Chimera and friends (Clicker Expo 2014)

We also took a series with friends, who will be considered "the greats" someday:

Miki

Sherry

Jessica

Anita

Sherry

Chimera meets the greats (Clicker Expo 2014)

You'll notice a theme: the people are super happy to cuddle such an adorable Papillon, while Cai is saying, "Mom, please save me." He gots lots of treats for this. Click on any picture to see it in a bigger size.

Karen Pryor

Kathy Sdao

Ken Ramirez

Michele Pouliot

Hannah Brannigan

Emma Parsons

Emma Parsons

Emily Larlham (KikoPup)

Julie Flannery

Emelie Johnson Vegh and Eva Bertilsson

All during one walk

"What kind of dog is that?"

"A Papillon."

"Is that a Pomeranian and something...?"

"No, it's a breed on its own."

"Is that a boy or a girl?"

"It's a boy."

"Oh, I have a Pomeranian boy too, and I'm looking for a girl."

"But this is a Papillon. It's a different breed."

"They look similar though."

And then someone's off leash little shih-poo with a "service dog" vest ran up to us at the park and she and Cai started playing. I didn't mind since Cai is highly social with little dogs and enjoyed playing, but obviously there's a potential problem here...

Jump heights

As best as I can tell, Chimera is about 11.5" tall. He definitely won't reach 12". Here are his expected jump heights (and other obstacle heights) for the agility venues that hold trials in our area:

AKC: 12" jumps (8" tire jump, 24" broad jump, 8" pause table, 5'6" a-frame)
USDAA: 12" jumps for championship program (20" broad jump, 12" table, 104 degree a-frame?)
CPE: 8" jumps (16" broad jump, 8" table, 5'-5'3" a-frame)
NADAC: 12" jumps (4'8"-5' a-frame) (note: NADAC has no teeter, chute, broad jump, or table)
TDAA: 8" jumps (8" tire jump, 6" table, 3'8"-5' a-frame depending on length of boards)

I've been jumping him at 8" so far, since I thought that would be his more common jump height. Time to raise it up!

Extreme pooping

Chimera has always been a champion leg lifter when peeing. Occasionally his effort to mark as high as possible extends to pooping as well: today he did a handstand against the wall of the agility building and pooped while upside down. I reached for my phone to take photographic evidence, but alas, I'd left it on top of his crate.

Chiropractor

I took Chimera to the chiropractor again for a check up. It's been two months since he had a painful spot on his back fixed up. (He growled at the doctor as it was getting adjusted.) The doctor found that he had some tension again in the same spot, but not nearly as bad. Cai was so good. He barely fidgeted as the doctor put pressure along his head, neck, and spine. And Dr. Aaron is always calm, slow, and gentle with him.

Looking into the hallway from the exam room.

Keeping my agility champion-to-be in tip top shape.

Thank you to Dr. Aaron Rosselle at iCOR in Oakland!

Agility check in

After the long breaks between classes over the fall/winter holidays, it's good to be back into the swing of things. I'm doing a series of private sessions with Sandy Rogers to build up Chimera's confidence on the teeter. His weave poles are much better since I had that open practice session all to myself, and set up 2x2s slightly off-set so he could practice the correct stride. He still sometimes loses his rhythm and skips a pole, but it's becoming less frequent. Our main issue now is collecting as he enters the poles, or he'll shoot past the second/third poles and then start striding properly.

During class today he repeatedly blind crossed me to go into the poles. The dog tells us where he finds value, eh? We will try to work on that.

The course today involved a lot of running in a straight line for me. Blancett used to encourage me to run faster. Now I'm running as fast as I can, and Cai is also running faster, and I got winded so quickly! Back when I was doing agility with Dragon, we would go jogging/walking through Redwood Park twice a week, and it was easier to keep up with him. Guess I need to increase my exercise regimen!