January 2011- A Month in Review

Did you notice the title of each blog entry is a line from this song? I'm hoping to make a video each month this year and to do the same thing with blog entry titles. We'll see how it goes.

Accomplishments this month!

Lilly
-5/5 Q's at a CPE trial
-Got her CL2-S (which means she also finished Level 2)

Knight
-Entered in his first official agility event (AKC FAST)
-Got his first NF (Novice FAST) leg

Hillary
-Completed Psychology Course
-Switched to Heavier Limbs (archery)
-Shot my first 30 end (three 10s, perfect end)
-Got a personal best, 450, at a shoot.

January 2011
What a great way to start the new year! I put together a rough schedule for what I'd like to do trial/show wise for the next 6 months. It would be absolutely amazing if I could get to all of them. We'll see how it works out though haha.

I've decided that this year I'm going to try a few TDAA trials with Knight. Both paps will be running in AKC, but Lilly will do an occasional CPE trial while Knight does the occasional TDAA. I think it sounds like a pretty good idea, then I can have a trial here and there where I really get to focus on one dog instead of juggling the two of them.

Are They Wondering What We Might Be?

Q/1st in his Novice FAST debut

Wow... Knight. Blew. My. Mind! Dannggg boy! He was insanely awesome! I am so, so, so proud of him. I can't believe I get to have such a wonderful dog in my life :)

I'm still on such an emotional high. I can't wait to get back out there trialing some more with him! WAY TO GO LITTLE MAN!

What Do They Know About Us?

Diane and Rush, Diana, Cassis with Echo, Myself with Knight, and Abby with Leap

Today was amazing. Last year, I went to the pet expo thinking I was the only agility "junior" in the area and Knight was just 3 months old. This year, Knight is 15 months old, going to do his first run tomorrow, and I got to spend the day with four amazing girls and their dogs. I can't wait to meet up with them all again.

Knight had absolutely no problem with the atmosphere of the Pet Expo. He acted like a seasoned Rock Star going back out onto the stage. We did a practice CGC test and he heeled beautifully, even in the presence of other dogs, and kept up that crazy focus that he always has. 

I spent a good couple hours with Letty and my papillon "family" back in the agility area today too. Can't wait to go back again tomorrow! Too tired to be too nervous about Knight's debut right now haha. Gotta head out early to get him measured in the morning. We'll see how it goes :)

No Where To Turn

 Thankfully, Archery was cancelled today. That made my life so much easier because a) I'm a wimp and my shoulders hurt after shoveling the foot and a half of snow we have from the sidewalk and driveway and b) that means I could stay for the full agility class and still get to Abby's house at a reasonable hour.

 My sister agreed to come to class and get some video for me. With a Dresden File book in hand and a promise of a Wawa hoagie afterwards she was very happy to help.



A handler error here and there, but both of the paps did great. After we packed up, I dropped off my sister and Lilly and set out on my voyage.

I love traveling with Knight. He'll just curl up in his bed in the passenger seat and sleep. He's my quiet little co-pilot.

Around 9:00 we finally pulled into Abby's driveway. Knight got to play with both Leap and Levi before retiring to his crate for the night. Tomorrow we're going to spend the day at the pet expo with many agility buddies, and we get to see Arrow do a few runs :) Depending on how well Knight takes to the enviornment I'll tweak my game plan for his FAST debut.

Leap watching Knight from inside her crate

No Bridge To Burn

So much snow...

Whip It At Your Feet

Letty's (Knight's breeder) Papillons have been kicking some major butt in the conformation ring. Last Thursday Ransom got WD and BOW (Winners dog and Best of Winners) while Gucci, Knight's sister, got WB and BOS (Winners Bitch and Best Oposite Sex). On Sunday Gucci when BOB over 4 specials, and on Sunday Prince got BOW.

I'm so excited for her :D It's just getting me more and more excited to spend a day with her whole pap gang in Feb.

Gonna Put It Down

 
We are now closing in on Knight's FAST Debut, I think now it's close enough to talk about how I'd like it to go :)

With FAST we have an advantage Lilly and I didn't have in standard, and it's that you get to do pretty much whatever you want to. The key to a succesful debut is a realistic goal, and mine is simple. Just like with Miss Lilly, I'd like to go into that ring looking like a team, have him take at least three obsticals, not pee on anything, and have it look like he's having having at least a little bit of fun xD.

I'm also going on Saturday to watch, so I can see how he takes to the trial site and alter my goals accordingly. The main purpose of this trial is to see what we need to work on, then we'll have all of Feb to smooth out any bumps, and hit the Dream Park rings in style in March.

And You Think You're Better

"It isn't enough to stand up and fight darkness. You've got to stand apart from it, too. You got to be different from it." -Harry Dresden (Jim Butcher, Fool Moon)

You wish you had my awesome PJs

Mailed off our March 12-13th AKC Agility trial, hopefully running both Lil and Knight in all three clases. It opens tomorrow, so hopefully we'll be fine with getting in. There are some crazy dog nerds in my trialing area so entries usually fill pretty fast.

This is just another pressing reminder of my current lack of a job. I'd like to do 2 AKC trials a month during the busy trial months, but trialing both dogs is making that a little more difficult. So trialing this spring might be a bit less than what I'd hoped, but I'll get a job by the start of the summer so we can hit the fall trial season in style haha.

When You Fake a Smile

"Paranoid? Probably. But just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face."  -Harry Dresden (Jim Butcher, Storm Front)

Crazy busy day. Woke up at 7 and rushed around like a mad women to get to the archery shoot on time. This was my first time doing an official shoot at a place that wasn't my home club so I was a little nervous going in. Thank goodness for teammates,  I would of been so lost without them.

I ended up shooting a personal best. Out of a possible 600 points I shot a 450. (compare to my fist shoot of 413, and my second of 415) I also shot my first 30 end! Granted the caller was a little generous with that last 10 I was thrilled :)

It's funny really, on Fridays I go from a Novice agility class, where I am the youngest but most experienced handler in the class, to archery, where I am the oldest teammate but the most inexperienced.

I'm slowly starting to find balance in these two worlds. I still have oh so much to learn in both agility and archery but they've both become a big part of my life. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Took A Chance On Me

Crazy, Crazy papillons :)

1 Week until Knight's FAST debut
2 and a half weeks until the Silvia Seminar

Kick it Up and Down

"Hope is a force of nature. Don't let anyone tell you different." -Harry Dresden (Jim Butcher, Changes)

Fridays are agility class days for the HeavensGlory Team. I went with the Agility then archery schedule again this week, remember to keep Lilly out of the crate for the car ride, and it was perfect. Lil was amazing. During some pinwheel jump drills I got some nice distance in along with a few beautiful rear crosses. Sadly no video, I still don't know any of my classmates, I barely know the instructor haha.

Knight was really good too :) He's mastered 10 poles, but at 11 he'd look up to me for reassurance and I'd give the "go on" cue a second too late so he'd miss just that one pole. Not his fault, I need to get better at reading his "keep going?" body language. I stuck with front crosses on the jump drills for him. He had some funky take-offs the first run, then I took off his harness and he seemed to pull himself together a bit more.

His table is absolutely adorable xD He just goes bouncing up onto it and whips around to face me. Both had beautiful A-frames and see-saws during both runs. I couldn't be more proud of my daring duo.

I Could Make it Better

I Could Change The World

What? ANOTHER Couch picture? I know... It's because I was doing schoolwork all morning (with fetch inbetween classes of course) then went to see one of my non-dog nerd friends. She's still pretty cool though because she's a horse nerd. ...Riv is kind of like a giant puppy dog.....

..Only much harder to walk.  This spring I'm going to start going to the arena with Tori to get used to riding "Sundance" so we can hopefully go on trail rides together. She's got her work cut out for her with this big boy though haha.

No Other Way To Be

Today is January 18th, exactly one year ago I had arrived at Letty's house for the first time and was greeted by two tiny balls of fluff. Within seconds I knew that I would be taking Knight home. As soon as I opened the door he did that squiggly little dance that papillons do and happily hopped around my feet before rushing over to prove his friendliness to my mom.

I was mesmorized by his intense focus even as a 3 month old puppy. He'd go and play with Skeeter and his brother, but as soon as I called his name and wiggled my fingers on the ground he'd come rushing over. He was the perfect opposite of Lilly, like two sides of the same coin. While Lilly will gladly accept belly rubs and petting, she very much prefers to keep her feet on the ground. Knight came bounding up into my arms, excited to be held in any way as long as he was as close to my face as possible.

The thing that really caught my eye about Knight was the way he looked at me. I've never had a dog look at me, and I mean really look at me, in that way before. Lilly and I will make eye contact, but it's never for a very long period of time. Just a quick flash of understanding before she continues to watch the way I move. Knight was just so intent to meet my gaze whenever he could. Such a bright and intelligent stare that I just couldn't ignore. He was fasinated with everything I did, filled with such curiousity. He'd be that kid in kindergarden that was always asking, "but why?". Why can't I go into the Fridge? That's were all the yummy stuff is! "Why are you making your sandwhich way up there? I can't see!" "Why don't you just let me steal that food out of your mouth?"

In the conformation world, a common frase is "There's no such thing as a perfect dog" and while that may be true for structure, it's certainly not true as a whole. Knight is perfect for me. Just like Lilly is, they're my kind of perfection. Lilly was exactly what I needed to get into the sport of dog agility. She introduced me to shaping, taught me how to harness drive, how to build confidence from the ground up, how "starting all over" isn't really a bad thing, and that sometimes things get worse before they get better.

Knight picks up right were Lilly left off. He's ready to be shaped, he's got the drive, I just need to direct it, He bring so much enthusiasim with everything he does. Both Lilly and Knight continue to teach me new things every day, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Exactly one year ago I fell asleep with my hand dangling off my bed so I could reach into a crate and assure my self the day had indeed happened. Tonight, I'll go to bed with my little man curled up tight against me under the covers, assuring me this past year hasn't been a dream.

We Are the Dream

3/3 Qs today means 5/5 Qs for the past two days, What an amazing trial "weekend" it's been. Words can't describe how good our runs felt. They might not of been the fastest, or the prettiest, but we had that deep feeling of connectedness.  I barely gave any verbal cues at all during our Colors and Snooker runs, I didn't need to. We've grown so much as a team over the past year, Thank you Lilly for reminding me why I get up at 5 to spend the morning in a freezing cold barn :)

Just You And Me

I love this trial site, After 4/4 NQs at Dream Park last year we came and got most of our Qs here at Barto. This year she started off with 2/2 Way to go Lilly-girl! Knight stayed home, it was way too cold for the little man.

Turn It Upside Down

Knight's sister, Gucci, won B.O.B over two specials today :) Does he come from an awesome litter or what?

Tomorrow is the day! CPE trial here we come :D

We Could Make It Better

Lazy morning, crazy afternoon for the HeavensGlory Paps. Fridays are usually pretty crazy, I have X-team practice (archery) from 6:00-8:00 before I rush to agility from 8:30-10:00 ending with me getting home at 11. Today I decided to switch up the crazy a bit and try the new 4:30 Novice Agility class.

At 3:40 I loaded up the van, tossed my bow into the middle seats (I had left the string and limbs on because I'm getting used to the heavier weight) and decided to put the paps in the back in their crates. Knight has always been great in his crate in the van. He'll cry for a few minutes, realize I'm actually going to keep him in there, then curl up and sleep. Lilly is a different story. She'll stop crying for a while but she does not fall asleep and just stresses herself out...

So when we got to class she didn't feel like running agility too much. After a couple tries to motivate her I realized my mistake and just let her relax and do some heeling and tricks. Knight on the other hand was really great!

He listened very well, was blazing fast, and did some beautiful rear crosses. I'm getting excited for his first try at AKC Jumpers in March :) Overall a good day, I learned the importance of not crating Lilly in the car on the way to agility, and had a lot of fun running my little man!

With a Crash and Burn

So... Bad news, The CPE trial is filled for Saturday. So no DOS entries are available for Sat. The good news is, it's a three day trial, and I have off school on Monday so I can still go two days. That means we only have one shot to get our Snooker Q though, level 2 snooker usually isn't too hard. I just need to make sure I don't mess Lil up! Then we'll be all set for Nats.

I took some time today to go hunting on the internet for pictures of dogs from Knight's pedigree. It's been really interesting, I only wish I could find more of the dogs that are in it. I think I'm going to poke around a bit more, then maybe e-mail some breeders and see if they have any pictures laying around. I'd love to have at least to his great-grandsire and dam filled in.

This is what I have so far:

That's an older picture of Attie (his dam) and an older picture of Knight too. So I apologize for that. I don't have any more current stacked pictures of either of them. It's been pretty fun to make :D

I just got a reply from Letty (Knight's breeder) giving me the okay to stay at her place when I go down to Richmond for the Silvia Seminar! SO excited. Getting to spend a day before with the Patuxent Papillons before heading off to spend a day learning more about dogs. Life is good!

To The Open Stream

So, not sure if I mentioned it yet but, I'm hoping to jump back in to the AKC conformation ring with Knight starting in June. To get us back into the swing of the show ring I think I'm going to sign Knight up for the UKC.

The UKC does not allow professionals to handle dogs that aren't their own,  in general they have a much more beginner friendly way to get a Ch on a dog. I know Knight's not perfect, but I think he's a pretty good looking papillon. At the end of April they have 4 conf shows over the span of two days. That will give us plenty of time to decide if going back into the AKC conf ring is something I really want to do, and something Knight would enjoy.

I still need to mail out my archery form for the end of the month... Should probably do that tonight or my coach will be one very unhappy woman haha. I'm itching for this weekend's CPE trial to get here, Lil's ready to do some agility after all this snow too :)

From the Wrong to the Right Light

 Last night I got the e-mail confirmation for Knight's first agility run :) I had a mental war with myself for weeks trying to decide what I wanted to do. When it came down to 2 weeks before closing I just circled Novice B FAST and mailed it out.

 I just entered him for Sunday FAST and miss Lils is staying home. The Novice FAST 8" class is going to be dominated by papillons haha. Arrow, Knight's brother, is running, and Boogie, one of Letty's paps is running too. I'm half nervous, half excited haha.

 The dead-line for CPE Nationals is quickly approaching, Lilly just needs a Snooker Q and one Q in any class. This weekend there's a CPE trial at Flexi so I'm going to run over there Saturday for a DOS entry. I love tossing in a CPE between AKCs every now and then. CPE has such a laid back atmosphere, Lilly really picks up on that and just goes crazy xD Crazy in a good way haha, she goes tearing around the course. Last one I went to... was way back in August. It's been too long!

I also tried Jumping Knight at 12" today, just to see how he'd like it. The first clip is of Lilly so you can compare. Just for fun :)

On A Silver Platter

Ready to go Home?

Guess who's officially enrolled in Silvia Trkman's "Foundation for Excellence" workshop! Knight is!!! Finally got ahold of them today to confirm that I had a spot before mailing out the check. Last night I tried to call her but she couldn't hear me at all on the phone. Today she called me and it worked just fine.  I'm so excited, I can't believe this is actually going to happen :D

Here's a brief discription of the workshop: "Covers all foundational pieces that Silvia teaches in agility including handling, jumping, contacts and weaves poles. Appropriate for novice level
dogs or handlers looking to apply Silvia’s methods to their training program. Dogs should be able to do all obstacles."

It will be indoors, and from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. It sounds like there will be a lot of BCs there, I'm hoping some fellow pap owners go haha but we'll see. Please pray that Knight behaves while we're there.... I don't know if I mentioned it on blog, but he's gotten a tad.... snarly? with other dogs. Mostly when I'm holding him though, once his feet hit the ground it quiets down a good amount. Agility people are usually pretty good with respecting other handlers so I'm just going to turn down any requests for "doggy hellos". I'd really hate to get kicked out because my 5 lb dog is snapping at 30+ lb dogs.

The workshop is Tuesday, February 8th. That gives me a month to work out where I'm going to stay... Knight's breeder's house is the closest, she's just about 2 hours away from Richmond so I'll ask her first. I also have some friends in Baltimore that I'm sure would take me for a night or two so I should be pretty good on that front.

I'm also on the list for a private, they're taking place on February 13th. I'm waiting for more details on that. If I get in I'll be bringing Lilly along aswell :)

In non-dog news, I worked out the classes I hope to take to finish up the rest of my credits. Here we go:
-Intro to Screenwriting (.5)
-Intro to Short Stories (.5)
-Intro to College writing (.5)
-Sociology (.5)
-Introduction to law (.5)
-Criminal and consumer law (.5)
-Buisness Math (1)
-Cinematic Review (.5)
-Latin 2 (1)
-Emerging Genetics (.25)
-Forensics (.25)
-Marketing/Advertising (.5)
-Money Management (.5)
-Intro to computer programing (1)
-Premiere 1 (1)

Plus the classes I'm currently enrolled in. When I write it all out like that it seems like a really odd selection of classes... It breaks down to: English credits, Social Studies, Math, Fine Arts, Electives. I'll have to double check with my IS. I might of forgotten some credits I already have... but better to overplan now then add more later. In May I'll be done all 3 of the science credits.

I have lots of writing classes because my older sister was constantly writing papers for college.... I hate writing papers D: So might as well get over my hatred now and learn to write something half-way decent.

I'm also going to start calling local boarding kennels toward the end of Feb and see if anyone is hiring. I haven't told my parents about my KPA plans so I need to have enough set aside for it if they decide they don't want to pay for it. They're paying for my college, the least I can do is pay for furthering my canine education. There's also a Suzanne Clothier CARAT (Clothier Animal Response Assesment Tool) seminar coming up in November 2011 that I'd like to go to. Suzanne is big on Relationship Centered Training, I've read a few of her articles and she seems very interesting. So I'd like to set aside some money for that too.

With so much to do its easy to forget to stop and enjoy the little things in life. Lil kindly reminded me I was spending way too much time working, so I drove the paps over to the park for a nice long walk. There's nothing more enjoyable on a cold day in January than watching my paps chasing each other around in the snow :)

We Could Rule The World

Knight's Brother Charlie came over today. Last time he was here was way back in July. It's fun to see the two of them back together again :)

It's really interesting how different the two of them grew up to be. Not just in size, but in their feelings toward strangers, their feelings towards new places, and even their volume levels. Knight is everybody's friend. Charlie will dance just out of your reach until you ignore him, then he'll come in for the tongue attack. Knight feels like the world is his castle and any food is food worth eating. Charlie carefully considers even the most tasty food and will most likely spit it back out. Knight is the silence one..... Charlie..... is not hahaha.

But they're also similar in many ways. They both shower you in kisses, both get food in their "beard" whenever they eat, and they're both very handsome little men :) I'm trying to talk Charlie's owner into coming down to the pet expo one day to meet Arrow, the other brother in the litter. I think it'd be fun to have a little family meet up :D

We're Running With Blood On Our Knees

Another great day in the year of 2011! I took the paps down to MD today to hang out with Abby and her two Border collies. Diana wasn't feeling up to coming, so it was just us two with our borders and butterflies. The Borders and Paps both took turns out in the agility yard. All the dogs had a BLAST! 

Now I'm dead tired, Dad said yes to the Silvia Trkman Workshop, so I'm going to call them tomorrow morning and hopefully mail out the check :)

Leap (smooth) and Skye

Showing off the double weave at a non-home setting

Abby took this picture of my handsome little man :)

We Are Free

As of today, I know what I want to do with my immediate future. Immediate as in these next two years of 2011-2012. All throughout high school I've come up with various plans, but this one hit me full force. Like getting hit by a train going full speed. The lightbulb went off, "Woah, That's exactly what I want to do!".

By the end of 2011, I want to have enough credits to graduate high school. ("normal" date for graduation would be May 2012) That means kicking butt with schoolwork for the rest of the winter, spring, and all through the summer.

Fall 2011 will consist of finishing up my last credits and helping out at the local animal shelter once I turn 18. So I can attend the Karen Pryor Academy during their first 2012 session.  I'd have about 6-8 months to finish the course before going to college where I'll study Psychology and Animal Science.

With a sprinkle of different behavioral and training seminars in there. All the while, working with Miss Lils and Sir Knight in various dog sports (with the main focus on agility). I'd like both dogs to have a Ch of some sort before even thinking about getting my next dog. I think it's important for a trainer to prove that they can excel in the area they're instructing and that's what I plan to do.

Of course I need to find some way to fund this brilliant plan lol. Plan, not dream. This is what I want to do. Helping people understand how to work with their canine partners, and opening their eyes to all the possibilities a simple "dog" can teach them.

Update on the Silvia Trkman seminar, the privates are only open to people who are doing workshops with a dog earlier in the week. I'll be talking to my dad tonight to see if I can go to the "Foundation for Excellence" workshopt with Knight and get on the list for a private lesson. All in all it will be cheaper than the two trials I was hoping to attend, so I don't see why he'd so no to trading in the trials for a seminar... We'll see how it goes.

We're Not Cool

So, there is a Silvia Trkman seminar coming up in February down in VA that I'd really like to go to. A private lesson would be my first choice, but she also has a weeks worth of work shops so hopefully I'll get down there for something :)

In other news, we're going to MD this weekend to hang out with Diana and Kallie (ACD), and Abby with Skye and Leap (BCs). Fingers crossed for no snow.

Happy 7th Birthday Lilly-girl!

I wanted Lil to have a seperate post for her birthday so here we go!

Lil didn't have the greatest start to life, She was part of an "oops" litter of 6 papillon puppies and one of the last ones to find a home. My mom found the ad in the newspaper and decided to make the drive out to "look" at the puppies. Part of her had to know she wasn't leaving there without one. A dog-crazy 10 year old craving a puppy only has so much self control.

Naturally my sister and I picked different puppies. She wanted the dark faced sable boy, I wanted the girl with a heart on her head. After a few shed tears mom sided with me. My mom was less than thrilled about it, she had dreamed of a beautiful long haired dog that could easily fit in her purse. What we got was a leggy, hairless papillon that nobody else seemed to want.

Lilly is far from perfect, but she was exactly what we as a family, and what I as a "trainer", needed. She was easily house trained, easy to train, and very relaxed, even as a puppy. She introduced me to clicker training and fufilled my dream of getting into dog agility.

Through her I learned patience, how to build up confidence until it outweighed fear, to work for what I wanted, and to keep working towards my dreams no matter how far away they may feel.

Lilly, faithful guardian of sleeping in, believer in all things meat, master of fear over see-saw, and best friend for all these years. I'm looking forward to many more happy years, words can't express how important having you in my life has been. Can't wait to see what our future holds.

We're Not Looking For Where We Belong

We Are Strong

Today we were blessed with another day of amazing weather so I finally got around to raising the see-saw back up and worked on that with the paps. I LOVE how Knight's see-saw is coming along. Lil was naughty with waiting today haha, I didn't remind her to wait though so shame on me. Both worked just for the magical tail again today :)

We Are Young

Yeah! Three days into the new year and I've mananged to keep up with the 365 photo challenge haha.  I took out the magical racoon tail and did some running A-frame work with both paps. Unfortunely I did not get any video footage, my video camera was in the van which was not at the house. If the weather stays nice tomorrow then I'll try to get some clips then.

Lilly jumped right back into the swing of the RCs on the A-frame and tugged like a beast today. She's got a nice jump over the apex of the A-frame without too much air. It's nice and natural for her. I did an A-frame to dog walk loop with Knight (switch rewards from dw to af each time) and he's looking really great too. I LOVE his striding on the dog walk. I'll have to get some video of that tomorrow too.

I'm also thinking of ordering Susan Salo's Puppy jumping video and some jump bumps. I've never done any kind of formal jump form training so I think it'd be interesting to go over it with both of the paps. It will have to wait until the spring probably, but still it's something to look forward to.