The weekend

Its started out slightly foggy. It was warm enough for me to put my feet in the water to take some pictures.

Sorry if you are on facebook and already saw this image. Its just cool (IMO) so Im putting it here.

Not to many people there when I first got there but when I was leaving all the horse people were there. So we got out before having to worry about that.

This hawk was sitting in a tree and I would have had a perfect shot but he flew away. I found him again on the other side of the river/creek but now he was above me. So Im shooting up into the light. It makes it hard to get a nice shot.

She is trying to get a stick out of the tree to take with her.

another

Blogger still isnt working right for me. Irritating to have to do everything in HTML and then go fix it in the "compose" part. Thats why I have to put a word in between the pictures other wise all the pictures are smooshed together no matter what I do. I took Java to a lesson with Meagan. Hard to believe it was cold. But not has cold as the last lesson. Java did very well. I need to work on my front cross timing. That is what this video clip is about.

Sorry its grainy but there wasnt enough light at the field.

Miley has seemed fine. Im not sure what was all about. So far so good.

I went to the field today to meet someone who is interested in taking agility classes with the club. I went to evaluate her dog to see which class would fit her best. After dragging all the equipment on the field and evaluating her dog, it was to hot to do to much agility. Java was hot so we just did a few things. It was completely sunny at the field and when I got to my side of town, completely cloudy. I could have used some of those clouds. Anyway, Java has 12 weaves. Whoohoo!!

Sunny Sunday

 This picture was taken right into the sun. Im surprised it came out at all.  It was freezing this morning, I think 29 degrees.  We were complaining how cold we were and then this lady in a tennis skirt passes us. Hmmmm.

I havent done to much this week. Monday I was down and out sick. Then Tuesday my son has his wisdom teeth out. Thursday I drove up to North Carolina to go to a Best Buy that was holding an ipad for me. I had gone on to BestBuy's website. It had a ipad 3 for a 100.00 cheaper then anywhere else  but you had to pick it up in the store. When I clicked on which store had one, none. What the heck??  I looked in Ga, NC, SC and Va. So I went on "chat" with Bestbuy and ask them about it. They wouldnt answer my question on "why do you advertise something for that price if I cant get it?'. Its like a bait and switch.  But they wouldnt answer the question. She just kept saying, "Is there anything else I cant do for you?"  I was so mad. Then I tried again the next day and one was available in Gastonia NC. Thats about 2 hours from me. So I bought it. I drove up on Thursday  and got it. I aslo stopped at a store my husband had a gift card for, for winning a race. The store is only in Charlotte.  The only bad thing that happened was the GPS that is in my car, the GPS is 4 years old,  all of a sudden said I wasnt on a road anymore. I was just flying through the air. Ugh. So I got lost and had to go 20 extra miles to get there. Stupid GPS. Thats what I get for getting the GPS loaded  in the dash of the car  when I bought it. The only way to update the GPS maps is to buy a new DVD. They want 200 dollars for it. That insane. I could buy a small unit for 100.00 with lifetime maps updates. Not sure what Im going to do about that. I always print out Mapquest when I go some where just in case my GPS cant find something.  I wasnt paying attention when I realized I was lost on Thursday but its a good thing I had the printed directions to get me back on track.
Friday, it was so freaking windy outside, I just did some Christmas shopping.

Saturday we went to the field to practice.  I used the ipad to shoot the practice.


The video was grainy looking and  I was disappointed. Then after googling information about it, I realized I didnt hit the HD button when I loaded it. So I tried again.



So this turned out much better.

Then I was thinking, to bad the ipad doesnt let you trim the video's. So I googled that and it does. It just wasnt some obvious button to hit. But I was able to figure it out.
Here is Java practicing dogwalks and weaves. She keeps popping the last pole, so I have work to do there.



It was freezing this morning but we took the dogs for a walk. Everyone had fun.

 Even Guiness got to practice restrained recalls. He doesnt get off leash to much. I worry about him running after something and not coming back. Like at the beach 5 years ago. Ugh!

Its almost Christmas. I only have one person that I still need to get something for. I just cant think of what to get.

Front crosses , ugh!!

I took the dogs to the field to work on handling. I also ran Java over the dogwalk a few times.

Ive been using the Sourcebook 2 from clean run. Its has three different ways to run the course. One is novice,  then intermediate and maters. I can always run the novice with Miley.I can usually can run the intermediate. But I have yet to run one of the Masters once clean on the first try. But this time the master course kicked my butt. I took me forever to finally get it right. It was all m fault , not Miley.

First I ran Miley through the novice course. No problem. Then Java. I dont think we ran it right once. I couldnt get my front cross in soon enough after #6. I tried front cross after #5 but that just didnt work.   Then she kept going around #12. So we worked on that. Then a she kept going over #14, I rear cross and she wasnt reading. And  would go off course over #6 and into the tunnel. LOL.  So we worked all those little things and never got to run the whole thing right.

The masters course with Miley, getting her to go between #8 and 9, I had to be right there to manage it. Then I was behind the whole time and cutting her off with front crosses. We finally got it right in the end but it still didnt look pretty.



I like this book of courses. Espeically since I can work both dogs on the same course. Now, how to I fix my crappy front crosses???????

By George I think shes got it!

I've worked a lot on getting Java to run fast. How did I do this?  By getting her to chase me.  Send her into a tunnel and run like heck.  I have also been doing lots of restrained recalls.  So now she thinks everything is about chasing me. Ive had a hard time getting her to take jumps at speed. If I walk by them, no problem. But once Im running, she would just chase me and not take any jumps. LOL  So now Ive been working on getting her to take jumps  while running. (Ill tell you a secret. Ive been worried that Java was going to be slower than Miley. And then people would say, "Yea she couldnt run her fast dog so she got a slower one)
Today I took the dogs out to the field for a short practice. Its still hot as heck. Well I was so shocked when Java just took off running. Took all the jumps and went to the tunnel without me babysitting each  jump. Whoohoo!!

Class and stuff

Im teaching a class for our club. Its a 6 week class on basic foundation skills. Like sit, down and walking loose leash.  ( No sure I should be teaching loose leash walking. Hopefully none of them see me at the park. LOL)   So I took the puppy with me.  He was very nervous when we first got there. Kinda whinny. He wouldnt takes treats. I was worried and thought I missed the boat on socializing the dog.  But Sheltie rescue doesnt want to taking puppies out until they are fully vaccinated and since I dont own this puppy I have to do what they say. But after being in the building about 15-20 minutes he got much better and was able to take treats. I used in him the class as a demo dog.  He did great. 
His crying in the crate when in the car as stopped now. He has been riding everyday and not crying since Monday. So that is a relief. The crying at night has gotten much better too.  Anywhere from 5 minutes ot 15 minutes of crying and then he goes to sleep.  I feel the night crying is his biggest problem right now. I want to try to work through this because I dont want him return to rescue because they couldnt handle it. And this dog can scream.  They lady who had him when I was on vacation said , the first time he let out a scream all her dogs ran for cover. LOL

I went up to Meagans for a foundation class with Java. And to take a 30 minute lesson with her after class. Java is doing well.  Im having trouble teaching her to "wait".  I think Ive wrecked that word. I think Java thinks "wait" means "go".  LOL  So Meagan gave me things to work on to teach her to stay in her place. Im also having problems with her taking jumps when we are running.  When we just walk past jumps she will take them. She will offer taking jumps all the time, so I know they have been rewarded enough. But as soon as I start running , she chases me and doesnt take the jumps. LOL. I havent been able to fix it. So Meagan worked with me on this too.
I took Miley and Java to the building yesterday and worked on jumping. I wanted to slow motion Miley taking jumps so see what she is doing. She kept dropping a bar on this one jump at home.  I didnt see anything there but when I watched the tape, the first time she took the jump was very weird. And she looks like she it taking off early  on all the sequences too.  Here is Miley taking the jump  three different times. Then there is Java at our lesson taking a small sequence. Its funny, I felt like she was really running fast but when I watch the tape it doesnt look like that.


I dont know why but every time I go to a class with Meagan, the next day I feel terrible. It happens every time so thats why I dont do it when Im working. Weird huh?  Its only 1 1/2 hour drive up and then 1 1/2 hours back. Its an easy drive. I have no idea why it takes it out of me.

I put in for a trial thats about 2 hours, that is a close trial for us ,  from my house in August. I sent my stuff in back in June. I was so excited because school was starting late enough that I could enter. I usually miss this trial because Ive already started work.  They always have a b-match the day before the trial. So I sent all my stuff in. B-match on Wednesday and then the trial Thursday and Friday. Thursday was the only day they are doing Time to Beat.  But I just found out that I have to work registration for school and its on that Wednesday and Thursday. Darn it!!!  Lucky I found out 2 days before the trial closed. So I pulled my entry for Thursday and the b-match. Then put on for Saturday. O'Well I guess thats how things go sometimes.

Video

Sorry the camera angle in the beginning was bad and I didnt notice. Here is the video I promised.



I think Miley took off to early to make that jump. Its hard to see because of the angle I set the camera at. When I ran it again  I notice I didnt drive to  the 3rd  jump like I did when she crashed the jump, I became more careful. I thought I ran it just the same.  LOL , funny how you think you did something but the video doesnt lie.

Life goes on.

Well Christmas is over.  Thank god.  I really dont like Christmas anymore. I dont really want to get into why, Im just glad its over.

I went to the club on Friday to work on some of the jumps we made.  The  jump bars needed to be cut down and they needed to be taped.  Some of the jumps needed to be glued.  So I took Java with us, my husband came with me, so we could work the chute a couple of times.



She looks  much happier huh?

Thursday I took Miley to her follow -up rehab appt.   She was good.  No signs of pain with any movement.  So I can start increasing her activity.   The day before taking her to the appt. I played ball with her in the house and the day of we hiked at the park.  I figured if that aggravated her  that she wasnt ready to be released.  But nope, all was good.

Saturday we hiked 4 miles at the park.  Not anything to hilly but lots of roots so you have to pick your feet up more. While in the back of the park, about  a mile and a half  we run into a lady walking two dogs.  I was trying to work on Java not barking at people and dogs we pass at the park. So my husband was walking Miley and Guiness.  Java had done really well everyone we had passed so far.  I told the lady my dog may bark.  The lady got off the path, which should have clued me in.  She was walking both her dogs, a Great Pyrenees and a mixed dog( looked like lab-pit bull) on flexi-leads.   The mixed breed was a rescue.  All of a sudden all hell breaks looks. Her dogs start barking and  pull the leads out of her hands. The dogs go charging at Lou.  He trys to block, and successfully blocks the GP. But the mixed breed goes behind him. First jumps Miley, who doesnt really fight back and backs out under the dog.Then he goes after Guiness.  The lady just stands there. Didnt even leave her spot.   Lou kicks the dog in the head. The dog takes off to his owner. She grabs him. Lou has the GP by the leash.  Finally she responds and gets the GP.  I have Lou take Miley and Java away from the area. Guiness is bleeding from his face.  I did have my first aid kit with me and Im trying to clean Guiness's face and see how bad he is bitten.   The lady tells me that the mixed breed had bitten another dog at home twice this morning.  The said, "I guess this tells me what I need to know about this dog".  Ugh, to  bad my dog had to pay the price.  I was mad but I was more concerned about my dog.  The lady did apologize several times and felt really bad. I didnt need to make her feel worse.  And she  stayed there until I was the one who finally left. I think she was more traumatized  then me.  I was just glad things werent worse. Im glad Guiness didnt get bitten in the eye.  The vet was closed. But I had doxycline at home and started  him on that.  It looked swollen after about an hour or two at home but the next day was much better.

He had a small shallow puncture wound to the face. I guess because there isnt much tissue there and mostly bone, the dog didnt get a good grip. The worse part is my husband kicked the dog with his leg he had knee surgery on Nov 2.  Its now been hurting for the past 2 days. Ugh. I hope its not wrecked. Plus Java probably wont be calm passing other dogs for a while, that was a big set back. It probably just reinforced her thinking. I never asked the lady if her dog was ok.

I did manage a few pictures after that.

( here is Miley trying to figure out how to cross this little creek without getting wet. Java cant understand what the problem is. Just walk thur it.)

Miley finally just says "screw it, Im jumping".

Here was Guiness's face again a little later. I was concerned about the inner corner of the eye. But the next day it was back to normal.

Drive update

We had our co-op class last night instead of tonight. It was suppose to rain today so I emailed everyone to see if they wanted change to Tuesday night.  Good decision because its rained  all day today.  So last night someone asked me if I was feeling ok. I said "yes , Why?".  She said because the course was to easy and usually I set up hard courses.  LOL, I told when I renumber it , it will be more challenging. It was a course that was already set up, so I didnt have to do much work.  The first course was a starters jumpers course that I added weave poles too. Then when I renumbered it, I added wrap and back sides of jumps.  I think everyone felt challenged.
But before everyone got their I worked Java.  I let the video speak for itself.(it was dark but lights on the field, so some of the video isnt good)

Training

Training with Java is going pretty well.  Here is  a video of  the wobble board and the tunnel from  yesterday.

She is very different from Miley.  Not over the top on the outside but still maybe on the inside. LOL We have still having lots of problems getting any extended time on a down or a wait. Im thinking maybe she just doesnt understand what I want.  She is a sweet and lovable dog.  My only concern is sometimes she reacts by barking like crazy at people or dogs.  This weekend at the seminar there was a dog crated under  the tent area. There were also these big propane heaters, the tall silver ones , under there too.  When we walked but Java just started going crazy barking.  I think it was at the dog but I guess it could have been the heaters.  So I worked on clicking and treating until we could walk by calmly.  Then yesterday I took her to the park and worked on getting her to walk by the dogs in the dog park with out reacting. She did pretty good. Only barking at one dog who came running to the fence. ( we didnt go in the dog park, we stayed on the outside of the fence).  Then we walked in the regular  part of the  park. She did ok. Some people we passed without problems. Some people, mostly with dogs, she barked at.  The worse reaction was to a little boy riding a push scooter. She sounds mean, barking and growling. The little boy stopped and I asked if she could smell his scooter. She calmed down but I dont like the reaction.  Yesterday I worked on her reaction to the scooter. We have one from when Stephanie was little.  She was a little nervous around it  but once I started riding it,she wanted to chase me and come with me.  But when I called the boy over from across the street to ride the scooter, she went crazy barking at him.  I want to post the video but Im to scared to. It would be public and I dont want to get a bunch of crazy comment from people I dont know.  Sometimes people can be over the top with there reaction to things.

Ok, I decided to post a small clip of her reaction to the boy running over to us. (its just the first time he came over) I didnt handle it very well.  The video is longer and we worked over and over on him coming over and her not barking.   Maybe it was him running over that was the trigger. I dont know.  It took until the 3rd or 4th time for her not to react to him coming over. 

The other thing I  just realized is  that the dogs have been fence fighting with the dogs next door. Those dogs have been there so Im not sure why thats happening either. Ugh.  I can call Java off the fence line but I dont want her doing it at all. Ive been working on click and treat for good behavior but the next time the dogs are out there, it starts up again.  So Sunday I was over the whole thing and I happened to be outside raking leaves when they all went crazy. I kept bringing the rake down and hitting it on the ground and saying "no" in the meanest voice I have. ( Im sure the neighbor thought I was a manic)  But it worked and on there dogs too. LOL So when Java backed off, I would praise her, if she came toward the fence she got a stern "no". It seem to work but I cant always be there when it starts.  Im thinking about temporally fencing off that area so Java and Guiness cant get over there otherwise she will always have to be on leash when she goes out there. 

This all sounds so bad and most things are really good. I just have this one problem with her and its just going to take time for me to fix it.