The icing on the Cake

Well, here we are, another year ending, which, in turn means another year beginning... I was going to say a "better" year beginning, but in hindsight 2015 had many highs as well as lows. Each new day brings new challenges, new adventures, new excitement, new joys, and, yes... sometimes tragedies, heart breaks, and, loss. 2015 was filled with all of these days, yet the year flew by as they all do with me ultimately wishing to get some of that time back, wanting to change some things, wanting some do-over's, and, wishing some days could have lasted forever. I am tempted to say that I feel "uniquely" qualified this year, almost an expert if truth be told in life's incredible roller coaster rides from the ultimate highs to the epic low's but that would be presumptuous I am afraid, knowing that it is all part of each individuals journey through life to experience these hugely random, but, very common ups and downs. So, I will instead simply say that I feel as though I had more than my fair share of amusement park adventures in 2015. The main reason I am writing this is because I need to "remind" myself of all of the wonderful, amazing things that sometimes get lost in the tragedies... I also think it is really important to realize the true goodness that can be a direct result of some of the garbage that gets piled on during the less than fantastic parts of this adventure we call life. At the end of each year I "reflect" on that past year and the first thing that always comes to mind is how incredibly lucky I am to have a great husband, 2 wonderful boys, 2 fantastic daughter-in-law's, and, a beautiful new grand baby! Owen is definitely a shining light in 2015 and more than enough reason to appreciate the year as a whole! He is a beautiful baby with a perfect outlook on life, meet each day with a smile, wide eyed and amazed at the wonders of the world around him. He is completely unbiased in his opinions, doubtful he even has any at the tender age of 2 months! Every moment of every day brings a whole new unlimited menu of wonderful things to learn, see, and do. A lot can be learned watching a 2 month old baby. I am also fortunate enough to have what I assume most everyone that would be interested in reading my blog has... the best dogs on the planet! Early in 2015 a dear friend lost is dog to a tragic accident, this dog also happened to be a pup that I bred and was very close too, it was one of those horrible incidents that you are not sure you will ever totally get over. But, out of that tragedy was born, "literally", a wonderful litter of pups that played roles in healing hearts, and, bringing joy in ways that were never imagined. Each of these pups played a part in making things "better" when it was uncertain that "better" was possible. One of these pups was Cake, although dealing with her own difficulties, she was instrumental in helping me through my worst part of 2015. I am not sure I really appreciated it until afterward, but, her zest for life and need to be acknowledged for it brought a much needed smile to my face and made me want to get up and get moving! In 2015 Geoff and I lost 2 dogs, Xtra and Rumor... All of our dogs are special and they all leave lasting imprints on our hearts and mind, these 2 were no different. Losing a beloved pet, aka family member, is always hard and definitely leaves me wishing time would move a bit slower. Competitively 2015 was another banner year! My heart of hearts, true soulmate dog SoBe and I were once again off to Europe to compete for the USA at the IFCS World Championships in Italy! It was another incredible trip, I am again reminded what an honor it is to be able to represent the US on these teams and it also proves that hard work and determination do truly pay off! It does not matter how many times I have done it, every time is equally special! It was even nicer this past year as I was able to be on a team with a dear friend who was "experiencing" Worlds for the first time! In May a very close friend and her husband lost their only son... it is very difficult to even write about this without immediately bursting into tears... there are no words, well, there is just nothing that can ease the pain of such a loss. I cannot in all honesty say there was any good that came of this tragedy other than the fact that people came together to support each other in a phenomenal way and a fantastic foundation was started to help others and hopefully try to put an end to this type of tragedy happening again... As it does time continued to move forward, life went on, many good times to be had. I am also always reminded how lucky I am to have the job that I have!!! Traveling around the World to teach agility is pretty hard to explain in regards to the magnitude of satisfaction I get from helping others! I am often asked if the traveling gets "old", my answer, NEVER! What keeps me going is making new fiends, reconnecting with old friends, and, mostly seeing someones face light up when they have just done something they never in their wildest dreams imagined they could do! I know that agility is just a game, but, it makes people happy. It makes ME happy! Thank you to each and every one of you who make my "job" so amazing! July brings another VERY successful C Spot Win camp, I LOVE camp!! And, Vivids litter of amazing puppies. My wonderful Cake was the first pup trying to enter the World and because of a overlong hard labor things did not go exactly as planned, in a nutshell my best friend and sister from a different mister, and a different mother :-) was there to help and although a little "damaged" Cake became "my" special girl. Circumstances of this delivery also saw a pup going someplace we were not planning and ultimately being the best decision ever! Sending these pups to their new homes became another highlight as it brought together friends who had not seen each other in far too long! A great time was had by all and each puppy turned out to be a saving grace in each individuals life each for different reasons. Then it happened, I got bit by a rattlesnake! You sure don't hear that everyday! I was so incredibly lucky to once again have Deb at my side... I will not recount the whole story as most of you were witness to the snakebite chronicles :-) IT was a huge turning point in 2015 as I was faced with the very first traumatic injury I have ever suffered in my entire life! There were many times that I was not sure I would ever run again, this really freaked me out! The perspective I gained through this experience was life changing to say the least, never again will I take mobility for granted. It also taught me there has to be more to life and the value we put on ourselves than just one thing! I have also learned for once for all that life is short and I will make the most of it. I will also be very choosy regarding what I allow into my life as influence. I am not interested in spending time lamenting others, or, entertaining negativity, its all up from here baby! Somewhere along the way I guess it was decided I really needed to be smacked in the head hard to fully appreciate life and all it has to offer because just days after my snakebite, my brother was in a horrible motorcycle accident that ultimately took his life. I still cant really talk about it there than to say my heart break is nothing compared to my Mom's. While her only daughter was in the hospital recovering from a snakebite her only son was on life support in another hospital. I think the only thing harder than losing a child is having to be part of the decision making process to let that child go. I still do not see any good that came from my brothers death, but, the snakebite taught me loads in life lessons, but, more than that I reconnected with some friends that I had let slip from my life, I also learned just how many amazing friends I have! The support was off the charts and for this I will be forever grateful! I will also always look back on this as the time I learned what really matters in life...As long as I have family, friends, my job, and, my health the rest is just Icing On The Cake!

The "Art" of reinforcement

Art? Is proper reinforcement really an art? I believe it is, for some it comes incredibly naturally, for others it is something that requires much thought and effort, and, for a small number of individuals it is almost impossible to master. I am one of the lucky ones, reinforcement comes very naturally to me, whether human or animal it is very clear to me that learning occurs much faster in a rewarding environment. It goes much deeper than that though :-) The reasons for reinforcement are many: we reinforce to motivate, we reinforce to maintain motivation, we reinforce as a catalyst for learning. I am fairly certain that everyone understands these points, where the problem lies is truly understanding the "placement" of reward to truly reap the benefits of reinforcement as a training tool :-) Before I go any deeper into this blog however, let's deal with the elephant in the room… The portion of the dog training population that feels that rewards are unnecessary in dog training. I know that over the years many dogs have been, and, are still trained without the use of tangible reinforcers, that does not make it right, without tangible reinforcements it is incredibly difficult for a dog to learn to make correct choices based on clear understanding rather than fear of failure. I think there is a lot of learned helplessness that occurs when we expect dogs to perform without a true understanding of the behaviors we are asking for. Learned helplessness is not having the ability to choose the right or wrong decision because the difference between the 2 has never been taught, the dog is in a perpetual state of confusion. Different temperaments will deal with this condition in different ways, from total shut down, to taking control and running amuck. So, we not only need to be willing to use tangible reinforcers, we must have them readily available to mark proper responses, and, most importantly, know where and when to reinforce. In training situations it is not unlikely to see a handler withhold all reward until the end of whatever sequence they are working on, the problems with this are many. 1. You are missing so many fantastic opportunities to reward great things that occurred prior to the end of the sequence, i.e.. a turn that was tighter than before, a perfect contact performance, etc.. 2. By ignoring the great things that happened on course and only rewarding the end you are reinforcing exactly that: the end! There are many dogs that are a bit droopy all the way around the course and perk up amazingly at the end of the run, why do you suppose this is? 3. You are missing opportunities to build value for the obstacles which translates into speed, drive, and, enthusiasm. Once you have truly built value for the obstacles your dog will never notice that the toys and treats are not showing up at trials. I have even heard people say that they will reward the dog when "they" (the handler) gets it right! I think the whole wrongness of this statement is pretty self explanatory and needs no further discussion. It is also argued that you cannot use toys and treats at a trial so the dog needs to learn to work without them. I have a huge problem with this statement, as stated above, one of the benefits of frequent properly placed reinforcements is that they create drive, and, build value for the whole process. In reality if you think bout it you are training at least 75% of the time and trailing maybe 25%, with those differentials how sad to be missing all of those opportunities to create the fast, confident, amazing agility partner we are all looking for! On a happier note, let's talk about when and where to reinforce :-)Proper placement and timing of rewards will in and of itself help build drive and maintain motivation simply because it breeds clarity! You should be rewarding your dog for all behaviors that you would like to continue, avoid reinforcing behaviors that you would like to extinguish. That might seem overly simplified, however, if we could keep our training simple it would be far easier! When you make a mistake, you should reward your dog! The behaviors that your dogs are offering are based on the information you are providing, if that information is contradictory to what your intentions were, the dog is still correct as they were reading what you were saying/showing not what you were thinking! When your dog has a particularly difficult time with a behavior and they finally get it, REWARD your dog! There are definitely places that reinforcement is not indicated, one of the most commonly mistaken places to reward is when the dog deflates and we try to use food to get them motivated, if you are feeding the dog for slowing down, or, for doing nothing you are perpetuating the problem. Reward the dog for working, just be sure that the paycheck not only reflects the level of work you are expecting, but, also what the dog considers fair wage. When you lose a dog to distractions, especially sniffing, hunting for food, etc.. they are telling you that they are not getting paid enough, listen to your dog they have very valuable information to share with you that will make your job as trainer and handler much easier! I realize this blog barely scratches the surface where reinforcement is concerned, it is a topic that could use a class of its own! Maybe that is what I will do a class on proper placement and timing of reward :-) Until then I hope it helps at least a little bit to clarify some of the questions about the value and necessity of tangible reinforcement in dog training!

Peruuuuuuuu!!!!

WOW! Yes, that is the first word that comes to mind when I think of my Peruvian adventure :-)And, an adventure it was! From the initial planning process all the way through the trip it was destined to be a trip to remember. I have been interested in attending the Americas Y El Caribe event since I heard of it 3 years ago, this was the year it actually worked out! Initial plans were to take Journey and SoBe, ultimately it tuned out to be SoBe's turn to be the one in the spotlight all by herself. My biggest concern was the fact that SoBe is a 20/22" jumping dog and in Peru I knew she was required to jump 26". SoBe has always been a very good jumper and I knew she had the skills just not the practical experience. Well, she performed beyond my wildest dreams for sure! More about that later :-) So, plans were made and off we went! I will say it most certainly took a village to make it happen however! I have to thank Daisy Peel for turning me onto this amazing competition and for being a super team leader and travel mate, Oscar Daste for helping bridge the communication barrier and for being so helpful and supportive all the way through the trip! Lea Harvey for making the veterinary stuff a breeze, Lori Mitchell for being "the other" super vet that helped me out, Tina and Dean for always taking the best care of my animals, and, Max200 for being great friends, supporters and believers in team Stacy! The trip started out with an incredibly early drive to the airport which BTW started off unlike most of my trips as the flight was actually on time!!!! I did the part that I always dread the most and checked SoBe in for her flight and away we went! I had a 7 hour layover in Dallas so that I could collect SoBe and let her have some time off the airplane and out of the crate. I met up with Daisy and Oscar in Dallas and we headed to our next flight and final destination of Lima, Peru! We arrived in Peru around midnight on the 1st and got our first taste of the hustle and bustle of Peru. After we got the dogs we had to check in with immigration and present our paperwork, vet certificates, etc… this was a long slow process but all went well ;-) Next was the first serious adventure of the trip, the taxi ride!!!! Another WOW! traffic in Peru is incredible and the way that people drive literally takes your breath away :-) Somehow they create at least 5 lanes out of 3 and weave in and out of traffic like maniacs! Intersections are free for alls and everyone sort of meets in the middle and somehow by osmosis they know who's "turn" is who's. I spent a lot of time I was in Taxi's with my eyes closed!! I think out is fascinating though that we never saw a single traffic accident the entire time we were there! They epitomize the term defensive driving for sure! Oscar arranged for Daisy, Oscar, and, myself to have an apartment for the week which was awesome! There was even a Starbucks right down the street! We arrived around 2:30 a.m. I think! Tuesday was a day off so we went exploring, found the beach, got some groceries, just acclimated for a day. It was great to have this opportunity, I don't think any of us had any idea of what the rest of the week was going to be like and the rest on the first day probably saved us :-)We did get in a little bit of culture too! Went to some ruins that were right in the middle of the little burg we were staying in, it was incredibly cool to get to experience a bit of the Peruvian history. The competition was located in a little town called Molina and it was about 40 minute drive in light traffic, so, you get it more like 1.5 to 2 hours every day back and forth!!! OK, maybe a slight exaggeration, it was only that long the first morning we dialed it back to and hour fifteen to hour and a half the other days :-) We were picked up by the bus at 5:45 a.m. each morning made one stop to pick up the majority of the Columbian team and off to the site we went! The drive was incredible, to see the city in all of it's glory and not so much glory in places was an incredible experience for sure. The stadium where the competition was to be held was beautiful and was right next door to a local merchant alley that most competitors frequented for lunch each day. We set up our crating area and headed down for the vet check and team practice.The surface we were to compete on was an older turf but the dogs did well on it. THe biggest drawback to the turf was how incredibly hot it got! Practice went really well and was followed that evening by opening ceremonies. It was also a chance to start to get to know the competitors from the other countries :-) The South Americans are incredible people and we all seemed to become instant friends! After the opening ceremonies we were treated to a local adult beverage that the Peruvians drink Pisco sours! They could easily join margaritas as my favorite beverage! Pisco is a strong Brandy made from grapes that is made in Peru, one word YUM!!!!! Another thing we learned very early on the first day is how incredibly hilly Peru is and that you need to take stairs to do and go pretty much everything and everywhere! The steps to the competition ring were brutal and thankfully provided all of the exercise anyone could possibly need for the week! Between the steps and the looooong days it was not a worry that any weight would be gained on this trip. Because it is advised that you do not eat fresh vegetables we sustained pretty much on meat, cheese, rice, and, potatoes :-) I did learn how amazing empanadas are and had those a few times too! We were picked up each day of the competition at 5:45 a.m. and returned to our apartment around 10:00 p.m. to say we were tired would be an understatement, but, it was a wonderful exhaustion as the days were filled with agility, and, friends both old and new! The courses were incredible, they were also Long! Numberwise they were not much longer than what we are used to, 21-23 obstacles, but, the course distances were incredible! I would say that the length of the field was at least 130 feet and 100 feet wide and the judges used every inch! Although the courses were very challenging, and, technical they were at the same time flowing and sensible. long and the short of it FUN!!!! It was wonderful to be able to put into practice all of the fancy moves that we are plying with these days and even better was to use them in places that they actually made sense! SoBe was a superstar! She jumped 26" for the first time ever in competition and was amazing! The skills that she had to employ to get over these jumps from the angles, backsides, etc… took my breath away! I was so proud of my girl I cannot even put it into words! I was pretty darn proud of myself too! I handled the courses just the way I wanted to, I planned my runs and ran my plan!! I walked the courses for the most efficient path and never once felt like I was playing it safe! Yea me!!!! It was an incredible rush to go out and just get it done! I can say in all truthfulness that SoBe and I are ready for the Netherlands and our next big adventure!!

The New Year brings some fond memories!

As I sit in my comfy chair surrounded by my incredible and awesome dogs in the living room of my very cozy home in Arizona, I cannot help but think about how incredibly lucky I am :-) I have been a bit dismayed of late as to how fast time really does go and how it seems to speed up with each passing year! A wonderful agility peer that I have known for many years named Maureen Robinson who just happens to be battling cancer right now, (all prayers and positive thoughts welcome!!), posted a picture on my Facebook wall that really reminded me just how much time has passed since I have embarked on this life journey of agility training, handling, and, teaching. I was so touched by the photo, but, at the same time a little freaked out that I barely recognized the youngster in the picture. I was at USDAA Nationals standing alongside one of the greatest dogs that ever walked the face of the Planet, my Secret! This picture really made me think about all that I have done in this sport and because of this sport! I have made countless lifelong friends, been to places I would never have gone, and, most importantly, done things I never would have done. it is actually a bit surreal at times to look back on the accomplishments, adventures, and, amazing dogs I have had the pleasure of being their best friend. It seems like only yesterday that I drove to Northern Illinois to pick up my very first BC puppy Jack :-) What a teacher he was! Jack came along at a time when we really had no idea how to train for this sport, how to handle a dog, what to do in general. Jack made me the trainer and handler I am today. Fortunately subsequent dogs came along and added to as well as tweaked that initial training. :-) Jack was WILD!!! He was a true pioneer of this sport and was well known by pretty much everyone as one of the great dogs out there competing, the irony is that in his whole career he probably had less total Q's than most of mine do by age 3! Boy how times change ;-) I was and still madly in love with that dog and miss him pretty much everyday... Next came Secret, thank goodness I had Jack first or I would have been screwed! Secret was from Day 1, well, PERFECT! I am pretty sure that she was psychic and she certainly made me look good! Secret had so many accomplishments it is not even possible to list them all, most notable however, she was the very first IFCS World Champion, pretty cool! I seem to be digressing, mostly it is a bittersweet trip down memory lane. I miss each and every dog I have lost and am in awe of how short our time together is. Jack, Secret, Buzz, Able, Blitz and others that maybe did not have a shining agility career but were part of the family none the less. It is not my mission with this blog post to bring anyone down, as hard as it is to be without these special pieces of my heart they bring comfort, fond memories, and, have led me to where I am today :-) There is a new crew of competitors all equally special for similar and different reasons. I am super excited to say that although I do not believe there will ever be another Jack, he lives on though his Grandson Wally. Wally is as close to being like Jack as any dog I have had since. My Journey girl sure reminds me of a black smooth coated Secret and Baby Rook has a whole bunch of Able in him! How incredibly exciting!! I also have new and exciting completely different individuals, can you say SoBe?? Maze has desperately tried to out do Secret in the perfect department and I guess on an awards level he has, but, some things just are not measurable by trophies and ribbons. I am one of those people that has a "pack" of dogs and I am deeply invested in each and everyone of them. You could easily say that my life has gone to the dogs, is all about dogs. I happen to love that about my life. None of my dogs are judged by their agility prowess, they all bring something very important to my life, and, our family. Each and everyone has a job, even if it is to keep the buffalo out of the garden. As we head into 2014 there are yet again advancements in the sport we call agility, new and exciting opportunities for me, and, everyone. As I enter into this new year I am only going to look back with fond memories of the incredible experiences I have had with my incredible teammates by my side, the adventures and incredible journeys they have taken me on, and,the amazing people they have introduced me to. Primarily, I am going to look forward to the new experiences, the new incredible journeys, (pun intended!), and, all of the amazing people I have yet to meet! So far 2014 has been amazing, I am blessed with fantastic dogs who I am excited to explore the future with, at this point the future is looking really bright! Now, if we could just add a couple days to the week or hours to the day that would be spectacular!! Happy New Year everyone!!!!

Reflections on 2013 USDAA Nationals and other things...

What a great Nationals it was!! The USDAA Nationals (Cynosport games, just cannot bring myself to call it that), are always my very favorite agility event all year! I love the competition itself, I also love the level of competition and the fact that it gets better and better every year! To be honest I have been very fortunate to have had successful National events year after year. I actually think that fact is what made this years event even more special! I went into this years event convincing myself that regardless of the outcome of my individual runs, I was going to have a great time and simply enjoy and appreciate the fact that I had the opportunity to play with my incredible canine partners. The difference this year vs. the last several is that this year I was showing 2 older dogs and a not so young dog that although awesome and wonderful has been shall we say, a bit of a wild ride! :-) In years past I have always had a dog literally at it's prime to take to Nationals and that in and of itself instilled a lot of confidence in the overall outcome :-) This year I was prepared to enjoy the ride, knowing that the level of competition was going to truly test the mettle of not just me, but, my dogs as well. Well, my head was definitely in the right place as SoBe, my wild child, was at the top of her game all week! She has truly never had such a consistent and successful event! Don't get me wrong, SoBe has already accomplished a lot career wise, but, there is always that edge that takes us from extreme success to, well, the other end of the spectrum. Often on the same weekend! Wally was as spectacular as ever and I do believe even more excited and faster than normal :-) The toughest part of Nationals for me was realizing before we even arrived that Maze was not going to be able to show the way he has in years or even months past... It was a tough decision this year whether he would even show in Championship at this years National event. Maze has always been and incredible 26" jumping dog, he also is one of the most consistent dogs I have ever owned, along with being tight and fast! These attributes allowed him to grace many a podium during his career as well as be a member of the 2011 WAO team representing the USA in Belgium. It was sort of a given throughout his career when Maze ran he would run clean and was very likely place in most events. We have a relationship as a team that has become almost a mind reading situation. He is definitely like the old pair of shoes, very comfortable. I have been in this position many times over the years, the ending of an era as it were. It never gets any easier! Watching these amazing members of our family get older is really hard to take. So, I made the decision to run Maze 1 more year at 26". I believe it was the right decision, although by the time Nationals rolled around it was evident that his days of effortless jumping at 26" were quickly coming to an end. This year has been another good one for Maze competitively, he was on the podium multiple times throughout the year at Regional Championships, had all of his semi final byes many times over, and, was 2nd place overall at the CCOA IFCS event in Dallas this April. All was going exactly as planned. I was very mindful of how much training he got, was careful with how tough his hikes were, and, just tried to be extra careful with him because he is never careful with himself! It was September when it became as clear as my conscious mind would allow it to that he was ready to slow down a bit and dial back the jump height... He got lots of time off and lots of lasering between then and Nationals. I showed him at one more trial before Nationals and split his runs between P22" and 26", he looked so good at 22"! Of course my heart still could not really accept that he was getting old... Nationals this year was not what I had come to expect with my Amazing Maze, but, he was still the dog that goes to the line every time with more heart and desire than could ever be expected! He put in some really super runs and, some not so super runs, however, at the end of the day he is healthy, happy, and, forever wedged in my heart. Along came SoBe doing exactly what I needed to be able to really wrap my head around the fact that Maze is ready to be a Performance dog, she showed me that she is indeed the dog that I have always known that she was! Although, one of the most special dogs on the planet in all ways, she has had her struggles keeping her head together in the agility ring :-) Well, not this week! She was on fire! I cannot really explain what changed, but, we were a true team in every run! I strapped on that new "old" pair of shoes and went into every run with confidence that she proved was warranted! Yes, she had runs that put her in the top 20 of almost every class and that was spectacular of course given the field of competitors that we were playing in, but, it was more about our relationship and where we are now and where we are going "together". Maze passed the torch to SoBe this week and she grabbed on and ran with it! I finished up on Sunday with a huge sense of calm and peace, I also left Tennessee knowing the direction I was going to take with my dogs and am ready to get started on that new set of goals and the next stage in my agility competition career! Don't think that Wally does not factor in there somewhere, I think he sort of the great equalizer :-) Wally has has his SoBe moments as well as his Maze moments. He, too is getting up there in years but is in no way telling me that he wants to stop or even slow down for that matter. Wally retiring will be another whole blog entry as that will be another incredibly hard pill to swallow! The good news is that I do not see that happening anytime soon :-) Before I talk about the future, I want to also mention that another huge part of the "experience" this past week involved making it as much of a vacation as anything! Sonya and I had an amazing trip to the Nationals that included many adventures, but, the night out in Nashville was truly a highlight!! We even went boot shopping and Sonya bought her first ever pair of cowboy boots! It was also great to see so many of my friends from around the country and around the World enjoying themselves so much and having such great runs! It is all part of the experience for sure! On to the future! SoBe has the year of her agility life ahead of her, I can feel it! Journey is ready to step up and start playing, it is so incredibly awesome to start a young dog, the excitement of the unknown :-) Although, I know that she is going to be the Fantastic Journey that her name implies! I have another Secret weapon in the arsenal named Rook that will be an up and comer as well! I am very blessed to also have a literal houseful of doggy family members that for various reasons either don't do agility at all, or, just play on a smaller scale, each and every one of them is an incredibly important part of my life and help shape where I go in this sport and in life in general. I also have to give a huge amount of credit to my wonderful family!! I not only have a super awesome husband but 2 wonderful sons, a new daughter-in-law, and, a soon to be daughter-in-law! I am a lucky, lucky human and am ready to take that step into the next era...

Has training become obsolete?

As I was in my building training Atom today I was thinking a lot about where he is in his training and what my ultimate goals are with him. This, of course, makes me think about the behaviors that he needs to know to actually compete in the agility ring. Now I am thinking about trialling and what really constitutes a trial "ready" dog? It feels to me in this day and age of endless trials weekend after weekend that we are starting to fall behind in the actual training department. It seems that training is getting sidelined in favor of trialling. In the "good old days" of agility we were forced to take "breaks" from trialling as there were actual seasons of agility and in between there were months off. I often hear people comment how they "need" to go to the trial coming up because they "need" this Q or that Q that has been eluding them for the last several months, or years... Seems to me that a better way to go about getting that Q would be to take a step back, evaluate what it is that is actually keeping you from getting those Q's and create a plan to fill those holes. A good example would be all of the great opportunities we currently have regarding seminars and continuing education opportunities. It is the rare individual that will pass on a trial to take the opportunity to learn something new, or, just brush up on skills that have maybe deteriorated over time. Once again, the thought being, there is a trial and I need that Q in... Don't get me wrong there is a ton of value is ring experience and there are certainly dogs that benefit from ring time in addition to training time, however, there needs to be a balance. There also needs to be plain and simple down time, time for dogs and humans alike to recharge their batteries and just be :-) The aforementioned spewing was more about the older more seasoned dogs, what about the up and comers? When is is the right time to start showing and what do the dogs need to know before entering the ring. Another thing I need to make clear is that I truly believe taking a "test drive" as it were with a youngster is a great idea! You need to keep it in perspective though :-) Just because you enter a trial does not mean that you are now required to enter every upcoming trial. Treat that first trial as a fun match, see where your strengths are, but, be very aware of your weaknesses, the dogs weaknesses and your overall weaknesses as a team. Take notes and evaluate whether these are training issues that need to be sorted out in a training environment, or, are they stress issues that are better sorted out at the trial? What are training issues v. stress issues? Primarily your training issues are going to revolve around impulse control and tangible obstacle issues. How is your start line? Can you ask your dog to stay and stride confidently to your desired lead out position fully expecting your dog to stay their until you have verbally released them? Does your dog know how to find an obstacle when you cue it without needing you to be part of the whole visual picture of that obstacle? Have you taught your dog the desired criteria on the complex obstacles to the point that they are independent? Are you maintaining your criteria? Is your dog fully aware that it is their job to pay attention to you? Do they understand the various physical and verbal cues that you are planning to use to get your dog to offer specific behaviors while negotiating the space between the obstacles? I know, lots of questions :-) I think it is a great idea to list out what cues you are planning to teach your dog and what the expected criteria is. It is a good idea to list out the expected criteria on your obstacles and evaluate whether you have taught the dog to take responsibility for them. Stress issues that may need to be addressed in the ring would be the dog that reacts to adrenaline in a manner that takes them over the top in a trialling environment as opposed to the quiet steady worker in a training environment. I think it is a super idea to look all the way back to your foundation training, or, look at what you are planning for foundation training and know exactly what you are looking for as an end result, plan your route to achieving this end result and take your time! It is so much easier to train something correctly the first time than to go back and retrain, I speak from loads of experience here :-) Try not to get so caught up in the fun of trialling that you forget what it is that will actually make you successful: clear, concise, consistent TRAINING along with breaks to just hang out and enjoy each other! Don't be in a hurry to trial a young dog, I do not think age is the mitigating factor, maturation is :-) There are a lot of dogs that mature early and are ready to trial early, this often goes the other way as well. Let your dog tell you when they are ready. Mostly, enjoy the process! The whole point of this sport is to demonstrate teamwork between a dog and handler, it is not one-sided, each of the entities has responsibilities and time and care must be taken to create this understanding. This blog comes after a spectacular weekend of trialling, my first trial in 2 months! During that 2 months we were taking time to smell the roses and most importantly train, it is said that the proof is in the pudding, the pudding was darn good this weekend! ;-0

Day one, what FUN!!!

SoBe, Maze, Journey, and I are in Fort Worth Texas at the USDAA CCOA Tournament this week and this was day one of a 4 day event :-) What a great day it was!! The weather is beautiful, the arena is wonderful, and, the competition is stiff!! I LOVE it!! It was a challenge just getting here to be honest. We had the second snowstorm in 10 days that made the first driving day a bit of a nightmare. Our big travel day was Tuesday, this the day following SoBe's full day in the hospital in IV fluids, and, having every test known to man to try to figure out why she was not eating and so lethargic.. The tests showed nothing although she was still uninterested in food and having less than solid stools (TMI, I know :-) Tuesday morning came, and, off we went :-) The weather was horrible as were road conditions. We still managed to make it all the way to our planned first night destination of Wichita Falls, TX. We settled in and got up Wednesday morning to a beautiful sunny day! SoBe ate breakfast for the first time in 4 days and I was feeling great! Wed. we finished our drive and arrived at the site for our practice. The dogs were super excited and practiced well. We were able to take a couple of walks at the great park across from the Will Rogers Center which made Wednesday the relaxing day that I was hoping for before the competition began. Journey was enjoying her walks, although I am sure she is wondering why exactly she came along :-) Hard to explain to her that I just love to have her with me and wanted her on the trip just because! It is Thursday night and day one of the competition is in the books. IT was a pretty fantastic day! SoBe won the 22" Grand Prix. She also took 2nd place in the 22" masters Challenge jumpers class! Maze took 4th in the Masters Challenge junipers class and 9th overall in Steeplechase :-) Given the level of competition at this event, i could not be more pleased! Tomorrow is another day and I will update my blog with the results. Have a great day everyone!

Snowed in!!!

Well, I have managed to miss pretty much all of winter this year and I am certainly paying for it now! Northern Colorado has been hit with a massive snowstorm that is not over yet!! As much as I enjoy a good snow storm now and again, the timing could not be worse! I am supposed to be in Salt Lake City right now working with my outreach group! There is also a trial this weekend in Salt Lake that I am entered in, so... we will see how this plays out :-) Until then, thought it was time to catch up on a little blogging! I cannot believe that it is the middle of April already, where does the time go! It has been pretty busy so far this year and it is about to get loads busier :-) I love that about my life and career, I really enjoy being busy especially since it is doing the things that I love the most, teaching, training, and, trialing! I have some fun things in the works, in addition to my skills and drills online subscription service I am working on a foundation program that will truly encompass what is needed to progress from puppy to agility superstar :-) I am very excited about this project! So, what else is going on? I have a very busy year moving forward and have already started to fill up the 2014 calendar. I am very excited to say that I will be heading back down under again in November for another 3 and a half weeks of seminars all over the Australian continent! I am not interested in having time speed up, but, I will say that I am seriously looking forward to seeing my friends and making a whole bunch of new ones! The dogs are doing great and I have already had 2 incredibly successful Regional competitions bringing home some hardware and much appreciated byes for the 2013 Cynosport games!! SoBe, Maze and, I will be heading to Dallas next week to compete in the CCOA tournament, this is the doorway to the 2014 IFCS World Championships and I am really looking forward to the competition. I truly feel that both the dogs and myself are ready and a good time should be had by all! I am also planning on attending the WAO US Open in November hoping to also play on the 2014 WAO World team. Big goals for this year! In an effort to meet those goals I am going to really knuckle down and work hard, which means learning to be a more effective time manager. I know this is an area of difficulty for many people, and, I, for one would like to change that about myself. This change is going to begin with "scheduled" training time for myself and my dogs, scheduled exercise, more defined work periods to get caught up on scheduling, articles, online projects, etc.. This also means limiting wasteful computer time, the dreaded Facebook vortex! Trust me, a lot of good can come from Facebook, but, it is also a monumental time waster if not kept in check. For this reason I am going to restrict myself to my page and the comments sent directly to me via my wall, or, comments on postings that I make on my wall :-) I love that now Facebook messaging can be done completely over the phone so that I can still stay in touch with the folks that I communicate with primarily through Facebook messages without getting sucked into the whole news feed. I am not the best when it comes to will power so it is often best to initiate these changes pretty much cold turkey :-) I am also very lucky to be having the most amazing time training my lovely little (OK, not so little:-) Journey girl! I am so incredibly in love with this puppy, she is just a complete pleasure to train, live with, and, just hang out with!!! Her training is coming along really nicely and she is a virtual sponge when it comes to anything I attempt to teach her. We are working on dog walk and A-frames at present as well as weave poles :-) It will be a surprise to everyone, including myself, what the contacts turn out to be :-) Danger is staying sound and as a matter of fact won his first ever PGP in Albuquerque a couple weeks ago. He also got a PSJ Q so he can now play in the Utah Regional in June! So, back to the idea of a foundation program that is not only suited for starting a puppy, but, also for filling gaps in older dogs who may have missed a few steps along the way, wouldn't it be grand! Everyone has such a different and unique perspective on what foundation really is and how it relates to this crazy sport of agility! I, of course have my own ideas in that department and am so excited to get it down in writing and on DVD, online, everywhere!! In the hopes of helping people Worldwide achieve the goals that they set for themselves. Although foundation training has become a bit of a buzz phrase in the past few years, I think we are still lacking in resources that really cover this topic in a comprehensive manner. Although there are a few really good programs available people like choices, there is no one way to teach or learn anything and hopefully I can contribute in a positive way to what is already available. There is definitely more to come!! Until then...

Keeping it in perspective...

I have had a lot of time on my hands lately! Not something you will hear me say very often :-) I am, quite honestly, not sure how to handle it?? I better figure it out quick though as all of this "extra" free time to come to an end soon! A variety of things contributed to my 3 plus weeks of lady of leisure status, but, it has certainly given me a lot of time to "think" about things :-) I freely admit is, I am a hyper active individual and when I find myself without a packed schedule I seem to just start spinning in circles! I have tried to make a conscious effort every day to just stop and appreciate that I have this time to spend doing whatever I feel is most necessary at that moment! I did have really good intentions as far as what computer type work I would get done during this travel hiatus... well, I guess what I needed more than anything else after a jam packed 2012 was some brain down time as well as physical down time. I have gotten my Skills and Drills Online subscription service up to date and am very excited about the site! It is really nice to have a way to reach people who do not have access to regular instruction either because of where they live or time constraints! With the subscription service, you have access to training drills, and, feedback from myself and other subscribers, but, no mandatory deadlines for homework submissions! I am having a great time challenging students to push themselves and think outside the box a bit! I have also had opportunity to train my dogs on a more consistent basis. I am still careful to not overdo.. I am definitely of the belief that quality outdoes quantity every time! The ability to spend at least a few minutes everyday has been a real treat though, both for me AND my dogs!! It has been pretty awesome that this hiatus is occurring when I am in Phoenix as the weather has been pretty darn close to perfect! And yes, I am LOVING my "new" agility playground :-) SO, with all of that said, what was the real reason for this blog post today? PERSPECTIVE, how do we keep everything in perspective as we travel down the path of life? That is a HUGE question and I am quite certain that "I" cannot answer it for everyone, but, I can continue to try to answer it for myself :-) Everyone says, don't sweat the small stuff, well, what is the small stuff? I think that is an individual answer as well. I, personally, am not exactly sure what the small stuff is, but, I have thought a lot these past few weeks about what really matters to me as an individual. My family matters, it is extremely important to me that my family be safe, healthy, happy, and, living their individual lives the way that makes THEM happy. I cannot get bent out of shape if we do not speak to each other on a daily basis, I don't take it personally that my children have lives outside of mine, that sometimes mean sacrifices, or, time apart when we would really like to be together. I do not expect my children to provide my happiness, only I can do that! Keeping it in perspective means understanding that. My friends matter, I want the very best for my friends and appreciate all that they do for me. I have to be willing to give as well as receive, but, without keeping score. To be a friend means accepting the person for who they are, good and bad. Nobody is perfect, you are friends because you appreciate the imperfections of those friends as much as the things that you love about the person. Keeping it in perspective means understanding that! My husband matters, I realize he falls under the family category, but, figured I better mention him specifically! ;-) All the stuff I said about family and friends most certainly applies to my husband! Keeping it in perspective means understanding that! My dogs matter, again, my dogs are my family, but, since they are not human we have to appreciate them on a different level for different reasons :-) My dogs make me smile and laugh everyday! My dogs offer me comfort and offer me a way to be at peace everyday! at least one of my dogs frustrate me in some form or fashion almost everyday! My dogs are dogs and not people and for that I am thankful most of the time, they do not judge, they love you unconditionally, and, they feed your ego, as well as often keeping it in check! :-) My dogs have a limited time on they Earth, as we all do, and, I want to appreciate that time, not wish it away, take it for granted, or, spend any more time than humanly necessary stressing about things beyond my control. I know that my dogs do not lay awake at night coming up with new ways to NQ on an agility course and every run that we have together is special whether we Q or not. Keeping it in perspective means understanding that! My career matters, I LOVE teaching, I LOVE helping people to achieve goals they never thought possible, I LOVE seeing the satisfaction people feel when they do something they had no idea they could do. It is incredibly gratifying to me to be able to make my living meeting people and dogs all over the world and helping to shape their individual idea agility and where they want it to take them. I LOVE the fact that agility serves a different purpose in each persons life and that there is no single definition of success in this sport. I LOVE the idea sharing that keeps this sport moving forward. I love that we can compete in agility, or, just play in agility, or even just play in agility in a way that is competitive within ourselves even if not competitive at the National level. Competition is something that people really have a hard time keeping in perspective. The word competition brings up a myriad of feelings and different thoughts, ideas, and, definitions depending on who you ask. I have never understood why the work competition has been primarily a negative... Competition is healthy, it keeps us motivated, it keeps us moving forward, and, it keeps us from stagnating. I do believe that people like to compare competitiveness to sportsmanship and these are 2 distinctly different things! Linda Mecklenburg posed the question on Facebook the other day about what people think being competitive means, the answers were very interesting! I believe you can be a good sport and be competitive, or, vice versa... your choice! Being competitive can also bring out the worst in people, we have all seen what happens when a person becomes competitive to the point that they are "always" in the ribbons... others begin to judge unfairly, criticize, even make things up to make themselves feel better. How sad is that? It has been said that nobody likes a winner, how incredibly sad! A gracious winner, is very likable! I study the competitive folks in agility to learn, what a fantastic opportunity! With the internet, number of competitions, access to trainers from all over the World we are so very lucky!! Every one has the opportunity to be competitive, instead of disparaging those that are, get out there learn from those that can teach you, put the work in and pay them the biggest compliment that can ever be paid, WIN! Or better yet, realize that competitive to you means something completely different, just going to the line is a major hurdle for some, combat a fear and win that battle! Remember, your biggest competition is always going to be yourself! It is important to be aware of what others are doing enough to have an idea of what your own goals are, but, reaching those goals is for you, and, about you! Keeping it in perspective means understanding that! I am going to spend the day with my puppies, doing a little agility, going for a nice walk, and, meeting up with a wonderful human friend to go watch her dog herd! I even get to try out my little Journey and see if she has the "instinct". What a great day, filled with great opportunities! Keeping it in perspective means understanding that! :-)

Contacts, contacts, and more contacts :-)

The never ending discussion, what type of contacts do I want to train? I can tell you the thought process goes through my head numerous times a day! Well, whatever you decide, running, moving, 2on/2off it is crucial that you know what you are teaching, how you are going to teach it, and, why you are teaching all of the various steps. Do "you" understand the process, the means to the end? I think a lot of people teach things because they are told to by their instructors, peers, etc... They do not fully understand what they are teaching, without understanding why you are teaching something, without understanding what you are teaching, the steps involved etc... you cannot be successful. Every method of contact performance must be taught, consistent running contact performance cannot be achieved by osmosis, often when a person feels that 2on/2off is not working, or, they get tired of the supposed tedium involved they decide to go to running. Running contacts do not magically happen because you do not like or understand the training process for 2on/2off :-) The same is true for 2on/2off, just deciding that 2on/2off is what you would like the criteria to be does not make it magically happen. Believe it or not this post is really not about running contacts, but, 2on/2off. As fashionable as running contacts are right now, there are still a lot of people who are just not the right fit for running contacts. 2on/2off contacts are not any more difficult to teach than running, as long as there is understanding of the process, consistent criteria, and, criteria maintenance. 2on/2off contacts get a bad rap for being hard on a dog physically, create slow, or, creepy contacts, or, break down. All of these things are true if they are not trained properly. There is a specific way to teach 2on/2off contacts that create speed, drive, accuracy, and proper body position to eliminate all of the above issues. Keeping in mind that any behavior is only as strong as it's foundation is a critical component, also remembering that reinforcing the most important part of the criteria is uber important! Dogs will only offer consistent performance of any behavior if the behavior you are asking for is more rewarding than what they would choose to offer on their own. Words to train by! Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

another year gone by... reflecting on 2012

When I was younger my mom was always telling me not to wish my life away, and, that as you get older time just goes faster! I never really believed that I was wishing my life away and I certainly never thought that time would speed up to the point that you barely even realize that it is going by until another year passes! When you are young and have your whole life ahead of you it never seems that time goes fast enough you are always looking forward to the weekend, graduation, getting your drivers license, Christmas, etc... When you become an adult and join the "real" world you are forever wishing that time would slow down a little bit! 2012 saw me turn 45 years old!!! I cannot even begin to understand how I went from a rowdy teenager to a 45 year old woman in what appears to be just a couple of years! The really great news is that I have been blessed in my life with so many wonderful things! It is because of this that I am so incredibly aware of how fast time goes :-) I think if it is possible 2012 was the fastest year I have ever experienced! It was a fabulous year, and, at the same time there were some not so fabulous things that although inevitable, still hurt. We lost Able in 2012, it still amazes me that he was 13 and a half years old! it still feels like he should be that silly puppy or crazy agility dog that was an integral part of many of my fondest agility memories. 2012 brought a lot of happiness and great times as well, my oldest son got engaged to a wonderful girl, my family has a lot to be thankful for and I never take any of these things for granted! 2012 brought me my wonderful Journey puppy from Poland and a chance to make a new forever friend in her breeder Marzena! 2012 was a fantastic agility year for me again :-) I had the opportunity once again to spend my working time with so many fantastic people,teaching and at the same time learning :-) I went to so many awesome places as well! Spending the majority of the month of November in Australia was obviously a highlight of the year :-) Not just being able to experience such a fantastic country but meeting so many wonderful people as well as reconnecting with people I have not seen in years! I had the extreme pleasure of being selected to represent the United States with Maze at the WAO World Agility Championships in Belgium. Words cannot begin to describe how wonderful it is to be able to represent our fabulous country overseas doing what I have made my lifes passion, career, hobby, and, obsession! I freely admit that I love the sport of agility and I love hanging with my dogs. To be able to combine that with International travel, different cultures, and, styles just makes it one of the most rewarding experiences of my life. I was once again lucky enough to have had a fabulous year of competition in the states as well! Maze went 6 for 6 clean at AKC Nationals ultimately making the Finals and earning a spot on the podium! What a thrill! In Spet. it was time for USDAA Nationals where all of my dogs made me proud! maze was a 26" finalist in both GP and Steeplechase!, SoBe was on a super DAM team who made it to the Team relay!, Danger made his debut at USDAA Nationals and had the greatest time, and, to topic off Wally was overall 2nd place P 16" team dog, wan, the most wonderful thing of all... 16" PSJ WINNER!!!!!! It was the crown jewel on our year of competition for sure. As we head into 2013 it is time to reassess goals, set some new ones, and, get ready for another fabulous year! I know one thing for certain, as New years resolutions come and go, this one will stick... no sweating the small stuff, be the best person that i can be, focus forward, and, love every minute of this life! HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!

Remembering Able

My very first memory of Able was before I even knew him. I had decided a few weeks before I knew anything about him that I would really love to get another BC and this time I wanted a smooth red boy! Of course that was before I realized that choosing on color or coat is not the best idea :-) Fortunately for me, it turned out perfectly on this occasion! Anyway, one day out of the blue Ables breeder, who also bred Secret called me and asked if I was interested in getting another BC, she went on to tell me that she had a litter on the ground as we spoke and that they were 4 weeks old. I proceeded to ask if there were any smooth red males, she said there were 2 and that I could have my pick! It was fate, right? Well, I told her to choose whichever one she thought would be best for me and he would be perfect! 4 weeks later I picked my new baby up from the airport in Vermont of all places as I was to teach a camp that week and it just made sense since he was coming from the Toronto Canada area to ship him to Vermont. I had never even seen a picture of him at this point! I arrived at the cargo area of the airport had a brief argument with the customs officer about trying to get my boy into the States since he was from Canada and finally got to meet Able. From the very second I opened his crate I was in love, I knew from that very moment that we were going to share a very special bond and that we were meant for each other! As he grew, (boy, did he grow!), it became increasingly obvious that he was going to be a big boy! It was at about 4.5 months that he was dubbed donkey dog because of his ginormous head and ears that did not quite match his gangly body :-). Shortly thereafter he was diagnosed with OCD, in this case I am very sure that the OCD was brought about simply due to his excessive growth rate, he had surgery on the first shoulder, endured a couple months of crate rest only to be released to be a dog when he began limping on the other leg! OCD of course :-) Off to surgery we go again... He came through it all like the fighter he always was.

Able loved to swim, he loved to hike, he loved to play, he loved us... He protected me in many rest areas on many trips to agility trials. You would never get near the car if Able was in it, if the big yellow eyes, and prick ears didn't scare you off the bark sure would. Able hated all things with wheels! Bikes, scooters, lawn mowers, you name it. Those of you that learned that the hard way over the years he was truly sorry :-) Able was the focal point of a series of Clean Run articles I did years ago called bringing up Able, I loved those articles and to this day people still talk about them and remember some of his finer moments. Besides being a part of my heart and soul Able was an incredible agility dog, what he taught me cannot be measured. To say it was at times a very difficult road would be an understatement. I can remember many occasions that I almost threw in the towel because he was such a crazy boy, who seemed to have one agenda, his! Boy how that changed! By the time Able retired he had become "the old pair of shoes" I always knew what to expect, what he was going to do, we were a team! I always said that although I won a World Championship with Secret, just making the World team with Able was at that time my greatest accomplishment, I am fairly sure I still believe that.

Able was famous primarily for his rubber chicken that he was always holding outside of the agility ring, I was reminded today that it actually started out as a rubber pig! He ripped the pig in half after his ADCH run, I was never able to find another pig like the first one so he graduated to the chicken. That chicken was blamed for a lot of stuff, but, it made Able very happy. I can remember a couple of "Busy Bee" arguments with Geoff at trials, just substitute rubber chicken for busy bee and you get it... LOL!!

Able was a very happy boy who brought a lot of joy to our family, up until the very end Able lived a very dignified life that he lived on his terms, enjoying every moment regardless of what he was doing at any given moment! He was my teammate and partner in agility for many years and his accomplishments are many, he was another true pioneer of the sport and I thank him for that, mostly though he was my friend, my protector, and, my soulmate. Sleep well my friend, I love you more than words can describe and I will miss you!

Life down under

It is November 16 and I have been in Australia since the 2nd :-) I know it does not seem like a tremendously long time, and it isn't a tremendously long time, however, when you are a world away, and dog less it feels like an eternity! ;-) It is bittersweet however, because I am having the most amazing time teaching all of the wonderful folks down under, and, at the same time find myself quite homesick :-) I have now had the opportunity to teach in 2 different parts of the country and will go on to teach at a third before I head home. What an incredible opportunity!!! The folks here are virtual sponges and are such tremendous students! The scenery here is absolutely to die for and the weather has been glorious! It is quite amazing to see the incredible wide range of birds flying overhead all of the time, cockatoos, kookaburras, and, lorikeets just to name a few. The dogs here are wonderful and it has been fascinating to get to learn the differences in the agility program in Australia. There are a lot of differences and at the same time a lot of similarities. The courses are not easier or harder, just different. I had the opportunity to go to a trial while I was in the Sydney area and even had a chance to run a couple of dogs, what fun! I have been to Sydney Harbor, through the Blue Mountains, toured wine country, and, done some serious shopping, what a lucky person I am! I have at the same time seriously missed my dogs, my family, and, my friends :-) I know that my dogs will be better for the trip as they have had a much needed break, the family will be pleased to see me again, and, hopefully the friends too! For now I am going to sign off, as it is getting on to "tea time", just wanted to catch everyone up on what has been going on down under :-) P.S. I am not sure that I will know how to drive when I get home, and, i may talk a bit funny, but, it will be a trip to remember for sure!!

The Fantastic Journey, The Incredible Journey, and, a new Journey...

Lots of things going on these days, lots to think about, lots to look forward to, and, lots of adjustments to make! The Fantastic Journey is proving to be all that and more...

Journey is one of those dogs that just makes you smile :-)I am so madly in love with this little, OK, not so little, dog! She is everything I could have ever asked for in a pup and more! What makes her so special, well, her temperment is awesome, she is built like a dream, incredibly athletic, toy drive oozing out of every pore, super intelligent, and, has a fabulous work ethic, speed, and, impulse control! Those are things that make her a special agility dog in my mind, what makes her one of those heart dogs I cannot explain... This is a discussion that I have had with many people over the years, what makes a dog so "special" emotionally?? There does not seem to be an answer, it just happens! With that said my heart is very full these days as I have several dogs that are irreplaceable and wedged so deeply into my heart and so part of my emotional being that it is palpable. Interestingly enough all of these dogs are very different, equally important, but, evoke different emotions and feelings on that deeper level when I think of each of them individually. I know that is pretty cosmic stuff for me, but, very real none the less :-) I am having so much fun training Journey she is progressing so quickly that although I am going to miss her terribly when I head out on my Incredible journey to Australia tomorrow, I know that this is a perfect time as she needs to grow up a bit and spend more time just being a puppy before we go much further. Journey is a big girl, I would say at this point she is about 20" tall and she is just 7 months old :-) We went through a short period of growing pains as she srew enough in a 2 month span to put on 16 lbs.!!! I am amazed at how smart she is :-) We are still playing with a running dog walk and she is nailing it! She is running across the full dog walk at about 3' high and just having a blast exploring how to really run and use her body, it is an incredible process to watch evolve! She is learning to go through jump uprights, playing on the end of the teeter, continuing to explore body awareness, impulse control, and mostly, PLAYING and being a puppy! She is a Fantastic Journey indeed and I am so enjoying the ride! As mentioned earlier there is an Incredible Journey on the horizon, I have the extreme pleasure and honor of going to Australia to teach for 3.5 weeks! I will be heading to Sydney tomorrow to start the fun! I will be there for almost 2 weeks and even get to play in a trial while I am there!! I will be borrowing a dog as I am unable to take a dog with me because of quarantines. Then it will be off to Adelaide for 4 days, then finally Perth for the duration of my trip! I am so excited and very lucky indeed!!! Yes, I will miss my dogs and family tons, but, when I get home we will all be ready to get going after a nice break. Then there is the new Journey...

My beautiful Danger Mouse who has been suffering from chronic on and off lameness was diagnosed with spondylosis yesterday... I know not the worst thing that could happen, but, for a not even 3 year old over the top border collie with an incredibly bright agility future ahead of him, it was definitely a blow. I was pretty upset when the news was delivered, but, with some awesome advice, information, support from friends and family I calmed down and am ready to simply move forward doing whatever needs to be done to keep my very special boy, yes, another of those heart dogs, comfortable, fit, and, playing as much as he can for as long as he can! Danger loves life with a passion that few share, he is a bit crazy, OK A LOT crazy!, but when the day is done he is the first one to be curled up on my lap to watch TV. Our new journey will have us exploring even more PT option, accupuncture, laser treatments, strengthening exercises and the brave new frontier of P16" USDAA agility! Danger is a super fast young man who will soon be kicking his mothers butt around a course with speed bumps, I mean jumps set to 16" so that he can continue to play longer and stay sound and comfortable for many years to come :-) I feel that the elimination of spread hurdles, lower jumps, and a lower A-frame are going to be key in keeping him at his best long term. I am sure that I could still jump him at championship height and I KNOW he would readily do it, but, I also know that there would be ramifications that I am not willing to subject him to just so that I can say he is a Championship dog! I am a bit sad simply because I do not want to see my baby boy in pain or uncomfortable at all and I know that spondylosis can be painful at times, but, we are already exploring the options that are going to make sure that he is a normal, happy healthy, active boy! I am sure that there are other journeys on the horizon that I do not even know about yet, and, I truly look forward to them! Remember everyone, on your way to whatever destination you are headed, enjoy the Journey along the way!

Life is Great!

Per the norm, it has been quite some time since I have had a chance to blog :-) I do have a tendency to stay busy, OK, really busy, but, I like it that way :-) This past weekend I was at a local AKC trial and it just hit me that I am in a very good place right now, physically and mentally! I am HAPPY! This is not to say that before this epiphany I was unhappy, not at all! I just feel really extra special good right now. It is very hard to explain, but, I would imagine many others have experienced these dramatic life feeling moments. I am blessed with the most amazing family, the absolutely most fabulous, fantastic dogs, super special friends, a great career that doubles as my hobby, a wonderful home, I get to live in one of the most beautiful states in the union, what more could a person ask for? On a more specific note, I really feel like the dogs and I are really clicking right now. I still do not get to train as much as I would like to, however, everyone is on track to have a great Nationals, and, regardless of what happens there we have had a great year! I have found the time to do a few more non dog activities this summer and that has been pretty awesome too! I have been struggling off and on the past couple of years with horrible plantar faciitis and it seems at the moment to be as under control as it has ever been, this is a really good thing! I have been trying to modify my diet a bit and learn to make better choices regarding food and the difference in my energy level was the first thing that I noticed. I actually have some energy and although I am seriously done with the heat that we have been experiencing all summer in Colorado, I find myself wanting to do things! SoBe has been off and on lame for quite sometime and she seems to be truly on the mend, for this I am truly thankful! It is hard to have aches and pains, but, even harder to watch your dogs have aches and pains! I am in my forties and am finally figuring out that taking care of oneself is paramount in being able to take care of others. To be the best person that you can be, you have to be good to yourself! With this said, it is my goal to continue to minimize the stress in my life that I am certainly the cause of, I let too many small things become big things, well, not anymore (hopefully:-)! I think at this point I know quite clearly who, and, what are important to me and will continue to try to maintain a safe distance from drama, stress, and, negative energy that does nothing to improve the quality of my life or those around me. I love teaching, I love training, I love showing, and, I love just knowing that I am absolutely one of the luckiest people on the planet because of the fantastic life that I get to lead surrounded by amazing people and animals, with new surprises and adventures around every corner! I hope everyone of you is just as happy and thankful as I am! Pretty sappy I guess, but, I thought it was important to share happy thoughts, it is just good mental management, another huge piece of the puzzle that we call daily life! So, all of you take a moment to think about something really good that is happening in your life right now and enjoy it!

Where does the time go?

I know that is a question that we ask ourselves often, and, true to our parents warning as we get older the time only goes faster! I find it to be especially true since I live by the calendar, my life is mapped out over a year in advance and I find myself living from event to event ticking them off like minutes off of a clock. All of a sudden you stop and look around and realize that so much time has gone by... did I relish every moment? Did I sweat the small stuff? Did I take the time to really appreciate my life, my family, my friends? I am thinking it is a no, yes, no and that really bums me out! Looking back at my life I have already had an extremely full one! I have a wonderful family, that includes a great mother, awesome husband, 2 wonderful sons, a soon to be daughter-in-law, a brother, and, an extended family I married into. My family has sacrificed a lot in order for me to live my dream as it were. The sport of dog agility has taken me all over the world, allowed me to meet some fantastic people, see some incredible places, and, make some lifelong friends. I have been fortunate enough to be very successful in agility, not just the competition part of agility but also as a teacher and mentor. In all honesty when I really take the time to think about the path I have traveled I am pretty much in awe of all that has been afforded me while I play a wonderful game. It is a tiny bit bittersweet though... In all of those years, I have seen relationships come and go, the ability to make some friends that will be with me for the rest of my life and some that although very special have sort of gone away for various reasons, this makes me sad. I have had to say good bye to dogs that in my mind should have lived forever. That is the main reason for my rather reflective mood this evening, Able my very special chicken boy is getting older by the minute and is but a mere shadow of the vivacious, crazy, sometimes scary, soulmate that took me on so many agility journeys over the years. We had to go to the vet today because he has an infection that I was all but positive was cancer... it is not thank goodness, however, he is still so very weak in his rear end and although his eyes, albeit a little cloudy, still have that mischievious sparkle he just can't do all of the things that made "his" life complete. He is still here and I will cherish every day I still have with him, I also miss him already. Able and I are a very special team, he did things and helped me do things I never thought possible and for that I will be forever grateful and will always have a large part of my heart tattooed with his name. The thought of losing these very special members of our family is almost enough to make me not want to have dogs, almost :-) The awesomeness that they bring to our lives cannot be replaced or duplicated and even though that horrible day comes where we have to say good bye, I would not trade the time with them for anything in the World. I have been a bit melancholy lately and sort of lacking in motivation, I think it is natural in all humans although I am not one to allow myself such times. In any case The aging of my beautiful pups has really been bothering me of late, I think just writing it down, realizing what they have brought to my life and what adventures lay ahead will be a big help in getting my mojo back and moving forward to my next goal... Tomorrow, I will appreciate what I have, look to the future, embrace the here and now, and, spend some special me and Able time.

Taking a break... sort of :-)

SO, I am on a bit of a vacation :-) I am home for a total of 10 days getting a bit of R&R before camp starts. I have been incredibly lazy, it is really hard for me to truly relax as my lifestyle is all go, go ,go! I can always tell when I really need a break as I find myself just sort of wandering around aimlessly and melting into the couch :-) My big issue with taking a break, or, trying to relax is that I actually find myself feeling guilty about not doing "something". I swear, I just do not know how to truly decompress, I am determined to keep trying though! During my break I have done a fabulous job of giving the dogs some time off, Maze is on a break until August, not because there is anything wrong, but, just because. OK, that is not 100% true, he will go to camp with me and possibly get a little bit of training, however, nothing serious until August, I think every dog needs a break now and then and he has had a really busy year. I am a bit bummed that I decided to pass on going to the European Open this year, it seemed like a good idea when I made the decision, but, now am sort of wishing I was jetting off to Sweden next week.. This is just the restless me talking of course, I have been home for several days so I start to get antsy :-) I actually have a pretty significant break from trialing, my last trial was 1 day of USDAA the end of June and will not set foot in a competition ring until the MO Regional the second weekend of August. I am really OK with that break as well, I am giving my competition dogs a much deserved break and taking the time off to train the babies. Except Danger of course who is once again on the injured reserve list! Good news, he is getting better everyday and will not only get to play at the Regional but may even get a little training in before the event. :-) I am having tons of fun with Journey and Mooch in the midst of this downtime. Journey is learning all sorts of puppy things and foundation behaviors that will hopefully serve us in our agility career later, Mooch is embarking on the latest whim of his owner, drumroll please.... running dog walk, AGAIN! It was purely accidental that we are starting this process yet again. I was not particularly happy with his striding over the dog walk into a 2on/2off position so I thought I would just spend a bit of time on a lowered dog walk just letting him run, ignoring the end behavior entirely, incredibly hard for me BTW! I was prepared for Mooch to do what appears to be his natural tendency which is to launch, lo and behold he did not launch, he ran right through!!! I was bitten again by the running dog walk bug. So, here we go again, except this time I will stick with it, yes you heard it here first :-) I am writing it down so that I am accountable. It is tough when you have such a comfortable fall back like a great 2on/2off :-) I am going to keep Mooch out of competition that involves any contacts until we have this nailed! Good thing I am not in a hurry :-) Danger will keep his 2on/2off it suits him, Moochie running and if all goes as planned Journey will be running as well. I picked a really crazy time to start this endeavor as I am once again battling a wicked case of Plantar Fasciitis, I think this is my lot in life as I get older, it really sucks!!! I have been back to the foot Dr. for another cortisone shot that I am not so patiently waiting on to take away the pain :-)Good thing I am training a puppy and am in the very beginning stages of training a running dog walk, I get to stay mostly stationary! I am super excited about camp!! I love camp, even though I am working it is seriously like summer camp for me too. Camp is good! For now, back to the couch with a nice bag of frozen beans under my heel, while I plan the next tr

aining session :-)

I am in Seattle right now teaching a spectacular group of people, today was Novice day :-) Novice is such an ambiguous title, what exactly is novice? I guess my interpretation of Novice is from 0 to a Novice title. There is certainly a lot in between! We had a great time today exploring all of the various handling maneuvers that we will be perfecting between the Novice time period and when we are on the road to becoming the World Champions. We did not go into the obstacle side of Novice, we stuck to the handling parts of Novice. These are 2 very different things and treated as separate entities. We explored what the various cues are that we are attempting to teach our dogs, and, what the dog theoretically brings to the table from a hard wired standpoint. The things that we get to shape and mold to work in an agility setting. We discovered that although it appears to be a daunting task to make the progression from Novice to World Champion, there really are not that many cues after all! We also discovered just how much of what we need to create the ultimate agility dog comes with the dog, how lucky are we!! So much of what we ask of our dogs on course begin and end with a fairly short list of different hand signals, body positions, verbals, etc.. the devil is in the details :-) Knowing which cue when and where and being uber consistent in not only how we teach and shape these cues, but, how we present them as well. Consistency is that dirty little word that reeks havoc with our training and ultimately with our trial results. The dog comes hard wired with so many of the agility staples that if we could just remember to use them in the same way each time we would go a very long way in creating the perfection that we all so desire! But, alas, we are human and this in and of itself is a contradiction in terms as far as consistency is concerned! Take a moment to list all of the cues that you feel are necessary to create the perfect agility dog and then think about how many are taught at the novice level. Pretty much all of them I assure you. We discovered in class today that we could cover pretty much every handling maneuver found on any course on any given day in just one day! Please do not mistake this for a false statement of how difficult it is or isn't to get a dog competition ready, it is more to iterate that the basic cues are all there, next comes refinement, and, the ability to combine them in an appropriate manner to take us through the ranks. There is a significant amount of art involved in this process as well. My theory on dog agility is that the training is a science and the handling an art. As will all artistic endeavors the ability to improvise, and, utilize a lot of creative license is a necessity, while at the same time maintaining a very strict adherence to the criteria maintenance of all behaviors taught. Now we are looking at a very difficult scenario indeed! Singularly, simple... In motion against the clock, with stress, adrenaline, and, the eyes of the judge VERY difficult! The key to success of course lies in your ability to be patient, to be fair, and, to take the time to truly teach yourself and the dog what each behavior is and needs to be all by itself. Never judge your dog against another, or, yourself against another! Each dog and handler is unique, learns at their own pace and is ready at a different time. You will know when this is better than anyone. trust your gut :-) I am always in awe of just how lucky I am that although my job is to teach others, I walk away everyday having learned something very valuable for myself!! Until next time :-)

I think things are settling down...

...As much as they ever do for me :-) This year so far has been a marathon I will admit! The interesting thing is that at the same time I am virtually in awe of the fact that it is already almost June!!! I do not think time could possibly go any faster! I do find this to be the case, however, when you live by the calendar from one seminar/event to the next. I am not complaining, just sayin' :-) One thing I have definitely learned about myself is that I am bit of a nomad, OK a lot of a nomad. I settle down just long enough to get bored and realize that I need to do something! Right now I am tired :-) I am having the hardest time getting over the jet lag from the Belgium trip, this is not really like me. Usually I adjust to the new time zones as they occur, not this time :-)I feel fairly certain that it is less about the time change and more about needing a break to recharge. Great news! I have a bit of a break, just a couple of seminars coming up and a handful of trials. What will I do with myself?? :-)I guess what I will do is train my dogs! Admittedly, this week has been a total wash as far as training is concerned, actually it has been a total wash as far as any productive endeavors are concerned! I suppose I deserve to be tired and deserve to take a break, however, I am NOT good at it! I seem to be incapable of moving too far off the couch and I feel so guilty about it! That is crazy!! I decided the happy medium is to work on my quarterly goal setting and training strategies. So, that is my work for this evening! Time to do the old where do I go from here plan. I have some wonderful youngsters that are ready to become the focus, and, I have another whole laundry list of things I want to do! BTW, the WAO and trip to Belgium were amazing! No pun intended!! The competition was fabulous and Maze and I held our own quite nicely. The team spirit and commaraderie was second to none and a great time was had by all! These International events are life changing events without a doubt and the memories are priceless! I am very fortunate indeed! It was icing on the cake to come home and find out I had made the "short" list for FCI World team. Even though we were not chosen it was an honor to make the list and be recognized for the accomplishments Maze and I had this year. I am giving myself one more day to lounge around and then it is time to put my nose to the agility grind stone! The next chapter will be a Fantastic Journey for sure!

Maintaining perspective :-)

It has been a very long time since I have had a chance to sit down and write in my blog. I do enjoy writing, but, it, like a lot of things seem to fall by the wayside as life gets busier and busier! However, after the last few months I have had a chance during my travels to reflect on the year so far, and just stuff in general:-) Primarily, my thoughts have revolved around having the ability to be a type A++ personality, and yet, still maintain proper perspective when things do not go exactly the way you wanted. This is even harder to do when things seem to be going essentially perfectly, until they aren't. It is so incredibly easy to be a good sport when it is all sunshine and rainbows, the question is can you be that same good sport when some clouds roll in? Actually, it is not just about being a good sport, gracious winner, and, of course, a gracious loser. It is about how you feel about yourself during the high times and the low times. Now realize when I say low times I am talking about a very inconsequential thing in the grand scheme of this thing we call life. Agility is not going to cure cancer or be the thing that brings on world peace, but, it is very important to those of us that are passionate about the sport. It is even more important at the moment we are at that trial, step to the line, and, lay it all out there in front of God and everyone :-) When you do well the euphoria you feel is a high like no other, when things go bad it can be at that particular moment quite devastating. How do we keep it all in perspective? I have been on a high since USDAA Nationals, and although I have been competing at the USDAA Nationals for many years and have always done fairly well, this past year was the very best ever!!!, this was followed by and incredible showing at the AKC Nationals, followed by winning the SW Regional GP with not one but 2 dogs, followed by winning again the next weekend at the Rocky Mountain Regional. Wow, this is obviously how it is supposed to go down, right? It is now just step to the line, and voila! magic happens, we win, the crowd goes wild! Oh yea, until it doesn't... This past weekend was AKC World team tryouts, I was ready! Mentally prepared, as physically prepared as any person who is allergic to most forms of exercise can be, my dog is ready, heck he has been winning everything lately, let's go do this too! I went to tryouts knowing I actually had a shot this year, Maze is running like a well oiled machine and I have not been half bad either! We arrived Friday morning, set up, reconnected with a bunch of friends, and got ready to practice. Practice went extremely well, I am feeling super confident, Maze is feeling great, ready for Sat. Bring on the crazy courses! Sat. started with a wonderful standard agility course, I walked it with confidence, reminded myself to pay attention to the process, did my warm up routine, Maze got a massage... I stepped to the line, released Maze and we were off, totally in the zone, After the last jump I was ecstatic, clean run!!! Until I was told we missed the dog walk contact, I was so completely unprepared for this, he NEVER misses a dog walk contact! Well, guess what, today he did. Immediately I was disappointed and came very close to throwing a major pity party for myself, how could this have happened, there goes my chances for World team, my life is over! Except it wasn't... Maintaining perspective, the reality is I went to tryouts feeling very confident, but, more importantly really WANTING it. So, when we started out with a faulted round after so many clean rounds at the events leading up to this I was pretty thrown, and then I remembered, this is one Sat. after 1 round of agility, things happen, there is always another round, always another trial, and, right now the pleasure of just being here and able to run my awesome dog. Round 2 rolls around and I pull up my boot straps and go to the line feeling incredibly confident, that lasted until I under rotated a front cross 2 jumps from the end of an up to that point, perfect and fast clean run, I came out of the front cross rotation and realized too late that I was sending Maze to the wrong jump!!!! OMG, I might as well quit agility right now! Are you kidding me, what have I done to deserve this? The answer is nothing, it is just one of those things that happen, bummer that it happened in this event on this day, but, it happened. Keep it in perspective! Last run of the day, my goal, to prove that I can come back from these unfortunate occurrences and run the type of course that I know Maze and I can run. Well, we did just that, it was a thing of beauty, we were a perfectly in sync (mostly), we were a dance team out there and we nailed it! YIPPEE!!! After the class was over I went to check our score and see if we got a placement, well, not only did we not get a placement but we had incurred 5 faults for being over the course time by .1!!!! Course times are figured at the end of the class by adding 10% to the fastest overall time, well we landed .1 over that time, SERIOUSLY! It was definitely starting to feel like someone, somewhere was out to get me, but, they weren't, it was just another run on any given Saturday in the sport of agility. I did a lot of talking to myself that evening and found that I was not upset about the day or the runs, as a matter of fact I was overall very happy with what Maze and I did on Sat. and I knew that any other Sat. it could be our turn to be "perfect". I went to tryouts with the goal to do my best and hopefully end up in a position that made it really hard for the team coach not to select me, by end of day Sat. I knew the latter part of that goal was not to be, however, I did do my best on Sat. and I was vey happy and proud of that accomplishment! The courses were tough, the pressure was incredibly high, and, the talent was off the charts, yet, we still did awesome, that is called maintaining perspective! Sunday was another day and, Sunday was our day, Maze and I put up 2 awesome clean runs, each landing us in the top 10, not too shabby in the field of dogs we were running in. The weekend ended not with a spot on the World team , but, with me feeling very satisfied with our performance, happy to have been there, and, honored to be my dogs teammate! I have been in this sport a very long time and it can be tough sometimes to hold it together when it feels like everything that could go wrong does, it is hard to stay gracious when everything seems to be going your way, and, you can easily start to take it for granted. Luckily, the variables definitely outnumber any amount of consistencies that we see at trials from week to week and these do tend to keep us humble, it also hopefully, makes us stronger and this is the result "if" you maintain perspective! Next week it is off to Belgium for Maze and I to represent the USA at the WAO World Championships, we are both ready, feeling good physically, feeling good mentally. We will both do our best and if the day is ours we will bring home some medals, if not, we will still have the experience of being there, the lessons we learned along the way, and, each other! It does not get any better than that, so... Let the games begin!