# The Universe Is Conspiring Against Us!!



## CometDog (Aug 22, 2017)

Boy this section doesn't get much traffic. Well, prepare for a proper "1st World Problems" post lol

My daughter had a bad health scare end of June and thank God she is going to be fine. I am eternally grateful for that. But, I still get to complain about not getting to train my dog as long as I have good perspective, and this is a dog forum, so 

Goal for Valor was to hit IPG1 was for Oct 5th (then 12th- switched venues)

So end of June to pretty much end of July was real spotty for training due to medical stuff. Dogs gained weight, I gained weight again.

Had an awesome Seminar weekend 1st weekend in August though. Learned a lot of valuable fundamental and concepts. Walked away feeling pretty good! Returned home to the reality of summer. There is NO PLACE to track around me in the summer except my front lawn. Between my job and the neighborhood kid's schedules in the summer we are crowded by 6:45 to 7:00 a.m in any parks and fields. We have a lot of town programs for sports camps which is GREAT! But they rightfully own the parks and fields all day starting early in the summer. 

Front lawn was great for the pup ..but Valor is nearly the size of my front lawn. We did what we could though. Hey, back to school in 3 weeks! Empty parks after I drop the kids off at the bus 8am! Don't have to start work until 9am!! 

Then I was sick in bed the week before back to school. Ok..no worries..back to school week is coming. 

Back to school week has arrived. The Tuesday (day after Labor Day) before the Thursday that all the little seedings go back to school- I fall down the last 3 steps of my basement steps and sprain and my right ankle/foot pretty decently. Enough to where today I am still limping. Cant flex fully, and my Achilles seems to have taken a bit of a over stretch. I have absolutely had worse..but I still can't lay a track, walk very far, or do any type of motion drills with Val. Dumbells and send away it will be all this week. Adapt adapt adapt.

OH and guess what I find out 1st day of school - this year they have new kids on the bus route so my kids get picked up by 8:20 not 8am..I wont have time to track in the a.m anyway. HAHAHAHA

Did I mention I also had a goal of getting back in shape as well as training my dog for IGP1 once the kids went back to school? I kept a good attitude. OK, so no running ...but I can still eat right and lift weights....

You plan and God laughs.

Thursday (THE back to school evening)I fell in the bathroom giving my kid a bath. The floor was wet and I was wearing shoes (because of my ankle). I went to pivot around to grab the towel and 6.5 month old Blitzen was dutifully laying on the floor behind me. My shadow. My injured foot was resting right on his leg, I was about to step on his leg big time, and I had time to think "his growth plate!" So I did not put my crushing weight on my pup's paw..instead I launched and did a side break fall (hey why train in martial arts if you can't use it while bathing children?) ..a side break fall involves falling directly on you side while throwing your arm straight out and slapping the ground to absorb impact. My middle and ring fingers slid tip first, hard and fast, into the marble door stop. Jammed very badly. Blue. Can't bend them.

Can't lift weights either. Well, maybe I can lift with left hand and do one legged squats with my left leg. But then I would walk in circles, plus I have an OCD about symmetry.

It's ok. At least for dog training I can still work on dumbbells and the send away. Right???

Wellll, I am happy I am relatively ok and so happy my kids are healthy happy and back to school with a seemingly good attitude this year. And my dogs are healthy and probably happier than all of us (nut jobs that they are).

BUT, there are some November and December trials supposed to happen in my neck of the woods. Me thinks that will work out better than October for us:0 Let's just say December, and be extra happy if we are ready for November.

On the upshot I have a Mia Skogster weekend long seminar the last weekend in October and to be honest for what it is costing I am glad I will now do that seminar BEFORE trialing. We just have to work on tracking, (oh so much tracking) dumbells...and...IDK everything else is passable. His focused heel during secondary is rough. He wants to go at the helper which I am sure is normal. His barking in the blind could be a lot stronger. He is a very strong dog with high defense drive and suspicion ..but he is also a thinker. With pressure up on him with the decoy, he is pushing more than pulling but that has been improving greatly. 

As a funny note...when I came to this section today I looked at the icon with the sleeve for this section...and remember that long ago (way back when I had a very different GSD) I use to thing that was a broken arm..because , protection dogs lol 

Anyway here is a video I made with the GoPro on the decoy on a chest strap, and my S10 phone. Next time I will put it on his head (the decoy's not Valor's). I randomly picked out the music but it came out quite funny lol The very last scene it looks like they are dancing together. 

He didn't nail a great grip on the long bite but he fixed it straight away. He usually does great on the long bite, except I was told we want him jumping into it more? IDK, I'm just glad he learned he isn't allowed to try and submarine under the sleeve and nail a chest bite lol He can be such a B word! 

Anyway, enjoy the Samba routine


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

wow, that was quite the video. When things don't come together as planned I tell myself, "at least no one's life depended on this happening". Keep up the good work (as the Universe allows)


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## dogma13 (Mar 8, 2014)

You're right,it's definitely a conspiracyWhatcha gonna do except roll with it and much much later laugh about it.Great video!


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## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

Over here this time of year means tracking mostly on dirt, with a lot of travel and a fair amount of trespassing. Anything plowed at all around you? Even some construction sites will till and level the soil enough to use. Some industrial parks will maintain lawns enough for you to use, at least to practice checking in with someone and concentrate on articles and corners.


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## CometDog (Aug 22, 2017)

There are some yards next to industrial buildings in the meadows that I can use AFTER the businesses close. Other than that it is all postage stamp properties. There is a high tension path I can use but time has become an issue now too. With joint custody of my kids (7 days on 7 off) I can always go super early or stay out late. BUT my ex and I swapped some weeks this month because he has business trips. So except for 4 days in September I have my kids everyday. Which is GREAT! But it means school drop off, work, then kid care right after work. So I'd have to pay the sitter to stay late for me to go track after work. I can do OB on my dead end street or heck in my basement or yard. It's the tracking..always with the tracking lol 

It's no biggie in the scheme of life. It may be one of those for the better things anyway. My ex and I swapped weeks which means he gets them extra in October. So I have every weekend and 18 kid free weekday morning/evenings in October. A seminar end of October, and 3 weekends kid free in November because it is my ex's turn to have them for Thanksgiving which overrides parenting schedule. I plan to dedicate the 4 day TG break all to dog training and enrichment. That is a LOT of free dog time I can dedicate in October and November. So a December trial may be the best thing for me in any event. 

I'm not stressing it..when I type it all out though it's like whoah what a summer. And it is still Summer. September 23rd. Ima go with that.


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## Chip Blasiole (May 3, 2013)

I have found when you have a dog with good genetics, problems like being more committed in his entries on the long bite and launching more, are training problems. I noticed the decoy side stepped when the dog entered into the bite, which you pretty much have to do. But a good decoy will teach a dog a good entry by doing shorter sends and sucking the dog into the sleeve by pulling it up and back into his chest and even hopping back just when the dog enters so the dog can push through more since the decoy is actually floating in the air for a second. To do this well requires a very skilled decoy which are few are far between. Maybe back up the training some and work on short sends. You can also improve entries by having the dog have to launch over an object such as an agility tunnel or a plastic barrel on its side. But the decoy still has to know how to suck the dog up and in, so he never gets jammed or even feels much resistance, which would make his entries more cautious.


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

They may not think it is the most fun thing ever, but why can't your kids come along while you lay & run a track? Long "down stay" is a good think for kids to know too.
(yes, difficult to train and hard to reinforce but...)


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## GSDchoice (Jul 26, 2016)

middleofnowhere said:


> They may not think it is the most fun thing ever, but why can't your kids come along while you lay & run a track? Long "down stay" is a good think for kids to know too.
> (yes, difficult to train and hard to reinforce but...)


Actually the way to train the long down-stay for kids is very simple..hand them a mobile phone with service...!!
What's more difficult for me is to get my kids to go on a long brisk Walk! 

Well, Life happens...Try to make just a little progress every day in the direction you want to go...
because water wears away stone (Taoist saying) Hope the universe will smooth itself out for you soon!


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

There is no crying in Schutzhund!

Wait - so you have no children on Thanksgiving Day either???? Hmmmm......


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## CometDog (Aug 22, 2017)

HMMMMM indeed! Just Doggos. And perhaps an Englishman.

I wish I could teach my kids the long down lol The phone works somewhat. My 2 boys are not the variety you can easily take places. They are special needs and have this uncanny ability to go opposite directions no matter what. I think they have an unspoken playbook. I usually have to bring or hire another set of hands to go anywhere with them. The thought of my son laying tracks is funny though. Why is your dog running in large spirals?


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

CometDog said:


> HMMMMM indeed! Just Doggos. And perhaps an Englishman.


I have to nag my son to find out what he is doing and then we can plan better.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

Glad your daughter is well and yes it is still summer enjoy!


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## CometDog (Aug 22, 2017)

Jax08 said:


> I have to nag my son to find out what he is doing and then we can plan better.


I will be "by the seat of my pants" mode so let me know whenever  

Thanks all!

The helper he is working with is very well known around these parts and gets the stamp of approval from known competitors. It was not his best long bite, but it was the only one where I had video where my friend wasn't cursing like a truck driver over it (lol) and I wanted both perspectives (the dog's and the decoy's) in the video. Next time the GoPro is going on the decoy's head and aiming down. I made a GoPro harness for the dog, but even Gorilla gluing the brackets didn't keep it steady enough for usable video. My brother is an actual filmaker/director of photography. I may get him to make me something on a gimble. I know they have it. I am a photography/videography geek. 

Next weekend I have a sitter Sunday for training, I am so hoping for nice weather to air these guys out a bit. They are use to getting daily long walks on my lunch hour and the extra hour I sometimes keep the sitter after I knock off work. We have been working on dumbell holding and some stationary stuff in the period. Oh and downing on articles. That is stuff that needs work and now I am forced to do or do nothing. Always look on the bright side of life! (Monty Python) 

On the upshot we are entering Bring Your Dog Everywhere weather! So even on days when I am seeing clients they can hang in my truck and we can hit spots in between appointments. 

Blitzen really needs some out and about work. The BH is a good 10 months away for him and we have some important attitude adjustments to make before then. He is a bully. No two ways about it. So we enter a phase of training that I also had to do with Valor at about 9 months called " I make those decisions, not you" Valor's defensiveness was coming from a different direction. This dog is just a straight up brat. You can see it on his sharp little face. Dancing eyes...evil little dancing eyes...


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

Ah yeah I know that trouble maker look! Great video I loved the music!


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## Steve Strom (Oct 26, 2013)

If you want that shot from the perspective of the helper, I'd think about mounting the camera on top of the blind. The angle I like the best though is on the ground from behind the dog offset just enough to see him come into the blind and exactly where he sets up.


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## CometDog (Aug 22, 2017)

Oh that is a good idea! I have spent so much money on high end video gear over the last decade, and now the phones are kicking butt lol Not that the phones aren't expensive, but they dont cost 3 to 5K. I mean, this is from my Galaxy S10 plus and it was getting dark and I didn't do anything to fix the video..which I could of with my software but wasn't up for the task at the time lol. Well the video is from my S10. The photography at the end is from my D800 and D500 (it is of Blitzen's older sibling at 13 months) :


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