Updates, anyone?

So, Zoey's doing great. We didn't trial much this summer, sadly, since I was working, and didn't have weekends off, but with the trials we did get to, we made success. Zoey's first trial of the season at 16 inches was awful, so she was lowered down to 10 inches in specials. With that, she's doing GREAT! Her last trial of the year was really good - no Q's, but I don't care - and I'm very excited to work on crosses, handling, and focus this winter, and then see how we do next year.

As for Psyche, my little wonder dog, she's doing AMAZING! She's now doing sequences, including front and rear crosses, her a-frame isn't quite full height yet, and her dog walk's still lowered, she does the full teeter with a nice 2o2o that I can run past her on, and she's doing really well with her 2o2o on all of the contact equipment.

Her distance work is coming along VERY nice, and so is her... everything! I know, I know, I'm bragging, but I love how much this dog LOVES to learn!

She hasn't started weaves yet, but we're hoping to soonish. (She turned a year old the first week of October) She's going to be doing the 2x2 method, and a friend and I will be watching the DVDs together, plotting, and then she's going to help me out. (she's the trainers daughter at our agility club, and runs an amazing sheltie).

Anywho, that's what's going on. We're hoping to have Psyche and Zoey both trialing next year, and also my mom's dog Tink, since mom got a job with all weekends off (YAY!) and I'm going for a job where I'd get weekends off...

We're doing well, if I do say so myself.

Hi I am glad that you are happy with your year!

This thread got me thinking of the one posted at the first of the year with our goals, so I went and looked at it. I have posted the results of our year in Blue. I am very happy especially considering that we have only been to 11 trials including Regionals and Nationals. I have one more trial planned for Nov.

Goals:

First goal is to always have fun. Done

others include:

Improving Gambling skills, directionals and discriminations Success!! our Masters Gamble Q rate went from zip to about 70%!! VERY Happy!

Continue to improve his weaves and entries. Had great improvements, then not so great..........continues to need work

Take regular lessons during the winter. Didn't happen, we only had 4 lessons in the past year but at least they paid off.

Enter at least one trial per month. Hit and miss there, but would average out to almost a trial a month

Ensure that Petie and I are in the best possible top condition and health, especially for Regionals and Nationals. Petie was in good shape, I wasn't too bad for the most part until Aug, then I had a huge Hemoglobin crash. I knew something was up because I could no longer handle him right, run fast enough and I was only good enough for 2 runs.......oh well.

Go to Regionals. We did and we had a great time!

High placements at Regionals. Done, high placements 2nd, 4th & 9th, very happy!! Overall placement of 10th! He was working great, all the mistakes were mine and I cost him so badly sometimes

Qualify again for Nationals. Did it again!!

We'll see what happens at Nationals..............Went to Nationals, earned 2nd in Jumpers, again I cost my dog by making stupid handling errors but now we know that was probably the start of my counts crashing and I certainly didn't feel great. No worries always more Nationals.

Earn our Expert Bronze Title for Masters Steeplechase = 25 Q's, we have 17 now, so that should be easy. We were rocking in Steeplechase with a high Q rate..........until the last two. So it hasn't been so easy lol

Have FUN. Always

Needless to say but I am thrilled with our year, limited trialing and we have had a good year. We have also been on the AAC's Top Dogs List since the spring and we are now a good ways up it.

Agility Pup> any pictures?

I don't have any pictures of her, no... Not any agility ones, anyway...

I do have this video of some terrible clips of Psyche's training... Lots of errors on my part, of course, but these are from the summer, about mid, when she wasn't even doing a full teeter yet. I'm hoping to get some new clips of her tomorrow at our class, I hope.

YouTube - 'Cause I'm TNT - Psyche Agility Training

Capone is still in his first agility course. He's doing pretty well, I'd say. Had his first 'off' day last week - he just went all 'free for all' on me. *shrug* I guess he can't always be superdog.

Hey thats looking pretty good! Hope to see something new.

Congratulations on your successes! I've always been a big fan of Zoey - she is impossibly cute! I'm excited to see some updated pictures of the girls at agility.

I've been mostly happy with Meg's agility this year. Her distance work has improved, although it will always be a major challenge for us. Her speed has improved almost to a level I wouldn't have thought possible for her. Her hard-earned contacts were perfect, then fell apart, and we are working on getting them back to perfect again. Adding in control to a dog who we have worked so hard to get speed and drive in is just a tough balancing act for me. We'll get there. She's having a great time out there, and that's a big deal for me. Her behavior outside the ring at trials has also been spectacular. I think she's realized that dogs at trials are (almost) always under their handlers control at all times, and she is so much less reactive at trials than anywhere else. Her comfort level is through the roof at trials now.

Our big competition goal was reached at our last trial - Meg finished her PDII title (performance equivalent of an AAD) and is now completely in PDIII. We also started doing the Performance Grand Prix and Speed Jumping classes, and have placed in one each time, and have one Q in PSJ.

BB, with Zoey, that's something I'm watching. Since going down to 10, she's having more FUN! And that's what I like to see, I don't care about winning, or Q's, it's all about having fun for my old gal!

Thanks guys, I'm really proud of how far I'm getting Psyche... I don't feel it's too much to expect to have her trialing once she's old enough.

I will try really hard to get videos and/or pictures tomorrow.

opcorn: You guys have such awesome dogs XD!

I havent posted or updated on here in forever but I am always lurking and Shay you made me wanna post XD. Psyche is coming home with me tomorrow where she belongs lol.

I havent done much of anything this year as far as trialing, we have had 4 trials (three of which Rush entered, and two of which Bear entered - money has been tight). Bear trialed in March and got a few Qs towards her Reg/Jumpers titles, but overall she has been doing a lot better with distractions in the ring (I figured mostly she pays attention except for when she wants to look for my mom). I am trying to talk my mom into trialing her, but shes not interested. I am retraining her contacts and weaves (because she doesnt hold her 2o2o at all in trials, and she is starting to miss entries and skip poles randomly with weaves so figured I'd add that on there too). Since she mostly gets eliminated even when we do well, I only enter her in a few runs per trial and try and keep it fun . Taking a break from March- oct with her I saw a drastic improvement in the immediate attention she gave me when we entered the ring. We got Eliminated and NQed, but it was still an improvement, and thats all I care about!

As for Rush (my baby dog!) She trialed once at 15 months in DOCNA to give it a taste, and did okay, she got kinda stressed, but it gave me an idea of what was wrong (how many people can guess?) okay it was me! lol. Its amazing how far shes come in just the 8 months since march. In August she debuted in NADAC (we had a full trialing schedule planned out for Sept-Oct). She only did three runs, and was doing okay, held focus pretty well, and her speed was incredible. Especially over the AF. Our second round of reg. was going great but she saw another dog and randomly ran out of the ring after him (she has never attacked another dog - and didnt attack this one), just sniffed him, but she growled and RAN to him, we were eliminated and it got me thinking we have some behavioral issues I dont know what they are. I had planned on waiting until she was 2 to spay, but we did it in september, and out trial schedule for the fall kinda had to be canceled, due to recovery time and the price of the operation. Next trial was the last weekend of Oct, and she did so well! We had some start line issues in two runs, and some distraction problems, as well as handling problems. I am generally a pretty bad handler, but she wasnt listening to any of my pull cues. I took it as she was excited, and let it slide, but the problem went away it seemed once I decided to redo something. I am sure I was screwing up something along the lines too. Anyway out of our 12 runs, on sunday, the very last day we managed to Q our last three runs (reg.2, tunnelers, and hoopers).

I have vids of agility too, not too many of Bear, and practically no pictures of her, though I took some of her, the people at the trial only took two (neither is very good XD)

PrintRoom.com: View Image


PrintRoom.com: View Image


PrintRoom.com: View Image (the only one I like of her out of the two - click next and you can see photo numba 2 I think, or it might be two over? Its in there!)

http://i34.tinypic.com/4ruxi9.jpg

Agility :: RaisingK9NADACtrialOct23rd-25thSunc.flv video by sno_buny - Photobucket (Rush tunnelers)

Video - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting (Bear tunnelers)


I am really proud of how far they have come, especially the progress Rush has made. Sorry I wrote so much I didnt expect to really write anything but then I got going and it was hard to stop. Oh man.

Diane, Bear, and Rush


:rofl1:

Diane, no way. You're not getting my Psyche dawwwwwlin. She's here for for good now - you couldn't separate her from the Misfits - we wouldn't know what to do!