half of the cupcakes home with him tonight because lord knows I don't need six. Okay, I don't need three, either, but whatever. I always lament how La Crosse doesn't have a cupcake store, but it's probably a good thing that we don't.

Considering she didn't really do anything all day, Kizzy was amazingly well behaved. She did her usual little yodel in the crate at the start of each leg but then settled right in for the trip. I felt bad that she was stuck in a crate by herself, but I borrowed my parent's car and wasn't able to actually get the big crate into the back seat (well, maybe I could have if I assembled it in the car, but I didn't think it was worth the hassle). So Kizzy was stuck in the small crate while Kaiser got the spot next to her.

Pretty sure he thought this arrangement was just swell.  :o)

Our last stop on the way home was to hit the car wash. I recently got a handful of free car wash tokens when the car wash broke as I was waiting in line, so I figured I'd share the love with my dad for letting me take his car for the day. Kaiser acted surprised when the sprayer went by on the highest pressure setting, but they were both pretty unfazed by the whole thing.

We got home around 3:30, which left us plenty of time to squeeze in a nice walk before settling in for the night. I was back in a hat and gloves because it's still chilly, but the roads are clear and it's so nice to be back out again! Monday was our first time out walking again and everyone was a bit nuts from being so happy to get out of the house. Everyone was still very excited tonight (aren't they always), but it wasn't quite like trying to fly four kites at once this time.

It will warm up again over the next couple of days. There is still a lot of melting that needs to happen in my back yard, so I'm expecting that we won't get to do much back there for at least a couple of weeks. It will be so nice to have winter behind us and be able to start training again!

Puppies!!

It's another Dog Agility Blogger Event today, and while I'm a little late at getting this post written, I couldn't pass up a chance to talk about my favorite subject ever -- Puppies! I'll admit now that I haven't had a chance to give much thought to what I'll actually write about; nor have I had a chance to visit the other blogs yet, so I can't steal their ideas. Hence, I shall just ramble on and see what comes out. Please visit the blogs belonging to people who have no doubt put a little more thought into their posts than I have by clicking here.

I love puppies. Not everyone shares my feelings and that's cool -- The thousands of adult dogs in shelters and rescues across the nation REALLY appreciate that there are a lot of people out there that find puppies to be too much work. And truthfully, after bringing Kizzy into our house at about 20 months of age there are certainly advantages. She came potty trained -- sweet! She was able to "hold it" for 10 hours while I was at work. Bonus! And once I actually got around to training her we were able to get to the "fun stuff" right away without waiting for her body to finish growing (granted, I'm not sure if THAT is the best plan of action, but it is what it is).

That said, there is just something so rewarding about puppy raising. I am one of the weird people who likes taking them outside every 30-60 minutes to prevent accidents in the house (although somehow I always seem to end up with winter puppies...). I don't mind getting up twice per night and actually set an alarm when they are super small so that I'm not relying on them to wake me up (and risk an accident). I run a very consistent house here, so everyone that comes through here learns the drill pretty quickly and falls in line with the routine.

I have let some things go over the years. Back when I got Luke, for example, I had a "no dogs on the furniture rule." He was about three years old before I started to let him up on the bed with me. When Kaiser came along my rule was, "You spend the first year sleeping in a crate." Secret made it a few months. lol The fosters did all stay in crates at night, though, because I know that ending up on my bed is the kiss of death (hence why Kizzy is still here!).

I had all sorts of crazy expectations about my first border collie and as such, I think Secret had an unfair amount of pressure placed on her as a puppy. I had SUCH high hopes and pretty much set out to teach her every trick I'd ever seen on the internet. Like blowing bubbles:

Secret was an absolutely brilliant puppy, which only ended up making me push for more. Looking back, I would have done things differently with Secret. I would have put less pressure on her to learn so much so soon and instead just played more. We had a "working" relationship in those early days, but I was never the one she wanted to play with. She always valued one-on-one time with Luke & Kaiser more than she did with me. I'm quite certain this was due to all of the pressure I put on her in our training sessions. That video above is a fine example -- I went WAY too long in that session. Way too long. Lesson learned.

My goal for the next puppy, whenever that may be, is to lay off the pressure. Knowing my personality type I know this will be difficult, but it's my goal. My next puppy doesn't need to know a million and one tricks (Kizzy knows, ahem, zero tricks...). I don't want my next puppy to be so serious all of the time and will instead focusing on playing and just hanging out together more. Many of Secret's early struggles are likely genetic (especially considering that her brother is so very similar), but I still feel that I could have done things a lot differently to make life more FUN for her early on.

I'm so glad I started this blog when I adopted Secret. It's been a really great way to track everything that I've done with her over the years -- things I would do again, things I would change, things that worked, things that didn't. I would encourage everyone to track their puppy's first couple of years (at least) because it's a fantastic learning opportunity and provides wonderful memories. I had Secret's first two years printed into books and those will be treasured forever!

While I consider myself an excellent puppy raiser who is great at teaching things like nail clipping, grooming, sit, down, etc., I'll leave the tips of "how to raise the next agility superstar" to other bloggers. I see videos of dogs who are fast, confident and focused at their first trials and often wonder how they do it. Granted, most of them likely do not live in an agility wasteland and are able to train in many environments. Kaiser & Secret both struggled at the start of their trial careers and now Kizzy has her own set of challenges (granted, that is less of a surprise...). We keep plugging away, though, because the payoff is so very rewarding. When Secret was first starting out I never dreamed she'd get a NATCH, so anything is possible. That's the sort of thing I tell myself as Kizzy runs out of the ring. Ha!!

I miss being able to foster puppies. It was so convenient when I could take the dogs to work with me, but now it's just not fair to expect them to sit in a crate 10-11 hours a day while I'm gone. Maybe one day things will change, but until then I have to settle for stolen puppy kisses from puppies at trials.  :o)

Day 3 - Kizzy is fried, everyone else rocks!

Our NATCH bar wasn't ready for us yet yesterday, so Kaiser got to pose for his official NATCH 2 picture at the end of the trial today.  :o)  They eventually talked me into taking one with the judge, but that's not on my camera so we'll have to see if it surfaces eventually. Typically my rule of thumb is that I'll pose for the first one, but after that we can just have the dog. lol

Typically I don't really expect much from these end-of-winter trials after a miserably long winter of no training. Historically we start to crash and burn right about now, but we had a spectacularly good weekend! Maybe that handful of ring rentals that we've done this winter have helped, who knows.

Kaiser had a perfect day today! He put in a lovely jumpers run that was the fastest of my crew (but not by much, they were all 25.XX, so they were all close!). We had another nice Chances course today -- they were all pretty nice this weekend -- and Kaiser sailed through it (literally, he sailed over the a-frame with a LOT of air...) for a "bonus" Q on his NATCH weekend. Then he put in two really lovely Regular rounds to finish out his perfect day.

I was seriously concerned about him following that day of UKI that we did. I've just never seen him jump so horribly at 8" and lack such confidence. I was even more worried on Friday when I saw hints of that doubt and stuttering when we started our first runs, but the little man just got better and better as the weekend went on. I still don't know if the UKI disaster was due to any one thing, but cumulatively it really played a number on him and I'm so happy to have my happy little dude back. He was running so nice today. I'm not sure if we'll have made any 100+ DRI runs this weekend, but we'll have to see.

I wasn't sure what to expect from Secret on her third day of trialing in a row, but she was ready to play! I was so thrilled about this! There have not been many times I have even bothered to try running her so many days in a row, but the two-per-day format agrees with her. That, along with dropping her least favorite class (Chances), seems to have made her a very happy camper. In her last run, Regular 1, she came out of the tunnel after the weaves like a firecracker was up her butt.  :o)  I had to do a rear cross because of it and this only seemed to push her to go faster. We had a super fun ending to that run (she did miss the weave entry, but was otherwise clean for a Q). Even more awesome, though, was that while we were waiting for our turn she was grabbing the leash and trying to get me to play with her. On day three! She wanted to play! Jumpers in the morning was also a great run for a Q -- she was only like 0.2 seconds behind Kaiser's time if I recall correctly.

Luke's time in Jumpers was just slightly behind Secret's but unfortunately he dropped a bar when I did a short send to get into place for a blind cross. With his Q in Chances today he is now just one Chances Q away from NATCH 5 ---- and three Jumpers Q's.... I dare say he will finish on Jumpers, which will be a first for me. I'm so used to everyone finishing up on Chances! There are only two shots at Jumpers at the April FDC trial, so I guess we'll be waiting a while. Oh well. Luke's Chances Q today put us at 6/6 for the weekend, and I think we're at 10 in a row with the last trial! Guess we're just making up for that dry spell. I'm just glad to know that our Chances aren't broken, because I was really starting to wonder... Not that I'd have any reason to wonder why, considering we never practice these skills anymore...

As I'd feared, Kizzy's brain really did melt out of her ears today. She was high as a kite going into the Jumpers ring and I knew that course would cause us problems because there was a sequence that ran right past the exit. I actually lost her before then, but she came back -- then left the ring when we went past the exit. A few people told me they felt her problems today might be from a sheltie with a piercing bark that kept carrying on during her runs, but I can hear that dog barking in all of her runs on video from yesterday so I don't know if it's true -- or if she was just in a state of mind that any little thing was going to give her a reason to do her own thing.

There were good moments. Before I lost her in Jumpers she was running like a bat out of hell (pretty much a dead giveaway that she was going to leave me, though). In the second round of Regular she started out really well with the a-frame and doing her weaves at the back of the arena. I lost her on a front cross before a tunnel, but thanks to us having the arena gated shut she did come back and finish the course. Unfortunately she then played the most fun game of keep-away ever with about four different people being sucked into her game before she allowed herself to be caught (she was the last dog of the trial and believe me, everyone was doing their very best to make sure she had a good ending experience here).

After Friday & Saturday I was feeling pretty positive about her AKC runs coming up in April. After today I'm a bit more eh..... I think I'll keep her entries in, but go in with the mindset of scratching her Saturday runs if Friday is atrocious. We'll see. There's a whole month between now and then and hopefully we'll get to squeeze in a little training. It would be nice to find a new place to go do a ring rental if possible.

No video from today -- Only Kizzy's runs were taped and honestly I just don't think there is much to share. Instead I'd rather watch her video from the other two days and remember the good stuff.  :o)

We will be waiting to hear if Target wants either of the Klee Kai this week. I'm not really fond of how they're doing it, but apparently the producer is making her decisions based on her needs at the end of each day. So basically, we get no notice? I had to let Barbara know that Monday and Wednesday are completely out for me this week due to meetings at work that I can't miss/reschedule. Tuesday and Thursday are a little more flexible, but still booked. It's like the worst week ever for something like this to come up, especially with the last-minute scheduling. Every time a meeting notice came through my work e-mail last week I was like, "aww crap." Oh well. Maybe they won't even want the Klee Kai this time, we'll have to see. Meanwhile, Kaiser is losing all of his hair and will be even more naked after he gets a bath (although this is not a bad thing when wearing costumes). Kizzy, on the other hand, has yet to actually blow coat since she arrived in July. Odd.

NATCH 2 Kaiser!

I have to admit, we're having a pretty good weekend here at our NADAC trial. Today Kaiser brought home NATCH #2!  :o)  He needed two Chances Q's coming in to this trial and we had three shots at it, but considering that his Q's at the trial last month were his first (in Chances) since June, I honestly wasn't holding my breath. Plus I always tend to screw things up for a while when there is a big title on the line, so I wasn't really thinking about it too much.

Maybe that's what helped -- or maybe it's just because most of my mental energy is being used up by Kizzy this weekend -- but we pulled it out on the first try! This is the first of any of my NATCH's that have been earned on the first attempt. Usually I draw them out a couple of trials at least... And go figure, this NATCH was also done on a course with a dog walk. Oh how that was the bane of my existence a couple of years ago. Thankfully we seem to have gotten over that little hump now at least!

I'm also very happy that Kaiser was running more confidently today. He was acting a bit hesitant yesterday, perhaps just coming off the bad experience he had at the last facility. Today he started to seem more like his old self. Tomorrow he'll be even better, I'm sure. Amazing what an effect one bad day can have...

Kaiser's other runs didn't make it on video, but he had a lovely run in Jumpers that I managed not to screw up (after messing up both Secret & Luke's runs). In Regular 1 he knocked the bar right before the a-frame and then took the tunnel under the a-frame. In the second round I guess he didn't finish his weave poles? I saw a 20 point fault on what I thought was a clean run and Travis told me it was the weaves and that he'd written it down because he knew I'd ask.  :o)  Hmm. I didn't see it (obviously), but it happens.

Kizzy's great night last night wasn't a fluke! She continued to play and stay with me today, too! The first round of Regular was an NQ. She kind of launched the dog walk and then didn't get the discrimination of "out tunnel." That didn't surprise me in the least. I was actually thrilled that she took the tunnel at all, as usually if there is one next to a contact it just won't get taken. She ended that run great, too, and I was able to scoop her up rather quickly.

I only got half of her second run on video, but she got another Q! In that run she actually even managed to go around the barrel by herself (correctly -- I had to "help" her around the first time). Dumb barrels. We didn't have them in Elite, no idea why they showed up for Open & Novice. AND she did her weaves at the end with the big open gate right in front of her! I was thrilled about that. We did have a little issue when the next dog came into the ring... It was a snorty pug that Kizzy was a little ooged by before we went in for our run. Thankfully the dog's owner and the judge were very cool about everything (we did have a discussion after the class and I said I'd gladly take E's the rest of the weekend as training if I had to, but it didn't seem to be an issue).

Jumpers was last up and Kizzy was a little spacey, but she always came back and finished the run for another Q! She had another good ending. This time we didn't really have to worry about the dog after us because the owner was running three dogs in the small class and was needing time anyhow. Hooray for a happy ending to our day!

Luke was his normal super-awesome self today. He also brought home another Chances Q (we're on a roll, I guess, no explanation for that awful 7-month dry spell!), which means he now just needs two more for NATCH 5! We'll have to see how tomorrow goes. Unfortunately his Jumpers Q count is still at three.... And that one is all on me. I took out a jump. Literally. I was moving through the serpentine and suddenly thought to myself, "gee, I bet there is a jump in here somewhere" and then I felt it. With my leg. Whoops. It's been a while since I've done that, so I guess I was due.

That move worked well for Secret, though, and produced one heck of a nice line through that serpentine. Unfortunately I royally sucked at the blind cross I did shortly after and she took an off course jump. Watching the video I can't blame her because honestly I pretty much cued it. Oh well. She got another Q in Regular this morning. I dropped my shoulder/arm a little early to pull her off the tunnel under the a-frame (many dogs were taking the tunnel, which may have caused my early body language). She pulled in and came past the jump before the a-frame but we were able to fix it. It was a fun, fast course that took a long flowing line around the back a couple of times and Secret had a lot of fun with it. I've lucked out that neither of her courses have had weaves at the start this weekend, too, which always helps with happy weaves.

We are back for one more day of fun tomorrow! The pressure is off Kaiser, which will be nice (although honestly, the pressure was never there today because my brain was in Kizzyland). It will be interesting to see what Kizzy does with her third day in a row... Her brain may just melt out of her ears, we'll see. She'll have Jumpers first thing in the morning and then will get to sit all day until her Regular runs.

Oh my god! She got a Q!

Oh my lord! Look what happened tonight! Kizzy got her very first Q!! Who knew it was possible??  :o)

We're playing NADAC here in La Crosse this weekend and I wasn't sure what to expect following that horrible day of UKI. Thankfully Kizzy was much more into the game today and we didn't have the problems of a couple of weeks ago.

I'm going into this weekend with a new plan. I have a history of getting her all revved up before her runs, playing tug and all that other crazy jazz. This isn't a dog that needs revving up. The more hyper she gets, the spacier she gets in the ring. I don't care about fast at this point, I care about building up good habits and learning to run together in the ring. So we are going zen. No playing before the runs. Just doing sits and downs for treats and giving me lots of eye contact. I'm also trying to be very quiet in the ring, limiting my "happy squeaking" as much as possible (and the clapping, let us not forget the clapping...).

The Novice Regular courses at the trial today seriously could not have been better for us. They were very simplistic and didn't have any discriminations to worry about. Just a loop up, back, up and back again. Gosh, I hope for similar courses all weekend...

Kizzy did just super awesome on the first run, sticking with me the whole time. Even the end was really great! I sat down on my knees and played around with her while the leash person brought the leash over and was able to easily scoop her up. Hooray! I couldn't believe it! Did she just Q? Yes!  :o)

The second run was also very nice, right up until the end. The weaves were the second-to-last obstacle on the course and I guess these must stress Kizzy out a bit (gee, you think so, after she never did them at UKI?). She DID stop when I called her, which is a very good thing. When she did the play bow, though, I knew we were screwed and that she'd leave on me, which is what she did. Oh well. She ran right out to the people outside the ring this time, though, so at least there were no worries about her taking off out the door. We did go down to the basement to have some happy weaves when we got home, just to fill the bank back up before tomorrow.

I don't have video for the other dogs, but everyone had a super night! Kaiser & Luke both got their Chances Q's tonight! That means that Kaiser is just one away from NATCH 2 and has two more shots at it this weekend (this was Luke's 50th Elite Chances Q -- he is now three away from NATCH 5). Kaiser was "technically" perfect. Our NQ was because I walked the course wrong and left out a tunnel.... Oops. Nobody bothered to tell me this and thankfully I watched a couple of runs while waiting with Luke (Kaiser was first up). I was like, um, why are they all taking the off course tunnel seemingly on purpose? Then I noticed there were two number cones at that tunnel. Hmm. Sigh. What a moron. Thankfully I did it correctly on Luke's turn so the big guy got a Q.

Secret's run was awesome! I really pushed her and she came through. Her dog walk was lovely and I did a blind cross on the landing side of the a-frame and she ran with a nice deep hit. She ended up with the second-fastest time in the class, just a fraction behind the lead dog. I love that she's having fun! She has two runs each of the next two days. I'll be interested to see how she is on Sunday with three days of agility, even with the limited runs.

That's all for now! I'm very curious to see how the crazy one does tomorrow.... My only real concern is that her day ended with running out of the ring. Guess we'll see!

Audition photos posted!

I've been stalking the photo albums of the photographer we visited a couple of weeks ago for the Target audition. I believe the actual photo shoot is taking place next week, so I knew the choices would have to be provided to the producer here any day. Finally this morning they were there! The album containing all of the pictures appears to be locked, but the ones submitted for this shoot are available.

Both Kaiser and Kizzy made the cut, so now we'll just see what Target decides. Barbara felt that they would likely use both, so we'll see. Sure would be nice to get a double paycheck for the drive, right?  :o)

I'm glad they know Kaiser, because his picture wasn't quite as eye-catching as Kizzy's. They know he's a star, though, and that's what counts. And of the two, we know who listens better, so.... lol  We'll wait to see if we hear anything from Barbara now! I should probably put clothes on Kizzy one of these days to make sure she's okay with it. I don't anticipate any issues, but a head piece could be a different story.

Not much else to report on our end. I tried to get in for a ring rental this past weekend and was told it wasn't available.  :o(  So we just sat at home and didn't do much of anything. It's a mess outside thanks to a massive ice storm that we got last week, so in addition to STILL not being able to go for walks, it's no longer even safe to play frisbee in the yard anymore. Sadness. Jolly Balls prompt a bit less body-breaking insanity from the big dogs, so we were able to kick those around a bit. Kizzy continues to carry her rubber stick while chasing Luke, which provides a really good outlet for her. Once the big dogs are done running I throw the stick a bit for Kizzy -- and she fetches pretty reliably, who knew!

I am so ready for winter to go away. The long-range forecast was looking favorable a couple of days ago, at which point it was telling me that within 10 days we would be above freezing and stay there. Well, that took a dump... And now we're pretty much stuck in the 20s for eternity (with a brief visit to hell this Thursday with another day giving us a high of 0 and a low of -34). At this point I just want the ice to melt, that's all I care about!

We have three days of NADAC this weekend. Because we aren't doing anything else in March I put Secret in a round of Regular & Jumpers each day (no Jumpers on Friday, so just Reg). Would she care if she didn't do agility for a month? Probably not. Kaiser is doing his usual core classes -- and he has three shots at the two Chances Q's he needs for NATCH 2, so we'll see what happens (My expectations are not incredibly high considering we just broke a 7-month dry streak at the last trial). Luke is just running in Chances and Jumpers (and 1 Reg on Friday) in an attempt to get what he needs for his next NATCH. And Kizzy.... The spaz is entered in Regular & Jumpers, so we'll see what happens!

I have our next AKC entries (for April) on my desk ready to go out. I'm conflicted about entering Kizzy, especially after what happened at UKI. Granted, it's over in Oshkosh and I know she did decently well there. I figure I'll send her entries (Nov FAST on Friday, JWW & Std on Saturday) and can always pull her before closing if this trial is a giant mess. I would like to hope that we'd be able to train some at home before that point, but with the way this winter is going I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.

Audition & UKI update (LOTS of course maps!)

We are home from our two-day trip to Minneapolis and Secret is showing you what we've done all day.  :o)  I did go out to shovel this morning and then we played frisbee, but aside from that we've been inside all day, which is probably a shame since it's actually been sunny and somewhere in the 20s, temperature-wise.

Yes, I shoveled again. Because it snowed yesterday. Because the weather ALWAYS does something crappy when I have a road trip planned. It was actually clear and sunny on Friday, which was a nice change, but yesterday we got a couple more inches of snow while at the trial and the roads were horrid on the drive home. Once again we ended up tacking on an extra 45 minutes to our drive home.

The photo shoot (audition) on Friday went super well! We arrived around 2:45, so we were hitting the end of the two-day shoot and the wait wasn't too terrible. I had plenty of time to walk the two dogs that weren't having their picture taken, followed by the little ones. I left everyone in the car and waited until we got closer to Kaiser & Kizzy's spot before bringing them in. I found myself a great little waiting spot in a corner alcove that allowed me to keep Kizzy distracted and playing so that she wouldn't start screaming at the other dogs. This was perfect and she actually didn't make a peep (aside from all the growling and carrying on over her toys).

They both went in at the same time and Barbara took some new shots of Kaiser first. He was a good boy like always and was happy that we just had a white paper floor and not that slippery fake wood stuff like last time.

Kizzy also did super awesome for her shots with Barbara! She may not have held her stay quite as long as Kaiser, but she did a very good job all things considered -- and since she'd just been tugging for the last 10 minutes or so she definitely had that happy-go-lucky panting thing going on for her pictures, too. Target should eat that up.

After the single shots were done, Barbara asked if we could get some shots of them together posed with her assistant's fuzzy winter boots. She is building a series of this type of shot and was excited to get one with the Klee Kai. I hope she got one that turned out okay, because this one was a bit more challenging. Kaiser was not thrilled about being placed next to someone's boots and Kizzy was starting to lose her mind a little and was really struggling with her stay at this point. Hindsight being what it is, I probably should have switched them around so that Kizzy was closer to me, but we were a bit rushed for time as it was nearly 4:00 and there were still several people waiting their turn.

Everyone survived the hotel stay. I was thankful that our bed had a solid frame, so no wee Klee Kai could go exploring for unknown nasties. I wish all hotels had those! There was a herd of elephants in the room above us, but thankfully they seemed to go to bed at a decent hour. I was reminded of how lucky I am to have a dog door, as taking four dogs out on leash and attempting to pick up poop really sucks. Especially when your fingers are so frozen that they stop working.

We got to the trial site (Agile Canines Training School) just a bit after 7:30, which is when they said the doors opened. I had no idea where I was going and parked in the wrong lot, which meant hauling all of my stuff the length of a city block through the snow. It wouldn't have mattered, as the lot was already completely full and there was no space to crate around the edges of the room already. Apparently all of these people knew how cramped it would be for space and arrived very early.... This meant we had to do my least-favorite thing and crate in the dead center of the room, but it actually didn't go too badly and all of the dogs were really well-behaved.

I'm just posting the Champion Gamblers map for this class because they are all almost identical. The Beginner/Novice class ended at the teeter but had the same line. The Senior class ended at the tunnel, same line. As you see, the Champion class had to push out to the jump (if you chose Option 2).

Short story (because this is going to be very long) --- Kizzy was the first dog on the line and I had like no time to get her focused and connected. She took off like a bat out of hell and randomly grabbed some jumps as she careened around the ring. I had called this run as an NFC before we started and had her toy, but not even that interested her. I was able to collect her at the end of the run by kneeling on the floor and waiting until she rolled over onto her back. This is appearing to turn into her default trial behavior, but whatever, I'll take it.

Kaiser's path was the start jump up over the dog walk through the tunnel up into the weaves, over the jump, back to the weaves and the buzzer sounded as we were approaching the dog walk again (thanks to several issues that caused us to waste time). I ran with him through the gamble and took the 10 point option. He got a Q/1st for 6 points!

This was a horrible, horrible day for Kaiser. I'm not sure if one thing in particular was to blame or if it was more a combination of the crappiest floor we've ever ran on, the awful dim lighting or courses that hurt his confidence. I think the first two are more to blame because we weren't trying any "fancy crap" in Gamblers and he started off right out of the gate with massive jumping issues and was hesitant about everything. I have not seen him jump this poorly at 8" EVER. He will never return to this facility.

Secret seemed to manage better, but she was not fond of the floor, either. She put in a really, really nice Gamblers run, though! I was not going to do the weaves with Secret, so her route was to go through the tire to the tunnel, up and around to the a-frame, back around the right side to the dog walk and then we wasted time on jumps near the gamble because the darn buzzer hadn't sounded yet. I could have been called for loitering because it was taking so long. Who expected Secret to be going that fast?  ;o)  I also opted to run with Secret for the gamble, which she nailed -- She actually had more opening points and a faster time, but she got 2nd in the class because the 1st place dog did the gamble from behind the line for 15 points.

Novice Agility was up next and it was another NFC run for Kizzy. She did a few more obstacles this time.  :o)  She didn't get her weaves, but she tried a few. I opted to finish the course at this point by going straight up to the chute and out -- She ended on a very good note with the chute, teeter and tire!! Again I think I waited for her to roll over and scooped her up. Whatever works.

Kaiser thought this sucked. I ran with him around to the tunnel entrance and then he promptly went off course to the tunnel under the dog walk instead of coming to jump 3. My guess is that he was looking to do anything other than a jump on this footing in that lighting. Pretty sure he got called on his a-frame and then he skipped a couple of jumps. I couldn't get him to do 8, for instance, and every time I tried to send him around he went through the tunnel again so eventually we just went on. He was happy in the weaves and ended well after that point.

Champion Agility was something else. There were no qualifiers in this round. Secret was PO'd at me from the start because I thought, "She can do the backside send to the tunnel." No, I should have went with her like I did with Kaiser, because this seemed to totally throw her off and she pretty much came out of the tunnel walking and seemed so out of it that she went between jump 3 and the tunnel for a R, so that run was NQ'd. She also was not pleased with my push to the backside of 7 and almost got another R there. Her weaves were nice, as was the dog walk. I'm not sure if you can accurately tell by the course map just how short the distance was from the dog walk to jump 13, but it was insanely close. At any rate, she didn't pull through for the threadle and got an off course/E there. But yay for happy teeters!

Snakes and Ladders was up next and it took forever for me to figure out a course. Kaiser was up first and his turn was very short. I started over the start jump coming towards the gate and turned back to the jump to go to the weaves. He ran past the jump labeled 9, which wasn't a big deal so I kept going to the 4 tunnel. I called him to come over jump 16 there and he once again ran into the tunnel under the dog walk. Anything to avoid the jumps, I guess. Game over.

Kizzy did much better! Another NFC run of course. She did a few more weave poles this time and then we went down the tunnel and back up the a-frame, doing the jumps up top on the way to the chute. She ran past jump 15 and I think skipped the 3 tunnel as well, but did the 2 tunnel and did the dog walk. The buzzer went off when we were having a party with her toy. It was a really nice training run for her.

Beginner Jumpers was another good training run for Kizzy. She did the opening line nicely and I think ran by 5 & 6. We got it together for 7-10 and then Kizzy ran through the open gate into the food area which was oh-so-conveniently located RIGHT NEXT TO THE RING. Sigh. I went in and scooped her up and started over again at the weaves. She did a few more this time and around then the time buzzer sounded since so much was wasted with the food incident. I scooped Kizzy up while she was tugging again. Aside from the food area incident, she was working much better with me on that run.

I felt bad for Kaiser in his Senior Jumpers run. I could tell he was just miserable. Even sadder was the fact that any time he saw a tunnel or the weaves in front of him he just gunned it and then the jumps came back and he was sad again. We NQ'd right at 4 when I tried to do an awful flip around the right side of the jump and he R'd instead. Pretty sure he skipped 5 after that. I believe he was clean to the end at that point, but there was much sad stutter jumping.

I am so proud of Secret's Champion Jumpers run! There was 1 Q in this class and Secret was the only other dog to get through the course cleanly. Unfortunately it wasn't fast enough and we incurred 3 time faults. We probably wasted at least that much time at jump 4, as I opted to handle it differently than I had with Kaiser and it didn't work a whole lot better (although at least we kept it clean). I am tickled that she got her weave entry from that spread -- it was so close that she literally almost landed into the weave entry, so I'm very impressed that she held on to it and her weaves got faster once she realized she was right. All of that turny stuff after that probably could have been a little faster, but she was being cautious on the floor so I don't blame her. Plus she was pretty much jumping on concrete all day, so who knows how that affects them as well. I was really thrilled that we got through this and was a little bummed about the time faults, but oh well, what can you do. I guess times are tight in this class.

Because things had been steadily improving for Kizzy, I opted to throw caution to the wind on the final run and go in without a toy and try a "for real" run. And it started really well, until she went over jump 6 and looked over to the side of the ring and saw the previous dog walking down the aisle. Sigh. Over she went to investigate, and then out the ring entrance. I scooped her up and asked if we could finish the course (I mean come on, that set-up wasn't fair...) and the judge allowed it, but by that point Kizzy was just done. She ran past a couple of jumps (she probably doesn't like jumping on concrete either), so I sat down on the floor to collect her and we called it a day. I appreciate the judge giving us a chance to end on a good note, though.

I was really hoping to end on a good note with Kaiser since the Speedstakes class is basically a NADAC Jumpers run. Sadly, he was so far gone at this point that there was no bringing back his confidence or his jumping. He earned a R at jump 12 for an NQ. We were both glad to be done. He tried hard all day but the conditions were just not appropriate for him. It made me very sad to see him jumping like this at 8" and I will have to try to do a ring rental next weekend to make sure he's not broken.

Secret ended very well for her fourth run of the day. The only real hesitation she had was at jump 9 because I was a little too far behind to really support and push to it, so it was more of a send. Her closing line was really nice, including that super short line between 17 & 18 -- it paced out at just under 5 strides. Eek. Other dogs bounced it, but Secret seemed happy to throw in a really short stride and it worked out. She was several seconds behind the other dog in the class and brought home another 2nd/5 points, but she was running really well so I'll take it.

So, after our first UKI trial my initial thought is, "Holy crap, this just got real." It's a huge step up from AKC and actually quite a bit more technical than we experienced in USDAA as well. I'd love to try again, but there is no way I am going back to that facility, so we'll have to see what other options are available to us. I'd probably give it one more go with Kaiser to see if he did better under more favorable conditions. I'd absolutely love to continue to do training runs with Kizzy, especially in new places. As cruddy as the floor was at this place, it was still good to get her out and running in a new environment. At least the equipment is all in great condition and there were no concerns there. While we never did actually do a full set of weaves, she did do all of the contact equipment!

We have a NADAC trial coming up in a couple of weeks and I have to decide who is entering what. Luke will probably just enter Jumpers and Chances since that's what he needs for his next NATCH and I don't think he needs to do a lot right now. I'm thinking of limiting Kizzy to just Regular and Jumpers, especially if I opt to run her all three days. I need to decide about Secret, as if I don't run her at NADAC she'll be sitting until April.... This will be an expensive trial.

AKC and other updates

My last post got a lot of response! Thanks to everyone who participated in the discussion about AKC and mixed breed/All American dogs. I posted a link to the blog on the AKC Facebook page with a comment about it being time that AKC opened up all performance events to all dogs and got a lot more mileage than I thought I would. In addition to oodles of likes and shares, it actually resulted in someone from the AKC offices reaching out to me. They asked me to contact them outside of Facebook at a specific e-mail address, so I did!

Penny from the AKC offices got back to me on Friday and asked for my phone number so we could chat. We went round and round trying to find a time that would work for both of us. It was starting to look like Friday would be futile, but I was antsy and curious about what she had to say so I didn't want to have to wait until Monday or Tuesday! Finally we were both able to find time around 3:00 p.m., so I found a spot away from my desk and waited for her call.

I felt it was a very productive conversation. If nothing else, it really solidified that AKC does care about their Canine Partners program and they are staffing people who are hardcore advocates for mixed breed dogs. Penny runs a couple of All American dogs herself, she tells me. Penny also shared with me the statistic that only about 3% of AKC agility trials exclude All American dogs today, which is a massive improvement from when the program first started.

Additionally, when the AKC offices hear from persons such as myself regarding clubs that do not accept All American entries, someone from the Canine Partners program will reach out to said clubs to ask questions. They are curious to know the reasons why a club might still choose to not accept these entries and they work with these clubs to see if they might be willing to change their policy in the future. Because of this, I encourage everyone to contact AKC every single time they see a trial that doesn't allow All Americans. Little by little we might be able to whittle that 3% down to 0%! I feel that AKC is likely headed towards a day where they don't give clubs the option to choose, and that will be wonderful for all.

Because we opted not to drive up to Minneapolis for the run-through this weekend (good thing, because it snowed yesterday and the roads weren't great), I decided to take the crew in for another ring rental at Family Dog Center. No surprise, but the course set-up was virtually unchanged from last week. I shuffled things around a little, added wings to a couple of jumps and drug out the broad jump. It occurred to me on the drive to La Crosse that Kizzy would see this next weekend and, to date, I think she's seen my broad jump once or twice and that's it. I didn't have anything to worry about, as she was fine with it.

This week we did more "fancy crap" to get in the right frame of mind for UKI. Basically this just means that I did fewer straight lines and more backsides, wraps, blinds and other fun stuff. Secret was pretty amazing on her turn, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how she likes those Champion courses next Saturday. I only asked for one set of weaves in her session and they were lovely, so I didn't drill those at all.

Kaiser was a good boy, too, if not a bit loopy. He was just so high that any time I went to set him up for a new exercise he'd just take off and start taking whatever was in front of him. I had to rein him in a little.  :o)  One interesting thing to note about Kaiser's wraps -- I've always known that he has an issue with back-jumping his wraps, but I seem to have figured something out. He doesn't back-jump when wrapping right, it's when we wrap left. I sat and did a figure-eight exercise with him for a bit on a winged jump and over and over and over again he'd bounce right back over the bar when turning to the left. I haven't figured out how to fix this, but at least now I see a pattern -- AND it's something I can keep in mind at trials for the time being.

I'm super pleased with Kizzy's training time yesterday. Her set of 12 weaves were super awesome, which is great since that's what she'll see at UKI in the Beginner classes. Her dog walk and a-frame were also really nice. The first couple of teeters were perfection, but then she started leaving off the side early.... I fixed it and rewarded for staying on until released, but I'm not sure where that came from. She stayed with me for both of her turns and stayed focused the whole time, which is super.

We have "additional" plans for our trip to Minneapolis this coming weekend. It's once again Target casting time for the Halloween costumes. This time they are not having an open call and are instead doing a "by invitation only" audition. I joked on Barbara's Facebook post that I want her to meet Kizzy one of these days, but that she needs a lot of work before we attempt it.

Well.... Today Barbara sent me a message and said that she'd like to try shooting Kizzy and could I bring Kaiser along, too. The auditions are Thursday and Friday, so I figured technically I could drive up on Friday to do the shoot and then stay over in a hotel -- which means I wouldn't have to get up at 3:00 a.m., which is kind of a bonus. There's also a good chance of snow in the forecast due to the temperatures warming up later in the week, so that's another reason not to chance driving in the wee hours of the morning.

So, we are all signed up and have our reservation at our favorite La Quinta. Too bad I just signed up for that La Quinta Rewards VISA card and don't have all of those bonus points to use yet.... Oh well. Hope the tax money comes soon.  ;o)  Meanwhile, I know what we'll be working on this week. The good news is that I took the little dogs into the basement tonight to work on our stay skills and Kizzy surprised me! I could actually back all the way across the room and she'd stay put! At this time I have very little control over her actual spot or the position she chooses to keep (sit vs down), but she is staying put so that's a start. It's a little embarrassing how little "obedience-type" work I've done with her to this point, I know.... We will continue to work this week, but it will be a while before she reaches Kaiser's level of professionalism. lol For instance, that pose he did last year where he has to sit and look back at the camera -- Kizzy?  hahahaha  Never.

But if they ever want a Klee Kai that needs to work with a model and be all cuddly, oh yeah, that would be Kizzy. Or bounce up and down with gleeful abandon.   :o)  We'll see how the shoot goes. Maybe we'll get lucky and Barbara will be set up to do shots on a table.

Really AKC? Hello UKI!

I was one steamed individual last night. I'm still not terribly thrilled, but there's not much I can do about it. Why so frazzled, you ask? Because last night I received Secret's confirmation for the AKC trial we entered over in Oshkosh at the end of February. And along with Secret's confirmation was a note from the trial secretary stating that she could not accept my entries for "the other two dogs" (apparently All Americans don't even warrant being called by name) because this particular trial was not accepting All Americans.

Are you FOR REAL? It boggles my mind that there are actually still clubs out there making the choice to ban "mixed breed" dogs from their shows. Frankly, I cannot even begin to fathom why AKC allows the choice! If you have a Canine Partners program that allows me to register my non-AKC-recognized dogs, then for christ sake you should allow my dogs to play in any damn event you sponsor.

All of this is even more ridiculous considering the HUGE amount of publicity surrounding AKC/Westminster's choice to "allow" All Americans to enter their new agility trial this year (this weekend, actually). The press has been hugely positive about this change and it's doing a lot to remove the elitist stigma surrounding AKC. An International event like Westminster is able to open their doors to all, but the stupid little Doberman Pinscher Club of Greater Milwaukee is allowed to be close-minded and "doggy racist"?

How did this happen? Well, the first snafu is that clubs do not have to specifically state that All American entries are not welcome. Apparently by simply NOT stating that the trial is "accepting" All Americans, you are supposed to automatically assume that they are not welcome to walk through the doors. Nowhere at all in the premium does it state that they will not take entries for All Americans. Because I am still new to AKC and innocently thought that we don't have such ignorant and close-minded clubs around here, I missed out on this all important piece of information.

I also base all of my entries off what I find on www.labtestedonline.com. I am not wanting to bash this web site because it is seriously the best thing since sliced bread when it comes to trying to decipher all of the confusion that surrounds the AKC trial calendar and the entry process. Unfortunately an error was made on their behalf and they simply missed the fact that this trial was being run by a bunch of doggy bigots. I don't blame them; I mean, how many clubs are even doing that these days? And considering the premiums aren't actually made to state that they are being jackasses, it would be an easy thing to miss.

So.... I did not plan my February very well. This piece of news last night left me with zero trials for the month of February -- which, along with living in the frozen tundra with no agility opportunities to speak of, made me a little sad. There is a trial in Iowa that same weekend that DOES specifically welcome All American dogs in their premium, but I'm almost 100% positive that all of the AKC trials fill down there. I sent off an e-mail to check, but I don't hold out much hope. The trial closes this week and was a random draw.

Meanwhile... When I got up this morning there was an e-mail on the MN agility list reminding folks of the MAC UKI trial coming up in a couple of weeks. Hmm. I have long been interested in UKI and the fun courses they have, but to date there just hasn't been much opportunity around here. Several trials are popping up in MN, WI and IL now, though, so it's definitely becoming more feasible. In addition to the super fun "International-style" courses, UKI also offers NFC runs that allow you to train with a toy in the ring. Hmm. Who needs that? Why, Kizzy of course! This is sounding better and better!

So as of today, I now have three dogs registered in UKI. Apparently the UKI-registered name of "Secret" was taken already, so Secret's registered name is "Secret Is Amazing."  :o)  The two Klee Kai are their names plus "The Klee Kai." lol  No, I am not original when it comes to names. That's what you get when you force a registered name on me.

I put the two wee ones in everything on Saturday (the 15th), so they'll be running Gamblers, Agility, Jumpers, Snakes & Ladders (had to look that one up), and Speed Stakes. Secret is running everything but S&L, as I still don't really know what it is and she doesn't need or want 5 runs in a day.

Thanks to UKI's lateral registration, Secret gets to start right out at the top level! Huzzah! Kaiser is the next level down (Senior?) because no, NADAC titles don't mean anything to UKI..., and Kizzy is, of course, in Beginners. I have looked at some sample courses online and I think these will be good courses for her. I may just plan on the whole day being training, but I suppose we could see how the first couple of runs go.

To be clear, we are not done with AKC. While I am miffed at this particular club, it does not change the fact that to date we have been welcomed with open arms by all of the clubs and competitors we have met. I do STRONGLY feel, though, that AKC really needs to reexamine their policy of giving clubs the choice of whether or not to "accept" All American entries. I paid to register my dogs with the AKC. They have a valid AKC number. This should give me the right to enter any AKC event that I wish (excluding conformation, of course).

If AKC truly cares about their public image (which apparently they do, considering all of the hype surrounding mutts at Westminster), they will reconsider giving clubs this option. My other wish would be for competitors to stop supporting trials with these close-minded practices! It boggles my mind that this trial secretary asked me the following: "Would you like to write a new check for the one entry or receive a refund for the other 2 dogs?" Are you for real, lady? On what planet do you think I'm going to come support your trial after you wouldn't accept two of my dogs? I am still awaiting a response to my reply, but I tell you there will be hell raised if she tries to tell me that she's keeping my money for Secret's entry.

(Another) Ring Rental

We did another ring rental at Family Dog Center yesterday. We haven't gone since what, the end of November or the beginning of December? I figured it was time. Following what occurred at the trial last weekend, I definitely figured Kizzy could use some happy, reenforcing time on the equipment.

I changed up a few things this time. I put the crate with the little dogs right in the arena and tied Secret to a pole to offer a "distraction" while Kizzy ran. Also there to provide distraction was the open bag of toys, food and other goodies. None of these seemed to pull her attention at all. I also switched away from the harness and instead used Kaiser's old fleece slip lead. That seemed to be way cool from the very start, as Kizzy actually left me a couple of times before starting her turns to go grab the leash. I rewarded this each time. Yes! Play with the toy!

I ran with the food-stuffable furry tug stuffed up the back of my shirt and into my bra, so for all purposes it appeared as though I was running without a toy on me (Kizzy has gotten wise to stuffing it in the back of my pants and has been known to jump up and grab it out...). I randomly rewarded for the dog walk, teeter and weaves, but otherwise tried to make all of the fun at the end of the run with the leash.

She was, of course, pretty much perfect. The course that was set was the Novice course from last Sunday. I tweaked it by putting in a full set of 12 weaves (she rocked them!), and adding the teeter, a chute, a table and a few extra jumps to offer some variety. It was a nice little set-up. The only time I really lost Kizzy was on her last turn -- I was going to end with one run around the outside loop and up on the top she started going around obstacles and started sniffing up and down the wall. I was pretty positive this meant she needed to go to the bathroom, so I whipped out the food, grabbed her and took her outside where she pee'd and poo'd right away. We had just enough time left in our session to do the outside loop that I'd planned to end on a good note.

Kaiser and Secret were equally as awesome. Secret was happy that I remembered her frisbee, although I always worry that she's going to get burns on her paw pads from sliding around on the turf the way she does when she chases it. Oh well, she was a happy camper and she had some awesome runs. Kaiser was his typical awesome self and I appreciated the opportunity to reward his dog walk and teeter.

I tried to get Kizzy into a class this session, but somehow they didn't end up with enough dogs to fill the one competition agility class they offer, so there is nothing available right now. It sounds like they might open it up one day a week for open ring time later this month, though, so I'll definitely be on the lookout for that and take advantage of any opportunity to get Kizzy in the ring right now.

There is a fun run in Minneapolis next weekend. I'd like to go, but it will add up to over $100 in gas and run fees, so I'll have to think about it... Weather will also play into it, of course. I went ahead and entered Kizzy in both Novice runs at the Oshkosh AKC trial I entered at the end of February, so it would probably be a good idea to do the fun run. I did just file my taxes and have money coming back, so.... We'll see.

Today is Groundhog's Day and apparently we are in for (at least) 6 more weeks of winter. Honestly, I'll be surprised if I'm able to do agility at home before May. There is so much snow out there...

We did manage to go for a walk yesterday afternoon when it was around 20 degrees or so, but today it's cold again and we've been stuck in the house minus a quick game of frisbee following poo pickup. We'll all be happy when this winter is done.

NADAC Day 2

I'll start with one of my favorite parts of the day.  :o) I titled the above video, "How NOT to Q in Chances." Both of the boys managed to squeak out a Q in Chances yesterday (the streak is officially over!), but only by the slightest of margins (especially Luke, who was very close to the 40 second mark). Both were marvelous at their redirects, which you obviously wouldn't want under ideal circumstances.... Kaiser normally does not redirect well, or he takes bonus obstacles on the way to where you are directing him, so I was especially proud of him for listening as well as he did. He is now just two runs from NATCH 2! Luke is now 4 runs from NATCH 5. Oh.... Plus three Jumpers runs. I should probably remember that!

Those are the rest of Kaiser's runs for the day. We didn't manage to get any Jumpers Qs this weekend, which is a little out of character. This NQ was completely and totally my fault, though, as I both dropped my arm and turned my head away from him -- So, with all of the blind crosses I've started to throw at him, what else should I expect than for him to cut behind me? Yup, that was all on me.

There will be no 100 DRI runs from yesterday, as Kaiser was having some wonky issue with a hoop in both classes. I think it took like four tries to get him to go *through* the hoop in the first round. He actually had a fault called in that round and I was like, "Umm...?" I asked the judge if he could remember what he called (they had just finished running the first round of Open at this time, so some time had passed) and all he could remember was "something out there" as he indicated the center of the ring. I asked if he'd like to watch the video to see if he could be more specific and I was told they aren't supposed to do that. That is completely absurd because NADAC rewards entire Qs based off video now and he did end up appeasing me (I swear I wasn't that pushy) and agreed that he did not see any faults in the video.

Kaiser had a really screwy jump in the 2nd round for a bar and one of those god forsaken 5-point Qs. I hate those. Not sure what caused the bad jump as it wasn't the typical scenario of me being way too far ahead. It was his last run after three days of agility, though, so maybe he was just getting tired. His weaves in that round were definitely dragging more than usual, too -- I actually saw him double-stepping a couple of them instead of hopping, so I'd say he was pooped.

Kizzy was not pooped. In fact, she was just as wound up on day three as she was on day one. She wanted to play and she wanted everyone to know it. Thankfully on Sunday we start with Jumpers, so she didn't have to wait quite as long for her first turn.

In general, what you see on the video is a vast improvement upon Saturday's performance. Kizzy was much less distracted in the ring, save for her obsession with the yellow lab, Mallie, who ran before us in each class. Mallie has been to a couple of our open agility sessions and I know Kizzy is highly interested in her for some reason. For the record, Mallie apparently does not like other dogs, so Kizzy has chosen a very poor object of obsession. Every time you see Kizzy run to the ring gating in the video it is because of Mallie.

I will say, apparently we won the battle on Saturday with regard to the exit doors --- but the game changed on Sunday to the ring gates in the middle. It's a little harder to guard an 80' span than two small doorways... Kizzy decided yesterday that she would no longer cooperate in being caught after our runs. I tricked her in Jumpers by acting like I was going out the door without her, then snatched her up as she started to skitter past me.

Score one for Kizzy in Hoopers (her most distracted run by far, as Mallie must have been standing RIGHT outside the ring the entire time) when she shot under the gating and ran straight for Mallie. Bless that dog's heart, but she wasn't reacting at all while her owner held her head way up and away from Kizzy. I'm just going off what I've heard that she's bad with other dogs, but there must be some history since her owner freaks out so much... Kizzy avoided a couple of people who tried to grab her and then went and jumped in the lap of our friend, Jim.

After round 1 of Regular there was much standing still and refusing to come anywhere near me before Kizzy turned tail and scooted under the gating again. This time Mallie and her owner were by their crate and the owner stuffed her in the crate before Kizzy got over there. Here's where panic set in, as Kizzy started heading to the back of the building -- by the door -- that people were going in and out of because Novice was the last class of the day and everyone was packing up to leave. By some glorious fortune I managed to grab her up before the door opened. And of course remember that NADAC doesn't allow collars, so she would have been out and about with no ID. That would have been fun.

So after all of this Kizzy seemed to finally realize that she wasn't getting very far with these tricks, so she actually stayed with me for the ENTIRE run in Regular 2. And here's where I get to admit the unexplainable thought that went through my head and the horrible thing I did. We're going through the course and I was all like, "Holy crap, she's staying with me!" Sure we missed a hoop and I didn't correct the weaves after she slid into the first pole with her hip (ouch...). With absolutely no forethought or plan, when Kizzy was on the dog walk it popped into my head, "I need to grab her at the end of the dog walk to end this run on a good note and praise her heavily for not playing keep-away." Yes, in my head this sounded like a fantastic idea.

Sigh..... I blame delirium and lack of sleep over three days....? I made a quick snatch towards Kizzy that missed as she scooted through my hands and she ended up toppling over. It looks bad. It is bad. It's the sort of thing that if I did it to Secret she would probably never set foot on the dog walk ever again. I was instantly crushed, knowing what a moron I was. I was just SO frustrated by the end-of-run behavior we'd been dealing with all day and I did not want that run to end the same way. I will kick myself for a very long time over this.

Of course Kizzy wasn't going to come to me after that, but she did run straight into the arms of the person leash running. I could not, absolutely could not, end our day that way. Kizzy was the last dog of the day so we called it quits and I took her back, put her down, had her get on the dog walk and then asked her to stop at the very top where I picked her up again and praised her profusely. We exited the ring, ate lots of treats and then went back into the ring and did the dog walk a couple of times (on leash) to make sure that I hadn't ruined her forever.

I am so not about the Q with Kizzy right now. That is the least of my worries. I am fully aware of how much needs to be worked on, but much like I went through with Kaiser, much of this can only be worked on at trials since that's where we see it. I do need to see if I can get back in for a ring rental soon and have a good, happy, positive experience with much putting-on of the leash. I don't think there is a trial this weekend, so I should probably see if we can go down. I should also probably strongly consider trying to get her into a class -- any class -- to help with working through the distraction of other dogs (although like I said, there really was just that ONE dog at the trial this weekend).

Regardless, there is probably little point to entering Kizzy in the March trial if we aren't able to train in the next month. As it is, I find it downright miraculous that Kizzy performed as well as she did this weekend considering that aside from the fun match in Oshkosh on Jan 1, she has not been on equipment since the beginning of December. For a dog who has not been doing this very long, it's pretty darn impressive how well she has retained what she's learned -- and what she hasn't learned, because did you see that rear cross in Jumpers?! It was beautiful.  ;o)

Novice dogs.... So much "fun," especially when they're a Klee Kai. I knew what I was getting into when I signed up for this. I think part of why I'm a little more down than I'd usually be was because I was missing some of my most supportive trial buddies this weekend. We had a lot of cancellations due to weather and illness and the Kizzy support crew was pretty light. Perhaps with a few more hands on deck we could have prevented those escapes. lol  What we really need are a whole slew of fun matches. Right now I'm almost desperate enough to drive over to Oshkosh for their February Friday night fun match. It starts at 6:30 p.m. and I'd have to drive home after (the last one went what, four hours?). Yeah..... That doesn't really sound fun. Why does FDC not have fun matches?!

I have to figure out what our next trial is. I'd really like to try to do a day of AKC in February or else Secret will sit for a long time. There's a chance I'd just run Kaiser at the NADAC trial to try for those two Chances Qs. We'll see. Much thinking to do about many things.