Off to Seminar

We are headed to an obedience seminar this weekend. We will be doing clicker obedience, Novice to Utility. We are excited as it is so much fun to do all the different exercises. Well, all except for the stays. Sitting still is NOT my thing.... I know the basics of almost all the exercises and just need some fine tuning. APDT rally level 3 requires a lot of the utility exercises so we have already been working on those. Good timing as I could move to Level 3 competition the end of May, just need one more Level 2 leg!!!

Have a fun weekend, I will let you know all about it when we get back.

Rear Crosses!

Wow, did you know you can run any agility sequence with rear crosses? Mom and I didn't know that, but we found out last night - everything had to be rear crosses!!! I haven't been doing rear crosses very long, so Mom was very proud of me that I was able to do every one of them successful. One was a little iffy as the jump angle sent you in the opposite direction and then you had to make a very sharp turn, AWAY from the aframe!! But we pulled it off. We rear crossed teeters and dogwalks and tunnels and LOTS of jumps.. even the weave poles!!

Then we were able to do one sequence any way we wanted and Mom tried to front cross on the poles and I did not see them. She got in trouble... and had to do it over. Dawn told her that she blocked my view!! This time she just did a shoulder pull and I had a really nice entry. I think it is called "trust your dog!" :)

OUCH! That hurt!

Mom was cleaning up the kitchen tonight and emptied and rinsed out the coffee pot just as I walked up beside her. She said she didn't see me... next thing I know "Wham!! Coffee pot upside my head! She hit me with the coffee pot!" How could she not see me?? I am as big as she is! She felt really bad and told me how sorry she was, but now I have a big "ouchy" on my head!

BUNNIES!!!

This morning I almost got a bunny. I walked out on the deck and could smell him! I started moving real slow to find out where he was and OUT he pops and away he goes - with me close behind. We ran out the gate and across the yard and I almost got him, but he ducked under the fence. I will be ready for you tomorrow....

New toy!

I found a new toy today in the spare bedroom. We took it outside tonight when we went out to play. First we played agility and it was so much fun in the cool weather. I did great weave poles tonight and hit all my entries. I was doing teeters while Mom stood behind and would do my "bottom" and wait on her. We had a lot of fun. We also practiced some heeling and Mom thought I did a great job and gave me a lot of cookies. She kept telling me I could "go play" which means I can go do whatever I want, but I wanted to play with her!!! It was just soooo much fun!

Then we played with my new toy. Doesn't it look like fun!!

Edge WINS!

Mom and I usually go outside every night and do something. Well, tonight it was cold, wet, rainy, damp (whatever else Mom said...) but I REALLY wanted to go outside. She told me no, we would play in the house. But... but.. I want to go outside. There are such good smells out in that wind! I gave her sad looks and then a few cries and then some more sad looks. I even did a little pouty face. And then I won!!! We went outside. And guess what, she said, oh, I guess it is not that bad out here. (But with a winter coat and gloves, I would think not!)

We even went out a second time after I had my nails done.

Go AWAY Rain!

I am ready for the rain to be gone!! Mom and I took a walk in the rain last night, but I was not allowed to do any agility (well, except for the triple jump I took on my own.) I want to play in my back yard!!!

LOTS of Goldfish!!

Mom bought a small bag of goldfish for us and Gary and I liked them so much he bought us a JUMBO box of goldfish. Can you believe the size of this box of goldfish?? They are GOOD!!!

Edge table!

I like my table and am posing for Mom to take my picture. Gary will kick our butts for posting this picture since there are so many dandelions :) Mom does not allow chemicals in our yard, so dandelions are everywhere. That is fine with me!

Off to play on my table some more....

Water crab

I thought my crab needed some water so I put him in the water bowl. Oops, I didn't realize what a mess it would be when I pulled him back out. And it splashed water in my face!!

No sniffing allowed!

Mom and I were playing agility tonight and having fun and then she sent me to a tunnel and I smelled something REALLY good. So I put my nose to the ground and followed the trail. She says she told me to come back, but I don't think I heard her if she did. Next thing I know she is walking in the house with the training bag. hey, come back, I want to play...

I went in the house and she was sitting in the chair and working on the computer. She didn't even know I was there.. and wouldn't acknowledge me. What's that all about???!!! FINALLY she asked if I wanted to go play and we were able to go back outside and play. Thank goodness, it was too nice to stay inside.

Great day!

Mom and I had a lot of fun today, I was able to play outside after I chewed my bone. Then we went out and played at lunch time. Mom added the broad jump to our course, we have not done it in a course before. Mom was not surprised when I just sailed over it with no problems. I've been messing with Mom on my weave entries too, when we are running a course, I enter between 2 and 3. And then were were just out walking in the yard and I went through the correct entry. You should have seen the look on her face :)

We went to see Dr. Karen tonight and she was surprised how well I was doing considering I have been doing agility now. I only needed some adjustments in my sacrum, my neck was great! The only bad thing is that I could not play tonight since I was adjusted. Mom and I went out to walk in the back yard and I volunteered a few things. I did the tire, the teeter (with a 2o/2o!) and the broad jump.

Work from home day!

Mom could finally work from home today. She has not been able to for a month because of all the extra work she has been responsible to do. I have really missed our work from home day as I get lots of extra food and treats and get to sleep under her desk and more training time at lunch time.

We had french toast for breakfast and now I get to enjoy my marrow bone. As you can tell, I am a very good boy and keep it on the towel so I don't get blood and marrow on the carpet or my bed.

It's going to be a good day!

I LOST MOM!!!!

What a scary morning. I ate breakfast and then I went outside. When I came in, Mom was not in the kitchen. I ran upstairs and she was not there and then I went back downstairs - I could not find her!! I was starting to panic as she never disappears like that, she always tells me where she is. I ran up and hit Gary and went back downstairs, still no Mom. So I went back up and told Gary again, he was not listening as he was taking a shower, so I ran back downstairs again! Still NO MOM!! OMG, I am really worried, she was not in the basement or upstairs or in the kitchen. Gary had to help me!! I went up for the third time and hit him with my nose and took off running downstairs. This time he followed me, whew, I am glad he finally figured it out. Mom is missing.... We walked into the kitchen and I was trying to tell him what was wrong and Mom walked in from the garage. RELIEF!!! I was so relieved to see her, and Gary was a little upset with me. I got him out of the shower to find Mom... and she was in the garage. She had gone out to get food out of the freezer for my dinner and got side tracked.

Gary told Mom what happened and she was very happy that I knew to go get Gary when I thought something was wrong, even if he was in the shower.

Another fun course

Mom set up a pretty tough course for me today, but I did a great job and no off courses. I did miss my weave entry as Gary was "judging" and I looked at him as I sailed over the triple and then missed the entry. I also "surfed" the table like my Grandpa Rock. Mom usually stands on the same side that I approach, but this time she went to the other side and I was trying to get to her and the table was on its side. I did the entire course, held my contacts, and then was rewarded. Mom said that she will make sure tables have sand bags at trials to make sure that doesn't happen again.

We are going to eat dinner and then take a walk at the park. I can't wait!!!!

Where IS Mom's Shoe??

Ok - BUSTED! I love to carry Mom's shoes, it just comes natural for me. She has an older pair of slip on's that she wears in the yard and garage when working. She was looking for it Saturday morning and could only find one. She looked all around, and still no luck. I was thinking "uh-oh" wonder where I left it?? It couldn't have been my fault, could it?? Well, she cleaned the downstairs Saturday morning and then looked all over the upstairs Saturday evening ... still no shoe. This morning Gary told her that he would probably find it when he mowed the yard. She agreed with him, as she knew it was not in the house.

Gary found it in the corner of the yard, all full of buds from the tree. Guess I better be more careful in what I carry outside. But it was in the corner where all the squirrels and birds are, so I probably carried it out and saw something much more exciting. At least it wasn't wet!!!

Double and Triple

Mom dug out the double jump and triple jump from the shed today. I think she is now starting to realize the things we *haven't* done since I have a trial coming up soon. I have done the double at school a couple of times but never the triple. She got them out and set them up in the training yard. She set up the triple in a sequence and then had me do it once. Then she did a lead out and sent me over two jumps to the triple. I sailed over it with no problem, even with her pretty far behind me!! Well, so much for learning those.... what's next!?!?

Good Helper!

When Mom and Gary carried the teeter to the yard from the deck, they noticed all the new paint was chipped off the ends from it banging on the deck. Mom took paint, paint brush and a bucket out so she could put the teeter across the bucket and paint both ends at once. Well, you know how much I love to paint! I waited until the time was right, she was bent over and concentrating and painting and I ran by and grabbed the brush right out of her hand. I wanted to help!! She made me bring it back to her and unfortunately the only thing *I* got to paint was my muzzle!!

Fun Classes

Mom and I had fun at our classes this week. We went to agility and rally. We worked on a lot of sends and front crosses in agility and I am getting really good at them. We did longer sequences with the contacts including a lot of jumps and both the aframe and dogwalk in the same sequence. Mom doesn't even have to remind me to stop on my contacts anymore, I know my job! She runs past and I know I have to stop until she tells me "OK." The teeter was also a lot higher this week and even volunteered to do it! I also did several very tight wraps on jumps that Tiffany even said was hard for a big dog.

In rally we did one difficult course and I was a good boy. I still need my "target towel" for my drop on recall, but I can do it with my towel. That is something we have not worked on for a long time, so I have not learned how to do it yet without the towel. Then we played "my dog can do that" and we all had so much fun. Every one was laughing and having a blast. One of the things we had to do was I had to stand/stay and Mom had to hop across the room. She started skipping at first and then realized that was not a hop. I was really embarrassed. She could tell by the look on my face when she returned. But everyone was pretty impressed that I could do that. (although I think they were more impressed that she could do her part!!! )

New Game

I figured out a new game and it is earning me a LOT of good cookies. Whenever I have something Mom wants she tells me "bring it" and I take it to her. I always get really good cookies for doing this. I am also very good at it as I take it to her no matter how good it is. Well, I heard her tell Gary that I always get rewarded for this, and with good cookies. I have had so much fun tonight and have a full tummy. I kept stealing things off her desk and she would tell me to "bring it" and then we would celebrate and get cookies. What a fun game...

Play Time

What a great week so far, both nights Mom and I have spent over an hour playing in the back yard. We set up a course last night and Gary came out and watched me. He was very proud of me. I really like playing agility and beg Mom to go out to play. Then we play some retrieve and do our bird work, and we do some rally and obedience. It is just so much fun. I don't want to stop, I could stay out there and play all night. Oh, and then Mom chased me all over the yard tonight, I really like it when we play the chase game.

Fun Day

Mom and I went to an agility trial today to visit as it was really close to our house. I got to see all my friends and even made some new friends. We took our agility stuff and I worked on the practice jump. I did great waits for Mom, even with all the action going on and dogs all around. I played with my toy and ate a lot of good treats. We even practiced my stays and sits and downs. It was so much fun, but really hot.

When we got home, I played in the back yard until dinner time. Then mom set up a jumpers course in the back yard and we practiced. She thought I did a really good job and I even hit my weave entries. We are going to set up a standard course and practice later this week, I can't wait!! I really like doing the dogwalk - it is FUN!!!

Rally Pictures

My first jumping pictures!!!

My pictures arrived!! We ordered two pictures from my first Rally Advanced leg back in February. They were taken by VW Perry.

SNORING

Wow, what a busy, fun day. I played all day long after making food. I ran around the back yard and then Mom and I trained for awhile. I got a little distracted as there were birds everywhere. I would try really hard to pay attention and then they would fly over my head. After dinner Mom and I took a walk, there were kids on bikes everywhere. It was a lot of fun seeing all the kids playing outside.

I have been snoring under Mom's desk for quite awhile now. But she woke me up so we can get ready for bed. Another big day tomorrow... I LOVE weekends!!!!

Food making day

We had "food making day" this morning and I got LOTS of good treats. I had chicken hearts, chicken livers and lots of good chicken! I even got to lick the big bowl when we were done. We did it quick as we need to get outside and finish my Aframe. Gary thinks he will have it done this weekend.... we will see!!

Mom filled out entries for my first trials last night. Now hopefully we can go to fun shows before our first real show.

Off to play....

Another fun class

We had agility tonight and it was so much fun. We did weaves and chute first. I did really great weaves, I know because Mom kept calling me "Awesome Edge" I had no mistakes, hit my entries every time and completed them fast and accurate. I also did the chute tonight with no help, just pushed through!

Then we went to the contacts station and I found out I am now doing full height contacts. I really didn't notice as I just like to run over them, but I heard Mom mention it. I do a very good job on my contacts and wait for Mom to release me. I did a good job tonight, but Mom kept getting in trouble. Susan told her to just RUN as I would follow, duh... what does Mom think I'm going to do??? She had to repeat an exercise 3 times!!!

Then we moved to the teeter and table section. I have no problems with the teeter anymore, but we were working more on front crosses than anything else. Mom got in trouble again because she called a front cross and pull. Boy, Mom sure gets in a lot of trouble....

Two more weeks of class and then we move to the next level. I hope Mom can handle it!!!

My agility yard!

Woohoo I got to play in the agility yard tonight. It was so nice!!!! It was cool outside and I now have a dogwalk and table to play on too. We did several dogwalks and jumps to the table and sends to the table, I was so excited to play. Then we did a few sets of weaves and Mom said my weaves are faster and I am lowering my head and starting to push through them. My rhythm is getting much better too and I am single striding almost 100%. We used the bunny toy tonight and we played tug a lot after the table, dogwalk and weaves. I really like to play tug with the bunny!!

We have half Mom's cheesecake left from the Cheesecake factory, so we are going to eat that for a snack tonight. I cannot wait. I had a taste of it earlier and it was really good. I hope she gets it out soon as I am ready to take a nap. It has been a long weekend...

Another fun weekend

We had another great weekend. We all worked on Saturday to get the agility equipment painted. Mom and I would take breaks to go run or to go train. I have been working on my poles and my jumping exercises. We spent a lot of time outside. Mom opened all the doors and put a baby gate over the garage door. It was funny because the wind was really strong and it blew a lot of leaves in the training room. It almost looked like outside. We worked really late to put the last coat on the dogwalk so it would be ready for Sunday.

Sunday morning Mom and Gary carried out the table and the dogwalk. So now everything is done except for the Aframe and tunnel bases. Mom has to put one more coat on the tunnel bases and Gary is getting closer every day in finishing the Aframe. So now my agility course is almost complete. Grandma and Grandpa came at lunch time and they all went out to eat. I was sad as I wanted to go too. But it was great to see them AND they brought me good leftovers. Mom and I went out in the back yard and I got to run around and hunt and she read a book. It is fun to just sniff around.

Flip Flop Weather is back

Woohoo! Mom got out the flip flops - I forgot how much fun it was to play with flip flops! She took them off to sit in the grass and I walked over to see her and then slowly took one and away I went, tossing it in the air. I would catch it and throw it on the ground and bark at it and throw it again.

Then I was a very good boy and I carried them in the house for her. She had her hands full with the training bag and her book and phone and all her other stuff.

I thought that was great to get rewarded for carrying the flip flops!!!

Happy Easter

Good Helper!

Mom and Gary are painting my agility equipment today and I am a GOOD helper! Last week I got out my hammer and helped Gary tear apart the Aframe. This week I am helping them paint! I just want them to hurry up so that I can play agility in my back yard!!! Sometimes you just need to do it yourself to get things done!

Another fun night

We went to rally class tonight and had a lot of fun. We did an APDT course first and it was really tight and twisty. But it had THREE jumps in it - woohoo! almost as fun as running agility. Cindy told us that if we can do that well, then courses at trials should be easy. It was actually a lot of fun even though it was difficult. Then we did an AKC course, it was okay but they just are not as much fun as they are pretty simple and boring.

We also went out to run in the back yard tonight. We did at lunch today too. I run, play and have fun and then lay under a tree and chew a stick.

GREAT CLASS TONIGHT

We had so much fun at class tonight. We did the contact sequences first and I did all my contacts and front crosses and even lots of wraps on the jumps. I even got to be the demo dog to show everyone else how to do the wraps. Then we went to weaves/table and I did ALL my weave poles every time AND hit every entry. We did weaves and jump/weaves and even two jumps to the weaves. One time I even slid right in and still hit the entry. The table smelled really good, but once we put it in the sequence and I was working I got right on and laid down like mom asked. Then we moved to the teeter/chute section. Mom and I have been working on the teeter on the deck for two weeks now and I had no problems with the teeter. I even did an "extra" teeter when Mom was walking the course. But she was proud of me :) Then we did a lot of front crosses after the tire and the chute and 180 jump sequence. We had so much fun and I did a perfect job!!! Mom said I can move to the next level if I continue to do so well.