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.
I have been posting a lot about our online titles and training during the pandemic, but what we have mostly been doing is a lot of hiking. Saturday was one of the grandest adventures in a little while, and I brought Molly along for it! You see, our golden retriever friend, Cousin Everett passed away very suddenly from that sneaky cancer that happens in dogs. That, "they're fine and then suddenly they feel bad and the tests say the cancer is everywhere and you never even knew and now they're gone" kind of cancer. And so, I was feeling really raw and I had to bring Molly along for an adventure that would involve swimming. Because Everett taught Molly to swim.
Molly was afraid of the water until one day we were on a railroad tracks walk along the Susquehanna River. We threw Everett's ball into the River and Molly ran in after him and that was that. If her favorite cousin was going in, it must be fun, right? Molly never looked back and she was never afraid of swimming again.
And so, on a grand adventure geocaching near a different river, on a day when my mind was heavy with the loss of a golden retriever who helped shape my dog into who she is today...Molly had to be the one to come along. Zorro was our third wheel.
Our first stop was an abandoned railroad tunnel that I have been meaning to visit for literal years. Ooooooooh. I work near this spot, there is a geocache here, but it is not something I could tackle after work wearing scrubs and work clogs. And how true that decision turned out to be! I parked at the rail trail parking lot. It's about a .2 mile walk to a small creek. You might consider getting to the tunnel this way. There is chicken wire fencing off a nearby property and it goes through any access to the creek that would be a gentle slope downhill. Then the terrain starts to go sharply uphill. Go into the trailside weeds again and now there is no chicken wire blocking the creek/canal but it is a steep downhill fall into a soupy green mess of water that even I won't walk through (or, more importantly, won't let the dogs walk through and possibly drink). Continue uphill and now any hope of getting down to the tunnel from the northern side is gone, it is a straight 90 degree drop. I am a mountain goat but I'm not suicidal.
I had already assessed this approach over a year ago. I thought, oh I'll wear Crocs and scale down into the "creek" and walk to the tunnel entrance. No. I should have considered the stagnant water would have deepened. This panoramic photo was taken in January 2019 while standing on top of the northern entrance to the tunnel. As you can see there is no going down the sides without climbing equipment. And the clearish water of January was nowhere to be found in almost-June.
Okay, so we will keep walking and find the southern tunnel entrance and walk through the tunnel. I don't really like tunnels, I'm a little weird about that especially when they get too deep and dark and I am by myself. But, I could at least "scout it out". The rail trail went uphill, crossed a road, leveled out and then there was a clearing. I explored. There was a muddy downhill. Steep but not impossible, and I could see the southern tunnel entrance. By now Molly is hot and completely over my shit. Going up a hill on a paved surface and going into the weeds and thorns multiple times. (Trying to find access for the other tunnel entrance) Unacceptable! It was an exciting downhill sprint thanks to the leashed Molly and I'm lucky I didn't fall. I definitely did a much-faster-than-I-was-comfortable-with skid downhill. I was wearing only Crocs because of all the walking in water I had anticipated. But there it was. The tunnel entrance. There was some swampy water yes, but there was a narrow muddy path that was easy enough to travel. And just then I realized. My keys were gone.
Unless I have my backpack, I always clip my keys to a carabiner on the leash loop. And they were gone. Where? In what section of weeds I bushwhacked through? What spot on the trail? Did they fall off when I untied a poop bag from the leash loop? When I pulled the leash because it was stuck on something? Lets just fast forward through about an hour of me searching the muddy hillside, and every off trail thorny bushwhack. Up and down the hot hillside, tearing myself to literal ribbons and trying to remain hopeful I would find my needle in a haystack. After a while I returned to the tunnel entrance and searched the downhill slope again for my keys. Could not find them. Molly was super hot and done by now and the railroad gorge was so nice and cool. What harm was there in exploring the tunnel and then searching for the keys a little more afterward?? After we all cool off?
I never let Molly off leash anymore but with the high stone gorge walls, there was nowhere for her to take a naughty excursion to. She was overjoyed. She slopped around in the water and enjoyed snuffling everywhere and doing random leaps and zooms. I tried to leave Zorro loose too but he only instigated Molly into high speed chase. Molly is too big for Zorro to be running with, and Molly is too old to be able to handle that sort ripping aroundanymore. She actually fell on the ground and did a roll and so Zorro was put back on the leash again. We got to the tunnel entrance, and it was time to go in. Part of the ceiling had fallen down long ago in a huge pile of stone rubble that had to be climbed over to pass. There was ankle deep standing water through the whole thing. I needed my flashlight in the middle, but not for long.
I mucked around, took a few pictures. I wish I had taken more and spent a little more time here. It would be fun to return without dogs and bring the SLR camera someday. I was feeling guilty for not sticking to the keys search and then something else happened. I stepped on a board with a nail. It went right through my croc and into my foot. I felt it as soon as I stepped down and quickly shifted weight to the opposite foot (a movement that my ankle still hurts from!) but the puncture happened. Now I had no keys and a puncture wound in my foot that is exposed to filthy water with trash soaking in it. Oh well, guess we were going to be stopping at an urgent care at some point today!
Back through the tunnel, back up the hill. I saw two people looking around, semi-lost. Heard them say tunnel. I explained this was how to get to the tunnel, we chatted about abandoned PA structures for a little bit. I mentioned I had lost my keys and now had to try to go find them, so we parted ways. I was walking back down the trail to go play in the thorns again when I heard "WE FOUND YOUR KEYS!!" I could have fallen on my knees and kissed their feet and sobbed. One of them fell on her butt on the downhill mud slide towards the tunnel, looked over and saw a set of keys laying on the ground. What luck! (For me!) I did remember squeezing and grabbing at the leashes while I was being yanked downhill and I must have engaged the clip open so they keys could fall onto the ground. I didn't remember hearing them fall but I was just trying to stay up on my two feet!
Aftermath!
The adventure day was back on! Any sensible person would have gone home, bathed their dogs and showered and gone to the urgent care but I am a fool. Our next stop was a small park at the top of town with a few geocaches I have never found. They all seemed like too much of a hike for an after-work stroll (because, after an 8 hour work shift, I have dogs at home who would like to go potty and have their dinner. I try not to delay that.) First stop: a large-sized cache after a pleasant stroll through the woods. Next, through a field in the direct sun. Not cool. Found another geocache though with bad coordinates. Next was one that has been hidden for a "long" time, 3.5 terrain and it could have been more. Into the woods, into the shade, straight downhill towards the River again. My keys were in my POCKET and safe.
The dogs were hot again and they could see the River. We came down at a live railroad tunnel and the tracks came out from the tunnel and onto a railroad bridge and crossed the river. There were teenagers everywhere. On the railroad bridge, hanging out in the woods. All merrily enjoying a warm day. They were jumping off the bridge into the river, the stuff of nightmares! I let the dogs have a swim and Molly of course had to go swim out to the middle of the river with the teenagers, which surprised and then delighted them. Especially the ones still on the bridge laughing at their friends who were shocked to see what was clearly a brindle crocodile swimming towards them!
After the swim we headed upriver in the direction of the cache. And then we had to go back uphill, what a climb! Poor Molly! But she did it, with some help for me - why I love harnesses on the dogs! The spot where the geocache was hidden also had a group of teenagers hanging out on the lookout rock, so I decided to leave it for another day. The fun was certainly in the adventure! And I found a much less strenuous trail back to the car.
Our last stop was to make a doggie-toast to Everett with a game of fetch. I drove to the boat launch. It was very busy, but we found our own river shore spot and got to it. Balls in the water for your, Everett. Molly ran in fearless, just like you taught her to do. 💗
"If anybody wants to share a few words for Everett, please feel free to speak now"....
We even managed to steal some time on the dock. Zorro surprised me by jumping in with only some minor hesitation. Up until now he had been clinging to the side of the dock and screaming before jumping in, or running around and off of a dock. Cool! I have not been pushing him. There's no rush. Yes, I will love it if we can compete in dock diving, as many of his half siblings and one direct siblings have some very impressive dock skills. They also have experienced handlers. I am still learning my throws and dock skills. But one thing I am experienced with is to let the dog dictate how quickly their progress needs to go - that is what is most important. Confidence is everything with dock diving.
And our day came to a close with a milkshake for me, chewies for the dogs and a trip to the urgent care for myself. The amazing staff even let the dogs come inside because they were worried about the vehicle temperature. (I had the windows open and my sun screens on but having the dogs inside was a real relief and very "above and beyond" from the staff.)
It has been four years since I have attempted any Parkour titling with my dogs. Perri and I failed Novice years ago due to my own inability to follow the rules, more on that later. International Dog Parkour Association released a limited edition Quarantine COVID title this year , with three available titling levels and I have been eyeing it up since then. Last week I decided to get to work with Zorro and earn that title!
I was rather nervous about breaking rules. Here's what I learned: The dog does not have to be wearing a harness for ground level or low obstacles. But if you want to, or need to, use a leash it must NEVER be attached to the dog's collar.
Take the time to set up good video angles with both hands in clear view. The dog must be shown getting on and off of every obstacle. No cookies in your hands. Don't do anything that could appear as luring. I got in the habit of making my hands flat like target hands.
Overall Zorro and I had fun putting this title together. There were seven categories. You had to submit 15 behaviors from the seven categories, and at least one behavior from each category.
There was
"Four Paws On": Hard, Soft, Moves, Plastic, Wood (grooming tub grate, dog bed, toilet, wooden wall art.)
"Two Paws On": Hard, Soft, Metal, Plastic, Wood (pot from the kitchen, coffee canister with plastic lid, wooden stool.)
"Back Up": We certainly strengthened his Back Up behavior! Your Back Up could be: Narrow, Tall (I don't honestly know what that means!), Over, Under or Through. I took videos for Over (the one I submitted - back up over an object, I chose a slip leash.), Under and Through. I got too anxious about not passing for some reason that I submitted the "safest" one. And poor Zorro worked hard the whole time to get the ideal video - and lots of treats! I was so pleased by "Under" especially having Perri lurking on top of her groom table supervising the whole thing but I kept fretting it wasn't enough steps, or I was not in the frame enough.
Through:
Under:
"Balance": Narrow, Uneven, Wide, Wobbles, Soft - We only did one from this category. Wide, on an antique firewood storage box handed down through Vince's family.
"Under": Solid, Moves, Long, Low, Raised - Again, only one. Run under a chair.
"Around": Short ,Wide, Two objects before returning, Long, Tight fit - we did a lot in this category and Zorro was pleased as ever to do so. I was strangely obsessed with his running around objects when he was a puppy and the work we did in our foundation paid off big time! We did a small piece of firewood for Short, our two wood buckets for "two objects", and a big potted plant for "Wide."
"Control", demonstration two different behaviors on one object. 2on vs 4on, Around vs 4on, Under vs 4on, Under vs Around, 2on vs Under (We did Around a Cooler vs Four Feet On the cooler.)
Here is the full video of our submission. I got the great news today that Zorro passed! I actually managed to follow all of the rules! Zorro is a good boy. Me? Room for improvement! This video is shortened a bit in many places. Dogs have to remain on obstacles for 5 seconds and be shown getting on and off, the dog has to go around the "around" objects twice. But for the sake of a shorter video, I clipped things down a little tighter.
Next venture: avenge Perri's Novice Parkour title! We are already hard at work.
Wow it's a record! A quick post to wish a Happy 2nd Birthday to Zorro. (yesterday)
I ordered a Birthday Goody Box from Chewy.com and as long time Chewy lovers, we were completely thrilled with the nice mix of quality goodies. The box came with an "It's My Birthday" bandana, a squeaky bone, a crinkly plush birthday cake, a filled hoof and two bags of Chewy exclusive treats. (Soft Bakes and freeze dried Salmon.) Shipping took a little longer than normal due to the pandemic, so I ordered earlier than necessary and received the Goody Box in plenty of time.
Something that has been bringing me a lot of joy lately was the reminder from AKC that Trick Dog titles can be done through video. A friend was offering evaluations so I got to work!
Zorro has his Novice title, we earned that on a beautiful trial day last fall at an outdoor trial when he was still a puppy. (I actually had never sent his paperwork in to AKC, we will see how much of a delay they tolerate!) And so, we got working on his Intermediate title. What was important to me right now was not just to earn a title, but to have some fun training some new skills and bonding with Zorro.
I certainly buffered the new tricks with skills that Zorro already has, those were:
Catch (a ball),
Manipulate interactive canine game (Zorro eats his breakfast out of his puzzle ball every day and night.),
Go to your place (from 10 feet) - I did spend a little bit of time working at this with Zorro as the distance did not come as easily to him as I thought.
Heeling with Automatic Sit Leg Weave is probably a grey area, we did spend some time on improving Zorro's understanding on this one. I originally taught it bent over with hand targets so we kept practicing so that I could actually be standing up and with less of a visible hand target lure for each weave. I started using a cue word of "weave" but I'm not sure that he needs it - my hand signals are pretty clear for him.
And our two Handlers Choice tricks were "Give Kisses" and "Shake". It was not too long ago that I taught Zorro to shake paw, and I did it simply because it is Vince's favorite trick. He was so thrilled when I finally taught that to Zorro.
New tricks that we worked on:
Head Down was not entirely new. I free shaped the beginnings of this a few months ago but we did spend some time sharpening his understanding of the criteria and getting the behavior on cue.
Roll Over was a trick on this list that I said, "I am not submitting for this title without teaching this trick!" We had a lot of fun working on this, Zorro had some very silly ideas during our shaping sessions. The funniest thing he did was shuffle backwards while in a sphinx down and I thought, "I will have to get that on cue!"
Shell Game was placing a treat under 1 of 3 cups and the dog has to target or knock over the cup that has the treat under it. We had not done this before. This was not too difficult for food motivated Zorro but we had to work through some t-rex demolition issues that reminded me very much of Molly!
Speaking of Molly, I submitted for her Novice Trick Dog title! We won't go any further, but we were out hiking and I thought, "I'll put together a video of 5 tricks right here and now!"
We did: Shake, Roll Over, Spin, Hand Target and Fetch It. Our video was interrupted by some target shooting in the distance. That made doing tricks very un-fun for Molly. I video'd her Fetch It clip at a park we stopped at on our way home from the hike.
Almost all of the dog training that I am doing right now is tricks training. Zorro and I are certainly working on some agility skills, but we are having a rainy spring and the yard takes about two days to dry out after heavy rains. It is disappointing but I think it also helps me pace our training. I am still currently working full time since I am a hospital (x-ray tech) worker, so training isn't so much out of boredom and excessive free time for me as it is a way to relax and unwind. Zorro and I are working on our Advanced Trick Dog title next. My "must have" trick on that list is Backwards Circles Around Handler. Fun!
Does it make any sense to get caught up on your blog when you are as behind as I am? I think so, and now that I have a computer that does not take forever to turn on, blogging might be a little bit easier and more regular.
Since we are in COVID-land now, there are no dog agility trials. Dream Park, which I longed to attend trials at, were our last trials for...who knows? Some days I think not until 2021, some days I think perhaps there could be trials in the summer time.
In any case, Zorro and I continued to have much success at our trials at DP. We finished Zorro's NA and NAJ titles on the same day - neither run was super beautiful but they were qualifying runs and they got the job done! I was very happy with his weaves in JWW.
We returned the next week and finished Zorro's Novice FAST title, and I had planned to take a break from FAST for a while after that. I mostly like to play FAST as an environmental acclimation ring time.
After that was Open Standard. I felt irrationally nervous. 12 weaves, the beginning of when Perri and I started to struggle (due to her injury, but still.) and Molly...well, we stayed in Open for at least a year. We earned our first AKC NQ, had a wrong course and some uncharacteristic disengagement and Zorro absolutely could not get the weave entry. I remember deciding I had done this to us with my negativity and lack of confidence. And just before our JWW run I saw a very experienced handler with her promising but still-young dog in the Excellent ring miss the weave entry. I told myself to stop being silly and trust in my dog's skills. Entry misses happen. Wrong courses happen. I fixed my brain and we got our first Open Q! I hate how close I am to all of the obstacles on this run but this is what I do when I am feeling insecure.
I remember after the trial was over I drove around just for the fun of geocaching. We drove to Delaware to re-complete my Fizzy grid with a specifically rated D/T combo geocache (since the one I had found previously had had its ratings changed.) It was just the sort of fun little adventure I love...and the sort of thing that cannot be done right now. My state has Stay at Home orders which allow for walking and hiking, and I am so grateful for that. But driving around just for the sake of geocaching is against the rules. (I say that because, common sense dictates that.)
And, onto our very last trial. I had no idea. Of course. How could I? The day before I had hiked many miles and into the night to geocache with a friend on Leap Day. (and I have now found one geocache on every day of the year.) I came home and had dinner and much drinks with friends and went to bed quite late. I was slightly hung over in the morning and a miscommunication on departure time with my trial buddy left me without time to make coffee until we arrived at the trial site. Still, I recharged well with ample amounts of black coffee and Zorro and I earned a QQ in Open. It was a fine Last Trial For a While.
Until next trial, Zorro! I don't know when that will be but I sure will treasure that day when it arrives!
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.
I am an enormous advocate of legal off leash exercise for dogs. I am very fortunate to have quite a few places within an hour drive from my home to be able to do so. Perri is a hunter and enjoys spending her time sniffing after chipmunks, chasing squirrels and bunnies. She's never fast enough or clever enough but she certainly enjoys the thrill of the hunt! Occasionally...there are deer. I can often recognize the signs of a deer chase about to begin and Perri will recall to me then. But once she gets started with a chase, there is no recalling her. Usually we are in the rather deep woods, alone, when this happens and she always returns to me in less than five minutes. With tongue dragging. One time with her entire toenail split and quick badly damaged.
Most of the time there is no wildlife chasing. There is running for the sheer joy of it, sniffing, exploring and strengthening mind and body. Perri and Zorro play with each other, chase each other and swim together. Their recalls are strong, and I always have delicious food rewards to give them for recalls. I always feed them for "checking in" with me (returning from their explorations to connect with me.), and they do so often. I have treasured off leash exercise with my dogs ever since Ein was a baby dog nearly 15 years ago.
And so! And so. One day, like any other of the hundreds of hikes I have enjoyed, one moment Perri and Zorro were in front of me. The next they were gone. Gone! There was none of Perri's normal increase in frenzied sniffing and hunting behavior that predicts that she is scenting a deer, there was no barking and screaming. They were just. Gone. I'm not going to go into the details other than for 45-60 minutes I could not find my dogs. For Zorro especially, who has shown not interest in hunting or wildlife chasing, this was highly unusual. I searched and ran and called and ran and whistled and cried for them and cried in misery at my own foolishness in trusting them. In the end, both dogs separately tracked their way back to where my vehicle was parked. And they waited for me there. Perri first, the first time I came back to the car and Zorro second.
I will not compromise on off leash exercise for my dogs. This was a major exception to our normal order of operations. I do not understand, still, what happened. Did Perri go on a very long chase and lose her way back? Did Zorro turn back from his run with Perri to answer my call and then get lost entirely? There was a very heavy wind that day and it certainly could have carried my voice and scent in confusing ways. I still do not believe either dog willfully tried to run away from me for that length of time. Why would they? I do not deny them freedom. This was not their one big chance at having a good run through the forest. And Zorro would literally live inside of my body if he was allowed to do so, "connected at the hip" doesn't begin to cover it.
I had been curious about GPS tracking collars for quite a while, but the cost deterred me every time I researched them. But after that experience I decided I will never feel that way again. And clipping the leashes on for good is not the answer for me. I quickly realized that Garmin was the only company producing anything worth buying for this purpose.
I found a refurbished Garmin Astro 900 unit with one collar. I purchased a second collar separately. I preferred the Astro line of Garmin's GPS Tracking offerings because it is Tracking-only. Garmin also offers an Alpha unit option which is both a tracking and training unit.
The collars are bulky, you definitely can't miss them. I have already gotten questions about them! I was disappointed that the "mini" collar that Garmin makes was not compatible with the Astro 900 unit. (Only with the slightly older and couldnt-find-refurbished-and-cheaper Astro 430 unit.) There is no mini collar at this time compatible with the Astro 900 unit. A bummer since Zorro is a rather petite guy and a slightly smaller collar would have been nice for him. Still, the dogs do not seem bothered by them. I expected Perri to act strange about it but other than worrying when it is first put on, she acts like it is not even there.
Perri finally has her very own antennae!
Two weekends ago I finally got a chance to test drive our new toys! If that would ever happen again, I would now know exactly where my dogs were. No guessing, no running aimlessly and feeling terrified and helpless. The unit is impressively accurate. If one dog is even a foot ahead of the other on the trail, the screen reflects that. The Garmin interface was simple to use and understand. It also helps that the GPS unit that I use for geocaching is also made by Garmin. I was able to add both collars to the unit easily and custom name each collar "Perri" and "Zorro". (You can track up to twenty collars on one unit so, I could have 18 more dogs!) The collars and unit are water resistant. This is good since the dogs do often get wet or run through mud. They will not be swimming in the collars, though! The collars are rugged so they can handle dogs blasting through the woods.
We have done two hikes since getting the collars and I could not be happier with the unit and collars. I have not had much of any cause to actually rely on the collars though. Having GPS tracking is no substitute for proper recalls, leashing around other hikers and preventing deer chasing whenever possible. We did have one rodent excursion from Perri and when I lost sight of her I could watch her path...and breathe a sigh of relief when I saw her arrow turning back to where I was. It was a very cool feeling. The collars themselves are rechargeable and both came with their own chargers. The GPS unit takes AA batteries and after only two hikes (each hike was about 5-6 hours time powered on for the unit), those batteries are nearly dead. This is comparable to the amount of time my geocaching GPS will last with two AA batteries. (a Garmin eTrex20.) When I was reviewing the specs for this review, I see that the Astro 900 is able to be used for Geocaching as well. That is something I will look forwards to trying and a definitely plus in my book.
The collars also track average speed and distance traveled. It is fascinating to see how much more ground the dogs cover versus what I cover. They run back and forth to me so much and it adds up! It is also interesting that while Zorro is given much less time off leash, he still covered more ground than Perri. (These stats were from our first hike with the collars.) I am happy with the battery life on the collars, we had been out in the woods for quite a few hours with only "one bar" lost of battery life. I plan to recharge the collars after every hike.
I may have more thoughts as I continue using the Astro 900 but so far I am thrilled and the peace of mind is worth every penny. Happy trails!
December was a fun month for trialing. We started the month off with a bang at a cluster at the local expo. The girl dogs got to play AKC Scent Work, and Zorro got to play Rally Novice. It was exciting to be busy with so many fun activities for the dogs, even if it meant some stressful conflicts!
Perri was only entered in Novice Containers each day and she absolutely crushed it! Not literally box-crushing though! She earned first place with super fast times both days, no cataloguing and total confidence. It was wonderful. She will need one more Q for her SCN title. The video is her first Container search of the weekend.
Not to be outdone Molly did a fabulous job in Novice Interiors with first places on both days, fast times and earned her SIN (Scentwork Interior Novice) title. She also earned her SBN (Buried Novice) title with a lackluster performance. Our Container performance is still suffering. I changed the way I was handling Molly and tried a tight leash approach. She began alerting with a look back to me. In training this was going really well until it wasn't. In the same training night she had her finest container search of all time and the literal next search was a disaster of false alerting. Of course, this night was the Wednesday before the trial. She was very conflicted in Buried (they're truly "just another container") but got the job done, and abysmal in Advanced Containers. Her better day there was Sunday, she correctly alerted on one container before doing a false alert on a different one. Ah well. Back to the drawing board. I am trying to come up with a way for Molly and I to both enjoy Container searches, with her enjoying the search and not destroying the containers. She is currently on a Container training break although it will be time to start up in the New Year. This video is her lovely Interior search on Saturday.
Zorro was able to earn his Rally Novice trial since the cluster offered two rally trials per day. How fun! He certainly enjoys heeling! Some further training is needed on the Slow Pace, he kept trying to sit. Otherwise we sailed straight through with scores of 97, 99 and 99 for his RN title. Yay! The whole weekend inspired me to enter an Obedience match and perhaps continue to work on some foundation skills for the game as the winter goes along. Zorro loves heelwork and I believe I finally have a dog who will love to play Obedience with me.
The following weekend was our training club's USDAA trial. We weren't able to play much this year. Sunday is a Starter/Advanced trial and I had a family gathering for the holidays to attend later in the day. We barely had enough time to play in the first two classes of the day as it was!
Zorro had his first USDAA measurement at 18 and 1/4" (I believe, I know it was 18 and something!) which puts him solidly in the 20" height class. We will need two more measurements, and one of them needs to be a CMJ.
We got to play Snooker and Jumpers and I was a total anchor for poor Zorro! In Snooker I sent him on a wrong course and in Jumpers I didn't support a jump with him coming out of a tunnel. I now know he needs a little more support on the reconnection when he comes out of tunnels. Hey, I had a headache and I my attention was divided with fretting over the time I needed to leave. Whatever! He went home feeling great about himself and that's all that matters.
And today was our final trial of 2019 - Zorro's AKC Agility debut! I admit to having quite a few moments of gratitude washing over me. I am so excited and honored to have a sound agility dog who enjoys playing the game with me. That is such a simple thing, yet it has been elusive for us between Molly's health and soundness issues and Perri's stress.
Zorro had been measured at a trial back in the fall, so we did not have to worry about that. He is a 20" dog until his final measurement when he turns two years old. This trial's format was to have all of the Novice classes at the end of the day. Our first walk through was not until after 3 and since this trial center is nearly two hours away it was great news! Novice Standard was first. Beautiful contacts and table, pinch me! We earned one refusal and I honestly think he was magnetized by the weave poles, they have such a heavy reward history. He then fails his first time but weaves nicely and then I kind of crammed him in with a late front cross for the ending. Great run all around!
JWW was a little bit of a hot mess but we got it done! Z missed his weave entry both classes today but this is his first time ever weaving at a place other than our regular training center so imma chalk it up to baby dog stuff! He was quite happy to weave nicely and I think his entries will come with more mileage.
Today's trial wrapped up our 2019 trialing year. I am so excited for what 2020 will bring for us in adventures, both trialing...fun road trips and hiking outings!
This past weekend, Zorro and I played some CPE. I had originally not planned to do any CPE with Zorro, but CPE is perfectly set up to allow a team that is not quite ready for prime-time to get into the ring and run on some courses together. While I do feel this can invite teams to trial too soon, it can also greatly benefit new teams. It's all up to the handler.
CPE Level 1 offers Standard class and six different games classes, and none of them have weave poles or teeter required. Zorro has a fine teeter performance, but we have been taking much time polishing and perfecting his weaves.
After work last Friday we made our CPE-Wildcard-and-Standard debut! Wildcard was first and I was thrilled with Zorro's commitment to staying on a line of straight jumps. He is really showing independence as he matures, this used to be very challenging for him and we have worked hard on it.
Standard, we had two wrong courses. This is where I was proud of myself! I didn't yell his name to try to keep him away from the wrong course. I just accepted what I handled and "owned" where I not support my young dog enough...and moved on.
The trial was offering five classes Saturday and Sunday each. When I first entered, I only entered Friday night. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do a full trial day with my boy and see how we felt. I entered the full day for Sunday: Jumpers, Snooker, Colors, Standard and Jackpot (Non Traditional.)
We started with Jumpers and it was smokin' fast! I do not have a video of it and I so wish that I did, it was thrilling! Such confidence from my guy and the ending was a straight speed line with total commitment. The whole run was sub-20 seconds. Really exciting!
Snooker was next and I felt some hesitation after our second "color" but then he perked up as we started the closing! I took him out to the fenced in area outside for some fetch after that run. I am trying to be supportive of adjusting him to a longer trial day where he is the center of my focus.
Colors was next. Another one I have no video of, but I know it was a Q!
Standard was next and this time we did qualify! Such a bummer we did not Q on Friday night or we could have earned our Level 1 Standard title (And, completed Level 1 - with the Jackpot Q we earned later in the day.) Anyway, this run didn't feel great in a few areas but as I watch it again and again...so much nice stuff! I was confused as to why he hesitated on the top of the second pass over the Aframe, but I think it was because I said his target word while he was up there. I think I confused him, saying that before he had begun descending. And I collected him too tight before we began the closing line. And just before the panel. I do not think he has ever experienced a MAD panel jump. Wall jump, yes! But not this type of panel jump. At first I thought the refusal (not scored in CPE) was because of handling, but the second approach and refusal was confusion at the solid panel obstacle. Third time was the charm and Zorro did nicely in the ending!
We ended the day with Jackpot. We had to do a tunnel-Aframe-tunnel with a small distance challenge of about 5 feet away from each Tunnel. This was worth 15-points, and then Zorro and I earned more than enough points in our opening to qualify (for our Level 1 Strategy title.) Zorro did get to do the teeter, twice, and I also asked him for weave poles. He missed the entry but weaved nicely. I stayed back from my original handling point instead of escorting him to the entry. He knows his entries, but he is green. I was very happy with him! I did not need to ask him to weave, but Jackpot was a good opportunity to do so. I was also pleased that Zorro did an automatic down on the table in both Jackpot and Snooker. In CPE the table is never used as a pause table, but as a "stop the clock" obstacle in certain games. The dog only needs to hit it to stop the clock. They can bounce on and off, they can stand, sit, down. You may ask them for a behavior but only one time and if they do not do it, you need to move on and leash your dog. This is an area where competing in CPE is not supportive of my goals for Zorro, but that is the game! Fortunately Zorro does not have any table training issues and remembered his job. Yay!
We finished the weekend one Standard Q shy of Level 1 completion, with his CL1-H and CL1-S titles and a Perfect Day 5/5 on Sunday. Not bad, baby dog! It was truly a dream weekend and I am absolutely thrilled for our future together! Zorro is so mature and runs agility at trials with such focus. I feel his young age shows in carefulness as the day goes on (rather than zoomies or other classic stress behaviors) and I will see more stamina and speed as we go on together, and as I continue to support him and look out for his needs. We are going to have so much fun together!
After Perri earned her Coursing Ability title, we turned our attention to Fast CAT. This is a straight 100 yard, timed test. Whatever your dog's MPH is for each run is how many points they've earned. As I have said in posts past, Perri had some worrying issues with the Fast CAT. I figured out that as long as somebody else was releasing her and I was the one to catch her at the end of the 100 yards, she did not have any issues.
That "Perri policy" changed when we went to our next Fast CAT event in June and discovered a new challenge. "Continuous loop" system. The lure is on a closed pulley system, much like regular CAT, but since it is a Fast CAT the 100 yard strip is a narrow snow fenced bowling alley type area instead of a wide open field. (always the case with Fast CAT) Bottom line: with continuous loop, the line that the lure is attached to is always on the ground. Years and years ago when I first introduced Perri to coursing, she was afraid of that line and shut down. Over the years, her prey drive to chase has helped her to overcome that and in regular coursing / CAT events she can keep a bit of lateral distance while still coursing. She cannot do that in Fast CAT. The coursing line is directly on the ground in front of her and at this June event I saw a lot of conflict for Perri. It was a double trial so she did get to do two runs that day, but her first run was sub 20mph because she hesitated nearly at the end of the 100 yards and came through only when I encouraged her. The pause was not long but it was enough to affect her time as well as her enjoyment. Her second run that day I could see her running but there was a lot of conflict and concern about the line on the ground.
"Drag Lure" style Fast CAT
So, drag lure only for Perri. With drag lure, the lure is actually drug along the ground with a four wheeler/gold cart lateral to the fast CAT track and the dog only sees the lure racing up ahead of them. No line on the ground. I don't know the exact mechanics of how Drag Lure operates but I do know it is what Perri prefers! And the only club I have seen offer this style is nearly a two hour drive for us. (it is more time consuming to run an event with drag lure style.) Thankfully, I love that trial site! We returned last weekend to earn the final points Perri needed for her "BCAT" title. 150 points earned at Fast CAT events and the first title opportunity. There are titles available to be earned at higher point levels but I am unsure if we will be pursuing those.
Perri had two nice runs in the low 20s mph and enjoyed herself, she earned her BCAT title on the first run. She only needed 13 points, I believe.
Overall, Perri enjoys the 600 yard CAT far more than the 100 yard Fast Cat. She likes the wide open field and the turns, she takes them with ease and she barks while she courses and is able to really "open up". We may do more coursing events in the future, as our travels take us to our beloved Freehold Fairgrounds. It has been long since I have been able to play agility there and I have missed it. It is one of the few opportunities to play agility outdoors as trials move more and more to indoor venues.
My favorite coursing photo of Perri! Looking mighty insane while earning her CA title earlier this year.
The closest that I got to agility was having Zorro's AKC measurement done! This will save me from having to show up super super early at his first AKC trial, whenever that may be. He will still need to have another measurement done when he turns two years old. Perhaps we will not even trial in AKC Agility until after he is two, but perhaps we will. That is all up to Zorro and how his training progresses. In any case, Zorro measured 18 3/8" and will be a 20 inch jumping dog in AKC, as I expected. The judge was wonderful and took much time with Zorro, letting him settle down into the measurement and trying to get him under 18". I appreciate judges who are patient and take their time with young dogs.
The last part of our day at Freehold was that the hosting club added dock diving to their cluster of events so Molly got to enjoy that! Two jumps in the Junior division. I had bought a new pack of chuckit balls for her as the Dock season began this year but that pack had been sitting unused due to Molly being on rest for her biceps injury. I couldn't bear the thought of using them for any of my dogs but Molly. We finally got to open the new pack up and I used one new ball for each Splash. Made us both happy!
We have had a fun summer for sure even if it was not entirely what I thought it would be! Not as much Dock but plenty of coursing and Scent Work fun. Zorro's first agility trials. And plenty of hiking. We end our summer trialing season with a sweet day at Freehold. Can't ask for more than that. Here is a final photo of me capturing Perri to get her off the lure. Not the most flattering one of me but I know that one day I will treasure every together photo I have of Perri and I, perfectly imperfect.
Sunday Zorro had his debut in CPE and also did his first "for real" runs. This trial was sort of a last minute decision for me and a weeeee bit of a lapse of self control. (the plan was to do training runs only for a while!) The truth is that training runs in USDAA make me feel more secure, whereas in CPE I am a little more relaxed. And Zorro? He is just Mr Chill.
I was not sure how he would react to dirt footing, and I knew he would be seeing new-to-him equipment. He primarily sees and trains on Doggy Jumps jumps, with thick chunky bars. This trial had more traditional style jumps. A double jump he had never seen and a dog walk he has never seen. He has been trained on the double jump, but this piece of equipment can really vary in appearance by trial site.
Anyway! He was just....great. It kind of blew my mind. No zoomies in the dirt, no sniffing in the dirt, no getting "high" because of the dirt. Errors made were baby dog errors or handler confidence errors. I was so super happy with this guy! We played in Jumpers, Colors and Fullhouse - he qualified in all. Zorro earned his first agility title, CPE Level 1 Fun! (one Q each in Level 1 Jumpers and Fullhouse.)
Jumpers was first. A tough 90 degree turn after a speed line, we had a refusal (CPE does not score those). Everything else was great except me letting go of a rear cross just before he committed and another refusal. Disappointed in myself because I chickened out of a front cross and I had plenty of time to do one - I need to be braver! I was thrilled with Z pulling to the correct end of a tunnel discrimination.
Colors was next, he ran it in 11 seconds and would have been faster if not for me getting hopelessly behind in the middle of the course! This boy has wings. In Colors you have your choice of two mini-courses. Zorro's Aframe training is not complete so I chose the course that did not contain the Aframe.
Fullhouse was last, always Molly's favorite! I was thinking of her when I ran. I didn't love the layout of this Fullhouse but we made it happen with 24 points. Zorro only needed 19 for his level. In Fullhouse you need three bar jumps, two 3-point obstacles (tunnel or panel jump), and a "joker". This course's Joker options were: Aframe, weaves, dog walk. We went with the dog walk because Zorro's weaves and Aframe are not ready for prime time. He was a little slower than normal on a different dog walk but he did well! I think, having my girls who never generalized very well, I am extremely appreciative to have a dog who is able to do so.
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.
