Raising a Genius Puppy

I haven’t posted much here, since I’m using Voodoo’s facebook page instead, but wanted to share the tutorial I just made regarding how to use steel framing squares to make a weave pole base for about $150!

https://geniuspuppy.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/making-weave-poles-with-framing-squares.pdf

Here is video of Voodoo using them: https://vimeo.com/286458136

Just used them for the first time today, so time will tell how well they hold up, but I’m hoping they last a good long while!

Voodoo had an EXCELLENT weekend at the huge, 4 day, Eukanuba Dog Sports event this past weekend! He earned a total of 7 titles!!!

Dock diving Elite (for dogs jumping over 24′)
FastCAT BCAT (over 150 points determined by mph)
Nose work: interior, exterior, containers, and buried which earned him his nose work Novice title!

I haven’t updated since July!  Sorry.  I have mostly just been updating his facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/GeniusPuppy/ So if you want more timely updates, just ask to join his page and let me know you found it from his blog.

Here are some photos I took for the weekly challenge group:

Last week’s photo challenge was “Fairy Tale”. This one was fun! Photo of Voodoo was taken today, other elements added as layers. Voodoo says “I found dis slipper…”

Voodoo had his preliminary X-rays of elbows and hips this morning. He slept it off in bed for most of the day 🙂 Vet said X-rays look good. Growth plates are confirmed closed. Elbows and hips

Sleepy boys at a hotel and Voodoo chillin on the couch in his favorite pose

On Aug 12th Voodoo met up with his full brother Brooks at the barn hunt trial. It was a pleasure chatting with his mom Nicole! V on the left and B on the right. Voodoo had the same issues as all but one dog in trial one and hit on litter within about 10 sec. But on trial 2 he got first place and high in class with a run time of 3 min. even. Such a good boy! We will try again tomorrow.

He’s been working on learning agility equipment and a few progress videos are posted on my Vimeo page: https://vimeo.com/scoutdogs/videos There is also a nosework practice I got on video and some that were just for fun.

He is only 4 Qs away from his RATCHX2 now!  And he had a great weekend dock diving! He’s now jumping in the Elite division with a personal best of 24′ 10″!  He is also only 1 jump away from his Elite title and one jump away from his air retrieve title.

We are keeping busy and he is entered in the Eukanuba event in a couple weeks and will be doing nosework, dock diving and fastcat. If all goes well, he may get some new titles at that event!

Voodoo did great in the NADD competition at Cross Creek Farms this weekend. He jumped 20′ 7″, 21′ 7″, and 22′ 6″ in his 3 regular jumps and 16′ in the Air Retrieve. He might have gone farther in Air retrieve, but I started him too short, so by the time we got to 17′, he had already jumped 9 times in a row and was clearly tired! He also won the Master Division Championship round with a 22′ jump and got a fun fluffy toy with several limbs to be chewed off. LOL Photos by Kathy Wilson of Voodoo in his super fly suit (which makes it super easy to pick out his photos from all the other black Labs)

I think you can click on any of the photos to see it larger.

Once again, I haven’t been posting much here, but we have been keeping busy! Some relaxing, plus lots of swimming and playing.

I’m also learning to do weave poles.  I’ve only had 2 sessions so far, but I’m catching on fast! https://vimeo.com/226391307

And we played in a disk league. I can’t throw worth a darn, but we had fun!

As the post title implies, Voodoo earned his RATCHX! That is a Barn Hunt title that means he qualified 25 times at the highest level (Master). I’m going to get a better photo tomorrow, but here is the one from my phone that I took tonight.

Video of his RATCHX run: https://vimeo.com/222926613

Couple photos taken at Brookville Lake for this week’s “Sunset” challenge. There was a group of tough biker dudes hanging out in the pavilion and when I had Voodoo jump on the wall and got him set up, I hear from one of them yell “LOOK! That dog is POSING for her!” LOL Voodoo knows his job as a model as well 🙂 Also below, a couple photos from the “Wow” location challenge.

We joined a Frisbee/disk league (UpDog) and while we had to skip a week and a couple others got rained out, Voodoo is enjoying it. He wants a better handler though because my disk throwing sucks! 🙂 He has been able to lie quietly near the side lines and other than a couple hissy fits that it wasn’t his turn, he’s done really well waiting for his turn.

On June 10th we had no luck on our first attempt at a Junior Q at a Hunt Retriever test. He got bird #1 with no problem. Bird two was on the far side of a little gully and he just didn’t go far enough to find it. Good news is that he got to do 4 water retrieves by helping out as the “set up” dog. So no Q, but fun and now I will have to find some hilly terrain to practice on somehow.

Below is the area where Voodoo missed bird #2. It was in the shade (marked here with a red arrow). So he had to go past the plastic geese decoys (no problem), down the hill you can’t really see, through the tall grass, and up the other side across the mowed grass to the shade. But when he came out of the tall grass he thought he missed it and just kept searching in the tall stuff. Oh well, we don’t have a place with hills to practice, only mostly flat farm land. So it was a “puzzle” he hadn’t seen before. I wish there were tests closer to home! This one was in Northern Ohio, about 4 hours away.

Voodoo got his very own SuperFly suit for dock diving! Now I’ll be able to pick him out from all the other black Labs in photos from events 🙂

The boys have been having a blast in the pool I set up! https://vimeo.com/222258065

Voodoo leaping into the pool- NO fear or hesitation and some nice air! I have since raised the table on the outside of the pool another 8″, to bring it to 24″ high, that makes his leap easier. https://vimeo.com/222771532

Voodoo (& Dazzle) had a blast today! There was a birthday party for Wiley at the K9 Splash Zone and we attended. My throws were off today, especially for Voodoo. But J.D. McKnight was there and he did some throws for Voodoo! J.D.’s dog, Storie, holds the NADD record at 30′ 7″! We got to watch Storie jump too and it is breath taking! She makes it look so effortless!

Voodoo’s video: https://vimeo.com/219247652

Dazzle’s video:  https://vimeo.com/219248270

Voodoo had an EXCELLENT weekend and not only earned his Master title his first weekend of Dock Diving, but also won the Master division jump-off! And Dazzle got 2nd place in the Master division. Voodoo’s personal best is now 23’10”!! Just 2″ from the Elite division. I think he’s going to be doing some BIG jumps when he matures and muscles up!

A few photos from the weekend. I think you can click on them to see them larger.

Voodoo did AMAZING today at his first official dock diving competition (NADD)! His first jump was 20.4′ then 20.5 in the first splash. Second splash was 21.5 and 22.0!

Then we tried the air retrieve for the very first time and he jumped 10′ then 11′, then 12′, then 13′, then 14′ then 15′ to grab the bumper before he missed it at 16′!

Current records are 30.7′ for the distance and 26′ for air retrieve. So he’s already jumping Master division distances in his first event and at no even 14 months old! If he stays in the Master division tomorrow (Over 20′ and under 23’11”) for all 3 jumps, he will have his Master title!