Last Practice !

Today was our last practice before we head off to Red Deer this weekend to compete in our first Scenthurdle race. There will be 8 other teams competing, the most ever at one time in a very long time!!!
We are nervous & excited, being a new team, there will be a few eyes on us no doubt :)
We have worked really hard & are ready to race...Go No Nonscents !!! Whoo Hoo !!!

Kort... # 5 ......



Kort in his racing attire :) ......



Kort barking waiting for his turn, he wants to go !......



Here he comes !......



After practice I had to bath Kort, he has to look good for this weekend you know ! Plus we are competing for the first time in Advanced Rally.

Kort on the table during his 4 hour groom :))......

Road Trip

This morning Wendy, Amanda, & I headed for Calgary to go to the Pet Expo. It was fun to go around to all the booths & buy things :)) We watched some of the dog activities like agility & obedience as well.
There were parrots, reptiles, spiders ( I didn't look at those :), as well as rabbits doing agility.
When I got home I was greeted by this face because someone was feeling a bit left out :)......



But then I showed him his new tug toy ! He loves it :)) He only got to play with it for a few minutes then it went on top of the fridge until we train again, he will only get this toy for training motivation ......




Here are the rest of my purchases, I love the Collie At Play sign, not only is there a tri & a sable, but they look like Tate & Kort LOL!
The collar is for Kort when he competes in his activities, he didn't have his own collar with no tags on it, he was wearing Tate's & it was too big, I LOVE the green plaid!.....

A Natural !

I just found this video on You Tube that Amanda made of Kort doing Scenthurdle...I don't remember ever seeing it !!!!...cool !
It is now one week until our first race !......

Official

Even though Tate became a St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog last September, we just got the certificate today...isn't it pretty :))

Hey Diana!

I wanted you to see the videos from today's Fun Match, I posted them to Facebook but since you are no longer on there I blogged them too!
Enjoy!
PS, look at Taters!!! he had soooo much fun, I think I might try for his CD !!!

Motivation Dog Training Seminar

Today was Carolyn Herle's Motivation Seminar for training your dog. I met Carolyn this summer when she joined our obedience club & I jumped at the chance to attend the seminar.
She has the most amazing working Bouvier, Alkemi, & competes in Shutzhund with her.

I learned quite a bit today about my training & myself. I have moved forward too quickly on some very important things, & now with the prospect of competing in Open it is coming back to bite me in the butt!
Things like focus, I do not have his full attention, he is easily distracted.
I am a Pez Dispenser LOL!!!, yes it is true, I feed my dog non stop, even for a mediocre performance at times, I do this just because "he tried". Well now I must up the anty, no more rewarding for mediocre, I must expect more to get more. Of course I need to take a few steps back & fix some of my boo boos so he understands what it is I expect from him :))
Even something like playing needs to be one of the most important things to build a solid foundation with your dog.
I need to hide all the toys in the house, right now he gets to self reward himself any time he pleases, toys have no value. I need to be the reward, me & a toy. The toys will come back eventually, maybe, but for now he needs to work for his rewards.
This also goes for food, I can make him work for his dinner, a few sits, focus work, anything so he is not just getting his paycheck without the work so to speak LOL!

At any rate I am super excited to begin again, bonding with Kort & fixing some things that need to be fixed.
Kort is an awesome dog, & he will only get better from here!

Thanks for these pictures from today Amanda , you rock!

Here I'm taking notes, like a good student :)).....



Kort & I getting ready to heel......



Carolyn gets down on the floor to do some real tugging :))......



Kort & I practise " Making Prey " as Carolyn puts it :))......



My Kort, Beauty & Brains :))......

Mixed Emotions

This is a day full of emotions for me. I am happy & sad all at the same time as I celebrate today's Birthdays :))

It is my niece Adrienne's 15th Birthday today. I am proud of her, she is becoming such a lovely young lady :)
I look forward to her future, boyfriends, marriage, babies, career!, she will do it all.
Happy Birthday Adrienne! xoxo



Today is also Perkins Birthday! I am grateful that he is here to celebrate it :) Last year when he was paralyzed no one knew if he would ever walk again, even after his dad had the surgery done.
So today I celebrate Perkins in my life :)
Happy Birthday Perky !!!



Lastly, today would have been Dad's 82nd Birthday. I miss him & think of him everyday. I am happy he is no longer suffering, but wish he never had to suffer to begin with. I hate death, I have seen more death at my age then most people I think. I wish we could have our loved ones forever.
Happy Birthday Dad ♥, you are missed more then words can express.

Thanks!

thanks Amanda for my new blog header :)

Hurray!...A Roof :))

Dressed Up Kort :)

Amanda was over on Sat. as we were getting things ready for the Fun Match we're having this Sunday.
Kort was sitting in his dog house,( it still doesn't have a roof LOL! ), when Amanda decided she would play dress up with him, he was a trooper & let her put the bow in his hair & then take his picture, isn't he handsome :)

Sunday Practice

We had an awesome practice today at Scenthurdle, all the dogs were pretty much right on with few mistakes, the ball was just too much for Roxy to ignore however :)
Unfortunately my batteries died before I could get the whole team videoed, next time :))



This is a video of 3 Flatcoated Retrievers from Blazingstar Kennels. The liver girl is Lupine, grandmother of Puffin. Cava is an import from the UK & hopefully she will be the mom of my Flatcoat puppy someday.

To Trial or Not to Trial ?

So my plan is for Kort to try out in Open at the Medicine Hat Dog Show in May. I am not 100% sure yet if we will be ready.
Here is the exercises & where we are at with them.

Heel Free:
Kort is a very good healer, I have his attention for the most part but he still gets distracted easily by movement around him. I have some trouble on the about turns keeping his attention, we are working on about turns with distractions & it is coming along , slowly. He doesn't always sit when I stop for some reason, we have been working on this alot!! 2 points off for every no sit really starts to build up.

Figure 8:
Kort is very good at his Figure 8, again those outside turns can be a challenge if something catches his attention.

Drop On Recall:
Kort is doing awesome with his drops, I have to work now on having him drop immediately when I say down...he is coming toward me so fast on the recall, he tends to take a couple of steps before dropping, not good! I need to go back & do some running with him & dropping him from a run while he is at my side to see if this helps.

Retrieve On Flat :
Kort loves his dumbbell & he loves to retrieve, he is doing excellent with this exercise. Sometimes he doesn't run out to fetch it immediately when I give the command, it's like he's not sure he can leave his position at my side to go get the dumbbell.
I am also working on getting him to come closer in front of me, if the dog sits too far away this can be an NQ.

Retrieve Over Jump:
I have not done one yet...Kort knows how to jump & he knows how to retrieve, I just haven't put the 2 together :))

Broad Jump:
Kort is coming along nicely with this exercise, on Wed. at class he cleared 3 boards so I am pleased with his progress.

Long Sits & Downs:
Eeek !, These make me crazy, especially the sits, long time readers will know that Kort has gone down on his sits before & they were only a minute long with me in sight !!! I have been working on building up his core muscles so hopefully he will be more comfortable holding a sit.
In Open the sits & downs are for 3 minutes & I will be out of sight. On Wed. night in class Kort did his very first 3 minute sit with me out of sight & he didn't drop. To say I was excited is an understatement !

So there you have it, the trial is in the middle of May, will we be ready ??

Kort's New Crib :)

Kort loves to spend time outside, even if it is -40C. I don't like him laying on the cement when it is that cold, so I decided to get him a dog house.
I started to assemble it inside, then put one of Kort's beds in it to see if I could get him to go in. He sniffed the bed a bit, then in he went, & there he stayed!
I think I will wait to put the roof on until I have it outside anyway, it weighs a ton.
I am really happy I bought this house, I think Kort is going to love it!!!

Ramblings

I am just jotting down some thoughts for my records & to keep my mind straight :))
I started Kort on raw Dec 31, 2010...nothing was working for him in regards to his chronic diarrhea so I figured, what the heck, it can't hurt!
Wow, what a roller coaster , he was great for 3 weeks, but for the last 5 weeks he has had diarrhea everyday....yes, EVERYDAY!....now think about this for a minute, I have had to clean up his messes inside the house, outside the house, & on him, everyday for 5 weeks. There have been many nights where he has gotten me out of bed numerous times to go out. The messes are when I am at work, he has had to go so bad he couldn't hold it :(
I have never heard so many different opinions on a subject in my life! No 2 people agree on what I should or shouldn't be feeding. I have thrown away, & given away, more food then I care to remember. I have bought more variety of foods, & cooked more things then I ever thought possible ! Nothing has worked.
I am not going to discuss what I am doing now, I am doing what I think is best for Kort at this point. I don't want to be swayed by any other thoughts.
I am hopeful things will work out.

Wishful Thinking

I know I've been slacking on my blog these days...sorry :)
I have been totally consumed with Kort, his diet, what he should or should not eat, what he can & can't eat....cooking, not cooking, raw, not raw, kibble no kibble, I'm going crazy :( plus cleaning up his numerous bouts of diarrhea, inside & outside almost everyday, & generally just stressing about him :)
Today I take in a stool sample to have it checked for bacteria....this is what I am getting it checked for.....distemper virus, enteric corona, cryptosporidium, clostridium, parvo, giardia, & samonella.
Is it wrong to hope it is one of these things & I can just treat him & he will magically be well ?