Ryker's Goals for 2009

Get my RAE. Only two DQ's to go. March looks like it would be a great month.Obedience? Maybe, maybe not. Like Ryddick already mentioned. I may try some ASCA Obedience. Or Rally if they start to offer it. Herding, nope, not for me. Sheep excite me waaaaayyyyyy to much. Agility, yup, lots of plans for AG. I am planning to get my AX, AXJ, MX and MXJ. Depends on how many AKC trials mom is going to take me. I am also planning on Qing for the DOCNA Nationals and maybe the USDAA Nationals, too. My other plan for USDAA is to get my AAD and MAD. But again that depends on how many trials we are going to go to. In Flyball I am signed up for my tournament debut the end of January. My goal is to go to Flyball nationals this year in Nebraska. I am going to work very hard to get there. Tricks and Freestyle is something I will definitely continue.So, I think that's it.

Raygen's Goals in 2009

More herding, more Flyball, more Agility, more tricks, more kisses.I am going to try not to be mean to other dogs. Sometimes it is hard to be good especially when they pee over my pee. That is just soooo rude and has to be punished.

Rylie's Goals for 2009

I really don't care. I just want to play fetch.Mom said she would love for me to finish my RA title. I only need one more leg and the trial in March might be a good idea to enter.I will also try to get my NAP and maybe my OAP and OJP. My leg is bothering me sometimes and I can't do anymore Flyball.Herding sheep would be fun, but they sure aren't Cattle and nipping them is a big no-no.I love doing tricks and I will learn more tricks fur sure. Freestyle is my favorite sport.I also promise to continue to keep the peace. A home without peace is not good. Mom needs me to help.

Ryddick's Goals For 2009

More herding, herding, herding. I really lover herding. Mom said she will borrow some sheep from Shauna so I can herd every day, all day. That would be great.Agility, I think I love Agility. I get soooo excited and can't control my emotions. Mom says I sound like an ape.Obedience, no, not really. Nobody seems to have any fun in Obdience. I play Obedience with my mom, but competing is not going to be an option for me.Rally, sure why not. I haven't done much, but seem to understand what mom wants me to do.Maybe I will get started in Rally in March.Flyball, no, not for me. I get to excited and nip other dogs so they stop barking and hurting my head. Way bad for my psyche.Tricks and Freestyle, yes, yes, yes. Lots of them. I love it when mom plays tricks with me. I catch on very quick.And I will try to be better to my big bro. Going to CU class is helping me though. I will continue with CU classes for sure.

Ryker earns his AD !!!!

This weekend started with a very funky run. Ryker took off the start line without being released. He hasn't done this in a while and it took me by surprise. Instead of stopping I kept going. This was what turned out to be a huge mistake. He was not at all in sync with me. The highlight was the Luganis off the Teeter. I don't think he even moved the teeter a foot.Snookers was great, however, without looking at a map I missed the closing part and was one point short of Q'ing. Our run in Pairs was great, however, my pairs partner had an off course and we ended up not qualifying.The best run was Jumpers. We were the second to last dog of this trial and the only concern I had was the beginning sequence into a possible tunnel trap. He did great! He did a perfect SLS. I lead out to the 3rd obstacle. The tunnel entry seemed a piece of cake and a calm feeling overcame me and it felt like we were running the rest of the course in slow motion. My adrenaline had kicked in and my brain was able to take in the speed at a much faster rate. It was very cool.That run was what we needed for the AD (Agility Dog) Title. Next goal in USDAA.... AAD.

New USDAA Title

We again had a successful weekend. He needed a Snookers leg and a Gamblers leg to earn his PDIII (MAD). Snookers went great until he took the dog walk in the opening sequence. That off course did not get us a Q.Gamblers was a great run. He did everything I asked him to, including the weaves and I still had time to sent him over an extra jump and tunnel for more points. The gamble was a jump to opposite tunnel entry, dog walk and jump. After I called him away from the incorrect tunnel entry he was confused about taking the other end. We ran out of time and I helped him finish on a high note. I was very happy with his speed and enthusiasm. I only entered him in a few runs this weekend to keep him motivated and he sure did. His weaves were great, he was even barking when he went through them.His standard run was great and he earned his PSIII title with a blue ribbon. (Performance Standard III title = 5 qualifying legs in Masters)I am looking forward to our 2009 trials.

Ryddick at a Trial

I was working on some being calm on the mat at the trial this weekend. It went great until a person I know came by and leaned over to pet Ryddick. She had her dog with her and she went to sniff Ryddick. I was holding Ryddick muzzle close to me. he had started to growl at her dog. Even after letting her know that this was not a good time to bring her dog this close she kept insisting that they get along. It seemed forever until she finally left. I wasn't angry at her, just a bit baffled that she did not notice Ryddick's stress and warning growls. Her dogs and Ryddick get along great out in the field and off leash. However, in a stressful trial environment nothing seems as it is.My friend saw all this and after talking to her she suggested not to put myself into a situation like this, where people can accidentally sabotage my training efforts. So true! Thanks EA!

Watch Dog

Late last night Rylie was sleeping on one of the dog beds in dining room. She woke up and while still laying in her bed started to bark. She must have heard something outside, since it was an alarm bark. It usually is a cat or other dog barking so I told her to stop it and she did. A few minutes later she barked again. I picked her up and put her on the couch next to me so she would stop. She cuddle up to me and went back to sleep. This morning I found out why she barked.

All five chickens have been killed by what I assume where Raccoons. I was so furious. They took 3 of them and left 2 behind, dying of their injuries. Not even taking a bite out of them. These are not cute little raccoons you see in a Disney movie. These are nasty, dirty, sick looking creatures.
Talking to our neighbor this morning, they got into his garage and ate his cat and dog food.
I had a talk with Rylie this morning and thanked her for trying to let me know my chickens were getting murdered. She barked and me and ran to get a toy.

Flyball

The weather has been incredibly nice for Flyball practice and it has been lots of fun. Raygen gets very excited when it is his turn to play. The one thing we haven't been able to get him to do is NOT double step between jump 2 and 3. Actually, the only time he won't do it is we play chase recalls. He loves those. G took some pictures at practice and he even posed at one of them. Can't wait to go to practice on Sunday again!

Blowing Bubbles

I have a youtube friend that taught her dog to blow bubbles and I though it would be fun to teach my dogs., too.It was incredibly easy to teach Ryddick. He is very clicker savvy and understands shaping. I will teach the others as well and post it on their Blog when I do.Here is the youtube link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Fc1MV0qwk

Retirement from USDAA

I decided not to run Rylie in 16" Performance USDAA and pull the entry. She only needs one Standard and one Gamblers leg to get her PD1, however she really is uncomfortable jumping at that height. I tried at the last Club practice and she ended up not even wanting to do the weave poles. The title really doesn't matter to her. I will still run her in AKC 12" preferred and try to get into Excellent. We will see how she feels.

Flyball News

Ryker the Drool King

Ryker is back in Flyball training and we are having great results. We figured that we where putting way to much enthusiasm into the box turns and he wasn't able to concentrate. This is our routine for now, G will say quietly "Ryker get the ball" and I whisper "OK" and let him go. It was amazing. Of course he already knew how to do a box turn, but we weren't able to add the ball before then. He was doing full runs by the end of the day. It was pretty. We are going to be careful not to add to much other stimulation to his runs. I am hoping that we are going to be able to go to the next planned tournament. First we are looking forward to the USDAA trial in Farmington.

Growth Mistery

4 stitches for the big one and 1 stitch for the little oneDuring the last few weeks I have been thinking about if I should have Ryddick go under a general anesthetic or a local one. There are pros and cons to do either. This morning I decided that a general would be best in his situation. Having to hold him still while getting a growth on his back removed would have been a challenge for the techs and very stressful for Ryddick. Come to find out there was another one that had started on the side of his torso.The good news is that they are not tumors and it is benign. The bad news is that he will most likely going to get more throughout his live. I can't remember what the exact name of it is, but the vet explained that something gets into his follicle and becomes calcified and it will grow very quickly.He was groggy all day. I hope I don;t have to do this more then once a year. There is an option of learning how to get the cyst before it becomes larger, but it would involve a big needle and someone to hold Ryddick down. Maybe he will hold still for some liver?

Herding 11-7-09

Today we put Ryddick back into the "big" arena in a long time. He did really good. At first he seemed a bit lost. Shauna kept her cool and he calmed down and did some nice work. At the end he seemd to know that it was time to stop and it took a minute for Shauna to calm him down and "that'll do". Here is the linl to the uncut video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E67Kv5D5rJQ&feature=channel_page

Vet Visit

Decided to take Ryddick to the vet to have her look at a growth on his back. It is a growth of some sort and it is scheduled to be removed in week. I will have it send in for a biopsy to make sure it isn't malignant.

Teeth Cleaning

Went to the vet to get Rylie's teeth cleaned for the first time ever. She will be 6 years on January 17. Her teeth are in really great shape as far as stains and tartar is concerned. Brushing her teeth when she was on kibble and now feeding Raw has helped keep them clean.Since she was under anesthetic, i had the vet take some x-rays of her right knee and it looks like she has some arthritis in it. Back in 2005 she had an injury she got during Flyball. We put her on Adequane shots and some pain meds for when she runs around a lot. I decided to retire her from Flyball and only jump her 12" in AKC Agility. I will try to finish her PDI USDAA title at 16" in December.

Herding 10-19-08

I took Ryddick herding on Friday and Sunday this week. I was very happy with the progress he made. Several times I was thinking of not continuing with herding, but Shauna told me that she can see some nice pieces amongst the chaos. I am so glad that I stuck with it. Today was the best day so far. Ryddick can take more and more pressure form Shauna without exploding. His balance is very nice and is able to get the sheep away form the fence without getting frustrated. It was very pretty to watch Shauna and Ryddick work the sheep. The next step would be to bring him into the bigger arena. That may happen early November.

Herding

Went herding two times this weekend and got some great results. I have been getting the sheep out of the corner for the first time without loosing control of the sheep or the Raygen. He comes on strong like an ACD, but he needs to learn some self control while he is herding. He barks a lot. He is having so much fun.
What a good boy!

Retirement from Flyball

I took Rylie to the vet today to have her teeth cleaned and to get some x-rays done to check out why she is limping so much.
About four years ago she hurt her knee and the patella was luxating. The vet at the time put her on an anti inflammatory and it fixed the problem. Apparently there was already some damage done and she now has some arthritis in her knee. We are giving her adequane shots twice a week for the month and then when she needs it. I am going to officially retire her from Flyball and only run her in Agility at 12". More walks instead of endless fetching in the yard is going to be our routine from now on. And more Freestyle!

CU Helper Dog

Ryker had a job at the CU Seminar for a private lesson. He was doing some one jump work while the other dog was doing mat work and some simple agility exercises, including running through a tunnel. Ryker tugged and jumped and tugged and jumped. He does not care about other dogs or anything else when he is working. He had a great time. What a good boy!
Here are the links to private session he helped with. I am in teh background with Ryker. Elizabethanne is working with Chase. Lesie McDevitt is helping Elizabethanne.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgJhpjAFVIw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cAZWSskeww

CU Helper Dog

Raygen got to help out for a private lesson at the CU Seminar. He was very good. We were "hiding" around the corner of a building and surprised another handler and her dog. He stayed with me and he got treats and never looked at the other dog. He seemed to understand his job. He usually wants to visit. Not this time. Good Boy!
Here is the link. Raygen was soooo good.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr922IgVp1Q&feature=related

CU Seminar With Ryddick

Yesterdays "On/Off" game was great for Ryddick. He showed little signs of stress. Today we worked a bit with a dog coming up from behind while on his mat and doing lots of "Look at That!" Scary Big Dog. Everything went well, until Leslie took my mat away. I learned that even though Ryddick is laying on the mat it has become my security blanket. I relax when he relaxes and it save on his mat. His foundation mat work is great and I will use it for our Agility and other training. A friend of mine and I have also learned that both our dogs are ready for the next level.Leslie is great. We went to dinner with her and Bill. I can't wait to continue using CU in my training regimen.

Control Unleashed Seminar, Flyball, Agility and Herding

Raygen is going to be a helper dog on Monday. He did really well at the classes and he was asked to help out at the seminar. I am looking forward to it.
Since a few weeks ago he seems to finally understand how to play Flyball. There is a difference in teaching the behaviors and the dogs understanding the behaviors. I swear I heard the switch turn on. He loves it! He has also become more confident in Agility. I would bet that Flyball has helped him with that. He is consistently Qing in Jumpers and even places a few times. I have to insist on contacts and not rush him for speed points. He has not yet been over course time and those DQ's are so needed.
Herding is going well, too. He is trying very hard to understand what I am asking him to do. I am not sure what I am doing either, other then staying clear of those darn sheep. Almost got knocked over, that would hurt.

Herding Lesson

Posted a herding video on youtube. I love this DOG!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYpNuMu7UD0

CU Seminar with Ryddick

Today was our first day at the CU seminar. Since Ryddick knows to relax on his mat, Leslie showed me a few games I can play with Ryddick using it. She showed me how to use it for our "on/off" game. Get him to get all excited, but keep him below threshold and then ask him to go to mat. He did really good and enjoyed working with her. He did a bit of his primal noise and pounced on Leslie. She didn't mind and asked for him to go to the mat and he immediately did. Leslie was trying to figure out where his threshold was and after that was able to work him a bit better. He stayed focused and was able to calm down when he was on the mat.
She also explained to watch his mouth, eyes and nostrils for calmness. When he did show any of the calm signs she would mark it and give him a treat. Off course he may not know what he got a treat for, but I will work with him and it won't be long until he knows what is expected.
Tomorrow we are going to work on parallel games, dog in your face (butt), and added distractions.

PKC Agility 9-26/28

Ryddick is the new owner of a PKC STD 1st place ribbon. This was the first time I had entered him in an AKC trial. He did really great. He got a bit upset when I raced him to much. I will tone it down a bit next time. He got a very nice weave pole entry in JWW, but he ended up knocking a bar after that.I entered him in 16" preferred, but the judge measured him just under 23"? He has been measured just under 22" and just over22", but never that close to 23".He can certainly jump that high, but I was really hoping that he would be able to jump 16", less stress.

GSLDTC September 12th-14th

We had some nice weather at the trial in Framington and Raygen was feeling fine on Friday. First run he actually took off and ran towards the weave poles? Yup, he is officially a weave pole sucker. So much for our Std Q. In jumpers he missed the chute? Yup, he won't suck into the chute anymore. Then he hit his shoulder on the second weave pole and in the middle skipped one. Interesting day. On Saturday he wasn't feeling good at all. He was constipated and I pulled him out of JWW. Poor dude didn't get relief until much later in the afternoon. Sunday was great. he was feeling fine, so fine that in Std he jumped off the dogwalk and missed the contact. Wuzz up? The rest of the course was GREAT!!! He had an amazing run in JWW and placed FIRST!!! This was a first in JWW Exc B for us. Double speed points. I know you all think 12 points isn't much, but for Raygen it is huge!! Last we year missed a JWW run by .59 sec. so yup, "You've come a long way Baby!"Challenges we had at that trial....Parking fee add $10Great Salt Lake Dog Training Club ran out of food for VolunteersBitches in season walking within feet by the ringPeople bringing their lunch and sitting within feet of the ringObedience out of site sits and downs were withing feet of the ringGSLDTC uses a set of 20" weaves and in the other ring a set 21" (or 22") weaves? (that is why he miscalculated the entry and startled himself)Tunnel holders are made out of metalSlooooow judgeAs much a I like staying local I can not competed at this particular trial anymore. To much stress, so not worth it.Two more weeks 'til Pocatello. One of my favorite trial sites, people and not that far.

Box Turn

It has been almost a year since I stopped training Rylie in Flyball. Here is her boxturn at last weeks practice. She loves to play Flyball. So back to regular practice we go.

http://s365.photobucket.com/albums/oo100/utbphotos/box/?action=view&current=rylie2.flv

Stress in the Ring

Ryker has been showing some stress in the ring. I have been listening to some advise of different trainers and it backfired. He has only done the weaves once all weekend. I have to make a plan and see how he does. Go back to where we had "fun" and don't do so much training. I know what is right for him and need to stick with it and don' t listen to much what others say. Play, play, play. Oh, and eat my Wheaties so I can keep up with him.

Flyball

Did some Box training with Raygen . He is getting better every practice. I am going to run him for the first time at the October tournament in St. George. I am going to have a blast!!!

IKC Agility Lynnleigh Farms

We finally earned another DQ, I am 1/4 towards the big MACH.Saturday and Sunday we did not qualified for any runs. Always close, but just not enough. No room for error in the Excellent classes. So tunnel suckers beware, it won't get you any extra points.On another note... he has an infatuation with Golden Retreivers and Labs. What is up with that. If he does not get to say hi to any of them he gets frustrated and does not want to pay attention. So this weekend I used teh Premack and we said hi to all the Goldens and Labs at the trial. There were quite a few. At one point he even ignored a Golden. Sure is nice not to have to worry so much.

PetCharts

I recieved an email from PetCharts.com that my youtube video that featured Raygen , was selected to appear on the PetCharts.com website. I did not submit his video, but if you have a video, photo or story about your cat or dog you can submit it to PetCharts.com

PKC Agility 9--27-08

After a very long break (Jan 2007) from Agility trialing, I entered Rylie in the PKC trial for one JWW and one STD run in Nov Pref 12".She did great! I was calm while running her and not to worried about making time, since this was preferred and we had pretty much all the time in the world. She placed first both runs and earned her Novice STD Preferred title. I am very proud that she was able to stay with me and not go crazy.

WW Agility Run DOCNA

Weave Pole Entries

Ryker has a hard time getting his weave pole entries. He does not collect before hitting the entry. Then a few months ago he was weaving and he must have hit his nose. It was bleeding and a few times after that he ran past the weaves. I have been training a bit the way Rachel Sandres showed us. I will do some more and hope he will understand the entry a bit better. USDAA trial is coming up and I hope we are going to have some great runs and a Q would be nice.

Herding Goats

I decided to use the goats to teach Raygen some slow "driving". I have him on a 25 foot leash so if he decides to take off he will not be able to chase them down. He did really well. I ask for a lot of sit and release while walking up to the goats. Gotta control that puppy.

Tricks

This one I captured and put in on cue in less then a day. Raygen is very operant and he catches on quickly on what I would like for him to do. I will post tricks as I have time to record.
Raygen Sneeze
Raygen Shame

Off The Wall

I took this Video in April and finally got around to post it. The growling in the background is Ryddick chasing Rylie after she runs to get the ball. Her turn is nice and tight and her head is down when she lands.

Teeter Work #2

We went to Agility practice to Huntsville and I worked Ryddick on the teeter. He did not show any sing of going over threshold and wanting to attack the teeter. I click when has take 3 steps on it and reward at the end. It works great. He is concentrating on getting his treat and not on attacking the teeter. I did a short sequence, jump, tunnel teeter and he again was great on the teeter. I tried again and the little stinker actually bypassed the tunnel and ran onto the teeter. Shauna laughed at me for creating a Teeter sucker. Heehee

Obedience II

I signed Ryddick up for an Obedience II class and even though I have only trained him for Agility he is doing some fancy Obedience behaviors. His tucks are to die for. He comes when called, picking up his leash on the way and he will do a long sit and a down. We were asked to bring our mat out and show how well the dogs go to mat and he runs to it and lays down. We enjoyed class and maybe I will start him in Rally next session.

USDAA Trial August 8th and 9th

Ryker did it again! He earned yet another new title. This time in Snookers Starters. I have been hoping for a Jumpers leg to get his AD this weekend, however that did not happen. Not paying attention to what he was looking at cost me the only jumpers run that weekend. I am hoping to get it at the next trial though. He ran an almost flawless Advanced Standard course until the weaves. He entered correctly and immediately looked at me and came out. Then the funniest thing happened at before the last jump. He seemed a bit confused as to if I wanted him to take it or not. I kept telling him over, over, over. He spun around a few times looking at me and the jump as he approached it and finally took it. Everybody laughed as I cheered him on for taking it. It was funny.
His contacts were to die for. He is always so far ahead of me on the Dog Walk and I run my butt off. Most of the time, next to the judge, who is trying to watch for him touching the yellow, but Ryker comes to a dead stop not making it hard for the judge at all.
His start line stays are continuing to improve. I have to stay mentally strong and walk off if he ever breaks it. No dumbing down allowed!

USDAA Trial August 8th and 9th

Snookers was our first run and Raygen had a great opening until we came to the threadle. I was careful not to call him to much since I did not want him to shut down so he did a beautiful serpentine instead. Oh well.Next run was jumpers and we had no connection at all. I realized to late that I did not take some time to go over to the rodeo happenings for him to check out the cattle and horses. He was very distracted. After our run I took him over to see the calves hoping to eliminate any further issue.It seemed to have worked since we Q'ed and earned first place. All in all he did very well and is only one leg away form his PIII Standard tile (5 needed) and one Gambler and one Snooker leg for his PDIII (MAD). Hope to get it in December at our next USDAA trial.

Weaving

ASCA Trial August 2nd and 3rd

This ASCA trial was very small. I split up the runs between Raygen, Ryker and Ryddick. ASCA courses are more open and "faster" and a challenge for Ryker and I. He started out being a complete spazz and slid off the front of the teeter before it hit the ground. Not sure if he thought it was the dog walk or if the teeter was to slippery. On our last jumpers run I realized by the 2nd jump that I was way to far behind. I ended up having to do a lot of sends and verbals. It was a nice run and he kept all the bars up. He earned his GS-N and RS-N and legs in Open Jumpers and Open Regular. I am always having doubt if I should continue to run in ASCA with him, but I was able to practice the SLS and weave pole entries. Can't wait to see what happens next week at USDAA.

ASCA Trial August 2nd and 3rd

Yay for Raygen! He earned his first 10 ATCH points for Jumpers and qualified in both his Regular Elite runs only needing one more leg for his RS-E title. His jumpers runs were very nice, not getting sucked in by the tunnel trap was a huge accomplishment. For the ATCH title we need 200 points in Regular, 100 points in Jumpers and 100 points in Gamblers. Not something that is going to happen in the near future since we only attend 2 ASCA trials a year.

ASCA Trial August 2nd and 3rd

I was very happy with Rylie and her calm manner at the trial site. She gets exited about being with me and did some nice obedience with me. We also did some Freestyle , which she love the to do more then anything. Even though I used lots of treats while training her she will work for just being with me.

ASCA Trial August 2nd and 3rd

What a great weekend. Ryddick has some great runs. He did his SLS, never knocked a bar and I added the weaves to our gambler course and he did great. His contacts were very nice and he loved going through the tunnels. When we were almost done with our Gambler run he ran past the last run out of the ring and did a "perimeter check". I was suprised and waited until he came back. I am going to teach him to go to his leash after his run to give him a target end behavior. Not sure what I cue it as yet. He did earn his first ever title in Agility, JS-N. Maybe he is ready for JWW?

Weaving, weaving, weaving

Last night I had 12 weave poles set-up for Ryker to play in. Ryddick offered me a ball to throw and ran to the weaves and did all 12. I threw the ball and he came back and did it again. He loves the poles. What a good boy!

Single Stepping the Weave Poles

I have been practicing the weaves a few times each day and Ryddick is single stepping them. He finds some really hard entries and doesn't give up if he won't get rewarded for a mistake. Operant dogs are really great.

Sprinkler

My dogs love to play with the sprinklers. Rylie however really gets soaked from head do toe. She bites at the water and then turns her body into the sprinkler. She does this dance in front of the sprinkler. She seems to enjoy it very much.

Amazing Ryddick

It has been so nice in the evenings that we sit outside in the big yard and throw the balls for the dogs. I was amazed at how calm Ryddick is around Ryker in the yard. I have him in a down stay next to my chair while Ryker runs around. He has been very calm and waits his turn. When it was his turn to play, I ask him to find the weaves. We were sitting about 25 feet away from them. He took a sharp turn away from me and even though the angle was at about 190 degree, he still found the entry and went through all six. Needless to say my jaw dropped open. I threw the ball and when he came back I thought that it might have been a fluke and I again said weaves. He did the same thing just a bit faster. I am amazed at how quick he learned with the 2x2's. He is so amazing. By far the smartest dog I have ever met.

Trampoline

Ryker loves to jump on the trampoline. He looks like a bucking Bronco. It is very funny to watch . I was going to get a trampoline, unfortunately he also gets so excited that he barks and our neighbors would not like that very much.
http://www.youtube.com/user/Astrid66us

Flyball

Raygen and I are team members of the Utah Tail Blazers. We practice two times a week and we are having a blast. Raygen really has come out of his shell. He doesn't play with the ball much, except when we are at Flyball. He barks his head off and he gets so exited that only a few can hold him. His box turn has improved so much. It is very important to do a nice swimmers turn at the box or the dogs will have some major issues with the carpal. The pictures are of dogs getting a ball from box. One has a very nice swimmers turn, the other is really bad and at risk of injury. Our team knows how to correctly teach the turn.

Chicken Herding

My stepson came over the other day and dropped off 5 of his chickens that kept jumping the fence in his yard. Well, they jump our fence to and come into the big yard. So I did a bit of herding with Ryddick. It was so cool. He goes into this herding mode and helps me with bringing them back to the pond. Chicken herding is different then sheep herding. I don't have to watch out for getting run over by sheep.

Agility pics by C. Heyman

Weave Poles

Yeah! My baby is doing weave poles. He is very cautious about it at this time, seems like he doesn't want to make a mistake. I am going to do some of the exercises that I learned at camp to proof the weaves. Now I have to do some more handling exercises so I can enter him in AKC sometime early next year.

Herding Downs "Play Ball"

Previous post I have been talking about expecting more downs while playing ball, to help Ryddick build muscle and be more biddable during our herding lesson. Saturday morning we went to beautyful Kelley Creek Farm. Keeping a long line on him kept him from getting away with charging the sheep. I like to keep him from going over threshold as much as possible. He did very nice and only started to go in twice, but we were able to stop it before he went into full "crazy" mode. I was very happy with the lesson.

Herding

Raygen seems to get the hang of the herding rules. He is very responsive to verbal corrections when he tries to take some wool. His challenge is to not come in so far to make them move. These are sheep not cattle and he can't nip at them. I was very happy with his lesson and am looking forward going again this weekend.Our goats in the back are his favorite right now. He will run all the way tot he back and sit at the fence and stare at them. New chickens are also very exciting for him to look at. What is next? Maybe I should get a horse after all?

Swimming

Saturday we went to Huntsville to have a herding lesson with Ryddick and Raygen and I took the opportunity to take Ryker and Rylie to let them go swimming. She won't go swimming on her own, but is eager to fetch the ball out of the water no matter how far I throw it. In CA we went to the a very secluded beach twice a week and I really miss going with the doggies.

One Jump Training/Call to Heel

Karen Holik did some one jump work with us and had me try a call to heel serpentine. Ryker read my cues and got them the first time. Running them at Gerry's class was a different story. Adding a fast sequence ahead of the jumps were very challenging. His speed is phenomenal and I really have to be on top of it. We practice short sessions often and he is getting better in collecting.

GSDOC Agility Trial July 11th and 12th

This weekend I entered 2 days of Agility in Farmington, Utah. Our Judge was Sally Gichner. I really like her course, especially her weave pole entries. It was Rykers debut in Exc, JWW. He stayed at the start line and after releasing him, I don't remember much. Well actually, I do remember quite a bit. I supported him as much as I could. Some call it over-handling, but there is no such a thing if the dog is still in the learning stages. Right now this is what he needs and it works. I will fade some of the cues as we get better later. He was the only dog in his class to qualify. We are in Open Standard and he did great. Start line stay was fantastic. His contacts are to die for. He did knock a bar and that was the end of it. Today the jumpers course was a bit more challenging and I took my eyes off him and did not support him to come in to me. He then went into default mode and started to come up with his own course. A purple wing jump that was in front of him, but not part of the course was a very good choice. What a good boy. All that one jump work paid off. >VBG<

GSDOC Agility Trial July 11th and 12th

We entered in AKC Agility this weekend. I was hoping for at least some points. Raygen has been unpredictable in his runs the last few trials. His speed has been improving and he is becoming more comfortable with the environment. His weaves are fantastic and his is getting more comfortable with the teeter. I have him run the contacts and it seems to pay off for us. He isn't that fast where I have to worry not being able to catch up on the dog walk and to give him direction afterwards. he knocked a bar on Friday and one on Saturday. I am hoping that it is only a fluke. I will do some jump training when we get back form Camp. He is young and healthy and I don;t think it is a health issue.His JWW run was amazing. With almost 30 dogs in class he placed 4th and earned 10 speed points. Last year he was barely making time.