River and Ruby in Urbana, IL April 30, 2011

Saturday was perhaps the windiest day I've experienced thus far. Before the wind picked up however, I got to run my dogs on a very fun Jumpers course at an AKC agility trial down in Urbana, IL

Since it was such a small trial I had to walk the course for both dogs at the same time. Here is the course designed by Judge Kay Vonnahme:

Ruby and River both won their classes (24" and 16" respectively) I did all rear crosses with River actually starting with him on my right side. I'm very proud to say that he ran it only .79 seconds slower than Ruby but at 5.38 yps giving him his first World Team Qualifying time. What a good boy! With Ruby I did all front crosses with the exception of a rear over jump #12 and she gave me a nice tight turn there. Such a fun course to run and it was great getting to run River again if only for one day. :)

As an update to my previous post, I have decided on a breeder with the help of my instructor Sherry that is to soon to have a wonderful litter on the ground. I mailed my contract and deposit to her on Monday. As they say, things happen for a reason. Updates will be posted as news comes in! Very excited about this litter! :)

A New Addition

As some of you may or may not know, we have been looking at adding a new pup to our small pack. I've looked at a couple of Border Collie breeders and after seeing quite a few run in the past several years and spending time with a lot of them (not too mention running and training my ex boyfriend's dog) I knew exactly what type of dog I was looking for. Structure, health and temperament are priorities as is an "off-switch."

I've contacted a couple of different breeders and tried to do my due diligence on them and the dogs that have come from their kennels as well. Currently I have it narrowed down to two kennels, oddly enough on polar opposite sides of the U.S. One in New York, the other in Oregon.

Lake St. Louis, MO February 19 & 20, 2011

Just a couple of fun runs with my favorite red-head! ;)

Kim and I entered the girls in the Time 2 Beat demo; proceeds went to Keeshond Rescue. It's interesting to see how similarly the girls run (except Jersey's stride is about a foot longer than Ruby's) and how differently Kim and I handle our dogs. It was a lot of fun! =)

Ruby - ALAC Trial - Feb 12 & 13, 2011

Ruby and I had some time off and were a little out of sync for this trial. We went 3 for 6, 2nd half of the trial were the good runs. 1st place in STD on Saturday and a QQ on Sunday with a 3rd place STD run. She's such a good dog! Love her to pieces! =)

River USDAA January 2011

1st Place Starters STD, 1st Place Starters Jumpers, 2nd Place Starters STD and a Grand Prix Q!

Some Awards the Dogs Received in 2010

Agility with River Puppy

River - The Red-Headed Stepchild

The poor kid has been neglected with all that's going on with Ruby. We have some updates to share though.

On December 5th at the Hounds for the Holidays trial in Milwaukee, WI River achieved his Novice Agility Jumpers (NAJ) title. He also earned his first Novice Agility leg that day. He placed 2nd in both runs.

Over the New Year's weekend we attended an agility trial in Columbus, OH. River made his Open Jumpers debut but was very distracted, as were quite a few other dogs, by the basketball players in the courts next to our rings. So our first run of the weekend was an NQ and totally understandable. He earned two more legs in Novice Agility and achieved his NA title on January 3, 2010. He also earned his first leg toward his Open Jumpers title that day with a 1st place run. Things are starting to come together for the little dude. =)

Since that trial we've been sticking close to home and River was entered for one day at the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever trial in Manhattan held out at Jimmy and Annette's place. Our friend Anne Riba was the judge and she had some very nice courses for the baby dogs. River had a qualifying run in Novice FAST, kept popping his weaves in Open STD so we NQ'd but he had a very nice run in Open Jumpers. I've noticed that his times have been getting faster as he trials more. This Open JWW run was almost 5 YPS! Yay for the baby dog!

Our last trial Feb 13 & 14 was also out at Jimmy & Annette's. On Saturday River QQ'd in Open - 1st place runs in both JWW & STD - finishing his Open Jumpers title and earning his first leg toward his Open STD title. He was a very good boy. We NQ'd in FAST though; the send was an almost straight tunnel out to a jump and he's just way too fast, I couldn't get there to tell him where to go next. He did end up with a lot of points though.

On Sunday the little man made his debut in EXC JWW with only one refusal. Our Open STD run didn't go very well but it was all my fault. I told him "good boy" while he was weaving causing him to pop at the tenth pole and he took the aframe getting a wrong course call on the way back to the beginning of the weaves. We had another wrong course later during the run because I didn't turn my shoulders enough to indicate a turn. I don't have video yet for these runs but I will post them when as I get them.

I'm VERY happy with how River is doing in agility. He's a very sweet boy and has loved joining Ruby on her long rehab walks. We have a three day trial next weekend and I hope we finish that Open STD title. =)

Good News...

Ruby had her first UWT (underwater treadmill) session last Wednesday, Feb. 17th and Teri saw her for the first time as well. Ruby only did 10 minutes, you could tell it just exhausted her but she did great & Kris and Teri could see how she was compensating for her front right limb. She was also flipping her left wrist slightly. Kris showed me some isometric exercises to do with her as well, some stretching and told me how to better incorporate the hill work we'd been doing.

Over the weekend, I upped Ruby's walks on the flat to 15 minutes and kept the hill work to 10 minutes. She's allowed to do some supervised off-leash running but I have to stop it as soon as it gets too wild. She definitely has more energy and really enjoys her walks. She's back to trying to pull me along and striding out very nicely. Also no limping...very happy with her progress. =)

We went back to Kris' for another UWT session on Monday, Feb. 22nd. She was very excited to be there, barking at us to tell us "Let's get this party started!" Kris increased her time to 15 minutes and upped the speed a bit. Ruby did great again. This time not "cheating" and really using all her limbs evenly. Kris showed me some more exercises to do with her and said that she's really pleased with her progress. Her elbow didn't swing out after her UWT workout and her wrist isn't flipping anymore. She thinks Ruby may still be able to run at the Loves Park trial coming up in three weeks and she'll definitely be ready for Nationals.

We head down to Kris' again tonight for another UWT workout and she's going to put her at a slight incline this time. It will work her hind end more but will also make her reach forward with her front legs and really use them correctly. We'll also decide tonight about Loves Park & see what Dr. Herlihy thinks as well.

Update on Ruby and River & Ruby's Scary Incident

Saturday, Jan 30th: To make a long story short we spent 3.5 hours at the St. Charles ER Vet after she got hit by a car near the house. It's a 30 mph zone but people speed all the time. This is my typical luck though, wrong place, wrong time. We weren’t supposed to be home this weekend; I pulled from a trial in Lewisburg, OH

Most of her wounds were superficial. She may have a hairline fracture in her jaw, right side - her mouth is really swollen but xrays didn't show anything. She'll be eating ground food for a while. She wouldn't put weight on her right fore but again xrays showed nothing (they sent them to an orthopedic surgeon/consult, Dr. Robbins in Buffalo Grove ), her elbow joint is very clean and pretty. She is still limping on her right foreleg though - kinda curling her wrist under and bringing her limb around like a person swims, know what I mean? After seeing Dr. Herlihy for a laser treatment Sunday she thinks there may be some nerve damage. She's still too swollen to tell exactly where it could be located and there is a chance that once the swelling goes down it will disappear. Of course there is a chance that it could be permanent too. We’d def know more on Tuesday after chiro and another laser treatment. This is caused by either a nerve being pinched, due to the swelling or something being knocked out of whack or a nerve may have been torn or severed (worse case scenario).

She's on crate rest, Metacam and Clavamox. Her appetite is completely normal. We're going to start her on UW tread as soon as her sutures come out - she had a really deep laceration to her left wrist (it scraped bone but that won't cause arthritis or anything) and a smaller cut at the bend of her right elbow - and massage.

Tuesday, Feb 2nd: I think she adjusted every vertebra in her back and pelvis area (whiplash). Dr. Herlihy did some research on the type of injury Ruby has. http://www.petplace.com/dogs/brachial-plexus-avulsion-in-dogs/page1.aspx This is the nerve being affected with some info. She definitely saw some progress in Ruby’s gait and the swelling has gone down considerably. She tested her reaction to pain and that was great as well. There’s still swelling over the shoulder area where this nerve attaches to the spine and that’s where she still needs to be adjusted. Hopefully when the swelling goes down she can adjust there and we’ll see even more improvement. I’m hopeful.

Her sutures WERE looking great; she decided she was bored/pissed/a brat/whatever and removed the ones in her wrist while I was running River in class (she was in the car in her crate with her cone on). So after Dr. Herlihy’s treatment (chiro and another laser) we went back to the St Charles ER. Oddly enough the sutures in her elbow were coming undone as well so the vet redid those too. Turns out they weren’t done very well and I’m sure just a couple of tongue swipes from her undid them. I talked with Kris on the way there and she said to have them stitch it back up for sure (we were maybe thinking second intention healing) and wrap it as well since it’s her wrist joint. They put in sutures made of a stretchy material too JIC. She needs to get these out in 10 – 14 days and then UW tread to get her using that leg correctly. She’ll be getting massage from Teri when we go down to Kris’ too. So now Miss Ruby is in her xpen with the cone of shame and the Bite-not collar behind it AND her leg is wrapped. If this doesn’t work she’s going in a straight jacket and I’m getting a ‘script for Valium.

Wednesday, Feb 3rd: I got some news from Dr Herlihy. She finally had time to look at Ruby's xrays. Her elbow is out, the radius to be more exact and she thinks she will be able to adjust it. The problem is that the area she has to apply pressure to is where she has stitches right now. The impact from the car must have hit that and caused some wackiness with her nerves there too but she still thinks it's the Brachial Plexus causing most of the palsy/lameness.

More good news is that she didn't see any tear in her elbow ligaments; they may have just stretched a bit. She really wants me to get her on the UW Tread ASAP so we can get that strong again. Her gait already looks better to me. She's trying to use that limb more correctly and not bringing it out to the side. The elbow still sticks out a bit, like when she's sitting and there is still limping and weakness but when everything gets back into the correct spots I'm sure things will look entirely different. She just looks crooked to me. We go back to Dr. Herlihy tomorrow or Sunday for more laser and if she can some small adjustments.

Saturday, Feb 6th: Her movement has improved a lot. Dr. Herlihy is very impressed and encouraged by her progress. Only laser treatments today as she was still too swollen for any adjustments. She's allowed to go on short leash walks (5 - 10 minutes) a couple times a day. We have to start getting that muscle tone back.

Wednesday, Feb 10th: Ruby had a full adjustment, some pretty major stuff in her upper shoulder/neck area. The sutures in her elbow came out on Tuesday night so Dr. Herlihy was able to adjust a couple of spots in her elbow but not the radius that is out; she wants to wait on that a bit, give it a little more time. Some more laser therapy on her elbow/shoulder area and where she has sutures. I have to keep an eye on her to make sure her gait doesn't get worse instead of better, she did say there was a chance that could happen since the impact can really have an effect on those nerves. She didn't rule out Ruby's return to agility in March but I'm getting ready to pull from those trials if need be.

Thursday, Feb 11th: She was limping a bit in the morning but I wanted to wait and see how she was in the evening - the chiro seemed to have really tired her out and she didn't move a muscle all night. Also trying to keep her to just a walk is difficult, she's feeling better and she was a little excited at the new snow we got last night, she may have overdone it a just a bit.

Now: Thursday evening she seemed much better. Her gait is back to where it was prior to the adjustment but again a little limping this a.m. I've left a message with Dr. Herlihy regarding this but haven't heard back yet. Ruby is scheduled to have an evaluation with Teri next Wednesday (Feb. 17th), a session on underwater treadmill and we'll go over some exercises to do with her. Ruby's sutures in her wrist should come out tomorrow; we have an appointment at 10:30 with the vet in St. Charles.

Last Couple of Weeks...

I haven't blogged in a while...its been just a tiny bit crazy around here... ;) Driving to Ohio one weekend and my boyfriend in town the next. Phew! I need a vacation.

The very last weekend of September we had a three day trial in Columbus. Everyone in Ohio just raves about this place but I was not impressed with the surface at all. It was AstroTurf and slick as far as I was concerned. We ran FAST first and she didn't slip so I figured she was okay. She got the send bonus and we got every obstacle out there except for a single bar jump. She placed 1st with 79 points and finished her XF (Excellent FAST) title. Standard was up next and she ran great but slipped a bit in the weaves and then right before a jump, taking a bar. JWW she Q'd but slipped in the weaves in that ring as well.

Saturday went a little better we ran clean in Standard with one little slip on the surface. In JWW with a double Q on the line I called her as she was over a jump and she turned in air, dropped her hind feet and took the bar. UGH! Other than that her run was beautiful and I could just kick myself! Sunday Ruby was nuts in Standard. The course started tunnel to Dog Walk to the chute, she was over the DW and into the chute a lot faster than I thought and I ended up having to layer the table. Me layer?!?!?! I never layer. Then jump, teeter, I front crossed and she took off missing the tire and taking the next obstacle (tunnel). I was floored! Did she think we were doing FAST again? Then she takes three jumps to get back to me and I try to get her back on course. I was so flustered (and she was still being a brat) that I ended up not turning my shoulders enough and she took the off-course chute instead of the table. I almost walked her off then but decided I could finish the run with her. Of course she was perfect! Grrrr!

Later in JWW she was perfect again. And I'm really glad she ran it so well. As we were on the line to run, a dog crated near the ring started screaming. Apparently he got his toe stuck underneath the plastic tray pan and the wire crate as they were taking him out. The poor dog yelped and screamed for 2 minutes straight while they tried to help him. It affected a lot of dogs before they ran and the judge came up to me and told me to take my time getting ready to run. I thought that was very nice of him. I immediately got Ruby to tug with her leash and made sure she was happy and ready to play. I gave the judge the thumbs up and off we went; she was moving really nicely on this run and read my deceleration for a tight turn (most dogs headed to the off-course weaves).

This past weekend we did a trial in Manhattan with the Golden Retriever Club of Illinois. We only did Saturday and Sunday as I need to save as many vacation days as I can. =) Saturday went great: Ruby ran for 2nd place in Standard and placed 4th in JWW for QQ #6 toward MACH2. We've already got the points so we just really need the QQ's.

On Sunday we were having a great run in Standard but Ruby decided that she was done after the DW and headed toward the finish jump. I have no idea why she's been doing this lately; the only thing I can think is that she gets pattern trained very easily and at the last trial the Standard course ended DW to finish jump two days in a row. She's probably also rushing to get to the end because she wants her treat...maybe no more bonus for her??? And I will have to really look at the courses from now on and see where we may pass the finish jump so I can make sure I get a head check from her. Brat! The jumpers course I got lost. I really wasn't paying attention to how quickly the trial was moving. I walked the course twice with the general walk-thru and went over to talk to Tammy because I saw she had just run FAST with Lexi. Then I had River out and saw that Susan was doing the briefing. I put him away and went to walk the course a couple more times. I only got half-way thru it when she blew the whistle. I thought I had the course down but I didn't and turned too soon after the weaves pulling Ruby off a jump (funny how she turned tightly there, eh? damn dog). Oh well, no QQ on the line and she finished very nicely.

We have a private lesson with Dana tomorrow so I can address some issues I'm having with both dogs - mostly River's avoidance of certain obstacles (chute, broad jump & panel jump) & handling for Ruby. Only one day of trialing this coming weekend and it's the Novice Only trial for River Puppy on Sunday. Should be fun! =)

September 19 - WAG - Crystal Lake, IL

I just decided to do one day of the trial to keep my boyfriend company. ;) LOL! The JWW course was pretty tough, a lot of off-courses and handlers got lost. I even saw quite a few dogs cut behind their handlers, very strange. I had no expectations from Ruby since our luck in jumpers lately has been oddly absent. We handled the course great though and she placed 4th behind two Border Collies (one being my boyfriend's dog, Viper, who took first) and my girlfriend's really fast Golden, Rookie, placed third. I was very proud of Ruby. =)

Ruby was smoking the STD course but popped her tenth weave pole - the third obstacle from the end - she hasn't done that in a LONG time; the only thing I can think of is there was a tunnel right in her face after the poles or maybe it was because she was in 20" weave poles all last weekend. These were 24" and it adds 44" to the length of the weaves so maybe she thought she was done. Really sucks because she was 22 seconds under SCT. We really could have used the QQ and the points for ranking. Oh well...Viper placed third (Ruby was only 2 seconds slower than him and faster than the other Vizslas at the trial) and earned QQ #17 for his MACH and QQ #4 to qualify for Nationals.



No video this weekend as the batteries for my camera were both dead. Maybe I'll get some tape next weekend in Ohio. I'm hoping we have a great weekend down there and I'm hoping we finish our XF title too. It'll be nice to trial away from this area as things have felt strange lately.

Jari and Frodo - Winners of the European Open - Midi Dogs

Clearly, I need to run...

Fox Valley DTC - September 12 & 13, 2009

I was very excited to trial again and to make it even more fun...River Puppy made his debut on Saturday. So I'll start with him:

First we had Jumpers with Weaves, Novice B Class. He was awesome! He got his weaves on the very first try and finished them. =) Only a quick visit to one of the ring crew then right back to me and we finished the course. He was great and very happy! I did one FC with him that was pretty late; I think I was surprised that he'd be moving that fast. So next time I will be running and trust him to do what he was trained to do. :) He had a perfect score and won the class!



Then Standard Agility, Novice B Class. He was a very good boy letting me take a two jump lead out & reading that very well. :) He has just never been on rubberized contacts and slowed to smell the top of the DW. I did a quick release with him into the tunnel, a-frame, chute...Oops! He's never been in a 12 foot closed chute before so he came right out & we moved on to the table. Perfect! To the weaves...slight detour to say "hi" to the judge, perfect weaves, skipped the broad jump, jump to teeter, perfect 2o/2o to tire, skipped the panel jump and a big finish at the double! Yay River! Quick note: River's only seen the panel jump, broad jump and chute one or two times so I didn't expect him to do them anyway.

Ruby...a completely different story. First off, the courses were kinda weird. Both of the judges were "new" judges and need some lessons in course design. She was the pinwheel queen (though she had a higher Q rate) and he put two jumps very close together right before the finish jump in both of his courses as one of many challenges. Not very many Q's this weekend in the Excellent classes, at least for the big dogs, except for Sunday's JWW course. It was tricky but doable. Now I'm not saying that everyone should qualify & the courses should be easy, but when only 4 out of almost 50 dogs qualify and it's an exceptional running surface there's a problem.

I screwed up both days in JWW & my handling was off, though on Saturday I think Ruby was a little full of herself & took the off-course backwards triple just because she didn't feel like listening to me; I DID call her, maybe just not soon enough or loud enough & when we got to the end I really didn't give a crap because the course sucked. Like I said only four dogs Q'd in my class. Sunday's JWW run was going nicely but as I sent her out & over a jump to get into position for a FC, I checked back a second time with her because didn't trust her. That made me late getting where I needed to be for the FC to be smooth so it wasn't in the right spot, it wasn't deep enough and I ended up sending her off-course. She did have a nice ending on that course; where most of the other dogs NQ'd, she read it beautifully & made it look easy.

The Standard courses we handled great & I'd say that she rocked them! She did miss her A-frame contact on Saturday but we got a "gift" that we were "owed" as the judge didn't see it. Too bad it really didn't matter as there wasn't a QQ on the line. Unfortunately she missed her DW contact on Sunday & this time the judge didn't miss it. That really sucked because the rest of the course she ran awesomely. She didn't take the wrong side of the tunnel, she got her weave entrance & read the rear cross at the end really well not taking the wrong jump before the finish. That really bummed me out because she would have been 3rd on a course where only 6 dogs Q'd. =(

Notice the song choice for Ruby's video. Yes, it's Britney's 'If You Seek Amy' that allegedly has a double entendre but no it's not about sex at all if you listen to the words. It's about the people that watch her every move & everything she does & Brit-brit is pretty much giving them the finger! I know the feeling girlfriend! ;^) Which is why I can't wait to trial in Ohio at the end of the month. LOL!

ICF at McCook - August 29 & 30, 2009

I really don't like this facility and have no idea why I keep going back. Granted it's a nice facility but when you get there early enough to get crating space down in the rings and it's already gone because people have "saved" spots for all their friends...let's just say I don't like crating upstairs. The floor is slick and dangerous and some dogs don't like the heights as they can see over the balcony. River totally freaked out when I brought him in, poor kid, and planted himself on his belly, not wanting to move forward. I ended up having to carry him to his crate.

Not a good way to start the weekend off and to add to that I got a migraine Saturday morning and could barely see straight, I haven't had a hot shower since Wednesday morning and my boyfriend is in town trying to get QQ's to qualify for Nationals. We had equipment to deliver and put together so I was a little stressed out and edgy. Ruby had a gorgeous run in Standard and placed 3rd. So a Double Q on the line and we blew it in Jumpers. It was my fault, the course was tight and she took an off-course because I didn't stop & make sure that I got her head; I kept moving forward. After that run someone that I JUST met that day (a couple from Ohio that know my boyfriend) came up and told me what I did wrong...did I ask for their opinion??? Do I pay them for lessons and/or train with them??? NO!

Sunday we had another nice run in Standard and she placed 4th. Tee up for Jumpers...very near the end of the run, and of course after all the hard parts, she came flying out of the tunnel and over a jump and kept going...partly due to her big stride. I had turned and called her and was almost two jumps away heading toward the finish, she just didn't read it or read it late and missed the jump completely. I was really annoyed with her and as I went to get her leash on said, "Ruby, you're a real jerk!" Apparently that makes me a bad sport and "someone needs to talk to me about the way I treat my dog..." Whatever. She still got her treats and her GoDog! she just didn't get her special Q treat. She didn't get punished, hit, kicked or anything else. We went home later and she & I snuggled up for a nap like always after a trial.

I always cheer everyone on and I worked my ass off on Saturday. I chute straightened for the 8" & 12" class and scribed for the 20" STD class. Made sure that the club knew that a friend was running for her MACH; they didn't have anything ready. And not to mention that I cheer everyone on no matter how bad their runs are. Sometimes people need to take a good hard look at themselves before they pass judgement. Honestly, if I was really mean to my dog, a soft vizsla, she would never run for me nor would she be as fast as she is or the top agility dog. Every once in a while people just have bad days.

The End of Wild Weavers???...and the Judge that Made My List

First I do want to start by saying that when the Wild Weavers equipment trailer was stolen Friday before the trial, I felt bad for them. I also felt bad for them that the Buckeye Equestrian Center changed the surface at this trial location and it wasn't up to par (3 to 4 inches of very loose sand/dirt mix). The incidents that happened at the trial were very bad judgement calls made by an AKC judge in regards to equipment safety and not taking the surface into consideration. To add salt to the wound she made a very inappropriate comment to all of us at the briefing for the RAD demo. She's made my list as a judge I will never trial under again. It would have been a better decision to cancel the trial altogether as they thought they'd originally have to do.

Even with all the problems Ruby ran her heart out, qualifying 3 out of 4 times. The problem with the equipment was what caused her to NQ on our very first run. Someone had the brilliant idea to put tape on the teeter (it was a USDAA teeter and has shorter contact zones) after the 16" class ran. I didn't watch many of the 20" dogs but right before we were to walk I noticed some odd obstacle performance on the teeter; the dogs looked like they were very surprised when the teeter fell out underneath them and the judge called them for fly-offs.

After the walk-thru our class started and dog after dog flew off (fell off) the teeter and I remember telling a friend that I didn't feel comfortable with it. We ran the course cleanly until the teeter, I told Ruby "easy" but she still took the teeter full speed, not slowing at all for the drop. Later Susan Crank said that she thought that the tape made the teeter look like the DW to a lot of dogs, the tape resembling the slats. Really uncool of the club to allow this and after the Excellent class finished they took the teeter off the course to paint new contact zones on it. I hardly think that was fair to the 20" and 24" Excellent dogs. Only four dogs in our class ended up qualifying and two just made time.

My issue was the judge did nothing about the obvious problem with the teeter. 9 out of 10 dogs got called for teeter fly-offs & she does NOTHING. Then in the RAD briefing she's telling us there's no 4 paw safety rule. If your dog jumps off before the teeter tips past horizontal you can re-attempt it. She then says it's a good thing 'cuz some of you need to work on that. WHAT!?!?! @#$%^&*! A LONG, hot day and I should've scratched her but we ran it anyway and she took an obvious off-course. No big deal as it didn't count for anything. Then we debated about coming back and running on Sunday as the club promised to roll and wet the surface down. Ruby placed 2nd in JWW; a nice course which would have been a lot more fun to run on a different surface.

Sunday: Ruby ran as best she could on the surface which was only marginally better but it was wet and heavy instead of just loose. She placed 1st in STD and 3rd in JWW. Here's the kicker: We got 1 - ONE - MACH point in JWW and the surface in that ring was worse. The other judge (not the one on my sh*t list) said that he had trouble wheeling the course, that the wheel wouldn't turn in the sand. I'll bet that's what happened to the stupid woman judge but she either didn't notice or didn't care to do anything about it. There is NO WAY that course was 139 yards (which made SCT 37 seconds). Too bad I didn't have my pedometer with me...

I had made an appointment for Ruby to get adjusted on Tuesday after the trial. I don't know why but I had this feeling that the surface would be horrible and I was right. I just remember the 2008 Kewanee trial and how it took two adjustments to get her right.

Update: Dr. Herlihy said most of her adjustments were routine maintenance. The ones that puzzled her were a very tender and tight shoulder muscle strain that made it hard to adjust her right shoulder, which was out. Her elbow was also out and that’s never been an issue. She thought that the pulled shoulder muscle was due to pulling her front legs up out of heavy sand to lift for jumping. Since the elbow was a new thing she said she would blame that on the sand as well though I'd have to say she probably jammed it when she flew/fell off the teeter. Poor Ruby. =(

New AKC Agility Class - Run and Done (RAD)

Run and Done

RAD

The goal of this class is to present a fun and flowing run. It is a single course open to all dogs. This is a hybrid class; a combination of the Standard and JWW classes.

Seventeen to nineteen obstacles will be used on the course. A combination of contacts (excluding the dog-walk) and weave poles equaling three will be required. At least one contact and one set of 12 weave poles will make up this combination. One set of 12 weave poles or one contact may be taken twice to meet this requirement. Only one spread jump can be used, but it may be used twice to encourage flow in the course design. One to two open tunnels can be used on course but may only be taken a maximum of two times. Tunnels are optional. The rest of the obstacles are bar jumps, single bar jumps and the tire. Jumps need to be at least 50% winged. No dog-walk, table, chute, panel jumps or dummy tunnels will be allowed. The minimum useable course area must be at least 7,000 square feet.

Scoring: The course must be completed within 55 seconds for the 20, 24 & 26 inch heights, 60 seconds for 16 inch height and 65 seconds for 8 & 12 inch dogs (might be too much time for some heights, but testing will help verify). Add 3 seconds for each height in the Preferred class. No wrong course faults will be allowed. A wrong course will result in an NQ. No refusals/run-outs will be called. Dogs will have three (3) chances to complete the weave poles, after that the dog must go onto the next obstacle and will receive an NQ for the run. If the weave pole sequence is broken before the weaves are completed, the weaves will need to be restarted at the first weave pole. Mandatory Eliminations (Failures) and Excusals will apply. Recording time: Round down if it is .499 of a second and if it is.500 of a second round up. Example: a time 33.499 seconds will be recorded as 33.00 seconds, and a time of 33.500 seconds will be recorded as 34.00 seconds.

Course design should encourage a smooth flow. Only three turns of 180 degrees on a course will allowed. All spacing of obstacles must meet the requirements of a Standard AKC course.

Overall challenge level will be a minimum of 5 challenges and minimum 3 side switches.

To earn a RAD title a dog will need 15 Qs and one hundred points (Points and Qs may change after data has been reviewed). Points are awarded as follows: First place dog will earn 10 points, all dogs under SCT* and within 10% of the time of the first place dog will get 9 points, 20% will earn 8 points and so on all the way down to 10% and less will earn 1 point. Points and Qs start over after each title is earned with multiplier titles indicated by number following RAD, i.e. RAD2, RAD3 etc. The following chart is an example that illustrates the points that would be earned for the 16 inch jump height with first place dog having a time of 30 seconds.

Example:

*Note: Points are only available for dogs that run at or under SCT. It may be that lower points are not available with mathematical increments of 10% over time until SCT is reached. If in the 16″ example above, the winning time was 40 seconds, then 5 points would be lowest point total available (from 56-60 seconds).

Since spacing of obstacles must meet the requirements of a Standard AKC course the course will not have to be measured by the judge.

RAD

Run and Done

Judges briefing:

RAD is a hybrid course, a combination of Standard and JWW’s classes. One course will be open to all levels in AKC agility. Fast, fun and flowing courses are key elements in this class.

Judging; Dogs will be judged by jump height not by class.

Refusals, There will be no refusals or run-outs (R) in RAD.

Wrong courses will be called and will result in a non-qualifying score (NQ). The hand signal for the wrong course will be an open hand as it is in the Standard and JWW’s classes.

Weave poles need to be completed in three (3) attempts or less, or a failure to perform fault (F) will be called. An attempt is when all four of the dog’s paws cross between the first and second weave pole. If the weave pole sequence is broken (skipping a pole) before the dog completes the weave poles the dog must start the weave poles over at the first pole.

Mandatory Eliminations and Excusals will apply In RAD as they do in the Standard and JWW’s classes.

Time: The course must be completed within 55 seconds for the 20, 24 & 26 inch heights, 60 seconds for 16 inch height and 65 seconds for 8 & 12 inch. These times are both the standard course times and the maximum course times for RAD. These times may change as the data is collected and analyzed.

*Note: during the first stage of RAD both the 12 inch and the 20 inch dog’s path needs to be wheeled and recorded on the spread sheet provided.

This new AKC Agility Class focuses on speed and trial runs are being held across the country. Ruby and I may give it a try this weekend. :D

AKC Agility Invitational 2009

Validation for all of our hard work and that my dog is amazing ~ though I already knew that. I love you Ruby! =)

July 24 - 26, 2009 ~ GLBTC/GRCI Agility Trial

A big three day trial at a really nice facility ~ woo-hoo! The pups and I spent Thursday night at Kris' house 'cuz she is really mean and made me get up early on Friday to help unload equipment. ;^) LOL!

Friday didn't start off too well. We got called on the Aframe in Standard. I thought she got a foot in but I can't even tell for sure on the video. A Q in JWW and a Q & 3rd place in EXC A FAST. One more leg for her XF title! =)

Saturday we had a repeat in STD; this time I know she missed her Aframe contact; she didn't clear the apex right as she was moving way too slowly on the approach. I've been working more rear crosses into my handling as I need to work on the timing and placement of them (I think River will need me to use rear crosses with him a lot more than front crosses). Ruby's used to me front crossing 95% of the time so she was a little on the slow side in JWW this weekend as well. Poor Ruby, the first dog has to deal with my screw ups and experiments! =( Anyway that NQ in STD really sucked because it was such a tough course that only 4 slow dogs qualified in my height class. Ggrrrrr!!! Another nice run in JWW and she placed 3rd.

Sunday - we had a perfect Aframe!!! And she Q'd!!! And it was a really hard course so she placed 2nd!!! Yea, Ruby!!! Another Q in JWW brings us to QQ #4 for MACH2. She really was a very good girl all weekend, missed Aframe and all. Somehow I don't think that was her fault and may have been the rubberized contacts combined with the artificial turf and me making her slow with the rear crosses. =)

WAG & River's First Fun Match

Not much to say about WAG except that Ruby was her usual amazing self and we QQ'd. Unfortunately we only got in the one day, oh well. She won her JWW class and placed 2nd in Standard. Here's the video:

The following weekend we headed out to scenic Wadsworth for an Agility Fun Match to benefit Illinois Doberman Rescue. It was held at Tracy's Farm. She has horses & cows and does boarding and grooming there. It's a gorgeous piece of property. I entered both River and Ruby for two runs each. I ran Ruby first and of course, she did very well but she's a pro. Just to show you how challenging Tracy's Farm is though, Ruby got a little distracted by the horses right next to the fence while she was on the DW & popped her weaves when she heard another dog bark. That's not like her.

River was up next, his first run he did fairly well, all things considered: Jump to DW and run over and bark at the horses for 5 seconds. Run back to mom do the tunnel, NAIL his weave entry and complete all twelve, to the tunnel and run past a jump to pee on the fence in the corner...oh my...baby dogs...sigh...get him back, two jumps, go bark at the horses again because they had the nerve to move to the other side of the ring. Get him back, jump, a-frame, jump, teeter, tire jump...must sniff ground in front of tire...do tire, do tunnel, run around a jump and do the last jump! Yea River! Then he pooped right after we left the ring...if he had done that BEFORE we ran maybe jumping would have been easier. Ugh!

Ruby's second run was perfect. She nailed the teeter and DW with a FAST 2o/2o. We had two very cute little girls about eight years old scoring all the dogs. They loved Ruby and said she was the most awesome dog and gave her a score of 5000. Adorable! =) Wish they were always our judges! LOL!

River was up next for his 2nd try. A little better, very nice jump to DW, only a short detour to bark at horses and right back to me when I called him. Into the tunnel and weaves, got the entry but kept popping at 4. The weaves were pretty light weight and not nailed down so they had moved a bit. I let him try twice and we moved on. Tunnel, three jumps to the Aframe and he was great! On to the jump, teeter, tire sequence and again some sniffing in front of the tire. Don't know if there was something there that was really interesting or if he was stressing over the tire itself. Finally got him to take it, tunnel, two jumps out and he was perfect. The girls gave him a score of 50. Not bad, eh? LOL!

So LOTS of positive things and some little things to work on. I do think that there was a lot of dog pee in the agility ring and for him to work for me in such a distracting environment is phenomenal for a thirteen month old puppy. We need a lot more work on his teeter and I'll add a stop to his DW but overall I think he's putting things together very nicely.