As I actually enjoy fireworks and setting things on fire, and my dogs could all care less about the noise and commotion, I had a wonderful holiday.  I know that dogs can become more noise sensitive as they get older, so I'm living it up while I can.  Let it be said if you tie a whole package of smoke bombs together and light it the resulting fire is quite impressive!

A neighbor came by with his dog tonight, in the midst of it all, taking him for a walk.  He had an interesting take on the noise, he said his dog freaked out if he tried to shut him in the house.  But if he took him out and showed him the fireworks, the dog was totally relaxed.  I must say, the dog didn't look stressed at all.  There might be something to that, I certainly have never tried to dampen the noise of fireworks or thunderstorms around here, I actually open the windows.  Never had a dog that cared about the fireworks at all ... so far, at least.  Cats don't care either, come to think of it - even Bonkers.

More totally bizarre weather yesterday, with just terrible humidity for class and then the loud thunderstorm (which sounds like it was not nearly so loud in our neck of the woods as it was elsewhere).  The humidity was just gross, I tried running London a bit at class and I was so not into it, like I was moving through pudding.

I did want to take a look at London's weaves though, and certainly the 21 inch poles we have there seemed a lot more comfortable for him to move through.  We used to have TINY weaves at that arena, and just a few months ago they were replaced.  This might have something to do with popping out issue, as he was getting practice with the smaller weaves, but not any more.  I couldn't get him to pop out no matter what I did last night.  I could get him to miss entries (he missed two), but that's pretty normal.  We were even doing the extreme back crosses that my dogs all hate, and he wouldn't even pop out for THOSE.  I practiced the situations from the trial except for weaving into a wall, totally solid no matter what I did.  And this was with all the humidity, it was very tiring, he never missed a beat.

So, hmmmm, hard to say.  Certainly wouldn't hurt to go see Patricia, still concerned about the stutterstepping with doubles, but he doesn't seem to do that when we do doubles in practice.  I'm almost thinking it's a learned behavior, he really does try his hardest to keep the bars up, he's most likely to drop a double out of all jumps, so he really thinks more when he's jumping them.  He really is such a good boy.

I imagine we still have those tiny spaced weaves at the arena, I should set those up, especially before his next USDAA trial.

   

Looks like they have the finals results up on the CAT website.

I should have had all sorts of cute pictures from this weekend ... but it was just too damn hot.

 
The amazing bendable Roo!


Mick on the move ... must be between barks


Extendo Quake


Lisa's new puppy "Cool"


Power being totally Power


London's little sister Brazen

More pics ...

What a long weekend, I was so exhausted by the time I got home yesterday.  The weather was MUCH cooler in general (think 'normal summer') - and the thunderstorm in the afternoon for the tournament finals brought down the temps so it wasn't oppressively hot for once (and the lightning was really cool!). 

So ... 104 degrees.  Does this sound like agility weather?  I think not.  It was fricken hot at 8am, which so didn't bode well for the rest of the day. 

My plan was to run standard and go home.  Didn't need the GP, and steeplechase is never my favorite class - and they wouldn't run until the hottest part of the day anyway.  London's standard run was all over the map, but when he popped the weaves it really worried me - London rarely ever pops the weaves.  It WAS weaving into the fencing, but still, he's had plenty of practice at that.  He did go all the way when I put him back in, so we celebrated and left.  I assumed he was tuckered from yesterday's agility along with heat.

Then Fenwick had a lovely run ... but would not weave into the fence either!  And you know after London I was making damn sure I was supporting him the entire way.  I tried it a second time and he just stopped dead at the same place with this sad look on his face.  So I don't know what that was about, but his ending was nice.

Anyway, Fenwick doing the same thing made me feel so much better about London's run - for whatever reason a lot of dogs were just freaking out about the weaves.  Of course, some didn't, and it made me wonder what the issue was.

So I stayed like a crazy person and watched agility all day.  I did really enjoy hanging out at the novice ring.  Love to see all the baby dogs - and I got to see Swift's big debut!  OMG, so adorable - Julie is going to have fun with him, talk about different from Quake.

As for me, in just a little heat I become a total spacecase - with this type of heat I was useless, like I was stoned.  I almost missed Fenwick's steeplechase run, but we went straight from the pool to the startline.  He did really well in the heat I thought.  He did drop the second bar, but I thought he was moving pretty darn good for 100+ degree temperatures!  I don't know if he made the cut-offs, but I did enjoy the run.

Kate ran London in both steeplechase and jumpers - I tell you, that girl is hardcore, no 100 degree temps are going to hold her back.  She knows her contact point dogs, her and London did great in steeplechase ... if he didn't pop the poles again!  Other then London's issue (hm, is there something going on?), the run was really nice.  Very fun to watch.  Also fun to watch jumpers, London took a bit to figure out Kate's signals, but by the end of the run he was collecting so nicely for her.  (Oh, I scratched both dogs from GP - no point, and the course was really ugly too).

So, yeah, in some ways I was glad that I stayed.  I can say that now that I'm in my lovely air conditioned home.  It really is fun to watch all the dogs that I don't normally see.  Well, I should say, all the BORDER COLLIES I don't normally see.  USDAA trials are so BC-centric.  It was pretty hillarious to be over at the pool and see every border collie in a 20 foot radius completely transfixed on the spray from the hose.  Really, they are all crazy ... though some are WAY crazier than others.  London is a very good boy, of course.

It was funny, there is a young little border collie locally that I had just thought was freakin' adorable.  So I asked the owner where she was from ... turns out she's like London's cousin or some such.  And this dog is just a TINY little wisp of a thing, but very fun and perky cute.  I never would have guessed that she was related to London at all though.  I guess the border collie world is a small place.

So, this doesn't really feel like a real regional competiton at all.  This is just handlers trying not to pass out from heat stroke.  It's a bummer, I would have loved to be more into this, it could have been really fun.  Damn you, weather!  But what can you do?  Well, I do wish we could do all the tournament stuff in the morning rather then during the absolute hottest part of the day in the afternoon.  The regular classes are much easier to scratch!

So we'll see how grand prix goes tomorrow.  My expectations are very low, but I'd like to be able to give Fenwick 100%, so I'm going to try my best.  It's so weird, pretty much every dog that Fenwick used to compete with in his class is in performance now.  How do I know when Fen is ready to go to performance?  He seems just fine at 16.  And no one has told him he's a senior citizen apparently.

Oh yeah, and Brisbee is supposed to run tomorrow ... do I even bother?  Poor guy would probably be much happier at home.

Well, it's almost 10pm and I just got home after a very long, hot day of agility at the regional and a very scrumptious BBQ afterwards.  I was pretty much a total zombie by the end of the day, but let me say the salmon was fantastic and the homemade angelfood cake with strawberries was super good.  Of course, none of that could compare to the rice, which was just totally premium.

London went 5 for 5 today, 1st in gamblers, 2nd in standard, 6th in jumpers and his snooker run was nice too ... the course HE chose did get us more points then my much more flowing course I was intending to take.  He even managed to keep his head in relay running after Nova, he was an exceptionally good boy.  Not sure if the Supertastic Uber Fun Team of Ultimate Agility Power qualified or not, but, once again, I'm saying we totally had the best name.

Yes, it was hot, especially at the end of the day for relay.  It really does just drain me like nothing else.  Today it was supposed to be like 90 ... tomorrow and Sunday add another 10 degrees.  London handles the heat just fine, but I am worried about Fenwick.  Super glad I didn't run him in team today.

Got to hang out with London's younger sister Brazen, who is TINY.  It was like watching London and his little mini-me running around.  Let's see, besides Brazen there was also Havoc, Windy, Shark, Roo, Flair, Driven, Power, Quick, Blew, Bam, Swift, Quake, Fred and London from the CPBC crew.  I feel like I'm forgetting someone ...

As for results for other folks ... uh, everyone looked to be having a great time, and you can't ask for more then that. ;-)  Camp LJ is where it's at, Californians, Canadians - we've got it all.

Oh yes, and the highlight of the day, I got to run Speck in relay!  OMG, I have such a crush on Speck, but I didn't know if he'd run for me (Barbara has never tried having someone run him before).  He was just a total spaz waiting in line and then waiting for the baton, but as soon as I took the leash off he was all business.  Barbara has done such a nice job with him!  He had a lovely startline and his dogwalk contact was totally solid - even when I ran like 30 feet past him (the course was WEIRD)!  We did go offcourse as I was afraid to leave him in the weaves, but I felt very honored he would work for me.  I love the Speck and I love the baby dogs!

Gotta go to bed - in a few hours I've got to go back ...

Kate and Mia not only drove all night up from southern California, after a quick nap they drove all the way out my way to take the dogs hiking today.  Now THAT'S hardcore.

Hard to believe that it's supposed to be so hot this weekend, it was lovely today!


Power is such a dork - a love her!  See, girls can be dorky too.

So London has had the full jumping program review this week, we did a lot of collection stuff in the living room on the carpet, and tonight we did a bunch of extension and extension to collection stuff before I set up for class.  He knocked three bars this week, 2 in the living room and 1 in the arena.  I think that's pretty good, considering ... though of course it only takes one bar really. ;-)

London also finally got to run again at class tonight, and the contacts did not seem to bother his foot at all.  We had our share of issues, on the first course we never did get #12-13, in a classic London move he went to the offcourse  #16 every time.  London has always been one for taking the first thing he sees coming out of the tunnel.  Then if I called him I would pull him OFF #13.  It was rather comical.

I have to say, running London is always a total blast, even when things go wrong.  I love his enthusiasm and how he's never afraid to be wrong, he's just going for it.

  

I'm about ready for the regional, most importantly, finally got my air conditioning fixed so at least when I get home it will be nice and cool.  Need to remember to bring the stuff for the BBQ and the raffle when I pack the car tomorrow ..

Any of you early birds heading out to the regionals want to save a spot for me?  Well, technically speaking it's Tammy's easy up, but I'm shamelessly inviting myself to her set up.

Benefits to setting up next to Camp Cleverdog include free water, access to tasty snacks and all the Fenwick you can stand.

Oh come on, summer goes into overload RIGHT for the regional?  98 DEGREES?!  You've got to be kidding me.  I mean, I don't expect the regionals to be cold, but especially as, once again, the dogs are totally not acclimated to the heat it's just going to be awful. 

So thankful I pulled Fenwick from team on Friday, and I am realistic enough to say that it's very likely we will scratch our afternoon runs for both dogs on Saturday/Sunday, which I'm sure will include the final round of GP.  I'm really bummed, it's like regionals is cancelled for me, but I'm not going to run Fenwick in the full sun with that kind of weather, and unless I can give London 100% there is no point in me running him either.  Not worth it.

This is also our last trial until September (well, I MAY take Brisbee to the Starters/Adv Fleet Feet trial), and was also my equivalent of a 'nationals' for this year.  I'm just really disappointed.

Oh yeah, and I got summoned for jury duty.

I've been wanting to do a 'checklist' of agility skills for my classes. That way people can honestly evaluate the skills their team has (or doesn't have), and have a very clear cut, measureable plan for improvement. Obviously you don't HAVE to have every skill out there, but certainly the more that you have the more successful you're likely to be. And everyone needs something to work towards.

Breaking agility down into quantifiable measurements ... an interesting exercise.  This is not a complete list, just what I had off the top of my head.  I'd love to get some more ideas as to making it more complete as well as trying to find specific measurable performances for all of them.

( Agility Checklist ... )

Our siding replacement is officially done, we are LP people no more.  The before (when we bought the house in 2000) and after (today!):

Bruce says it doesn't look any different, I think it looks pretty good!  I don't know if I would recommend the siding people, communication among themselves and us was not their strong point.  I think the finished product looks nice ... even if it's not the style we actually were supposed to get.

In the meantime, London's foot is healing and toughening up:


A very weird injury indeed, I hope it will be ready for action next week. it's not bothering him at all any more, I just worry about the edges getting caught on the contact slats, so hoping that it will be a little more smooth by next week.  I think he'll be ready for some jumping work this week, which is what I mainly wanted to practice before the regional.

I have decided that practicing with Brisbee is a futile effort.  He's either going to be in the mood to do it at the trial ... or he won't.  No need to worry about it really.  Hopefully he'll have fun, and that's all that matters.  Which is true for all the dogs, I'm planning to have a wonderful time with all of them.

And lastly, a dvorak update - things are going a lot better since I last updated.  I still have brain farts a lot, because while I can type, and type fairly quickly, I don't really actually know where the individual letters ARE.  So it's sort of funny that I'm able type sentences just fine, but I couldn't tell you were the letter "F" is to save my life.  But I have sped up quite a bit, though still more typos then I'd like.  But then, I was notorious for leaving out words with qwerty too - I don't need a special keyboard for that.

Still don't necessary thinks it's anymore ergonomic or anything, but it was a fun experiment - I don't regret it at all.

Haven't been posting much, which is really just similar to everything else in my life lately, haven't been getting things done.  Was finally honest with myself last night and acknowledged why.  When I have something big I'm avoiding I find I end up avoiding everything. 

When Bonkers had his latest crash it really hit me hard.  It's been almost six months and I feel like I've made absolutely no headway in regulating his diabetes.  We did have a really good stretch there, where he was down to less then half the insulin lasting 12-14 hours.  I thought I saw a light at the end of the tunnel, I thought I could get my life back again.  I do feel like I've just put everything on hold, waiting to see if Bonkers would get better or worse.  And as time goes by I realize that it's not that simple.

I need to make a decision, but there is no real answer, so I avoid it.  Yesterday, Bonkers looked awful.  Today, he looks pretty good.  He's hungry, cuddly, and playful.  I love that cat, I can't imagine life without him.  I feel absolutely terrible I can't find the right solution for him, I feel like this is how it's going to be, stretches of time where he's pretty regulated and then other times when he's all over the place.  I hate to see him feeling bad, I think that I just need to keep at it, that he will get better if I just find the right thing to do.  But I'm out of options, I don't have anything else I can try, so I feel like this is it.

I need to come to terms with this, it's come to the point where it's this big lurking beast in the back of my mind, and anytime I try to do anything it raises up refusing to be ignored ... and I try to find ways to avoid it.  Can't do that anymore, it's time to make some sort of decision.  All I can think to do is say I will continue to try to get the diabetes totally under control for another month.  If that doesn't work, I'm going to have to let it go.  Find something he does 'okay' with and leave it alone.  He's still doing okay, really no better or worse then he was months ago. 

In terms of quality of life I think Bonkers is pretty happy even if I don't think he's feeling the best all the time.  I just need to let go of expecting him to be the cat he was 6 months ago, that if I just try hard enough I can make that happen.  I don't know if I can do that though.  Damn I have a lot of other things that I have avoided as well though.  I need to get back into the swing of things here without feeling like by putting my energy into other things I'm neglecting Bonkers.

Hm, writing this out really hasn't made me feel any more settled about the whole thing.

Tonight's courses were from a combination of exercises from Clean Run.  I ran them with Fenwick and Brisbee after class, they were a lot of fun!  It helped that not only was Brisbee in a good mood, but he suddenly he was totally solid on his weaves and contacts.  Sometimes he really does act like he's been doing this for seven years.  And, yes, I still messed up the tunnel pulls with FENWICK, so I think I need to revisit them again.

  

Hm, just noticed that #2 is labeled incorrectly on the first course, supposed to be on the other side of the jump ... and #11 is supposed to be the dogwalk.  Was I drunk or something when I made these?

 I have a ton of video from this weekend and it's been uploaded.  I'm feeling too lazy to send out individual links and most everyone is on LJ anyway, so here's the deal:  

All the files are labled the same, the changes being the date, the class and the name of the dog, of course, I'm not saying I have all runs for all dogs, but if you want to check and see, here are some examples:
http://www.brisbeethewhite.com/videos/nameAKCstd6-14-08.wmv 
http://www.brisbeethewhite.com/videos/nameAKCjww6-15-08.wmv 
http://www.brisbeethewhite.com/videos/nameAKCfast6-14-08.wmv 

Bindi
Blaze
Brita
Chi
Churchill
Coral
Digsby
Kicker
Lacey
Nova
Razor
Tesla
Tess
Tully

So I warmed London up for like an hour and half before his first run this morning, we ran around with Fenwick, we played ball, we did tricks, we went every which way over the practice jump, we trotted, we walked, we stretched ... and he looked perfectly normal.  So I felt pretty confident going into his standard run.