Until I get back from Arizona, I have limited my physical outlet to teaching and working my dogs in preparation for Nationals. We leave in 16 days! It is coming fast and furious.
I decided not to ride or run to ensure I do not have any knee or IT Band issues while I am out in AZ. I am staying fit by practicing with Gusto more than I had so I do not feel I will be out of shape. I am eagerly awaiting the return so I can do more physical things - they are the best outlet for my mind. I need it but am trying to control myself so I go out with no pain.
The strategy is working to date. I have not had any knee pain at all and no IT Band discomfort. I am not wearing running shoes when I do agility; I am wearing my super duper awesome soccer cleats that allow me to wear my hideous orthodics. It seems that when I wear running shoes (with orthodics), I have inside knee pain - in the medial meniscus location. It could also be some strain on my Tibial Collateral Ligament. Either way, I have not been having any pain since I stopped cycling and started wearing my cleats. I am unsure which of these factors have given me the relief but with Nationals in a few short weeks, I am not going to play around to find out.
I have a dog and a team counting on me, not screwing up my chances to go this year. I missed last year because of my IT Band injury.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
MAD Dog
I just checked the USDAA official site for my results. I am one leg shy of Gusto's Tournament Masters Bronze title. Although I am sure others will have earned higher titles much faster than I have, I am still pretty happy with how G and I are doing so far. He was not an easy dog when I started to run him on sequences. He wasn't horrible, just very fast and quite reactive. If I twitched or said anything, he would react instantly which meant bars. In the beginning, he always dropped at least one bar per class (Not to mention the teeter fly offs, the dogwalk disasters and the flying frames)- that was at the 22 inch height (and 20 in AKC). It took both of us some time to work out the nuances. Then I moved him up to 26 - this is going much better than I anticipated! I was frustrated for awhile but he is starting to figure it out and wow - his muscle tone is amazing now!
If you consider that he is a minimum of one yard per second faster than Ivy was (at least comparing some of her better runs), I think I am adjusting to him pretty well. We have our moments of "what was I thinking/doing, what was he thinking/doing" but for the most part, we are starting to come together. I admit, this is happening a bit sooner than I expected. I parked Ivy so I could focus on him, I think that was a wise decision. Katie Leisey, a junior handler, is running Ivy when she can so at least she is getting to play and she really enjoys Katie.
He earned his MAD (Masters Agility Dog) Title in 1.5 years of showing. While that doesn't sound great, it was much quicker than Ivy - she took 2 full years. He has his TM (Tournament Masters) in about one year - I didn't start him in tournaments right away. I waited a little while before trying him on those courses. Ivy took 3 years for her TM - I didn't show her in tournaments right away either so it was probably more accurately 2 - 2.5 yrs. Comparing my results with both dogs and with Gusto being such a quick dog (speed and reflexes), I am moving in the right direction.
The question is - can I keep it together at the big events? Can I handle his excitement level which will definitely be amped up? These questions remain unanswered.
Ever hopeful and always in pursuit.....
If you consider that he is a minimum of one yard per second faster than Ivy was (at least comparing some of her better runs), I think I am adjusting to him pretty well. We have our moments of "what was I thinking/doing, what was he thinking/doing" but for the most part, we are starting to come together. I admit, this is happening a bit sooner than I expected. I parked Ivy so I could focus on him, I think that was a wise decision. Katie Leisey, a junior handler, is running Ivy when she can so at least she is getting to play and she really enjoys Katie.
He earned his MAD (Masters Agility Dog) Title in 1.5 years of showing. While that doesn't sound great, it was much quicker than Ivy - she took 2 full years. He has his TM (Tournament Masters) in about one year - I didn't start him in tournaments right away. I waited a little while before trying him on those courses. Ivy took 3 years for her TM - I didn't show her in tournaments right away either so it was probably more accurately 2 - 2.5 yrs. Comparing my results with both dogs and with Gusto being such a quick dog (speed and reflexes), I am moving in the right direction.
The question is - can I keep it together at the big events? Can I handle his excitement level which will definitely be amped up? These questions remain unanswered.
Ever hopeful and always in pursuit.....
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Midget Football
At one point, several weeks ago I was not happy that I would be missing Devin's last 2 football games of the season. I am now over that feeling because their football team has a losing season so far and I am sort of tired watching them lose over and over again. They play well but are just not big enough and they get pushed around A LOT. Devin basically got neutralized on Sunday. He only made 3 tackles and was not in the backfield at all! That hasn't happened yet this season.
He is still enjoying it though and it has made him quite fit. He challenged me to a foot race to the car after his game on Monday and he beat me. Now I was not in running shoes but still!!! He was very proud of himself because this summer when we were jogging together, he couldn't catch me when I sprinted.
The latest new thing for Devin is that he is planning torun for Student Council. He made the decision on his own and shocked both Greg and me. Even if he doesn't get elected, it will be a great experience for him. He has to write a speech and give it to his class. Wish I could be there to hear it.
He is still enjoying it though and it has made him quite fit. He challenged me to a foot race to the car after his game on Monday and he beat me. Now I was not in running shoes but still!!! He was very proud of himself because this summer when we were jogging together, he couldn't catch me when I sprinted.
The latest new thing for Devin is that he is planning torun for Student Council. He made the decision on his own and shocked both Greg and me. Even if he doesn't get elected, it will be a great experience for him. He has to write a speech and give it to his class. Wish I could be there to hear it.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Artful Dodgers USDAA Trial
Wow, what a weekend Gusto and I had together as a TEAM. He was absolutely wonderful - kept all his bars up, all weekend long. We ran 4 runs total and he handled so nicely. First run of the weekend was Standard; it was a nice course and I felt good about my handling decisions. He ran it really well and should have qualified except that I put a front cross in the wrong location and pulled him past the jump so he got a refusal. Otherwise, very nice run. Next run was Gamblers - he did very well on that course but didn't get the Gamble because I didn't set him up correctly to turn him back to a chute that was not apparent to the dog.
Next run was Grand Prix - I needed this for the 2009 qualifying period and have not been running Grand Prix courses very well. Mental block, too technical, bad timing - whatever the reason, it hasn't gone well. When I walked the course, there were some tough portions but otherwise, a nice course. I felt good about my decisions but wasn't sure if he could keep the bars up due to some required talking to kept them on course. The talking has caused me issues with the bars. Anyway, we ran it conservatively, just trying to keep him on course and all bars up. I held his contacts for a beat and took some inhaled breaths at the contacts to keep my wits about me. He ran it clean - an even 32 seconds. The 22 inch dogs went under 32 seconds - both dogs that did that have running contacts one of which is Rosanne DeMascio's Kiba. Great little dog that can run a very tight path. The only other dog to run the GP clean at 26 was Julie Luckcraft's Strider. Everyone else faulted. Bridget McKnights Kestrel ran slightly faster (31.8ish) and she has full running contacts - got called for the up contact on the teeter. It was a tough line and very easy to nearly push your dog off which several handlers did. I was so thrilled to win and get my very first BYE for a Regional. He needs one more GP Q at 26 and then I will drop him to 22 to get him qualified at that height too.
Sunday, I was only running his first class so I could get home to watch Devin's football team lose another game - sigh. Our first class was Standard and it was a really nice course with some tricky sections. The 22 inch class ran first so I got to watch how some teams ran it. I felt confident with my handling decisions so I stuck with my plan. I walked it with a couple things in mind in the tricky parts and told myself not to rush through those sections and maintain connection with Gusto. He was wonderful, didn't put a foot wrong. No wide turns, no near call offs, no bars down - perfect! That standard leg Q earned him his MAD title - yay! He ran it in 40.22 seconds. The fastest time out of the 2 big dogs heights (not sure what the smaller dogs ran it in). The next fastest time was 45 ish, I believe. Not sure what the second place dog ran it in - I was checking times of dogs with running contacts to see how I stack up. I held his contacts but not as long as I had on Saturday - I ran that course trying to see how well I could run it to warm me up for Nationals. I felt amazing!!!!!
The weather could not have been nicer. It was cool in the AM but the sun would quickly warm you up. Not too hot - just perfect. And his MAD title and winning the class was the perfect ending!
Next run was Grand Prix - I needed this for the 2009 qualifying period and have not been running Grand Prix courses very well. Mental block, too technical, bad timing - whatever the reason, it hasn't gone well. When I walked the course, there were some tough portions but otherwise, a nice course. I felt good about my decisions but wasn't sure if he could keep the bars up due to some required talking to kept them on course. The talking has caused me issues with the bars. Anyway, we ran it conservatively, just trying to keep him on course and all bars up. I held his contacts for a beat and took some inhaled breaths at the contacts to keep my wits about me. He ran it clean - an even 32 seconds. The 22 inch dogs went under 32 seconds - both dogs that did that have running contacts one of which is Rosanne DeMascio's Kiba. Great little dog that can run a very tight path. The only other dog to run the GP clean at 26 was Julie Luckcraft's Strider. Everyone else faulted. Bridget McKnights Kestrel ran slightly faster (31.8ish) and she has full running contacts - got called for the up contact on the teeter. It was a tough line and very easy to nearly push your dog off which several handlers did. I was so thrilled to win and get my very first BYE for a Regional. He needs one more GP Q at 26 and then I will drop him to 22 to get him qualified at that height too.
Sunday, I was only running his first class so I could get home to watch Devin's football team lose another game - sigh. Our first class was Standard and it was a really nice course with some tricky sections. The 22 inch class ran first so I got to watch how some teams ran it. I felt confident with my handling decisions so I stuck with my plan. I walked it with a couple things in mind in the tricky parts and told myself not to rush through those sections and maintain connection with Gusto. He was wonderful, didn't put a foot wrong. No wide turns, no near call offs, no bars down - perfect! That standard leg Q earned him his MAD title - yay! He ran it in 40.22 seconds. The fastest time out of the 2 big dogs heights (not sure what the smaller dogs ran it in). The next fastest time was 45 ish, I believe. Not sure what the second place dog ran it in - I was checking times of dogs with running contacts to see how I stack up. I held his contacts but not as long as I had on Saturday - I ran that course trying to see how well I could run it to warm me up for Nationals. I felt amazing!!!!!
The weather could not have been nicer. It was cool in the AM but the sun would quickly warm you up. Not too hot - just perfect. And his MAD title and winning the class was the perfect ending!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Umbrellas!
What is it with puppies and the fear of umbrellas? Maybe it is just a border collie thing. I took Robbie to football practice with me because he was crated all day while I had my little adventure in Morgantown. I figured just a change of scenery would do him good; we wouldn't be home until 8:00 and he would be full of obnoxious youthful energy. I left him in the crate in the truck with the tailgate open. Of course, he could see me so he barked his head off. And his bark is no ordinary one, he sounds like a very large 90+ lb Labrador.
After waiting a bit to make sure he didn't think his barking resulted in his freedom, I went and got him out. Took a Frisbee with me for entertainment and walked over near the practice field. The sidelines at football practice are always a flurry of activity; younger or older non-football playing siblings are engaged in chase games, football throwing, soccer kicking and anything that kids due with their energy. Robbie thought the kids games were very exciting. He was good though, I asked him to play with the Frisbee - bite the dead Frisbee game. It is my new way of getting him excited to play with inanimate objects. I am teaching him that "dead" toys are just as fun as the ones that get tossed, thrown, and kicked. I think this will help him with agility - he doesn't like boring repetition and he doesn't like stand still type training activities or training skills that require his own drive and speed independent of mine. He likes when I move - PERIOD.
Anyway, he was good at the Frisbee bite, toss and play by yourself game. But then a friend of mine walked up to say hi and he had the EVIL UMBRELLA. It was a golf size one so that means it must be from the DEVIL. HA. He started alarm barking and acting like a freaky BC. I asked Lance (yes, that is his name) if I could borrow the umbrella and help Robbie get over his irrational fear of very large evil umbrellas. Robbie was having a cow, so I lied him down and put the evil object near him for a sniff. After a good sniff, he decided he should bite it. I had to end the fun but he got over his fear and went back to playing with the Frisbee and nearly ripped my arm out cuz he tossed it out of leash range.
I put him back in the truck, he had calmed down, had a good day of being around different stimulating things and I was pretty sure that would take the edge off of him so we could have a pleasant evening.
After waiting a bit to make sure he didn't think his barking resulted in his freedom, I went and got him out. Took a Frisbee with me for entertainment and walked over near the practice field. The sidelines at football practice are always a flurry of activity; younger or older non-football playing siblings are engaged in chase games, football throwing, soccer kicking and anything that kids due with their energy. Robbie thought the kids games were very exciting. He was good though, I asked him to play with the Frisbee - bite the dead Frisbee game. It is my new way of getting him excited to play with inanimate objects. I am teaching him that "dead" toys are just as fun as the ones that get tossed, thrown, and kicked. I think this will help him with agility - he doesn't like boring repetition and he doesn't like stand still type training activities or training skills that require his own drive and speed independent of mine. He likes when I move - PERIOD.
Anyway, he was good at the Frisbee bite, toss and play by yourself game. But then a friend of mine walked up to say hi and he had the EVIL UMBRELLA. It was a golf size one so that means it must be from the DEVIL. HA. He started alarm barking and acting like a freaky BC. I asked Lance (yes, that is his name) if I could borrow the umbrella and help Robbie get over his irrational fear of very large evil umbrellas. Robbie was having a cow, so I lied him down and put the evil object near him for a sniff. After a good sniff, he decided he should bite it. I had to end the fun but he got over his fear and went back to playing with the Frisbee and nearly ripped my arm out cuz he tossed it out of leash range.
I put him back in the truck, he had calmed down, had a good day of being around different stimulating things and I was pretty sure that would take the edge off of him so we could have a pleasant evening.
What a great day!
I had the best day yesterday. I went and taught one lesson - one of my favorite student/dog combinations. Then I picked Katie Leisey (Junior handler that is working and running Ivy for me) up early and we ate at Sonic. Then I went to Wal-Mart for some needed essentials for Arizona (I still have more shopping to do but at least got a few things done). We then couldn't remember what time our class started! Neither one of us - isn't it weird how a change in your schedule can totally throw you off? Katie is 16 or almost 16 so it isn't an age thing. We drove around the Morgantown area looking for a park because we had an hour and a half before class actually started (I called LuAnn to ask about class time - I felt like a dork).
We found a cute little park along a pretty creek but it wasn't dog friendly. I searched my GPS and found Marsh Creek was about 4 miles from Julie's field. We took Ivy and Gusto for a walk along a beautiful lake. The dogs thought they were there for a swim and kept trying to drag us down to the water; eventually, they realized that was not part of the agenda.
Then we headed back to Julie's. It was a fun adventure and a very nice change in my daily routine. Along the drive, we saw many lovely stone houses and we kept saying - oh, I could live there. It was a fun game of "imagine if you lived there instead."
Gusto was amazing at class. He only dropped one bar, maybe two but was otherwise very good. I also put him over the dreaded broad jump - he did it flawlessly every time. Totally had me bamboozled because he was so horrible just one day prior!! Go figure dogs!
Ended the day at football practice. That didn't go so well for Devin and his defensive line. Oh well, everyone can have a bad day. Gusto had his on Tuesday :)
We found a cute little park along a pretty creek but it wasn't dog friendly. I searched my GPS and found Marsh Creek was about 4 miles from Julie's field. We took Ivy and Gusto for a walk along a beautiful lake. The dogs thought they were there for a swim and kept trying to drag us down to the water; eventually, they realized that was not part of the agenda.
Then we headed back to Julie's. It was a fun adventure and a very nice change in my daily routine. Along the drive, we saw many lovely stone houses and we kept saying - oh, I could live there. It was a fun game of "imagine if you lived there instead."
Gusto was amazing at class. He only dropped one bar, maybe two but was otherwise very good. I also put him over the dreaded broad jump - he did it flawlessly every time. Totally had me bamboozled because he was so horrible just one day prior!! Go figure dogs!
Ended the day at football practice. That didn't go so well for Devin and his defensive line. Oh well, everyone can have a bad day. Gusto had his on Tuesday :)
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
No Clue
Gusto has no clue how to jump a broad jump. This is what I learned yesterday at my session with Rosanne. I did quite a lot of reps on it yesterday and was not totally satisfied with the results. I will need to do this again every week before I leave for Arizona. He is turning tighter out of chutes though so I was very happy with that part of our session yesterday.
I ran Gusto at 22 once and he was amazing so that gave me some confidence for Nationals. Jumping him 26 is definitely a challenge for both of us. He is doing much much better but there is so little room for error that I find myself constantly thinking about the bars and it takes my focus off of my handling. This is something I am going to need to conquer if I am going to continue to pursue goals in the 26 inch height class. He is an amazing athlete and I definitely want to give him the opportunity to reach his potential. I do not want to hold him back, he is probably my one shot at reaching some pretty high goals in agility.
Robbie, while super smart, is just not as driven for the sport - yet. He can cover ground nicely but he lacks the explosiveness that I see in Gusto and Seri. I plan to continue my training of Robbie, focus on the things he needs to learn and see what I have in about a year. If he is missing the IT factor, I will make a decision on another dog in 2 years. I was going to wait but I confess, running a dog like Gusto is a total rush. I will want that type of explosive, running on the edge type of dog again. It is an addiction - an adrenaline rush.
I ran Gusto at 22 once and he was amazing so that gave me some confidence for Nationals. Jumping him 26 is definitely a challenge for both of us. He is doing much much better but there is so little room for error that I find myself constantly thinking about the bars and it takes my focus off of my handling. This is something I am going to need to conquer if I am going to continue to pursue goals in the 26 inch height class. He is an amazing athlete and I definitely want to give him the opportunity to reach his potential. I do not want to hold him back, he is probably my one shot at reaching some pretty high goals in agility.
Robbie, while super smart, is just not as driven for the sport - yet. He can cover ground nicely but he lacks the explosiveness that I see in Gusto and Seri. I plan to continue my training of Robbie, focus on the things he needs to learn and see what I have in about a year. If he is missing the IT factor, I will make a decision on another dog in 2 years. I was going to wait but I confess, running a dog like Gusto is a total rush. I will want that type of explosive, running on the edge type of dog again. It is an addiction - an adrenaline rush.
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