Some coursework and some weave work. We also worked her running dogwalk but I needed Sue to toss the reward so no video!
I am learning I can trust her and she is learning to be responsible for her obstacle performance. I can’t get over how awesome her attitude and work ethic are!
Some videos from today. Worked on some accel/decel work, weave entries, etc. She’s so much fun.
Alice’s first time in a two ring trial environment and she did great! Some zoomies, some slow runs, but overall really happy with where she’s at. Plus she earned her Open FAST Preferred title today!
Nina was Nina, every run is a blessing. Some almost Q’s.
Zhora was awesome, 5 for 6 with a triple Q today (QQ #102). Especially considering we had a huge ring conflict at the end of the day today and I basically ran Alice in Novice Standard and the other two girls in Mast Jumpers in a space of like 10 minutes. Two ring trials are so stressful when you have dogs in different levels.
Zhora Saturday Master FAST (Q, second place):
Alice Saturday Open FAST:
Alice Saturday Novice Jumpers (OMG I AM SO THRILLED WITH THIS RUN! I wish the start had been videoed, but holy moly I could really feel some mojo happening here!):
Zhora Saturday Standard (Q, first place, 3.72 YPS, 27 points):
Nina Saturday Standard (NQ):
Zhora Saturday Jumpers (NQ):
Nina Saturday Jumpers (NQ):
Alice Saturday Standard (NQ):
Zhora Sunday FAST (QQQ, third place):
Alice Sunday Open P FAST (Q and OFP title, zoomies but came back and worked and how about that distance?):
Alice Sunday Jumpers (NQ but weaves on first try! Focused = slow with this baby dog):
Zhora Sunday Standard (QQQ, third place, 3.723 YPS, 28 points):
Nina Sunday Standard (NQ):
Alice Sunday Standard (NQ but some good stuff):
Zhora Sunday JWW (QQQ, second place, just a few minutes after Alice’s Std run, 4.283 YPS, 15 points):
Nina Sunday JWW (NQ, handler error after the blind cross disconnect):
Judge Oksana Syrkin is a perennial favorite. Zhora earned her very first MACH under her after all, and she was the judge last November for my mini puppy reunion at which Nina earned her last QQ and then got really ill. So it’s fitting that Nina’s first Q whatsoever since then was today, under Oksana again! Nina’s been running great, and I put her in Preferred very recently to see if it helps her Q. Well today, she Q’d!
Zhora QQ’d yesterday but a stupid handler trick today cost her a double.
Alice ran WONDERFULLY yesterday, and picked up her second Novice P JWW Q. I am really happy with how she’s running, and I can tell you it was a huge relief to see her run fast and happy and drivey after she was so not-herself at the Anna Eifert seminar! She’s driving lines, taking distance (I think she actually prefers more distance than I’m used to).
Love my girls!
Nina Saturday Jumpers (NQ):
Zhora Saturday Jumpers (QQ # 101, second place in a BIG class, 21 points, 5.082 YPS):
Nina Saturday Standard (NQ)
Zhora Saturday Standard (QQ # 101, second place again in a BIG class, 32 points, 4.076 YPS):
Alice Saturday Standard (NQ but really happy with this run):
Alice Saturday Jumpers (NJP leg #2! Driving lines! Running fast!):
Nina Sunday Jumpers (NQ):
Zhora Sunday Jumpers (Q, second place, 19 points, 4.694 YPS):
Nina Sunday Standard (FIRST PACH POINTS! FIRST Q SINCE NOVEMBER! First place, 33 points, 3.704 YPS):
Zhora Sunday Standard (NQ):
Alice and I attended the Anna Eifert OneMind Dogs seminar at Paws For Thought Canine Event Center in Groton, NY.
Alice was tired after the last few weeks of near-constant activities, so she wasn’t her normal self, but we learned a lot anyway.
Video to follow
What can I say about this dog? MACH 5 at 6.5 years of age with TWO breaks for puppies. She’s amazing. I am humbled and grateful to have her as my agility partner. Judge Mary Mullen’s courses were tough but really fun! I have some kind of crud so I was tired and winded and hoarse, but we got it done!
I decided to try running Nina in Preferred. She isn’t having trouble with 8″ but it’s worth a try. Well…she sure liked it…she can run even FASTER if she doesn’t have to really jump…love that dog so much. Agility is her bacon bits.
And Alice! SO HAPPY with how she is coming along! I learned that, at least right now, she is more like Nina than Zhora for warmup. She doesn’t need revving up, she needs focus work. You’ll see in her Standard run she’s a bit crazy (that was when I revved her during warmup), whereas in her Jumpers run I did more focus/shadow handling type stuff and she was much more focused. Good to know! She earned her second Open FAST Q and had a LOVELY T2B run including 12 weaves. I am still very much not fixing much, if anything, with her, so I am happy as long as she engages with obstacles and stays with me. I am very impressed with the distance and independent obstacle performances she is showing!
Nina Saturday Jumpers (NQ but ALMOST a Q):
Zhora Saturday Jumpers (NQ, weird haunted weave poles for many dogs):
Zhora Saturday FAST (NQ):
Alice Saturday Open FAST (Q, note my “OH SHIT” moment when I see her take the dogwalk!):
Nina Saturday Standard (NQ):
Zhora Saturday Standard (Q, second place, 28 points):
Alice Saturday Novice P Standard (NQ):
Alice Saturday JWW Nov P (NQ):
Nina Sunday JWW (NQ):
Zhora Sunday JWW (Part 1 of MACH 5, close call! Fourth place, 17 points):
Alice Time 2 Beat P (NQ, but lovely run!):
Nina Sunday Standard (NQ….never stop being Nina, Nina…):
Zhora Sunday Standard (MACH5 ZHORA!! Third place, 29 points):
HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Jan Robles and Cora on Cora’s CD title! Cora is now Alkemi Corona del Roble LS CD! Cora also has her Senior Barn Hunt title and a FastCAT title. She’s just 18 months old, her mom Jan Robles is no slacker! Cora is the Puppy Formerly Known As Popcorn.
Various training videos from today.
Laura English’s courses were AMAZING! Wide open, run your ass off, technical but fun. They were just masterful. We only went on Saturday, even though we were entered Saturday and Sunday. Alice ran and my goals for her were the same as they’ve been recently: have fun, stay with me, and this time do the dogwalk. She did! She earned her first Open FAST Q, and would have had a Q in JWW and Std except for a knocked bar in each. In Standard I didn’t set her up straight to the jump so she ran around it, so I had her do a backside (which she did perfectly). Thrilled with her!
And Zhora! QQQ! She’s one away from MACH 5 now! I should check how many triples she has for her TQX.
Nina had a great time, ran like a looney, got the walk of shame in Standard for bailing off the teeter (she can do what she wants, but she can’t do that, it’s dangerous).
Zhora Saturday Jumpers (QQQ/QQ # 99, first place, 18 points, 4.796 YPS):
Nina Saturday Jumpers (NQ):
Zhora Saturday FAST (QQQ, first place):
Alice Saturday FAST (first Open Q!):
Zhora Saturday Standard (QQQ/QQ #99, second place, 26 points, 3.613 YPS):
Nina Saturday Standard (Walk of Shame):
Alice Saturday Standard (NQ but look at that backside and teeter!):
Alice Saturday Jumpers (NQ):
We love judge Sherry Jefferson even when she isn’t our sherpa on an Invitational trip.
What a great weekend! Zhora was perfect, earning three double Q’s (two of which were TRIPLE Q’s), and is now just two QQ’s away from MACH5!
Nina had a perfect weekend….of NQ’s, but every weekend I get to run with Nina being happy, fast, sassy, naughty Nina is perfect.
And Alice! Alice earned her very first agility title (Novice FAST Preferred) and her first Novice Jumpers Preferred leg. She also jumped off the dogwalk. My best guess is that she was looking at the ring crew, suddenly wasn’t sure what she was doing, and bailed, like Sue and I trained her do. She was fine going across it afterward.
Nina Friday Standard (NQ):
Zhora Friday Standard (part 1 of triple Q and QQ # 96, first place, 31 points, 3.99 YPS):
Zhora Friday FAST (part 2 of QQQ, first place):
Alice Friday Novice FAST (Novice FAST title!):
Nina Friday JWW (NQ):
Zhora Friday JWW (part 2 of QQQ/QQ 96, second place, 15 points):
Nina Saturday Jumpers (NQ):
Zhora Saturday Jumpers (QQ # 97, 17 points):
Alice Saturday Time 2 Beat (NQ):
Nina Saturday Standard (NQ):
Zhora Saturday Standard (QQ #97, third place, 27 points, 3.75 YPS):
Alice Saturday Standard (jump off the dogwalk, my best guess is that she was looking at me or the ring crew and suddenly didn’t remember what equipment she was on so she bailed off):
Alice Saturday Jumpers (Q! 4.137 YPS):
Nina Sunday Jumpers (NQ):
Zhora Sunday Jumpers (QQQ/QQ 98, fourth place, 19 points, 4.66 YPS):
Zhora Sunday FAST (QQQ):
Alice Sunday Open FAST (would have been a Q only I overhandled and pulled her off the jump in the middle of the send):
Nina Sunday Standard (NQ):
Zhora Sunday Standard (QQQ/QQ 98, third place, 30 points, 3.97 YPS):