2009 and 2010

Happy New Year everyone! I really can't believe that it's 2010 already. Seriously, 2009 seemed to go by way faster than any other year!

2009 was a very memorable year for Mika and me! We competed at our first AAC Regionals in May, getting 6th place overall, as well as a 3rd place in Standard, a 6th place in Gamblers, and a 7th place in Jumpers...and qualifying for Nationals with 422.42 points. I was completely in shock!! Then we competed at our first Nationals in August, which was awesome. And to finish off the year, in October we performed at our first SuperDogs show as apprentices, which was a HUGE deal for Mika because just a couple years ago, she was very reactive to other dogs. I also can't forget our first trial of the year, in March, where Mika ran fast without any reservations! She kept up that speed throughout the year and even got faster. I couldn't ask for more. I'm so proud of my little dog who has come farther than I've ever imagined, and I will never forget this year.

In 2009, Baby dog Wall-e got to start his agility training. He went to his first fun match in June at 13 months, and then ran at three more throughout the year. The little man got to work sheep for the first time at his herding instinct test in September. We trained the Silvia Trkman method of running contacts for 7 months, but when I realized that he wasn't generalizing the method, I experimented with almost every running contact method out there!

In 2010, I'll continue to work on Mika's ATChC title, which we probably won't get this year, but that's okay! We'll also definitely try Snooker this year, since she now has tons of confidence in the ring. I would have loved to go to Regionals and Nationals again, but they're a bit too far for us this year, so we'll most likely be going in 2011. I hope to increase Mika's muscle mass, and I will begin supplementing with Sashas Blend. But above all, I want to keep her amazing attitude and drive for agility, tricks, and anything else we do together.

I will complete Wall-e's dog walk and A-frame training, with a 2o2o for the DW and hopefully a running AF. 2010 will be Wall-e's trialing debuting year -- He'll begin trialing in September at 27 months old. I'll start him in Jumpers only, and then add Standard and Gamblers at the next trials. Throughout the year, I'll be preparing Wall-e for the 2011 AAC Regionals. And I'll work on increasing his speed and drive, so that he can run in "car-chasing mode!" :)

2009 was an AMAZING year. Let's hope that 2010 will be a great year as well. For all of us! :)

~Nat

Wall-e: plans for the future

I've been making a lot of plans about Wall-e's trialing career. I'm pretty excited to start trialing him, but I'm also a very cautious person in that I really have to think things through before making a decision. That's why Mika was 3 years old when we started trialing -- I wasn't even THINKING about trialing before a few people convinced me that we actually were ready!

I'd like to run Wall-e at Regionals in May 2011 because I'll probably be running Mika (assuming Nationals will be held closer to us in 2011), and I might as well run Wall-e too since we're driving all that way.

So if I want Wall-e to be ready for Regionals (though I don't expect him to qualify for Nationals because he'll barely be 3 years old), I'll have to:

1. put his 2o2o on the full DW and AF
2. train Masters courses and sequences during 2010
3. start trialing

Yep, get ready for some more over-planning, as usual... :)

1. put his 2on2off on the full DW and AF - Right now he has a very nice 2o2o on the plank in the backyard, which is at a 1 foot incline. Before the field opens I'll have to raise it up to 2 feet, so that I can backchain his 2o2o on the contacts.

2. train Masters courses and sequences during 2010 - I don't think he'll really have a problem with the Masters courses. He's pretty good at tough sequences, as long as I handle him half-decently!

3. start trialing - My current plan is for Wall-e's very first trial to be outdoors in September 2010. He'll be 2 years old, about 27 months to be precise. Hopefully it won't be too hot then, and we'll have had the whole summer to train. Then, if all goes well, he'll likely be able to do a couple indoor trials in October.

I want Wall-e to run at full speed consistently, so I don't want to do anything to take his drive away. I want him to know that he should just let loose and RUN, like he does when he chases cars in the backyard! At trials I'll be doing the same thing as I do with Mika -- never correct for mistakes. If he makes a mistake on course, I'll ignore it and continue, but make sure to spend extra time training that skill during training.

I'm looking forward to trialing "the W" -- he's going to be a lot of fun, that's for sure!

~Nat

No Regionals/Nationals for us in 2010

Next year the AAC Nationals will be held in Alberta, at Spruce Meadows, where the very first AAC Nationals were held. Sadly we won't be able to go next year -- Alberta is a bit too far. Hopefully we'll be able to go in 2011, assuming that Nationals will be held a bit closer that year. Watching some USDAA Nationals/Cynosport runs the previous few days, on livestream and YouTube (wish we could have actually been there!), brought back great memories of our AAC Regionals and Nationals! Congrats to everyone at the USDAA Nationals, from what I saw it looked like a great event!

~Nat

2009 AAC Regionals

Yes, I finally wrote a post about Regionals, even though it is two weeks late!

We had three awesome days at Regionals. It was so much fun to run Mika, hang out with both dogs, and watch lots of runs! My friend Ashley came all the way from Florida to visit us, thanks Ashley -- it was awesome! So much fun, you HAVE to come again!

Friday

So the Friday of Regionals, we had our warm-up run. It had been raining previously so the contacts were REALLY slippery. Every dog that I saw who went on all three contacts fell off at least one of them. Yes, I'm serious! So for Mika's safety, I just did tunnels.

Saturday

On Saturday we had Standard #1, Jumpers #1, and Gamblers #1. Saturday was a bit of a "messy day" because of our weird Standard and Gamblers runs. Our Standard run was VERY unorganized, thanks to my bad handling...I sent her off-course twice, and it was just generally a really strange run. She did have an awesome teeter and weaves though, and sent into the tunnel after the weaves beautifully as I ran into position after the tunnel

Our Jumpers #1 run was great! -- if it was a real trial, it would have been our first Masters Q!! 7th place!

In our Gamblers #1 run, Mika was kind of acting "off" and was a bit distracted, not really into it, and I also didn't hear the buzzer for the main gamble.



Sunday

On Sunday...what an awesome day! Jumpers #2, Gamblers #2, and Standard #2. Our Jumpers #2 run was a blast, very fast, just one knocked bar (Mika's once-in-a-lifetime bar!). Mika was at her best, and in a great "agility mood!"

Then Gamblers #2... OH. MY. GOSH. I am still in awe and shock...Mika got the main gamble, PERFECTLY!! Yes, a Masters gamble with a send to an off-side weave entry!!! And there were TWELVE poles, and she didn't pop!! :D :D SO proud of my girlie, can't even describe!!! 6th place!

At that point, we needed about 45 more points to qualify for Nationals. There was one run left -- Standard #2. Let's see what happened...

Well, it had been crazy weather all weekend (in summary...lots of rain, wet, puddles, and hail, yes, HAIL). Sunday was no exception. It was pouring and freezing cold when Standard #2 began. If the rain had kept up, Mika might not have ran (this is one dog who really hates the rain and the wet!). But, the rain stopped, less than five minutes before our run!! (Thank you God!) It was still really cold and wet, though. Luckily I had some home-cooked salmon from Lynn (thank you!!) to motivate Mika. She loved that salmon!! I stuffed a nice big piece into her mouth just before we stepped into the ring, and she ran amazingly...wow, what a special dog to brave the wet and run for me. 3rd place too...not that it's the placement that matters, it really doesn't matter to me...I was just so amazed at Mika!

Overall, we got 6th place overall in 10" Specials (20 dogs total), and qualified for Nationals!!! It was our first time at Regionals, but Mika ran so, so well, and I was thrilled with her!! Couldn't be more proud of my girl <3

Thoughts for Regionals

Regionals is in only 5 days now...here are some thoughts.

Since this year's Regionals and Nationals are both being held close to our house, it'd be kind of nice to qualify for Nationals. Of course, qualifying isn't everything, and keeping Mika happy will be my number one priority, but since this might be the only Regionals I'll get to compete at with Mika (depending on where future Regionals will be held), I'm going to try my very best.

We are both ready to tackle next weekend's courses. Mika and I are both able to run this level of courses, as long as I handler her correctly and call her when needed, and handle her dog walk and A-frame contacts (she sometimes misses them). In Standard and Jumpers I'm going to concentrate on control, because that's what we need the most. In Gamblers I'll concentrate on collecting as many points as possible, since it's very unlikely that we'll be able to get the Masters-level gambles.

It's going to be a fun and challenging weekend, and I'm really looking forward to it!

~Nat

Wall-e is almost 1 year old!

I can't believe that Wall-e is almost a year old ALREADY! His 1st birthday is on Friday May 29th, in 6 days -- the first day of Regionals! What a great birthday present for him...he gets to see tons of dogs and other shelties at Regionals, and then in the evening he'll probably get to do some agility of his own at the field. We'll set up a jump/tunnel sequence and he'll get to run with me and my friend Ashley (who's coming from Miami!!). We also got him another squeaky toy, and he'll get a "cake" on his birthday like Mika always does. (Shhhhh...don't tell him!) His cake will be canned dog food kind of formed into a cake shape, which he never gets because he eats EVO dry food, and a bit of Nature's Variety raw medallions and fresh food. We'll probably get him some new treats too. After all, it's his first birthday...it should be special!

~Nat

Regionals...

Regionals are coming up. They're in exactly a week now! 7 days!! We're going to the field tomorrow, just to refresh the dog walk probably (Mika slipped on it on Tuesday just as she was getting on it, so I just want to be sure she doesn't have any reservations). And then that'll be it, no more agility until Friday May 29th.

~Nat

More Agility training

We went to the field this morning for some more training, getting ready for Regionals (which is in only 2 weeks!). We haven't done agility since Wednesday so I decided that we could do a bit more than usual this time. I set up a sequence from the Backyard Dogs article in the May issue of Clean Run magazine. (For those of you who subscribe, I think it was obstacles #6 to #10 from Fig. 3.) Mika went off course (completely my fault!), taking a jump instead of the tunnel, and therefore had a few more mistakes; we ended up finishing a totally improvised sequence, that was a lot harder than the original one! :o Silly girl. She did do a REALLY nice jump wrap though, in our improvised sequence. We tried the sequence again, this time with me leading out to do a front cross as she took off over the first jump, and we ran it perfectly and fast.

Then we tried some distance work. First I sent Mika over a jump and into a tunnel from about maybe 17 or 18 feet away. The first time she didn't know where to go, but the second time she ran into the tunnel confidently.

Then I sent her into a different tunnel and onto the dog walk, with me about 15 feet away from the dog walk at a lateral distance. She was amazing, Perfect! She didn't hesitate as she ran out of the tunnel and towards the dog walk, finding the dog walk entry on an angle, then racing across the entire obstacle, hitting the yellow at the end.

And now it's raining, and both dogs are sound asleep. It's one of those rainy days where you just feel like doing nothing. Well, it'll be good for our grass in the backyard, which has a lots of completely dead, brown patches.

~Nat

Haircut!

Mika got a haircut at the groomer's yesterday! I took some photos but I haven't uploaded them onto the computer yet. The groomer cut her beard a bit shorter this time. She looks cute. I personally prefer her beard a bit longer but my mom likes it short, and I guess it's a nice summer clip. She'll look spiffy and sporty for her professional action photos at Regionals!

She's lost quite a bit of weight too, which is a very good thing. She weighs 12 lbs (and she's 13" high at the withers, a.k.a. top of the shoulders). Perfect!! I've always struggled with her weight a bit, as she gets overweight very easily, but I've finally been getting it under control. I'll post photos later.

About agility -- I've really really been looking forward to Regionals. I think we may be ready.

~Nat

Training with Mika

Practiced with Mika at the field yesterday after Wall-e's last agility class. I set up a quick sequence from last year's FCI World Championships. She ran it clean, fast, and happy, the first time! She really dove into the tunnel, I've never seen her zoom into a tunnel so fast. So Mika literally worked for under 5 seconds, and then we left to go home. I'm glad that I'm still sticking to my rule of 1 repetition per session.

~Nat

Regionals and Wall-e's Running contacts

It's MAY already!! Eek! That means Regionals are coming up quickly! Less than a month. The first day of Regionals is Friday May 29, where we will do the Warm-Up Games, and on Saturday and Sunday (the 30th and 31st) we'll run the actual Masters Standard, Jumpers, and Gamblers courses (two each, one of each on Saturday and one of each on Sunday). What we really have to work on now is staying on course and not taking off-courses. That's what Mika will be practicing every time we go to the field (3 to 4 times a week), until Regionals. Yesterday we practiced choosing the un-obvious tunnel entrance when the other tunnel entrance was staring her in the face, because she was sucked into the wrong entrance at our Regionals group practice on Wednesday, but she got it right away yesterday! Tomorrow we're going to run half of a Standard course from last year's Nationals, and the next time after that we're going to practice threadles and not taking whatever obstacle is in front of her. Yes, I plan ahead! :)

Just because I will be busy with Mika doesn't mean that I won't find time for Wall-e! I work him mostly when Mika is sleeping, like half an hour ago, when we worked on his running contacts. We haven't trained running contacts in forever. We're using the regulation-size wooden teeter plank now instead of the metal mini-teeter plank, because the regulation-size is, well, regulation-size. I want to start training his dog walk at the field soon, so we'll have to practice on a plank that's close to the size of a real dog walk.

I wasn't counting the reps, but I'm guessing we did about 7 and I know for sure that he missed 3 of them. We'll work on it :) The plank is still flat on the ground, no angle to it yet.

Mika and Wall-e are both sleeping now. That's when I do homework and/or go on the computer -- when they're sleeping.

~Nat

Regionals preparation

I won't be using my old list on things to do to prepare Mika for Regionals anymore, because I now know what we really have to concentrate on after trialling again, and practicing a bit more.

Here's a new list, in no particular order:

-distance skills
Mika isn't confident enough at a distance to run in Masters Gamblers yet, so we'll have to work on this.

-staying in the weaves, not popping out
I find that Mika gets her entry if I don't crowd her and send her ahead a bit to let her find the entry, so we need to concentrate most on staying in the poles. We'll work with 18 poles when the field opens, so she'll be used to weaving 18 poles and won't anticipate like she does with 12.

-handling
Needs work. Period. ;)

-jump wraps
She doesn't really know how to do a tight wrap around a jump. We'll be working on this quite a bit.

-common patterns
I'll train her how to run common patterns independently. pinwheels, serpentines, 180's, etc.

I have major writing block.

~Nat

(EDIT: See, I told you I had writer's block...I can't even type "writer's block!")

Mika and Wall-e's agility practice April 1, 09

This was the third Regionals practice, but my second, because I couldn't go to the last one.

I ran the Jumpers course twice with Mika. She was a very good girl! I had to lead out or else I wouldn't be able to handle the serpentine-threadle combination for jumps #2-5. I loved how she sent ahead of me at the end of the course, especially in the second time we ran it, she's never done that before. She wasn't quite as fast as she was at the trial...I hope she gets that speed back. Maybe it's a trial thing. She didn't go off-course though (unless you count that bobble at the pinwheel in the first run to be an off-course)! Still, I'd much rather have awesome speed and an off-course than moderate speed and a perfect run. I've decided that I'm not going to call Mika off any obstacles anymore, even at trials. I don't want to put any doubt in her mind that she's ever making any mistakes. I want her to think that she's always right. (Which she usually is. It's usually my handling that makes her go off-course.)

I practiced a few things with Wall-e too. He had fun!

Then we tried a gamble (which, like the Jumpers course, was from a Gamblers course at the 2008 AAC Nationals). Mika didn't quite understand at first, but then she got it! (Not at the full 20' distance, but doesn't matter.) She finished up the evening with the speed that I love!

~Nat

Update on preparing for Regionals

An update on Mika's training for the AAC Regionals and my handling "re-learning":

my handling -- This has improved a lot, and I feel like I am handling a lot more smoothly now. It doesn't feel awkward anymore, and I don't feel like I am scrambling into position (thanks to Susan Garrett's Success With One Jump DVD!). We'll see if my "new" handling is consistent when we get some more practice in.

more control of Mika -- Definitely, although I think that's because my handling has improved.

great weave entries -- A bit of an improvement. Not much. We really should work on this more.

correct tunnel entrances -- Yes!! Again, something that has been improved thanks to my improved handling.

Our trial on March 21&22 should be a test of my improved handling skills.

~Nat

Mika running a practice Nationals course

VERY happy with her! She got her weave entry both runs and didn't pop out either! She also listened to my handling really well (as always), but no off-courses or almost-off-courses. I'm seeing tons of progress in my handling. (Yep, I forgot a few jumps in the first run, no big deal, I got it the second time!) She did miss the dog walk contact in the first run, and hit it kinda weird in the second run, with one paw. We'll be working on that at home with the plank. Her weaves and great speed made up for the blown contact, though! :)

~Nat

Update on 10 things to get Mika ready for Regionals

Every month or so I'm going to write an update on how we're doing with our training to get ready for Regionals (and just to improve in agility in general). This is mostly for myself to help me stay on track, but I'll post it nevertheless.

1. MY HANDLING! -- I think it's going well! My front crosses have improved SO much! I still mess up occasionally, but I handle better more often than not! I'd still like to improve so that good handling becomes second nature, and so that eventually I won't have to think about it anymore.

2. more control of Mika -- Um...not really. We haven't worked on this at all.

3. build Mika's independence -- Definitely! She's becoming a lot more of an off-course type of dog. (For me, that's a good thing because it means that she's gaining confidence, as I can usually prevent her from going off course with a good strong "Come!" and proper handling. Although improper handling is what causes the off-courses in the first place.)

4. no weave popping, great entries -- The weave popping thing is going great! I can't remember the last time she popped out. Her entries need a lot more work, though. She often enters on the left side.

5. use PVC hoop to encourage running through contact on dog walk and A-frame -- This isn't something that we have to work on, just something I have to do whenever we practice.

6. train rear crosses -- YES! I'm proud to say that Mika has an excellent response to rear crosses now, although we have yet to use the improved rear crosses in sequences or courses (only in exercises in the basement with a couple of jumps). I also taught her left & right, which might help.

7. correct tunnel entrances -- Haven't worked on this yet. Hopefully, this will improve because of my improved handling. I'll still try to work on it anyway.

8. focus at all times -- Haven't worked on this yet. I'll see how Mika's focus is at our March trial (first time competing on both days: 1 Advanced Gamblers on Saturday, 2 Masters Standard and 1 Masters Jumpers and Sunday). If she keeps her focus at this trial, especially during the last run on Sunday where she'll likely be pretty tired, then I'll consider this goal done. After all, she has great focus, so we have more important things to work on.

9. Mika's conditioning -- Mika's been doing balance exercises (tricks, turning in circles, etc.)on the Theraball (exercise ball) regularly, 4 to 5 times a week. So, this goal is going great! I would take her for walks, but she hates going outside when it's -30 degrees Celsius, or even if it's less than that...so I'm going to wait until it starts getting warmer. When it does get warmer, we'll start the daily 30 min. to 2 hour walks. But we do go for the occasional walk at the park when it's warm enough. (In other words, cold, but not completely FREEZING.)

10. Always remember to continue on when Mika makes a mistake on course, and reward the off courses in training -- I've been doing great with this. I don't think I've forgotton at all this winter. I'm pretty pleased with that!

So, the main things we have to work on now:

- my handling
- more control of Mika
- great weave entries
- correct tunnel entrances

~Nat

10 things to work on to get Mika ready for Regionals

We've got quite a few things to work on before the AAC Regionals, which is May 29-31. At Regionals, we'll be running in 2 each of Masters Standard, Jumpers, and Gamblers. Even though Regionals is May 29-31, I'd like to get all these things done before May, so that we're completely prepared for Regionals. These things are listed in no particular order, except for the first one, which is the one I really have to work hard on.

1. MY HANDLING!! (this is biiig priority!) especially front crosses

2. more control of Mika (but still mix up with motivational sequences)

3. build Mika's independence (might be hard to encourage this AND control)

4. no weave popping, great entries

5. use PVC hoop to encourage running through contact on dog walk and A-frame (she might need reminders once the field opens again, since she'll have gone through such a long time without regular practice on full-size contacts)

6. train rear crosses (I never really trained them properly, and though I do use them with tunnels since Mika can't see me crossing behind her, I'd like to be able to use them before jumps without worrying about a spin)

7. correct tunnel entrances (this links back to handling, since Mika will always go where she thinks I tell her to go)

8. focus at all times (she has her rare lapses of attention, mostly when she's getting tired, so this links to conditioning which I'll discuss below, but probably won't be a problem because there's only 3 runs a day at Regionals)

9. Mika's conditioning (exercise ball 5 days a week until it gets warmer outside, then when it does get warmer, daily 30 min. walks on weekdays, 1 to 2 hr. walks on weekends, as well as continuing exercise ball 5 days a week)

10. This isn't exactly something we need to work on, just something I need to remember: Always remember to continue on when Mika makes a mistake on course, and reward the off courses in training (the next time we try the sequence, make handling clearer and jackpot if she does it correctly)

So there you go, that's mostly everything that we have to work on before May. The biggest ones are probably handling, weaves, rear crosses, and conditioning.

~Nat