Spot a Cure

My good spotty friend Lisa over at "The adventures of Tess & Jazz" has teamed up with a graphic artist and a printer to design and sell t-shirts to help raise money for breast cancer research and awareness! She's formed a non-profit called "Spot a Cure" in honor of some Dalmatian friends that have recently been diagnosed with breast cancer.

As if that gesture in itself wasn't wonderful enough, the t-shirt designs that they have come up with are awesome!

The t-shirts are being sold for $15 each, and shipping is $5. ALL of the proceeds are going to "Spot a Cure" and I believe it's going to be about $10 a shirt - awesomeness!

Now I can see where if you're not a spotty-dog-fanatic, maybe the design isn't exactly up your alley, BUT I'm sure Lisa would be thrilled to accept any donations to help the cause. OR, I'd be happy to take the spotty shirt off your hands! :)

I know times are tough and there are always organizations in need, but what impresses me so much is when ordinary, everyday people take it upon themselves to help MAKE A DIFFERENCE. (And Lisa, you are far from ordinary, but hopefully you know what I mean.)

Inspired. That's what I am - I ordered my shirt, but I want to do more. And because I've been playing a contest on Facebook to hopefully win some agility DVDs, I thought it would be fun to have a little contest of my own. But in my contest, everybody wins. :)

So, what I would like to offer is for every person who becomes a "fan" of Simply Spotted Photography on Facebook in September, I will donate $1 (up to $100) to Spot a Cure. I currently have 94 fans so let's try for 194! Yes, it is a little self-serving (hey, I like fans!) but I'm hoping that this will be another way to help spread the word. And I promise not to clutter up your FB pages - actually, I'm not the best FB updater anyway. :)

Thank you to all who donate! And thank you to Lisa for being so darn inspiring! I understand that they've gotten a great response to the t-shirts so far and one of the designs is already sold out, but have no fear - more are on the way!

To visit the "Spot a Cure" website, please click here.

To become a fan of Simply Spotted Photography, please click here.

Random Ramblings

I've been a bad blogger! Actually, that's not really the case as I've been really busy over on my photography blog...just not much happening in the way of spotty dog action lately, much to their dismay.

As for training? Well, I'm glad that I decided to take it easy this summer because even if I wanted to, the weather has been less than cooperative. RAIN, RAIN, RAIN - that's the story here in Florida at the moment. Our wonderful new agility field at SOTC is soaked and the surrounding ponds are overflowing. I think Peyton and I have practiced once in the last few weeks. Again, much to his dismay as he really *loves* going to class! We have been doing some backyard table work, but that's about it.

I think we're going to head up to Ocala next Friday for a night NADAC trial. To be honest, I think my NADAC days with Peyton are numbered at the moment. Not because I don't think it's a great venue, but because I don't think we have the skills needed to be successful at this point. That might seem odd to some who might think NADAC is "easy", but I think most of the courses (which are designed for speed) are a bit too much for my speedy spotty. Or rather, they a bit too much for his not as speedy handler! However, I do think it's an awesome venue for young dogs, so we're going to use this as a training opportunity to work on start-line stays and contacts. I was hoping to take Indy to this trial, but realized today that I could only enter her in jumpers since every other class has contacts and since we haven't worked on the dogwalk in a while, I think she needs a bit of a refresher before we attempt it again in a trial.

The following weekend is our SOTC AKC trial - this will be the first SOTC trial that I actually get to run in (and not just be a volunteer), so I'm looking forward to it! Then we'll have the rest of September off and in October, the Florida trial season starts back up. Should be a very busy fall!

As for me, it's been almost 3 weeks since I've been home from my Indy trip and my suitcase is still not completely unpacked. :) Probably because I'm still working on pictures like this one...

That would be Sadie and Parker - two of my good friends from Indy. I think Parker is giving Sadie instructions for posing here. :)

And finally, to make this somewhat random post, completely random - here's my cute spotty story of the day:

I'm very fortunate that the spotties love to sleep. Really - anyone who thinks that Dalmatians are hyper, crazy dogs need to come over and visit my couch potatoes. Most mornings they wake up whenever I wake up, which is a very good thing in my book! However, on the rare occasion that Peyton is up before me, he's learned that a best way to get me out of bed is by grabbing something he shouldn't have and slowly parade in circles around my bed. He comes just close enough to show me what he has, but moves before I can grab it. Well, yesterday morning he grabbed an entry form (which now has teeth marks in it). Do you think he's trying to tell me something? Clever little spotted boy that he is. :)

Table Games

As you probably know by now, Peyton has a wee bit of a table issue. Table issues are not uncommon, and I'm not to the point where I'm really obsessing over it, but (like a good little trainer), I've been thinking of ways to work through it.

I think there are two main issues - 1. Peyton doesn't have the best "down" in general and 2. the added stress/arousal involved in running in a trial makes *thinking* difficult, especially when he has to stop and has 5+ seconds to notice everything happening around him.

Soooo, even though I think we now have a fairly decent (and sometimes impressive) table performance at home, the challenge is how do I recreate a similar kind of excitement/overstimulation that Peyton experiences in trials? While toys and treats definitely get him excited, they are still no match.

The other night when I let Peyton out in the backyard he saw a squirrel and went NUTS - barking, squealing, leaping, spinning, and running around like a crazed spotty dog. And that's when the lightbulb came on - I need to use the squirrels to help train the table! And because even the word "squirrel" gets him excited, he doesn't even need to see one to play the game.

So with the help of premack (thank you Leslie McDevitt), we've been playing "go get the squirrels" followed by "come table" followed by "ok, go get the squirrels!" And even though we've only played this game a few times, I'm already seeing the same wide-eyed look that I see in trials AND I'm seeing a much more enthusiastic table performance! I'm really hoping that games like this one will help him learn to *think* through his excitement at trials.

With regard to our lousy down in general, I've added a "touch" cue where he bobs his head, which will hopefully help to keep his elbows down. I might need to go back and train a more "flat" down, but I thought I'd try this approach first since it's a command that he already knows.

Who knows if this approach will really work, but I think it's worth a try. :)

In other news, I went to throw away a wrapper in the trash can in my backyard today and found this:

This little guy has been hanging out in our courtyard at night. I thought he was dead at first, but he was just playing possum. :)

Weave Pole Survey

I'm guessing many of my agility friends have already seen this, but if you haven't, please take a moment and participate in this quick 3 question survey regarding weave pole spacing in USDAA.

A little background...while most US agility venues (AKC, NADAC, CPE) have made the move to allow 24" spacing, USDAA won't budge from their current requirement of 20"-21". Why? I don't know, but I've heard that the organization is *very* slow when it comes to change, even when those changes could potentially benefit their canine participants.

Participants such as Peyton, whose legs go in all directions while weaving...

Even though I don't trial trial that often in USDAA, I would love to see all venues make the switch to 24" weave poles. I'd also love to see everyone using rubberized contacts and displaceable tires, but that's another subject. Oh, and Peyton would like to vote for removal of the table - he thinks it's very unsafe. :)

To learn more about the benefits of 24" spacing, take a look at this article on Clean Run's magazine forum. Oh, and for a humorous take on the great debate, you might want to check out Team Small Dog's explanation.

DACOF Pictures!

Our DACOF pictures arrived! All images courtesy of Pix 'n Pages.

Peyton NAJ!

This was a jumpers' weekend for sure! Peyton got his NAJ title on Friday with a smokin' JWW run and 1st place. Then on Saturday he got his first Open JWW leg on a tricky course with another 1st place. Hooray!

We had a great time this weekend and I'm really pleased with my spotty boy. It was a fun trial and we were done early on both days, which is always nice! Friday was a little interesting though - while we were waiting for the Novice JWW course to be built, the power went out...then the sprinklers came on! I'm not sure what exactly happened, but the trial was on hold for quite some time until they figured out how to get them turned off, and by that time, the rings were a muddy mess!

Here's a little recap...

We started with Novice JWW and despite me getting left behind at the start, Peyton had a great run and got the last Q needed for our NAJ - a 16.34 second run and first place! We got a little lucky as he ticked the second bar, but I was really impressed with how well he did with me so far behind. There was absolutely no hesitation on his part and he seemed to know exactly where he needed to go - what a good boy!

Next up was Excellent Standard - I opted to do a running start and the opening was lovely...until we got to the table. And then Peyton started stressing. I really think it's the stopping part that's the problem - when he gets on the table he has time to look around at everything happening around him - including the judge getting closer and closer. As for me - oh my! Could I possibly look any more ridiculous? Yup, I was begging...pleeeeease down. Lie down...down...down! And he kept looking at me like I *am* down, what the heck is the matter with *you*. :) He finally had enough and bailed. We had a few more bobbles after that and our 2o/2o at the contacts were MIA, but otherwise he did have some really nice moments so I don't think it was too bad for our first time in Excellent.

Saturday night was a little crazy since Excellent Standard and Open JWW were running at the same time, but it was kind of nice since we started a little after 6 pm and were done around 6:30 pm! First up was JWW and I wasn't exactly sure how to best handle the opening without a start line stay so I opted for back to back rear crosses. NOT the most efficient plan, but we worked it out and Peyton Q'd with another first place!

Next was Excellent Standard and while we were waiting it starting storming - hard. Fortunately, Peyton isn't terribly thunderstorm sensitive, but I could tell he was getting anxious. By the time we made it in the ring it was raining so hard I couldn't hear anything. Oh, and I managed to once again step on Peyton as we're walking to the line! Despite all of the distractions, we had another nice opening and this time he actually ran directly to the table, but hopped off. In hindsight, I think I was giving way too many forward cues, but I'm not sure it would have made a difference. He was still anxious on the table, but better than the day before. We had a few more bobbles (handler errors), but I was really happy with this run. Even though we had a bit of a running dogwalk, he did hold his teeter and a-frame contacts this time!

Again, I'm super happy with how well Peyton did this weekend! We're out of novice, have a leg in open, and even though we didn't Q in standard, there were lots of good moments and no big surprises. I'm going to start working on a new table plan, and I think the contacts will come with more ring experience.

And best of all? I'm having so much fun with him! No nerves, no real worries...we're just going out and giving it our best shot. :)

We're Off Again!

Peyton and I are headed to West Palm Beach tomorrow for a two day night trial. I'm trying to be excited, but I'm still so exhausted from my Indy trip! I am looking forward to our first time running in excellent - I'm not expecting any Q's at this point, just some fun runs with my spotty boy!

I would like to get the one Q we need to get out of novice jumpers...I'm really not in a big hurry to move up, but at the same time I'm just not a fan of novice courses - especially jumpers. I'm sure that attitude isn't helping much!

Here's a few pictures of my non-traveling spotties. Apparently Indy isn't too happy about being left home...I guess I'm going to have to find a NADAC trial to take her to. As for Pongo - well, as long as there is food and a couch available, he's a happy spotty! :)

Home!

I'm back! Had a great time in Indiana, but it sure feels good to be home. My Indy trips are always exhausting...there are just too many friends to see and things to do in such a short amount of time!

I took a couple thousand pictures (really!), and hopefully a few will be making appearances soon, but in the meantime I thought I'd share one of the things I miss most about Indiana...

Cornfields! Perhaps it's a little odd, but I do miss those miles and miles of cornfields. Yup, I think I'm still a country girl! :)

I'm also pleased to report that I survived my trip to the Indiana State Fair with just *one* elephant ear! I also had a few of my other favorites - a grilled cheese sandwich and strawberry milkshake from the dairy barn. Yuuuuumy! And no, I did not partake in this year's fair special - chocolate covered bacon. Seriously, who thinks of these things?

Anywho, it's great to be back home with my spotty dogs! :)

Indiana Bound

I'm off to Indy today! Looking forward to seeing some friends that I haven't seen in ages - hopefully it will be a nice little trip and the rain will stay away!

I'll leave you with a few pics of the little spotted monster, including one where's he's proving table work is *serious* business. :)

Indy Who?

I've gotten a lot of questions lately about Indy. Apparently since I haven't taken her to any trials recently, there might be some concern that she has been driven out into the country and dumped (presumably with other agility rejects?). I'm KIDDING. Indy is fine! She is enjoying a lazy summer filled with sunbathing and afternoon naps. We haven't gone to any trials, because there really hasn't been any to go to. I'm thinking we might make one in early September, but in the meantime she seems to be content with taking the summer off, with a little bit of backyard agility time here and there.

I'm sure that it seems like now that Peyton is actually doing well that there's just no time for Indy, but that's not the case. The truth is that Indy is just a different dog - she seems to benefit from time off (which I think most dogs probably do) and tends to be just a wee bit particular when it comes to training time. One or two runs are fine, but after that she's pretty much done. I know she loves going to trials, but doesn't usually have the same enthusiasm for class. And that's fine with me...my goal is just to keep the princess happy. :)

On the other hand, Peyton has spent the past few weeks moping and I'm sure is wondering what he's done to deserve this "break". We've done a little bit of table work in the backyard, but that's about it. He loves going to class and I'm sure he'll be thrilled to go back tomorrow night - weather permitting!

Because I've been neglecting all of the spotties when it comes to taking pictures of them, here is a random picture of Kermit, one of our resident tree frogs. :)