Return to Agility

Breeze has been out of agility since mid May with an injured toe. She went to chase a squirrel back up its tree and came back in with no lameness. Several hours later when I looked at her left inside toe I noticed it was swollen, but no lameness. Not thinking anything of the matter I rested her and the swelling lessened although didn't go totally away. I took her back to agility the following week and the toe swelled again to its original size. No lameness or evidence from her that her toe was injured but I didn't want to risk further injuries and a shortened performance career. So rest again for several weeks. Well after three weeks she escaped and ran the back yard. Once again the toe swelled so she was on exercise restriction for six weeks and then gradual increase in exercise. It was not a fun three and a half months but she entered her first agility trial Labor day weekend.

She had a blast and her toe was nonswollen. We were rusty understanding each other. We went from no Qs the first day to QQ the last day of the trial.

Agility here we come!!!!

Breeze's Obedience Debut

I had planned on Lompoc-the Greyhound National being Breeze's debut in obedience as well as Rally Advanced. An injured toe in May took us out of agility for some time as well as obedience. Greyhounds and toes are a deadly combination. However by the end of June the toe seemed to have settled down and as long as she was in a tape wrap, I able to start training again.

We missed all the Rally classes. There are many new signs since I last did Rally Advanced and I didn't know them all although I thought I did.

The rings were beyond awful. Someone, not an obedience person, thought it would be better for the sighthounds to put bark chips over the bare ground. The obedience ring was so full of chips the ring was moved next door and the original obedience ring became the Rally ring. Many dogs would not sit on the bark and would go around the patches during exercises. Breeze did a fair job despite me performing two signs incorrectly. Rally was first and as I got out of the ring they were calling us for obedience.



The obedience ring was slightly better although still distracting. The obedience judge kindly tried to avoid as many of the bark patches as possible during her heeling. I didn't feel like I had Breeze's full attention in the ring. Going from Rally where you can talk to a dog between and during exercises to obedience where no talking is allowed during the exercise was hard. Maybe a more experienced dog could have handled it. At one point during the off lead heeling Breeze seemed to give up and needed a second  command. She came back and finished well, earned her first CD leg and High In Trial but we still need work.

Introducing CH Aragon Golden Canyon, JC, RN, RL1 by Janet Stringer

Goose has been doing Rally obedience since last Sept.  He (and I) needed an activity for just the 2 of us and we had found a rally class quite close to our house.  Goose finished his Novice title in AKC last fall and continued to compete in different locations at the novice level (on leash).  He now has 5 novice legs in AKC.  He has also participated in World Cynosport Rally competitions, which are under the auspices of USDAA (US Dog Agility Assn).  On Aug 2, he finished his Level 1 title (again on leash) with a score of 200 

 out of 210.  It was his best run to date!  Now on to the off-leash courses………

Becca (Ch Aragon Morning Mist RA CD) Earns Her 1st Leg in Graduate Novice!!! by Donna Arcaro

After Becca earned her CD title, I(Donna) wanted to continue on with her obedience career.  The Graduate Novice class is a nice transition between the CD and CDX classes.  Becca had come close to getting a qualifying score when previously entered in the Graduate Novice class, but unfortunately she would fail one exercise—often a difference one each time. 

 Happily at the Greyhound Club of America Obedience Trial in Lompoc last weekend she got a qualifying score!!!  The ring condition was a challenge because it had wood chips filling up the many, many holes.  The judge was attempting to have Becca avoid these wood chip areas for the drop on recall exercise and gave me the drop command when Becca had almost reached her—since she was so close to her handler, often a dog will think it’s a regular recall and not “drop” when asked to do so.  But Becca prevailed--she especially enjoyed the two jumping exercises. 

Breeze Obedience Practice for her CD

Breeze and I are trying to get ready for her obedience debut at the 2014 Greyhound National Specialty in Lompoc Ca. Due to her injured and then twice reinjured toe, agility and obedience have been on hold for months. Between her injury and my depression over losing Lyric we have barely trained. The times we have trained have not gone well. Normally she has a strong work ethic, loves the time doing things together and rewards.

 Once we went back to training she has had a short attention, quiet and low energy. I actually wondered if greyhounds can get depressed without running.
Recently she has been allowed to run, tug and play in a foot bandage and her focus and energy seems to be coming back. Knock on wood her foot looks great and her attitude is excellent again.
However to have our first run through days before a show, minimal training distractions and no matchs under our belt is more than I have ever asked from any of my dogs.

Her first run through was excellent... now if we can pull it off after traveling out of town, staying at a hotel, and performing in a different park....