PNAC Porter in the Canine Chronicle!

It's great having your own personal doggie Biographer / PR Specialist / Social Media Coordinator / Agent, etc.   :)

But seriously, thank you to my talented friend Megan of Megan Arszman Communications (She is also owned by Dally & Mesa) for including us in her article!

 

 

I'm not sure the pdf above is working correctly - I've never tried that before! So here are some screen grabs. Apparently it's time I got some other types of specialists as friends!  :)

 

 



For the whole publication, click here!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Herding Ducks

3 for 4. Not too shabby for a pushy little jackass...

Porter & I entered the CKHGC club's inaugural duck trial over the weekend. It was a 3 day trial, with AKC in the morning and AHBA in the afternoon, so dogs had the opportunity to actually run 4 times each day.

Although Porter rarely practices on ducks, I couldn't pass this up  :) I thought it would be a good training opportunity for both of us to work on our trial stress & issues.

And we did pretty darn good. Not just with being able to qualify, but I never did feel like puking  :)  I didn't cry. I kept my nerves well under control, even when I realized that an HTD duck course sure looks an awful lot like B course! There were no fences & just wide expanses of tall grass around the perimeter... I was well aware of the possibility of Porter pushing those ducks straight out into the wild green yonder & having his own little slaughter...

But we conquered it. Twice! Which earned him his HTDd I title!

We also did one run of AKC A course, looking for that last leg... Didn't happen. But he really did a nice job once we got the ducks out of the corner on the outrun & chose to forego the fetch to the cone. He just drove those duckies right around the course! I got a "nice recovery - good choice to go on" in my comment section. I always get a lot of compliments on knowing when to quit  :)

Here is a video of Porter running HTDd on Friday. I also filmed on Saturday, but ended up with almost 2 hours of the inside of my jacket pocket & then the back of the lens cap...

Sorry about the terrible YouTube music... I had to cover up the wind noise.

I also had the usual great comment son my score sheets. I love that! 

If only I had a nickel for every time they commented on how pushy he was... Or maybe a Q instead of a nickel  :)

And when I first looked at this sheet, I was a little taken aback. I mean, I thought our Z chute was pretty darn good! LOL?

But it's actually "1 OL"  (1 point for off-line)

Almost Wordless Wednesday

 

"...People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."           Maya Angelou

 

 

Thank you to Springfield Photography for the awesome photos!

From Non-Weaving Porter to PNAC PACH Porter!

I don't think these videos have been posted on the blog before...

My reason for posting these now is two-fold. One: Look at how far Porter has come!  :)  There was a time when I was ready to quit due to all his weave pole problems.

And two: a couple students had some questions regarding seminars / taking advice from people.

Basically I was asked how you know what / who's advice you should take. Or when to change your handling / training to something new that is suggested. Who do you trust? How do you know if what they suggest will work? How much should you try or change?

My advice? Go into everything with an open mind. Listen to their ideas. Then think about it. Think about it a lot!  :)

When Porter wasn't weaving, I asked everyone for advice. All kinds of well-meaning strangers offered me ideas. I bought dvd's. I read books. I watched youtube videos. But before I did anything, I thought long & hard about it. If you know me at all, you know I analyze everything. Some would say I over-analyze everything...

I can honestly admit that I think I tried every single option. I was desperate. And I learned a lot about myself & Porter. I learned what I valued & what I was willing to devote time to. Eventually I got the advice I needed. And eventually I put in the work. And I saw results.







So how about attending seminars? Especially handling seminars? My advice: give it a shot. Go outside your comfort zone a little. Humor them :) Just because you did it at a seminar does not mean you have to add it to your repertoire.

It's the same as accepting advice. Some is good, some is bad. Some works, some doesn't. But don't feel that you have to change everything that you've worked so hard for just because someone tells you differently. Give it some thought & cherry-pick the best advice.

Who knows, one tiny little throw-away suggestion may be the key to unlocking the weave pole struggle  :)

PACH Porter! - Video Proof!

Thank you for the awesome cinematography, Jodi! You knew exactly what I would want on video to remember  :)