Monroe Trial

There is a great 4 day AKC trial in Monroe, Louisiana every June.

We didn't go.

But we did a couple of years back, and made the local news:

A corgi!

Memorial Day weekend trial

It was hot in Hitchcock - damn hot. We only ran two days. Maya got 3 Qs and a QQ on Monday. Annie got only one Q all weekend, but it turned out to be our best video, so she gets featured above.

Now we're in the dog days of summer. Only one or two trials between now and September.

Some Training Required

According the article linked below, the Swiss federal parliament has passed legislation that will require prospective new dog owners to take classes before adopting a dog:

The law, which comes into force from September 1, is particularly strict over dogs: prospective owners will have to pay for and complete a two-part course — a theory section on the needs and wishes of the animal, and a practice section, where students will be instructed in how to walk their dog and react to various situations that might arise during the process. The details of the courses are yet to be fixed, but they are likely to comprise about five theory lessons and at least five sessions “in the field”.

The Swiss Love Dogs

That would never work here, of course, but interesting anyway.

Random Photo Day

Maya:

Tex (Ritter):

Annie (Oakley):

The Amazing Annie

Annie was born two days after Tex, but we didn't get her until about six months later. We saw her as a puppy, but she was less sociable and energetic than Tex, so we didn't get her right away. When we finally got her home, she was scared of everything and everybody. Agility training was a challenge, and we didn't start her until about 18 months after we started Tex. Here is video of her first run in competition:

That went alot better than Tex's first run, which I posted earlier. In fact, Annie has done very well, and we are closing in (ever so slowly) on her MACH.

The Magnificent (MACH2) Maya

Maya was our first agility dog, and by far our most successful one. I can't take any credit - she was trained by my wife along with our friend Shirley and the folks at EuroDog Training Center. I had absolutely nothing to do with it. Maya was handled all the way to MACH2 by Shirley.

But about three years ago, I started to handle Maya in some competitions. If you are new at agility and get the chance to handle an experienced dog, I highly recommend you do it. I know that whenever we messed up, it was my fault, so that actually helped me identify those skills I was lacking - which, of course, was all of them.

Here, I think, is the video from the first time I ran Maya at a trial:

As you can see, my handling technique consisted largely of running around and occasionally, at random and unpredictable moments, waving my arm at Maya for emphasis (of my incompetance).

Fast forward three years - here is video from the 2008 AKC Nationals in Tulsa:

Oh, right. Still the same.

I've managed not to mess Maya up too badly - we've been to AKC Nationals twice, making the Challenger Round in 2007 and finishing 11th overall in the 8" class in 2008, and one of these days we'll get to MACH3. Unless my arm waving handling methodology fails me, that is.

Greg Derrett

Out of curiosity, I purchased a couple of inexpensive DVDs from AgilityNet.com that showed runs from what I assume to be a "local" agility trial in England. I wanted to get a sense of what a smaller trial in England was like.

Looked about the same as here, actually. RVs as far as the eye can see. Lots of border collies.

One of the handlers shown on the DVD is the famous Greg Derrett. In fact, he won the event with a very nice run:

He seems a good example of the handler using his own speed to motivate the dog. Of course, the dog is pretty fast on her own...