Finally, an afternoon lacking rain, so while cleaning up the yard, I put the spring pole down. Mayzie would only play with it if I would interact with her. She wasn't at all interested in playing by herself, like I thought she would. I'm sure part of it was also that I would keep Roper at bay, but still, my silly border collie would rather play with me than alone. Either that, or the pitch on her chin was starting to bother her! The pole tree is an alder, but a neighbor tree it a spruce that's on its last legs. When a leaf fell to the ground, she still let go of the balls to grab the leaf. One of her absolute favorite things is if you kick leaves for her, or grass or even rocks and dirt. What a goofy dog!

Last night I worked the three dogs on rear and front crosses. I started with Zorro, I just asked him to go around the standard. I feel pretty good about his turns, they can be tight when he knows where he's going. Then Mayzie. She jumped at 26" (in my pessimistic state, I am convinced she will measure over, so she needs to practice both) and really did a great job, only knocked one bar. By the time Mayzie was done, Roper's eyes were bugging out of his head and his tongue was 6 inches out of his mouth, he was so jazzed by the other dogs working, or at least by his screaming about it being his turn. Well, he got one, and he's really interpreting the difference between front and rear crosses well. I did teach him left and right, so that helped as well. The boy loves to work. This one of the first sessions he worked the entire 5 minutes for a toy. He really prefers to work for food, but it was good that the others went first. Tonight, he got to work on his contacts. I've started to ask him to move into position on the aframe side of the trainer to get the 2o2o. I think that eventually, he will do a "running through" contact, but for now, I want him to stop. It was a good session.

Tomorrow is a short day, then I have to pack up the dogs, drive to se portland to get my brother and head out to baker city. It will be fun, I've not hung out with him in forever. My goal is to not ask a ton of questions, but just give him an opportunity to talk, he's a very difficult one for getting information out of. We'll see how it goes.

Roper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC0BzkHApSk

Mayzie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6Xljq4muh0

Zorro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2701p-H3wvY

Mayzie and Roper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFAZ8uB1Ovk

Today started off pretty damn blustery, but amazingly, it calmed down by about 11 am. After getting some damn breakfast and some long screws at the local recycle/resale center, I made some damn necessary repairs to the fence. Then I scooped and raked the damn yard, which is a great fascination for Mayzie. Then I got out my damn little electric chain saw (sorry trees!) and chopped off branches that were bugging me. I sized up two of the damn alders in my yard and chose one for a spring pole. Then I constructed it. I used a rubber strap with the damn s hooks removed, some nylon rope and three tennis balls. It is damn low enough so that all the dogs can reach it. I will post some video tomorrow of their first damn try at the toy. I put it up so that they couldn't reach it, though I think I might leave it down. I'm just damn worried that Mayzie won't leave it be when I want her to potty. We'll see. She was pretty damn excited once I got the balls out to put on ropes. I had several (three) of the damn squeak ones that I poked holes in and passed the rope through. The hardest part was getting the damn rope through the strap holes. It took taping the ends, and using lotion to lubricate it to get them in.


p.s. I just couldn't damn help myself!

Today I took my dogs and myself to get photos taken. Julie had a very nice set up, very professional, easy in and out. Then I took Mayzie out to the field and threw the ball for her for 20-30 minutes, all by herself, to atone for my evil ways. She, of course, has already forgotten all misdeeds, and was ecstatic to race after the ball. Then Zorro and Any got some time. Finally, the hellion got to play. He's a great little retriever, as long as the other dogs aren't around to taunt. Well, until he missed the ball and we lost it. So if anyone finds a little two tone green ball at the Cash's in the field, it's his. Luckily, we have tons of them.

I was sad to see that the little dog store, Active Canine, was out of business (it's in Sherwood), but it doesn't surprise me at all. Regular people would not go to that store to get stuff for their dogs in these economic times, and the dog sport enthusiasts go on line for their stuff.

Finally, I purchased chains for my vehicle, in anticipation for the trip to Baker City this wednesday. I heard on the radio that 18 inches of snow is going to fall in the Cascades. Bring it on winter, argh!!

Is it really such a big deal? I don't know. I'm typing of my lack of ability to run Mayzie with any semblance of skill. League tonight just seemed to be a giant cluster fuck. But let's focus on the positives, shall we? She didn't knock any bars or go off course in Standard (she got tired of me being behind and took an off course in the game, I think...) Granted the game was just stupid, no flow, all over the place. We were doing much harder courses on Wednesday and able to get farther than tonight. Zorro was very naughty during standard, jumped every one of his contacts (he hits them, but the criteria is to stop). So afterwards, I made him stay and pulled on his leash. He's rock solid on that "game" even when he's screaming his head off, he can hold a stay. He was much, much better during the game, though he did go off course (I think the same place as Mayzie #9 a, tunnel under the Aframe) Oh well. I need to just go on a bike ride with her, give her a chance to show me that she can be a good girl. I did use the flexi leash tonight, so while she did pull on the leash, I didn't feel it much, and she was very willing to come back and walk near me. Not sure what my problem is, I just get so frustrated with her all the time. Not very fair, eh?

Found this today, while looking for other clips of agility training.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moOn4gXT_kc&feature=related

I just finished listening to an interview with Al Gore on "Think Out Loud" an OPB program that ran this morning. He has a new book out that talks about solutions to the global warming problem. The interviewers did a good job asking challenging questions to Gore, and his responses were good as well, lots of analogies and facts. I think that this is as good a year as any to take personal responsibility for our carbon foot print, or the amount of carbon we individually responsible for putting into the atmosphere through our actions and purchases. I'm sure many of you already do many things to reduce the carbon, but a list might be in order. There is no particular order for these, just as they come to me.

1. Purchase food that is produced locally, in season, using sustainable methods.
2. Combine errands when ever you drive.
3. Take public transportation when possible. Or carpool.
4. Recycle. Find out what will be accepted and where to take it.
5. Fix things instead of throwing them away.
6. Buy second hand (one of my favs!).
7. Keep vehicles on a regular maintenance schedule.
8. Shred and recycle paper instead of using a burn barrel.
9. Use your own grocery bags and buy in bulk.
10. Conserve electricity by turning down/up temperature, turn off lights and appliances when not in use.

I am hopeful that global warming can be slowed down, especially if two things happen: individuals do what is responsible and government adequately regulates corporations that produce warming chemicals.

tonight, I made the silly decision to take all four dogs across the street to the beach. It wasn't raining (much) so I figured it would a good, quick way to burn off steam. What an idiot! First of all, Roper got a hold of the ball, and wouldn't bring it back, bad boy! Then Mayzie would not stop pulling the rest of the dogs (and me!) so I whacked her with the chuck it stick (then felt extremely guilty). On the final throw, the dogs missed where the ball went, so we lost one of those super nice orange chuck it balls. When we got home I made them all stay outside, until Any and Roper started barking. Then I washed all four of the dogs, which put about a cup of sand in the tub. They were all locked up on the linoleum (between the expen and the double wide baby gate), which caused them to all grump at each other. I finally gave in and they have access with the whole linoleum area. They are having fun now, except Any, who keeps on insisting to jump on my lap, though she is still pretty wet. Of course, Mayzie is leaning against my legs chewing an antler (which I have no idea where it came from), getting my jammy bottoms wet. Roper and Zorro are having fun playing with each other, doing the mutual humping thing. Ah life at the beach with four hairy beasts.

Went to class tonight. I need to get snow tires next month for the winter, there was left over snow (none on the road)from the weather last night.

Hardly anyone was there, so I got to run Zorro and Mayzie. They did fantastic, really worked hard (well, after Mayzie got the willies out) and followed direction well. I need to work on startline stays with Mayzie, she's begun to creep. And, yet again, on contact releases for both dogs, though Z man was very solid on his startlines and pretty good on his contacts. He only hopped the teeter bottom early once. Very few knocked bars for him on his second run, though he had trouble on the spreads on the first run. Mayzie jumped at 26" so more bars than before, but she really started to make an effort to keep them up. She likes to keep going, so the stopping when one comes down may be making an impression. I need to remember Zorro's 8.5 and warm him up better (or at all!). He's feeling pretty good about doing agility these days, really working with me. Both dogs spurt off randomly if I don't do my part, hmm, a pattern I suppose. Overall, I was very pleased with our efforts this evening. I was more relaxed and comfortable running, which showed in their behavior, though I am SO out of shape, I struggled to do two runs back to back.

Tomorrow, we go look at the text book caravan for science, though we're on a limited budget, and can't actually buy books. We can get supplemental stuff, though. It will be a fun day. My students have been amazingly good with subs this year. Hopefully this will continue tomorrow! ML

tonight, I put Roper on the last cleat of the aframe side of the trainer and encouraged him to get into his 2o2o position. I first rewarded any movement to the ground and stopping 2o2o. Then, when I saw that he was hopping down to the ground and keeping his back feet on the cleat (which makes him practically stand on his head!), and not touching the a frame with his front feet below the cleat, I only rewarded if he put his front feet in the space below the last cleat. That encourages him (hopefully) to move down further and not stand on his head. We'll be at this stage for a while, because his preference is to launch off the a frame. I put a harness on him, which makes it easier to pick him up and hold him in place. I've also been tossing treats and making him stay 2o2o until I say okay. We do the okay game with chasing and tugging as well. His stay is still pretty awful, but I can get about 5 feet away, and move around a little bit, as long as I'm facing him. He's also getting the general wait until I say it's okay to go in (I use my foot in a sweeping motion behind me to clear dogs back) in the morning.

It's been light enough to pick up the yard in the morning while the dogs are out. Probably won't last, but hey, make/pick up poop while the sun shines!

Everyone else has been behaving themselves, getting along. I found a double wide baby gate that with my other gate, effectively keeps all the dogs separated while chewing on something. And I can go to the bathroom without having to undo a gate. Pretty spiffy.

I've been measuring Mayzie, just with a yard stick and the refrigerator, and she has been over 21" a couple of times, but it's not very accurate. Really hard to say what she'll measure at when we get to Elma, but I'm hoping for 21". I've been practicing at 22" in class and league, but the one jump stuff I've been doing inside is at 26". Probably need to do some grid work at 26" sometime soon. ML

Yesterday, I bought a pair of bright blue and salmon New Balance shoes at Goodwill. Inside was a perfectly good pair of SuperFeet insoles (the ones advertised on Clean Run), worth 35.00 when purchased new. Score!!

Here are a couple of videos that show the progression I am doing with Roper for his aframe contact. The first one is of my training his crab behavior. The second one is of his third try at the aframe contact, moving backward onto the contact. Last night, I progressed to sitting to the side of the aframe, then I'll kneel, then sit, then stand. Then start asking him to move down into position. I will tape those as well. ML

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iVwcPeUHNY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ6sDMbulN0

While barjor is on hiatus, I went to Cash's barn for class. I'm planning on alternating between Mayzie and Zorro each week. Tonight was Mayzie's turn. There were some interesting jumping drills that we did while doing this course. I think that jumping 22" really helped both of our confidences. Some bars got knocked, but overall her jumping was very nice. I need to work on moving during her weave entries, as she won't hit the entry unless I'm standing still. I could tell that our rear cross work had paid off, as she was picking up the same side arm signal, and I was occasionally able to call her off the tunnel and direct her into the opposite entry. We can easily work on this here at home.

Roper got to be introduced to another teeter, he was so enthusiastic to show off (so was I). He really loves riding the roller coaster down, then hopping off for party time. He was running around like a crazy man, but came right to me when I called, even with people walking the course. I carried him while I walked the course, then put him up.

I bought two couplers today, and a stout leash. I am going to attempt to take all 4 dogs for a walk to the beach (ick, sand) a few times a week in the morning. If I get up at 6am, I have plenty of time to walk them, then take a shower, eat and get ready for school. Then I'll have time in the evening to work out, because it'll be too dark to run dogs. I know I probably won't do it if it's pouring, but we'll see. I have industrial strength rain gear, rubber boots and a rain hat. I've been getting up in the morning and scooping poop while the dogs are outside, so I don't think that it will be that much harder to gear up to take them for a walk. If I can keep Mayzie from dragging me, I should be able to do it. One leash to hold on to has got to make it easier. The only reason I have to use a leash at all is we have to cross 101, though the lady down the street has her one dog on voice control and carries a leash, but doesn't use it. Don't think that'll ever, ever happen with my dogs, just too risky that some fun thing to chase will show up. ML

This afternoon, I introduced Roper to the contact trainer. I want to work on proofing the dogwalk and teach him the end behavior for the Aframe, with out having him have to go over the entire obstacle again and again. He remembers the end behavior, 2o2o, for the dog walk, as long as there is a target to put his little feeties. We'll work on fading that out. And on staying on the contact if I'm moving around. I wasn't sure how I wanted to do the aframe, as I could tell the height would be a struggle for him in terms of stopping at the end. I thought he might generalize it like Mayzie did, but he kept jumping/falling/hopping off the 2o2o position, he just couldn't hold the position. He tends to be front heavy anyway, though all the pedestal work and the backing up and coming to heel work has made a difference. It's balanced him out some. Then, one time over, he got carried away and launched from two cleats up, a behavior I do not want at all! So I decided to try something else. I sat on the ground in front of the downside of the aframe. He stood in front of me, and I lured him to step backwards. It only took about 20 treats for him to figure out that the goal was to step up on to the contact with his hind feet. Then I asked him to stretch forward so that his back was as parallel to the ground as possible. The second time I tried it, he stepped right up and was even tugging on a toy while on the contact. Of course, it helped to see Mayzie do some mad tugging while in her fantastic 2o2o position. He was gung ho about trying too. So, I'll progress to being on the side of the contact, then kneeling next to it, then standing up. I just have to figure out how to stop him from flinging himself unbidden down the aframe side, while I'm doing something simple like standing up. I do now have a leash with no loop on it, so it may come in handy.

I also worked on shallow rear crosses with him. Mayzie seemed to get it, as it was my motion parallel to the bar as much as my arm that told her which way to turn. With Roper, I'm not as confident he's committed to go around the jump standard and I don't want to charge forward and step on him as he comes around the jump standard in the opposite direction. The deep rear crosses (if I'm interpreting that correctly) are much easier for us. I think I need to figure out which foot to have moving forward to get him to commit. Not sure it matters, but hey. Luckily, he's a pretty quick study, if we don't get it the first time we practice it, coming back and trying again tomorrow, it will be amazing to me how much better he gets it.

Roper turned 6 months old on November 5th. I have been reading people's wonderful posts about puppy training, and they sound so good to me, so fun and puppy-like. I really should spend more time on those skills. But, I am having a difficult time not working on agility stuff. I suppose there are some puppy things (like potty training!) that I should spend more time on, but I've so enjoyed working on this stuff, that I am probably letting other important things slide. I realize that there are some things that are essential to the life of any dog that they should know. Potty training not withstanding, they need to know stay (still working on that), come (pretty good unless Mayzie is around, and then I just call her) and that's about it. So maybe I need to quit the agility stuff until those three things are under 100% control. Bleh. Am I rushing the agility stuff too soon? I suppose that if it was over his head, he'd tell me and be scared to do it. I know that I am leaving weave training (a whole sport unto itself) until he's one and jump training till who knows, though he's getting all the ground work for jump training, so that he'll know everything but how to go over a bar. And from the look of how he can already get up on my bed (at least two to three feet off the ground) jumping won't be a problem. I suppose the ultimate goal is to just have fun training the dog, it doesn't really matter what I do. Though my carpets would sure appreciate the potty training....

Tomorrow, back to school with kids. I wore myself out today, getting stuff done. My room looked great after a week gone, nothing broken that I could tell, and not a disaster. Three different subs, which is a drag for the kids, but oh well. I even took the dogs for a run this afternoon, barely making it back to the car in time to miss a deluge. Poor Zorro was in such a hurry to jump into his crate, he clocked himself in the head with the crate door. It looked like the corner got him in the eye, but no redness or soreness, so I guess he's alright.

Got home about 10:30pm. Greeted and loved up everybody, got everyone reaquainted, and got to bed. Hanging with the old lady in bed, Z has a bone on the floor, Roper and Mayzie have them in their kennels. The crazy pet sitter lady took good care of the kids, they got chicken broth on their kibble tonight. My dad mixed his meds like a pro this morning, and we did our last test, can he drive? He passed, good thing that his truck is an automatic and he can do most everything left handed. I looked at both arms (injection site and actual infection site) all looks great. Got him some more food, he's got a great support system, and I'm gonna call tomorrow morning just as he finishes his morning infusion. I think it will be fine.

We had a weird experience yesterday. Just as we got to the house where he keeps his horses (and the home of Roper's mom) my dad's exwife showed up. Not my mom, his second ex. They parted on really nasty terms, so it was awkward at first, but they visited a bit. She's moving back to the area after an ordeal medically and relationship wise, so it's something else my dad will have to deal with. At least they got the meeting again over right away. Again, that support system will be real important, and he called some friends as soon as we got home.

Tomorrow is an inservice day, so I will have time to get organized for my students on tuesday, then wednesday is Veteran's day, then back to school. This experience (being really very sick and caring for a very sick parent) has been enlightening. I'm more convinced than ever that we need to live each day fully, forgive easily, and make the most of every moment, both for ourselves and our critters. It all comes crashing to an end way too quickly. Some people are fortunate enough to get wake up calls and second chances.

Crazy puppy frenzy last night. Roper got to meet his full brother (same litter) last night. At first, he was overwhelmed, though it didn't help that besides Rudy, his brother, there were 6 other dogs trying to meet/sniff him as well. All mini aussies, most related in some way, and all different sizes. Everything from teeny Roper, Sissy and Sadie, to medium Tyler and Cooter to large Bull and Shelby (Roper's mom) to absolutely gigantic Rudy. It was hard to believe that Rudy and Roper were brothers. After the initial meeting, the two babies were some wild and crazy guys. My dog didn't want anything to do with me, he went feral! We finally sent them outside to play, but I got worried after about 1/2 hour and went to check on them. It took me three tries to catch him, he had eyes only for Rudy. If we go out there again, I'll video them playing. Roper only comes up to Rudy's elbow. He's got to be 18-20" tall at least. It was pretty fun to watch. Roper was exhausted when we got home.

I think I'm going home tomorrow. That's my plan, anyway. I have to see how my dad does with driving still. He mixed all his meds for today by himself, with only minor supervision by me. He's very system oriented, and likes to follow plans and lists, so that helps him out a lot. I have to do some shopping and cleaning, then I think Im good to go.

I will say that I am not looking forward to either of my parent's getting older. I guess no one really does. Now both have had serious issues (this with my dad, and last year, my mom had both knees replaced). I am glad that I got a new car, the trip over here was really really easy with the Soul. One less thing to worry about. At first, I didn't know if I could handle all the medical stuff, all the details, and I am glad that my sister was here when most of it had to be done. She's much better at it, though I know it takes a mental, emotional and physical toll on her as well. Hopefully, this won't happen again real soon, and they both have healthy lives for a long time still. ML

hehe, this morning, I was throwing the mini ball for Roper, he has really turned into a ball dog. Well, as long as there are no other dogs around, then he's a "keep the ball away from" dog. But anyway, he was so cute! He even caught the ball on the bounce twice, my little man is growing up. Later tonight, he's going to go meet his breeder. And one of his brothers, who I hear got all the tall genes. ML

In Baker City for a while still. Dad is looking better. We mixed meds together this morning and it went well. I'm getting very handing with large syringes and needles. Got his dog back today, so Roper has playing/harassing Uncle Cooter all morning. It keeps him happy. Roper has been an awesome hotel mate. He slept in his pop up crate on my bed both nights. Last night, the screen wasn't even zipped. He's been quiet and only one accident at my dads. Been a good boy. I am still running a low grade fever, but mostly only after coughing/exerting myself. I feel better, but I've felt better too. This has got to be the longest I've been sick in a great while. I think I said this already. sigh At least it's sunny and dry here. Guess pretty huge storm at the coast last night, lightening and thunder too. ML

So, I am sick again. I caught something (probably H1N1) from some kid last week. I was supposed to go to Baker City to help my dad as he came out of the hospital (he got a staph infection in his right shoulder and has been in there for over a week). As of this evening, he's not getting out until Wednesday, so I have time to get better. Thankfully, I did sub plans for the entire week, as I didn't know how it was going to go. But I'm not going anywhere until my temperature goes back down. I'm sending an apology to anyone I might have infected at League. I didn't know I was sick (fever) until Sunday evening.

I did go back out to the fg barn on saturday, after a meeting where I probably infected more people!, and Roper got his first exposure to a full sized dog walk. I put targets on the ends, for 2020 behavior. He had no problems at all doing it. I am going to wait on the aframe as it is higher and steeper than the dogwalk or teeter. I may also teach it as a running contact, for the above reasons. He's coming along nicely, getting the basics of stay. He does have a silly behavior I'm going to have to get under control, which is if you throw a toy for him, he will grab it and run around, not coming back easily. It helps if I hold on the toy and he just tugs on it. But sometimes I forget and off he goes. I need to get him into a class so tha the can begin to work around distractions. Off to bed to try to get well.