Mistys Dog Blog

Where did the summer go?

2011-09-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

July, August and September have been a blur. So much so that I can't remember July. WTH? I'm pretty sure we did some agility shows, and I'm pretty sure we did ok! We did a USDAA show where I had one more chance to get a Grand Prix Q on Sally before Regionals in Chicago so we could even ENTER Grand Prix at Regionals. Well, on a wing and a prayer, she gets it. Ugliest Q ever and I did a whole lot of ugly savin' in that run, but we got'er'done. Who knew little Sally could pull it off in crunch time. But I do mean UGLY. I vaguely remember her landing well off the beaten path a few times and my doing some hideous rear crosses on the flat to save, and nasty shoulder pulls, and basically just anything that is not consistent with anything we try to stay consistent with. Oh well, it's Sally... Sometimes that girl makes me work my tail off. But she is always a rush! Moxie was already qualified for everything, so she was just running for USDAA MAD titling requirements. And for whatever reason, we cannot pull a Masters Standard leg off for love or money. She actually has 4 or 5 jumpers legs, 4 Snookers (with ZERO super Qs I might add), 2 gamblers legs and 5 pairs legs. And ZERO standard legs. This is the girl who QQs in AKC all the time. It's always some crazy thing too, never something that I expected. Hustle has 2 snookers legs and 2 jumpers legs, and is coming along nicely. Slowly, but nicely.
August!!!! I put the exclamation points there because that's how August felt. !!! 1st weekend of August was Chicago regionals. It was a blast. We went up early a day before and visited a dog beach. Let me just say, I could totally live in Chicago or the surrounding area. Lake Michigan is gorgeous. All the beauty of the ocean, none of the salt. Moxie was pretty sure she was in heaven. She saw the water and started whining long before we hit the sand. The dog beach was amazing because it was fenced in. You could just let your dog off leash and run. And run they did. My goodness, they all pretty much went feral immediately. My dogs who check in with me constantly on walks never looked back. It was so much fun to watch and I really want to take them back someday for an extended vacation. They were meant to be beach bums! The Chicago site was wonderful, except for the mosquitoes. So many that I am pretty sure most of us were anemic at the end of the day. We would RUN to our vehicles, then RUN back inside. It was terrible. The surface was nice and the dogs (and us) loved it. Moxie had a fantastic Regional. She got a Grand Prix leg, several assorted other legs, and get this, a MASTERS STANDARD LEG. Woot. April ran her in Steeplechase and they got a Q and had a fantastic run. Thanks April! Sally girl was AWESOME. She needed one more Grand Prix for Nationals, and wonder of wonder, she gets it at regionals. It was a wild run, but what run with her isn't? She didn't get many other Qs of the weekend, but she got what we needed and I was thrilled. Hustle had a few nice jumpers runs and a few terrible standard runs. He was having some serious dogwalk issues, and decided he had never seen weaves before. Everything else looked good, but back to the drawing board on the contact training. (He has since gotten over the fears!)
2 weeks after regionals we got to be the weave pole dogs in a state fair show. For 11 days... In the scorching heat... In a nasty tent next to a porta potty.... In the parking lot of the Kentucky State Fair... But it was amazing!!!! The deal was, Lou Mack McCammon (the coolest frisbee dog guy ever, who puts on a fantastic show!) comes out, does his thing with his frisbee dogs, and we end the show by racing down a line of 24 weave poles, around a barrel, and back down the 24 poles. I have to say, it was a lot of work on the dogs. 3 shows a day, in heats of best out of 3 races. I used Sally and Moxie. April used Haze and Frenzy, and Adrian brought Panic for a few days. My girls did all 11 days. And they were fabulous. It was inspiring, honestly, to watch them work their tails off in 100+ degree heat, 3 times a day, in sparkly shirts. Sally got to run first, and we set her up to lose (and usually Frenzy kicked her ass anyway!) so that she wouldn't have to run twice. At 9 yrs old, I wasn't comfortable putting that much pressure on her. Moxie ran twice and was set up to win race 2, and the last race was just a go for it race. I held Sally and Moxie back, and got them jacked up (and believe me they were JACKED up, it was all I could do to hold Sally, and by race 3 Moxie was foaming at the mouth). It was awesome. They fed off the crowd, and so did we. We got to do meet and greets afterwards with the public. Too much fun. I can see the allure of show business now!
On a sappy note, the last show was a bit emotional for me. Knowing that Sally will maybe never get to do this again hit me the last race. I think I maybe teared up watching her bark and try to dive into the weaves and generally just get to be her nutty self. Moxie was tired, but still gave it everything. They worked, and worked, and worked all week and never quit or gave me less than 110%. On the ride home, after it was all over, I got really sappy :) Looking at them, sleeping in the truck, wagging their tails at me, it just hit me how DAMN AWESOME my dogs are. I'm so proud of them, and I love them so much it hurts sometimes. I wonder if they ever look at me and think "my mom is damn awesome". I guess I have a new goal :)

random thoughts on Hustle

2011-06-30T11:57:00.000-07:00

I have taken some heat about not having Hustle ready for the agility ring by age 2. After talking to a friend who has his half brother, I thought I would put a few of those random thoughts down in the blog.

I have taken my time with him, and probably dawdled a bit with him in training. He is so immature still, and I have the 2 girls doing so well, why rush him? It took me forever to bond with him when I first brought him home. When I trained him at first, it hurt, because I just thought this should be Luke. We kind of struggled through that. I had to make myself sit down and get a clicker and shape him and build a bond. I went to the bathroom and cried the first time I trialed him, and he was such a good boy. I dont know what I cried more about, the Luke factor, or the fact that I had shortchanged Hustle so terribly in training. After that, I decided he will be very well trained, and I was going to enjoy every moment of it.
And now I do... He's a blast, my big dumb boy ;) Hustle is my dessert now. Sally and Moxie are for SURE the main course right now, but Hustle is my secret indulgence. He just makes me laugh, and smile, and roll my eyes at his silliness. No pressure... His will be a late journey, but I am determined it will be a damn good one.

End of May?

2011-05-29T13:38:00.000-07:00

How is it already the end of may? Seriously? This half of the year has flown by. I can't believe 2011 is already halfway gone!
Moxie now has 5QQs for AKC Nationals, and 214 points. We have a 3 day show coming up in AKC, so hoping to finish QQ#6 and some much needed points off. Points are always the most difficult thing to come by. She got to play at 16 inches in a team event with my friend Aprils dog Frenzy. Needless to say, she had a BALL going over the 16 inch speed bumps. I have been working on weaves entries with her, not the normal entries (she has been awesome in trials) but the really hard soft side entries she seems to have trouble with. She is doing pretty well in practice and she has picked up a lot of speed and drive through the weaves. And as always, working her contact stays. She is really pushy, and holds them really well some days, and pauses and releases herself others. I have a screaming match with her most of the time on contacts, you can hear me repeating "SPOT! STAY! YOU STAY!!! STAY!!!!!!!!" and it's usually for not. She pauses and now it's turned into a "how long can you make me stay on the flat" contest. What a rat!
Sally is SO much better! She got Steeplechase #2 and is now qualified for Nationals. I'll putz around with Grand Prix, but it's not really a huge goal of mine. Just getting her there is enough. She gets to run all 3 days in the AKC trial too, and now she is in excellent B jumpers after a really nice title run a few weeks ago. Happy she is back in the game. She's my girl, that's for sure!
Hustle! Well, his dogwalk is, uh, it's there. He "sort of" understands the 2o2o. His aframe looks very good though! I need to really go in and solidify his understanding if the 6 recall to heel positions and then really start working his lateral and forward sends. His weave entries are good enough that I think I am going to add in the 2nd set of poles again. I REALLY want good weaves with him, so I am trying to proof the beegezus out of them. He really, really likes to the teeter. I can see this causing several wrong courses in his young future. All in all, purse puppy is looking decent for his September "redebut." Should be a good time!

Goals

2011-04-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

I have had a very good 2011 already with the dogs. I set myself some lofty goals for this year, both personal and professional. I want very much to be a good teacher, and I have invested some more time and attention to being clear to my students, teaching level appropriate skills, and keeping them challenged. I have more work to do, but I feel better about the direction I am going with my classes overall. I do get a great deal of enjoyment out of seeing my students succeed, watching them figure out handling strategies for themselves, and of course, teasing them endlessly! All of my students are fantastic, and they get my odd sense of humor. What a great job! I get to combine my two favorite things, teaching and agility. I am so blessed. My goal for my business this year is to expand, possibly add another dog sport or two, and make more people aware of the awesome things they can do with their dogs.
Moxie has turned on quite a bit. I know I have been saying that, but she really is going to the line a much more "game" dog. She has started pulling me a little to get on the line from the sidelines, and she has never done that before. She is working hard to get her weaves, and stay in them. We have work to do on committing to all 12 poles no matter what my position or motion is, but she is fighting for her entries, and I appreciate that. Moxie now has a much better weave entry than Sally ever had. Sally has better commitment, but I have to help her find a straight line or wrap to the poles. Moxie has always been a nice jumper, so I am trying to push her a bit around the course, and trust her natural athleticism to get her over the bars. She is also already fully qualified for USDAA Nationals! My goal for her was all 3 events this year, and before June. Check! I also set myself the goal of AKC Nationals for her this year. Last year was the big "6 point fiasco". Never again. I did decide a bit late to try for AKC Nationals, since my goal was USDAA. This year, I want both. The 6 points were the best thing that ever happened to us, because it made me work several weak skills and reevaluate our training and handling. She is already 4QQs and 164 pts towards her qualifications this year. I was told by Jen Crank that I am starting to run her "for the Q" and that she has a lot more to offer if I simply push her, so that is my other goal this year. Now that we have our USDAA qualifiers done, I can really push her some in USDAA and practice handling more aggressively. I am very excited about this weekend with Moxie, because we are just going for it every run. No pressure, just working to be the most we can be as a team.
Sally has been off and on lame for a while, which has concerned me greatly since she is 9. Sally has her team Q and one steeplechase Q in USDAA for nationals. One more Steeplechase and she is qualified, and we may or may not try for Grand Prix. Sally finished her P2 title this year, and is now starting her P3 qualifications. Or whatever they are called now. I had her adjusted by a chiropractor last month, and she was a mess. I had her adjusted wednesday and she was less of a mess, so it seems she is improving, but I am going to invest a great deal of energy into a physical therapy regime for her to STAY sound. She is so hard on her body in daily life. She runs and rough houses and she shakes toys and slams herself around. I adore that about her, but at this stage in her life, her attitude is still writing checks her body can't fully cash. But her heart is in agility, so I owe it to her to do whatever I need to do to keep her safe, running and comfortable. ALL the success I have with Moxie is because of all the lessons I learned from Sally.
Hustle! Oh Hustle... I am getting serious about his training now. My goal is to enter him in everything by September. I asked Jen Crank to hold a training and goal setting seminar at my place, and she did. This was a very selfish request, as I have attended it before, but listening to her talk and remind me of how important goals are really lit the fire in me. I wrote down all of the skills he would need, rated them above average, average or below average, and ranked them from urgent, moderate or maintenance skills, and am developing a plan for him. I have decided on a RUNNING aframe (after Jen showed me how to train it!), a 2o2o dogwalk and teeter, and I have also decided this dog would have phenomenal weave skills. So this has also helped me develop a plan for him. I am excited, and refreshed to have a plan. I hope to blog his progress, if only to hold myself accountable and stay on track. I dont have a good track record for blogging, but I will try!
As for myself, my goal is to become a better runner, and lose some pounds. I bought a nice running treadmill, am entered in a 5K, and my goal is to do the mini next year. Really, I just want to feel better about myself and become a better, more athletic handler.

Hustle training

2011-02-23T20:54:00.000-08:00

I've decided to show Hustle this weekend at Circle G in Ohio. Just in jumpers friday and saturday. Is he ready? Not a chance! He can't really weave yet, and has no idea what a rear cross is. But my friend April dared me to show him, and I never back down from a dare. It'll be a good chance to see how well he understands front crosses and his jumping skills (since that's ALL he knows!) Oh well, should be entertaining! He is jumping quite nicely at 22, 24 and 26 inches. I am impressed by his turns so far and he is looking forward to jumps at hand nicely. Rear crosses are terrifying him right now! It seems when I go in towards him on the flat, he bolts. I'll have to teach him somehow, without applying too much pressure to his line. I have decided to put a stop on his contacts too. I know myself all too well, and I know I won't train the running as much as I should, so 2o2o it is!
I've been working Moxie on weaves, just a couple of repetitions and big rewards and then move on. I'm also working with a clicker and having her hold her back feet to things. Anything to get her to stop on that damn aframe! She was a rock star the last couple of times I did a whole course with her. She has so much potential, and I just need to figure out how we can grow as a team and work on our weaknesses more. She's such a little diva! I have already figured out that she needs a lot of personal attention before each run, and some connecting time with me. She is so different than Sally, who is a machine. Sally is all about the job. Like a reliable tractor, take her out, start her up, and off she goes, full tilt. Moxie expects dinner and a drink first ;)
The cold has been bothering Sallys arthritis a bit, so I have let her run herself in the yard more than any real training. As soon as it gets warmer, I'll swim her in the pond and build her up more. I am going to increase her adequan dosage and see if that doesn't help her out any. She's 9 years old, and still has a lot of competition life left in her, so I want to make sure I am taking care of her as much as possible to let her do what she loves to do.
Hopefully I'll have good things to report after this weekend!

2011

2011-01-21T15:10:00.000-08:00

2010 was a good year overall. I will say 2009 was probably the worst year ever, and 2010 was a whirlwind if moving, paperwork, more paperwork and generally trying to get life back into some semblance of normal. While we aren't there quite yet, we are getting there. The barn was raised for training, and we started having regular classes inside in June. I held my very first seminar, courtesy of Jennifer Crank, who owns Incredipaws. It was successful, if only a little bit colder than we had hoped! We also had a really good time in december with our first agility league. All in all, it was a good year for TNT.
This year, we have even MORE in the works! Another seminar, to be announced soon, and other exciting news to be revealed. I say "we" because, even though TNT is my baby, I definitely feel like we are developing our own little family. I am sure I have said this before, but I will say it again and again. I have the best students any trainer could ask for. They are hard working, funny, serious and as dedicated as anyone could ever hope for. I appreciate them more than I can ever express. They allow me to be tough on them, to tease them mercilessly during class, and still they come back. I never feel like I am giving them as much as they give me. It's truly a joy and an honor to have them come back, week after week. Thank you TNTers, I love you all.
As for 2011, my personal goal this year is to qualify for both AKC and USDAA Nationals with Moxie, and qualify for USDAA nationals with Sally. Hustle, I would like to just get him started and develop in him a love for the game. He's a good little man, and he is coming along nicely. I would like to grow my business to incorporate more things this year, like more clicker training classes, some obedience classes and perhaps some other fun dog sport training.
I am going to try and keep up with Blogging this year too. I said that last year, I know... But this year, hopefully, I'll have more to blog.
Speaking of last year, I have to take a second to thank my phenomenal girls. Sally, who is a legend in my eyes, was amazing. I decided to run her at 16 inches and move her to Preferred AKC and Performance USDAA. All I can say is, it was the best move ever. She FLEW through P1 USDAA, and EASILY earned her USDAA National qualifiers, her P1 title, and half of her P2 title as well. She was a Superstar at USDAA Nationals. I could not have asked her to do more than she did. She earned her way from Grand Prix Quarterfinals to Semifinals, and probably would have done okay in Semis if I would have only trusted her a little more. Sorry Sally girl, but what a ride you gave me... I will remember it forever. How good she was in her team events too, in standard, and Gamblers, and Jumpers even though I mishandled her. Her partner Haze was equally as good, and they finished in the top half of the Performance teams. So proud I could have burst. I love my Sally girl.
Moxie certainly decided to step up to the plate last year. She finished her AX, AXJ, MX, MXJ, her Open and Excellent Fast titles, and got 4 Masters Fast legs. She flew through her AD title in USDAA, and flew equally as fast through her AAD title. So now, on to Masters. She qualified for the USDAA Nationals in Team and Steeplechase, and was 6 little points short of qualifying for AKC nationals in 2011. This year, we plan on trying to qualify for both, perhaps a little earlier this year ;) She went from having weave issues early in the year, and contact issues, to being a solid little competition dog, and for that, I am terribly proud of her. I am also glad, in some weird way, that we did not qualify for AKC Nationals. Being so close will only make me work harder, and train harder. Had we qualified, I think it would have led me into a false sense of security. Thank you Moxie, for teaching me that failure is not fatal, and never give up on your dreams. I also learned that if you never fail at something, you aren't reaching high enough. This year, I will reach higher, and set my goals at an attainable, but very high, level. We will see how it all plays out. Either way, it'll be a fantastic ride!

This n That

2010-09-10T09:20:00.000-07:00

Today it is finally raining. We have needed rain for a long time, since my yard resembles a dustbowl right now. The weather is cooler, and the dogs have been absolutely insane in the cool mornings. Even the old girl Bailey has been ripping around the yard like a puppy again. They seriously enjoy this weather. I wish I lived in a cooler climate sometimes. I do not enjoy the heat of the summer, and neither do they.
We had some very good runs last weekend on some technical courses. I thought all the courses were very nice. I enjoy technical because it makes me think and work very hard to be consistent. Moxie got her 4th QQ for AKC Nationals, which is both thrilling and also puts an enormous amount of pressure on me to get the other 2 QQs before November 30th. She is capable of getting them and doing well, but sometimes she needs to get out of her own head and just do the course like I know she can. She blew 2 standard runs on weaves, so needless to say, we are weaving a LOT this week. Sally was a rockstar in preferred, with 2 novice std Qs for her title and an open std Q, plus one novice jumpers Q, and 2 novice jumpers NQs which were beautiful with one bar down. Oh well, I am enjoying novice with her while I can. Maybe next year we can get her to AKC nationals in the preferred class. Its been fun running her with less pressure, because I realize how far our teamwork has come. Sally is like that comfy sweater you love to wear, it just feels good. It feels so good to run with her. I have such trust in her abilities and I know she will always try her hardest for me. I absolutely cannot describe how great it feels to have that kind of a connection. I feel like thats what I need to build more with Moxie. Not that we dont have a wonderful connection, but I think Moxie needs to feel that she is a rockstar in her own right. I did notice getting her out earlier for her runs last weekend and walking her and spending some time with her seemed to help. She was definitely running as good as she has ever ran, with the exception of the 2 weave pole bobbles.
Hustle is doing well in training. I take him to trials and work him over the jumps, since, for whatever reason, he is a maniac about tugging at shows, and he could care less at home! His jumping is looking good, and we are stringing 2-3 jumps together now, all with turns and no side changes. I am bouncing him between 20-24-26 inch jumps, and he looks good at all 3 heights. He is working on 2x2 weaves (which admittedly I need to work harder, it was a busy week!) but he is getting it pretty well. His aframe looks GREAT! I think I will keep it as a running. I am undecided on the dogwalk, since I started working a low teeter and that took up more of my focus. He should be ready to show early next year. No rush with him, as I think he was slow to mature and I also think he will be a fantastic little agility dog.
Nothing else to report, except I am painting and caulking trim, trying to get my office set up and the rest of my house done before fall so I can just ENJOY the fall weather!
OH! How can I forget. My students looked AWESOME at the trial last weekend. I have to say, very unbiased I may add, that my students looked far more advanced than the other novice handlers I saw running. I was very impressed with all the TNTers and can't wait to see more from them at the next show!

Sally

2010-08-17T21:28:00.000-07:00

I have noticed that in the past few months, when Sally is on her back, she has this weird cough. It just happens 1-2 times, then it's over. Somehow, I knew there was something else up. I took her to the vet last saturday, and had her completely worked up. We saw immediately on x-ray that the right side of her heart was enlarged slightly. Upon EKG, it was determined to be abnormal, but consistently abnormal. All bloodwork and heartworm test were fine. Now that wait for the cardiologist.
Let me assure you, I know what it feels like now to be kicked in the testicles. I SO wanted this to be nothing. Sally, my girl, my *go to* dog when I need to learn anything, my *gives 200%* in every venture, wonderful, fabulous, explosively awesome Sally. Supergirl. Supergirl doesn't have a weakness, right?
I am still in shocked disbelief. I am still hoping that this abnormality is normal for her. I am wishing on every star, eyelash and stone that the cardiologist tells me it's nothing. I still panic every time she pants. I want to hug her and squeeze her and put her in a bubble.
We get to show friday in Evansville, and I had previously decided to move her down to Preferred. The one bar per run stuff was just getting old, and I refuse to jump grid her anymore. Novice, here we come. I am excited because she gets to jump 16, and I get to run her for the pure joy of running her.
And let me tell you, Sally is PURE JOY for me.

Long busy summer

2010-08-08T05:56:00.003-07:00

Well, we have had a very long year! Finishing up our house, and moving in, has taken some serious energy. It's been interesting, and mostly stressful! Anyone who says having a new house is exciting has no real clue what they are talking about! Never again! I am thankful for everything being almost finished, and being somewhat settled in finally.

My training barn is almost finished, which is EXTREMELY exciting for me. We have electricity, which was a huge thing, and we have half of our flooring put in. Right now, we are running on lime dust, but eventually we will be bringing in screened dirt. But first, doors! Who knew doors were so incredibly expensive? I sure didn't! It's all finally coming together though, and that makes me breath a lot easier.

I am amazed at how many people in the Southern Indiana area needed a place to train. I guess the old adage "build it and they will come" rings true. I love it so much, because I love to teach. Teaching and learning have always been high on my list of fun things to do. I am trying hard to keep learning new things to pass on to my students, both in books and dvds, and private lessons with one of the best handlers in the country.

Right now I have such a fantastic group of students who continually amaze me and make me proud. They have taken everything I have taught them, and practiced it! It puts a lot of pressure on me to be consistent, and correct! I appreciate that from them. I enjoy the challenge of always trying to challenge them! I have handlers in my starters/novice level that can do excellent/masters level challenges without blinking an eye. Thank you so much guys, for being the best students I could have ever hoped for. I can't wait until you are all kicking my butt in excellent!

The dogs...

Well, Moxie has had a fabulous year and she is becoming the performance dog I knew she always could be. She has earned 3 QQs towards AKC nationals so far, with 200 points. We are officially halfway there. She needs one more standard leg for her MX, and 4 more for her MXJ. She pretty much blew through excellent B after earning her AX/AXJ. She is also qualified to run in USDAA Nationals in DAM team and Steeplechase. She ran her first ISC courses in a trial in March, and she was amazing as always. I am so excited about her future.

Sally... My girl Sally, what else can I say? She always puts forth 200% on every course. She earned her MX in May, which was a big accomplishment for us. I decided to run her Performance in USDAA, and she gets to jump 16 inches! Can you say ohmygosh? My timing is a little off, since 16 inches is below her wither height and she gets to run every course at full extension. Okay, she did that anyway but now she really doesn't have to collect. She loves it. She is qualified for all 3 classes at USDAA Nationals in October. I can't even express how much it means to me to get Sally to a National event. AND it's USDAA, which is a total blast. She has had a great summer, and she is really solid now. Unfortunately, she still knocks a bar each run, which eliminates her. So I decided seeking that MXJ just wasn't worth it. She works her butt off, and we NQ over one bar. I also refuse to jump grid her at almost 9 years old, and with confirmed hip arthritis. With all this in mind, I made the very tough decision to move her to Preferred in AKC, and jump her 16. We get to start over again in NOVICE... Can you imagine Sally again in Novice? I sure hope we get through it fast, because there is a LOT of space in a Novice course, and she can certainly get away from me fast out there. It should be interesting!

Hustle... Well, he's the man, of course. Goofy, sweet, loving. I am really getting close to this little guy. We started jumping him with some motion, and he is doing very well. I also started to raise his Aframe, and I am still letting him run it. We shall see if I decide to keep running contacts, but for now, he looks really good! I also introduced the teeter, low with a pillow at the bang end. He could care less, and he races across the teeter to get to the food target on the other end. I am having a lot of fun with him, because he is down for anything as long as there is food involved.

All in all, we have survived the move, and the constant flux in our lives, and now I am hoping for a blissfully boring fall and winter! Maybe I can get down to some real training with my dogs now!

A lesson from Bailey

2010-02-08T19:59:00.000-08:00

I decided to try to earn Baileys MXP, since she earned her MJP at the end of last year. Bailey is 10.5 years old, and she has never been hard core into agility. She is my first agility dog, and actually, my first dog! So I have learned a lot with her, made the routine first dog mistakes with her, and generally we just fumbled our way through the first few years of trialing.
Bailey is 3 legs away from her MXP. In standard, I wasn't very sure she would make time, and lets face it, with her it has to be the PERFECT Bailey course, or she just isn't going to play. This leaves a lot of factors for us to overcome each run. I ran her in Ohio on dirt, thinking the cold weather and dirt floor would be my best chance with her. I only entered her in standard. She loves the contacts, but she isn't always thrilled about everything in between, like jumps! She ran 2/3rds of the course fine, and 5 jumps before the end, she ran around a jump. Okay, she walked around it looking for the exit, which is not uncommon for her if she isn't in the mood that particular day. She always gets the same amount of praise and treats no matter how she does.But this time, I think I finally "heard" her. She was saying, pretty loud and clear, that she would like to be retired, thank you very much. The next day, the course was a perfect Bailey course. Contact to contact to contact, weaves off my left, and pretty straight forward to the end. I went back and forth about pulling her or running her. In the end, I decided to pull her. I could have ran her in there, taken her across the contacts, and ran out. But why? She doesn't care, and it would have just been for ME. I am proud of myself for making this decision, because it was a very hard one to make. At 3 Qs from her MXP, we could probably eek it out eventually. But I am not so sure I would be proud of that. She wouldnt be doing it for the love of the game, she would be doing it because I asked her to and there was probably some good treats at the end of that course. In the end, its MY job to hear what she is trying to tell me, and do what's best for her, no matter what I want.
I appreciate the lesson Bailey, and I am sorry it took me a while to figure it out. But you can just be *my* dog now at trials, the cute as hell, rotten, begging for treats, beautiful older lady who has a ball just being there. I love ya girl.

Running Contacts and USDAA trial

2010-01-21T07:50:00.000-08:00

I started training running contacts with Moxie and Hustle, and the possibility of letting Sally run them as well... Here are the videos..
http://www.vimeo.com/8597469

http://www.vimeo.com/8600940

http://www.vimeo.com/8602342

I havent gotten a chance to do much more than this due to weather... First snow and then all the rain.
Moxie is hopping a little more than I like, but I am hoping this subsides with more angle on the dogwalk board.
At the USDAA trial, Moxie was about 50% on her dogwalk contact, and 100% on her Aframe, though I think she is jumping higher off the aframe right now than I would like. Considering I have done almost no training since the initial switch, she did pretty well. Sally is still stopping, which is perfect because I think a true running would be a disaster with her! I do want her coming down the boards faster, so I think that is my goal with letting her run contacts at home. Do I like switching criteria on her? Absolutely not, but I think she is pretty resilient and can figure it fast enough.
Sally was awesome at 16 inches in USDAA! She got 2 standard legs, a pairs leg and had a very nice Grand Prix run.
Moxie was great, but a few mistakes like dogwalk misses kept her out of GP and her final standard run.

Bye 2009!! Hello 2010!

2010-01-02T22:42:00.000-08:00

I am glad to ring in a new year, and let go of the old one. 2008 was the worst year of my life, for many reasons. We had several disasters that year, as some of you well know. 2009, while not in any way an extension of 2008, was a long year for us to be sure. We spent the entire year in a rental home, for which we are eternally grateful for. The family that owns the home we rent are AMAZING.. They allowed us and our 5 dogs into their home without any reservation, and are genuinely happy to have us. It was one of the many blessings. We found out how amazing our friends were, and my dog friends in particular. The way the dog community helped us out after our fire was nothing short of miraculous. I will forever be grateful to them as well. We would not be where we are without them. I believe that helped me realize just how lucky I am to have such amazing friends, and where I really wanted to be in my life.
We have had a long, annoying battle with our insurance company over money for our fire, which we ultimately recieved everything we needed, it just took time and emotional energy I didn't have to spend. I am glad I am finally finished with all the paperwork, and all the headache, of Allstate.
We have had a LONGER battle with weather! Dig a basement, and then torrential rains and floods for 4 months! It did become comical after a while, but it put us well behind on building our home..
I decided on a major career change, after deciding that someone elses insanity was not worth my personal health. That was both the best decision I ever made, and the saddest. I miss all the animals I got to develop a relationship with over the years, and my day to day interactions with some of the coolest stuff I'll ever get to do. With the sweet comes the sour, and after 2 solid years of being someone elses whipping post, I decided I am worth more than that. I hope that person finds happiness in their own life, and stops feeling the need to emotionally tortue others. The peace I have found since leaving is really amazing.
I am so glad I decided to start my own business. Its the scariest, most exciting thing I have ever done. I have always loved to teach, and have been a coach in some way since I was in high school, coaching softball and playing as well. I love helping teams reach their full potential, and helped people enjoy their pets more. It is really rewarding to see someone enjoy their animal more, and watch relationships develop that might not have been there before.
I am excited about this year with my dogs. I feel like Sally will do well this year, and maybe we will get it together enough for some QQs!
Moxie is definitely coming along, and I think this year will be when she really comes into her own. I want her running to her full potential, and enjoying the game as much in trials as she does at home.
Hustle is training great, and he will be my first start to finish running contact dog, so I am really going to enjoy the challenge. He will also be my first 2x2 weave dog, start to finish. I am ready to see what he will be like on course!
This will be Baileys retirement year. She earned her MJP last year, and we will try for her MXP this year. If she gets it, fine, if not, we will have fun trying. She will be 11 in May, and my only goal for her is to live a long, healthy, spoiled life.
I am excited about 2010. New house, new business, and new adventures with the dogs. Bring it on!

Holiday insanity!

2009-12-26T10:10:00.000-08:00

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....

2009-12-19T18:30:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-12-18T19:17:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-16T08:11:00.000-08:00

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!

2009-12-15T19:35:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-12-14T17:45:00.000-08:00

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....

2009-12-08T15:37:00.000-08:00

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...

2009-12-06T17:02:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-05T13:47:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-04T17:03:00.000-08:00

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

2009-12-04T05:50:00.000-08:00

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.