Dog Agility

Some things have to be believed to be seen. ~Ralph Hodgson, The Skylark and Other Poems

Last night, DD and I took Dd to her first agility class. I've been apprehensive because Dakota is afraid of...everything. When DH comes home, she won't greet him until he puts down his keys. If anyone walks in carrying a package, she stands back nervously until it's put away. I still remember how terrified she was of garbage cans! So how would she deal with jumps and tunnels and poles?

She dealt with them just fine. She was truly amazing. By the end of the night, she was off-leash and running through the tunnels, over jumps and through the "tire" like a pro (well, maybe not quite like a pro, and maybe "running" is exaggerating a bit, but I was truly amazed at how well she did). After class was over, I decided to try her in the "chute" -- an obstacle that begins as a tunnel, but has a collapsing cover made of parachute like material that they have to push away and run through. I didn't figure I'd ever get her through it.

I had DD at one end, holding the material up so Dakota could see all the way through and I put Dd into the opening and gave her a little shove while DD called her. Took her a minute, but she ran through. We did that a couple times, and then let the material fall when Dakota was halfway through and she just barreled on all the way. After that, it was easy-peasy and I told the instructor I was a believer. AMEN!

We were the only orange dog in a class of black and white Border Collies, so that was odd. One of the dogs took a dislike to Dakota, but otherwise she made a bunch of new friends. She was completely exhausted and dying of thirst when she was done. I was tired (I did almost as much running as she did) and DD was excited (the teacher was fine with DD working the dog, too, which was good...so we took turns running her through the course).

I love this class. I didn't bring my camera... sorry. But, to give you an idea of what Dd was doing, here is a YouTube video (the first dog is a Border Collie -- and it goes through many of the same obstacles we did last night...don't they all look so excited?):



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DH is home today... so we'll see how writing goes. For the most part, we're all of us at JaNoWriMo doing well. Maybe not up to goal, but we're all WRITING, and having fun and isn't the important part?

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BTW, I'm having some trouble with my computer and Google Reader. I can read the blogs in my reader, but when I try to click through to comment, it locks me up. I'm going to rebookmark everyone and try to visit you that way, but it'll take some time. So... it's not that I'm not READING you, I just can't get there to comment! Sorry. It's been frustrating, to say the least.

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You Are Copper

You are provocative and challenging. You help people realize who they really are. You live a very balanced life. You always take time for love and art. You are both a powerful and generous person. You always have time to give back. People find you to be incredibly ethical and loyal.

What Metal Are You?

Um... hmmm... maybe... some?
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