Wonderful Weekend o' Fun Updates!

The weekend didn't quite go as I'd hoped it would, sadly. At least not for Psyche and I.

We arrived at the Motel Friday night and she of course took everything with stride. She'd been there before, so quickly made herself comfortable. But Saturday morning when we arrived at the fun match it was much different. It was at a place where they have a boarding kennel, so it was all very loud, which is hard for a Psyche dog. We took her out to the warm up ring, and that was a huge mistake. Dogs who were being kept at the kennel were in runs that led outdoors to where they could bark at Psyche, which immediately freaked her freak, and all she'd do was cower behind me, so we decided we wouldn't enter the warm up ring at all again that day. Who needs the warm up ring at a fun match anyway?

So her first run was Steeplechase, and it wasn't bad but it also really wasn't what I was expecting. I expected Psyche to be a lot more comfortable and confidant in a new place with her toy and I there as comfort, but she worked for me much the same way she would have at a trial. "Okay, I'll do it, I guess." Just not very into it at all.

So our second run was Advanced Jumpers, so between the two runs I played with her outside along the ring side, and she was fine, really playing with her tug and having a grand time. Bring her into the ring for her run, there she goes again, just like at a trial, shut down and just not interested.

Her next run I didn't even walk the course before. I just said, I'm going to go in, run around like a fool, throw her toy, have some fun, and then if she's into it, throw in a tunnel. No big deal. That worked much better. And honestly, I'm thinking I should have done that all of her runs, but hey, hind sight's 20-20.

We only did one more run after that, which was her advanced tunnelers, and honestly, she was so hot and tired that I just ended on a good note and we left early. We only missed the masters tunnelers, and with the way she was going, she wasn't going to to have much oopmh for her last run anyway.

I left the fun match with a better idea of what she needs, though. I think she needs to be more confident with agility in new places before I add the stress of the trial setting. So we'll do parks and other places working on what little equipment we can take with us, and then we'll look for another fun match, or one run at a trial. I want her to be able to if she's stressed at a trial think "Oh, agility, I'm good at this, and it's fun!" and instead of stressing in the ring, take comfort in agility itself.

If someday down the road I really think that Psyche's not enjoying it, and nothing's working, I'll have to ask myself, "Is this really fun for her?" and consider not trialing her anymore. But as of right now, we're not giving up because I'm taking a better approach that I know isn't going to hurt my dog, so we'll see where we are in the next few months. She's supposed to "re-debut" at our club's September trial, but we'll play it by ear.

Stay tuned for a post about the amazing dog and handler combo we met at the fun match on Saturday, a brief update on Sunday's fun match, and a little about the pitter patter of puppy paws on my floors right now.

A break.

As horrible as this may sound, man, I am so excited to leave tonight and just have a little "vacation" with Psyche (and Mom and Tinky, of course). It used to kind of be that Psyche stayed near me all day, everyday, and she just loved being around me. Now that Crash is here, I always have at least two dogs hanging around me--Psyche and Crash.

This weekend, for lack of space, we are only bringing one dog each. And I am pretty excited for that. I love my dogs, all of them, don't get me wrong, but Psyche's just so easy that weekends or days away with only her are nice.

I'm anxious to see how Crash handles this, though. This will be the first time since coming that he's spent the night without Psyche and I both here. I've gone out for nights since getting him, but never have I taken Psyche with me, so we'll see how that goes.

"Bella

She will forever be in the hearts of all who knew her... and didn't.

She was a source of love, strength, devotion, and friendship. She never let the world get her down... even when they tried.

She never won a title, she never even went in a ring.

That didn't make her any less of a dog though. She proved it doesn't take winning, or even being there that counts...It's loving every day for what it is.

Gone but Forever in our hearts."

Having a sappy night tonight. My great friend Abby wrote this about Bella on her memorial video, and it means so much.

Oh, oh, oh. THE JOY!

The jumps are complete. 6 of 10 are already up where our agility field is going to be. We worked on a sequence with lots of 180s, which is good for Psyche, since sometimes we forget that "easy" stuff. She did really well. Man oh man, she's fast when she wants to be!

All I can say is that I can really see how all of the dogs will really progress with equipment at home, even if it is just jumps, a tunnel or two, weave poles and a teeter for now. A lot can be done with all of that stuff.

Also, getting very excited for this weekend!

Never have I loved a huge pile of PVC more.

Seriously.

Hi Real World, Goodbye Entire Days Spent with my Dogs.

*le sigh*

I started working on Tuesday. Only 6 hour shifts yesterday and today, but tomorrow will be my first 8 hour shift. Need to be at the restaurant at a little before 6, which means I need to leave my house at 5. Which means I need to get up no later than 4:30... and yes, I'm talking AM.

Of course, working at a restaurant means no dogs, other than service dogs, allowed. So I'm kept away from my dogs all day, and frankly it sucks, but I think I've grown a bit spoiled from mid-June to now because I got used to being able to stay home all day with them, or when I leave, taking them with me and doing dog related stuff with my time.

I know I need to work, though. I'm not stupid. 3 dogs have vet bills. 3 dogs eat a lot. 3 dogs destroy a lot of toys (okay, Crash dogs destroy a lot of toys!) and going up to 4 dogs will be costly too.

Hi Real World, I'm not so glad to meet you.

So excited!

So Sunday I bought enough PVC for at least 10 jumps, probably more like 12. And we'd ordered the fittings for the pipe late last week. Today dad went to pick them up at our US post box, and the 4 way connectors weren't there, but our snap on Ts, which we're using for jump cups were there, and so dad and I just took them to be cut at a friends, and I brought them home and put them on an old jump standard out of PVC we had and worked Psyche a bit. Even with ONE jump at her height, I could already tell this is just a preview of how much we'll benefit from having equipment at home to work with!

Just wanted to share my excitement!