meta grete

Videos!

2011-08-14T15:03:00.000-07:00

Four new videos!

I'll add commentary on these later. I'm just so excited that I finally (1) have something to upload and (2) actually remembered to upload them!

Trouble with Serpentines!

2010-10-30T22:32:00.000-07:00

And now that I'm all caught up on posting.... Here's today's video!

Unfortunately, I forgot to charge the Flip video camera so there's only one.

This might have been the hardest and longest course we've run to date! I was completely out of breath at the end.

Also... I'm sporting the ugliest hat known to man. It's winter, sho'nuff!

3 runs with 3 different quirks

2010-10-30T22:29:00.000-07:00

On the 23rd, I had a special guest videographer with fancy new equipment. :-)

Here's our first run of the day - from up in the balcony:

(We were just warming up... ;-P)

And our second - from down on the ground:

(We have the darnest time with front crosses where Grete has to jump into me. Also, Jason accidentally left the camera running at the end. It should stop about 2 minutes in. :P)

And our last - also from down on the ground:

(I tried giving her treats at each of the uncomfortable front crosses. This was almost perfect except for the really hard end where I try to pull her to the left to catch the third to last jump.)

All I can say is... Snooker is weird

2010-10-30T17:36:00.000-07:00

Here are four videos from early October of us attempting our first "snooker" course. I still can't say I understand snooker courses well enough to explain them, so I'll see if the internet can do it for me.

From: Wikipedia

Snooker: Loosely based on the billiard game of Snooker. The course has at least three red jumps, each numbered 1, and six other obstacles numbered 2 through 7. The dog accumulates points based on the obstacle's number. This also has two parts, an opening sequence and a closing sequence. In the opening sequence, the dog must complete a 1, then any obstacle numbered 2 to 7, a different 1 and any 2 to 7 obstacle (including the one already performed), and yet another different 1 and another 2-7 obstacle. For example, the dog could perform the red on the left for 1 point, the 7-point obstacle, the red in the middle for 1 point and then the 7-pointer again, then the red on the far side of the course and the 7-pointer one more time, for a total of 24 points in the opening. After successfully completing this, the dog must complete the obstacles 2-7, in order, for an additional possible 27 points. Failure to follow these rules exactly (such as knocking a bar or taking 2 reds in a row) results in the dog and handler being whistled off the course.
Strategy and entertainment value: The dogs might have to negotiate between other obstacles without taking them or make a difficult entry to the obstacle, often combined with a longer distance between the reds and the 7 so that it consumes more time to do the higher-point obstacle in the opening.

The fact that we're running snooker is why Cloudine is counting loudly and talking about buzzing me off course and futzing with her cell phone to time us. All in all, I think it could be fun if you're good at math, course analysis, and running really freaking fast, but it was our first time so go easy on us. :-)

Grete the Ring Bearer

2010-10-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

Despite being insanely busy for the last few months, Grete and I have continued to do agility. We've graduated to the morning advanced class that runs more courses, so I have more than a handful of videos from October.

But first, you might ask what we were insanely busy doing. May I present - Grete the Ring Bearer. (Jason and I got married at the end of July, and Grete was our ring bearer. That's my leg in the green dress. :))

What's this? A VIDEO?

2010-04-03T19:23:00.000-07:00

Huge thanks to Chad for taking this awesome video of Grete's goofy run today. She really wanted to take the chute instead of the tunnel... backwards. Cracked. ME. UP!

She's 6? Seriously. She's 6.

2010-04-03T19:21:00.000-07:00

Too bad I didn't even know agility even existed when I was 6.

HD Video

2010-01-31T10:47:00.001-08:00

BTW, those two videos are HD from my new Flip Ultra HD. However, it looks like YouTube has to change the width in that case, so now I need to fix the layout... Erfh!

Twisty Turns and Discrimination Tests

2010-01-31T10:41:00.000-08:00

Twisty Turns and Discrimination Tests

Saturday's course contained a discrimination test at the very beginning (the tunnel versus the dog walk) and some twisty serpentine moves.

Grete and I did pretty well on both our runs. The first one I didn't call her to me enough so she blew past the second jump toward the tunnel/dog walk, but she got the really hard part of the jump sequence. (You can hear Cloudine say "Good puppy" right after she gets it.)

On the second run, we tried to work on those first two jumps. I think it was a little stressful for Grete. She hates jumping into me, and I need to work on that. After the stress, she started sniffing around and Cloudine zerberted her a bit and that got her little fire running. She and I missed the hard part of the jump serpentine, but that was due to my timing.

the course from the 16th (part 2)

2010-01-25T23:24:00.001-08:00

two weeks ago, cloudine broke out the hard courses. (one week ago she eased up a bit)

this course was super tricky. the turn from 5 to 6 to 7 got me every time.

heck - looking at it now - i'm not sure i labeled it right. (on flickr, i've added notes with the obstacle order numbers.)

good thing i finally broke down and ordered a flip video for future reference!

the course from the 16th (part 1)

2010-01-25T23:22:00.001-08:00

the "easy" part -- although grete didn't like starting with the tire

Updates and play dates

2010-01-05T21:18:00.001-08:00

So much has changed in the past few months... I've switched jobs so Grete no longer comes to work with me. I had surgery in late October so I was out for a week of agility. Then I hurt my ankle and I was gimpy for a week. Then Grete cut her paw in early December so she was out for two weeks of agility. Then Christmas and New Years... and -BANG- here we are in 2010.

Because of the job change and because of Grete, I tried working a shorter day in the office and tried to work from home more, but that was hard on both of us. She doesn't understand working from home. And she really don't understand why she's not with me 24/7. To be honest, some deep emotional part of me doesn't understand it either.

We've hired a dog walker to give Grete and our neighbor's adorable little puppy some R&R / playtime in the middle of the day.

And the good news for you, my dear reader, is that our dog walker blogs so you can continue to get your Grete fix when I've been slacking!

You can read about Grete and Rusty's play dates here: http://www.little-furry-things.com/grete-and-rusty/.

More on our agility exploits in 2010... I promise.

Video! (08/21/09)

2009-09-13T20:12:00.000-07:00

Sorry we've been so silent lately.

Hard to believe we've only been training with Cloudine for 1 year, 3 months, 8 days. It seems much longer because we've come so far.)

Even harder to believe that Grete is 2 years, 4 months, 19 days old. She seems much older and wiser. :-)

(Cloudine had a perspective student stop by class this Saturday, and while we were talking the subject of how long I had been training came up. I totally thought it had been 2 years at the time because I'm terrible with dates.)

Every week I vow to buy a video camera for class OR find my old point and shoot and bring the GorillaPod. I have no idea where my old point and shoot is (and the Nikon D90 doesn't do a good job of focusing on moving targets) and I still haven't bought one... but a couple weeks ago, Cloudine brought her camera and thus we have... wait for it... A VIDEO!

(To be honest, I really, really wish I had a video this last Saturday. The course was harder and we did so much better... IMHO.)

But here you go... A VIDEO!

Tentative Teeter Totter

2009-05-13T22:11:00.001-07:00

I made a teeter totter prototype tonight. I'm pretty excited about it for lots of reasons. First, I did it all by myself. Second, Grete seems to "get" that pulling down the board is the first step. That was huge and exciting. She even put a paw on it. I think she likes it. (I hate to say it, but just writing that makes me think of that Beyonce song... "if you like it then you shoulda put a ~~ring~~ paw on it")

The pivot is pretty close to center, and so it moves nice and slow without weight. I do need to make it shorter in height overall because it is pretty wobbly, and I think I'm going to upgrade the legs to the thicker PVC pipe. (What you see in the pictures is all re-purposed jump parts from around the basement.) I also want to figure out a way to add some tension to it. Right now, the pivot is a larger piece of PVC with a smaller piece sent through it. I think if I can slide some material in-between the two pipes, it will help it feel more solid.

In any event, behold my handy-girl-ness.

Teeter-totter Temptations

2009-05-11T22:54:00.001-07:00

Grete and I are having trouble with the teeter or see-saw. Since we don't have one at home, our practice (and thus our progress) is limited. For a while, I tried putting the board across the two couches at home, but even that was too scary for her. (Too much wobble?)

I did some research online tonight, and I'm still not sure what to do next. We might make our existing 8' board into a mini teeter with a 12" pvc base similar to this but without the ability to disassemble the board. That might help, but eventually, Grete is going to have to learn that a competition teeter isn't a scary thing.

However, real teeters are huge. They're normally 12 feet long.

This is why I'm just lusting after the one that Dog Agility USA sells.

It folds down! I could carry it. $450 is still a really, really steep price tag though. Belated birthday present for Grete's 2nd birthday?

I also like the seriousness of the J&J Dog supplies competition teeter. The base is $265 so that is a little better. We would have to make a new plank though. Maybe we could make a nice heavy plank that folds and locks with rubber chips and still come in under $300?

Both of these serious teeters here have tension adjustment. I think that might be super useful someday, but I'm not sure.

Video!

2009-05-09T22:01:00.000-07:00

Wow. Looking at this, it was a pretty darn good run, and my trainer is completely right. Grete followed my accidental body cue on the back corner jump. I thought she had committed to the jump, but she had not. Gotta stay with her longer.

BTW, that first jump was the first panel jump Grete had ever seen. They covered them the week before, and we missed that practice. It totally makes sense that Grete would have second thoughts about the first jump because it wasn't a jump to her - it was a wall! (That was also our first broad jump in the middle too!)

What the world needs now...

2009-04-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

The world needs...

* A Chuckit made out of Nylabone. Someone should make that.

* More agility videos. I can provide those.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pDgx4-tAwI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfTxT7rq9gg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWAZXVpnykU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnroF1GHNis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mz_1vIGqX8

Nothing really exciting so I'm not bothering to embed them. Just some jump grids and a fairly simple tunnel course.

Life is better with a cameraman

2009-03-16T10:01:00.000-07:00

Jason came to practice on Saturday and manned the camera for everyone. You should head on over to his blog and check it out. Agility Class @ iStrain.

Saturday Practice iPhone photo

2009-03-07T21:21:00.001-08:00

I was lazy today and didn't bring the D90 to practice. Actually, it was more than that. Since the D90 only takes 5 minute videos and since they're huge, I have soon found two things to be true:
(1) Running up and down the loft stairs takes away from the time I can spend listening to my instructor do her instructy thing.
(2) I can only really record my runs. One card is not enough for everyone. (That's how my first video got cut off.)

Jason promises to come to practice one of these days and be my camera man. :-)

In any event, here's my iPhone photo of Val and Luna zipping to the tunnel. This was after a table stay for a start, and 4 wing jumps set on a diagonal line. This was a lot harder than it looked because of the wing jumps. All the dogs wanted to go to their handlers and were a little hesitant to go away from the handlers to take the jumps.

That said, this was super fun because it was the first time that Grete and I really got to RUN together. As in, I had to RUN LIKE MAD. It was seriously fun. I wish we could do this more. I totally need a barn in my backyard!!

Big Weekend in Dog Land

2009-03-03T22:32:00.000-08:00

Seattle:
http://www.seattledogshow.org/

Sumner:
http://www.dogsworldtraining.com/pdfs/03-08-09agilityfunrun.pdf

Los Angeles:
http://www.luxurypetpavilion.com/index.shtml

(Too bad I'm on-call and really can't get away that much.)

I have a passion for potty training

2009-03-03T20:03:00.000-08:00

A co-worker wrote to the pets list asking for advice. Normally, I try to stay out of non-work email threads because I can get sucked in, but I failed this time.

Here's the email:

My girlfriend and I got another dog so that our dog has a playmate. She’s 5 months old, and the breeder said she was potty trained, but I don’t see this as being the case. We’re having some problems with her:
1. Its hard to pick up a 60lb malamute and carry her outside when she starts peeing on the carpet. The stains are also a LOT bigger.
2. She seems almost determined to go in the house. I took her and our dog for a 6 mile walk yesterday. During the course of this walk she did not go to the bathroom. As soon as we got home and I let her off the leash, she bolted for the bedroom and peed on the bedroom floor.
3. When she does go outside, I treat her. She’s learned how to go in and out the doggy door, but still prefers to go inside the house. I’ll stay outside with her for an hour or more and she’ll sniff around and play, but she wont go to the bathroom.

Any suggestions on:
1. Breaking this habit
2. Carpet cleaner to make sure there aren’t any stains.

(After the initial email, it was established that she doesn't go in the crate.)

Here's my essay:

First, the good news: Given that she doesn’t go in the crate, you probably don’t have to take her to a vet or a behaviorist. Yay!
Second, the bad news: This is might be hard, but you can do it!

RE: Breaking the habit in the bedroom:

Move the crate to a clean unsoiled area of the house. Don’t let her into the bedroom anymore until you have completely cleaned the carpet. Serious cleaning. If you can, rent a cleaner. Run it until clear.

Then, apply an enzyme cleaner heavily. (e.g. Buy at least a gallon of Nature’s Miracle or Simple Solution, and don’t be shy. Petco has both. SS is supposedly better than NM, but NM worked for me with time and persistence.) Put garbage bags and heavy things on top of the sopping wet carpet to SLOW the drying process. You want to really let the enzymes REALLY work before drying out.

This isn’t so much for your landlord but for fixing the behavior. Worry about the stains once you fix the problem. (Renting the cleaner will probably help anyway.)

My experience with repeated indoor urination comes from a confused (and stubborn) cat, but the same principle applies. You have to make the room “new” again. I moved the litter box back upstairs and cleaned and dried and cleaned and dried and cleaned again. Only once ever last molecule of urine was gone would my cat use the litter box downstairs instead of the painted concrete floor. One accident can put you back to step one, so you want to be fairly serious about this process. (BTW, Never ever use kitty litter or sand to stop flooding in your basement with a cat in the house. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Stupid in hindsight.)

RE: When you want her to go:

Go to the SAME SPOT in your yard outside.
Give your command.
Have really, really good treats. (See below.)
Wait 15 minutes AT MOST. This isn’t sniff and play time. It’s business time.
Come inside.
Wait, but watch.

At the FIRST sign of ANYTHING (sniffing, squatting, looking concerned, the faintest whimpering, even breathing a little different), grab cooked chicken or roast beef and lure her to the door ASAP. Run if possible. (BTW, buying roast beef at the salad bar in PacMed is cheaper than most grocery stores.)

Go immediately to THE SPOT. Give your command.
Treat only if she goes. (Again, waiting no longer than 15 minutes.)

Party with the beef or chicken or better-than-gold treats and “good potty” like it’s 1999 and there’s no tomorrow if she goes. Duration of the party is important as well as quality. Tear up the treat and give her praise and treats for at least 5 full seconds. Longer treat parties really make an impression.

If she doesn’t go, tell her “too bad” and go back inside. Wait. Repeat. (The “too bad” is optional. Light negative markers sometimes help.)

Heck, if you’re into clicker training, use a clicker when she goes outside – and I bet you’ll get a dog that goes on command faster than you can say “Do your business.” (NOTE: You have to “charge” the clicker first! Don’t just click outside if she’s not familiar with the clicker. )

Sadly, I would also abandon the doggie door until she really “gets it.” I might also consider leaving Candie inside just to reduce stress and increase focus. Then again, Candie might add to the motivation. You could try it both ways. 

The 6 mile walk should be a reward for when she goes in THE SPOT.

As an aside, I bet she was holding it the whole walk waiting for the bedroom. Not out of spite or anything, but because she just hasn’t grokked going outside at her new home. Somehow she got the idea that pee belongs in the bedroom. It’s in the carpet, I bet. (See cat story above.)

BTW, you’re totally on the right track by leashing her to you. Keep up the good work. It’s all about managing the behavior inside by catching it before it happens if at all possible.

Good luck, and I really hope this helps!

I feel your pain. Really, I do.

Saturday Practice Videos

2009-03-01T17:11:00.000-08:00

I'm behind on uploading videos of our practices at the barn, and I have to run take a shower right now, so I promise to add more commentary later, but for now, in all their HD glory, here are two separate visits to Rivendale, taken with the D90 strapped to a chair via the DSLR gorillapod.

Wednesday Practice Videos

2009-03-01T16:34:00.000-08:00

Jen brought her digital camera to last Wednesday's practice. The theme of the night was 180s, and as you can see, I need to figure out how to keep the motion going so that Grete and I don't stall out.

We decided that the first course was too hard, so we switched it up, and the second course was pretty easy.

Grete isn't perfect.

2009-02-24T17:00:00.000-08:00

Today Grete did something she never does. She went up the hill from the dog area and into the upper parking lot.

It was super muddy, and I knew there was no way I could get up the hill to the parking lot without crawling on my knees, and so I freaked out a little bit.

In retrospect, I should have seen it coming. Here's why...

I thought she was playing "Keep Away" with Ollie, Cooper, and Kozmo. She had her Jolly Ball in her mouth and kept running to the edge of the play area.

The thing is... I know Grete has a problem with Kozmo. From a human perspective, Kozmo is a GREAT dog. She's an adorable tri-color Australian Shepherd puppy. For whatever reason, Grete does not like Kozmo. I have two theories: First, Grete's dislike of Kozmo might have to do with being herded by Kozmo too much. Second, I think Grete may pick up on the fact that I think Kozmo is super-cute, and she might be a little jealous. I'm not sure. (Either way, Kozmo doesn't take Grete's attitude personal. She likes Grete just fine.)

The point of the story is that she was guarding her Jolly Ball and not playing Keep Away. It is a fine line, but given her somewhat sullen mood earlier today and the appearance of her arch rival Kozmo, I should have seen it coming.

No harm was done. She came down to the side of the hill, and she stood stiff as a pole as I told her to "stay" and "sit" and "wait" and every other stationary command I could think of at the time. I pried the Jolly Ball out of her jaws and praised her... And all the while Kozmo stood there sincerely smiling at me.

Lost Dog: The Saga of Pogo Continues...

2009-02-24T10:23:00.000-08:00

My friend Jerry at work lost their family dog on Friday. It's been an emotional few days for them. You can read about their efforts to find poor Pogo here: West Seattle Blog: Pogo’s odyssey: A lost-dog search takes a wrenching turn. Basically, she was found, but the helpful well-meaning folks who found her lost her by way of a front-door escape!

If you see Pogo, please immediately call the Hoffmeisters, and don't let her out of your sight! (Or twitter me! Just don't let her out of your sight!)

Here's their posting copied from the West Seattle Blog.

LOST WEST SEATTLE DOG (added 2/20/09)

WHO: Papillon dog: She weighs about 7 lbs. She is a mostly white long hair with brown patches and a long fluffy tail that curls over her back. Her name is Pogo. Ironically she is out without her collar on -we just bathed her and she escaped.

WHERE: North Delridge

WHEN: 5 pm tonight

CONTACT: If you have her, please call 206 353 9331 or 206 353 9334 immediately and we will come and get her any time of day or night. Reward. Betsy, Jerry, Isaac & Rebecca

weaves!

2009-02-21T14:30:00.001-08:00

today at practice we tried the weaves in the barn for the first time. uff da! we really need to break out the weaves more often - perhaps daily with distractions - with toys instead of treats. I also completely forgot our new rule: if grete gets on the table without cue, release her immediately. no treats! more notes and videos later!

New Video: Wednesday Practice at Fircrest

2009-02-20T10:31:00.000-08:00

Extra huge thanks go to Jen for bringing her video camera. I'm definitely going to have to bring the D90 and try the video next time just so I can get some more action shots. :-)

For those that are curious, this is course #3 in the Clean Run Sourcebook Volume 2.

Rivendale

2009-02-13T10:15:00.000-08:00

Grete has "graduated" from Cloudine's beginning agility, and on Saturday we will be going to Rivendale for the first time. She said it is a LotR reference, but looking at it now, I think they spelled it wrong. Regardless, we're excited! We'll finally be honest-to-god running -- and on dirt! It's going to be awesome. On to Intermediate Agility!! On to Moria!!

Why didn't I read this sooner?

2009-02-02T21:19:00.000-08:00

!Mushiness Alert!

I love Grete. Along with Jason, she's the center of my world. For the past 592 days, we've been together almost non-stop. We sleep in the same room. We "work" in the same office. We go to class together. Aside from shopping trips, social functions, and vacations to different countries, she's always with me, and I'm always trying to understand what she's feeling.

And yet... I still feel like we don't always connect.

I'm working on changing that.

And what do I do when faced with a challenge?

I research!

I picked up a bunch of books from my local library, and I have to say... Most of them were crap.

I do not recommend Why Do Dogs Like Balls?: More Than 200 Canine Quirks, Curiosities, and Conundrums Revealed. It's a waste of paper. Nothing revealing here.

I also do not recommend How To Speak Dog: Mastering the Art of Dog-Human Communication. It's too dry, and it seems rather dated. Also, at the risk of offending the "scientific community" surrounding animal behavior, I don't agree with some of his stated facts about X behavior having Y meaning.

I'm also struggling through this somewhat old-but-still-new-age book: The Tellington TTouch : A Revolutionary Natural Method to Train and Care for Your Favorite Animal. I might have to see a demonstration and/or rent a video. The magic TTouch seems hard to learn from a book. (That said, I've been attempting to do some tiny little circles on Grete, and she seems to REALLY like the gentle circular touch.)

I DO recommend this book: Bones Would Rain from the Sky: Deepening Our Relationships with Dogs

Aside from instilling in me a strong desire to take my meager fortune, abandon city life, and buy a farm, I'm actually learning a thing or two from this book. It is also an enjoyable read. I strongly recommend it, and I wish I had read it sooner.

Krypto (aka Bolt)

2009-02-02T14:14:00.001-08:00

Meet Frank's new puppy, Krypto! (He is named after Superman's dog. I didn't even know Superman had a dog. I am not worthy to be Frank's friend.)

Allegedly, his favorite toy is not the girl pink octopus but a manly (but puppy-sized) tennis ball. There is hope for the world yet. Krypto will save us all!

ode to three woofs and a woo #4

2009-02-01T22:00:00.005-08:00

ode to three woofs and a woo #3

2009-02-01T22:00:00.003-08:00

ode to three woofs and a woo #2

2009-02-01T22:00:00.001-08:00

ode to three woofs and a woo #1

2009-02-01T21:58:00.001-08:00

threewoofs

frisbee face

2009-02-01T21:57:00.001-08:00

Shit

2009-01-15T10:55:00.000-08:00

Shit... and the shit that hits the fan when we talk about shit.

My two cents:

I think Erik Lacitis gets paid more for stories that have more comments. I agree that pet waste can be a problem, but if you're going to bring the children into this, you should talk about disposable diapers and all the other crap that comes with babies. If you're going to talk about the dangers of pet waste in water, you should talk about the dangers of 41,250 lbs of BAGGED poop in our landfills. This article is flinging shit all over the place and not dealing with the full story on any of it. I think this article stinks.

Argus Ranch

2008-12-17T18:39:00.001-08:00

There's a place down past Auburn called Argus Ranch. It's not really a ranch though -- it's doggie nirvana.

On the 6th, Grete and I made the trek down there for a fun run. We aren't quite ready for all the sorts of equipment there, so we just watched. FWIW, Grete has not yet been introduced to the A-Frame, the teeter, or the dog walk -- but soon she will meet all three as our class advances to a bigger location out in Woodinville. I can't wait.

Anyway... Back to our visit to Argus Ranch.... Grete loved it. She took it all in, standing on her hind legs, looking over the short wall onto the course as other dogs ran. Every once in a while, she looked back at me as if to say, "When do I get to try that??"

Sadly, the barn is very, very dark. I got a handful of blurry pictures of Jen and Gigi, and one shot of Grete looking excited. Maybe next time I'll bring the SLR and try a high ISO HD video. Here's the set.

Grete in the snow

2008-12-14T14:13:00.001-08:00

Tennis ball or snow ball? Grete isn't so sure... (She loves catching snowballs. She loves catching snowballs. She doesn't really love catching tennis balls covered in snow.)

The Meta-Grete

2008-11-22T11:00:00.000-08:00

On Thursday, I stumbled across what my friend Jeff would call "a glitch in the matrix."

Through random googling, I found a reference to a ship called the Meta-Grete. Shipping Database record for the Meta-Grete. At first I thought it was a bug in the Shipping Database site. Perhaps they had a bad webcrawler that found Grete's blog. (I know... I have such little faith in technology sometimes.)

However, I then turned to Google Image Search and found the most amazing Picasa album.

A man known only to me as Captain273 actually has pictures of the Meta-Grete. Turns out he was started his sailing career on the Meta-Grete.

View Captain273's entire album of the Meta-Grete here.

Small World.

the zoomies

2008-11-22T10:51:00.000-08:00

if only there was an agility obstacle made out of soft dirt, mulch, or sand....

ever since she was a puppy, grete has had a soft spot in her heart for hills, and she's had a soft spot in her heart for soft surfaces like dirt and mulch.

she had already had the zoomies at least 3 times at Marymoor last weekend when we stumbled across 3 hills of mulch. grete totally lost it and had her fourth or fifth case of The Zoomies.

just in case you didn't know, the zoomies is the technical term for when your dog starts zipping around uncontrollably, having the time of their lives. it's usually a good thing. (as long as you're not training agility at the time. ;-))

grete was clearly having the time of her life... and so was i. :-)

we love marymoor.

seattle dog walkers

2008-11-18T19:25:00.000-08:00

A while back, we looked into a doggie daycare. It just wasn't right for us. I'm too much of a germaphobe, and I also don't like the dogs are left to entertain themselves with each other. (I also hate dog walkers at dog parks with a passion -- too many dogs (with someone OTHER than their owner) for too few people.)

Believe it or not, I would prefer someone come to the house in the middle of the day and just take Grete for a good long walk. It's cleaner and safer, and it's guaranteed 1-on-1 attention.

I keep meaning to look into Seattle dog walkers so that I have that as a fall-back plan if I can't take Grete to work. (Doctor's appointments and job changes do happen after all. :P)

Here's my first cut at a list. Any thoughts? Additions? Subtractions?

Rain City Pets
1/2 hour rates:
2 walks a week: $20 per walk
3-4 walks a week: $19 per walk
5 walks a week: $18 per walk

Dawg Dayz
1/2 hour rates:
$18

Little Furry Things
1/2 hour rates:
1 dog $18
1 dog, 5 days a week, $85
1 hour rates:
1 to 2 dogs $33
1 to 2 dogs, 5 days a week, $155

Waggy Dogs
30min- $19/dog, $3/exra dog
1hour - $29/dog, $5/extra dog

Seattle Green Dogs
Private Walks/Hikes
$35 for an hour walk in your neighborhood.

Training...

2008-11-10T23:50:00.001-08:00

For a blog that is supposed to be about dog training and a dog that is learning agility, I seem to be dropping the ball these days -- both on the blog and at home. I just went back and reviewed my old TODO list post, and I have to say that our evening training has distilled down to working on Two-On Two-Off contact position and the jump -- and not much else. We do informal flat work with the tennis ball as a reward at work.

For better or worse, we've dropped a bunch of things off our training list. For example, we no longer work with the box. It's not actually an agility obstacle. I think the point of the box was to have a non-agility obstacle that you could cheaply have two of so that you could work on left-side vs right-side obstacle discrimination.

We also don't work with the target plate anymore. I think this might come back to bite us, but for now, since we're working on simply shaping the Two-On Two-Off contact position, I'm not sure the target plate is all that necessary. We'll see about that.

I think a revised version of our Training TODO list would look something like this:

Flat Work
left side almost stationary flat work
right side almost stationary flat work
left side faster flat work
right side faster flat work
pull turn left
pull turn right
push turn left
push turn right
left-hand front cross (right->left)
right-hand front cross (left->right)
break (drive forward to take something)
ok (release)
jumping up to get something (getting excited)
regular down
down on an incline
down at my side
sit and STAY (distraction and duration)
down and STAY (distraction and duration)
play (fetch)
play (tug)
distracted recall

Obstacles
hoop (need to work on distance)
tunnel (straight; curved; s curve)
1 weave pole gate (full circle of approaches)
2 hoops (left side; right side)
4 paws on wobble board
make wobble board move (banging it down)
sequencing more than 3-5 obstacles
** new ** 2 weave pole gates together (rotating second gate)
** new ** the jump (staying close to the jump)
** new ** the jump (sending her out, up, and around the jump)

I think I'm getting sloppy. We're definitely progressing, but I liked our teamwork better when I was more methodical about working through the todo list. I think I might have to make a more formal version and start taking notes in class again.

In other dog agility related news, we might be going to a fun match (for exposure - not for real trial or real competing) in December. Stay tuned!

I'm looking at you.

2008-11-10T23:32:00.001-08:00

Despite my best efforts at the dog park on Sunday, Jason still takes better pictures. Here's one of my latest favorites of Grete.

Zoom

2008-11-10T23:08:00.001-08:00

Jason took this picture. I can tell because it actually pans with the dog that was zooming around the park. I'm not that good with the camera yet. :-)

Sing, Paco! Sing!

2008-11-10T23:07:00.001-08:00

Paco is another friend we made at Golden Gardens this past Sunday. His owners -- a father with a baby strapped to his chest and a precocious little girl -- seemed pretty nice, but Paco soon got in the way of Grete's fetching. Paco didn't really sing for the ball -- but it certainly looked like he might. We eventually ditched poor Paco and his family after he got a little anxious about Grete coming back up the hill toward his owners.

Dog Park Friends! Sunday @ Golden Gardens

2008-11-10T23:05:00.001-08:00

After having a couple bad experiences at the Woodlawn / Green Lake dog park, we decided to hit the Golden Gardens dog park this weekend. There were a couple growly dogs that kept picking play-fights in the mud at the bottom, but otherwise it was a pretty pleasant experience. We also saw some pretty cute and friendly dogs. Sadly, I forget this plump little Boston's name...

be teh rok...

2008-11-10T15:11:00.000-08:00

see more puppies

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T18:39:00.001-07:00

Grete in her cyberpunk puppy costume (and other Halloween pictures) can be seen here: 2008 Halloween.

grete... aloof.

2008-10-29T19:24:00.001-07:00

we got a new camera today. it's the nikon d90. grete has been subjected to cameras since she was a puppy. even though i turned the flash off, grete still expected it -- giving me her most aloof look.

Finally... A True Fail on Fail Dogs

2008-10-27T09:59:00.000-07:00

The Jump

2008-10-22T23:06:00.000-07:00

Dog training and/or dog agility folks are a little weird. They (we) like to make videos of our dogs doing stuff, even if it is fairly mundane stuff. Dog agility folks like to put these videos to music.

Grete and I have been working on the jump for over a month now. Here's our current progress. FYI, it's my job to be a treat dispenser and not much else. I'm throwing kibble on the floor so that she looks down when she lands. It's all about Grete learning what works for her when it comes to jumping 20" in the air.

(The song, if you're curious, is from the KEXP Song of the Day. It's "Lonesome Hearts" by Pela remixed by Cassettes Won't Listen. You can get it here.)

trampoline!!

2008-10-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

In other news... More Clickriver randomness.

2008-10-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

I've turned my Clickriver ads back on. However, I think because I have one ad in "Appealed," my most recent ad is in pending. I've been blacklisted! I'm a troublemaker! A rebel without a cause!

Here's the pending ad.

love dog agility?
meta grete - a blog about a dog
sometimes we talk about training :)
metagrete.blogspot.com

Here's the appealed ad.

a blog about a dog
meta grete - chatter about agility,
treats, and a dog's life...
metagrete.blogspot.com

And here are the two ads that have snuck past them...

Meta Grete
A blog about a dog
Reviews, Agility shop talk, etc
metagrete.blogspot.com

Meta Grete
Tips on dog agility, dog training,
Reviews of dog treats, dog products
metagrete.blogspot.com

baby legs -- the bank robber reprise

2008-10-22T12:05:00.001-07:00

We tried adding a nylon knee-high to the mix today. The results weren't a complete success, but in our walk around the block, we only had to put it back on from scratch once. (Compared to 3-4 times with other methods.)

The nylon helps keep the bag narrow. Part of the problem with the baggie is that it is so wide at the bottom that she keeps stepping on it. Unfortunately, the baggies still sag and so gradually her Smurf foot grows and grows as we walk.

We also tried rolling the baggie into the nylon and then using the baby leg to hold the roll up. That's what got us all the way back into the building --- but the whole mess was still sliding down. I think the only real answer is suspenders.

Damn you, Baby Legs.

2008-10-21T12:19:00.001-07:00

I'm sad to report the baby legs, although bad ass and punk and cute all at the same time, are a complete failure at keeping the baggie over the dewclaw.

So... a quick recap.

On Wednesday the 15th, Grete ripped her left dewclaw right in half. Read more about that here.

On Monday, she had her bandage removed. That was supposed to be a good thing. However, now we're tasked with keeping the dewclaw dry as it heals. In Seattle, this is turning out to be a huge freeeekin' pain in the ass.

We tried small hair bands yesterday, but they kept slipping down. It was painful getting them on and off, not only for me but for Grete as well. She would get all wide eyed and stare off into space and pant from the stress. I would start to curse and get more and more frustrated as we tried to make it around the block. Stopping every 10-20 feet to put the damn things back on. Not a good scene.

A friend had the idea of using baby tights. We settled on "Baby Legs" because they were 1 day Amazon Prime shippable and cool. They arrived this morning. This picture was taken before they made their maiden voyage around the block at work.

It was almost as much of a failure as the rubber bands. The baggies are just too damn slippery. The leg warmers can stay on, and she'll step on the baggie and rip it right out from under the leg warmers. They also slide down, despite being hooked around her elbow.

We're going to resort to medical tape soon. What we really need is a baggie that has garter straps of some kind that we can hook to her harness. 9 more days of this.... The vet techs were somewhat (but not really) sympathetic.

Life isn't going so well right now. I just need to be able to frolic with my dog, and I can't.

Damn you, Baby Legs. Damn you.

Clickriver -- Part II

2008-10-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

We managed to muster 1 whole click on Clickriver. However, that winning campaign was then rejected. The reason given?

Category relevance
* Your advertised service does not match your selected category.
Your ad is "about a blog site which is not providing any pet services" - but your category selection is Pet Services - General

I've appealed it. I pointed out that they listed "Pet animal information resources" under "Pet Services - General" and I believe Grete's blog points to "pet animal information resources." For example... We've pointed out where she got her tunnel. We've chatted about her training methods on more than one occasion. We've used and reviewed the wisdom panel. We've pointed to other useful dog blogs. We've reviewed local dog parks as well as recent dog training literature. And who could forget the shots of Grete and the Doggles. Anyway... I think they're being too strict. We'll see what they say. I also asked if they could suggest another category.

(To be honest, I was just trying it out for work-related reasons, but now I'm a bit offended by their rejection! :P)

Perking up!

2008-10-17T11:26:00.001-07:00

Grete is perking up. Look at that happy face!

We haven't tried the jump with the bandage yet, but the vet said it should be safe to try the jump at agility class tomorrow.

Also, I'm going to attempt to make some chicken and peas treats for Grete for tomorrow's practice. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow. I haven't cooked meat in ages. The plan is to defrost it tonight, boil it tomorrow, cut it up while its still warm, and throw in some frozen peas to make it last longer.

Clickriver

2008-10-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

We're trying out advertising via Clickriver. If you happen to see an ad on Amazon for Meta Grete, can you let me know via a comment and/or an email? (A screenshot would really make our day.)

poor pup

2008-10-16T18:23:00.001-07:00

grete is SOOO pathetic right now.

Grete Update

2008-10-16T11:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Grete ripped her left front dewclaw. I'm still not sure how. My only theory is that when she jumped, she caught it on her collar on the way down. The claw was at a right angle to her leg, and there was blood. I rushed her to the vet, and $372 later, she's resting comfortably on her blankie at work. We have a check-up at 9:20 on Monday. She'll be fine though. It doesn't seem to be bothering her too much.

Time Warp!!

2008-10-16T10:58:00.000-07:00

Dog park woes... Kona @ Greenlake @ 5:30 pm

2008-10-11T18:12:00.000-07:00

Today, Jason, Grete and I went to the Greenlake dog park to play fetch. It was super crowded. First, we tried doing fetch off the "cliff" to toward the stairs. Since I was worried about Grete jumping off and landing wrong, we eventually went to the back stretch along the fence. As we were coming back up from the back stretch along the fence to give Grete a break and a drink, a chow mix named Kona started growling at me. I've never had a dog growl at me before. Not in this way. Well... I take that back. Dogs on the other side of fences growl that way. It was the classic, "I'm guarding my turft" growl, and I assumed it was because we were "invading" her turf by climbing up the hill to get to the water bowls. Jason didn't take well to a dog growling at his fiance in that way, and he may have moved the Chuck-It in the dogs general direction. To be honest, I was looking down at the dog trying to figure out if I should turn my back (which is what I would do with most puppies and jumpy dogs) or if I should try to calm the dog with my voice or what... I was kinda at a loss since, as I said, the only time dogs growl at me in that menacing way is when they're on the other side of the fence. I'll be honest. I was SCARED.

In any event, we passed by, but the alpha male owner wearing a grey UW sweatshirt said to Jason, "You weren't going to hit my dog with your Chuck-It." To which, Jason replied, "I would if your dog bit my girlfriend."

At this point, the dog was still growling at me. I was moving around the dog, and I pointed out to the couple that I'd never been growled at by a dog before. "Why is your dog growling at me? I don't have the Chuck-It. My hands are in my pockets." I believe that was a close paraphrase of my words.

The woman with dark brown hair standing next to alpha male UW sweatshirt said, "She just growls at some people." At this point, I was starting to lose it with these people. "Why do you bring your dog to the dog park if she growls at people?" They defend themselves and say they come to the dog park every morning... (I think to myself... If you come every morning, why are you here at 5:30 pm? If you come here to this dog park every day, it doesn't give you any more rights than I have.)

It's a bit of a blur... Eventually, I manage to join Jason and Grete by the "cliff" where we've resumed playing fetch. We're _minding_our_own_business_ playing fetch with our dogs on the opposite side of the hill, and Kona comes over and starts growling at me AGAIN.

"Can you please call your dog back?" I think I repeated that at least twice.

They called Kona back.

I looked at the other folks at the top of the hill and shrugged. A couple shrugged back in what I hope was a mutual understanding of "These people are tools."

Then... This annoying same couple's OTHER dog gets in a fight with another dog. Two aggressive dogs! We should have figured.

At that point, while they were calling their OTHER problematic dog off another dog, Jason and I left the hill to play a little more fetch at the bottom of the hill.

I was pretty shaken up from the whole ordeal. First, the dog scared me. I'm still working out what I wish I could have done differently with the dog.

Second, I HATE confrontation like that with those sorts of people. My adrenaline was pumping. Their dog was threatening ME. Don't they know how many freeeeeekin' dog training classes I've taken and how many books I've read on dog behavior. Don't they realize that when I say their dog might not belong at the dog park, they should take ME seriously. Yes. I know this internal dialog is useless on them, but I just wish I could have made them see that they needed to manage the situation better. I just wish they knew how fast a dog can snap. I just wish they freekin' apologized for their dogs behavior.

The only take away I have from the whole thing is a strong urge to buy some Halt! or Direct Stop. *sigh*

Gesso takes the jump

2008-10-06T09:53:00.001-07:00

Grete's getting a run for her money. Gesso has taken up agility as well. *wink*wink*

Got Mutt? Want DNA?

2008-10-03T16:46:00.000-07:00

Thinking about getting a Wisdom Panel for your mutt? If you are, you can get $10 off by entering the code 'WISEGUYZ' in their order pipeline here.

Hen = The Bailout; Puppy = You and me?

2008-10-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

Correction: Rooster != Hen (2:25 pm)
Switching this because I don't think roosters really sit on eggs/chicks... Do they?

Still in the tunnel

2008-09-24T16:24:00.001-07:00

Grete loves her tunnel so much. She's been sleeping in it.

Grete's New Tunnel

2008-09-24T16:21:00.001-07:00

Grete's tunnel from NTI arrived at work today. Damn! It's HEAVY! I totally should have skimped and gone for the 6" pitch instead of the 4" competition pitch. Oh well... We're that much closer to have an USDAA sanctioned agility trial in the halls of Amazon.com now.

Grete is no longer amused by the "party hat"

2008-09-04T22:59:00.001-07:00

I think Jason is right. She was no longer amused by the "party hat" -- or by the whole bathing experience. The funny thing is... When she was a puppy, she didn't seem to mind baths quite as much. I think that I fell out of practice (and thus she forgot about them being an ok thing) and I think her trip to the groomers put the fear of shower-heads into her. Don't get me wrong. The groomers we went to -- top notch. She just seemed a little more ... timid ... about baths after her professional salon experience a couple months back. I haven't quite had the heart to take her back there.

In any event, so many good photos were taken tonight. You should check the rest of them out in Jason's flickr.

And with that... we bid you goodnight!

So Pretty

2008-09-04T22:53:00.001-07:00

I love how perfect her nose looks in this photo.

Babushka Grete

2008-09-04T22:52:00.001-07:00

Subject line says it all.

ahh... toweling.

2008-09-04T22:51:00.003-07:00

See? She's happy. Sort-of.

Bad Touch!

2008-09-04T22:51:00.001-07:00

Seriously -- she loves being dried. I had no idea she was making this face at the time. Jason just took the photo, reviewed it, and snickered. Told me I would have to see them on the computer or some such nonsense. I believe him when he says there was chicken licking involved -- but still -- you would think he would have warned me I was in imminent danger of face biting. :P

Butt dryer

2008-09-04T22:48:00.001-07:00

Grete loves the towel -- but mostly on her face. She grows impatient as I dry her massive butt dreadlocks.

Just like when she was a puppy

2008-09-04T22:46:00.001-07:00

Enough ACTION SHOTS of agility. Let's move on to the ultra-super-nitro-cute bath pictures!!

Seriously... I melt when I see this photo. It's almost as good as her shelter puppy shot.

hoops!

2008-09-04T22:43:00.001-07:00

I have to face it. Neither of the hoop action shots turns out as well as I initially thought. However, you should totally imagine us RUSHING through them at light speed. That explains the blur - our break-neck speed!

Box!

2008-09-04T21:57:00.001-07:00

I won't say it took forever to make the box fun -- but it took longer than it should. I kept trying to be a purist about shaping it. BTW, I'm totally a cheater now when it comes to shaping. I have been known to bait or lure to get her going.

Enough confessions... This is probably the best ACTION SHOT we're ever going to get out of the "box" command. Yay, Jason!

Backyard agility training

2008-09-04T21:51:00.001-07:00

One last ACTION SHOT of the weaves before we move on to something else. This doesn't look like a great shot - but check out the leg swoosh on the right. Also note the complete lack of head because she's already bent to the left. That's awesome. Headless dogs == all good.

Beginning weave-poles training

2008-09-04T21:43:00.001-07:00

Here's another ACTION SHOT of the weave pole method we're using. I have to admit that I'm pretty proud of my right foot forward - throw with right hand pose in this shot. It's just like I "bowled" my dog forward (a word that both my instructors have used to describe handling the dog.) Too bad the odds are good that she started on my left side -- not my right. Oh well. It's a great shot and it even shows how I'm throwing the ball to her left to get her to bend around the pole. She's a wiggle butt who can bend almost in half, and she's gonna have great weaves. I hope.

Backyard agility training

2008-09-04T21:40:00.001-07:00

I know... I know... All this talk of training... Boring mundane lists of training tasks... I know you hate it. I know all you really want is ACTION SHOTS!

Thanks to Jason, I can now oblige.

Here's a great shot of Grete doing a single gate of a weave pole. She's building up some speed because I've been using the tennis ball almost exclusively. I bet that's causing some weird leaping habit that I'll need to correct later, but for now... it's all about having fun going through.

We're using the Susan Garrett 2x2 method to teach her the weaves. I like it a lot because it doesn't involve guide wires or angled sets or lots and lots of pvc.

More on training... The todo list grows...

2008-08-31T17:53:00.000-07:00

We have a brief break from classes this weekend. Next Saturday we'll have the first of our third block of classes. (They come in blocks of 6.)

We've still got a long, long way before we can even think about going to trial. I knew this would be the case, but I still want to go faster. I don't think we're necessarily to the point where private lessons would be worth it. I know we need to practice more regularly, and to prove it to myself, here's a quick list of things that we should be training and a quick estimation of how often we do them.

(current score 0-10) [twice per day] [once per day] [2-3 times per week] [once per week] [ less than once per week or only at class]
(3) [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] target plate
(3) [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] [ ] left side almost stationary flat work
(3) [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] [ ] right side almost stationary flat work
(1) [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] pull turn left
(1) [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] pull turn right
(2) [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] push turn left
(2) [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] push turn right
(2) [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] [ ] left-hand front cross (right->left)
(2) [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] [ ] right-hand front cross (left->right)
(4) [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] [ ] single box (close; 5 feet and under)
(6) [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] [ ] single hoop (close; 5 feet and under)
(3) [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] single box (send to; far; 6 feet and up)
(4) [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] single hoop (send to; far; 6 feet and up)
(6) [x] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] break (drive forward to take something)
(6) [ ] [x] [ ] [ ] [ ] ok (release)
(3) [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] tunnel (straight)
(3) [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] tunnel (single curve)
(3) [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] tunnel (s curve)
(3) [ ] [x] [ ] [ ] [ ] jumping up to get something
(6) [x] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] regular down
(?) [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] down on an incline
(4) [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] [ ] down at my side
(3) [ ] [ ] [x] [x] [ ] 1 weave pole gate perpendicular to path
(3) [ ] [ ] [x] [x] [ ] 1 weave pole gate angled to path
(1) [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] 1 weave pole gate parallel to path
(3) [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] 2 boxes
(4) [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] 2 hoops
(2) [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] flat wobble board
(1) [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] 2 paws on wobble board
(1) [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] 4 paws on wobble board
(0) [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] make wobble board move
(2) [ ] [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] sequencing more than 2 obstacles
(5) [ ] [x] [ ] [ ] [ ] sit and STAY and come (easy)
(5) [ ] [x] [ ] [ ] [ ] down and STAY and come (easy)
(3) [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] [ ] sit and STAY (distraction and duration)
(4) [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] [ ] down and STAY (distraction and duration)
(8) [x] [x] [ ] [ ] [ ] play (fetch)
(6) [x] [x] [ ] [ ] [ ] play (tug)
(4) [ ] [ ] [x] [ ] [ ] distracted recall

Proof that we're peas in a pod

2008-08-31T13:33:00.000-07:00

According to Dogster's quiz, I'm a border collie too!

Wait, wait... Don't tell me.

2008-07-31T20:47:00.000-07:00

So we're not going to have agility class this Saturday because we'll be in Portland living large at the Hotel Monaco with Art. This is all fine and good and super wonderful, but here's the catch...

Last Saturday, I told our instructor that we were going to be gone just as we were hopping in the car. Not smart on my part. I can't quite remember all the things she said we should work on. I'll just keep adding to the list...

Here's what I have in my notes from that class session:

Front Cross
Parallel work
Adding vertical / horizontal distance from the hoop
Adding the "Hoop" cue

We've been sorta working on front crosses with the tennis ball as a lure. She's finally gotten over her urge to spin left when she's on my left side. (Having the ball in the right hand before the turn helps, but I fear I might be adding an unintentional body cue there.)

I really do need to work on feeding Grete more for being parallel. There's been a little bit of progress on getting her parallel before throwing the ball though. That's good, I think.

Unfortunately, we haven't been working outside as much, so it's hard to add distance from the hoop in the basement.

We've mostly been trying to make the box fun. She gets in. I try to do a clicker jack pot to make it exciting, but all the spinning around to find treats in the bottom seems to annoy her more than anything. I think the right thing is to work on "catch" with treats so she doesn't have to spin in the box. In the end, neither Grete nor I RUN to the box. I need to work on that. I'm afraid to add the cue for "box" until it is as exciting as "Kennel" or even "Hoop" to her.

I've also noticed that her "touch" is degrading so we'll have to work on that. The close target plate work is going well, I think.

What else... I wish I had taken better notes in the parking lot!

Break!

2008-07-27T08:40:00.001-07:00

In other news, agility is going quite well. Now that things have settled down with the house, we found time to practice with equipment at the house 4 times last week. I'm going to keep better track of our practices soon, but I'm excited that I'm finally getting better about keeping them short (less than 30 min) and productive. It helps to have a variety of tasks to practice so that neither Grete nor I get bored.

Here's a typical session:

* Get out the hoop. Run through it for a minute or two. Tossing treats or toys.
* Get out the HP computer box that Grete's big butt fits in. Shape for 1-2 minutes.
* Get out her old rug. Let her do something super easy like "go to your rug" and relax
* Do some "play" with the toy -- practice her new release word "Break" which means -- go ATTACK whatever it is ahead of you. Not just "ok" go get it -- but ATTACK. ZOOM!! "Ok" is still her normal "go be a dog" release word, but "break" will be more of her agility release word.
* Get out the hoop again for fun.
* Get out the weaves but only practice the first one. (We're only to gates -- i.e. 2 poles, so I need to tweak the next set initially.)
* Do some "touch" because it, again, is easy and fun.
* Do some "jump" to get the toy.
etc.

After we do these various things for about 20-30 minutes, I call it quits, and without fail, Grete stands at the bottom of the stairs refusing to come in. She loves it and wants more, more, more...

We also do some "practice" at work. We generally work on "break" with the tennis ball. I'm sorta sloppy, and I've been sorta working on "right here" to mean get to by my side so I can hold you back from the ball. (Opposition reflex stuff.)

However, I should get more militant about that. No tossing the ball unless she's parallel. I think that will really help, but it's an idea I haven't run past our trainer yet. I kinda like the idea of "nothing good comes to you unless you're paying attention to me and right at my side with your long butt in line."

Lastly, with the ball and fetch, we're still working on "left" (spin) and "right" (spin) as a holdover from our first classes. This is finally exciting because she's finally got "left" on a verbal. "Right" is still confusing.

However... this might have to be put on hold as this is polluting our ability to do front crosses. [ Another reference: Agility Nerd] When she's at my left side, she wants to do "left" so she'll do what's called a rear-cross instead. I get this feeling this is "No Good." (tm)

In any event, I think my biggest homework for the next two weeks will be working on parallel flat work: one or two steps forward while staying perfectly parallel, the push and pull turns (as my trainer calls them) and the very slow "front cross" that we're working on. We'll just have to sneak in a lot of parallel work at our little backyard practice sessions, when we're playing fetch, and on our walks around the neighborhood. Also, the one step forward practice should help with Grete's terrible heeling. Maybe. I can always hope.

Reflection

2008-07-27T08:14:00.001-07:00

Sorry we've been so quiet lately. It's been hella-busy with getting my old house ready for sale and getting an offer. The good news is that Grete loves our new home. She always has - even since she was a little puppy and the idea of me moving in with Jason was just a twinkle in Grete's eye.

Grete's butt at the BBQ

2008-07-04T18:44:00.001-07:00

Sadly, neither Jason nor I thought to take pictures at the BBQ, and thus this is the only proof of Grete's participation in said BBQ. In fact, this isn't proof at all since this sort of photo could have happened any day. She loves her sticks, and she doesn't so much love the camera. FWIW, we have no pictures of Mia, the last of the three dogs that came to visit our little backyard.
Photo credit goes to Maggi: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lolagetz/2635141123/in/set-72157605970155717/

Congee

2008-07-04T18:42:00.001-07:00

Congee or Kanji or however it was said / pronounced / spelled was one of the dogs that came to the BBQ. He was the youngest.
Photo credit goes to Maggi: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lolagetz/2635141015/in/set-72157605970155717/

Jaeger (and Divya)

2008-07-04T18:41:00.001-07:00

Jaeger was one of the three dogs that came to the BBQ.
Photo credit goes to Maggi: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lolagetz/2635966224/in/set-72157605970155717/

tuckered

2008-07-04T18:37:00.001-07:00

yesterday was a huge day for grete. there were a total of 3 new dogs in her backyard yesterday for the bbq. as a result of all that excitement, she's been downright tuckered all day. here she is... not watching rick steves on pbs. the very thought of taking a train through germany exhausts her to no end.

Like an old married couple

2008-06-30T17:33:00.001-07:00

It's official. Grete, Gesso, and I have moved in with Jason. This weekend, Mike and his crew at Budget Moving moved all my stuff including my fridge, washer, and dryer to Jason's house. The most important item of the move -- Grete's kiddie pool -- was put to immediate use in the backyard because of the 80-90 degree heat. Gesso, on the other hand, was content to climb towers of cardboard boxes in the relatively cool basement.

Great Pyrenees! Wire Fox Terrier!!

2008-06-25T09:27:00.000-07:00

Image via WikipediaSorry about holding back on the results. I wanted to wait until I could use the little Wisdom Panel blog badge on the right and that takes 48 hours from registration.

And the winner is...

Grete's ancestry contains some Border Collie and also includes distant traces of German Shepherd Dog, Great Pyrenees and Wire Fox Terrier.

And as I've noted many time in disbelief... She has neither Australian Shepherd nor Labrador Retriever as the shelter originally claimed.

The results are in!

2008-06-23T21:04:00.000-07:00

Grete's Wisdom Panel DNA test results are in! You'll never guess what she has trace amounts of!

Remember when I said the report had different levels of detection?

She has nothing in the "should see traits from" or significant amount field.

She has one breed in the "may see traits from" or medium amount field.

And she has THREE breeds in the "chance of seeing traits from" or trace amount field.

Can you guess now?

I bet you can't!

Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes

2008-06-18T18:57:00.000-07:00

Grete needs a new collar. Her current collar is cute, but we need more.

And the ones at Amazon tend to annoy me with their graphic designs.

Here are the top selling ones..

All are as lame as this carousel widget... *sigh*

Now these... these aren't so bad.

Agility Class Day #2

2008-06-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to say...

Our second agility class went much better than our first. Grete loved every minute of it, especially the part at the end when she got to play with Cloudine. (I wish I had a video camera for that. It was adorable to watch my dog play with a professional player.) Also, I got complemented on my "tugging" - which made me feel good. (I'm like a dog. I respond much better to positive comments than negative. :-) )

Not an Aussie or a Collie, but....

2008-06-13T10:04:00.001-07:00

Today's Petfinder dog of the day is a special guy.

Because he's such a smart and trainable boy, Caspian is in foster at Great Dog Daycare. You can read his blog here - Caspian's Blog - and find out what new tricks he learns each day!

Any shelter dog that gets a blog is super special, that's for sure!

The Results Are In!

2008-06-09T12:38:00.000-07:00

My official time was 34:28.

I came in 90th in the 30-39 Female group (out of 241.)

If I hadn't stopped for ~3 minutes for the wardrobe change I probably would have come in around the 50s for that division.

Not too bad for my first 5K. :-)

Team Grete's Gang!

2008-06-08T13:18:00.001-07:00

Almost to the finish line...

TugTugTug!

2008-06-08T13:16:00.001-07:00

Getting amp'd up before the race...

Grete's First Furry 5k!

2008-06-08T13:15:00.001-07:00

Grete's First Furry 5K went great. The number of dogs was in the thousands, I think. At the starting line, it was a huge cacophony of dogs barking out of excitement and nervousness.

As you can see, Grete got a cool green bandanna out of the deal. I got a t-shirt and lucky number 374. More pictures can be found in Jason's flickr set: Furry 5k. (I'll blog a couple more of my favorites.)

In retrospect, a few tactical errors were made by Team Grete's Gang.

1) It was pretty cool in the morning when we first arrived. I pinned my number to my outer fleece, thinking I would run the whole race in that. After about mile 1, I was dying and felt like I wasn't going to make it without a wardrobe change. I stopped off to the side, and with sweaty slippery hands clumsily re-pinned my number on my t-shirt. This probably cost us at least 3-5 minutes.

2) I think, in retrospect, I should try using Grete's Easy Walk Harness instead of her Comfort Trainer Dog Head Collar. The harness rubs her funny behind her legs, but the head collar makes her do an occasional nose-dive trying to get it off. I dunno. It's a tough call though. Grete just needs to learn that running on a leash doesn't mean Warp 11 out in front.

In any event, you can see our iPod time on Runner Plus. I started it at least a minute and a half early, I think. I also didn't shut id down right away since I had to make my way through the endless sea of volunteers with water bottles.

I think my official time was somewhere around 33 minutes. I'm not sure how long it will take Active.com to post the official results. More news when I get it.

Finally, a huge thanks to all of you who donated!!
(We might have overslept if it wasn't for you generosity!)

[Training] Boring mundane training log stuff

2008-06-07T21:54:00.000-07:00

"They" say it is good to keep a training log. I'm not so good about doing that, but here's a quick run-down of today's "training."

1:00 - 2:00 @ Dog Park - Grete was pretty social, but I did manage to magically get her running consecutive laps in a semi-figure eight shape. This was exciting because she kept going for 6-10 laps at almost top speed.

2:15 - 7:30 @ Bedroom - Alone with Kong. :(

8:45 - 9:40 @ Basement - Used the whole bowl (1 mug) of food for training! (Go me!) Over half was used for clicker training eye contact and heeling on both sides. (I still need to find a consistent word for heeling on the right side. I waffle between "close" and "other side.") The other half of the bowl was used for training "break" as a more concentrated high-drive release word similar to "go." (I think "OK" is going to get more associated with "all done" and will mean "ok. go be a dog.")

10:00 @ Kitchen - Um. She just ate and drank even more. Guess she was still hungry. Or she's worried about the fact that the cat has taken to eating her food. So much for using all of her kibble for training. :(

Last Chance: Furry 5K

2008-06-07T19:27:00.001-07:00

The Furry 5K is tomorrow.

Now is your last chance to donate.

http://www.active.com/donate/HTAF/metagrete