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Saturday, November 27, 2010

Taylor at Vetta




Taylor lays down the Qs

Sorting through some of my stacks this holiday weekend, I came across a disk of photos of Taylor taken at an agility trial this past summer. Taken in sequence, they seemed to make a nice, little slide show, so I decided to do just that.

Using the slideshow feature in iPhoto, I was able to put this together in just a few minutes. It's taken longer to upload it to the website.

Enjoy!

Monday, November 8, 2010

OK Go. Ok, Why?



OK Go - White Knuckles. Sharp, trained canines steal the show.

Ok, so OK GO has been a favorite band of mine. Not just for their peppy, perky music, but also for their highly creative videos. Though they verge on being a little "art student class project-y", they are always just sincerely quirky enough to not appear contrived.

That's how I usually think of them. But this one completely won me over because it starts, you guessed it, DOGS!

This video has been around for awhile, so forgive me if you're already bored and have moved on. I just rediscovered it on You Tube the other day and it nicely linked up with another topic that landed in my email box today.

It has to do with a show that will air tomorrow night (Tues., Nov. 9) on PBS on Nova.

It's called Dogs Decoded.

I have not seen the show, but I did browse through the website and it delves into some of those issues that dog people find endlessly fascinating: Just how did dogs come to be so successful in integrating themselves into human relationships? How are they able to understand us so well? How has one species become so "plastic" in their response to human selective breeding? How smart are they exactly?

Back to the video above, it's easy for anyone who trains dogs to break this well choreographed effort into a series of shaped behaviors. I absolutely love how the "tucked sit" heeling exercise is woven in among the more athletic jumps and spins, and how all of the dogs take their video star roles so seriously.

It reminds me of that aspect of dogs that loves it when they have a job -- whether they are a three-pound Chihuahua, or a 90-pound Rott.

There's something truly beautiful about the earnestness of a working dog, the way their very genetic makeup seems to find some neural harmony working in seamless tandem with a human partner.

It's something in the DNA that has origins extending back more than 100,000 years ago. Most surprisingly, it's still evolving. I've heard somewhere that due to the emphasis of modern training that puts the emphasis on the dog's ability to carry out complex tasks, dogs are getting smarter.

Stack up the training intelligence of the recently developed Border Collie, for example, against more instinctive working, ancient hunting breeds, such as sight and scent hounds.

How will the developing influence of complex, canine performance sports affect the evolving intelligence of dogs?

OK? Go.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Toy Fox Terrier Blink at Crystal Lake, Sept. 2010, Excellent Standard



Life in the 8" fast lane.

We took this video of one of our favorite agility dogs, Blink. He is so fun to watch and my husband just adores him.

He's as smart as he is fast, as you can see by his quick on course responses in this video. Blink won the 8" class at the 2010 AKC National Agility Championships and we wish them much success.


Thursday, November 4, 2010

Thanks seminar participants!

New! Help your dog master weaves and contacts at the Dana Pike Contacts and Weaves half day seminars, Oct. 29, 2011 at Town and Country Kennel Club in Bloomington, Illinois. Private lessons on Oct. 30. Get the details here. Download registrations forms at www.tckc.org.

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Dana Pike seminar this past weekend.

We learned quite a bit and also got to see watch a lot of nice teams perform.

I wish you all much success in continuing to build your agility foundation.

I would especially like to thank Dana Pike and her able assistants, Tangle and Swindle, for taking the time to present to our group.

We hope to bring Dana back for specialized training sessions and privates in the future.

We also are in the process of rolling out the Stuart Mah seminar, which will be held at TCKC next May.

Please check tckc.org and click on Events for announcements, form downloads and updates.

In the meantime, work those one jump drills, polish those start lines and run happy. Thanks for coming!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Halloween Costume Contest at Dana Pike Seminar

Sunny portrays a roadhouse roadkill rockstar.

New! Help your dog master weaves and contacts at the Dana Pike Contacts and Weaves half day seminars, Oct. 29, 2011 at Town and Country Kennel Club in Bloomington, Illinois. Private lessons on Oct. 30. Get the details here. Download registrations forms at www.tckc.org. And yes, we will be bringing back the Halloween costume contest! Bring your cute doggie disguises!

A featured attraction during both days of the Dana Pike seminar was a Halloween costume contest starring the working dogs.

Winner of the Novice Open seminar was Gauge, a Gordon Setter spooked out in a bat bewinged T-shirt handsomely accented with a giant, hairy tarantula spider.

Two winners were selected by the Excellent seminar costume judges. Copper the Malinois paid homage to his all time favorite singing group, the Village People, in a policeman's uniform complete with handcuffs.

Abby the Eskiland played a sheepdog in sheep's clothing. Watch out wolves!

The contest made for a fun break in a learning intensive day.