UKI

    I dove down , on Wednesday, to Florida this year for the 2017 UKI nationals. It was moved to Jacksonville because Perry Ga place gave their spot to a horse show.   The venue was nice. It was pretty warm on Wednesday and Thursday, in the 80's.  It cooled down after that.  On the first day , when walking my dogs around, they got those sand spurs in their feet. Those things hurt! I thought, oh great this is going to be a problem.  But that was the only day they got them.  I did manage to some how step in some fire ants and didnt know it.  I thought I just had regular ant bites. All on my left foot and leg. But I now know they were fire ants. So all the skin between my toes is falling off. I hate those things!! How did I know know they were there is beyond me.
   Anyway, I got up really early and drove down. I got there at 11am. I set up my rv.  Then I went over and help a little with set up.  Mostly I worked on putting together the worker bags and signs.  This year they had practice rings set up. You could pay to use the practice rings. There was only 4 obstacles in the rings and you couldnt move them. You had one minute at a time. The money went to the world team.  I really liked this idea. I hope they keep it.  It allowed me to run Miley and let her think she was having fun too. And after my first run with Java, I went over to the practice ring and worked on stuff.
   They offered a practice type run, called Sweepstakes (winner takes all).  I had high hopes for this run. But Java broke her startline. I just didnt expect it. She had had rock solid startlines for months.  One time, I had lead out, something happened and the judge went to talk to the scribe. (this was at an AKC trial). And she stayed all while this was going on.  So again, when she broke, I just didnt know what to do.  And then I just never got it back together.  I felt so sad after this run.

 After this run, then the regular runs started.  For some reasons I didnt enter Masters Heat, because I already had my bye. But I could have used the practice runs. Ugh. That was a big mistake.

  My first run was National Championship Round 1.

I really felt like we could do this.  LOL, but we didnt. It just fell apart. I just kept pulling her off of everything. Every time I thought she was committed and I would go, she came with me. It was horrible.




Next was Biathlon Jumping.

I dont even remember running this course. LOL. Even after watching the video, I still dont remember it. Scary, huh? (Just a note, you can get a refusal and still be in the game, its just a time penalty. Unless you get 3 faults, then its an E)




My next run was Power and Speed. It should have been no problem. It was one of the easiest courses of the weekend. We E'd. (The theme of the week for us)

There is 2 parts to this course. You have to be perfect in the first half, to be allowed to run the second half. Java didnt stop on DW and then didnt make the weave pole entry. We we E'd and cant do the second half. Sad.

And that was then end of our first day. It was hard not to feel terrible about how things went. So many silly mistakes. But you have to let it got so that you are ready for the next day.

Friday I only had 2 runs.  And our first run was Snooker. Ack!!!

It was hard to walk your snooker run because everyone all crowed around the same area.  I was having a hard time remembering my plan. So I used my phone to plan my path before I walked.

This snooker you had to take a red jump, then a colored and after the colored you had to always follow it with a tunnel. And he was calling refusals at the tunnels.  My plan was to do two 7's and the #6 weave poles, front cross after the weaves and put her in the tunnel, then start the close. For some reason, while waiting, I changed my mind and decided to pull her into the tunnel after the weaves.



Once again we freaking E'd.   Sad, sad , sad!!  I do not know what this ring footing was made of.  It had a little sand in it but had some ground up webbing stuff.  It seemed good in the morning but as the afternoon wore on, it became softer and softer and was hard to run it.  I dont know if watering it would have helped but Im going to ask?  I wasnt the only one who felt  this way.  It didnt seem to bother the dogs.

Now for one of my worse runs of the weekend.  There was not way in earth I was going to beat Java down the line of this next run.

First off, 3 straight tunnels, holy crap!!

So  I was ahead of my dog  at #2,  but I still  didnt get down there to cue#5 and she took the back side. I felt like I just couldnt run. And this course was huge, it took the whole ring. The only people I saw making it were dogs that kept checking in with their handler, slower dogs, or dogs that were stopping and jumping up on their handler. We you see 20 years olds not making it through the course , then .....

Now its Saturday. I only have 2 runs. Master Heat Series finals.
Jumpers didnt  look bad. I really felt confident we could do it.

I felt confident when we step to the line. Java had been staying at the startline after the first day.  We start, a little bobble at #4 tunnel but we are ok. Then coming down to 12-13-14 and  I cant remember which jumpers were front sides or back sides. Ack.  You walk both courses and then everyone runs. So many backsides. I just couldnt remember and we went off course.



Now the killer course. I knew I didnt have a prayer. This course measured 216 feet and they dont measure the dogs path in UKI, when they measure the course. They measure the shortest distance between the obstacles.

There is no way I can beat my dog down all these lines to get these backsides.  So my goal for the year is to get backsides completely on verbal.  So do I stay back and make sure she gets on the a-frame and not the tunnel but then not get the backside?  I figured she would take the a-frame on a verbal, NOT. ( this is a horrible run, I wasnt even sure I was going to post it).




Ok, now its Sunday. Last chance to make it into the finals. Beat every 16 inch dog int he challenger round.  The course was could and I really felt we could do it.

If I  had just turned my shoulders into her . Ugh. These little mistakes are what is killing us in AKC runs too. 

Oh well. In good news, I was home by 4:30pm. And I made it down and back on one tank of gas.

Up date on Zoey's training.

Since I havent posted much here, you dont know that Ive been struggling with Zoey;s training.  When we go to agility trails or practice with groups, she wants to chase other dogs. She cant focus on me, just the dogs running.  I dont know  how I lost all control of my dog.  Ive always let my dogs play chase with each other and its never been a problem but its a problem for Zoey.  She cant figure out when its ok to play chase and when its time to work. And I guess I didnt realize it was a problem until it was way out of control.
Here she is at a B-match in August.  You can see what a problem I have. So until I have this fixed, I cant trial her.  I cant take a chance of her running after another a dog.



 Ive been doing a lot of Susan Garrett's stuff, because she works on relationship building and getting the dog to focus on you.  Ive finally found a solution to getting her not to bark and run the fence line , with the big dogs behind my house. All the garden fencing with stakes, that Ive put in, she just climbs. Even when I put in multiple layers of it.  So I found this metal fencing that comes in sections. Slowly , Ive been putting it down the  fence line, of where I join the neighbors yard.  It keeps her about 5 feet off their fence.  And it seems to be working.  She also doesnt get to just be outside  on her own much. That way she cant self-reward herself with bad behavior.
I working on getting a running A-frame with box method.  Im ok with a 2o/2o but she is creeping so much on the a-frame, I decided to try this with her. I didnt have good success with it , with Miley. But we will see ...



We also finally have weave poles. I started to really work hard on them after we got back from my trip out West.  She is finally getting them.




Her wanting to chase dogs is a  HUGE problem and Im not sure I will be able to work through it or she will ever be able to trial.  But we will see.
In other news, the girl I job shared with quit a week before we went back to work. So now Im working full time until the next person can start and its been rough. We must have a lot more kids this year with illness than last year, because Im drowning with paperwork.  Ive work the last 2 weekends just trying to get caught up on paperwork. And Im still not there. I need a break.

Eclipse and Weave poles

My goal is to start blogging again.  It helps me keep track of training and just life in general.
Yesterday was the Eclipse. In Columbia, SC we were in an area that would have a total eclipse for about 2 1/2 minutes.  Many people traveled to Columbia to see it.  All hotels were sold out. Crazy , huh?
I did buy the glasses, which was stressful since there were lots of people selling fake ones. How scary is that??  Fake glasses that could burn your eyes so you will have black spots for the rest of your life.   I didnt buy the filter for my camera because I didnt think I would care that much about the eclipse but then when it came, I wish I had the filter. That figures.
These pictures where taken with my cell phone. I cut one of the glasses we had and put the filter from the glasses over the camera lens. I did have to change the setting on my phone to "Pro" and change the shutter speed.

Now these arent great but it gives you an idea of what we were seeing when we looked up into the sun.

Then night came. I video taped it.  This was  off my back deck. You can see into my neighbors yard and their TV must be on.




Night only last 2 1/2 minutes but it was cool.  I didnt notice my dogs acting any different.   Then it was over and we all went back to our lives. LOL

Ive been finally working on getting Zoey's weave poles done. So since I got back from my trip, Ive been working hard and Ive almost have the poles closed.

Zoey's first trial

This picture was taken here in Columbia , but I like to have pictures with my post.

So Zoey is now 16 months old.  She is finally running in agility, so now Ive lost my startline. She also cant control herself , in that she wants to chase dogs that are running in the ring.   When I go to trials, Ive  been working her at the practice jump and Ive been able to keep control of her.   But  not this weekend.
This weekend was a small UKI trial.  They sometimes offer nursery class for dogs 16 to 18 months. There are no weaves, teeter or spread jumps. They can also enter speedstakes.  So I entered Zoey in those 2 classes.  It was a one ring trial, which is where I will be with Zoey, so she doesnt jump the ring gating and chase the other dog running in the other ring.
 The first time she ran in the nursery class, everyone took a break. There were no dogs around. So she stayed with me. You will see in the video, she was over the top and kept bark and jumping up at me and trying to get me. She doesnt normally do this when we practice.  I only see this when we go to a new place or  she is over the top excited.  So I have to be careful with how much excitement I build into her when trying to get her to run.
The second run she did much better. Before her run, we tried to practice at the practice jump. She took off, running down the ring gating, after the dog that was in the ring. Ack!!!  I had to call her name twice, and she did come back, but I was freaked for a second that she was leaving for good.   I didnt take the leash off at the practice jump anymore.  I used a long line and put the bar on the ground and practice her staying with me.   She did well after that.   So on her second run she left the startline to go see a dog that was outside the ring but came back to me  when called.  Otherwise, she did really well.  I have to remember she is a baby dog and needs more support, especially when coming out of the tunnel, to make sure she takes the jumps.
The next day, we practice a lot more at the practice jump, with the long line on, to make sure  she understood what is expected of her.  We did the nursery class again.  She did well, except she wouldnt come to me at the end of the run. As soon as she saw me with the leash and I called her, she just dead stopped.  She had figured it out. Fun is over. Ugh!!.  So I acted like I was leaving the ring, and she blew by me and ran out of the ring.  Great.  So now I called her, she stopped and had to think about if she was going to come to me or not.  She did finally come to me.  So , I have lots of things to work on.

Zoey Update

Zoey

Zoey likes to sleep outside. None of my other dogs do this. They always want to be around me. But  not Zoey. She will even sleep out there when its raining.

We had a light snow dusting earlier this January. I keep meaning to blog, but then it doesnt happen.

Then a few days later is was in the 70's , so I took the dogs to the lake.

  Lots of turtles.

Saw my first bald eagle in South Carolina.

Zoey went to the top of this dirt wall thing and then jumped off, to the ground. Ugh, scared the crap out of me.

This wasnt her jumping from the top. This was another picture.

No matter how much I tried I couldnt get the picture of her out of the shade.

Zoey is really slow when running agility. She is fast when chasing my dogs especially around the agility field and through the tunnels. But as soon as she starts agility , she is slow.
So Im keeping video, trying to time it and see if I can get her moving faster.
Dec 23rd


Jan 1st


Then I signed up for a "Cone work" class. Its suppose to help with speed and teach turns too.




Thats all for now. Im sure there is more but I cant think of anything right now.