Borderfame Twist Of Fate ADM :-)

Congratulations Epic on gaining your Agility Dog Masters title!!! What a little trooper you are :-)
On Friday night she ran her little paws off to receive her last pass!! Wheeeeeeeee!!!
AND....in both Open and Masters she didn't come off the end of the dogwalk....she did her 2o2o and waited for her release :-) Couldn't be happier!!
I have discovered one thing though........I'm soooooooooo unfit!! After each of my runs I was practically gasping for air, now I'm only 33 so really I have no excuses...what can I say I'm obviously just plain lazy :-) Sorry Epic for not being able to get you back to the car as fast as you would like, so you could have your "jackpot" but it seems my body can only deal with 40sec bursts of energy before it wants to collapse in a heap. LOL.....New Years Resolution....find someone to hold Epics "jackpot" outside the ring....so I don't have to run back to the car :-)

Thanks to Jennifer Coton for the photos!!!

Obsessions

I find it amazing how we as humans (myself included) can become so obsessed with such small things, to the point of ruining relationships...with our dogs in particular....seeing as this is an agility blog :-) We become fixated with faster contacts, where we can shave seconds off our next run and in turn place enormous stress on our dogs to perform to the level of perfection we seem to be striving for. And in the blink of an eye our four legged friend begins to shut down and the once strong relationship we thought we had with our beloved dog begins to unravel.
I feel in particular since coming back from America, my whole outlook has changed quite dramatically. For me agility is not quite the same. Yes I believe I still have an obsession with getting the best out of my dog. For example I know that every stride Epic does is 0.3sec and if she adds, say 5 strides extra on a course I'm already 1.5sec behind the leader...let alone whether her ground speed comes remotely close to the winning dog!
But for me, my relationship with Epic is more important. Agility is supposed to be FUN and I think there is a very fine line between having fun and winning, and placing too much pressure on your dog and in turn getting a poor performance.
I think there is a lot to be said for having a game of tug for the pure enjoyment of it with your dog...not just because you're trying to warm them up for the course they are about to run or because they are soooooooo high drive that it stops them from barking at you for attention. Just purely for the simple pleasure of hanging out with your dog and building on that fantastic relationship that will ultimately bring the best performance your dog can give.

Happy Birthday Epic

It's Epic's 4th birthday today and it really doesn't seem like I've had her this long. We woke up nice and early and took both dogs down to South Perth foreshore. She LOVES it down there. What with the many trees to sniff and all the birds to chase, it's doggie heavon. On our way home we stopped in at Pet Stock so she could pick a toy and a treat out :-) This is also another of Epic's favourite places and the minute we walked in the door, she made a bee line for the kangaroo sticks, almost inhaling one straight off the shelf!! The toy she picked is a very funky blue and yellow squeaky dog. (though I'm sure it'll last about 2secs!! LOL)

For the past 3 weeks Epic and I have had some time off in agility. Nothing like putting your feet and paws up and just chilling out.

I have been trying to teach her a new trick (saw a dog doing a handstand!!!) and I've managed to get her to put her back end up onto the lounge which stands about her shoulder height. Not too bad ....just have to work out how to get her higher!! LOL It's been really interesting teaching her new things. The biggest thing I've discovered is she had very little backend awareness and even though I'd done certain things with her when she was younger...obviously it wasn't enough.

2010 has already begun and there's so many things I'm hopeful for and want to work towards. Having fun with Epic is a BIG one. Yes the Nationals are here this year and I'd like to do well. But I don't want to lose sight of the fact, that first and foremost she's my best friend and there's no need to become so obsessed with getting into the finals that I forget that agility, is really just a sport. My life isn't going to change if we don't pass. Don't get me wrong I'll be disappointed, but I guarantee you that the very next morning, I'm still going to get woken up by a licky blue eyed border collie who loves me more than life itself.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY EPIC!!!!!

Jeddi-Spaghette's Life Changing Week

Introducing Jestah :-) Doing what he does best...chilling out and sleeping. He's my 12 and 1/2 year old border collie. Retired from agility and obedience, currently enjoying a relaxing lifestyle. For the past twelve months he has been treated for chronic bronchitis. Over the last several months he has been slowly deteriorating. Coughing and wheezing more, our once hour walks were now reduced to a 5min walk to a tree where he could sit down and watch, while I ran and played with Epic.
2 weeks ago (on a particularly hot day) he seemed to crash. He was really struggling to breath and we rushed him into work for some oxygen and a steroid injection to try and reduce the inflamation in his lungs. During that week he was taken into work 3 more times....each time worse than the previous. The vets started to prepare me for the fact that we had tried everything and over the weekend I needed to think of his quality of life :-(
Monday morning (after a particularly bad night for Jestah) I went to work completely devastated having made the decision to have him put to sleep.....and it was then I was given a little ray of hope....by one of our vets Louise Duval who thought outside the square. She said "I wonder what Laryngeal Paralysis looks like?" and that set the ball rolling....she got her medical books out and I jumped on the internet and to our amazement Jestah had every symptom!!
Tues morning he went and saw Anna Tebb an internal medicine specialist who seemed quite confident that it was this diagnosis, so he stayed for a few hours to have an ultrasound to try and confirm it. Unfortunately the test was inconclusive :-(
He was booked back in on Thurs to have a light anaesthetic and together Anna Tebb and Tim Caporn (specialist surgeon) looked down his throat and thankfully confirmed Laryngeal Paralysis. I was over the moon!! He had a diagnosis that could be treated with an operation.
I dropped him off the very next day where he underwent the Laryngeal Tyeback surgery. What a long day.....everytime the phone rang I raced to pick it up, worried out of my mind about whether he was going to be okay. At 4.10pm I received the call I was waiting for...."Jestah has had his surgery, and touch wood, so far everything has gone really well"
Today is Saturday....the very day after his major surgery....and he is currently sleeping under the dining room table, breathing lovely, deep, peaceful breaths.
I'm so thankful I'm a vet nurse and was able to take him home so early.
And words cannot express how grateful I am to Louise, Anna and Tim who have given me the greatest gift possible.....the life of my best friend....

Amazing Moments With Dancer

Dancer can have some amazing moments in agility. I never really know what I'm going to get. She is a dog with MASSIVE drive.....but also tends to have a mind of her own. Particularly as she's not my own dog and I only get to train her once a week.

Last night she was VERY special, she did a phenominal 1/2 a run. I can't believe the rear cross into the tunnel!!!! and I can't believe I thought I'd beat her to a front cross!!!

Thankyou to Cathy for passing this video onto me :-)

Character Building Moments

Well we're confronted with what I like to call "character building" moments in life, and I guess how we deal with those moments sets the scene as to whether we grow as a person or whether we remain as we are.(some of us bitter and twisted) Saturday night was one of those moments for me :-).....oh and Epic.
We had the West Coast Rotti Agility Trial, Mel Rhoden was the Masters Agility judge and had set a very nice course.
I set Epic up on the start line and began to walk away....still watching her....as she proceeded to follow me. I stopped and decided to return to her and replace her back to the original 5meters from the first jump. She stayed this time (good girl) and we took off and did a cracking run.....clear....or so I thought.......NOT!!
Apparently I'd gone past the first jump (didn't notice as I was watching Epic) when I'd decided to replace her at the start and in doing so disqualified myself :-(
Oh to have a pass!!! BUT deep down I know I did the right thing not letting her get away with not staying.
We're soooooooooo close to a pass.....can't get much closer now!!!
So we're off to Albany this coming weekend and maybe we'll have some better luck :-)
I'm so proud that she kept all her bars up, did a lovely running A-frame and overall did a really good run. These are the things I tell myself when I watch the run over and over again.

Introducing Epic

Okay so this is my first entry......ooh a little scarey.....what to write :-)

Well I thought I would write about my journey in agility (and outside of agility) with my almost 4 year old border collie "Epic"

The name says it all really...LOL

Already I have encountered soooooooooooo many interesting things with her....she's a VERY unique dog, who has an amazing personality.....the kind you will never forget.

The first thing about Epic is that she doesn't want to get ANYTHING wrong. And if pushed a little to fast....well it all falls to poo!!

Her dogwalk performance is the perfect scenario...... I wanted fast and accurate and wanted it now......SORRY EPIC!!!! I look back now to her early training times and cringe!!! I ended up with a confused dog that did a 2.5 - 3sec d/walk :-( I decided to tweak that and ended up with a running d/walk for the next 18mths.

This year I had the amazing experience of going to America to do an agility Summer Camp with Ann Braue (who I met at the FCI Worlds 06), Karen Holik and Carrie Jones. It was here that my whole world of agility opened up.....and I'm forever grateful to them for their knowledge and insight.

Since being back my priorities have changed with everything to do with agility. For Epic's d/walk I'm now looking for a 2o2o criteria and this time I'm taking the time to "help" her understand. She's starting to get there.....and has even been timed at 1.9sec. This isn't a regular occurance at the moment in the ring but I believe in her and I'm happy to wait this time for her to "get it"