Redwood Ranch's First Christmas Party!
I hosted the very first Redwood Ranch Christmas party last Saturday [on Beam's 3rd birthday, no less!]. It was Wonderful. Nerve-wracking. Fun. Entertaining. And I think an overall success.
I wish I had a real photographer .. next year I will definitely farm out some jobs! :) I didn't end up eating anything until everyone had left and I grabbed some leftovers, but there were 3 tables worth of food! We had 32 people participate in the gift exchange, which was a lot of fun. Poor Susan won the most items stolen :)
Nancy was a good sport about getting Michelle's most-interesting wrapped present that ended in this .. finger puppet. [BTW we loved having Nancy set up her Skinnydog booth to support 2 whippets in rescue!]
I really enjoyed meeting some new future students, some spouses, some friends, some kids, and most of all, I hit my goal of getting amazing dog people socializing together. Our facilities are not fancy. There will be a time I look back and say "remember when we were so cold in that agility barn?" But our people are amazing. And If I do nothing else in Eugene, I hope I am a positive influence on uniting good dog people together to create this amazing culture.
I planned a couple of cheesy games, hoping to get people talking together. One game didn't go as well as I had imagined, so I will think of ways to tweak it for next year. It was a "meet and greet" game, where you grab a little card when you got in. The cards were grouped together in multiples of 3 towards a common theme, and you had to find your matching cards. Biggest problem was everyone who RSVP'd yes didn't come, so I had way too many cards. Oops! :) Second problem was it was a bit too complicated in the themes of my cards, so KISS .. keep it simple stupid ;) I really liked the goal and it did get people talking, so yay and we'll work on it!
Second game was a mock rally course with 6 signs. One person was the handler and one person was the *blindfolded* dog. The team who entertained me the most would win. And I had tears coming down my face. The most common theme was to immitate one's own dog, and it was very amusing to watch the marking, sniffing, jumping up, and distracted behaviors going on in a human form. Everyone was such good sports - have I said how much I enjoy my students (and their peeps)?!
Our winners were the husband/wife duo of Gale and Vern who have a pair of Rhodesian Ridgeback puppies. Literal tears coming out of my eyes of Vern's rendition of Bodhi's behaviors :)
The last game was a shaping contest with some M&M's. There were 2 contests - the first one was you had to shape your dog to circle around a chair and then sit down. The second one you had to put a block of wood on your head. Wow was it enlightening! I really wish I could've talked about it more, but it was fascinating watching the behaviors. The two teams who were successful - both the "dogs" were not actual students, but a husband/daughter of a student. (The dog's only instructions were to "offer" behaviors.) The handlers of these teams (Lynn and Amanda) had fantastic shaping skills - I can't even begin to describe how proud I was of them while I was watching them do this exercise. Gah. It was interesting that usually the first thing that was rewarded was the *action* that the dog got stuck on, so be careful what you reward! Very very fun.
Our winner Adam and his handler Lynn, and everyone impressed he figured it out!
The afternoon was wonderful.
I lost my voice.
I may have squeaked out a few tears thanking my students.
I can't thank them enough.
Here's to an amazing 2013, with amazing people! I am so very grateful.
Party gifts .. reindeer noses and (not pictured) Grinch Pills. A pinterest success!
Mike had an awesome reenactment of his dog Merlot's leisurely pace.
Nancy leading her very distractable dog around the course.
Kellen had the best hat at the party.
Neither had done rally before, I was quite impressed :)
Unfortunately that treat in Kellen's hand is not for his dog, it's for himself!
Cathy had the best communication out of all the teams! Finally she had a dog that understands english!
Elena was so cute in her offerings!
I think she was a border collie in her past life.
Kat was definitely the thinker of the dogs - very creative .... :)
Surely I should be on the floor if I'm the dog!
Circling the chair and sitting down, at mach speed!
A new round of shaping
Rewarded at first with the feet touching the block, it was hard to veer away from that
I wish I had a real photographer .. next year I will definitely farm out some jobs! :) I didn't end up eating anything until everyone had left and I grabbed some leftovers, but there were 3 tables worth of food! We had 32 people participate in the gift exchange, which was a lot of fun. Poor Susan won the most items stolen :)
Nancy was a good sport about getting Michelle's most-interesting wrapped present that ended in this .. finger puppet. [BTW we loved having Nancy set up her Skinnydog booth to support 2 whippets in rescue!]
I really enjoyed meeting some new future students, some spouses, some friends, some kids, and most of all, I hit my goal of getting amazing dog people socializing together. Our facilities are not fancy. There will be a time I look back and say "remember when we were so cold in that agility barn?" But our people are amazing. And If I do nothing else in Eugene, I hope I am a positive influence on uniting good dog people together to create this amazing culture.
I planned a couple of cheesy games, hoping to get people talking together. One game didn't go as well as I had imagined, so I will think of ways to tweak it for next year. It was a "meet and greet" game, where you grab a little card when you got in. The cards were grouped together in multiples of 3 towards a common theme, and you had to find your matching cards. Biggest problem was everyone who RSVP'd yes didn't come, so I had way too many cards. Oops! :) Second problem was it was a bit too complicated in the themes of my cards, so KISS .. keep it simple stupid ;) I really liked the goal and it did get people talking, so yay and we'll work on it!
Second game was a mock rally course with 6 signs. One person was the handler and one person was the *blindfolded* dog. The team who entertained me the most would win. And I had tears coming down my face. The most common theme was to immitate one's own dog, and it was very amusing to watch the marking, sniffing, jumping up, and distracted behaviors going on in a human form. Everyone was such good sports - have I said how much I enjoy my students (and their peeps)?!
Our winners were the husband/wife duo of Gale and Vern who have a pair of Rhodesian Ridgeback puppies. Literal tears coming out of my eyes of Vern's rendition of Bodhi's behaviors :)
The last game was a shaping contest with some M&M's. There were 2 contests - the first one was you had to shape your dog to circle around a chair and then sit down. The second one you had to put a block of wood on your head. Wow was it enlightening! I really wish I could've talked about it more, but it was fascinating watching the behaviors. The two teams who were successful - both the "dogs" were not actual students, but a husband/daughter of a student. (The dog's only instructions were to "offer" behaviors.) The handlers of these teams (Lynn and Amanda) had fantastic shaping skills - I can't even begin to describe how proud I was of them while I was watching them do this exercise. Gah. It was interesting that usually the first thing that was rewarded was the *action* that the dog got stuck on, so be careful what you reward! Very very fun.
Our winner Adam and his handler Lynn, and everyone impressed he figured it out!
The afternoon was wonderful.
I lost my voice.
I may have squeaked out a few tears thanking my students.
I can't thank them enough.
Here's to an amazing 2013, with amazing people! I am so very grateful.
Party gifts .. reindeer noses and (not pictured) Grinch Pills. A pinterest success!
Mike had an awesome reenactment of his dog Merlot's leisurely pace.
Nancy leading her very distractable dog around the course.
Kellen had the best hat at the party.
Neither had done rally before, I was quite impressed :)
Unfortunately that treat in Kellen's hand is not for his dog, it's for himself!
Cathy had the best communication out of all the teams! Finally she had a dog that understands english!
Elena was so cute in her offerings!
I think she was a border collie in her past life.
Kat was definitely the thinker of the dogs - very creative .... :)
Surely I should be on the floor if I'm the dog!
Circling the chair and sitting down, at mach speed!
A new round of shaping
Rewarded at first with the feet touching the block, it was hard to veer away from that