One year ago we were celebrating the fact that Penny had recovered enough from cruciate surgery to walk down a small ramp to the street and sniff around.
How long the recovery seemed to take!
But here we are, twelve months later, having fun once again. For all those people out there whose dogs need surgery, I say, 'There will be light at the end of the tunnel. The time will pass.'
Here's a short clip of Penny running a small agility course yesterday. (And that was after an hour's walk in the country!)
I wouldn't want to see her doing too much of the agility, though. We were told after the surgery she will always have to be careful. Yesterday was the first time she has jumped as high as she does through the tyre. We'll watch her carefully this week to see that she is not limping. And we still do exercises most days to strengthen the muscle in the repaired leg.
Showing posts with label agility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label agility. Show all posts
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Friday, 30 July 2010
activity parks for dogs
Recently I was sent a link to an article about a dog activity park in England, a park costing £15 000.
The writer takes a dismissive view of the spending of such an amount of money on dogs and interviewed only people with a negative reaction. I think the park is a good idea, as it will encourage people to get out in the fresh air with their dogs. The writer shows his ignorance of agility by not realising that the human has to do the course with the dog, rather than stand still chatting to other dog owners, as many of us do if there is nothing of interest in a fenced dog park.
And to me the main reason for supporting the building of such parks is that we owe it to the dogs who live with us. They didn't choose to live in a crowded human-designed environment and they deserve as much intellectual and physical stimulation as we can provide.
Parks like this are an effective use of a small space.
The writer takes a dismissive view of the spending of such an amount of money on dogs and interviewed only people with a negative reaction. I think the park is a good idea, as it will encourage people to get out in the fresh air with their dogs. The writer shows his ignorance of agility by not realising that the human has to do the course with the dog, rather than stand still chatting to other dog owners, as many of us do if there is nothing of interest in a fenced dog park.
And to me the main reason for supporting the building of such parks is that we owe it to the dogs who live with us. They didn't choose to live in a crowded human-designed environment and they deserve as much intellectual and physical stimulation as we can provide.
Parks like this are an effective use of a small space.
Friday, 9 April 2010
Cindy's pet services gives us lots of fun things to do
In yesterday's post about training at night I forgot to mention the important fact that it's at Lilydale and the classes are run by Cindy.
Lots of fun in a relaxed and interestingly different environment.
Lots of fun in a relaxed and interestingly different environment.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
dog training at night
Penny's finding that attending classes at night in the open, in the scary, scary dark, is quite different from working inside a building.
We're having great fun, and Penny is learning that it's not necessary to throw a wobbly every time someone walks past our training spot. It's great to see that in only two weeks she's learned to deal with ambient noise and passing strangers, and can pay close attention to me as we work.
(I'd like to thank Cody's mum for every one of the photos on tonight's blog!)
The darkness didn't slow her down going through the lovely new tunnel.
But there certainly is a scary effect when dogs are photographed in the dark!
We had a race to see who could put the most toys into a bucket.
Penny would have done quite well if she hadn't made a few withdrawals as well as deposits.
I'll have to admit our opponent ran rings around us!
We're having great fun, and Penny is learning that it's not necessary to throw a wobbly every time someone walks past our training spot. It's great to see that in only two weeks she's learned to deal with ambient noise and passing strangers, and can pay close attention to me as we work.
(I'd like to thank Cody's mum for every one of the photos on tonight's blog!)
The darkness didn't slow her down going through the lovely new tunnel.
But there certainly is a scary effect when dogs are photographed in the dark!
We had a race to see who could put the most toys into a bucket.
Penny would have done quite well if she hadn't made a few withdrawals as well as deposits.
I'll have to admit our opponent ran rings around us!
Monday, 22 December 2008
K9 Kompany christmas party 2008
Yesterday we attended the end-of-year party at K9 Kompany in Lilydale. It was great fun.
Penny was awarded second prize for doing tricks - weaving around my legs in a figure of eight.
We didn't enter the dress-up competition, because Penny shakes off any 'human' items if we try to put them on her.
The winners looked good, though!
I had great hopes for the 'Gambler's Agility' - in this game you race around the agility course, scoring points of different value, depending which activity you choose. The score goes back to zero if you choose an activity that the dog refuses - that's the gamble. Penny, as usual, did everything that was asked of her, so we should have done well - except that she did the weave poles in slow motion. Really s-l-o-w motion. Oh well, at least we gave the onlookers a good laugh.
We both had a great time. Here we are, laughing together.
Penny was awarded second prize for doing tricks - weaving around my legs in a figure of eight.
We didn't enter the dress-up competition, because Penny shakes off any 'human' items if we try to put them on her.
The winners looked good, though!
I had great hopes for the 'Gambler's Agility' - in this game you race around the agility course, scoring points of different value, depending which activity you choose. The score goes back to zero if you choose an activity that the dog refuses - that's the gamble. Penny, as usual, did everything that was asked of her, so we should have done well - except that she did the weave poles in slow motion. Really s-l-o-w motion. Oh well, at least we gave the onlookers a good laugh.
We both had a great time. Here we are, laughing together.
Sunday, 16 November 2008
dogs at the Lilydale show
In the last post I mentioned that Penny took part in a demonstration by K9 Kompany at the Lilydale Show today. It was a tiring day because she participated in four sessions, but her tail was still wagging at the end of the day, so I'd say she had a great time.
Here she is showing 'stand calmly for a vet's examination', one of the items from Ideal Dog.
We enjoyed All Sports, which is a mix of tricks, obedience and agility. Penny loves the seesaw and it was great to have so many turns on it.
Here she is showing 'stand calmly for a vet's examination', one of the items from Ideal Dog.
We enjoyed All Sports, which is a mix of tricks, obedience and agility. Penny loves the seesaw and it was great to have so many turns on it.
dogs train for film work
Today the K9 Kompany presented a series of demonstrations for the public at the Lilydale show.
Penny and I took part in two types of demonstration - Ideal Dog of Australia and All Sports.
But we were onlookers at the highlight of the day, Animal Actors, because we're not in that class.
It was interesting to see how the tricks we're learning in All Sports could be developed into film work. Cindy and two students demonstrated that dogs need to learn to do tricks at a distance because the trainer can't be visible in the film.
A small piece of tape on the floor marked the nearest point the trainer was allowed to approach the dog during filming. I've taken a shot here from a different angle, showing the trainer's hand at right - you can see the dog watching her.
The story behind the filming was that Cindy was reading the paper and the dogs would try to get her attention. One of the dogs jumped up on the couch with her, barked and laid its head on her leg. When all this failed, it pushed a roller across in front of her.
In this shot the trainer is not in view - this is how the shot would appear in a film.
Penny and I took part in two types of demonstration - Ideal Dog of Australia and All Sports.
But we were onlookers at the highlight of the day, Animal Actors, because we're not in that class.
It was interesting to see how the tricks we're learning in All Sports could be developed into film work. Cindy and two students demonstrated that dogs need to learn to do tricks at a distance because the trainer can't be visible in the film.
A small piece of tape on the floor marked the nearest point the trainer was allowed to approach the dog during filming. I've taken a shot here from a different angle, showing the trainer's hand at right - you can see the dog watching her.
The story behind the filming was that Cindy was reading the paper and the dogs would try to get her attention. One of the dogs jumped up on the couch with her, barked and laid its head on her leg. When all this failed, it pushed a roller across in front of her.
In this shot the trainer is not in view - this is how the shot would appear in a film.
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Dogs also can celebrate the Melbourne Cup
Today at K9 Kompany we competed in the K9 Kompany Kup, in celebration of the upcoming Melbourne Cup, our famous horse race.
And Penny won!
Here she is sitting proudly with the precious goblet.
Then she decided to check it out to see if there might be a treat in it.
And there was one - what a great reward for a wonderful effort.
Though perhaps I should admit that there were only two dogs in the races and that Penny has been attending K9 four times longer than her competitor. But dogs haven't heard of 'the level playing field' so we can celebrate without any qualms.
And Penny won!
Here she is sitting proudly with the precious goblet.
Then she decided to check it out to see if there might be a treat in it.
And there was one - what a great reward for a wonderful effort.
Though perhaps I should admit that there were only two dogs in the races and that Penny has been attending K9 four times longer than her competitor. But dogs haven't heard of 'the level playing field' so we can celebrate without any qualms.
Thursday, 3 July 2008
how to make your own agility equipment
Penny enjoys agility but I've found it rather expensive to buy much equipment for practice at home. So I was very intrigued to follow a link from Maholia to another site called Instant Agility that has heaps of instructions for making agility equipment from pvc pipes. It looks great!
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
canine fitness routine for the city dwelling dog
Penny and I went for a walk in Darebin Parklands this evening and we both took the opportunity to improve our level of fitness (me by strolling around and her by racing all over the place, chasing balls and swimming in the creek). I think we’re incredibly lucky to have an open area at the bottom of our street where she is allowed to walk off-lead. I’m sure that if she had to toddle around the streets on a leash at my middle-aged pace, she’d be overweight and unfit.
We city dwellers have to work hard to find opportunities to keep our dogs fit. I’ve just read an article in the magazine ‘Dog World’ about finding places in a city to exercise a dog. The author, Liz Palika, is a dog-trainer, behavioural consultant and AKC CGC evaluator. She says that one of the advantages of living in a city is that the dog gets plenty of chances to experience different surfaces, such as grass, asphalt, sand and dirt – this will increase all-round confidence when faced with new experiences.
There’s also a photo of a dog in what seems to be a small backyard, standing up on its back legs to get a treat. The caption under the picture says that when a dog goes from a sit to a stand the rear legs and core muscles are exercised. Cindy, the teacher at K9 Kompany in Lilydale, where Penny and I go each week, also emphasises the usefulness of stretches for maintaining a dog’s health. It sounds rather like ‘Pilates for Dogs’, now that I think of it. This is the first time I’ve heard the expression ‘core muscles’ used for a dog, though I’m familiar with it in my own exercise classes.
The article also mentions an exercise routine that Cindy uses at the start of many classes. It’s ‘sit-ups’, doggy-style. Penny goes from a sit to a drop and up again. The writer of the article says that the idea is to get some speed on this so that the dog does lots of push-ups in a very short time. Hmmm… I’m pretty sure Penny’s ancestry involves lounging around in a Tibetan monastery looking to see if anyone is coming up the valley. She’s not easy to convince that she needs to do exercises quickly. Have to think about that one…
However, the exercise that sounds like fun is the one that Christine Zink, author of a book on dog fitness called ‘The Agility Advantage’, recommends. The dog gets into a beg position and then rises onto the back legs without putting the front legs down. It sounds as if it would be great for Penny because I sometimes think she is not using her rear legs strongly when she runs. We've practised it in the past with her rising up once to get a treat but haven't tried it as an repeated exercise.
The article is from the June 2008 edition of Dog World, volume 93, issue 6, and it’s on pages 36-40. At the DogWorld site there are five great tips for increasing a city dog’s fitness and general agility.
We city dwellers have to work hard to find opportunities to keep our dogs fit. I’ve just read an article in the magazine ‘Dog World’ about finding places in a city to exercise a dog. The author, Liz Palika, is a dog-trainer, behavioural consultant and AKC CGC evaluator. She says that one of the advantages of living in a city is that the dog gets plenty of chances to experience different surfaces, such as grass, asphalt, sand and dirt – this will increase all-round confidence when faced with new experiences.
There’s also a photo of a dog in what seems to be a small backyard, standing up on its back legs to get a treat. The caption under the picture says that when a dog goes from a sit to a stand the rear legs and core muscles are exercised. Cindy, the teacher at K9 Kompany in Lilydale, where Penny and I go each week, also emphasises the usefulness of stretches for maintaining a dog’s health. It sounds rather like ‘Pilates for Dogs’, now that I think of it. This is the first time I’ve heard the expression ‘core muscles’ used for a dog, though I’m familiar with it in my own exercise classes.
The article also mentions an exercise routine that Cindy uses at the start of many classes. It’s ‘sit-ups’, doggy-style. Penny goes from a sit to a drop and up again. The writer of the article says that the idea is to get some speed on this so that the dog does lots of push-ups in a very short time. Hmmm… I’m pretty sure Penny’s ancestry involves lounging around in a Tibetan monastery looking to see if anyone is coming up the valley. She’s not easy to convince that she needs to do exercises quickly. Have to think about that one…
However, the exercise that sounds like fun is the one that Christine Zink, author of a book on dog fitness called ‘The Agility Advantage’, recommends. The dog gets into a beg position and then rises onto the back legs without putting the front legs down. It sounds as if it would be great for Penny because I sometimes think she is not using her rear legs strongly when she runs. We've practised it in the past with her rising up once to get a treat but haven't tried it as an repeated exercise.
The article is from the June 2008 edition of Dog World, volume 93, issue 6, and it’s on pages 36-40. At the DogWorld site there are five great tips for increasing a city dog’s fitness and general agility.
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