Friday, September 30, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Puppy Bumps
Finally made my puppy bumps today and gave Zeke a little shot at three in a row this afternoon. I still need to watch my Puppy Jumping DVD to get the whole theory behind starting to work with them down pat, but I was curious what Zeke's reaction would be to them.
After he tried to eat them (what doesn't this puppy want to eat?) he went out of his way to run around the outsides of them. I got a couple of really good reps and we ended after the best one and had a tugging party, so I think with a touch more work he'll get over this skirting around them and we'll make a bit of progress with that.
I'm actually planning on teaching him how to jump and going through the Susan Salo jumping work as he gets older (and I get more cash to get more of the DVDs), which is going to be interesting since I didn't do any- and I mean nothing- jump work wise with Charlie. He was running low jumps, then up to 500, 'cause that was the height everyone thought he'd be, then after his first comp and official measure he was running at 600 and that was it. He has a really solid style, though, and takes off and lands pretty much exactly equal to each other and isn't too shabby when it comes down to form either.
So, like always with Zeke and Charlie, I'm hanging out to see the differences in how I bring them up.
It strikes me a little more every day how totally different the two of them are. They're completely chalk and cheese and I love that, I really do, but it makes it so, so hard to not compare them- and comparing leads to frustration and unrealistic expectations. Like, last weekend for instance, at the Pet Expo when Zeke was being a fruit loop and while he was really well behaved for being Zeke I was getting a touch frustrated with him because I was looking at Charlie (who's been the same angelic creature in all of those types of situations since he was nine weeks old) and thinking, "God, puppy, I can't take you anywhere. Why can't you just sit the fuck down for two seconds?" And then I'll be training Zeke and he'll be throwing behaviours at me and bouncing back from mini failures, and I'll then go and work Charlie who's liable to have a meltdown if my mood is slightly of or he's struggling to get the behaviours right, and I'll be thinking, "God, dog, I can't do anything with you. Why can't you just be a bit more gutsy and secure able to deal with very normal situations?"
So in that instance, I don't like having them so different. Zeke's been such a learning curve for me because while people tell me regularly that Charlie is "high drive", he isn't really. He's got good work ethic towards agility because it's something he enjoys and the reward is the activity itself and he's very sure of what he has to do. He has moments where I would consider him to have "high drive", but he isn't like that consistently and he has such a super built in off switch he could not have a sport outlet and be fine.
But Zeke. Looking at the two of them, Zeke's high drive, Charlie isn't. He's high energy, high drive, and most certainly needs to be taught how to have an off switch. Chalk and cheese again. I love Zeke. I really, really love him, and after the intial "OMFG what the hell have I just bought into the house, what have I got myself into and how do I send it back" first few days I'm finding him a real joy to live with.
It's a different joy to living with Charlie, because you can take that dog anywhere and he's such a "pet"; he's easy and breezy and he won't mind if you've only got time for some cuddles and nothing else because he just craves being with you. He doens't necessarily have to be doing something, and he'll happily spend the whole day just lying near to where I am. Quite happily. He'll go and do things if you're doing them, but he won't demand the need to do them. He's convenient. He fits into the schedule. Even as a puppy he was exactly the same.
Zeke needs the schedule to be fitted around him. He needs his running. He needs his playing. He needs his training sessions. He needs his time with the hose and the dirt clods. He can't just be left out to his own devices- or even left out and casually supervised. I have him crated for the majority of the day and he's only out if he's doing something with me directly, or he's learning how to be calm on the couch- which means as soon as he wriggles he goes away. Our cuddle sessions are very short at this stage. If he was out all day, he'd be going all day. No one would get a moments rest and he'd end up collapsing from exhaustion before he willing stopped. He can't necessarily be taken everywhere and do everything because he's a basket case and hasn't quite the training or manners for me to trust him (or find his company enjoyable) but he wants to go everywhere and do everything- and I love love love that about him. He's so engaging and makes you want to be with him because he's just so much fun and a bit of a nutbar.
Admittedly, epecially since my next dog will probably be coming not very long after I've moved out of home, I don't know if I want another Zeke-type dog until Zeke's a lot older and calmer, but I wouldn't want to wait that long for a third dog. As much as I love him, I find him a bit much some of the time, and while I know some of that is all of the puppy in him, I think a lot of it is going to stick. And two Zekes... Oh boy. I'd end up being committed.
I'm picky. I'd want another Zeke, but with a bit of Charlie thrown in to just even it out a bit. And that's what's making me think dog number three could be a sheltie. Maybe. Just tossing the idea around and seeing how I feel about it. If I do feel okay about it all, it'd be in probably three or four years, and I'd ideally want a Scotsdream, 'cause I'm still in love with their dogs and the breeder herself is really lovely and helpful.
And how a post titled Puppy Bumps ended up with rambles about my third dog in four years is beyond me. Just to make it completely disjointed...
Gold Coast tomorrow!
Fucking excited. There'll be video, and photos. Can't wait, so I'm off to bed in a very short while since it's an early start for an early vetting.
After he tried to eat them (what doesn't this puppy want to eat?) he went out of his way to run around the outsides of them. I got a couple of really good reps and we ended after the best one and had a tugging party, so I think with a touch more work he'll get over this skirting around them and we'll make a bit of progress with that.
I'm actually planning on teaching him how to jump and going through the Susan Salo jumping work as he gets older (and I get more cash to get more of the DVDs), which is going to be interesting since I didn't do any- and I mean nothing- jump work wise with Charlie. He was running low jumps, then up to 500, 'cause that was the height everyone thought he'd be, then after his first comp and official measure he was running at 600 and that was it. He has a really solid style, though, and takes off and lands pretty much exactly equal to each other and isn't too shabby when it comes down to form either.
So, like always with Zeke and Charlie, I'm hanging out to see the differences in how I bring them up.
It strikes me a little more every day how totally different the two of them are. They're completely chalk and cheese and I love that, I really do, but it makes it so, so hard to not compare them- and comparing leads to frustration and unrealistic expectations. Like, last weekend for instance, at the Pet Expo when Zeke was being a fruit loop and while he was really well behaved for being Zeke I was getting a touch frustrated with him because I was looking at Charlie (who's been the same angelic creature in all of those types of situations since he was nine weeks old) and thinking, "God, puppy, I can't take you anywhere. Why can't you just sit the fuck down for two seconds?" And then I'll be training Zeke and he'll be throwing behaviours at me and bouncing back from mini failures, and I'll then go and work Charlie who's liable to have a meltdown if my mood is slightly of or he's struggling to get the behaviours right, and I'll be thinking, "God, dog, I can't do anything with you. Why can't you just be a bit more gutsy and secure able to deal with very normal situations?"
So in that instance, I don't like having them so different. Zeke's been such a learning curve for me because while people tell me regularly that Charlie is "high drive", he isn't really. He's got good work ethic towards agility because it's something he enjoys and the reward is the activity itself and he's very sure of what he has to do. He has moments where I would consider him to have "high drive", but he isn't like that consistently and he has such a super built in off switch he could not have a sport outlet and be fine.
But Zeke. Looking at the two of them, Zeke's high drive, Charlie isn't. He's high energy, high drive, and most certainly needs to be taught how to have an off switch. Chalk and cheese again. I love Zeke. I really, really love him, and after the intial "OMFG what the hell have I just bought into the house, what have I got myself into and how do I send it back" first few days I'm finding him a real joy to live with.
It's a different joy to living with Charlie, because you can take that dog anywhere and he's such a "pet"; he's easy and breezy and he won't mind if you've only got time for some cuddles and nothing else because he just craves being with you. He doens't necessarily have to be doing something, and he'll happily spend the whole day just lying near to where I am. Quite happily. He'll go and do things if you're doing them, but he won't demand the need to do them. He's convenient. He fits into the schedule. Even as a puppy he was exactly the same.
Zeke needs the schedule to be fitted around him. He needs his running. He needs his playing. He needs his training sessions. He needs his time with the hose and the dirt clods. He can't just be left out to his own devices- or even left out and casually supervised. I have him crated for the majority of the day and he's only out if he's doing something with me directly, or he's learning how to be calm on the couch- which means as soon as he wriggles he goes away. Our cuddle sessions are very short at this stage. If he was out all day, he'd be going all day. No one would get a moments rest and he'd end up collapsing from exhaustion before he willing stopped. He can't necessarily be taken everywhere and do everything because he's a basket case and hasn't quite the training or manners for me to trust him (or find his company enjoyable) but he wants to go everywhere and do everything- and I love love love that about him. He's so engaging and makes you want to be with him because he's just so much fun and a bit of a nutbar.
Admittedly, epecially since my next dog will probably be coming not very long after I've moved out of home, I don't know if I want another Zeke-type dog until Zeke's a lot older and calmer, but I wouldn't want to wait that long for a third dog. As much as I love him, I find him a bit much some of the time, and while I know some of that is all of the puppy in him, I think a lot of it is going to stick. And two Zekes... Oh boy. I'd end up being committed.
I'm picky. I'd want another Zeke, but with a bit of Charlie thrown in to just even it out a bit. And that's what's making me think dog number three could be a sheltie. Maybe. Just tossing the idea around and seeing how I feel about it. If I do feel okay about it all, it'd be in probably three or four years, and I'd ideally want a Scotsdream, 'cause I'm still in love with their dogs and the breeder herself is really lovely and helpful.
And how a post titled Puppy Bumps ended up with rambles about my third dog in four years is beyond me. Just to make it completely disjointed...
Gold Coast tomorrow!
Fucking excited. There'll be video, and photos. Can't wait, so I'm off to bed in a very short while since it's an early start for an early vetting.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Just A Post
This is one of those posts where I just ramble.
Prepared?
Zeke and I slotted into Obedience One last night. It was week three, but since he's already able to do pretty much everything we're covering in the class it's all good. He has moments of absolute brilliance, that dog- and then he turns around and is a total crackhead little shit. Ah... Gotta love him.
Tomorrow marks six months since Fletcher was put to sleep, and to make it worse some friends of mine had to put their border collie to sleep today because of lymphoma. It's fucking ridiculous and I don't get how unfair this is: including Fletch, that's four separate dogs from really good friends of mine that have been taken too soon in less than a year. And three because of cancer. Seiko with his osteosarcoma. Then Buckley with the supposed seizure. Then Fletcher with the nasal cancer. Now Bailey because of lymphoma.
And next Saturday is the first of October, which should have been Fletcher's first birthday and despite the fact I have a trial it's going to be quite a depressing day. I was feeling a bit down and while I wasn't sure if it would make me smile or cry, I've put together a bit of a video that I'll upload on his birthday. God I miss that dog. Every time I look at a photo or a video of him it makes me miss him even more, and it makes me both want another sheltie and never want one again at the exact same time. I love the breed, particularly the little terrier ones, but I don't know if it would be easy for me to not compare the new sheltie to Fletch- and not to mention the fact that I'm now totally paranoid about healthy dogs, and shelties make me nervous in that regard.
But there's no new dogs on the horizon for me for at least two years, so I don't need to fret over anything like that just yet.
To finish on a far less depressing note, Gold Coast trial on Sunday. Lots of friends going, lots of pics going to be taken, and it's Zac's debut which makes it super exciting. I got my Agility Click order the other day and have a lot of reading and watching to do, and today my FITPaws disk and peanut came along with the Get On The Ball Two DVD, as well as Charlie's Back on Track coat (which dad says makes him look like a knight's horse going into battle, but whatever). My leads should be coming at some stage next week and then we'll be all set with our bits and bobs.
Oh. And I've also realised that next year, Zeke's first trial could in fact be in early December, at the last fundraising trial for the year. The wonderful part about that, if he would in fact be eighteen months old for it? It's the Purple Fundraiser, with the proceeds going to fund research into canine cancer.
Prepared?
Zeke and I slotted into Obedience One last night. It was week three, but since he's already able to do pretty much everything we're covering in the class it's all good. He has moments of absolute brilliance, that dog- and then he turns around and is a total crackhead little shit. Ah... Gotta love him.
Tomorrow marks six months since Fletcher was put to sleep, and to make it worse some friends of mine had to put their border collie to sleep today because of lymphoma. It's fucking ridiculous and I don't get how unfair this is: including Fletch, that's four separate dogs from really good friends of mine that have been taken too soon in less than a year. And three because of cancer. Seiko with his osteosarcoma. Then Buckley with the supposed seizure. Then Fletcher with the nasal cancer. Now Bailey because of lymphoma.
And next Saturday is the first of October, which should have been Fletcher's first birthday and despite the fact I have a trial it's going to be quite a depressing day. I was feeling a bit down and while I wasn't sure if it would make me smile or cry, I've put together a bit of a video that I'll upload on his birthday. God I miss that dog. Every time I look at a photo or a video of him it makes me miss him even more, and it makes me both want another sheltie and never want one again at the exact same time. I love the breed, particularly the little terrier ones, but I don't know if it would be easy for me to not compare the new sheltie to Fletch- and not to mention the fact that I'm now totally paranoid about healthy dogs, and shelties make me nervous in that regard.
But there's no new dogs on the horizon for me for at least two years, so I don't need to fret over anything like that just yet.
To finish on a far less depressing note, Gold Coast trial on Sunday. Lots of friends going, lots of pics going to be taken, and it's Zac's debut which makes it super exciting. I got my Agility Click order the other day and have a lot of reading and watching to do, and today my FITPaws disk and peanut came along with the Get On The Ball Two DVD, as well as Charlie's Back on Track coat (which dad says makes him look like a knight's horse going into battle, but whatever). My leads should be coming at some stage next week and then we'll be all set with our bits and bobs.
Oh. And I've also realised that next year, Zeke's first trial could in fact be in early December, at the last fundraising trial for the year. The wonderful part about that, if he would in fact be eighteen months old for it? It's the Purple Fundraiser, with the proceeds going to fund research into canine cancer.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Metro Trial 16th September
Just a quick written summary- no videos.
JDO was a really nice run- stay at the startline!- but the distance was a bit tricky and after the tunnel he shot into me and took an off course broad jump. I got him sent back out to the right jump, though, and the rest of the exclusion went really well. We had a bit of a bobble in the weaves, but apart from that it felt like a pretty solid run.
Our SPDX run with Julie and Tarki was waaaaaaay over time. Charlie was naughty and didn't stay at the start (which, now I think about it, was my fault because I broke the code and moved laterally before heading out and that's a big no-no with Charlie at comps) and didn't even try to stick his contact on the dog walk (which makes me reeeeeally worried for our comp in a fortnight) and he then did the third jump about sixty times by himself. Then Tarki jumped it the wrong way, then Charlie jumped it the wrong way, then Tarki- six tries later we finally got a dog over it right. They'd played before our run and I think were still a bit wired and in that "CRAZY SPAZ RED DOG" frame of mind- but in saying that, I'm happy Charlie was actually really wanting to play with Tark so I'm happy to sacrifice the control for that. Charlie also had a seesaw fly off (can't wait until next year when that stupid thing is lowered), but Tarki missed the up contact so we had to give it another shot and while he didn't stick his 2o2o, he did ride it to the ground. We finished with the Charlie running off after Tarki over the last few jumps and then they had a lope out of the ring together to finish their playing. It was hilarious fun, though.
And our JDX run was beautiful, on a very do-able course, but there was a bit of a funny angle to one of the jumps, Charlie came off the previous jump a bit wide and like quite a few dogs was heading to go around and miss this funny jump. I pulled him back and he didn't back jump and came right back around, but I pushed him to go on too fast and the weird angle he jumped at made him knock a bar. Totally my fault and the rest of the run was awesomesauce. And I got a stay at the startline.
Charlie was being a very social butterfly and made a special border collie friend he really wanted to have a chase and wrestle game with, and when we were leaving the BC walked past and Charlie actually whined and pressed himself up to the window. D'aaaaw. He's becoming so, so much better around "strange dogs" and he's becoming a lot more eager to interact with them and actually play. It's a bit silly: I've got one dog that I really want to play with dogs and another dog that I really want to stop being so focused on playing with dogs. I need to siphon a bit out of Zeke and put it in Charlie. Then we'd all be good.
He also did his funny little yoddle yip that sounds like someone stood on his tail again while we were waiting for our run in both JDX and JDO. It's so cute :D Without fail, no dogs get him worked up while watching them run as Ranger and Tarki- but especially Ranger.
We had an awesome evening and can't wait for Gold Coast next Sunday.
But for today, I'm off to get ready to head down to the Pet Expo. Tonnes of pics will be floating about tomorrow.
JDO was a really nice run- stay at the startline!- but the distance was a bit tricky and after the tunnel he shot into me and took an off course broad jump. I got him sent back out to the right jump, though, and the rest of the exclusion went really well. We had a bit of a bobble in the weaves, but apart from that it felt like a pretty solid run.
Our SPDX run with Julie and Tarki was waaaaaaay over time. Charlie was naughty and didn't stay at the start (which, now I think about it, was my fault because I broke the code and moved laterally before heading out and that's a big no-no with Charlie at comps) and didn't even try to stick his contact on the dog walk (which makes me reeeeeally worried for our comp in a fortnight) and he then did the third jump about sixty times by himself. Then Tarki jumped it the wrong way, then Charlie jumped it the wrong way, then Tarki- six tries later we finally got a dog over it right. They'd played before our run and I think were still a bit wired and in that "CRAZY SPAZ RED DOG" frame of mind- but in saying that, I'm happy Charlie was actually really wanting to play with Tark so I'm happy to sacrifice the control for that. Charlie also had a seesaw fly off (can't wait until next year when that stupid thing is lowered), but Tarki missed the up contact so we had to give it another shot and while he didn't stick his 2o2o, he did ride it to the ground. We finished with the Charlie running off after Tarki over the last few jumps and then they had a lope out of the ring together to finish their playing. It was hilarious fun, though.
And our JDX run was beautiful, on a very do-able course, but there was a bit of a funny angle to one of the jumps, Charlie came off the previous jump a bit wide and like quite a few dogs was heading to go around and miss this funny jump. I pulled him back and he didn't back jump and came right back around, but I pushed him to go on too fast and the weird angle he jumped at made him knock a bar. Totally my fault and the rest of the run was awesomesauce. And I got a stay at the startline.
Charlie was being a very social butterfly and made a special border collie friend he really wanted to have a chase and wrestle game with, and when we were leaving the BC walked past and Charlie actually whined and pressed himself up to the window. D'aaaaw. He's becoming so, so much better around "strange dogs" and he's becoming a lot more eager to interact with them and actually play. It's a bit silly: I've got one dog that I really want to play with dogs and another dog that I really want to stop being so focused on playing with dogs. I need to siphon a bit out of Zeke and put it in Charlie. Then we'd all be good.
He also did his funny little yoddle yip that sounds like someone stood on his tail again while we were waiting for our run in both JDX and JDO. It's so cute :D Without fail, no dogs get him worked up while watching them run as Ranger and Tarki- but especially Ranger.
We had an awesome evening and can't wait for Gold Coast next Sunday.
But for today, I'm off to get ready to head down to the Pet Expo. Tonnes of pics will be floating about tomorrow.
Friday, September 16, 2011
The Swamp Cooler
Behold!
The Swamp Cooler! I'm so, so impressed with it. Well worth the cash because Charlie will actually wear it.
I know. Hard to believe.
But I had it on him yesterday and he was walking around without the cringing, please-please-please-help-me-take-it-off-noooooooow look he normally does. And he even lay down in it and went to sleep in his bed.
Ruff Wear coats FTW.
My PayPal cleared so I went a bit nuts and put the orders all through. I've got some leads, a tug toy, a FITPaws peanut, FITPaws balance disk, On The Ball Two DVD and some other books and DVDs coming through as well as the Back On Track coat.
And now I've banded myself from buying anything else for the foreseeable future since I'm not working and my bank account is only slightly over a thousand dollars.
Metro trial this evening! Julie's picking me up around five o'clock and before then I need to get organised for the trial and for the pet expo tomorrow as well as wash and groom two dogs- one of which isn't going to want to co-operate.
Gold Coast is next Sunday, then the weekend after Friday and Saturday is Logan- and agility is on the Friday. Eeeeeek.
The Swamp Cooler! I'm so, so impressed with it. Well worth the cash because Charlie will actually wear it.
I know. Hard to believe.
But I had it on him yesterday and he was walking around without the cringing, please-please-please-help-me-take-it-off-noooooooow look he normally does. And he even lay down in it and went to sleep in his bed.
Ruff Wear coats FTW.
My PayPal cleared so I went a bit nuts and put the orders all through. I've got some leads, a tug toy, a FITPaws peanut, FITPaws balance disk, On The Ball Two DVD and some other books and DVDs coming through as well as the Back On Track coat.
And now I've banded myself from buying anything else for the foreseeable future since I'm not working and my bank account is only slightly over a thousand dollars.
Metro trial this evening! Julie's picking me up around five o'clock and before then I need to get organised for the trial and for the pet expo tomorrow as well as wash and groom two dogs- one of which isn't going to want to co-operate.
Gold Coast is next Sunday, then the weekend after Friday and Saturday is Logan- and agility is on the Friday. Eeeeeek.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Exciting Weekend On The Horizon
Weeeeee! :D
So not only does Friday mark the beginning of the September school holidays, but also it marks the final, less-than-two-months stretch of my school years. Can't fucking wait.
And what's a more perfect way to celebrate that than a Friday evening agility trial?
Julie's picking Charlie and I up- leaving the black and tan monster at home- for the Metro comp. We've got a JDX, JDO and our second ever SPDX run. Strategic pairs seems to be our strong point lately. There's also a very good chance I'm going to have to run Charlie over some contact stuff during that course, so this will be another indicator of whether I'm doing the right thing at the right time, re-entering him into novice agility.
So we'll see how that goes.
Then on Saturday I'm heading off to the Gold Coast Pet and Animal Expo all day, with both dogs (questioning my sanity, yes) for an awesome day. I haven't been down for a couple of years, and never with a dog so it'll be super interesting now I've got two to take- and one of them being a fifteen week old, hyperactive, very easily over-stimulated kelpie pup. But it's going to be such a fun day, and so awesome for exposing Zeke to plenty of new sights and sounds and people and other animals.
Pretty much all of my friends are going to be down there doing one thing or another. A bunch are doing the dock diving demonstrations, a couple are on the white Swiss shepherd stall with their dogs, and pretty much everyone from the dog club are doing DWD demos as well. I'm going armed with my camera and an empty memory card and will return with plenty of photos and videos. Should be an absolutely awesome day and I can't wait.
So not only does Friday mark the beginning of the September school holidays, but also it marks the final, less-than-two-months stretch of my school years. Can't fucking wait.
And what's a more perfect way to celebrate that than a Friday evening agility trial?
Julie's picking Charlie and I up- leaving the black and tan monster at home- for the Metro comp. We've got a JDX, JDO and our second ever SPDX run. Strategic pairs seems to be our strong point lately. There's also a very good chance I'm going to have to run Charlie over some contact stuff during that course, so this will be another indicator of whether I'm doing the right thing at the right time, re-entering him into novice agility.
So we'll see how that goes.
Then on Saturday I'm heading off to the Gold Coast Pet and Animal Expo all day, with both dogs (questioning my sanity, yes) for an awesome day. I haven't been down for a couple of years, and never with a dog so it'll be super interesting now I've got two to take- and one of them being a fifteen week old, hyperactive, very easily over-stimulated kelpie pup. But it's going to be such a fun day, and so awesome for exposing Zeke to plenty of new sights and sounds and people and other animals.
Pretty much all of my friends are going to be down there doing one thing or another. A bunch are doing the dock diving demonstrations, a couple are on the white Swiss shepherd stall with their dogs, and pretty much everyone from the dog club are doing DWD demos as well. I'm going armed with my camera and an empty memory card and will return with plenty of photos and videos. Should be an absolutely awesome day and I can't wait.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Training Yesterday
On an unrelated note, Clean Run shipping costs more than the actual products, so my order is now coming from about sixty different places within Australia.
Convenient.
I also found a Ruff Wear Swamp Cooler coat which has a different way of fitting to the dog, with a Y buckle at the front as opposed to a chest strap which I think Charlie might cope with better, so I have one of them on the way as well.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Conditioning
Once my PayPal account clears the money I transfered from my bank account early-ish next week, I've got a ridiculously expensive Clean Run order to be placed as well as the Back On Track coat to purchase.
Amongst that Clean Run order is a lot of bits and pieces to help with my mission to get Charlie actually conditioned and work on helping his shoulders out, as well as work on building Zeke into a little muscle man. These a balance disk, egg ball, DVD instruction thing... Thirty plus items of varying importance.
I got a sixty five centimetre human fit ball from Sam's Warehouse today and it's a bit impossible to use with Charlie but for the moment it's perfect for Zeke. He was on the wobble board today for the first time as well and got pyschotically excited about how it moved- and once he figured out that he could make it slam down if he threw all of his weight onto it, well... That was when the fun really started.
It seriously doesn't surprise me that he was all out in his back and shoulders.
My goal for Charlie is to get him down to under twenty kilograms and build up his muscle. Hopefully next week I'll be able to sort out our walking route and we'll be doing an hour of that at least five times a week, combined with swimming as it starts to warm up- and now that I don't have a job anymore and no school on Fridays and Zeke had his last puppy vaccine today we can head down to the Spit once a week as well. I'm starting to really get the importance of making sure Charlie has more work put into him in terms of getting and maintaining his peak fitness, especially given his jump heights, so it's my new mission.
Amongst that Clean Run order is a lot of bits and pieces to help with my mission to get Charlie actually conditioned and work on helping his shoulders out, as well as work on building Zeke into a little muscle man. These a balance disk, egg ball, DVD instruction thing... Thirty plus items of varying importance.
I got a sixty five centimetre human fit ball from Sam's Warehouse today and it's a bit impossible to use with Charlie but for the moment it's perfect for Zeke. He was on the wobble board today for the first time as well and got pyschotically excited about how it moved- and once he figured out that he could make it slam down if he threw all of his weight onto it, well... That was when the fun really started.
It seriously doesn't surprise me that he was all out in his back and shoulders.
My goal for Charlie is to get him down to under twenty kilograms and build up his muscle. Hopefully next week I'll be able to sort out our walking route and we'll be doing an hour of that at least five times a week, combined with swimming as it starts to warm up- and now that I don't have a job anymore and no school on Fridays and Zeke had his last puppy vaccine today we can head down to the Spit once a week as well. I'm starting to really get the importance of making sure Charlie has more work put into him in terms of getting and maintaining his peak fitness, especially given his jump heights, so it's my new mission.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Tweaking
Took the dogs out to be chiropracted this afternoon and, surprisingly, Charlie wasn't out anywhere. He does seem to have a bit of soft tissue strain, though, especially in his right shoulder, so I need to do something about that with some Difflam massages. I've also come across the Back on Track dog coats and I'm definitely going to order one for Charlie and see how that goes as well.
Jack and Zeke were out- Zeke quite a bit, which doesn't surprise me since he's an idiot. He gets really, really aggro when something doesn't go his way. I've never had a dog that literally snaps and goes full on "I'MMA BITE YOU"- until now. I'm thinking I may need to get a muzzle for future chiro trips since his teeth and jaw are only going to be getting bigger. He's such a brat.
Aaaaaand: three weeks until our re-debut in novice agility >.<
Jack and Zeke were out- Zeke quite a bit, which doesn't surprise me since he's an idiot. He gets really, really aggro when something doesn't go his way. I've never had a dog that literally snaps and goes full on "I'MMA BITE YOU"- until now. I'm thinking I may need to get a muzzle for future chiro trips since his teeth and jaw are only going to be getting bigger. He's such a brat.
Aaaaaand: three weeks until our re-debut in novice agility >.<
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
AWL
That puppy right up there ^He's called Nelson, he's a thirteen week old chi x Tibetan spaniel x cav and oh my goodness, if I didn't have Zeke I'd have come home with him.
He's tiny- like so teeny tiny he weighs nothing, but he is so spunky and confident and drivey. Officially my favourite little dog ever. I'm not normally such a tiny dog person, or someone who likes my dogs with very little muzzle, but I seriously would have adopted him if I'd had the chance.
I met Nelson- and a bunch of other dogs- today and last Friday when I did my volunteering hours at the AWL for school.
Let's just say I have a new appreciation for people who own big dogs.
I had so much fun, even though I'm exhausted after the eight hours today and my arms are aching and I must have walked fifty kilometres, and I'm determined since I'm now actually down as a volunteer with them to go back once a week for a shift and help out. You just get so much hands on work with such a huge variety of dogs- and pretty much all of the ones who end up coming up to Stapylton from the Coombabah shelter are the big working dogs that are a bit on the hard to handle/behavioural issues side of things.
It's a bit depressing though, as well, and I had to really try hard and stop myself from evaluating every dog I walked in terms of performance potenial- but even with that, and my aching arms and legs, I can't wait to go back again.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)