Agility Retrospect...(part 3)

One Day.

One Mission.

Complete our level 1 requirements by qualifying in Jackpot!

(Oh, and also try our hand/paws at level 2 Standard - as in, perform the weave poles and teeter in public).

DONE! ...and... DONE!

Jackpot, our final level 1 requirement is complete. Yea! ...
It didn't go as smoothly as I (or Zainey) would have liked, for sure, but we did it. Z fell off the A-Frame, or more accurately, she launched off the A-Frame. Whoopsy! One of the people working the ring (I won't say who) observed that it was due to my approach, being such a green handler, that I needed to not 'leave' her at the approach to the A-frame, and that I'll learn how to manage that better in the future. ...<Ahem>... Okay. I'm sure it had nothing to do with the fact that the tire to A-frame approach was at a 90 degree angle and by the time we ran, the non-rubberized equipment set up outdoors on grass was visibly wet from all the dogs that ran before us.  Luckily, this is one of the few courses where the A-frame is not faulted and, while I was prepared to stop our run right then and there, Z bounced right back and was ready to keep on truckin'. Granted, my course plan fell apart a bit at that point and we just kind of muddled though, but we finished strong (no 'sniffy' or other distractions in the gamble portion) and in 1st place! Pretty good for her first time running on an outdoor course where the distractions are tenfold and she had to run up a slippery slide!

Behavior Modification ~ Progress and Follow-Up

In the seven+ weeks since our initial appointment with the veterinary behaviorist, we've been adhering to our training and behavior modification plan, recording our progress, and checking in with Dr. Bain when new situations or questions arise. ...

Part 1 - Help Zainey relax:

DAP (Dog Appeasing Phermone) Collar ~  For the first couple of days wearing this, Z did seem a little more calm. For example, whenever we pull into the driveway after coming home from agility practice, she is up and ready to get out of the car. The day after she started wearing the DAP collar, she remained lying down and completely relaxed when I opened the back seat. After a few days though, that chilled-out state seemed to fade. Since the collars need to be replaced every few weeks, I applied a new one a couple of weeks ago and that night she 'nursed' in her sleep quite a bit. This is something Z has always done mildly, off and on, but that night she was
really 'sleep-nursing'. Again, that effect didn't seem to last.
Anxitane (L-Theanine) ~ I can't say that I've noticed any change in her behavior or anxiety level since she's been on this green tea nutraceutical, so if it is helping her in any way, it's not at a level that I've been able perceive and I believe we're somewhere near the point where if it were to help, we would be noticing.

Zainey Goes to the Shrink!

First bath in her new home, Oct 2008

Zainey has always had a few issues; she came into our lives a lively yet timid pup and grew to be quite reactive at times despite our very best efforts at training, socialization, and exposure to new situations and people. At the age of two she also started developing slight noise phobias that have since grown into full blown 'panic attacks' complete with inconsolable panting and shaking. As her fears of new people, certain dogs, and various situations have grown, so have her reactions and undesirable behaviors. All the while, our lives have gotten smaller and smaller in order to accommodate her special needs and personal space requirements. ...

Agility Retrospect...(part 2b)

In part2b of the retrospective post of our March 17-18 agility trial, we pick up where we left off in part 2a (duh-really?). Z and I are back at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds competing in our third agility trial. We failed to qualify in Jackpot on Saturday morning which meant moving up to level two was out of the cards for that weekend. However, we still had three more courses to run that day and another three the next. Oy vey - that seemed like a lot to complete (in between a LOT of sitting around) when my hopes for the weekend had just been smashed like a yam on Thanksgiving. ...

Agility Retrospect...(part 2a)

Another title for this post might be "Agility Trial #3: 3rd Time's not the Charm" or maybe even "Our 3rd Agility Trial: Apparently Failure is an option."

I knew when I got started with agility that it wasn't going to be easy. I've heard time and again about people who've gone through all the hassle of registering for a trial, packing up the dog (and dog supplies and car), driving quite a distance, staying in some random hotel, getting up way too early on a morning that's way too cold, and sitting around for the better part of a day (or weekend) - all for the chance of qualifying in just one or two particular runs - only to have it all blown to heck in a matter of seconds. I just thought those types of disappointments would come at a much higher level, not in level 1! ...

Wordless Wednesday (our style)

Well, I guess that's as 'wordless' as we're gonna get for today.

Agility Retrospect ...(part 1)

Why the he** is it so difficult for me to keep up a simple blog?! From what I've been told, we all get the same amount of time in a day - 24 hours...right? Well, whatever, just a few obstacles in life, I suppose.

...Hey! Speaking of obstacles, I need to document Zainey's agility accomplishments, so let's get on with it. Since they are so out of date at this point, I thought about covering the past three trials in one post, but since it appears we probably won't be trialing for a while as we instead focus on some behavior issues (more on that later), I am going to really drag these out. Besides, she's accomplished way too much to just shove it all into one condensed blurb.

I'm going to take you back in time now to our 2nd agility trial, all the way back to January 2012. The location is Elk Grove and the mornings are flippin' cold as heck! 

Friday afternoon, checking out the new venue

We ran 6 courses over two days: 2 Standard; 2 Wildcard; 1 Colors; 1 Fullhouse. ...