When the dogs are in the tunnels, just about to come out, they are looking straight ahead, so they don't know yet in which direction to turn, once they emerge. Once they come out, they have to quickly find their handler and turn in that direction.
This beautiful Brittany Spaniel illustrates just how quickly they can do that and how driven they are to perform. I'm amazed that he was able to keep his footing after such an extreme turn, but the image below, the next in the series, taken about 1/10th of a second later, proves that he did. I'm also amazed at how much movement occurs in only 1/10th of a second.
Because of a last-minute change of venue, due to rain damage at the original one, the rings were smaller than desirable. This tunnel had an A-frame straddling it, just a few feet away from the opening, which proved to be challenging for many of the dogs. Some of the handlers recognized the confusion and swung wide to make the choice easier for their dog, but they over-compensated and the dogs chose to take a jump to the right of the A-frame and were disqualified as a result. Other dogs chose the tunnel and went through it from the wrong direction, disqualifying them, too. At least one of the dogs didn't have time to compose himself for the A-frame and turned around (the dog equivalent of falling) after climbing only about 1/3 of the front side. All-in-all, it was a disappointing run for most of the dogs and only a few qualified.
Tags: K9 Agility Brittany Spaniel SuperShot
© All Rights Reserved
But they don't always win. Sometimes they knock off a pole or take a jump out of order, but when they do that, it's usually the handler's fault. At least, it is, according to the dog.
Tags: Agility Border Collie AnAwesomeShot ABigFave
© All Rights Reserved
See! Dalmatians do more than just ride on fire engines and beer coaches.
This is my agility/obedience instructor's dog, Scarlett. Isn't she graceful and beautiful! Here's a video of them in action: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr9AmO89_PM&NR=1.
Tags: Dalmation Scarlett Agility FlickrsPortal NaturesElegantShots TopShots ABigFave
© All Rights Reserved
I went to my first agility trial, yesterday. I had seen them on TV before, but never in person. It was a lot of fun watching the amazing things that dogs are able to do, but it was more challenging to shoot than I expected it to be, because they move so fast, because the handlers, obstacles, and ring attendants are often in the way, because the dogs aren't usually facing the right way, because of contrasty conditions in the outdoors, with no shade, and because you pretty much have to stay in one spot to shoot, at least, during an individual run.
My usual technique for capturing moving objects is to focus on them while they quite a distance away and then pan with them until they move into range before I start shooting. That technique pretty much didn't work here, though, because the approaches to the obstacles were so short. The method that more or less worked for me, in this case, was to focus on the tire and wait until the dog left the ground to press and hold the shutter release. Shooting them as they came out of the tunnels was a little trickier, though, because if you waited until you saw them, they'd be out of the frame before you could fire a shot. I found that it was better to guess when they would appear and to start shooting a second or two before I thought I would see them.
Besides being an area search dog in K9 SAR, Gunner is an experienced agility dog. I think it's a good thing to have interests outside of SAR, to keep us well-rounded and to keep our perspective. I started working Roso in agility, a few months ago, because it looked like a fun thing to do, and in order to try to channel some of his boundless energy. It's going to take a long time and tons of training before we will be competing at this level, though.
Tags: Gunner German Shepherd mix Agility dog Search dog www.southwestsearchdogs.org AnAwesomeShot
© All Rights Reserved
"No, it's a Weimaraner."
"A what?"
"A Weimaraner."
Blank stare.
"It's spelled W-e-i-m-a-r-a-n-e-r."
"Oh." Walks away.
Switch the breeds and the conversation will be like the one that I've had more times than I can count. Seems that Weimaraners are somewhat more well-known than Vizslas.
Today's breed standards for the Weimaraner were developed in the 19th century, although dogs having very similar features to the Weimaraner have been attested as far back as 13th century in the court of Louis IX of France. Whereas, the Vizsla was already known in early Hungarian history. The ancestors of the present Vizsla were the trusted and favorite hunting dogs of the Magyar tribes who lived in the Carpathian Basin in the 10th century. Like the Vizsla, the Weimaraner was created exclusively for the nobility and alike. Today, both breeds are very beautiful and are great at showing, hunting, obedience and agility. And of course, Search and Rescue, too. :-)
Tags: Weimaraner Dog K9 Agility blinkagain bestofblinkwinner AnAwesomeShot
© All Rights Reserved