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Nova's first birthday - December 7, 2012
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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!
This is the most perfect summary of your first year! It made me laugh and tear up at the same time. Congratulations on your choice and you both surviving with good humor. Continue to have fun and let us know how it goes. Best to you both, Sheryl, Styx and Lexi
ReplyDeleteWhat a great report, Debbie! Hookie is the "bon vivant" of his class as well, so we've been working on "release to play and recall"...he's allowed to go play with other dogs, and then the game stops for the whole group—everyone recalls their dogs. There's a couple "bad cops" (the instructors) who put pressure on the dogs who don't recall to go back to mom or dad. If they don't willingly, mom/dad leaves the room. This usually evokes an "oh crap! where did they go!??" Rinse and repeat. This has been working really well, and his recalls are MUCH more reliable (although not altogether perfect...yet.) There is a fun match next weekend where we most often trial. Hookie was there the first day he arrived in Dallas (well...not inside...but it is definitely his home away from home...) Our friend, Gene Downing put his first MACH on his silver standard "Hemi" there this past weekend. We've seen all their trials and tribulations, and it's exciting to have a young 'un to go through all those experiences with. Although, sometimes I think I should NOT have registered my dog as "Too Kool for Skool..." LOL! 'Sounds like you have rule #1 down perfectly—keep 'em happy. Just look at Miss Nova's joyful expression in her birthday pic! 'Hope to meet her soon!
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