Kelso Street Ruby, BH, FDCH
Ruby is from the third litter I bred. Her mother is Kelso Street Savvy and her father is an extremely successful Schutzhund and IPO dog, A'Desert der Sonne Entgegen, 2002 FCI World Champion. Ruby is a very good dog, but suffers from the lack of a really good handler. Since retiring Marco, I just haven't trained very much, or very well.
As a puppy, Ruby was very laid back (some might say lazy). As she's matured, she has gradually gotten more and more drivey. I've worked a little bit in the past year and I'm always surprised by how well she works. At home she is just so lovey and easy to control, I never expect so much drive and intensity from her.
One of the things I like the most about her is her natural speed. She can be very calm and under control, and then explode into action. This is really interesting and fun for me to train, as I learn how. I'm used to dogs that are constantly on, crazy with drive. Ruby is more clear-headed and thoughtful, requiring a different introduction to exercises.
Ruby is very fast in the bite work with great entries. Her obedience is very flashy and animated, and she is the sort of dog that is very reliable once trained. She tracks really calmly and slowly and should be great for the points if I ever train her enough.
In flyball she is the sort of dog that always runs clean. Even when she fumbles a ball, she usually manages to get the ball and get back into the lane without running around any jumps. So, even though she is not the fastest dog, she is a good dog to have on the team. Plus, she is a lot of fun to run, bc she stays calm and clear-headed until it is her turn to run.
July 2006
I've started training Ruby more. On Saturdays we drive an hour to train with one of the best Flyball teams in the country, Heat Wave Flyball. Ruby is progressing very quickly and making good use of her natural speed. We're scheduled to start racing in the fall.
We've also been training protection occasionally with a very good helper, Uschi Fuchs. Ruby gets better and better with work; it's so fun to see her progress.
Obedience is Ruby's real talent. I train her very little, although her extreme willingness and intelligence is starting to motivate me to work a little harder. I have never trained any dog who is so easy in the obedience. We're scheduled to do a BH at the AWMA Nationals this year, so I'll post a video after that.
October 2006
I'm back home and recovering from two weekends in a row of Flyball. The first tournament was in San Diego and Ruby surprised me by running in all that chaos like she had been doing it for years.
The next trial was New Mexico where Ruby increased her times and reliability and finished her Flyball Dog Championship. The two weekends in a row were hard on my out of shape body, but Ruby seemed to actually improve with all the work, something I had not expected from my lazy girl. The next trial isn't until January, which is a shame, bc I Iost three pounds in the 9 day span around these tournaments. I need to run Flyball every weekend!
End of October 2006
Ruby and I flew to West Virginia for the 2006 AWMA Nationals. Ruby did her BH on a field she had never practiced on, after a flight and while staying in a hotel. The trip didn't seem to stress her at all, and she did a great job on the obedience and temperament portions. What a good girl. Make sure to watch the video below. Don't blame Ruby for the front (or lack thereof); I never exactly trained it from further than 10 or 15 feet :( Oops. But it makes for a stunning ending :)
November 2006
Ruby and I ran flyball at the World Cynosport games. She did a great job, with herding on one side and frisbee dogs on the other. All the excitement and chaos doesn't faze her a bit. Our team isn't the fastest, but we all had a good time and ran against some incredibly fast teams. Watching really fast flyball is amazing.
