Absolutely no training this week due to a tear in Kenz's front right shoulder muscles - bugger. So it was a trip to Matthew last Wednesday after she had already been on and off lame and rested from the week before. Now we have been dealing with a maximum of 15 minute leash walks and no tugging for at least another week.
Life sucks!!!!
Monday, December 27, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
The Last Agility Trial for 2010
Last night was the final agility trial for 2010 and also Kenz's first shot in Excellent Jumping. I had absolutely no expectations and just went out to have a bit of fun. Well from our two runs - one in Excellent Jumping and one in Open Jumping neither were clear and lots to take away from both - some positive some negative. Lots of homework to do between now and 2011.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Kenz Wins JD Class for her Title - Wahoo
Last night we had the first of the evening agility trials a single trial at Southern Districts. Since Kenz has been retired from agility until further notice (READ UNTIL WE SORT OUT THOSE BLOODY CONTACTS) I had her just entered in 2 classes - Novice Jumping and Open Jumping.
With only 1 trial remaining for the year I was starting to wonder if she would manage to finish off her JD this year. I decided in the middle of last week if I sent my entry off for the last trial she would pass last night. Well guess what she did.
She ran two very lovely runs in both JD and JDO and was absolutely flying. The SCT on the JD course was 38 seconds (2.8 m/s rate) and Kenz flew around in a time of 20.89 s.
Not only did she get her final pass towards her novice jumping title but she also managed to win the class.
Very cool Kenz.
Any way here is the video of her two rounds last night. She is an absolute little fire cracker and when she gets it together she will do very well. She loves every second out there.
With only 1 trial remaining for the year I was starting to wonder if she would manage to finish off her JD this year. I decided in the middle of last week if I sent my entry off for the last trial she would pass last night. Well guess what she did.
She ran two very lovely runs in both JD and JDO and was absolutely flying. The SCT on the JD course was 38 seconds (2.8 m/s rate) and Kenz flew around in a time of 20.89 s.
Not only did she get her final pass towards her novice jumping title but she also managed to win the class.
Very cool Kenz.
Any way here is the video of her two rounds last night. She is an absolute little fire cracker and when she gets it together she will do very well. She loves every second out there.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The Last Two Agility Trials....
Been a little while since I have had a chance to update my blog - since my last update we have had two agility trials - one the State Games Championships and another double trial at Noarlunga.
First up the State Games Championships. Kenz was entered in 4 events - 2 gamblers runs and 2 snooker runs. Her first event for the day was novice snooker. Keith Millington was the judge. She didn't do to badly managing 2 x 7 point dogwalks before pulling the third red bar. In the closing sequence she came out of the weavers so cost us a quallie. Ah well not to bad for her first run of the day.
Gamblers up next. She wasn't happy with the irrigation pipe tyres and came skidding off the dogwalk but would have got enough points in the opening sequence. The gamble was 4 bars in a row and she just couldn't manage it. Was to focused on me and not enough obstacle focus.
In the afternoon trial I rushed from running Ness in Strategic Pairs to having to run Kenz in Novice Gamblers where they were waiting for me. Kenz was way to fired up and wouldn't wait on her contacts. I spent the majority of my time insisting that she wait until released on her dogwalk contact and in the end we ran out of enough time to collect the required 20 points finishing up 4 points short with 16. She did however manage the gamble easily.
The final run of the day was novice snooker. Kenz ended up with 48 points (2 x 7 point weavers) but didn't push her for suicide 7 as it was a very tight course with too much control for a baby dog. She misjudged the approach on the dogwalk but finished nicely to end up with fourth place.
The following weekend we headed down to Noarlunga for a double agility trial. I had been sick with a flu all week and felt pretty average and suffice to say we probably shouldn't have bothered. Waiting on startlines was optional, as was waiting on contacts. Her AM JD round she had bars down and was just feral. Her JDO round surprised me. She ran a nice round, nailed the distance challenge but then pulled yet another bar after a tunnel before going off course with 3 bars to go. Still not bad for my baby dog. The less said about her two agility runs the better. We have some major remedial work to do with her contacts over the summer break and with what training we have left for the year.
Still she is starting to come along nicely. Learning to read her lines a little more confidently and I am sure there is plenty of great things to come in the future out of my little pocket rocket.
First up the State Games Championships. Kenz was entered in 4 events - 2 gamblers runs and 2 snooker runs. Her first event for the day was novice snooker. Keith Millington was the judge. She didn't do to badly managing 2 x 7 point dogwalks before pulling the third red bar. In the closing sequence she came out of the weavers so cost us a quallie. Ah well not to bad for her first run of the day.
Gamblers up next. She wasn't happy with the irrigation pipe tyres and came skidding off the dogwalk but would have got enough points in the opening sequence. The gamble was 4 bars in a row and she just couldn't manage it. Was to focused on me and not enough obstacle focus.
In the afternoon trial I rushed from running Ness in Strategic Pairs to having to run Kenz in Novice Gamblers where they were waiting for me. Kenz was way to fired up and wouldn't wait on her contacts. I spent the majority of my time insisting that she wait until released on her dogwalk contact and in the end we ran out of enough time to collect the required 20 points finishing up 4 points short with 16. She did however manage the gamble easily.
The final run of the day was novice snooker. Kenz ended up with 48 points (2 x 7 point weavers) but didn't push her for suicide 7 as it was a very tight course with too much control for a baby dog. She misjudged the approach on the dogwalk but finished nicely to end up with fourth place.
The following weekend we headed down to Noarlunga for a double agility trial. I had been sick with a flu all week and felt pretty average and suffice to say we probably shouldn't have bothered. Waiting on startlines was optional, as was waiting on contacts. Her AM JD round she had bars down and was just feral. Her JDO round surprised me. She ran a nice round, nailed the distance challenge but then pulled yet another bar after a tunnel before going off course with 3 bars to go. Still not bad for my baby dog. The less said about her two agility runs the better. We have some major remedial work to do with her contacts over the summer break and with what training we have left for the year.
Still she is starting to come along nicely. Learning to read her lines a little more confidently and I am sure there is plenty of great things to come in the future out of my little pocket rocket.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Jump Grids
No better way to spend a lovely warm sunny public holiday Monday then by fitting in a little agility practice at the local school oval. Thought it might be a good idea seeing as though we have the State Games Champs this coming Saturday.
Any way here is a link to our practice session.
Any way here is a link to our practice session.
Monday, September 13, 2010
GSDCSA Agility Trial 12 September 2010
Introducing Feral Self Opinionated Midget dog on red cordial - eeeek is all I can say.
4 runs - 2 novice jumping and 2 novice agility with no quallies to be had. Her jumping runs weren't to bad but we had a bar down in each. Her agility runs were a bit of a disaster really. It was a day of her pushing me at every chance but with no training the past week due to a heavy week of socialising it wasn't all bad.
Lots still to work on and another gear found in the speed department. I was very impressed with her PM dogwalk contact though and will take that one and bottle it.
4 runs - 2 novice jumping and 2 novice agility with no quallies to be had. Her jumping runs weren't to bad but we had a bar down in each. Her agility runs were a bit of a disaster really. It was a day of her pushing me at every chance but with no training the past week due to a heavy week of socialising it wasn't all bad.
Lots still to work on and another gear found in the speed department. I was very impressed with her PM dogwalk contact though and will take that one and bottle it.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
ADCSA Agility Trial 28 August 2010
Four runs for 2 passes - 2 second places and OMG was she flying. The other 2 runs that we didn't pass were just little minor things. Rock solid sit stays and drive to me despite the fact there were sporting matches in progress and people really close to the fence including small kids. Her first runs in novice agility and they were just brilliant.
She has certainly matured in her work ethic and becoming a really lovely dog to handle. So looking forward to the next trial in just over 2 weeks time. We are having a blast.
She has certainly matured in her work ethic and becoming a really lovely dog to handle. So looking forward to the next trial in just over 2 weeks time. We are having a blast.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Kenz 2010 SA State Agility weekend
This past weekend we had the annual State Agility trials - 3 qualification trials (Saturday morning and afternoon and Sunday morning) and then the finals on Sunday afternoon.
Kenz was entered in Novice Jumping and Open Jumping for the weekend. The clever Kenz managed her very first Novice Jumping pass at the morning trial on Saturday with a stunning second place run. This meant she had qualified for the finals on Sunday afternoon. The rest of her runs over the weekend were just wonderful but with no more quallies to be had. She decided that she could start skipping her weavers in JDO but for the most part managed the distance challenges pretty well. Her two other novice jumping runs - one she ran past the final bar and the other she got around the course but pulled 3 bars.
The video of her Saturday runs can be seen below:
I fronted up for the Novice Jumping final on Sunday with the goal of her holding a lead out - anything else was a bonus. Well not only did she nail her lead out she ran a picture perfect run and didn't put a paw out of place. She drove down the line of jumps at the end and never looked back. I was so chuffed with her. Since she is only a 400 dog she had to run early but I took her off and opted to not hang around and watch the remaining dogs. I caught a glimpse of one dog who was definitely faster but knew she had given me her all and I could ask for nothing more.
We stayed around for presentations and Novice Jumping class was presented first. Well Kenz finished up the 2010 SA State Reserve Champion Novice Jumping. Not bad for my little WA bred pocket rocket. I was just chuffed with her run never mind the final result.
Any way here is the video of her finals run:
What a weekend :).
Kenz was entered in Novice Jumping and Open Jumping for the weekend. The clever Kenz managed her very first Novice Jumping pass at the morning trial on Saturday with a stunning second place run. This meant she had qualified for the finals on Sunday afternoon. The rest of her runs over the weekend were just wonderful but with no more quallies to be had. She decided that she could start skipping her weavers in JDO but for the most part managed the distance challenges pretty well. Her two other novice jumping runs - one she ran past the final bar and the other she got around the course but pulled 3 bars.
The video of her Saturday runs can be seen below:
I fronted up for the Novice Jumping final on Sunday with the goal of her holding a lead out - anything else was a bonus. Well not only did she nail her lead out she ran a picture perfect run and didn't put a paw out of place. She drove down the line of jumps at the end and never looked back. I was so chuffed with her. Since she is only a 400 dog she had to run early but I took her off and opted to not hang around and watch the remaining dogs. I caught a glimpse of one dog who was definitely faster but knew she had given me her all and I could ask for nothing more.
We stayed around for presentations and Novice Jumping class was presented first. Well Kenz finished up the 2010 SA State Reserve Champion Novice Jumping. Not bad for my little WA bred pocket rocket. I was just chuffed with her run never mind the final result.
Any way here is the video of her finals run:
What a weekend :).
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Kenz's Second Agility Trial - GSDCSA
Morning was a bit of a disaster all up - a very shitty JD course with some average angles and totally cleared up the spread but did some lovely stuff on the JDO course. Video of the run included here:
Afternoon Novice Jumping course - nice simple course I sent Kenz into the tunnel but didn't support her quite hard enough so she came out. Ran the rest of the course nicely though. Did some nice stuff in the JDO course but a bit above her at the moment (a layered distance challenge but we had messed up before then anyway). Long day since it was also the last class of the day.
Left home at 6:30am and didn't get home until 6:00pm so a very long day. I have totally lost my startline. Kenz stressed a bit but once we got going was ok but there were kids taking the leads and they were coming right to where the dog was even though I was saying could they stay away and I'd bring the lead over. I was not to impressed but Kenz coped all things considered. Her final JDO run was positively feral but that's fine at least she was happy smile.
Afternoon Novice Jumping course - nice simple course I sent Kenz into the tunnel but didn't support her quite hard enough so she came out. Ran the rest of the course nicely though. Did some nice stuff in the JDO course but a bit above her at the moment (a layered distance challenge but we had messed up before then anyway). Long day since it was also the last class of the day.
Left home at 6:30am and didn't get home until 6:00pm so a very long day. I have totally lost my startline. Kenz stressed a bit but once we got going was ok but there were kids taking the leads and they were coming right to where the dog was even though I was saying could they stay away and I'd bring the lead over. I was not to impressed but Kenz coped all things considered. Her final JDO run was positively feral but that's fine at least she was happy smile.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
A huge blog catch up (Kenz's Agility Debut and other things)
Well its been a while since I have had a chance to update my blog - probably the biggest news since my last post was Kenzie's debut agility trial last weekend at our club trial. She was entered in AM/PM JD and PM JDO. She ran extremely well and very nearly came away with her first qualification in JDO. Unfortunately she copped a fault for apparently tipping the broad jump. Ah well can't win them all and I am sure she will be a force to be reckoned with in the future :)
Today we went out to a herding clinic at Meadows held by Tull from Tassie. Kenz started off the day a bit unsure of herself but after watching some other dogs working the sheep and by her final session in the pen this afternoon she was much improved. Reasonably keen and happy to have her collar taken and be put between the fence and the sheep and then to circle her sheep. No video but I think Kristen took a couple of photos so hopefully I can get those and I'll upload them to this post.
In other news her obedience is coming along quite nicely. She is regularly doing novice/open ring run outs at training on a Tuesday night and for the most part starting to cope reasonably well. We have started with her utility exercises and she is an absolute joy. Such a quick little learner. Nailed scent after only half a dozen training sessions and Directed jumping is progressing nicely after only a couple of sessions. I am now focussing on linking exercises together.
Not an overly long post but figured I was long overdue for an update. Have a few busy weekends coming up with a DWD workshop next weekend and then another training workshop the following weekend. Hanging out for a chance to enter her next agility trial but not looking like that will happen until the end of May at the earliest.
Today we went out to a herding clinic at Meadows held by Tull from Tassie. Kenz started off the day a bit unsure of herself but after watching some other dogs working the sheep and by her final session in the pen this afternoon she was much improved. Reasonably keen and happy to have her collar taken and be put between the fence and the sheep and then to circle her sheep. No video but I think Kristen took a couple of photos so hopefully I can get those and I'll upload them to this post.
In other news her obedience is coming along quite nicely. She is regularly doing novice/open ring run outs at training on a Tuesday night and for the most part starting to cope reasonably well. We have started with her utility exercises and she is an absolute joy. Such a quick little learner. Nailed scent after only half a dozen training sessions and Directed jumping is progressing nicely after only a couple of sessions. I am now focussing on linking exercises together.
Not an overly long post but figured I was long overdue for an update. Have a few busy weekends coming up with a DWD workshop next weekend and then another training workshop the following weekend. Hanging out for a chance to enter her next agility trial but not looking like that will happen until the end of May at the earliest.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Introucing Kozmee.....
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Cracker start to the New Year - Busy with Training
What better way to spend the first few days of 2010 but with a renewed enthusiasm to get out and do some training. I sat down and rewatched the Susan Salo jumping grids videos and got all excited to do some training.
Agility first -
Friday evening we headed up to Scotch for a bit of jump grid work. I put Kenzie through the straight-line equal-distance grid and the straight-line equal-distance grid with height. She had no issues with either of the grids and did them all very nicely.
Yesterday afternoon we headed out the front to the nature strip and tried a distance grid and a progressive grid.
The distance grid she really struggled with as I tried starting the jump at 14ft as was recommended for medium dogs. I ended up dropping back the final bar to the 10ft sheltie distance and built up from there. She really wasn't getting it though. We finished up with a simple 5,6,7 and 8 ft progressive grid which she had no hassle with.
Just before I took her back out the front for another session on the progressive grid and the distance grid. This time we started with the progressive grid - 5ft, 6ft, 7ft, 8ft. She nailed that easily so I went to 6ft, 7ft, 8ft, 9ft - again she nailed it so we went to 7ft, 8ft, 9ft, 10ft. First time she threw in an extra stride in the 10ft gap but we tried a second time and she offered the bounce jump. For the distance grid I started with 12ft between bar 3 and 4 and built out to 17ft. She had relatively few issues with finding the appropriate take off point and reading down the grid. I did also opt to attempt the grid as a lead out so she would focus ahead to bar 4 to work out what she needed.
Good sessions all round and some lovely stuff happening :).
Obedience -
Have had a mixed couple of days working on things like scent, gloves, doodling, retrieves, recalls, presents, open change of positions. Her scent work I think has finally hit a lightbulb moment - today she was happy working a pile of 4 unscented woods, 1 scented wood and in a line so she was making decisions to not return with an incorrect one not just finding the correct one out by accident. The flower pot idea really helped her clue into what I wanted. As for the rest most of it is pretty technically perfect - and I am hard to please. I would like some more speed into her recalls and retrieves but her presents and lovely.
All up her training seems to be coming together and I am expecting big things from her this year if we can get over her scardy people issues.
Agility first -
Friday evening we headed up to Scotch for a bit of jump grid work. I put Kenzie through the straight-line equal-distance grid and the straight-line equal-distance grid with height. She had no issues with either of the grids and did them all very nicely.
Yesterday afternoon we headed out the front to the nature strip and tried a distance grid and a progressive grid.
The distance grid she really struggled with as I tried starting the jump at 14ft as was recommended for medium dogs. I ended up dropping back the final bar to the 10ft sheltie distance and built up from there. She really wasn't getting it though. We finished up with a simple 5,6,7 and 8 ft progressive grid which she had no hassle with.
Just before I took her back out the front for another session on the progressive grid and the distance grid. This time we started with the progressive grid - 5ft, 6ft, 7ft, 8ft. She nailed that easily so I went to 6ft, 7ft, 8ft, 9ft - again she nailed it so we went to 7ft, 8ft, 9ft, 10ft. First time she threw in an extra stride in the 10ft gap but we tried a second time and she offered the bounce jump. For the distance grid I started with 12ft between bar 3 and 4 and built out to 17ft. She had relatively few issues with finding the appropriate take off point and reading down the grid. I did also opt to attempt the grid as a lead out so she would focus ahead to bar 4 to work out what she needed.
Good sessions all round and some lovely stuff happening :).
Obedience -
Have had a mixed couple of days working on things like scent, gloves, doodling, retrieves, recalls, presents, open change of positions. Her scent work I think has finally hit a lightbulb moment - today she was happy working a pile of 4 unscented woods, 1 scented wood and in a line so she was making decisions to not return with an incorrect one not just finding the correct one out by accident. The flower pot idea really helped her clue into what I wanted. As for the rest most of it is pretty technically perfect - and I am hard to please. I would like some more speed into her recalls and retrieves but her presents and lovely.
All up her training seems to be coming together and I am expecting big things from her this year if we can get over her scardy people issues.
Friday, January 1, 2010
2009 in Review - The Year of the Unexpected
I know this blog is mostly about Kenzie's training but I thought since Ness doesn't really have a blog of her own that I would post my end of 2009 trialling year review in Kenzie's blog and include a section on Ness.
Ness:
Agility
After finishing off both her Masters and Open Jumping titles in 2008, 2009 was concentrated on trying to finish off her remaining Masters Agility and Open Agility passes so she could go into semi-retirement. She managed her 6th leg towards her ADM title at our club trial back in April. The May GSD club trial saw her obtain leg 3 and 4 towards her ADO and finally on the homeward stretch with her agility titles. It wasn't until the August ADC trial that she was able to obtain her 7th leg and finally finish off her ADM. One title down. We had a lot of near misses in the remaining trials but unfortunately finished 1 leg short off finishing off her ADO. Her agility results did however make her SAODC's top Masters Agility dog for the year - well done Ness.
Obedience
2009 wasn't quite the year I intended. I was dearly hoping for a UD title and that just wasn't to be. A lack of commitment and motivation to train greatly hampered our chances. Exercises kept going to bits and not being able to get through a full round correctly at training probably meant we were never destined to pass. We did come close at the Southern Districts trial with just a shitty stand signal and 1 article all that stood between a pass and a fail. Mostly for the rest of it we were way off the mark though. Disappointing but as I said what can one really expect if you don't put in the hard yards with training. The other disappointment was no 190 in Open. There were a few close ones only for her to mess up one single exercise. In the end we only finished with 2 open passes for the year. However that was enough for her to be awarded top SAODC Open trialling dog.
Dances with Dogs
Quick trip to Sydney in December saw Ness come home with 1 qualifer towards her novice freestyle starters title. She gave me some good work and it was nice to see her attitude pick up and for her to be enjoying herself in the ring. She came very close to her first title in the sport but unfortunately missed out by 1 single point in the afternoon trial.
Kenzie:
Agility
Training has been progressing along ok. She has some lovely weaving happening and loves to play. Her jumping work is progressing but I need to do much more work on jump grids/contacts and handling skills. I hope to get her into the ring in early 2010 however I am after solid foundations before I even consider trialling her and I don't feel we are there yet.
Obedience
The grand goal when I got Kenzie was to have her ready for the Perth Obedience Nationals in October. With her people issues though that goal got somewhat lost in the grand scheme. She entered a mock CCD trial early in 2009 and coped better then I expected. After lots of hours spent clicking and feeding her for hanging around outside shopping centres I finally was able to get a stand for exam on her sometimes. We still have a way to go before she would cope in a trial. She can get through a ring session with Kathy Millington putting us through but her work on the whole is still scatty. She has potential, she still has potential but she is still lacking the serious polish I want on her. I hope to get her out and trialling mid 2010.
Herding
July saw Kenzie pass her Herding Instict Test at SACA. There was no doubt this time around that she showed sufficient instinct to pass. Didn't get to pursue it any further this year but would like to try some more in 2010 if we can find time.
Dances with Dogs
Well sometimes dreams really do come true and they exceed everything you have ever hoped of. I took the kids to Sydney and really wanted somebody to come back with a title but you can bet my last dollar I didn't for one moment anticipate that to be Kenzie. Some days you just want to take and bottle and Sunday the 13th of December would have to be one of them. I am so pleased with my shy timid munchkin. I never would have thought in my wildest dreams that I could take her interstate, enter her in her very first ANKC competition and walk away with her first ANKC title - DWDF.S, the first Dances with Dogs title for Winpara and the first and only Dances with Dogs titled dog in South Australia. She came home with a first place in starters heelwork to music with a lovely routine as well as managing a third and forth place for her title in freestyle. I am still on cloud nine with my little baby and so pleased with her. I guess sometimes you have to expect the unexpected and yep dreams can become reality even when you least expect it.
So thats 2009 in review for my girls - now to my goals for 2010 - well:
Kenzie
Obedience
Hopefully we can continue to work through her people issues and I can get her out there and passing with some lovely scores on the board. Really need to get some work in on stays though as that would be the weakest link at the moment. She has already started playing around with the Open and UD exercises so we need to do more with those as well as duration heelwork. Guess its a never ending training list and thankfully for me the ever ready bunny seems to always come out with new batteries and plenty of drive for training.
Agility
Want to try and get her in the ring next year but again I am in no real rush. I want solid foundations and won't be entering until I feel comfortable that she has more skills in place.
Herding
If we can get some more training in we might see about trying for her PT.
Dances with Dogs
With no local trials there is a possible plan in place for another interstate trip somewhere to see if I can't get her other starters HTM pass and also manage to get some passes towards her novice freestyle title. Possibly another trip to Sydney unless I plan a trip to Perth for another trial and their happens to be a Dances with Dogs comp scheduled.
Ness
Obedience/Agility/Dances with Dogs
2010 will be a year of semi-retirement for Ness. Fingers crossed she finishes off the 1 remaining pass she needs towards her open agility title so I can then pick and chose what she is entered in. I intend on only running the occasional jumping course with her if Kenzie is at the stage of trialling.
Obedience I am hoping to still keep trialling and trying for passes towards her UD title. As long as she is enjoying working then I will continue to train and trial her.
Dances with Dogs - having achieved the 1 pass in Syndey I am tempted to try and see if we can't get back to finish off the title. Having said that I am a realist and I also know if I take Kenzie somewhere I may not necessarily take Ness. Its a lot easier trialling and travelling with 1 dog and I know Ness wasn't as happy this time away as she has been on previous trips to Perth.
So there is my 2009/2010 summary. I am sure to add to it in the coming weeks but for the moment this is where it stands.
Ness:
Agility
After finishing off both her Masters and Open Jumping titles in 2008, 2009 was concentrated on trying to finish off her remaining Masters Agility and Open Agility passes so she could go into semi-retirement. She managed her 6th leg towards her ADM title at our club trial back in April. The May GSD club trial saw her obtain leg 3 and 4 towards her ADO and finally on the homeward stretch with her agility titles. It wasn't until the August ADC trial that she was able to obtain her 7th leg and finally finish off her ADM. One title down. We had a lot of near misses in the remaining trials but unfortunately finished 1 leg short off finishing off her ADO. Her agility results did however make her SAODC's top Masters Agility dog for the year - well done Ness.
Obedience
2009 wasn't quite the year I intended. I was dearly hoping for a UD title and that just wasn't to be. A lack of commitment and motivation to train greatly hampered our chances. Exercises kept going to bits and not being able to get through a full round correctly at training probably meant we were never destined to pass. We did come close at the Southern Districts trial with just a shitty stand signal and 1 article all that stood between a pass and a fail. Mostly for the rest of it we were way off the mark though. Disappointing but as I said what can one really expect if you don't put in the hard yards with training. The other disappointment was no 190 in Open. There were a few close ones only for her to mess up one single exercise. In the end we only finished with 2 open passes for the year. However that was enough for her to be awarded top SAODC Open trialling dog.
Dances with Dogs
Quick trip to Sydney in December saw Ness come home with 1 qualifer towards her novice freestyle starters title. She gave me some good work and it was nice to see her attitude pick up and for her to be enjoying herself in the ring. She came very close to her first title in the sport but unfortunately missed out by 1 single point in the afternoon trial.
Kenzie:
Agility
Training has been progressing along ok. She has some lovely weaving happening and loves to play. Her jumping work is progressing but I need to do much more work on jump grids/contacts and handling skills. I hope to get her into the ring in early 2010 however I am after solid foundations before I even consider trialling her and I don't feel we are there yet.
Obedience
The grand goal when I got Kenzie was to have her ready for the Perth Obedience Nationals in October. With her people issues though that goal got somewhat lost in the grand scheme. She entered a mock CCD trial early in 2009 and coped better then I expected. After lots of hours spent clicking and feeding her for hanging around outside shopping centres I finally was able to get a stand for exam on her sometimes. We still have a way to go before she would cope in a trial. She can get through a ring session with Kathy Millington putting us through but her work on the whole is still scatty. She has potential, she still has potential but she is still lacking the serious polish I want on her. I hope to get her out and trialling mid 2010.
Herding
July saw Kenzie pass her Herding Instict Test at SACA. There was no doubt this time around that she showed sufficient instinct to pass. Didn't get to pursue it any further this year but would like to try some more in 2010 if we can find time.
Dances with Dogs
Well sometimes dreams really do come true and they exceed everything you have ever hoped of. I took the kids to Sydney and really wanted somebody to come back with a title but you can bet my last dollar I didn't for one moment anticipate that to be Kenzie. Some days you just want to take and bottle and Sunday the 13th of December would have to be one of them. I am so pleased with my shy timid munchkin. I never would have thought in my wildest dreams that I could take her interstate, enter her in her very first ANKC competition and walk away with her first ANKC title - DWDF.S, the first Dances with Dogs title for Winpara and the first and only Dances with Dogs titled dog in South Australia. She came home with a first place in starters heelwork to music with a lovely routine as well as managing a third and forth place for her title in freestyle. I am still on cloud nine with my little baby and so pleased with her. I guess sometimes you have to expect the unexpected and yep dreams can become reality even when you least expect it.
So thats 2009 in review for my girls - now to my goals for 2010 - well:
Kenzie
Obedience
Hopefully we can continue to work through her people issues and I can get her out there and passing with some lovely scores on the board. Really need to get some work in on stays though as that would be the weakest link at the moment. She has already started playing around with the Open and UD exercises so we need to do more with those as well as duration heelwork. Guess its a never ending training list and thankfully for me the ever ready bunny seems to always come out with new batteries and plenty of drive for training.
Agility
Want to try and get her in the ring next year but again I am in no real rush. I want solid foundations and won't be entering until I feel comfortable that she has more skills in place.
Herding
If we can get some more training in we might see about trying for her PT.
Dances with Dogs
With no local trials there is a possible plan in place for another interstate trip somewhere to see if I can't get her other starters HTM pass and also manage to get some passes towards her novice freestyle title. Possibly another trip to Sydney unless I plan a trip to Perth for another trial and their happens to be a Dances with Dogs comp scheduled.
Ness
Obedience/Agility/Dances with Dogs
2010 will be a year of semi-retirement for Ness. Fingers crossed she finishes off the 1 remaining pass she needs towards her open agility title so I can then pick and chose what she is entered in. I intend on only running the occasional jumping course with her if Kenzie is at the stage of trialling.
Obedience I am hoping to still keep trialling and trying for passes towards her UD title. As long as she is enjoying working then I will continue to train and trial her.
Dances with Dogs - having achieved the 1 pass in Syndey I am tempted to try and see if we can't get back to finish off the title. Having said that I am a realist and I also know if I take Kenzie somewhere I may not necessarily take Ness. Its a lot easier trialling and travelling with 1 dog and I know Ness wasn't as happy this time away as she has been on previous trips to Perth.
So there is my 2009/2010 summary. I am sure to add to it in the coming weeks but for the moment this is where it stands.
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