My little Calliope girl

I got to visit guide dog puppy #2 today, and it was wonderful! Calliope turns 7 on the 30th and I haven't seen her in the 2 years since she came home from being retired as a guide dog. When I saw her last time, I was pretty disappointed and saddened that she seemed so different.

She was SO much happier this time! Plus, I am pretty sure she remembered me!! She had a yummy stuffed bone that kept her pretty distracted, but she rubbed up against me like she used to when she was a puppy. It was nice to see her again. She looked much healthier, and happier. She had LESS gray hair around her muzzle than the did two years ago. I think that speaks loads to how much her stress level has gone down.

But SERIOUSLY?!? Do you know how awkward it is to go over to a "stranger's" house just to see their dog? I don't know if it is just because I am a shy person, or what, but it was so uncomfortable sitting on their floor petting and playing with Calliope.

Her owner said that he has plans to go out of the state this spring/summer and liked the idea of me watching Calliope while he is gone. I am crossing my fingers that this time it actually happens. The first year she was home, they offered her to me a couple times and I couldn't and then the didn't offer anymore. I would LOVE to have her come to our house for a visit! I would have all three of my dogs in the same house at the same time, and it would be awesome.

I took a couple pictures, but then my camera died, so I am crossing my fingers the ones I got are good.

Sequences and Plans for Patriot

This morning Hobbs and I did some little sequences I got from AgilityNerd HERE.

We did these two sequences:

I think I had it a little more spread out than it was was supposed to be, but they were both still really fun. Hobbs rocked both the weave entries on the first tries, but then got a little sick of them. He certainly doesn't love the weave poles. After a couple tries on both sequences I move on to playing on the dogwalk and teeter. I worked on his speed using the clicker and a target/treat plate at the end of each.

I realized that, for some reason, Hobbs is nervous about staying in the 2o2o position on the teeter. He was hesitant to get into the position, and then would immediately jump off when I released him. Not sure why he is nervous, but I do know that the teeter made him hurt when he had his bladder infection in Oregon. Maybe he is nervous about it hurting him?

The morning was very fun and relaxed. I was very happy that Hobbs wasn't worn out by the end of the hour!

Now, for Patriot. I have a plan to help strengthen his muscles, particularly his hind end. I won a DVD at a trial last year, and just barely got around to watching it. It's about strengthening performance dogs. There are a few exercises in it that I have been doing with Patriot, and he gets fatigued very quickly, so I am hoping to see an improvement over time. He is feeling much better, but is still having trouble getting up and down sometimes.

Our Beautiful Girl!

Kaylee is getting so big lately! It seems like we can literally see her growing some days. We wake up and swear she has grown overnight. Mostly she is growing up, and she is going through pants like crazy!

She is learning a ton lately, she says new words and phrases, each more and more understandable. I can't wait until she can make all of her thoughts known. I am sure at some point I will regret ever writing that, but for now, I can't wait to hear what she has to say!

She is still 100% potty trained when she is bottomless, but has some confusion about what is expected of her when she is wearing pants and underwear. One of our biggest struggles lately is nap and night times. She is constantly taking her diaper off. Seriously, what is with children and stripping their clothes off? There is no way right now that she is ready for night time training, because she never wakes up dry. We started trying to keep her from stripping by putting her zip up pajamas on backwards. When that didn't work, we taped the diaper tabs closed. Then taped all the way around the diaper with masking tape. Then, after 4 days of doing two loads of sheet laundry a day, we went with duct tape. That's right, DUCT TAPE! So far, it has been working, but the masking tape worked for a while too.

This winter, so far, has been really mild, with almost no snow! That has made it easier to let Kaylee play outside, and that has made it easier for her to stay busy. She went with me to the park to play agility with Hobbs, and was overjoyed that there was grass. I can't wait until we have a lawn someday. Fingers are crossed for this summer!

I have pictures from today for this post, so I will add them later. Ugh, the pictures didn't turn out at all. The camera was on one of the manual focus modes....so very blurry unfocused pictures.

Practice pays off!

I am loving the consistency I am seeing with more practice. Hobbs was doing really really well yesterday when we went to run the course at open practice. We managed to get a clean run on the first try, and it was a really fun course.

We ran the whole thing through twice, then played with some different handling to tighten up the turn from 5 to 6. There was some weird thing in the dirt straight out from 5, and Hobbs would run to it every time. I think he thought it might be his reward.

The best part of this practice was that Hobbs' weave poles and A-frame were fast! Usually Hobbs isn't fast on either away from home or the barn. It is good to see him relaxing here and getting used to playing. This is where many of our agility trials are held, so hopefully all this practice will carry over to the trials.

Thank you for all your kind comments about Patriot. I think I have a plan for him, and he is definitely feeling better after a few days rest.

Sad Day :*(

I had to leave Patriot home from our walk today. It broke my heart.

I took the boys to the big dog park, with the creek and all sorts of fun stuff, and now Patriot is really really sore. I had to keep him on dog aspirin for a couple days because he seemed to be really hurting. He has a hard time getting up from laying down and limps really noticeably for a few steps when he first gets up. A 30 minute walk is usually enough for him, when last year he could go for an hour no problem. It is so hard to watch him get old.

He has been on joint supplements for a couple years, and now is one a better (more expensive) one. It seemed to be helping him, but obviously he is not ok to go on dog park hikes. I have been working on some strength stuff with him, but haven't seen a lot of improvement, especially now that he is sore.

My plan is to keep him home from walks for a while, do some strengthening stuff with him, but nothing else so he can recover from the dog park adventure. Then he will probably go on separate walks from Hobbs. Hobbs needs the longer, faster walks to stay fit for agility. I am hoping that Patriot will love going out by himself.

He is going to be 10 in May.

Alphabet Drills

Today Hobbs and went to the barn to practice. A friend came with us and she brought her book of Alphabet Drills. We decided to start at the beginning and did the letter a.

First we played around on the other equipment. I sent Hobbs over the A-frame a bunch of times with the hoop at the bottom, and he did great. I took it away for one time and he jumped the yellow. Silly dog :(

I worked on his weave entries, doing positions 1 and two from the challenge. Hobbs rocked them both! He gets stuck and slow sometimes in the weaves, and I am not sure what causes it. I wish he was this confident with his weaves at trials.

I played with him a lot! I want him to be a little more excited to play with me, rather than just running for the treats. Lol, he thought I was insane for a while, but then got into the play.

We only had time for one sequence with that letter, so we did the hardest one:

I am proud to say that Hobbs and I got it on the first try! He was very fast, focused, and watched me well for the most part. It was really hard for me to tighten up his turn from 10-11. There is a statue of an Owl at one end of the barn and every time he went over that jump he was staring at the statue. I am not sure what he thought it was, but maybe he couldn't figure out why it never moved.

I love my dog! He was having SO much fun today! We are going to the open practice again on Wednesday, and I am hoping he will have as much fun there as at the barn.

Welcome 2012!!

I am so excited for this year! My fingers are crossed that it is a great one for our family.

Resolutions for 2011

* Read the Book of Mormon! - I am going to start over (again) and read the whole thing this year.

* Be better about Family Home Evenings - I don't know what is so stinking difficult about making this a habit, but it needs to be part of our home and family.

* Run a 5K - I have one that looks good in February so I am hoping I can do it.

* Weigh in at 150 by the end of the year and/or fit into my size 9 jeans - This one might be difficult again this year, but I am determined to get as close to that number as possible.

* Upgrade to a bigger vehicle - If we do this the right way it will get us out of debt (except the house), and we wont have to buy another family vehicle for a good long while.

* Get out of debt! - This is except the house.

* Practice and play my Flute and Bagpipes more - This is basically "pull them out from under the bed and play them" I think if it doesn't happen this year I may consider selling my pipes.

* Spend more quality time with Robert - I want to make sure we go on one date a month, and to the temple together once a month.

* Hike more - This would be more than the 1-2 times I went last year

* Be Happy!

* Get Cadence a headstone

* Possibly find a pre-school I like for Kaylee - I can't decide if I want to try to find a nice pre-school or if I want to try to find some local moms who are interested in doing Joy School.

* Be more involved as a mother

* Possibly start seeing a therapist - I still feel like my emotions are all over the place some times, and I think talking with someone might help. Maybe.

* Start teaching dog training classes - I don't know exactly how this one will work out, but I would really like to start teaching again

* Get a 3-6 month supply of food storage

* Get a bike and ride it - this one will depend on whether my knees can handle it or not. In the past they have not appreciated even brief bike rides