We did some running dog walks

She comes off the edge a little. Maybe I need some poles at the end? And we sure need to work on speed, but her last one was faster! She's really fun. Loves her ball!!!



I am auditing one of Silvia's on line classes for running dog walks. REALLY interesting. Am I obsessed with running dog walks? YES!!! I admit it!! Whatevaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh...............

What's your dog's favorite toy?

That was asked of us the other day. The boys absolutely go NUTS over the lunge whip!!!! And it makes a great training reward for doing weave poles!!! -

Videos

I did not think he was super fast, but he had nice contacts here and did the "Jackpot", which was the tunnel to the back side of the jump, then a-frame and jump (for those who don't know, in a jackpot there is a line on the floor that the handler can not cross and the dogs must do the obstacles from that distance). Not many people got it, so I was pretty proud of the young guy. The crowd cheers were sweet! He is definitely a fan favorite!!! And he wracked up more points than anyone. :D



Then in standard he refused the teeter. It was a much softer landing and quieter teeter, but just being that it was different worried him. I made him do it, then he really picked up speed, good man. He missed the entry to the first set of six poles, which is SO not like him, but it was definitely a different set up with two sets of poles to discriminate and visually strange. Fun course for CPE, which can normally be quite simple. I thought he did the serpentine quite well and I managed my front crosses nicely!! (Pat, pat, pat on the back for ME! LOL!!)

CPE trail "champion", again!

I swear, we sometimes feel like show-offs! Spur just ROCKS the CPE trials. In Jackpot and Fullhouse he got more points than ANY dog there in ALL levels. Just nuts!! The crowd loves us and the cheers are really sweet!! Spur LOVES that!!! I wouldn't say he was all that fast, but fast enough, I guess.

His dog walk contacts were lovely. Not super fast, but all good hits. He did one nice teeter, then the second time in his standard run he refused it damn it. It was a different teeter. A nicer one, actually, but I think he is so used to that crazy loud one there that it surprised him. Good to change it out and I made him come back and do it. And he was faster after, good little man!!!!

We only did those three runs because I had the shih tzu's here and wanted to relieve Rich of his dog sitting duties. He was just nappy by the woodstove anyway, but still he was on watch.

Roscoe didn't run that well his first run, so I scratched him. He hasn't been that happy there lately. Not really sure why. I think it has something to do with the smell. They are using it as an indoor dog park, ICK, and the dogs piss and shit everyone. It's disgusting. And it was COLD. The heater was broken. The club better get some money back, that's bullshit to rent a heated indoor facility and not get HEAT!!!!

I do have video if I find time to load it later. Today is sort of a day off and I have lots to do!!! I have one kitty visit later, but no other obligations. YAY!!!!!

It's school vacation week and I am busy!

I have fewer dog walks, but more visits. Kitty visits. Left my clipboard at a job last night, my last time there, so now I have an extra, unscheduled visit this morning, damn it!

The shih tzu's are staying here, too, and with Douce's new IBS treatment, his meals are often and complicated. Lots of meds, poor guy. But, he sure seems better!! Nothing like good drugs to help him feel better! So glad to know what was wrong with him, he looked SO down last year in agility and life.

Colby went to Rally class last night and did awesome! Right turns are hard for her as she now only has her left eye to see me. She kind of needs to learn to forge on right turns and circles. She'll figure it out. And she is worried about bumping into the signs, but that, too, I think she will figure out.

I did fine out that she CAN compete in AKC obedience with only one eye. I asked a judge at the last AKC trial we did. She said the dogs must have "reasonable vision", which she certainly has, so that's cool!! YAY! She loves her rally work!

Yay, stitches are out!!!

The new look of my pack...... I'll get a better picture later.

Here she is stitches gone. Not too happy I am taking more photos of her I don't think......

A little freeze dried fish perked her up some!! LOL!!! Hey, she just looks like she is winking!!

GREAT weekend trial report from BARK!!

Our team Q'd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was HUGE!!! I have screwed it up twice for team, so I really wanted to pull my weight this time. Spur was ready and he LOVES the BARK site and busy trial, so it was his turn to shine and SHINE he did!! I only have one video I will post later. I really must get better at grabbing someone to video because he had some awesome runs! Nailed his contacts every time!!

We had one very frustrating NQ in team jumpers when my hand whacked one of the poles and TWEET we got an E. I didn't really understand that because later in the day a friend ran into a one of the tunnels and got a 5 point fault. So, how is that different from my hand touching the poles?

Anyway, regardless of that bobble and my team mate having two E's Spur had some extra good runs to boost our point rating and put us 12. The top 15 teams Q'd, so we pulled it off!! YAY!!! I am SO very happy. I just hated to cause an NQ AGAIN, so it felt really great to get that Team Q yesterday. Especially with Spur running SO well. He beat Blink and won his standard run on Saturday which felt incredibly good. Yes, I know he spent some time making sure Blink stayed on his contacts, but STILL on the score sheet Spur was before Blink!!! Wahooooo!!! Just to be able to say we beat Blink is HUGE!!! :D Feels really good.

Then all weekend I kept hearing people talking about Spur. "Who is that cute little black-tri dog who is doing so well??" and one person asking my friend Cindy about him and then saying......"And he's fast, too!!".......I just beamed!!!! That guy made a point to come up to me and comment about how nice a dog he is. I felt like the proudest mamma!!!! Other people who know him also made comments. And all were well deserved, he did awesome!!!

Roscoe ran first all weekend, so hearing me pull Roscoe out and run him first caused a bit of jealousy and by the time I returned and pulled him out he was so HIGH!!! Screaming to run!! He was very fun! Had a BALL!!!!

Roscoe ran great, too, but his team mate made some major bobbles and we didn't get a team Q. Roscoe never E'd, good little man!!! Got "snookered", but still got 22 points, and he got tons of points in gamble, so he sure pulled off his part of the deal!! That's OK Roscoe already has two team Q's and we really don't need a Q for anything. He's twelve, I don't have plans for him other than slowing down some and taking it easier. He ran two nice runs on Saturday, placing third in Standard and getting a lovely gamble Q. Good little old man!!! I believe he ended up top over-all 12" dog in the performance point standings!! :D It was very good weekend!!!!

Spur's gamble run. I must have lost my balance and veered off, pulling him off the a-frame, damn it! It was a pretty easy gamble we should have gotten. But, I am SO pleased with his dog walks. Especially the second one. He was going pretty fast, good little man!!! Got off the start line a little slow. You can see the plexiglass window was rattling for some reason. I think that happened when people came in the door on that side of the building. Strange and it bothered him a little as we set up, but then he recovered nicely and took off!!!

I did this, I know, it's all my fault!!

I made her the Queen. I pamper her and primp her hair and polish her teeth and gleen out her ears and tuck her into her snuggle sack between me and Rich at night. Yes I do. Rich tucks her under the covers with him. So, maybe WE did this. But, it's me she wants. She deserves all her pampering, she is the Mary Poppins of the dog world. She is awesome and sweet, puts up with Rotten Roscoe's assholeness and never says a word, just instead tries to show him how to behave by example. He never learns that way. I have to have very sharp words with him instead. >:/ Lately VERY sharp words. I won't allow assholeness towards a dog with stitches in her head. If only I could leave her home this weekend, my life at the trial would be SO much easier. Toting three little dogs into the building and hotel isn't easy, especially when one is just learning to adjust to one eye. Leaving her home and me with just the boys would be SO easy! But, no......, she would have none of it and neither would Rich. I asked. I don't know why I bothered, but I asked in that feeble "I know this is silly" tone. He said NO WAY!! Life would be HELL here at home with her alone. Then he did say how nice it would be just him and her. How he could take her visiting friends and along on his errands because..........well.......she is the Mary Poppins of the dog world, a joy to take visiting. A nice girl. A good example of how nice dogs behave. Nope, ain't gonna happen cuz life would be HELL! She would pine away for her mumma. She would sit in his lap, depressed and whining. OI!! How easy it would be if only she would stay with him. Nope, I did this, it's all my fault. She's coming with us.

I just walked......all day

Well, it makes sense, really, I am a dog walker. I had extra walks today. Lots and lots of walking. I walked our dogs first, early this morning. Colby managed a full farm walk.......YAY! Then I walked a cavachon, a chow, a golden, two goldens, an american eskimo, a spinone, two labs, and then I came home and walked my dogs again. Colby did really well. Two full walks today!!! I may go get some little bells to put on the boys during out walks. Then she can hear them coming upon her "blind" side. She's definitely less jumpy. Perhaps she is learning to listen better. Oh and I ran a mile outside after my morning walk with my dogs and before walking all those other dogs. I logged some miles today!!! :D And what a day to do it, it was SUCH a nice day! Then I scraped the mud and dead winter hair off Jewel. OH my, it just floated up into the air and settled back on top of me. I tried to stay up wind, but the wind kept changing. I love scraping mud and dead hear off a horse. It's so productive! We have a very busy weekend coming up. Tomorrow I log another epic day of dog walks, then head off to RI for BARK agility trial. Two days, packed with runs. Spur is doing all runs, Roscoe has only two on Saturday. Then both dogs are teamed on Sunday. "Spurred on by Jake" is Spur's team. Spur and Jake. "Pin up Cady" is Roscoe's team. Roscoe and Cady. Should be wicked fun!!! I LOVE the BARK trials!!! The facility is AMAZING, the hotel lovely. It's just the long drive sucks. Tomorrow, during rush hour. Not much I can do about it.

You knew there would be pictures!

Poor little girlie was not a happy camper last night and Rich and I had to take turns on the couch. We slept well only the first half of the night, then it was couch time. She had lost her bladder while snoozing away the anesthetic yesterday afternoon on her snuggle bed. I didn't learn that until the middle of the night when I tried to settle her there and she didn't want it. Spur kept sniffing it obsessively and finally I reached down and felt it all wet. So, that had to be laundered. She just couldn't settle. And while that eye may not have had much vision I am sure she could see shadows and movement, so now there is NOTHING she is edgy and jumpy. Even a twig that bumps her on that side causes her to jump away. She'll get used to it, everyone says they do. I feel so bad for her. She just wants me to sit with her, so I have been catching up on my reading this afternoon. Poor little Frankenpuppy.......... So, when a dog who has recently had her eye removed dreams, what do you suppose she dreams of? As we rest on the couch, I read, she naps, I see her dreaming. Those twitching muscles, rotating paws as if in motion, she is dreaming of something. Of yesterday when she saw shadows from that eye? Of chasing moths and grasshoppers with two good eyes? Does she dream of needles and tracheal tubes and shiny surgery tables and scalpel blades? At least, she was dreaming and not lost in limbo, staring into space like she did half the night last night, shivering and weakly moaning. Let's just hope she sleeps soundly tonight. We did manage a short walk out back this afternoon. Her tail was at half mast the whole time, though. I am off to the couch again and my book and her back side. And maybe she will dream again........of big green, juicy July grasshoppers!

I want this day to end

And it's only just started. :( Colby is at the vet's probably now getting her pre-anesthetic and catheter set up for surgery. It was a TOTAL bummer handing her over to them. Poor, sweet little girlie. I have only five walks today. They don't start for another hour and I just don't know what to do with myself. I feel sick. It just totally sucks. I need a time warp to take me to the end of this day so I can snuggle and comfort her while she recovers. I know her knee surgery was FAR worse and recovery after that was horrible, but still I just want it to be over. I want this day to end.........................

**Since I needed something to do before my walks started, I made a little movie of Spur's recent running dog walks. Good little Monkey Pants. He should only get faster as he gains confidence and more experience on different dog walks.

What a day!!

Started the day with a very early morning walk with Mary at OOB. Went for my first outside run! Nearly a mile! Felt good, actually. Dragged out my tunnels and did some running dog walks with Spur. Prepared my kitchen garden for planting, just need Rich to haul in some fresh, good, composted manure. Just a LOVELY day!!! Then gave Spur a bath, since the sun was so warm and he could "blow dry" outside. Blow dry means chase the chuckit ball up and down the hill! It works! He's so soft and FURRRRRRRRYYYYYY........and white and clean.............

The wind helped blow dry.........

He's just the cutest boy........

Looking kind of aussie-ish at three years old........

The wind was blowing his tail between his legs, making him looks more aussie-ish.......

Colby enjoyed the warm sun in the yard and found two of her favorite beetles to play with.......

Later I saw a blue bird go carry the remains away to eat on the fence post

Tomorrow the eye goes. I'm sad, but I can't wait!!! It's painful and looks bad. Poor thing is on tramadol all weekend and has been kind of out of it. At this point I can't wait for it to be gone. :( Looks swollen and uncomfortable, poor, sweet girlie.

Enucleation

Yep, the eye must go. The drops were not doing the job managing the pressure from her glaucoma. Bummer..............

Monday surgery is scheduled to remove the eye.

She is such a pretty girl and will look very different. But, I sure hate the way the eye looks today. And she will be pain free after it's gone and that's a very good thing. She will have to retire from AKC Rally Obedience, though. No handicapped dogs allowed, damn it. She can do APDT rally. They even allow dogs in wheelchairs. :D Not sure how one judges a sit or a stand from a dog in a wheelchair, but they do! It's cool, the dogs still enjoy the work, so why not. It's not easy for Colby since it is her left eye, the one closest to my leg for heeling, but she has been managing/adjusting and she does enjoy the work.

One thing the loss of the eye will not affect. Her hunting..........She can hunt by sound and smell alone. And that's one of her most favorite things to do! She still has good sight in her right eye, so hopefully that will continue for a very long time.

Why do all the bad things happen to sweet Colby??? Why not to Rotten Roscoe? Although, imagine having to put drops in Roscoe's eye twice/day??? Hell, pure hell, that would be!!!

Nasty boxer should have been on a leash!!!! Damn it!!

Poor Rory got attacked by a boxer yesterday! We were heading to the Fort and up over our little short cut rise and there it was. Owner had it off leash playing ball. This was an ON LEASH area of the Fort. Dog freezes, so I stop and wait for the girl to recall it and get it leashed. I didn't like the frozen look on it's face. She tries and tries, but the dog ignores her and approaches. She squeeks out something like....."she's usually friendly......." and I say it's OK, cuz Rory is a lovely dog. She has perhaps the best dog-skills of any dog I walk. Totally appropriate and awesome, just the BEST girl. In a flash the boxer is attacking her!!!! :( I SCREAM....."HEY!!!!!!".......in the loudest, firmest voice I can, which usually stops a dog, but this dog simply hesitated, looked at me and then continued it's attack. POOR RORY!!! The girl tries her best to grab the dog, but this is a boxer, they have the ability to curl into pretzels and avoid capture. Rory isn't doing anything, I see her sweet face, eyes just squinting and trying to move her head to avoid another chomp from this asshole boxer!!! I look around for a stick and see a good one, but the dog is intense and the girl is failing to get hold of it, so I take my flexi-leash handle and WHACK the dog on the top of it's head as hard as I can. Poor dog, but DAMN IT all, this is SO unnecessary!!!! I feel bad, but it worked. The woman finally grabs it's collar and pulls it away. Mumbling something about how I didn't have to yell at her dog. WHAT......THE........FUCK?????? I look at her in amazement and tell her if MY dog had been trying to rip out HER dog's throat I am quite sure she would have yelled, too!! Geesus!!!! I couldn't believe it!!!! Um, now might be the time to apologize for your asshole dog's behavior and your lack of control over the asshole dog. >:/ She did ask if my dog was OK and I tell her I don't know, yet, and will have to look her over carefully. I tell her I need her name and number, which she does give me. I am beyond furious at this point because of her comments about yelling. HELLOOOOOOOOOOO...........poor, sweet Rory was just attacked by her asshole dog..........I am going to yell. Luckily, Rory is a chow mix and has a lovely thick coat of fur to protect her, so I can not find any wounds. I feel horrible that this had to happen to her. These sorts of things can affect a nice dog and make them hesitant and even reactive in the future. I hope that doesn't happen to lovely Rory, she is SUCH a nice dog. I continue to stress to this chick as she starts to leave that her dog needs to be on a leash. She is very lucky I am who I am because anyone else would have gone straight to Animal Control to report the incident, but I don't want her dog to be quarantined for her lack of responsibility. She needs to find a private spot to exercise her dog, not a public park. I called Rory's people last night and they said she seems fine and they can't find any wounds. Phew.

I do love this dog walk!

He just looks so happy and having a great time!!!!

Weekend trial report!

Saturday was AKC. Spur did GREAT!! His first run was FAST and he was ON FIRE!! I love in the video when Kim says......"OMG, look at him GO!!!". He was FLYING and that caused him to jump over the finish jump and end our run without collecting enough points. Oh well, I am thrilled at how happy and fast he was and how awesome his dog walk was!!!



Then he Q'd and won his Open standard!! Yay!! One more leg and he moves up to Excellent. He did a nice teeter and again and awesome dog walk.



Then he ran clean and fast in his Excellent Jumpers. Good little Monkey Pants!!

Roscoe double q'd for number 17 I believe. He was awesome in standard and a little off in jumpers, but he did fine. Not his most favorite location.

Sunday was CPE here in town. Spur, again, was ON FIRE!!! He did the teeter nicely!!! The dog walk was a nice set up with tunnel dog walk tunnel. Great fun and he did awesome until his last standard style run. Looks like he missed all three contacts!! He was really pumped and even though the judge didn't call any of them the video (which I deleted because I don't want to look at it!!!) he clearly missed. Maybe one toe in one, darn it. It was fullhouse, so I could do it three times and I guess the tunnel dog walk tunnel was just too exciting. Or the fact that since Silvia's approval we haven't trained it at all and it was something we were training weekly. Time to do a little training, I guess. Just a wee reminder of his job. All in all, I am really pleased because the ones he got were super good. And he was SO happy!!!

He had some incredible scores. His jackpot score was 60 points. More than anyone else by nearly 20 points! He had the highest snooker score. This is the WHOLE group, Muffin Heads, all levels, all dogs, all heights. He blew everyone away!!! He was simply having a great time!!! Barking at all his fans, running his heart out, he had a great weekend!!!

I do have some of the CPE videos, but they are REALLY blurry and I haven't loaded them, yet. I was tired last night and in bed by about 8:30. I think he is ready for our team event in a couple weeks at BARK. I DO plan to get a team Q that weekend!!!

Oh, this eye is going to make me crazy!

Yesterday was our one week check of the new drops and how it is handling controlling the pressure. I had a feeling, just by looking at it, that things were not good. It wasn't constricting any more, barely any iris showing. It looked kind of foggy.

And she was squinting some, so I think it was hurting a little.

Yep, pressure was up from 30 to 45/50. :( NOT good!!! In fact, bad enough they said it could be damaging her optic nerve. So, we were to try BOTH drops. I put in the new drop, waited 15 minutes, then put in the old drop. Then waited for three hours and returned for my vet to check the pressure again. YEAH!! It was normal, about 13. Phew!! Because had it not come down they wanted us to head down there so the emergency vet could drain some of the fluid. ICK!!!!

This photo is from about a half hour after both drops this morning. She is getting bored with all these photos, I think......

And this one from an hour later.

Yay, almost looking as good as her "good" eye!!! What a relief! Except, of course, that BOTH meds are extremely expensive!!! Ugh!!