Long Over Due Update!

I just narrowed the weaves for Dhali today, which made me want to tell someone LOL!  So here is a very overdue post!  Dhali loves his weaves and he is doing great!

Here is a video from last week of Dhali and Tibby (yes, Tibby!) weaving.  Tibby actually wanted to play with a toy and do the weaves as a reward - it's been so long since she wanted to do that :)

We have been taking walks and hiking.  Tibby has been doing pretty good with going out in public too.  She even walked past a couple men in the dark and didn't freak out.  We won't talk about the times that she barked at a fluffy dog and an old lady carrying a box.

This leash coupler is amazing!  I couldn't walk them without it!

Dhali and his cat :)

So cute! 

Speaking of cute...............

adorable!

National Dog Day! Cake and A Picnic!

August 26th was national dog day.  I wanted to take the dogs and do something fun, but it was 95F and humid, so I baked them a cake instead.

And then we had a picnic!

This was my cake recipe: 1 can of green tripe, 1/2 cup of garbanzo bean flour, 2 eggs, 1/4 cup of almond milk.  Mixed it all up and baked it for 40 mins.

Then I 'frosted' it with peanut butter and added some peanut butter chips to the top.  I tried to make it spell D-O-G.  

Then we went outside and the dogs had their cake and ate it too!

Ok there are a lot of pictures, but peanut butter + cute puppies = adorable!

Weaves and Teeter and Tunnels!

This is Dhali in his favorite spot - underneath the plum tree laying in the grass :)  

Weeeee!  A video of agility!  Yes we have been working on something.  

Dhali has been very hesitant about the big teeter.  Of course, when I brought the little teeter outside to just play an easy game of 'bang it' he was all "I'm not scared!".  Crazy little guy.  

He's getting better and better about not biting me and hopefully I am getting better at giving him the right direction.  I'll have to wait and see what the official word is from Loretta, if I'm doing good/bad.

Look at him do the weaves!  He's figuring it out.  At first I had fences on either side, but he doesn't need them any more.  I'm not sure how they figure this stuff out, like running contacts, but they seem to get it.  A little bit every day.  

My goal is to have a fast, smooth running dog.  LOL!  I think that's everyone's goal.  It might take a long time, but I think it will be worth it :) 

Tibby makes a cameo appearance at the beginning of the video.  She really does not like to do agility, but she likes hot dogs, so she will bang that *%&#* teeter until she gets some hot dogs or I take her away.  She is such a funny dog.  Crazy that she is the most willing to do the teeter, when it was THE scariest thing to her in the beginning.  It took a long time just to shape her to look at and take one step toward the teeter.  Now she won't get off it! 

Chewy Treat Review With Tibby

Tibby got to review these yummy treats from Chewy.com.  Why should Dhali get to do all the treat testing??

Question #1: "So Tibby how to you like these Natural Balance Jerky Bars from Chewy.com?

Tibby:  "They taste really good.  I will even sit up to get one and I don't do that for every treat.  I like the chicken part and the sweet potato part.  Give me another one or this interview is over."

Question #2:  "Is there anything you would change about these treats?"

Tibby:  "Yes, I hate the plastic bag.  It makes a scary noise and ruins my appetite.  Take the treats out of that dangerous bag, give me the treats and then throw that scary bag away.  Really!  That bag is freaking me out!  No,  I don't want to sit next to it.  Ok, I'm counting to 3 and then that bag had better be gone."  

"I'm not getting rid of the bag.  Question 3?"

"Fine.  I need 2 treats to steady my nerves."

Question #3:  What do you think of the size, shape and texture of these treats?"

Tibby:  "Well, they could be bigger.  You keep breaking them into tiny pieces.  I'm not dumb - hello!  I can see how big they are in the bag.  Texture?  Um, let me try a normal size one and I'll let you know if there is a texture.  Shape is good - it fits in my mouth."

Question #4: "Any finally thoughts?"

Tibby:  Yeah, I'm tired of talking to you and laying next to this scary plastic bag.  Am I getting paid in treats for this interview?  I want to renegotiate my contract!"

Dhali gets to review the next treats - he's not such a DIVA!

Punishing You

I went on vacation for 4 days last week.  Dhali was not impressed.  I warned my friend, who was taking care of the pups, to keep Dhali in his crate when she wasn't watching the dogs.  I'm his momma, so I can give him a look or says, "Dubba...." and he knows knock it off or else.  Dhali watching is a skill (apparently) that I have developed without even knowing it!

Well, she felt bad for him and let him stay loose in the house.  He chewed up one of my dress shoes - chewed into tiny, little scraps.  He destuffed the dog bed in my bedroom.  He also was sneaky, stealthy and took a ton of bully sticks and toys outside.  I usually pat him down before I let him outside, but I guess I forgot to tell my friend that.  So many things that I just do naturally now.

Then I came home and now he isn't letting me sleep at night.  *le sigh*  He sits by my bed at night and barks.  I get it, kind of.  It's really, really hot here right now, but at night it's nice and cool - perfect for play time!  Except that I want to sleep, so I can get up in the morning and go to work!  

So I need to tire him out and I thought I had come up with the perfect solution - SWIMMING!  Cool him off and give him some exercise.  So I got a pool - not too big, because I wanted to put it in my 3 seasons porch.  The mosquitoes are SO bad right now.  So the pool is supposed to be 30 inches deep.  Um, he can touch the bottom and walk around.  Hmmmm....I may need to rethink this idea.  

FYI it works great in my porch, just too shallow :(

I Think I Love U

This is how Dhali treats strangers LOL!  If you scratch his back or rub his belly, he is your friend forever!

He was really relaxed :)

Whew! It's Hot!

Dhali has his own fan

He just recently realized that it feels really good to lay in front of the fan.

The fan feels especially nice after you have been running around outside.

Two Of These Feet Are Not Like The Other

Who likes the grass?

The one with GREEN feet!!

And a Tibby tongue pictures, 'cause they are cute :) 

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!