Summer Pack Dog Hike

 

This past Saturday our Pack Dog hiking group got together for another hike.  We were back at the Sycamore Rim Trail near Parks, AZ.  This is a great hike with lots of great views and some really nice spring fed ponds that have lily pads flowering in them.  We started early in the morning to avoid the heat later in the day.  Our hike was just under 10 miles with a little change in elevation.  The dogs carry at least 20% of their weight in their pack, about 17.5 lbs. for Zephyr.  With this hike completed Zephyr earned his Novice Working Pack Dog title from the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Club of America!  We think he might be the first greyhound to get the title from the club. Thanks to Chris for all these pictures.  My camera isn't working.  I think it has something to do with me leaving it in the pack when Zephyr went for a swim a week or so ago.

 

The hike was extra beautiful because the wildflowers are in full bloom right now.  We've had a lot of rain this summer and combined with the heavy snow last winter it's one of the best wildflower seasons I've seen.

 

Mary had every one's attention with her great treats.

 

Zephyr gets a cool drink along the way.  Zephyr usually carries two 2 liter Camelbacks, all his food, a first aid kit, my camera, my snacks, his flexi-leash, and anything else that might fit in his pack.  On these hikes he is usually carrying more weight in his pack than I have in mine.

Twix builds her core strength by balancing on a log. ;-)

Linus and Friday take a break.  Two peas in a pod. :-)

Dash joined us for the hike and did a great job!

Kenda is a pro!  She actually just finished a 100 mile backpacking trip with Tammy along the continental divide in Colorado.  WOW!

Charlie always has a great time with lots of energy to spare.

Sky and Mary take a break.  Mary has a super cool t'shirt on that says "The mountain is my dog park".  Gotta get me one of those.

I love that our hikes have so many different types of dogs.  This time we had eight dogs on the hike.  Astro did stay home for this one, but his cousin Buster come over for some fun in the mid-morning.  Next year he'll be old enough to start working toward his pack dog title. 

What a happy boy!  Zephyr was really excited in the morning when he saw all his friends and realized we were going for a hike.  I put a folded hand towel under part of his pack.  It hits at the part of his back that doesn't have much padding and it can rub off some of his softer red fur leaving a white stripe of fur across his back.  After seeing Zephyr's pad all the other dogs wanted one. ;-)

As the day went on it got pretty warm.  Everyone enjoyed a dip in the lily pond on the way out.  Zephyr even took a few paddles in the pond. 

Here's Zephyr, the Novice Working Pack Dog!  Of course I am the proud mom.  He was so cute, when we got back to the trail head some of our group was already there and he was so excited to see them he got all spunky for a few minutes.  Once we got in the car the boy was out, hopefully having good dreams of his pack hike with friends.

Lots of Pictures from the NADAC Trial in Parks, AZ

It turns out there are lots of pictures from the trial, Yeah!  Thanks to Chris we have these pictures and videos.  There was also a photographer so we I'll be getting some of those pictures too.  The weekend continued to be great.  On Saturday I took the boys to the trial to watch and hang out.  Chris and Friday were entered for the first time on Saturday.  They did an awesome job and even qualified on their second run on Saturday!!  Here are some pictures of them having fun over the weekend. 

 

The last run on Sunday was Tunnelers and by this time the summer monsoon rains were in full swing.  So, pretty much everyone got to run in heavy rain.  Here's Chris and Friday, you can hear the rain and thunder in the background.  They did an excellent job and missed a Q by only 3.5 seconds.

Mary and Sky had a lot of great runs all weekend and qualified at least a couple of times.  Zephyr has a bit of a crush on Sky, I can see why.  Here they are having a blast.

 

 And here they are running Tunnelers in the rain.  I'm pretty sure they Q'ed on this run too.

And here's Cristine with Charlie and Twix.  We have been taking agility class with Cristine for the past few months, so it's thanks to her that Zephyr and I are doing well.  Look at them go!!

 

  

 This is Alida and Echo.  Zephyr and Echo were Puppy Kindergarten together and some of our first agility classes were from Alida.

Here's Suzie and Cider.  Suzie gave Astro a wonderful stuffed fur covered toy on rope a few weeks ago.  I have to keep it hidden so it doesn't get destroyed.

I ended up entering Zephyr and I in two Regular runs and Tunnelers on Sunday.  Zephyr doesn't have the weaves down yet so we just passed those.  Zephyr did great!  We got off course, but I was always able to regroup him and continue, which was great and I am so proud of him.

 Just a little out ahead of me. :-)  I was able to call him back and put him on the dog walk.

What a happy boy!  

Here's Zephyr's Tunnelers run in the rain.  Zephyr hates the rain, but this past winter he lure coursed in poring rain no problem.  Apparently agility doesn't have quite the pull that coursing does, at least not yet. :-)  It was pretty funny to get to the second tunnel and turn and not see Zephyr.  I looked around real quick and then realized he was still in the tunnel.  What a cutie!

The poor boy.  We gave it a try, but he really wasn't having fun.  I didn't want him to have a bad experience, so after he took the blue tunnel and I saw his sad face poke out I decided to just take him to the finish.  He was heading directly to shelter and I had to grab his waist to keep him from leaving the ring.  

 I enjoyed the run in the rain.  Zephyr was not so impressed.

Thanks again to everyone for a very fun weekend.

!Surprise!

Zephyr and I ran our first agility trial yesterday!  Did we qualify? No.  Did Zephyr make sure that everyone knew what an awesome runner he is by zooming around after the very first obstacle?  Yes.  But, Oh my gosh, it was so fun!!!  There is a NADAC (North American Dog Agility Council) trial in Parks (just west of Flagstaff) this weekend.  We entered Touch N Go for yesterday evening.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures.  I was too nervous to think about asking anyone and I think all my friends were too interested in seeing how it would go. :-)  It was definitely "Touch N Go".  Zephyr went through the first hoop and then took off.  He did a run around the ring with me of course calling him.  When I went by the judge I embarrassingly said, "Sorry, this is our first time".  So, Zephyr comes back up towards the start and I call him and he looks at me and starts to come.  I ran and put him in the second obstacle, a tunnel.  When I realized he was taking the tunnel I thought to myself, "OMG, you better RUN to keep him together and get him through this!"  So, that's what I did and it was great!  He was with me pretty much the whole time after that.  Instead of the Dog Walk he took the tunnel that went right next to and under it.  But that was okay,  I didn't really give good direction, and my goal was to keep him with me.  One time he looked like he might be looking away, I really called him and clapped and in the tunnel he went.  So, we made it through some curvy tunnels and back to the A-Frame.  I didn't get to the end of the A-frame to get his contact and call him over to the tunnel on the right so he went ahead and took the tunnel that was more in front of him.  That was okay, I just ran to the end of that tunnel, called him, and we ran over through the finish together.  I was/am so happy and proud of Zephyr.  Zephyr was also Very happy and proud of himself!  It was great to hear people clap and be greeted by friends on the way out.  I was just smiling and laughing in amazement.  There was a time that I really didn't know if we'd ever even get to this point.  Zephyr is my first dog, so he has the disadvantage of learning from someone who is also learning.  Many thanks to everyone, especially Cristine, for all your help and encouragement!  Obviously we have lots to work on, but this is already a bit of a dream come true.  Today I am taking Zephyr and Astro just to watch and hang out.  Tomorrow I think we'll try Tunnelers.  Stay tuned. ;-)

Agility Class

Tonight Zephyr and Astro started their agility classes. Once the snow melts and the weather gets warmer our club, Sky High Jumpers, starts offering classes. Astro is taking his first class and this is the first agility class Zephyr has had in I think a year. Astro did well for his first class, but he did give Kerry (one of our instructors) a bloody lip when he jumped up. Not good. :-( Astro seems to have reached the age (9months) at which he behaves like an unruly beast. It's like he's so overcome with happiness there's no stopping it. I remember when Zephyr went through this stage and it was at the exact same age. He was enthusiastic though and had lots of fun.

Zephyr did great, even though he did decide to run around with his best friend Friday a few times. They were the only ones in the class tonight. Otherwise I was really impressed! He really hasn't done much agility so we haven't gotten down a lot of things like making contacts, etc. But he was able to sequence 4 obstacles many times with out running off for a case of the zoomies at the end. He also did a great job with the weave poles. Twice he went through all 12 with them being about 6 inches or less apart. That's the closest he's done, and it was great to see him doing the foot work and watching his rear wiggle through.

So, over all it was a success and we can't wait for class next week.

Adam and Aaron

I just had to share this. I think it's the cutest bundle of greyhound puppy love I've seen. These two cuties are from a litter of Dani Edgerton's, Cebar Greyhounds, who Zephyr and Astro are from. MMMMMMMM, Yummy!