Patriot Update

Well, I think it was just the cold water making him ouchie. By Friday afternoon when I left for ID he was getting up and around much more easily, and Robert said tonight that he is back to his normal self. So, no more cold water swimming for him!

Thanks for all the well-wishes and suggestions!

Swimming is a NO NO

We live right on the edge of a city canal, and the gate in the back fence actually opens to the canal. Well, I figured the boys would appreciate getting to play in the water, so I let them go swimming for literally 10 minutes yesterday.

Now Patriot can barely walk.....

He whines or yelps when he stands up, slept on the floor rather than the couch all night, wont stay standing for very long, and at this moment has been outside for 3 hours laying in the same spot. He didn't even get up to investigate the dog and owner who walked past along the canal. I gave him doggy aspirin this morning, but it says to only give it every 12 hrs.....that isn't until 8pm.

Needless to say, I am a little worried.

Wordless Wednesday

Diez

Has it really been a month since I posted about her turning 9 months? Wow, time is just going WAY too fast.

Kaylee is getting bigger and more mobile by the day, and will soon be a bonafide walker. There have been a few times this week that I genuinely though she was going to take her first steps. Her personality is coming out all the time, and she is going to be a wild one!

• Graduate! - She has officially made the leap from belly slitherer to crawler! She still goes on her belly if she is on the slick wood floor and wants something across the room, but most of the time she is crawling.
• Sounds Like... - She has started to make some sounds on a regular basis that sound like words. Some of them are "up" "mama" dada" "no" "oops" (this one comes out ups, so I don't know if it is just a version of up or if she is saying oops)
• Owies - She has had more than her share of "ouch" moments lately, with her first "real" diaper rash, biting her tongue, and almost getting a black eye.
• Again, and Again - She still falls a lot, but I am hoping every day that she will figure out how to do it without bashing her head on the floor.
• Climbing Mountains - Ok, really they are stairs, not mountains, but she is getting pretty good at going up them. She hasn't really figured out down yet, but she gets a good workout a few times a day going up!
• Plants.... - Kaylee has a weird aversion to plants. She doesn't like them touching her, AT ALL. She will throw herself backwards in my arms and turn away from them. If she is brave she will try touching them, but will usually jerk her hand away quickly or just bat at the plant/flower with her hand. If it is a plant growing on the grass she is ok, but anything other than that is not ok with her. See the pictures below of her reaction to me sticking her in the flower bed.

Today she weighted in at a whopping 19 lb 10 oz, and is measuring 30 "tall. As I mentioned in the last post, she is starting to get too tall even for her 9 month clothes, and mostly wears 12 month dresses because the others are too short! We went down to my parents' house for dinner Friday night with some extended family. It was great to let them see/and meet Kaylee, some of the for the first time. On Saturday morning we drove home and Kaylee got to play in the yard with the dogs for a while before her nap. She was super tired and slept for 2 whole hours! Then she got to hang out with Robert while he helped his friend move some stuff into our basement for temporary storage. She took another long nap in the afternoon, and even went to bed early. She was one tired girl!

I can't believe how lucky we are to have this little girl in our lives. I love being her mom, and I can't wait to see who she grows up to be.

Pictures of today (I forgot to take some of her Sunday dress, but will next time she wears it)

She is almost ready to drive!

If only she could reach the gear shift

Her adventure in the flower bed:

She gave me this cute little smile right at first,

but that changed when her arms touched the flowers - She isn't crying, just making a really concerned face

She kept her arms WAY up so they wouldn't touch anything

and was not to thrilled that I put a flower on her ear

She kept staring at the sidewalk like she really wanted to be over there

The wind was blowing and every once in a while a leaf or flower would touch her arm

and she didn't appreciate that.

her smirk when she was trying to suck on the dogs tennis ball and I kept trying to tell her not to

In her own little world

a mouth full of olive bits - one of her most favorite foods

Clarification

I think I should clarify about Patriot's clicker problem.

He WANTS to do something to get the click. He is just waiting to be told to do something. He doesn't seem to even consider taking the initiative of trying something. Sometimes he will sit in front of me and whine because he wants the click SOOO badly. But he wont try anything without permission.

He has the nose touch to hand thing down great.....if I tell him to touch first. Otherwise he will sit and stare at the clicker and me, waiting for "permission" to do it. Every once in a while he will chose to touch, but no matter how excited I get for that choice, it doesn't seem to increase the frequency of it.

Kaylee vs. Camera

Camera - 1

Kaylee - 0

Kaylee was walking around in her walker the other day, when I heard something falling off the counter. I looked just in time to see the camera (it isn't a little one) come crashing down on top of Kaylee.

She started screaming harder than I have EVER hear her scream, and was waving her hand around. Because she had had the cord in her hand when it fell, I thought it had yanked on her hand, possibly breaking/bruising her fingers. I hadn't thought it hit her head, so I didn't worry too much. I was trying to calm her down and look at her hand when I saw it.

An already swelling, already blackening, bruise on the side of her nose/corner of her eye. Crap. Just in time to go visit my parents, she gets a black eye.

Well, it didn't quite turn into a black eye, but it earned her a day of Motrin to keep the swelling down, and an attempted ice pack (which REALLY made her mad). Now, two days out, she is feeling better, and her nose it not as swollen. Here is the evidence though!

Poor little angel, I feel really horrible, even though it wasn't my fault.

Training Plans

I have some plans for both Hobbs and Patriot's training, for the coming summer and fall. I am hoping that the plans for both will be doable, and that the boys and I will have fun with them.

Training in General:

• Improve Recall - I have severely slacked on the boys' recalls, and now neither of them comes reliably, even when they know I have a treat. Shameless, I know.
• Better Off Leash Control - I know this will come with the recall, but back when these boys were PIT's (puppies in training) they were AMAZING off leash. Except Hobbs' recall, he never had one lol. I could get them to do almost anything off leash that I could get them to do ON leash.
• Better Door Manners - More on Hobbs' later. I am always appalled that I have two big dogs who get up in people's faces when they come to the door. They don't jump (for now) but they push past me, and sometimes the people at the door, and generally are in the way. It embarrasses me every time.....even with family.***
• Coprophagia - Enough said. ***

Patriot:

• CLICKER - I want more than ANYTHING for him to understand how to work for the clicker. He understands that it means he gets a treat, but doesn't get the idea that he has to DO something to get the click. He wont try anything, just sits there waiting to be given direction/commands. It is the same problem I had with Hobbs in the very beginning....only much worse. I have tried for the whole 2.5 years he has lived with us to get him to understand, and he just doesn't. ***
• Tricks - I know he would love doing tricks if I could get through to him with the clicker. I just don't know how else to teach tricks other than click/treat. Some tricks I want to teach him - Spin right/left, bow, show your teeth, lick lips, picking up objects, maybe shake (although I vowed never to teach a dog shake again), open and close doors....and probably more if it goes well.
• Get Rid of Training Collar - Patriot still pretty much wears his medal Training (choke) Collar everywhere when we are out in public. I don't usually have to use it, but he doesn't try stupid stuff (like lunging to greet other dogs) with it on. I don't like using it, but can't physically hold him back with a flat collar. I don't want him wearing a Gentle Leader the rest of his life either, because he CAN control himself. I am hoping that if I can get him clicker trained, I can get him out of that collar.

Hobbs:

• More Tricks - Picking up objects, show your teeth, open and close doors, light switches (unless it starts to scratch the walls),
• Door Manners - Oh, what I would give to get him to stop barking at the door! It is such a huge problem, and I dread every day that Robert comes home because I know he will bark. He barks if he hears cars beep now (Robert's truck does when it locks) and at anything that sounds like it may be a door. I can tell he is barking out of nerves, but I can't get him to stop. Now it is continuing even after he sees that it is Robert. ***
• Directionals - I want to try to teach Hobbs right and left for out on the Agility course. I don't know how much it will benefit us because I have to be able to think fast enough to give the right direction out on course.....yeah right!
• Body Awareness - This kind of goes with the tricks, but I want Hobbs to better learn to use his whole body. More box work, hind end work and tricks, balancing behaviors/tricks, and strengthening exercises.

I feel like all of Patriot's goals hinge on him learning how to work with the clicker. That is a little daunting for me, but hopefully it will just motivate me more to figure out how to get him to understand the clicker.

***Any suggestions of how I should go about these goals would be greatly appreciated!

A couple pictures from the trial

Here are a couple picture from the ASCA trial. Neither is the one I am getting as an 8x10, but I like these all the same.

He is jumping 16" here because it was pre-novice.

The tunnel in our Jumpers course

i want, I Want, I WANT!!!

These are the newest style of Vibram Five Fingers, and I want a pair SOOOO badly!

Vibram Five Finger - Bikila

Aren't they PRETTY?!?

I want a pair because they have traction on the bottoms, which means I could probably wear them when I am competing in Agility on grass. In my KSO's I slip everywhere if the grass is the least bit wet. I am so used to wearing them or going barefoot, that regular tennis shoes feel like dead weights on my feet, squishing my toes and throwing off my balance. I am saving my pennies, because they are only in stores on the east coast, and without shipping they are almost $100.....but I bet they are worth it.

Lol, this is one of three more types of VFFs I would like to own. I think I am in trouble.

I LOVE THIS DOG!!

Little Mr. Hobbers was AMAZING at the trial. Well, except for a couple hiccups that were mostly my fault.

We were originally entered in 4 runs rather than all 6 that were going that day. But after our first run, I decided to enter the other two. The reason for that was it was a disaster....

Jumpers was first, and I made a mistake by planning my course on the course map paper. Then when we got out to walk the course, it was a little different and my handling strategy changed. Once we started running my brain shut off and I couldn't think of how I wanted to do it. Here is the Jumpers round 1 course:

Yes, you read that right.....75 faults. Hobbs was everywhere! He went around jumps, knocked bars, went over the wrong jumps, but we got through the course. I did my best to stay happy, but was a little apprehensive about the rest of the day. It was our first trial course outdoors on grass, so I was hoping that was the problem. We got 3rd place in this class only because there were only 3 dogs. I don't think we would have placed in a normal sized class lol.

Anyways, on to round 2!

In between rounds I was running like crazy to put Hobbs away, get him water, get money for the last minute entries, and barely made it into the ring to walk the course twice. Then we were third on the line. Here was the course:

What a difference! It was so smooth, and even though I was handling a little closer than I normal would, I think it helped Hobbs get his brain into Agility mode. It was FAST! 20.04 seconds! I know that isn't as fast as some of the border collies, but it is fast for a novice dog who just got 75 faults 30 minutes earlier. Another thing to be said about these Jumpers courses, was that I needed to do rear crosses. It was too tight for me to get front crosses in, and Hobbs is way too fast on Jumpers for me to try to stay ahead of him. I think in this particular one I put in 2 or 3. Having never gotten a successful RC on a course in class, it was a big deal! This was our first ever Q and we got 1st place! Hobbs has an ASCA # now so he is eligible to work toward titles!

Standard....Regular....Whatever! It was next.

When they started setting up the elite course, the judge hollered out that it wasn't the same as on the paper......OK..... Good thing I wasn't planning to go off the paper course after what happened with jumpers. Finally they got to Pre-Novice and I got out on what was mostly this course:

I think the only differences were that the #2 jump wasn't there, and the #3 was in between #2 and #3 on the map. The rest looks right.

This course was amazing as well! Hobbs got all his contacts, I got a little distance, and he did his job. Once we were on this course it didn't feel too difficult, we even got another successful rear cross in at the end. Hobbs was really fast again, to the point that coming out of the tunnel towards the DW I called for him to "steady" which means check your speed and be careful. I don't think it was totally necessary, but a dog in the class before his came off the DW and was lucky enough to land on his feet. I guess it worried me a little. It didn't slow him down a ton, just enough to get him paying attention to what he was doing. This was another Q, but because it is pre-novice I don't know if it counts towards anything. We got first place again, which was even better because there were5 or 6 dogs in his jump height. The second round course was this one backwards:

Again Hobbs was amazing! I tried for a little speed over the A frame and he just barely made the contact before jumping. We got another Q, and another 1st place! We need to do LOTS more work with the hoop.

Gamblers was next, and I mistakenly thought this gamble looked easy....

The written in #s are my planned course.

Things fell apart in the opening of this course. I got to #7 just fine, Hobbs even did his weaves! Then When I meant him to take the tunnel, he went over the DW and my brain stopped working. I don't even know what exactly I did after that. It felt like we just wandered around (I am not sure Hobbs was even taking obstacles) until the whistle blew, then we started the gamble. Hobbs got the first jump and wouldn't push out to the second. Then trying to get him out to the A frame I stepped over the line, but tried to finish the gamble without stepping over again. Hobbs jumped the contact and came in towards me and I could tell he was getting stressed, so I just forgot about the gamble, and went beside him over the next two jumps. We got 3rd again only because there were 4 dogs and 1 got eliminated.

And last but not least, Gamblers round 2.

The Elite (and maybe Open too) Gamble was INSANE!

Out of all the dogs, 2 got the gamble. Most of them got 1, 2, and 3, but only 2 got #4. It was craziness, and the Judge was LOVING it!

Anyways our course wasn't too bad:

This gamble really intimidated me on paper. Hopefully everyone can see it. Let me know if you can't and I will post a picture of just the gamble.

I made sure when I walked this one, that I planned how I would handle every situation that I could think of. We had one bobble in my plans, but it was basically just that he went in the opposite end of the tunnel from what I had planned. The whistle blew, and we started the gamble. He went over 1 and 2, then got a little confused, but I re-sent him over 3 and he did it and #4. I was SO happy we got it!! So that was yet another Q and another 1st place!

I am so proud of Hobbs and me for how well this trial went. I really felt like I was getting an handle on my nerves and doing my best for my dog.

At the end of the day there was a worker's raffle for everyone who worked in a class.....so everyone because it was such a small trial. I entered at the last minute (literally about 10 seconds before they started drawing names), and I won a free 8x10 print from the pro photographer who was there!

After looking at the pictures, I can't decide between two of him jumping. He gets SO much height over his jumps, and his legs virtually disappear! Hopefully when I get the print I can get a good picture of it, or scan it in somewhere so I can post it on here. I may even ask the photographer for permission to use the files that say proof on them to post on here so you all can see my funny Hobbers jumping. My only worry with the pictures is that Hobbs looks a bit stressed in a few of them. Hopefully it is just my imagination.

I can't wait for the next trial! There isn't an ASCA one for a good long while, but hopefully soon I can get Hobbs consistently doing the teeter to the point where I would trust him at a trial.

Sorry, no video this time :(

More to come later!

I promise there is more to come later today or tomorrow!

The first of many... :*-(

I cut Kaylee's bangs yesterday :(

Her hair was starting to get in her eyes sometimes, and it seemed like it was bugging her. So I brought out the scissors, water, and comb. To make sure she held as still as possible I put her in her jumper and held it down so she couldn't jump.

It didn't work to well though. She would just jerk her head around just as I was about to cut. Finally I got her to hold still just long enough for me to snip through half of her hair. She jerked her head just as I cut the second half, but it only made it a tiny bit shorter than the first cut.

Anyways, here are the pictures!

Before:

Wet hair right before:

After:

Inspecting the comb:

Hair for her baby book:

Random Pictures

Here are some of the pictures I have that just don't really fit into any other post. I think I will probably end up doing a post like this every month...or more.

Her talking face

You can see her teeth!

I thought for the longest time this hat was going to be too big, and now it is too small :(

She is fascinated by her feet under the walker lol

Back to the Barn

I was feeling really insecure about taking Hobbs to his second ever trial after our disastrous class on Saturday. So on Monday night I hauled him up to Ogden and went to class with our old instructor at the barn. I let her know in advance that Hobbs needed to have some fun and practice before the trial. It was such a good idea, and I am very glad I did it.

Hobbs was back to his normal happy eager self as soon as we got to the barn. This shows me that I probably need to start hauling his agility stuff to different parks and places to practice being happy with new surroundings. It will be interesting to see how he is at the trial because it is outside on the grass at a new place (same kind of scenario as the Saturday class).

My goal for this class was just to play, have fun, and make sure that Hobbs had fun. The only other thing I wanted was to get him through the 6 weave poles. We worked on that first because Hobbs was SO excited to play.

He got them EVERY time! We added in a wrap around a jump and he still got them. I KNEW he was just having a bad day!

Then we played with serpentines and threadles to a table (and back), and a pull off the A frame to a jump. I was happy to see that after 1 really hesitant run over the frame he was back to his normal self.

The sequence this week was CRAZY! But I was happy to find that rather than be intimidated, I was jazzed to see if I could do it.

Here it is.....don't be scared!

Those first 5 obstacles were so crazy. When I first walked it, I wanted to put a front cross after the tunnel, another front cross after the weaves, and one more FC after #6. That fell apart after the tunnel. I didn't give Hobbs enough room, and then got flustered. After a couple tries I got him through it and into the chute. Then I forgot about the FC after 6, but we got through to the end.

The second time through, I played it safe and did a post turn after the tunnel, a RC after the weaves, and a FC after the weaves, and the FC after 6. It went great, and felt smooth. Especially the FC after #6. I don't know why it felt so great but it did.

We all had time at the end to either do the first half or second half of the sequence. I was feeling bugged that I couldn't make that FC after the tunnel so I chose the first half....#1-5. I put it in my head to get it right this time, and walked it AGAIN before I ran. I nailed it, and it felt SO good! The tunnel FC was a little sticky, but he got into the weaves and through the rest of the sequence.

I am feeling much more confident about the trial this Saturday. I was scared to death that Hobbs wouldn't bounce back after the bad class, but he has. Now all I have to do to prepare is get him over a few 20" jumps before the trial. He jumps 16" max at the barn because the floor gets packed and is too hard for full height.

Explanation

Now that I am feeling better about what happened, and Hobbs has gotten over it, here is the explanation of the last post.

We went to our first class with a new instructor down here, and it ended up being a disaster. I am not going to go into a ton of detail, but Hobbs was having an off day anyways for some reason, and then he was pretty thrown by the new surroundings. We were the only ones there so it was a full hour of just one on one. Hobbs has never been to a private class before.

Also, he had been popping out of the poles since I tried to add the 7th (haven't worried about it since class Tuesday) and did it again at class. The new instructor wanted me to start rewarding IN the poles - so sticking my hand in and stopping his motion to give him a treat - and that REALLY upset him and soon he wouldn't try the poles at all.

The A frame was set for USDAA height, and I didn't realize it until I sent him over it. So he crept down to the bottom. We added the hoop, and I sent him again, and he jumped OVER it! - She suggested we lower it all the way down next class and start from scratch with the running....without the hoop.

He was ok on the DW but seemed hesitant to really run over it.

He was NOT having fun at all, and kept going to his crate. I was jumping around like an idiot trying to motivate him during the whole class. After class he was stressing and was actually pacing in the back of my car on the way home. When we got home he hid in his crate and went comatose. It took him until mid way through Sunday to act normal again.

A good thing that happened at that class was that her teeter is heavier than normal and he did GREAT! He went over it I think 6 times and never even almost flew off. We even went from the DW to the teeter (her suggestion for getting him to recognize the difference was do that over and over and over) without a problem, but that was when he was really hesitant about the DW. She said it was probably because her teeter is heavier and the dogs can feel the tip point better.

I am not going to be continuing with this instructor. It just wasn't a good student/dog/teacher combination.

Not Sure I Want to Share.......

Our first class with the new instructor didn't go well......I am not sure I even want to post about it......maybe once I figure out what to do.

For the first time in....maybe EVER.....Hobbs didn't have fun playing agility :-(

A Day for Mothers

I had a wonderful 1st Mother's Day! Last year, technically, I wasn't a mother yet and I was so happy to be official this year!

Robert, unfortunately, had to work from Saturday afternoon/evening until Sunday evening/night. Kaylee and I headed down to my parents' house to visit which was so fun. I love going to their house, and Kaylee seems to really like their house as well.

We didn't do much special for Mother's Day, just went to church and then sat around the house visiting and playing with Kaylee. My dad was wonderful to make us breakfast, and then we had a yummy dinner of Chicken Enchiladas.

Kaylee and I after church on Mother's Day

I am so happy to be a mom, and to have the family that I do.

Mom, I look up to you so much, and am glad that I was sent to live in your family. I love you!

New Home, New Classes

Yes everyone, we moved....again. We found a less expensive place to rent, and it was closer to family so we took advantage of it. I am sad to move away from friends and the nice agility connections I have had, but I will be glad to be back in SLC again.

Hobbs and I are signed up for another agility class that starts this Saturday! Then we have our second ever agility trial on the 15! I am nervous and excited. It is outdoors, and that will be a first for us. I am hoping for good weather!

I did say classES in the title though, didn't I? We are still going to go up to Ogden once a week for agility. It is another class with the local obedience club I went to before. Our first class was pretty simple, but it will be a great way to have a low key opportunity to practice specific skills each week rather than a course.

The only thing of note that happened at class on Tuesday was that I tried to add a 7th weave pole with Hobbs. It didn't go well. I think of 10 tries he got 1 right. He would just come out towards me like he normally would with 6. He couldn't weave through that 7th pole. After class I asked our instructor (we were working on the poles by ourselves) how she suggested I help him get it right. She suggested that I add two rather than 1 pole. I will try it next time we go. Hobbs is having a little trouble with the poles here at home so I am not going to push it.

It will be interesting to have two classes a week. I try not to jump Hobbs more than three days a week, which leaves us with one day that we can practice jump exercises at home. It will be ok though because Robert is making me a teeter for Mother's Day! I am hoping to get a table made too soon so that I can duplicate the system we were using in class to help with Hobbs' issue.

Patriot is doing well at this new house. He doesn't like the floors because they are even more slippery than the ones in Ogden. I am hoping that we get some area rugs soon to help him feel more secure. His allergies are flaring up again too, so he is back on benadryl. He really loves living by a canal though! We walk along it once in a while and he loves wading and swimming in it.

Overall, there is a lot of new stuff going on, and I am hoping it will all be for the best.

The end of an era....

...ok that may be a little dramatic.

On Monday we had our last Agility class. Ok, just our last one with this instructor and group. Hobbs did great, and it was a really fun class.

Since I am writing this over a week after the class, I don't remember the little sequences we worked on. Hobbs worked over the teeter, and did very well considering he flew off it the week before.

The big sequence of the night:

We got through it on the first try, only knocking 1 or 2 bars! I was very proud of that because this sequence was the opening to an elite USDAA course my instructor had run the weekend before.

We messed up on our next run, but not badly. Then we chose to run from #1 to #9 as our last little sequence. Hobbs' crate was set up just to the left of #1, and somehow he got it in his sights. I released him for the course, and he went over #1 and straight into his crate and plopped in his down like he would have on the table. I re set him and he did it again...TWICE more! Finally I got him to go past it, but then we finished with the jump after the DW.

It was a great last class, and I am very sad to not be coming back next week :(

Happy 8th Birthday!

I am sitting here in shock that my little yellow puppy turned 8 on Saturday. It is sad to me that he is getting older but, compared to last year, he hasn't slowed down much. He seems to be having a harder time dealing with the heat so far this summer, but I think that may be because it came upon us so suddenly.

For his birthday we were exhausted from celebrating moving into our new house. He got his extra cup of food, some yummy duck meat strips, and several milk bones throughout the day. Lately he is mostly happy to hang out on the floor or the couch. He enjoys his walks, but he is happy if he only gets two or three during the week rather than every day.

Here are his 8 year old pictures:

I love this one! His eyes are gorgeous

Happy Birthday big guy!