Smiles

His smile makes me smile...

 

 His ears make me smile...

Her smile makes me smile...

Her crazy eyes make me smile...

Stalker Brit make me smile...

 

It was a fun walk, thanks for the smiles and the photo's Amanda!

!!!!!!!!!

This past weekend was the much anticipated two-day Go! See Spot! Fly! Agility Camp…I was so excited to have working spot for Neena.  Each day consisted of 3 sessions with one of 4 instructors.  Here are the highlights from each session: 

Friday:

Session 1 – Terry challenged me to do more front crosses.  They are motivating for Neena because I am more in her face, and I usually can get where I need to be.  I also need to re-build value for them by rewarding at my hip every time until she starts to expects it, then I can wean it away (this reminded me of the toy/tug training I’m doing with her). 

Session 2 – Sarah always challenges me to play more with my dog…I love that.  I also need to think of Snooker as a regular course (e.g. standard/jumpers), instead of a game.  It’s all in my head! 

Session 3 – We practiced distance with Annelli…this was the afternoon session and it was HOT, I expected Neena to shut down on me…but she was still happy, and even tugged with me.  I was thrilled.  Anyways, Anneli pointed out how in training we often practise something until its ‘right’, and move on.  Repeating a sequence can signal our dog they have done something wrong, and they will offer something different.  So, if you are going to try a mini-gamble twice, try to put at least one other obstacle in between.   I thought that was really interesting.  I also really need to work ‘Go On’ and ‘Get Out’ with her.   

Evening Lecture – Dr. Devall talked to us about conditioning our dogs, we should all be doing the following training with our dogs:

1.       Strength  - waves/sit pretty/walk backwards/tugging/etc

2.       Endurance - 20 minutes trotting or 10 minutes swimming 3x/week

3.       Proprioception - body awareness (e.g. walk through ladder)…Scamp especially needs this lol

4.       Warm-Up - 5-10 minutes walking, smaller amounts of running/jumping, and active stretching

5.       Cool-down – decrease intensity of exercise over 10-15 minute (trot, fast walk, slow walk) and passive stretching

She also stressed the importance of appropriately trimming our dog’s nails.

Saturday:

Session 1 - Neena keeps surprising me with her distance work and I LOVE IT!  It is so cool to see how much she really knows…and that it’s not all a fluke lol.  Anyways, Anneli really pointed out how shoulders support distance and discrimination.  She/Jan also pointed out what a good girl Neena is; she checks in with me and then goes where I’m looking.   Finally…I need to be happier on the outsideJ.   

This morning I felt Neena was sniffy/distracted and was avoiding the frame.  I walked her and noticed she was off on her left rear; Sarah agreed and massaged her finding some additional tightness around her left shoulder.  We decided to jump her at 16” and do only every other activity. 

Session 2 – Amanda was at her finest playing mind games with usJ, I ran one of the sequences so Neena came out of a tunnel and had to run to me…depends on her mood I can use that to get some extra speed out of her. 

Session 3 – I ran one sequence with Neena for Terry and he looked at me and said…Jen…she’s tired.  And he was right.  I found it hard to find balance this weekend.  I know I didn’t reward Neena as often as I normally do, and I wouldn’t typically ask her to work that hard/long, especially if I thought she was sore.  That being said…she tried, I really believe that…and she worked longer for me than I should have asked her too.  She’s my bestest gal, and I feel like I let her down on that oneL.  We decided she deserved the afternoon off, and she literally passed out in her kennel.  Instead, Terry had me work Scamp for the rest of the session…which was pretty unexpected but fun!  In addition to reinforcing the foundation skills Sarah & Amanda have already been teaching, Scamp did his first pinwheels and tunnels…it’s some of his first agility baby steps…awww! 

Evening Lecture – Kyle talked to us about his Olympics luge experience, goal setting and visualization.  Funny…some of this I’ve always done.  And some of this was exactly what I needed to hear about my own personal goals.   

We finished off the weekend with a one-day Go! Dog! Go! Trial…I was extremely happy with Neena yesterday, given the heat and how hard she’d worked the two-previous days…she was happy and focused, with only some minor nerves & ring-crew visitingJ. 

I think I had heat stroke for our gamble, I should have planned our course MUCH better...I thought we got the closing gamble, but didn’t get enough points in the opening.  Umm…why wouldn’t you take the 4 point jump twice?  Silly girl!

 
After our first run, I had Dr. Devall give Neena a chiropractic treatment.  She adjusted her neck, shoulder and pelvis…but she didn’t find any soreness, or anything else especially alarming.  I’m not good at picking it out, but Sarah mentioned she’s seen a hitch in Neena’s left rear on and off, so it was peace of mind to have Dr. Devall check her over.   

Maybe it was the treatment…more than likely Neena and I finally got our sh*t together at the same time lol…and we Q’d our Snooker run.  That is the final run we needed to get our Starters Games Dog of Canada title.  Yee haw!!! 

In March 2011, I made a goal to get Neena's ADC title.  I had hoped to get it that year, but today we are still one starters standard away.  To be fair, we don't trial all that often, maybe every other month.  But its hard not to feel like this title is baby dog stuff, and maybe I shouldn't be quite so happy about it lol.  However, we've worked so hard!  And while I don't do this for the Q's, or the titles...they are benchmarks for me.  That I'm doing the right things for Neena, that we are improving and becoming a better team.  That we are having fun doing it.  That's what matters to me.  So again...Yay Team JNP!!! 

Our final run yesterday was an advanced jumpers course…I forgot a front cross which set us up badly for the next jump…but I still think it was Neena’s funnest run of the day.  She was the most focused and revved…I love runs like that.  Unfortunately we were 0.49seconds too slow…my fault lol!  We've spent a lot of time building fun & confidence with Neena, and learning to calm my emotions.  It’s hard to find balance, but it might be time to start thinking about shaving time off our runs too.

Finished up the weekend by meeting a friend in Calgary for a walk along the Bow River...the paths are so nice, and it's so pretty with the mountains in the background.  We were pretty tired, but it gave both Neena and me a much needed cool down lap...and Scamp was happy to blow off some steam too:).