So I suck at blogging and should have written this earlier this week but i've been ridiculously tired and unmotivated all week, i blame school.
Anyways...
Izzie and I went to Kimberley last weekend and we had a ton of fun! It was a super awesome trial and even though we only Q'd in one of our 4 runs all weekend, we learned a ton and had a really good time!
I'll break it down a little bit for you all:
Gamblers - Izzie was WILD. She was so happy and wound up to be playing she was all over the place when i wanted her to be near me and stuck to me like glue when i wanted her to be away from me. What i learned... Need to work more distance stuff not only getting Izzie used to working away from me more but making sure I'm cuing her properly, and figure out at what "up level" Izzie works best at.
Snooker #1 - Lets face it, i went in a little confused about the game and never having played it before. Add that to the fact it was 34 degrees Celsius with no wind and i thought there were more dogs before us than there actually were, the odds were against us anyways. I also planned my course for the fast and wild and crazy dog i had for gamblers, but instead she wasn't very "up" and was pretty hot too. What i learned... I need to cheer her on a bit more on course and plan my runs better.
Jumpers - Well it was going well until she got the zoomies and after i got her to refocus she was golden. Too bad she zoomed around the jump and took the backside instead of zooming over it the right way haha. What i learned... I don't think i warmed her up well enough to get her mind in the right place, she was very "OMG WHEEE AGILITY!" Snooker #2 - Learned from the first time to plan the course better plus the #7 obstacle was one of Izzie's best, the dog walk. I asked Sarah for some help on strategy and the run went swimmingly. Couldn't be happier with it being so new to the game. What i learned... Don't be afraid to ask for help if I'm unsure.
Overall, it was an awesome weekend. I had so much fun and the people from our club were awesome. Sarah even let me run Kaleb in Steeplechase and once he figured out that he was out there with me and not his momma he was really good for me! He makes me want a FCR lots, but that'll be a few years from now.
I'll definitely be attending the Kimberley trial every year as long as they'll keep having them!
My parental units took the trailer out for a test run before we head out to Kimberley this coming weekend and despite working my arse off all weekend i went out for a night with Izzie.
It was fun. We ate lots of S'mores and cooked outside near a yummy smelling campfire. S'mores make the world go round, i'm convinced of this. They're the best thing evar.
Of course having a trailer means we don't have to give up a ton of luxuries to camp. So much more comfy than tenting. We still have a bathroom and water to wash our hands in instead of rocking the hand sanitizer (though i admit i do that in any situation).
But in the end, camping isn't something i like to seek out for long periods of time. Despite having a shower in there i prefer my own shower, and while the bed is fine i do miss my own bigger bed. Overall i love the trailer though, and it's a hell of a lot better than tenting!
Izzie and i spent all of our last week at our local fair called Whoop Up Days. We were performing with our agility club to show off all our talented well trained dogs.
Izzie did awesome all week and showed people that little Pugs can do big things! We even conquered some fears like the A-Frame! Izzie also got faster every demo we had, i was having trouble keeping up. She is getting more confident the more we play and i love seeing that.
I also got the opportunity to run dogs that weren't mine! That was super fun, especially when i got to run with my favouritest Flat Coated Retriever EVER, Kaleb!
I also got to run Tate the 9.5 year old Rough Collie and wow he runs fast for an old boy! It's always a cool learning experience running a dog that isn't yours. Every dog has a different style that works for them and you really have to learn to adapt.
We also had a huge crowd hit with Sarah's Gyppie with a little Border Collie sized saddle on! She ran the barrels in the barrel race so fast even with that awkward thing on her back, such an amazing little dog!
This past weekend was our first agility trial ever! I couldn't have asked for a better weekend. We Q'd on our very first run ever with a first place even! I made mistakes and we didn't Q in our second run but hey, first time out we didn't do so bad! It makes me tear up a little to see how far my little Pug has come. It sounds sappy but I'll let the videos do the talking...
That dog in those videos used to run away at the sight of an agility ring or equipment. She used to hide in tunnels and find the farthest lap from me to sit in to avoid doing agility. She was slow and unmotivated to do more than a trot.
Some say i should have given up right there and that she didn't like it so why try again. So what if they think I'm selfish for trying again. It wasn't the game of agility that hurt her, it was the training (or lack of) that did. I knew my little dog though, and i knew she loved the game for real and we just needed another better shot at it.
So in the end. This Q is thanks to the fantastic guidance i've had over the past year. Thanks to the advice of Lynn from On Target Dog Training in Ontario, and meeting someone from Go Dog Go! at 2010 AAC Nationals, i might not have ended up with the Sarah and Amanda the most fabulous instructors i have now.
Well that sounded like an Academy Award acceptance speech but whatever! Thanks guys, you're the best and i couldn't have gotten here without you!
Izzie's birthday present(s) finally arrived. She'll have one more on the way soon but it's a functional present so that's like getting underwear for your birthday which is kinda a downer gift, though it might be considered like super sexy underwear since it is pink and exotic.
ANYWAYS
As you can see she got 8 million toys. Well only 12 toys, but i thought i might have actually ordered 72 toys which would've been excessive. They're cheapo latex squeaky toys and anyone that knows me, knows i don't do cheap. It's a curse really, i have expensive tastes. However these toys, specifically the blue fish with big red lips (who the hell thought of these toys? They're so weird looking) has a lot of significance to me and Izzie.
FLASHBACK!
*Insert Wayne's World Flashback Imitation Here*
When Izzie was just a 6 month old pup she had her eye clawed by a vicious devil cat named Jersey. She had to have extensive eye surgery with a super strict long recovery period so she didn't really get to enjoy her puppy hood from 6 months to 1 year old a whole bunch. It was unfortunate really. The blue kissy fish was her favourite toy though and it was non fuzzy so safe enough for her to play with for a little while anyways, too much activity could have affected the eye healing due to pressure. Anyways, one day i found it in shambles. One of the other Pugs was terrible and devoured the poor fishy. Izzie was heart broken and i couldn't find a replacement.
Until recently...
I was chatting with my friends one night about what to get Izzie for her birthday and referenced the puppy picture of Izzie with her fish and said "Hey i should find one like that!" and i did. I was so happy to find her favourite puppy hood toy and ordered 12 because they were assorted and i figured ordering 12 would at least get me a couple of blue fish.
Izzie loves the new toys though, all of them but especially the blue fish. It's still by far her favourite and she recognized it immediately and because playing like a little puppy again! It was so cute! I'm glad she likes her presents.
