Easy does it.....

It's finally done!  The condo is sold.  A new house has been bought in the community where I found my new job.  I moved into the new place last week during one of the worst rainfalls in history.  Several of my neighbours have had serious flooding in their basements, but that isn't surprising after 60 mm of rain fell in just 12 hours.  I count myself lucky after only founding a very small puddle downstairs and a leak in my fireplace.

Ever since I accepted the new job in late June, no real breakthrough has happened in agility, except for Jasmine's first try at standard courses in a trial environment.  I was a bit worried in July when she started limping down the A-Frame and even the front door steps at home.  Even so, I ignored the voice of reason and got into a frenzy of competitions in August and September. What I was thinking?  I finally scratched Jasmine from the trial at Dreamfields last month.  Too much going on and my sanity was being affected.  Not only that, but I decided I didn't want to invest hundreds and even thousands of dollars in vet bills later on.

Jasmine went on a complete break from agility for at least three weeks.  The result is no serious limping has been observed for at least 14 days.  Yay!  We participated at an agility fun match today and she did well.  No zoomies and boy, was she focused.  She did a good A-Frame but stayed on top during the other tries. The contacts could have been better.

What about flyball you ask?  Well.  After three (or is it four?) years of training, mademoiselle Jasmine has finally caught the ball while the box was triggered.

Sometimes, it pays to take some down time.....

Flyball progress!

I've noticed that when Jasmine improves, it'll be a while before a new ability will be offered on her part.  This is the case for flyball.

For the past few weeks, we've been getting the help of another team captain during our training.  Even though I could cleary see much improvement in the other dogs, Jasmine was still insisting that pawing the ball out of the box hole was much easier than catching it during her turn. I do believe she may have had a change of heart.

Saturday morning, she took the ball from the hole without cheating!  She did about 7-8 successful repetitions before I gave her a break.  Was it a fluke?  Nope!  A second short session showed us she meant business.  Now, the boxloader has started to put his/her finger on the trigger to keep it in place so we can phase in an activated box. 

On a side note, we're now using foam balls that are sold as cat toys instead of small tennis balls.  The main reason for this switch is they the only toys that Jasmine has caught mid-air. It may not make any difference, but hey, I'm striving for success! 

Flyball, have we conquered the plateau?

I haven’t added an entry for a while because… well, nothing was happening. Nada. Rien. Nil. Until this morning that is. You see, Jasmine decided to pick up the ball on the box once more. Why? That’s where it gets interesting. Last weekend, I had the chance to run a “point and shoot” Border collie for the flyball team, Doggone Ballistic. At first, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it, but by the end of Sunday afternoon, I was sold.

A Border collie runs FAST, let me tell you. Her name is Skye and when she was coming back from the box, she would look me in the eyes while running at least 45 km/h. I had the feeling she was saying “Givemethetug, givemethetug, givemethetug”. That’s very unnerving if you ask me.

During the runs, my friends took care of Jasmine. Generous of them isn’t it? I could see her little black eyes over the blue curtain which was separating the lanes from the spectators. I was told later on that she was standing on her two hind legs to watch me. Yes, she saw me with another dog, in other words, her rival.

During this morning’s practice, I think she tried to cheat once. But overall, I’m very happy with the result. I can’t wait to see what she has planned for next week. ; )

Flyball Practice And Other Antics

Spring fever is in the air and the dogs are particular victims. Saturday's practice was a bit bizarre because all the dogs are excited and not really doing their jobs. Their minds are elsewhere I think.

During the first recall, Jasmine cheats and runs beside the jumps. (Gasp!) The second recall is done perfectly (Phew!).

Box work: Jasmine isn't up to par as she was previously the last two weeks. I test my training method and I omit starting the box work with a tugging session. Consequentely, Jasmine is very slow and unable to focus. We also activated the box mecanism so she can get used to the noise. Mmm. We wonder if that's the reason she started to cheat again by getting the ball with her paw as well as hesitating before hitting the box for her swimmer's turn. Another factor may be the presence of strange dogs in the other lane. She keeps looking over to watch what's going on. Yes, she's the curious one. We'll see how it goes next week.

To be continued.

Who says dogs are not intelligent? I was at CM's place Saturday morning when Jasmine was standing at the patio door and, the screendoor wasn't locked. Oh dear. She didn't even ask to go outside but simply pushed the screen sideways and out she goes! Good thing the backyard is fenced. My apologies to CM because Tucker was closely watching Jasmine's antics. This is the same dog who learned how to open crate doors and steal socks from Jasmine.

Later on in the afternoon, I was doing some housework when I noticed that Jasmine was very quiet. A clear sign that she's up to something. Well, she was lying down on the gym bag (you know, the onefull of treats and toys which I bring to the weekly practices) and had figured out how to open the zipper with her nose and paw. Her head was IN the bag and she was indeed digging in.

Yes, she's a very, very bad influence.

Finally some progress in flyball

I thought this moment would never happen. I was so sure that Jasmine wouldn't repeat her performance, that I hadn't written anything about it in the blog. Well, the moment has finally arrived and no, it's not a fluke. Jasmine can now do her swimmer's turn on the box, pick up the ball and land on her feet.

She doesn't cheat. She doesn't try to pick up the ball with her paw.

Can you believe it? I've been waiting for this moment for at least twelve months. After two weeks, I can say with certainty that Jasmine understands what to do. I'm hoping that I'll have the time to film her at next week's practice. This way, I'll be able to upload the video on Youtube.

Next step: Trigger the box in one of the opposite holes so she'll get used to the noise.

Let's cross our fingers and think positive thoughts .... : )