NADAC Elite

Earlier this month, Zoe and I had a shot at the elite level of NADAC.  Now that we've done our three qualifying open-level runs, we can move up to elite - in just the regular class.  We only ran in three classes at Zumbro Falls, so it was a short day.  First was chances, which was really tough.  So tough that no one at the trial qualified.  I was still proud of Zoe's distance work and only struggled in one spot.  Unfortunately, any struggle is an NQ.  Anyways, our last two runs were elite regular runs.  The first one was absolutely beautiful.  Except for the fact that Zoe was running a bit slow, she did everything clean and didn't have to restart the weaves.  Despite this, we were still over time by 5 seconds.  Oh well, it was a beautiful run and I am thrilled that she ran with 100% focus.  The second run was great too, but she got spooked by a sound while weaving and we had to restart.  Other than that, it was great, but not clean.  Overall, I am very hopeful that we will be successful in the elite class.  We need to up the speed a bit, but she has shown speed before.  Our next NADAC trial isn't until November, so we've got a while to work on it!

Summer Wrap Up

Well, the state fair couldn't have gone much better.  The dogs loved doing their demos and I got to eat some delicious and fattening fair food.  I was very pleased with how mature Breeze was throughout the day.  She did wonderful visiting with the crowd and was very focused during her demo.  The weather was warm, but we all got through it and had a great day.

Zoe and I had another outdoor agility trial last weekend and were due for good weather.  And boy, did we get good weather.  Though the conditions were perfect, Zoe and I had some trouble staying in sync, but pulled it together by Sunday.  I am not sure if my handling was just really poor or she just didn't want to play, but the grass was a major distraction.  Even in a tunnelers course she got pulled away by smells.  But on Sunday she was a different dog.  We had some really stellar runs and finished our Open Regular title.  We also got open level touch n go and tunnelers legs.  The runs we didn't Q in on Sunday were close and were overall really good.  I am so proud of the progress we have made in just under a year in NADAC.  Next, we will be finishing up our Open runs and starting Elite regular! 

Next up is St. Cloud for a CPE trial.  But before that, Breeze and I will be doing a disc demo at the Ren Fest on Saturday, Sept. 11th.  Come and check us out if you happen to be attending the Ren Fest that day!

CPE in St. Cloud

This summer has been good for trialing, but a bit of a struggle at the same time.  Sometimes, Zoe's insecurities have crept up on her, other times, my handling has been way off.  But for some reason, we pulled all of it together for the St. Cloud CPE trial on September 18th and 19th.  We were definitely on our A-game as we went a whopping 9 for 10!!!  As icing on the cake, we were in good company and the weather was absolutely perfect.

We started off the weekend with a quick and accurate Colors run.  This was followed by two perfect standard runs.  We came into the weekend with only 2 of 6 standard Qs in level 3, so I was very proud of her for getting two more.  Next was an awful "jumpers from hell" snooker course, which took a bite out of many competitors.  It was basically a jumpers course full of threadles and serpentines if you wanted the path to flow.  Jackpot was last and I was a bit nervous because Zoe basically refused the Snooker run.  But to my surprise, she did fantastic, even finishing a tough traditional gamble with a distance teeter!  She headed for the teeter at first, but then stalled because she felt uncomfortable.  I coached her on and she eventually did it along with the last jump.  Since this was such a tough Jackpot, many were there watching to see who could get it.  The crowed cheered and Zoe went nuts, totally eating up all of the praise and attention.  Though the trial had lasted until 7pm, doing that run was totally worth it.  I was so proud that she stuck with me and did a tough obstacle on her own.  I knew she could do it and was so glad that she proved me right.  Afterwords, she got a nice walk with our friends Michelle and Taiko and rested up before the next day.

Sunday turned out to be our perfect day.  Despite my clumsiness, she excelled in all 5 runs including two more standard runs.  If a perfect day weren't good already, completing our level 3 standard runs was icing on the cake.  Plus, we got our first level 4 Jumpers Q!  It was so nice to see us perform as well as we do in class.  In addition, most of the Q's we got were clean.  Once Zoe gets motivated, she rarely knocks bars or strays off course.  I guess all of that NADAC competition has served us well!  

All in all I couldn't have asked for a better weekend.  Good company, good weather, good runs.  It was nice to see what Zoe can really do...and I am really starting to learn what works for her in terms of motivation and training.  Right now we are working on our switch command, where she needs to take an obstacle away from me.  This will make my handling easier once she gets to know the direction.

Meanwhile, Breeze started puppy agility class and we are learning lots of foundation work.  Every time I work with her I am impressed at how eager she is to learn and work and how fast she learns.  This girl will be a fantastic performance dog, but she also demands a lot of attention and exercise.  I asked for another project and boy, did I get one!  It will be great to see her progress and the nice thing is that I don't feel one bit rushed as I focus on Zoe's career.

Next up for us is a short trip to Zumbro Falls this Saturday and then a few weekends off until the Halloween CPE trial.

State Fair this weekend!!

August has been a crazy month so far.  It's been hot, hot, hot and I have had softball playoffs extend way beyond expected!  So the result?  Far less training than I'd like.  I still get small daily sessions of obedience/trick training in each day, but the agility training has been tough with this heat!!  Both dogs are far less active and when I want to play with them, they both look at me if saying "where's the pool??"  

Thank goodness for weekly agility class, which has been going pretty well.  Zoe continues to run well in class, but trialing has been a bit of a challenge.  We competed for a day in LaCrosse, WI and then 2 days at the SoccerBlast.  Both trials earned us Q's and titles, but it definitely didn't go as well as it could have.  My handling was off and Zoe was running slower than usual.  I think I've figured out part of the problem.  In competitions, weave poles can vary between 20'' and 24'' apart.  Since the beginning of our training, we've been using 20'' poles.  However, lately, most of the clubs have been using 24'' in trials.  Only recently did I discover the big discrepancy.  The difference between 20'' and 22'' wasn't huge, but 20'' to 24'' can look like a whole new obstacle.  This change requires Zoe to think and change her footing.  So...off to Menards I went to buy more PVC and we are now using competition-distance poles.  She took to the new distance without hesitation, but I am hoping that building the muscle memory will make her more confident in the competition ring.  There are way more variables that contribute to poor performance, but this I think, will make a big difference.

And for Breeze...well...she's still in boot camp training.  I feel I am making headway with this saucy, sassy little girl.  We went to Lake Nokomis yesterday and she went through and entire hot dog while I rewarded her for not going after bikers and joggers.  It was great exposure for her and I got a TON of successful responses.  This 3-mile walk along with a prior 1 mile rollerblade run really wore her out and she was a good girl for the rest of the day!  We also attended a disc dog seminar earlier this month and learned some fun moves.  Since we can't focus on jumping and catching quite yet, she's been learning lots of freestyle moves like spin and back up through my legs.  

So an obvious sign that summer is coming to a close is the MN State Fair.  It's been a yearly tradition since going in high school with the marching band and I look forward to it each summer.  Fortunately for me, two of my favorite activities get to collide this year and I will be bringing both of the dogs to the state fair for demos on Saturday.  Zoe will be doing agility and Breeze will be demoing her frisbee skills with the Twin Cities Disc Dog Club.  So cool that they happened to be on the same day - should be a ton of fun!!  So come out and see us by the Pet Center all day Saturday and watch us perform!

Training Update and Preparing for Fall Trialing

Summer sure is going by fast, but I feel like I've made the most of it.  We've had a bit of a lull in terms of trials, but we've got two scheduled in August and two full weekends in September.  Zoe has exceeded my expectations in most of our training sessions lately - her enthusiasm and motivation is really improving.  My handling is also improving, so I am sure that helps her motivation as well.  Clarity = more fun.

Meanwhile, Breeze has been keeping my on my toes.  She loves using her words and wants to chase anything that moves.  I am almost positive that she'd be a dog who may have been returned with the wrong owner.  Luckily, she has some very good qualities that help keep these things under control.  First, she LOVES to work.  She is a very good listener and catches on really fast.  She is also very food and toy driven, so when she is around something moving (e.g. car, biker, jogger, etc), I can distract her very easily.  The key here is consistency.  It is hard work to get her to focus 20 times during a walk, but I am confident that consistency will pay off later.  We also need to work on not chasing the cats!  Though she may be exhausting, I love that she is challenging me to be a better trainer.  Zoe is my easy dog - she just goes with the flow and is not too demanding.  Breeze, on the other hand, is a total sass and thrives on having a job to do.  By the way, her disc training is coming along very nicely.  I try not to make her jump too much, but boy, she is having sooo much fun with her frisbee.  Check out the video I made last week:

My Novice Champion

We had a great weekend trialing in NADAC this weekend.  Zoe finished the last of her novice legs and is now an open-level dog!!  When we didn't Q this weekend, most of the runs looked really good.  We had some trouble with the dog walk/tunnel discrimination and getting distracted.  But better handling can solve those problems easily.  The great thing about Zoe is that she is a really attentive and honest dog.  She listens well and rarely takes an off course.  The main issue is keeping her motivated and she is definitely coming along.  We got one out of the two chances courses this weekend.  In the one we didn't get, I lost Zoe part way when she got distracted.  But once I got her back, she did the rest of the distance challenge perfectly.  She actually has pretty good distance - when she is motivated.  Last night I worked with her a bit in the back yard and she did great jumping and weaving at a distance, but I had a good toy to motivate her with.  I really think she's got potential to do well in future chances courses - I just have to keep making things fun for her.

NADAC Trial this weekend!

It's been a long month, but our wait is finally over.  This will be our first full weekend of NADAC fun.  We'll be plenty close to home in Burnsville, so that will be really nice.  Practices have been going great and Zoe has been really motivated lately.  She is done with her antibiotics from Lyme's, so hopefully she is feeling much better.  We've got a few novice runs to finish up, so hopefully we'll earn some more titles this weekend.  If not, it should be fun anyway :)

Breeze is still doing pretty well, although we are working a lot of impulse control.  She is a bit excitable and her herding drive is really starting to emerge. I've introduced her to clicker training and the clicker has been our friend on walks.  She's an incredibly focused and biddable dog - I can get her to do almost anything.  So hopefully we'll nip these behavior issues in the bud.  We've also been working on sending to a mat and sending over jumps, which has been very successful.  I've also raised the teeter a bit and she isn't scared in the slightest!  This girl has no fear!  Maybe I'll get some videos up soon of her playing disc and agility training.