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Chase’s Weekend So Far

July 12, 2008 – 7:38 pm

Well, we’ve been at the AKC agility trial this weekend in Farmington, Utah. Unfortunately Levi isn’t feeling well. He not only isn’t doing the weaves, he also isn’t doing contacts or even the chute. So I think he’s not feeling well and I’m going to leave him home tomorrow so he can rest up.

Chase is doing better. I think I will be learning how to run him the rest of our lives together. This first video is of Chase in Excellent A FAST. We qualified with a great run and a first place. FAST is where you make up your own course, and then you have to do the distance challenge. Well, tunnel sucking comes in handy on courses like this. He got the A Frame perfect, then turned away from me to get the tunnel. I was very proud of my boy and the crowd cheered, as you will hear.

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This next video is of Chase in Open Jumpers with Weaves today. He did a good job. I messed him up in the beginning. I should have pulled him harder off that tunnel. As we know, he’s a tunnel suck! He would have come to me had I pulled him harder. The rest of the course was extremely fun, too. I ran him mosly silently, and we had a good time. No Q, but that’s okay, I kinda like having him in Open as opposed to Excellent. And thanks to Junior’s Mom for taping this for me!!!

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So I’m happy with Chase. Qualifying isn’t everything… having fun and having a good run is. However, I would like to increase our Q rate as I feel more successful when we do so. Gonna be working on that in the next months!

Now I am watching my videos using my HDMI cables on my HDTV… I still need a darn HD Camcorder, though!

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Cynthia Blue [My Barks!] | Posted in Agility, Chase | Also tagged Agility | Comments (3)

Weave Levi Weave!

July 10, 2008 – 9:33 am

This weekend we have an AKC agility trial. Three days… Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Levi is only entered in Standard each day. We’ve been thinking that maybe two runs, or three runs, a day, is too much for him to weave. Gah, that sounds silly. He is in good shape and would probably be fine. But.. I’m trying it out anyway.

So he’s only in Excellent B Standard each day. He needs three legs to get his MXP. Three lousy legs! Maybe we can pick one or two of them up this weekend. If only he’ll weave. I know he can weave. We got our set of nice professional trial quality weaves at home, and he’s been doing great!

I took this picture on my cell, it’s a picture of him weaving, doesn’t he look good! He can do it, he’s so good at it! Hopefully he’ll get at least one leg this weekend!

Chase is in Open Jumpers, he only needs one more leg in that for his open jumpers title, and then he’s in Excellent A FAST. I love doing FAST with him, it’s a riot, and it’s so nice to be able to make mistakes and still qualify!

Should be a fun weekend! I hope it’s not too darn hot. And maybe there’ll be some vendors up there with some goodies on sale for the dogs, though it’s not like I need to buy anything else for them!

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Cynthia Blue [My Barks!] | Posted in Agility, Chase, Levi | Also tagged Agility, Levi | Comments (10)

Chase Loves Agility

June 23, 2008 – 5:45 pm

I recruited someone to take these pictures of Chase while I was running him. I don’t like to bug people but I do like to have some pictures! And I had the camera on Manual and I forgot to decrease the ISO setting so they are much too grainy. I need to get some software that will reduse the grainy, but I’m too poor to pay for anything.

Today was pretty good, but we didn’t get any Qs. Gamblers was great. But Chase didn’t get the last jump. I probably stopped and he came in to me, but dangit, I know I was standing right by that jump (the gamble was not far) and I had my arm out, and he went right under my arm and not over the jump. Ugh!

The Grand Prix was okay but Chase dropped about three bars, maybe four. But I was able to gather him up a bit after I lost him, which was good. He might be jumping flat because of flyball, but I’m determined to do both flyball and agility with him (and obedience!) so I just need to work with him.

Standard was quite good, but again he knocked a bar. He is jumping 22″ in USDAA as opposed to 20″ in AKC. Though I don’t know if those two inches are really that big of a difference. He doesn’t usually drop bars in AKC though he has been known to do so once in a while.

I hope to get some videos at the next trial. I would like to analyze our runs more. I’ve actually been asking people about their HD video cameras. I think I need one. I am poor so can’t afford it, but maybe I’ll save up my pennies and see if I can invest in one, maybe even used or refurbished. Having an HDTV and low quality video is just not fun at all!

I have the next two weekends off of dog things! Well, of trials and tournaments, anyway. I’ll be doing training, for sure, and hopefully a fun match over the 4th of July. But I’m actually looking forward to having some home time the next couple weekends!

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Cynthia Blue [My Barks!] | Posted in Agility, Chase, Daily Posts | Also tagged Agility | Comments (9)

Sunday at USDAA

June 22, 2008 – 7:44 pm

Today was a much better agility day with Chase my border collie boy. He did well. I was less stressed because I didn’t have someone else who was counting on us. Instead it was just us for us and that’s a good thing.

Here are a couple of pictures of my tent setup at the trial. You can see the big trees on the south side. They create a nice amount of shade for the whole day. And we need the shade as it’s been in the 90s both days. Tomorrow is supposed to be hot, too. We are keeping cool with water and cool coats and shade, which is nice. But still it’s hot, and Levi would not be doing well at all. Chase does a good job as the heat doesn’t affect him quite as much.

Today started with snooker and it went pretty well until Chase took an regular jump after a regular jump… instead of starting the ending sequence. He was ahead of me and I lost him again… and when I lose him he decides to just do whatever he wants, or he twirls and spins in front of me. Neither are good, so I need to figure out what to do about that. At least it’s something I can work on that’s concrete. Though I’m not sure what to do yet.

Standard went well and he qualified. I was pretty paraoid about keeping control of him, though, and over handled. It was a nice course and was more our level. Yesterday was just too beyond our abilities, I think. And today, being in Starters, it was more our level. Sometimes I think I want to run before I walk and I have to learn to walk with him first… well, not like he ever walks, LOL, but you know what I mean.

Pairs also went well and we qualified in that, too. We were paired up with a nice golden who did a good job. Then we did jumpers. And again I lost him. I pulled him towards me too hard and he went around a jump, close to me. And then I wanted to bring him back around but he started his spinning goofball stuff and took an off course jump. I had him sit… which seemed to get his focus back. He won’t down for me when he’s so high, but he’ll sit. So he sat, then we both collected ourselves, and finished the course very nicely and I was pleased.

So I need to figure out what to do about his spinning and confusing when we miss an obstacle. And it will happen, at least for a while, since I still am not sure hard to push him or pull him when we have a tight turn. But this is what learning is all about, right? I just don’t like doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, but not getting them. I want to get better, to grow and expand. I hate being stuck for years at the same level… like I was with Levi and his weaves. It frustrates me and I’m just throwing money away. So I want to learn and grow and get better!

Anyway, it was a fun day. I worked some with Tatum on her heeling and fronts in the box I have for Levi. But she was hot and didn’t have too long an attention spam. I also worked with Muffit. I took him to petsmart during a break and we got him a halti. He hates it but it’s going to work great with him. So he’s not so frantic. He even laid with me by the side of the ring and relaxed with his halti on when dogs were running, that is so great! Big success there, I think.

I also got the dogs in the kiddie pools they have said up. We didn’t have any pool toys but we should get some, and a kiddie pool, for our yard. Tatum actually walked in the pool for a treat so I’d love to get her in a pool a bit more at home.

Now I’m tired… one more day tomorrow. Since yesterday was all teams it’s a 3 day trial. I got up at 7 am and got there at 8:30 am today which was really nice. Felt like sleeping in!

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Cynthia Blue [My Barks!] | Posted in Agility, Chase, Daily Posts | Also tagged Agility, Muffit, Tatum, Training | Comments (3)

Tinker And Chase in Singles

June 17, 2008 – 3:34 pm

I got the videos up on YouTube for Tinker’s Flyball Race in singles which got her the fastest Jack Russell Terrier in U-FLI flyball title. I hope she isn’t beaten for quite some time.. actually never! lol. Not sure if you can see the detail of the run, but her start was .004, and her time was 4.131. Awesome! What an amazing start! You can see Chase in the right lane pushing her on.

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And I’d put these videos together, but if I do, my Vista will take the sound out. So here is the celebration where we all cheered. And just so ya’ll don’t forget, our team is Thunder Paws here in Utah!

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Cynthia Blue [My Barks!] | Posted in Flyball | Also tagged Flyball | Comments (10)

Tinker is (ALMOST) the Fastest JRT in U-FLI

June 16, 2008 – 5:11 pm

( EDIT: Well, she’s not the fastest as of this date, the fastest JRT time is actually 4.108, but she can beat that we know it! )

We had a great weekend doing flyball in U-FLI. Long days… Saturday I got up at 5am and got to the tournament site at 6:30am. I wanted to be there to help get all the paperwork done since there is quite a bit to do to get ready for the day.

Racing started at 7:30 am and there were 104 races on Saturday. It was a busy day. We had three teams running and a number of dogs running in singles and pairs. We were hopping all day long. We may have had about a ten race break in there somewhere… which is maybe 30 to 45 minutes, but the rest of the day we were racing or supporting our other teams racing. It’s fun, and exhausting. We didn’t get done racing until 9:30 pm! Ugh and I thought flyball would be easier than agility. Boy was I wrong! It’s more work! But it’s also a ton of fun.

I am proud to say that Chase got his new fastest time on Saturday morning in singles. He ran a 4.4! His fastest time before then was 4.7, which is still pretty darn good.

After dinner Saturday I got to bed about 10:30… so after six measly hours of sleep, we woke up at 5am again to get to the tournament site by 6:30. We were only fifteen minutes from the tourney site but still, it takes a while to show and feed the dogs and get ready, and I didn’t want to be late.

Sunday went well.. there were only 91 races Sunday. We started at 7:30 am again and were done by about 5:30. Chase ran in singles, pairs, and he was start dog on his team, so he was running a lot. He is very tired now that we are home! He loves it though, he’s one of those dogs that would run himself into the ground and not know he’s too tired. And it was 103 degrees in St. George, much too hot. The building was air conditioned so we were okay indoors, but I was still concerned about the dogs overheating.

Anyway so the best thing happened on Sunday. Tinker, a long legged Jack Russell Terrier on our team, ran in singles. She took her brother Bandit’s place, since Bandit is young and was crossing lanes. And Tinker was going to run against a Cocker Spaniel, but she is very competitive and we know she can run faster if she has a fast dog to run against. So after much whoo ha we were able to switch her so she ran against Chase. She’s much faster than Chase… and he was getting slower it being Sunday at about 4:00 pm. But still he could push her more than the cocker could have.

So we set them up to see how fast Tinker could run. I told Chase he could beat that silly little dog and to run really fast and he was pretty fast! And I am proud to say he was an integrel part of:

Tinker breaking the record for Fastest Jack Russell Terrier in U-FLI!!!

We were so excited! The whole building erupted in cheers, and Touch N Go was there and was even helping Tinker’s Mom release Tinker in the right position for a perfect start. Her start was .003 and her time was.. I think, 4.13. I’ll have to double check the time. She is one fast girl our Tinker!

The hotel we stayed in was okay… basic but pretty good. They had soap and shampoo.. though I hope I won’t need any natural acne treatment after using the stuff. :p

We are very proud of Tinker and her Mom Cindy. And we had a great time at the tournament! We are excited for the next one!

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Cynthia Blue [My Barks!] | Posted in Chase, Flyball, Levi, Stuff | Also tagged Border Collie, Flyball | Comments (15)

Training Makes Tired

June 12, 2008 – 9:04 am

Yesterday was a busy day. I got maybe three hours of work done in the morning… then the dog things started. And, of course, dog things are more fun that work so work got the back seat.

I met my friend for a split private lesson with our obedience instructor. She got to work her sheltie, and I got to work Levi. We went over a lot of the little things that I haven’t yet taught Levi about obedience. The ins in turns so he’ll stay close. The sit at the halts. And we also worked the dumbbell a bit since now that he has his CD he can go into open, and we have to get that dumbbell polished up! He did really well. We have a box that I stand in so when he comes to do a front, he hops in the box so he knows exactly where he should position himself. He did really well. He’s a good boy, he learns fast, and he knows how to learn so I just have to work these things with him at home on a regular basis and he’ll catch on quick.

Then after the lesson we grabbed a quick sandwich from Subway then we went to watch Penny get filmed for a commercial! I have never watched that before and it was fun! The thing that struck me as most important is dogs that act really have to have distance work. The person has to stay way out of camera shot, so the dog has to be able to do her behaviors far away. Which isn’t something the average dogs knows how to do. Even my dogs don’t know it well, but the obedience training comes in handy here as there is a lot of distance work in the advanced levels of obedience. Penny did great! She is such a cutie and it was really fun to watch!

After that I went home and sat on the couch for about an hour… which went by too fast. Then I got my nails done, then came home and then went to agility practice.

Levi was pooped but he did really well. We were watching him weave and when we put the guides on the first polls, Levi drops his head better and has more speed to get into the weaves. So we are thinking that maybe he just needs that little guide on the first poll. Not even the whole guide, but just a clasp on the poll so he knows where to drop his head and focus. Interesting… I’m getting a full set of competition weaves this weekend so I’m going to practice this and hope it helps! Gotta get my collie boy weaving!

Chase got to do agility practice too, and boy I have to say he is so good. He just flows, he pays attention, and I have really a lot of fun running him. I need more vidoes of him to put up. Hopefully I’ll get some from the next USDAA trial in a couple of weeks.

This weekend is flyball! We are excited except that it’s supposed to be 105 degrees in St. George, Utah. Ugh! I just hope the building is air conditioned!

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Cynthia Blue [My Barks!] | Posted in Agility, Daily Posts, Obedience | Also tagged Collie, Levi, Obedience, Training | Comments (19)

Agility Practice Tonight

June 4, 2008 – 9:57 pm

I took Levi and Chase out in the drizzle tonight and we had a great time. There was a Steeplechase course set up at a friend’s yard and we went and tried it out! It wasn’t a very hard one, I will admit… but it was fun. Chase did a great job. That boy runs like the wind, I swear. He did great, watched me, stopped on his A-Frame contacts, and even called off a tunnel, which is very hard for him! He’s not entered this weekend in the AKC agility trial, but I love getting opportunities like this to work him on a full course.

Levi did great, too. I think we have a plan for his weaves this weekend. I need to collect him, and firmly send him into the weaves. When I did that he was getting the entry every time. So we’ll see how he does this weekend. And I shouldn’t be nervous, and I need not think that getting his MXP and MJP are like getting a gold metal at the Olympics or something. Heck, it’s just agility and it’s just for fun! So we are gonna give it a good try and maybe we’ll get him some Qs this weekend. We have a three day agility trial, Friday Saturday and Sunday.

And I do know how to lose weight… I took the border collies jogging this morning again, I just have to stick with it! And I think I have the motivation to do so. Though, of course, I have to work it around agility trials, flyball tournaments, and training.. oh yeah, and work.

So Levi, my sweet smooth collie boy, and I are going to do agility this weekend. OH!!! And Levi is also in Obedience! He’s in Novice B all three days! I figure worst thing that can happen is he doesn’t Q any of the days. Best thing… he gets all 3 and gets his CD! We’ll see!

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Cynthia Blue [My Barks!] | Posted in Agility | Also tagged Agility, Levi, Obedience, Training | Comments (0)

Jogging Makes Border Collies Tired

June 1, 2008 – 3:06 pm

So, I want to get back into jogging. I wish I could take three or four dogs jogging, but when leashed on the streets I can only take two. This morning I took Chase and Muffit jogging and they loved it. Chase knows my jogging shoes and gets excited when I get them out. Muffit doesn’t know them… yet, but I’m sure he will soon.

I don’t think Muffit has been this tired since we went camping! He is fairly high energy, and he does need more exercise. I’m realizing I can train three dogs… two is better, though. But four is really taxing my time and Muffit is not getting as much training as he needs. Well, I guess he may not be one of my big competition dogs, I still want to train him up for flyball, though. He is starting to get it in the back yard… the box, and he likes it!

So this picture was from my new cell camera phone. It’s not that great quality, but it’s nice being able to take a really small camera with me everywhere, and a phone too!

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Cynthia Blue [My Barks!] | Posted in Daily Posts | Also tagged Border Collie, Health, Muffit | Comments (0)

Flyball Demo Today

May 31, 2008 – 7:07 pm

Today Chase, Tatum and I went and did a flyball demo with the Thunder Paws, our flyball team here in Utah. It was a lot of fun! Chase did a great job, and we even recruited someone to take some pictures while Chase was running! I usually am taking the pictures and so I don’t get any of Chase. So I’m excited to have these of Chase doing flyball.

He is such a good boy, and so very fast! We went to Strut Your Mutt.. which was okay, but my dogs don’t usually do very well there. Tatum didn’t like the loud music. She didn’t want to take treats, either. But we walked around some and when the loud music stopped she was okay and took treats. And she liked the Bearded Collie who we met who wanted to play with Tatum!

Chase only snarked at a couple of dogs that got in his face when we were walking around. Unfortunately many people don’t understand that other dogs may not be all that friendly, even when their own dogs are friendly. Chase is a good boy, though, and I usually watch him and control him pretty well. And we didn’t walk around too much. I did get lucky with him, though.. he is a good boy, the sounds didn’t bother him, and he loved the flyball and Course A Lure. He also did the little agility field they had set up, and his contacts were great! I’m glad when I can practice his contacts!

And I do like to get Tatum out as much as I can to get her socialized. Poor dear. Her tail was sucked under her a bit, but she was very brave. Oh, and I have to post about her agility obstacle training last night! She did great, I was so excited! That’s for a post of it’s own, though. Tonight I’m going to a movie with a friend, hopefully I won’t eat too much popcorn… but I do need some time without the dogs. As strange as that is! I do love them all, though!

Tomorrow, Sunday, I actually have no dog things planned. Plus, it’s a down day for me. I haven’t had a down day in like six weeks. So tomorrow is it. I’m sorry to everyone who I said no to about doing things, but I really do need to take some time for myself! I might take the border collies jogging, though. In the morning. It’s so nice outside. I love being outside. Maybe I’ll even do some yard work.. or clean the bathroom. Even though I don’t really like cleaning the house, I like having a clean house… and sometimes I just enjoy being in the house and experiencing it. And cleaning it up works for that. LOL

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