A GREAT weekend!

9-20-09

Roz from work got married on Saturday at The Kalahari in The Dells. We all went from work. It was a blast! Everything was beautiful. Very unique indead!!! She had Zebra striped bridesmaid dresses and a really neat flower theme. I LOVED the cake! I had some really awesome pictures on my own camera....I transfered them to a cd and it didnt work. I had already deleted the pictures on the camera disk....urggggggg But here are a few from facebook.








I had planned on staying overnight at the wedding. But there was a UKC/HRC event down at Bong. I just HAD to go! I drove home at night half asleap...then drove down to Bong Half asleap.....yuck

I had Bell entered in Seasoned and Qwik in Started.

Qwik was up first in Started on Land....the BIG TEST!!! She has her started title but wanted to see if my training was doing what I wanted it to. I wanted to make sure she still had the drive and enthusiasm for the game. I have been being harder on her that I was in the past and I wanted to make sure it didn't ruin her drive. I also wanted to see if she would dink around like she did in the past. If she dinked I would know that my training WASN'T doing what I wanted it too. She was perfect. She did everything she needed to and got a nice applause! HURRAY for the confirmation on my training!

Bell was up next in Seasoned on Water...My stumac was ROLLING! I had to pee like 8 times before I ran! CRAZY nervous! It started with a walkup with the bird landing in water about 5 feet in front of you. Bell did PERFECT! Then game the Water blind. This is what she failed on the previous HRC test. It was a simple blind and the dogs could stand in the water. A BIG plus for Bell cause she is uncomfortable treading water. She did GREAT! She even followed the little frog that jumped by the bird on her way out there!!! MY LUCKY DAY!!! Next was a simple double. She did great. SO very proud of the girl. I also did PERFECT on handling the gun! YAY!

Qwik was up next on Water. She did alright. It was real simple. She did screw around a little bit on the first mark. But the second was great. So I knew I had some holes to fill in, in that department.

Bell was up almost last on Land. It was a LONG wait! After the 20th trip to the little girls room.....It wasn't as simple as I had hoped! K now hang with me while I explain it all. First you had a double. The birds were WIDE OPEN! about 180 degrees. So It was kinda confusing for what side you wanted the dog on. You had to sit on a bucket. If you had your dog on your left side...when you would swing to the right you may be blocking your dogs sight or they might not follow you. If they were on your Right you would have to swing INTO them and some dogs will release themselves if you do that to them. Luckily they had the gunners quack to get the dogs attention. Bell was her usuall steady and got the go bird like a champ. The memory bird was a bit tougher. There wasnt much wind. She got almost all the way out when she started to smell the Bird that was planted for the Blind! I was supposed to shoot the gun at a diversion bird when she brought the memory bird back. So i was kinda focusing on the gun and forgot about the Blind bird smell. Bell started to hunt wider and wider and came real close to the blind. I sat her and gave her a BIG over and she took my cast and basically steped on the bird. She came ROARING in and I shot the diversion bird and she brought her bird in and then got the diversion! WHEW!!!! CRAZY!!!!!!

The blind was last and she did great. 3 wistles and she smacked her head on the blind stake. I was laughin at her, the dork. She was like OH there it is! LOL! I was SOOOO proud of the girl. YAY!

So it was a great weekend.

Dock Doggin

9-13-09

We haven't been able to make it to any dock jumping events this year, mainly because of conflicts with other events. It seemed there were a few local events in spring but I was already entered in Obedience or Agility! I had planned on going to a Hunt test in Michigan this weekend. But I missed the closing date. And I didn't know if I wanted to travel that far 2 weekends in the same month. My field trainer Kyle mentioned he was going to have a booth at Racine Fairgrounds and that they had Dock Dogs there! He had free tickets so I entered the girls. Both girls were EXTREMELY excited about it.

I had been playing around at home with them and they LOVE to just run fast and jump.
Bell has been jumping HUGE at home. Everything is over 20 feet and usually her first one is about 25-26 feet. But that's at home. Her own dock and lake. A pool set up is just not the same for her. She jumped well in practice, but her best all weekend was 17.02. She made it into the Amateur Finals and got a pretty ribbon. She was SOOO slow on the dock! She would chase her toy up. But was slow running to me. She had fun anyways!



BOING!!!!



Bell Lookin at her Toy






Miss Qwik was SUPER excited. She knows the game now. Waiting in line she is constantly diving at me like "LETS GO NOW!!!" She hates waiting her turn. She does like to watch the dogs go ahead of her. She stands and stares at them when they are waiting. As soon as they go, she goes crazy!!! She was a good little jumper though. She kept leaving early so her distances weren't the greatest. Her best all weekend was a 16.09. She got 2 senior legs towards her title. I think it may have been her title if I remember correctly. We will have to wait and see if DockDogs mails us a Title Certificate.










This Racine Sportsman's Fair was supposed to kinda replace the Great Outdoor Festival that was always held in Oshkosh at the EAA grounds. It was small but fun. The local hunt test training club was there and put on a few demos. They had a Speed Retrieve lane and you could run the dogs in it. Both Qwik and Bell did FABULOUS at it and ran it in about 10 seconds. The top time of the weekend was 9 seconds. They also had a bumper scurry. There was 12 bumpers placed among logs and tree branches. You had to stay in this little square and send the dog to get the bumpers. Bell got 11 and the timer ran out when she picked up the 12th one. ALMOST! Qwik got 7 before she lost interest.

I also got to hang out with some cool people!!! Mary S with Nike and Burligh were there. I haven't seen them ALL year! We talked forever and caught up. My friends Andy and Cassie with their Black lab Toby ran him in dock dogs and the speed retrieve. He did really well too! I think next year he will be rockin in Dock jumping. He's still such a silly pup. All the other Dock Doggers that I hadn't seen all year were there. It was a good time! BEAUTIFUL weather to boot!!!

Qwiks Ribbon Picture and more training...

So we had field training tonight. I have been on Qwiks case since the test. I am not giving an inch anymore! I am nit-picking everything. No SLACKIN! On my end of the leash or hers. All the little things she does in training translates into HUGE MAJOR issues at tests.

I am trying to be on top of Qwik and get across to her...."This is MY TIME!!!! You have 23 1/2 hours a day to be a dog...these are MY few minutes"

I hope it works.....It ain't gonna be a fun few weeks of training. But if she gets the point, it will be. I have 3 ducks in a crate waiting till a few days before we leave for Ohio to go to a Double Junior test. She needs BOTH those legs to get her JH this year. Live shot flyers really perk her up......what I do for my dogs......MAN Do ducks smell!!!!!!!!!!!

Training today went well though. I am doing some Pile work. And also some work with the E-collar. She is snappy with stuff but just not as fast with me putting the pressure on her. If she does well I make a HUGE deal and throw freebies and praise her up and just have a good time. I also am making sure she know she is released from "MY TIME" As soon as I give her a command she is on my time and when I release her she can do what she pleases!!!

So I am happy about that and will hopefully sleep better knowing I am making steps in the correct direction!!!!

I got Kyle to pose with Qwik for a picture. He was so nice to her and took good care of the curly girl during her short stay. I couldn't ask for a better person to turn to for field training. www.chesapeakewatersllc.com

Madison AKC Hunt test.

SO! Miss Qwik had 1 leg towards her JH and I really really really...I mean REALLY want that title this year. I was doing a bit too much Obedience during field season and she wasn't ready to run untill a few months ago....and now I am running out of tests!!!! It sucks! I wish field would go year round....except the water gets a lill cold.

ANYWAYS! I asked Kyle, the field trainer I see, if he would consider handling Qwik at a test for me since I am all booked up with grooming dogs on Saturdays I can't get off any more. He said yeah. So I have been working her and training her hard and she was SMOKIN at training class! I droped her off at Kyles on Tuesday so he could work with her all week and run her Saturday at the test. It was hard not having the naughty lill curly girl here causing trouble. But I got through it and so did she!

I was SOOOO nervous on Saturday and had a friend call me when she ran. She was there watching her son (Toby the black lab) run in Juniors with his dad. (Toby passed and titled too BTW!) Anyways....she gave me the play by play, and she never makes things easy and cut and dry..dork. Land was first and started with the live shot flyer...which she found and then rolled on. She brought it back fine and then the dead bird was next...she found that one and then took a poop! After she was finished she brought it back and passed land. On water the live shot flyer landed on land so she had to roll on it. The other bird she found good and brought back nice. So she earned another leg to her JH. HALFWAY THERE!!!!!!!!!! I told Kyle he has to shave to get his picture taken with Qwik so I will get them up next week. :)

Sunday I ran Bell in Senior and Qwik in Junior.

Bell was up first in senior and FRIGGIN SMOKED her Double. I mean she ran the BEST marks of ALL the dogs I saw run. She ran strait out to them and did a U turn and brought them back. PERFECT! The land blind was next and was LLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. About a 100+ yarder. It would be tough! Bell had a hard time lookin out to it cause it was next to the flyer station. But she eventually did and then took a nice line out there. I casted her a few times and she took my casts and scalloped a little bit...but then I gave her a nice strait back cast and she took it BEAUTIFUL! It carried her strait out to the blind and then she curved a little to the left of it. I sat her and then told her to go strait out to right and she turned left and put her ear plugs in.....she ran around and hunted and fartsed around and just was naughty. SHE WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOOO close!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I was happy with what she did. I know we need more work on that. So what she did was great for the training she has had. It was too bad cause her Marks were FLIPPIN ALWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then onto Qwik.
I was nervous cause the land series was almost identical to a test we ran there last year that Qwik failed..... But the dead bird was first. She ran out and brought it back nicely. Then the flyer....She ran out through all the decoys and then stuck her nose to the ground and sniffed for a bit...then she peed....then she sniffed some more.....Then she remembered she was out there for a reason and she got her bird and brought it back.

Can't it just be easy!!!!

Water was next. Dead bird first, the dogs had to go through some marshy grass and then into the water, the bird landed in some marshy grass. I sent Qwik out for it and she went to the edge of the grass before the swimming water started and proceded to make a fool of herself by playing around in the grass, she sniffed some stuff, blew some bubbles, tried to roll, chased a frog, then she remembered there was a bird....and she swam out and got it. I was kinda ticked at her for being so naughty! But I didn't want to yell at her or tell her to do stuff cause she prolly wouldn't. The Flyer was last and was a LONG swim. She went out halfway and then kinda swam back and forth in the water till she stumbled upon it. The judges didn't really say anything when we left.

I waited around for ribbons figuring she would pass cause she did get 4 birds and her land was nice and her second water mark was OK. When they passed her number up I was shocked. I have NEVER, I mean NEVER EVER seen them fail a dog who picked up 4 birds at a junior test before. The dog would have not found the bird or not delivered to hand or chewed up the bird to fail. There was another person in the same boat as me and I was ticked. Her average had to be over a 7 and she got 6.2 and 6.6. So friggin close. It really sucked.

I am driving to Eastern Ohio for a back to back Junior test and Senior with Bell the end of September. I am gonna work the curlys butt off so she passes there. It would be SOOOOO nice to be done with Junior so we could work on some more challenging stuff. Singles are too easy for her and she makes up her own stuff! She does great with challenges as she has to focus!

ohhhhhh well..........

HRC/UKC Hunt test fun!

This is a few weeks late...But I'll still post about it I guess!

On August 23rd, Bell and Qwiksta were entered at Bong at a UKC hunt test. Qwik was entered in Started and needed 1 leg to finish her title. Bell was in Seasoned for the first time and I was WAY nervous about it and all the gun handling I had to do.

Qwik ran first on water. The Marks were short and she had to run all the way out to them cause the pond was low on water. There were plenty decoys and all that fun UKC stuff. Unfortunately Qwik broke a nail the week before and her nail was bothering her. She limped out to the bird...and limped back. If it was raw and bleeding I prolly would have pulled her. But it was just red and sore. I told her to suck it up and quit being such a sissy. She got her water birds fine. Had a bit of a hunt for her land birds but did good and passed. It wasn't pretty but it passed!!! So she earned her SHR. In UKC/HRC they douse you in cold water after you title. A few friends squirted me with water. I was fine with that...then these guys had coolers of well water that was ICE cold..BURRRR!!!!! But it was worth it. Every title I earn on the curly beast is a challenge and I work hard for every one! The legs don't come easy!



Here Qwik and I are with Jaci and Woodie. They both earned their SHR titles.



So onto Miss Bell. It started with a water series and she did great on everything but the water blind. I did awesome with the gun and didn't screw any of that up. She got lost on the water blind and quit listening to me and chased some frogs. dork. But her double was perfect and so was her walk up. In UKC you can still go onto the next series even if you fail the first one. Its awesome cause you paid the $$! She would have passed land if she hadn't have already failed on water. Her land work was great. Her land blind was kinda crappy. But passable. Shes such a good girl. We will have another shot at a leg in a few weeks.

It was a fun day and Bell really stepped up to the plate. I hope to make a bunch more HRC tests next year cause they test the handler as well as the dog. Cooooooooooool!

Qwiks first JH leg and Bells first attempt at Senior!!!

So I was entered at Bong at the Winnebago Labrador Retriever club trial last Saturday the 15th.

I had a wedding Friday night. My cousin Ross got married up in Neenah. Nice wedding n all. But I had to leave before all the fun started. I got home at 12:30am and was curling up in bed with the girls, when I peeked over at Qwik, who is all sprawled out on her back, legs spread wide open....her belly is completly covered in puss filled sores. She had a rash I had kept up on, and bathed in medicated shampoo the previous week. But this was FLAMIN red and all icky lookin. So, I haul out of bed and haul the curly dog into the tub and scrub her entire belly and armpits with medicated shampoo. gurrrr.

So ya know how dogs are after their baths...zoomin all over and compelty insane...yeah. At 1:30 at night, I am completly exhausted, I have this brown curly dog tearin up the house. She finally settles down and we wake up bright and early at 5:45 to head off to the hunt test by 6:15. sigh....what I do for my dogs.....

Bell was up first in Senior. I was VERY pleased with the test that was set up. Fairly straitforward. Simple double in a field with taller trees and bushes as a boundary. The go bird was the shot flyer right in your face, a breaking bird. We had to hold the wooden gun for it all too. The blind was the other way, towards a wide open field with 1 big bush....The blind was directly in front of the bush. I was perdy excited for it! I knew if Bell kept her thinking cap on, she could do it and with some style!

She was HIGH as a FRIGGIN KITE waiting in the blind....I ran and trained her Friday before the wedding...but she sat from 11am till 1am! Quite some time to build up for the crazy red dog. I got her to the line semi undercontrol. She marked the memory bird good and stared at it till they started quackin for the go bird. She sat like a champ, chomping at the bit for the word....."BELL!" and off she went frantincally trying to find the bird. She brought it back and lined up for the memory bird. She gave the bird up and glanced back to the flyer station then looked at the memory bird again.......I waited a second and said "Sit" and "Mark" again....."BELL!" and she ran around like a lunatic.............nowhere near where the bird fell.....then she proceded to go back to the flyer station....I sat her on the wistle and tried to handle her to the memory bird and she completly blew me off and ran around like crazy red dogs do. I asked the judge if I could call her in and he said "Yes, Please." not good.

I was bummed...She SOOOOO coulda done it!!! I really Really REALLY wanted to run that blind. Just to kinda see where my training was! Ohhh well. I learned alot by watching the other dogs run. Bell is SOOOO better than some of those dogs. She was steady as a rock with that flyer RIGHT in her face!!! It was sooooooo close to the line! And after I was leaving the line I rememberd what Kyle my field trainer had said when sending Miss Crazy red dog to the memory bird. "DEMAND she get it, don't ask, Use your tough trainer voice." And in training I do, so I don't get yelled at....And I was nervous at the test and just nicely released her. She needs that control or else she just looses her mind. Live and LEARN!!!

K so Miss Qwik was in Juniors. The Flyer was first up a small hill. She got that with a few seconds delay after finding it. The Dead bird was down a row of trees. Very simple. She circled it about 2 times and hung out by it and dawdled.....I was gonna KILL her! But she eventually got it and brought it back. HUGE releif! Land is her issue. The nasty birds the weekend before sure didn't help things at ALL!

Then onto water. It was friggin hot...I was exhausted....I just wanted to take a nap. I ran Bell as test dog for junior and she made me look super slick by chasing frogs instead of retrieving the first mark. dork. I coulda killed her. Anyways the first mark was across the runway pond, and it was supposed to land on shore on the grass. The winger was moving a lill bit and tossing them in the water...I woulda prefered that since someones dog is naughty on land........ But her bird landed on the land...She found it right away...LEFT IT THERE!!!!! and then went off sniffing and fartzin around. I was calling her and telling her to "get it" and stuff. Eventually she did and got the second bird like a champ. It landed in the open water. Even the judge said she was naughty! But she passed!!! YAY There was a photographer there and she took some cool shots! Ill post them when I get them from her. cool cool!!!





1 down 3 to go!

Field Success!

Qwik and Bell both earned their WCX at the Badger Golden Retriever Club test on 8-9-09! 13 were entered and 6 passed. 3 goldens, 1 curly, 1 toller and 1 flattie




The Golden Retriever WCX is a pass/fail test and you only need 1 leg. It consists of a Triple Retrieve on land with upland game. The dog cannot be restrained and you cannot say anything to them after you signal for the birds. It's mainly to test memory. You cannot handle the dog if they forget a bird. There is also a Double Retrieve in the water with ducks and it has an honor where the dog has to watch another dog retrieve after it has done the double. Again, the dog cannot be restrained and you cannot say anything to them after you have signaled for the birds...even for the Honor!!!

Bell passed with a slight bobble on land...she ALMOST switched back to an old fall after a decent hunt for the last bird....but she came through and went back to where she thought it was. There wasn't much wind to help her out. Very proud of the red dog. She was steady and listened to me and didn't whine or wimper at all! Even for her first official "test like" honor!! YAY!!!







The Curly Coated Retriever Club has a slightly easier WCX test. The curlies are supposed to run a double on land and a double on water and the dog has to be steady also. Qwik failed earlier in the year at the Curly Coat National in St. Louis by not getting wet on the water retrieves. Anyways, when Qwik passed the Golden test...since it was harder than the Curly test she earned the title through the curly club!! Send in a form and it's official!

Even though the Curly beast was NAUGHTY she passed. She rolled on the two dead birds on the Land triple. I heard they used the ducks from the previous day and I doubt they were refrigerated or properly stored to prevent them from rotting. I was ticked!!! She hasn't done that since she was first introduced to ducks the beginning of last year! lill snot....I did NOT need that happening. She was steady even though the "go" bird on the water double startled her. They don't use duck calls before they toss the birds. They shoot the gun then toss the bird. She stood up cause she was focused on the memory bird but didn't break. She waited till I released her. Very proud of the girl.

I also had her entered in the WC for more practice. She already has that title. But she did great on it also...only rolled on one of the birds on land....she so NAUGHTY!!!