Second Puppy?

My coworker rescued an adorable aussie puppy from a military family the other day. They were selling the 10 1/2 week old guy to the first person who came along. He is the perfect little agility pup, bold and confident but also smart and devoted to his person. She has had him for two days and he already thinks the world revolves around her.

The coworker has given me first chose if I want the pup. Her husband wants him gone. Three dogs and two kids is too much. I am in a dilemma. I am still learning how to train Bailey in agility should I really be adding another dog to the mix?

He is one handsome devil and I could start him out right.

You Are The Weakest Link

The more agility classes I take the more I am realizing that I am the weakest link in our team. My lack of body awareness and general awkwardness is hurting our performance. As the courses get harder I struggle with getting to the proper location and in the proper position to handle Bailey. I envy the people in my class that have slower dogs. I think it would be easier to learn the agility game with a dog that was a little more forgiving. On the other hand I will be forced to learn the game quicker. No matter what, I love my dog. Coolest. Dog. Ever.

Two Q's

Day one of our first agility trial down and we emerged with two first place runs. We have a few baubles but nothing serious. I love my dog! She was perfect in the ring. Responsive, fast, and accurate. Need to work on her spinning when I try to rear cross.

To Trial We Will Go!!

I have entered Bailey in the final AKC trial of the summer. It is in two weeks at Camp Liwa, where we had our fundamentals class. We haven't been back in the barn since spring. Luckily there is a run trough next weekend so we will have a chance to get used to it again. I have entered in JWW and Standard. I am really hoping we can get at least one Q this weekend but will be happy with just showing up.

Last weekend we attended a demonstration NADAC match. Bailey and I had time to do the Regular and Touch n' Go classes and she loved it. There is talk of starting a NADAC club here in Fairbanks. I really hope it gets going. It looks like a really fun venue.

Our Achilles heel right now is the weave poles. No fault of Baileys, I just haven't been training her on them. I have a set in the yard now so we will work them daily until the trial. I worked them twice before our last class and she was much improved by our last class. My dog is a superstar. :-)

To Compete or Not

The TVKC has an agility trial comping up the second weekend in April. Since AKC has openned up their performance events to mixed breeds starting on April 1, 2010 Bialey could compete in this trial. The instructor of our Fundimentals class has given us permission to sign up for the Novice A JWW (jumpers with weaves) class only. She feels the class is not ready to run a course with contacts. I am fine with her rule even though I know Bialey wouldn not have a problem with the contacts. In fact the weaves are what we have the most trouble with. We have made huge improvements on the weaves over the last few weeks but I don't have high hopes of completeing them sucessfully at the trial (if we attend). Each class at the trial is $23 to enter. I am considering waiting until the July trial to compete. If I am going to fork over money and give up a whole weekend I want to have a good chance of doing well. I guess you have to start somewhere though. I think i am going for it.

Long Walk

I headed out for what was supposed to be a short walk with Bailey after work today. It was sunny and warm after a long winter of cold and dark. We headed out on the Universities trails and just kept walking. After an hour and a half we made it back to the truck. I think I needed to walk and think. Bailey certainly wasn't complaining. I love watching her bound down the trail ahead of me. She takes such joy in being free. Every stick requires a sniff, every side trail needs a look. My lack of freedom is what required such a long walk. Bailey is my sole source of happiness these days.

Office Dog

Bailey is my little office dog. I am exceptionally lucky to work in an office that allows me to bring my dog in. She spends most of the afternoon napping on my cubical floor or observing the office happenings from the comfort of my guest chair. I keep her fenced in with a 2 foot plus piece of foam core. I learned yesterday that if you place my boss on the opposite side of her fence with a bag a pop corn, Bailey can clear the board from a sitting position. Unfortunately my boss is training Bailey to ignore my 'stay' command. On the up side my boss loves Bailey.