A scary fall from the a-frame.
Yesterday's standard course started tunnel, jump, jump, a-frame. Shasta paused at the top of the a-frame as she has been doing some in shows. This time she turned to look at me when she paused. In turning, her left rear leg lost contact with the board and she fell from the top of the a-frame. It was a very scary fall. She was holding up her right rear leg momentarily. I picked her up and held her for a bit and set her down gently to see if she could walk it off. From that point forward, by some wonderful stroke of luck, we have not seen any more limping or soreness of any kind. As I set her down, she ran and took a jump on the way out.
A friend was nice enough to give us her appointment with the massage person that was at the show. She found a few slightly tight muscles in Shasta's back but nothing more than she would expect in any agility dog. Last night we iced her a few times because there was no harm in doing so. At one point last night she went a little nuts in the house, "butt-running" around, pouncing at the ball, bouncing off the sofa. I tried to calm her but she got really wound up. Did the massage make her feel "too good"?!
Today, still no signs of any issues so we went ahead and ran her. She ran a great jumpers run to start the day, good speed and no sign of issues. Then came standard and I was, of course, pretty close to terrified to send her over the a-frame. It was early again, the third obstacle, and she did it just fine, didn't even pause at the top today. Whew! Another glowing example of what has so far been a solid and resilient temperament. No hesitation at all after the previous day's fall.
We have an appointment with the chiropractor tomorrow, we are hoping for continued good and very fortunate news.
Still very scared thinking of it. Still extremely thankful that we might have escaped real trouble.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Flower Child
We had class tonight. Recent wet and warmer weather means that the dandelion population has flourished. Her infatuation with them was not a "puppy only" thing. She managed to munch quite a few of them at class. Most were between runs but some were during runs. We show at our school in three weeks, we have to hope the dandelions are mowed.
We did work through the dandelion fascination some, for the most part after the first run she trying and mostly focused during her runs, although I think she did sneak a dandelion or two in each of them, mostly while on her 2o2o position!
We did work through the dandelion fascination some, for the most part after the first run she trying and mostly focused during her runs, although I think she did sneak a dandelion or two in each of them, mostly while on her 2o2o position!
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
The Land of Inconsistencies
Shasta is 17 months old today!
We've shown three weekends since the last post. We have finished our AX and AXJ titles and got our first MACH points in both standard and jumpers. I am really pleased with how Shasta is doing in the ring to this point. Focus, with a few minor exceptions, has been really good. We don't have any obstacle worry issues, which I have found unusual for a young berner. With the exception of the weaves I have been happy with her speed. Overall she is one impressive pup so far.
What has been surprising to me is how each weekend of shows seems to bring a new and different issue for the weekend. We've had weave entry issues for a small stretch. Minor issues with her "hoarking" up her treat on course. Minor issues with her "freezing" on a course near the exit (where I am quite sure she is saying, that's enough, let's go get our treats). A few dropped bars here and there. A couple of courses with lots of speed, a couple of courses where she was slow. We had one course that started with a tunnel she flew out of it, we had another that started with a tunnel where I wasn't sure if she got lost in it.
I do still have a few consistent issues (not every time but enough times) in the shows that we need to work through. I've mentioned the before.
1) Slow weaves.
2) Pausing at the top of the aframe.
3) Freezing/distraction near exit where I believe she wants to go get her treats.
4) Not one I am highly motivated to fix but she does not auto drop on the table in a show.
I wish I had a better plan for speeding up the weaves. I don't right now except to wait it out and hope it increases with confidence. She has done very fast weaves in the show three times I can think of (all three she missed the weave entry first try because she was going so fast). It's not like she is as fast in weaves as I would like in training either. One other handler at the show this weekend suggested I send Shasta into the weaves and then send Sonic in a second or two later. ;-) For now, I am waiting and hoping.
We've shown three weekends since the last post. We have finished our AX and AXJ titles and got our first MACH points in both standard and jumpers. I am really pleased with how Shasta is doing in the ring to this point. Focus, with a few minor exceptions, has been really good. We don't have any obstacle worry issues, which I have found unusual for a young berner. With the exception of the weaves I have been happy with her speed. Overall she is one impressive pup so far.
What has been surprising to me is how each weekend of shows seems to bring a new and different issue for the weekend. We've had weave entry issues for a small stretch. Minor issues with her "hoarking" up her treat on course. Minor issues with her "freezing" on a course near the exit (where I am quite sure she is saying, that's enough, let's go get our treats). A few dropped bars here and there. A couple of courses with lots of speed, a couple of courses where she was slow. We had one course that started with a tunnel she flew out of it, we had another that started with a tunnel where I wasn't sure if she got lost in it.
I do still have a few consistent issues (not every time but enough times) in the shows that we need to work through. I've mentioned the before.
1) Slow weaves.
2) Pausing at the top of the aframe.
3) Freezing/distraction near exit where I believe she wants to go get her treats.
4) Not one I am highly motivated to fix but she does not auto drop on the table in a show.
I wish I had a better plan for speeding up the weaves. I don't right now except to wait it out and hope it increases with confidence. She has done very fast weaves in the show three times I can think of (all three she missed the weave entry first try because she was going so fast). It's not like she is as fast in weaves as I would like in training either. One other handler at the show this weekend suggested I send Shasta into the weaves and then send Sonic in a second or two later. ;-) For now, I am waiting and hoping.
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