Ryker earned his AAD and more

This weekend we were entered in the Wasatch USDAA Agility trial in Farmington. We took Friday off since it was the day we got back from C-Spot Win Camp. I am glad I did. I got home at 11pm Thursday evening and the dogs wanted to run around the yard for a while before going to bad.
So, Friday was a slow day, doing laundry, watching the yard getting watered and visiting frinds at the trial.
I decided not to run in all the classes. I split up Ryker and Raygen. Ryker ran in STD Advanced on Saturday and earned his Std title and AAD. Now we can move up in all future trials to Masters classes. Way to go Ryker!!!
Raygen ran in Snookers and Jumpers. I took an off course in Snookers, it was such a nice course. Jumpers was really cool. He Q'ed in that.
On Sunday I had Ryker in Masters Gamblers and Advanced Std. Gamblers was really confusing me for some reason. I ended up taking advice from G and Ryker earned 3rd place. All three dogs that placed were withing 0.50 seconds of each other. Way cool!
Ryker's Std run wasn't as pretty as I failed to see the "serpentine" challenge that included a teeter. The approach to the second jump and teeter was totally wrong and he took an off-course jump. I realized that only after I watched another competitor handled it like a serpentine.
I was so focused on getting Ryker through the Gamblers course that I totally forgot that Raygen was in the same class. I had no plan for him when I entered the ring. For his running style the course was a good one to just run as fast as I could and let him take whatever was in his path without much handling and get the minimum points. Even though Jim Basic was drilling us with some "panic" drills, I messed up and did not take my time getting Raygen set up to get a nice Gamble over the first tow obstacles. He is such a Velcro dog. BUT he got the points.
Also, great news, my battery charger cable has been found, thanks G, and I can finally charge my camera again to take movies and pictures again.

USDAA Lynnleigh Farms June 2009

This has been a very busy weekend. Ryker performed a crazy A-Frame jump-off. Never has he done this before. Last Standard and Pairs run I insisted that he stop with a 2o2o. He did nicely.
Our team event on Friday was a bust as far a placement went. We ended up winning a rubber chicken for taking the honor of last place. Ryker broke his SLT in Snookers, even after giving him a second chance, that is when I decided to stop him right there. Team or not, if he breaks his stay at the start and I go on, I might as well not have a dog all weekend. It paid off and he did not break another SLS all weekend.
I ran him more like I train and it felt really, really good. My brain is thinking more like: "I can get there vs. I can't get there". Stopping motion, any motion, including blinking eyes is the key. >g<> not blabbering to much. It only confuses him.
The highlight of this 3 day trial was to watch some amazing participants handlers run their dogs.
Stephanie Spyr, Elicia Calhoun, Stacy Peardot-Goudy, Kate Moreaux to name a few. Amazing runs by Emily Snider, Linda Wallace Kipp, Kyle Schumacher and few others that I don't know the names of, was like attending a lecture for free.
The low of this trial was a local handler being quite rough with her dog and got everyone talking. The judge looked on as she jerked her young dog around, "punishing" her. Shame on anyone that stood around watching this, including the Judge, who was thinking about stopping this madness, but opted out of being a judge at that moment. Shame on the handler, too. The handling was terrible and the dog had to make decisions on her own. I hope you can become the person your dogs needs you to be, soon.

USDAA Loveland, CO

We had a great time in Loveland Colorado at the FRAC USDAA Agility trial.
The weather was a mess, though. we got there OK and settled into the Hotel and by the time Saturday came around it was bad. High winds and drifting snow. At one point I though I was going to get blown away while I was out with Ryker. He surely did not enjoy it either.
Needles to say he did not get the exercise he needed to be able to give me some nice runs.
I am happy to say that he did not knock a bar all weekend. He earned first place in Snookers in his class. I walked a hodge-podge course and while watching other dogs I decided to change our strategy and it sure paid off.
I have Raygen entered in only three runs, one of the was Performance National Qualifier and out of 60 dogs only 19 Q'ed and he was one of them. He did very well.
Coming home was a mess. We ended up staying in Laramie for the night and headed home the next day, arriving in Layton at a bit after 5pm.
It is good to be home. I actually missed Utah weather? ICK!

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.

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.

USDAA Trial June 21-23

I entered Ryker in the Teams competition. Our team mates where Cayenne and Monty.Our Team name was PG (Parental Guidance). Eric, Monty's dad, designed a great iron on and provided us with the T-Shirts on the morning of our run. We had a great time. Our PG dogs had some mishaps and surprise performance throughout the day. It was hot and we were tired at the end. Ryker, again, fell of the dog walk. It is a very slippery dog walk and a lot of dogs are having minor issues. His speed and inexperience makes it dangerous for him to attempt it the way he does our dog walk at home.On Saturday and Monday we entered all the other classes and even though we had some fantastic runs, we only qualified in in one class. Seems like there is just a bit missing. I had to stop a run, when Ryker started to not wait for a release on the contacts and ran the course without me. Even though he took the correct sequence of obstacles, we weren't a team. He did much better at our Standard run that followed.

USDAA Trial June 21-23

Raygen With Bill McDevitt

I don't recognize Raygen anymore. He is faster and more enthusiastic about Agility then ever. He was so exited when I sat him up for Snookers, that he almost got away from me and started on his own. Whoohoo! His weaves are getting faster and faster. We have to work a bit more on the teeter in different locations. He did the gamble in the Master Gambler, that included a teeter. I was very proud of him.Can't wait 'til our July trial.

USDAA Trial April 26th and 27th

I am learning every time I take this dog on the course. He was very good with his SLS. I am not going to lead out to much until he has overcome the bar knocking issue with chasing me. Nevertheless, he stayed for as long as I asked him to. I was expecting to get his AD this weekend. He only needed one leg in Jumpers. On Saturday he did great in Standard and earned his SSA and SG. He still is not getting into the weaves from a jump. Pairs was a disaster, he was all over the place and I lost my connection with him, but we finished the course.Sunday was a lot better. He earned an extra leg in Standard (no move-ups in USDAA) and even though he didn't Q in Jumpers, he had an great run. I was going to handle Snookers the same a I did with Raygen. The A-Frame was my major concern. It was close to the red jump and I tried to do a title left wrap around (taptaptaptap). He took the frame, no big deal, but I had to go all the way to the other side of the frame to get to my closing sequence and hesitated for one second and he put his rear legs back on the A-Frame. That was the end of that, but maybe he will try to do better contacts next time. I praised him as we left the ring. What a good boy!!!

USDAA Trial April 26th and 27th

I entered this trial with some high expectations from both Raygen and Ryker. This does not mean that I won't have fun or get mad at them for not performing the way I wished.Raygen earned his first leg in PIII Standard and had a great run in PIII Jumpers, however handler error cost us the run.I only needed one PII Gambler leg and one PII Snooker leg to get his Versatility Title PD II. Gamblers was a breeze. We did chute to dogwalk (with a tunnel "trap") and to my great surprise he took the dog walk. Without going into more details.... my timing was perfect, I was approaching the first gamble obstacle when the buzzed rang. Tire, tunnel, which was under the A-Frame, jump, jump. Really no big deal unless he would not take the tunnel. He did great and we only had Snookers to go. Last class of Sunday, with the great insight from my friend Cynthia, he ran an almost perfect course. There was a little slowing down when I had to disappoint him not to let him go into a tunnel. But that was only for a few seconds since the tunnel came after that. What a good boy!!!Raygen is the #1 Australian Cattle Dog in Utah at this time. He is 1 of 13 to hold a PD II title in the country.