Last agility class of 2013

We went to our last class of the year yesterday morning. It had unexpectedly snowed the night before and the roads were a mess! No snow removal and tons of traffic. It took twice as long to get there as usual and it was a very stressful drive.

But I am glad we went. For the past few months I have been taking two classes back to back. I run my instructor's Sheltie Salsa in one and Ricky in another. Salsa is a pro - she is 9 years old and MACH 9. She teaches me how to do agility and I give her treats. :)

These days Ricky does the contacts and weaves class. I think this is perfect for him because the drills are shorter and there are not many jumps. Yesterday I really thought about "food play" from my play class and changed the way I reward him more into a game. I think he responded very well! He was definitely engaged for most of the class (except for the times he thought something on the floor was chicken and not fur or fuzz). He DID NOT want to go in his crate when his class was over.

Salsa is a trip! She would do agility all day long if she could and she barks at me when I am slow or she wants her turn or she wants some food or....well you get it. I am learning so much with her because of course my timing stinks. And I have trouble thinking. Haha! One day I hope to run her at a trial but I need much more practice first! Running Salsa is making me love agility again.

Toy play continues - yesterday we only had one session but Ricky got into the game very quickly. I was so excited that I didn't end the game soon enough and he beat me to it. :)

Chris and Ricky

Happy 2013!

Happy New Year everyone!

Today I went to my first agility class in a year and a half! It felt like we had never left. I went right in and did warm up tricks with mom. Some of the dogs and people we knew from other classes and some were new to us. The theme of today's class was front and rear crosses on the flat. We talked about how a cross on the flat can really set up a clean line for the dog.

The first sequence started jump, dw, fc on the flat, pinwheel, weaves. I had to go first!! I showed everyone how it was done. My first dw and set of 12 weaves in a long time, but I did them like a pro. I am still a very thoughtful dog out there but I knew what I was doing. :)

Mom had a good time too! I am so glad we are back to classes!

Maybe we'll ask someone to video next week!


Gotta zoom!


Ricky

My Latest Agility Game

Mom has been so lazy lately and so my new agility game makes me do all the running!

This video was taken last week some time. This week it is too hot and humid to do anything!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

A New Park

Yesterday we went to a new metro park built just last year! It is smack dab in downtown Columbus so it is truly a "metro" park. I think they took what my dad called industrial wasteland and created this beautiful park. Neat, huh?

Scioto-Audubon Metro Park

We walked by the river and around the wetlands and through the playground and then we went to the dog park. There was no one there so we had the dog park all to ourselves (the way we like it). I got a big surprise there - we did some agility!! There was equipment for big dogs on one side and for little dogs on the other. (Don't worry - mom checked out all of the stuff before she let me on it). The dog park is right next to the interstate and a railroad track but that didn't faze me at all.





We had a great time - it rained a tiny bit but we were lucky - and I can't wait to go back and see more!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Today's Trial

We went to a trial today - the first one since January. I really struggled with the jumps in the STD run and even knocked a bar. Put the video on full screen so you can see - otherwise it is too small.

The JWW course was really good for us - long straight aways. But after I had so much trouble jumping in the STD run, I really didn't feel confident enough to jump in the jumpers. (also make this video full screen or you can't see me walking by jumps).

I had a really good time when mom warmed me up for the runs. We went outside and I did some very attentive circle work and heeling and I was enthusiastic about doing tricks and startline running and stuff. I am not sure what happens to me on the actual course.

Even though we are signed up for two days of a trial on Easter weekend, today might have been my last trial day.

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

tRicky T-Day! (agility-style)

Because the weather was so nice today (64 degrees!) and because my new tricks aren't ready for prime time yet, we decided to do an agility tricky t-day!

Tunnel vs table, the double jump, and me being responsive to my name! Since I love the tunnel so much (that's my 6 ft tunnel in the video even though it looks like 1 foot), mom concentrated more on the table. We edited the video to get rid of the in between parts to make the whole thing a little shorter but we didn't edit out mistakes - I didn't make any!

I am happy to report that the ice in my backyard is completely gone! We are loving this spring preview but aren't naive enough to think it will last!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

POTC AKC Trial Sunday

Happy New Year everybody! Grandma, mom and I went to one day of a trial today - my first trial since September when my back hurt and I was refusing jumps all over the place. In December we went to practice doubles and triples at my club every Wednesday and I've been doing very well there. So our goal was to do the jumps and have fun.

First up was the standard course. It was pretty twisty-turny and had turns after each spread jump. I don't know if you can see on the video but the triple jump (#6) had wings and they put the wings in line with the middle jump of the triple and not with the highest bar. A lot of dogs misjudged it and crashed. I fell into that trap too and knocked the top bar (although it is also hard to see in the video). But mom was glad that I recovered from that - I was not fast and I was very careful over all the rest of the jumps, but I did not refuse them. I even did the double at #14. I did the chute with just the tiniest bit of hesitation - really one of my best chutes in a trial. And of course my finish was fast - :)

After that was JWW. The course was fairly simple so don't you know, mom had to go and mess it up! I started out slow but steady. Then mom got to #7 and forgot what she was doing and took me over the off course (#13). I'm sorry but that was just plain stupid!! She got back on track and I skipped jump #13. I think it was because mom yelled so enthusiastically about me clearing the double at #12 that she threw me off! (Too bad my jumping of #13 earlier didn't count). I did the spread jumps and I flew through the tunnel at the end!

(Sorry but the first 3 jumps of the STD run are not in the video - the video starts at #4 teeter - thank you grandma for videoing though - we really appreciate it!)

So no Qs today but some positive things happened I guess. In two weeks we are going to try our first-ever USDAA trial. It is being held at a training building not far from here. I am going to run in Performance Starters. At the performance level I can jump 12" and there are no spread jumps! (If I jumped at the championship level I would have to jump 16" and mom doesn't want me to). We'll see if we like it. I am going to do Gamblers on the first day and we don't really know how to do it - I think it is like FAST, right?

Well, the holidays are over and mom and dad go back to work this week. I like having them at home with me but I am thinking that I won't have a problem taking some good long naps!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

COSSA AKC Trial Saturday

The trial today went well - we spent 4 hours there (noon to 4:00PM) and got both our runs in. The venue is awesome and the air conditioning worked extremely well (it was actually a little chilly if you weren't running). Plus this place is 5 minutes from our house so there just isn't a single thing to complain about! :)

I ran my standard course first. Mom did a little lead out and it didn't seem to affect things one way or the other. My DW was pretty slow. The chute was the 4th obstacle and I DID IT (but not until after the judge did her YMCA dance)! After that the run was really good until mom forgot what she was doing going from #14 to #15 and she pushed me towards the weaves. Then I back jumped #16 instead of wrapping. We got back on track and finished fast!

Next was the jumpers run. Mom walked a good handling plan and then also a crazy outside path plan. Also she decided to try to get me to play a little at the start line (nope- didn't work - you'll see in the video) and I started out waaaaayyyy too slow! So mom abandoned her plan at #3 and that sped me up. I got the tunnel entrance at #8 - tons of dogs missed that if their handlers were behind - it was really tough) and then I ran pretty fast to the end even though mom tried to mess me up at #17 and 18. Even though I ran clean, I still got an NQ because I was over time.

Did we meet our goals? I was pretty happy (after the slow starts) and we were pretty connected (most of the time) and I did do the chute!

We'll see what tomorrow brings! I also don't want to forget - a big thank you to grandma for going with us and for taping my runs!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Training Challenge #2

We went out and got our training challenge done on Monday of this past week because we knew the weather was going to get hotter and hotter as the week went on. Mom took me to a part of my favorite park that we never go to - it was at the end of the library parking lot and across from ball fields and the tennis courts. She brought a jump, a tunnel and my 2X2 weaves.

So in the video, behind the camera is the parking lot (not many cars moving around on that end - that's why mom hoped it was safe enough - but there were park workers who were emptying trash cans), to the left of us were tennis courts and kids at a tennis camp, and behind us were girls at lacrosse practice. None of this bothered me - I just did my agility!!

We were invaded by ants this week - little, itty bitty ants every where! Mom discovered them last Saturday under the carpet at the back door. She cleaned them up and then a couple days later, they were in the food cabinet in the kitchen! Then a few mornings ago, they were in the toaster - for crying out loud! Mom has been beside herself and finally had to call a bug guy. She was trying vinegar and then baby powder and she kept seeing them coming into the house from the patio, so the bug guy came and mom had strict instructions for him on how much (or really how little) he was allowed to spray because she really didn't want him to spray at all. He did the perimeter of the house and very little inside. That was Friday and she is still finding a few ants in the kitchen and yesterday morning she was shocked to see a big trail of ants marching to and from the house across the patio and right through the area where the spray was!! If the situation doesn't improve, she'll have to call the bug guy again tomorrow. I hope those ants stop coming in because I am tired of hearing her whine about it! Funny, last summer we barely saw one ant in the yard. The bug guy said that all the snow we had last winter (remember in February when the ground was covered for the entire month?) insulated the bugs in the ground. Great.

I love the posts about this week's training challenges that I have seen so far! Can't wait to see what other dogs did! We are loving the TC - it's so nice to be motivated by such supportive friends!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Ricky

Not for Lack of Trying

We're really sorry but we don't have a tRicky T-Day video for you this week! We are working and working on new tricks but have nothing to video. I don't know how Sara, Misty and Oreo do it every week! We try to hold up our end on the Thursday T-Days but just can't always do it. I don't think we are going to get in a real training challenge this week either (we did walk in the park yesterday and practiced recalls). It's too hot and humid (not for Diana, but for us here - LOL! Just teasing you, Diana) to drag agility stuff around to a park. And I have my FAST trial this weekend. So we are going to let Marie down this week too - sorry!!

Mom has been thinking about angles and lead outs since our class on Tuesday and she set up some jumps at angles and decided to see what I can do. I actually know more than mom thinks I do! We made a very short video to show you - yesterday we tried this for the very first time and I got it on the first try. Then we did it again. Today we tried it twice only and I got it both times. (Just don't want you to think we do it over and over and over and then edit out the bad stuff - in this case, there wasn't any bad! :) ) Wonder if I would prefer lead outs at a trial - mom always thought it would freak me out. Hmmm.. ..something else to ponder!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Weaving for Watermelon

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

GRCC AKC Agility Trial - Sunday

We did go back to the trial today with wet towels for our necks, more cold bottles of water, and a really cool fan that misted too that dad bought us! Mom was not as hot today with the wet towel around her neck the entire time she was there(except for when we actually ran).

The JWW course was very twisty turny at the beginning and ended with a big circle all the way around the ring. Mom was afraid she wouldn't remember the course if she tried for some unconventional path. So she didn't motivate me enough and I skipped a couple jumps. So NQ even though I was really running at the end!


Mom had a complete outside line plan for our standard run and she was so sure of her plan that she forgot the course and left out the yellow tunnel and two jumps - #3, 4, 5! She saw the judges arms going up while I was on the teeter and asked what happened and the judge said, "You left out 3 obstacles!" The judge had to laugh and mom laughed too but come on, mom!! I was doing my job! We got to the chute and the judge whipped her arm up into the air (she gave me no time at all) and after I got the refusal, I went through! So two chute refusals this weekend but also two completed chutes! WooHoo for me! Then just to make the run complete, I skipped another jump near the end. Mom says if I had gone through the chute with no problem and if her messing up had ruined our Q, she would've killed herself - LOL! So 8 tries at Exc A STD courses and only 1 Q!

So that was our super hot trial weekend! Next trial is a Novice/Open only trial held at our club in air conditioning in July and we're going to try Novice FAST for the first time!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Today is my birthday!!

Look at what Sanne, El'bow and Hauwii did for my birthday! How cool!!! Thanks so much guys!


I am three years old today! Mom says she doesn't know where the time has gone and she can't believe I am three! Yesterday I got to go to my favorite park even though it was 27 degrees outside and still completely snow-covered - the sun was out and that was nice! Then I came home and had a marrow bone! Today we are supposed to get more snow and mom and I are hoping our class with Jenn will not be cancelled!

Mom made a video for me as a birthday present - she hopes you all enjoy it!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky - the birthday boy!

AKC Puli Club Trial Sunday

Second day of the trial today! Mom, grandma, and I got there at noon and that was of course way too early. But we sat and watched a lot of the Exc JWW and got to see some really outstanding handlers and their dogs. Mom had the course memorized before she walked it. We almost had a conflict again - mom got us moved up in the JWW so she wouldn't miss the walk-thru for Open STD. Our JWW run went great! Mom actually ran it like she walked it (she thinks) and it worked well and kept me moving. We Q'ed and got 2nd place and our AXJ title!

After that exciting run we went over to wait for our Open STD run. This course started out similarly to yesterday's - a few jumps and then the chute. Today mom made sure she didn't run past the chute and coaxed me in - I went in and didn't get called for a refusal. Then we were going along just fine and I decided it would be cool to do the chute again!!!! Mom veered to the right and I went left and I completely shocked her and she yelled, "Ricky!!" and saved me from the chute but I was not thinking about jumping and knocked the top bar of the triple. Oh well. Mom says although we didn't Q (or get that last leg in Open but who's really counting - ha), she is super proud to think that I wanted to repeat the chute of all things! I am gaining more confidence every time I run now and it's not a bad thing to stay in Open a little longer. Once we get to EXC STD we can't make any mistakes and we have to run faster to make time. So waiting is a good thing! (PS. We just found out that the standard course time was 71 and my time was 66.83 - so I was well under course time! Yay! That's major progress!)

As if all the agility this weekend wasn't exciting enough, tomorrow morning we start a new handling class taught by Jenn Crank! We are super excited to be taking her class and we will tell you all about it. For now I have to rest up - a dog's work is never done!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

AKC Puli Club Trial Saturday

We went to the trial today that is being held 5 minutes from our house! That part was awesome! We got there at 1:00 (trial started today at 9:00) and didn't run our first run until 4:30! Mom was super panicked because both our events were happening at the same time. She walked the JWW course and then had to go over and walk the STD course and warn the gate stewards that we might have a conflict. We were ok and ran our EXC A JWW run first. It went really well - I was happy to finally be doing something! We Q'ed and got 2nd place!!

Then it was straight over to the other ring for Open STD. We waited a little bit - fortunate for mom who was gasping for air from running the first time! Our Open run went well too - except for the refusal at the chute - but I did it! And we actually made time! Q and 3rd place! WooHoo!!!





The field turf surface is very good - it does get all over your feet and shoes and sheltie fur like newly-mown grass. We weren't expecting that part. The facility was really nice except did you notice in the video the basketball playing going on behind the see-through mesh curtains?

We didn't go through trying to convert the video to avi today so that it would work in the WMM. So sorry about the no-frills, black background, horrible Flip software editing! And the movie took forever to upload to YouTube because I guess the mp4 makes much bigger files. Maybe the actual video quality is better?

Well tomorrow the trial starts at 8:00 so we should be done a little earlier! This will be our first time doing two days of a trial with two runs both days. But I feel really good and I had fun today and I think tomorrow is going to be fun too!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

PS. Grandma came with us again today - I really like having her there! Thanks grandma!

The Proof!

Sorry, no tRicky T-Day video today! We are working hard on a few new tricks, but they are still not ready for primetime!

However, we went to our agility class last night and our instructor was nice enough to video us! Only two dogs showed up for the class - not sure where everyone was. It was ok with me though - we got to run the course twice and also practice hard parts of it. I'll let the video speak for itself:

This weekend is the AKC Invitationals out in Long Beach, CA. Once again this year my favorite trainer Deb and her Russell Terrier Bug are competing in agility and my grandma Catherine Zinsky and her Border Collie Kyle are competing in obedience (hoping to top their fourth place finish from last year). We wish them and all the other competitors the best!

I am busy working on my holiday video - it was going well until mom screwed up and deleted part of it! I am hoping to have it done in the next week so stay tuned!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

tRicky T-Day! and Last Night's Class Saga

Sara, Oreo and Misty are always so consistent with learning and videoing their tricks for Tricky T-Day - they inspire us to keep posting our trick attempts! Right now we have several tricks in the works but they just aren't ready for video yet! However we read Amanda's post from over at manymuddypaws the other day and she mentioned that her dogs know the "chin" trick - sounded cute so we learned that this week. Also in this month's Clean Run magazine, Sassie Joiris showed her method of training handstand. As you know, we have been working on this for a long, long time using the books up against the wall method. I can get my back feet up on a pretty tall stack of books now but one problem is the books are too deep (far from the wall) so I am not leaning against the wall. Also I get frustrated if the books are too high and I think I can't get my little legs up there. So Sassie graduates the dog to using a plank-like thingy against the wall that starts at an angle and then can basically be put flat against the wall and then removed and the dog can use the wall only. Brilliant! So as an added bonus to this week's tRicky T-Day chin trick, we added our very first attempts at using a plank-like thingy - in our case the lid to a storage container. Mom uses her leg and the couch to keep it from moving. It is a little too slippery and we need to use something else but I think my first tries went well and we can see some real potential. (We're still a LONG way off from being able to do a real handstand though)!

Ok, now for the saga from last night! It was pouring down rain when it was close to the time we leave for our Wednesday evening class - class starts at 6:30 but we leave around 5:30/5:40 because of rush hour traffic. Without traffic the trip would take 20 minutes. So because people in Central Ohio can't drive in rain (not even snow, just rain), we left earlier - 5:20 - and what a nightmare! We live right near a major highway - got on the road and it was bumper to bumper/stop and go from the minute we started out. Mom decided to abandon the highway when it took 15 minutes to go maybe 4 miles. We got off and took a parallel road to downtown and then tried to get on the highway again. After waiting 10 minutes at a stop light to turn left, we finally got on and we were immediately completely at a standstill. Once again we got off the highway and just headed in the general direction we needed to go. Mom doesn't know that area of town very well. So she called grandpa and he interrupted his dinner and got a map and talked mom through a very convoluted route that finally - 65 minutes later - got us to the class! You might be wondering why we didn't just turn around and go home - well the traffic was just as bad in the opposite direction. There was just no where to go! We feel very lucky that we got there safely and with a couple minutes to spare!

And mom is very happy we persevered because only two other people came to class and we got to run lots of sequences without feeling rushed and I did great! Maybe sitting in a car for an hour agrees with me? I did the chute fast (we got to practice it a little too) and mom put a piece of chicken as a target at the end of the dogwalk and I literally flew over it - proved that I can RUN the dogwalk with the right motivation (too bad we can't put food in strategic places all over an agility course at a trial!). I got some difficult weave entries and did some fancy jumping. All in all the torturous drive was worth it. Already they are predicting rain for next Wednesday - what time do you think we will need to leave the house?

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Last night's agility class

So after all our hard work at making agility fun and fast, I went to class last night and poked around and sniffed every darn leaf on the floor because I was SURE it was food. I kind of did the agility sequences but I was very distracted. Mom tried not to let me know, but I could tell she was frustrated and also disappointed in me. She wants to know how long it's going to take before I am consistently faster and happier and focused doing agility out in the world like I am in my own backyard!

Seriously though, in this re-creation of the floor from class, can you spot the food versus not food:

In my defense, it's not that easy to tell is it? You can see my dilemma then at class! And the leaves looked just like the one in the photo! So I ate the food to show you which was which:

Gotta zoom (mom says I should change this to "gotta sniff" but I think that just plain mean!)

Ricky

WooHoo!!

We had a great day yesterday! Grandma got here about 7:30 and we left. It only took a little over an hour to get to the trial site - not a bad drive at all. Of course, grandma and mom talked the whole way and kept me awake! This trial was held at a fieldhouse/fitness center. The standard ring was in one room and the jumpers ring was in another (so it made for a quieter atmosphere). I ran my Open JWW run first at 10:00AM. We didn't get a video of it (sorry) but the course map is below. Mom liked the course because she could do a lot of front crosses and keep me motivated. As a matter of fact, she was a front-crossing fool! She did a FC between #2 and #3, #5 and #6, #7 and #8, and #12 and #13! (Click to bigify so you can see what we're talking about!) But it worked! I ran fast and happy! Mom was completely winded when we finished - she's a wimp! Standard course time (SCT) was 44 and my time was 37.22. I ended up Q'ing and getting first place and getting my Open title!! Hurray on to EX A JWW!

Ok, then the big wait! Mom had high hopes that this would be a short trialing day but we waited 4 1/2 hours for our STD run! Grandma was good company though and we also talked to some of our agility friends. And it was cool in the building (cold mom says) which helped me out a lot. I had a little nap in the car but spent most of my time just hanging with mom and grandma. Finally it was my turn to run again! We got video this time but we're also including the course map. Having a couple jumps at the beginning and then a tunnel was good for me to get going. Mom made sure she slowed down and got me on the aframe (no sniffing!) and then I strutted very proudly over the dogwalk (I love the dogwalk now!) and also sat proudly on the table (also no sniffing!). Then mom got very animated and sent me into the chute (I did my fastest-ever-at-a-trial chute!) and then fast-for-me weaves and then mom was worried about the tunnel/DW discrimination so she slowed down to make sure I went into the tunnel and then we were home free!

So I got my first Open STD Q and placed 2nd! SCT was 77 and my time was 64:43 - well under SCT! Yay!! I had a really fun time doing agility with mom yesterday. Seems like our hard work is starting to pay off!

Here I am in the obligatory pose with the ribbons and toys. Mom loved the green title ribbon and I loved the toys!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Wednesday class, cold weather, tRicky T-Day, and a Friday trial

What happened to October - blue skies, pretty leaves, indian summer, dry air? We have skipped October this year and gone straight to November - rainy, cold, windy, gray. I don't mind it that much although we don't go outside like we used to. But mom is whining about the bad weather all day long!

Last night we went to our Wednesday agility class (we missed last week because mom had to rehearse Beethoven #9 - whatever that means). We ran a full course last night - and it included the chute which is always very good practice for me. Since our last real post we have been practicing with the target and getting me to take off at the start. And we have been practicing short sequences (three or four obstacles). Mom is trying to keep practices short and fun and not daily and she tries not to let me know I did anything wrong (that's the hardest thing for her - she STILL catches herself making me redo something from time to time)! It seems to have paid off because I ran pretty fast and happy last night. I even did my fastest away- from- home chute! By the end of the course, mom forgot where she was supposed to go but we just kept running fast and she let me do whatever jumps I wanted. I was super excited when we finished and I got lots of chicken to prove how well I did!

After the run-thru we split up into two groups and did smaller portions of the course. I was still happy until my second-to- last go - I came out of a tunnel really fast and caught sight of another dog out of the corner of my eye. I took my mind off what I was doing for a second and flew at a jump and slipped and knocked the bar. It spooked me a little - mom checked to see that I was ok and then put me back in the tunnel and I finished the sequence. Then when we tried our last little exercise, I refused the aframe and mom stopped me and had me do it again (see, I told you she forgets and makes me redo stuff!!!) I did it the second time. But mom, always the worrier, is hoping that getting spooked won't have a lasting effect on me.

Today is tRicky T-Day so we put together a little video showing my new cane tricks! And there is bonus footage of my stand in the corner trick - mom stands farther away from me now and just says, "Corner" and off I go. We are trying to generalize the behavior to other corners but it's not working yet!

Tomorrow we are traveling a little more than an hour to a trial at a new location for us. It's another artificial turf surface place. Since the barn where we used to trial is still not usable, we are forced to seek out other opportunities. Well, an hour is not a very long drive. Grandma is going to go with us to keep mom company. She has never been to an agility trial but she loves dogs and we think she's going to have a great time! The schedule looks good for us too - I run my Open JWW at 10:00 and then just have to wait for Open STD but we think I may get to run that around noon. That would be great!! So our goal for tomorrow is to blast off from the start line and to run happy (with no sniffing before obstacles!!).

Gotta zoom!

Ricky