Bubbles and Blinkies

I got Tinsel some bubbles at Petsmart the other day. Yes, actual bubbles. I had seen them before and after Terry told me that her dogs liked to pop bubbles, I thought I would try it out. I had to pry them away from the two little ones who felt that any bubbles coming into the house should belong to THEM! We have chicken, bacon and peanut butter flavored bubbles.

The first few wands, Tinsel looked curious but didn't have a clue. Once they popped on the floor and she got a taste, you could see the light click and she put it together. We spent about 10 minutes of me blowing bubbles while she tried to catch them. Bubbles are a hit here! I got extra bubbles to bring to Terry next week since she had not seen flavored dog bubbles.

I ordered Tinsel a blinkie light from eBay. When we run, I have on an arm blinkie, I wear a reflective belt, my shoes have reflection on them and my Road ID has a reflective band. Even though Tinsel is leashed, she has nothing. I am considered getting a reflective leash too.

I got her a blinking red heart that just attaches to her collar. Since she doesn't wear any jangly tags (Before anyone gasps in shock, Tinsel does have ID on her collar. She wears a Boomerang Tag that is on her collar and doesn't jingle. It contains all her info. Her actual rabies, microchip and county tag are on my keyring) I can just clip the blinkie where her tags would normally hang. It is a bright red blinking light that is pretty visible so I feel better about her being seen as well. We rarely run in areas where you would not see her but safety is always a good thing.

Running Dog

Now that Tinsel is a year old, she can come with me on some runs. Since it is sorta running related as well as dog related, I guess I will just double post the info here and on my running blog Expect more heavy on the dog here, more running there.

Tinsel has always gotten excited seeing me get into running gear because she knows I am going out on the trail. I have held off on doing any running with her because she is a puppy. Or, she was. She just turned a year old so her major growth is about done. She is still going to grow a bit but not any significant amount. I don't want to do anything that would cause her injury.

Just like a person, you have to build up your dog when running. She was not pleased with that, I don't think she ever went over a fast trot while we were out. We did 3 minutes of running (her fast trot and occasional bounce around) and then 2 minutes of walking. She did very well with it, stayed on my left side and kept a fairly loose lead. Tinsel did not like Greg being on the left of her, she wanted to get on his left side. She also did not like me asking her to get on my right side to cross water. She would whine and get a bit anxious if I asked her to go right rather than left.

It was raining and she seemed to love fording the creeks (I had stepping stones). We passed a Saint being walked and while she shied away, she stayed with me and didn't try to bolt.

We did just under 3 miles so she gets tomorrow off and after checking her feet, we will run/walk again on Friday.

I had not taken into consideration that we had class later so she was still a bit damp and doggy smelling on the way to class. Normally I try to get her clean for class, brushing her and wiping her down. Tonight, she went as a dog who went running and got soaking wet.

I had a fleeting hope that she would be somewhat tired for class but no luck. The stinker, even after that, she was Miss Bouncy Happy Nutcase during class. I know she is young but boy, she can be such a nut. She jumps for my hand, even with no treat. Terry suggested breaking out the bitter apple and dosing her good with it. Once Tinsel calmed down a bit, she was watching and doing what I asked. I need to also get better with my clicking at the correct time.

Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas!

My beautiful Tinsel girl will be a year old on Christmas day. If you click the image, you can see it full sized

Freestyle Dancing

As if learning rally was not enough, Tinsel and a few of the kids have been working on a freestyle dance. You can see it here...we are taking it on the road! Tinsel has some moves!!

Click here to see the awesome dance

Found Treasure!

Over the course of years, I had built up a collection of dog related gear. I had agility jumps, a tire jump, a teeter, weave poles and a regulation set of AKC obedience jumps (pole, panel and broad) I had a set of brand new utility articles, a set of very gently used utility articles, utility gloves and various collars, leads, tabs, invisbile leads, chains and halters. Seriously, a load of equipment.

When we moved, we had no dog since we had just lost our Daria to cancer. I had no idea until a few months after we moved, after we got Tinsel, that my darling husband made the decision to LEAVE all my equipment in the shed at the old house. To say I was upset is more than an understatement.

I had hopes that I could find all my leads, collars and utility equipment since they had been in the garage not the shed. I made a half hearted effort to find them and all I could find was 2 sets of utility gloves. I resigned myself to the fact that all my stuff was gone for good.

Fastforward several months. As we are digging through things looking for Christmas stuff, I had hopes that my dog stuff would be found but as each box was opened, my hopes were dashed.

I went to the basement to get something and when I walked into the storage area, there was a huge pile of leashes, collars and my utility articles! There was my bag to carry my utility articles in and two sets of tongs!! That goes a long way to make up for losing absolutely every. Wheee!

Running A Rally Course

We had an actual rally course, with 15 stations, crammed into the training space last night. Keep in mind that *I* have never done Rally and while most of the stations were simple, there were a few that Tinsel has never been asked to do. It was a classic class of the blind leading the blind for this class.

I did find out I was wrong about Monty, he is not a Malatese. Monty is a Havanese, which I have never seen in person so it is not surprising I didn't know what he was. We did have two new dogs, Emmie, a SCWT and Kitty, another beautiful Berner girl.

I parked Tinsel in a spare zippered crate, where she whined and acted like she was not only dying but that she had never been in a crate before, while I walked the course. First off, what the heck is a Left About Turn? Call Dog Front Finish Right? It was like another language looking at some of the signs. Luckily, the phantom dog was present and I could attempt these things. This is a class mixed with total beginners (me) and people who have multiple Rally titles on various dogs so I didn't want to go first. Heck, my preference was to go dead last, after everyone had left.

I was towards the end of the class so I had plenty of time to see that Tinsel was going to be handful. She had been laying down for quite some time so had a lot of pent up energy as well as just her Tinselness going on.

We started the course and she immediately lived up to her Springer name by acting like she had springs in her legs, bouncing up constantly. She was willing to listen, occasionally but really just wanted to jump up and get a treat. We are working on this, Terry, really!

I thought, bouncing aside, we were doing pretty well until we got to the Left About Turn. I was going in slow motion but then second guessed what I was doing so did it wrong. There is a reason I don't dance. I can't coordinate my hands and feet and this exercise requires me to pass Tinsel in front of me and then behind me as I am making a U turn. Fun. Not. Everyone assures me once I "get" it, it will be easy. I did like what one lady called it to cue the dog, swish. This make sense since I am turning one way while Tinsel turns another way.

Next was the Call Front Finish Right. We came to a halt near a crate that held a Golden who just didn't like anyone near her crate (She is off meds doing allergy testing and this is not her normal behavior). Tinsel was a bit nervous but came front. I have never really taught her to finish by going around on the right, I have always kinda lured her by swinging her to the left. I lured her around with a hot dog but she was very reluctant to do it since she kept losing the treat. I did get her there and finished the course.

I think that we can do well with Rally if I can get her to stop her wretched bouncing and listen to me.

This week we are going to work on: attention, heeling WITHOUT bouncing, staying in position when I halt, on my side rather than swinging out to the side front to look at me. We have rain all this week so it is not going to be fun outside but the basement is not big enough to work her there.

Floofy Dog and Rally!

I was a bit apprehensive when I took Tinsel in for her monthly bath/fuzzy slipper trim. Jen, who has been the one who has groomed Tinsel from the first appointment, is no longer there. I found out that she had been abruptly fired and according to my source, unfairly. Be that as it may, I had an appointment so I went in to talk to the replacement groomer so he understood exactly what I wanted and did not want done to her. I felt comfortable enough to leave her and I came back after getting the call she was done. She came out floofy! I don't know if they blew her dry differently, put her in damp, overdried her or what but she is a floofy dog. She is also a flakey dog. Now, the flakes could be she didn't get rinsed well enough, it could be dander from temperature change or it could be stress dandruff. She didn't have it when I dropped her off. I also did not like that the groomer had already left so I was not able to ask him specifically what he had done. Her feet looked good. With Jen leaving and me not too sure about the new guy, I made the decision to switch groomers. Canine Carousel in town had come highly recommended so I made her next appointment there. I just need to go by there between now and then with her rabies certificate.

While I was picking her up, I went over to get her weighed. She weighs 36.8 lbs. I think she is looking a wee bit chunky again so I am going to cut back just a little bit with what she gets. I am also going to give her a bit more fish oil to see if that helps with the sudden flakey coat. I also have a furminator/shedender on its way here to see if will help cut down on the floofy coat.

Tonight was our first rally class. When I signed up, it listed 7 pm as the start time. I showed up a few minutes early and became worried. No one was there, the building was dark. I even called home so Greg could verify on the sheet that I had the correct date and time. I was getting ready to call Terry when another car came down. Terry had sent an email earlier in the day saying class had been switched to 7:30 pm! Terry later confessed she didn't email me. Whoops!

There are 9 dogs, including Tinsel in the class. There are 3 Goldens, including a 3 legged one named Champion, Birdie and one named Grace. I think it is a law that every class has a Golden named Grace in it. There is a beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog named Duke. A white mini poodle named Arthur is in the class along with a gray poodle named Tex. I am not sure on his name and I think he may be a poodle. Tex has a brother named Monty, who is a Maltese maybe? I am not sure there either. He is little, white and furry. Kasey is a black lab in the class. Kasey and Birdie are best buds and also therapy dogs. Kasey, Birdie and Tinsel are the rookies in the class, everyone else has been in rally for some time. Tinsel is the youngest in the class.

We did have a major milestone. One of the other ladies in class came over to pet Tinsel and it was not a glancing thing, she pet her for a few minutes while talking to her. Tinsel didn't pee!!! I was stunned and amazed.

Right now, Tinsel is sprawled out on a blanket chewing on a plush apple. I just took away a different plush toy after she gutted it. I allow her to chew on plush toys while I am right with her but as soon as she gets them open, they get tossed. She loves the plush toys but she is a serious chewer so she doesn't get them often.