The story of one little black dog, the one who changed so much...

Just about 10 years ago, I was 7 years old. I was with my Great Grandma and Grandma as we went to pick out their puppy. I knew I'd be spending just as much time with this new dog as they would, as I would always sleepover there and take visits down to their house all the time. We walked into the house where the puppies were. One of the parents was a purebred Shih Tzu, and the other was a purebred Miniature Pinscher. I believe it was an oops litter, as I have no idea why someone would breed those two breeds together haha, but it was a perfect oops litter <3. 

There were a bunch of pups. All of them were males, light brown and seemed to have wirey short coats, except for one....

This one was a dark shiny black, with longer hair and was a female. They called her little Lady.

We all knew instantly that this was the pick, hands down. We took her home to my Grandma and Great Grandma's house. She was the most perfect oops litter free puppy that you could ever pick up. 

We soon realized that Lady was not going to be appropriate as a name! Right from the beginning she'd follow everyone around like a shadow, and wouldn't leave until you did and there we got it; Shadow. I have never known a dog to suit it's name so well, even though it's so simple. Right from the get go. 

As time went by, I grew a bond with this pup. I grew one very strong. She'd listen to me, she'd follow me, she loved me. I loved her just as well. She was perfect. I wasn't allowed my own dog quite yet, and  Shadow was the closest I got for almost 7 years so she felt a whole lot like my own. 

My Great Grandma passed away a year or so ago and I'm sure this hurt Shadow a whole lot, considering she was mostly my Great Grandmas dog. She followed her everywhere, she was her little Shadow <3. Just recently, Shadow has been having a few problems, anywhere from arthritis to going partially blind or deaf to losing all of her teeth. It was time and just within the past few days my Grandma made the decision and had to get Shadow put down to stop her suffering. I wish I could have said good-bye.

I will never forget this little dog and all of the lessons she ever taught me. Run free little Shadow, run free throughout the rainbow bridge and jump into Great Grandmas lap again and kiss her and stay with her forever now.

I love you, you little black dog <3

~July 17th 2002 - August 2012~

Kelowna Trip Soon!

Hai ho, hai ho!

Yes! Back to this place we go!

Ahh! Words cannot describe how excited I am! From August 23rd-29th, we're going back to Kelowna, British Columbia! My mom, Andrew (boyfriend) and I are heading out there and I'm OH so excited! Living in a province like Alberta (in a part with no mountains for a few hours of course ;)), you get quite excited to get back into the mountains ESPECIALLY when it's been a year since I've seem 'em last! 

I'm going to get to see Paris and her dogs again, well, until next year :(. I'm SO stoked to be seeing her and the dogs again one more time for this year (she spent july 6-16 at my house in Alberta). We're going to be doing a lot of stuff at the dog beach, and probably walking up in the trestles again, but who knows what we'll do. I think Paris will be taking a ton of photos as usual, and I'll be making a very awesome video like this one from last year when I went! :)  But I promise, it might even be better ;) hehe.

I'm also entering a Huckleberry Hounds trial, on the 25th and 26th! It'll be awesome to get some more runs done in a different place! Especially since I focus better on myself because I don't know anyone around me. It's going to be a lot of fun. I'm entering in 6 runs; 2 advanced gamblers (to get that darn title hopefully!), 2 masters snookers, 1 masters standard and 1 masters jumpers! :) I wish there were more jumpers, but I'll take what I can get. It's going to be a ton of fun and I hope to come home with more Q's than I did last year at this trial! :) 

I'm all so excited, and it's JUST ABOUT a week before we leave! Ahhhh!!!

So much excitement, I just cannot wait! 

July 6th-16th 2012 = Paris Visits!

Yes, I admit.. I'm very bad. I need to start posting as soon as things happen and not a month later!

So, anyways! My good friend Paris came to Alberta this from the 6-16th of July to visit Shyloh and I!

I went up there to British Columbia last summer, so we decided she would come down this summer. She brought both Roxy (Border) and Juelle (Shepherd) down with her. Roxy and Shyloh kind of have this love thing going on...

Anyways, on the 6th we got all settled in and figured out our stuff and just hung out for the most part :) We had a trial the next 2 days so we went to bed fairly early :)

Day 1 of the trial (July 7th) was a not too bad one actually! Shyloh went into the first advanced standard and rocked it, but had a refusal on the last jump of the course, as it was a serp and I just didn't pull her back in enough and she instead got distracted and ran past. Oh well, she tried wonderfully! My 2nd run was another advanced standard that she ROCKED! She did so amazing, although it was a NQ, it was my favourite run of both the July 7-8 and July 14-15 weekends. She ran a beautiful run entirely, amazing quick weaves for her at a trial, and then BAM off-course tire as she is VERY good at following her line and I failed to call her but I can't complain as it was a GORGEOUS run :)

The last run was another advanced standard. She was a lot slower during this run, but I don't blame her as the day ran on and on, and it was very hot out actually! She ran the course entirely clean, although slower; it was still a Q!! This was our 2nd leg towards our AADC [Advanced Agility Dog of Canada] title! Ahhh! So exciting! 

[See Her Awesome!]

Day 2 wasn't so well, but that's fine. We first had an advanced gamblers run... You see, advanced gambler is my nemesis. I just can't manage to get this last advanced gamblers Q to get my AGDC title and be in masters gamblers! I ran the gamble nicely, she earned quite a few points, but sadly it wasn't recorded until the buzzer rang for the main gamble to start... She performed the gamble nicely up until I stopped and it pulled her back into me which then caused her to get distracted and walk past the last jump of the gamble :( Silly dog, why can't you just jump it instead of walk past it! 

Oh well, so anyways!

Then I had a masters jumpers run. This run was. hands down. my worst run I think I have almost ever run with her. She was stressed right off the bat and it did NOT help that there was a nasty threadle right in the first 3 jumps. She was so *bleh* that she knocked a bar and just wasn't trying AT all. So I stopped and petting her, gave her some reassurance and then kept going :) I tried my best, it didn't help much but oh well, I guess she tried. This run was definitely a NQ for sure.

Our last run was another masters jumpers. But guess what!

AMAZING.

It was Q/1st, 36.81 seconds! She did amazing, what else can I say. I love this run and I'm VERY proud of her :)

[See, she rocked it]

So, yes only 2 Q's for her out of the 6 but that's fine! She tried and I think she did pretty well, although I was really discouraged after the trial because of her jumpers run that went bad. I honestly can't help but feel that way because I don't know whats stressing her out, and I can't help her :( It makes me feel horrible, sometimes I just want to break down and cry but I know I have to stay strong for the both of us :)

Anyways, Roxy earned an advanced standard Q as well that weekend, which was also her second leg towards her AADC title as well! Juelle got an AWESOME starters gamble Q which moved her up to advanced standard! Juelle also got a NICE starters jumpers Q :) Not bad for a starters dog, she's doing amazing! I also got to run Juelle in a starters jumpers run as well. She was VERY fun to run, although the course was so short haha! She had a bit of a bobble where she looked for Paris, otherwise she ran very nicely for me and I enjoyed it a lot!

If you'd like to see the videos of Paris, Roxy and Juelle, you can see here and here.

Anywho!!! While we had the rest of the week 9-13 we just messed around and had fun together :) Paris took a TON of pictures of the dogs and they all turned out amazing. I will share some, write a bit more about the 2nd trial, then share some more :)

These dogs love some dog diving! They even got featured in the newspaper for my city :)

We had another trial on the 14th and 15th of July. This trial unfortunately did not go so well with ANY of us. Shyloh and Roxy were their usual selves [stressballs!]. 

On the first day, I managed to somehow walk my masters jumpers course wrong [adding a tunnel where it shouldn't have been], so I ran it clean MY way [with added tunnel], but it a NQ cause of that tunnel off course :(. Paris managed to realize we had walked it wrong, so she was safe when she ran Roxy and did not add that extra in, but sadly Roxy was 2 seconds over time so did not Q.

The second run was an advanced standard. We only needed 1 Q for our AADC title [both Paris and I]. Shyloh ran the course clean, and I got excited, only then to realize she was 1.5 seconds too slow and Roxy had 5 faults in her run. Darn, we were both very close...

Not quite any Juelle Q's yet, but her jumpers was quite nice otherwise :)

Our next run was another advanced and GUESS WHAT!?!?!?

Roxy and Shyloh BOTH Q'd, and had very nice runs :)

That means our AADC title for both dogs!

Shyloh and her AADC ribbon :)

We then had gamblers to run. Once again, I only need 1 Q for my AGDC! We ran the courses, Roxy almost Q'd but was a bit over the time [went through last obstacle as buzzer went] and Shyloh JUST about Q'd but didn't because she was a bit too slow, darn!

You can see my July 14th trial video here and you can see Paris' July 14th video here.

Anyways, a few photos of the crew and then the Day 2 info!

The 2nd day of the trial brought us a TON of stress and grief. It was raining all day and very gloomy out, lovely. We didn't have sweaters so we needed to run to the nearest wal-mart and buy one! 

Very rainy out!

Anywho, we had our first run which was an advanced gambler. Shyloh ran past the last jump, or should I say walked, and earned a refusal which earned a NQ for the gamble AGAIN, DARNED GAMBLE. Roxy got a nice gamble Q and earned her AGDC title. 

Then we both ran our first masters standard runs ever, and both dogs did not do so well =/ Shyloh decided it was cool to drink in all the tunnels due to the downpour and I decided to take her off of the course, I'm sure she did not mind that however....

After that VERY discouraging run, me and Paris were both very down and didn't really want to continue the day much... along with a few others, ahemmm, things going on earlier that morning.

Juelle ran a nice starters standard and earned a Q for that at least! :)

Paris ran steeple with both her dogs while I waited around for my next run :)

Then we ran masters jumpers with Shyloh and Roxy. 

Shyloh Q'd this masters jumpers in 39 seconds, with a TAD of a bobble so technically it'd be MUCH faster ;) but anyways, thats her 2nd masters jumpers and only 2 more for a title which shouldn't be too hard with Shyloh as she LOVES her jumpers, as do I! 

You can see my July 15th video here and Paris' July 15th video here.

Then Paris had to go back to British Columbia on July 16th, which sucks but we had an AMAZING time together and so did the dogs. Paris and her brother made me a teeter base and gave it to me as a present for letting her stay over for 10 days! I am so grateful for it, and am so glad Paris came this summer. I might be going back to British Columbia at the end of this August [2012] to see them again as well! I am planning on entering a trial there as well and trying again with Shyloh and seeing where she goes from there. Sorry for such a long post, I'm sure I'm forgiven!

June 5th, Muthut Trial

   So on June 5th, two days after regionals, I had an evening trial. The only reason why I entered it was because I needed a try at a snooker run because if I didn't do it in June, I wouldn't have another try until September and on. I needed 1 snooker Q and 1 gamblers Q for a title, my AGDC. That's why I wanted another try at a snooker Q! :) Because I have a few more gamblers runs in the next month. 

 Anyways! It was a small evening trial that started after 6 PM. There were 2 runs, being snooker. I entered both, advanced snooker. Shyloh was SO pumped up that the first run was a total screw up on my part. She did very well. She was fast, but then ran off for 1 sec cause she saw a dog holding her ball. Then she came right back and I wasn't clear enough and sent her into the wrong tunnel end by accident, haha! But anyways, she did awesome :) Close!

Second run was absolutely amazing. Super speedy and focussed. She didn't once throw her attention elsewhere. The run was 50 points. I did all 4 reds, and finished the closing with more than 10 seconds to spare! I'm so proud of her ;) She did SOOO good! It was honestly one of the best Q's I've ever seen from her. Hopefully she'll keep this up! :)

Video: 

2012 AAC AB/NWT Regional Championships

So, this weekend was the 2012 AB/NWT Regional Championships. I have had personal issues bothering me for the past week and I knew already I was going to be a mess for the weekend. I planned in my mind to go in with no expectations at all and just to throw away all my emotional baggage. So, I remained calm for the drive on the Thursday and I was okay for the most part of Friday (warm up runs). The problem is, I can't just forget about the issues bothering me because all of this stuff was happening at home at the same time as I was running regionals. There was no way that was going to escape my mind. I tried my hardest, honestly. Yes they are personal issues, and you don't understand because you do not know.. but I wish some people could know what I was going through and such. 

The warm up runs on Friday weren't very awesome at all. The first one was decent, but she shut down halfway through. Then the 2nd one was absolutely brutal. She did not do a thing, stood in one spot for the majority of it all. I had 90 seconds to fool around on the equipment, but she actually just stood in one spot and did not do a thing. I got down on the grass and called her and talked nice things for her, asking her if she wanted to "do" or "go on" things that she likes.. she just ignored me and wouldn't even come close to me. I actually couldn't even get her to come to me at all. I tried my best... she's never ever done that before. It was very upsetting for me. I had the feeling in my mind that I was going to be leaving after that first day because my mind was elsewhere after that. I wanted to go home and do what I was going to be doing that night (if not for regionals), but I decided to stay and see how Saturday went. 

Honestly, I did not get any sleep Friday night... That's 1 thing to bother me, onto of the load of other things that were bothering/worrying/frustrating me... I went into the competition not knowing at all what was to happen. I tried my best to pump her up for our first run; gamblers. Gamblers went alright. She was actually speedy in the opening. She acquired 36 points in the opening. For the gamble, I was to send her over a jumper and out over to a tunnel... she shut down after the jump and stood there and did not move at all... 

The stress was so bad between runs, mostly when she had to be in the tent/in her crate.... When it came time to going back to the tent she pulled back and resisted on the leash.. She lunged HARD to get away from the tent, whined, barked... In her crate we found out she was chewing the metal bars, trying to get out... We could NOT leave her there at all. I had to had people hold her when I could not... In the crate, she would bark, bite the bars when I was right there, pant VERY hard and shake so hard she was vibrating... I really do not know what it is, but all of a sudden she cannot be crated =/ 

So, I was about to run my second run, being standard. I got her all pumped with the ball, handed it off to Savanna and then Shyloh was READY to go! She was ready to run this standard run pretty damn quick! But, then they said for me to leave the ring as they fixed the tire jump -.- This took about 5 mins, and by then Shyloh was absolutely distracted, unfocussed, and did not give a damn about me or anybody else... She watched someone who makes her shut down walk past the ring as I went in... At that moment I knew it was all down the drain.. She ended up running with 2 refusals (completely walking past jumps and just standing there) and 20 second over time. Her shutting down was so bad, she was freezing up and just standing there, like the warm up run...

During the wait between the standard and last run; jumpers, all I could think about was how set I was on leaving. I ran the jumpers with her in 33 seconds, but she had 2 tunnel refusals because of stopping to look at people and wandering off from the tunnel a bit... Too bad =/ But, she did pretty good in that run. I was impressed. 

Although her gamblers and jumpers ended up being runs that were rather good, I had my mind set on leaving regardless. I knew whether or not she ran well, or not.. I was going to go home that night for my well-being and for hers. I wasn't running regionals to qualify for nationals... In fact, I know she could've easily Q'd for nationals even in the state she was during the first day. I didn't want to make nationals that way.. and I wasn't going to go regardless of if I made it or not. 

In all, regionals was an amazing experience and I can't wait to go again when the time comes. Congratulations to everybody who had amazing runs, and made it to nationals this year and good luck.

May 27th, 2012 Trial

So I had a trial on sunday, May 27th. I actually did not have any expectations AT ALL. I really didn't. So I went and found out what'd happen. It was our first outdoor trial of the year and my 4th overall outdoor trial... Shyloh did not do as well as I really thought she was going to. The first run was advanced gamblers, very very distracted and sniffy. I expected the sniffy for the first run.. On a positive note, she stayed in the ring the whole time and didn't jump over the SMALLLLLL fencing (not even fencing hardly) at all. She stayed in there, just very sniffy is all. So, NQ.

The second run was advanced standard. The run was a decent speed up until the weaves where she began to stress a tad, and then she weaved and picked up some nice speed after that so she jumped the dog walk contact (costing the Q), then I just goofed off on my handling and she ran past a jump so then I petted her and finished strong and fast :) NQ.

The 3rd run was steeplechase... So , I know not to do steeple ever because of the fact that Shyloh's just always been too slow in trials to Q steeple... Which SUCKS! Because she has so much potential. Anyways, I knew she wouldn't Q because of how bad the stress was at the weaves label and because just her overall speed wasn't enough on that day.. So I FEO'd the run and brought in a ball :) She did it amazing! She ran it in 37.18 seconds and that's the 2nd fastest of all the dogs in her height division! SO awesome! I wish she'd always run like that.

So the last run was masters jumpers. This was our first masters run EVER. She ran the course clean, but was 4 seconds too slow. She shut down 2 different times during the course and I know exactly what triggered it all, oh well close!

Graduation

On May 26th 2012 I had my graduation :)
So, to be honest I wasn't very excited about it on Friday... I actually was stressing, nervous, anxious. Everything but excited really. I wasn't even excited to wear my dress, to be honest. I actually just wanted to get it over with and continue on with life... I'm silly though, it was a lot of fun! To see everyone who I've been going to school with for either the last 3 years, 6 years, or 12 years (some even 13!) graduate with me on the saturday was so amazing. We've all went through highs and lows, but we got through it all and we are where we are today! It was all super fantastic and I'm glad to say I've graduated from high school :D! I got $500 from my grandparents, $100 from my aunt/uncle and a macbook pro from my parents! My boyfriend MADE me a corsage and my co-worker gave me a card with a "class of 2012" lanyard (put on my keys) and a graduation bird pin thing :) I got to spend a lot of my grad with my childhood best friend, Kimberly and her boyfriend. We took a ton of pictures and had so much fun together. I have amazing people in my life, and note to self.. don't EVER forget that or take that for granted. The people who are meant to be, are the people who will stay in your life. What's meant to be will always find a way, and that's the moral of the story...

It was great to see everybody from my graduating class dressed up so nicely and all together to celebrate this :) It was absolutely amazing, even though everybody has so many ups and downs with EVERYBODY... we all were happy and were as one on this day :) Best wishes and luck to everybody in the graduating class for the future!

May 12-13 Trial

      So, this weekend I had a trial. This was the first trial I ever entered all 8 runs for. To be honest, it was not a very good trial at all =P and quite frankly, it beat me down. I`m not overly upset about, but it always does hurt a bit inside when you`re dog is having a very bad time like that. 

     On the Saturday, I had 2 advanced gamblers runs, and 2 advanced standard runs. I actually didn`t expect this day to be this bad, but I didn`t expect TOO much. The first run was advanced gamblers. The main gamble was a jump, out to a tunnel end, and back in to a closer tunnel. Upon looking at it, it did NOT look difficult at all. I know Shyloh could have gotten it EASILY. I ran the opening, but she shut down pretty quick. It wasn`t TOO much of a shut down, but it still was. She tried. I thought she was going to get the gamble easy, shut down or not. But when I sent her over the jump and out to the tunnel end, she ran right past it and stood by the ring entrance. Poor puppy, oh well. I said good try and continued on with the day.

       

    The second run was another advanced gamblers run. I focussed on flowy courses and straightaways. She nailed the weaves beautifully (where in all my other runs the entire weekend, the weaves shut her completely down) which was NICE! I accumulated a whole bunch of points, I believe it was 40 some. I thought that was AWESOME!!!! I so thought we were going to Q. The buzzer went off a few seconds before I wanted it too, and I was half a course away from the main gamble. I threw her over a jump, into a tunnel, back over the jump and over to another tunnel... as she was going into the last tunnel... the buzzer went off! DAMN, SO CLOSE TO GETTING IT! That was a good girl :) Not her fault at all. She did her best.

    The last two runs were both advanced standard. I knew going into the weekend that she would probably lose Q`s due to the weave poles because she`s goofy with them at trials. I ran the first one and automatically off the start, something was wrong. She was being so goofy and slow that I decided to just pick her up and leave the course. The weaves REALLY shut her down. The 2nd standard, she was just as shut down... When I got to the weaves, she shut down harder... so I turned around, did the straight line back and ended the run. Overall, the 1st day of the trial was REALLY not very good. It completely made me lose some hope, whether it should have or not. 

      I knew the next day was a new day. So, I went on to think tomorrow would be better :) I definitely was correct, but at first.. she didn`t show too much of a difference sadly =(. She was going well, but then the weaves messed her up for the first standard. She finished the course clean minus the weaves but was over time as well. Her second run was another advanced standard. At first I had thought she NQ`d and thought well good try :) Because she did try for it! BUT, we actually Q`d! Yay! 

      The next run was advanced jumpers. She actually was 9 seconds over time, and took a wrong tunnel end. Completely my fault because I just wasn`t calling her enough. Oops. BUT, our next run after that was another jumpers. She Q`d wonderfully! :) 

     Overall, it wasn`t the best weekend but I`m glad she Q`d 2 runs atleast :) 

April 14th, 2012, OC AAC trial.

So, we went to this trial to surprise the coach of my regionals prep classes because it's her birthday soon :) I entered 2 runs, advanced gamblers and advanced snooker. The first run, snooker, went to the shits (literally xD). Shyloh really needed to poop, so she was stressed out and very slow and unresponsive on course. That's alright! 


By time gamblers came around... she was happy! I knew already she wasn't going to Q because there was 12 weaves in the main gamble. She tried! But she popped out at about the 4th last pole, which sucks! So, no Q's... but it was a good time :) 


Happy Birthday Christina Sanders! 


Video was not made, but that's alright :)

Dogs At Large AAC Trial [April 7-8 2012]

Easter Pajama Day Trial! 2 days, 3/6 Q's, 1 title! 


Day 1- We had 2 starters standard runs, and 1 gamblers run. I was late to the trial because my alarm did not go off, and arrived RIGHT before my first run (which was the gamble run). She was very stressy because I was stressed. That's alright though! Then my next run, starters standard, was a mess. I didn't know whether she'd be stressed or faster... so I played it a bit safe and didn't do much of a lead out and then I released her and she was crazy... Then she goofed up and ran out of the ring, then came back and finished nicely :) There were faults, a few of them, but oh well! She was happy. 3rd run was starters standard as well. Only fault was because she jumped onto the table and then jumped off because she went to see ring crew. That's alright! Close.


Day 2- Day 2 was a new day! And a GREAT one at that! Our first run was starters standard, and we Q'd! That was my last starters standard for my ADC title, and to move up into advanced standard. Very very proud of her! She did great :) Second run was advanced snooker. We Q'd as well! 3rd run was advanced jumpers, and guess what... Q AGAIN! 30-35 seconds, somewhere in there. That's awesome for Shyloh, and she was very very very very concentrated on me during my run! 


Now, all I need is 1 advanced jumpers, 1 advanced snooker, and 1 advanced gamble and I get my AGDC title and can be in all the masters games! :) Exciting! 

Here are the videos:

Day 1: 

Day 2:

Regionals Prep: Week 5 [April 11th, 2012]

So, this week we did something that wasn't standard, haha! We did main gambles. Stuff we would maybe see in regionals. I will say right now... They were NOT easy. A lot of dogs took a few tries to get them right. 

So, the one on the top.. We never got it AT all. We tried, but Shyloh kept taking the trap jump that is straight. This was pretty hard! So, I eventually went in and was supposed to "hug the line" of the trap jumps and do the gamble that way, just to show her what's up. It was all very difficult. 






This one here was a bit easier, for Shyloh anyways. I didn't treat 1-2 as a threadle. I made Shyloh jump 1, and then wrap (opposite directions, towards the left, not towards 2) and then come back with speed so she could take 2-3 easier. Then, I got her to "get around" and pushed her out to 4. It took a few tries I think to get it completely right, but she did get it :)


That last one was very difficult because of the fact that they are going so far away from you to a jump with nothing after it to "pull them in"... And also because there was like a 3-5 foot gap between 2-3 which caused it difficult to send through there towards 4. It was very interesting to try these!

Regionals Prep Class: Week 4 [March 28th, 2012]

As usual, class went pretty great! There were a few things that I had abit of issue with. Here are the courses:

So, this was the first course. Shyloh did pretty well with this one. The mess up points were a bit of confusion from 5 to 6, because of the fact that there are 2 tunnel ends between the proper one. I'm not sure if they were considered refusals, but both times she was a little confused there. I don't blame her. Then from 8-9 there was a bit of mess up both times running the course. Everything else up to 14 was great. At 14-15 there was a bit of confusion, but I'm going to be working on that. I know of a way I should've handled it, but didn't. So, I know what to do for that. The rest was straight forward. First run I took her off course before 16 because I thought she needed to poop. But when I for real ran it during the 2nd time, she was under time with I think 30 faults, which is still good for qualifying for nats if she did that in both standards and did good in jumpers. Overall, I was proud with her performance on this course!

This was the second course that we ran. 1-2-3-4 was pretty nice :) First time my front cross between 3 and 4 was VERY late and we had a tad of a mix up. Second time it was very nice :) I believe she missed both contacts on the a-frame in this run, but that was my fault entirely. I did a rear cross at 5-6 during the first run and she hit the weave entry perfectly, but I got too excited and she popped the poles and jumped back in in the wrong spot, so it took 2 tries to get the weaves right. She just gets too excited. Then 7-8-9 was good, then Shyloh took the wrong side of the jump at 10, but that was my fault. So I went on to 11 and the rest of the course was ran smooth and nice :) She handled 13-17 VERY nicely. I was happy with that part. During my second run, the weaves were also a bit of an issue again and once again got it right on the third try. Then the rest was nice, but she got confused by me right before #9, and ran around a pole in the weaves. Then we had a bit of a problem from 9-10 because of the fact that I just wasn't clear enough with my handling and Shyloh did not understand that I wanted her to go to the back of the jump. So Christina (coach), came over and gave us some great guidance and then I finally got it and continued on. She took the wrong tunnel because I just didn't call. Then we got it right, but then I messed up before jump 14, so I went back and re-did jump 13 and got the rest perfect and she handled it nicely :) 


Overall, I was very proud of this day at class, and Shyloh had proved me wrong once again by actually speeding up and enjoying herself. I'm quite proud :) I have a trial next weekend (Easter weekend, April 7-8) and I'm hoping for that standard Q to get my ADC title!!! This is the barn she Q'd 4/6 runs though the first time we trialed there.. so I have high hopes =D It's going to be very fun!


Anyways, here's the video from class!

March 24th, AAC Trial!

So on March 24th, I had an agility trial :) It was an OC Agility trial. I had 3 runs only. 


The runs were:

1. Advanced Snooker
2. Advanced Gamblers
3. Starters Standard

So, I went in with no expectations really :) All I know is that she is getting much more confident in this barn. It's the same barn a lot of my trials are in AND regionals prep is in this barn :) 

I ended up getting Q/1st in snooker AND Q/1st in gamble! :) That's so very awesome! Now I need 1 more advanced gamble Q to get into masters! That's awesome, Shyloh LOVES her gamblers! Standard ended up being a bit of a mess, but not really. She ended up jumping out of the ring towards a dog, and then came back... But I totally did not know that a dog can still Q after jumping out of the ring and she came back and jumped over the wrong side of a jump. So, since I jeopardized that Q anyways, when she started to slow down and goof off before the teeter, I petted her and asked her "READY?" to get her more pumped up and it REALLY made her go :) I am very proud in the speed she had overall in that whole trial, and the whole confidence she had. My next trial in on April 7-8, but I have 6 runs :) and it's a 2 day trial for me! 

Video:

Regionals Prep Class: Week 3. [March 21, 2012]

So, this week was pretty good :) I was a bit goofy =/ I was off, and I'll admit that. Sorry for the late post too... UGH I'm horrible at my blog! I will really start to be better and update more close to the actual day that the event happened. But anyways... The courses:

So this here is the first course we did. I was relieved because it was an easier course first! Sure it does have parts that are more tricky that others but generally I really like it. First run was goofy... I wasn't enthusiastic enough and plain out just didn't even care, which is a very shitty attitude to have! But, anyways... It was clean except for one jump refusal at jump #8. She started sniffing a bit, and ran past it. She had a bit of sniffy problems during the run, but that's like most first runs when I go out. She did it pretty nice, and hit her 2o2o on the dog walk. She hit the weave entries nicely both times we ran the course too. I'm SO proud of that. Second run was very quick and she was very into it :D! Yay! Not to mention, clean as well! 

So this here ------> would be the second course we did that day.... When this course was set up, I was angry xD!!!! The first course was so chill, then we get THIS! LOL. Well, it was actually not too bad :) The start was pretty good, then we get to 5, 6 and 7... I thought that might be pretty difficult, but it turned out to be very simple, and Shyloh had no problem with it. Then 9-10 Shyloh did nicely as well, but the only REAL problem we did have was at 13-14. I kept not pushing her enough to 14 so she'd take it more like a serp rather than like a threadle would be. Once I pushed her with my body more, she took the right side and completed the rest of the course very nicely :) I was very happy with her! Shyloh is such a good girl :)

Here would be the video :)

2o2o.

Yes, you read my title... I'm switching to 2o2o! If I had the contacts to train on, I would definitely would HARD on running contacts. I really wish I had the contacts, but I REALLY don't. So ANYWAYS, yes I'm doing 2o2o. I feel as if Shyloh will be MUCH more confident with 2o2o now, rather than what she was before. She actually would shut down of the position. Now, she's enjoying it a lot. Today was the 4th session of 2o2o. She is driving to the plate a LOT better than the 1st day even! I'm definitely going to keep this up. I'm REALLY not sure what I'm going to do for the a-frame, since it's the incline she doesn't like... I will definitely be trying at class this Wednesday to get her to stick the contacts. I noticed at the last 2 agility events type things we've done (fun match, and class), that she is missing the a-frame contact very consistently. This is absolutely not her fault. It's because I never formally trained a contact, and she's gaining speed so her strides are a LOT larger than before so her footing is off. She's also leaping the apex, so this affects it (where she was slower before and would walk over it). 

Having so much trials coming up, AND regionals in a few months... I've decided I NEED to start working on contacts and get it in her brain. Anyways, next trial coming up on March 23! I only have 3 runs, Gamblers Snooker and Standard but that's all I need right now. On April 7/8 I do have 6 runs (2 day trial). Anyways, I only need one more starters standard Q for my ADC title. I really want to get this and try some harder courses in a trial environment. So let's hope I do! I can't wait to have a rosette :D hehe! 

By the way, the 2o2o session videos are being posted to my FB at the moment.

First and Second Day of Regionals Prep!

So, I totally suck at updating my blog. 

First Day of Regionals Prep Class!

So my first class of Regionals prep was on March 7th. Shyloh did pretty good! I'm so not used to running harder courses, so it's something to get used to haha!

<--- So this was the first course we did. When we walked it... my face was ":o" the whole time. I'm not SO used to this at all. I was okay with MOST of it, but I was definitely unsure of the dogwalk entry. Which is funny cause this dog walk entry is NOTHING compared to the of the course below. I got to practice with my lead outs from 1-3 and a blind cross from 6-7. I wasn't TOO concerned with the entry to jump #9. She did SO well. All I had to do was flick my hand and say walk it and she ran right to the dog walk very nicely. After that, the course was pretty simple. It went nicely. First run was a a distracted run but clean, and second run was clean and pretty speedy for Shyloh! :D

This course was a BIT more difficult in my eyes when I walked it. 1-4 was really nice!, but when I saw 5 I was like "how the eff do I handle this?" at first, and then we talked about it and I figured it out a bit. It's so difficult walking a course with 2 sides of your dog in mind. It's either Shyloh walks, or RUNS. So, I mostly have to walk planning either side of her. But, no it was great. 4-6 was a bit tricky, considering that wrong tunnel end is very visible to the dog. THEN, you have that NASTY dog walk entry. Shyloh got the wrong tunnel end first try and then went into distraction mode and then quickly got back into it and ran the rest clean :) Her second run at it was pretty speedy and only had one tunnel refusal at tunnel number 4. :) She did wonderful! Good GIRL!

Video to that first day of class is here ^^^^^

Second day of class!

Once again, Shyloh did amazing. But by amazing... I don't just mean AMAZING... I mean... AH-MAZE-ING. I have not seen her that happy, confident, OR speedy in a trial environment before. Absolutely AMAZING. I was even asked what I fed my dog before class xD. This was also the class that made me decide for surely that I'm going to do 2o2o contacts with Shyloh. I do notice that since she is faster, she has been missing contacts consistently. It's because of her larger stride, where-as before she walked... 

ANYWAYS! Here are the two courses we did this class:

So, to the left is the courses we did this class. We did the course in the white bubbles first. A LOT of things made me go ":o" in this course. Well, not a LOT... but a few. Mostly it was the tunnel and a-frame entrances being SO close. Especially how there was 2 entrances on the one side of the a-frame. Keep in mind, I'm not used to the courses of this level and I've never had much of a change to teach tunnel vs contact discrimination before. I planned on doing it once the snow melted. Hell, I even was telling Savanna in the car before this class that that's the ONE thing I haven't had much of a chance to do and want to this spring. And what do you know... we walk into the class to see that xD. Christina read my mind before class xD haha. Thats pretty funny. 

Anyhow, I thought 1-2 would be alright... I mean it's not TOO difficult to clearly point out the tunnel. That went over great. In the first run it was 1-5 really nicely. Then when I went to send her into the tunnel (6), she ran up the aframe... OOPS! So i sent her back down and intoo the tunnel. Then, I was too far ahead for 7 and she took the tunnel again and then went onto 7 right after. 8-9 was a threadle, and I wasn't toooo concerned, but Shyloh was a bit distracted and turned really wide, no big deal. 9-15 was nice. Then we needed some lateral distance on the teeter, so that we could get ahed while sending dogs into 16.... NOWWWW THE HARD PART.... 16-17... Oh my goodness. Walking this I thought how the hell? But when I ran it, it wasn't all that bad. :) Then for the second time doing that same course, Shyloh ran it all ALMOST entirely clean. On tunnel 17, Shyloh hesitated for about 5 or so seconds in front of the tunnel and put a paw onto the a-frame. ONLY a paw, SO close to being clean! Good job though :)

For the second course, labeled in the red bubbles... I was a little less nervous. The course presented itself as pretty easy compared to the first one. There were a few parts that were a little more difficult, but that's no big deal. Shyloh knocked a bar on both runs, sadly. But that's alright! In the first run, the weaves were messed up first try and a bar was knocked. Then once we got to jump 11, she got distracted and ran off to take a tunnel right before it. Once I got her back, the rest of the run was nice! In our second try, she ran the COURSE clean but missed the a-frame contact and knocked the bar before the a-frame :D! I think she did VERY well. 

Video for the second day of class ^^^

I'm learning so much from these classes and am enjoying it SO much! I can't wait for next week and to avoid a REALLY long blog post, I will remember to post every week after class. If I don't, call me out on it xD!

Classes Start Tomorrow

So, my regionals prep classes start tomorrow. They run 8:30-9:30 PM on every Wednesday night for 7 weeks. I'm taking them with a good friend (Savanna who owns Pilot and Amy, if you know her). I think it will be fun to run some regionals courses and get to know the feeling. Hopefully Shyloh is up to it and actually makes the effort and has fun. I believe she will, as she is getting so much more confident in that barn..
OH, not to mention... The classes are in one of the barns most of the trials are at here during the winter and colder months. Hopefully this will help gain her confidence in the barn as well! I can't wait to go the classes and try it out, and see what happens.

Video will be posted!

Fun Match and Trial!

So, I neglected the blog... Darn *facepalm*. I promise, I will write more! I will write about every agility event/practice, etc!

Last post I mentioned being "not even excited" about my fun match on February 11th 2012. Well, I was sure wrong to think that because when I got there... Shyloh was the fastest I have ever seen her in a barn (I THINK). Which is amazing, considering she shut down at the last fun match I did (December 17th, 2011). Well, she didn't shut down but she sure was not in tune with me and wasn't at her full potential. But wow, the latest fun match... she was AMAZING. I can't believe it. I did 2 standards and 2 jumpers runs. Her standards weren't as good because I was lacking handling skills to the extreme. That is way obviously because I'm not used to handling her when she's so fast! I really wish she would always run that fast, just so I could get used to it. However, the jumpers runs rocked and we would have Q'd them both if it was a trial run! :D What a good dog! Just amazing.

Also, we went to a trial on February 18th. It was K9 Korruption's first winter trial I believe. It was absolutely so much fun even though there were no Q's. I only did 2 runs with Shyloh. I did Advanced Gamblers and Starters Standard (trying for our title we need!). Gamblers was great! She needed to poop so she was very very distracted but she did so amazing for needing to poop! She actually was speeding up and she still listened for the most part even though she was super sniffy. She would have easily got that gamble, but she stopped after the chute and stood there because she REALLY needed to poop! So, I took her outside after the run.. she had her poop and I played with her :) Ended the run positive! Then, we had Starters Standard. I know exactly what I did wrong. I should have led out further and either stand in front of the 3rd jump and then push her to the tunnel entrance OR I could have stayed to the left of the 3rd jump but point my body to the correct tunnel entrance and then pull her towards it. I know exactly what I did wrong. I led out only to the 2nd jump, and then had a late front cross with not enough of a call off and then she took the wrong tunnel end. Otherwise, it was a wonderful run! At the end of that run, we went outside and played in the field and I left the trial on a VERY positive note with lots of playing and car ride! I can't wait to trial again.

Videos for both the fun match and the trial are shown here:
February 11th, 2012 Fun Match!
February 18th 2012, K9K Korruption Trial!

WORKK!!!

So, I'm extremely iffy about this idea. I have no idea like, if I want to do this or not... But I think I'll attempt to update often! So anyways, lately I've been bringing Shyloh to work. She is getting a lot better with dogs, every time I bring her she keeps getting better and better. At first she was showing her teeth at other dogs a lot, but now she's going in there without doing a thing. Yeah sure a small brawl might happen here and there (usually once and then nothing much more), but for the most part she does insanely well. Her best friend is a husky puppy named Mila. 

I decided to post a photo of her. She's adorable!!! She's only about 3-4 months old right now, but she's been going to the daycare since she was about 8 weeks old! Of course, she has annoying quirks that puppy have, but she's absolutely adorable! I wish I could take her home. I'm so happy she comes to the daycare EVERY day. I get to see her grow and stuff, which is great. I can't wait until she's full grown. She's going to be absolutely beautiful. Then Shyloh will be best friends with her too. Anyways, I'm so happy a husky puppy comes to work! Makes my day.

There is this dog named Mya, who turns out to be like a... sheltie/border collie mix? That's what she appears to be. She's small, but she looks like a border collie! To the right is a picture of Shyloh and Mya. Shyloh obviously is the crazy one.... LOL!! But, that's okay! They don't exactly associate much, but I'm happy I could get a picture of them! Mya has such a nice structure to her as well. I'd take her home =D! 


I really don't know what else to write about actually. I am sad that I don't have a trial until March! =( It sucks, but oh well. Fun match on Feb 11! I'm not really looking forward to it... But that's okay... ANYWAYS!!!!


I'm going to try to update this with my thoughts as much as possible!!! OH YES! I will have to write another post separately with my puppy plans and stuff! =D! Excitement.