Michele Fry's Agility Dogs - Training and Competition

The Blind Cross - Part II

2012-02-08T09:40:00.001-06:00

I see the Blind Cross more and more often at agility trials and I've come to like it a lot myself, yet the controversy still rages. So here's my 2 cents.

The Blind Cross violates two cardinal rules of agility:

Never take your eyes off your dog.
Never let your dog cut around behind you.

I will never forget my first Blind Cross. It was a complete accident. I was running considerably ahead of Maxie across a 25' space between obstacles (in class), realized I needed to be on the other side, had no time for a front cross, so I cut across Maxie's projected path to the other side, switched arms and tried to find him in vain. He had tried to follow my feet and gotten totally confused when I switched arms. I had to jumpstart him to complete the sequence. We both felt weird and disoriented afterwards. I could have tripped over him, hurt him, fallen myself. I almost cried. The instructor wasted no time pointing out to me that this is why the Blind Cross is taboo. For the next year, I agreed.

But there are times on course when the Blind Cross is the easiest way to handle. It saves time, wear and tear on knees and ankles, and once your team is used to it, it's fun to do. I wrote an earlier post on The Blind Cross, which now that I do it regularly, and teach it, I can see how much I've learned since I wrote that.

So here are examples of when I think the Blind Cross is perfectly acceptable.

When D is in the tunnel, you can't see your dog anyway. And your dog can't see you. So, so long as you have crossed their projected path and have turned so you can see them by the time they exit, all is well. Some handlers, however, fear their dog will collide with them on exit, and this could be a real concern if your dog is lightning fast, or you are slow and can't get across the path in time. (This can also be said of the Front Cross, though, and I have seen some crazy antics with H and D stumbling around to avoid each other, despite their being able to see each other the whole time.)

Slower dogs may also take awhile to scramble up the A-frame or See-Saw, giving the handler time to blind cross in front of the down side. Distance handlers can cut more caty-corner to the A-frame on their send (green), and have time to BC before even faster dogs gets to the down contact.

Dogs on the dog walk can hardly choose to veer off path, so H can afford to run ahead and turn their back for a second before D reaches the down contact. At least in theory. I've never tried this.

The hardest part of the Blind Cross is mastering it. It feels weird, disorienting, perhaps at first sinful, to turn your back on your dog. It's like a broken connection. But you soon master the art of quickly turning your head and shoulders towards the dog's projected path. You are only disconnected for a second. It feels much like a ballet move -- the pirouette! Turn your head, your body follows. Here's a diagram of the blind cross.

The blind cross isn't for very many situations, and may not be for some handlers. But I'm seeing more and more advanced handlers doing it routinely, and it looks elegant when well executed.

Training the Blind Cross:
Start with Flatwork.

Whenever you take your dog for a walk, on leash, and they happen to fall behind you, cross over in front of them without turning to face them. Pass the leash behind your back to your other hand. This naturally desensitizes both you and the dog to the maneuver.
Put them in a sit/stay or stand/stay. Cross over in front of them with your back to the dog. If they stay put, click/treat out of the hand nearest the dog. Vary it up by walking circles around the dog, clockwise, then counterclockwise, always facing forward such that sometimes you'll be walking backwards.

So the Blind Cross is coming back into favor. Dont' be shy. Give it a try! If nothing else, it's great practice being out of your comfort zone, and "thinking out of the box".

Upwards and onward!

2012 Dog Club Duties

2012-02-06T12:08:00.004-06:00

L to R: Michele, Puddin, Sheryl holding
a box of brochures. Charlie was off with Wayne.

Publicity Committee: This year my club duties will be expanded thanks to our new Publicity Committee, which I chair, getting the funding I asked for. Yippee! We now have a paid for booth including 10' x 10' canopy that the club will own (instead of borrowing mine), which means I can paint our logo around the edges! We can afford to laminate posters and place them in vets offices, and maybe start accumulating a set of demo equipment. My enthusiasm took a huge leap now that I know the club supports it.

I designed these brochures last year as the Publicity
Committee's first effort. Hot gluing the Pup Corn treats
to the top was a real attention getter!

Krewe Of Mutts Parade: We didn't get our funding in time to sign up for a booth space at this annual event, so last Sunday Sheryl Mc' and I wore our Red Stick Agility T-shirts and just passed out club brochures to passers-by who looked like they might want to train their dogs. She walked her Boston, Charlie, and I walked Joy's boxer, Puddin. Most people had never heard of LCCOC, though our club's been around for nearly 50 years. We're well known as a training club in competition circles, but not by the general public. Clearly, we have a PR problem -- which I aim to rectify by our 50th anniversary in 2013.

The LSU Veterinary School Open House next weekend is a big affair drawing huge crowds, and I'm coordinating our booth volunteers for that, despite the fact that I'll be at a trial in Mobile that weekend. We have a bunch of great volunteers lined up. Crowds of around 5,000 are expected. I just learned this is the only Vet school in Louisiana, one of only 28 in the nation, and one of the largest and best funded.

I'm keeping up the duties as LCCOC Webmaster and Membership Coordinator this year too, also serving on the Agility Committee and teaching agility classes once or twice weekly. I'm offering my first Saturday class, Handling Fundamentals, but there are only 2 students enrolled. I would have thought Saturday would be more convenient to some people than weeknights. No matter. It gets me out there training my own dogs every Saturday!

I also volunteered John and myself to coordinate the Summer Crawfish Boil (same as last year (2011) and the year before that (2010), using our own equipment to boil 100 lbs of crawfish. Nedra volunteered her yard again, everybody brought a dish, and last year we had over 40 people attend. This is up from 12 when we used to hold the event at our agility field which has no water, no electricity and no bathroom. I was successful in getting the Crawfish Boil budget increased by $50 this year because, even though we boil them ourselves now, the raw sacks are going up in cost and there are so many more gluttons like myself gobbling them up. Crawfish here in Louisiana are a big, big deal.

John and I are also helping our new Field Maintenance guy, Ken, with whatever he needs. We started by chopping down 2 scrub trees a few weeks back that blocked our night lighting, and are about to tackle 2 pesky china ball trees behind our fence that keep us forever raking one corner of our field to keep the spiky balls from injuring our dogs' paws. We're also intent on cleaning up debris along the fences and making our field look neater.

Agility Trial: John has scheduled 2 vacation days to assist our course builder at our agility trial over Easter weekend, and this year John and I will be in charge of loading the U-Haul with equipment, getting it to the trial and safely back. I'm also shadowing the Trial Secretary to learn more about handling the paperwork.

With all that scheduled, I won't be able to volunteer for much else! I'll be out of town for the Obedience and Tracking trials, and focused on my dogs at our Agility trial. I might be able to make the Herding trial.

It's going to be a busy year of volunteering. Hopefully it will be grand fun and very educational! Alas, my floors go increasingly un-mopped, my furniture undusted, my porches unswept, and the pile of dishes incessantly gathering in the sink will continue to disturb me. HELLO. A reliable housekeeper should go on my list of goals for 2012. A nice, quiet, unobtrusive live-in maid who needed a free bedroom with a desk and wi-fi in exchange for some routine housework, and loved my dogs, would be wonderful.

Upwards and onward!

The Pull Through Handling Maneuver

2012-02-01T12:56:00.000-06:00

The Pull Through is one of my favorite handling maneuvers. It is easy to perform, easy to train, very useful, fun, and I've found it to be very reliable. Dogs and handlers both seem to understand it. Here's the diagram:

It's basically 2 fish hooks facing each other. Immediately at or after the jump, H turns into D while changing arms, D turns into H, and they run off together going in the opposite direction. H is basically pulling D through a narrow space between H and the wing.

Of course, the pull through can be used at any obstacle to elicit a 180. It is sometimes referred to as a "tight wrap".

This maneuver is often referred to as a "front cross", but to my mind it is NOT a front cross at all because the dog's and handler's paths never cross. It is a "side switch" and a "change of direction", yes, because the dog who used to be on your left is now on your right, and you do switch arms, but it is not a cross.

This maneuver can achieve some really tight turns, provided you signal collection and a turn just as D takes off, or before. You signal this by your own decelleration to just past the plane of the jump, and I generally bend over forward just a bit as I turn inward, almost "scooping" my dog's nose into the hand closest to D.

TRAINING THE PULL THROUGH: Easy. Start with flatwork, indoors or out. 5 treats in each hand. Walk along with D in heel position, turn 180 in towards your dog "on a dime", that is without stepping "into" their path, and deliver a treat into their upturned mouth as they complete their turn in to you. Walk along some more. Turn in again and when D turns the full 180 into you, deliver a treat from the closest hand. Keep walking the whole time, making 10 turns in all. Repeat several times a day. You can do this with a young dog on leash, switching the leash from hand to hand as you make your 180 turns, which trains the handler how to switch arms.

Introduce a wingless jump. Sit D behind a low jump, about 10 feet back. Walk along as above, give your JUMP command, and when D lands, turn in and make your 180. Treat. They will turn into you just as above. Slowly begin making your turn while they are still in the air, and eventually just as they take off, and finally, before they take off so they'll know what's coming. Randomize treat delivery, eventually eliminating the treats altogether. End in a rousing game of chase or tug.

NOTE: At no time in this exercise (or ever) should you let your dog cross behind you*. If they do, continue your turn inward (don't chase them), DON'T TREAT, reset them and start over. After they turn, the idea is to keep D in between you and the obstacle.

*Some folks consider a blind cross as encouraging your dog to cross behind you, and refuse to do that maneuver. Others have figured out how to execute that cross in such a way that the dog isn't crossing behind, but the handler is crossing in front. A significant but subtle difference. More on the Blind Cross later.
Introduce 2 wingless jumps, and eventually add wings. Same as above, but take the 1st jump, pull through and make a 180 back to the second jump, then pull through and head back to Jump 1, then back to Jump 2, etc, 10 cycles of this will give you 10 reps on each side. Have a big party.

This gets both my dogs revved up until we're executing at a fast pace. They love doing this, and the more we do it, the better they become at collection and tight turns.

Try it. Enjoy it.

Upwards and onward,

Wobble Board/Clicker/Distance Training

2012-01-29T18:02:00.001-06:00

My old wabble board, and Winnie Pooch

New puppies provide fresh opportunities to play "guessing games", what Susan Garrett calls "It's Yer Choice" games, and push those games to their limit. These last few days, with a 13.5 week old papillon I'm calling Winnie Pooch, aka Honey Bear, I set up my wobble board outdoors, and we've had a blast playing the guessing game and videoing the process (see videos below).

Underneath, a stack of 3 wood pieces
screwed to the board,
slightly off center.

For those who don't know, a wobble board is just a short plank or 2' to 3' square board with 3-5" of something (wood, pvc pipe) affixed under it that makes it wobble whenever the dog hops on. It's used in Agility to desensitize green dogs to a moving surface under their feet, in preparation for the see saw. You can purchase fancy ones, but my homemade wobble board is made out of scrap wood--old, weathered, and beat up--and it's worked just fine for years.

In a nutshell, the GUESSING GAME is when the dog does something you're looking for without you asking for it, you CLICK then TREAT. Dog does it again -- CLICK, TREAT. Repeat 10 to 30 times. Dogs LOVE the challenge of trying to figure out what they did that got them a treat, and puppies seem to catch on more quickly than adult dogs. I wrote earlier about how to play guessing games which I won't repeat here, but it's important to do it right.

WOBBLE BOARD/CLICKER TRAINING: To start, you may have to lure the dog to pay attention to the board, then CLICK, TREAT when they put a tentative paw on the board, eventually 2 paws, then all 4 paws. Papillons, however, don't show the slightest fear and jump right on and dance around. Every few days you can advance the guessing game by CLICK, TREATing only when they do things like:

sit or down on the board
enter from the high end of the board
keep only 2 back feet on the board
jump off the board
etc

It's important that they be trying to figure out what you want rather than you telling them, but be sure and wait until they master the previous exercise. You'll know when things become routine -- their performance becomes blaze' and they act "entitled" to a treat without thinking. The beauty of clicker training, you can increase your distance from the board by several yards and still deliver the "treat" at the moment the desired behavior takes place.

I videoed 3 days in succession of Winnie Pooch running from me to the board. At first he was distracted by everything and making wide haphazard circles around the yard (major distractions), but by Day 3 his performance was phenomenal, running straight to the board again and again from over 40 feet away! Training sessions lasted only so long as the puppy invited me to play. I kept my clicker and jar of treats on the table at all times so the game could commence any time he offered the desired behavior. Here's a composite video over 3 days. I only videoed a few sessions of the many that took place.

Gosh golly, this is so much fun! Honey Bear, you be smokin'!

I didn't video the steps of introducing Winnie (i.e. Honey Bear) to the board and couldn't repeat them since he was already familiar with the board, but there are lots of YouTube videos on the first steps. I haven't seen any on the distance work we've accomplished.

Later I had John video me introducing the game to Maxie. Surprisingly, due to 3 years of me training him NOT to take an obstacle unless I indicate it, he was unwilling to get on the board until I gave a signal, then increasingly unwilling as I moved further away. Well, well, well! I had no idea I had trained the "wait for my signal" skill so well, and I suppose it would NOT BE WISE to "untrain" it. I sure don't want him "guessing" in the competition ring. Here's a video of that session, which is fascinating in its own frustrating way!

Upwards and onward!

Naming a Puppy

2012-01-18T10:46:00.000-06:00

It has never been hard for me to name my pets. The name just burbles off the tip of my tongue, and sticks. With Maxie, I picked him up from the breeder and on the way home I just knew he was ACE MAXIMILLION. His father's name was Ace. He was full of maximum attitude, and my heart was so full of love for him, he was worth a $million to me. Ace Maximillion von Fry. Easy.

Lucky was easy too. She was so lucky to have been found on the side of the highway at 5 weeks, adopted by me and John at 8 weeks. She was so long legged, loose-jointed, floppy eared, and malleable, Lucky Loosey just flowed off the tongue. Nothing could hurt her, stop her, or scare her. Sometimes we added Lu-Lu because she was so loopy. She could wiggle out of anything. Loosey became spelled Lucy on the AKC CAR paperwork. Lucky Lucy Lu-Lu von Fry. Easy.

Fooh Fooh was easy too. As our first foster dog, we thought he pooped so much at about 10 weeks of age (4 times a day seemed excessive, so little did we know), we just called him Poo Poo. We weren't planning on keeping him. Fontenot came from a cajun notary joke circulating at the time.
Poo Poo Boudreaux goes to a notary to have his name changed. He said "I'm so sick of people making fun of my name, I have to change it." Notary replies, "Yes, I can certainly see why. What do you want to change it to?" The cajun replied, "Poo Poo Fontenot!"
That cracked us up. (Perhaps only funny if you're from the South and/or hear a lot of Boudreaux Jokes.) But then you can't go around the neighborhood calling "Here, PooPoo". Well, FoohFooh rhymes with Poo Poo, and since we found out FoohFooh means "the crazy one" in French, and FoohFooh was/is so crazy, his name devolved into Fooh Fooh Fontenot von Fry. Easy.

"Winnie" at 13 weeks.

Naming this new pooch, though, is proving a tougher job. Winnie The Pooch is a great working title for a few weeks until I get him sold. He's so open-minded, patient and docile. Marshmellow would work as well - he's so soft, sweet, squishy and white. A comfort dog, always yearning to be in my lap, nuzzling my neck. Eyes on me all the time.

But calling him Winnie is beginning to grate. It's a girl's name. I thrashed all night mulling over a more suitable name, then wrestling with the FACT that I don't really need to come up with a better name. I'm not keeping this dog. But I so often call his name, he needs a better nickname.

Then, I ran across this photo on the internet and couldn't help imagining that with Winnie's similar markings, ample snow white coat and long plummage growing 1/4 inch a day, he might one day look very similar to this AKC conformation champion. With his excellent lineage from The Pines Papillons kennel (good genes) and good looks, and being still intact, he would make a superb first sire if I decided to become a breeder. In which case, he would really need a better name. Not that I'm keeping him. Jester would be cute, and accurate. He's very entertaining. Boomerang would describe his nature of retrieving and scampering back to me with whatever I throw out to him. A retrieving Papillon? Tugger? He tugs vigorously and for as long as I keep it up. Digger? He loves to dig. Does a name have to describe a dog's personality traits? I can't seem to settle on anything. How about Honey Bear?

Dearie me, someone better buy this dog AT ONCE. I'm on dangerous ground. With a tough year of training/trialing with 2 dogs I adore who won't be retiring for 8 more years at least, this dog can't be mine. How could I manage 3 competitive dogs, struggling as I do with 2? Do I want an intact male in my household? Followed no doubt by a female? Or two? What does that entail? I don't know. Every pet I've had has been neutered or spayed except for Annabelle Lee, but that was 30 years ago. Will there ever be another dog I like as well, with all the traits I see in Winnie Pooch/Honey Bear? Will I regret letting him go, or am I just a sucker for all puppies? Yes, darnit, I've loved them all so far. Whoever dares buy him will have to prove they will provide the best of circumstances to this awesome little champion of a pooch, and when he leaves there will be a another big hole in my heart.

Meanwhile, I'm busy polishing him up every day, and he's learning very fast.

Upwards and onward!

Tackling the Acorn Problem

2012-01-15T00:33:00.001-06:00

It's not a very glamorous project to start on the weekend when all my agility friends are at the Kiln trial racking up MACH bars and/or Double Q's, but all last week I was home dealing with the Acorns Galore problem I wrote about earlier. And grappling with a hard truth -- the wall-to-wall acorns in my training yard won't disappear on their own, and my dogs won't run on this "sea of marbles". Because the acorns have quit raining down like hail and most of the leaves have fallen off our trees, I'm thinking NOW is the time to reclaim my training space. Whatever it takes, I HAVE to do it.

What's left AFTER the mower has sucked up
all it could.

I started by running the push mower with vacuum attachment over the training area , (about 80' x 60') very slowly vacuuming up as many leaves and twigs as I could. Then I mowed over the whole area again, even more slowly, picking up more debris and exposing those devilish acorns, which, it turned out, still had no intention of being sucked up by a lawnmower!

Disappointed but undaunted, I called to my husband, "Bring me the shop vac and a 100' extension cord". We have a big one with a 3" diameter hose and mightly sucker attachment, and I felt empowered -- like Napoleon. Then it got too dark to continue.

Next day, shop vac on full blast, I attacked the problem, and in about 15 minutes was only able to tease up the acorns nestled in a 3' x 3' patch of grass. At that rate I calculated it could take me 2 months to cover the whole yard, plus which the vac kept clogging up with twigs and a few times I had to turn it off due to the smell of something burning. All I did was 3 wee patches before I was feeling like Custer towards the end of his last stand. John later reported the vac bag was full. Not the anticipated victory.

The only method left was the dreaded leaf rake/push broom/flat shovel method and after 5 hours of raking, raking, raking the yard into piles (over 3 days) then shoveling them into large wheeled trash cans, we ended up hauling 14 cans of acorns out into the woods.

It was a nasty job, with acorns continuously needing chasing as they popped out thru the tines, making me momentarily question the joys of living in the woods under majestic oak trees. But now that the blisters are healing, my back isn't aching any more, and I've successfully reclaimed a useless yard where I now have a Backyard Dog course set up, with great shade to practice in, back on track again with my training program, and getting ready to compete in Mobile a few weeks from now, I'm feeling victorious. We do what we have to do, and work with what we've got, right? It feels good to know I have some grit left in me.

Not to mention, I'm able to work with the new papillon puppy, now re-named Honey Bear, who yesterday raced Maxie thru the 15' tunnel over and over without the slightest hesitation, has brilliant recalls from 50' already, and is coming along nicely with It's Yer Choice games, clicker training and the wobble board. I'm working on a video of that for my next post. Puppies! What joy. They are amazing!

Upwards and onward!

Sports Vision

2012-01-11T12:55:00.001-06:00

So what is Sports Vision and how does one get it? I looked it up on the internet and found this fascinating link with clear explanations and easy exercises one can do to improve depth perception, peripheral vision, eye foot hand coordination, contrast sensitivity, focus flexibility, dynamic visual acquity (seeing fast-moving objects clearly), and more. These additional skills would probably come in handy in the agility ring and out. Check it out.

http://www.allaboutvision.com/sportsvision/skills.htm

Upwards and onwards!

Handler Fitness and Agility

2012-01-10T10:24:00.001-06:00

These past 2 years of competing in agility, hearing my fellow competitors yell "Run, Michele, run", seeing myself wabble thru my runs with baby steps and no accelleration (thank goodness my dogs have a rock solid start line stay so I can lead far far out), and mostly avoiding front crosses for fear of twisting an ankle, I've been looking for

a running coach,
or at least running tips,
plus a lower body fitness routine to do a few minutes every day, and
a short handler warm-up routine to do before my runs.

Nobody has come forward to offer me these so I've sort of picked up tips and made up my own routines -- not optimal since I don't know what I'm doing but surely better than nothing. In fact, still no agility handler I've met personally seems to think handler fitness training is important.  Some say "running just comes natural", others say I'm taking the fun out, or over-complicating things.

But . . . . . . . it isn't fun to be unsure on my feet, and running DOES NOT COME NATURAL to me.   I swear, either I am missing some muscles, or maybe they have atrophied in 45 years of NEVER having an occasion to run. I didn't run thru my classroom as a teacher. I don't run in the grocery store, don't run from room to room at my house, don't run to the mailbox, and I don't run behind my broom, mop or push lawn mower. I certainly don't run at my computer where I spend at least half my time.

Finally, today, I find Daisy Peel's website of Online Classes, one of which is:

FUNCTIONAL FITNESS FOR AGILITY HANDLERS
This 9-week course is designed to give you some guidance with exercises that you can incorporate in to a new or existing physical fitness program to help you move around a course fluidly. We’ll address the areas of core stability, balance, strength, acceleration and deceleration, and sports vision.

Aha! I'm not crazy.  Handler fitness training is important!  It's not only about training the dog! And I so love the sound of "moving around a course fluidly", the phrase has just become one of my New Year's Resolutions.

"Move around the course more fluidly."

But what the hell is sports vision? Do I have it? Do I need it? If I google it will I get answers? That will be subject for another blog post.

The more I learn, the more I learn that there is always something more to learn. "Knowing it all" is a goal "that fades forever and forever when I move" (quote from Ulysses). Thus, another New Years' Resolution this and every year is to

"Set realistic expectations, so high they require reaching, but reachable with consistent effort

and some luck."

As it happens, I have an eye appointment scheduled for this Thursday afternoon for a dilation and vision screening in preparation for possible cataract/lasic surgery. Because I have floaters and look through a fog in my left eye and my reading glasses are getting stronger and stronger, and the TV looks blurry, and I need a magnifying glass to distinguish between 3 and 8, between 5 and S, and I squint a lot which makes me look angry when I'm not, and stuggling to see makes everything harder to do and gives me vague headaches, so that is already another New Years' Resolution of mine:

"Get my eyes fixed in 2012, before trialing begins."

Upwards and onward!

Finding Agility Trials To Attend

2012-01-09T11:18:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I was given an excellent tip by a fellow club member for finding agility trials to attend all over the USA. I checked it out and it is awesome. It costs nothing to use, not even a username/password, so I look at it as an ingenious gift from a benevolent hand. Please, check it out.

Go to www.agilityevents.net. Choose your venue (AKC, USDAA, etc.), choose your states (hold down the control button and you can pick multiple states in the drop down list), then click on any trial listed to get to the desired premium.

For AKC events at least, you pick a trial and can type in your information into the fillable .pdf form, print it out and mail it in. Better yet, if the actual premium hasn't yet been posted, you get served up a blank form just like the one you see in printed premium lists. You can fill out all that tedious information online, just once, including the dog's height, class, birthdate, AKC number, breeder info, your name, address, handler name, your phone number and email. Then, you can print multiple copies for your dog, enough to last the whole year, sign them ahead of time, then when the actual premium comes in, you can just print, cut and staple the first paragraph containing the specific club information for that trial and check boxes for the classes entered each day, onto your pre-filled forms. Repeat for each dog you trial with. What a time saver!

Reading the list, you can pretty much decide on your whole trialing calendar for the year.

Trialing has become a whole lot easier for me now with this tedious step made so much easier. I printed out 10 for Maxie, and 10 for Lucky Lucy. They are stored in my desk. I was so excited, I grabbed a dozen envelopes and affixed stamps and my return address on them. I've got the stack ready to go.

Snip, snap!

As my club's webmaster, I'm also considering how maybe I can save myself even more time not having to link to Agility Trial premiums on our club's website as they come in to me. I can just post the list and refer them to one place for the premiums.

Is there such a service for locating Obedience, Herding, and Tracking trials? Anybody know, let me know.

Upwards and onward!

Papillon Puppy For Sale

2012-01-04T10:14:00.003-06:00

At 11 weeks, this tri-color male Papillon has the markings and personality of a champion.

This tri-color puppy is out of The Pines Papillons in Myakka City, Florida. The breeder, Lois Horan, is my cousin, and sometimes sends puppies with me to Louisiana to train and/or sell. As a dog trainer, I enjoy working with the puppies every day until they find a forever home.

My puppies are usually leash trained, accustomed to being handled, accept treats from my hand, come when called, sit, shake, are learning to focus on handler commands. and we work on house-breaking. In one day with me, this 11 week old puppy already walks on a loose leash, tugs, fetches, and holds his business until we go outside. He is very people oriented, follows me everywhere.

This puppy is eligible for AKC Full Registration to the right owners. Dew claws are removed and he is up to date on all shots, with vet certification that he is in good health. All paperwork for AKC registration will be filled out at time of purchase.

Both sire and dam of this puppy have ample coat, and no shortage of ear feathers as seen in these headshots below.

This puppy has perfectly symmetrical markings. He has a very sweet, laid back personality, puts everyone at ease. Here's a shot taken the first day home with the puppy and our 3 year old cur, Lucky Lucy. Neither seems concerned about the other being a stranger.

Here is a composite video of the puppy at play. He is alert, feisty, cute, and follows me everywhere I go. With previous puppies, even my Papillons growled for hours, but not with this pup. He was immediately accepted into the pack.

For more photos and my personal observations on this puppy, refer to my previous blog post. For a 3-generation chart, see below.

I'll post more pix later if I can, but if interested in purchasing this puppy now, contact me:

Michele Fry
msfry@pmnotary.com
I'm located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Here are the particulars:

Birthdate: 10/17/11
Color: Tri-color, Red, White and Black
Largest puppy in a litter of 3 (at 11 weeks, weighs 4.5 lbs)
Pedigree (3 generations back):

Sire THE PINES Coal-N-Ice Birthdate: JUL-19-2005 wt. 6.5 lbs, ht. 10" White & Black	Sire CH.BITTERSUITE MARCEL MARCEAUX White & Black	Sire CH.BITTERSUITE MITE OF HIDAWAY White & Black
		Dam CH.BITTERSUITE'S WHITNEY White & Sable
	Dam MAGIE MOUNTAIN IN DA SKIES White and Black	Sire MAGIC CHRYSMAS ON DA ICE White & Sable
		Dam SIDEKICKS MAGIC MOTION White & Black
Dam THE PINES RAINBOW'S END Birthdate: April 22, 2010 wt. 6.5 lbs., ht. 10.5" White, Black & Red	Sire THE PINES ORION White Black & Tan	Sire NIGHTFIRE'S ESSENCE TO WIN White Black & Tan
		Dam CHER'S FAN DANCER White Black & Tan
	Dam THE PINES SECONDHAND ROSE White & Sable	Sire NIGHTFIRE'S ESSENCE TO WIN White Black & Tan
		Dam THE PINES RITA ROSE White & Red

NOTE: The only full body photo I have of Rain (dam, above) is 6 weeks after she weened her puppies. Thus, her hair has molted and is shorter than usual. She normally has a long beautiful coat. You can see she has good structure, with champions in her bloodline (1 generation further back than I can show here). The sire's bloodline has 13 champions, going back 5 generations. I only have room to show 3 generations in my chart. Thus, this puppy has a solid pedigree and potential as a show dog/breeder.

New Papillon Puppy, "Winnie Pooch"

2012-01-03T22:38:00.000-06:00

Winnie Pooch, on Lois's coffee table posing with Papillon Santa!

Before we left my cousin's house today, she and I washed and took photos of several of her Papillons, including the puppy she gave me, and his parents. We dressed a few puppies up in Christmas garb and had some fun posing them.

Landing in Tallahassee for the night, John and I settled in at LaQuinta with nothing much to do but relax and get acquainted with our new puppy, take more pictures, and come up with a working name for him that matches his personality -- until he finds a forever home and a forever name.

At only 11 weeks, already a natural poser!

I thought of Fuzzball at first because he's so soft, cute, fat and fuzzy, but that wasn't dignified enough for this 11 week old poser. After hanging with him all evening he reminded us so much of Winnie The Pooh (gentle, malliable, trusting), we shortly began calling him "Winnie Pooch". He presents little resistance to anything. Crated for the 6.5 hour drive, he didn't whine. I put a slip lead on him for the first time at our first Burger King stop, and within a few minutes he caught on and just followed along, and he did his business outside like the other dogs.

When I laid him on his back at the hotel, he just laid there, looking at me with complete trust, giving me time to grab my camera. Not many Papillon puppies will do that without some coaxing. At the same time, he is spunky, alert, and catches on quickly, so should be easy to train.

Max and Willow are not the least jealous of him, unlike the previous puppies I brought home. Apparently they don't perceive him as any sort of threat. Why is that? It seems he has a calming influence on all of us, thus the nickname -- Winnie Pooch.

The only thing he distinctly doesn't like is being isolated. We tried confining him to the bathroom tile floor in our hotel room until we were sure he had peed, and he cried without cease until I let him in with us. He didn't pee, though, until we went outside!

I'm looking forward to getting home and finding this adorable creature the perfect forever home -- before I get too attached. See more writeup and video on this puppy on my next blog post.

Upwards and onward!

New Years Day and Resolutions 2012

2012-01-02T19:33:00.000-06:00

L to R. Lois, John, Larry, Michele on the alter, clapping and singing.

I believe supernatural things get set in motion based on what we think, what we believe, what we want and ask for -- and where and when. Very powerful stuff! So for many years I have chosen to be HOME at the stroke of midnight New Years Eve, in the bossom of my family, friends, and pets -- feasting, clapping, singing, ringing in the new year by walking our labyrinth together (dogs included). In the craddle, so to speak, where my support comes from.

Thus, I was trepadatious being in Florida this holiday, missing my home, closest friends, family, and rituals. After lunch with my parents at the rehab in
Ft. Myers, FL on New Year's Eve, we headed for my cousin Lois's house in Myakka City, FL., a few hours closer to home at least. Symbolically, I was heading in the right direction. John and I had no idea how we would spend the evening -- we felt tired, disconnected, out of sorts. We agreed to stay open to possibilities, however, and ended up attending a bonfire/fireworks/pot luck dinner at the Sandy Baptist Church which Lois's husband pastors, and though we're not church goers, we went back to attend Larry's church service on New Years Day.

Larry describes his preaching as Pentecostal. He believes every word in the Bible as written, preaches from the heart (no script), people in attendance sometimes speak in tongues, and there is hands on healing. There are only about 20 members, all country folks, and most of them are related (from grandparents to grandchildren) -- all of them jovial and welcoming to us outsiders. Throughout his talk, the 30 or so people in the pews raised their voices to embellish Larry's points or stories, many offering Amens, Praise Jesus, and That's Right. It was a conversation more than a sermon. Anyone could join in. I'd never seen anything like that in church, so it turned out to be an interesting adventure. And I was getting to know my family!
The wee tiny Sandy Baptist Church, circa 1904, located in Sandy, is the only building still standing from that ghost town, hidden deep in the heart of Florida's cattle country, down a long winding country road amidst huge expanses of cattle ranches and scrub trees on sandy soil.

Larry invited me to take all the photos and videos I desired, so I did what I could to capture the essence of the place. The hand-painted sign attached to a cow fence on the turnoff to the church is quaint and telling. Cousin Lois painted it herself!

I was allowed to run my camera during the service, too, but that felt so odd and my camera makes such a tinkling noise when I start it, that I mostly chickened out. I'm kicking myself for that now, but when I get home I'll do my best to put together a composite of what little I got.

I asked Lois if the church had a website . . . . . and she invited me to build them one! The Lord provides! We spent New Years evening searching the web for any history of the town or the church -- and found nothing except a photo of the old outhouse, since removed. We also discussed how to get the church recognized by the Manatee County Historical Society, have it declared an historical site, and apply for grant money to repair and refurbish it. The structure is sagging and needs paint, pew cushions are threadbare, and they barely take in enough offerings on their own to pay the electric bill. It should be on a list of old historical churches, open for tourists to attend a genuine "old time religious" service and the folksy, friendly, chatty down-home cookin' afterwards. It's a totally authentic one-of-a-kind rural American experience! Lois wants me to write the grant!

Today, Dec 2, Lois, John and I went looking at Motor Homes. I found my perfect floor plan for my taste, a 31' Jayco Granite, 2003, in very good condition, with only 16,000 miles on it, for only $39,900, recently reduced to $29,900. It has been on the lot 6 months, so I made an offer of $23,000 with the requirement they would have to repair some things so I could leave with it by tomorrow. I was pretty sure they'd turn it down, and mighty relieved when they did, but if they had accepted it would have been a steal of a deal. Knowing that what I want is out there puts me one step closer to getting one.

Departing tomorrow, I'm also coming home with a Papillon puppy to sell, compliments of Cousin Lois and Merry Christmas. More on that later.

Considering some of my New Year's Resolutions, I think I kicked some of them off to a good start:

to steel my nerves to travelling farther from home (I'm such a hermit) so I can take Maxie to more trials and attain our MACH in 18 months or less (can't do that attending only local trials).
to strengthen family bonds.
to identify and acquire the perfect motor home for me
to raise money to pay for my agility trials this year

Upwards and onward!

La Quinta Inn - Tallahassee

2011-12-28T09:44:00.000-06:00

I try to keep a record of our trip statistics, in case we pass this way again. So, for our trip from Baton Rouge to Cape Coral:
We departed BR at 3:30 p.m., arrived at LaQuinta Tallahassee North (described below), (exit 199 off of I-10) at 11:45 BR time -- 8.25 hours on the road, 435 miles covered, averaging about 53 miles an hour. We stopped about every 2 hours along the way to pottie Max and Willow, and ourselves, stretch our legs, buy coffee and food. First stop was the Mississippi Welcome Center, forgot to record the other stops. We'd have made better time except for taking Florida Blvd all the way to Walker then cutting over to the interstate, to avoid near stand-still traffic from O'Neal thru Denham Springs. plus lots of 18 wheelers and aggressive drivers riding our rear bumpers, weaving in and out at 80+ mph, and several conjested areas, light rain and fog, where traffic moved at closer to 60 mph. I kept a steady 75 mph as much as possible thanks to my trusty speed control. By 10 p.m. we had I-10 mostly to ourselves. Gas prices all along the route about 3.35/gallon for Regular.

John and the dogs rest in our spacious room, #163.

The end wing, on a forrested slope, where we stay.

Arriving at this LaQuinta Inn is like coming home (we stayed here last year, too). Friendly welcome, speedy checkin, clean comfortable spacious room and bath, free Wi-Fi, free breakfast including grits and hard boiled eggs (not just the usual cereal, bagels, toast and jelly), large flat screen TV, pets welcome and stay free. Great price at $54/night (with AARP discount), $60 with tax. I like 3 p.m. checkin and NOON checkout. We got to sleep in late and depart leisurely. Also, up to 6 p.m. cancellation on day of arrival.

Motel style, one can park at your door in most rooms. Our favorite rooms, though, are from 167 - 159, all facing a downward sloping forrested hill (the dogs can pottie right out the door), dotted with camellia and azelea bushes, mounded with pine straw, very charming. There's a grassy area to the far left, where they even provide a poopie bag dispenser. Parking is at the side and bottom of the hill. A quiet, homey wing and still not far to lug your luggage.

I experienced my first "Book On Tape" on this trip, Dean Koontz's Sole Survivor, which my son had given us months before but we never had time to listen to. Driving, there was nothing else to do but drive, sip coffee, listen. John operated his little Sony Megabase portable CD player (my antique car only has a cassette player), but he was able to route the sound thru the car speakers with some kind of cassette adapter, and it sounded GREAT! Along with strong coffee, cigarettes and gum, it kept me wide awake and on the edge of my seat (I do most of the driving). A very suspenseful, graphic book with amazing descriptions. That we can pause and discuss interesting facets makes "reading" this way an interactive experience! We like that.

Max and Willow are awesome travel dogs. Maxie nestles by my side and never moves, Willow rides in the back window and rarely moves -- unless food comes out. They are incredibly patient and calm. Willow knows the difference between me leaving home for a few hours, which doesn't bother her, and us going on a road trip. She screeches horribly, as though seriously injured, if she thinks we will leave her behind.

A few days later I received a La Quinta survey asking them to evaluate my stay. I got to complain about the lack of a bathtub stopper and no repair offered. I used a wadded up wash cloth to hold the water in the tub. I also mentioned about the dog area having too much poop on the ground. I recommended they tell everyone at check-in to pick up after their dogs. (Those who don't make a bad name for the rest of us, so I usually pick up mine and more every time we go outsideI) got a personal email back from the hotel manager apologizing for the inconvenience, assuring us we'd have the same room on our return trip and there would be a stopper in the tub, and they would redouble their efforts to keep the pet area clean!

NOTICE TO DOG PEOPLE: We should be keeping the area clean ourselves. There aren't too many motels that will receive us to begin with, and fewer still that don't charge a pet fee!

We will stay here on our way back home after the New Year. I highly recommend this place to anyone travelling in the area, especially with dogs.

Upwards and onward!

Christmas Day at the Rehab

2011-12-27T19:28:00.002-06:00

My mom, almost 91, with Maxie & Willow

Greetings from sunny Cape Coral, Florida. Temp 80 degrees. John, Maxie, Willow and I drove 900 miles to bring a little Christmas cheer to the rehab where my 96 year old Dad is recouperating from a broken hip, and in failing health, and to my Mom who is trying to figure out how to manage him when (if) he comes home. We'll be here through New Years Eve, staying some with Mom at her condo, and some near the rehab at LaQuinta Inn Ft. Myers, where I have a wi-fi connection and can blog about this unusual experience. We left Lucky and FoohFooh at home with our good friends, Laura and Portia, who are house-sitting.

Christmas Day we came for lunch, decked out in our Santa hats and ready to put on a dog show. We managed to lift a few spirits, if only for a few minutes.

Of course Max and Willow always attract attention when they prance side by side, fur afluttering, down the halls of any facility. Everyone stops to look, some reach out and want us to stop and talk about "the twins". And trust me, NOBODY showed a preference for Willow's gorgeous conformation quality straight coat and symmetrical blaze to Maxie's "disqualifying" curls and assymetrical blaze, nor noticed Maxie's "professional grooming" to Willow's lack thereof. In fact, I'll go ahead and declare that eye contact, friendly personality and obedience will trump conformation and professional grooming any day of the week.

John took videos of our "dog show", which I've edited together below. It's very telling. Even the lady who seemed comatose responded, but mostly my Mom, who went around chuckling, telling people they were her "grand-dogs", Dad requesting special tricks, and Mom going "I can't believe that!" when they did something especially obedient or cute. We got quite a few laughs out of Mom and a few out of Dad.

Here's the video:

Not pictured was the nursing station where numerous staff was looking on and being entertained as well.

Watching my doggies put smiles on a few faces made our Christmas merry in spite of being so far from home! Laughter is good medicine.

Dad, especially, wasn't in the Christmas spirit at all when we arrived, but by the time we left he was willing to pose with Mom in our santa hats. Some photos included the dogs, but this one is the best of them.

Oh, I must report: On the way into the rehab we saw two men sitting on the patio with a male version of Lucky Lucy on leash. The owner was in rehab, his friend brought his dog for a visit. When I said "I like your Blackmouth Cur", they were shocked! "You know what this is?" "Yes, I have one just like him at home". So we talked for 10 minutes, and their dog was just as gentle, friendly and schluppy as Lucky is. They reported this dog kills possums and raccoons -- the way Lucky dispatches armadillos. He snaps at flies, too. Dogs are great ice-breakers, aren't they? Without the dog there, I would have passed right by.

Upwards and onward!

Maxie's 1st Visit To A Dog Groomer

2011-12-20T23:48:00.000-06:00

For our upcoming Christmas visit to Mom and Dad's (in Florida), and anticipating frequent pet therapy visits to Dad's rehab, I decided after 4.5 years of "doing it myself" to take the plunge and have Maxie professionally groomed. A papillon friend highly recommended her groomer in Watson. I made the appointment over the phone for 10 a.m. yesterday, and was looking forward to it. It was NOT a good experience!

First off, I think a groomer should put you at ease, and having run a day care for nearly 30 years with hundreds of parents leaving their babies and preschoolers off with me, I know what that takes. Groomers should also have some showmanship, some pinache! I was so ill at ease leaving Maxie off with these particular strangers for 3 hours, I nearly threw up.
I've never left Maxie in a strange place with anyone -- ever. Second, it was way down at the end of a lonely road in Watson, in a ramshackle house with a front yard/porch that reminded me of Sanford & Son. Inside was old but clean. The owner wasn't mean but just busy thus perfunctory, her hair was died purple, her daughter's hair was red and fluorescent pink. Next, they never checked the shot records they had asked me to bring, until I offered them the paperwork. Next, they made no suggestions, just asked me to explain what I wanted, and especially what I didn't want (no shaved anus, bobbed tail, or trimmed ear feathers). I, being a novice who doesn't know how papillons are supposed to look, was hoping they would examine Maxie and offer suggestions. NOT. At one point the electricity went out. Not a good omen. Then, they said "We'll call you when we're done, maybe around 3. OH NO, I REPLIED. YOU TOLD ME AROUND 3 HOURS, AND I'VE ALREADY MADE AN APPOINTMENT TO TAKE MY CAR IN WHEN I'M DONE HERE. So the owner offered to "push my dog ahead of 12 others" -- an almost sure way to get a rush job! I didn't like that. After I snapped a few "before" photos, they grabbed Maxie out of my arms and disappeared into a back room, and just like that he was gone. And their last words to me were "the more often you call, the longer it will take us to finish." In other words, go away and don't bother us.

I drove off heavyhearted and trepidacious, worried about the power, the back room, etc. I called within minutes to check on the power. Yes, it was on. I called 10 minutes later because I forgot to mention how I wanted his belly shaved. Okay, will do. I argued with myself that I should trust my friend who brought her Papillon there regularly and recommended these people as "excellent". I decided to call her for assurances, saying to myself that if she answered that would be an omen to leave him there. (In all the time I've known her she has never once answered her phone.) She answered. I tried to talk but words barely came out, then I began to cry. She talked me through a bawling jag with just enough assurances that I went ahead and left him there.

Nowhere near home, my plan was to go to Wal-Mart in Denham and finish my Christmas shopping. I walked the aisles for 2.5 hours, with puffy eyes, an upset stomach, and dazed. When they called I checked out immediately and rushed back. Maxie leaped into my arms and curled up so close under my chin, when they asked "Do you like it?", I couldn't see his cut at all. Paid my $40 and left. Didn't care if he was bald or butchered so long as he was alive and well and back in my possession. He was still damp, and very nervous. But he smelled good. They hadn't pottied him so I took him outside where he peed on his freshly washed paw. He wasn't himself.

Once home I dared take a look and took some After pictures. He looked freshly washed. Yes they trimmed his nails a bit, bathed, conditioned and blow dried him mostly dry. They trimmed his feet, but not in the rabbit foot cut Papillons are supposed to have, just a round cut. They shaved his belly but didn't taper the chest hair like I do, so he still can pee on it. They bobbed his arm feathers in a "straight cut", didn't bother feathering the bob so it looks chopped off, unnatural, and it's still so long he can pee on the bottom hairs. I have to reshape and feather these. They did not trim his tail or culottes, which still needed shaping. They did nothing to solve the whispy hair problem on his back and chest which makes him look frumpy these days. The anus trim is fine. The runny eye stain I sent him in with was still there, telling me they didn't bother to wash his face. In short, he looks about the same as after I wash and fluff him.

Very disappointing, not what I'd call a professional job, not what I was looking for. I do as good or a better job at home. It's about the same way I feel when I get my own hair styled. I ask for a shape and trim and get a whack job I hate. I ask for a "body wave" and get a pile of frizz that has to grow out for a year. That's why I just wear my hair straight and cut it myself. I guess it will be the same for my dogs -- no more groomers for us. Certainly not these ones. Dog groomers should consider the trauma parents feel leaving their dogs with strangers, and work harder to gain their confidence.

L to R: Laura, John, Nathan, Portia,
Allison, Alex, Audrey. I, of course,
am taking the picture.

5 hours later, my heart still palpitating, face still puffy, I had to prepare for our family Christmas Dinner at Red Lobster, (my treat in lieu of my usual Christmas and New Years parties as I'll be out of town). I was dragging, feeling stressed. Once there, we feasted, enjoyed ourselves, swapped gifts, etc. My son gave John and me a Kindle, there were gift cards, LSU gear, and tasty treats.

Shark Pet Vac

I handed out books, outdoor thermometers, and Shark Pet Vacs (in preparation for the new baby coming to our family), which are awesome for cleaning pet hair off of upholstery (far superior to the Dirt Devil which in my opinion is worthless). I told my dog groomer story, which got some laughs, and others shared similar experiences about the emotional trauma of boarding their pets. It makes me ponder . . . . . if I could set so many children's parents at ease leaving them with me 5 days a week, surely I could do as well with dog owners. What are the ramifications of running a boarding house/school for dogs? I haven't the slightest idea, though I have boarded a few friend's pets and I enjoy the spare cash plus giving them the royal treatment. John enjoys it too.

Humm . . . . . my latest fortune cookie says "a new business venture is coming your way" . . . . . and this is an intriguing idea. We have the room. Yet the very thought of going into a full scale business again, managing staff, licensing, zoning, inspections, filing quarterly taxes, etc., makes me tired. I ain't as ambitious as I used to be, nor as young, nor as hungry.

Upwards and onward!

Dog Furniture - My New Armoire

2011-12-19T17:00:00.003-06:00

On my birthday last month, touring an antique store, I saw a huge, deep but very expensive antique armoire which gave me the idea of how I might stow my dog gear out of sight, instead of offloading it onto my dining room table (where it's been all year)! I began searching nearby antique and furniture stores, but found nothing I liked or could afford. Then I tried Craigs List, typed in "armoire", and up popped this beautiful, almost new 7' high, 4' wide, 25" deep armoire (actually a bedroom entertainment center), that fits beautifully in my high ceilinged den and fits absolutely "everything dog" in it. It was in a nearby subdivision, too. Cost $400! For a solid wood piece, modern, beautifully curved, in pristine condition, that's cheap.

John helped me move it last Friday. Using his truck and my car, a dolly and lots of blankets, plus lots of patience, planning, and sweat, we did it in 2 trips, 3 hours. It was a real struggle getting it around corners and up stairs. Very heavy. Thank goodness the top and bottom pieces are separate.

The 3 upper shelves are adjustable and hold everything from satchels to coolers, dog grooming items to ribbons boxes, and my camper food box. Even my Clean Run magazines, and a box of course maps from all the trials I've been to.

It looks lighter in the camera flash,
but this photo shows how
the wood grain was greatly
enhanced by the wax.

The 3 bottom drawers are huge and hold all my dog toys, collars, coats, sweaters, training aids, treats, meds, and crate blankets. It's perfect. Now "everything dog" is in one place.

Only thing I didn't much like was the dull finish and dusty grayish overtones that didn't quite go with my other furniture. So last night I put a good coat of Pate Dugay French paste wax on it, Brun Rustique containing a dark stain, and today I buffed it out. My elbows and shoulders hurt but it now has a darker, richer color, more depth and a beautiful sheen. I can hardly take my eyes off of if. It's good to be in love with furniture again.

To fit the armoire in the den, I had to move my antique spinet piano out of the way (which I no longer play), and now I've refurbished that and listed it on Craigs List.

And my table is clear again (oops, now I see I'll have to refurbish the table as well). It's been a few years since I gave it the attention it deserves.

One more way dog training is changing my life, re-arranging my furniture, and dinging my pocketbook. Merry Christmas, you Doggies!

Upwards and onward!

Studying My Trial Videos

2011-12-08T19:24:00.001-06:00

THE "HOWARD COSELL" EFFECT: Now that I have decent video editing software, I can string together, study and comment on a whole trial weekend's performance "in a string", seeing what we're doing right, and note where our mistakes are so I can systematically work on correcting them.

Again, the football analogy comes to mind, with skilled sportscasters explaining the details of every play as it unfolds. Peggy Flemming and Scott Cunningham do likewise for Ice Skating competitions, naming each element as it happens (tripple lutz, quad, etc.), and even the AKC Agility Nationals have commentators talking thru each run. It blows my mind that they can be so detailed and fluid in their impromptu commentary. It's hard to do.

Here's my first attempt, of Maxie's 6 runs in Lake Charles (minus 1 that didn't get videoed), using my new AVS Video Editing Software and Labtec microphone.

SUMMARY: Maxie ALWAYS ran considerably under course time, and his only fault in this trial (except one knocked bar at the start line), was incorrect weave performance. Twice he popped out at the 10th weave, another time he entered from the wrong side. Even when he Q'd, he sometimes walked the weaves. On the up side, he didn't once get distracted by the neighing horses in the stalls or scents of horse poop, as he did last year in this same arena! He didn't once visit the bar setters! He rarely head checked me. We've made progress.

Even in areas where we didn't fault, improvements are desirable. He should completely ignore the dog walk and A-frame unless I say UP, should accept re-positioning at the start line, and make tighter turns when asked. I also want a solid DOWN on the table, and runs out to the tip end of the see-saw.

As to my own performance, I'm running a bit faster, my timing has improved, my handling more fluid, I'm getting comfortable with blind crosses, less afraid of front crosses, and I didn't get lost on course even once. I still have trouble with alertness in the morning, am easily disoriented, and I easily lose focus at the slightest unexpected bobble. My mental game definitely needs work, as well as my speed and nimblenes.
I plan to do these studies for all 10 2011 trials and will add links to them below as I complete them, identifying our most frequent faults and working on those the hardest. Thus, I won't be training as haphazardly next year, and I suspect I can up my Q rate faster by working on the biggest problems first. That's the current game plan anyway.
When I NQ on a run with 1 fault, I sometimes fail to consider we got about 19 out of 20 things right -- 6 mistakes vs. 114 correct moves in a 3 day weekend, or about a 96% accuracy rate. That isn't bad for a fairly newbie trainer/handler with her first agility dog.
I'm encouraged that our progress is still upwards and onward!

MAXIE: (Going For Our Masters)

2011, October 21,22,23 Kiln MS SDAC Trial Video composite

6 runs, 2Q's, 2 1st places, MX TITLE, 38 MACH Points

2011, September 23,24,25 Kiln MS MMAC Trail Video Composite

6 runs, 1 Q, 1st place, 20 MACH Points

2011, August 18, 19, 20 Hattiesburg, MS BARK Trial Video Composite

6 runs, 4 Q's, 5th QQ, MXJ Title, 2 4th Places, 36 MACH points

2011, June 23,24,25 Monroe, LA OVDTC Trial Video Composite

6 runs, 3 Q's XJ, XJ, XS, 2 3rd places XS and XJ, 4th QQ, 39 MACH Points

2011, April 23,24 Brandon, MS BARK Trial Video Composite

4 runs, 3 Q's (XJ 2nd place, XS 1st place, XJ 2nd place), 3rd QQ, 42 MACH Points

2011, April 8,9,10 Port Allen, LA LCCOC Trial Video Composite

6 XB runs, 3 Q's, 2nd QQ, 1 1st place, 1 2nd place, 1 3rd place, 38 MACH points

2011, April 1,2,3 Amite, LA Deep South Trial Video Composite

6 runs, 3 Q's (two XS and one XJ), 2 1st places, 1 2nd place, 1st QQ, 87 MACH points

2011, March 18,19,20 Mobile, AL MM Trial Video Composite

6 runs, 2 XJ Q's, one 4th place

2011, February 18,19,20 New Iberia, LA Trial Video Composite

6 runs, 1 Q, XJ (5th place)

LUCKY LUCY (Novice thru Excellent):

2011, October 21,22,23 Kiln MS SDAC Trial Video composite.

2011, September 23,24,25 Kiln MS MMAC Trail Video Composite

2011, August 18, 19, 20 Hattiesburg, MS BARK Trial Video Composite

2011, June 23,24,25 Monroe, LA OVDTC Trial Video Composite

2011, April 23,24 Brandon, MS BARK Trial Video Composite

2011, April 8,9,10 Port Allen, LA LCCOC Trial Video Composite

2011, April 1,2,3 Amite, LA Deep South Trial Video Composite

2011, March 18,19,20 Mobile, AL MM Trial Video Composite

2011, February 18,19,20 New Iberia, LA Trial Video Composite

Goal Setting for 2012

2011-12-07T08:47:00.000-06:00

TEAMWORK: I'm finally on a real team! In a real sport! And I'm the coach. Here's my assessment of my team's strengths and weaknesses and goals I'm setting around them:

MAXIE: Most of Maxies NQ's were only one error short of Q's on his part, or totally my error panicking at the slightest bobble, missing the walkthrough, or getting lost on course. That's not so much of a gap to close next year, so I think with consistent weekly practice and better focus on my part, I can reasonably expect to double the number of QQs next year. This year was 5, so 10 next year seems not too outlandish a goal. 10 trials, 1 QQ per trial. At that rate it will take us 18 months for MACH.

"THINK SNOW": In Lake Charles I was talking with Chip G., a competitor who put a MACH3 on his Papillon, Snow, before retiring her. He said they did that by trialing every other weekend for a few years, which put them into "a rhythm with a very strong connection" and they hardly ever missed. Chip noticed that by trialing fewer times a year, the perfect rhythm was lost and QQ'ing was much more difficult. I seriously doubt I'll EVER go to more than one trial a month, but perhaps as long as we're out on the field practicing twice a week between trials, and short sequences in my yard, I don't see why the team bond won't grow. But that's me. I question everything. Sometimes it pays off, sometimes not.

But this Christmas decoration I've put on my entry table for many years has taken on a whole new meaning this year. I added 2 Papillon pins, and all next year I'm going to THINK SNOW.

LUCKY LUCY: My agility goals for Lucky are the same as I had for Maxie last year, her MX and MXJ, and as many QQ's as we can rack up. She's fairly accurate, but unless a miracle happens and I break the "go slow" code, she won't rack up many MACH points even when she Q's. But I believe in miracles, especially considering her stride is 4 times longer than Maxie's, she runs like a maniac every day when she feels like it, it's just a question of motivation. So my underlying goal is to learn how to "transfer value" to agility for her. (I've never had to do that with Maxie--he's always anxious to take his turn). Susan Garrett's Puppy Peaks and Recallers courses teach that as a fundamental, and I'm enrolled in both of those, so I should be able to do it.

My other goals for Lucky include finding ways to tap into and exercise her inate "cur" talents -- hunting, herding, chasing stuff, maybe tracking. I don't want to spread myself too thin.

MICHELE: I'll be NUMBER 1 in my own estimation if I continue taking charge of my health and performance - keep building up my knowledge, skill, stamina, muscle strength, speed, and focus, not expecting it to be given to me effortlessly. A few days ago I took a backward fall and landed hard on my back on our asphalt driveway trying to help John install our new mailbox. 2 years ago I would have been bruised and sore for days, but this time I instinctively rolled like a ball, got up immediately and kept on going. I never got sore. That's one way I know I'm making progress. I keep running the tape in my mind of the LSU football players whose bodies take such beatings over and over, and they just bounce back uninjured. I now know this can be trained for.

I know now I can shift from a night owl to an early morning person. I've made a lot of progress in the latter department over the past 2 years, so much so that I often awaken around 5:30 and am up by 6, and can actually think by around 6:30. I still don't get dressed until 10:30 or 11. I do so love paddling around in my PJ's. But I've proved I CAN make it to the arena by 7:15. In one case, I was the first competitor there, not counting the course builders who got there around 6 a.m.!

I have a long ways to go, so I can look forward to another year of progress, addressing lots more challenges:

improve my physical game and handling skills
improve my mental game
avoid negatives
accentuate the positives
seek out more and wider learning opportunities
improve my teaching skills, helping other students "get there quicker" than I did
support the AKC
learn the ins and outs of running a trial
Rebuild my dog walk and A-frame
find a way to afford a motor home
master my video taking and editing skills
build an "agility armoire" to house all my dog training/trialing paraphranalia and still look good in the den
make some more agility friends, and be a better friend
I plan to be less involved with dog club politics in 2012, more focused on my own training/competing. Still, I can't help but hope the Red Stick Agility arm of our dog club whips itself into some sort of team spirit. I've heard we had that when we first pulled the field together. We each train/compete individually but still have a lot in common, sharing a jewel of a field, fully equipped, similar goals, and showing up at many of the same trials. It's another lesson I'm learning from LSU football -- the players do much better when they pull together, which I'm also learning depends on having a great leader (coach).

The ball is rolling. On top of all that, I have to be thinking of my Mom and Dad's health and living situations (he's recently diagnosed with lymphatic cancer and is in rehab with a broken hip). Both in their 90's and living far away, we'll see where 2012 takes us on that.

Upwards and onward!

Lake Charles Agility Trial - 2011 CKC

2011-12-03T08:25:00.000-06:00

Maxie - 6 runs, 3 Q's (1 XJ, 2 XS), 2 1st places, 1 2nd place, 37 MACH points, 5 videos posted
Lucky Lucy - 6 runs, 1 Q (XJ), 6 videos posted

MAXIE:
Well, no QQ's for Maxie this weekend (he Q'd once per day), though I have to say I was running faster and surer, and we were mostly just 1 mistake from Q'ing on each NQ run. He ran fast and focused, always exceeded course time by 6-22 seconds) and I know for sure now there's a MACH dog in there. We met our goal of adding at least 35 MACH points to our tally at this trial, but didn't get that 6th QQ we were hoping for. Mistakes were as follows:

XS Fri - no video, but he was under course time by 17 seconds, with only 1 fault, probably popped out of the weaves as I can't remember any other fault.

XJ Sat - knocked the first bar - he hasn't knocked a bar in over a year, but I positioned him, then repositioned him at the start. I've never done that before, so I must have broken his concentration, or else the bar was barely on there (which happens). Then he popped out of the 10th weave, still under course time by 7 seconds.

XS Sun - Skipped the 3rd weave. Otherwise a clean run with 10 seconds to spare, but the video shows his time could have been improved by at least 5 seconds with fewer wide turns.

SUMMARY: With Maxie's fast, reliable weaves at home, I can't figure out what to do about his less reliable weave performance at trials. Am I doing something different, like holding my breath, babysitting him, watching too hard? As to the wide turns, we will practice more front crosses, which I tend not to do to spare my ankles, stronger pulls, and collection drills.

Lucky on the start line, intently watching a fly.

LUCKY LUCY:
Lucky's runs went like this: "Look a fly, try to catch it". Flies in the stands, flies at the start line, flies in the ring. OMG, flies everywhere, and Lucky the only dog I saw constantly lunging at them! She must have captured and swallowed 3 dozen flies. I couldn't always get her attention on the start line, nor in the que waving her tug toy in her face, or offering her peeled shrimp, and she HAS NEVER REFUSED THOSE before. I once had to collar grab her at the start line and push her forward to the first jump, after which she proceeded along. It must be programmed hard into her DNA to be a fly catcher! Major distraction work is needed here.

XS Fri = clean run, but exceeded course time by 4.93 seconds.
XJ Fri - trotted around 3 jumps in a row, tracking flies, about the 15th obstacle decided to run and finished fast.
XJ Sat - Q, clean run, under course time by 1 second.
XS Sat - clean run, but exceeded course time by 9 seconds.
XS Sun - no faults until second to last obstacle, she leaped over the down contact on the A-frame. Broke my heart because I failed to say "halt", tho I was pointing down. Exceeded course time by .62 seconds anyway.
XJ Sun - clean run, but exceeded course time by 6 seconds.

SUMMARY: Lucky's problem continues to be lack of speed in the ring. She is mostly accurate. Outside the ring, or in practice when I'm carrying her tug toy, she runs like the wind. We'll be going to lots of matches next year. We'll also practice on focus, learning to ignore flies and other distractions. I also need to discover just how to "transfer value" (which Susan Garrett assures me can happen) from her favorite toys, tugging and fetching, and just plain running for joy, to agility.

THE WEEKEND:
Apparently I wasn't the only one whose entry got screwed up (last post). Various CKC members proclaimed the situation "intolerable", "unacceptable", etc. On Sunday they couldn't provide Q'ing ribbons, either, because they were left out on the scoring table and had gotten wet in the driving rain. They offered to mail them out to us, which got a few serious competitors PO'd. The trial secretary is going to catch some flack. But my question is . . . . . has the club bothered to train her to take over when their usual trial secretary became unavailable????? Here's a perfect example of my oft repeated concern -- clubs ought to be mentoring members for every job. Never know when some key person will leave in a huff, move, die, have an emergency, etc. Part of belonging to any club is being in a sharing environment. One gets to learn things free of charge, or far, far cheaper than taking private lessons or paying school tuition. Clubs are a natural outgrowth of people wanting to share what they know, meet and do things with others who enjoy common interests.  Sailing clubs, sewing circles, reading and/or writing groups -- all great social inventions that only work well with enthusiastic sharing, teaching, mentoring.

Audrey drove over from Baton Rouge on Saturday, stayed from 10:30 to 3:30, and it was real nice having a family member/best friend around. She brought me some of her famous sweet potato casserole, helped me manage the dogs and gave encouragement, but unfortunately she only saw the last 2 runs, neither of them Q's.

Saturday's Horrific Storm: The weather was typical Gulf Coast once again -- cold, wet, and windy. On Saturday about 4 p.m., in blew a horrible storm. The sky turned black, with north winds whipping thru at hurricane force, with trees bent over and heavy rain going sideways. The dogs and I were tucked into the camper, and within 30 minutes of Audrey leaving the awning envelope was flapping and banging hard and relentlessly against the roof, the canvas walls were bowing in about 15". Afraid my camper was going to blow over or the telescoping uprights that hold up the roof would snap, I made a command decision that it was better to be wet than crushed or broken, so I cleared the middle area, unzipped the clear vinyl window coverings on either side, draped them down over the couch cushions, and let the wind and rain blow right thru the camper. I also unzipped the side windows a crack to let some air thru. This relieved enough pressure on the canvas walls, and they held.  We all sat out of the way, dry, on one bed, with all our belongings stacked on the other bed, for about 40 minutes, watching the water pour off the vinyl onto the floor. Afterwards, I dried everything off with a beach towel, then swept about an inch of water out the door. I don't know if Fleetwood designed this intentionally, but it was neat that the side windows had a rain flap, and the main window vinyl unfurls down when unzipped so it covered the couch cushions, which stayed mostly dry. No damage was done, and the floor needed a good mopping anyway!

RV'ers Social: By 5:30, still raining on and off, about 30 RV'ers filtered into the concessions area of the arena and outdid themselves with a huge spread of food.  Each brought a dish, from home-made boar sausage, to shrimp scampi, rasberry salad, merlerton pie, and lots of desserts. Judge Gerald Marotta attended. The boudin balls I brought from the King's Truck Plaze in Iowa were appreciated. Tall agility tales were flying around, laughter abounded, I got acquainted with a few more folks. Very colorful folks. So much talk, I didn't get to tell my harrowing tale about surviving the storm.

My new video camera rocks. I was able to get vivid pictures, clear videos, and I can't wait to post a composite of all the closeup videos I took of Time2Beat dogs going thru the weaves. I hope to do that later this week, but with our mailbox down, a friend's funeral, weeding and decorating for Christmas needing doing, and this new laptop I'm still getting used to, it may be awhile.

My new laptop ROCKS! I was able to watch HD quality DVD movies Friday and Saturday night while tucked in the camper. Saw the first 2 seasons of Dallas! Picture quality was great! The built in speakers are adequate. I can import videos from my camera using Windows Live Photo Gallery, bypassing Sony's Picture Motion Browser, which I despise.

RAFFLE: I managed to win 2 raffle items again. Paid $10 for 12 tickets, same as usual, and I'm guessing I came home with over $100 worth of loot. What fun!

Huge basket was full of LSU paraphranalia,
including a few more items not shown.

First, a huge basket full of LSU paraphranalia. I only put 2 tickets in the LSU drawing bag, and only because I liked the blue basket (matches my kitchen decor) for picking garden vegetables, and because Audrey called my attention to the potential Christmas gifts I could give my LSU-loving friends. I find it odd that I start liking football only 2 weeks ago, and the Universe immediately presents me with a huge LSU Flag, mug, dog collar, bracelet, blanket, back scratcher, piggy bank, LSU dog sweater that fits Willow perfectly, and other assorted LSU paraphranalia. That's how it works when one opens doors, (according to various scriptures, as well as my own pagan experience).
I also scored 4 christmas hot chocolate mugs we'll surely use, with a Christmas vinyl tablecloth and rawhide chew wreath.

I was actually not the last person to leave the campgrounds this time. Having figured how to shave off about 45 minutes and several buckets of sweat to camper set-up and take-down. Mostly, I store the shelving boards out on the floor instead of tucking them under the mattresses, I store the awning poles outside under the tongue end rather than the back end of the trailer (saving many steps), and I don't put out any decorative items. Also, by parking the camper with the door facing north, the sun hits the south side of the camper and gives afternoon shade where the table is -- so I don't need to put up the awning for shade purposes (in winter) -- a huge time savings.

Interstate Nightmare: The drive home was strange and stressful! I left Lake Charkes at 2:30 Sunday with half a tank of gas, expecting a 2.5 hour, 140 mile drive, and didn't get home til 5 hours later, 7:30, because traffic on the interstate came to an idling standstill for 2.5 hours. There was no news on the radio, so I called John and he couldn't find anything either. I was watching my gas needle go down and had no idea where I was or where the nearest gas station was, so I eventually called 911 with my mile marker, and she said the Tiger Truck Stop was 2 miles ahead. I reached it about 20 minutes later with less than half-a-gallon left in my tank - 9 miles worth. It took another 15 minutes to pull up to the pump because the place was jam packed with people pulling off for gas, bathroom, food, and nobody was directing traffic. The clerk said they had to call in another gas truck. Oh, did I mention it was cold, windy, and drizzling? We found out that a cucumber truck had overturned at the Gross Tete exit at 10 a.m. and they expected it to take until 8 p.m. to get the interstate cleared. I managed to park us in a safe spot, pottie the dogs in a grassy area, and prepared to stay put several hours if necessary. About 6, though, I could see traffic moving on the overpass, got going, and made it home slowly but without further incident. We had gas, plus a dry spot, food, water, money, my cell phone, nearby bathrooms, and each other, so I was calm. The dogs mostly slept thru it all.

I always have done pretty well in a crisis. I get practical. It was real funny watching numerous men jump out of their idling cars on the interstate, run across 40 yards of ditch, in the dark, to the woods, to pee. Don't know what I would have done if I had had to pee. Certainly not cross a dark ditch! Probably just maneuver to the left lane, open both car doors on the drivers side, hold up a towel or sweater between them, squat, and pee on the road.

Motor Home Fever: Of course, all those hours on the interstate and I'm thinking how I have to set the camper up to dry out the next day and what a pain that will be. And all that while, in the next lane over, I'm idling alongside this beautiful BTCruizer motor home. It looked small, about 24', with only 1 slideout, and seemed to be saying "Check me out! I'm perfect for you." I called John and had him Google it, he printed out several sheets, and I Googled it the next day but we couldn't find one smaller than 27' with less than 2 slideouts or under $40,000. I'm sure this one was shorter. I'm now following a few E-bay bids. Yes, okay, hell yes, I still want a motor home. I can't see me setting up this camper when I'm 70, but I intend to do agility til I'm at least 75. I want to stay packed and ready.

"The right motor home, at the right price, is on its way to me."

This basket is 15" across,
these grapefruits are 4" across,
a lot bigger than they look in this photo.

Monday evening John heard it was supposed to freeze overnight, so we picked about half the grapefruits (40) off our tree. My new blue basket came in real handy! John will take some to work, I'll take some to class and some to neighbors, and we'll be eating a grapefruit a day all thru December. Mostly, I peel them like an orange, divide into segments, then peel back the thin bitter membrane on either side of each segment to get to the juicy pulp. Monday night got out the electric juicer and tried guessing how much juice was in one of the large ones, John saying 6 oz and me saying 5 oz. He won. Mixed half-n-half with Sprite, it makes a sweet dinner drink. Yum, yum!

LESSONS LEARNED:

Always gas up on the way there AND on the way back to any trial. You never know when you'll get stuck idling on the interstate for half-a-tank's worth of going nowhere.
Pee before you leave, and every time you stop.
Have your car stocked with food and drink.
Don't bring the camper to Lake Charles ever again! As someone said last year, you can always count on it being "cold, wet and windy in Lake Charles" in November.
Camping experience matters.
Backup Accommodations: The LaQuinta Inn in Sulphur had my reservation, and allowed me to cancel by 6 p.m. on arrival day. The cost was about $50/night. Red Roof Inn offered some kind of 24 hour special that was about the same price.
Practice positioning and re-positioning my dogs at the start line.

Now, with the weather cold and me staying in, I'm on to fooling with the 1st trial videos taken with my new camera. I'm thinking of putting all of Maxie's videos together into 1 video per trial, with my audio commentary. Same with Lucky. Maybe a slow motion evaluation of good and bad points. We'll see how long it takes me to learn how to do that.

Upwards and onward!

Thanksgiving Day Test - 2011

2011-11-24T09:53:00.001-06:00

My idea of "abundance". The first year our
Ruby Red Grapefruit tree bears fruit.

9 a.m., Thanksgiving Day, and rather than the usual cooking of turkey, dressing, pies, etc., I'm packing for an agility trial, planning to leave early tomorrow morning for Lake Charles (2.5 hours away), pop-up camper in tow. John is staying behind this year to work on a few projects around the house and get his new computer set up. This is my second year breaking with our long tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving with family on Friday so Jonathan (my grandson) can join us, and leaving everyone else free to have their big Thanksgiving Day dinner with other family on Thursday. This has always been fine with me, but this year, like last year, competing has taken precedence. I need my Q's to meet next year's goals. John and I will have turkey dinner tonight at Thom and Judy's, and I'll bring them a sack of grapefruit from our very own tree, in lieu of cooking. Thom will save me his turkey carcass for my traditional turkey soup, which I'll share with everyone after the holidays. So seeing Jonathan is about all I'll miss, and of course, all those delicious leftovers.

Trial Snafu

Me, in limbo, but relaxing and celebrating a beautiful
Thanksgiving Day. (L-R)
Lucky Lucy, Maxie, Michele, Willow, FoohFooh

Of course, there has to be a trial snafu, and I'm on tenderhooks because I haven't received my Trial Entry Confirmation. A clubmate received hers and emailed me this morning to say I wasn't on the list (Calcisieu Kennel Club is one of the few clubs that sends out a Running Order in advance). So this morning I'm calling and emailing the Trial Secretary wondering if I'm in. Did my entry get lost in the mail? Did she receive it on time? Got her out of bed and she has to get dressed and go to her office where her records are kept. I had called her weeks ago to say I was mailing in my entry on the closing date and she said that would be fine, and now she says if it's her mistake she will put me in. So I'm in limbo for the next few hours.

"Me, in well-practiced limbo"

Meanwhile, John's taking pictures of me and the dogs, we're enjoying the beautiful weather, calling family and friends, and basking in the great practice I had at the field last night. Maxie and Lucky were charged up, enthusiastic, fast, and accurate. My calf feels strong. I feel mentally ready and focused. No pressure. No deadlines to reach a title. So this snafu is just a test. Yes, I'm staying calm. My hunch is it will all work out.
12:10 p.m. Okay, I'm in. Sallie found my entry and check, can't figure out how she missed it. Just received my Confirmation via email. More snafus. Lucky's AKC number was wrong, and she was entered in Novice on 2 days when I entered her in Excellent B, and only 5 runs when I entered her in 6 runs. Had to get all that fixed, plodded through it without getting upset, and now everything is OK. So now, back to packing, and feeling grateful for all my many blessings. All in all, my pre-competition routine is running very smoothly. The Cognitive Edge training is paying off.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Upwards and onward,

What Does Winning Mean To Me?

2011-11-20T11:56:00.001-06:00

John Cullen, an athletic trainer I follow, posed this question today on his The Winning Process program, and asked us to write down our responses. He says the two basic types of winning attitudes are, in a nutshell:

Comparing yourself to others, and feeling you've won only when you beat them.

Comparing yourself to yourself, and feeling you've won with self-improvement.

The full list is on his video, which he asked us to share with everyone, so here's the link:
http://thewinningprocess.cognitive-edge.ca/twp-pl1/

He also asked for comments, which I posted there, and am posting here as well:
I relate to both sets and find them compatible, as follows:

My self-esteem comes from Q's, Placement, & Titles. To achieve those, I have to be improving, and keeping my dogs engaged by having fun. Placement in dog agility doesn't have anything to do with "beating other people", but it serves as a good measuring rod for my own self-improvement. How can I know if I'm as good as I can be if I don't compare myself to what others are succeeding in doing? Maybe I can learn to go a little faster, get tighter turns, straighter lines, more focus, better acceleration, improved body language, etc. I am never jealous of others' achievement, just envigorated to try harder, practice more. I am only competing with myself.

This may sound strange, but my biggest life win, by far, has been figuring out how to let people off the hook, and let my dogs fulfill my great lifelong desire for loyal companionship, undivided attention, and someone to share life with, teach and caretake. All the people in my life are busy doing their own things, ambitious with their own achievements, they rarely look me in the eye and say "what do you want me to do now, let's go". They can't give me what my dogs give me, and that is finally OK. After years of disappointment that family and friends were so busy with themselves they didn't seem to notice what I achieved, didn't want to listen or learn from me, I have finally beat the system!

Which brings up this important point. I love it that AKC provides a framework for competing, and keeps a record of our Q's and Titles. It makes me feel that someone besides myself is watching me, caring how we do, providing benchmarks for measuring our progress, and thinks I'm achieving something "certificate worthy" when I do. My wins are their wins! Hooking into that venue has been very satisfying, and I am always walking around with gratitude in my heart for their significant efforts in organizing this sport. (I only compete in AKC but I presume other clubs provide similar support.)

Thinking this through has been helpful with my mental game, so that's another Upwards and onward for me!

My 65th Birthday

2011-11-19T07:54:00.001-06:00

John, Michele, Nathan, Allison, Audrey

Taking a break from the doggies, I invited friends and family to join John and me in MidCity for "White Light Night", touring the shops and art galleries for their annual open house (which happened to fall on my birthday), culminating in cake and ice cream at Audrey's, who lives just 1/2 block off the art district. Weather was cool, crisp and clear, and breezy. "Standing room only" trolleys were running every 15 minutes up and down the strip, crowds of people were strolling about and excitement was in the air. Shops were serving wine, cheese, grapes, gumbo, dip & chips, and other assorted snacks.

Nathan, Allison, Audrey, John and I started out together and took the trolley down to Circa 1857, but we played phone tag with the others and never hooked up until we met up at Audrey's at 9 p.m. She had cooked chili and salad, which turned out great because nobody got enough free food. Turns out, most of the spread was at the other end of the line in Jefferson Plaza. Circa 1857 had a cash bar and restaurant open for business, but we weren't buying, and the music was so ear-splitting loud and the crowds so thick, we left there quickly. My nightclubbing days are definitely over.

Nathan brought 2 fancy birthday cakes (one chocolate and one rasberry), and some adorable candles, there were gifts and lovely cards despite my saying "NO GIFTS", and everyone took photos with their iPhones, from every angle, including taking iphotos of people taking iphotos. The only photos I took are these two, and they're the only ones I have at the moment. If I can ever round up the others, I plan on creating a Windows Live Photo Slide Show and seeing if I can embed it here for Mom and Dad to see. I'm always looking for material to experiment with. Oh, and the cakes were from Fresh Market and especially the Rasberry one was "to die for".

Nathan and Allison gave me a gorgeous Miyabi 600D chef's knife to replace my broken MAC knife (which lasted 25 years), a knife sharpener, and a lovely pot of Paperwhites. Of course, John gave me my new Camera, and I gave myself this new laptop. Audrey contributed cash towards my new video editing program. Alice sent a most delicious smelling candle. Laura promised Atlas Shrugged, the movie, when it comes out in Blueray, and I promised to give another party for viewing that so it looks like my birthday ain't over yet! Mom and Dad, Sis and several others called or posted birthday wishes on my Facebook wall, wherever that is (I've never been there). Lots of cards. So it was a very pleasant event.

While none of my dog club friends showed up, several sent regrets and Birthday wishes. It's nice to know I have made some friends in the club, but nothing beats the neighbors upon whom I rely for support at any time of day or night, for any kind of problem whatsoever, and who never forget my birthday nor miss my parties. Audrey, Laura, and Schuyler, you're the best!

Some gifts come in strange ways. In Circa 1875 I saw the perfect large cabinet for hiding away my doggie gear in the den -- unfortunately it was a Louis XIV era piece with a price tag of $4,800! A gorgeous old cabinet with deep shelves and solid doors, which finally gave me a mental picture of what I want.

One kind man said he couldn't believe I was 65, said "you look 50ish", and that was a fine present, too!

Had to feed the dogs their dinner at 5:45 instead of our usual 8 p.m, so this morning they were up at 5:45 pestering me to roll out of bed. I finally figured out they were starving. 12 hours is about their limit between meals.

65, still feeling girlish, and looking forward to at least 30 more years of fun and self-improvement no matter how old I look!

Upwards and onward!

Dog Walk and A-Frame Bite The Dust

2011-11-14T15:15:00.001-06:00

The A-frame side boards are what rotted, where the chain pulls
the most tension, and close to ground level.

This fall we discovered that my wooden home built A-Frame and Dog Walk are no longer safe to use. From tiny cracks, they have finally rotted through in several places. They only lasted 3 years outdoors despite caulking, several coats of paint, and no excessive use. Oddly, one could not see the rot from a casual visual inspection. I accidently pushed my thumb clean through a board trying to move it, then checked everyplace else. Thank goodness the dogs didn't get hurt because they're on the equipment all the time.

I've been waiting for cooler weather to rebuild, but now that it's cooler weather I always seem too busy. But I took the time today to assess what materials I need to repair them, and took a few i-photos to illustrate where they gave way on my push. Seems it was always at the water collection points or where a few pernicious wood mushrooms grew and cracked the wood.

Anybody who doubts the wisdom of getting aluminum equipment for outdoor use if you can afford it, show them these pictures.

I thought I did a good job building my equipment --solid wood, clamped glue, caulk wherever water might gather, primer, several coats of paint, screwed not nailed, reinforced at all the stress points. But I didn't use pressure treated wood, to save on weight. On my rebuild, you can bet I'll use pressure treated wood. My A-frame is on wheels anyway so weight doesn't matter.

Dog Walk rotted under the slats, almost clean across.

The dog walk rotted on the edges just below a feww slats, and was rotten almost clean through under the slats.

I feel naked without my dog walk and A-frame. The see saw, by the way, is doing fine -- I think because it doesn't have slats holding moisture on the board. I think I know what I'll be doing the whole month of December. That will be my Merry Christmas to my dogs.

Upwards and onward!

Canine Good Citizen Test thru AKC

2011-11-12T16:42:00.000-06:00

Jo Beth Britt (Evaluator), Lucky and me.
She congratulates me for passing the test.

Lucky and I passed our Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Test two Saturdays back, plus our TDI (Therapy Dog International), which adds another component to the test. Several of our club members' dogs were being tested, I videoed them all with permission using my brand new HD camera, and used a trial version of AVS Video Editor to edit the best one below (of Blair and Torren) to illustrate the disciplines tested for:

Accepting a friendly stranger
Sitting politely for petting (including the paw touch)
Appearance and grooming (including brushing)
(These 1st 3 are combined in what looks like one exercise.)
Out for a walk on a loose leash (left turn, right turn, about face)
Walk thru a noisy crowd
Sit and down on command/Stay in place
Come when called
Reaction to another dog test (should be no reaction)
Reaction to distraction (loud noise and jogger going by)
Leave it (TDI only)
Supervised separation from handler (3 minutes)

It was nice weather, cool. windy and sometimes noisy at the Blue Cross/Blue Shield parking lot. Not everyone passed. It's a wee bit more difficult than it looks. Lucky and I had a few bobbles, like her collar being too tight, her trying to visit with the other dog in "Reaction to another dog", and veering toward the food bowl on the first pass, but I got blamed for those, not her. I had over-tightened her collar for the test, I forgot to say "Sit" as we approached the other dog, and passed within 2' of the bowl instead of 3'. We nailed it the 2nd try.

A few additional points:

Dogs need to be clean, nails clipped, well groomed.
Handler is also being evaluated. Should be neat and clean, calm and pleasant, attentive to and obey the judge immediately, no smart talk, harsh talk or goofy behavior.
No treats allowed during testing.
You can talk to your dog all you want.
You can touch/pet your dog.
No corrections such as snapping the leash, saying "NO" or AAAH, or anything like that. Certainly no whacking, bopping, or yelling.
Loose leash at all times.
Dog should be paying attention to you, following you.
No jumping up on people, even in greeting.
No visiting with other dogs.
Evaluator observes dog's behavior the entire time they are on premises, not just when they are being tested. Lunging, growling, fighting, whining, jumping up on people, being highly distracted at any time can disqualify them.
Dog's collar should be loose enough for a collar grab (2 finger space at least).
The title covers both dog and handler, and if a different handler wants to take a CGC certified dog to pet therapy venues, a separate title must be earned.

CGC can be added to the dog's official AKC name along with their other AKC titles, so Lucky's official name now is:

LUCKY LUCY LU-LU VON FRY, AX, AXJ, CGC

Nothing is added to the handler's name. I'm still just Michele T. Fry, NP

Our club provides 6 weeks of "training to the test" prior to the judge arriving, and while it isn't required, the class really helps. One learns a bunch of tricks to help your dog pass. Lucky, for example, often growls if you touch her paws. But she will shake with anyone. Tracey coached me to say "Shake" at the same moment the judge was about to take her paw. It worked. Forewarned, she didn't growl.

The class was open to the public, $25, all of which applies to the cost of the test if you take it, plus an $8 processing fee to AKC to be sent in with the paperwork.

THOUGHTS: I may never do Pet Therapy with Lucky, but I want her to have the title and know the drill. She and Maxie are both comfortable in crowds, and both have a very good "leave it" when I set food on the coffee table -- unlike my older dogs FoohFooh and Willow who rush at oncoming dogs on our walks, can't resist any available food, and make pests of themselves with begging. A few sessions of early obedience training has made all the difference with my younger dogs. They are beneficiaries of going to school and my improved dog training skills.

Upwards and onward!

P.S. Maxie earned his CGC/TDI back in 2009 and has made quite a few Pet Therapy visits. Willow, who could NEVER pass the test because she won't sit/stay or walk on a loose leash, accompanies us and is a wonderful Pet Therapy dog as well. Everyone loves her, she is soft, pettable, and friendly, and our club's Pet Therapy program allows non-certified dogs to participate. So why did I bother getting Lucky certified? Because it's good training, very cheap, so why not get a certificate along with it!

Acorns Galore

2011-11-12T11:45:00.001-06:00

What the mower, with vacuum attachment, left behind.

My agility yard has developed a new problem -- ACORNS GALORE. We've always had acorns, but this year it's like hail hitting the house day and night, for weeks on end. I've been thunked on the head a few times, too, and that hurts. Squirrels are scurrying too and fro in massive numbers. One can hardly walk under the oak trees without skidding. The crunching nose is wierd. Afraid they were dying, I called Naylor's Hardware and Johnny said no, it's just a nationwide bumper crop like few he's ever remembered. In my 38 years at Old Hammond Hideaway, I don't remember anything like it. When I Googled "bumper crop of acorns" I ran across this Boston Globe article and discovered it's a nationwide phenomenon.

Yesterday we tried mowing/vacuuming them up, but the mower just picked up leaves and left the acorns behind. This morning I took some pix and put together my first Windows Live slide show as a way to explore the built-in software on my new computer. After some experimenting, I found I had to upload the video to YouTube rather than directly to the blog, then embed it here to get reasonable picture quality. It's a huge HD file. The "for the web" file that uploaded here was horribly grainy, and this one seems to be messing up the contrast. The acorns seem sunken in instead of protruding --not like the original photos.

A Giant Problem - Acorns Galore

Now what? I can't very well rake 'em up, as the small acorns go through the tines. John voluneered to push broom the entire area under the trees, about 1/3 of my agility practice yard, and bag them. But, they are still falling like hail when the wind blows, so there's no point in all that work right now. I'll have to confine my training to the grassy parts.

Which is doable if I move the weaves and carpets over there. I hate to kill my good grass with the carpet, but I need it to practice my Weave Relays before the Lake Charles trial. Unless I can improve Lucky's speed, no way she will ever get qualifying scores in Excellent B. I also improve my MACH points with Maxie, and chances of QQ's if he doesn't pop out of the weaves.

Always something else to resolve. Upwards and onward!