November update

I've been really busy with university the last 2 months and I couldn't find enough time to update here.

Not much has happned since last update, except that I'm now really busy with university. Wi's alergies are now gone and the only reminder are some hairless spots on her legs, thighs and stomach.

We're mostly doing our homework for our Targets & Shaping virtual class at LAD.

And we go hiking, whenever we get the chance.

Slovenian agility 2009

Today was the last trial for Slovenian agility cup.
We didn't have our best day. The lack of training showed quite a bit and in jumping I was so tired I actually forgot the course while running...and Wi's alergie is getting worse so before jumping I didn't even know if she'll manage to run the course without stopping to scratch. So after the run we went home where she got her sattelite back on and managed to calm down.

Even tough we didn't have a good run today we still finished 2nd overall in A1 large category!

Tired Toller with her cup :)

This is our last trial for this season. Our next trial will be in December (Winter cup) in A2 category. Hopefully we'll get over with her alergies by then...

So hot...

...too hot to do much outside, except in the early morning and late afternoon.

We had a frisbee photoshooting in the beggining of August and it was a lot of fun. But I also found out that I'm really going to have to buy a new camera body since my 350D's shutter is getting slower and slower and sometimes shuts down completly.
We also had this fun little Irish terrier girl joining us for a week. She and Wi got along really well and even tough I couldn't work with them as much as I wanted (studying) they didn't caouse any problems and behaved really well. I did some shaping games with her, some playing on the balance disc, nose targeting, 2on 2off position...

Wi's bald patches no her back and chest are almost all overgrown with fur now. She managed to chew her front foot tough so I guess one bald patch goes and a new one should appear? She's not chewing any new spots now so hopefully that's over with.
We're working on a canine freestyle choreography. So far I'm still looking for a song but I already have a few picked out. We're also doing more on distance work and we try to do some elements in various environments if we get the chance. And we started on side movements since that's our weakest spot.

Currently Max is still on holidays with me. No photos of him yet...but soon.

Getting better

...and better and enjoying beauty of Slovenia.

No time to be serious...

Wi's first hike above 2000m

Yesterday Wi conquered her first mountain top above 2000m.

We went hiking on Debela Peč (2014m, Julian Alps) with my friend and her aussie Ginny yesterday.
Both dogs behaved nicely (except for the time when Wi stole yet another sandwich from a poor unsespected victim, but I blame the victim, she shouldn't gave her that piece of cheese in the first place...).
The weather was really nice and we had a lot of fun.

No luck with health

Sadly Wi got another bug bite reaction, but this time it wasn't local as with her eye.
She's on Synolux and Plivasept baths for at least 2 weeks. She's itching horribly so she has to wear the plastic cone to prevent and licking the wounds.
She's shaved on her back and chest:

Fun in the woods

The Current Pack

Our curent pack consists of 4 dogs right now. One week ago there were 5.

Along with Wi and Dora there is also Olivia (aka Oli aka Girly Whirly aka Little Lady) , the aussie girl:

And BammBamm (aka BB aka The Other Red Dog), mix, "border collie":


And former pack member Lyra, BC x aussie mix:


Both red dogs get along really well. Oli is in heat right now and a little moody so Wi is keeping her distance with her.
Dora loves to tug with BammBamm. She finally has someone who can go on and on and on. And I'm sure BammBamm likes this too (sometimes he even brings her the stick).
And I'm really starting to think that crashing into trees is a red dog's thing...first Wi and then BammBamm...

We're swimming a lot (I try to go every other day down to the river to our little spot by the shore) and there's also a lot of walking and running in the woods.
I'm also training a bit with Oli and BB. It's mostly just shaping games, to get them to start thinking. We also do ex. on the ball and balance disc, we even did some ladder work a few times, TTouch, balance tricks and a lot of playing.


And on to some Wi updates...

Agility
We had one agility trial on the 11th. It was held at the Slovenian coast and unlike other trials this one started in the afternoon and finished around midnight. I took all the dogs with me and the red dogs got to have fun and swim in the sea for almost an hour.
The courses were pretty simple, short and fast. In agility we lost a lot of time on the teeter (scary!) but we got a clean run. Except for the last jump where she barely made it over (I gave her a verryyy late signal) her jumping looked better then I expected (we haven't trained in ages!).
In jumping she ran nicely, no mistakes again but she's still holding herself back a little. But she was not all that slow either. Her average speed in jumping was 4,6 m/s and I think her usual speed in jumping last year was around 4,1 m/s so she's definetly getting faster.
Overall we finished 2nd in A1L.
Also she surprised me with her tugging intensity before the jumping. She was swimming a lot so I was worried she would be a bit tired and wouldn't want to tug as much so I took food with me instead. But when we were waiting she grabbed the leash and started to tug really hard and even made some noises while doing it! My crazy little red dog.

We also managed to have one training last week (yay!) and it went really well. She once again flew off the teeter. And the next time she almost did it again so I think we're finally getting over that whole "teeter = scary, have to go slowww" thing and she stays in the position no matter where I am or what I'm doing. She also had a couple of really nice dogwalks. Hopefully the weather will be fine this week and we'll be able to go training again soon.

The red dogs relaxing at home after the trial...in the red bed.

Frisbee
Wi had her first frisbee competition just a few days ago. My friend Gaja was competing with her and they did well. They need a few more trainings (they only had one really short tranining before the competition) but the important thing is that Wi liked it and had fun.

Almost got it!

Tricks
Here's another good generalisation of the "bounce" trick:
I tried to see if she would try to climb a tree at an agility trial in Domžale but she offered me a bounce off the tree instead (untill then she only bounced off me). We repeated it a couple of times and at home I tried with a wall and she bounced right off it. Now I can send her from a distance to some object and she will bounce off it and run back to me. Sometimes it looks like a swimmers turn (flyball) if she does it really low (she can do it from just a few cm off the ground to 1m).
And I have some new trick ideas so we're really busy learning them. :)

Cool new trick

Actually it's not a "new" trick but a pretty good generalisation.
Here it is:

Yap, she actually weaving through children's legs. It took us a few tries to get the right spacing and to keep everyone still but she did it! What's more, I could stand away from her (like in order to get this photo), give her the command and she would do them by herself.

I don't have to say how much children loved this?

She also jumped over them while they were kneeling, walked over their backs, ran through leg tunnels, jumped over their arms, searched for them all over playground, played with them...

Summer update

We're still alive.


A few weeks back Wi got stung by a bug and got some allergic reactions around the eye. As a result she scratched all the hair out in that area and the it's still not as good as it was before (skin is still sore at times and very dry). She had limited activity at that time since I had to be really careful when I placed her "lamp" (she had it on to prevent her from scratching that area) off since she started to scratch almost immediately (got a lot of bleeding and scars above the eye from those moments).
Now we're getting back in shape, working on the big ball and balance discs, swimming, running, cycling, hiking...


We haven't done much agility in a while now. But the last time we did some teeters and they look really cool now. Her confidence on it is really big now and she showed me that she's starting to understand what her job is (driving to the position and target the floor with her nose).

We also had some demonstrations in the last 2 months. Some for little children, some for not so little children. She also helped me with a clicker training presentation a few days back. She mostly just sat on the chair next to me as I gave my presentation, but she showed a lot of self-control as I placed some of her favorite toys (and some food) on the table. Next week we'll have a 2-days workshop at a children church camp. I don't have a full program set yet but I'll have to adjust it anyhow, depending on how many children and at what ages will want to come to it.

We have also been doing a lot of tricks lately and obedience exercises (for Austrian Class 1). Hopefully we'll be ready to compete by autumn (the have scent discrimination and "box" exercises in first class and Wi doesn't know them yet).
I might do a trick video soon since they are starting to pile up. Some of them are really cool.

Agility trial in Ložnica

Last Saturday we competed at an agility trial in Ložnica.
It was really hot and we hadn't trained in a while so I wasn't really expecting anything.

In agility she ran nicely but she's still holding herself back at trials. She can be a lot faster in training. But compared to her first trial almost a year ago, she's getting faster.
Agility was quite easy. I was only worried about the teeter and later on dog-walk since it's quite common for her to stop at the beginning of the dog-walk if she did the teeter before it. This time she didn't stop at the bottom of the dog-walk. However she was still slow on the dog-walk too. After the competition we did the dog-walk a few more times and it was better.
She missed the contact on the dog-walk and we got 5 points.

In jumping she hit the weave entry nicely and we got a clean run.
In the end we finished 3rd.

Double crate training

Today I took out 2 crates and I did some double crate training with Wi.

First we played Crate games with only one crate. She has really good speed when driving towards the crate and back. It's also easy to transfer her enthusiasm into tugging and I can easily move around the backyard, setting up jumps, moving her crate, and getting food while she tugs.
Then I set up her second crate and we did some sending back and forward. I also put a jump between the crates. She showed great focus on her task and her jumping was really nice too.

Here you can see her drive in and out of the crate:


I think it's about time I buy her a bigger crate...one that she can turn fast in, without breaking herself in two or turning it upside down.