Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.

Rottweilers.
Computers. Cameras.
World Domination.
Not necessarily in that order.

Freya: class notes

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Allan has been posting videos from the group classes, Board and Train, and private lessons on his YouTube channel. Here is our video from the first Saturday morning Rally Obedience class at Best Friends/American Pet Motel. You can see that the holiday break went on a little too long for us, and there are areas that need improvement, but I think we can be ready for the APDT trial at For Your Canine on January 23-24.

I don’t really know how to draw proper course maps, but this should give you an idea of the layout (click the map for a larger view). This course uses APDT signs:

Follow along, if you’d like:

Start: The rules, unlike traditional obedience, do not require the dog to be sitting at heel at the start. But I have found that if I do not require a sit and attention, things will usually go south pretty quickly.

1. 19-Slow Pace. We need to work on finding a pace that is slow, but not so slow that Freya wants to sit, as she did here.

2. 21-Normal Pace. We need a better transition between speeds in general.

3. 10-About “U” Turn. Not bad.

4. 3-HALT – Sit – Down. She tends to turn towards me on sits, and even more so on downs.

5. 13-360-Degree Right.
6. 11-270-Degree Right. Turns were sloppy.

7. 6-HALT – Sit – Down – Walk Around. Tight leash and a correction. Even though this was training, I really need to watch that, and the tendency to fold the leash one or two loops too tight.

8. 26-Spiral Left – Dog Inside. Not too bad.

9. 23-HALT – 90 Degree Pivot Right – HALT. Pivots definitely need work. Maybe a prayer for no left pivot at our next trial would also be in order.

10. 27-HALT – 1, 2, 3 steps forward. Ugh. I need to give her a better cue to begin moving. And also… remember to give it. Sorry, Freya!

11. 12-270-Degree Left.
12. 7-Right Turn. More sloppy turns.

13. 18-Call Front Finish Left. Not sure what happened here. Her fronts are usually much better than this. At least she finished in the correct direction, so that problem seems to be fixed.

Finish: Not a moment too soon!

(NaBloPoMo | January ’10: 12 of 31)

Back to school

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Classes start again for Freya and me tomorrow after a three-week break. I originally thought we’d just be returning to our usual intermediate/advanced group obedience class. But there has been a rally obedience class added to the schedule immediately following the group class.

I’m not sure how it is going to work for us to take two hour-long classes in a row, but the times and locations for the weeknight classes I was considering aren’t going to work for us either for the first few months of the year. So I’ve decided to try the consecutive classes for a week or two and see how it goes. If it turns out to be too much in any way for either Freya or me, we’ll go to the as-yet-to-be developed Plan B.

I’m going to take some time now to figure out some goals for this set of classes. The immediate priority is to prepare for our first APDT trial, and also decide whether it will be the trials on January 23-24 or the trials on February 6-7. APDT does not allow choke collars for trialing, as UKC and AKC do, so I also need to get Freya accustomed to working in a martingale collar.

Of course, these goals may be modified, depending upon what happens tomorrow!

(NaBloPoMo | January ’10: 8 of 31)

Almost forgot to show the proof!

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Freya finished her UKC Rally Obedience 1 title back in November, but I never did finish discussing our performance at those two trials. I should still do that before I’ve blocked a less-than-stellar performance from my memory.

But enough about the missing play-by-play. I forgot something really important: visual proof that we got the title!

Here’s the official certificate:

Here’s our bit of the New Titleholders section of UKC’s website:

I will get to the details of the trials, but probably not until later this week. Axel’s heading back to the shows tomorrow, so we all need to spend some quality time together tonight!

(NaBloPoMo | January ’10: 3 of 31)

Saturday Freya: still on break

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I normally attend a group obedience class with Freya on Saturday mornings. We are still on break for the holidays, though. Since we skipped the last class of the previous session so I could watch Axel from afar as he competed in Rally Obedience at the Christmas Cluster, we have been off for three weeks.

Class starts up again next Saturday and it’s not a moment too soon! Three weeks off in winter is just a little too much downtime, since we don’t have as many opportunities to play or train outdoors. Rottweilers don’t seem to mind the cold, or at least my Rottweilers don’t mind it. This week’s single-digit temperatures don’t seem to faze them at all, except that they can’t pick up frozen Jolly Balls. I’m fearing frostbite and hypothermia because they don’t want to come in, and I’m the only one that seems to be suffering any ill effects from the extreme cold!

I’m still hoping that we will be ready for an APDT Rally Obedience trial on January 23-24. Freya’s attitude and performance in our first class back from break will give me some idea of whether we should shoot for that trial, or for one on February 6-7 instead. Both are at locations where we’ve trialed and/or trained before so at least the grounds won’t be unfamiliar to either Freya or me.

I haven’t been doing any training to speak of during the break. We have done some quick reviews of stationary rally exercises in the kitchen before meals, but not every day. On the days that weren’t too frigid, we did some heeling practice on the back walk before and after potty breaks. I should have done a little more with Axel since he will be trialing again next weekend, and I will do a “real” training session with him tomorrow. On Monday, we’ll go on a brief road trip to get him back to Julia, and then he’s off to shows in Texas and Florida. It is nice that at least one family member will get a vacation in some hopefully warmer spots of the country!

(NaBloPoMo | January ’10: 2 of 31)

New year, new decade, what else is new?

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So a shiny new year and a shiny new decade is upon us. I don’t feel too shiny and new myself, and it’s been a long time since I’ve tried to trick myself into thinking that January 1 and a clean slate are in any way synonymous. And despite this month’s NaBloPoMo theme, BEST, I’m not quite ready to say “Let’s have the BEST year EVER in 2010!”

That sounds a bit pessimistic, but I actually am planning for good things to happen in the coming year.

We’re enjoying a few more days of Axel’s company as he spends his winter vacation here at home. As you may already know, he’s just one major away from his AKC championship. There will be no majors at his first stop in Texas, but he is entered in Rally Obedience trials both days, and may be able to finish his Rally Novice title there. Next stop will be the Winter Classic clusters in Brooksville, Florida. The breakdowns are posted for the first cluster, and four of the five days are majors for Rottweilers. So think good, winning thoughts for Axel this month, please!

Freya will also be working on her Rally Obedience titles. She earned her UKC URO1 in November, but I don’t feel that she is ready to compete off-leash for her URO2 yet. So we’ll be working on the novice level titles in other registries: APDT and AKC.

So, you say, those are the dogs’ goals! Yes, sadly my dogs are more motivated than I am, or I am more motivated for them than for myself. Or something.

It’s true that my own goals are not as well-defined as my goals for the dogs. Professionally, 2009 was a year of just trying to stay alive, and thankfully, we did. I admire those who can still formulate long-term goals in the midst of treading water, because it’s not something I found myself able to do. Along with everyone else in the country, I’m hoping that as the economy recovers, so will our business and our ability to plan for the long term and the big picture. Even more so as I get closer to retirement age!

Personally, I want to do more with my blog and website. Hold me to it, will you?

So. What are you hoping to get done in 2010?

(NaBloPoMo | January ’10: 1 of 31)