Rinnie Pulls

Here is an older video if Rinnie pulling.

Pull results

The pull last weekend went very well.  It's the first one I have chaired, thankfully with Denises help, it went pretty darn well.  Both days we only had a couple of dogs who didn't qualify. We had several dogs reach new personal bests which is pretty fun to see.

Grace pulled both Saturday and Sunday, Saturday she pulled 570, Sunday 516, both 10 point pulls.  Peace only pulled on Sunday, but pulled better than she has in quite a while pulling 624.  Siren was the family winner with a pull on Saturday of 678 and Sunday 786-both pulls earning her and David 15 points toward her UWPCH. Sundays pull was just over 30 times her body weight. If we can get the videos loaded I will post it. She is so happy working with David.

According to Darryl, Magic was not happy being left home alone Sunday.  Apparently about 15 minutes after we left Darryl woke to the sound of Magic and his unique version of a howl.  He got up and found Magic laying on the arm of the couch howling his soft quiet version of a howl. Its quite funny, its the quietest howl I have ever heard, but it come complete with the nose pointed to the sky and the classic aroooo just very very quiet-almost whisper quiet!  Darryl invited him to join him in the bed instead.

Weight Pull this weekend!

Come on down to Zumbro Falls and have fun with us all at the Mn Mixed Breed Clubs first October pull.  We will be having a pot luck, and have some fun awards.  Grace will be showing off her usually fairly creative pull techniques, which while not very succesful is quite funny.  Hope you can come and have fun with us.

Day of Show entries too...  click the  Premium  for a copy

Magics Pulling Video

A very nice fellow puller took a video of Magic pulling. This is Sunday when he pulled 635.  He also took some of Carol and her Pap Casanova and Christi and her BC Maggie who pulled over 1200. I wasnt aware he was taking these, but am very happy to be able to watch it.  As you can see, Magic talks alot, and that tail is always going.

Magic pulls 635 at Gateway

UWP Grace and Peace, URO2 Magic

Both Grace and Peace earned their UWP (weight pulling) titles this weekend. With the heat and humidity on Saturday which was well over what I would have liked, the kids did really well.  On Saturday Siren pulled 420 pounds  (5th place) for David, which is a huge improvement over her first attempt last month where she pretended she couldnt hear him talking to her and refused to pull at all.  Grace pulled 570 earning her title and 4th place, Magic 630 for 3rd, Peace 690 for second. On Sunday it was just Magic and Peace, Magic went up to 720 for 2nd before calling it a day and Peace decided she was done at 510 for 3rd.  Since David had to work and Grace had already titled they got to stay home and enjoy the limited AC our livingroom has.  Both days Maggie the BC kicked our butts, with a pull on Sunday over 1000 pounds.  She was awesome this weekend.

Magic also did Rally the one time, completing his URO2 with a score of 92, for second place.  Really wet grass outside first thing in the morning caused just way too many interesting smells for really great scores, but hey, I have no issue with that as the horses going by actually distracted me for about a second during the run too.

Peace also picked up a group 3 win and a total dog award for winning in both conformation and having a qualifying run in her weight pull.   Here is a link to a photo of Peace and her ribbons. click here

Living on Faith

There are a few events coming in this month that I have been planning on all year.  The UKC show on the 17th and 18th and the APDT rally trial on the 31st and 1st. Entries for the UKC show need to be there by the 9th or 10th, which means I need to get them out today.  I am going to go forward on the plan that Magic will be healthy, his pathology report will come back OK. I am entering him in the weight pull and the rally trial. He only needs one leg for his URO2 (rally) so I am just entering once.  I had hoped to be able to enter all 4 rally and both obedience trials, but with the expenses of his care, I can't really afford more. This time, next year, we will be doing ALL the events again. (There is that Faith thing again.)

Then I know I have time before entries close for the APDT trial, but the entries are limited.  I am afraid to wait to enter him, because what if he cant get in? I know they will refund his entry fees if he is not able to work when the time comes, but I have faith that we will be OK.  He is close to reaching his ARCH and I am certain he and I can do this. So I am going to send his entries and pray that he is healthy enough to play, which he should be as I refuse to consider that his pathology report will be bad.  Living on Faith.

Pull Pictures

First up- Siren, refusing to play this game with David.  We think she was looking for me as I was on the other side of the barrier with Magic. But maybe she just did not want to play this silly game.

Magic my good little guy, he worked as hard as he could.  It was down to him and a very sweet little border collie working for that last pull to win the class.                                                              

Peace was having trouble with her last pull, she had a hard time getting it started, so I gave her a bit of help and we raced each other across the finish line.  Then we went back and she was confident enough to do that same weight herself.  I made this her last pull for the day since she was so successful, I wanted ehr to end happy, which I think she did, since she tried to go back to the front to do it again.

I know she doesn't look very happy but she was working hard when the picture was taken!

Red Pine Kennel Club Show

Today we went to the Red Pine Kennel Clubs first UKC show. We have so much fun at the UKC show, the whole family goes.  Everyone cheers for everyone else, and their dogs too.  3 of the dogs qualified in the weight pull, and one chose to give its handler the brush off. (Siren)  Peace got a group 3, and a qualifying pull of 597 (19.9) which was a third place and so earned that silly total dog ribbon. Magic is in the same weight class as Peace and he pulled 813 (31.26) which was first in his class.  Grace is in the next class and she got a second place with a pull of 620 (19.37).  The numbers in the parentheses are how many time body weight.

There was a photographer today also, so I got a few pull pictures of Magic Grace and Siren, but she was busy and missed Grace's pulls.  I will scan those in tomorrow. 

Busy Weekend

Its going to be a very busy weekend.  Tomorrow morning I leave for Fargo.  Peace and I are entered and are going to play Friday and Saturday, no chance of winning, but I sort of feel like when you are a member of a club, you go play at that clubs events. So since this is a supported entry we are going to go support!  Then Sunday I am going the opposite direction.  We have all 4 cardis entered in the weight pull down in Le Seuer.  The girls are not as ready as I would like, but I am not asking them to do more than enough to earn that first Q toward the title. For both Siren and Peace that is the large empty cart, which they have done in practice.  David is going to work with Siren, so I am hoping she will listen to him and will pull for him.   I am going to see if I can get Grace to pull more than once, but she will also start at with the empty big cart which is enough for her to qualify.  Magic, well not sure what Magic will do. Time will tell on that one.  Then Grace and Peace are also going to be entered in conformation, trying for that silly little Total Dog ribbon.

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Nice Weather, Nice weekend

The weather was finally lovely this weekend.  Yesterday I worked at the neighborhood organizations plant sale. I also brought home the majority of the plants for my garden so those got planted. I still have a bit more to get, but its a start. 

Today we had weight pull practice which was fun And we are cooking dinner on the grill. Yum!

Weight pull practice

Today the 3 girls went to weight pull practice.  I wasnt allowed to train Siren, she is Davids and he had to work, but she went along to practice good dog behavior. She needs to work on waiting patiently in the crate.
Grace gave me 3 pulls today, and is starting to understand what we are trying to do. I was really happy with her work today.  Peace is a bit concerned about the cart and all the people, but she tried and I am sure she will get better.  This was her first time actually pulling anything, so with time will come comfort.  We have some things to work on, but it was still fun.

After the weight pull practice, we stopped at a local tennis court that noone was using.  Its one of the few fully fenced places to go and practice some off leash work. We did some recalls with all 3 girls and some heeling practice with Siren and Grace.  With Peace we are just starting with the choose to heel training and right now she hasnt quite figured out that mom and treats are more intersting than leaves, people, running etc, at least during the heeling portion.  But her recalls were super.  A youg gal was riding her bike around the course when Peace was working recalls, and she was totally able to ignore that. Grace also did a couple of  minimal distraction stays.  We are working on stays. But tonight she was able to stay with me jumping up and down and running in circles around her.  She only broke the stay once, and that was when I was returning to her. So next time we will practice lots more of me leaving and coming back.

Jade is still the same, Not real happy with me when I have to give her the meds, but otherwise doing well enough.

Grace pulled yesterday too

Its Grace in the picture. Granted, she is telling me that hey she already did this once and is NOT going to do it again. She actually turned around right after this picture and went to hop up on the cart instead.  But her one pull that she did at 300 pounds was 9.6 times her body weight, so her first leg. My girl the princess, is just not one for doing something AGAIN!

Todays weight pull-caution, not a pretty picture

Thanks for the nice comments yesterday.  Today Magic pulled 521 and then I withdrew him. Now thats not horrible or anything, but I know he can go higher if he would just try. It did earn another 10 points toward his championship.

The new harness is just too wide in front and between his legs, so he cannot get comfortable and is trying to pull with one front leg off the ground. Not the best plan. So we will get a different harness.  I am going to order another one tomorrow. Narrower for my narrow boy.

The hero of the pull today had to have been Casenova the Papillon.  This little guy was the smallest dog pulling today, weighing in at just over 7 pounds.  He pulled over 400 which is 63 times his body weight.  63 times! That was the largest percentage over bodty weight of all the dogs there. He was simply a beast today.

Now, other than my huge rear- anyone notice whats wrong in the picture below?

545

Magic only pulled 545 today. He does NOT like his new harness.  I guess we will order a different one. But that was enough to earn him 10 more points toward his weight pull championship.  No pictures today, David went along but he was working the cart so couldnt take pictures.

Weight pull tomorrow

Well it should be interesting.  Since the harness came I thought maybe I should actually have Magic give it a try.  Well, lets hope at the trial he has a bit more entheusiasm. He was completely lazy last night.  OH No, too heavy gonna lay down.  Guys, it was the empty cart.   I guess I need to go to Macs tonight and bring home a cheeseburger for Saturdays pull treat. He WILL work for a cheeseburger- at least he laways has in the past. My gosh I have to bribe my dog.

New Harness

Magics weight pull harness finally arrived.  It fits wonderfully.  In fact it fits all the dogs, even Kazin. Every dog wore it for a while last night.  Kazin thought I was killing him.  Siren forgot how to work her legs and totally lost her ears. Peace looked at me, looked at the harness hanging behind her all worried until I offered a cookie and suddenly the harness was just fine. Grace just gave me her "you have got to be kidding" look, which by the way is not too different from her "get bent" look. Magic though, seemed to smile.
Saturday we are ready!

They came so its official!

Ch Daybreakes Peaceful Dreams! FO UWP UCD Qwaynts Magic Spark!
Both dogs UKC certificates came today. Peace's Championship and Magics Family Obedience and United Weight Pull certificates. I know it's probably silly but I am so proud of my dogs, and those titles to me show how hard we have worked and the fun that we have together.

I know that a lot of people look down on the UKC titles, but I am very happy to have earned these. I like UKC shows, and enjoy working with the local clubs that do them. And I also like that UKC allows dogs to earn titles in sports that are not traditionally geared toward that breed, like a corgi in the dog sport classes, or weight pulling. Heck at the last weight pull there were several non traditional pulling type dogs and I think all of them qualified, and I think all of them placed in the classes. In fact the Old English Sheepdog not only placed in the weight pull, he went on and won Best in Show in conformation.
Plus, UKC rewards it members who earn multiple titles from different events. Along with Magics titles he received 2 $25.00 gift certificates. Thanks UKC!

Workin Wednesday

photos by Reflective Canvas

More Weight Pull

But no pictures today. Both David and Darryl were busy working today, they learned how to work the cart- be the brakes and properly load the bricks. I am getting a couple of pictures from the photographer so I will post them when they come. Its funny though, with weight pull you get lots of handler butt shots.

There were a few questions in the comments so I will explain a bit. This event was UKC but there are others as well. I guess they have slightly different rules, different distances, time allowances and classes. In UKC you pull 16 feet, and have 60 seconds to do it. Classes are by the dogs weight, and since Magic is a small cardigan, at 26 he was pulling in the 16-30 class. The dogs do have to get weighed in for the weekend. They come into the pull chute and get hitched to the cart. You can't touch them once you start the pull, if you do its a foul. If they touch you, its a foul. You get 2 fouls before you are eliminated for the day. If you foul a pull, you get to retry that pull, right away and see if you can make it. They are not on leash for the pull. In UKC you can be right by them, you dont have to go to the end of the chute and call them, so many handlers get on the floor to encourage them. The front tire of the cart starts on the line and as soon as it hits the 16 foot line the pull is done.

Magic took 2nd in his class both days(of 3 yesterday and just the 2 today). He beat his pull yesterday by 90 pounds pulling 360. We almost got the 390 but couldn't quite get it. He was beat by a darling Alaskan Klee Kai who at 16 pounds pulled 450 I think. The high pulling dog today was a Saint Bernard who pulled over 3100 pounds and highest percentage was a samoyed who pulled over 38 times his body weight.

Within the weight requirements you get to pick where you want your dog to start pulling, and you can pass on one or 2 weights as you move up. Yesterday I started Magic at a higher weight since he had pulled during the clinic and I didnt want him to tire himself out. His pulls and times yesterday were 180 pounds in14.13 seconds, 210/27.12, 240/17.78. Today since he was fresh and because I wanted him to start easier (so he would think its fun) we started with the empty cart. His weights and times today were 60/3.09,P,P, 120/3.69, 150/4.50,P, 210/7.12, 240/6.41, 270/28.35, P,P,360/11.88. You can use the passing ability strategically which is nice. Yesterday Magic didn't get the small cart at 270, so today when he did, I used 2 passes to jump to the big cart at 360 since I knew he could do it and he proved that it was much easier for him by the time difference. Less pounds per square inch with the big cart.

So, I think once we get some jobs in this house, and I can afford more than an occasional splurge I think I will order a pulling harness. When I do we can practice and Griffin is more than welcome to come try it (they need to be a year old to pull in competition, but I think older would be better, when growth stops) . It was a lot of fun, everyone was so great about helping others and cheering. I definately want to go back and get Magic's last leg for that title. For you Minnesota people, MMBC is having a big weekend in July with Obedience, Family Obedience,Rally, and weight pulling in conjunction with another clubs conformation show. I am hoping to be able to attend. If anyone wants to see the how to train information I received, let me know and I can send it to you.