Wow, what more can I say?

Christmas is insane. So much shopping, so many parties!! Do you really believe that??? I HATE to shop, so I never left the Internet for my shopping. parties???? Nah, few parties, everyone is too damn busy. We have/had a foot of snow, who has time for parties???? 

We did manage to attend a couple and they were very nice. One host made us remove our shoes because of all the salt put out for the ice. We had some ice. Nothing like my family DownEast, they had so much they lost power. The worst part for us here was removing our shoes at a party, so I can not complain. It messed up my outfit, though, so that was a bummer because I am SO fashion savvy!!! Do you really believe that???? 

We did manage to go out to dinner and to see Bob Marley, the comedian. rich was given tickets. Last year was a blizzard and the show starting at 8 had us tucked in by the wood stove and we never went. This year we went. Had a certificate to the Thai place, so went there first. Left the certificate at home, damn it. Then ended up a bit early for the show, so stopped for a drink. Told the bartender what we were doing and he tells us his last group left for the 7 o'clock show a while ago. WHAT?????? rich looks......yep, show started at 7!!! Doi!!! We only missed the opening act and some of his first skit. He is FUCKING funny!!! Rich nearly dozed off. I guess humor is in the ear of the listener??? I loved it!

Colby had a pretty nice Christmas! I stopped he Prozac and took her shopping with me. OK, so I DID do SOME store shopping, but only at my friend Mary's where Colby could go and visit and have some "fun". Fun for Colby would be killing some small animal, so shopping is not THAT exciting, but it is something. We also stopped at Tractor Supply store and she greeted some rednecks in cammo, who never even patted her. I guess a MinPin in a pink lined coat is not something to associate with if you are a redneck in camo.

We took the dogs to the local park to walk the plowed and sanded areas. Colby was "happy". As happy as she can be with nothing to kill. at least she got out and some exercise. I actually looked on line for live grasshoppers. none. Crickets, yes, but she prefers grasshoppers. 

Spur got out a LOT!!! The snow was good for him, he could run on top of the crust and with rain in the forecast we got out a LOT!!!! 

The cows ventured out. Nope, nothing to eat out there.....

Our wood stove is not functioning right and, boy, am I addicted to that thing. Very sad not having it going right now. The stove guy has not called back. I am afraid of the worst.......crack in the chimney flue????? We did have the cheapest contractor when we built, it was all we could afford, so some things have not lasted. Ugh, at would SUCK, but maybe there is some other explanation for the smoke that keeps puffing out???? We have done EVERYTHING the manual says to try. :(

SO bored!!!!

The weather here is......well....dreadful! Yesterday Spur and I managed a woods hike, but the snow was too deep for him to really leave the path, but at least we got OUT!!! Today, freezing rain all day and crusty, icy footing, I even kept the horses in all day. They are bored, too. the barn cats? Bored. Everyone - bored today!

I did stuff some Kongs with some "dog butter", given to us by a friend. That kept them busy for.....two minutes. I froze some and gave those later. Lasted three minutes. 

I really hate being shut in all day, so hopefully tomorrow we can get out some.

Today, boring.......but Roscoe did get to open one gift, a RAT!!! :D Then Spur stole it!!!!

Poor rat, had no chance!!!

SO bored!!!!

The weather here is......well....dreadful! Yesterday Spur and I managed a woods hike, but the snow was too deep for him to really leave the path, but at least we got OUT!!! Today, freezing rain all day and crusty, icy footing, I even kept the horses in all day. They are bored, too. the barn cats? Bored. Everyone - bored today!

I did stuff some Kongs with some "dog butter", given to us by a friend. That kept them busy for.....two minutes. I froze some and gave those later. Lasted three minutes. 

I really hate being shut in all day, so hopefully tomorrow we can get out some.

Today, boring.......but Roscoe did get to open one gift, a RAT!!! :D Then Spur stole it!!!!

Poor rat, had no chance!!!

More favorite ornament!!

Spur had fun in the snow!!!

A little deep for him!!!

Then he looked like this....

My agility yard... Waaaaaaaa!!!!!!! >:/

From South Africa

Love this seed tray!!

Partying frogs?

A snowflake made from welded horse shoe nails!

Colby got to go shopping today. She went to Mary's store, then to the Tractor Supply store. she had fun, her little shopping outting!!!! She wore a fancy coat. Should have brought my camera.

Wow, has it really been a week?

This is a busy time of year. last week has me ragged. All good, I have afternoon walks at the beach with a dog who enjoys Spur's company, so it was a treat for us all! Some amazing sunsets!!! 

I managed to get a tree and put it up!!!! Rich helped, but he is SO busy right now he left most of it up to me. I enjoy it, we have so many ornaments from friends it is fun to remember who gave us which one.

We are now covered in snow. Colby isn't very happy, her world is MUCH smaller and it was pretty small before, but she has moments she seems happy? I don't know. would I be happy if I were her??? I don't know.......

the snow was 1/4 way up the door and over the MinPins head's!!!! We headed to the lean to for them to potty. Ugh. At least we had that. Not ready for this much snow!!!!!!

Some trial runs and some trick training

We are back indoors. The crappy weather has arrived. No more running dog walk work with Jones. At least, not unless something drastic changes with the weather. I put away my dog walk, but not TOTALLY away. Like if I REALLY wanted to I could pull it out. But, Rich probably won't like where it is in the barn, so it will make it's way to one of the lofts where it will stay until spring. Damn it!!!! It was too expensive to leave out. Not sure how hard the cold/snow/ice would be on it, but probably best to store it inside. Sigh........

So, some runs from the past couple weekends. Didn't get all my runs taped. Sometimes it is just a pain getting someone to video. I try to be really accommodating and video friends so then they will video me, but sometimes it just seems hard to annoy someone to video.You will see him knock a bar here. He RARELY knocks bars and sometimes that will freak him out. I love that he just takes it in stride and keeps going, good boy!!!

 

And some tricks. Working on Spur learning to "walk like a penguin".


Roscoe learning to hold the toy with BOTH hands...

the Mental Game

So, apparently there is the agility dog blog day every once in a while. I don’t know exactly the details, but every so often someone comes up with a dog blog theme of the day. And anyone with a dog blog should write about that theme. This week it was “The Mental Game” or some such thing. I read some blogs. People really write well. And about the mental game, they get all analytical and theoretical and psychological. Poignant and some even manage to write what could be called prose.

So, when my dog rolls in shit I can maybe practice my mental game and pretend to be happy?

Me? I just can’t even think of what to write about the mental game of working with dogs in agility. Yes, there is the mental aspect, for sure. Agility is a sport. So much is known and studied about sport’s psychology. We know that in competitive sports one must clear the mind and use our thoughts to our advantage. Positive reinforcement and such, right? OK, I get that. I get that one has to be positive or the negative takes over. So simple. Really????

Spectacular……..

I sometimes think what is REALLY needed are acting classes. Because I can try clearing my mind, being positive, thinking only about my relationship with my dog and how fun the game is and how unimportant what everyone else thinks is and how the Q’s don’t matter, yadda, yadda, yadda. NO I CAN’T!!! I can’t do that!!! I can’t clear my mind.

He is SO cute………the leaf is stuck to him with shit cement!!! awesome!!!!

One top instructor even wrote a booklet called “Clear Mind”. It is her motto. Hmmm, OK, SHE can do that. She even teaches classes on mental management. Oh dear, really? I now need to take mental classes???? One other named her business “Say Yes”. Really!!!! Oh how positive can that be!!! Just saying the name of her business makes one happy and feel good. Clearly an amazing marketing scheme. But, now I am being cynical. I named my business Amy’s Animal Care. Damn it, I am married to a marketing guru. I should have named it something like Amy’s Happy Dog/Cat Play Time. Really??? Some others have great names…….My Wonderful Dog……Dances With Dogs……The Furry Godmother. All great names, for sure!!!!

I LOVE my dog today……….

For me, I seem to fail at the mental marketing, the mental clarity, the mental game. I am NOT an actor. The Q’s matter to me. My dog’s happiness doing the sport that I chose matters to me. When Spur starts to look worried and scared I get unhappy. My mind isn’t clear, or positive, or happy. I don’t know how one does that. I am thankful he is now happy, but I can not admit it was mental management. We just persevered!!!

I resorted to drugs to get on a plane. My therapist said to practice by putting myself in uncomfortable crowded situations like walking around the mall during a busy time. I took drugs. I don’t seem to have that ability to work on my mental game. All I can work on is practice, practice, practice. Train happy, and go to trials and hope for the best. That is all I can do. I have no secret mental work I do. I let things get to me when they go bad and I am happy when they go well. No words of wisdom here.

I get pissed, no matter how hard I work on my mental game, when the fucking dog rolls in the most disgusting shit EVER!!! I failed at The Mental Game. I am not sure how one would even start to act happy about that. I just don't get the mental game.

We wish for a quick death

Damn, that just sounds so dreadful. But, honestly what is dreadful is watching poor little Colby linger on, unhappy and depressed. It just sucks. My friend's dog died over the summer. She just collapsed one day and rushed to the vet where she died a bit later. How sad. Really? Yes, because SHE was not old. Colby is old, she is 14 1/2, maybe not old for a little dog, but old by most standards. And if she just collapsed one day and died it would be nice. Instead, she is diminishing slowly and lingering on in confusion and depression. It sucks. It sucks really bad.

Does she have moments of happiness? Yes, she does. And most of the time she still eats, but sometimes she doesn't even want to eat. Her teeth need cleaning AGAIN, but her BUN is so high we don't really want to put her through anesthesia. She has that strange high BUN with normal creatinine and normal urine specific gravity, so her kidneys are functioning fine, but the high BUN is a stumper. The vets have all discussed it and reviewed her case with experts and we did an ultrasound and can't find a reason for this. There are seemingly no answers and we just carry on. She sleeps most of the time, goes out for walks only if it isn't too sunny. She can't see AT ALL when it is sunny. We get snow this winter and her life is going to suck even more. Right now she barely sees to go potty. I have to carry her in and out of the house, she is now refusing the steps.

I just wish her a swift and painless death. But, she isn't bad enough to put down, yet. There is no reason for that. I don't know, it is painful to watch her linger on and be depressed. She is on prozac, but it isn't really helping. I almost wonder if I should take her off that and see how she does. We did that to help her sleep. She was keeping us up all night and the prozac helps her sleep and we all need our sleep. I try to make her as happy as possible, but it is harder and harder. I pray for no snow this winter as that will make her life even more unpleasant. It just sucks. It just sucks bad...............

Ack, what happened to last week???

Between lots of extra jobs, family staying here, us cooking the 31lb turkey, a dog show, the week got away from me.

We had most of Rich's family here for Thanksgiving. What a busy week. We bought a turkey from our farmer neighbors. Rich asked for 25lbs, it was 31. Nice to have a fresh, not factory farmed turkey. Rich cooked it here and finished it at his brother's. It was yummy. I won't post a picture here. I did that on facebook and should probably delete it. Food usually looks icky in photos and this was no exception. And that is a pet peeve of mine - people who post drinks and photos all the time on facebook. I guess my thought was to help promote our young neighbor farmer and his products? Not sure it was that effective. I ended up with a yucky looking dead turkey on my facebook page. Hmmm..........

I did minimal training this week. Roscoe is STILL sore and crooked, poor guy. He is better, we are weening off the meds, but he is still a bit crooked. I don't want to train him when he isn't feeling great because he puts 110% into his training and could make his neck/shoulder/back sore again. Spur worked a little on the start of his penguin. Walking on his hind legs in sit up position. We first have to work on just sit up. I never trained that. The MinPins without a tail couldn't do that, so I never trained that with them. Spur has always done his karate chop, so he flails his paws and I had to teach him to sit still without flailing those paws. Not easy, he LOVES his karate chop!!! Here is the karate chop...



Here is our start at holding still in sit up......



And just cuz, we did do some RC work with Mr. Jones. Trying to work on getting him deeper and not worrying about turns right now..........

Colby got a new coat!!!

When I am out in the agility yard, she comes, too, but goes to the pasture to hunt. she uses her nose. I wanted to be able to spot her quickly. This coat does the job!!!! Love it.

Good friends!!!

Notice the outcast?

This may be our last nice day outside. Supposed to get below 20 tonight and not even 30 tomorrow!! Ugh!!! we are ready. Wood is in, oil delivered, storm windows down. I just hope we don't get snow. I am NOT ready for that, although I do get my snow tires put on Monday. double ugh. Colby has a hard enough time seeing now, add snow glare and she will be completely blind. she IS completely blind walking into the sun, but away she sees some still. Poor thing, going blind isnTHE worst thing. he is depressed. We have her on Prozac, but it does not do that much, I don't think.