Lounging

I have wanted a patio swing for my backyard for a while now, and this year I finally bought one.  It is very nice and even folds down into a chaise for reading a favorite book or into a bed for afternoon naps.  The dogs think that it is great to have "their" very own furniture in the yard.  It is a nice comfortable spot to lay and keep out of the sun.

I guess that in unison yawning means that Maggie and Bosley are bored of having their pictures taken while posing on the swing.

 

Being A Show Dog - According To Bosley

On Saturday at the CKC sanction match, Bosley had his first real "Show Dog" experience.  I want to enter Bosley in the Altered category at the Bernese Mountain Dog Specialty that is coming up later this summer.  Well, anyone who knows Bosley knows that he does not always like to be touched by people he does not know and this presents a problem when you are in the conformation ring and the judge needs to thoroughly examine your dog (kinda like being at the vet, but without the thermometer up the butt).  So, I thought I would give you Bosley's perspective of how his first time in the show ring went:

"Hey, this is fun!  I just stand here and Mom moves my feet around and gives me treats for doing nothing but standing here and looking handsome."

"Mmmmm  treats!!!"

"More treats?!?  I must really be looking extra handsome today!"

"Hey, there is a lady walking towards us - she better not want to touch me."

"Mmmmm treats!!!"

"That lady is getting closer and I think she wants to touch me."

"Yikes!  She is going to touch me!"

"She is touching me.  I think I am going to faint!"

(Bosley falls to the ground).

"Yup, I fainted."

And that is how Bosley began his show dog career - not well at all.  At least he didn't pee on the judge when he fell to the ground.

CKC Sanction Match

This morning we went to a CKC sanction match to work on our obedience.  I entered both dogs in Novice B (we really should be in Novice A, but if you have 2 dogs in the same trial you have to go in B).  It was a nice day, outdoors and in a new place - which was perfect - we need more practice in new places. Bosley went first and I was amazed with his heeling.  He had a couple of sniffs on the ground, but was mostly very focused on me.  I did not follow the rules strictly and I gave him some "good dog" encouragement.  He got 35/40 on his on-leash heel and 38/40 on his off-leash. His recall was also good and he scored 29/30.  On the stand for exam, he moved to follow me when I gave him the stay command, so I went back and replaced him, so we failed that exercise.  But he didn't move after that and let the judge examine him without barely looking at her.  In our long stays, he laid down during the sit-stay.  I don't think he has ever done that before.  Anyway, I was very happy overall with his performance.  I have been practicing with him by leaving cookies in his crate and then when he is doing really well he gets to run back and get them.  I did this today before we went in the ring, and I think it is really helping him focus.  He knows that he will get his cookies for doing a good job.  Maggie was next in the ring.  Wow, was she scatter brained today.  I don't think I warmed her up enough before we went out.  She was so busy looking around and sniffing that she barely paid attention to me. She did stay with me, but was not really into it.  She scored 32/40 on her on-leash heel and 31/40 on the off-leash heel.  Her stand for exam was good and she scored 30/30 and she had a good recall scoring 29/30.  Maggie often lays down on her long sits and today was no exception.  It was kinda like her and Bosley had it planned.  They were sitting next to each other in the ring and then, as if on cue, they both laid down at the same time.

I think I am going to start using the "treat in the crate" with Maggie.  I am not sure it will work as well with her because she is not as focused on the cookies as Bosley is.  She really has a tendency to "blow me off" if there is something more exciting going on.  I need to find a way to keep her focused on me and make obedience really fun for her.  For Bosley, I need to work on his stand-stay.  We do not practice this very much at all.  I think we are on the right track using the cookies-in-the-crate.  In practice I need to start varying the length of time he has to work before getting his cookies, so that he stays focused on working for a longer period of time.  There is always something to work on.

I just wanted to add one more tidbit from the day.  Early in the day, before everything got started, I left Maggie in her crate (which was in our shade tent) and I took Bosley out for a quick walk so he could get used to the new place.  Suddenly I heard someone yell "Loose Dog"!  I saw some movement behind me so I turned to take a quick look at the runaway pooch and thought to myself "Hey, someone else has a Bernese here too".  I looked again and that runaway dog was Maggie.  She pushed her way through the zipper opening of her crate and came running out to find us.  So now that she has figured out how to get out of her crate, I will need to be more careful and close the zipper all the way.

This picture of Maggie is one that Wendy took a few months ago.  Normally I can leave the zipper open and she will just stick her nose out and watch what is going on.  Yesterday, the zipper was only open a teeny bit, not near as much as in the picture.  I guess she figured if Bosley was out, she should be out too.

Funny Pictures and New Obsession

Earlier tonight, I was reading some blogs and Wendy was commenting on how useful Photobucket was when it comes to posting blog photos.  Well, I had to check it out for myself.  I have just spent over an hour uploading photos.  You might say to yourself "What is the fun in that?"  Well, this is the fun:

Bosley as an astronaut:

            

  

Maggie as a Diva Agility Dog:

Cartoon Baby Bosley:

and Party Boy Bosley:

This is so much fun.  Now I need to download more pictures to my computer so that I have more material to work with.

Thanks Wendy,  I think ;)

Today's Plans - Washed Away

I had my day all planned out.  I went to work extra early today, so that meant I would be home by 1:00pm (don't ask what time I need to leave for work in order to work a full shift and get home by 1).   I was then going to take Bosley to the park for a walk and then practice his obedience outside. Then Maggie would get a quick walk before I needed to make supper and then take her to agility class.  That was the plan.  That is not how things worked out.  I left work and again those storm clouds were rolling in.  That's OK, we walk in all sorts of weather, so a little rain is OK.  On the way home, it starts to thunder.  I will walk in rain, but not in lightning, so no walk or training in the park for Bosley.  So, a little training at home (boring) instead.  I keep waiting for the storm to pass, but now there is a tornado watch - arrggghh!  So, another night of no agility.

I did take some cute pictures of Bosley looking out the window, so the afternoon wasn't a total waste.   

Bosley is waiting for the rain to end too.

Handsome Bosley!

Another Washout ? ? ?

Last Monday, Bosley's agility class got rained out.  Today when I got home from work, the sun was shining and it looked like a perfect night for agility.  A few minutes ago, I heard what I thought was thunder, but that couldn't be!  I looked outside and guess what? 

Clouds!  Big, dark, bring-on-the rain, clouds.  Well, it is looking as if Bosley will miss another week of agility.

This little bird in my front yard does not seem to mind that it is about to rain. 

Oohhh!  I just heard another thunder.  Oohhh, and here comes the rain.  I guess Bosley stays in tonight. 

.

Sunday In The Park

Yesterday was the first day of "Sunday In The Park".  A group of us dog people are going to get together every Sunday and train with our dogs.  It is a fun way to get to know new people and to work our dogs in a new environment with lots of distractions.  Many people stopped by to visit our dogs or to bring their puppies by for some socialization, or just check out what was going on. One of the ladies who joined us yesterday had her little (or not so little) Bernese puppy, Tucker, out to visit.  He was very cute (of course) and he is related to Bosley.  

Bosley and I got our first conformation lesson.  It was fun and Bosley did better than I though he would.  If I keep a treat stuck in his face, he has little problem standing still and letting someone examine him.  I just need to learn how to stack him properly and all the etiquette rules that go along with being in the show ring.  We also did some rally obedience and a novice obedience run though.  Maggie did quite well in both.  Often when we are outside, the smells on the ground are more interesting than doing obedience, but Maggie was distracted very little.  She even did well in her novice run through (even the off leash heeling) and her stays were great, considering there were lots of people and dogs walking past us.  Bosley was a bit more distracted than Maggie and had a bad case of the "sniffs".  We just need to keep doing more work outside.  He has done very little obedience outside, except in our yard, so he needs lots practice with the outdoor distractions.  

Wubba Wars

The Wubba is one of the dogs' favorite toys.  Let me re-phrase that:  The Wubba is one of the dogs' favorite toys that they have not yet destroyed.  Wubba has been missing for a long time, but today I was doing some spring cleaning and I found Wubba in the back of a closet.  The dogs were very excited to see Wubba again and so begins . . . the Wubba Wars . . .

Ready, Set, Go . . .

Apparently, Wubba wresting must be done on the ground,  preferably while lying on one's back.

"Did, I win?  Did, I win?"

"Ha, Ha!  Not a chance," says Maggie.

They are on their feet - this must be getting serious!

"Maybe if I bite Bosley's feet, I can win the Wubba!"

Stalemate!

Let's call a truce!

. . . and so ends another battle of . . . the Wubba Wars!!!!

The "Collector"

Bosley has not been getting much attention on the blog lately, so I thought I would share one of Bosley's habits.  Ever since Bosley was a little puppy, he has been a gatherer.  He would gather up anything soft that he could carry and make a pile of "stuff" in the livingroom.  This included pillows, towels, bath mats, sweaters on so on.  It was cute to see a little puppy hauling around a big  pillow, but we had to put an end to this behavior when he started to chew on all his "treasures" instead of just making a bed. However, nothing we did stopped him from going downstairs and bringing up all the cushions that were on the couch.  He still likes to gather up all the cushions and pillows and even the mat from the back door.

Here is Bosley's collection.  He brought up 2 cushions and a pillow from downstairs.  He also has an old T-shirt in the pile.  He found this old shirt a few months ago and has decided it is his.  He carries it around everywhere.  He hasn't even chewed any holes in it yet, which is amazing.  

Here is Bosley with "his shirt".

I can't understand how Bosley can love to carry around things he finds, but he will not retrieve anything that I throw for him.  Maybe I should start practicing retrieves using a pillow!

Trial pictures

Here is one more post about Maggie's most recent agility trial.  Lynne sent me some great photos of Maggie that I wanted to share:

Maggie in the weaves - look at her concentration.

More weaving!

A nice down on the table.

Clearing the jump, with a bit of room to spare.

A photo series of Maggie coming out of the chute:

Here I come . . .

Weeee!!!!

Maggie loves the chute!

A cute butt shot.

It finally stopped raining, so I was able to get Maggie outside to take some pictures with her ribbons.

Yes, I know that I need to cut the lawn, but I thought the dandelions were a nice touch to the picture.   (I know, they don't really look very nice, but the dogs like to eat them the second they pop out of the ground, so I leave them).

Maggie's Starters Title Run Video

Last weekend, Amanda caught Maggie's title run on video.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Rally Fun Match

Today the dogs and I drove out to Cowley to a rally obedience fun match hosted by Judi of Shadowbar Shepherds and SAWHDA.  It was a lot of fun and a great way to practice with the dogs in new surroundings.  Both dogs did both a novice course and an advanced course.  Bosley did great in the novice course with a score of 97.  He lost marks for some sniffing.  Maggie was very excited to be there and was more interested in visiting the timekeeper and the judge than actually doing obedience.  She left the course to go sniff someone's backpack and it took her a few stations to get warmed up.  She finished the novice course with a score of 89.  She did much better in the advanced course (although her mark was the same).  She was much more focused and totally ignored the food bowl distractions.  She lost marks for knocking over a sign and for some sniffing.  Bolsey did well in his first try at advanced too.  However, the food bowls were too much of a distraction for him (I guess we need to work on that).  He also did not get his Schultzhund turn, although he does it perfect in practice.  He finished with a score of 82, which I was pretty happy with.  

At the end of the day, we had an armband draw, to switch dogs and handlers.  I drew Jane's name.  Jane is a very cute and even smarter Jack Russell Terrier.  Her and Sarah won the top prizes in both the novice run and the advanced run today.  Jane did not do so well with me as a handler.  She is a very fun dog and heels perfect.  I am just so used to big dogs that I kept tangling up the leash and I kept watching my feet so I wouldn't step on her.  I had fun with her though, but I am sure she was happy to go back to her mom.

Graduation Day!

Saturday was my daughter's grade 12 graduation.  I get a lot of flack from her about having a blog dedicated to the dogs, so I told her I would put her on my blog today (see Amy, I don't love the dogs more than you).  So here are pictures of Amy in her grad dress:

Yes, the dogs are in the photos with her, but this is a "Berner Blog".

Happy Graduation !!!!  

---From Maggie and Bosley

Maggie, SADC

Maggie did it!!!  She got her Starters Title in agility this weekend.  It was not an easy weekend for us.  The weather was very hot (30 degrees) and Maggie did not want to be out there.  It took a lot of cheering  to keep her on course this weekend.   In our Gamblers run, she decided she had enough - she left the course and ran back to our shade tent (see video below).  She was better in our first standard run - no hesitation on the table or the teeter but she was slow.  In our second standard run, she was still slow but a very bad error on my part (I missed an obstacle) messed up what would have been a clean run.  On Sunday we started with our third Standard run of the weekend.  The morning was cool and Maggie had some of her usual pep back.  She ran her standard clean and 6 seconds under time for a 1st place finish and a Q to finish off her Specials Agility Dog of Canada title.  The rest of the day was hot and Maggie was less than thrilled about having to exert herself.  Needless to say, no more Qs for us.  She did however have enough energy after we were finished our Snooker run to sprint off the course, jump over the ring barrier (which is well over her normal jump height) and run back to the tent to get in the shade.  

The positives for the weekend were that Maggie did not knock one pole the entire weekend - this was good considering her lack of energy and enthusiasm.  I really need to look hard at the positives from this weekend.  I know that Maggie is capable of so much more than she gave this weekend and it is hard not to be disappointed.  I am not disappointed that she did not get more qualifying runs (that is a bonus to a good run), it is just that I see her tearing up the course in practice and I know what she is capable of.  I don't blame her for not liking the hot weather - she is a Mountain Dog after all, but I sure miss it when she is not her usual spunky self.  

Obedience Class

Last night Maggie and I were at our "getting ready to compete" obedience class.  We did lots of heeling patterns and Amanda taped us so that we could better see what we need to change in our body language and footwork.  From last night's session this is what I learned I need to work on:

1) Ready, Set, Go!   Maggie is a nice heeler, but it takes her about half the pattern to "get into          it"; before that she lags a little off the start.  We need to work on getting her upbeat and              ready so that when the judge says "forward" and I give her the signal, she is ready to go and        excited.

2) My shoulders.  I have a tendency to pull my left shoulder back when we are heeling.  This            pushes Maggie back and she lags.  I think I have developed this habit because I like to look          at my dogs when I am heeling.  I need to concentrate on keeping my shoulders straighter.

3)  Figure 8.  Walk fast, keep the circles tight and really push through the "outside" portion of         the figure 8 otherwise Maggie lags behind a bit and loses some of her spunk.

We also worked on getting straight fronts.  This is something that Maggie has been struggling with for a while.  Maggie has trouble finding "front" if I am not directly in front of her.  So I set myself up at an angle and made her find front.  She tried hard to figure out what I wanted and eventually started to catch on.  We really need to work hard on her finding front from any position and ending up in a nice, straight sit.

The dogs got to practice some fun recalls, which gave them a break from all the "thinking" work they had to do in class.

At the end of class Maggie and Tate got to have some fun playtime.  Maggie officially loves Tate and thinks he is quite handsome -he is a tri-colour boy  ;-)

'Tis The Season . . .

. . . for shedding.

I often get asked if Bernese shed very much.  If you come to my house for one of their weekly grooming sessions, you will get your answer.  Yes, they shed. . . a lot!  Right now Bosley is blowing his winter undercoat (Maggie lost hers already) and the fur that I vacuum is enough to make a whole new dog, never mind what I brush out of them.  

Here is an example of a typical "fur ball" that is brushed out:

It looks kinda like an un-groomed toy poodle; only it weighs more :0

Maggie is eyeing it, wondering if it is alive.  Maybe there is a gopher hiding in there!

Bosley cannot bear to look at it.  "Eeeewwww!  All that fur came from me?"

Dreams Do Come True

Every spring sees the return of the Richardson's Ground Squirrel, more commonly known as the Gopher.  Every spring and summer Maggie has watched these little rodents run around and escape down their burrows despite her attempts to catch one.  Maggie goes a little crazy when she sees a gopher, or even hears a chirp of one in the distance.  Today, Maggie's dream of catching a gopher finally came true.  Tonight, we were out at the agility field which is full of gophers and gopher holes and I was walking Maggie around the field when suddenly a gopher popped out of it's hole and ran past us.  I saw Maggie jump towards it and then suddenly she had it in her mouth.  I was so surprised that she caught it (those gophers are fast) and she must have been surprised too, because when I told her to drop it, she did!  The gopher seemed mostly dead and Maggie tried her hardest to get back to it ( I am sure to give it a good shake) but I was pretty sure she would eat it, so her agility friend McKeely came over to make sure that it was really dead (we didn't want it to suffer).  I think Maggie was quite proud of herself and her extraordinary hunting abilities.  Her next hunting goal : catching one of those pesky rabbits that can always outrun her.

Getting Ready For Summer

Today was a beautiful spring day - sunny and warm.  All the trees and shrubs in the yard are starting to bud.  The neighbours are out in their yards cleaning up after the winter.  Today I bought some plants for my front yard as well as a couple of tomato plants.  Everyone seems to be getting ready for summer.  

Even Bosley is getting ready for the hot summer weather . . .