Since I last wrote

We've been having some busy days around here. The weather is still great and we try to be outside as much as we can. A few days ago mom and dad took me for an awesome walk at a nearby metro park. We've been there before - it's the place with the 3.5 mile pet trail. But this time when we went, mom put on my long line and let me walk the trail "off-leash"! Totally cool! I stayed with mom and dad but also got to run and smell a lot. I am a very path-oriented dog, so I stay right on the trail. It was a fantastic walk!

Thursday night was the mock obedience competition in Deb's advanced class. You may remember we have taken this class twice before and each time we do the competition, our score goes down. Well the third time we got the lowest score yet - mom thinks that Deb is scoring us more critically each time because mom thinks we did our best-ever on Thursday night. Actually our entire class did well. I was ok on heel on leash and off leash and on figure eight (but the heeling stuff is still our weakest part - I sniff a little and sit poorly, etc.) My stand-for-exam was good. On the recall I sat too far from mom but my military finish was excellent! Long sits and downs were perfect. I was happy to see Deb as always and happy to get my chicken hot dogs treats!

Yesterday we visited grandpa and grandma. We went to a garage sale, had a great lunch, helped grandma do a little gardening, and went for ice cream at a local ice cream stand.

The only bad part of the past few days is that I am sick! Yesterday morning I vomited a little yellow, frothy bit of stuff - sometimes this happens to me early in the morning before breakfast, so mom didn't worry about it. We went on about our business yesterday and then about an hour after I ate my dinner, I threw it all back up! This is not like me at all! Mom was concerned but I wasn't really acting sick - still barking and running, etc. So after a couple hours, since I was so hungry, she let me have a little rice. Well, darn if I didn't throw that up within 20 minutes after eating it. That really worried mom, so she put me on a leash to keep me quiet and lying next to her and we just rested until bedtime. I slept all night and got up hungry. Mom has let me have some ice chips so far - she is being very cautious this morning. I am HUNGRY and really don't know why I haven't gotten my breakfast yet! Mom says she doesn't want to upset my stomach and that I'll have to wait a little longer and then she'll let me have a little rice again. We'll cross our fingers and hope I keep it down. Fortunately, vomiting seems to be my only symptom so maybe this is just a little stomach upset and I'll be fine in no time.

Gotta rest (zoom later, hopefully)!

Ricky

Agility Level 1 Class 5

We went early again to our agility class on Wednesday night. Mom had a chute plan for me. She brought a target and some small pieces of strawberry (my current favorite treat!). Earlier in the day she put a strawberry on the target and sent me through our chute - I flew straight through as I was very keen on getting that berry I knew was waiting for me. So when we got to the real chute, mom rolled it up first and sent me through the barrel part and I did it right away for that delicious strawberry! Then she put all of the chute material out on the floor, loaded up the target, put me in a wait and held up the chute a little off the floor so I could see the other end. When she called me, I went through! Yea! We did it about three or four times and I ran through every time! Success! (Next week we'll try dropping it as I run through). We also did a little weave practice so that I could try the weave poles at our club. (I can't do them during the class because those pups are all using wires.)



When class started we worked on the broad jump. The first time mom let me try as it was and I walked over it. So she asked the instructor if we could put a bar jump over the broad jump ( we got this great idea from Diana at http://4dogcraziness.blogspot.com/ so thank you to her!) (BTW I have no idea how to put links in here the correct way; if I did, you would be able to just click on "Diana" and it would take you to her blog!) Any way it worked like a charm! We jumped a couple times and then removed the bar jump and I still jumped the broad jump! Then we practiced the a-frame and it was set up a little steeper than before. I ran right up and over it. On the way down, I kind of slide and can't stop to do 2o2o, so mom is just going to have me wait at the bottom on the ground. (We are considering changing all of our contacts to running contacts any way, we'll see..) And then it was time for the chute during the class. Mom and I went last and loaded up the target just like in practice. Mom held the chute up a little for me and I went through it again! Hurray for small steps forward!

The rest of the class was rather uneventful. It was really hot in the building again even with fans going. But mom wet me down before we went in and that seemed to help some.

Last night was our last advanced obedience class with Deb. Too bad that we had to miss two of the seven classes. I think this really hurt us because we placed last out of 5 dogs in the mock competition! I did great on the one-minute sit/stay and the three-minute down/stay ( as a matter of fact all 5 dogs were perfect - no one got up!), and I did a great stand/stay and a fairly respectable recall (could've been a better front). What mom and I really need to work on is our heeling - on and off-leash. Mom is the first to admit that she has never worked on this seriously enough with me. I was slow to sit when she stopped (but I did eventually sit), and I lag behind her, and sometimes I sniff the floor! It was a little disappointing. Oh well. If we ever want to compete for real and get my CD, we'll have to get to work! I tell mom if there are strawberries involved then I'm in!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Wed. Agility Class/Thurs. Advanced Obedience Class

I've been a busy pup the past few days! Wednesday night was our second level 1 agility class. It went really well. I did my first-ever a-frame (although it was set lower than usual). I just walked right up and over it and did my hit-it at the target on the other side. Mom was impressed but she knew I would not have a problem with it. I also did my first-ever broad jump - also no problem for me. So far we are basically getting introduced to all of the equipment and hopefully soon we'll start to do some sequences.

Thursday night was the fourth advanced obedience class with my trainer Deb. We missed the third class since mom had to work. So it had been two weeks since we had seen Deb and the other pups in the class. Last night only three of us showed up so we got lots of individual attention. We worked on off-leash heeling and attention, figure eight, sit and down stays with distractions, and get-up, get-over, get-back. I don't like the get-back part but I am good at the others. Then Deb got out a couple jumps and the tire and we did a little agility for fun. At the end of the class, we did a little work with the dumbbell - a Golden in our class is getting really good at it. He will take it, hold it, drop it, heel with it, do a recall with it....it's very inspiring. I will kind of hold it if mom puts it in my mouth but I am very good at dropping it! So guess we need to work at that. Deb thinks it's a good idea for me to get my CD title in obedience because she says all the work mom and I will do together to get that title will make us a much better team at whatever we want to do including agility. Also Deb told mom that she is too loud when we are doing agility and recalls (mom gets so excited!). She thinks that mom should save her loud excited voice for special occassions in agility - like when she really needs to get my attention. Mom is going to work on being more quiet - after all I am following her body language really well and I don't need all that yelling!

Today mom took me to our favorite park! We hadn't been there in quite awhile. After we did our usual meandering around, mom got my long line out of the car and took me out into a big grassy area and we worked on sit/stay and recalls. It was so much fun and I did a great job if I say so myself! Then mom walked around and I followed her everywhere dragging the long line behind me. Every time mom changed direction, I followed. If she ran, so did I. And if she called me, I went straight to her. It gave us both a sense of freedom and also hope for the future that some day, just maybe, I can be trusted off-leash! For now, though, the 30ft. long line is great!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Past Few Days

Today is a rainy Saturday - perfect time to try to catch you up on what I've been doing for the past few days. Thursday mom went and bought some annuals to put in pots on the front porch and on the back patio. Our super nice neighbors had given us a gift card to a local gardening store, so everything mom got was free for us! The flowers look little in their pots right now, but they should grow and be big and beautiful in a couple months. Mom also planted canna lillies in several places in front and back and also along our neighbor's house. I helped by being good on my leash in the front yard and by doing a stellar down/stay in the backyard. (Mom prefers that kind of help from me rather than the barking and excited circling that I would do otherwise! I mean shovels and dirt and watering cans excite me, what can I say?!)

Mom decided that we would take my trainer Deb's off-leash advanced obedience class again - we took it in August/September last year, and we thought maybe since I am a little older and mom is a little wiser we might get more out of it this time. The first class was Thursday night. There were only 5 pups - we knew two of them from our foundation agility class and one of them from a class field trip. I was thrilled to see Deb! But my performance in the class left something to be desired. It started out with some ok on-leash heeling. But then we lined up for recalls and when the first person called their dog, all 5 of us jumped up and started running. I admit it, I was confused. I kind of looked to the left and to the right and at mom and thought, "well all the other dogs are running, guess I should be too!" And after that, I just couldn't hold a stay for the life of me! I knew that mom was getting frustrated but so was I! Deb started wondering if there was a full moon! And one of the mom's that we knew from agility told mom that I was a dog that seemed to be better at agility than obedience! Come on, it was just the first class and I wasn't used to the room and the pups and people that were there! And the class is at 8:45PM and frankly that's past my bedtime! I know I am making a lot of excuses but we plan on proving that I can be a good obedience dog too - for example, I did an excellent stand for exam, and I gave mom a lot more attention (ie. watch me) than I did when we took the class before. I do awesome sit/stays and down/stays at home - it's hard to practice the effect other pups and people and floors (my back feet slip a lot) have on me unless we practice in these classes. But we are really happy to be a part of Deb's class - it's a great alternative to the advanced novice class we postponed taking at the club. Also I get to see Deb each week!! Hurray!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky