How Quickly Things come crashing down!!

Hey Everyone, it's only Feb 1st and I finally am getting to blog again! A whole lot has happened and I will try to fill you all in with posts over this next couple of weeks!

Saturday our club WAG (Whitecourt Agility Group) had a mini seminar with Michelle Stade and her trusty beasts Charm and Rival ( I think I am allowed to say that since I am the beast master aka breeder). It was a great time and myself and the dogs learned a lot. Learning agility body language is a whole new kettle of fish. What I also saw was quite a dynamic change in energy levels in my two dogs, Wrangler and ZoomZoom. (I am truly sorry to everyone that no photos to join this post as my camera is having shutter difficulties.)

To back up a bit, in the past three weeks, Miss ZoomZoom has been getting more vocal in her kennel while I have been working Wrangler. Prior to this she didn't make a peep. But she is catching on to this agility thing and her drive is kicking up a notch. So yesterday, we moved pasted the minor barking to SCREAMING! I am mortified. I can't believe my well behaved little girl is turning into the hellion dogs I detest! I can't stand dogs, who bark and carry on in their kennels, and then continue to bark non-stop around a course. If I had to pick one thing that is truly annoying that would be it! ( ok, so she didn't bark non-stop she only barked a few times while out of the kennel, but enough that I noticed). So in the back of my mind I'm thinking I have to crack down on this asap. So as I'm working her and having a great time and really into this tunnel game, Wrangler started making noise, then a little more barking....to full out screaming. I am just shaking my head....both my dogs are now barking and carrying on! What have I created?

I carry on through the day, yes, allowing them to bark, so I can take in the class ( and it is really hard to correct as mine are not the only ones barking). So getting on with the day, I am truly having a blast with Wrangler who prior to this day was running through tunnels, to now blasting through and becoming a tunnel sucker...but it's very cool seeing his drive come up and the sheer joy on his face at the other end! One of the other things I let him do, was blow a few stays....BIG, BIG mistake. I should smack my hands on that one for I know it will come back to bite me in the ass real soon. Which it did!

So Sunday, I take Zoom and Wrangler to obedience classes with me for my demo dogs. I was teaching four classes and tonight is graduation. Well, if I could have crawlled in a hole, I would have. My dogs taught my humility. Here I am teaching classes and my own dogs are carrying on in their kennels, barking and such when I brought one out to work/demo. Then Wrangler starts blowing his stays.....( and till this weekend I would have said he was a solid dog on his stays), it was embarrassing, but you know what, I got over it and just laughed at them for their silly antics! I adore my dogs and finally my training brain kicked in. Training never stops and we are always having to go back and fix and polish. If that wasn't the case, everyone would be getting 200 in obedience and Q's on every round in agility. So, by the third class they were quiet in the kennels, remembering their stays and ready to focus.....was it 100% solid, hell no, but each day is a new one and I am remembering how much I love to train. Some of you may think that is a odd remark but, since having kids, I haven't been able to dedicate myself to the training like I once did. I'm the type of trainer who want's it all or nothing. If I can't put the time and energy into being able to compete at top levels, I don't want to compete or train half ass. I just won't do it. But now that my boys are getting older, I am re-discovering a shelved passion!

So here I post, I am aiming for running Wrangler in tunnellers for sure, and maybe Hoopers for the NADAC trial in Edmonton April 17 & 18. Pace hasn't posted their classes yet, so Hoopers may or may not go. I am actually going to forgo a conformation show for two days of agility. Michele promises to be there to cheer us on! The last time I had anything to do with competing in agility was in about 92 or 93... wish us luck!