It's all coming together!

Since being spayed in early January, Nova has started jumping her full jump height of 20"  She's also graduated to real weave poles and is (usually) doing 12 without any problems.  We need to work on speed and consistency.  It's all part of learning to work together as a team.  Now I'll shut up and just let you watch a few training videos.

One Year Old Nova!

Nova's first birthday - December 7, 2012

Yes, I'm a little late posting this.  Nova turned 1 year old almost 2 months ago.  Reaching her 1st birthday wasn't just an excuse for lots of special treats and toys, it was also the time to see if her bones where completely developed.  An x-ray of her shoulder the day after her first birthday showed her growth plates just needed another couple weeks before being completely closed, so I scheduled her spay for January 10.  Along with the spay, she had a gastropexy, a surgical procedure where they suture her stomach to her abdominal wall to prevent gastric torsion, or stomach twisting.  This is frequently fatal, so better to take preventative action now!  She has healed nicely and gets her stitches out tomorrow.

Nova is improving her agility skills rapidly.  Before her bones were completely developed, she learned all the agility obstacles, but couldn't jump at full height or do weave poles.  She had learned the preliminary steps to weaving, using a method called "2-by-2" weaves, but hadn't been able to put it all together, until today.  Today she did 6 inline weaves for the first time.  Yay!  She was rewarded with many pieces of cheese!

Nova obviously loves agility and she always learns quickly, but she's been a bit of a naughty girl in class.  She seems to think it's more of a party than a class, and would impulsively run off to play with the other dogs.  That was usually followed by a game of "catch me if you can".  One night it took me 20 minutes after class had ended to finally catch her!  After that, class was modified a bit to prevent Nova from disrupting everyone's class.  Gates (fences) were put up across the ring to give her some separation from some of the dogs, and she worked on a long-line to prevent her from running off to play with dogs on her side of the gates.  Meanwhile, I worked hard to teach her that playing with me is more fun than running away!  She's not quite ready to work off-leash yet, but she's making progress.

February 1 will mark one year with Nova.  It's been a wild year, but I'm so grateful to have her!  As I drove away from the breeders house that night, with Nova whining in her crate in the back of the car, I suddenly wondered if I'd picked the right puppy!?  I'd planned so carefully to get a dog with energy and drive that would love agility as much as I do.  I'd tried so hard to evaluate those 11 adorable puppies and pick the one that was perfect for me.  But, what if I'd chosen the wrong one?  Well, almost 1 year later I can say with complete confidence that I chose the absolutely PERFECT dog for me.  I hope she agrees!    

Training my gr8 puppy

Nova is working hard to learn the sport of agility.  She's in her 2nd official agility class, learning the foundation skills of obstacles and handling.  She's gotten her feet on all the obstacles.  She loves tunnels and the chute.  She loves jumping onto the table and is learning to collapse into a quick down (for those USDAA trials).  She practices her contacts on the down-side of the A-frame, but doesn't go over it yet.  She runs across the low dogwalk.  And, although it happened quite by accident, she's gone over the teeter totter once.  I turned my back for a split second and she took off toward the teeter.  I was too late to call her off, so I kept my mouth shut and crossed my fingers.  She ran up the incline to the end, then crashed to the ground.  I held my breath, hoping this wouldn't be the beginning of long term teeter fears.  Almost immediately she came trotting back to me, tail held high, with a huge grin on her face.  Ready to give it another try!  What a brave girl!  (But, I didn't let her go again.)
She is able to run sequences of 8-10 obstacles, through the jump uprights (no bars yet), through tunnels and the chute, on and off the table.  She's learning to read my signals that tell her where to go next:  left, right or straight ahead.  There are several ways for me to communicate to her which way we're going next, and they all depend on where I am, where she is, where I need to go next, and where she needs to go next.  Below is a little practicing of front crosses, rear crosses, post turns and wraps.  If you don't know agility, you may not know what those terms mean, but maybe you can see the subtle differences in my different locations.

When done correctly, my position and timing will tell Nova where to go next and will hopefully result in smooth and fast runs.
Nova is also beginning to learn about weave poles.  I'm teaching this using a method called "2 x 2 weaves" where I start with 2 poles and teach the basic skill, then add 2 more poles, then 2 more after that.  Eventually she'll be doing 12 weave poles with speed and accuracy.  This video shows Nova performing the first steps in learning 2 x 2 weaves.  She's executing an off-side weave entry, which requires her to go around the first pole before going between the two poles.  Although not the most difficult of the 2 types of weave entries, it does teach her that she always enters the weave poles with the first pole on her left.

  Nova and I will now be taking a week long break from agility training.  John and I are going to North Carolina to see Andrew and Sheema get married.  Nova will be staying at Klondike Kennels where she'll be pampered and loved, and be able to join her doggie friends for playgroup on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  We'll miss one another, but it should be a fun time for everyone!
    

Home again!

Nova - 7 months old

John and I just spent 1 week away from home, visiting Andrew and his fiance', Sheema, in North Carolina.  Nova spent the week at Klondike Kennels enjoying a VIP package which included extra walks or playgroup, and a stuffed Kong each day.  When I picked her up she looked pretty happy and curious before she saw me.  When she spotted me she went CRAZY!  If you know Nova you know she does "crazy" pretty well on a daily basis, but this was on a whole new level!  She almost knocked me over and was scampering around me so fast I could hardly touch her.  In the parking lot she was leaping at least 4 feet into the air, twisting and bouncing.  She actually popped her head out of her collar and for a few scary moments she was zooming around the parking lot like a wild thing.  Fortunately, it was a slow morning at the clinic/kennel and she calmed down within about 30 seconds and came back to me.  (The collar is now a wee bit tighter!)
She's had a pretty busy day since then.  Toys to greet, treats to eat, photo session in the backyard, and I took her to work where my friends showered her with attention.  She's now sacked out on the floor, recovering from being away from home.  And, from coming home again!

 Nova turns 7 months old tomorrow.  In honor of that milestone, we took a few pictures in the backyard today.  If you are familiar with the Coke bottle pictures, you know how cooperative she can be when I'm trying to take pictures of her.  However, she's now familiar with both "wait" and "stay", so these pictures were much easier! 

Nova passed her STAR Puppy test at the end of May and her official certificate and a shiny medal came in the mail today.  I would have loved to take a picture of her wearing the medal, but she'd rather chew on it, so this will have to suffice for now.

Nova is 6 months old!

Nova - 6 months old!

Nova turns 6 months old on June 7, 2012.  Happy birthday to Nova and her 10 brothers and sisters!  As you can see, she’s grown a lot.  She’s also learned to sit and stay, although shortly after this picture was taken she gave into the irresistible urge to attack the Coke bottle.  I started taking pictures of her with the Coke bottle at 9 weeks old.  At that time she didn't sit and stay.  It was a real challenge to snap the picture before she knocked the bottle over.

Nova - 9 weeks old

Nova and I have come a long way in the 4 months we’ve been together.  She no longer tries to eat the mulch under every tree and bush in the yard.  She’s finally accepted that she can’t catch robins.   She still picks flowers, but not every one she finds.  She still loves to leap into the air in pursuit of a butterfly, but I’m hoping she never outgrows that!   She can sit, down, stand, stay, “get your toy” and come on verbal commands, in addition to many agility skills.  Although she has been able to heel on a leash for a while when there are few distractions, it took a bit longer before I could walk her around the neighborhood without feeling like I had the Tasmanian Devil at the end of the leash.   We still occasionally have walks that start like that, but if we go back home, give her a little time-out in the crate, she is better behaved on the 2^nd try.  She still loves to steal socks and dish towels, but a yummy enough treat will sometimes convince her to trade.  Her latest accomplishment is the realization that a quick sit makes the crate door open faster.  What a smart girl!

She has graduated from both a puppy pre-school class and an AKC S.T.A.R. puppy class.  She is a member of the Klondike Canine Academy Canine Playgroup, where she romps and wrestles with her doggie friends once every week or two.  She is one of several puppies at my local kennel club and the club has become one of her favorite places to be.  I'm working on teaching her to NOT drag me through the door, but it's a tough sell!  She is currently enrolled in the Foundations for Agility class at the kennel club.  She is the youngest dog in the class and the most disruptive, although she has quite good skills when she settles down and pays attention.  Our classmates are all wonderfully understanding.  They give me the same patient look I give parents in the grocery store whose child is laying on the floor screaming.   But, each week brings improvements and I’m certain she will be a model student eventually.

Stay tuned for more news.  With Nova, life is never boring!

Play group Saturday

Nova has such a friendly, fearless personality and I really want her to stay that way.  To keep her exposed to dogs and people, she is enrolled in a play group at my veterinarian's business.  All dogs must have proof of vaccinations and good health, and be evaluated in a controlled play group before joining, so the environment is quite controlled.  There are several fenced areas and dogs are placed in groups with dogs that compliment their size and play style.  Nova usually ends up in a group with dogs bigger than she is, because she is a pretty rowdy girl!  However, she has excellent "dog social skills".  She greets other dogs politely, takes turns chasing and being chased, and knows when to back-off and take a break.  All important things in a canine play group.

Today she started the morning with 2 adult Golden Retrievers and a Mastiff.  In the area next to us the small dogs were playing and in that group was Cooper, a 10 month old Fox Terrier (Cooper's mom should correct me if I'm wrong about any of that!).  Nova has seen Cooper in previous weeks, but they have always been in different play groups.  However, they seemed to like one another and race each other up and down the fence line.  Today Cooper joined Nova's play group and they had a great time!  They have similar spunky, brave personalities.  They both love to chase and box and play pretty rough.  Perfect match!  Nova is already a little bigger than Cooper, but I hope as she gets bigger they'll stay friends and continue to play together.  

Nova the gardener?

When I first got Nova she had the amusing habit of picking dandelions.  She'd bite the flower, yank it off the stem, then walk around with it in her mouth.  She also bites sticks, grass, mulch, tree branches, and anything else that strikes her fancy.  Until last weekend it was a mildly amusing and harmless behavior.

Last weekend I made my annual trip to the Menards garden department and bought lots of flowers to plant around the mailbox and trees, and in the pots and planters I have around the outside of the house.  I put Nova on her tie-out and went to work.  As I planted flowers I tossed her the empty plastic pots, which she enjoyed shredding and playing with.  Then she got bored and decided she needed to help me.  Before I realized what she was doing she'd yanked 3 newly planted flowers out of the ground.  Suddenly that cute habit of picking dandelions wasn't so endearing.  I wonder if I can teach her the difference between flowers and weeds?

Nova smelling the lilacs?

No!  She's looking for her tennis ball.

Still looking......

Found it!