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.