Jake's Progress

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

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.