Summer pictures

Kumma hasn't figured out swimming yet, hope he will but he might need a teacher

Neeo and Kumma

This is Kumma's favourite spot in our garden

Hoppu loves summertime

2x2 update

Summer days fly! Nice 2x2 training session today :)

Sheep!

Yesterday Kumma was introduced to sheep. For my 100% unexperienced eyes he looked like a professional sheepdog with them. Well, perhaps a little too excited momentarily. It is impossible for me to explain more due to my lack of knowledge of herding and related vocabulary. All I can say it that Kumma enjoyed and seemed to have potential.

Also brother Viiru and sister Peak were there. Viiru was a novice as well, Peak had had some sessions earlier. At the end of the evening litter mates had a good run together.

Agility class

Yesterday we had a good agility class with Kumma.

We started by having some fast pace tunnel entries from different angles with a U-shaped tunnel. Kumma found the entry easily even from behind.

Next we tested 2-on-2-off (dogwalk ramp on the table). I run past Kumma. Three repetitions. He offered excellent 2o2o every time. I released to a thrown toy. Once I went back and rewarded with treats the 2o2o position. Kumma also made a full dogwalk twice. The first one was a bit slow, I run ahead too fast. The 2nd one was better, Kumma needs still me being close when he is going over the dogwalk. But he is relaxed and not hesitating. Speed will come with confidence. Nice 2o2o, and release to the thrown toy. Homework: decide how to train upside contacts, and START TRAINING. I cannot postpone this anymore... Kumma has done only a few reps on the full dogwalk, and I have already seen that the upside has to be trained...

Handling theme was a pull through. Simple exercise with two parallel jumps. I haven't made this with Kumma, only some preparation training with one jump. Kumma reacted well to changing hand, even if I didn't use any verbal cue. From right to left push through was excellent, but from left to right we struggled. Partly due to Kumma getting tired. Partly due to me getting tired :) It was great to have an instructor, even if this is a very basic handling exercise. Getting on the spot comments and advice on my own timing and movement is really valuable.

The last exercise was about speed and fun: three jumps in a line and a U-shaped tunnel. Plan was to take off together with the dog, and encourage him to go on. This worked well when we took two jumps and the tunnel, but when taking all three jumps, Kumma started slowing down slightly before the tunnel. Homework: teach a go on cue.

After the class Kumma run and played together with girls Rinna and Sätkä. Idyllic warm summer evening. Suddenly Kumma disappeared into bushes. He responded well to my recall, but it was too late. He was smelling %#*%#. Evening shower, I tried to hold my breath.

Health care

All three visited the vet last week.

Hoppu: Weight 7.5kg. Teeth were cleaned. X-ray was taken prior to operation, and there was a unpleasent surprise. Hoppu's upper jaw bone has a fracture. Also one of the teeth was broken, it was carefully removed. It is likely that he has hit himself against something causing these two injuries. Poor Hoppu, learning to live without seeing. I haven't noticed him showing any signs of pain. Luckily the jaw fracture is such that it should heal by itself. Only advice was to give soft food for 6 weeks. And avoid further accidents... A new X-ray will be taken in 3 months. If everything looks normal, then two additional teeth will be removed. The vet told that this case was a good example how important it is to have X-ray taken before cleaning and removing teeth. The broken jaw could have been seriously damaged if teeth had been removed closeby.

Neeo: Weight 6.9kg. Teeth cleaning. No surprises. One tooth was removed.

Kumma: Weight 20kg. Basic vet check and rabies vaccination.

1 month of 2x2

I started 2x2 weave training with Kumma 1 month ago. Today he took a jump, I made a rear cross, and he weaved 4 poles in a straight line! Next steps will be adding 3rd pair of poles, and hitting harder entries from full speed using a jump before the poles.

I don't want to hurry by progressing too fast. Kumma is a big boy, and needs time to learn to use his still developing body. He is thinking hard during training sessions, and I need to keep the sessions short. If he gets tired, he starts slowing down.

Jumping seminar

I spent a whole day at Vappu's jumping seminar. Familiar dogs and handlers, it was great to see how they had developmed since our Jan seminar. Different breeds, different jumping styles. Again I learnt a lot.

How about Kumma? Plenty of new challenges were introduced for him, and he managed them well. I'm proud of him! He thinks what and how to do. Vappu also commented that he is still unmature, and needs time to develop physically, but for his age and type (big strong bc) he does good work. He focused on his tasks really well even if he was starting to be tired mentally and physically.

New for Kumma:

• Power grid (Nice!)
• Steady 1 stride (1st try was difficult, one knocked pole and no good rhythm. 2nd try was great!)
• Double jump (Over without hesitation!)

(Mistake in video, first jump after "Double jump" title is not a double, but a single jump of 40cm)



Uncle One was also at the seminar, he performed incredibly hard exercises with such speed and precision that it was just amazing.