Local Agility Shows on 3 SEPT 2011!

LOCAL AGILITY SHOWS ON 3 SEPTEMBER 2011!





Pictures by Lynn Tan.

This Agility Shows all PUPSters came out and flood the West Coast Park Dog Run with the SEA OF RED! See the pictures above showing our new CRAZYK9 logo which symbolizes LOVE, LOYALTY, TRUST, BOND and SPORTSMANSHIP among our PUPSters and their K9 Partners.

We are very proud instructors of PUPSters and our Positive Warriors all came out and put forward their brilliant performances. Our Positive Warriors are Blossom & Ann, Vidya & YuLin, Hope & Nicole, Sky, Toby & Gillian and Millie, Ashley & Debra.

Even though I started my morning with very bad sore back and I have to be carried away by an ambulance. All PUPSters remain claim, collected and with great fighting spirit and the love for their dogs, put forward a brave fight. I am especially proud because from this agility shows, I can witness great improvement in all students, in movement, flows, direction, intends and controls. You must be very proud that you and your dogs have displayed great performances this time round.

Of course, we must recognized our winners; SKY & GILLAIN won a Qed and a 2nd Place in the Maxi-Novice Agility Class and VIDYA & YULIN won a Qed and a 2nd Place in the Mini-Novice Agility Class. Both Gillian and YuLin had their first CLEAN RUN in SKC and their K9 Partners SKY & VIDYA have live up to their expectations. Great job TEAM!

Not forgetting our great supporters, Lynn Tan, Bernie Oh, Kamal, Edmund took their time to wear RED and came with their great supports. Especially when I was trapped to my chair, I was indeed very well entertained by this group of great people.

Let's continue to work hard and you will reap better results from your very own hardwork and fun training your k9 partners.

As always, have fun & stay positive!

Great DogSport Weekend@ 6 AUG 2011!

A much needed weekend break for me. I was down by a bad flu at the beginning of the week. Took 2 days MC to rest and very please to recover by Friday. Most of my colleagues were heading for a Super long weekend. But I can't as I have a lots of issue to be resolve on this coming Monday.

This morning, Saturday, 6 August, the weather was great. We have a new comer; Herbie and Edmund. Actually there are not NEW, but decided to comeback to Agility Training after a very long 2 years break. Not only Herbie, Edmund is also coming back with Sundae. (Herbie - BC and Sundae - Corgi) Herbie and Edmund had a go a number of jumping sequences, this week we are using the letter Y as a training alphabet drills. Herbie is quick on course but he has mature and no longer behaving as a youngster running aimlessly and tirelessly. We will be focusing back on basic jumping skill and getting Herbie to focus on jumping properly, a good taking off plane and a good landing plane. After a few simple jumping drills, you can see Herbie is back for business and he will only gets better by the day.

We also have Vidya & YuLin and Hope & Nicole in this morning training. Both teams had good tries on the letter Y jumping drill. YuLin is working on being consistent, while Nicole is working on getting Hope to speed up on course. Both teams exhibit good flow and handling skills, working on the strength of their dogs and gaining ground in their superior handling skills.

When I was clearing up my yard for this evening agility class, I do notice there were some dark clouds heading towards PUPS DEN, but thank God, the weather hold up and we were given great windy weather this evening. In the evening class, we were greeted by another NEW comer, Aloysius & Dawson. (Dawson - BC) Aloysius trains with us with blaze but due to some injury, he is letting blaze to rest and decided to start working with his youngster Dawson. Dawson's nose was so keen, he can detect one of my girl are on season and he goes for a hunt for her. After a thorough warming up exercises, Dawson finally decided to follow Aloysius in training. Dawson and Aloysius is coming along well, room to improve on their bonds and Aloysius need to bring along various treats to win the heart of dawson during trying times such as training. This team had a good runs, tunnels, jumps and handing on right and left sides, allow this team to flourishes.

Of course, we have Bernie and Yoyo and Ann with Blossom and Milo. Bernie and Yoyo is back after nursing her dislocated elbow during our 9th USDAA Trials 2 weeks ago. This team is back with a bang, sounding their great intend to all triallers! Bernie and Yoyo did very well, great handling and Yoyo's attention have been fixed in following Bernie. This team can a force to reckon with, if they continue to work like they did this evening. Ann had a few go with upsize Milo but he did well, not forgetting his training and definitely has made Ann very proud of her old boy. Ann and Blo also had a blast at the jumping drill exercises, we had a great discussion of their handling options, and with clarity and great intends, this team will be the team to look out for.

All-in- all a very good Saturday training, very productive training session, a few in-depth discussion on handling options, but all for the good of the team.

As always, happy training and stay positive!

Training Insights & Dilemma

Training by objective is the key of animal training. Do not attempt to train your animal on a complex behavior. If training is too difficult, your animal may end up giving up in training prematurely.

In training complex behavior, you need to break down into smaller bit and pieces. This is what you call back-chaining. Allowing your animal to understand the final behavior will increase your chances of achieving the final behavior. Always remember to work on positive reinforcement, your animal work better in reward-base training techniques.

On a different note, I am in a dilemma when it comes to trialing. My personal believe is to allow my students take on the Course Designs on their own interruption and understanding of their animal. What's best for them as a team? However, in recent time, I understood that some of my students are actually thinking that I should coach them during or after their walk-through. And guess what? We are seeing positive results.

I think it might not be a problem if I allow my students to understanding the course designs and then offer some practical insights on how I approach these course if I'm running their animals.

Anyway, I am always searching for the better approaches and if the new approach is effect, I shall use it to bring out what's best in the team!

Happy Training! Have Fun and Stay Positive!

Cheers

Marvelous Sunday

I enjoyed my marvelous sunday today. After trials, all students wanted a break, and it's also a nice break for me too. Went for brunch in Changi Airport T3 this morning with my sweetie, and we had a good brunch and coffee. Went home to rest for a while before starting my training with Millie and Ashley.

Did some simple jumping exercises, sharpen our bond and execution. For Millie is all about timing, if I can find the rhythm, my execution with Millie will be flawless.

Ashley is getting along smoothly, setting in well in Agility. Did some jumping, tunnel, chute and weave-poles. Maybe his stamina is bad, after a few rounds of workout, he refused to jump on the first jump, but jump all the rest when directed. Poor boy must be tired.

After a good rest, I trained Millie on frisbee too. Rebound, stall, Aubrey, vaults and catches, a good refresher for Millie and me and she is still profusion in the moves.

It's been a long while since I have such a good time to train my own dogs. I will need to squeeze out some time just to do that, so that I can enjoy the training and companion of my dogs.

As always, have fun and stay positive!

Trials Results for 9th USDAA Sanctioned Trials!

Trials Results of our 9th USDAA Sanctioned Trials is now uploaded in our USDAA Singapore Website; http://usdaa.pups.sg.

2012 Cynosport World Games!

Next Year 2012, USDAA will be celebrating 25th Years of running Grand Prix of Dog Agility World Championships in Colorado, USA. And our president have announced USDAA is sponsoring U$1,000 per team to the 2012 Cynosport World Games, if we can bring a team of 3 dogs & handlers to this World Championships. (This offer is open only to Singapore)

SKC Trials on 30th July 2011

No time to rest on your laurels, one more week to go to SKC Trials, let's all work together to prepare for this coming trials in West Coast Park Dog Run.

Have fun & stay positive!

9th USDAA Trials Report - 160711!

We are pleased to announce that our USDAA participants have surpassed our target of 50 supporters, thanks to all USDAA participants and those who love this great sport and the fun of doing agility with our beloveth Canine Partners.

Yesterday was our 9th USDAA Sanctioned Trials 2011. We were honour to have Mr. Kenneth Tatsch, our President of USDAA Inc to grace our event. We also have our sponsor Mr. Vincent John and Andy representing CASA FERA from Hong Kong, China and thanks to their generous sponsor of our prizes.

We were blessed with an excellent weather after a scary Saturday whole day rain storm. Miraculously, the weather were beautiful, the ground was fairly dry and we all had a swell day. This 9th USDAA, we were focusing on the full PERFORMANCE TITLING programmes.

We started with Snooker and Gamblers Class. Participants were presented with various challenges and technical difficulties however without forgoing the speed element of the sport, making the dog agility a continuous movement of speed, control and handling.

After our lunch break, we continue with the Pairs Relay, Beat-the-Clock games, the standard agility and the jumpers class. We have progressed tremendously, as we have participants in Performance 2 Standard Agility and Performance 2 and Performance 3 Jumpers Class.

We have in total 18 Qualifications awarded and many went home with our beautiful Medallions from Hong Kong, China, thanks to CASA FERA.

Both our guests from Hong Kong and our President, enjoyed the event and were impressed with the qualities and skills of our participants.

Once again we cannot but appreciate our volunteers of our event; Ann, Bernie, Gail, Catherine, Lynn, Gillian, Alloysius, a BIG THANK to YOU, without you we will NOT have our USDAA Trials.

Last but not lest, we also wanted to thank all participants for always supporting USDAA and this Great Sport of Dog Agility and I'm confident that we can see more growth in this community and let's all work together to see this sport reach another level in Singapore.

9th USDAA Sanctioned Trials Update!

The latest 9th USDAA Trials Schedule is now available for download at this official site. Please also take note that, 9th USDAA Trials is a single day event and it's on 16 July 2011, Saturday.

We are attempting to do a LIVE STREAMING for our 9th USDAA Sanctioned Trials this Saturday. So let's keep our fingers crossed. And if all things turn up well, we will be the very FIRST to do LIVE STREAMING on a Agility Competitions in Singapore! Keep watch on this space.

We are honour to have Mr. Kenneth Tatsch, President of USDAA Inc to grace our event this Saturday 16 July 2011. And we also have our long-time friend, Mr Vincent John from HongKong, joining us for this event.

Great Agility Weekend - 2-3 JULY!

Great Agility Weekend - 2-3 July 2011!

A superb weekend of Dog Agility. We started with Hope & Nicole while Yulin is on holidays and Melvin back to Indonesia. For your information, Saturday was humid, hope & nicole were having tough time coping with the heat. However Hope & Nicole were performing very well. Especially in being able to manage the pace of their runs, very well executed crosses such as blind crosses, front crosses and tandem crosses. The team has very good eye on the line of the dog where given them very handy informations to manage, plan and control on their skills to improve their runs.

I have done many agility exercises with Millie and had some good runs. Special attention is given to Dogwalk, Weaveploes, Jumping, Broadjump and various crosses. During one of my run, benji was too excited and he decided to join the run, and I almost collided into him and I fell as I change my course to avoid a head on collision.

Millie was great this weekend, she was slick and performed excellently with her superpace weavepoles, running contacts, her trademark superslick pace jumping through the obstacles effortlessly.

In between agility training, Millie was called into action for some frisbee training. I also went for a good walk with Ashley. During our walk, we were confronted with a very daring Singapore Dog. I tried to pick up 2 stones to throw toward him and not at him to stop him to keep stalking us. By my 3rd attempt to pick up a stone, that street-smart dog, decided to turn-around and continue his journey home.

On Sunday, the weather is better, we were able to train before the sky hold no more at late six plus. Sky, Toby and Gillian had a great time. Starting from Sky, he is very quick and impatient, and Gillian need to be on her toe to be able to spar with Sky at his pace. In today training, Gillian and Sky did well in managing each other pace, skill, attention and commitment. On the other hand, Toby has been excellent. Toby did many cool runs with Gillian in short courses and Toby is showing his class. Keep watch for this team, they will be team to reckon in the future of Dog Agility in Singapore.

All in all a very fruitful and eventful weekend. Can't wait to start training with Millie again. We need to keep working as we prepare for the 9th USDAA International Dog Agility Sanctioned Trials in 2 weeks time. So if you have time and looking for a weekend of fun, do join us at Seng Kang Riverside Park on 16,17 July 2011.

USDAA Games and Intro-Games

USDAA Games are Snooker, Gamblers and Pairs Relay in both Championships Titling and Performance Titling Programmes. All these games require the team to strategize their approaches on the course in order to get the highest points to gain a qualification and win the class.

This upcoming 9th USDAA Sanctioned Trials we are also introducing 2 new intro-games for the new and existing teams who want to have a go at a strategy and mind games. There are the Beat-the-Clock and The-Pacman Manaic Games. Both games will have all obstacles on the ring and you have the choice to take all the obstacles successfully and gain the points that are associated to the particular obstacle.

Beat-the-Clock - Here are the rules of the game;

1. You are given 50-60 seconds to collect as much points as you want,

2. However the points collected are not recognize until you have bank in the point at the Pause Table, (Pause Table is the bank where you deposit your points)

3. Only upon successfully attempts on the obstacle, you will be awarded the points,

4. The team with the highest points win the games,

5. Obstacles can be taken in uni-directions,

6. The starting point is also the Pause Table.

We will be discussing the other games on our next topics.

2 Prestigious International Master Tournament Titles!

Kindly be reminded there are TWO Prestigious International Master Titles up for grasp! For those who are trying to find a reason to take part in our tournament classes, here are TWO prestigious International Master Tournament Title available for your achievement, beside the local qualification to represent Singapore to compete in the 2011 CYNOSPORT WORLD GAMES (WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS) in Louisville, Kentucky, USA.

1. CHAMPIONSHIP MASTER TOURNAMENT TITLE &

2. PERFORMANCE MASTER TOURNAMENT TITLE.

Championship Master Tournament Title refers to Championship Tournament events such as Grand Prix of Dog Agility Championships, USD10,000 Dog Agility Steeplechase Championships & Dog Agility Masters Three-dog Team Championships.

While the Performance Master Tournament Title refers to Performance Tournament events such as Performance Grand Prix Championships, Performance Speed Jumping Championships & Performance Versatility Pairs Championships.

In order to achieve each Master Tournament Title, you will need to earn at least 10 Tournament Qualifications with minimum 2 Qualifications from each of the 3 tournament events mentioned above.

Let's all work together and challenge each other to be the FIRST to achieve the Master Tournament Title and make history in Singapore! Dream awaits no one, except for those who dare to dream!

9th USDAA Trials Attraction!!

In our 9th USDAA Trials, we are featuring 2 unique Agility Games to let the crowds or those new to agility a platform to compete in a more friendly competition such as Agility Games. Beat the Clock - is a strategic game where handler would need to strategize between gaining more potential points versus securing actual scores to win the game. While Pacman Manaic is strategic game where handler can uses the super 'power pill' segment where points will be multiply by 10 or 20 folders against running down the clock.... very exciting and interesting games for all and at the same time enjoying the top agility contenders in Singapore fighting to put international recognize Agility Titles on their K9 partners and gaining the qualification entitlement to compete in the Cynosport World Games World Championship Event in Kentucky, USA at the end of this year.

Excellent Day for Agility!

A very interesting weather, the whole day has been very cooling, very breezy and it's been a full day Agility Training for our students and me and our very own puppy.

Early in the morning, we kick started agility classes with Vidya & YuLin and Hope & Nicole. Today's challenges are Board Jumps, Weavepoles, Pin-wheels and usual crosses such as front-cross, rear-cross, blind-cross, tandem-turns etc Very good attempts by Vidya and Hope and both went away this morning very satisfied with their own performances.

In the early afternoon, I have a go with my own dogs, Millie, Ashley ..... had a few similar challenges and went away very satisfying with their performances.

In the late evening, we have Melvin with Ashley, Bernie with Yoyo, Ann with Blossom and Aloysius with Blaze. All attempted the similar challenges and all had an excellent runs! Bernie have found a new motivator for Yoyo, and Yo have responded well to this motivator .... hope bernie will make good use of this new found toy. Melvin also found a new motivator for Ashley, and he is responding, very happy with the motivators ..... sometime overly excited.

Not forgetting our old friend Vivien came with her new foster dog Kira. This is Kira first warm-up session and she stack-up to the challenges; jumps, A-frame, Tunnels, Tyre etc ....she seems a natural....

9th USDAA Sanctioned Trials at 16,17 JUL!

9th USDAA International Dog Agility Sanctioned Trials has been confirmed on 16th & 17th July 2011. Please mark this date on your calendar and let's get together for another electrifying event!

Application Forms are now available and please take note of the closing is 1 July 2011, FRIDAY.

Great Dogsport Weekend!

Last Saturday was an interesting and frustrating day. The morning heavy showers came when we were conducting our agility training. Force to abandon training, but managed to kick some butt before rain stop. Both Vidya and Hope were having a swell time and since they were already wet, owners don't mind them even wet-tier.

The afternoon training slot were better, no rain but weather were hot! Yoyo was on MC, so we have our veteran Milo, Bloosom, Ashley and Blaze. I must tell you that the small dogs were doing great! Blaze and Bloosom were conquering the courses easily. Even our veteran Milo, who won't even bother to attempt the teeter, just within that hour, Milo attempted the teeter twice. He didn't worry much, but was frighten by his owner Anderson's screaming for him to stop in the middle of the obstacle. This was also Melvin and Ashley first lesson, therefore time is needed to build the bond of this team. But I must say, Ashley is already quite good on basic stuff such as tunnels, jumps etc

Sunday were gloomy, the heavy downpour resulted in massive floods in Singapore, such as in Orchard Road. Our hot shopping belt were disrupted by the floods and even on Monday, people are still dealing with the aftermath of the flood. With such heavy rain, Sunday were largely utilized for sleeping...... I slept through the whole afternoon :)

And in the night, both Debra and me went to Sembawang Park for a very nice dinner. Even-though the ambience wasn't great, the meals were value for money. A nice place to take a stroll after a nice dinner.

Hershey Recovery Update!

After 6 weeks from the date where Hershey ruptured his ligament, she is doing extremely well these days. She is still limping but she is learning more on the injured leg. You will need to see it yourself to believe me that you cannot understand estimate a three-legged Border Collie, she is fast man!

PUPS Production - The Making of Champion!

PUPS Production - The Making of Champion! Starring Guinness, Hershey.

USDAA live streaming now at www.cynosport.tv!

Sport Dog Owners Intro to Prescription Medication!

Sport Dog Owners Intro to Prescription Medication

Sports dogs work as hard as their human counterparts. They compete in different events which test a dog’s speed, endurance, strength, and intelligence. Nevertheless just like human athletes, sports dogs are susceptible to injury. The most common forms are muscular trigger points, back and neck problems, and cruciate ligament injury.

Although prevention is always better, by maintaining the dog’s health and fitness, sometimes injuries are just unavoidable. And when they do happen, the injured dog must get the most appropriate treatment. These injuries affect a dog’s mobility and may contribute to the early development of dog arthritis.

To treat muscular trigger points, physical therapy and massage will suffice. Neck and back pain can be treated with anti-inflammatory drugs or painkillers. In some cases, surgery may be needed. However, a cruciate ligament injury will require surgery. There are many procedures available to remedy the injury such as extracapsular suture, tibial plateau leveling osteotomy, or tibial tuberosity advancement. It is important that dog owners discuss all available procedures carefully with their veterinarian as there is no one superior procedure; all have their advantages and their drawbacks.

Prescription Medication

For sport dogs, pain is almost an unavoidable hazard of the job. Prescription medicine is an important aspect in the treatment of injuries and in the rehabilitation process after surgery or injury. There are many anti-inflammatory drugs and painkillers available. What is important is choosing the right drug. Efficacy must be balanced with safety. Therefore, a dog’s overall health should always be the top priority.

The following are prescription medications that are commonly used in veterinary medicine:
• NMDA antagonists or neuropathic pain medicines help reduce pain by “calming down” overactive neural pain pathways. Common NMDA antagonists include Gabapentin, Amantadine, Ketamine and Amitryptaline.
• Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAIDs are drugs which inhibit the pro-inflammatory action of COX-enzymes. Nonetheless, they have side effects such blood thinning, renal failure, and gastro-intestinal damage that can be fatal for some dogs.
• Opioids provide stronger pain relief than other prescription painkillers and have very few side effects. They work by decreasing the brain’s awareness of pain. Examples of opiods are Tramadol, Morphine, Fentanyl, Buprenorphine, and Codeine. Most states and countries consider opioids as restricted substances, which make the sale and purchasing of the drug tricky.
• Cortisone is a more potent anti-inflammatory than NSAIDs. It can help to settle “acute on chronic” pain. However, it should rarely be considered as a first option since it can exacerbate bone degeneration. Also, it should not be used for more than two to three times a year.

To learn more about prescription medication, you can download a free copy of my e-book, The Risks of Prescription Medicines in Dog Arthritis. Just click on the following link: http://www.facebook.com/l/55829fqVuRU8CufxxcDYyVQuZZg/www.dogarthritisplan.com/.

Risks of Prescription Medicines B « Dog Arthritis Plan www.dogarthritisplan.com Prescription medicines on non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Rimadyl, Metacam, Previcox or Deramaxx Article provided by Mr. Christopher Durin, Veterinarian and Author. http://www.facebook.com/christopherdurin