It is early morning in Vancouver BC, I am about to start day 3 of seminar here with a wonderful group of people that I have had the pleasure of working with many times over the past several years. It is really a pleasure to be able to come back to places that you have taught before and get to progress with the group. It is awesome to see everyone grow and improve and it is very fulfilling to know that I had a hand it that progress, at least a little bit anyway.
It is also really cool to get to know the individuals and develop so many wonderful friendships along the way.
I am very fortunate to have several of these groups that I get to work with anywhere from 2 to 4 times a year.
I head home tomorrow morning and am there long enough to say Hi! To Geoff, pack my bag, pack the car, grab a couple dogs and head off to Minnesota to work with another of my regular groups for 2 days! I am looking forward to this trip for that reason and because it I also get to be the student on this trip! I am spending 4 days training with Silas Boogk.
I had the opportunity to work with Silas last year and it was an amazing experience for sure! I am expecting no less this year. Once again SoBe will be the dog to play with Silas and myself.
In between the 2 different seminar sessions I will be doing 1 day of a USDAA trial and Wally, Danger and SoBe get to play in that.
Between this trip and the trip out to Minnesota I will be back on the road for a total of 2 weeks loving every minute of it. I am so incredibly lucky to have a husband who supports my career choice as well as my hobby choice, I am equally lucky to be able to do what I love, meet so many awesome people, and, go so many incredible places!
So, after Nationals I guess I am back to reality, but, what an incredible reality It is!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Pinch Me!!!!
Wow, is pretty much all I can say... we work and work to get ourselves and our dogs ready for the National events every year with hopes of a great showing, knowing that there are hundreds of others with the same hopes and dreams, will it be my weekend, will my dog and I be on the same page? Well this year for Maze, Wally, SoBe, and myself the answer was a resounding YES!!
Don't get me wrong, I realize that I have had many moments in the sun and have been fortunate enough to be in all of the various finals at the National events of several venues on numerous occasions, but, there was just something about this year that really made it special.
I don't think I can fully explain how incredible it was to be in all 3 final events with Wally. Wally is one of those super special dogs that we are lucky to have come in to our lives and enhance it in so many ways without it ever really being apparent, Wally ran in Championship tournament events for that last time this year and I guess he wanted to go out with a BANG!! I have to say that our Steeplechase finals run will go down in the history books of my mind as one of the best runs he and I have ever had together! Wally ran quite early in the 22" class and it was impossible to tell whether his time would stand up or not in the field of incredible dogs he was running with, including his own daughter!
As the class went on it became more and more obvious that his time was going to be pretty tough to beat! As the last dog crossed the finish line it dawned on me that we had actually won, it was absolutely a euphoric feeling that I will doubtfully ever experience again, one I will savor for the rest of my life, way to go Wally!
To follow that run with SoBe and experience what my baby girl is now capable of was it's own incredible experience! SoBe went into the finals just .01 second behind the leader and ran her little heart out in the finals! If only I would have timed that silly back cross better, who knows where she would have ended up. I just know that with a refusal we still landed in the 9th position, WOW!!
Well, we were not done yet, time to run Maze in the 26" class, again a spectacular field of dogs! Maze had the run of his life and landed a spot on the podium as well taking 3rd place!! What a night :-)
Even getting to Sat. night was incredible, All 3 pups made Steeplechase Finals, Wally was securely in the GP Finals, SoBe had made it through quarterfinals in GP, and, almost, almost made it into the GP Finals!
The dog agility masters tournament is another huge part of the National Championships and we were having quite a time there as well!
Maze and his fabulous teammates, Sonya Anderson and Jaxon, and, Desiree Snellman and Stinger held it together the 5 runs to ultimately win the 2011 Dog Agility Masters National Champion title! Icing on the cake was winning the 3 dog relay as well.
Maze is in good company as his Aunt Secret was part of the winning team in 2003, and his cousin Able was on the winning team in 2006, they have kept it in the family.
Wally and Jacqui Hoye and Sizzle, along with Daisy Peel and Jester also took the podium in the third place spot for their incredible showing in the tournament.
I am sure this all sounds like a giant brag blog, but, today it is! I am very proud of my dogs and I am very proud of myself. I have been blogging a bit about the importance of the mental game in agility and how I have been really trying to make it an even more important part of my agility game, it truly paid off this year! I felt more relaxed and more confident walking to the line each and every time that I can ever remember feeling I knew I could get around every one of those courses and went to the line with a PLAN!
I ran my plan and more often than not it resulted in the outcome that I was thrilled with! Not every run was a success, SoBe's IHC jumpers run could attest to that, it was downright comical truth be told, however, I put those moments behind me and simply moved on to the next run, next dog.
The mental game allowed me to go to Nationals and be the best partner and teammate I could be for my dog, it allowed me to recognize and cherish the good things that happened and forget about the not so good.
Nationals this year was everything I hoped it would be and more, when all was said and done the only thing that I did not take away was a spot on the World team, Maze landed in the 4th place spot by 5 points, instead of being disappointed I am incredibly proud of the fact that my boy Maze did so incredibly awesome this year that he was 4th overall in a field of over 50 dogs trying out for the team, what an accomplishment!
We gave it everything we had and after a very intense week Maze was top scoring 26" dog overall in team and had run clean runs in all but 2 classes, WOW!!
After all of that there was one run left, Wally, GP Finals!! The course was lovely and we were ready! Wally turned in a great run but, alas, missed his dog walk contact... oh, well we were THERE, it does not get much better than that!
In closing, My dogs were ready for Nationals this year, "I" was ready for Nationals this year and a great time was had by all!!!
Don't get me wrong, I realize that I have had many moments in the sun and have been fortunate enough to be in all of the various finals at the National events of several venues on numerous occasions, but, there was just something about this year that really made it special.
I don't think I can fully explain how incredible it was to be in all 3 final events with Wally. Wally is one of those super special dogs that we are lucky to have come in to our lives and enhance it in so many ways without it ever really being apparent, Wally ran in Championship tournament events for that last time this year and I guess he wanted to go out with a BANG!! I have to say that our Steeplechase finals run will go down in the history books of my mind as one of the best runs he and I have ever had together! Wally ran quite early in the 22" class and it was impossible to tell whether his time would stand up or not in the field of incredible dogs he was running with, including his own daughter!
As the class went on it became more and more obvious that his time was going to be pretty tough to beat! As the last dog crossed the finish line it dawned on me that we had actually won, it was absolutely a euphoric feeling that I will doubtfully ever experience again, one I will savor for the rest of my life, way to go Wally!
To follow that run with SoBe and experience what my baby girl is now capable of was it's own incredible experience! SoBe went into the finals just .01 second behind the leader and ran her little heart out in the finals! If only I would have timed that silly back cross better, who knows where she would have ended up. I just know that with a refusal we still landed in the 9th position, WOW!!
Well, we were not done yet, time to run Maze in the 26" class, again a spectacular field of dogs! Maze had the run of his life and landed a spot on the podium as well taking 3rd place!! What a night :-)
Even getting to Sat. night was incredible, All 3 pups made Steeplechase Finals, Wally was securely in the GP Finals, SoBe had made it through quarterfinals in GP, and, almost, almost made it into the GP Finals!
The dog agility masters tournament is another huge part of the National Championships and we were having quite a time there as well!
Maze and his fabulous teammates, Sonya Anderson and Jaxon, and, Desiree Snellman and Stinger held it together the 5 runs to ultimately win the 2011 Dog Agility Masters National Champion title! Icing on the cake was winning the 3 dog relay as well.
Maze is in good company as his Aunt Secret was part of the winning team in 2003, and his cousin Able was on the winning team in 2006, they have kept it in the family.
Wally and Jacqui Hoye and Sizzle, along with Daisy Peel and Jester also took the podium in the third place spot for their incredible showing in the tournament.
I am sure this all sounds like a giant brag blog, but, today it is! I am very proud of my dogs and I am very proud of myself. I have been blogging a bit about the importance of the mental game in agility and how I have been really trying to make it an even more important part of my agility game, it truly paid off this year! I felt more relaxed and more confident walking to the line each and every time that I can ever remember feeling I knew I could get around every one of those courses and went to the line with a PLAN!
I ran my plan and more often than not it resulted in the outcome that I was thrilled with! Not every run was a success, SoBe's IHC jumpers run could attest to that, it was downright comical truth be told, however, I put those moments behind me and simply moved on to the next run, next dog.
The mental game allowed me to go to Nationals and be the best partner and teammate I could be for my dog, it allowed me to recognize and cherish the good things that happened and forget about the not so good.
Nationals this year was everything I hoped it would be and more, when all was said and done the only thing that I did not take away was a spot on the World team, Maze landed in the 4th place spot by 5 points, instead of being disappointed I am incredibly proud of the fact that my boy Maze did so incredibly awesome this year that he was 4th overall in a field of over 50 dogs trying out for the team, what an accomplishment!
We gave it everything we had and after a very intense week Maze was top scoring 26" dog overall in team and had run clean runs in all but 2 classes, WOW!!
After all of that there was one run left, Wally, GP Finals!! The course was lovely and we were ready! Wally turned in a great run but, alas, missed his dog walk contact... oh, well we were THERE, it does not get much better than that!
In closing, My dogs were ready for Nationals this year, "I" was ready for Nationals this year and a great time was had by all!!!
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Handling your baby dog
Often when I teach Novice/Intermediate level seminars and there are sequences of obstacles involved, handlers will first comment about the fact that they are running a "baby" dog and that said "baby" dog is not necessarily ready for whatever the sequence is. At this point handlers will generally over handle the situation trying to avoid allowing the dog to make a mistake, etc...
This is all very innocent of course, all done in the name of helping the dog be successful, however, even though the handler is completely managing the exercise mistakes are made. Most of these mistakes are due to confusion on the dogs part because the handler is acting in an unfamiliar way, giving unfamiliar cues, probably Being a bit erratic in their physical cues.
Think about all of those nights at class, the seminars, etc... You are teaching your dog to recognize and respond to the cues that you will be utilizing throughout the dogs career, these are the cues you should be using now as well.
Before you begin to sequence, you teach the cues, hand signals, motion cues, etc... You do this on 1 or 2 jumps.
When you start to add obstacles to your sequences you absolutely should not change your cues or anything else that you have taught your pup to respond to. There is no reason to modify or change what you have been teaching simply because your dog is inexperienced. Changing your cues or handling strategy will do nothing except ultimately require you to retrain the things you originally trained when the dog is no longer considered a baby.
When you begin to sequence with a young dog the only differences in how you should handle this dog vs. An older more experienced dog is to keep the sequences shorter with even more than the usual effusive praise and reinforcements for a job well done, and, don't be in a hurry, speed comes with understanding, clear concise cues without rushing will get the job done without compromising the end result.
Your cues should be a bit more dramatic to ensure understanding. It is at this point in my dogs career that they learn the meaning of the individual cues, the more consistent I am in how I present these cues and the more clearly I present them, the better the dog will be
able to react quickly upon the initiation of these same cues later as the dog matures.
Your handling decisions should be the same with your novice dog as they are with your agility champion, just more dramatic!
In summary, train your pup, trust your training, maintain clear consistent criteria and most of all, HAVE FUN!
This is all very innocent of course, all done in the name of helping the dog be successful, however, even though the handler is completely managing the exercise mistakes are made. Most of these mistakes are due to confusion on the dogs part because the handler is acting in an unfamiliar way, giving unfamiliar cues, probably Being a bit erratic in their physical cues.
Think about all of those nights at class, the seminars, etc... You are teaching your dog to recognize and respond to the cues that you will be utilizing throughout the dogs career, these are the cues you should be using now as well.
Before you begin to sequence, you teach the cues, hand signals, motion cues, etc... You do this on 1 or 2 jumps.
When you start to add obstacles to your sequences you absolutely should not change your cues or anything else that you have taught your pup to respond to. There is no reason to modify or change what you have been teaching simply because your dog is inexperienced. Changing your cues or handling strategy will do nothing except ultimately require you to retrain the things you originally trained when the dog is no longer considered a baby.
When you begin to sequence with a young dog the only differences in how you should handle this dog vs. An older more experienced dog is to keep the sequences shorter with even more than the usual effusive praise and reinforcements for a job well done, and, don't be in a hurry, speed comes with understanding, clear concise cues without rushing will get the job done without compromising the end result.
Your cues should be a bit more dramatic to ensure understanding. It is at this point in my dogs career that they learn the meaning of the individual cues, the more consistent I am in how I present these cues and the more clearly I present them, the better the dog will be
able to react quickly upon the initiation of these same cues later as the dog matures.
Your handling decisions should be the same with your novice dog as they are with your agility champion, just more dramatic!
In summary, train your pup, trust your training, maintain clear consistent criteria and most of all, HAVE FUN!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Contacts :-)
I have been thinking a lot about contact obstacles again recently, OK, it is true I am pretty much always thinking about contact obstacles! Recently, however, they have been a huge topic of discussion at seminars that I have been teaching. They have kind of moved into the spotlight because I have been using them a bit more in seminars.
In general I am not a huge fan of contact obstacles in handling seminars as they are either a problem because they are "speed bumps" and make certain handling situations easier. I also think they can cause a completely different problem, they hinder peoples ability to truly plan their handling strategy because a lot of students worry around contacts, not trusting the dog to perform them properly so they babysit the contacts completely throwing off their handling.
I have been bringing the contacts out more frequently in my Intermediate level seminars because I think that people need more input and education involving the contact obstacles and because this is the level that seems to be in transition.
There are several different issues surrounding the performance of contact obstacles these days, should I do running, should I do 2on/2off? Should I do 4 on the teeter or 2on/2off? Can I do a different behavior on the different obstacles? These are just questions regarding what criteria should be utilized, the questions only multiply once a criteria is selected.
As far as what is the "right" thing to do, that is completely up to you and your dog! I do let the dog help with the decision. I do this by paying very careful attention to what there movement, structure, and, natural propensities are regarding their natural behavior across the obstacles. Not every dog is built for a 2on/2off and not every dog is going to be able to have a running contact.
I also weigh how much time I have to devote to the training as well as well as how observant I may have to be to maintain consistency in my criteria.
For now I would like to talk about the 2on/2off criteria. The biggest issue that I see regarding a failure to achieve the fast, consistent, 2on/2off criteria people are looking for is first and foremost rushing the training. It is a huge mistake that we make by combining the bottom behavior with the full performance of the contact obstacles before we have fully trained and proofed the bottom behavior by itself.
Most creeping that we see on contact obstacles is a product of misunderstanding, the dog is not at all sure where they are supposed to be going or what they are supposed to be doing and it creates creeping.
We generally start early releasing the dog from the contact to circumvent the creeping, however, in actuality this just makes it worse but graying the behavior.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to fully train the 2on/2off behavior with all types of proofing, etc... before applying it to the full performance of the obstacle.
Within this process you should be building value for the bottom of the obstacle creating drive and desire to the 2on/2off position. If you have taught the behavior fully and correctly when you give the cue for the bottom behavior your dog should drive with passion, speed, and, confidence to the bottom completely unaided by you, the dog should have a completely independent performance of each of the obstacles. Definitely something to shoot for! Now, list your contact criteria, the steps you are going to employ to train it and have fun!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Crocodile calls, Mouse lines, and, killer Bananas
First, let it be known that Jenny Damm puts on a GREAT seminar! Her teaching style is amazing, her knowledge is incredible, and, her ability to communicate how to do things is just fantastic! SoBe and I are just back from an incredible 3 days of seminar with her in Hamden, CT at the awesome Paws N' Effect training center.
It was an incredible opportunity and we made the most of it! SoBe was brilliant if I do say so myself, and, although I was continuously pushed outside of my comfort zone, (which is exactly what I was hoping for), I held up quite nicely and learned oh so much! :-)
Jenny helped us with a crocodile call, the ability to put serious emphasis on a verbal cue to REALLY get the dogs attention, imagine a crocodile on the other side of of the jump you are sending your dog over and if you do not call the dog with serious passion the crocodile will get your dog!
We were perfecting the mouse line which is the line line you should be creating for your dog on turns, going between obstacles, etc.. picture your dog as the size of a mouse when setting lines.
Killer bananas are pretty much the opposite of a mouse line as they bow out in the shape of a banana. I think you get the gist of the 3 days!
I had some serious agility handling epiphanies at this seminar which I will go into more detail about as I incorporate some of these techniques, etc... into my handling.
My mission in going to this seminar was as I said to be pushed outside of my comfort zone, but, also just to be PUSHED! I am also really trying to be not only the very best trainer and handler that I can be but also the very best teacher. In order to be these things you have to not only have an open mind but be willing to continue to learn, to try new things, and, be open to different ideas.
I feel as though with a bit of time and practice I can incorporate several of the lessons I learned at Jennys seminar and improve on what I am already doing, very exciting indeed!
After the seminar Sonya and I went directly from the airport to a USDAA trial in Denver where we had a pretty good weekend considering how brain dead we were upon arrival!
I am very happy to report that after a scare with Danger he is doing awesome and will be returning to the agility scene soon! He competed in his first trial a couple of weeks ago and on MOnday after the trial I decided to take him in to see Kera (PT vet), just to see how he was doing. Kera noticed a bit of laxity in the knee and a fairly substantial muscle mass discrepancy as well. Needless to say I was freaking out that my boy was once again possibly done with agility forever!
Deb A. was very kind and took Danger to see Dr. Stubbs, out Ortho surgeon while I was in CT. and he said everything looked great and was impressed with the overall recovery, although he did feel that strengthening exercises for that leg are in order. Back he went to see Kera and she concurred that he seemed already to be doing better and so we are on an exercise regimen along with his agility training.
On that note, his dog walk looks amazing!!!! I have to sift through some videos that I shot over the past couple of days but he really seems to understand the job and id decidedly moving forward on his dog running dog walk performance!
Well, I am off to walk dogs... more later!
It was an incredible opportunity and we made the most of it! SoBe was brilliant if I do say so myself, and, although I was continuously pushed outside of my comfort zone, (which is exactly what I was hoping for), I held up quite nicely and learned oh so much! :-)
Jenny helped us with a crocodile call, the ability to put serious emphasis on a verbal cue to REALLY get the dogs attention, imagine a crocodile on the other side of of the jump you are sending your dog over and if you do not call the dog with serious passion the crocodile will get your dog!
We were perfecting the mouse line which is the line line you should be creating for your dog on turns, going between obstacles, etc.. picture your dog as the size of a mouse when setting lines.
Killer bananas are pretty much the opposite of a mouse line as they bow out in the shape of a banana. I think you get the gist of the 3 days!
I had some serious agility handling epiphanies at this seminar which I will go into more detail about as I incorporate some of these techniques, etc... into my handling.
My mission in going to this seminar was as I said to be pushed outside of my comfort zone, but, also just to be PUSHED! I am also really trying to be not only the very best trainer and handler that I can be but also the very best teacher. In order to be these things you have to not only have an open mind but be willing to continue to learn, to try new things, and, be open to different ideas.
I feel as though with a bit of time and practice I can incorporate several of the lessons I learned at Jennys seminar and improve on what I am already doing, very exciting indeed!
After the seminar Sonya and I went directly from the airport to a USDAA trial in Denver where we had a pretty good weekend considering how brain dead we were upon arrival!
I am very happy to report that after a scare with Danger he is doing awesome and will be returning to the agility scene soon! He competed in his first trial a couple of weeks ago and on MOnday after the trial I decided to take him in to see Kera (PT vet), just to see how he was doing. Kera noticed a bit of laxity in the knee and a fairly substantial muscle mass discrepancy as well. Needless to say I was freaking out that my boy was once again possibly done with agility forever!
Deb A. was very kind and took Danger to see Dr. Stubbs, out Ortho surgeon while I was in CT. and he said everything looked great and was impressed with the overall recovery, although he did feel that strengthening exercises for that leg are in order. Back he went to see Kera and she concurred that he seemed already to be doing better and so we are on an exercise regimen along with his agility training.
On that note, his dog walk looks amazing!!!! I have to sift through some videos that I shot over the past couple of days but he really seems to understand the job and id decidedly moving forward on his dog running dog walk performance!
Well, I am off to walk dogs... more later!
Saturday, August 13, 2011
What's next?
I find it incredibly important to have goals in life/agility and I am at that point once again where I am looking at long term goals, and, I ask myself what's next?
My long term goals are what establish my short term goals so I typically start with the big picture then back chain :-)
This of course is in reference to my older competition dogs because with the youngsters I, of course, have huge plans for each and every one of them, however, with babies it is definitely a one day at a time situation with goals being a bit more conservative, focusing on things like a sit stay that lasts for more than 1 second!
I am very fortunate to have some great babies coming up right now and they are definitely at that point where I have to start defining more clearly what those short term goals are. The list of goals is different for each of them as their age, maturation, and, core knowledge at this point is very different from one to the next.
With the trained dogs, it is still a matter of assigning specific yet often different goals for each dog, however, they are definitely more lofty and fall under the category of long term or ultimate goals.
I am most certainly planning on another trip to the European Open next year, I just have to decide who to take. Maze is certainly the number 1 candidate at this point, but, he is going to be 7 next month so almost 8 by the time the trip rolls around. His level of experience and expertise in these types of shows would be a huge asset but his age may hinder his speed a bit!
These factors play a role in whether I choose to go to AKC World team tryouts with him next May as well. I know that I will weigh the options very carefully and try to make decisions based on what is best for us as a team with an emphasis on what is best for Maze! :-)
The runner up in the who do I take to the EO competition of course goes to SoBe who has most certainly come in to her own, but, she is barely 19" tall and would likely be jumping 26". I know people jump smaller dogs than SoBe at 26" all of the time, I am just not sure "I" want to do that.
I am concentrating on SoBe this year and she will be accompanying me to several really awesome seminars to help make that decision.
I have for the past couple of years really been trying to do "me" things relative to my agility escapades and this fall I am going to be attending 2 international handling seminars, and, hosting a 3rd! I am so excited to have the opportunity to work with these amazing people and SoBe will be the one joining me at each of these events!
As I write this I am realizing that the goals that I am setting at this point are really more about me and what avenues of the sport I want to explore rather than goals that are dog specific , maybe that is why the title of the post immediately came to me as what's next? Let's be honest, it really is about what's next for me, what do I want to do, where do I want to put my energies? Lucky for me my dogs will gladly accommodate me and join in on whatever endeavor I choose to pursue agility related or not.
Probably the only "given" is that it will be agility related because I love agility! I love training my dogs, and, I love competing!
I also really truly love teaching and helping people to be the very best they can be in this game, it gives me an incredible amount of pleasure to watch a handler master something they never thought they could do, or, watch a dog come out of it's shell and really understand the information their handler just gave them.
Because of this, my goals are also centered around my teaching and how can I keep evolving and make things more user friendly as well as more understandable and cohesive for the weekend warrior as well as the most competitive of all handlers, Hmmm... so much to think about!
What's next? I am really not sure, other than to say that I will keep reaching for the brass ring, striving for excellence, and, enjoying every moment in the journey upwards to that ring and forward to my interpretation of excellence!
I definitely have instructional projects in the works specifically for the handler part of the team that I am very excited about.
I have Danger entered in a couple of trials coming up to see once again where we are at as a team so that I can determine what's next with him, in and out of the ring :-)
I am having a blast with Wally, SoBe and Maze just having the opportunity to compete and know that any of the 3 can rise to whatever challenge I put forth.
Mooch is proving to be an absolutely amazing young man, and, my girl Vinny continues to make me smile, make me laugh, and, give me gray hairs! Oh, how I love them all!
Able just celebrated his 12th birthday yesterday reminding me just how fast it goes and how important it is to enjoy the whole adventure good parts, not so good parts, great parts and all!
I may not be completely sure of what's next but I am sure that I am excited to figure it out and even more excited to embark on the journey! On your mark, get set, GOAL!!!
My long term goals are what establish my short term goals so I typically start with the big picture then back chain :-)
This of course is in reference to my older competition dogs because with the youngsters I, of course, have huge plans for each and every one of them, however, with babies it is definitely a one day at a time situation with goals being a bit more conservative, focusing on things like a sit stay that lasts for more than 1 second!
I am very fortunate to have some great babies coming up right now and they are definitely at that point where I have to start defining more clearly what those short term goals are. The list of goals is different for each of them as their age, maturation, and, core knowledge at this point is very different from one to the next.
With the trained dogs, it is still a matter of assigning specific yet often different goals for each dog, however, they are definitely more lofty and fall under the category of long term or ultimate goals.
I am most certainly planning on another trip to the European Open next year, I just have to decide who to take. Maze is certainly the number 1 candidate at this point, but, he is going to be 7 next month so almost 8 by the time the trip rolls around. His level of experience and expertise in these types of shows would be a huge asset but his age may hinder his speed a bit!
These factors play a role in whether I choose to go to AKC World team tryouts with him next May as well. I know that I will weigh the options very carefully and try to make decisions based on what is best for us as a team with an emphasis on what is best for Maze! :-)
The runner up in the who do I take to the EO competition of course goes to SoBe who has most certainly come in to her own, but, she is barely 19" tall and would likely be jumping 26". I know people jump smaller dogs than SoBe at 26" all of the time, I am just not sure "I" want to do that.
I am concentrating on SoBe this year and she will be accompanying me to several really awesome seminars to help make that decision.
I have for the past couple of years really been trying to do "me" things relative to my agility escapades and this fall I am going to be attending 2 international handling seminars, and, hosting a 3rd! I am so excited to have the opportunity to work with these amazing people and SoBe will be the one joining me at each of these events!
As I write this I am realizing that the goals that I am setting at this point are really more about me and what avenues of the sport I want to explore rather than goals that are dog specific , maybe that is why the title of the post immediately came to me as what's next? Let's be honest, it really is about what's next for me, what do I want to do, where do I want to put my energies? Lucky for me my dogs will gladly accommodate me and join in on whatever endeavor I choose to pursue agility related or not.
Probably the only "given" is that it will be agility related because I love agility! I love training my dogs, and, I love competing!
I also really truly love teaching and helping people to be the very best they can be in this game, it gives me an incredible amount of pleasure to watch a handler master something they never thought they could do, or, watch a dog come out of it's shell and really understand the information their handler just gave them.
Because of this, my goals are also centered around my teaching and how can I keep evolving and make things more user friendly as well as more understandable and cohesive for the weekend warrior as well as the most competitive of all handlers, Hmmm... so much to think about!
What's next? I am really not sure, other than to say that I will keep reaching for the brass ring, striving for excellence, and, enjoying every moment in the journey upwards to that ring and forward to my interpretation of excellence!
I definitely have instructional projects in the works specifically for the handler part of the team that I am very excited about.
I have Danger entered in a couple of trials coming up to see once again where we are at as a team so that I can determine what's next with him, in and out of the ring :-)
I am having a blast with Wally, SoBe and Maze just having the opportunity to compete and know that any of the 3 can rise to whatever challenge I put forth.
Mooch is proving to be an absolutely amazing young man, and, my girl Vinny continues to make me smile, make me laugh, and, give me gray hairs! Oh, how I love them all!
Able just celebrated his 12th birthday yesterday reminding me just how fast it goes and how important it is to enjoy the whole adventure good parts, not so good parts, great parts and all!
I may not be completely sure of what's next but I am sure that I am excited to figure it out and even more excited to embark on the journey! On your mark, get set, GOAL!!!
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The European Open!!!
What a rush it was to play at the European Open in Bad Hall, Austria this past weekend! Maze was brilliant of course and ran 3 clean runs out of 4!! I was incredibly proud of both of us :-)
There is nothing more exciting than being one of approx. 340 26" dogs from all over the World! The courses were fabulous and challenging, the judging very consistent and fair, and, the competition fierce!
The great dog and handler teams just kept coming and coming. it was my mission to head over to Europe and have a great time, watch all of the fantastic handlers and dogs, run the very best that I could, and, just soak it all in. Great news, I did all of those things and then some :-)
We arrived in Munich on Wed. morning and met up with Ann Zarr and Skylar, Ann and I shared a car, were on the same team and hung out together.
Ann arrived at the airport before I did, once I got there we picked up the car and headed to Austria. The garmin was set for the shortest route which had us winding through some of the most beautiful countryside to our destination in Bad Hall.
We stopped along the way and had lunch and our first beer of the trip, arriving at our Hotel at about 3:30 p.m.
We went for a lovely walk in the park that was part of the Hotel complex and met up with a woman on the walking path. Ludi (our new friend), told us she was from Vienna, which turned out to be only about a 2 hour drive from where we were staying.
Plans were now set, Thursday morning we loaded up and off to Vienna Ann and I went! It was a great day, although it rained on us a bit we wandered through a lovely street market, found a Starbucks so that I could add a Vienna mug to my collection, and, went on a bus tour around parts of the city seeing some of the most incredible architecture!
Friday was vet check and practice day, the team all practiced really well and were definitely ready for the big event!
We got a bit of rain again on Friday but overall the weather was cool and lovely!
Saturday came and now it was time to shine! I definitely learned that one of the things on the top of my list of things to do is to get in better shape! Those Europeans are incredible how they RUN around those courses trying desperately to stay in front of screaming fast dogs! There is also always a lot of yelling and screaming of cues that just seem to rev the dogs up more :-)
I am all for running faster, but, am planning on sticking with my quieter style of handling.
I have been to Europe to compete many times but it is still always exciting, interesting, and, new.
It was definitely the year of the blind cross, but, many of them were in my opinion unnecessary, fun to watch though!
Maze ran a beautiful clean Individual Standard run, but, we had an unfortunate off course in jumpers keeping us out of the Finals. The Finals were a blast to watch ands although they were not finished until almost 11:30, they made the event spectacular!
Sunday was team day and I am proud to say that Maze and I put in 2 clean runs for the team, my teammates also ran incredibly well and because we had only 3 dogs on the team instead of the allowed 4, we were unable to drop a score this was ultimately our undoing as the team had 1 E, which kept us out of the relay. Regardless, I am very proud of what we all did and we definitely finished with our heads held high!
The relay was a riot!!! The Europeans do not do a team relay and their interpretation was incredibly entertaining! They had a 4 dog format, with a dog starting in each corner of the ring. The first dog would run 15 obstacles, then the next dog would start and so on. It was a crazy course!
Monday it was time to head home, bittersweet for sure! I had so much fun meeting new people, hanging with friends, and, running Maze that I was not ready for it to be over, but, I was TIRED!
The whole experience was fantastic and I am already planning for next year in Sweden!
There is nothing more exciting than being one of approx. 340 26" dogs from all over the World! The courses were fabulous and challenging, the judging very consistent and fair, and, the competition fierce!
The great dog and handler teams just kept coming and coming. it was my mission to head over to Europe and have a great time, watch all of the fantastic handlers and dogs, run the very best that I could, and, just soak it all in. Great news, I did all of those things and then some :-)
We arrived in Munich on Wed. morning and met up with Ann Zarr and Skylar, Ann and I shared a car, were on the same team and hung out together.
Ann arrived at the airport before I did, once I got there we picked up the car and headed to Austria. The garmin was set for the shortest route which had us winding through some of the most beautiful countryside to our destination in Bad Hall.
We stopped along the way and had lunch and our first beer of the trip, arriving at our Hotel at about 3:30 p.m.
We went for a lovely walk in the park that was part of the Hotel complex and met up with a woman on the walking path. Ludi (our new friend), told us she was from Vienna, which turned out to be only about a 2 hour drive from where we were staying.
Plans were now set, Thursday morning we loaded up and off to Vienna Ann and I went! It was a great day, although it rained on us a bit we wandered through a lovely street market, found a Starbucks so that I could add a Vienna mug to my collection, and, went on a bus tour around parts of the city seeing some of the most incredible architecture!
Friday was vet check and practice day, the team all practiced really well and were definitely ready for the big event!
We got a bit of rain again on Friday but overall the weather was cool and lovely!
Saturday came and now it was time to shine! I definitely learned that one of the things on the top of my list of things to do is to get in better shape! Those Europeans are incredible how they RUN around those courses trying desperately to stay in front of screaming fast dogs! There is also always a lot of yelling and screaming of cues that just seem to rev the dogs up more :-)
I am all for running faster, but, am planning on sticking with my quieter style of handling.
I have been to Europe to compete many times but it is still always exciting, interesting, and, new.
It was definitely the year of the blind cross, but, many of them were in my opinion unnecessary, fun to watch though!
Maze ran a beautiful clean Individual Standard run, but, we had an unfortunate off course in jumpers keeping us out of the Finals. The Finals were a blast to watch ands although they were not finished until almost 11:30, they made the event spectacular!
Sunday was team day and I am proud to say that Maze and I put in 2 clean runs for the team, my teammates also ran incredibly well and because we had only 3 dogs on the team instead of the allowed 4, we were unable to drop a score this was ultimately our undoing as the team had 1 E, which kept us out of the relay. Regardless, I am very proud of what we all did and we definitely finished with our heads held high!
The relay was a riot!!! The Europeans do not do a team relay and their interpretation was incredibly entertaining! They had a 4 dog format, with a dog starting in each corner of the ring. The first dog would run 15 obstacles, then the next dog would start and so on. It was a crazy course!
Monday it was time to head home, bittersweet for sure! I had so much fun meeting new people, hanging with friends, and, running Maze that I was not ready for it to be over, but, I was TIRED!
The whole experience was fantastic and I am already planning for next year in Sweden!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)