What can go wrong

Today while working on some drills Nessa hit a jump standard.   The quality of the video is a bit grainy and it is actually foggy inside the training facility.  The jump standard is PVC and has the Clip and Go Jump Cup Strips.



As far as I can tell at this point Nessa is fine but I am not sure that she would have been if the jump had been a different design. 

What might have helped even in this case would be a longer bar (I think that it is only 4 feet) and perhaps if the jump had been a winged jump.  

Equipment safety

I believe that we should do what we can to make agility safer especially when it comes to the equipment. 

Recently Daisy Peel put up a podcast on equipment safety. Linda Mecklenburg wrote a blog post as well.  Both Daisy and Linda talk about things that I hadn't considered as well as things that I had.  Guy Blancke also has some pictures of some questionable equipment on one of his webpages.  Some of the equipment is so bad that I think that I would have pulled my dog from the event.

I started out with what I now consider to be unsafe practice equipment.  My jumps were the equivalent of stick in the ground weave poles with bolts holding up the bars.  At that time though I had a steady dog and we were not doing tight turns.   We expected the dog to jump near the center of the bar.  Things have dramatically changed since then.  My dogs are running faster and they are turning tightly and slicing jumps.

This is Taari's Mom Angel posing with some of her ribbons.  Note the bolts on the vertical post as well as the horizontal bar holding the ribbons.  This bar was really one of the vertical ones for a jump. 

Nessa has received a cut under the eye from to a metal jump cup.  She was lucky.

Currently most of my jumps have the jump cup strips on them.  I am in the process of buying a couple of jumps that I think will be even safer than the ones that I have.  Once I get them I will post some pictures.

I feel that I should not have to make handling decisions based on whether or not I think that the jump is safe for a tight turn or for that matter because of any equipment safety concerns. 

Before I forget I am very happy that years ago the AAC implemented a rule that weave poll stripes were to be painted on and tape was not to be used.  Dogs were rubbing against the tape and this was also causing cuts on their faces under their eyes. Organizations are making positive changes and I hope that this continues.

I hope to find more time this winter to post more about equipment safety.

Running Contacts and Tricks

It has been months since I have posted and I thought that I would write a quick update on our running contacts training. We have enrolled in a long distance learning course with Silvia Trkman on running contacts. First todo list is on the 25th. We have been doing lots of tricks this winter as we have Silvia's first two tricks videos and I am also auditing Silvia long distance learning Puppy/Tricks class. Too many choices on what tricks to work on but I have been trying to focus on tricks that involve the rear legs (for the running contacts). Nessa is a very fast learner. I helped out Taari too much in the past so it has been more of a challenge teaching her.

Twister and the girls

I bought the Nina Ottosson game called Twister. I have had it out about 4 or 5 times since I got it. Here are some videos of both girls playing with it. Taari is seven years old and Nessa is 9 months.





I can think of a few reasons why they are different when they play it (and why Nessa is better at it). It could be their personalities. Nessa is more thoughtful. It could also have been that I helped Taari out too much when I was training her initially and she hasn't been trained to think as much as Nessa. It could also have been some of the games that I played with Taari when she a puppy. For example the door stop makes a noise no matter how you hit it. Perhaps I should play more of these games with Taari to get her to think more.

Nessa at almost 6 months

New spring agility jacket

Since it is spring I decided to get another agility jacket from Discovery Trekking Outfitters (DTO) in Campbell River, B.C. This time I got a jacket made from a light weight Wind Pro fabric. It is the same style as my black winter jacket. I chose the same features - hood, back pocket for toys and reflective piping.

Nessa at 5 months

Nessa at 4 months

Here are some pictures of Nessa at the age of 4 months. She is 13 7/8 inches tall and 14 lbs.

Nessa growing up

Nessa has grown quite a bit since I first got her. Nessa and Taari are about the same size now and Nessa is only 17 weeks. Nessa and Taari have become best buddies. They love to play with each other and occasionally Nessa will cuddle up with Taari when she is sleeping. I am conscious of the fact that I do not want Nessa to bond more closely with Taari than with me but it great to see them having so much fun together.

Happy Holidays

Taari posing nicely with the reindeer and Santa.

Spice with Santa.

Nessa with some wrapping paper.

Another photo of Nessa.

Introducing Nessa

I am happy to announce a new addition to the family - Nessa. Her registered name will be Plail's Nessa at Alhena. I picked her up from her breeder, Nina Plail, on Tuesday in Florida. Her father is the very handsome Maverick and her mother is the beautiful Yin. Both parents are fabulous athletes with agility and herding titles. Yin's friendliness reminds me much of my Angel (Taari's mom).




Nessa chose me in a way. When the puppies were let outside for me to see them, all the other puppies were playing with each other except for Nessa, she was saying hello to me with her tail wagging.


It was heart breaking when we drove away from her breeder's place as she cried. But she adjusted well and here is a photo of her snuggling up to me while taking a nap at the hotel a couple hours later.



She is very flashy in her markings.




She has such a pretty face.



At first Taari wasn't thrilled with the puppy (perhaps an understatement) but within an hour the puppy was sleeping on me and Taari was curled up next to me. They are getting along much better than I had expected. I was hopeful that Taari would come around eventually but she has surprised me by how quickly it is happening. Taari was trying to play tug with Nessa today (with me holding the tug in the middle). I just need to figure out how to get Taari to be more gentle.



Here is a video of Nessa and Taari playing with the stuffed sheltie.