Jake's Progress

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

The urban dog is unphased by a lift. (Almost).

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 19:39:00 +0000

Great day out, shame about the agility runs

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Sun, 17 May 2009 17:48:00 +0000

We just got in from the Scottish Kennel Club (SKC) show in Ingliston, right by the airport. I still find it weird to look up from an agility show & see a Ryanair jet taking off or landing. Makes me feel a bit over threshold.

As at the SKC show last August, we were in a field well away from the main conformation classes. We had our own entrance & our own car parking. I only walked down to the conformation rings once, to check out the shopping, and noted that the agility handlers are much scruffier than the pedigree people. And the agility people are more likely to be gesticulating to an imaginary dog as they rehearse some manoeuvre for their next course. It looks bonkers. (I wasn’t the only one doing it.)

How did we do? Once again, I’m trying to accentuate the positive here à la Agility Nerd.

Graded 1-2 Jumping
Our first run of the day. It went really well until the weave entry. Doh! What went well was Jake’s start line stay; the sequence at the tunnel and I got my turn in so he was on my left as we ran the diagonal.

Graded 1-4 Agility
This had a very narrow gap to pull Jake through, and as I know pull-throughs are still a work in progress, I devised a Cunning Plan. It wasn’t going to be as fast as a pull-through (purple dotted line below), which is obviously the best way to handle this section. I decided I would try taking a right hand weave (that in itself shouldn’t be an issue for us), then pull Jake round the wing and push him over the jump onto the dog walk. (My path in the sketch below is the black dotted line.)

Guess what? Jake missed the first weave pole, so we were eliminated there instead. I then proceeded to fluff the Cunning Plan. On the plus side, our distance work is getting better, we made the contacts, and it was a perfect start line stay.

Combined 1-2 Agility
Dearie me. We should have gone clear on this. Where to start? Bumbled turn -> dog walk on-contact, missed the off-contact, fluffed weave, wrong tunnel entrance … we can do that stuff! On the plus side … I’m seeing shoots of hope that Jake is starting to work ahead of me. A little bit.

So … for both me & Jake, practise for weave entries & contacts. And I need to restart building some “body memory” by practising turns & pull-throughs without the dog. I remember from last year that the hall at home and er, work corridors are good places for this. You’ll come & visit if I’m sectioned, yes?

Spring haiku for dog walkers

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Thu, 14 May 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Cherry petals fall
embroidering dew kissed grass.
With poo bag, I bend ...

Tyre-some

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:56:00 +0000

The UK Kennel Club agility regs changed in January. It means that the solid tyre we used to practise has had to be retired. Unfortunately a new tyre in "an impact absorbing material" was looking pretty pricey - hundreds of pounds - as a whole new frame is required for the new style tyres.

So we looked into how we could improvise something suitable using the existing frame. After much debate we decided to try using a swim "noodle", costing a mere £7 a pop. We needed two (and cos we ordered via Amazon and we couldn't specify colour, we have a novelty two-tone effect). A handy member of the club provided a couple of pieces of 20mm plastic piping but you'll see we had a little further refinement ahead.

But with a judicious application of a hacksaw we're in business, with an impact absorbing tyre. Okay, it won't look exactly like the standardised tyres on courses, but it cost 14 quid instead of hundreds.

(Not quite) pas de deux at Woodside

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Sat, 09 May 2009 16:55:00 +0000

We’ve just got back from the Woodside DAC show in Biggar. We only went for the Sunday, and like last year, it was a b i g show, with six rings. The weather mostly held, though there was a biting wind. Compared to the previous year, I appreciated the extra space we had for exercising and car parking.

Team Jake is getting much better at Being At Agility Shows. We managed Jake and the day so that he was “below threshold” for the whole day. He was chilled in the queues and he ran focussed on me, doing what I asked. It wasn’t his fault if I was sometimes in the wrong place or if I directed him wrongly! Good boy.

In the notes that follow I’m trying to consciously follow Agility Nerd’s suggestion that we record the minor triumphs instead of / as well as the highs and lows.

Graded 1-2 jumping:
We started out well – Jake held his stay and we were fast. He overshot the weave on the first attempt – my fault, I didn’t time my “steady weave” right. I had planned to change sides with a rear cross once Jake was in the tunnel, but didn’t – and so was too far behind to keep up with his momentum. I then ran up to the wrong jump and of course he took it! After that we both lost the plot. Must teach Jake to a) count and b) read to make up for handler inadequacies in that area.

Graded 1-2 Agility
This sort of course is usually a gift for us and we started off fast and accurate. I had a plan – to change sides after my “out” so we could take a right hand weave and so save valuable microseconds. (We have missed first place by microseconds more than once). Unfortunately I mistimed the “out” - I shouted it after Jake had already lined up to take the jump – and he obligingly went out to the next obstacle, the dog walk! ‘Tis a pity as we were running well until that point. Contacts continued to be good and we ran the second half of the course well even though we were justifiably eliminated. Jake of course had a whale of a time: two dog walks in one course! I believe that’s called self-rewarding.

ABC (Anything But Collies) Large Grades 1-7 (Olympia Stakes):
After last year’s memorable moment where Jake decided he’d rather check out the burger van than finish the course, my aim on this course was to simply get round it. Given that the course was aimed at much higher grades than us, I was really pleased with how we ran. Okay, we need to work on our down contacts and pulling Jake in between two jumps – I knew that. But lots went right, not least the sequence in the middle where the tunnel is taken twice. When walking the course I kept lining up wrong after the 2nd tunnel for the weave. But I learned a lot from watching more experienced handlers and copied their trick of staying put at the tunnel mouth and just picking Jake up on my left, ready to push into the weave. It was also great to see that I’m not the only nerd who scribbles down the course after walking it (we don’t get course maps issued in UK Kennel Club shows). This is so I can practise running the tricky bits in my head when back at the car. Also because I have no memory …

Things to practice:
• My positioning when changing side
• “In”
• Down contacts

Watching the really good teams – or when it goes to plan – I really see how much it’s like an elaborate pas de deux. When I think how we were running just a year ago … we’re evolving!

Washing winter away

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Wed, 06 May 2009 20:49:00 +0000

Our club spent a happy hour or so scrubbing our agility equipment.

Notes on the Kingdom of Fife show

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Mon, 04 May 2009 21:15:00 +0000

Another fairly local show for us - only 50 minutes drive over the bridges on a misty Saturday morning. It was a small, relaxed and very well organised show, with only three rings which ran like clockwork for grades 1-2, large (that's us) and grades 1-7 for the small and medium dogs. We got a brilliant ringside pitch and tried out our new windbreak to create a little safe haven for Jake. It worked - he relaxed a lot more and didn't feel the need to scan the horizon for incomers. We parked right next to our black lab pal Loki and his support team.

We had four runs, spread nicely through the day. After the Scottish Border Collie Club show the previous weekend I was a bit worried we'd lost our agility mojo but I was really pleased with how we did - we felt fast and confident and like a team. Woof!

In graded 1-2 agility we were eliminated because Jake went into the weave on the wrong side. He never usually does that - my fault - I was in the wrong place and didn't get my "steady-weave" command in at the right moment. The crowd groaned ...

Another muffed weave entry in graded 1-2 jumping - though I was pleased with the rest of the run.

So it was a great relief to go clear in the two combined grade 1-2 classes. We even placed 7th in agility and 10th in jumping (in a class of 93 dogs). Lucky for us it wasn't a combined 1-3 class or we'd have no ribbons on the mantelpiece and very few points in Jake's record book. I like this new trend for dedicated grade 1-2 classes. ;-)

Fit as a butcher's dog

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Fri, 01 May 2009 23:00:00 +0000

We're on Portobello high street ...

Ooh, hang on.

A smorgasbord of sausages!

One for the album.

The show on the race course

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:59:00 +0000

On the morning of our first agility show this year, Jake and I took our dawn stroll in a winter wonderland. Well, it was frosty. We had to scrape the windscreen. Still, it was only a short drive to the Scottish Border Collie Club trial at Lanark Racecourse and our running orders were pretty good. We only had one course to walk first thing and our run was about an hour in - so enough time to remember the course, and to get Jake warmed up. We met up with our pals, got our chairs etc installed, though we were less happy when we realised we'd set up right by a pile of horse dung. (Jake of course was delighted.)

In our first class (combined agility 1-3) we fell right into the trap at the start of the course: an enticing A-frame placed just in eye shot of the start line ...

I put Jake in a wait and walked to jump 2 - Jake took the first 2 jumps and veered off towards the A-frame, and though he came right back when I called him he took jump 2 again in the wrong direction - ELIMINATED! Another time I think I would run with him from the start, and get my cry of "come heel" in as he starts to take jump 2 ...

By the time we came to run our next class, the temperature had risen to 19°C and the queue for the portaloos was full of people desperate to remove their thermals. Jake was pretty hot but he ran the course beautifully - apart from running past the weave! Finally we "sightread" the graded 1-2 jumping class. It's never good to miss walking the course. Bad handler. So we tried to work it out by watching others running and but for another fluffed weave entry we'd have gone clear - that's karma.

I don't know what's up with Jake's weave. Maybe my timing of the weave command - he'd had no trouble with the weave the day before at training. So that's the practise plan for the next week or so ...

It was great to watch the champ classes though - to see how it should be done!

He didn't come cheap

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:08:00 +0000

We paid Edinburgh Dogs Home £55 for Jake in 2004. That might sound like a bargain compared to the hundreds of quid you can spend on a pedigree. But rest assured, we've forked out! I sat at this weekend's agility trial and counted the many things we didn't have before we adopted Jake.

Stanley Mills

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 09:00:00 +0000

We went to Stanley Mills, which is one of Arkwright's Mills just north of Perth. There's a great visitor centre which unfortunately Jake wasn't allowed into. Next time we'll head for a castle where Jake can scamper up and down the steps!

Spring day by the seaside

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:46:00 +0000

A bit chilly but hey, it's a beach

Cast ne'er a clout till May is out

I have yoghurt on my nose

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:43:00 +0000

Public parks for agility practise

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 20:32:00 +0000

There was no club meet this Sunday as our trainer was at a show. So I arranged to meet up with black lab Loki & his mum for a spot of practise. Between us we've got several portable jumps, two weaves and a wee tunnel - and it's always good to have someone tell you exactly where you're going wrong - a poor signal, not getting a command in ...

We set up in a park that's halfway between both of us. That always gets attention! To be honest we're used to it as our club sets up in all weathers on one of Edinburgh City Council's sports grounds. It makes for excellent distraction-proofing. Several people came over to chat, or just to watch. Some people are in other agility clubs, others want to know about where they can learn, others have just seen it on the telly. Some folk let their dogs run right over, others are a bit more sensitive ...

Jake and Loki started agility at about the same time, and each is a "first agility dog." They're at a similar standard, but they're like chalk and cheese! Viz. our distance work exercises. Jake will sit in a wait while I walk 4 jumps away and then call him over all four jumps. Loki's wait is less secure. (And I hasten to add that at a show Jake's wait is altogether less impressive...) But Loki can be sent forward over four jumps with never a backward glance at where his mum's standing - whereas Jake takes one jump then looks back to see where I am. It's great to have someone else to wave a toy at the far end - or to keep one finger in the collar - when you're practising those exercises.

And whereas Team Loki is very nifty and accurate with turns and pull-throughs, they are still getting to grips with a solid "left over" and "right over." On the other hand, Jake's left and right commands seem pretty solid, but dearie me, I am RUBBISH at pull-throughs. I'm in the wrong place - I don't give a command - I'm facing the wrong way ... back to practising with an imaginary dog when I think no-one's looking.

Jake wears characteristic sulky-can-we-get-on-with-things-now face while modelling his latest agility tuggy. (You should see the failed action shots from today's training - definitely need to bring along loved ones dedicated to camera duties).

Red Nose Day (low dignity moment)

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Yup, it's Red Nose Day

Jake's robot minion

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 17:40:00 +0000

While the pooch lounges in luxury on the sofa in a patch of sunlight, the trusty Roomba trundles round sooking up the hair he sheds ... Oi, Jake! I once saw a dog in Greece that had an old oil drum for a kennel.

Thoughts on Crufts

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 18:59:00 +0000

Crufts 2009 - Day 1
Originally uploaded by thekennelclub

It's the first time in 40 years that Crufts hasn't been on the telly. From when I was little, sitting down to watch Crufts was always a Big Thing. I would argue with my family about getting to watch all of it, which was part of the whole Not Being Allowed A Dog thing. I'd sit glued to the screen and watch the various breeds trot round the green carpet, with Peter Purves doing his commentary, honing my dog-spotting skills (I'm still pretty good at identifying unusual breeds). There would be a few highlights from the obedience ring and in due course, the flyball and the agility competitions. As I got older, and with my own dog, I realised I was less interested in the conformation classes - which took up the lion's share of the BBC coverage - and once I started doing agility myself, I got quite cross about how agility was one of the big crowd draws (in the main arena) and yet it got practically no coverage from the BBC. Maybe an hour if you were lucky.

So from my selfish point of view, the BBC pulling coverage of Crufts and the replacement live-streaming / video on demand has given me much more of what I want. I've seen all the agility and flyball and I've been following various tweets as well. I've occasionally dipped into the conformation classes, but have found then quite dull when there's so much agility to watch. So whatever happens in the future with the BBC, I really hope that the sports will continue to be streamed in their entirety.

I had an interesting conversation about Crufts with some of my new colleagues, one of whom understands the science of the in-breeding shown up in Pedigree Dogs Exposed. And I found myself saying aloud that even though it's clearly - scientifically, in health terms - WRONG to in-breed as has been the case in some breeds, the Kennel Club has a good track record in terms of agility. In other parts of the world, only pedigree dogs can compete in agility, and the KC hasn't gone down that route. For whatever reason.

Yet - as I type this I see on the live streaming a German Shepherd with a very tilted back. None of the GSDs I see doing obedience or agility have that sloping rear end. The police dogs I see don't have that shape. Sheesh.

Languid hound

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:24:00 +0000

He can't be bothered to move out of bed. But that square of sunlight is so appealing ...

Weather permits ... more practise

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 23:28:00 +0000

With crocuses starting to appear in the park, it's starting to feel a bit like spring. And spring and lighter evenings mean ... practise between agility classes!

I need to work on reinforcing Jake's start line stay. Also his weave entries. And sending him out to a jump on the right or left while I run a straight line. So weather permitting, I'm planning this sometime this week ...

We also need to practise pull-throughs and turns ...

Really, we're only limited by what I can carry to the park (four jumps and a 12 pole weave - or a shorter weave and more jumps).

Puppy trafficking in the UK

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:48:00 +0000

There's a new BBC documentary in the Rogue Traders series in which undercover RSPCA officers investigate the puppy trafficking trade in Britain*. Probably upsetting to watch, but it's always best to KNOW about these things. The programme is on:

19 Feb, BBC One, 8.30pm (England & Wales)
25 Feb, BBC One Scotland, 7.30 (in Scotland, obviously!)

And if you're in the UK, you can use the BBC iplayer to watch it for a week after the England/Wales transmission. If you're outside the UK, there's more information on this RSPCA video.

* I expect the investigation concentrates on England and Wales as the RSPCA serves England and Wales. North of the border we're served by the SSPCA, Scotland's excellent animal welfare charity. That said, I don't doubt for a minute that this nasty business is rife in all parts of the UK, and you have to hope that the two welfare organisations are working together to battle it.

Jake in the Lakes

noreply@blogger.com (Gussie) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 22:10:00 +0000

I'm changing jobs, so to help me get into the right frame of mind, we all went to the Lake District for a few days. We stayed in Backbarrow, right by the one of the weirs on the river Leven.

We only had to cross the lane to pick up footpaths in the National Park, though my map reading skills were challenged by the light dusting of snow and at least once I realised we were following a deer trail ... any actual deer must have been a long way away, but I had him on lead until I was sure. Meantime I discovered Jake loves to gobble up deer poo. Blurgh!

It was ironic that I took my agility shoes OUT of the car before we left Edinburgh, forgetting that they are fell-running shoes by design, and so would have been by far the best footwear ...