Babies!

These are the things I was looking for when I was preparing for Olives birth:

• Drop in temp
• Babies to settle down getting ready for birth
• Lots of nesting behavior days in advance or at least the 24 hours before birth.

Saturday:

• Took temp first time on Sat.  98.6.  CLEARLY I waited too long and should have started taking temps Thurs.  Since I'd never taken her temp with the new Thermometer before...we wouldn't have known whether the thermometer was off or it was accurate.  Obviously this the most accurate thermometer ever.
• Babies were WILD in the womb on Saturday. Moving every which way.  They did not get the memo to settle before delivery.
• Olive started wanting to be in the kennel, but I could easily call her out.  She played clicker games from 2-5, went swimming and chased the ball at 7pm on Saturday evening.  One short bout of nesting around 3pm but mostly just hanging out chill'n. 
• Olive wanted to go to bed in her kennel at 8:30pm.  No problem.  Let her go in and rest while I decided it was high time to move furniture in my office and make a place for her to start nesting in preparing for going to Alison's for delivery at HER house.  Oops.

Around 8:30 after everyone left.  Kel helped me move furniture and make a large area that I tossed some blankets down and her favorite crate was there.  But did I think that we'd have puppies within hours?  Absolutely not.

 

10pm I'm lying in bed with Olive in a crate next to me.  I hear her nesting and I thought, I hope this isn't going to go on for the next few days.  Then I hear a grunt and I jump out of bed, turn on the light, open the crate, and Olive is in a panic with a baby hanging out of her.  AHHHHHHHH!

 

Kel was a rock.  He helped me carry her and the donut bed to the office and then brought me everything I asked for.  I texted Laura, phoned Alison and tried my best to keep baby #1 alive and happy while Olive panicked and didn't want anything to do with this alien that came out of her. 

 

Laura and Jeanine arrived just as baby #2 came out breached...but no problems.  Baby 3 followed soon afterward and things started to get calmer.  Alison arrived and we had an hour wait for baby #4 and then #5 following within 15 minutes.  The icing on the cake was #5 arrived and is a mini me to Olive...full white (we'll see if she gets spots as she grows up).

 

All babies are happy and healthy.  To say I'm in love is an understatement.  They went to Alison's yesterday and although I know it is best, I'm missing them all so much.  I get them back after 4th of July.  Can't wait...maybe I'll actually have a pen ready for them for their next arrival to my house.

 



 Baby #3 boy  5.2 ounces 

 

 

Baby #6 girl 5.4 ounces

 

 Baby #4 girl 5.7 ounces

 

Baby #2 girl 5.7 ounces (largest puppy)

 

Baby #1 girl 4.5 ounces (littlest)

Ready, Steady, ACTION!

We have babies!  June 25 is the due date.  So excited.

Foundation Skills — Toys

 

When training for agility it is important to consider training reinforcements.  Many people new to the sport think only that food is a reinforcement, but toys can and should be used for training too.

When picking out a toy, you want to make sure it is a toy that can be used for tugging and has the weight needed to be tossed accurately.

Elements of a toy I look for:

• Long.  I like a toy with some length to it so that I can tug with my dog and not have the dog gripping too close to my hand.
• Made up of different materials.  I look for toys with different materials (rubber udders, fabric, rope, real fur, etc.) to provide my dog with interesting textures to tug on.
• Toys my dog likes.
• A variety of toys depending on what I want to do.
• Balls for tossing and retrieving
• Frisbees for tossing, retrieve, and a tug.
• Tugs with some weight to them for foundation skills allowing for tossing and tugging yet long enough that I can race my dog to the toy but not get bit because we are both grabbing for the toy at the same time.
• Food delivery toys (for dogs that are too distracted to tug at class or never learned how to tug). My favorite is the rip and tug Lotus toy.  It is available at many different online stores.

Some resources for your toy purchasing pleasure:

• Dream Dog Designs
• Planet Blue Dog
• Clean Run Store

First Trial — Essential Stuff you will need

For first time handlers going to an agility trial can be daunting.  There are some specific things you will "need" and tons of options you might like to make your first trial more successful.  Some people prefer to work out of their cars.  This is practical at certain trial sites, but many trial sites working out of the car just isn't practical due to security issues and proximity.  Listed below are the supplies of you want to set up on site.

Shade
No matter the trial site, shade is a necessity.  Shade must be required for your dog (if not you as well).

Canopies are available at many places.  If you feel that you will be doing dog agility for a long time, I recommend going with a more durable canopy.  If you aren't sure, get a cheaper one available at many different stores including Costco.   Tents are also used by some.  I find air flow is not as good as with an open canopy, but they do work and are lightweight.

Umbrellas are a great alternative to a full canopy, or a supplement to provide movable shade throughout your day for your canopy.  There are times when I'm traveling to a show with only one dog that I bring an umbrella and an extra shade cloth.  Available at many places, my favorite are these solar umbrellas available at beachumbrella.com.  Remember, you will need an umbrella holder that works with dirt.  Many of the umbrellas will screw into the sand, but none work alone at shows.  There are many different options, but I've really liked the ones I got from agilityworks.com. 

 

Shade cloth is something you will need.  Whether you go with a full canopy or an umbrella, you should have at least one item that repels the sun and heat as the sun moves throughout the day.  There are different types.  The picture is a solid shade cloth that can double for when you want to keep the wind down on your dog or want to cover the crate to help with barking.

This photo is a shade cloth that has air flow for those really warm days when any breeze is helpful to keeping cool.

 

Dog Crate

You will want to bring an enclosure for your dog.  Crates or xpens are useful, but be careful with xpens.  If there is any possibility that your dog will jump out, cover the pen or use a crate.   

 

You will also want to bring something to cover the crate in case your dog starts barking.  Barking in the crating area is frowned upon and at some venues they will ask you to leave.

 

Make sure that you bring a water dish for your crate as well as water from home.  Some venues will not have water available.

 

Chair

If you want to sit during the day on something other then the ground, you will need a chair.  Most people get the inexpensive fold up chairs, but the most popular chair is the directors chairs.  Shop around as the prices of these vary from $30 to $70 depending on what you want.

 

Supplies for your Dog and Yourself

• Your height card to get measured
• Money in case there are vendors
• Dog treats/toys
• Dog water
• leash/collar
• Ice chest with your nibbles for the day and human water
• Fan for dog if it is hot

 

Resources for Your Trial Supplies



• Beachumbrellas.com
• REI.com
• Cleanrun.com
• Planetbluedog.com
• ezup.com
• amazon.com
• craigslist.com
• ebay.com

Mastering Consistency - What is success?

Success is the topic of the day in the agility blog-o-sphere.   Here is a link to many more blog posts on success.

 

I often struggle when things don't go my way.  I believe writing this blog and defining success for me has truly helped me get focused on what really matters.

 

I will never forget the feeling the first time I made it to a podium at a regional.  Although it hadn't been my goal at the time, I sure felt successful standing there with my ribbon.  But I also have to ask myself, am I unsuccessful if I don't make it to the podium?  Those years I don't make it to the podium (of which there are many) am I disappointed in myself, in my dog? At a Nationals, there could be 300 dogs in my height division.  There are only 3 spots.  Should we say that 296 people are unsuccessful even if each of us put months into reaching these goals?

Do I toss everything into the toilet if it doesn't go as planned?

I am learning that success is a journey rather than a destination.  The journey will include joy, laughter, and pain.  Working with my beautiful boy Tazz so he is a confident playful boy when introduced to new dogs has been a very long journey.  Even today at 10 years, Tazz can revert to his old ways.  It isn't something that I get recognition for, but boy do I get the looks and frowns when he acts like a shit head.  There are no first places for helping a dog overcome reactivity and aggression.  But when I see a happy relaxed dog, I feel even more successful than when I get a ribbon running Fin.

 

Success for me is working consistently towards goals.  I believe it was Stephan Covey that first spoke about not giving up what you want in the long term for what you want today.  It is how I am learning to define success.  Consistency.  Consistency toward my goals.  Not giving up when those goals go off the rails, or don't take the path I first thought I'd be on.

Consistently working with a dog until you find what makes that dog tick and turn on.  Not getting disappointed when it doesn't go your way.  Certainly not blaming the dog or myself.

Consistently working on my relationship so that I feel connected to my dog. Even if that connection is something different then I originally planned.

Enjoying the journey without the public acknowledgement and awards.  Looking for the laughter and happiness in the little things and hoping they become big things in time.

When things go right, understanding that they went right because of hard work; even though at that moment it seems so easy.

When we get a puppy there is so much anticipation and excitement for what that puppy might become.  Excitement of the expectation of greatness in the sport we choose.  But sometimes, the journey that you are on with this particular dog doesn't take the path you expected.  Success is the ability to maintain your goals but still work at the dogs pace, even when that path is a much longer one than you planned for.  Success is watching friends, students, and mentors achieve awards that you have been working towards and still maintaining your journey despite the lack of recognition.

Lastly, success is having joy and laughter along the way.  Keeping a positive attitude and not worrying about what others might think.