October 23

Sorry, I lost this post and I just can't do it again. It takes too long with one hand to hunt and peck.

Octboer 22

I'm not even going to mention how slack I have been in keeping up with Morgan's blog. After she earned her UKC championship, we have been training pretty regularly but for VERY short periods of time. I have been training Merlin for the freestyle event next month and Morgan gets what's left of me. Merlin has been very frustrating to train because he is wild about the treats and he is totally undisciplined :)

I keep saying I'm going to do the Ruff love stuff but haven't taken the time to implement it. Well, it is T I M E. I've been doing my training the way I've been doing my diet, dabbling in it and I really need to get serious.

About 10 minutes ago, I went over my training plans for Morgan and I am SOOO far behind in agility but I am ALMOST on track for obedience. It is just so much easier to train obedience--almost no equipment needed.

Morgan's heeling is going fabulously. She is paying attention longer and she is taking my cues on LEFT turns now. Yay! She has always taken my cues on halts and right turns. I learned something when I went to train with Sharon and Tony last Friday and that is I'd lost my figure 8. I practiced it this past week and it came right back. She was lagging on the the outside. I've been practicing a quick about turn but I cannot seem to get the drive I want. I can't get the drive I want from he recall either. Last Tuesday, I tried to speed it up and ended up with a wrist sprain. Today it was just a trot into me. I'm not going to do any more formal recalls until I finish the recallers class from Sue Garret.

Gotta quit writing now, my wrist is aching. Hopefully, I'll write more tomorrow. We have agility with Tom and Jake at 9:00.

I forgot to add my new obedience plan.
October 23 – November 30

Control Unleashed behaviors
Perfect the hold needs lots of work
Introduce forced fetch
Teach right about turn and about U-turn. Working on
Teach change of pace
Perfect finishes
Work on attention building --done
Continue focus and attention exercises—Dog Games for attention

Here's the new Agility Plan:

October 23 – November 30
Reliable recall -- Recallers Game 31 days – start again Oct 23 and finish in 31 days
CU training working on -- Keep up distractions with Jake and Merlin
Weave poles – do 12 poles in 6 weeks - Oct 23 – take stick in WP’s
Jump Chutes – Start Oct 23 (24 inches)
Serpentines and threadles Nov. 2
Rear Cross -- November 2
2o2o Start - Oct. 23
A-frame progression - November 2
Teeter
Continue focus work

Ooops!

We had another good training session today. The plan was to do a little heeling, a few step offs, finding heel,and some finishes. Since her recalls were not up to my standards yesterday, I decided to practice some fast recalls.

The heeling was a thing of beauty. She looked right at her focal point and she sat quickly on every halt. The hop to step off was good, too. Her finishes were a little better but I still want to see more sparkle from them. I was re-thinking the idea about comparing her to Merlin. In actuality, I have seen her give me what I want. The trick is getting her to want to give it when I ask for it instead of when she feels like it. Morgan enjoyed the cheeseball find heel game and did a good job. She found heel better when I was standing still. I'll need to stay stationary for a couple of days and then move.

Okay so we get to the ooops of my training session. I had started to pack up and remembered that I didn't do the cheeseball game. So I grabbed some kix cereal and went back to the large ring. The game began. Morgan was so happy and excited to play, that she was coming at me so fast, I had to really hoof it to get somw distance from her. I ran and spun around so fast that i caught my foot on the mat and fell. I put my hand out to break my fall but still bumped my head slightly. The wrist was hurt pretty badly and I literally rolled over and over on the floor. I know, such a drama queen. I got up and played the game a couple of times to let Morgan know Mommy still likes her and the game.

Funny thing. Morgan never came to me when I was hurt. I'm not sure if I screamed but I know I moaned. She was just ff gallivanting around the room. Where did I go wrong with this one. Merlin would have been all over me. There I go comparing but Nimue also would have come to me. I just wonder what this says about our relationship.

New UKC Champion

It has been a while. I wish I were more consistent about my training and about my blogging.

What prompted this entry is that I took Morgan and Merlin to a UKC show this past weekend. I wanted to put a UKC championship on Morgan because I could do it myself. It was great fun. I love going into the ring and showing off my dog. Caroline made Morgan look absolutely stunning. She got a lot of attention at the show from spectators and exhibitors. We got the championship but not without the help of a fellow poodle Lister who put her teenaged bitch in the ring. Unfortunately she shuts down in the ring but that was good for me because Morgan won and was able to finish her championship. One person said that she was probably the most beautiful poodle she has ever seen. That makes me feel proud. Morgan already thinks that about herself :)

The more exciting news, for me is that Merlin earned his first High in Trial. We had the highest score in the Rally trial and it was a wonderful feeling for me. YAY Merlin. He did perform beautifully.

We got back home last night and today we went to train in the training building. Merlin, who has been over the top lately, behaved so well we were able to do our entire freestyle routine with only minor stops for silliness.

Morgan, too was very very good. We did a warm up and she was ready to heel. I only walked in a circle with her but she kept her attention on my fist the whole time and I was so proud of her. She did the little hop off to get started. I love it. She was also able to do a 360 degree left turn by moving her rear end AND she dig the finish right on verbal commands only. YAY! I was not as happy about her recall. It still is very slow. I tried throwing a toy between my legs but I only had one so couldn't work the cheese ball game. She did do PB&J very well so I think I'm just going to finish up the Sue Garret Course before I do more formal recalls with her. Merlin comes in like such a bat out of hell. I guess I'm just holding her to too high of a standard. However, I do think she can come in faster---hell when she runs around outside or on agility equipment, she's a blur.

That's all we did today but I think I am going to enter her in pre-novice at the poodle club specialty and see if she is any better this year :)