Thanks for the great videos!

My friend Cosmos' Mom videoed us this weekend at the USDAA trial - and we want to say thank you!!!

Check 'em out!

The trials of baggage!

Mom and I, well mostly Mom, has been thinking a lot about Gracie lately. After last weekends running off and panicking in the ring, Mom decided to go back to the basics with Gracie.

So she has started by allowing Gracie most all the freedom she could have throughout the day, so that we could observe her - what makes her happy, unhappy, interested, bored, cautious, stimulated, afraid, curious and more. Because we think Gracie has brought more baggage with her from her past, than we may have originally thought.

We've taken notes, and now Mom will begin basic socialization, bonding, shaping and behavior training with her, as if she had just started living with us. It's the only way Mom thinks that she can understand Gracie better and what may be a good outlet for her energy and smarts. Maybe she's not going to be an agility dog or maybe she just needs more time. Or, maybe she would be better suited to herding or obedience or even maybe tracking - either way Mom and I are committed to helping her.

We'll keep you posted in the coming weeks.......stay tuned!

It Did It!

Wow, what a great weekend. Nice weather, just a couple of great days to run agility!!!

The weekend started off kind of wild. Mom and I - well our rhythm was off. We had two runs, Masters Jumpers and Steeplechase, almost right off the bat. Mom did some real wide front crosses and I went around a jump - so no Q's, but good speed.

Then we had our Gamblers and Standard runs a little later in the day. The Gamblers was kind of tough with a tunnel, back around to teeter and jump, jump combination. But we did it!! Mom says I'm really getting much more confident and starting to want to and enjoy working away from her. Makes her real proud. By the time we did the Standard run it was getting kind of hot, but I gave it my all and we Q'd - a little slower than usual, but good enough!!! I was panting almost the entire run.

The gamblers run gave us our Advanced Gamblers title, YEAH!!!! And we got the one run toward our AAD and ASA titles. One more Standard run needed to complete all of our Advanced titles, Wow!!!

Then it was off to the Grand Prix - it's kind of like a standard course but without the table and a way to qualify for regionals - nice course, we totally enjoyed it - and whadda ya know? We got third place and a Q. Wow that was our first time in Grand Prix. We loved it!

Sunday, Mom and I were tired but felt better - so we were up for our four runs.

The day started kind of frantically with the Masters Snooker, a difficult Snooker at that! Mom plotted a course with help from an acquaintance - and well-known Midwest agility champ and trainer. She has always been very nice and helpful to us. Thanks Sherry!

Ah, the course had the first red way out past a couple of other jumps. Mom hates to run with me that far - cause I get kind of slow. But I love really long lead outs and am fast at them, so that's what we did. Well I was such a good boy, I totally followed what the dog in front of us did and took the first jump - Mom just needed to be out farther for me and then bring me in toward the red. Good learning experience!!!

Then it was off to our Masters Jumpers run - We did great - got third place!!! Total fun - those jumpers runs. Mom said I was a little slower than usual, but real accurate! And real proud.

Next was Advanced Standard - and this is the big one Mom and I really wanted. The course was flowing, only one real trap. So off we went. I did well! And faster than my Standard run on Saturday. Got a real nice Q and a first place! Well that was just about the greatest ever!! We've had a lot of trouble getting our standard runs - but we are definitely getting better at them.

So that gave us our Advanced Agility Dog title and our Advanced Standard Agility title. Very cool - now we are in Masters everything.




Not too bad for 10 USDAA trials and 16 months. Now Mom and I are really spoiled!!!

Poor Gracie!

Some of you may know my sister Gracie. She is such a sweet gal. Back in 2006 she was taken from a hoarder who had 70 dogs. The adult dogs were in ill health and had to be euthanized. A nice vet in the area took in the 20 puppies. But they were so unprepared to take care of them and put four pups to a cage and fed them all the food they could eat so they wouldn't fight. Six weeks later we found her on Petfinder.com and took her home with us.

In those situations, Gracie kind of grew up wild - not a lot of human interaction and absolutely no rules, except of the dog world kind.

When she came to live with us, she had some 'issues' as dog people call them. We found as we began socializing her and taking her to training and other places that she was afraid of men, and moving cars or other vehicles, and of course sleeping in the crate at night. After a few weeks, Mom and I got her over those things. She loves her crate to sleep in now and loves all people from ages 3 to 93.

We sometimes wonder how she got to be so NICE!!!! We are so grateful for that - but not learning 'rules' early in life has made her agility training kind of difficult. And other issues may be coming to the forefront.

The past three weekends she has experienced her first agility trials. In new environments, she tends to run off, but had been doing VERY well in training and hadn't run off in many weeks. So Mom entered her in some trials that I was competing in - to get her some experience.

The first trial, we thought she did great - real proud. She ran off a bit, but came back to Mom and finished her courses. Good girl!

The second trial, on the first day she did great again. Even got her first Q and ribbon - WAY TO GO GRACIE!!! But then something happened on the second day and she ran off and wouldn't come back to Mom. She enjoyed smelling the ground and kissing the bar setters.

So this past weekend - she was entered in more runs at the USDAA trial. The trail location was close to a road - but they had the high orange snow fencing in place to keep the dogs safe. So we felt pretty confident she would be safe.

Her first run - she ran off, then the second, and the third; not once really coming back to Mom. Then she ran in another ring that didn't have a fence and she was slow to start from sniffing, but went on and did a great job!!! Finishing the entire course. We were real proud.

Then it was back to the fenced in ring - and she ran off again - this time, trying to get under it and out near the road (where another competitor dog had gone just in the run before her).

So on Sunday Mom scratched her from several runs, for her safety - we didn't want to lose our Goofy Gracie Girl!!! But Mom decided to try one more time on Sunday. Gracie took one jump and was off again - but this time something with her seemed different. Very manic, panicky, frantic and worrisome. Mom got her back with help from friends - but she felt so bad for Gracie. Poor Gracie.

Maybe it was the fence, maybe too much stimulation from the environment, maybe Mom's stress. So, we're not sure where to go with Gracie in agility just yet - but Mom and Trainer J have some ideas that they are going to work on with her. She'll still train with agility, but she may get other forms of training too, like sheep herding and obedience in a larger class.

Mom thinks Gracie was stressed to the max, and by Sunday had become fearful and panicky. Mom and Cosmo's Mom took her around the agility fields on Sunday and walked around with her and let her meet some folks and pups. It seemed to calm her down a bit. But for now - Gracie is off the competition roster until she can feel much more confident in that type of environment - 'cause we love Gracie and want her to be happy and safe!!!

Weave Poles!

My Mom is by no means an expert in weave poles. But she works hard on her own and with our trainer to get my (and Gracie's) weave poles accurate and always faster.

When I started agility, Mom and I were both beginners. And, when you are both beginners there is so much to learn. She and I started out on the weave-a-matics, then did some channel in our backyard. But neither was really right for me, since she and I were both new to these foreign things.

I learned my weaves pretty early on, but I was slow. So then we had to work on getting them faster. I was a very young pup - not even two. But Mom didn't want me to 'get used' to being slow in the weaves, and we were moving up in classes very quickly. Suddenly my slower weaves began to 'hurt us' in competition - we weren't making time. So we started experimenting.

First she got out my favorite ball and used it as a speed incentive. Well I popped out. Then she tried my favorite treat, that worked occasionally, but I would still pop out sometimes. Then we found a magic trick - she used the treat as a lure, just 6-8 inches in front of my nose as I went through the poles. No popping and boom! I was faster, and getting faster all the time.

Sometimes she even puts her hand down in front of my nose during competition, when I'm getting unsure and - off I go, two footing faster, even during trials. So she's pretty happy with my weaves now, and I enjoy them much more. We keep working at it and as I get more confident and more sure, she knows I will be even faster.

Then came Gracie. Mom was determined not to train her in the weaves so that she was slow. No way was she going to go through what she did with me. And she learned a lot between the time to teach me and the time to teach Gracie. #1 goal with Gracie's weaves? NEVER SLOW HER DOWN!

Mom used the channels with Gracie first. Always using an end reward and always making it the most positive experience possible. She gradually moved the poles closer and closer - but there came a time when Gracie just didn't get the weave action. So then Mom put on weave guides and continued working with her using food as a lure - doing an in and out motion as Gracie moves in and out of the weaves. And always keeping the food lower than Gracie's nose, to encourage her to drive through them. Gradually, Mom faded the guides and the food and rewarded at the end of the weaves, then at the jump after the weaves, then, then, then....

In just a few weeks, at about 2 - 10 minute sessions each day - Gracie got her weaves. Mom always loves that moment when "we get it". Makes her real proud. Gracie is still new to the weaves and has only 'got it' for about two weeks, so Mom still helps her with the in and out motion with out a lure, and she is about 2 feet from Gracie now when she does it.

Mom's main goal was to never slow Gracie down in the weaves. And it has really paid off. Gracie is already faster in the weaves than I, and she will definitely become more and more confident with them over time, and most probably get even faster.

Mom may not have followed all 'the rules' - but the outcome is very exciting on how she trained Gracie on the weaves. In the end, it worked and that means a lot!!!

Gracie has only been in two trials and tends to 'run off' some, but she always gets her weaves and with real enthusiasm!

DVR Alert! Dogs That Changed The World!

NATURE's two-part special DOGS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD tells the epic story of the wolf's evolution, how "man's best friend" changed human society and we in turn have radically transformed dogs.

Part one, "The Rise of the Dog," premieres Sunday, April 22 at 8 p.m. (ET) on PBS. Part two, "Dogs by Design," premieres Sunday, April 29 at 8 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings for both broadcasts).

If you missed the first part they are re-airing in most markets. Check your local listings at:
PBS.org.

Making lemonade out of lemons!

Recently we started a new Squidoo lens on Awesome Dog Videos. You'll have to check it out sometime!!! It's jammed packed with a very wide variety of terrific dog videos from YouTube. Funny, sad, sentimental, tributes, stars, talents and much more.

One of my absolute favorites is this Budweiser commercial from the SuperBowl. Yeah I know, it's beer, but why is it my favorite? 'Cause I think it totally represents making lemonade out of lemons and using your smarts to overcome challenges in life. Maybe a little deep - but that's my take, and I'm sticking to it!

Enjoy!!!!

Sheep Agility?

Well, now I think I've just about seen everything - sheep doing agility? Guess so!

I always thought sheep were, well, not quite that smart. But it seems evidence is mounting to the contrary. Sheep 101: Smart Sheep has some interesting facts and research they have gathered to prove that sheep have some smarts after all.

Hmmm.....well guess if you put food in front of just about anything, it will do what you want. Especially if it's hungry, right?



Here's an interesting video someone sent me the other day. Just thinking, if sheep can do agility, now I know there is proof that ANY dog can do it!!! So there's no need to ask me that question any more; because all dogs are superior to sheep, right? After all, many of us herd them, they must obey!!! OBEY THE SHELTIE, OBEY THE BORDER COLLIE!!!

Celebrate Earth Day everyday!!!!

Sunday was Earth Day - the day we celebrate the Earth and work to bring awareness to how we can keep it healthy and happy.

In celebration, we were very happy to be a part of a big group of pups who are members of MySpace to honor the Earth on Sunday! There were over 100 MySpace pups that participated. along with Gracie and I. Tiffin, our MySpace friend, along with mega blogger Pieces, another one of our good MySpace friends, coordinated the huge celebration and participation by all the pups.

Here's a great video - we were Panda's for a day!!! Hope you celebrated the Earth on Earth Day and keep it up everyday!!!!