Origin of the Seventh Samurai

Samurai contemplates his next move.

Samurai's registered name is Wingssong The Seventh Samurai. He was named after Kikuchiyo, the seventh samurai played by Toshiro Mifune in Akira Kurosawa's classic film, The Seven Samurai. Kikuchiyo starts out as a farmer, and is the roughest and least cultured of the samurai. He is brash and impulsive and has stolen most of his samurai regalia from other samurai who have been defeated or killed. This is viewed by the other samurai as a dishonorable thing to do.

As the film goes on, Kikuchiyo proves himself and becomes a hero, abeit in unconventional ways. In the end, he is the one who kills the leader of the band of marauding bandits who has been terrorizing the village.

I gave Samurai this name because he shares that quality of walking a razor's edge of craziness that is also next to brilliance. Because of his mad martial art skilz. But most importantly because I hope that someday, he will become my own agility hero.

The Photographer's Muse

Butterfly extraordinaire.

Taylor had his photograph taken a dog club event last November. So did Samurai. We thought Sami's picture was cute, but it was glamorous Taylor who ended up being featured on the photographer's blog.

View Taylor and all the beautiful dogs on the Studio J blog.

Lisa Potts, Exc. Standard Course

One of my favorite judges, Lisa Potts, presented a very interesting challenge on the Sunday, Exc. Standard course at a trial we went to recently. It reframed the standard dogwalk tunnel discrimination in a fresh perspective. I liked that course so much that I asked Lisa if I could adapt it for an upcoming session of our competition agility class. The course below is adapted to fit the space available at our training facility.

The white circle course follows the opening course sequence pretty faithfully (except for the end). I added the black circle course, that basically runs the same course backwards as an additional challenge. Lisa's comments on the course and where the problem spots occurred are below.

Course notes from Lisa Potts:

"There wasn't ONE DOG who went into the wrong tunnel at 6 - NONE. I was shocked at that. A number of dogs knocked the double because the handlers were getting ready to turn for the weaves and a number of dogs ran by the double for that reason. As usual, a number of dogs messed up the weaves - no matter how nice a course is - LOTS of dogs miss the weaves. A FEW Dogs took the off course tunnel at 2. "Unfortunately", that does not count as one of the challenges in excellent because it is at obstacle 2."

Why does the tunnel/dogwalk discrimination not "count" as a challenge in this course?

According to Lisa: "When we design courses, they have to meet certain guidelines. They have to have all of the required obstacles, and have the required number of side switches and challenges (also known as off-course possibilities).

Novice has to have 2 side switches and 4 (or more) off-course options

Open has to have 3 side switches and 6 (or more) off course options

Excellent has to have 3 side switches and 9 (or more) off course options

In Excellent and Open, an off course option does not count if it is at the table or at obstacle2, for it is believed that dogs at that level will be 'under complete control' from those staticpositions.

Thanks Lisa, for sharing your course and judging insight with the agility education community.

Life outside the box

With Samurai, the day begins

with a primal scream.

The truth is, all dogs are not equal. Some come with a little bit extra, in a good way. Others have a little too much in an entirely different direction. Call it high spirited, reactive, whatever. It's just that little extra something that makes each day, let's say, exciting.

I remember when I was training my sniffy little terrier, Shaunie, in agility. How everyone told me how all I needed to do, was make myself more interesting than dirt. I don't think they understood just how difficult a task that really was, and how bad I felt to lose so many popularity contests with the ground.

And so it is, with Samurai, but in a different way. He's the colicky baby. The three year old kid that kicks and screams in the grocery store. The teenager who sneaks the parent's car keys and then wrecks the car.

That kind of dog.

You know, when you have a dog that not only steps outside the box, but bungee jumps 50-feet caterwauling over the side of it, you're just not going to have the same overall experience as say, taking on a dog of the more teacher's pet, ready-to-please type like Taylor.

No amount of training will change the job description that comes with that role, and rather than pretending it's just failure on someone's part, it's better to come to grips with, and embrace the difference.

It probably means taking things slower. Breaking lessons down into very simple pieces. Not taking things personally. And being prepared to start again.

It's not just a job, it's an adventure.

You're an army of one.

And just ahead, a whole new day awaits you. This time, get right in that box with him.

And jump.

Congratulations MACH Keegan!

MACH Shively's Small Firey One (Keegan)
This week we heard some exciting news from afar. Our Toy Fox Terrier pal, Keegan, and his devoted companion and handler, Cheryl, earned their MACH!

We are unbelievably proud of these two. This little guy was a spotted marvel from day one, but like all dogs, he had his challenges. As a little puppy guy, he broke his leg, characteristically taking a sharp turn at top speed at the bottom of a flight of stairs. He got over that, and onto a career that has just been magic.

Cheryl has diligently worked through training issues with Keegan, as described in her new blog, Dust Cloud Canines.

Keegan and Cheryl did a phenomenal job at the 2009 AKC Agility Invitational, and with the other great Toy Fox Terriers out there, they're showing the world what the Toy Fox world has known for awhile:

These little guys are the real deal. They're smart, they're extremely athletic, they're FAST and they can be great little workers. Everything a dog needs to give the 8-inch classes a run for their money.

Congratulations Cheryl, Keegan and Keegan's breeder, Dr. Marsha Shively, of Shively's Livelies Toy Fox Terriers.

Marsha deserves credit for being one of the leading voices in wanting to keep this new AKC breed what it was originally meant to be: A sound, useful, smart and versatile small working terrier.

From dishing out punishment to varmint invaders on American farmsteads, to assisting hunters as a tiny gun dog bringing down squirrel and rabbit for rural family tables, to being one of the most treasured family pets of early 20th century America.

These guys have done it all, and now, they're taking on the world of agility.

Our friend Keegan's exemplifies the best, and we desperately hope, the future direction for this all American breed.

Best wishes to Cheryl and Keegan as they take the next steps in their agility career, and to Keegan as he awaits the chance to sire his first litter with another landmark Toy Fox Terrier, Shively's Miss VIP. We're sure the result will be amazing!

Congratulations, Keegan and keep that little fire burning!

To meet more people interested in furthering Toy Fox training and breeding for performance sports, subscribe to TFTPerformance on yahoogroups.com.

2QQs, MXJP4 and MXP3 titles earned this weekend!

What a weekend! Taylor earned two double Qs, plus his Master's Jumpers Preferred 4 (MJP4) and Master's Excellent Preferred 3 (MXP3) at an agility trial this past weekend. It was his sixth double Q in a row, a first for Taylor and I. The double qualifiers also count as the 6th and 7th QQs toward the 20 needed for his PAX2. I am very grateful to be the lucky owner of this wonderful little dog.

From fallow fields, flowers bloom

Today, I find an angel.

You know, there are those times with a young dog where very little seems to happen. You plant the seeds, water them, watching every day for those little green sprigs of life to emerge.

And then, it doesn't happen.

So you plant again. Water. Re-water. Check the directions on the fertilizer package, gather up all your nerve and try again.

And then, one day, something magical happens.

I had a day like that tonight with Samurai. Actually, I hadn't gone into the situation even expecting a lot, if anything. I had really gone to set up a portion of a course of a certain judge for a friend who had entered a trial under this judge.

And so...Samurai, out of nowhere, just bloomed. It was just one of those "lawn mower man" moments when all those bits of information I'd been feeding seemed to start kicking in, making sense and running all sorts of wild and brilliant calculations.

It was like the field I had been carefully tending suddenly burst forth with flowers of every shape and color. And at every turn there were more, surprising and full of sunny hope.

Gosh, where does this come from. These sudden, inspired leaps of learning. When just days ago I thought maybe Sam might be one of those dogs who would have a career of fits and starts, who would run gorgeously in an empty room, but would never run to his potential outside it.

Well, we're a long way from knowing how this will all turn out. But today, this one day, we danced together in harmony.

And for this one day, it's enough.

Working dogs waiting.

It's a snow day here,

and the little dogs are bored.*

Single digit weather is hard on little dogs. They can't go outside today, and by and large, they don't want to. So we make plans to go work inside tomorrow.

I think we'll work on this exercise, posted on Agility Nerd.

After all, little dogs can always use more practice on the A frame.

I have to say, sometimes, it's nice to be stuck inside. Instead of focusing on weave entries, dog walk speed and teeter approaches, I whipped up a nice warm pot of chicken and dumplings. From scratch! Yum, that was good. Just like I remembered them, and I haven't made them in years.

Yes, the dogs were a little restless, but sometimes it's good to simply play with toys, just for the sake of playing. And to hug and cuddle just for the pure joy of it.

We'll get back to work tomorrow.

* The cartoon is from a card design from The New Yorker published by cartoonbank.com. A New Yorker Magazine Company and Valentine Marketing Limited.