sleachy - sorry to hear your dog is injured! That really sucks, worse than being injured yourself. How soon can she be back up and doing things?
Thanks for the sentiments, doggiedad! I've thought about getting someone to do the agility titles on my young dogs since running around a ring is probably not going to happen (and I don't know that I can teach my dogs to do the course while I stay in one place .. *L*). My nephew seems to have an affinity for dogs but he's just five, so he's got a few years to go before I can really put him to work. I think AKC allows kids as young as nine to compete, though, so maybe he'd be ready!
Pam, that's so great that you've found an instructor who helps you understand how fun obedience can be! I know that so many people feel it's so strict and dull, but done right it can really highlight the great relationship you have with your dog. I prefer regular obedience over rally any day. I feel the titles you earn through regular obedience mean much more than rally titles do because it takes a higher level of quiet communication and trust to earn those titles.
I understand your concerns on the out of sight stay exercises. I do them with my dogs but I don't enjoy them - not that I'm afraid my dogs will do anything bad, but it's the only time that you really have no control over what happens. Actually the last dog I showed in open was my GSD Trick (who is now 12) and she just plain didn't see any reason to stay in a ring with a bunch of strange dogs while her owner was obviously lost behind that motorhome over there .. *L* .. and she came looking for me. I can't fault any of my dogs for wanting to be with me, and even though we worked through it so that she became more comfortable, I didn't push her through the title. She had a score of 136 going into the stays, so if she'd held her stays she'd have had a 196 as a final score (her first time in the open ring!). I know she could have earned the title if I'd made her do it, but I was kind of wanting to take a break from all the trialing anyhow.
I've been feeling a bit better and have been working Khana in the back lately. She's kind of so-so on the retrieve - she does beautiful retrieves if I have liverwurst, though .. *LOL* .. but she's definitely the kind of dog that only wants to perform when she KNOWS there's something in it for her. That's a pretty typical chow attitude. Her drops on recall were beautiful tonight, though. I'm finding that she drops much more quickly with a hand signal than she does on a verbal, so I think that's what we'll go with.
Maybe I can manage to go to the August shows in Palmer (200 miles away). It would be good for me, mentally, to get away for a weekend anyhow - and maybe we could fit in a herding lesson (I want to see how both Khana and my GSD pup, Tazer, do on sheep) as well as some lure coursing (the sighthound group here offer all-breed lure coursing, which would be SO much fun to do!). I may take 5-6 days and just do a different dog thing every day - and then come home and collapse for a week or so!
Anyone have any other things to add to this thread? I really am interested in hearing how the trials/training are going this summer.
Melanie and the gang