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Yikes 8 success a day. I will give it a go. Uhm… How are my compliments going for myself? Now that is a good question. Once I reflect on it, I feel by writing down the positive things I have accomplished is in a way praising myself and enjoying the moments. I do have to stop myself and say thank you instead of yeah but.
6/14/2023
1. Levy’s skills and drills class. I was able to do the skills pretty easily with good connection.
2. We worked through tunnel under A frame to tunnel to a tight turn after. I need a good rear cross on the 2nd tunnel, and we got it!
3. Small lead out to a tight left turn in front of a tunnel challenge. Yes, we were successful.
4. I got to play with 2 of Levy’s younger siblings
5. I found a good potential harness for Levy’s hiking walks.
Praises:
It was nice to have successes as I have been a little frustrated training Levy. I have to keep reminding myself he is only 2. We have lots of time and do not compare!6/15/2023
1. Watson’s course class. I had to crate him inside and he did protest but not the whole time. He handled the 1st seq with out any problems he really is getting the big lines.
2. 2nd seq. I had to play with the send and go start line once I found the sweet spot that gave me a big enough head start he nailed it.
3. His last time was the biggest challenge people standing right there at the 3rd jump. Lots of tight turns. He kept working even with my mistakes. THIS was BIG. Thank you Tracy.
4. Watson was inside the ring while a border collie was running!!!!!!!! He kept his sh** together. I am still a bit stunned.
5. Watson hung out with auntie Ashley while I walked a course. He was a good boy.
Praises:
Decided to focus on agility since well that’s what this class is designed to help improve. LOL.
Although building a happy life will spill over to every thing you do
I never give up on my dogs. Just let them go as far as they can and enjoy every moment.I got lots of compliments on Watson and someone said he doesn’t look like he is reactive. What a compliment. I did a big Thank you he has been quite a fun journey. I feel I need bonus points for not “yeah butting” LOL
6/12/2023
1. Walked 3 miles
2. Worked on knitting project
3. Did a few loads of laundry
4. Signed up for a proofing weaves/teeter class for Levy
Praises
1. I enjoyed a lazy rainy day
2. Making plans for completing obstacle training for Levy6/13/2023
1. Spent most of the day building and modifying AU standard course to fit in my agility yard.
2. Walked the course
3. Gave it a go with Watson
4. Played disc with Levy
5. Wished a few special people a very happy birthday and sent healing thoughts to someone having surgery.Praises:
1. This was a fun challenge trying to work around the well.
2. Having to modify really made me mindful on my walk thru
3. This was stinking’ fun
4. Levy is so good at disc. I can’t believe some of the catches he made.
5.Hope you had the best Birthday, and your foot is healing up. PS sending healing thoughts to CB and HSM. I hope they are feeling better. Levy wants to run with his Bro in the lanes.6/10/2023
1. Grocery shopping
2. Set up dog walk
3. Did a short exercise session
Praises
1. Getting a few things done today, let’s just say, that are not on my favorites list. My list is always shorter on a day I am doing not so fun things. I find it easier to manage in small doses.6/11/2023
1. Bought a few flowers from the local farmer’s market
2. Did a light session of yoga
3. Walked 3 miles
4. Watered the plants
5. Did a quick training session on low dog walk with Levy building confidence and adding criteria.
6. Cheered for my K9K teammates who rocked the UKI agility trial this weekend. Well done HSM, CB and Elektra!!!!!Praises
1. I always feel good about supporting small businesses
2. 2 times this week Yea!!!!
3. I am getting use to the summer heat
4. They thanked me… hopefully we will get some rain later tonight
5. This was a big one I really just stopped training his contacts. I am working on not getting side tracked. A schedule would help with this I think.
6. I love your commentary on Cabo’s and Fizzy P runs 🙂 Wow, they are doing so well.this was a nice simple day.
6/9/2023
1. Finished K9K workbook
2. Walked 3 miles.
3. Put up agility equipment
4. Doggie fitness
5. Took a napPraises
1. I always feel good about setting up the workbook to help out the team. It is something I feel confident about and I think it makes the captain’s job a bit easier.
2. I enjoyed being outside today with out all the pollutants in the air.
3. Rest day after a very successful zoom session last night. Thank you, Tracy, we had a blast.
4. I am working through a dog fitness program with the young ones. Trying to make it a habit.
5. I enjoyed a short nap and I don’t feel a bit guilty about it.I am posting yesterday’s successes. I enjoy journaling so this is a great way for me to retrain the brain. Tracy don’t feel you have to comment every time only if you want to, I am creating a habit.
6/7/2023
1. I did a small session of Yoga
2. I made nice progress in skills and drills class BC after tunnel to tight turn
3. Complimented others in class
4. Set up for Thursday’s summer camp
5. Watched Ted Lasso for some positivity before bed.Praises
1. This was Big. I have been wanting to add back my yoga practice and just haven’t had the self-discipline to do it consistently. One positive due to the Canadian wildfire.
2. I was proud how I set Levy up for success back chained the tunnel threadle instead of trying something that I knew he wasn’t quite ready for. He was able to do it!!! I was brave and made the BC, and most importantly in my opinion the dog had fun.
3. I complimented others in class. I met and old acquaintance in class that I use to do rally with when Mickey competed. I really enjoyed my drop-in class.
4. No procrastination here. All I need to do is set the tunnel bags and move the weave poles out of the way. I am glad I did this because the smoke this morning is really bad due the wind from the north.
I am rewatching Ted Lasso series. It always puts me in a great mood before going to bed. I think it is important to let the day’s stresses go before going to sleep.Good morning, Tracy, I was able to walk all three ways of handling seq 2 last night and I could really see how the threadle to BC at 3 was going to turn into a foot race. I did not run the seq. because Levy had indoor class and the air quality due to the smoke was pretty bad here. I just walked the course instead. I love the idea of turning jump 2 while we develop the backside skill. I also think the double front cross will work and he will be able to do that I think pretty easily.
The air quality in my area is code purple. I hope it will be a bit better by this evening. Also Quantico is bombing today which is really hard on Watson. I wanted to give you a heads up as he will not be at his best tonight. I plan on keeping inside until it’s our turn and if it is ok keeping the session short. I wanted to give you a heads up if you need to adjust anything.Good Morning Tracy, I played with seq.2 last night. Watson is ready for the jump distraction so I will be adding that tonight. I will send a little video. I have a quick question about Levy’s turn. He is not as strong with the backside cue as Watson. so, in order for him to get the backside I needed to support a bit more which caused him to round jump 2 and not get jump 3. I am thinking of threadling 2 and BC 3 landing side for him to help create a better line. Your thoughts on this before I try it?
We went to the last night of Agility league yesterday. Here is Levy’s 2nd run I was really happy with how he handled a new place and 1st time running on dirt. He really started taking most of the jumps. We are still learning how to go from tight sequencing to finding a jump out on the line but I think this went really well. Teresa’s runs with Fizzy P and Cabo were fantastic!!! Lots of fun and just wanted to share.
Jitterbug is adorable. I love the photo of him playing with Ramen in the field. Fun times for you. 🙂
Update handling 4: Challenge 1 both boys got it easily even with layering the jumps. Challenge 3 no problems both boys nailed it.
Challenge 2: I never got the BC. I will have to make this easier with more distance and blocking the tunnel entry or taking the tunnel out for a bit. I am very late.
I was successful when I sent the dogs to the wing from the first jump and already had my shoulders turned to the 2nd jump.
I was surprised that I could not get the jump hanging back at the wing. Both dogs went straight to the tunnel. I pretty sure I was showing that line and they were already committed by the time I tried cuing the jump. I felt like the teacher in the comic Charlie Brown saying jump jump… as they happily dashed into the tunnel. LOLWe Progressed nicely through week one games. Watson nailed the sequences. Levy did 2 sequences easily and I decided not to do #3 combo as he doesn’t have the turn away cue down yet and is not ready to add speed.
Week 2 no problems with Verbals around the clock. Levy is not quite able to layer yet, but it will come with more experience. Handling Challenge #2 yikes! that really took us a while with both dogs. I just couldn’t cue the turn over the jump with the BC fast enough. I got it eventually with both dogs but it wasn’t pretty. Both dogs did nicely with the push and the threadle challenge 3 and 4 so I will Definity be threadling that on course. Which lead me to a question about Handling Challenge 4 Seq 2 with the Forced front cross or BC -Threadle to take the jump. I was considering stay on the wing side and cueing the jump from there instead of coming into the gap. Is this a bad idea?Hi Bobbie, I hope you are feeling better. Here is a quick video of using massage to help Watson relax. I use circular motion around his shoulders and chest and then add long strokes down his back and a very light touch because I am not a massage therapist. From my observations, these are the motions that he seems to respond to the best. Watson was not comfortable with my husband standing so close with the camera. Once the camera was turned off, he completely relaxed and started to doze off. https://youtu.be/mUveJqK_R08
Question Assignment 3: Do you ever use touch as a reward for relaxation instead of feeding? For example, Watson heard something and was a bit uncomfortable during morning relaxation time and came over to me I cuddled and gave him a light massage and chest rubs Once he relaxed, I put him back on the chair and he went to sleep.
I have done this exercise in CU class for a while now. Watson is like Topper in exercise # 3 When I am feeding treats, I haven’t gotten him to really relax on the mat. It’s a lot of food and calories for a small dog. 🙂 I am assuming the touch is not allowing the dog to do this on his own???
Do you ever try to capture the relaxed behavior? When are they relaxed not sleeping of course and just place a few treats down at their feet?
Last night was the first night of Agility League. I have planned on using this as a place to practice games and work on being in the environment. Watson exceed all my expectations. He met my all goals which I had planned to accomplish over the next couple of months.
I tried to video what I think is the most important for you to see which us is being out and about. Unfortunately, I am not able to work with Watson and video. I got a little bit. You can see him target a dog and react. Again, I would never let it escalate like it did in the video, but I wanted you to see. I did notice he broke it off and started sniffing and walking away. This would not have happened a year ago. I did not get video of my first turn in the ring area. The building had several dogs in it at the time and people were milling around but Watson was pretty focused. I decided to see how he would handle being off leash since I could see he couldn’t leave the ring. He did the first jump and tunnel then I disconnected to look up the line and he went straight to the ring gates to see if he could get out once he realized he couldn’t he never left the game. This happened very quickly. I did not even realize he left the course, but I saw him running toward me full speed from the gating not the tunnel LOL. He got lots of play time and cookies which I think really set him up for success in his 2nd turn.
Here is week 1 Agility League FEO https://youtu.be/-qLqD2lDYSc
Watson is sound sensitive: Dog sports on TV, I live near an active Marine base. Large bombs that shake the house. (Surprisingly the big guns don’t bother him.) Fireworks. Watson will react if we are walking say on a trail and then another dog comes towards us. So, if we are there first and others show up, I can almost count on a reaction. However, if we arrive when other dogs are just chilling out Watson will often times just do the same and will hang out without any reaction. I have an example in the following post of him hanging out next to the ring. He is not completely relaxed but I am not carrying him out of the building with him going ballistic either. It has been a while since I have had an extreme reaction. Another piece of the puzzle which I forgot to mention is that Watson has been the only dog I haven’t been able to get to wait for his turn. (Fear of missing out) He cannot be crated in a building in which any dog is doing something. He will bark nonstop. I mean for 8 hours which he did in the last seminar with Tracy. We had to put him in a cleaning closet. I normal only crate in the car or the RV but my generator died, and NC is way too hot to crate outside. He does well in the car or RV as long as people and dogs do not come right up to the door.
