Seeing clearly

I got a new monitor at work and OMG it's amazing! I went from a monitor that is probably 6 years old (young for border collie, old for a boxer or a monitor :) ) to a 24" widescreen. And here I thought my 22" widescreen at home was awesome. I might just have to upgrade... But I spend so much time on the computer at work I think I deserve it :).

I'm very happy with how Apollo's running dogwalk is coming along. I think I have finally "broke" his 2o/2o. He seems tentative at the start of the dw, which I think is because it's not the most stable piece of architecture around... but he picks up speed a the bottom and runs right on through. I have a 20" jump set out beyond the dw and the t&t beyond that.

073109 - Apollo running dw from Agility Dogs on Vimeo.

I'm still having fun with Rampage on the dw. He's also doing pretty well, but some that he does are really good while others are just ok. I guess I should just reward for the really good ones. I have the jump out before the t&t for him as well, but it's just at 8". I haven't gone back to the running a-frame ground work with him in a while. With Silvia's running dw method, one of the purported benefits is "you get the running a-frame for free." I'm hoping that if I do enough running dw stuff with him before adding the stop to it we will get that a-frame freebie! But if not, he has the a-frame box work foundation to the point where we're ready to put it on the a-frame. So I always have plan B. And I still have 3 or 4 months before I introduce him to the a-frame so I might even come up with a plan C or D during that time.

073109 - Rampage running dw from Agility Dogs on Vimeo.

And here is Icon and then Rampage on the Bosu Ball. Icon is SO much more coordinated. Poor Rammy. Since he is so big, and is really becoming more mature mentally, it's so easy to forget that he is still just a puppy and doesn't know where all of his body parts are yet. It's so funny to see him change over time. One day he moves with confidence and grace and the next day he's tripping over his own feet and stepping on his tail. He's such a funny guy.

Icon and Rampage on the bosu from Agility Dogs on Vimeo.

Blast from the past

Icon's first two agility runs ever! He looks silly jumping 20". Who would have though he'd be a future WT member?

Jump Start

This is just a jump start update to keep me from continuing to stagnate. It's been a while since my last post and I find the longer I wait, the harder it is to post.

2 weekends ago we went to Carmel for an agility trial and I had such a great time. The location was gorgeous and the weather was wonderful. Of course my face got fried the first day because it was sunny but cool enough that I didn't think about sunscreen. I woke up in the middle of the night to get a drink and when I looked in the mirror I almost screamed thinking a demon from hell was looking back at me. My face was bright red, it almost glowed.

Icon had a great weekend. He qualified in everything and won everything except for snooker and gamblers where he finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. Apollo's weekend wasn't quite as good since our 'running contacts' are now getting to the phase where he is missing more often than hitting. But we're practicing a lot at home (well we're practicing the DW, not really the a-frame) so I'm hoping that it will eventually translate to trials! But if not, that's fine.

Apollo has actually improved in leaps and bounds on his running dw over the last week or so. I've had a very hard time 'breaking' his 2o/2o behavior but lately he's been running through (not even trotting!). I now have a jump after the dogwalk and before the t&t. I'm going to try a tunnel next, although tunnels aren't very reinforcing to Apollo since he has to duck to go through.

Rampage is also still working on the running DW. He's doing really well but some days he'll miss few, or at least be very high in the yellow. It's not that he's leaping from the end, his stride just carries him over the yellow at times. I'm still sure that I will not be keeping with the running dw for competition and I'm continuing to train the groundwork for a 20/2o, but the running dw is still so much fun!

My plank is up to 40" right now. I'm 8" away to the full DW plank height but I have no clue how I can get there and keep the plank stable. I'm very tempted to buy a full sized dogwalk (and came very close to it!) but I really don't have enough room in my backyard for it... Anyone want to buy the house next door we can take down the fence and have a huge back yard?

I knew this was going to happen! My jump start became a novella. And I didn't even talk about my new godpuppy, Kahve! Or post photos! Well, next time :) He's adorable in a way that only boxer puppies can be, though.

Another overlay

This is an overlay of Icon and Cassidy from the Bay Team July 4th trial that Diana posted on her youtube site. Boy, that Cassidy sure is speedy! :)



Ok, and I'm ready to share my shameful (or amusing, that depends on whether you're me or anyone else) std run from the bay team trial.

July 4th BT - Icon Saturday Std from Agility Dogs on Vimeo.

Rampage is, like, SO LAME!

No, seriously! He's lame!

On Sunday he cut the pad on his front right leg. I suspect it is from running into the hedge trimmers, which I had laid on the ground after trimming the hedges. I saw him run into them and thought, "ouch!!" But then he seemed fine so I just dismissed the incident from my mind.

Until...

I saw Apollo sniffing the ground with a lot of interest. When I stopped to look I noticed the the leaf he was sniffing was covered in blood! It took me only a few seconds to connect the blood to the hedge trimmer run-in. And then I took a look at Rampage and there was blood dripping off of his foot.

Despite the copious amounts of blood the cut really isn't bad and the silly dog wasn't even limping (and this is the puppy that would SCREAM like the world was ending if he stepped on a pebble when he was 16 weeks old). But I used a compress to stop the bleeding and I am TRYING to keep him quiet for a few days for it to heal. I've never had to keep an 8-month old puppy quiet before and omg, it's not easy! You don't realize how much energy they have until you take the majority of their exercise away from them. Then LOOKOUT! You suddenly understand why some people give up their puppies because they're too crazy. So Rammy and I are now trying to learn a couple low impact things like "left" and "feet up". But I really hope his pad looks better by tomorrow so I can start letting him RUN again!

On a side note, I've been practicing my rendition of "The Sound of Music" so I can perform when I'm in the Alps, but Icon most definitely does NOT approve. With all the barking as I sing I suspect he's saying, "But MOM! You'll EMBARRASS me!"

This is pretty cool

An overlay of Icon and Wings the Terv (I think she's only about 2 years old!). Wings' owner got this overlay and was so nice asking me if I minded, which of course I don't! What a nice dog Wings is!

How many dogs in this photo?

Did you count 2? Well apparently you're missing the shrimp! Icon is there too and he looks tiny.

Here he is looking bigger



Ok, so he still looks tiny. I remember thinking that Icon was big for a border collie as he was growing up. I guess I was wrong!

We went to Redwood shores today for some swimming fun. This was Rampage's first time at RWS, but that didn't intimidate him in the least! Before I could blink he had jumped into the water and was swimming around. I knew from Kay that he was not a fan of LEAVING the water. When she was puppy sitting him she took him to Mandy's house to go swimming and she had to go in after him!! I managed to coax him out of the water, but he was on a long line after that!

Rampage is ready to go back in the water!


Ok, I'll sit pretty for the camera


But can I go in now??


Looking out at the water


And jumping in!


Apollo wants Debbie to play with him!


Icon surveys the other dogs activities (Polly is swimming!!!)


More swimming Polly!


I love the water coming off of Polly's tail in this photo!