It's been a while

So, I haven't posted in a long while. This seems to happen to me with blogs. Not that much has been going on recently, so I've been short on things to write about.

We're still training in agility at DGOTC and ACA. Right now, I'm taking a Pre-competition class with DGOTC and Handling 3 at ACA. I'm hoping that we can start competing this spring or summer in agility. We will also be attending a jumping seminar with Susan Salo on February 27 and 28. Looking forward to that. Also, looking for someone to go with me and take photos and/or video! If you know or are someone who can do that, let me know!

On the obedience front, despite what I originally planned, I have started training Bailey for Open obedience. I found a great website on how to do a clicker-trained dumbbell retrieve, so I've been working on that pretty diligently. Despite having a Golden RETRIEVER, retrieving a plastic dumbbell on command is totally unappealing to Bailey. He will play ball for hours on end, but the dumbbell just isn't the same, I guess. Anyway, in about 4 training sessions, I've clicker trained him to pick up the dumbbell and return it to my hand from varying distances. The farthest distance is about 8 or 10 feet so far, but that's not bad for a dog who wouldn't touch the darn thing a few weeks ago!

On the Rally front, I don't have much ambition to do more rally just yet. I did get a premium for a trial in March and I thought about entering in Rally Advanced just for fun. But it's an expensive thing to do for fun! I think we need to take an Advanced rally class before I'd feel comfortable entering a trial.

As for me, I actually volunteered for and got voted into a board position for DGOTC. I am now the Fairfax Member-at-Large. I'm not exactly what this entails, but I'm sure I'll find out soon enough!

DGOTC had their awards banquet this year where I got presented with a nice plaque honoring Bailey's accomplishments this year. I think he was one of three dogs that earned Obedience titles. The rest of the mile long list of dogs were all on there for agility titles.

PVGRC is having their awards banquet in March this year and I plan to attend that as well. I have applied for consideration for several trophies, but I'm not sure whether I will be eligible for any of them since I joined the club so late in the year. We'll see, I guess! At the very least, Bailey will get two new rosettes for the titles he earned this year. It's so nice when your clubs recognize your accomplishments, even if they are small!

Finally, Bailey and I supported DGOTC in the Purcellville Christmas Parade. Here are a couple quick photos from the parade.

The majority of the group getting ready at the parade start:


Walking in the parade:


Bailey's coat kept twisting around, but he was a good boy for most of the parade:


The whole group coming down the street near the end of the parade:

What is a Golden

A fluffy wind-up teddy-bear with shoe button eyes and your best towel clutched in his teeth.

Nobility reclining on a grassy bank,
A white-faced old sportsman still keen for the whistle of wings.

In Spring a Golden will put mud on the carpets,
fur all over your best navy blue,
and the flowering bloom of joy in your heart.

A Golden is a flame of colour against dark summer covert,
the spray of surf sent flying, peace spread against cool earth.

He is competence wearing a guidance harness,
pride with a bird in his mouth,
dignity wanting his tummy rubbed,
elegance working in the swampland.

A Golden has the understanding of a saint
and a tail that challenges perpetual motion.

Having a golden Retriever is never knowing where all
your shoes are at any given moment,
Hearing the neighbours call up because he’s sleeping out
in the snow instead of in his kennel,
Keeping cups off the table because of his wild tail,
and not being sure if you paragon will decimate a burglar
or fix him a cup of tea and show him where the silver is.

Somebody else with a Golden is an instant acquaintance.

Your veterinarian wishes all his patients were Goldens
and you just wish you were as great as your Golden thinks you are.

-Author unknown

Trial Photos

I finally got some photos back from the recent trial where Bailey earned his CD and his RN. Without further ado...

Heeling in Novice A Obedience. I think this was taken just after the judge issued the "fast" command.


Bailey sitting patiently while he waits to be recalled.


Bailey bored out of his mind during the 3 minute down stay.


The official Novice A/New Title win photo.


Doing the straight weave once exercise in Rally Novice A.


Bailey heeling after the right turn. Look at that attention and loose leash!


Bailey staying while I walk around him for the "halt, sit, walk around dog" exercise.


The official Novice A Rally/New Title win photo.

We did it! New Titles!

We had our last obedience and rally trial yesterday and WE DID IT! Bailey got his last legs for the CD and RN titles and is now Bailey's A Lucky Discovery CD RN! Now for a recap of yesterday's events...

The trial was hosted by the Greater Washington Bouvier de Flandres Club and was held at a pet resort in Richmond, VA. We didn't show until 11 am, so I got up a bit early and drove down Saturday AM. We arrived around 10 am and had plenty of time to set up the crate, take a potty walk, and observe the Open class for a bit.

At 11 am, we had the Novice A walkthrough, which was very short and to-the-point. We were second into the ring, I believe. Sadly, this was Bailey's worst performance by far. To top it off, the judge seemed extremely tough - none of the Open A or Utility A dogs qualified from the morning and only two of the 7 Open B dogs qualified. Either way, after a heel that was less than satisfactory and a crooked recall, we still qualified. Bailey's long sit and long down were excellent, despite all evidence earlier in the week that he would fail miserably. We qualified with a score of 180.5 and placed second in the class.

After the Obedience portion was done, we had a while to hang around before the 2:30 Rally start time. The Rally judge seemed much more laid back and really seemed to enjoy what she was doing. Out of the 33 rally entries, only one dog did not qualify. We had what was almost a flawless performance. The Novice course was SUPER-easy. It only had 10 signs and only the easiest turns and stationary exercises. We qualified with a score of 99 and a FIRST PLACE!

I don't have any photos from the day, since I go to trials alone. However, there was a pro photographer at the trial and once she posts her photos, I'll be able to share them.

I'm extraordinarily proud of my little dog, because I never expected in my wildest dreams that he'd do so well and be able to achieve all that he has. It has truly been a wonderful learning experience, but this is only the start! Now to start training for Open and Rally Advanced!

Start of October Updates

I haven't been so good at keeping this blog updated with our recent happenings. I stopped blogging about our classes each week simply because I don't have the time. We are taking 4 classes every week - 3 agility and 1 obedience. At ACA, we're taking Handling I and Teeter and Weaves. With DGOTC, we're taking Novice Obedience and Intro to Agility. Handling I and Teeter and Weaves are challenging us a lot. It's a lot of complex handling maneuvers that we haven't really tried before. Bailey is learning to read me better and I'm learning to handle him so he can read me better. Each week is a new challenge and we come home utterly exhausted. The Novice Obedience and Intro to Agility are really just fun classes. We're taking Novice so we keep in practice until our next trial. The Intro to Agility is some practice on groundwork (which we can always use) and basically just a lot of free play for us. The instructors give me a lot of freedom to do what I want, as long as I'm not disrupting the class. It works for me because we can practice what we learned at ACA that week.

In November/December, we're taking Handling II and Contacts and Weaves. I think we'll probably repeat Handling II (and probably C&W) multiple times. My goals are to work on the more complex handling moves, ease Bailey up to his 24" jump height, get the weaves straight up, and really solidify his end/2o2o behavior on the contacts.

In other news, I sent of the entry form for another obedience and rally trial on November 8th. This one is hosted by the DC Bouvier de Flanders club and is at some facility down near Richmond. Depending on what time we show, I might end up getting a hotel room in the area so I don't have to drive the 2 hours in the wee hours of the AM. Hopefully Bailey will earn his CD and RN at this show so we can relax for a bit and focus on agility a bit more. I'd really like to start trialling in agility this spring and I'm well on my way there. Wish us luck!

More Pictures

I woke Bailey up to take a few more pictures. Needless to say, he was less than pleased about it:



A slightly better one:



Now one of the two of us:



My favorite from the session:

Second Trial Results

Saturday night and Sunday morning was our second trial. It was hosted by the Hyattsville Dog Training Club and took place at the CTA facility in Beltsville, MD. I'll start with the Rally trial on Saturday night.

We were already at the trial site for the morning's trials, so we just made ourselves comfortable for the couple hours in between. We also shifted crates around so we'd have a good spot for the afternoon and the next morning. I went out really quick to get some dinner and came back to the trial to eat. By then, the Rally judge had arrived and started setting up the course. The walk through was scheduled to begin at 6:50 pm, so we spent a lot of time hanging out. At about 6:40, they put out a course map, so I picked up one of those and practiced the course in the warm up area by myself. The walk through began at exactly 6:50 pm. I think I walked the course 3 times, because it looked like a tough course. The two hardest parts were the 360 right followed (3 feet later!) by a 360 left. It also had a slow right before the finish, so you had to make sure to stay slow all the way through the end. Other than those two things, it was mostly straightforward. We were third into the ring, and didn't spend much time warming up or anything. By 7 pm, we were both just exhausted. Bailey was even tired enough to nap in his crate for a bit. The only real mistake that I made was that I slowed down too much on the slow and his rear hit the ground. We moved through the course quickly, but I could tell that both of us were worn out. We ended with a qualifying score of 91 and third place out of 14 dogs!

I packed up the car and we were home by 8:30. Bailey ate his dinner and passed out as soon as he finished. Poor boy was tired after a long day! I wasn't too far behind him and fell asleep around 10 pm.

The obedience trial was the next morning. We arrived back at CTA around 7:45 am for an 8:00 am start time. I left my crate there the previous night, so I didn't have any setup to do. I just walked in and popped Bailey into his crate and went to the walk through. This judge was a lot less talkative, so I'm glad I already had one trial with a super-nice judge under my belt. I felt much less nervous going into the performance this morning. We were last into the ring, so I didn't even bother warming Bailey up until around 9:15 am after the first group of stays were finished. He was doing really well in the warm ups, so I didn't push him too hard. Instead I spent some time rubbing his shoulders to calm him down. We did a tiny bit more heeling before going into the ring.

From the minute we stepped into the ring, I knew we were going to have a good run. Bailey was really paying good attention and working so nicely for me. The heel on lead went well. Same with figure 8 and stand for exam. Then came the scary part - the heel free. Bailey really surprised me on that one. He did a GREAT job with only minimal lagging (always at the about turn!). He even stayed right with me on the fast and slow. In our warm up, he kept trying to sit on the slow so I made it a point to not slow TOO much that he anticipates and sits. He really just blew me away with how well he did! Finally, the recall. The silly boy came so enthusiastically that he ran right into me! Thankfully, he also went right into a perfectly centered sit and finished beautifully. We left the ring only to go right back in for our stays. I was a little nervous on the stays because Bailey hadn't had the energy drained out of him yet. Even worse, on the sit stay Bailey's neighbor got up and started wandering around the ring. I prayed that he wouldn't follow suit and kept sending mental "be good" messages to him. Apparently it works! He did a great job on both sit and down, even as the room kept getting louder and louder as the Utility folks came in before the judging. We left the ring and were milling around before ribbons, when all of a sudden, I heard him call one of the other dogs back into the ring for heeling. I had no idea what was going on. Some of the utility handlers were kind enough to let us know that it was a heel off, which is what they do when two dogs are tied for placement. They also told us that we should start warming up our dogs again. After our run, I just had this feeling that we were the other dog tied for placement. Sure enough, I was right and he asked us back in to repeat the heel free exercise. Having only had about 30 seconds to warm up, my little pooch couldn't have done better! He was perfect and I couldn't have asked for anything more. We ended with a qualifying score of 192+ (the + is for the heel off, I guess) and first place out of 9 dogs!

The club provided cash prizes for the dogs who placed, so we ended up with $20 from the rally trial, $30 from the obedience trial, one blue rosette, one yellow rosette, and of course our green qualifying score ribbons. Here's a picture of Bailey with all his loot:



And a picture of the two of us:



I haven't entered in any other trials yet. I was going to enter one the weekend of Oct 3-5, but decided against it due to work obligations. The next indoor trial that I think I'll be able to go to is Thanksgiving. Not sure if I want to do that one or not. We'll just have to see what comes up soon because I really want to finish his CD and RN before we forget!