Trial weekend

I went to another trial this weekend. I drove with a friend since it was a 4 hour drive after work Friday. I figured it would be easier to drive with someone then by myself.  I think we got there around 10pm on Friday night.  Im still having trouble sleeping. I think I only slept 3 hours Friday night. Miley barked a lot too.  The hotel was packed. In fact there were 3 or 4 hotels right together and all of them were packed. So people yelling down the halls at 1am and doors slamming. Ugh!   The next morning I had a bad headache. By the time I go to the trial it became a migraine. Ive had at least 6 migraines in the last two weeks since starting that new medication.  Anyway I was pretty miserable at the trial. Really, I would have just driven home if I hadn't been with a friend.  Lou offered to come get me but I didn't want him to drive all that way.

The trial site is nice. I like the astro turf that was on the agility field.  Miley didn't like that pebbles that were around the ring on the one side. We had to walk through it from the car to the ring. There were a bunch of gated areas to let you dogs run around off leash but no real place to "go for a walk" with your dog.  Miley had problems adjusting to the turf. Im not sure if she didn't like it or if something was wrong.  I don't have the course map for the jumpers run. When I looked at my map, it was Friday's map. Hmmm.
Miley was slow and jumping weird so my timing was off.



I asked a fried of mine and he said sometimes it takes a bit for dogs to get use to running on this surface if they hadn't run on it before.  She seemed to speed up at the end.

Java had a great run, until the end when I fall behind and she didn't know where to go. So she missed the last jump.  She ran 5.6 yards per second. Whoohoo!!



Next was standard.  Miley looked much better running standard.

 

 

I messed up Java's run. I did a rear cross on the flat into the weaves. I thought she was to wide to get the entry so I stopped. ugh. She got the entry and then pulled out because I stopped. Darn it.



We were done pretty early.  They have a pond there that you can do dock diving. So my friend let her Yorkies swim.  They are awesome little dogs. After that we went back to the hotel.  My migraine was gone but I just was wiped out.  I did sleep that night.  But still had a headache all day on Sunday. What the heck???  I didn't take any of that new medication Sunday. I felt like I need sleep and maybe that medication is causing the headaches.

It was suppose to rain Sunday but we got lucky and it didn't rain until we were done with our runs and headed home.  We parked farther up the hill so Miley didn't have to walk through the pebbles to get the the ring.  Yay!!   Miley seemed better today. She played with Java in the gated area. 

I walked this course and everything seemed ok.   But then when it was time to run, the sun had come up.  It wasn't high enough yet for the roof to block the sun.  So when I turned after the table, I saw the sun coming in right at the triple. I knew it was going to be a problem.

Those big shadows coming in front of the jump were going to be hard on Miley. But it was to late, we were already running to it.  ( lots of dogs dropped the triple or hit it but it bounced but didn't come down)  Miley took off way to early. It looks like she thought the dark shadow on the ground was part of the jump. So she didn't clear the jump. Plus she slams on the breaks right in front of the chute. Big shadow there too.



Java was having a great run before she flew off the teeter. Both my dogs had trouble getting in the chute. Not sure if the shadow in front of the chute caused some problems or what. They didn't have problems Saturday.



Next was jumpers.

Miley ran nicely. She still looks a little off to me.


Miley Qed and took 2nd place.

I messed up Java's run. I don't know how I just ran the course correctly with Miley and then mess it up with Java. And it wasn't a long wait between runs either.  You can see my arm come up after jump 2, to start to front cross. I wasn't to front cross until after jump 3. I realize it in time but now Im not where Im suppose to be. So she pushed to far and has to come and and drops the bar.  Then Im late with my cues on both tunnels so she takes the wrong end. Ugh!! I have to remember to cue her before she takes off for the jump before the tunnel. You can see she is already committed when she takes that jump. Ugh!!  I really messed it up and it wasn't a hard course at all. Ack!!



For some weird reason my ipad taped this run upside down.  Lucky there was an app I could down load it to fix it.

Anyway I probably wouldn't drive 4 hours to the trial again. I like the agility ring but its just to far and no place to walk my dogs.
I woke up with another headache at 4am this morning. It turned into a migraine and I had to call in sick to work. I hope I don't have a headache tomorrow. Im thinking of just taking a migraine pill before bed to prevent it.
I made a rehab appointment to have Miley checked on Wednesday just to make sure nothing is wrong.

The weekend

This weekend our club had an agility show and go.  My yard is still very moist but the club's field is very dry.  We've been trying to get the pump working to run the sprinklers without success yet.  The pump is working but not pulling any water up from the pond.  It needs to be primed but we couldn't get the cap off to pour the water down to prime the pump.  So anyway, the grass is dry.  It was almost Miley's turn and I got her out and warmed her up. Then I put her over the practice jump. She slipped and fell on her shoulder and face, then came up lame on her right rear. She wouldn't even put her leg on the ground at all. Ack!!!  I was so upset. I just wanted to put my dogs in the car and go home. Except I said I would help build the courses and set bars.  Miley was only lame about 1 minute. I massaged her and felt her all over. She seemed ok.  I walked her a little and put her back in the car. No agility for her.  I took her out every hour and walked her around. She seemed ok.  She hasn't done anything since Saturday. I haven't seen any off loading of weight. I hope she is ok.   I did run Java. I wet her feet down before running her. She seemed ok. No slipping. I thought I ran her well but two different  people said to me I need to get a slower dog that I can run. How weird is that? I thought I had done well.  I want more than just to Q with my dog. I want her to run fast and read sends so I can get else where on course.  Anyone can run a dog the runs or trots or walks at your side.  I guess I just have a different opinion of what agility is then the people who were there.  Several people told me they don't want their dog to run fast. I asked this one person if they make course time because her dog wasn't running. She said she did.  So maybe I need to change how Im teaching some of these classes.  These people don't want their dogs to run fast, just stay on course at any cost. (slow dog down to a trot)  I probably wont be able to change.
Anyway, I started new medications last Friday for my Fibromyalgia. Yea my pain is much better but now I cant sleep at all.  I have to take at least 2 Benadryl to fall asleep.  Then Miley was doing better after being on her antibiotics for her UTI.  She finished them on Friday.  Starting Monday morning at 3am, she has been waking my up to go the the bathroom again. Then I cant go back to sleep. Im taking another urine sample in tomorrow on Miley.  Maybe 10 days of antibiotics wasn't enough.  Im hoping if I just keep taking(my) the medication, the side effect of not being able to go to sleep will go away. Lets hope so.

Catching up

Im sorry I haven't been posting. Im not sure to many people are even reading anymore.   Ive been feeling depressed. Not like "cant get out of bed" depressed. Just not doing much of anything. I haven't been walking my dogs much, sad.  My fibromyalgia pain has gotten really bad.  I hate my job and I don't even know why.  They people I work with are really nice. Its just hard to sit in an office, all day by yourself, and see a bunch of kids that don't want to be at school.   And then have to deal with parents who are mad at you for stupid things. I could see if I made a mistake and you were mad but the stuff they are mad about is just dumb.   You are mad at me because I called you and said you cant send your kid to school with a blood sugar over 500 and spilling moderate ketones. You should at  least call me and give me a heads up so I cant help your child. Not let me find out on my own. And now you are snippy with me on the phone when I call??  I just don't get it. I didnt do anything wrong.  Its stuff like that all day long.   So then I find Im depressed by the time I leave there.  I eat lunch alone. Then my husband works out of town , so Im alone at home too. Its just all getting to me.  I went to the doctor this morning and told her we need to change something because Im miserable.  So she added a medication and will see if my pain gets better. I keep thinking how am I going to hike in Oregon next month if I cant even walk 4 miles at the parks without going into severe pain. I want to have a life and do the things I enjoy, not just exist.

I took theses pictures yesterday at the park. This cracked me up. I think this house was for birds. But I guess the squirrels felt it would make a good home.

Then this bird pecking holes in the bird house.

Took Miley back to the ophthalmologist.  They couldn't find anything wrong, or why she is squinting so much. So back to the old medication , Optimune and recheck in two months.  She is better but I feel like she isn't opening her eye completely, but not really squinting.

Last weekend we went to  the trial just on Sunday.  It was a nice day.  Sunny and warm.  Miley Qed in T2B but I messed up Java's run.   But she had nice teeters, you had to do it twice. 

Miley almost double Qed.  One dropped bar. Ugh.  Oh well, I would rather have one dropped bar then not be able to run her at all. 





Java had nice runs.  We got the wrong entrance to the tunnel, I should have layered that jump instead of going it. It pushed her right into the wrong tunnel entrance.  But she got the opening which was getting more dogs.  And she finally got her first excellent jumpers Q.

Sandy Beach

It was really sunny and warm this weekend. Yay, finally!!  Its been raining since Wednesday and poured all day Friday. I was suppose to go to an outside trial on Saturday but I knew the field would be a mess pass on past experience , so I knew I wouldn't be going on Saturday.  Instead I went to the beach that was on Lake Murray.  I lake level is really high so there wasn't as much beach as there usually is but the dogs didn't care.

Poor Miley is having trouble with her left eye . Saturday she started squinting again and then a lot on Sunday. So Im going to call this morning and get an appointment.

Trial follow up, day one.

I went to a trial last weekend. It seem like forever ago.  Ive had ipad problems, Internet problems and agility problems.  I've spent all week trying to do my Daisy Peel homework.  I went Tuesday to the field.  There were three sequences. I figured staying in the weave poles, while I peeled away, would be the problem. Nope, neither dog could read a rear cross at the tunnel. They both kept turning the wrong way. Ugh!! So I worked on it for 2 days. Then  I went to the field again. This time neither dog could stay in the weaves, get weave pole entries or read the rear cross at the tunnel. Ack!! Then I went today and it finally came together. Today was last day to turn in homework. (Java still had one weave pole entry problem) 
Next ,I saved all my videos from the trial on my computer but it makes it hard to transfer to youtube. So I will just do day one today. I had to have my ipad swiped clean and start over. So no videos on it.

I went up Friday afternoon so I could do the UKI trial that was running after the AKC trial. I wanted to practice with Java in the ring. Start lines and teeters and 2o/2o on the dogwalk.  Didn't work out to well, except she did have nice startline stays.

Miley ran a Master series jumpers. The first three dogs that ran, went off course. Hmm.  The dirt was soft, which is nice to run in but made big holes after lots of dogs ran. I noticed it but didn't really register in my brain. So when I ran with Miley, she took a jump and Im pretty sure she fell in a hole.



So after that, every time I walked the course , for the next few days, I went around filling all the holes with my feet and mashing it down. People probably thought I had a problem. I know its hard to get the dirt right at trials. People have complained about the dirt at our trial but Ive never had my dog take a spill like this at our trial.

Here was the excellent Jumpers course.

 

I should  have read #3 as a lateral send, so I could get ahead of Java. But I didn't so I got behind and she didn't know where to go taking #5 and had to guess. She guessed wrong. After that we were good.  You can see how much she is slipping on course.

 

 

Here was the T2B course.

 

I didn't know how to run this. I went with 3 front crosses in the opening. I walked it with rears but that didn't feel right. So I went with the fronts even though I knew I wouldn't make it. I didn't, and Java had to tell me about it. Ugh. We managed to stay on course even with that big mess.

 

 

The next day she had an awesome Excellent standard run.  She had the best teeter she has ever had at a trial.  Didn't do a 2o/2o on the dogwalk at all. LOL 



Ill try to do Miley stuff tomorrow.  She had some trouble with bars. Ugh.

She did it

I was so excited when Java read this call to heel that I did in the DP handling sequence.



Then I came home and all these "One Mind" agility videos are posted on FB. (there was a seminar in Fl. last week)  Then my small little accomplishment seemed silly.  Ill never catch up to everyone. LOL

Another Snow

Its started snowing on Tuesday morning.  Half way through the school day it really was coming down. Parents were coming to school to get their kids. So they decided to let the kids go at 1pm.  By 3pm it had stopped. But more was coming. For us it was suppose to be an ice storm. Lucky most of it was snow or sleet.  A lot of sleet.

  The wind would blow and all the sleet would slide off the roof like water falls. It made big piles around the house.

Java thought the big piles were there just for her.

 The dogs always have a good time.

Roxy hasn't gone outside in days.  Mickey did go out. The shelties tried to get him to play. He wasn't amused.

Guiness did a lot of this.

And this.

Then over night the ice came.

 

 

I haven't been able to do any of my DP class assignment. Not sure it will get done either. Snow still on the ground and now rain coming tomorrow. Ack.
Im teaching two classes for the club. A beginner obedience class. Its really just a basic class with sits, downs, hand touches and loose leash walking. There is wide range of dogs in the class which makes it hard. One beagle that is over the top, always straining at the end of his leash. Its a smart dog but I think the owner is frustrated. He wants to force the dog into a down but pushing it down. Well you know how that works. Then there is a very nice husky that never wants to leave its mat. It has no enthusiasm for anything. Not food or toys.  So I told them to watch there dog this week and see what he is happy about. There has to be something that gets him excited.  So will see if they do it and what their list shows.
Then next class is a contacts and sequencing class for people who have finished the foundation agility class.  Sorry to say I haven't been enjoying this class. Two of the dogs , when ever they are let off leash, run around and they run as fast as they can at other dogs in the class. The dogs don't have good recalls. Ive talked to them about how to work on this. We'll see if it works.  The other person has a very nice border collie that is nice but doesn't like being charged by these other two dogs and gets upset.  Im scared there will be a fight. I don't think the other two people were ready to come to this class.  A requirement should be a good recall on your dog.  I don't have a problem with peoples dogs running around but they cant charge other dogs.  So the class has been stressful for me.   I think this is the last class I teach.  And Ive had to cancel almost all the classes due to weather. So this class is going on forever!!  Ive talked to the club about have consistency but its just not happening.   People teaching the classes don't have the skills they need to teach.  The one person , Ive never seen run agility for all the years Ive been with the club.  The other person has been to two agility class and started running her dog at trials.  One class she taught, she told them that your arms are what turn the dog on course. Ack!!  And that rear crosses are hard on your dog because he cant see you. What??   So I don't think she understands about handling. I know that Im not great but  I so understand what turns my dog even if I cant execute it very well.   So anyway its been very frustrating.

Guiness says its time for this crap to go away.  It will be in the 70's next week. Yay!!