Wednesday's Work

OOOPS!

GOTCHA!

Wednesday's Work

First session learning to put away my toys

Is this what the basket is for?

Or is it this?

(boisterous human alert - turn down the volume)

Jumping Bean 2

More from our pre-Ice Age jumping sessions.

Cutting it close - cleared the bar without touching it.

At 39 seconds, I demonstrate how fast I need Mom to run!!!

Making things more interesting by increasing the number of obstacles in a sequence.

8-obstacle sequence

9-obstacle sequence

Jumping Bean

Before the snow, freezing rain, ice storm and deep freeze ...

Back in November (one of the warmest Novembers on record), we took full advantage of the great weather by working on agility foundation exercises. I worked my way up to my full jump height of 24" and worked on focus exercises in the midst of freshly fallen leaves. The jumps in the following videos vary in height from 18" to 24".

Working out a good cue/body position to signal when to go between 2 jumps rather than just taking the second jump/repeating the previous sequence.

Warming up my muscles before a jumping session.

(Always need to keep track of the camera!)

(I sometimes like to keep my rear paws at the back

of the tread which causes that squeaking noise.)

Wednesday's Work

January 11, 2014

Nickel City Cluster

AKC
Beginner Novice

Obedience Title

The blizzard that hit parts of Buffalo ended on Tuesday and the roads were cleared on Wednesday (there had been a driving ban) so we headed out first thing Thursday morning. Wow, we crossed the border into a sea of white. Route 5 runs along Lake Erie and as far as the eye could see the lake was ice and snow! 

Shortly after we arrived at the Nickel City Cluster, I passed my very first attempt at Beginner Novice Obedience (BN) with a score of 187.5/200. Several hours later, I earned my second Rally-O leg with a score of 93/100 (my first and only other AKC Rally-O run was way back in April 2012).  

Since the weather was co-operative, we drove home Thursday night and returned Friday morning (a very slushy drive). Very shortly after arriving at the venue, I earned my second BN leg with a score of 187. After more than 6 hours of waiting around, it was Rally-O time. Or NOT! Yep, my Achilles heel got the better of me, again. Two-thirds through the run came the "Sit-Down" station and I gave into temptation BIG TIME!!! Although, I started to "down",  it was my tongue that hit the floor and not my elbows. Up until then, it was a passing run. From that station on, it was a dismal fail. Oh, well.

The Saturday morning drive was a bit slow with slippery conditions here and there. Once over the border, we encountered a road closure on Route 5 due to flooding and had to take a detour which nearly made us late for my BN run. In spite of our hurried entrance into the building, I earned my third BN leg with a score of 191 and my first AKC Obedience title.

Had we known it was going to be a 7 hour wait until our Rally-O run, we would have gone home at noon. As we entered the ring, it was apparent that my focus was more on the mats than on the work, so Mom made the decision to keep the leash short and taut so as to not allow me to reach the mats with my nose or tongue! This decision caused us to NQ. Oh, well. Better an NQ with my head in the air than an NQ due to a repeat performance of "lick the mats". 

It's safe to say that most, if not all, of the marks lost were due to the lure of the mats. That being said, in my defence, I have not been in a group class of any kind since last March, only managed to squeeze in a couple of private lessons in the summer and only one drop-in Rally-O class in December. So, all in all, I did a spectacular job of working in the midst of the distractions of the crowd, the other dogs outside the ring and the activities in the other ring. If only the mats had not been so intoxicatingly calling my name...

Not quite the "clean sweep" I had in the conformation ring at last year's Nickel City Cluster BUT a very successful outing nonetheless. Everyone is very proud of my earning my Beginner Novice title in 3 straight runs.

 

The snow was piled so high that I could almost see the
racehorses practicing on the other side of the high fence.

Thanks to Judges Ted Leslie and Catherine Thompson and all the volunteers of the Kennel Club of Niagara Falls and the Kennel Club of Buffalo.

Wednesday's Work

For a variety of reasons, we have not attended any classes for several months. Where has the time gone? We did, however, manage a few private obedience lessons in the summer. Here are two videos from my introduction to the broad jump.

My first session learning the obedience broad jump sequence

 

Being an introductory lesson, the broad jump is set about half its trial length (which will be 46"). To avoid a diagonal jump landing in front position, the plunger is used to encourage a straight jump landing followed by a turn then a front. This is the type of exercise where we employ the earlier foundation exercise of going out to and around cones (for example, go-outs). As shown in the above video, we ended each attempt with a front and a fun reward delivery rather than a formal finish (finishes will be added much later).

The following weekend

  
If I am counting correctly, there are 6 steps to a broad jump:
1.  wait in a sit position
2.  jump straight over the boards
3.  land straight
4.  turn to the right
5.  front (sit in front of handler as straight as possible)
6.  finish (either by swinging to the left or by going behind the handler then
     sitting in the space between the boards and the handler)

Wednesday's Work

New AKC Lure Coursing Title

 "CAT" (Coursing Ability Test)

View of Seneca Lake from the Coursing Field
Sampson State Park, Finger Lakes, New York

Leg #1

Too bad there is no video of my first run! Non-sighthounds run individually whereas sighthounds run with 1 or 2 other sighthounds depending on the event. Approximately two-thirds through my first run, a whippet ran out onto the field to chase the lure and I got to demonstrate for the judge that I could course with another dog in a mannerly fashion (i.e., play fair by concentrating on the lure and not interfering with the other dog).

 Leg #2

Leg #3

(The video is not very steady as it was very windy and the person holding the camera was also holding a very large dog who was very excited to be next in line!)

 

My AKC name is now:

Varazs Mokany Kiralyi Orban JH, CAT

Tally Ho!

GOTCHA!

 
 UKC  Luring Coursing Ability (CA) title!

Grandma Sylvia was standing with the judge and lure master so she had a good view of the course and caught these great shots of me in collection and extension:

 

You can see a video of one of my courses (or, is it coursings?) here

 
"A qualifying score is defined as: the dog shall run alone, and must complete the course With enthusiasm and without interruption."

My first lure coursing experience and first qualifying run was in August 2012. As soon as I saw the set up on Saturday, I could hardly contain my excitement. 2 courses later (only allowed 2 per day) and I had finished my CA title to become the first Varazs-bred Vizsla to earn a lure coursing title. Imagine how thrilled I was to get to course again on Sunday (and earn 2 legs toward Coursing Ability Excellent). Here I am "calmly" awaiting my turn:

(Translation: "Someone else is playing my game!!!")

Wednesday's Work

 Distance work + 2 Obstacle Sequences

On a windy day in May, the chute came out to play!  Up until now I have only seen sequences with jumps (bar, tire and solid).  This is from my first session working sequences with the chute.

 

Bar to Chute - 2 cues

 

Chute to Bar - 2 cues

Bar to Chute - 1 cue

I started about 8' behind the bar jump - too bad about the camerawork!
Very nice focus on the distance obstacle!

Wednesday's Work

 Bionic Bodi, the Self-Employed Vizsla, takes a trip to Sarnia

CKC Rally Novice title!

Napping with my new toy on Sunday afternoon
We were inadvertently given an Obedience rosette (wishful thinking).

A great big thank you to the most patient of judges:
Diana MacKenzie  and  Del Lunn

Kudos to the judges and all of the Sarnia KC members who worked so hard

in sweltering humidity to keep things moving along at a brisk pace.

 

GIGANTIC SPOILER ALERT !

If you believe me to be perfect and infallible, please do not proceed FORWARD.

HALT

SIT

DOWN

WALK AROUND

(do anything but read further)

270 Right
away from your screen

  if you choose to
360 Left
be prepared to

take

3 STEPS BACKWARD,

SPIRAL
out of control
and
toss your rose-coloured glasses!


Thursday Morning

In the 15 minutes I spent in the man-cave while Mom went to fill up
the vehicle and pick up bags of ice for the cooler this happened!!!

Once again, I was framed by the most evil of evil Bowser beds!!!
You see, I had to go-go and in the name of self-preservation, the evil Bowser bed decided to distract me by unzipping and spilling its contents everywhere!!!



Thursday Evening - Monday

On Friday morning, we needed to be in 3 rings at the same time so the decision was made to scratch my first Rally and Pre-Novice runs. Although they would have held up the Rally and Obedience rings and waited for us to return from the conformation ring, based on Thursday night's correction match, it did not seem fair to make the other people and dogs wait in sweltering 100% humidity for half an hour just to witness a Vizsla hell-bent and determined to perform the best imitation of a Bloodhound in recorded history. (A video clip of such has been submitted to the Academy of Canine Theatrical Arts for consideration in the category of Best Imitation of the Hallmark of Another Breed.)

Evil Bowser bed aside, filthy floors are my arch nemesis!!! My 125 million (or more) turbinates were like magnets to the mats (judging by my stellar imitation, I may actually possess closer to the 500 million turbinates of an actual Bloodhound). For some odd reason, many people suggested that my pair of you-know-whats was to blame - this I do not understand as they are nowhere near my nose (well, most of the time, anyway)!!

You know your run is not going well when you lift your nose off the floor and you hear applause! SIGH! Mea culpa, mea culpa but dang that floor was intoxicating!

On Saturday afternoon, the lightbulb finally turned on and we earned the first Rally leg with a score of 81. I will take credit for losing 9 points and only 9 points. The other 10-point loss sits squarely on the human's shoulders for becoming discombobulated with shock and disbelief when my nose came off the floor at station 5 and she led me off-course toward station 13 (good thing she immediately returned us to station 5 and got us back on course)!

I did it!  I did it!

Many thanks to Michelle Ross for helping to turn on the lightbulb by sneaking up on me and pinching my butt!!!

Perhaps if my one Pre-Novice attempt had been on Monday instead of Sunday I would have passed. As it was, my heeling pattern looked more like tracking but I performed the figure-8 reasonably well, held my sit for exam and passed the group sit (only once did I glance longingly at the floor but my nose did not fall below the level of my belly button). The recall (the only off-leash exercise of the weekend) started off with my signature full-throttle bionic leap in the air but ended up with my nose planted on the ground instead of my butt!!!

Although I know all the Rally exercises through Excellent, it was deemed unwise to move up to Advance for our 2 runs on Monday. It wasn't worth the risk of practicing more bad behaviour as the freedom of being leash-free would have provided the opportunity to explore all the nooks and crannies that were out of reach on a 6' (now 9') leash.

To be fair, on Monday, I was in the conformation ring (outdoors) within 10 minutes of finishing a Rally run ("indoors") and showed beautifully. For a young (male) dog, this, in and of itself, was a stellar accomplishment. My second Rally run of the day (and last of the weekend) was about 2 hours later and I would have had High in Class (with a 91) had I chosen not to sniff the floor during the Halt-Down-Walk Around with my elbows in the air!!!!!  
 
On Sunday and Monday, the lightbulb flickered a little (okay, maybe a lot) but at least I finished the weekend way, way, way better than I started it (and way, way, way better than anyone would have predicted on Thursday evening...Friday...Saturday morning).

Lesson Learned

To overthrow my arch nemesis, I must start training in a barn!!!!!

Wednesday's Work

2-Jump Sequence in both directions

Mom leaving me on a wait, walking as far away as possible and calling me from a standstill using only one cue.

tire to bar

bar to tire

We don't have time in our schedule to get out to agility classes so we are continuing to work on foundation skills with minimal equipment (and minimal distractions).

Wednesday's Work

Random shots from Erie Shores

Checking out the bird activity

Littermate Elsie in the rain

Elsie and Sylvia ringside

Bodi and half-brother Quest

Taking a break while the girls were being judged

Uncle Vadasz

Miska-Mom

Boys going around the Specialty ring

(Quest is immediately behind me and Uncle Vadasz is the second last in line)

Wednesday's Work

June 6, 2013

Erie Shores Kennel Club

Best of Breed

Judge:  Mrs. G. Morison (S. Africa)

A lovely belated Birthday present and 4 more GCh points!

I also made the cut (Mr. D. Cline) in the Vizsla Society of Ontario Specialty on June 8th.

Once again, thanks to Edgar Rojas for a happy and successful ring experience.

Wednesday's Work

Can you spot my new trick as I watch the tripod being set up?

Bad throw...bad lighting...change of rooms
 

 

 

Wednesday's Work

What to do when it's -20 and/or the sidewalks are challenging and/or the backyard is a lumpy, icy, slippery mess?

Hop on a treadmill.

With a human with a wonky knee and wacky winter weather upon us, I was introduced to the PaceMaster a couple of weeks ago. Here I am experiencing incline changes for the first time. The beeping signals that the speed of the tread is being reduced as the incline is being increased.

I am still too young to run on a treadmill so I only get to walk briskly. Running on a treadmill (or alongside a human) at too young an age and before joints and bones have matured can lead to repetitive stress injuries. For a medium-sized dog, it is safer to wait until at least 2 years of age to begin running in such an artificial fashion (it may be normal for a human to run in a straight-line for miles on end but it is definitely not the norm for a dog). 

Since I am still recuperating from my recent illness and not allowed to be out and about, I have been perfecting my treadmill skills. 
 

Before the rain and freezing temps arrived,
the snow was just perfect:
cushy and fluffy and fun

Wednesday's Work

February 2nd

Wildwood Kennel Club Show
Woodstock, ON
 Judge Lynn Storeshaw (Alberta)
Expertly Handled by Edgar Rojas
  
Group 3rd

Driving in Ontario in February can be challenging! We spent about 18 hours in the car over 4 days. Since the temperatures and windchills were COLD, it was nice to have something fun and exciting to do indoors. Being awarded a Group 3rd for 43 Top Dog points on Saturday was very very exciting! A few candid shots from the ring:

Since we were finished by noon on Sunday, I got to enjoy a country romp in the snow (icing sugar compared to the amount of snow on the ground in Woodstock).

I don't think we were on Abbey Road!

Wednesday's Work

Oh, no! The teeter is stuck in the snow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think that should do it

Here goes!

Success!!