Now, obviously this group doesn't really exist because who would ever get around to organising it? (Just a bit of procrastination humour there). I am a prime candidate for such a group. I put things off. The other week I made an 'I really must do that' list of things that I had been putting off for months just so I would actually get some of them done! I have good intentions - I *think* about doing things. It's just the actual DOING part that I fall down on.
When it comes to dog training for instance, I have LOTS of good ideas, I spent LOTS of time thinking about what I want to teach the dogs and how I can do it, and what I want their final performances to look like. I understand the theory behind how I want to train. But when it comes to actually training... well, then the excuses come out. I work full time, so my week day daylight hours are pretty much taken up by that. As we know from my previous posts, I hate getting up early. Though I have managed to 'shape' myself to getting up a little earlier, it's nowhere near enough time yet to give me proper training time with the dogs. When I get home at night, the first excuse is 'I'll just let the dogs out so they can toilet before I do some training' possibly followed by 'I'll just sit down for a few minutes since I've been at work all day and I'm tired' followed by 'Must do some cleaning in the house, empty cat litter trays, get stuff sorted for work tomorrow' followed by 'Ooooo Masterchef is about to start, I'll just watch that' followed by 'I still haven't fed the dogs yet, really should use their dinner for training, but that will take so long...' or 'It's raining out there now, it's all muddy and wet' followed by 'Perhaps I'll just do a quick training session tonight and do some more tomorrow' and usually ends up with me doing something akin to doing a collar grab and having the dog drive into his crate then giving him his dinner. Or if I'm REALLY organised I might release him from the crate over a bar and send him back into the crate, practicing my decel cue and front cross. But that's it. That's my 'regular' training. Not nearly enough obviously.
I do try to fit in little extra bits of training when I can, for example as in my previous post walking the dogs to the door in the morning, releasing them in/out the door and the dog yard, having them inside with me so they can learn to settle and so on. But I don't regularly work on skills and build on them. Yes, I have done the basis of crate games, and this is the game we play most (along with variations of It's Your Choice) but it's not 'proper' training.
Side note - somewhat ironically, I just took a break halfway through writing this. No, it wasn't intentional
So I do bits and pieces. I do try and keep records of what I do when I do train... but I only have a very broad plan of where I am heading (i.e. my current aim, which is very broad, is to not look like a total idiot when I do the Susan Garrett workshops in November). Nothing specific on what skills I working on and what my aim is for this particular session/day/week. Lack of focus. I think that is what I am missing. So I need a training plan. If I have something to go by I will know a) if progress is being made b) what I should actually be working on each session and c) what I need to change. I also need to simplify my record-keeping - it is too time consuming currently, so I hate doing it and therefore it sometimes doesn't get done.
So aim this week is to make a proper training plan, including the dogs' strengths and weaknesses and how I can use them to my best training advantage. Also so I can work out how to make the best use of my time - no use planning to drive the dogs out to a park on a night I do the late finish at work for example because it just won't happen. I also need to pencil in time to watch my many and varied training vids again. Perhaps that is something I could use to set up training sessions for the week - pick some skills from one of the vids and work them through then something different next time. Hmmmmm... lots of planning to do!
Just re-reading some of my notes from Lynda's workshops... about It's Your Choice... and should clarify that in case I got carried away with enthusiasm in my post yesterday and forgot what I was talking about, IYC is not meant to be a shaping exercise in itself, it is simply to teach self control. I'd better go back and re-read what I've written to make sure my plans fit that context!
FYI so far so good... up at 8AM today (Allowed myself that extra half hour because it is a weekend... this is still very good consdering I usually get up around 10.30 on weekends!)
Can our methods of shaping dogs (and other animals) be applied to ourselves?
I hate getting up in the morning. I am no good at it. I hit the snooze button multiple times and then when I finally stumble out of bed I rush around like a half-asleep idiot because I am then running late. This has been ongoing for some time now. This morning, it occurred to me to look at this from the point of view of if it was a behaviour I wanted to teach my dogs. Suddenly a multitude of fascinating possibilties came to light.
So, to start with – sleep is obviously a self-reinforcing behaviour. (It is in itself highly enjoyable for me anyway). Then you add the associated factors – the warmth and comfort of the bed. It is heading towards winter now, the mornings are getting colder and darker. Therefore staying in the bed is considerably more reinforcing than getting out into the cold and going to work. Even though I enjoy my work once I’m there, it isn’t so enjoyable I can’t wait to leap out of bed in the morning! Then on weekends when I don’t have to go to work, I have the option of choosing to get up at a reasonable hour or insetad sleep in even later (guess which option I choose?)
Now, to dissect this from the dog training view point. How can I shape my own behaviour to make getting up early something I really want to do? Is it possible? I propose an experiment!
It’s Your Choice game – the getting up in the morning version (didn’t I say there were endless applications??) If I were shaping a dog, I would do the following: 1) Make the correct choice easier for the dog, and gradually increase the difficulty by manipulating their environment and limiting access to other potential reinforcements. 2) Use very high value rewards. 3) Make sure the dog was in a heightened arousal state before we began working on anything.
Applying my knowledge of dog shaping then, I propose the following for HUMAN shaping:
I can’t really limit my access to the bed if I am already in it. I can make adjustments however, like turning off the snooze option on my alarm, thereby removing the choice to hit snooze and go back to sleep (more on this below). I can move the alarm away from next to the bed so I have to actually get out of the bed to turn it off (though I suppose this could be conisdered to be use of an aversive – I get up because I want to remove the unpleasant stimulus of the loud alarm going off).
I can make the option of getting up more appealing by being more organised the night before – i.e. I can make sure my clothes are ironed, everything I need for the following day is set out, I can wash my hair. All things that take up time in the morning and might lead to stress and therefore make the getting up option more unappealing, like racing around looking for where I dropped my work shoes (yesterday AND today), discovering the only clean work shirt I have is unironed AND has a stain, spending extra time in the shower to wash my hair and making myself late (stress!) Without these added stressors I can adjust my morning routine to become more relaxed and enjoyable, perhaps the option to sit down and have a leisurely cup of tea or coffee. If it becomes a more pleasant experience I am more likely to choose that option. I can also make sure I don’t go to bed at, say, 3AM which would decrease the likelihood of getting up just 4.5 hours later.
I can give myself a higher chance of success by adding criteria gradually (and being specific – success is more likely to result if you know exactly what you are shaping at each stage). I therefore propose that my initial criteria is to get up 5 minutes earlier each day (say the baseline is 7.30AM, I will therefore initially aim to get up at 7.25AM. At this stage I will set an end goal of 7.00AM). If I went straight to setting the alarm an hour earlier, what do you think my likelihood of success is? (Very low).
In this case criteria can be set as the amount of minutes earlier I get up – rather than trying to shape the finished behaviour, I will shape it in steps. 5 mins earlier is an achieavable goal (even just sitting here now I think ‘Heck, 5 minutes earlier, I can do that!’) As I achieve success with that it will be easier to add another 5 minutes and so on. I will feel good because I have will have succeeded several times in a row before adding new criteria, and will therefore be more likely to succeed with the new criteria also . (I will also be specific in that a SUCCESS in the terms of ‘getting up earlier’ means me up and out of bed and getting ready, and not returning to bed, and not just lying in bed awake.)
As I have more success, I may choose to make the correct choice more difficult to challenge myself – I can move the alarm back closer to the bed for example. The coming of winter will add to this too, as it continues to get colder and darker in the morning (though I could help control this by setting the heater to come on at certain time on the morning). Sometimes there will be environmental factors I cannot control, such as my partner being home on the weekend and able to sleep in (he usually leaves before me in the morning). This will make the option of staying in the bed and spending extra time with him even more appealing. However, being a good trainer I know that these environmental reinforcers will pop up now and again and all I can do is make sure I control everything available to me. I can still control many other factors and therefore maintain a good chance for success.
(I will add here that because I am choosing to shape myself using POSITIVE methods I will not be using aversives such as having my partner rip the blankets off in the morning and throwing a bucket of cold water over me. I will also not be using lures, such as having my partner make me a cup of coffee and encouraging me to get up to have it.)
OK, so I have adjusted my environment, set my criteria and mapped out a course of steps that should be easy to let me succeed at each stage to reach the finished behaviour. Now to find a high value reward.
Firstly, just having a more relaxing start to the day will be reinforcing. I could try something like laying out a chocolate before I go to bed and rewarding myself with that when I get up – however, I have to admit the value of the chocolate will be low compared to the value of staying in the bed!!! I suppose it could also be classified as a lure. This will really require some thought... since sleeping in is SUCH a high value reinforcement for me, topping it will be difficult (suggestions anyone???) I propose for the time being that getting up earlier will be self-reinforcing as I have more time to do things I enjoy, perhaps training the dogs or having a chance to sit down and relax before heading off to work. Plus the feeling of having achieved a success in my path to my goal.
Hmmm, heightened arousal state – I suppose in some ways that should be easy to achieve, since I am starting off asleep. One thing I can think of for myself is setting some favourite music to come on in the morning as my alarm – I love to sing and dance around the house (and I know you all do it too so wipe that smirk off your face) so waking up to something a bit energetic could be helpful. Like when your favourite song comes on the radio and you start belting it out at the top of your lungs and inadvertently tapping your feet or fingers – that is a heightened arousal state.
Now, back to the issue of the alarm clock – this is actually the first thing that came into my mind and led to me going on to examine all the other issues in detail. In fact, my initial title for this post was going to be ‘What are you REALLY reinforcing?’ Let me outline it for you below.
For quite some time, I have set my alarm earlier than I plan to get up, so I can hit the snooze button once (or twice, or three times or so on!) and sleep a bit longer. It’s a bit like when you wake up in the middle of the night, say 3AM, and it feels so good to look at the clock and know you still have another 3-4 hours of sleep before you have to get up. It felt so good to be able to grab those few extra minutes of sleep each time in the morning.
Looking at this from a dog training perspective though, I came to a startling conclusion – what if I had inadvertently shaped myself to respond to the alarm as a cue to go back to sleep? Let’s break it down – what I think my alarm is cueing is ‘time to get up’. In reality, what behaviour have I learnt to associate with the alarm? Hitting snooze and going back to sleep. So really, my alarm has become a cue for ‘go back to sleep’. Same as if you cue your dog to ‘give’ when he is tugging and he doesn’t let go. What behaviour has the dog REALLY learned for your ‘give’ cue? He’s learnt ‘keep tugging until mum prys it out of my mouth’. And by setting it so I had the chance to hit the snooze button several times before getting up, I was giving myself multiple chances for self-reinforcement. So the going back to sleep behaviour has therefore been reinforced over and over again – is it any wonder then that I don’t want to get up in the morning when my alarm goes off??
Then I thought about it some more and tried to decide whether in fact the alarm had now become a conditioned reinforcer – the alarm was in effect marking my ‘correct’ behaviour of going back to sleep. So subconsciously when the alarm went off my brain interpreted it as ‘good job, keep doing that’. Same as using a clicker for a dog. I offer the behaviour of sleep, the alarm goes off and marks me as correct and I am then reinforced by getting to go back to sleep. It is the circle of reinforcemnent in action!
I was truly astonished when I thought about this. It is said that only the dog ever knows what you are clicking/marking. I didn’t even realise what behaviour I was reinforcing on MYSELF!!
So now I know this, I could say that the alarm is a poisoned cue. It doesn’t mean what I want it to. I need to change it. Now, I could try to go back and alter what the cue means (could be time consuming and difficult, even impossible). Or I could just add a new one altogether.
Now that I know what I know, hopefully I can avoid the same thing happening again! Luckily my alarm (which is my phone) had several options for different alarm noises. How can I make the new alarm my cue to get up? Normally one would add a cue once the behaviour has been shaped to where you want it. (i.e. you wouldn’t add a ‘sit’ cue for a dog that was doing very slow, cautious sits). How can I shape a cue for ‘get up’? Can I set the new alarm to go off when I am doing things during the day, things I do when I get up? What if I decided to set the alarm every time I planned to have a coffee, so the alarm became a cue to ‘go and make a coffee’? It isn’t exactly a cue for getting up, but since I will have to get up to make the coffee in the morning, it still achieves the same result. Plus getting to drink the coffee is reinforcing!!
My goodness but my brain hurts now. When it comes to shaping my dogs I feel like I am beginning to get a handle on it – when it comes to shaping ME it requires much more in depth concentration!
Check back for updates on how my experiment is proceeding. For now, I need to go and make myself a coffee (as reinforcement for thinking all this out )
The game of a thousand faces... OK, so yesterday I wrote about 'Invisible Training'. Incorporated into that are a lot of 'It's Your Choice Moments' as Lynda referred to them during her workshops. (For a description of 'It's Your Choice' game see Susan Garrett's book 'Shaping Success').
Basically, the premise is that the dog always has the CHOICE of what he does when you are working with him, though you manipulate the situation so that the RIGHT choice is the easier one. Then you can gradually increase the difficulty level. For example, I am doing a lot of exercises at the moment which involve the dogs working around their treats. Currently the treats are still in a little zip loc bag, which sits open on the ground. Eventually I will work them up to having treats free on the ground. The scenario is often this: I place the treat bag just a little off to the side of the crate door (dog starting in crate). We play crate games: as I put my hand on the crate door, the dog sits and provided he stays in a sit and doesn't move any feet, I will retrieve one of the treats from the bag and reward. (Initially I started with the bag a good distance away - now it is quite close).
Then I lead out and release the dog to me. If he chooses to come to me, and on the side I have indicated with my body language, I produce a tugy toy and we have a fun game of tug, then I race the dog back to the crate and reward with treats from the bag. Billie had an excellent 'It's Your Choice' moment tonight when we first played this game - she came out of the crate and paused to sniff at the treat bag. She could easily have chosen to go ahead and delve into them, and since we have dine some work on this I gave her the chance to make that decision for herself rather than race over and try to stop her. I was utterly thrilled then when after a sniff she continued to me and had a great game of tug. Next time she burst straight out of the crate to me and ignored the treats totally. She has improved sensationally since we first started playing IYC - I used not to be able to get her to tug if I also had treats - she simply wanted the treats. So to get her to follow me on a lead out and then play tug enthusiastically is just excellent.
The brilliant thing about this game is that it teaches the dog to put in an excellent performance in the face of distractions. The distractions themselves can actually become cues to pay MORE attention to the handler! And of course you can do it with more than just treats - you can use anything the dog wants (has value for). It's an IYC moment when I take the dogs from their room to the back door in the morning - if you CHOOSE to stay in a sit whilst I open the door and step out myself, I will then release you outside. If you CHOOSE not to stay in that sit, I will close the door and your chance to go run outside is removed.
The other great thing about IYC is that it creates a dog with a lot more drive to work - the arousal level is up because they know that making the right choice earns rewards, and are therefore more likely to keep trying to find out WHICH is the right choice and work through any failures.
It also just makes life easier - tonight doing nose touches for example I had treats sitting on the ground next to me within easy reach where I was kneeling. I could grab more and keep working with the dog rather than fumble about in my pockets, and I knew I could do this without the dog being distracted by the treats and spending the whole time trying to get them.
The applications are endless. You can play IYC in virtually any situation. If the dog fails too many times, you can re-start and make the correct choice more easy (perhaps add some distance) and then work back up to the more difficult one. I enjoy it because the dogs learn very quickly and I can therefore keep challenging them (like Billie tonight) to see how well they have really learnt!
I have borrowed this term from my good friend Donna :) Now that I am back home from my various trips and starting to settle back into a routine again, I am back to working with the dogs.
It is amazing the things I notice now that I would not have 12, 24, 36 months ago from a training point of view. The many and varied types of reinforcement for one, and the dogs' access to them. This is the basis for my 'invisible training' (in Donna's words, the training you are doing when the dogs don't realise it is training).
Once you start looking, there are so many skills you can work on without actually going out and 'training' (this is the basis of crate games too of course). First example - my dogs have their own room where they sleep at night, Billie in her crate so she doesn't create too much chaos (!) and the boys having their choice of doggy bed in the room. In the morning, we go from the room through the house to the back door (and the reverse at night). Now, it occurred to me that apart from Fyre (who makes a beeline each way both times) the other two were helping themselves to all sorts of free reinforcements along the way - Josh would wander over to check out where the cat had been eating or sniff the litter box, Billie would race through like a whirlwind looking for a toy to grab. If they were doing this on such a short walk inside the house rather than paying attention to me calling them to the door, how could I expect excellent concentration or recalls out in the wide world?
So, first order of business: dogs on lead from room to back door and vice versa. This therefore limits their chances to grab 'free' reinforcement, and also makes it much more likely I will have a chance to reinforce them for behaviour I DO want. It also means there is more reinforcement from me throughout (i.e. rather than just giving a treat when they come to me, I can treat them the whole way from door to door for paying attention, maybe ten treats). This has already made a big difference. Billie actually now almost looks like a polished obedience dog with head up and watching me at my side the whole way!
Their criteria also involves sitting at the doorway so I can put the leash on - another chance for reinforcement (R+). I.e. sit, R+, leash on, R+, one step, R+, dog gives attention, R+ and so on. (For Billie she has to sit with no paws moving in her crate as I put the leash on).
Then, once we get to the next door the criteria is to sit, and stay sitting whilst I remove the leash (lots more R+) and not move until I walk out the door ahead and give my release cue. (Which it occurred to me was an excellent way to practice start line stays - it is the same process as lining up at the start line - dog sits, remove lead, wait for release cue - hence 'invisible training'). Because they are also excited first thing in the morning and keen to race outside, it also allows them to perform these behaviours with a high arousal level - good practice for the exciting trial environment.
This is just one part of what we have been working on, but there are so many more applications - I might go through a few more when I have more time!
This is a link I happened across on another blog (Cathy Bishop - Caitland Aussies) and even having just read a few pages it is well worth checking out. Lots of great motivational stuff!
What a delight it was to spend four days at the gorgeous DogsWest grounds, catch up with friends and watch some truly awesome performances by both dogs and handlers
Wednesday - Arrival in Perth My Nationals adventure began early - 5AM early! I had booked an early flight out of Adelaide so in case I did take the dogs with me they would not have any chance of being stuck on the tarmac in the hot sun (one does hear horror stories) and also so I would have a day to settle in before the trials began.
The first drama happened mid-flight when I suddenly realised that Chris, after dropping me off at the airport, had gone straight to work rather than home again as I'd thought he would, and therefore my poor dogs were still shut inside, not having been let out for close to 12 hours. Crossing my legs on their behalf, obviously the first thing I did when I got off the plane was frantic phone call to mum to see if she could pop round and let them out. Phew! Disaster averted.
My taxi driver, although fitting the Indian stereotype, most UN-stereotypically had a GPS!!!! Unfortunately the GPS could not warn us that a tanker had rolled on the main road just near our accommodation, and that we would be stuck in traffic which all had to take the same backstreets. At this point also, my taxi driver (who was actually quite a nice fellow and intrigued by the idea of agility) lost some faith in the GPS and hopped out of the car to retrieve his street directory from the boot and asked me to check where we were and where we were going!! Ah well - I guess no-one's perfect.
Still, I finally arrived in one piece, paid the taxi fare (gulp) and found the cabin I was sharing with Gary and Lee-Anne, who had driven over and already been there a couple of days. We were staying at the Cee and See caravan park which is in Rockingham and directly across from a dog friendly beach. Gary and Lee were already down on the beach with their gorgeous 2yo daughter Chantelle, so I headed right down there after dumping my gear on the cabin doorstep. Here is a view of the ocean that day, and the view from our cabin - as you can see, just beautiful!
Then back home and head off to the grounds to pick up numbers, merchandise and stake out a spot. Sitting in the back of the car with Chantelle I was beset by a constant barrage of questions (“What that?” “What your name?” “What you doing?”) and was quickly amazed at how much a 2yo really does understand and actually a little bit envious of the innocence and amazing imagination of that age – wouldn’t it be nice to be so carefree! (I should also note here that Chatelle was also the only one running and jumping around the cabin enthusiastically at 5.30AM every morning as the rest of us dragged ourselves from bed )
We met up with Lee-Anne’s friend Helen and kindly offered us to come back to her boarding kennels for the afternoon, where we relaxed with cool drinks under the gazebo in her beautiful garden. It was just lovely – tall palm trees and green all around, the gazebo itself decked out in fairy lights, so it must look even more lovely lit up at night.
On the way to Helen’s, driving through a relatively new housing development area, we spotted something out of place – a giant, golden monkey man statue! Gary determined that this would make an excellent Facebook profile picture for him, so on the way home we were obliged to stop so he could take photos of it (all the while hoping we were not offending a deeply religious person who would come barrelling out of the house with a shotgun).
We did discover a very nice Chinese shop close by (Gary and I were just a little nervous when we went in to order and there was no-one else in the entire restaurant and a well-dead yabby in their fish tank) but in fact the food was excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
By 9PM we were all buggered, and with an early start the next morning we were soon crashed out in bed. Of course, since Chantelle had had a nap during the evening she was considerably more rested, so for the first half hour I was kept well amused by her questions floating up in the dark until she finally drifted off :)
Thursday -First Day of Heats 5.30AM – up and at ‘em! A plus for me was that since Adelaide is 1.5 hours ahead of Perth, the early hour didn’t feel *quite* so early. Rugged up against the early morning cold we piled into the car and sharing the backseat with Chantelle again I watched the first of many viewings of ‘Tinkerbell’, which enthralled Chantelle equally as much the 30th time as it had the first!
At the grounds it was a fresh morning, the ground just touched by dew, the first morning sun just starting to bring some warmth. Our shelter was set up just in front of the novice/excellent agility ring – here are views in each direction.
Everywhere was activity – stewards getting their last minute instructions and judges tweaking the equipment in their rings, people setting up their shelters and crates, exercising dogs and walking courses. Before the trial officially started we gathered at the top of the ground for a general welcome and the judges’ briefings. The excitement and anticipation in the air was palpable – everyone couldn’t wait to get started! Luckily the coffee van rocked up nice and early so hot, caffeinated beverages were readily available to calm (or perhaps further jangle?) everyone’s nerves.
Then it was on! The first dogs were in the ring. Having taken photos at the last two Nationals I was keen this time to get as much video as possible (well, actually I could have gotten more but only realised on the last day that my camera has a ‘long play’ function – d’oh!) Still, I managed to get probably 5-6 hours of footage. I am hoping to get some of it uploaded to YouTube when I have a chance to go through it, which will likely take some weeks.
I saw some truly amazing runs. Masters agility the first day I was lucky enough to get on tape the dog that won the class, Kriszty and her border collie Terra – what an AWESOME run – anyone watching it knew right away that this was going to be the winning run. I was particularly blown away by the speed and accuracy of her contacts – just fantastic. It reminded me of my last trip to Perth, for the 2005 Nationals. I clearly remember all us South Australians coming home after that thinking ‘geez, we really need to improve our contacts!’ I had never seen dogs doing contacts like that before. In particular that year I was truly in awe of Simone and her border collie Raven – her drive and her running contacts became the standard I would try to reach with my own dogs.
The South Australians were putting on a good performance – quite a few clear runs over some great courses. The overall standard was very high – VERY fast dogs, well trained with excellent handlers. It was truly a pleasure to watch. One of the reasons I wanted to video was so I could bring it home and study it – these were some of the top handlers and dogs in Australia so I am sure I will learn a lot by watching them again in detail. It’s one thing to be working through the training yourself, but quite another to see firsthand the finished product you are aiming for.
The day began to heat up (literally) as afternoon approached, and the sun really had some bite to it. Sitting in the shade however was just delightful, and it was very nice to retire to our shelter and relax watching the novice agility dogs. Some great dogs coming up there that I’m sure we will see at future Nationals in the higher classes.
Each day was organised to have an agility/jumping heat in the morning and a game in the afternoons, with all classes to be awarded in separate height categories, no small task for a National but one that the ANWA committee met and then some – helping to shift prizes over from the storage shed I could hardly believe how much great stuff they had.
The whole event had a wonderful atmosphere – everyone was cheerful, the rings ran smoothly and efficiently no doubt in large part to the exceptional performance of the stewards who kept everyone well organised even with multiple dogs running out of order. They were friendly and quick and worked the whole day through with smiles! The competitors too seemed more relaxed, due to the scheduling there was less of a need to race here, there and everywhere even with multiple dogs (or so it appeared from my non-competitor’s perspective anyhow). Everyone was quick to ask everyone else how their dogs were faring and congratulating or commiserating as required, and generally just enjoying a chance to socialise and chat with their fellow agility enthusiasts from interstate. With the Nationals only a two yearly event now, these occasions to catch up with interstate agiliteers are few and far between so everyone was making the most of it!
The day gradually drew to a close, the temperature quickly becoming quite cool after the warm day. As Lee-Anne thought she had not Q’d in any class we headed off home before presentations started, with a reasonable drive to get back to our cabin and another early start the following day. We actually did get home in time to catch Masterchef (my latest TV addiction!) but were in bed not too long after that.
Friday - Second Day of Heats
Up early again – it seems ironic that most of my doggy ‘holidays’ require me to get up considerably earlier than I do for work. What’s up with that??
First good news of the day (apart from a steaming hot cappuccino, mmmmmmmm) was that Lee-Anne’s Toby (Calanais Look At Me) actually HAD Q’d in Excellent Snooker, gaining a leg towards his title and not only that finishing in 4th place! (Below - Toby showing style in SDX through the tyre)
This day also turned out to have nicer weather – just that little bit cooler made a huge difference, with people and dogs enjoying it just that much more. With the first day of competition now behind us everyone had settled in a bit more and there were many excellent performances. Lee-Anne had offered Helen Cassie (Tamaari Eyesasensation) to run in JDM and they managed a great quallie! 13th place at a Nationals is nothing to be sneezed at, especially with Cassie doing it at age 10!
Another bright spot was having a chance to catch up with Ash and meet her puppy Ace – back when Ash was searching for a Coolie breeder I was sworn to secrecy as I received gorgeous puppy photos from various breeders to offer an opinion (which was difficult cos they were ALL gorgeous ) Eventually Ace came home and he really is quite the charmer! Ash is another handler I remember from several of the earlier Nationals, running her Greyhound x Kelpie Bayley and putting in some great performances. Another of those dogs I had watched with envy! It was great to see Ash again since Bayley has been retired for a few years now and thus she has not attended the last few Nationals.
Friday also saw the first round of the teams event. SA had a great team in this year, and we were thrilled when they all put in really good performances, ending with two clear rounds and two rounds with just one fault each. We were now well placed coming into the second round for the following day and keeping our fingers crossed our luck would hold out!
This time we did hang around for presentations, after a long day it was pleasant to sit with all the other competitors and watch the dogs and kids chilling out – the dogs were loving the prizes from the second chance box (anyone who missed a Q could put their numbers in to be drawn out for a prize – and true to form WA had SO MANY second-chance prizes that on the final day they literally had to offer a free for all to try and get rid of them!) My new Nationals jacket came in handy, keeping the cold wind off as I sat and cheered with the other South Australians as several of the ‘home team’ went up to collect Q’s and placings. Toby had again done Lee-Anne proud gaining a Q and 5th place.
Then it was time to bundle back into the car again, enjoy watching the first ten minutes of Tinkerbell for the 15th or so time (Chantelle insisted on kicking her feet up and re-starting the DVD at regular intervals) and head home for another early night. Incidentally, I was sleeping in the top bunk (Lee-Anne had wisely removed Chantelle’s mattress from the bottom bunk and placed it next to their own bed, lest the whole structure gave way underneath me!) which is the first time I’d slept in a top bunk bed since... you guessed it... my LAST trip to Perth! Despite the bed being slightly too short for me, apparently having being designed for children, it was actually quite comfortable. Not that it would have made much difference I don’t think, by now we were all so exhausted at the end of each day we were conking out as soon as out heads touched the pillow!
Saturday - Final Day of Heats Even Chantelle took some encouraging to get out of bed this time. The early starts and long days were starting to tell, but with cups of coffee to fortify us we were once again out the door just after 6.30AM. This day started out overcast and cool, with the possibility of some showers, but after a few initial showers on the drive down the day cleared up beautifully once again.
The morning went well – SA had probably their best day yet, lots of Q’s and several more dogs qualifying for the following day’s finals. Helen took Cassie into JDM again and managed another great run and another Q, andJust a few minutes after that Lee-Anne took her back for JDO and finished off back to back Q’s! I got a lot more great video footage (thanking the stars Chris had bought me the new extended life battery for my camera) and then we settled in the relax for the afternoon as Lee-Anne was not entered in Strategic Pairs.
Before that though, we had the Teams jumping round. SA’s own Michael Vigor was judging and had put together a course with his patented multiple tunnel entrances close together. It was a fast course which caught out a few people, and unfortunately SA’s excellent performance in the agility wasn’t enough to save them in the placings – we finished fourth. Still a great performance considering it was first time in the National team for several of the dogs. Taking out first prize was NSW, followed by VIC and TAS.
Lee and I enjoyed the afternoon, wandering around and watching the teams. As most of the rings were winding down, we took the dogs out to have a run, so they could wind down after three days of high pressure competition. It seemed we weren’t the only ones with this idea, and soon there was a large group of dogs all running and playing together with nary an argument between any of them. It was truly wonderful to see so many dogs running together and just being DOGS. Below are a couple of little videos I shot and some candid photos. As you can see, even when standing still they were poised and ready for action at a moment’s notice!
Presentations were once again an enjoyable evening - Cassie gained an 11th spot in JDM and 17th in JDO, again amidst very high level competition.
On the way home we decided it was pasta for tea tonight, and duly the GPS guided us to the right spot. It turned out to be an EXCEPTIONALLY good decision as in the same block of shops as the pasta place was a LOLLY shop, still open at 7.30PM! (I immediately decided that Perth really was my kinda place). Even better than that, they sold *drool* Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Now, anyone who knows me knows that I ADORE peanut butter flavoured things, ESPECIALLY these delicacies. Unfortunately they are somewhat hard to come by in Adelaide apart from specialty stores (though a good friend at work kindly pointed out that they do in fact sell them in a supermarket in North Adelaide – must check that out!!!) The lolly shop also had another favourite of mine, this time of New Zealand origin – ‘Rashuns’. These cheese and bacon flavoured corn snacks are consumed in great quantities every time I visit NZ, so it was a doubly good discovery to see some here in Oz. Even now, I wish I had some of those PBC... mmm... they are soooooo good.... ok, must finish blog entry!!
Sunday - Finals
The final day we didn’t need to be up quite so early, as Lee-Anne did not need to attend any finals we didn’t have to worry about setting ourselves up for the day. She and Gary had decided to make the most of their trip and take Chantelle so see a bit more of Perth, but they kindly dropped me at the grounds on the way so I could watch the finals. Helen had also been nice enough to offer to pick me up if by any chance the day finished before Gary and Lee were back, which I greatly appreciated.
Another warm day – I was determined to get on video all of the finals, though unfortunately it turned out I had one less tape than I thought I had and ran out of room (why oh why didn’t I discover that long play function earlier – argggghhhh!) and had to make the decision not to film JD and JDX apart from the SA dogs (thought I got so caught up in cheering for them that I think I may have missed one or two – sorry guys!) I got everything else though so 6 out of the 8 isn’t too bad. It did get bloody hot standing under the sun. I was very glad to have my hat and suncream, and was actually quite relieved when the morning runs were over so I could get into the shade and sit down – in order to get the best view I had been standing up to video the whole time. One never realises how tiring it is just to stand up until one tries to do it for several hours non-stop! The agility runs saw SA’s Natalie with Halley go clear in ADM, and Danni and Gabby go clear in ADO, both with great runs.
During the lunch break I received more exciting news – an e-mail to say that Susan Garrett would be returning to Australia for workshops in November. I had been waiting in anticipation of this news since attending Lynda Orton-Hill’s workshops in February, and what with being caught up in the excitement of the Nationals, what better time to receive it! I had vowed that when Susan came I would apply for working spots as I have audited the previous two workshops I attended, and feel it’s time I actually throw myself in the deep end!
After lunch we reconvened for the jumping rounds – again SA did us proud, Neville and Rio and Elaine and Cherry both gaining clears in JD, Danni and Gabby clear in JDO. There were also several other ‘so close’ runs from SA competitors – it was edge of your seat stuff! The JDO class was particularly exciting, it being a very fast course with just a few little tricks, each dog coming in and trying to beat the last fastest time. There some absolutely BLITZING runs there.
I should mention also that there was a lovely Aussie running in the Novice finals who did some excellent work and so here he is then, the token Aussie photo :)
Last final of the day was JDM – the best of the best in jumping. Once again it was a race against the clock as several dogs posted fast, clear rounds. There were groans and sighs from the crowd as a bar wobbled, sharp intake of breath and gasps at a last second save by a handler, oohs and aahs as dog and handler worked in perfect unison to make a difficult part of the course look easy. It was like watching a perfectly drilled dance performed at high speed, every movement precise, each half of the team knowing what exactly which move their partner would make next. As the last dog crossed the final bar there were cheers and clapping for the amazing achievement of the ANWA team – it had been a truly great event, fun, superbly well run and exceptional in that it was the first Nationals to offer separate height categories, a feat in itself.
It was a little sad as everyone began to withdraw and pack up their gear – how quickly the four days had passed! As we gathered around before presentations, the ANWA team once again proved they had thought of every little thing, handing round boxes of Cadbury Favourites (which were enthusiastically accepted by all). Then we all headed back up to the top of the grounds for the finals presentations, and for the dinner that the ANWA committee had organised – an excellent idea considering everyone was tired and hungry after a long day, and especially since it was now quite cold with the sun dropping behind the horizon.
I sat in my chair and relaxed, watching a group of Corellas arguing amongst themselves and flapping in the gum trees high above, and reflected on the last few days and how much I had enjoyed it. Much as I would have loved to be running my own dogs, I didn’t regret for a moment my decision not to bring them, nor the decision then to still attend myself. I know they were the right ones. The time will come when my dogs are ready, and they will go out and do me proud, of that I have no doubt, but they will not attempt it until I know they and I are both confident in our abilities.
As the day had taken longer than expected, Gary and Lee-Anne were back before presentations had started, and rather than try to score a lift home with someone else or make them wait, I decided to head off. Thanks to my iPhone, I knew I would have access to the results as soon as they were posted online, so I headed off home.
The following day Gary was going to be up early to head off for a fishing charter, so we were all in bed early again. Because my flight didn’t leave until late afternoon the following day, I knew I could relax and finally have a bit of a sleep in!
Monday - Last Day in Perth Surprisingly, even with early bird Chantelle we managed to sleep until close to 8AM – pretty late considering we’d been getting up at 5.30! We had a lovely leisurely morning, then packed Chantelle into her stroller and headed off walking along a purpose-built path next to the beach. It was just about 3km walk into Rockingham, and though it was a bit warm it was thoroughly enjoyable to be out strolling in the fresh air, with Chantelle pointing out along the way every single slippery dip (admittedly, I have never seen quite so many in once place!!) and many of the passersby in the opposite direction smiling and calling ‘Good morning’.
We had breakfast in the open air at a nice little cafe, and then wandered down to look at the sculpture show they had on the beach – the theme being to use recycled materials. There were some amazing sculptures there – I particularly liked the huge dinosaur constructed entirely from pieces of old tyres, and both Lee and I really liked the sea-themed one with fish whose scales were made of old sunglass lenses, driftwood and shells. We even put in our votes for the ‘People’s Choice’ award because we were so impressed at the skill of the artists and the great variety in the materials they had chosen. (I was also impressed at the amount of patience some of them must have to work with said materials!) Photos of some of the sculptures below.
Then, as we wandered through Rockingham to find somewhere to check my lottery ticket and see if I was now a millionaire (I wasn’t) we discovered yet another awesome lolly shop, the Sweet Memories Candy Emporium. Even more exciting, they had an EXCELLENT range of Reese's products. It was probably a good thing they only accept cash, because they offer the option for buying an entire CARTON of your chosen goody (admittedly I was tempted). In the end however I settled for some PBC in a dark chocolate variety, which I had never tried before and which were delicious (hardly surprising) and some more of the regular milk chocolate ones, as well as various other chocolatey goodies to be presents for friends and family back home. They really did have a great range of many chocolate bars I had never heard of before. I highly recommend visiting their shop if you are ever in the area, or checking out their website. Below - look at all those REESE'S products!!!
By the time we walked home we were ready for a sit down, and I set to getting my suitcase re-packed to fit the new chocolate additions. Chantelle amused herself with the stickers off my suitcase from the flight in, and I was once again amazed at her imagination. Just a suitcase and some stickers and she was amused for over an hour!
Finally the time was drawing near. My trusty taxi driver had given me his business card after the trip down, and because he had done a pretty decent job on the drive down, and because I was fairly sure he would turn up on time (unlike some other taxi companies I have used in Adelaide!) I gave him a call. True to his word he was there exactly on time and actually remembered me and what I was visiting for, and asked how all the dogs had gone over the weekend.
At the airport, determining that this time I would not be forced to watch a crappy movie during my flight, I spied a bookstore advertising the latest from Candace Bushnell, a prequel to Sex & The City (which, incidentally I haven’t yet read) and picked up a copy. Done! Lucky too because the movie on the way home, whilst it starting out promising, soon proved to be too slow moving for my liking, so I happily absorbed myself in the book.
Despite taking off late, we arrived ahead of schedule and I was home. The Nationals adventure was over. Next time hopefully I will be back competing again, so until then keep an eye for updates on how the dogs are progressing – some day soon I will have to work out how many days left til NSW 2012!!!
