Monday, August 29, 2011

Happy 4th Birthday Selby


On Sunday my gorgeous puppy turned 4! It wasn't much of a celebration as I wasn't too well, but she did enjoy a pig's ear along with the other 3 pups and got a nice walk around Lake Gwelup. It's hard to believe that I've had her for 4 years already but when I look back at what we have achieved together I'm pretty proud of my little 'Quokka dog.'
Here's some pics from the early days








Thursday, June 16, 2011

Selby's First Obedience Round - CDD - Second Place and a Q 11 June 2011

The Perth Obedience Trial was our first 'for real' Obedience trial (and the only one we will do before the nationals next week)
I was so happy with Selby. It was a cold windy day and Graeme and Maverick were working in the next ring so she was a little distracted. Scoring an 89 she lost all 11 points in the healing which I must take the blame for - I was really nervous and don't think I gave clear enough signals, woops.
On the positive side check out the Stand for Exam! I was terrified having Frank as judge as he tends to stand over the dogs which can be quite intimidating for them, however Selby was a star and stayed still throughout and got a perfect score, as she did for the recall and stays :) Overall she managed to get her first pass AND placed second.
The day was mostly about me getting ring experience and learning the judges calls. Getting through a whole round makes me feel much more confident about the Nationals next week. I have no real expectations for the trial, but it's nice to know that she has completed a trial and had a pass before we go (she can do it)
Hopefully the ash cloud will be well and truely gone and it will be smooth travels and a fun trip over to Queensland


Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Obedience - Not in a Million Years!!

I have always vowed "Obedience isn't for us... Don't like it... It looks boring... Selby (and I) would be hopeless at it... I'm NEVER going to do it"

And then .... 97/100 at her first trial last weekend!! Amazing how things change!

So what happened to my vow? Graeme was planning to take Mav to the Obedience Nationals in Queensland in June and asked us to come too. Before I knew it flights were booked - only problem - Selby had NEVER done anything that resembled obedience in her life!! A couple months of mad training later, along with the realisation that it would probably be better to actually get into the ring before we rock up at the Nationals, and she was in her first trial. It was a members comp at Northern Suburbs which seemed like a nice 'safe' go at it. I can't say I have ever been that nervous at an agility trial where once you get into the ring you don't have time to feel the nerves. I was so impressed with Selby's healing and she got all her positions (we need to straighten them up a little but she couldn't even do a stand 2 weeks ago so I'm not complaining)

One thing I learnt is that it is probably a good idea to know the rules BEFORE you go in the ring. I lined up for the recall with Selby sitting beautifully at my side expecting the judge to say "leave your dog" instead I hear "forward" ... "What? I have to go forward first?" Short discussion with judge then I step forward and woops Selby isn't really with me and misses the sit :( There go our 3 marks. She did do a beautiful recall though so again not unhappy with her - totally my fault.

On to the stand. My little tactile defensive dog that has only just learnt how to stand is not ready to cope with being examined as well so we opted for the 30 second stand (the judge thought I was crazy and given that I had never practiced more than about 10 seconds she probably wasn't too far off) I was amazed that Selby completed this exercise successfully and would go through to the stays without being DQ'd. The stays TERRIFY me!

Stays, along with the exam, would be the main part of obedience that has stopped me from even considering training Selby for trialling. She really doesn't like being touched and is very possessive of her personal space. Leaving her to sit amongst other dogs that she doesn't know - NEVER in a million years! Turns out she was just fine, although she is a real sticky beak and spent the whole time looking around for what mischief she can get into. I had been advised to give her the "evil eye" if she looked like getting up - which would be fine if she ever made eye contact with me!! The 1min sit and 2 min drop felt like an hour but even with Maverick working in the next ring she didn't get up Yay!

We finished the day with an amazing 97 which I'm thrilled with (shame there were also dogs that got 98, 99 and 100 so she only placed 4th)

Obedience Nationals here we come!!!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Sunday, January 2, 2011