Saturday, September 1, 2012

Glass half empty



So, Im sure you probably already know this but Im a glass half empty type of person. I want to be positive but it just wouldnt work out. LOL  Anyway, Ive been so focused on things I feel I did wrong with training Miley that I forgot about things I did right. I have been so worried about not teaching Java certain things , that I forgot to teach some foundation stuff.  With both Miley and Guiness , I would walk them through the neighborhood and work on sits, stays, running, front crosses and rear crosses. I havent done any of the with Java. So Ive added that in to my training. The other thing I need to remember is that Java isnt like Miley. Miley will do a sequence over and over again with just as much enthusiasm the 10th time as she did the 1st time. Not Java.  She did it twice and she just looks at me if I ask her to do it again. She isnt going to do it again. I think she is thinking, Whats the point? LOL Java is a thinker. She learns it quickly and wants to move on. Miley is  doer and do what ever it is as fast as you can. No thinking allowed. LOL
Ive been working on Mileys running contacts. Its been slow going because she goes as fast as she can but isnt thinking about what Im clicking.  Ive been working on rear foot tricks and I can tell , after several weeks, she still doesnt get what Im clicking for. Hmmm.  Tonight we might have had a break through. Im having her run a flat 12 foot board. I think, just maybe, she understands leaping the contact doesnt earn a reward. Will see what happens tomorrow.
Ive been very depressed about not being able to teach Java to "wait". How freaking hard can this be???? For some reason she doesnt understand what I want. I feel like Ive been banging my head against the wall. Ive tried tons of different things to teach "wait" and she just doesnt get it. I used a mat and can get her to wait on the mat. But as soon as I put her in front of agility equipment, all bets are off. So my new plan, who knows if it will work, is  Im using crate games . I ve been working in the house and putting her crate in front of a jump. Its working for now. Im hoping to take the crate and jump different places before adding it to the usual places we do agility. I hope this works because she is getting fast and I cant get down course fast enough to give her information if I dont have a lead out. Then she just stops and looks at me. LOL
Roxy has been sick on and off this summer. Her stomach keeps hurting. Well thats what I say when she does this bowing thing. When ever she does that , it means her stomach or abdomen hurts. Her liver enzymes were really elevated at the beginning of August and she didnt eat for a couple of day. Im suppose to bring her back in a month for a recheck of her blood work. Tonight she doesnt feel good again. Every time I put her back on her food, her stomach starts hurting. It seems like she is fine when eating chicken and rice.  Im worried that  theres is something really wrong with her since this keeps happening. She was fine when she ate dinner tonight but now you can tell she doesnt feel good.

We took the boat out on the lake today. We found a spot in a cove to pull the boat up. We werent there to long and this other boat just pulls right up next to us. If we are looking for a spot, we dont go where other people are already pulled up. It was weird. And that they were so close to our boat. There was plenty of space to park farther down. So I have to put the dogs up because Guiness doesnt really like people. He is ok but sometimes I worry and he wants to bark at people.  So that was the end of our fun. But there was lots of shade , so it was hard to take action pictures. It was windy , so there were lots of waves. Miley and Java were to interested in getting close the the waves hitting the rocks. But Guiness gets excited and barks at the waves.

So anyway, we had a hard time  getting the boat out of the cove because those people were parked so close to us and the waves were hitting and turning the boat. So Lou had to get in the water and swim to the boat. If I waited for him by the shore we would have hit the other boat. Ugh, people are so rude.  Then half way back home the boat motor just stopped and wouldnt start again. Lucky there was a nice breeze so we werent miserable while waiting for someone to come tow us in.  We finally found someone. So while being towed in, this big sail boat u-turns and is crossing in front of us. I have no idea why he did this. You can tell we were being towed. So the guy towing us has to stop and wait for the sail boat to go by. Plus we have no control of our boat. The lake is huge, there was no reason the sail boat had to do this. Idiot. We finally made it to the marina. The guys who all work the marina wouldnt even help us. They told the guy pulling  us to come to there side, so he did. Then they said we had to put the boat in a slip on the other side of the boat ramp. You dont think anyone stopped putting there boats and jet skis in the water long enough for us to move our boat. Nope, dont interfere with their fun for one second. They just kept on going and two people almost hit us, More idiots. So the guy who towed us in , jumped in the water and pulled our boat across the water into the correct slip. (It the slip owned by the boat repair shop).


Look at this house being built. I hope it looks better when its done.

Sorry I havnt been blogging. Ive been depressed. My work just is horrible. I really dont want to talk about it but its really effecting my life. Its been hard to even read other peoples blogs. Hopefully Ill get back to normal soon and catch up on everyones blogs.

5 comments:

Lian said...

Life is full of ups and downs. Hopefully, your work get sorted and you are feeling much better. Sending hugs your way x

Sara said...

People are so annoying! It's like you're all alone in a movie theater, and the people have to sit RIGHT In front of you. Rude.

Hope the crate games work for Java. It would be so nice if we could train all our dogs in the same way. But, no, our silly dogs won't let us.

Chewy has decided that I'm only allowed to do 3 startline stays a day. After that, he's done! Sitting/staying is stupid according to him.

Dawn said...

Katie quits after a few attempts too. She thinks she's too smart for school sometimes.

I know how hard it is to go to work when it's terrible...I am sad for you about that. Hopefully after the school year gets rolling it will be better!

We have a house on a big lake in AL. We try not to even be out on it during the long weekends because there's a lot of people that aren't regulars there and most of them have no manners, have no concept of boating rules and no common sense. Plus they are usually drinking. Sorry the lake wasn't as fun as usual for you this time...go back out NEXT weekend and it will probably be wonderful! :)

Chris and Ricky said...

I bet crate games will work for Java! I just heard a story from a friend the other day who had their boat in dry dock for repairs. After a month it still wasn't fixed and they found out a homeless person had been living on it and had trashed it. Fun times.

corbinwooten said...

I'm sorry you've been feeling down. A job that you don't like really can take a mental toll on you. Have you thought about looking around for something new? I know I don't know your situation--just know that I was in a similar one a few years ago and I am so glad that I got out.

Also, don't feel bad about having a hard time teaching Java to wait. Every dog presents its own challenges. You've taught your dogs PLENTY of things that many people could never teach. Java's contacts, for example, are beautiful. I could never teach that!

And sorry about your boat and all the people that apparently don't understand common courtesy. I'm finding that most people lack even the most basic of manners.

Anyways, hang in there. I'll send good vibes your way. Keep us posted on Roxy.