I have not fallen off the face of the earth...

Yes, I KNOW I have been remiss in keeping up with the blog; but it's the kind of thing where either you're in the mood or you're not. Plus, if you're in the mood, you have to have the time. And something going on to write about. So here is a quick shortie post until I have time do do something more informative (and because Diane asked for more bird pix!).

Sunday was Queen City DTC's spring tracking test. This year it was at a new location, Valley View nature preserve in Clermont County. We had one TD entry which PASSED for a new Tracking Dog Tibetan Terrier from Kingsport TN. Sadly, none of the three Tracking Dog Excellent entries were successful. The pass rate for TDX is daunting- all the stars really must be in alignment!

There was an elementary school right next to the first track and we were watching from the sidewalk. This absolutely INFURIATED a killdeer who had "built" her nest right next to the walkway. "Built" is stretching it a bit, since it isn't much more than a depression in the dirt.



First Mama Killdeer shrieked at me, puffed up, and (quite bravely I thought) ran right up to me doing her best to look terrifying.

When I did not reward her with the proper reaction of terror and hasty retreat, she tried tactic #2; fake an injury.

See, she drags a wing and tries to draw me away from the nest thinking she is easy prey. However, killdeer for lunch was not on my agenda and I still refused to vacate the area.

Oops, Mama K, you forgot that you started out with your OTHER wing hurt. You need to take your acting class over again.

Finally she retreated back to her nest where she ranted and raved at us through the whole time we were observing, and when we started back to the car she tried dive bombing us just to hurry us along.

You know, Mama Killdeer, not to point out the obvious, but if you had decided to lay your eggs in, oh, say, the 200 acres of grassland nature preserve 50 yards away instead of next to the sidewalk, you could have been relaxing and eating bon bons instead of doing sidewalk patrol. I'm just sayin'. You might want to think about it next time.

One of the tracking dogs also flushed up this deer as she ran her track; the deer took off running TOWARDS the sound of gunshots from the nearby firing range, which makes me not feel very optimistic about her long term survival odds.

She did look pretty and was fun to watch though. I had the pictures cropped down a little better, but somehow when I uploaded them they reverted to the original and I'm too lazy to fix it.

I have several posts written in my mind and I will try to get them up and be more regular again; I am doing my best to shake off the winter blahs and get motivated to do something productive!

Teaching a puppy to tolerate restraint

One of the most important lessons you can teach a puppy, if not THE most important lesson, is how to tolerate restraint. It is relatively simple and quick to do if you start it young as a puppy and it will make your life SO MUCH EASIER not to mention save a lot of stress on the dog and potentially save his life. Despite this, I would estimate 95% of my clients never teach this important tool. My puppies learn this as our number one priority, WAY above teaching sit, down, contact behaviors, or focused attention.

I discuss with EVERY new puppy client (usually at every visit) how to work on this. Five minutes a night is all it takes; if you start by 8 weeks it is a whole lot easier but it can certainly be started later. First, if this is not your own puppy we spend some time making friends with the puppy,
cuddling them and feeding them cookies, so they are feeling comfortable and good about us. I like the puppies to wear a buckle collar and I put them on a table, washer, top of a crate, whatever- but off the ground and out of their comfort zone. I frame the puppy's chin with my thumb and pointer finger and slide my other three fingers through his collar under his chin. ((I am right handed and usually do this with my left hand so my right hand is free). If the puppy elects to struggle, all pressure is on the back of his neck from the collar- roughly where his mother would put it. He cannot bite or mouthe me because of the way I am holding him. I flip back each ear and examine them, look at eyes, lift lips and look at teeth, open mouth, run my free hand down his back, and pick up and handle all four feet- all things you as an owner might need to do in the context of basic everyday grooming or handling as well as part of the veterinary exam. I EXPECT the puppy to struggle and probably whine and squeal a little bit. Puppies are dramatic- they put on dramatic displays and exaggerate their responses. Most pet owners see this, freak out and think they are hurting them, and stop- so the puppy has learned that throwing a temper tantrum gets them what they want. All I do is wait until they are done wiggling and vocalizing and then I praise and go on with my business. I DO NOT try to distract them with treats- I want them to think about and be aware of what I am doing, realize that it is NOT the end of the world and that struggling does not get them the desired result, and then reward the behavior I am looking for- standing calmly- by releasing them and THEN giving cookies as well as kisses, butt rubs, etc. If you use the cookies to distract them from what you are doing, they never learn the most important part of the lesson- they are bribes, not rewards in that situation. 90 % of puppies started at 8 wks or younger (ideally I would start at 3-4 wks) will cry once or twice, wiggle for about 10 seconds, and then settle down. On night two you will get about half that much before they settle. The other 10%, and older puppies, will put up more of a struggle; I like to do this while I am watching TV so if they decide to have a prolonged tantrum I can distract myself and keep from getting frustrated by focusing on the TV show while I wait them out. Cory as a singleton was one of the tougher ones- I find singletons in generally to be very possessive of their bodies, very intolerant of restraint, and somewhat bratty, and he was no exception. I am happy to report that by 10 wks old he was very good and I can now do just about anything I need to to him with no one to restrain him, including having him lie on his side for up to 2 hours while grooming or reach down his throat to pull out whatever he stole from the neighbor's trash.

Part two is teaching that lateral down; I slide the puppie down my body with his back against me and his legs away from me so that he is lying on his side; on hand holds the front leg closest to the table and my wrist rests lightly over his neck, the other hand holds the rear leg closest to the table. Again, as long as he wiggles I do not respond, as soon as he relaxes I praise, rub his belly, and release. Gradually you stretch out the time and add in brushes, etc. This should be CALM and relaxing, you should not be flipping the puppy over like an alpha roll.

Part three is foot handling/nail trims. I like the puppy to stand on the table while I hold a foot; I DO NOT want anyone else holding him as I want HIM to learn the responsibility for holding still. I will pick up a front foot and hold it gently. Most puppies will cry and wiggle, some will start to twist all around to try and get away. Whatever; not recommended but your choice; I DO NOT LET GO but wait until they hold still and then praise and release and move onto the next foot. I will only correct for aggressive biting but I will not let go, even if they twist themselves in circles. Too bad, so sad, you might not want to do that next time. 80% of the reaction usually occurs on the first foot, by the time you get to the third foot they usually are getting the idea. Once they tolerate that I introduce nail trims one or two nails per night. Again, if started early most puppies are tolerating the handling in just a minute or two. If you wait until 12 wks to start, expect to wait out the struggling longer as this seems to start a more oppositional age, but it still can be done! I will not let the puppy fall off the table, but I will let him get a foot off so he realizes there is an edge and standing still is worth his while. I also recently saw an idea on Susan Garrett's training blog that I thought was excellent- use a metal spoon to tap on the puppy's toenail tips to acclimate them to the sound and sensation before going to regular adult nail trimmers (we also use human nail trimmers for the smaller puppies- much easier to use on the tiny nails, less likely to hit the quick, and quieter).

Timing your praise is critical- we all are tempted when the puppy is uphappy to croon to him and comfort him. SHUT UP! This sounds just like praise and reinforces the behavior you want to eliminate. Keep your mouth shut until you feel that first instant of relaxation and then praise like crazy. It makes a HUGE HUGE difference.

Although I do not use treats until I get the behavior I want, I usually use a fairly high value treat like squirt cheese once I do reward so the puppies find it is very worth their while to cooperate. It is very important that while you are doing this you do your best NOT to have to do anything that is painful or any scarier than what I have described above; I want the puppy to learn that restraint may not be their favorite thing, but it is a necessary evil and no big deal; they learn to trust me in a mildly stressful situation. By teaching your dog to tolerate this handling it will save them SO much stress through their lives! Nothing is more frustrating than an owner whose dog pitches an absolute tantrum because he has never had to tolerate any restraint until he has to go to the vet and have something unpleasant done, and the owner is unhappy with US. Um, YOU did not do your job to prepare your dog for a basic part of life, so now WE have to deal with it as quickly and atraumatically as we can- but it won't always be pretty. I can't even tell you how many patients I have who have suffered needless discomfort literally for years because the owner cannot treat them at home, and 99% of them could have avoided it by five minutes a night from 8-16 wks old.

My old cocker was one of those dogs that took three people lying on her to do her nails, and ended up with everyone covered in poop, pee, and anal gland juice. I swore I would NEVER have a dog I had to do that with again and I never have :-). I run up against maybe 1 puppy a year in my practice that, started at an approprate age will be really and truly difficult to teach this too- and boy, I wouldn't take that puppy home on a bet! Those puppies do better using the operant conditioning techniques I would use with a wild animal to teach them to allow handling- but I think they have missed the important point of the lesson in learning to tolerate restraint in many instances. Essentially it has been trained around rather than through. Virtually all of the rest do great with it, if only as many of the owners would do the necessary follow through at home! With adult dogs and older puppies you may be better off to use the operant approach as well (see my post with a good video on the subject by clicking on nail trims in the index to the right of this page) as they are likely to resist more and we don't want to turn this lesson into a huge conflict. In general I prefer to teach almost everything I can by shaping and positive reinforcement, but this is one situation where I want to work THROUGH the puppy not liking what I am doing rather than around it- he doesn't have to learn to love every bit of it, but he does need to learn that he MUST tolerate it, it is not optional, and he does have the power to make the situation be short and non-traumatic if he cooperates. I think dogs taught this way are much less likely to decide to stop cooperating when the time comes that we DO have to do something particularly unpleasant; plus, they have learned how to deal successfully with stress in small doses, which makes for a much more mentally balanced dog who deals with life in general much better.



The video below goes through this process rather quickly with Poppy, a 12 week old Maltese puppy. This is Poppy's second visit, so she had experience with this at her first visit when she was 8 or 9 weeks old. You can see she wiggles a little, but settles down pretty quickly and is not especially upset by the experience. This is pretty typical for what I see, although certainly many puppies will resist a little more, especially on holding that first foot the first time. I think Poppy has decided that playing by our rules is well worth the cookies and cuddles!

Happy New Year and happy blue moon! Cory, the kitties (Tyler is pictured above since he did not cooperate for his Christmas pictures) and I are looking forward to our second long weekend in a row. Last weekend, of course, was spent doing family things and enjoying a visit with my sister who lives in Taipai. This weekend is mine, all mine, and we are entered in an agility trial starting as soon as we get out of here at noon today and every day through the weekend. Plus we'll probably enjoy dinner with friends to celebrate the New Year tonight, although we'll all be in bed early so we can be back at the show at the crack of dawn tomorrow! I figure it IS a blue moon, so maybe Cory will do well!

This blog is now officially a year old and I must apologize for my lack of postings of late, and my laziness when staying on topic. I promise to do better and do more veterinary and training related posts this year. I am working on a couple coming up but am trying to wait to get some video to go along with them. My New Year's resolution is to do better!

So on to a new year and a new decade; Happy New Year to all!

An exercise in futility....

Two cats, one dog, three Santa hats, three jingle bell collars and a camera, plus a little fresh turkey for treats...seems like that SHOULD be all you need to get good Christmas pictures. The truth is that I needed at least half a dozen helpers and a staple gun to have had any hope of success!

Here's the best we could do; I'm not thrilled with any of them but maybe we'll try again later. Pictured are Cory and Toby; Tyler declined to be photographed.

Why didn't we take the pictures in front of the tree, you ask? Given that I have two 8 month old kittens this year who climb the door frames and the posts in the basement, I thought this might be a good year to skip a tree...we made due with outdoor lights and half a dozen poinsettias instead and left the rest of the Christmas decorations boxed up in the garage this time.

When Pigs Flu.....

You can't turn on the news these days without hearing about "flu" of one sort or another. Swine flu, avian flu, dog flu.......it makes the head swim! Here is a brief synopsis of the significance of influenza to your pet. I have no flu pictures, so I decided to belatedly post some halloween pictures instead!




This is my very favorite Halloween costume ever- our beloved "Grouch" who passed away last December dressed as him namesake, Oscar the Grouch. You have to admit there is a distinct resemblance! (note: green Kool Aid does NOT come out of the fur. For a very long time).

Back to the flu. Type A influenza viruses can affect many different species. In GENERAL, influenza virus is species specific- that is, dog flu affects only dogs, not humans. However, type A influenza viruses are known to mutate and cross species, which is why a while back we had a big concern about avian (bird) flu and this year's hot topic is swine flu. In the case of canine influenza (H3N8), it is thought to have mutated from the equine flu virus. Canine flu first showed up about five years ago in groups of racing greyhounds. It is common practice to feed these dogs raw horsemeat and it is thought that that may have been a factor in the virus jumping species (just one of many reasons we do NOT recommend feeding raw meat). The outbreaks at greyhound tracks have occurred in clusters and seem to have a higher incidence of severe disease than the cases we see in the general canine population. The largest number of cases have occurred in Florida, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Colorado, but cases have been reported in more than 30 states including Ohio and Kentucky.

Here is Cory's costume for this year- Peter Pan, which seemed appropriate! Unfortunately I forgot my camera and had to make due with my cellphone, so the quality is not the best!

Because canine influenza is a relatively new virus, very few dogs will have any natural immunity and the morbidity (rate of infection) may approach 100%. Approximately 20% of dogs affected will show no clinical signs, but will be contagious to other dogs. The vast majority of dogs will show mild symptoms similar to "kennel cough" syndrome- initially sneezing and nasal discharge followed by a cough which is characteristically a softer cough than the "goose honk" we hear with kennel cough. Fever may be present (rarely seen with kennel cough). A small percentage of dogs may develop the severe form of the disease which presents as rapid progression to severe, often hemorrhagic pneumonia. Racing greyhounds seem to be much more likely to develop the severe form. Less than 1% of dogs who are exposed will die of the disease. Dogs may be contagious BEFORE developing symptoms, which can make controlling spread of disease difficult.

Stevie, our clinic cat, dressed as "The Little Mermaid" this year. His costume is a little difficult to appreciate (sadly the bikini top and tail are hard to see!) but the expression on his face says it all!

Last spring a vaccine for canine influenza was given conditional approval. At this time we are not recommending its use for our patients. In general, we try to avoid using new products such as this the first year it is available, particularly when it does not have full approval as is the case with this vaccine. Locally canine influenza does not appear to yet be presenting a significant threat. In addition, it is important to know that this vaccine does NOT prevent your dog from developing symptoms; it decreases the severity of the symptoms and lessens the length of time the vaccinated dog is contagious to other dogs.

At this time, canine influenza does not appear to pose a significant health threat to our patients as the overall incidence in our area is low, and the vast majority of dogs who do become sick will have relatively mild symptoms. It is important to keep in mind however that some dogs do develop more serious symptoms; our recommendations for vaccination may change if the disease becomes more prevalent. It is likely that dogs who are most at risk would be dogs who attend dog shows and training classes, stay at boarding kennels, or go to the groomer or dog park. If more cases of canine influenza begin appearing, our recommendations for these dogs may change.

This is Boris Wedig, one of our patients who sends us pictures of his Halloween finery each year. Boris and Stevie seem to share a similar opinion of dressing up...they think it is more trick than treat!

Canine flu has not been reported in people and is not considered a health risk to humans. However, in the news last week it was reported that a cat had been diagnosed with swine flu (H1N1) which it appeared to have contracted from its human owners. This appears to have been another case of a type A influenza virus jumping species. Also within the past few weeks there have been a handful of cases of H1N1 reported in pet ferrets. Ferrets in general are more susceptible to the influenza viruses than dogs and cats, and so it is not totally surprising that this could occur. At this time, it is not believed that cats or ferrets (or other household pets) will harbor the swine flu virus and serve as a source of infection to humans- it actually appears that the opposite was true and the humans transmitted the disease to the animals.

Based on our knowledge of influenza viruses, it is wise that if you are experiencing symptoms of flu that you avoid close contact not only with human family members but with your pets as well (no sleeping on the bed!) and wash your hands frequently. The same holds true if your pets are the ones with symptoms. The risk of transferring infections is very, very low, but not nonexistent. Also, it is more important now than ever that if your dog develops respiratory symptoms such as sneezing or coughing that you see your veterinarian to ensure that any evidence of severe disease is caught as early as possible. Our diagnostic lab is now offering a panel which tests for the eight most common causes of canine upper respiratory disease. This panel is not inexpensive and is not something we would necessarily recommend for every dog with symptoms, but for dogs with more serious evidence of disease or who may serve as a source of infection for large numbers of other dogs it may be a valuable source of information.

Natasha Wedig, Boris' "sister" in her Minnie Mouse outfit. She doesn't look any happier than Boris and Stevie!

So follow the common sense advice above, be vigilant and observe your pets closely for respiratory symptoms, and stay tuned for new developments. We hope both you and your pets stay healthy and happy this flu season!

Deja vu all over again...

Cory and I went to Zanesville OH this weekend for the Parkersburg Obedience Training Club's agility trials. It was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL weekend to drive and the leaves were much more changed there than here. We had a great time although Cory was in "butthead" mode most of the weekend. We had no Qs, but he did try very hard for me on the standard course. We were 100% in all three classes for startline stays, contacts, and no knocked bars, so we are getting there...

The first video is of Cory's standard run this weekend and the second one is of his dad Andy almost 10 years ago when he was still a young green dog. It is amazing how little has changed! (including my hairstyle and my handling; you would have thought I'd have learned something in that time frame. And I think I still have that shirt in my closet). I HAVE apparently done a better job of training contacts as Cory doesn't creep down the contact like his dad (although I have no complaints because Andy was pretty reliable on his contacts, though he would push if I let him). When I watch video of them running though they are SO alike in so many ways. Not all of them good!

Sorry about the quality in Andy's video; I stopped taping our runs because I was tired of seeing my big butt and now I regret hardly having any video of him!

I am so lucky to have had two dogs with such drive and enthusiasm. They truly are a joy to train and live with. Even if I do gripe about Cory all the time :-). That's half the fun!

Off to the Smokies Part 2- agility trial!

My pictures finally came so I can finish telling you about our North Carolina trip! To pick up where I left off, we drove down to our cabins on a Tuesday night and spent Wednesday and Thursday relaxing with the dogs and doing just a little sightseeing. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday we were entered in the Blue Ridge Agility Club's trials. Prior to this, Cory has been entered in standard only 3 or 4 times primarily to practice his startline stays and contacts. The last time I ran him was last December at our club's trial in the FAST class, where he did come close to Qing. In fact, that was the last trial I had been to and the last time I ran Andy. I knew Cory still wasn't ready, but time was catching up with us and I had to get motivated to start really training again. Since we were there, and this club had absolutely the BEST entry fee package, I figured what the heck and gave it a shot. I didn't really expect to qualify but thought we could sort of see where we were and evaluate. I was a little worried about running him in jumpers as stringing together long jump sequences is where we start having problems (he is way too handler focused and doesn't send well yet, especially to jumps), but we needed to see how bad the issue would be on a full course with a full head of steam.

My roomates Kathy and Sharon did not have to be to the trial until later, so I was first up and on the road from my cabin. You guessed, it, more rain. Luckily this trial was held at a really nice, outdoor covered horse arena with near perfect footing for me. Driving through the mountains that morning was really beautiful, and I was zooming along in quite a good mood when suddenly it occurred to me that this was the first agility trial I had been to since Andy died. Not only that, but other than Levi's very first agility trial at the sheltie national way back in 1997, it was the first agility trial I had EVER gone to without Andy- he came along just a couple of months after Levi got that first leg and went with me to every trial from then until he died. I admit I got a little teary; I still miss my boy every single day and one of the reasons that I haven't really worked Cory in agility much is that I just get a heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach running without Andy. As I was driving and sniffling a little bit, I noticed the song on the radio- it was an old country song by Ricky Van Shelton called "Wild Man". That was what I would always call my Andy at the agility trials- when we headed over to line up for our turn in the ring I would always tell him "Come on, wild man" and he knew that it was his turn to run. The words of the song kept repeating "I'm a wild man, that's what I am"...almost like Andy was letting me know a little piece of him would be with me at every trial for the rest of my life. I'm not really one to believe in "signs" so much....but I don't believe much in coincidence either and what are the odds that that particular seventeen year old song would be playing on the radio?

I miss you, my little wild man. I'm glad I have a piece of you in your son, but it still will never be the same.

But on to Cory! I have to say that, despite the LONG days this club's trial was very nice, the facility was great, the setting was beautiful (when we could see it through the pouring rain!), the food was EXCELLENT and the courses were without exception flowing and fun. Plus we had real indoor bathrooms! I wish I had pictures of the mountains surrounding all four sides of the arena to show you, but sadly the weather was just too icky to get any. We definitely could appreciate WHY they're called the Smokies, though! At times it was like something out of a Tolkien novel.



I was SO proud of Cory- all weekend, through 8 classes, he had intense focus and energy; he NEVER lost it and ran amuck, and he tried very hard 100% of the time to play by my rules. His startline stays were solid (well, ok, he blew one but it WAS partly my fault), his contacts were great, and he even hit both weave pole entries the first day on the first try! The rest of the weekend we had almost all right sided poles and I think he got them all on at least the second try. It took his dad a LONG time for me to be able to say that! He does need to learn to drop his head and drive through a little more- he still has a lot of wasted motion, but that will come with experience.

I was especially pleased with his jumpers runs. We have definite issues with stringing together more than 2 or 3 jumps- he gets very revved up and starts to spin back and bark at me. He is VERY sensitive to my body language which is not at all precise, and way too handler focused. He sends to the weaves or contacts much better than to jumps. The course the first day was really a good one for us with "bowtie" loops so I didn't have to run too hard to keep up and he did much better than I expected. Day two we had to sit on the startline for about an eon while some course adjustments were made; the course was not so good for me and I needed to do a long lead out pivot which he is not really solid on to keep myself in position. He held the startline stay for a lead out long enough that we didn't both fit in the frame of the video camera even zoomed out all the way, but missed the pivot and got stuck in a spin cycle we never recovered from. Day three he broke his only startline stay of the weekend; I broke my cardinal rule of NEVER allowing my dogs to continue (I can honestly say I don't think I have ever failed to carry my dogs off if they broke their stay). I hesitated long enough to pull him off his weave pole entry, but ultimately decided we needed practice running full courses more than startline stays. I think in this case it was a good decision- we worked the stays separately afterwards, he held both of them later in the day, and he actually had a MUCH better run than I expected with only two places we got sticky- one due to needing more training and one due to me just being too slow. The improvement from Saturday to Sunday was immense, and I was so pleased.


I was really happy with our standard runs; I think he will Q in standard soon. We came very close on Sunday. He had great runs on Friday and Sunday; on Sunday I forgot which dog I was running and didn't support his contact sends well enough and he ran by each one- very unusual for him. BUT we didn't have a single spin until we got to the very last jump- a tough for us sequence of tunnel-jump-chute- jump and out, so you can imagine how far behind I was when we got to the last jump. His contact performances were very solid. On Saturday I pushed it just a little too far; we had a dogwalk-tunnel-aframe sequence and when he came out of the tunnel he wanted to "buzz" by me once before hitting the aframe; I held him on the frame contact a LONG time thinking I would settle him down (and also to let me cross in front and get into position) and after a LONG time he did pop off before I released him and I carried him off. I really regretted that after I thought about it though, as he probably waited 10-15 seconds- an ETERNITY in agility time- on that contact while I strolled into position- that's a lot to ask of a green dog! I shouldn't have pushed it.

But the best part of the weekend was Cory actually Q'd and placed second in FAST on Friday! FAST is a "games" class; you have 30 seconds to accumulate points. Each obstacle is worth a certain point value. To qualify you have to accumulate a certain number of points AND successfully complete the "send", which is a sequence of obstacles where you "send" your dog across a line and handle the sequence from a distance without crossing the line. Once the 30 second whistle blows, you lose one point for every second it takes you to jump the "out" jump and stop the timers. It is great fun and nice for novice dogs as you can reattempt obstacles if you need to, or avoid obstacles your dog isn't ready for (as long as they aren't in the send).



He SHOULD have qualified in FAST on Saturday as well, if his dumb handler had paid more attention when she walked the course. FAST and standard ran in the same ring, and in standard both days before running fast the course started with jump-dogwalk. I set him up for the opening in FAST on Saturday with jump- teeter- not even thinking that he was pattern trained to expect the dogwalk, and being a greed dog, would have difficulty telling the teeter and dogwalk apart when approached straight on. You guessed it, he flew off the teeter quite spectacularly- I don't think it dropped at all and he ran right off the end; "yelled" at me by barking with teeth showing that it was all my fault but did a great job when we reattempted it; I think this may have been the reason we had the contact run bys the next day too- he wanted to get a good look at them. Sadly he knocked the bar on the double in the send or we would have had Q number two. Oh well, c'est la vie. I learned an important lesson about looking at things from my dog's perspective and in the context of the whole weekend.

Running Cory was like deja vu in many cases- he is SO like his father in so many ways, especially when Andy was young and first starting out. I guess that means I haven' t learned anything and have made the same training mistakes! He does care a lot more about playing by my rules and he tries REALLY hard to do things right though- Andy played by my rules only because I'd carry him off if he didn't, he always thought he had a new and improved way to do things! This weekend was a great bonding experience for Cory and I- we had just started to come together as a team when Andy died, and left alone together we kind of had to redefine our relationship. I think Cory had the best time of his life all week with the agility trial being the cherry on top of the sundae.

Since getting my new laptop moving pictures and video around in blogger is a pain- not sure why, same software and OS but that's Vista for you- so I'm not going to post any video here, but maybe I'll post one of Cory running and one of Andy when he first started for comparison later. Now I have the bug again, we are entered in Zanesville next weekend and at our club's trial next month and are back in class again. I have set up the longest send I can manage in my basement (about 50 feet- he bounces most of the jumps) and as of last night Cory can now send over 5 jumps to the table OR call off after 4 to the tunnel on the left, all while I am sitting on the couch in front of the TV. We haven't quite managed to direct him off to the side to the baby dog walk after the table without me getting up though. Maybe by next week!

Our fun was not dampened in the least by the weather nor the fact that I-75 was closed on the way home and it took the better part of an hour to detour around it (a few members of our group were stuck sitting there for FIVE OR SIX HOURS! YIKES!) . Nor by the amount of red dirt ground into Cory's white furnishings; we actually borrowed a hose at a gas station on the way home and blasted the worst of it off of him! We also really tried to take his picture in front of "Flealand" which has billboards all over down in southern KY, but their directions weren't very good and I couldn't find it! I really wanted that shot!

Thanks to VW Perry and Furry Fotography for the great pictures!