The 2015 edition of Jan Hare's life
Hop on 2015 and join me on the roller-coaster ride of training - training horses, training dogs, training humans, and attempting to establish order in my life.
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CPE Agility Trial - Dayton Ohio
This weekend felt like
Oh the things we do for our animals! Between my farrier's schedule and my own, the only time I had to get him to come out and do my horses' feet was tonight at 10pm. Corky, of course, was business as usual, but Tango was a different story. When my farrier pulled his shoe off, he found a massive oozing abscess underneath the shoe...on the We decided to hold off on putting bar shoes on him (per the recommendation of the vet in Columbus). Instead, we are treating the abscess until it heals, and I am sending the x-rays to my farrier's father (who just happens to be Corky's repro vet!) to help us get a better idea of what type of shoes to put on him. There is hope! Oh, there is no doubt he has degeneration of the coffin bone, but the extent of the degeneration might not be progressed as far as the other vet thought. If that is the case, we may not have to do the 4 months stall rest (wouldn't that be Well, we made it to St. Louis! Technically, we are in Gray Summit, Missouri, home of Purina Farms. What a nice venue for a dog show and agility trial. There are grey dogs everywhere! The awards are gorgeous (and I am not just saying that because I painted and donated the agility award boxes!). My only goal is to get a Q on Friday, the day that is considered the Weim "national" trial. If not...I'd take a Q on Saturday or Sunday - I am determined to win a ribbon with a Weimaraner on it! with Pretzel, one can never be too sure of what is going to happen at a trial. Usually he is wild and disobedient, but every now and then he settles down, listens, and we have some awesome runs. I want one of those Well, 3 days of agility, and yes, 3 days of solid Saturday was marginally better. We actually did better in standard, but Pretzel blew ALL 3 of his contacts. I mean blew them in a big way - like launching off the front of the teeter before it even started to tip! we knocked 2 jumps in an otherwise decent jumpers run (the first one was my fault - I set him too close to the first jump to start). Sunday? Well...slightly better. Standard was better - I REALLY got firm with him on the dog walk and A-Frame and he got those contacts, but took the teeter so fast that he lost his balance and bailed. Jumpers was out last run...we were the last Weimaraner to go in the very last class of Nationals. Nothing but dust was left in the building! The course was tricky, but we actually started doing good! Then...he blew past a jump. No big deal, only 5 faults, so I stepped way to the side and called him back. Wouldn't you know it he went out o his way to back-jump the jump and then come to me. instant NQ. I feel a bit like I worked so hard all fall and winter for nothing. This show was a big goal of mine, and we failed on all aspects. For the most part, Pretzel barely listened to me, and that is a Day 38, and Corky is still pregnant! Her progesterone levels are normal, and everything looks as good as can me. My vet also looked at Tango's x-rays. Good news there also - he feels that the lameness was caused by the abscess and not the pedal osteoitis. He does see the bone degeneration, but doesn't feel it is bad enough to warrant lameness or 4 months stall rest at this time. So, my farrier (who happens to be his son) is going to put some special shoes and pads on him this week, and then I will turn him out and possibly start some light work with him if he remains sound. My farrier came out this morning and put some serious pads and shoes on Tango. I came out after work and turned him out in the indoor and had him trot around a bit. He looked Well we started off this agility trial with Time to Beat on Saturday morning, second dog in the ring. Yeah, it started off with a bang...not! Pretzel took the first jump and then raced to the exit gate to visit with the dog who had just completed their run and the owner was putting a leash on. I grabbed him, scolded him, got DQ-ed. One would think that my day was pretty much shot then, but I came back in many hours later and actually Q-ed in Standard! He was really really good! Jumpers went well also - no Q there but a good run where he listened to me. Sunday was even better, We actually finished the Time to Beat course without getting whistled off...a first for us! Yes, another Q in standard and a first place! Jumpers was even better, but he back-jumped a jump he had run past and we got an NQ since you cannot have an off-course in Jumpers. Heck, who cares? I was THRILLED with his behavior! He had some really great focus on me, even before our runs he was really staying "on" me while waiting to go. Now, don't get too excited. This just follows the normal Pretzel pattern - he has months and months of horrible, unfocused, wild agility runs, then throws me a token weekend of decent runs just to keep me interested. I fully expect him to revert back. I have two CPE trials scheduled for June, then no more agility trials until fall or winter. It's time to seriously re-train. Tango looked completely sound today. I didn't work him, just let him wander around the indoor at his own pace. Not getting excited, just watching him day by day...will give it a few more weeks and then try some gentle free-longeing at the trot and see what happens. Today we headed to Maumee, Ohio for a conformation show. I am only doing the show today, since I have graduation tomorrow. This show offered Owner-Handler, so it was an important one for us to try and get points to get us back into the top 10. Pretzel showed great, despite the heat. I do love showing outside. There were only 2 special bitches and Pretzel, so we automatically got Best of opposite behind one of the top Weim bitches in the country. We also ended up getting Best of Breed owner/Handler, which was HUGE! We went back into group and earned a group 3...so in total we gained another 15 owner handler points. Yes!!!!!!! Something is actually going right for me with these animals for a change. Here's hoping we can keep it up...
Weimaraner National Specialty - Gray Summit, Missouri
Weimaraner National Specialty
I am still queen of the rear cross!
Pretzel always shakes at the start line right before taking off. It gives me a few extra seconds to get a head start!
I finally beat him out of the tunnel! Must be the shoes...
I showed my friend's puppy in the 6-9 month puppy class in conformation, so I had to run Time To Beat in a skirt on Saturday. I am pleased to say Pretzel nailed his weaves (not necessarily the entry every time) in every class.
Yeah, my rotten puppy...I love him so much, crazy spirit and all.
AKC Agility Trial - Pataskala, OH
On to JUNE, 2015...