Forgot My Camera

Abby and I haven't trailed in awhile for a few reasons 1) its too cold 2) its a really long drive 3) I have to get up way too early 4) it gets expensive especially 5) because we never Q Despite all those reasons we went up this weekend and trialed. Why, you may ask???

Cutest Puppy Ever!!!!
Darling Dixie is a 3 month old Aussie that just came to live with some friends of mine who trial on weekends. Since this would be the first chance anyone got to see her, we sucked it up and made the drive. She is lucky she is this cute because I had to get up an extra hour early to meet her. . .I hate the time change!

Since we were there, I figured that we might as well trial too. I put Abby in Jumpers and 2 standard courses. I was super surprised how the day went.

The jumpers course was first thing and I am always the most nervous first thing in the morning because we aren't warmed up. Plus, we have a clean slate with the judge and I don't want him to look at us every other time we enter the ring with frustration. Abby surprised the crap out of me on her jumpers run. I was very pleased with her performance. She took off great with three straight jumps, then turned for an angled up without even thinking about running to sniff in the corner! There were some more jumps followed by another angle and then more jumps. . .which she blew past to sniff the sand bags. . . I am not at all surprised that she did that, and not at all frustrated about it. There was a time in her life when she would have been terrified of the bags and would have stopped working entirely. I got her attention back and we finished perfectly. She was gorgeous. I looked at the times later and realized that we could have Q'd with her run had she stayed on course! I was so proud of her! I actually feel like we did it - probably because this is the first time that I actually realized that we could if we keep working! I really wish I remembered my camera at 5:30am (well, actually it was 4:30 to my brain but the time change made it and hour later)

After our jumpers run things seemed to fall apart. We had a terrible standard 1 course. I was deeply disappointed because these are the types of coursed that we run every week. The standard 2 course opened my eyes to why we had such a bad standard 1 course, so I am glad that we pushed through for the second. The first course had a discrimination early a tunnel or a dog walk - not surprised that she took the tunnel - the wrong obstacle. After that it was useless. She had a bit of fun on the A-frame but we were a complete mess. The second run (exact oposite of the first) started out great. We jumped, weaved, tunneled, took the A-frame, then came back to the first discrimination - FAIL! She wouldn't take either. She just sort of FROZE. I finally got her to take one - which was the wrong one. . .then put her through the tunnel to end the course early. What did I learn? Abby doesn't like to be wrong.

Back when I was training Mole I had to be very careful when he missed an obstacle because he would fall apart when he was wrong. But I never noticed it in Abby before. You could see the look on her face: utter fear and confusion. It completely broke my heart. Here is a dog that desperately wants to please me and is terrified of making the wrong decision. (Just a side note, when she has been wrong in the past, I say "no" or "nope" and ask her to do it again. You are not allowed to use physical punishment for dogs in agility nor are you allowed to use harsh commands or raise your voice in disapproval - you will be disqualified for the day.) Abby has been fine with that in class, but apparently that is too much in a trial. I guess she understands that there is a difference. Now, I have to work harder on discriminations and remember to bypass the obstacle completely in a trial if she misses it. We are a long way from a Q in standard, so there is no reason for her to go back and try again - especially if it stresses her out.

Another good thing about the day was that the other Iggys were running too!! I love to watch them because they run so fast and so clean. Another reason is because they are all rescued too and it gives us something to strive for. I wasn't able to talk to Jennifer, couldn't find her, but I heard later that she thought that Abby had come a long way and was looking good. I was very pleased to hear it. I can see the difference, and I know that my friends can see the difference, but it is nice that other people, people I look up to, also see the changes. We have been working so hard for so long, and the changes are often so small that it is hard to look back and see all those changes a whole.

Great Class. . . And A Good Lesson

We had a terrific class today. I'm attributing it to my meatball surprise. . .and to a modified training class.

Abby and I got to class the usual 15 minutes early. We used the time playing "find it" - I throw food on the floor and tell her to find it. A super fun game, but Abby isn't quite as good at is as mole so it is usually only fun when she plays by herself. I think that playing the game in the beginning when the rest of the class was coming in, setting up crates, and basically making a ruckus was more distracting for Abby then the people themselves. Once she realized everyone was there, they were already calm and training themselves.

Class started a bit differently this week, the instructor held up signs and we had to do them as quickly and as accurately as possible. This gave Abby a chance to get into training mode far away from everyone else. The class moved into heeling exercises and I decided to move as quickly as I could through the exercises to keep her mind off of the fluffy white mountain moving in front of her. Then came the practice course. Abby did GREAT! She was a bit nervous, but she is always a bit nervous. . .We had some extra time and the instructor said that we could do the course a second time! Abby and I just did the moving exercises the second time. I didn't want to run the risk of her not working, so I thought it safest to just do the easy stuff. But after finishing, I realized that we probably could have done the course a second time successfully. Oh well, one never knows the best thing to do with Abby until after it's too late - and I would rather play it safe and end it after a great run then to push too far and end on a crappy note.

I had a nice talk with one of the other students today; She was commenting on how well Abby looked today compared to last week. She said that she also had a nervous dog, but that she didn't have the patience to work with her, so she works her more stable shepherd instead. I agreed that Abby often tries my patience in training, and that it can be much easier working with a dog without fear issues. But later I got to thinking that working with Abby is often less frustrating then working with other dogs. I think that the main reason Abby does so much more then my other dogs is because I actually train her. And by train I mean breaking down each exercise into the basics, then continuing to work on those basics until they are rock solid. Once they are rock solid, I start all over again in a different environment. I do with Abby what trainers are supposed to do with all dogs. This makes her behaviors more reliable. Whereas my other dogs learn commands and I don't spend the time proofing them - meaning they don't know those commands everywhere we go. Because my other dogs don't have Abby's issues I don't work with them nearly as much. I expect that they can manage the commands that we barely worked on in stressful environments. And because I expect more from them, I am more frustrated when they don't do what I ask. With Abby, the training goes slower, but the result is a more accurate behavior. And when Abby is on in class, she looks better then some of the dogs that have less issues and have been doing this longer.

Why Would You Do That?

I love my roommate. However, there are certain things that one has to put up with when living with another person. One of the things that I have to put up with are the random "I hurt myself" calls. These range from "I broke the wall" (I'm not joking) to "I cut my hand on a can, again". Being the wonderful and loving person that I am, I usually respond with "I'm sorry".
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Today I decided to make some meatballs for the dogs. I wanted to do this mainly so that Abby would have extra-special treats for class tomorrow. I went out of my way to find a meatball recipe (I don't cook meat) and buy the ingredients. I laid everything out and went to work. The first thing I need to do was grate the carrots.

Can you see where this is going???


I am generally a very safe person in the kitchen, but I still managed to grate my knuckle. I'm blaming it on being 5pm on a "Friday". I called Lb to tell her what I did. . . and her response???

Why did you do that?

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After calling boss lady, who was quite considerate of my feelings (ahem!) I was able to finish the meatballs. The kids seem to love the raw version, and they keep checking the stove wondering when they are going to be done.

Life. . . Death. . .and Wobble Boards

They say bad things happen in threes and I have to say that I agree with them. It seems that I have been slapped in the face with mortality three times in the past two weeks. Two of those survived, one did not. Regardless of whether they lived or died, the possibility of loss was deeply felt for each one. And that has made this a difficult two weeks.

As difficult as these two weeks have been, I have also had a lot to be thankful for. My friends have been wonderful - calling to check in regularly; allowing me to take the necessary time off work; and making sure that I eat at least something during the day. And as thankful as I am for my friends, I am, in a way, more thankful for my dogs.

We often think of dogs as noble, as selfless, as companions; but the reality is that dogs are animals and are driven by their own needs and desires. They still want to go for walks, they still want to eat breakfast a half hour too early, they still won't go potty in the rain. They force us to get up and get going with our day, even when we don't quite feel like it. And because they are who they are, they are the only ones who can make us laugh in times of deep sadness. And today, of all days, Abby stood on the wobble board. Through all the tears shed today, my dog was the only one who could make me laugh, and who could give me exactly what I needed to keep going.

Found Her!!

The real Abby came to class yesterday.

There were a lot of things that contributed to Abby's poor showing in class yesterday.

1) Death of a family member kept practice to a minimal (or, not at all)
2) Due to #1, she spent a great deal of time in a crate at grandma's
3) There was a new dog in class
4) #3 also came in late
5) The instructor made all sorts of loud noises and arm motions for distraction
6) The class room door was wide open to the outside world

All of these things contributed to Abby having a difficult time in class, but I think that the biggest contributor was my attitude. After having a hard week, I didn't have the energy for a full class, and I really should have stayed home. But I was hoping that with two great weeks under her belt, that I could have an off day and Abby would still do ok. I was wrong. My being off, on top of all Abby's worst fears in one room, made for a really difficult day for the both of us.

We made up for it a tiny bit at the end by doing the course at top speed and never stopping for the stationary exercises. Her tail came out a tiny bit and I think that she left on a good note; so hopefully next week won't be as bad.