RIP Dora

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

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

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

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"

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

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

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

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

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

And we go hiking, whenever we get the chance.

Slovenian agility 2009

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

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

Tired Toller with her cup :)

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

So hot...

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

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

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

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

Getting better

...and better and enjoying beauty of Slovenia.

No time to be serious...