Eating Out at Chili's

I took my dog sitters out to dinner a few nights back, using the two $25 Chili's gift cards I won at the New Iberia trial last weekend. My guests included John, Audrey, Laura and her 10 year old daughter, Portia.  We decided to take advantage of the "2 entrees and an appetizer for $20" plan, plus an order of chicken fingers for Portia.  I kinda thought $50 would cover that, but by the time we added drinks, tax and tip, the bill was $70!

$70?????????  I was livid by the time I got home.  How can people spend so much money on restaurant food?  Burn thru $70 in 1.5 hours.  Of course my people are worth that and more, and I had gift coupons, but I got to thinking what else one could buy for $70 that would last a lot longer -- like a new pair of Gortex tennies, 6 weeks of agility lessons for my dogs, a half tank of gas in my RV, enough groceries to feed me and John for a week.  But there it was, a Thursday, and Chili's was jam packed, with a full waiting room and quite a few families with children.  How especially do young families afford to spend so much money eating out?  Me, I prefer home cooking and a big fat savings account.

And I was disappointed in the food.  They no longer bring chips and salsa to the table. Portions were small. Broccoli was frozen. Chicken fingers had a weird batter and the corn on the cob was mushy.  My mango/tilapia had one cube of mango on a thin filet about the size of a coaster.  John's chicken fajita meat looked boiled, not grilled and his bell peppers were overcooked.  Audrey's salad had no green leaves.  It was all iceberg lettuce.  The service was mediocre.  We had to go looking for the waiter several times.



L to R:  Lucky Lucy as a puppy, Maxie,
Pepper propped up over Maxie's back (he does that),
Willow with her "pom pom" tail.

The best thing that came out of the event is that Portia brought her crayons and entertained herself by drawing a composite picture of my dogs, cut it out and presented it to me.  I intended to make a refrigerator magnet, but my laminating machine ate it and I've just spent an hour disassembling the machine and prying the plastic off the roller then trying to iron it back flat.  Here's a photo of the crumpled up piece.  Sorry, Portia but it's still the first time anybody drew my dogs, is mighty cute and I'm keeping it.

Upwards and onward!

Port Allen Trial - September

Maxie, 6 runs, 4 Q's, 2 QQ's, 3 3rd places, 1 2nd place, 32 MACH Points, 6 videos
Lucky Lucy, 6 runs, 1 Q, 9 MACH Points, 6 videos



L to R:  Pepper, Maxie, Willow
with Maxie's 2 QQ's and placement ribbons.

John and I both headed off to Port Allen for our dog club's 2nd 3 day trial this year. Our first experience of pulling off 2 agility trials in 1 year.  I brought the motor home so John, assistant to the chief course builder all weekend, wouldn't have to leave the house at 5 a.m. each morning.  He spent Thursday and Friday nights with me, then went home Saturday night after the RV'ers "BringYour Own Beef" pot luck barbeque to bring our car back across the river.   He caught a ride back to the arena on Sunday morning with Nedra because he drove the U-Haul full of equipment back to BR Sunday night. We didn't want to have to go back across the river and get our car like last year, which took our last ounce of strength after the gruelling weekend.

John worked his ass off.  Two rings, always a course to build, for 3 days.  Few breaks, then pack up the truck and bring everything back to the field.  All I did was manage our RV, our crate space, and ran our dogs, trying to save my hip for my runs.  I didn't video other people, just my own dogs and a few of our novice competitors.  My hip didn't hurt a bit all weekend - must have been adrenalin keeping me from feeling it because it was sore before the trial, and is sore now.

Maxie ran clean the first 2 days but didn't run as fast as usual, walked the weaves, and on the 3rd day he went off course on both runs, attracted by some scent at the back side of the arena.  The first of those NQ's, XS, he ran clean except on the second to last jump he ran completely out of the ring and around the column, but the judge only raised her hand for a refusal of that jump and the score sheet showed Maxie's time and 1 fault.  Why we weren't Eliminated I can't figure.  Here's that run.



On the XJ run, he ran around a jump which was his only fault, but didn't leave the ring.  But the score sheet showed we got eliminated and no time.  I can't figure that out.  Plus which, the video shows that the clock kept running for at least 4 seconds after we crossed the finish line. Here's that run. 



I pat myself on the back that all weekend I didn't lose track, kept on going, never got lost on course. I've changed one tactic.  If my Excellent dogs miss an obstacle, I don't go back to correct it.  I'm NQ'd anyway, but I keep the flow going to encourage speed.  Will this come back to bite me if my dogs start thinking they can skip something?  We'll see. Does it worsen my score?

Lucky Q'd once with 9 MACH points on her first XS run, but otherwise she was not much interested in participating.  It was hot.  Her tongue was dragging. Even when clean, she was always over course time. On one run, a spectator was eating a plate of fried fish at the edge of the ring. She smelled it and ran towards him. DON'T EAT FOOD RINGSIDE is now added to my Tips list. 

 

I'm still processing both dogs' composite videos, but my microphone is acting up, as is my video editing program.  I'm trying different things, still not satisfied with the programs I've tried.

On Friday and Saturday both, I had visitors. Audrey came Friday and Saturday. Nathan and Allison came Saturday morning.  Laura and Portia hung around all Saturday afternoon and evening. 9 year old Portria unabashedly interviewed several dog owners about their breeds, and one of our own club members spent lots of time showing off her Corgi's. I was also impressed with a lady who showed us her Shelties.  I've always been attracted to the dainty ones that look like miniature collies. If Portia gets one of those, I'll be thrilled.  My cousin Lois also offered her a Papillon puppy, 5 months old, but Portia now has Shelties on the brain.

Portia with my Paps

The most encouraging thing that happened all weekend was the interest shown in my new "Tips For The Novice Competitor" paper, which is a work in progress. Competitors shared their pet peeves and gave me lots of encouragement to publish the list. One experienced competitor said "No matter how long we've been at it, we're all still novice.  It would do everyone good to review the rules and especially the etiquette."  I agree.  There's a lot to take in.

GOALS MET/GOALS SET:

I'm running a little faster, with a slightly longer stride. Courses are easier to memorize.  My nerves aren't frayed.  My heart isn't in my throat as I enter the ring.  I don't agonize over mistakes.

Maxie's first 2 QQ's in one weekend was a real surprise.  This leaves only one more QQ to meet my year-end goal of 10.  We're at 493 MACH points now, and my goal is 550.  With 2 more trials this year, we have a good chance of making these goals.

Lucky actually did run her weaves once. She never stopped on the top of the A-frame. She didn't miss any contacts.  That's a little progress, at least.

My goal for Lucky is still the same - to figure what it takes to get her moving in the ring like she does in practice.  For starters, I've entered her in our next trial at 24" and we'll practice at 24" from now on.  She seems to like jumping higher. Maybe this will boost her enthusiasm, and she will get a few more seconds to complete each run. The cooler October weather may help too. She needs 3 more Q's in XS to get her MX title.  We could well accomplish it this year, but with her speed issues, her MXJ can't come until 2013.

Pepper, my livewire 8 lb. Pap, at 11 months old, wasn't the least bit unnerved by the trialing atmosphere.  Crates beautifully. Not shy of dogs or visitors. Tried to mark everything, though. I measured him several times at 11.25", so looks like he may be jumping 12". I hope cousin Lois is right that Paps shrink a bit at about a year old. I'd prefer him to jump 8". When I hooked his leash to our cart going too and from the RV, just expecting him to tag along, I discovered he's a great cart puller.  Here's a little video we took of him pulling, with Maxie and Willow riding in the caboose.  Notice that 46 lb Lucky, in harness, is often on a loose leash, while Pepper is pulling the 50+ lb cart all by himself.  I've got to get him a harness before he strangles himself!  He is unstoppable.

Got a whole month to practice before Kiln, and Pepper just got booted out of Intro up to Beginners.  Got to see what classes are available.

Upwards and onward!

See Saw Puppy Training w Portia and Honey Bear

Michele and Honey Bear

My 2 working agility dogs were NOT introduced to the see saw in the following manner.  They did the low teeter for 6 weeks as our club teaches it, then it was gradually raised over several weeks.

However, still part of the Fat Tuesday experiment (previous post on Tunnel Relays) with training 10 year old Portia to train a puppy, seeing how long I could hold her interest, and seeing what I could get out of 5 lbs. of fearless Papillon from the first attempt, here's a composite video of what we accomplished over a 10 minute session.  I would not attempt this with a timid or overly rambunctious dog, but it worked out well for 4 month old Honey Bear (aka Winnie Pooch).



I do insist on a front entry as shown (with guide gates at first), a nose touch at the bottom to lower their center of gravity and get a solid "halt", and I require a release before they get off.  A side exit from the bottom is allowed, but only after the halt and release. 

As you can see, Honey Bear has no fear of the seesaw and ran right to the end on his first attempt.  This is not typical of most dogs I've seen in Intro.  He was, of course, running to get his Cheerio.  I am convinced that the placement of the treat at board level, creating a nose touch behavior within 2 inches of the end of the board, is why neither of my dogs have the fly off, get off, stop in the middle, refusal problems I see in so many other agility dogs.  Even with my experienced dogs, I still bend down and treat at the end of the board at least half the time in practice to keep their performance at its best.  Or, if I'm a good distance away, I click when they get to the end, then release them for a treat.

For more tips on see saw training with "around the clock" exercises, follow this link.

Upwards and onward!

Tunnel Relays, Puppy Training, and a Junior Handler

Michele, Portia, & Honey Bear

Relays are one of my favorite agility training methods, though I've never heard mention of them outside of Flyball. They are very effective, fast moving and lots of fun.  The video below will show that clearly.

A few notes first:  Training a puppy is one thing.  Training a child to train a puppy adds another dimension of difficulty, even with my neighbor's 10 year old daughter, who has a strong affinity for animals and an intense desire to work/play with them.  Most kids can't stay focused on anything for long, are somewhat spacially challenged (left/right, distance, coordination), and easily distracted, as are many adults.  By any standard, Portia did amazingly well.

This, our first lesson, was on Mardi Gras day, and we were fortunate to have her mother running the camera.  I was well pleased with Laura's ability to keep her mouth shut when her daughter acted silly, didn't catch on to something right away, or if I corrected a mistake.  That is hard for most mothers to do.  Also, very pleased with Portia's and Honey Bear's enthusiasm lasting a full 30 minutes (tunnel relays AND Introduction To The SeeSaw (next post).

Honey Bear (aka Winnie), at 4 months and 3 days old, has meandered thru the straight tunnel in my back yard several times on his own, but has not worked with me or Portia on the below, or ever done relays.  I call him to me several times a day, but have never "sent" him to anything.  He shows absolutely no fear of either the full-length tunnel or full-height seesaw from the first attempt.  As with Maxie, he gives his full attention if there are Cherrios involved. 

Portia had no idea I was teaching her too, as I told her she was just "helping me train my dog".  And come to think of it, that's much like Beginner Agility students who think their dogs are the ones coming to school, and they're just holding the leash and dispensing treats.  HA!  Little do they know.

Here's the video:



Introductory See Saw training followed immediately, and I'll report on that in my next post, still part of the Fat Tuesday experiment with encouraging Portia's interest in dogs.  Both exceeded my expectations again. 

Bonfire

Last Saturday night was our annual bonfire, a tradition I've kept up for over 30 years, mostly as a way to celebrate Halloween, get together with neighbors, introduce the neighborhood kids to  campfires, weiner roasts and semores, share food and scary stories, and also, and not least, to burn off a lot of the twigs and branches that fall from our trees all year.  With 2.25 acres of forrested yard, we have no shortage of wood to burn.

It's always fun, and since Portia was born on Halloween day, we usually have a cake for her and sing Happy Birthday.  She has come to think of my bonfire as her birthright.  This year it was 85 degrees on Halloween weekend, so she agreed I could put it off a few weeks hoping for cooler weather.  Turns out, it was still warm but at least an acceptable 70 degrees.

Jonathan couldn't come from New Orleans, the first bonfire he's missed since his first in 1998, but also missing were Christa, Garrett, and Schuyler.  But Alex, now 19, brought a friend, and Luis came.  He has missed the last 6 or so, so that was a real treat.

Laura also brought her friend, Lyn, who has moved up north so we haven't seen in 3 or 4 years, and that also was a treat.  We brought out her scarecrow boyfriend, Jack Spratt, whom I jokingly declared to be her "date" at her last 2 bonfires, and who has been in the shed "pining away after her" for 3 years, "without a single love letter or phone call".  We toyed with burning him up (he's old), but Jack looked so good, seemed so large and sturdy and happy to see her, everyone had so much fun adding their bits to the heartfelt love story, we finally decided to keep him.

Lyn has never met Maxie or Lucky, so at some point she asked for an agility demo. I quickly arranged the equipment into a sort of long course, everyone moved to the back yard, and I put both dogs thru their paces for about 10 minutes.  Max was rarin' to go, but he had screaming fits when I handed him to Audrey and gave Lucky her turn.  Lucky did okay, too, but at one point knocked me down.  I was able to roll, and catch myself, so no damage done. John said the comments were very positive.  I had a blast and it was the highlight of my evening.  I was really happy to be able to squeeze off a practice session.

Portia, age 8, took great interest in learning the hand signals for Maxie's tricks (sit, down, stay, go around, roll over), then even more interest in playing retrieve with Lucky.  She handled herself well and stuck with that for about 30 minutes in the side yard, all by herself.  I told her mom she showed great potential, that very few kids are that interested in training dogs.  Perhaps I could be interested in working with her, as I would with Jonathan if he were closer and more interested. 

We'll have to see what pans out next year. Yet another thing to look forward to.

Halloween Day Practice w. Sheryl

Despite our infirmities, Sheryl and I managed to squeeze off one practice session at the agility field, at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, Halloween Day, one week after the Kiln trial. Loralie had set up the XS course from Kiln trial last Sunday (the one I didn't sign up for, duh!), and could not have run even if I had signed up, due to my knee injury.  We walked the course several times and I decided to run Maxie as if going for a Q.  We actually made it!  I tried some distance handling and layering techniques on subsequent runs, and some of them worked surprisingly well.  However, layering behind the dog walk was a total bomb.  Maxie took the dog walk every time.  Lucky ran the course in segments and did well for an "Advanced Beginner".  Not ready to Q, however.  She is comfortable with all the obstacles, her contacts are pretty good, but with such long strides she is often over the next obstacle in front of her before I can signal a turn.  She doesn't make tight turns, either.  My timing with her needs some practice, as well as keeping her focused on me.  With such short hair and muscular body, she is beautiful to watch, though.

Sheryl ran Charlie once but her siatic nerve was hurting her so bad, she more or less decided she'd better take it easy a few more weeks.  That means no practice sessions together for awhile.  It is discouraging for her, I know.  Me too. A few years back, in Polly's Beginners class with Maxie, I'll never forget running Maxie over the A-Frame, on leash, when my siatic nerve got pinched and I collapsed in pain, almost yanking my puppy off the top of the A-frame.  Scared me silly, and hurt for weeks.  Fortunately, Maxie wasn't phased a bit.  Jerk sideways, then stopped near the upper edge, looked down and wagged his tail and waited for my next move. He's not very skiddish, thank goodness.  But I limped home, nearly in tears of fear and disappointment.

Several of us have talked about having another handler being able to run/train our dogs if we get hurt in future, so I gave it a whirl running Charlie. He ran the whole course for me, broken up with treats at the table and after the weaves, and was fairly enthusiastic, with Sheryl in clear sight.  We were both amazed by this.  I will ask Noel to practice running Maxie before or after Wed night class, and anyone else who wants to try it is welcome. I wouldn't mind trying to run other students' dogs as well. Running a border collie would be a fun experiment!

Tracey and Lego, MXJ5, Kiln, MS

Besides the injuries keeping us both down, it's been raining for 3 days so Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night classes have all been cancelled.  Forced indoors, I've been taking the time to read Tracey Roth's agility blog.  Tracey is a fellow LCCOC club member who has been training and trialing in both AKC and USDAA agility since long before I got into the sport. She owns and trains about 9 dogs, many of them mixed rescues, and she's been blogging every few days about her dog training/trialing experiences since October 2005.  It's a bunch to read!  Not all of it is riveting, but on the whole it shows the tempo of a dedicated young working wife who lives on acreage out in the country with chiropractor husband and a bunch of dogs, trains them at home almost daily, builds her own equipment, teaches classes, helps run dog clubs and put on events, and shows in lots of obedience and agility trials.  Whew!  She is a busy gal!



Portia blows out the candles
on her fabulous "black cat" cake.

 Sunday afternoon I went to Portia's 8th birthday party, with the Halloween theme as she was born on October 31st.  It was a cool party and I got to connect with some old neighborhood friends I don't see so much now that I'm involved in dog agility.  I bought her a starter sewing kit and her mother reported that by that evening she was sewing!  I mean, what do you get an 8 year old girl?  A tug toy or bag of sows ears just won't cut it.



Michele waves the "magic wand"
over the birthday girl, and
gets branded with a horseshoe!

Oh, and I also gave her a "magic wand", which is what a "fairy god mother" must give to her "fairy god child" at some point.  Here's a picture of that, which Sheryl will recognize immediately as something we thought would be a good "doggie distraction" during our practices but so far have never gotten around to using. I found an excellent use for one of them!