PWD National Specialty Water Trials!!!

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

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

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!!!!!

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

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

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!!!

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.