Jake the Triathlete

What a busy day Jake had on Tuesday! Jake's daddy is training Jake to ride with him while he bikes. It's a slow process so that Jake gets used to the running on asphalt without burning his little pads and my hubby gets used to Jake's body language. From the reports, Jake runs faster than hubby can peddle and might make a good sled dog instead. After a 15-minute bike practice, Jake went back to his favorite summer pastime of retrieving his water dummy from the still-cold Saluda River. Jake came home tired but we weren't done wearing him out yet!

Friends of ours got some mixed puppies (we're guessing German Shepherd/Lab mix) while on their honeymoon and needed to wear their tiny butts out. Jake was the perfect candidate for this job. Brigham and Tully were wobbling around the living room, chasing Jake's tail and trying to lick all the river water off Jake's coat. Jake would dive between the two puppies and roll upside down. They would pounce on him and begin licking the wet fur. Jake would spring up and whirl around and start all over. A brief potty break outside induced a serious case of the zoomies in Jake and the poor puppies were run over in his wake. Brigham was smart enough to hide between my feet. Jake was tired and the puppies were unconscious.

But wait! Jake's not done yet. On to his agility class where everyone noticed how much mellower Jake seemed to be. The teeter totter is still scary for Jake so it took a little coaxing and pampering to get him to cross it. Jake's giving me more focus these days but still loves to cheat on the jumps. We're introducing two jumps with two additional jumps going to the right and left. They are learning to follow us with other obstacles being around. Jake takes the first two jumps and runs straight for the treat. Why go the long way when you can run straight to the cheese? And then it was traveling plank time. Jake's daddy made him a super duper deluxe version with his logo and a carrying handle. It elicited oohs and aahs from the class. Jake is so distracted in class by everything and wasn't giving me his attention so I could show how improved he is at home. We headed for the A-frame to put into practice what we're learning on the plank. Jake almost didn't get the chance to try because of his earlier failures but he did his momma proud and nailed the contact every time. He's always loved the A-frame. A video camera was present for all of class this time and all of our embarrassing handler moments are now live and in color!

Cow Girls Kiss the Best

While we attended a wedding in Gatlinburg, Jake got to spend a few hours with his Nana in the mountains which meant MORE cows. The cow babies immediately came over to the fence to greet their favorite cattle dog. Let the kissing begin! Strangely enough, all of the adult cows started coming over to the fence. Soon we had the entire herd at the fence. They were pushing and shoving to sniff at Jake. Then the bull came to investigate why his entire harem was in this one spot. The fence started creaking and groaning from the weight of cow bodies so I figured it was time to call it a day. It was easy to bribe Jake away from the cows when we mentioned we were going to play in the river!

HyperDog Ball Launcher Revelation

Jake has never been interested in chasing tennis balls and definitely had no intentions of every bringing one back. We'd given up any hope of wearing him out just tossing a ball. My husband decided to try one last thing -- the HyperDog Ball Launcher (NFI). Amazingly enough, Jake began taking a sudden interest in chasing that ball down and bringing it down just in time to have a second ball launched. He's even taking the time to search in the ivy in the backyard to find them. I've happily used the ball launcher to wear his little spotted butt out.

Sooo, a hour before agility class last night, I opted to use a half hour of chasing the tennis balls to take a little steam off the top of his normal tornado energy. I brought him in out of the 83-degree outdoors to cool off before we drove to class. We began with the teeter totter and a new addition to the class, a black poodle named Amelia. Jake was pretty distracted by the addition of something resembling a small black sheep. I was fairly certain that Jake was going to be a holy terror all night since one of our former obedience instructors came to watch the class. I knew he was going to do awful things that she could report back to the other obedience teachers. I was wrong. Jake did the tabled teeter with little trepidation, ran a series of four curved jumps with no detours, and accomplished a jump/chute combo without barreling out in front of me. Our last obstacle set of the evening was the dreaded jump/curved tunnel/jump. Because the last jump was in front of the A-frame a target was used to keep the dogs from continuing on. Jake did really well the first three times and then we had a brief zoomie moment. Brief, I say, because it only consisted of three rounds around the yard before he came back to me and one of the teachers. We discussed some brief home strategies for taking the zoom out of his reaction to the tunnel. We ended the class with each of us demonstrating on the contact boards for our classmates. Jake wanted to go visit with the poodles after he completed the exercise two or three times. The exercise had become boring compared to the other dogs. I was so proud of Jake, though, for his behavior that we stopped for a grape slushee for me and a cup of ice for Jake from Sonic (NFI). He happily flopped down in his seat with his cup of ice between his paws. Once again I felt bolstered by signs of Jake's improvements. His focus was a little better, he had more control than just speed, and the zoomie incident was short-lived.

It Was Raining Cow Kisses

It's been a little difficult to keep up with Jake's blog since we've been out of town a lot this last month. We've had Jake at my in-laws' house for almost two weeks. We missed him terribly. After a trip to San Diego, I headed to my grandparents in the mountains of North Carolina. Jake was in tow and nervous that I was going to leave him somewhere. I made his day when we crossed the bridge and I whispered, "Jake, cows." He popped up in the seat and started whining to get out of the car. We headed straight for the fence once we parked in the driveway. It wasn't but a minute before all of the baby cows headed towards Jake. Jake laid down and waited. Soon there were eight baby cows at the fence. One even had milk dripping off her little face but Jake cleaned that right up for her! He'd lick a cow. The cow would lick him. He went right on down the line. Soon enough his old friend, the big strawberry cow with the white face, made her appearance at the fence to get in her kisses. Jake's head was one big slobbery mess but he was a happy cow dog. A quick trip into the cold mountain stream cleared up the cow spit and rinsed out Jake's mouth.

Let the Handling Begin!

I have frequently lamented that I wish I had a better concept of what I'm supposed to be doing with my arms, legs, and hands during agility class. I've studied books and videos but, when you're racing willy-nilly after your dog just hoping to keep your feet under you, books and videos go right out of your conscious thought. This Tuesday's agility class began to cover the issue. It wasn't until after class that our teacher let us know that she had snuck some handling training in on us. She said the lot of us are over-thinkers and she didn't want any of us to panic. But, wait, I'm skipping to the end. So back to the beginning...

Jake had been kept in his kennel for most of the day because we were working in a gated community that doesn't allow dogs on the construction premises. I got home in enough time to change, grab Jake's treats and newly painted travel plank, and get to class. He was a tornado on the other end of the leash whenever another human tried to say hello. Fortunately, we did some calming plank exercises first. I took Jake's plank far from the other dogs and Jake repeatedly did 2 on, 2 off for me. When Jake got bored, he simply laid down and sniffed the grass. I was able to comvince him to show the teacher at least once when she made her way to our plank outpost.

The teeter totter was a little scarier this time with a bit of banging but nothing a lot of cheese couldn't overcome. Our second set of obstacles was the tire, jump, and chute. All of the dogs like this set and were jumping around and shrieking impatiently. Jake was last to go. We backtracked the obstacle as usual with much success. I was hard-pressed to keep up with him and not bowl the teachers over. Jake would slam on his own brakes when he reached the target and his rear end would come off the ground. The fourth go-round Jake came leaping out of the chute to land on the target. It was so hysterically funny that all of us were amused. We shouldn't have laughed, in retrospect, because little did we know the fifth time around was the charm -- the zoomies erupted the minute he shot out of the chute. It took us quite a while to get him back under control. I dreaded the series of three jumps coming up after that horrible display. We limited Jake to two and pretty much quite while we were ahead when he got it. Last but always time for another zoomie was the jump, tunnel, jump combo. (Insert sneaky handling lesson here.) We handlers were to learn a back crossover for these obstacles. Let me begin by saying that I never had a chance to practice it. Again, we went last. We went straight for the tunnel and then the jump (altering the route to suit Jake's attention span happens often). Jake skipped the jump as often as he could to run straight for the treat, which he didn't get. Finally, we got him to understand that the jump was an integral part of receiving that treat. We added the first jump back. He took the jump, flew through the tunnel and ran off into the yard. Yup, zoomie time. I was able to coax him back into the tunnel to come to me for a treat. I was trying so hard to remember to breathe at that point. I know being in his kennel for such a long time without our normal daily routine of focus games and a way to shed some energy had a lot to do with it but it was disheartening all the same.

Zoomie-Free Zone

Taken a few weeks ago, this picture is of Saki, the Sheltie, in Jake's agility class who is demonstrating running the dog walk.

We missed agility class last week because we were out of town and Jake was at my in-laws. It made us very nervous to leave Jake for so long. Jake loves my in-laws and their two dogs, a miniature dachschund named Stymie and a German Shorthair Pointer named Sadie. Still, we had never left Jake for that long loose in someone else's house and yard. Fortunately for all of us, Jake's report card came back with lots of gold stars -- he was well-behaved, "fit right in", and quietly crawled into his kennel every night. Small sidebar discussions later revealed that Jake routinely stole socks and took up residence under the beds with his contraband, shot out the front door of their office but returned when called, and abused his riding privileges in the car when he discovered himself seatbelt-harness free. He wouldn't be a cattle dog if he didn't try!

Jake greeted us with wiggling, wiggling, and more wiggling -- an action only interrupted by sloppy wet kisses. Jake stayed on my feet throughout dinner. I found myself with an audience during my shower because he refused to take his eyes off me and kept his head in the shower but as far away from the evil bathwater as possible. He finally relaxed a little at bedtime when he flopped down on my legs. Every once in a while he would get up to give me a nose bonk and then lay back down.

Then last night, just two days after picking Jake back up, we headed to agility. I had no idea what to expect and kept my hopes of Jake behaving well to myself. Jake proved me wrong! We began class using a traveling plank, a training device designed to help dogs learn the "two-on, two-off" positioning of the feet for safety purposes. Jake was a little confused by the first use of a clicker but quickly learned that the clicker signaled treats. It took me longer than him to coordinate my body and my brain to the new exercises but I wasn't alone. Luckily, this is something we can and will work on at home and anywhere else we can imagine. Our first sequence of obstacles was the tire, one jump and the chute. All of the dogs charged into this sequence with gusto, including Jake. We repeated our gameplan of starting with the last obstacle first and then backing into the next obstacle. Once we had gone through the entire sequence twice, we stopped while we were ahead and I still had Jake's focus. The teeter totter was next on the menu. The teeter is currently positioned just a hair above two tables so that it only moves an inch or two up and down on each end. Jake got to be the guinea pig for the class and no amount of bang or bump seemed to bother him with buffalo jerky and string cheese waiting on the other side. Last but not least was the weave poles. Jake did them so well the first two times that it was hard to be disappointed by all the total cheating he used for the next four turns. To end on a positive note, we opened the weave poles a little more and sent him through the last two sets. It was nice to have a zoomie-free class without all the total-gym experience I normally get from wrestling with Crazy Dog on a Leash.

Round 3, Class 2

The gorgeous Golden Retriever running the dogwalk is Jake's classmate Gracie. When Gracie gets offtrack, she always manages to make it look like some flowing and graceful interpretive dance move instead of the wild and craziness that Jake portrays when exercising freedom of spirit.

Agility was a grand adventure for Jake tonight. We did only two of the obstacles with a target. The stationary seesaw went well and none of the motion seemed to bother him because he certainly didn't slow down. Then came a series of two jumps. Jake was totally confused by no one waiting for him at the end of the obstacle. Once he figured out he was to run with me to the end, he knocked the treat out of my hand and he was off and zooming. This time around the teachers had me leave the yard. Jake raced around and around and then started slowing down once he noticed I wasn't there. He ran over to the gate to try to see me but I wasn't there (I was in the shadows of the trees.) He ran one more wide loop around the yard and then headed for the teachers with a very confused look on his face. From then on we left his leash on him and I would stomp on the leash when he stopped. After he got his treat, he would try to take off since no one had his collar but got nowhere with me being planted on the leash. It still wasn't the end of the zoomies, though. We backstepped the obstacles like we have been doing so he knew what to expect. One jump, two jumps, three jumps and then add the curved tunnel. Curved tunnel, one jump. Curved tunnel, two jumps. Curved tunnel, three jumps and he's off! I was able to call TUNNEL and get him aimed back through the tunnel but he was going so fast that three of us at the opening couldn't catch him. He at least did all three jumps again before racing off. I called TUNNEL one more time and myself and one of the instructors blocked the tunnel ends. He decided to hang out in the middle and we lifted one end so he would come out and end with a positive note with me and a treat. I was never so glad to see the weave poles and the instructor with the cheese at one end. I'd had enough zoomies for one night.

Jake and His Soccer Ball

To try to make up for the appalling lack of parental camera responsibility on the Herding Fun Day, we set out to take some action shots of Jake and his soccer ball. He starts shrieking the minute the soccer ball and pump come out of the upstairs closet. There isn't a moment of silence while you inflate the ball. It's a mad race down the stairs to the front door and we head to our semi-fenced backyard. Luckily for us, our landlord threw down some grass seed and the yard has bright green, skinny grass to keep the mud levels down. Jake will chase the ball if you kick it, pounce on the ball if you pass it back and forth, and go totalling airborne to head bonk the ball if you bounce it. I had no idea that my soccer skills would help entertain the dog so many years later. I've left my husband (5'10") in the pictures so you can see how high Jake is jumping to reach that ball. Keep in mind that Jake is only 16 inches at the withers.

Terrorizing the Woolies

This Saturday we met up with members of our Carolina Cattle Dog Club and had a Herding Fun Day in Siler City, NC. Those poor sheep -- they had no idea what they would be facing throughout afternoon! My husband and I were excited for Jake because he had such a great time when we did this last August and his best gal pal Pepper would be appearing to have her turn at the sheep. A club member had brought her five totally adorable, no-we-can't-take-one-home puppies for a little socializing so we fulfilled our cute quota for the day with a little cuddling.

First and foremost, you will notice an appalling lack of photos to go with this post. My camera bag was at home, a 3 1/2 hour drive away. Fortunately, other ACD parents had their cameras so I'm hoping to bum some pictures off of them to eventually get up here on the site. Bad Mommy. After signing the release form agreeing to pay for any damage to the sheep, my husband headed into the smaller pen with Jake for his first round of the day. Initially Jake was put on a long lead just to make sure he hadn't changed his nice manners around the sheep. Jake immediately started circling the sheep and kept circling and circling and circling and circling and circling. We were able to get him to switch directions just once for a single circle before he went back to circling right. My husband said he had so idea how dizzy he would get out there. Jake got some lovely compliments from our host, who again suggested we get Jake in some herding classes where he could build up confidence and training. After Jake's turn many of the other club members started showing up with their ACDs. Of course, we had to run and go see Pepper so they could perform their greeting ritual of twisting their leashes into one big knot. Pepper had brought one of her blue brothers from home, Zac. All three of our dogs together looked like they came from the same litter -- sleek, muscled, and blue.

The most explosive turn at the sheep came from Tilly. (Note: This picture of Tilly is actually from our previous Herding Day.) Tilly was in the pen living up to her cattle dog heritage. Tilly sent the sheep thundering towards the fence. The sheep didn't stop. One sheep hit the wooden fence with such force that the wood split wide open with a loud crack. It didn't phase the sheep one bit but my husband and I kept staring at the broken fence like a bad car accident.

We took a break for a potluck lunch with yummy pasta salad and mac & cheese, fried chicken, cut fruits and vegetables, sausage balls, and various desserts. A few of us let our dogs out into the fenced backyard to burn off any leftover excess energy. Jake got to meet our host family's foster boy Spin. Sensing another kindred spirit, Jake and Spin proceeded to wrestle, spin, play chew and race around the yard. Jake found himself trying hard to keep all appendages and soft body parts safe from not one but two cattle dogs as Peachy joined the play group. And don't worry, my husband was standing a few feet away keeping a careful eye on the our little man. P.S. Spin still needs a forever home! (His picture courtesy of our host family.)

And then the real parade of cattle dogs began! Little ones, big ones, red dogs, blue dogs, all had a chance to face those white woolly sheep. Pepper and Jake continued to try to squeeze every inch of their bodies through the wire mesh on the pen fence. They didn't understand that every turn wasn't THEIR turn. At one point, the sheep ended up in front of the gate where Jake had made another stand. He reached his little head through the gate and licked a sheep right on its little nose. If the sheep hadn't been trying to suck in oxygen, I think it might have run. Jake got a second chance at the sheep but everyone was tiring at this late hour. The sheep had seen more cattle dogs than they ever cared to see again. I decided to go in with Jake this time. The sound of thundering sheep was a little more intimidated than I thought it would be. I'm sure any photos of me out there showed a woman trying to appear as small as possible in the middle of lots of white animals. The sheep took up residence in one corner and there were no budging the exhausted trio. Jake, always a sympathetic creature, gave the closest sheep another lick on the nose.

After a few obedience tips, we piled in the car and Jake fell into a post-sheep coma in my lap. I didn't have the heart to throw him in his seatbelt harness. Before long, a pile of drool started on my arm underneath his motionless head. He was OUT! We drove two and a half hours to my in-laws to stay the night. Jake was rewarded for his long day rolling in sheep poo and itchy grass by a long bath in their doggy shower. Jake had reserved enough energy to jump on my in-laws' German Shorthair Pointer Sadie a few times but you could tell he didn't mean it. Another wonderful day of playing with other ACDs was a complete and total hit for Jake.

I Don't Want To Go To The Vet's!

Jake didn't want to go to the vet's today to get his Bordatella vaccine and he certainly didn't want me to put his seatbelt on for the ride over there. Wearing the seatbelt to agility class is one thing but the indignity of having to sport it for a trip for a nasty little shot is just too much. Oh, the drama! The vet staff at the office suitably made a huge fuss over "Superstar Jake". He rewarded them by not using his "I'm being killed" screech when he got the shot. He wasn't happy but did listen to the command to sit and wait on the scale. My little man still only weighs 29 pounds. I think I can safely say that he's done growing since he's maintained that weight for the last six months or so.

Don't pity poor Jake because he got to go to Round 3 of his Agility class last night! Two weeks was too long in his humble canine opinion and he was not alone this class. All of the dogs were feeling pretty creative. Some took detours, some took creative license, and some went exploring. We opted to take Jake through the obstacles backwards to conquer his ADHD -- show Jake one obstacle at a time and then add one so he had the whole set in mind as he raced for that yummy piece of cheese at the end. Just when I thought I was getting the hang of racing to the other end to pounce on Jake to avoid the zoomies, I get instructions to RELAX. In theory, if I am calm, Jake will be calm. Not only was I striving to RELAX (have I mentioned this word does not come easily into my mind), I was also doing my best to give Jake a reward from my hand. Jake was still lured to the target, someone else held his collar and his breathless mommy gave him another treat. After a threat to remove the offending hand, I tried even harder to get the correct hand to do its job (the correct hand is the hand on the same side as your dog). There was a moments confusion for Jake when he headed into a curved tunnel and didn't find a target at the other end so he ran back inside. He found both ends blocked by humans so he ran back and forth inside for a while until he noticed the treat extended in my hand. The most amusing part of Jake's performance for the night was the chute. He would head into the chute, barreling out the other end. Because Jake couldn't see in the chute, he would veer sharply to the right and directly into my path to the other end. Did I mention I was running as fast as I could? I had no idea that I would need to add aerial acrobatics to my end of the bargain. Fortunately, none of my crazy leaps into the air landed me on my rear end or on my face. While Jake was wide open and crazy in between waiting for his turn with the other impatient classmates, he did rather well on all of the obstacles and no yard zooming.

Sharing the Wealth

All of us should try to find a way to help rescue and I've decided that Jake's logo is just the right route. From now on, all of the profits generated from Jake's logo on Cafepress.com will be donated to the Tennessee Valley Cattle Dog Rescue, located in Georgetown, TN. Not only can you help support a worthy charity but you can sport Jake's logo or the generic versions of it. Use the top link above to reach the No Worries Jake store and help cattle dog rescue.

Agility Class Rain Cancellation
Here's Jake looking so sad with his Squirrel and Cow, stuffed company to help him get over the disappointment of class postponement. Round 3 of our agility classes was to begin this week but the bottom fell out of the sky. It was raining so hard that even Jake, who normally can dawdle outside in any weather, decided his bladder was not as important as staying inside the house. So we played a new game with the mini marshmellows. We're focusing on games that build a relationship between us and cause Jake to make eye contact with me frequently. Marshmellow Kisses involves me sticking a mini marshmellow between my lips. Jake slowly and delicately reaches out to take the marshmellow. Meanwhile, his array of whiskers tickles the hell out of my lips and face! It's hard not to laugh and drop the marshmellow. Of course, other games involve him staying close by my side so we did lots of Up and Downs, as my husband dubbed them, on the stairs. Jake already takes the stairs at top speed so getting him to take them and stay by my side is the goal of this game. Jake has a hard time regulating his speed to my slow human legs and I need him to pay attention to where I am. Jake's showing he understands the point of the game and hasn't tripped me up since the first time he did it. I'm pretty sure at this point that I don't need a gym membership.

Thank doG for Kongs!

After several posts describing my wild and crazy man, I had to brag on his behavior this week. I suffer badly from migraines and this week was no exception. Normally I get a migraine, take my medicine, go to sleep for a little while and life goes on as usual. This time my headache stayed for a week. I would get better than swiftly find myself back where I started. Jake would dive into the bed to put his head on my shoulder and snuggle up. He licked the tears off my face when I started to cry. He didn't bark but would use his whisper. When I finally needed a change of scenery, I curled up in the chair in the living room with Jake on my legs. He would sleep for hours, only moving to get closer to me if I moved. I roused myself enough to play a few tricks with him on the end of the couch and introduced Jake to the joys of chasing Kix cereal (NFI) across the living room. I tried to treat Jake for his wonderfully sympathetic behavior with good treats, especially his small Kong stuffed with plain yogurt, capped with a spoonful of peanut butter and thrown in the freezer for a few hours. Jake gets totally lost in licking, licking, licking and gets the funniest look on his face while engrossed in getting every last bit out of the Kong. As much as I appreciated the calm this week, I'm sure it doesn't bode well for agility class on Tuesday!

Class 6 Good-Boy High

After a week of researching training and listening to the suggestions of other ACD agility parents, Jake and I were able to complete a class that ended with both of us being happy. We basically returned to Jake's obedience lessons to establish a stronger foundation between the two of us. The main goal is getting Jake to focus on me when I ask. It's actually had a slight calming effect that I didn't expect (I stress "slight" because in a dog like Jake even slight is appreciated). The largest surprise for me was when Jake escaped from my dad's house in full zoom and I was able to put him in a down-stay, which allowed me to approach him and put him on his leash. Inside my dad's house in full zoom with a crowd of people watching, I was also able to get Jake into a sit-stay. It was probably the most encouraging thing that could have happened to let me know that I was on the right road.

Tonight's class was such a relief to me! I had e-mailed our teachers earlier in the week to let them know that I was working hard to resolve the zooming issue. We first headed for the jump & curved tunnel, an obstacle set that hasn't ended well in the previous classes. Jake took the jump and the tunnel all four repetitions. The very last time he ran out of the tunnel with his rear end tucked under (i.e. sure sign of the zoomies) as he headed for the target. I practically dove at him at the same time as the teacher with the treat. A set of four jumps was up next on the roster. We decided to allow Jake to do them with two repetitions of 2 jumps, then 3, then all four. Jake sped over them all without pause and even I got a pat on the back for running so fast. I even managed to avoid running the teacher over! Jake ran the entire dogwalk every time but you could tell he still wasn't so sure about the up and down motion of the middle portion. He would speed of the ramp, slow down across the middle, and then speed down the ramp to the treat. Regardless of his uncertainty, he never tried to run around it. The chute was met with the same success as the curved tunnel and we ended class with Jake's personal favorite of the jump and A-frame set. He even threw in a little spin turn on his way to the treat. The spin turn, of course, took his feet off the safety zone so we took one more turn to end on the right note with those back two feet planted firmly on the yellow. I was so pleased with my little man. I gave him extra smoochies and hugs when we got back in the car. I almost cried with relief. I know that there will be days when we don't communicate as well but, for tonight, I will just bask in the good-boy high that Jake and I created tonight.

Round 2, Class 5

So I had this theory that if I wore Jake out before agility class, he would be less likely to suffer from an attack of the zoomies when off his lead. (Actually, he enjoys the zoomies -- I'm the one suffering). My husband got off early from work and we headed to Harbison State Forest. The forest has a walking trail that we use to exhaust Jake. One of us will run ahead and the other holds Jake, who is shrieking some crazy noise he reserves for "Hey, wait for me! I want to run, too!" Whoever runs ahead yells, "Come, Jake!" and Jake takes off flying. He runs legs stretched completely out, low to ground, and ears laid back for better aerodynamics. He can really run fast! He runs quietly until he reaches the person at the other end and then starts making holy hell. There's always big piles of pine needles from where he tried to apply the brakes to stop. Then Jake gets sent back to the other person which he doesn't do quite as enthusiastically since he didn't see any running on the human's part. We repeat this often along the trail and normally by the end he's so tired he just lays down. We headed home and I kept Jake busy for the next two hours -- no napping for Jake.

My theory was just that -- a theory. Our first set of jumps at class resulted in Jake hurtling himself around the yard and drive-by taunting the other dogs, especially his gal pal German Shepherd who wants to join in the chase so badly. I was mortified. I think my embarrassment is growing each time he zooms. It's so unfair to the other dogs and their owners. I kept Jake in an enforced down-stay until he was his turn at the dogwalk. When we headed for the dogwalk, I suggested we leave Jake on his lead and I would just do my best to sprint quickly. I didn't have to worry because the motion of the dogwalk scared him enough that he didn't have the confidence of the jump sequence he had done so well. Jake would run next to the walk so we'd have to coax him to jump onto the middle and run the rest of the way. We were able to get him to run the full length the last go and rewarded him well. Then there was the A-frame with two jumps preceding it. For good measure and to make sure Jake knew what was expected of him, we did one jump first. No problem so we added the second jump and the only problem was me keeping up with him! I like that problem. The chute and the weave poles went very smoothly and I breathed a deep sigh of relief. One of our new gameplans for the evening worked very well. We decided that telling Jake that it was his turn next always whipped him into a frenzy so they called my name, cattle dog, J-dog, anything, to not say his name directly. Believe it or not, it does work! I had brought his favorite fleece tug along in hopes that it would help in recapturing him during the zoomies so I did take Jake over to a far corner of the yard and played some tug with him to try to help release some of the inner play demons of his. The only thing that totally captured his attention all night was my chocolate chip cookie that a classmate brought to share and, of course, he couldn't have it! When the instructors asked if everyone would be signing up for Round 3, I was delighted to hear that everyone would be returning and that we hadn't been kicked out of the class yet!

Jakercise

Jake was so excited about agility tonight that when he saw me pack his bag and set it down in the dining room, he dragged the backpack to the front door and wouldn't budge. He began doing his best excited howling at the door and kept it up for a half hour until I grabbed my keys and his leash.

I just got back from agility and managed to make it through the class without a wet bottom. When we pulled up, the previous class was leaving. One of our obedience teachers was leaving with her Miniature Schnauzer, Capone, and she said, "That class just about killed me." Two other doggy parents leaving with their Corgis said, "Hope you have a better class than we did." On that note, I was a little nervous heading in.

We were adding a jump to the other obstacles, like the A-frame and the tunnel. The Boxer in the class enthusiastically ran over the lady who baits with treats at the end of the A-frame. She looked like she was playing football as she lowered her head and plowed into the poor lady. The dogwalk brought out all kinds of interesting canine interpretations. Tonight was the first night that the dogs ran the whole length of the walk. Some couldn't understand why they didn't need to jump on the table first (like they have done since day one) and would make some wild detours to include the table in the obstacle. Jake went flying along the walk and I ran alongside him and it was our best obstacle all night. I was so proud.

THEN we did the curved tunnel. I'm sure I mentioned how disastrous the tunnel was last week. This week was no different. Jake used this tunnel as an opportunity to drive-by run at all the other dogs (once again violating his favorite NO-CONTACT rule). He did this not once but twice. We had to take the jump totally out of the equation and have someone immediately stand in the opening on both ends, since he can switch direction in the tunnel at full steam. Catching him even with your body totally in the opening was still a challenge and he escaped twice. We actually had to have a brief powwow at the end of class to discuss options for catching Jake's attention when he goes zooming around.

We've been home about ten minutes and Jake is still zooming up and down the stairs while I type this, switching between his new monkey and a sock he's stolen from Joe's laundry bucket. It's like he's possessed by the Fisher Price Demon ("Must PLAY!")and can't stop running. Actually he just fell down on my feet, tongue lolling out and extremely happy with himself. Ah, the life of an agility fanatic!

Still in Training
Yup, that's us. We're the pair still taking baby steps. Jake's second set of agility classes began last week. I'm still not sure what to do with my arms and legs and head, etc., while Jake always does things at full speed. Last week went well, though. Jake does a fantastic job of leaving his back feet on the safety zones, never losing his balance, and clearing those jumps cleanly. A classmate of ours got a great picture of Jake jumping and I can't wait to get the file from him so I can share with everyone.

Then Jake planted me on my rearend in the wet leaves at agility class tonight. He was determined to be the class clown tonight and did a stellar job of it. He got the zoomies doing a curved jump series and did an amazing job of drive-by zooming every dog in the class (I'm sure I mentioned the no-dog-interaction rule before) and still managing to complete his run through the jumps several times, backwards and forwards, before we were able to get his attention with some cheese. His second round of zoomies hit doing a curved tunnel and he kept using the tunnel as his banking run. You'd think you could just stand at the other end of the tunnel and catch him but NO. And, fortunately for the other dog parents, this looked
like such great fun that some of the dogs repeated exactly what Jake did. The Golden Retriever was the only one to shake things up a little by trying to swallow the target and her treat whole. And then there were the weave poles. Jake spun around me in his excitement, wrapped that leash tight around my legs and twisted around. Our instructor is always telling us not to "bowl" your dog (in other words, throw your dog at the obstacle) but I don't think anyone explained to Jake not to bowl with his Mommy.

The Christmas Crazies

I'm not even sure where to begin...hmm, how about almost four weeks ago? We packed up our car, filled every nook and cranny with Christmas presents and dog toys, and hit the highways of the South. My family is spread out everywhere and we had made a schedule which allowed us to see them all for the holidays. We headed to Chattanooga first. Rainy, nasty days awaited us but Jake can always find someone to play with in a household of small children, a Border Collie and my dad (aka The Man Who Will Never Grow Up). Jake always enjoys sleeping at the foot of our bed, part of a special treat for going out of town. And, of course, Jake's taken to sneaking up on anyone's sofa, as long as it looks like a comfy spot for a nap.

Jake found himself privileged to be allowed on the couch even more when he proved his usefulness in making my 5-month-old baby sister laugh. She's a tough little cookie to make giggle and Jake had the trick down pat. He would nose bonk her little hands and then when that got old he'd lick her ears. And just when it seemed that she had had enough, Jake would roll over upside down and let her slide her little hands over his belly. She kept her hands flat open on his fur and reveled in the softness (can't blame her since I don't it often myself). Even when she grabbed onto his jowls and tugged, Jake just enjoyed the attention. He looks like he's suffering from lack of attention, doesn't he?

As much as Jake likes to shred my tissue paper and steal tape while I wrap presents, I was sure that Christmas morning was going to be spent prying Santa paper, bows and gift bags from Jake's jaws. I was wrong, actually. Jake and his buddy Ian just watched from the outskirts of the present frenzy. Every once in a while Jake would get up to sniff some interesting present, only to be told, "No, Jake, no" by my three-year-old baby brother. Jake would go flop back on the wooden floors with a theatrical sigh. The only toy that seemed to bother him was a robotic dinosaur that was slowly making its way across the floor. Jake put himself between the toy and the babies and made sure it got nowhere near them.

And what more could a good cattle dog ask for but cows for Christmas? We headed next to Brevard where Jake got to spend two weeks staring intently at his cows. There were new ones to meet and his old favorite to lick. In my attempts at keeping Jake busy on the pouring rain days that hit us, I discovered just how awful smelling bullysticks are (for those of you who don't know what these are, you're better off not knowing) and just what a mess Jake could make with a rawhide wrapped in chicken jerky. I definitely had to pull out the vacuum before my mother saw that mess!

Jake did his usual job of rounding up everyone's socks for them, whether we wanted them rounded up or not. No one took me seriously when I said that Jake was a sock thief. Eight unmatched socks later, my parents started looking for their missing socks wherever Jake looked the guiltiest. Not to be outmanuevered, Jake took to sneaking work gloves just as easily. Jake only got caught because my mother noticed him laying on her WHITE couch.

And, just to make sure the holidays weren't dull, a pretty Golden Retriever found her way to my grandparents house and we took the wet, friendly dog in (she'd discovered the cow pasture stream). We called everywhere we could think of to leave messages about finding the dog. She obviously was loved, didn't have a matte in her flowing fur, and was as sweet as they come. Jake and his new friend played for hours in the basement. They rolled around, did some chest banging, and turned rag towels into new tug toys. About the time Jake was actually worn out, the owner called the house and came to get her girl, Gracie. Jake sure missed Gracie for the next two days before we headed home. Jake kept going to the garage door and pawing at it for me to let him in so he could find Gracie. Gracie's mommy even sent Jake some fabulous doggy biscuits, which made the best crumbs (have I mentioned what a messy eater Jake is?). Jake and I were glad to finally get home. The cats were happy to see their mommy, too, but not so thrilled to see that I still had the dog in tow.

Jake's Very Own Logo!

A fabulously talented graphic designer friend of mine created a logo just for Jake. We wanted to capture what was essentially Jake and incorporate his name. She used Jake's very own silhouette and included his Bentley and eye patch. One of my favorite parts is the little crest of hair on his chest. I asked my friend to also create a generic version of his logo (in both red and blue) for other ACD owners who might like the logo but didn't want Jake's name plastered across their chest. We're pondering what venue to use to allow everyone to share in Jake's logo. My husband and I already have T-shirts with Jake's logo on them and a handful of greeting cards and postcards to test out the logo. Today's the first chance I've had to wear my new shirt and I can only say that I look like a devoted president of the Jake Fan Club. (Note: In order to protect Jake's logo, I've had to post it at a very small resolution.)

I posted all three of the logos to the Cafepress website but haven't redesigned the logo yet for dark colored shirts. So for right now, grey, white and some various ringer colors are available. Click on the top banner below and it'll take you to the store:

Cattle Dog Christmas Party

...And you thought Jake in his Santa hat was bad! I am not alone here, folks, in subjecting my ACD to costume time. This dear little face is Posey. I love to take pictures of Posey because she's the only cattle dog I know that can hold still for more than one second while you snap the picture. Thank you, Posey!

We've all been looking forward to this Christmas party and match ever since it was announced. Jake was in high spirits that day. He was rambunctious, crazy, wild, over-the-top, no holds barred, ...you get the idea. He was driving us nuts because he needed someone to help him burn all that energy. Who better to help Jake but more cattle dogs?

And then Jake saw PEPPER! He was dancing and spinning and getting all tangled up in Pepper's lead. You see, we weren't sure Pepper was going to come to the party. Pepper had been naughty throughout the week and her mother threatened to leave her at home. We begged and pleaded on Jake's behalf and were well rewarded by their antics.

Jake and Pepper got to play in a fenced-in cow pasture full of agility things. A big tree provided shade and sticks for throwing. Those of us down by the show ring could see two sets of big black ears bouncing around over the grass.




Soon Pepper and Jake were joined by Peachy for more rounds of stick chasing.

While our dog was being silly and romping and getting generally worn out, other dogs in our group were strutting their stuff in the conformation and obedience ring. Some of the dogs even surprised their parents by winning (right, Pia?). All of the dogs got a chance to compete in a game of Bobbing for Hotdogs. Puppies got two minutes and adults got two to try to eat as many hotdogs as they could. We figured we'd let Jake have a shot at a hotdog although he'd never eat one before. Jake dives for ice cubes in his water bowl so why not a wienie? Because, it turns out, that Jake doesn't like hotdogs. He got one out, put in the ground, sniffed it and proceeded to peck at it with a look that said, "This is gross but I'm working on it for the crowd's sake."

Pepper just stuck her feet in the water and tried to figure out why she was having to go through this event. Apparently Jake is not alone in Hotdog Dislike.


Poor little Lumpy gave it a valiant effort to drink all the water in that big, big bowl but the little pieces of meat at the bottom just didn't seem worth the drowning.


And then there was King Daddy of the Hot Dogs, Kogi! He snarfed one, inhaled another and then figured out he could grab three at time. Kogi got dragged away before his two minutes were up to save hotdogs for the other dogs who hadn't gone yet. Kogi still reigned with 9 hotdogs!


After the only game of Yankee Swap (or White Elephant) that I have ever played where NO ONE took anyone else's gift, we headed home with one tired pooch. Jake was unconscious on the short ride back to my in-law's house. We thought we were in for a nice, quiet evening. We were so wrong! Like a human child who is over-stimulated and needs to go to bed badly, our Jake was totally out of control. He was shrieking and zooming around their new house with its wooden floors and vaulted ceilings. The noise was deafening. After several hours of everyone in the house trying to control Jake, Jake finally crawled off under our guest bed and fell asleep. When I went looking for him, I noticed that Jake had taken the time to steal all of our socks out of our suitcase and make himself a nice sock pillow. That stinker!