Kerry Blue Terrier Peformance Newsletter

December 2007

By Jane Eno

The last month of 2007 has come and gone. I am looking ahead towards new things and new adventures. One of those adventures, I am hoping, will be starting a new Kerry Blue Terrier in a life of fun and training. The other is training my current Kerry, Jessie, all the new exercises proposed by the AKC Obedience Advisory Committee. If you want to look at them, you can find them here: Obedience Advisory Committee. When I have a little more time to read and study them, I will write about my thoughts and the impact they could have. Right now, I can say I’ve had a strong start on three of the brand new exercises outlined in the Advanced Teamwork Class, (for dogs that have Utility title), and they are very fun to teach.

I’ve been thinking a lot about puppies and puppy training, partially because I would like to add one to my house over the next year, and partially because I am teaching a Beginner Class for my obedience club. For the very young puppy, 8-12 weeks of age, Connie Cleveland recommends teaching walking on a leash, sitting, down, tug games, (which can be done if controlled properly and will lead to a positive stress reliever for competition dog), and play retrieves. Her web article is a great mini-lesson on working in a positive way with a puppy: Dog Trainers Workshop.

For obedience, I will probably start with heads up heeling right away, despite some of the warnings it might be hard on the neck; but I will keep the sessions very short, (only a few steps). When I taught Jessie heeling, we literally did it one step at a time. I spent a week on one step, then a week working on two steps, then three, etc. This was work well spent and will be my approach with my next dog as well. It is easy to keep them happy, if you do this, (always releasing them with a “touch” command upwards to slam their noses into your hand and get a treat after the steps taken).

A book I have been reading and getting ideas from for training for a young dog is, Building Blocks for Performance by Bobbie Anderson. See Clean Run. This book is packed with information on training attention, positive attitude, and strong foundations. If you are planning on having a new puppy, get this book!

Obedience is probably my main interest with my dogs and will be my focal point in training. All other sports mesh nicely with obedience, so it will not hinder our other endeavors. I have enjoyed immensely working out the mental game of obedience with both my Kerry Blue Terrier and my Shih Tzu. It is a very intense team sport. But the intensity of the work means that it is particularly important to keep training sessions short, incorporate lots of play into the training, and maintain, as a handler, a light and happy attitude. A puppy needs to be a puppy.

BRAGS

From Lisa Frankland:
Katie had a terrific month--it was a great way to wrap up the year! In mid-December, she picked up two more UDX legs at the Clovis-Portales and Panhandle KC shows in Texas, making it four legs so far and almost halfway to her UDX title. Not bad for a girl who just finished her UD in May, and has only been to a handful of trials in the months since! I was especially proud of the fact that Katie held her stays every day, as she tends to get very anxious when I go out of sight and often can't resist sitting or standing up for a better look. And she held her stays, even with the dogs on either side of her going down on the long sit one day, and the OTCh Golden next to her getting up and coming over to ask for her phone number the next.

We then returned to Amarillo at the end of the month for a three day weekend of agility trials. Katie had a great time and some screaming runs, (literally--she barks a lot when she's excited), qualifying once in excellent standard and twice in excellent jumpers to earn her Master Jumpers title! She is now Ch. Casey's Rae of Sunshine UD RE MX MXJ, and earned three of those titles--the UD, MX, and MXJ--in 2007. Our new year resolution is to finish the UDX, continue to have fun in agility, and tracking, herding, and strongdog, when we have time.

This is one awesome and incredibly fun dog to work with! I can't thank her breeders, Lois and the late Chuck Croley, and the owner of Katie's sire, Nancy Westbrook, enough for trusting me with that sassy-mouthed little Sunshine/Harry puppy, and for all their support and friendship over the years!

From Janet Beeby:
Just had to send in a little brag for our Annie Oakley. In just two weekend trials Ms. Annie Oakley our little "sure shot" has completed her AKC Novice Jumpers with Weaves title finishing all three legs in first or second place.

For Annie's first trial we entered her in just the jumpers with weaves class, but when we saw she was running so nicely, I entered her in the Novice Standard course, (the standard course is the one with contacts), this past weekend, and she collected two legs towards that title as well - one in first and one in second place. She made all her contacts all weekend and hit her weave pole entrances consistently.

Annie Oakley is becoming a nice little agility dog! She has plenty of enthusiasm and drive. It's definitely a new learning curve for me handling Annie - she runs a lot differently than Gabby (MACH 2 Keriland's Talk About Town). Gabby is a rock - steady and true - tough as nails. Annie is more of a sparkly pixie - more speed, more flash and man is she cute! Annie is light and fast - and small - did I mention, small?!?!? At just sixteen inches at the withers, we are in the sixteen inch height class, which is kind of fun after being in the massive, 20 inch class for so many years with Gabby. Annie looks positively miniature next to Gabby who stands at 19.25 at the withers. Her size by no means is any indication of her demeanor though - she's no push over. In fact, she can be a bit of a dragon!

I think with plenty of practice and tuning up our team - fingers crossed - Annie is going to make a smoking agility dog!

Last Updated: 01/03/2008, 6:04 pm