Early in the day on New Year’s Eve Jack, Ivan, Dylan and I drove up to New Hampshire. The weather was unseasonably mild and we were able to take the dogs for a nice walk.
Jack and I then went out for a delicious steak dinner. After dinner we all hunkered down early at the Comfort Inn (a treat from the usual Motel 6!) to welcome in the New Year. Party animals we are not!
Today Ivan was in an agility trial held in Amherst, NH. His first class of the day was Novice B Standard. He had a clean round, qualified with a score of 100 and placed 3rd for his second Standard Leg.
In his next class Ivan was the LAST dog in the LAST class of the day (Novice B Jumpers with Weaves) and unfortunately he knocked the bar on the LAST jump and did not qualify. Otherwise it was a great run on a pretty hard Novice JWW course. The video had to be restarted so the first few jumps are missing and it is out of focus. Jack is getting a proper video camera very soon. The videos we have taken so far were all shot on our Canon Power Shot camera.
Dylan was entered in this trial also, but the week before Christmas his head started to swell up again. The vet immediately started him on antibiotics and you can tell by the way he is romping with Ivan that he is feeling much better. We have decided not to enter him in any agility trials for a while.
Wishing everyone a healthy and happy 2012.
Linda, loved the pictures & loved the videos.
Ivan always looks so happy & proud when he finishes his run… it’s such a pleasure to watch.
Thanks for sharing & Happy New Year to all of you!
Happy New year Lynda! Compared to my NYE spent doing a jigsaw puzzle, your steak dinner and upgrade to a Comfort inn sounds pretty wild! 🙂 What the heck on Dylan’s tooth issue flaring up again. Dylan and Ivan look so cute snuggling together. Terrific runs both of them. It looks like it was his tail that knocked the bar on that last jump…what a groaner.
Congratulations on your Nov B Standard run!
Yep, that is why this blog is named “Long-Dangerous Tails”…..
What method did you use to teach Ivan the weaves?
Everyone told me to train the weaves using the 2×2 method.
Ivan and I just didn’t get it…
I went back to the “old” way and just showed him what I wanted by luring him through and he picked it up much quicker. I bought a set of 24″ weave poles as the ones I had were older and only 18 – 20 inches (I think?) so I can practice on the size they use in competition now. I need to work with Ivan on the entries. The 2×2′s are supposed to help teach a good, consistant entry to the poles so maybe I’ll work a little with them again……
yeaaa Ivan the multi talented GSD :)) Love that you do the running contact as Ivan is such a big boy. I have always done running with my GSDs easier on the bodies. and yes go back and give 2×2 poles another try I trained Blitz (he’s 9 1/2 and retired now) with 2×2 and he had gorgeous weaves and then I did my Mali who is just starting to compete and I will never use another method besides 2×2 makes great entries and fast poles :)) Congrats on your runs Ivan looks gorgeous as usual and hope Dylan is feeling better.
Happy new year to you and the Doggy Duo, Lynda! I hope Dylan gets well soon. You and Ivan are always so fun to watch!
What a great way to start the New Year! Excellent runs on both. I think Julie’s right—his wagging tail did him in on that last jump. I love the individual field shots of both the boys and the snuggle shot. These guys truly are an awesome duo.
I think you, Jack and the boys had the most exciting New Year’s Eve of all.
you and Ivan look great! congrats on the standard leg. bummer about the JWW bar. catching a bar with the tail seems to be a pretty common GSD thing; I wonder how one would train a dog to pick up his tail? I’m going to have to think on that one myself, as bars down get expensive. I saw something in the most recent Clean Run about how to teach a dog to not knock the standard with his tail (using tape with sticky side out to grab a few hairs), but I don’t think that would work for bars.
I went to bed at 11:40 on New Years eve. I don’t think I’ve greeted the new year in this decade. 🙂
I hope your boy Dylan feels better soon. it stinks to miss agility trials. I think that is why I run four- so I always have something ready to trial!
BTW, I started two novice dogs last spring and was really surprised at how difficult novice JWW was; standard seemed straight forward, but JWW required a good bit of handling. The dogs and I all got used to it and did fine and I expect you will too.
Watching the jumpers run it does appear that he does pay attention to his tail. I think, on the last jump, if you had kept moving forward then Ivan would not have jumped and quickly turned toward you, which caused the bar to be knocked. JMHO. I am a very good arm-chair QB.
Wow…running four agility dogs!!
I have not had a Novice dog for years now and was surprised at how much more difficult the courses are than they were. “Back in the day” they were mainly just a big figure eight type loops or something easy…not any more! This Novice JWW class started with the same four jumps/angles as the Open and Excellent classes…after that it was easier for sure but still challenging.
Yes, Julie, there were several factors causing that last jump to fall. I needed to “drive” Ivan through the last jump more. He was ahead of me so I need to work on a “go on” command as he does watch me a lot. Also at the same time as he was in the air over the jump the crowd started cheering as it appeared he was going to have a clear round and the noise may have made him turn to me…..and of course, the last jump was the DOUBLE!
People watching Ivan in agility class have told me his tail has knocked some of the jumps!
Happy New Year, Lynda & Jack! I can’t think of a better way to start the year off – what fun! Dylan and Ivan look like such great buddies ( love the pic’s in bed together). It’s not just GSDs with dangerous tails: my Lab has knocked over countless glasses off our coffee table with his rudder!
We also have to upgrade our camera soon to get ready for Dutch’s arrival. Which ones are you looking at? I want an easy auto-everything with the speed to capture images and videos w/o blur. I have a little Nikon 200s, which doesn’t hold a charge long. I should get rid of my old Canon & Nikon SLR’s – I’m totally into digital now, and have no patience for film photography. I love the pictures of Dylan & Ivan taken during your walk together. Your dogs really enhance the beauty of the countryside.
I would recommend the Nikon D7000 good stills and excellent video.
Thank you, Julie! I checked AMEX “Blue Rewards,” and the Nikon D7000 is available. It has a rock-solid 15-page review by Thom Hogan, too!
Ooohhhh I’m so jealous! Get it while you can.
Both boys are looking fab Lynda! I especially love that first pic of Ivan, he is perfection. Thanks for sharing!
Love the pics of the boys playing. They look great as usual Lynda. Happy new year to all of you.
I just love watching Ivan work. Thanks for posting the wonderful pictures and video.
Thanks for the videos, Lynda. Always great to see the boys. I just love the play shots (…they look very familiar only I see yellow instead of black:)) Bummed to hear that Dylan is still experiencing the swelling…really miss seeing the big guy in action! Keep us posted on how he is doing.