PyrShep Tani

Some Old Videos

2012-01-05T03:23:00.000-08:00

We spent wonderful holidays with friends and 12 dogs in the house, 2 of which were puppies. We had some time to organize old videos so I'm posting them here, they're over one year old and even though I improved my handling a little bit since then, we had some nice runs back then as well.

This was a very eventful run - first she fell speeding up over the dogwalk and then we had a little intruder on course, but Tani doesn't really care about anything, she just wants to run and I really love that about her!

Another nice run from the same competition, a disqualification but with a really nice DW contact:

And a team jumping run - clean and REALLY loud, so you might want to put your computer on mute before you watch this:

Happy Birthday, Tani!

2011-12-25T00:20:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all our readers, and of course, happy 3rd Birthday to the star of this blog, my perfect girl Tani. To those who don't know it, having a dog like Tani was my biggest wish come true. That's why I named her Désirée, the Desired One. And of course, being the self-centered little girl that she is, she was born on the day when all of the World celebrates a birth :) How very Tani-like! :) :) :)

For her special day, she will get a tunnel run in our club by the sea, a long walk on the beach, a doggy cake to share with Xsara and a bunch of toys that I'm sure she'll love. Happy Birthday also to her sisters Razz and Rayas and their brother Dreamy!

C'est la Vie

2011-12-16T03:42:00.000-08:00

Winter is here and we're back to the coast, enjoying warmer temperatures than in Ljubljana. Tani really loves it here, but then again, she really loves to be anywhere as long as I'm there too :) We enjoy long walks in the vineyards or by the sea, we train and do a lot of tricks, the same as in Ljubljana, only with nicer climate. We miss our friends from Ljubljana, but have some friends here as well, and we visit each other when we can.

Anyway, tomorrow we will attend our first competition in two months and I'm really excited about it, but also a little nervous because I don't know what to expect. She's been doing really well in training and I really feel like we're running as a team now, but every now and then we still have days when we don't really connect which results in many mistakes. And of course, we had a day like this today, one day before the competition. I felt like she wasn't listening and only ran around like crazy without considering me at all, she probably thought my handling wasn't clear or something like that, I really don't ever think dogs would ever jerk us around, I'm sure they don't think this way, only people do. So whenever we have an off moment, I try to think what I did wrong or maybe not wrong but just differently than she's used to. And then I try to improve. Bad days happen for a reason, they're not here to make us mad or lower one's self-esteem. They happen so we can grow and learn and become better handlers and better people. I don't really enjoy them as much as I enjoy good days, but they're a part od life so ... c'est la vie :)

Tiny Little Black Nail

2011-11-28T23:43:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned before, Tani injured her nail in Switzerland. Unfortunately she managed to lick the wound and it got badly infected. The nail broke and when it almost healed, she broke it again jumping on my bed - only this time she also pulled a big chunk of her finger off, together with the newly grown nail. The vet suggested amputation and assured me that it wouldn't affect her movement because it's the first finger above the paw and she doesn't really use it. But I felt weird about cutting it off, it just didn't seem right so I decided to wait. It's been very hard to keep her still, change her bandages every day and restrain her from agility, but I believe I made the right decision not to put her under anesthesia and just cut her if it wasn't absolutely necessary.

The nail is now growing back, the finger has already grown back as well and she is more than happy to be back in training. Of course, we're going to take it easy after such long break, and since the new nail is still very thin and fragile we defenitely don't want to injure it again. So we're only doing low jumps and tunnels for now, which gives me the perfect opportunity to work on some things that I always planned to do and never did, such as improving our distance work, obstacle vs. handler focus and trying to make her even faster than she already is. So we're inventing little games to make her run fast (for now only on flat ground where she can't bump into anything, and she has a shoe on while training) and I'm getting Silvia Trkman's new DVD on speed and conditioning which came in the perfect timing for us. I'm sure we'll both benefit from all of this :) I had a lot of time to think about how lucky I really am to be blessed with such wonderful dogs, so I think next time you see me in the ring, I'll be a lot more relaxed and present in the moment.

And well, last but not least, it's not really about Tani but I totally have to brag with my awesome puppy class and rally-obedience students who made me extremely proud on exams last week. It was really nice to see such great work and such a beautiful bond between them and their dogs. Congratulations and I hope you'll all keep clicking for many years to come :)

Calendars 2012

2011-11-07T05:54:00.000-08:00

I have really pretty dogs. They are so cute that both of them are featured in two awesome calendars for 2012.

The first one is agility calendar by the one and only Maja Rokavec that is well known for her amazing photos of dogs in action. Tani is my little Miss June, which is a very appropriate month for her since she really is a little sunshine. You can order it on maja.rokavec@gmail.com.

The second one is "Best Dog Calendar" (again, very appropriate for her) by Iztok Noč, another awesome photographer from Slovenia. This calendar is about dogs doing all sort of sports and other funny things. It can be ordered on ntrbizan@gmail.com in English or Slovene language. In December you can enjoy Tani fetching a frisbee in pyrshep style - no gravity :)

The price for each calendar is 10 euros. And I think they make perfect Christmas gifts for dog lovers!

PS: I have another "Tani Calendar" made for me by a dear friend, but it's not for sale. There's only one copy, but I can assure you it's really beautiful. I'm really looking forward to having my walls decorated with all these fantastic photos for one entire year!

Tani's Sisters

2011-10-20T00:03:00.000-07:00

So, I guess everybody in agility world got to see Tani's fantastic 3/4 sister La AKA Simply the Best and her Silvia run on World Championships a couple of weeks ago. We were so happy to see them place 3rd, only missing 1st place for 0.1sec at 10 years of age! Wooooow :) And of course, we were also really happy for all of our other friends, specially Daša, Urška, Olga, Ashley, Thomas ... the list goes on and on! But all in all pyrsheps did really great on AWC this year!

Only a couple of days after AWC Tani and I went to a competition in Switzerland. This was the 10th country for Tani to compete in, but best of all, there was also Tani's sister Rayas with her owner Christine. We had a really nice time in Switzerland, although Tani broke a nail and had to be pulled out of the competition after the first run. But Christine was so nice to let me run with Rayas for one run instead, and she showed us some really nice places to go for a walk, so it still was a very special weekend.

Tani now has to weare the "cone of shame" because she keeps trying to lick the wound on her finger and it got all infected. So she's on antibiotics and some rest, luckily she can walk normally so she's not too bored. But she does feel a little sorry for herself so we cuddle a LOT! And that's nice too.

Running Contacts

2011-09-29T11:35:00.001-07:00

Oooops, I just realized I forgot to share this video on Tani's blog :) Enjoy!

Back From Holidays

2011-09-11T00:17:00.000-07:00

We are back from Corsica and we enjoyed it even more than last year. It's a magical island, that's for sure! Here is a video of Tani enjoying a variety of summer sports there and some of the best photos from our vacation.

Of course, the only thing that was missing was agility. We can last 10 days without it, there was so much to do we couldn't find the time even to set the two jumps we brought with us. But when we returned, we knew exactly what was the first thing to do. Last week we had a competition in Duplica, Tani had quite a nice agility run (with one almost refusal) placing 3rd after her sister La and EO winner Šja. Unfortunately we were disqualified in jumping. Yesterday we had a competiton in Ljubljana but I had a horrible migrain aura and everything I saw was very bright and white so it was hard for me to stand on my legs, let alone run. Tani did quite OK with me being such poor help - with 2 chaotic runs we finished on 3rd place and earned our first medal in A3. She is doing so well on training lately that I am incredibly proud of her, I think with a little more practise we are going to be just fine :)

Private Lesson in LoLaBu Land

2011-08-19T04:45:00.000-07:00

Tani and I had a private lesson with Silvia this week. It was a lot of fun and she worked really well. Here is a video of some of the things we worked on:

EO 2011

2011-08-13T23:04:00.000-07:00

Once again, I'm kind of late with updates, but after EO we deserved a little vacation by the sea. Tani is a super swimmer and dock diver so it's always nice to take her to the beach. The only thing that one should be careful about - don't start throwing rocks into the water because if you do, she won't leave you alone! She gets this obsessed look in her eyes, starts shaking and if you don't react she starts barking directly into your ear until you have enough and throw another rock. Luckily, she doesn't try to fetch rocks, she just likes to see you throw them so I'm not worried about her breaking a tooth. I love to see her dive into water in full extension, she has the happiest look on her face as the water splashes around her. I really love to do anything with her, she always gives it all so she's a really great dog to work with.

Anyway, about EO. It started kind of badly for us, Tani's tummy was really upset when we arrived on Thursday, she had a very bad case of diarrhea and even threw up a couple of times. Luckily, we still had two more days before the competition would officialy start. It was a little chaotic because we had to cook for her and take her for walks very often, but luckily she seemed to be perfectly OK by Saturday morning when it was time for individual runs. Our first run was actually a little messy, but we got through the course with a very satisying time. We would be 12th and enter the finals if we didn't get that 5 penalties on the A-frame. I'm very confident on A-frame otherwise, so it was quite a shocker that she was a couple of cm too high, but what can you do :) Individual jumping would be quite OK as well, but she jumped one jump from the wrong direction.

Here is the video, thanks to Romek:

It was fun to cheer for all of our friends in the finals, although I admit I wished we could run them as well. But I was super proud of Tani anyway. And if I compare it to last year's EO when she was so nervous that she kept popping out of weaves and didn't even finish one course, this was a huge improvement! We were really happy to see our friend and one of Tani's first trainers Polona get 2nd in the finals, that was really awesome! And it was really nice to see so many pyrsheps in the same place :)

Tani and her step-sister Pepsi:

Tani and our new friend Socks:

On Sunday it was time for team runs. Again, no luck in jumping because I made a very bad handling choice and did a front cross in the wrong place, causing her to enter the wrong tunnel. But our agility run was clean and almost perfect, only one time she almost took a wrong jump but I managed to recall her from it. We lost a lot of time there, so it wasn't ideal, but plenty of reasons to be happy about.

The contact was really nice, for example (but a little difficult to catch on camera) - and the grin on her face is just perfect :)

Looking at the videos I have to laugh at our startline and how she starts to run in the air when she hears the judge whistle :)

Jumping:

Agility:

Anyway, all in all it was a fun experience, Tani made me really proud and I feel like we're on a good path. I really enjoy running with her and I think we're finally becoming a real team, not just trying to make it from point A to point B, but trying to do it nicely as well :) We have another week with lots of agility in front of us, then it's time for Corsica again. Agility is our great passion, but you can only enjoy swimming in the sea for a few short Summer months and agility is there all year long so ... :) Thanks to Iztok Noč, Olga Kwiecień-Maniewska, Christl Faltner, Maja Rokavec and Carles Fortuny for the photos!

Catching Up!

2011-07-04T04:25:00.000-07:00

Uf, I'm waaaay too behind with Tani's blog, but with this beautiful weather I always have the same problem - I want to enjoy Summer outside and spend as little time behind my computer as possible.

So, Tani is now in A3, she is doing great, she is still crazy, fast and LOUD :) She enjoys every moment and I really love that about her. It's impossible to stay serious with a dog like her, and as a very wise person told me once - you shouldn't try to!

As some of my readers know, I really enjoy swimming with my dogs, but her obsession with water is ... well, sometimes a little bit over the top :) I love to watch her jump from docks and rocks and dive, swim and fetch sticks from water, but if there is no water where we go for a walk, she'll try to find some mud to throw herself into that. Better than nothing, she probably thinks but, oh well. I admit I have to laugh at her, she has the happiest face ever when she does it so I just let her be :)

June was a really exciting month for us. First we went to a big competition in Geel (Belgium), where we also attended some seminars and learned many new things that we're now trying out. She had one clean run in Open, but not a very nice one because I almost sent her into a refusal. She was still 2nd. Only a couple of days after we returned from Belgium (1200km in one direction), we went to another trip. We visited Tani's breeder Catherine and her wonderful dogs in the Pyrenees (another 1600km in one direction). Now we're back at home and ready for new summer adventures ahead of us!

This is Tani with her mommy Pequelette, thanks to Gregor Raičevič and Maja Rokavec for the photos!

First Exam For A3

2011-03-03T01:45:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, Tani and I attended a big competition in Hungary called MEOE. The judge was Arthur Rodgers from the UK. It was a great day, not only because we managed to pass our first exam for A3, but also because we were in great company, weather was nice, temperatures were a little warmer and everything was perfect. Our jumping run was not so good, I made a couple of handling mistakes but we got through the course somehow. In agility we had a very nice run with one wide turn that I made on purpose. We were clean until weaves and I knew that the entry was the only hazard left on the course, so I decided to play it safe and make the entry as easy as possible. Despite losing so much time on that turn, she had a very good time which got us the 1st place :) Here is the video, thanks to Daša:

I also have many great new photos to share, some from agility (by Maja Rokavec) and some from a little hiking trip with Iztok Noč and his brilliant camera.

Iztok Noč:

Maja Rokavec:

Winter Competitions

2011-01-31T04:32:00.000-08:00

Tani and I are having a very fun winter. We go to as many competitions as we can and we love every second of it. This year has only started and we already visited 4 different countries, some of them more than once. She sure loves to compete and show off, but she still needs to learn how to concentrate sometimes, so I think every new experience is really good for her. When she gets really hyper, she sometimes makes silly mistakes like popping out of weaves, flying over the teeter and other things that are never an issue on training. So apparently, we need some training in competition environment. I am very happy with out progress, of course running with a hyper dog has its challenges, but bringing her to the startline is defenitely the best feeling in the world :) She is everything I hoped for!

Huge thanks to our photographer friend Maja Rokavec for the newest photos of Tani in action at competitions in Croatia and Hungary!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

2010-12-25T00:51:00.000-08:00

You’re always very special
And you should know today
That you are wished the nicest things
That life can bring your way

Like warm and loving wishes
And happiness and cheer
And everything you need to start
Another happy year

Happy Birthday to Tani, Rayas, Razz and Dream!

Once again, thanks to Maja Rokavec for wonderful snowy photos!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T01:15:00.000-08:00

Tani and I wish happy holidays and all the best in 2011 to all our friends! Thanks to Maja Rokavec for this funny card :)

Motešice (Slovakia)

2010-12-08T10:01:00.000-08:00

I don't like cold. I think any temperature below 25°C should be forbidden. And yet, I love agility more than I hate cold, so I keep going to competitions where I know it will be cold. Well, this time I outdid myself, -17°C is not just normal cold, it's really cold! But hey, enough about cold.

I really like competing abroad. I love to test courses from different judges, find new challenges and new training ideas, gain experience and meet new people. But I have to admit, the competition in Slovakia was very hard for me for one simple reason: Tani and I weren't able to train for weeks before the competition due to extreme weather conditions. When she entered the hall and saw that pretty agility equipment that she had missed so much, she just wanted to be all over the place at the same time. And she was :) Luckily weather has now improved so we are able to train normally again!

I admit my handling wasn't the best eather, lack of training was very bad for me as well. But we got through some twisted parts very nicely, and I defenitely got tons of new ideas. Big thanks to Polona for advising me to change our startline routine and do a little bit of obedience before our runs. I tried it out and I think it's really good for both of us to concentrate a little bit. I think Tani was equally enthusiastic when I warmed her up with obedience, it really doesn't affect her desire for work, but she was more focused and easier to handle because she listened to me and didn't just run from one tunnel to another, LOL :))))

We met a cute pyrshep male from Poland, his name is Evo and he is with Roman Maruszczak. We took a picture together and talked a lot:

Big thanks to Lenka Wami Blachová for these fantastic photos of Tani!

Silas Boogk Seminar and New Wardrobe

2010-12-01T13:28:00.000-08:00

I honestly believe every person interested in agility should attend at least one Silas Boogk seminar. For Tani and me, this experience was a true milestone. Silas seminar is hard to get into, usually working spots are full far in advance, but all of our asking around and harassing people really payed off. And so, we got a spot in Hungarian club TordasZoo!

Tani had a great time with Silas, she was her usual crazy self and a real joy to work with. I had to repeat some sequences many many times to get everything right, and she didn't mind at all. I love how she is always ready for action, she really is a great dog. Silas showed me how to teach her to be independent, how to improve her distance work, how to send her in order to get to my key position when needed and how I should predict Tani's ideal line and try to keep her on it. I never realised before how often I actually stand on her way. Sometimes it was hard for me to be in the correct position and to do everything right, but when I did it it was pefect! I really hope we will attend at least one more Silas in 2011 :)

Unfortunately, we weren't able to do any training at all ever since we got from the seminar on Friday. Our training facility is covered in snow and we don't have access to an agility hall, so we will have to wait until weather improves. We were stuck in Ljubljana due to bad weather for one whole week, but when we will get back on the coast, I hope we will be able to train normally as there is no snow by the sea (only rain). Tani likes snow, I'm sure she misses agility but she thinks running over snowy fields is pretty fun too. She has new winter gear to protect her coat from snowballs and I think she looks very cute in it :) We are attending a Christmas agility competition in Slovakia this weekend, I wish we could train a little before it but it's impossible. Well, at least we will get to do some agility over the weekend, I'm sure we will have fun (if we don't freeze, LOL). Weather forecast predicts -10°C! Brrrrrrrrr ...

Agility Sunday in Croatia

2010-11-08T14:46:00.000-08:00

On Sunday Tani had her first competition in A2 and it was also her first time running indoors. I admit I was more nervous than usually, I really just wanted her to feel comfortable in this new environment and didn't pay enough attention to my handling. The result was predictable: one very hyper and barky dog running all over the place, entering all of the tunnels on the way and having the time of her life :) So I can say she did absolutely great and I hope I'll be more relaxed next time and handle her better.

At the end of the day, there was another TUNNEL CUP - our newly discovered discipline, which gives so much joy to any tunnels-obsessed dog :) I think we both did very well in that 4fun run, she performed additional 2 tunnels (I guess 17 of them really weren't enough :)), both to my error for getting a little lost in the course. But in tunnel cup you just lose time, there are no penalties, so she was 2nd despite losing so much time there. Not bad at all! Thanks to Daša for the video and some photos from our walk on the beach.

And a group photo with Tani's niece Page and her Rolli, taken at his seminar in Ljubljana :)

A2

2010-10-26T01:44:00.000-07:00

Yes, we did it :) Tani made her final exam for A2/J2 level in agility! Once again, luck was on our side in Austria. She had the fastest times in A1 from all height cathegories, she was hyper and yet managed to follow my cues and even stop on the teeter, and she was so focused that she didn't even notice a little sheltie that escaped on the course while she was in the weaves and ran the rest of the path with us :) I sure am very proud of my supergirl - and I admit I'm pretty glad that we will get to sleep a little longer on weekends from now on. Competitions for A2 usually start about 3 hours later than A1, so ... :)

Special thanks to Josè M Davila for this sweet photo of us from Dog Olympics!

Dog Olympic Games

2010-10-19T10:56:00.000-07:00

This weekend Tani and I participated on the first Dog Olympic Games in Lignano (Italy). The main reason why I wanted to attend this event was a discipline that has "Tani" written all over it - TUNNEL CUP! Tunnels are Tani's favourite thing in agility, she loves the sport and enjoys all about it, but tunnels have a special place in her heart ever since the first day she set her paw on agility field.

I entered her just for fun, I never thought I would be able to remember a course made entirely of tunnels. But our run was perfect, she had the best time by far in medium (over 4 seconds faster than any other dog) and even though we got 5 seconds of penalty for knocking the first bar (my fault for placing her too close to the jump), she still earned herself a bronze olympic medal. Of course, I am extremely proud of her, and the tunnel challenge was so much fun for both of us, we defenitely want to do it again!

Our friends did very well too. All of our 3 room-mates came home with at least one medal! We saw many interesting disciplines, maybe we will enter more competitions for the next Olympics. We also enjoyed long walks by the sea where Tani could play with her new friends. Thanks to Enes Halilovič and Veronika Valentin for these lovely photos! And thanks to Sandra Pavlović for the video of Tani's Tunnel Cup run!

Tani in Action

2010-09-13T00:10:00.000-07:00

I just have to share this awesome action photo of Tani taken by Sebastjan Saunig. I really love her dogwalk performance, a lot of hard work for sure, but defenitely worth it! And no, she didn't go fawn around her neck, she just needs a bath :) She really enjoys rolling in mud, so ...

News, News, News

2010-09-09T01:07:00.000-07:00

Tani's life is so full of events, I don't even know where to start :) Our fantastic vacation in Corsica? Her new TV ad? Her second exam for A2? The wonderful seminar with Rolli Schiltz? I'll just go chronologically!

Corsica was wonderful, we're defenitely going back and both Tani and Xsara loved every second of it! Tani turned out to be a passionate swimmer, it became impossible to keep her out of water. She was jumping into it from rocks and cliffs, was fearless against all waves and just swam and swam in circles with the happiest look on her face. As I mentioned many times, I love to swim as well, so I'm very happy to have a dog that will go swimming with me :) We also enjoyed hiking and camping, the doggies thought it was pretty cool to sleep in a tent. We missed agility, but there was so much going on we honestly didn't have much time to think about it.

Swimming Video:

And some photos:

We came back just in time for Tani's handling class in LoLaBu Land and a competition in Ljubljana. Tani's always been a fast little dog, but after 10 days of no agility, she went completely crazy :) Our runs were a little chaotic, I was just not fast enough for her - but we still managed to have two clean rounds with best times in Medium, so she won the competition and we are now only one clean run away from A2!! Hurray :)

On Sunday after the trial we attended a seminar with Rolli Schiltz, who is not only a great coach and judge, but also the owner of Tani's niece Page, so he really understands crazy little barky berger des Pyrenees. He gave us some great advice and we are defenitely going to try it out. Among other things, I finally learned how to do the "catch", I learned that I have to be more precise with my handling and be aware of what I'm doing at all times. Tani is a young dog who is growing in confidence and speeed, so she's getting more and more independent (which is a good thing, but it means my handling must really be accurate and timely). We spent a wonderful day, it was a lot of fun!

The last but not the least, Tani's new TV ad came out. There are two versions of the commercial, each of them has one Tani close-up for a couple of seconds. She had to pretend to be in a hair salon getting highlights :) here's the video of one version:

First Exam For A2

2010-08-16T03:33:00.000-07:00

Tani passed her first exam for A2 in horrible weather in Austria. She really ran great, specially considering the circumstances, so I'm very proud of her. In Austria, teams get points for each run, so we were also on the podium for combined results, despite being eliminated in one run. We are going on vacation on Friday, so this was a very nice surprise before leaving for Corsica, where we will enjoy sun, sea and mountains and forget about agility for 10 days. So before our departure, we will have to get a big dose of agility to keep us going - we will have our first private lesson in LoLaBu Land tomorrow and agility class (in the same place, of course) on Wednesday. We can't wait to start working on those turns after dogwalk we will defenitely need in the future!

Oh, and Tani filmed another TV ad last week. This time she just had to act like a dog, but she did have to be still for quite some time, which is not all that easy for her :) Once again, she totally charmed the entire crew and proved that she is a real star.

Thanks to Nina for Tani's video from Entschendorf:

Agility in Austria

2010-08-02T01:08:00.000-07:00

We don't have any agility trials in Slovenia during Summer, so we try to attend those that are not too far abroad. A couple of weeks ago, we went to a competition in Oberwart. Tani did great, with a nice clean run and best time in jumping. Our agility run was also fantastic, but there was a tunnel next to the A-frame that Tani just had to get into, so we were eliminated :)

Our friend Maja Rokavec took some wonderful photos of Tani in Oberwart. Thank you, Maja - I am a big fan of your work!

EO 2010

2010-07-28T00:38:00.000-07:00

Tani's first EO is behind us and I have to say that running there was a great experience for both of us. I learned a lot about my young dog. Now I know for sure that she is the type of dog who is always more than happy to work, in any environment. I also learned that she gets extra hyper when she has a big audience, which makes it harder for her to concentrate. And I once again got the confirmation that I have a little tunnel maniac :) I'm sure knowing this sort of things will be very useful in the future.

Camping with friends, hanging out in front of the tent until small hours, meeting old friends and getting new ones ... we sure had our share of fun. But weather was so bad this year that we are kind of happy to be back home. Our tent was leaking, everything we own was wet and muddy, and after two days I am still a little cold. Luckily, I can say that the atmosphere in Slovene team was so nice this year, that despite horrible weather conditions, this EO will always have a special place in my heart.

Here are some Tani photos taken by our PyrShep friend Olga Kwiecień-Maniewska:

Action Photos By Several Photographers

2010-07-14T04:48:00.000-07:00

I am lucky. So many great photographers enjoy taking photos of my pretty dogs, and I always smile when I look at them. Xsara is a very pretty and photogenic dog, she has bright colours and flying ears and her photos are always stunning. Taking a nice action photo of Tani is however more difficult, she is fast and with all that hair flying around getting a clear shot of her is more of an art. Well, Valerie Teppe, Iztok Noč, Andraž Cerar and Petra Bernik apparently have no problems with it, and here is the result:

Valerie Teppe:

Iztok Noč:

Andraž Cerar:

Petra Bernik:

I'm also posting two videos from our competition in Vrbljene. In agility, the teeter was waaaaay to slow for her :) She missed the A-frame contact although she usually has no problems with this obstacle. But the contact on the dogwalk was very nice, which of course made me extremely proud :)

Tour de France

2010-07-02T08:51:00.000-07:00

Tani filmed another TV ad, and this time I'm extra proud of her. Her commercial for Tour de France (cycling team AG2R La Mondiale) will be transmitted on French TV stations very frequently during the 3 weeks of Tour. The ad is very beautiful and funny at the same time. You can see it here:

Summer Joy

2010-06-17T23:20:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here and this year Tani decided that water is really fun :) Last year she swam too, but needed some encouragement to do so (I had to be in the water as well or throw a toy or a stick), while this year she sees water and she runs into it! I am very happy that we can enjoy water fun together, as I love swimming too. Here are some beautiful photos taken by Polona as usually. Thank you, Polona!

Competitions

2010-06-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

Tani is doing well in competitions. She really is a very fun dog to run with, she always gives it all and always has fun. Unfortunately, I am not as perfect as she is, so I sometimes make mistakes :) I have a lot to learn and she is perfect just the way she is. Here are some photos ...

...and a video of one of her runs. She did very well there, but unfortunately didn't understand which tunnel to take. I didn't even know the black tunnel was a hazard, it seemed so far away to me, LOL!

She is now in season again and wears these lovely panties at home :)

And very good news: because of the limp she had a while ago, I had her tested for lyme disease. I got the results today and she doesn't have it! Health is the most important thing and I'm very happy that she's such a healthy, happy little dog.

First Official Competition

2010-05-26T07:26:00.000-07:00

Tani had her first official competition on Saturday. She did extremely well, winning the jumping round with best absolute time of all dogs (S, M and L). In agility she was a little insecure about new obstacles so she had a refusal before the dogwalk and the A-frame, but once she was on them she really pulled ahead and did nice running contacts. I am very proud of her. She really loves agility and is a very fun dog to work with, so I know we are going to have a lot of fun together. Here is a video of her jumping run:

On the Road to Recovery

2010-05-10T00:36:00.000-07:00

Tani is feeling much better. She is back to training agility and having the long walks she loves so much. But the long rest and the weight loss did affect her a little, so she still gets tired somewhat sooner than she used to. Unfortunately we have many rainy days lately so being outside is not as fun as it could be, but I'm doing my best to get her back into perfect shape. She has more energy every day and I love seeing her recover so well.

Bed Rest

2010-04-26T01:01:00.000-07:00

Tani hurt her front left leg on Friday. She was really slow on agility training and I thought she was tired because we had practice for another commercial before agility, so I stopped working with her and put her in a crate. When I picked up all my stuff and took her out of the crate, she was holding one leg in the air and only walked on three. I touched the leg to take a look at it and she started screaming. So we went to the vet. We did the X-ray and there is no fracture or dislocation, which is good. Apparently she must have strained a muscle or bump into something. She is now on bed rest and anti-inflammatory painkillers. We had to cancel her commercial shoot and delay the date of her first official trial, but health always comes first. Get well soon, mon petit chien français!

Tani's First Competition

2010-04-20T02:04:00.000-07:00

In Slovenia dogs can start competing in agility at 15 months. Tani turned 15 months in March, but since I don't think we are prepared for a competition (she only learned the weaves on Tuesday and doesn't like waiting on the teeter), I entered her as a white dog in jumping on a competition in Vipava. As I expected, she didn't recognize the weaves right away and I did have some problems keeping up with her :) But my only goal was to make sure she is having fun and isn't worried about different environment, new obstacles, the judge, etc. I was very happy with how she behaved, she was completely relaxed and happy, just as I hoped she would be. She is normally a very carefree dog, but you never know how it's going to be in a new situation until you try it. Anyway, here is a video of her run:

By the way, despite all the time we lost on weaves, she still had the best time in medium :)

Tani's Sister Razz

2010-04-14T04:04:00.000-07:00

Ever since I was little, I wanted to visit Barcelona. A couple of weeks ago this dream of mine came true. Unfortunately, I couldn't take my dogs with me, but I did have some awesome doggy company - Tani's sister
Razz and her friends.

Razz looks a lot like Tani, but is more sensitive in character. She has a wonderful family who really made me feel very welcome. She shares her humans Mon and Cris with tho other dogs, cute little schnauzers Gara and Iki. They took me to their agility training and invited me to their house where I spent a great evening in awesome company and enjoyed typical Catalan dishes. It was so much fun, I stayed there until 4 A.M. Big thanks to Mon and Cris for their incredible hospitality, and also to Mireia, Nuria, Laura and Victor for the dinner! I hope Razz and her family come to Slovenia soon, I think Tani would really like meeting her sister again and I know I would love to see them again as well :)

Tani's TV Commercial

2010-03-24T09:59:00.001-07:00

Tani filmed her first TV commercial in February. She did a wonderful job filming outside in a busy city centre, and as always made me extremely proud. Once again, my dog had to pee in a commercial (Xsara also did the same trick in 2 commercials). Seems like I have a funny reputation :) You can see Tani's commercial here: CLICK HERE

Another Anniversary

2010-02-25T04:27:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago, Tani and I celebrated our first year together. In honour of this very special event for us, I'm sharing some photos from our trip to the Pyrenees to get puppy Tani, taken exactly one year ago. Most pictures were taken while she slept, because that was the only way to have her still for a couple of seconds, LOL!

Three blondes driving through France with 2 GPS devices, a map and directions from Via Michelin ... We still got lost :)

We met a real legend on a gas station!

We arrived to the hotel in Pau so tired that we didn't feel like going anywhere that evening. So our dinner was onion soup from a machine in the lobby of our hotel.

In Ljubljana it was still cold winter, but in the Pyrenees it was already spring. This ladybug stopped by to bring us good luck.

The next morning we continued our way from Pau to Gan. I first met my little puppy in a parking lot :) From there we followed the breeder to the kennel. This is the first picture Tani and I took together. I was very tired but so happy that I cannot describe it and Tani was ... suddenly very sleepy :)

We went for a little walk around the property to get to know the dogs and their way of life in their natural surrounding.

Tani and her sister Razz took another nap while we were taking care of the documents, signing the contract, filling out forms and doing other incredibly boring stuff :)

I still have to look twice to understand which leg is which :)

After lunch it was time for our long way back home. Tani behaved very nicely in the car.

And some of the first pictures in her new home with me :)

Running Contacts

2010-02-04T08:29:00.000-08:00

Here is Tani's first running contacts video. Now that she can do a normal dogwalk, training will be a lot easier:

Officially Winter

2010-01-11T00:54:00.000-08:00

After one entire month of vacation, we're now back home. There is a lot of snow in Ljubljana and Tani loves it. But because of the snow we cannot do any agility right now, so I admit I kind of hope it won't last for too long. On the seaside we were able to go for one training with Tani, mostly for contacts. Big thanks to Maša who let us use their training facility for that purpose!

Fireworks for New Year's Eve were not as much of a problem as I feared they would be. I bought a dried pig nose with honey to each of my dogs, I know it sounds disgusting but they are supposed to be delicious. The dogs went crazy for them so Tani didn't even notice the fireworks until some genius decided to have their own show in the camp right under the house we were staying in. She did get a little uncomfortable then because it was so close, but it wasn't too horrible, she just wanted to stay very close to me and was breathing a little more heavily than she usually does. So I think that went pretty well.

Here are some new winter photos of Tani, again thanks to Polona :)

Tani's Cake

2009-12-26T05:02:00.000-08:00

Gašper made a doggy cake for Tani's birthday yesterday. It was filled with salmon, duck and fresh vegetables. The dogs loved it!

Happy Birthday And Merry Christmas :)

2009-12-25T02:22:00.000-08:00

Exactly one year ago, my biggest Christmas wish came true. Far away in the Pyrenees, a little star was born. She was named Désirée because she was the most desired little princess in the whole wide world. She spent the next two months on the beautiful propriety of the Loubajac kennel, playing with her sisters Razz and Rayas, her brother and her parents Pecquelette and Victor and other dogs. She was also surrounded by sheep and geese.

When I first met my playful little puppy, she looked like a little furry racoon :) She decided right away that we belong together and followed me everywhere I went. She was very happy to find out that we have another dog, her beagle sister Xsara. They soon became inseparable.

Today she is one year old. A lot has happened since then. She now responds to Tani, a cool name that derives from the name of a sport motorcycle Suzuki Katana. She became a wonderful young dog, learned tons of new tricks, discovered that there is a very fun game she likes to play which is called agility, found out that sheep run really fast if you run after them and bark hysterically and learned that world is her personal playground :) I hope she will become even more snobbish and self-centered in the years to come. Happy birthday, my little Tani! I promise I will do my best to keep your tail wagging all the time. A very happy birthday also to Razz and Rayas and, of course, a merry merry Christmas to everyone!

Our improvisation of a Christmas tree - here by the sea it's Christmas pine tree :)

Yeeeeees, it's a real sheepskin tug!!!! She stole one just like this from a pyrshep on EO, but had to give it back ... Now she has one of her own, ordered from CleanRun!

That was for her birthday, and now the Christmas present

A whole pack of her favourite balls!

And last but not least ... CONFETTI TIME!!!!

11 Months

2009-11-25T01:58:00.000-08:00

Tani and her sisters RAYAS and RAZZ have 11 months today. I cannot believe that the next time we'll celebrate it will be one whole year already! Tani is defenitely NOT grown up yet, she is just as playful and carefree as she was when we first met. I hope she stays my crazy little clown :) I love her brilliant ideas and how she makes me laugh all the time. I love how she looks up to Xsara and how she waits for her to wake up in the morning, trying to hypnotize the part of the blanket where Xsara sleeps until she shows her pink nose and sleepy eyes. I love how she makes confetti out of every piece of paper she can find and how proud she is of her work when it's finished. I love how she smiles at me with her tongue hanging out of her mouth, I love the crazy look on her face and the huge brown eyes following my every move. I love all the wet kisses, how she shows all her mental and physical capabilities when trying to steal coffee and how excited she gets when she jumps out of the car to find out we're on an agility course. I love her egocentric and snobbish attitude and I love how she thinks I'm the coolest person alive. This list could go on and on forever, but to sum it up - I just love you, my little Tani!

New Photos

2009-11-06T03:21:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we went for another walk with Polona and her toller Wi. Polona took some new photos of my dogs, they are all amazingly beautiful like all of her photos. As you can see, there is no snow left, only rain (but we were very lucky because it wasn't raining during our walk). Here are some photos of Tani in autumn colours:

Sheepdog Video And Tani's First Real Snow

2009-11-04T02:44:00.000-08:00

Here is a video of Tani on CANT. Of course, this is not all she had to do, just one of the exercises. I think she did very well, specially considering that this was our third encounter with sheep so far. She sure showed that she has drive and interest for the flock, no doubt about it :) Our next appointment is in 10 days and the countdown has already begun!

On another note, we had the first snow of the season yesterday. This was Tani's first real snow with me, other than snowy left-overs we had in February when she came to stay with us and those that we saw in the mountains. Since the temperatures are still to high for snow, it only lasted one day and is already gone today. But yesterday everything was nice, clean and white! Tani loved it, of course, she ran up and down the fields trying to catch snowflakes, rolled in it, tried to eat it, played with it - she did it all, preferably at the same time. My fingers were freezing, but I did manage to take some photo-evidence of it:

CANT

2009-10-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

I really have to brag today :) Tani and I had the test of natural attitude for herding dogs in Italy (called CANT). She did extremely well and made me incredibly proud. Her results are (options are: very good, good or insufficient):

Natural attitude:
Resistance: very good (very fast)
Jumping: very good (agile)
Recall: very good (immediate)
Behaviour with owner: very good (attentive)
Behaviour with other people: very good (comfortable)
Behaviour with other dogs: very good (playful)
Behaviour with unknown objects: very good (indifferent or playful)

Pastoral attitude:
Interest for the flock: good (interested from 30 to 10m)
Approach to the flock: very good (approaches the flock as soon as released by the owner)
Conduct with the flock: very good (interested, agitated)

Result: Suitable
(options are: suitable, the test has to be repeated, eliminated with no option to repeat the test).

I will add the video as soon as I recharge the battery on my camera.

After the test we had a lovely running contacts training, and we are also celebrating 10 months today, so we have many reasons to party :)

First Sheepdog Lesson

2009-10-10T03:14:00.000-07:00

Tani and I had our first Sheepdog lesson in Italy. This was her second interaction with sheep (we did the puppy instinct test at 4 months). She behaved very differently from the first time, and was much more excited and nervous now than at 4 months. She really liked working with sheep, so we will continue to attend these lessons. Our next meeting is on Thursday.

I only have the video of the first time she entered the pen. Her second round was actually better, and I'm a little sad that I don't have any evidence of it! One sheep (the biggest one) wasn't listening to her and tried to wander away. Tani wasn't going to let her do that, so she worked really hard to bring her back. She earned the nickname "hot pepper" for her energetic and somewhat spicy personality when it comes to work.

Tricks Class And Tani's New Friend

2009-10-02T03:32:00.000-07:00

I haven't done a new video for Tani's 9 months, shame on me! Instead, I'm posting the video of Silvia's summer tricks class (featuring Tani and her friends). Pretty amazing, huh?

Xsara and Tani got a cairn terrier cousin yesterday. Miki will be the best friend to my younger sister Katja. I'm sure they will make each other very happy! Tani and Xsara like him very much, which is very important considering that we live in the same house. Miki likes my girls as well, I think he will fit into our family very nicely.

Happy 8 Months!

2009-08-25T04:18:00.000-07:00

Tani and her siblings are 8 months "old" today! To mark this event, we finally made the 5th part of puppy tricks, learned in Silvia's tricks class :) Enjoy:

Summertime

2009-08-14T02:48:00.000-07:00

Time sure does fly, specially if you have a Pyr Shep puppy :) I simply cannot believe that my little bundle of fur and joy has almost 8 months already! And I also cannot believe how long it's been since her last tricks video. Of course, she can do tons of new tricks, and I promise I will do my best to make a video in the next few days. In the meantime, I'm posting one funny picture - this is what happens if you leave a friend with poodles in charge of your dog for 5 minutes:

On European Open in Holland, we saw many relatives of Tani in action. All of them are wonderful dogs with wonderful families. We took pictures of some of them:
Tani's niece Page from Luxembourg:

Tani's step sister from Norway:

and, of course, Tani's fantastic 3/4 sister who needs no introduction :)

We're now staying at the seaside until the end of the month and we are having a lot of fun together. I'm posting a couple of pictures from our vacation so far:

A Walk With Polona And Her Gang

2009-07-22T10:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went for a walk with our agility friend Polona, her super sweet and super smart toller Wi and Bamm Bamm, who is staying with Polona while his mom is on vacation. Polona took some amazing pictures of my girls, so BIG thanks to her. Here are Tani's pictures at almost 7 months:

We had a lot of fun together so we already agreed to go for another walk when we return from EO.

Tani Swims!

2009-07-20T01:39:00.000-07:00

My very big wish came true: Tani likes to swim :) She is still a little insecure when she cannot touch the ground, but she goes to swim anyway, my brave little girl.

We were at the seaside for a week with many of her canine friends. At first, she only went in the water up to her tummy and watched the others have fun. But one day she decided to give it a try and she followed the gang deeper and deeper. She swam with them for about 15 minutes. The next day she ran into the water as soon as we arrived on the beach, but wouldn't swim much, so we just played on the shore for the rest of the time. Then it was time to go back home and we couldn't try any more swimming for a week, but yesterday we went for a trip to the seaside again and she ran into the sea as soon as we came to the beach. There were waves so she couldn't swim normally, but she kept trying so I decided to take her to another beach after lunch. With no waves there, she swam for about 15 minutes.

We are going to EO on Thursday and then on vacation again (I am working on my diploma and our house by the sea is the perfect place for writing). We will stay there for 3 weeks, so she will have many opportunities for swimming this summer :)

Happy 6 Months!

2009-06-24T15:51:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Tani and her siblings Razz, Rayas and one blue merle boy in Nantes! I cannot believe that my little girl is 6 months old already, time sure does fly. Seems like I went to pick her up yesterday. I knew right away that she was my perfect puppy, so tiny and full of energy, everything I hoped for and even more. It was love at first sight for both of us. She decided right away that we belong together and already while we were at the breeder's she followed me everywhere and came to rest at my feet when she got sleepy from playing with Razz. We are celebrating her 6 months at a trial today, as we have national holiday in Slovenia.

Here is a demonstration of how much she has changed in this period - she doesn't look like a little racoon any more, now she's a beautiful young lady.

Tani's First Hiking Trip

2009-06-15T01:11:00.000-07:00

At almost 6 months, we took Tani hiking for the first time. Of course, we chose a path that isn't too dangerous or too long for such a young dog, and in addition has a river running along practically all the way. She behaved very well during the entire trip so we spent a beautiful day together.

Unfortunately though, Tani got a painful lesson from the electrical fence in the valley. While I was searching for something in my bag, she tried to go under it and touched it with her back. She cried a little, but then I threw her a stick and ran with her a little, and she very soon forgot all about it.

A couple of days ago, Tani learned how to gather wild strawberries in the forest. She likes the sweet taste of them, so she soon figured that we also have them in the garden. Ever since, whenever we play in the garden, she goes to check if there are any new ones that have become red, and if there are, she eats them.

Puppy Class Exam

2009-06-04T00:13:00.000-07:00

Tani successfully completed the finals for her puppy class. Yes, we have actual finals: doggies must show they can come when called (even if they are playing with their friends), heel in all directions (ignoring all distractions), wait in sit and down position (again, with distractions), show some tricks ... Tani did very well, not as perfectly as she could have, but very well anyway. I was very proud of her. At the same time, I was sad that the class would end, as we were having so much fun with Silvia. But then she told us that she decided to have another tricks class for us, so we will be attending her lessons all Summer, yaaaay! Seems like Tani will be a real Circus dog by the time she's one year old :)

Biiiig thanks to Daša Zakotnik for this beautiful picture of Tani:

Photoshooting

2009-05-22T01:57:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday we had a photoshooting in Hrušica. Biiiiig thanks to Iztok Noč for these wonderful pictures of Tani on agility equipment! Tani and I don't actually work much on real equipment yet, but we are running some little cik/cap courses with tunnels and bars on the ground and are slowly starting to run over a flat plank on the ground. However we did run over a baby dogwalk a couple of times (very low, though) just for this photoshooting.

Puppy Tricks - part 4

2009-05-18T04:36:00.000-07:00

I did find some time to edit the part 4 of Tani's puppy tricks. Here is the video:

Puppy Class and a Trip to Bohinj

2009-05-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

Water has always been my favorite element. I love swimming and I would love my dogs to swim with me. Xsara is not impressed by water at all, going inside up to her tummy is totally enough as far as she's concerned. For a while it looked like Tani was not much of an acquamaniac herself, but the other day she played in a pond with her sheltie puppy friend and they were having so much fun that I decided to give it a try again as soon as possible. Today we took the girls for a trip to Bohinj where we went for a long walk by a beautiful lake. I was playing with Tani on the shore and at a certain point threw a stick into the lake. At first she entered the water slowly and carefully, but very soon she realized that it was fun, so she got more and more comfortable running and jumping around like a little furry maniac and she even swam a little. Yay!

We also filmed the material for Tani's part 4 of puppy tricks. I haven't edited it yet, but in the meantime I'm posting this video of Silvia's puppy class, also featuring my clever little girl:

Pretty cool, isn't it? We're having so much fun in this class, I wish it would never end!

Tani's Milk Teeth

2009-05-07T05:23:00.000-07:00

Our little girl is gap-toothed! 5 of her milk teeth fell out in only two days, so she is constantly chewing on things and, unfortunately, also on Xsara's ears. She couldn't sleep at all for two days, but I managed to make her super tired yesterday (training, two kindergarten visits and puppy school in addition to our normally busy busy schedule), so now she's a lot calmer and is resting. She has no problems eating, even with all of the missing teeth she can still empty her bowl in only 14 seconds :)

Herding Test, Heeling and Tricks

2009-05-03T04:40:00.000-07:00

At 4 months, Tani had her first serious encounter with sheep. We took her to Italy where she had a test of herding instinct for puppies. She did very well, specially considering that she was by far the youngest and the smallest dog participating in the event. She got all 10 points for potential and the instructor was also very happy with her concentration, body movement and - probably the most important thing for me - adaptability to new surroundings. Thanks to Maja for these lovely pictures!

We made a new video of her, this time no tricks but her first "tutorial". I got a lot of questions on how we teach the heeling position, and since I think this is a very good technique, I asked Silvia if I could share the technique she teaches in her puppy school. She didn't mind at all, so for everybody interested in heeling, here comes the video:

We also have many new tricks to share, but we were so busy with Xsara's trials for the past few weekends that we haven't managed to film them yet. But she did learn backward eight (in like two sessions, by the way), beg, go back, shake head as to say no, two on/two off position, and give her paw to greet people. We also work a lot on staying in the sit or lay down position for longer periods.