On the weekend we went to our first competitions this year and we camped in Mum's car for the first time ever!
On Friday evening there was the Paws'n'Music (dog dancing) competition in Mangawhai, about 130 km from our house, and on Saturday and Sunday there were Obedience and Rally-O competitions at the same venue.
At first Mum was thinking about participating in the Obedience and Rally-O competitions on Saturday only, but at the last minute she decided to enter the Paws'n'Music competition too. However, the venue was far from where we lived, so Mum decided to stay in her car with us overnight so that she wouldn't have to make two round trips.
We arrived at the venue just before 4pm and the Paws'n'Music competition commenced at 5pm. After the competition, we had a walk around the small town of Mangawhai and then had dinner outside by Mum's car.
We also enjoyed chilling out on the grass and walking around the ground before it got dark.
Chilling after dinner
We went to bed at 9:30pm.
Our bunk bed in the car
I slept upstairs for the first time ever, except at hospitals!! However, it was a little annoying when Mint barked and disturbed my rest when Mum was out at the clubhouse to wash her face and brush her teeth. He is a mother's boy and he often barks if he can't see her for a long time. I wonder when he will grow out of it!
Because we were tired from the drive from home and also performing in the competition, we all had a very good sleep, although at first Mint was trying to get Mum's attention for a while by scratching the floor of his crate, which Mum ignored :-P
We woke up at 6:30 in the morning. As soon as we got out of the car, we enjoyed a good sniff at the wet grass.
So many interesting smells!
I think our breakfast was lighter than usual, as I still felt hungry after eating it.
By the way Mint won Elementary Freestyle in the Paws'n'Music competition on Friday evening! Although I didn't do well, I was very happy for him!
Today this certificate arrived along with some ribbons from a recent video event of RFE (Rally Freestyle Elements)!
This is a certificate for my new Freestyle (dancing) title called Vet MF/X (Veteran Musical Freestyle Excellent). I used to enter regular classes without the "Veteran" prefix, but last year Mum decided to switch me from regular classes to Veteran classes (for dogs who are eight years old or older) because she was not sure how long I would be able to continue to dance decent routines. At that time she was trying to stop my barking when I was dancing, but I couldn't stop barking because I was very aroused when dancing. I still bark sometimes but I managed to keep my mouth shut when we videoed my routine for the video event.
In a routine videoed for a previous video event Mum incorporated the "chin rest' in the routine in an attempt to calm me down so that I wouldn't start barking. This time she changed the part and replaced the chin rest with a simple move where Mum ran backwards while I ran forward keeping the position in front of her. With this performance I got my second qualifying score in the Veteran Intermediate class and as a result I got the Vet MF/X title.
I hope I can keep my mouth shut again when we video a routine next time!!
In the same video event Mint entered the Intermediate class. Mum was not sure if Mint's routine included enough advanced moves to qualify, but he did qualify as well. As it was his first qualifying score in the class, he will need two more Qs to get his Excellent title.
However, I am very impressed that he performed in such a difficult environment for the video. He did it in a park where we had found many chicken bones on the ground a few days before the videoing!! Mum was shocked when she saw many chicken bones on the ground, because she was planning to video Mint's routine there a few days later. Then, she let us find bones (As far as I remember, we found more than ten bones!) and picked them up before we got them, in order to clean the ground.
Here is Mint's performance in the park. In fact the judge commented "Nice work in an outside environment!"
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!
I am sorry we didn't post anything in September because Mum was too busy to help us write a post.
On the weekend (both Saturday and Sunday) our dog dancing team "ChoreDOGraphy Connection" participated in Auckland Pet & Animal Expo again. When I participated in the event for the first time 4 years ago, we were a team of only two two dogs, a friend and me. The next year no other dogs were available, so Mint and I did it. But, last year there were nine of us, and the team consisted of eight dogs including us.
These photos are from Saturday.
I was the first dog to perform. As always, I barked a lot while dancing :-P
Woody did a nice Heelwork to Music routine.
Gypsy and Pip did a pairs routine, which looked like fun!
Fletcher's routine was dynamic!
It seems that many people thought Solace's mum was a real nun.
Sam's routine looked stylish :-)
Mint didn't bark like me, but he didn't look fully awake.
Sofie did an awesome routine as always!
On Sunday I did much better and I didn't bark at all while dancing! I did put my nose to the floor once, but it was Mum's fault as she dropped a treat!
Mint did better on the second day too, but Mum forgot the last part of the routine, so she had to do some improvisation.
By the way, can you see the stains on the carpet in the video? They were made by horse manure on Saturday after our show. When Mum and her friends found them on Sunday morning, they were very worried that we might get distracted by their smells. But, we were absolutely fine!!
I hope the audience enjoyed our performance as much as we ourselves did.
Cinnamon and I have been practising our dance routines in preparation for an upcoming international video competition. But, to tell the truth, it is not fun at all!!
Yes, I like performing with Mum, but that is partly because I can get a lot of treats just like when learning or practising tricks. But, Mum doesn't give me any treat when videoing a routine. And, my brain stops working if treats stop coming.
This is one of my videos recently filmed.
As you can see, if treats stop coming, I start to wonder why I can't get treats, and I become unable to think about dancing. For example, leg weaves and paw lifts are very easy tricks. But, I cannot do them well in a routine without treats in Mum's hand or pockets.
Cinnamon has been having her own problem too. In her case, she can't stop barking if no food is coming!
If she doesn't bark, she gets worried about the environment and keeps looking around during a routine.
Sorry I had a long break from blogging again. I repeatedly asked Mum to help me post something but all she did was say "Yes, I will when I have time". But, finally she had some time to help me today.
Well, l meant to post a video of a new trick every month, but Mum was not cooperative enough, and neither of us learned any new cool tricks last month. So, today I will show you something we tried for the first time instead.
Have you heard of Rally Freestyle Elements (also called Rally FrEe)? If you know Rally Obedience (also called Rally-O) and Canine Freestyle (also called Paws n Music or Heelwork to Music), you could guess what it is like.
Rally-O
In Rally-O you need to do exercises described in signs placed around a course. In Canine Freestyle you dance (do tricks) to music. Rally FrEe is something like a fusion of both. You are required to do exercises described in signs at stations on a course, but the exercises are more like dance moves and you will do them to music. There are also Free Choice stations, where you can do any move of your choice. Also, in Rally-O you don't only need to do every exercise correctly but also finish the course as quickly as you can. But, in Rally FrEe your run is not timed, although you may want to finish it before your music finishes of course.
Mum was very interested in this new dog sport but didn't have a chance to do it until recently. In early March our dog dancing team ChoreDOGraphy Connection and a few other people and dogs did Rally FrEe for the first time in New Zealand as a demonstration at a Rally-O Championship held in Mangawhai. Because it was a demonstration, we had been given the course a few weeks in advance so that we could practise before demonstrating in front of an audience (Normally the course is given to competitors a week before the competition so that they can decide what moves they will do at Free Choice stations). However, Mum was very lazy as always and we didn't practise it to music at all until the demonstration. So, now you can guess how it went, can't you?
Well, Mum says that I was very naughty, but I think I did well, considering the lack of practise. At least I really enjoyed it!! Here is a video of it. (The music stopped in the middle of the run because of flat battery but never mind!)
I think you can see how much fun I was having doing it. What do you think? Was it a success or a failure?
Firstly, a Belated Happy New Year!! We wish that the year 2014 will bring everyone a lot of happiness.
Well, I am sorry we were absent from blogging for such a long time again!! I can't believe the year has turned already. Last year we were extremely busy and couldn't blog at all since my last post in July.
Do you want to know why we were so busy?
First of all Mum was constantly busy with her work so she was not very helpful for our blogging. But, what made us even busier was my debut on TV!!
In April last year our dog dancing instructor asked Mum if she was interested in auditioning for New Zealand's Got Talent (NZGT) 2013, as the TV show's production team was looking for animal contestants. At first Mum brushed off the idea, thinking neither of us would be reliable enough to perform on TV. But, after hearing nice comments about our dancing from a few experienced dancing dog handlers, Mum decided to give it a go.
Well, it seems that Mum actually wanted to audition with Mint, not me, because I was so environmentally sensitive that she couldn't always trust me to perform well, while Mint never failed to stay focused. But, because Mum was concerned about Mint's seizures, she decided to audition with me.
Do you remember that both Mint and I performed at a local school in July? In fact we did it as a rehearsal for my audition in front of the judges and audience that was to be filmed in late July, after passing an initial off-record audition in June.
My NZGT audition in front of the judges was aired in September (The TV network only has the right to air the program in New Zealand, so unfortunately you can't watch my whole performance if you are outside New Zealand, but you can see a glimpse of me performing here in an online news article). And, about the same time we were told that we had got through to the Semi-Finals!!?? Who would have thought that a Beagle could go to the semi-finals on a 'mainly-human' talent show!?
Well, going back to NZGT, although I think I did very well in our semi-final considering the circumstances, unfortunately we didn't get enough votes to get through to the final, but we met some nice talented people at the filming! All in all it was a very special experience!! Also, let me take this opportunity to thank everyone who supported Mum and me!!!!!!! (I even know someone who voted for us six times!!)
Last year we also did quite a few public demonstration of Paws n Music at various events, such as Auckland Beagle Club's Ribbon Parade (August) and Championship Show (October), Pet Expo in Hamilton, Pet and Animal Expo in Auckland (September), New Zealand Kennel Club's Dog and Puppy of the Year (November), Manukau Dog Training Club's Christmas Party (December), and Special Children's Christmas Party (December, Mint only). I didn't always perform well at these events, but I always enjoyed performing and meeting many people!
Finally, what pleased me most last year was that Mint and I started competing in agility again!!!
Mint
Cinnamon
When Mint started having seizures frequently in March, Mum decided to retire us from agility, but she changed her mind and decided to start doing agility with us again in December, as Mint's seizures got reasonably under control :-) I am so happy being back at agility!!! I really love the sport!!! I even won the Jumpers C class at our second competition after a loooong break!
As you can see, the year 2013 was an event-packed year for us. I wonder what is in store for us this year!!
I just realised that I hadn't posted about how we have been doing in competitions this year. Sorry this post may be boring for many of you, but I wanted to post it as a record.
As you may know, we compete in Agility, Obedience, Rally Obedience, and Paws n Music. As for Paws n Music, last year there was no competition in or near Auckland, except for a video competition which Mint won (I didn't enter it), and this year there is no competition until National Dog Obedience Assembly (NDOA) in October. So, the last competition we went to is NDOA in 2011, where I got first and Mint second in Elementary Freestyle.
Early this year we had to withdraw from quite a few competitions because of Mint's frequent seizures. So, we haven't been to many competitions this year. We have been to three Agility competitions, three Obedience competitions, and one Rally Obedience competition. We haven't done any agility since mid-March after Mint had multiple seizures on the day after our last agility competition. Although we don't know what caused those seizures, we haven't done agility at all since the day just in case.
In the last Agility competition we went to, I won Novice. As I was doing really well in agility at that time, Mum wanted to continue to compete with me in Agility but decided to have a break because it was getting cold towards winter anyway.
Mint has competed in three Obedience competitions this year (I haven't competed in Obedience this year). In the first one Mint did really well in heelwork but broke his stay. In the second one, his heelwork was not as good as it usually is but he managed to get a 4th place because he didn't break his stays. And, in the third one last weekend, although his heelwork was better than the previous time, he broke his stays again.
In the only Rally Obedience competition we have been to this year, Mum made a lot of mistakes because she hadn't practised Rally-O for a long time. Because of her mistakes, I couldn't qualify in one of two rounds that I had. But, I got a 3rd place in the other round in Novice B. Mint qualified in both of two rounds he had, but he didn't get placed. Now that Mint has got three or more than Novice qualifying certificate, he is eligible for a RN (Rally Novice) title, which lazy Mum hasn't applied for.
Currently we train in Obedience and Paws n Music once a week on the same day. In Obedience Mint's biggest challenge is stays and mine is the dumbbell. (I can't sit close enough to Mum with my dumbbell in my mouth.) In Paws n Music both of us are just staring to work on our new routines.
Last Friday we visited a local school to perform dog dancing in front of the children there, and we thoroughly enjoyed it!!
A couple weeks back, when Mum was helping the instructor of a tricks class as an assistent, she happened to hear that one of the students of the class was a teacher of a local school. So, Mum, who was looking for a place where we could practise our dance routines in front of an audience, asked her if we could visit the school to perform dog dancing. And the answer was 'YES'!
On Friday morning we arrived at the school half an hour before our show, and a while later our friend, Sofie the Blue Heeler, and her mum arrived as well.
When we were preparing our props for the first show, young children started coming into the hall (We did two shows). They were all well-behaved. Once the audience were ready sitting on the floor. Mum and I went up on the stage and performed my new routine. Every time I did a trick, I heard cheerful laughs. All in all, the young audience seemed to enjoy our show. After me was Sofie and then Mint.
Once the first group of children went out of the hall, older kids started coming in. Then, we found a familiar face in them!! Our next-door neighbour was there!! We were very surprised and excited at the same time!! A few moments later, we spotted another familiar face. A younger sister of the next-door neighbour who we had found earlier! The sisters are very good friends of ours but they had never seen us dancing before. So, we were very excited to be able to show them our dance.
All our performances went really well. Although we had some trouble on the slippery stage surface in the first show, we could perform more comfortably in the second show after Mum put a piece of carpet that she had brought just in case. We did make a few mistakes in our routines, but who cares!! Everyone looked enjoying our performances.
After the shows, we went to say hello to our next-door neighbours, then their friends all gathered around us, trying to pat us. Surrounded by so many children, we found ourselves in the darkness in the centre of an excited crowd!! But, I really enjoyed all the attention. You can rarely get that level of attention!! I felt like I was a super star!!!
On Sunday of our busy weekend, we went to Ardmore New Zealand Kennel Club Exhibition Centre to attend two events at the same time!
The coursing of the Hound Racing Club was scheduled to start at 10am. But, when we arrived at 9:30am, the course had already been set up. It seemed everyone had looked forward to the coursing so much!
As the other even we were attending was to start at 10:30am, Mum asked the club president if Mint and I could run in the first race. I got so excited that it was really hard not to bark!!!
After having one race, we quickly moved to the inside of a building where we were going to do a demonstration of dog dancing for the Labrador Club.
As you may know, I am a little reactive to other dogs. So, Mum was very worried that I might bark at the audience of the demo. But, as I always say, she always worries too much!
Five dogs, including Mint and me, performed their dance routines in front of many Labrador Retrievers and their owners.
Everyone did very well and were well received by the audience. In the audience there were dogs and their owners who trained in a CGC preparation class with me two and a half years ago. As they knew how naughty and reactive I had used to be, they were very impressed with my improvement.
After the dog dancing demonstration, we went back to the Hound Racing Club and had another two races.
It was a really busy weekend, but we had so much fun!!
I know that my blog posts have been slack again, but it is not only our human who's been busy and working hard!
Last month Mint and I went to two competitions, one agility competition and one rally obedience competition, and on Saturday we went to another agility competition. And, tell you what! We brought back at least one ribbon from all of these competitions!!
On 12th and 13th May we went to NorWest Jumpers Championship. Both Mint and I entered six Jumpers C rounds, and Mint got one clear round each day and I got two clear rounds on Saturday and one clear round on Sunday. In one of the two rounds from which Mint got clear rounds, he even got a 2nd-place ribbon!!
On 27th May we went to Manukau Rally Obedience Championship and entered the Novice A class.
As we hadn't done any rally obedience, Mum was very worried how we would perform. I have to admit that Mum's concern had a reason. In the last rally obedience competition, she was upset by my performance, as I wandered off many times, ignoring her commands. But, this time I enjoyed my round and did much much better than the last time, and I got a 2nd-place ribbon as well as my second qualifying certificate!
Mint also did very well despite the fact that it was the very first rally obedience competition for him. When our rounds finished, Mum actually thought that Mint had done better than me. But, later she realised that she had done something wrong in his round. She had forgot to make him sit before laying down, when she had to do so. So, Mint lost ten points for that mistake. However, he didn't make any fault otherwise, so he managed to get his first qualifying certificate.
Last Saturday we went to Counties Agility Ribbon Trial and both of us entered Jumpers C, Starters, and Elementary A.
In Jumpers C we both did very well but weren't fast enough to get a ribbon. When ribbons were given up to the 3rd place, I got placed the 4th and Mint the 5th.
In Starters Mint did extremely well and WON the class!! Well done Mint!! But, I didn't do so well. I was so excited at the start that I didn't wait until Mum said 'OK', and when I started running, Mum was so upset that she forgot how she had planned to run, resulting in three faults.
In Elementary A we couldn't run as fast as we usually do, as we were already very tired, but it seems that many other dogs in the class were feeling the same way. As a result, Mint got a 2nd place and I got a 3rd place.
Now that Mint has got a win in Starters, he has graduated from Elementary A, which means that he will be entering Starters and Novice in the next competition.
Besides competitions, we demonstrated dog dancing with another doggie at a primary school last week.
This photo was taken at home before we went to the school for our demo
It was great fun!! Over a hundred kids watched it, and they were a wonderful audience. As their teachers had told them to stay calm and quiet so that we dogs didn't get over-excited, they didn't rush toward us to pat us like children often do when they see dogs. Also, unlike other public displays, there was no one eating something and there was no food around us. So, I could concentrate on my performance, although I wandered off a little bit at the beginning of my routine, and I could hear the kids laughing every time I did a trick.
Mint did well too, although Mum didn't look happy with her own improvisation for the last part of Mint's routine. The audience also enjoyed watching a limbo dance by our dancing team mate, Fletcher.
What I thought was wonderful was that between our dance performances a teacher demonstrated clicker training with a couple of volunteers from the young audience. The children really enjoyed it, and later I heard that young children had been doing it for the rest of the day.
Actually I did demos in the same event last year and the year before, and the one I did two years ago was my first ever dog dancing demonstration in public!
This time I invited our friends Kurosawa the Retradoodle and Marvi and Milia the Chipoos over to see our dancing for the first time.
Well, this demonstration turned out to be in one of the hardest conditions I had ever experienced. For one, there were a couple of families having a picnic lunch just by the ring. (You know it's so hard for Beagles to ignore food especialy when they are off leash!!) Also, as soon as Mum put my stool in the centre of the ring as a preparation, many kids started coming into the ring to play with the stool. To our relief there were no kids in the ring, when Mum and I were called into the ring for my dance performance, but just when we stood at the starting position near my stool, a toddler wandered into the ring and SAT on my stool with some food in his hand!! He stayed sitting there for a while, so we had to wait until his mum came and took him out of the ring!
After the little human was taken out of the ring, my music finally started. But, my stool smelled so nice that I couldn't concentrate on my performance. I just couldn't help checking the smell of my stool several times during my routine...
Again Mint did a little better than I did. But, again he was so eager to jump that he was jumping when he was not supposed to! Why can't he stay on the ground!?
In our dance demonstration our colleague Fletcher the Border Collie also performed. Because there were only three of us in our team this time, Fletcher did two routines, of which I especially loved his limbo dance routine. It was so unique and cool!
Well, Mum didn't really want to show you videos of our performance this time, because we both made many mistakes in our routines. But, who cares!! I don't mind showing a video of me making mistakes :-)
After our dance demonstration, many competitions took place. Mum didn't plan to enter us to any of these competitions, but, encouraged by Fletcher's human, she entered both of us to the Best Quick Trick Contest, and I won with my handstanding trick and Mint got placed the second with his jumping rope trick!!
Sorry we don't have any videos of us doing our tricks in the competition. But, here you can see how happy we were, having got prizes! (Our prizes were in the red bag Mum is carrying in the photo.)
After the Best Quick Trick Contest, there was the Potato Race, where humans run holding their dog's lead and a spoon with a potato on it with ONE hand, and our friend Kurosawa and his mum won it!! Well done, the Team Kurosawa!!
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