Novice Mental Games

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I’m taking an on-line mental prep course for big events.  It’s actually for agility, but I can see the exercises seeping over to help me in other parts of my life – IF I apply them.

That is one of my problems.  I get new tools and then don’t use them.  I have so many books on so many mental fix-its, but don’t use them after I’m done with the book.  I love NLP (NeuroLingusitic Programming).  Richard Bandler is a genius as far as I’m concerned.  I have read many of his books, and Tony Robbins, who took NLP and made it into a tool for the masses.  Yet here I sit, using the programming I was raised with mostly.  Ugh!  Perhaps I am uncomfortable enough now that I will use something from my new class.  I feel like my daily routine is in such a funk that I really NEED a change to rev myself up.  I need to step out of my comfort zone in a bigger way than I did this year, post my goals, and go for them.

Away from that, I was reading about a few things along the way of the course, and one question was do you freeze up when you are running your agility dog because another handler from the agility class you’ve been taken is also running?  Oh, and by the way, that handler has a sibling to your dog and is running right before you.  Yikes!

When I first started running my dog, another handler from the location I had practiced in was in a trial with me.  I thought we would encourage each other at the trial as we did in group practices, but a funny thing happened.  When I got my first Q, the response was more of disappointment than congratulatory.  What was asked after I left the ring was, “Do you think you Q’d?”  I said, “Yes!” then tried to suck in some of the air I’d lost during the run.  “Really?” was the response and as I interpreted the incredulous look on that face all sorts of feelings twisted inside me.  While I explained through short breaths why I thought I Q’d, I felt a sudden shift in our relationship to that of opponents rather than friends.   From then on, it was more and more competitive, and so it got harder for me to say anything either way, when my “opponent” ran well or not and I didn’t look forward to comments from that side when I ran, either.   I started to get into this competitive mind game, and didn’t like it.  I was out to run my dog, not to compete against someone else mentally or physically.  I was just starting out!  I had hardly any handling skills, but the mind games were out there and coming on strong even at that level.

Now that I’ve been in agility a little longer, I have a few more handling skills, and have become a little more guarded.  I definitely see the need to enhance the mental part of my game, inasmuch as it will keep me focused on the task at hand and help me cope with ill intentions.  I think starting out with a healthy mental game is a good thing.  Why not develop healthy mental habits and practice them along the way with healthy handling skills?  After all, practice makes perfect.

Annie’s Picture Published

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Click here to see Annie’s picture in the first ever AKC Canine Partners Newsletter.  Hers is the first picture.  I’m so proud of my little Aussie with a twist.  She’s a brilliant dog, who’s also beautiful.

I drove 3 hours one way to adopt Annie from a shelter in central Florida five years ago.  I had been watching her picture on the pet finder for a while, and I wanted an Aussie something big.  There are rarely full bred Aussies or Border Collies in the shelters in south Florida, so I was excited to find Annie.  She was a self blue merle, too; a rare find.

So when I sent in her pictures to the AKC to get her ILP as an Aussie, imagine my surprise when they denied it.  I was so surprised, I tried again.  And they denied her again!  A few years passed, and when the AKC finally admitted mixed breeds, they gave me her mixed breed listing for free.  Or they didn’t ask me to apply a fourth time.  OK, yes, I tried one other time.  Someone suggested I try to ILP her as a Border Collie.  I did that even though she didn’t look like a Border Collie to me.  She is and always will be an Aussie to me, an Aussie with a twist of maybe a little something extra.

http://links.mkt2242.com/ctt?kn=9&m=3211848&r=MTk3NTIxNTM0MzkS1&b=0&j=OTk3ODQwODkS1&mt=1&rt=0

Halloween Day

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As for the treats this Halloween weekend, what did the kids get?  Well, last night they got a scoop of ice cream in their dinner bowls.  Today, they got new toys to play with.  These are hard core squeaky toys, and they’ll only be able to play with them in the house as long as they last.  They’re too noisy for outside, and I live a couple blocks off of a highway!

A couple of trick-or-treaters cheated and knocked at the door around 3 pm.  I didn’t answer because I wasn’t expecting anyone as usual.  Besides, all I had was liver Biscotti, which I’m sure they wouldn’t have appreciated anyway.

Halloween Eve

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I had to water the front yard today. It’s not been scorching hot, but it is dry enough that I couldn’t ignore the brownness any longer. This groundcover is supposedly a weed, but I love it. It stays low to the ground. Even when I mow, I don’t cut this greenery.

It has flowers that feed the bees.  I don’t have to do anything to it.  No fertilizers or anything.  It just grows.  But I can’t find it at any nursery.  It would do the lawn mowing, fertilizing, businesses harm, and whatever else you need to keep up a lush lawn.  I’m trying to let it take over the yard.  That red plant in the picture is another “weed.”

This is a plant, the name of which I do not know.  I got it as a small cutting this summer, and it has grown so tall, I had to top it off.  I didn’t know it produced flowers at the time.  But its height makes the thing topple over.

I love these deep blood red flowers. Very appropriate for Halloween.

I went to Home Goods this morning.  They were having a 50% off on Halloween items, so I got a few.  But I found these two items, a dog blanket and dog towel for $7.  So I had to buy them.  I washed them together.  Not a good idea.  The towel shed on the blanket.

And the blanket lint attached to the towel.

The cashier at HomeGoods was such a neat guy.  He used to be in the fine art business and has been everywhere and knows a lot of stars.  I told him about my Dobies and he told me that Ben Vereen, star of Pippin, had a “miniature Doberman” that always came to the door dressed up.  The dog had a closet full of clothes.  I mentioned in passing that there was no such thing as a miniature Doberman, that it could have been a MinPin or a Manchester Terrier, but there was no time to get into that.  Perhaps it will register later.  I just cannot emphasize enough that smallish looking Dobermann are not Dobermann at all.  But I digress.  The man settled into South Florida in his retirement.  I could have talked to him for hours.  I am going to look for him next time I stand in line at HomeGoods.  Most cashiers are so rude and unengaging.   What a pleasure this man was!

I also stopped at PetSmart to return some Halloween t-shirts I got in the mail.  I ordered extra large, but got pee-wee sized shirts on xlrg hangers.  I know that because I bought a pair of xlrg shirts last weekend, which WERE extra-large.  Here is Luigi wearing one that says BOO!  I put t-shirts on my Dobies on cold winter nights, so these will come in handy then.

Upon leaving PetSmart, I ran into a flock of birds checking out their own treat.  I don’t know if anything was in there.  Some slobs left the package in the parking lot.  There were four crows trying to open the bag.

When the last one gave up, another bird came in to try.

He didn’t get anywhere with the bag either.

Dudley was glad to see me when I got home.

He’s a happening guy!

Cousin Annie is looking for some treats!

And here are some of the treats!

Happy Halloween Eve!

Getting Ready for Another Trial

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A friend of mine who competes in the upper echelons of obedience, OTCH level, told me her dog got points off last weekend because she barked at the end of her run.  She missed a placement because of that.  I don’t think the stuffiness is going to come out of that dog sport ever.  I think about agility and all the freedom a dog has to be a dog.  Running, jumping, climbing, tunneling, teetering, barking – it fits who a dog is.  On the obedience side, there’s heeling, lying still, standing still, sitting still, and being called to the owner to sit still in front of her until told to get into heel position, and that’s just the first level of fun.  I can see why agility has taken off while obedience simmers and even evaporates a little.

Meanwhile, I’m training Leissl for the upcoming Miami Cluster Dog Trials in December.  She has two legs of three needed for her Rally Advanced title, and I want to get her used to the Excellent exercises, so we can move up should preparation and good fortune invite us to do so.  I’ve been teaching her the 3-step backward move.  She can walk backward fine.   Now we’re working on the walk backward AND stay straight.  Picky picky picky.   Well, when I taught Luigi, I did it in a week, and we weren’t concerned about the straight part.  Now, I’m challenging myself.  On our last run, Leissl missed out on first place because I took for granted that I could start off from a cold start into a slow and move into normal, but that didn’t happen.  We got a big fat zero for that exercise.  That’s another thing I will work on – pace changes.  Rally’s a little more relaxed than obedience competition.

I’ve been thinking about polishing Luigi to compete for his CD, though.   The worst part about the obedience ring is you can’t talk to your dog without points being deducted or being booted from the ring if you overdo it.  Luigi’s used to feedback.  All my dogs are.  So I have to learn to give him the silent treatment and he has to learn to take it and perform if we want to get this thing done. It will be a year at this upcoming trial where he finished his RE degree.  We will see.

MOC Agility Trial Results

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The Miami Obedience Club Agility Trial was a blast!  Raven and I are starting to click.  Just as I suspected, she had it in her to get her 3rd Nov Pref Std leg, and on Friday, we Q’d and Raven has a NAP title now.  All our runs were recorded, and to put or keep us in the Halloween spirit, I used festive music on the videos.  Before that, though, I’d like to mention that a handler by the name of Marie Davino sang the National Anthem accapella on Friday morning and it was just beautiful.  If I’d had only known, I would have recorded it.  Such a talent!

Here is our NAP run.

Raven’s NAP ribbons.

We moved up to open and the rest of our runs were NQ’s, but they were FUN!  We have not worked on weave entries yet and I considered that an automatic fault going in, and was right.   We haven’t practiced many 12-pole weaving exercises either. Weaves are a devil of an obstacle to get consistent.  The judge said she mentioned to her Novice group that they are allowed two refusals.  One handler then asked if she could refuse the weave poles.  I think many of us pray for weave pole miracles before we go in the ring.  I did.

Onto my darling Doberangel.  The morning of our first day, I looked at her toenails and said, “Oh my gosh!  I meant to clip those last weekend.  Let me take a teeny bit off those front nails.”  And I did.  That was fine.  But I decided to take a teeny bit off the back nails, and that’s when I clipped one too much, and it took a lot of work to get the bleeding to stop.  Especially considering I couldn’t find my Quick Stop.   When I did, I got the bleeding under control.  And on Leissl’s first run, Nov JWW, the bleeding started again.  At her ex-pen, it was a mess and it went all over her blanket.  I got in there with the Quick Stop and had to pile it on to stop the flow.  Then I ran to the bathroom, which was a 1/4 mile round trip, and brought wet paper towels.  Then I scratched her from the rest of the trial.  Was that ever a big lesson learned.  No nail trims close to a trial.  I’m going to say no less than a week before.  That’s my new rule.

Here’s Leissl’s Novice JWW run.

Raven’s Open JWW run actually preceded her Novice Standard run in real time.  It was a fun course to run and both our first times ever in an Open course of any kind.

Here is the Raven-Open JWW-10-22-10-MOC run

After that we went home.  I had brought Dudley, too.  I need to train this little guy and start showing him.  The only drawback is that it is expensive enough showing two kids in agility.  Three would be a financial squeeze that may be too tight to fit.  He knows a lot of obstacles.  Dudley just doesn’t know how to come when called when he’s found something more interesting than me to distract him.  I will work on this.

Saturday was our next and last day at the 4-day trial.  Unfortunately, I needed one day to recuperate and do some weekly chores and am not ready for a 4-day trial yet, anyway.  The morning started out with an announcement that the 21-gun salute would not take place.  I didn’t know one had been scheduled in the park, but I thought that was a good decision to cancel it.

Then it was onto Raven’s Open JWW class.  That was a fun class.  The judge had two tunnels and it was just a really nice course.  I had a lot of fun running it with Raven.

Next was our first time in Open Standard.   We did get the weave poles after our second go at it.  I think we had one more fault in this class than was allowed for a leg.  Either way, it was another course that felt harder than it was while walking it.  It turned out to also be a fun course to run.  Here is that Open Standard run from Saturday, 10/23/10.

I wore my new Happy Howloween T-shirt.  It has a Dobie shape filled with candy corn.

If you shop there, please give your support to the Florida Dobermann Pinscher Rescue Ring when you check out.  Helping Udders donates a certain percentage of the total check out amount to a  rescue of the buyer’s choice.  Click the picture below to go to their site.

One conclusion of many I have come to is I must lose weight – again.  How many times I’ve done this in my lifetime, I’ve lost track.

Goals are good.

🙂

MOC Trial Readiness

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This is the time of the MOC agility trial.  It’s a 4-day event, starting today, but I entered my two girls on Friday and Saturday only.  I need a day for chores and rest and I’m also taking vacation days, so pretty much have most of mine planned for the rest of the year.  ‘Cept for one that I haven’t decided what to do with yet.

Raven, my dear Raven.  PLEASE work with me and let’s get your 3rd leg on that Standard Preferred Novice title this weekend.  I know.  I haven’t been taking you out to practices for months, and we only get to play in the backyard, so it’s not really fair of me to expect this of you; yet, I do.  We’ve been doing these trials for 2 years now, and I think you get the general idea.  You rock, girl, and I know if I can get my steering system and verbals out, you can do it IF you want to.  But please, if I have you lined up at the start line sitting in front of a jump, and I’m standing out there, in front of you, waiting at the next obstacle, don’t veer off to the side to go look at the table when I say OK.  You hate the table.  I know that.  So that’s just rude.   And if we’re coming off the dog walk and I’m running with you right towards the tunnel, pointing at the entrance and yelling TUNNEL!  TUNNEL!, please go through it and not around it.  K?  And one last request.  Don’t run out of the ring after we’re done.   Wait for me and we’ll go back to your ex-pen for treats while I catch my breath.  Let’s work together.  Let’s do it!

Leissl, my 9-year-old love bunny.  You rock as much if not more than your younger sister.   Thank you for jumping regular height so willingly, and trying so hard even when it is past your bed time.  Thank you for never running out of the ring like you know who.   So sometimes you stress out and stop to sniff the ground.  OK.  I understand.  Perhaps you can wait till the run is over this weekend, and sniff after we leave the ring?  I’ll give you extra cookies if you do.   Really, you are a very special girl, and if only I’d started this sport when you were a youngster, you’d have gone as far as my inadequate handling could take you.  Maybe farther.  You need two legs for both Novice Standard and JWW this weekend.  Let’s do it!

I will get there early tomorrow and steward the FAST classes.  Then dedicate my time to recording other runs, studying and walking the courses, and warming you both up.  I will do my best not to lead either of you off course and will try to stay out of your way.  Let’s do it!

And Dudley, you don’t get to go.  So please don’t throw a temper tantrum in your crate as I’m getting the girls ready, or you might make me feel bad enough to shove you in the truck and take you with me.  That wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the family, now would it?  😉

Crows

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I’ve been a tad disappointed since fall arrived.  Usually, I see a huge flock of crows flying over my house twice a day around sunrise and sunset.  Yet, thus far, I have seen only one crow.  I was happy to see him, no doubt, yesterday in the a.m.

But where are the rest of them?  Am I missing their pass over time or are they taking another route or just not here yet?  Was that one crow the early bird?  The scout?  A leftover from last year?  I don’t know, but I am craving their caw caw caw and their steadfast persistence to stay on  schedule. and their acrobatic dancing in the sky.  Some days, there are whirlwinds up above, and I watch them maneuver through, spinning around the skies, going with the flow till they are released and put back on their path.

In Southern California, I would be driving down a street, and suddenly, a crow would fly by and drop something in front of my van.  I’d veer off, thinking they dropped something by mistake.  Later on, I read about their brilliance at using vehicles as nut crackers.  I had an Astro van back then.  It would have been a fine choice for cracking nuts, don’t you think?   Another time, I made corn muffins that were dry and unappealing.   I was sure the crows would appreciate them, though, so I threw them on top of the roof.  They stayed on the roof till I went up a ladder to pull them off.  I couldn’t believe that one.  Picky!

I’ll enjoy my memories of these amazing birds while I keep an eye out and ears open in hopes the flock of crows returns to the Fort Doberdale skies soon.

Tricks and Treats

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I took Luigi outside this morning for a few minutes to practice heeling.  I am thinking of entering him in a trial in December to pursue his CD.

I noticed as I’ve been training him, I’ve been treating him too often.  I treat him for everything he does right, even if he does something wrong first.  I will ask him to correct it, and when he does, I treat.  But that’s putting all the responsibility on me for both sides of the team.  Plus, it’s not giving him enough information to get his part right either.  It’s a tricky balance.

One of our rituals includes the halt.  I stop heeling and he sits fairly close, but a lot of times, his rear end sticks out, at which point I tell him to get his butt in and he obliges.  I normally treat him for doing that, but now, I praise and pet him.  I see the wheels turning, “But where’s my treat?”  Where?  Well, when he gets it right the first time, I give him pork.  In the few minutes we were doing the routine, he was getting the message.  Now it’s his responsibility to figure out where to plant himself on the halt.

It’s a little bit hard on me not to treat him every time he does something I ask, but I know we’ll make a better team with a little bit of resolve on both our parts.