Monday Night "Competitive Handling" - New Format

Due to the increasing number of agility competitors in our club, our Monday Night Competitive Handling class has grown to 10 students.  This is really too many for a 1 hour class, with each team wanting to run the course at thrice and work on specific problems they are having, setting so many bar heights, etc.  We kinda resolved that by letting the class run from 8-9:30 or even longer, which suited me fine.  So, instructor Nedra came up with the idea of dividing the class into "small dogs" from 7-8 p.m., and "large dogs" from 8-9 p.m.  Unfortunately, there are only 4 small dogs (Maxie, Tango, Casey and Jenny), and since Casey's owner is also the Monday night instructor of the Beginners class at 7 p.m., and they only have 2 students, it was decided to combine our classes together.

I'm sorry to say, it is extremely boring to watch Beginner dogs try to run an excellent course when I'm paying for my own hour of "excellent" instruction.  They are all over the place, it's too hard for them, their handlers are unsure of themselves, and while there are only 2 of them, I don't feel like my time is well spent sitting around watching them take their long, long turns.  I also miss the excitement of being around the "big dog" teams.  Their runs are so dynamic, handler comments so helpful, their problems so illustrative of what the sport is about -- getting accuracy and team communications.  Out of respect for Nedra, I'm going to stick with this for the rest of this session, but if it continues, I will try to move to Tuesday night, tho this is not as convenient for me. John's BRAS meetings are Monday night so we are out on the same evening and get to spend Tuesday evenings together.  If I have to move to Tuesdays, and I also have class on Wednesday nights, that's 3 nights a week we're going our separate ways.

I got there at 6:30 and had time to run Lucky thru the whole course, and practice on some difficult areas of it.  She was fast and motivated, didn't do the sequence perfectly, but did every obstacle she did very well.  She is weaving faster now, and taking the dog walk at a gallop.  Her down contacts are transforming from a 2 on/2 off sit, to a 2 on/2 off stand, which is what I'm working on at home.  I can "steer her from the rear" at last.  She still loves her tug toy and is highly motivated to do agility if she knows I have it. 

Maxie's 3 runs in class were good, not perfectly accurate due to my own handling errors, but he ran very fast and took the weaves from a great distance.  If we could run the same course 3 times, we'd get it right.  I believe in that method, by the way.  Repetition builds confidence and knowledge, which eventually leads to more accurate "first trys" at trials. There are only so many patterns.  Like anything else (chess, checkers, backgammon, tennis, fire fighting, human relations) once you've encountered them all enough and know how to handle them, "first trys" aren't new or surprising any more!  Of course, others would disagree.

One breakthrough. Nedre tried to run Maxie thru the 1st 9 obstacles to the table, and he ran for her.  Not very well as he knew she had his treats in her hand and if she slowed down he ran over to her and jumped up and down for a treat.  Once he ran back over to me as I was straight ahead, but on the whole I think he could run for her with enough practice.  It was fun watching my own dog run!  I never get to see that unless I watch the videos.  Little bugger swashbuckles along!  Makes mommy's heart melt!

Fast Contact Obstacles

D can lose a lot of speed if they lolly-gag over the dog walk, A-frame or see saw.  If a whole run's Standard Course Time (SCT) is 60 seconds, and D stops on the apex of the A-frame to survey the arena, or sniffs its way across the dogwalk, or stops half-way across the see-saw and waits leisurely for it to tip and go down, you've just added maybe 10-20 (or more) seconds to your run time.  You absolutely can't afford slow contacts.

So, how to get fast contacts?  As always, FOOD!

Start with floor work with your puppy.  Sit D or have someone hold D on leash.  Walk away with a good treat or toy in your hand.  Call D to you.  "Maxie, come!"  Encourage them to run fast.  Increase the distance until D is running to you from 50'.  If you have a training partner, both of you can take turns calling D and treating at each end. Increase the difficulty so there is NO TREAT if they walk, run slower than top speed, run a crooked line, sniff or get distracted.

Interspurse a jump (or straight tunnel) midway along the straight path.  "Maxie, over, come!"

Interspurse a contact obstacle in the middle of the path.  See details below.

All of these exercises assume D knows the contact and isn't afraid of them, has a good sit/stay . . . .

SEE-SAW:
I've already covered how I train a fast reliable see-saw in a previous post: See-Saw Training.
Every dog I observe who has poor see-saws doesn't do this training, or doesn't do it with precision.

DOG WALK:
Assuming D knows the dog walk and isn't afraid of it and has a good sit/stay . . . . .
Position D about 4-6 feet out from one end of the dog walk in a sit/stay, or have someone hold them.
Walk to the other end.
Show D the treat in your hand and say "Walk it", or whatever you say for the dog walk.
They will come charging over the dog walk to get a good treat.  If not, encourage with verbals such as "come on, hurry up, come get it".
Decide what kind of contact behavior you are looking for (2 on/2 off, 4 on, 4 off), and just before they reach the end of the down contact say "Halt", "Stop", "Wait", or whatever you say for them to pause at the end. 
At the very moment you get the desired behavior, present your treat down close to the board.
"Good Halt"  "Good running"
Train D's head to be DOWN at the end of every contact.  This prevents D from leaping off the boards and missing the contacts altogether.
After you get the speed you are looking for, begin positioning D a wee bit off to either side of the up contact, what folks call "Around The Clock" exercises.
Begin positioning yourself around the clock of the downside contact and further and further away from it, and delaying the treat until the contact behavior is given and you call D off the obstacle and to you.

A-FRAME:
Do the same as for the dog walk, only most D's can't manage to stay on the steep slope in a 4-on.  Little D's with weak front shoulders can't even do a 2-on/2-off position.  With Maxie, I don't make him stop on the board at all because, with his 12" stride, he isn't capable of leaping completely over the yellow contact zone.  I just make sure and treat in the very middle of the bottom of the board, about 2 feet out.  Lucky, with her 5' stride, could easily leap over the yellow zone.  I make her do a 2-on/2-off, and she has strong front shoulders to handle it.  Some handlers make their large D do a DOWN ON THE GROUND at the bottom of the A-frame.  In all cases, make sure and treat in the very middle of the bottom of the board, never near the outside edges.  You want D to get used to staying in the middle all the way to the bottom.

If you want precision and consistency from your D, your D needs precision and consistency from you.

#9 Practice with Sheryl, Threadles, Serpentines, String Cheese Disaster

I don't actually know if I'm numbering these Sheryl sessions right because they don't include practices at the field, only the ones at my house.  So, we've practiced a lot more together than the numbers indicate.  And it has paid off handsomely for Sheryl in her recent 3-out-of-4 Q trial weekend in Kiln.  It's paid off for me in other ways besides improving my handling.  I enjoy figuring out lesson plans, setting up problems to practice, analyzing how to improve on the training methods others have taught me.  I enjoy observing and teaching.  It's what I've done all my life.  It motivates me in ways I wouldn't do just for myself.

Threadles and Serpentines: For today's practice, with both our legs injured and not wanting to stress them much, I set up 4 jumps end to end in a straight row for Threadle  and Serpentine Practice.  The illustration of this exercise is self-explanatory.  Anybody with a doggie can do this at home, and would be surprised how D's are programmed to follow arm change ques.

Divits: I also set up 12 weave poles right over a divit in the ground at the 3rd dog step thru.  I have to teach Maxie to be comfortable with the inevitable divits the larger dogs dig on soft courses, especially in the weaves.  He's NQ'd at least 3 times refusing to step into a deep divit at the weaves.

Practice went fine thru serpentines and weaves until my mostly whole, still wrapped in plastic, string cheese fell out of my pocket, Charlie ran off with it and the harder we tried to catch him to take it away, the harder he tried to scarf it up, until he finally swallowed it whole.  Charlie, mind you, is a 12" high Boston Terrier that weighs about 12 lbs.  The string cheese is 1/3 the length of his whole body.  We were teriffied he would choke to death or need surgery to remove it. 

I called the vet, who recommended 1 tsp. hydrogen peroxide to make him throw up.  We tried administering that a few times with a Cajun Injector, with Sheryl holding him on his back and mouth open, but he coughed it up.  It went flying in the air and landed in his eye, so we had to get a damp rag and wipe it out for fear of blinding him as well.  We were afraid to give more and he never threw it up, but I found out at class last night we could have given much more hp.  The vet also said Charlie would probably pass the item within a few days with no problem.  So now we wait. 

That ended our training session prematurely, though, and Sheryl just wanted to take him home.  Can't say as I blame her for that.  I would be beside myself if Maxie swallowed an entire string cheese, still in the plastic wrapper!!!!!  I would be wanting desparately to reach in and get it out of there.

You just never know with kids, cars and dogs!

Doggie Birthdays

We know Max and Willow's birthdays for sure, but since Fooh and Lucky are rescues, basically found on the side of the road as wee puppies, we had our vet determine their approximate age by their teeth, then we picked a day to celebrate their birthdays not too far off from their actual birth dates.  Here's the lineup:

FoohFooh - Valentine's Day, February 14
Maxie - June 17
Willow -
Lucky Lucy - Thanksgiving Day

For their gifts, we always give a nice dog bone, which they appreciate as very special because they are the only dog who gets one at that time.  Believe me, they know they are special then.  They chew while the others watch on in envy!

But with Maxie, for some reason, I like to throw him a party.

Here's a slideshow of Maxie's first birthday.


I can't remember what we did for his second birthday.

Here's some photos of his third birthday.

Potty/Shower Privacy Tent

I am so excited!  I just solved the problem of not having a private bathroom/shower in my pop-up camper like the big rigs have.  I don't really need it when I'm alone (I store the pottie outside and just bring it in to use it) but I'll soon be taking my grandson camping, and I sure am NOT going to sit on my little portable pottie in the camper in front of him, nor ask him to step outside in the rain or freezing cold while I "go"! 

I've been going to bed every night trying to figure out how I might attach a tarp to my awning, build a privacy screen, etc.  I went to Ace Hardware yesterday to see if they could advise how I might build a light-weight screen that would fold down into practically nothing for storage.  The guys over there are pretty helpful.  My salesman de jour said they sell a "privacy tent" at the Bass Pro Shop but they are expensive.  So-o-o-o-o-o, now I have the nomenclature!  So-o-o-o-o, as usual I did a Google search on Privacy Tent and came up with the pictured item for only $69!  I saw it for $79 on another site, so I ordered the lower priced one immediately.  With shipping it comes to $80, about half the price of elsewhere even on E-bay, and the color will match my blue and white camper just perfect.

Besides which, I'll be 64 years old in 10 days, so I'm giving myself another birthday present.  (Pretty much everything I buy in October or November tends to become my birthday present!  It makes me happy and relieves my husband and my mom of having to pick out something for me -  except a card or three.)  We're all happy with this system.

Here's the description:

"Use as a shower room, outdoor toilet, changing room, hunting blind, or privacy shelter. KWIK Silver mechanism and unique frame that sets up in 5 seconds! Just pull 2 ropes and the tent just pops right out instantly. It can also be taken down in just a few seconds! Dome cover and mesh roof panel and 3 windows for air ventilation. Privacy window flaps, inside storage pocket and carrying bag (7" x 7" x 28.5" packed). 4 stakes for anchoring or 4 weight pockets if stakes are not used. Heavy duty frame weighs 7lbs. 6' center height 4' x 4' sq. foot floor space. 1 year limited warranty."

One thing I love about camping -- I used to backpack into campsites, like to the bottom of the Grand Canyon for 5 days, canoeing on the Buffalo River in Arkansas for 4 days, the Grand Tetons, the Smokies, the Rockies -- is you have to pare your belongings down to the bare essentials. You quickly learn what is vitally important and what is optional.  You learn to travel light, to live richly without "things".  Then everything extra you add becomes a great luxury. So you can imagine, I am about as excited with my new $80 Privacy Tent as someone else might be adding a third bathroom onto their house! I can hardly wait to set everything up in Lake Charles for the upcoming agility trial and get some photos.

My portable pottie.  Line with a
kitchen trash bag inside a 1 gallon
zip lock bag, use a few times,
fold, seal, toss. No need to purchase
 those expensive chemicals
or Doobie Bags.
The legs fold up to make a
compact little box. Purchased
at Wal-Mart's camping dept.

It's also why I love my Pop-Up Camper.  It affords me the bare minimum 60+-year-old camping luxuries of a Memory-Foam mattress (which my back can no longer live without), a counter-height gas stove (no more cooking over a camp fire or starve because I can't bend over very long), Air Conditioning, cabinet space for full size pots, pans and dishes, a tea pot, a drip coffee pot, a sink with running water, a power plug for my computer, a cooler on wheels for ice, cold drinks and fresh food (can't function on granola bars and dried fruit any more), X-pen for the little doggies, a flexi-leash for Lucky, and a portable pottie.  And now, a private outdoor bathroom!

P.S.  In case you forgot, or don't read this blog so you don't know about my pop-up camper and all the creative work I've done to make ours really cool and livable, my Pop-Up Camper blogpost is here.

Upwards and onward! Here we go.

Maxie's CGC/TDI Certification - Pet Therapy

The first "title" Maxie acquired, back in October 2008, was when he passed his Canine Good Citizen test.  After 6 weeks of training with Robbie Avery, an LCCOC club member who "teaches you to pass the test" once a year, in the fall, a judge was flown in to administer the test.  There were about 12 dogs enrolled.  Maxie passed with no problems and within a few weeks we made our first Pet Therapy visit to Charlie's Place, where lo and behold I found Gracie, a past employee of mine, now suffering from Alzheimers.  We visited again and I brought my husband to meet her (see photo).  I brought her some home made jam, as I recall (in the bag).

The CGC Test consists of some basic Obedience -- long sit, walking on leash without pulling, coming when called, greeting a friendly stranger, not jumping up on people or growling,  accepting being touched, brushed, and having paws held, leaving food alone, able to be separated from owner for 5 minutes without distress.  Some dogs failed, especially on this last one.  The owner leaves the dog with the judge and disappears behind a tree or car.  Some dogs have such anxiety separation, they start whining, barking, or tugging, but the judge does not interact with them in any way except to hold their leash.  I found this to be the most difficult part of the test because it is unnatural to teach your dog to go off with a stranger and not protest, and unnatural for someone (in this case, the judge) not to reassure and comfort a distressed dog.  And oddly, it really hurts the owner to be separated from their dog.  I almost cried.  I kept asking someone near me to look and tell me "How's he doing?  Is he alright?"  Maxie looked steadily in my direction, but otherwise sat there pleasantly.  What else can a 7 lb dog do?

I was so proud of Maxie's first AKC title, which goes behind his name thus:

Ace Maximillion von Fry, CGC

Unfortunately, nobody mentioned we had to turn in the paperwork within 30 days, so by the time I got around to it my certification had become invalid.  I had to wait a whole year and take the test again in October of 2009, another $30, to finally get Maxie officially certified (for life).  I was bummed out because this snaffu could have been avoided if I had just been apprised of what is in the fine print.

Nevertheless, we immediately started participating in Pet Therapy thru my dog club, and in 2009 we retested and got it, but then I failed to turn in my results to Tracey Roth, who makes up our club's plaques and awards for each dog and passes them out at the Christmas Party, so Maxie didn't get a plaque!  My fault.  I still I didn't understand the system.

This year, end of 2010, Maxie will have hopefully earned 6 AKC agility titles, and his full AKC name will read:

Ace Maximillion von Fry, CGC AX AXJ

That's Canine Good Citizen, Agility Excellent, and Agility Excellent Jumpers, representing two years of work on our part!  As the dog goes up in difficulty, the previous title is replaced, so NA (Novice Agility) gets replaced with OA (Open Agility), which gets replaced with AX (Agility Excellent).  In other words AX implies 3 titles, not just one.  Next year, Maxie and I will try for MX (Master Excellent Agility) and MXJ (Master Excellent Jumpers), each of which requires 10 Q's (perfect runs) to obtain.  The others each required 3 Q's, so MX is about the same as all the work that went before.

In this dog titling world, there are a lot of rules that have to be learned.  Guess it's the same with anything but it would be good to have a mentor to carry you "over the river and thru the stream".

In fact, that's what I'd like to see our LCCOC "sponsors" do when they agree to sign a new member's application.  They should be agreeing to "watch your back" for awhile until you learn how to fend for yourself.

The Therapy Dog International (TDI) membership is just something to pay for every year and get a medallion and a scarf your dog can wear when doing Pet Therapy if they're big enough to wear it.  They both swallow Maxie. You have to have CGC certification to obtain your TDI.  I've since learned that the nursing homes and hospitals don't much care if your dog is CGC or TDI "certified".  They are so glad to have visitors and entertainment for their patients, you can bring your cat, dog, bird!  Whatever!  My cousin Scott's girlfriend, Annette, runs an outfit called Oodles of Poodles, and she and her 4 toy poodles visit one particular nursing home regularly in the New Orleans area.  Her dogs aren't "certified" -- they're just clean, friendly, cute, full of entertaining antics, and she provides treats which the patients give them with enthusiasm.  Click here to see her flyer and a cool dog poem. Click here to see a heartwarming video of her recent visit with her poodles interacting with the patients.

Willow and me at Obedience school,
trying to make her sit.

Sometimes I think we wring the joy out of life with too many rules.  My Willow is the very best therapy dog and everyone loves her.  She is soft and sweet and beautiful and loves to lick your face, but no way could she pass the CGC test.  Sitting on command!  HA!  Walking on a loose leash?  HA HA!  Staying in a sit while I walk away?  HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!  But, the world would be poorer if I didn't take Willow along with Maxie on our visits to the nursing homes.  First, Willow wows them with her friendliness, then Maxie, friendly but not as friendly as Willow, does his amazing parlor tricks.  Tricks that I've never been able to train Willow to do -- not even one.  So, we have a 1-2 punch act, and I swear the staff gathers about and laughs and loves our visits more than the patients do.

Of course, the day an unruly dog goes in and bites some patient's face off, or some dog swallows a deadly pill he finds on the hospital floor, then come the rules.  And more rules.  And more rules, trying to avoid every conceivable accident, making it almost impossible to do anything without fear.  All "certification" is fear-based, isn't it.  Ah me, where is my mind going?  Let me end this right here and now.  Make happy talk, think happy thoughts, go plant more lettuce, shallots, bok choy and broccoli in my garden.

Papillon Paraphranalia

Papillon sculpture by Lois Horan, 2" x 3"

It's hard to find a Papillon figurine, calendar, T-shirt, mug, etc.  I've been on the lookout for the past 3 years, asking around, checking booths at dog events, searching the internet for anything papillon.  Finally my cousin Lois, a Papillon breeder in Florida, hand-crafted me the pictured figurine, which she makes out of sculpty clay and sells for fabulous sums.  She used Maxie's photos as a painting guide, and while it doesn't look quite like Maxie and has ENORMOUS ears, it captures  the adorable "essence of Papillon", I think.  Thanks, Lois.  It's in my curio cabinet with a light on it.  I love it.  I'm going to try to make one myself one of these days.




Maxie posing with his statue, plus my
ENTIRE collection of Papillon memorabilia
not counting the wind chime.



Maxie's Wind Chime,
custom made for me from Maxie's photo.

Other items I've been able to finnagle are the embroidered pockets I commissioned from a club-mate and sewed on my Red Stick Agility T-shirt, two embroidered papillons on the caps I wear at trials, and a drink can holder (hidden behind Maxie's ear), a hand painted wind chime, and finally this year at Pet Smart, a 2011 Papillon calendar, which is made of dinky paper, and outrageously expensive!

If anyone out there is looking for a business enterprise, you could generate some Papillon paraphranalia and find willing customers, believe me.  I'm a sucker for it for sure.

I've heard there are companies that will embroider your dog on a T-shirt.  You just send them a photo.  Don't know what that costs but if I find out I'll post it here. Of course, you can have photos silk-screened on t-shirts, and do iron-on transfers yourself at home with your ink-jet printer.  I'm planning to try that as well one of these days.


Christmas 2010 my neighbor, Judy Holley, a veteral quilter who does dog portrait quilts, made this 3.5' x 4.5' quilt for me, based on this photo.  The background is a tie-die cloth that she made from scratch, using all natural plant dies.  This quilt resides on my guest room bed, but also has a pole slot on the back for hanging on the wall.  It's a signed piece I'm very proud of.



Maxie (L), Willow (R)
Christmas Portrait 2009



In July 2011, Kathy Roy (who bought one of my papillon puppies) and keeps in touch, sent me a gorgeous papillon license plate, which is now on the front of my Grand Marquis. I'm not sure where she found this, but the same one and many other dog breed license plates are available online at Airstrike Ink.
I'm still on the lookout for more papillon paraphranalia, and will add it to this page whenever I find it.

"COME" Is Not A Suggestion, Leash Acceptance Not Optional

A reliable COME command can save a dog's life.  It is essential for many reasons that D comes when you ask, and come immediately.  In the dog trialing world, therefore, a reliable come is one of the things regularly tested for to obtain a Qualifying Score.  In agility, "come" or "here" is what helps bring D back on track if they misread your body language or the next obstacle command.  Handlers whose dogs go trotting off sniffing some scent or run out of the ring to visit a bystander, don't have a reliable enough "come" command.

The payoff for coming on command has to be bigger than the payoff for not coming.  In Susan Garrett vocabulary, you must "build value into the desired behavior".

My Definition of COME: Whatever D is doing, they quit doing it and come immediately to you and stay by you until released.  Control of your D can include grabbing their collar, putting a leash on them, having a reliable sit/stay at your feet or at your side, telling them to crate up or get in the car or house).

TRAINING: To train a reliable and immediate "come" with ease, get a whole bunch of high value treats (tuna, cheese, hot dogs, tasty crackers) in your pocket and keep them there all day for several days.  Start with your puppy.  At random moments throughout the day, (starting close by but eventually across the yard and from different rooms) say

DOG'S NAME/COME   . . . . . . . Maxie, come!

Encourage them to come by patting your leg and making eye contact.  The exact moment they get to you, pat their head, hook their collar and ply them with a generous treat, and generous praise.  Say "Good come".  (Not "good dog".)  Pet D and show your excitement that they listened.  Pick them up, whirl them around, etc.  Then release them.  "Okay, go play."

Vary, and gradually fade out the treats, the praise and the petting, and encourage them to just come and sit quietly in heel position or directly in front of you until they are released.

At various intervals, as they sit you should also clip on their leash or slip one over their heads, then treat generously. "Good come.  Good sit."  Throughout their life, D should show NO resistance to being put on leash, so training both the come command and leash acceptance simultaneously is efficient and makes sense.

Reinforcement:  Throughout D's life, at unpredictable moments, give D a really nice treat for coming. Never forget to reinforce good behavior periodically, or suffer the consequences of taking things for granted.  We all know what happens to the ungrateful wretches of this world!

GROUP "COME" EXERCISE:  I have 4 dogs.  I line them all up in a sit//stay.  I leave the room and go around a corner.  Willow follows me as she will not sit/stay for anything.  The others stay.  I say "Maxie, Come", and Maxie races to me for a treat.  I say "Lucky, Come", and Lucky rip roars to me for a treat.  I say "FoohFooh, Come", and he comes for a treat.  I sit them all again, go back to where they originally were, and call them again, changing the order.  If they come without being called, and at first they do -- they get nothing -- no treat, no acknowledgment, no fussing at them.  I don't even notice them until it's time to start the next round.  Within short order, they are waiting to hear their name called before leaving their spot. Sometimes I wait a whole minute before calling the first name.  They think this is such great fun they are wriggling with excitement, eyes beaming, intently focused. Because of their enthusiasm and my growing confidence that I can control them if it becomes really necessary, I think it's fun too.

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!

Kiln Agility Trial and Match - Oct 22,23,24, 2010

Kiln, MS RV park behind Harrison County Arena

Legs Earned:  Maxie: XJ1, XJ2
4 runs, 2 Q's

Hancock County Fairgrounds: Here's our wee little pop up camper (far left), amidst one wing of the big rigs in the RV park at Kiln, MS.  I was the first to arrive on Thursday and chose the end slot so I wouldn't be sandwiched in. It was a good decision.  We felt very much like we had the whole place to ourselves, though we had the longest distance to walk to the arena (far right).

CAMPING NOTES: $15/night. The ground is level. Kiln has no showers this year but there's a lot of construction going on and I heard they are building a bath house. There is a kitchen with a big freezer available, but it is locked up at night.  Need to get your ice out of there shortly after the last run each day.  The bathrooms are in the arena, far away from the campsites, so my portable pottie came in handy. Don't need outdoor carpet.  Nice grassy area under awning is fine.

Weather: We ran the AC during the day (85 degrees) and the heater at night (55 degrees).  Short sleeves were fine.  Didn't sweat at all and it wasn't terribly dusty, so as to bathing, I did fine with just a warm wash cloth, no soap.

Arena: The dirt in the arena was fairly packed and wetted down at night, so minimal dust. There were 2 courses, one for Jumpers, another for Standard, with an aisle down the middle.  Only one at a time was active.  There is no AC but it was not hot.  There was a nice breeze.



John, Willow and Michele
West side is behind us where lots of folks crated.
You can see Loralie's red tent on right.

 Crate Areas:  Lots of people crated on the west side under roof with open sides, near the concessions, but the afternoon sun beat down on that spot.  Loralie even pitched her tent under there and spent 3 nights.  I crated on the East side between the bleachers, nearest the RV park, and it was relatively quiet, no crowding, quite nice, morning sun was not hot.  It was easy to get into the bleachers, but a longer walk to the secretary's table and bathrooms. Forgot to get a picture.  Some people crated at the base of the bleachers but this took up so much space it left little room for people to pass.  There is also crate space at the north side by the horse stalls.

John came with me Thursday and Friday, in his own car. We brought Maxie, Lucky and Willow and we all slept cozily in the camper - Maxie and Willow in our bed and Lucky in the other bed amidst our luggage. We left BR around 9 a.m., arrived Kiln 11 a.m., set up the camper, went into the arena and set up my crate spot and got ready for the 2 p.m. match. The crates being at the bottom of the trunk, everything else has to be offloaded to get to them, which works fine if we set up the camper first, but not if setting up your crates first.  John watched the match on Thursday and most of the trial on Friday, took some of the videos, and left around 3 p.m. Friday.  He took Willow home with him. The photo above was taken with my iPhone, just before he left. Since John's days off are Thursday and Friday, that makes it easy for him to join me in setting up, but difficult for him to stay Sat and Sun.

The RV Experience: Swamp Dog Agility Club, out of New Orleans, took good care of us RV'ers.  Had a Pumpkin Carving on Friday night, with about 6 people, and a Whine and Cheese tasting on Saturday night, with about 15-20 people. Both were fun. Kay and I were the only people from our club there, although everyone was invited. Instead of doing Brags, everyone got to complain about their worst mistake in the trial.  Mine was that I got too cocky.  I only needed one Q in XS to get Maxie's AX title, so I only signed up for 2 runs.  We NQ'd on both!  We Q'd on both XJ runs, so got our first 2 legs in that class, with a 1st place and a 2nd place.  We were signed up for Sunday XJ as well, but I got injured and had to forfeit that run.

Maxie over tripple, Kiln

Videos: I posted all of Maxie's videos, plus all the other 8" dogs Maxie will be competing with in X classes next year, plus something new, photos of the score sheets.  I got to meet more of the handlers -- a talented, experienced bunch.  The videos are here. It takes me 3 days to process, label and upload all the videos I take. The files are huge even though the quality is not very satisfactory.  I'd like a better video camera someday but they are expensive.  Are you listening, Santa Claus?

I usually use a tripod, get the best left/right fix on the course, and don't zoom unless the whole rest of the course is at a distance.  I try to stay on both dog and handler from GO to when they leave the ring. It is interesting to watch how each team behaves right after their run -- either elated or bummed out. But when we got there we discovered John had taken the tripod out of my trunk to take to family reunion and had not replaced it.  So we hand-held all the Friday videos.  Fortunately, Sheryl wasn't leaving Baton Rouge until Friday afternoon.  She was able to send Wayne to my house for the tripod and she brought it to me in time for Saturday's filming.



The Match:  Lucky ran twice in her first match on Thursday afternoon.  I can't remember how she did and we didn't take any pictures or videos as I had intended, but she seemed comfortable in the ring.  I also ran Maxie two runs, but on the first one I forgot it was practice, so we ran the course then left the ring with another minute to spare.

I didn't think the match was well organized.  Both rings were going simultaneously, and without a PA system nor even a megaphone, you could not hear when your turn came up, or even when the ring was available for a walk through.  The courses were all nested -- novice, open, excellent.  I just chose to run the Excellent courses, and since I didn't even have time to walk one course, Lucky and I just got out there and ran all over the place.  For some stupid reason, I had signed Lucky up for 4 runs, Maxie for 2.  Then I forgot and Lucky only ran 2 of her runs. 4 runs in one day was plenty for me.  I don't know how Tracey and others run 6-10 times in a day.

I did appreciate that no treats were allowed in the ring.  I remembered a few years back I attended a Kiln match with Maxie (before he began competing), and observed some handlers tossing food treats into the dirt at the contacts, and the next day competing dogs would stop and sniff those areas.

Lucky:  She did fine with all the excitement and noise, but she isn't used to being crated during the day.  She was good as gold, but when I let her run free in the RV field on Saturday night, she went so wild, charging too and fro, on one pass she grazed my left leg and the force knocked me down, twisting my left knee. I iced it twice Sat night, but was hobbling around on Sunday with my old knee brace on, trying desparately to pack up, missing most everybody's runs, and had to miss my XJ run as well.  By this time John had gone home and I had to concentrate on packing up or risk getting left behind with no one to help me hitch my car up.


Charlie and Sheryl, Kiln, Novice Jumpers

Sheryl:  Looks like the training Sheryl and I have been doing these past three months, plus her own classes and practice, have paid off well for her.  She and Charlie earned their NAJ title, moved up to OJ, and Q'd at least twice, maybe 3 times, on Saturday and Sunday (I missed videoing one run on Sunday and still don't know how she did).    She may have her NA title as well but even she isn't sure.She started limping midway thru her last run on Sunday and is still nursing a pinched siatic nerve in her butt.  I had that happen to me 2 years ago, it happened so fast and hurt so bad, I fell to the ground, limped for weeks, and it never has exactly fully healed!  It still aches but is not debilitating.

Plans and Goals: This week I've spent icing my knee and back and taking it easy, either watching a lot of Netflix TV series, or going thru paperwork, throwing away tons of crap I once thought was so important but now doesn't interest me, to make way for remodeling the art room in case my parents need to move in with me. The new fence, and daily practice, will have to wait.  Wasn't in my plans, but there it is.  I need my knee to be healed by November 26, 27, 28, for the next agility trial in Lake Charles, where I SINCERELY HOPE AND PRAY THAT WE EARN OUR EXCELLENT TITLES: XA and XAJ.  We only need 1 Q in each, but I will not be cocky. I will enter us in EVERY run we can enter, that will be 3 in each class.  I have learned my lesson, dear God, do you hear me???????? No more over-confidence.

Camper Issues:
We had a problem with the trailer's crank handle this trip.  I had absentmindedly draped the chains over it when hooking the tongue up to the back of the car, so when we got to Kiln the crank handle was bent in so far it wouldn't clear the shaft.  When John tried to straighten it, it broke off.  We both had to bounce and bounce and strain hard to lift the trailer tongue off the ball and move it sideways enough to clear.  Then there was no way to level the camper except with the feet.  Before leaving, I was fortunate enough to find a strong man to help me hitch the trailer back up to the car. Back at home, John was unable to replace the wheel assembly because someone had welded it onto the tongue, but he was able to remove the handle itself.  But he found out the company is out of business and there is no comparable replacement.  I finally found a welder on O'Neal Lane who, for $5, welded the broken pieces back together.  Whew!  That was a bargain. We need to spray paint it and put it back on.

I am pondering how to build a portable privacy screen to place around the pottie chair so it can be used outside.  I've been going thru all kinds of designs in my mind, from PVC and fabric, to just clamping a tarp to the existing awning and canvas support poles.  I want something that goes up and down easy, doesn't take up much space, is lightweight, weatherproof, and wind won't knock it down. I would like it not to look totally "red neck", either.