Ice teeth issues

Ice has retained both of his upper deciduous canines ... http://www.animaldental.com.au/deciduous.html

We have been keeping a close eye on Ice's teeth as we almost missed the window to successfully get one of Sky's retained deciduous teeth removed.  I managed to get a same day appointment at Eastside Veterinary Dentistry yesterday afternoon, http://www.eastsideveterinarydentistry.com. My diagnosis was confirmed by Dr Matson who recommended extraction of the teeth ASAP.  Luckily there was a cancellation so Ice will be going back tomorrow (Thursday).

Trick 3: In my lap

I started training in my lap this morning.  We've been working really hard to ensure that Ice keeps all four feet on the ground and doesn't get into the habit of jumping up so it's taking some time to shape the behavior I'm looking for in this trick but we'll get there.

Trick 2: Walk with me

Over the weekend I've worked with Ice on the basic version of the trick called walk with me.  It didn't take Ice long to get the hang of passing through my legs and standing with his front feet on my feet as I walk along, just a couple of sessions :-)

I spent Monday reinforcing both the suitcase trick and walk with me.

Watch this space for a video of  walk with me ...

Suitcase Trick ... Day 2

Here is my second clicker training session with Ice, if you endure the whole 13 mins or so, you'll notice that my timing is a little off at times but he seems to get the idea and we accomplish the end goal despite distractions :-)

Teaching Ice Tricks ... Day 1

I've decided to teach Ice using the Silvia Trkman Tricks Videos ... today is day 1 and it is the suitcase trick from 'Tricks for a great Bond'.

We are both new to clicker training so I wasn't sure what to expect ;-)  Two suitcases later (the first was too small for him to lie down in comfortably ... he's growing so fast!) and a poop break and we achieved our goal :-)  I'm not sure how long it took ... it seemed like forever ... but we got through half a cup of kibble and an emergency stick of string cheese that came in handy as the jackpot when Ice put it it all together and got it right ... yay!!!

I'll get the video camera out when we practice again later today/tomorrow as it shouldn't take as long second time around.

AKC Nationals ... all over ... until next year!

Here is a link to all of the videos of Stephen & Sky's runs from the AKC 2014 NAC ... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvkUBWSVeiYIpaZntJkQh0VXoAXYUT6zu

Sky ran all three qualifying courses clean. Sky placed 20th in JWW, 18th in STD and 9th in the Hybrid round - there were 205 dogs entered in the 24" jump height. 

Overall Sky qualified for the finals as the THIRD quickest dog - Ganesha (another Standard Poodle) was fourth quickest.

From Stephen: "In the finals I directed Sky into the wrong tunnel entrance so we didn't record a qualifying score. Ganesha missed the Teeter contact so neither Poodles ran clean.
We are now going to take a few weeks off from agility and recharge our batteries."

I head out to the airport in a few hours to collect my boys and bring them home ... we've missed not having them here but we're very proud of what they accomplished while they were gone.

Thank you for your support, it was very much appreciated and helped them on their way to success!

Stephen & Sky in AKC 2014 National Agility Championship FINAL!!!

Stephen and Sky had another superb run this morning in Round 3 - Hybrid competition, placing 9th with a time of 29.899. This put their cumulative score into 3rd place guaranteeing them a place in the AKC 2014 National Agility Championship Final!

I am so proud of their achievement having traveled 3,000 miles and 3 times zones across the United States to enter into their first National competition. All the hard work in the gym (special thanks for Aaron) and the hours of training Sky have paid off big time :-)

Championship Final - Today (Sunday March 30th!)

AKC web site says the final will start at 4pm EDT

Running order for Round 5 - Finals all jump heights will be here

Reminder: Sky jumps 24"

Arm#: 241547

Live Streaming video will be here

Stephen reached his goal today ... he entered Time 2 Beat and the 3 Championship rounds and they ran clean in all four runs ... anything else is icing on he cake :-)

Good luck in the final Stephen and Sky Poodle!

-Penny

AKC Nationals Day 3 Results

Results Day 3 (Saturday 29th)

Stephen and Sky ran clean yet again today in Standard and were placed 18th in their 24 inch jump height which puts them 12th overall in the championship!

Course Map is here

Standard results can be seen here

Cumulative Score Report - Round 2

Partial video of their run can be found here (they are third to run, scroll over to around 5:20, you'll hear 'go' and see a glimpse of Sky's legs in top left-hand corner of screen as he goes over the first three jumps but the camera doesn't pick them up until Sky's on the dog walk)

Competition Day 4 (Sunday 30th)

Event: Hybrid (really hard Time to Beat Course ... no dog walk)

Jump Height: 24 inches

Ring: 3

First Run: 7:40am EDT

Running order: Sky is dog #35 so a very early start!

Check the Electronic Running Order for Armband 241547 in Ring 3 if you're up and want to watch 'live'. Here's a link to streaming site ... https://www.youtube.com/user/4LeggedFlix look for Hybrid 24" & 26" Class

Course map won't be available until tomorrow but will be on this page.

Good luck for tomorrow Stephen and Sky ... I've set my alarm for 4.45am!

AKC Nationals Day 2 Results

Results Day 2 (Friday 28th)

Stephen and Sky ran clean again today in Jumpers with Weaves and were placed 20th in their 24 inch jump height out of 255 dogs that ran the course!!

Course Map is here

Full results can be seen here

Video of their run can be found here (scroll over to around 3:51:50 to catch Stephen and Sky)

Competition Day 3 (Saturday 29th)

Event: Standard

Jump Height: 24 inches

Ring: 4

Walk Course: 7:30am

First Run: 8:10am EDT

Running order: Sky is 163rd dog to run (Std takes longer to run than T2B or JWW so Stephen estimated that they'll probably run about the same time as today ... 8.30am ish PDT)

Check the Electronic Running Order for Armband 241547 in Ring 4 if you want to watch 'live', here's a link to the streaming site https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS0aNbM7tgA

Course map won't be available until tomorrow but will be on this page.

Now all they have to do is run clean (don't forget to hit the yellow Sky!)

AKC Nationals Day 1 Results

Results Day 1 (Thursday 27th)

Stephen and Sky excelled themselves in the Time 2 Beat competition today and were placed 8th in their 24 inch jump height out of 166 dogs that ran the course!!

Course Map is here

Full results can be seen here

Video of their run can be found here (scroll over to 2:55:00 or a little before to catch Stephen and Sky, the kick-ass Malinois that won the class is at 2:45:00 or just after ... blink and you'll miss it!)

Competition Day 2 (Friday 28th)

Event: Jumpers with Weaves

Jump Height: 24 inches

Ring: 5

Start time: 8:10am EDT (26" dogs run first then 24")

Running order: Sky is 231st dog to run

Check the Electronic Running Order for Armband 241547 in Ring 5 if you want to watch 'live', here's a link to the streaming site https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paswn2hsqfU

Course map won't be available until tomorrow but will be on this page.

Hope I didn't miss anything ... Good Luck Stephen & Sky! 

AKC 2014 National Agility Championship

Stephen and Sky are in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to compete in the AKC 2014 National Agility Championship. 


The event is being held over 4 days ... Thursday 27th - Sunday 30th March and there will be live streaming video!  However, it's going to be difficult to figure out when to 'tune in' to catch a glimpse of 'team Sky', especially as their fan base covers many time zones ;-)


Stephen has given me some estimates for the first day of competition, please note that all days/times are EDT (Eastern Daylight Time)


Day:               Thursday 27th
Event:            Time 2 Beat Challengers "Bye" Round
Jump height:  24 inches
Walk Course: 12 noon EDT
Sky Run:        approx 3pm EDT (he is 160 of about 250 dogs to run at 24 inch height)

Here is a link to the info about the live streaming ...http://images.akc.org/pdf/events/agility/national_agility_championship/2014/Livestream.pdf


Enjoy!