Pocatello AKC Agility

October 1st -3rd we visited Pocatello for an Agility trial. There were many firsts. Raygen got to run in F.A.S.T. Novice preferred and earned his NFP title. One of his runs was 13.41 seconds, with 59 points.
Although he decided to end the run by leaving me for the tunnel who had the time at the end, I like the fast time in which we accumulated 59 points in. Running contacts can definitely take many seconds away form the runs. 
Rylie earned her first Excellent STD leg. She had a lot of fun in JWW however she ran past jumps and weaves is not something that gets her Q's. She was sore on Monday and I have decided that Agility may just be to much for her and retire her to pursue K9 Nosework and also go back to some Freestyle training.
Ryker got to run again for the first time in 13 months. Even though we did not Q, his times were mind boggling. I had some late cues and he was already on to the next obstacle when he realized what I actually asked of him. A spin 'cause he is waiting for me to tell him where to go, knocking a bar 'cause I am cuing to early are only some minor errors I need to iron out somehow. I am hoping that I have his weave entry cue figured out. His problem has always been collection before the weaves, actually the lack of collection. He did get some nice weave entries when I cued weave collection. We will see in future trials.
My motto was run as fast as you can, give him the cues he needs, run like you train with Stacy and the HELL with being afraid. I had more fun running fast and not cuing then running to Q. In the future this may change or not.
And then there was Rydge's first ever trial debut. I had him entered in FAST and JWW. As I entered the ring the first time and took his collar off he perked up and looked at the course. It seemed that he was a bit unsure, but exited at the same time. His first run was JWW and he did everything I asked him to.
FAST was way hard for him. Leaving me five feet to take a jump is sure harder then doing it at home. His second JWW runs was much faster, which I like a lot more. I entered him not expecting to much, but getting Q's as a reward feels nice.
Looking forward to the next trial.

Group IV Terrier Club, May 22nd - 25th

This weekend we attended a four day AKC Agility trial in Sandy at Lynnleigh Farms. Even though I do not enter the FAST class, it was a very long 4 day weekend. All classes are run by category starting with Excellent, then Open, then Novice. It makes for a very long day for dogs and humans if the judge is not efficient. This was the case on Friday and Saturday. Course changes took a bit longer then we were used to. Judging for us on Sunday and Monday was Lisa Potts. The pros were her speedy course changes, fun and fast courses. The cons .... she had a very negative opinion about Poodles in Agility and made it known to everyone. It was very unprofessional and untrue.
Raygen earned two more legs in each class. On Sunday we had a perfect run in JWW, until third to last jump, he spotted a dog he seemed the urge to greet and jumped the fence instead. I called him back and finished the last three jumps. I chose to scratch his runs on Monday.
Ryker's best run was on Friday morning. I felt we were connected. He got into his weave poles both times on Saturday since they were set-up to get a front cross before them.
On Monday he was running for another handler in JWW. It was a very fast course and I was amazed as how much speed he is capable of.
Rylie, Ryddick and Chocolate were hanging out under the tent and got to go on walks around the Farm. We also practiced some socializing with a kid and got to meet lots of people.
In conclusion... I will not enter any of my dogs in a four day trial. I need to train weave poles with Ryker and lots of fun, fun, happy Raygen time. It is OK to say hi to a dog, but he needs to wait for me to send him to say hello first. Maybe some Ruff Love?

Success at GIVTC trial, 2-15/16

More runs and more ribbons. Raygen Q'ed in both JWW and earend another 16 points. As a bonus he finished 4th in his last JWW run. The ground cover was very hard, dry and slippery and at one point in my STD run I slipped. It was difficult to stay on task with handling and Raygen sucked into the wrong tunnel twice.
Ryker did really well. He never dropped a bar, did all his contacts, did not run a wrong course. He was just not getting the weaves. Which keeps us from qualifying in Exc. No mistakes allowed.
Ryddick ran again on Monday and qualified both in the JWW and Std run. No knocked bars, no off-course and no refusals and two new Agility titles NAP and NJP (first AKC titles). After such a long break I now need to make a plan on what, how and where to train. Next trial will be in Farmington in March. It will be a DOCNA trial and there is training in the ring allowed. Good for Ryddick and I.

IKC Agility Trial 2/13-14

Ryddick JWW

I had a great time the last two days at the IKC Agility Trial in South Jordan. Raygen' s JWW run on Friday was very nice. He only missed the serpentine when he looked for Libby, a dog he really likes. Ryker's JWW was O.K. on Saturday. He pulled out of the weaves and missed the serpentine. I handled mostly with rear crosses and the last sequence with 5 jumps was sloppy. He however did not knock any bars and held his SLS until I released him. This alone is reason to celebrate. On Saturday I was doing some front crosses that I haven't tried with neither dog at a trial and it worked beautifully. I did not stumble and fall and they read my cues nicely. Ryker did take and off course, but recovered nicley after that. Raygen was listening very well and I overhandled a jump and pulled him off. Otherwise my handling seems to get more in sinc with the big boys.
Our Standard runs were amazing. Raygen Q'ed both days and earned 23 points. Ryker had a beautiful run on Friday with only one off course. Saturday he ran beautifully. He missed his weave pole entry, however the rest of the course was clean and again he did not knock a bar.
As a bonus I ran Ryddick today. His teeter issue is not as bad, but he still barks at it. He knocked a bar in STD and pummelled a jump in JWW. The rest of the course were nice. He handles a bit more like a tank than a Ferrari (Ryker) and he is a lot of fun.
Here are some videos

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.

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.

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.

Blackfoot AKC Agility June12th-15th

Raygen has been great all 4 days. Unfortunately we did not DQ. It seems that it has always been something that I would have never thought about. First Standard run he knocked the first bar. I took full advantage of it and pushed him all the way to the end. It was great.
He took 3rd and 4th place in jumpers on Friday and Sunday. I am so proud of him. He really seems to love running with me.

Blackfoot AKC Agility June12th-15th

It was 4 days of different weather. Thursday was cold and windy with a few sprinkles. Ryker ran great. He earned his Open Jumpers title in first place. He was the only dog in the class to qualify. He did not miss his weave entry, but ran around a jump.
He did have an awesome Standard run on Sunday. He listened well and entered the weaves great and while he was in he accelerated and skipped a weave. I pulled him out and had him do it again and still qualified. Some people did not see him skip one of the weaves and were surprised I pulled him. But he can't think he can do it and get away with it. Speed is great, but it has to be accurate, too. His contacts were great and bar knocking has dramatically improved. Some of the Linda Mecklenburg and Susan Salo exercises have helped. I am very pleased with his progress. Hopefully it will repeat in USDAA at Lynnleigh Farms.

Group IV Terrier Club

No Q's at this trial. I had some hopes for at least getting my last JWW leg. Not knocking bars has very much improved. He still does not get the weave entry. Seems like the first part of the course he is out of control and halfway through he gets a hold of himself and runs perfect.
Oh, and he fell of the dog walk gain. This dog walk is very slippery, so is the table and A-frame. Hope they are going to fix that before next trial they will use it on.

Group IV Terrier Club

Phew! What a weekend. We had some really great runs and earned some more points, however no DQ's. He Q'ed one time each of the 3 days, but twice (in JWW) popped out of the weaves. First time I think was because he was concerned about the jump setter that was sitting near the weave poles. The second time I think he was distracted by a Golden that was near the ring. I made him do the weaves again and he finished them. I hope that this isn't going to become a pattern. The weaves have become one of the more reliable obstacles he has been performing.
There were some highlights... out of 30 dogs in his class he earned 4th place out of 6 qualifiers and 3rd place, out of 4 qualifiers. Both in Standard. Very fast courses, with lots of little traps. Harder to run for the faster dogs.

PKC Agility 9-26/28

Ryker earned 2nd place and his OA title in Pocatello. He ran very nice all weekend. I have been working him out more before his runs to take the edge off. he also did something amazing this weekend ..... he didn't drop a bar, not one. I am hoping that this is not a fluke. He tries very hard to do teh right thing. We are going to have time until December to get the weaves better. Other then that I think we got it ;-)