The end of level 1

Monday night was the end of our Level 1 class and hopefully Lady will be promoted to Level 2. I think she can do it. We received her "jumps" so we now have added those into the "poles" sequence at home. She is kicking honey at home, so hopefully Lady can repeat her performance at Club-Doggie.

I am taking she and my parent's dog to the Friday night Fun-Run to get more practice in. Dolly does Agility in Payson, so I am anxious to see her in action. We have a private Agility lesson on Sunday, so I can show Jubie how Lady does on the poles. She can do four poles by herself now and jump the jumps. Lady and I have worked so hard for this.

This week in Agility/Herding

We are fast approaching the end of Level 1 Agility, our last class is this Monday. I feel Lady is ready for Level 2, she does the weave poles, just not completely on her own, I have to run or walk next to her.

Lady had Herding yesterday and I am glad to report that the sheep that was attacked last week is doing fine. Lady seemed no worse for wear and kept breaking off whilst herding to eat sheep poop. We are so proud. I wonder if she will ever get it!

It is really hard to concentrate on all of the Agility and Herding theses day. My mother has a tumor on her kidney and the doctor is 95% sure that she has cancer. She is scheduled for surgery on August 22nd. Lots of prayers and hope for good outcome.

Our cat Harle is slowly dying of kidney failure, which is kind of coincidental. Harle is 15 years old, so she is not young, but we've all gone through a lot with her and she loves us as much as we love her. Very hard to say goodbye.

Maybe I need the distraction of getting Lady to level 2! We are taking a break from Herding because Mike is leaving for Singapore and it is too hard get everything done and get out of the house on the weekends. We are taking a "Shaping Behaviors" class and private Agility lessons. Level two or bust!

Aggressive dogs vs Herding

Lady had a Herding lesson, which she usually does every Saturday at 5:30 am. There was a Rottweiler who went directly after us and we were invited to watch him. It may surprise most people, but Rottweilers were originally used for Herding. This was the dog's first Instinct lesson and he was very aggressive. The trainer was doing a good job keeping him from attacking the sheep. She was slapping the flag down in front of him to keep him on track. Lady was about to go out of her mind because she is afraid of the flag. Suddenly (it is always sudden with animals) the dog made a lunge for one of the sheep and it took the trainer and the owner to get the dog off the poor sheep. The dog was over the top excited, the sheep was bleeding, and the humans were, to say the least, shaken to the core. The trainer was professional and kept her cool. I would have been punching that dog and kicking him, I just hate aggressive dogs. I would have not been "cool". Probably why I am not a dog trainer.

Mike and I were going over the events on the way home (and most of the day) and knew that if Lady were ever that aggressive, that would be the end. I am not a fan of dogs that have the need to kill. I just don't understand what make a person want a dog like that. I like nice dogs, so I guess I have a huge bias.

I know one thing for sure, we are not going to be irritated with Lady for wanting to eat sheep poop anymore.

Agility in the Phoenix Summer

You do not know perseverance until you, no matter what, go to Agility, for your dog, in the Phoenix summer. I guess one can take away a positive from putting oneself outside in such conditions - sweating out toxins! I am pretty sure I have no toxins in my body.

Lady did well at Agility this week. She is still being very stubborn, but I can see a noted improvement over the last few weeks. I think she will be an excellent jumper. She likes it too. Lady took to the tunnels as well. When we were going on to something else, she went over and went through the tunnel sequence herself. I was pleased, but our trainer said that we need to initiate her behavior not the other way around. Me, I was happy that she initiated some interest at this point, it showed she was getting it. I guess that is why I am not the best trainer. I am stubborn and very impatient. Maybe I am the one who is getting trained at Agility. (maybe I am not doing so hot) :).

A win in our grasp

Worked with Lady tonight on poles - what else?! She is coming along and man she is fast. I have a glimmer of hope that she will be able to do four poles at the end of her session. This means being bumped up to level two. I don't know why this is important, but it is. Lady is very competitive and I found a way to make her work: bring Maggie out with us. She ups her game if she is being competitive. Ahhhhh, I found the light. Now if I can get her to do the poles I will be one happy little camper.

I would love to start training her on the jumps, she absolutely loves the jumps and she is very fast. The only thing that would be holding her back in competition would be me. I guess I need to work on my agility too.

I am doing more research on McNabs and it is so exciting having a dog that is somewhat rare. Lady is such a good dog, I might even break my cardinal rule and buy another McNab. Yes that means a puppy - Ugh! Well maybe I'll just adopt another Border Collie from AZ Border Collie Rescue, they haven't "steered" me wrong yet.

Herding, Agility oh my

We had Herding on Saturday and Lady seemed a little too interested in the sheep poo - ugh! Other than that, she did better off leash than on, which is where the training comes in. Sorry Lady! Kama did say that the Aussie before us (egad we were there at 5:30 am) didn't intimidate the sheep. When he came in the ring, they tried to head-butt him. When Lady came into the ring, they immediately started running. At least she can command the respect!

The Herding must be paying off, I was cutting up some vegetables and didn't want our cat Shubie going out the dog door - record heat and all. Concurrently our other cat Harle was skulking around to beat up Shubie. I told Lady to get the Kitties and she herded Shubie away from the dog door and chased Harle away from Shubie. I was impressed. Baby steps!!

It was the 4th of July and we were at Agility! Sad but true. Happily we had celebrated with the family the day before. It could be said that we have no lives, but I prefer to believe that we do.

Lady did well, I thought we were going to have issues on the Cat Walk. She fell off and hit her face and was not walking on her front left paw. Kama came over to prevent me from babying her and had Lady "walk it off". She ended up being fine and went on to run the "Cat Walk" four more times. She is such a baby, I thought for sure she would refuse to go back on. The whole process taught me a lesson, because it was my fault that she fell. She wanted to jump off and I was forcing her to stay on. My impatience caused the dog to hurt herself. A good lesson for me. I can honestly say that Agility has been a learning experience for Mike and I and probably Lady as well.