training updates

Piper is doing really well in her new class.... our biggest challenges are 1) keeping her nose off the ground and 2) stay. We're working on NOT having her sit unless she's in the heel position... She's well loved by her instructor :) She's doing great. There is a puppy match (conformation) at the local conformation training facility, so I think we'll be entering... Couldn't hurt. :) From there, we're entering the shows at the fairgrounds (I think entries close tomorrow - show is the weekend after SoCal) and then the Fiesta Cluster in March... April has shows in Tucson, then no shows till June in Flagstaff.

Sedona realized last week that training was FUN... she's excited to go tonight, already! She's a good dog, tho she does sit and think "what is the purpose of doing this". If she doesn't see a purpose, I have to work harder! LOL She will sit and STARE at the other agility field... I think that's where she LONGS to be....

Now that Chance is finished, we are going to try our hand at Rally this spring I think. I think he should be able to earn a Rally Novice title fairly easily. He did a walk through of a course the night he earned his CGC and he did great!

Kota will start back in Rally to get those last two legs for his Rally Excellent title... after that, we MIGHT go for an RAE... we'll see ;-) I started Kota on Glucosamine today... I'm going to see if that helps his leg any...

Lots of dog goals for the next year... we'll see how close we come to reaching them! :)

"why are you doing this to me?"

That is the look I got from Sedona on more than one occasion tonight. I took her to her first training class since she was a puppy... she did NOT understand why I was asking so much of her. The most that's been asked of her is to stand stay, and to look cute.... oh yea, and to move her cute little fanny off the pillow! She's lived a pretty charmed life. I hope next week she's a little more into it... At one point she put her head down and sulked. Literally sulked. Spoiled little princess dog. LOL

Big baby.

She did well though - heels better than any dog I've had and sits (when she wants) super quick. towards the end, she was understanding 'front' and 'swing' and 'around'. She'll be able to do a Rally Novice course without any hitches whenever I choose to get her out. :)

I saw a flier for some local obedience matches holding Rally that I think I might just enter the kids in, if money allows. :)

Piper is movin' on up!

Piper is officially a graduate of Pre-Sports Puppy.... she has been invited to move on to:

Intermediate Training and Introduction to Agility 2
(Prerequisite: Pre-Sports Puppy Foundation or Basic Training/Agility 1 or equivalent with instructors approval)
Dogs and handlers continue their training by learning more advanced, off leash exercises with the goal of attaining the Canine Good Citizenship certification from AKC. The safe introduction to agility obstacles and jumping is fun, and helps handlers determine if they want to continue on to more serious agility training.

I can't believe she's going into a 'big dog' class. We did some off leash work tonight and she did pretty good for a 5 month old goon.

She's getting bossier and pushier with Chance lately - maybe some hormones kicking in? Trying to knock him down a few notches?? ;-) Who knows... :)

She's SUPER easy to train and work with... she's SUPER enthusiastic (most of the time) and is always good for getting the class to crack up at least once ;-)

Loving this little terd... she's a good little terd... :)

the ultimate compliment....

"if all Corgis were like Piper, I would get one in a second" - Anita

Piper is just SO good. She's one of 2 dogs (the other being a minpin) who don't think twice about going through the weaves (wide) straight through. She goes up and down the A-frame like she owns it, through the tunnels, checks out every obstacle put before her without a flinch. She sits, she stays, she downs. She can even sit stay OFF LEASH from a distance. Not for a Long time, mind you, but for 10 seconds or so... which in my book is DANG impressive for a 5 month old baby.

Anita loves Piper. She's made that crystal clear. :) I think she's pretty darned special (most of the time *grin*) too!

Something tells me that Piper thinks I'm pretty special too, which is nice... :) mama's girl, this one... :)

School has had me so busy (both work school and school school) that I haven't taken many pictures of the fur kids... I will make up for it soon, I promise.

Puppy Kindergarten Star

Anita, our puppy class instructor (and the instructor I started training with when I started working Kota here) fell in LOVE with Piper! She was always giggling at Piper doing ANYTHING. She even threatened to pup-nap her ;-)

The class is going to be really cool. We're working on basic manners, attending, sit, stand, and she even introduces the puppies to walking through ladders (made of pvc) and low low a-frames.

Because I had gone to classes with Anita before, she asked me to demonstrate many of the things in class for the others - despite my having the youngest puppy in the class (by quite a bit). We have a Miniature Pinscher who is 5 months old, a Border Collie who is 5 months old, and a Golden Retreiver who is almost 6 months old. Then there's little Piper at a tender 13 weeks old :)

They learned about targets tonight too, and Piper thought that was the BEST. THING. EVER!
She picked up on "touch the target, get a treat" REALLY fast. She transfered it from the paper plate target to my hand on the first try... can you say "Will Work For Food?":)

Nothing phases this puppy, and she's loving everything... she might even be an agility star in the making - showing no fear of the low little a-frames or tunnel. :)

I expected she'd pass out after class.... HA. Nah, she's been rolling around with Chance and is currently chewing a stick she just brought in from outside... I think she'd live outside if she could. She especially likes the night time... she loves to chase the crickets!! Goofy kid. :)

this weekend (and the things I've done)

When I got mail (like USPS mail) from Mr. and Mrs. Tom Cannon I scratched my head.... "what could THIS be?"

Is this awesome or what?!? Thanks Tom and Carolyn!!!!! You guys rock! :) I love it! Now I have to clean the windows to find a place for it! :)

Since last weekend my camera has been an @$$hole, and I can't figure out why, so unfortunately I have to submit you folks to blurry photos....

Kota's hematoma has gotten bigger.... to the point where it is flopping his ear down. While cute on a puppy, it's NOT so cute on an almost 6 year old dog I was hoping to show in Veterans.... *sigh* So because it LOOKED like a puppy ear, I'm TREATING it like a puppy ear! LOL

Kota's not THRILLED about having his ear taped, but it's working, so I'm doing it. I'll do whatever it takes to not lose that ear if I can help it. If I do, I do.. but I'll do whatever I can to save it. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know...
He goes in on Monday to have it drained (to relieve some pressure) and I will be talking to the Dr about surgical options.

And since I've had 140 feet of PVC pipe in my back yard for .... oh gosh, I dunno how long... I finally got off my butt and bought the T-joints and end caps I needed to make agility jumps...


I got the plans from Instant Agility and it was SO easy! Tho because I'm working with 1 1/2" PVC piping, the stability bar ends up being ALMOST an 8 inch jump (which is what Kota has been jumping at class). I put marks for a 10" and 12" jump, but I need to find something to drill bigger holes in the pipe. My drill bits are too small :( for now this is fine - since the two younger dogs are just learning anyway, and Kota is comfortable jumping this height... Again, sorry about the blurry photos....

Here's Chancey trying out the new jump....

and Kota, excited to have one of his OWN now! :)

And Sedona - after having to learn what to do, gracefully hopped right over... I think she'll be a natural once she gets some training....

last night

Last night was a looong night. We didn't get home until 10pm, so I didn't blog about our night. Kota did better than EVER last night! I think the two agility playdates we had at Amy's house really did make a difference for Kota. He was more confident than ever, and it showed. :) He showed NO hesitation about the tunnel, which was a relief! :)

I talked to Cindy (the owner of the joint) about Chance... after Amy raving about how naturally talented he was, I decided I should talk to Cindy.. She said we can enter the Basic Obedience and Intro to Agility 1 class on Monday nights at 7pm. Chance has had NO formal training and is just learning sit and down, and can do a little bit of a stay.. He'll do anything I ask though, so I expect him to blow through this class. I'm really going to try and get creative and find a way to get him into class. Sedona would do well in the Intermediate class (where Kota started), but I will wait a session before putting her in. I told Cindy before long I will need a campsite at her place ;-)

Amy and I are talking about entering a local low key trail in March... *eek* :) No pressure, and low key... if nothing else, we'll do Jumpers, as he's cool with jumps. I think he MIGHT just have weaves by then tho ;-)

Anyway... time for me to head to work for our "100th day" celebration... We're launching balloons today with everyone's name on them. :) It'll be fun! :) I'll share pictures later today!

Have a great one, everyone!!

2 tired boys

Chance, Kota and I went to Amy's house again today and did some more agility practice.

Because at class, I can't just keep squeezing the weaves together closer and closer, I decided to try it at Amy's... Kota kept going through each time, without a thought! I can't wait to get him to the point of actually working weaves in a straight line!! :)

Chancey understands "jump" and "teeter" and "tunnel" now, and is just starting to get "weave" (in big open weaves). I really think he wants to do it! He looooves to please me, so that's a big help.

Speaking of pleasing, Zoe, Amy's BC, was SO much fun! Amy asked me to try a few things with Zoe, so she and I hung out in the yard for a bit. I started her at the tunnel, took her over two jumps, did the teeter and back through the tunnel and 2 jumps. She was AMAZING to work! SO willing to please and OH MY GOD fast! I'll stick with Corgi's, thanks! :) Kota is a turtle in comparison! :)

Actual class is on Thursday... we'll see if anything we've been practicing gets any better at class... :) Let's hope so :)

Foundations - week 2

Tonight Kota didn't "peeter" out like he did last week... he did really well actually and was a typical food mongering Corgi :)

We started out on the table, did a jump, tire, three more jumps and then back to the table. I was pleased with Kota... especially given the fact that he had no experience with the tire before tonight! Then we did that sequence onto the table, then thru the tunnel and back to the table. Kota was weird with the tunnel last week, but did it like a pro this week! yay!

on to the A frame, which Kota loves! No problems there.

then the dog walk... which again, he loves.

then the teeter, which he has no fear of. I'm training "spot" since he'd just charge through it like gangbusters otherwise... he's a superhero, ya know :)

We worked on jumps again, but this time with wings... Kota did NOT care for the wings. They totally threw him off. He got it, but it's not a light bulb moment quite yet... more like a dim night light ;-)

We ended doing wide tunnel weaves, which Kota breezes through now.

I'm super pleased with his performance tonight, but I think it's going to be harder for ME than it will be for him to learn! LOL I can see why this is addicting now ;-) We're having fun, and I can't wait to put a whole series together.... tho holy COW will I die at the end!!! LOL

SO in his element

We walked up to class tonight, and Kota's tail didn't stop wagging for the first ten minutes! I've not seen him SO excited in .... gosh, I don't know how long! He was a bit of a space case tonight, but he wasn't the only one. :) He finally *got* the weave poles, learned that he can jog on the dog walk, scramble up the A-frame, and jump like a fiend :) His (and my) biggest issue right now is retraining the hand signal for "down". He looks at me like I'm a nut case when I lift my hand into the air! LOL
In the end, when the majority of the dogs had left, I let him go through the (wide) weave poles, up the dog walk, onto the A-frame, over a jump, onto the table, over another jump and through the tunnel ALL OFF LEASH. He had THE BEST time! :)
He won't be fast on the agility course like Zoey, but he'll have a great time doing it :) That's all that matters to me! And now..... for me to drop some of this extra jiggly stuff so I can run easier with him! :) Another fun night at obedience/agility :) Yay for Kota! I can't wait to get the other two going now :)

not just a cheerleader anymore....

Kota and I started our Obedience/Agility class tonight and Oh My Gosh did we have fun! It ended up being an hour and a half long class cuz we ran long (and were informed that we'll almost always run long), but Kota did SO well and we both had a GREAT time! I had forgotten how much I enjoyed training him! :)

At the end of the class, the instructor asked me "where did you train?" When I told her we hadn't trained formally in a good number of years, she only had great things to say about Kota... how well he did, how great we did as a team, and how she couldn't wait to watch us grow... it was SO nice to hear good things about my dog.

Keep in mind, the last time I went to a class like this was when Ollie and I were asked to "please" not return. *sigh*

Kota experienced the dog walk, the A frame, weave poles, a tunnel and (low) jumps tonight, and handled them all with great finese and excitement. I can't wait to really challenge him! He's SO smart and will work hard for me... I can't wait till we can run an agility course together!

Kota now has a job, and now *I* have something too, that will get ME active as well! :)

It's past my bedtime now though, and I'm still wound up... :( THIS will be the only problem ;-)

Rally day...

Kota and I headed 35 minutes south to Casa Grande for the Rally trials. It was his first attempt at Excellent, and still, we've never had training... My biggest concern was the Honor exercise, which in retrospect was the LEAST of my problems ;-)

The first attempt was..... ok. His nose was plastered to the ground before going in the ring, so I wasn't sure what to expect.... he did *OK* all things considered... his heel isn't "perfect", but MUCH better than it was when we were in Advanced... the biggest problems were mainly ME, but he did refuse to do the "back" exercise staying in the heel position. Upon leaving the ring, the judge told me what was wrong with our performance... too much verbal stuff, tapping of the legs and I clapped to get his attention... and of course the "he needs to practice the "back" exercise" "yes, I agree, and thank you" I said as I left the ring knowing we didn't Q. BUT since we had several hours till our next performance, we focused on heeling better and that blasted "back" exercise. Oh, and we took the opportunity to take some photos ;-)

He's so darned photogenic... and such a good good boy :)

Happy Happy Kota dog :)

And I think this is my favorite.... kinda cool :)

So then we went back to the car, I watched the rest of a movie (brought the portable DVD player since I knew I'd have time ;-) ) and caught some z's :) Before going back in the ring, I went to see what the scores were from our 1st run, and I found that NONE of the three dogs entered in Excellent A qualified... and to top it off, Kota and I had the best time! :)

We went back in to the building, practiced some, rested some and went back in the ring. His heel wasn't as good, and I had given a lot of verbal encouragement, but I made sure not to tap my leg, clap my hands or anything else "forbidden" :) And to make me even happier, HE DID THE BACK EXERCISE! :) He was weird in the ring, but in the end, we did all of the exercises and I felt ok about it. Worst case was that we NQ'd again... we had fun ;-)

We checked the scores and we QUALIFIED!!!!! And not only did we qualify, but we got SECOND place.

It was a good day for Kota and I... I think we needed it :) A bonding day without the kids :) In the process, I met a lady who does rally, obedience and agility training not too far from me, who is willing to work with me and my crappy schedule so I can get Kota better trained. I think with some real training, this dog could do all those things I wanted to do (get his CD etc). once we get through the Beginning Obedience/Agility course, we'll focus more on agility as I think he'd LOVE it, and I promised Trooper (rest his soul) that Kota would make him proud in the agility ring, since I knew how much Troop loved agility... Now we'll be on our way :) I'll also enter the other two in classes with Cindy too, since I think they can at the very least, earn Rally titles :) Its fun and SO not stressful :)

So overall, we had an ok day :) The bonding was well worth it :) Now we're a third of the way to our RE :) I love this dog so much.... and I could never thank Carolyn enough for convincing me I needed him :) Words will never be able to do how i feel about him any justice....