and it’s been interesting.

first of all, this is me in the back yard.  i’m hunting cats.  i don’t really enjoy practicing agility at home.  there are too many things to protect everyone from!

last week baily, the dog that stares at me, wasn’t there.  i did much better without her.  i don’t like the dog much, and mom doesn’t really like her mom.  apparently the lady said something about me…

anyway….last night. oh wow.  coyotes.  you could see them from the course.  they were standing outside the drive way calling.  i was so scared i kept squeaking.  and mom was so scared i was going to go after them.  so the first part of the class….was a mess.  the teacher says i was screwing up because mom was a nervous wreck….which she was.  one of them came up to the fence half way through class.  and i could smell them in the air.  it was very hard to focus. but i did ok.  it helped having two of our friends there, cheering us on!

then!  thennnn! the teach made us do the channel weaves for the first time since she had us make our own and taught us to use them.  “whoooo’s been practicing?”  mom kind of raised her hand. but not confidently.  her poles were only set 4 inches apart.  we haven’t practiced that close.

i went first.

i rocked it.

mom almost fell over.

it was cool.  now she thinks i’ve been practicing in the backyard when she’s not looking.

every time i did well mom would run me over to my friends that were clapping and chanting “yayyy cody bearrrr!”

wag wag wag!

p.s. if you want to see me and my baby sister practicing, go here.

she was stung by a very venomous bark scorpion.  she tried to do another run, bless her heart, but it was apparently quite painful so we had to leave.  i never make such a big fuss when i get a thorn in my paw.  she’s scared to go back, but we’re gonna give it a shot.

i had to have a bath before class last week because i was supposed to have a pet therapy gig the next day.  here’s what i look like when my fur hasn’t completely dried…

i look smaller when my fur is wet.  big deal.  i’ll let you know how class goes tonight!  hopefully the mama won’t make a scene again!

you see, last night was agility class! wah-kaaaaaaaa!!!(that’s my excited crazy word!)

class was really fun because there was alot of jumping and none of those vexing weave poles!!

for example:  dog walk-jump-jump-aframe-table

teeter-jump-jump-tunnel-jump-jump

jump-jump-tunnel-jump-jump-aframe-table (AWESOME!)

dog walk-jump-jump-sideways jump!-jump-jump-aframe-table (BOOH-YAH-KAH-SHAH!)

so guess what!? i did the teeter all by myself and i rocked it and mom went BANANAS!  grabbin me, lovin me, showering me with treats!

speaking of mom.  she SUX at agility!  the only thing she is good at is praising me and giving me treats.  the teacher told her to slow down and not think so far ahead.

now, i will admit, i didn’t do so well at class. you see…there were TOADS there.  hopping around.  i’ve never seen those before.  so my first section went:

dog walk-jump-run after toads-ignore mom-get walked back-dog walk-jump-jump-aframe-table!  that was a cool one, huh!?

so thanks for stopping by.

wag wag,

cody bear

it is so great to have THREE people to give me scritchy scratches after each run, instead of just one.

we spent the first part of class working on channel weaves.  ummmm…..we….ah….we need lots of practice.

the rest of the class went something like this:

tire-jump-table-aframe-tunnel-jump-table

aframe-sharpturntunnel

aframe-jump-jump-jump-table

jump-jump-tunnel-teeter-jump-table

it is pretty obvious my mom and our honorary pack members love me.  lots of butt scratching and tasty bites of home made chicken.

we need so much practice on those crazy weave poles.

can’t wait till next tuesday!

night night!

apparently, part of the time she was like “oooh, i can’t wait to do this with cody bear!” and part of the time was like “oh my god they’re so good. we’ll never be able to do that.”

all she did was take pictures and she claims she needs a nap!

we’ve been practicing every morning!  so far mom has moved the poles about 6 inches closer.

just me and mom, weave poles and a bag of cheese.

wait…

oh my god. pickles!  have you been there the whole time???

meet my sister pickles every body! she’s a border collie puppy and, according to mom, she’s going to be some sort of agility phenom. (we’ll see…) she usually stays inside barking while mom and i weave it up.  i should have known when i didn’t hear her complaining!

here we were playing last night:

it’s important to have fun.

that’s all we dogs do around here!

she told us….

she told us we have 2 weeks to master the fundamentals of the weave poles.  and when she gets back she better see some progress.

she then gave us some tips and told us what she expected….

then mom drove home in misery.

come on mom!  where’s that possitive attitude!?  have a little faith why don’t you.

and treats.

that’s all we need: faith and treats

and courage.

faith, treats and courage.

oh and patience.

oh my…

this morning, at the crack of dawn, she started carrying poles from the car to the back yard gate.  some papers were shuffled.  poles were moved about.  curse words flew.

i ignored her and ran around the yard with my baby sister, pickles.

then….

i believe they’re called channel weaves…

i can’t say i’m really interested in them at this point.  now, if she grabs a bag of treats, i can be interested real quick.

we’ll see what happens…

sorry i haven’t blogged in forever!  but i’m back for more agility, and trust me,….i’m pretty flippin’ happy about it.  i couldn’t wag any harder!

here’s what happened in a nutshell.  (mmmm. nutshells!) we took time off.  we changed agility instructors.  we’re still at the beginning level and we still like our old teacher.   it’s just that the other class structure was really stressing mom out.  too many dogs sniffing my butt and she was afraid for me. 

plus, it’s been hot.

so,…the new teacher.  she only teaches agility. it’s her full time job.  she squeezed us into her begginers class, but we had to have a couple private lessons to catch up. tuesday was our first class!  it was …..

FREAKIN’ INCREDIBLE! my mom loves me sooooo much.  she coudn’t stop smiling at me and telling me what a good bear i am.  she was still nervous, first class and all. 

but we wer a super team, i’ve been told.  and…i agree.

we did many sequences utlilizing:  jumps, a-frame(my favorite!!!), dog walk, tunnels(love those, too!), teeter totter(i freakin hate the teeter totter and i hope someone sets it on fire) and….i think that’s it. 

right before class ended we had to practice serpentine jumps.  um….why do they make us do that? it’s lame!  impossible to pick up top speed!

we have to learn weave poles next. our other teacher had chicken wire guides. now we have to learn them without chicken wire.  glad there weren’t any chickens there. i wouldn’t be able to concentrate!

mom and i are taking class with some more experienced dogs, but we’re hangin’ tough.  mom has been reading other agility blogs, hoping to catch us up.  maholia is a great one, with lots of great tips for beginners.

there is alot of waiting at class, and i hear there is alot of waiting at the actual “trials”.  i don’t like the waiting.  i like the running!

this week i learned the “chute”.  we got there early and mom clicked/treated every time i looked at the silly thing, but it was windy and the fabric was scary.  when class started, mom and i sat on the floor and i watched the other dogs dart through it and then i was like….”shoot!  i can do that!”  get it?  shoot/chute?  annnnywayyy. i did it!

we’re very excited for the next class!