Hey guys! What an exhausting three days! I could have posted this in pictures or sports, but really wanted to brag on the boys so I just to post here!
We are finally done with UKC Premier showing. We had a fantastic time. Got sunburnt, met a handful of internet friends from other forums, ate a lot of fast food, and got very wet. The result? One new title, two new personal best jumps, and three happy, tired dogs!
Frag ran two lure courses, one of which earned him his first ever title (other than the CGC) - his CA! And his second course earned a qualifying leg towards his CAX. It is slightly amusing and slightly annoying waiting to course with him; as do most of the dogs while waiting, he is just an amped up, screaming mess the entire time. But at least he didn't drag me to the ground like I saw another GSD do to his owner, while waiting the hour to course during a busy afternoon yesterday. He may have barked/screamed himself hoarse at one point and was absolutely foaming at the mouth; but it made for a great run!
We were there from beginning to end Thursday and Friday jumping and swimming while shopping/vending when we had time. Each boy jumped twice over the three days; Sir and Recon Thursday, all three Friday, and Frag Saturday. During the first two jumps my boyfriend held Sir and Recon for me on the dock, and Sir jumped his personal best of 9' 6" (I think). Recon was consistently jumping to match his personal best of 9' 8" until yesterday afternoon- without Brian holding him, he drove much better and jumped 13' 2"! I was so proud, fantastic personal best for a 40lb 10 month old pup! He had a lot of "relatives" out there jumping and made them all proud, including his breeder and ME! Frag was very tired after coursing yesterday and was barely jumping 13' - his personal best is 16' 7"... I was bummed, but Saturday a friend rode with me to skip parking fees and help me out on the dock... Being held back by someone he likes (my co-worker) made a world of difference! She was able to amp him up and hold him long enough to get into it and drive even more, and he jumped 16' 3" this afternoon in the rain! Closest he's come since his first competition to jumping his personal best! So I was very elated and proud of him, and he's finally back to jumping in "his" division. Recon now has two legs towards his Novice title and one towards his Junior title. Sir has two towards his Junior title but will probably be jumping out of that division soon. Frag has one towards his Junior and two towards his senior. We'll be lucky to title by the end of the year at this rate! lol
And my last ramble is a brag on Frag! As some of you know, in the past we battled with some aggression issues likely stemming from adolescents and allergies combined. He would growl at people trying to pet him or hovering over him while he was leashed, specifically. For the last almost two years now we've had it under control and have come a long way, including getting our CGC! He's been measured by judges, squeezed by the disabled, xrayed, chiro'd, etc. and has been doing marvelously and he made me extremely happy out there this weekend. Words can't describe just how happy, but numerous people who know him from the internet and IRL were commenting on how awesome he was. He was pronged for the event to keep control since we were coursing and dock diving and he could easily bring me to my knees if he wanted, so he was great on leash already, met a few dogs/puppies of people I knew, crated fantastically. But the best parts were Saturday. A little boy came up and asked if he could pet Frag and I knew Frag was in the mood to meet some people; I OK'd it and of course kept a close eye. I have been doing nothing but watching this dog and setting him up to succeed for the last year and he hasn't been able to meet too many non - dog people. Kid loved him, pet him a few times and walked away. Frag showed no calming signs, no whale eyes, no worries whatsoever. My co-worker (trainer who has followed Frag's progress) was elated with me. Then, we went to watch some lure coursing and were approached by a woman who asked if she could get some measurements from Frag for some SAR equipment her friend was making as a general size for GSDs- I said sure hesitantly and asked if I could measure most of them as he wasn't comfortable having strangers grabbing on him and such.. Well the next part astounded me. Co-worker still helping/supervising, I had started measuring but because we were so close to the lure coursing he was screaming and wouldn't hold a stay for me, so I ended up holding him WITH my co-worker, while stranger took NINE measurements around his face, butt, chest, etc. Not once did Mr. Perfect look like he was getting uncomfortable with it. I have a feeling the complete "OK" feeling from the woman who was very used to dogs and aloof dogs just set the mood perfectly along with my confidence to go with it. The distractions probably helped, too.. No growls, no backing up, no whale eyes... My co-worker was literally stunned and all we could say was that this would never be possible 2 years ago, or even a year ago to this degree! Pulled out my bait bag afterwards and gave him two handfuls of treats, followed by a handful of treats from said woman. Just... makes my heart melt. He is finally becoming the dog I always wanted and he is PERFECT. He is about as close to bombproof as I will probably ever get with a dog.
So if you've made it this far, thank you! You are now rewarded with pictures! I have TOOOOONS, so I am going to post my favorites/the best here, and you can always check out the links below to my flickr album for sequences, etc. I only got a few shots of Recon from the photographer on site via facebook and some of Sir during warm ups, but will be buying the digital copies of more jumps from the photographer once he uploads them.
Nash! The UAD Mascot was on site Thurs/Friday having fun with everyone.
DSC_3344 by DJetzel, on Flickr
Copyright UKC
reconpremier2 by DJetzel, on Flickr
Copyright UKC
reconpremier3 by DJetzel, on Flickr
DSC_3359 by DJetzel, on Flickr
Before getting amped up watching the other dogs, Sir wasn't too sure about THIS dock... And the water was cold.
DSC_3364 by DJetzel, on Flickr
So he laid down and acted like I beat him. He's never refused a jump like this before!
DSC_3367 by DJetzel, on Flickr
DSC_3368 by DJetzel, on Flickr
Then he decided it was ok...
DSC_3379 by DJetzel, on Flickr
How is this pleasant, though?
DSC_3380 by DJetzel, on Flickr
Silly ears.
DSC_3382 by DJetzel, on Flickr
We are finally done with UKC Premier showing. We had a fantastic time. Got sunburnt, met a handful of internet friends from other forums, ate a lot of fast food, and got very wet. The result? One new title, two new personal best jumps, and three happy, tired dogs!
Frag ran two lure courses, one of which earned him his first ever title (other than the CGC) - his CA! And his second course earned a qualifying leg towards his CAX. It is slightly amusing and slightly annoying waiting to course with him; as do most of the dogs while waiting, he is just an amped up, screaming mess the entire time. But at least he didn't drag me to the ground like I saw another GSD do to his owner, while waiting the hour to course during a busy afternoon yesterday. He may have barked/screamed himself hoarse at one point and was absolutely foaming at the mouth; but it made for a great run!
We were there from beginning to end Thursday and Friday jumping and swimming while shopping/vending when we had time. Each boy jumped twice over the three days; Sir and Recon Thursday, all three Friday, and Frag Saturday. During the first two jumps my boyfriend held Sir and Recon for me on the dock, and Sir jumped his personal best of 9' 6" (I think). Recon was consistently jumping to match his personal best of 9' 8" until yesterday afternoon- without Brian holding him, he drove much better and jumped 13' 2"! I was so proud, fantastic personal best for a 40lb 10 month old pup! He had a lot of "relatives" out there jumping and made them all proud, including his breeder and ME! Frag was very tired after coursing yesterday and was barely jumping 13' - his personal best is 16' 7"... I was bummed, but Saturday a friend rode with me to skip parking fees and help me out on the dock... Being held back by someone he likes (my co-worker) made a world of difference! She was able to amp him up and hold him long enough to get into it and drive even more, and he jumped 16' 3" this afternoon in the rain! Closest he's come since his first competition to jumping his personal best! So I was very elated and proud of him, and he's finally back to jumping in "his" division. Recon now has two legs towards his Novice title and one towards his Junior title. Sir has two towards his Junior title but will probably be jumping out of that division soon. Frag has one towards his Junior and two towards his senior. We'll be lucky to title by the end of the year at this rate! lol
And my last ramble is a brag on Frag! As some of you know, in the past we battled with some aggression issues likely stemming from adolescents and allergies combined. He would growl at people trying to pet him or hovering over him while he was leashed, specifically. For the last almost two years now we've had it under control and have come a long way, including getting our CGC! He's been measured by judges, squeezed by the disabled, xrayed, chiro'd, etc. and has been doing marvelously and he made me extremely happy out there this weekend. Words can't describe just how happy, but numerous people who know him from the internet and IRL were commenting on how awesome he was. He was pronged for the event to keep control since we were coursing and dock diving and he could easily bring me to my knees if he wanted, so he was great on leash already, met a few dogs/puppies of people I knew, crated fantastically. But the best parts were Saturday. A little boy came up and asked if he could pet Frag and I knew Frag was in the mood to meet some people; I OK'd it and of course kept a close eye. I have been doing nothing but watching this dog and setting him up to succeed for the last year and he hasn't been able to meet too many non - dog people. Kid loved him, pet him a few times and walked away. Frag showed no calming signs, no whale eyes, no worries whatsoever. My co-worker (trainer who has followed Frag's progress) was elated with me. Then, we went to watch some lure coursing and were approached by a woman who asked if she could get some measurements from Frag for some SAR equipment her friend was making as a general size for GSDs- I said sure hesitantly and asked if I could measure most of them as he wasn't comfortable having strangers grabbing on him and such.. Well the next part astounded me. Co-worker still helping/supervising, I had started measuring but because we were so close to the lure coursing he was screaming and wouldn't hold a stay for me, so I ended up holding him WITH my co-worker, while stranger took NINE measurements around his face, butt, chest, etc. Not once did Mr. Perfect look like he was getting uncomfortable with it. I have a feeling the complete "OK" feeling from the woman who was very used to dogs and aloof dogs just set the mood perfectly along with my confidence to go with it. The distractions probably helped, too.. No growls, no backing up, no whale eyes... My co-worker was literally stunned and all we could say was that this would never be possible 2 years ago, or even a year ago to this degree! Pulled out my bait bag afterwards and gave him two handfuls of treats, followed by a handful of treats from said woman. Just... makes my heart melt. He is finally becoming the dog I always wanted and he is PERFECT. He is about as close to bombproof as I will probably ever get with a dog.
So if you've made it this far, thank you! You are now rewarded with pictures! I have TOOOOONS, so I am going to post my favorites/the best here, and you can always check out the links below to my flickr album for sequences, etc. I only got a few shots of Recon from the photographer on site via facebook and some of Sir during warm ups, but will be buying the digital copies of more jumps from the photographer once he uploads them.
Nash! The UAD Mascot was on site Thurs/Friday having fun with everyone.
DSC_3344 by DJetzel, on Flickr
Copyright UKC
reconpremier2 by DJetzel, on Flickr
Copyright UKC
reconpremier3 by DJetzel, on Flickr
DSC_3359 by DJetzel, on Flickr
Before getting amped up watching the other dogs, Sir wasn't too sure about THIS dock... And the water was cold.
DSC_3364 by DJetzel, on Flickr
So he laid down and acted like I beat him. He's never refused a jump like this before!
DSC_3367 by DJetzel, on Flickr
DSC_3368 by DJetzel, on Flickr
Then he decided it was ok...
DSC_3379 by DJetzel, on Flickr
How is this pleasant, though?
DSC_3380 by DJetzel, on Flickr
Silly ears.
DSC_3382 by DJetzel, on Flickr