Raising a Genius Puppy

Finally had a chance to edit and upload the many videos I have taken during and since the CWAGS National. Sorry for the “dump” here, but I want to get caught up. I’m just going to put the links rather than the thumbnails in the interest of saving space on this post.

CWAGS National- Voodoo’s Obedience Level 1 title run: https://vimeo.com/217776947

CWAGS National Starter Rally run: https://vimeo.com/217777540

Videos of Voodoo’s Barn Hunt runs Qs # 3-9 toward his RATCHX:

Q #3: https://vimeo.com/217766660
Q #4: https://vimeo.com/217767640
Q #5: https://vimeo.com/217768513
Q #6: https://vimeo.com/217769299
Q #7: (no video)
Q #8: https://vimeo.com/217770340
Q #9: https://vimeo.com/217771717

CWAGS Nosework Q #3 of 4 toward Level 4 title: https://vimeo.com/218308972

Dock Diving practice session: https://vimeo.com/217765523

How I watch TV: https://vimeo.com/218309652

I thought Voodoo only needed 2 Qs to get his RATCHX (which he got this weekend) but when I went to update the blog, I just saw he needed 3! Crap! I was premature in thinking he got his RATCHX, even got the photo and personalized RATCHX tube. He still needs 1 more leg for it. 😦

I’m usually good at keeping track of stuff like that. Not sure why I had it in my head that he only needed 2 Qs. Sorry Dogwood! I can send the tube back to you.

I have fallen behind on the weekly photos and I’m trying to play catch up as I have time.

The first photo is for the challenge of using tones to create a mood.

I used lots of post processing on this one. I plan to revisit this challenge, but in the interests of time (& not getting too far behind) I’m going with this shot for now.

I found this set up at the Robert’s Center where I was Judging the past couple days and had a vision for how I wanted this to look. But I only had my phone with me and the lighting wasn’t good. I don’t feel I matched my vision of it. But it is what it is and I’ve reached the point where I have to stop messing with it and move on.

The boys had a very successful weekend!

Voodoo:

• 5 qualifying runs out of 6 tries
• 2 High in Class awards
• 3 first place ribbons
• 2 second place ribbons

Dazzle:

• 3 for 3 (qualified in all his runs)
• 1 first place ribbon (beating his brother)
• 1 high in class
• 1 second place
• 1 fourth place

Voodoo had an amazing weekend! Over the 3 day event, he was entered in 11 trials and qualified in all but 2 of them (and 1 of those NQ was completely my fault- he would have had another really high score)!

• He earned 3 titles (one in Obedience and 2 in Scent)
• Got a “fastest dog” ribbon for nose work!
• He earned one 1st place ribbon, two 2nd place ribbons and one 3rd place
• Earned a perfect score (100) in obedience (and a 99.5 in another).
• He tried level 4 scent for the first time and qualified in both runs!

I know I have said it several times before, but this pup just blows me away! He was just as eager and precise in his last run as he was in the first. Only issue was that his alert indication for nosework went from a strong nose touch (what we trained) to the barking alert (what he WANTS his indication behavior to be) as we did the 6 scent detection runs. And the one NQ that was all him was when he lied about the location of odor in his first level 3 run, so then I kept second guessing him and he got frustrated. But I am so thrilled with how wonderful he did!

Day 1:

Voodoo had an amazing first day of the CWAGS national! First obed. run he earned a 99.5 out of 100 and got 2nd place. His title run he earned a perfect score, but lost first place on the run off. His run was perfect! So much enthusiasm! THANK-YOU Linda for the “doggie crack” it really did the trick! In addition to the Q ribbon, he got a title ribbon, 2nd place ribbon, and a perfect score ribbon. And we still have two more days to go. 🙂 Dazzle also had 2 great runs, but I screwed up the 2nd one. He has another shot at it tomorrow.

Day 2:

While Dazzle had to stay home because of the severe storms, it was another very good day for Voodoo. We started with “starters” rally and Voodoo did an EXCELLENT job. He was attentive and happy and precise. Sadly I had a brain fart and did a sign wrong and NQ’d us. 😦

Since he got his level 1 obed. title yesterday, I moved him up to level 2 today. I didn’t have a chance to practice the recall over the jump last night, so I pulled a jump into the practice ring and worked on it a few times just before we went in the ring. Again, he gave me a GREAT run, especially since I was tossing things at him, like the recall over the jump that he just learned and the stand for handler exam that we haven’t practiced much. We were connected and moving as a team and he was happy the whole run, very responsive and earned a first place ribbon!

Then later in the day we did nosework level 2 and 3. He finished his level 2 title and is one Q closer to his level 3 title. Just needs one more for the level 3 title.

Tomorrow we only have nosework. Two level 3 runs and hopefully (if he gets his level 3 title) we’ll be able to do 2 level 4 runs.

For being such a young dog at such a big event, given that today was his 3rd day there (1st day was a seminar) he is doing so amazingly well. I’ll take a photo of him with all his ribbons tomorrow. 🙂

Voodoo (as a puppy) made it into this fun video done by my friend Laura VanArendonk Baugh  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeQQAS0nGHU

Mud puppy! https://vimeo.com/212183774

Thinking back on all the crazy, weird stuff Voodoo has experienced so far without even a second glance including dinosaurs, ninja turtles, and literally lions, tigers, and bears! But what gets him spooked? Watch this short clip to find out. https://vimeo.com/212186027

April 16th:

While in the hotel last night, Voodoo learned about mirrors. He’s never really reacted to mirrors so far, but last night, he was sleeping on the bed facing the mirror and when he woke up and lifted his head, the dog in the mirror did too and he barked at it and ran up to the mirror. Then he saw me in the mirror. I think what confused him was the angles. He knew I wasn’t right in front of the mirror, like he was, and he was having trouble trying to figure out how I could be in two places at once. He did this for a LONG time (during at least 2 TV shows). Several looks in the mirror, then looking at me, then jumping on the bed to play. So then I started messing with him and when he was looking at my in the mirror I was waving at him, making eye contact in the mirror, playing with his toy, motioning for him to ‘come to the mom in the mirror’ but when he looked back at me, I’d act like I hadn’t been doing anything or even looking at him. I had him completely confused and he tried really hard to figure it out! But he never jumped on the mirror. It was like he KNEW I was the one in the mirror, but he knew I was on the bed too! https://vimeo.com/213448663

Voodoo is such a weirdo! He gets this excited when I take the poop scoop to the back fence to toss it. And if I’m using it to clean the yard, he does this the whole time, like it’s some sort of toy! Not sure why it is so exciting LOL Thankfully he’s never tried to play with the scoop. https://vimeo.com/214433761

I was enjoying the beautiful weather last Friday while sitting on the swing while the dogs entertained themselves. Dazzle was on guard duty and patrolling the perimeter. Voodoo was having fun with a floppy Kong disk. https://vimeo.com/214433398

One more video from Friday- Voodoo discovered the joy of the hose and became a possessed puppy! I included some slow motion at the end. https://vimeo.com/214435477 Dazzle knows he can play as long as he has a toy in his mouth. But he wants to bite the nozzle if his mouth is empty and he’s gotten my hand one too many times.

Okay, sorry for the blast, but we’re up to date again 🙂

April 1st:

Another 50/50 day. First run he had 5 rats and got 1st place and high in class. Second run he sort of hit on a tube in the corner then left it. He found the three rats that were on the course and then voluntarily did the tunnel to try to tell me he was done. He hadn’t checked everywhere and I was wondering about the one he sort of hit on so I didn’t believe him. I talked him into the litter tube in the corner. Sorry buddy!

April 2nd:

Voodoo did great in crazy 8, got 70 points! But in his Master run, he hit hard on bedding like several of the dogs were doing. Oh well, 1 for 3 in master this weekend. Still pretty good! 🙂 When he really figures out all the intracacies of the game, he will be unstoppable!
I’ll post video and photos once I get home. Tried to get video of crazy 8, but ran out of space on my phone. I meant to transfer files before I left home, but forgot. Ooops!

Video: First Q toward RATCHX title: https://vimeo.com/212182852

April 16th

Voodoo went 1 for 4 this weekend. Both runs on Saturday he hit on litter after he was done finding rats. So I didn’t hold out much hope for today, but he did much better! He got his Q on run #1 with only 2 rats and never looked at a litter tube. On run #2, he had 5 and he found 4. The last rat tube he had checked but dismissed it. I felt it was best for him to trust him and party like he hadn’t missed one rather than showing him the one he missed. Here is his Q run: https://vimeo.com/213449913

At 1 year old, Voodoo is 57 lbs. and 23.5″ tall

Week 14 “wide angle”  I don’t have a wide angle lens though. So this is a faux wide angle 🙂 Added a lens distortion effect in post processing. The lighting was weird due to the storm coming in but I really like how this came out.

Week 15 – Angles
I’m so thankful for this challenge because I am totally LOVING how these shots came out! No one would ever guess this was taken on a plastic rock in a playground! 🙂 It was getting dark, sunset colors in the sky, so I had to use my flash and it helped give him enough highlights that he isn’t a complete silhouette and it helped preserve the color in the sky. In this first shot, he was watching some kids play ball and standing like a statue.

Got this when I called his name:

I like the feeling of action in this one (even though he wasn’t moving)

This is the plastic rock he was on

Week 16 – Defy Gravity
This photo matches the vision I had for this week, but I’m not in love with it. Not crazy about the flat feeling, the shadow, the positioning, but it is what I’m going with this week. 🙂 It is a layering of 8 photos. Only had to spend $1 on the balloon 🙂 Voodoo was SUCH a patient subject!

The challenge in the photo group this week was a “Low Key” shot (also known as “film noir).

I am LOVING the way these came out! I was having so much fun with this that Voodoo eventually fell asleep and I got even more shots 🙂

I had to use a flashlight as my light source in the fully dark room and I needed a slow shutter to compensate for the other settings so that definitely added a challenge since any slight movement caused blur. Thankfully he can play statue pretty well :-) Definitely easier once he fell asleep though! I was then able to use a 2 sec shutter and “light paint” him, which produced my second favorite photo (laying on his side).