Agility Sautrday Part 1- Getting Started

Saturday, November 9th, August and I had entered our very first Agility Trial. It has taken us a year and a half to get to this point.  It's been a long road. August is our Powder Puff Chinese Crested and he is 11 inches tall and 10 pounds.  He's a small dog that is not very confident. When he faces things that he is unsure of, he can bark, back up, hide and shut down.

Agility can help build confidence in dogs and for him, it's been wonderful.
If you've ever watched Animal Planet then you've seen the obstacle course that dogs run and jump over, on, run through, or weave around.  It's a fun sport and I was looking forward to giving it a try but August just couldn't do it....Until November 9th.

There are many different agility organizations out there. We joined CPE (Canine Performance Events).  Why? Well frankly it was because the other students in my agility class were in CPE and I wanted the company.  They understood the rules. They understood the way they worked and their dogs would be in the same trial as me so I had a built in support system. I'm no fool!

Since we are "newbies" we start at Level 1 but many of the people at the trial were at much higher levels (5's and C's are the highest levels in CPE) so we have a very long way to go.

But before we get to run in the trial, August had to be measured - hence the photo above.

It's call the "Wicket" and the dog has to straddle the bottom bar while the top bar is lowered onto the dogs back to measure the dog from the shoulders.  The bar is pushed down on the shoulders just to make sure that the dog is getting measured and not all the hair that the dog has.  August has a lot of hair so he had to stand under this thing, while a strainge person pushed the top metal bar down on his shoulders to make sure he is short enough to jump 8 inches.

August hates the wicket!  I would take it out during class and he would walk around it but wanted nothing to do with walking under it!! As soon as I would lift that bar, he would run away!  So it took weeks and weeks of work getting him use to that device. Over time, he did get use to it as long as it was lightly placed on his shoulders.

On Saturday, they had the wicket on a table, so now August not only has to stand under it but he has to stand on a table under it while a strange woman measures him.  Measuring dogs was at 7:15am. The thought occurred to me that there would be nothing like ending the day before it begins because if he will not allow himself to measured, he cannot run in the trial. This may be one short day.

I knew we could use food for this so I had boiled chicken with me.  I got the food out and set him on the table. I told the judge that he was not very sure about this thing.  She was so kind and said "We'll go slow."  We started out with him facing her but he wasn't going to have any of that and turned around and put his butt in her face. I got him to straddle that bottom bar (praying "Don't have gas, don't have gas.) She then lowered the bar and pushed on his shoulders. My eyes grew as he began to lay down under the pressure and that is when I pulled out the chicken and held it over his face and he stood up to get the chicken.  She got his measurements, told me he was good to jump at 8 inches and let us go.

I finally exhaled. One challenge down and since he's over 2 years old he will not have to be measured again (CPE rules state that dogs need to be measured before their first trial run and if under 2 years old, need to be measured again once they are 2 years old).

He would not actually run in this first trial until 10:20am. We had a long time to do nothing.
More tomorrow because we didn't do just NOTHING, we did SOMETHING.

" HOLY CANOLI IT'S COLD!!! " HODGEPODGE!

Thank you Joyce for this weeks questions. I hope you all join in on the fun.

1. Describe a typical Sunday from your childhood.
I grew up in the 50's-60's so our typical Sunday was Catholic Mass in the morning followed by either lunch at our Memes house where would meet up with the cousins for lunch and then play with each other, or a drive in the country and stopping at some cafe for lunch.  The rest of the day was spent home playing with my dolls, playing outside or resting. Sunday really was a day of rest as stores were not open so there was no place to go.

2. How comfortable are you with uncertainty? Explain.

Not very. I know that I don't know the future and I know who DOES knows the future and so I know that I'm good, but I'm also flesh and blood and this body would like to know the future.  I struggle with this a lot.  I'm getting better at trusting Him who holds my future in His hands.

3. What have you accomplished recently that might be described as crafty, as in 'arts and crafts' crafty?  If crafty doesn't work for you, how about handy? Or both?

I make cards to send to people who I want to let know that I'm thinking of them, praying for them, or in some other way, let them know that they are not alone.

4. Have you ever worked in a 'food place'? What did you take away from the experience?
I worked in a small restaurant that had mostly hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizza. What I took away from that is I never want to be in a place where I'm dependent on the money from such a place and that those people work very hard. I was so glad when they fired me for not being very good.

5. Cold turkey, talk turkey, what a turkey...in recent days, which turkey phrase or idiom best applies to you and why? Click on the word turkey if you need to read more about the meaning behind each phrase. 
I'll go with "What a turkey!" I took our small dog to our very first agility trial and I just got the videos and boy do I run like a turkey. A really fat turkey!  Why oh why did I wear White? With 6 months of steroids I've gained a lot of weight and boy does it show on that video.  I really need black pants. So what a turkey!

6. If you could have any one guest join your Thanksgiving dinner table, who would it be?
I would love to have friends that have moved away.  We talk and email often and boy do those emails get long as we go back and forth. Having them at the dinner table, we would be talking all day and having a blast.

7. What is one thing you must accomplish today? 
I have videos to download and then figure out how to add them to my blog for next week.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
Baby it's cold up here!! When I wake up it's only in the 20's and 30's and it's not getting much warmer as the day goes on.  I'm so grateful that we have a nice warm house with the furnace running and the pellet stove going as well.  No snow yet, but it feels like it will be here soon.

FINAL CHEMO SESSION FOR NOW, HODGEPODGE!

1. My sister is celebrating a birthday today. Happy Birthday little sis! What's one way you're like your siblings?  If you don't have siblings how are you like your lifelong best friend or cousin?

I'm not anything like my only sister who is older. We don't look alike, talk alike, act alike, learn alike - nothing. I told my grammar school teachers that I was adopted when they would compare us. They bought it since we sure don't look alike!

2.  What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of yourself at age eighteen?

Getting married to my best friend. We were married 3 weeks after graduating high school, we were both 18 years old. It was a beautiful day, starting our lives together, walking the path we have been on for more than 41 years now.

3. Sculptor-actor-painter-dancer...if you could excel in one of these arts, which would you choose and why?

Dancer, I love to be active and it would be a great way to eat all the things I love, don't you think?

4. What's a scent that takes you back in time, and where does it take you?

The smell of real Christmas trees. It reminds me of the times we had a real tree and the whole house would smell wonderful.  Now we have a fake tree, not the same at all.

5. November is for Peanut Butter Lovers (National Peanut Butter Lovers Month).  Are you a lover or a hater?  What's your favorite dish/recipe that calls for peanut butter? 

Lover but it needs to be Jiff, because choosy mothers choose Jiff!  Love peanut butter cookies.

6. What do people thank you personally for most often?

I send cards to people who are in need of some TLC. They will come up to me in church and thank me for them. I not only send them, I make them.

7. What event this year are you most thankful for?

Our 41st anniversary.  Can you believe we have seen 41 years together?  We used to walk the mall when we were newlyweds and look at old couples walking the mall as well, still holding hands. We use to talk about wanting to become those old couples.  We did. We ARE THOSE OLD COUPLES NOW.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

As the title states, I'm resting and recovering from Chemo for a bit. On the 15th of this month I will have another Bone Marrow Biopsy test to see where I am. I'm praying to be in remission.

So now it's your turn. How would you answer these questions?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN HODGEPODGE!

Happy Halloween Eve to you all and thank you Joyce for this week questions!  Join the fun!

1. What's something you're dealing with that might be described as tricky?

Multiple Myeloma - the blood cancer that I have. It is THE most tricky thing that I have ever dealt with!

2.  What's your treat of choice?

Depends on why I need the treat. Chocolate anything is good for just about anything but pie is good for a long day, cobbler is good for fun and my all time just for the love of it is Reese's Peanut Butter Cups!!

3. Did you/will you carve a jack-o-lantern this month? Which real (living or dead) or fictional 'Jack' would you most like to meet in person? Why?

I've not carved a jack-o-lantern in a very long time. As for the Jack I want to meet, I can't think of any Jack that I want to meet in person.

4.  In your opinion, what's the grossest sounding word in the English language?

     Anytime I hear about a child or animal being mistreated, those words are gross sounding to me. How could anyone do such things to others. Especially to such young, Innocents and animals.

5. When did your heart last skip a beat?

My heart skips a beat a lot. When Hubby calls my name, when our grand children call me Grannie and when my oldest grand daughter told me "Grannie, you are the BEST GRANNIE EVER!!!

6. Monster Mash by Bobby 'Boris' Picket, Michael Jackson's Thriller, Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon, or Ray Parker Jr.'s Ghostbusters...your favorite 'scary' tune?

I really like Thriller.

7.   It was a dark and stormy night when______________________________.

The lights went off because of the storm and we spent the whole night huddling up to the fire and talking.  It turned out to be a wonderful night.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

We Are Boston STRONG!

GO RED SOX ! ! !

HUBBY COPIED MY QUESTIONS FOR ME HODGEPODGE

Thank you Joyce for easy questions this week, I need easy these days. 

1. When it comes to good manners, what two top your list of most important?

Please and Thank You.  Simple, straight forward, and always useful.

2. Let's open a proverbial can of worms...Common Core.  Are you familiar with the term (talking education reform in the USA)?  If so, care to share your thoughts? In your opinion, what is one of the biggest issues schools (in your home country) face today?

Yes I know what it is and I don't like it. They teach to the test, ask 2nd graders to challenge their parents decision about what to have and what to do. They teach math in a way that no one can understand and no one child learns the same as others so this Common Core doesn't allow for that at all.

3. Name a celebrity whose fashion sense you admire and share why.
None, I dress for my life, my job, my pocket book - not someone else'. 

4. How are you affected by the changing seasons?

My asthma is worst in the fall and especially in the winter. I can breath just fine in the summer heat and even those "muggy" days, but in the cold, my lungs just freeze and stop working. It's bloody painful!!

5. Scariest book you've ever read?

I don't read scary books, I don't like to be scared.

6. What time of day are you most hungry? What's your go-to snack?

3pm. I just get home from work and I'm getting ready to feed the dogs so I'm hungry too. My go-to-snack is fruit.

7. Do you lean more towards being too needy or too independent? Which do you find harder to deal with in others?

At the moment I am very needy.  I have a lot that I start, but don't finish so it ends up on Hubby's plate to finish. He really did copy the questions for me this week, last week as well if I remember correctly.  I find it hard to deal with it in others so I really hate that I am one of those people right now.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.
Hubby took care of getting the double windows down so we will be warmer now that the heat is on. It's suppose to be really cold at night the next few days so I'm glad about that!  The leaves need to be raked or blown away but we just can't get to it right now. I'm trying my first agility trial with August on November 7th and have a back up handler in case my body just can't do it.  I started Yoga this week per the advice of my Oncologist to build up strength and flexibility as this is something that I will need in the future. Talk about Random!!! Just like my brain!!

So now it' your turn. How would you answer the questions?