Pearls – it’s a bit of a running joke in my BNI group – is a tidbit of valuable info.  Stuff that I’ve learned from the actual experience rather than a video or a story told.

In May, we got to see what we’ve been working toward.  Until this past month, we had only competed in Florida.  We joined the CFDDC, which is an awesome group, and did every competition in FL we could get to.  With Lilli, Jason did really well and Moxie and I had great potential right off the bat.  We had seen videos of other top disc doggers around the country, but not live and in action…. until we went to Freedom Weekend.  I was awed, excited, humbled, inspired and it was so super cool to meet Tracy.

Moxie stylin' at USDDN Freedom Weekend

Between then and now, I’ve learned a lot of valuable pieces that will take us to the next level.  Here are some of the top ones on my list:

1. Don’t repeat tricks if I miss them.  None of the top teams do it.
2. Focus on flow and catch percentage. Can’t get a big score if I’ve got a low %.
3. Video the teams you love the most – and the ones that WIN – and learn something from them. 
4. Relax.  Breathe.  I’ve really enjoyed playing with Moxie at the last 2 events, mostly because I was relaxed and only had the expectation to play with my partner.
5. Try cool new stuff – be innovative.  We added a Japanese dog catch and a butterfly vault to our routine.  Hard stuff is fun to try and creative stuff is fun to watch.

Our first butterfly vault caught in competition!

Some random thoughts:

I think Moxie may be a ACD / Kelpie.  Been wondering what she’s mixed with and saw 2 different kelpies today that look just like her!  Kelpie would be so much cooler in the mix that a terrier of some sort…

Last weekend, the day after UFO in Jacksonville, Jack and Kat Fahle, Chris Engel and Mike Dillon, Jason and I got together at Mike’s place in central FL to jam.  We all played with other people’s dogs and worked on some new tricks and the dogs all ate horse poo (which is a separate story).  We really enjoyed hanging out and playing.  We learn so much watching other people play.  Mike and Molly are coming over this weekend to work on some more vault training and a dog catch.  We’re gonna take lots of video and put together some new videos for the blog.

Moxie and I have made great progress on the shriek.  If you’ve ever seen us in competition – you’ve heard it.  Earsplitting.  A 5 minute session with Susan Garrett and like magic (and holding criteria) – we’ve made fantastic progress.  I love and appreciate the gurus we have in our lives and hope to someday be that for other people.  We’ve been so honored to hang with and learn from great people – Ron and Apryl, Susan, John Arnett, John Geraghty…  We look forward to finding a “more local” mentor to get us to the next level of play.  Can’t wait for Ron and Apryl’s camp this summer in MI!

That’s when we discovered Hero Discs.  I’ve noticed over the past year, lots of people have switched over to Hero from Fastback – and there are so many varieties.  I’m the one who handles all of the disc ordering in the house, so I know them all by name and weight and function.

We switched Lilli to Super Hero discs exclusively after trying all of the “Super” style discs (Super = hard bite/durable) – and pretty much everyone we talk to – all the old cats – think it’s ridiculous that we use such a heavy, soft disc for freestyle.   We did come from an Ultimate background after all, so although Super Heros are the heaviest disc, they are still quite a bit lighter and smaller than the 175′s we’re used to tossing.

When we got Moxie -Tracy had tested her on Fastbacks, so I tried those out first.  She had a really solid 85% catch percentage right out of the shelter.  I didn’t want to mess with it, so I stuck with light discs.  Fastbacks had the same effect though and Moxie’s typical ACD jaws of death literally tore through each disc in one session.  I heard about the new Hero 235′s, so I got a set of those reading that they fly like a Fastback, but they are more durable.  That is accurate – they don’t tear like Fastbacks do, but they still get really punctured and edgy after a few sessions – albeit lasting much longer than it’s predecessor.

Moxie and I have been practicing for our freestyle routine for the upcoming USDDN Fun in the Sun Qualifier this weekend and her catch percentage the past 2 weeks or so has tanked.  The conditions have been windier and her inexperience has made it hard for her to read discs and again, being a cattle dog, she tends to pre-jump in anticipation.  After 5 or so rough routines in a row, and most of the misses coming on her usually-rock-solid 20 yard toss and catch, we did a run-through with Jason’s Super Heros.  It was also the first practice without 20 mph wind gusts too so go figure.

The result was much improved.  She had a much higher catch percentage than with the 235′s and BOY does she LOVE to tug those rubbery discs!!!  I can hang on fine if I keep her front feet off the ground, but if she gets full tug leverage with those discs – wow she’ll take my fingers off with her head whip!  So I’ve decided this weekend for the event, I’ll run her with Super Heros and see how that works.  I’ll likely catch all the same “heavy disc” flack from the veterans…

Next up – a post about all the different disc types, styles, weights, etc that we’ve tried over the past 3 years.

This was Jason and Lilli’s second freestyle competition and they rocked it!  Unfortunately, only 2 novice teams showed up.  That may make it appear that it wasn’t much to finish first…  To give FULL credit where it’s due, Jason and Lilli scored 79 points between their freestyle and D/A scores, (at Canis #1, Jason and Lilli scored 65 – what an improvement!) and the top finisher, Gary Duke, in the Super Open Division (expert) finished with 85 points I think it was…and they score more for each area by 3 points (I believe that’s how it works). We’re confident that she’ll be able to keep up with the big boys when she moves up from Novice at our next event!

Lilli caught every single disc and Jason made good throws each and every time.  It was a brilliant routine and we’re so proud of our freestyle team!  Check out Lilli’s newest trick, the butterfly back flip!  It was SICK!  Here’s the video:

Kai and I registered for her first Distance/Accuracy event.  My expectations were to keep her on the field, and my hopes were that she’d play just like we do at the parks and fields we train on.  D/A includes 2 rounds – 60 seconds each – where the object is to throw the disc within the boundaries of the field – ideally in the 40 yard zone.  The team is awarded .5 points additional for each catch made in the air versus with any paws on the ground.

Our first round, I didn’t notice that in the next field over, people we practicing long throws with their dogs.  She lined up fine and went around fine – ran out, caught the first disc, spotted the dog in the next field streaking after a long disc and schoooooommm…she was off to the races after that dog and his disc.

The next round, our plan was to keep it really, really short and add lots of tug with the goal of just keeping her on the field. We asked that the other competitors keep the plastic out of the air while we were up and that worked like a charm.  I first tossed the disc 5 yards and recalled and she came.  Then 7 yards a few times and she came each time and we tugged each time.  Jason thought I certainly could have stretched it to a further throw – I was a bit too nervous.  We got a nice cheer from the crowd each time she caught the discs and came back!

After the event was over, Jason and I took her back out on the field, with other dogs playing nearby, and threw long throws.  She came back each and every time!  I’m so glad this first time experience is over and done with and we can look forward to a solid round next Saturday!  The camera didn’t record Kai’s rounds.  Jason was judging and something happened and it didn’t record.  Can’t say I’m disappointed!  We’ll have fresh video of a great 2 rounds next weekend!

When we first heard of Kai (then her name was Sketch), we were told she was a high drive Aussie with performance potential.  We weren’t really looking for another dog – Leila was only 6 months old and we still had a TON of training to do that was keeping us busy…but I couldn’t resist at least connecting with the breeder and current family and learning a bit more about her.  We had an Aussie Pool Party and invited Kai, her owners and Ami Boxer and her pack – who includes Kai’s sire.  I was pretty sure in the first few minutes that she wasn’t what we were looking for performance wise.  We enjoyed the day none-the-less and I really enjoyed connecting and talking dogs with Ami.

The owners asked that we give her another review without all the hoopla – that she’d show more drive and focus.  I had shared with Jason before we met her that I’d only want to take her if she was already catching or at least tracking the disc and had basic obedience and a nice pile of drive to play with.  She had none of the above.  We then found out that Kai shares Lilli’s grandsire – they’re cousins – so we gave her a 1 week trial. Her current owners had allergies and she was overwhelming them a bit.  We were leaving in a week to go to Ron Watson’s Pawsitive Vybe Disc Dog Camp in Michigan and really struggled with whether to take her or return her.  It really came down to guilt…if I’m to be completely honest.  I didn’t have the heart to give her back to a family that wasn’t able to really work her.  Several friends (and experts) advised us against keeping her for those reasons.  When we went to Susan Garrett’s Skills camp in Ontario after Ron’s camp, Jason reminded me of a valuable thing that Susan shared.  ANY healthy/sound dog can be a successful performance dog with the right kind of training – or at the very least – a great family pet.  I was really just looking for the easy way out – and Kai was going to be a lot of work.  During our deluxe road trip to the north-country we decided to keep her.

This really ended up being a long story…  Lots of performance trainers of all different sports pick and choose their dogs – all requiring specific criteria.  Others like Ron and Apryl often end up keeping high risk dogs – performance viable or not – just because they have nowhere else to go – hence a houseful of dogs!  We had a choice with Kai.  I’m sure that her sliding doors future would have looked very different from the dog she is today had we not made that choice.  And not necessarily good or bad – just amazingly different.

In less than 2 months of focused training, Kai has transformed from a no-to-low drive, not focused, lacking basic obedience, no retrieve and generally aloof attitude towards training to a focused, driven, tracking and retrieving, jumping, flipping machine who demands play several times a day and belly rubs at night…all night.  It really came down to Jason’s challenge – that Kai would prove whether or not I’m a good dog trainer.  We got lucky with Lilli and we know it.  Kai wasn’t being handed to us a finished dog.  I like challenges.

So with no further adieu – here is a video of Kai we shot today in the outer band winds of Hurricane Ida – practicing for her first D/A event this weekend at Canis Major.  She’s amazing.  A different dog.  We chose her as a superstar – even though she didn’t appear to be that initially.  I’m grateful for the challenge and rewards of transforming and growing with her.

The first date for Canis Major #1 was sometime in September, but it was rained out.  Then rained out again the next weekend.  Followed by several weeks of finals and worlds freestyle competitions…finally we had a date…AND IT DIDN’T RAIN!  It was also close enough to Halloween to make it an extra Spooktacular event with costumes and everything!

We had been working on the routine for over a month with a couple-week-long hiatus in the middle where we did nothing but free play and practicing vaults.  Jason kept the routine simple, with staple moves we knew were solid and we added the noodle in the beginning for fun. (Noodle is Lilli’s latest trick – a backwards walking weave)  It was a windy day but they all had a ton of time to throw and practice with the wind and our Hero Discs made it easier.  Jason got several compliments on his great throws in the D/A round of the event.

The big lesson I learned…check the CD with the routine music.  Make sure it plays.    Of course, ours didn’t so that made for an interesting beginning to the routine and some extra time for Lilli and Jason to connect before starting.  I don’t think anyone really got the coolness of the song we picked considering it sounded all crackly from us rigging the iphone to their equipment.  After the music drama was over…Jason and Lilli rocked it.  Here’s their vid.

Lilli and Jason took first place on Saturday.  I am so proud of them, I can’t even express it all.  Lilli has won everything she’s ever tried, the first time out.  She’s amazing.  If she wasn’t our first disc dog, she’d probably already be competing on a National and World level.  I guess everyone starts out with an amazing crash dummy dog that they break while trying to figure out how this disc dogging thing works.  It started with just wanting a dog to fetch and retrieve a frisbee…and look at her now.  Proud Mama. 

Jason and I had a conversation today about the trial this past weekend.  I have really high expectations.  I expect to Q every time and do it in style.  Sometimes being that ambitious gets me fantastic results.  Other times it gives me an opportunity be hard on myself.  You say…“You got 3 out of 4 Q’s in your first trial…you should be stoked!”.

We did well this past weekend.  And looking back I got to see that what I was about this weekend was winning.  Not being great.  I’m not sure how to explain the distinction other than to go back to what Susan Garrett said on her blog about the lady that won first place but didn’t meet her criteria in her run or the post that really stuck with me about her own trialing experiences with her dogs.  She said that someone came up to her and asked her why she did so poorly in these trials. 

Susan responded saying that’s exactly what they were – trials.  They are practice for the big, important runs.  She could handle the dog along the course in a way that she’s absolutely sure they’ll take the right obstacle, OR she could handle a new, creative, interesting or tricky way to challenge the dog.  Maybe the dog won’t respond perfectly or Q – AND opportunity is created to learn something new!

That – to me – is being great.  And great isn’t the same as winning.  In fact, sometimes not winning is great.    If I had Q’d all for of my runs this weekend, my ego-bubble wouldnt’ have been burst and I wouldn’t have crashed back down to Earth.  I would have gone to run-throughs tonight with the big ol’ ego taped to my forehead and I wouldn’t have “gotten” anything new.  By failing, I went tonight with a whole new view of what Lilli and I were up to creating.