Busy week!

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Dazzle and a few of his friends:

Well it was a long and tiring visit to camp, but Dazzle had SO much fun! At first, I think I mentioned, that he didn't even want to get back in the van for fear that the fun might end! Eventually he realized the van just went from the camp to the office and back and was willing to go for the short ride. By the time I loaded all my stuff to head home, he was very willing to get in and fell asleep before we got out of the driveway! Other than one potty break, he slept the whole way home :-) Of course after 8 hours of sleep, he was ready to go again when we got home! LOL

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It's normally a 6 hour drive, but I had to take a 15 minute nap and then I ran into 2 very minor traffic snares that had traffic at a stand still for over an hour! One was in MI, just a bump of fenders, only damage I saw was a broken tail light, but of course everyone had to slow down to look. The other was in Dayton, a big guy in a tiny little car with an over heated radiator that stopped right in the lane of traffic. Of course it was also in a construction area, so that took the already reduced 2 lanes down to one lane. I was so mad when I saw him just sitting there when the shoulder was only 25' away. Heck, even with a bad back I could have pushed the car THAT far! But instead he chose to sit there and traffic was backed up for literally 10 miles! I was very happy to finally get home.

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I'm back out of town this evening, leaving right after I get this posted actually. But I did manage to get some videos uploaded to youtube. One was a short clip of the egg hunt showing a few of Dazzle's finds:

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VIDEO: egg hunt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bgs7mtwHWTE

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The other video is about a 5 minute clip of the dogs making ice cream! Doree put in the contents, but then the dogs turned it into some very delicious ice cream! It was a hoot to watch!

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VIDEO: dogs making ice cream

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KaI0znzsiE

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Dazzle got his Rally level I and level II badges. His level I run wasn't his best, but it was passing. His level II run was much better and he did fine with the jump. It was set lower than his regular jump height, but that still counts for the badge. His first time he wasn't sure what I wanted and didn't jump it. But the second time he went right over it and back to heel. I'm looking forward to the next level of Rally competition in a couple months once he's old enough to compete.

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We also worked a little bit with the agility equipment and I think he is going to be a speed demon! I had to work hard on the A-frame to get him to go slowly enough that he hit the down contact. I didn't do very many repetitions and it was set low for most of the runs, but he was having SO much fun he was zooming from one thing to the next. He definitely loves the tunnel and after doing the obstacle I wanted, he often ran through the nearest tunnel. I can see that will also be something I need to work on :-) But I'd rather he was that enthusiastic than having to try to keep him motivated. I think he could have gotten the level I agility badge (which is just a jump, A-frame and tunnel) but I didn't want to push it and I wanted him to be sure to do it correctly. So that will need more work to teach him to do it with self-control.

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His Dock Diving really improved during our time at camp! Pretty good considering he did his first real swimming shortly after we arrived! He took to swimming like a fish and had very little issue with the diving. I did get some photos below (I hate that the first and best one is so blurry) and I got the video uploaded. I didn't get video of his best dives he was doing by the end of our stay, but I think you'll get the idea. Even if I hold or throw the toy high, he jumps toward the water instead of up. I think that will get better with practice though of tossing the toy high right in front of him. He got his puppy paddler badge and is ready for the dock diving badge, but the steps were not set-up. Getting out of water using steps or a ramp is required for the badge. So we'll get that during camp.

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VIDEO: Dock Diving:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpbcOiy5Dxc
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I think we created a monster though. When he was in the lodge, he did a lot of staring longingly at the pond :-) Anytime I asked if he needed to go out, he ran to the door to the pond. Good thing is that I was able to call him back from the water before he reached it each time that I didn't want him wet and he was able to do his rally tests right next to the pond without an issue.

I spent a lot of time on the golf cart during the clean-up part of the week. Dazzle ran along side or in front but I captured the photo below when he was willing to get on the cart to rest. He's ready to jump off at a moment's notice though if I needed to move it more than a few feet :-) Who knows how many miles he put in running with the cart and 4 wheeler, but I do know that he can now do a 5 minute mile and not even breathe hard at the end! He did several laps of the 1 mile trail and I timed one of the speed rounds at 5 minutes :-) He did get his Hiking badge though. I also got some video of him on the trail. Forgive the bouncyness in a few places.

VIDEO: hiking off-leash:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMgWcM6LIMo

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At one point Dazzle saw deer cross the trail in front of him and take off through the woods. He started to chase, but I called his name and said "leave it" and he returned to the trail and continued on, though he checked over his shoulder a few times looking where they went into the trees. I was SO proud of him for listening to me with such an exciting distraction! One of the dogs at camp wasn't so lucky and got some porcupine quills in his face and feet. The owner thought he was going for a chipmunk so she didn't call him right away. Thankfully the quills came out easily and the dog didn't have any lasting effects from the encounter. There were also coyotes very close to camp one evening. One (or more) had several of the dogs pretty spooked. Dazzle didn't seem to see or smell them when we went outside so he had no reaction. Lots of wildlife in them thar woods!

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We worked a bit on Directional Control. The idea is to be able to send your dog from one spot to another at a distance. It is used as part of the FEMA Search and Rescue training for dogs that search rubble and other urban disaster sites where the handler might not be able to reach all parts of the scene. For the first level badge the targets are 35' apart with the handler 35' from the nearest target. In the level II badge they are 75' apart and the handler is 75' from the nearest target. Dazzle is doing really well with this, but not yet ready to go the full distance. Hopefully by camp time he will be ready. I'm able to send him to any of the bases pictured without my moving closer.

I tried to get Dazzle in the kayak with me, but all he wanted to do was swim. At first, he was afraid of the movement of the paddle, but I desensitized him to that and now he's fine with the paddle. I tried a few different times to get him in with me when the kayak was mostly in the water, but he wasn't interested. I think he will be fine with it when there aren't other dogs playing and chasing toys in the water nearby that are more fun than sitting still. I did paddle around the lake a bit and he swam out to me but didn't try to climb on the kayak, which is good. He was willing to sit in it on shore by himself though. Good news is that despite how it looks in the photo, I do think there will be enough room in it for both of us.

One of the campers brought this little tent and Dazzle seemed to like it. So I took a few photos of him in it. He was so tired that while I was taking photos, he just put his head down and started to take a nap! Hopefully now that his pop-up crate (that is made of the same material) is a bit tighter fit, he will enjoy it as much as the small tents :-)

Dazzle and Mango (the DSA office cat) really liked each other. Each evening and any time during the day that I went to the office, they played. These photos were taken after dark on the porch.

We did the "leave-it" from the bike needed to get the biking badge. He already had his miles that he completed here. The leave-it wasn't photographed, but I like this photo of us biking. It's not my bike, just one from camp, so it's not adjusted correctly for me and I only did a few times up and back on the driveway because of that. Because he already earned his miles, I didn't bother taking my bike to camp. He got plenty of exercise in spite of that :-)

Dazzle had an absolute blast and came home tired and dirty but very happy and fit! He earned 5 new badges and learned lots of useful behaviors. I'm sure he is looking forward to camp next month!

Dock Diving Dazzle!

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Yesterday I was busy getting the Agility field ready for use and Dazzle was doing really well laying under a tree in the shade watching me, just "chillin"... until he heard dogs playing at the lake. He gave me a look and I told him, "ok, go swimming" and off he shot for the lake :-) It was just the other side of the lodge and I knew there were responsible dog people there that wouldn't mind a bit of dog sitting. Well, Megan didn't just dog-sit and toss toys for him, she taught him to dock dive!! Thank-you Megan!
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It was on my list of things I wanted to teach him so I was thrilled and of course, over achiever that he is, he was doing really well. :-) Apparently he saw the other dogs doing it, so he just followed :-) The other dogs were just learning as well, so they were going after toys tossed off the side of the dock into the more shallow water. Gradually the toys were tossed from farther and farther up the dock into deeper and deeper water till the dogs were no longer able to touch bottom when they landed in the water. That's the stage where Dazzle was by the time I got to the lake. I pulled out my video cam and we did a few set-up throws to get on video, but it was clear he was VERY tired after all the swimming and fetching so we only did a few. The other dogs had already been put up for a nap, so it was just him in the video.
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She said that at one point he did get himself vertical (paddling air instead of water with his hips/tail under him), but was able to figure out how to get swimming again fairly quickly and didn't seem bothered by the experience. I was kind of glad that he did that and figured it out without trauma. When Coyote first did that, it scared him so badly I had to teach him how to swim again because then he was too afraid to swim. So Dazzle didn't seem to have that problem and the few times he has gotten vertical since then have only lasted a few seconds before he was swimming again. I think the second time he went vertical was because he was in the other end of the lake and felt the weeds on his feet and thought he could touch the bottom. I have noticed he doesn't like to get into that end of the lake, but will if there happens to be a toy in the water to fetch :-)
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Well today he was ready to kick off the "training wheels" so to speak and he went off right near the high end of the dock and on the next throw, she threw it off the end and in he went! The end of the dock is 3-4 feet higher than the surface of the water so it can be an intimidating drop, but after a few leaps with hestiation, Dazzle was then flying right in with a running start. I got a bit more video of him going off the end and also had Megan shoot the video while I worked with him. I had him do a stay at the start end of the dock while I tossed the toy and then sent him in after it. My first throw was really bad and he went off the side, but when my aim improved, so did his jumps :-) I can't edit video here, but I'll get that posted as soon as I can after I get back home.
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We also had the dogs make ice cream yesterday! Doree found an ice cream maker that is in the shape of a ball that is meant to be kicked around by kids/people (says it's great for camp outs and parties.) Of course when she saw them in the store, she was thinking, well the DOGS can play with the ball! Several of the dogs were kicking it, shoving it with their nose, jumping on it, biting it, etc. and they kept it moving long enough to make some pretty delicious soft serve ice cream! Of course they got a little taste of it for all their hard work :-) I took video of the process and will get that posted too. It was really fun!
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Tomorrow I plan to see if Dazzle will get in the kayak with me (or if he will even fit!) I had planned to do it today, but ran out of daylight and energy. I am so thankful for pain pills! I've been living on them while I'm here. The weather has been beautiful and I hear it's supposed to continue so I'm very thankful for that!
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We're having a great time and the camp is really looking good after all our hard work. Dazzle has been helping pick up fallen sticks and branches and turn them into kindling too :-)
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SO much fun!!

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Dazzle is going to think life at home is really boring now! He has been having SO much fun at camp! On Saturday, we did a "spring egg hunt" (since it's past Easter time) and all the dogs did really well! Even Zoe a little pug that the owner thought couldn't find a treat dropped right in front of her :-) Even today (2 days later) Dazzle is checking the spots where eggs had been (even ones he didn't find during the game!) He really seems to enjoy using his nose, so I need to get to work on his tracking training when we get home.

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Here's a few photos from the hunt:

Yup! There's one in there!

I LOVE this photo! "I think I see one mom!"

Yesterday we worked on camp clean-up including the burning of fallen branches. Dazzle was more interested in stealing the branches that were getting picked-up than in really helping. At one point, he decided he wanted the fire poker stick and actually stepped into the fire pit before getting pulled back! It was right after this photo was taken (his next step). Thankfully he didn't step into the hot part and Gayle was quick at pulling him away from harm. Thank-you Gayle!

Today was also a camp clean-up day. Dazzle tried hard to help move some piles of hay, but seemed more interested in burying himself in the piles! Every time I brought out the camera though, he stopped. I got these of his head barely in the pile, but at one point he stuck half his body in then rolled and was completely covered! Having a blast!

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He must have run 10 miles today (at least!) along side and in front of the golf cart as we moved stuff around. He also did a LOT of running with the other dogs. I need to get video of that but haven't done it yet. But even when I knew he was really tired, he didn't want to stop. Just like a little kid, afraid he might miss something :-) But each time he did lie down, he would very quickly fall asleep, often without putting his head down. LOL

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He also did a good deal of swimming and fetching things from the lake and playing keep away :-) I got a few nice photos of that. Last night I got a photo of him playing tug-o-war with 2 other dogs. The original photo is almost too dark to see anything, but the magic of editing allows for a view of what was going on. They had a blast ripping the toy to shreds :-) And in the end Dazzle ended up with it before Charlie decided to wear what wasd left of the toy around his neck. LOL I have a photo of that, but didn't load it to the blog.

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He swims so strongly that his head is way out of the water! He's not touching the bottom in this photo:

He loved playing keep-away from Charlie

This time Charlie got it first! (again, not touching the bottom)

He glides through the water like an otter. In this one he was touching the bottom, but just barely.

Mali-Shark!

Run! Playing keep-away with Charlie

The pile of leaves was almost as much fun as the piles of hay!

At the end of the day today, he seemed to really like this nest near the camp fire where he could chew on sticks and keep an eye on me as I made s'mores.

First day at camp

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We arrived at camp yesterday just after dinner and stopped first at the play yard where Dazzle ran off 7 hours of being cooped up in the van :-) Then we got settled into our room. Not too much happened before we got all unpacked and settled in for the night. He did well sleeping on a pile of blankets next to the bed and didn't try to share the twin matress as I thought he might :-)
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This morning, he played and played with the other dogs. He couldn't decide if he wanted to play chase, dig in the sand dunes, wrestle or play fetch :-) He tried to do several of those all at the same time! He was laying on his side on the dune while digging and wrestling with his girl friend LOL I wish I had thought to bring my video camera to the play yard! Maybe tomorrow. After playing in the fenced area, they all raced to the pond for a swim and then played some more. Wet and sandy, but completely happy dogs!
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We went to feed the horses and Dazzle wasn't too sure about being able to get right next to the horses. He was very wary and respectful, though he did get rather close passing behind them a few times. Thankfully the horses are very dog savvy and I don't think he was in danger or I wouldn't have let him get close. The horses pretty much ignored him and after a bit Dazzle was more interested in the piles of big round treats they left him on the ground. :-)
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He ran the trail as we returned to the main office in the golf cart. He took a nap while we did some office work. More play in the afternoon and he is currently zonked out next to me. The fresh air has me pretty tired too so I'm going to bed. I'll post more when I get a chance but I won't be able to upload video till I get home (I might be able to upload photos.)
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C-Wags Photos

Today I got the photos from professional photographer Dick Clark that were taken during the C-Wags show April 18-19th. Enjoy! These are almost all from Rally and are not edited. The lighting was low, so not all of the photos are as clear or bright as possible. If I didn't have to jump through several hoops to edit the photos (on a different computer) then I would have corrected the lighting and colors where needed. Instead these are just "raw" so I'm sure they would look even better once edited.

This was after I told him we were finished :-) Sure wish it wasn't blurry! But you get the idea.

Biking

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Today I took Dazzle to the park and went on the longer bike loop. We did 8 miles, mostly flat but he helped pull me up the small hills. I kept him at a slow trot off the side of the paved trail to keep his feet from getting bruised or abraded off. When we got to the main part of the trail, surrounded by farm fields, I let him off-leash for a bit. I wanted to be sure I wasn't pushing him too hard and wanted to give him the option to stop or slow down. Well, I got my answer when he ran happily through the tall grass at the edge of the field hopping like a bunny with a big Mali grin on his face. :-)
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He did a great job staying with me and ignoring the joggers, walkers, bikers and people on roller blades. Plus the critters that I'm sure were out there including birds that let him get pretty close before they flew off. He even remained pretty calm when a suicidal squirrel didn't choose to run till we were almost on top of him! Dazzle watched him with intense interest, but didn't pull the bike too much and once past, I took him back off leash and he went right back to hopping through the grass.
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We took a short detour at the end of the trail so he could swim in the river which he really loves. The water was ankle to elbow deep on him and he ran back and forth splashing and bouncing. Then as he was running, he went SPLOOSH into a deep part! I know he didn't expect it, but he got his feet back on the bottom on the other side, shook off and continued on like he meant to fall in a hole. LOL I couldn't help but laugh out loud!
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When we were almost back to the car, I slowed to his walking pace to "cool" him down, though he wasn't even breathing hard!
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He didn't sleep on the 10 minute ride home, and once home, he went to the back yard grabbed a ball and started running! Mike tossed it a few times for him before coming in. Dazzle came in a bit later and shoved the ball in my lap.
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Oy! I'm so thankful that he is usually pretty good at "chilling out" even when he wants to run or play. Though sometimes he just pesters one of the other dogs till they play with him :-)

Party!!

Today was the Dog Scout Troop 107 spring time party. It started off rough with a threat of rain (which turned into a beautiful sunny day) and the brand new 10x10 EZ-UP tent taking off in the high wind, flying over the ROOF of the house and landing in a broken heap in the front yard. Just bought it on Monday and didn't even get a chance to USE it! But thankfully the rest of the day went really well in spite of the full moon tonight. :-)

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We had 16 people and 22 dogs of all shapes and sizes in the yard all at one time! And everyone brought great food that we all enjoyed way too much :-) Dazzle had an absolute BLAST and I don't think he stopped the entire time. When he wore out one set of dogs he moved on to the next. LOL I love how social and appropriate he is with all sizes of dogs, even with his favorite toys involved. You can see a 5 minute VIDEO of him on YouTube here:

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jWrhZkWu38

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Even 12 yr old Buster got in on the play! Buster has been very shy most of his life and never really learned to play correctly with other dogs, but that didn't stop Tristan from getting him to play a few different times. Their first play session is caught on the video I posted above (click on link.) The older he gets, the better he has been coping. It wasn't all that long ago that he didn't want to come out of the house during a troop party and if he did, he was plastered to my legs. So it was so great to see him playing with a dog he hadn't met before. He was wandering around the people and dogs at the party today as though he never had any fear issues. SO great to see! I didn't get any still photos of him though.

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Dazzle and Charlie with Trixie in the background:Trixie in the big pool, Charlie in the kiddie pool and Copper on the right, Dazzle coming to me.

Dazzle looks proud in his uniform. Won't be long before it's full of badges like Coyote's. It only has 5 badges on it right now.

We also had a film crew from KET-TV (from KY) getting footage for a segment that will air in the Fall about Dog Scouts. They will also be filming a few of our other events and coming to the NADOI conference where I'll be presenting about Dog Scouts with the founder Lonnie Olson.

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Here the videographer was getting close-up shots of Coyote and Bear's badges. Coyote knows he's the star. :-)

And now, a tired dog is a happy dog!

Portraits

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These were taken by Deb Hageman during the herding seminar. I think they turned out great! Thanks Deb!