Holiday insanity!

I have been busy busy with holidays this last week. I am proud to say I haven't missed a jog on my training itinerary, until today. I woke up with a horrible sinus headache, and I can't breathe very well. I am thinking a 30 minute jog may slay me. So I bought some orange juice and I am going to take it easy today, and try again Monday. Maybe I can breathe by then!
 The dogs have all been doing well. I started getting them used to the Manners Minder, which has been a blast! Moxie, of course, takes to it immediately. Hustle did too! Sally took a little bit, but then she figured it out and was great. Bailey is still looking to me for the reward, but she is getting much better. I have been using it to reward them for running across a ground board, in preparation for running contacts. So far it's going very well. I am uncure as to how I want Sallys contacts to progress yet, but I guess I'll just see what I have when I put her on contact equipment again.
 I have realized Hustle is a good learner, but he is definitely a 'next day' learned. When he is learning something new, his brain can't process it all, so he seems like he totally doesn't get it. But go back to it the next day, and he not onyly gets the behavior, but offers it. I was seriously thinking he would take forever to offer a jump, because I had to baby lure him ever time. I finally stopped this, and decided I would fade the lure and see what I got. Nowhere fast the first day, so I lured as little as possible to get him to jump, gave him a jackpot, and ended session. The next day, he was offering to jump like a pro. He also repeatedly ran under the bar, and not wanting to reinforce this habit at ALL, I lowered the bar and kept it low for a while. He hasn't ran under since. I think he will really need a higher reward, shorter session training system than my girls did. It does appear that once he gets it, it's solid, which is very good! I need to keep working his jumping and running contact behavior before I try to throw anything else at him though. I might start the teeter bang game, then possibly try the Wendy Pape method to teeter train him, just for something new. He will be my first dog that I have tried running contacts on from scratch, so it should be interesting! I feel confident I can retrain a stop if he starts to blow contacts like it was his job. It's also nice to have enough confidencw going in to think, yeah, I can always change what I don't like. I have always known this to be true, but the confidence level with your own dogs is sometimes lacking.
 Will start videoing my running contact training, and posting it for feedback!

Sally turns 8 today....

Today is Sallys 8th birthday, and while it's hard to imagine that she is a day over 2, it's equally as hard to remember my life before her.
 Sally has given me so much. As a young pup, she had frustrated me past a point I ever thought I could reach. I thank her so much for that, because she made me work. She has also given me more joy than I ever thought possible. I can never repay her for this. Sally taught me to have fun, and to laugh at mistakes. She taught me how to be humbled. She taught me very quickly that I didn't know quite as much as I thought I did about training, and that it was ok to seek out new and nontraditional methods to reach our goals. She taught me that I had to work for it, not sometimes, but ALL the time. It was because of Sally that I grew to love agility, not just for the human comraderie and for something to do with my dog, but for the sheer RUSH of being a team, and having a tiny bit of control over something so wild and beautiful. It was because of Sally that I sought out an instructor who could really help me become her teammate, not just her handler. Sally made me love teaching, because I had to learn so very much to help her. It was because of Sally that I have gained a love of animal physical therapy, massage and athletic conditioning. Sally made me learn how to keep her safe, both on course and off. She made me learn how to handle better, to give her more appropriate info so she could stay safer. I had to learn how to stretch her, and massage her, and work on her constant bumps, bruises and ouchies.
 Sally is the reason I am what I am, and where I am, today. She has the biggest heart of any animal I have ever met. Sally will give me 200%, no matter what. Whether its on course, or in practice, when I consistently mess up, she will try, over and over again, to let me get it right. She is both incredibly forgiving on a course, and terribly relentless if I make mistakes. She is an angel at home, and a demon in agility. She loves me unconditionally, and completely. Of all my dogs, Sally only has eyes for me. She has inspired me to work harder, dig deeper and go for it. Without her, I would have never quit my job at the zoo, and started a business for myself. She is my inspiration every day.
 Here's to many more birthdays, many more thrilling runs in agility, and many, many more 5:30am kissing wake up calls from a red dog who means more than I could ever express, and something different to me every day. I love you Sally wags... Happy Birthday!

Friday...

Yesterday I did my 20 minute jog, so far I am on schedule and keeping consistent! I did some more ball work today, so I should be nice and sore tomorrow!
 I am on day 2 of ball work with the dogs, I missed yesterday (Bad Misty) because I had a thousand things going on and I just forgot! All the dogs did well today. I used food, which super motivated Moxie and Bailey, seemed to over ride Hustles brain, and Sally just went from sit to down to sit. They are all doing very well, today Moxie was the star. She totally gets it now, keep your balance!
 I did some more jump work with Hustle. I put the bars down to 16 again because he was consistently running under 20 inches, and I dont want to pattern that! Yesterday, his little brain just "got it" and he started to offer jumping the bar! Yeehaw! That's what has been so different between the girls and boys. Boys seem like such goons the first few times, then they just get it, and never question it again. My girls all seem to get it right away, then question! 
I am gathering training ideas from students as to what they would like taught when the building gets finished. I am getting loads of great input, which of course, translates to more work for me! I love the challenge though, it makes ME work harder and be a better instructor. I have found a lot of courses and exercises that seem to fit their bill, and on the look-out for more.
 We thought the insulation was in for the building, but we were wrong! Should be in Monday or Tuesday... Can someone tell Santa to please get this thing finished? I am so excited!

contacts and ball work

This morning I decided to start everyone back on balance ball work, including myself. I have the physio-roll, and I love it! I got each dog on the ball and did some bounce work and slight weight bearing work. I just had Bailey (who is 10) put her front feet on it and rock her back and forth, putting gentle weight on her rear end and stretching herin the process. She thinks it's a huge toy, so I have to watch her! Moxie did well, but I really see how much I need to work her hind end now. She got tired the fastest, and knowing she has hip dysplasia makes me even more motivated to keep up with consistent ball work. Sally did well, she stood fine and sat mostly, although she wasn't impressed with the down at all. She is in extremely good shape for 8 years old. Hustle, my youngest, was hilarious. He lept over the ball, several times, before I finally put it by the couch, got him on the couch and helped him up. He's quite the athletic little guy already, but I feel like he needs more core work before we do any real jumping. I just bounced him and rocked him some, nothing major. He takes everything in pretty good stride, so he should do this really well after a while.
 I also did some low jumping with Hustle this am for his breakfast. He is consistenly running UNDER the 20 inch bar, so I lowered it to 16 so he will think more about going over than under. He is also offering me everything under the sun except jumping. He even tried to retrieve hair balls from the carpet for me, and bit the upright several times. You can tell what I have been working, huh? Overall he did well, but I need to change up the plan for him some, before he is super convinced it is okay to go under bars.
 I worked Sally, Moxie and Hustle on a flat board today too, for running contacts. Moxie did very well, and cheated a few times. That is always good because the mistakes allow for the real learning. A few times she came off the board early and got no treat, so she learned very quickly that the end of the board was where she needed to run past. Hustle was his usual goofball self. I had to put boxes on each side of the board for him, to create a channel. Otherwise, he just jumped over the board, again and again and again. He is so funny! Really fun boy to train, he always makes me rethink the plan on the fly, which is great for me. Sally was a stitch, she is so goofy when she is learning stuff, and such a willing student. She did great. I did notice with her, the food HAS to be in the bowl, not tossed, or she will jump off the end of the board. Am I retraining her for a true running contact? Not really. I just want more speed down the boards, and her contacts has fallen apart so this might help her realize it's ok to RUN to the end, not step, pause, step, pause. Poor kid, I reallymessed up a nice 2 on 2 off with inconsistency. You live and you learn!
 I worked myself on the balance ball today, since it's a rest day from jogging. WOW! What a workout. I was amazed you can do so much by barely moving. I got a great appreciation for what my dogs go through on the ball.
 Tons of house errands to run today, and I might go take some more pictures. I think they have some of the siding on, a lot of electricity ran, and our tubs set in pace too. We are getting tons done, it just seems like progress came to a screeching halt since it isn't as measurable as brick! The building might get more work this weekend, weather permitting. I sure do hope we can, I really want dirt in there soon, so I can start training again. I miss my students!

I finished another 2 miler!

Very proud of myself, I did my 2 mile jog today and did just fine. I am a little sore though, where I wasn't after last weeks 2 mile jog. Maybe that's a good thing? Tomorrow is my rest day, and I might try some ball work, along with getting my dogs their core work done!
 Hustle had a breakthrough, he is retrieving some in the living room with the other dogs retrieving too! Yay! Thats huge!
Tomorrow, everyone gets ball and contact work...
We took the dogs deer spotlighting, and as always, it was eventful. Hustles first trip out, he did great. He isn't quite sure where to look yet, but Moxie totally knows to follow the spotlight beam. We didn't see many deer, so we decided to look at christmas lights instead. No, we didn't spotlight those!

Odds and ends...

 Well, it's been an exhausting few days for me. I ran insane errands all day thursday, mostly for the house. Who knew I would be such a slave to that thing? I keep telling myself it will all be worth it in the end, but dang, I am beginning to wonder when that "end" will be! We got the insulation for the building, yippee! Now waiting on a dry day to put it on. Insulation and outer walls go up the same time, so it should actually LOOK like a barn then! I am so excited to start lessons again with my regular students, and some of my newbies too! Friday I spent most of my day running errands, and finishing up my cake for the contest.

 Saturday- Cake Contest! I was robbed! The theme was winter wedding cake, and so I decided to make a square, 2 tiered cake and decorate it like a present. I think I did a great job, and all the shoppers "oooh'd and ahhh'd" over my "winter wonderland" cake. Judgement time comes, and some chick who put blue pansies on her cake won? What? Oh well, it was a lot of fun and a good experience, and a good way to practice making cakes anyway... Saturday night was Jasons company christmas party. Good food, good company.  We did notice saturday night that Bailey wasn't that interested in food. She had a bladder infection 2 weeks ago, and has been finishing up antiboitics.
 Sunday, I was gone all day visiting my uncle Bud, whom I will talk about in a few... But Bailey had a bad tummy ache, wasn't much interested in food, and had some pretty bad gas! But luckily, Monday, she seems to have turned around, and ate both her meals and resumed her role as fun police to the younger dogs. I believe the antibiotics just robbed her GI tract of good flora, and she had a time rebuilding. Poor girl. It really scared me though, because Bailey has been there for every major event in my life, and it finally occured tome that someday, she won't be here. I really love my first girl, my first dog, and my first intro into the dog world. I know she will be here for many more milestones, but when they get older, everything gets a little more scary.
 Now, back to my uncle Bud. Cool uncle Bud is actually my dads uncle, my great uncle. He is my grandfathers brother. My grandfather (we called him Pappy!) died when I was in junior high. He was the kindest, coolest guy I knew, and his brother was a carbon copy. Pappy loved to dance, and I remember him dancing in the living room to make me smile, and every weekend, his brother Bud would come in from Indianapolis to spend the weekend with his brother, dancing at bars. Pretty cool huh? They were the ultimate ladies men too. Both exceptionally handsome for their age, the women loved them. Both had wives who died far to young. I always knew Pappy as just that, my grandfather who was super cool and spoiled and loved me to bits. But uncle Bud was cool uncle Bud, sort of like Peter Pan, they never seemed to grow old. Both had wavy hair they slicked back really nice, and wore cologne and dressed nice. Studs, the both of them. When Pappy was diagnosed with ALS, aks Lou Gherigs disease, it was really hard for Bud. He was losing a brother and a best friend. We didn't see Bud as much after Pappy died, but he always kept in touch and was as cool as ever, every time we got to see him. We got a call a week ago, that he was losing a battle with cancer we didn't even know he was waging. Needless to say, we all made a road trip to see him. He has lost an extreme amount of weight, and was weak, but wearing his Colts jersey and rooting for his team with a smile on his face. His wit is still intact, and his trademark smile I will never forget. The most interesting part was talking to him about Pappy. It never occured to me that Pappy was anything but my grandfather. He was young, funny and apparently, quite the bar brawler! ;)    I got to hear stories about him and Bud as young guns, and how much my grandfather liked to embarass Bud. The more I heard, the more I smiled, because a LOT of my personality is so similar to them. Witty, a little smart aleced and always cracking jokes on friends, all of that came from these 2 amazing guys. And the goofy dancing. Apparently, I get my goofy dancing from Pappy too(those who know me well, know what I mean, I'll bust a move in any given situation, as badly as I can muster). Bud said he was once fighting with a guy, and dancing the whole time. I also found out Pappy recieved a medal for shooting down a german bomber in the Navy in WW2. And that Bud was also in the Navy. So many things I wanted to ask Bud, but I didn't know how. He is weak, yet he is still so alive that he will forever amaze me with his gentle spirit. Cool Uncle Bud. The closest I get to having Pappy again, will soon be in heaven with his brother. I am certain they will be partners in crime again, best friends reunited and making more memories.
On a training note, Hustle is a scream. He totally has "get it" down, but he gets it, and runs a lap around the room... Always something, that boy... I am also starting him on more jumping foundation, and while he is doing well, I think he needs more core muscles. I will intro him to the ball tomorrow, and do a week of that before I jump him again. I guess I will just keep working that goofy retrieve and his running contacts!


 

I made it....

2 miles! I am so proud that I made my Monday and Tuesday goals! Yesterday I jogged 15 minutes, and today I did a full 2 miles without stopping! Go me! Tomorrow is my jogging day off, so I am going to walk a little and do some weights. The day to day planner online has helped me a lot to set goals. Small attainable goals. I love training myself.
 I am doing a cake contest this weekend, so I have spent a lot of my day making icing and preparing what I will make. I have to make a 2 tiered, winter themed wedding cake. I decided to make a cake that looks like a present, and see how that works out for me. It should be fun and it is a good distraction for me, at the very least. It's raining buckets outside, which really limits what we can do to the barn. We ordered insulation, so maybe it'll stop raining enough to get that on, and the roof! I am getting impatient!
 The dogs dinner will be spent training, since this morning they got deer meat and it's really hard to train with deer meat! ;)   More flat board work for everyone, and some more retrieve training thrown in for Hustle. I am also starting Sally on her Back on Track Jacket tonight, for 15 minutes. I might start Moxie as well. I really like them, and they seem very lighweight yet functional. Anything to keep them healthy.
 I am going to make my dinner now, and get ready for Biggest Loser Finale! They are so inspiring! If they can lose 200 lbs, I can surely run a mini, right?!

Contact decisions...

Since making the decision to switch to running contacts, I have enlisted the help of a student of mine. Adrian has successfully taught her dog Panic to run his contacts, so I figure, why reinvent the wheel? I must say, it's an awesome feeling to have a student teach you! I can't fully claim Adrian as mine exclusively, but I'd like to think I at least taught her something, once! ;) 
 Anyway, we got together today to start the journey into running contacts. We decided to start Moxie, since she has a beautiful 2 on 2 off that she refuses to hold now in trials, so why not let her run them. At least then it sounds like it's MY idea and not HERS, right? We are using the Trkman method, so we started her with a ground board and sent her to a food bowl. The only criteria was stay on the board, and run. Moxie is a star, so of course she got it right away. We decided to take her on my lowered dogwalk and test her out. I put her halfway on the down ramp, and Adrian baited the food bowl. I gave her a "ready, set GO!" command and let her run. She did very well. I did find that restraining her made her come off the board weird, so I used a verbal "wait" instead. I think Moxie will transition nicely, and I noticed she started to really run after a few repetitions.
 Next up was Sally. I may as well work her like the rest of them. She unfortunately has no real contact behavior to speak of, and at the very least, this might speed her up on the boards. She was hilarious! We started her on the flat board, and she thought it was the best game EVER. Nobody ever gets to see Sally act as silly as she is, and I so wish we had a camcorder. She would get her treat, bounce around, offer behaviors and toss her food bowl around. She thought she was quite clever. We decide to take her outside. HA! The first few were okay but she was bailing high, then she decided she didn't want to play our game, thank you very much, she'd rather run around with a frisbee in her mouth and be silly. So her session ended with her pretty much IN the yellow, showing her the food in the bowl, letting her run to it and jackpotting her. I am telling you, red dogs are just different! ;)
Hustle was our last to go. After he got out of his crate, jumped up and jammed my finger and nearly gave me a concussion, I decided to make sure Adrian had health insurance before assisting me with him!
He is a blank slate, so we decided to just let him run the board. Except he ran around it! So we got boxes out to block him, and he then started running through the channel of boxes, to the board, to us with food! He still has a very short attention span, so we lost his interest pretty quickly, and decided to get one last run across and jack pot him too.
 All in all, good times and all the dogs did pretty well for round number one. Oh, and Hustle has his basic play retrieve down, in case anyone was doubting me! ;)
 I start my jogging plans tomorrow, so wish me luck! Tomorrows goal is a 15 minute jog. I will probably go to the YMCA and use the treadmill, because I can watch tv and focus on something else in the beginning. Plus I can do some weights for my upper body.
 To end, the shell of the building is now finished. We hope to have it fully insulated and the walls put up by next weekend, barring crazy weather or complications. Fingers crossed!

Training and such

I have been super motivated this past week to get things in order. I have spent the majority of the week organizing everything for the eventual move into the house, once it is finished. I have also spent some time defining my class structure further, and getting all my students folders and levels in order. Yes folks, I take notes!
 Making my early resolutions (I'll refer to them as goals from now on) has lit my fire some. I had decided to switch Moxie to running contacts, and Hustle to start from scratch with running, but that leaves the dilemna of Sally. Sally used to have a fantastic 2 on 2 off position, and somewhere along the line I have muddied the waters terribly. We tried running, but she started to bail higher and higher and Sally never misses contacts. The more I seem to train her, the worse she gets, so she leaves me at a constant crossroads. I believe I will train her with the others on running contacts, and see where it leads. She may never have a perfect running contact, or a perfect stop, but I am tired of stressing about them and we need to just pick something and make it happen.
 Hustle is doing very well on his retrieve training. It helps that I set a quick deadline for myself, because it makes me work harder and my training tends to be much better as a result. He is now picking up the toy, and walking it towards me. Tomorrow, he needs to have a full play retrieve or I guess I just dock my own pay for the day, huh?
 I started Moxie on a flat board today, and clicked her for running across it. I think she will be a breeze to train, but I want to make sure I do all the steps correctly. I need to pepper in more weave training in her contact training, because that's where we are losing all our Qs. All in all, I couldn't be happier with her performances in trials. She is coming out of her shell, speeding up on courses, and generally looking like I actually put the time into her training that I did! Foundation pays off huge dividends in the end!
 Bailey is the worlds cutest, smartest older dog. She is currently on antibiotics for a bladder infection, and she invents new ways every day to avoid her pills. I saw her literally move the pill to the side of her mouth, and swallow, then walk away from me and spit the pill out around the corner. You have to love an old dog.  I also started to work her with the Manners Minder. She's my easiest to train, so she's always good to experiment with. She caught on after a bit, but she still kept looking to my hands for food delivery. The remote looks like a clicker to her, and she is so clicker savvy that she is certain that the food in the bowl is a trick! I love that girl!
 Sally gets her first flat board experience in a little while, so I'll be interested to see how this goes!
 And somebody click me please! I went for a 30 minute walk today with my friend,  my idea! I will walk tomorrow, and start my jogging plan officially on Monday. I did decide to do 3 training plans instead of 2. A 5 week to a 5k plan, then 10 weeks to a 10k, then 10 weeks to a mini. I want this to be fun for me and if I have these smaller goals, it'll be easier for me to stay the course!
 Jason and Ronnie worked more on the building today, the back end of the building is now framed up. We need to insulate it, then put on the outer walls. I guess we do dirt, doors and lights last! I am ready to rock with this. Life sure does have a way of working itself out sometimes...

A nice poem

A friend sent this to me, since yesterday was the one year date of our fire and my losing Luke. It is a very touching poem. Thanks Maurene...  I like the line about lifes quality, not it's length. Look at those ears...

I LOVED YOU BEST

So this is where we part, My Friend,
and you'll run on, around the bend,
gone from sight, but not from mind,
new pleasures there you'll surely find.

I will go on. I'll find the strength,
life measures quality, not its length.
One long embrace before you leave,
share one last look, before I grieve.


There are others, that much is true,
but they be they, and they aren't you.
And I, fair, impartial, or so I thought,
will remember well all you've taught.


Your place I'll hold, you will be missed,
the fur I stroked, the nose I kissed.
And as you journey to your final rest,
take with you this....I loved you best.

Early New Years Resolutions

I have decided to make some early resolutions. Today is the day after the one year anniversary of our fire, and it just seems like the right time to start over.
1. I have decided to start jogging again, and make a real effort to get in, and stay in, shape. To facilitate my goal and get me motivated, I am going to sign up to run the Derby Mini Marathon in April. Since I don't want to DIE while trying to accomplish this, it will certainly get me going!
2. I have decided to put a real effort into my business and commit myself to offering quality personalized instruction.
3. I have made some serious goals for my dogs next year, and I intend on reaching them.
a. Sally needs to get her MX, MXJ and qualify for USDAA and AKC Nationals. No excuses.
b. Moxie needs to get her MX, MXJ and qualify for USDAA and AKC Nationals. No excuses.
c. Hustle will be ready to compete by May, and have his OA, OAJ by December. No excuses.

To start my day today, I partially cooked the dogs some deer meat for breakfast, and went to the gym. I am following a 10 week plan for a 10k run, and will follow that with a 10 week plan for a mini. We shall see how this turns out! I walked a brisk 1.5 miles today at the gym. Not much but I am starting the real plan on Monday, so I didn't want to be super sore on the actual day #1.
I am working with Hustle to get him to retrieve, so we are, again, free shaping a toy pick up. Today he mouthed it, so he got a jackpot. I am setting my goal for 3 days for a full retrieve, to put some pressure on myself, because I know I can do it.
I am going to work diligently on Moxie's running contact behavior, and her WEAVES! She should have double Qs by now, but weaves are killing us. I am going back to the beginning of 2x2 weaves, and working from there. Her issue is confidence.
I am going to keep with basics on Sally. 6 recall to heel positions, 2 jump grids and forward, lateral sending. I need to maintain her weaves, because they save me a LOT on course, and we need to do something about her contacts. She doesn't miss, but she is S L O W.
Bailey is semi retired but sitting at 3 Qs away from her MXP. I am going to touch on contacts with her, and weaves, and never do more than 2-3 jumps without a reward. She will be 11 in May, and it would be nice to finish her up before then. She loves cold weather and indoor trials, so we have a good shot at it next year.
Other than that, I am excited about the blog, my business, and getting on with life after a year of being suspended in time.