The UKI Open certainly was polarizing this year. At least I’m not alone in saying, “Yeah, no thank you,” to the courses at the big UKI events. I’m okay with having different events for different folks, so I’m not saying they need to change it – but it just seems so extreme. I like interesting courses, but it’s funny how much UKI has become the new NADAC. Funny how trends come back around. I didn’t watch it, except for what was posted. It sounded like a bloodbath though. Which is one of the reasons I’m not a fan, so hard on dogs to have that much failure. And, yes, certainly training skills is good – but how much training should be required to get through a course? How much are we putting on dogs these days? Definitely some thoughts. For my part, most of my students can’t physically do those types of courses because of the running involved, so it’s really not relevant.
The big UKI events also have so many fricken runs it’s not even interesting to follow. I’ll admit I prefer a cozier big event where you can really cheer on those at home. I still prefer the FCI worlds as my favorite to watch, but it’s unfortunate they haven’t had a good video option for the last couple years.
So, no, the US Open did not make we want out and train. But I’m in a bit of an agility training block at the moment. Between Asher’s jumping and Bryn’s flanking, I feel like it’s an uphill battle that doesn’t have much to do with agility. Unfortunately Asher’s jumping on the turf at Lori’s for league has gotten so bad we won’t continue. Which is unfortunate, as it was really nice to have that resource to work in a new place, new equipment and interesting courses. We got a lot out of it, but I can’t see going just for Bryn right now. Navarre can’t do turf, and apparently Asher can’t either. It’s definitely not for lack of good lighting, good lord that lady has some lights up there (I’m jealous!).
So what to do with Asher? I don’t know, we’re just taking it easy right now and not doing much agility. He’s such a fun dog, but when your dog can’t jump, that’s pretty much all of agility. Sticking to AKC is probably the wise choice, but, well, yeah. I’m sure we’ll get back into it, but I’m still bummed about it all. And Bryn will get there, she’s growing up, making good decisions and feeling more confident. She’s not easy, but easier. Still, I feel like I’m not getting to do agility, just manage the issues – which is less fun. I have hopes of getting some intensive training with her this winter, she can do it!
Navarre … is still not right. I used him as demo dog for conditioning exercises in my foundation classes and you could see his back twitch. Which, first of all, shows me I need to get back into conditioning exercises. And, secondly, I’m not confident he’s ready to get back to full agility yet. Hard to believe he’s going to be 9, next year I WILL get that damn MACH – he deserves it, and to have me actually focus on him instead of the young dogs. COVID did him no favors, I feel like he missed his prime time.
Haku is continuing to deteriorate physically, but still wants to play, wants to be out there, still totally being Haku. We have an appointment to get the new miracle shot next week, so we’ll see what that can do. He’s very prancy on his front end, you can tell he’s just sore. Still on his all supplements and infusions, but they can only go so far. I’m going to ask about upping the galiprant if the magic shot doesn’t help.
As for Miss Haven, she’s six months old and seems much older – definitely a fast maturer, that one. I continue to be amazed how quickly she picks things up. Though we’ve mostly been working on actually finalizing the tricks I want to keep for her potential freestyle career. So trying to put things on verbals and on stimulus control. So that’s novel, as I usually don’t with tricks. We have taught a few new things, like circling me, paws on my feet, leg weaving, walking on her back legs and barking (which I’ll probably regret). We’ve been working on hard at trying to get her lefts and rights on verbals, which she’s doing better with. But basically revisiting everything we’ve already introduced, and she remembers it all really well. How novel!
Agility-wise we have been working on the Shape Up foundation exercises, which has been going well. She picks things up quickly, not doing much right now, but she is a very fun six month old puppy doing puppy things in tiny little bursts. As she can’t be left in the yard, she gets to hang out at classes and I try to get her out as much as possible so she’s not in a crate all day.
I THINK she’s done growing. I mean, she looks proportionate and physically she seems quite coordinated. She looks like an adult dog! She’s definitely getting some FLUFF on, which scares me a little bit. I mean, a little decorative coat is good – but how much is she going to get? It is winter though, and a surprising cold one too. We shall see. I think she’s just perfect, I love her size, I think she’s just a lovely dog and while not ‘cute’, she’s still just adorable. Love that girl, we’re having a lot of fun.
The funny part is one of the posts I had put out into the world about finding a the right boy for Bryn for the breeding I had originally intended to do next year got fished out of the nether and suddenly I have all these folks contacting me about boys to breed to Bryn – ha! And there are some nice options, actually – which doesn’t make me regret Haven (I got exactly what I wanted from her!), but does make me wonder if I should go ahead and breed Bryn anyway next summer. Not for me, but I think she could make some nice puppies and if I do want to breed her down the line, I don’t want her first litter to be when she’s like 6 or 7 if I could help it. But breed her without keeping a puppy? There is always a danger with breeding a girl, what if something happened to her? And then all the responsibility that comes with breeding a litter, what if the puppies were all just awful? Breeding is a crapshoot, you never know. Still, I’ll admit I had a lot of fun raising puppies with Bright. I probably won’t, but I’m open to the idea anyway. I THINK Bryn would enjoy being a mom, and I do think she has a lot to offer and is such an easy dog to live with. I wouldn’t be making any crazy dogs … I hope.
In the meantime, winter came on fast and I’m winding down classes. I have plans to actually work on my dogs during my break, so that’s fun. And then plans for 2024 … I haven’t wrapped my head around it yet. This year went by fast, we’re coming up on 3 years here. Crazy how fast time goes by! I keep PLANNING on teaching less, and, boy, that hasn’t happened at all. And I don’t see it happening in at least the first part of 2024 – so we will keep busy!
Oregon Dogs 