Master Performance Dog Molly!

Part of pandemic life is adapting. I have been so grateful for all dog competition venues who offer virtual options to keep me motivated, to keep the sense of community that I love about dog sports and to keep me happy! But #1 on my Grateful List is USDAA for their "USDAA @ Home!" program. They are offering weekly agility courses for at home titling. For each class, you must build two different modules and have clean rounds in each in order to qualify. I do not have a yard large enough for any more than two jumps at a time if that so while I appreciated the program when it began, I quickly accepted that it was not for me. I even felt a little stab of pain because I knew that if I had the yard space, I could have set up and tried to get that last dratted Standard Q for Molly's Master Performance Dog (MPD) title.

And then our agility club did exactly that for our weekly training class. Molly does not train at class anymore, Zorro has taken that over. Step aside, Zorro! I was not sure if my classmates would be willing to tweak the agility course in order to change over to the second module required for titling. My concerns turned out to be silly, not only were they willing but they also wanted to participate and possibly earn a Masters Standard Q for their own dogs!

All we had to do was get a clean round on each module...

And we did it! You can  do "re-dos" an only submit the clean run. Molly is an old girl so, I was not going to be grilling her again and again just to get a Q. Yes, this title is my last true agility goal for her. And I have left the goal go more than a few times. I could do it again!

Molly ran Module 2 first with a clean run. Module 1 was a little harder with some misfires of handling and of pitbull enthusiasm. We got our clean run before long but with my body entirely blocking video view of the A-frame contact. Ugh! Video titling is often like this, I went through many growing pains with Parkour video titling in particular!

But we got it! I uploaded the two videos to You Tube that evening and it took about a week after that particular Standard event ended for the two modules to be cleared. You get a "Y" next to your module if it has passed. Molly got two Ys and she is now a Master Performance Dog!

Was I disappointed we did not earn this title at a "real" trial? I am not. USDAA @ Home! is a wonderful opportunity for dogs with anxiety and stress issues, a true silver lining of the pandemic. Molly has competed with me for years despite her overarousal and low frustration threshold issues, and her frustration reactivity towards other dogs. We have worked hard through her issues and while those Big Feelings of hers have caused her humorous zooming, tunnel sucking and other "fun" naughty behaviors, there is no doubt that overexcitement stress has been a challenge for us. Molly "stresses up", but she still stresses. To finish our last big agility title together during an adaptation of the pandemic, "living our best pandemic lives"....that was cool. As with everything Molly-related, it took its time, we took many detours and ended up at our destination with big memories to last forever. My girl got to "go MAD!" at last, and it only took a global pandemic to get us there.

Covid Titles and the Wine and Weenies UKI Trial!

For better or for worse, "things are opening up" where I live, Covid-wise. My hospital is back to operating nearly at full steam elective procedure/surgery-wise. Zorro and I have had three in person agility classes now and it was absolutely wonderful to get back to it. My yard barely has room for a set of weave poles or two jumps at a time so I had to put agility on the mental shelf for a little while. Agility is my happy place, my stress relief - and so when work became more stressful than ever during the pandemic, I really missed having that outlet. Being able to focus my training and earn fun titles at home was a welcome replacement for our weekly agility lessons and I am so appreciative for the organizations that made at home titles a possibility.

We continued on with the AKC Trick Dog program, and earned Zorro's Trick Dog Advanced...

And I just got word that Zorro passed his Novice Parkour title!

We actually had to re-do one of our videos. Darn it, I thought I was good at following the rules! Our "Under" video did not pass. The dog has to go Under something at least shoulder height or lower. I did feel like we met the requirements there but I think we cut it too close. With Parkour, if the violation is "non safety" related, you can resubmit that one video for free. With our Under video resubmission, Zorro passed and earned his Novice Parkour title!

But speaking of agility, UKI Agility was rocking it by offering At Home trials! Every week you could enter in your choice of three different sized courses in many different classes, clear runs earning titling Qs. The smallest size offered is 30x30. I of course do not have even a 30x30 space so, UKI at Home was out for me. As time went along, UKI loosened the restrictions to allow competitors to do UKI At Home in places other than their own yard or building, as long as it was permitted by law. When our state opened to "yellow" phase, my agility trial buddy and I decided to get together and have our own little outdoor trial. We entered Speedstakes, and since we always get a grilled hot dog when we go to trials together, hot dogs would be on the menu. And of course, wine! The Wine and Weenies trial!

We did managed to pass our Speedstakes run. Not my best work, and definitely a different "feel". The course was tight at 30x30 with not much room for the dog to open up, especially a 20" dog but hey - it felt like heaven. And Zorro? That guy is just happy to do whatever makes me happy. Always. 

Zorro Dreampark Debut Novice JWW and Standard Legs 2

This past weekend I had one of those "dreams come true" moments. My baby dog came home last summer. We have adventured together, trained together, fallen in love. I have patiently waited years. Three years. To return to one of my favorite AKC Agility trial sites: Dreampark.

The environment is tough. A three ring trial in a dirt footing horse arena. There are literal birds living in the rafters and they fly around through the day. It is noisy with dogs and people and a general din that never stops until days end. There is cat poop buried in the dirt on the edges of the ring. But I know my babydog, he could do it. My girls taught me everything that I know about environmental stress and acclimation. Zorro has natural handler focus, but that's not the whole picture. We have been working on this on every hike, every trial site visit, every walk, every outing since he has been a baby. It has been so very important to me. You get a dog with natural focus, but then you need to support and help that talent grow. Coming from erratic no-frustration-tolerance pitbull Molly, and worried about everything Perri - it was a major priority to reward and support offered focus from Zorro over the last year plus that I have known him.

I entered Zorro in Novice FAST so that he could get in the ring before we had to work on a numbered course. We ran the outside of the ring in a circle, earned 67 points in 13 seconds and Zorro's first Novice FAST leg!

Novice Standard was next. Video is below. I was a little disappointed I did not insist on 2o/2o criteria on Zorro's dog walk. He tried the "four on" on the teeter again but I asked him to meet his criteria. I don't want that slippery slope of poor contact behavior - thank you, Molly, for teaching me the importance of that! I did choose to not front cross in front of the weave poles. Not at a new trial site with a dog who is still growing his confidence on the weave poles. I did a messy turn on the flat to the pause table instead. It was fine, got the job done.

Novice JWW was next and same deal for the weaves. I opted for a turn on the flat after the weaves instead of cramming a cross in before them. A little wonky but it worked out. I am thrilled with his distance to the jump before the speed line at the end. I am trying so hard to let Zorro go do his job and not crowd obstacles. I am a work in progress! We also need a better understanding of "go on" when there is a straight row of jumps. We ran out of "go go go"s for that last jump. One refusal but that didn't take our Q away.

And we get to go back in two weeks! I am so looking forwards to that. The day with Zorro was a bit surreal for me. I have been so used to agility being about supporting my girls' mental states and the whole behavioral side of getting into the agility ring with brains semi-intact. Reactivity. Over excitement. Management.
Zorro has zero concerns in that realm. There is me, there is food, there are his toys and there is agility. Why worry about that other crap?

Brave new world for me. I am so grateful for this exciting journey we are beginning together.

Zorro's First Agility Trial

Big day today, Zorro's first agility trial! For USDAA Intro, dogs need to be 14 months old of age minimum. Zorro turns 16 months old tomorrow, and I felt he has become mature enough to begin experiencing the trial environment from inside of the ring. He has been coming to agility trials and the agility building since quite literally the day after I brought him home, which is a huge advantage for environmental acclimation.

Today's trial was perfect. It was a one ring trial, Starter/Advanced/Intro only. The entry was so light that the trial nearly cancelled, but that's not such a bad thing for a green dog! We started with Intro Jumpers. We had two jumps not properly supported by me but otherwise a great run! I feel a little bad I did not just keep running (I mean, it was FEO so it's not like we had to do every jump!) but I also don't feel like I stressed him out or yelled his name for going by. I 100% feel like he had a great time in the ring!

Intro Snooker was next up. I entered Snooker but was not sure what I would really do (do a "real snooker plan" or more freestyle approach). At the briefing the judge did say that Intro is not miscellaneous and that in Intro you do need to attempt the course. You can't just go in and work on anything you want to work on. That was good information to have! I made an opening plan and it went really nicely other than doing my tandem one stride too soon for Zorro and sending him around the second red (and then changing my handling plan on the fly, doing a backside and handling Z to the Aframe. OOPS) After that I was happy with myself until I crowded him on the last jump.

Get out of the dog's way!

Anyway, we survived and Zorro was so focused and steady and enjoyed himself. Makes me so happy! What an exciting future we have together.

Western PA State Parks Road Trip Day THREE

That was the view from my campsite on Sunday morning at Pymatuning State Park. What a great way to start the day!

 The dogs and I were up early for the one hour drive into Erie, PA. Because what is a road trip without agility?? We arrived at the trial site with plenty of time. Perri was entered in P3 Jumpers, her first time in P3! And also the obligatory P2 Standard. The trial entry was light so we were not even there past 11am. Perri was stressed at the trial site, there were plain white walls which she always finds worrying as well as a lot of off leash fetch inside of the building and near the ring, and dogs that otherwise scared her.

Jumpers she started off slow and then got sassy and zoomy, which is typical of Perri when she is stressed but not entirely overwhelmed. In Standard she ran under the tire and I chose to just move on through the course anyway. Perri DID weave but very dependent on my motion and encouragement. The tire has become an issue again for Perri. I am trying to decide how much I actually care about this issue, since Perri is very much on a “whenever we feel like it” plan as far as agility goes and does not respond well to actual training goals. Anyway! The point was: “Just happy to be here, played some agility while on the road trip. CHECK!”

 Our next stop was two of the most popular geocaches in our state! A virtual cache named “Auto Art” was first, with nearly 700 favorite points. Very fun! Next was the oldest geocache in PA, “State Gamelands 109”. The dogs were thrilled with a chance to run off leash after following the leash laws in all of the state parks we had been visiting! I of course could not find the “trail” that led to the cache so I hiked straight through the swamp and got my hiking boots soaking wet. But, I found it!! Now it was time to shift gears back to state park visiting. It was very sunny and hot so I took some time to hang my tent up and dry it out in the parking lot before moving on. We were to stay at a hotel that night so I didn’t want the tent to stay wet in the car.

"Auto Art"

State Gamelands 109

And then it was off to Erie Bluffs State Park (with a stop at a local winery en route, I came away with their Cabernet blend.) The park was smallish with a lovely half mile trial out to an unmarked vista on the Bluffs, overlooking Eerie lake. The water was different shades of blue and really pretty.

After that hike back in the car for our last stop: Presque Isle State Park and I planned to spend the rest of our day there. There were many geocaches, but my goal was to explore, let the dogs swim and with geocache priority on the virtual cache near the end of our loop drive around the isle. Presque Isle was VERY peopley, it is a gorgeous well maintained park and truly as good as going to the beach! The driveway in was two lane and reminded me very much of rush hour traffic!

Regardless, I enjoyed my time there. I pulled over to check things out if I wanted to and most importantly, I found a spot on the beach for the dogs to swim and play fetch. Perri and Zorro are like fire and a match when it comes to fetch together though, since they both love to play keep away and chase. They are not good at containing themselves to the game! (Unlike Molly who is laser focused on fetch and only fetch) Still, they had a blast. My only regret was my camera wasn’t set up to autofocus as quickly as it is capable of, my fault, so I missed a lot of great shots due to them being out of focus. Bummer.)

We ended our time at Presque Isle by visiting the Perry Monument, because I love virtual caches. And I am finding I am more interested in history as the years go by. The monument was in honor of Commodore Perry's actions during the Battle of Lake Erie. The monument area was beautiful and a storm was rolling in so it was windy but still lovely. Not ready to storm just yet. There were many people around but they were all relaxing people, enjoying and discussing the monument and asking questions about the dogs. Just Right. A perfect way to end our time in Erie.

We topped off the night by staying in a hotel room at my favorite Red Roof Inn instead of a tent. There were some storms and heavy rain overnight and that little room felt like a palace to me since I did not have to worry about the storms, or keeping the tent dry or packing it up in the morning. Ahhhh!

CT-ATCH Perri!

Perri and I rolled into yesterday needing the following Qs: Jumpers. Wildcard. And one Q in "any" class. (it would be the 10th leg to make up for skipping the required 10 Standard legs you need for a C-ATCH.)

After Perri's stressy behavior last Saturday as well as an extremely uninspired practice run in Molly's agility class on Monday night, I was trying my best to feel confident.

And we started with Wildcard. Two jumps to a tandem over the spread jump (our first wildcard). A tunnel discrimination for our second Wildcard, I let the easy end be our "A". And then the weaves. Perri got silly and I thought she would start zooming. Thank goodness for no refusals in CPE! I asked her to weave again and she hopped through them nicely, nailed our last Wildcard "B" (a pull to a tunnel instead of the bar jump in her line.) And out the ending. She ran around the last jump but thankfully returned to me without back jumping and took the jump. And not over time!

I started to feel a little more relaxed! The Jumpers course wasn't a straightforward flowy course, it asked for some handling. The first three jumps Perri came off the startline in slow motion, and did a brief stare at me after #2. (I tried to post turn. She was displeased.) I said "Don't do this, Perri!" And then we were off like a shot, a lovely fast Q of the rest of the Jumpers course and 8 seconds under SCT. (as opposed to last weekend's Jumpers course which was an allowable 2 seconds over SCT.) Perri even did a lovely pinwheel at the end, which she often finds demotivating. Good Poo!

The morning was non stop since I had Ein entered in Colors, Wildcard and Jumpers (by the way, perfect day for the boy! 3/3!) and I was working out of my car so I felt like I was back and forth out of the building over and over between course walk throughs and bringing each dog in and out. After Ein's Jumpers run I finally had time to relax a bit since we had to wait for all of the Standard levels to run through before Jackpot. I timed all of those classes and made my Jackpot plan.

And then it was time. I kept Perri sitting on my chair the entire time we were waiting to run. I worked on LAT with large trigger dogs she was worried about. I massaged her neck and scalp and ears. I "squished" her. And then we went in there and we nailed it with nearly 20 more points than we needed and 8 seconds under time. The run could not have been more perfect. She was silly and happy. When she hits the table to stop the clock her tail is wagging. That tail was wagging leaving the ring. Our run was one of mutual enjoyment. Perri felt safe and happy and she was loving the game. How very perfect.

"love, if your wings are broken 

Borrow mine `til yours can open, too 

`Cause I`m gonna stand by you 

Even if we`re breaking down, 

we can find a way to break through 

Even if we can`t find heaven, 

I`ll walk through Hell with you 

Love, you`re not alone, `cause I`m gonna stand by you.

Enthusiast.

Before Perri did the CPE trial in October, I had decided that if she did well I would file the official paperwork with CPE to move her earned Level 5 legs in Regular class to Enthusiast. Enthusiast allows Perri a little bit more time in the ring, a lower jump height and most importantly: you can skip a class. This would mean that Perri would not have to do Standard class in order to earn the Enthusiast level championship title, the CT-ATCH. The extra time would be appreciated. I am embarrassed to jump Perri at 16" but that is very silly. Perri doesn't care. And while mentally I had to reconcile that I felt like I was almost cheating by not fulfilling the complete requirements for a CT-ATCH, I am grateful that CPE allows us the opportunity to earn a comparable title that is more Perri's speed right now.

Anyway. That left us at needing three quailfying rounds in Wildcard, two in Jumpers and one "any class". In CPE when you skip a class you must earn those legs elsewhere. It doesn't matter which class. You need 10 Standard legs for a C-ATCH and so Perri needed 10 legs in any other game. She actually already  had three Standard legs and she has a mixture of extra game legs beyond the required 5. Mostly Snooker. That's her jam.

We went to the local training center for my normal favorite Friday night of agility. The hosting club always offers two classes on Friday evenings and two full weekend days of classes. Fortunately, Wildcard was offered Friday night. I wish I had a video. It was my favorite run of the weekend! In Wildcard, which is my least favorite class mostly because instead of true discriminations you would actually see in agility, it's often just two obstacles plunked down next to one another. Or a tunnel where you have to pick one end or the other (and that is a true normal discrimination but one that I hate!) Mostly because of Molly. Perri is no challenge with tunnels since they are her least favorite obstacle.

We ended up doing two sets of weaves, and the dog walk and Aframe! I normally turn myself inside out to avoid weave poles as a Wildcard choice but the course layout left me no choice (horrible approach to the dog walk after the course's second Wildcard choice - a tunnel end discrimination.) Perri was on fire and so happy, almost 4 YPS, pushy on her contacts but a Good Girl and her second set of weaves in particular was performed with speed. Really great start to the weekend!

Saturday was only two classes for Perri: Wildcard again and Jumpers. I was mentally coaching myself through not being uptight about "We need these legs!" Connection, confidence. And if Perri has issues, it's just information. She is who she is.

And Perri sure did give me some "information". On both of our courses we had to follow a dog that Perri has disliked for years. Perri does not like fast dogs, loud dogs, flashy dogs and erratic dogs. This dog is a meek, anxious dog that is smaller than Perri and she has despised her for a long time, who knows why! To the point where she has had reactive outbursts ringside when this dog was far away from Perri. We had none of that on Saturday but Perri sure did notice this dog in the ring ahead of her and standing outside of the ring before her turn. Moving to Enthusiast means Perri is now the same height class as this dog. Groan.

This was our Wildcard run. Sigh on the weaves. I can tell I was feeling stressed. I'm just not very smooth. I'm trying my best to not worry that Perri will have a Perri moment and just be strong for her. Trying hard not to Want the Q.

Jumpers was last of the day. Perri couldn't get her eyes off of her nemesis dog when we entered the ring and was fixated on her to the point where she barked as the dog left the ring. This blew all of my fine positive start line plans out of the water. Perri was very pokey and stopped in front of two tunnels. She was two seconds over time but she qualified. First CPE Jumper Q in two years. And I had to work so hard for it. I don't have a video but I feel like I forced myself to be more relaxed on this run. I did a ton of being in front of Perri, running backwards to motivate her and draw her into me, and running on the outside of her line to motivate her. I'm proud of her for not stopping and starting at me. I actually smiled at her the first time she wouldn't take the tunnel. That's another thing I'm thinking about. When/if she shuts down, I have no idea what my face looks like but it's probably pushy and harried, begging. Fake smiling is something I'm trying.

Oh Perri. What a mind game this weekend was. But, you did it. And that is something. Perri really dug in there especially during Jumpers and she worked hard just because I wanted her to. She was not enjoying herself.

This is so hard for me. Perri loves agility when everything is Just Right. But I can't always make everything Just Right. If I could, I would. If I could just tell Perri she is safe, I will never let anything happen to her ever again, I would. But I can't make those decisions for her, Perri decides when she feels safe. So I am not going to obsess over Perri having a melty moment and we will see what next weekend brings!

PS. Ein played Jumpers too and was so sassy and fast! He even tried to nip my face while ringside and kept jumping around like a flea! What a fun old man he is.

October USDAA Trials

Molly and I had two USDAA trial weekends in October.

Our first weekend was both days, with our own training club so I was hopping all weekend with trial jobs and ring jobs, puppy socializing and playtime with Zorro and oh yeah, running Molly!

The first day we ran Standard first class and everything was perfect except for an absurd excursion on Molly's part after the Aframe to a one million percent out-of-the-way tunnel. To her credit she did not go in that tunnel, but she did go into a different one on her way back to me. Standard NQ #45,000,000!!

After that Miscellaneous class was offered, which I entered so that I could do some toy rewarding for Molly's weaves. I hid her toy on the first approach to the weaves and she was thrilled and surprised to see her toy toy! in the ring! After that we did a second set of weaves and then she was on fire!

Jumpers was last of the day and oh how I wish I had this on video. The course was very challenging, not a high Q rate and I honestly felt like I was a little overfaced by it. I decided to handle all rear croses and tandems, what I am most comfortable with and woohoo....we qualified and with a decent time, too! Really exciting!

The next day we played Pairs with our friends Donna and Sly. Perri always teamed up with Sly for Pairs but who can say if Perri will ever venture into the Masters ring, so Molly was up! She promptly blew it by taking a tunnel instead of weaves. Blast it!! Sly did an incredible job and the dynamic duo will play Pairs again next month. (The trial was offering skeleton arms as batons, number one reason to teach your dog an object hold = cool pictures!)

We ended the trial weekend with another stinkin' Standard NQ. Gorgeous run, just broke connection going around a turn and Molly ran around a jump and well. That was that. $&##!!!!!!

Our final trial of October was yesterday. We started with Jumpers and as soon as I saw the course I said, "This is a Molly course!" Wide open flowing lines and Molly Q'd and won her height class! I believe this is the first time she has earned a first since we have moved into the master ring! (Of course, we don't Q much so hahahaha.)

Gamblers was next with a very not Molly gamble. We had fun in the opening though!

And last of the day was anoooooooooother Standard NQ. We made it the whole way to the end with two obstacles to go and we needed to do a back side jump off of the Aframe. That stinkin' girl stole the front side! I know it was my fault. I should have stayed connected and really kept her head. In my defense: the Aframe led straight to an off course tire jump that I was worried about (in the opposite direction of the wing jump she took.) and I often do find myself racing to the other end of the Aframe to try to handle what comes next. Handling challenges off of the running Aframe are a struggle for me. But...I did not consider the possibility of Molly taking the front side of that jump, as it was not in her line. Lessons to be learned!

And we march on, having no precious Standard Qs!  But you can keep your Qs because my girl got no weave faults all this month and she is really really owning those poles in the trials. Getting better and better! It makes my heart so happy since about a month and a half ago I was afraid I would need to retire her to Veterans or limit her classes due to weave sadness. Really exciting! She is such a fun partner.

October CPE

Usually I trial at Flexi all summer in CPE. Things...just weren't that way this year. But my friend asked if I wanted to enter with her and play some CPE so I entered Ein in three runs. I am not sure what possessed me (how many times do I say that!?) but I entered Perri in three runs as well. Fullhouse, Jackpot, Wildcard.

And last night I was feeling so very optimistic. So very...relaxed. By chance we had a substitute instructor in Molly's agility class earlier this week, and Perri was my substitute dog. And special attention was given to Perri's start line. It's been a sit stay, she gets stuck. A stand stay, also gets stuck but more ideal. Running off the start was great until it wasn't. Then there was high fives and downs which pleased her for a while. We both agreed Perri needs a very specific and clear start line routine. We decided on trying to sit her between my legs while I remove the collar. We are connected, she is squished and safe. 

This all could not have come at a better time, when I had a trial planned for Perri that weekend. I also wanted to smile at Perri when I led out away from her on the SL but I forgot. How could I forget that?!

We ran Fullhouse first and it was beautiful. I was floored! Perri's first Q of 2018.

Jackpot was next and Perri got mildly stuck on her start line but released fairly quickly. She ran just as happy and confident as she did in Fullhouse! My phone malfunctioned and did not start recording so we sadly missed that one. Got Ein's though!

It was a long wait until Wildcard (for both dogs.) We did a big long loop walk with our friends, and Zorro got to play with the border collie puppy Josey Wales and they both got to explore. I found a big metal stop sign nailed into the gazebo, that's new! Once upon a time I took Molly's first C-ATCH photo in that gazebo.

Wildcard was next and Perri got pretty stuck on the start line. I actually switched handling sides and got real silly to get her to break. I thought for sure she would get funny during the run but she did not. She ran nicely. I timed a front cross well and handled her well and I loved that. She needs that so much! She also weaved although I was doing the clap and chant "do every one!" and put so much effort into it I got momentarily disoriented. Anyway, Perri finally got another Wildcard Q 2/5 needed. Yeah!

I could not be more happy with Perri's progress! Facebook memories tells me that at this trial a year ago, Perri had a similarly awesome day. It deflated me a little because...things did not go to well from that point onward last year. But I reminded myself that a lot has changed. I have spent this year in full support of Perri. Very minimal trialing with no titling goals. Confidence building only. And my mind set has changed drastically. We have Zorro now. This is so good for both Perri and I. She loves having that little guy running around at her heels, playing with her and looking up to her. And I love having a pup who enjoys hiking, training and who I can dream big for. Perri and I are in a different place than we were last year and today felt different. It didn't feel like a test as it did last year. It just felt like, "let's see what happens and if this isn't good for you, that's ok."

It was good for her.

Sunday Speedstakes and hiking

Shouldn't all weekends involve agility and hiking? That sure is my idea of a perfect way to spend a weekend.

Since Speedstakes was the first class of the day at a very local trial, I entered Molly in just that class and planned to spend the rest of the day taking Perri and Zorro hiking. When the course map was emailed to me in the morning I groaned when I saw the off course tunnel possibility and promptly started obsessing about it. The plan during the walk through was a lead out and a reverse spin early probably even on landing from 2. And then she broke her start line stay and I flailed and lost my shit mentally and "have to get to #3!!!!!!!!!!" and I did a pull instead of a spin as well as giving her forward motion to the wrong tunnel and we NQd end of the story.

I get so tired of myself doing things like this. The broken stay was not a problem. My response to start running when she broke the stay was what made the wheels fall off. Sometimes I wonder if it will ever sink in!

Hiking went much better! I took Perri and Zorro to the no leash laws reservoir/quarry area that I like to hike at. It is a popular area on the weekends for rock climbing and swimming and all manner of "free spirited" types of modern day hippies. I love it. There is literally a sign posted to let people know that dogs are allowed to run free off of their leashes. There is graffiti all over the more popular walking areas. There are miles of unmarked trails above and beyond those areas where I rarely encounter other people. It is fascinating to me that in a place that is proudly leash optional, I never have issues with off or on leash dogs bothering me or my dogs. The other owner and I see each other approach, we leash or hold our dogs as we pass and then release on the other side of the pass. Easy peasy.

Zorro drug the leash the entire hike. I only held the leash when Perri was doing her hunting rounds above and around us, off trail and through the woods. Given that I lost Perri when she was a puppy in exactly the same situation, I am wary of letting Zorro follow her for such hunting sprints. (When Perri was a young puppy she followed Molly and Everett off sprinting through the woods. The baby puppy could not keep up and they left her in the dust. And lost!)

I am happy to let Zorro off his leash up ahead on the trail where I can see him. He does regular check ins and always gets a high value reward, and I practice recalls now and then and again give him an excellent pay out for responding.

Since I was wearing my hiking boots today I did not wade into the reservoir to help encourage Zorro to swim out after Perri, but today he surprised me by wading in up to his belly on several occasions for a drink and even on one occasion swimming out after Perri while she was retrieving! He has never done this with me staying "on shore". All in good time. He makes me laugh though, after he gets wet he has sort of a temper tantrum. He scrapes his feet and makes funny little sounds and will even fling himself on the ground trying to rub the water off of himself! Too cute.

UKI Speedstakes

My agility training club hosted our first UKI Agility trial this evening. I love weekday evening trials! We offered Masters Series, which I did not enter Molly in and Speedstakes. I have never done Speedstakes with Molly as it hasn't been convenient or offered any of the times we have run UKI. But I knew she would love it. Wide open lines and only jumps and tunnels? Yes please!

I volunteered for the lovely task of ring manager as well as timing/scribing every class except the one I was running in. I had Perri and Zorro in the car in addition to Molly and also to just keep everything really exciting a horrendous thunderstorm rolled in. And I was working out of my car! I don't often run my car at trials but when I saw the black sky rolling towards the trial site I put all the windows up, turned the AC up to high and put both battery operated fans on Molly's crate (to drown out the noise) and hoped for the best while I went inside to scribe the Speedstakes Senior/Champ class. It amazed me how many dogs in the trial ran with no problems or without noticing the storm!

We got very lucky and the storm died down in time for Molly's run (and the potty break necessary before it.) though there were still rumbles. I used her highest value reward, the chuckit ball, to amp her up before her run. We played a little fetch in the off leash area and I kept her focused on and enjoying it ringside instead of our normal food. We got a Q at 4.63 yps and as the only 16" select dog, first place! Not bad for an ol' girl!

Zorro was able to do some meeting people and even a few appropriate adult dogs. He played some chase with Perri in the off leash area (and was a little overwhelmed at Perri in a wide open field versus a hiking trail or our small back yard. That girl can really get a lot of ground speed!)I got a bit more interest out of Zorro for toy play in a trial atmosphere, though he was highly distracted by anybody with food or giving their dog food. I was pleased that I was able to direct him onto a toy in those times. Work in progress!

Great night and we even got a "Q" cookie for some pitbull torture to end the evening with.

End of July

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.  

June USDAA Fun!

Since I'm so "behind" on blogging I will lump all three of the USDAA trials the girls and I attended in June into one reflective post!

I chose minimal classes for each of the girls, but for Perri even moreso. We did P2 Gamblers and Standard on the first Saturday of the month. Pretty good engagement, decent speed on each run. Did not "get" the Gamble, would not weave in Standard. Perri's weaves are intensely impacted by her environmental stress and the weaves were next to the large open side of the building that has a clear view of the off leash exercise area. Anyway, no melty poodle moments.

This past weekend she had a round of Snooker each day. On Saturday I missed the briefing since I was running Molly in the other ring, and I missed the memo: you can only do 3 reds. Perri was very tentative off the start line, very slow and worried through the run. I had to do my crouch and ask for a down reconnect moment and then she started really running but we got whistled off for doing a fourth red. It was probably a blessing as I was forced to take her off and reward her after she was running nicely! Sunday was probably her best of the month, and I made a plan so that we could start with the Aframe. She really loves the contacts and they are a confidence booster. She ran super fast, did her Aframe contact and did not turn off the Frame to the next Red jump but instead took the tunnel in front of the Aframe. However she came out of it running fast and took jumps I cued all the way to the ending (about 2 or 3 of them.) and she was actually feeling safe and really enjoying herself so that was a great thing to end on! Trial hiatus for at least a few months for Perri now and I believe we will need to return to Intro, perhaps indefinitely, at that time.

Molly did quite a bit more! It was really great to have my girl feeling sound and able to enjoy a few agility weekends together. The first weekend of June we did four runs total, one on Saturday and three on Sunday. We NQd everything but were really close in many of the runs! Jumpers is the video below, Molly got a little strange about either the judge or investigating the dog walk. It was weird behavior for her. I was really happy with the run otherwise. We also ran Gamblers and were one point shy of a Q! The Standards just weren't happening!

Last weekend hell froze over because Molly actually qualified in P3 Standard, and on a course that had a rather low Q rate. Where did that come from?! Super exciting. I wish I had a video! There was a photographer in attendance selling prints right on site, and Molly's weaves were so lovely that I had to buy a photo of her happy face finishing them and locking onto the finish jump.

This weekend was a full weekend, as we were attending our own agility club's trial. So lots of extra work detail for me, longer days and less time spent hanging out with the dogs. But it is fun! I love our club's trial weekends and on Saturday we had a picnic afterwards and Perri got to hang out on my lap for a little while, and she loved it.

Molly put a ban on weaves for the weekend, sigh. And that made me feel bad. We started with Gamblers (that's the video below) and I really enjoyed our opening (and I made sure to give her a little distance to get up the Aframe.). I knew we weren't getting the distance weaves in the Gamble and I decided I would ask for it one time and move on with life if she didn't get it. I'm a little annoyed I said the cue word "Weave" as I consider that poisoned from our stress days. I get so mad at myself!
Standard was going great and then I misjudged her commitment to a jump, moved to my next position. She missed it. She knew it. And then the weaves were next. I asked her to repeat them and the third time she did but...she wasn't feeling the love.

The next day she had a lovely opening in Snooker and was doing great in the closing but she said "No thanks" to the weaves and we got whistled and left! In Standard we just had one of our runaway train snowball clusterfluff situations including no thank you! on the weaves but I ended the run on her running Aframe to a tunnel (the wrong end of course!) and so she felt happy about it all!

Molly says it was a great weekend because I got her a fancy new tug! We have been using this toy from Chuckit since I wanted the crack!ball! for Molly, but with a tug on it. However the strap is very abrasive and often makes her gums bleed, and the strap is way too short for comfort and I often get nipped when she regrips. So, I've been wanting something longer. The ball is by Chuckit, although not the crack!ball! Molly loves it!

I have to do some more reflecting on the weekend but I felt pretty sad about Molly's weaves. Somebody even told me she looks "scared" of them. I don't disagree. It has been a while since we have done any fun motivational weave training at home, between Molly's lameness earlier this year and her subsequent toenail injury. Our team trial/weave stress really crept in this weekend. I really don't want to embarrass Molly, as a 9 year old dog still out running agility. We have a trial in July and I decided I will not run Standard with her that day, just Jumpers and Gamblers. I would love to earn Molly's Master title but if this is truly "it" for the weaves and Molly would be happier running courses without them, then I will accept that. Given the beautiful set of weaves Molly did just last weekend, I think that this was simply a busy month for an old girl and she needs some time and motivational work on her weaves. I'm in, for either way Molly needs me to take her.

Perri's Weekend, Lots of HOPE

I have made a ton of changes for Perri lately and the positive progress that was trickling in this year has begun to flow.

At the beginning of this year I wrote this post about our progress with fluoxetine. I was feeling lukewarm about the flatness I would see in Perri, but when I added salmon oil to her diet I noticed more energy. This was indeed a temporary and probably coincidental change. Perri continued to be flat, slow to rouse into play and exhausted far more easily than she used to be by most any activity. About three weeks ago, I told our behaviorist that I would like to wean Perri off of the fluoxetine and possibly try something else. Our instructions were to wean down to 10mg and keep Perri on that dose until our appointment to see how she does on that dose. We returned to 10mg on April 16th. 

Last weekend I had Perri adjusted by her chiropractor. Jaw out and some cervical misalignments. We visited because I wanted to discuss the spasming that I often see in Perri's lower back, check for any adjustments that needed to be done and find out if I can be doing anything more to help Perri's spine feel more comfortable. Of course, all of the adjustments were needed "up higher"! In addition to the active stretches I had been already doing, we were given a few more. I also purchased a Back on Track mesh blanket for Perri. I have heard very good things about these jackets and I feel that Perri can benefit.

So, a lot of good thoughtful changes for Perri. I am also pursuing retesting Perri's thyroid levels, as she tested a "low normal" in December of last year. I have added a probiotic to Perri's diet, the same type that I use for Molly. A happy gut is a happy dog.

And Perri is a happy dog. I started to notice increased silliness within less of a week of decreasing the fluoxetine. Just little things. Flinging a toy up in the air and doing a ridiculous spin for one of Vince's workers. Actual interest and demand in play time with her standard poodle friend Zoe. And just in the last week, we had one of Perri's famous pounce zoom fests in the back yard, it has been a while. Last Monday in agility class Perri turned it on like I have not seen from her in a long time. She did both of her "turns" with really nice motivation, desire for her ball and actual fast and intense weave poles (with a pop at the 10th weave and a restart where she went even faster after being asked to do them a second time rather than crumbling mentally.)

Yesterday I volunteered with a friend of mine who was holding a lure coursing ring to raise money for a rescue at a large dog event held in my area. I felt apprehensive about letting Perri course. I was really struggling with making the Right Decision. On one hand, Molly has gone lame coursing three times now and I knew that Perri had an agility run the day after at a trial. I am trying so very hard to narrow down the activities I do with my dogs and be more focused. But on the other hand, I love how Perri opens up, de-stresses and gives in to raw prey drive in coursing. In the end I made the decision to let Perri run the course two times, once at the beginning of the day and the next time four long hours later at the end of the event. (It was very popular, we had a line 10-15 dogs deep the entire day!) She was full on BagBrain and each time she ran, Zoe poodle got to run with her (and Zoe did a great job following Perri and/or the bag the entire time, she did not leave or get distracted by anything. A great start!)

I was very nervous that Perri would be too tired for her agility run today. We have had a really really nice week since that beautiful agility class on Monday. On the prior dose of fluoxetine, Perri would typically be wiped out and it would be a big ??? how an agility trial would go the next day. It doesn't help that it was naughty of me to enter today's trial in the first place. It was for pure social reasons that I entered, my friend was going to be there and the original plan was to enter Molly but then that bonehead went and ripped her toenail off at the lake a few weeks ago so....hey I do have another dog, right?! So, I entered Snooker with Perri.

But Perri was....great! The Snooker course was laid out so that in order to get the best flow I ran to the back of the ring with her to use our first red, rather than starting on a "red" on the start line. On our way out there she got distracted by a male ring crew but did call off of him fairly quickly. We ran our course and there were some angles that I was fretting I would lose her on, as well as a jump wrap but she really ran her little heart out and was fast and happy! I was so proud of her and it felt awesome. We started the close and it was a diagonal line from 2-the first jump of 5. 5 was a 180 jump combo. Well I lost Perri to visiting a ring crew who also is a friend of ours, how could Perri not say "hi"? I was going over in my mind if I should be trying to recollect Perri back around the jump to try to earn enough points, or just ignore it and run out the finish and forget #5 but I ended up trying to get her and reset her. It turned out to be a not horrible choice, although I am aware it was not the ideal choice. I can't quite remember what happened but I know that Perri was like "Haha you're weird I'll just take the jump!" and then we had a merry happy little race to the exit and she was mighty proud of herself and quite happy and that is what matters! On reflection, I'm really proud of her for not freezing up when I confused her by trying to bring her back to the correct side of the jump, and just making a decision instead.  She was not sure what I wanted, but there was a jump in front of her so she took it! I am okay with that. Very unlike her and very confident! I did notice that Perri was very bothered by us getting to the leash chair at the end. I need to work on a more positive association with ending the run and getting equipment put back on her.

After Perri's run I let her sit in my lap for a while. Perri had a very good day of behavior fear reactivity-wise as well. Something to discuss with our behaviorist. Perri saw a very drivey doberman yanking on a tug toy walk across the crating area, she had eyes on a german shepherd trotting briskly along but she actually LAT'd to me and then a bearded shepherd was crated next to us and warming up for a run. Perri noticed it but reoriented to me quietly. And I was paying big for all of this with bits of dehydrated lamb lung. And I am proud of myself because I interrupted a conversation with a friend to say that Perri had been very successful and I thought she should go out to the car before something pushed her too far and she had an explosion at a dog.
I am very excited about Perri's self assurance around three situations that would have triggered fear reactivity behavior in her. I have no doubt she was still concerned about all three dogs, but she trusted me today and did not feel the need to freak out and warn those dogs away from her.

Go. Team!

I am so optimistic and so terrified it will all fall apart again. That's our journey, I am learning to embrace it and not resent it. It's easy to say that now when we are progressing in the right direction!

April USDAA Trial

Last Sunday was my training club's USDAA trial, so I entered Perri in both offered Intro classes (Gamblers and Standard) and I entered Molly in Standard only. Both classes were near to the end of the day, but we spent all day there volunteering.

The Intro classes were back to back, which is not a great set up for Perri and I was mild level fretting about it. We played Gamblers first. Perri was a bit flatter than she was last month when we did Intro. Leash removal went very smoothly and without notice from her. She was still very much playing with me, but with reluctance creeping in there. I was very happy when she had a moment of staring at me that she came right back into the game - that is a victory!

Standard was next. When I brought Perri back into the building she wanted water. I gave her a small amount, since she would be running soon. She became frustrated by this and kept nose and paw tapping the water jug. Then she became sort of sullen and staring into space, ignoring my treats and toys. Perri is a stress drinker so it's hard to say if she was truly very thirsty or just feeling some stress and needed to displace some of it. So with that behavior coupled with having to run so soon after she had already run, I was feeling like maybe I should scratch the run since I was allowing myself to become rattled by "what ifs" about Perri's run. I put on my big girl panties and got in there and tried to make a super flowy plan and I even spent some of our time on a toy throw (and subsequent poodle pouncing and keep away). I wanted to rescue our ring time and gear it totally towards: positive feelings! Right towards the end I asked for a tunnel that she runs by and I see her feeling weird about that but she comes right back and does some nice running (and a scary Aframe fly off). I am starting to not feel great about letting her run the Aframe as she jumps off so high and I don't want her to hurt herself. In any case, it was a nice run salvaged out of some stressy feelings on both of our ends and that is kind of the point!

I have made the decision to do another trial hiatus with Perri. Despite some nice successes on Sunday, I feel like Perri needs me to pull back for a little bit again. I don't want us to hit "rock bottom" of staring in the ring and stressing down completely and having an awful regression that makes me want to drink lots and lots of wine when I get home! We have had a nice month and done some good work, but we both need some time to retreat and think over what both of our needs are as far as trialing goes.

And Molly got to play too! We did only Standard, since she needs three Qs in that class for her MPD. We NQd immediately for a wrong course due to the filthy handler giving dreadfully late turning information again! So mad at myself! It felt like a little bit of a trainwreck after that and she wouldn't weave but overall looking at the video, she was a happy girl and I am truly in "just happy to be here" mode when it comes to getting to run agility with my girl! I did reset her weaves and the second time sort of did a sprint and turned my shoulders to her and clapped and she was like "NU-UH WE HAD A DEAL ABOUT THAT KIND OF NONSENSE FROM YOU, I'M NOT DOIN' IT!" 

Ps. She did weave in training class the next night when I behaved myself :)

Connection.

I keep having to pinch myself and get my head out of the clouds after Sunday's AKC agility trial with Miss Perri! Entering Perri was quite honestly something I did because I wanted to go spend the day at a favorite trial site with good friends of ours. Entering the Excellent level is completely out of the question for Perri, but fortunately you are allowed to start at Novice again if you drop your dog to Preferred. I made that decision last year, but have done exactly one AKC trial with Perri since then, and she only qualified in FAST. Regular titling classes still in play for a drop to Novice.

And Novice would be perfect. Simpler courses for us would allow me to work hard at staying connected with Perri and putting into play the changes that I need to make about myself for Perri's sake. And bonus: since we were playing AKC, she could wear a collar and eliminate all of the issues that come with equipment being put on and off of her body. Regardless, I was terrified. Perri used to absolutely adore this trial site. But last year she was incapable of doing more than a few obstacles the last time we were there, and she was obsessed with worry about a door in the back of one of the rings.

We arrived bright and early for JWW, oh the joys of Novice! We were in the "ring with the evil door", but thankfully it was early morning and there was no harsh sunlight coming in (that was the trigger the last time.) It was not long after arrival that I was walking the course and then taking Perri into the ring. I chose to do a start line stay. I focused so hard on maintaining connection, being cheerful. And we did a really really awesome job, Perri was absolutely flying and I was handling her nicely! And then we had an oops. I didn't realize until I watched my video what exactly happened. Perri has a delicate throat and if she is stressed she will either have a sneezing fit or a coughing fit. During our run I pushed a little too hard on her line and she ran for a wrong course tunnel. I called her with an upbeat tone but she knew it wasn't right and started coughing ("hackerdoodling", we call it!). And of course the weaves were the next obstacle. I decided to just forget about it and let her run out the last three jumps, a nice straight line, and she took the first one but blew past the last two. Residual stress.

I felt disappointed in my behavior and my mistake. I did feel better when I saw the video, because there was a clear cause for her behavior and a way for me to improve so that she doesn't feel this way again. I thought that the weave poles had triggered the coughing, but it was actually the error of running for the tunnel. (my fault!) Regardless, we had a phenomenal time on most of the course and I did not expect perfection!

And then it was the loooooooong wait until the end of the day for Novice Standard. Oh the joys of Novice! I was hoping that we would not have an enthusiasm crash for the second run of the day, that is a thing that could happen. The opening of the course was a two straight jump with a sharp 90 degree turn. There were lots of curvy lines of jumps. As much as the JWW course was a Perri-friendly course, the Standard one was not a confidence builder. I chose to lead out just a little bit and then tried a front cross in front of jump #2. I was not miserably late with the front cross but I could have been clearer, and Perri ran right behind me, took a wrong course jump, and headed towards the A-frame. I did not even say a word but when I turned to her, she was frozen. She looked at the Aframe and then started looking around the ring and looking at me. A staring fit. My worst effing nightmare. I tried to do the claw hands and jazz her out of it. No. Then I did another new thing I have been trying in class. Our instructor told me when she shuts down I should ask her for a nose touch or a trick, something quick and easy to make her feel successful and re-engage her with me. I've actually been doing a down and have had a lot of success with that. I've even been working downs into the start line. It's rather strange because downs used to be very unnerving for Perri, but I don't question it! I think somewhere in our fold back down nerd training and the table down value building, she has begun to enjoy the position.

I got down on the ground, real quick and talked silly talk with her and asked her to down. She bowed, she wagged her tail and she dropped and just looked into my eyes and I ran away from her and asked her to come with me. For a half second she just lay there and I thought, "Well. That's that!" But then she absolutely exploded up and did the next three jumps! (And promptly skipped the tire and the weaves but we just kept running!) Then it was the pause table and well you bet I asked her for a down again! She was flying high after that, running as fast as she is capable of, blowing her contacts and finished the whole course over a curved line finish. Whoah!! I was floored by her! It was a royal NQ (Just take note in the video of the judge signalling mad faults!) but we don't care, it was so much fun!!!!!!

I am over the moon with this girl and I'm just gonna brag that I am proud of me. I went into this year feeling absolutely powerless on how to reach Perri, feeling like it was all over. I got over feeling jaded about agility classes and found an instructor that saw exactly where I was failing Perri. I am forever grateful. If there was a single thing in my power to help this dog, I would crash into it and attack it. And I did. We did. I am so afraid of everything crashing down again on us, afraid of making too many handling mistakes and setting her back. I keep thinking "but she won't weave but she blows her contacts but but but but"...but I think everything is going to fall right into place when our confidence soars back where it belongs.

"'Scuse me while I kiss the sky!"