Laughable

I totally love this dog, but I can't help but laugh when I see this

Dave Mills did a wonderful job shooting him last weekend, but Sniper just isn't as graceful as Abby is when she jumps. He tries so hard to be a good dog, and he is, but he is still a big galoof most of the time. Here are some other photos from Dave last weekend

 You can tell he really wants to go, go go!

He takes off running much like a swimmer - one giant leap and he is off!

I really should stop making this dog do agility. You can see how miserable he is

Abby Update

It's been crazy over here with FOUR dogs and work, and it's been quite awhile since I've given an Abby update:

Abby seems to be slowing down a bit and hasn't seemed to really enjoy classes or run thrus or trials as much as she once did. She isn't demanding that I train her or walk her or give her food right this second. I think that some of this can be attributed to age and the general slowing of her body, but some of it has to do with what we are learning and how we are training

Abby is only 7 years old, but she is an old seven. She has arthritis in her elbows and hips, and she has degeneration in her spine. I see her having a harder time sitting or getting up after a nap. She naps more and more. Abby is still trying to recover after her surgery over two weeks ago. She led a hard life before she came to me and I know that our time together is going to be shorter than I will like because her body isn't going to last as long I hope.

Abby doesn't seem to enjoy training as much because what we are learning is SO BORING! Actually, it's not boring to me, but it is boring to Abby because she already knows it. Abby already knows sit and down and stay and come and get in. What we spend most of our time learning is doing it better and faster and with more precision. Abby doesn't do well with drilling and she really doesn't do well with being *wrong*, so this type of training isn't only stressful, but is also not FUN for her. Also, some of what we are working on is down right uncomfortable for her as a huge part of our training involves distance work and stays - AND putting something in her mouth!

I've been contemplating taking Abby out of classes for awhile, but then Sniper came into our lives and since he needs to work, it made sense to keep Abby in classes awhile longer. She seems to enjoy our one-on-one time and she LOVES the cookies, so why not keep at it for a bit and see if things turn around with some more time and more cookies.

In the mean time, Abby attended an agility fun match and did a jumpers run! Abby loves to jump and had a blast when she was out there. She did longer sequences than I planned because she was having such a great time and was actually DRIVING to the jumps! After about 15 or so jumps, Abby decided that she was done, and that was ok with me. I was so happy to see that after over a year and a half of not training in agility, she took to it like she had never had the time off. I can't help but think that if I had only gotten her a few years earlier, she would have done really well in this sport - or at least would've had a ton of fun! Unfortunately I did not get any videos of her as all my friends were running their large dogs on a different course; but Dave Mills got some amazing photos of her!

Fun Match with Giant Brownish-Red Dog

If the title doesn't make sense to you, it's because you've never lived with a red-headed dog. And if you, like me, have said you will NEVER own a red-head but end up living with one anyway, you will understand the title completely! For the rest of you out there. . . I hope you never have the "joy" of living with a red-head!

Sniper had his first fun match today and he was A-mazing! Not only was this a new environment with new people and new dogs, but this is also a very new sport to him. He has only been doing this for about two months! I entered him in two jumpers runs because his contacts aren't solid enough for a standard run and his teeter is practically non-existent at this point. He is weaving, but we are still training and I don't want to push him on 12 poles. My main goal for today was to have fun and to tire him out! I think that we succeeded on both accounts.

Here are two videos of sniper's jumper's runs. I only worked a few jumps in sequence choosing to reward frequently. Looking back, I probably could have pushed him a bit more, but I'd rather over reward and have fun then under reward and get mistakes later on. He knocked a few bars and it's pretty clear that most of those are my fault as I stopped short or called him mid-jump. There was one jump that he didn't end up taking that I didn't notice until I actually saw the video and while I think I set him up properly for it, I think that we don't have enough lateral distance for him to have taken the jump. This dog watches my body movements like a hawk and I'm still learning to adjust for that.






Abby ran in a jumper's run too, but unfortunately it want's caught on video. I'm hoping that we got some photos; but I'll blog about that soon enough.

He Weaves!

Agility with a giant dog is very different than agility a small dog. Besides the size difference, training sniper in agility is very different than training Abby. Sniper is bouncy and energetic and always ready to play and is not afraid of anything. Training Abby was very slow going and we took everything piece by piece. It took me forever to teach Abby to go through a tunnel and she had to learn that she was supposed to jump over every jump she saw. But she picked up on weaving pretty quickly. I think that part of it was that it was the way Abby (probably) viewed the obstacle/poles - she (probably) saw each pole individually and figured out the rhythm and her body easily followed. Sniper on the other hand wants to blow past (or through) all of them and get his reward. He is also much bigger than Abby and his body has to bend in ways that Abby's didn't which also makes poles more challenging.

I tried teaching him a few different ways to weave, but our instructor recently recommended teaching him "backwards" - or teaching him to drive out from the last pole, then slowly adding more poles to the front. This way seems to be the magic tool for him and I think that it has to do with his drive. Sniper REALLY, REALLY wants his toy, and when he drives out from the last pole, he GETS his toy and gets to tug. By slowly adding poles to the front, he has to learn to weave through them in order to get to the last pole so that he can finally have his toy.

We are up to six poles now. And while we still have six more poles to add; AND a completely different side to teach him on, I think that we can easily do both with this way. I've also learned a valuable tool in training him and any future dog I train in agility. Not that this way will work for every dog with high drive, but it is another tool to use/try when training.

(Sorry for the sideways video, but blogger won't support the editing video I use that can fix it)

M.I.A.

Another title for this post was going to be MAL. . . as in Malinois. The reason I haven't been posting much. But the truth is, it not all his fault. I mean, how can you blame him when he looks this cute:



Yes, he fell asleep with a toy in his mouth. More importantly, he fell asleep. These dogs are non-stop. I've heard that before, but this was the first time I've ever lived with one. For those dog people out there - think of a border collie on red-line energy drink. For those kid people - think of a two year old on the same. Constant go - go - go and if you don't give him something to do, he will find something. To prevent me from ripping my hair out (or his) we have been doing-doing-doing. One of the things we have been doing is agility. I'm back to being the "soccer-mom" driving my kids all over the world to different types of lessons. I'm having a great time with it though and so is he. A girl in our agility class takes photos of the dogs in the class and posts them on her web site. The pictures from his first class are here and from his most recent class here. He looks super happy and is doing a great job so far. I'm learning tons as working with him is very different from working with Abby. But it is a great learning experience for me.

working vs WORKING

vs





I've never owned/lived with/worked with a true working dog. I've asked both mole and Abby to work for/with me, but they have only done so because they love me (ie: I have super awesome food!) And while both of them have truly enjoyed working with me, they really only do it because I have asked them to and because they like to make me happy.

Abby has really benefited from working with me. She excelled at agility (well, excelled for a puppy mill Iggy) and she still does great at our Rally classes - and not just for a rescue but for any dog! Abby has come a long way from that shivering mess that she was almost 3 years ago, and I truly believe that she wouldn't be as well adjusted as she is if it weren't for the confidence that she learned from working.

After living with a true working dog for almost two weeks, I am starting to see the difference between a dog working because they love me and working because they have to. Sniper is extremely well trained, but he needs constant reinforcement from me. If I am not reinforcing his good behavior, he will find something that is rewarding to him - and that can be something as benign as finding toys and entertaining himself, or something worse, like trying to play with the cats. If I am giving him negative reinforcement for something he is doing that I don't like, it doesn't mean he will stop doing it - it just means that he will try again later when I'm not looking. And while I can tell my kids to "go lay down" and they will understand that as "go away and settle by yourself"; if I tell that to sniper, he reads that as an actual command and he will down in an alert position waiting for my next command.

Its an interesting experience living with a dog that needs so much. And while living with Abby has been a ton of work in the past, she has been relatively easy to live with for quite awhile now. Sniper is generally easy to live with, but he still needs a lot of work, and he needs it in a very different way. Where Abby needs calm, stability, Sniper needs active, entertaining, go-go-go. In my years of training dogs of all shapes and sizes, I've never had to train a dog to settle. And while I am training sniper in agility and rally, I'm also working on the seemingly basic "settle". It is also a challenge to me to work with him in a more positive fashion. Working small, easy dogs using strictly positive methods is easy. But working both a physically and mentally strong and large dog using positive methods is harder. It's much easier to put a pinch collar on him and make him behave. And while I have used more corrective methods with him, I am also working on adjusting what I can and am moving towards a more reward based system.

This experience is a huge eye opening one for me. I'm truly enjoying the learning experience as well as sniper himself. He is easy to love, fun to train, and as sweet as can be. But I have a new respect for the breed and for people who work with and live with working dogs all the time.

Abby's Last Fun Match

Who knew back in April that this would be Abby's last fun match. It makes me sad looking at this because I can see how truly happy she is. She is a bit distracted, but all her friends are hanging out just outside of the ring cheering her on. (who would've thought that Abby has FRIENDS!!!) Once I did get her focus back she RAN with her tail wagging the whole time.

Even though this video makes me sad, it still makes me happy because I can see that we went so far in such a short period of time. I mean, this was the dog that I had to teach how to jump - EVERY JUMP! Each obstacle was new, even if she had done it before, if it was in a new location, or even if it just looked different in any way, I had to start all over at the beginning. And this video, the first run of the day, shows exactly what dedication and determination can do.

You go, ABBY

Depression Sets In

I'm officially depressed. I was sad about no more agility before, but now I am officially depressed about it. I am strongly tempted to crawl in bed for the next 5 years. And the more I go about my life, the more depressed I get.

I don't think that normal people really understand how devastating this is. I have tried to explain it to some (ie: imagine if you couldn't play video games, or if you couldn't take pictures) This is my way to disconnect from my job and from other suppressors in my life. This is a way for me to bond with my dog and to have a great time. I read books, follow blogs, talk to trainers about agility. This isn't just a sport that I do with my dog, this is a whole sub-set of my social structure!

A friend asked me earlier how Abby was doing and I said that she is fine! SHE has no idea that there is anything wrong. She enjoys agility, but she has a pretty great life otherwise so I doubt that she will be heart-broken over it. I imagine that if I took her to an agility field and didn't let her do anything that she would get frustrated, but I don't think that she thinks about it regularly.

I know that Abby and I still have a lot of things that we can do together, and I am looking forward to all of that. But there was so much more that we could have accomplished in this area and I am sad that we will never get the chance. And I am sad that this part of my life is over for the time being. And I can see why some of these people have so many dogs - when there is always a dog ready to compete, you never have to give it up.

Despite my depression over it, I am still glad that we tried it. So many people told me that I wouldn't be able to do with Abby any of the things that we have done so far. But we did. And we didn't do it with a perfectly bred, perfectly socialized dog. We spent the time and did the work and got past so many fears and we did what so many normal dogs before us have done - we did agility.

Chunk By Chunk

My grandfather said that a few years ago he started falling apart piece by piece. Now is he falling apart chunk by chunk.

So it seems with Abby.

Abby has been weird lately when it comes to agility. She was refusing her favorite obstacles and has been even slower than normal. Despite my belief that she was just being Abby, it turns out that there are some (more) things wrong with her. On top of her seizures, and her kidney issues, we now have heart murmur, arthritis, and degenerative disc disease to add to the list. I never believed that Abby would be a long-lived dog, but I didn't think that she would fall apart this young either.

When I first saw those X-rays a part of me was relieved. All this recent behavior is not mental. But once I made that realization, my heart sank. It isn't mental, it's physical. This won't get better. We can't train through this. This is permanent. We can no longer do agility.

I never thought that Abby would win titles, but I hoped that we would be able to train and trial and have a ton of fun for years before we retired. But we have to stop now. And it really depresses me. We have spent a whole year doing this. Countless hours training, countless $$ spent, countless hours driving. . . and we don't really have anything to show for it.

Ok, I know that's not entirely true. We learned a lot and Abby has a ton of confidence (a ton considering where she started) but right now I just want to be sad that we have to give up something that we both loved doing.

Building Drive

Abby has been SUPER pokey during agility training. I have no idea what is going on, and because it's Abby, it could be nothing, or it could be everything. And since she still seems to want to do obedience and go out for runs, I am assuming that she is physically fine. She just has no drive for agility right now. . .

As much as I love Abby and as fun as she can be to work at times, she can also be as equally frustrating. Part of the frustration comes because she seems to be fine one week, then is completely off the next. That is part of the reason we are keeping the journal - to hopefully figure out what I'm missing. Right now, she has no drive, but is still completing the courses. Its very strange.

I'm trying to do some research and I am asking everyone I can think of to ask. . . but as of tonight, I have no answers, just frustration. I'm being very careful not to let on how I feel, and am throwing big parties whenever she does anything. . . but it hasn't helped.

Despite my frustrations, I still really enjoy working with Abby and I think that she really enjoys working with me. We have formed a true team in the past few months and it has really strengthened our bond. And I know that once we figure this whole thing out that we will be that much better together. . . And I know that I will have that many more tips and tricks in working with other dogs. . . but right now, I just wish that we could go out there and run a course like we used to when we first started.

Training Log

Yesterday I decided to start a training log for Abby.

Most serious trainers use training logs, and we aren't that serious about all of this. But after Abby's A-frame fiasco, I started thinking that a training log might be more helpful in working with/through her issues.

I write a lot of stuff about Abby on this blog, but I don't write down the details of exactly what she did, how she did it, and how she felt doing it. I also didn't keep track of where we were and what the weather was like, and how I am feeling that day. I am not sure if real trainers keep track of all that minutia, but since Abby's fears are based on seemingly tiny things, I think that the more I keep track of, the better I will be at handling her.

I have learned so much more about training dogs since Abby came into my life, but I still feel that I have a lot to learn in training Abby. Everyday that we work together I feel that we are becoming more and more of a team, but I always know that I am the bigger part of that team, despite the fact that Abby is doing the actual work! If I am not motivating her, and if I am not up-beat enough, Abby will shut down. That is no fun for her, and it makes me feel like a bad mom. But I think that we are finally starting to find our groove in training, and I think that the log will help us polish up some things. I still think that she has a lot of potential.

I Should Write A Book

I have been on vacation for a week out of state.

That is a whole week away from Abby.

A whole week away from training of any kind.

A whole week away from exercise.

Tonight, Abby took the A- frame.

Tonight, Abby (almost) off-coursed and took the A-frame.

This whole no-training training really works!

I really should write a book about it. . .

Thanks Ken

A year ago I wrote a letter to a man named Ken telling him how inspired I was by his IGs, and what he was able to do with them despite their history. One of his IGs, Gracie, had a very similar story to Abby and yet she was still able to do so much. I also told him how frustrated I was that most people/trainers I talked to said that Abby would never be able to do Agility. He wrote me a really sweet letter telling me to keep working with her and that eventually we would find someone who would work with us. His letter really kept me motivated and kept me working with her at a time when I really just wanted to give up.

Obviously I kept working with her and didn't give up on her. We eventually did find someone who was willing to work with us (and still does despite everything!) and Abby CAN do agility. She has really blossomed into a wonderful dog and became everything that I could ever ask for in a dog - even if I forget that at times. . .

I recently tried to email Ken to say thank you for his kind words and to update him on how Abby was doing, but the email came back. I'm disappointed that I'm not able to thank him for giving me the courage to keep going. I'm sad that I can't tell him how much his work with his dogs inspired me to work so much with my own. And since I can't thank him directly, I thought that I would thank him here. Maybe the internet in it's wonderful and mysterious ways will somehow get the message to him.

Thank you, Ken.

Still No A-Frame

I really have no idea what happened to Abby's A-frame. This once beloved obstacle is now completely shunned. We got it back for a bit after a practice session, but she refused it again in class. I am beginning to think that she might have come off it wrong in class and is now afraid that it "hurts". The only reason that I am thinking that is because after the one A-frame a few weeks ago, she completely fell apart for the rest of the class - refusing everything. . .including jumps. When she did take the jump, she took it crooked. I wondered that day if she didn't twist/pull/sprain something, but Abby is a pretty sturdy dog so I didn't give it too much thought.

But after class today, I think that I am revisiting my old theory - something about that A-frame "hurts". Abby did great the entire class, jumping perfectly at 16", took the dog walk both ways, but again refused the A-frame. I'm not sure if it hurts on the way up or the way down, but I think it might be the way up since I don't think Abby is smart enough to put the "what goes up must also come down" rule. We'll break it down again in a few weeks and hopefully we can get over it eventually.

After a few weeks of not training, I think that Abby actually does better without the constant push of training. Don't get me wrong, Abby likes to train - she gets all wiggly and prances around, but it was just the same old stuff. And if she did something wrong and didn't get a cookie, she got frustrated and confused. As well as she is doing, she isn't as mentally prepared for this stuff as some of the working breeds. Abby doesn't do wrong well. She wants to do well and shuts down when she doesn't. And once she shuts down, there is no getting her back. That's part of why I'm working on training in different places. It's stuff she already knows, but we are adding a new level of difficulty with a new environment. And even though she isn't comfortable enough to actually train in new places, I think that we are getting some benefit - relationship building if nothing else, and that helps tremendously in classes and trials.

Everyone is getting used to the new training program. Abby is very demanding after work and fusses about, expecting to out and do something. Mole finally understands that he isn't coming with us. I think that pocket is just happy to get that crazy dog out of her hair for awhile. I'll admit that it was very difficult at first taking Abby out without Mole - especially because he REALLY wants to go. . .and probably expects to go too. After all, he always came before. . . but I think that he gets it now. He stays home. I still feel guilty about it, and I think that it has made him more needy at other times, but that is ok. There are so many dogs in this house that if you don't demand attention, then you can get over-looked at times.

Phase One

Things just got serious.

I have been working consistently with Abby for just over a year. We have come a long way in that year. We have had a few set backs but we have had far more rewards. And while we have worked hard together, we have not had a real training plan. We have gone to agility class, then on to agility trials, and now we are doing rally class, and hopefully will trial soon. Even with all this training, I have not thought farther ahead then next weeks class. I haven't thought weeks, months, years, into the future because I never really believed that Abby could do well. However, a few weeks ago I actually realized how far she could go if I put the effort into her that I plan on putting into my next dog. Once that clicked, I knew that I had to put more effort into her training.

The end goal with this new training regiment is to have Abby comfortable doing her obedience in a new and public place . . . but we are going to do it in phases because this is Abby and nothing is ever straight forward.

Phase One: Take Abby to as many new places as possible. Abby goes a lot of places but it's rare that she goes anywhere new anymore. My main goal for phase one is to have her be comfortable (hopefully happy) and able to pay attention to me. I think that phase one is going to be a long one - and possibly a never ending one considering her history.

Phase Two: practice basic obedience in comfortable environments. This will eventually go on in conjunction with phase one. Since I can't take her somewhere new every day, we will often go back to places that she is comfortable with and work on basic training there.

Phase Three: ??? I am not entirely sure what phase three will be, but we'll figure that out once we get to phase two.

So, how did day one of phase one go? Not too bad. We went for a walk on a new trail and I got some attention from her. I didn't ask much from her, but did ask her to check in with me from time to time. She did better at the beginning of the walk when there was less distraction. Once the horse walked by she was constantly wondering what kind of bizarre creature would jump out from around the next bend! The weather was crappy so she had to wear a coat! We were lucky though, because as soon as we got back in the car, it started to rain!

NOT Training Works!

I don't advocate anyone STOP training their dogs, but a break here and there is good for all of us. When I decided to take a week off from training I was afraid that Abby would forget what she learned and stare at me confused and bewildered when class came around. Surprise of all surprises Abby did quite well in class! Despite loosingher stays (which aren't that great to begin with) she was perfect. She not only did well, but she also had a great time doing it.

We played a few games this week, choose to heel was our favorite. The idea is that your dog is allowed to do "whatever they want" but they are heavily rewarded for being in the heel position. This can be on leash, but is more effective off leash. As a compromise Abby dragged her leash. I wasn't afraid of her bolting as much as I was afraid that she would play on the agility equiptment! Abby got the game and quickly came back to heel position after being sent away. I was really surprised that she did so well until I remembered all the long-line work we've done and all the recall training. Our instructor was surprised at how well she did too!

We've officially gotten back into "training mode" but we are going to mix it up a lot. I think that our new regiment will be more fun and will be more effective. When we can't follow the new plan, then we will learn new tricks - like tonight! I always think it's cute when dogs weave through their owners legs, so I decided that will be our first trick. Abby is a little slow picking this up because she keeps trying to get into heel position! It's ok... She'll get it eventually... But I'm sure that we'll break one or two behaviors along the way...

Puppy Envy

I have puppy envy. . . yes, those words actually came out of my mouth. And, as far as I can tell, I am still completely sane.

I'm not the biggest fan of puppies because they have a ton of energy, make a lot of mess, and require a ton of work. I have, from time to time, fallen in love with certain puppies, but those puppies usually belong to friends and the puppies are like my nieces and nephews, so of course I love them. I have never wanted a puppy of my own. . .until today. . .

Abby fell apart half-way through agility class on Thursday. She decided that she didn't like the A-frame, and would only take the dog walk one way. Abby reverted back to her old self and I am not entirely sure why. I was really disappointed and apologized to our instructor, but she didn't seem phased at all by it - guess it's more common then I think (selective memory). Abby and I went out to the agility yard this morning to work on some of the issues. I had to put the A-frame back to half height before she would take it - then she took it joyfully. She was fine both sides of the dog walk today, but she only wanted to jump 12". As much as I love Abby, and as proud of her as I am at what we have accomplished together, it is still frustrating having to re-teach her basic things that she actually LOVES doing.

Today, I also got to work with my friend's puppy. She is a gorgeous aussie who was excellently bred and properly socialized. She was a total joy to work with. She had a great time doing very basic things, and had no fear of anything new. She is super smart and picked up on what we wanted from her right away and was very willing to continue working with us. I found myself thinking that I actually might want a puppy one day. I am a firm believer in rescue, but I have absolutely no problem with great breeders who are actually bettering their chosen breed - and I don't blame owners who want an awesome dog - especially owners who want to do something specific with their dog.

But, another dog is still a long way away for me, and in the end, I will probably rescue an adult - probably with issues. . . but it's always fun to dream of that perfect dog - the one that I can do everything I ever wanted with. . .one without years of baggage to sort through. . . But, in the mean time, I'll continue to work with Abby and be happy with the small success that we have. . .and try not to get frustrated with her when she has set backs. . .after all, she is not a well bred or properly socialized dog. . .and we have still managed to do some amazing things together.

Relationships are never 50/50

I learned a very valuable lesson last night at agility class: my relationship with Abby needs to be 100/100 - I have to give my all before she will give hers.

I've been giving Abby a good percentage of my energy, but it's been awhile since I gave her 100% of my energy in a class. Part of it comes from working a lot with mole first. That guy will continually give me 100% even if I only give him back 10%. In fact, mole does better when I keep my energy lower because it helps keep him out of his anxiety stage. The other part has to do with abby's accomplishments. As she started doing better I started expecting more. When I expected more I became frustrated when I didn't get from her what I know she could do. As I got frustrated Abby got stressed and worked less. It was a downward spiral that wasn't fun for either of us.

After reading that post from Susan Garrett I decided to try something different in class this week. I decided to reward Abby like everything she did was outstanding! And, in some ways, the fact that she did anything at all WAS outstanding! The funny this was that the more I rewarded her for, the better she did. And the better she did, the more I wanted to reward her. It became FUN again for both of us. Abby did better in this class than she has in weeks - despite thefact that it was windy and rainy in class - and Abby truly hates weather of any kind!

I really like working with this new dog and on my way home it dawned on me that this was the first time in a long time that I put 100% of myself into working with her. I pretended that it hasn't been a long week, and that I didn't get up at 6am, and that I didn't just spend 90 minutes in traffic trying to get to class on time. I put everything else aside and just focused on her and what she needed from me to make this relationship work. And while Abby wants to do well and get lots of cookies she still needs me to motivate her. She needs me to put in the energy and the effort that she gives back. In the end, you can't blame her for that - after all, it is a fair trade

" when I look at my dogs, all I see is greatness"

If you don't read Susan Garrett you probably don't do agility. . . but even if you don't do agility, and you just have pet dogs, you can still find a lot of useful information. One of her more recent posts really resonated with me and I had to ponder it for a bit before I was able to write about it.

One of Susan's dogs was labeled "Deak the Freak" by many of her instructors because of her lack of confidence. But rather than labeling her dog with a perceived limitation Susan took ownership of that issue and spent the time making her better. Susan said it better: I don’t focus on what isn’t there with my dogs, I focus on what is. I take up ownership of anything that can be made better and I spend that dog’s career trying to make it better.

She also talks about how our dog's poor behaviors can be isolated events. But that if we do not use that first event as a wake up call and make the change then ". . . this event becomes a pattern and if you accept this pattern as your reality it becomes part of your journey."

The whole post was wonderful (you really should read it), but the main point of the post was that she refused to become frustrated with her dog's limitations, and that, instead, she chose to work with her dog to become better. "I don’t focus on what isn’t there with my dogs. . ." ". . .when I look at my dogs I can only see greatness.”

As much as I work with Abby, I don't do it because I see greatness in her. . . I do it because I don't see greatness. I see all the limitations and I get very frustrated at times. I constantly underestimate her. I call her all sorts of silly names and I make all sorts of excuses for her perceived limitations. But the truth is that she is a great dog. That despite her previous limitations, she has exceeded my wildest dreams for her. Most of her current limitations are a result of my lack of effort. Seriously. I know that I have been working hard with this dog, but if I actually worked with her like I plan to work my next dog, this dog really would be great. And not just great for the Abby that arrive two years ago, but great for the dog that lives with me today. And I would be that much better of a trainer.

***Totally forgot to mention that Dave Mills took this awesome photo of Abby at our fun match two weeks ago! She was coming off the A-frame and you can see her tail!

Another Great Class!

This has been a terrific weekend all around for Abby. Not only did she do well at the fun match, but she also did great in Rally class yesterday. She had a lot of focus and her heeling was TERRIFIC! We even did an exercise that I haven't been able to get her to complete in class before - the step/sit exercise. It consists of step - sit, step-step-sit, step-step-step-sit. It is actually one of the easier exercises, but Abby generally gets anxious when we aren't moving along, so we regularly skip that one. But she was doing so well in class that I thought we should try it. . .and we DID IT!!! I was super impressed with her when a dog broke into our class and she didn't freak out! She held her sit perfectly until I realized that the dog was not going to go easily and I thought it easiest to pick her up. And the best thing about it was that she continued to work after that!!!! I couldn't be more proud of her.

From time to time I think back about how far Abby has come, but given that it is her anniversary, it happens more lately. I was thinking about how she was last year was when I actually really started training her. I would visit my friend's house and we would work the basics of agility - and I mean VERY basic. It took forever before I could get her to go into a tunnel! Then we took our first obedience class and struggled through most of it. Then we progressed to agility class and finally to fun matches and agility trials! It's really amazing to see how far she has come so fast. She is not only doing so well, but she is having a great time doing it. Its fun looking back on the progress that we have made and the team that we have become. I really enjoy this little girl and I hope that she is around for many years to come!