It is a Hard Knock Life, when you have to learn the hard way.

I learned a tough lesson this week. No matter what venue you and your dog are competing in; read the fine print!

I received a letter from AKC that Lady was disqualified from her Novice Jumpers with Weaves Title. She had been measured at 21" and should have been jumping 16" Preferred and I had her jumping 20" Preferred. Ruger was in the incorrect class as well (he was measured at 21 1/2").  We now have to start over. After having time to think about it and call myself a Bimbo Idiot several times, I have come to the conclusion that this is a good thing. Since they are in a lower height category (for the record, they measured 22" in USDAA). We can jump Championship because that is what they are jumping anyway. It is not a bad deal, and we of course can always use the practice.

I have since downloaded the Rules and Regulations for both AKC and USDAA and am trying to plow through them - ugh! The booklets are like an FDA manual, great for insomnia. It is a tough lesson to learn, but rules are rules and I didn't do my due diligence. Remember, failure is tough, but if you aren't failing, you aren't learning. I you are not learning you are not moving forward.

Border Collies vs all the rest!

I recently saw a post in FB of a Border Collie walking a horse, down a country lane, while holding the reins. The remarks were "Border Collie of course".  Yes BCs are wicked smart and they are my favorite breed, but do not write off all other dogs. Dogs (all breeds) are pack animals and like all pack animals, flourish when they are with the people they consider pack. They want to please us and if given the chance, could walk a horse down the road, we just have to train the behavior. I have only met one really stupid dog in the 52 years I have been on the planet. He was a mini dachscund named Oscar (sorry mom and dad). I have had multiple people remark that they could never train the behaviors I have taught my dogs. I always ask "have you tried"? The answer I usually receive, is that their dog is dumb. I do not comment, but the retort that I bite back is, "your dog has has your number and is playing you".  Oh, okay, I sometimes say it out loud. I believe that is what they call the "rub". Our dogs will refuse to do something and we immediately write off their behavior as "stubborn", "un-trainable", "stupid". I have two very weird dogs, with two very different weird personalities. If they are not getting the message of what I am trying to train, it is most definitely the messenger. I have learned, the VERY HARD way that I truly do not speak dog and therefore my "message" is often times not understood. Where I have had my break-throughs, is that I am willing to re-group and try the training from a different angle. I video most every new behavior and then study it to death and see where I am going right and where I am going wrong. Rarely it is the dog that is going wrong. So my message is pack a ton of patience in your trick bag, listen to your trainers and have fun with your dog.  Your dog could even be the dog on FB walking a horse down the road.

Getting Back in the Game

A year ago, I pulled Lady out of Agility. It was a hard decision to make, but she was shutting down on me in her classes and the "Games". Lady was simply terrified of being at the Indoor facility. I still worked with her at home and Ruger took over her classes. I didn't have a solid plan on how to desensitize her, and to be brutally honest, it took me some time to actually decide how I would approach her road to recovery.

A year later and back at the Outdoor facility, Lady is engaged and came in first in her Jumpers run AND Q'd. She came second in her Snooker run AND Q'd. I was so pleased. She's not completely "Cured", but, Lady is having fun and that is the whole point. I am so proud of her, she is showing signs of the dog I know she can be. Lady loves Agility or I would have pulled her long before I did. I think pulling her was the best decision I have ever made.

I am still coming up desensitizing plans because I believe we still have a long way to go. Additionally, I have a plan for myself as a handler as well. There was a huge difference in my handling going from the Indoor facility to the Outdoor. I am just as crazy as my dogs. I had so much fun at the trial and was so much more relaxed too. I still have long way to go to tighten up my handling; I realize I am  a beginner, just like my dogs. I think I was concentrating too much on my handling and completely forgot about having fun and I was not fun to be around (the dogs are chiming in). Agility, like life is a journey not a destination.

Here is a video of our Jumpers run:  http://youtu.be/ybPDGmNGYgo

Her Snooker run is on a separate post.

Ruger is still a work in progress and he too needs to be desensitized. I would publish his videos of his runs, but we don't want to embarrass the little guy. He'll get there. The better I become, the more relaxed he will be.

Lady's P1 Snooker Run