Today the pups and I were at an AKC trial at this wonderful indoor soccer center in the Denver area, the dogs did really well :-) Wally had a beautiful standard run with an unfortunate bar... SoBe decided to see if I was willing to maintain my criteria at an AKC trial where we pay premium dollar for 2 whole runs. She learned that I will still maintain criteria even with those very tempting reasons to potentially falter on that a bit. Her standard run was by far the fastest of them all, of course she only did a tire and 1 jump before being carried off the course for breaking her start line! I do love my ever pushy Doodle Bug!
Maze had a beautiful standard run and Q'd with a 1st place :-) We got to play role reversal in JWW, where SoBe took the message to heart, had a very nice stay and a smokin' clean JWW run! Wally also decided that he could Q in JWW since we got that pesky double Q possibility over with in standard :-)
Maze did the always unusual for him, he dropped a bar. So, we were 50% today but alas, no double Q's.. Tomorrow we head back down for another go at it, and, if the weather decides to improve and be as beautiful as they are predicting we may play hooky and go hiking on Monday instead of to the trial, sometimes a lovely hike is a way better idea than a day indoors at a trial :-)
We have a very busy few weeks of trialing coming up, next weekend is a 4 Star USDAA trial in Minnesota, followed by the Alberta Canada Regionals, then another 4 star in Utah :-) There will be a little vacation in between as we are taking the RV and making an extended road trip out of it.
So, what's with the title of todays post? Actually I was thinking about starting a young dog again and it got me thinking about all that is involved in starting the babies trialing.
Next weekend Danger will make his debut in USDAA in jumpers and gamblers. To say I am a bit nervous is sort of an understatement, but mostly I am super excited!!
Danger is such an incredible boy I truly cannot wait to get into the ring with him. I do realize, however, there are a multitude of potential things that can happen and yet, I have know idea what actually will. I just know that he is ready to try out a real trial and I also know that there are going to be tons of things that do not go exactly as planned which is totally fine! I know what I have taught him to do, I know what my criteria is and I know that my expectations can only be for him to do the best he can in a totally new environment on totally new equipment in a very high charged environment.
I am prepared to praise the living daylights out of him, I am prepared to get a full unobstructed view of all of holes that we most certainly have at this point in our training, and, I am fully prepared to enjoy every second of our time out on course no matter what happens!
He is a baby, we are not yet a team, and, I have yet to actually run a "full" course with him even in a training situation. Danger will need experience in the ring to know what to do, "we" need experience in the ring to become a real team, and, my wonderful, beautiful, super smart baby boy needs to learn to walk before he can truly run!
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
That's Life...
It is a totally gloomy day here in "colorful Colorado", we have gone from serious draught to monsoon! It has been raining for the better part of 2 weeks, thank goodness I have had "breaks" traveling, here, there, and, everywhere!
I am not a fan of rain but I am seriously scared of fires as well, so, for now I will take the rains which will green everything up and keep the fires at bay at least for a few weeks.
This rain will of course end and we will very quickly ascend into the heat and inevitable draught of summer.
This weather also puts me in a bit of a thoughtful mood, as it were. I have been thinking about the twists and turns that life brings, trying to sort out why things happen the way they do and for what reason. Trust me when I say that I think everything in life happens for a reason, sometimes the reasons are hard to determine but never the less, there are reasons!
Starting with the horrible natural disasters that seem to be rampant in our country and around the World.
These latest tornadoes in Joplin, MO really should put the trivial things into perspective shouldn't they! I am overwhelmed with sadness for all of the people that have lost their homes and even worse, loved ones. I cannot even imagine having such a horrible tragedy hit close to home.
Even with this fresh in our mind, as long as it does not affect us directly we still seem to find a way to feel bad about something that is by comparison not even on the radar of the most minute importance.
I guess this is just one of the many things that make us human, not bad, just human!
Today the news of who will be representing the US in France on the AKC World team was announced, I barely slept at all last night in anticipation of the phone call I was hoping to get, trust me, I have been playing this game long enough to know that there are no guarantees, and, anything can happen, however, Maze and I did an amazing job at tryouts ending up 4th overall proving that we have the skills, patience, experience, and, ability to represent the US at the 2011 World Championships in France.
Well, although I carried the phone with me everywhere, stared at it pretty much continually, and, seriously willed it to ring, it did not.
To say I was not disappointed would be a very big lie, however, when we put it into perspective and weigh it against the grand scheme of things, it is but another blip on the radar of life.
I am going to allow myself to be disappointed, but, most importantly I am going to allow it to help me to continue to work hard at achieving the goals that I set for myself and my dogs in agility.
I am going to use it to push myself to continue to try new and different things, push myself to train and handle even more aggressively than I feel that I already do, and, most importantly, I am going to use this experience to continue to remind myself to enjoy the process!
I have worked hard to get where I am in the wonderful sport of agility and I have been very fortunate to experience a lot of firsts, meet a lot of awesome people, go to the most fabulous places. and, experience what success feels like both in competition and my love and passion for teaching!
There are many more awesome experiences to come for me in this sport I am certain of that, so, todays feeling of disappointment will pass and it will be replaced with euphoria over some wonderful thing, then there will be more disappointments, more euphoria... that's life!
So, before this mornings emotional smack down, I was actually in one of those awesome euphoric states after having the most wonderful time at the SC Regional in Fort Worth, TX. Again, the events, or lack there of :-), of this morning certainly did not take away from the awesomeness of the weekend!
The trial was fantastic! I got to once again see bunches of friends that I have not seen in a while as well as hang with some folks from right here in Colorado, a great time was had by all!
The Colorado/New Mexico/Arizona contingency did super and truly represented the area in an amazing way.
The courses were great, and, my dogs were AWESOME!!! Before I talk about me, I want to say how incredibly proud of Geoff I was! He and Rumor came with me to Fort Worth and after a crazy tax season and truly zero training he and Rumor earned byes into the semi finals of PGP and Perf. Speed Jumping! They also Q'd in both Masters classes offered and took third place in IHC Perf. Jumpers, they are a great team!
Now, about me :-) Maze was a very good boy! He came home with 53 IFCS points, placing in 5 of the 7 IFCS classes, a bye into the GP semis after a 4th place finish, a bye into Steeplechase semis, taking 2nd place overall in the 26" class, and was a member of the third place DAM team!
Wally kicked butt in several classes but my crowning achievement of the weekend with the Wally man was getting a GP semi final bye by going clean through both rounds and doing so without a voucher!
SoBe was my very best doodle bug ever! She placed in team jumpers, team gamblers, and, won masters gamblers in a very competitive 22" field. She looked fabulous and did not have a single run that I was not over the moon about!
So, overall, a FANTASTIC time was had by all :-)
In summary, on occasion life hands us what we consider to be lemons, but, most often life gives us countless things to be appreciative of, happy about, and, down right lucky for! Try not to sweat the small stuff, have a seat and enjoy the lemonade! My friends... THAT'S LIFE!
I am not a fan of rain but I am seriously scared of fires as well, so, for now I will take the rains which will green everything up and keep the fires at bay at least for a few weeks.
This rain will of course end and we will very quickly ascend into the heat and inevitable draught of summer.
This weather also puts me in a bit of a thoughtful mood, as it were. I have been thinking about the twists and turns that life brings, trying to sort out why things happen the way they do and for what reason. Trust me when I say that I think everything in life happens for a reason, sometimes the reasons are hard to determine but never the less, there are reasons!
Starting with the horrible natural disasters that seem to be rampant in our country and around the World.
These latest tornadoes in Joplin, MO really should put the trivial things into perspective shouldn't they! I am overwhelmed with sadness for all of the people that have lost their homes and even worse, loved ones. I cannot even imagine having such a horrible tragedy hit close to home.
Even with this fresh in our mind, as long as it does not affect us directly we still seem to find a way to feel bad about something that is by comparison not even on the radar of the most minute importance.
I guess this is just one of the many things that make us human, not bad, just human!
Today the news of who will be representing the US in France on the AKC World team was announced, I barely slept at all last night in anticipation of the phone call I was hoping to get, trust me, I have been playing this game long enough to know that there are no guarantees, and, anything can happen, however, Maze and I did an amazing job at tryouts ending up 4th overall proving that we have the skills, patience, experience, and, ability to represent the US at the 2011 World Championships in France.
Well, although I carried the phone with me everywhere, stared at it pretty much continually, and, seriously willed it to ring, it did not.
To say I was not disappointed would be a very big lie, however, when we put it into perspective and weigh it against the grand scheme of things, it is but another blip on the radar of life.
I am going to allow myself to be disappointed, but, most importantly I am going to allow it to help me to continue to work hard at achieving the goals that I set for myself and my dogs in agility.
I am going to use it to push myself to continue to try new and different things, push myself to train and handle even more aggressively than I feel that I already do, and, most importantly, I am going to use this experience to continue to remind myself to enjoy the process!
I have worked hard to get where I am in the wonderful sport of agility and I have been very fortunate to experience a lot of firsts, meet a lot of awesome people, go to the most fabulous places. and, experience what success feels like both in competition and my love and passion for teaching!
There are many more awesome experiences to come for me in this sport I am certain of that, so, todays feeling of disappointment will pass and it will be replaced with euphoria over some wonderful thing, then there will be more disappointments, more euphoria... that's life!
So, before this mornings emotional smack down, I was actually in one of those awesome euphoric states after having the most wonderful time at the SC Regional in Fort Worth, TX. Again, the events, or lack there of :-), of this morning certainly did not take away from the awesomeness of the weekend!
The trial was fantastic! I got to once again see bunches of friends that I have not seen in a while as well as hang with some folks from right here in Colorado, a great time was had by all!
The Colorado/New Mexico/Arizona contingency did super and truly represented the area in an amazing way.
The courses were great, and, my dogs were AWESOME!!! Before I talk about me, I want to say how incredibly proud of Geoff I was! He and Rumor came with me to Fort Worth and after a crazy tax season and truly zero training he and Rumor earned byes into the semi finals of PGP and Perf. Speed Jumping! They also Q'd in both Masters classes offered and took third place in IHC Perf. Jumpers, they are a great team!
Now, about me :-) Maze was a very good boy! He came home with 53 IFCS points, placing in 5 of the 7 IFCS classes, a bye into the GP semis after a 4th place finish, a bye into Steeplechase semis, taking 2nd place overall in the 26" class, and was a member of the third place DAM team!
Wally kicked butt in several classes but my crowning achievement of the weekend with the Wally man was getting a GP semi final bye by going clean through both rounds and doing so without a voucher!
SoBe was my very best doodle bug ever! She placed in team jumpers, team gamblers, and, won masters gamblers in a very competitive 22" field. She looked fabulous and did not have a single run that I was not over the moon about!
So, overall, a FANTASTIC time was had by all :-)
In summary, on occasion life hands us what we consider to be lemons, but, most often life gives us countless things to be appreciative of, happy about, and, down right lucky for! Try not to sweat the small stuff, have a seat and enjoy the lemonade! My friends... THAT'S LIFE!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
World Team Tryouts!!!
I could not be more proud of Maze, or, myself for that matter! World Team Tryouts were held in Hopkins, MN this past weekend and it was fantastic!!!
I honestly do not think that Maze could have run any better, nor, has he ever run better than he did at tryouts.
We were focused, rested, and, ready to rock and roll! The tryouts are such an incredible competition with amazing dog and handler teams from all over the US competing for a coveted spot on the team. These few spots could go to any of the awesome dog and handler teams and to have landed in 4th place overall has me seated securely on cloud 9!
The courses were so much fun! I truly wish we had opportunities to run these types of courses on a more regular basis, they really push you to better yourself as a trainer and handler.
The organization of the event was amazing and the facility wonderful!
The atmosphere at tryouts although highly charged, is also laid back from the standpoint of support among competitors. Each and every person there is genuinely excited for the other competitors, the support is fabulous and the environment competitive and FUN!
The surface was great and Maze handled it brilliantly, no slipping at all.
We came away from the weekend with 3 clean rounds, 3 placements, and, 2 rounds that although not clean were fantastic none the less. Maze never missed a weave pole, touched a bar, pushed a contact or second guessed a single direction. I cannot tell the future, and, at this point have no idea whether we will be going to France this year, but, I can say in all honesty that we are ready, willing and able to represent the US and the AKC, and, whether we are here in the US or over in France come October I could not be more pleased with our performance at the tryouts!
I honestly do not think that Maze could have run any better, nor, has he ever run better than he did at tryouts.
We were focused, rested, and, ready to rock and roll! The tryouts are such an incredible competition with amazing dog and handler teams from all over the US competing for a coveted spot on the team. These few spots could go to any of the awesome dog and handler teams and to have landed in 4th place overall has me seated securely on cloud 9!
The courses were so much fun! I truly wish we had opportunities to run these types of courses on a more regular basis, they really push you to better yourself as a trainer and handler.
The organization of the event was amazing and the facility wonderful!
The atmosphere at tryouts although highly charged, is also laid back from the standpoint of support among competitors. Each and every person there is genuinely excited for the other competitors, the support is fabulous and the environment competitive and FUN!
The surface was great and Maze handled it brilliantly, no slipping at all.
We came away from the weekend with 3 clean rounds, 3 placements, and, 2 rounds that although not clean were fantastic none the less. Maze never missed a weave pole, touched a bar, pushed a contact or second guessed a single direction. I cannot tell the future, and, at this point have no idea whether we will be going to France this year, but, I can say in all honesty that we are ready, willing and able to represent the US and the AKC, and, whether we are here in the US or over in France come October I could not be more pleased with our performance at the tryouts!
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Aloha!
Mahalo to all of my students in Hawaii for a wonderful time! Hawaii was exactly what it sounds like, paradise!!
Although Geoff and I came home with a massive sunburn, it was well worth it considering it was a by-product of a wonderful afternoon in a private lagoon swimming under waterfalls and drinking wine!
This was on Friday after 2 fabulous days of teaching, and 4 days of playing on the big island of Hawaii. Geoff and I spent 2 days in Kona, touring the Kona Brewery, going Parasailing, and, just hanging out.
We followed these days with a kayak trip down a sugar cane factory irrigation ditch and a lovely horseback ride in the mountains.
After all of this relaxation I needed a rest :-) Saturday and Sunday I was once again wearing the instructor hat and as always thoroughly enjoyed my students!
The hospitality was amazing, the landscape and weather to die for and the fabulous guest cottage that we stayed in, was, well... fabulous :-)
Now, back to reality!
We got home yesterday morning after an overnight flight so I cannot say I was worth much yesterday other than to clean up the house and the yard a bit :-) I did manage to get a little training done with Danger and Maze before I went to bed!
Maze and I head to Minneapolis this weekend for the AKC World team tryouts we are so ready!! I am truly excited and seriously looking forward to the weekend! Not only do we get to compete with some of the best dogs around but I get to see some people that I have not seen in quite some time and visit, that is a bonus!
I worked on some International skills with the Maze meister today and he was superb! Definitely feeling good and ready to rock this weekend!
SoBe is on hiatus until tomorrow as she had a bit of surgery last week... Needless to say she is driving me insane as she watches me take dog after dog to the building and she is not one of them!! I promised her tomorrow!
Danger is doing super and I have actually bit the bullet and entered him in a couple of classes at the USDAA trial in June in Minnesota, it will be great ring experience at the very least, and, huge enjoyment for the spectators I am sure! I will keep you all posted on how it goes.
Well, I am of course trying to get back to a regular sleep cycle, however, not quite there yet, so... Good Night all!
Although Geoff and I came home with a massive sunburn, it was well worth it considering it was a by-product of a wonderful afternoon in a private lagoon swimming under waterfalls and drinking wine!
This was on Friday after 2 fabulous days of teaching, and 4 days of playing on the big island of Hawaii. Geoff and I spent 2 days in Kona, touring the Kona Brewery, going Parasailing, and, just hanging out.
We followed these days with a kayak trip down a sugar cane factory irrigation ditch and a lovely horseback ride in the mountains.
After all of this relaxation I needed a rest :-) Saturday and Sunday I was once again wearing the instructor hat and as always thoroughly enjoyed my students!
The hospitality was amazing, the landscape and weather to die for and the fabulous guest cottage that we stayed in, was, well... fabulous :-)
Now, back to reality!
We got home yesterday morning after an overnight flight so I cannot say I was worth much yesterday other than to clean up the house and the yard a bit :-) I did manage to get a little training done with Danger and Maze before I went to bed!
Maze and I head to Minneapolis this weekend for the AKC World team tryouts we are so ready!! I am truly excited and seriously looking forward to the weekend! Not only do we get to compete with some of the best dogs around but I get to see some people that I have not seen in quite some time and visit, that is a bonus!
I worked on some International skills with the Maze meister today and he was superb! Definitely feeling good and ready to rock this weekend!
SoBe is on hiatus until tomorrow as she had a bit of surgery last week... Needless to say she is driving me insane as she watches me take dog after dog to the building and she is not one of them!! I promised her tomorrow!
Danger is doing super and I have actually bit the bullet and entered him in a couple of classes at the USDAA trial in June in Minnesota, it will be great ring experience at the very least, and, huge enjoyment for the spectators I am sure! I will keep you all posted on how it goes.
Well, I am of course trying to get back to a regular sleep cycle, however, not quite there yet, so... Good Night all!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
A fun course to play with :-)
Great news! I trained Maze for the first time since I pulled him from the last run of the Mile Hi trial, he ran great!!! He seems to be feeling great and I am seeing no signs of any pain in his back or hips! YEA!!!
In a couple of weeks Maze and I head to the World Team Tryouts in Hopkins, MN so I set up a course that would once again test our "International" skills :-)
SoBe and Maze both got to play on this course and they did great! I have to say though, I am starting to get concerned that my dogs may not be able to actually take the front of a jump anymore since all we seem to practice is back side sends! LOL!!
the dogs had a week off while I was in SLC and Kamloops teaching and will get another 10 days off while Geoff and I are in Hawaii on a working vacation :-) I think it is a perfect schedule given the events coming up.
Maze will have a couple of days of training this week, a couple of days of training right before the Tryouts, and, a lot of rest in between. Maze has had a couple of months of pretty consistent trialing and now some much needed rest before we start up again.
I definitely find that my dogs do better with breaks in between trials, especially when they are high pressure trials.
I can say in all honesty that I am ready for a vacation myself! I am working while in HI, but Geoff and I have a week of vacation between my seminars, I am going to force myself to RELAX!! I will miss my dogs as quarantine issues in HI mean everyone has to stay home, but the rest will be welcome after a super busy winter, spring and soon summer.
So, back to the course... give it a try, let me know how it goes :-) I played with the pieces first before running the whole thing. I started with 8-9, followed by 7-9, then 6-9 :-) Next we played with 9-15. The obvious issues with these sections were the pull throughs to the back side sends. Think carefully about the cues that you will use to ask your dog to negotiate these sections, remember to maintain consistency regarding what each cue or combination of cues means to the dog to ensure that you are asking for the right thing!
I also segregated 1-5 and worked it as a seperate sequence as well :-) I always like to break down any course or sequence to just 1 or 2 major challenges allowing me to really concentrate on each one. This also maintains a high reinforcement ratio making the learning process go so much faster! Keeps the fun factor high as well :-)
I do not always put the pieces together it depends on how each piece works out. it is crucial that we end on a high note and that I do not overwork the dogs :-)
As an aside, Danger is looking FANTASTIC!!! He gave me the best Teeter performance ever today and is getting the whole channel weave poles concept beautifully!
Dog Walks, well... fabulous is the word..
Monday, April 18, 2011
What comes first, the attitude or the training?
I have been doing agility for over 20 years now and am very fortunate to have had so many wonderful life experiences because of it. I have competed in hundreds of trials, numerous "special" events put on by various sponsors, many National Championship events, and, competed in 3 World Championship events.
I have traveled the world competing and teaching, I have taught countless seminars, classes and workshops, was selected as the coach of the United States Agility team 2 times and known great success from this end of the spectrum as well.
I have worked very hard to be successful in the sport of agility and would like to think that I will continue to be successful, however, although I have always thought of the mental game as a very important part of that success it never held as important a role as it does at this point in my career.
I attribute this in large part to the fact that the sport is continuing to get more competitive, more demanding, and, overall requires a much larger skill set to to do well in the upper levels of competition both domestically and internationally.
You can have the best trained dog on the planet handled by the most skilled handler ever conceived and, without an equally well honed mental game it will be quite unlikely that they will reach their potential.
I have a couple of friends who were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend the Lanny Basham coaching workshop this past weekend in Texas, this along with the fact that I had the pleasure of working with a group of the Worlds greatest people this weekend who truly want to succeed in the sport of agility and have fantastic attitudes towards this goal, really got me thinking again how important the mental game is and how very important it is for people to be made aware of the resources out their available to them relative to this topic.
Lanny Bassham, and, Jane Savoie immediately come to mind as absolutely required reading and listening.
What makes this mental game so very important? An example would be one of my favorite mantras these days as I walk the course, focus on the process and the outcome will be there... We are so invested inn the Q that we have a tendency to walk the course with our focus on the outcome, the Q. It is very difficult to achieve the Q without focusing on the process necessary to achieve the brass ring.
We want to win, however, if you do not plan the appropriate strategy to put all of the pieces of the course together it is unlikely that you will win. Do your best on the pieces of the course and there is a very good chance that you will not only Q, but very possibly win!
The conscious and subconscious mind are very powerful, it is really important that you use them in a way that has the power to enhance your runs!
You are only able to consciously think of one thing at a time, make it something positive. Subconsciously, there are many things going through your mind at one time, train yourself to focus on positive thoughts, successful outcomes, and, each piece of the puzzle that makes up the whole picture.
Verbalize what your strengths are, do not dwell on the mistakes! How you think about your previous run greatly affects the outcome of the next.
Keep training, smile, remember the good stuff, and, most of all enjoy the ride!
I have traveled the world competing and teaching, I have taught countless seminars, classes and workshops, was selected as the coach of the United States Agility team 2 times and known great success from this end of the spectrum as well.
I have worked very hard to be successful in the sport of agility and would like to think that I will continue to be successful, however, although I have always thought of the mental game as a very important part of that success it never held as important a role as it does at this point in my career.
I attribute this in large part to the fact that the sport is continuing to get more competitive, more demanding, and, overall requires a much larger skill set to to do well in the upper levels of competition both domestically and internationally.
You can have the best trained dog on the planet handled by the most skilled handler ever conceived and, without an equally well honed mental game it will be quite unlikely that they will reach their potential.
I have a couple of friends who were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend the Lanny Basham coaching workshop this past weekend in Texas, this along with the fact that I had the pleasure of working with a group of the Worlds greatest people this weekend who truly want to succeed in the sport of agility and have fantastic attitudes towards this goal, really got me thinking again how important the mental game is and how very important it is for people to be made aware of the resources out their available to them relative to this topic.
Lanny Bassham, and, Jane Savoie immediately come to mind as absolutely required reading and listening.
What makes this mental game so very important? An example would be one of my favorite mantras these days as I walk the course, focus on the process and the outcome will be there... We are so invested inn the Q that we have a tendency to walk the course with our focus on the outcome, the Q. It is very difficult to achieve the Q without focusing on the process necessary to achieve the brass ring.
We want to win, however, if you do not plan the appropriate strategy to put all of the pieces of the course together it is unlikely that you will win. Do your best on the pieces of the course and there is a very good chance that you will not only Q, but very possibly win!
The conscious and subconscious mind are very powerful, it is really important that you use them in a way that has the power to enhance your runs!
You are only able to consciously think of one thing at a time, make it something positive. Subconsciously, there are many things going through your mind at one time, train yourself to focus on positive thoughts, successful outcomes, and, each piece of the puzzle that makes up the whole picture.
Verbalize what your strengths are, do not dwell on the mistakes! How you think about your previous run greatly affects the outcome of the next.
Keep training, smile, remember the good stuff, and, most of all enjoy the ride!
Sunday, April 10, 2011
It's all about the cake!!!
OK, I was planning to title this blog and then just leave the title hanging for those who "understand" what it means to be able to have a bit of a laugh at an inside joke, but, I just cannot do it.
So, what's with the title?? At the trial this weekend there were no less than 7 MACH cakes and a box of MACH brownies! I never saw so many cakes! I think even more impressive was the fact that all of these cakes and brownies were consumed before the trial was complete! I am pretty sure if you completed a MACH or PAX title and did not bring a cake you would quite possibly be kicked out of the trial :-) Thinking we have some sort of addiction going on here!
Anyway, it was a great trial and I had a FANTASTIC weekend!
SoBe was the superstar again finishing her AX-J title on Friday with a 1st place run, getting her first 2 MX-J legs over Sat. and Sun. and starting and finishing her AX with 3 first place standard runs! I could not be more proud of my girl :-)
SoBe is 3rd generation Hijacker/Dream Weaver breeding, my breeding! I bred her grandmother, her father and now SoBe and all 3 are agility Champions! This along with Champions of my heart!! How cheesy is that!!! LOL!
SoBe's daddy Wally did continue with his tradition of insuring a non-double Q weekend, if he Q's in either run he carefully plans at least 1 fault in the other run to guarantee no double Q, it appears to be a very well honed skill. I will be forever thrilled with his one and only appearance in the AKC Nationals in 2010 :-)
Maze maintained his brilliance going 5 out of 5! There was no 6th run as he somehow managed to pop his SI joint and needed a chiropractic adjustment at the trial that left him too sore to run his last run! I have already iced him this evening and am a bit concerned as he has always been so sound and this is quite nerve wracking!
On to another topic... the courses this weekend were really interesting, quite challenging, and, presented some different challenges in a few cases a bit different than what is generally presented on an Excellent course.
This presented some interesting conversations that I found quite thought provoking.
First, a friend and I were talking about courses, etc.. and she asked me what was so different about USDAA courses, she does primarily AKC and several people have told her that AKC and USDAA courses are soooo different, I disagree, and told her so :-)
Both USDAA and AKC utilize the same obstacles, and, although there are some variations in what is "allowed" as far as challenges are concerned, a judge is still just taking those same obstacles and arranging them in different configurations that make up each and every course.
The challenge is in how each handler interprets the course layout and analyzes what the most efficient path from point A to point B might be for them and their dog, at which point they must figure out what cues and/or combinations of cues are necessary to get said dog from point A to point B.
After this particular discussion I found it very interesting how many people do have a habit of blaming the course for the issues that occur on the various courses.
People seem truly stymied by unusual obstacle configurations and get bogged down by the perceived level of difficulty instead of viewing it for what it is, a configuration of obstacles, that need to be handled.
Every handler has a toolbox at their disposal that includes whatever skills they have taught their dog, along with the cues necessary to get their dog to offer the various behaviors that make up these skill sets. Whether it is a giant industrial size toolbox or a home handy man toolbox, either way there is a finite number of individual tools that any person utilizes on any given course.
Regardless of how the obstacles are arranged there should never be a configuration that cannot be handled, the key is to dig deep in that toolbox and figure out which tools, combination of tools, and, where and when to use said tools is the answer to the challenges brought forth on each course.
Common sense suggests that we are at some point going to come across something that really gives us pause for thought, these scenarios should make us think about where we may be lacking in a skill set that still needs to be taught, in which case it should be taught :-)
I know for myself, one of the reasons I keep coming back to the trials is for the personal challenge of figuring out the "formula" as it were for success on each of the different courses. Each one is a puzzle and whether or not I always come up with the right answer it is always a learning experience and each course helps prepare me for the next one in some form or fashion.
I do know that you need to trust your gut, and, after evaluating your options, if one feels right, it probably is :-) You should plan your run and run your plan, pay attention to the process and the outcome will be there! I think that is a nice combination of cliche's that pretty much sum up what our mindset needs to be when deciding on the course of action we are going to employ to run the course, (pun intended:-)!
Have a good time, analyze, don't over-analyze, hug your dog, say something nice to lots of someones, and then... let them eat cake!
So, what's with the title?? At the trial this weekend there were no less than 7 MACH cakes and a box of MACH brownies! I never saw so many cakes! I think even more impressive was the fact that all of these cakes and brownies were consumed before the trial was complete! I am pretty sure if you completed a MACH or PAX title and did not bring a cake you would quite possibly be kicked out of the trial :-) Thinking we have some sort of addiction going on here!
Anyway, it was a great trial and I had a FANTASTIC weekend!
SoBe was the superstar again finishing her AX-J title on Friday with a 1st place run, getting her first 2 MX-J legs over Sat. and Sun. and starting and finishing her AX with 3 first place standard runs! I could not be more proud of my girl :-)
SoBe is 3rd generation Hijacker/Dream Weaver breeding, my breeding! I bred her grandmother, her father and now SoBe and all 3 are agility Champions! This along with Champions of my heart!! How cheesy is that!!! LOL!
SoBe's daddy Wally did continue with his tradition of insuring a non-double Q weekend, if he Q's in either run he carefully plans at least 1 fault in the other run to guarantee no double Q, it appears to be a very well honed skill. I will be forever thrilled with his one and only appearance in the AKC Nationals in 2010 :-)
Maze maintained his brilliance going 5 out of 5! There was no 6th run as he somehow managed to pop his SI joint and needed a chiropractic adjustment at the trial that left him too sore to run his last run! I have already iced him this evening and am a bit concerned as he has always been so sound and this is quite nerve wracking!
On to another topic... the courses this weekend were really interesting, quite challenging, and, presented some different challenges in a few cases a bit different than what is generally presented on an Excellent course.
This presented some interesting conversations that I found quite thought provoking.
First, a friend and I were talking about courses, etc.. and she asked me what was so different about USDAA courses, she does primarily AKC and several people have told her that AKC and USDAA courses are soooo different, I disagree, and told her so :-)
Both USDAA and AKC utilize the same obstacles, and, although there are some variations in what is "allowed" as far as challenges are concerned, a judge is still just taking those same obstacles and arranging them in different configurations that make up each and every course.
The challenge is in how each handler interprets the course layout and analyzes what the most efficient path from point A to point B might be for them and their dog, at which point they must figure out what cues and/or combinations of cues are necessary to get said dog from point A to point B.
After this particular discussion I found it very interesting how many people do have a habit of blaming the course for the issues that occur on the various courses.
People seem truly stymied by unusual obstacle configurations and get bogged down by the perceived level of difficulty instead of viewing it for what it is, a configuration of obstacles, that need to be handled.
Every handler has a toolbox at their disposal that includes whatever skills they have taught their dog, along with the cues necessary to get their dog to offer the various behaviors that make up these skill sets. Whether it is a giant industrial size toolbox or a home handy man toolbox, either way there is a finite number of individual tools that any person utilizes on any given course.
Regardless of how the obstacles are arranged there should never be a configuration that cannot be handled, the key is to dig deep in that toolbox and figure out which tools, combination of tools, and, where and when to use said tools is the answer to the challenges brought forth on each course.
Common sense suggests that we are at some point going to come across something that really gives us pause for thought, these scenarios should make us think about where we may be lacking in a skill set that still needs to be taught, in which case it should be taught :-)
I know for myself, one of the reasons I keep coming back to the trials is for the personal challenge of figuring out the "formula" as it were for success on each of the different courses. Each one is a puzzle and whether or not I always come up with the right answer it is always a learning experience and each course helps prepare me for the next one in some form or fashion.
I do know that you need to trust your gut, and, after evaluating your options, if one feels right, it probably is :-) You should plan your run and run your plan, pay attention to the process and the outcome will be there! I think that is a nice combination of cliche's that pretty much sum up what our mindset needs to be when deciding on the course of action we are going to employ to run the course, (pun intended:-)!
Have a good time, analyze, don't over-analyze, hug your dog, say something nice to lots of someones, and then... let them eat cake!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)