Thursday, June 30, 2011

DSSP and Stav Agility

This weekend was DSSP ("Den Store StyrkePrøven), the 540 km bike ride from Trondheim to Oslo. This is the final test of the winters cycling training. Both Husband and my friend Nils were participating. Friday, he met up with the other members of his team, they loaded their bikes, extra wheels, food, water bottles and overnight bags into the support vehicles and took off for Trondheim where they would spend the evening at a hotel, eating well, hopefully sleeping, doing last minute checks of the gear, and planning stategy for the ride. They were riding as a team, 17 strong, with a goal to finish in 18 hrs.

Meantime, Lucy and I were participating in our first big agility event. 4 clubs arranged a 3 day event with 4 rings going simultaneously. It was a qualifying event for the national team. I had only entered Lucy in 2 runs: a novice standard agility, and a novice jumpers. It was a warm, sunny day with a nice breeze. I found an out-of-the-way spot for Lucy's crate, in the shade - well I had to keep moving it to stay in the shade.

The standard agility run was first. I did some contact exercises before we started. Lucy seemed a little unconcentrated, but that was to be expected. Wel l no wonder: it was a huge open field, the 4 rings marked off with lime and plastic bands on the ground. The whole surrounded by the tents of the various participants. We got though the run: Lucy had a tendency to want to wander out of the ring, though I was able to call her back. It led however to her taking a jump from the wrong side, automatically disqualifying.
The jumpers run was a disaster. After a couple of jumps Lucy just shut down, and started sniffing the grass at the side of the ring. My initial thought wass that the whole thing was overwhelming for her, and that she had had enough. Later I was reading in an agility blogg (susangarrettdogagility.com) how performance dogs can get hypoglycemic, and that feeding them cookies throughout the day is recommended. So another possible explanation for Lucy shutting down, could be that she just didn't have the energy. I hadn't given her breakfast, because she always thows up in the car, and while she had had some cookies, ie pieces of sausage, it maybe wasn't enough, what with the stress, and the hot day.

Next time I will feed her at least half her ration on arrival, pluss take more time to aclimatize to the new surroundings.



At 9:30 pm I went to the Esso station in Ottestad to wait for the cyclists to pass on their way toward Oslo. They were to make a short stop there to fill up on food and drink, their boxes lined up, each with a cyclists name on it. A large crowd was gathered to cheer them on. Members of the cykling team had set up the finish gate across the road with Ottestad Cykling Club written on it. 5 teams had completed the shortere distance from Lillehammer to Oslo earlier in the afternoon, and were in full swing with a garden party accross the street. Several teams from other places passed while we waited, and all recieved applause, but when our boys (+ 1 girl) showed up in their yellow and black uniforms the crowd greeted them like heroes. I had brought coffee, and chocolate and water bottles for my man. Exchanged a few words with my friend 2 boxes down. Someone was passing out salt tablets. 2-3 minutes after arriving They mounted their bikes and were off.
I had subscribed to sms updates, which told me when the team passed various points along the way. For example since I had recieved an sms that they had passed Lillehammer at 8pm I knew approximatly when to expect them to the Esso station in Ottestad. So when my phone peeped in the middle of the night I had a look: they had just crossed the finish line at 17:47 hrs, without having lost a single rider along the 540 km stretch!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Our agility career - so far

It all started with an "introduction to agility" course in 8 sessions last year in May and June. At the end of it there were still 3 hurdles that Lucy wasn't doing: the chute, the see-saw and the tire jump. After a break for the summer, we started practicing fairly intensively for 60-90 minutes each thursday from August through January. Mostly it was one on one training with Julie Danbolt and her dog, Bajnok. It was Julie who introduced me to clicker training (leading me to take the e-course in clicker training from Canis), 2X2 weave training (she lent me Susan Garrett's DVD after which I have become a Susan Garrett convert), and shadow handling (the Greg Derrett system). She also showed me that Lucy can do it all with Julie handling her, thus proving that any problems we might be having lie in my giving wrong or unclear signals. After Lucy mastered the chute, see-saw and tire-jump, the main focus of training has been for me to learn how to guide her through the course. Since February the time I have had to train Agility has been limited, and I have mostly been forced to train alone. I almost prefer it as I feel I can train much more consistently when I'm alone.

First Trial

Our first trial was on April 12th. By this time Lucy was taking all the hurdles without trouble, but had started going under the highest jumps, instead of jumping over. Therefore, they let her run in the class for medium size dogs. It was just an informal club trial, but I was so nervous that I led Lucy over the wrong second jump on both runs, thus disqualifying. The lesson learned: I needed to learn effective briefing. Plus Lucy was surprised that there was a strange man (the judge) standing in the middle of the course, and had to go investigate. After training alone for so long, she was also a bit distracted by the other dogs whining, barking, and howling at the moon, but allowed herself to be refocused surprisingly well.

Second Trial

April 26 was our second trial. This was a club trial held by a neighboring club to which my club was invited. Lucy still competed in the medium class. This time I didn't lose my head. The beginners agility course was super easy. Much easier than anything we had trained on, so that went well. The open jump course was more of a challenge, and I had to hold up the chute, as it was heavier than she was used to, so we probably got disqualified there. It was great to see that Lucy seemed unphased by running in a new environment. We sat with Julie and Jan Eric, whom she knows, while waiting our turn. What we need to work more on: the chute, and high jumps.

Third Trial

June 16. Our third trial, was also a local club trial, this time hosted by my own club. This time we entered in class 1 for large dogs, as well as the open jump class. A step forward. The trial went very well. We had 2 chances on the agility course. It was a challenging course with several places where I had to think hard about how to approach the next hurdle. Then when we ran the course, I didn't do what I had decided on afer all, causing Lucy to miss the tunnel entry. On our second run through I placed myself properly at the tunnel. And indeed, Lucy went straight through it, only to make a mistake on the weave, which she had done perfectly the first time, even starting to get up some speed going through. The jump course was, by contrast, very straight forward. One of the jumps was very high, and several dogs knocked that bar, but I think Lucy got through the course without any faults. Any time we lost was me, suddenly uncertain of which is the next hurdle. We placed 6th of 6 in agility, and 8th of 10 in the jump course.

Lucy is a pleasure to run with. She was focused, in spite of being in heat, and obviously having fun.I think I too am making progress, though I need to work harder on memorising the course. I'm finding it hard encompassing 16 to 20 hurdles with my mind. I tried something new which i think improved both Lucy's focus and her start line. It was a few minutes of contact training (shadow handling and sit-down-stand's).


Thursday, June 16, 2011

Flooding - part 4

It is 3 days since I last walked with the dogs at the lake. The water is rising more slowly now, and is supposed to reach it's peak in the middle of next week.

The above pictures were taken on the path leading to my thinking spot (now under water). The top picture from monday morning, the bottom picture from today. You can see that thin tree that on monday was only just getting it's feet wet, is now well out in the water.

My alternative thinking spot after the usual one became inaccessible. Top: sunday. Bottom today. You can still get to the stone from the back, but I sat in the fork of the tree overlooking the water instead.


Remember on monday, how I said the road was beginning to flood, and would only have been passable with rubber boots (top)? Today (bottom) you can't even see where the road goes after it dissapears into the water. You can also see how the water is spreading into the forest floor on either side.




We had to take a different road and I took these pictures of a spot where people come to picnic and where Ingvild used to camp with her friends in the summer. It is all under water now. Lucy is having fun splashing around, and you can see the "no camping" sign in the middle of the lake. (the sign refers to parking campers there; tent camping is allowed).

Monday, June 13, 2011

Flooding - part 3

As we started our walk you could see the water has started to cover the forest floor.

Above you have yesterday's picture of the stone that I like to sit on to meditate. By today, the stone was no longer visible, in fact I couldn't even get close. The trees on that are standing in water in the picture on the bottom, are just out of the right side of the top picture. The stone is (underwater) just past them.


Top: you see how the water is right to the edge of the dirt road in yesterdays picture.
Bottom: couldn't even get close. The road is under water. Not deep - you see Lucy splashing around in it, but impassable without rubber boots.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Flooding - part 2

Along the path: yesterday and today. Yesterday the grass still stood over the water. Today it is just a larger lake.

My thinking stone: yesterday I sat on it watching the dogs. Today it can still be seen, but I would have had to wade out to get to it.


Had to choose a new thinking stone near this cool pine tree - on the far left on this picture.

Another picture of flood waters, lapping the edge of the dirt road that we take on our walk.

Whitsun Orienteering Event

As usual, the whitsun weekend has been spent orienteering. I think, in the last 12 years, there has hardly been a witsun weekend where I did not run at least one course, and I think that must have been the year I was in the US. Both husband and I ran the medium distance course yesterday. The whitsun Orienteering meet in Hedemarken is always a big occasion. The Craft cup (Norway cup) is part of it and you could follow the progress of the runners on a big screen. Our own Marte Narum (from our club) won the womens 17-20 elite class by seconds. It was an exciting race. The following pictures are meant to illustrate what a major orienteering event looks like: The meeting area was full of tents (there were occasional heavy showers), though our club had forgotten to bring a tent. We were all sitting by the finish line in rain gear and umbrellas to get the best view of the compeditors.

The participant/spectator tents. Each club typically has it's own tent with a flag in front. Our club sat right along the runup to the finish line , equiped with raingear and umbrellas, but no tent.


The run up to the finish line, with the wide screen on which spectators can watch the elite runners progress superimposed on their map (they are equiped with gps), and video footage from selected points along the course.


Inside the tent at the finish line.


Juice is served at the finish for hot and tired runners.



The kiosk that serves coffee, soda, home-made cake, candy and hamburger tickets.

The grill which served delicious hamburgers, you add the dressing, tomatoes, lettuce and cucumber yourself.

Portable Sporting goods store (comes to all major orienteering events). Good to have if you lose or break your compass, tear your clothes or need new orienteering shoes...



Here are the boards where you can check your start time before the race and where results are posted.

And finally a sign post. Necessary at big events in order to find your way around.


I ran 2 different levels this weekend. Yesterday I ran a 2,6 km A-level course. Finished in 54:31 minutes, 3rd to last. I was actually very satisfied: firstly because I took under an hour, and secondly because I wasn't last. I am definitly making progress with my A-levels. My orienteering is pretty consistent. The problem is speed. The course almost never follows paths so you mostly end up pushing your way through dense undergrowth, marshy or stony terrain. I am too afraid of spraining an ankle or falling and breaking a limb to actually run unless it is very open and flat ground.

Today, however, I ran a 3,1 km C-level course. In spite of the fact that I was running almost the whole time - a good bit of the course followed paths - I spent just under an hour on this race as well. The fact that so many of the controls were placed at path intersections, making the whole course seem like a piece of cake, caused me to become over confident. Thus whenever a control was placed away from the path, I'd just light out in the general direction, instead of taking a painstaking compass course. And of course I'd miss it and have to try again, and again. I ended up taking 56:36 minutes and finishing in 32nd place of 37 :( If you look at the map it was the first and the 7th controll that I wasted a lot of time looking for.


Finally a couple of pictures from the tuesday "business races". These are sponsored by various businesses that compete with each other, and are an informal and fun weekly event. I almost always run with Lucy at my belt in these. In the big events running with dogs is prohibited.

At the start line above, and below at the finish.


Below in the to the upper left, Husband and I can be seen sitting and waiting our turn to start.


Saturday, June 11, 2011

Flooding - part 1

The heavy rains of the last week have caused flooding and landslides in the valleys connecting the south of Norway with the north. Especially there has been a lot of flooding of the river that empties into Mjøsa Lake. They say that Mjøsa is expected to rise 2 meters in the next week. Over the next days I mean to document the rise of said lake with pictures from my thinking spot.

Here you can already see how the water is rising in a marshy meadow.

Aproaching my thinking spot I find the little point of land sticking out into Mjøsa practically under water already.

I could still get to the stone that I usually sit on from behind. Sitting on it I watched the dogs exploring in the water, while I listened to the soothing clucking sound it makes against the stones.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

weekend in Folldal



This weekend was Cathrines confirmation in Folldal. It was also her 15th birthday. Since Mother-in-law isn't so well these days, and Cathrine has a new puppy (her combined birthday and confirmation present from her parents), we stayed in a cabin at the combined campground/restaurant where the confirmation party was held.

Cathrine and her family: father (husband's brother), little brother (8), and mother.

Mother-in-law, anemic and with broken arm. She's going to the hospital for transfusions tomorrow, and the arm will need an operation soon as well.

Lucy waiting for Mamma and Pappa in front of the rental cabin. Topsy is inside, enthroned on the bed.