Saturday, May 31, 2014

Birthday Bliss

Up before the birds this morning for a road trip to Dunkirk, NY.  Imagine my excitement when I discovered that lure coursing was my birthday present!



After earning 2 more AKC CAA (Coursing Ability Advanced) Qs,
 I completed my AKC Rally Novice title.


Happy 3rd Birthday to my littermates!

Monday, May 26, 2014

Nose & Toes

After an 8-month wait, I got to lure course this weekend.  I had a blast and earned 4 more Qs toward my UKC CAX (Coursing Ability Excellent) title. 





We also tried the new sport of UKC Nosework for the very first time. We had no formal training and no idea of what was expected but decided to give it a try and had a great learning experience in the process.  Thanks to Oxford Dog Sports for putting on another great weekend of events.  Thanks to Judge Nicholas King for patiently explaining this new event to the complete newbies and for holding a post-trial training demonstration.  With a steep learning curve ahead of us, we now have a great framework within in which to start our training.  

My first exposure to the first-level scent of Sweet Birch was on Thursday with a few games of hide and seek at home.  On Saturday, I earned my Pre-Trial Level 1 (PT1 - Sweet Birch) title.  On Sunday, I attempted my first "Interior" search and Qualified with 2nd place (Mom incurred a Handler fault and nearly failed us!).  I attempted 2 "Vehicle" searches (must find the scent on the correct part of one of 3 vehicles within 4 minutes).  On Saturday, I identified the correct vehicle but Mom alerted on the wrong side of it.  On Sunday, again, I identified the correct vehicle but Mom didn't wait for me to zero in on the exact spot and called Alert @ one foot away from the scent location. Oh well, you know what they say:


GREAT DOG!  SHAME ABOUT THE HANDLER!


Considering the exhilarating thrill of lure coursing, so proud that I was able to participate in two vastly different activities back-to-back with success. 

Sunday, May 04, 2014

Sunday's Smile

I don't usually get to stay up late enough to watch Letterman but Jack Hanna is special. Just can't get enough of Jack and Dave and all the cute baby animals!

Serval cats
Albino Porcupine
Is that a Sula leugastor
poking me in the ear, Dave?