Hiding Treats

Lately when we leave the house we have been leaving Tilda loose in the house. We close some of the doors and gate off the stairs. She has been doing good loose. So when we leave we usually give Tilda some sort of treat. Well, Tilda has been hiding them around the house. Maybe she isn’t hiding every one, but I do know she isn’t eating some of them right away. In fact one of her treats is sitting on my floor right now. It is funny and cute to watch her hide her treats. :) :)

Is This Tilda Proof? – The Wacky Toy

This is a toy that was homemade, so it might not have been as good as a toy you would buy. It was supposed to have six strands of braids.

Sorry, maybe this isn’t the best picture. 

 

This is what the toy looks like.

Only the ends have fringes.  

 

 

 

 

 

That is what Tilda did to this toy.

 

Is this toy Tilda proof? No. She still likes it though.

Tuna Treats

These are the treats I have been using for agility classes. So here is the recipe. I have had these treats for a while and still seem fresh. But you should still keep an eye on them.
With these treats I freeze them so they stay fresh. If you want to use them but don’t want them to be frozen hard, I would keep them in the refrigerator. I try to keep them cold because of the tuna in them.
Pictures are below the recipe.

Tuna Treats

1 can tuna
½ cup water
pinch of salt
1 tbs shortening
1 ¼ flour
Drain tuna, then place tuna in a bowl, mash tuna. Add ½ cup water, mix and mash. Add pinch salt, mix. Warm tuna mixture in microwave for about 30 seconds. Add the 1 tbs shortening, mix and mash. Add the 1 ¼ cup flour and mix. For little pieces: spoon little bits on the pan. For big pieces: kneed a piece of dough (just a little) and spread out, then place on pan.
Bake at 275 degrees
20 minutes for little pieces
20 minutes per side for big pieces
 

Small tuna treat pieces

 

Big tuna treat piece

Agility Class Results #6

Tilda did very good last night at class. There were only a few little things that happened. One of the things was after Tilda went through the tunnel she went up the a-frame. Another time when we were doing it again she started to go up the a-frame, but I got her to stop and go up the dog walk. Another thing is one of the times on the table she didn't go down right away; nothing real big. Also, after the chute it was the teeter, but Tilda started to weave. :) :) I'm not sure if she did the whole set, but it was still funny. When one of the instructors brought in her dog (a Bearded Collie) Tilda was excited but when we started to work on a part of the course she did really good.

This was the last class, but we will start another session soon. 

The Jump Bar

Tilda is still sometimes knocking off the jump bar. So I am continuing to work with her on that. She is doing pretty good on the ground work with the wood slats. And I know dogs do knock bars off. A lot of dogs at the agility trial we were at knocked bars off, so it does happen. Lets just say the first obstacle at a trial is a jump and Tilda knocks off the bar. Then after that has a perfect clean run. I wouldn't want that to happen! So I guess I better keep working with her. And I know how high Tilda can jump. It should be easy for her to clear an eight inch jump bar.

Agility

Congratulations Buddy! Buddy qualified in standard agility and jumps with weaves! He now has his Standard Agility Title! So he can move into open standard agility. He still has to qualify two more times before he can move into open jumps with weaves.

We saw Buddy run in the jumps with weaves class but not standard agility. We took Tilda along to get her used to a trial. It was good for Tilda to be at a trial. Maybe when she has her first trial she will settle down sooner. She did pretty good there.

The competition records are below. But first here are some pictures of the jumps with weaves class.

Date: 5/22/2010
Type of event: AKC jumps with weaves
Dog: Buddy
Dog breed: Shetland Sheepdog
Dog age: 2 years
Class: Novice B 20" jww
Jump height: 20"
Number of dogs in jump height class: 14
Qualified/not qualify: Qualified (Q.)
Point:100
Points deducted: N/A
Place: N/A (no placement)
Sit/down on table: No table in jumps with weaves
Number of obstacles: N/A
Run time: 30.7
Time course had to be run in: 38 seconds
Yards of course: 113
Number of trials for dog: 6th AKC/ 7th in all
Notes:


Date: 5/22/2010
Type of event: AKC standard agility
Dog: Buddy
Dog breed: Shetland Sheepdog
Dog age:2 years
Class: Novice B
Jump height: 20"
Number of dogs in jump height class: 13
Qualified/not qualify: Qualified (Q)
Point: 90
Points deducted: 10
Place: No placement
Sit/down on table: Sit
Number of obstacles: N/A
Run time: 53.44
Time course had to be run in: 70 seconds
Yards of course: 146
Number of trials for dog: 6th AKC trial/ 7th in all
Notes:

Jump, Jump, Jump

Here is a video of Tilda doing a jump sequence.

15 Months

Tilda is 15 months today. That means she can do an agility trial anytime now!

Also, yesterday we went over to a friends house with Tilda. Tilda met their dog Chip, a Papillon, Chihuahua mix. Tilda did very good around him. She was pretty calm after they met each other. It was kind of nice just to have them around each other without them playing like crazy.

We also took them for a walk. So that was good for Tilda to walk in a different place. Tilda walked so good there. She walked like she does at home. She didn't even mind Chip walking behind her. 

Agility Class Results #5

Tilda did pretty good at class last night. There were some hard parts in the course. One of the parts was that the tunnel and table were right next to each other. Tilda would come out of a tunnel and then have to go in the other tunnel, but she went for the table. It was after she went in the second tunnel then she had to go on the table; no problem there. The other hard part was that the other tunnel was by the dog walk. So she had to do the chute, the tunnel by the table and then the tunnel by the dog walk. She sometimes had a little trouble. I tried my best to block the equipment she wasn't supposed to go on.

It was a nice long course; 20 obstacles. We ran the course and then did a team run. One dog runs half the course and the other dog runs the other half. Tilda and Gracie were on a team.

Happy Birthday Gracie

Happy birthday to Gracie! Today is Gracie's first birthday.

 Here is a picture of Gracie when they brought her

home. (Gracie is the small one:))

This is a picture of what Gracie looks like now. 

In this picture Gracie wasn't a year old yet

but she doesn't look much different now.

Banana Treats

This is another recipe I came up with.

Note before making: I'm not sure how long these treats will stay fresh. You can put them in the freezer to keep them fresher.

Banana Treats

Half of a banana

Water

pinch of salt
1 cup flour
1 tbs shortening

Mash banana up in bowl. Add under 1/4 cup warm water, just until it looks about right, not to soupy or not to think. Mash banana in water and mix. Add pinch of salt and 1/4 cup flour; mix. Warm batter up in microwave for about 30 seconds. Add 1 tbs shortening, mix and mash into batter. Add 3/4 cup flour and mix. ( You may need to add more flour so it isn't to sticky). Kneed the dough in flour. Break into small pieces and place on pan. Note: I put parchment paper on the pan.

Bake at 275 degrees

For soft treats 15 minutes

For hard treats 45 minutes

Tilda is Official

Tilda has an official agility leash. :) It is a slip on leash. It is quick and easy to take on and off. It is like a built in leash and collar.

Slip lead.

Tilda wearing her slip lead.

 

We took Tilda for another walk somewhere else. At first she was pretty excited. But she settled in after just a little bit.

Check It Out

Check out what I made.

Yep, it is an agility tire jump. I started it yesterday and finished it today (with some help).

Run Through

We went to an agility practice run through today. We had the place all to ourselves for 30 minutes. Tilda did okay. She wasn't focused all the time, but she still did okay. The room wasn't big enough for all the equipment, so we had two jumps, a tunnel, a chute, a table, a smaller a-frame, a tire, and six weave poles. 30 minutes was long enough for Tilda. She was getting tired and seemed to be getting bored. It was good to get Tilda out somewhere else to do agility.

Here are some pictures.

Tilda on the a-frame.

Tilda's contact on the a-frame.

Tilda on the table.

Out to New Places

We are trying to get Tilda out to more places. So yesterday we went to a park for a short walk. She did okay. It could have been better. She also made her excited noises. I know she is just excited, but she has to learn to control her excitement.

So today we went for a walk. I took treats and bitter apple along. I didn't have to use a lot of bitter apple and didn't treat her to much. The results are already getting better. Today Tilda walked better than yesterday. We have to take her for more walks in different places or just get her in different places. It doesn't really have to be a walk. Walks around home aren't helping. I think because it is the same place and she is used to it.

 

A Work of Art

This Kong is a work of art.

Okay, okay, maybe not a work of art. It is just a Kong. We all know what a Kong is right? The little thing you put food/treats in and give to your dog when you go away. 

Tilda's Kong had the top cut off so we can put treats in both ends. So if it looks any different that's maybe why. 

This is what is in this Kong: On the left that is a homemade treat. Inside the Kong is yogurt and some more treats. Then on the right side is a Kong treat. You can really make a Kong anyway you want to. Sometimes we use peanut butter or sometimes just some treats. If we use peanut butter or yogurt we sometimes freeze the Kong, that way it is more work for Tilda.

Note: Tilda already ate this Kong. :)

Agility Class Results #4

Class went pretty good last night. I think it was about a fifteen obstacle course.

Tilda has a lot of spring and should easily clear a tire. But, she kept hitting the tire. The tire was the first obstacle, so she was in a sit stay behind the tire. The next obstacles were two jumps. It was tire, jump, jump, all in a row. So, I would put her in a stay and walk to the other side of the first or second jump. When I would say tire she would jump right away; no running start. And then of course she hit the tire and got a little nervous, making her miss the second jump. So, what can help Tilda not hit the tire? Read on.

I am working on ground work with Tilda to help her. I set up a bunch of wood slats somewhat close together and making Tilda jump over them. That way it is more like jump, jump, jump ect., she doesn't have as much room to fly over them. She has jumped over two of  them at once though :) When Tilda jumps she kind of flies.

Tilda was quieter last night. I did use the bitter apple, but she seemed quieter to start with. Maybe because that one dog wasn't there. She did still make some noise, but it was better. 

There weren't really a lot of problems at class. The start was the biggest problem.

Here is a picture of Tilda going over the slats.

Video of Twelve Pole Weaves

Here is a video of Tilda doing the twelve pole weaves. She sure is getting good at them.

I don't think it will be long and Tilda will be ready for a trial!

The Harness #2

Yesterday we went for a walk somewhere else with Tilda. So, that meant I got to try out the harness in a different place.

Tilda still pulled, but it was better. Because it doesn't go around the neck, she wasn't choking herself. It was kind of nice, when I held the leash short she couldn't pull herself up on her hind legs and choke. She was maybe able to pull herself up a little, but it wasn't bad.

It also felt better on my arm.

USDAA

Yesterday Buddy had his first USDAA (United States Dog Agility Association) agility trial. Buddy got second place in regular agility! He tried gamblers but didn't get enough points. Nice try though.

Gamblers is where you and your dog can do any piece of agility equipment you want. Each piece of equipment has a certain amount of points. Then when  your time is up the judge blows the whistle and you have to do a little set up course. When you are doing the little course you have to stay behind a line telling your dog what to do.

Here are the records. 

Date: 5/8/10
Type of event: USDAA gamblers agility
Dog: Buddy
Dog breed: Shetland Sheepdog
Dog age: 2 years
Class: Gamblers
Jump height: N/A
Number of dogs in jump height class: N/A
Qualified/not qualified: Not qualified (N.Q.)
Points: N/A
Points deducted: N/A
Place: N.Q. (no placement)
Sit/down on table: N/A
Number of obstacles: N/A
Run time: N/A
Time course had to be run in: N/A
Yards of course: N/A
Number of trials for dog: 6th trial in all/ first USDAA trial 
Notes: 

Date: 5/8/10
Type of event: USDAA preferred agility
Dog: Buddy
Dog breed: Shetland Sheepdog
Dog age: 2 years
Class: P1 preferred agility
Jump height: 16"
Number of dogs in jump height class: 10
Qualified/not qualified: Qualified (Q.)
Points: N/A
Points deducted: N/A
Place: 2ed
Sit/down on table: Down
Number of obstacles: N/A
Run time: N/A
Time course had to be run in:  N/A
Yards of course: N/A
Number of trials for dog: 6th/ 1st USDAA trial
Notes: 12 weave poles.

Is This Tilda Proof? - The Big Red Ball

This toy Tilda has had since, well I'm not sure. But some what awhile. Not a year, I know that for sure. But anyways here is a picture of it. 

Is this Tilda proof? Yes! A toy that is actually Tilda proof! There are no destroyed pictures of it!

Tilda

Well, on Wednesday I finished the twelve pole weave poles. Tilda is doing pretty good on them. Even though we won't have twelve poles in novice, why not start working with Tilda on them now?

Having that third jump is really nice. 

Also on Wednesday Tilda got her harness. She looks really cute in it. We wanted to take Tilda for a walk today at a park but the weather stopped us from doing that. I have used it around here, but I really want to try it out at a park.

Here are some pictures of Tilda wearing her harness.

Past Agility Trial Records

All right, I have wanted to put all of Buddy's past agility trials on here, so here they are.

In this trial I ran Buddy.
Date: 12/3/09
Type of event: AKC standard agility
Dog: Buddy
Dog breed: Shetland Sheepdog
Dog age: Nineteen months
Class: Novice B 20" standard
Jump height: 20"
Number of dogs in jump height class: 17
Qualified/not qualified: Not qualified (N.Q.)
Points: N/A
Points deducted: N/A
Place: N.Q. (no placement)
Sit/down on table: Down
Number of obstacles: 15
Run time: 66:37
Time course had to be run in: N/A
Yards of course: N/A
Number of trials for dog: second trial
Notes: We started with a jump and ended with a jump. Table was better than the first trial (10/10/09). Didn't go through the tunnels right away, not sure about the chute. Buddy was scared of the dog walk. Did a fly off on the dog walk. Teeter, dog walk, and a-frame were colored green and yellow. Not sure about the weaves, he maybe did them good right away, or maybe not.


Date: 12/4/09
Type of event: AKC standard agility
Dog: Buddy
Dog breed: Shetland Sheepdog
Dog age: Nineteen months 
Class: Novice B 20" standard
Jump height: 20"
Number of dogs in jump height class: 19
Qualified/not qualified: Not Qualified (N.Q.)
Points: N/A
Points deducted: N/A
Place: N.Q. (no placement)
Sit/down on table: Sit
Number of obstacles: 15 or so
Run time: 77:N/A
Time course had to be run in: N/A
Yards of course: N/A
Number of trials for dog: 3ed
Notes:


Date: 1/30/10
Type of event: AKC standard agility
Dog: Buddy
Dog breed: Shetland Sheepdog
Dog age: 21 months
Class: Standard novice B
Jump height: 20"
Number of dogs in jump height class: N/A
Qualified/not qualified: Not Qualified (N.Q.)
Points: N/A
Points deducted: N/A
Place: N.Q. (no placement)
Sit/down on table: Down
Number of obstacles: 16
Run time: N/A
Time course had to be run in: N/A
Yards of course: N/A
Number of trials for dog: 4th
Notes: Hard time on the table.

Date: 1/30/10
Type of event: AKC jumps with weaves
Dog: Buddy
Dog breed: Shetland Sheepdog
Dog age: 21 months
Class: Jumps with weaves novice B
Jump height: 20"
Number of dogs in jump height class: N/A
Qualified/not qualified: Not qualified (N.Q.)
Points: N/A
Points deducted: N/A
Place: N.Q. (no placement)
Sit/down on table: No table in Jumps with weaves
Number of obstacles: 14
Run time: N/A
Time course had to be run in: N/A
Yards of course: N/A
Number of trials for dog: 4th
Notes:

Agility Class Results #3

Well since this is class results #3 that means Tilda has had three classes already. Last night went pretty good.

Tilda was doing okay on the tire. Sometimes she would go through an opening on the side of the tire. :) The trainer had said to go next to the tire and point to it. When I did that Tilda seemed to do better. 

Tilda was a little nervous of the teeter. She only stopped weaving once, otherwise she did great on the weave poles. Sometimes she got off the table before I said free.

We had enough time to run the course twice and work on a dog walk, tunnel, tunnel sequence. The one tunnel was by the a-frame, so she had a little problem with that. She was able to do it without going up the a-frame some of the time.

At class when we are waiting our turn, Tilda is very noisy. I think she is just excited, but she will have to learn. So, I think I will take the bitter apple along next week. I hope that will help.

New Jump

Yesterday I made another jump for Tilda. So I now have a total of three jumps. Today I was making twelve pole weaves. They are almost done. I was just adding on to the six pole weaves. I will still be able to take them apart and go back to a six pole weave.

Well, it is class night for Tilda. 

Is This Tilda Proof? - The Doggie

This toy is one Tilda destroyed a little while ago. Still have this toy around too.

She turned the head in-side-out!

Is this Tilda proof? No.

Time for Grooming

Well yesterday was May first, the day I was going to groom Tilda. But because I didn't have enough time to groom her, I groomed her today. It took me close to two and a half hours to groom her.

The two above pictures are of Tilda before she was 

groomed.

The two above pictures are of Tilda after being 

groomed.

This is a picture of all the hair after grooming Tilda. 

Today we went to a park to try out the harness. It is too big for Tilda. She was slipping out of it. So we ordered a size small harness for her. For the short time she had the harness on I think it will work. We also tried the Gentle Leader, but that was on the big side too.

The Harness

Today we were over at Buddy and Gracie's house. We did some agility, which was good and fun. But anyways, I asked if I could try out Buddy's walking harness and Gentle Leader on Tilda. I'm not sure how the Gentle Leader will work out when we are walking, but I tried out the harness. Today when I took Tilda for a walk I tried it. I couldn't tell if it was working or if Tilda was just tired after doing agility and playing with Buddy and Gracie. Either way she didn't pull a whole lot.

Around home Tilda walks okay, I really wanted the harness for walking in different places like parks, but I thought I would try it today. The harness is maybe a little big, but I think it should be okay. I think the size is a medium. 

If the harness doesn't work at a park, I can always try the Gentle leader. But so far it seems like it might work.

Here is a link to Amazon were you can buy a harness. 

Easy Walk Harness