Cowley Obedience Match

Amanda & I went out to Cowley again this morning even through conditions on the highway were less then desirable! Amanda took this picture out the front window of my van while I was driving......

Kort was a very good boy.  I tried something different today & didn't release him to the extent that I have been doing between exercises.  I was finding that I was loosing his focus.  Today I held his focus by not releasing him, you can't hear it in the video but I was telling him "yes", & "good boy" to tell him he had done well.  This approach works much better with him!
The only thing I am upset about is after his retrieve over the high jump there is a point that I am talking with Sarah, he was looking up at me & I disengaged with him, I should have praised & patted him at that point even while talking.  I know he will forgive me, but it still bothers me to see that I didn't notice.

It has been a long journey to get Kort to this point .  I have struggled with myself over many aspects in training.  I am NOT patient in anyway!!! but I'm trying very hard. 

Here's the video from today......

Baby Steps :)

I took Kort to another Open Match yesterday.  He started off with wonderful heeling, I was so pleased , I have never had a dog that has heeled as well as Kort :)
He did a great drop on recall, a perfect retrieve on flat & over the high jump , whoo hoo!!!
We are still having some issues with transitioning between exercises.  At this particular building I think there were alot of smells on the ground.  There were 2 occasions where I had to just stop, give him a hug, & carry on.  He is getting better, but we still need to fix this stress between exercises.  I am calling it stress, I "think" it's stress.  At any rate,  he needs to work through it & to trust his momma :)
He loves the exercises, runs out with great joy to retrieve & jump, & he comes running full barrel on the recall, so I know he doesn't hate what he is doing.

Yesterday he walked through his broad jump for the first time in forever!  I listened to the "judge" & took him back to repeat the exercise, in hindsight I wish I had gone back & ran with him over the broad jump before asking him to try again.  His 2nd attempt he did the same thing, walked thought it, drat :(  Then I ran with him & called it done .

The out of sight stays will be the death of us, this weekend he made it half way before laying down on his long sit.  I had told the judge if he laid down to go ask him to sit.  I am hoping this will make Kort think that even in a trial, he will be made to sit up if he lays down, so he might as well do it!  He stayed put on his down stay this weekend though, yippee!!

This morning after our walk I set up my broad jump outside & he aced it twice so that was good.  At least I am confident he knows the exercise.

I am very proud of my Korty ♥ he is going to be sooooo awesome once he puts it all together :)

5 Years!!!

Well today just happens to be 5 years since we arrived in Lethbridge!
It has been a move that was meant to be, I love it here .

Moving Day in Thunder Bay, Tate got inside the U Haul to help Brad :)......

I miss our huge yard!!!! This is Tate in his yard that is within our yard!......

I miss walking at the Marina, it was a 10 minute drive, we lived right on Lake Superior, beautiful!...

Kakabeka Falls was a 20 minute drive, we went there often, it was a great place to walk!......

As much as I miss home, I would never move back, this is where I belong now, I have made so many great friends,  the kind that I will have for a lifetime, I am very blessed :)

 

 

 

 

Coulee Walk

Today Kim & I did another butt crunching, thigh busting Coulee walk LOL!
Our partners were Bosley, Kort, & Tate who insisted on coming! 
This time I brought my camera for a picture blog of the walk which takes about 1hr I think, it took longer today because I kept stopping for pictures :)

This is the start of the walk, we are heading for that sidewalk below......

Once down there we go through the wind tunnel :)......

Heading down the first big hill......

The big ass stairs in the distance :)......

The big ass stairs ......

Half way up, I let Tate & Kort off their leashes so I could huff & puff in peace, here the boys all stop to wait for me, all on different levels!......

I pose Tate & Kort while catching my breath !......

Here's the view from where we've come from so far......

There were a few more hills that I missed getting  because I was pushing "off" on my camera, duh!!

This is where we have just come up from......

This is one of our last hills......

This is half way up the last hill pictured, the boys are having fun running around with the ball......

Some beautiful scenery on our way up the hill......

Finally the boys all pose for me, it's time to put the camera away & just enjoy :)
Thanks for the company Kim & Bosley!! ......

Cowley Success!

Kort was such a good boy at Cowley today!
His heeling was awesome, although he is crowding me on the inside of his figure 8's, and when I bump into him the barking starts :)  We will work on that.
He did his drop on recall & retrieve over the high jump perfectly.  His retrieve on flat was awesome but he stopped half way to chew on his dumbbell so I gave him a second command. 
I was very proud of him on his broad jump!! We have had alot of issues in this building, he doesn't like the back wall where the broad jump is, there is also an open door you can see back in that corner that he doesn't like, he gives it alot of sideways glances.  The floor has heat vents on them along the sides of the walls, about every 6ft, & he is scared of those too :) However!!!.... he worked through his fears & was a good boy! 
You can see him start to do some avoidance with me when we go to set up for the retrieve on flat, I call him, comfort him & he is great.  He really loves Open & is exited to do the exercises, we just need to work on transitioning between them better.
Amanda suggested NOT asking him to "get in".  This is where I ask him to come in to my left side to set up, he does much better if we just heel to our place with a right about turn.
The best news, he sat for his 3 minute out of sight sit!!!!!!! Oh my gosh I was happy!  He did however get up on his long down to come look for me with only 7 seconds remaining in time lol!! He figured he had been a good boy for long enough:)

We also ran through a Rally Excellent routine & he was very good!!  We need to work on those left abouts though in Rally as he is crowding me there too, then of course the barking starts again :)

Here's our video, you can also see that Rally was going on at the same time as Obedience, no division in the ring with a fence, great distraction work & he handled it like a pro with his attention always on me ♥

Gotta Start Somewhere

So it begins! Finally!

I have entered several trials with Kort in November.  I am very excited.  I have not trialed Kort in over a year, so we have to start somewhere.
I am being realistic, & not going to push him, so I have entered just 1 trial per weekend.
My original plans have taken a bit of turn, I was originally going to trial Kort for the first time at our local Lethbridge show but found out a couple of my friends are taking a day trip to Red Deer the beginning of Nov. to a trial.  That got me thinking :)  if I go too I can enter Kort in 1 Rally trial in hopes of getting his last Rally Excellent leg.  If he gets it then I can enter him in Open here in Lethbridge.  I would rather have Kort's first Open trial here at home, just more relaxed for both of us.  If  however Kort doesn't get that last leg in Red Deer, no biggy, we will stick with our original plan & enter Rally here in Lethbridge.

All of this of course is depending on Kort & his comfort level, if at any time he looks like he is going back to stressing I just will not go to the trial.

Tomorrow Amanda & I are going to Cowley for some Obedience & Rally.  I will try & get Kort through a full routine if I can. 

I am so excited to get back into Obedience & Trialing, lets hope Kort feels the same !

Always Something

I decided in July that after the Spruce Meadows Agility trial I would give Kort a break from Agility & concentrate on Obedience. 
Obedience is my first love, more then all other dogs sports, it's what I love to do.  I started training everyday , I was very committed.  If you know me you know how much I actually hate training !  It was going well, then Kort started to limp :(
I called Sarah who came & looked him over as well as giving him a massage.  The problem was in his front left leg, the forearm to be exact.  He was quite sore, there was also a big knot behind his right shoulder from compensating for his left leg.  Sarah left me with instructions for exercises & stretches which I did religiously everyday.  He wasn't allowed to run off leash at all.
I had to put some training aside for awhile, heeling for one thing, but I kept up with stays, fronts, pivots etc.  2 weeks went by & I hadn't seen any signs of the limp.  I was out walking the boys & I threw the ball for them, Kort went out to get it & came back limping  :( :(
So we have been back to babying the leg, I feel so frustrated.  There is so much I still want to do with Kort. 
In May Kort will be 5, in AAC Agility they allow you to drop the dogs jump height, if they have been competing in the Specials category for 2 yrs.  Kort has, so he can go down to 16" , hurray! He jumps 22" right now.
In CKC Agility Kort is in the Select category, which means he jumps 20",  but he has to wait until he is 7 yrs old to qualify to drop to 16".  He needs 1 more leg in Intermediate Standard & Intermediate Jumpers to finish up with those titles. His next CKC trial is in July 2013 so I have lots of time to get him back in shape.  After that I may wait until he is 7, & can jump at 16", to compete in the Excellent class. 
In the meantime I am  not giving up hope that I can enter 1 day at our show here in Lethbridge in November, for Open.  We are also hoping to do 2 trials in Excellent Rally, looking for that elusive last leg:)  Our Scenthurdle group will also be competing, so fingers & toes crossed !
I have taken a whole year off from competing in the Obedience ring to work on Kort's confidence & I am looking forward to getting back into the swing of things with him. 
He is such a great dog ♥ & I know there will be great times ahead for us !

Waterton

Brad & I got home from Waterton yesterday.  We go every year for our Anniversary, it's our thing.
Being there just does something for me, it takes away my anxiety, I feel comforted.  When I leave the anxiety comes back :(
I love just hearing the wind in the trees, the water & waves on the shore. I can just sit & stare out at the water & mountains forever. It is never long enough our visit.

Enjoy some of my favourite pictures from the weekend ......