Sunday, November 29, 2009

Family

Sometimes it is hard to stay positive...my mom is a great example of courage & strength & I admire her so much. She has her moments though when things just seem, well, hopeless. My niece Adrienne flew in from Sherwood Park AB to surprise her Baba, my mom, & the look on my mom's face says it all! Adrienne is like sunshine, she can always brighten up your mood, I know she helped to brighten up mom & dad's, thanks Adrienne!......

Mom, Dad & Adrienne at the hospital, dad doesn't smile like this much anymore, so he must of been thrilled to see Adrienne!......

My beautiful nieces, Sherri, on the left is my brother's daughter, Adrienne , on the right, is my sister's daughter. Don't you love how their hair parts on opposite sides of each others!......

There is nothing on this earth better then family, & I have a great one!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Agility-Week 4


Last night was Kort's agility class & he is really coming along nicely. He is pretty focused on me (& the food !), even with the close proximity of other working dogs. His weave poles are super fun to watch. He speeds through them like a bullet! We work with gates, which is a new way for me. Basically they can't make a mistake as the gates are there to guide them through, but what a difference from 2 weeks ago when he wouldn't even enter the gates! The dogs all think this is the best trick in the world, & every dog in our class is doing great.
We also worked on our distance & directing the dog over the jump, Kort made one little bobble & came to me for a treat instead of going forward over the jump for it.
Then we got to do our first sequence! It was 2 jumps to a tunnel.....however we had to put our newly learned rear cross into effect for the tunnel entrance. Kort was on my right side in a sit, then I directed him over the first jump, over the second jump, but then crossed "behind" him as he was taking the second jump to direct him into the tunnel, which was to the right of the jump. Kort had no problem once I figured out not to bring up my left arm to direct him into the tunnel until he had taken the second jump!
My poor brain!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Candid Kort

Lynda Wysminity of Jumpstart Imagery took these candids of Kort while he was in the ring. They are from the Edmonton Show in October where Kort got a 3rd in Group.
Thanks Lisa, I love them!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Lethbridge Dog Show

This weekend was our local dog show. We did not fair very well, and I did not manage to finish Kort's championship, but we had fun anyway. Tate came out of retirement to play at this show and he was so happy! Kort was a brat on day 1, but on days 2 and 3 he showed like a pro and behaved very well. I was very proud of him. So I guess we will have to wait until next year for those last 3 points! Thanks to Wendy and Amanda for capturing more amazing photos...what would I do without you guys?!
My two beautiful boys about to begin a weekend of playing dog show !....See Vicky, they both fit in the ex-pen LOL!!......

Wendy & Tate about to go in the ring. Wendy had never been in the ring before!....she was willing to go in & give it a try, and she and Tate looked awesome together. Great job Wendy, thanks !!......

Tate & Wendy looked so great together!......

Is this a happy boy or what!......

I LOVE this shot of Kort's head, I figured out why he looks like he has a droopy lip line...he has black hair on his bottom lip so it gives the illusion of a fuller lip......

Kort strikes a pose for the judge!......

Here is Kort moving for the judge......

Well that's it, back to normal life!

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Swelled Head !

Thanks to Elaine who "tweeked" Kort's picture a bit, Kort now has a swelled head!!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Lassie


Well, it's not really Lassie as you can see, but Kort!
Amanda took these absolutely stunning pictures of Kort today. I have many that I love but will put the others on my Facebook page in an album. It was hard to pick favourites!
These 2 below, as well as the photo on the top of this post, were taken in Lundbreck AB.......


This wonderful picture of Kort & I was at the Crowsnest Pass, in front of Turtle Mountain, the site of "Frank's Slide".....
This is the only nice picture I have of just Kort & I, so thanks so much Amanda, I LOVE it!....

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Agility Night

Last night was Kort's agility class. It was fun & challenging at the same time. We worked on the pinwheel formation to get our dogs to look for the jump. Kort would take the first 2 jumps, but either cut on the inside back to me, or go around to the outside of the 3rd jump back to me. It looks so easy, but in the beginning, it's really not! I now know that I should have dropped my arm after he took the 2nd jump, then turned my body toward the 3rd as he landed off the 2nd jump. By keeping my arm raised I was pushing him around the 3rd jump. Complicated stuff huh!!
Here is a picture of our pinwheel formation from last night......

Our other exercise was Positional Cues. I really enjoyed this. We had to place our dogs in a stay in front of a jump....go & place some food beyond the jump, come back & stand approx. 5ft from our dog. We then raised our arm to cue the dog an obstacle was in front for him to take....however, the dog had to learn to look forward & NOT at our up raised arm. The objective of this is not only a good start line stay, but to cue the dog to look forward for the obstacle. It took Kort about 3 min. of staring at my upraised arm before he looked forward toward the food. As soon as he did, I released him with an "OK" command, & off he went , over the jump, toward the food reward. It got harder as we had to keep moving our dogs further back so we were cueing them from a greater distance. All the dogs in my group rocked this!! It was so fun to see them all thinking it through, like, "how come there is no food in mom's hand??" "There is always food in her hand!" Here is a picture to help you better understand....the dogs positions are on the left,in front of the jump, while the handler is on the top, slightly behind the jump to the right, we would move our dogs into the 1,2,3 positions, but last night we remained in the #1 position.......

The trainers at Go! Dog Go! agility sure know how to challenge us & make it fun at the same time. They rock!!

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Obedience School, Week 2


Last night Kort had his obedience class again. Amanda worked us a lot on heeling & proper footwork, as well as proper speed for our particular dogs. I was walking too fast, & once I slowed down a bit Kort's was heeling much smoother. My footwork is bit choppy according to Amanda , so her suggestion was to think of a song & sing it in my head while heeling to make things smoother! I picked "You Are My Sunshine" but Amanda said it was too slow, so then I picked " Burn It To The Ground" by Nikkleback but that was too fast! I am still trying to come up with something in the middle!
Kort's recall was great, however he was having some issues with his sit stay. I would say stay, walk away, turn back around, & he would happily come trotting over to me as if he had never heard the word stay in his life! He did this twice, then he layed down, Amanda went over & picked him back up into a sit & that time he stayed! Bugger!
We also did dumbell work which is fun fun! I am so enjoying obedience with Kort, & Amanda's classes make it alot of fun too!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Persistant

Kort still insists that Perkins bed is his, & that he actually fits in it !

Monday, November 2, 2009

First Class


Tonight Kort started a competitive obedience class. He is doing so well I can hardly believe it...I found myself just smiling at him on more then one occasion tonight. The best part was when he stayed for his long sit & down!! We have only just started working seriously, & he is coming along in leaps & bounds. His heeling is fantastic, unless he sees something new!, like a new dog in class, his sits are improving, he's still a bit lazy & likes to roll on his hip. Amanda gave me some great tips to correct that. The biggest accomplishment was that he learned what "front" means....he's not perfect yet, but 2 weeks ago he had no clue! Tonight he was with the 3 other handlers & dogs that could also do a front, & I'd like to add that all the other dogs were older then Kort!
My dream is to have an OT. CH. someday, & I think Kort is the dog that will achieve this goal!