Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Woe is me



Just a quick update. I took Miley for a lesson and a class on Sunday. She excellent at the lesson. She got on the table every time. The other thing we learned is that me standing over her at the table isn't good for her. It puts to much pressure on her. But if I get her on the table and the get into position showing were we are going next, she is much more excited. Its like she is still working and getting information. Not sitting on a table in a time out. ( I hope that makes sense). But she then gets really excited and her butt comes off the table. But right now Ill take that over table avoidance. Next we talked about the a-frame and Miley self releasing. So I ran Miley over the a-frame and she creeped down. So new plan. Im going to change to a running a-frame. Now is a good time anyway since we are still working on the table issue. It will take the pressure off the table too. Surprisingly Miley still remembered the box work. So I dont need to start at the beginning of just teaching the dog to get in the box and then pounce the box. We were able to go to the grid work. The only problem was she is 3 striding coming into the box and we only want two. So Im to work on that. Moving the jumps closer to the box and slowing moving them back until she is at the correct distance and hitting two strides.
Now to the not so good part. I stayed for class after the lesson. Miley was doing well but toward the end of class she refused the teeter 3 times. OMG, I was really trying not to freak out. I told Meagan, Im not going to be able to handle another obstacle issue. So I finally got her on and she did the weaves ,which were next and then decided to call it quits. I didnt think she was hurt but what else could it be. She has never done that before. Of course I obsessed about it all the way home. The only thing I noticed was when I got dinner ready that night. She usually spins when I take the bowls from the kitchen to their crates. She does tight fast spins. But that night they were slow and wide. Hmmm. Ok maybe she is just sore. I didnt see anything else. I didnt take her to the beginner class I help teach on Monday. No chasing Guiness through the yard. I didnt see anything on our walks. She is back to spinning tightly again. Today I needed to go back out to the field to take some pictures of the triple jump. So I took the dogs with me. I thought I would just put Miley over the teeter and see whats up. Nothing is up. She was awesome and attacked the teeter. No problems there. We did a little table work and thats it. I really didnt do anything else. She did run the fence a couple of times when a car came by. The last time when she came toward me I thought I might have saw a skip. So now I need to decided if she just needs to take it easy for a few days or what. I have signed up for a trial this weekend but just one day. Its not a big deal not to go. Will see how things shape up. I will have to be 100 % sure to take her.
Only 3 more days of school until Spring break. I should be excited but that field trip is on Friday. 900 plus kids , three hours from home and one nurse. Ugh!! I will be so happy when its over.
Our agility trial is in a week too. There have been problems. Every time I think, ok I wont let that happen again. Something else goes wrong.
Stephanie had an exciting day today. Last week she turned in a project for a graphic design art class. The teacher gave them a made up company name. Then had to come up with a product, a slogan, a logo. She printed out letter head paper, a coffee cup with a design and slogan on it and a business card. It looked really cool. Then she had to give a presentation in front of several graphic design business owners. Today she found out she took 1st place. And one of the owners of a local graphic design firm offered her a summer internship. The lady said she was very impressed with Stephanie. Awesome!

12 comments:

Sam said...

That dog knows how to keep you on your toes, doesn't she? You sound just like me - when we encounter a problem, I stress like crazy. It doesn't do any one good, but sometimes ya just can't help it.

Lian said...

Glad you have a new way to work through your table, hopefully it won't be long that Miley can do the table confidently at trial.

Why not try a Back On Track coat for Miley. It's a great buy.

Sara said...

Oh, big, big congratulations to Stephanie!!!! You must be so proud of her. I hope she enjoys her internship. What a great opportunity for her to explore career options.

I'm so happy for you that Miley's table is getting better. I hope Miley's not hurt, and you don't see any more "skips" this week.

Field trips should be against the law.

Chris and Ricky said...

Well, there is never a dull moment with Miley! She likes to keep it interesting, LOL!

Congratulations to Stephanie! 1st place and a summer internship - WooHoo!

Jules said...

That is awesome news about Stephanie!! Wow!

It sounds like a bit of a mixed bag with Miley right now. I am glad you're seeing improvement with the table and getting clues on how to make her even more successful.

Dawn said...

Way to go Stephanie! That is just a wonderful opportunity for her to explore a career, and get valuable experience! I'm sure you're both just so excited!

Well Miss Miley, what's going on with YOU? Silly girl, you should string out these issues one at a time for maximum making Mom crazy effect! LOL!

Kathy Mocharnuk said...

Given that Miley was just fine doing the triple and then with the teeter after, if she was hurting that I would think that would have had to bring it out,...that would make me think less of an injury causing that...I wonder if because that sounded like a really intense lesson for Miley, working on that excitement on the table which has to be hard for her, and then working on the box which she has not done in awhile, maybe she was a bit fried. my dogs LOVE the teeter and I still have to go back and retrain it every so often. Mine have done that before with the teeter recently-and it really suprised me at the time because they have always had such rock solid teeters and the teeter is their favorite, so it really shocked me.... and it just took a quick brush up the way I had origionally taught the teeter-I love the Wendy Pape teeter dvd.

Amy / Layla the Malamute said...

That's fantastic about Stephanie!! She must be ecstatic. What great news.

I always obsess over any training problem too - even if it's just a one-time freak incident, I can't help making myself sick over it.

Good luck with the field trip!

Morganne said...

I think Miley will love a running a-frame. I will definately be training a running a-frame with my Sheltie (undecided about the dw). Interesting about the pressure on the table. My friend's BC will not down on the table with her handler standing too close. This is why I put Summit on the table, turn and walk away. No pressure on him and he knows it's his choice to stay so he can play.

Kathy Mocharnuk said...

I forgot to say Congrats to Stephanie, that is so awesome, and the summer internship that is really wonderful!

Anonymous said...

yay for Stephanie - good job! Miley is just a little bit of the devil, isn't she? I feel like its all coming together for you two as a team, though, -- very soon!

Diane

Nicki said...

Sounds like you are making table progress. Good job!