A Photography Challenge.

Last year I joined a group on Flickr called "52 Weeks for Dogs." It is a challenge of sorts- you have to post ONE photo a week of the same dog, for the 52 weeks (a year).

I chose Pixel because she was just a pup and I thought it would be a great way to showcase her growth. The 52 weeks challenge has been great- I've become a better photographer, and have really challenged myself to try new things and think outside the box. I currently have 49 pretty great (and some awesome) photos of Pixel to show for this year! I'm planning on making a BLURB book with the photos of Pixels 52 weeks. It will be cool to look back over the year.

Here is a link to my full 52 weeks set (well it's 49 right now)

I am planning on doing it again in 2010. I just need to decide which dog it will be. Having four very photogenic dogs make it a hard decision. Of course Pixel would be fun again, and the 52 weeks group would be happy to get to see her every week again, but I have to be fair- and really it's getting hard to be creative with Pixel 49 weeks later!

So- I had originally said I was going to do Boone in 2010. He is super cute, and goofy, and does lots of silly things that (hopefully) I will be able to capture on film. But- he is hard to photograph and it will definitely be a test of my skill. I predict that I will have more indoor shots, and less posed shots. Boone is not a dog that enjoys posing for the camera.

This week I thought that I would do Wicca next year. She is so beautiful, and would be the easiest of the dogs. She loves the camera and is a great poser. I can get her to do anything, and go anywhere. And did I mention she is beautiful? She would make me look like a great photographer. :o)

And then someone asked about Vito. He doesn't get as much blog time as everyone else because he doesn't "do stuff" so the 52 weeks would be a good opportunity to get him on the blog more. And he is pretty darn cute.

Decisions, decisions. I have three weeks to decide....any thoughts?

Oh- and if you are interested in photography and would like to join the group check out the 52 Weeks for Dog Flickr Group page. The rules are strict and are enforced. One dog per person. One photo per person. Same dog each week. Simple right? The group is accepting new people, no later than the last week in December. It is really fun, and I've enjoyed getting to know other peoples dogs through their photos. There are some pretty amazing photographers in the group- so it is easy to feel overwhelmed, but there are also a fair amount of novices (like me). I'd recommend it to anyone who is serious about it. I won't lie- it is difficult to come up with something each week, but it is worth it.

I know a few of my blog readers take awesome photos so I really am suggesting this for you! ;o)

Merry Christmas to Me!

It's early, but I am still thinking of it as a Christmas gift to myself. Or maybe I could say the dogs got it for me?

I've wanted a Manners Minder for a long time. I think it would be super useful in general training, and have some agility/obedience uses also. I ordered it only because we were ordering some other stuff from the company, and it was my chance to get it at a good price. It came yesterday and I am so excited to try it out. Fun!

Wicca

Wicca, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

as much as she frustrates me I adore this dog.

frustration

some times agility is frustrating. okay, so a lot of times agility is frustrating. especially when your dog is better than you. i have a truly amazing dog. she is mostly well trained. and she is fast, like really fast. people would kill for a dog like her. and then there is me, who mostly just fumbles around pointing at stuff.

tonite was mostly frustration, but first (to make myself feel better) lets talk about the good stuff.

We did some nice rear crosses (although they weren't technically supposed to be done with the exercise) but I was happy with how tight they were, and how I handled them. (i.e I was in the right spot, driving for the right jump standard, and wasn't pointing)

Sartlines- she didn't move or change positions once.

Contacts- her dogwalk was awesome tonite, no creeping, and only a little curling.

Gambling- we did a fun gamble tonite that required Wicca to ignore the tunnel underneath the dogwalk and instead take the far out jump. She didn't flick to the tunnel which is amazing (wicca's theory is that if the tunnel is under the contact it must be taken)

and here comes the frustration part.....

I hate being rushed. I felt rushed on the stupid double box thing. When I did it with front crosses it felt awful, my timing sucked a$$ therefore my dog had no freakin' idea where she was going. ugh. and I didn't have time to do it right, which just ticks me off. and with three feet of snow outside it's not like I can set it up in my backyard.

weave poles. my dog cannot collect for weave poles. there, I said it. She missed probably 6 entries out of 8 tonite. that is a bad average. she couldn't get it with no motion from me, and she certainly couldn't get it if I was moving. sigh. it is such a struggle with her sometimes. she is in such a hurry she will not sit back and put in the extra stride to get the entry. it drives me crazy. and because I hate weave repetitions it is a really hard thing to fix (because I don't like her to weave) The answer is to go back and do more three poles, which is much better than doing 6 over, and over, and over again. But still it makes me worry to weave her often anymore. but without training it is not going to magically fix itself.

my handling left a lot to be desired. how hard is it to do a freakin' arm change? not hard at all, unless you are me. I could not get my arm change done at the right time so my dog could switch leads and get in the poles. combine that with the fact that she wasn't even really trying to get in the poles left me feeling very frustrated tonite.

hence my rant. I just keep repeating in my head that agility is supposed to be fun. tonite was not particularily fun.

this week we have league on thursday, a fun and fast little jumpers course. I initially was only going to bring Boone, but after tonite I will be bringing Wicca aswell. We obviously need the work.

update:

so i am feeling better this morning, I have a very good dog. Mostly, it is me. :o) If I would have taught her collection when I first started training her we wouldn't have any of these problems. Wicca doesn't understand how to collect properly and when the angle is rough, or if it is an "open" entry she has a hard time getting her body to do what she wants. we will go back and work on three poles for the next while and see what we can do to fix this....

-50

What kind of stupid ass temperature is that? Seriously. When I woke up this morning the first thing I heard was "It's -38 this morning with a windchill of -50." OMG. That is cold folks. Seriously cold.

Of course all the dogs feet froze the instant they were outside. Granted, my dogs are kind of wussy. Yesterday it was only -30 or so and Boone had to stop and perch every five minutes while playing in the yard. It is the strangest thing. He actually sits on his butt with his back legs and his front legs in the air...




Hope you all are staying warm. We aren't.

The penguin isn't cold. 49/52

The penguin isn't cold. 49/52, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

It has been super cold and snowy all weekend. We'll be digging ourselves out of snow drifts for a while I am sure.

Despite the cold and snow Pixel still wants to play outside. The other dogs are wimpy, and won't stay out long. Pixel has resorted to playing by herself with trusty Mr.Penguin. He doesn't get cold.

This morning when I came to work it was -40 C with the windchill. Crazy eh??? I had to dig out the outside play areas- there was over three feet of snow....

Childhood Memories

Remember when your parents would stuff you into a snowsuit, and bundle you up so tight you could hardly breathe let alone play? Well...meet my nephew Nolen. He is going to be a year old in a few days and it was high time we tortured him with his first snowsuit...

Putting it on was interesting- some crying and whining ensued.


poor guy could hardly stand up at first. :o)


Oh the torture...




By the time he realised it was fun we were freezing and decided to go in...



On the plus side he's too young to announce "I have to pee!" once you've got him dressed. I told my sister to wait a few years, and it'll be even more fun...

Winter Wonderland

The weatherman wasn't lying. We got a lot of snow overnight, and so far it hasn't really let up. Combine that with the wind and well, you get snow drifts. I can't open my front gate, and can't see out of my basement windows. :o) Winter has arrived it seems.

The dogs LOVE the snow- and had a great time playing this morning. They've been begging ever since to go out again...

Token Group Shot on my shoveled step...

Before I shoveled. It was like climbing a mountain...

Snowy Nose Boone...his hair is like a magnet for the snow...


Snow Angel...er, Pixel. :o)


Snow Devil...


And some random playing photos...

Red Alert 48/52

Red Alert 48/52, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

My submission for this weeks 52 Weeks Challenge.

I think yesterday was the last of the sun for a while....

"Snowfall will intensify Friday evening for much of Alberta, with sustained winds approaching 40 km/h at this time. This combination will likely result in widespread near-blizzard conditions for Friday evening and through the overnight. Local heavier bursts of snow could result in near-zero visibilities and very hazardous driving conditions.

Snowfall will ease through Saturday morning, with the exception of extreme Southern Alberta. Winds and blowing snow will continue to be an issue through Saturday, diminishing Saturday night.
Total snowfall accumulations: 10 to 20 cm, higher totals in snowdrifts and heavier bursts. Windchill values will approach -20C for Friday night through Saturday."

Nice Eh??? Good thing I have no plans this weekend.....

Friends

Vito's best friend in the whole world is Lacey. Except for yesterday. They got in an actual fight on a walk (I wasn't there to witness, but suspect that Vito wouldn't take back off for an answer....) I guess we all have bitchy days.


*photo by Wendy

At the Barn

Last night I took Wicca and Pixel to the arena for class. Pixel was a last minute decision, I am really glad I didn't take Boone. The arena had been recently (as in very recently) hosed down so it was muddy. I would not have been happy to have my freshly groomed dog there. :o)

Despite the muck, class was great. We had three stations set up with very specific things to work on at each. It was the perfect night to bring Pixel.

We did some back chaining on the frame, and she did the full frame three times successful! She is really driving into the 2on2off position, which is great! We also did some one jump stuff- deceleration, front crosses, and lead outs. Then we did some rear cross exercises- she LOVES the tunnel so thought it was a pretty fun game. We ended with some weaves- three poles, and then four poles. She is looking for the entry pretty consistently, although did cheat a few times when she was thinking about the hotdog at the end and not the actual weaves. :o) Oh, and we also did a tiny amount of surfing on the teeter- mostly so I could get a photo....

I am not in a big hurry, and am just plugging away at my plan- trying to make sure I'm not screwing her up too badly. :o)

Wicca only did a few little things- we worked on some tunnel mouth discrimination (she is really naughty about that) and surprisingly she did really well and only made one error. Also we worked on driving ahead off the frame with the tunnel under- she thinks if there is a tunnel mouth beside her she should take it on the way. I only did one full frame with her though- otherwise I placed her on the end. We did a few rear cross drills (the same ones I did with Pixel) and some weave pole proofing. One of Kim Collins ways to proof her dogs entries is to try and make them go in the wrong pole. (restraining them at the second pole and telling them to weave) I didn't try it with Wicca at the seminar because I wasn't comfortable weaving with her yet. I did it last night and she fell for the trick every time except once. LOL. I really need to work on entries.

It was a pretty successful night overall, and we got lots of work done in an hour.

Tricks

I've been spending a few minutes every day working on some new tricks with the dogs (and perfecting old ones.) Tricks are great for a few reasons- it's good training! Teaching a complicated (or easy) trick will help your timing as a trainer, and your patience. :o) Also, the dogs love it. They are always so excited to perform their little tricks for people.

My dogs have a fair number of tricks- but there are so many I'd like to teach them. Lots of these are very useful in agility and obedience, and some are just for fun....

Wicca in particular LOVES tricks and is so eager to learn new stuff. She can do complicated things and put behaviours together (for example she has a little basketball hoop and can drop the ball into the net)
Back- means back up...she scoots her butt backward almost in a playbow...
Dead- classic dead dog
Rollover- again, a classic
Spin- either direction
Fetch- she will fetch anything I ask her (keys, a spoon, a specific toy)
Chin- she'll rest her chin in my open hand
Sad- vito's trademark chin on ground looking pathetic
Shake- a paw...
Touch- nose to object.
Through- weave through legs
Over- jump over leg
Wrap- run around behind me

Vito has a few, mostly they are geared towards making him look cute. :o)
Sad- his trademark chin on ground between his front legs
Pretty Boy- sitting pretty
Wave- waving his stumpy leg while sitting pretty
Spin- either direction
Through- weave through legs
Dead Dog- a classic. :o)

Boone came to me knowing quite a few tricks (he used to do freestyle dancing in his past life) but he's learned a few more
Back- back up
Left- spin left
Right- spin right
Wave- self explanatory
Through- weave through legs
Wrap- run around behind me
Over- jump over leg (he'll keep going around as you keep lifting your leg)
Flip- he'll spin and backup through your legs...sounds complicated, it is. He came with this trick although never did it on cue- he'd just do it totally random and quite often trip me...I've put it on a word I can remember and we are much happier...lol
Chin- rest his chin in my open hand
No Cue- if he is standing in front of you and you lift a leg, he'll lift the same leg...it's rather entertaining...
Fetch- we are working on this...
Sad- chin on ground
Shame- this is a trick he's just learning (to put a paw over his nose)
Handstand- we started this eons ago and I just kinda lost interest. He can do it pretty well against a wall now- but doesn't get much air time..
Bounce- jump straight into the air.
Speak- :o)

Pixel knows the least amount of tricks. We're working on it and she is learning a few right now
Back- she is getting it although she is crooked 80% of the time, :o)
Sad- chin on ground
Wave- she's really not very good at this and starts head bobbing like a chicken if she doesn't get it right the first time
Nod- as in nod your head "yes." I am teaching this because she offers it all the time.
Shake- as in shake your head "no." If you have a yes, you need a no? Right?
and that's pretty well it....

I am pretty sure I've forgotten a few, but you get the idea...so what tricks do your dogs know?

Seasons Past 47/52

Seasons Past 47/52, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

We had our first actual snowfall the other day- just enough to cover the ground. You can still see the left overs from fall just below the surface.

Pixel loves the snow and had a great time on our walk today. She was goofy as ever and had a great time playing with sticks, and eating snow. It seems the snow brings out the wildness. :o) I caught her serious side here as she watched another dog down the path.

I was really torn for my 52 weeks photo. There were a couple that I liked from the walk. I chose this one in the end because I think it is neat how it shows two seasons- fall, and winter.

Uploaded by manymuddypaws on 28 Nov 09, 1.04PM MST.

Bad Blogger

I was a bad blogger this week. I took a sick day yesterday and mostly stayed home and slept. I am feeling MUCH better today, but still have nothing really to blog about...

It's snowing...so that's kinda fun. And I have nothing planned really for this weekend so I am hoping to get in some good walks with the dogs, and just hang out at home....

Here is a cute photo from last years first snow...Pixel was still very much a puppy...

Feelin' Good

Wicca that is, not me!



Wicca is gradually getting back to normal agility wise. The seminar was really great for her. I didn't over do it, and although she was tired at the end of each day she wasn't sore. Even the next morning there was no stiffness. Last night I took her to class (don't ask me why since I felt like crap the whole time) and did a few little things with her. I let her do the dogwalk (which she promptly ran off the end and earned some crate time) and I let her weave six poles- twice.

She didn't break. She isn't sore. She is fine.

I will gradually increase the amounts of agility each time. I am confident that her neck is healed, and that she should be able to handle the physical stress of weaving. We are still not doing the A-Frame...not sure when I'll work up enough nerve to do that. :o)

I am still working on the seminar post...it's coming I promise!

Happy Birthday Vito

Weekend Stuff...

I had a super busy weekend. But am too tired to go into much detail.

First off- I have a cold. not just a run of the mill cold either. this cold hit on Friday and by Sunday I could hardly think. My head felt like it was going to expolde. I think the worst is over (at least I hope so) but we'll see how I feel the rest of the week.

Our local dog show was this weekend- I didn't enter any of my own dogs, but I did handle a Flatcoat in the breed ring. Chatty was about the cutest thing ever, and I could have easily taken her home. I showed her both Saturday and Sunday morning.

The afternoons were spent at an agility seminar. It was really great, and I have some ideas of what I need to do to fix some problems that we have. We worked on a variety of stuff- Rear Cross Threadles, Wraps, Serpentines, Deceleration, Rear Crosses, and Front Crosses. As always Kim gave us some really great challenges. Sunday she set up a 27 obstacle jumpers course. My mind is a little foggy right now due to my cold- so I'll go into more details later this week.

I am pretty tired this morning- slept like crap due to my cold, and have a busy week ahead of me. Hopefully I'll survive. :o)

Some Friday Morning Torture, and Updates.

Pixel is on the mend and doing great. Her spay incision looks awesome and the bruising is almost all gone. She is feeling pretty well normal now- but she is still on restricted exercise. We went for a leash walk yesterday, and she now has free range of the house except the stairs. I'm allowing her to do the three stairs outside, but otherwise I carry her.

Wicca still is showing no signs of stiffness. :)

Like I mentioned in my previous post I have a seminar this weekend with Kim Collins. She is a close follower of Susan Garrett. Her teaching style is what I would call "Up Front and In Your Face." In a good way of course! She tells it how it is, and will push you to do the best you can. I have been doing her "Outreach" program for a few years. She comes to my area three times a year and each seminar is a progression on the last. This is the third and final of a series for this year. Unfortunately next year I am only able to attend one. Her seminars are always really good- challenging, and sometimes frustrating but I always come away having learned something. I give credit to her for lots of my improvement as a handler over the past few years.
Looking at the handouts she's sent through this seminar will be no different. Lots of challenge. :o) But I like challenge.

This weekend also happens to be our local dog show. It really sucks that it is on the same weekend as I really would have liked to enter the dogs in rally, and Wicca in Open. But it just would have been too stressful to do both. (The seminar starts at 11, so I could have entered the morning at the dogshow) Anyway, I am going to watch for a bit Saturday morning- to cheer on my friend and her Collie, and to maybe fill in as a handler for a Flatcoat. :o)

It will mostly be a long and boring weekend for Pixel. She is going to stay home and rest. A dirty barn is not a place she should be hanging out at all weekend. Poor Girl, she's going to be so bored!

Now on to the torture- Yes, it's a hot dog.

Hold.

Leave It.

Leave it. Really. I mean it. Leave it.

Where's Vito and the hotdog? Well, Vito ate the hotdog whole before I had a chance to even take a photo. Sigh.

Limber as a Border Collie

Okay, maybe not that limber- but you get the idea! Wicca played agility for the first time in three weeks on Tuesday and isn't stiff at all- her neck, shoulders, and back are all A-OK. Do you know how happy this makes me???!!!! Like so happy it might keep me in a good mood for most of the morning. :o)

She only played a little- we did the gamble that Sarah posted on her blog- we did it succesfully once (with no bars) and three times with bars, and the other two times were most definitely NOT succesful. :o) I tried to use my "turn" out of the tunnel, and then over the bar...it didn't work. Anyway, the point is that she jumped, and ran, and twisted, and played and is not stiff after the fact.

So- I am feeling fairly optimistic. She hasn't done any contacts yet, and no weaves either. But it's a start. You see my issue was that there is a seminar this weekend that I've already paid for and was looking forward to. If Wicca wasn't able to run I had already talked to the instructor about putting Boone in her place. But really it's Wicca and I that need the most help. So- I am going to bring them both, (I don't think Wicca is quite ready for 10 hours of agility in one weekend!) and alternate them.

I am so glad she is feeling better.

Invitation

I created a Forum the other day focused on Performance Sports with Corgis (both kinds). Mostly I did it just for fun- but I do think that it will be a great source of information about the ups and downs of training these short dogs with big attitude. :o) Also I thought it would be nice to actually "talk" to other people who are interested in the same stuff.

Discussions range from Rally to Agility, and everything in between. It is super basic, nothing fancy, and is free of course. Check it out, and if you like it- spread the word!

Working Corgi