Big things happening. As I am approaching the end of my masters degree, it appears I will be jobless for (hopefully) a short period of time. So, I am leaving my amazing apartment which I love, to move into my parent's basement. Temporarily. I hope.
They are less than thrilled with the two cats and two dogs moving with me, but I'm sure we will all manage just fine. Temporarily.
So it is a busy time of year:
- finishing up my thesis (I think I am almost finished writing)
- packing (I move in 3 weeks)
- visiting all my friends before I move, since I don't know when I will be back to this area
- and training my dogs!
Piper and Ace are registered for their Canine Good Neighbour (CGN) tests on November 16th. We have been practicing, and chatting with a few friends who's dogs have passed, and I think we are ready. As long as they each have 10 minutes or so to settle before we go in, I don't expect any problems. I think this test will be great when I (hopefully soon) am looking for another apartment.
Since there are also CKC Rally and Obedience trials occurring at the same time, I am hoping there will be space to enter Piper in one run of Pre-Novice Obedience, and one run of Rally Novice. It looks like there will be space in Rally, but I'm not sure about Obedience.
I also have to purchase a membership with the CKC, which I'm not super thrilled about, as I strongly disagree with the breed standards imposed on many extremely unhealthy breeds, such as pugs. However if I want to trial in Obedience, CKC is the only venue I am aware of.
Have I mentioned moving in my my parents is temporary?
Wish us luck!
Thursday, 7 November 2013
Tuesday, 22 October 2013
cuddling kitties
Very quiet yahoo moment!
Percy was sleeping in the hooded cat bed when Archie approached and gingerly climbed in. Percy woke up and looked agitated for a minute, but Archie started licking him! So Percy and Archie have spent the last 10 minutes sharing the bed, and grooming each other. I'm so glad, it looks like they will be good company for each other after all, which is what I was hoping for when I adopted Percy.
Now, Archie may or may not be laying across Percy, so I'm not actually sure he CAN get up, but he doesn't look too distressed about it. Maybe my positive reinforcement training is paying off already. What cuties!
Percy was sleeping in the hooded cat bed when Archie approached and gingerly climbed in. Percy woke up and looked agitated for a minute, but Archie started licking him! So Percy and Archie have spent the last 10 minutes sharing the bed, and grooming each other. I'm so glad, it looks like they will be good company for each other after all, which is what I was hoping for when I adopted Percy.
Now, Archie may or may not be laying across Percy, so I'm not actually sure he CAN get up, but he doesn't look too distressed about it. Maybe my positive reinforcement training is paying off already. What cuties!
Thursday, 17 October 2013
percy's re-adjustment
Meet Morgan... or... ummm... Percy? Yes, Percy.
That's right, Morgan has had a name change. After having him for about 2 months, I decided I didn't like Morgan after all. AndI think Percy is the perfect name for a cat. And since he didn't have any name recognition anyways, I changed it!
He has been quite the annoying little fool recently. Always bugging Archie, and often bugging me. I was getting pretty frustrated my my little kitten.
A few days ago I decided to change how I dealt with him, in order to bond with him better. Part of this was the name change. The other part is that I have decided to treat him like a dog. No, really.
Good behaviour gets treats. Bad behaviour gets lured into good behaviour, and rewarded. If bad behaviour persists, he gets a time out in the cat crate. And I am making a point to exercise him! Play with the laser pointer several times per day. Rotation of cat toys every few days. Additional interactive play with toys that swing, tinkle, or crinkle. And maybe, just maybe, leash walks outside.
It's time to get this kitten under control!
That's right, Morgan has had a name change. After having him for about 2 months, I decided I didn't like Morgan after all. AndI think Percy is the perfect name for a cat. And since he didn't have any name recognition anyways, I changed it!
He has been quite the annoying little fool recently. Always bugging Archie, and often bugging me. I was getting pretty frustrated my my little kitten.
A few days ago I decided to change how I dealt with him, in order to bond with him better. Part of this was the name change. The other part is that I have decided to treat him like a dog. No, really.
Good behaviour gets treats. Bad behaviour gets lured into good behaviour, and rewarded. If bad behaviour persists, he gets a time out in the cat crate. And I am making a point to exercise him! Play with the laser pointer several times per day. Rotation of cat toys every few days. Additional interactive play with toys that swing, tinkle, or crinkle. And maybe, just maybe, leash walks outside.
It's time to get this kitten under control!
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| Percy and Archie sleeping on the table, under the ceiling fan. |
Monday, 23 September 2013
training and vacationing
During the summer, I spent most of my dog training time at home. I was all over the place with my research - literally from Ottawa to Bracebridge to Niagara - as well as trying to pick up hours at work, so decided against any classes.
However, Piper and I are back in the saddle! We are currently enrolled in the Jumpworks class at Companion Dog Training, which teaches us common jump combinations and exposes us to different manuvers such as front and rear crosses. Piper just adores it, I think if she could jump all day long, she would!
We also enrolled in a 3 hour workshop at Companion called Games for Obedience that took place last Saturday. We learned a few tricks, and fun things to do while training to keep it fun. Most of it seemed to be to throw in variations when you're teaching things like heeling and jumping, so they don't know what to expect and to teach them to recover if they don't do it quite right the first time. Piper had cut her foot at the cottage a few days before, but seemed to be ok so I took her anyways. She is not quite healed enough to run around off-leash, but I am leash walking her still. Anyways, we very much enjoyed the workshop, and look forward to continue to practice our heeling. I also want to bring out the dumbbell again, and our scent recognition tubes, as we haven't worked with those in a long time.
The next class I would like to take is Attention One, however I am running out of money, so will probably have to wait until I get a full-time job. The jumpworks class was a birthday gift from my parents.
There are however a few meets coming up, including the Monster Match (also at Companion) about a month from now. The run obedience, rally, and agility fun matches - I will probably take both Ace and Piper. My friends have asked me to help them teach their yellow lab some Rally, so maybe I will enter Rogue as well!
As mentioned, we spent a few days at the cottage last week with my sister Rebecca, who flew out to Thailand on Friday afternoon to spend about 6 months teaching English. We had a relaxing few days, and were quite entertained by Ace, Piper, Archie, Morgan, and my parent's dog Toby.
However, Piper and I are back in the saddle! We are currently enrolled in the Jumpworks class at Companion Dog Training, which teaches us common jump combinations and exposes us to different manuvers such as front and rear crosses. Piper just adores it, I think if she could jump all day long, she would!
We also enrolled in a 3 hour workshop at Companion called Games for Obedience that took place last Saturday. We learned a few tricks, and fun things to do while training to keep it fun. Most of it seemed to be to throw in variations when you're teaching things like heeling and jumping, so they don't know what to expect and to teach them to recover if they don't do it quite right the first time. Piper had cut her foot at the cottage a few days before, but seemed to be ok so I took her anyways. She is not quite healed enough to run around off-leash, but I am leash walking her still. Anyways, we very much enjoyed the workshop, and look forward to continue to practice our heeling. I also want to bring out the dumbbell again, and our scent recognition tubes, as we haven't worked with those in a long time.
The next class I would like to take is Attention One, however I am running out of money, so will probably have to wait until I get a full-time job. The jumpworks class was a birthday gift from my parents.
There are however a few meets coming up, including the Monster Match (also at Companion) about a month from now. The run obedience, rally, and agility fun matches - I will probably take both Ace and Piper. My friends have asked me to help them teach their yellow lab some Rally, so maybe I will enter Rogue as well!
As mentioned, we spent a few days at the cottage last week with my sister Rebecca, who flew out to Thailand on Friday afternoon to spend about 6 months teaching English. We had a relaxing few days, and were quite entertained by Ace, Piper, Archie, Morgan, and my parent's dog Toby.
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| Ace and Piper racing to get the ball in the water. Ace always wins. |
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| Swimming back with the ball. |
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| Piper standing on the beach, waiting for me to throw the ball. |
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| Toby, looking cute! |
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| Piper looking expectantly at the camera. "Can I run yet?" |
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| Ace taking a break from swimming. It does happen! Usually so he can poop. |
Monday, 16 September 2013
morgan
Greeting Blog Readers!
I would like to introduce Morgan, little annoying kitten extrordinaire!
Morgan was born June 9th, and taken to the Kitchener Humane Society when he was about 5 weeks old. A kind citizen had found him and taken him there. I adopted him on August 10.
Morgan spent his first two weeks in and out of a 42" dog crate, learning to conduct himself among the dogs, and giving him some time for Archie to adjust to his presence. The separation was worth it, Morgan has now fit in almost seamlessly.
He curls up with the Aussies, snoozing and playing with their long fur. He plays with Archie (who I was most worried about), jumping on him and chasing his tail. Archie is a pretty good sport about it, occasionally complaining, but for the most part being very stoic about it. I think a few times Archie has even initiated the play, and I have caught them curled up together a few times.
Morgan has the loudest purr I've ever heard, he sounds like a regular little motor boat! I was thinking the other day we should have called him Evinrude. He spent most of last night curled up in bed with me.
What a sweetheart!
I would like to introduce Morgan, little annoying kitten extrordinaire!
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| Morgan, at 9 weeks old. |
Morgan was born June 9th, and taken to the Kitchener Humane Society when he was about 5 weeks old. A kind citizen had found him and taken him there. I adopted him on August 10.
Morgan spent his first two weeks in and out of a 42" dog crate, learning to conduct himself among the dogs, and giving him some time for Archie to adjust to his presence. The separation was worth it, Morgan has now fit in almost seamlessly.
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| Morgan playing with a shoelace on the bed. |
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| Morgan curled up with Piper... he loves his Aussies! |
Morgan has the loudest purr I've ever heard, he sounds like a regular little motor boat! I was thinking the other day we should have called him Evinrude. He spent most of last night curled up in bed with me.
What a sweetheart!
Thursday, 8 August 2013
ASCA trial
On August 5th, Piper and I drove down with her breeder and sister to the only ASCA show in Ontario, held every August. They were running conformation, rally, obedience, agility, and herding on ducks, sheep, and cows. There were tons of Aussie's around, from rangy-looking working herding dogs, to beautifully groomed show dogs. It was pretty neat!
Wendy decided to enter Piper in all three conformation trials that day, under altered. She didn't win anything, however Wendy was pleased with how quickly she picked up what was expected of her, and was happy that the judges spent as much time looking at her as they did. She may borrow Piper again in a few months to show her.
I entered Piper in two rally trials. In each trial they started with the more advanced levels and worked down towards the novice level. It was an outdoor ring, bordered by the agility ring and the obedience ring, so there were TONS of distractions. One trial was in the morning, the other was in the afternoon.
The first trial had a very difficult run, I actually got lost and had to backtrack to figure out where I was. I thought it was going to be a non-qualifying run, to be honest. There was also one sign that is done differently in ASCA than in any CARO or CKC venue, so we had to learn it right before we went in. I was so nervous! However, we came out with a score of 189 (out of 200), which is pretty good. I was quite pleased. The other two people competing in novice had non-qualifying runs. We were told at the end of our run to watch out for tight leashes, and that we should be using a 6 foot lead (I was using a 3 footer).
Our second trial/run was late in the afternoon, around 4:00. We had been there since 7:30 am, so we were all pretty tired. This was a much easier run, the course flowed better in my opinion. We borrowed a longer leash from Wendy, and I made sure to give Piper more space. We were dinged for only a few tight leashes, and one handler error, and finished the run with a score of 197! Another novice competitor also scored 197, however Piper and I had the faster time.
We earned High in Trial (HIT) scores in both runs! Meaning that out of all dogs competing in all levels of rally, we had the highest scores. I am so proud of my little girl to accomplish this at only 13 months, and having learned it just with me in our parking lot.
I am already looking forward to our next set of classes, and more trialing in the future!
Wendy decided to enter Piper in all three conformation trials that day, under altered. She didn't win anything, however Wendy was pleased with how quickly she picked up what was expected of her, and was happy that the judges spent as much time looking at her as they did. She may borrow Piper again in a few months to show her.
I entered Piper in two rally trials. In each trial they started with the more advanced levels and worked down towards the novice level. It was an outdoor ring, bordered by the agility ring and the obedience ring, so there were TONS of distractions. One trial was in the morning, the other was in the afternoon.
The first trial had a very difficult run, I actually got lost and had to backtrack to figure out where I was. I thought it was going to be a non-qualifying run, to be honest. There was also one sign that is done differently in ASCA than in any CARO or CKC venue, so we had to learn it right before we went in. I was so nervous! However, we came out with a score of 189 (out of 200), which is pretty good. I was quite pleased. The other two people competing in novice had non-qualifying runs. We were told at the end of our run to watch out for tight leashes, and that we should be using a 6 foot lead (I was using a 3 footer).
Our second trial/run was late in the afternoon, around 4:00. We had been there since 7:30 am, so we were all pretty tired. This was a much easier run, the course flowed better in my opinion. We borrowed a longer leash from Wendy, and I made sure to give Piper more space. We were dinged for only a few tight leashes, and one handler error, and finished the run with a score of 197! Another novice competitor also scored 197, however Piper and I had the faster time.
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| Piper with her ribbons: High scoring Aussie (left) and High in Trial (right) |
I am already looking forward to our next set of classes, and more trialing in the future!
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| Piper (left) and Party (right). Pooped after a busy day at the ASCA trial! |
Tuesday, 6 August 2013
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