Training session success paired with handling woes.

I took Psyche out to the field today, and we've been working on a Clean Run Backyard Dog Course, that's just 6 jumps, and today the sequence we were working on involved a serpentine. I think. See, this is where my problems come in. I can never remember the difference between a serp and a threadle, and therefore, can never remember how to handle either of them -- if I ever even knew that is.

This is all very frustrating to me. Psyche and I can attack masters courses with few to no mistakes (in training) but not if they've got a serp or a threadle in them. Then we're screwed because I can not handle them. And I don't mean they like, make me freak out, all nervous, mental break down. I mean that they are something I just can't handle in terms of handling techniques. It's annoying. It's something we really need to work on. Oh Errrriiinn, darlin', looks like we'll need to set up a few privates, me and you.

Besides all of that, though, Psyche was AMAZING. We did the sequence we worked on last time once more, too, and she rocked it, first try, no hesitations. Go Psycher doo! Mom looked at me after and was like, "How many times have you practiced that?" and I said, with a huge smile on my face, "None since the last time we were both out!" I love when things come together like that. I'm seeing it a lot more frequently now that we've got a place to train at home.

On the note of my training field. Well, sadly, it hasn't been getting proper use lately. With work, and the weather, things just haven't been working to my advantage to get the girls out and working. As it was, today I had to do it before a 3-11pm shift, and in this gross muggy wet weather. My poor shoes were soaked. Oh well, it was worth it!

Ira left this morning.

Only to go get her shots, but still. I was sad when I came downstairs and her crate was gone. I can't imagine how I'm going to feel when she's gone back to her momma's for good. Oh no.

Why I need a German Shepherd Puppy

Because this one has confirmed that I love GSDs, even the ones who aren't Bella or Callie:


Because Psyche loves little puppies, especially GSDs:


And because it's just so cute to see a GSD and a BC bum trotting along together:

Work, work, and that other thing...

Oh yeah, that other thing--work.

So last week was my first "full" week, I guess. They only gave me 3 shifts, so it wasn't even a full week. This week I have 5 shifts. 39 hours. I'm finding it really hard on my ankle, and I'm also finding a lack of time for the dogs, but I think that once I get used to actually DOING something, I'll be okay to come home and do agility afterwards. And I have my days off, although I didn't do any agility yesterday.

That said, this job is going to pay for the rest of my agility equipment (contact plans have been make -- a-frame frame should be made this weekend, I'm hoping), so that makes it a little better. I just keep waiting for that first full pay. And the things I'll be able to buy! (Haha, right. It'll likely all go towards my car!)

Speaking of cars. I'm really in a pickle. I went to a used car dealer last week and saw a Ford Escape (2005) for sale, and the price is really good on it, but I don't have that money. We went and looked at a Saturn station wagon after, and it's less money, and less KMs, but not as big. I travel the back woods to work, and moose are common around there, and it's a lot of twists and turns and so we'd all feel better if I had a bigger car. That said, I gotta go to the bank and see if they'll lend me the money. I have stuff I could sell to get money (like a horse that Mom's been after me to sell) but I don't really want to sell her, and what I'd get out of her wouldn't pay for the Ford Escape, and if I have to sell my horse, I'm getting the dang Escape. Loan sharks here I come. Oh well.

Anyway. That's all that's new, I guess... Puppy Ira is still here, and as bad as ever. 2 more weeks. Then we've got two more guests coming.

Puppies change everything.

Or at least that's what it feels like right now.

I've got a young pup here for three weeks while her momma's away on vacation. Ira is a real handful, but then again, it's been 6 years since I had a dog this young here for me to take care of. And I'll tell you, you just don't realize how un-puppy proof your house is until you've got a puppy finding all the weak spots in your puppy proof shield.

Luckily, I have Psyche here helping me. The first morning she wasn't really all that fond of Ira, but Psyche had had a long weekend, and now that she's not as tried they're best buds. Or at least, if that's what you call a puppy tugging on Psyche's tail.

She's always on the go. I'm beginning to wonder if she ever even sleeps. But man when she's not raising hell, she's somethin' cute.

Anyway, there's not really much else to say about that, but if things slow down a bit, this face is the reason.

I've been in a constant state of puppy chasing or cleaning up. It's been pretty busy... so yeah, this puppy is changing everything, at least for a little while. And we're only 2 days into the 3 weeks.

Not bad for a blind dog.

On Saturday I not only attended a fun match with Psyche, but while there I met a huge inspiration.

At this fun match there was a dog named Lucy. Before her run I didn't pay much attention to her, but I remember vaguely hearing her name called for her run, and just so happened to be ring side when she ran. The man handling her had a head halter on her, and a tab leash. Between each obstacle he was grabbing the tab and going along to the next obstacle. I noticed he spoke to her a lot, clicked just before the jump, and tapped the top of the tunnel. I sat there thinking, "Oh, just a new dog, or a dog that is reactive." and put the clicking to poor timing and the tunnel tapping to a dog not understanding tunnels.

It wasn't until he finished his run, which involved two sets of 12 weaves and an a-frame, that I heard him come off the field and say, "Not bad for a blind dog!"

I get tears in my eyes even now, just thinking about it. Lucy's owner, on cloud nine from the pure adrenaline of being able to do agility with Lucy, came over to us while a friend was telling us about what he does to signal each obstacle, and I, with goosebumps and chills, met Lucy for the first time. She happily greeted me, once she realized I was there, and when I stopped, went back towards her owner and the only word to describe how they interacted was pure love. It was clear that Lucy knew that that was her owner, without hesitation, and saved a special kind of love for him.

I talked the rest of the day to Lucy's owner, about how their life is, how they can leave an old blind Lucy dog on the couch, go into the kitchen to get some cheese and before you know it she's standing behind them, waiting for her treat.

They adopted Lucy when she was 2 years old, and they knew then that she was blind. The vets told them that she'd been blind for a very long time, likely from birth, but that didn't stop them. Something about Lucy called to them, and so they took on the task of Lucy and her lifestyle, which can't have been easy to start. Lucy's 6 now, and they've been doing agility with her all along. She does all of the obstacles, and enjoys every second of it.

Meeting Lucy made me stop and think. Psyche and I battle trial issues, sure, and we have our shares of ups and downs, but neither of us battles such a thing as being blind. And it makes you stop and think, why is it that I can get upset about some issues Psyche and I are having when things could be so much worse? Lucy acted as reminder for me this weekend, that the most important thing is love. Lucy does agility because she loves her handler. At first I thought, "I can't imagine that kind of love." but really, Psyche and I have that love. It's just sometimes I'm blind to it, when really, the only thing I need to see at all is that love. Psyche and I could be blind to everything else in the world and be okay, as long as we could still see our love.

Lucy's story will be something I think of daily. When Psyche and I stand at a start line, Lucy will be in my thoughts, acting as an inspiration to remind Psyche and I that we can get through anything, as long as we have love.

Thank you, Lucy.

Sunday is Fun Day!

Another little fun match for Psyche on Sunday. Only three runs. This was at our clubs training field, so to be 100% honest, I was expecting her to kick some butt. The first run was really bad, honestly. She was being weird before going in, and then pooped once we were in there, then just shut down after pooping, even though I said nothing about it, just cleaned it up. No biggie. But she was having none of that after.

After that I took her out to play some, and she wasn't interested at all. I started to get annoyed, so I went and put her in her crate and took a breather. Mom took her out to play with her, and she played, no problem, and so of course I was sad that my dog won't work with me, but will play with mom. But I got over it, and went out, with a fresh start, to play with her, and she was much more interested in that.

We had two more runs after that, a masters standards, and a Time2Beat, and she did much better those two runs. I was really proud of the Time2Beat run, actually! For a tricky little course, and doing the first 5 obstacles with our trainer under the a-frame adjusting the height before we got there (which I didn't notice, and no one thought to tell me!) she did really well. I was very pleased.

Some circle work took place after that, which we're planning on doing a lot more of, and she did great, and then we left to go to some pet food stores to look at new dry foods, and I took Psyche in with me and realized that I really need to get her out and about to new places. How can I blame her for stressing when I haven't properly exposed her? A soft dog like Psyche needs to have lots of good experiences before she can be comfortable. So I've decided that with my days off after my first pay (so I can afford gas!) I'm going to not only take her to new places for agility work, but for a chance to do some obedience work in new places too, like pet stores, etc.. Crash will also be tagging along for these adventures, but they'll be worked one at a time.

Sunday evening we picked up Ira, the little GSD puppy who's staying with us for three weeks, but that's a whole other blog post.

Stay tuned!