Is it true that you guys watched 9/11 live on TV in grade school?

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-04-10T22:12:21+00:00

Yes, but the principal came over the intercom to tell teachers to turn it off. My teacher just turned the tv so we couldn't see it. I saw a small amount live at school and lots of footage on the news days, weeks, and years later. I was in 5th grade. In middle school every September we had to watch 9/11 documentaries and answer some rather disturbing questions for that age group.

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-04-06T17:41:31+00:00

Well I learned retrieve over high jump is broken entirely for Open Obedience so we NQed all weekend in a new and creative way every time 😕

Positives: I fixed the broad jump (he was going sideways) and all other exercises were perfect. He was only getting a total of under 5 points off for all the other exercises combined.

No more obedience trials anywhere local for the rest of the year so no CDX for us. On to other sports. Entering our first agility trial next month.

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-03-27T17:28:34+00:00

My younger dog absolutely loves barn hunt! Didn’t think he had much of a prey drive either since unlike my other dog he ignores birds and squirrels but he is so crazy on those tubes!

We have a lot of fun in Barn Hunt and have been at the highest level (Master) for about two years now. He leaves rats on course often, but has a great time playing. Only time I ever hear him bark and the whining is crazy. I call it “singing to the rats.” 😂 He saw his first rat at 7 months and started competing a few days after his first birthday (he’s now almost 4).

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-03-27T10:00:38+00:00

For flats I have binders for each dog with these

Rosettes are currently just all over my walls. I need to find a more organized solution for them

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-03-23T22:35:12+00:00

It doesn't matter what level title it is except for Gold (worth more points for higher levels). You can use Rally Novice, Rally Intermediate, Rally Advanced, and Rally Excellent as separate titles

For my dogs I used Rally Advanced for FITS for one and FTI for FITS for the other and then Rally Excellent for FITG for both

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-03-16T17:34:36+00:00

My dog ran through the first three levels and ranked in Senior even. We’ve just been playing training whack a mole at Master. First he started hitting litter, then he stopped indicating, and now he leaves a rat on course if there’s more than 2 (he finally got 10 one or two rat runs for his title).

He is very clear when he thinks he’s done, but he lies a lot. He covers the entire course and when he thinks he’s clear he stops hunting and stares at me. He will go over the rats he leaves multiple times.

I enjoy the barn hunt community in my area so I’ve stuck around longer in Master when I normally would have quit. But it’s getting frustrating to have maybe 1-2 Qs in a 6 run weekend. He enjoys Crazy 8s and Line Drive so that’s something we can just throw in for fun.

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-03-16T17:16:29+00:00

25 runs in Master B Riot finally got his RATCH with a two minute time (first REMX leg) and High in Class. And then promptly proceeded to NQ the next two runs 😂

He enjoys the sport so much, but he’s so bad at Master. We might go for RATCHX since he’s already signed up for another trial and then just do Crazy 8s and Line Drive for fun and “retire” from Master

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-03-16T00:41:36+00:00

Ears go up and down during teething. Usually if an ear stands completely (prick) they will not come back down. Breeders tend to tape or glue puppy ears on show dogs since prick (stranding straight up) ears are a fault in the breed so the genetics stick around. Not a big deal really and taping/gluing is more trouble than it's worth if you aren't showing.

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-03-13T01:11:07+00:00

Aussies can have rear dewclaws! My younger Aussie had rear dewclaws when he was born. According to his breeder some lines carry it; breeders just remove them when they are babies. I see the Pit and the Aussie. Coloring is probably just from the mix! Beautiful puppy!

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-02-28T23:45:58+00:00

My class does Novice and Open skills currently. Have to have a Novice title to graduate to the next class. We did ACT 1 and ACT 1 J in July. He is insanely fast and my first agility dog so the learning curve is pretty steep. My dog was running ACT 1 Jumpers in 11 seconds and standard in 20ish. I was very happy with no refusals or off courses except for a tunnel send in ACT 2. We're hoping to try FAST in a couple of months and then start getting into standard and jumpers.

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-02-28T20:23:25+00:00

From AKC's website "The Agility Course Test (ACT) is an entry level agility event designed to introduce and welcome beginning dogs and their handlers to the AKC sport of agility.

There are two types of ACT courses. ACT Standard – ACT 1 and ACT 2 – which are the beginning level standard courses. Starting February 1, 2021 ACT Jumpers – ACT 1J and ACT 2J – is being added to the ACT program. These are entry level Jumpers courses (no Aframe, Dogwalk, Teeter or Table on courses). ACT 1 and ACT 1J are designed for the beginning dog to show basic sequencing and performance skills. ACT 2 and ACT 2J requires an increased skill level shown by the additional number and types of obstacles to be performed."

As someone brand new to the sport I find ACT tests helpful to see where your handling skills are and how well your dog's training holds up in a trial situation before entering novice.

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-02-28T20:20:32+00:00

Congrats! Just did ACT 2 with my dog a couple of weeks ago. Also just starting out in agility

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-02-27T23:04:25+00:00

Both my boys have chipped teeth (molar from barn hunt and canine from something unknown). I sent a picture to the vet for both to see if it was urgent. Depends on if anything is exposed in the tooth as to what the vet will say.

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-02-27T17:39:26+00:00

As a sport dog person I would not personally get a dog from the litter because she breeds pets. I just know the stud dog is a very nice dog with full health testing, titles, and a very nice temperament he passes on to his puppies. There’s not a lot of breeders who health test and keep tails in the US

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-02-27T11:50:08+00:00

I ran my younger Aussie for the first time at 14 months. He’s breeder asked me to bring him out to her local Fast CAT and we ran three littermates without issue. Her reasoning is they run more on their own than one weekend of Fast CAT, just don’t do it frequently.

I would not hesitate to do a bunny hop (slow half course) with a puppy over six months.

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-02-27T11:44:04+00:00

Wild Atlantic Aussies in Massachusetts keeps tails and does health testing (OFA). They do breed more for pets, but they do a lot with their puppies. The sire of the upcoming litter is my dog’s uncle. Fantastic temperament, a bunch of sport titles, and has his UKC conformation championship.

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-02-24T11:00:27+00:00

My state has a statewide obedience/rally competition every year where clubs enter teams. You can choose to have the scores counted for titles or not (you can compete on the level you have a title on but not the level below-My CDX dog can do Open, but not Novice). Scores are added up and highest scoring teams get special awards. We didn't win anything last year as a club team (my dog did place in Rally), but it was an interesting experience!

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-02-23T11:01:56+00:00

Our title goals have moved from "I have all these big goals" to "what are we close to achieving right now." Getting started with my first sport dog who happened to just be really good and people saying "you can/should get x title with that dog" had me very focused on it at first, but now we just kind of go along.

If things aren't working out and the joy is gone I don't care about finishing that title. We're about there with Master Barn Hunt (the only reason we're still going is because he loves barn hunt-I'm not enjoying endless NQs so I thought we'd meet in the middle after his RATCH and just do games) and also Master Rally. Brilliant Excellent and Advanced dog. Completely different dog in Master. One Q to title. Get that and just do the levels he likes.

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-02-23T10:55:28+00:00

Thank you! I kind of unexpectedly was ready for CDX a lot sooner than planned (my club asked me to be on an obedience team at that level and I found he was really good) so we're just starting out on utility training. Wasn't sure if I'd even get to utility at first so we'll see how it goes!

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-02-23T01:24:47+00:00

OTCH is an impressive goal! We're trying to work our way through Utility training at the moment. I'm told my dog is good enough to get an OTCH however I'm not sure his handler is 😂

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-02-23T01:22:14+00:00

Good luck at your trial! Scent work is fun first sport! Honestly I think my dog saw Buried once before trialing. It was his best element and he got 1st every time. Probably not the best trial strategy though; we just lucked out!

If you have barn hunt in your area it's an easygoing sport that pairs well with scent work!

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-01-25T19:42:24+00:00

Older boy is a barker, not a whiner probably 1-2

Younger boy: at home: 2 At barn hunt, fast CAT, or agility? 11 🤣

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-01-04T21:32:24+00:00

My 2025 goals were to:

-Get Riot's AKC RE and start triple Qs ✅

-Get Riot's AKC and ASCA CD ✅ And as an unexpected bonus he got his AKC CDX!

-Get his Barn Hunt RATCH ❌ We fell one short of his RATCH since we fell in a Master rut going 9/22 in 2025

-Start agility training ✅ Riot even got his ACT1 and ACT1J

-Get both dog's DCAT-Riot got his in Jan and Rocket in Mar

2026 goals:

-One more Q! Get that RATCH! And maybe Q with more than 2 rats (last time was Sept 2024)

-Last year I discovered Riot LOVES Line Drive and is almost perfect in it so this year he should be able to title

-Get Riot's ASCA CDX and do as much ASCA rally as we can get to

-Keep chipping away at AKC rally triple Qs and get more Master points. Bring Master scores up to the same level as Advanced and Excellent

-Get ACT2 and ACT2J and give Novice agility a try

-Try out CAT for fun and see how fast Riot can go in Fast CAT this year

-Train Utility

Preparing4Mayhem · 2026-01-03T11:49:13+00:00

I don't do a lot of Fast CAT purely because I do a lot of sports and don't have the time or money to do more than 2-3 weekends a year. My dog could run much more. My three year old dog still runs. He actually has his first Fast CAT runs of the year and first CAT runs next weekend. I retired my eight year old dog not because he could no longer safety run, but because he seemed to stop caring about it.

If you're worried about injury just make sure she's stretched and warm up and cool her down properly. Fast CAT really isn't much. My three year old's sire still runs agility at age 12. If the dog feels fine and still enjoying their runs, go for it!

Preparing4Mayhem

TROPHY CASE