March 2008 - Posts

• Games trial in Madison report

  This weekend Luke and I traveled to Madison for an all-games trial hosted by Paws-4-Fun agility club at MadCity Dog Training.  It was a weekend full of firsts for us!  First time at an all games trial, first time at MadCity, first time going all by ourselves and first time running at Elite Proficient 20+. Saturday was a late start day with only three classes offered, so Luke and I got to stay at home and be lazy until about noon or so.  We arrived in Madison shortly before 2:00 and had plenty of time to set up and settle in before the 3:00 start time. Tunnelers was the first class of the day and this was a great way to start our weekend.  Luke ran a really nice course and surprised me with a nice start line stay.  I had a HUGE wake-up call when I got the results back at the end of the class -- even with his beautiful run, Luke only came in one second under the elite 20+ time and was way down in 6th place.  Basically, the times are WAY faster now and we have a lot more competition!! Weavers was up next and I was dismayed to see that the poles at this club were the same design as last weekend in Crystal Lake.  To our benefit, the poles were spaced further apart this time, but Luke still had to deal with the big fat base at the bottom.  By the third set of poles he went through on the first try, but the first sets caused problems.  We ended up almost 24 seconds over time.  *sigh* Touch-n-go was an interesting experience in that they had rubber contacts at this club.  We haven't seen rubber contacts since the Agile Canines show last July.  Let me say that I LOVE rubber and I think Luke does, too, but it took him by surprise at first.  He slammed on the brakes coming up the dog walk, as if he just didn't know what to think about it.  I have to say that this was kind of nice because it slowed him down and made him get that first contact.  We didn't have a problem with the frame all weekend, but Luke did jump the dog walk on the second pass of that run, so we got 10 faults for that plus we ended up 3.65 seconds over time!  Again with those wicked hard times... It was 8:00 by the time we got checked into the hotel, got food and settled in for the night.  Since I was by myself I got Luke and I a nice king-sized bed to crash on and it was heaven!  Luke didn't much care for our ground floor room that faced to the outside world, though.  He was a bit unsettled about noises going on outside our room until I switched spots with him and took the spot on the bed nearest the door.  Then we were both finally able to get some sleep. For some reason I had it in my head that the trial started at 7:45 on Sunday, so I planned my morning to arrive at 7:30, giving me *just* enough time to walk the course before the first run.  Oops, first dog on line was at 7:30, so I completely missed the walk-through for the first run of touch-n-go.  Thankfully, Luke was nearly dead last in the elite line-up, so I had plenty of time to watch and learn the course before we were up.  Perhaps this was to our advantage, as Luke got all of his contacts, came in three seconds under time and placed 2nd in our huge class!! Alas, the second running of touch-n-go was not so much in our favor.  Luke wasn't really listening very well and went straight into a tunnel when he was supposed to go up the walk and then to top it all off he then jumped the contact!  I decided to reschool the dog walk (which calls for an elimination) and then ran Luke out of the ring -- at which time he decided to take the frame on his own and did a NAUGHTY jump off it, but you are only allowed to school one thing in the ring so I couldn't go back and correct that.  It was the last contact of the day, so I figured I'd just have to let it go.  Luke didn't get love & treats back at the crate for that performance, though. Our two runs of weavers were next in line and my hope was that Luke would continue to improve on the new poles.  In our first run he managed to do the second two sets without problem but had to be corrected in the first -- that run was 11 seconds over time with a 5th place finish.  During the second run we only really had one issue in the poles, but Luke was STILL 9.5 seconds over time.  This tells me that he is going to have to have a flawless weavers performance to make time at this level.  I am waiting to see what happens at our home trial with the poles that he knows well. Figuring that tunnelers is a given for Luke, I was hopeful to pick up his elite proficient tunnelers title this weekend.  The first run was flawless and beautiful, coming in two seconds under time and in 2nd place in a very competitive class.  My brain absolutely shut down in the second run, though, and before I knew it I had sent Luke into an off course tunnel and didn't realize it until it was too late to call him back.  I totally blew that one and we ended up with 2.59 time faults on top of the 10 point off course for ninth place. In summary, we ended up qualifying in only 1/3 of our classes this weekend.  I had been hopeful for a much better Q rate at an all games trial, but the move up to elite proficient 20+ was a huge eye-opening experience.  This is not going to be as easy as I'd anticipated and we are going to have to work for our NATCH for sure!  Luke totally crashed all the way home from Madison. Our next trial isn't until the one in La Crosse at the end of April.  It will be a nice, much-needed break for us -- especially since tomorrow is the day I fly out to pick up my new puppy!!!!  Posted Mar 31 2008, 08:11 AM by KarissaKS with no comments

• Trial report for Crystal Lake, IL

  This past weekend we traveled through a lovely snow storm to Crystal Lake, IL to attend the RACE Agility trial.  All told, the roads weren't really that bad and we got to our hotel in just over four hours. I decided to get Luke and I a room of our own, knowing that nobody would get any sleep if we tried to have Luke & Belle in the same room along with myself, Kristi & Derrick!  While it would have been nice to split the expense, knowing that I would actually get to sleep was well worth it. When we got to the venue Saturday morning I was very pleased to see that it was almost exactly like Soccer Blast in Burnsville, MN.  Actually, it was *bigger,* so there was more than enough space for crates.  I was a little iffy about the footing at first because it looked a little worn out, but it actually ended up being very nice (if you could ignore the little rubber pellets getting in your shoes!). Our first run of the day was Elite Regular 1.  Luke was his usual nutzo self first thing in the morning and he put in his usual crazy run.  Actually, it flowed very nicely and was a very nice run right up until the second to last obstacle.  You guessed it -- the dog walk.  And yes, he lept off it.  *sigh*  10pt fault and 1st place. Elite Regular 2 was second of the day and I was determined that Luke would get his contacts!  He did, but it took three times to get through the weave poles.  Those weave poles would be our downfall for the entire weekend, as Luke HATED them.  They were spaced closer together and had the world's worst-designed base (double-supports and really wide).  Because of the weave problems we came in 2.96 seconds over time.  I was running Luke in skilled yet this weekend, so that was a 5pt Q and 1st place again. We had to run straight from ring one to ring two for our tunneler run.  The gate steward let us sit and catch our breath for about five minutes before sending us into the ring.  Luke was definitely slower than normal, but came in under time for a Q and 5th place.  He cut his paw pad on Thursday and I have to think that this probably slowed him down over the weekend as well. Weavers was a disaster.  Luke normally loves his poles and it was sad to watch him struggle so badly with the weaves at this trial.  He didn't complete a single set of poles in this class -- For some reason the results said that we were eliminated, but I didn't see that on the video and he should have ended up with 60 faults.  Not that it matters!! Luke was starting to shut down a little by the time jumpers came around.  He was pretty slow, plus we used up a lot of time when I had to call him back to a missed jump.  He brought down one jump when I called a little too tight on a turn.  We ended up with 16.17 faults, total, and a 1st place (the elite skilled class is pretty small!). Our day ended with chances and as soon as I saw that we had to do weaves at a distance I knew that was going to be an issue for us.  Actually, I was very happy with how Luke performed the distance portion and he had a perfect entrance to the weaves, but he completely shut down when he got there.  I wanted to keep things on a happy note so I just kept running and finished the course with him. Both of the dogs crashed at the hotel that night.  We hung out in Derrick & Kristi's room until around 9:00 before going back to our own room and passing out for the night.  Luke must have slept well, because he was raring to go again by Sunday morning! Our day on Sunday started with chances and I was very happy to see that there were no weaves OR contacts!  While walking the course, I figured our biggest danger would be if Luke brought down a jump because of his wildness.  The distance portion of the course was to send out to a line of jumps while layering with a tunnel.  Belle sucked right into the tunnel during her run, but Luke surprised me and did the course beautifully.  Now we only need one more open chances Q to get that title! Luke was a little spacy during our jumpers run, unfortunately.  He blew his first and only start line of the weekend (he did REALLY well with those!!), so we got off to a sketchy start.  He brought down a jump on a turn and then took an off course at the end that I didn't bother going back to correct.  We ended up with 35 faults for that run (and 1st place). He got 35 faults in Elite Regular 1.  He brought down the first jump thanks to me positioning him poorly, and then he BLATANTLY jumped off the dog walk in spite of me being RIGHT THERE to babysit the contact!!  The weave poles also gave us problems again, but we did manage to come in just under time. Luke got his contacts in Elite Regular 2, but those stupid weaves got the best of us.  I finally had to get serious with him and yell at him to listen to me.  I don't care if he has to walk slowly through the pattern, but he HAD to do his weaves.  We ended up with 5.78 time faults, putting us just 0.78 seconds past getting a 5pt Q.  Darn it. I didn't have high hopes for weavers, but I knew that I had to make Luke do his poles.  The first two sets took repeated tries to get through (mostly just had issues with the entries because he didn't want to do them) but by the third set of 12 he conceded and decided just to get it over with.  We ended up with a dismal 22.53 time faults, but dang it, we finished the course!  lol Touch-n-go was the final class of the weekend and I really, really wanted that Q.  We've been working so long on getting our open touch-n-go title because Luke has been having such issues with his contacts.  I hoped that having it at the end of such a long weekend would be in our favor by slowing him down and getting Luke to listen.  He only came in three seconds under open time (sad by normal standards) but dang it, he got his contacts!  So with that, I e-mailed the trial secretary for this next weekend and bumped Luke up to Elite Proficient 20+ for every class.  I know that we're going to have a real wake-up call with the new times that we have to make.  There won't be any room for slouching. We had class last night, which I could have totally done without, but Luke was happy to go!  Actually, we did some really nice jumping drills that were good for both of us.  Luke jumped 20" all night and handled it just fine.  After class, Kristi and I both worked our dogs through the set of 12 weaves.  Luke actually single-tracked them and seemed so much happier.  I did have to get after him when he sassed me for correcting his missed entrance.  Barking at me like that really needs to stop. This week we will be working on weaves & contacts after work.  Our trial in Madison this weekend is nothing but games -- tunnelers, weavers & touch-n-go.  I look forward to hopefully earning our first points towards our NATCH! Posted Mar 25 2008, 08:07 AM by KarissaKS with no comments

• Long overdue update

  Oh my stars, I didn't realize that I hadn't written since our last trial!!  We've been pretty busy since then and have been enjoying FINALLY being able to participate in classes again. We've been working hard on our contact performances since the trial, using a method suggested to me by a friend.  Basically we're targeting the bottom of the contacts with treats and shooting for a two on/two off performance.  Luke does spectacular with the bait at the bottom, but he hasn't really connected the 20/20 idea without food yet.  Regardless, he's still adjusting his stride and hitting the contacts, so it is an improvement!  I'm really hoping that I've gotten through to him enough to be able to have a higher Q rate at our trial this weekend. Our trial this weekend is a big one -- we're traveling to Crystal Lake, IL for a two-ring indoor trial at a soccer facility.  It's going to be about a four hour drive or so; by far the longest distance we've traveled for a trial to date. Luke is entered in 16" skilled all weekend, but I think this may be the last trial I run him at this height.  We've started working at 20" again and Luke is handling it very well.  It will take a little time for him to learn to adjust his take-off spot accordingly, but he isn't backing off the added height at all.  Currently the plan is to go ahead and put him in 20" Proficient at our La Crosse trial at the end of April.  We have plenty of time to practice until then!  We'll finally be able to work towards our NATCH! The other big news is that I've been working at adding another member to our family.  I've been in contact with Eileen Gregory of Klee Kai Kennelettes in Colorado and I think I may have finally chosen our puppy.  In a shocking turn of events, it's a female!  I thought I had my heart set on a male, but the more I think about it, the more I believe that Luke might be happier with a girl.  All of his dog friends are girls, after all.  The girls also tend to be smaller and this way I can feed my PINK obsession!!!  I am awaiting a response from Eileen to confirm whether or not my chosen puppy has been spoken for.  If not, she should be mine on April 1st. Luke has a chiropractor appointment tomorrow per his pre-trial ritual.  Dr. Schilling was actually at the center this past Thursday, but I didn't want to "mess with success" and change up our schedule.  We have the Collie Nationals going on at the dog center this week, so our ability to practice is limited.  We'll be able to do a run-through on Thursday night and that's it.  You can bet that we'll be doing contact work!! Right now the plan is to leave around 2:00 on Friday so that we have plenty of time to settle in down in Chicago.  Luke and I have our own room so that we can hopefully get a lot of SLEEP.  We both need it! Posted Mar 17 2008, 08:33 AM by KarissaKS with no comments

• Trial Report!

  We had another trial at Family Dog Center this weekend and I am really happy with Luke's performance!  At the last few trials he's been just nuts and fairly unpredictable, but this time he was focused and listening (for the most part!). Added to that, he had to deal with me running Belle all day on Saturday.  I wasn't sure how he was going to react to sharing my attention all day, especially considering that Belle & Luke were running in many of the same classes.  It worked out well, though, because we had more dogs at this trial and I was able to space them out enough to give me time to tend to them between runs.  My friend, Derrick, was also super helpful by taking Belle out to potty during my course walks.  I don't think I could have managed otherwise! Neither Luke nor I got much sleep on the Friday night before the trial (for reasons that I won't go into on this blog!), but considering the way he ran his first elite regular class, I think this may have been a good thing!  He did a great stay at the start, fully got his contacts and listened really well.  It's his first full Q in elite regular! The "old" Luke came back for the second run, though.  He was a bit nuts and dropped a few bars, jumped the dog walk contact and took a wrong obstacle.  We ended up with 45 faults in that round. I know that I was on the tense side going into chances because I'm starting to feel that we are plagued by this class even more than we were in jumpers at the novice level!  Luke ran the course absolutely perfectly -- His distance and directional skills were spot on.  Then we got to the second to last obstacle -- the dog walk.  I totally botched it up and stayed way, way behind him and the result was that he hopped off the side right before the contact zone because he was wondering where I was!  So much for that class. Touch and go has become our nemisis as well, and this weekend was no different.  I think I am making things worse because I know we only need one more Q in open before we can move up to elite in this class.  Luke actually got his frame contact twice in this class, but jumped his dog walk and took an off course tunnel. Weavers was picture-perfect!  Luke hit his entrances like magic each time and weaved very fast.  His time was 33.96 with a standard course time of 53.1!  This was the last Q that he needed for his open weavers title, so he will be moving up to elite for the Crystal Lake trial later this month. Jumpers was so close, but yet so far.  Luke was just "off" for the entire course and never really found his stride.  He rubbed many bars, but thankfully they were staying up as we made our way through the course.  The last sequence was a tunnel to a straight line out and again, his stride just wasn't working for this course.  He brought down the very last jump and we got a 5 pt penalty. The day ended with our very first official running of hoopers.  I swear this class was made for Luke!  He does extraordinarily well in it, especially considering that it's something that we never practice.  The run went exactly as planned and Luke finished with a blazing fast time of 19.35 -- the fastest run of the day was done by my friend, Rich, and his Corgi, Tazer, with a time of 19.27.  We were SO CLOSE!  I still laugh that those little Corgi legs beat out my 27" dog.  Truth be told, their course was just more efficient! Luke got some much needed rest Saturday night and came out like lightening on Sunday.  We did a reverse order of classes that day, which meant that we started with hoopers.  I knew that Luke was nuts and I wasn't sure how much control I'd have over him.  He was absolutely amazing!  Even though he got so far ahead of me that I had no hope of catching up, I was able to call him back and direct him from a distance.  He sailed through the four loop serpentine like it was something we did every day.  Then back to the outside and then a call-back to the three test hoops and out!  His time for this run was 22.81 and he was first out of his large division.  I failed to check the times for the other groups, but I'd be surprised if his wasn't one of the fastest again. Our open jumper run was almost magical.  Luke took off a lot faster than I expected and I ended up doing the first sequence much further away than planned.  Luke never even turned his head in the wrong direction.  Where I sent, he went!  His stride was perfectly on for this course from start to finish.  I had many people tell me that it was a beautiful run to watch.  I rejoiced as Luke sailed over the last jump!  After our difficulties with novice jumpers, who would have thought that jumpers would be his third open title? Tunnelers was up next, which (even in elite) I figure is pretty much a given for Luke.  I quite nearly pulled him off course with a stupid error of my own, but we recovered and finished well under time for another Q. Then it was time for our day to deflate a little!  lol  Touch and go was up next and I begged Luke to PLEASE just give me one more Q.  Well, it was nuts and he was a contact jumping fool.  We ended up with 30 penalties.  *sigh*  I did a little dance of joy when I saw that our chances class was free of contacts!  Just jumps, tunnels & weaves with a very doable distance and discrimination test.  I went into that class feeling very confident and sure of my dog and it paid off.  I very nearly lost my way and crossed into the "no-go" zone, but I yanked myself back in time and thank heavens Luke kept going forward!!  We got our very FIRST Q in open chances.  I don't know if I'm in a hurry to move up to elite in chances yet, though -- there were some wicked distance lines in elite this weekend!!! It's a bit odd to end the day running regular, but I hoped that Luke would be nicely settled and maybe slow down a little.  Nope, not yet!  Actually, the first run was pretty nice.  He listened well and he got the a-frame twice on course, but he jumped the darn dog walk again.  So again, a 10 point penalty. Regular 2 was the seventh run of the day and the 14th of the weekend.  There was a news crew on hand (which probably affected ME!) and Luke was just *done*.  He totally took off at the start, blasted the first jump down, flew sideways off the frame (basically in to me), absolutely did not want to complete his weaves (got through 10 three times before I gave up), etc.  The POSTIVE note to this class is that he GOT THE DOG WALK.  I called him to wait right before he got on it and we *walked* over the dog walk together.  He crept slowly, inch by inch, into the contact zone and then I released him.  I probably should have just ended the run right there and gone nuts with him, but the last obstacles were just a few jumps and a tunnel and I thought he might enjoy that more. There was still quite a bit of the trial left, so he got to rest in his crate while I worked the remaining classes.  We got out at a very reasonable 2:45 and just crashed the rest of the day.  We're both beat today, but tonight is the first night of our competition agility class at the dog center.  It's been so long since we've taken a class and I'm really looking forward to it -- just not immediately following a trial! I have to e-mail the Crystal Lake trial secretary today to inform her of our move-ups.  Luke will be running elite in every class but chances and touch and go!  We haven't even hit our one-year anniversary of trialing yet.  I am so proud of my dog!! Posted Mar 03 2008, 01:04 PM by KarissaKS with 3 comment(s)