The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

Hi All,
We went to an agility trial that didn't require us to get onto a freeway! That is very unusual. This one is held down by the Rose Bowl (and no that is not a place named after The Divine Goddess of the Universe ). The Divine Goddess is in novice preferred and only competed today. She earned her 2nd leg in both novice preferred jumpers and standard, placing second and first respectively. Her next agility trial won't be for a long time -- it is at the Cocker National in St. Louis in July. She will be going for her novice preferred titles in jumpers and standard.

I had a pretty low Q rate. I was 1 for 6 . I have been dropping lots of bars recently. We are going to go back to conditioning training. We haven't worked on that for a long time. Mom only purchased the videos for 2 of today's runs. My qualifying run in jumpers and my dropped triple bar in standard.

Solo’s only Q for the weekend in JWW for 6 MACH points
http://youtu.be/rR-7WgcGgoI
Solo’s NQ in standard – dropping triple
http://youtu.be/PeeLNicGbjU

Time to get to bed -- it was a long weekend.

Solo

Solo, that was mostly nice! My mom pulled me out for the first time when we tried to run Grand Prix a few weeks ago for dropping the first bar (and breaking the start line stay ). The next time I ran was on Friday night and I did not drop a single bar! Not worth getting no treats or not getting to run anymore.

I hope you had some rest.

Star

Well, congrats, even if it is only "minor"!

Looking forward to seeing you and the Divine Goddess again this summer. Tell her that Puppy Misty believes she is entitled to some sort of similar title. You are going to have two of them to deal with for a few days

Mom thought you might respond to the "pull-off-the-course" treatment . She used to do that to me, A LOT -- but it was mainly for not listening and launching from contacts. Mom conferred with our agility instructor and he said that since I'm clearly "TRYING" to clear the bars not to pull me off the course. Plus, I am not an agility-crazed dog such that not getting to run the course isn't going to be a big deal to me. Not running the course just means I go back to my crate and look at Mom until the next thing we get to do. And there is always a "next thing."

Solo

So, Solo, sounds like you are calling me "agility-crazed" I'll take that as a compliment for now.

Star

Star,
I've seen you at the start line ! If you aren't agility-crazed, then you are at least "agility-enthused!"
Yes it is a compliment. (Mom keeps wondering what it would be like to have a high drive dog ).

Solo

Solo...

You looked good to me! I love watching you run! That was a great camera angle! Nice birds eye view!

Does preferred seem too easy for Rosey since she is used to jumping higher? Or does she like it better?

Colleen,

What kinds of things do you do for conditioning training? I think we need to concentrate some attention on this area of training.

Hi,
These videos are great because the company has the camera up above the ring. It is really helps to see what is/is not happening in our runs.

Right now preferred is very easy for Rosey because she is in Novice. When a dog goes into Preferred it must start at the Novice level -- no matter what level it was running in the regular class. After earning 3 novice legs, she will move into Open Preferred, and then Excellent A Preferred, and Excellent B Preferred. So in a few months, Rosey will be running the same courses that she was running for her MACH, but doing it with 8" dogs and with a longer standard course time. (There is an extra 5 seconds added to the standard course time for preferred dogs). Rosey really doesn't need the lower jump height, she needs the longer course time.

Solo

We use the "Get on the Ball" method.

Colleen

For conditioning one of the best things is hiking with your dogs. I don't have the time but if you want them to get into great shape that is wonderful. We also use the ball training because of limited space and time.

When you say "get on the ball", I assume you don't mean it like I yell it at my son!

Is below accurate?

Hey Solo,
I think your runs are cool! You look really sharp.
For conditioning I ride my skateboard uphill....it's a lot of work
Love
C.C.

Hi CC

I don't have a skateboard . And there is even a skateboard park in my town. Since there is no dog park in town, will you bring your skateboard and we'll can just go play there .

Solo

Sure Solo, will do, I happen to have two skateboards, sometimes I allow Gemma to do pairs with me. Me and you can do the same, and you can learn by watching me...man I should go on "America's Got Talent" and win Mom some real money!
Your Pal C.C.

Yes Lisa -- that looks like the "ball." I actually have the "peanut" rather than the ball. And as Sylvia said, hiking is good. As I thought about it, Solo wasn't dropping bars earlier this year -- that was when we were doing lots of tracking practice. My legs were starting to look pretty good from all the walking involved in laying tracks, running tracks, laying tracks, running tracks, etc. And I'm sure it was good for Solo. After he got the tracking title, that exercise went away. Doing walks in my neighborhood just doesn't give us enough of a workout. But it is pretty clear that we both need to do consistent conditioning if we are going to do agility.

Colleen