December Classes & Trials

We didn't do well at the club's trial in early December. Kiah went back to her old self, zooms and ignoring me but it was a really long day for her as I worked some of the morning classes.  She did surprise me though, the club had our trial at a facility that had volley ball going on and Kiah didn't try to go through the netting to get to the balls.  I was very proud of her for that.

I was a bit discouraged after the trials and missed a few of the last classes but they will start back up again in mid-January. Due to the weather in the mid-west we won't do any trials until the beginning of March.  I hate to lose the money if the weather is too bad to drive (I am a wimp!!!!).  We will consider doing a NADAC or a CPE since I can often do day of show entries in those venues. 

I will register Keegs in AKC in January, he is already registered in CPE.  Our club's next trial is early March so I might enter him in 1 class each day and he can keep Kiah company, maybe she won't be so depressed.

With the holidays it is very busy so I probably won't post again until January.

Happy Holidays to everyone from Kiah, Keegan and me. 

November classes & trials

With Thanksgiving and everything else going I have a lot to catch up with.

Classes - We didn't do classes the week of Thanksgiving but did have classes the week before.  In Keegs class we practiced distance and more rear crosses.  I can't get too far from Keegs or he will come to me so I know what we need to work on.

In Kiah's class we practiced front crosses and 270's, really a fun and productive class.

November 19th we went to a trial in Libertyville (WAGS), was not a good day for us.  I will say Kiah did most of the obstacles but in JWW she zoomed, it took me a while to get her back.  I think we finished the class over by almost 20 seconds.  In standard she was her pokey self again and finished that class over too.  It was a very disappointing day.

The Thanksgiving weekend trial at Cudahy was so much better.  Kiah went off course in Standard but we Q'd JWW on Saturday.  We also did T2B but were overtime both days so got whistled off.  On Sunday we would have Q'd in Standard but Kiah ran out of the ring and got whistled off.  She did come right back in and it was a great run so I am still really happy.  In JWW we got whistled off, I swished my hand in front of her face to get her attention because she was sitting there scratching; the judge thought I touched her.  I looked at the video and can see where the judge may have thought I did but it you look at it slow motion you can see I didn't.  I have the videos from this weekend and will post them at the end of this post.

Next weekend is our FCDTC trial and am keeping my fingers crossed we do as well.  Kiah has 1 Q each in JWW, Standard, and FAST now.  I would love to have at least one title to end the year with but if we don't that is OK too.  I feel good with our progress so far, as long as it continues and we are having fun I will be happy.

Classes the week of 11/7/11

Keegs pre-novice class-We worked on rear crosses tonight and do we have a lot of work to do on sending Keegs out ahead of me.  He stays with me too close and when I try to rear cross he stops right before the jump turns to look at me and can't figure out what he needs to do.  He is doing really well on his contacts so that is a good thing.  For some reason he just wasn't in much of a mood to do agility, perhaps it was something I was projecting since I was tired.

We didn't make it to class for Kiah, they were talking about black ice on the roads and I wasn't in the mood to mess with it for the 40-45 minute drive to class.  Next week the weather looks good so I should be able to make it to both classes. 

Sunday practice

On Sunday took Kiah and Keegan to the club to practice agility and obedience.  Kay took a couple of videos for me so I will post them later.  It was their last runs and Keegs was getting bored, he had done really well the run before.  I will have to remember with him not to overdue or he will begin to hate agility.  Kiah did well except for the handling errors on my part, had one area just couldn't send her right which you will see on the video.

Kiah did OK in the obedience practice, there were some others working their dogs in obedience while we were practicing.  We have only worked at home and once at the club in the agility area so it was really good for her and me to have the distractions.  I really need to work on keeping her close to me and paying attention.  I am having a tough time with getting her to stand from a sit so a lot more practice on those for us.

Here's the video from Sunday

Classes the week of 10/31/11

Keegan's pre-novice class-Last night we practiced lead-outs, front crosses and lead-out pivots.  On the first run Keegs did a zoom after the first couple of jumps and decided he wanted to play with the boxer puppy Addie.  Once he settled down he did really well except for the two times he wouldn't do the tire.  Not sure he has quite figured the tire out yet. No contacts were up so no contact work this week

Kiah's novice class-Great class, we did similar to what Keegs class did on Monday but more front crosses, pivots, etc. at the end of class we ran a full course.  Kiah did really well, a bit distracted at first but then got her focus.  I had a problem with one of the front crosses, couldn't keep her in the correct direction and missed a few times.  It is a nice break to focus on just handling skills and then try to use them while running the course.

Classes the week of 10/24/11

Keegs pre-novice class 10/24/11-Keegs is doing really well and is beginning to listen to direction better.  If he does get ahead of me he is lost so just goes on his merry way.  His teeter is much better, he does still have some problems after going over it a couple of times. Weird you would think he would be tentative the first time he goes over instead of the 3rd time.  We also need to work on his entrance into weaves and work both sides of the weaves but he is still improving each time we work them.  I am very pleased at his progress, if he continues to improve as he has been I may try him in a CPE or NADAC next summer.

Kiah's novice class 10/26/11-She was in a mood the first time we walked out to the course, play bowed and scooted so I was pretty sure she would zoom and she did.  Told her down and front (after a big loop around the ring) and she did, woo hoo!  Great runs the rest of the night from her, a few handling issues that messed her up but other than that she was so good.  I just have to figure a way to get her not to zoom the first time out but still her up and happy.

I am excited, Kiah and I have 2-3 trials (wait listed on one trial) coming up in November and early December (our club's trial).  After that we are taking a break from trials until March of next year.  Never know what the weather is going to be like and most trials are 1-2 hours from me so not really up to driving in bad weather or losing my money.  If there is a NADAC or CPE I can get in the day of show we might fit one of those in.

Thursday practice at the club

Met Kay again at the club last night and we practiced on a jumpers course.  Forgot my camera again but both Kiah and Keegs did pretty well.  A little zoom from both of them then they settled down and did the courses pretty well.  The last run was really good for Kiah but didn't do the last run with Keegs as he was bored and not really happy on his last run.  I don't want to push him too hard, have him end up hating agility.

Kay showed me a few things in obedience that I can practice with Kiah and she worked with her for a while.  It was fun watching them; I am looking forward to practicing the things she showed us.

Fun Practice day, Sunday October 16, 2011

Went to the club early this morning for a practice with Kiah and Keegs; we met Kay and her Border Collie Jesse there.  A course was already setup and we just had to do a few modifications so it would flow a bit better for us.  Turned out to be a really fun course with a few places where they could have taken a wrong course to keep us on our toes.

Keegs did a bit of zooming but he is pretty easy to get back.  I think he improves a bit each time we go but I need to start doing more distance work with him.  I am trying to handle him like Kiah but I need to make some adjustments running him, just have to figure out what is best for him.  I forgot to bring my camera which I will bring the next time so I can see what I am doing when he misses an obstacle; Kay says he really watches me so it might be I am not following through until he is committed to an obstacle.

Kiah was awesome!  The start was towards the back of the course, so the first time I made her heal and walk with me to the start without a leash or collar, she stayed right with me.  Did a really good wait at the start line, made all the obstacles except the start of the weaves and that was my fault.  I had a hard time figuring out the best way to pull her from the jump to the weaves, once in she missed the last pole so we redid them and she did them all.  The second time we walked out to the start she was happy and bouncing all the way to the start line.  I can't tell you how happy that made me, I have seen her walk with her head down, so depressed you would think she was going to walk the plank or something.  I did better on pulling her from the jump to the weaves but told her to weave too late and she went in at the second pole; I finally got it right the last run so she hit her entrance and did all the weaves. 

I wish we had been able to get into the trial this weekend so now we will have to wait until November to trail (hope we get in this one).

Since we are on a break, Kay and I hope to get a training in one night this week.  I will bring my camera if we do.

Classes the week of 10/3/11

Keegan's Monday pre-novice class - It was a fun class and Keegs did well.  No zooms, did all the obstacles, pretty good contacts and much better weaves.  He is also doing much better on the teeter-totter.

We practiced being judges, scribes, and timers for each others runs.  It was fun and Keegs would have gotten a (pre-novice :-) ) Q if he hadn't knocked a bar on his last jump.  Comments were:  I have to run faster and not wait for him, he will follow me.  Have to keep that in mind with Kiah too.

Kiah's Wednesday night class - On the first run she started to zoom, I yelled "NO" and she came back but I could see by the look in her eye she was thinking about taking off again.  I got her attention and started running the course telling her OK, lets go and SURPRISE she actually came with me and finished the course.  The second run was awesome, she hit the weaves perfectly and was soooo fast.  No miscues and a perfect run, really fun run for both of us.  I am so glad I had turkey as a special treat for her doing so well.  We are still taking baby steps and seeing improvements but we are both having so much more fun!

We have a two week break before the next session but we have a run-through next week and some practices at the club before our next trial.  Really looking forward to the next trial on the 22nd and 23rd.

No Classes this week

Bad day at work on Monday and wasn't up to going to class with Keegs so we just worked outside for a little bit.  It was just way to windy to work long though.

Missed Kiah's class due to a late meeting at work.  No more meetings for the group, it was our last meeting for the search committee.  Can't wait to find out who the chancellor will pick as our new campus dean.

I don't have to work this weekend, no trials either plus the weather is supposed to be decent. I plan to relax, take the K's for walks and do some sessions with the K's outside. I should start to clean up the garden too, I enjoy it and have some good books to listen to while I am working.  Maybe we will go to the club and practice this weekend since we missed classes!

Next week is our last class in the session and we will have two weeks off.  Our next trial is the end of October; I am on the wait list for one day and hope to get in since I am #23 on the list.

Green Acres Boxer Rescue-Boxer Bash 9/24/11

My great niece and I took Kiah and Keegan to the Boxer Bash in Columbus yesterday.  With all of our obedience training I was hoping that Kiah wouldn't freak out when she saw the Lure Course.  She did start screaming as soon as she saw it and they hadn't even run the course yet.

She was the first dog to run and she got the bag about 3/4 of the way, tore it up pretty bad.  They fixed it and added another bag and she got that one too. I wasn't sure if Keegs would chase it but seeing the other dogs do it made him want to.  He did pretty well but half way around the 2nd time he was pretty much done.

Kiah's screaming freaked Keegs out pretty bad and he went after her when she made that awful screaming noise.  Next year it will only be Keegs who goes; Kiah freaks so bad it scares me that she is going to have a heart attack or something.  Keegs will do well without her along and it will be more fun since I won't have to fight Kiah all the time trying to get to the lure course.

Kiah got a yellow scarf to show she was adopted from Green Acres Boxer Rescue.  When she finally noticed it after we left she looked at me like "where did this come from".   LOL, all she could think about was the Lure Course.

Here are the links from the photographer at the bash;
 Kiah        Kiah2         Keegs       Keegs2

Here are a few pictures Lisa took.

Kiah

Keegs

Lisa's Rocky

Crystal's Olive (I think this is at the dog park after the bash)

Q in Standard - 9/17/2011

Kiah got a Q in standard yesterday, I don't have a video but she was the only dog in her class that Q'd!!!!!, I am so proud of her progress.  Wish us luck today, will post more later.

No Q's on Sunday; a zoom in jumpers and slow as molasses in standard.  We did complete the course without obstacle faults but had a 36 second time fault.  Kiah almost ran out of the ring but stopped, took her time to come back so between that and the slow weaves was basically what brought us over.  I will post the video for the runs on Sunday.

Here is the video, please comment and let me know what you think we can do to improve.  All ideas are welcome.

Keegs 8/29/11 Class

We practiced on correct weave entrances and contacts in class.  Keegs is having a really hard time associating the word weave with going to the weaves plus I need to give hand signals to go through each pole or he will skip weaving and walk next to them. We just need to practice weaves more at home.  

He did pretty well on his contacts but still needs to learn to "wait" until he gets his release command.  I was proud of his teeter work; he did much better than he did at practice on Sunday morning.

At the end of class we did the whole course and NO ZOOM!!!!! What a good boy! We haven't practiced the chute a lot and he had no idea of what I wanted him to do but once I told him tunnel he went right into the chute.  We have a lot to work to do yet but I am really happy with his progress overall, his willingness to work and follow me. I just have to be patient so I don't stress him out and push him too hard like I did with Kiah. 

Fun training day - Sunday 8/28/11

Kiah, Keegs and I met a friend, Kay with her Border Collie Jesse at the club for a practice session.  There was a jumpers course set up which was great.  It was a course more for excellent dogs which made it a challenge for both of us but we like challenges :-).

Kay took some videos for me which I will have to put together and post.  I was happily surprised that Kiah didn't zoom on me and did really well except for the times I forgot the course or did not give her directions early enough.

Keegs had a great time, he is still doing a zoom but comes back to me pretty quickly.  He is jumping well and we did do some contact work with him on the teeter and dog walk.  He still has problems with the motion on the teeter, sound doesn't seem to bother him at all which is good.

Hopefully we can get in some extra practice sessions other than classes at the club before our next trail in September. 

Kiah's 8/24/11 class

Another fun course last night but I don't think I will ever be able to do front crosses comfortably.  Cindy wanted us to practice the serpentine two ways before we did the whole course.  All of the dogs were out on the course, Kiah was pretty excited so I had a feeling she would zoom and she did.  It was one wide circle around the course and then came right back to me and sat down, that is something I can accept and an improvement.

Other than a handler mess up she did wonderfully again, stayed right with me and we were able to get some distance work in at the end of the course.  Overall it was a great night and both of us were up and having fun.

Cindy had made some suggestions as to keeping notes in class then transferring them to a training log (in more detail) and also keeping a trial log.  I have always meant to do it but now I am motivated so I am shopping this weekend for notebooks for both Kiah and Keegs!

Keegs Agility Class - 8/22/11

We practiced on jumps (set in a circle) working on getting the dogs to watch us while being aware of what there hind ends are doing.  We started out with Keegs on a leash with the jumps really low, then jumps a little higher, then with the jumps set at different heights.  Keegs did do a couple of zooms but settled back in very quickly and was very happy, bouncy doing the jumps.

We then did a whole course with jumps, weaves and tunnel; he did well except for weaves which we have not practiced at home since they are broken and I have yet to fix them (my bad and my weekend project).  On the second and partial 3rd run he did well on the weaves but was getting a bit tired and I think bored by the end of class.

Agility class August 17

We have been on a 2-week break between class sessions but Kiah, Keegs and I continue to work at home on obedience, attention and agility.

I couldn't make it to Keegan's class on Monday, I had a meeting at work I had to attend so will have some updates for him next week.

Due to the new space class days have changed; Kiah and I are now doing Wednesday night classes and we have a new instructor, Cindy Platt.  It was a great class and Kiah did so well, no zooms, stayed with me and did everything I asked of her.  I am beginning to see more progress and it affects both Kiah's attitude and mine.  I am more relaxed and she is having fun which is everything I have been hoping for.

We have a 1-day trial on Sept. 11 (novice and open only) and a 2-day trial the following weekend (no confirmation yet). I am looking forward to the trials and am very excited to see how she handles the trial atmosphere.  I plan to work with her a lot while we are there; make her more relaxed and comfortable.

Last week classes & trial (Cream City)

Keegan's 7/25/11 pre-novice class
Keegs seems to be doing a little better each week with focus.  The one problem I have noticed is the teeter; he does it really well the first few times but seems to get more tentative each time after as he goes over.  We are on a two week break before the next session begins so it will be interesting to see what happens when we get back.

Kiah's 7/26/11 class
When Kiah zooms she usually runs around the course maybe taking some jumps as she runs but this zoom was more of a "catch me if you can" zoom.  If I told her down, she would do her down but then jump up as I got close, then go a short distance then take off again as I got close.  I would swear she was thinking "ha-ha you can't catch me", she was having a blast. It went on for about five minutes which seemed like forever to me.  Once I was able to catch her, she settled down and did the course well.  Hope when we get back to classes the middle of the month it doesn't happen again.  We still are working on her focus as much as I have time.

Cream City Trial  July 22 & 23
I am getting a few of the videos together and will make some notes as soon as I am finished with the videos

July 18 & 19 Class Notes

Keegan's pre-novice class
Since Keegan zoomed so much last week in the new area, I probably over compensated on our first run by keeping really close and grabbing his collar.  The second run was better, he had settled down and I gave him more freedom.  We also worked on our weave entrances, he is doing much better.

Kiah's class
Just a little bit of a zoom on the first run after the tunnel but she came right back and we had a great rest of the run except I missed part of the course.  I guess it was one of those senior moments as my sister calls them or it was a part of the course I wanted to forget, LOL!  The second run I got it right and so did Kiah, an awesome run for her.  Words can't express how pleased I am with her and how she is progressing

The heat has been so bad we don't practice or play outside very long, can't wait for this heat wave to be over.  We are doing the Cream City Trial in New Berlin on Friday and Saturday, I sure hope they have good air conditioning.  We are running FAST, JWW and Standard both days.  Lots of people from the club will be there and will be bringing my 11-year old great niece along too!  My sister and her husband may come to watch us on Saturday and my niece with the rest of her family plan on coming Saturday too.  It is going to be a lot of fun.

I had planned to take Keegan but with the heat it is best for him to stay home, he will be well taken care of by my nephew's family, I really don't think he misses us at all.  Hopefully Sitka (Flat Coated Retriever) will be out of heat and they can play inside in the AC.

Thougts after watching video of WAG trial

After watching the video from Friday I find that I run trials differently then I do in class.  My expectations in classes is that Kiah will follow me since that is what she normally does.  It appears in trials I don't expect her to follow so I slow way down and wait for her.  I will have to test this at the trial this week to see if it makes a difference in her runs.  I also noticed I am not giving her commands as quickly as I should.  I love videos, it is such a help to actually see what I am doing, my mind goes blank during the run.  Two other things to remind myself; more praise (have a party as my trainer says :-)) and stop clapping so much (didn't even realize I was doing it). 

I am still really proud of the progress we have made; I know we will continue to learn and get better.

WAG 7/15/11 Tial Results

No Q's but I feel we are making progress.  We got there a bit later than I had wanted, the GPS sent us on a wild goose chase but we finally got to the trial just as they were getting ready to walk Novice JWW.  Got Kiah settled and went to walk, it was a nice flowing course.  The class was large so I had time to take Kiah out to potty and then we had some time for both of us to relax before we had to run.   Didn't really have any expectations just wanted it to be fun and no pressure on her.  I was so proud of her, she listened and came back to me, seemed like she was having fun too.  The Standard course had a lot of chances for off course obstacles and she did some but still was up and came back to me.  No total refusals except the weaves but I am still happy with her run.

I will post the video in a bit but I want to find another for comparison so you can see her progress.

OK, here is the video from WAG, a video from a class session and below them is a video of a couple of our spring trial runs.  Watch the differences in Kiah attitude and how she focuses in the different settings.  I hope some day that she will be as comfortable in a trial setting as she is at class.

At the end of the first WAG video my niece thought she was supposed to keep the camera on me, Kiah did do all of the last 3 jumps with just me yelling "go" for each jump.  I just couldn't keep up.

Obedience, focus session with JoAnne 7-14-11

Thank goodness for my trainers; JoAnne helped me realize that Kiah associated the "bottom" command with running the obstacle and not the 2-on-2-off position; made so much sense once she explained to me.  Just the few minutes we practiced Kiah started to understand but still need to practice so it will become natural to her. JoAnne also gave me some great advice when Kiah zooms; I need to yell "wait" since Kiah does so well with the "wait" command.

Looking forward to tomorrow!

July 11 & 12 Class Notes

Keegan's pre-novice class
As I mentioned earlier the club has expanded and we are now using the new area with turf.  It is much larger than the training area we were in previously.  The only time Keegan has been on the new turf was for a play time when we were working on the flooring.  Last night in class he thought it was play time again, he zoomed and ran around, had a great time.  Looks like a lot more focus & obedience training for him too!  Once he settled down he did pretty well, I can really see progress in his weaves and he is also doing pretty well on the dog walk contact. We do need to do more work on his a-frame contacts, he doesn't jump off but does not stop with his 2-on-2-off.  I don't have that equipment at home but now I can go to the club and practice when there are no classes.

Kiah's agility class
Kiah's class is tonight and I hope to get some video's of her in the new area.  I will add to this tomorrow.
Started off the night with a zoom, got her under control but she was still really flying when she hit the dog walk; ended up losing her balance and coming off the top.  She didn't seem to be hurt although she was pretty slow going through the weaves so maybe she was sore.  This morning she seemed to be just fine, thank goodness.  The rest of the runs she did really well and I am really pleased with her contacts on both a-frame and dog walk.

Tomorrow we will work on focus with JoAnne (my trainer who is helping me work out some problems, she is great) and Friday we go to a trial. My goal is to make this really fun for her but still keep her focus while we are going thru the course.   I have to keep my nerves in check and focus on her, keeping her up and happy.  Wish us luck.

7/8/11 Run-Thru

NO ZOOMS!!!!  WooHoo Kiah!!!!  She did pop out of the weaves around the 10th pole a couple of time so we worked on that and she did all of them twice. Other than that her errors were due to the handler :-)  We have a trial next Friday and I am excited to see if our training will carry over.  Have to remind myself to relax and keep it fun for both of us.

Keegs isn't quite ready for run-thrus yet but maybe by this fall.  Looking forward to taking both of them.

7-5-11 class

Our club is expanding and this weekend we put down the flooring (turf) in the new area, it looks really great.

Due to the holiday Keegan didn't have class on Monday so nothing to report for him.  Kiah had her class tonight on the turf, it was wonderful. She did zoom a couple of times; the first time she came back pretty well but the second time she didn't come when called.  I was able to catch her and she settled down for her last two runs.

She knows I can't give corrections at a trial or make her redo something but this is so much like a trial environment it may help keep her in line (one can only hope).

June 27 & 28 classes and notes

Keegan's pre-novice Monday Class - June 27th, 2011
I am really pleased with the progress Keegan is making during class.  One problem we are having is the teeter, the noise of the teeter doesn't seem to bother him. It appears to be the motion, he wants to jump off the teeter as it is going down.  I don't have a teeter at home but we do practice on the wobble board but that has limited motion.  I am confident with time and practice he will become more comfortable on the teeter.


He is starting to get weaves, Yay!!!!  The absolute best thing; he is proud of himself and is having fun.  Part of that may be all the treats he is getting, he loves string cheese  :-)


Kiah's Tuesday Class - June 28th, 2011
With Kiah it is hard to judge her progress since she behaves differently during class then she does at a trial.  I believe we are making progress with focus and personally feel that I am more confident in my handling.  We continue to work at home almost every night and I notice she is focusing on me more even when not training.

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I feel one of the biggest hurdle we need to overcome is to make it fun for her again.  I know she can be an awesome agility dog but I became very frustrated during trials in the past. Kiah is very sensitive (and stubborn) so she either zoomed or refused obstacles.  The longer we trialed the more frustrated I became and the more depressed and stubborn she was at trials.  Now I have to say she gets really excited when we go out to practice.  We do a 5 -10 minute obedience or agility session and finish with a fun play time or we will do a practice, play, practice, play session.  I am trying to bring that excitement into class and hope that it will carry over to trials. 
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Please feel free to make suggestions or comments about our training.

6/21/11

Just setting this up and testing.  Let me know if you like the colors and if they are easy to view.

Thanks for the feedback, I am hoping some others will give me feedback too! 

I am going to start posting on July 1, 2011 with our preparation for the trials in the middle of July.

Lure Course - 2008 Boxer Bash

Keegs 2008