Jan 2014

Is it just me... or as you get older, do the years seem to start speeding up??? because seriously wasn't it JUST Jan 2013??? Really makes you want to not waste a second really :-D

Sooooo...... 2014 ....... ooooh I wonder what the year will bring!! It's exciting to think there is a whole year in front of us again. I wonder what adventures we will go on, what new people we will meet along the way. Last year was pretty darn awesome! But when each new year begins, it's almost like a WHOLE new story is about to be written. And it makes me want to sit on the edge of my chair in anticipation of what's about to happen :-D

I think my main goal for this year is to actually make it to the Nationals.... WITH a dog ;-) Our Nationals are only held every two years and that makes them kind of special. 2012 was the year Liryk was injured 3weeks before the Sydney Nationals, and I made the decision to scratch her....  so this will be her very first one and I have to say I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!! :-D It will also be Edge's first Nationals.... and I expect HE will be soooooooooooooooo excited too ;-) LOL

My guys are currently on break this month, none of the rigors of agility, just lots of running, swimming, and tricks. And they seem VERY happy with the holiday routine ;-)

Close your eyes and take a leap ;-)

At the beginning of the year I mentioned how exciting this year "felt" How if I just took a leap of faith something mind blowing could happen, and it did :-D

I've just come back from the US where I had a working spot for 4 days with Lisa Frick and Tereza Kravlova. And it was everything I could have dreamed of and more. Both ladies while soooooo young, possess an immense knowledge of agility. And are the type of instructors that leave you inspired and wanting more.

They encouraged you to step outside of what feels familiar and comfortable, to run life on the edge, to push the limits ;-) Yes there were casualties.... a broken wrist, a broken ankle, and a damaged knee, all separate people and thankfully none of those things happened to me :-)

It was such an experience to be coached on new moves, understanding the reasoning behind why to use certain moves and where, and timing.... because I was late late late, especially on front crosses :-P

Most people at the seminar were wonderful. So encouraging to everyone, you could just feel that they wanted others to succeed, especially when some doubted their own abilities, and to see the looks on their faces when they made it..... was priceless :-D

I know seminars can be hard, you get caught up in the heat of the moment and two weeks from now you slot back into the same old routine of how you did things. And this is something I really want to try not to do. I spent most of my hours standing by each instructor watching, learning and taking notes, hoping that I would begin to "see" (even if it's only a small portion) of what they see..... fingers crossed ;-)

I do know, that I've experienced an opportunity of a lifetime. To meet two handlers and their dogs that are amongst the best in the world. And to have the opportunity to learn from them for just a fraction of time still makes my head spin.  To have people so generous to allow me to run their dogs, because without them there is no way I'd ever be able to do this. And yes I'm still pinching myself that it actually happened ;-)

Incase you haven't already seen it on facebook here is my little video :-)

What???? A weekend of no agility??

Sometimes its nice to just NOT do agility :-D To get away with family and let the dogs be dogs and have fun zooming around ;-)

We've just come back from Bridgetown, my brother and sister in law own the lolly shop down there....mmmmm chocolate :-D.... oops got a little sidetracked :-P And with it being my mums birthday we all met up for a weekend away. Good food, bush walks and best of all we completely missed the storm that everyone else got in Perth. SUPER relaxing time had by all!!

What Are The Chances?????

So I'm in a contemplative kind of mood.....

I'm wondering.... and I know it sounds daft!

But do you think it's possible .... that sometimes.... our dogs may just have been here before??

Liryk is 3years old, a baby still really, but from the moment I started playing with her in agility she just seemed to "get it" Almost like she knew it all already and I was just giving her a refresher. My brain says not to be stupid and it's all the foundation work I've done...but sometimes I almost feel like this is her moment and I'm just lucky enough to be along for the ride :-)

If we compare Edge with Liryk, well he seems like a normal dog.... okay a little crazy :-P But he has some nice skills and once he grows up I can see some great potential there, and this is my point...  "once he grows up" you see I've never felt that with Liryk, it's like she came grown up already and was just waiting for her puppy body to catch up.

I come home after trials with my brain exploding at the fact my "baby" dog is up there with the top dogs in WA... I mean SERIOUSLY how does that happen??? I'm stunned! I don't think I'm THAT good a trainer :-P so the alternative is this..... she's one of those dogs who is lucky to come back to their owners for another play at life. I've always said if only I'd had Ryka now instead of when I was 16 and knew nothing.... so who knows... maybe we do get a second chance to see our kids again ;-)

 Ryka with Jestah

Liryk

Tunnels Suck....

I should be more specific though....

Tunnels suck when they're under contacts :-P

Anyone that knows me, knows my young dogs have tunnel suck..... BAD :-D

At every trial I go to where there's a tunnel under a contact, I say "Geez I really need to teach that" week after week, month after month...... Liryk is now three and I STILL haven't taught it..... until NOW :-D

No more excuses... because seriously I HAVE a dogwalk and tunnel in my backyard!

So during the week I finally decided to have a play :-) And it wasn't nearly as painful as I thought it might be ;-) It's by not means 100% perfect, and just because I have it in the backyard definitely doesn't mean I'll get it in the ring :-P But at least I can say at a trial now... " Well I've taught that..... wonder if it'll work :-D" LOL

Eeeek!

OMG! Edge got his VERY first clear round in Novice Jumping last weekend :-D 1st place with the fastest time over all heights :-O It was SUCH a fun run!! We had a mini pause at the tyre as he's currently having a tendancy to shoot underneath it :-P ..... or in novice agility earlier in the day he went for the number cone next to the tyre thinking it was a toy!! LOL He's such a goof ball, but BOY he's loads of FUN :-D

The girls did great to! Epic and Jules' Diva won Masters Strat Pairs :-)

Liryk came 3rd in Masters Jumping and it was the last one we needed for her TITLE :-D Liryk and Jules' Mini also won Novice Strat Pairs and gained their title. And Edge and Zumba got their first pass.

Eeeek! What a day :-D

This weekend we have an ADAA trial to look forward too, then it's the ANKC States :-O An exciting month ahead and we can't wait :-D

Falling.....

Behind in my blog posts, yet again!! Yes yes I know :-P

So I'll try and pick up where I left off ;-)

The Western Classic!!! and Edge's first trial :-O

Okay I was nervous! It was hard not to be, every second person was telling me how much they wanted to see him run. Which is totally awesome that he has a fan club ;-) But I then felt pressure to try and be a better handler and not make him look like a fool :-P So to be perfectly honest I can't quite remember our first run in Novice Jumping LOL thankfully I had it videoed!

Novice agility.... weeeeelllll..... lets just say the greatest word for Edge (other than Kat-ching his release word) is "Go" It's his cue on the dogwalk to go flat out...... so here's what happened on the start line :-D I line up, he already had his naughty pants on and did a little bolt when I took his harness off, I got him back. He's sitting nicely by my side and the judge says "when you're ready GO!!!!" I have a sharp intake of breath and watch as Edges pupils go from normal size to massive saucers in the blink of an eye and I knew then he was in crazy land :-P LOL He had fun though :-D

Liryk also had a first :-) Her very first Masters Agility run!! Ooooooh and we were soooooo close. I just didn't quite see the push to the tyre after the aframe (though it's quite obvious on the video :-P) so she pulled off it DOH! She did however come second in Masters Jumping by just 0.02 :-O

The next night we had the Teams event and OMG!!! Epic's team the Trapguns, with Jules, Diva and Mini and Tom and Brynn.... WON the Jumping!! :-D

Sporting her awffy pretty sash :-D

Edge did sooooo much better the next night just knocking a bar in the agility :-D

The weekend just gone there was a birthday!! Liryk turned 3 years young :-D 3 years??? already??? She got a special green rabbit kong, that was disembowelled for it's squeaker in a nano second, but she loved it!! We had a trial that night and she came 3rd in Masters Jumping..... only one more pass and she has her title :-O

We have a couple of weekends off now before the next trial, sooooo much to work on!! But what a blast we're having :-D