A Breath of Fresh Air

I apologize for being reticent lately in regards to blogging. Part of the problem is a lack of access at work and the inability to type on my laptop at home. You see, a certain young dog who shall remain nameless here, decided to drool on my keyboard, thus rendering a number of the keys non-functional. For instance, when I attempt to use the “o” key, the cursor will either jump back to the beginning of the paragraph, or insert an “8”. At least if it chooses to insert an “8”, I can manually delete that. In cases where it jumps around, I have to type, cut, and paste the portion of the sentence that I can manage until I need to use an “o” again. One never realizes just how many “o’s” one uses until one can no longer easily use this key. This previous sentence, for example, would have been very challenging. Additionally, when I try to type an “l” the backslash is inserted as well. There are a number of other quirks involving the number pad and other keys, but needless to say, I find using my keyboard to be more frustrating than useful. However, since they have finally upgraded our Microsoft Office suite from the 2003 version to the 2010 version here at work, I am more willing to type here and copy and paste into Blogger when I get home. At least THOSE features still work on my laptop.

At any rate, it has been a busy month. Buster and I traveled to North Carolina for our vacation the week of the 14^th and stayed at a place called Four Paws Kingdom Campground (4pawskingdom.com, check it out!). It was the first week I have had off since our honeymoon in May of 2012, so it goes without saying that I was looking forward to it. It was also fall foliage season up north, which can be breathtaking if you catch it at the right time. The campground is somewhere I had always wanted to stay after visiting for one day back in 2008. It is a place owned by a very nice, corgi-loving couple and it caters exclusively to dog owners. Children are actually NOT ALLOWED. There are several dog parks, hiking trails, a Rally-O course, and two agility fields. There is a human/dog swimming pond, a doggy bath house, and a gift shop stocked with dog goodies. It is also conveniently located within 1-2 hrs from Grandfather Mountain, Linville Falls, Asheville, Boone, and Chimney Rock, among other places. Since we don’t have an RV, we stayed in one of their three rental cabins. It was aptly named the “Bonnie” cabin and had a small, fenced yard, a bed, futon, microwave, fridge, toilet and sink, and grill on the porch. We LOVED it. I was able to balance playing with dogs and going sight-seeing, and Buster was even able to enjoy a round of disc golf at a beautiful nearby course. Sadly, Xander managed to hurt his toe in the weeks before, so he was benched for many things (including several agility trials he was entered in, but I will get to that later). We were able to bring Trudy with us on many of our expeditions, though, as North Carolina is VERY dog friendly. It was so nice to see dogs everywhere! We brought everyone but Kirby to the cabin (since he does not play well with others, he stayed home with Aunt Lara and Aunt Jane taking care of him), and we left Kaylee and Xander in the cabin each day while we took Trudy hiking and shopping. Our expeditions included the Mile-High Bridge at Grandfather Mountain, a 1,000 ft hiking trail/stair climb at Chimney Rock, and a hike up to Linville Falls. Trudy was a hiking superstar in terms of climbing ability and stamina; however, she lost some points barking at children brandishing large branches, dogs wearing sweaters that have bells, and old couples with dual walking sticks. She approved of getting treats at the 3 Dog Bakery in Asheville, but did not approve of the life-sized, stuffed Labradors modeling accessories.

Trudy the Mountain Goat

The highest point of Grandfather Mountain

The view from the Mile High Bridge on GF Mountain

Before our big hike up to the bridge

On the high, scary rock after the bridge

A view of Linville Falls

We ate lots of S'mores. Buster approved.

Before hiking over a 1000ft of trails and stairs at Chimney Rock

Blue Ridge Parkway

We finished off the week at my Aunt Michelle and Uncle Danny’s house near Charlotte where we stayed our last two nights. Here, the dogs made friends with everyone except for the poor cat, Jasper, who wisely hid most of the time. Also, Trudy revealed a terrible flaw in my socialization duties when she decided that my little 5 and 10 year old cousins were terrorists. Finn wisely pointed out that she was not trained. Sorry kids. Xander, on the other hand, really surprised me by how easy-going he was with strangers in a strange house and a strange dog and children, etc. He took it all in stride when he is normally the one to make a scene or baulk at anything different. I think he was distracted by Trudy’s reaction….

We came home in the evening on Sunday and both returned to work Monday morning, which should never be the case. It was well worth it though, as I would not have missed out on a moment of hanging out in downtown Davis drinking coffee and chatting with my cousin Kara about her future farm, or shopping for a tooth box with Finn and Jana. Of course, we were also treated to a trip on the boat, lots of DELICIOUS Aunt Michelle (aka Gimmie) food, and many laughs.

Since we’ve been back, I have been looking at jobs in the North Carolina area. We really would like to live there someday. Seeing the leaves on the Blue Ridge Parkway was breathtaking, but it was also the cleanliness of the air, the friendliness of the people, and the plethora of parks and hiking opportunities that make Florida look hot, flat, and dirty in comparison. It was so hard to come back, especially since a ship HIT one of our main bridges, which rendered it impassable for roughly a month. This caused the morning commute to increase from about 15 mins to about 45 minutes of frustration. Thankfully, it finally reopened yesterday, but only because the city paid extra to have it fixed before the FL/GA game this weekend. At least football is good for something. Also, I had a terrible sinus headache for the entire first week straight that we were back. Seriously, I am allergic to Jacksonville.

Until such time as we relocate, I had planned on running Xander in trials again. In fact, we were entered for our local trial last weekend and another three in November. Sadly, we missed out on a day in Ocala back on the first weekend of October because of a sore toe. He was playing Frisbee that Friday night, and suddenly did not want to run. It took me squeezing all of his toes for two days before I finally got a reaction from his left front. I rested him for a couple of weeks in addition to a trip to the vet. The vet did not think it was broken due to his manipulation and Xander’s willingness to put weight on it. You really can’t tell something is wrong unless you are really looking closely at his gait, or you squeeze his toes. I went ahead and pulled him from our two local fall trials, sadly, and a couple out of town. Even though he is WILLING to run, I don’t want him to hurt himself worse or hurt something else because he is protecting his foot. This is disappointing considering we were JUST getting back into the swing of things, and had only been to two trials in September. In the grand scheme though, it is not a big deal, and his health and safety are FAR more important to me, especially in the long run. So, Trudy is enjoying being the center of the agility attention. It also seems that virtually overnight, she went from a year of foundation work, to a couple of sessions on real equipment, to suddenly being a real agility dog! She is weaving twelve poles with speed, jumping nicely, performing all her contacts nicely (with the occasional less-than-confident teeter, so we’ll keep working on that), and sequencing! It is so cool to see how easy agility can be when you do your foundation homework, as Sylvia always says. She is also having fun, which was always my biggest concern. It turns out that she enjoys it more now that all the “boring” pieces have come together. (You can only do so many multi-wraps on the ground before you get tired of it). Her jumping had also looked terrible at lower heights, as she just didn't seem to even acknowledge the bar. Now that I have worked her up to always jumping 20in, she looks great! I was worried about her needing to jump 22in for USDAA, but since she is now almost as tall as Xander and about 8lbs lighter, I am not really concerned. We may try some at that height this weekend. Then I need to decide when to make her debut. I am not spaying her until she is 2, and if she follows the 6 month rule of thumb, she will likely go into season sometime in December. But since I don’t know for sure, I will probably wait until early next year. We are really in no hurry, but it would be fun to get her some ring experience in one of the game classes or something.

Overall, things are going well and I am thankful. Apparently it is almost the season for that, considering Thanksgiving is less than a month away. Hard to believe we have zipped right through another year. I reread one of my blogs from mid-2012 that talked about my pattern of exciting years and building years. The even numbered years tend to be exciting, and the odds tend to be building. Since this has been another building year, and next year is even numbered, I am looking forward to some excitement. A move to North Carolina maybe? Who knows! 

Back in the Saddle

After over six months of not entering any trials, I just finished a weekend in Palmetto for an AKC trial. We only did probably 3 or 4 AKC trials at all last season, as I was focused on USDAA to finish our ADCH. With that accomplished in December, and after a long break, I decided to focus on our MACH going forward. While I have entered a few of my favorite USDAA trials for fun, I am making an effort to find enjoyment in AKC. The courses may be a little simple, but we still make mistakes, and he really does love to open up and run full out on many of the courses that afford that opportunity in AKC. Given our limited trialing in this venue, we went into the weekend needing two standard legs for our MX, which we got. We also got our 8^th MXF title with a first, and won Time2Beat for the first time ever on Sunday. Our only mistake all weekend was me accidentally sending him back into the weaves on an otherwise brilliant JWW run that cost us another DQ. However, going 5/6 on our first trial back was FAR more than I could have expected. I think my mental game was the best it has ever been, for a number of reasons. The long break helped tremendously, going to the gym regularly for strength, stamina, and mental health, as well as the presence of many good friends at this trial whom I’d missed more than I had even realized. Xander was picking up on my good vibes I think, and we were both relaxed and easy going before running each time. While it was brutally hot, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and so did Xander.

The weekend began with my brilliant idea of camping/sleeping in my van, however, the 90 degree temps and hordes of mosquitoes made that a nightmare. Somehow we survived Friday night and still managed to function on Saturday. Thankfully, my wonderful friend Terri who lives in Tampa graciously offered us a place to stay Saturday night that was insect free and air conditioned! We also had a delicious Mexican dinner and margaritas that indeed proved to be Q juice for the following day.

Trudy was a super star in all of the traveling, crating, staying in the x-pen with her brother at the trial, not barking at Terri’s house, and generally being a good sport about being dragged around everywhere. She really has had limited overnight travel experience, given that she was only six months old or so the last time we did it. She really is a great little dog who seems to have a confidence and mood boosting effect on Xander and I. She is like our own personal happy pill. She is so thrilled with life; it is hard not to feel the same way around her. She also had some good experience ringside and on the practice jump and was a superstar as always. We had some playtime with friends her size, and generally a great time overall.

I think that in the future, I will plan my trialing to include nice breaks of 3-4 weeks for every 4 months of trialing. I am hoping this, along with going to the gym regularly; eating well, maintaining relationships with positive people and staying well rounded will keep me from getting burnt out again so I can continue to enjoy this sport without letting the negativity creep in. I looked at all of Xander’s pictures taken by the photographer, and he is smiling in every single one. That’s why I do this sport. I love that sweet, sweet boy!

Also, I brought my camera, but then totally spaced out in every run and forgot to give it to Chris for filming us. However, the lovely Gail thoughtfully caught one of our standard runs. It was actually my second least favorite run of the weekend, as he had some wide turns and a near miscommunication around the A-frame/table, but the ending was nice. And Amanda wanted to see video, so here you go. I will try to do better next time!

The Drug I Can't Give Up

Ok, so apparently I needed some time away and a chance to adjust my attitude, because now I find myself missing agility. (Surprise, surprise).

Being on Facebook makes it difficult to remove that part of my life because virtually all of my friends are posting pictures of agility, videos of agility, talking about agility, etc. At first I found this annoying. Then I thought, hey, there are some dogs having fun. Finally someone posted this video:


Watching this made me all me happy and fuzzy, which led me back to watching my own videos. Happy dogs with big smiles and tails wagging. Good stuff. Then Tori posted something inspiring. Then Daisy posted something sweet and beautiful. And another friend, and another about how much they love their dogs and how wonderful they are no matter the results. Sigh. So I took the dogs out the to practice field for the first time in many, many weeks and we had a blast. Xander was fantastic. Spot on and so happy to play. Trudy, who has only had foundation work and had never really done any REAL agility before, took to it like a beaver to a stream. She did A-frames for the first time right into target position with cute little nose touches. She took little jumps into the tunnel, and even a few assisted teeters. She stayed focused and happy the entire time. Who knew?

Remember this post? (for those few of you that followed me back then)
http://doggiedojo.blogspot.com/2011/01/her-name-is-agility.html

Yeah, so apparently I know myself fairly well. At least I did when I wrote that, and I do again now having gone back and read it again. While there are a number of things about the sport I don't like, it really is a part of me and who I am, and I can't give it up.

I CAN, however, strive to maintain moderation, a proper attitude, and not place importance on titles and scores. I CAN love and enjoy my dogs for who they are and what they each have to offer without comparing our team to other teams. I CAN work to block out negativity, surround myself with positive and nonjudgmental people, and enjoy the good things. One of my weaknesses is that I tend to focus on the negative in myself and others, but I can work on that. What I can't do is stay away.

Agility, you are the drug I can't give up.


Also, today is Trudy's 1st birthday! Time flies...except it seems like she's been pestering Xander, barking like a maniac, and bouncing on my head much longer than that. Here's to many more years of partying!!

Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth

People have opinions. Lots of them. Some are well intention-ed; some begin well intention-ed and get carried away. Others are purely selfish or misguided. Either way, when you get a large enough group of people together, there will most certainly be head butting over these opinions.

Xander and I earned his ADCH in December. After that, I felt the need for a well deserved break after many months of a fairly heavy competition schedule. Competing had become increasingly stressful and tedious, and I'd drifted from the actual love of the game which had brought me there in the first place. I was also afraid that Xander had stubbed his toe doing the A-frame on his last run of the weekend, and I scratched him from his remaining two runs so as not to risk further injury. This was easy to do, given that we had already earned the title I so "doggedly" had sought. In the back of my mind, I wondered if I would have been so willing and able to make that sound decision if our title was still on the line. That has troubled me ever since. When Kaylee hurt her back in the summer after she earned her MACH, I was desperate to get her "fixed" so she could compete in Nationals later in the fall. We traveled back and forth to Gainesville for acupuncture and I learned massage therapy and how to use ice/heat, etc. She came back to compete, but shortly after that my domestic situation changed and we ended up taking two years off from agility. In the years following, I was never as driven to compete with her. I knew she had the potential for re-injury, but the rules had changed to allow her to jump 8 inches as opposed to the 12 inches she'd had to jump for her first 30 DQ's. After she earned her MACH 2, I basically retired her. She was so consistent that we could have earned MANY MACH titles, but what was the point? Why would I risk injuring her for something so trivial as a title? What did it really mean anyway? Would the titles still make me happy if she was limping around in pain at 11 yrs old? Certainly not. She is currently that age and is happy, spry, and quite fast for the granny of the house. She certainly still gives the youngsters a run for their money.

As far as Xander goes, he is only 4 and will turn 5 at the end of August. Technically still in the prime of his life. He has been kept in good condition; exercised, conditioned, strengthened, stretched, etc. Why do I feel as though I don't want to do agility anymore?

I think it started with a trial we tried to attend in February in Savannah, GA. I should have known better than to enter an outdoor trial in February, but it was only for Saturday, and close enough that I could drive back and forth in the same day. First of all, it was BRUTALLY cold and windy. The jump uprights were blowing over in the wind, and a huge storm appeared to be heading our way. I grumbled as I tried to suffer the cold without hiding in my car. The dogs love the cold, so I knew they wouldn't mind. We had a nice FAST run, but an uncharacteristic mistake in the send. No big deal, as the run had other nice elements. Our jumpers run hours later was a bit of a train wreck because I was too cold and miserable to concentrate. I was actually relieved though, because there was no DQ on the line, and I could go home without kicking myself for missing out on standard. This seemed silly; to drive all that way (2+ hrs), pay the entry fees (about $60) and be RELIEVED that I got to leave early. Why was I doing this? I thought maybe I was just burnt out. Then I watched a gentleman (and I use that term loosely) LITERALLY cuss his tiny Boston terrier out for making a mistake on the jumper course. My friend Anna Marie and I stood in disbelief as he repeatedly dropped the f-bomb on the poor little dog and then after putting it in the car, slamming his door, pounding his fist on the car, and basically succumbing to a temper tantrum. And this was a LARGE GROWN MAN. We actually yelled at him to chill out. I was disgusted and so sad for that poor little dog. None of them CHOOSE to do agility. They don't care about freaking titles and stupid ribbons. They just want to play with us and they do a DAMN FINE job of deciphering our sometimes confusing attempts at communication. Even a dog that can sit and down on command is amazing, because we humans are too dense to know (or too arrogant to care) what other species are trying to communicate to us.

I left the trial that day and got a report later that it had poured down icy-cold rain, and people continued to run their dogs in it. No thanks. I was halfway home when all that nonsense started and feeling quite pleased with myself for that decision.

Lately, there was an incident in the agility community where dogs were asked to run on a slippery surface. A public outcry of rage followed and accusations of abuse were thrown around. Just yesterday, well known and generally highly respected competitor Susan Garrett posted a video of her young dog wiping out in the rain. Again, people responded with outrage that the dog would be asked to run in such a condition. I have seen many people ask dogs to run that appeared lame, or ran in slippery conditions, or on less than optimal equipment. Agility is like a fever, and when you want that high, some will risk their dog and throw common sense out the window. I am not saying that's what has happened to every person in these scenarios, but it is certainly a common factor in many cases I've seen where the title or the ribbon becomes more important than the dog or the relationship. I am not immune to this impulse, and that is why I have stepped away from the sport for several months reevaluate how I feel about it. If agility is a drug, you cannot "dabble" in it and remain clear headed. You must go cold turkey.

Sadly, when I joined the sport over 15yrs ago, it was a tiny group of people doing something new and unique that few had ever heard about. To get a dog to weave was an incredible achievement in and of itself. Now, many years later, dogs are being asked to do incredibly difficult and complicated things, and the standards we hold them to are much higher. Where once small victories were celebrated, now we are more likely to be hyper-critical of small mistakes and failures. I find it very sad that no longer at the center of the sport is the love of playing with your dog, rather it is the desire to become a champion and nationally recognized. I thought I wanted this once too. And of course not everyone at the highest levels has lost sight of their love for their dog, but the relationship is complicated now. Many of these top competitors would not be likely to just have a dog for the sake of enjoying their company, instead they choose their dogs carefully based on structure, drive, speed, biddability, and the potential to become a champion athlete. I actually had in the back of my mind when I got Trudy that I hoped she didn't like agility, but rather was just a happy, even-tempered, friendly little dog that I would just enjoy having around. While I won't say that she couldn't be taught to love agility, she really does prefer just to play in short sessions, cuddle, go for walks and annoy her brother. She is easy to take for walks to the beach, she loves everyone and has zero phobias, no reactivity, and is generally a doll to have around. I love Xander with all my heart, but he is reactive, phobic, and gets very stressed out in many situations. He is actually pretty laid back for his breed, but he is certainly not an "easy" dog. This is another issue, as these are the types of dogs you see more and more at shows. The focus is on dogs with drive and speed, but they come with all sorts of "side effects." Trying to navigate a crowded trial through a sea of dogs lunging at you from within their crates or on their leashes because they are so "driven" is nerve wracking. And being afraid to walk past other dogs on leash because both your own dog and those strange dogs are reactive is no fun. Waiting for hours and hours for your runs while listening to dozens of dogs stress bark in their cars and tents leaves me drained and irritated by the end of a long day.
When I think about spending hundreds of dollars, countless hours, and constantly risking the health and safety of my dogs for the pursuit of some essentially meaningless titles, I really can't justify it. I would actually love just to have a back yard big enough for some jumps to play with my dogs so I could enjoy that teamwork with them, but they are equally happy catching frisbees.

At some point, agility became like politics. There are "sides" now. Some who want to make it easier, others that want to make it harder. Some that say our dogs should never be asked to do "a" and others who say they shouldn't be asked to do "b" and others who say they should be able to do "a and b and also c." Some who say it's cruel to leave a dog crated, others who say it's cruel not to. Cliques are formed of the "highly competitive" who sometimes look down on the "casual competitor," Or perhaps the casual competitor interprets the serious competitor as being "meaner" to their dogs for holding them to a higher standard. I don't know what is right and what is wrong, or even if there IS such a thing. There is a reason I stay out of politics.

All I can say is that while I enjoy the basic premise of playing the game of agility, it has all gotten carried away. I love my dogs and just want to see them smile in that way that panting dogs do after a job well done. I don't want to be stressed out, worked up, nerve wracked, and irritated just to play a game. While there are many truly WONDERFUL people in the sport (and you know who you are), the taste of it all has gotten rather sour lately. I won't say that this can't change in the future, and I hope it does, but for now, I am just going to enjoy my dogs as best I can and see that they are as happy and healthy as I can make them without any expectations attached. Sleeping in on the weekends and having time to do laundry is also really nice.

She looks pretty happy with her "simple" life, wouldn't you say?

Never a Dull Moment

Hi everyone.

My apologies for the disappearing act, as I haven’t actually fallen off the planet. Life has been a little crazy in the last couple of months. We had an unexpected house guest that threw everything a bit out of orbit, however, I think that issue has been resolved and will hopefully not arise again.

Buster has also been insanely busy with his job in preparation for the promotion he will be receiving in the next week or so. Congrats to my amazing, endlessly hard-working husband!! His first step into management after 4 years with Pepsi, in spite of being laid off in the first year due to the bad economy. I know they are glad they hired him back!!

He also directed a disc golf tournament which basically hijacked his life for several weeks, and an entire weekend. On top of all that, he was out of town for a week to visit family back in NY, which led to a perfect storm of crazy for me. My good friend Lara also got the job she’s wanted for many, many months, which required a week of training in California. This just happened to coincide with Buster being gone, and given that I had promised her my house and dog sitting services, left me in the care of eight dogs between two houses, with one corgi who does not play nicely with others. This resulted in me shuffling the collies back and forth between houses, feeding and pottying dogs between the two places, sleeping in one place and running to the other before and after work, etc. It was interesting to say the least. And on top of THAT, my good friend Amanda came to visit for a couple of days during the same week! I also volunteered my services to pick up and drop off people at the airport, so between Lara, Buster, and Amanda, the airport was my second home. There were also terrible delays due to weather, which left poor Amanda stuck traveling for 30hrs straight, and Lara waiting hours for luggage. I spent LOTS of time in the courtesy waiting lot. All in all, everyone survived and got where they were supposed to go, Trudy and Xander had a BLAST with their buddies at Aunt Lara’s house, and I finally got to sleep when Lara and Buster came home.

The very next weekend, Buster’s old, dear friend Jeff came to visit from Boston. In order to show him a great time, Lara got dog sitting duty for the weekend and we took off for a short but fun filled trip to Universal Studios. It was nearly two years since Buster had proposed to me there, so Mardi Gras was again in full swing. We saw Pat Benatar this time, and I must say, that old gal still rocks it out! She was celebrating her 31^st wedding anniversary with her guitarist husband, which is inspirational for anyone, let alone a rock star.

We drank, rode coasters, ate good food, watched some March Madness, and overall had a great time. And then we were BACK at the airport to drop him off on Sunday evening. I hope I am done with airports for  a while....And poor Buster will finally have a weekend off this weekend after a long stretch of work, family, traveling, entertaining, and tournament directing! I know I will be happy to have a little more calm around the house, although with Trudy around, that is a joke.

Speaking of Trudy, she has decided she loves anything plastic, which is a great thing when it comes to catching a Frisbee, but not so great when we leave things on counters, etc. She is a holy terror when it comes to counter surfing, but she has really turned onto the disc and is showing some amazing style! She drives the other dogs (and sometimes us) nuts, but she’s just so damn cute, it is impossible to be annoyed with her for long. She is now about 8.5 months old and close to 30lbs. She ended up growing more than we expected, and is actually within an inch or two of Xander, although she is 8-10lbs lighter. She’s is as acrobatic as a cat and loves to perch on the back of furniture, and can jump to about my eye level! Crazy girl. Xander seems so calm now in comparison….

I must finally admit that I came to a point around the middle of February when I felt BURNT OUT on agility. I actually skipped a couple of trials (including my own home trial) and did not miss it. I think the combination of craziness that was going on all conspired to this, but it is nice to step away and take a break sometimes. I think we will continue to save money and rest for a few months, and look at how we feel in the fall. I am very satisfied with Xander’s ADCH, and at the moment don’t feel a driving need to compete. I know myself though, and that will not last forever…

Wait, what did I say about Xander being calm? Through Trudy, he has discovered an old toy that has been ignored for years, a blue football that makes incredibly loud and annoying noises. He is currently OBSESSED with it. I have not seen him this way with anything other than a disc. As we speak, he is throwing it at me again, and has been doing so since I came home several hours ago. Trudy, meanwhile, is shredding the shrubbery she managed to drag through the dog door and barking at Kaylee whenever the poor old girl shows a passing interest in one of the leaves. Never a dull moment around here...

So Far, So Good

After the incredible awesomeness that was my 2012, I had an irrational fear that 2013 would be proportionately bad. I know that makes no sense (hence the irrational part), but it felt like I would need to balance the scales, so to speak. After something hit my windshield and caused a 3ft long crack, I thought my fears had been validated. Thankfully though, I live in Florida, and that meant a new windshield from my insurance with no deductible. Whew! Safelite came out one Saturday morning, replaced the windshield in less than an hour, and viola! good as new. Actually better than new, since the new windshield has more tinting along the top and blocks the sun better.

Other than that, January has been filled with entertaining Trudy, going to work, and doing lots of agility. We started a different class on Wednesday nights which I have enjoyed, especially since we get home before 9 (we go to bed early around here). We went to one of my favorite trials, Dog On It, and enjoyed the fact that we didn't "need" to Q in anything, since we'd already gotten our ADCH. Funny thing is; it took us almost a year (albiet a limited number of competitions) to get three standard legs. Since then, we have gotten the last four all in a row! The mind does funny things when there is pressure to perform.

This past weekend, we returned to the world of AKC for a trial in Daytona. We drove back and forth both days, since it is close by, and that always makes me happy. I will avoid staying in a hotel if I can! The weather was gorgeous, and even a bit too warm, especially for January, but more than pleasant under cover. The club offered both games each day, and it was a surprisingly small entry, so we had four runs and were still home before 4pm both days! Very unlike most AKC trials, I wish they were all like that. The courses were generally boring; reminding me again of the stark contrast between AKC and USDAA. However, they allowed for distance and speed, and Xander enjoyed opening up and extending, sometimes a bit too much. Funny enough, we went off course in Time 2 Beat both days on what looked to be very easy courses, but I just could not keep up. Then we were having weird weave pole issues because of the lighting. The arena's patches of bright light and dark shadows, coupled with the fencing, created an optical illusion which caused countless dogs to miss entries or pop out early, Xander included. That was our only fault in standard Saturday, as that was the only ring affected. We had a gorgeous JWW run and won the class, and had a decent FAST run and won that class as well. On Sunday, we had a hideous standard run, but somehow managed not to NQ, and then redeemed ourselves with another win in JWW to earn a double Q, which brings the total to five. We also earned MXF leg number six with a first place, and then had a train wreck in Time 2 Beat. Overall, it was a fun weekend hanging out with friends and enjoying many runs and short days.

This coming weekend we will be at our home trial, so hooray for more agility within staying at home range. It is AKC again, and I will admit that since we have our ADCH, I am thinking about a MACH, and probably will enter more trials. Although we do have a schedule still filled with USDAA throughout February and March. Why not keep working on that Bronze ADCH too?!

Buster just reminded me that my birthday is coming up. Didn't I just have one of those?

2012 Officially My Best Year

Turns out there was some magic left after all! We went into the weekend needing to Q both days in Standard, which was not probable considering our recent track record in that class. In spite of that, we conquered two very tricky courses (with a first place yesterday and a fifth place today) to earn our ADCh! I am so grateful to Buster for his support, my friends and various teammates along the way, Jerri Carter for rescuing border collies, and especially Kelly Rossi for surprising me by getting it on film without me even asking. AND she cheered the loudest! :)

Thank you also to the nice photographer who was set up to do portraits but was willing to take our picture anyway and then just emailed it to me for nothing. Kevin Cartwright is super swell, be sure to check him out at future trials!

(Xander looks tortured, as usual, to have his picture taken ;)

Perry certainly holds magic for me, as that was the place where Kaylee earned her first MACH when she Double Q'd four days in a row back in 2005. This is so special to me because Xander is my first border collie, this was my first ADCh, and he is just the sweetest, goofiest, loving-est dog ever. I am so proud of my big mush and so happy I adopted that loud-mouthed, snuggly puppy four years ago. Thanks for the ride buddy!

For This I Am Grateful

Wow, what a year.

 

In light of the tragedies and difficulties that many people have faced (and some continue to face) in 2012, I almost feel guilty saying that this has been the best year of my life. However, I have faced my own share of difficulties in the past, so I will simply express the joy and gratitude that I feel for my own experience this year.

 

While not every moment of the year has been rainbows and unicorns, overall 2012 has been a steady stream of new and exciting events. Here’s a brief play-by-play:

 

February- We moved into our new rental. A townhouse with a small backyard, a full size garage, and roughly twice as much room as we had in our small apartment of the previous two years.

 

May-I married my best friend and the love of my life. It was beautiful, perfect, and story-like. We then celebrated for a week in the near paradise of Cozumel, Mexico. It was my first time out of the country (not counting our brief trip into Canada to visit Niagra Falls back in 2010)

 

June- We traded in Buster’s Mazda to get the new Odyssey van (aka perfect dog-mobile) of my dreams! I also equipped it with super-safe Ruff Tough kennels to give my pups the best form of transportation I can. The van is a luxurious ride and holds everything I need, and then some. Buster is also thrilled with driving the Element, which can haul everything he needs as well.

 

July-Through Buster’s networking; I landed a new job in the field I have pursued, and make almost 10k more a year. Best part: no more making copies!

 

September- I brought home our precious baby girl Trudy! She has been a nonstop source of love, humor, and excitement. I can’t remember what life was like before her! She has been a blast to train, has become best buddies with Xander (who FINALLY has a wrestling partner), and is just as sweet as can be. She is everything I could have hoped for.

 

November- My lucky scratch-off lottery ticket at a work holiday party scored me $1,000. I am now known throughout the office as “that girl who won $1,000.” No one believed that is was actually possible to win a real amount of money on a scratch-off (myself included), so I am now somewhat of a celebrity. So far I have paid for trips to the vet and bought a meat grinder, but we are mostly saving it toward a down-payment on a house.

 

I have also earned a bunch of titles lately with the incredible Xan-Man, began the adventure of making my own raw dog food, and done a variety of other things, but these were the highlights.

 

I am looking forward to spending Christmas with family, and then traveling to Perry, Ga to close out the year at the reportedly fun Sirius USDAA trial. We only need two standard legs for our ADCH, so we’ll see if there is any magic left in my 2012. If not, I certainly can’t complain, and it will leave something to look forward to in 2013!

 

Happy holidays to everyone. For those of you who have enjoyed 2012, I celebrate with you. For everyone else, I hope that 2013 brings you great happiness!

What's for Dinner?

It's official. I have taken the plunge.

I have toyed with the idea of "going raw" for years now actually, but the thought of it was too daunting and a bit scary. What if I don't do it right? What if I make my dogs sick or leave something important out? I read books about the BARF diet as far back as 5 years ago (and remember my friend Chris teasing me about the title of my book), but it never seemed like something I could realistically do. Frankly, given my previous financial situation, it would have been out of the question. However, years later, I have found myself in the position to give it a try, and so I have.

Part of what has given me the confidence to embark on this adventure is the book "Dr. Becker's Real Food for Dogs and Cats." I did some research and decided that I agreed with many of the good doctor's philosophies. I ordered the book, read it cover to cover twice, and have since made it my dog food bible. While Dr. Becker may not be the end all and be all in canine nutrition, the information made sense, and was presented in recipes and formulas that I could follow and reproduce.

The next step was to buy equipment. This included a food scale, freezable plastic containers, labels, a slew of vitamins, supplements, and bone meal, and most importantly: the food processor. Items still on my wishlist include a freezer chest and a grinder. Right now, I am purchasing boneless meats, chopping them into peices small enough to grind in the processor, and then adding bone meal for calcium. The most cost effective means to make food would be to purchase whole chickens and turkeys and then grind them, bone and all. As of now, I am paying more for the boneless meat and for the bone meal supplement, but given that a quality grinder is hundreds of dollars, and will need some place to live in the kitchen, I am compromising for now.

The first time I made a batch of food it took HOURS. Of course I am not used to buying organ meat, and so spent time looking for the ingredients: chicken livers, gizzards, beef heart (which I have yet to find) and beef liver. Also, I had to consider the fat content of the products I was purchasing, since these recipes call for 90-93% lean meat. I also looked for the variety of fruits and vegetables that make up a 25% of the diet, and weighing these items to procure the appropriate amounts. The next time I made a trip to the store, I knew better what I was looking for, where to find it, and how much to buy.

The prep time was a bit daunting, as I started from scratch and made 30lbs of meat (chicken, turkey, and beef mixes, as variety is important), and another 8lbs or so of vegetable/fruit puree. The fruits and veggies have to be chopped into peices small enough to fit in the processor and pureed into a soft enough blend that the dogs' bodies can process. The meat also had to be chopped and grinded and mixed with the organs, which is very messy work. Given that the processor can only handle about 2-2.5 cups at a time, this is a long process. Also, heat and air are enemies to raw meat, so the meat you are handling has to remain cold and the processor and other equipment have to be cleaned periodically during the process. I am also vigilant to the fact that I am dealing with raw poultry, so for the safety of the humans in the house, I bleached everything from the counters to the handles of the fridge and freezer. In the end though, I had a freezer full of 2lb containers of raw meat blends and veggie/fruit purees. We have just enough space to handle about a 10-12 day supply without much room for anything else. Hence the desire for an additional freezer.

At any rate, the dogs had been making the transition to raw food already, via the use of Nature's Variety Instinct Raw, which I was buying in 2lb chubs and feeding for the last month. I had started by mixing their kibble in with this until we transitioned just to the raw. I think this made it much easier for both them and I to make the switch to a homemade diet. I was already in the routine of weighing food and handling raw, but without all the prep.

In addition to the amount of  raw meat and veggies, they also get eggs and sardines added on alernating days for one meal each day. They also receive bone meal, as I mentioned earlier, fatty acid supplements in the form of krill oil capsules, and a mix of vitamins that I grind up in large supplies and keep in a mason jar. They also continue to receive Cosequin chews.

The feeding process has now gone from less than five minutes spent scooping kibble and watching them inhale it, to a fifteen minute process of measuring everything out, mixing it up, and watching them actually chew it for five minutes. As much work as it is, I feel very satisfied that they are receiving the best diet I can give them, and they have suffered no ill effects (ie diarrhea or vomiting). Their coats are looking fabulous, their energy is through the roof, and so far I am happy. It may cost me time and money, but if I can keep them happy and healthy into their teen years, it will be well worth it. Thankfully I have a husband who not only accepts my crazy obsession, but also encourages me in this endeavor. Thank you Buster for letting me fill the freezer with animal guts.

In agility news, we competed in our home AKC trial a couple of weekends ago with Xander Q'ing 5 out of 6 runs, earning his fourth DQ and his MXJ title. Considering we have only done three AKC trials this year, he is doing well! Add that to the Q's he earned from the one day of USDAA we had done the weekend before, and he earned 9 out of 10. I will take a 90% Q rate any day! We will be at our very favorite trial next weekend, Dog-On-It near Orlando, and hopefully chip away at the few remaining Q's we need for his ADCH. Also, there will be a special gamblers run involving Buster, so stay tuned for video.

Finally, I had a nice week of work last week, in which I taught two days of classes. The site we have been working at is "going live" tomorrow, so this week should prove more exciting than usual as well. Then the following week is Thanksgiving. Where did this year go?! It has been a good one, that's for sure. Married, new job, new van, new puppy (who is pricelessly adorable and precociously wonderful, as well as four months old now!). What more could a girl ask for?

Until next time, eat up!

Happy Times

Sorry I have been lax about updating. Again, I cannot access this site at work, which is terribly frustrating since that is prime blogging time; and at home, I am kept thoroughly occupied with Trudy.

We are having such a blast with her. She finds new ways to crack us up almost every day, as she lives with such joy and reckless abondon. Ah, to be a puppy. She and Xander also made friends the other day, and have spent their evenings engaged in play. This makes ALL of us happy, as it both occupies and exhausts the two most demanding members of the household. Evening the fun-police (aka Kaylee) has ceased to interuppt their games, as they play so quietly and with perfect contentment. She amazes me with her confidence and coordination at such a young age as well. Xander was such a floppy muppet with long legs and seemingly no awareness of the back ones, such that I didn't feel confident doing very much with him until he was considerably older. Trudy already can leap amazing distances and land like a cat, although we would prefer that she not leap from the stairwell to the back of the couch, often on Buster's head. She can push a skateboard, put at least three feet in a bowl at this point, and can perch effortlessly on a balance disk placed ON TOP of an upside down BOSU ball. This was not intentionally set up for her to do, she just decided to offer it as I stood gape mouthed watching her. She can also stand and take a few steps on her rear legs, demonstrating without any doubt that she is aware of how to use all of her legs, although she is not necessarily practical in her application of this skill.

Other than being early to bed and early to rise, which suits Buster's schedule but not mine, she has settled into a good routine with us. She is happy to ride in the car for as long as it takes without crying, as she knows we will be going somewhere fun. She gets in her pen for meals and goes in her crate for her bedtime cookie. She knows sit, down, shake each paw, hand touch, and we are working on wait. She is making progress on potty training, and has mastered the dog door at top speeds. Her new favorite trick is to make a high speed lap of our small backyard, come flying through the dog door, onto the couch (and usually in my lap or on my computer) and then go tearing through the door again. This is amusing unless you happen to be holding a mug of coffee or something similarly unfortunate.

On the agility front, she spectated at her first trial a couple of weeks ago in Charleston, NC at the Low Country USDAA show. I had never been there before, but thoroughly enjoyed it and plan to go back. It was a small, one ring trial with a friendly, laid back atmosphere and MANY people to engage in pass-the-puppy socialization exercises. She happily made many new friends, both human and canine, and met each new person bravely with a wagging tail. Much to my joy and surprise, she was quiet as a field mouse in her crate all day and was not bothered by all the noise and pedestrian traffic passing her by. Our friend Stacey let us hang out in her tent ring side, which was great fun, as we were able to watch everyone's runs in the comfort of our little space.

Her first night in the hotel was fabulous. She took everything in stride and thought it was a grand adventure. As we had woken at 4am to make the drive Saturday morning, by 7:30 that evening we were all asleep. Xander on the pillow next to my head, Trudy in her crate next to the bed, and me enjoying the comfortable mattress. That was the best night sleep I have had in weeks, even though we were all awake by 4:30 the next morning. Although the trial did not yield any Q's, we enjoyed the challenging course and had many close calls. The friends we saw and the experience we enjoyed far outweighed the lack of results, and I found myself so happy with Trudy's company, that I didn't mind it in the least!

Fast forward a couple of weeks to yesterday, which found us up early again for a day trip to Fort White, and the home of Rachel Flately. Here we competed in just one day of the Pawsitively Fun USDAA trial. We were off to a good start before we even had our first run, as Rachel gave a bag of Zuke's treats to the first five entries she had received. We were number four.

Soon enough, we were running Standard. This was also a small, one ring trial with a great atmosphere, and we felt almost as though we were running at our own practice field. This seemed to work for us as we FINALLY got the third leg we needed for Xander's Master Agility Dog title!! What a great way to start the morning. It was also cool that we got first place, and were the only dog to qualify. Stuart was there with Ares, as were a number of other quality competitors, so I must admit that felt a little good. I keep replaying it in my mind, as it felt so good while we were running.

Apparently we were on the same page yesterday, as the streak continued. We've had horrible luck in pairs, so I've basically let go of any hopes to Q consistently in that class, as it just seems to be one thing or another. However, when Travis Wall and Krazy Kali stepped to the line, they were solid and allowed us to knock the last bar and still earn 1st place. That girl is krazy fast for sure! We also had an amazing save on the weave poles. Actually, we had three somewhat miraculous weave entries yesterday, which I must attribute to Susan Garret's 2x2 method and all the time we've spent practicing wacky angled entries. Thanks Susan!

Snooker was next up. After two HEARTBREAKING rounds at Low Country, where we racked up tons of points in the opening only to have me mess him up in the closing, I decided to follow the advice I had gotten from several people. Be conservative, get through the closing, and the Super Q's will come. I didn't really believe it, especially after I watched Stuart and Ares clean up. However, we had the same plan as Lori and Moxie, and although I had one of those miraculous saves, but time-costly call offs before the weave poles, we made it through the closing. I thought there was no way we would get a Super Q with the small size of the trial, but as I watched many others fail to make it through to the end, I maintained a glimmer of hope. I finally checked the scoresheet and stared in disbelief as I saw Xander with a third place and the last Super Q for the 22in class! Now we only need ONE MORE for our title!! Hooray!

By the time Jumpers came around, I was on such a high that I felt nothing could bring me down. We enjoyed chatting with friends and playing with Trudy in a new place, on top of our three Q's already. (I didn't enter Gamblers, as we already have that title. When someone asked, I told them we were on the ADCh chase budget plan). A Q in Jumpers would just be icing on the cake. It was a lovely course I thought, and something that we could do, so we stepped to the line and did it! As we crossed the last jump, I had such a big smile and so much pride for my goofy boy who tries so hard. We were speaking the same language yesterday, and he listened so well, I was successful in a number of handling moves that had previously resulted in a fault. It's amazing what a bit of practice will do!

I was not at all sad that I had only entered Saturday, as there was no way we could top that performance on Sunday. And even if we could, I like being able to have fun one day and still have time to do responsible things the next day, like clean up the puppy inflicted disaster zone that is my house. And to write this blog. Which I haven't done in such a while.

At any rate, the agility filled month of October will conclude next weekend with our home trial at the equestrian center, which is nice, even though it is ACK. However, we will get to arrive late on Sunday since I am taking a break from course building and the multitude of little dogs will be running first. Ah, what a novelty it will be to arrive after 9am!

In parting, I would like to wish my amazing, patient, loving, generous, smart, funny, wonderful husband a happy 33rd birthday this coming Tuesday! He took Kirby with him while he played disc golf yesterday and while the collies were with me. It was such a wonderful, thoughtful and kind thing to do for the little crazy dog that doesn't play well with our dogs, but loves everyone else on the planet. Kaylee meanwhile sat at home alone either enjoying the quiet, or more likely, disrupted it with her incessant alarm barking. Sorry neighbors. Anyway, happy birthday again Buster, and I look forward to celebrating many more!

Rewind a Bit

I realized after publishing my last post that I sort of skipped a bit between the post where I said I had puppy fever, and the post where I said I was going to pick up a puppy. Much of this was discussed on Facebook, but sometimes I forget that the entire world is not on Facebook. Or looks at my particular Facebook. All twenty or so people that read this blog...

Anyway!

Trudy hails from the same rescue that I adopted Xander from four years ago. Jerri Carter has been running Southeast Border Collie Rescue League for over 25yrs, and I was lucky enough to find her when she rescued a pregnant momma dog four years ago, and hence came Xander.

I had gotten the puppy bug and was stalking a couple of litters, but also emailed Jerri to keep an eye out. Fatefully enough, she told me she happened to have a litter of 3wk old pups, which was exactly the age when I had found out about Xander's litter. The only difference was that Xander had been the result of a border collie/border collie breeding. I knew basically what I was getting.

This litter was different. Momma dog is a very sweet, black and white, split-faced border collie. She was dumped over Jerri's fence and gave birth a few weeks later. It is anyone's guess what the dad (or dads) identity was, as there are pups with very differing characteristics.

Some pups look very much border collie, others perhaps german shepherd, perhaps lab or aussie. Who knows?

Given that I love to do agility, and knowing what type of dog you are getting helps determine structural and behavioral compatability with the demands of the sport, it is a bit risky bringing home a dog of unknown parentage. At least, that's what I told myself when I went to see them for the first time at 5wks old.

There was immediately one pup that caught my eye. I knew I wanted a female (as the testosterone levels in my house were already high enough), so that narrowed it to five puppies immediately. The other six, although adorable, had penises, so they were ruled out. No offense boys.

Of the five girls, two were tricolor, and had sweet personalities, but one was somehow special.

She happened to be the smallest as well. Considerably smaller than some of her brothers. Confident, independent, curious, and balanced at five weeks, my interest was piqued. However, I cautioned myself not to make an impulsive decision, and decided to think about it for another week. As Jerri is located in Deland, around 1.5hrs drive south, I knew that deciding to make a return trip the next weekend would mean that I was seriously considering it, but still had the option to say no once I saw them again at six weeks.

Buster indulged me, although expressing valid concerns about having FOUR dogs. I thought long and hard about all the pros and cons throughout the next week as I looked at the pictures and videos I had taken during my first visit.

As I pulled into her driveway to see the now six week old pups, I finally decided to listen to my heart and let that make the decision. If I saw her again and felt that she was the one, that would be it...logical or not.

I saw her and immediately texted Buster and asked him not to divorce me.

So from then it was two weeks wait before I could bring her home. I didn't really talk about it much. I think I was afraid to jinx it.

Now that she is here, I am so thrilled. She is everything I could want in a puppy. She is condfident, affectionate, fearless, fun, bold, curious, sweet, and smart. She has adapted remarkably well in a very short time and is making my job relatively easy. Xander was the most difficult puppy ever and was afraid of everything and everyone. He is still a weenie....

Trudy is not daunted by anything and loves to make friends with new dogs and people, as well as experience new things. She does scream when initially confined, but settles eventually, and has gotten very good about her crate at night. She uses a potty patch in her ex-pen during the day, and wakes me up when she needs to potty at night, so no accidents in either place!

She LOVES to tug (which is of key importance to me) and on her very first clicker session switched seemlessly from tug to food and back and forth again. Love that! She also retrieved a ball the first few times, although now she prefers to play keep away ;) She walked happily on leash from the very first time and never looked back. She hasn't so much as whimpered for vaccines or to have her nails dremmeled. Truly nothing seems to phase her.

At 9wks and weighing in at 5.6lbs, I imagine she will be small, but I am not sure how small. My friend Alanna who is a vet is betting on roughly 25lbs. I did WANT a smaller female, but hopefully her dad wasn't a pomeranian. Either way, she is tremendous fun, and both Buster and I are completely smitten with her. Regardless of how she turns out, I am very happy with my decision, and glad I listened to my heart. I am both enjoying every second of her cuteness, as well as looking forward to what her future holds!

Very confident!

 

Tiny even compared to Kaylee!

 

I love to play!

And ocassionally sleep....

Sweet baby :)

 

Introducing Trudy!

Forgive me if this blog post rambles or loses its train of thought. I
blame that on puppy induced sleep deprivation. I passed my exit this
morning and made a costly 15min detour over a long and traffic
congested bridge this morning. Duh.
It is all worth it though!

Xander and I spent our last puppy-free weekend together at the
Palmetto AKC trial. We left Friday after work and drove to our friend
Terri’s house where she lives in Tampa. Terri very graciously lent us
her spare room and we thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her and
her dogs rather than staying in a skuzzy motel somewhere. (or sleeping
in a tiny tent on the ground. Although that was kind of fun the last
time we were in Palmetto almost a year ago).

We hadn’t been to an ACK, I mean AKC trial since February, and I have
to admit my mind wasn’t really in the game. For one thing, I knew I
would be driving home on Sunday and passing through Deland to pick up
our new little bundle of fun. For another thing, my mom came to visit
on Saturday and I spent the day catching up with her. And for another
thing, it is AKC, and AKC just tends to be boring. Long days, lame
courses filled with pinwheels and tiny tables and millions of dogs.
Hours spent waiting for a few runs. But it was agility, and we enjoyed
being there in spite of it all.

In addition to spending time with my mom, I got to hang out with a
number of cool people over the weekend, see lots of cute puppies (some
newer, some older), which made me long for Sunday afternoon again, and
play some Frisbee with Xander. We had a goofy FAST run on Saturday
morning, but were one of the few to get the send, so we Q’d. Although
I think I did the weaves in the wrong direction, and he knocked the
triple, so our points were not impressive. Oh well, I expected some
rust considering we hadn’t been to any trials at all since the
beginning of June. Standard was actually gorgeous except for one minor
problem. My formerly flawless table has been replaced with “gee mom,
do I really have to get on the table? And do I really have to stay on
the table?” Ugh. BUT our summer-long effort in practicing contacts has
paid off. His A-frames were GLORIOUS all weekend. Stuck. Held. Not
affected by my position or movement until verbal release. SO happy
about that. Hope I can manage not to break it again this season.

Jumpers on Saturday was just a train wreck. We pulled it together for
the second half of the run, but good god that was hilarious. It was
ENTRIRELY my fault though, since I was chatting with mom and one of my
former students and didn’t warm him up and barely made it to the line
as the were telling me “you are in the ring, NOW!” Ooops. Bad
distracted handler. Sorry Xan.

After leaving the trial, I took my mom home to their fishing village
in Bradenton, so that she didn’t have to ride the bus for another
hour. I was given a little tour of the area and made the return drive
to Tampa. My delightful GPS screwed me over on the way back and first
sent me into the Tampa airport, and then sent me back over the 7 miles
of bridge on 275. We drove over that damn bridge three times before
finally making it back to Terri’s house. Nothing a little girl’s night
our complete with an Artisian Cooler (super yummy drink) couldn’t fix.

Sunday morning I regrouped and gave Xander the focus he deserved. We
had an awesome Time 2 Beat run with a stellar A-frame again, and
earned 9pts toward that extraneous title. Standard was awesome again
with one minor flaw. A little too much momentum led to an off course,
BUT he had a beautiful table while I showered him with praise, and
another gorgeous A-frame. Love that boy.

Since jumpers wasn’t going to run for hours, and I had lots of driving
and a puppy to pick up before bed, I decided to leave early. My
friends Chris and Carol couldn’t believe I had waited that long. So we
departed at 1:30, finding out later from Terri that our class didn’t
run until 3:30 at which time it was pouring down rain. So glad I made
that decision!

By just short of 5pm, I had Trudy secured in her car
seat/backpack/rolling carrier in the front seat and was heading back
to Jacksonville. She screamed bloody murder for the first 30mins, took
a power nap, and screamed for a bit more until I pulled over for a pit
stop. She pottied quickly (good girl) and was not quite so dramatic
the rest of the way home.

Buster met us in the garage when we pulled up and was greeted
enthusiastically first by Xander. I took Trudy out to meet her new dad
and get reacquainted with Xander before subjecting her to any corgis.
Once outside of her little prison, she wagged her tail fiercely and
greeted us all enthusiastically. Xander was very patiently tolerant of
her. Finally we scooped her up and went out to the backyard with two
curious corgis in tow.

Everyone was very appropriate but intensely interested in this new
little creature. Buster was kind enough to bring out the camera as we
admired how adorable she was. Soon enough, we had pics loaded on
facebook to formally announce the newest member of the Pruett
household.

Although the first couple of nights sleeping in her new crate with her
new family have been a little rough, she is very quickly settling into
the routine and getting the hang of things. As she has gotten more
comfortable, her personality has continued to emerge. She is
confident, bold, fearless, thoughtful, brave, funny, playful, loving
and smart. She has good sense, except when it comes to heights, but is
respectful of the dogs. She has been using her potty patch in the
ex-pen during the day with great success, and we have only had one
accident so far which was my fault. She had no problem walking on
leash for the first time, made easy friends with the neighbor,
retrieved a ball several times, tugged fiercely in the face of
distractions and new locations, barked and screamed for meals before
devouring them ravenously, and overall been precociously adorable.
Buster and I are completely smitten. She has woken me every time she
needs to potty at night, and has gone from screaming like a Harry
Potter mandrake to crying softly. I have not had to clean up her crate
or her ex-pen, and she potties quickly once outside. Little Ally
McSqueal (as Buster dubbed her) does NOT like to be locked up out of
sight, but is getting better every day. She really prefers to be
directly underfoot or in your arms or lap, but she is beginning to
gain some independence and started exploring more last night.
After watching her climb like a monkey and find all the power cords
and tug on the doormat last night, we have a feeling she will be a
little terror very soon. She couldn’t be more perfect.

I am loving all of the puppy training and being sleep deprived and
looking forward to socializing her and doing clicker training and all
the wonderful things that come along with a new puppy. It will also be
exciting to see what she turns out to be. At eight weeks and only 5ish
lbs, I am thinking she will not be very big at all. Regardless, as she
gazes up at me with one soft brown eye and one intense blue eye, I am
hopelessly in love with my little pocket collie.

Welcome to the family Trudy!

Too Much Cake

Please don't mistake my lack of communication to mean that I have been entirely too busy to write. It's really just that my new job, although generous with copious amounts of free time, sadly has blocked this website. The computer I am using also doesn't have Word installed, and I have not felt motivated to write on the weekend. I felt guilty for not providing any updates however, so here I am.

I wish that I had glorious tales to tell about the exciting new work, but the truth is that it is cake. As in, I am not sure why I am there, nor the other recent hire, as there is not enough to occupy any of us. We hope for this to change soon, as the days are long and dreadfully boring, but I suppose I should not complain for being paid more to sit around and chat. I just hoped it would be more. Such is life.

I have terrible puppy fever and am longing for the worst part of the summer to pass so that my dogs and I can spend more times outdoors. Our playtime has been restricted to early morning or late evening in order to avoid heatstroke, and this has left us fat and lazy. I've begun the process of shaping Xander and I up as we finally approach the beginning of the trial season again. We have not been to an AKC trial since February, and are entered in Palmetto mid September. However, I am more looking forward to working toward our ADCH beginning in October when we will venture to Low Country SC for the first time. We will have another AKC at the end of October, as this is our home trial, but then we will focus solely on USDAA after that until February when our local trial offers ACK again. Agility is agility though, and after long missing it, I will be glad of either kind. I am sure Xander will agree!

Independence

What a strange week it has been, what with a day off due to the holiday smack in the middle of my last week in my current job; but it seems appropriate to be celebrating Independence Day as I finally gain freedom from this position and move on to bigger and better things. I can scarcely believe that this is really my last day sitting here in this desk, having parked in the same garage, and driven through the same terrible neighborhood I have been coming through now for almost three years. The longest I have ever worked for one company was PetSmart, and that was at about three different locations. I have been coming to this same depressing, gray place for so long, I can't imagine what it will do to my perspective on life when I no longer have to be here. Apart from the location is the very nature of the job, being subordinate to everyone and relegated to the most menial of tasks, in spite of my capability to do much more. I hope to finally feel that I am fulfilling some of my potential, and to have the respect of coworkers, and myself. I hope that doesn't sound conceited, arrogant, or anything of that nature, but I really feel that I have more to offer than making copies and running paperwork from point A to point B.

It is strange to think that in a post not terribly long ago, I had basically snapped and decided to bail out on the prospect of a normal job altogether. Then I realized I was just terribly frustrated, and was making the same mistake of being impatient and immature that had gotten me into trouble in the past. So I endured. Having someone to tell me that it was my choice, and that he supported me no matter what happened made it possible. I couldn't quit when our future depended on both of us; it would have been terribly selfish and unfair. So I stuck it out, and made it through. Of course it was the same man who told me I could be free that facilitated me finding this position. I shudder to think where I would be, or what life would be like without him.

At any rate, I begin my new working life on Monday. I am very excited to see what this job will be like, and feel that I am finally stepping through the first door in a series of opportunities that will take me where I am meant to go. I never thought I would learn patience, but through the help of several people very close to me, patience has paid off and life is good. I think I might actually qualify as a grown up now.....

On a dog related note, we spent the early morning of the 4^th swimming and chasing Frisbees at the park so that everyone would be too tired to care so much when the fireworks began. Surprisingly we had the park completely to ourselves, as I prefer it, and enjoyed a lovely morning before the heat set in. That evening, Kirby survived the barrage of pyrotechnics by wearing his thunder shirt and hiding behind the toilet. When it began to rain around 7pm, I thought we would gain a reprieve. Unfortunately, the storm passed quickly, and our neighbors blew things up practically in our backyard until late in the night. Fortunately, Kaylee was only spooked by one particularly loud boom. Xander, on the other hand, lounged about with all four feet in the air, blissfully oblivious of the commotion. What a life my dogs have, riding around in their fancy new crates, in the van we bought so they would be safer on the road (and because it has room for ALL my dog training equipment and I can still see in my rearview mirror). Buster loves the Element and his new kayak trailer that makes the prospect of going fishing so much easier, so everyone is happy.

Did I mention life is good?

Decisions, Decisions

It has been an exciting couple of weeks in the Pruett house!

First, I officially changed my name with the Social Security office, who gave me a form and assured me it would take care of the DMV. It didn't. They were also supposed to give me ANOTHER form, so after a couple of trips, and a couple of hours waiting, I received my new license as well. The picture is not even that bad. All the credit card companies, banks, human resources, etc., were notified, and now I have a whole slew of pretty, new cards with my nice, new name on them.

After the events of my last post, I found myself rethinking the way I travel with the dogs. As much as I love the Element, it really is fairly small and forces me to crate the dogs in potentially unsafe wire crates toward the rear crash zone of the vehicle. Buster, a.k.a BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD suggested we trade in his Mazda3 and get the Honda Odyssey I'd always wanted. Then he would drive the Element, which is an automatic and not a manual (like the Mazda) and would make his life easier. Once we looked around at used, weighing the pros and cons of mileage and fuel economy on older models, we decided to look for a 2011 or 2012 base model. His car was appraised at Carmax for less than what we owed, mostly due to the high interest loan it was financed with. We ended up buying the Odyssey from the same person we bought the Mazda from 2yrs ago, got what we owed in trade in value, 0.9% interest financing, 5yrs of maintenance, a 200,000 mile warranty, and a few other extras. I now have an AWESOME new van that will allow me to safely crate the dogs toward the front of the van in their new RuffTough crash tested kennels. Very happy! the smell of a new car is almost as good as puppy breath.

Aside from new wheels, I have been awaiting a decision from my current employer on a position I had interviewed for a couple of weeks ago. In the meantime, Buster volunteered at a Pepsi function, and met with his boss's wife. Following some discussion of me and what I do, it turns out the she works for Baptist doing the very thing I was trying to get into originally here, and never got an official answer on. She also happened to be looking for another member for her team, and had almost given up hope to find the "right" person. She swore it was divine intervention, and after meeting with me informally last week, I had an official interview Monday afternoon. It was my best interview ever and I left feeling as if it was mine to take or leave. Turns out it was.

Less than 48hrs later, I got the offer. It would be over 9k more than I currently make a year. I was pretty thrilled, but had already told them at the interview I was waiting to hear back on the position with my current company.On top of that, in an effort to keep me in her department, my supervisor was trying to upgrade my position. Feast or famine, I swear.

Buster let it be known from the get-go what he thought of my current employer. They have done nothing but jerk me around and leave me hanging. However, the job at stake would pay enough for us to be out of debt in a fraction of the time. It would also involve working in a severly understaffed department, in a high stress environment, with unpaid overtime, nights, and weekends, for a company that may soon be going bankrupt anyway, and doing more technical work rather than the training and development that truly interests me. On the other hand, the offer I actually received was with an excellent company, doing the type of work I want to do career-wise, with people I seem to enjoy. I choose the bird in the hand, rather than the two in the bush. Buster is thrilled, as is the person who offered me the job, and I feel in my gut it was the correct decision.

My last day here will be July 6th before moving on to bigger and better things. Baptist EHR (electronic Health Record) Implementation Specialist. Has a nice ring to it. My boss was not happy, but still supportive and congratulatory, and made it known that I was welcome back any time I decided I'd made the wrong decision. I don't think that's the case, but appreciate the sentiment anyway.

This year has been pretty awesome so far, and it is only half way through. Even-numbered years seem to be the best for me. Wonder what the next six months will bring, not to mention 2014......