One Year, What A Change

This day last year, I was meeting Dhali for the very first time at a puppy open house.  He was 4 weeks old and adorable :)

I can't believe he was that small!

Fast forward ONE year and Dhali attended his very first seminar.  It was at Loretta's and it was fun :)

We were auditors, so mostly Dhali just hung out in his crate.  But he did a really excellent job of just being.  That is a tough skill!

He didn't make a peep when I left him to walk a course.  He whined a little bit when there were other dogs barking.  He also whined a little bit and barked once (!) at the end of the day.  I know what his problem was though - he needed to go potty!  And he was refusing to go.  Still an issue with the strange location pottying.  

But other than the potty issues he was a rock star.  I don't think he could have handled working in that environment - YET, but I was really itching to try the exercises out :P  

He did a lot of this....

And some of this...

At the very end of the day I brought out his mat and let him play on that.  He did a good job, but his enormously full bladder was distracting him a little bit.  It's frustrating to know that if he just would pee he would feel so much better LOL!!

He was great at looking at and then ignoring the dogs working on course.  He was like "yeah, whatever I have mat, I have cheese and hot dogs - don't care about boring dogs."

I love this picture - wink?

My shoes drying off in front of the fan.  My feet were so wet the entire day.  It rained a lot last night, so we were in the barn for the seminar, but my feet got soaked hauling our stuff from the car to the barn.

I really liked having the seminar in the barn!  It was nice and cool - I was even cold!  The dogs didn't run off too much, because we were in the barn.  The sun didn't blind me and I didn't get a sunburn.  All around I enjoyed this year's seminar much better than last year.  It was so relaxing to have Dhali with me.  Last year was stressful with Tibby.

And I learned a lot too!  I took lots of notes.  I can't wait to play with one jump :)

P.S. I ate a hamburger for the first time in over 15 years.  AND it was grilled by a world agility champion :D LOL!!!!  It was a tasty hamburger.  I couldn't remember what they tasted like, but now I know!

Volunteering At A Trial

Dhali and I went to an agility trial today.  By the end of the day we had both decided it was fun.  Well, I thought it was fun.  Dhali probably thought it was boring.

I think everyone, that is interested in agility, should volunteer at a trial.  It wasn't easy or fun in the beginning, but it's so much better to separate the difficulties of a first trial into 2 different experiences.  

So for anyone that is interested in the experience here it is:

The trial site is 3 hours from my house.  So I could have hit the road at 4:30am to be there when the doors opened and tried to find a crating spot.  I was tired and I didn't feel like driving in the dark again after driving to and from class Friday night.

I got to the trial at 12:30.  After getting lost on the way and having to go through a detour, because of a (looked like) bad accident.  So I go in and find the person in charge of everything and she says they have enough volunteers, but maybe they will need me later.  Then I try to find a spot to crate Dhali.  It's not really possible.  Lots of crates full of dogs and no one around to ask if I can sneak my crate in next to them.  Happily I ran into Laura (from The Dogs Are Really In Charge) and she showed me where Loretta's husband's crate space was and that there was a little room.  Andy only charged me $25 dollars to crate there LOL!  Just kidding - I bought a WAO shirt from him.

Sadly, Laura was going home.  :(

So then I watched some agility, which is fun, but not what I wanted to be doing.  Dhali was being fussy in his crate and I was just starting to think, "This was such a waste of time.  Do I even want to do agility?  It's so hard and I'm never going to get comfortable with all this."  'This' meaning - all the people, the noise, the dogs, the confusion of people moving around, all the things I didn't understand that were going on (but that I understand now!).

Then I got a job!  Yay!  Ring crew/bar setter.  At first it was kind of confusing.  I was near the end jump with the timer, so I had to change the timer when the jump heights changed.  I really didn't want to mess it up!  Also, I couldn't hear when they said the jumps heights - to change them, so I kept asking, "What height is it?"

But eventually I got it!  And it was fun.  I like having a job to do.

Then I got to be a course builder.  Not my favorite job.  One person had a map and everyone else was confused about what we were doing.  But it was interesting to see how they move the courses around and how carefully they set them up.  

I was ring crew a lot - re-setting bars.  Best place to watch agility.  I got to watch lots and lots of snooker.  And I learned that after the whistle gets blown you can go out to re-set the bars, you don't have to wait for the dog to stop the timer.  Also, snooker looks very tricky to play.

So I did lots of ring crewing (word?) and got into a kind of routine.  A new course meant I had at least 10 mins. to take Dhali outside or play with him, because they had to set up the new course, walk it for 5 mins. and then 5 mins. for first dog to the line.  

At first Dhali was complaining in his crate, but by the end of the day he was completely quiet.  Yes!  One thing we've got going for us!  That is a big deal for me, because it is very difficult to have a dog that can not relax in a crate.  Trust me, I know.

Dhali is still refusing to potty away from home.  He went from 6am to 9:30pm without going potty.  I was hoping today would be the day where he would potty away from home.  Nope.  He held it.  Ok, whatever silly head!

He played with me a little bit, but every time we would really start playing a dog would bark at him from one of the crates near by.  He didn't like that and I didn't want him to start associating play with snarky dog barking.  One time, when almost everyone was walking a course, I went to use the warm up jump with him, but there was someone else with their puppy there.  He was a good boy all day long.  We ran around outside some and he liked that.  He got better, by the end of the day, of walking with me and not trying to smell every crate and person that we walked past.

At the end of the day, when almost everyone had left, I got to be leash runner and scribe sheet runner.  As leash runner, you don't get to see very much of what is going on in the ring, but you get to move around more which is nice.  You also get to see everyone's leashes.  I'm nosey,  I liked that.  As scribe sheet runner, you get to see all the dogs' names.

Most people crated around us had left and I thought the crate next to Dhali was empty.  It was a big soft crate with a cover.  So when Dhali started doing his "I'm a cat" rubbing his face on the floor next to the crate I didn't stop him right away. Turns out there was a big black dog in that crate that wasn't too impressed with Dhali being a cat .  Oops.  Sorry!

At the very, very end when almost everyone was gone I got to measure Dhali with the measury height thing.  I wasn't even sure what the wicket would look like.  He measure 16.3", but he wasn't standing straight AT ALL.  Leaning and trying to get away from it.

It was a fun day.  I would do it again.

Tibby likes the shirt I brought back for her.

"My brother went to a trial and all he brought me was this shirt."

Dinner Time!

Dhali, "I'm getting squished!"

Tibby, "Who you callin' fat?"

Dhali, "Ha, ha I meant squash! I hope we get squash....for dinner."

Sometimes when I tell the pups to get in their crates for dinner they both get in the same crate.  They are very cute and are both positive that THEY are in the right crate and the other one is in the wrong crate.

Happy Bones

The big excitement this week?  The bones my Dad brought back from the 2 deer he shot.  He was up north visiting my uncle.  He also brought back some antlers, but I think they may be a little too hard for my pups to chew on.  He cut up the bones and antlers into smaller pieces for me, but I think if he could split the antlers the dogs might like them better.  

I keep the bones in the freezer and the dogs get to chew on them when they are in their crates.  I have started making them go into their crates when I eat dinner or have people come over.  Tibby is such a beggar with other people.  With me she knows it doesn't work, BUT Dhali is a super big beggar to me, so into the crates with raw, meaty bones.  I haven't heard too many complaints.  Except Dhali who, at first, whines and paces around his crate with the bone in his mouth.  Then he settles down and chews it.

Right now Dhali is sleeping on the back of the couch, with his head on my shoulder, breathing onto my neck. Sweet puppy!

I feed them both dinner in their crates too.  Dhali tends to steal Tibby's food.  He has a funny habit where he with 'bury' his food.  If there are toys or bedding in the crate he will pile them on top of his bowl, until the bowl is covered.  It's very cute and funny to watch.  I'm not sure if he is saving it for later or telling me that he is done eating?  But it's cute.

Tibby stayed in her crate (her's is actually the one on the right) for FOUR hours while I was AT WORK.  WOW!  That's the longest she has ever stayed in a crate.  It was on Wed.  I came home from work for lunch and after going potty she went into her crate, so I gave her a frozen bone to chew on.  When it was time for me to go back to work, she wouldn't get out of the crate or trade me for the bone, so I had to leave her in the crate.  I couldn't let her walk around the house with a big raw bone.  She likes to sleep in my bed - eww.

When I came home I parked in the driveway and listened to see if I could hear any barking.  Nope.  All was quiet.  She was a little stressed when she got out of the crate, but not too bad.  I wish I could watch a video of it to see what she did. 

Dhali lost another tooth - woohoo!  Now it will only cost me $50 to get the other 2 removed!  We were playing and he was tugging on a toy, running through the tunnel, etc.  I noticed some blood smeared on the tunnel's tag and some on his foot.  Checked his mouth - yup, tooth on the bottom was gone.  The next day I found the tooth - white carpet, white tooth - really hard to find it!  It was jagged, like it had snapped off, but the hole in his mouth where it used to be looks ok, so I guess it came out the right way.

This above picture is what happens when you say you don't want to eat a frozen chicken wing, but your little brother loves chomping on frozen chicken wings.  You get to watch him eat his chicken wing.

This week I have been playing phone tag with the Veterinary Behavioral Science dept. at the U of M.  Tibby got a referral and  I wanted to make an appt.  The first message they left me said they were booked until the end of Feb.  When I finally got someone to call me back again, because they were either busy or it wasn't their business hours (I even got up early and called them once at 7am, because a receptionist told me that was a good time to find them) they had booked all of Feb. and the first appt. was March 13th.  Lucky 13?  

So I filled out and emailed back all the paper work.  I had to pick Tibby's 3 issues.  Barking/screaming/lunging at people and dogs is #1.  Tibby now has the reputation as the 'mean dog' in the neighborhood.  Fear of new things and men was #2 and restlessness at night was #3.

 The hardest part to write was the what are your goals for this visit: What questions would you liked answered - How can I make Tibby happy?

Possibly because we finally got our appt. time Tibby decided that she wanted to play today and do agility.  See below for proof (also cute Dhali)

Now A Tight Squeeze

Same puppy and same crate, just a few months, but what a difference! 

Dhali can still fit into his baby crate, but it is a TIGHT squeeze!  So cute!  He thought it was a good trick and kept doing it all night.  I finally had to lure him out of it and take the crate out to the garage, because he was sure that I was going to give him more treats for squeezing into the little crate.

Right now running into his crate is his favorite 'trick'.  Whenever he is hungry or smells something tasty he runs to his crate and sits against the back wall....waiting...and hoping.  

Dhali squeezing into his baby crate - the crate I brought him home in when he was 8 weeks old.  That was only 17 weeks ago!  July to November - that went by fast.

Tibetan Tuesday!

What a beautiful day today!  And I had to work until 5pm - boo.  But I was able to get outside twice during the day.  During lunch the pups were so lazy.  They just wanted to lay in the sun.  I took Dhali shopping this evening.  It went much, much better than last time.  I had meatballs as a treat and he couldn't take his eyes off of me LOL!  He walked around very nicely and I was able to reward him with something he wanted.  He decided that whenever we stopped moving that meant he needed to sit beside me.  And wait for his treat!  He's fun to take places.  When he is waiting in the car, he goes to sleep in his crate.  When I take Tibby and have her wait in the car,she barks the entire time and drools/pants - gets herself very worked up.  Awww Tibby......

Dhali's Day - Waiting And Walking

I took Dhali to work with me today.  Not for the whole day.  When I went home for lunch I brought him and had him wait in the car for me.  It was very cool and windy today - only a high of 40F.  I only had 3 hours of work left after lunch, so he got to wait in the car for 3 hours. 

I worried about him, of course, but he was fine.  For any dog that is training to do dog sports - waiting in a car / in a crate is a necessary skill to learn.  

It was nice and cool in the car when I came out from work and Dhali was sleeping.  I had left him with a nice peanut butter filled trachea and he ate the whole thing!

Then we went for a walk in the downtown area around the hospital and Dhali got to experience a very windy day and city noises.  He saw a lot of things, smelled a lot of things and walk across/explored a lot of things.

Mostly Dhali wanted to walk behind me and jump up on my legs and rear end.  He loves to jump!  He was very playful and funny.  We had a nice walk.  It wasn't a very long walk - 20 mins, but the wind was really cold.  I hope we can do this as often as possible.  If it's cool enough, I will be bringing him to work with me!

It's nice, because we don't have to take Tibby and I don't feel bad about not taking her, because she is still at home.  One look at her sad eyes and I can't say no to her!

Funniest thing about Dhali - he still will not potty away from home.  When we got home he had to potty really, really bad.  I'm not sure how he was able to hold it actually!  

Pooch Party

It's been a while since I updated, again.  I can't really remember everything we've done in the last week, but I have a lot of pictures, so here are some to start with.

Zoe

Dhali

"Freedom!"

Tibby

Keeping cool in the car with an umbrella. 

So Far, So Perfect

So far Dhali is a perfect puppy.  He's slept through the night for the last 2 nights - looks like he will sleep through tonight too.  He's pretty knocked out!  I do get him up 2 times during the night and take him out to potty.  Then he goes back into his crate and sleeps, until I wake him up again.

He has NOT had an accident in the house yet.  Amazing!!  8 weeks old!  He even kept his crate clean while I was at work for 4 hours yesterday.  It's actually a really big crate and I made a potty area in the crate, because he is 8 weeks and that is a long time to hold it.  BUT he did hold it!

This morning we got up at the normal time around 6am - took Dhali out to potty, played, fed Dhali, went out to potty again and then I wanted to go back to sleep.  So I put him in his crate, but he was not going to go to sleep, so I put him in the x-pen.  He was not happy, but after a while he quieted down.  This is why they invented ear plugs.  I'll have to show you my escape proof x-pen design.  So far he hasn't been able to climb out and he had tried!

Later in the afternoon he needed to take a nap.  He'd been playing a lot and had eaten, pottied, everything.  He was just tired and like a baby was getting fussy-not wanting to sleep.  I put him in the x-pen and after throwing a little tantrum he finally gave up, crawled into his little crate and (after rooting around in the crate pad) took a nap.  It was so cute!  The way he was fighting sleeping, getting slower and quieter and finally he just stopped barking and gradually whines turned into little snores.

He figured out how to do steps.  Very cute.  He watched Tibby going up and down them for a while.  Then he tried a few times (fell a few times) and now he zips up/down/up/down.

They've played a few times.  Tibby gets too excited and scares Dhali, so he hides underneath my legs....until he decides to jump out and attach himself to Tibby's beard.  Yeah, not very scared.

She loves to be chased by him.

Dhali loves to tug!  And play chase!

And look cute!

Agility Seminar At Loretta Mueller's

Tibby and I went to an agility seminar at Loretta's place.  It was fun!  I got to see a lot of agility, meet some nice people and see smart dogs.

Tibby was not impressed with being left in the crate when I went out to walk the courses (I was auditing).  She serenaded everyone with her full repertoire of barks, howls and whines.  If it wasn't annoying it would have been funny.  She makes quite interesting noises.

She eventually calmed down enough to take a nap in the afternoon.

It was really hot in the sun, but there were lots of fans and nice shade covers to sit underneath.  I was only hot when we were standing in the sun, but otherwise it was a really nice day.  I made Tibby get in the baby pool to cool off.  That's why she looks like a drowned rat!  She doesn't like water, but too bad!  Better water than overheating. 

Being in the pool and having a fan on her, she didn't even pant......except when she was 'singing' at the top of her lungs.

I took a bunch of pictures.  I had over 200, but whittled them down to just over 100.  You can see the full album here Flickr Loretta Seminar Album.  These below were my favorite.

I didn't edit them at all - some could use cropping at least, but I'm too tired!  Left the house at 5:30am and got home at 7:30pm plus outside all day....Tibby has the right idea!  Time for bed.