Java's learning

Ive posted these video's to Facebook so dont feel like you have to comment on them.





Then today was the first time on a full dogwalk. I didnt realize the Running Contacts class is on a break for a couple of weeks. It allows those of us behind to try and catch up. Java seemed kinda slow to me today.  I also had Miley there. We are slowly increasing her activity.  She did 6 straight jumps, two low dogwalks and a couple of tunnels. She was thrilled!! Maybe thats why Java seemed slow, because Miley is running at warp speed.




We went to the park this morning. It was very cold. I guess the water was warmer than the air.

I moved over the the fields where the sun was hitting to warm me up. Java took off after these deer.

I called her "Java Come!".  Im not sure , it could have been a panicky, screaming call. But both the deer and the dog stopped and looked at me.  They probably thought , "what the heck is wrong with that crazy lady?".  What ever, it worked and she came back. LOL, thank goodness.

This was from the other day. This should probably be the blog header, its more realistic. LOL

Which Blog Header

I cant decided which picture for the blog header.  Do you like the one I posted as the header or this one better. Will call this one "A" and the one on the blog header "B".  Let me know what you think.  ( make sure you click the pictures so blogger brings them up bigger and you can see them better)

Picture A



Picture B

If I knew then what I know now.

Im not going to post this to the link for everyone to read but I thought I would comment.  I started agility with Guiness about 6 years ago.  He was a rescued sheltie. I wasnt sure I would even like agility but I signed up for a class. It was really hard to find a class here in Columbia. I kept looking and looking and finally found someone who taught beginning agility.  It was lots of fun. We were taught with targets.  I know lots of people think targets are bad but I never had a problem with them. Especially since I didnt know anything else.  I didnt know about shaping.  I taught Guiness to weave using a Clean Run article on WAMS. LOL, must have been a good article since thats how I taught Miley too.  The first seminar I went to, I wont say who taught it, but they wouldnt work with me because my dog wasnt toy motivated. (OMG, how rude. Today I would walk out but I didnt then. ) The good thing that came out of that was I talked to  Michelle Godlevski. I hope she doesnt mind me putting her name here but she talked to me and gave me tons of information  about agility and  where to look to get even more information.  She was great.  I felt like I left with so much knowledge. I should have paid her not that seminar presenter.  Then I finally found another agility class in town.  I found out about front crosses and rear crosses, I had no idea about them.  Some of the people were in the local dog club here which I joined. Thinking I had found something in Columbia that I really liked. I was so excited. But then someone in the group talked about me to everyone behind my back. I never heard exactly what was said but the  basics was that I had mistreated my dog. I was out of town for a week and when I came back to class no one would talk to me. Well, one person did. I had no idea what was going. The negative feeling in class was unbelievable. I set Guiness up to run and he crashed the jump. The whole thing fell apart.  Guiness never dropped bars, ever. So this was effecting my dog. I set him up, ran the course and walked out never to return.I found out the next day that this one person had told everyone I mistreated my dog and thats why no one would talk to me at class. So now I was in club and had no friends. And not just no friends, they hated me.  I was still attending my other class that I first started out with. I was best friends with the lady who ran the class. When she found out I joined this other class, I guess her feeling got hurt and our friendship was over.  I cried all the way home that day. Everything was falling apart.  So now I was training alone.  I did find Meagan in North Carolina but it was a long drive and I couldnt get out there very often.  Ive made a lot of mistakes with Miley's training that I now see.    Mistakes I hope not to repeat with Java.  I love running Miley.  She brings so much energy to the game, its still fun even if we dont Q much.  We can have a total crappy run and someone will come up to me and say how much the love watching her.  I have to laugh, "uh, were you and I watching the same run?"  LOL .   There were so many negative things that happened at the beginning of my agility endeavor.  A normal person would have quit. But Im not normal.  Im going out swinging. LOL   And do you know what?  Now Ive met so many nice people.  Bob, who watches out for me and makes sure my runs are tape.  Robin, who sends me text messages about her runs (since Im not running Miley right now) and shares hotel rooms with me. Tom, who reminds me to fill the spaces around me with nice people.  Meagan ,who has helped me beyond words and has introduced me to her group of students and friends.  Jan, Mike and Lorelei , who are some of the nicest people ever. They always make sure there is room for me  to crate my dog at a trial and invite me to their after trial events.Thanks to Karen and Fred who talked to me at a trial one weekend. It was the first time someone talked to me at a trial. It made my whole weekend. They probably didnt give it a second thought, they are just nice people.  All my blogger friends who send such nice comments when I feel like everything is falling apart. I hope I can met them all someday!!  And Im thankful so much  for my husband and kids for putting up with all these dogs and agility stuff. They are awesome. And best of all, if it werent for agility I wouldnt have these great dogs!!  Each different and wonderful.And if it werent for agility I wouldnt exercise as much as I do trying to keep my dogs fit.  Im sure Ive missed some names of people who are my friends and have gone out of their way to be nice to me. Thanks, it means the world to me.
So "what about if I knew then, what I know now" stuff.  If that bad stuff wouldnt have happened I wouldnt have met  all these new really great people. I really dont think Ive been doing agility long enough to have some great awaking. LOL  But I know now how important and fun shaping is. There are so many ways to teach things.There isnt just one right way. I know about collection and extension. All the body cues your dog is working off of to run the course. I knew none of this stuff the first two years I was learning with Guiness. I dont even know how I got him through the course. LOL  Looking forward to all the new things I will learn over the years of teaching my dogs. So much fun to learn and train .

Wordless Wednesday

MishMash Monday

Yes I let Miley run a little this weekend. She goes today for her repeat ultrasound. Sure hope she is healed.

Rainy day

I woke up at 4 am feeling terrible. Its funny, finally the dogs werent waking me up this early and now its me waking myself up. I felt so bad,  I  had to get up. Ugh, I think its just fibromyalgia crap.  Its been raining most of the morning but then stopped for a while. I was able to get myself to the park with the dogs before the next round of rain came through. We were able to walk last night too. But I didnt take my camera because I didnt think the weather would be good. But it was great conditions for taking pictures. Soft light coming through the clouds so Miley wouldnt be squinting. The rocks were beautiful colors. I was so disappointed that I didnt bring my camera. But I brought it today. The weather wasnt to nice. Im sure you are sick of my same pictures but I cant help myself.

 

For some reason this was a hard shot for my camera. This one is ok. But when I pulled back some, Miley became very washed out.

I cant get Java to pose. So I throw treats and hope she turns around enough for me to get a shot. That is, before she comes running towards me.

This is such a cool place. And since it had been raining so  much no one was at the park today. To bad I fell on my butt here. Right on a rock, man did that hurt but I didnt drop my camera. Thats the most important part. LOL

After the park , I had wanted to see the movie the Lorax. It looked cute. My son said he would go with me. It was a cute movie but I fell asleep in the middle of it. Thats weird. Ive never done that before and Ive sat through some pretty boring movies, like "Power Rangers" when my son was little. LOL I was also freezing. I had a sweat-shirt on. My son just had  a t-shirt on and he said it wasnt cold. I guess Im still not feeling well. Ugh.
Java's running a-frame seems to be back on track again. She ran the 1 foot wide plank without a problem. The I raised it a little. Still was good. So now Im going to add another 12foot plank, so they are end to end. If she has no problems with that, I'll switch her to a low dogwalk. I sent this video to Sylvia and she agreed with my plan.

Felt like summer

Yesterday felt like summer. Well maybe not summer since it was only 81 degrees but it was warm and wonderful. It was suppose to rain but it didnt. My phone has this thing on it where clouds and rain drops come across the screen when its raining. It kept doing that but when I would go look out the window, sunny and no rain. Funny.  So of course we went to the park. And so did a lot of other people.

I tried once again to get a picture of all three dogs.  Its an ok picture but not really what Im looking for.

The water is even lower in the river then the last time we were out there.

Java kept following me out in the middle of the river. But then didnt follow me back, so I had to go back and get her. If she had followed me, I had walked thur a shallow area but when I went to get her, it was through some deep areas. Im mean not that deep but she would have to swim. She didnt like that to much.

I dont think you can see it but she has water coming out of her mouth. Cute!

I keep trying to capture how pretty this is with the sun coming thur that green stuff. This is the best I can do. But it shows you how high the river gets when they let the dam out. That green stuff is from the bottom of the river. When the water rises it gets caught on the trees.

Then you have to run around to dry off.

Java's running contacts are on hold right now as I try to figure out how to fix them. I took her to the agility field and put the two down ramps of the dogwalk together and raised them slightly. I tried all these things for an up ramp. So I finally figured something out. She did well but when I watched the video a lot of times she jumps the up ramp. Not what I wanted.  So I tried a bunch of things at home, trying to raise the plank and make it safe for her. She just wants to jump that up ramp . So I think what Im going to do, it get her running the thin 12 regular dogwalk plank and then switch to a low dogwalk. I hope that helps things. We'll see.  I cant seem to get her to do the trick of all 4 feet in a small bowel either. Im not even to a small bowel yet. Ive been working on it with Miley too. I must be doing something wrong.