Happy New Year!

I know, I am a little late with my "happy new year!" sentiment :) I have been one very busy red border collie this month, with little time to get on the computer.

We had a great Christmas getting lots of special treats and toys. We had a very quiet New Years Eve...going to bed well before mid-night so that we could get up very early on the 1st to head to Acton Agility's AAC Trial in Flamborough. I had a very good day running in Steeplechase, an Advanced Standard and an Advanced Jumpers. I had a couple of little errors in the first two runs but did really well in Advanced Jumpers and came away with my 1st Q of the year! My mom and dad were very happy with me...maybe there is hope for me ;)

Here is the video of my run (mom spent the whole course telling me "easy, easy" and didn't tell me where I was going in the end because she was afraid I would try and bounce the last two jumps):



What a way to start off 2009! I have been working very hard at being a good boy in agility. Our goal (Mom's and mine) is to qualify for Nationals this year. We work 2-3 times a week at the barn, work at least 3 nights a week at home and have been taking some private lessons with Susan Garrett. Wish me luck to keep my red border collie brain about me in the agility ring this year :)

On to another sport...right after the new year my Mom was looking on ebay and found us the most coolest present EVER!! She bought us a dog sled! Can you imagine? It arrived just 2 days later and Mom ordered us our new harnesses from Quebec which arrived the week later. Last weekend my Mom, my Aunt Franca and my Aunt Sue (they are TNT mom's too) took us all out for our first time sledding together. We had a complete blast. The next day my Dad, Mom, Rip and I went out again. Here is a pic mom took of Ripley and I pulling Dad :) Don't we look like pro's already? We run right to Mom and then stop ;) For some reason they want us to go past but I just don't get it.


Man is it ever hard work pulling our human's around...it was FUN to roll in the snow and make snow-dog-angels :) Plus the snow was very tasty!


We headed out again today for another day of sledding. We are really starting to get the idea and work as a team...we can pull Dad really fast :) It was snowing like crazy so Dad had to keep his eyes closed ;) lol.


Mom was taking all the pictures but Dad called her a chicken when he asked if she wanted to take a ride and she said no. Of course she couldn't allow him to call her a chicken so she hoped on! She actually loves it but thought Dad would be jealous if she always did the sledding ;)

Don't we look like a great sleddog team? I was pooped after all that running and spent the afternoon snoozing on the couch. I thought I better write in my blog before I head off to bed :)

Fun Day!!!

I had a blast yesterday at the Acton Agility trial! I started my day off with a Masters Gamble course (even though Mom said I would never do a gamble except for Regionals/Nationals) She said it was only because there was a way to run a course, get me on all the contacts and test my weave entry. I was a pretty good boy, held my start line, kept almost all the jumps up, nailed all my contacts and my weave entry! I ended up in 2nd place (because we didn't try for the mini's I would have for sure got) and with a Q. Mom was very proud of me and I got tons of compliments on how good I was :)

Masters Gamble run:


My next course was the Advanced Standard. I kept my start line again, but I had a bar down on the first line when Mom rear crossed and told me tunnel. There was such a long line from the tunnel to the frame that I was flying and missed my frame contact! :( woops!! Then there was the real wobbly table that I just didn't want to lay down or stay on. I really wanted to go to the weaves. I finished off pretty good with a great weave entry and a nice dogwalk contact. Overall Mom was thrilled with my course as she said this was a huge step in the right direction.

Advanced Standard run:

My Mom then added me FEO to the 2 Masters Standard runs. It was mostly a training opportunity for us as Mom worked my contacts etc. I had a couple of bars but had one really nice weave entry :)

My final run of the day was Advanced Jumpers. Mom lost her mind and forgot to front cross so sent me into the wrong tunnel :( I then knocked a bar down on a rear cross (is there a pattern here?!) but finished off really nicely. Andrea video taped all my runs for the day (THANKS Auntie Andrea!!) but stopped the jumpers in the middle. Here is the second half of the run that was the nicest ;)

The TEST.....

So Mom has been talking to me a lot this week about this coming Friday, calling it the "test"! We are signed up for an Advanced Standard and an Advanced Jumpers course at Acton's AAC Trial this Friday...I can't wait. Mom and I have been working very hard these days on my weave entries, jumping, contacts, and handling. She has been making me do serps, threadles, 180's, 270's and push through's and I have to say that I am getting pretty good at them. Mom and Andrea even set up the FCI Large Dog Agility course last night and I did pretty darn good. My weave entries were awesome, I kept the jumps up for the most part and had good contacts. I needed some help with the 270 and the push through but after breaking it down, I really did well. I will let you know how it goes when we get back :) Wish me luck at keeping my brain....

Happy Birthday to me....

Yesterday was my birthday and I turned 3 years old. Mom came home from work with a special treat just for me from Timmy's :) It was this most amazing Pumpkin Spice muffin. Can you imagine my surprise when she said to get up on the chair for my birthday muffin? Up I jumped (that was easy by the way and I think it may be a fun place to get food from in future...put that in my memory bank ;)) The worst part is she put this flashing badge on me and they made me sit there while my muffin was about to burn (not sure what that was about). Mom decided to blow out the candle and then Dad took the muffin away!?! Can you imagine? I thought that was a very cruel joke.

But then he came back to the table with the muffin on the plate. You can just imagine my eyes when they sat it in front of me and said that I could eat it. I didn't even need to share it with my doggie siblings!! (Ripley was in his crate barking his head off, hehehe)

Man was that the yummiest treat EVER! I didn't want to take a chance on having to share even a crumb so I ate it all in one bite :) Aren't you impressed that I could do that?!

Mom says she is sad that I am getting older and how the time flies but all I can think of is...I can't wait to turn 4, hehehe. Wonder what I will get next year, you know all I can ever think of is my stomach :)

Bootcamp Week 4 update

Let me tell you, bootcamp is VERY hard work for a border collie! The weekend after the last update we headed to Spot On for a 1 day agility trial. My Mom decided to get there 45 minutes early to work with me on my bed and at a practice jump. She made me drive to my bed that was beside the ring, what a fun game! I really liked this game from the start and won’t leave without my new awesome release word “break”. We also worked on the 1 jump there. I was holding my stays, turning tight to her, extending and doing nice rear crosses. She was very happy with me and kept giving me kisses (how embarrassing!)

A bunch of people started arriving so Mom kept working with me on my bed and with stays. Mom got lots of questions about my bed and why I needed to be on such a small bed (didn’t I tell you it was small). It seems that once she explained the people no longer felt sorry for me :( Andrea and Arlene arrived at the site and came over to see me, I just love both of them! They seemed impressed at how well I was doing and gave me nice pets.

I got to run in Advanced Jumpers (I did great only knocking 1 bar down! but going off course because of Mom), Steeplechase (Both Mom and I were idiots on this one and I knocked 4 bars down, Mom wasn’t too happy about that), Masters Standard FEO (Mom worked my stay and contacts, leaving the ring very happy with me) and then Advanced Standard (Mom was thrilled! I held my start line, got all my contacts, missed the weaves though and had only 1 bar down!! but rocked the serp) We ended the day very happy with my progress and went home to relax with the other dogs and my Dad.

The next morning we headed east to Mont Tremblant Quebec. The cottage was really nice but was on a major road so we didn’t get alot of off-leash time. We got to swim each day off the dock though and I just LOVED that. I didn’t even bark once, just jumped in and went for the toy. I kept getting to the toy before Ripley so I was in doggie-heaven! I sure taught that little brat a lesson on who is boss. We got to go into Mont Tremblant the one day for a nice hike with Mom and Dad. We were walking on this trail when out popped 2 deer! I couldn’t believe my eyes, these guys were huge, one with big antlers!! A little way’s down from there was a house and just then I noticed this cat walking on their driveway. Man, I would have loved to chase that cat but Mom had my snoot loop on so I couldn’t go anywhere. Well guess what…those deer, they did it for me! They started jogging towards the cat and between them they tried to corner it! Can you imagine? They were my heros!!!!

After the week in Quebec we headed to Grandma Tiff’s place for a weekend of agility at the Ottawa Valley Border Collie Club/All Dog’s Sept trial. I was entered in lots of runs. My first one was Advanced Standard. Mom and Dad said they were so proud of me because I stayed at the start line while she lead out 3 obstacles to the teeter. I knocked the first bar down so Mom decided she would train in the ring. She made sure that I stayed on the all the contacts no matter what till she released me. I missed the weave entry but did them the next time. Our next course was Advanced Snooker. I guess Mom was expecting a lot but I just hate that game. I decided to make my own course so I only got to jump 3 jump and then took the tunnel, off we went :( Then we had Advanced Standard 2. I knocked another bar again but only the 1. I entered the weave poles (Mom was shocked and thrilled) My contacts were great so overall Mom was happy. The last course of the day was Advanced Jumpers. Mom lead out so far but I stayed put and waited for my release word. She was “thrilled” (her words) with my performance. She said it was such a hard course and I only knocked 1 bar down but did a threadle, serp and she said the bar was her fault because she was a bit late getting to her front cross spot. I was smoking fast and was only 0.2 seconds slower than the dog that won the class and from what I hear, that dog has tighter turns that I do. Wait until I get my turning under control….

The next day I had Masters Gamble. Man was that ever FUN! I had a smoking hot opening, nailing my contacts, getting both mini’s, doing the 4 point twice but sadly didn’t get the closing which included the weave poles. The last run was Steeplechase but after my Gamble run I was a bit spun out and didn’t listen to Mom at all :( She made me even lay down in the middle of the course which she hasn’t done in soo long. Oh well, overall she said I rocked. I didn’t bark once the whole weekend at ringside and again had lots of people enquire about my new bed.

Well that was the last of our agility trials for 2008. We are now onto training only for the rest of the year heading to Say Yes another few times. Last weekend we went to a training seminar with Tracy Sklenar (a teacher at Say Yes) who put on a 2x2 weave clinic. She gave Mom a few pointers on what to do to re-train the weaves for me so that is where our bootcamp has led us now. We are going to be working steady for 2 weeks on weaves to see if I can learn to find the entry and get it everytime. I am not sure if this will work but both Mom and I are going to try. You know, I am a RED dog!!!

I will keep you updated on the bootcamp status. Till next time….

Licks, B

Boot Camp?!?!

So it has been a looong time since I wrote but in my defense, it has been a very busy summer. After Regionals, mom decided to take some time off of agility for me. She thought that we needed a break from trialing and concentrate more on skills. We also spent a bunch of the summer doing disc dog where I was quite successful getting my Advanced Disc Dog (ADD) Title and my Disc Dog Champion (DDCh) Title! I even had some top placements in some Skyhoundz trials so my dad was very happy with me. I also started to learn the art of dock diving and have actually taken a few dives from the dock! So needless to say, the summer went fast and I am excited about this fall.

Me barking on the dock while Ripley jumps in!

Learning to jump from the ramp at first.

So you might ask, what is this "Boot Camp" about?? Well let me tell you a story...

Two weeks ago Mom and I packed our bags (mine with lots of food and toys, hers boring clothes) and headed to Alberton ON to participate in Susan Garrett's Masters Handling seminar. Mom was worried I wouldn't do well so we also let Abbey tag along (she was going to run her instead of me if I was bad...how rude!!).

We got there on Friday and once we were settled in our tent, Mom went off to hear about the rules of the weekend. It turns out that Susan's agility field is right beside this awesome pond and the rule was, if your dog went swimming without you telling him/her to, then the human had to go in and get their dog!! Mom was not chancing my bad terrier sister going in and having to get her in her clothes so I became number 1 dog!! :) SWEET.

It turns out that Susan thinks I am a great dog, too bad about the handler (isn't that a title of someone's video, hehehe). Actually Mom was very good and listened to everything she could learn over the weekend and we had a BLAST! I got to do so many runs and I really tried hard to understand these new rules...like where my mom is, is where I am going. Imagine, that seems so simple but I still have a slight hard time not running off and taking the jumps ;) I overheard Susan tell Mom 4 things over and over....don't let him flank you....get the Crates Games video....do the 1 Jump video....circle work, circle work.

So this is where Boot Camp begins. We came home and right away Mom went out and bought me this tiny little cot/bed. Doesn't she realize the size of me?! But she saw how Susan's dogs & students dogs would sit and be good while the dogs run that now she thinks that would be good for me! The only great thing about this bed is that I get the BEST treats when I am on it. I actually love running and laying down on it.

Me on my new bed...see what I mean about small?!?!

She also dug up her Crate Games and 1 Jump videos and has spent the week going through them and writing down her training plan! We have so far worked on steps 1 to 3 in Crate Games and I am very good about sitting and waiting for the crate to open and like my bed, LOVE going back in for the BEST treats!! (Boot Camp doesn't sound too bad, does it?! lol) I am starting to learn the rules on the 1 jump and love working all this time with mom.

Doing 1 jump work (not focusing forward)

Focusing forward now :)

We are also working every day on circle work where I have to stay by my Mom's side whether she is running or walking. The good part is that I get LOTS of treats but the bad part is I have to wear a Snoot Loop (those suck!!) Mom even takes me for a long walk each day on the Snoot Loop and feeds me my dinner. Lots of people have commented on how well behaved I am and even Grandma Tiff came to stay one night this week and she was saying how much calmer I seem. Well what is a dog to do when they are bone tired from all this work?!?!

Well I will let you know how boot camp is going....next week we are in Quebec at a cottage. I heard Mom say she was bringing a jump so I guess there is no rest for a BC.

Ontario Regionals here we come.....

I know...it has been a long time since I posted but it is hard to get on this computer these days. We have been very busy dogs so mom is either blogging, updating websites or else Abbey is hogging the computer! Yes, she is now a blogger too! See if I ever show her anything again and she is really trying to out-do me too.

So this weekend is the Ontario Regional Championships and I am going! woofhoo! Mom keeps asking me if I can at least get the gambles and no off courses...what the heck kind of attitude is that? I only try and get her money's worth out of the runs and she wants me to do less obstacles?! Ohh, I guess I can try but no promises. I will let you know how I do. There are 58 dogs in my class so lets hope that I can keep my brains and not come in 58th ;)

Alot has happened since I last posted. Mom, Andrea, Peso, Abbey and I went to Acton Agility a few weeks back and I rocked. I got both Masters Gamble Q's and really listened to mom. Abbey rocked too getting her 2nd Master Gamble Q.

Last weekend we went to Spot On's trial and I did great (or so mom says). I didn't get any Q's but I also didn't have any off courses (mom was thrilled) and even got most of my weave entries! I have been going to the chiropractor for the past month (Dr Helen Tandy...my new best friend) and I am feeling much better...I am able to get my big body into the weaves again. Abbey also had a great weekend, she came away with her final Masters Gamble Q to earn her MGDC title and she got her 2nd Masters Team Q. She is only 1 Q away from her ATChC.

Hey...why am I talking about her, she has her own blog! If you want to check it out (but I don't recommend it...she is just sitting here with her teeth showing making me type this) it is at www.agilitywirefoxterrier.blogspot.com

Well I think we are almost packed for our weekend adventure. I think mom is taking her laptop so I might post each day.