Tolling through life

Dock diving?

2011-08-18T21:02:00.001+02:00

Summer time!

2011-07-24T10:14:00.010+02:00

It's been a while since my last post.

Pix will be 10 months old on the 30th. Time sure flys by fast. He seems to have stopped growing a few months ago and is now living up to his name - Pixie at just 32,5 cm and 5,5 kg.
He's still my perfect little prince. He LOVES to play, LOVES to eat, LOVES to swim, LOVES to retrieve and work ALWAYS equals FUN!!! :)
He's a big dog in a tiny body and he never lets you forget it.
He starting to calm down now a bit...as in...he's now able to sit still for a few seconds so we started training holding objects (a whole project in itself for him), waiting in sit/laying down, more distance work.
He's self control is really amazing sometimes. This days he's able to lie at the side quietly while I play frisbee with Wi (a few months ago he would scream bloody murder and almost kill himself trying to get that frisbee).
With food he's now able to heel over the floor littered with his favorite treats. And he doesn't go hysterical over it.
While in the house he's quiet and spends his time sleeping on my pillow. The only time he's up is while playing with Wi or playing with a stuffed Kong toy I give him. Otherwise he just plops himself on the bed and sleeps until it's time for action.
Outside on walks he's usually a few meters ahead with a stick/acorn in his mouth, happily trotting along. He's not looking for animal tracks, doesn't chase birds (even if Wi starts towards them), doesn't even look at deer, ignores the ducks in the pond while swimming...He's also mostly ignoring other people on walks now. He'll still go to them and sniff them from time to time but that's becoming really rare these days.
Our focus right now is still mostly self-control. While he's now able to sit by my side while I throw his dummy and waits to be released he's still too fidgety and is still too prone to breaking. So we're mostly training by ourselves right now, until I'll be confident enough with his control that we'll try with someone else throwing too.
Out in public he's fine as long as I'm around. If I go away there's still barking and pulling but not as much as before and a lot less hysterical.
He has no problems playing with other people/dogs or working with them.
With this hot weather we frequently find ourselves near water and boy does he love to swim.
He goes into the water even if there's nothing in for him to retrieve. And he comes out only to bring me things or when he's so tired that he can barely stand.
We occasionally train a bit of agility. Mostly at agility trials on different equipment. He's now introduced to all the obstacles and can do cik/cak around jumps, tunnels and running contacts over a full dog-walk. We're also training teeter and slalom (4 straight poles right now, 2x2 method). He did a lowered a-frame twice and a low table once. Like everything else, he loves to play agility but we'll see if we'll have time to train it more.
In dummy trainings he can do simple marks up to about 60m. We haven't tried them further. I also introduced him to 'search' whistle and he did his first free search 2 weeks ago - very successfully. He also did a great land retrieve over water. He didn't even think about going around the pond but went straight back in with his dummy (he knows the area and knows he can get around easily).
He had a few training with game (pheasants, duck, rabbit, fox) and apart from the pheasant which he decided he would rather eat than bring back he retrieved them all (the fox skin was inside an artificial tunnel). He still has some problems with weight distribution on first pick-ups with new objects but he only needs more practice in that area. Othervise weight gives him no problem - 0,5kg or 2kg (almost 40% of his weight) he'll bring it back no problem.
He's really a joy to live and work with and is everyting I was looking for.

Wi shot a couple more commercials and made an apperarance at an animal related tv show for a few minutes. I've also seen a pre audio-editied version of the film she played in and she looks great. :) I can't wait for it to come out.
Her tracking was a bit off in winter but it seems to be as perfect as ever now. Hopefully it will stay that way for the autumn hunting trial&exam. I'm working more with her directional retrieves. She still has some difficulties going 'back'. Left and right are no problem.
Her blinds are getting better and better and overall she's calmed down quite a bit. But only if I work with her, With other people she can easily see just how far she can push them and it's usually really far.
We stopped training agility for the time being. She's just not enjoying it as she used to. Dummy/hunting trainings and obedience are just a lot more fun to her.
It's swimming season and she loves it! A few days ago we went to the seaside and in the couple of hours we spend by the sea she only went out once for a few minutes and even then I had to constantly remind her to stay there and dry herself off a bit. Otherwise this was her usual spot and pose:So far, this year she's not showing any signs of her allergies. Keep you fingers crossed that it stays that way. :)

Like previous years I had my dog workshop at children's church camp. I'm trying to learn through experience every year and make next year's workshop even better. I think this year was pretty good. :)
I mostly had Wi&Pix with me. I also bough a golden retriever once, Pix's mom and my friend's BC.
As always, Wi was the star. She's really good for dog care demonstrations since she's very patient and every kid had the opportunity to practice grooming, picking out imaginary ticks, washing her teeth with a tooth brush, putting a muzzle on her, etc. Pix was also very good. More than I expected. The kids were able to groom him while I gently held him. Some also put his muzzle on (and he stayed calm).
He was good at showing kids how their overactive behavior and actions around dogs make the dogs overactive. As soon as they calmed down, he calmed down. If they were making sudden movements, he made sudden movements too. So it normally took only a few minutes and both the kids and Pix were calm and attentive. :)We also did some clicker training demonstrations. Mostly when kids wanted to try I was the one clicking and they were the one's giving the rewards. Some were brave enough to also click by themselves.
Wi was a bit over-the-top here since she knows she can actually get rewards for doing nothing, she just has to push the right buttons. So I always had her doing things at a distance so she had less opportunities to steal treats or force them. Pix was actually a better clicker demo dog. He was really calm and focused and it was really fun watching him interact and work with very little kids.
At the end we had 'dog circus' where the dogs showed off their tricks and abilities (like searching for hidden dummies) and at the very end the kids got to play with the dogs. At the end we were all really tired but happy.
I have a few new ideas for next year so hopefully it will be even better.

Busy Bees

2011-02-18T19:13:00.003+01:00

Me and Wi are completly swamped with filming the movie and we spend a lot of days in another city in a hotel, car or on the set.

So apart from filming and some short training sessions with Pix we don't do much.

Pix is now 20 weeks old. He looks more and more like a grown up every day. I also took him to 2 dummy trainings where he got to work with all sort of dummies and Dokken birds. :) He handled everything like a pro as long as I was throwing. He gets confused when someone else throws him the dummy though so we'll have to work a lot on that.

Some photos from almost 2 weeks ago:

Welcome 2011!

2011-01-06T10:19:00.003+01:00

We're still alive. :)

Wi got a part in a movie so now we're busy training for it (we start filming sometime in February). She's going to be the lead actor's smart family dog and she'll have quite a few scenes and actions so we need to train a lot.

We also try to fit in as much hunting trainings as possible. Mostly it's with Pix's littermates.

Little Pix is now 3 months old and is looking more and more like his mom.

9 weeks

He's a really eager student and loves to learn. :) He can't stay still for 2 seconds so we're mostly doing behaviors with lots of movement. He loves to spin and walk backwards. He also loves to walk between/over/below my feet. He retrieves everything from hard palstic toys (Duplo LEGO animals), keys, plush, fake fur...if he can hold it and drag it back, he'll do it. :)

He's also really good at collage. He usually falls asleep as soon as the professors start to talk and wakes up as soon as the break starts - an average student behavior? :)

We're also workiong a lot on self-control, especially with toys and Wi. He's already showing very nice self-control with food so now I can have the kibble cup open by my side and he won't even look at it, let alone try to steal something out of it.

12 weeks

Wi's new brother

2010-12-01T19:17:00.003+01:00

Presenting Pix!

He'll be 9 weeks old tomorrow and is almost a perfect puppy to live with. Loves to play, loves to eat, loves to learn. loves to retrieve, loves water, LOVES Wi... :D

Some of his clicker training videos:

Big news!

2010-10-10T07:51:00.005+02:00

Last Saturday Wi participated at the Slovenian Retriever Clubshow (9 Tollers enters, a record) where she got excellent and CAC in Open Class (under judge Lena Hägglund). Wi's nephew Naali (Nanaimo Arctic Naali, son of Wi's half-sister Mo) was also there.

Naali & Wi

This Saturday Wi participated at a hunting competition which also counted for titles CACT and CACIT.

She did all tasks quickly and almost without faults (she dropped both rabbits, I'm guessing the first one was out of inexperience for carrying it such a long way (we only traied at about half that distance before) and the other one was because she got stuck in thisk bushes and thorns so she dropped the rabbit, then picked it up again and jumped over the obstacle). She also moved out of down in a sit while I moved out of her sight folr a few minutes while they shoot 2 times, but I knew this will happen since we didn't train it enough (and if I left her in sit, she would stand up).

In the end she got 197/204 points which was enough for 1st reward class and 1st place among 9 dogs! So she also got her first CACT and CACIT!

Very VERY proud of my little red girl!

Just a little bit more

2010-09-06T17:05:00.002+02:00

and we're going on this year's hunting exam (September) and competition (October).

We trained everything (land, water, track, search) and did it with duck, pheasant, rabbit and even did a retrieve of a stuffed fox (little bigger than Wi). :)

She's a lot calmer while waiting by the water, but that was without any shooting during the training. She normaly gets really high and loud if there's any shooting so we'll try to get at least one traiing with shooting in before the exam.

Some photos:

We're also getting ready for the retriever specialty show that will be held with the European dog show. Hopefully her hair will grow back a little bit in the spots where her allergy is the most visible. Luckly this year we got away with no hot-spots. :) She'll go to my friends for a few days (she'll handle her at the show) while I finish stuff at the university and go to a seminar.

We did some agility last week. I'm loving her teeter, no more hasitation at all! :) She's flying on it and loves to do it. Her dogwalk contacts have gotten worse so that's our main focus through the fall (we won't go to any agility competitions since they clash with our hunting exams/uni stuff) and hopefully she'll be back in trial for the winter cup. :)

RIP Dora

2010-08-04T11:34:00.002+02:00

Dora

8.10.1999 - 4.8.2010

Her last photo, taken a few weeks ago...

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.

There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown

Time of the year again

2010-07-15T18:52:00.003+02:00

Last week we had Oratorij again (church camp for children) and Wi got to help me with my dog workshop alongside Max, BammBamm and Žak.

BammBamm cuddles

On first day Wi and Max helped with general things about owning and caring for the dog. Max mostly stood at the side and occasionally came for some petting while Wi was always in the center, showing how to be the perfect demo dog. At the end we did the weaving throug childrens legs again, some walking over their backs and some funny tricks.

On second day I was late since I had an exam that day before the workshop so we didn't get to do everything I got planned. Wi and BB (and little cavalier Billy) showed kids how to start clicker training with dogs, how a session looks and what can all be tought with the use of clicker.

On third day we had "Doggy circus". Tamara and Žak came to show the children amazing frisbee tricks. BB also showed some catches and flips. Later Wi showed her array of tricks and after that Wi and Žak did some tricks together.

Wi & Žak

In the end we ended up throwing toys to the dogs and children racing the dogs back and forth.

Nova Scotia DUCKLING Tiolling Retriever

We also have a little duckling at home for 2 weeks now. Wi found 2 of them but one died last week.

Naali

We also met up with Maja and Naali (Wi's nephew) and did a bit of dummy and show ring training. Such a cool Toller boy! ;)

Agility training

2010-06-07T13:58:00.002+02:00

Some photos from this morning:

Wi's dogwalk was better than last time. She hit the contact everytime but she's still not running over it at full speed. She slows down a bit in the middle. It could be just a temporary thing since her fall off the dogwalk so I'm going to wait and see if it gets better on it's own.

We did some jumping grids and cik-cak. We need to train cik-cak at 65 cm more because she turns a bit too much to the side (she turns AND leans to the side of the jump) and when landing she sometimes hits her mouth to the ground because of the angle she lands at.

Teeter was good. We'll need to work on her end behavior a little more but the speed was good and she didn't hesitate at all.

Last weekend we went to Netherlands to look at some FCR puppies with my friend. On this photo you can see Wi with 2 FCRs who both had litters at that time. My friend's puppy is from the black bitch.

Kisses, Wi & Ootje

Our first agility trial in A2

2010-05-09T15:23:00.003+02:00

Yesterday we had our first agility trial in A2 category in Ptuj.

In agility Wi was runing really well (considering we had no trainings and she only jumped at that height about 3 times before) and she didn't knock down any bars. We got 5 faults for the jumped contact on the dogwalk but I was expecting that. We were able to practice some more on the dogwalk after agility and she hit the contact everytime, each time it was a bit better. :)

In jumping I handled her really bad and she knocked a bar so we got 5 faults and some points for the time.

Overall Wi was 3rd. :)

She also managed to steal some pastrys...I don't think we have been to a trial where she didn't steal someone's food...she also tried to eat adhesive tape, probably thought it was some kind of a treat.

Starting the new "work season"

2010-04-25T13:43:00.003+02:00

We still need to work A LOT on Wi's self-control while working with water & cold game. At the beginning she was as over-the-top as she could be but towards the end she calmed down a lot and she was able to work without losing her head completly. She doesn't have the same problems while working with game on land so we'll work from there and then start to work near the water and then in the water when she'll have more control over herself.

Oh and yesterday she managed to open the door of my room while I was away and eat the whole family lunch. So when I got home I was greeted by a sight of one red stuffed pig on the doormat. She could barely move for 2 hours but she's OK now. You can still see she's a little "fuller" but other than that she's the same (still acts like she hasn't eaten in ages...). :)

Brushing off the dust

2010-04-10T20:37:00.005+02:00

Finally time for some updates!

There's not much going on here. I'm pretty busy at the university and the weather has been really bad. As soon as the mud dried up the rain came again and everything turned into mud. So last week we finally had one agility training after the whole winter.

I mostly placed jumps on 65 cm to see how she would jump over them. We warmed up with a bit of running and some low (35-45 cm) jumps and then did some sequences of 3-5 jumps with tunnels. I was surprised at how good her jumping looked. She also pulled ahead and looked really comfortable with the height. She did knock one bar but that was my fault (bad handling!). Her teeter performance was also better than I expected after such a long brak and how it looked a few months ago. Not as fast and confident as on last trainings but still enough speed and independance.

The contacts on A-frame were good but her dogwalk was terrible. If I was ahead of her she did it but if I wasn't she was jumping off like crazy. Hopefully this will go away when we start training more often.

We also got new balance pods and we are learning 101 ways to use them. :) The most popular with Wi is standing on 2 domes (1 with moth left and 1 with both right feet on) and stepping from one object to another by stepping on the pods inbetween (still not done with this one, she needs a little more balance). And then there's a whole variety of standing on the dome on 1-4 feet though 3 feet (left in the air) is her favourite. Or standing on 3 pods with the free leg in the air (working on balancing with front left in the air, other 3 are ok but with this one she loses balance really fast).

We're also doing dummy trainings again. Doing lots of doubles and more difficult singles and every now and then we do some easy blinds and some free search. Also working on her whistle commands. She's still having difficulties with stopping and turning towards me sometimes. She always stops but sometimes that's all she does and it's a bit hard to give her a directional command when she's facing away from me at 60m.

We're going to an agility trial next Sunday. I think this will be our last trial in A1. :)

Also it seems we'll be going to a Canine Freestyle comeptition in Germany in June. Still looking for "the song"...

November update

2009-11-23T17:14:00.004+01:00

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

2009-09-05T18:01:00.004+02:00

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...

2009-08-19T17:49:00.003+02:00

...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

2009-08-04T18:47:00.002+02:00

...and better and enjoying beauty of Slovenia.

No time to be serious...

Wi's first hike above 2000m

2009-07-31T12:13:00.003+02:00

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

2009-07-28T10:22:00.003+02:00

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

2009-07-20T10:02:00.001+02:00

The Current Pack

2009-07-19T16:40:00.013+02:00

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

2009-07-01T22:10:00.004+02:00

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

2009-06-25T10:49:00.004+02:00

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

2009-05-18T15:23:00.005+02:00

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

2009-05-06T19:31:00.005+02:00

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.

Addition to previous entry

2009-04-10T22:48:00.003+02:00

Taken today:
She's a true wonder dog.

And a photo of the little model wearing Rori's rain coat (Hurrta)

Tugging: Breakthrough

2009-04-09T18:58:00.003+02:00

Today Wi actively tugged with Lola! She doesn't know Lola for long and usually she drops her toys when she sees her coming but today she decided that she wants to keep Lola's Water Wubba and they tugged a couple of times (Wi winning once,after almost a minute of tugging).
On our way back Wi tugged for a really long time on the Wubba, ignoring all the obstacles on her way.
Another proud day for Momma.

Building value: Tugging

2009-04-06T16:58:00.014+02:00

The last few months I worked a lot with Wi on building her value in tugging.

As a puppy she would tug at only at home. She didn't tug when we were outside our backyard, in puppy classes, with other people and if there was a dog around. At one point (I think she was around 10 months old) she stopped tugging for a while. After that period she showed a little more interest in tugging. She would still not tug in the presence of dogs, in new environments and with other people.

About 3 years ago I have taught our older dog Dora (9,5 years old mix) to tug. For 6 years she never tugged and I had to start really slowly with her, praising a lo when she pulled and rewarding her with food. But once she »got it«, she didn't need any reward. Just another tug game.

Since Wi is also highly food motivated I decided to use food as a reinforcer to build her value in tugging.

My main criteria was intensity.

At first I was rewarding any pulling on the toy from her part. Soon she was showing a lot more interest and her intensity grew. I kept it all really fast and fun. Soon I was able to let go of the toy when she pulled hard and she would immediately bring it back to me and started to tug once again when I took hold of it.
Everything got a little slower as I started to add various distractions:

- moving around the space
- touching her (it took her a while to hold on even if a touched her head and mouth)
- moving things around as she tugged
- adding distractions such as dogs, food, balls, people, ...
- changing the environment (backyard, the street, the woods, training grounds, competition areas, next to a group of people/dogs, in new environments, …)

but she's showing a lot of progress. The main criteria was always the same.

In the last weekend of March we went to Austria to see a dog dancing competition. It was a completely new place for her, indoors, new footage (slippery!), new people, new dog, noises… and still she tugged. Momma was proud.

She has a really nice weight shift and shows a lot of intensity and enthusiasm while playing. We still have a lot of things we need to work on.

Around dogs she's still a bit unsure and if any dog shows interest in her toy she lets go and leaves. At home we managed to get over this and she is able not only to tug with Dora but to win. They can tug as long as one doesn't win. Wi doesn't just let go of the tuggy. Now she really wants to win the game. And to top it, she even has the guts to go and get the toy FROM Dora if she wins it. They start tugging for it again but just a few weeks back she wouldn't come in the distance of a few meters to her, let alone try to take something from her.

Also, once we started tugging outside home I started to reward her with her squeaky balls. She's crazy for them (especially her Other Cuz and JW ball) so I can easily replace food for them when raising value.

I also use the game of tug before we start trainings, go on a walk, before her meal or before she can go to the water… before anything she really likes. Premack.

Dora loves her tuggy...

New spring trick video

2009-04-04T16:23:00.000+02:00

Enjoy.

Fun in the sun

2009-03-26T15:10:00.008+01:00

Wi also has a new reflective vest. It's really hard to see her when we work in ticker forests so this is essential. And it's double - layered at the chest so there's less cuts there after trainings (she still gets cuts all over her stomach and legs).

6x6

2009-03-16T16:12:00.003+01:00

Takole Nadja, moja 6x6.

Na sliki gre pa za lovljenje DNK na vajah biologije.

Building blocks

2009-03-03T20:12:00.005+01:00

I've been busy lately with working at a store and driving lessons so me and Wi haven't worked a lot on any new tricks and we haven't been to agility trainings in weeks.

What we have been working on walks is driving forward and body vaults.
She has gain a lot of speed with both, but she's still very insecure with vaults. She's reacting a lot to my movement so if I move just a little bit she backs away and restarts herself. The main problem is she gets frustrated really fast and I have to be careful not to let her restart herself to many times.
Driving forward is really good now and she really started to pull ahead.

And after a long pause we finally had dummy trainings again. Wi was super excited and she was really loud on her first mark. She was really good after the first mark and calmed down a lot. She also worked with my friend so that I could take a photo of Wi working and I was also a thrower. I retrieved after the throw behind the trees and this really confused her. After she picked up the dummy she began looking for me but once she saw that I made on movement towards her to collect the dummy she ran to my friend who was calling her. We neeed to practice this more...

After the training Wi had some fun with acorns and big tree sticks.

And we meet little Tani. :)

When the weather finally gets better

2009-02-25T19:25:00.002+01:00

the camera comes on a walk with me and the dogs.

I can fly!

Handsome Valjar

From walking, playing crate games and running we haven't done much lately. I'm micro shaping a really cute trick with Wi and we're polishing some old tricks.

Wi finally started to run ahead of me. Before she would slow down when she would catch up with me and look for her reward or just run with me but now she runs past me and goes on without slowing down.

Some rare sunny moments

2009-02-12T21:00:00.002+01:00

We tried to make the best of it.

Wi got some new trick toys. I'll really have to make a new trick video soon...

2 Years!

2009-02-10T18:31:00.001+01:00

I can hardly believe how fast time flies by.

Happy birthday my little red girl!

Cat show in Ljubljana

2009-02-08T21:49:00.002+01:00

When I grow up I'll...have a cat!

I'm a fan of Turkish Angoras right now (but there weren't any at the show).

Bad weather

2009-02-07T18:44:00.002+01:00

Crazy dogs both went for a swim today...

... retriever thing I guess.

Got to love them.

My paw hurts

2009-02-07T11:40:00.003+01:00

...see?

She can also lift her back right paw with her mouth and bring me her tail but that's harder to take a photo off.

And a little something more artistic...

Reminder

2009-02-05T19:00:00.002+01:00

This quote has to be one of my favorite:

"The main reason for people’s lack of success in life is their willingness to give up what they want most of all, for what they want right now."

Could not agree more.

Crate Games

2009-02-04T11:14:00.002+01:00

I finally got my Crate Games DVD last week.

I'm playing with both dogs and Wi is already at Stage 4, while Dora will now stay at Stage 3 for a while.
Wi has been playing "my" version of Crate Games for a while now and Stages 1-3 were no problem for her even tough we never played Yer Out, Yer In before she got it really fast. Needless to say that Changed My Mind is her favorite game?

Dora was almost never in a crate (she'll be 9,5 years soon) and when she was in she was protesting a lot and couldn't wait to get out. Now she can't wait to get in and show me how good she can be in the crate. She even crammed herself in Wi's plastic crate which is almost too small for her (she could barely turn inside).
She surprised me in Yer Out, Yer In since I expected it would take her a lot more time to decide to go back into the crate but she just stepped outside, looked at me and quickly went back in.
And when my sister tried to get her our she didn't move at all but just looked at me (my parents and sister consider crate as a torture device )

More snow

2009-02-04T10:53:00.002+01:00

We got a lot of snow lately. You can tell what the dogs think about it?

We also had an agility trial last Saturday. All I can say is that it's pretty obvious that we didn't have any training since November.
And it doesn't look we'll get any agility training any time soon too. The last Winter cup trial is on the 14th.

New additions to our lives

2009-01-24T12:59:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I got my new lense.
Canon EF 85 mm 1.8 USM

And I got 6 new books from Amazon.

Wi's balance disc exercises #1

2009-01-24T12:11:00.005+01:00

I decided to post some various exercises that Wi does on various items that help her with her muscles, coordination and stretching.

Balance disc - all exercises are free shaped.

Basic #1
Wi stands on the balance disc with her rear end.

She's trying to keep her balance and keep her feet on the disc (she's a "stepper" so she keeps moving to and fro on the disc, trying to find the perfect spot but often she gets off the disc in the process).

Basic #2
Wi stands on the balance disc with her front paws.
This is easier for her and she finds her perfect balance spot easier.

Basic #3
Wi stands on the balance disc with all 4 paws.
A great exercise for Wi since she has to be really still if she wants to stay on the disc.

Back legs variation #1
Wi stands on the balance disc with only one rear leg while the other one is in the air.

I will add more photos soon...

Goals for 2009

2008-12-31T09:57:00.003+01:00

My goals with Wi for next year are:
- build her drive for toys
- include more distance work in our training
- get to class III in Obedience
- teach her how to jump properly
- start competing in A2
- pass hunting test with 1st prize class

And for me? Finally get my drivers license.

Almost gone

2008-12-30T20:17:00.000+01:00

Hiking weekend

2008-12-30T12:15:00.022+01:00

Last weekend we spent our days hiking with our friends in Kamniška Bistrica and on Mežakla.

I love hiking with my friends and our dogs. I love to stop and just enjoy the nature all around me, take photos of everything we encounter on our way, of our dogs or ourselves. I take the whole thing pretty easily and it's never about reaching the destination in the shortest time possible. I just don't see the point in getting somewhere as fast as possible if you have the whole day to spend outside. And neither does Wi. She loves being outside but she loves it even more when we do something together. During hikes she get's to climb trees and fallen logs, big rocks, jump over things, run around trees, tug with me (with a stick or a tug toy), catch snowballs or chase her ball. Just walking isn't fun for her and she sure knows how to make this obvious to me.
I don't care if I spend 10 hours in the mountains to get somewhere where I could get in half less time.
For me it's not about destination. Sometimes we don't even get where we're heading but we still have a nice hike.

This week and weekend I'm hoping we can "squeeze in" one more hike or two. Then it's back to school and occupied weekends for me.

1st competition for Winter Cup 2008/2009

2008-12-23T21:18:00.003+01:00

Last weekend we had our first indoor competition. It was held in a riding hall in Postojna.
This was first time on obstacles for Wi after 2 months. We didn't manage to get any trainings in before the competition.
In agility she made her last exam for A2 and was 4th overall. She wasn't fast but she also had no refusals on any obstacles, including the dreaded teeter. The contacts were all done but I hope next time she will already show more speed on the dogwalk.
In jumping we had another clean run and ended in 3rd place in A1 large.

I was happy about her attitude in the hall. I was a bit concerned she would shut down but she was far from that. She played like crazy (I made her a new toy a day before and she loves it!), tugging, even growling at times. She was relaxed and I could leave her in her crate even if it was opened. She had her crate by the ring. We also did some Crate games while other dogs ran. No problems.

Also we have a new video:

Dokken's Pheasant

2008-12-08T16:56:00.002+01:00

Wi's gift for St.Nicholas day.
She loves it...typical retriever.

We worked on some weaving today. I took 4 sticks to the woods with me and we trained some entries during the walk.
Our training grounds are still "flooded" so we can't train agility on it.
I hope we get to train soon. Our 1st winter trial is in less than 2 weeks and we haven't trained since early November.

Snow & rain

2008-12-05T13:46:00.002+01:00

Last week we got some snow but it didn't last long. And now we have rain, rain and some more rain.
Wi found her own entertainment with "talking" donkey toy.

And this is her after winning a game of tug with her sheepy octopus.

Tugging freak

2008-11-25T19:01:00.002+01:00

For the last few days Wi has started to LOVE tugging. Before she enjoyed it but now she absolutely loves it!
Now she's offering me one end of her plush tuggy when I let her win so that we can play again, she's killing her tug toy viciously after every win and she's really started to "dig in" while she tugs. Before she never gave so much of herself into tugging but now...WOW!

I decided I'll try to teach her right heel just with tugging as reward. We did some training today outside (on the snow) and she was great. She already knows she's supposed to be doing something on my right side. She can't decide between walking, barking and limping tough.
But it's a good start.

On Friday they'll take her stitches out.
And we're lengthening our walks and adding more and more activities during the walk. She's also kept busy at home with tricks and bones to chew on.

Going Blind

2008-11-23T12:00:00.002+01:00

No one is loosing their sight.

Today Wi started training Blind retrieves. We decided to start with visual aid of a white traffic cone (normal orange-white cone, wrapped into a white towel).
I can only say it could not have gone better.
First she retrieved 5/6 dummys from the pile around the cone, each retrieve was slightly longer. Since we just started I think it's normal that it takes her a little more time to find her "picture". She'll also have to get used to keeping her eye on the picture when I move my hand next to her head.
The biggest concern I had was "shopping". But she never shopped...not even switched. Maybe she grew out of it or maybe it was simply that that I'm not giving her "come in" whistle every time she gets a dummy in her mouth. Anyway I was really proud of her work today.
After 5 I gave her some break and then she did another 3 with a bigger distance between.
We also did double marking. Again I wasn't sure about her switching but she never switched nor showed any desire to switch in both doubles.
She seemed to be in a really really good mood today and she even played with other dogs.

Back on track

2008-11-17T17:30:00.003+01:00

Wi's recovering really fast. She's her happy old self again with the exception that she's still not allowed to jump. Sometimes during the day she forgets about this, jumps, yelps and sulks in at my feet for a while. Then she forgets about it...until next time.

Yesterday I took her to dummy training. I took some blankets with me and I wrapped her in them so that she was warm and I put a shirt on her to protect her belly. She was supposed to only watch the training (there were more dogs) and be patient. At the end I hid one dummy for her at the edge of the forest and then I let her search for it.
She was so happy.

We're doing some "boring" tricks now...they're mostly related to empty cups of dairy products. Most of the tricks we're shaping will appear in her new trick video which will hopefully be done in 2 weeks time.

Almost forgot to add that now WI has a whole bowl of homemade treats. I was in a baking mood yesterday and I made her some cheese & sesame sticks.

Waking up

2008-11-15T19:19:00.003+01:00

Wi got through the operation OK. She had some allergic reactions that we're not completely sure what caused them. She was whimpering all day yesterday and complaining about the pain and her bandage.
Today she got her bandage off and now she's getting to her old self again. She got her apatite back and has even started drinking.

Some photos from yesterday and today:

Sad news

2008-11-13T15:48:00.003+01:00

We went to the vets yesterday becouse dogs were still acting as tough Wi was still in heat (for 12 weeks now) and she was (or still is). She has been in heat for 12 weeks now. And she has a bacterial infection. So now she's on antibiotics and tommorow she's getting spayed.

We shaved her belly for the UZ and she was horrified.

At home she wanted to show everyone how poor she is and how dreadful her belly now looks (ant to show she's not sleeping on it anymore).

Today she refused to go anywhere near taller grass or off the path in the woods and when at home she gets on a pillow and wraps herself around it with her tummy to keep it warm.

Biba & dummys

2008-11-02T13:31:00.004+01:00

I'm dogsitting Biba (PRT) for a little more than a week.
Isn't she cute?

She also started to bring me some toys.

She's loads of fun and finally I got to dogsitt a dog that actually really likes to eat. And that Wi likes to play tug with.

Dora also accepted her more that she did any other dog. Or maybe she has finally realized that her growling and protesting won't get the dog our of her house and her way...

Today we did some uphill single marking excercises, free search and single marking over moderate cover (with diffrent distance between each mark). Wi aced them all. I was so proud of her!

She found 5 dummys that we're really well hidden, she searched the area with nice style and enthusiasm, checking every bush and cover. She also found them extremly fast.
And she pinned all her markings. I tought she might have problems with uphill marks but she just ran, grabbed and came back. Good girl!
For next week I'm planning to start introducing her to Blind retrievers.

And we're having a nice sunny weather. No rain today. Just sun and nice autum colors.

Time flies

2008-10-26T19:26:00.005+01:00

Wi at 20.5 months, 15.4 kg

Agility
We haven't been to competitions in over a month now. We're planing to start competing again in December. Her jumping is better now, but still not what I strive for yet. But we're making progress and that's what's important.
She started to be more independent on dogwalks. We still need to work more on her slalom independance and start working on turning after the dogwalk again.

Obedience
We attended an obedience seminar with Mia Skogster. I learned some new things and we got some compliments on our work and some advice on how to make Wi's turns better and her recall faster. So far she has improved a lot and we're probably going to start training for Class 2 excercises during winter and then go to some competitons abroad in spring.

Dummy training
Now we train with friends and their dogs every Sunday and I'm really happy with Wi's work. She's showing a lot of style, has almost completly stopped whimpering - she only does it when I release her, isn't "killing" furry dummys anymore and searches with so much enthusiasm I can't help but smile.
Today we did some sending over thick cover so that she learns to really go straight through it and not to search for entrys and exits around it (she loses her mark when she does this).

Hiking
We haven't been in mountains a lot. Mainly becouse I have problems with my back but ocasionally we still managed to go with some friends.

I'll try to upload more often from now on.

'Till next time...

Agi KD Krim

2008-09-07T18:17:00.004+02:00

Yesterday Wi ran her 2nd clean run in agility. She only needs one more for A2.
I'm not happy with her running yesterday at all. All teeters were done really well but her dogwalks and stays weren't good at all.
In jumping and team agility she also jumped at 65 cm and not only she was really slow due to this height she also jumped even more badly as she already does at 55 cm. No way we're getting into A2 before I teach her how to jump properly. Or we'll stay in A1 forever.

And some great photos from Selce by Iztok Noč:

You can see we're getting ready for hunting stuff in autumn.
If she does well on the 20th, I'll enter her in the hunting competition too.

Agi4fun & Bohinj

2008-08-31T08:29:00.003+02:00

Agi4fun
A week ago we we're at agility 4fun in KD Barje. My goal was to get Wi confortable on even more new agility equiptment.
In agility run I hold the teeter and she didn't stop at the bototm at all. She hasitated a little but she realxed quickly. Othervparts we're also very good. Se also didn't stop at the dogwalk. She didn't run it like she normaly does but it was a big improvment. In jumping I forgot her left/right commands and we had a refusal at the tunnel...I kept turning her away from the entry.
In the end we landed on 8th place.
After that we had a little game where everyone ran the same course. Becouse jumping height for large was at 65 cm and Wi is currently jumping on 55 cm I enterd her in Medium class (45 cm). This time she did her dogwalk more similar to what she does at trainings. I was really happy about this. She also went crazy over jumps 'cuz she's really comfortable on this jumping height (but she's getting more confortable on 55 cm too).
After that we did some more dogwalks and she just dashed over and over them.

Goal accomplished.

We also met Sia's new puppy Bi. Bi thinks Wi is great fun and Wi keeps saying she doesn't exist.

Bohinj
2 days later we went in Bohinj for the whole day with Maja and her PRT Amelie and FCR Bajk.
All 3 dogs first did some work with bumpers:

After that we went along the shore of the lake to find ourselfs a nice semi-deserted spot where dogs wouldn't bother anyone.
Bajk barely left the water, Wi was constantly looking for any chance of saving stone from shallow water and Amelie was looking for things to steal from Bajk and Wi.
Wi also did some left/right circles when asked to and she circled around me in the water in the direction I asked her to circle me. I was surprised how well she generalised this command executions in water enviroment. She couldn't swim backward tough...but she tried.

Big surprise

2008-08-30T20:49:00.003+02:00

Today we were at an agility competition in Selce. Wi's in heat for 6 days now and in the morning she wasn't really excited to go into such a big group of dogs. But mostly males still don't even realise she's in heat. I hope it'll stay this way.

So in agility I reved her up a bit with some food. I wasn't nervous at all becouse I decided to hold the teeter up so she will go on it faster and with this dq us. But...after we came to the teeter I placed my hand below it, ready to hold it up when Wi suddenly ran up it. I quickly removed my hand and Wi did the teeter even better than she does it at trainings lately. The weave entry was a bit tricky but I let Wi more space and she nailed it. She even went on the dogwalk without stopping at the bottom. The contact was really bad (one foot at the very top) and she was more trotting over it than anything else but we managed to run clear and get our first (out of 3) clean run in agility for A2.
In jumping we got dq becouse I was "to lazy" to move more towards the right tunnel entry. Othervise we would have 2 clean runs and a 1st place.
Maybe next time.

I was really pruod of her. She was really focused and she's really showing improvment on every competiton. At the end she showed she really can run agility + work with dummys and game in the same day and show great enthusiasm (and drive + style for the later) with both.

Wi at 18,5 motnhs (47 cm + 15kg)

Couldn't resist...

2008-08-16T15:19:00.002+02:00

...so now I have yet another new addition to my lens set.
Here are some photos taken with my new Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

Toller Speciality 2008

2008-08-16T14:38:00.002+02:00

As some of you already know me and Wi went to the Toller speciality in Sweden this year. It was held a few km out of Stockholm, 1st - 3rd August.
We went there with Wi's breeder and Wi's half-sister Lille (MMH's Donoma).
During the drive we also stopped at the seaside where both dogs got to enjoy the sea and sandy beaches.

On Friday me and Wi first started with obedience (Class 1). Due to some people missing we we're up first. I was really nervous and this resulted in me giving Wi some double commands in some ex. In heeling Wi got really distracted by everything around her (there we're 3 rings around us and in every ring a dog was working his round). But after heeling she relaxed again and her off-leash heeling part was loads better (tough it could be even better). She was also a bit slow in the recall but she came to me very nicely. I the "retrieve" ex. she grabbed the dumbell nicely but I left of it too soon and it fell down a bit in her mouth and we lost a point becouse of this. The last ex. was recall over the hurdle. This she never did before and she did it perfectly. But we lost points becouse I did a double command (first said her name and then called her...out of pure habbit ).
Overall we got just enough points to advance to Class 2 and to get 5th place in our group. Overall in all classes there we're only 10 dogs who got the 1st prize class. We we're one of them so I'm really proud of her.
Our class was won by Melanie and Mocca, our new friends. Mocca also became Obedience Toller of the year!!!

After obedience we went to Working test. There were 5 stations. My goals was to get through them all without a 0. And we did it! And not only we got though without a 0, we got enough points to place 20th out of 93 dogs! And Wi's half-sisters Lille and Bitti we're 3rd and 2nd and Wi's aunt Jill (same mother as Wi's dad) was 1st.

On Saturday we weren't enterd anywhere so we took this day to relax and in the afternoon we went to see agility competition and to cheer for our friend Inke and Cayuga. Agility Toller fo the year was Jill's brother and Wi's uncle.

On Sunday we attended conformation show. Wi was entered in the Intermedia class and was judged by Annmarie Maeland. There we're 20 bitches entered in our class. Wi's breeder was handling WI in the ring becouse she always runs badly with me (she keeps getting into heel position and then runs like a show horse). She ran nicely and got a HP (something like and excellent and was chosen as the 4th best bitch in her class.

Overall we had a blast. We met a lot fo new people and made some friends, got a lot of experiences and I got a lot of new ideas for our trainings.
Maybe next year we'll do even better.

More photos can be seen here: Album

Porezen

2008-07-22T18:33:00.003+02:00

More hiking photos from this Sunday:

We're going hiking again for the whole day on Saturday. I hope I'll be able to post some photos on the blog before I leave for the specialty.
I also ordered a new crate for Wi and a new sleeping mat. I'll pick everything up at Wi's breeder. We also got some new toys from England and Germany in the last few days. Cuz toys (Ruffians) rock!!! The Bear Cuz must be Wi's favorite toy so far. She also likes her Tug-A-Jug, but she's still moving around the house too much while she plays with it (and bangs it on the floor and walls).

I'm also really happy with Wi's obedience training. Her heeling is really almost like I want it to be. She still needs to learn how to keep the same style of heeling (she looks like a marching horse) even if a go at a slower pace or in new environment. I'll try to practice heeling everywhere we will stop along the way (we will be driving for 3 days one way (Slovenia-Sweden) so I'm sure we'll have lots of opportunities to train.
In obedience we're in the first group and we're on 4th. I finally know which exercises there are (Thanks Fanny!!!) and except for the teeth examination (she might jerk her head if she won't be able to have eye contact with me) I'm feeling really confident that she will do all the exercises really well.

I also have some new videos of Wi's running contacts. I just can't find enough time to put them all together tough. Maybe today in the evening... but they're really looking good and she's 100% on them when in straight line. We haven't done any turning after the dog-walk yet. But we're now training various crosses and right now she's making her contacts no matter where I make a cross (before or behind). She drives forward very nicely and now I'm doing 2 contacts in a row (jump, contact, cik/cak on the jump, contact, reward). Her cik/cak after the contact are really nice. I hope I have some of them taped.

Ratitovec

2008-07-11T18:09:00.002+02:00

Yesterday we went hikind again. This time we went to Ratitovec.
The dogs enjoyed the hike as always. Wi and Amelie had their crazy moments again...

Agility
Last Saturday we were at our 2nd agility competition. In agility we got 15 penalty points and were 16th in that run. This time Wi was running with a lot more confidence than before and she also did the teeter with minimum hasitation. She found the weave entry but I moved away too soon so she pop-up. When I went back to repeat it I blocked her the entry so she missed it but then I let her find it all by herself and she got it. The A-frame was good and fast. When we got to the tunnel I moved to fast again and she didn't get in (I always forget she doesn't pull on obstacles at all in trials). The dog-walk beggining was slow but she gathered speed fast and made a really nice cntact at the bottom.
In jumping we were disq. becouse I got her so crazed up by her toy she ran out of the ring to get it.
Another lesson learned.

Lately I've been working on her jumping a lot since I don't like her jumping style at all. So today we did some jumping grids on lowered jumps and she did really well.
We also did some running contacts on dog-walk. I also timed them and they were 1.6-1.4 s.

I got my Clean Run issues today (Jan 08-Jul 08) so now I have a lot of new ideas and I can't wait to try them.

New guests

2008-07-04T08:46:00.002+02:00

Meet Pufi and Ula:

They'll be staying with me for about 3 weeks. Wi likes them very much but I don't let her play with them 'cuz she keeps slaping them with her paws. She can lick them tough.

This morning I made Wi some PVC pipe toys (I put together some PVC pips of diffrent shapes and placed kibble in them). She figured out most of them already but once I turn one part around she gets to figure thing ut all over again. But she's having a blast. She even knows which pipe can easly be separated from others and she uses this to get faster to the kibble.

I have a new lens. Nothing fancy...but better for dog photos than 18-55.

Agility competition in Domžale

2008-06-30T11:48:00.002+02:00

On Saturday we competed for real.
In agility I was really nervous and my handling wasn't anything at all. Wi started better than last aturday but stopped dead right before the teeter. She didn't want to go on it at first but eventully she got on. She also missed slalom entrance a few times. My fault since I was so nervous I was sending her in at the wrong place. Should have stayed behind and let her find it herself.
And she also stopped infront of the dog walk. I think she tought it was the teeter again since she didn't even want to step on it. She slowed down a lot at the top but relaxed in the middle and even started to run again on the down plank. We really need to practice on more dogwalks and teeters so she gets used ot them.
In jumping she was again in a good mood and I was less nervous. After 2nd jump she wanted to greet the judge but I called her off before she could do that and I again blocker her way in slalom. But we got through with 10 penalty points and some points for the time. But I was really happy with her performance. Way to go Wi!

We have our next competition in a few days and then we can rest for about 2 months (no competitions in Slovenia).

Some photos from Ljubljana (photos by Tina Šolar):

Hiking, agility & dogs

2008-06-24T16:11:00.003+02:00

Last week we went on some longer walks and one of them was a hike on Blegoš. Me and Maja (and the dogs) were almolst the only people there, the sun was shining and the wind wasn't to strong so we really had a great time.

On Saturday Wi ran in agility competition for the first time!
She was a test dog since her teeter performance isn't good enough yet. But next Saturday we're going to compete for real. I hope I'll be much calmer...
Wi's speed wasn't great but that's partly my fault. I was too nervous to motivate her enough and I even managed to forget where slalom was (that's why she missed it).
Her speed was about 3.8 m/s I'm hoping she will have at least 4 m/s on our next trial.

And...from Sunday on I'm dogsitting Lizzie and catsitting Ahti and Aino. And from today on aussie Ginny has joined our pack for a few days.

It's never dull around here.

Soriška planina

2008-06-09T10:03:00.002+02:00

Yesterday we went hiking to Soriška planina and it's nearby hillls and to see some bunkers.
The weather was nice despite some rain showers and strong wind. There was even a little sun after noon. We both ha d a really nice time. I was mostly chatting and enjoying the view and WI was running around and playing with Amelie (Parson terrier).
We also went into 3 bunkers. Wi was very comfortable in them and was climbing in and out of line openings and she even managed to crawel through 20cm holes.

I really hope we'll repeat this soon.

And today I was feeling really well (no muscle pain after yesterdays 5 h walk) so I ran additional 0.5km in the morning. That would bring to a total of 4.5-5km (I really need to get a watch to know exactly how much I run).

And it feels good.

Backward weaving

2008-06-06T17:45:00.001+02:00

Yes! It's a new "How to teach ..." video!

Enjoy

Catching up

2008-06-04T15:29:00.006+02:00

It's been a while since my last post here. I still have one more week of school work ahead of me but then (hopefully) I'll be done untill next school year.

And now some quick updates on what was happening in the last month.

PNZ
On 17th Wi passed her PNZ exam (test of natural abilitys)!
She got 39/50 point. We would get more if I wouldn't be her handler and woulnd't make some really stupid mistakes. But at least now I know what are problems are and what to work on untill our hunting exam and hunting competition in autumn.

Tricks
Wi learned some new tricks. Here's one of them:

I promisse I'll try to get someone to tape our newest tricks.

Agility
In agility we started doing the dogwalk in course. So far she has showed a little progress. She still needs to get more confident on the dogwalk. We're also doing the teeter as the final obstacle (Polona is still holding one end). She really loves it now and really speeds up when she sees that it's the next obstacle. So hopefully we're be ready to compete in Ljubljana on the 21st of June.

Target training
Today I tried out a target stick with base. Here are 2 videos on which you sadly can't see the target but you can see how fast Wi is when she's going towards the target. Little red torpedo.

Some random photos

FMBB2008 & ZOO

2008-05-14T14:54:00.003+02:00

FMBB2008
On Saturday I helped at FMBB2008 at the agility ring.
I was mostly taking photos (thanks Andraž for lending me his amazing lens and his Canon EOS 20D when my 350D ran out of batterys).
I had a great time. It was really well organised, everything went smoothly and the weather was great.
I saw some really good agility runs, some less good from contestants from all over the world (only Belgian Shepherds afcourse).
I also saw 2 really young mudi puppys. They were so cute! I'm really sorry that I couldn't get a nice photo of them.
Me being me I also couln't just go past various dog toys, leashes without at least looking at them. At the end I bough one red "sausage" which Wi really loves. The last one I bought didn't stay whole even for 1 day but this one is still like new. And it wasn't even expensive...
Sadly I couldn't see mondio ring. From what I heard is was well worth seeing. Maybe next time.
You can see some amazing photos from Iztok Noč (and some mine at the end) here: http://www.agility-slo.net/photo/
(click on the Svetovno prvenstvo belgijskih ovčarjev)

ZOO
Next day (on Sunday) me and Wi went to Ljubljana's ZOO where we met up with Lenka and Dee.
Wi was not very confident around dolphin-shaped trash bin but after some shaping I got her to touch it, sniff it and see that it wasn't going to eat her. She was also not sure what to think of a smaller hog. Elephant Ganga wasn't interesting to her nor the giraffes.
Both dogs behaved really well and recived some compliments about it (and about their tricks).

Currently I'm at home, recovering and resting. Hopefully I'll be OK before friday and fully healed on Saturday when me and Wi arre going to PNZ - test for natural abilitys.

Lake, bike and psycho dog

2008-04-30T13:52:00.003+02:00

Lake

On Monday we (me, Lenka, Wi, Dee, my mom and Dora) went to lake Zbiljsko.
All dogs had fun, Wi and Dora were swimming and Dee was observing from the shore and playing around in the mud. Wi again found Dee's squeaky toy and couldn't keep away from it.
We also tried her new bumper and she loved it!

There were also some swans that kept following us but after a while they went away. Wi was observing them all the time and kept ker distance (smart dog!).
Dora was very vocal...as usual. Wi was also barking her head off while I was throwing her sticks, but she was quiet while we worked with the bumper.
She almolst lost her Chicken Cuz in the lake (there was a small current and the Cuz started to float away and Wi lost sight of it) but luckly she managed to find it.
After the swimming we went back and stoped at a big patch of grass filled with dandelions. Both Tollers loved running around in it and you can guess how their paws looked after they got back on the greyish road.
In the car all dogs were quiet and Wi and Dee soon fell asleep.
I can't say how much I love the fact that Toller's coat dries up extra fast. Once we were home Wi wasn't dirty and muddy at all and was nice, dry and clean. Apparently Dee was the same (but she looked like a bigger pig when we left).
The weather was really nice too (sun, sun and more sun) and dispite the fact my pants were soaked as much as they could get soaked (Wi kept leaning on me after she came out of the water) I had a blast.
We definetly have to repeat that sometime soon.

Bike
Yesterday I overslept a bit and we didn't go on our morning bikeride because when I woke up it was raining. But since our agility training was cancelled 'cuz of the rain we could go bikejoring in the afternoon. And so we did.
We met very little people, only one dog, some cows and horses and Wi again had to go into the water 101 times before we got back home.

Psycho dog
This is usually the word people use when they see/hear Wi and her ssqueaky toy. She just keeps twiching with her mouth while holding the toy and all you can hear all the time are quick and short squeaks.
I bough her the same squeak toy (just a bit diffrent size and color as Dee's) and she just can't take her eyes off it. She even stopped chewing Lizzie's bone when she saw it and "attached" my pockets (tapping them with her paws).
I used it today while doing contacts and she literally flew over jumps, plank and did her turn around the tree and cone (contacts were all really good).

New kid in town

2008-04-29T09:31:00.005+02:00

Meet Foxy red Dee the Dreamworker aka Dee!
She came from Germany to Slovenia this Sunday and is owned by a friend of mine that also lives in Ljubljana so me and Wi will se her often.
She's really cute and more open than Wi was at her age. She's also lighter than Wi and has a liver nose.
She's already started her puppy classes and clicker training and so far it look really good. She's very eager to please and figures things out really fast. She's a bit picky with food (altough she attacks and searches my pockets and hand whenever she gets a chance). She also met a phesant (I bough Wi's with me) and we did a little cliker in. She was really eager to work thing out and after a short session she was so tired she slept for and hour.

The first contact...
Dee and Wi met for the first time on Sunday. Wi at first didn't show any signs of noticing Dee. She was more interested in Dee's squeky toy bird so I had to lock the toy into Dee's crate and even then Wi kept staring at it. Psycho dog...
But after some time they aterted to play a bit and their game became more and more rough so I had to stop Wi from time to time when she got a bit too rugh. Dee also tough Wi had some milk and tried to get under her and look for it a couple of times. Wi was so confused.
Then we went outside where we let them go and we had a smaller photo session of both of them. While Wi was feching her newest toy Dee was cuddling and looking for shadow under me and Lenka. She also managed to steal Wi's new toy and they also played with each other again.
All in all it was a great day and I think both dogs enjoyed it.
Once we got back in Dee went to sleep again...and Wi was looking for the squeaky toy or any other toy that she could find.
It seem that all toys that aren't hers are at least half more interesting than hers.

More photos of Dee and Wi

2008-04-26T13:22:00.003+02:00

Today we went bikejoring in the morning and came back really muddy. We made about 7-8km through the forest and Wi also went swimming. The weather was sunny and a bit warm so we enjoyed it a lot. We also didn't see many people (8 in total + 3 dogs).

This is what she's currently doing (while I'm cleaning the room):

A tired dog is a happy dog.

Ps.: There's a new poll in the sidebar.

Holidays!

2008-04-25T18:24:00.004+02:00

Yeesss!
Finally the holidays are here! A whole week just for me and the dogs. I just hope the weather will be nice too.

Tommorow I'll probably take the dogs and go bikejoring in the morning and then a nice, long walk in the afternoon.
On Sunday me and Wi are going to see Dee - the newest Toller addition in Slovenia.
Monday were off to Bohinj for soem hiking and swimming (especially for some swimming!) and for the rest of the week we don't have any plans yet. I could catch up on some reading...

Oh, I'm also dogsitting Lizzie for 3-4 days so Wi is definetly going to have a blast (and I'll be able to practice taking photos of black dogs).

Yesterday Wi was with me at school again and I saw how my dog is actually in need for some trick training before class. Everytime she came with me to school we did lots of tricks before class and she got tired enough and didn't make a noise almost all day! But yesterday I was underr a lot of pressure and stress becouse I had to study for something I had 2nd hour. And for the whole 1st and 2nd hour (while I was asked) she kept whinning and looking at me, she even bought me my classmate's slipper. After the 2nd hour we did some tricks and she was happy wnough to sleep through the rest of the school hours. She also managed to ripp the legs of her Chicken Cuz (see post below) and to give him a new haircut.
But as long as he still squeaks and bounces I don't really care. My foult really for letting her have it for a longer period of time (she can get very destructive...even an original Kong isn't safe from her).
After school we went on a 4 hour walk. Something we both enjoyed even tough the weather was a bit hot and I had to carry around my heavy school bag.

New toy

2008-04-23T19:05:00.002+02:00

Wi's new toy arived today from UK.
The Chicken Cuz!

Wi is having a blast with it and is certanly enjoying it. And...it floats.

Work & relaxation

2008-04-21T21:36:00.002+02:00

While I was working at a dog show this whole weekend (and I'm still very tired because of it) Wi was enjoying at Lenka's.

I think photos speak for themselves.

Little steps

2008-04-16T20:40:00.007+02:00

Yesterday Wi went into the water without me incouraging her to go in and without spending 30 minutes deciding where to go in. Thanks to an advice from a friend of mine ( thanks Maja! ) I didn't say a thing and just kept throwing sticks into the water. And after a few minutes she "clicked" and just went in...and evey other entry in the water was better and better.

I also took a video with my mobile phone:

You can also see at the end how crazy she gets when she gets out of the water.

My little clown.

I also forgot to take a leash with me to the training...again. It wouldn't be a problem othervise because I always go straight into the car after the training but yesterday I went on a walk after traininag because dad was picking me up 1 hour later and then I carried Wi across the streets and near busy roads.
Before he came to pick us up we were sitting near a store and were doing some tricks and some older people stood near and watched her and gave her a lot of compliments and applouse. The handstand was by far the most popular one.

Older videos of 2 new tricks
"Under the blanket"

"Wrap yourself in a towel"

Recent photos from this week

New addition

2008-04-13T10:01:00.002+02:00

After a long time I finally got enough money to buy myself a new camera...
Canon EOS 350D

I'm really happy with it. I'm still learning how to use it properly but I think I'm getting the hang of it.
I'm also looking for another lens (I currently have on 18-5mm) so this is what I'm saving my money for right now (a 55-200mm lens).

A photo of Wi doing a handstand on the wall
Also Wi is now entered in Obedience, Working test and Conformatin show in Sweden in August. We'll be leaving on the last Sunday in July and come back on 5th or 6th of August.

Frisbee seminar

2008-04-08T20:03:00.003+02:00

On Saturday I spent the whole day in Ajdovščina on a frisbee seminar.

The seminar itself was 2 days long but I only managed to come on Saturday due to school on Friday. I'm still a bit sad I was only there one day, because it was AMAZING!

The seminar was lead by Jakub Stybr and his "Czech team" and they all did a wonderful job and were really helpful. Me and Wi learned a lot, especially me (about my throwing). I also got some new ideas and some feedback on our work so far.
I was a bit worried about Wi's jumping because I tough she landed a bit to soon with her tough end but apparently her jumping is great and not "suicidal".
I also made some new friends on the seminar and even saw 2 Tollers - mother and daughter.

Zip (6 months old Toller)

The weather conditions were good despite the weather forecast. It was sunny and maybe a bit to windy at times but we all enjoyed it.

Up and down we go...

2008-04-01T19:55:00.003+02:00

...and we really do.

General
There's been very nice weather so far but the forecast for the next days isn't so nice. I also have a frisbee seminar on Saturday and another seminar on Sunday (also dog related). So hopefully it won't rain on the day I have frisbee seminar but it can rain on Sunday since I'll be inside all the time.

Canine Freestyle
We are slowly putting together our routine for Celje - I still don't know if we're doing it there becouse I still didn't get any conformation about it
If I don't get an answer soon I'll just cancel the whole thing and use this routine another time for some other event. But we won't be doing it on request of this person anymore.

We have learned a few new CF moves and "tricks". I'll try to tape our routine when I finish it.

Agility
First of all we won't be doing the dog-walk for a while. For some time now she had more than 50% bad contacts or even more. Now we're back on the plank and I'm hoping she didn't get to much muscle memory on the dog-walk . Now our plan is as follows:

60 reps a day, 3 sessions with 20 reps
I only raise the plank when she has 100% for at least 3 days
When she has 100% for at least 2 days I add an obstacle (little tunnel or a cone for turning) after it

That's my plan...let's hope it will work.

Today at Polona's training she had some really good moments and there were a lot of handling mistakes fro my part. Bad handler.
What surprised me was that she popped out of the weaves! This is the second time tis week she has done this. She never did anything like this before. I'm a bit worried about this...but her entrys are still very nice.

Frisbee
As mentioned above we're going to a frisbee seminar on Saturday. I'm really excited abot it.
And since Friday (I think...) Wi is jumping after frisbees when I throw them at a distance. Before she just ran and then waited for them to drop so low she didn't have to jump. But now she's jumping AND she's jumping really nicely - landing on all 4 legs at once. And...she did a flip!

So as you can see we have some ups and some downs. But the most inmortant thing is we're having fun and enjoy every single day.

Not my week

2008-03-28T08:09:00.003+01:00

This week has been almost nothing but one downfall after another.

On Monday out agility training was cancelled due to snow, on Wednesday I tought it's going to rain so I didn't go to Bohinj. Guess what....it was sunny!
Yesterday I planned to go to Ajdovščina for a bit of agility training (Wi would get a chance to practice on a unknown dog-walk, teeter, a-frame and weaves) but I got sick. Also our walk to school on Golovec was canceled due to rain.
And today I'm still not feeling fit and healthy and it's raining again.

So much for all the plans I had for this week.

Some health results

2008-03-26T09:35:00.002+01:00

HD: B/B
Both hips have 104° angle

ED: 0/0

Snow for Easter

2008-03-23T09:19:00.004+01:00

That's right. Yesterday it was snowing all day in Ljubljana. The dogs were happy about this since snowball are one of their biggest passions.

SLR registry
On Friday I got Wi's pedigree back from KZS (Slovenian Kennel Club). Wi is now registred as the first Toller in Slovenia.
Mic Mac Hunter's Eyvwiin: SLRNSR - 000001

Training
Last week I read a book about clicker training and it had some more info on targeting (stick, mat, chin, pawsetc.). Untill some weeks ago I didn't give much on target training since I didn't know that much about it but since then I started to use it more often and I'm really surprised at how many things you can learn with this. Right now I'm teaching her with target mat (a bathroom rug) the "front" position for Canine Freestyle.
Here's a training video of Wi and her target mat:

I'll try to tape our other trainings too. Since I'll be home almost all week I'll have plenty of time to do it.

Other
And...Wi's getting her hips and elbows X-rayed in 2 days. I'm really interested what the results will be.

PC problems

2008-03-17T09:29:00.003+01:00

Yeah I had some PC problems over the last weeks but hopefully they're over now.

I managed to send Wi's pedigree to KZS. Hopefully we'll get it back soon (and see which number she has).

Here's a video mix of Wi's agility training last week (club and home):

This was the first time she did an obstacle after the DW. She did slow down a bit at first but after every try she slowed down less and she again got more and more confident and started to hit the contact lower.
Now if we could only do something with our teeter problem...

There was a charity run in Ljubjana yesterday called Repkov tek. Me and WI didn't run but we did a bit of trick showing during agility and trick presentation of KD Krim. Except for the fact she got a bit overexcited and when she started hiding her eyes under her paw I couldn't stop her, she did great. There was a lot of dogs around and people but she didn't seem to care about them at all. Even when we played afterwards and I was throwing her ball near people she payed them no attention.

And...2 more months untill our 1st agility competition!!!

Bad, bad Polona

2008-03-10T20:10:00.004+01:00

I'm really bad at uploading sometimes...

About
I'm getting through all my school work and learning and training both dogs. So far everything is a bit of a chaos but we're getting through.

Agility
Everything is still more or less mud, mud and more mud.
We didn't do much contact work in a while and judging by the weather conditions we won't be able to do it for at least a few more days. We did however train some jumping courses with slalom and jumps at 55 cm!!! I was really proud at her. The jumps didn't give her any problems, she just flew over them and she managed to find slalom entrances every time no matter from which direction I sent her in.

Retriever training
Some more photos of our trainings with stuffed rabbit and pheasant and a real duck (fresh):

How did she do?
Better than I expected.
We still have problems with water entries. If she sees a way to get closer to the duck on land she'll go there. She doesn't go directly in the water except if she already found out that there isn't an entries way in.
And she realized relatively fast where to grab the duck. At first she grabbed it by the tail but all she was left with were feathers, she quickly rethought her idea of grabbing it by the legs and when carrying by the wing didn't prove successful too she finally grabbed it right.

Frisbee
Today I decided I'll start clicking for every time she nicely jumps in the air after the every time. SO far she showed a bit of improvement in frequency of jump-catches and her jumping style actually got a lot better (and safer!!!)
We didn't do frisbee in a while now since the weather wasn't nice (rain and wind) so today we did mostly indoor throwing and some rollers/short throws outside the house.
I'm really looking forward to our frisbee seminar in April.

Tricks
We learned a new trick. Hopefully I'll manage to tape it soon (or just put the one I made with my mobile camera on here) and I'll start recording our clicker sessions (left feet up, covering her head) again. We didn't do any of this after last blog entry and we did something else instead.

Hiking
Some photos from our yesterday's trip to Sv. Primož:

Photos by Lenka

Mud, mud, mud...

2008-02-20T17:18:00.006+01:00

MUD!

Yeah...training grounds at KD Krim are one big mud puddle. I even managed to fall into one of the biggest ones today:

And...Wi got her pheasant today!!!
Many thanks to Tjaša G. for it.

And let's not forget Valjar...

Some photos from today's agility training (mostly taken by Lenka)

And slalom!

Video of 4th trick training session will come later in the evening

Update! I finally downloaded the video:

Trick - 3rd day

2008-02-19T18:57:00.005+01:00

General
First of all...Wi's heat is over!
Now she can sleep freely in my bed again.

Trick
3rd day of teaching Wi to cover her head with a towel:

Agility
Today we had our training in KD Ilirija but it didn't go well at all. Wi was ultra slow today. I mean...she had days when she wasn't as fast as she can bee but this time she was even slower. So we did some simple jump + tunnel combinations but she was really slow. We also did A-frame at full height twice. 1. wasn't that good but she didn't get enough speed on the jumps to proberly do it anyway, but the 2. was really nice.
We also did running contacts on the dogwalk. The first half was pretty good, but the other half was terrible. She only made 2 really nice contacts. We'll see how it will go tommorow.
Now for the thing she did very good today...slalom! We're doing the channel method and today I closed the channel.
Sadly I don't have Wi taped while doing the closed channel...only open ones we did before:

Enjoy!

Teaching a new trick 1

2008-02-18T10:58:00.006+01:00

Today I started to teach Wi a new trick - covering her head with a blanket. At first I rewarded any interaction with the blanket and this was my plan for her first session, but since she's such a genius she was already throwing the blanket up in the air and over herself in just a few clicks.
I taped 2 sessions on the video that were made about 20 minutes apart. You can see how short our sessions really are. And I included a bit of trick revision in the end. You can see she can already do a few steps on her front legs outside too.

Such a good doggy.

From last Friday we have an additional dog in the household. A Rough Collie Valj. Intact male...
Since Wi is still in heat (23rd day today) they're separated but the poor chap isn't too happy about this. Hopefully Wi will end her 1st heat soon.
Otherwise he's a real cuddle bear.

Last Friday and Saturday Wi went to school with me because we had information day at our school. She was "the sick dog" and we showed a few ways how to hold the dog on her and how a normal examination looks like. She also showed her tricks. The most popular ones are the "ku-ku" and handstand trick. And afcourse jumping on my back.
We also had a stuffed daschound there and Wi tough it was real. I had to hide ti from her or she started to bark at it then whine and then she wanted to play with it. I'm still mad I didn't record it...she was hilarious!

Birthday girl

2008-02-14T09:41:00.003+01:00

On February 11th Wi was 1 year old!

Happy birthday little Wi!

We spent 10th (Sunday) in the mountains where we were hiking for 5 hours and enjoying the snow and sunshine.

In other news I got an unusual reaction to my medicine so I had to go see a doctor again today and got some new medicine.

Wi is still in heat. Except for 3 males who ocasionally come to our house things have been pretty quiet. Even though she's peeing and sniffing around more than usually (way more!) she was amazing yesterday at agility training. I was the first time we I decided to do the A-frame in course (some obstacles before and then after). First we did only A-frame, then some jumps + A-frame but none of the contacts were made really good as I know she can make them better. On the last try we did it alll without me stopping after the A-frame or slowing down (I just ran towards the next obstacle) and she did the contact better then ever and continued to do the course (about 6-8 more obstacles) without a flaw! Even dog-walk contacts looked good...

Sick

2008-02-07T14:31:00.000+01:00

Yeah...I got sick.
I went to see a doctor yesterday and she prescribed me some huge pills I have to take every 12 hours for the next 10 days and some rest and no school. :-(

The weather perked up and now it's sunny and I'm not well enough to go ona a walk with the dogs.
I was feeling well enought today to do some contacts with both dogs and even tape it.
First some photos:

And the video:

9th day

2008-02-04T11:45:00.000+01:00

It's still raining today so our agility training will probably be cancelled this week.
We did some contacts outside in the rain and Wi was again really good. :-)

We also made our walk a bit shorter today as both dogs got me so wet I was to cold to go on.
Instead we did more clicker training today. Here's a short video of one of Wi's clicker trainings:

Today we're also going back to te vet's with Dora so he'll remove the tube from her shoulder.

8th day

2008-02-03T12:32:00.000+01:00

Today is 8th day of Wi's first heat.
Apart from more sniffing around the trees and taller objects on walks she's just the same crazy self.

Dora was at the vets a few days ago because an abscess has formed on her right shoulder due to the dog bite previous week. The vet put a tube in her shoulder since there was a lot of liquid inside and we're taking it out tomorrow. Right now both dogs are dressed...Wi wears pants and Dora a shirt.

I took Wi with me today for a bit of running. She loved it as always.
When we went back I accidentally threw (did I mention I'm a bad thrower?) her Kong of the path and off a small cliff. Wi got down no problem and retrieved the Kong but then she couldn't get back the way she got down. She kept jumping up the slope (and sliding back down) when finally she saw that there was a lower slope just a few steps away. She got back up there in a second but managed to get dirt all over her Ruffwear harness. So when we got back home Wi and the harness both went into the bathtub.

The bathtub is now used almost every day at least twice. Since the weather is so messy and there's always rain the ground around has turned into mud. Our backyard has almost no grass on it anymore = the result of training running contacts almost everyday there. So now after every walk or training outside Wi has to be bathed or the whole house is brown and filled with her paw prints and drops of mud and water (when she shakes). Yesterday it was raining and we went out to do a bit of contact training. We only did 5 contacts (4 were really really good, 1 wasn't made because she slipped and jumped off) and went straight back in...Wi was full of mud! And then she decided she wants to see what Dora has in her bowl so she made a nice little mud trail from the terrace to Dora's sleeping place...and then she broke her stay when I went to get a towel so the whole house was muddy. And the stairs...and the bathroom...and she managed to clog the drain with her mud.
I sure hope the weather will perk up a bit soon. Not that this means the dog won't be wet or dirty.

On Friday I took Wi with me to school again. She again was showing her tricks almost every break (and during my gym class) cudling here and there althoug she never went far away from me and ignored everything and everyone while working.
After class we went straight to Tivoli park with a friend of mine and her mix Rex to wait for Urška and Lu. We then went for a 3h walk around Tivoli, Rožnik, Mostec etc. We both loved it and even some rain drops didn't stop us. She finally went to sleep in the car.

A tired dog is a happy dog.

Blood & wounds

2008-01-28T10:09:00.000+01:00

A few days ago Dora was attacked by another dog. She got 4 wounds around her neck and shoulders, 2 of them have already healed. She's her normal self so that's a relief. She doesn't seem to be affraid of dogs or the place where she was attacked. Now we just need to wait for other 2 wounds to heal and her hair to grow back (I had to cut a lot of her hair off to even see where the wounds were and clean them).
That's it about the "wound" part.

Now about the "blood" part...Wi went in heat yesterday!
Yesterday I only saw a few drops of blood on her bum, but today you can see her red bottom from far away (when her tail is up).
On the side Wi's kelpie friend Ra also went into heat on the exactly the same day (she's younger by a few months). I think this proves it that they're telephaticly connected.

Sunny walk

2008-01-25T21:15:00.000+01:00

Today me and Wi went on a walk with Urška and her Lu.
We did some contacts before we left and 2/5 contacts actually looked like these (taken at home):

2 were her "usual" contacts (front paw at the top of the contact, pushes off the middle with hind feet) and one was a really ugly one.

And some photos form our walk:

We also played with frisbee yesterday.

Agility competition in Gornja Radgona

2008-01-20T18:58:00.000+01:00

Yesterday me and Wi went to an agility competition in Gornja Radgona. The competition was held indoors and due to a very low number of competitors (less than 100) everything was over faster than usually (and the had 3 runs instead of 2!).
Wi was mostly chasing around with dogs outside or doing tricks or sleeping in her box inside. She wasn't distracted at all so I was really happy about this. We also did a bit of heeling and she did really well. Her position is a lot better now but we still need to work on some details.
The competition itself was really lovely and we really had a great time. I also managed to catch up with some people.

Lenka was again with us and so was her camera. I'm already looking for a new camera myself but right now I just can't afford what I want.
And here are some photos from yesterday...

I also saw a 10 weeks old pyrshep puppy (blue merle bitch)...
I'm still waiting at least 3 years for my little pyrshep though. But it's hard whit all these cute pyrshep puppys around.

11 months

2008-01-14T11:55:00.000+01:00

Here's a fresh video of Wi:

I'll try to write some more after I get back home from school.

A new thing

2008-01-12T11:46:00.000+01:00

From now on I'll write this blog in english.

No new photos this time...sorry. There's too much fog in Ljubljana to make any decent photos with my little Nikon CP 3200.

Agility

Yesterday I went on a quick agility tranining with Wi. We only did the contacts on the dogwalk. Lately we haven't done much training except on a short plank at home (the long one is to slippery when placed at the right angle)...Anyway the first few contacts we're the "ugly ones" (she only makes the contact with 3 feet at the upper part of the contact), then she did some really nice contacts (at least 4 feet, once even with 5, one front leg at the lowest part of the contact), the it got worse again but the last 4 were perfect.
We also did a few cik&cap before she ran the contacts and she did almost all of them really tight and very fast. She seems to have faster and tighter turns if she knows that the next obstacle is either the dogwalk or the tunnel.
On Wednesday we also had agility training. I was almost walking since we have so much mud there even the dogs can barely run and turn without slipping (Wi fell yesterday and you can guess how pretty she look when she got up). We did a few jumps + tunnel combinations and some slalom training (the weaves are almost in a straight line now) and teeter training. I wanted to do some contact training at the end but when everyone else finished and me and Wi went to do the dogwalk everyone let their dogs loose and we couldn't do anything since one BC decided it's really fun to herd Wi and block her way on the dog walk and other find it funny to steal her ball (Wi's reward). You can guess I wasn't happy about this.
Next time we'll have to do it at the beggining or in the middle... which means the training will last a bit longer for everyone but at least they won't be able to complain about me not putting the obstacles back into the hut like everyone else (or mostly everyone else). Even though I do help and mostly still manage to put more obtacles into the hut than some others. So much about me being the "lazy one".
Yeah I needed to get that one out.

Tricks
Wi learned a new trick - lifting her both right feet. She does it almolst 50% without the wall/chair/my arm as support.
We're also doing the "diagonal legs up" trick. So far she still leans on me a lot with her front paw but she already did it a few times without my help.
Here are the few other tricks we're currently working on:

"Sniff" or "the other kind of bow" - I saw this trick on youtube (performed by a BC called Asia)
Backward 8 - We're almolst there with this
Backward slalom through my legs
putting a leed on a plastic bowl
Getting into a really small bowl
Balancing a treat on her nose
Pushing away from my body and making a 180° turn in the air (she already does this but she needs to jump a little higher and push off a little more)
Crawling
Lifting just her right back leg
Putting her pwas into small rubber circles
Walking sideways with crossing front paws
Chasing her tail
Sk8 (almolst done with this )
Shaking her whole body
Yawning

That's it so far.

2008-01-05T19:59:00.000+01:00

Danes sva šli z Wi še na en "skupinski" sprehod. Tokrat je bila zaseba Wi, Dora, Taffy in Kana.
Nekje na sredi smo srečali Katjo in njena flata Odija in Lady. Ker je imela sabo tudi dummyje sva z Wi naredili tudi manjši trening in Wijino prvo vlečko, ki jo je zelo zelo lepo naredila. :-D

Back legs

2008-01-03T18:30:00.001+01:00

Vem da je tole na youtubu že nekaj časa, samo sem pozabila dati še sem gor.