Inmate #2

Alright... got a picture of Inmate #2 aka Rebel.  It's not the greatest picture (don't where why there is blue in his eyes) but you can see he is very similar to Riki.

Yes, that is my lovely foot in the picture as well.  These guys are pretty resourceful.  They managed to steal Ken's sandwich this morning while I was out of the kitchen for 2 minutes.  They did not get through the plastic all the way but they were determined!  I swear they tagged teamed the sandwich stealing.  Will have to triple my efforts to keep them off of the countertop in the future!

Inmates

Finally, got a picture of Riki to put up on my blog!  It's not the best, as it was taken with my cell phone but you will be able to see just how funny this guy is!  I poked my head in the room last night and this is how he was chilling!

Rebel is exactly the same but his face is a wee bit different.  The only way I can tell the two apart is that Rebel has a collar on and Riki does not!  Doesn't he look so proud??

Taz had an awesome weekend at flyball!  He got to practice passing Rudy in his lane and it was wonderful!  If he keeps this up... things will be great for him!

This friday is the Just for Fun night for agility.  Come out and watch Pepper and Taz have a go at it!

Weekend fun!

Boy this past weekend was a busy one!  Pepper and Taz got to play a game called Dare to Double in the Friday night Just For Fun league with D & S Dogs of Course.  I have played this game before with Pepper and found that my best laid plans always went out the window so this time I decided just to make it up as we went.  Well did that ever go wrong!  Besides her stopping and sniffing the ground because of the lack of direction, we went over time and our points got halved.  Bummer eh?  It was fun nonetheless. 

Taz got to go out and have fun as well.  We have now found out that he doesn't know how to collect himself before a jump (he likes to fly to the jump) and ended up taking down a bar.  This, of course, caused him to shut down for a few minutes.  I did get him to do another tunnel and the A-Frame afterwards but boy, do we have work to do!!

Flyball Saturday was AWESOME!!!  I had two successful passes with Rudy where Pepper brought the ball back to me.  You see last year, Pepper and Rudy collided in the racing lane when she was coming back with the ball.  Now she is giving up the lane early to him to avoid another collision.  Taz had the pleasure of running past Bandit (who was standing still) and Hazel.  He ignored Bandit each time!!  Next week, maybe we can have them move a bit to simulate Bandit taking off.  Taz is getting the hang of this flyball thing!!

Sunday saw Pepper running in another Just For Fun league, except this time it was at Sondog.  Slightly different rules and some different equipment.  I can tell you she enjoyed running on the rubber covered dog walk and A-frame.  The Hoops were something new but by the time we were done all 6 runs, I believe she understood that "through" meant to go through the hoop!  She had loads of fun and so did I!!  I can tell that she likes to work at a distance and really reads my body language.  I accidentally pulled her off a couple of jumps just by rotating too much too quickly!  We will be working on that in the future!!

Last night Pepper had her normal agility class and we brought out the weave poles.  Our instructor had us send the dog through on side (handler on the right hand side) to see if the dog's could find the entrance and work the weaves.  Well that was a piece of cake for her!  Next challenge.... off side weaves (handler on the left hand side of the weaves).  Well she found the entrance but only did one weave.  We had our work cut out for us!!  By the end of the night, however, she was able to weave through 6 weave poles, off side with a jump infront of and behind the weaves.  YEAH Pepper!  For everyone out there learning how to weave, your motivator is the key!  It must be thrown low and at the right time!  Weave poles are fun and should be trained that way!  Don't worry about speed because that will come with confidence!!

Now for a lovely little break of no dog sports until the weekend again.  Look for Pepper and Taz tearing it up on the racing lane at Paws 'n Train this weekend!  I love tired dogs!!

New Year and back to training!

Boy, it's been a tough few weeks without flyball or agility to distract the dogs!  All's I can say is that Pepper and Taz are much happier now that we are back to the sports!  They also seem happier now that mom and dad are back to work during the day instead of being home where they have to keep an eye on us.

Taz got to try his paw at agility again.  He has joined the Just For Fun league at D & S Dogs of Course and he had a blast!!!  I have found out that he is MUCH faster than Pepper and will require a lot of handler focus.  Could it really hurt in the end?  I don't think so!  I believe that getting him back into agility will help with his reactivity.

At this same JFF night, Pepper decided that being a hound was better than running the course.  The course is on used carpetting and it smells ooooo so yummy to her!  She just had to stop mid run to sniff the ground.  It's too bad as she would have had a smoking time and no faults.  Instead she got 5 faults and her time was a bit long.  The next JFF night is in a week.  I am hoping to have the video camera there and have someone record Pepper and Taz's run for all to see!

Now that we are back to flyball, it seems like the countdown is on until the next tournament.  Lloydminster, here comes Pepper!  Taz likely won't be ready until the fall as he needs more proofing but he is coming along quite nicely!  He still gets really excited but his focus on me and the tug is much better.  He loves running against Candy.

Gizmo (the inmate cat) has gained two foster brothers.  Their names are Riki and Rebel.  These guys are long haired black kittens with yellow eyes.  Foster mom has to take some pictures and put them up here for all to see.  These two are feral kittens who are coming around to the human touch.  Rebel does not mind being picked up and carried a few steps.  He definitely is more trusting than Riki.  Riki was the first to come out, however, to meet Gizmo, Pepper and Taz.  He came nose to nose with a dog and survived (so did Taz... no scratches yet)!!  They get the run of the upstairs during the day and play with Gizmo.  They have not broken anything yet... knock on wood!  Taz is happy to have more things to chase around the house!