JetCategory Archives

DOCNA Championships 2011

Jet and Dare

Last weekend I took Jet to Grand Junction, Colorado, and we competed in the DOCNA Agility Championships. We had fun and Jet was a goof as usual.

The first day he kept bouncing up and down like a dork and I couldn’t figure out what he was looking for. The next day I realized that the orange fencing that was around the rings probably reminded him on Course A’ Lure, and he was looking for a lure. After observing him for a little bit yup… he was definitely acting like he was looking for a lure. Dang he loves that lure coursing.

So the first day he was pretty distracted out on the agility courses, but he ran fairly well. I need to load up some video that I got. Haven’t had time or energy since I’ve been back. The second day he only was distracted a bit in the early runs, and later on he did a really nice job and did everything I asked him to do and we had fun.

Unfortunately at the championships there are only ribbons for placements. There are no Qs. And Jet is not fast enough to be really competitive at the 16″ level. He would have Q’d almost every run, but since he’s not that fast, we didn’t get any ribbons. But that’s okay we had a good time. However I don’t know if I’ll go back next year, since I do like a ribbon or two, so we’ll have to see.

The prior weekend not only did he get one Double Q in the AKC trial, he got two Double Qs! He got one on Saturday then again one on Sunday. I was thrilled. I wonder if they are on the AKC site yet, I love looking at legs on the site!

This weekend we have a break, then the next weekend we are doing another AKC agility trial. I hope for some more speed points and maybe another QQ! I’m really excited that I finally have a dog, after doing agility for 8 years, that’s able to get some QQs!

Oh and this picture was taken at Corn Lake in Grand Junction… that is Jet’s best girlfriend in the world, Dare. And their relationship is just like the picture. Jet adores Dare, but she could take or leave him. It’s such a cute picture I had to post it up!

Cynthia

September 27, 2011

Agility, Jet

2 comments

Agility, DOCNA, Jet

Jet’s First Double Q!

Jet at Camp

Yup, we finally did it. Jet got his first official Double Q in AKC agility today! I’m thrilled. He didn’t Q in either JWW or Standard yesterday, but today he did, and I was excited! Not only is it his first Double Q, it’s also mine! In 8 years of doing agility, I’ve never gotten a Double Q on a dog in Excellent B. An official Double Q that counts towards a MACH. Woo HOo!

And no, I don’t have any video… I am getting kinda tired of feeling like I’m begging people to video. So I decided to just run this weekend and have fun and not worry about it. I figure I can’t get video of every single one of his runs anyway… so we are just going out and doing our agility and having fun. Jet is an amazing little Danish-Swedish Farmdog, and doing awesome at agility.

Tonight I rest, maybe look up a life insurance quote since we are looking at changing, and watching TV. Unfortunately my Interstitial Cystitis flared up today, and I felt rotten. I haven’t had a flare for about 8 months, I’d forgotten how absolutely horrible they are. I amaze myself that I can function with so much pain sometimes.

One more day tomorrow. We are having fun running Time 2 Beat, too. Picked up 20 points for that title this weekend.

Jet’s Heeling is Improving

So last Saturday I took Jet to a sanctioned Match for some obedience practice. Well, I wasn’t happy with how he did. Actually his heeling hasn’t been very good in the ring since we started going into the ring. In training, he’s great. But I think I have a plan to get him better. This was the Novice run through at the Match. He’s not even hardly really heeling:

So I figured I needed to do something, because Jet was entered in an obedience trial the next week (which was yesterday). And I think we just train in places that are too quiet. Because Jet is deaf in his left ear, he has sound issues. And you can see in the above video that the ring was set up right next to the bathrooms (I guess most people don’t even think about doing that?) and the flushing of the toilets really bothered him.

So it inspired me to start taking Jet to a place that had many more distractions. Mostly I train in very quiet parks where Jet does a great job. But most obedience rings are not so quiet. And so I took him to Sugarhouse Park every day last week. We did heeling with minimal treats. I figure, when in the ring, it’s just me and him, and we need to build a relationship without treats, too. However, I went to some pretty hard places at the park and when he showed signs of nervousness, I gave him treats anyway. And so yesterday this is what I got in the ring:

I think it’s much improved! So this is my goal then… to take Jet to difficult places and do heeling and training. At least once a week. My work schedule is changing and they are making me work 5 days a week (YUCK!) starting in October. I know I know, I’m spoiled, I haven’t worked 5 days a week in over 10 years. I usually work 4 10 hour days, which I much prefer. But now… well, I don’t want to talk about it. Anyway, I’ll have to work training into a new schedule. I think it will help. We don’t have another obedience trial until maybe March. So I’ll see how it works out. Though in the winter it will be hard to go out and find places when it gets cold. Hrmph.

The rest of this weekend we are doing agility. Jet did good today, but didn’t Q. One mistake in JWW and one in Standard. He did Q in the new Time 2 Beat class, which was fun. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I need to snuggle into some nice cozy sferra sheets tonight for bed. I’m tired, and sore, and I need to get some rest. But alas, I do think his heeling has gotten a bit better.

Cynthia

September 16, 2011

Agility, Jet, Obedience

4 comments

Agility, Jet, Obedience

I Need a Color for Jet

When I was at camp (yes I wish I was still there, I wish I LIVED at dog camp… ugh), the lady in charge of the hikes, Sandy, said I should find a color that I can wear when I take Jet off leash so he can always spot me easily. I thought this was a really good idea. So I did some googling about what colors dogs can see.

According to this article from Psychology Today, dogs only have 2 cones in their eyes, instead of 3 like humans, so they can’t see the whole color range that we can. I’m stealing the image… I hope they don’t mind, but this is what a dog’s color vision supposedly looks like:

Dog Color Vision

So according to this, maybe I should pick a darkish blue, or a yellow? I want to get a bunch of t-shirts all that color, and hats too. And I can knit some warm hats the color I pick for the winter. Get some baseball caps for the summer.

Anyway I thought I’d ask the opinion of you guys who read my blog. What color should I get so Jet can identify me off leash? Since he’s deaf in his left ear, he cannot locate me by sound.

Last Day At Camp

Wow… where did the time go! I was planning on posting every day, but didn’t end up having time. I do have pictures loaded from every day on my Picasa Web Album. To see all my pictures from the whole week, you can visit my Picasa Web Album. There will be more from this afternoon too.

Anyway, here are some highlights.

I’ve been posting more on Facebook, so you can friend me there if you want to see more.

Cynthia

September 2, 2011

Jet, Levi, Tatum

5 comments

Camp, Jet, Levi, Tatum

First Day at Camp

We are having a blast at camp. What can I say. Tatum and Jet ran so much this morning that they are pooped dead tired. LOL. As I am writing this Tatum is on the bed with the boys and she is growling because she is tired.

This morning we went on a little hike/walk around the camp and down to the beach. It was about all Levi could do, and once we got to the beach he laid on the sand and took it easy. He’s doing a lot better than I thought he would do. He’s hanging in there on the walks, and his rear and back look just fine. He’s not slipping much when he walks.

Jet is also doing well. This afternoon he pooped, and it was small and fairly solid. So I think he’s doing fine coming out of the sedation. He’s also sleeping, and he went swimming, and is having a great time. Camp is just dog heaven.

Here are some pictures of our adventures today:

The Beach

Jet Swimming

Handsome Jet

In the Shade

Sleeping on the Beds

I have more pictures posted on Facebook if you look there. I’m tired and I think it’s time for a nap! Maybe I should have brought some lincoln ls custom floor mats for the cabin, as I’m getting lots of sand in here, and I need to sweep it out.

I’m sharing the cabin with one other lady, and she has a Chi. So there’s plenty of room for me and my three kids. Camp is awesome, so much fun, I wish I could come here more than once every four years!

Cynthia

August 29, 2011

Daily Posts, Jet, Levi, Tatum

3 comments

Camp, Jet, Levi, Tatum

Made It To Winnemucca

Levi, Jet, Tatum

Well we left for Dog Camp this morning… or, rather, this afternoon, as we had a bit of an adventure this morning.

I had all planned to take Tatum and Jet to the dog park this morning to get them nice and tired for the long five or six hour drive. Well woke up and Jet’s right eye was all weepy and he kept blinking it. So I told my husband. My husband likes to take them to the vet more, he’s more careful than I am. Usually I would just put some drops in his eye and call it good.

Well I took him to the vet, mainly because of Aaron’s opinion, and also because we are going off for a whole week and I want Jet to be healthy. The vet put the orange dye in Jet’s eyes and saw a big ugly ulcer on his right eye. Bleh! So it’s very good I didn’t put in the eye drops that we have that have the steroids in them. Those are bad bad bad for an eye cut or injury! The vet got a big q-tip and tried to see if there was something still in his eye, but couldn’t find anything because Jet wouldn’t let her. So she asked if she could sedate him… and I don’t usually like sedation, Jet has never been sedated, but if I said no, I’d just have worried all week about something being in his eye. So I said yes and Jet went groggy.

She poked around in his eye but didn’t find anything. So I guess that’s good. But then, of course, he had to perk up out of the sedation. Since having just lost Lucy, Jet being sedated really freaked me out. So we stayed at the vet’s in the lobby for about a half hour until he was ready to walk around and be a bit better. Then I took him home and he was wobbly and groggy, but I figured what the heck, we should still be off to camp.

So I packed up the three pups and off we went. Just before Wendover, Nevada, Jet’s nose and eyes started having a dark green, weird, discharge. Not like an infection, I know what that looks like, and it was different. More like food coloring or something. I called my husband, and he said maybe the orange of the eye dye combined with some normal yellow color and was being removed by Jet’s body. So yeah, I figured that’s probably it… an we kept on going through Nevada.

It was a long drive, and I stopped a lot to let the dogs out, and check on Jet. So we got to Winnemucca late. But we are doing okay, Jet is mostly perked back up and playing with Tatum. Levi has to bark at those two when they play, which makes it tough in the hotel. LOL but now it’s 7:30 pm and they have all settled down. They have to get some zoomies out after being cooped up in the van for so long.

Of course I ate too many chocolate chip cookies on the drive, and chips, so I could use some weight loss pills. I always do that when I’m driving, which I shouldn’t. Ugh.

So anyway, we are resting in the hotel now. We have to be at camp by 3pm tomorrow. I’ll try to get some pictures on my good camera, not just my phone like these. But the drive tomorrow should go pretty quick, I hope, and then we’ll be at Camp Winnaribbun!

Jet Buckled In

Above: Jet is in the front seat in his seatbelt. Still groggy from the sedation.

Trip Meeter

Cynthia

August 27, 2011

Jet, Levi, Tatum

3 comments

Camp, Jet, Levi, Tatum

Getting Ready for CampW

Tatum and Jet

Well, a week from tomorrow I’m taking three of the dogs and we are headed to Camp Winnaribbun. We went in 2006 and again in 2007, and had a really good time. I’ve wanted to go back for some years but haven’t really been able to afford it monetarily, or time wise. But I got the money together this year somehow and I’m taking Levi, Jet, and Tatum.

Levi has been before, but Tatum and Jet haven’t. I’m leaving Chase home this time because he’s a bit grumpy with other dogs. Tatum is going to LOVE camp, she’ll be in doggie heaven with all the other dogs there. Jet is going to have fun, too. Levi and me will take it easy and sit on the beach while the young kids play.

I’ll bring my video camera and my DSLR, maybe a bluetooth barcode scanner for when I hit the stores for some shopping.

I hope to blog while I’m there, we’ll see how it goes. That reminds me, I need to clean off my hard drive on my Mac and spare up some room for pictures and video.

I’m still hurting a lot about Lucy, but maybe camp will help me recover a bit. I do hope so.

Cynthia

August 19, 2011

Jet, Levi, Lucy, Tatum

1 comment

Camp, Jet, Levi, Lucy, Tatum