I got my Rally Novice (RN) title!

Hey everyone!
I gotta do a little bragging on myself! This weekend I earned my Rally Novice (RN) title at the Enid, OK Obedience and Rally Trials!! Woohoooo!!
I also earned my first 2 legs in Novice Obedience!
What a great weekend!!
Momma is soooooooo proud of me!!
Wooooof!
~TylerRoooooo

Lots of Fun Stuff going on!

I've got quite a busy schedule here lately. I've been having Obedience practice every Wednesday night all summer, and then I have Agility private lessons every Thursday's too. That's my favorite!!
A couple of weekends ago, I got to go to Stillwater, OK to a "Responsible Pet Ownership Day" at the college. I got to enter the Obedience and Rally Fun Matches that they put on. We got to hang out there for a long time and see all the neat stuff and some really cool dogs too! Mom even got me Microchipped there!
This weekend I get to go see my first mom, Teresa, at Ahimsa Rescue in Muldrow, OK. They are having a fundraiser for their new Rescue facility at Old Settlers Day in the park there. So we are heading over (a 4-hr drive) to check it out!!
Then next weekend I have an Obedience and Rally Trial in Enid. We've been working really hard to get ready for that too! Wish me luck! I only need 1 leg to get my Rally Novice title!! And I really want to make Mom proud of me!!
Well, that's my update.....now I gotta hurry and get to my Agility class....Wooooof!
~Tyler

Agility and Obedience / Rally

Well, I've been learning Agility now since April and boy is it fun! I have practice with my trainer every week, and then Mom even built me some weave poles and jumps for my backyard so we can practice at home too! We worked on individual obstacles for a long time and now I'm doing sequences! I love running fast and blowing through the tunnel or chute! I just started working on the teeter last month, and I'm picking up on it fast too! Our trainer told us last week that we should be ready for our first competition trial next spring!! Woohooo!! I'm so excited, cuz I just love doing agility. Obedience is too slow and boring, and I got kinda burned out on that. But we do still go to Obedience practices every week too. And, I am going to an Obedience / Rally Trial in October though. Mom is insisting that I get my Novice title in Obedience and Rally since we spent so much time and effort getting me trained in that. So I'll just go along with it and do my best for mom! And then I'll make up for it out on the Agility course having lots of fun!! Woof!
~Tyler

Trip to Chicago

In May, I got to go on a super great adventure! Me, mom, and grandma, drove all the way from Oklahoma to near Chicago to meet our good friend Charlie and his mom. We met them here on Dogster a few years ago and have become great friends, but this was our first time to meet them in person! There was a really cool dog park not far from Charlie's house that we got to go to every day! It was so much fun! Wish we had one of those in our town!! We also got to go to a pet expo and we even had a cookout with some other new friends and they brought another dog named Jackson that came to romp and play in the yard with us! It was a grand adventure and I had so much fun! Hope we can go do that again sometime!!
Here's a link to my good friend Charlie's Dogster page:
http://www.dogster.com/dogs/24923

My First Obedience and Rally Trial - And Agility Class

Well, I went through that same ol' boring Obedience class again this spring (for the 3rd time! - Not because I don't know my stuff, cuz I really do know all that by now and its even a bit boring for me to keep doing the same stuff through every class, its just that its the only class offered here for me to take.)

But, for something new, Mom joined the Kay-9 Dog Training Club this year and so now we have access to more training time with the club members and stuff like that!! Yippeee!!!

So, after alot of practicing and working with some of the people in the club that are helping Mom learn how to train me better, I got to compete in my very first Obedience and Rally Trial a couple of weekends ago, and boy was that something new!

We'd never really even practiced the Rally stuff until the day of the Trial, but I managed to Qualify both days in Rally Novice A, so now I only need one more leg to get my RN (Rally Novice) title!! We are going to try to go to a trial in October to try to get that 3rd leg!

Then, of course, there was the Obedience trial. That didn't go so well at all. I was totally distracted in the ring and forgot how to heel on-lead and off-lead, I forgot I was supposed to sit when Mom stopped. I was really fascinated by what the dogs in the other ring were doing and I had such a great view of them from my ring. I was so busy looking around at all the other stuff going on, I just forgot that I was supposed to be working and showing everyone how smart I really am!! I did nail my long sits and long downs and the stand for exam. And I even came running to Mom on the recall, but then I forgot where to go when she asked me to return to heel position and I just kinda wandered off looking around again. I guess I just totally lost my focus in the ring. Needless to say, I got disqualified both days in Obedience.... sniff, sniff.

So, Mom and I are going back to basics now, and I'm going to learn how to look at her and hopefully not be distracted from now on. We are just starting at the beginning where I just sit in front of her and whenever I look at her I get a treat!! (Mom stumbled upon an idea to use nuked hotdogs for treats and I am totally motivated by them!! Yummy!!)

Also, I just got to go to my first Agility class last week too! There just happens to be a member of our club that has done alot of Agility and has gotten alot of titles on her Corgi dogs! So she has offered to help us learn Agility!! She warned us already that Agility is alot of hard work and it takes alot of time and training to be good at it, so we are just gonna give it a whirl and see if we like it!! My first lesson was to learn to touch a target (a plastic lid from a butter tub). Well, the first day we worked on that, I picked it up within about 10 minutes and now after a few days, Mom can toss it across the room and I'll run and touch it with my nose for a hotdog treat!! See I really am a smart dog!! I also got to walk through the jump frame and walk through some pvc pipes layed out without touching them with my feet, I had to step over them. Well, I did really good at that too. The lady was real impressed with how quick and natural I could do these things!! Can't wait to go back for my 2nd lesson this week!! I think I'm really gonna like this Agility stuff.....and getting to learn some new things....and most of all, just getting to spend some one-on-one time with Mom!! That's the bestest!!

Life is great!!! Woooooofff!!
TylerrrrrrrrRoo

Canine Good Citizen Test ---- I PASSED!!!!

Great News!!
Tonight, I got my 2nd Basic Obedience Certificate .........AND...............
**drum roll please**

I PASSED my Canine Good Citizen Test!! BOL!!!!

Mommy was sooooooo proud of me!!!
Sis passed her test too, but the Evaluator said that I did better than her!! ;-)
They also suggested to Mommy that I do some more classes like Novice Obedience for a Companion Dog title, or maybe do some Agility training too! They said that I have the right stuff to do well at furthering my skills!!!
Isn't that just the coolest news ever?!!
Wags,
~TylerrrrrrrRoo.... A Canine Good Citizen!!!

If you're not familiar with the CGC Test, here's a quick list of the things I had to do:

1. Accepting a friendly stranger.
Evaluator approaches, shakes hands with handler. Does not touch dog.

2. Sitting politely for petting.
Evaluator pets dog, dog must show no shyness or resentment.

3. Appearance and grooming.
Evaluator inspects do, combs or brushes lightly, examines ears and each front foot.

4. Out for a walk.
Handler takes dog for a short walk including right turn, left turn, about turn, and stop.

5. Walking through a crowd.
Dog and handler walk close to several people. Dog may show casual interest but not jump up.

6. Sit and down on command / Staying in place.
Handler shows dog can do sit and down, then chooses a position, leaves dog and goes to the end of a 20 ft. line and returns immediately.

7. Coming when called.
With dog still on 20 ft. line from Test 6, handler walks out 10 ft. and calls the dog.

8. Reaction to another dog.
Two handlers and dogs approach, shake hands, exchange pleasantries, move on. Dogs can show casual interest.

9. Reaction to distractions.
Distractions are presented. Dog may not panic or show aggression.

10. Supervised Separation.
Handler goes out of sight for 3-minutes. Dog is held on 6 ft. leash by an evaluator.

**To pass the CGC Test, dog must pass all 10 items on the test.**

Canine Good Citizen Test

Hey Everyone!

Tonight is going to be a big night for me!
I'm graduating Basic Obedience for the 2nd time, but with my step-dad as my handler this time.
And then, after that.....Mommy will be handling me for my Canine Good Citizen Test!
I'm a little nervous, and am feeling the pressure, but I'm also feeling really good about taking this test, and Mommy has big hopes that I will pass! I've been working and training really hard, so hopefully this will be a piece of cake!!
Wish me luck! I'll report back and let you all know how I did!

~TylerRoo

Little Molly

Yippee!! Mommy brought Molly over the fence to our yard today so I could play with her! She's getting big enough now that she can hold her own so maybe we can start playing together more now. I get really really excited when I see her and I have to be careful with her, but some day soon she will be as big as me and we will have such a great time together!! We play through the fence every day and Mommy filled in the tunnel I was digging that was gonna be a secret passage way for Molly to come over and play all the time. Guess I'll just have to start another tunnel and maybe I can keep it a secret from Mommy....SHHHHHH!! I have been playing some ball and frisbee today too and then we came in the house to rest and Mommy got out the treats and had Kobi and me doing all of our tricks in the living room for treats! That is so much fun and it's funny to see Mommy's face so happy and she even gets giggly at us too! So now that we've had a good play session it's time for a nap!

Catch ya later,
TylerrrrrrrrrrrRoo

My New Photo Contest Entry

Mommy just entered a picture of me in a new photo contest. Here is the link to my entry if you would like to check it out (you can vote for me too!)!!

http://photocontest.shutterfly.com/action/photoco ntest/vote?entry=98578 .

Would love to hear your comments on my picture too, so just send me an email and tell me what you think!!

Wags,
TylerrrrrrrrRoo

Tyler's New Friend Molly

WOOOOF!

Just wanted to tell everyone about my new friend Molly. She lives next door to me and she is a little blue cattle dog pup. Our neighbors got her the day before Christmas when she was just 6 weeks old. I just LOVE her! You can see me playing with her through the fence in the last picture here on my page. You can't see her face very well, but she really is a cutie pie! Trust me, she is just adorable! Mommy says she looks like a little panda bear right now, but I think she looks alot like me and Kobi, and I don't even know what a panda bear is anyway!

I've gotten to play with Molly a couple of times, but since she is so much littler than me, we mostly just get to play through the fence. But I just can't get close enough to her through the fence, so I've devised the most excellent PLAN.......SHHHHH! Don't tell Mommy! In the corner of our yard underneath a big pile of leaves, I've started digging a tunnel to help little Molly sneak under the fence to come play with me. Whenever Mommy leaves me outside alone for awhile, I work on digging that hole deeper and deeper and someday soon it will be deep enough for Molly to fit under the fence and come play with me! I know Mommy will be so happy when she comes out and finds Molly in our yard playing with me! And she will be proud of me for being so smart to dig a tunnel for Molly!! But I want to keep it a secret from Mommy until it's all done.......and I'm almost there!! Will keep you updated and let you know when my project is complete!!

Now, I gotta run and get back to work on digging that tunnel!

Wags,
TylerrrrrrrRoo