Tendons to running contacts

 (This isnt a great picture but they are both looking at the camera. Score!!!)
Its been a busy week.  Sorry I havent posted much. Ive been so tired and I dont know why. Earlier in the week it was really warm but rainy. Then yesterday the sun came out but freezing cold and windy!  Ugh, I hate winter. My hands are now cracked open , boooooo.  Ok, enough complaining.
Last week or maybe it was the week before,  my husband took Miley for her ultrasound of her left shoulder. She still has tendinitis and two small tears in the tendon. No surprise there.  Miley probably thinks her whole life is "rest".  August and September she rested because of the glass in her foot that took forever to find. Then in November the tendinitis started. She rested for 6 weeks and the had  a week of normal activity. The limping started again and now more res,t probably for 3 months. Poor Miley.  I decided to do therapeutic ultrasound for this go around. Its suppose to help the tendons heal faster and in the right direction  ( or something like that).  So she had her first treatment on Thursday. Now she hasnt had US treatment since summer of 2010. The vet was doing her treatment and as soon as this beeper went off, stating treatment was over, Miley popped right up. The vet hadnt even had time to pull to probe off of her yet. It surprised the vet. Im sure the vet didnt want her getting up like that. So a year and a half and the dog still knew what the beep meant.  No wonder she wont get on the table at a trial. LOL She never forgets!! So going back and forth to NC for the next few weeks will probably kill me. But hey its for my dog right?
Then there is Java. Who wants to run and play with Miley and cant. Poor Java. Ive started the on-line running contacts class.  Im not sure Java is running as fast as she can so thats all Ive really been working on. Trying different toys  to see if she will drive faster for one than another. Not really. My throwing the ball needs work. So many things to think about. Ive been working everyday or every other day on the running contacts stuff.  You have 3 weeks to complete the homework. I didnt know if I should wait until the end of the three weeks to post my video or do it at the beginning. I needed help so I went ahead and posted it.  Ill see what she says to help me.  Also, you need to open the classroom stuff everyday and read what people post and what she says so  you can learn from them. And if you dont, I can really see getting behind on information.
This isnt the video I posted to the class. But I can see how much different her stride is inside than outside. I probably wont do any inside again. The one for the class was outside , where there is more room. I like how she is playing with me though. You are probably thinking , "big deal".LOL, it is for me. Ive been working hard to get this.


The "I shot it" contest is almost over.  I think there is 2 more weeks to enter your dog photos. I pot is around 1200.00.  I could sure use that. But there are professional photographers pictures in there so Im sure I dont have a chance, its sure nice to dream.....

Limping again

Yes Miley was limping again this week. Im not sure what happened.  We had been hiking, no limping.  Went to my mom's house for Christmas and they have a good size backyard.  I let her and Java run but not to much, no limping.  I took her to the club to finish those last two jumps that needed the jump cup strips attached. I let her run some small sequences, no limping.



Then the next day she was out in the backyard. Its was around 6am. She wasnt limping when she got up but when she came in from being outside, she was really limping. Crap.  I dont know if she fell or what happened. Ugh!  She even went in my room and laid down. So unlike her. I gave her a Rimadyl. And hour later she was fine.  I havent given her any more Rimadyl but Ive restricted her again. No off leash running. The backyard is gated again, so she cant run free. She is confined to the den and kitchen. I still take her for walks except the day she was limping, I didnt let her do anything. And our walks arent that far and back to the flat surfaces.  I made an appt. with the Vet who does ultrasounds and is good at being about to see muscle tears or tendon tears. She couldnt do it this week so Miley goes Monday. Im assuming that maybe she has a tiny tear somewhere in her shoulder.  Although when I talked to the rehab vet about her possibly having a tear ( before she released her from rehab), she didnt think Miley would get better so quickly if she had a tear and as soon as I let her run, the  limp would show back up. Im not sure why it took a week , maybe I let her do to much to fast. Ugh.

Java is doing well. Still working on recalls.  Sometimes they are great and sometimes not.  One day we only took Java to the hiking park.  When we got to the back of the park, I let her off leash.  She did well for about an hour. Then I went to take a picture of something and my husband was watching her. He didnt see anything, but she took off running. Lucky we were in a valley and could see for a good distance.  I called her and she didnt come. Uh, scary. I had to use , "Pup, Pup, puppy" and then she came. Today I worked her again. She stopped to sniff an orange peel and wouldnt recall off of it. I had to go get her.  We worked more recalls. Then a dog barked, she took off running. I called her. She stopped on a dime and came running back. That made me feel a little better. 
She is having a hard not being reactive to other dogs.  Even at the class I teach where she really hasnt had a problem.  This week someone, who wasnt in class, was working their dog in the other room and had their other dog locked in a crate. It wouldnt stop barking.  And Java kept barking and growling. So everytime she did that, I put her in her crate. She stopped barking. The a lady in class came with a big border collie , Java went crazy.  I had to lock her up in her crate again. She finally got better.  It seems to be big dogs that she is having a problem with.  We walked at the park this morning. There were several people walking dogs.  I put her in a sit and clicked and treated every time looked at the dogs but didnt react.  She did much better by the end of the walk. So I guess thats what Im going to be working on. She had no problems at the agility field this week but no big dogs came to class.  One funny thing that happened . I was putting the chute away and its kinda hard to carry. While I was walking, Java jumped up and into the plastic barrel.  It was to funny.

I feel like this is a depressing post so on a good note........
For Christmas  my husband bought me an online class. Its the Silvia Trkman Running Contacts.  Im going to try and teach Java running contacts. I still need to paint my board.  You have to have a flat 12 foot board so the dog runs on it just like running on the ground. Will see how it goes. I can always change to a 2o/2o but keep the a-frame running.

(I know this one isnt in focus but its still cute to me)

Miley update

Miley had her 2 week follow-up appt. yesterday.  It went well.  She was no longer tender when the vet touched the tendon. When she was lying down and she fully extended her leg froward, she kept her head on the floor relaxed. Last time she kept picking her head up when the vet extended her leg all the way forward. But the vet said she could feel her muscle tense  when she extended it.  So she is much better but still has a ways to  go.  Two more weeks of rest and then she will get checked again.

I put this picture in the blog because it had Miley in it but also that chest.  I found that chest at Goodwill over 20 years ago. It was painted the ugliest orange color I had ever seen. I thought I would take it home, strip it and then repaint it.  But when I started stripping it, it was beautiful underneath. It took several stripping to get all the paint off and then I just left it natural. I think I might have used some oil on it since stripping it dries out the wood. I really like this chest. It been with us moving to 6 houses. Never any problems.  Over Thanksgiving Stephanie came home and said she needed a tacky Christmas sweater to wear for a  Christmas party she was going to at school. So can she look through my sweaters.  LOL, yea way to build me up there and make me feel good about myself. So she goes through my chest. And yes she found one that works.  LOL, I like that sweater too. I guess that shows my taste.  She went through the whole chest and found some other outdated stuff she thought was cool and wanted.  Also in that chest is my electric blanket.  Stephanie put everything she didnt want back in the chest and closed it.  The other day I wanted to put my electric  blanket on the bed and went to open the chest. Its locked.  WTF?  Locked?? I dont have  a key. Its never been locked. Thats how things sometimes go with Stephanie. She touches it and it breaks. Im not sure how it happens but it happens alot.  I know she didnt mean to lock the chest but its locked.  Weve tried several times to get it open and no luck. Ugh!!!!!

Ive been thinking a lot about not being able to Q with Miley on course.  And since getting Java, Im noticing  Miley's quriks a lot more.   One of them is her space issuses.  She doenst like to come in close to you unless its her own decision.  So if you call her while she is going thur the den. Oops, her signals tell her, "go wide, go wide".  She will start making wide circles thru the den, kitchen area.  Or she turns around and goes the other way. She dodges your hand as it comes out to pet her. If she lays down next to you and you pet her, she gets up and leaves. LOL    So since she is on rest and cant or isnt suppose to run around, I thought I would work on her coming close to me.  I had to wait her out a pretty long time, but Im finally making some progress. I used the clicker. I called her  just saying "come".  And then waited until she did something that meant forward motion. Not backward, circling or going wide. No luring.  If she leaned foreward or to one step or even attempted to step forward. I clicked and said yes. And then I would throw the treat to her but so that she would have step forward again.  Its going pretty well and she she will always step toward me when I call her and lots of times come all they way in  and let me pet her.  My thought is that we cant work as a team on course because her space bubble is to wide.  Lots of times your dog needs to come in close , well if your dog doesnt like close, your in trouble. I ve also been working heeling exercises  with her. Just little short ones and not that often.So heeling passed  obstcales.   I dont know if any of this will make a difference  but it cant hurt either. (once again I cant get spell checker to work so read at your own risk.)