Brrr!

I put the dogs outside in the yard when I got home from work today so I could try to get some other work done. I just looked up and saw the novelty has worn off and they're REALLY asking to come in. Apparently it's cold outside with all that wind!

In other news that has bearing on the dogs, a job has opened up that I am very qualified for and sort of have an "in." My fingers and toes are crossed as much as possible. I need a real job and would LOVE this one. The waiting begins.

good bye Baby

10/21/1991-9/26/2009
Baby
Farm Cat Special

This kitty was a tough one. She lived outside for the first 12 years of her life and never really wanted to come inside. After being accidentally declawed by our vet at the time of her spay, we tried to make her a house cat. She wanted and had none of that. She was so very unhappy that we let her go outside again. In the winter she would occasionally come inside and curl up in front of the fire, but always wanted to go back outside.

After my dad died, I convinced my mom to try one more time as there was talk of moving. This time it worked. She happily accepted the warmth and comfort of indoor living. Her beauty and attitude have yet been unmatched, even by her son. My Rasza is her son from the second to last litter she had. He is handsome, but she was beautiful.



Every morning, since the day she moved inside for good, she would meow/growl at "the boys" as they all fought to be the first upstairs to watch me get breakfast ready. This morning, that is truly what I missed the most. There were no sounds coming from behind the basement door. Today when I came home, there were no sounds coming from behind the basement door. I keep waiting to hear her telling someone to move out of her way. She truly reigned the house and held her place as Queen up until the end.

A year and a half ago now, I thought we were going to lose her. Thankfully my vet and internet friends are wonderful and educated me about hyperthyroidism in cats. After checking all bloodwork, we discovered she was hyperthyroid. Once she started medication, she returned to her lively, happy self.

She was never a cuddler unless it was on her own terms. Ever dignified and surveyor of her kingdom, she did not stoop to "dog level" and thus did not allow unwanted human contact.

The reign of Baby has sadly ended, but she will never be forgotten.

Rest well my sweet Baby girl, say "hi" to Snowey (Snowey Morning at Kara Sea, Samoyed, died 6/1998) for me and enjoy wherever you two are. Tell her I still miss her. I'm sure you'll find your daughters Mischief and McGoo and your son Whiskers who sadly passed before you. Run free and have fun.



The only "family" portrait I was ever able to get. Taken the winter she finally moved inside for good.


Last photo ever taken of her. Summer 2009

Tracking Certification!!!!!!

Tonight Bailey certified in tracking and I now possess four slips of paper to enter tests with! YEEHAW!

I am so excited, more excited than I think I've been for any dog sport "thing" ever! It went so much better than last week, and last week wasn't bad!

Sending in an entry for October 25. Close to home. I'm crossing my fingers that we get in!

Training

We've been working pretty hard the last two days (but ask the dogs and it's probably not enough) getting ready for a myriad of upcoming activities. Buzz and I are back to working with one jump again as he seems to have lost his stamina somewhere and at some time! Low jumps, lots of treats (CHEESEEEE!!!!) and fun. He does weaves happily (he bounces, never got the whole single step thing down) and is jumping easier.

Bailey and I are working on the pieces of Open because we DO get to show on Sunday now. Just now we came in from working recalls (3). About an hour before that she ran a shorter but aged track and was spot on. NO silliness out there, all business. GOOD GIRL!

I'm sure we'll work heeling later. Buzz likes to heel a lot but our starts are getting a little sloppy. I need to be rewarding him jumping out there a lot more. In related news--I think we're finally communicating at the start now about whether he should stay or follow. I've refined my cue and the way I hold my body and we only had one miscommunication in the last session. (We did 10 starts, so 9/10 is GOOD!)

Training dogs is fun... obviously!

Tracking Certification

Well... we almost did it!

Bailey and I "tried" for our certification last night (in the AKC you have to run a full length TD track laid by a judge and be "certified" before you are allowed to enter a test). We made it to the last leg!!!!! I was a good handler up until then. I'm very happy with how she ran despite the elements. The last leg I didn't notice her indicating the track (it went off at a 45 degree angle). The judge said she tried to indicate (a tug on her lead) and since I held my ground, she went birdy (sniffing around, but not tracking), she tried again, and again I stood there (not believing her...) and then went birdying again and I got called (for checking my dog). Judge was SO darn nice, and we set it up to try again for next week on Wednesday.

I know we can do it, and last night was the biggest lesson I've had about trusting my dog! We worked that last corner for about five minutes and then to not trust my dog... arg! She was goooood though!

Anyway, that means I pushed her elbow lump removal surgery out another week since we won't be ready for the hunt test anyways. We are tentatively running one day of the obedience trial then, so we'll see how it goes!

If she works like she did last night, I think we'll be just fine, very, very soon.

Tracking is fun!

Lovely, lovely, Fluoxetine!

Well, I love it for Bailey!

A short list of things we've been able to do since being on Fluoxetine that I A)wouldn't have let happen or B)would have ended very poorly, before Fluoxetine.

1. Tonight she HUNTED with another dog!!!!!! *jaw hit the floor... NO scuffles, and it was an INTACT BITCH*
2. At both trials the last two weekends, she has MET other dogs without showing signs of being uncomfortable.
3. I have had Rascal and Rasza upstairs without her muzzled three days in a row (under close supervision of course, but she's been relaxed while not under direct cue).
4. She has solicited attention quite a bit, but hasn't been pushy or overly possessive. A hard stare but no lift lip or growl. If I stop petting her she'll move around with the toy in her mouth and not continue to guard me.

I hope we see continued improvement, but I'm overjoyed with this short (but oh-so-impact-ful)

MORE field adventures!

Bailey and I had our second hunt training practice tonight. It started off quite badly. She did NOT want to work the quail, at all! Clung to me like glue and then I was told I'd talked my dog up too much and we scared her last time. That was very annoying as I made it very clear she hadn't done anything with me ever, and hadn't done any hunting in at least six years. ANYWAYS, after we got over that and he decided to "keep trying" things, we made a TON of progress.

She didn't want to go into the brush/woods, so we worked with a bird out in the open and she finally TURNED ON! She grabbed the live bird, held it tightly and was just GREAT! He threw it into the brushes/shrubbery a couple of times and she was diving right in after it.

He released another live pheasant and she became quite concerned again so he got his "old" dog Ty. She started to work with the other dog and by the end of that she'd flushed and snagged a live quail! GOOD GIRLY!

I came home with three birds this time, instead of just one...

We won't be ready for the October hunt test so we have to wait until spring, but I am SO excited. The day went from "you may want to give up" to, "let's hunt her with another spaniel next time." There WILL be a next time, she was really good!

Now I've been given strict instructions to let her hunt and not call her off things when walking... ARG! Back to very structured walks, and planting birds. We CAN do it though... we can!

We go back in three weeks now because he's gone next week (25th wedding anniversary) and she has surgery the week after (out for at least two weeks).

Celebration and Confusion

Bailey says "WHEEE!"


Buzz says "What is this THING?"

(apparently deer season has started/will start soon, so the boys must practice...)

BOTC AKC

Bailey and I ran AKC agility today. I've finally entered enough trials to get out of Novice! Her standard run was BEAUTIFUL! I was NOT a bad handler on the contact equipment and she did them sooooo nicely! Pretty running dog walk. I let her do her job and did NOT watch her every step, I used my peripheral vision (haha... thanks CZ for that reminder). I gave her distance to move, and she did. Nearly instantaneous auto down on the table (thank you Cathy a down on the table), nice low running contact on her a-frame and slipped right into the weaves. It felt SO good! Q/1st, new NAP title! We are finally into Open for Stanadard and JWW! Now I just need to uhh, not stop doing AKC again! I plan on going through Open at least, and we'll see after that. Jumpers was good until the weaves. She missed the entry but I figured if she kept weaving, we'd try them again and she did so we did but then she started hopping instead of single stepping. We moved on and it was an ok run after that but she wasn't feeling on her game anymore. Now she's got a break for quite a while. No more agility until surgery on the 22nd to remove the lipoma in her elbow muscle and then close to a month off for recovery. Hopefully some hunt stuff and tracking in October and then ALL of November off for Bailey (trialing at least). I want to get a picture tomorrow... I just need to remember to do it. Oh, and our judge for standard was the groomer at the vet I work at. I didn't know she was a judge! Too funny!

A raw fed hunting dog...

Oops! Last time I took out the thawing chukkar, the only progress we made was having her nose touch it and pick it up a little. Today I threw it (get the prey drive going) and she dove for it. A few c/t later and she was picking it up and carrying it.

That's all good, right? Yup. The next part is better though.

She thought the chukkar was some new FOOD for her to try. She started trying to de-feather and chew on her chukkar! AHHH! OH NOOO! After laughing for a bit, we worked on hold. I held the bird out, she grabbed, I c/t'd for holding it nicely. A few of those later and I threw it again, she went out picked it up, I backed up quickly and told her "here" and put my hand out (our 'deliver to hand' cue). First time she dropped it, but second and third and fourth times she brought it right to hand and held it. C/t ALL of those wonderfully correct responses!

Next time, I'll thaw the bird better so it doesn't seem like dinner (I feed nearly all frozen raw to slow them down a bit), but I don't anticipate an issue. We just need to do this again before we go to our lesson or I'll get hella for it!

Bailey-feathered frozen meat is NOT for eating, it is for retrieving!

Parade of Veterans

The MMBC NADAC trial had a Parade of Veterans. Each participant wrote a short bio of their dog and sent in a photo. At the trial part of the bio was read while the dogs did a short series of jumps and a tunnel. At the end we received liver brownies made by Lefty's mom... Buzz thinks they're the BEST THING EVER. The MMBC website will have all of this and more when the webmaster gets time, but I wanted to post ours here. Oh, and we got super cool shirts too!

Buzz is now eleven years old and his days are spent sleeping with feet sticking straight in the air. Despite his lack of activity during the day, he still comes alive when we show. I am so happy to be able to work with him, to feel good every time we come out of a ring, that was my only goal way back when. We are still learning new things together while continuing to play old games. He continues to love agility (at 12"), obedience, rally, and tracking. His favorite thing to do is curl up with me on the couch in front of a fire, as close to me as he can be. My heart dog who taught me about good training and how it can build a working relationship from nothing. Thanks for everything old man, you stuck it out with me and look at where we are.

The Bailey Dog is a goofy one. An odd duck from the minute she came home but, well, she fit right in. She is my mud princess who wishes she didn't get all that hair from her daddy for me to play with. My right hand gal on the funny farm, she always makes me laugh, and always wants to be a part of whatever ANYONE is doing. She doesn't stand by the "I can't do it" excuse, as she'll always find a way. She does agility, obedience, rally, tracking, and hunting but her all time favorite activity is chasing bumpers in the water. She will retrieve for as long as you will throw and never loses any excitement for the game. Bailey crept into my heart when I wasn't looking and it appears she's there to stay. She's my Novice A dog and we've come a long way baby.

I was good to my dog!

Not that I was perfect all weekend, but I was especially good on our last run of the weekend. Bailey and I were hanging out by the Great Dane Photos store waiting to go into the ring. I work very hard to keep her away from other dogs and yesterday, in the shade too. We were stationed next to a dog that didn't seem to bother her and there was another quite a ways away. She was focused on me, doing tricks and enjoying herself when a guy and his BC came up and sat down nearly right next to us. I got up quickly and moved her while saying "you're just fine." That got the attention of the guy and he said "did I scare her" to which I simply replied "yes." The truth is, DOGS scare her because she doesn't know what they're going to do! The experession on Bailey's face was great. She was very relieved and quite shocked I was "listening" to her. I think she's starting to trust me again that I WILL protect her, after our walks where I couldn't because the dogs were loose.

She met a few dogs this weekend, very briefly, and at all times she acted appropriately, as she's been trained to do. Once uncomfortable, she would look back at me and move away. She is such a fantastic little teaching dog. I'm finally starting to do right by her. It makes me very happy.

MMBC NADAC

I have two ouchy dogs. Yep, two. ARG!

Buzz was entered both days, three runs/day. First run on Saturday and he was NOT ok. He was slow and pokey in tunnelers and we made it a very short run. Poor guy. I felt him all over, a little soreness in his rear but nothing too painful it seemed. The rest of the day was much of the same. I thought he was feeling better, so we tried weavers but nope... we left that one early too. Jumpers was a total bust, 3 jumps and then nodda. I made sure he knew I was NOT disappointed, and made it seem like the course ended where it did.

Bailey was running pretty well on Saturday. Her Open Regular course was GREAT, she was moving, having fun, and then... couldn't weave! Oh well, haha. She was so fun to show. Her contacts were quick, just like we've been working on. Open tunnelers, mom screwed up! I thought I could send her from the end of one tunnel far away into the entrance of another same distance away but instead she came into me and then took the tunnel backwards. Silly girly dog! Novice Jumpers was BEAUTIFUL! She ran SO well, speedy, in tune with me, we worked as a team beautifully! She Q'd with 3rd place for her NJC title. It was as close to a "zone" run as we've come in a while.

Since she ran so well and Buzz was NOT feeling ok, I was able to switch them around for Sunday.

Sunday she was feeling GREAT in Touch N Go. Silly goober dog missed a few hoops and leaped off the A-Frame but hey, we had a blast. I have worked hard to get the happy speedy Bailey I have in class to be the same one I have in trials. Touch N Go was a close second favorite run of the weekend, despite the 70 points we accumulated... Jumpers she was slow--friend said she may have been wincing after turning a certain way. We were 8 freaking seconds over time! That was not my dog. Tunnelers we were over time too. I had a friend tape tunnelers for me, so after I review that I should have a better idea.

Now I don't know if her elbow/shoulder is ouchy (she has a lump there but vet said to leave it until it starts inhibiting her movement or being painful) or if something ELSE went wrong after/during Touch N Go. Today is a holiday so I have to call my vet tomorrow and see what he thinks. The lump might need to go NOW. We'll see.

For now, we're all taking it easy and I'll call the vet tomorrow, about both.

footsie

Her foot hurts a lot more than she lets on. Tracking tonight was BAD, yes, capital letters. WORSE than tracking this weekend (yes, apparently that's possible). I couldn't figure out what was going on with my dog, she was NOT my dog.

My dog's foot hurts. Sorry kiddo!

She started limping on our walk after tracking and it's pretty tender. No more injured, but she is on strict rest. No romping in the field, no tracking... rest the darn foot stupid handler!

My poor dog. She tried, and looking back, demonstrated some very conflicted behavior. She knew her job but just couldn't do it.

She holds no grudges, and I'm sure she'll be ready to track like never before when given the OK. Our certification is being pushed out, but life happens. We'll get it!

A purist I was not...

Yesterday on the way to Costco, the boy and I stopped at Gander Mountain. I still hadn't found or constructed anything to use for carrying things in tracking or hunting, so I was on a mission. When we got there I realized I'd been meaning to get a Dokken (dummy) for a LONG time, but just hadn't. I found a multi purpose vest (ok, Kevin did) AND got a pheasant dokken. It is big, but not HUGE, so I figured it would be the correct size. It IS a little large, but not TOO large.

Last night I brought Bailey and the dokken to the cabin to work for a bit. I'd planned on shaping it, like I've shaped all of her retrieves. She picked up the parts that are designed to NOT feel good being picked up (tail, head, feet...) and was certain she could NOT fit her mouth around the body.

When I got home from the vet today I wanted to see if she really couldn't carry it. I opened her mouth, put it in (a tight fit in the VERY center of the bird, a good fit at both ends), and she did not appreciate that. I threw the bird thinking she may pick it up correctly... nope, by the string!

In the end I put it in her mouth quite a few times then c/t and let her release it. She still didn't like me putting it in her mouth, and wouldn't take it when presented, but I took her out in the yard and threw it. Wouldn't you know she went out, picked it up CORRECTLY and brought it back! Profuse praise and treats. GOOD GIRL!

One more throw and I got the same CORRECT response. VERY GOOD GIRL and we ran for more treats.

I don't know if it will last or not, but she CAN carry it correctly, and we still have LOTS of work to do, but it's a start.

Now lets hope her foot holds up and heals up well (and SOON)!

a reminder

"Time waits for no one.

Treasure every moment you have."

Someone at the party today asked about my tattoo. Every time someone asks, it makes me remember that time waits for no one. Live your life and enjoy it. My tattoo helps me remember that gone from this earth is not gone and is certainly not forgotten.

bum foot Bailey

ARG! We had to GREAT sessions on the contact practice board today. She was doing what I wanted! RUNNING down the board. I added another board to the other side of the snowmobile trailer (so it was similar to a dog walk) and she was performing correctly with that too.

Now my dog has a cut pad. *scream*

It's not bad, but we've never dealt with this before. I was out of vet wrap (I know, what dog owner, especially a SPANIEL owner, is ever out of vet wrap) so I had to run to the store to get some. I cleaned it with peroxide, applied Vitamin E, gauzed and vet wrapped it. She now has a hot pink foot.

Buzz wants to show you the stop sign at the end of our driveway. Isn't it cool? We get a new one about every ten years. That neighbor has hounds we like. They're happy, healthy, and QUIET!

Field Adventures

Bailey and I started our field adventures today. I have to say that I was SUPER impressed by my dog (though our instructor, not so much, heh). She was a goooood girly.

A few notes before I forget.

-Apparently my dog is out of condition. She needs to build more stamina and muslce per Don.

-He was VERY good about not pushing the issue of an e-collar. The fact that we had two very successful whistle recalls reinforced that, GOOD GIRL.

-We have to work on retrieves with a bird (I knew that going in). She did eventually pick it up and carry it, but was very reluctant to at first.

-We have a break to work on "things" until after Labor Day!

Now... from the beginning, I think!

We arrived a little early (my plan) so we walked a little bit while he worked a Brittany and some kind of long haired pointer. She was able to relax quickly despite kennels of dogs barking and carrying on. She was walking on a loose leash with a fair amount of attention before he came back. We worked a little more while he went to plant a chukkar for us.

Plan of action was to release her on the pigeons. He let the pigeons out and we released her. She checked the pen (smart girly) and then got to work immediatly. This is where he told me I need to shut up, unless I am praising my dog. JUST like any other sport, LET HER WORK IT OUT (has it been drilled into my head enough yet? Probably not). I got better as we progressed but hah... She flushed quite a few pigeons and he started firing blanks after she flushed. The first one she reacted to slightly and the rest about the same. He wasn't closeby when she flushed, so the gunshot wasn't extremely loud.

After we played with pigoens, we headed to where he planted the chukkar. She wasn't quite sure of what she was doing anymore and it took a lot of coaxing for her to flush the chukkar, since we had to get so close for her to flush it, the gun went off nearly right over her head. That was not ok with her, and she backed up quite a few steps before sitting and staring. She did NOT bolt, which is the good news, and she DID pick up the chukkar (with some coaxing, and me telling her directly to "take it"). After that we threw the bird and had her practice picking it up. Before we quit she was going to get the bird and holding it while I pet her.

I had to talk this one through with myself (and a friend)... Don doesn't want me to take the bird from her immediately when she returns. He wants to build a solid hold first. He's having me pet her/praise her while she is still holding the bird. It didn't make sense at first (I'd want to be working the real thing) but it does now. Since she doesn't have a reliable retrieve, and no hold to speak of... I do want to get her comfortable with holding it and carrying it before asking her for it.

All in all, I was very pleased. Despite her looking like a brainless pretty dog, she's still got some instinct in there. Looks can be deceiving.

Our homework is to work on retrieving the bird (I now have a chukkar in my freezer) and working around gunshots.

He's confident we can do it, and I'm getting there. If I knew what this was all about, I'd likely have more to say on the matter!

Phew! Now I need to get my bike tire fixed so we can work on conditioning.

Training Notes-agility contacts

I've had issues with the dogs more and more regarding contacts. They were both taught a 2o2o but it became slower and slower. Lots of factors I assume. Being a bad trainer, I just disregarded a stopping contact with Buzz and now he runs. It's not trained (shhh...), I just assume he's going to run through the zone if I slow down a little, and he does. Maybe it's carry over from his 2o2o. I could say it is (because I really don't know).

Anyways, Bailey's are the worst! She literally crept down ALL contacts (not really in fear, just... like it was a trained behavior, to be slow, which is probably was). So after hemming and hawing and trying a few different things, today we actually did contact work. I know she will stop, and knows how to stop, but I'm going to abandon that if I can find a training partner.

We're just working with a board propped up on our snowmobile trailer. Today the only time I could get her to canter down it was if I had a bowl of food sitting a couple feet in front of it. That's ok, I suppose, but it's not what I want. What I want is to be able to RUN (me run...) and have someone else click for her RUNNING so then I can treat. Problem: I don't have a local training buddy (pity party is short, I promise).

Possible Solution? Bring board inside and utilize the Treat and Train (now made by Premier and labelled Manners Minder) a friend is letting me borrow. (Which by the way is working fabulously. We've made so much progress on household rules and such... mat work is going well. I'm so impressed by this machine, I NEED to buy one for myself!)

Semi-brilliant... hah. It won't take away the "lure" part I hate, but it will make it less annoying for me.

Time to clean the board so I can put it in the bedroom hallway (the presence of cats in the hallway is nearly non-existent).

Other suggestions welcome to. My ultimate goal is to have reliable running contacts. This slow contact thing is killing me! I am NOT slow and even if I RUUUUUNNNNNNNN, she makes her way down the contact and does a 2o2o. GOOD DOG, I suppose...

Oh, and Buzz just rocks. He says "I can run mom, LOOK AT ME" as he goes galloping and LEAPING. That one didn't get any food and the rest were good. Silly old man. I hope he has that much enthusiasm in September!

Versatility Titles

VS=Versatile Springer (parent club, ESSFTA, certificate)

Lots of different ways to achieve this certificate, but I have to become a member of the parent club first! :-)

If we can do it, the only way would be a CT (Tracking Champion), JH (Junior Hunter), CDX (Companion Dog Excellent), PAX (Preferred Agility Excellent something or other).

-------------------------------------------

VCD=Versatile Companion Dog (AKC title program)

Requirements: CD, TD, NA/NAP, NAJ/NJP

Bailey has her CD and NJP plus 2 Qs towards her NAP.

VCD2=Versatile Companion Dog 2

Requirements: CDX, TD, OA/OAP, OAJ/OJP

Bailey has one CDX Q and nothing else. :-)

VCD3=Versatile Companion Dog 3

Requirements: UD, TDX, AX/AXP, AXJ/AJP

VCD4=Versatile Companion Dog 4

Requirements: UDX, VST, MX/MXP, MXJ/MJP

Very few dogs have a VCD4.