Since I’ve been thinking about obedience a lot lately… I’ve realized there is a lot more to it than just training the exercises. The exercises themselves are really not all that difficult… some are more so than others. Go outs are tougher. Articles are tricky. Drops on Recalls as opposed to flat recalls are an issue. But seriously, teaching a dog to do all the exercises isn’t really all that difficult. The difficulty rests in getting good, happy, motivated work… Continue reading
Well, it’s time for Jumps N Jackpots, the biggest Flyball Tournament around here for the year. Should be fun. Chase and Jet are both start dogs on their teams. I do love being start dog, even though I really don’t know why. Makes me feel important, I guess… LOL, even though other positions are just as important, if not more so. I wonder if there will be any pop displays at the tournament. Sometimes there are some limited vendors, which is nice, I like to shop for dog stuff.
This video is from practice last week. A team mate was running Chase, as we wanted to make sure the dogs had recent experience running beside another team.
The boys really do love it. Though it takes a lot of time for me to do flyball, so I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to continue with it next year. Especially since Jet is doing so well in agility, and I’ll probably be focusing on him and getting a MACH. That’s my life goal, get a MACH on a dog. Hopefully he’ll be the one!
Oh, and Levi is doing lots better, yay! He’s recovered from his latest fall and he’s walking fine, jumping off and on the bed. Hopefully he’s not going to die anytime soon.. dang I still worry. 
At CampW
I’m also going to look into getting him acupuncture on a regular basis. Unfortunately my schedule is really messy right now, since we are transitioning to five day work weeks, but at the same time I have time off the next couple of weekends because of flyball and then agility. But I’m going to make the time for my Levi, as he means the world to me and I want to give him everything I possibly can to make him feel better.
Levi did so good at camp… but really he is fine, if he’s not pushed over, if his back isn’t twisted. That’s where his pain comes from. The arthritic bridge in his spine. He’s my heart and soul, this boy. I wish he could live as long as me. He’ll be twelve in just under a month. He still has to have some good years ahead of him. I’m thinking of looking into Reiki as well.
Maybe the cooler weather will help him, maybe it will hurt him, I’m not sure. Fortunately we don’t have any metal buildings around to keep the cold in, if that’d make him worse. My boy… I want him to get better. Even though I realize he is on the downward slide of his life now. 
Jet's Ribbons This Weekend
Yesterday Jet did awesome, but on the Standard course he took an off course jump that I wasn’t expecting. He was going pretty fast and so I didn’t mind. He did Q in JWW yesterday and picked up 4 MACH points. He also Q’d in Time 2 Beat, which is being a pretty fun class for us, and really just for fun.
Today he Qualified in Time 2 Beat in the morning, took first place and got us 10 more points for the T2B title. So far he has 5 Qs and 42 points. He needs 15 Qs and 100 points for his T2B title, so we’ll keep doing that for fun. I am not doing FAST with him since I haven’t trained distance on him.
This morning we got our Standard Q in a really nice run. The judge is Dan Butcher and his courses are actually pretty hard. Yesterday they were super hard, today they were not quiet as hard but still difficult. Lots of off course traps, lots of turns and side changes. Jet got 15 Speed Points in Standard this morning, which I think is the most he’s ever gotten in one run.
His JWW run was good too, he took first place and got 9 speed points. Wow, how cool is this, actually tracking QQs and speed points! First time in my life, after 8 years of agility. I’m still thrilled and grateful every day that Jet, my little Danish-Swedish Farmdog, is doing so well at agility!
So this puts him up to Three Double Qs and 70 speed points towards his MACH. At this rate, maybe we could have a MACH by the end of next year… dang! How weird would that be!
I use this free software, Agility Record Book, to track his runs. So far he has an 85% Q rate in JWW in Excellent B. And a 50% Q rate in Standard in Excellent B. Not too shabby. The software keeps track of all his points and QQs and Qs and percentages. It’s really nice!
Yesterday it was cold and rainy… originally they were going to have the trial outdoors, but moved it indoors because of the weather. I’m so glad! I would have needed some nice heated gloves if we ran outside. Today wasn’t too bad, sunny and warmish, but still I’m glad we were indoors. Don’t have to set up a tent, or worry about weather, or mess around in the cold.
So I’m thrilled at how well Jet is doing. We don’t have another AKC agility trial until January, which is a bummer. We have an ASCA trial the end of this month, though, which should be fun.
My Family
So when a dog does, a part of me dies. Even though at the same time a part of the dog lives on inside of me. Still, I feel empty and hollow and I don’t know how to deal with it. Since I don’t really have an after-life belief system, either, I’m not sure where they go, though I do have my ideas.
Anyway, where I’m going with this is that all my life I’ve really avoided getting close to people. I’ve had trust issues with people. Haven’t really trusted those who were trustworthy in the past, instead I’ve trusted those who were not trustworthy. Though I think that I’ve changed in that regard now, it’s still hard for me to get close to fellow humans. It’s always been easier for me to get close to dogs. And so the main support network I have in my life is that of my very short-lived dogs.
And so when they leave me, I’m pretty crushed. Though now I’m at a place in my life where I can finally trust people more, get close to people more, which is a good thing. And most of my life I’ve really denied the thought that I need people, and dogs, to rely on as close friends and family.
And I’m so worried about Levi. He’ll be 12 in just about a month. And sometimes I think that my entire world of sanity is balanced on his life. Which is way too much to ask any creature to endure, I know. Even though he gets extra attention now, which he really loves.
So I guess where I’m getting to with this is that today I had some sore of revelation. That it’s natural to love these creatures in our lives. And it’s so sad when they have to leave us. It’s just a natural part of life and it’s okay to love completely. I’ve avoided loving completely, because it means that when the object of your love is gone, then live is just about over and being crushed and miserable sets in. But it’s okay to have both, isn’t it? To love completely and still go on living. It’s natural and normal. Guess it took me a long time to realize this. But I have always loved my dogs completely, without reservation, unconditionally, just as they love me. They are so much easier than humans. So very much easier to love and live with.
I’ve been sick the last few days and feeling pretty rotten. I know it’s a combination of having too many losses, stress, catching some nasty cold, and also this underlying virus that I think I carry with me all the time. It all adds up, dangit. But today, or at least right now, I can look at our little graveyard of ashes in our cabinet that I have set up, and find a little bit more peace. At least for a while.
So I have to get back to the normal aspects of life. Missing those I’ve lost. Settling into a new life with the ones who are still alive. Maybe I’m a nut, I dunno. Maybe I just need a Steripen Adventurer Opti water filter to keep myself healthy… oh, and I joined Weight Watchers, to drop these awful pounds I’ve put on in the last couple of years. Still gotta take care of myself, eat healthy, and love completely the family I have with me still. And try to come to realize it’s okay to love completely, as well as lose completely. And still be okay.
Well, I removed Lucy’s picture from the top of the blog. And in the sidebar, I put her under In Loving Memory. Too very sad. I am not crying as much now, but still once in a while I just am still in shock that she’s gone.
And then we lost Littles, too. And last year we lost Angel. It all comes in waves, when you don’t space your animal’s ages out well and they get old at the same time. Though really we didn’t think of spacing them out, we just fell in love with them and took them home. Though now we are not fostering for rescue, and so when I get a dog or a cat, I put a lot of thought into it. We won’t be getting another dog for a couple of years. And I don’t think we’ll be getting any more cats, and we just can’t give them the lives they deserve.
And so life goes on. Not putting a picture in this post, because it’s too sad for me to put one of Angel, Lucy or Littles. And of course Kip and Jackie are always in my heart, too. Kip died in 2000, and Jackie when I was a teenager.
They are a part of me forever. I feel like an Immortal from Highlander. My loved ones dying as I live on. If they could think about it, maybe they would think I was immortal too. But I’m not. Just longer lived than the furkids I love so much.
Well Levi is getting old… he’s our last oldie for a while. And we want to keep him around for a long time, happy and healthy. Since he’s been having problems with his back, he doesn’t like to do the stairs much anymore. So we decided to build him a ramp from the back yard so he doesn’t have to walk up and down the stairs. The first picture is just of the stairs.
Levi and Tatum
Of course every project ends up being a lot bigger than anticipated. We got this wood from my work place years ago. They were doing construction and gave it away for free since they were going to just throw it out. So I snagged it in my Toyota Pickup and brought it home.
Ramp Starting
It’s been on the side of the house, but we use it now and then. Lucy’s chair was made out of the stuff, too. And free is always good. It’s thick sturdy wood. The above pictures is the platform that my husband thought Levi needs when he comes out of the dog door. If he angled down right away, it might be bad for his back, so we put up a platform first.
Jet Snoozing
I had to get a picture of Jet sunbathing on the stair. So cute, he’s the only dog we have little enough to sleep on a step.
The Ramp Forms
It was hot outside when we built it, mid 80s… though summer would have been hotter. This ramp was a bigger project than we thought, maybe some Beverage/Sommelier Jobs would have been easier to do! But we kept on. And I thought the edges would be dangerous and Levi might fall off the side. Like he fell off the pier (was pushed my Tatum, actually) at camp a month ago. So I insisted to my husband that we put sides on the darn thing.
Putting up Sides
Levi or Tatum could both fall off, they are not the most limber of dogs in the world. Jet and the Border Collies would fare better, but they are also younger.
From the Inside
So it’s all done, railings and all. Well actually not all done, we need to paint it and put some sand or something on it so the dogs don’t slide down. Us too. It’s pretty solid because of the thick wood, and my husband does an excellent job of building things. It was kinda a pain to put the sides on, but I do think, when all the dogs ran out full speed barking at something, Levi would be the one to fall, and that would have been bad.
Another cool note, our neighbors were giving up their fire grate today, it was on the front of their house with a sign. And I’ve needed one for a long time! Since we moved our TV room upstairs, I want to have fires in the fireplace again. But we’ve needed the fire grate, and now we have one! It’s super nice, too. Solid and way better than the last one we had. I dusted it off and put it up.
New Fire Grate
And yes that’s a mattress we have on the floor. Levi likes to lay on it. And we only have one chair in the living room upstairs. And a bean bag my sister gave us. We don’t want to haul the couch up, and we don’t have room for it anyway. So we sack out on the mattress to relax. And Levi loves it too, it’s his special bed.
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