I've been a bad blogger. Honestly, if I'm not working, trying desperately to find a few minutes to train or exercise the dogs, I'm sleeping. I AM getting some effective training in, though wish I could say the same for the plain exercise and cross training. Last week was a really great class for Kraft. We're doing more advanced cone work and it feels like agility now, I love it. Curved tunnels. Yeah, that's grown up stuff right there. Where did puppyhood go? Oh yeah, he did this the next day:
First footwear casualty. I think that flip flop was at least five years old. Old Navy flip flops are not meant to last more than one summer and those had more than served their purpose. Time for a new pair I guess.
Then Thursday was class for the girls. I was nervous bringing Marron back to the barn, but we did class outside instead. She was RIGHT ON. Wow. Felt great. Amazed some of the other students in class who haven't seen her run like herself. Yay! I've now had happy Marron at run throughs AND class. Still not entering any trials, but I'm putting her in a match in June. Our last course that night was run totally in the dark, well with a bunch of lights, but still it was quite an experience. There were points that I couldn't see her at all. It gave new meaning to "trust your dog". I highly recommend trying it sometime you feel safe doing so. She was such a good girlie. And Spy ran a course too and didn't run away! Always exciting to be running agility outside with NO FENCE. Someone actually said the C word (critter) while Marron was out getting ready to run. Almost strangled them. She's a good girl and stays with for the most part, but hearing that word is essentially a release to "go find the hidden furry critter" and there's no calling her off once she's on the hunt. Spy is, um, naughtier. Bad girl. Will take off if she feels she isn't watched but does have a better recall actually.
No class this week, but I think I will go to run throughs later this morning. Then I signed up for a seminar the next two days. I really don't need to be spending the money, but I don't do many seminars, and have very few opportunities. Spy will be doing a full day of international stuff on Wednesday, and Kraft in a half day puppy seminar Thursday. Whoa. Read that first part again. Spy. In and international seminar. I was kinda chicken about signing up for it. I mean, what does an 8" dog need with international skills? But when am I ever NOT chicken about signing up for seminars? (Answer: when it's Kraft in a puppy seminar- because it's puppy? Or because I see Kraft as a "real" agility dog?) but as far as Spy goes, the seminar didn't fill, I don have anything else to do that day. I could really put that money towards better fencing or some equipment, since Kraft is going to outgrow mine as soon as he starts jumping full height. But I was feeling brave and thought I should take advantage of that. So international it is. Can't hurt right?
Then it's LEAP this weekend. Spy's entered all three days. Saturday through Monday. Yay! Another three mornings of zen driving to trials. Just the thought makes me :)
Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.
I can only say it was one of the most beautiful painful things I have ever read. The anger. The grief. The guilt. The resentment towards the premie pups. Looks like healing is coming for her slowly but surely. I feel so badly for her. I deal with loss all the time, am there for people on so many occasions to see them through that darkest moment of their relationship with their dog/cat/whatever. People ask how I can deal with it. Yes, it's painful. But it's beautiful in a way too. When I have those moments when I wonder if people really even care about their pets, it reminds me of why I really do my job. Because people DO care. Yes, even in that moment when they have to say goodbye. I think that's when it shines through the most. It's like a shock that gets me back into the game. Yes. Keep fighting for the living. Because people DO cry over these little lives. It really is worth all the time and effort and anguish and fist clenching and finger crossing and and and... How my own heart skips a little whenever I hook up an ECG on a post-op splenectomy patient. How I hold my own breath when I walk past the darkened cage of a sleeping keto-acidotic cat whose chest I have to watch carefully to see if it is still alive. How I'm afraid to look away from the monitoring equipment on a patient under anesthesia, no matter how minor the procedure. Am I going to have to call this Precious Life's owner, someone I probably just met and had to get to know quite intimately in less than 10 minutes time? No. That Precious Life lived. I can breath now.
I've been lucky in that I haven't had to experience a loss like Lexie has thus far. I am reminded of how lucky I am with every injection of blue juice I give. It's funny. I almost feel lonely at that moment because I haven't been there. Lexie's post was just so inspiring. Had a Yorkie breeder last night with a dystocia we had to take to a C-section last night. Everything went well, but I left with a sour taste in my mouth about that person, how she was disappointed there was only one puppy, how she was irate because the surgery was going to cost more than she could sell that one puppy for. Ugh. I need the Lexie's of the world to keep on trying. Please Lexie. Don't hang up the breeder hat. You're one of the good ones.
Any way, The courses we ran are here.
Hope you can read with all those numbers on there. The original course was the white circles. There was no tunnel under the A-frame and the #8 tunnel was the chute. I practiced it with no lead out and rear crossed Spy going up the DW. No hesitation once she knew where she was going, but I did have trouble initially getting the dogwalk at first. First try she went up the A-frame. I gave NO turning cues at the tire, second time she ended up in la-la land because I again didn't give any turning cues at the tire. Once I remembered to decel enough to cue the turn, she ran right up. Tried lots of lateral distance off the dogwalk to FC before the weaves and tossed the bait bag when she hit the contact. Then put her in a sit stay there, released and worked the weaves with a rear into them. No problems with the rest of the course, even managed a blind between 18 and 19. Gosh it felt good to be in sync with her! Felt just like at the trial two weekends ago. Then I had enough time to play with the opening of the dark circles.
Our second run I did the dark circles. I rear crossed the teeter, something I hardly ever do, and she was perfect! Then ran up to front before the triple. No issue. Rest of the course was easy peasy (the person who designed actually had it end going weave, jump, DW, tire, out, but I didn't like the DW approach that way so I made up my own ending.) Had enough time to get through the first course again all the way to the second tunnel before I forgot where I was going and just headed for the weaves since my time was about up.
My third run, I wanted to do something with an international inspiration to it, and also practice lots of weaves, so I totally made up my own thing (white squares). The first set of weaves I raced her up the end, blind crossed so she was on my left for the push out to the backside of 6. Raced up and front crossed between 9 and 10, pulled her around to the left off 10, keeping her on my right, pushed out of the weaves to get 12. Rushed a little on the tunnel/A-frame discrimination and missed that. The only weave entry she didn't get was the one off the table, but I don't think she saw it. The moment I released her she bee-lined for the jump at the top of the picture. I think I was blocking her view of the weaves and she legit didn't even know they were there. Gave her a little more room to see them when I led out from the table and she nailed them. Had her send on ahead to finish the weaves while I front crossed after the triple, then rear crossed that single to get the tire.
I got A LOT of good training in. Good for me! And she nailed all her weaves! Ok, no excuses this weekend girly. Showing Sunday only since my sister's baby shower is Saturday. Back to North Smithfield, one of my all time favorite trial sites :)
After run throughs, I stopped in to see my Grandma. I don't think I've mentioned this on LJ, but my 89 year old grandmother had a heart attack while I was in Reno. Well, she had been having a heart attack for several days, but finally went into the hospital to get checked out while I was in Reno. Had triple bypass the day after I got back. She's had a rough recovery, as can be expected when you are 89 years old. She was moved out of the Cardiac ICU to a rehab.nursing home type facility about two weeks ago. She has a tracheostomy tube in, so she can't talk. And she's really disappointed that her recovery is taking so long. I was thinking today again about getting Spy certifed as a therapy dog. I had considered it before, but figured I wouldn't really have the time to put into it. But now I'm thinking that even if it's just for my own personal benefit, so she can visit people I know, it might be worth getting certified. My mom was in the hospital with pneumonia two years ago, and she was so bummed that Spy couldn't visit her. Not her own dog. Spy. (See? She and Spy have a really special connection.) I'm not sure Grandma has really ever been a dog person, but it might be something. You really can't help loving Spy. I have thought for a long time that therapy would be right up Spy's alley. I just have to figure out where to begin.
It was Marron's first time back in class since before Nationals, since before I figured out the secret to getting her over her start line stress. I was so excited to show everyone what I had found. It was working like a dream. I clicked and treated for two jumps, then started our course. She was doing awesome! Until it happened. The fugly gray mare decided to throw a hissy fit at her neighbor. Screaming her head off and double barrelling the wall. I'm surprised the stall is still standing. Marron isn't sound sensitive in the traditional sense. If this had occured when she wasn't running, she probably would have been concerned at first, but then would have decided it didn't involve her and go on her merry way unphased. But when her stress level is teetering on the edge anyway, any environmental stressor can put her over the edge. Complete. Total. Shut. Down. I had JUST gotten her convinced I wouldn't let anything bad happen to her on course. And now this. I don't know how I'll ever get her to trust me again. The last time I had seriously considered not doing agility any more with her was three years ago. We got through that. I don't know if I have the energy to go through it again.
So I brought out Spy instead. And she was all over the place, trying to run off. I am so frustrated right now. What's the point of going to class when I can't actually work on any SKILLS because one dog is too scared to run and the other sees no point in staying with me to complete a single course? Every time I feel like we're taking some baby steps forward, it seems like we take ten giant steps backwards.
I looked back through the records I kept of Marron's runs. She never did get 3 QQ's in a row. She had 6 standard Q's and 9 JWW Q's in a row (separate times obviously), but never very many QQ's in a row. On paper, yeah, 3 QQ's looks great. Until you look and see that the first QQ was March 4, followed by a disaster of a USDAA trial, the second was March 25, and the third was April 28. But hey, she's making progress. All those QQ runs were really spectacular.
Last night was Kraft's foundations class. He REALLY likes class. A friend of mine's Boxer bitch was having her first heat. Kraft didn't even notice her one bit. Except to play bow a few times in that direction, but he was doing it equally at Honey the Boxer and Cassie the Golden. Once it was his turn on the equipment, that's all he can think about! And his toy drive is back! He went a few weeks where he had a really wimpy grip and was more into the food. The right ear was doing wonky things at the same time, so probably getting some molars in. This weekend the toy drive was BACK! Crazy for his tug toys he is. This was the first week we introduced the pups to semi-REAL agility equipment. All of them were so overjoyed, you can tell they've been watching the big dogs having all the fun and have been waiting for the chance to play on it themselves. An 18" tall A-frame was first. Whee! We just let them play on it and rewarded in the contact zone, no criteria for now really. We're all probably doing running I think. Then we did some teeter work with the down side propped up on a cavaletti, just letting them hop into the contact zone from the side. It's an exercise we've done before and Kraft (and the rest of the dogs who were doing it for the first time last night) struggled with it the first time we did it. Over the weekend there was a set of bleachers at the trial and I wanted to let him play going up and down the stands. He couldn't do it. He could get on the bottom step ok, but trying to go any higher he just stood there with his front feet on the step and couldn't get his hind end up without his front falling off. He's had similar issues with getting in the car and some steep rocky areas on the trails. He's got the power to jump up on these things, but not the control to land there safely. So I just let him figure it out on the bleachers. No food, no toys, just some praise when he got it right. No reward other than pride really. Ten minutes later he made it to the top. And what a difference! He can suddenly jump in the back of the car. And the hop on the teeter plank was worlds easier! Thank goodness for real life experiences that teach our dogs about agility obstacles!
Lastly (and my favorite of all) we got to introduce a tunnel for the first time. Most of the other dogs have been introduced to them before, but Kraft hasn't. Mine at home is 15' long and spring loaded, so I can't scrunch it up. So I let him go last so he could watch all the others. Mary just held the leash while the handler ran down and called them through, taking off running for them to catch up once they came through. It took him longer than the others to run through, and he looked a little worried while he worked out how to get to me. But we cycled around and went again. Straight on through without a grain of hesitation! And again, and again! And wow. For the first time I was able to get a glimpse of the power he is going to have on straight line sequences. The rush of sprinting away ahead of my dog, and him catching me and leaping for the toy in my hand. What a thrill that was to end on. It's only baby agility, but still, that thrill is there already. I think he feels it too. We're both addicted. I have had this nagging fear that he's going to wind up like Marron. He's so much like her in a lot of ways. Brilliant in what he can do, but easily worried. My fear is that I'm going to let that worry overcome his natural brilliance and enthusiasm. After last night, I'm not afraid of this any more. He loves running with me and playing with me too much. He's going to have his issues as a baby dog I'm sure: worry about judges, ring crew, buzzers, etc. But I think the joy of running and playing this game is going to win out eventually. I hope so. I hope I get to experience what I did last night in a competition ring with him some day. :)
I had this post going in my head about how zen I get driving to trials. About the juxtaposition of the horrible things I see pets going through in my job, and the pure joy people and their dogs share together at trials. Love my job, but at the same time driving to trials is just sooo refreshing as I can feel myself physically and emotionally putting distance between me and my job. And when I get back from a trial, I am all ready to work again.
The drive out here was absolutely gorgeous. I've never been to this trial before. Saugerties NY. Outdoor trials are such a crap shoot but so far I tend to have mostly good luck at them. Couldn't have asked for better today. The weather was perfect. Sunny, but with a nice crisp feeling in the air. Had to park rather far from the rings. Don't know why they rented the rings farthest from the parking lots when the closer ones were unused and in just as good a condition. JWW was first and the Excellent ring was running far ahead of schedule, so the two were looking like they were going to be right on top of one another. For some reason, there are NO 8" dogs here. So there was no place to move either dog. I solved the problem by bringing Marron's soft crate next to the rings and having someone hold Spy while I ran Marron. Helped that they unexpectedly had to stop Novice and measure two dogs. Spy's run was a thing of beauty. And the course was really tough. Off course options everywhere you looked. A backside send out of the weaves into the closing line. It was awesome. Felt so good to be running her. I finally feel connected with her. There were only three 8" B dogs and two Q's and we placed first. Marron's JWW run opened jump jump weave, always a tough one for her to open with. I was able to mark her looking at the first jump several times before we heard the GO. She wasn't Speedy Marron, but far from slow. I had a blind cross planned out of the six weaves, so I couldn't wait to see how she did, but when I looked back, she was right where I planned her to be. A little bit of nose on the ground, but still running. Q and first for her first novice preferred JWW leg (I either scratched or used the other times we were entered as training runs.)
A few minutes later, they had the ring set for novice standard. Again I was able to set her up early enough to play look at that at the first jump and allowed her to choose to offer the first jump. Again, not the speediest she's ever run, but happier than I've seen her in a long time. Q and novice standard title. Then a short break before Spy's standard run. It had some tricky spots for Spy. Had to leave her in the poles for a front down the line and she stayed in! Hooray! Off the dog walk was a really hard turn with two jumps they had to bypass to get the right one, so I chose to hang back and fade off towards the right one. Had a beautiful contact and came right with me. Sweet! I think there were four dogs in B and still only two Q's and we got first again! So that's her first Double Q Double Blue! The other dog that Q'd was the slowest Scottie on earth, but still, both runs were blue worthy on their own.
Lastly I had just Spy in Excellent A FAST. Spy is having a really tough time with excellent level sends. This one required you to layer a jump to get a tunnel discrimination. I know no matter how much I screamed tunnel her tendency was going to be drift back to me over the layered jump. I had to send her twice to the first jump in the send, then HUSTLED up so that maybe I could get past the layered jump before she got to it and took it. I made it, but she had already started drifting and was going to miss the tunnel opening. I'm yelling "tunnel" at the top of my lungs and just like the grown up dog she is becoming I saw her head swivel to find the tunnel an in she went! I wanted to stop and celebrate but I had to hustle my butt back because you had to take that first jump out again and there was a chance she would drift in towards me going to that and miss it. She didn't. She nailed it! 76 points. Highest points in Exc A and only a few higher than her in B. Only dog in 8" A, so another first. Perfect day! Such a grown up girl! Such a great connection we had. Not only was that the equivalent of her first QQQ, it was also her third QQ in a row! Granted, that's been over three months span, but still she's running really really well right now.
So tonight is my first night staying in a hotel with three dogs, and Kraft's first time in a hotel period. The one I'm in is more of a hostel. Shared bathroom, just a twin bed and a tv in a 12' by 12' room. But they are handling it well. All three are currently passed out and I think I will join them. Just Spy is entered tomorrow. Then I'm working at my extra job tomorrow night. Wish us luck!
Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.
Another old agility friend of mine from TN debuted with her new BC this past weekend (I think LR may have been one of the judges, were you in Alpharetta?) Of course she had to make a tribute video for him, complete with a sappy song and mention in the credits about how missing out on opportunities for other puppies brought her to her current baby dog, how she longed for a BC for so long and her parents (she's 17) finally let her get one and now he's perfect for her. Got me to thinking about how I've arrived where I am both personally and professionally, and how the two are so closely intertwined.
It all kinda starts with the most miserable time of my life, the summer after I graduated vet school and couldn't get a job so I had to move back in with my parents. All that time, money, and effort, and I was further behind on establishing my independence than I was when I was in college. Humiliating. All through school, I focused on equine medicine, couldn't even fathom working on small animals, fat little couch potatoes that crazy people use as surrogate kids. Agility and dog sport people were the only small animal people I could relate to. But the equine industry was in a really bad spot, and no one was hiring. My rabbit that summer did one of his hunger strikes. Bunnies do that sometimes, like horse colics, for reasons unknown, their gut just stops working and it takes fluids, pain medication, and a few other simple things to get them going again. But being jobless I didn't even have the means to do those simple things for him. I had to call my old boss and ask if she could see us. It was she who suggested I interview at this emergency practice where I now do extra shifts. I went. But they wanted someone with tons of experience that I didn't have. But the seed was planted. ER work was small animal work that appealed to me. But I figured no other ER clinic would hire me, so I set out to apply to other small animal clinics. My mom suggested the one she took her cat to as a kid. As it so happened, when I came for my interview, they had a big hole in the ground that was the foundation for the ER/specialty practice I now work in. And they were willing to train me for the six months until it was scheduled to open I got this job as a very indirect result of having a very sick bunny! Then I think about all the dog stuff that has happened because of that sick bunny. I met Mary because of that clinic where I do my extra shifts. I decided on a Rattie partly because of her Feist, Toast. I got up the courage to dream about a MACH and nationals because of Mary's influence (some direct, some indirect). I am so changed because of that sick bunny, because of that miserable summer when I was emotionally at the lowest point of my adult life. So much good came out of so much bad.
So yeah, I guess I have a lot to be thankful for when it comes to missed opportunities. But in such an indirect way. This career path I have chosen (which also came by way of a missed opportunity) has brought about so much change in my personal life. Wonder if there's a sappy song out there for that?
Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.
Dear lord help me! Sitting here at work listening to some of the less dog savvy staff talk about their favorite designer breeds from pet stores, about how certain breeds aren't trainable yadda yadda yadda. The funny thing is these people think of themselves as dog experts. Sigh. Just gonna sit here in my booth and write up records until my third shifters get here. They're cool.
Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.
Profile
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1)
loralei913- loralei913
Syndicate
