DABAD: Life Outside of the Agility Ring is Just as Fun

Today is another Dog Agility Blog Action Day! I realize I haven't been the best at keeping this blog up to date lately, but no worries--I fully intend to catch you up on the Stump Kids' adventures, including Dally's PACH2 in August. For now, we concentrate on what the Stump Kids do when they're not doing agility.

For one, Dally believes that it's just as important to sleep well as it is to train well. You see, sleeping helps the body rebuild muscles, and re-build your energy stores.

Catch some ZZzzs to help catch that QQ!

For LaMesa, however, she feels it's best to keep the training going, going, GOING. LaMesa might be a bit of an overachiever when it comes to fitness. She doesn't know when to stop, or really how to just lay and relax like Dally (hmmm...sounds a lot like me). She'll play tennie until she's about to collapse from heat and being out of breath. She'll chase a lure like it's nobody's business and give it a couple good shakes just to make sure she caught it.

Even while observing, LaMesa practices everything, while Dally just...observes.

Any more, I don't do a whole lot of agility training on the girls. We'll work on different aspects in the backyard--backside jumps, weave entrances, weaves with distractions, two-jump combos, etc. Then we'll go to a rarely offered class or work session and work whole courses, which is mostly working on me and what I need to improve on. But a lot of what we do is crosstraining and keeping in condition.

The Stump Kids go on lots of walks...at least one a day, and at least one mile (the heat lately has not been kind to Dally, so we don't get to go very far when it's too hot). We'll walk around the neighborhood or local parks, up and down hills, maybe with some jogging here and there. but definitely lots of walks.

We'll go to different places and just run through the grass--this helps work their backs and hind legs, plus allows them to just run and sniff the air that's different than what's around their house.

We've done some lure coursing (LaMesa more than Dally), which is a fun sport. I've done very little herding, and while Dally wasn't a fan of the sheep, LaMesa is just begging me to do more with her. I know it'll do her mind and her heart well when we can finally start herding training--nothing's better than watching your dog do what it's bred to do--but unfortunately time and finances are way too short for me. :-(

Dally has started to show interest in barn hunt, with being a ferocious mole and chipmunk hunter in our back yard. I don't want to squelch her excitement or her instinct for the hunt, so I let her have her time. I'm hoping to start doing barn hunt training and tests soon--it might be her next career with agility slowing down!

And, finally, there's that rare venture into the obedience/rally ring. Both girls have their Rally Novice titles, but I can't help but feel like I should try for more--maybe some lower level obedience, or maybe Rally Advance? Again, it takes time, and it'll take money for classes to help me since I'm not a natural obedience person. But it's a good way to really make them think, use their brains, and learn more control.

Until then, I plan to let them live their life as pampered pooches, who always have a good time. Whether that be keeping the horses in line on the family farm...

Hiking with their best buddies....

Or cleaning out peanut butter jars...

The Stump Kids' lives will never be boring.

Check out the rest of the Dog Agility Blog Group's response to "Life Outside the Ring." Lots of great insight!
Some faves:

• Un-Still Life with Cavaliers: Outside the Ring, The Inside Story on Handler Fitness (right up my alley!)
• Days of Speed & Showtime Mondays: Sitting is the New Smoking--Life Hacks Outside the Ring
• The BlueHound Beagles at WordPlay: Crossbraining
• Mufaasa and Me: Spoiler Alert: The Stuff You do Outside of the Ring Matters Just as Much (or More) than What Happens in it

Dog Agility Blog Action Day: Measuring Success in Swedish

Today is another Dog Agility Blog Action Day! This time we're focusing on "Success" and whatever it means to you.

Ironically this falls prior to a weekend where I have three days to finish Dally's PACH2. She just needs one more QQ and a handful of points, and since I organize the Hoosier Kennel Club AKC Agility Trial, I'll be competing all weekend.

So does the number of MACH/PACH or championships determine the amount of success you have as a dog handler, owner, trainer, competitor? Or is it the little things?

Dally's first PACH--November 10, 2012

The competitive side of me would say it's the championships/titles. Those are how you show your accomplishments--those numerous letters preceding and proceeding your dog's name. In the horse show world, we judge the buckles you wear, the award chairs you sit in, etc.

In horses, success is measured in championships.

Training LaMesa has totally opened my eyes, though. Dally was "easy" in comparison to starting and training LaMesa--Dally is consistent. After I dropped her down to Preferred, things came so much easier because she no longer struggled to make time nor be constantly injured trying to jump 8". It took us a while, but we got that first QQ and then things just started rolling.

LaMesa is another story, though. I believe she has so much raw talent, and so much heart, that is can be a handicap. I know she can be so good, and that affects my mindset because I get competitive and know she's fast. So I push her...and we fail...or I perceive it as a fail.

I've learned to take the little things as a success. LaMesa used to struggle so much with weaves at trials. If we can nail the weave poles from any entrance on a course, I'm excited. If we can run an entire course without her knocking bars, that's a win. Have we QQd? Nope. Right now we average 1 Q out of 4 runs in a weekend. But that Q is always a big deal.

Happiness is running this silly girl.

I see so much potential in her that I want us to be successful, but I have learned not to push it. I've been identifying where we need to focus and I am learning how to run her versus Dally, which is a big success for me. I've learned "She is not Dally" and that's OK. She's fun to run (so is Dally, don't get me wrong). She makes you think. You have to be solid in your game plan from the very beginning or she can catch you on your heels.

But all that makes me a better handler, which, in turn, will make her a better agility dog. This will also help me with future dogs, horses, and handling people. That, in itself, is success.

So my mindset has changed...a little. I'm still competitive, but I've been checking myself and my ego at the door when we walk in and I look for the positives in our runs, and not always just at the negatives. I just want LaMesa to continue to enjoy running with me and doing agility. The QQs will come.

THAT IS SUCCESS.

Read more from other DBAD bloggers on how they measure success: Success