Enjoying Rally-FrEe too!

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

After posting about Agility, we haven't been doing Agility much, because a physio who saw Mint recommended that he had a break from the sport.

Well, when Mint saw the physio, he was not lame or anything. But, Mum was very worried about strange movements of his muscles around his body. It is natural for us dogs to wiggle if the side of the body or the tummy is scratched, isn't it? But, in Mint's case, almost anywhere caused a large section of his body to twitch.

After a thorough examination the physio told Mum that Mint had several sore spots, which in fact explained why he didn't want to walk on his hind legs the day before. Also, he had been dropping rails when doing Agility, which was strange, considering that he can jump really high. So, now he has been having a break from Agility, and instead he has been getting Mum's massage and doing some stretching and muscle strengthening exercises every other day, if not every day.

However, we have still been doing Rally Freestyle Elements (Rally-FrEe).

Well, I just realised that we hadn't posted about Rally-FrEe much! OMG! The only post about Rally-FrEe in the past was two years ago! And it was about my failed attempt at demonstrating Rally-FrEe! At that time we had never done the sport, but a half year later Mint and I started competing in video events, as there aren't enough competitors to hold live events in New Zealand.

So far, we have competed in five Rally-FrEe video events and earned our Rally-FrEe Novice titles. In our last event that took place last month we entered the Intermediate class.

Last year there were times we didn't want to do Rally-FrEe at all, because Mum always got stressy when videoing our rounds. But, it seems she has changed her approach, and she looks more relaxed when she does it. If she feels relaxed, we feel relaxed too and can perform better. And in our last event we got qualified with very good scores.

For those who don't know what Rally-FrEe is, here are our video submissions for our last event.

This is my round, which qualified with a 2nd place on 189/200.

This is Mint's round, which qualified with a 1st place on 191/200 points.

When my round was videoed, no one else but the cameraman, our dad, was around. But, when Mint's was videoed, there were so many people around, because Agility class was brought inside as it was raining heavily outside. I was so impressed with how well Mint performed despite so many distractions!

Last Thursday our ribbons arrived!

Agility is SUPER fun!

Hi! It's Cinnamon ;-)

I am sorry I was absent from this blog for a while. But, it doesn't mean that I was sick or anything. As Mint wanted to write posts, I let him do so.

Time flies! The first month of the year has finished already! This week we had the first training night of the year at our dog training club, Manukau Dog Training Club, where Mint and I practise dancing.

Well today's post is not about dancing. It's about Agility.

As the title indicates, I have been enjoying Agility so much! This year I have been to two Agility competitions and got three 2nd place ribbons ;-)

It's been seven years since I first started learning Agility, but I have never enjoyed the sport as much as I do now. I have always loved running and jumping, but I had often felt stressed at Agility shows, because Mum always got nervous before my runs and there were other dogs near me around the ring. But, I don't get stressed any more as Mum doesn't get nervous any more. Both Mum and I have learned to enjoy the moment ;-)

Previously Mum always tried to keep my attention on her before my runs and she didn't let me put my nose to the ground. But, now she doesn't mind me doing anything as far as I am happy. She doesn't even try to interrupt me if I start barking from excitement before my runs. (Yes, I get aroused when I know that I am running soon.) Because she doesn't interrupt me, I can focus on my upcoming run. And, if I am focused, I don't care about other dogs.

I hope Mint enjoys Agility more than he does now. He is getting better but he is still often unfocused in the ring. I know he can run fast, but he somehow doesn't try his best to run fast in the Agility ring. At least his start on his runs has improved since Mum started guiding him to the start line by doing some dance moves, which prevents him from getting nervous. All he has to learn to do is believe in himself and be confident!!

By the way, at an Agility show in Tokoroa last month, all the five Beagles currently actively competing in Agility in New Zealand got together! It was a very nice reunion!! All the other three Beagles are more advanced than us. I am very proud of them as a fellow Agility Beagle!!

From Left Bella, Barry, Halo, Mint, and Cinnamon

I can't wait for the next Agility show!!

It's likely to become another busy year

Hello! Mint here again!

I had another busy weekend starting on Friday.

On Friday I attended a summer camp of the Camp Quality as an Outreach Therapy Pet and had a lots of fun with many kids and other therapy pets.

I shook hands with many kids.

Saying hello to Mr Donkey as well.

Everyone was having a great time!

On Saturday I attended the Informative Day for Outreach Therapy Pets volunteers interested in joining Foundation Courses for therapy dogs with their own dogs, and I demonstrated some off-leash work that they are going to learn on one of the courses and some tricks that I am going to help teach in a new tricks class for therapy dogs.

Waiting for my turn to do a demo.

On Sunday I went to the Hound Racing with Cinnamon!! We LOVE racing!! It's exciting and lots of fun!

Cinnamon the hunter!

Cinnamon was running ahead of the lure!

Wait! 

I am flying!

Tug of war!

I wonder what I am going to do next weekend!!!!

Our first competitions this year in Mangawhai

Hi! Mint here!

On Saturday I was super busy like a big celebrity!

We went to our first competitions this year and there I participated in three different disciplines, Rally-O, Obedience, and Canine Freestyle.

The competitions were held in Mangawhai, nearly two hours from our house. Usually for competitions in Mangawhai we need to leave home very early before six o'clock, but this time even the first class I entered didn't start till 10am. So, we left home at 8am and arrived at the venue at 10am.

The first competition I entered was Rally-O Excellent, the highest class in Rally-O. Well, more precisely my class is called Excellent A for beginners in the Excellent class. If you qualify in Excellent A three times, you will advance to Excellent B.

As it was my first competition in the Excellent class, Mum was just going to practise new advanced exercises in the competition, rather than pursuing for qualifications or placings.

In fact it turned out that there were many rules Mum didn't know.

After my first round in Excellent, where Mum forgot to make me lie down at the "Halt-Stand-Down" station before the Finish, the judge told Mum that handlers in Excellent were not allowed to tap their laps, which she didn't know.

Also, when Mum was walking the course for my second round in Rally-O Excellent, she got puzzled seeing the sign "Three Steps Back". But, then, an angel appeared from behind, asking her if she knew what to do at the station. She was so lucky! The angel kindly demonstrated what to do for her, which Mum says that she greatly appreciated.

I really enjoyed both of my two rounds in Excellent, so I did everything that Mum told me to do. I even did stays nicely without breaking them! In Rally-O Excellent there is always a stay in the ring while another pair is doing the course in the same ring.

Mum especially praised me for being a good boy when we had to wait for four minutes in the ring without food or toys after our round and before my stay. While waiting for the judge to come back to the ring, I played with Mum in the ring.

This is a video of my second Rally-O Excellent round:

This video shows how I played with Mum while waiting for the start of my stay:

After my two Rally-O rounds, there was a loooong wait.

Next, I did Obedience. When I was doing Rally-O, it was drizzling, but when my class Special Beginners started, it had cleared and started to get very warm.

Near the entrance to the Obedience ring, I found some interesting smell, although I didn't know what it was. When I did the heelwork on and off lead and the recall, I didn't get distracted by the smell much. So, I was able to work nicely in the ring, ignoring the smell. But, when I did the group stay, I couldn't resist the smell any more! So, after staying for forty seconds or so in the one-minute Sit Stay, I got up and went to the spot outside the ring to check the smell again. Mum looked very disappointed, which I do understand, but you know I just couldn't resit it, as it was very warm and I was very tired already.

Here is a video of my heelwork and recall in Special Beginners:

In fact, after the competition, the judge praised me for them a lot ;-)

Then, after a short wait, the prizegiving for Rally-O started. Can you believe it? In the second competition I, Mint, got a 3rd place and a qualifying certificate in Rally-O Excellent A!!

Mum says that that was the last thing she had expected. Humph! Does that mean that she doesn't trust me? But, that's OK. If Mum is happy, I am happy.

My day didn't finish here. There was the Paws 'n' Music (dancing) competition next!! I thought "Are you serious, Mum?" as I was exhausted by then. So, I couldn't perform well at all.

Well, Cinnamon, who didn't enter Rally-O or Obedience, also entered the Paws 'n' Music competition. As she was not so tired, she performed her Heelwork To Music routine well enough to win the Elementary class. Well done, Cinnamon!

It was a very long day but finished with nice ribbons, although I would have liked some special treats much better than ribbon!

Happy New Year 2016!

Happy New Year!

We can't believe that another year has passed! Does that also mean that we got one year older? Oh my DOG!!

Well, what was the last year like for you? For us it was a fruitful year, as we achieved things that we had been working for, including many titles that we acquired last year, such as the AD (Agility Dog), RA (Rally-O Advanced), TDCH (Trick Dog Champion), R-F/N (Rally-FrEe Novice), MF-E (Musical Freestyle Entry), and JD (Jumpers Dog) for Mint and the JD, R-F/N, MF-E, and AD for Cinnamon. Especially it took Mint more than three years to collect 25 clear rounds required to gain the JD title if not having two wins.

However, these titles are simply milestones. What is more important is how we enjoy activities that we do. This year we will continue to enjoy various dog sports. For us winning is not as important as improving. So, we will focus on improving in every aspect of our training, especially reinforcing solid stays for Mint and further improving dog-reactivity for Cinnamon.

Of course, the most important thing for us is the health! So, we hope we stay active and healthy without any injuries or sickness (for both) and hopefully with less epileptic seizures (for Mint).

Finally, we wish everyone all the best for the New Year!!