[Julie Heller]

Mountain Climber – 7/17/24

Same height as yesterday but added the towel. She decided wraps were OK here. And she drove ahead nicely (yes me pausing to let her drive ahead a bit yesterday was deliberate). Her hind foot slipped off when I was about to turn her around in one rep but extra cheese made it all better and she was fine driving up the board for the next rep.

This is Kaladin’s martingale collar on her right now so it’s large enough to come off over her head barely touching her ears. I’ll see about getting a clasp on the side when I get her one so I have the option of unclasping when I take it off. Interestingly, unclasping it to put it on doesn’t usually fly in her book and she backs away either when you first offer it (unclasped) or when you have to go around the back of her head with the collar and your hand to clasp it.

Straight Line 4 Ways – 7/17/24

She liked this one – more motion for me than the pinwheel even though there were wraps (probably helped that it was in the 70s today instead of the 80s). Did one session before work and one after so I could get both directions. Had the issue of her not being keen on setting up in front of the tunnel so in the 2nd session I just started with the tunnel instead. She turned to the right (away from me) when I wanted a FC twice which surprised me since right has been her less favored direction for a while. I also realized it had been weeks since I had asked her for a backside wrap.

morning

Stepped out too far coming out of the RC so aborted the tunnel since I had put her on a stupid line for it. Did a lovely backside wrap on the 2nd session so we quit while we were ahead.

afternoon

I did do a few set points at 6in last week and she looked good. Should I keep her at 4in for the handling stuff for now just to keep it easy though?

My plan is to go refresh her memory on the wobble board tomorrow and take a break from handling games since the seminar is on Friday. Thanks for the moral support. LOL!

[Julie Heller]

Mountain Climber – 7/16/24
Moved the teeter up to about 18in at the pivot point. I’ll swap out to the Galican one next week. This old one is really adjustable by height which is why I kept it. Did this session before breakfast and before I read your feedback on the towel.

Pinwheel BC to Tunnel & FC wraps
Did this before breakfast when it was a bit cooler. The extra motion from me to get the FC & BCs helped. She actually ended up doing this twice since the first few reps (also brilliant) had a video operator error (aka it was on photo somehow????) I did less reps with a leadout in this second session since I didnt’ want her to have to think as much.

Yeah – unbelieveable but we moved in May of 20222. Of course it took us 18 months before we were ready to have a house warming party… but hey! It’s hard to move 2 packrats that have been in the same house for 22yrs.

Lift is slowly growing up. I feel like we’re still working through harness/leash etc issues but I have plenty of homework from Nancy’s GLUE class to fit in for that. I did get Robin to put another clasp on the front of her harness so it doesn’t have to come off over her head but she still gets into over aroused moods (usually before going for a walk) where she says she just can’t push her head through the loop (and doesn’t want it undone then either). I had her agility leash made with a clip thinking it would go on her harness like Kaladin’s does and a little agility collar (with unicorns) that has no d-ring so that I have something to hook a finger through in UKI if necessary. Now I think I”m going back to the nice lady at Rush to Tug to get a slip lead collar made so that I also have the option to hook her leash to that. (just incase the harness issues continue past adolescence) In some cases she’s showing signs of coming out of adolescence but in others (like being able to walk around with me in a new environment wwith giving me attention here and there) I feel like we’ve regressed. She’s got her first seminar on Friday afternoon with Rachel Pearson. It’s indoors and a small group and like a 1/4 day session so hopefully it will go well.

[Julie Heller]

Mountain Climber & Wraps/BCs – 7/15/24

Located a box of PVC Tip it pieces in the garage (there since our move 2yrs ago and previously lent out to a friend after Kaladin didn’t need it anymore) and then realized that was only part of the Tip It. Panic ensured until Dean asked if the thing I was looking for was the PVC ladder like thing propped against the wall in the basement training room. (also been there since the move and I completely forgot about it). Set the teeter at about half height at first because she is small but after 2 reps to realize she could eat the piece of turkey meatball off the target, she thought it was easy. I’m using my old teeter because I don’t want to leave the nice new Galican one outside and realized the old one (my first piece of contact equipment bought 20+ yrs ago for Fingal) is slightly warped so it took a bit of adjusting to get it to stop moving on the tip it. However didn’t seem to be an issue after the first time it moved slightly. And I was reminded that you need to collect the puppy and/or block the teeter before going to release the other dog off the cot. Whoops! My plan is to move it up in height probably over 2 more sessions.

Wraps & BC – 7/15/24

She wasnt’ in a fluffy toy mood tonight so we just used cheese. It was still close to 80 after dinner so she wasn’t very zippy but is sending to jumps and tunnels plus the BCs worked well. Had a rep where it was hard for her to line up so I tossed the treat back for her to catch on that one. Next line up was easier for her.

I

[Julie Heller]

Wraps – 7/12/24
This was from last Friday morning. Experimented a bit with a new toy that she decided she really liked. Obstacles are about 15ft apart

2nd video was after a short break. I think some of the Jumping up is in reaction to her not wanting to drop the toy. She does stop tugging and drop it but has feelings about it. First time she dropped it but then jumped up. I had her chase me for it and then the next time I traded her a treat and then she did the wrap with no jumping up and grabbed the toy for the reward.

I was able to do 2 short sessions with the practice jump in Winnipeg when a Beg/Nov class was walking. One or 2 reps with a toy but mostly with food. Also had some good toy olay sessions at a good distance from the ring. Given how spacey she has been in public the last few months, I was really impressed with her focus. Still working through leash/collar/harness stuff and how best to collect her at the end of a session but Nancy’s Glue class had a lot of great stuff in it. (Unfortunately I got behind pretty early between the Cup and the trip to Scotland)

For the mountain climber, should the teeter be on the base (set lower) and resting on something or can I just use the teeter board propped up against the table? Just trying to see what needs to get dug out of the shed for this. (I did find my teeter tip it thingee though)

• This reply was modified 10 months, 4 weeks ago by Julie Heller.
• This reply was modified 10 months, 3 weeks ago by Julie Heller.

[Julie Heller]

Live 2 – Seq 3 – 7/11/24
Sorry for the lopsided view. Apparently my Tripod needed tightening. Experimented with going into the box and not layering (worked better the 2nd time). Timing from first to last jump going in the box was slightly faster (like 0.12sec).

We’re heading to Winnipeg this weekend for UKI and so that Lift can have a play date with her brother (Bev Benson’s Wyatt)

[Julie Heller]

Plank 7/10/24
Don’t have blocks but do have 2 cato boards! My next option for height is 16in table bases (with or without the table top assuming I can find my 2nd table top). And then my Galican DW goes down to 24in.
Still harder to turn right but she stayed on the board. Straightens out nicely when loading from an angle.

Wk 2 Lazy Game – 7/11/24
She remembered it so I rolled into adding the tunnel. In my mind I was going 1 step beyon the jump and sending but sure looks like I’m just ambling along lazily – however she is finding the jumps.

2nd session after work and this time I actually did the sends. Started with the jumps about 10ft apart and then moved them to 12ft.

• This reply was modified 11 months ago by Julie Heller.

[Julie Heller]

Lift – Wk 1 – Plank – 7/9/24
Comfortable trotting back and forth. Had an easier time turning around on the plank to the left than to the right.

1 Step Sends – 7/9/24
Wings are 6ft away in the first session and 7-8ft in the second. Discovered she finds it very hard to line up at the tunnel exit but was able to do it with a treat lure. Worked through the neighbor’s dog’s barking fit. And I remembered my left verbal so yay. (Jet lag will probably catch up to me tomorrow afternoon!)

[Julie Heller]

Wk 1 – Lazy Game – 6/24/24

This went for longer than I intended since it was hard to find the treats in the taller grass (even the bigger pieces I was using – I’m going to need to weigh Lift after this one!) Dean is waiting to mow until tomorrow or Thursday morning right before we leave for 11 days in Scotland.

I also think I didn’t follow directions well as I had my standards 6ft apart as opposed to the distance being center to center, but Lift seemed to catch on even if the jumps were a bit further apart and she had to hunt around for her cheese and turkey/bacon treats.

[Julie Heller]

Jpg Seq 2 – ending -6/21/24

Ask and you shall receive. Actually I took advantage of it not pouring and storming this morning. While the threadle wrap has gotten a lot better, we don’t tandem turn much . 2nd try did feel a bit better than waiting for the circle wrap yesterday. I thought he drove on a tighter line even though he does tend to slow down a bit on threadle wraps.

[Julie Heller]

Week 1 Jumping – 6/20/24

I saw you had pop-outs for smaller spaces but I wanted to see how he did on the layering and other bits so I compressed the course a bit, used 6 weave poles, and left out jump 13 (in seq 1) to accomodate my oak tree.

Sequence 1
Got it done on the first try. Decided I wanted to try the 2nd course too instead of re-doing parts of the first. Left the course set-up, but we’re supposed to have storms all day Friday and I”m trialing this weekend and then Dean has to mow (if it stops raining) so this might be it for a bit.

Should have set him on more of a slice for the first jump (ran this before work and before I read your feedback from the short sequences). Substituted his frizzer reward for jump 13 (he approved)

Sequence 2

I was impressed he got the layering from 6-8 since 9the compressed distances made it a bit tricky to still show motion going into the layer. Had issues with 10-11 which probably would have been worse if jump 1/12 had been there. I thought about handling 11 from the back of the tunnel but that didn’t put me any place good for 12 if it was there. I felt like I was standing still and waiting too long for the circle backside at 18 but wasn’t sure if running into a BC and doing a threadle wrap there would have still gotten me the jump or the off course tunnel.

I like the idea of strategizing how to get him the fastest lines. I still need to post his Biathlon and SS videos from the Cup (portioning out some of their raw food for when I”m gone took priority) I entered the Canadian Open and their Speedstakes is times plus faults so we’re going to have to really hustle to come out ahead of some blazing fast dog that drops a bar.

[Julie Heller]

Thanks! I was really happy with how he ran at the Cup. Getting better at sending ahead on those sharper angle “flip away” into the poles” entries. 2 for 2 on awesome dogwalks and 2 for 2 on decent a-frames. Held all start lines (not something I’d asked him to do in a bigger event for a little while). Kept me honest by running by the 3rd to last jump in Masters Jumping when I didnt’ maintain connection in my mad dash down the line. (LOL) Only 16in dog to run double clean in Biathlon. Double clean in SS and really tight lines, but those courses weren’t quite technical enough for us to podium. We’ve got a combo UKI/AKC ISC this weekend and then it’s a trip to Scotland for 10 days for our 25th anniversary. So I blew through the hot topics today (it was pouring the last 2 days) and have a slightly modified Jumping course ready for tomorrow (assuming it doesn’t pour all day).

Hot Topics – Sequences – 6/19/24

I trimmed out some of the playing between reps, but this was the sum total of what we did today. He wans’t keen on looking at the jump in sequence 4 where I was a bit behind him. (probably because I usually take 1 step forward and then fade back on these kinds of starts)

Seq 1&2

Seq 3

Took a break to train Lift and do a few other things. Then Seq 4-6

[Julie Heller]

Smiley Face – 5/8/24

I think it’s more likely pressure than something sore. I’m not finding anything on her or seeing any change in her gait. If anything she is boing-ing around more lately. I did see a slight change in her gait about a month ago where her right hind didnt’ extend behind her quite as much and that did turn out to be something that needed an adjustment but then she felt great at her massage after that. She has a massage appointment in about a week. (She tags along with Kaladin to get a short puppy massage)

She has been more barky and leapy around the house and more distracted when working outside (granted the bunny poop is a big distraction). She is also 10.5 months and hasn’t gone into season yet so maybe the hormones are ramping up more in preparation for that? Min had her first heat at 9months and Lift is about her size. I think Tari was about 1year and she was 14-15lbs compared to Lift’s 10.4lbs so I feel like Lift is probably pretty close.

Anyways we’e been playing with toys in the house and doing some tricks. (her retrieve when inside is actually improving). Also did a RDW session in th back yard with the PT behind a wing and she didn’t put her cape on so that seemed to help.

I decided to try the smiley faces with more race tracks than wraps this afternoon. I did think about whether I should take her out on leash/harness incase that was contributing but I dind’t want her to start hunting for bunny poop while I was turning on the video so decided to. Had some mixed results with the smiley faces. Sometimes she likes the race track and other time she boings up at me partway through and I’m not seeing a pattern for why this happens. There are lots of things I wanted to circle back to in MaxPup 2 but maybe I should just give her a break for a week or two and only do really easy things like toss a treat and have her chase me for a toy/treat. I’m show manager-ing UKI this weekend at Animal Inn so she’s going to tag along to have fun playing with me in the big lower field when I have breaks.

Other question – I think I successfully submitted for the last 3 live classes for Kaladin in summer camp, but now I’m not seeing a confirmation email or a charge so just want to make sure I actually remembered to hit submit on that form.

• This reply was modified 1 year ago by Julie Heller.

[Julie Heller]

Uh…remember how you were just commenting on Lift’s stellar stays in the lateral leadout? Now I seem to have broken her release. Went out this morning to do the accordian grid and couldn’t get her to release from the sit. Went back inside and played some moving target and leadout games with no problems. Tried again at lunch when she was more into the toy and still had issues.

[Julie Heller]

Starfish – 5/5/24

Poor little Lifty has a handler that was super late on the tandem turn cues today until the last one. Actually I’m not sure my timing was much better on the last one so maybe she just took pity on her hooman. However using go instead of directionals for the racetrack parts really seemed to help her out – she just flew on those parts and no pop rock explosions ensued. Even got a tunnel threadle.

I’ve been having her get her harness on before going to train and I dragged the cato board outside so that we can brush up our station skills before and after games sessions.

[Julie Heller]

Zig Zag – 5/2/24

This was from Thursday. Those are 4ft bars that are eventually at 4in, I think I’m going to need to go down to weave poles to get her to actually bounce.

Lateral Leadout – 5/3/24
This was from Friday morning in 2 sessions (Kaladin got to play with jump-weave discriminations between Lift’s sessions) I think this is what you were describing with the 5& 4o clock positions, but I’m having a hard time thinking of a course where I would want to set her at that angle if the course was going back towards me later (vs having her on the other slice position so that it’s an easier jumping effort)

Today we did a nice long walk and then the dogs helped supervise me pulling some nasty spiny things out of the yard. (compliments of the neighbors with the very unkempt lawn that borders our front yard. Thankfully they put a privacy fence up late last summer so that helped stop the spiny thing migration)

• This reply was modified 1 year, 1 month ago by Julie Heller.

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