I don't know why, but I feel like blogging again.
So here I am!
And here is Kirk!
I entered her at 20" in AKC for the first time last weekend because she has a USDAA trial in a few weeks and while I'm hoping she'll measure into 18" she may have to jump 22". I don't want her to be shocked by the jump from 16-22...
As I kinda expected she had a bar every run (and two in one run). I'm hoping we get this sorted out. She happily drops bars at 16" too, though. We would be in masters for now if it wasn't for that bar thing ;). But otherwise, she is pretty awesome!
20150726-110040-JWW from Agility Dogs on Vimeo.
And a Standard run.
20150726-140631-STD from Agility Dogs on Vimeo.
A little sequence from practicing at 22" in 100 degree weather (probably should have stayed home that day). She's so much fun, even when hot!
Kirk - 28 Jul Seq from Agility Dogs on Vimeo.
Thursday, July 30, 2015
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Monday, Bloody Monday
Kirk had a very traumatic experience last night. There was lots of paw flailing and blood involved.
I did finally manage to save her by removing the tooth. She recovered really quick. Me... not so much.
I did finally manage to save her by removing the tooth. She recovered really quick. Me... not so much.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
What has Kirk been up to?
Oops, where does the time go? It's been quite a while since my last blog post and... well whatever.
Kirk found a brand of beer that fits her.
(although she thinks it should be for Icon, who is admittedly one of the bitchiest males I know)
We haven't hiked too much lately, but she did get to go on her first off-leash hike and was very good!
"I'm all growed up!"
We had a very scary moment on the hike where Rampage came within inches of impaling himself on a branch. He impaled his water container instead. It was the left fork of the branch that got him.
If you look closely you can see the huge, gaping hole that the branch left. If that had been his chest.... Yikes.
Kirk turned 4 months old!
And Rampage tried to send her back where she came from. It didn't work.
She got to do a hike with horses. Horse butts = OK. Horse faces = MUST KILL!
We made a fort for Rampage leading up to July 4th so he wouldn't be so worried about the fireworks. Rammy loved his fort!
We spent July 4th at a trial where we didn't hear any fireworks at all! It was very nice :) There were more puppies than adult dogs at the trial. It's definitely puppy season.
And then after July 4th Kirk (and my other dogs) spent a lot of time being BORED because I had to work a LOT.
She spent a lot of time in a crate in my car. Too much time. Now she balks going back to the car after I take her out :(.
I do always manage to get her out for walks and play, but it's not enough when you work 15-17 hours a day.
She got to defend me against evil flowers.
And watch airplanes fly over the wind harp (why flowers are evil and airplanes are fine, I have no clue).
She learned to pee laying down?? Uhm, whatever.
And pose around an empty office building
I even got to sneak her inside over the weekend.
But now, my project has rolled out and I'm just dealing with some minor issues and follow up items. Still working more than I should but definitely less than the last few weeks! And.... one more week of work before 6 weeks off! I'm looking forward to visiting my family, backpacking in Oregon with Tammy, doing some agility trials during the week (gasp!) and lots of other things!
Kirk found a brand of beer that fits her.
(although she thinks it should be for Icon, who is admittedly one of the bitchiest males I know)
We haven't hiked too much lately, but she did get to go on her first off-leash hike and was very good!
"I'm all growed up!"
We had a very scary moment on the hike where Rampage came within inches of impaling himself on a branch. He impaled his water container instead. It was the left fork of the branch that got him.
If you look closely you can see the huge, gaping hole that the branch left. If that had been his chest.... Yikes.
Kirk turned 4 months old!
And Rampage tried to send her back where she came from. It didn't work.
She got to do a hike with horses. Horse butts = OK. Horse faces = MUST KILL!
We made a fort for Rampage leading up to July 4th so he wouldn't be so worried about the fireworks. Rammy loved his fort!
We spent July 4th at a trial where we didn't hear any fireworks at all! It was very nice :) There were more puppies than adult dogs at the trial. It's definitely puppy season.
And then after July 4th Kirk (and my other dogs) spent a lot of time being BORED because I had to work a LOT.
She spent a lot of time in a crate in my car. Too much time. Now she balks going back to the car after I take her out :(.
I do always manage to get her out for walks and play, but it's not enough when you work 15-17 hours a day.
Some of that is at home, of course. But still BORING.
She got to defend me against evil flowers.
And watch airplanes fly over the wind harp (why flowers are evil and airplanes are fine, I have no clue).
She learned to pee laying down?? Uhm, whatever.
And pose around an empty office building
I even got to sneak her inside over the weekend.
But now, my project has rolled out and I'm just dealing with some minor issues and follow up items. Still working more than I should but definitely less than the last few weeks! And.... one more week of work before 6 weeks off! I'm looking forward to visiting my family, backpacking in Oregon with Tammy, doing some agility trials during the week (gasp!) and lots of other things!
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Tic Tok
I love Silvia Trkman. Her training methods are inspiring and I just love the bond she builds with her dogs. I've always felt that 90% of agility is having a great bond with your dog and the rest just falls into place (I realize that it is possible to have a great relationship with your dog and not do well in agility too, but those are outliers).
I've been working on her Cik/Cap the last week or two and boy I sure progress a lot slower than Silvia! Not that it really matters aside from trying to see how I can improve. And I definitely see some reasons for it. Mainly 1) I don't reward frequently enough (especially when I'm so tired that I'm training to tire her out more than trying to teach her anything and 2) my placement of reward to encourage offering behavior can quickly turn into luring when I'm not paying attention (or tired).
Unfortunately I'm unable to say Cik/Cap so I've translated to Tic Tok. Kirk's Tic direction is significantly better than her Tok so I see more Tok's in our future.
We're going to continue to work on Tic Tok but I think my next focus will be heeling and our lineup behavior. I'm a bit tired or luring to face the correct direction I want her to go. We've played with pivoting with her front feet on an object but I haven't really progressed from there.
TicTok from Agility Dogs on Vimeo.
I've been working on her Cik/Cap the last week or two and boy I sure progress a lot slower than Silvia! Not that it really matters aside from trying to see how I can improve. And I definitely see some reasons for it. Mainly 1) I don't reward frequently enough (especially when I'm so tired that I'm training to tire her out more than trying to teach her anything and 2) my placement of reward to encourage offering behavior can quickly turn into luring when I'm not paying attention (or tired).
Unfortunately I'm unable to say Cik/Cap so I've translated to Tic Tok. Kirk's Tic direction is significantly better than her Tok so I see more Tok's in our future.
We're going to continue to work on Tic Tok but I think my next focus will be heeling and our lineup behavior. I'm a bit tired or luring to face the correct direction I want her to go. We've played with pivoting with her front feet on an object but I haven't really progressed from there.
TicTok from Agility Dogs on Vimeo.
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
Kirk's newest BFF is Bansky. Banksy is 3 weeks older than Kirk, but she is not all that much bigger. Their butts are around the same height, but Banksy's shoulders are higher. This is a good thing because it gives me hope that Kirk will be a normal size border collie and not a midget. Of course Banksy is supposed to be REALLY small so maybe Kirk will still be a midget and Banksy will be an extra midget.
Kirk looks up to Banksy, and I'm worried she might be a bad influence on Kirk. Doesn't she look a bit devious? Kirk is so innocent.
Vicious Banksy!
Ok, Kirk has a vicious side too...
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Growing up
My little girl is growing up and starting to look like a dog :(.
An ass-high dog! Two days later she looked way more balanced. Gotta love puppy growing.
She is still really cute though!
Although perhaps a bit stalky
She likes to chase the other dogs and they put up with her. Kinda.
But Rampage would like her to go away. Now.
An ass-high dog! Two days later she looked way more balanced. Gotta love puppy growing.
She is still really cute though!
Although perhaps a bit stalky
She likes to chase the other dogs and they put up with her. Kinda.
But Rampage would like her to go away. Now.
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