So, we had today our first official Novice A trial with Major! First run went amazingly well until it was time for group sit... then Major laid down when I was only 2 m away from him with a guilty look in his face.
Was I disappointed...? Yes, we would have got HIC and 194 points if he would have not laid down, but no use to think what if. Second run was in the afternoon and I could tell he was a bit tired and not as alert and to the point in his performance as he was during his first run. BUT, just giving him a bit invisible reassurance when returning to him in group sit, made a difference and he STAYED UP and was HIC and got his first leg with 189,5p.!! Yay!!
I'm so proud of my big boy! He is really developing to a wonderful boy and was so nice to get recognition of this from other people at the trial who thought he was working beautifully and is a terrific dog.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Bark park
Yes, that is the name of our dog park. Located 15min drive away, we do every once in a while visit there.
Today was a lovely weather and I took Major, Cassi and Nova out for the park.
Both Major and Cassi are very friendly with other dogs, they just are so super EXCITED to get to play with others, that they seem to scare a bit some dog owners and dogs that matter. No need to mention they are both quite big, and big and excited isn't usually very popular combo. Major is actually better one of them, he nicely plays even with small dogs, I think because he is generally so much more gentle than Cassi.
Cassi could be best described as a steam roller, she is the "tigger" type that will bounce everyone...*rolling eyes*
However as the time passed and they got more tired, playing with others was much more controlled and pleasant to watch (= no need to TRY to call them off all the time)
Nova who has been very good with all other dogs FOREVER turned out to have become quite a bitch. I guess 10 years age will make her think that she is in charge and you better watch out... such a grouchy old gramma she was, I don't think I dare to take her there anymore! 8)
Today was a lovely weather and I took Major, Cassi and Nova out for the park.
Both Major and Cassi are very friendly with other dogs, they just are so super EXCITED to get to play with others, that they seem to scare a bit some dog owners and dogs that matter. No need to mention they are both quite big, and big and excited isn't usually very popular combo. Major is actually better one of them, he nicely plays even with small dogs, I think because he is generally so much more gentle than Cassi.
Cassi could be best described as a steam roller, she is the "tigger" type that will bounce everyone...*rolling eyes*
However as the time passed and they got more tired, playing with others was much more controlled and pleasant to watch (= no need to TRY to call them off all the time)
Nova who has been very good with all other dogs FOREVER turned out to have become quite a bitch. I guess 10 years age will make her think that she is in charge and you better watch out... such a grouchy old gramma she was, I don't think I dare to take her there anymore! 8)
Monday, January 3, 2011
Happy New Year 2011!
Happy New Year!
This blog is going to be about the dogs, so if it's not one of your interests you are most probably going to get bored reading this stuff.
To get our year started Major and I did our debut in Novice Obedience 2nd of January. To be exact it was not official but a correction match, and I should add that Major and I have only done obedience in "public" only when we did 3 x Rally O Novice last summer and then once at Spirit Ridge K9 training center just before Christmas (Jim let us kindly to do a drop-in class with Major).
Heel in leash and off-leash went very well, Major was following with nice contact both runs and only with the first one he needed to be reminded once to keep his eye contact, sits were prefect which I am so proud of since I had problems with Nova in them.
Figure 8 went well and also stand on examination perfectly both times.
Recall first time he laid down before the call, other time it was perfect ; VERY fast and sits straight and close to me in front. Finish could have been a bit better, but still ok.
Our problem really was that in long sit, he laid down in both runs just when I was walking back. He seemed to get pressured by me of some reason. Long down was perfect both times.
So I'm hoping to fix our little problem with laying down in long sit before our first REAL trials which is going to be in 2 weeks. I just think it's going to be such a great opportunity since the trial is in the same facility, that it would be such a shame to miss it by waiting for trials later during the year somewhere else. To me he seems to be quite ready for trials anyway so, ready or not here we come Novice A!
What made me real proud of Major was that this was his 5th "training session" in public and he did such an awesome job! He was not affected by the place or distractions at all and worked just as home. He is such a happy boy working with me, and with the words of one viewer and fellow competitor " one can tell that He just LOVES you!", makes me think about my old boy Zorro who almost made my mom cry watching us do obedience because love for pleasing was so great in his beautiful performance.
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