Therapy Dog Demo Day

I love dog demo days!

Every summer I try to organize a dog day at one of the care homes that I take the boys to visit. I gather a bunch of dog-sport friends and we cart out portable agility equipment and cross our fingers for good weather.

This year was a fabulous turn out, great dogs as always! Thank you to everyone that came out to participate, those that brought jumps and other equipment, and most of all to the staff and residents of Eamer Court for having us out!

Here are a few photos of the festivities. Sorry for the blurriness of some of them, use your imagination.

The whole crew!

We started with introductions and a couple tricks ...

Ruth and Bentley (English Cocker Spaniel)

Emily with Sophie (Poodle cross), Lily (Miniature Poodle), and Nym (Border Collie)

Gisele with Gina and Kate (Miniature Poodles)

Gwyn with Casper (Miniature American Eskimo) and Buddy (Poodle cross)

Dave and Kennedy (Standard Poodle)

Venessa with Sparky (Border Collie)

Kalie and Nola (Afghan Hound)

Jeannette with Gem and Bailey (Cairn Terriers) and Kody (Golden Retriever)
(Kody LOVES his Rally-O sidestep!)

And me and my boys!
(Romeo takes a bow)(Romeo backwards heeling)(Gio backwards heeling)(Gio spins)

Many thanks to Venessa and her superb trigger finger (guess clicker training is good for people as well as dogs, eh?!). She successfully got not one by THREE pictures of Gio and Gina doing their special trick!

Gina goes over ...

Gina goes over again ...

Then Gina goes under!

Yes, the pictures are accurate ... Gina doesn't just jump over Gio, she launches off his back. Such a good boy, Gio, for holding his stand stay! The dogs really like this trick, and the crowds love it, too!

Then on to some agility. Even the non-agility dogs get to play. The course is just a couple bar jumps, a high jump, a broad jump, a tunnel and a set of weave poles. (Here is where things get blurry!)

Lily (Miniature Poodle)

Sparky (Border Collie) Romeo (Shetland Sheepdog ... oh how I wish this picture were in focus!)Kody (Golden Retriever)

Kennedy (Standard Poodle)

Buddy (Poodle cross)Bentley (English Cocker Spaniel)
Nola (Afghan Hound)

Then the REALLY fun part ... socializing! This, folks, is what it is all about. Look at those smiling faces!



Thanks to everyone that came out, and special thanks to Kathy and the folks of Eamer for having us over to play!

We Are Excellent!

This past weekend Gio, Romeo and I took a trip to Yorkton to take part in a CKC Rally-O trial.

It's been a very long time since we have hit the road for a trial of any sort. It was really good to get out there again! We left Friday night in order to get settled in before the trial on Saturday and Sunday. And of course, take part in our hotel tradition ... cuddling on the bed with pizza and the TV remote*.

* TV remote not featured

Sure, we can do this any night at home. But somehow it is more relaxing in a hotel. Maybe it's not being surrounded by "other stuff I really should do". No internet (which normally terrifies me!), no house work, no commitments.

The trial started up on Saturday with two Rally-O trials. And the boys totally rocked it!!

Trial 1: Romeo took High in Class in Excellent B with a perfect score of 100/100 and a time of 1:26.88. Gio took a score of 99/100 with a time of 1:36.10.

Trial 1 Qualifying Excellent B Dogs

Trial 2: I messed the boys up by accruing a number of handler errors. So Gio wound up with a 94/100 with a time of 1:34.85 and Romeo took a 96/100 with a time of 1:26.28.

Trial 2 Qualifying Excellent B Dogs

Day two included two more Rally-O trails.

Trial 3: Romeo took another 100/100 with a time of 1:30.19. And Gio was a total dink, just couldn't stop the excited barking. None the less, he pulled off a 93/100 with a time of 2:06.07.

Trial 4: Gio pulled it together and took a perfect score of 100/100 with a time of 1:39.81, and Romeo followed closely with a near-perfect 99/100 with a time of 1:34.12. And I have to add that the judge, Jan Leach, pencilled in a couple of comments on Romeo's score sheet. Commenting that he has a "beautiful back up [backwards heel] and moving stand". *CHUFF*

So with those performances, both boys started and finished their Rally Excellent (RE) titles this weekend! I had a professional photograph taken by the photographer on site. But it is being mailed to me as they were too busy to get them all printed off before the end of the trial. So I will have to post it here separately when it finally arrives.

Romeo won a squeaky plush soccer ball for his High in Class on day one. So that kept the boys entertained at the hotel.

"AAH! GETITOFFGETITOFFGETITOFF!"

There was a great showing of Hub City Kennel and Obedience Club members participating in the trial. Everyone did really REALLY well, so we all got together for a picture with our pretty blue loot!

From left to right: Verna and Sasha (earned their Rally Novice title), Jill and Tetley (had great success in Utility level Obedience), Gisele with Gina and Katie (new titles, High in Class and High in Trial awards for Obedience and Rally-O), Jeannette and Gem (new Rally Advanced title with High in Class), Dayna with Gio and Romeo (new Rally Excellent titles with High in Class), and Elaine with Harley (High in Class in Rally Novice and great success in Open level Obedience). Not featured is Claire and her Havanese, Petey, who did really well in Open level Obedience but flatly refused to be photographed.

It was a really great weekend overall. Of course, just to add a little bit of drama, my car decided to be temperamental. Saturday morning when I got us all loaded up to head to the trial venue from the hotel, the "check engine" light popped on. It did this last time I got an oil change, and I just had another change last Thursday, so coincidence? The car was running fine, so I decided to ignore it (smart, eh?). Later that evening, light still on, I checked all the obvious things ... gas cap, oil level, various other fluids (of which I have no idea what they do). Everything was fine, nothing leaking. So with that, and the ever-helpful tips from the two guys leaning out the KFC drive-thru window across the parking lot, decided that it wasn't important. One of the guys suggested a dead battery (thank Einstein ... I'm not that stupid, the battery is fine). The other guy said "oxygen sensor". That sounded smarter, and less important, so I decided to accept that diagnosis and continued to ignore the light. The car made it the rest of the weekend and the 3.5 hour drive home, so whatever the light is trying to tell me can't be all that important.

We are home now. Exhausted, but very pleased.

And Romeo and Gio weren't the only ones that got new toys!! I picked up a Mars Coat King for what I'm hoping is a reasonable price. Last time I took Romeo out to visit his breeder, she attacked his rogue butt hair with a Coat King, and I was awed and amazed by how easily it tamed the butt fluff. So when I saw some at one of the vendor stands, I snatched it up. Will attempt to use it later this evening!

Bea's New Digs

This evening I set to work building Beatrice a larger cage. In all of the reading I've been doing the past week, I have learned that most pet store type cages are much too small for guinea pigs to be truly happy. GuineaPigCages.com is a great website full of really useful information, so I decided I would follow their advice and build what is called a "C&C cage" ... or "Cubes and Coroplast". The cubes portion are those grid squares that you make utility shelves out of ... you know, you've seen them in utility rooms, laundry rooms, or bathrooms. And coroplast is that corrugated plastic used to make signs. I had a stack of the metal grids donated by the doting "grandparents" and found a great deal on coroplast. Little plug here, for anyone in Saskatoon wanting to get plain coroplast for building one of these babies, check out 77 Signs. They were super helpful and I was able to get what I needed same day for less than $30!

GuineaPigCages.com has really great instructions on how to build a C&C cage, so check them out. I'm writing this only because my methods may have deviated slightly from theirs. Take you pick!

Step 1: Gather materials

• Stack of grids and handful of connectors ... I didn't count, so sue me.
  
• Hammer to "gently persuade" the connectors onto the grids
• Pen
• Exacto knife
• Zip ties - of particular importance!
• Tape
  
• Beer
• 2 helpful Shelties

Step 2a: Take a couple of minutes to figure out how the heck the connectors hook onto the grid squares. Once you figure that out, connect the grids to form the perimeter of the cage based on the size guidelines outlined on GuineaPigCages.com.

Step 2b: Smash the connectors with the hammer, sending them flying across the room and scaring the dogs.

Step 2c: Drink beer and repeat step 2b.

Step 2d: Swear profusely, open the window 'cause it's getting really freakin' hot in here! Return to step 2b and continue.



Step 3a: Place the perimeter frame on the coroplast, in doing so watch as half the connectors and grids fall off.

Step 3b: Curse the damned guinea pig, swearing that she better like this cage or she is becoming dog food and the grids are going in the trash.

Step 3c: Get another beer.

Step 4: Remove all the damned connectors and tie the damned thing together with zip ties.


Step 5: Place back on the coroplast and trace the inside of the frame with a pen.

Step 6: Refer to GuineaPigCages.com for instructions on fancy scoring, cutting, folding ... most of which I just winged anyways.



Step 7: Pray to the god of small furries that the frame fits around the coroplast tray.

Step 8: YAY! Celebrate with beer.



Step 9: Realize that the coroplast tray is wedged so tight into the frame that it holds its rectangular nature and you don't even need a bottom to hold things together. Yeah, I planned that all along. Celebrate with beer.

Step 10: Build cubes with one open side ... is that technically still a cube? About 3 should do it. Use them for building a platform to raise the cage off the ground, thus preventing Sheltie-Guinea Pig Cuddling and/or Reindeer Games. Also serve as storage places for guinea pig food, hay, bedding, etc.


Step 11: Line with towels and fleece (YAY for Dollarama!), stock with food, water, hidey thing, and paper tube that is supposedly a good toy for guinea pigs. Sure.



Step 12: Add guinea pig and watch the frivolity!



Turns out Beatrice really does enjoy her new cage. It is MUCH larger than her original cage, and she spent forever exploring her new digs. I think I even witnessed her first popcorning (which is apparently how a guinea pig expressed their happiness ... sorta like Sheltie zoomies?)

Introducing ... Beatrice!

Sheltie Hair presents to you, our new family member ... Beatrice!

Beatrice was a rehome situation that I heard about this past weekend from a friend. Said friend's sister is moving out of town and having to rehome sweet little Beatrice. I have been contemplating the addition of a small furry non-dog beastie for a while now, so the situation was perfect!

Beatrice is my first guinea pig, so she will likely teach me a lot. But she is super sweet and I'm sure will be a great teacher.

We did the initial meet-n-greet between Bea and the boys, and she handled it VERY well!

Romeo is a little bit terrified of her ...


But her and Gio really seemed to hit it off! Gio is completely fascinated by her, and she seems politely curious about him as well. Gio's already caught on that he has to be in a "down" if he wants to sniff at her, and Bea has started to learn that Gio's tail is a GREAT place to rustle around in.



Romeo will take a little longer to come around, but it will come, I am sure.

For now, Bea just has a small cage, so I will have to work on upgrading her living conditions. Though with how well the introductions went tonight, supervised floor time should be a breeze!

I really don't know much of anything about guinea pigs, so I've been doing a lot of reading online and asking around to friends. If anyone has any idea what sort (breed?) of guinea pig Bea might be, that would be really cool to know!

Green Sleeves

...
My men were clothed all in green,
And they did ever wait on thee;
All this was gallant to be seen,
And yet thou wouldst not love me.

Greensleeves was all my joy
Greensleeves was my delight,
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my lady greensleeves.
...

The boys helped me mow the lawn this afternoon. Understandably, this process results in MY legs being flecked in green ...

PS. The new-to-me lawn mower and weed whacker, combined price of $20, and my fancy new extension cord, valued at $80 (huh?!) work really well!

But Gio and Romeo are SUCH good helpers that they were adequately green by the end of the event as well.

Low-rider (aka. Romeo) successfully served as a rake, collecting all the wet chopped up bits of grass in his chest fluff. Still haven't figured out how I am going to de-green him in time for his therapy dog visit tomorrow. So far, I am going with the theory that if I leave it alone it will sort itself out.

Between mowing the lawn and our adventures this morning, it's been quite the day for little Romeo.

What? I haven't told you about our adventures from this morning yet?

SHAME! Shame on me!

D&S put on an agility fun match this morning, run in conjunction with the Ebon Stables horse show. It was a small-ish turnout for the fun match, only 15 dogs or so. But just a good size that we could get in about 5 runs. Shirley, the sadist that she is, started us off with a clover leaf game. Yeah, not a good game for Romeo and me. Definitely something we have to work on. Unless of course people will join us in our petition that HIGH score wins ... any takers?!

After that we ran what we've been told is called a helter-skelter. Lots of fun actually, and much more suited for Romeo's and my strengths. It is essentially a large spiral of obstacles inwards, then turn around and do the spiral outwards again. Romeo ROCKED this one, with TWO no fault runs! Would have been faster but I screwed him up on a send out to the tunnel. Darned Shelties have handler focus out the wazoo coupled with eyes on the backs of their heads. Silly me, thinking that if he was turned completely away from me that he wouldn't see if I slightly changed position to get ready for his return through the tunnel. Apparently, all the fluff is concealing another set of eyeballs.

It was a great morning, despite the flashy new sunburn that I am sporting. Lots of fun with a great group of people and dogs!

Gio's Post

Since the last THREE blog posts have been all about Romeo, I am dedicating this whole post to Gio. Only Gio. I won't even mention that Romeo nailed ALL his contacts at agility practice today, including the teeter! Nope, not going to mention that at all, just talk about Gio.

First, an little epilepsy update. This past week we saw a recurrence of the S-monster. Gio had another seizure on Tuesday evening, nearly 2 months to the day since his last seizure. It was a grand mal, but short in duration and he recovered fairly quickly. Even though the seizures have lately been coming in clusters, this was a singleton with no more since then. So maybe my new routine of double dosing him on phenobarb after the first seizure is paying off! He went to the vet on Friday for his routine bloodwork consisting of a chemistry panel, CBC and phenobarbital level check. I don't anticipate anything to be wrong, just a regular check that we do every 4 months or so. We'll get the results back early next week.

Anyways, on to happier news! Down but never out, Gio and I went tracking this afternoon. He is doing really REALLY well on his corners. He was having trouble with them for a while, lacking confidence in deciding which way to go, and then getting frustrated and giving up. We got some tips a couple of months back at a tracking seminar we attended here in town, and they have really been paying off! By rubbing a little bit of food on the sole of my shoes at each corner and then dropping a couple of treats about 5 steps after the corner, it is enough motivation for him to keep trying. I could really see the difference in how he was working today. He would cast out at each corner to figure out which way to turn, and his confidence when he found the correct direction was tangible! I really like that he is willing to cast around when he is less than 100% certain, but quickly runs back to the correct track once he has made up his mind. He's a very thorough worker, that is for sure!

Here are the two tracks we worked today.


I have a horrible sense of distance, so I have no clue how long each track was. Each track had 3 corners and the straight portions were between 30 and 50 steps, "steps" being normal brisk walking steps of a 5'5" person. We aren't really working on aging the tracks yet, just getting his confidence up and increasing the distance. So the tracks were only about 5 minutes old. Gio clearly wants to keep going at the end of the track, often continuing to follow my return path after the final food drop, so I will increase the distance substantially next time. Then work on aging.

Again, these tracks were both laid in a busy park, between two baseball diamonds that are shared play fields for two near by elementary schools. I really like using public fields like this, one because the grass is kept at a really nice length, and two because there is so much "background" scent that it really helps Gio learn to pick out one scent and follow it while ignoring the rest. I'm hoping this will come in handy down the line if we ever get around to trialing. The TD test is done in rural areas without much background contamination (other than wildlife tracks), but the urban tests are all done in public areas like this. I haven't yet laid a track over any other ground covering but grass, but I think next time we go out I will try crossing over the paths in the park to see how he handles brief bits of concrete or gravel.

Here is a video of Gio's second track. Sorry for the "Blair Witch" style, but it's a little hard to keep the camera steady while trotting after a dog on a mission, slapping mosquitos, and trying to pick up all those darned stakes!

Happy Birthday Romeo!

Today is little Romi-Pig's 3rd birthday! Officially a big boy now!

"Grandma" spoiled him with a squeaky squirrel (with lots of "hair", just like he likes 'em) and a basketball for the back yard. In addition to the X-pen, which was originally supposed to be a birthday present for the Romeo ... you just can't hold those grandmas back!

I also made up the boys' favorite Fishy Fudge training treats and we celebrated with my Rally-O class dogs this afternoon. I bought some birthday hats thinking that maybe, just MAYBE, if I acted pathetic enough, my students would humor me enough to pop a party hat on their dogs and let me take a couple of pictures. Turns out they were thrilled with the prospect, and the dogs seemed to really enjoy it as well!

Of course, no one enjoyed the hats like Sophie did. Sophie, a lovely (though somewhat energetic) Labrador Retriever, thought that her birthday hat was the best thing in the world and just had to show it off to everyone. She was quite proud of herself, actually.



Sophie's "brother", Spike, was slightly less thrilled, but humored us all and posed for a picture.


The Afghans, Weasel and Nola, won the fashion and style award with the hip and trendy bed-head bangs peeking from under the hats.



Edgar, a Standard Poodle, celebrated his birthday yesterday, so we had to get a picture of the two birthday boys together* (and Sophie just had to sneak in the background of the picture to show off her fancy hat some more).



Finally, little Gina the Miniature Poodle, was nearly lost in the hat. It was much to big for her, and she was convinced that it was too heavy as well. She's such a trooper!


Then, after a good run in the park, I wrangle the two Shelties together and convinced Gio to pose with Romeo. Though Gio kept trying to steal the spotlight by inching forward to block Romeo out completely.

"Well, what the heck am I supposed to do?! Romeo has been the subject of the past TWO blog posts without even slight mention of ME! What's a dog gotta do to get his handsome mug featured on this blog, eh?!"

Thanks everyone for being an accomplice to my psychosis! It totally made my day! And I would like to think that Romeo might have had a good time as well ... or maybe it was just the Fishy Fudge.

* This picture cracks me up! They both look so somber and serious!