July trialing was minimal. Beside the dock diving that we did in the beginning of July, we did return to the same venue one more time!
I registered Perri with NADD and bravely bought two Splashes for her. I got her up on the dock during practice time and she was jumping nicely with Molly and then by herself. When it was time for her actual jump, her confidence dropped. The dog ahead of her was not very exciting (in Perri's opinion!). So Perri was not raring to go and barking as she would have been by a more driven or fast dog ahead of her on the dock. The dog was fairly slow moving, so when I let Perri up onto the dock, it was still on the exit stairs. Perri noticed and it made her very worried. Sigh. I was able to get two jumps out of her by acting like a total fool. Life with Perri! Regardless, she got her first official jump of 8'9", go poodle!
When practice time came around again I got her up there with Molly but I could see that Perri was giving the entire activity a big "no thank you" for the day. It was not as hot and sunny as it had been two weeks prior, that was also working against us. Fortunately I was able to give Perri's other splash to Molly, for a small fee for adding a "day of" entry. I certainly don't think future dock diving is out of the question for Perri, but I knew I needed to let it go for the day. I did not want to further damage her confidence levels.
So Molly ended up doing four splashes, which was fine by her! Her first splash was in the Junior range and then the last three of the day were all in the bottom of the Senior division. She earned her Senior Jumper title with NADD on the third jump of the day.
I doubt that we will do any more dock diving this season. There is a NADD qualifier event in August but it nearly filled and while I would have taken a slot or two, I am not interested in trying to qualify for the Eukanuba event so I'm happy to leave the Splashes to those that are. I really enjoyed doing more dock this season with Molly, and there is no doubt that she did too!
Last weekend we played USDAA agility, just two runs. As planned I had taken Molly out of Standard, so we did only Gamblers and Jumpers. I don't have any videos but it was a really nice day! I was able to create a fun course for us in Gamblers, which I often find myself unable to do. (Whereas in CPE I can almost always plan a point racking flowing course that Molly loves.) A lot of wide open line options in this Gamblers course! The Gamble was very do-able, it was two jumps and then a send to a tunnel. Molly ran out to the tunnel and then...just didn't do it! I should have encouraged her a little bit more but oh well!
Jumpers was a Q and it was a very nice smooth run. No USDAA trials for us until September. We have been doing some motivational work on the weaves in agility class and Molly's speed and enthusiasm have returned to the obstacle. She really does need regular motivational tune ups to keep feeling like weaves are worth her time, important for me to remember!
Zorro also had his first agility trial! It was startling to me to realize that I have had him a little over a month and he is just now visiting an agility trial. Just not going to as many agility trials this summer as we usually have. Zorro did great. He pottied on leash at a new to him trial site, was very focused on me, happy to eat food, happy to explore but re-engage with me when I asked him. Good crate manners in the car. He was not interested in playing with his toy initially but with a little bit of encouragement we did a little bit of tugging. He was very social with everybody there. He met two other puppies around his age and played nicely with them. And as the photo shows, he was very happy to jump up on the pause table. We did not play with the wicket at all, as there is one at my training center that I can work on with him in a bit less distracting environment to start with.
Last Sunday I finally "bit the bullet" and made the two hour drive to pretty much the only venue that does NADD dock diving in Pennsylvania. I knew that this summer I wanted to decrease our agility trialing and focus on the sport that is perfect for summer weather: dock diving. I knew Molly would appreciate it as well!
When we arrived at the trial site I immediately knew I would be back! The dock was nestled right in front of an enormous orchard and vineyard, there was a brewery/restaurant on site, and a gorgeous antique round shaped barn just across the road. There was even a geocache. It was well worth the drive for a comfortable and scenic trial site, run by laid back people!
Molly was in three "Splashes" and since this was not a "cluster style" event (as was the NADD event we attended in May.), the Splashes ran according to schedule, with the run order alphabetical. Molly had Splashes at 9, 1030 and 1pm. I really love that in NADD you get up on the dock and have the option to do a "practice" jump or not, and then you do your two jumps and are done with your turn all at one time! (Versus doing one jump and going back into the run order.) Hint: Molly is not so fun to wait beside the dock with! Craziness!
Loch Ness Molly
I decided to just try the "place and send" with Molly for the day. So instead of having her in a down stay and throwing the toy as I released her, I threw it in and let her see it and then took her to the far end of the dock (not the take off end) and revved her up and released her to it. She actually takes off right off the edge of the dock with this method! Still, Molly jumped in the Junior range for her first two Splashes, in the 14' range. Her last Splash of the day she finally broke back into her normal Senior range. I still think I will continue with the place and send technique for her.
So Molly is standing at 2 legs in the Junior Division and 3 in the Senior. Which title will she get first?! (you need five legs for a title.)
While I always love a day of dock with Molly, the most exciting part of the day was Perri! Yes, Perri! We started working on dock confidence next year but I was unsure if Perri could ever truly be confident enough to jump without Molly. I bought her practice access to the dock for the day, and NADD allows you to have two dogs on the dock during practice time. Absolutely perfect for a dog like Perri. Perri has never jumped competition dock height before and I had no idea how it would go. Getting both girls up onto the dock together was rather trying. They were both high as kites and barking like lunatics. Molly knew why she was excited, Perri was just...excited.
I was fortunate to get someone to video! We had to do one tease throw, where Perri was too cowardly to jump so Molly got it. The second time it took a lot of cheering and Perri dove in!
From then on Perri was like, "I got this!!!!!!" We did many more throws on the dock during practice times and Perri was quite happy to jump. Wow!
Perri was so proud of herself. One time we were returning to the car from a jump and she snapped into heel position and heeled next to me, all smiles and tail wagging, front feet flying. The talent that is in that dog is incredible and it surfaces when she is happy. I cannot mourn her reluctance, what could have been, what I feel is a failing of all of my hard work. I have to appreciate when we win over fear. There is no feeling like an underdog pulling ahead and kicking the ass of all that has tried to keep her down. I have been slow to realize, but this comes in ebbs and flows with Perri - I cannot expect a steady stream. Love the dog you're with.
I have been out of commision for a few weeks because my laptop stopped working. Thankfully it was an under-$100 quick fix that did not involve "your laptop is screwed, better buy a new one." and I'm back in business. (I hate blogging off of my smart phone or tablet!)
So with Molly's toe arthritis and the limited abilities of my three dog team to play agility (simply meaning, I can't do All The Venues All The Weekends! anymore.), I accepted that we would not be visiting the East Freehold Showgrounds for a trial in a long long time. Because: no more lure coursing for Molly and no more outdoor AKC Agility.
So when I saw an all breed conformation show on Memorial Day weekend offering Canine Good Citizen tests, Trick Dog tests and NADD Dock Diving at the Showgrounds, one of my favorite trial sites...I jumped on the opportunity! I had been looking for a trick dog test for my friend's young dog to test for her Novice Trick Dog title, as we had been preparing her for it. And on the flip side, my friend has been teasing me into giving Ein a third try at his Canine Good Citizen test. After all, third time's the charm? Ein has failed the CGC twice. Both girldogs have their CGCs and I attempted to test Ein twice over the years when each girl took her test. First at Molly's test where he failed any step that involved contact with a human, and secondly at Perri's test where he nearly passed except for the grooming step.
We arrived and went to check on the Dock schedule. It was around 930 in the morning and the CGC testing was running from 10-12 so plenty of time there. This was mine and Molly's first time jumping with NADD (North American Diving Dogs) and I learned that this event was being run "cluster style." This meant that if you pre-register for "Splashes", that you have no set time for your jumps. You show up in the morning and write your name into whatever time slots work for your day (to minimize conflicts.) Unfortunately for me, getting there a half hour after the event began meant that there were no available time slots until 1 or 2pm. You know, right when the Trick Dog testing was available. Yay, conflicts!
After that we walked over to the Canine Good Citizen ring and testing was already under way. I got Ein's name on the sign up sheet for his CGC as well as the Trick Dog schedule! Zoe Poodle also got signed up for her Novice Trick test. I felt a little nervous going into the test, mostly because of the Grooming step. Ein accepted a friendly stranger, sat politely for petting and grooming. The tester was very respectful and let Ein get to know her and approached him from the side and let him sniff the brush. She also asked him for his paw rather than taking it (upon my request. Ein has arthritic feet and he is happy to "shake" when asked.) Loose leash walking and walking through a crowd, no problem! Sit, Down, Stay and Come - no problem! Reacting to another dog (ignored her!) and reacting to distractions (wheel cart rolled by him and clipboard dropped, he glanced at the distractions but back at me.) And finally Supervised Separation, she kept him in the ring and I walked up through the breed rings for three minutes during that time. It is official, The Finest Einest CGC!
After the day's first victory, we returned to the car camp and put Ein in his crate for a rest. Now it was Zoe's turn for her Novice Trick Dog. Since Zoe has previously passed her Canine Good Citizen, for Novice she had to do five tricks. (If the dog has no CGC they must do 10 tricks from the Novice list.) Zoe did: Shake Paw, 4 Paws on Platform, 2 Paws Up, Get in Box and Spin. What I just love about AKC's trick dog program is how it encourages people who may never have done a competition with their dog or who are too intimidated by obedience or rally-o to get out there with their dog, train tricks and earn a title. I love it. That was exactly the case for our friend's Zoe and Mary, the Novice Trick Dog title tested them on skills we have been training and the challenge was accessible to them. Really exciting!
The dock diving schedule was running late so we decided to try to get Ein in for his Trick Dog tests.
I chose to do the Novice, Intermediate and Advanced levels with Ein. What a busy day!
Once again, I have been so excited to do AKC's Trick Dog testing with Ein since I heard of it. I did the mail in titling with Do More With Your Dog with Perri, and she has her Novice and Intermediate titles, but it was so much more appealing to me to go in person with my dog and show off the tricks.
For Novice, since Ein passed his CGC in the morning, he only had to do 5 Tricks. We did: 2 Paws Up, 4 Paws on Platform, Hold It, Shake and Hand Target.
In Intermediate, things got a little intense! The tricks that went according to plan were: Balance treat on nose, Fetch it (dumbbell), Game (Manipulate puzzle toy or kong), Hand Signals (Sit, Down, Come), Leg Weave, Roll Over, Handlers choice "Heeling with AutoSit", Handlers Choice "Right and Left Finishes").
The tricks that did not go according to plan were that I was planning on using Ein's dumbbell carry for the "Carry" trick - but the tester would not allow me to use any object but a basket. So that was out, as Ein had not generalized his object hold to a basket. I wanted to do "Catch" instead, where the dog must catch a treat or a toy but geriatric Ein has lost his ability to catch so that was a total fail. The tester was very kind and told me to go take a break with Ein and return with a trick we could do. Ein was getting hot and there were people waiting for their turn to do their tricks so, this was a good thing.
I couldn't believe it - one trick away! I was totally flustered. Mary and I went back to the car, gave Ein some water and I petted him and told him he was a good boy. I tried to get him to carry the basket, there was lots of attempts to revive his ability to catch treats and Ein was happy to eat all 400 treats I threw at him but his skills grew no more reliable. We tried "Crawl" but with Ein's hips as they are, it is too tiring for him to go the 5 foot distance required reliably and the tester was by the book. "go Find your handler" was an appealing option but I was told we could not do that since we were in an outdoor ring. We tried to get him to jump through my arms circled as a hoop! Paws up on handlers arm! Nothing! When we were in the ring I tried to get Ein to paw target on a little musical piano, and that would have been a passing trick but Ein just kept laying down on the piano and that was Not Good Enough. I finally had the good sense to get Ein paw targeting and rewarding him like crazy for it, and then we went back into the ring and I asked him to paw target on the $%$&!!! toy piano and he did it and we finally passed the Intermediate Trick Dog. Whew! It did me a heckin concern!
Comparatively, Advanced was a breeze. Ein did Back Up, Circle Right and Left, Turn on pressure activated light (with the paw target again!), Play Dead (Bang!) and Down at a Distance of 15 feet (verbal or hand signal only.)
And all that remained was the blissful relaxation and no-thinking joy of Molly's dock diving! It has been almost two years since Molly has gotten to dock dive at an actual competition event, and she was cranked to the max! She was so frustrated having to wait she latched onto my leg and tried to hump me a few times. Oh my! Molly had her first two jumps with NADD, in the senior range with a 15'6 and a 15'.
So I got my Freehold showgrounds fix for the year and a well rounded day for all! Only Perri was left out of the action. I am curious about getting her up on the dock to see if she is brave enough for a leap but the day was far too busy for that. I am planning on some more NADD events later in the season and they do allow "Try Its" with a second dog on the dock, so that is going to be a very good way for Perri to get acquainted with jumping. And as far as the Trick Dog titles, I can grandfather Perri's DMWYD Intermediate title so she can go straight to testing at the Advanced level. I will look forward to a future event with her! Not that Perri minded coming along for the ride and being support staff, she is always happy in that role.
