Tibby Is 3!

Tibby turned 3 yesterday!  

She got uninterrupted time with the big chewy bone for 3 minutes.  Just kidding!  She chewed on it for as long as she wanted to and for as long as I could keep Dhali from bugging her.  

And it didn't snow on her big day!  

But it DID snow again today.  A lot.  

She is such a big girl now!  

Blog Action Day - Backyard Training

So Dog Agility Blog Event for 2012 or Action Day?  

is Backyard Training.

With Tibby's issues I have been doing most of her training in the basement.  Although there was a period of time when she didn't like the basement any more either.  So I just trained Dhali!  Outside, inside - he doesn't care.  Now Tibby will go downstairs, but she still isn't interested in doing much training (hope the meds. will work eventually!), but she is surprisingly interested in playing with the teeter.  I think she has always liked contacts because, 1 - I put a ton of time into them and 2 - they are always the same, which Tibby likes. 

So where and why do we train at home?  Where: backyard 50x30 bumpy grass/dirt/weeds.  When I first brought Tibby home my yard looked like this and this and this and this - then Tibby arrived and I did this, but it still looked like this.  Can you imagine me as your neighbor LOL!  

So I had Tibby and we started doing agility and the yard moved on to this .  But I still had my pond that I had hand dug 14 times.  YES 14 TIMES.  It was 5 feet deep too - *sigh*.  I liked my pond a lot.

Now my yard looks like this:

Sooooo boring.  And it's not flat.  I try and try to get it flat and nope, bumpy.  ARGH!  I hate grass.  And it's muddy.  I would love to cover it all with artificial turf, but that would cost like $25,000.   Well, that's not gonna happen!  It's good training for the pups (and me) to run on it though.  Very difficult to run on and you get a good work out.  Especially in the dark - might break an ankle in one of Dhali's freshly dug holes too.

So now why: We train at home, because it is the only option.  1- Because of Tibby's anxiety issues and 2 - Because I live in the middle of an agility black hole (not just agility - ALL dog training).  1 hour drive/65 miles to take a class.  2+ hours/120+ miles to take an actually good class.  Ring rental?  Nope.  I could drive for hours and still not find a ring rental, because I'm not a club member or taking a weekly class.  Stupid rules!  It would actually be cheaper for me to buy all my own equipment - gas isn't cheap!  Plus when I have taken a class: I drive for 2 hours/leave work early/brave snowy, icy roads and my dog gets 2 mins. of attention and working time in the class.  2 hours = 2 mins?  Not worth it.

Plus at home I can stop training if it isn't working and I don't feel like it was wasted time.  We'll try again tomorrow.  In a class, after all the effort I put into getting there, I want magic things to happen!  

Does that stop me from dreaming about the perfect house with the perfect agility yard?  No, I have been known to creepily check out nice houses with big yards.  And fenced in yards?  Whoo hoo!  The trifecta of perfection!

I also drive slowly past all large flat pieces of land and imagine fencing them in.  Is it wrong to have a dream? Remember I'm the person who re-dug a pond 14 times by hand. :P

Now the basement was created just for agility training - just for Tibby and now Dhali too!  I have my big teeter down there and the channel weave poles.  Those 2 things stay downstairs, because the teeter is too nice to take outside LOL! - it was expensive! and the weave poles don't sit on the ground right.  Like I said the ground is bumpy - grrrr bumpy grass >:(

Also there is a long plank for dog walk training.

I also have the 'inside' tunnel that stays in the basement.  It's all nice and clean. 

I have carpet on the floor and extra thick padding underneath the carpet.  

Outside I have 5 jumps,  2 tunnels and some versa weave poles plus a plank for dog walk training.

The jumps and travel teeter go both inside and outside.  I just have to wash them off a lot if they are coming inside, which takes a long time, so usually if something comes inside it might not go back outside for a looong time.  Until I forget about how long it took me to clean all the yard dust off of it!

I don't know if it is possible to train a dog with just a handful of equipment in a backyard/basement, but I'm trying my best!

The other Blog Action Day posts are here 

Dhali wants to be a MAX200 model.

Tibby is tired.  Drugs kicking in?  or just tired from the stressful appointment?

Dhali Is 6 Months Old Today!!!

Look at this handsome little guy!  6 months ago today Dhali was born.  Happy 6 months to his 4 brothers and 1 sister!

Every day I feel lucky to have him.  Thank you Cyndi and Linda for letting me take this little guy home.

He is perfect!  Before I brought him home I worried about silly things - potty training, crate training, getting him to play with me.  I shouldn't have worried!  He hasn't had any trouble with anything!  Sure there were a few nights when I thought he would never be crate trained, but now it's not even an issue.  He stays in his crate for up to 8 hours and hasn't had an accident yet.  He is completely potty trained.  Except of course he thinks that he can only go potty in the back yard!  Which is silly, but works OK.  I never worry about him having an accident, because I know he will wait until we get home!  He even waits to potty after we come home from a walk. 

Dhali first 'do!  Now why aren't there any boy style hair ties????  :P

Every day he gets cuter and more handsome.  I'm not sure how he does it, but every day - CUTER!!

He likes to sleep!  He's slept loose in the bedroom for about 2 months now...maybe longer!  He doesn't get into mischief and doesn't wake me up (unlike another TT I could name Tibby).  He will sleep for 10 hours or until I decide to get up.  He likes to snuggle and cuddle.  He's a little sweetie.

He loves to look out the window and keep watch on the neighborhood.

He has a great attitude.  Even and balanced.

Did I mention that he likes to sleep?!?  Well, after a lot of exercise running around playing that's what a smart puppy should do!

He LOVES water!  He plays with water everyday.  

He loves bully sticks!  And he is strong enough to take them away from Tibby.  Although, he's not always brave enough to keep them.  Then he starts barking.  He's a barker!

Most of all he is a funny, happy boy.  I can't wait to spend the next 19.5 years with him!  

Yes, he is going to live to 20.  At least :)

Dhali's Tour of Dogs

I took Dhali to Pot Hole Day yesterday, Saturday.   It was fun.  At first, he was very nervous, but he perked up and had a good day.  It would be very over whelming for a puppy.  Tons of people, screaming kids, gunshots, lots of dogs, yummy smells.  The gunshots didn't bother Dhali at all.  I'm not sure that he even noticed them.  I did avoid the black powder range and getting too near the rifle range, but the sound was all around - bb range, starters pistols for the slough dog trials, plinko game LOL!  We left right before the trick shotgun show.  They were doing a warm up and I couldn't stand the noise.  Very loud! 

The first thing we did was head to the food tent.  I think this was a good move, because then Dhali had a chance to sit and look around, take it all in and get use to it.  He was very happy to find all the 'snacks' people had dropped underneath the table!  

Funny thing one: Dhali saw a display of deer heads and growled at them.  It was really cute.  Puppy growls :)

Not so funny thing:  a guy bent over to pet Dhali and the man's iphone fell out of his pocket and the screen smashed into a million pieces.  Sorry stranger about the phone!

Just to give you a tiny idea of the noise level.  This is when we first got to the tent.  I wish I'd done one later when he was all cocky and jumping around.  He's pretty cute when he thinks he's hot stuff.

There were kids EVERYWHERE.  And dogs too.  There were dogs sitting all around us.

Chilling underneath the table.  He was laying completely flat, but of course moved when I took a picture!  Completely flat is his 'This place is ok.' body language.

2 week old lab pups.

There were lots and lots of labs at Pot Hole Day.  Dhali was one of the few 'not real' dogs.  You know, 'cause "real" dogs are hunting dogs :P  

Everyone thinks he's a full grown Lhasa Apso and no one knows what a Tibetan Terrier is.  I think I might start saying that he's a Tibetan Mountain Dog.  Technically true and easier for me to say.  I must have trouble with the terrier part....or the Tibetan part.  One woman thought Dhali was a Button Terrier.  Cute as a button!

There was dock diving, but we only saw one dog try the dock diving and it skipped the diving part - just walked into the water!

It was $2 to do the dock diving.

"Welcome!  My name is Dhali and I will be your tour guide for the Tour of Dogs.  Please watch out for leaping Labradors."

The one dock diving dog.

In the middle of everything there was this little squirrel eating bird seed.

Dhali thought this bridge was amazing - something smelled REALLY good in these rocks.  I think there was a burrow or some animal or something.

Dogs and kids and deer (you'll see)

Deer!  There was a display of live deer.  They are captive deer kept for their urine.  It's actually the females' urine that they collect.  They are bottle fed and very tame.  Beautiful animals.  I didn't know that deer only live 7 years - even in captivity.  There was a lot of information and you could tell that the deer were complete pets.  They roam on several hundred acres and star in documentaries.

I swear he was posing for the camera.

Leaping Labrador #1

Leaping Labrador #2

Tibby was waiting at home.   She wouldn't have liked the gunshots or the little kids screaming.

"Come on in!"

Bonus pictures, because blogger is messed up and I don't want to fix it - too tired.