Reality Check

I haven't put an update on Liryk's running dogwalk for a bit and so I thought I'd write about how things are going....


Recently I've made up a mini dogwalk, so that Liryk is no longer jumping up onto the down plank. It's currently sitting at approximately 50cm in height, and she is now sent through a tunnel prior to the walk, creating more speed......


Now it seems I OBVIOUSLY didn't really think about the WHOLE picture when it comes to a running dogwalk, in that it requires the handler ie ME to be able to keep up with their dog. I had this light bulb moment, after sending her through the tunnel and over her mini dogwalk for the first time. My first thought was ..... I think I need a 2o2o!!! Just out of curiosity I timed her down plank and scared myself a little. The one I timed was 0.5sec, so if you times that by 3 (up,across and down plank) it makes her dogwalk potentially 1.5sec ....... and at that moment it kind of sounded like this in my head "WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" :-) so since then I've been on a mission to get fit! Which is now also my New Years Resolution :-)


As much as I'm a little scared about being able to handle a running dogwalk, I'm really excited at seeing Liryk progress and it's SUCH an adrenaline rush hearing her come pounding over the planks. I can't WAIT to see what her dogwalk will look like and I have my fingers tightly crossed hoping I can get it right!!!


Touchwood ..... her jumping has reduced dramatically, though she is quite sensitive to change. Anything that looks slightly different to her "normal" picture and the jumping comes back in grand style. The latest quirky thing is that she has been attempting the down plank in one stride, she still hits the yellow but it tends to be very high up and it's not what I'm looking for.


I think my biggest fear is judges not being able to "see" her hit her contact. Now that I feel that Liryk understands her job, I've really only been rewarding her deep hits and she is beginning to do these more and more, over her high hits.


This our most recent training session. One jump, one high hit and three deep hits.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSJIx6BLboI
Happy New Year!!!!

You're Never Too Old For Agility

Twelve months ago, I nearly lost my beautiful old boy Jestah. Looking at him now, at the age of 13 and 1/2 years, I can't believe I'm so lucky to still have him. He's a lot greyer now :-) and slips occasionally on the tiles, but he still knows when it's 5pm and demands his dinner with a very forthright bark!!


I'm sure he feels a little over run with the number of females in the house, who I might add worship the ground he walks upon. Though I'm not sure he's over the moon with the constant licking of his face at home, or the stalking and pouncing when we're out in the park :-) But being the awesome dog he is, he takes it all in his stride.


This afternoon he made me smile .....


I was playing with Liryk, while he stood on the back verandah barking at me. It seems he wanted to play too!!! So we had a little bit of fun :-)


www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tehp36jqnVw


I can't believe this year is almost over. It feels like I was only just making my goals for 2010 and now I have to make new ones!! I'm SOOOOOOOOOOO excited with what 2011 will bring. Florida and possibly the debut of Liryk to name a few :-)


Wishing everyone a safe and very Merry Christmas!!!

Time Flies ..... When Ann Braue Comes To Stay

This last week has been a bit of a whirlwind. For months the Ann Braue Seminar has been something to look forward to and in the blink of an eye it appears it's all over :-(

I'm completely grateful for the advice, direction, the pushing ..... and even the phrase "You can start back at the begining" even though you'd managed to get around the course with just 1 bar down...... and you'd already run it 4 times prior and you're now gasping for air!!! The burning in your legs and the momentary thought that there is NO WAY you could possibly run another metre ...... and then the catch cry from the sidelines comes through your head "RUN!!!!" and whodathunk it, there is actually a little bit left in you (before you collapse in a great heap) and we all managed to go clear!!! I can honestly say that I don't think I've seen quite so many smiles on peoples faces, after worrying about not being able to handle the courses and finding out we were all more than capable. But I think that's what's so special about Ann. She has this ability to make EVERYONE see how great a handler they can be and how truely AWESOME each of our dogs are.

I'm even stunned at what she has achieved with Liryk and myself this last week. Two weeks ago Liryk hadn't even seen a jump. Today she is able to do 3 of the Recall to Heal positions over one jump at 500 height! We've even raised the height of the plank, with great success :-)

The other moment that I can't stop smiling about ..... is that last night Epic actually got 2 passes in one night!!! I know this is probably not THAT exciting for most. But this is a HUGE achievement for Epic. I've had so many runs ...... more than I'd care to count, where we just have one bar down. And to gain two passes (one a 3rd place, the other a 4th) well Epi-doo all I can say is your a SUPERSTAR!!!!

Thanks for the runs Sue and Linda!!

COOL!!!

Cool is the BRAND NEW dogwalk plank that I have in my backyard :-) Thanks Steve!!! The GREAT thing is, I can add the rest of the dogwalk as I need it!!

"Cool" is also the name of Lisa Ross's border collie :-) who has some pretty insane RUNNING CONTACTS!!! Check out his dogwalk ....

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoOk9wd70wQ

Lisa's running contacts with Cool are quite unique. She has used her OWN method in achieving them and has succeeded with minimal repetitions!!!

The other COOL thing ....... Lisa has been guiding me through my journey of running contacts with Liryk. She is a source of motivation and really challenges me as a trainer. I'm so lucky to have a mutual friend (thanks Gayle!!) to have recommended her :-) and thankyou Lisa for all your help so far!!!

And just an update on Liryk ...... I've raised the plank and it's currently 30cm high. She's had some extra challenges to work through and as a result I've had quite a bit of jumping. I'm not too worried, it's all part and parcel of the experience and I'm sure we can work through it :-)