berlin is currently at animerge getting her spay and gatropexy on :) actually, she's already out of surgery and recovering- i already saw her post-op and she did fine, already standing and drooling her head off.
the recovery is going to be KILLER - she's on FOUR WEEKS of rest. four weeks because my dogs are friggin psychos and too active for the normal beast so it will need to be twice as long as the average dog to make sure she heals well (the pexy, not the spay) to make sure it takes. the surgeon was very glad i was pexying her because she said her chest was very deep for her petite size, so i was right to be concerned for bloat - especially for her activity :)
rah is doing great - more about that in his cardio blog. no adverse side effects right now from the stem cells, he's chipper and as annoying as ever.
training training training....
agility last night was our first time back at class in 2 weeks or so. ive done some work outside working serpentines, weaves and weave entrances (ignoring off sides since its been a problem for us lately - my new theory - ignore it if its not working!) and outs. she did awesome!!!! and i was really happy, but entrances need some work - so i spoke to my trainer and she made that something we worked on in class.
class this week we first started with entrances and shaping them - gave it a new word (i used "get in" for my memorys sake - but i can change this to "weave" i think since technically i tell her "go weave" and then have her continue with a "go go go go go " ... think that over kim) and the biggest change was i put three poles up instead of two, to make it clear she was to continue forward instead of curling back to me once she got the click and that worked like a charm to continue her forward momentum. VERY clear for her - then we had a short sequence with a jumptunnel to JUST a weave entrance - did onside and off side and she was very nice - NAILED off side!!!!!
then we did sequences - the one i remember is where i did a lead out pivot past two, then sent her through the tunnel and after the tunnel i did a nice rear cross over 4, sent her to the weaves - it worked well. she never thought about going into the weaves past two, or going straight to the jump instead of into the weaves after 4. i was also afraid she would miss the first tire since she actually was staring at me NOT through the tire because of where i had to be for the pivot... but it worked perfectly. very nice.
she did awesome - read the lead out pivot perfectly, read the rear cross just right and nailed the weaves great and was fast and accurate - i need to stop waiting and watching her though!!! and RUN PAST THE LAST JUMP!!!!!!!!!
worked her in open too since she will be out of class for so long - did some heeling and she was nice, but then i got tired - and then the cough came (bronchitis is cleared but i had a rattle come back by the end - im so out of shape!) and when i stop pushing she stops giving) - but its me, not her) but she tried and i do understand that if she's not going to bring it, i need to be the one to bring it. i really do. i just need to be the one to be able to bring it.
did some work with the broad jump, and then we broke...
started retrieves, and the db landed near annette's kids. and berlin said no. and i said yes. and she said no. and i said yes.
and then my trained came over and said YES. so berlin learned an ear pinch last night. and she got what we meant immediately - she clearly understands what a retrieve is, and i understand she doesn't love kids - but they were no threat and i wasnt putting her in danger, i wasnt asking of her anything she doesn't understand or wasn't physically capable of. i was asking her to pick up a db from within 3 feet of a child that she's MET before. and she said no. that, to me, is unacceptable. so she is now going to be force fetched to make it clear that this isn't an option, to say no to me.
rah - worked on his SFE and moving stand - he also did the SFE in novice class :) ha ha just popped him in there. never did signals with him because he did go outs so long. nothing spectacular nothing hugely wrong. gloves showing small steady progress. brought his stand back to basics - staying close, rewarding basic attention on me and not looking at the judge - had all the kids, lydia, ellen, hope, and many others touch him and rewarded STARING at me (allowed a tiny bit of foot motion) and want his eyes drilled into me - the more he looks at me, the less he will ever notice the judge coming up.
he's entered in a match this weekend - has two utility entries in june.
berlin is on four weeks of rest - this will kill me.
2 comments:
What's the link to the cardio blog? I'd like to read that one too.
I'm glad that you kept telling Berlin "Yes". It's getting to be kind of a pet peeve when people are "training" their dogs but allow the dogs to make the decisions on what they will or won't do. You know, "Sit! Sit! I said SIT!! Okay, fine, don't sit."
hi Kim,
glad to hear Rah is doing well. I totally understand 4 weeks of RESt with No phys activity for a Dobe is a killer. Lava was spayed in Dec and we endured LOOONG 4 weeks also. We did a lot of mental training :))))and crate games.
Good luck!
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