We are learning new tricks!

Hi! It's Cinnamon here.

Today I would like to show you my new tricks I have just learned and I am learning at the moment.

Well, Mum was thinking about teaching this trick to Mint so that she could use it in his new routine. But, before starting to work with Mint, Mum tried it with me. First she said "Mark", so I went to the hula hoop on the floor and sat in the hoop. Then, she said "Dig", so I dug under the hoop with my nose. It was so simple!! I did it successfully at my first try!

The next trick was actually not what Mum wanted to teach me. She wanted me to do the pivot with my front feet on Mum's feet. But, as soon as I put my feet on Mum's feet, I felt like jumping. So, I jumped!!

As many of you may know, I have done the handstanding leaning against Mum's leg in some of my dance routines. Because Mum didn't want to cause injuries in my back, she didn't try teaching me to do the handstanding with no support. But, because my physical condition has been so good recently, she started practising the walking handstand recently. This is still a work-in-progress and it may take long for me to master it, as Mum doesn't want to overdo it and cause any injuries. But, this is how I am doing it right now.

Finally, the following video is Mint's, not mine. He has been practising to catch a Frisbee in the air. Partly because of Mum's bad throwing, he has been struggling with it a bit. But, he has finally learned to jump to catch it in the air!!

We both love tricks!!

We met and worked for Sara Carson from The Super Collies!!

Hi! It's Cinnamon!!

This week we had a chance to meet the super talented dog trainer Sara Carson from The Super Collies and work for her as demo dogs at her dog tricks workshops!!

She was such a nice person that we all fell in love with her instantly!

It was so much fun to work with her!! And Mum, who is also a certified trick dog instructor (CTDI), helped Sara as her assistant.

Sara was kind enough to show Mum and Mint how to play Frisbee!

She even took these beautiful photos of us after three two-hour workshops on a hot day!!

We hope Sara will come to New Zealand again soon!!!!!!!! Next time hopefully with her own super talented dogs!?

*) All photos on this post except for the first one were taken by Sara.

We enjoyed our first Agility show this year!

Hi! It's Cinnamon again.

We went to our first Agility show this year on Saturday.

Although we had entered for both Saturday and Sunday, our humans decided to go to the show on Saturday only because rain was forecast for Sunday. We wouldn't have minded some rain, but our humans don't like rain!

On the day we left home at 9am in order to compete in the 2nd round of classes on the day. When we arrived at the venue in Tokoroa, two and a half hours from our house, the first round of classes were still going on. So, we had a walk around in the large field before preparing for our runs.

In the competitions I really enjoyed running and jumping, as you can see!

Although I got only one CR in Novice from my three runs in Intermediate 2, Novice 2, and ADX, I had a wonderful time doing what I love!

But, what made my humans and me even happier was that Mint was enjoying himself as well! At the same show a year ago he didn't seem to be enjoying Agility as much as I was, as I wrote in my post about the show here.

Mint was focused in all his three runs on the day and he even got his first CR in ADX as well as a CR in Novice!!

Now I can't wait for our next Agility show! And I hope to do better in the show!

I love Agility! I love running and jumping!

Hi! It's Cinnamon!

Yesterday we went to Agility training for the first time in a long while.

As you may have read in Mint's last post about Obedience and Rally-O competitions last weekend, I didn't enjoy Rally-O. The quiet competition ring made me very nervous and it was also hard not to bark in the ring.

So, yesterday Mum looked worried when she took my leash off before starting our run. It seems she thought that I might not want to work with her, just like I didn't at the Rally-O competition last weekend.

But, Agility is a different thing for me!! I love Agility. So, I enjoyed running and jumping, following her cues!

I just wish she hadn't made a mistake by saying "Walk on" instead of "Bang" at the See-Saw!! "Walk on" is a cue that Mum uses to make me go up a Dog Walk or an A Frame, while "Bang" is a cue for a See-Saw. Because she said "Walk on", I ran onto the See-Saw without slowing down, and, when I reached the end of the plank, it suddenly disappeared from underneath me, giving me a fright!!

When she made me go onto the See-Saw again, I felt somewhat scared, although I managed it fine in the end.

I love Agility!

However, it was so much fun overall!! I hope Mum doesn't make mistakes at our first Agility competition this year next weekend!!!

Our first Obedience and Rally-O competitions this year

Hello. I am Mint!

As Cinnamon reported in her last post about our first ever camping, I finally won Elementary Freestyle in a live competition five years after my debut in the sport!

In this post I am going to report about our first Obedience and Rally-O competitions this year, which were held the day after the Paws'n'Music competition.

On the day I entered Obedience Novice and Rally-O Excellent A 1 and 2, while Cinnamon entered Rally-O Advanced B 1 and 2.

The first up was one of my Rally Excellent rounds. Well, I enjoyed the course, but I didn't respond to Mum's cues quickly enough at two stations, so I lost two points, meaning it was a fail, as you need to achieve a perfect score 100/100 in order to qualify in the Excellent class.

Next I did Obedience. In fact I didn't get as nervous as I often do in Obedience competitions. When I am nervous, I tend to lag at the start. But, this time I was kind of eager to start. However, I must admit that I forgot to move precisely. For example, at left turns I was supposed to flip my back side with my right shoulder touching Mum's left leg, but I was making loose left turns. In the recall and dumbbell retrieve I had a little crocked sit.

After some wait, I did the group stays in the Novice ring. As you may know, I used to break my stays all the time in Obedience competitions, and because of that I was unable to graduate from the Special Beginners class for five or six years. However, since I became a Novice dog, I have never broken my stays, even though handlers have to stand away from their dogs with their back toward the dog. This time again, at my third competition in the Novice class, I had no trouble doing my stays! Even when a dog next to me lied down in the sit stay, I kept sitting!

After that, Cinnamon had her first Rally Advanced round. Because I was waiting in the car, I didn't witness it, but, according to Mum, Cinnamon didn't enjoy working in the ring. At the start she ran away from the ring, although she did stay with Mum after coming back into the ring. Mum says that it was very hard to keep motivating Cinnamon.

Having a rest in the car between our rounds.

Then, I had my second Rally Excellent round and I did better than I did in the first one. When I was doing the stay in the Rally ring, I heard someone calling Mum's name. It was someone sent by the Obedience judge. She said they needed us for the prizegiving.

As soon as I finished the Rally stay, Mum and I went to the clubhouse for the prizegiving. Can you believe it? I got a 3rd place in Obedience Novice!

I am proud of myself!!

Shortly after that, Cinnamon had her second Rally Advanced round. However, according to Mum, Cinnamon didn't even stay with Mum in the ring, so Mum called it off after several stations.

Now that we had been in all competitions that we had entered, I thought that we were leaving for home soon. But, after packing up all our stuff, Mum once again walked us, as she hadn't given up her hope that I had qualified in my second Rally-O Excellent A round. In fact she was right! I didn't only get a qualifying score (100/100) but also a 2nd place!

I had a photoshoot with my three ribbons
after I had a shampoo at home.

Yay! I got three ribbons in three different sports! I am so happy because Mum looks really happy!