We SOOO Could Have Handled It!

Hobbs and I went to watch an AKC trial today to watch and for Hobbs to get measured. There were going to be two judges plus an AKC rep so he was able to get his permanent height card.

Sadly, Hobbs measured at 23", which puts him in the 24" jump height division :( I don't want to jump him that high. So he will probably be running preferred (20") at least until he starts to learn how to jump more efficiently and use his body better over the jumps. That way the risk of injury and joint stress goes down.

The trial was great to watch! I worked mostly excellent events and they made me feel really overwhelmed and under prepared for my upcoming trial. Stupid thing to watch when I will be running Pre-Novice and Novice.

Anyways, the last thing I watched for the day was the Novice Standard run, and if it were not for the weaves and teeter, we TOTALLY could have done it! Here was the course:

Enlarge to view better

It looked so simple with the only iffy part from the teeter to the tunnel the first time. The dogs almost all got locked onto the table, rather than looking for the tunnel. I can't wait to have all our obstacles ready for trialing!

Name Change and #

I recently applied for a PAL # with the AKC, and got the word today that he was accepted and now has a number with which to enter AKC events as a purebred dog! I wanted to come up with a registered name for him and couldn't for the life of me think of anything fancy and sophisticated, so Hobbs is now officially:

Rix Hobber Monster! PAL #251379

It is silly, I know, but it fits him.

Gamblers!

Tonight we played games! I was very glad, because I have never fully figured out the rules to Gamblers. I knew about the distance thing, but not about the opening, timing, or points.

We all got our instructions and then got to walk our courses. I was really nervous about it because There really weren't that many obstacles and the barn is pretty small. So you can do a lot in the 30 seconds allowed in the opening. The first gamble was really simple and I knew Hobbs could get it without any problems.

You can't see the line very well, but it is between #1 and #2

We went first, and Hobbs did great! We kind of just went back and forth from the tire, over either the A-frame or through the chute, over the double jump, through the tunnel, and back. It got old fast and the 30 seconds seemed to take FOREVER. When the whistle finally blew, we did the gamble with no problems and finished. It was really fun!

The second time over this gamble, I planned for way more obstacles including the gamble backwards! It went really well, until after I did the gamble backwards and still hadn't heard the whistle. I had him go over the double jump, then through the tunnel and the turned to try to figure out what else to do, and he decided to go for the weave poles, and........DID ALL 6 OF THEM!!! I was SO proud of him! Then the whistle blew and we completed the gamble in 6.3 seconds! It was a blast!

We changed some of the obstacles around, set up the new gamble, and then walked it again. This time it was a little more challenging:

ok....a lot more challenging with a tunnel DW discrimination.....Hobbs' "favorite"

I walked it, planned my path, and included the gamble backwards again. When I ran it though, it didn't work out that way. When I had him go back over the A-frame, through the tire, and over #4, my mind went blank and I couldn't think what I was going to do. Hobbs went over to the DW and started over it. I followed, supporting him from pretty far away (I was behind him, and over the gamble line!) He still stopped on the contact, and then we kept going until the whistle blew. I sent him through the tunnel, over #1, and then pushed with all my body language and commanded "Tunnel!" He went over to the tunnel, then turned away and started back towards me. I got his attention and sent him again with a firm "TUNNEL", and he did it! On, sort of, the first try! He never even thought about going back over the DW which was a HUGE worry for me. I don't think we would have actually gotten the gamble, because it took us a while and he stepped on the end of the DW when he turned back towards me, but he didn't choose the DW!

It was a really fun class, and Hobbs and I were working really well together! The only thing that didn't go well towards the end were his A-frame contacts. I think I was in too much of a hurry and wasn't slowing down enough at the contact zones to keep him comfortable, so he would jump the contact. We just need lots and lots more repetitions and more work with the hoop. I am confident though that I can get him to do his running contact at the trial! I just have to keep MY head and remember to slow down for him.

Tracker and Emails

A lot of people have asked me how I put the tracker on my blog, and it is VERY easy!

I went to http://www.statcounter.com/ and it helps you step by step. I know there are other ones out there, but this one is good for me.

As for emails, I am not publishing the comments with them in them. Stacey and Shelly, I need your email addresses if you want to continue reading. Thanks!

Yes, I changed it!

I changed the name of my blog. I really really liked the old name, and if I go private I will change it back. But I got a hit from someone on Google that really freaked me out, and it was because of my blog title. I am not changing the actual address of the blog, unless the hit comes up again.

I am VERY VERY glad I got the tracker put on my blog!

Num Num Num!

Ok, we didn't last until Monday.

I wanted Robert to be able to be here for her first taste of cereal, so we gave her some this morning. She didn't quite know what to think, shivered a few times, and spit a lot of it back out. But I think she got a few spoonfuls into her tummy. Many pictures were taken to document the event.

Ready and excited to eat!

The first bite

Hmmm, not quite sure what to think.....

WHAT IS THIS?!?!

Thumbs up!

More please!

Let me do it!

Uck, maybe this isn't so great

I think I am done now mom!

I am hoping with some practice she will learn to love cereal, and in a week or so, I will mix in some fruit so it tastes a little bit better.

The Animals

I had my concerns about bringing a new baby into a house with two BIG dogs and a cat. I didn't admit them to many people because I didn't want to hear all the advice and especially didn't want to hear people tell me to get rid of my furbabies. That just wasn't an option.

Well, I had NOTHING to worry about!

The boys constantly hang out on the floor with her regardless of what room we are in

Hobbs has come a LONG way from being career changed for fear of children!

Turtle is great with her, sitting with her even when Kaylee gets a fist-full of whiskers

Spelling

While considering what I would need to do to keep the psychos from using my blog for horrible things I noticed something. During the past 3 years, my ability to spell has improved immensely. I could NEVER spell when I was younger. My brain sees a word spelled phonetically (i admit, i used spell check for this one) rather than correctly.

When I was 8 I started writing a journal and, years later, I went back to read it and almost couldn't figure out what I was trying to write. It was THAT bad. Over the years I have figured out my own little tricks to remembering how to spell things, but over all I was still a pretty horrible speller.

I started this blog, and although blogger comes with a spell check option I rarely used it. The same goes for anything I was writing/typing. It just never took the time to fix things.

Now, I rarely have a word that I can't figure out how to spell! I think a great deal of this is because of something that is going to sound a little strange. It is because of texting!! When I first got a phone I set it on abc rather than the setting that fills in the word for you. The reason for this was so that I could spell words however looked best to me. I literally couldn't get through most texts without getting stuck because I couldn't figure out how to spell something and the T9-word feature couldn't figure out what I was trying to spell. But I was so slow at texting that way, so I decided to just suck it up and use t9-word. After that, I started getting better and better at spelling words. Granted, sometimes it still takes me 3-4 tries to spell something right, but I am getting better!

It is interesting that it took something like texting to pound proper spelling into my brain. Hopefully our little girl doesn't inherit my lack of spelling abilities.

How did she get this OLD?!?

Our little angel is 6 months old today :(

It seems like yesterday (okay maybe last month) that I was holding her in the hospital while my mind tried to overcome the fever enough to appreciate her. She was so tiny and perfect, and I just couldn't get over the fact that she was ours.

Today was also her 6 month check-up at the doctor as well. She is 15 lbs 7.9oz and a whopping 27 1/4" long/tall (when does it start to be tall rather than long?)! We got the official okay to start her on cereal, fruits, veggies, and water if we feel like she needs some. As long as she is feeling back to normal from her shots we will be starting cereal on Monday! Our pediatrician also said that Kaylee needs to be taking multivitamin drops so that she is getting the vitamin D she needs. I am kind of iffy about that, but haven't looked at any information about it yet. Kaylee once again had her reflux medicine increased because she has been acting like she is in pain again after she eats. I am really hoping that she grows out of this soon. So much for it not being that bad in the beginning.

Her achievements to date are:

• Sitting up by herself - She still needs some one there to catch her when she tips over, but she is getting better at it every day! We practice on our bed so that I can let her fall over without worrying that she will bash her head in.
• Scooting EVERYWHERE - Some times I will look away from her for a minute, look back and she has scooted across the entire living room!
• 4 hours - She is officially on a 4 hour schedule! She goes down for two full naps a day and one short nap in the evenings. That will change soon I am sure, it always does!
• Jumping - Her new jumper is one of her favorite toys! She is getting good at jumping and gets a few in before she stops to chew on the toys.

Speaking of the jumper, here are some pictures of it!

This is an edge piece of her alphabet play mat. She LOVES chewing on them!

Her swing is another favorite, but we have to spice it up with extra toys

I can't believe how grown up she is looking!

"what is on the ceiling mom?"

This is her newest trick. Lifting up one arm to grab at things (specifically me, Robert, and the dogs)

We love this little girl SO much!

More Jumper's Practice

Last nights class was great!

There were only two of us there again, so we had a ton of time. The stations this week were:

*Teeter (for Hobbs)

*DW with a turn away to the tunnel

*Weave Poles

*A-frame

*Distance Challenge with weaves (for the other handler)

Hobbs started with the Teeter again, and was very happy and confident about it again. We lowered in onto a 20" table frame (might have been 24"). Then we had him jumping on at the fulcrum at first and then just below it (on the table side) so he would have to walk across the board a little before it would drop. We had him do that a few times and then he went to play on the other stations.

I had him do the DW right after the teeter work to see if he would have any hesitation going across it. He didn't at all! He went right over it, and then the "trouble" started. I forgot to release him from his 2o2o and just told him tunnel....he didn't move, I told him "get out, TUNNEL" and he twitched like he was going to do it, but stayed put. Then I realized what I had forgotten, released him, and he immediately went through the tunnel. Good Boy!!

The weave poles.....HE DID 6 AGAIN!!! I had him do 4 a few times and then put 6 up and he got it the first time. Then I had my instructor watch and he skipped the last two poles twice in a row. So I took them down to 4 again and he was once again successful. I played around with some entries and racing him through and he got it all. Then I put the 6 back up and sent him again. He did it again!! My instructor caught the last part of it and was very happy for us. Next week I think I am just going to work with 3 poles and do as many entries as I can.

I opted out of having Hobbs do the A-frame, and I didn't even attempt the distance challenge. I wanted to give him a week off.....and we kind of ran out of time because we went back to working on the Teeter.

We went back to it exactly as we had left it. I sent him over it, and he jumped on, jumped off, and then acted like he didn't know exactly what we wanted. Lol, what a goof! So we lowered it a little, and had him jump on the end a couple times and then put it back. This time he did it great! So it looks like we will need to go back a couple steps at the beginning of each session on the teeter to remind him that it is fun, and remind him of what he is capable of.

The sequence this week was a Jumpers course, with different ways to handle it.

The course - No, we didn't use the contact equipment, but it was part of deciding how to handle the course so I included it.

After we walked it, and discussed the many different ways to handle it, Hobbs got to go first. I handled it like this the first time:

It went pretty well, but just didn't feel very smooth. I tried it first with a Front Cross after #6, but I would always end up behind Hobbs going over 7 and 8. Then I did it with a post turn at 6 and it worked SO much better!

Then we both tried it a more difficult way, actually handling 4-6 like the serpentine it is.

I actually found this one easier even though I was worried about it. The first time we went around, I started to send Hobbs to #6 and was going to post turn him around the standard and around to 7. Well, he hesitated because I was behind him too much, then he glanced at the tunnel and my gaze followed his.....and he took that to mean he was supposed to go into the tunnel. We tried it again from 3-8 and it went more smoothly, but it still felt awkward.

The last time I ran it, I had him go over #6, turn towards the DW (so left) and then I did a FC and had him on my left going to 7 & 8. It was REALLY good!! Hobbs went through the serpentine like he was born knowing how, and his only bobble was right after the FC after 6. He glanced at the tunnel right as I turned to head towards 7 and I very firmly called his name (but I didn't shout) and he came right back to me and we finished the sequence. It felt SOOO smooth! After that run, I am feeling better and better about our first trial.

Speaking of that, we are officially entering one day of an ASCA trial in February! February 13th to be exact. The reason we are entering this one is that they have Pre-Novice standard runs which don't have the teeter or weaves. Hobbs is doing everything else really well so I am feeling more and more confident. We are entering Regular, Jumpers (no weaves), and Gamblers (one run of each) and that will be our first trial.

Agility Class!

I am FINALLY getting this post up! Lol, class this week was great, except for one little part.

We started off with stations again, including
*A-Frame
*Weave poles
*Teeter/Bang-it
*Wraps and Front Crosses over double and triple jumps
*Send over 3 jumps to the table
*I think there was something else, but I can't think what it was.

Hobbs got to start out with the teeter for two reasons. First, so that he would be enthusiastic about it, and second, so that he would have most of class to get over it if it went badly. What we are doing is propping one end of the teeter on a jump or jump wing so that it only falls a few inches. Then he gets to hop on at about the fulcrum (tip point) and ride the board down. We got to the point where the board is parallel with the ground so he is riding it a good 2.5 or 3 feet down to the ground. This is getting him used to the movement again and helping him learn to brace himself for the "landing". He stayed happy and enthusiastic through the whole thing, even when he came off the side on one landing.

I think a big part of this problem is that he is out of shape. Last year he was jogging for almost an hour every day, hiking a couple times a week, and going to the dog park a few times a month. Now he is lucky to get a walk once a week. I am planning out a treadmill routine for him to get him back in shape. Then I want to find some easy things to do to get his legs strengthened.
The A-frame was great! I am really glad that Hobbs is doing so well with the running contact rather than the 2o2o. I am still using the hoop, and probably will for a LONG time but he was doing it at full height this time and wasn't even bumping the top of the hoop with his back!

The weave poles were the highlight of the evening! I started with just 3 poles and he was really into it this week. I did some different angled sends and he got most of them. Those are something we really need to work on at home even with just our 4 poles. Interestingly enough, Hobbs managed to actually weave the 3 poles backwards! I mean that he entered them wrong side, but wove all the way through. Then I put up the 4th pole and he got it on the first try (usually it takes one of him popping out) so I decided to put all 6 up and just see what he would do. HE WOVE THROUGH ALL 6 TWICE IN A ROW!!! I was SO excited, and I jumped up and down like a little kid. I wanted to do it over and over, but was smart and stopped after the second time and rewarded him like crazy.
The sent to the table was a little difficult for Hobbs. He was ok over one jump, but as I backed him up to just in front of the second jump (so he was still only jumping one jump but had farther to do) he went to the table and offered his 2o2o instead of his down. I think he just isn't quite as sure about what is expected with the Table yet. So instead of sending him over all of them, I ran with him and stopped at the last jump and supported him to the table, making sure he got his down. That seemed to work for him.

The double and triple jumps are a work in progress because I need to find the right timing and positioning to get him around the jump without him knocking the last bar with his hind legs.
We finished with a sequence that was by far the most technical we have done to date. It was a blast though!

I am not sure if this diagram is exact with the angles of the jumps and A-frame, but it is close enough.

The first time around we had a BIG problem at the DW. Hobbs wouldn't get on it! He wouldn't even put a paw on. So I tried sending him over it the other way and he went over hesitantly. Then I sent him over the right way and he powered across it! He was making sure it was NOT the teeter....ugh. So we started over from the beginning and made it all the way to through the tunnel without a problem. He didn't come all the way out of the tunnel before he started trying to go up the A-frame. I called him back over to me and then sent him over, he got his running contact, did his first ever rear cross over a jump (in a sequence) and blasted through the tunnel and over the panel jump. The weave poles were for the two dogs in class who can weave 6 consistently.

The second time we ran it from the first jump after the DW (so that he would end with a good DW performance). My instructor wanted me to put a front cross after the A-frame rather than the rear cross I had done before. I didn't think there was going to be any way I could get far enough ahead of him to get into position. My instructor said for me to not try to do my best, but to "just get there and do it!" So as soon as he committed to the frame, I ran as hard as I could and did a great front cross. I lost sight of the jump after the a-frame so he missed it and went into the tunnel, but I DID IT!!

It was a great class and Hobbs is improving so much!

911

Ok, this has to be the biggest new mom blunder so far.....

On our way down to my parents' house for a visit (a post about that when we get back) I was getting really sleepy only 20 minutes into our 2 hr drive. I decided to stop and get something to wake myself back up. When I pulled into the gas station, I decided that I would leave Kaylee in the car for the minute or two I was going to be in there. This is something I have NEVER done, and probably will never do again! I left the car running, hopped out and, out of habit, hit the lock button on the door.

Yes, I shut the door and successfully locked my baby girl (and two dogs) in the car! Needless to say I sort of freaked out. I went into the station and they helped me call 911 to get a police man to open the door. Let me just say that I tried to call the normal dispatch for the city first, but got their answering machine. I know that 911 isn't for normal police matters, but I didn't want to wait for who knows how long for some one to answer the phone.

I was driving myself crazy looking in at Kaylee every 2 seconds to make sure she wasn't freaking out. She started to cry a little, but then decided to play with her toys instead. The lady at the gas station felt really bad for me and let me get a drink on her. It was really nice of her.

After about 5 minutes the police arrived and had the door open faster than I could fill out the form they gave me. It was just saying that if they broke my car I wouldn't sue them. I was kind of afraid they were going to give me a ticket for leaving my baby in the car, but he didn't even ask about it! He just went back to his car and left. Kaylee was still a happy girl when I opened her door and hugged her. I felt like a horrible mom and this week I am going to get yet another lock box to go under my car with a spare key. You would think that after NEEDING one with every car I have ever had, I would remember to buy one.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, with only minimal crying!

Visiting Grandparents

Kaylee and I went down to my parents' house this week to visit while Robert was in Chicago for work training. It was great to spend some time with the Grandparents and letting them play with Kaylee. She did really well this time, and stayed pretty close to her schedule for the whole time. The BEST part of the whole thing was that we survived the drive down! She was a little fussy at times and I would stop and let her calm down and be happy again, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad as it has been. Here are a few pictures from the week.

Kaylee got really cuddly one morning and wanted to just lay on my stomach. It was so good to just cuddle with her.

Oh, how I love this little girl!

Playing with the wipes package.....she LOVES it!

Some people will recognize this marble track play-set. Kaylee thought it was amazing and got really excited by all the noise the marbles made going through.

My mom, Kaylee, and her ball. She just started liking it this week. It used to scare her :(

Kaylee is getting to where she smiles when she sees the camera, and it is adorable!

This is an old stuffed animal that my mom got when she was a baby. It has lived through so many children and Kaylee thought it was pretty cool.

Its name is Bo bo. He is adorable!

The little shape toys that go in her ball.

We mostly just hung out all week and played with Kaylee! It was fun to talk to my mom and to see my dad and sister. I did things a little differently this time than we did during thanksgiving. Then I had her sleep in the same room with me in the pack n play, and neither of us slept very well. This time I had her sleep on a bed (the edges were blocked so she wouldn't be able to fall off if she got out of her swaddle) in a separate room. She slept SO much better and so did I! I just can't sleep in the same room with her lol. I would have DIED from lack of sleep by now if I were forced to sleep in the same room with her.

The drive home was not as great as the drive there. Kaylee was good for most of it, but started melting down about an hour from home.....not good. She fussed for about 20 minutes of that hour and then started screaming her head off. And she screamed for the rest of the drive. I stopped once to calm her down, and she did but started right back up again when I started driving again. Poor little girl. I think part of it was that it was night time, close to bed time, and she couldn't see very well. We made it home though, and she got to see her daddy and then go to bed.

It was a great few days with the Grandparents!