There Are No Shortcuts to Anywhere Worth Going

Reese and I attended our first CPE trial this past weekend. She was amazing! We attended both days - 4 runs each day.

CPE has six games, I have done Snooker and Gamblers in USDAA and CPE has Snooker and their Jackpot is like Gamblers. CPE also has FullHouse, Colors, and WildCard, all three of which I have never run. So a couple of days before the trial I got the Running Order. The first run will be FullHouse, the first dog and handler on the line at 8:00 is Sarah and Reese - Yeah Baby!

I actually was glad that FullHouse would be the first run, as it would give Reese and I time to adjust to a trial situation again. It was a new place we had never been before, our second trial, and we were playing a game I knew nothing about. What could go wrong?  Not a whole lot as it turns out.

FullHouse was a good run. Startline stay was good. Reese was a little bouncy but I'm sure she was sensing my nerves. Reese had weave issues apparently not liking weaves in a new location. After the weaves she bounced around a jump and then back jumped it. Watching the video you will notice that Reese had moved on already but I failed to notice this and this is when I started directing my "Imaginary Dog" back over that jump. But when even he didn't perform, I moved on back to Reese. The weaves were one of the jokers but I knew we could do the A-frame for a joker and would be fine. She nailed the A-frame but we ran out of time so no Q.  We ran to the table and that was when the "freaky handler" made her only appearence for the weekend and tried to carry Reese to her leash.  That was NOT normal and Reese would have none of it and she told me so. I put her in a stay on the table and quick put her collar back on and out of the ring we went.

Before our next run I decided to do a little shopping at the vendors. I found a martingale style Lupine collar, I have been looking for one of these forever. Our friend Donna uses one for her dog Jadah and it has worked great for them. I wasn't sure what the design of the collar was that we had fit Reese for, but when I realized it was Sunflowers, there was not even a question in my mind - we were getting that collar. My cousin Sue loved Sunflowers. They symbolize Sue for me and I have never been able to look at Sunflowers the same since Sue passed. So I figured this might be some good luck for us. Sue loved animals and dogs in particular. Call it what you want - after we got that collar, when I put it on Reese for each of her runs the rest of the trial, everything clicked. And each time that collar was slipped over her head I calmed down another notch.

Standard run was good but didn't get video. Got to the line and no "exit guards", took a deep breath and thought well, it is what it is. Off came the collar and away we went. Startline was good, I knew the course well, so no issue there. I was running hard and it was a great run, we were really in sync, I was giving clear commands, Reese was listening and reading my body language great, no bobbles and no bounciness, and then we got to the dogwalk. I wanted to make sure she had clear instructions again so as soon as she got to the top and started across I said, "Touch". Reese stopped and was sniffing at the top plank. I encouraged her to "Walk it" but she jumped right off and ran to the other end to jump on the yellow to "Touch". Whoops, why did I say touch so early. We kept going the rest of the run which was flawless. Bummed that I don't have it on video as it was such a nice run. We got to the end and had a party. Slipped her new collar on and all was well.  Boy was it a fun run! Why was it so great since we didn't Q. Because we ran as a team, connected and totally in tune to each other - well except my mistake on the dogwalk. 

Next up was Snooker. I can't believe that our first Q was in Snooker -who would have thought. Colors was the last run of the day. I loved it, it was a nice fast course, tons of fun. Reese did great, another Q. With each run on Saturday I got more relaxed and Reese and I ran better and better together.

Sunday we started the day with Jackpot. I wanted to use this run to test out Reese's dogwalk and teeter and make sure there were no lasting issues from the day before. So I had both the dogwalk and the teeter in my opening sequence plan. Reese started up the dogwalk but bailed on the up plank. No worries, movin' on, we got to the teeter. She started up, came off. Okay so still having issues. So we didn't get our points in the opening sequence but we got the gamble which 1 out of 2 parts of the course wasn't bad. So no Q but got good information on the dogwalk and teeter. After the Jackpot runs had finished the judge said I could take Reese over the dogwalk with her on leash and see if she would go over it. At first she didn't want to and was hesitant. But I got her to go over once slowly and with some coaxing. Then we did it a few more times with more speed each time. We did the same thing with the teeter.

Next up, Standard. Would we get the dogwalk.....yes we did!  It was slower than she can do, and I was babysitting more than I should need to but after what happened I wanted to be there to support her and she did it well. The only problem was that I was so happy she did the dogwalk and seemed to be over her issue with it that a few obstacles later I was looking for the teeter which is not includeded in Standard in this level. I found myself in the right place to send her over the conspicuously absent teeter but not in the correct position to send Reese to the correct jump. I misdirected Reese and she back jumped a jump and then took it and we finished the course. It was too bad about the jump which was all my fault. But the important thing to me was that she did the dogwalk! Spoke to a friend about our run and she suggested I check our score because we might have Q'd anyway. So I did and we got another Q. I couldn't believe it, I never would have guessed.

Then it was onto WildCard - another fun, fast course and Q. Finally, we had Jumpers. This was a great course too. I was a little off as Reese had gotten pretty jazzed at the start watching some other dogs. I was able to get her refocused but I was still distracted. I was a little too tense to keep the run as smooth as I would have liked but it was still a good run and a Q.

My goals for this trial were pretty simple. Keep myself calm and run. Reese was very focused. Ready to go for each run. She knew her job and did it perfectly, I did my job (with a few errors) but we really were a team. Reese was sleeping her crate in the afternoon the first day. The last trial she didn't sleep in her crate until the second day. The second day this weekend she was sleeping in her crate both in the morning and in the afternoon.  She also slept, yes I said slept - the put your head all the way down sleep, in the car both to and from the trial.

After this weekend I can say without a doubt that trialing is so much more fun when you stop worrying about what-ifs and really believe in yourself and your dog. Then you can relax and just run and have fun with your dog which is what it is all about.


Reese after a successful weekend trialing!



A card Reese and I received from our biggest fans.



When Gorillas Attack!

This is a video of Reese with her new birthday present that I never got around to posting. So here it is.  Watch her two front feet she does some funny moves with them.

Back from the Trial

Reese and I attended our first trial this weekend. We were entered in 6 runs, two Standards, Snooker, Gamblers, Jumpers and Pairs. Each run got better. While we didn't Q I found lots to work on in training which is good. That's what trials are for in my book, to test your training. Things can look really good in practice but it's not until the real deal that you find out where your weaknesses are. Reese is pretty wiped out. We got a toy for entering. We chose a turtle (pink of course), because we are slow! But not for long - that is going to change.

Outside the ring however, Reese made progress in leaps and bounds. No screaming in the crate, no barking in her crate. Some stress drooling Saturday and a very small amount on Sunday, she even slept in it whether I was sitting there or not. (She usually fusses to get out if I am there). Yes she was probably tired by then, but still she slept and was relaxed! As a dog with separation anxiety issues this was huge for her, this was the second huge stride she made on this in the past week. Also as the trial progressed she really started to understand the routine of a trial situation.

She did great with her Pairs run, video coming soon on that. She also did good focusing on me when she got to the start line, even when she was pretty amped up going into the ring. Jumpers run had some technical difficulty so I'm not going to blind you with it but here are a few of the runs. Now the work begins....

Fun Run - On the Run Canine Center

Reese and I went to a fun run today at a new facility where we will be trialing this year. I wanted to see how she would do, handle the stess, and deal with different contacts. There were two teeters and they were different, some dogs didn't like one or the other so I was happy to see that Reese had no problems with either one. 

My handling could use some work, well okay, a lot of work. But my goal for today was to see if Reese would take my direction and stay with me on the course. She did both. Well she took direction when I gave it to her clearly. After we got through the set course we improvised and I tended to slow down trying to figure out where I wanted to go next.  She has been getting faster at our lessons and I think she will get faster at new locations too, once we start visiting more of them.   

Here is a video with some of our runs from today.

What to Do with a Border Collie during a Blizzard?

Yesterday we got the snow. Last evening the blowing started resulting in lots of drifting. Today the bitter cold set it.

We got out for a walk yesterday morning, but didn't get one in last night and there would be no walks today. It was a quick trip out-and-in for all the business duties, as the windchill called all the shots today.

So it was agility in the basement this morning. Then this afternoon I got this.

Dreaming of warmer days!

One can only keep looking at it for so long....

Soooo bored!

"I think I'll move to Florida!"

Ho hum...

Nothing to do but nap.

Sophie and Bella came out to play too.

Reese and I did some trick work today. I got one of our new ones on video, I think it's pretty cute.

  



To Agility and Beyond....

Okay, it just seemed like catchy title to this post.

It's been a busy weekend for Reese. Yesterday it was a Skijoring lesson where we started to learn things like "line out", "pull", and directions.  It was fun to see Reese with the other dogs and completely being a good girl keeping herself together while we watched some other dogs act up with over excitement and stimulation.  Yes, I remember those days - but I am so glad we are past them. 

Reese did great with a number of other dogs around in a strange environment and lots of weirdness going on. First there was the harness, then the rubber mats and tires that dogs were pulling around. Lots of new dogs from huskies, which for some reason she has never cared for, a lab, a golden, a couple Aussie mixes, a border collie mix, some standard poodles, GSD, and to round it all out a mastiff.

Today we had our agility lesson.  We ran the Grand Prix quarterfinals course from USDAA. It was fun, fun, fun. We are getting faster and really working as a team.  Reese is really starting to understand my body language and I am figuring out slowly but surely the little changes that I can make that will help her understand what I am asking for.

Then....it was on to herding. Once again Reese did a great job.  She is really trying hard and working really well, staying off the sheep at a good distance and giving them space on her flanks. Not running tight up into their backsides and not diving in to bust them up.  Here is a short video of her working today with my trainer. She separates one at one point but then gets them back together again and keeps on working.

Fun Day at the Fun Run!

Reese and I went to an Agility Fun Run today. We had a great time. These are such great experiences for green dogs in agility. It gives the dog a chance to adjust to and test how they would react in more of a trial situation and lets the handler see where they need to work on their handling skills.

With Reese, I am always happy if she stays focused on me and doesn't get the zoomies, or get keyed up on the other dogs walking and running around. She did great. I had to refocus her a few times, but in her defense there were sheep at this Fun Run and she knew it and while she is getting more into the game of agility...working sheep will always be her first love.

She did a great job ignoring other dogs while they were running or walking around the site, not barking in the car while waiting her turn. She got excited when one dog ran who is very fast and barks when running around the ring, but I got her refocused after that and she was fine. So different than she was a year ago, heck even six months ago. She was even more interested in visiting with the people than she was in the dogs running their courses today.  Good Girlie!!!!

While we are on the course she didn't run off to see the other dogs even once. She just wanted to see the sheep, which in reality the chances of an agility trial being held right next to someone working sheep is not all that likely. Could it happen yes, but.....we just won't attend those until she has a full comprehension of what we are working at the moment - agility or sheep.

After the fun run I helped some friends who are always so much fun build a round pen. We had lots of laughs, got lots of sun (didn't find that out until I got home - and yes, I wore sunscreen), and learned lots of interesting farm animal facts. Such as, "Did you know that pigs.....??  Well, we won't go there now. Also, learned the tricks of the trade of how to build a round pen. Hard work but fun to see the end result.

Here is a video of our runs from today. These were shot with my camera that shoots digital stills and also has HD video. I have only shot one other video on it so I wasn't sure how these would turn out. My friend Dianna taped these for me. She did a great job as I couldn't give her much of any instruction as I hadn't ever used the zoom with the video. Thanks Dianna.  However, I must mention that I had Donna tape us on my old camera for a back up. Just have to say that Donna did a great job taping today as well:))  Thanks Donna.

Agility

I was able to get some video of our lesson last week. We still have a lot of work ahead of us, but it is coming along and we are well on our way. Before this lesson I had started leaning towards a 2o2o contact for our dogwalk. After trying both running and 2o2o I found that Reese really did remember the 2o2o quite well for having not done it much for the last few years and we had so many issues with the running contact.

After our last lesson and all the handling we did I realized what it will really be like to run a course, and I was leaning even more towards a 2o2o. I am going to have so much to think about that I just may want a second to collect my thoughts, my breath, and get my legs underneathe me before I continue on the course. There is so much that I will be thinking about when we start trialing that at this point the running contact would be one more thing to worry about. Life is full of stress, I don't need any more right now.

I discussed this with my trainer and she thought it made sense. So we worked on the dogwalk for a bit. Reese would do a nice 2o2o on one end. Then I would run the whole thing and she did a great running dogwalk off of it, with a hoop on the end. I said to my trainer, "I see that and then I think maybe I should do the running contact." Then my trainer said it. "Well yes, but she will be going twice as fast as that when she really runs it." Me, eyes wide open, "hmmm, wow!"

Then out came the terrier. A little itty bitty white Jack Russell. Thanks Andy and Crackers for helping me. Crackers was going to show me what a real running contact is like. He may be small but he can haul his little patutty booty over that dogwalk at lightning speed. So Andy reved him up and let him go. I got a head start and I started at the dogwalk, (which would never happen in a trial) I'd still be getting to it when Reese was on it.

Then we ran. Crackers up and over and me pumping my legs and arms as fast as they could go. I think we were about even at the end except for one small detail. Crackers was ready for the next obstacle, but me, I was still going trying to slow down before I hit the wall.

Yep, and then you have to run the rest of the course. So after that experience and realizing that Reese would be even faster....yeah, maybe not this time. I think I made the right decision for us.

So here is a little video of a couple sequences we did.

Still a Work in Progress....

But I think we are starting to see some progress. Here are a couple of videos of some running contact work. The first one is from about a week ago and she is still bouncing quite a lot. In the second video, from tonight, I think there is improvement. There are a few bouncy runs but overall I think much better.

Yes!!!

It finally, got warm today. Well if you consider 18-20 degrees warm. For us it was like a heatwave after it being below zero since Christmas Eve. We still have a lot of ice on the roads, but it is starting to get better from the sun, people driving on it, and now the warmer tempertures we are supposed to get this week should get rid of it.

It was so nice to finally be able to play outside again. Reese and I were both starting to get a little crazy from being cooped up in the house. We have been practicing our tricks and our agility homework but nothing beats all out crazy running in the yard - through the snow chasing our soccer ball.

Tomorrow we will be back to multiple walks a day hopefully we can get back to our running this week. We will check the roads in the morning and see how they are. We were just starting to get into a running routine and then the sub-zero temps and ice hit, but what are you gonna do.

Tonight I made banana bread. Reese has a strange fascination with PAM cooking spray. Well any aerosol spray can actually. But whenever I cook I can count on her to help with the greasing of the pans. Here is a little video of tonights help.

I used to not show her what I was doing and tried to hide it from her by spraying the pans over the counter. Her reaction was much worse, so I thought why not just show her what I am doing, and it has actually been getting better. Taking the mystery out of what goes on with noisy cans above the counters.

Yes, it's true folks border collies can be a little weird. There is also the time I used hairspray from an aerosol can. Reese came bounding into the bathroom jumping on me which sent us both flying into the bath tub. I looked up just in time to see the the shower curtain, rod and all, rapidly desending straight for my head. Ya, I can laugh about it now, but at the time.....grrrrr!

Why the fascination with aerosol cans. Who knows. She did bite into a Claire Burke popourri can when she was a puppy. It was only about 1/4 full thankfully. She bit into it as she was carrying it through the house. Once she bit into it the contents just kept coming out at her. She didn't get hurt or sick and nothing happened to the can other then it leaked and that was the last Claire Burke I had. Ever since then aerosol can's make her mad.

The only other weird thing Reese does is that she does not like one certain set of railroad tracks in town. She will watch for them when we are driving and will start getting ready about 4 blocks ahead of time. Actually she starts prepping when we are turning onto this road about 6 blocks ahead. I do try to avoid this road when she is not crated and if she is crated, the crate gets covered and then she is okay. It seems to be a visual thing she has connected to the noise and bumps of the railroad tracks. In this video she is spinning a bit in the crate. Usually she is rocking back and forth from side to side trying to see past the passenger seat at her evil nemesis.


Living with a border collie - never a dull moment. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Contact Zones

Reese has been running her plank each day working on improving on hitting that yellow contact at the end. We have moved to her full length plank. Here is a video of some of the practice she has been doing.

Reese's New Trick

Reese has been learning a new trick, well, I guess it is more of a new behavior. It's not that I really think this behavior will come in handy some day. She isn't getting Scuba certified any time soon. Actually, people sometimes ask why I teach her these things, why not just teach good manners and leave it at that. We do work on those things but learning a trick is not really about the trick, but about the learning process. Bonding with each other and me learning how she learns and her learning how to learn - if something she does doesn't work, try something else and see if that works. Tricks teach me how to be a better teacher and they teach Reese how to learn.

Many of the tricks she does also teach her body awareness and strengthen and stretch her muscles so that they will be conditioned and this will help prevent injuries. This one doesn't do that but it is fun. So here it is, she learned this in three very short sessions.

Here are a few pictures of her playing with Clifford.

Grass Is Good

Here is a video of Bella and Sophie enjoying their home grown "Field of Greens"

Running Contacts

I have been training Reese on running contacts using Silvia Trkman's methods and she is doing really well. While we were training the 2on/2off method, it was never super solid. Therefore, I don't think this is going to confuse Reese. I think this method is going to be safer for her shoulders, and avoid potential injuries in the future. It will help us trim our course times too, which is never a bad thing. However, I will definitely need to be on my toes using running contacts and make sure I am providing clear information to Reese so she can make a clean transition from the dog walk to the next obstacle. Here is a video of our progress so far.

Tricks Video

A new video of some basic tricks that Reese knows. Hope you enjoy. I will apologize in advance for the editing, but it is what it is.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

The snow is coming down again...uggg! Don't get me wrong I like the snow, hate the cold but like the snow. It makes it lighter longer to walk in the evening and it is lovely to walk in the soft fallen snow. As long as it isn't too cold, Reese's paws seem to be holding out - we are also taking shorter more frequent walks which has been helping.

Since it has been snowing, icing and generally freezing out yes, I'm talking -20 below tempertures and that is before you add the windchill, Reese and I have had many days inside to work on some things. This is a little movie of what we have been working on.

A Game of Chuck-it!

Not much new here, although yes, I realize I have been delinquent in my duties as a blogger, as I have not posted much. I will try to be better and post at least weekly. I had a week of vacation and had planned to post often, but alas, as vacations go....that didn't happen and I did other things instead.

I can't believe that October is half over already. Where does the time go. The summer went by very fast this year. I guess partly that is because we had a really nice summer and we actually got a fall season this year. Our summer wasn't too hot and not too rainy either. It had many nice days with low humidity levels. This fall started off a little cooler and then warmed up again and we've had a couple of weeks of nice Indian Summer. The colors this year are really nice, the leaves actually had a chance to change color on the trees before they came down. Many years it gets cold before the leaves can turn color and when they blow down they are still green.

Of course with nice fall colors comes the work of raking, bagging, and tidying up the yard to get ready for winter. I got all the summer items put in the shed. Emptied the hoses and Reese said goodbye to her pool until next Spring. Put the table and chairs away etc.

Here is a video I made of Reese at the park, running, running, running...which is one of her favorite things. Of course she loves anything that has to do with her chuck-it. The video is taken with my regular camera and will have to due until I can get a real video camera. I guess if you choose to watch the videos you'll just have to deal with the lower quality for now.