Birthday: March 1st 2005 Likes: Learning new things! Pet-Peeves: Going to the vet.... Favorite Toy: Frisbees! But I also love fleece tuggy toys. Favorite Food: Raw bones. Yum! Favorite Walk: On the beach. Best Tricks: Too many to list! Skateboarding, hiding in a suitcase, doing handstands, and of course agility to name a few! Arrival Story: My Mommy came and saw me as a wee pup and out of all the other puppies she had ever seen she knew that I was the one. The only problem was that another person liked me too. The other person had "first dibs" on my litter but in the end the person chose one of my sisters instead. My soon to be Mommy was so happy! She came to see me again and took a bunch of pictures and then (at last!) a few weeks later, a bunch of people came with their Border Collies and they all moved around 3 sheep (they called it a Herding Trial) and thats when my Mommy came and picked me up. We watched a lot of the trial and then drove for a long long long long time, then we were HOME! Bio: I train in Agility, Obedience, Disc, and lots of tricks! Agility is definitely my main focus. I compete at the Elite/Masters level in NADAC and USDAA. I love giving presentations to kids about how to take care of (and train!) their own dogs. If you have any questions feel free to ask me! :) Forums Motto: Training is a science - embrace it! I have my very own Websites!: Be sure to stop by my Blog and my very own website!
Training Methods: My mom teaches me using clicker training and positive reinforcement techniques based on the science of learning.
NOTICE: If you look at my pictures/videos and decide that you want a Border Collie - this warning is for you.
We are a very high maintenance breed. We require lots of physical (not just your average walk to the park) stimulation and mental stimulation. If our exercise needs are not met we can become very destructive - constant barking, digging, chewing, begging, nipping, completely redecorating your house, or worse. I am very highly trained and my mom spends hours a day working with me. So please, research before getting a Border Collie!
We drove a LOOOOONG way from Seattle to Gillette Wyoming so we could play agility for FIVE days in a row! How pawsome is that?!
The first couple days of the competition was the Special Skills classes (Tunnelers, Weavers, Touch N go, Hoopers, Jumpers, and also a team event). In those I was competing against all the other 20" dogs. I did pretty well and got some good placements in those:
1st in round 2 Weavers
2nd in round 1 Touch N Go
3rd in round 2 Hoopers
1st in round 1 Tunnelers
3rd in round 2 Tunnelers
6th in round 1 Team
2nd in round 3 Team
Then we did the Regular rounds. For that I was only competing against dogs in my division. Mom was SO proud of how I did on those (I only knocked a couple bars for all 6 rounds!). I ran super fast so even though I did have a few faults on some of the rounds I made up for it (the scoring is time + faults). Here are my placements from the individiual rounds:
1st in Round 1
4th in Round 2
1st in Round 3
1st in Round 4
2nd in Round 5
Three dogs from my division got to go to the final round. At that points I was in first place by quite a few points so all we had to do was pretty much just stay under 20 faults to take 1st place. I did drop a bar in the final round but that wasn't enough to knock us out of first place. We ended up winning by a little more than 27 points! I didn't really know what was going on but when we finished that run Mom was so happy so I was happy too!
It's amazing how fast time flies when you're playing agility... After what seemed like just a few hours we were already driving back home. Next year the Championships are going to be in Tennessee which is an awful long way for us so we will probably will have to wait until the 2010 Championships to compete again. In the meantime we are going to try and focus a little more on our USDAA skills...
Mommy just decided that we are going to the USDAA Northwest Regional! How Super-Cool is that?! I am going to be on a DAM team (Dog Agility Masters) for the fist time too. I get to be on a team with Taiko, a cute little border collie. We are still trying to find out who our third team member will be...
Hopefully my Mom will be able to run okay at the regionals. She tore her ACL awhile ago and had to have surgery. Ouch! I miss running agility like we used to but hopefully we can run by then!
I am also entered in an agility Sweetheart contest. You can give me a vote here if you'd like!
http://www.agilityq.com/maycontest.html
UPDATE: I was announced as the Mutt Madness Champion!! WOOF! Thanks to all the voted in the contest. :)
UPDATE:
I made it to the Furry Four! This is the final round... Who will take the championship title?
UPDATE:
I made it to the Shaggy Sixteen, and now the Energetic Eight, in the Mutt Madness contest!! Please vote for my video so I can move on to the furry four!
Dogster Obsessions: The Starter Kit for Dogs by Wildebeest
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