It is Tuesday, Journey's favorite day of the week .... well one of them anyway. Actually, he is such a happy pup he wakes up loving every day. He does look forward to his agility class though.
Today we have had such a variety of weather. It was sunny and beautiful; then dark, navy blue clouds moved in and we had rain. My neighbor, Devon came over and planted a tree for me and as he was leaving it began to hail. It is back to raining now. No problem for holding class though as it is inside a barn.
We finally found a place to have our weave poles altered. We have two sets of six poles. The poles were welded to bases, at 20" intervals. Since our last competition the standards have been changed to 24" intervals. This change is such a plus for big dogs, I wanted to have my weave poles converted to the new standard. The change should lesson the cases of shoulder injuries. I found a metal fabrication place that converted both sets for $100. The welds are smooth and they look great. Now I just need to primer and paint them. If it would just stop raining long enough for me to get a few coats on them I would sure be happy.
Journey is so good at weave poles. It is probably his favorite obstacle. He really moves through those poles. I also finally got our teeter set out and will probably set it up in the family room. Hope it stops raining for a while so we can get outside to practice. I would like to set up courses rather than just one or two obstacles at a time, that fit in the house. I am still wishing for a magic floor that I could lower over the pool when we are not using it. Then it could be our indoor arena. I did see a house once that had a retractable dance floor that covered the pool when it was not being used. Probably not going to happen here though.
Last week Journey was rather surprised to see that Karin had wound a tunnel under the dog walk in an "S" position. He didn't think he liked it, so she told me to let him investigate it. He did, and he was satisfied. He got back on the dog walk and was not bothered about it after that. She commented that that is one of the differences between German Shepherds and many other breeds and one that makes them much better guard dogs. They notice details. I had not thought about it, but all three of my boys are very observant of detail and any changes in their surroundings.
Another thing I enjoy about my dogs is that they watch and learn from other dogs. I can save a lot of time by having Journey watch a couple of the other dogs do something first. He observes when they make a mistake and have to repeat it. He will watch that again and again until they do it right. I have started petting him and commenting how good it is when they do it right. He seems to understand and goes out and often does it right the first time. Dogs are so interesting and so much smarter than most people give them credit for being.
We used to compete in trials where Nancy Gyes, one of the best agility handlers in the world competed with her Border Collies, Riot and Wicked. I believe it was Wicked who especially liked to watch other dogs performing. Her body was never still as she watched dogs run the course. She twitched and leaned as they took the obstacles. Even standing next to her you could feel her excitement.
Spirit used to watch me walk the course, before an event and he memorized it. With Quest, I could lead out completely across a barn when the course allowed. Then I could call him and I needed only to face him and to take a step in one direction or the other so he would know which obstacle to take. They really are amazing. Journey has only been doing agility for a couple months and he has already learned so much. He knows left and right. He is very attentive.
Now, if the weather will just cooperate, we will be setting up our outdoor courses and will finally get some practice in. Once a week is just not enough.
