Light Training = G R E A T

I was so down after last night, and Erik is out of town on business travel. So as a special treat I decided to turn Blitz's nighttime snuggle into an all night affair. Gosh, he is a GOOD bed dog. He had good manners and didn't hog space and in the morning he was the cutest ever - crawled over and covered me with his little fast Blitz kisses. Of course Shiloh always comes in for a snuggle as does Dusty so the three of us had quite a love fest.
I'm too tired in the mornings these days to train but after work I still had a head of steam so we did some training. That pinch collar is really working great and his precision is coming back the way I like it. Those about turns are becoming what they should be again and even his attention is improving. His fronts are very consistent but straight finishes need work. He isn't driving back as far as he should so they are frequently crooked. "Around" finishes are usually the best so I'll see how he's doing on show day before I decide which side to begin the finish with. We trained for I would say 10 minutes. Then brought out all the gang for sit-stays. Decided on a new location (our backyard deck) which is a little slippery and will require them to concentrate on their sits. Better yet, thunder was rolling in the background with a storm blowing in. All five dogs did great. During the down it started lightly raining and they still held their sits - good dogs! So everyone got a treat and a quick runaround before the rain rolled in.
Even after that light workout Blitz is conked out. He puts so much energy into his work and he needs so much energy to fight his disease. It's a delicate dance we are doing but we are still moving forward with show plans.

Feeling Bad for Blitz

Today Blitz fell down the stairs. He's been having a limp on his right rear leg, I soak it and it is fine, appearing occasionally when he runs. It's not a limp really, he just curls it oddly under his belly. When he fell down the stairs he got up quickly but I could see his rear is not as strong as it should be. I've also been noticing in the past week or two it is taking him longer and longer to eat - so much so now that I have to put the other dogs outside as they eat their food and circle like a bunch of vultures around him as he eats. Then I came across this picture of him - my first photo of him when he came home with me. We had so many plans for this beautiful little boy, and now he is so disfigured I can only take far-away shots so onlookers cannot see the ravages of this awful disease. The one thing that keeps me going is Blitz's attitude. As you can see his eyes sparkle with intelligence and fun and they still do. Blitz wakes up happy and goes to bed happy and celebrates every single moment he is here with us. He no longer has a black nose - the pigment is gone - and the black lips are also pink. The hair is off his face and he is missing patches of fur on his legs, the tip of his tail and belly. So, he's no longer beautiful on the outside but his soul is still shining through.
Unless he dramatically worsens we are still moving forward with showing him on May 15. But, I do see a deterioration so this may be our only time. Is it the stress of training? Or is this just coincidence? Hard to tell. But as long as Blitz loves to work and he loves the show ring we will do this. It's just sometimes it hits me hard like today seeing my beautiful puppy having to go through all this - it's so unfair and cruel. I hope some day they can find a cure for this disease and no other dog has go to through what he and others like him are.
So I'll swallow the lump in my throat after writing this, put on a smile and we'll go outside to potty and he'll play with Moto for a bit, and then snuggle on the bed with me and give me his little Blitz kisses - quick little licks of the tongue that are so cute. And my sadness will be gone for awhile.

Training - WOW!

We have a Severe Thunderstorm and Flood Watch going on simultaneously today. It's extremely muggy with light winds. Blitz clearly is feeling much better so I wanted to take advantage of his health and get him out there working amongst distractions. And my Moto-man also needed a good workout. So I packed up the pups and we drove to our big park. My intention was to heel them in the parking lot but no luck, a soccer game was going on so the parking lot was full. We went across the road to where you could park on the grass and I decided we would work there - lots of screaming kids and yelling parents so while not a visual distraction, there would definately be an audio one. I also decided to return to the pinch collar with Blitz. He doesn't need a correction at all, but does need to feel the pressure when he is not in proper position. It worked like a charm. I had a great attitude and he quickly picked up on his mistakes. Best sesson we've had in quite some time. I think for visual distractions we'll need to slowly work up to it - mild distractions and build up to busy places. Given his work today, I'm hopeful that we at least won't embarass ourselves on the 15th of May.
Next came Mr. Moto Man. He was cranked out of his mind which is thrilling given his laid-back personality. He really reminded me of a Golden - panting loudly with excitement, grinning broadly and forging like crazy. I WISH I could use the pinch collar on him but it has a negative effect with him. I have a seminar with Linda Koutsky next weekend and am anxious to see what she can do to help us on that. The other really thrilling thing was his fronts are dramatically improving. He rarely does the "Sheltie bonk" now. Still needing work: getting him to use his rear to adjust to proper position. I noticed he's not using his rear as much as I'd like on figure 8's either. His finishes are to die for in terms of flourish. They aren't 100% correct but it's coming. Honestly, he is working like a Golden and I'm eating it up! I had so much fun with him it was hard stopping. Then as a reward, I let the two run free for a bit. They played tag for awhile and explored a bit. To me there is no sweeter sight then two Shelties romping and playing, running free.
In terms of my healing I am getting more energy every day. I do have pain a lot, but I think that's just my body getting used to doing the things it used to do. My left arm where I received the worst impact (seems to me) is the most sore. There is a lump still there - maybe scar tissue? The surrounding muscle tissue is very painful to the touch but of course I'm lifting stuff again and using my arm like I used to. We'll see what the trauma physician says next week about that.

Highway Driving, Training again

Yesterday I bit the bullet, summed up my courage and decided to drive on the highway. I needed to buy birthday gifts for my grandson and daughter and get them shipped to their home in time. That was a good incentive. It took me past my accident site. I pretty much did fine overall, but did grip the steering wheel and needed to take a few deep breaths as I passed where the accident happened. So chalk one up, I hope very soon I'm able to go anywhere I want. Now driving at night will take awhile. Baby steps.
Blitz came up not using his right rear leg on Sunday. I soaked it and on Monday he was pretty much his old self. But then he ran around with the other dogs and that leg curled up under his belly again. So no training Sunday, no training Monday. I hoped to train yesterday but I could tell his rear was still not behaving itself.
Today was glorious weather-wise and Blitz was very close to normal. I decided to go ahead and train him lightly and work on Mr. Moto too. To break things up a bit, I reminded Blitz and Moto of the dumbbell retrieve. WOW those two needed no reminding! I was stunned at the rapidity and accuracy of Blitz's retrieve. Moto retrieved with a sense of urgency which is great. Since Moto seemed to be enjoying himself I brought out the jumps, put them up to 12" and we did a dumbbell retrieve over high. He did it beautifully!
Blitz and I did a bit of heeling and it was OK. It could have been the limping but he was not on fire as much as he usually is. Accuracy was OK, not great. But he's always trying so hard and always so eager to please. Both he and Moto LOVE getting feedback when they are right and I'm thrilled to report they take pride in their work. Moto is really on the fast lane of learning right now. I need more energy to keep up with him! He will never be flashy like Blitz but I believe his personality type will be one of consistency and he'll qualify with more regularity than his temperamental sire Shiloh.
As for Blitz, well, we will just enjoy our ring time together. I hope to qualify but I will not expect it. Same for high scores - if his health holds maybe that will come with time. He certainly has the capability if we can train for it. But for now, we'll just be two very lucky "little miracles" taking to the ring in three weeks!

Pain, Pain, Pain

Today is the 2 month anniversary of the car accident. On a good note my bones and cracked ribs are healing up nicely. I'm driving again, working both my jobs again, and am about 80% back to doing all the things I used to do.
The down side is, while I push myself to do a little more every day, the result is pain. Today it's dark and cold and I think it's not helping with my mood much. Yesterday's "push" was attending a friend's birthday party which was at night. We didn't stay out late but I did do all my usual Saturday chores, then showered and got ready for the party. I was exhausted when we got home (9:30) and was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
But then the storms rolled in and when the thunderclaps awoke me at 4:30 a.m. I realized I better potty the dogs in case it rained & stormed for a few hours. So out we all went and that's when I discovered I was very, very sore.
Oh golly I hurt all over. Walking hurts. Breathing hurts. Picking up the coffee pot hurts. In other words, no matter what activity I do (even sitting here typing) is pretty danged painful. So, my "push" today will be to simply maintain all I've achieved and not go backward. I won't allow myself to take pain killers any longer as I want to know when I hurt so that I don't incur any excess damage.
Another interesting thing - when heeling with my dogs I realized when someone is calling a pattern for me, when they say "right turn" I hesitate. I found out that since I had impact on the left side of my brain, the right side of my body may have some motor problems. This is just a minor glitch but I really have to think hard before I turn right. I'm sure with practice this will be easily overcome but it's quite fascinating.
I know I'm still not quite right mentally. What is most interesting is that until a few days ago I had ceased dreaming. I miss my dreams as they were wonderful and exciting - I dreamed of crossing oceans and seeing the whales swimming below me. I dreamed of blue giraffes. Or, I was solving problems that had intrigued me from the day. My mind was grinding, grinding, grinding and always so busy. But now....nothing. I've started having dreams again but they are sooo boring. They are of ordinary things and not interesting at all. They are like having oatmeal for breakfast when you are used to an omelette. But at least I'm dreaming again, I guess, which is a good thing.
I have my cute new little LEV (Low Emission Vehicle) which is the Honda Fit and I enjoy driving it. I'm doing pretty good getting around in our town and maybe someday I'll take on the highway. Not ready for it now.
Time for me to sign off - it is Sunday for goodness' sake and deserves some enjoyment. I'll have my latte and read the paper. If it warms up I'll take Moto out to our park and do some tracking. Life goes on no matter how much I hurt, but I'll still try to enjoy living!

Re-learning how to train

Yesterday I took Blitz to the downtown area of our town, which has some traffic but not a whole lot, and the occasional person walking down the sidewalk. It was perfect to help teach him attention and he did very well. I was able to get in some minor corrections and he's so eager and willing to work that he picked up what I wanted quickly. After about 15 minutes I could see signs of him becoming tired so we called it a day. The rest of the day he was lower energy than normal. After observing his behavior this morning I think we can do intense training every other day. So no training for Mr. Blitz, just a regular day.
For the first time since the accident, Moto and I went out tracking. I just laid a track in our front yard, put food every 10 paces with three turns and let it age 15 minutes. Moto was so excited he took off at a run which was very cute! Once he ran past the turn he decided he needed to slow down a bit and be more serious. After that he tracked very well, still have a bit of trouble at the turns and occasionally chased butterflies but he stayed right in the footsteps to the final glove. The cutest part came when he got his jackpot on the glove, then he engaged in playing tug with me with the glove - hurray! He was so very pleased with himself.
We had a gorgeous spring evening and all the dogs walked with me around our five acres, swirling and playing and picking up sticks and running with them together. A great day!

A Long Road Ahead

Yesterday my hubby was good enough to drive me to the obedience fun match and video Blitz and Moto's novice runs. Surprisingly, it was Moto who excelled and Blitz who concerned me. We are five weeks away from our show and I discovered just how much work is ahead of us if we want to qualify, let alone do well!
The match was in the afternoon, and all five dogs had had a good romp in the morning. I believe this came into play for Blitz as when I got him out and warmed him up, I could tell his energy level was low. Blitz will NEVER give a sluggish performance - in his case, he cannot concentrate on the work at hand and becomes distracted. I struggled to get his attention and our heeling pattern on-lead was very sloppy. I wanted to try him off-lead and by the first turn he wasn't even looking and went extremely wide on the about turn. So much so I went to reach for his ruff and grab him. We stopped, I put on a light lead and we finished the heeling in a bit better shape. SFE and recall went fine, as well as his finish.
His long sits and downs were very scary as he reached to sniff the dogs on either side (never moved) but I did not like this new development. So, I decided to do another long sit and down with the next group. On that second sit he went down in 30 seconds.
With that being said, it's really not his fault but mine, I need to get him out and help "season" him to many distractions. That, and I need to be vigilant about his energy and make sure he doesn't use it up prior to getting into the ring.
Moto, on the other hand, did very nicely! His performance too wasn't perfect but then again I'm not really training hard since the accident. His attention was really nice and he did his SFE, recall front and finish in snappy order (off just a hair but our focus is still on attitude). His long sit and down were rock solid.
So, for Mr. Blitz I need to take him out and train him every day in a shopping center or where there is activity. I'm going to need to find sit and down opportunities and we need to work this.
What Mr. Blitz is going to need to be responsible for is stepping up when he is able to and try his hardest. I know he will do this as he has a fantastic work ethic. He just hasn't been told what he needs to do.
Meantime I'm exhausted from the weekend so we will rest today and hit it tomorrow. My body is still healing but I do find I'm able to do more each week such as yesterday I did all the laundry - a major victory!

The Concept of Front; Multiple Emotions

As I continue to heal I find myself going up and down emotionally. I have times where I'm so danged grateful to be alive I'm practically shouting my "Thank You's" to the heavens, and other times when I'm in the darkest parts of my mind and it is hellish. In between is hope and energy, pain and frustration. I suffered a physical setback when I fell, and it spiraled from one thing into another. Then, a well-meaning friend stopped by and told me she'd been a few miles behind me that night of the accident, had driven by (not knowing it was me) and told me the accident scene was so horrific she is amazed that I am still here. I don't know why but when I hear others telling me about the accident it upsets me terribly. The flashes I have of it are so terrifying I don't want to remember them, and these recounts seem to do that. I do hope this fades with time. Today is cold and rainy so it's not helping my mood. I'm tired and still very sore as I recover from what should have been a non-incident (the fall) but in my semi-frail state I guess it's a big deal - ARGH!
Meantime, I've been doing the micro training thing. Blitz is coming along great. What he needs most is exposure so somehow I NEED to find the energy to drive to a shopping center and work him. Moto's work ethic is coming along great. He's presented a new puzzle to me: he does not understand what a correct front is. He knows to DO a front, but somehow I've failed to teach him when it's the GOOD front. He's doing the famous "sheltie bonk" (bad) and he's off-center a LOT. When I say "straight" he's not understanding where he should be. So, in my micro training program, this is going to be our focus. Good thing is he's willing to work with me on this and he really tries hard and wants to be right. I'm going to need to backchain all the way to puppy fronts in a chair I believe. He just doesn't have the concept of where he needs to be - crucial if we want to do well in Obedience. Interestingly enough he does understand the finish. He'll still be sloppy if I let him so I treat the finish as seriously as a stay. He understands that it's VERY important to do good and is showing good spirit and speed. In his heeling, it will be a slow process. I'm at the same point as my friend Laurie in that Moto gets tangled up in my legs while heeling now. His attention is very lovely and he's getting it about correct position so "slow and steady" is the name of the game here. And more so than Mr. Blitz, he is rock-solid on his stays. If Blitz and I fail in our Novice pursuit, it will be because of the stays. For Blitz, it's time to do more proofing. He's not been exposed to many different situations because of his illness and still needs to learn to stay if another dog moves, or if there is a sudden noise (applause, a door slam).
So, my work is cut out for me. I just need to have the energy to do it!

MicroTraining

The weather hasn't been cooperating and neither has my energy pool so I've been getting creative with my training. Since Blitz is always ready & willing to work he's become my "Laundry Buddy". This started when he was very ill last year. I'd carry him in the laundry basket and he'd hang out with me as I did the laundry. It transformed as he got better into our special time time together. Now when he sees the laundry basket he gets excited as he knows we're going to have special alone time. When I'm doing laundry now I do some fast dynamic little exercises such as pivots, fronts, finishes and work on attention. He absolutely adores this and hopefully he'll remember these exercises when we put it together in the big ring someday. Meantime the ripple effect is that Moto is beside himself with jealousy and wants to get in on the fun. His job is to sit-stay quietly while Blitz is having fun and then Moto can do some small quick tricks too.
The best thing is of all this is Moto's realization that he "gets" to train. I think it's helping develop his teamwork and work ethic with me.
Six weeks and counting until Blitz's big debut.

Conserving Energy

I keep meaning to post something and this darned lack of energy gets me every time. On the plus side I'm really healing fast but when I do too much my body reminds me in the form of pain. I'm now doing the delicate dance of weaning myself off of painkillers and muscle relaxants. I can go drug-free during the day but night time I still need the muscle relaxants. I have this wonderful chiropractor who has given me some homeopathic supplements to take to ease the pain and hasten the healing. I love learning about herbs and am hopeful this does help ease my discomfort.
Dog training update - I'm going to "take the plunge" and enter Blitz in our Sheltie Specialty in May. He is feeling great and since I'm not training him long and hard his condition remains stable. The biggest thing I need to let go of is wanting a good score. He is capable of a 200 but between his health and mine we just cannot train to this level. I think a realistic score - if we qualify at all - is in the 180's. I need to be fair to him and make sure he is as prepared as he can be for his first show.
What's really, really cool about our showing in May is that we both have beaten the odds! Blitz was given a 2-year life expectancy with his disease. He turned 2 in February. The fact that I walked away from a horrific accident is nothing short of a miracle. Our time together in the ring is going to be really special and I need to soak up the moment, because it will be really something.
Started training Moto again. He is an interesting character. He is both tough and soft. Unlike his dad Shiloh who could really put up quite a fight when he didn't like to do something, Moto really enjoys getting feedback and praise and shows pride in his work. I still haven't quite figured out how he learns things and he requires patience but once he gets it and I tell him he's right, he is very consistent about doing it. He's stronger than dad in dominance and is quick to pick up and capitalize on any consistency. This is good and is helping me be a better trainer. Today was a great session (all our sessions are short as I just don't have the energy) but Moto was really "up" the entire time and put forth great effort. Forging is going to be a problem that I have to address carefully but for now attention and happiness are going gangbusters!