Mouse Agility

[shel]

I took the girls today to the Zoom Room, which is a small indoor place
we can practice privately for agility.

We have been going once a week for fun and training.

Jokey was distracted and not ready to work. I put her in the back of
the agility area behind the gate while I work Devin.

Devin is doing so well. Lot's of spunk and she likes it. She is an
easy puppy and keeps good focus on me.

After 10 minutes I get Jokey and put Devin away.

Jokey is snuffing loudly at the wall and some drawers near where I
have tied her. This is odd, for sure but not atypical. Last week
she was very interested in the one wall. I though it was the guy next
store with the pressure washer spraying the building. I bring Jokey
out and we have a great practice. She is giving me 3/4 attentions
but still doing everything I ask of her. She was very interested in
something in the corner of the room. She would want to swing over and
check it out when we worked near that area. I told her to "Knock it
off!" I gave her head a tap and grabbed her muzzle playfully. That
was the end of that. I just figured it was the Lakeland trying to
make me work harder to keep focus. She complies and willingly
works for 15 minutes. She is amped and it feels like I'm running a
high-speed Go-Kart sans the sound effects. We have one super run and
I decide to call it quits. I give her lots of praise and she waits
for me on the table. I release her and she walks over to the water
bowl that I fill. I leave her behind the gates to have some water.
I pay and mind that Devin does not do go shopping.

I hear David the owner look over and say she is looking at the wall
again. Yes, that's my dog. He says, "We have a mouse problem. Could
she....". I look back and Jokey is staring up intently at a big
electrical box on the wall. She sits and starts to bark at the
wall. In seconds she is pogo-sticking up at the box. On the third
or fourth jump she hits the electrical box and the door pops open. A
mouse comes flying out over her head and is now running across the
floor. David is apologizing, fearful I would be horrified. I am
half listening. I hand him Devin's lead and tell him to hold her
there. I run back to get my dog. Jocey is running after the thing
and then she loses it. It has run behind a stack of wooden platforms
I don't know if I should tell her to LEAVE IT or GET IT or BACK OFF or
WAIT? I yell WAIT! She WAITS. I grab her. Now she is looking
up at the wall again where the mouse has gotten back on the ledge.
The mouse runs into a small crack and disappears. I'm laughing and
shaking my head at my dog.

David is still apologizing because he can't get rid of the mouses. He
adds, "I've had such a problem with them. I was thinking about
getting a cat for this place. I've caught 20 with the humane traps and
have relocated them. But they keep coming back." I say, "Oh, Dear,
no cat here! I think you need to bring your JRT in more."

The girls have been pooped ever since then and that was at one
o'clock. They are curled up on the couch together. Jocey is
asleep on the top of the back rest and Devin has her head under one of
the throw pillows. It's pretty darn cute.

Jeff came home and they didn't even move. He asked me what I did to
the dogs. I did nothing at all. We went to agility. I smiled.

-shel

[shel]

I just re-read this. Jocey is Jokey. No pun intended.

-s

[Ken Korn]

Jocey is just doin' her job :-) Fun story.

Ken

[Sara Peterka]

What an excellent dog! She'd fit in just perfect around here!

Sara

[Holly Tulin]

Now, if they can just train those mice to go through the tunnels and up the
dog walk, you could have some really super-charged agility runs!

There are lots of mice at the place we do agility, too. Thank goodness,
Lady remembers Pat's NO MOUSES command, or we'd be off on a hunt all the
time.

Great story, Shel. Thanks for sharing it.

Holly

[shel]

Thanks, Jocey is an excellent dog and keeps me on my toes.

We went back today and both girls are working very nicely on the field
together.

After a minute of mouse-hunting while I rearranged the field Jocey was
working great for me. I don't know if she will ever forget the mouses
but I know she can put her killer instincts on hold while we work.

I took some time and worked each of the girls on their own. I
brought them out together as this was a very short session. Maybe 20
minutes.

Jocey found a nice rhythm just ahead of Devin and myself. I did a bit
of flatwork with Devin while I steered Jocey around the outside
obstacles.

Devin is doing great for a newbie. I let her drag her line for the
first time at the field today and she didn't miss a thing. She
stayed with me. She did the teeter for the first time ever
today.

-shel

[Janis Moore]

Love it! Great story. I was smiling the whole time.

Thanks for sharing.

Janis

[shel]

We have been now working through mouse issues. Seems they abandoned
the idea of getting a cat for the center. The treats and cookies in
the building seems to have been supporting a whole colony of mice.
LOL! Jocey has taken to being a twerp when we first arrive at the
field. I now place her in an Ex-Pen away from the walls so she can
observe Devin who is blossoming. One day she will be a real contender
in a perfect world. hahahaha

Devin loves the outings. She is up for anything. I have raised the
jumps for Devin to 16" because if I lower them she will simply walk
over them. At 16" she has a nice rhythm and flow to her movement.
Devin is now confidently jumping, running a straight tunnel, the A
frame set at a low angle, the teeter, and the tire. I have not
introduced the chute, nor been pushing the dog walk until she is more
confident. Devin has great focus and loves to stay with me.

Jocey is fast and with firm voice control I can keep her on track.
She wants to please me so she can hurry up and claim what she thinks
is her reward of mouse hunting. Nope. We needed a distraction
because even though Jocey could be a rock and roll agility dog she is
there to make me a better trainer. I can send her out and back and on
a dime tell her to WAIT. She just needs to know I mean it.

I have the best of both worlds with my tall dog and my short one.

Jocey earned 9 points in the BOB classes including a major win towards
her Grand Championship in Arizona last weekend. This is just for fun
and with me showing her. The points got way too high in AZ and she
had to defeat 5 bitches each day for those hard earned points.
Yikes.

Devin got BOB three days and showed in group like a champ. No points
for Devin. It gave me an idea of just how awesome that girl will
be. As it stands it was the perfect show to bring her out. The group
was a tough bunch. Devin was the only big dog. She got pulled out on
Saturday but the judge did not know what to do with her. No IT, SCWT,
or Kerry to spar her with. It simply was not going to work with the
Schnauzer, Lakie, Welsh, or WFT.

Tomorrow, I am attending a two show Obedience trial with Jocey in
Costa Mesa. I'm a little out of my element. The Novice A class is so
large they had to split it into two separate groups. Depending on how
we do I'll either be jumping up and down or be putting on a hat, wig,
and sunglasses as I run for my car.

-shel

[LH]

Shel,

The nice thing about Novice A is that the judge gives a bit more time
and explanation to the handlers
before starting. So, just in case you forgot anything, you will get
a refresher and some guidance. Then, you just
need to go in like you own it, even if you don't :)

Jocey will be an awesome agility dog, but she isn't going to be a
pushbutton dog! That will make the rewards
that much sweeter, and you'll just enjoy the teamwork when you get
it. Now you are seeing how much *easier* the
Airedale is in comparison to the Lakeland!

Lisa

[shel]

It was a great show weekend. Friday was a very easy load in.
Despite the rain I found a warm dry spot under the pavillon to get
ready.

I spritzed up and blow-dryed Jocey. After getting some good tips in
Yuma on how to get the beard and face hair straight I was pretty
pleased with how she looked. Jocey took another BOS. Devin was
not entered & stayed home by herself.

I had a considerable wait between Conformation and Obedience. I was
supposed to jump from one ring to the other. When I went to go get
my number for Novice A I saw they were still in Utility. Yikes. They
were supposed to be finishing up the Open classes. We found ourselves
anxious between waiting & watching Obedience in a very crowded
building or watching Conformation in comfort with more space to spread
out and relax.

After switching collars I warmed Jocey up briefly outside. She was
sharp so I kept it short. I planned to take her out again right
before we were due in the ring.

Our obedience judges were also judging breeds to my surprise. This
caused quite a snafu when the second trial commenced before the first
trial had ended. Our judge never even broke for lunch. There were
breeds that were not done being judged as they started to call off
group times. This caused some irritation because our judges were now
detained in other rings trying to get through their breed judging.

When the judge returned he called out the pattern for both Novice B
and Novice A and had the steward demonstrate and walk it for us. Very
clear, concise, and thankfully he was not the type of judge to walk
you to close almost right into the gates. That leaves very little
time to prepare yourself or your dog for a sharp turn.

Color copies of the heeling pattern and a ring map were posted and
available.

When Novice A finally started we were the third dog in the ring.
Jocey did great on the Heel on Lead. She was sharp and after the fast
I had to remind her once to be EASY. She was. My back was to the
judge. I'm fairly certain I did not get dinged on that. She missed
one sit. No biggie. I kept up a consistent pace and she happily
stayed on a loose lead.

For the figure 8 she did good. She was a little wide on the outside
turn but we will work on tightening that up.

Stand for exam. I would assume a perfect score.

On the recall she came with bounding enthusiasm to a straight front
sit. She did not finish. Oh Well.

Then comes the fun part.

Heel Off Lead Exercise. Jocey was happy. We started off and after a
left turn the judge called out the fast. Jocey got so happy she
started bouncing. Then jumping up at my rear. She'd come back to
heel then boing hit my butt again and would go, "GRRRR, GRRR" She
never left me and one could say she was HEELING if that means going
after ones heels. She caught up on the slow on my right side. I
steered her back to my left. She had a good old time at my expense.
Boing Boing "Grrr grrr woof woof". All I could do was keep going
through the pattern and smile. When we finished she came to my side
standing. That little imp looked up at me. If I could describe her
expression I would have said she looked like the Cheshire Cat in
Alice. So smug. I picked her up and gave her a big squeeze. She
thought she did good. Her tail was wagging and she was glad to be up
in my arms. That was it. I knew there would be No Q. UCK!
This dog is going to make me work very very hard.

SIts and Downs were perfect across the board. The dogs had maximum
18" between them. Another large class of 12. Not one dog moved.
They were all very interested in some commotion outside the ring. Not
one dog broke or even fidgeted.

We lined up at the end as the judge called out the names of the 4
passes. We were not one of those. He ran off to judge another breed
without giving us score sheets. This was a major point on contention
among the group.

I learned that Novice A for the second trial would not begin until
6:30 pm. I looked at my dog who was dreaming between our run and the
sits and downs and I thought it was time to go.

I know we need work on the Heel Free especially coming from the Fast
to a Normal Pace. Jocey thought that was a riot. I did not run
either.

I spoke with Pat and Lisa about it and both had some good ideas.
Either way I adore my dog and the fact that the steward said that we
were her favorite team all day. She told me that she just loved that
pretty little dog and her attitude out in the ring. This made me
smile again. Jocey was so enthusiastic, happy, and in no way flat
like many of the dogs and handlers competing that day.

Today we took another Best of Opposite in the Breed Ring. I'm having
fun and enjoying my dog very much.

more later,

-shel