Dessie the PWD

PWD National Specialty Water Trials!!!

2010-10-07T22:53:00.000-07:00

I'm really not much of a blogger, am I...

We had lots of fun this summer working towards getting Apprentice & Working Water Dog with Dessie. But somehow - it wasn't quite as fun as last summer - we got all serious or something. And after two unsuccessful attempts at the Working level I found myself disappointed instead of just enjoying the time outside with Mark & Dessie. I'm going to have to change that as we go forward with water training, and if we get into Agility it'll be even more important since that is competitive.

But Dessie really did do beautifully - and it was great watching her learn to jump - and to jump - and to jump. She really really loves to jump. What she doesn't love is to stay, and that's why we didn't end up with a pretty new ribbon.

So here are are our videos from Lopez Lake. I wish I had taken pictures too - but my phone battery was dead. There were some really great things about the trial. We camped, along with Ali Vorhies & Dixie at the Lopez Lake campground. The coolest thing about that was the tree in our site was what is called a "granary" tree for acorn woodpeckers. The birds stuff acorns into every available nook and cranny of the tree. It was amazing. No pictures though :(

Here are our videos from the trial.

First - bag drag - really silly exercise I think.

Next - dummy toss. I swear Dessie clears half the swimming distance in her jump.

And an absolutely lovely three article retrieve. We came a long way with this one - back in August Dessie just wanted to get back on the boat between each item. And Mark was a little concerned because in the practice before the trial it was really windy and Dessie very purposefully took one article, then swam back to the second article and took the rope, and then went under for the buoy ball and brought all three items back in one swoop. Made sense - it was windy, they were going to drift! But not exactly what the trial calls for. When it came down to it she did it perfectly.

By the way - Mark's position on the boat cracks me up...

And then - the dummy toss between two boats. This is the exercise that Dessie has reinvented. She thinks the game is to jump from boat to boat to boat to boat. When I watch the video I see a few obvious things to fix. I think Mark's leg on the boat to steady it is somewhat of an invitation for Dessie to bridge the gap. But it is really just about getting her to stay. She doesn't like leaving Mark on the other boat. And she just does her own thing -and she has fun doing it! And eventually she jumped, because she just loves to jump...

And I turned off the video camera because I was disappointed and stupid. How lame is that!!! Dessie did a perfect blind line retrieve.

So next summer - WWD and CWD? we've already started working on a super solid DROP IT. And we'll come up with new ways to proof her Stay... And I'm looking into agility classes again.

Water Trial Pictures

2010-08-05T18:35:00.001-07:00

We bought a couple of pictures from the water trials. Here they are!

This is Dessie rocketing out to get her dummy (or maybe her line, but I'd guess it is her dummy.)

And another of Dessie waiting to be called off of the boat.

and from our Working exercises - Dessie jumping off the boat for the blind line retrieve. I love that it looks like she is smiling.

Dessie's WWD attempt - almost there

2010-08-02T17:05:00.000-07:00

After breezing through Apprentice on Saturday, Mark decided it would be fun to go for Working Water Dog on Sunday. Dessie had the last slot of the day - but Mark and she held it together and did really well. We knew going into it that her three article retrieve wasn't all the way there - and in the end she did better than we expected. It was fun to try for - and we know what to work on for the next time around.

Videos aren't great - I was trying to stay out of sight.

She started out perfectly - with a great bag retrieve, and a beautiful dummy retrieve from the boat.

Then came the three article retrieve. We were worried that she wouldn't jump off the boat. She did that just fine! and then she retrieved the dummy and the buoy ball. After the ball she wanted to get back into the boat. Mark tried to redirect her to the line, but she really wanted to get back in the boat. And that was fine!

For some reason she jumped off the second boat before it was in position and the dummy could be thrown between the two boats. This was totally new - not sure why she did this

But then she did a perfect blind line retrieve!

Apprentice Water Dog!!!!!

2010-07-31T20:29:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has been a year since I posted. We've been doing lots of water work - this summer we signed up for practice slots with the PWDCNC at Shadow cliffs regional park. It was fun to have a group of people (and a boat) to work with - and it paid off! Mark and Dessie got their Apprentice Water Dog title at the PWDCNC water trials on Saturday, July 31, 2010.

They were smooth and fast - and made it look easy! Mark is very happy not to have to do that swim again! he says when we get another dog I have to do the swimming ;-)

Videos aren't great - I was trying to stay out of the way. They are in two parts.

First - Underwater retrieve, dummy retrieve, and carry dummy/board boat/call from shore.

Then - Line retrieve & 2 minute swim.

It was so fun - and Dessie looks great with a yellow ribbon.

First attempt at Apprentice Water Dog

2009-08-24T12:29:00.000-07:00

After Dessie got Junior Water Dog on her first try at her first trial EVER - we decided to go for Apprentice the next day. No luck, but we learned a ton! Here are videos of the first two exercises. After the PAINFUL TO WATCH (for me) delivery to hand I stopped taking videos because I was too nervous! Mark stayed cool as a cucumber and did an amazing job handling through the rest of the exercises.

Things we learned

#1 - day two of a water trial is more stressful than day one. Dogs are tired, people are tired. People who didn't pass the first day want to pass the second. People who are moving up to a new level are nervous. Dessie was barking at the air (Dessie the non-barking dog...) I was cranky and had a headache and was concerned about getting to rehearsal on time that evening. All this leads to some unpredictable behavior.

#2 - it probably isn't good to be helpful and steward for dogs in your same group before your dog's turn is up - even if you have plenty of time between stewarding duties and your time slot. Mark was an amazing land steward for the first 8 dogs in the Apprentice Group, but Dessie was really concerned that he was in the ring without her. She settled down eventually but I think the stress of that added to the - uhoh what is happening today mood.

#3 - It's fun even if you don't pass!

#4 - advice from the judge, Mark doesn't need to talk so much to Dessie while she's working. She knows her job, and she probably is just tuning him out. Use talking more to redirect if necessary rather than to engage her interest.

#5 - PWDS are even goofier than we already knew.

Here are the videos

Exercise #1 - underwater retrieve. This was over before you could blink.

Here is her dummy retrieve. One funny thing, after Mark had done many PERFECT 60' throws as a steward, the one he did for Dessie was more like 75'. HAHAHAHA - good thing Dessie just loves to swim.

And a description of the 3rd exercise:

Mark: OK Dess, take the dummy

Dessie: got it, now what

Mark: lets go!

Dessie (takes two steps carrying dummy, drops it, looks around): hmmmm, something smells funny, what's that over there? is there a little dog? oooh, goose poop, hmmm, now what????

Mark: Dessie! take it! take the dummy! lets go!!!

Dessie (picks up the dummy, takes two steps carrying the dummy, drops it, goes over to fence sniffing): I know there's something interesting over here, why is that dog barking? where is Cecily? oooooh, there is Cecily - should I go get here, oh, she disappeared, is she hiding, should I find her???? oooooh, there's my dummy, GOOSE POOP

Mark: DESSIE! take it! LETS GO!!!

Dessie: BOAT BOAT BOAT - I see a BOAT!!! Mark LIKES IT when I get on the BOAT!!! (runs to boat, leaps up) LOOK AT ME I'M ON THE BOAT!!!!!! Come on Mark get on the Boat WITH ME!

Mark (picks up dummy, shakes his head, gets on boat): OK Dess, lets ride the boat...

So, that was it, but she did finish the boat ride perfectly and the recall to shore. She had to be encouraged a little to go get her line for exercise #4, and she did a rock solid wait on the shore for the swim, but only swam for about a minute before she headed in to land.

All the parts are there, just need to get a better command of the ring and the handling. Next summer - Apprentice Water Dog & Working Water Dog??? o.o

Junior Water Dog videos

2009-08-24T11:44:00.000-07:00

Exercise #1 - get the dummy!

Exercise #2 - lets ride a boat!

Exercise #3 - swim to me!

Exercise #4 - lets swim together!

she did it!!!

Water Trials!!!

2009-08-24T11:40:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has been over a year since I posted anything! Not to worry, we have had many adventures with Dessie. And they all led up to our participation in the Portuguese Water Dog Club of Northern California's Water Trials - held at Shadow Cliffs Regional Park in Pleasanton CA on August 22-23, 2009.

We had a great weekend watching amazing dogs do amazing things - including Dessie, who is now a Junior Water Dog!

I'll post the videos I took, as well as a link to photos from the trial. I am already looking forward to doing it again next summer.

Back to Normal

2008-05-17T21:34:00.000-07:00

What a difference a day makes! Today was my day off, and enthusiastic about a warm day at the beach we headed up north to Dillon Beach - with a picnic and everything, only to find the coast socked in with a massive fog bank. Dessie didn't care and had a nice romp on the beach, but we only lasted about 30 minutes before we got back in the car to eat our sandwiches, and then drove home. Bummer.

The good news is - our loft is cooling off.

Heat Wave!!!

2008-05-15T22:53:00.000-07:00

I've lived in San Francisco for long enough now to not even THINK of leaving the house without a jacket - or two. And the idea of eating outdoors after about 2 pm is pretty laughable. Well - not this week! Last night we had an inkling of the heat to come when we went up to the roof deck at 7 pm to grill dinner and actually stayed up there. We even ate dinner up there - with no jackets!!! Here is a picture of Dessie hoping to get some sausage.

Today's temperture was a record - 96 degrees farenheit in San Francisco! I can't remember being this uncomfortably warm in the city in the 14 years I've lived here. By 4:30 pm Mark, Dessie and I had had it with the stifling air in our place so we went to the beach to cool off. Here are some pics!

Dessie doesn't really like swimming at Crissy Field - something about the beach scares her a little, but today she was very brave and went in many times to get her tennis ball. She actually had to swim for this one - and got it eventually.

We're hoping it cools off a little tomorrow. If not, then we'll be back at the beach!

Dessie turns two!

2008-03-22T23:22:00.001-07:00

Today we celebrated a weekend off by enjoying the amazing weather and taking Dessie to our new favorite beach - Dillon Beach. She had a grand time chasing a couple of doodles - as well as every other dog on the beach, trying to catch seagulls, and retrieving tennis balls.

After the beach we went to an oyster farm where Dessie tried to lick oyster guts out of oyster shells but we wouldn't let her.

It was a great day!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T18:32:00.000-08:00

We're back in San Francisco after a great vacation in the snow. I can't believe how good Dessie is in the car - she just sleeps and sleeps and sleeps. I wish I could do that!

Since we got home Dessie has been sleeping in all her favorite spots in the house. The couch, the spot between the couch and the window, her new dog bed with bolsters, the old dog bed with a hole in the bottom, under my desk, under Mark's desk and upstairs in the bed. She seemed to need to test each spot out to make sure it was still comfy. I would have thought after 12 hours in the car she'd be bouncing off the walls but I guess she was tired from the holiday.

Today we took her to Stern Grove where she was pretty mellow but got to do a lot of sniffing and running around in circles. I forgot that my new phone takes really good photos - will try to remember that in the future!

One funny story from Salt Lake -

One day my mom decided to put some left over ice cubes in the dogs bowls. Her dogs didn't think much of it - just ignored them. Dessie thought that was about the strangest thing she'd ever seen, and fished the ice cubes out one at a time and put them on the carpet. She got very excited about it - she must have thought we had put them in the water for her to retrieve. I thought it was hysterical. My mom thought it was messy.... It was impossible to photograph so you'll just have to imagine it.

And here are some more pictures from the snowy school field.

Portuguese Snow Dog?

2007-12-27T21:09:00.000-08:00

We're on vacation in Salt Lake City, and we've discovered that Dessie likes snow even MORE than she likes water! Her favorite snow activities include kangaroo hopping through deep powder, nose diving into snow banks, and shoveling snow with her snout. The only thing she doesn't seem to enjoy is getting ice balls between the pads of her paws. We got her "muttluks" today - we'll see if we can get them on her tomorrow!

We got some great pictures and videos from a romp at the local middle school on Christmas!

PWDs everywhere!

2007-08-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

So, would you believe that in the last ten days or so we've crossed paths with about 18+ PWDS????

If I were more on the ball with this blogger thing I would have taken tons of pictures, but since I'm new and not that on the ball - all I have is a list of encounters.

August 8 - we met a PWD at the Sausalito dog park - I think his name was Sailor
August 9 - Dessie went to Doggie daycare where she played with her PWD friend Rocco
August 10 - we had a playdate with Norman, an awesome curly PWD who lives in Los Altos
August 11 - PWD party on the delta - I didn't actually meet all the dogs, but the names I remember were: Rascal, KC (or maybe Casey), Maquah, Cocoa, George and at least 3 others whose names I can't remember.
August 14 - we went to the Russian River Getaways office in Guerneville especially to meet Cleo & Molly - two excellent Camlin PWDs. Cleo & Dessie looked so much alike!

So far, nothing is that weird. We knew all the dogs would be there, except for the chance meeting at the dog park.

THEN - August 18 - we drove to Sonoma Valley. After playing at the most excellent Perrone dog park near Glen Ellen, we headed into Sonoma for lunch. We wandered around the square and happened upon Sunflower Cafe - with a good patio for eating with the dog. We sit down with our food and up comes a PWD - Pearl - who had just participated in a dog show in Santa Rosa. We chatted, that was cool - they went on their way.

After lunch we headed around the plaza for a walk. When we got to the opposite side here come TWO more PWDS - Joaquin & Savana. They had just been groomed and were looking spectacular. Joaquin is probably the most handsome curly you could imagine - really a gorgeous dog! Their owner had another dog in the car waiting and as we talk to her about their groomer - another lady runs up and says "I have a PWD TOO!!"

After this encounter we head back to our car and... you guessed it... on our way we ran into ANOTHER PWD! (I didn't get this one's name, she was a service dog though)

And I'm thinking - is Sonoma County PWD mecca???

But wait, there's more.

On our way back to San Francisco this morning we stopped for lunch at a diner in Sebastopol. Nothing fancy, just a roadside diner on the way into town that had a big patio. We get out of the car, head to the patio, and another couple is pulling out with A PWD IN THE BACK SEAT! (A black wavy named Antonio)

Craziness.

I guess the secret is out - PWDs really are the best dogs ever.

So anyway, we're home now. Dessie had a bath and a nice long walk and is now sacked out on the couch, dreaming of the river.

August

riding the boat

2007-08-17T20:26:00.001-07:00

Dessie learned to kayak!!! Well, at least to sit in a kayak - until the ducks proved to be too much of a distraction and she had to jump in to swim after them.

Underwater Retrieve

2007-08-17T20:10:00.000-07:00

Dessie has also learned to retrieve her three handled toy from underwater. We think she doesn't open her eyes underwater though - she paws at it until she feels it, then picks it up.

Dummy Retrieve

2007-08-17T20:01:00.000-07:00

Dessie loves to retrieve - especially in water. Here she retrieves her dummy out of the Russian River. She isn't 100% reliable at bringing the thing all the way back, and usually drops it before she shakes - and then picks it back up to put the rope in Mark's hand.

While on the river this week she really learned to swim - and is getting faster every day. She also figured out it is easier to swim with the rope in her mouth, rather than the dummy.

on the Russian River

2007-08-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

We've spent the last week at a vacation house in Monte Rio. It has been really relaxing - and especially fun to spend time in the water with Dessie. This new blog is for Dessie's adventures - both aquatic and otherwise.