Thanks, Starlink

It was nice I took a more leisurely approach to opening the arena. And I’m sure there will be a lot of details to work out as we come to it – but feeling good about our grand opening the end of the month without the stress of feeling rushed. After which I will be very busy, but hey. With losing Daisy’s arena people are looking at using the arena for some UKI trials, so we’ll see how that goes. But UKI is never a huge event (which is good!). All things that I enjoy doing, but definitely not usually as heavy of a schedule. We’ll see how it goes and I’ll make sure to take plenty of breaks.

And, really, that’s the thing – I love teaching, I love teaching my students on a weekly basis. I find online classes to be exhausting and way too much sitting in front the computer. I have zero interest in traveling. I like hanging out with people I enjoy, laughing, talking dogs and playing agility. I mean, I feel like I have the best job in the world. Now with much less commuting! I was listening to something about how adults stop laughing after age 23, and that blows my mind. I laugh ALL DAY LONG, my classes bring ME so much joy and we’re all just having such a good time. How good is teaching for ME? And I think that’s also what I don’t get with online classes, you don’t get the laughing and cheering and celebrating together. I love in person classes and that’s what I want to stick to. And I certainly hope I like it, I just spent a lot of money to make it happen for a long time into the future (hopefully!).

In the meantime, SO MUCH NICE WEATHER! Good lord, it’s been False Spring for WEEKS. Of course, I hear it’s going to be cold again next week, and that seems unfair. It’s almost MARCH! Fingers crossed we get reasonable weather for my herding trip. I don’t feel like we’ve been taking advantage of it like we should. With Miss Sexy Pants we haven’t been hiking, as I don’t want to leave anyone behind. And, once again, I hate to go hang out with just SOME of the dogs even on the property – and it pisses them off too! So Asher … those balls of yours, their days may be numbered.

Asher was definitely more affected with Bryn in season this time, there was such mournful howling sometimes. Not obnoxious or crazy, just sad and put upon. The cats have been getting a LOT of lovin from him, that’s for sure (just licking, no humping!). No issues with him working or anything of that nature, even if she was in the arena with us, so that’s good. Bryn is also WAY flirtier this time, as well as bitchier. She even convinced HAKU to try and give it a go, which is funny. Her absolute favorite dog has been … a female aussie that was visiting. She gave that dog her BEST moves – and her toys! So at least it’s good to know if I ever do breed her that she’ll be into it, I suppose. I had my calendar marked out for three weeks … she doesn’t seem done yet. Yeah, this would be a lot less annoying without an intact boy in the house. So we’ll see.

Worked on a little figure 8 through a box drill with Bryn, good lord, SO MUCH FLANKING. Nothing like trying to go straight through a box to make you realize how bad your dog’s flanking issue is. I even just spent all sorts of time stopping and rewarding for coming into me – but, no, it’s still ridiculously hard to get her not to flank. At least we have a project! Lots of projects, as she also got all weird and hormonal and decided the teeter was scary. Sigh. Just in time for her standard debut next weekend. Ah, girls. At least Asher didn’t have any issues, so, once again, I know it’s not just me training my dogs to do weird things.

Navarre and Carol continue to look good together in herding, and Carol has even agreed to come work him somewhat regularly – that’s how good things have been going. So that’s really fun to see, though still disconcerting to see him all behaving himself and not arguing and pushing boundaries constantly. Asher continues to struggle with long distance driving, bump and go is our friend and he needs to lie down when I ask and not keep trying to sneak around and bring the sheep back. Bryn also needs to have the ‘lie down when I ask and not when you get on balance’ conversation, which we haven’t had yet. I don’t think she’ll agree with my decision in that regard.

Backsides with baby dogs are something I think can cause issues. Not in all dogs, like Bright, everything she did was thoughtful and effortless and she always put in the extra strides to make it comfortable and safe. But for a lot of baby dogs they just don’t think about things like that. And I really don’t like teaching low height backside jumping, which I think encourages especially less thoughtful baby dogs to take off too close to the jump and teaches them to fling and twist over backsides as the jumps get higher. Such as Asher, he STILL can’t take a front side gracefully, I have yet to ever do a full height backside with him as I’m afraid he’ll hurt himself. And I see a lot of baby dogs just throwing themselves and twisting, and it makes me cringe. I don’t think backsides are the worst thing in the world, but I think they are a much more difficult jumping effort, and one that does not magically train itself doing a lot of low height backsides in sequence for most dogs. They need to understand how to take that extra stride to clear it successfully and comfortably. At least, I’d like them to. So many dogs struggle with knocking wings and bars, they just never learned how to take a backside appropriately.

Anyway, yeah, Bryn has never seen a backside, Asher has never done a full height backside. Maybe we’ll actually train them this year … Neither one of them is at all Bright-like though. Bryn is an … okay jumper. Not the most natural, but not bad. She really struggles with the looser surface at my arena, hopefully once we get the irrigation in that will help. I usually just jump her lower here though.

Oof, I was without internet at the house for like 42 days – thanks Starlink! My training journal has been sadly neglected. Which is never good, as this just kind of helps me pull together my random thoughts and keep me on track so you’re not just screwing around doing the same thing over and over again.

So we’re back! And lots happened in the past couple months, of course. The arena is up and running and doing GREAT. Still working on perfecting the surface, but it’s getting better and better as I figure out what works best. Having some place to practice is just kind of amazing, and I still haven’t taken advantage of it like I should! But, yes, super busy getting everything ready and teaching now a lot more than I used to. Which, so far, has gone really well. I was worried about doing too much, but when you’re at home it’s super easy to pop out for a couple extra classes here and there. I really love agility, and this is just so much fun!

We’ve had lots of visitors too, we got to watch a little 3 month old border collie puppy. He was a nice pup, and all of us, myself included, were like, “Oh hell no.” We are definitely not ready for puppies around here again – even visiting! Damn they are a lot of work. We’ve also had Demi quite a bit, she’s been here for about two weeks this time while Carol is in Germany. She’s not a problem, but way needier than my dogs – learn to self entertain like a border collie! More proof that I should stick to border collies, that’s for sure. The dogs like Demi though, and it’s good for Bryn to learn she can’t be a bitch to EVERYONE.

Bryn seems to be coming down for her hormonal swing from going into season, but, good lord was she a super bitch there for a while. Both the boys and I enjoy (and encourage!) her bitchy side, but there’s a limit. Looking forward to a nice quiet six months without that sort of thing. And, knock on wood, zero issues with her teeter at my arena or at Sherwood these days – so hopefully that was also just a weird hormonal side effect as well.

Haven’t entered Bryn or Asher in any competition, agility or otherwise. They COULD be trialing, but I don’t feel real confident with either one – I think we should stick to training for a while. Mostly I just wanted to trial while the weather was nice! Bryn’s obstacles continue to improve, been working on her weavepoles and they are much more solid these days. Sequencing though … ugh, that flanking, it’s an issue. Should not that be hard to run such a little dog!

And Asher does better with sequencing, but continues to drop behaviors out of his head every other week – and I’m SO over it. I had more patience when he was two, but he’s THREE this month – I don’t expect perfection, but I’ve retrained almost all his behaviors in both agility in herding at least three times (sometimes up to six times!), and I’m done with it. So he has an appointment for neutering in May, which will make life easier around here. I worry about it changing him, but that is not usually an issue. I’d like to keep the muscling, but I’d prefer a brain. He may not GET a brain, but at least I won’t have to be so worried when Bryn is in season. Love that boy, don’t like feeling frustrated with him.

Bryn and Asher did actually go to a Novice agility seminar with Rachel Downs, which was Asher’s second ever seminar, and Bryn’s first. I had no expectations, we are SADLY out of practice – but we need to get going to new places. Asher did great, this was just jumps and tunnels and he mostly acted like he could do novice sequencing 😉 Bryn also had a good time, a little quiet in a new place, but focused and working well. She did a poor job displaying her ridiculous flankiness as these courses had lots of turns and she wasn’t moving full out like she can, so couldn’t really ask about ideas on that account. I was pleased with her, she needs training, but that’s nothing new. Now, HEATHER has apparently spent the last couple years perfecting running courses with the least amount of effort possible. I can nail a course with minimal movement with zero thought. But, yeah, they always want you to get up and do blind after blind in seminars. Which, yes, dogs are faster with – I’m just not used to it these days! So, yeah, I should get back into ACTUALLY working sequencing.

And Bryn and Asher went on a road trip up to Washington for the herding clinic with Robin Brown – such a fun trip! We got to stay with Kerilyn, who we hadn’t seen in FOREVER and was just the nicest host. The dogs behaved themselves and Bryn remains the most ridiculously relaxed traveling border collie. She just makes herself totally at home wherever she goes, I find it so funny! And she loved it at Kerilyn’s.

We ended up working sheep four days in a row, which is a good way to go about it. We went up on Thursday and practiced at Fidos our lie downs, so we wouldn’t spend all our clinic time fixing that. Then Friday we had lessons with Ron in the morning and Robin in the afternoon. It was at Fidos that a sheep bluff charged at Asher and he turned tail and RAN AWAY from the sheep. And would not work that sheep again, no way, no how. Oh, my sensitive little princess – the other sheepdogs could only laugh at him. Bryn, of course, had zero issues taking on that sheep. I see the advantages of having a tougher dog with her.

So with Robin we tried to replicate the issue with a small pen and a lot of sheep, but he had zero issues going into the pressure in that situation. And, poor Asher, he failed the test of a new location once again. Same issues as he’s had in the past, sent him on an outrun, he panicked and sliced in, chased and lost the sheep, would not listed to any commands I gave him. Big sigh. He can do such nice things, but not in public, apparently. Hence why he’s not trialing – at least with me, Carol trials him in AKC in a couple weeks!

Asher did redeem himself later in the weekend, we had two days in Orting, WA and it was a lovely clinic. Asher did decide he had actually been trained and could actually listen. Still very much struggled with driving in a new location and taking my commands when he was worried about losing sheep. Eventually did some nice work though, so it’s in there, sometimes.

Robin worked Bryn pretty much the whole time, which I thought would be good considering she trained Bryn’s brother! They worked on getting Bryn to free up and actually listen and not just react to sheep. This has been hugely helpful since we returned, and just what we needed – Bryn is so much easier to work now that she understands that just because she’s at balance that doesn’t mean we want her stop the sheep, but continue if we ask. And she has realized she can still control the sheep even if we ask her to go the ‘wrong’ direction and away from balance. Really helpful steps and it was a lot for Bryn’s baby brain – she handled it great though. Super fun trip with my young dogs, love being able to actually get the pandemic puppies out and about.

So, yes, Carol has been working with Navarre in herding and they are looking GREAT in practice, way better than Navarre has ever looked. I can only hope it will carry over to the trial, because if it does, look out, my pushy border collie is going to show how it’s done. Whether it’s maturity, practice, feeling like Carol finally yells at him JUST the right amount – I don’t know. But I’m really happy to see him being able to actually do things. And usually much better than Asher! Poor Asher. He is ALSO going with Carol, but has been much more inconsistent – which is kind of his thing right now.

Been slowly working through the Nina Gregl jumping program with both Asher and Bryn. No particular issues yet, Asher has had a few exercises he needed to think about a bit, but is looking comfortable. Same with Bryn, though she’s actually less thoughtful than Asher about her jumping. Our next project is looking at collection, which is when I think everything will go to hell. Rachel Downs said that Asher doesn’t need to collect any more, and I should let him keep his speed up through the turns. I’m totally taking that and running with it …

So it’s APRIL now, things are looking beautiful around the farm and I have a lot on my plate at the moment. With gas prices it’s good to stay home at the moment, and we’re making the most of it. We have some herding adventures in the works for this Spring/Summer, and hoping to make more agility seminars if we can as well. Planning to continue Asher’s jump re-education, continue to retrain all his obstacles AGAIN, and start looking at Justine drills again too. Might enter some trials, but no expectations. Navarre is too damn good at agility, just need to actually go to some trials and start working towards that MACH again, obviously not a super big priority – but he’s SEVEN this month, need to get on it! Bryn needs to work more basic handling exercises, but I may just start international skills, as you can’t do that flanky crap with those, it may just solve itself if I give her complex enough drills. And maybe some trialing, because waiting until you’re perfect is for sissies.

Oh, and we totally blew off obedience, way too much going on. We had fun with the cold weather, but there are too many fun things we’d rather do than practice obedience right now – maybe in the summer!