On Sunday, November 12 a small
group of PASA members
and guests converged on Susan and Kraig Paulsen's Workin' Paws Ranch
for an educational day. We covered three areas - agility, rally
obedience and grooming. The day was gorgeous. It was
sunny and just a nip of cool and the mountains just leaped out at you,
it was so clear. In fact, it was hard getting things going since
people were enjoying themselves so much just playing with their dogs
and soaking up the ambiance of the place. Susan Paulsen, in
spite of recovering from the flu, opened her kitchen to
us.
Mona Nichols, Debee Cox and Jean Danver arrived early to set up, but there wasn't a whole lot to do. The field was already filled with agility equipment. Kraig brought out a low teeter, we lowered the a-frame and put out Jean's fabric chute. Jean and Mona ran the agility session with help from Marcia Hodes, which, admittedly, got a little chaotic at times. All of the dogs, even the rank beginners, learned to run through tunnels, go through the chute, hit a treat target at the end of an a-frame and even go over the dog walk.
Mona Nichols, Debee Cox and Jean Danver arrived early to set up, but there wasn't a whole lot to do. The field was already filled with agility equipment. Kraig brought out a low teeter, we lowered the a-frame and put out Jean's fabric chute. Jean and Mona ran the agility session with help from Marcia Hodes, which, admittedly, got a little chaotic at times. All of the dogs, even the rank beginners, learned to run through tunnels, go through the chute, hit a treat target at the end of an a-frame and even go over the dog walk.
It was pretty much an Aussie
party, except for a fox
terrier named Tula, who did really well and a border collie mix called
Truffles. At the end of the agility session we set up the electronic
timing
equipment for those who wanted to learn a little about timing.
Around 11:30 AM Debee Cox set out a rally course and we switched gears. Watching her demo with Butch was pretty amazing. After that, just about everyone tried the course with their dogs while Susan and Jean cooked the pizza.
Around 11:30 AM Debee Cox set out a rally course and we switched gears. Watching her demo with Butch was pretty amazing. After that, just about everyone tried the course with their dogs while Susan and Jean cooked the pizza.
Here are a couple of Aussie's showing off for their handlers and the audience.
The last item on the program was the grooming session given by Patty Wirries.
Mona's dog, Jackson, was the volunteer dog.
The grooming sesssion was very
interesting and informative. Several people showed up
just for that part of the program. As soon as we can get all the
product recommendations people asked for, they will be posted here.
At around 3 pm. the event was over. A couple of us stayed around and ran our dogs in agility with Craig and Susan's neighbors. It was a very nice day.
Special thanks to Mona Nichols, Jean Danver, Debee Cox, Kraig & Susan Paulsen, Marcia Hodes and Maralise Howze for making this event happen and to Glen & Blanche Stimpson who hauled the agility trailer to Gilroy afterwards.
At around 3 pm. the event was over. A couple of us stayed around and ran our dogs in agility with Craig and Susan's neighbors. It was a very nice day.
Special thanks to Mona Nichols, Jean Danver, Debee Cox, Kraig & Susan Paulsen, Marcia Hodes and Maralise Howze for making this event happen and to Glen & Blanche Stimpson who hauled the agility trailer to Gilroy afterwards.
Here is a link to Jean Danver's Pictures
