tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5190308208924885202024-02-07T04:23:23.418-08:00agility adventuresKathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.comBlogger535125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-41911416868416716382015-10-05T10:20:00.001-07:002015-10-05T10:21:52.707-07:00A little Tunnel Work <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/v53NSYLsFuw/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/v53NSYLsFuw?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
Agility obsessions are in full force. Katy is 19 months old and I have been and am still trying to be conservative with the amount of repetitions my young dog is doing. Here are some tunnel exercises, I'm pretty excited by what the girls were able to do, but I do believe we will need to revisit backside tunnel entrances . Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-41195298240243513922015-05-13T07:36:00.000-07:002015-05-13T07:36:02.630-07:00Day 4- 2x2 just checking in - the last couple of days we have had gale force winds and with the eyes fresh post op...we haven't been able to work much. <br />
<br />
Katy has never sequenced but I felt she was getting less enthusiastic, doing great but I wanted to spice it up, I was excited to see she has the idea enough to really look for those poles. The poles are a few inches between the 2 sets and the poles are just barely rotated open. How cute is she? <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3i0B63VVJgE/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3i0B63VVJgE?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-55624330159231264002015-05-09T10:22:00.002-07:002015-05-09T10:25:21.166-07:00More Weaves - Day 2-3 on 2x2s Ok generally in life, things are sort of rough because my vision is pretty bad after my first eye surgery a week and a half ago. I'm having trouble seeing the computer and it hurts to read, and watching my videos to review what is happening is no fun, reviewing to go to the next step of the 2x2 weaves is rough ....so I'm wondering if I should have waited. On the plus side since I can't work on my on line classes or do computer work, or move faster then a fast walk, I have time to be working!!! I will have to compensate because I won't be able to finish and add any fast movement to our training...but hey, it's just dog training, if we mess it up we can fix it and Katy and I will just make allowances and do our best! <br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div>
The first day we did four short sessions with the two poles - I was able to add some movement and Katy could find her way through the poles from pretty much anywhere. The problems I could see were her tracking the toy way before I could throw it, and some pretty fun victory laps after each try- Katy would take the toy and run on a big loop around the yard before returning, she is a fun loving girl, so that isn't surprising. So day 2 as I added in the second set of poles....I decided to try food as a reward. Of course a new issue showed up, Katy was having a heck of a time finding the food. So very quickly we relocated to the driveway 😎</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lx4OH89DiOk/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lx4OH89DiOk?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
So pretty happy with the two afternoon sessions of day 2. It started out rocky with Katy looking back and me unable to throw the hotdogs in even roughly the right place, but we got it together. The poles are 15 feet apart and the food did help with forward focus, made her a little more thoughtful. So the next session on day 3 will be the same set up but adding a little movement then we can put the two sets of poles about 7 feet apart. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-32542899248602394782015-05-07T09:25:00.000-07:002015-05-07T09:26:59.850-07:00AND SO IT BEGINS.......TA DA!!! One of my favorite things to train with a young dog is the weaves. AND THE TiME HAS COME!!!<br />
<br />
I feel strongly about waiting until I feel like my doggies are mature enough physically, why risk injury? And with 2x2-my preferred training method- the dogs learn it so quickly.... my goal is to start no earlier then 14-15 months. Katy is 14.5 months so right there. <br />
<br />
I also just had eye surgery and have another surgery scheduled May 19, and one of the restrictions is no running or jogging or lifting for a month after. so I won't be able to totally proof these weaves with running or sticking them in a sequence but what the heck. I plan on sessions every other day with the off days as rest. SOOOOOOOO....when I count days for training I will be counting actual training days ;-) <br />
<br />
OK to start the fun.....every time I think of the 2x2 the awesome video Helen King and Jef Blake made to teach agility pops to mind. So to start off our weave adventure on the right track with a little humor-I figured most people have seen this but it make me smile. So no we won't be using the 2x4 method of training the weaves but....LOL <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oAUHqIWilrw/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oAUHqIWilrw?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Wednesday May 6, 2015. FIRST exposure to the set of 2 poles. I skipped the first steps because Katy has spent a week or two running a 12 foot long board with two poles at each side of the board. This is in prep for her dog walk behavior. I think the set up is so similar to the 2x2 that we can skip the first part and hey it is only dog training so if I am wrong we can just go back one step. NO WORRIES! </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I did two actual training sessions that I videoed, and wow, she is a rock star. I do think in the first session, done in the morning I threw the toy along the line really well, but the toy placement is a tad further out then I would have liked. Not much just a tad.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Second session, ughgh, I was trying to move around the arc and add just a touch of movement, not a lot because THIS IS THE SECOND SESSION, less then 5 min exposure....so just a touch of movement. The one issue I see is I am throwing closer but she isn't totally committed to the opening so I am waiting a little too long, I'm late rewarding so at the end of the session I am getting quite a bit of looking back. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
All in all, yippie, we are on our way!!!! I am very pleased with day 1. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/iPuIfgYCrPg/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iPuIfgYCrPg?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe><br />
<br />Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-86210955055024316112015-04-26T11:04:00.000-07:002015-04-26T11:04:29.091-07:00"The Secret of Change is to Focus All of Your Energy Not On Fighting The Old, But Building the New"...SocratesSocrates had that quote right. <br />
Its a new day, I have a new baby dog Katydid that makes all things seem new, I have my best buddy Cricket who keeps me anchored to the past as I try to bring her back to working condition so she can do agility after two and a half years off. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiasm4WJSfWQ3ZoheZ8kz4bIZhk1cd9V4Pd1FwEeWxdosmZvQUNRkZgxPu3-mZzCG_pZnfCj4NZTexZGHM2Z-mDff-c_yQ5CfXjaubkmOjy8KoG3zSWYNryvsc9xdJxJ2y7BOYm8BCmrNw/s1600/IMG_3149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiasm4WJSfWQ3ZoheZ8kz4bIZhk1cd9V4Pd1FwEeWxdosmZvQUNRkZgxPu3-mZzCG_pZnfCj4NZTexZGHM2Z-mDff-c_yQ5CfXjaubkmOjy8KoG3zSWYNryvsc9xdJxJ2y7BOYm8BCmrNw/s1600/IMG_3149.JPG" height="278" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Katydid-14 months and full of it-she has so many truly wonderful traits from her mom Cricket<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0v-7c0gHpd-VOQd35z1KQhelx22KNcM7GKP2zzEmpaFj0vvnDXwK05qNIMb_RbaTyir7Mg0i8z59tcZV7H7dRCi8hAZfOEi9aoyrWnQg-pMRWapQYeojCAsZ6xvAVcgw1eiO7cIawm8Q/s1600/IMG_2410.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0v-7c0gHpd-VOQd35z1KQhelx22KNcM7GKP2zzEmpaFj0vvnDXwK05qNIMb_RbaTyir7Mg0i8z59tcZV7H7dRCi8hAZfOEi9aoyrWnQg-pMRWapQYeojCAsZ6xvAVcgw1eiO7cIawm8Q/s1600/IMG_2410.jpg" height="320" width="289" /></a></div>
Cricket- she will always be the most perfect dog I could ever imagine<br />
<br />
I decided to blog to keep track of our training journey, to keep my notes, videos and progress here in one place as I try to figure it all out. I live in a small community and I really don't have the time or the money to travel for lessons and to be honest I enjoy homeschooling my fur girls. We are currently taking an online handling class, a jumping foundation class with Loretta Mueller, and a Sensational Stays class on line with Hannah Brannigan.<br />
<br />
Our agility journey started way back when with my sheltie Chloe, and I didn't know anything about handling systems, or that there were options in handling, so I suppose I started with a Gregg Darrett background, although I did not know that at the time. Its just what was given to us to start.<br />
em,<br />
As I started to train my BCs Lizzie and Breeze-I was aware of options and chose to try to learn the Awesome Paws handling system from Linda M- that was just gaining in popularity at the time. It made perfect sense, but I remember struggling so hard to figure out a handling system. <br />
<br />
Cricket was brought up mostly in the Awesome Paws handling and she was AMAZING using that system, but I had a knee injury and had to get a knee replacement, we both had a few years off adjusting to that, followed by Katy's litter and then a small muscle tear Cricket had. Unfortunately I just don't feel the APHS will work that well for us right now. Courses are changing and I'm slower then molasses and that isn't changing any time soon. <br />
<br />
So here I am with a few really fast dogs, and some really slow legs....what to do? We have set out on a journey to learn a new handling system. The new system I have in mind uses a lot more verbals, and concentrates a lot more on sending and the dog feeling confident to go out on their own. I have trained enough dogs that I think I am doing much better remembering to pay more attention and reward the dogs for focusing away from me more and building more confidence then I have in the past. I am also having to plain do a lot more training because I realize a lot of the time I plain am not going to be able to be there for my dogs, so we will have to rely on training and not just that I work harder at being there, because sometimes that is going to just be physically impossible.<br />
<br />
Its all dog training, and its what I do for fun. I pay HUGE amounts of money to play with my dogs, so I plan on just enjoying the journey, hopefully connecting with some fun people along the way and just having a great activity to keep my dogs happy and healthy and give us a fun way to connect to each other. Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-333821529345877872014-12-11T16:15:00.001-08:002014-12-11T16:40:06.709-08:00SOMETIMES LIFE HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE BUSY PLANNING....<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div>
Katydid is 9 months old, and it seemed high time to let her meet the tunnel. I got my daughter to help hold her on one side of the tunnel so I could call her through. I was carefully arranging for the introduction and.....<br />
<br />
Katy said "Hey, Mom while I am waiting for you I will just do a few tunnels if that is ok"<br />
<br />
Sometimes life just happens when you are busy planning and that is EXACTLY what happened today...<br />
<br />
In true Katy style she handled it...no problem!!! THAT is precisely why I LOVE this dog!</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/scKOd2yuwGk?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I am thinking that she has not been harmed by the later introduction to the tunnel ;-) </div>
<div>
<br />
<br /></div>
Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-41163265761741001672014-08-19T19:10:00.000-07:002014-08-20T03:37:14.807-07:00Not Perfect at all, but......I Do Believe I am Forming A Training Philosophy! I am not suggesting I have any real answers...but I do have enough dogs and I have raised enough dogs and taken enough classes that with Katy I do feel like I am going to do fine raising her, and I am feeling more confident to try my own thing. Sometimes I feel like we can be so worried about doing the "right" thing and having the "right" answers that we don't get out there and put together what we do know and try to design a dog training program to fit our dogs personality and ourselves. Having a little more confidence I decided to tackle one of our current issues which is running off in the back yard. Parties of one can be VERY FUN for a wild puppy, but I am not so fond of them, LOL. <br />
<br />
It is my job as a trainer to have a goal for the session and evaluate how I need to alter what we are doing and break it down so that the game we are playing becomes more clear TO THE DOG. It really doesn't matter how much sense something makes to me if my dog does not understand what we are doing. <br />
<br />
I think so called "failures" can be my best friend because it shows me where we still need to work or where the dog just doesn't understand yet. The dogs behavior doesn't lie, it might not be what I want to hear but it doesn't lie. My dogs are great workers and if they don't get something, it means that I have not created a great enough understanding, or value for the task, period. But that is OK because I can always fix that. It is a bit freeing to train and not be too worried when there is a mistake, it is just all part of the process and more information to me and I do think my dogs have learned it is no big deal to make a mistake so they don't panic either.<br />
<br />
So this is my full training session from the other day. There is some good training and some mistakes, but we made progress and I got more information, so I'm good with that ;-). I was trying to keep Katy working with me and not taking off on victory laps or taking off for her own party. Her favorite game is retrieve and I felt like maybe the answer to this problem was to work on some self control, asking her to come to me or to do a task BEFORE getting to retrieve her toy. I wanted to increase the value for her coming to me, and make working with me as valuable to her as retrieving the toy. I was not sure Katy was going to be able to do this and I knew it would be challenging for her but I was pretty sure she could do it.<br />
<br />
I had such fun watching her figuring it all out, she is such a smart girl. This is the whole training session without anything cut out. she did great and she quickly caught on to the game, which is awesome because this game can make her really over the top but she was able to work at thinking and still have fun. Not an example of perfect training but we had progress. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/du0sQBn2IZE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-14630610023314448502014-08-14T22:38:00.001-07:002014-08-14T22:58:31.064-07:00And So It Begins........It was a big day for us, Katy got to do something like real agility! Just a few Susan Salo jumps with jump bumps. As I understand Susan's program, puppies only do some jumping every couple of weeks, they do very few receptions, they use small jump bumps, and the object is not to be perfect but just to introduce them to the jumps and let them work out how to use their bodies. <br />
<br />
Katy is targeting to a favorite tug toy on the ground, and I am standing just past the toy. Susan believes that young dogs need to think about the jumping and pay attention to their job so she would not like movement that distracts the dog. My own personal handling system does not call for teaching the dog to blast past me, so that is why I stay up by the toy. This was all the jumping we did, I just edited out the walking back and forth. It wasn't about staying so I did not want to make that an issue so I had my lovely daughter as my assistant. <br />
<br />
I do have to admit I HAD A BLAST! After all this time with my knee injury and replacement, then Cricket having puppies, I had forgot how good it feels to be out there and what a charge it is to see my dog playing the game. SHE IS SO COOL!!!!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://vimeo.com/103479968">if you can't see the video on your phone-try this link </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/brAd8RDtqh8?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
In general I don't believe in doing lots of agility or equipment with puppies, I just think their bodies and minds are not ready for it and there is so much other foundation that needs to be done. Teaching equipment is so fast and so easy that there is plenty of time for that! I plan on starting weaves around 15 months and not jumping full height until Katy is around 18 months.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<a href="http://vimeo.com/103479968"> first jumps 6 months</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user5043114">kathy bordergirlsmom</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-22523633287576733652014-08-03T16:44:00.000-07:002014-08-03T17:17:17.570-07:00GETTING CAUGHT UP AND THOSE DARN DISTRACTIONS IM BACK! I've missed my blogger friends and I really want to track the training of the newest BorderGirl Katydid. For anyone who does not know ~ my heart dog and best friend Cricket had three beautiful puppies February 17, 2014. There were two boys and a little girl. Yolo one of the little boys is in Arizona, Doone is in British Columbia in Canada and Katydid stayed with me in Southern California. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg621kPxxd-RzDnEvUR1T14wWPv9q1nT6ylXWUCAtUEn6td4_8QrNPvEZzWG2ISG0GZOLHuPs01KnKIR55rxX-Dd2j3qvTUBh4K0lSKvOrI53V8r96S0ZF6D91IeAhrPU1JlgduQGE0aYg/s1600/cricket_pups-2089.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg621kPxxd-RzDnEvUR1T14wWPv9q1nT6ylXWUCAtUEn6td4_8QrNPvEZzWG2ISG0GZOLHuPs01KnKIR55rxX-Dd2j3qvTUBh4K0lSKvOrI53V8r96S0ZF6D91IeAhrPU1JlgduQGE0aYg/s1600/cricket_pups-2089.jpg" height="400" width="391" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Life has been pretty perfect, and Katy is a great combination of a little naughty and tons of sweet, and has been everything I hoped for, a truly great combination of traits of her mom and her dad. I have not felt like I needed to talk about her training much, ...everything has been pretty easy. <br />
<br />
Fast forward to Katy turning 5 months old and hitting teenage hood, LOL, she is cheeky and full of it, she is so confident and willing to try anything and so training has really begun, and I have had to step up my game and not be as sloppy, which has made me long for my blogger friends and to track our progress. <br />
<br />
BACK TO BASICS:<br />
Way back when I first took Susan Garretts Recallers- a baseline assignment was to list in order your dogs distractions. We were just to think of all the things that are challenging for our dogs, from the easy to handle distractions to the really hard challenges for dogs to ignore and work through. <br />
<br />
The other list we were to make is a list of things that our dogs found reinforcing--everything we could think of, from going out the door to different foods, to toys, being allowed to run outside, being allowed to play with other dogs, being able to go greet people, what ever your dog found reinforcing to them. I thought writing all that down was a bit silly because I pride myself on knowing my dogs. .I did the damn list and lo and behold it turned out to be a very valuable assignment. It made me much more aware of the distractions for my dog and things she found reinforcing. <br />
<br />
So my issue with Katy now is that she can pick up one back foot at a time, she can shake hands, she can balance all four feet on a 3 in board, she knows left and right on a verbal, she is a smart little girl, with a ton of behaviors but....recalls, what are those? We used to have a beautiful, awesome recall, but we misplaced it lately because she just gets so distracted ;-)<br />
<br />
So here is our list of the five biggest distractions for Katy:<br />
1. CARS, CARS, CARS AND CARS- she is stimulated by cars and I find that frightening<br />
2. If Her mom is getting excited or barking or moving fast-Katy knows she needs to be with her<br />
3. Dogs who are acting a bit aggressive and barking or posturing-Katy thinks she will go bark and<br />
with her 24 lbs she will handle them-she is on it<br />
4. bicycles-those are very exciting, they have wheels and move-must herd those<br />
5. My daughter Emma who she just adores. <br />
<br />
surprisingly other dogs running, and other dogs training or playing is not that huge a problem, she actually does really well around that so far, which really surprises me. <br />
<br />
We have done tons of impulse control and focus games, but Katy was still stimulated enough that I found that it was super hard to get many treats in for good behavior, and I don't think I could reward enough that she ever had any idea what it is that I wanted. Bad Trainer. ;-(.<br />
<br />
The last few days as much as I really don't like head halters, I decided to try one. I just knew I needed to get cookies into her for good choices and she was just not getting a high enough rate of reinforcement with what I had been doing for her to ever really understand what I wanted. For her it has been so nice, she does not mind the head hater because I spent a good amount of time conditioning it, and it is letting us work around distractions. We worked around a soccer field with cars driving slowly by-I was able to stop hold onto the head halter and walk back a few steps, Katy automatically sat and started playing our focus games, without my asking, it was like a default behavior. I am hoping that fairly quickly I can get enough cookie and good rewards for paying attention and making the choice to keep herself calm that we can get rid of the head halter and still have a puppy using her thinking brain. <br />
<br />
Luckily things are going remarkably well and the last two outings had zero times lunging at cars, she has sat and paid attention to me and done easy tricks as cars pass, and she has only had maybe one or two incidents of barking at anything while we were working. She is one smart cookie and once she gets rewarded for something she learns quickly so I do think this is going to work pretty quickly so we can move onto more fun things!<br />
<br />Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-78548091164394411212013-12-30T16:09:00.000-08:002013-12-30T16:22:24.215-08:00Its all about Play- so lets take a class! Ok, I have to admit I was about the WORST training buddy for Chris and Ricky. The plan was to take Denise Fenzi's on line class "Relationship Building Through Play". <a href="http://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/my-courses/711-ob101-main-course-page">http://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/my-courses/711-ob101-main-course-page</a><br />
<br />
The Relationship through play focuses on the different types of play...Toy Play, Food Play and Personnel Play which is play with your dog that does not involve food or toys. By definition personnel play is play that you can use with your dog while training and while in the ring when you can not have food or toys-there will still be times when you can be playful and reward your dog. It is my understanding this Relationship Through Play is an overview type of class and there are some other classes where there is JUST personnel play explored, or just food or toys. <br />
<br />
Chris/Ricky, and Cricket/I signed up for auditing spots since the worker bee spots were filled by the time we got over to the sight to sign up. The PLAN was to work together and post so we could still get the most we could out of the class. .....sigh.....it has just been a hectic month, and I was gone on a trip, was gone to a seminar, and just had a million things including the holidays filling my little brain, so the class is over and now I am starting ;-), but now I am going to work through the class! Chris was an awesome sport and did awesome in the class. <br />
<br />
Our first assignment was to create a baseline video of food play, toy play, and personnel play with our dogs so we could look at what was going on and where we need help and where we could use more skills. Seems like a great idea, although it is a bit rough to post playing with your dog, I always feel a bit silly. <br />
<br />
First off is toy play. OMG, I have to say lately Cricket is about the perfect dog. She goes up to ANYONE and sits nicely to be petted, she even likes kids lately, she just has a softness about her. I remember being at this very park a few years ago working with opens and being very careful so she did not run after the joggers, now here in the video there are three skateboarders that go by and I throw the toy right after them, and Cricket barely notices them, she is just intent on playing with me and would never dream of leaving. HOW could I even think of getting a puppy when my little girl is so darn easy now days... Anyway, here is our baseline video for toy play. <br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/mcalRvHvRmU" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
Next up we have food play. Movement is a HUGE reinforcer for Cricket, probably bigger then toys, or food and certainly bigger then personnel play. <br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Z2PP6XmTt-o" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
Last we have personnel play....sigh..... Let me say this is probably way better then our usual personnel play. Cricket uses her mouth, a lot. So when I have tried to do more personnel play, she really gets uncomfortable because it makes her want to chew and she is very nervous she is going to bite me. If Cricket has a toy to chomp on then she can play and she is very happy. Personnel play seems to make her uncomfortable and it makes me uncomfortable because I am not great at it. When we took Denise Fenzi's Heeling Games class that was the one area we had trouble in during the class, Denise would want us to reward during some games with personal play and that was rough for us.<br />
<br />
Hopefully this class will help us address this area of play. <br />
<br />
OH yea, this video has a lot of pretty loud, frustrated barking, fair warning, ;-)<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/D4ia-55u47M" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
I hope to catch up over the next week or two and talk about the One Dog Mind Training Seminar, which left me lots to think about, and of course I want to talk about Puppies, and everything else that has been going on to catch you all up on the last couple of weeks! <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-63118239490623641162013-11-30T00:09:00.001-08:002013-11-30T00:13:30.090-08:00Silly Pet Tricks!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Oj0MdHFANZc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
TRICKS, TRICKS, TRICKS, most of our foundation work was simply tricks, they were all about body awareness and learning to work together. One thing I loved about the foundation work Cricket and I did as she was growing up, was all the body awareness work we did. I can say now that it really paid off. We have done a bit of herding, a bit of obedience, a bit of rally, some agility, some nose work, and there is nothing we have done that I did not feel we had a bit of a heads up because of the foundation we had thanks to online lessons mostly from Sylvia Trkman but also Susan Ainsly, Susan Garrett, Denise Fenzi and a tiny bit of the Michael Ellis DVDs. The best thing about our foundation was that we could work at our own pace and in really short sessions-homeschooling the Crickster turned out great for us. <br />
<br />
In the desert we don't do stairs. When I wanted to teach Cricket to back up the stairs I had to wait until this real estate office was closed so I could go use their stairs. They have stairs all around the building and they are all a little different sizes and slopes. I was driving by the office and since it was black Friday the office was closed, and there was a break in the rain, so I stopped to see if Cricket remembered how to back up the stairs. SHE DID!<br />
<br />
Have I said before how much I love this dog? Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-50230568700439841182013-11-29T00:06:00.000-08:002013-11-29T00:06:09.687-08:00HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND TAKING STOCK OF THOSE SKILLS!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QXK2T9tTNURF_BFVYSvePvvBDx0Af6rLAVL4ORQBzjUFASesPzSPsS-0LQxyzWINrocbIviIfXjFXCaweh19NKIMvlQdWApt7G35wKxBi5YKvgA-YSNCPuFs6jI_poV0Cj91S7wLvfM/s1600/cricket_2012feb19_9033e-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0QXK2T9tTNURF_BFVYSvePvvBDx0Af6rLAVL4ORQBzjUFASesPzSPsS-0LQxyzWINrocbIviIfXjFXCaweh19NKIMvlQdWApt7G35wKxBi5YKvgA-YSNCPuFs6jI_poV0Cj91S7wLvfM/s320/cricket_2012feb19_9033e-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope everyone had a great day. We had a quiet day, I went to the gym-YIPPIE ME! We had a delicious FAUX turkey, yummy- and some pumpkin pie. If there are any aspiring vegetarians out there the meat substitutes by Quorn are delicious and we can get them at our Target Super center, they are in an orange and white box and I think have a very good texture. <br />
<br />
Because it is Thanksgiving I will share a few things I am thankful for this evening-I am thankful I do not have to make websites/edit websites/or in any way touch websites in my daily life-I know now I could make one but one is about as many as I feel compelled to make in my lifetime....although as soon one of my friends saw the site I was working on she was hinting she would like me to help her do one..sigh...good thing she's an awesome friend. I am also very thankful that Agility Blogger day is only a couple of times a year,--it is coming up again and the topic will be the mental game I believe....and.....I plain can not get my head into the game to think of what to blog about .... thirdly I am thankful that our floor is tile so it can be easily cleaned--naughty Skyler who has been plain peeing-not leaking on the floor. Thank heavens the holiday is over so I can get him back into my holistic vet. Can we tell I am tired tonight, hahahah!<br />
<br />
So now that Cricks and I are finally really doing a little agility again, WHOOT! it is AMAZING how much that has improved my mood. What I can do now really isn't running, LOL, but hey it is getting there. <br />
<br />
So with our new found freedom, it was time to take stock of our training and see what we can work on while I am getting up to running full courses... that pretty much means short sequence and drills, and obstacles. Check out the picture of Crickets pretty 2020, well that was before, and in my recovery period that pretty sight is gone. It was pretty funny, Ive let a few people play around with Cricket and she runs so beautifully for others, she is just happy to do her 'gilities and who cares who it is with---however, if someone can run, she is keeping up and there is no time for stopping on that dog walk. The teeter was just fair before the injury and it is pretty much where it was before now..so I still have work to do on that-I'm using some Wendy Pape exercises on that. The running Aframe I was so proud of-its really not up to the criteria with some odd scampering going on, but just some running over it seems to be fixing that, it is getting better with each session so I am not worried about that. Cricket ran across the long jump, working carefully to step on each board, LOL, we worked through the whole Mary Ellen Barry Long jump program, so that was sort of freaky to me that she really doesn't recognize it at all, silly girl!!! But all is not lost, OMG her weaves are awesome, her jumping is looking so nice, and all of a sudden she works really nice at a distance and has so much more obstacle commitment then she has ever had before. I think all the Sylvia Trkman cik/cap around trees in the park has paid off. Now that we have taken stock, and I know what we need to work on, guess its time to get to work!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-74231104015540090442013-11-24T23:58:00.002-08:002013-11-24T23:58:38.686-08:00The Future is Wide Open......<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-6MNg83dMdYTvarGdHvy67Iy1Ag4sqwWPbB6cO0rXLZ7zUoyfFDiZj5LVr15G0nZC0NOWuwHDRYytfYMqIoO52eFjMBRwS4xe5-yhovoGChV_2vhsQFf1Rk_wv_sKR7eWvwQ3vqUYHUw/s1600/IMG_7918.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-6MNg83dMdYTvarGdHvy67Iy1Ag4sqwWPbB6cO0rXLZ7zUoyfFDiZj5LVr15G0nZC0NOWuwHDRYytfYMqIoO52eFjMBRwS4xe5-yhovoGChV_2vhsQFf1Rk_wv_sKR7eWvwQ3vqUYHUw/s640/IMG_7918.jpg" width="526" /></a></div>
CRICKET, BREEZE AND CHLOE<br />
<br />
Its almost the holidays again! How did this happen? <br />
<br />
Poor Skyler, my older tri colored sheltie-- it is suspected he has some type of bladder cancer ;-(. We ruled out most everything that could be causing his leaking and the blood that is in his urine. Anyway, that is the thought right now. He got a round of antibiotics and started some Chinese herbs....Suprisingly after the antibiotics he stopped all leaking, but now he's been off the antibiotics for a few weeks and it has come back. The thing is to make a definitive diagnosis we would have to do an ultrasound ..the vet asked if we would do radiation to treat it if that is what we found. The poor guy is not in the best of health, he's comfortable and with how much time that would give him, I do not want to put him through something like that for the short extra time that would give him even if it was successful. So we enjoy the time we have with Skyler, and he is stubborn enough he will probably live several more years. ;-)<br />
<br />
Other then Skyler things have been going good. Lizzie has stayed out of the gummy vitamins, Breeze is feeling better and moving better, Chloe my sable sheltie has lost a little weight and is in much better shape-although she has as much attitude as ever and that is what gets her in trouble with the other dogs. I am really excited, the last few days I have been able to do a little jog, just a little and some running on the treadmill. WHOOT! My bionic knee with the total knee replacement is amazing, still stiff at times but it really works well, but the other non replaced knee has been a bad knee lately, until the last two or three days. My hope is that the knee holds up long enough I can do some trailing with Cricket and have some fun before I have to get it replaced and go through rehab again. I also am going to the gym most days and doing a LOT of lower body weights so hopefully the next recovery will go faster. <br />
<br />
But for the fun stuff, Cricket and I have been practicing on small sequences for agility. The good news is that Cricket loves agility and will run for anyone. Anyone want to run Cricket for me in a few trials???? LOL. <br />
<br />
Everyone is doing nose work- we did an online class with Margaret Simek -that was pretty awesome and all the dogs were able to do that. We also did an online rally...with Deborah Jones-we were sort of slackers on that class-but hey we got the basics and will continue working. Then Cricket and I did the jump foundation online class Level 1 with Linda M, that was one intense course. <br />
<br />
SOOOOOOO what should we take this semester.,,,humm, I am a real lover of online classes, and everyone has sign ups right about now. The front runners are two Denise Fenzi classes, Bridging the Gap about how to wean out some reinforcers, and Denise's Play class, and maybe Stacy Goudy's Front Cross/rear cross class, or maybe auditing Linda M/Mary Ellen Barry's Fancy Cues-because that sounds so interesting and I am going to a One Mind Dog training/handling seminar next month and that class will cover the similarities and differences in Linda's Awesome Paws Handling and the One Mind Dog system. But geese, looking at that list there is no way I can possibly keep up with all of that, esp over the holidays, so some hard choices will have to be made, very quickly ;-). <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<br />
OK THE BEST NEWS-I FOUND MY VIDEO CAMERA-so I am going to kick myself in the butt and start videoing some of the things we are working on so I can make things more interesting and post some of the things we have been up to. Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-49955697249974354762013-10-17T22:52:00.001-07:002013-10-17T22:52:29.117-07:00REALLY, ....is Pet Ownership Really Worth the Price?WHOOOO WHOOOO, I have decided to employ the power of positive thinking and I'm choosing to believe that our month of vet visits is nearing its end. It all started when Lizzie ate a bottle of gummie calcium, and a bottle of gummie multi vitamins-$700. Then the sheltie Chloe has a row of some lipomas along her mammory glands-they needed to be removed, so that was scary and pricey at $750-but the lipomas are gone and her teeth are shiny, so thats all good. Then Breeze got hurt and needed some laser and adjustments, that was small fry in the bill department. Skyler our old sheltie is dripping bloody urine ;-( he is almost 12 and we are still investigating that-bill to date is $400. Then our kittie Ashe somehow tore a nail that would not quit bleeding, so add a $100 to the bill. <br />
<br />
I have to admit there was a few times as I was writing checks that I wondered if pet ownership was worth all the bills, the worry, the extra work, the hair balls blowing across the floor, the hair all over my clothes, the nights when I cant spread out in bed because someone is pressing on my feet......<br />
<br />
But then I went to play agility, I can't run really well and my dogs are wicked fast, I was just doing some alphabet drills--but the feeling of working with my dogs and watching their joy made me smile and all excited inside. I went to practice rally with Cricket and she is such a nut, she tries so hard-its not looking like real rally yet, but she works so well with me and she tries so hard that it just feels like we are a team and that is such a great feeling. Later I let all the dogs out Skyler, Breeze, Cricket, Liz, and Glee- (Ill tell you about her tomorrow, she's a visitor border collie girl), anyway, it was better then going to a movie watching them play together. There are the mornings when I wake up and Cricket lays next to me and wants nothing more then to cuddle next to me. You know where this is going- this whole month has reminded me that I am very lucky to be spending my life with these interesting creatures. Those little simple moments during the day that the animals make me forget everything and just concentrate on simply enjoying the moment, that has to be what makes pet owners healthier and live longer then people who don't get to experience that escape. Hopefully we can have a little quieter time, but looks like everyone is doing ok, well except poor Skyler.<br />
<br />
As for Skyler we are running culture and sensitivities, and he is on another antibiotic, and some supplements, his xray showed some problems in his back so his tail doesn't work, and he is not getting great control of his bowel and bladder, which might be helping him get the urinary tract infections, but there was also some sort of mass that the vet couldn't palpate but we can see, that could be causing the blood he is still leaking, so any good thoughts for poor Skyler would be appreciated ;-). <br />
<br />
<br />Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-86492930182459630832013-10-01T21:39:00.002-07:002013-10-01T21:39:34.719-07:00Lizzie my Nomination for the Naughtiest Dog of September<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGHO7-vggvmErZL22ZGGsc591PtBs3S_FqwXUQPo_GKxyAkcaJllaS566R1OzqrvSBxbB3-dKsK6A3s1j8Gs7lNxXUwbgvIYH0bVmtMuIzFs1E-FimPDKCFu5Dh2BTognZdhalssst5Fk/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGHO7-vggvmErZL22ZGGsc591PtBs3S_FqwXUQPo_GKxyAkcaJllaS566R1OzqrvSBxbB3-dKsK6A3s1j8Gs7lNxXUwbgvIYH0bVmtMuIzFs1E-FimPDKCFu5Dh2BTognZdhalssst5Fk/s320/photo.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
....sigh....I figured I would share the latest adventures of my little girl with the squirrely attitude....<br />
<br />
You have to understand Lizzie is a special child, she has the best heart, and she is extremely well built, she is very healthy but as much as I adore her I have to admit she really is missing some screws. Lizzie is 7 1/2 yrs old but she is like a puppy and I always have to keep in mind she needs protecting. She is the only dog of mine that ABSOLUTELY can not be trusted loose when we are gone, in fact she can not be trusted in my room if the rest of the family is home but I am gone. She has never been off leash reliable after MANY recall classes and almost daily recall work her whole life. She just stresses and will run and I swear she doesn't hear anything except the little voices telling her to run. She is a nut and panics a bit when I leave and will go wild getting into things and tearing things up-she really is like a naughty pup that has never really grown up. <br />
<br />
During her latest adventures, I left for the gym, had a nice workout and got home and discovered a yellow cap on my bed, hummmm. It hit me it looked like the cap from the HUGE COSTCO size vitamins that I had bought and left on the counter to be put away....my heart sank. I looked and found an empty bottle in her bed, so I grabbed the little Lizard and Shoved some hydrogen peroxide and water down her throat to make her throw up while I was calling the emergency vet. I have never been more scared especially when Lizzie started to throw up then started falling over and couldn't stand. The vomit had some vitamins but I knew it was too clear and she had to have digested most of them, so off to the ER vet we went. <br />
<br />
I had found another empty bottle of vitamins, seems my hubby had seen Lizzie walk out with an empty bottle and so just took the bottle and threw it away. The bad doggie had eaten a GIANT bottle of Calcium with vitamin D tummies, and a GIANT Costco bottle of gummie multivitamins with bone and mineral support-yep she was making sure her bones had plenty of calcium. I can not believe I didn't think more about the bottle of vitamins before I left, but they were new, unopened, on the counter because I just had not put them away yet. <br />
<br />
Anyway, her little gummy snack got her four 240 ml bottles of charcoal, one every eight hours to try to absorb some of the vitamin D in her system....and she got her blood tested to check the calcium level every 12 hours. Not exactly as much fun as she had imagined I am sure. <br />
<br />
Her little stunt cost me $500, a few sleepless nights, several trips back to the emergency vet, a rug that had to be thrown out when Lizzie threw up 200 cc of black charcoal that was never going to come out of the carpet, and of course I was the one that got to get all that charcoal down her. Oh yea, then I did go down and invest in some really nice white steel boxes with keyed locks which is where all vitamins and medicines are now kept in the house-so we can add another $80 to the cost of the incident ;-). The other consequence for poor Lizzie is that I put up an xpen in the kitchen and when I am out of the house and my hubby Bill is there she gets to go in the xpen with an open crate inside, the same set up I usually have for puppies-Oh Liz!<br />
<br />
The one thing that I was impressed with is that during the blood draws, and when the tech had to shove charcoal down her throat, during everything they did Lizzie was giving the vet and techs kisses and was the best behaved dog, the ER staff loved her. Its a good thing Lizzie is such an awesome dog who loves everyone, that is definitely something she has going for her. <br />
<br />
<br />
As if I had enough stress two days later Bill my hubby was standing in the open front door talking to a neighbor, I said three times, close the door, then of course bad Lizzie returned and bolted out the front door and took off down the street. She was like the gingerbread man yelling you cant catch me. It was awful....sigh.....it can be a full time job keeping a little Lizard type of dog safe. <br />
<br />
<br />Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-74773506752241992252013-07-31T10:51:00.000-07:002013-07-31T10:56:32.372-07:00 It Sure does Not Pay to Be Lazy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibTOs3QN1Y1BOiKdN7KV62J72ihI1kU1iSYCzYPsptfDaX4HXw36ibJ_owD7Up_2xTHsmiru-JeT_rUD7hOYf61uIDk9vm1rxIZ-9H3NtgoZtBXYt3hOCe8TGVnM5_aM4dUyFnyJnRuPg/s1600/cricks+july+31+2013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibTOs3QN1Y1BOiKdN7KV62J72ihI1kU1iSYCzYPsptfDaX4HXw36ibJ_owD7Up_2xTHsmiru-JeT_rUD7hOYf61uIDk9vm1rxIZ-9H3NtgoZtBXYt3hOCe8TGVnM5_aM4dUyFnyJnRuPg/s320/cricks+july+31+2013.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
I seem to be pretty bad at my time management skills, so I figured I will just do a quick post!<br />
<br />
I'm in a reflective mood so thought I would share one of my thoughts from the past few days-because I know everyone wants to know what is on my mind ;-).<br />
<br />
Cricks and I...well Breeze and Liz also-have been working on heeling, something I was only interested in teaching if I could have help to teach it the same way we taught agility with an emphasis on FUN! I have been learning with Denise Fenzis online Precision Heeling, then Heeling Games classes. TA DAAAA we are loving heeling! All of us! I think we are going to start the Ring Prep class Denise is starting tomorrow. I am just going to audit, because I am poor, hahahaha, but I learn well that way. Denise has the first lesson from the class on her blog entry from July 17th. <a href="http://denisefenzi.com/">http://denisefenzi.com/</a><br />
<br />
So I will get video of our heeling work when I get this time thing worked out.....I'm excited to share...in the meantime.....<br />
<br />
CAN I TELL you how happy I am now that Cricks is 3.5 yrs old, and we have stuck our feet into lots of different types of training, I AM SOOOOO GLAD we were not in a hurry to go on to the "fun stuff" and spent her whole first year in foundation skills-body awareness, learning how to learn, building our bond and understanding each other, recalls, etc.... I have seen the big pay off with the two classes we have been doing, they involve some new things but I keep finding we usually have a little head start in almost anything we have been doing. For example take this simple skill, going around a pole......<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Sylvia uses going around a pole and learning to bend their body as the first step in cik/cap which teaches dogs to use their body, helps prevent injuries, helps with object focus and teaching dogs to go out away from us, and helps with speed and motivation</li>
<li>Linda M starts her jumping course and her jumping course with going around a pole, to help with body awareness, using their body to curve and flex, help them orient to the jump and to help with other exercises she uses to help the dogs focus their head lower while jumping. </li>
<li>Denise uses going around a pole and pivot work (going around in a circle with the front end on a bowl or brick) to increase body awareness, help the dog learn to move their body so they can turn corners beautifully, etc, and she uses going around a pole and rushing back to heel position to help the dog understand heel position, to add movement and more fun to something that could be BORING, </li>
</ol>
Not sure where else that particular skill comes into play, but I bet there are some other sports! I keep finding places where our foundation has really helped. <br />
<br />
Now just to keep everyone unbroken long enough so that we can put that great foundation to use and learn ANY advanced skills!!!!!!!! When I hurt my leg over a year ago, Cricket and I were just starting to gel and work on some higher level skills......sigh......hopefully we will be back working on those soon and hopefully those skills will still there there....I think we will be pretty rusty. <br />
<br />
FOR FUN: I have a picture of why you should take the time to sort out leashes and perhaps put them in a pillow case or bag before you wash them in the washer, hahhahah, might take me awhile to untangle this mess. I got home from the beach and just threw the entire mess into the wash, mistake! I should have taken some time to put in the foundation to a good washing experience, LOL, OK very bad but I did try to tie that into my post!<br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0qkxnbhs5sn8hrC9tOhjcepxd7B4X9S_oEKuJCEC37nuiC7RGekk9RuDBF46O95erG-VXGTLJlXCxiz5udQ45QUnjMI-a8xJuz5VSavlJNDOmMjl1E9CoftHayEUu0Ga1S8d4MoTfgeo/s1600/oops.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0qkxnbhs5sn8hrC9tOhjcepxd7B4X9S_oEKuJCEC37nuiC7RGekk9RuDBF46O95erG-VXGTLJlXCxiz5udQ45QUnjMI-a8xJuz5VSavlJNDOmMjl1E9CoftHayEUu0Ga1S8d4MoTfgeo/s320/oops.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
<br />Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-28236615562797075422013-07-24T22:30:00.000-07:002013-07-24T22:30:28.346-07:00Hi Everyone!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9GA06r45UVUhB5LsPdyxJziCaArG6bqYo89yey9JPpMxb8rXcgBOf7RkUHAmSdmn1ZxRRpNKE6HelWJHPDK-ObMWCpiVQEfBcLy4VrIwf8RtuNvvrMczLOLZOthwizaT6NnhnJzCDnhk/s1600/three+girls+july24,+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9GA06r45UVUhB5LsPdyxJziCaArG6bqYo89yey9JPpMxb8rXcgBOf7RkUHAmSdmn1ZxRRpNKE6HelWJHPDK-ObMWCpiVQEfBcLy4VrIwf8RtuNvvrMczLOLZOthwizaT6NnhnJzCDnhk/s320/three+girls+july24,+2013.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The girls saw a jump in the living room and<br />
KNEW life is going back to normal ;-)<br />
<br />
I've missed everyone...last time I blogged was last October. Last May I injured myself and after that I really couldn't do agility while I was waiting to get a total knee replacement, and some how I just found it hard to talk about dog training, agility,etc when those things were just not in the fore front of my mind. ;-(. I have to say it was a hard time.. <br />
<br />
So in February I got a left total knee replacement. I have had a couple of people tell me they had been told that if you get a total knee replacement it as no big deal and you would be all back to normal right away! Hey I don't know who they were talking to, but the recovery did take awhile, a lot of exercises, physical therapy, doctors appointments, it was a bit intensive for awhile. The good news is that I LOVE my new knee now, it is awesome and still gets pretty stiff but it is working great. My other knee has been complaining though because it had to carry more of the load for awhile. There have been things I did not expect like my balance being really off which has been one of the things that has made training the dogs hard-Cricket is a bit rough and loves to jump on me, and I did not realize how much I had built that behavior into her everyday training, hahahhaha, but hey I love it and now that my balance is better it is ok-- I enjoy her enthusiasm. <br />
<br />
I was a bit bummed because it seems like it has taken me longer to recover then some people-it has taken me a few more months then some and I am just now feeling like I might be able to work toward running. SERIOUSLY it is not good to compare yourself to others, so I have tried to stop doing that!<br />
<br />
So that is what has gone on physically....but the fun stuff is what is going on with my doggies. They all did very good for a lot of months just being doggies. They have not seemed to mind at all. It actually has felt nice in some ways to just enjoy each other. Cricket has grown even more attached and rarely left my side for months, it really is nice to have a doggie to cuddle with. We raised another litter for a friend this spring, which I just LOVE doing-I find it so fun and challenging to raise the pups. I love getting to know the new owners and now watching the pups grow up. <br />
<br />
Now it is time to get back to the things I love and hopefully getting life back to normal. I started getting itchy to start training the kids again and just finished up the Precision Heeling online class with Denise Fenzi, and I LOVE her!<br />
<br />
I hate to make this too long so I will come back tomorrow and I can get into the fun stuff, I am really excited about what we have been learning and the skills we are working on now!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvfh1y4wIf4Hk_NmPC7ro8DodODVGRLQG1UiSPL5jE9ORuqaq2rMAL_phCkQPOFOyubnbVSxiAWD-KCPA4Hab8sUqJkGb555z-k_nGM6G9vaT713V4hDCJFdHjY9MPG2JK3A4W__uhBZ4/s1600/chloe+july+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvfh1y4wIf4Hk_NmPC7ro8DodODVGRLQG1UiSPL5jE9ORuqaq2rMAL_phCkQPOFOyubnbVSxiAWD-KCPA4Hab8sUqJkGb555z-k_nGM6G9vaT713V4hDCJFdHjY9MPG2JK3A4W__uhBZ4/s320/chloe+july+2013.jpg" width="260" /></a></div>
Chloe heading to the beach last week<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4pSdGehkUE-rHoxz70DnB5YrOnnDS5oRVTGsTSXhXR_7KFlIIys4szN07Jm81nG8tOL_rpnt5_hrPbKAkP-Lio_1jmbpvE0rAG_zG16FaBHUPH3bTsKc0o4CjLe079ib4MJWqC-giyl4/s1600/lizzie+bed+july+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4pSdGehkUE-rHoxz70DnB5YrOnnDS5oRVTGsTSXhXR_7KFlIIys4szN07Jm81nG8tOL_rpnt5_hrPbKAkP-Lio_1jmbpvE0rAG_zG16FaBHUPH3bTsKc0o4CjLe079ib4MJWqC-giyl4/s320/lizzie+bed+july+2013.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Sweet Lizzie the Lizard, she plays hard but she enjoys her down time <br />
Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-56501066220877338782012-10-24T08:26:00.001-07:002012-10-24T11:52:07.463-07:00THE GREAT ESCAPEThe puppies turned 4 weeks old yesterday and boy are they getting to be full of it. I got a tug game yesterday with Fig and Peanut during our little one on one play sessions and Raisin is a little imp....she just dotes on me, she just acts like it is the best thing in the world just to hang with me-I hate that she does that and love it at the same time. MUST STAY STRONG!!!! A puppy is not in the plan yet. <br />
<br />
Today I woke up to a very sweet, happy, bouncy proud of herself little Raisin prancing around the living room with the big dogs. WHAT?????? HOW COULD THAT BE?<br />
<br />
I scooped up the little princess and put her in her pen. The pen is fairly tall and does not have good footholds. I had rigged up a PVC doorway for Cherry that is 16 inches tall so she could go in and out and doesn't get stuck with the pups when they get to be too much but I want her to be with them when she wants. I lined the inside of my door with vinyl pet screen thinking the little darlings would not be able to use it like a ladder that way and thought between the screening and the height we would get no first out of the box puppies.<br />
<br />
I love the naughty, CHEEKY puppy and the first out of the box is generally my pick. ;-). Hummm, I knew when I saw Raisin dancing around so happy with herself we had had a first out of the box puppy, LOL, but hoped it was not true! I put Raisin back in the box and she was SOOOOOOO MAD! She had a screaming fit but then was happy to repeat her performance. She has not yet learned that you should wait until everyone is gone so you can go undetected!<br />
<br />
IF YOU LOOK REALLY CAREFULLY THROUGH THE BLACK NETTING YOU CAN SEE HOW RAISIN ACCOMPLISHES HER GREAT NEW TRICK, I'M SO PROUD OF HER, HAHAHA!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3QdhyphenhyphenZEOXH49-Anmm_tndeINIze6oQsxZ809mEmcJBkfaphcCV7jHIDL8XwF8wJuu2s6d-Sf8jtm1fhIrmBw0iPvbDNfeAEJ11vUY7BIfeXg6ltkS7tVns9ZbDsgT7yAUOtig7y32g4/s1600/raisin+escape1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd3QdhyphenhyphenZEOXH49-Anmm_tndeINIze6oQsxZ809mEmcJBkfaphcCV7jHIDL8XwF8wJuu2s6d-Sf8jtm1fhIrmBw0iPvbDNfeAEJ11vUY7BIfeXg6ltkS7tVns9ZbDsgT7yAUOtig7y32g4/s320/raisin+escape1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyD6Fu4dG62DSPk6EL7HeDvZi32f_cybTmeHDOVqKYHZzSYSp4kFDeZ2bUiHgJ0CQaxf07zOe3n_0dsWeczPIy1wB8b1cwtofCU7KgsbEwnDMw8RjytOvl9BHdltt5Pmi93H39D5prTw/s1600/raisin+escapeoct24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyD6Fu4dG62DSPk6EL7HeDvZi32f_cybTmeHDOVqKYHZzSYSp4kFDeZ2bUiHgJ0CQaxf07zOe3n_0dsWeczPIy1wB8b1cwtofCU7KgsbEwnDMw8RjytOvl9BHdltt5Pmi93H39D5prTw/s320/raisin+escapeoct24.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7FAu-FCtpyVCcVb3F4sg-orpI8Q_wDazMe7MNdBXa-2MqKV98FaZa-BJkv6uG8Sg2XoeI9zQsGEcA9rEH0c6mJwj2ZobXNvT82WarLcIFu_77cnpP-YbX7Dqok_ko6FJhBa8Klwvp2hU/s1600/raisin+escape+3oct24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7FAu-FCtpyVCcVb3F4sg-orpI8Q_wDazMe7MNdBXa-2MqKV98FaZa-BJkv6uG8Sg2XoeI9zQsGEcA9rEH0c6mJwj2ZobXNvT82WarLcIFu_77cnpP-YbX7Dqok_ko6FJhBa8Klwvp2hU/s320/raisin+escape+3oct24.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjQ_w7rIWKf95bE2tGk_f8SeQJgIM-iCNmtXRpVGAhzirLTWdn2TudjakRVcp3RYiEskSHHDaycCPcqXvJ_SLJp8m_UqB1vsIEZXN3ASJ_qb4AWnmnPb_RxP8ZVbYYsDMyzQF_Qna_erg/s1600/raisin+escape+4+oct24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjQ_w7rIWKf95bE2tGk_f8SeQJgIM-iCNmtXRpVGAhzirLTWdn2TudjakRVcp3RYiEskSHHDaycCPcqXvJ_SLJp8m_UqB1vsIEZXN3ASJ_qb4AWnmnPb_RxP8ZVbYYsDMyzQF_Qna_erg/s320/raisin+escape+4+oct24.jpg" width="303" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
CRICKET CANT BELIEVE HOW NAUGHTY THIS ONE IS!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9IublO3aketHxyz5klKKqky52PlSebwUozUvqi2Ows5m8Oc1mw0-s6PeqTzoKuSJfWEpYTA_cqbQMdl3pgre4Fd8N1i11HsH8LeR-8acRzMfZr_Vtc_ZQK7YCwocbDwYf8SfdGHcWp5M/s1600/Raisin+escaps5+oct+24+crick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9IublO3aketHxyz5klKKqky52PlSebwUozUvqi2Ows5m8Oc1mw0-s6PeqTzoKuSJfWEpYTA_cqbQMdl3pgre4Fd8N1i11HsH8LeR-8acRzMfZr_Vtc_ZQK7YCwocbDwYf8SfdGHcWp5M/s320/Raisin+escaps5+oct+24+crick.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
SHE MAKES IT OVER</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8JHaPLPyY0vQx3tYAOTU70RmA7MsIaRerCYFD1Qmq5FnvPytatIvraITq5iIlyrIFBqNHp79Z8IzvgNnMiomTnb_-y0erZy2XFZUzvK4IsL7id9cN-fcMEHjmPK4HWNRa3ojb7qXklo/s1600/raisin+makes+it+over+oct+24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL8JHaPLPyY0vQx3tYAOTU70RmA7MsIaRerCYFD1Qmq5FnvPytatIvraITq5iIlyrIFBqNHp79Z8IzvgNnMiomTnb_-y0erZy2XFZUzvK4IsL7id9cN-fcMEHjmPK4HWNRa3ojb7qXklo/s320/raisin+makes+it+over+oct+24.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Once out Raisin had a hiddey ho time running with her mom and Cricket. She liked being one of the big dogs and sure did not seem to mind being in the big house by herself. What a nut. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
A PRIVATE STOP AT THE MILK BAR IS WAY COOL FOR A PUP</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigs7wsSlZeOKSiGwgSBAQPQ_9Af3qTo1tnJvWMng34g69QfgQNoXJ6l8EjtcngMVc4QOh_FyZfEHX46ViXbGlgaYv24EizFoNaJwFRROmYum5P7XaccssufsCrYSEi4wCwkbecf_8lc_c/s1600/raisin+privatemilk+bar+oct24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigs7wsSlZeOKSiGwgSBAQPQ_9Af3qTo1tnJvWMng34g69QfgQNoXJ6l8EjtcngMVc4QOh_FyZfEHX46ViXbGlgaYv24EizFoNaJwFRROmYum5P7XaccssufsCrYSEi4wCwkbecf_8lc_c/s320/raisin+privatemilk+bar+oct24.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
RAISIN WAS READY TO GO OUTSIDE WITH THE BIG DOGS, PRETTY BOLD CONSIDERING THEY HAVE NOT BEEN OUTSIDE YET-I DID HAVE TO DRAW THE LINE AT THAT, ONE ADVENTURE PER DAY PLEASE!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWNNGiT7PRxWywnLX0DcGjMnqrCIaDKUHHqT631REeG3MfyjlrmYpk3DzIAu-eRwV1r5sYxYXSYN-64jQFoogVhgVZCvmm1n-VPFiKTqFmAkXHBxMSt6Y3IqoWS8o1ZLVv5itEmzdGsSM/s1600/theadvent+cont+raisin+oct24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWNNGiT7PRxWywnLX0DcGjMnqrCIaDKUHHqT631REeG3MfyjlrmYpk3DzIAu-eRwV1r5sYxYXSYN-64jQFoogVhgVZCvmm1n-VPFiKTqFmAkXHBxMSt6Y3IqoWS8o1ZLVv5itEmzdGsSM/s320/theadvent+cont+raisin+oct24.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Guess we all know my day now includes another trip to the hardware store for some more PVC parts to improve my little gate.....sigh....I knew I bought extra pipe last time for some reason!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I have to apologize, I want so much to get around to everyones blog and catch up on what has been going on with everyone, sorry it is taking so long! I really am so excited to sit and be able to catch up. Soon I am going to have a lot of time on my hands I think! </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-55437514336958036732012-10-22T15:22:00.000-07:002012-10-22T15:33:02.403-07:00EARLY LEARNINGSince the pups have been staying with me and Karen their owner was nice enough to let me continue to keep/play with the puppies after she got back from her trip...I have got a golden opportunity to try all the things I have been reading about to raise puppies that I have previously only been able to read about. <br />
<br />
One of the best DVDs and books I have found is Jerry Hopes "The Breeders Guide to Raising Superstar Dogs". I think it would be a cool book or DVDs for anyone considering getting a dog to read so you know what you should look for if you are getting a puppy for your next dog. <br />
<br />
Research shows that with a few simple things you can increase the neural pathways and the intelligence of a puppy and you can make their immune system stronger and make them able to withstand more stress and recover more easily in later life. I personally think the first eight weeks of a puppies life is very important. Of course genetics of the parents, how the parents are cared for, the stress the mom is under, the diet of the parents and of the pups, all those things play a big part in determining all a puppy is able to become too. <br />
<br />
So with Cherry's pups I started when they were 3 days old and did the ENS, early neuro stimulation for 14 days. The ENS program is only done once a day and for only 14 days. It is surprisingly easy to do....the first step is just taking a Q tip and rubbing in between the dogs toes for three to five seconds. Right after that you securely hold the pup with their head straight up in the air for three to five seconds, then you securely hold the pup and put their head down for three to five seconds, then you put the pup on their back for three to five seconds and then put them down on a cloth that has been in the fridge a few hours, you leave them on it but they can wiggle or move all they want for three to five seconds. I did the ENS with the daily weight at the same time each morning then gave the pups to Cherry to nurse so the minimal stress of the ENS was followed by something great.<br />
<br />
Pups are born not being able to see or hear. About the same time the eyes are opening-around 2 weeks the pups are also starting to hear. When the pups could start hearing I started playing classical music which has been shown to increase neural pathways in the brain. Any music works but classical seems to work best probably because of the nature of the different instruments and the tunes. As time went on I added DVDs with sounds, vacuums, babies, kids, fireworks, gunshots, dogs. I also had the pups moved to the living room where they would be surrounded by the household dogs, the kids, and all the noises of a home. <br />
<br />
So that is basically the starting point of raising puppies to be superstars ;-). Another HUGE thing is spending time with the whole litter, talking to the pups, and playing with them and cuddling them, touching them so they are used to being touched and handled. That is one of the funnest parts and it is important to spend some time with each puppy individually. <br />
<br />
OF COURSE the biggest thing to keep in mind with early learning in my opinion is just spending time with the pup and having fun. The goal is not that the dog can compete in obedience at 2 months, LOL, it is that the dog has fun with people and wants to learn more and looks to their person for fun! You accomplish that and you are so far ahead of the game. These pups have taught me they have their own agendas and they are very tiny THREE WEEK old babies with baby attention spans! Ya gotta not pressure and go with what the puppy wants to do, a good lesson to remember when working with my adults too! <br />
KRISP: <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/if9FV9pZG_g/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/if9FV9pZG_g?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/if9FV9pZG_g?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
I took some video of the early learning of each of the puppies, and of course I had to video. It does not look that impressive and mostly I am luring the pups to sit, down, touch the target stick, and they do naturally come pretty well when placed away from you. I just basically hope it is laying the foundation for the pups to be figuring out what people want, figuring out it is fun to work with your human partner and hopefully making it fun to play with me so they will look to their new human owners for those things when they go to their new homes. :-). PLEASE do not feel obligated to look at them all, I just posted so you could look at what you want ;-). <br />
DOODLES:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/dRmG7R_VKmk/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/dRmG7R_VKmk?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/dRmG7R_VKmk?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
FIG</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ii4RdvYi_nU/0.jpg" height="266" width="320"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ii4RdvYi_nU?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Ii4RdvYi_nU?version=3&f=user_uploads&c=google-webdrive-0&app=youtube_gdata" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
RAISIN</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/E6NhKON-N58?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
PEANUT</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/qgbrc2ujeWE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-11468547839298081802012-10-19T08:21:00.000-07:002012-10-19T08:21:47.732-07:00WE ARE STILL HERE!!!!!! WE MISS YOU ALL!!!!WE ARE HERE-<br />
Hey,....so sorry, it has been a long time since my life got turned upside down and boy, what a summer and Autumn. First off I have to say I love my blogger life and my blogging friends have been so much a part of my life, following what they are doing and talking about what we are up to but when I hurt my leg and doing agility was out of the question and it got hard to even do most training with my dogs...it felt funny talking about the dogs, not much was going on....and it was a little easier to stay away I guess. SOOOO I hope I can keep what has been going on short, but still catch everyone who has wondered where we were up.<br />
<br />
After Spring agility camp...way back when ....I had injured my leg, I know I tore my meniscus- the cushioning behind the knee cap, and torn some tendons or ligaments -who knows what because the doctors don't seem concerned about that, because of injuries I had when I was a kid and when I broke my knee a few years ago the knee is in such bad shape they say fixing anything is out of the question, the only thing to do is to do a knee replacement. Well, when I finally got to see a specialist he agreed my knee NEEDS a knee replacement and there is nothing else to do but he said he highly recommended I not get one because I was too young and it could potentially need to be redone twice more at least in my life time. That was devastating news because I really cant walk much and it impacts not just agility but my daily life a LOT! So the first specialist injected some hyalurine acid into the knee, OUCH, which after a few weeks worked well enough that I did not have to use a cane but it only lasted a few weeks. I was referred to a specialist specialist, hahahaha, because the specialist said my case was too complicated for him. It took 2 months to get into the specialist, specialist, but I have an appointment next Friday! I have come to the point where I have really decided living now is what I have to insist on, and I will worry about the future when I have to, so I just wonder how long it will take to schedule the knee replacements if it takes two months to even see this surgeon. <br />
<br />
Along with hobbling around I started water aerobics, which has been heaven and I really enjoy-it has helped me lose 25 lbs as of this morning!!!! yippie!!!<br />
<br />
As far as the dogs we all had a full summer of just hanging out and being dogs ;0! It has been hard on Cricket, the lack of exercise but she has been a trooper. A thousand things I could have trained or done to keep them active but...I just needed to shift gears a little for awhile ;-) <br />
<br />
At the end of the summer a great opportunity came up. A friend of mine, Breezes breeder who owns Cherry...the same Cherry that lived her for quite awhile a few years back....had to be out of town when Cherry was going to whelp a litter. She asked if I would take care of Cherry and her pups. It has been great, and has kept me very busy and having a lot of fun. Cherry had her six pups 3 weeks ago. <br />
<br />
These are the babies at 3 weeks old: <br />
Newton Blue Merle Boy-the biggest guy:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<img border="0" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidrQ1KgasiK7jzFoKu_2DSArQv13MtLUaUW0f0k8xb021tMhzbrIHC9gVJNoxEGep422C6ZsWpuHi6rRlvn0X9aEynoj1QD1PMFlFdOdo7Dly027pD4MgZk0zfc4viK5akxGvzNXMDN90/s320/newton3wk.JPG" width="320" /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Raisin-black tri girl</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrZebpzlnnDNdWlLGMtjFuNscYwuYQewI8dqQ-Lhdquq9v79kiAO_NvmdDDOO1yikHMAVVrYBr8w1_0TbahyIii7SkTUMi0idlMBEHd9ddFGiKBfOcUbHfcKab0kG-uK3YdPGEuDOx20/s1600/raisin3wk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJrZebpzlnnDNdWlLGMtjFuNscYwuYQewI8dqQ-Lhdquq9v79kiAO_NvmdDDOO1yikHMAVVrYBr8w1_0TbahyIii7SkTUMi0idlMBEHd9ddFGiKBfOcUbHfcKab0kG-uK3YdPGEuDOx20/s320/raisin3wk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Fig-black tri girl who LOVES me, LOL!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidV1X-h97XNmkr3uNpZAL5LJpUK2rVMl-IqLivKnmiBqHDmrXGHPOuVjE8wRDRO4SJDtLxsi6LAU8dZOk5KZfyIVgSZH5oEYr0kDMi6YsTrkpNEyZEsOxYw13xBTl4bpD0HsOsF36Vua8/s1600/Fig3wk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidV1X-h97XNmkr3uNpZAL5LJpUK2rVMl-IqLivKnmiBqHDmrXGHPOuVjE8wRDRO4SJDtLxsi6LAU8dZOk5KZfyIVgSZH5oEYr0kDMi6YsTrkpNEyZEsOxYw13xBTl4bpD0HsOsF36Vua8/s320/Fig3wk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Doodles-black tri girl-an explorer</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5kUB7I8Pm9m7Q_6l9pZZBtpdxbsKRFXpSCxkvJQRB5lVILOYQriPAFdo_yDnnsu6L4rCTEy1iqhyVvIKK13bn8lPFtTKAeXgp-pJzwAc1Tbe1a3Nmhhyphenhyphenb777oagzVmTJaqGb79__YedQ/s1600/doodles3wk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5kUB7I8Pm9m7Q_6l9pZZBtpdxbsKRFXpSCxkvJQRB5lVILOYQriPAFdo_yDnnsu6L4rCTEy1iqhyVvIKK13bn8lPFtTKAeXgp-pJzwAc1Tbe1a3Nmhhyphenhyphenb777oagzVmTJaqGb79__YedQ/s320/doodles3wk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Krisp-black tri female-always the first up playing and the last to go to sleep, very playful right now<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkrj-LlLVlAeRY5LhBbraVoBbRK-Vc3zIvyLCg1g5j-QFO-559bOQo1eQHurJJbJekrfOgPuYb9XAsn84Fq0p6_FrCq6MdULCWd7n-_1kWbsB2W4CVB_dbmwDPf55TQGzByq2SxImnwI/s1600/Krisp3wk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPkrj-LlLVlAeRY5LhBbraVoBbRK-Vc3zIvyLCg1g5j-QFO-559bOQo1eQHurJJbJekrfOgPuYb9XAsn84Fq0p6_FrCq6MdULCWd7n-_1kWbsB2W4CVB_dbmwDPf55TQGzByq2SxImnwI/s320/Krisp3wk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Peanut-about half the size of the other guys but sooo cute and playful-he holds his own!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZybwwHKbEhHUc6XvDVycDJYU_e3oFSSxpaXxB5eqqFBOGuAreSbdJ9UmnzM1rUCQ9A5cPbUeUJkpncM5QOrYhafbFqXpNpXdLraw_86dLxvcr7CLyLUWj206LN3yGAYmzVdM7g_Oxz5o/s1600/peanut3wk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZybwwHKbEhHUc6XvDVycDJYU_e3oFSSxpaXxB5eqqFBOGuAreSbdJ9UmnzM1rUCQ9A5cPbUeUJkpncM5QOrYhafbFqXpNpXdLraw_86dLxvcr7CLyLUWj206LN3yGAYmzVdM7g_Oxz5o/s320/peanut3wk.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
I have been trying to do all the fun stuff I have read about to enhance early learning with the pups. I did the early neuro stimulation to increase their brain power, played classical music which increases neuro pathways, let them watch the flickering lights from the TV which increases their neural pathways in the brain and spend a lot of time talking to them and changing their environment around, I make sure each gets some alone time with me/us and I spend a lot of time with them as a group. It is soooo much fun to watch them. Here is their pen, I have it set up so they are in the middle of the living room and in the middle of life in the home, there is a little bedding area, then a potty area--and at three weeks they are doing great going in the potty area...then there is an area with toys, and perfect for play. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlA17kOaGme0XQidFJqkLM2svJJ3sFbaT46q0eXgUbN6P7qY6O2E1b9oNZ4YGzr6p-c-JTfbGuWurkAsnKAwqjYz-DuKx_FFDkb45aeKF_nyV7-oP9Hm3cp6oOJCrHJKE_8nToUH1ICHk/s1600/penlivingroom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlA17kOaGme0XQidFJqkLM2svJJ3sFbaT46q0eXgUbN6P7qY6O2E1b9oNZ4YGzr6p-c-JTfbGuWurkAsnKAwqjYz-DuKx_FFDkb45aeKF_nyV7-oP9Hm3cp6oOJCrHJKE_8nToUH1ICHk/s320/penlivingroom.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Here are the puppies playing from yesterday morning:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZChB5ls8S3E?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
HERE IS THE CRICK STAR-she is awesome with everyone, small puppies to big dogs, to any people she meets, can not say how much I love this girlie! LOL!</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/EC3dSlDh4fI?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
ANYWAY, so that is what we have been up to in a nutshell, hope to catch up on everyone as quickly as i can, thanks to everyone for wading through this long post and thanks for everyone who has always been out there for me and gave me so much support over the years!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just checking in with everyone always means a lot!</div>
<br />
<br />
Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-60220540220400527992012-09-05T06:40:00.005-07:002012-09-05T07:39:17.423-07:00What Makes a GREAT Coach?It is blog action day again and the subject of today's blogs is what makes a good instructor/coach?<br /><br />Being a good procrastinator I put off my blog post until the last minute, then what seemed to be such an easy topic did not seem so easy to write about. ;-) I have been very lucky to work with quite a few people that have been really great instructors but What does make a really good dog agility coach. I thought about how I would want to say a great coach keeps up on new trends in courses and handling, but might not necessarily jump on the bandwagon for every new trend. I might point out that a great coach makes things fun, that they have an ability to look at each team and find a way to build on their particular strengths. I could talk about how a good coach is like a good dog trainer and knows when to set you up for success to help you grow your confidence and knows when to challenge a team. <br /><br />All of those things go into being a great coach or instructor, but when I thought of my own journey and what Dr. Phil would call those important life changing moments -the moments that leave a huge mark on our souls and that we will always remember and keep playing over and over in our minds, the things that really impact our journey...one moment came up for me that impacted and symbolized so many things for me ;-). ahhhhh, haaaaa, thinking of that I knew what I wanted to share with you all!! <br /><br />I have been so lucky to have one truly great instructor or coach that made so many things possible for me. I looked on youtube and thank heavens I do have a moment that symbolizes what this instructor did for me. This is my very first AKC trial with Breeze in 2009. At the very end is my good friend and instructor yelling for me and Breeze, and you can tell she was running that course with us ;-). Her voice just says it all, that might have been just an ok run, but it was like I won the Olympics- ;-) <br /> <a href="http://youtu.be/V6lHL_qzXU8">http://youtu.be/V6lHL_qzXU8 </a><br /><iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/V6lHL_qzXU8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />I was so lucky to have been able to work with Alicia Nicholas. She made me feel like all things were possible for me and I could do anything. She challenged me and made me feel respected. When she moved away at first I thought I would be lost doing agility but the attitude she inspired in me made it possible for me to train my next dog all by myself. I wish I had more of her yelling at the end of my video because I just can not convey all that that meant to me, but gosh I wish for all of you to have a great instructor at some point in your agility career that believes in you and is truly as excited for you as they would be for themselves, someone who inspires you, gets irritated at you when you could do better and who gets why agility seems so important to you! <br /><br />Kathy Mocharnuk with CP Blew Breeze/ Leapin' Liz/ Hillcrest Quick as a CricketKathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-69869218044406981812012-08-12T18:33:00.005-07:002012-08-12T21:26:34.317-07:00Moving on.....<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja6bmbk3865AKREyINgnhvHwUtRz0tEwUMVgEtsYmY6xHjlcuhyphenhyphen6WLNeUebSAes5vBUrAg_ZudVMcFoTUP2RsoI02TKtPg1sRS89rt1vigMGM3b0q2PsLwML-VbljaUaaEwIbKxVyA-KE/s1600/blog1.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 340px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja6bmbk3865AKREyINgnhvHwUtRz0tEwUMVgEtsYmY6xHjlcuhyphenhyphen6WLNeUebSAes5vBUrAg_ZudVMcFoTUP2RsoI02TKtPg1sRS89rt1vigMGM3b0q2PsLwML-VbljaUaaEwIbKxVyA-KE/s400/blog1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5775964960845371138" /></a><br /><br />I feel like I keep getting some of the same lessons in life but louder and louder, LOL! One of the lessons has been about taking better care of myself. I sort of feel like I am getting it, maybe...finally??? <br /><br />After going to the chiropractor and bursting out bawling where I could not stop I knew it was time to get it together and find things I could do to feel in control, and things I found fun since it feels like most of the things I do like have been put on hold. I started weight watchers and have lost 9 lbs and started doing water aerobics. The water aerobics is fabulous, I feel so good in the water and move so easily. Who knew, EXERCISE that is the high point of my day!<br /><br />The last few weeks I met some of the nicest people-I must have the "look" because I have had so many people come up to me EVERYWHERE and ask what I did to myself. There have been a lot of people that have came up to tell me they had knee replacements and tell me their experiences, it has been really cool to get such great support from people I don't even know. I have got some horror stories about the pain right after surgery and the rehab but everyone has said they were so happy they did it. That makes me feel good! <br /><br /><strong>FLOOR</strong><br />In the middle of all this we have had to replace the flooring in our house. I am so excited to have tile in almost the whole house now, with the dogs I think that is going to be so much easier to keep clean and the current carpet is 17 years old, it smells and has holes. The down side is that it is something else trying to move everything, YIKES!!!<br /><br />Here is a picture of what my tile should look like.....<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PMYanSO5Cs9oUqL-XEG4Q0Lhj6AVqr1Kjp2j5eF-LxO3A7reLbLNp3BAtxm7DEiwX891ExQnyjTlflzC-JWO6HOdd25SKvBe1FKuyT3e2fjNKT_QYjqn4fjMopwc0thNXCnn5PrCG5g/s1600/blog+floor+2.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 254px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PMYanSO5Cs9oUqL-XEG4Q0Lhj6AVqr1Kjp2j5eF-LxO3A7reLbLNp3BAtxm7DEiwX891ExQnyjTlflzC-JWO6HOdd25SKvBe1FKuyT3e2fjNKT_QYjqn4fjMopwc0thNXCnn5PrCG5g/s400/blog+floor+2.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5775971017352218930" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1VqUhuTX8wzN0YsF589zCVs63lOib5pj_j7-yjF2Yh6tteccOXWaHZlwcHXFKjk6jlQ1H7J4Hnqvkz23Lv3iRfH5bX1YgkQVfacOYCRkjWIrfY5w7LL_l4vyOChs-XI2lk9zQS94IkAo/s1600/blog+floor+1.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 345px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1VqUhuTX8wzN0YsF589zCVs63lOib5pj_j7-yjF2Yh6tteccOXWaHZlwcHXFKjk6jlQ1H7J4Hnqvkz23Lv3iRfH5bX1YgkQVfacOYCRkjWIrfY5w7LL_l4vyOChs-XI2lk9zQS94IkAo/s400/blog+floor+1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5775971008980483618" /></a><br /><br /><strong>DOG RELATED</strong><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_yEElpjHnCk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />My little nut Cricket swimming. She is so funny she always has to have a toy in her mouth and could obsessively swim in circles for hours I think ;-).Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-20604297485176769142012-07-30T09:56:00.009-07:002012-07-30T19:37:00.123-07:00Ice packs and knee bling--perhaps pretty common things in agility!<em><strong>ICE PACKS!!!!!!</strong></em><br /><br />Because what active dogs or active owners do not occasionally need these?<br /> <br />I find that when you are icing yourself or your dog on a regular basis you need a lot of ice packs so you can have some freezing while you are using one. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoAq3-yFhi1aMtm217Or1uu5qyqvNuVfUgf5KVrfy5b5Iy4RuAvaXJNtYpWNs25ssDpWzgTjRC_26wqCcKLC8bL-NB_qRaWWMmDpUcfqEa-c-0pcLHO7TXDjPRxWG-K16cZ2ZLf5WBY9U/s1600/icepack+%25282%2529.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 369px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoAq3-yFhi1aMtm217Or1uu5qyqvNuVfUgf5KVrfy5b5Iy4RuAvaXJNtYpWNs25ssDpWzgTjRC_26wqCcKLC8bL-NB_qRaWWMmDpUcfqEa-c-0pcLHO7TXDjPRxWG-K16cZ2ZLf5WBY9U/s400/icepack+%25282%2529.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5771015174309503122" /></a><br />You know I love DIY, so with all that has been going on with my knees and I have Breeze who is a dysplastic dog, thought I would share how to make some cool ice packs. <br /><br /><em><strong>METHOD ONE:</strong></em>pictured above...<br />Take 1 part rubbing alcohol + 3 part water. (that would be like a cup alcohol to 3 cups water) You can adjust and may prefer 1 cup rubbing alcohol to 2 cups water, but I like the 3:1 ratio. <br /><br />Take the alcohol and water plus some food color, so that you know not to drink this... and put into a zip lock bag, and put that bag into a second bag so it is double bagged. If you have a food saver, I think that would be PERFECT!!!!<br /><br />The trick is that if you like the slushiness this produces you are good to go, if you want your ice pack harder put in less alcohol and more water. The alcohol is what keeps your ice pack from freezing into a hard ice cube. If you want a softer ice pack do the opposite and put in more alcohol and less water. I like it a bit slushy when it is ready so that it conforms around the body area you are trying to ice. Put the whole thing in the freezer a couple of hours and you are good to go! <br /><br /><em><strong>Method 2:</strong></em>Get cheap gel liquid detergent from say the dollar store. Fill a ziplock bag about 3/4 full, seal and freeze. <br /><strong><br />JUST MAKE SURE TO ALWAYS PUT A CLOTH BETWEEN SKIN AND AN ICE PACK! NO FURTHER INJURIES NEEDED ;).</strong>______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________<br /><strong><em>It took me a bit of time to post about</em></strong> what happened at the orthopedic clinic but I was waiting to be in a good frame of mind ;-) but somehow.....that isn't coming that fast!!!!<br /><br />One thing is during agility camp the last day I felt like such a Wuss! One of the instructors was doing her best to hide her irritation but I know she was irritated just how slow I was going. I know I am slow but I was surprised at how much trouble I had, it really bummed me out. <br /><br />Good news is I am not a wuss!!! I am thinking I was a trooper!!!!! Seems my left knee has a torn ligament and the right knee has a torn meniscus! No wonder I could not run, even though I really was trying ;-). I feel stupid now for not just sitting down and admitting I could not do it! <br /><br />Anyway, the two comments I got the minute they looked at my knee xrays was, "WOW!, that is about as bad as it gets!" and "WOW, most 80 year olds have better knees" WHAT???? I do not think those are good comments!!!! hahahahah. <br /><br />Seems normally they would do arthroscopic surgery on both knees but the doctor said because of the damage to the knees it was not an option. My left knee with the torn ligament is collapsing on itself when I walk,it has no cartilage left and the right knee with the torn meniscus has a tiny layer of cartilage but no cartilage between the knee cap and the bone. <br /><br />So what do they plan? Looks like they are recommending a knee replacement of BOTH knees. I so wish I could find my Clean Run with the article about knee replacements but of course, I can not find it for the life of me! <br /><br />It all sure explains why I have been getting slower and stiffer and stiffer, although right before the injury the knees felt better then they have in years, WEIRD!<br /><br />So this is Kaiser and my appointment with the surgeon is August 29 when I am sure the plan will take better shape but the doctor said it will probably be four months wait to get it handled. The recovery time sounds like maybe 6 months plus or minus until I might be able to possibly do agility????? If I could find my article from Clean Run maybe I would have more answers ;-). <br /><br />Worried about my doggie and where we will be by the time I can run again and worried about keeping everyone happy and occupied, day by day, right???? <br /><br />In the meantime, I have to have two hinged knee braces, and a cane, and lots of ice and being careful. <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBpjlzwih67w6ljOVTbBCSOajW3oLF5CtRP2wvR2a7qA4VyGVbG2Ghb2d15boPdCfqaT86MrjnqadCMwf-G95IIKySFIT5lkv_2M5gtEFCb5EY67ab3Y8MMzFKaLCTd8Ar586VSGLInic/s1600/blind+knee.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBpjlzwih67w6ljOVTbBCSOajW3oLF5CtRP2wvR2a7qA4VyGVbG2Ghb2d15boPdCfqaT86MrjnqadCMwf-G95IIKySFIT5lkv_2M5gtEFCb5EY67ab3Y8MMzFKaLCTd8Ar586VSGLInic/s400/blind+knee.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5771014587025379682" /></a><br /><br /><strong>HERES ME JUMPING FOR JOY</strong>-AS MUCH AS I AM JUMPING BECAUSE I CAN FINALLY WALK WITH JUST A CANE AND EVEN A FEW STEPS ON MY OWN!!! Whoo hooo, might not seem like much but it is progress!Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-86874688501041823792012-07-25T20:11:00.007-07:002012-07-25T20:45:08.645-07:00Bargains ......and a little rant ;-)Rejoining the "real world" can be rough. I posted my video to youtube and found our my REPLY button to reply to comments will not work. How weird is that? <br /><br />Being on the injured list has opened up some new experiences..I am not one that get to some of the discount stores that often, but I have been bored and shopping more so I stopped in to a Marshall's see if they had some cheap beds/crate pads for the dogs car crates. <br /><br />Check out what great bargains I found:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAvU9-nv5HSRGCWtdLZ7kPl8IPWL7Fd07XG265wJu68KhQkrSWogjceCRN4wpxb731AoVtocR_KFsdjpjDRNsLRarLar4WfMpGIq4UkyhYthsYwdkBgQfSwsWgGotJWJq-RvTiGHcEB0/s1600/marshals+chuck+it+thingie.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAvU9-nv5HSRGCWtdLZ7kPl8IPWL7Fd07XG265wJu68KhQkrSWogjceCRN4wpxb731AoVtocR_KFsdjpjDRNsLRarLar4WfMpGIq4UkyhYthsYwdkBgQfSwsWgGotJWJq-RvTiGHcEB0/s400/marshals+chuck+it+thingie.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5769312040962062930" /></a><br />I can finally get the dogs to the park every day so I tested this Chuck it type of toy, the chucker works OK..I could tell these were cheap balls and I would not let my dogs chew on them too much, but it was too funny that the first time I threw the ball Cricket came back with it deflated on one side of the ball. OH MY!<br /><br />Second throw of the ball the other side was deflated and the ball was no longer usable, LOL There was a second ball that got lost in the field,..I did not bother to look for it. A cheap version of a real chuck it,but at half the price, it will do for today, after I find some other balls to use with it. <br /><br />second bargain:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrfev8UZye83c8t_I3fdUVuhQoq8r3a9EGix_MplkUSUJ-0of60PhlaRypExofJKhkq3vuSj52GBd77cc81LPfGJ6i1yd5lOTFqkdHVH2ywvB2PsYH_b02Or57fsL__zGJRuLpVZDTMBU/s1600/marshals+disc.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrfev8UZye83c8t_I3fdUVuhQoq8r3a9EGix_MplkUSUJ-0of60PhlaRypExofJKhkq3vuSj52GBd77cc81LPfGJ6i1yd5lOTFqkdHVH2ywvB2PsYH_b02Or57fsL__zGJRuLpVZDTMBU/s400/marshals+disc.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5769313383908633522" /></a><br />This disc thing is really soft, and red, and was about $7. It was cool! It flies good, Cricket was chewing it but did not put a mark on it,when she runs it folded up and did not get in her way. The red color was easy to see on the grass, I am getting more of these!!!<br /><br />With the chuck it today I noticed Cricket is used to low flying objects to play fetch. She does not look at me and track the toy, she waits until she sees the toy whizzing by her. The chuck it was a crack up because I kept throwing the ball high, because I can not throw, it was not on purpose, but Cricket would stand in readiness until she heard the ball bounce, she kept expecting it to whizz by and it did not, so she spent a lot of time looking for the ball. LOL<br /><br />The greatest bargain I got were some Merrell barefoot technology shoes. I love my Vibram toes shoes for agility, and I have a pair of blue/black Merrill's I use for all my everyday wear. My poor Merrill's are looking old, so when I found TWO PAIRS OF MERRILL'S for less then one pair usually costs me, I was all over that!!!! Just a shame they had my favorite style on clearance, but none in my size, so I have some VERY BRIGHT shoes to wear with shorts, but hey people will see me coming ;-). <br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3YxUpw_k0wvnjPG8xX0K7XOqSveCfVH3QfJRXWvgK59GCJm1lLl9eL_hoIdtxxaG3vdHzT-tpkS5DpRZtf025KSpnGSNdOfeBy43bMM86bEO8Vi73TGOA-B8QLLgmBxV8Yp_ymWelgw/s1600/marshals+purple+shoes.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 312px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3YxUpw_k0wvnjPG8xX0K7XOqSveCfVH3QfJRXWvgK59GCJm1lLl9eL_hoIdtxxaG3vdHzT-tpkS5DpRZtf025KSpnGSNdOfeBy43bMM86bEO8Vi73TGOA-B8QLLgmBxV8Yp_ymWelgw/s400/marshals+purple+shoes.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5769316174489577538" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoAX5S1Tv1qsF74uBRhclDx1CaycIX44E63loOeRoF7gzPBvBdX1lRMjCOxOq9TNW6gFHNZfqbwWsQLfoL4GMKRqOx6VPVqs5VylxSpCyb9u1BxtDd7ZnPgKYJr5XC7uirjDIaklg_WQo/s1600/marshals+pink+shoes.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoAX5S1Tv1qsF74uBRhclDx1CaycIX44E63loOeRoF7gzPBvBdX1lRMjCOxOq9TNW6gFHNZfqbwWsQLfoL4GMKRqOx6VPVqs5VylxSpCyb9u1BxtDd7ZnPgKYJr5XC7uirjDIaklg_WQo/s400/marshals+pink+shoes.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5769316052413470978" /></a><br />Tomorrow is an appointment with the Orthopedic clinic. I am going to complain for a second. I have Kaiser insurance and I feel like we pay a lot to have it. When I got hurt I went to Kaiser after a few weeks of not getting better. I saw a physicians assistant, and of course he said you need to see a specialist. FIVE WEEKS later I have finally got in to see someone at the ortho clinic. Five weeks was how long it took when I said I would take the first available appointment,anytime that was open. When I got the appointment card I look and I am seeing another physicians assistant. REALLY? My friend just got hurt Saturday, a knee injury, she saw a specialist on Monday, had a cortisone shot and got an MRI today. Some days I have to say I really do not love Kaiser, ;-). If they want me to get an MRI who knows how long that will take? YEP, I need people to wish me some luck, hahaha!Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-519030820892488520.post-73184372912593175662012-07-23T23:26:00.003-07:002012-07-23T23:50:19.365-07:00I'm HERE!I'm still here, I have not fallen off the earth or been abducted my aliens, LOL!<br /><br />I actually have just had the worst year for accidents and injuries, earlier this year I broke my foot and then several weeks ago I really did a number on my knee. My poor dogs have been stuck in the house, I can't take them out to play or hike, and agility has been out of the question-I miss all that sooo much! Nothing to put a person into a depression like their doctor suggesting they use a CANE!-well, nothing except trying said cane and finding out I really couldn't walk without it, OUCH!!! That sent me spiraling into a depression-well maybe not a depression, just into a period of quiet ;-). I sort of feel like I needed a bit of a quiet time. <br /><br />Thank heavens things are starting to be better, I still am about as slow as a turtle but I have felt like rejoining the world, so I am trying to catch up with blogs and get back in touch with my blogging friends as quickly as I can. <br /><br />Let me tell you I firmly believe all situations have something to teach us and through this whole chapter in my life I have learned to take better care of myself and to really cherish my health. For YEARS my dogs have had chiropractic adjustments, laser light therapy and massages, WELL I have been doing those things for myself, a little late to start but really nice and helpful none the less. I know now why Breeze co operates so well with her therapy, it is nice to be a little pampered. <br /><br />So here is a little video I did of our first trip back to the park. I could not tug or run around but at least the girls could play fetch. Check out how Cricket understands you don't take Breezes' toy when we play fetch so she holds her toy in her mouth and pretends she is fetching Breezes toy. LOVE how my dogs work it out and get along so well. Not to worry, if we all tug around each other Cricket tugs and Breeze sits back and chews on her ball. Of course I can put Breeze in a down and let Cricket fetch or put Cricket in a down and let Breeze tug, but some days it is just more fun to let them play the game they have worked out . <br /><br /><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ocg2hxayZLk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Kathy Mocharnukhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03029142726866533193noreply@blogger.com8