Jake's Progress

New look for Jake's Progress coming soon

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 20:05:00 +0000

We're working on migrating Jake's blog from Blogger to Wordpress over the next week or so. So this is a holding message until we go live with the new site. Back soon, with tales of the new agility season ...

The moose loose aboot this hoose

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 20:03:00 +0000

We've been away for a week & when we got back, I opened a kitchen cupboard & found mouse droppings. Grrr. Itinerant mice are pretty common in Edinburgh tenements & multiple occupancy buildings but we haven't seen hide or hair of rodents since we got Jake.

I started to empty the cupboard, which is the one full of olive oil & balsamic vinegar (obviously a mouse with Mediterranean tastes). Towards the back, when there was nothing to clear except a couple of glass jars of rice & a well-gnawed pack of burritos, I came face to face with the mouse.

Jake has only ever caught two things in his life: a water rat and a rabbit. When he caught the water rat, he became selectively deaf & trotted along just out of my reach, the busiest & most important dog in the world. Then he let it go. He also once caught a rabbit and let it go. He'd be rubbish as a working lurcher (and maybe that's why he ended up in the dogs' home).

So there was a stand-off in the kitchen - mouse vs inept lurcher & two soft-hearted humans. The three domestic mammals staring into the cupboard, and the mouse staring back at us. I must admit I considered Jake's track record & decided that I'd catch the mouse in a large glass jar rather than risk Jake chase it somewhere else in the kitchen.

Then the mouse darted back into the packet of burritos. Easy! I scooped the packet up & into the waste bin, and took the mouse down to the wheelie bin for the ultimate last supper.

Jake now keeps going to stick his head right into the cleaned cupboard as if he can't quite credit it.

(How did the mouse get in? It dropped through a gap between the back of the oven and the top of the cupboard, & obviously had no incentive to climb out of the land of plenty).

(And no, there are no other signs of mice anywhere else in the flat. But our local pest control officer is back on the beat).

The therapy dog

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:11:00 +0000

I found myself dealing with more unhappy situations with my 80 year old aunt last week. As she's in hospital at the moment, I took Jake to Tyneside with me as my therapy dog and he was brilliant - great fun on the beach, company in the house while I did various necessary and no-fun things. Dogs are GREAT. Jake is particularly great!

Here are some snaps from the beach at the bottom of my aunt's street. Though it's hard to take pics while you're playing tug with sandy seaweed.

2o2o

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:35:00 +0000

In our first proper training session this year, it was no great surprise that Jake's contacts had gone to pot. He was so happy to be at agility again that he was tanking round - and launching himself off the A frame & dog walk before any paws touch the contact points. It's my fault - we used to have steady, reliable contacts - until we sped up. And now, because we never cemented our contacts at the very start, Jake takes a flying leap OFF the dog walk or the A-frame.

2o2o is agility jargon for "two on, two off." That's the style we learn at our agility lessons & it also suits us - I've worked out a training plan I could carry out at home, on walks, day in day out. (The alternative is "running contacts.")

The plan for Jake's contacts is a bit off the wall but we're working with what we've got.

I started on our stairs. I've been click-treating Jake for when he stops with his back paws on the bottom stair, practising in blocks of 10 repetitions. He gets the treat with the release command "go" - & I throw it forward so that the end of the behaviour is a surge forward away from the 2o2o to get the treat.

I've been increasing the length of time he spends 2o2o before I click and give the release command. The next stage has been to take it outside (think steps, ramps ... and agility equipment). This week we started playing the 2o2o game outside, on flights of stone steps we pass on our walks. Jake is good at generalising to other places, so he very quickly understood what was required. And result! There was a marked improvement at this week's agility class.

Silent through the snowpocalyse

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 21:22:00 +0000

All quiet here for a while. Before Christmas I was spending most weekends travelling to help my aunt, who lives about 100 miles away. I bailed out of a couple of agility shows because of that. And then just before Xmas we had heavy snowfall. It was the coldest snap in 30 years, and the most snow I’ve seen since I was a kid (when we had proper weather – listen to me, young’uns!). After four weeks we were thoroughly fed up – we’re not geared up to protracted snow; our street didn’t get gritted until 3 weeks in, for example. On the plus side, we had a very quiet snowed-in stay-at-home Christmas. Then I slipped on the ice, landed on my head and am only just getting back to rights.

At first Jake loved the snow. New snow is like sand you can eat, and short of it snowing actual ice cream I can’t imagine he’d have been any happier. There were crazy puppy antics, catching snowballs in mid-air, finding snowman’s noses (carrots) and blissfully sinking into soft snow to eat, eyes shut ...

With the temperature dropping to -10 C for a while, the canal and even the Water of Leith (usually a fast flowing river) froze. For a while Jake was simply fascinated, staring at the place that’s usually water. Then he realised that well-meaning people were throwing bread on for the birds – and he wandered onto the ice for a snack. He wasn’t the first - there were plenty of footprints of all species. Even so, after that, he was on the lead near water.

By the end of the freeze, Jake was just very fed up with
• the compacted ice – it’s nippy on the paws
• semi-frozen melting snow in the park - uneven to run on
• paw washes after every walk to remove grit & salt
• more frequent pedicures - it's pavement pounding that usually keeps his claws down.

Almost all the ice has melted now. I don’t know which of us is more relieved!

Prague or Venice?

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:59:00 +0000

Or a pedicure? Just another evening on the sofa.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

In which Jake proves he can travel in an eco-conscious manner

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:35:00 +0000

Usually when we visit my aunt we drive. If the weather and traffic are good, it can be done in about three hours, but in any case it's tiring for me, the only driver.

So we decided to try the train today. Not just for eco reasons! I wasn't keen to do the drive on my own this morning - it's pretty tiring, and I needed to conserve my energy.

So Jake and I got up at the usual time and walked to the park, but then kept walking until we reached the train station. There were some excellent pickings for passing pooches - bits of kebab and chips dropped by people on their way home last night.

Jake was fine in the station, though he did put his paws on the counter of the kiosk (tea! cakes!). But that was his only faux pas in the whole journey.

I'd carefully chosen to travel when I knew it would be quiet. Good old Jake helped me with my tea and settled down next to me on a towel. Even the Guard made indulgent noises. (And yes, I did pay for his seat.)

After an hour or so we transferred onto the Metro - another first for Jake, though I think the apple I was eating made a good distraction.

And with Jake skipping happily into my aunt's house at 10.20, that was 3 hours and 15 mins door to door! The same amount of travelling time, about the same price as the petrol I would have used, and much more relaxing. If the journey home goes similarly well, we'll go by train again.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Don't care if it is winter. I resent this coat.

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:55:00 +0000

-- Posted from my iPhone

Broxburn mayhem

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:19:00 +0000

Broxburn's November show, and our first indoors agility show since last winter. In fact our first show for a couple of months.

Ah, the excuses start early ... you can probably guess where this post is heading.

Excuse 2: Torrential rain meant that Jake hadn't got the fidgets out of his feet - he very grudgingly trudged round the park before we left.

Excuse 3: The indoor venue, the Scottish national equestrian centre at Oatridge college, meant that Jake was pumped up by what I call the "horsey sand agility" factor. "You've brought me to agility! And it's on a beach that smells of horses! Wahey!" What this means in practice is boundless enthusiasm, more speed and less focus than usual.

Long story short - Jake had a whale of a time, and we were eliminated in both our runs. The highlight of my day was when he ran amok in the pay-as-you-go ring - check out his loopy lurcher lap of honour as I rebuild the jump he just demolished. If I ever need cheering up I'll be watching this:

Luckily others were less thrown by the move indoors - clear runs from Team Loki & Team Glen, and for Team Poppy, a 1st place in Jumping and a 4th in Agility. Woohoo! There are some videos on Youtube but (sorry) we missed the clear runs.

The anti-SAD dog

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 10:32:00 +0000

The PDSA has a survey for pet owners about whether pets' moods and behaviour change in the winter months.

The survey makes some assumptions from the outset – that pets are less inclined to go out in the winter, that they eat more, that they are afraid of the dark.

Jake has never enjoyed being prised out of his nice warm bed on a dark morning. But once he’s yawned his way down the stairs (we live on 1st & 2nd floors) and has sniffed the air from the porch, he’s quite happy to trot out, even into the rain (and he hates getting wet). He's not bothered about night walks - they've always been a part of his life with us. It helps that Little Lord Fauntledog has all the gear.

But slowness in getting out of bed is about it in terms of a negative reaction to the winter months. Jake seems to do the opposite to what the PDSA is expecting. Jake is less happy in the summer. In warmer weather he is less active, less enthusiastic on walks and at agility, and grumpier with other dogs. Observation tells us he’s worse on days when pollen is high. On warmer days his black coat feels hot to the touch, and we have to plan to cool him down and avoid being out for too long in hot parts of the day. It struck me as I completed the survey that we should make him a dark den as a bolthole for the summer months (in Edinburgh in mid June it can be light between 4am and 11pm). I wonder if he misses sleeping in the dark – he does pull cushions and toys over his eyes to sleep.

Over the last few weeks, as is the case every autumn, Jake has a new spring in his step, is much more lively on his walks and noticeably more chilled around other dogs. He was almost puppy-cheerful in the woods yesterday.

Bring on the frosty mornings, that always makes him really perky.

He is an anti-SAD dog.

Autumn walk canalside

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Tea is good, even from a collie mug

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:32:00 +0000

A gude cause

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:09:00 +0000

100 years ago, the Women's Suffrage Movement marched along Princes Street in Edinburgh. Today several thousand people (and Jake) marched through Edinburgh to celebrate this centenary.

For most of the procession we were near the Greens, the Auld Reekie Roller Girls & a banner that read "Emancipation not emaciation." A pretty good spot to be in.

Here are some resources about women's suffrage in Scotland.

Squirrel's eye view

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Tantallon Castle

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:09:00 +0000

Summer's over! And we realised that we hadn't been to any castles for ages. So we drove down the coast to Tantallon Castle.

Jake has to stay on lead in the castle, for various obvious reasons, but not least when there are people picnicking. There were several other dogs visiting the castle when we were there. Once I was sure everyone else had come down from the ramparts, Jake and I went for our customary look around. He loves climbing the stairs, he loves sticking his nose through any windows he can, he loves sniffing in corners and looking up chimneys.

The views from the top are amazing. Jake is unfazed by heights, though he doesn't like crossing wooden slatted bridges in castles any more than he does over running water. But he's had plenty of practice at the Water of Leith, and he handled it dogfully.

Afterwards we headed into North Berwick to give Jake a run on the beach. There was everything Little Lord Fauntledog could want - sand, seaweed, a Luca's icecream van, even a food fair with quality scraps dropped by careless humans...

King of the (sand) castle

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:44:00 +0000

Or perhaps that should read "dirty rascal."

We found the remains of what must have been a fantastic sand castle. I wish I had the patience... here are some instructions which we will never get round to following.

Two times two equals CAKE. Or ice cream.

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:18:00 +0000

I’ve just taken a box of muffins to agility class as there was a hasty rule change this weekend – you’re supposed to bring in cake when you get a 1st place, but the rules were rewritten as we got two 2nd places this weekend at the Kingdom of Fife show. Our most consistent performance yet - only one elimination on seven runs!

There was a last minute change of venue as the original was rained off – I have to say we ended up in a great venue, last minute or not. Plus the lorne sausage rolls from the van in the car park were tip top.

For once we didn’t mind arriving at 8 am to walk a course and then hanging round for 2-3 hours before we ran – it was tipping it down. We nipped out in our waterproofs to video our pals’ runs (check out the brollies in the background). By the time we came to run a graded 1-3 jumping class, the rain had let up but the ground was a bit slippery. During the run, I didn’t feel I could tank it past the tunnel to change sides as planned, so ended up fumbling a rear cross. Not the most graceful handling, but we went clear and placed 2nd (0.2 seconds behind the winner of the class).

We had two agility courses as well on Saturday, and I was pleased with how we ran them - BUT Jake jumped over the on-contact on the dog walk both times! So that’s what we need to practise before our next show.

What was really noteworthy was that we had finished our runs and were driving away from the venue at 2.30pm! Jake promptly took to his basket.

On Sunday the weather was much better. We had four runs, three within the first hour or so. We ran another graded 1-3 jumping class (our 2nd 2nd place). I walked out to jump 4 before signalling Jake to start, by which time he’d already decided I was taking the p*** and had started anyway. It was the one startline stay he broke - I was pushing it.

But for me the triumph was going clear on the ABC combined 1-7 course. Jake didn’t even look at the tunnel trap, his lefts & rights were really good and he got his contacts, eve though we lost valuable seconds in the process. I bottled out of a more efficient route round the top left corner before the dog walk. Another time … We were about 4 seconds behind the dogs which placed. A lurcher came 2nd! Go lurchers!

The inner whippet's in the shadow

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:25:00 +0000

Winners of the European Open 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 22:35:00 +0000

This is how it's supposed to be done!

Thanks to Eric Larson at Agility Vision who's posted a free video of the three winners.

7 rings. Champ agility. Crufts flyball qualifier. And lil old us!

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:00:00 +0000

We swallowed hard and went to one of our local shows - East Lothian - for the full two days. Even though it was a huge show, it didn't feel like it - the layout worked really well. And I always love an agility venue with a caff and plumbed-in loos. Plus we were on the Prestonpans battlefield.

We were only eliminated once in eight runs! Although technically two out of the eight were TFO so you can’t *be* eliminated. I made a point of jotting down the courses after I’d walked them and it really helped me fix my plan (and plans B & C) in my mind. Jake was focused and fast – and didn’t break his start line stay once!

We actually got right round the combined 1-4 TFO course on Sunday. I think we were helped by Jake being a little slower on the 2nd day of the show. We’ve never got so far on that kind of course – in fact I hadn’t thought through getting back to the start, from the penultimate jump and so I faffed and Jake was puzzled and the whistle blew… still, I was really pleased with how this run went.

We got a 2nd place in grade 1 agility on Saturday – just over a second behind the winner. There were a couple of interesting spots in the course, and I had to decide where to turn and change sides. Fortunately it all came together, though the interesting bits are lost on this video, hidden behind the A-frame.

We placed 7th in a grade 1 jumping course. I loved this course – the two tunnels twice, approached differently each time. Jake was tired – it was like running Jake last year. It’s not often these days I’m running ahead of him.

Teams Loki and Glen did really well too – so it was a good weekend all round.

To the lighthouse

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 22:21:00 +0000

And now, From the lighthouse.

Someone turn off the lights!

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 20:57:00 +0000

Why microchipping is A Good Thing

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:26:00 +0000

Beach action

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:43:00 +0000

Intense concentration.

Excuse me. I'm waiting.

Pounce!

The exhausted bon viveur enjoys a joke.

Go west, young dog

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:06:00 +0000

We were at the Prestwick show last weekend. We ran in two agility & two jumping classes on the Saturday, and even though we were eliminated in three out of the four, I was pleased with how chilled Jake was round the rings, how focussed & fast he ran throughout the day, and even (gasp) with some of our pull-throughs. (The retraining is starting to bear fruit.)

I made some silly errors as well - we were E'd in one class because I didn't wait till Jake was committed to the tunnel before peeling away to the next obstacle, so Jake went in the wrong end. And Jake popped out of the weave in one course, something that never usually happens. Weave entries were of course FINE with my new shameless policy of "guide him through while in the ring."

Just a couple of vids to dissect here & now (the full horror is on YouTube, along with some runs by our pals Loki & Glen. Though we seemed to miss both Loki & Glens' best runs of the day!

Grade 1-2 jumping

It was going so well! Jake didn't fall into the first tunnel trap, our weave entry & turns and "out" were fine, and "left" and "rights" along the top of the course were going fine until he got distracted by the second tunnel and I was in the wrong place ... Eliminated!

3rd place in grade 1 jumping

It all came together! I can now see where I might have changed sides and not caused a moment of hesitation just before the tunnel, but really - am very happy with this