Juno goes to a Coursing Ability Test- long reading!
So, a couple weekends ago I took Juno to a Coursing Ability Test in New Jersey, and I learned a LOT, and as is often the case what you go into something hoping to gain is completely different that what you DO gain, and what you DO gain is sometimes much more valuable and needed.
Inspired by Lindsay with Farrah and Sandra with Koji, I took Juno to a lure coursing Fun Run back in the spring- I think there is thread about it already. She completed the course hot and fast and I was thrilled and she ran twice and was just as keen on the lure the second time as the first. Pam took Conker and either Juneau or Sasha (sorry I forget which) to a CAT with Sandra and titled both on their first days of eventing. So I went out there thinking this would be natural and I'd come out of it having had a great time, some fantastic photos and with the first kai ken to title in coursing. Several Forum friends in the area came out to meet up and watch Juno run, and we got to see another Forum shiba- Jake- run and get his ribbon! I stayed over with Irene and Spuddy the shiba in NYC. Spuddy ran as the Test Dog before the trial and she completed the course perfectly! But in the end we did not Q on any of our three runs.
To set the stage, it may be relevant to explain that we live in the Green Mountain National Forest, and that while Juno is well socialized around here, at work, local small towns- she and I dont take trips away very often. Most days, we get up, do morning stuff, get my daughter off to school and go run around in the Forest for an hour or two before I go to work. Juno and Reilly are off leash for this and are both accustomed to the drill that we all go together, the dogs orbit me and the dogs must keep track of me and be aware of where I turn, and check in with me now and then. They are free to sniff and hunt, but I dont even need to call them to me in the forest because they know where I am and if they are unsure where I am going, say at a fork, they will wait there for me to catch up, or notice quickly that I have taken the other fork and run to catch up with the group. We do this every day, and for much longer walks in different mountains or farther afield in 'our own' forest area on weekends. Its What We Do.
So, Friday afternoon, I drive just Juno to Queens in NYC, where we get reacquainted with Spuddy and go in Spuddy's house. Juno has been there before briefly last year when we went to meetup at Beth's, but this time we were staying over. New Jersey was another hour or so from Irene's, which is 4 hours from my house. I learned a lot of interesting things about Juno in this new context- that she has a long fuse, and employs lots of dog communication. Juno was not really at ease and didnt want to play with Spuddy- she told Spuddy this with mean faces, but Spuddy didnt even blink, and just stared at her more. Juno guarded me a lot, and followed me to the bathroom, etc, (which is also her custom at home...sticking close to me, not the guarding part) That night I slept in the living room with Juno uncrated, but she did not sleep. She patrolled, she lay on the floor next to me and whenever I opened my eyes I saw her pointy alert ears.
We got up very early and drove to the field in new Jersey. Juno and Spuddy were excellent together out for walks, could sniff the same blade of grass, and they were good girls loose in the car. Juno caught some sleep in the backseat footwell. People who go to events and trials and shows will know this exactly- at the field there were lots of cars, ex pens, crates, canopies, tents, etc. lots of people, lots of barking, whining, sometimes screaming, dogs of all shapes and sizes. I was sortof concerned that Juno hadnt pooped, so I walked her around a lot, but no dice. She had thrown up in the car on the way to NY the night before and didnt want to eat that morning. (in the middle of the night while on patrol of Irenes kitchen, I followed her and she pointed her nose to the container of Cheerios veyr deliberately, so I did get her to eat a bit of her own food at that time.) We walked to register at the host club tent, and Juno happily visited the ladies there, did her trot for inspection and then while she was busy sniffing the side of a trash bin surprisingly had her ass wiped by an official- this was to make sure she wasn't exuding anything from being in heat. I explained she is spayed but the official said she has to do this anyway.
It was then another 45 min till 9am and our run time, so we walked around hoping for a poop, watching the action, and hanging around with Spuddy and Irene. Juno did not want a drink. Juno was very good about being interested but not crazy to must-greet dogs. I noticed that this was a leash event and that nobody expected dogs to greet. That was all good! Most of the dogs knew this, too, and very few were choking dragging pulling. (there was a golden that was completely out of control, and another dog - or maybe the same?- that one of us overheard the owner yank and tell to "knock it off! Dont make me beat you right here!") Most dogs were waiting in the crates inthe shade, in the car, in a tent. There was a big SUV full of tiny chihuahuas dressed in people clothes- little dress shirts and ties, or skirts. We saw dalmatians, a newfie, 2 sharpeis, malamute, gsds, assorted terriers, mini dachshunds, several vislas, two chows, a couple greyhounds, a borzoi, a curly coated retriever and a chessie. A very assorted group!
I was really afraid of two things, the first was that Juno would run off the field and away from me and I would have to stay in New Jersey looking for my wayward kai, and the second was that I was really afraid of missing my run time - a trait that goes back to nightmares I had as a hockey goalie in which I was missing skates or a glove or my helmet and the game was already starting- so we stuck close to the starting tent and watched the action, which was cool for me. Juno was very cool, interested in the dogs but not hyped. The course was shaped like a jaggedy piece of bow tie pasta, and it was a full 600 yards, significantly longer than the Fun Run course we had previously done well at. We started in the center, and that's where the huntmaster, the paddock master, me, the photographer and the guy who remotley controls the speed of the lure hang out. Juno blasted out after the lure great and ran a long straight stretch- she even grabbed the bag briefly, she ran well the whole half of the bow tie but when the lure brought her back to the center where all the people were, she stopped to visit the photographer and gave up the chase.
I called her over and told her she was a good girl and was the camera lady nice? Obviously we did not Q, which seemed understandable given the newness of everything, the stimulating environment (to a forest dog!) and her lack of sleep, eating or pooping.
Now I knew that without this Q, she would not title this weekend (you need to Q on 3 runs) but we might still get a Q and a ribbon. I reminded myself that if needed, I knew of another two-run CAT I could go to in Massachusetts that could maybe pick up the last Q if we Q'd in the next 2 runs. But really, in my heart, I felt that I didnt really WANT to drive to another CAT, spend another night away, pay another reg fee ( it was $22/run), so I decided if she came away with ANY ribbons it'd be fantastic. I thought about the people I know and admire who do this all the time and get ribbons and titles and things and how much they must drive and pay fees, that this is the Thing They Do with their time and money, and they know other people who do it and have friends who do it. and they practice! That I cant just come down off the mountain and pop in here and title just because I have a great dog. I weighed driving to another trial vs spending the weekend exploring and hiking and I really would rather hike with Juno and Reilly than go to a trial. I asked myself how far I would drive to do this again, and the answer is not very far. (the organizers of this CAT however, were so thrilled that I came from Vermont that they spoke with me about bringing their CAT to Vermont next year, and I said I'd help them do that, and if they DID bring it to southern VT, I WOULD do this again! And Jeff and Raye could come, and Juno could sleep in her own bed and eat and poop and have a normal routine.)
We watched some more dogs and I could see differences- the greyhound took the corners very wide, but never took his eyes off the lure, turning his head while l his body gathered ground and caught up. By contrast a golden retriever had clearly run this course before and cut all corners, looking at the lure maybe 10% of the time. A mixed breed dog did exactly what I had feared and ran off the course for a joyride along the trees and took several minutes to be collected by his owners. Little terriers ran the half course 300 yds to the cheers of their owners. One Toto type guy ran wonderfully, hit the bag and then ran around dodging his handler. There is actually a time limit of (I think) 2 minutes to run the course AND be collected by the handler. I think this dog failed to Q solely because his recall sucked.
While we were hanging around, Beth, Joe, Dawn arrived, and Amanda and her husband Scott with Jake. Jake ran and Q'd handily. He slowed at the end but he knew the game and got his cheese and his ribbon! The Club runs practices and CATs frequently, and Jake had been to practice a few times. I realized that the corner-cutting golden very likely ran this exact same course MANY times at regular practices. Juno was very sweet and calm and let everyone pet her. She was admired and a good ambassador for Kai. I had spell K-A-I for several strnagers, and one lady I met had actually seen Kai before at rare breed shows "The ones I saw were black" she remarked so I explained about various brindles, many dog ladies asked about kai temperaments, one woman guessed Juno was a Finnish Spitz- overall very good visiting! I saw that Juno is not much bigger than a shiba- everyone said that she looks much bigger in pictures and were surprised that she was 30 lbs, and that she'd let me pick her up and hold her on her back and that she gave kisses. Amanda and Scott had to go, but the rest of us went out to lunch and ate sandwiches (she begged for mine, and I gave her chicken for tricks because she hadnt eaten and I recognized that she was holding herself together through a very long duration of a completely abnormal weekend) I left Juno with Dawn who didnt steal her while I went to the bathroom.
Inspired by Lindsay with Farrah and Sandra with Koji, I took Juno to a lure coursing Fun Run back in the spring- I think there is thread about it already. She completed the course hot and fast and I was thrilled and she ran twice and was just as keen on the lure the second time as the first. Pam took Conker and either Juneau or Sasha (sorry I forget which) to a CAT with Sandra and titled both on their first days of eventing. So I went out there thinking this would be natural and I'd come out of it having had a great time, some fantastic photos and with the first kai ken to title in coursing. Several Forum friends in the area came out to meet up and watch Juno run, and we got to see another Forum shiba- Jake- run and get his ribbon! I stayed over with Irene and Spuddy the shiba in NYC. Spuddy ran as the Test Dog before the trial and she completed the course perfectly! But in the end we did not Q on any of our three runs.
To set the stage, it may be relevant to explain that we live in the Green Mountain National Forest, and that while Juno is well socialized around here, at work, local small towns- she and I dont take trips away very often. Most days, we get up, do morning stuff, get my daughter off to school and go run around in the Forest for an hour or two before I go to work. Juno and Reilly are off leash for this and are both accustomed to the drill that we all go together, the dogs orbit me and the dogs must keep track of me and be aware of where I turn, and check in with me now and then. They are free to sniff and hunt, but I dont even need to call them to me in the forest because they know where I am and if they are unsure where I am going, say at a fork, they will wait there for me to catch up, or notice quickly that I have taken the other fork and run to catch up with the group. We do this every day, and for much longer walks in different mountains or farther afield in 'our own' forest area on weekends. Its What We Do.
So, Friday afternoon, I drive just Juno to Queens in NYC, where we get reacquainted with Spuddy and go in Spuddy's house. Juno has been there before briefly last year when we went to meetup at Beth's, but this time we were staying over. New Jersey was another hour or so from Irene's, which is 4 hours from my house. I learned a lot of interesting things about Juno in this new context- that she has a long fuse, and employs lots of dog communication. Juno was not really at ease and didnt want to play with Spuddy- she told Spuddy this with mean faces, but Spuddy didnt even blink, and just stared at her more. Juno guarded me a lot, and followed me to the bathroom, etc, (which is also her custom at home...sticking close to me, not the guarding part) That night I slept in the living room with Juno uncrated, but she did not sleep. She patrolled, she lay on the floor next to me and whenever I opened my eyes I saw her pointy alert ears.
We got up very early and drove to the field in new Jersey. Juno and Spuddy were excellent together out for walks, could sniff the same blade of grass, and they were good girls loose in the car. Juno caught some sleep in the backseat footwell. People who go to events and trials and shows will know this exactly- at the field there were lots of cars, ex pens, crates, canopies, tents, etc. lots of people, lots of barking, whining, sometimes screaming, dogs of all shapes and sizes. I was sortof concerned that Juno hadnt pooped, so I walked her around a lot, but no dice. She had thrown up in the car on the way to NY the night before and didnt want to eat that morning. (in the middle of the night while on patrol of Irenes kitchen, I followed her and she pointed her nose to the container of Cheerios veyr deliberately, so I did get her to eat a bit of her own food at that time.) We walked to register at the host club tent, and Juno happily visited the ladies there, did her trot for inspection and then while she was busy sniffing the side of a trash bin surprisingly had her ass wiped by an official- this was to make sure she wasn't exuding anything from being in heat. I explained she is spayed but the official said she has to do this anyway.
It was then another 45 min till 9am and our run time, so we walked around hoping for a poop, watching the action, and hanging around with Spuddy and Irene. Juno did not want a drink. Juno was very good about being interested but not crazy to must-greet dogs. I noticed that this was a leash event and that nobody expected dogs to greet. That was all good! Most of the dogs knew this, too, and very few were choking dragging pulling. (there was a golden that was completely out of control, and another dog - or maybe the same?- that one of us overheard the owner yank and tell to "knock it off! Dont make me beat you right here!") Most dogs were waiting in the crates inthe shade, in the car, in a tent. There was a big SUV full of tiny chihuahuas dressed in people clothes- little dress shirts and ties, or skirts. We saw dalmatians, a newfie, 2 sharpeis, malamute, gsds, assorted terriers, mini dachshunds, several vislas, two chows, a couple greyhounds, a borzoi, a curly coated retriever and a chessie. A very assorted group!
I was really afraid of two things, the first was that Juno would run off the field and away from me and I would have to stay in New Jersey looking for my wayward kai, and the second was that I was really afraid of missing my run time - a trait that goes back to nightmares I had as a hockey goalie in which I was missing skates or a glove or my helmet and the game was already starting- so we stuck close to the starting tent and watched the action, which was cool for me. Juno was very cool, interested in the dogs but not hyped. The course was shaped like a jaggedy piece of bow tie pasta, and it was a full 600 yards, significantly longer than the Fun Run course we had previously done well at. We started in the center, and that's where the huntmaster, the paddock master, me, the photographer and the guy who remotley controls the speed of the lure hang out. Juno blasted out after the lure great and ran a long straight stretch- she even grabbed the bag briefly, she ran well the whole half of the bow tie but when the lure brought her back to the center where all the people were, she stopped to visit the photographer and gave up the chase.
I called her over and told her she was a good girl and was the camera lady nice? Obviously we did not Q, which seemed understandable given the newness of everything, the stimulating environment (to a forest dog!) and her lack of sleep, eating or pooping. Now I knew that without this Q, she would not title this weekend (you need to Q on 3 runs) but we might still get a Q and a ribbon. I reminded myself that if needed, I knew of another two-run CAT I could go to in Massachusetts that could maybe pick up the last Q if we Q'd in the next 2 runs. But really, in my heart, I felt that I didnt really WANT to drive to another CAT, spend another night away, pay another reg fee ( it was $22/run), so I decided if she came away with ANY ribbons it'd be fantastic. I thought about the people I know and admire who do this all the time and get ribbons and titles and things and how much they must drive and pay fees, that this is the Thing They Do with their time and money, and they know other people who do it and have friends who do it. and they practice! That I cant just come down off the mountain and pop in here and title just because I have a great dog. I weighed driving to another trial vs spending the weekend exploring and hiking and I really would rather hike with Juno and Reilly than go to a trial. I asked myself how far I would drive to do this again, and the answer is not very far. (the organizers of this CAT however, were so thrilled that I came from Vermont that they spoke with me about bringing their CAT to Vermont next year, and I said I'd help them do that, and if they DID bring it to southern VT, I WOULD do this again! And Jeff and Raye could come, and Juno could sleep in her own bed and eat and poop and have a normal routine.)
We watched some more dogs and I could see differences- the greyhound took the corners very wide, but never took his eyes off the lure, turning his head while l his body gathered ground and caught up. By contrast a golden retriever had clearly run this course before and cut all corners, looking at the lure maybe 10% of the time. A mixed breed dog did exactly what I had feared and ran off the course for a joyride along the trees and took several minutes to be collected by his owners. Little terriers ran the half course 300 yds to the cheers of their owners. One Toto type guy ran wonderfully, hit the bag and then ran around dodging his handler. There is actually a time limit of (I think) 2 minutes to run the course AND be collected by the handler. I think this dog failed to Q solely because his recall sucked.
While we were hanging around, Beth, Joe, Dawn arrived, and Amanda and her husband Scott with Jake. Jake ran and Q'd handily. He slowed at the end but he knew the game and got his cheese and his ribbon! The Club runs practices and CATs frequently, and Jake had been to practice a few times. I realized that the corner-cutting golden very likely ran this exact same course MANY times at regular practices. Juno was very sweet and calm and let everyone pet her. She was admired and a good ambassador for Kai. I had spell K-A-I for several strnagers, and one lady I met had actually seen Kai before at rare breed shows "The ones I saw were black" she remarked so I explained about various brindles, many dog ladies asked about kai temperaments, one woman guessed Juno was a Finnish Spitz- overall very good visiting! I saw that Juno is not much bigger than a shiba- everyone said that she looks much bigger in pictures and were surprised that she was 30 lbs, and that she'd let me pick her up and hold her on her back and that she gave kisses. Amanda and Scott had to go, but the rest of us went out to lunch and ate sandwiches (she begged for mine, and I gave her chicken for tricks because she hadnt eaten and I recognized that she was holding herself together through a very long duration of a completely abnormal weekend) I left Juno with Dawn who didnt steal her while I went to the bathroom.
Comments
We all agreed she was looking for me and didnt want to go far from me. 2 runs, no ribbons, but I knew my dog wasn't ever going to run all crazy away from me, was friendly to people in the weird place and could maintain cool NK composure in a very doggy environment. We took her back to Irenes and she had a little to eat and finally pooped (my dog had never seen so much sidewalk in her life but I now know she can poop in Queens). She a had a very cute greeting with a little local 3 legged tripod dog.
Next morning we said good bye and thank you to Irene and Spuddy and drove ourselves back to NJ for the final run. All alone and with some familiarity under our belts, we registered, trotted for inspection, and sat all relaxed to watch the dogs and wait our turn. I considered that I had Juno out and about all weekend, while most of the trialing dogs were waiting in crates away from the action. Was I undermining her run by watching the trials, and doing so calmly and relaxed? Should I be crating her away from the action so she can hopefully fully relax and maybe take a drink? Some of the crated dogs were going nuts, and I wondered why their owners werent with them, helping them out. I realized that a mentor would know what we *should* do - maybe all the socializing we did wasnt good for a performance situation. I felt naiive for a little while, then I remembered that I am what I am, and we are what we are- we are adventure dogs, and I valued how great my dog did with all people, and all dogs, and she didnt bark, and never lost composure, and made friends and gave kisses, and did tricks and took care of me, and let me take care of her. I have a GOOD dog. A very bonded friend.
We coursed at 9 am, the exact same course, but in the direction of our afternoon run the day before. The corner cutting golden ran gracefully but inattentively before us and walked off with a ribbon. A few terriers ran the short half-course. On our turn, The bags bucked a few times and we heard Tally Ho and I let her go- nothing to lose, nobody watching, let's run have fun and get home! She ran off hard, right into the rising sun and lost the bag, she turned to me again for direction, and just like the day before she caught the bag as it returned past her to the middle of the bow tie, she ran hard and tight the rest of the course and finished beautifully! I coudl have cried, I have a GREAT DOG! I knew she didnt Q due to losing the lure on the first loop, but she had fun and I knew so much more about her thanif we had stayed home in our routines and comfort zone that weekend. I picked her up and hugged her and began to walk off the field, but the judge came out and said "Can you have her run the first 300 again?" He was giving us a second chance.
So we set for start again, and the lure whipped away, Juno hot after it- but again she lost sight of it and turned back. I didnt tell her to go get it, I called her back and she came trotting back. "Doesnt like to be too far away from Mummy, eh?" the judge said. I said, "Nope! she's my hiking dog." I thanked him for giving us another chance, and turned to leave when a woman from the Club came out and told the judge "She's losing it in the SUN!" but it was decided and I was ok with it. I thought driving home that it was just like hockey- you have to be good, lucky and experienced. Sometimes you get the calls or the puck bounces favorably and sometimes you dont, and home ice does count for something. Maybe, I thought to myself, if I had asked to do the second half of the bow tie (which she ran well each time) for a do over, instead of the first she'd have got her ribbon, but I shook that off- I dont need ribbons bad enough to fuss with a judge and embarrass myself. I did think that Juno spent WAAAAY more time sincerely attracted to the lure than that several Qing dogs and especially that golden, who did Q, despite cutting corners blatantly. "And he made an ASS of himself!" I told Juno in the car. She sniffed. We laughed. I stopped at rest stop and shared a turkey sandwich with her, and she curled up and slept the rest of the way home, as close to me as she could safely be.
I could never drive to events and trail like some people do over and over. I'm a woodsy person as well and would rather be out in the bush with my dogs than at a trial. The trial I went to was a blast, it really was, and both dogs did better than I thought they would, but I doubt I'll be doing it again.
(I took all three dogs, but it was Juneau who ran. Sasha won't chase anything to save her life, unless Juneau is doing it too, so she stayed in the Jeep.)
I went down to Louisiana for my brother's graduation and Saya during night was more restless she did very low warning alert barks not loud enough people heard her just I. She eventually settled when I told her it's fine. Could been because Tank the hunting lab was barking or maybe coyotes or bobcat was in the area I dunno could been she was just not sure being in such different place.
I'm glad you had fun that's what is important having fun with your dog glad she did well under such distractions! :
I am glad that you guys had fun and that you realize that it is more about spending quality time with your dog than earning ribbons.
That being said, I bet if you guys could do a lure course near home, Juno would absolutely Q!
You are right that a lot of us do this every weekend, but it's taxing. The dogs are accustomed to it, and are encouraged to get worked up so they are screaming to get the bunny. Akuma went to watch the last CAT that Farrah was entered in. He was mildy interested, as in luke-warm, and was more into sniffing and watching and being with mommy. We didn't go back the second day and it was awesome. I am getting burned out on all the trips just for another ribbon, so I have had some great weekends recently just doing hikes and beach vacations with the dogs. They don't care about the ribbons, so don't feel bad. Akuma wouldn't have even left my side when the lure was right in front of him, so it's ok, and Juno got some great experience being out and about in a variety of settings. She was a good girl for not ranging far from you!
On trial and show weekends away from home, my dogs would sometimes have trouble pooping. I have a trick I can share with you to resolve it next time you want to take her out.
The best thing about going to these events is finding out more about your dog - and you did just that. I call that a success.
I like to read and re-read the following webpage to regain perspective on what's important.
http://saluqi.home.netcom.com/belkin.htm
Sad to hear about that one owner threatening to beat their dog. If their dog doesn't cooperate then don't do it! No reason to force a dog to do something it doesn't "want" to to do or isn't interested in.
Ren loves to run, but I'm not so sure about her desire to chase. I've seen her throw and chase a toy squirrel before when everyone was asleep except for her and I. So maybe with some more time to open up she'll go to a lure run.
We certainly had fun meeting you and Juno. I absolutely loved her! now I must convince Scott for a Kai
We may try some lure coursing. I'm taking Leo to a trainer who breed sight hounds, and yep, she's on of the main people who do the lure coursing! She said it would probably be a fun thing for him to try sometime.
I think it's awesome that you and Juno went down for the CAT! It's on my to-do list but I haven't been willing to drive to NJ for one. I'd like to enter Poppy as well as the Shibas, although I think Pop may have similar issues to those your Juno had (Poppy doesn't like to let me out of her line of sight either). If you and Juno decide to attend any more (particularly in VT or MA), let me know and I'll try to enter the same event.
In any case, it was great to hear about your experience in such detail. Thanks for sharing!
Eunice