Fly! Be Free!

Surprise! Blog Update!!!

2010-05-22T11:37:00.017+08:00

It's been so long between updates I can't remember what I've done!
Hmm, where do I start?

Since my last post and before the rain came, Carrie and I took a trip to Ledge Point for a weekend ... it was great just to get away, have the dogs running free on the beach and enjoy doing absolutely nothing! Carrie had the time of her life ...

The Agility Nationals have been and gone ... Carrie (video below) flew the Dalmatian flag, qualifying in two Masters Jumping trials, also gaining her JDM2! I had the pleasure of also running Cassie, a friends BC from Adelaide ... who also qualified twice for me in Masters Jumping ... thanks LeeAnne and Gary, it was a blast!

Back in Queensland at Vanrusselhof Kennels, Party "Vanrusselhof Xanadu IID" (below) is proving herself in the showring, clocking up points towards her Champion Title with a recent Best Junior in Group award! What a star! Good Girl!

... and also thoroughly enjoying hew new lifestyle ... in her element with her very own dam and new-found Malinois friend "Minimee" (below)

Chilli and Carrie have been to a couple of ADAA trials over the past coule of months. We have really enjoyed them ... particularly the nice open courses allowing the dogs to really stretch out and run, and the relaxed atmosphere in the trial ring.

In those two trials Carrie also gained her AAD title (Australian Agility Dog).

In the meantime I've survived my 40th Birthday ... OMG!
Work is as busy as ever ... my role has changed a little, I have moved into a slightly different position, less hands on dog handling however many more challenges!

My current personal challenge:
I have entered the HBF 14km Fun Run tomorrow!!!
Will tell you later if it was FUN or not!

Things look different now ...

2010-02-20T15:09:00.010+08:00

OMG! I cant believe I havent updated this blog since the beginning of the year ... that's nearly two months ago ... actually a friend kindly reminded me last week that it was about time I did so.

So ... what's been happening?

Since 4th January I've been full time detector dog training at work ... wow, what a wild ride of learning it's been. My technical knowledge of the why's and how's of dog psychology and behaviour has been stretched to the limits and my practical handling skills have grown tremendously. Just because you train dogs for 10 years doesn't mean you can pick up the lead running in a different field ... although I've given it my best shot and I am sure I fit the bill but there is still sooooo much to learn!

Yes, I am enjoying working as a dog handler ... although I can't say the same for the shift work and long days, however, having to sacrifice much of my freedom (and put my agility training on the back-burner), it has certainly made me step back and look at life from another angle ... things certainly do look different now ...

I'm not engulfed in my little world of dog training and agility trials, I don't plan all day what I'm going to train that night, I don't spend hours going over and over my last run or analysing my dogs performance issues! I don't even read my Clean Run magazines anymore (the last 4 months issues are still in their plastic on my bedside table!) ... It's not because I don't want to - I simply dont have the time! So, another one of lifes little challenges, priorities reshuffled and you wonder what the hell have you been doing for the last 10 years? I've been training dogs ... which has gotten me to where I am today ...

So I guess spare time to me is now what you would call gold. It's very prescious and the time I do have is mainly spent with Party and socialising her to the best I can ... I really want her to be the dog I can DO things with ... in the past my dogs have be primarily just trained ... little time spent on life skills, socialising and just learning to "be a dog" kind of stuff. I need to be able to take Party anywhere, anytime ... then maybe, just maybe, we might find time to fit some agility and obedience training in.

Recently Party and I visited the dog beach with a few other dog handlers ... here's some pic's of Party (thanks Ken Innes for the photo's) ...

Another year ...

2010-01-02T17:52:00.017+08:00

Another year, been and gone, and here we are again ... reminiscing over the past 12 months, chewing over the ups and downs, taking notes on our successes and finding the lessons in our not so successful experiences.

Sometimes, just when you think you've got it all sorted out, someone throws you a curve-ball and your whole world is turned upside down!

2009 delivered many challenges for me,

and many successes for Westurn ...

... oooOOOooo ...

Firstly, we had a new edition to the family. Something I've wanted for a long time and all I can say is "be careful what you wish for" ... "Party" (Belgian Malinois) joined us in August, threw our household into a whirlwind of chaos with her wild and crazy ways. Nothing has changed, she is still the wild child of the house and I've even heard a whisper that someone here would gladly have another dalmatian puppy instead of a "working-line malinois" puppy! now that's saying something!!! Party will continue to challenge and educate us as the new year evolves and I look forward to the journey with her as our relationship grows.

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Latest video of Party on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuaKY61BXGU

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... oooOOOooo ...

The Girls (Mum and Rene) had a really successful year in the show ring with their Papillons, earning numerous "in Group" awards in 2009 including ... Tiger (2 Minor in Groups), Genie (2 Puppy and 2 Minor In Groups), Satu (State Bred & Junior in Group) and Comet (State Bred & Intermediate In Group) also finishing his Championship Title!

... oooOOOooo ...

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Krash (Belgian Malinois), or Mr Muscle as we call him, gained his Championship Title and continues to demonstrate his friendly personality to the judges that he has been lucky enough to meet.
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... oooOOOooo ...

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Agility has tapered down for me however we still managed a number of achievements ...

Ticket gained her Snooker and Gamblers titles (SD & GD)
Chilli gained her Gambler, Excellent Jumping and Agility Dog Titles (GD, JDX & AD) and also qualified in the finals at the State Trial for Agility and Excellent Jumping!
Summer gained her Agility, Excellent Jumping and Strategic Pairs Titles (AD, JDX & SPD) and also qualified in the finals at the State Trial for Excellent Jumping!

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... oooOOOooo ...

As you all know I also ventured into a new career last year, with thanks to my friends and family who encouraged, and are still supporting, me ... the detector dogs have arrived and I start full-time "dog training" from tomorrow!

This has brought many changes ... in my daily life and also in my own personal values. I've had to make some serious sacrifices, more so than I really anticipated, sometimes frustrating my human and furry family and sometimes at the expense of my own goals and expectations ... as they say, one door opens yet another door closes and occasionally we are forced to re-evaluate our goals, to move our goal posts to a more realistic place.

2009 has brought me many new friends, many unexpected new experiences and relationships. Some will bless me forever, some will be a memory to cherish.

Roll on 2010!

Hectic! Crazy! ... soooo Busy!

2009-12-13T21:13:00.010+08:00

Crazy ...

It's just crazy ... Christmas is here (almost), Mum's flat out with the kennels, the Summer heat is dictating our routines (with exercising the dogs, watering, training - everything has to be either really early or really late!), everything is growing before our eyes ... meaning more gardening, mowing, raking, weeding ... work is full on - I'm working all the public holidays this Christmas, including New Years Day on a 4am start (so there'll be no New Years Eve celebrations for me this year!), it's just never-ending!

Anyhow, it's been a while since my last post - I've been really busy! - it’s been an interesting few weeks … with trying to fill my bosses shoes whilst she was sunning herself in beautiful Queensland and a number of unexpected airport shifts, I’ve hardly had time to scratch myself, let alone find the time to play with Party (as she grows up before my eyes!) and then trying to get enough sleep to keep functioning without losing every last bit of the little amount of patience that I have left!

I have found time, however, to take some video of some of the kids in the backyard ... check them out at our You Tube channel ...

"Who let the dogs out?" - Krash & Chilli playing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1La2K4K8-8

"Hunter & the Girls" - BC's Hunter, Delta, Summer & Ticket

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0Qwg5AYzz4

Krash "Hunting Ants" (you wouldn't believe where Krash finds ants!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_iRRajfWss

Party "Duck Diving" – toys in the water bucket!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwTOxqWgtZ0

Lights!

We've finally got the power connected to the kennels (it’s only taken us 3 years!) so now we’re lit up like a Christmas Tree (just in time for Chrissy) ... and geeze it makes like easier! You don't realise what you make do without until you have it.

Detector Dogs

Our detector dogs for work finally arrive 1st January! I’m looking forward to finally getting into it and doing what I came to the job for. With 2 months of “handler training” scheduled for January/February to look forward to, being paid to play with dogs, the new year is looking promising already … a new year and a fresh start in more ways that one!

Happy Birthday Crash-Man!

Cash had his 10th birthday yesterday, 12th December ... wow, that means it's that long (10 years) that I've been competing in agility?!!! Thats a decade! Hmmm .... well, Cash isn't any worse for wear, even tho retired from agility years ago he's still thoroughly enjoying the comforts of home ... sleeping on the bed, still bossing the girls around (the boys bash him up!), bench surfing in the kitchen (when we let our guard down ... and oh my, he has done some serious bench surfing damage!!!), and just simply couch potatoing wherever he can.

My "Heart Dog" ... who weaved his way into my heart, showed me the passion of dog training and taught me so much ... bless him!

Agility

Last night was the last agility trial of the year for us. Ticket & Carrie were entered and good ol' reliable "Carrie Dalmatian" gained another Qualifyer in Masters Jumping ... only one more Q and she's achieved her JDM2! I think she really enjoyed herself on this run ...

She's such a fun dog to work with ... she really takes the pressure off after running a dog like Ticket who is so unpredictable, and regularly knocks bars ... it's actually a nice change sometimes, to run with a dog like Carrie that only needs clear course direction, rather than micro managing and continual support!

Even so, Ticket also did some lovely runs, although no qualifying rounds, but some really nice work. Here's a couple of her runs ...

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Not sure if I'll get time to post again before Christmas/New Year ... so here's wishing you all a very Merry and Safe Christmas and a Happy New Year! Love to all your families and friends and not forgetting your friends and relatives far and wide!

Last Weekend ...

2009-11-22T21:02:00.006+08:00

Okay, I'm a bit late on the update (again!) ... but better late than never (have I said that before?!) Last weekend was Party's last show in the Baby Class, from now on she will be in the "big kids" class and eligible for Challenge (and Championship points towards her Champion Title) - that's next weekend.

Pic above and below, Party at the show being a "lap dog" ... I'm sure we won't be able to do this for too much longer!

After the show, we took Hunter and Party down the park for some photos ... here's what we took.

Hunter pretending to be an 'obedience dog'

Hunter being a 'show dog'

then it was Party's time ...

at 6 months old ... a little bit of baby heel work ...

and if you're really quick ... 'show stand'

this doesn't happen very often, nor for very long!

... and I just liked this one of Mum's little Papillon "Genie"

with her hair blowing in the breeze ...

That's all for now ... hope to have some new video's uploaded over the next week or so.

Agility again ...

2009-11-15T15:39:00.010+08:00

Saturday night was the first time in years that I've made it home from an agility trial before 11pm! Well done to Perth Training Dog Club on a very organised trial!

Saturday also saw Carrie qualify in Masters Agility ... and thanks to Sue & Linda for the following video of Carrie's run!

Ticket also did some lovely runs, although no "Q's", we had some fun and she did some awesome contacts!

Only a couple of trials left this year ... Ticket is sitting on her JDO title ... maybe we'll pick up that last Q to finish her title before the end of the year!

... till next time.

All part of the job!

2009-11-11T15:53:00.003+08:00

Just thought I'd post this photo a colleague of mine took on this mornings airport shift ... me crawling out of the cockpit of our Barrow Island plane. These things are definitely not designed for tall people ... especially at the ridiculous hour of 4am!

Looking forward to a sleep in on the weekend!!!

What have you been up to ???

2009-10-31T18:27:00.007+08:00

Okay Okay …

I know I haven’t updated on the doggy stuff for a while

so here’s a bit on what we’ve been up to …

On the nose ...
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We’ve started to play with a little bit of tracking. Just simple straight line tracks for now and our aim is to get the nose down and heading in the right direction “on track”! Krash and Carrie are having a go at this stage (yes, a Malinois and a Dalmatian - what a combination!) Chilli might even get a play at it a little later on.
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Krash tends to want to run and often overshoots the food on the track, but that’s okay, so long as he’s following the track. To start with, he was a little confused as to where “tracking” started and that the jackpot at the end was the finish … after a couple of goes he had his nose down so I decided to start putting the harness on him at the start of the track and taking it off when he’d finished – it definitely helped. He worked out that once the harness went on it was time to start "doing something". I think he feels a little bit important too, with his brand new harness – a gift to him from friend Marty – Krash says “thanks”!
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Carrie also joined us to try her paw at tracking and, as you know, if there’s food involved, Carrie will do almost anything! She worked out very quickly that following a track would lead to more and more treats! All going well, we will reduce the rewards vert soon and may also be able to add some curves in our tracks next week.
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Thanks to Kath and Lisa (who are also having a go with their GSP’s learning by trial and error just like me) for trudging along with me and hunting down strange places to play at! Also thanks to Justin who has been ever so patient in answering my never-ending questions on "what to do next"!

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Puppy Stuff
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Party has finally decided that bringing her toy back to me to play with is more fun than zooming around the backyard with it all on her own! Yay - finally!!! Our training basically consists of play, and play, and play, and play … we are implementing a few control games now but I'm very careful not to make things too serious ...
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Getting to know a Belgian is quite different to getting to know a border collie (something I can compare to). They are very tactile dogs and their interaction is often very physical – teaching the boundaries of where that physical interaction becomes bad manners is the challenge. Party is also very stimulated by her environment – new things are sooooo exciting. We’ve been doing lots of flatwork, follow me/my hand and tug rewards beside me (thanks Simone!) and sending out/around cones, poles, trees for a game of chasey reward (she loves that) and sending to the tunnel for a tuggy after a lightning-speed exit!
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We will start some target training this week … hmmm, how yet, I am not sure. Free-shaping is not a Belgians favourite method of learning; they much prefer clear instructions of your agenda and then like to add their “twist” to it! So targeting will be an interesting challenge … stay tuned.
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The serious stuff that pays for the fun stuff …
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Work has been hectic, to say the least and I am sure once “Gorgon-itis” ramps up to full speed ahead we are going to be abolutely frantic! I feel like I’ve been around the world and back in the last month, working from locations all over the Perth outer-metro areas, from crawling around under huge mining machinery, accommodation units, barges and aircraft, trucks, busses, cars ... to inspecting bananas and apples ... all destined for Barrow Island!
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Good news ... the detector dogs arrive in about 8 weeks time … I’m really looking forward to starting work with them and doing what I really came here to do! We’re starting out with beagles, for the beginning of 2010, to be followed up with Labradors early next year. This training will be a whole new learning experience for me … will update when I have more ... if you’re really lucky I might even be able to manage some photo’s!

Other stuff ...

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One good thing about being busy … I’ve be so busy I’ve managed to break my habit of biting my nails! Yay ... don't ask me how but amongst all the manual work I've managed to grow a nice set of nails (no, they are not false!)
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Also, night trials started this weekend and continue now until March next year - yippee!

Party will be going to some more shows soon (she had one today and was very excited to see the judge!)

The heat of Summer has got us running with the lawn mower and whipper-snipper as everything decides to start growing at a rapid rate, we need to mulch the gardens (eeewww, back breaking stuff!) and the gum leaves are starting to form their little fire-hazard bundles around the block, poisoning the unwelcomed weeds is neverending and the demand of keeping everything watered is just another task to add to Mum's busy day of looking after the block … don’t even mention Christmas!

Back to the early bird airport shifts for me again next week for another two weeks ... rising at 2am isn't the easiest time of the day to be asking your body clock to adapt to ... on that note, think I'll be off to bed to put some credit in my sleep bank ...

All photo's on this post are "Party" at approx. 5 months old, taken today Saturday 31st Oct.

One of these kids is doing her own thing!

2009-10-30T18:00:00.000+08:00

Check this out ... I took Party down to the show a few weeks ago just for a social outing with Group 1 (Toy Dogs) ... well ... to give you an idea of size, the other dogs are Papillons and Party is 4.5 months old ...

I bet she can't do that when she grows up!

Can't get this song out of my head!

2009-10-24T12:46:00.012+08:00

Ever had that, when you can't get a tune out of your head?!

I have just spent the morning slashing the bush next door, and I am sure the ear muffs had this song hiding in there somewhere ...

(click on the picture to hear Kate Miller-Heidke's song "The Last Day on Earth")

Bridges ... reflections on life

2009-10-21T21:03:00.005+08:00

This really touched my heart ... so just have to share it with all of you!

Click on the above picture, it will take you to a you tube clip,

click on "full screen" and turn your sound on ...

It's so true.

Friday Night ... in Prison!

2009-10-19T20:14:00.009+08:00

Well ... there's a first for everything and I have to say I never expected to spend Friday evening in jail! I just love Fremantle ... and the atmosphere on the weekend evenings is so comfortable, enough to give you that "let's party" feeling ... let all your worries go, join the party goers and enjoy!

Great coffee, great food and great locally brewed beers ...

then there's the prison ...
now seriously ... do we really look like criminals?

of course not!!!

Some colleagues from work, Julian, Me, Debbie (Pete's wife) & Pete, ventured out and braved the dark and dingy Fremantle Prison twighlight tour. Here's a few pic's we took ...

Solitary Confinement: a stool and a bucket ...

the Gallows ...

a typical cell ...

Original paintings by prisoners in some of the cells ...

The Exit!

Stairway from the morgue ...

Julian, Me, Peter and his wife Debbie ...

it really wasn't that scary!

Trialling ... back into full swing!

2009-10-19T18:09:00.008+08:00

It feels like ages since we've been in full swing with trialling ... I've missed a few trials in the last few months so it was good to get back into it with last Sunday's Agility Club Agility, Jumping and Strategic Pairs trials, followed by this Saturday at the Shepherd Club and a double header at Rockingham Dog Club on Sunday. OK, I slept in on Sunday morning so missed some morning runs ... but I do have an excuse ... two weeks of 4am starts at work I think is good enough reason.

Last weekend I ran Ticket in her Open and Masters jumping, a really nice effort on Richard’s Masters course I must say, just one bar down but some really nice work, and a great run in Open Jumping with a handler error! After her 2nd run I felt that she wasnt quite right, maybe a pulled muscle or something ... so I scratched her from the agility classes. Her visit to the bowen therapist on the following Monday confirmed my suspicions ... pinched nerves.

Qualifier for that day was Carrie, with partner Meg (Gillian’s sweet little BC), in Masters Strategic Pairs, and also taking 3rd Place!

More nice Masters Jumping runs with Ticket this weekend, although no qualifiers, still really nice runs from the little girl. Although a really hot afternoon on Saturday, Ticket just keeps on keeping on.

Here's a link to video of her last run at Rockingham, a really nice open, flowing course by Sarah Wickham: http://www.youtube.com/user/westurnborders#p/u/0/FlqP1CdU9eU.

Next weekend off ... then the first of the night trials on Friday 30th October ... roll on Summer!

Would he protect me?

2009-10-13T14:52:00.004+08:00

He’s strong, he’s tough, he’s handsome,

he’s got muscles to die for … he’s awesome!
He’s loving, he’s gentle, he’s affectionate, he’s faithful …

but would he protect me?

I have often wondered … if I was ever fronted with the situation where I was in danger of being hurt or assaulted, he would protect me?

I was comforted the other night when we went for a run, a passer-by appeared to be admiring Krash as he approached, and Krash returned the gesture with a rumble as he approached and a definite growl as he came close … not sure what he would have done if I hadn’t had a firm hold of the lead ... well, at least I know he has an opinion and isn’t afraid to let someone know what he thinks.

OK, he might have four legs but he’s still awesome!

Beeeep! Beeeep! Beeeep! Beeeep! Beeeep!

2009-10-13T14:30:00.007+08:00

Beeeep! Beeeep! Beeeep! Beeeep! Beeeep!

Don't you just love that sound first thing in the morning?!

... especially at 2.30am?!

Well, I’m half way thru my 2nd week of my first airport shift!

4am starts …

I never realized just how many people are actually out and about on the road at 3am. There are some positives ... ummm, the radio still plays some great songs, I have the bathroom all to myself and you don’t have to fight the hum-drum of peak hour traffic.

It’s certainly a matter of discipline, working out when to catch your sleep and making sure that you do. I have a whole new appreciation for all of those shift workers out there whose worlds revolve around shift work jobs that keep our world ticking over.

Now, just got to figure out how to get up without disturbing the rest of the household!

Hmmm, back to normality next week … well, as normal as my life could ever be!

Just getting to the start line ...

2009-10-09T20:52:00.000+08:00

"The spirit, the will to win, and the will to excel are the things that endure ... these qualities are so much more important than the events that occur."

Vince Lombardi

When a puppy arrives at our home, you can pretty much guarantee that it will never leave.

Ticket came to us in May 2003 as a happy little border collie puppy and we created a web page for her, as we do for every puppy that joins our family ...

along with this webpage came the above quotation ...

Like they say: be careful what you wish for and be careful what you name your dog ... little did I know how appropriate this quotation would be for this little dog who turned out to have so many more challenges in life than most canine companions or team mates than I've ever had before.

Wow, what a journey it has been so far ... just getting Ticket out of the car at training (to stand beside me), just getting her to do one thing for me at training, just getting her to trust me, just getting her to a trial, just getting her to the start line, just getting her over the first jump, just getting her around the course, just getting her to trust me to know it's safe to run off lead, just getting her to focus on me and ignore strangers, just getting her to the airport to travel to the Nationals in Melbourne, just getting her to trust me in a strange unvisited place to stay with strangers, just getting her to the ring at a National event, just getting her to the Royal Show this year, just getting her to stay at the start line with all those strange people surrounding her and watching intently ... little do they know, the troubles Ticket has had to deal with and what an achievement it was for her just to be there!

I'm proud of you little girl!

Thank you for trusting me.

" ... these qualities are so much more important that the events that occur"

I don't care if Ticket takes a trophy home or not, I don't care wether she runs clear or not, I don't care for her to be an Agility Champion ... because in my eyes, she is already a champion, she has taught me perserverance, she has taught me patience (much more than I had before), she has taught me to take home what's important to me ... what I love, not what I strive for.

As Lanny Bassham says ...

it's not what happens to you in life that's important, you have no control over that,

what's important is how you react to what happens to you, and what you learn from that.

Party ... quiet time!

2009-10-04T16:06:00.005+08:00

Yes, it does happen ... not very often but it does happen ... and this time we managed to get a few pic's to prove it! Party sitting still ... taken Friday 2nd October.

... aint she just the cutest little Mali pup?!

Perth Royal Show 2009

2009-10-03T18:30:00.000+08:00

Thank God it's over! We say it every year,

yet year after year we go back for more!

It's exciting, it's fun, it's stressful and it's very exhausting;

but we survived another year and here's what we did ...

Saturday 26th & Monday 28th September - Agility & Jumping

This is the first time Ticket has been to the Royal Show ... in previous years I haven't been game to let her loose in such a crowded environment and, given that her biggest fear is the approach of strangers, she coped incredibly well. She had to cope with walking through crowds to get to/from exercise areas and also competing in a ring completely surrounded by strangers, up to 4-5 deep on some sides. She was focussed, held her start lines allowing me to lead out some 4-5 jumps and she tried very hard to do everything I ask of her on course.

As a dog trainer, I feel that I have actually achieved much of what I set out to do when I first took this troubled little girl on at 2 years old. As a team, I feel that we both achieved a lot this weekend, our trust in each other grew and my team mate still gave me her very best in one of the most stressful situations she has ever had to deal with. Well done little Tick - I am proud of you!

Carrie also flew the flag for the Dalmatians, and without making a comic of me, she made a good impresssion in both Masters Classes! and still the only Dalmatian competing in agility in WA.

Sunday 27th September - Group 1 (Toy Dogs) Showing

Sunday was Group 1 Day (Toy breeds, including Papillons). Mum and Rene showed the Pap's and little Tiger won his class for the breed.

Certainly glad I didn't have to go on Group 1 day ... needed a day off inbetween Sat and Mon.

Thursday 1st October - Group 5 (Working Dogs) Showing

The biggest challenge was getting there with two entire males and one very "nearly" in season bitch in the one car! They were all very good and we all got there and home in one piece. Unfortunately I forgot to take photo's of Hunter (Mum's border collie) however, plenty of pic's of the Chilli & Krash (Malinois) ... and a big thank you to Andrea Carde who was there to from dusk to dawn helping us, including showing Chilli for Best of Breed and snapping away with the video and camera too ... thank you Andrea! Will upload video's to you tube soon!

Pic's of Krash (Ch Vanrusselhof Krash) and Chilli (Ch Vanrusselhof On Fire AD JDX GD) ... Krash won Challenge Dog and Best of Breed for the Malinois, Chilli was Challenge Bitch and Runner-up Best of Breed.

Both were great ambassadors for the Belgian Malinois breed,

greeting the public with lots of licks and cuddles, adults and kids alike ...

... and the end of a very long day ...

till next year!

Party video's ...

2009-09-27T16:25:00.006+08:00

Video of Party taken this week ... Ladder games at 4 months old ...

More video updates on my You Tube channel: http://www.youtube.com/westurnborders

Beach Party!!!

2009-09-20T19:03:00.006+08:00

Today, we took Party for her very first visit to the beach ... not the most ideal weather for beaching: cold, windy and choppy waves with the risk of a thunderstorm sneaking up on us so bare feet and shorts were out of the question ... regardless, we still managed to make some fun and get some pic's of Party's first experience of beach life ... thanks Leigh for taking these photo's for me ...

Show Pony ...

2009-09-20T18:55:00.003+08:00

Pic's of Party after her very first show last month, 30th August ...

My Pillow!

2009-09-20T18:49:00.002+08:00

Cash and his favourite Pillows ... he claimed these pillows on the first day he came into our lives, at just 8 weeks old ... and today, 9 years later, he still suckles on them like they are his Mum!

Time Flies!

2009-08-16T18:31:00.005+08:00

Wow, how time flies! It's been almost 4 weeks since I last posted (sorry!) ... since starting my new job and inbetween that and sharing my time with Party and my other kids, time is becoming very precious. Long days at work, early starts and new challenges ... all very interesting, also very taxing at times. Priority One is Party and she's been a darling little puppy, fitting into our lives easily ... as every other belgian we've had has done so.

From day one she has slept right thru every night, she has fitted into our routine and takes everything in her stride ... although, at a million miles per hour, I might add! No, I'm not complaining ... she's just awesome! ... and the happiest little puppy anyone could ever wish to own.

Also in the last 4 weeks Ticket had her first real trial back after injury earlier this year, and so far, hasn't look back ... lookin' good for the Nationals!!! She qualified at the GSDA of WA trial on 25th July in Excellent Agility, also winning 1st Place! Wow ... not what I expected but it's a great start to her re-start.

All pic's on this post are Party at nearly 13 weeks old.

Party Photos!

2009-07-19T20:08:00.005+08:00

Party, playing with Cash & Carrie this afternoon ... and stealing their toys!

Let's Party!

2009-07-17T18:59:00.007+08:00

Baby X arrived today ...
"Vanrusselhof Xanadu" otherwise known as "Party"!

Just off the plane and all she wanted to do was run and play ...

time to go home now ...

... and meet the boss of the house, Rocket ...

Make the most of it Rock ... she aint gonna be your size for much longer!

Promise to post more photo's soon.

In the meantime I'm having a ball ... playing with Party!!!

A day in the life of a Police Dog in Training!

2009-07-03T21:38:00.003+08:00

Over the last couple of weeks (inbetween finishing my old job and starting the new) I have been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend a few days with the WA Police K9 Unit. They are currently taking five young dogs through their paces (three German Shepherds and two Malinois) training and preparing them for their future as Police Dogs, testing their drive, motivation, focus and natural abilities ... all very happy, confident and very toy motivated dogs.

It was pleasing to see them working so passionately, just for the reward of a toy and the recognition of their handler … all very positive and fun, bringing out their best. It’s quite amazing to see how quickly their natural abilities can be developed into, what one day could be, life saving skills.

I really enjoyed the Search and Locate training where they quickly learnt how much fun the game of finding the “bad guy” is; firstly in an old abandoned building, then later outside in a yard full of vehicles and junk where they had to find him hiding somewhere, even up a tree … and it’s all a big game!.

The bond that already exists between these human and canine teams really awes you in two ways … one in admiration and respect for the relationship between dog and human, and another in trepidation knowing the many risks that they will valiantly have to deal with in their coming years on the job.

More than a full-time job, a Police Dog Handler is responsible for his K9 partner 24 hours a day, 7 days a week … they never really get to knock-off at the end of their shift, go home and leave work at work – for them it is a way of life and these guys are really very special people.

Of course I was a little biased, and had to take some pic’s of the Malinois in action!

A big thank you to the WA Police K9 Unit for their hospitality and for this opportunity.

Best of Friends

2009-06-29T12:16:00.005+08:00

Best of Friends ... here Chilli & Sketch watching over their backyard (ready to chase any birds who dare to play on their agility gear!)

This Saturday just gone was Gosnells Dog Club double header Agility & Jumping Trials. A successful day with my crew of "casual" girls ... Chilli qualified in 2nd Place in Excellent Jumping at the morning trial, also gaining her JDX Title, then qualified in the same class in the afternoon winning 1st Place! Summer had two good NFC runs in Novice Jumping. Carrie qualified in 5th Place in Masters Jumping in the morning, then to my surprise she qualified in Masters Agility in the afternoon for 2nd Place - not a bad effort for the spotted dog! All placings at this trial were in height classes.

Unexpected Success ...

2009-06-19T10:28:00.005+08:00

It seems like forever since we’ve been to an agility trial … since Ticket has been in “rehab” and Summer just finds the whole trialling thing a little overwhelming, I’ve been doing a little more showing rather that trialling … so I really enjoyed the Agility Clubs double header trials last Sunday and had an unexpectedly successful day (considering the little training I had been doing).

I trialled Carrie in Masters Jumping and Open Jumping at both morning and afternoon trials – she did her usual “Dalmatian” thing and was the Class Clown for all of her runs, totally enjoying herself to the fullest!

I entered Summer in “Not For Competition” (NFC) Novice Jumping. As she now has her JDX title which means she would have to run in Masters otherwise, which I am sure she would definitely not have coped with. So a couple of “fun runs” in novice jumping was all she did and I think it did the world of good for her. In the afternoon run she was more relaxed at the start line and seemed to be actually enjoying the run, rather than having her usual “I hope I’m doing this right” doubt on her face. So success it was, and we’ll definitely see her do a few more NFC runs yet … before we tackle any of the hard stuff!

Chilli was the one who TOTALLY surprised me … her first run of the day was her best (as usual) and it was my worst! This was Novice Agility, she was happy and keen (well, as keen as Chilli can be) and almost at the end of the course Chilli came out of the tunnel to the weavers and we collided and I managed a very clumsy “face-plant” in the turf … I realized we were still on a Q and I scurried to my feet to continue on and to my surprise Chilli successfully continued on to do her weavers and finish the course in time! That Q earned her Agility Dog Title!

After our not-so-graceful Novice Agility run we went straight into the Excellent Jumping ring and she was still happy and keen (even after our little tumble). We finished the course in time and clear, and also ended up being the only team that qualified and therefore in 1st place!

In the afternoon Chilli qualified again in Excellent Jumping … leaving just one more pass needed to gain her JDX title! Geeze, I’m not sure she will make time in the Masters ring but then again, she may have some more surprises up her sleeve yet!

Lovely portrait shot of Chilli (above) taken by Tim Abidin (http://www.yourdogphotos.com/).

Till next time …

Baby X ... meet Mum & Dad!

2009-06-16T13:10:00.005+08:00

Which one of these will be "Baby X" ???

Well they're 4 weeks old now ... only 4 weeks to go till she arrives! Then, I am sure, we will know that we are alive!!!

Amanda (Vanrusselhof) reports that all puppies are strong, fat and healthy little terrors!!!
Above photo was a breakfast time this weekend just gone, with babes just a couple of days short of 4 weeks old.

Below are also some pic’s of Mum and Dad ...

Proud (and very handsome) Dad, Gino von den kleinen Helden VPG3/IPO3V1 CAC/BOB DMC WP+Körung (Germany), “Gino”

Awesome Mum, Ellis de l’origine de faucon rouge IPO3 WP DMC AD-Prüfung (Imp GMY), “Ellis”, now residing at Vanrusselhof Kennels in Queensland.

Stay tuned for more updates!

How do you say Malinois?

2009-06-12T12:48:00.002+08:00

"MAL (or MEL) - IN - WAH"

I was waiting at ringside at the show ring last weekend and the steward kept staring at her board and quietly calling the Belgian Shepherds, anxiously looking around hoping someone would answer, and just as she muttered “marr linn eeee osss” I quietly told her "the Mal-in-wah is here". She looked so relieved and said thank you and announced “Mal-in-wah” to the judge.

There seems to be a lot of people out there who won’t even say Malinois simply because they have absolutely no idea of how to pronounce it, and fair enough too – we are in oorrrstrayleah!

The name Malinois is the French word for 'Mechlinian', which is in Dutch either 'Mechelse' or 'Mechelaar'. In Belgium, their country of origin, they are known by their Flemish name Mechelse Herder. Also known in other parts of the world as a Chien de Berger Belge.

So if you were one of those people wondering how to say "Malinois" … now you know ... along with a little history on the side.

It never rains ... it pours!

2009-06-08T13:48:00.001+08:00

I am counting down the days till my new Malinois baby arrives (only 6 weeks now) and in a few weeks I start a new job … I am moving to a job where I will be working with (training and handling) quarantine dogs. It’s like a dream come true for me and I’m still pinching myself to make sure that I’m not just dreaming it all up! Big changes to come and I am really looking forward to it!

So new job and new puppy on the way, that’s what I mean by ...

It never rains …. it POURS!

Another Malinois Champion!

2009-06-05T12:16:00.005+08:00

"Australian Champion Vanrusselhof Krash"

Above Photo by Tim Abidin (www.yourdogphotos.com)

This boy, who came to us quite unexpectedly at the start of this year … who had lots to learn on the manners side of things, along with being socially lacking, he has caught many an eye in the Conformation Show Ring.

A very obliging boy, offering his opinion regularly, however he learnt very quickly to stand fast as the judge was approaching him. Krash loves people and one of the most difficult things was for him to keep all four feet on the ground when someone offered a pat. If a judge stood admiring him for too long, he would eventually be wagging his whole body by the time they put their hands on him. He would start with tail wagging “please touch me, please”, then the bum would wriggle, then the head for a whole body-wag!

He has achieved his Champion title in just a short time (since February this year till now).

Krash decends from working line Malinois, his father being AUST/DKBR/DK CH Bryan Vom Haus Mecki IPO3 SchH3 (Imp NWY) and litter mates achieving well in other performance fields.
Congratulations (and thank you!) to Amanda Camiller (Vanrusselhof Malinois Kennels, QLD) on breeding yet another Australian Champion!

Ever wondered how dog Bone Biscuits are made?

2009-05-25T12:36:00.002+08:00

Vegas to Xanadu …

2009-05-25T12:27:00.005+08:00

Xanadu
Xan·a·du (zn-d, -dy) n.
An idyllic, beautiful place.
[After Xanadu, a place in "Kubla Khan," a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.]
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I am very grateful to have the blessing of my good friend and breeder, Amanda (Vanrusselhof Malinois), to be trusted with a puppy from her “X Litter” …. hence, Xanadu instead of Vegas (still waiting for the inspiration of what her call name might be!)
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2 boys and 6 girls were born last Tuesday 19th May … Mum “Ellis” arrived in Australia from Germany on 14th April, about 5 weeks in whelp with these 8 little maligators. More details about the Sire & Dam can been seen at Amanda’s website.

Exciting times ahead!

Malinois on the Move!

2009-05-15T15:45:00.003+08:00

Awesome! I just had to share this photo of Krash in the show ring last weekend … taken by Robyn Evan (Winpara Border Collies).

If you know what good, balanced movement looks like then you’ll appreciate this almost perfect shot of Krash in full gait.

If you don’t know what good movement and balance is, then take a good hard look at this picture … because you won’t see this too often!

Vegas Update ... 1 week old today!

2009-05-04T12:05:00.008+08:00

Just had to share these pic’s of the Vegas litter (otherwise known as the Vanrusselhof "V" Litter) ... at one week old

Six boys …

.Mr Blue

Mr Brown

Mr Green

Mr Purple

Mr Red

Mr Tan

And four girls …

Miss Fluro

Miss Orange

Miss White (who is all black!)

Miss Yellow

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… I wonder which one of these little girls will step forward and answer to “Vegas”?
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Amanda reports that all puppies are strong and healthy and Mum, Indy, is a great little mum!
More information on the Vanrusselhof website.

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Has "Vegas" finally arrived?!

2009-04-29T20:34:00.007+08:00

Something I’ve wanted for a long time .... a dream that I wondered if would ever eventuate, may actually be going to come true! I think many of you already know, my heart has been set on a working bloodline Malinois for a long time ...

There's only one person in Australia that I would trust to breed, assess and make the decision of choosing that special puppy for me and that's Amanda Camiller at Vanrusselhof Malinois in Queensland and ... on Monday night, 27th April, 10 Vanrusselhof working bloodline Malinois puppies were born (6 boys & 4 girls)!

Proud Mum “Indy” with her 10 little disciples (below) ... first time Mum and doing a great job!

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This litter is a line breeding on AUST CH DKCH DKBRCH Bryan Vom Haus Mecki IPO3 SchH3 (Imp NWY). Progeny already tightly line bred on Bryan are currently proving to be some of the best working dogs in the Australian Police Force, and are also present with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Security and Sporting Dogs in Australia and Overseas.
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Bryan is the most credentialed working Malinois to ever enter Australia. Bryan is 2 X AUSC Grand National Schutzhund Champion and has 3 X Conformation Championship Titles (Australian, Danish and Working). He has also competed at the World Championships for Belgian Shepherds twice.

I was fortunate enough to spend some time with Bryan when I visited Queensland in 2006 and he certainly didn't disappoint me. I also got to meet Bryans' son "Kruegar", Sire of this litter, who also happens to be our "Krash’s" full litter brother. Mum, "Indy", is also daughter of Bryan. Photo's and pedigree information at Vanrusselhof website. Anway ... enough “breeder talk".

Now, we wait ... to see if one of these girls will answer to “Vegas”?

The next eight weeks are going to be the longest two months in my whole life!

Here they are again, just one day old ... in case you missed the picture at the beginning!

A New Concept in Trialling ...

2009-04-29T20:06:00.006+08:00

Above photo credit to Robyn Evan (Winpara Border Collies)

"Summer" Westurn Secret Sunrise AD JDX SPD

This weekend just gone saw one of our WA Clubs try a new concept in our trialling format … Perth Training Club ran their Agility & Jumping trial on Monday 27th April with separate courses for all heights. All heights in all classes competed on courses specifically designed for that particular height and class for the very first time in Western Australia.
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It was very interesting … and I have to admit that if I hadn’t had my 200 dog entered I probably would have poo poo’d the whole idea. It was a long day, there was a lot of waiting around to your walk courses and a lot of course changing, etc. HOWEVER, when I finally walked the 200 Masters Jumping course I was pleasantly surprised. It was just delightful (thanks to judge Cindy Didsman) and to see the little dogs run this course it was even better. These little dogs didn’t have time to lose interest, wonder where they were going next, get mislead or stressed … they just flew!!! Dogs that usually lost their handlers on the big courses were focused and really enjoying themselves.
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With that in mind I understand the argument of having courses designed specifically for different heights, and until you’ve actually competed with an extra small (or extra large) dog I don’t know if could really appreciate the true value of this innovation. I certainly would not have supported it if I had only had a 500 dog!

Unfortunately we don’t have the numbers in all heights in WA to really justify running all trials like this, and I must admit if I was only running a 500 dog I’m not sure that I would bother going to such a long day of trialling. There are certainly changes and improvements to be made to the whole process, and I doubt the 5 separate height courses will stick but I can certainly see a future with maybe splitting the heights into two sections - maybe 200 & 300 dogs on one course then 400, 500 & 600 dogs on another course, or maybe the 400’s could go with the lower heights? Who knows, but congratulations to the club for trying something new!
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Our trialling Results this weekend were fairly positive ....

Sunday’s double header saw Summer win first place in Excellent Jumping in the morning, also gaining her JDX title, then placing 2nd in Excellent Agility and Monday saw her gain yet another Q in Excellent Jumping, and in 3rd place.
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Carrie (above) competed for the first time in 18 months on Monday, and blowing out the cobwebs in the Masters Jumping class she placed 6th with a lovely run! It was nice to have the spotty dog off the couch and out there having a blast again! She really is a fun dog! You can see her run on YouTube at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl0PKVk2nLI
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Krash came for a day out to the trial on Sunday, and took some time out to pose for the camera. Thanks to Graeme Fairley for these pic’s below (and above of Carrie) ...

Where's the "ON" Button?!

2009-04-24T19:56:00.003+08:00

So what do you do with a Border Collie that just won’t go?! She has energy to burn, in the safety of her own backyard however, somehow couldn’t even get her bum off the start line in one of her jumping runs last weekend ...

(Above Photo - Credit Robyn Evans @ Winpara Border Collies)

I’ve been putting it down to confidence that she pulls these little stunts …she stops suddenly in the middle of a run and starts gazing at the sky or sniffing the ground - basically she just freezes, them moves v e r y s l o w l y a n d c a r e f u l l y. It has happened occasionally in training (away from home), but only in agility, not jumping. Her contact training has been a tad shady (I’ve made a few mistakes in making the criterion clear enough so there is some doubt there) therefore I understand her hesitancy when confronted with contacts (in hindsight, I probably put her in the Agility ring too soon). What I don’t understand is her showing lack of confidence in the jumping ring – something she LOVES in training.

If you saw her tearing around the jumping course at training a few weeks ago you would have thought it was a different dog. She was focused, fast and happy to be there. The next night at the trial, on the very same grounds, in the same spot, was our excellent jumping ring and she once again, lost concentration and started looking for aliens half way round the course!

(Above Photo - Credit Paul Burton)

Seriously, motivating Summer is quite a mystery to me … I’m not sure what it is that upsets her at trials and until I work it out I guess I’m not going to get much improvement out of her performances. Sometimes she will fly round the ring and occasionally when she finds her turbo-boosters it’s in the wrong direction, I have to carefully redirect her, without telling her off, and keep her motivation up. She is always faster running towards the finish line … so how do I get that to begin at the start line?

Hmmm, just another challenge I guess … keep training Helen!

WA State Agility Trial 2009

2009-04-24T19:41:00.003+08:00

(Above Photo - Credit to Robyn Evans @ Winpara Border Collies)

I think we had a fairly successful State Trial this year … Young Chilli made it through to two finals and Summer (somehow) made it through to one. Chilli came out with a 5th Place in Novice Agility and 8th Place in Excellent Jumping – enough to secure her as a State Finalist in both classes. Summer placed 5th place in Excellent Jumping, also a place good enough to take her through to the Finals in that class.

(Photo's below - Credit to Paul Burton)

To be honest I didn’t expect either of them to place high enough to even qualify for a final, and we certainly were NOT the force to be reckoned with in the Finals, however, we were there! Summer threw all sorts of stupid little antics at me over the weekend, at one stage she stayed glued on the start line as I sprinted off to do the course all alone! What goes thru her little head I’ll never know but she certainly lacks a huge amount of confidence and I can see it’s going to be a long haul to get her performance up to scratch under pressure (more about that later).

Chilli, was just perfect little Chilli (nope, I’m not biased, I just think she’s perfect) … although not the fastest Malinois on the planet she is turning out to be fairly consistent and steady. I don’t have great expectations of either of these girls so I guess anything is a thrill at the moment.

Look after your Teef!

2009-04-24T12:32:00.003+08:00

Over the last couple of weeks my brain has been obsessed with the fact that I had a visit to the dentist coming up. Well, I am absolutely terrified of going to the Dentist, not that I don’t like dentists, they all seem very nice when you meet them, actually I don’t know exactly what it is that makes me lose so much sleep, break out into a cold sweat, tremble, shiver, shake and want to be sick … if only I knew exactly what it was that terrified me so much I would probably be able to control these feelings … maybe.

I psyche myself up and tell myself that it’s not the end of the world, it’s not going to kill me, people go to the dentist every day and come out alive!!!

Whatever, I just can’t handle it! It’s taken over my life over the past two weeks and there’s nothing I could do about it!

Well … here I am! I’ve been to the dentist (yesterday) and I’m still here! Now, finally I can get back to “normal” and get on with my life!

Anyway, before I move on to doggy posts, that have been absent whilst I had my little dentist crisis, I have to share my dentist experience with you …

The last time I went to a dentist, a couple of years ago, she told me to come back in a few months to start root canal treatment … well, needless to say, she NEVER saw me again! I ran, as fast as I possibly could, the other direction, never to return … then THAT TOOTH started to hurt and gradually got more sensitive … so I started my research to find a nice, understanding, gentle, caring dentist who might tell me something different to the last one!

Well, I found this dentist who practices “sleep dentistry”. They basically put you to sleep whilst they do all the horrible stuff! Yeah! I’m in for that … so I toddled off to meet him. He even told me that I didn’t need a root canal - just a cap (which is just as expensive!) Anyhow, with “sleep dentistry” they are able to do two or three visits worth of work …and that’s what they did. I don't have get all worked up about it again and again going back lots of visits.

All I need to do now is return in a couple of weeks to get the real cap put on – apparently a simple, quick procedure and supposedly painless! He'd better be right!!!

So I guess I’ll be making sure I keep up my regular visits to the dentist from now on, seeing I don’t have to be so terrified!

Easter Fun!

2009-04-16T19:56:00.007+08:00

Well Easter has been and gone and we managed to stay far away from all the Easter egg temptations! We had one box of Guylian Chocolates between the three of us so I reckon that was a pretty good effort.

These holiday breaks are always busy for us with the kennels so really, there’s no rest for the wicked! We did find time for a little Easter fun. Some photos above and below of Carrie, who sneakily trapped the Easter Bunny and snuggled up with him on the lounge, keeping him all to herself.
In the meantime, Krash has found a new toy. The big “exercise ball” has been floating around the yard for some time now … It certainly isn’t used for our exercise efforts! Whilst giving Krash his evening run one night, I tossed the exercise ball to the middle of the yard … well, it bounced about 6 feet in the air and Krash promptly met it mid-air and bounced it back to me. We had a great game, tossing it back and forth around the yard whilst he herded it around, rolling over it, racing it, trying to catch it … Krash was totally exhausted by the end of his play session!

We did take some pic’s (below) however it was getting a little dark and they didn’t turn out so good … we’ll try and get some better ones during the daytime some time in the future, however in the meantime these will give you the idea!

Dear Chilli ...

2009-04-06T13:13:00.005+08:00

This photo really tugged at my heartstrings …

“Dear Chilli, I am so sorry that I sent you into a supposedly safe tunnel only for you to get tangled up in it and have to struggle to free yourself, and finally finding the end, skidding on your face as you exited, totally disoriented as to which was was up.”

This was our Novice Agility run at Cloverdale's trial on Saturday 4th April. After finishing this run I reminded the judge to untangle the tunnel for the next dog so that they weren't caught up like Chilli was, and in doing so we found that the tunnel wasn’t even pegged down to start with!

This left me with two things on my mind …

Firstly, it bothers me that ultimately, I lied to my dog! Not intentionally of course but my dog trusted me and I trusted that the tunnel was safe and it wasn’t! That’s fine when you’ve got a high-drive bomb-proof agility addicted dog BUT … when you’ve worked hard to motivate, focus and build a relationship of trust with your low drive dog and you then tell them that something is completely safe and it isn’t – it certainly sends you backwards in your training as you rebuild that trust back to the same level.

Secondly, this un-pegged tunnel moved quite substantially and set Chilli on an off-course line, a good couple of metres off line to where it should have been, off line for the next jump and yes she took the next jump the wrong way and top it off with the comment from the judge that “your dog should have come to you regardless of where she came out of the tunnel” ... she had to rebalance and reorient herself, and then respond accurately to my desperate calls to come to me (all through no fault of her own, or her handler) .… well, she did come to me and she recovered quickly to continue on with the course … what a good girl.

I felt this situation was very unfair, if a dog had normally skidded and tumbled in a properly pegged tunnel they would not have ended up off course like this, and fair enough, they should then resurrect themselves and deal with their mistake. This was not Chilli’s, or my, mistake and in all fairness, could consideration have been given for a rerun?

Yes, it is the competitor/handlers responsibility to check the equipment is safe when walking the course; however, this tunnel was pegged when the course was initially set up ... whatever happened to the pegs in-between is unknown! Don’t get me wrong, I am not blaming anyone, it certainly wasn't left un-pegged intentionally.

Fortunately Chilli is a very forgiving dog and she recovered quickly to finish the course – however we will definitely need to work on collapsible tunnels this week ...

On a positive note, Chilli did qualify in Excellent Jumping, and Summer qualified in Novice Agility in 3rd Place to finish her AD title, plus qualifying in Excellent Jumping too.

Photo’s on this post of Chilli and Summer, all at Saturday’s trial, by Tim Abidin (http://www.yourdogphotos.com/). Thanks Tim!

Feeling a little lost ...

2009-03-27T14:27:00.001+09:00

No pic's today ... just wanted to share my thoughts.

At the moment Ticket is officially “out of action” until further notice. Last week after training on Monday night she was lame in her right hand rear leg. I only gave her one run on one sequence, nothing extremely difficult or hard work, just a simple free flowing sequence. She was panting more than usual, it was warm but not that hot so I was immediately a little concerned … she wasn’t showing any other signs (that I could see) of pain or discomfort and was raring to keep going … as usual, no self-preservation, just chaffing a the bit to run!

I decided to put her back in the car for a rest and a drink, let her cool down then check her out once her adrenaline had stopped pumping, and she was quite happy to get back in the car.

I came back to her 10 minutes later and got her out to walk her around. She would not put any weight on her right rear leg … she resisted manipulation and was extremely tight in the stomach too.

She came home and we were lucky enough to be able to see our Bowen Therapist the next day. Her muscles were very sore all through her rear end down that leg … she was on strict rest for the next three days and “should be right for the trial on Saturday night”.

Well, Saturday came, I wondered if she still looked a little “tight” in the rear end but after keeping a close eye on her movement all day I decided that I was being paranoid … that evening at the trial we warmed up really well, we did some sprinting, sending out to goal posts and back with nice round turns, etc and she was looking quite comfortable, so we decided to give our first run a go (in Excellent Gamblers).

I didn’t push her for speed (not that I need to) and I was careful not to race her so she wasn’t frantic to get to me … she did some lovely work, did everything I asked her and exactly how she should … she knocked the 2nd last bar and ran past the last jump … I could see she was hesitating as she came back to me. I gave her a big hug and carried her back to the car, obviously fearing the obvious … yep, that leg was hurting again.

This time she was trembling – it must have been really hurting because Ticket is one of the toughest, hardest little dogs I have ever met! We brought her straight home and tucked her in on a soft mattress and pain killer …

For now we are treating her muscles which are very sore in the rear end. She is on strict rest for 4 weeks, light exercise (no jumping) and then we’ll slowly reintroduce her to some training …

Gawd I feel so lost! Yes I have other dogs to train but Ticket is the one that drives me, she keeps me determined and keeps me focused. She pushes me to my limits and gives me the inclination to get outside and do some training! She gets me thru a bad day … knowing that I can go home and have a blast training with her in the backyard that night! So motivating myself this week has been hard …

Training the other kids feels like a part time job! … Summer gives me a few minutes here and there, I always have to be the driving force behind her so she’s quite exhausting sometimes (if you’re not bursting with energy!). Chilli need motivating too … she’s not the most energetic Malinois you’ll ever see … so, there’s only so much of that kind of training one can do! So, we’ve been practicing lots of static exercises in the meantime, while these girls build their energy reserves up between bursts of agility training …

Group stays are the latest trick. Summer and Chilli, with Sketch (he feels important too) all play group stays … I heel one of them around the others and into a new position and they all take it in turns to be repositioned randomly … then we get another quick burst of energy where I can slip in some more agility training … but nothing replaces that feeling of the adrenaline rush when running agility with a fast, powerful dog!

Get better soon little Tick!

Take the weekend off!

2009-03-22T18:42:00.006+09:00

Every now and then we have a weekend “off” … that means we have no trials or shows that weekend so we can get lots of work done around the block. So it’s not really a weekend off – it’s more like a WEEKEND of lot's of essential CHORES and HARD-WORK that we've not had time to do!

Anyhow, here’s the results after last “weekend off” … we got all the lawns done (mowing and whipper snippering), did some major pruning of trees (with chainsaw assistant in tow) because there’s a green waste collection next week, slashed the front part of the empty block next door, finished poisoning around the backyard and driveways, cleaned up all the palm trees we could reach with our long handled saw (need neck massage now), pulled up the huge double-g weeds up on the verge (they were nearly as big as me), replaced a couple of reticulation taps and connections up the palm garden and we still managed to squeeze in a couple of well deserved, icy cold beers on Sunday afternoon!

Phew! ... here’s the evidence ...

Proud Dad ... Malinois in the News!

2009-03-17T12:15:00.009+09:00

Monday morning at work I walked past the boardroom and glanced over at the front page of the newspaper and to my surprise, sprawled across have the front page was Belgian Malinois … obviously I don’t need to say that the newspaper was swiftly tucked under my arm, never to be returned to the boardroom!

When I actually got to read the article, it was introducing West Australia’s Police latest recruit, Police Dog “Argus” ... son of our recently adopted boy "Krash". Argus comes from full working malinois parentage lines from the very successful Vanrusselhof Malinois Kennels in Queensland (owned by Amanda Camiller). WA Police also have Vanrusselhof Raptor in training … nice to see the Malinois finally coming to the fore in the service fields in Australia!

Anyway, I was so proud I had to take the article home and show young Krash what a clever boy his son had grown into!

Full reports here ...

Front Page "Police unleash latest recruit"
Report "Dog Squad plays a key role on Police front-line"
Article "Dogged by a crim's worst enemy"

Lucky in Australia ... or just lucky I guess!

2009-03-13T11:36:00.005+09:00

How lucky we are … I’ve just read a post on one of the discussion lists that 75 dog breeds have been banned in certain parts of the USA … and the Belgian Malinois is one of them, along with Australian Shepherds, Pugs, Labradors, Golden Retrievers, and many more. My god! What next? I guess we are very lucky here that, so far, we haven’t been fronted with this ridiculous rule … whatever happened to educating human beings? I guess half of them can’t train their kids so there’s no chance they’re ever going to understand their dogs! Actually, the more I think about it, I reckon I could list 75 human beings and justify banning them from the world! So does this mean that eventually all dog owners will have to all live in one place because they can’t have their dogs anywhere else? I wonder what President Obama thinks about this … did he ever end up getting that Labrador for his kids???!

Anyway, while we are still living in the lucky country, I have to share these pic’s of Krash and his new found friend Chilli, who has finally decided that Krash aint such a bad bloke after all … took these yesterday while they enjoyed each others company.

We are so lucky to have Krash in our lives. He truly is a lovely dog, although I am still learning about his likes and dislikes, he is teaching me so much about the Malinois breed, and he is still learning much about us. He is starting to acknowledge things that I say now, he knows that “good boy” means just that and that he can expect a treat for being a good boy. He is learning to come when called, and more and more often is coming straight back. He does tend to offer a snap at other male dogs if too close, however we are able to walk with other male dogs and he will offer attention to me in order to get a treat so he’s not obsessed with the thought … all the time, we’re still learning what pushes his buttons and to predict his reactions. He is still one of the easiest and most accepting dogs to live with … maybe he’s so good because he’s grateful for the life he has.

This week he has also spent some time with Summer and Ticket … we are gradually introducing different dogs to him so eventually he will have a small pack to socialize with, even if just the girls.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

2009-03-13T11:24:00.004+09:00

It's my birthday today!!!

My Mum and Sister bought me one of those Amorica bead/charm bracelets for my birthday ... something I have wanted for a long time ...

they started it off with 5 charms ...

... now, to set some goals to earn some more charms.

Thanks guys!

Dinner Time!

2009-03-10T15:28:00.002+09:00

C'mon kids ... it's dinner time!

Busy Weekend! ... full of Agility

2009-03-04T12:46:00.004+09:00

I'll warn you now, but there's lots of writing and not enough pic's in this post ... but there's some stuff I want to share with you ...

This weekend just gone, was three evenings of agility, jumping and games trials … phew … bit of a marathon but I really enjoyed it!

This was Summer’s re-introduction to the Agility Ring (she’s only been running in Jumping Classes so far). I wasn’t really happy with her contacts when she first started trialling so this weekend was her second chance to get it right in the ring. In training, she’s been doing really well and I felt the games were a good chance to have a “play” and see how she went. This little girl is quite outgoing and full of herself at home, but easily cut down to size with a frown. Out and about, around the trial world, she has slowly grown and gradually gaining more and more confidence. I still can’t identify all the little things that affect or influence her and she often catches me by surprise with some of her little behaviours that turn up.

For some reason, on Friday night she decided that the top of the A-Frame was a nice place to be, and after performing a really nice A-Frame in her first run the second time she decided to loiter at the top for a while … whilst I danced around on the ground, turning myself inside out, trying to get her attention and get her to come down! This behaviour is one of my pet hates and really frustrates me … she has never done this in training, and I mean never. Yes, in the very beginning she started to creep into her contact position (2on 2off) but she never stopped at the top!

She presented me with a few other new tricks over the weekend … just to remind me not to become too complacent and that my job is never done as her trainer. She had a few vague moments in the ring where she would take a detour, like she was taking in the scenery and sniffing the night air, totally oblivious to me or what I was saying, then she would suddenly snap out of it and come back to finish the course … displacement behavior maybe? Maybe she’s not comfortable enough in the trial ring environment yet, maybe she’s unsure about what I really expect of her, maybe I’m asking her to do stuff that's too difficult for her yet? Who knows … but we’ll work on it.

Her weave poles were really nice up until an Open Jumping run on Saturday night where she took 5 steps to walk r e a l l y s l o w l y around each pole … goodness knows what got into her. She ran the rest of the course OK - but still hesitant-like.

Dog Walk was nice and smooth, however (only I would notice) she was consistently a toenail away from 2on 2off each time – I battled with myself whether to release her and keep her on the course (stay positive) or whether to take her off the course and let her know she was wrong – I chose the first option, seeing that she wasn’t bursting with confidence to start with … maybe I made the wrong choice, who knows?

Ticket only ran in games classes this weekend, I wanted to give her a “no pressure” weekend where Q's weren't our priority … and we had a great time. Of all her runs, she only knocked 2 bars down, her contacts were AWESOME! Absolutely AWESOME!!! Now I’ve just got to work out how I actually taught this!? Oooh, bad trainer … I should know what I’ve done, have it all noted down and tracked in my training diary and be able to apply again … shouldn’t I?

Anyway, the results were still pretty good over the whole weekend and we also managed to pick up a couple of titles along the way.

Ticket Q’d in 2nd Place Novice Gamblers and 1st Place Novice Snooker on Friday night, gaining her GD (Gambler Dog) Title, then another Q in 2nd Place in Gamblers on Sunday night.

Summer Q’d in Novice Snooker, Novice Gambler and also 2nd Place Novice Strategic Pairs on Friday night. Saturday night she Q’d in Excellent Jumping and Novice Agility taking 1st Place. Sunday night she Q’d in Novice Gambler and 4th Place in Strategic Pairs giving her and her partner, Brynbank Juston Midnite, their SPD (Strategic Pairs Dog) Titles!

Chilli redeemed herself, after missing the last jump on a number of courses, she qualified in Novice Gamblers on Sunday night.

I'm happy with that ... and I've got some homework to do!

The Western Classic Dog Show is on this weekend, starting Thursday night thru to Sunday night. I am showing in the conformation ring Thursday and Sunday with the Malinois, and Mum & Rene also with their Papillons, and Agility on Saturday night with Ticket and Summer. Hope it’s not too hot!

Gum Leaves!

2009-03-04T12:37:00.003+09:00

With the Summer months having nicely dried out our Australian bush, the remaining hot days become even more of a threat, along with the Autumn winds increasing each day, the fear of fire is ever present in our minds …

We have some beautiful big Gum Trees on our one acre block and they provide us with natural shade over our dog runs and kennels - without these trees our place would be much hotter. Therefore, each Summer we spend countless hours picking up (and cursing) Gum Leaves!

Guess what we the other day? ... it looked really nice afterwards!

Krash Malinois ... part of the furniture now!

2009-02-13T12:12:00.006+09:00

Funny how … as time goes by, the past is just like yesterday but feels like forever! Krash has been with us for just 6 weeks now and it feels like he’s been with us always. He has his daily routine and has fitted in so easily and happily. His little characteristics are slowly coming out and we’re seeing more of his humor and learning to understand and read him better.

He loves his squeaky toys and is the first dog we’ve had that doesn’t de-squeak and totally destroy them! I say this, hoping I don’t get home tonight to find all his toys ripped to shreds! This morning, he greeted me at his kennel door, doing his usual vertical bounce with excitement, however this time he had toy in mouth and squeaking it simultaneously with each up and down … he carried it to the back yard where we play in the mornings and insisted that this was the “toy of the day”.

Recently we shared one of our large stuffed toys with him: a life-size border collie … he just loved it!

"hmmm, Border Collie huh?"

"hey, it's attacking me!"

"now it's trying to get away!!!"

"got ya! now, let's play by my rules ...
come with me buddy!"

We also spent an evening down the park last week where he and Chilli got to spend some time together for the first time … with all her carry on about having a new dog on the block I think that deep down Chilli is just playing hard to get … she initiated some small play with him and actually looked like she enjoyed teasing him, however he was very careful not to overstep the mark ...

For my Agility Friends!

2009-02-13T12:06:00.002+09:00

Now, you all know how much I love the sport of Agility and going to Agility Trials with my dogs ... well here's an idea ...

Taking the transport of my "Agility Dogs" to a new level!

Do you think they'll take me seriously when I pull up at the next trial?

Krash Proofing!

2009-01-31T21:59:00.010+09:00

This boy has cost us a small fortune! We’ve “Krash Proofed” the place so Krash can live safely and comfortably, without the worry of accidental Malinois escape – over, under or around any containment lines!

Krash now has two yards … one with concrete floor, fully enclosed link mesh all round and on the roof, covered with shade cloth, situated in a shady spot under the gum trees where he can laze around and watch over the backyard.

The other is a grass yard, of which he originally thought good for open cut mining … started of with “bug catching”; a tiny little bug, a little scratch with the paw, a tiny little hole, the bug disappeared into the hole and there we began the mining! We realized something needed to be done … so weld mesh has been laid on the grass and the grass top dressed … after plenty of shoveling, wheel barrowing (up hill!), sweat and tears, it’s finally done! Along with the crooked top on the fence (just in case a Krash Malinois fell out whilst bouncing head and shoulders above the current 6ft fences).

I do hope he appreciates all this hard work we've done for him, in the middle of Summer!

Krash Malinois - A New Life

2009-01-31T21:59:00.009+09:00

Krash has settled in nicely, he’s gradually getting used to his new life, new routine and new family. Loving every minute of time with us, he is walking with me with German Shepherd friends down the road each morning. He is slowly learning the do’s and dont's; sit before going thru doorways, leave the girls alone, be nice to the boys, look at me and I'll reward you, etc.), he's not so obsessed with the cats (now that he has his own squeaky toys!) and is responding better to his name and coming back when called (that's going to be a challenge with distractions!), and he's interacting with me more and more, looking for my responses.

I am getting to know him better; learning what pushes his buttons, his likes and dislikes and learning to read his body language. It's quite a challenge getting to know an older dog ... at the back of your mind, you're always wondering if you're actually teaching them something or if they've already been thru all this and they're teaching you!

The other night we were enjoying a romp in the backyard … I sent him after a ball to one side of the yard and walked off in the other direction … I turned around to check, and saw him heading directly for me, with the ball, launching himself at me from about 10 meters way! I immediately crouched down as he flew straight over me with a huge grin on his face and ball in mouth! Phew, someone’s gotta tell that boy that I can’t catch a 25kg flying Malinois!!! So bringing the ball back has some rules now too … 4 feet on the ground to start with!

Krash went to two shows on the weekend, both days he was awarded Challenge Dog and Best of Breed. Thank You to those who offered your kind compliments on him. I actually enjoyed showing him, he is friendly and welcoming to the judge, he covers the ground beautifully on the move and very well mannered. I am sure we will enjoy many more shows together.

Krash Malinois!

2009-01-09T12:57:00.004+09:00

We have another Belgian Malinois ... Krash has been with us for just over week now and settled in easily. He is a very loving, affectionate dog and thrives on human contact which will make rewarding him quite easy ... once he learns what a reward is! Taking on an older dog is quite different to starting off with a new puppy and certainly something I never thought I would do … so here I am faced with the question of “where to start?”

During his first few years of life Krash has had a couple of homes, not because of bad behavior on his part nor abuse or neglect on any owners part, simply because of human-life circumstance. He has had minimal training and I don’t believe he has been treated badly by humans … he appears to have no inhibitions when meeting people, he greets some with a hug, and he wants to trust us when concerned about new things.

I have to thank Lyn & Greg Baile (Kiatasee Kennels, Mandurah WA) for allowing Krash to come and live with us and also Amanda Camiller (Vanrusselhof Malinois QLD) who was responsible for breeding him.

Establishing a relationship with Krash is my first job, which includes learning to read him, learning his likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses. Then teaching him about rewards and how to earn them is the next challenge, along with setting some rules and reinforcing good manners.

To look at, he is quite an awesome dog, very powerful and intelligent. Quite different to that of the “show line” Malinois (like Chilli), with a lovely strong head but gentle eyes and expression. He is a nice size, compact and on the smaller side - I am guessing that he’s around 56-57cm.

Krash will go to a few shows towards the end of January to get out and about, and hopefully gain some challenge points towards his Australian Champion title - he already has 12 … only 88 to go!

I will post updates as Krash settles in and as we get to know each other better.

Daylight Savings ...

2009-01-09T12:10:00.003+09:00

I've just got to say ... working with animals and daylight savings does NOT work!!! We only have 12 kennels here and I certainly don't envy those people who have 30-40 plus dogs to care for at this time of year.

Up at the crack of dawn to get everything dog-related done before the temperature rises, then sweat it out for the rest of the day with the daily tasks until about 7.30pm when it's cooled down enough for the dogs to get out and about again. Everyone back to bed around 9pm and you sit down for some dinner before falling into bed around 11pm ... toss and turn thru the night while the house tries to lose the heat it's absorbed during the day. Up again at 5am to start it all again!

This time of year ... an icy cold beer never tasted so good!

Zero Hip Score!

2008-12-27T15:44:00.004+09:00

Dodging seasons with an agility dog is downright annoying … so we decided to have Summer sterilized this month and while she was there we had her hips and elbows scored at the same time. We were thrilled when her hip score came back as a 0:0, plus elbows 0:0 – you don’t get any better than that!

Next year we will have Hunters (Summers litter brother) hips done.

Malinois Puppies - not this time ... there's more exciting news!

2008-12-27T15:30:00.005+09:00

Chilli had her ultrasound last Wednesday to confirm whether or not she was expecting puppies … not this time! Personally, I had mixed emotions: firstly relieved that I didn’t have to find nice homes for a possible 10 Malinois babies but also disappointed that the opportunity of having that Malinois puppy that I was going personally pick and raise from day one was not going to transpire … well, not this time anyway.

In the meantime, something else exciting has come about … Vanrusselhof Krash is coming to live with us! After Chilli’s rendezvous with Krash, when he also stayed with us for a short time, he managed to weave his way into our hearts, so much so that we didn’t want him to leave. Now he will be coming to stay for good! Thank You to Lyn & Greg Baile for trusting us with Krash and allowing us to adopt him.

Krash will be chasing his Show Champion title next year and hopefully try his paw at some other fun stuff once he has settled in. Stay tuned for updates and more pic’s after he arrives early January.

Chilli will finally have another Malinois in her pack!

Last Agility Trial for 2008

2008-12-15T13:10:00.003+09:00

Saturday night was the last Agility & Jumping Trial for this year. It was a hot day and Novice Jumping started right on time, in the heat of the afternoon at 6pm (with daylight saving that means it’s really 5pm temperature-wise). I hate the heat at the best of times and running is certainly not my best physical skill, however Summer was 5th dog in the Novice Jumping class so I psyched myself into energy mode to run the fastest I could (yes Gina, I can still hear your voice!). Summer ran a lovely clear round and Qualified in 2nd Place to gain her JD Title.

Ticket also did some nice runs but no “Q’s” … her contacts were awesome, and for the first time ever at a trial, she did the see-saw perfectly first up in each agility run! That’s a huge achievement for her .. something we’ve been working on in the last month. Our faults were all handler oriented and I take full responsibility. Ticket did everything I asked her to do.

Good thing about starting so early was we finished at a fairly descent hour and plenty of people hung around to share some Christmas cheer. It was nice to see so much laughing and fun between friends, and a great way to wind up the year.

Until next year ...

New Papillon Champion!

2008-12-15T12:57:00.004+09:00

This weekend our little Papillon “Satu” gained her Australian Champion Title … at just 15 months old, this little girl has the most outgoing and vibrant, and sometimes very trying, personality and is well known for her cute expression.

She also went through to win "Junior in Group!" ... a lovely way to finish her champion title!

Groomed to perfection by Heather and shown by Rene.

Congratulations “Aust Ch. Fyaril Westn Fairytale”!

Malinois Puppies! ... Chilli meets Krash

2008-11-17T20:26:00.007+09:00

Chilli’s rendezvous this weekend meant that her chosen mate, Krash (pictured above), had to stay with us for a few days. Krash is a happy boy, outgoing and very affectionate, he greets strangers with a hug and is very well mannered, a pleasure to have around. It’s been nice to spend time with another Malinois and we are grateful to his owners, Lyn & Greg Baile (Kiatasee Kennels), for trusting us with him.

“Krash”, otherwise known as Vanrusselhof Krash, was bred by Amanda Russell at Vanrusselhof Malinois Kennels in Queensland. His father is the famous AUST/DKBR/DK Ch Bryan Vom Haus Mecki IPO3 SchH3 Imp NWY “Bryan” and mother is “Enca” (Vanrusselhof Enca), both of whom I met when I traveled to Queensland 2 years ago and spent some time with Enca at her home with Amanda. I’ve always admired Bryan and followed his many successes with interest. You can read more about both of them at the Vanrusselhof website.

Most of you know our “Chilli”, AUST Ch Vanrusselhof On Fire JD … a pretty, well conformed girl from Show Lines, also with a lovely temperament. This combination (Chilli x Krash) is a great opportunity to combine some of the best working bloodlines and attractive show lines, and we expect some nice puppies suitable for show, agility, obedience, tracking and family companions.

Now … we wait … for about 5 weeks and Chilli will have an ultrasound to confirm that she is pregnant.

All going well puppies will be due on 17th January 2009!

All photo’s on this post are “Krash”
Full pedigree details can be seen on our website: www.westurnborders.com/puppies.htm

Summer Q's and Tickets debut in Masters!

2008-11-11T12:42:00.004+09:00

This weekend’s trials, although not quite as successful as last weekend, included a number of personal achievements …

Young Summer ran in two classes, firstly Open Jumping – the level of difficulty way above her ability but we made our own course and she successfully negotiated some of the difficult on-course challenges – it was a positive experience for her. She also ran in Novice Jumping and qualified in 2nd Place for her 2nd Q towards her JD title.

No quallies for Ticket and a number of bars down this weekend … however this was her very first run in Masters Jumping and “wow” I was proud of her (and me). We certainly didn’t make a fool of ourselves and she managed to make it round the course, negotiating most of the difficult sequences successfully, I certainly felt that there is a possibility that we may just have some fun in the masters class!

Our training focus this week has been contacts. Although Ticket’s see-saw still needs proofing her a-frame and dog walk contacts were almost perfect! She held each one until I released her, keeping her there much longer than needed I even had time to slip in a “good girl” while she waited at the contact zone as I sprinted past. That’s an achievement that I was almost ready to give up on a few months ago!

I think it’s been a pretty successful year!

Applause!!!

2008-11-04T19:49:00.004+09:00

Applause Ticket … that little girl (above) who I never thought would get off the start line! This weekend we had double jumping and agility trials and what a great weekend of trailling it was. Overall, Ticket came away with three “Q’s”, all 1st Places and two new titles!

Our first run for the weekend was Excellent Jumping – it was fast and clear! “Awesome” I thought, "what a great start to the night!" The rest of our jumping runs unfortunately incurred a fault or two, although not lots of bars down (as we have had in the past), just simple mistakes, so I was still pretty happy with our efforts and really pleased with that first Q as it also completed Tickets' Jumping Dog Excellent (JDX) title … oh scary, that means we’re in Masters now! That will be interesting!

It must have been a weekend for 1st’’s … our first Agility run was also clean and fast, and completed Tickets Agility Dog (AD) Title! It was a lovely run however I did let her off the a-frame contact a little quicker than I should have (bad handler!), so my plan was, in our next run (Open Agility), to hold our contacts - which we did, and she obliged very nicely waiting for my “OK” to release her. Considering the word “stop” is not in Ticket’s vocabulary I think she did extremely well. Both our Open runs were NQ’s but she did very nice contacts (which was my main goal for this weekend) so regardless of our small errors Ticket still got her jackpot to celebrate her efforts. Our last run for the night was another run in Novice Agility – seeing we had already qualified once in this class early in the night (completing her AD title) this was a Q we didn’t need, so I probably handled with a little less apprehension and instead of playing it safe, I pushed Ticket for a bit more speed and raced her thru the course with real determination … Wow! It was the best run we have ever done … just awesome!!! Not one bar tipped, contacts fast, accurate and held until released without doubt and beautiful weaves leading into a tunnel (her favourite excuse to pop the weaves!) … I don’t know if anyone video’d this run but if they did I would love to see it from the outside!

Chilli also ran in novice agility this weekend, missed her weave pole entry both times, but otherwise a very nice effort. Note to self: take Chilli to club training to practice weave poles AWAY from home!

Rocket … little trouper he is … ran in Masters Jumping. His first attempt was a bit of a flop, he resisted jumping a few jumps and knocked a bar (yes, his 2.8kg little body actually managed to knock a bar down!), so I withdrew him and gave him a good massage and off to bed to rest. At present I am unsure if he is sometimes hesitating when jumping because he is hurting or finds it difficult or if he’s just not stimulated by the whole exercise … he did run Masters Jumping again that night, a great little run but missed the second-last jump (I’m still kicking myself) on a long and challenging course!

So the weekend finished with Ticket (above) taking 1st Place for all three “Q’s” … 1st Place overall in AD (twice) and JDX, against all heights and nearly 3 seconds ahead of the 2nd Place in Excellent Jumping!

Golly ... that means we’re in Masters Jumping this weekend!
Stay tuned to see how we go ...

Rene' is now a Group 5 Conformation Judge!

2008-10-27T12:36:00.002+09:00

Just having a little brag here … my sister, Rene', qualified and finished her Group 5 Judges Licence last week. Now she can judge Group 5 (Working Dogs) at Championship Shows!

Next on the agenda … she will start studying for Group 1 (Toy Dogs).

Well done Rene'!

No "Q's" but plenty to Celebrate!

2008-10-23T12:17:00.002+08:00

Not much to report on the results side of things from the GSDA trial last Saturday. However, I’ve got to say I was wrapped with Ticket’s agility runs … one fly-off on the see-saw but every other contact (Dog Walk’s and A-Frame’s) she did beautifully! I was so pleased that the judge had to interrupt my celebration at the end of Novice Agility to tell me we didn’t “Q”. Yeah, I knew that, but she did all her contacts, didn’t freak at the table (she hate’s stationery exercises) and she nailed a really difficult weave pole entry with me racing her thru to front cross at the end for a tricky finishing sequence! I was just thrilled with our little bit of personal success … Ticket’s contacts have been an ongoing issue that I doubted we would see improvement on.

OK, she’s not going to be the world champion or anything but geeze I’ve learnt a lot, and still learning. Some friends video'd most of our runs on Saturday and just watching us together on course, I am was pleasantly surprised. It's great to actually 'see' what you've done rather than assess your handling just from your memory of running the course. Thanks for the video guys!

No trials for a couple of weeks now so time to catch up on work around home …

Awesome Malinois wins Silver at the Worlds!

2008-10-20T13:51:00.004+08:00

At the World Agility Championships held in Helsinki, Finland in September this year a Belgian Malinois won Silver Medal (in Individual Large Class). The team was Jan Egil Eide and his dog “Cirkus” from Norway … and wow, what a team. Just watching this clip of one of their individual runs sends shivers down my spine … have a look for yourself: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=KwiezTZAf-E.

I was surprised to read that Cirkus is a female and a fairly small one at that (measuring just 55cm). Her power and passion are awe-inspiring and her handler, Jan, is a remarkable handler.

Wow … what an awesome team! Certainly an inspiration to me ...

Had to share this as I was so pleased to see a Mal up there showing the world what awesome dogs they are, and giving the BC's a run for their money!

You can read more about Cirkus and his family at their website: http://www.agilitymalle.no/indexe.htm.

Ticket's Ultimatum

2008-10-16T13:30:00.004+08:00

Last week I gave Ticket an ultimatum … she has until the end of the year to start showing some contact behavior control IN the trial ring, otherwise she will be withdrawn from all agility classes next year, and only run jumping classes. Over the past few weeks we have worked very hard on our contact training, ensuring that I clearly reinforced the exact contact behavior that I wanted from her, adding unusual distractions and not allowing any “grey-areas” on either side of that criterion. With Ticket, the slightest slip up on my part, in not being absolutely precise, creates an opportunity that she will most certainly take advantage of!

Last Sunday we trialled at the Agility Club of WA’s Agility, Jumping & Games trial (Ticket pictured above) … we had four runs that included contact obstacles, two of them being Games where I could, if I wanted to, legally do the contacts numerous times in the ring. Our first run was Open Agility and we managed to fault on the weave poles, only the third obstacle, so the run became a “training run” and Ticket did the most awesome contacts, holding both A-Frame and Dog Walk contacts until I released her! We pretty much destroyed the rest of the course and I’m sure the judge thought I was crazy as I jackpotted Ticket at the end of the run! Wow, finally a light at the other end of the tunnel …

Our next run was Snooker … she did a lovely dog walk contact but jumped off the A-Frame. I stopped instantly, picked her up and carted her off the car for a quite minute so she could think about what she had just done.

Novice Agility was her third run and, oh boy, what a ride!!! She nailed both contacts (above) and blitzed the course time, Qualifying and claiming first place easily! Although as a handler, I was a little naughty, I did release her off the contacts very quickly, not holding her there for a millisecond each time in order to reinforce her control … we had one more run in Novice Gamblers to resurrect this.

As you set your own course in Gamblers I picked a circuit where we could do all the contacts twice. At one point I actually took her back and asked her to get back on the A-Frame contact in order to reinforce the “wait” at the bottom … and we still managed to Qualify and take 4th Place!

All in all we ended up with 1st Place in Novice Agility and 4th Place in Novice Gamblers … and time will tell if we can keep this mission on track.

Credit: above photo's by Tim Abidin (www.yourdogphotos.com)

Perth Royal 2008

2008-10-08T20:30:00.003+08:00

Another Royal Show been and gone and "wow" what a week! To sum it up we had a pretty good Royal this year.

Collectively (between Mum, Rene and I) we …

Monday 29th September (also Mum’s birthday!)

We competed in Agility & Jumping. Summer, Chilli and Rocket all did really well. This was Summer and Chilli’s very first time at agility for a Royal and I am proud to say that my two young novice girls did extremely well. Courses set with weave poles heading directly towards the crowd, the dog walk alongside the busiest edge of the ring and commentating blasting thru the PA over the ring areas; I think they both came away with a positive experience. Summer ended up with a 3rd place in Novice Agility and little Rocket placed 2nd in Excellent Agility, he has been to a couple of Royals now but this was his first “Q” at one. Summer & Rocket pictured below ...

Tuesday 30th September

Rene handled Chow Chows in the Conformation Ring and came away with a Challenge Bitch and Runner-up Best of Breed with her “little black bitch”!

Wednesday 1st October

Working Dogs were on in the Conformation Ring and young Hunter and Chilli were both entered. Hunter placed 3rd in his class, Intermediate Dog, and enjoyed the hugs and pats from the crowd for the rest of the day. Chilli showed nicely and was awarded Best of Breed Belgian Malinois ... pictured below ...

I also had the pleasure, once again, of showing "Quosh" (imp Germany), the most adorable German Shepherd I have ever known (pictured below). At nearly 10 years of age, probably the last Royal we will spend together - thank you Margaret & Eric. Quosh showed proudly and was the only representative of the German Shepherd Dog in the Veteran Class ... a great ambassador for the breed.

Thursday 2nd October

We assisted with one of the demo’s in the evening after conformation showing had finished. The deal is that the conformation exhibitors get to leave at 5pm providing a dog demonstration of some kind is done every evening. So that’s my bit for the conformation world at the royal!

Friday 3rd October

Papillon’s were in the Conformation Ring. Comet wasn’t impressed with the side show alley rides nearby and consequently didn’t show very well however still picking up a 2nd Place – strange because he quite enjoyed the Royal last year. On the other hand, young Satu won Bitch Challenge and Runner-up Best of Breed, only just gone 12 months old and now only needs some 15 or so points for her Champion Title!

So overall our week was a good one and we were pretty successful with all our ventures, and once again, with our eyeballs hanging out in exhaustion, we’re wondering why we do this to ourselves every year!

Gosnells Agility Trial - 13th September

2008-09-22T12:48:00.002+08:00

Just a quick update on last weekend’s agility trials at Gosnells Dog Club … it’s a tad late but hey, better late than never.

We had a good morning. Somehow Ticket managed a Q and 1st Place in Open Jumping. Yes I was pleased, even tho I only said it was "good" ... but I do know that that run was not pretty (not in my books anyway)! I somehow found myself in the wrong spot on course, nowhere near where I intended to be when I walked the course and we blundered thru that section. How she didn’t drop any bars was nobody’s business but we crossed the finish line clear and fast! I get a bit annoyed with myself when I let things like that happen - I don't "like" qualifying (even winning) when I've handled so crappy ... kind of feel a little undeserving ... but regardless, we’ll take the Q!

Summer on the other hand did extremely well, competing in both Novice Agility and Jumping, both clear runs and Qualifying in 2nd Place for Novice Agility and winning 1st Place in Novice Jumping!!!

I am really pleased with this little girl, we still have a lot of skills to perfect as yet but she was happy and confident in the ring – that was my main goal for this trial. Summer is also going the Royal next week and after that we will be back to training before tackling any more trials for a while.

Stay tuned for Royal Show updates next week …

Agility Nationals - Melbourne 2008

2008-09-05T08:55:00.010+08:00

Well, that's my first experience of travelling to a Nationals and Ihave to say I think Melbourne did an awesome job! The "hugeness" of it all is alomost overwhelming and the mammoth task of having to co-ordinate so many entries is frightening!!!

We arrived early in the week so had a few extra days to aclimatise to the grounds at KCC Park (below ... including beautiful blue skies!)

The training area was probably the worst of all the grounds - a little muddy in areas - this (below) was Thursday morning with a few WA'ers getting a feel for the local equipment.

Ticket settled into her new accommodation well, comfortable running in the paddock and taking advantage of the local fence posts for some "send out" practice ... here I'm trying to send her "out" and drive the camera at the same time!

We picked up our hire car on Tuesday monring ... have wheels, will travel!

Wednesday we visited friends, Donna and her two lovely Koolies, Flex and Rain (below), and retired Rough Collie, Jasper. Did a little agility training and Flex did a little tracking, showing off her style that recently gained her Tracking Champion title.

The Nationals trials started on Friday with Games and a few standard classes. Ticket did actually qualify in Novice Gamblers ... which was not a Q I was really looking for but hey, we'll take it!

We met up with Camilla from Graebelge Belgian Shepherds (pictured below with baby Terv in face!) ... she's a little camera shy!

... and I finally got to meet Sarah with Malinois, Arinya, who both did some nice runs together over the weekend (pictured together below).

Our little group ordered a Marquee for the weekend and with the eight of us (and six dogs) we still had plenty of room to put up some warm-up jumps ... I think that's the closest we're ever gonna get to our indoor training arena!

Over the weekend, I found the communication excellent, announcing over the PA's when rings were open for walking and when they were changing heights, etc. The weather gods were on our side, with beautiful warm, sunny most of the time, only needing wet weather gear on Sunday ... how lucky was that?! Glad I only invested in the cheap old Rainbird pants and jacket!

"Ticket" did an amazing job coping with everything ... her usual one fault here and there trick, keeping her from qualifying, but I am still proudof her, considering a couple of years ago I doubted that she would ever get off the start line, and I certainly never expected to be able to travel her to a National ... despite so many people wanting to look at and talk to her she still managed to hold her start lines and she tried very hard on course, with just a few ghosts here and there. It certainly keeps you humble owning a dog like Tick.

I met lots of nice people from different states and felt really welcomed by the Victorians. I was proud of our West Aussie competitors for their fine handling and impressive results, dominating many of the top 7 placings!

My heart sank when WA dog, Samroc, accidentally hit the tyre which fell and landed on him, he was unable to move. He was rushed off to the nearby 24 hour vet hospital, I felt sick and sad for his Mum/handler, Jules, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who gave my dog an extra hug and struggled to re-focus. Fortunately there were a number of veterinarians and nurses who were albe to assist immediately. Glad to hear now however, that Samroc is moving about and slowly improving ... hugs to Sammy and Jules.

It's inspiring to come home to Agility in WA where we really do have the best weather, the best facilities, the best equipment and, in my opinion, the best handlers/trainers in Australia!

Well done WA'ers and congrat's to Melbourne for a successful National event! Looking forward to 2010 when the next Nationals will be held in Perth!!!

Photo's

2008-08-24T16:30:00.008+08:00

Just sharing some of these pic's we've taken over the last few weeks at home ... while it's still very chilly outside everyone loves to be in the warm lounge.

Carrie, in disguise with her Dalmatian sleeping bag!

Chilli, very privileged on the lounge!

Cash, just keeping one eye on the toy ...

Carrie, still in the warmest spot ...

Cash with his sucky pillow

It's a Chilli Scarf ... my real, live neck warmer!

Agility Nationals 2008 ... here we come!

2008-08-22T15:19:00.003+08:00

Ticket and I are off to the Nationals in Melbourne on Monday. We've done everything possible to get ourselves warmed up and ready for the challenge of three days trialling with some of the best agility teams in Australia and New Zealand.

Let's hope the weather is kind to us and everyone heading East from Western Australia has a successful trip ... good luck everyone!

We'll update on our return in a few weeks time.

I'd like to thank all my team mates!

2008-08-22T15:10:00.003+08:00

A little late with this update but hey, better late than never!

I'd like to thank all my team mates ... Team "Rocket Fuel" competed last weekend at the Agility Club Teams Event. Out of 19 teams we came in at 5th Place ... I gotta say myself, not a bad effort, considering all dogs on this team were mine, and run by me. Team Captain, Rocket, was not feeling the best so surrendered his runs for our reserve, however he was still there to cheer the team on. All kids did a great job: Ticket (who did an awesome Jumping round), baby Summer, Sketch and Carrie. Thanks kids!

Summer also competed in Strategic Pairs in the afternoon with partner, Pippa (another BC) & Amanda Houston. We came in 2nd Place for Summers very first "Q Card"!

TODAY is going to be a GOOD DAY!

2008-08-11T12:11:00.003+08:00

When I got up yesterday morning I said to myself “today is going to be a good day!” … and it was! Actually it was an excellent day! I must say this more often ...

We had the Canine Fundraiser Double Header Agility & Jumping trials and aside from being a little windy, the weather was very kind to us: warm sunny day and dry grounds. I trialled Chilli in her novice classes and Ticket in the usual standard and open classes.

Chilli only needed one more Q in Novice Jumping to gain her Jumping Dog Title (JD) and she complimented us with two clear rounds just to make sure. Now sporting her new title ... Ch Vanrusselhof On Fire JD (pic’s by Tim Abidin)

Ticket also did some great work ... she Qualified in 2nd Place in Open Jumping and won Excellent Jumping. That takes her Q’s towards her JDX to 4 – she only needs one more pass in Excellent Jumping and she will be in Masters! Can you believe that? I can’t! A while back I never even thought that I’d be able to take this little girl any further than Novice!

Ticket worked beautifully for me – keeping most of her bars up and trying very hard to do the right thing! She seems to be moving better over and around the jumps, using her rear end more and maybe a little more conscious of keeping the bars up. Our weaves and contacts were a little sloppy, she was releasing her self (well actually, she wasn’t even stopping) on the contacts all day … but something’s gotta give seeing we’ve been focusing only on jumping over the last few weeks. So weaves and contacts are back on the training agenda, starting tonight.

Anyway, I am thrilled with her progress … with only two and a half weeks till the Nationals!

Another "Q" for Chilli

2008-07-30T12:11:00.004+08:00

Saturday just gone we had the German Shepherd Club Agility & Jumping Trial. Chilli competed again in Novice Agility and Jumping. We bombed out in Agility (missed the weave pole entry) however Novice Jumping saw Chilli qualify in 2nd Place!

Some pic’s below, by Tim Abidin (www.yourdogphotos.com), from Chilli’s Agility run …

Ticket on the other hand bombed out in all runs, with the odd knocked bar or silly mistake. Her last run of the day, Open Jumping, was lovely, however the distance challenge proved to be a little too challenging for us. Overall I was still pleased with her efforts.

A couple of weeks till the next trial now …

More Swimming ...

2008-07-30T11:50:00.008+08:00

As promised, I'm posting some pic's of Ticket's swimming session this morning. Today she worked hard, putting a lot more effort in than in previous sessions - I think she is really starting to enjoy it. She will push herself off the step to get going and is trying hard to keep up with me walking alongside the pool now. We practiced some "come's" and "back's" which revved her up a little too ... I think she was waiting for the "jump"!

Chilli also came along for the first time today ... apart from stepping in at the deep end I think she also enjoyed her swim.

Swimming Lessons for Ticket

2008-07-29T09:35:00.003+08:00

Just recently we introduced Ticket to the exercise of swimming. Working towards the Nationals I felt that Ticket doesn’t get enough aerobic exercise – she will run agility until she is giddy or capricious, however that exercise is always stop/start with breaks in-between drills, etc. and you can’t do that continually for a good ½ hour or so.

She won’t play ball or run free just for the sake of running and is continually in my face hassling me for the cue on what to do next – ever keen and raring to go, muscles tight and intense.

Therefore, we decided she needed to start some sort of exercise that would get the heart rate up for a longer period of time without exhausting her. Swimming seemed like a good option, being no impact on the joints, gentle on the muscles and continual movement.

We booked in at the Dog Pool, a purpose built, indoor facility located in the Canning Vale Kennel Area. The pool is warm, clean and you always have the whole pool to yourself during your appointment.

Well … what a surprise! Firstly Ticket needed a little convincing (push) to enter the water, once off the steps without any support she just started to sink. She seemed to have no fear or panic, and she didn’t start to move her legs until her head started to go under. She only moved her front legs, a little doggy paddle, just enough to keep her floating. We encouraged her along the side of the pool but she wasn’t using her back legs at all and kept rolling over, floating around sideways and sometimes upside-down!

The longer we kept her in the water the better she got at it. Still not using her back legs to their fullest, but she was learning that when she started to roll she had to kick to straighten up.

Ticket is becoming a better swimmer now, we are taking her twice a week for about ½ hour at a time. Each time she is getting better at it and I’m even able to get her to sprint from one end of the pool to me at the other end and, dare I say, I think she might even be enjoying it.

At no point has she shown any panic or stress, she has been very calm and relaxed right from the introduction of the whole exercise, she was even quite happy for Ally (the Dog Pool owner) to be around and help out.

I would recommend this place to anyone wanting to give their dog some regular, passive exercise. The only hassle is getting the dogs dry at this time of year ... if you're as crazy as us and go swimming in Winter!

Will post progress reports of Ticket’s swimming lessons as we continue, and hopefully some photo's when we remember to take the camera.

Ticket is Back on Track!

2008-07-14T13:27:00.006+08:00

The last few weeks have seemed like months, with having to keep Ticket on minimal exercise and gradually get her back into her training I have realized at just how much I enjoy the challenge of working with this, sometimes frustrating, little dog. Her passion to work and the power in her physical efforts is awe-inspiring – she motivates me.

Last week was Tickets first week of a few “real” training sessions with the ACWA Double Header Agility Trial on Saturday just gone. She had little practice away from home however she put 100% effort in and tried her little heart out. OK, only 1 Qualifier all day, with the odd bar down and a missed weave pole entry in the other runs, however that first run of the day earned her 1st Place in Novice Agility!

These pic’s, above and below, taken by Tim Abidin, were in the Excellent Jumping ring … notice the lovely lake in the middle of the ring!

… yep, that bar came down! …

… but this one stayed up!

It’s great to have Ticket back on course as my team mate – even if her demanding desire to go as fast as 'dog-ly' possible does drive me insane at times. Well done little girl … look’n forward to the Nationals, regardless of the results!

Summer, Westurn Secret Sonrise, (above) made her debut and competed in the novice jumping ring for the first time. Summer made me proud … a little unsure of all the fuss, will all eyes on her from outside the ring, but she did an excellent job. Although no qualifiers for her this day, I am more than pleased as our mistakes were my vague handling and are minor hiccups in the whole scheme of things, thinking this is just the beginning of her future career in agility.

I have to say, I am looking forward to our future together ... she is pleasure to run, very neat, smooth and graceful … I can’t help but compare her to her Uncle Cash (Edenbrae Western Mustang) who now enjoys the comfort of the lounge. Just gotta get her out there so she gets used to the whole trial environment thing, competition nerves and all!

This was her Novice Jumping run …

Our sweet Sketch also had a couple runs in Jumping with this other Mum, Alison Smylie …

No trials now for a couple of weeks ... until next time!

Chilli's first run in "Agility"

2008-07-08T12:59:00.001+08:00

Chilli and I have had a couple of shots in the Novice Jumping ring in the past few months; however at Sunday’s trial (Cloverdale Canine Companions Dog Club) Chilli also competed in Novice Agility for the very first time. It was a freezing morning but fined up to be a beautiful day. Chilli ran clear and qualified in both Jumping and Agility, both times in 2nd Place. Both are her first Q’s towards her novice titles and I’m proud of her ability to perform her contacts and weaves nicely with little practice.

Chilli is not a “to die for agility” dog and could easily live without it and if training goes for too long she goes on strike! So our training sessions are fewer than I would usually like and they are short – I only get a small window to get things right so learning skills like the weaves feels like quite a drawn out procedure, hence my surprise when she has her “light bulb” moments and shows me how much she has retained from the previous training session … and to see her casually nose thru the weavers in the trial ring was a bit of a relief, and now I know that she has actually retained some of what we’ve been learning!

Anyway, one proud Mum here with a very laid back young Malinois couch potato!

Troubled Times for Ticket

2008-06-22T17:48:00.003+08:00

For those who know Ticket, who rarely shows any pain and had never been sick or injured (dare I say that again!) the last week has been a bit of a shock! Friday last (13th June) she was very lethargic, however she had been for Bowen Therapy the day before and this could have been a common reaction after her first Bowen treatment so we thought it 'normal'. From there on she went downhill ... not eating, then throwing up what she did try to eat, increasingly lethargic and at times, looking almost drowsy. At times she perked up, but reverted back to the somber, sluggish composure and walking around very carefully.

By Monday she looked much worse and it was definitely NOT related to the Bowen Therapy. It was so gradual that it was hard to pick when things actually started to go wrong.

We spent Monday evening at the vet (till about 9pm) and had urine, bloods, x-rays, etc., and after finding a large lump in her abdomen she went for ultrasound first thing Tuesday morning and subsequently operated on that afternoon to remove the lump, an obstruction, from her intestine and along with about 10cm of dead intestine!

The "lump" in question turned out to be some kind of material ... don't ask me where she got it or how! Ticket rarely eats anything other than food, she doesn't chew up toys (nor does she care for them) and for her to eat a foreign object is quite out of character ... besides, she is rarely loose in the house, or unsupervised, and her exercise areas are all paved, fully fenced with no gardens and her free-run time is always WITH me.

Just goes to show - doesn't matter how careful you are, things can still go wrong.
Good news is that it is/was nothing nasty (now it's out!) … tough little cookie she is, as she rarely shows pain and they say she would have been in quite a bit of pain.

She spent the next few days in hospital, on a drip as she hadn’t actually digested any food for some 4-5 days ... she coped incredibly well, staying in a strange place and being handled by total strangers and fortunately we had some very nice, understanding nurses to put our trust in.

We visited her the next day, Wednesday afternoon. I was surprised at just how well she had adapted, she actually liked the nurses and would go to them ... funny what these creatures do when they have to, hey? She was happy for them to handle her and I do think that she trusted them.

I called in to see her again on Thursday during my lunch break and she was up and about, without her drip now and very happy to see me. I couldn’t see why she had to stay another night at the vet but I couldn’t convince him otherwise so she had another night to go. I took her back to her bed before leaving and she was quite willing and happy to go, leading the way thru the operating theatre to her temporary home … I had to wonder if she thought that this was her life now, seeing she was so accepting of it all.

Anyways, other than looking pretty lean and a little tired, she was quite perky when I said "are you ready?" she answered me ... "ready" is her cue to come play/training with me and in response she answers me with an instant drop flat on the ground with her tail wagging.

Ticket came home on Friday. I have to wonder if she'd started to think that the surgery was going to be her new home as she'd settled in so well with the nurses and their routine, and she certainly wasn't stressed when she left. Maybe some good will come from all of this – it may have taught her that she CAN trust other people?

The only remaining concern was that the first lot of solid food that she had eaten, that morning, came out the right end ... and the momentous occasion was just after lunch time when Ticket finally did a poo!

Now, sporting a 16cm scar, she's enjoying all the attention, three meals a day and a free pass to use Cash's lounge chair near the heater!

Today, Sunday (nearly a week since this ordeal started), she's almost back to her usual self ... ready to go. She came to the show with us this morning for a short walk and mingle amongst the humans ... resting now, on the back patio in the sunshine, looking adoringly at the agility equipment in the backyard ... now, how do I tell her no jumping or running for at least 2 to 3 weeks?

She will be on soft food for while, rested for a couple of weeks till the insides heal, starting light exercise in the 3rd/4th week and gradually building up back to normal by the 5th week ...

Just wondering ... did she hear me talking about going to the Nationals? Well there’s still no excuse for her not to be able to go (but I’m not telling her that yet!). I’m sure she’ll be fighting fit and raring to go sooner rather than later.

Solitary Man ... Sketch

2008-06-09T12:34:00.001+08:00

Over the past few months Sketch has been working with a new handler, Alison Smylie. As they have been getting to know each other better and bonding Alison has learnt heaps and progressed in leaps and bounds … and Sketch has gradually worked out Alison’s weaknesses (as our dogs often do) and now beginning to take advantage of the nice person that Alison is by trying to make up his own rules.

They have practiced at a few trials in the NFC (not for competition) classes and have had a number of very nice, successful runs in jumping.

To put a spanner in the works, early on Sketch also became quite ill. After many tests, results were pointing towards a liver problem and the next step was a liver biopsy. Our vet suggested trying a low-residue diet first which, even tho it’s expensive it is still cheaper than following the path of surgery for now. His health has improved and he appears to be on the road to recovery. He is becoming more opinionated and rather than doing as he’s told he is doing as he pleases so he’s obviously feeling much better!

Time for change … Alison has done a brilliant job learning how to focus and handle this young challenge … now focus will be on his discipline and team-work.

Stay tuned for updates on this team.

Catching Up ... and Ticket

2008-06-09T12:11:00.002+08:00

It’s been a while between posts … I’ve been somewhat preoccupied with other things however we’re back on track and refocusing our training.

Over the past few months I’ve been a little distracted (or destructed!) by Ticket’s bar-knocking issues. These things do get you down sometimes, particularly when you go to a double header and 8 out of 8 runs NON-qualified because of ONE bar down in each. Yes, I do acknowledge that out of some 100+ bars only 10 may have come down (that’s nearly 10%) however that’s enough to get you down when you start adding up the entry fees and continual non-Q’s over the months/years.

What do you do with a dog like Ticket? Yes, she has “issues” to deal with when around people and on the surface the untrained eye would not even know how much she has to deal with … however, there’s something about the speed and ability of this little dog that keeps me going and I’m not ready to give up on her yet!

We’re refocusing our training back to basic skills – mainly jumping – and the first step is to get her jumping thru the tyre without kicking off with her back feet! Something she’s been doing and we’ve only just realized which may be partly the cause for bars being knocked too – she doesn’t know that it’s wrong and the hardest thing is working out how to teach her that it’s wrong.

She tries VERY hard for me and I know she doesn’t do it on purpose, nor does she not care … if she didn’t care then she would be knocking ALL the bars down – right?

We did have some positives at yesterdays Northern Suburbs Double Header Agility Trial. Ticket did a couple of lovely runs with minor problems, a couple of times we blew our weave pole entry (another skill we’re going to be working on over the next month) but no bars down … YES! I was happy with that (I know how to fix the weave pole problem) … a couple of runs with a bar down but she worked very nicely and one run clear in Open Jumping for Ticket to take 2nd Place to Gina O’Keefe’s BC “Dom”, one of our fastest dogs here … gotta say, I was pretty happy with that and we finished the day feeling a little more successful than at some of our past trials.

So lot’s of skill training on the menu for the next month … jumping, weaving, jumping, contacts, jumping and more jumping!

Pacco de Mongrel

2008-05-10T14:47:00.004+08:00

Introducing Paco de Mongrel ...

"Here comes Pacco de Mongrel, the incorrigible black mutt borned on 3 March 2005 and adopted on 25 April 2005. I'm no pure breed, but I'm PURE black. I might looks pathetic, cause being black, I'm neither photogenic nor cute at all. However, I'm cool and mysterious. I'm possess a pair of long sexy legs, it enable me to leap further and jump higher. With my current achievement, Highest & Longest Jumper. Watch out for the 'UNCIVILIZED MONGREL' who loves to perform 'SWEET ESCAPE'."

Over the last few months I've really been enjoying reading this Blog and finally added a link to it from my Blog Page too.

Written from the dog's point of view, an adopted dog in Malaysia, who does agility, flyball, obedience and many other doggie related things ... interesting and entertaining, including their trips to the local islands for trials, etc., and some non-doggy related stuff.

I think Pacco is very modest in her intro ... from what I see she is very photogenic and pretty! Some great photo's too!

Check it out ...

Zero Tolerance!

2008-05-09T12:10:00.003+08:00

Just thinking out aloud here …

At training last night Ticket almost tipped me over the edge … pushing my patience to the limit knocking 90% of bar jumps to the ground. She was not focused and she was racing me. I raised my voice (which is not like me) and finished the evening (for Ticket) on a negative … it’s a bit hard to finish a jumping course on a positive when all the bars are on the ground! I’d have to say I was almost tempted to throw in the towel and stick her on the “retired” list … but my stubbornness won’t allow me to let this challenge beat me, plus I've invested far too much in our relationship to let this go now.

Ticket trained nicely on Tuesday night and we actually moved together on course, like one. She was tuned in and I felt we had a real connection … then last night you would have thought she was a different dog. It’s the inconsistent and unpredictable behaviors that make her really hard to work with, sometimes to the point where it leaves you feeling quite frustrated and for me, close to tears.

I know it’s not all my fault … yes, sometimes I am late with a cue or front cross, yes I sometimes don't move quick enough, yes I should work on rear cross skills more … but hey! Give me a break! For goodness sake, I am trying and I AM consistent with my handling commands and it’s not all my responsibility … we are supposed to be a TEAM and that means there’s more than ONE of us!

I do see moments of brilliance and potentional in Ticket and that keeps that dim light glimmering at the end of the tunnel … but I tell you, it’s a bloody long tunnel!

Ronda Carter gave me two options when Ticket performed like this at the end of the seminar weekend a couple of weeks ago … she felt that Ticket was a very capable jumper and that she handles jumping nicely when she wants to, therefore she doesn't need to learn HOW to jump. She offered two options:-

Option 1.
“Band Aid” Handle and stay behind this dog … don’t get too far in front of her so she doesn’t race me and limit her potential abilities & speed and also the development of my own handling skills;

Option 2.
Zero Tolerance. If she knocks a bar then she pays a price … i.e. immediately after the knocked bar (not after the bar after the knocked bar) she is returned to her crate and can watch other dogs being trained and having fun. This, along with a few other things to mark the wrong performance, should teach her that she is not allowed to continue to have fun unless she keeps the bars UP. This could be a long process, as any re-training process is.

What to do? Obviously Option 1 is a bit of a cop-out and Option 2 is the only way to go if you’re serious about competing … so, I guess I’ll be emailing Ronda shortly for suggestions on the Zero Tolerance program!

Ronda Carter - Advanced Agility Handling Seminar

2008-04-29T12:13:00.006+08:00

I learnt and achieved a lot this weekend ... the sequences we worked through with Rhonda were challenging and fun. With straightforward but encouraging guidance from Rhonda, everyone managed to be successful and come away with valuable advice.

I've written a quick summary of notes from the weekend ... remember, this is my take on some of Ronda's general advice that could apply to many rather than my detailed notes on specific skills we worked on.

Contact Behaviours
Be consistent - insist on the behaviour you want in training AND in the competition ring. You must be prepared to give the dog a consequence - even if in the ring, i.e. leave the ring if they don't perform the contact how you want (and have trained) it. Let ONE go and your on the road of 'fighting' contacts for the rest of your trialling career.

Don't lie to your dog - let them know where they are headed next.
Your dog needs to know where they are going in order to prepare their take off/landing at the previous obstacles.

Don't handle each obstacle individually - handle the line

If you lead out - MOVE as soon as the dog takes the first jump - don't just stand there waiting for the dog to catch you up!

The quickest way to teach your dog NOT to trust you is to correct it for taking the wrong obstacle when your body language told him to do so.

Do not layer unless it's going to buy you something!

All courses are a play on:-
- pin wheels
- boxes
- serpentines
- threadles
- straight lines

Practice those in their entirety, not as individual obstacles, and your courses will become a number of "lines" rather than a heap of obstacles.

Motion begets motion! Move! Run!

Teach a default to "side" position, i.e. come to side after a jump for a tight turn, etc. Ronda prefers to push the dogs rather than pull so a default to side means a push for distance work.

Only give them what they need - they'll take as much yardage as you give them.

"oops" does not build trust in your relationship ... do not oops, sigh, groan, uh uuhhh or use a "nope" or "try again" marker for incorrect performance - simply just try it again. However, be careful that you were not responsible for the incorrect performance, i.e. if your body language told the dog to take that obstacle don't make them repeat it - continue on and reward so the dog is successful. Then try it again (if in training) if you need to correct your own handling.

We seem to be micro-managing most of our dogs and courses - we need to trust our dogs and get out there and work the lines as a team.

TRUST YOUR DOG!

Travelling Ticket & Ronda Carter Seminar

2008-04-29T10:48:00.011+08:00

Ticket has covered a lot of ground in the last week ... literally and mentally. Flying to Melbourne on Friday, staying in a strange place, travelling in different cars with different people, being in unfamiliar and changing environments surrounded by new people and dogs with two days of intenstive agility seminar work and then returning to Perth yesterday, Monday.

To my pleasant surprise she took most of it in her stride, showing little stress and adjusting quickly to her new environments, also taking a liking to a new friend, Donna, along the way.

I am pround of little Tick ... she worked well, tried very hard and stayed focussed all weekend ... mental tiredness creeping in on Sunday night. She adjusted quickly to her new routine and I'm sure she gained a little more self confidence in herself with the whole experience. Photo above "waiting for our ride".

Melbourne was the usual ...

sunny one minute ...

cloudy the next ...

The Action Dogs Club crew and seminar attendants were all very welcoming and certainly made us feel included. Ronda's seminar was well worth the journey and I enjoyed every minute of it. She is a demanding but positive instructor, full of suggestions and always with an explanation why, leaving you with many idea's and options buzzing around in your head.

Working in the indoor horse arena was new to us. The surface is compacted sawdust which took a little adjusting for me, Ticket didn't seem to care, however I certainly found muscles that I didn't know I had ... the people who train on this surface regularly would surely find it an advantage when they go out to compete at trials on grass. I feel the only disadvantage is that the weave poles are not pegged down and even with heavy bases they wobble about when the dogs are weaving, and the surface does need regular leveling where the dogs are consistently landing after jumps, etc.

Home now and well rested, Ticket is back to her usual self ... lounging around in the sun, conserving her energy for our next training session!

Notes on Ronda Carters' Agility Seminar to follow ...

Breaking Windows!

2008-04-15T13:27:00.003+08:00

Sunday evening Cash, Carrie and Summer were all hanging around in the lounge room (watching TV actually) and while they were lounging around Mum and I headed up the kennels to tuck the boarding dogs in and give them a treat before we locked up and turned the lights off. Halfway down the driveway I heard a huge smash … I bolted back to the house to find the lounge room window smashed from the inside and all the glass on the front pathway. Summer ran to the front door to greet me with bloody feet and not the slightest bit of concern.

Summer had seen us go out the front door and, being her usual sticky-beak, she jumped on the blanket box in front of the window to see where we’d gone. Obviously she slid over the box and couldn’t stop … sliding into the window. There was also a large (life size) stuffed Border Collie toy on the box which also slid into the window and buffered her fall, fortunately saving her from what could have been a very ugly accident.

Summer escaped with a few cuts on both front feet and is now sporting lovely bright pink vetrap bandages and enjoying the extra time inside with Mum while we keep her less active (not an easy feat) … she ought not think that she can do that again just to get the special treatment!

Ticket & Rocket bring trophies home!

2008-04-14T19:39:00.008+08:00

Well, I've got to be happy after this weekend's results. Saturday's Agility & Jumping trial was certainly much dryer than last weeks, almost hot ... although I'm not complaining - I'd rather be doing agility no matter what the weather is.

Ticket, Rocket, Sketch and Chilli all tried very hard and I'm pleased with all their efforts ... even though Sketch had a few "blonde" moments he still managed to finish each run with a smile on his face, as you can see in his pic's below ...

Young Chilli (my Show Ch Malinois) ran in Novice Jumping and apart from me sending her into the wrong end of the tunnel she did a lovely job ... yep, blame the handler, the dog did everything perfectly!

Tim Abidin took some lovely photo's of both Sketch and Chilli (above and below) - thanks Tim. More pic's of Tim's at http://www.yourdogphotos.com/

Ticket only ran in the jumping classes this day, her first run for the day in Open Jumping was an absolute shambles!!! Her start line stay wasn't comfortable, we had a number of bars down and then made up our own course to finish ... hmmm, maybe waiting around for several hours before her first run was not a good thing, and I should have known when I stepped away from her at the start line that things weren't quite right. However, Ticket's second run in Excellent Jumping was so clean and fast that I didn't even have time to enjoy it! She did a lovely Clear Run to take another "Q" towards her JDX title and win First Place!!! My goodness, this little girl is such a wild card!

For the first time in some 12 months Rocket (papillon) ran in Excellent Agility, I entered him thinking "it's about time he got out there and showed them that this little dog CAN tip the seesaw and do the weave poles" ... he was the very first dog to run for the day and, low and behold he ran clear, and in time for a "Q" and also won First Place!!! This would have to be the most unexpected win I've ever had in all my trialling days ... Rocket managed to conquer a challenge on course that most of the bigger dogs just couldn't handle! Sometimes (and only sometimes) it's an advantage to be small!

Rocket also ran Masters Jumping, after the agility run, and he did a lovely run around the course with a few extra jumps here and there ... not really what we wanted but anyway, he's off the hook after being such a good boy in the agility ring.

Thanks to Alison (Sketch's new friend) who was there to meet me at the finish line with rewards and hugs for Sketch ... a great day's trialling for all of us.

Next trial is this Friday/Saturday - the Western Australia State Trial!

Stay tuned for updates ...

Helen

The Wettest Agility Trial Ever!

2008-04-07T13:07:00.007+08:00

I have never been to a wetter trial ever! Saturday’s Agility & Jumping Trials at Cloverdale really tested the dedication of WA’s agility fraternity … it rained, not showered but rained, from first thing in the morning NON-STOP until early afternoon! I don’t think anyone managed to avoid a soaking whilst walking courses and running their dogs. Wow! I can’t believe there are so many agility addicts here … most of us stuck it out to see it thru to the end ... we must be crazy! The wet weather gear was certainly tested to the limit and I have to say the judges and stewards must be commended for volunteering their time and keeping such cheerful attitudes in such awful conditions … and thank goodness for my Dita hockey shoes!

To top it off this was Chilli’s first trial, and her being not the keenest dog for agility I expected her to bail out when I asked her to play in the rain, but she didn’t … she did exceptionally well, apart from a big shake at the start and stepping over the start line … I returned her to her start position and she ran a lovely clear Novice Jumping round. Even though we were DQ’d for the start line trick I was really pleased with her very first try and she received many compliments from people who enjoyed seeing a Malinois in the ring and commented on how graceful she is ...

Ticket tried her very hardest in the conditions, our first round was nice however we missed a couple of bar jumps, but continued on as if nothing had happened and finished with all bars still in place and on a positive note (I told her she was the winner!) I have to say it takes a lot to make Ticket frown at the thought of running agility but she was not impressed with the consistent rain … however we continued thru the day and tackled Ticket's very first Snooker round, ending up with a Qualifier in 3rd place - that's her first "Q" towards her SD Title. I think she enjoyed the Snooker because we were able to make our own course - she even managed to slow down just enough to do some really nice contacts and complete all her weaves with me racing her to the end! Well done little girl!!!

Fortunately the Masters Jumping was run after lunch when the rain had finally subsided for an amazingly warm afternoon … lucky for little Rocket who had watched everyone get soaked all morning, from the comfort of his dry cabana crate, wondering just why he was there! We even had sunshine to walk the course … a lovely, flowing Masters Jumping course set by Richard Barville, with different challenges for all sizes of dogs (and handlers) … Rocket and I stepped to the start line, being the very last run for the whole day, the little fella ran as fast as he possibly could (as he always does) and yes, we ran clear and in time! Another Masters Jumping “Q” for little Rocket – still the only Papillon trialling in WA!

Boy was I glad to get home and have a nice warm shower and get into some dry clothes ... and I'll certainly be re-assessing my wet weather gear before heading off to Melbourne later this month.

'till next week ...
Helen

Summers' Flying Squirrel

2008-03-14T21:19:00.006+09:00

Following my earlier post today that mentioned Summers' favourite toy, "The Flying Squirrel" ... I thought the following photo's of Summer with her Flying Squirrel Frisbee would be appropriate.

Here she is, enjoying her play after some neat weaving practice ...

Training with Summer

2008-03-14T19:05:00.003+09:00

It’s all starting to come together … last night at training I had someone video Summer and I on a little jumping course. This is the first time I’ve put more than 6 or so jumps together with her and she handled it very nicely, staying focused and willing for the whole course … with her favorite “Flying Squirrel Frisbee” jackpot at the end, she pranced around proudly with it as if very pleased with herself.

It was nice to get an idea on how we would “feel” moving together and she didn’t disappoint me at all … she really likes to stretch out when running and seems to do so quite gracefully (I can’t promise that I’ll be able to compliment her in this way!) however she can still come in and work nice and close too. Obviously her preference is to stretch out so close work will need more practice than the other.

Her contacts are coming along nicely … I want 100% reliable contacts (just like Cash has) and I "know" it’s possible so I’m not going to accept anything less … she is still guessing a little bit so we need to keep it simple for a while longer.

The “penny dropped” last week on the weaves and she is now doing her full 12 weaves and already showing rhythm and adding her own speed.

Even though I hadn’t planned to train Summer early on and circumstances made it predestined, I am actually really enjoying training her now … it’s such a pleasure to have a dog that is motivated by toys rather than food, and a nice change to not need bucket loads of food to get through a training session!

Tonight: Friday 14 March = Weave Pole practice on the agenda.

That’s all for now,
Helen

Western Classic ... been and gone!

2008-03-11T13:19:00.004+09:00

Well, we’re midway thru March and Ticket & I have only had three agility trials since the start of the trialling year (Feb). There have been a few country trials but with many other dogs at home, kennels, etc., we rarely make the time to travel to them.

Our last trial was the Western Classic, two weeks ago, and Ticket managed to do some serious bar-knocking … she seemed very distracted and concerned and kept wanting to run off to the show arena, where the conformation showing was happening … it dawned on me that she was searching for Mum and Rene, who had arrived at the grounds later than me, dropped in by my car and then disappeared off to do their showing. After her first three runs we had a break, so I took Ticket for a walk over to the show rings, where she was so relieved to see Mum and Rene … we stayed for 5 minutes and came back to the agility rings … she was much calmer - phew! We won’t let that happen again!!!

For her last run, Open Agility, she was a little gem. On walking the course I doubted that she would actually perform her A-Frame properly, seeing that it had to be layered outside a very inviting tunnel entrance and was in the exclusion zone … she did it beautifully and Qualified in 4th Place!!!

I’m pleased with our record so far this year – we’ve qualified once at two out of three trials – let’s see if we can keep the Q’s coming.

On the show scene, Rene handled Chilli for Best of Breed Malinois at both shows and the following night she took little Satu (her Baby Papillon) thru to Best Baby in Group 1.

So quite a successful weekend all round.

A Good Start to the New Year

2008-02-10T08:28:00.000+09:00

A good start to the New Year, with two agility trials already been and gone and positive results, I feel. The first trial of the year is always a tough one, having been on “holidays” for a month or so over the hot Christmas/New Year period, facing the trial atmosphere after a break is quite overwhelming for Ticket.

Nevertheless, Ticket coped really well, she tried her hardest for me on course and we managed a Q and 4th Place in Open Agility! So a nice start to the year … Last weeks trial reiterated exactly what Johanna told me … “need to work on your weave pole entries and exits” ... yes Johanna, I promise we’ll practice them every day now! 3 out of 4 runs the weave poles let us down, regardless we did manage some really nice work together over the rest of the courses and Ticket stayed focused and not too phased by it all … back into the swing of things now.

I’m looking forward to the rest of this year … Ticket is finally looking promising, rather than being the most frustrating agility dog I have ever trained, she’s beginning to work *with* me as my partner. Chilli will start to play in the agility ring, she’s not too fussed about it all so I'm guessing it’ll be a pretty casual challenge with her. Summer is really keen to get started, only 13 months old now, and I think she will be a fun dog to trial.

No trials now until the Western Classic, so any updates in the next few weeks will be training related. We'll be working on weave poles, weaving and more weaving!!!

Rhonda Carter in Melbourne - April 2008

2008-01-24T11:18:00.001+09:00

Last week I submitted my application for a working spot at the Ronda Carter Advanced Handling Seminars to be held in Melbourne, in April this year ... they approved my application! So we’re off to Melbourne in a few months.

Backyard Fun!

2008-01-20T08:36:00.000+09:00

I love the feeling of opening the back gate and just letting the kids RUN, and we often do ... the sight of Border Collies, a Dalmatian, a Malinois and the Papillons all running free together is just delightful! We got this funny photo below when playing around in the backyard the other day ...

Who says you can't train multiple dogs all at once?! ... from left to right there is Sketch following Chilli following Summer ... and yes, each of them were rewarded for their 2on 2off contact!

Agility Seminar with Stacy Peardot

2008-01-14T12:40:00.000+09:00

Last week I attended three nights of agility seminars with Stacy Peardot (arranged by Deb Kelly of Blue Moon NSW and Tom Weir & Jody Bronovich) ... what a great start to the new year. Stacy is a pleasure to train with and so full of great advice for every handler and every dog, her handling skills are second to none and she teaches clearly and simply, easy for all to understand and apply.

A nice group of keen and focussed dog/handler teams attended - I took Ticket along. By the end of the three evenings Ticket and I were running some very complex courses and much faster than I would have imagined! Wow, what an awesome feeling ... the freedom of running with your dog as fast as you possibly can, without micromanaging or losing your mind!

It just proves that good handling skills will carry you a long way, along with correct evaluation when walking the course and deciding on the best path to take. There were very few bars down and the more we pushed and the more accurate and decisive we were, the keener and better the dogs performed.

Stacy made it clear that we should evaluate a course based on the BEST way to handle it, NOT to suit the dog and it's skills (or lack of) ... if we continually analyze courses based on our dogs inability to perform certain skills then we will never go that one step further to improve our training and handling.

Being consistent, clear and precise is essential in order to work your dog at top speed with accuracy and remember, that "off course" jump that you're worried about may be the distance challenge jump that you're worried about not getting next time - it's just how you look at it!

Stacy leaves me feeling very capable and motivated. Thank you Stacy for a great agility training experience once again! Come back soon!!!