Epiphany on Teamwork w/ My Dogs

Epiphany(s) Regarding My Doggy Partnerships

A few weeks ago I was running Spot in a trial on a very fast Jumpers course. Ahead was an off-course tunnel and to the right, but not immediately obvious, was the correct weave obstacle.

As Spot and I approached the intersection of obstacles I began my usual weave alert drill which is to say 'weave' early, stop my motion, allow him to load and then off I go while he performs the obstacle independently.

As was expected for the course design, Spot didn't immediately see the weaves (but a glance at his head told me he did see the tunnel), so I held my ground, didn't move from my well-placed position and just kept saying "weave, weave, weave, weave, weave" until he successfully found and loaded into the poles, just as I had trained him to do.

Epiphany No. 1 Well, I wasn't surprised IN his abilities, but I was amazed at how much faith & trust I had in him. When I think back on the moment, I knew that he'd be able to accomplish the task (years of repetition had taught me this) and just like in training, I needed to give him room to figure it out for himself and to own that part of our teamwork.

Epiphany No. 2 was that at some point in our Agility Relationship, my role had moved from Mentor to Leader and Spot's role had moved from Trainee to Right-Hand-Man.

This is interesting because with my young dogs, I'm in the Mentor Role (where successful skill repetitions in varying situations is the goal) and will be for several years. After all, the kind of effortless partnership Spot and I have doesn't evolve overnight, but it did successfully develop over years, just like it did with Pinky. Our team work is equivalent to that comfortable pair of shoes you automatically reach for and know you can count on for a sense of security, comfort and fit. Sometimes we just forget that those comfy pair of shoes started out a little stiff.

Our Current Training Plan: These days I don't practice with Spot and coincidentally when Pinky was older, it was the same way. We don't train at home (at all), we don't take classes and yes, these days we simply show up at trials. I just want to say one more time that the early years of learning, training & repetition has made this possible. I also knew I'd hit this point when:

Epiphany No. 3 These days, when I enter that ring with Spot, there are several things I am absolutely confident about.

1. We are a team
2. I am confident that my dog knows his job
3. I trust him to perform his part (because I've trained it, proofed it, was consistent and thanks to prior repetition, it's ingrained for both of us)
4. I clearly understand both of our factual strengths & weaknesses
5. I know that my job on the team is to have a solid plan the moment we step into the ring
6. We will be successful, whatever success means at the moment, and
7. We are a team (yes, I intentionally added this in twice )

Without having the items above, going into the ring is the equivalent to a gambling crap shoot that always favors the house. I wouldn't take such a high risk using my hard earned cash so why would I gamble my dog's experience with me, our time AND my entry money with such poor odds?

As I mentioned previously, to get to that final stage that Spot and I are in, there was a period of evolution that lasted years. Some things to keep in mind during this phase are:

1. You & your dog are going to have periods of time and/or age appropriate skills. For example, a 16 week old puppy isn't capable of the mental challenges of an Excellent style course and a dog who has been trained in Agility for only 2 weeks isn't going to have perfect weave poles. These are natural progression phases that cannot be skipped by any team - no exceptions. Right now you're thinking "Dah!" but what makes this phase such a challenge is that every dog is different and there are no visible mile markers to tell you "Now entering 'I forgot all you taught me stage'" or "Now leaving puppy zoomey zone". We enter this phase blindly and we're continuously surprised by things as both ourselves and our dogs are developing.
2. You should always be building toward a working relationship with your dog. Let me guess, another "Dah" moment . But remember that my definition of a working relationship is closely tied with the words 'team' or 'partner' and not words like 'dictator'. I am a firm believer in creating a thinking dog versus a robot who requires me to make all of the decisions and be in charge of every portion of our interactions. I do this because on an Agility Course and in life, I need my dog to make smart decisions for themselves. I cannot be everything to everyone/dog, so why adopt that falsehood when it comes to my dog? This is where:
3. Teaching skills creates a common ground for my dog and I to communicate around and it reinforces my expectations and smart decisions.
4. There are moments when time with my dogs is about the skill and moments when it's about the relationship, but you can never have one without the other. I'm not trying to speak in riddles here, but the truth is that if you fail to have a relationship with your dog, you're not going to be successful teaching skills and vice versa, if your dog is lacking in skills, you're lacking the type of relationship that allows you to reach Epiphany No 3.

There are a lot of deep thoughts here for everyone to digest and it has taken me years to develop and put these philosophical dog training beliefs on paper! I look forward to any questions since this is just the tip of the iceberg : )

Dogs Enjoying Fall, Updates & New Electronic Timers

This year's fall leaves are just beautiful and make the perfect backdrop to take some updated doggy profile pictures. As usual, some of the dogs were more cooperative than others

I'll have to share Spot's picture in another post since I'm limited to 5 pictures per blog, but he's one who isn't fond of cameras. Rouge as well, (can't you tell by the not-so-thrilled look in the picture below). I'm certain she'd rather be running around : )

The Latest Updates

Being Sick: It's been a while since I wrote, but I have been so sick for the last 3 weeks. They're assuming it was the flu of some sort, but as time goes on and my symptoms continue to morph, I'm not so sure.

Ironically, last time I was sick (earlier this year) it also rolled on through a bunch of symptoms and I was convinced it was allergies. Humm....

Clicker Training a Horse: One of my friends/former students has a horse that she would like to clicker train. She didn't have a chance to clicker train (CT) her dog as he is deaf, so this will be a new experience for her.

For years now I've had an open invitation to go out with her to get some horse experience. And now to CT a horse? Yeah, I invited myself along and being the great pal that she is, she heartily embraced my attendance . I'll be sure to write about the experience as I have no doubt it will be amazing!

Seminar: Next weekend I'm out of town conducting an agility seminar, which I'm very excited about. I love doing seminars and there is so much going through my mind on all of the things we could cover. So many choices and only 8 hours to work with them : ) I'll be sure to do a post-seminar write up.

New Electronic Timers: This is a preliminary write-up on the new electronic timers we purchased. While ETs may not sound so exciting, these absolutely are!

First, they're made by a different company and are not your big and expensive trial timers. While those are great for the big events, they take a ton of batteries, require a car trunk for transportation and cost about the same as a used compact car (costs can range from $2,500-$6,000). In other words, not feasible for the average Agility Joe (Josephine) .

Our new timers were made by a different company, AgilityInMotion.com and were designed specifically for personal and class training. They are amazingly simple and a fraction of the cost. We opted for 2 sets (a start & finish set) which also comes with the main console for around $450 (without tax & shipping).

We just started using the timers last night at class and we're working to get a baseline on all of our students' dogs on each obstacle.

Specifically, we've started with the individual contact obstacles, different shaped tunnels and a couple of basic jump sequences. Next week we'll do weave poles and play with different style crosses.

The system is very easy to use, is small and the accuracy is spot on. Feedback from my students has been overwhelmingly positive not only on the system itself (they helped to put the timers in place at each jump height and read the console), but they LOVE the additional information obstacle timing has given to them. It has also brought out a bit of healthy competition among the groups so people are pushing harder, just like they would in a real trial. So many positives!

I doubt this is the last time you'll hear me write about this product (no, I'm not getting paid by the company), but I encourage each of you to check out the details at www.AgilityInMotion.com. Finally, someone came up with a timing alternative for us 'budget conscious' (yet quality minded) agility folks.

Courses, Del Valle CA Oct '09

I'm catching up on sharing courses on my blog from the trial this weekend for the Del Valle CA agility trial.

The only thing missing is Monday's courses and that's because we'll be running them tomorrow : )

In summary, the exhibitors have made the FAST class bonus section look like a piece of cake the entire weekend and have done a wonderful job on all of the courses.

It's been a very fun trial, although I was in bed early each night recuperating from being really sick last week.

Tomorrow is our last day and I really should be in bed....night everyone!

Are AKC Courses Too Easy?

Traveling throughout the country is great for keeping up with the pulse of Agility. Lately I've been hearing grumblings that some feel AKC Agility courses aren't challenging enough.

I've actually heard it a few times and it has really surprised me because: 1) the average percentage of qualifiers on any given course I've judged hasn't increased or decreased over the years (I'd have to say the skill set required & trained for has increased over the years) and 2) the average percentage of qualifiers on my courses hasn't been any higher in the regions I've heard this vs. other regions of the country.

However, after today's Excellent Standard course, I was curious...had I made a course that was too simple?

I'm always up for a bit of analyzing and a bit of feedback from the masses (okay, this is a direct hint that I'd LOVE to hear your feedback!) and with this in mind I broke down today's Excellent Standard course a bit differently.

The first picture of the course is the dog's path without any of the obstacles. When I saw this, I thought it looked like smooth, easy loops for the dog's path. Based on this, would you think the course was too easy for an AKC Excellent Standard course? I might be tempted to think so...

In the next picture, I added the obstacles to the dog's path for an enhanced view. Using this picture, the minimum 3 side switches required by AKC for Excellent are easily spotted. The first is somewhere between #3-5, the second between #11-13 and the third is between #16-18 (the exact place of the side-switch depends on the handler's choice of a front or rear-cross).

Additionally, 5 of the required minimum 9 off-course options (for AKC Excellent) can also be found in this view. These options are: 1) from #3 to the weave poles or teeter (#1 to the #4 jump does not count in Excellent since it is assumed handlers at this level have a stay at the start line), 2) #4 to the chute 3) #11 to #14 jump 4) #16 to the #9 table and 5) #17 to the #3 jump.

So, based on this second view, does your opinion of the difficulty level for this course change? Do you think it's easier, harder or about the same?

OK, the last view shows the entire course, which includes the remaining 4 off-course options which are the jumps after the chute and first tunnel as well as the off-course tunnel around the double jump.

Now that you've seen the entire course, does it change your opinion of the overall complexity? Do you think that this course is too easy, too hard or just right?

I look forward to everyone's comments.

As for my personal thoughts, well, I'm going to keep an open mind and watch the qualifying statistics before making any drastic changes to my designs. Heck, I love a good challenging course and a chance to show off and judge unique handling sequences, but I also love subtle challenges and a fast, smooth path for dogs.

In theory, as a judge I should be designing courses with the majority of handlers in mind and not gear challenges specifically toward the easy or the more challenging side. Realistically, I'm going to design courses geared toward my own personal enjoyment since I'm the one who has to stand there and watch what's happening (both good and bad!) up to 330 times! LOL

Any way, so do you think AKC Excellent courses are too easy, too hard or just enough to keep you challenged?

Fall Days

Today was an incredibly gorgeous day here in the Pacific Northwest. It started out chilly and the sun warmed things up quite nicely.

Surprise, surprise, the day revolved around the dogs! It started with Zulu herding sheep, Spot & Rouge going for a long walk in the woods (see the group shot attached) and with Rylee & Burton playing with their friend Sam in the yard.

In between all of that, Dan and I jumped out to the pumpkin patch to get apples for pie and pumpkins for carving.

I'm hoping tomorrow is just as beautiful as today. Check out the last picture which is along one of our walking routes.

The Pacific Northwest really is an amazingly beautiful place!

Tomorrow, is another day for the dogs : )

Catch-Up on the Last Several Days

On Sunday, the family went to Issaquah's Salmon Days, a local event of food, vendors and a chance to see the Salmon fight to get upstream to continue their population.

The fall day was beautiful and pictured here are several of the very large salmon going against the current. As you can see, they're BIG! But before you think 'easy fishing for filling the freezer', you need to know that by the time the Salmon reach this point in the fresh water of the stream, the meat isn't so good any more.

After we got home, Dan and I started a bonfire. We'd spent most of Saturday using our new 24' extension ladder to trim up a few trees. Most notably, the one that was immediately in back that seemed to never hesitate to share dried needles on our patio and on the roof. Every other day I'd have to hose down the patio or they'd be tracked into the house. Well, not any more!

At one point the bonfire was pretty large and pine needles go up FAST! Once the main work was done, we sat around the fire with a bottle of wine and enjoyed the crisp fall evening.

This morning Zulu went for his 2nd herding lesson. He did so good! He started off very nicely with some wide outruns and even added in a few counter clockwise circling (something he wasn't so keen to do last time). Where he understandably struggled was when asked/being taught to move forward toward the sheep in a straight line to move them.

Since I'm out there with him, I wasn't able to take pictures and I have to admit I was spectating a lot because it's so darned cool to watch!

I've had a ton of requests for updated pictures on Rouge, Zulu, Rylee & Burton. Today is a beautiful day and after lunch, I'll be working the dogs (client dogs & my dogs) well into the evening so I'll make a point to bring the camera with. Later, Rouge & Spot will be coming with for a walk in the woods and then I'll be here at home in the pasture working the crew individually on "stuff".

For all of my breeder friends, I'll try to give a more detailed log on each of the dogs later.

I'm off to eat!

Balancing Multiple Dogs (oh yes, and life too!)

Yeap, I'm now the mother of three young dogs!!!!

I have to admit, I'm VERY excited about each of them. This is going to sound so cliche, but each pup is unique, incredibly special and most importantly, they ALL touch my heart. I'm also lucky to have time for each of them because I don't have (nor plan to) have kids.

Three dogs in training works great for my life-style. I'm ALWAYS on the go and LOVE to multi-task - just ask anyone who knows me : )

However, I work very hard to give each dog individual attention and bonding time. A connection with each of them is so important to me. In this case, I follow my very own easy & sensible advice (that I give to my clients) and focus on the small, quality moments.

I want to share some of those personal moments (beyond training time) that are a part of our daily life. These small moments are special to me and I hope you'll enjoy them as well.

I may have mentioned this before, but experience with my old girl, Pinky, has taught me the power of a smile. Dalmatians are one of the few dogs who are capable of a smiling and over the years, Pinky & I have developed a bond where I smile at her and she smiles (a full-tooth grin) back at me. It is soooo amazing to get such a positive reaction to such a simple gesture of warmth & love. I am blessed to have been taught such an amazing lesson! Now, I smile at ALL of my dogs (individually) when I make eye contact with them. The pairing is a powerful message and I have no doubt they KNOW how very much I care about them and it offers them a clear window straight to my heart.

Next, I touch my dogs in a loving manner EVERY TIME I pass by them. I learned the power of touch from personal experience. For example, when my husband is passing by me in the kitchen and puts his hand on my back, it's a great mini-bonding moment and I feel a connection. I think my dogs feel the same way. As I'm passing by them (even if they're laying on the floor or a chair), I'll briefly touch their head in passing, give them a hug or stop, hold their head in my hands and plop a kiss on their forehead. I want my dogs to know that even if I'm busy, they're important to me.

One of our 'family' rituals is to start and end the day snuggling with our dogs. Again, we don't have kids so we have the time, energy and love to share.

The morning routine is the best! Dan leaves for work very early and so he feeds the dogs and then lets them all pile into bed with me until daylight. Just imagine 5-6 dogs snuggling together on one queen sized bed and I'm in the middle! It's very cozy and soooo hard to get up from. Once I wake up, the dogs each come up for their personal attention time where I massage their head, rub their bellies, play with them and cover them with TONS of kisses. They're all so happy, just love the time together and while waiting their turn, they play with each other. What a fun family moment and I just love starting my day this way!

At the end of the day when Dan and I are sitting in the livingroom, the dogs are there hanging with us. Some are with Dan on the couch and some are with me on my overstuffed chair & ottoman. Throughout the evening, the dogs will play with each other, snuggle with us/ amongst themselves or just hang and chew on their toys and bones. We're all there together and the love and happiness is easily felt throughout the room. It's relaxed, fun, cozy and interactive. In the winter, we have the fireplace lit and the Dalmatians are sure to be found inches from warmth!

During the day, it seems that even if I'm home, the dogs chose to spend the majority of the day sleeping! That works out great because they love to hang with me in the office or if the weather is nice, I leave the back door open and they come and go as they please since our yard is fully fenced.

One of the things I pride myself on is looking at each individual dog to see where they excel. For example, Spot is a GREAT traveler and I will often bring him with me when I travel (since Pinky is now too old for that). Zulu is full of energy so I've gotten him into herding (Rylee will soon follow) and Rouge is great company for when I go to the Agility arena to setup (I then work her afterward).

Lucky for me, I love to multi-task, have my hands in several pots at one time and my dogs allow me that luxury. I'll admit, my lifestyle isn't for everyone (okay, the majority of people would run away screaming), but it is so exhilarating for me! As my husband said to me this morning, "You always love a project." He's on to me...

I'd have to say that most of you are just as busy, but in different ways. Some of you are raising children (you are my hero!), some have amazing careers and some are living your dreams. Whatever it is, you too are busy! Remember, rather than scheduling time on a calendar, take just 1 minute at a time to create a quality moment for you and your beloved pet. You'll be amazed at how easy and how successful you'll find it is.

Lisa

The Crack In the Cosmic Egg

Driving straight to the heart of what's on my mind...People. As a disclaimer, this has nothing to do with the dog world, so don't fret my doggy friends!

Today's Blog is a tribute to a book I read in college called "The Crack In The Cosmic Egg". The book's overall theme is that nothing is what it seems and I've often used this book as my scientific theory to explain misc. stuff in life.

For me, dogs are relatively simple. People on the other hand have the capability of being a bit more sly. I don't think they intend to be, but it just happens given the right scenario. (This is the point where I top off my wine glass because deep thoughts are ahead).

OK, just like dogs, people do things (generally) as a result of lessons learned from association. For example, people lie because they're afraid of consequences, they're trying to avoid responsibility, they don't want to feel out of control or they're simply insecure or lack a morale compass. Oh heck there is an entire host of potential reasons that only a trained professional can fathom.

The Crack in MY Cosmic Egg came today when I unveiled, a situation where someone was distorting the truth by omission. Some would try to argue that person didn't actually tell a lie, but we're all adults and no matter how one tries to sugar coat it, a failure to state the facts or clarify them, still results in a lack of trust (and yes, it's still a lie).

I can't help but think What the heck? Why try to hide a situation that impacts me? Ugh, now the situation is in crisis mode! I could get stuck on these questions, but once the initial feelings are dealt with, this is where The Crack In the Cosmic Egg theory has done me some good.

First, it reminds me that change is inevitable. Second, I avoid blame by remembering that when dealing with any living entity, the variables are countless and will change unexpectedly - and there is no way to foresee every pitfall or blessing that's going to come our way. Just when we think we understand someone or something, evolution/genetics and other unforeseen influences (like learned association) suddenly emerge like a clown from a wind-up box. Sometimes the clown makes us smile and other times that weirdo-clown scares the daylights out of us!

So while I'm not happy about being lied to, for the moment, I'm fairly content to place this situation in the temporary box I call The Crack in the Cosmic Egg. For me, it's a little easier to comprehend vs. the "Sh*t Happens" theory.

Just to be clear, once I'm through my surprise crisis situation, I'll be coming back around to get some more solid answers on the situation. After all, lying, even by simple omission is NOT acceptable...

Introducing...Rylee!

Well, I think it's time to announce that Dan and I have another new member to our household...Rylee the Terv is staying : )

She's a beautiful and sweet girl who fits into our household well. Additionally, she is a great worker and I've been training her in Agility for the last several months. As of this weekend, I'll be co-owning her and honestly, I'm very excited!

The first picture shows her presence, while the second picture doesn't do her justice (it's taken with my camera phone and the stupid flash I can't turn off), but it does show how well she fits into our pack of pups.

Ru (the Dal) is the future pack leader (besides me of course...LOL) of our household and she is a very nurturing and loving girl, just like Riley, so it's nice to see them spending quality time together at the end of a fun day of playing.

We've got 4 young dogs in the household and I have to admit on one hand, it's a challenge and on the other, it's simply developing another dog in the line-up of training and loving. By this I mean my 4 youngsters are soooo similar, it's almost weird! Of course this means if I screw up one, I'll screw up 4 of 'em!!!! Yeah, no pressure there...

Luckily, my puppy classes have given me a great deal of confidence as I feel I've found a great rhythm in teaching the basics and the feed back from my students has been incredibly positive.

Welcome Rylee! : )

Class Course - Sept 30 & Oct 1, 2009

For the record, I'm in denial that it's now officially October! The dogs are all loving the crisp days & evenings, but I'm not yet prepared to say good buy to summer.

Before I talk about this week's class course, I want to mention how proud I am of the puppies in my Agility Puppy Class. They are doing soooo good and it's really been so much fun to watch them come together and learn the basics. I've used a different format for this class and I have to say I just love it. It puts quite a bit of responsibility on the handlers, but also keeps them learning with new challenges while going back and self-reviewing other items. I have no doubt they're going to be superstars!

OK, on to this week's course as it relates to my competition folks. A few surprise lessons came out after I'd set the course and we started to get into the nitty-gritty details on some of the sequences. I'll admit, they were even a surprise to me.

First, everyone nailed #1-6 so I thought it would be a great time to shake things up a bit and challenged them to do a blind cross between #3 & #4. That meant folks needed to leave their dog at the teeter and be on the right side of #3. I chose to do this for a couple of reasons. First, people tend to hover around the teeter and in theory, their dogs should be able to do this obstacle independently at this stage in the game. Second, anybody can do either a front cross or a rear cross somewhere between #3-6 and I want my students to be more than just somebody!

I was frank and told them I didn't know how it was going to work, but in theory, if they did it 'this way' (and showed them), the results would be successful. I have to admit, watching them execute the challenge was far better than I could have expected and it was beautiful, especially for the very fast dogs and not so fast handlers.

The next sequence, #7-12 requires the handler to run the entire length of the arena while being ahead of the dog for as long as possible in order to get down to support a push to the weaves. Surprisingly, we used another blind cross on the take-off/landing side of the #7 jump. By foregoing the front cross, it saved handlers a few extra steps that were needed to get down the entire line of obstacles without the dog curling in.

Another benefit to the blind cross, it forced handlers to trust the training they've done with their dogs.

Next, handlers utilized a post turn for #13 &14 and a send from the landing side of #16 - #18.

I have to admit, this was a unique set of skills on this course and they worked great!

Courses, Hollywood Dog Obed. Club - 9/27/2009

Before I reveal today's courses, I want to give a hearty THANK YOU to the Hollywood Dog Obedience Club & it's wonderful exhibitors. You guys were all an absolute blast to hang out with.

There was only 1 issue semi-worth mentioning & I bring it up simply as an fyi/lesson for all.

The issue had to do with an exhibitor who was not thrilled with their dog's VMO measurement. No problem, I can understand their concern when a dog measures up, but as I indicated, they would have an opportunity to receive a 3rd tie-breaker measurement - no big deal.

However, the issue accelerated when the exhibitor turned their back to me during the conversation and continued to verbally express their displeasure amongst a crowd of people.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I certainly don't expect everyone to agree with me. However, how you handle your disagreement is what counts and that's the point I'd like to make. There's no need to be disrespectful and in this case, verbalizing in a passive-aggressive manner to a crowd is poor sportsmanship.

As one of the witness exhibitors said to me "I'm so impressed with how you held your ground and wasn't intimidated by their poor behavior." The truth is, judges are NOT out there to screw people. While most exhibitors realize that, there are the select few who chose to take everything as a personal assault. Bottom line, if you don't agree with the judge, the issue is NOT up for debate, negotiation, commentary or criticism and emotions & knee-jerk reactions need to be avoided as they're comparable to a two-year old sticking their tongue out at an adult.

Learn from others' bad behavior and just don't go their.

OK, onto the Excellent Standard course.

On paper, this looked a bit wicked in a few places, specifically the #12 jump to the a-frame. However, I LOVED how it ran and the #10 - #13 sequence was my absolute favorite. But before I jump ahead of myself, let me back up a bit.

Sequence #4-6 was a straight line and except for just a few dogs, there were no off-courses. The larger challenge turned out to be the push-out to the #10 jump. Several handlers pushed out and then pulled back too early, causing a refusal at this jump.

Now on to my favorite section....I just loved the slalom-like maneuvering dogs did from #10 - #13. First it was the left turn to #10 & #11, then the right turn to #12, then the left turn to #13. This portion really highlighted the dog's athletic ability and kept both the handier and dog engaged. For me personally, it was very fun to watch.

The last sequence, #15 - #18 was handled quite nicely with no real surprises. Handlers were great at holding their ground after the chute to ensure the dogs would come in to them and stop their forward momentum toward the off-course jump. This group made it look easy!

Thanks again for another wonderful weekend.

I'm so glad to say that I caught an early flight home and won't be traveling until mid-October. I miss my home, husband and dogs, so this will be a nice break from the frequent flyer marathon I've been on this last month.

Oh, the only other noteworthy item was that the guy next to me on the airplane started talking about how he didn't enjoy sex with his x-wife and how his new wife was 'Wow!'. I couldn't even begin to tell you how that subject came up, but I'm getting really good at redirecting conversations back into 'safe territory'. Well, as the country song says 'God is great, Beer is good and people are crazy....'

Courses, Hollywood Dog Obed. Club - 9/26/2009

Today I was successful in staying out of the very hot sun the majority of the day, but I was a tad bit worried about the Standard judge. It had to be 115+ in the sun, but she did hold up. Standard, with no shade, had to have been brutal.

Today I had jumpers and started off the day with Excellent. The course flow was terrific for the dogs with it's big loops and handlers looked very comfortable with the increasing dog speed as the course continued.

Obstacles #7 - #14 was a NASCAR race track for the dogs with a bit of collection and a side switch between #14 & #15. Ironically, this sequence was very similar to a challenge on yesterday's Standard course (not done intentionally), although in this case, the dog's path & momentum made the sequence much smoother.

I drew in red the path the majority of handlers did, which was a rear cross on the landing side of #14 so that the dog was on their right side going over jump #15.

The last line of jumps was a straight run to the end and the dogs seemed to really enjoy it.

I've also added my Open & Novice JWW course as the nesting was nice while still keeping the appropriate amount of challenges.

On other news, the club and handlers have been very supportive, nice and helpful. The other judge and I have worked hard (thanks to the effort of the ring crew and exhibitors) to move through the trial in a systematic order so that no dog or person was left sitting in the sun. Lots of folks are helping out when they can and it's been pleasant.

We go back in a bit for an evening BBQ and I'm looking forward to it. I heard the film crew for the Mentalist was briefly back again today so I'm still hopeful to run into Simon!

Although, I can't understand why he hasn't stop by to say "hi"?!?!?

I Guess being an AKC Agility judge doesn't have much pull here in the Hollywood area .

Ah, a girl can dream though....

Courses, Hollywood Dog Obed. Club - 9/25/2009

I'm down in Southern California and it is very dry and HOT at 105 degrees. Lucky for me, my judging path was a saunter and not a marathon.

Some of the local exhibitors were starting a pool as to which judge would cave first from heat exhaustion. Apparently it's not uncommon for judge's to go back to the hotel with heat stroke.

Well I'll tell you, I'm feeling ill. But not from heat stroke...I ate way too much at the Cheesecake Factory. It was so good, I just couldn't stop!

Back to agility....Today I judged Excellent Standard and you'll notice #2-5 is similar to last week's NC course, however the rest has an entirely different feel.

Often times when I come into an area to judge, the local handling flare comes out. That was the case today as handlers maneuvered obstacles #6-8. I'll admit, my thought on how handlers would negotiate this sequence was different than what actually occurred.

In the diagram, I've got the handler's path in red and the general dog's path in green. Let's talk about the handler first.

I'd guess that 90% of the handlers did a front cross on the landing side of #6 and then added a rear cross on the take-off side of #7. Unfortunately, as you can see from the dog's path, most dogs either went to the right on landing after #7 or they had to do a hard adjustment to turn toward the left toward #8.

When I had designed this course, I had imagined handlers would treat this sequence either as a pinwheel where they kept the dog on the right (and possibly adding a front cross on the landing side of #7/take-off side of #8) or by doing a post turn over #7 so that handlers could stay on the left side down to the a-frame.

The area that most impressed me was #13 - #18 and the speed and distance handlers had. They were able to make this look smooth.

OK, on to other non-agility news. Before we began the agility trial, there was a film crew out at the park where we were filming an episode of the Mentalist. Ah, I just love that show! As I said to a few friends, I'm not a star chaser, but the thought of seeing Simon's smile 'live' had me rubber necking in hopes of spying him. Unfortunately no luck, but it was fun to be in the same place.

Tomorrow is jumpers and I'm hoping my judge's path is in the shade. Could I be so lucky? After judging, the club is doing a BBQ and Croquet is on the agenda as well. Ah, anyone know how to play????

Heart...

With a title like Heart, I'll bet you're expecting a flowery inspirational message. Well, not today ladies & gents!

Today's blog is about the rock band Heart!

As you can see by the pictures (from my camera phone), I spent last night at the State Fair which featured Heart as the entertainment for the evening. Heart is from Seattle so it wasn't surprising that the show was sold out and the crowd was hyped.

One of the best things about being an adult is going back and doing things you didn't get to do as a kid. Seeing Heart, a band whose music I grew up with, happens to be one of those things. As some rockers age, they loose their edge....

So are you wondering if Heart is among them? Well, let me just say the concert was AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING!!!

Ann's voice is soul gripping and she made the notes sound effortless. Seriously, I left the concert certain I could belt 'em out as graceful & powerful as she did! Lucky for everyone, I got over that euphoria quickly before I foolishly acted on that pipe dream .

I've been to dozens of concerts and shows in my lifetime. Everything from musicals, symphonies and opera up through country, heading into cult bands like the Grateful Dead and into rock bands such as the Police, Def Leppard, Bon Jovi and Motley Crew (to name just a few).

What makes a concert or show so amazing is when you feel the energy and mood as if you were hearing it fresh and for the first time. It's captivating and takes you out of reality (without the use of drugs - a slight poke at the Grateful Dead followers of the old days ).

In this case, I've listened to Heart's music for decades and have always enjoyed it. Last night, I got to live it with the artists and watch it come alive on stage. I could actually feel the power of Ann's voice from within myself. It was easy to be carried away into feeling the connection through their music.

Beyond Ann's soulful sound, credit also needs to be given to the musicians creating the beat, complimenting the mood and bringing the sound alive with their exceptional talent. This is a solid band whose sound can only be described as 3-D because it has so much dimension.

Nancy's guitar talent is beyond impressive and her voice is beautiful as well. An added addition to their line-up of guitarists was a gentleman from Alice in Chains, a rock band with a bit of an edge.

I have to say, if you EVER have a chance to see Heart in concert, do NOT pass it up. I'm off to go dig up my old Heart CD's to download onto my ipod...maybe I'll try out those high notes while nobody is home

Courses, Ashville, NC - 9/20/2009

Yesterday ended my fun-filled assignment in NC. The trial was great, but the travel back home was a bit adventurous - that story at the end.

But first, I'm going to start off with Excellent JWW. It was interesting how many people said the course was fun, but also hard. When I asked for more detail from one person, they specifically pointed out the beginning sequence.

I find that interesting because some did struggle with it and others made it look like a piece of cake. After giving it some thought, I think those that struggled did so because they set up #1 & #2 as a straight line and expected their dog to turn tightly to the left. I suspect quite a few dogs were focusing on the weaves and weren't necessarily prepared for the turn. A bit of late handling or cues added to this as well.

As for the serpentine going down in the tunnel, handlers positioned themselves so they were either on the right side of the jumps (closer to the middle of the course) or on the left side (closer to the ring gating). After watching both, I really liked the handling of those who were on the left because it didn't require a push to the tunnel and actually put handlers in a better position to pick up and cue the dog for the next sequence.

The next part that was a challenge to handlers was the weave pole entrance. The dogs had plenty of space to get the entrance, however some handlers were rushing and kept running before their dogs had a chance to load in the poles. Quite a few handlers have clearly practiced their weave entrances and did an exceptional job.

Last, but not least, the off course tunnel entrance called to many dogs. Most handlers who succumbed to this challenge were driving forward from the weaves, over the jump and it wasn't until the dog landed and was already locked on to the tunnel before they began calling their dog's in.

Overall, it was a very fast course and it looked like a lot of fun to run!
Next we have Excellent Standard. Ironically, we had the same beginning as in Jumpers and several dogs missed the #3 jump.

The next challenge was the off course tunnel entrance and I was surprised as how many dogs shot in there! Some of the dogs just had to have that side of the tunnel and other times handlers turned in to face their dog (handler on the right, dog on the left) and pushed their dog into it.

The remainder of the course was pretty straight forward and fast!

Again, what a wonderful club!

OK, on to traveling news. I made it to the Ashville airport with hours to spare and unlike what the schedule said on-line, all of the flights at the airport were delayed by quite a bit of time. The entire day I had a feeling it was going to be this way so can't say I was surprised. As I was up at the counter and checking in, they canceled the last flight out, which of course was the one I was scheduled to be on. Long story short, there were no hotels (the state fair was in town) and I'd potentially be stuck for a few days as most of the upcoming flights were already sold out.

I figured the next best thing was to try to make my flight in Atlanta by getting a car and praying weather & traffic cooperated. Mapquest said it was a 3 hr 40 minute trip, which would put me at the airport at about 8:45 for a 9:30 flight. Tight, but do-able...

So off I travel via car. From North Carolina I traveled down through South Carolina and into Georgia. Nice highway, nice scenery and the speed limit is 70 mph - YES! As luck would have it, I was at the airport by 8:00 p.m. - plenty of time for my flight.

As I go to check-in, I find out they've given my seat away. Seems they'd overbooked my flight and thought the cancellation of the Asheville flight would be a great opportunity to take privileges and bump me, even though they said they wouldn't. So now the irony is that I had to go on stand-by to get my seat back! Lucky for me, flights were delayed throughout the airport and at least 10 people weren't able to make my original flight so a seat was available.

Times are fun in this modern day of air travel, but I'm happy to be home! Regardless of the travel adventure, the time spent with the club and exhibitors in North Carolina was worth it. Thanks for the fun time everyone!

As a side note, there have only been 2 times in my 10 years of traveling as a judge that I've almost gotten stuck in a city. Today I looked up the prior location to be sure I was remembering correctly (which I was) and wouldn't you know it, back in 2003 I almost got stuck in Ashville, NC due to mechanical issues!

Now that's weird....

Courses, Ashville, NC - 9/19/2009

In theory, this is going to be a short post because I'm tired and really need to get some sleep tonight. However, I have so many thoughts going through my mind, I'm not sure how the heck I'm going to do that!

As an overview, it was another incredible day in North Carolina. Great exhibitors, a wonderful club and an incredible BBQ dinner to top it off. Even more fun was all of the wonderful company, both judges, old friends and new friends as well!

I loved watching the dogs run my courses today and while I hate to sound like a broken record, the handlers really did a great job of working them.

My favorite course of the day was probably Excellent FAST. That's a bit of a surprise because I'm not a FAST fan. It's just my personal opinion, but the inconsistency in rules and the band-aid fixes over the last year have really turned me off on this class.

Even with all of the above said, I work hard to come up with unique Bonus challenges and try hard to put out a FAST course that makes handlers think by offering plenty of unique options. Today's fit the bill and I really enjoyed judging it. The Bonus had an option where one direction was worth more points than the other and the #10 obstacle was a two part obstacle that could be take in any direction. Again, lots of options out there and people were able to move around the course to get a ton of points.
My next favorite course was the Excellent JWW.

This was a fast course that offered up a few challenges that I'm not sure even I expected!

First, several dogs went running wide and went around the #3 jump. The main style of handling the opening sequence was either 1) by leading out, calling the dog over #1 & 2 with their left hand and then turning into the dog to present #3. Most dogs had trouble collecting for this option. 2) handlers did a front cross between #2 & 3.

In my opinion, the best place for a cross was at #4. Either as a rear cross or a front cross between #3 & #4.

The next challenge area was from #9 to #10. Surprisingly, the off course dummy jump called a handful of dogs. The other common error was that handlers were pulling up before #10 and the dog would curl into them and take the #11 jump backward. Overall, handlers smoked this course and were a ton of fun to watch as their speed increased throughout the course.

Last but not least was Excellent Standard. I liked how this course ran, but I wasn't able to watch the majority of the 20-24 & 26" dogs run it as a provisional judge stepped in to handle my overflow runs while I went off to do Jumpers.

The major issue the dogs I judged seemed to have was that they were leaving the descending side of the dog walk contact early to curl into the #3 tunnel. Of course this was at the prompting of their handler : )

As I mentioned, the courses today ran great...I'm officially off to bed. I'm so tired from all the fun! : )

Courses, Ashville, NC - 9/18/2009

So much to write about and so little time!

First, it's great to be back in this part of the country. The last time I was in NC was about 7 years ago and before that I was in Georgia about 5 years, so it's been way too long!

It's great to see old friends and to see how their dogs have progressed. There are several folks who when I last saw them, were in Novice. Now they're the experienced Excellent to beat. How time flies...

I also got to see a ton of the Dalmatian folks with their Dals, some of whom are relatives of my young spotted girl. Lots of good relations on this trip.

OK, on to the courses.

I started with Excellent Standard and from an observer's point of view, these guys did the course justice and I really liked how 'aggressive' several handlers went in the name of fast & efficient handling.

The strength out here is definitely pushing their dogs for speed and beautiful turns where the dog landed parallel to the jump, allowing for a solid acceleration.

The one place on course that got quite a few dogs was the triple jump. I noticed that the majority of handlers cued the triple and then immediately took-off for the teeter. This caused dogs to collect and/or check-in with their handler and earned knocked bars in this area.

Next came Excellent Jumpers.

First, I really liked this course. When laid out, it looked deceptively simple, and could easily be called a bunch of straight aways. However, that's exactly what proved to be the challenge on this course!

Overall, handlers managed all the way up through #13 without incident. However, #14 - #18 proved to be the difference between the 'big dogs' & the 'puppies'. In summary, if handlers weren't able to make it down to the landing side of #16, dogs were curling for the off course jump prior to #17.

Surprisingly, most handlers drove down to the end of the weave poles and after their dogs completed the weaves, did a front cross so they were on the left side of the row of jumps AND (this is the important part) right next to their dog. Handlers then found themselves in a foot race with their dog heading down the straight line of jumps and not surprising, the dog was passing their handler by jump #15 and was well ahead going over #16. This is where the off course jump presented itself as an option and many dogs took it.

The most successful approach to this sequence was executed by handlers whose dog had independent poles so that they could break away and do a front cross on the LANDING side of #14 so that they were well ahead of their dog in the straight line of jumps.

Last, but not least was Excellent FAST. I'm not sure what to say about this course. I like the send challenge, but am not sure they were ready for it here. This is a tougher challenge that I'd like to try somewhere in the heart of USDAA country and rather than with folks who are still getting used to the FAST game. However, I will say that handlers really tried to work this one out and gave it a ton of heart!

Well, I just got my phone call for dinner and I'm starving! I'm looking forward to 2 more days of agility play with everyone here.

Have a good night ya 'all.

Judging in North Carolina - Sept 2009

This weekend I'm at a three-day show in beautiful North Carolina.

As I type, I'm sitting on the front porch of my historic 'hotel' in a rocking chair, overlooking the beautiful lake you see pictured to the left. I'm listening to the frogs sing and the chatter of other mysterious night life chime in, while a light breeze moves across the water. It's so peaceful.

The land where my 'hotel' is and the surrounding small town is mainly owned and used as a religious retreat. With views like this, it's easy to understand why.

The second picture is of the front of my historic hotel. The rooms and facility are rather unique.

The rooms are more dorm style so they're smaller and basic, while the restaurant is served buffet style. My all-you-can-eat $7.50 dinner was REALLY good!

The lobby areas (yes, there is more than one) are very ornate and formal with Queen Ann style chairs and lots of floral and stripe prints. Oh and of course the rocking chairs on all of their porches are awesome!

On the drive up, I spied some neat buildings so after dinner I took a walk down the hill and into town. The town is very quaint and feels like one of those places where crime hasn't hit yet. No big city feel here and so different from my New York adventure last weekend!

The first place that caught my attention was the beautiful church along side the lake. The architecture and stone have an old quality about them and felt welcoming. When I walked up to the church, the doors were unlocked for visitors - another change from when Dan and I were in Springfield, MA and they had to keep the church doors locked due to vandalism.

One of the unifying features each of the buildings in the town has is the use of stone. Some have beautiful stone steps like the ones pictured, some have stone pillars, some have a foundation of stone and some have all of the above. Since the town is hilly, there are also stone walls cut into the hillside along the streets and sidewalks where needed.

Last but not least, I came across "Amen Corner" and found it fitting and funny. For those that don't know, Amen loosely means "So Be It". Having this sign at an intersection struck my religious funny-bone, maybe because whatever happens there (accident or a smooth transition) "So Be It" - almost like "Take Your Chances!".

Well, I'm off to bed to try to make myself sleepy in this new time zone. Check back tomorrow for courses.

Zulu's First Herding Adventure

Things have been busy the last few weeks, but my dogs haven't been neglected.

Today was Zulu's turn for an adventure and so we went for our very first herding lesson. I say 'we' because my prior job while Spot was herding was to be the person behind the camcorder videoing the event!

Today, Zulu and I took our chances together with the sheep and it was a BLAST! He's hooked, I'm hooked and another hobby begins.

Zulu had been around sheep very early in his puppy life and didn't show any interest. This is pretty common and doesn't necessarily mean that a dog won't 'turn on to sheep' later in life.

In the picture attached, Zulu was showing interest in the sheep at the Agility arena, although they're not dog savvy so they don't really give a darn about the dogs and so they don't move or run often. On the other hand, Zulu was showing a tremendous interest in the chickens when they were around so I knew there had to be some type of interest on his behalf.

We started off today by just letting Zulu hang around the area outside of the sheep pen so that he could explore and get a lay of the land. After a time, another herding Border Collie was brought out so that she could work the sheep while Zulu stayed outside. The idea was to see what type of interest he would show as the sheep went by.

Zulu was interested when the other Border Collie went out to the pasture, but as soon as the sheep passed by, he was immediately much more interested in them and let out a squeak of barks. My instructor laughed and informed me that he was now officially 'turned on to sheep' and we could move on to the next level which was going in with the sheep.

After initially being on leash with me, we let Zulu be free and I got to follow the instructor and the sheep while she worked Zulu. He did quite a bit of things nicely and it was really fun to see him work. He circles predominantly clockwise (I need to learn the herding term for that) and so I have homework to work him counter clockwise at home.

I admit, I had so much fun, even though I was just following in the sheep pack and watching my dog work. I was surprisingly comfortable around the sheep and have to thank my sheep friends for that (thanks Dave & Franna!). I've got a herding book I'd purchased quite a while ago and I think it's time to dust that off and read it again.

Zulu and I have another lesson in 3 weeks and I'm really looking forward to it!

New York, New York!

This past weekend I was judging in New Jersey, but was given a New York City tour by my pal and fellow judge, Scott Stock.

NYC is amazing and it reminds me so much of my hometown of Chicago. There is so much going on and culturally it's a hub that everyone should experience. While living in Seattle has certain advantages, unfortunately it hasn't evolved into a city that houses true diversity. NY has is that its roots in being the gateway to the United States where people from all walks of life have settled here over the last century.

During my NY tour, we took the subway (last picture shown) and stopped at Grand Central Station (2nd picture). There were at least a half dozen artists drawing from the very place I took this picture as the architecture is beautiful. Unfortunately my camera phone doesn't do it justice! For some more professional shots of Grand Central, here is a link: http://andrewprokos.com/photos/new-york/landmarks/grand-central-station/. We walked through Manhattan, down Park Place and up Broadway.

Next is a picture of Times Square which was busy, busy, busy! We passed the Ed Sullivan Theatre where David Letterman's studio is, the theatres on Broadway and saw the famous New Year's Eve ball. Since the date of my visit was 9/11, the city was preparing a special event to commemorate those who lost their lives in the twin towers.

One of the things I found amazing was how garbage pick up is handled. As we walked along the streets, there were bags out at the curb. Apparently everyone brings their garbage & recycling down each evening and the city picks it up in the early morning hours. Now this may sound icky, but surprisingly, each bag was piled nicely, there was no smell and the streets were clear of litter. There were garbage cans on every street corner for people to use and none of the cans were overflowing or filthy.

Another interesting thing is that in this park of NY, each sidewalk corner was made of a beautiful natural stone and not cement. I can understand how people think that the USA has streets paved with gold!

For dinner, we went to Little Italy, which is next to NY's China Town. We had an amazing Italian dinner and then stopped at an outside vendor for some cannoli's. Ah, how I miss having these delicious treats!

I just had to take a picture of all of the cannoli's so that I could fondly remember them...

Last but not least is a picture of the subway that I mentioned earlier.

As always, a great trip and a wonderful experience!