Rowan and I competed at the RAT USDAA trial in Elma with many of our friends. Rowan wasn’t feeling very well… and still isn’t but I hope to get that taken care of today at the vets office. We dropped a lot of bars in Grand Prix – which is not like her – and continued the trend in Steeplechase. I got her a massage and pulled her from her last run in Jumpers. Kelly said that she seemed to be sore in her hips and mid-back. I need to find her a chiropractor.
We did – despite not running our best – get our final leg for our AD title!!! That was a snooker Q we needed… and I didn’t get that on tape. Oh well. Here is our best run of the weekend – gamblers. She dropped two bars here but that was due to me queing her over the bar and accelerating… both things I need to work on in handling and training.
Quick update! Rowan is doing fine – but is still wearing the cone. She will until next Wednesday – but I think she is fine. The seed was tinier than I could have imagined! Geesch! But no surgery was needed just a local, microscopic glass wear and a dental tool – with a steady hand. Oh and did I mention the Specialist! Everything else looks A-OK with her eyes. I can’t wait to get back to agility – the course from last night look really challenging and fun. I hope to get the map and set up pieces.
My grandfather passed away. I’m glad he did not have to be in the hospital too long – not even 24 hours. But I do wish I could have seen him. I go to Eastern WA for the funeral and family time this weekend.
Call you grandparents or parents! Tell them you love them.
Well – Rowan came in the house from her am trip outside on Sunday am squinting……… I took her to the vet today. The vet took one look at her eye – stained it anyway – and told me what I feared – that she had something stuck in her eye ball. It looks like dirt the size of a pin head but it’s in there and not moving. The vet looked at me and more or less said… “I know you and I know you and your relationship with your dogs. I also know what you want to do with this dog – so I am sending you to the specialist. ” I don’t think she wanted to carry the guilt if something went wrong. (and I can’t blame her for that) I guess today is just an insane day in the world… A co-workers wife had to be taken to the hospital, Rowan’s eye, and my grandfather was taken to the hospital. ugh!
Tomorrow is the appointment with Dr. Cooley – she is very good but it costs a lot. But Lynn (Anna’s host mother) works there and she was able to get us an earlier appointment tomorrow – saving the emergency fees. I hope we can go to class on Wednesday – we will just have to see how it goes!
I had a fun but exhausting weekend at the Top Dog CPE trial. It is my home club and I was asked to be chief course builder. I really need to train some other folks to do that so I can work 1/2 days. I came home last night and went to bed until morning – 12 hours. But Elinda and Heather Leu were there and Dave and Jen came to visit so that was wonderful! I was glad that Elinda got to meet Dave and Jen – it brings parts of my life and very important people together for me. I had fun running Ariel. She was looking for mom all weekend but she did get through all the courses. One run should have been a Q but due to time set by the judge – it was not…. bummer cuz we worked hard for that.
Here are some videos from my runs this weekend. Rowan was quite fast… probably because I was confident in her abilities and these courses… I was not nervous. I went into the weekend wanting to work on speed.
This way one of my favorite runs – despite the teeter fly off… Elinda said that she hung on… but just not long enough. That is not a typical problem for us – I am not concerned.
The next run is jumpers – day end on Sunday. I was quite pleased with that run… she didn’t flatten out to get more speed and I am running faster now too! I never thought I could make it to the tunnel for the cross – but I did! I was commenting to the judge through the run. She had challenged me to layer the tunnel but I chickened out (which I told her while running) and then still made that cross (and I told her – “but I will do this!”) . I don’t have my time yet but I will edit this when I do. I am interested to see what her yps were.
The last video is of my friend Heather’s dog Sligo – her puppy in training. He wanted to be sure we knew he was there…. see how gently he taps that bowl? This is documentation for Diane.
I have two weeks off of trialing now but start my clicker class next week. That should be fun! I have to say that I am looking forward to a Saturday at home as much as I love to trial!
Thank you to Suki for the video and wonderful editing – so high tech!
and the snooker that was not to be… don’t blink! I’m not sure how I thought I could out run her to turn off the jump after the triple that she could not take…. maybe someday that will work for me.
Well, There are many things to report and not much time to do that in… It is about 10pm on Sunday the 9th and I am feeling the loss of the hour sleep last night – especially when the clock went forward two hours and the alarm went off at 5:30 (3:30!)
Couple Things First:
1) Edi… now Dizzy D has a new home with my brother and she is just perfect. She has the best temperament of any Staffy that I have known. Great Dog… and it’s nice to have her close by.
2) Fitness challenge
6 weeks in now and I am feeling great! Down two sizes and almost 20 pounds from when I started the diet. I know I ran faster this weekend with Rowan as well! But – geesch – it takes up so much of my time… It’s where I want to spend my time right now but some things -like blogs- gotta give – sorry folks (Camille – you especially)
Now to the interesting stuff!
USDAA Trial number 2 update – in brief. I went to the WAG trial in Corvallis this past weekend. My Grandparents and Mom came to watch. It was wonderful to have them there… they had never seen me run or even met Rowan. I could hear my Grandmother cheering me through the weave poles – or the wiggle-waggles as she called them. What a hoot! There were three Staffords showing this weekend. I got to spend some time talking with Sarah with her girl Tess. And Suki and Richard were there with Stevie Ray. Go Staffords! I am not certain where I sit with the completion of my Starters Title – I believe am 1 Snooker leg away at this point. I also wanted try to qualify in Steeplechase and did!!! Suki has a video of the first round run and here is round two – the final.
Rowan represented the other three Staffords there this weekend in that run and did not disappoint with a second place finish! We won $23! I was very proud of her and happy with my handling. There are always places to improve… but what fun would it be if we all started out perfect??
Good night – More to come soon… like the shortest snooker run (for me) ever!
This was the weekend that I have been training for – well at least so far. I wanted to get Rowan into USDAA as soon as I felt we were ready and when I felt that we could run with the “big dogs”! I was anxious and excited for the weekend to come. Elinda was there and the gang from Fido’s. I also found out a few weeks ago that the Canadian Stafford Brigade was going to be there as well. It was great to see them all. And – even though there is no really-quality video that came out of the weekend due to the fact that operating that camera with gloves is just plain tricky – I had a blast!
Rowan didn’t feel too well on Saturday (note to self – do not give Rowan a raw bone just before a trial!) … and I pulled muscle on Sunday but we managed to get through 8 runs and we ran 6 of them clean and qualified. On Saturday we ran the Grand Prix local qualifying round for the nationals. …and we QUALIFIED (see above)! That was my biggest thrill of the weekend despite I was quite late in doing the front cross after the weave poles – I was just so excited to have made it that far on the course I forgot where I was going next! She ran that course better than the Starters courses. So now I am able to go to the Super Regional in June for Grand Prix or I need to get one more Q in Grand Prix and I am qualified to go run that at Nationals in October. Just two legs more legs to finish her Starters title. Sa-weet!
Rowan’s contacts were really nice this weekend. She kept most bars up – only dropped them when I cued or called her over the bar. I need to continue to work on weave poles. We ran Pairs Relay with Prot. I wish we had gotten that on film but the camera was being a little bugger. It would have been a good run to watch. We got 1st. And her times could have been a bit faster – but that’s about my speed at this point… and I am working on that. The It’s a Dog’s World Fitness Challenge begins tomorrow!
What a year! Rowan and I started trailing this year and I took my time getting her started. We did mostly CPE which I was very pleased to start in – It is a good venue for baby dogs. Here is a video of the Standard run which completed our legs for that part of the CPE Level 2 title… just a few more legs in the games to go.
What will 2008 bring? Well, I will write more about that soon.
Happy New Year everyone! Here’s to many wonderfully fast runs and success in 2008!
Well, we have a temporary guest in the house. Meet Edi (short for Edina Monsoon of Ab Fab fame.)
This is only the second time in 14 years that a Staffy has come into the local animal shelter. (The first one was a dog I knew and reunited with her owner after being stolen and missing for three years!) So, I had to adopt her into rescue and find a new home for her. She needs to go to a bully knowledgeable home… as she not so good with other dogs and cats. But she is a truly typical Staffy with people – she loves everyone and expects the best treatment… a true princess. I can just hear her…”You want me in a crate?” “What do you mean I can’t sleep in the bed and under the covers? She is about 3 – close to Rowan’s age – and just got spayed. She has some skin issues that I hope will clear up now after the bath, flea treatment and some good quality food. She is a sweetheart! But I think that Rowan and Banjo are scheming to get her out of here asap.
I hope to find her a new home where she can have full range of the house and a couch all her own with a person to nap with.
