It Sure does Not Pay to Be Lazy

I seem to be pretty bad at my time management skills, so I figured I will just do a quick post!

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 ;-).

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.   http://denisefenzi.com/

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.....

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......

1. 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
2. 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. 
3. 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,

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.

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. 

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!

Hi Everyone!

                                     The girls saw a jump in the living room and
                                      KNEW life is going back to normal ;-)

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.. 

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. 

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!

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. 

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!

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!

Chloe heading to the beach last week

Sweet Lizzie the Lizard, she plays hard but she enjoys her down time

THE GREAT ESCAPE

The 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. 

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?

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.

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!

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!

 

 

 

CRICKET CANT BELIEVE HOW NAUGHTY THIS ONE IS!

 

SHE MAKES IT OVER

 

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. 

 

A PRIVATE STOP AT THE MILK BAR IS WAY COOL FOR A PUP

 

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!

 

 

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!

 

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!

 

 

 

 

 

EARLY LEARNING

Since 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. 

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. 

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. 

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.

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. 

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. 

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! 
KRISP:

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 ;-). 
DOODLES:

FIG

 

RAISIN

 

PEANUT

 

WE ARE STILL HERE!!!!!! WE MISS YOU ALL!!!!

WE ARE HERE-
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.

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. 

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!!!

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 ;-)  

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. 

These are the babies at 3 weeks old: 
Newton Blue Merle Boy-the biggest guy:

Raisin-black tri girl

Fig-black tri girl who LOVES  me, LOL!

Doodles-black tri girl-an explorer

Krisp-black tri female-always the first up playing and the last to go to sleep, very playful right now

Peanut-about half the size of the other guys but sooo cute and playful-he holds his own!

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. 

Here are the puppies playing from yesterday morning:

 

 

 

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!

 

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!

What Makes a GREAT Coach?

It is blog action day again and the subject of today's blogs is what makes a good instructor/coach?

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.

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!!

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- ;-)
http://youtu.be/V6lHL_qzXU8


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!

Kathy Mocharnuk with CP Blew Breeze/ Leapin' Liz/ Hillcrest Quick as a Cricket

Moving on.....

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???

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!

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!

FLOOR
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!!!

Here is a picture of what my tile should look like.....




DOG RELATED

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 ;-).

Ice packs and knee bling--perhaps pretty common things in agility!

ICE PACKS!!!!!!

Because what active dogs or active owners do not occasionally need these?

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.


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.

METHOD ONE:pictured above...
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.

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!!!!

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!

Method 2:Get cheap gel liquid detergent from say the dollar store. Fill a ziplock bag about 3/4 full, seal and freeze.

JUST MAKE SURE TO ALWAYS PUT A CLOTH BETWEEN SKIN AND AN ICE PACK! NO FURTHER INJURIES NEEDED ;).______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It took me a bit of time to post about 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!!!!

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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!

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 ;-).

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????

In the meantime, I have to have two hinged knee braces, and a cane, and lots of ice and being careful.



HERES ME JUMPING FOR JOY-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!