An Update on the Pack

One of the challenges with having 5 dogs is they're all so different! They have different needs, different personalities, different activity levels, different training points and more.

I'll admit, that's part of the fun as well and here is a quick update on each of the pups.

Zulu was neutered on Wednesday and since he had one undescended testicle it wasn't a 'normal' surgery. I'm thrilled with Sumner Vet and how they handled the 'search', which was to utilize ultra sound. This non-invasive method found the testicle clear up in his abdomin and so they were able to make two small and precise incisions which had him up and wanting to run around almost immediately. Here we are four days later and he's doing great! The neutering was just in time because...

Rylee went into season this morning. While the two dogs (Rylee & Zulu) can't be together at this time, I'm hoping for a bit less in the hormone drive from Mr. Z. Rylee will have a bit of a reprieve from agility training for the next few weeks since I've found that my girls in season can be a little moody and out of sorts. I find it easier to just cuddle with them and not to ask to much and definitely not to train new things. Rylee will be in a Conformation show next weekend so we'll see how that goes.

Ru & Burton are doing great, spoiled as ever!

Ru can always be found glued to my side and makes pathetic sounds resembling an alien-gremlin cross if separated from me or can't be where I am.

Burton on the other hand is being reminded of his daily manners and is doing great with that. As usual, he wants to be where Dan is.

Both dogs are now in heavy weave pole training and Dan and I are working together to get our dogs prepared for a show at the end of July. We've brought the channel weave poles into the house (all 12 of them) and they're setup in our hall way. With Dan on one side and me on the other, we split their food between us and let them go back and forth and receive kibble for going down the middle of the training poles. Today was our first day and both dogs did great.

Pinky's still my feisty girl and has no problems keeping the young pups in line. She's definitely aged and sleeps as often as she likes, but she's still my bright and loving sweetheart. She's raised me well.

Dogs Enjoying Fall, Updates & New Electronic Timers

This year's fall leaves are just beautiful and make the perfect backdrop to take some updated doggy profile pictures. As usual, some of the dogs were more cooperative than others

I'll have to share Spot's picture in another post since I'm limited to 5 pictures per blog, but he's one who isn't fond of cameras. Rouge as well, (can't you tell by the not-so-thrilled look in the picture below). I'm certain she'd rather be running around : )

The Latest Updates

Being Sick: It's been a while since I wrote, but I have been so sick for the last 3 weeks. They're assuming it was the flu of some sort, but as time goes on and my symptoms continue to morph, I'm not so sure.

Ironically, last time I was sick (earlier this year) it also rolled on through a bunch of symptoms and I was convinced it was allergies. Humm....

Clicker Training a Horse: One of my friends/former students has a horse that she would like to clicker train. She didn't have a chance to clicker train (CT) her dog as he is deaf, so this will be a new experience for her.

For years now I've had an open invitation to go out with her to get some horse experience. And now to CT a horse? Yeah, I invited myself along and being the great pal that she is, she heartily embraced my attendance . I'll be sure to write about the experience as I have no doubt it will be amazing!

Seminar: Next weekend I'm out of town conducting an agility seminar, which I'm very excited about. I love doing seminars and there is so much going through my mind on all of the things we could cover. So many choices and only 8 hours to work with them : ) I'll be sure to do a post-seminar write up.

New Electronic Timers: This is a preliminary write-up on the new electronic timers we purchased. While ETs may not sound so exciting, these absolutely are!

First, they're made by a different company and are not your big and expensive trial timers. While those are great for the big events, they take a ton of batteries, require a car trunk for transportation and cost about the same as a used compact car (costs can range from $2,500-$6,000). In other words, not feasible for the average Agility Joe (Josephine) .

Our new timers were made by a different company, AgilityInMotion.com and were designed specifically for personal and class training. They are amazingly simple and a fraction of the cost. We opted for 2 sets (a start & finish set) which also comes with the main console for around $450 (without tax & shipping).

We just started using the timers last night at class and we're working to get a baseline on all of our students' dogs on each obstacle.

Specifically, we've started with the individual contact obstacles, different shaped tunnels and a couple of basic jump sequences. Next week we'll do weave poles and play with different style crosses.

The system is very easy to use, is small and the accuracy is spot on. Feedback from my students has been overwhelmingly positive not only on the system itself (they helped to put the timers in place at each jump height and read the console), but they LOVE the additional information obstacle timing has given to them. It has also brought out a bit of healthy competition among the groups so people are pushing harder, just like they would in a real trial. So many positives!

I doubt this is the last time you'll hear me write about this product (no, I'm not getting paid by the company), but I encourage each of you to check out the details at www.AgilityInMotion.com. Finally, someone came up with a timing alternative for us 'budget conscious' (yet quality minded) agility folks.

What Would You Do on a 106 Degree Day?

Our friends Steve & Laurie invited us over for dinner and fun on their lake with the dogs - a perfect day for it since the high was at or above 106 degrees here! Ah yeah, a new city record...

Any way, the water was wonderful! With all of the hot weather, the water was a comfortable temperature which is good, because I'm a wimp.

I wasn't sure how Zulu would be in the water so we brought bumpers to throw, a long line "just in case" and my bathing suit so I could coax him in if needed.

Well, the joke was on me because little did I know that our little Zulu is a water fanatic! Within moments of spying the water he had me on my butt!!!

It all happened so fast. One minute he was diving in the water to fetch a toy screaming with delight the entire time. As I was checking to be sure my ears weren't bleeding from the high pitch, he came in, gave me the bumper, proceeded to wrap me in the long-line and then before I could calculate my predicament, he dove back in and down I went!

I just have one thing to say...remind me to talk to his breeder on the lack of warning regarding his water fetish - LOL.

After a good 30-45 minutes of hard swimming (I did keep the long line on him the entire time), I went out in a raft and Zulu came up to join me and get some rest. The first picture attached was after we settled in. The second picture was us trying to settle in!

Last, but certainly not least, Burton is pictured doing one of his many water retrieves. He too is a water fanatic!

We're going back on Saturday and plan to bring Ru in the hopes that Zulu can get her to graduate from the baby pool to the adult lake. Should be fun!

L& D Dog Club

You've seen lots of photos of Zulu, our new pup, so I thought it would be fitting to show a few of the rest of our clan.

As I mentioned in my previous note, the dogs spent the day outdoors with us. As you can imagine, that gave me some time to take pictures of the rest of the clan to share - so here they are!

The first is Pinky, our oldest. It's tough to get good pictures of her these days. Age is catching up with her and I'm treasuring every moment with her because I know my time is limited.

Next is Spot, our next oldest. Spot will be 9 in a few months and although in great shape, he has developed a heart murmur over the last year. However, thanks to Agility, he is in terrific shape and so we've been advised to keep his life as is. This means he still gets to enjoy romps and agility, his favorite things!

Next is Ru, who just turned 18 months a few days ago. I'd have to say she's the most photogenic of the group, although Burton comes in a very close second. He's the best at portrait shots while Ru is great in action shots : )

Speaking of Burton, his striking pose brings up the rear on this page. Burton is now 2 years, although we got him just a short 7 months ago.

It was great to get such wonderful shots of the gang.