Mount Isa Show 2014

On Thursday we arrived at the Mount Isa showgrounds and met with the organisers, finding out where we were meant to set up and what other entertainers would be here with us. Roy Maloy was amongst the names she gave us. You probably remember the trouble we had with him and his agent a few months ago. So, feeling a bit anxious, we set up all our gear – fence, jumps and weave poles and tunnel, and our banner at the back of the ring. As usual, we had no performance times and were expected to work that out with the other entertainers.

 

We actually hadn’t rehearsed at all since we performed two weeks ago, so I was freaking out that our dogs would mess up. We did do a quick rehearsal on Thursday and it went ok.

 

Day One

After a quick breakfast, we grabbed the last of our gear and trekked to our area. We met up with Noah’s Pig Races, who we’d worked with before. And then I spotted Roy heading our way. I have to admit that I left in a hurry, not quite ready to face him. When I came back, Roy was gone again. We ended up performing at 10:45, 2:30, and 4:15. I pretty much avoided Roy the whole day. He did his show, which was pretty much exactly the same as last year’s, and we did ours. It was 28*C and we were performing in the sun. Tess kept trying to run off, again, so she was on lead for most of our shows. Sparkie was slower than I liked with her agility. We had a new prop for one of our routines – a box with a lid. We’d only been working with it for about five days before the show, but Sparkie did what she was meant to with hardly any problems. Freya was fast and focused as usual. At the last performance of the day, Lassie knocked down a weave pole and the jump.

The other entertainment for the show were the pig races, Roy Maloy, a couple of creepy stiltwalkers, roving musicians, a petting zoo, and a squeaking clown (more about him later). The stiltwalkers were seriously creepy – wearing masks and everything. I saw the guy bend down to talk to a little kid, who burst into tears, poor thing.

 

Day Two

A cooler day. Roy didn’t talk to me much, which was interesting because last year he was always talking to me. I was fine with him ignoring me though. Between our last two shows there wasn’t much time, so instead of walking all the way back to the bus we just hung around in the shade. Freya didn’t like that much so I was off walking her and trying to get her to calm down. The stiltwalkers were walking around and Jireh was getting scared, so Jessica was looking after him. There was a clown who squeaked instead of talking, and he came up to Chantel and offered her a lolly. Chantel said no. He then wanted to give her a high five. Chantel said no again. Then he squeezed her cheek. Chantel, of course, glared at him. He backed off a little, and then pointed a water pistol at her and squirted her in the face! Poor Chantel was really upset. After that we all went back to our shady spot and kept a lookout for crazy clowns! Chantel eventually calmed down and Roy had gone home after his last show, so we got our heads back in the game and our last show was great. Sparkie was weaving really well and fast, although Freya kept pausing in her routine to look at Lassie for some reason.

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So that was the end of the Mount Isa Show for 2014. Meeting Roy again wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. His show seemed flatter than last year, and he said to Mummy later that he was thinking of retiring. Fine with me!

 

We now have a two month break between shows, which we’ll be using to trial a new dog training method (more on that in a later post). My Auntie is coming over to visit from NZ at the end of July, so there’s that to look forward to as well.

Springsure Show and Winton Show 2014

Our patch-job got us to Springsure, and the show went ok. Tess was very unfocused for our first four performances, so she was on a lead for those. There weren’t very many people around anyway, except for the last one.

We went into the repair shop on Tuesday, and arrived pretty much on time, but still ended up spending half an hour in the full sun while the mechanics had lunch, before they even looked at the leak. After the repairs, we did some shopping and went to a playground, where Daddy checked the leak one last time, just in case. And the leak was worse. It was around 4:30pm. Panic ensued. Here we were, broken down (again) in a no-camping area beside a playground in Emerald, four days and 600kms away from our next show. We spent the night there because the leak was so bad we couldn’t drive anywhere at all, and the next morning a friend came by and fixed the bus – for real, this time. We hit the road on Wednesday afternoon, arriving in Winton on Friday afternoon.

 

The Winton Show was pretty much the same as last year, except neither Roy Maloy nor the stiltwalkers from last year were here. Instead there was a mouse circus and a clown. The crowds were big enough and all the dogs performed at their usual standard.

 

As always, for more photos check our the Superdogs Facebook page. Our next show is on 20-21 June in Mount Isa.

 

Another bit of good news – we just confirmed another show! We’ll be performing three shows a day at the Shepparton Show on October 10th and 11th.

Breakdown

So, a recap of what’s been going on since the Gympie Show/Million Paws Walk.

 

We spent a few days relaxing, and then it was shopping day and haircuts for some of us. On Thursday, May 22nd, Chantel was out playing fetch with Freya between our bus and somebody else’s caravan. They had a big Doberman tied up outside, which was barking a little bit. And then suddenly it snapped its collar. "It just wanted the ball," the lady said, but no, it went straight to Freya and started fighting her. Poor Freya was yelping and trying to run away. The guy tried to grab his dog but it was moving too fast and didn't stop even when he hit it with a dustpan. Sparkie ran outside and straight over to it. Freya hid under the bus and when the Doberman paused before going after her, Sparkie rushed in front of him. He started sniffing her and the guy grabbed him and I caught Sparkie. We were all pretty shaken up. Freya had a little injury on her ear and under her front leg.

 

On Sunday, the 25th, we were about 60kms past Rockhampton, aiming for Duaringa for free hot showers. It was about 5pm, or 5:30. The bus suddenly lost all acceleration and we coasted to a halt on the side of the highway. The engine sputtered and stalled. I looked out the front windscreen. We were parked half off the road. Luckily there was a passing lane, so even though we were blocking a lane trucks could still get past without crossing the centre line. Stress levels were through the roof. We were out of fuel. Crazy, because we'd just filled up a few towns ago. We put our hazard lights on and our reflective triangles on the road. A Landcruiser towing a horsefloat pulled in behind us about five minutes later, and they gave us some diesel, siphoned it from their tank into our fuel container, which we then poured into our tank. And then came more trouble. Daddy lifted up the floor hatch and there was a puddle of diesel on top of the engine. We have a leak!! It was now dark and the horses were stressing out so the people had to move on. We couldn't stay where we were, and we couldn't find the leak, so we cleaned the diesel up and drove about 10kms to the first truck parking bay we could find. And when we opened the floor - yep, more diesel. We’ve patched it up as best we can, because we have to be in Springsure for the show on Friday and Saturday. On Monday we’re taking it to a mechanic.

 

On a better note, our new Superdogs banner and car door magnets from Vistaprint arrived today! Our arena at Springsure should look awesome.

Gympie Show 2014

We weren’t able to get any photos of the High Jump this year because it was threatening to rain the whole time and Mummy didn’t think it’d be safe to have our big camera out in that weather. So we brought my video camera instead, which is small enough to stick it in a jacket pocket if it rained. It did rain a bit, right near the end, but we got some videos of it anyway. I’ll be posting the video soon. Also, our big camera is having trouble with its focus, so we didn’t get as many clear shots this year. Some of the photos are odd sizes coz I had to crop them.

 

RESULTS

HIGH JUMP

Tess 2nd, Sparkie 3rd

NOVELTY DOGS

Obstacle Course - Sparkie 1st, Lassie 2nd, Tess 3rd
Best Tricks - Freya 1st, Tess 2nd
Most Obedient Dog - Sparkie 1st, Tess 2nd, Freya 3rd

Freya also won Most Improved From Last Year. Suzanna (age 6) won third place with Tess in Best Child Handler.

 

There seemed to be less competitors this year. In the High Jump there were only two other dogs entering besides ours. In Tricks too, we only had two other dogs enter apart from ours. But both actually did real tricks! One jumped through a hoop a few times, and the dog that got 3rd place hopped into an empty ice cream container with all four paws. In Obedience there was only one dog besides ours.

 

We performed at the RSPCA Million Paws walk yesterday, but forgot the camera. No photos, sorry. Our next show is in Springsure on 30-31 May.

Before The Storm

There’s only two and half weeks until the Gympie Show, which marks the beginning of our 2014 show tour. The Gympie Show runs for three days and we compete on two of them. The day after the last day of the Gympie Show we’re going to the RSPCA Million Paws Walk to perform. Two weeks after that we are performing at a two day show in Springsure. The next weekend we’ll be in Winton for another two day show. Two weeks later it’s Mount Isa, another two day show. So that bring us to the end of June. Currently July and August are free, but that could change. On September 14 we are performing at a fundraiser in Melbourne. Three weeks later there’s the two-day Hamilton Outdoor Adventure Fair. We are trying to organize two more shows in SA, one two weeks after Hamilton and another a week after that. At the beginning of December we will be performing at a one-day show in Penshurst. It’s going to be crazy busy but (hopefully) fun!

 

So basically what I’m trying to say is that I won’t be blogging so often over the show season. I will try to keep you all updated as much as I can, but as you can tell life is going to get very busy for me.

 

 

Also, we spent Easter weekend with the family who owns Cadbury! He has filled out now, at 21 months old, and is so well-behaved. Very smart too. Jessica had a go at teaching him pole weaving and he was bit nervous at first but he caught on fast.

Life With An Assistance Dog (in training)

The other day a friend of ours asked “So what’s it like taking an assistance dog into a supermarket?” and now I’m thinking that’s a good question I haven’t really answered here. And while I’m at it, let me tell you a bunch of other stuff about Sparkie’s training.

Sparkie’s only been in training four months now, so she still makes mistakes sometimes. Her biggest fault is that she’s so friendly, she wants to say hello to everybody we meet. One of our first training sessions with her “in training” coat on was in a car park at the base of Mount Schank. An older, retired couple in a caravan were fascinated by the concept of an assistance dog, and when Sparkie and me had finished working on our heel and sit, I stopped to talk with them. Of course Sparkie, being the social dog she is, wiggled and bounced and couldn’t understand why they were ignoring her.

 

Everything is done in steps. In the beginning, I’d put Sparkie’s coat on and walk into town, letting her get used to wearing it in busy places. She also wore it when we worked on down-stays. Nobody except me is allowed to touch her, talk to her, or otherwise engage with her in any way while she has her coat on. After a few weeks, we started walking to the library, where Sparkie would down-stay beside me on her mat while I read a book. The first time I took her into a shop, she’d been training for about a month. She was walking nicely at heel with her coat on, focused and controlled. And then we walked right through the automatic doors and into the shop. It was a mall, but a tiny one, with a Woolworths on one side, a butcher, some small businesses, and a Tattersalls lottery stand in the centre. Sparkie was so excited! We sat down at a seat by the lottery stand, and Sparkie lay down under the seat, watching everything keenly until she finally relaxed. I think it was her fourth time in the mall that we actually went into Woolworths. Everything was new for her, and she was somewhat stressed by it all – trolleys, people, heaps of smells.

These days, Sparkie understands that when I put her coat on, it’s work time. We’ve spent the past few weeks working on her loose lead heel. A few days ago we went to a mall in Singleton, NSW. We don’t usually get many people stop to talk to us, but this time it was like nobody had ever seen an assistance dog before. “What’s it training for?” one guy asked, after standing right next to Sparkie tilting his head so he could read her coat (which clearly says “service dog” on it). “Service dog,” I said, and he kind of chuckling and said, “What’s that?” So I had to explain the concept in the shortest way possible because I was waiting in line at Donut King. Later, at the checkout in Woolworths, a little kid snuck up behind Sparkie, who was lying beside me, and poked her tail. Sparkie stood up and looked around all confused, like “what was that?” and the kid ran back to his grandparent and hung off their trolley. So I just patted Sparkie and told her she was a good dog. Then the kid comes back and starts patting Sparkie on the back, and I had to say, “don’t pat her, she’s working,” and the kid ran back to his grandparents again, looking all upset, and they say to him “you can’t pat her, she’s working.” And Sparkie was still standing beside me, totally ignoring him.

 

People don’t always seem to notice Sparkie’s coat straight away, or maybe they pretend not to. We went into a gas station once, and the lady behind the counter spotted Sparkie and said “You’re not allowed dogs in here,” all stuck-up, and Mummy said “She’s a service dog.” So the lady proceeded to stare at us with a frown as we picked out the things we needed, like she really wanted to throw us out but legally a service/assistance dog can go anywhere its owner does. More recently, I took Sparkie into Bunnings. The guy at the greeting desk smiled at me, then noticed Sparkie. “You can’t have dogs in here,” he started to say, and then he paused and looked closer at Sparkie’s coat, “Is that a…?” “Service dog,” I supplied helpfully, and the poor guy was so embarrassed. He kept apologizing! So I told him it was ok, and thanked him, and continued on. Maybe Sparkie’s coat should be brighter or something, so people will notice it before they tell us to leave!

So, now for the answer to the question that started this post. Taking Sparkie into a supermarket is awesome. She walks on a loose lead at my left side, focused on me, rarely sniffs anything, ignores all the other people, isn’t bothered at all by the trolleys. When I pause at a shelf, Sparkie tucks herself between me and the shelf so nobody will bump into her while I’m focused on something else. People stare, so I smile at them, and mostly they smile back. Little kids shout “look at the doggy!” and adults will murmur to each other “what a beautiful dog,” as we walk past. Some people seem to walk around in their own world and I have to be constantly aware, because sometimes people will nearly run over Sparkie with their trolleys or stand on her tail. It makes me all the more thankful for the people who give us space, and I try to remember to thank them for it.

The Road I’ve Taken

As you probably know, I cancelled our assistance dog training at the beginning of the year. Well, more like put it on hold. I was going through a rough patch and probably made a few wrong choices. But along came the day where I realized I missed having Sparkie tag along whenever I went anywhere. I still had Sparkie’s “in training” coat, which I was going to send back, but couldn’t bring myself to do it because it just seemed too final. So a few nights ago I put her coat on and we went into a mall in Dubbo. There was a travelator, which I wanted to avoid because Sparkie had only done one day on them about four months ago. But we couldn’t find a lift or stairs or anything, so up we went. And Sparkie only hesitated a tiny bit before jumping on! We went into Woolworths, brought some stuff, and then took the travelator back down. Sparkie acted like she’d been doing this stuff forever – she hadn’t forgotten a thing! So I emailed Hans, our trainer, saying we wanted back in, and that same day he responded and it’s official – we’re back to doing our Service Dog Training.

 

Hans is overseas right now so we have to wait for him to get back (in about two weeks) before we can discuss the next stage of our training, which worked out perfectly because I wanted to spend some time working on the same stuff as before anyway. Although right now, we’re in a tiny town that sports very few training options, so until we move to the next town, we’re playing fetch and going for walks.