Despite really wanting to go home and see Owyn, I'm staying up at school until next weekend.
I'm sad.
I'll definitely see him next weekend though!
And I can't wait!
2008-01-31
2008-01-29
Happy one week Birthday!
A week ago today, my (honorary) nephew was welcomed into the world. I'm going to see him on Friday and hopefully I'll get some pictures. Owyn was born at 7:49am on 1/22/08, weighing 7 pounds, and 20.5 inches long.
I'm also hoping for warmer weather after this weekend since Bailey and I have an agility trial at the horse barn. I sure hope it gets above freezing at least!
I'm also hoping for warmer weather after this weekend since Bailey and I have an agility trial at the horse barn. I sure hope it gets above freezing at least!
2008-01-24
Happy Birthday baby girl!
From the first time I met her...
To our first title:
To now:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v324/SpringerLover/100_3402.jpg
2008-01-20
Open A
No Qs for us today. Both had some really nice parts... we definitely have work to do.I have to remember though, that I'm out there because of him. He was a good boy, just... heh there are definite oversights in my training I guess, and I really need to just get him out and work him more.
He left the ring in both runs. One he ran out the entry/exit and into the store. The other he jumped the ring gate. Yeah...He was working happily and pretty well until then too (except for that whole heeling thing). Ah well... life goes on, and we have more to practice.So, first run, we had icky heeling, but we pulled it together and ended nicely. DOR was fabulous for him, retrieve on flat was good, retrieve over high was nice (odd front but... he did it) so gave the dumbell to the steward... my dog followed the steward. So I called him... and he ran into the store. Urgh. Judge let us do the broad jump to finish, and he did it SO well, better than we'd even been practicing!
Went down on the sit... so yeah. Urgh, that was consistent today. Both times at around 1:45 of 3 minutes... guess I didn't build duration like I thought.
On our second run, I anticipated the recall after the drop. *hit handler* He did his retrieve on flat really nicely, then on the next exercise (Retrieve Over High) he went out, then went to see the judge then jumped the ring gate, a friend happened to be there and caught him, judge let him back in, I told him to "go get it" and he tried bringing it to the judge... judge said "that way" or something and then he brought it back over the jump to me... hah, silly dog.Again, broad jump was REALLY nice!
So, it was a good day, and great learning day. He was definitely happy. And he was a VERY good boy with his out of sight honor downs... both of those were stellar! hahaha
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/v/Yqzrg24rXDk
http://www.youtube.com/v/eGU3T_h3yUo
He left the ring in both runs. One he ran out the entry/exit and into the store. The other he jumped the ring gate. Yeah...He was working happily and pretty well until then too (except for that whole heeling thing). Ah well... life goes on, and we have more to practice.So, first run, we had icky heeling, but we pulled it together and ended nicely. DOR was fabulous for him, retrieve on flat was good, retrieve over high was nice (odd front but... he did it) so gave the dumbell to the steward... my dog followed the steward. So I called him... and he ran into the store. Urgh. Judge let us do the broad jump to finish, and he did it SO well, better than we'd even been practicing!
Went down on the sit... so yeah. Urgh, that was consistent today. Both times at around 1:45 of 3 minutes... guess I didn't build duration like I thought.
On our second run, I anticipated the recall after the drop. *hit handler* He did his retrieve on flat really nicely, then on the next exercise (Retrieve Over High) he went out, then went to see the judge then jumped the ring gate, a friend happened to be there and caught him, judge let him back in, I told him to "go get it" and he tried bringing it to the judge... judge said "that way" or something and then he brought it back over the jump to me... hah, silly dog.Again, broad jump was REALLY nice!
So, it was a good day, and great learning day. He was definitely happy. And he was a VERY good boy with his out of sight honor downs... both of those were stellar! hahaha
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/v/Yqzrg24rXDk
http://www.youtube.com/v/eGU3T_h3yUo
2008-01-19
YAHOO!
We DID IT! He finished his UCD today! What a GOOD BOY!Tomorrow we have two Open A runs. I can't wait. He was just SO good today! He sure is something special in so many ways!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHhLAO74qmA
2008-01-16
School and dog show this weekend
Well, school has started and I've made it to Wednesday! That's reason to celebrate!
Monday was a very crazy day at school. I felt like my head was going to explode and was seriously questioning my craziness in creating the schedule I did. Thankfully today was much better. It'll be just fine.
I love my Tuesdays and Thursdays. I only have one class and it is from 12-2.
This weekend it's time for obedience! Buzz and I did quite a bit of work on heeling closer and fronting closer. He's such a good boy and I just want him to have fun. He's never going to be a 199 dog because I just don't have the drive, but I am hoping we'll be able to achieve above a 190 sometime during his obedience career.
It's taken quite a bit of work to get my "not naturally heads up heeling" dog to heel with his head up. I'm still not sure how dependable it is, but I do know he understands it to some degree now. We did a lot of work on him keeping his eyes on me when moving from a halt into heeling, as that's where he generally has to drop his head to move out. I'm excited for this weekend!
Monday was a very crazy day at school. I felt like my head was going to explode and was seriously questioning my craziness in creating the schedule I did. Thankfully today was much better. It'll be just fine.
I love my Tuesdays and Thursdays. I only have one class and it is from 12-2.
This weekend it's time for obedience! Buzz and I did quite a bit of work on heeling closer and fronting closer. He's such a good boy and I just want him to have fun. He's never going to be a 199 dog because I just don't have the drive, but I am hoping we'll be able to achieve above a 190 sometime during his obedience career.
It's taken quite a bit of work to get my "not naturally heads up heeling" dog to heel with his head up. I'm still not sure how dependable it is, but I do know he understands it to some degree now. We did a lot of work on him keeping his eyes on me when moving from a halt into heeling, as that's where he generally has to drop his head to move out. I'm excited for this weekend!
2008-01-12
interesting study
http://www.pennhip.org//09230v7.pdf
Key Points
"Keeping dogs lean did not change the genes of dogs predisposed to hip dysplasia. Rather, leanness was shown to delay or prevent the expression of radiographic signs of CHD and therefore confounded diagnosis using the OFA scoring method at 2 years of age."
"The normal OFA designation of hips at 2 years of age was conservatively wrong 46%
of the time when compared to end-of-life radiographic results. Even more telling, when 2 year OFA score was compared to histopathological findings in aged dogs, a 56% false-negative diagnosis rate was found."
"Recommendation: Dogs susceptible to CHD should be kept lean for life."
" The high false-negative rate of OFA type diagnoses at 2 years of age (46% end of life OFA type score) (56% histopath OA) warrants a more accurate test for selecting breeding stock."
"Recommendation: Hip films are warranted well beyond 2 years of age, and in the case of breeding dogs, hips should be evaluated at regular intervals for life."
Key Points
"Keeping dogs lean did not change the genes of dogs predisposed to hip dysplasia. Rather, leanness was shown to delay or prevent the expression of radiographic signs of CHD and therefore confounded diagnosis using the OFA scoring method at 2 years of age."
"The normal OFA designation of hips at 2 years of age was conservatively wrong 46%
of the time when compared to end-of-life radiographic results. Even more telling, when 2 year OFA score was compared to histopathological findings in aged dogs, a 56% false-negative diagnosis rate was found."
"Recommendation: Dogs susceptible to CHD should be kept lean for life."
" The high false-negative rate of OFA type diagnoses at 2 years of age (46% end of life OFA type score) (56% histopath OA) warrants a more accurate test for selecting breeding stock."
"Recommendation: Hip films are warranted well beyond 2 years of age, and in the case of breeding dogs, hips should be evaluated at regular intervals for life."
2008-01-10
Decisions...
Hmph, gotta decide which classes I REALLY want to enter for the March trials.
We're doing one day of the A-1 trial (Saturday) which means we can choose from: CC, 2 Reg, J, Tg, Wv, Hp
I'm definitely running Buzz in both regular rounds, jumpers, and touch n go (all novice). I think that's enough for one day when he'll be running more the next weekend.
The ACTS trial is the next weekend and it's non-jumping classes. I was hoping we'd have two tunnelers runs per day but it wasn't meant to be. The breakdown for that weekend is:
Sat: 2 Tg, 1 Tn, 2 Wv, 1 Hp
Sun: 2 Tg, 1 Tn, 2 Wv, 1 Hp
I'll be attending both days with Buzz (just can't pass it up)! I think I'll run all touch n go and tunnelers runs and I'm still thinking about weavers. I'd like to at least try it with him (since we need to do weavers), but I'm not sure how successful we'll be or how enjoyable I can make it for him. Maybe I'll do one run of it on Saturday? I guess I'll decide when the premium comes out.
I plan to run Bailey in tunnelers and both rounds of weavers, just one day. Hoping I can get some good weaves and some really good rewards in there.
I'm so excited and can't wait for March! Agility THREE weekends in a row (even if the first two we'll just be there one day, it's still three weekends of agility)!
We're doing one day of the A-1 trial (Saturday) which means we can choose from: CC, 2 Reg, J, Tg, Wv, Hp
I'm definitely running Buzz in both regular rounds, jumpers, and touch n go (all novice). I think that's enough for one day when he'll be running more the next weekend.
The ACTS trial is the next weekend and it's non-jumping classes. I was hoping we'd have two tunnelers runs per day but it wasn't meant to be. The breakdown for that weekend is:
Sat: 2 Tg, 1 Tn, 2 Wv, 1 Hp
Sun: 2 Tg, 1 Tn, 2 Wv, 1 Hp
I'll be attending both days with Buzz (just can't pass it up)! I think I'll run all touch n go and tunnelers runs and I'm still thinking about weavers. I'd like to at least try it with him (since we need to do weavers), but I'm not sure how successful we'll be or how enjoyable I can make it for him. Maybe I'll do one run of it on Saturday? I guess I'll decide when the premium comes out.
I plan to run Bailey in tunnelers and both rounds of weavers, just one day. Hoping I can get some good weaves and some really good rewards in there.
I'm so excited and can't wait for March! Agility THREE weekends in a row (even if the first two we'll just be there one day, it's still three weekends of agility)!
Plans
We have entered the MMBC UKC Obedience trial for 1/19-1/20; ACTS CPE agility trial for 2/9-2/10; and the AKC agility 3/2 trial.
I'm looking foward to a lot of fun, a lot of learning, and maybe a new UCD!
We've really been working on all the open exercises as well as brushing up on heeling with Buzz. I'm happy to say he's a really good worker and as long as I'm being a good trainer, we make a lot of progress. He's tightened up his heeling and fronts. I've got more attention on the turns too.
Bailey is making progress on the "schutzhund" left turn and it's starting to look pretty cool.
School starts again soon, blech. I'm quite excited for spring break though because I have 3 trials planned for March.
I'm looking foward to a lot of fun, a lot of learning, and maybe a new UCD!
We've really been working on all the open exercises as well as brushing up on heeling with Buzz. I'm happy to say he's a really good worker and as long as I'm being a good trainer, we make a lot of progress. He's tightened up his heeling and fronts. I've got more attention on the turns too.
Bailey is making progress on the "schutzhund" left turn and it's starting to look pretty cool.
School starts again soon, blech. I'm quite excited for spring break though because I have 3 trials planned for March.
2008-01-07
Bailey Drop on Recall
SHE CAN do it still! I dunno what I've been doing wrong but when I decide to video it... she does it right...
oh well, it's pretty and you can see me signal even though I'm off camera...
oh well, it's pretty and you can see me signal even though I'm off camera...
2008-01-06
AKC Obedience Advisory Committee
I'd like to write to the AKC about considering a veterans division, but I haven't got a clue where to start.
My reasons for requesting it:
A) it would be optional, it's not something you have to do when your dog reaches a certain age
B) it would allow more dogs to compete later in life
C) it would force handlers to step back and look at what they are asking their dog to do (hopefully)
D) I think more dogs would be competing
E) it allows people with less than stellar-ly built dogs to have fun
F) looks out for the dog when the handler fails to
It would draw more money for the clubs too, and the AKC... I think!
My reasons for requesting it:
A) it would be optional, it's not something you have to do when your dog reaches a certain age
B) it would allow more dogs to compete later in life
C) it would force handlers to step back and look at what they are asking their dog to do (hopefully)
D) I think more dogs would be competing
E) it allows people with less than stellar-ly built dogs to have fun
F) looks out for the dog when the handler fails to
It would draw more money for the clubs too, and the AKC... I think!
2008-01-03
Tracking
I ended up getting "Tracking From the Ground Up" for Christmas, my mom just forgot she ordered it since it didn't come in time!
So, today I started reading and we did a few "intro" exercises. I already foresee a few problems, but I don't think they'll be major.
1) I have to track on the snowmobile tracks because the "regular" snow is too powdery and the treats just get buried.
2) The dogs are used to wearing harnesses for walks or just around the house. I do want them to know that "we're going tracking" instead of "we're going walking" and I'll eventually probably buy a real tracking harness, but for now I think they'll be fine taking cues from the start flag and my verbal cue to "track!" to realize we're NOT just going for a walk.
3) I REALLY need to work on keeping track of what we do. I was really good today, got out a notebook and sketched what I did along with a write up for each dog. I was really pleased with how it started.
Now I'm off to work on tricks for fun and then walk the dogs separately because
A) I need the exercise
B) I prefer walking them separately because Bailey really doesn't have good walking skills but we can work on them and she's much better if Buzz isn't with.
Gotta get my butt going though, been on the computer off and on most of the morning!
So, today I started reading and we did a few "intro" exercises. I already foresee a few problems, but I don't think they'll be major.
1) I have to track on the snowmobile tracks because the "regular" snow is too powdery and the treats just get buried.
2) The dogs are used to wearing harnesses for walks or just around the house. I do want them to know that "we're going tracking" instead of "we're going walking" and I'll eventually probably buy a real tracking harness, but for now I think they'll be fine taking cues from the start flag and my verbal cue to "track!" to realize we're NOT just going for a walk.
3) I REALLY need to work on keeping track of what we do. I was really good today, got out a notebook and sketched what I did along with a write up for each dog. I was really pleased with how it started.
Now I'm off to work on tricks for fun and then walk the dogs separately because
A) I need the exercise
B) I prefer walking them separately because Bailey really doesn't have good walking skills but we can work on them and she's much better if Buzz isn't with.
Gotta get my butt going though, been on the computer off and on most of the morning!
2008-01-02
2008 goals...
Everyone seems to be making resolutions and "dog goals" for 2008. I feel like setting title goals for a year is a moot point for us because of lack of trialing, but I still enjoy thinking of how far we may get.
Based on my showing plans, we'll only have 3 days of obedience and/or rally showing for Bailey. Which means my goals can't be too lofty! I guess some reasonable goals for her are to:
1) finish her NA
2) work well for me in Open A obedience
3) finish RE
4) keep enjoying agility
I really think I could finish Buzz's novice versatility this year. We've got 3 titles, 2 are almost done. I think we can do it!
I've got quite a bit of NADAC planned because it's what we all enjoy the most. Though we do have UKC Obedience, CPE agility, and AKC obed/rally/agility planned.
Based on my showing plans, we'll only have 3 days of obedience and/or rally showing for Bailey. Which means my goals can't be too lofty! I guess some reasonable goals for her are to:
1) finish her NA
2) work well for me in Open A obedience
3) finish RE
4) keep enjoying agility
I really think I could finish Buzz's novice versatility this year. We've got 3 titles, 2 are almost done. I think we can do it!
I've got quite a bit of NADAC planned because it's what we all enjoy the most. Though we do have UKC Obedience, CPE agility, and AKC obed/rally/agility planned.
2008-01-01
PRA
I finally got Bailey's PRA certificate from the U of MO. I got one initially, but there were a few errors (must have been my writing) so I asked for hers to be corrected.
They had blood drawn at the end of August. After prodding I received unofficial results the middle of October. In November I received the certificates to find Bailey's registered name spelled wrong and the registration number wrong. Can't send that in so I asked for it to be corrected. They were so filled up with the National that my request couldn't be honored until now. It really doesn't matter, I was just getting frustrated that I wasn't hearing anything at all. Gotta remember to send a "thank you" email now. I really do appreciate all they are doing. It is so very helpful for our breed.
I wanted an accurate one anyways, but I also planned to send hers in since:
A) it's free since she's affected
B) hers might actually have an impact on someone's breeding choices
C) I enjoy the OFA database :)
I'm currently trying to decide if I should send Buzz's in. His would cost me $15.
I'll probably send it in next time he gets CERF'd. I plan to do cardiac on him next August (2008) at the TCVESSA specialty since he's PRA clear. The plan for the year after (August 2009) is to CERF again to check for signs of problems not related to PRA (I guess we'd be looking for cataracts).
Bailey will be CERF'd yearly now. I need to know what's going on and the only way is to CERF her.
They had blood drawn at the end of August. After prodding I received unofficial results the middle of October. In November I received the certificates to find Bailey's registered name spelled wrong and the registration number wrong. Can't send that in so I asked for it to be corrected. They were so filled up with the National that my request couldn't be honored until now. It really doesn't matter, I was just getting frustrated that I wasn't hearing anything at all. Gotta remember to send a "thank you" email now. I really do appreciate all they are doing. It is so very helpful for our breed.
I wanted an accurate one anyways, but I also planned to send hers in since:
A) it's free since she's affected
B) hers might actually have an impact on someone's breeding choices
C) I enjoy the OFA database :)
I'm currently trying to decide if I should send Buzz's in. His would cost me $15.
I'll probably send it in next time he gets CERF'd. I plan to do cardiac on him next August (2008) at the TCVESSA specialty since he's PRA clear. The plan for the year after (August 2009) is to CERF again to check for signs of problems not related to PRA (I guess we'd be looking for cataracts).
Bailey will be CERF'd yearly now. I need to know what's going on and the only way is to CERF her.
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