Emerging from the Fog

It's been a while since I wrote about my dogs. Quite the roller-coaster these past months. I hadn't written about my puppy because it was very painful for some time. Kimi is just a love but his fears had me worried. They seemed unfixable.

This week my trainer commented twice on how happy Kimi is. He no longer cowers under my chair.  We do all the exercises like everyone else in class. He's still a little unsure of our sit-stays while I dance in front of him, but I would be too.

We also left a very unsuccessful agility class to begin again at a new place and Kimi is blossoming. He does everything so far except the teeter. While others were working on wobble boards, I was just trying to get Kimi to touch a board, any board, so we are a little behind. He shows courage on the teeter so I'm sure he'll figure it out eventually.

Today on our daily walk, Kimi calmly walked by a  moving school bus, which is huge. Counter-conditioning really works.

Kimi spends his days under my desk sleeping or playing with Maggie, his best bud. We head out after dinner to play agility. Our future together is looking very bright and I vow to write more.

Kimi Keeping Me Company

 

Kimi Does the Tunnel

 

Kimi Jumping 

APJ Baby!

A USDAA show this weekend. We don't do very much USDAA, but this one was close to home. Maggie was very pokey all weekend and wouldn't go down on the table, but we managed to Q in our final run with a 1st place and new title - Advanced Performance Jumper. She also won $6 in the Performance Speed Jumping finals.

Still trying to decipher Maggie May. On Sunday, I gave her 50 mg of Anxitane, which is L-theanine. I take it myself to help me deal with my performance anxiety, so I figured why not. Funny thing is that I forgot to take my dose on Sunday. I left the two shelties at home so it was just us girls. I didn't put any vaseline on her nose. Sunday was pretty relaxed so we practiced lead outs outside the gate and her tail was wagging.

So at the next AKC show, we'll do the Anixtane and do our best to play while we wait at the gate. It's pretty intense and crowded at AKC shows and frequently someone behind me is having a fit about a conflict in the other ring.

Dream Run

I took Maggie to a Show and Go Saturday to work on her speed issues. I planned on doing the course and stopping to treat every 3 obstacles to get her charged up. I did treat her a few times, but she was flying regardless. It was the run of my dreams. She flew through the weaves and didn't stick on any obstacles. We finished the course and still had 35 seconds to play around out of our 90 seconds.

There were so many things that were different from a show that I cannot figure out what got her happy. The dog in front of us was one of her buddies. There were no other dogs waiting with us. I played with her before we went into the ring and she actually flopped on her back for belly rubs.

At a show, the gate is crowded with strange people and dogs. The atmosphere is very charged. She is constantly looking around at the other dogs. I am tense although I try not to be.

In the ring, I had treats in my pocket.  There was no judge hovering around. There were no crowds in the stands right next to the ring. It was quiet. No barking dogs. No loud speaker announcements. No squealing pigs. Yes, we've had to deal with a pig auction at a show.

At a show, it is incredibly noisy with barking dogs. There is always a judge and Maggie takes a moment on the obstacles to look at him or her. The weave poles are usually near a grandstand where dogs and people are sitting.

It would be so easy if there was just one thing I could target, but on our second flying run, Maggie stopped on a dime and buried her nose in the ground and would not get it out no matter what I did. I had to pick her up and carry her out of the ring. She had dug up some little ball of crap and was getting ready to devour it. Ugh.

At a show, I put Vicks on her nose to reduce her sniffing.

The highest of highs and the lowest of lows. That's our Maggie.