Back From Holidays

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

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

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!

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

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: