Back Safe and Sound

Finally I have a few minutes to write about our 4-day Obedience Camp. It was fantastic, beginning with caring friends waiting for me along the side of a highway so I could caravan up with them, to meeting other friends there to ensure we all sat together, and of course the great instruction, food and good times. If you're an Obedience nut this is the camp for you. It's detailed, technical and 8 hours straight, 4 days of Obedience heaven. Many thanks to Gary and Kathy Platt for their wonderful instruction and friendship.
To my surprise Moto did much better than I anticipated. Blitz's health did not permit his going so we were in unchartered territory as Moto has never been a single dog. He loved it and I allowed him on the bed every night which he enjoyed a lot. He didn't appear to miss his doggie friends at all and seemed to relish his Mommy time.
My notes to self from the 4 days - as I've known for a while his Long Sit has begun the famed "Sheltie Slide". Kathy showed me an exercise to strengthen his core and help teach him a strong sit. It involves coming from behind and tucking in his rear paws with my feet, grabbing his collar and pulling his front feet under his shoulders, and gently pressing the back of his skull to shift the weight onto his front feet. We've been doing this daily and to my amazement I can see him now doing it himself.
On heeling: Moto can hang back if he's tired/hot/unmotivated which is quite often. To help with this when I release I need to quickly back up and call him to me, then restart the heeling exercise. Repeat until I have nice heeling. Moto loves this and we are getting nice results. Most exciting is he seems to understand attention AND correct placement now and he's even begun to prance!
One of the exercises I need to do regularly with him is serpentine heeling to enforce him working his rear. When turning to the outside I need to pat the front of my thigh as opposed to the side of my leg to encourage him to not lag and to speed up. Ditto on Figure 8 - he won't work his rear so for now I need to do squares when on the outside as opposed to loops.
Dumbbell retrieve: Moto is lackadaisical when picking up the dumbbell. Kathy taught an exercise called "tying the bow" which really surprises him when he picks up the dumbbell. Not only is it positive reinforcement it helps with a quick pickup. Also do motivational restraint on the retrieve. That one isn't committed to muscle memory yet but we're getting there. I have to backchain quite a bit and we're only on a 3' retrieve for now.
Finishes: on the swing, he's not driving deep enough so I need to step back with the right leg, reach back with my left hand and feed at the farthest point back and lure to heel. On the Around he needs more drive so when he is coming to heel I need to alternate between running forward or turn right. I love seeing his surprised expression when he has to hurry up!
Go back exercise - Moto's long back is making a tight turn difficult. I've been remiss in working the spinning exercise and need to do this more often. I need to start with him turning in a chute (two poles placed through the fence) and as he gets better I need to make a small platform or rug for him to turn and sit on.
At the end of the 4th day I thought he'd be exhausted but instead he was on a "high" and eager for work. He really brightened up and enjoyed the seminar in its entirety. In fact Gary said he turned out nicer than he thought and believes he can "do it for me" (meaning the OTCH). Of course that's uncharted territory but that is our goal!

One Step Closer to Heaven

It wasn't a big step, but a step nonetheless, I noticed Blitz slip away just a little further. He tires much more easily now and drools into his food while he is eating. Eating itself is becoming a longer and longer process and he is beginning to have difficulty swallowing. I don't believe The End is imminent but this "death by inches" is beginning to take its toll.
I've come to the decision that I don't want to fight for his life any longer. My goal is to keep him comfortable and allow him to have the best quality of life he can. If he weren't in pain it would be a different story but his skin is so creepy-crawly all the time I cannot imagine what it must be to live in that deteriorating body 24/7. I debated bringing him with me to Obedience camp next week - it's 4 days, 8 hrs/day of lectures and working, but unless he needs medical attention I am going to bring him, just so he can get out and do something. I think he will enjoy the "mommy time" of he, I and Moto in the hotel and in the class. He's not so ill that he needs to be close to a vet so we will all go together.
Plus...it will be the first "really big drive" since my car accident. I'm so fortunate that a caring group of friends is going to meet me and we will caravan up to the Camp together, and we are all staying at the same hotel. I appreciate their helping make me feel comfortable with this big step.
I've realized I NEED to take supplements to help me heal from the accident. I was feeling really, really great and when they ran out I didn't order more and then the pain hit big-time. It's taken a few weeks for them to kick back in and I am finally returning to a more energetic productive life. I wonder when and if I will ever have my old self back again? It's this question that brings on profound depression so I try to box it up and put it somewhere so as not to torment myself.
I'll end this on a positive note - it's an absolutely GORGEOUS weekend - no humidity, low temps and nothing scheduled. Moto and I will take advantage of this and do some training and I will attempt a hike in our beautiful nearby park, where Moto, Shiloh and I will walk around the lake. I do feel blessed to be alive and take in all the beauty around me. Life really is a precious commodity and I do feel like it's Christmas every day.

He's a Maniac!

Well not really, but Moto is really turning on to agility. It's quite clear he is enjoying the jumping portion of his agility lessons and is picking up speed. As I'd mentioned earlier the jumps are lowered to 12" to help him gain momentum and that is working. I need to have him wicketed as when I measure him he's just under 19" which would mean he can jump 18 in Obedience, but I do believe he'll still be jumping 20" in agility. His A-frame is getting really nice and while he still doesn't attack the dog walk he is trotting across it much faster. Teeter needs LOTS of work, that one will be awhile. But each week he improves so rapidly it's fun to watch. He can do 6 weaves with ease so his homework is to work up to 12.
We're looking forward to our 4 days of Obedience at Platt Obedience Camp next weekend. I find their teaching methods most compatible with my dogs and I always enjoy my time there. Plus my friends Dee and Ray will be there as other folks from the MO area so it should be a good time.
The weather is so great I'm going to go out now and train Mr. Moto and continue our article quest. Wish I had more time and energy to work with him more as I'm really enjoying our training time. All those little building blocks are being strung together more and he's understanding the exercises so it's exciting to see him blossom.

All Kinds of Stuff

It's been one heckuva week since the 4th. We've entertained a lot, BBQ'd a lot and I'm extremely tired from it all. But it was all wonderful and although I hate the heat of summer I love the getting out and doing stuff part of it. The weather has largely been cooperating so when I have energy, I train dogs.
As I mentioned earlier we went back to agility class. Moto and I were demoted back into Beginning Agility which actually is a good thing since I forgot a lot of the really important foundation work. He doesn't like being up high now (i.e. the dog walk, teeter and A-Frame) and since I don't have any of these items, it will be a slow recovery. He also isn't real high drive so in class we've lowered the jumps to 12" (mind you he's 19" at the shoulder) to help him pick up speed and drive. While he'll never be like his sire Shiloh - who could run at World Team times during his youth - he may, I hope, be able to lope around the course at a moderate pace. This might actually be good for me as Shiloh went so danged fast I frequently got lost once we got to the Advanced level. With Moto I may have time to look around and find where I need to go.
Articles are gaining speed and confidence. I haven't added a 4th article yet, however I did see the lightbulb go on and I believe he understands the exercise now which makes it fun for both him and me. In Obedience he really takes pride in his work and I love it when he trots happily back with the right article, beaming as if to say "I did GOOD didn't I??"
In amongst all the guests we've had here the vitamin supplements have been kicking in and the pain is finally easing off. What a RELIEF. I still tire more than I ever used to and naps have become my friend. I hope at some point I really can begin an exercise regimen as I do not like the little fatty tire around my middle. And I REFUSE to give in and say "it's just old age" - to hell with that! I'm not sinking into that without a fight.
Lastly I think my brain is functioning better but when I have to talk a lot (like when I'm doing Welcome Wagon) I do discover that sometimes I "blank out" and it's really scary as I struggle to find the word I'm looking for. Along with this or maybe as a result of this I find I'm a lot less outgoing, have fewer things to say and prefer to sit quietly rather than engage in conversation. I'm making myself be my former self but it does take work. In fact, recovery is HARD WORK! I understand now why a lot of people just get addicted to pain killers and give up. It is the easy way out - this is very painful emotionally and physically. But to remain positive my husband is the best ever and continues to be patient and understanding and supportive. I am so lucky to have met him and am deeply grateful he is in my life.
So that is the latest here - trying to train when I can, but not as often as I'd like, resting up from all the party-giving, and the struggle to a complete recovery continues.

A Memorable 3rd

This post will have very little to do with dogs, and a lot to do with July 4th celebrations.
Our town has its fireworks spectacular on the 3rd and it's a big deal. We have it at the fairgrounds, a band plays, it's all for free and we usually get about 8,000 people. As in the past, I join a large group of friends that has a huge area roped off and typicall there are about 150 people hanging together eating, drinking, playing and enjoying the day. It's great and I love it.
One friend in this group has always stood out. It's like my friend Shannon in California - when we get together it's combustible and I find myself in situations I wouldn't normally, and the result is usually that I hurt myself from laughing so much. Well last night was no different. There she was, and we ran to each other and I'd heard she'd had some surgery but couldn't find out the nature of it. I'd deduced that it was something motorcycle-related as she had acquired a Harley lately and was frequently falling over on it while driving too slowly. Sure enough when I asked her she said it was her wrist, but when I looked at her wrist I didn't see anything so a little red flag went up.
Other people were around so I just wrote it off. A few moments later she came over and said she'd forgotten to give me a hug and as we embraced she whispered in my ear "I had my boobs done. They don't look real. When it gets dark there will be a show."
Here we go again.
Actually it wasn't as dramatic as that, when it got dark and right before the fireworks began a group of us ladies snuck into a friend's trailer and she bared all for us to see. I'd never seen freshly operated on boobs and it didn't look bad at all, in fact I found myself having boob envy and told her so. Another gal there had hers done a few years back and told her to expect certain things to move and it will look more natural as the months go on. But there we were, her half-naked and all of us ooohing and ahhing this masterwork. Not your typical gathering but when she's involved, it never is and I love her for it!

Huge Training Hole

Dag nab it! It seems with every dog I have, there is one big training hole. And, it's more mental than the actual training problem. With Dusty I had early success and my head got too big. I focused on winning than actual time with my dog. With Shiloh I didn't handle him physically as much as I should have, which led to leadership issues. Just discovered my issue with Moto, and as usual it wasn't ME that saw the problem, it was a trainer *sigh*. We attended our first agility lesson since the accident. Shiloh was sooooo happy. As we went around the course when he saw the weave poles he actually let out a cry of joy and accelerated into them. This dog has blazing fast weave poles, but these were lightening fast. His eyes were much brighter after that lesson. But Mr. Moto...oh, dear. I feared the intermediate class was above his head and told the trainer so. Doing more than 4 jumps was an issue but something we could quickly overcome. I knew he'd need a reminder of the dog walk and the teeter. When we got to the dogwalk he went up it slowly, freaked out at the top and jumped off. My trainer came over and with me on one side and she on the other, we encouraged Moto up the dogwalk again, and where he freaked out we let him stop and gather himself, then gently encouraged him to continue. He did so and came down just fine. Her observation is that I've "wussified" my dog! Normally I'd take umbrage to this fact but this time I believe she is somewhat correct. She was very kind as wasn't dressing me down, in fact she understood how it came about. During the early weeks after my accident Moto and I really built our relationship. I can say that it's rock-solid and he cares about pleasing me. He's my heart dog and I'm absolutely in love with him. But - probably because of my injured demeanor - I've probably done a bit of wussification. She suggested I move back down into the beginner class next week and we'll "macho" him up a bit. I think that will be a goal we can accomplish.
Obedience training: I re-introduced articles this week. Moto picked up almost exactly where I left off. In 2 days time we are already onto 3 articles. This dog loves to think and it's so much fun watching him reason out the articles. I'm teaching the "around the clock" method with squeeze cheese and he is enjoying this. Also worked on go-outs and he is quickly picking up the pace on that, too. My ultimate goal is that I can take him to a sho n go and put him in Novice, Open and Utility. when he is able to do that, and qualify in all three, he will be ready for the show ring. Of course that's years away but that will be my benchmark of when he will be ready.