Friday, September 30, 2011

A sensitive guy

Does your dog pick up on your emotions? Tango does. When I'm happy, he's bouncy and silly and races over jumps and through his weave poles. If I'm stressed or unsure, Tango is, too. Figures. I really wanted a "box of rocks" who would do what I told him to, no matter how I was feeling. But Tango is going to MAKE me relax at class or wherever we are. I have to remember that at home, too. No more blowing up at the TV. I guess I need to practise more yoga. - Fran

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Hard at work

I'd wager everybody'd love to have the perks of my job! Ted's a wonderful butt-warmer and it's really hard to have a bad day with that face around! - Hope

Friday, September 23, 2011

Our heads hurt...

Last night was Agility class, as most Thursday evenings are. Our instructor, Dee, usually posts the sets (series of obstacles to be performed in sequence) online a couple of hours before class so that we can get a feel for them and plan how to handle our dogs through the obstacles. I don't have a whole lot of experience, but I can generally see a pattern if I look at the sets long enough. Yesterday I had no idea. Do 2 jumps, run across the room and do the weaves, do a jump and a tunnel, run to the far side of the weave poles and weave them back. Then in the next set, more of the same plus back-side jumping. Hunh?? We each took a turn and fumbled through once. Then Dee reminded us of some fundamentals, and it became clearer. Until then, though, Tango's and my heads hurt! - Fran

Friday, September 16, 2011

Speed weaving

So this week Tango and I have been working on speed through the weave poles for Agility. It's all well and good to do the poles properly, but our instructor Dee keeps telling us to "move it! Agility is a timed event!" Tango has become more interested in his rabbit fur pocket toy which I put his string cheese treats in, and while he doesn't consistently tug on it, he chases after it. So I've been tossing the toy past the poles and he's been running through them to get his "bunny." We've also been using our Premier Manners Minder which has a remote control to dispense treats beyond the poles - we "beep" the remote which acts like a "click" when Tango is past pole 4 or so. He's started to bounce and run through the poles! So exciting... - Fran

Friday, September 09, 2011

Two weeks

It's been two weeks since we lost Ceilidh and sometimes it feels like last night, other times like she was never a part of our lives. The other dogs don't miss her, aren't looking for her, and sometimes that's hard. While Ceilidh didn't interact with them much, you'd think that something about their demeanor (the older ones - Roc and Dax - especially) would be different. But no.

We've asked the younger ones - Tango and Teddy - to step up and be big boys. Tango is no longer confined to his crate at night. He sleeps with me. And we're asking both Tango and Teddy to make better choices during the evening. If Hope and I want dessert after dinner while we're watching TV, the boys are not in their crates but are not allowed to bother us - after we give them treats, of course. And for the most part they're doing really well. We're going along and things seem to be normal in our everyday lives, and then I see Ceilidh's beloved Latex Soccer Ball and it hurts all over again. But life goes on, and I'm sure one day I'll be able to let the other dogs play with the Latex Soccer Ball. - Fran