GSD Schutzhund Club of Canada Nationals in Edmonton this weekend!

The SchH Nationals started today with Helper Tryouts. I am so excited to see the top competitors and dogs from across Canada and will be there with my camera. Here is a link to their website.

http://gsscc.ca/ws/nationals2010/

And of course, I will be rooting for Dan Waters and his dog Ali, #5 last year.  Above, Ali with Wade Waters, club trainer, at a recent practice. She was in fine form!

Dan is President of the Calgary GSD Club and a friend and mentor to me in the sport, giving me so much help with Caden.

Go Dan! Go Ali!

AND Go Jacki Barnes and Bizzy of Thunder Bay too!! Whoo Hoo!!!

A Schutzhund Fairy Tale based on Ivan Balabanov's book, which arrived today

People wonder, why do I take Jet to Schutzhund training every week? It is because she helps me to train Caden, of course. Border Collies are so smart. As soon as Ivan Balabanov's book arrived, she got down to business.

"No!" says Jet. "Ivan says you must sit quickly and nicely before you can have the ball!"

See, how Jet now has control of the balls. "Caden respects me," she says.

"Damn, I hate that!"

"OK, back to the book," Jet decides. "What does Ivan say about that?"

Time for a good correction! Jet's really into that, by the way.

"There," she says. "I will train him up! See how he respects me now?" Wink Wink.

Now that is a good sit! Good boy!

"Now you can have the ball!" Ivan makes it all so easy!

Thanks Ivan, for helping Jet (and me) train young Caden. As I read the book, I will remember the seminar!

Ivan Balabanov, me and Caden

Tired, happy dog - tired, happy owner

This is what Caden looked like last night. He was in bed before me and I snapped this shot with my iPhone. When my dogs are tired and happy, I feel content. He has a big puffy-lipped smile on his face, undoubtedly dreaming about catching his pillow at SchH. A different pillow in this photo! (see the post below...)

Take him home - Training lingo

Today at Schutzhund, Caden did obedience, then protection in that order. He is learning to launch up at the target which is this Gappay wedge pillow. Then, I practice telling him OUT and he learns that if he outs it, he gets to play again. After all that hard work in today's heat, I let him lie in the shade and possess it for awhile. Doesn't he look proud? I love when the dogs run back to their cars with these - they just swagger! In "Schutzhund-speak" it is called "taking them home." When he has done a good one, Wade our club's head trainer will say 'take him home.'

I remember the first time I heard that term. It was at the Wallace Payne Schutzhund seminar in 2008. I was only there for the tracking, but Wallace asked me to show him a bit of what Caden knew. Caden was 6 months old. I got out some treats and had him sit, come, lie down. Wallace watched and then said 'take him home.' I thought he meant - get out of here! I stood there sort of stunned, wondering what to say, and he realized I was new to the sport - so he said 'take him to the CAR.' What a relief! I still smile about that.

Caden wonders if they might need him a bit more...wishful thinking!

My year-round summer home

I always keep in mind the beautiful homes in Duluth Minnesota on this sand spit beyond the famous Lift Bridge. I loved driving along there and looking at the houses and always dreamed of having a house I could fix up to look like a "year round" summer home. Since buying this house I have put in fencing, a driveway, gardens and walkways. It has been a ton of work but so much fun. I have more to do, but love the progress.

I had another huge load of gravel delivered yesterday to beef up the backyard area for the dogs. They pounded last years down a bit, and I realized I needed to make the area below the deck wider. I spent a big part of the day today sitting out back reading and writing and enjoying the new area. Here are pics - a lot - I apologize, and I honestly edited a lot out (they are on my Facebook profile though, LOL).

Peaceful backyard in my renovated church-house

New gravel area...I am on the lookout now for rocks and stepping stones to boost up that barrier and make it look more like a Japanese dry river with a bridge.

Still coming up with more ideas for this grass area. It is always shady for the dogs. I am contemplating a real pond somewhere.

River enjoys the shade. Here you can see my two dogruns, the long one for Jet and Ted, and the square one by the crook of the house is for River and Caden. That area sticking out is the old church entrance or vestibule and it has the original stained glass. I love it. And, there is a walk-out basement into this dog area. I put chainlink in to divide areas, and so I can sit on the back deck sometimes without dogs, or with only one or two.

River and my little fountain. Love the water sound.

Caden with two balls (haha, maybe I should say four including, well, you know) by my St. Francis statue, which I thought was appropriate for my yard.

This old chime used to hang by my front door in Thunder Bay. It is a small piece of home and does my heart good to hear it. I finally hung it up today!

Jet and Ted on the back steps. Under the steps are Jet's igloo where she hids from the big dogs with her treasures, and Ted's hole. I put a bit of gravel there, but did not fill it in - he worked hard to make it!

Jet and Ted love this little pond liner. I am thinking of getting something bigger and deeper though that the dogs can actually swim a bit in. I saw a stock tank with a pond connector and hose for draining, and stairs to get in - that I just love!

This is my Buddha corner on the deck, and below you can see the dogs. This plaque says Peace Begins with a Smile.

River loves to lie in the shade up here. You can see my other Buddha in the corner.

I TRY to sit in the sun up here in the mornings. You can see why I put chain link and gates below - because if I don't block dogs off, all I do is chuck balls into the yard, OVER and OVER...as you see, Jet is very hopeful...and you can see Caden below with his ball rooting me on to throw one for Jet!

Here are my front step statues - you know, some people have lions. Check out River and Ted's ears. They are up and down but on opposite sides! I plan to paint these doors dark forest green to match the green glass in the blown stucco on the church house.

Here is the front view. The driveway was put in last fall. I love it, and I love my dog trailer too. It has changed everything, the dogs are cool and my car is not full of stuff! They still ride in the car, but I put them in the trailer when I get somewhere. No more hunting for shade. I plan to put an arbor at the end of my sidewalk with some roses on either side, eventually - maybe when they go on sale late this summer.

Here is my shade garden and little laughing face. I put in astilbes, bleeding heart, virginia creeper, snap dragons, geranium and daisies. Then I put cedar mulch down to hold moisture as it is so dry here (usually).

I also put stepping stones down, which you can make out in the grass as River and Ted model for me.

I have never enjoyed looking after a yard so much. I love this house! I am still looking for a place for sheep, land or an acreage. In the meantime, this is a wonderful little home and I am very thankful for such a nice place to live.

Alberta skies

You get used to the skies in Alberta. I was up on "Horn Hill" awhile ago and took this photo showing rain over my little town of Penhold! When I took this photo, I could feel the wind and knew this system was on the move in my direction. But I also knew it was not going north, and sure enough, drove north to Gasoline Alley where the sun was still shining...see the photo below...

The photo below was taken 30 minutes later, north of the photo above, and just west of "Gasoline Alley" on Highway 2. I took another photo, looking south towards my little town of Penhold, at those same clouds again!

It is really weird, it can pour rain in one spot and be dry all around it. On Sunday I drove home through train around Innisfail, and when I reached Penhold only 15 km north, things were dry. Apparently there is a geographic formation called Antler Hill south of Penhold that can be a divider for weather systems.

They say around here, if you don't like the weather, wait for five minutes. I think that poeple say that nearly everywhere, because it was the favourite saying in Thunder Bay, in northwestern Ontario, too! Weather, the one thing all Canadians can discuss for hours!

Speaking of which, the fields are all so wet! Last year at this time, I was complaining about it being too dry. I am starting to sound like a farmer!

Some MORE photos from the Ivan Balabanov Seminar and at the club today

Thanks to Corinne from our club who took these photos. I just had to share them...

Running on the pursuit or long bite

Launching at the pillow being held by Ivan Balabanov

Ivan with Caden gripping the pillow, good target practice

Ivan "plays" with Caden who is gripping his prize, the sleeve

And, OUT! Good boy! (that is not easy, but we are getting there)...

And at the club today...(courtesy of John Krayzel)...

Wade Waters catching Caden

Caden's heeling (Fuss) is coming along

Jet's TDX training - finding the holes in my bucket

This morning I tracked at Pam's place west of Bowden. It is tracking heaven there, with so many big fields! We used this field with hay bales as other fields still have hay lying on the ground to be baled. I was excited because I have been doing so much urban - it was good to get Jet out working on TDX elements. Today I worked on a short track of 425 m with only 3 turns and one article, and aged it 1:45. The soil was damp and the grass was wet when it was laid.

By the time we ran it, it was quite hot and getting dry. I wanted to see how Jet handled the field compared with lawns in urban tracking. As well, I asked Pam to help me do an exercise to make Jet think a little...it is an exercise I learned from Search and Rescue tracking. I've tried to show it in the pictures plus have drawn a map (below)

Above is Jet's start - and it was a GREAT start and first turn! Today I gave her line, to see how it went. I was really pleased with the first three legs, but I admit I was a little disappointed with that last leg.

As always, in hindsight, I wonder if I should have placed my article at the end of the third leg, because my GOAL was for her to solve the problem you will see below. I hate to waste field or a walk, so I threw in the fourth leg, which turned out to be a little problem. But I learned at the Ivan Balabanov SchH seminar that if you push a little, you will always learn where your weaknesses are, and I guess that is what happened today! If we had laid and ran it earlier, it may have worked out better, but it is good to push a little to find the holes in my bucket - and with good training I hope to plug those holes!

As you can see above and below, it is a simple track, but with tricky elements. I wanted Jet to "lock on" after the first corner, then asked Pam to come in from one side and walk behind me for 50 meters on a 100 meter leg. At the corner, Pam went off on an open angle, and I turned left at 90 degrees. By the way, two people from the same family or household should not do this exercise as your scents will be too similar. Pam walked single file behind me, but I drew the lilac coloured line beside the yellow for visual purposes here.

The interesting thing about that leg is that Jet tracked BETTER where we walked together. There was a good breeze blowing Jet to the south (left) and it did not help that the ruts ran that way too. It may be that the track was double-laid there. Jet's track is in blue. As you can see, she indicated the correct corner (and cut it, likely helped by the wind.) However, she came back and investigated Pam's track before coming back to the correct leg. You can see this sketched out in the photo below.

I was very proud of how Jet was doing at this point, and she really did the third leg well, but at the corner, kept going! If it had been a test, I am quite sure we would have heard the whistle here. She was going with a rut and with the breeze. I was not going to let her go too far, but wanted to see how she recovered. As you can see from the map I drew when I got home, she kept trying to go downwind, but the hay bales actually helped bring her back to the track. Each time she reached a hay bale, she would sniff around the base and come to the correct side. Do you think her urban experience helped her to work this out? I found it fascinating to watch. She did get back to the track and found her big work glove at the end.

I am not one to over-practice crosstracks as I don't like to make them an issue, but I do like to give my dogs problems to work out. Jet really worked hard on this short track! It was also a chance for me to develop a PLAN for the next two months as we get her TDX-ready. I can see that we need more big, open field work. Also, some work on different terrain and changes of cover, as well as work in the wind (as always). I will go back to a short line and build her up again using some of my SchH ideas. Eventually she will be in a test where she will have to complete a 900 m track with lots of turns, varied terrain, and two crosstracks made by other people that is 3-5 hours old! I know she can do it. But it takes practice.

I realized today that I have not trained or trialed a TDX dog for four years since River passed! I really have to think about how I trained in the past, and what I will do differently with Jet, as my ideas are always evolving as I learn. I can hardly wait to track with her again!

We did serpentines and straight lines today with Caden, Pam's Sting, and Michelle's Ash today too. Stay tuned for those reports!

Here is Pam's little foal, and his mom Missy. He is so beautiful and getting bigger!

And as I was leaving, I snapped this photo of a canola field and the faint outline of mountains in the background. Beautiful! I have to go back with my big camera and take a proper photo...canola is so beautiful. But surprisingly, it smells kinda funny!

Thanks for the good luck charm Mom - a little story about Jet's Harness

Eagle-eye Susan Coutts (Birch Bark Hill blog) asked if Jet's harness was on backwards last night. I had a look, and yes I think it is! But Jet didn't even act as if there was anything going on.

I always teach people to have a good start routine so they do things right every time - especially once they are nervous in a test! I have no excuse for last night! Jet is so small and her little harness is so tiny, I need to pay more attention.

And now, here is a little story about Jet's harness.

For some reason her harness was always slipping around so that the line was to one side or the other and didn't stay on top. Maybe it is her body shape - so short and square, who knows! It drove me crazy in the Calgary UTD test, so before I went to Thunder Bay, I decided I would sew the pieces together at the bottom, to prevent the slipping. But what would I use?

I am no seamstress, and not that handy with a needle and thread. So that does not explain why I inherited my Mom's sewing basket after she died of Cancer in 1995. The basket moved to Alberta with me, and I swear I have never really even opened it. I took this photo tonight, just for my story...

I opened her basket hoping something might be there, and it was...some strong white thread on a spool that you can see on the left side of the basket. There was even a big sewing needle threaded into the spool. What was my Mom doing with that, I wondered. I fished around in the basket to see what else was there. There are all kinds of scraps of material and little notes. It is sort of sad because I have no idea what she was planning to do with it all. She always had projects on the go. But it is nice too, like a little snapshot of my Mom and a reminder of her after so many years have passed.

I got really emotional about the basket when I was fixing Jet's harness and decided I would tie a piece of the thread at the 3 meter mark on my tracking line, so that I could feel my Mom's thread during the test. It was weird but I remember rubbing my thumb on it a few times as if it was a good luck charm...and...Jet passed her UTD! My Mom would have loved this because she always joked about how practical her gifts were, she would laugh and say "practical Mom."

Thanks Mom. And thanks Susan for reminding me of this little story.

Jet's Boulevard Track and iPhone pics and video (not bad!)

I laid a track for Jet that was so fun, it followed the boulevards around two parking lots with tons of really short transitions breaking it up, to make her really work and think! Only 320 m, and one hour old with 7 Schutzhund (small) articles of cloth, leather and wood. Below Jet is indicating the THUMB of a work glove!

This small clip is from my iPhone, I forgot my camera, argh!



So below is the map. Jet's track is in yellow. 320 m and 1 hour old with 7 little articles.

I sketched in River's track tonight in light blue. I did hers last, and as you can see, I think the residual scent from running Jet's track drew her off on the hard surface. You can see her hard surface work here. When she was done and got her treat and had her harness off, she actually ran over to Jet's track and started to follow it freestyle!

I did a little track for Ted to the left of these tracks in the rectangular area of grass, and another one for Caden across the road at the top, in the soccer field which is just out of this image. So I managed to fit in four tracks in this area, in 3 hours! I will blog about the others later this week. The veg was moist from all the rain so tracking was very good.  

I practiced hanging way back and letting Jet choose to cross the road or not. It took her awhile both times to make the decision. I realize now that when I get close, I push my dogs onto roads. Interesting!

Similarly, I hung back and let her decide if there was a turn. In this case, she went out to the parking lot, came back, the followed the scent along the curb. An article brought her back up onto the boulevard, as seen in the photo below.

Her last article was the cuff of a work glove. I put it on this metal plate just to see if it caused an issue. It didn't.

TUG!

Jet's apres-tracking game.