It's not all doom and gloom around here...

Although my last few blog posts have been downright depressing I really am doing okay. I learned a long time ago to have a thick skin, and go with the flow.

Yes, it sucks that Pixel is hurt- again. But she will be fine in a few days or weeks. The agility decision can wait until then.

In the mean time look what I got today!

This is from the one and only weekend of trials we did in the late Spring. She is the #1 Started dog in Canada still. Pretty awesome! I am very proud of my dog. (and of myself!!!) Herding has a pretty large learning curve. lol.

CKC Herding is small potatoes compared to the big field trials, but ya gotta start somewhere! We've been puttering and learning bit by bit. Foot by foot her outruns are getting bigger and better. It's slow going when you can't go every day. I'm still pretty serious about it though- we'll be practicing all winter regardless of weather! Let's hope for a mild one!

Deja Vu

I never thought I'd say this, but maybe Corgis are just not built for agility. I used to argue with people who said such things. It was a sore topic for me. Who were "they" to judge what my dog(s) could do or not do. 

My dogs are not weekend warriors. We run and play, and exercise and train little things every day. We do agility not super regularly lately- but they are fit, and muscled. They get massages whenever they need them, and I have a great rehab vet that I trust. It should be easy to keep any dog with this kind of care sound enough to play....breed shouldn't matter.

Wicca seemed fine, it was easy to forget about all the small injuries she had over the years. Until she was one big mess. I figured her injuries were more due to her crazy speed and intensity. Pixel is gentle, and smooth, and not that quick, and certainly doesn't hurl her body around the course. She is also built much better- nice rear, great topline, the works. She should be structurally sound enough to do agility for a long time!


Ha!

Regionals in June was her first injury. I had to pull her the second morning. She slammed the frame and had a very sore shoulder.

She ran a few runs at our one day trial last month. And was looked at by my rehab vet and given a thumbs up. A few little twitchy things but nothing major.

Last weekend she ran 6 runs over two days. And was great. No problem with the frame, but some weave problems. Which is not normal. So I had Sarah look at her last week. She found some ouchie spots, but worked them out. And she seemed okay.

Ran her this weekend in Medicine Hat and had an awesome first day! Great runs- fast, accurate, and working hard. Probably the best ever Jumpers run- even with a refusal it just felt fantastic. I reminded about what I love about agility. (which was amazing  to feel as I have been struggling with that!)

She ran by a frame in my gamble opening on saturday, but I thought it may just have been her being too excited, or a bad approach. And then this morning she ran by the frame again. Hmmmm.

Sarah is awesome and looked at her right away for me. This time a sore hip area (I forget with the muscle is called) and some twitchy spots on her back. And her shoulder- well, a specific muscle in the shoulder but of course I've forgotten exactly what.. She was sore enough to look uncomfortable when Sarah was working on her, and had the scared ouchie eyes even. It ripped my heart out and made me feel ill.

So I pulled her for the rest of the weekend. I will never ever, ever run an injured dog. So we hung out the rest of the day, I ran a friends dog which was fun. And now I am home and have emailed my rehab vet to make an appointment and have iced her shoulder.

I've been thinking, and talking out loud to the dogs. LOL. If this game is going to continue to hurt my little corgis then I am not sure that I should continue. I am doing everything I can to keep them healthy. But what if it's not enough. I am trying really hard to do the best I can for my dogs. But I need to be realistic.

On the flip side I can't really have them live in a bubble. She could hurt herself launching off the stairs, or jumping out of the van, or (fill in the blank).... Life is a gamble (ironic. lol)

So do I quit all together with her? Or do I keep up the training (after she is recovered from this of course..) and just enter the gambles. (she needs three gambles for her ATCHC). Get the Q's we need and then have a last hurrah? Or do I just sit on this for a bit- see what Veronica thinks. I'm probably over-reacting. I can't help it though. I love my dogs to bits and don't ever want to ask them to do something that is hurting them. I like agility. But not at the cost of my dog. There are a millon different things I could do with the dogs. But there is potential for injury in pretty much everything. LOL. That's what is so difficult about it...

I feel like I've been through all this before.

Oh wait. I have.

Go ahead and judge

I have been doing dog rescue work for a long time. I can't even begin to guess the actual years- and frankly my head hurts so I can't. But a long time. Years. I started with a small rescue, and did adoptions, and then intake, and then adoptions and intake and everything in between. Personal differences made me leave. Fast foward to a year later and a few like minded people get this great idea to start up a new rescue. It will be nothing like before. I was in with two feet and all heart.

And now I am broken. Done.

Rescue is not just a thing I do in my spare time. It consumes me. I worry about the dogs in our care, and I worry about the dogs I've had to say no to. And it isn't only the dogs you have to worry about. People. People are not my cup of tea. I am not a people person. People stress me out. People are unpredictable. And People are mean.

Despite the mean people, and general difficulties of dealing with dogs that people throw away- I love it. It means so much to me to see the happy endings. I can recall most of my own foster dogs adoptions. What we do matters. And it matters big time. To the dogs, and the people who love them. I am passionate about it. I will force spay and neuter down your throat any chance I get. I will flag every kijiji ad I see that looks like it could be a mill, or someone looking for a stud. And I will educate people in what I belive in at any moment. I believe that all dogs deserve love. And a chance at a happy ending. I have had some pretty amazing dogs come through my house and my heart. Each of them shared a lesson before heading to their next stop.

In this particular group I am so grateful for the core bunch of girls, and the few amazing foster homes we have. The foster homes who put up with crap (sometimes literally), down to the gal who checks the phone line. The people who understand about patience and understanding I can't jump the second you say so. We do have some great people. We are lucky.

Rescue has a way of opening your eyes to what is really important. Most of my adopters aren't sports people. They are people looking for a buddy. Someone to lay on the couch with. Someone to be there when they get home. Someone to play with their kids. They love the dog for who they are, not what they could be. And I will take that lesson with me wherever I go.

Last week I helped a devastated woman make the decision to euthanise a dog she loved. He was a hard case- a dog who had suffered trauma his whole short life. He bit someone badly. His unpredictable behaviour was escalating. And for that he payed the ultimate price. But he died in the arms of someone who loved him. Me. His owner could not. So I did. I held him and told him he was wonderful and that we all loved him. It was incredibly sad. Heartbreaing. And then a war of words erupted. Threats, phone calls, emails, facebook. Full of very angry people. How dare we murder this poor dog. It was exhausting, and awful. We were blamed. Even though it came down to the owners decision. We stood by her- and took the beating so to speak. I am barely recovered from that and tonite more drama.

This time over an adoption fee. It is so freaking trivial I cannot even believe that this is what has brought the mighty amanda down. A foster home who wants a deal. On a dog that cost us $3500. A dog that we took out of the shelter because she failed their temperament test. A dog that we then had to repair a cruciate on. A dog that has been sitting in a foster to adopt, or maybe not, or maybe we will home for about four months. They don't want to pay. Because they bought some food when they couldn't be bothered to email and ask for some. Our adoption fee is $300. Not that much in the whole scheme of things. Worth a fight even? No, not really. The guy was just willing to give the dog back. But a friend of his is mad. Like pointing finger, and harsh words mad. I'm sorry but the judging of things you know nothing about. That is worth an argument. I couldn't help it. I replied. In a not very professional way. It was innappropriate really. But does it really matter at this point? No. Because I am done. We are done. We will take care of the dogs we have. But no more. I am tired. I can't fight anymore. It is too hard.

Instead I will help dogs one at a time when I can. In an unofficial way, which will be more expensive, and more time consuming. But easier. The only person I'll have to talk to is myself. lol. It will be so hard to say goodbye when that last Windy City dog is adopted. Knowing we are leaving a hole in our community. But a person can only take so much. I say good luck to the next group who wants to step up. Walk a mile in my shoes and then judge me.

I am a strong person. But inside I am just like anyone else. Made of blood, and sweat and tears.

Edited to Add:

Maybe I'm being overly sensitive. Maybe I'll feel better in the morning. Maybe for once my inbox will be empty in the morning. 

Okay, I spoke too soon

So it seems that a phone call from the police can put a stop to even the most irrational people. So blogging hiatus be gone. ;)

You didn't even have time to miss me!!

 I took off for the weekend even though I debated most of the day- do I go and leave my house, or do I stay home just in case. I ended up going after my friends pressured me. And I am VERY glad I did.

We had a great weekend. I love the mountains, and this particular trial is one of my most favorites. The crip mountain air, the beautiful trees, the friends. It's just perfect.

Mostly I enjoyed the company. I had all my dogs (and foster dog Leo) in tow, and we cuddled, and walked, and hung out. My dogs really do help me to stay grounded. I love each of them for different reasons. Without them I'd be lost for sure.  Friends are awesome too, and lots of our Go Dog Go peeps attended so we had lots of laughs fun, and support. I haven't been to a trial in a while- so it was nice to see other agility friends aswell.

This trial was a little bittersweet for me. Last year Wicca earned her ATCH here. This year she is forced to retire and sat in an xpen miserable and pissed off the whole weekend. It was the only sucky part to the weekend. I so miss running my little baddog. She was the bestest. And I know she misses it too. I see other people running their old dogs and I more than a little jealous. This weekend was difficult for me for that reason. But at least I still have her sitting in the xpen- miserable or not. Unlike a few of my friends who have lost dogs between then and now. I am grateful, but still a little sad.

The other dogs had a blast though. Pixel was entered in 6 events and qualified in four of them! Two Standards, and Two Jumpers. She earned her Bronze Jumpers, which I didn't realise until I got home. I coulda got a purdy ribbon! She was great fun to run- quick, and zippy, and full of happy little sass. She did have a few weave problems though- which earned her a massage from Sarah today. She didnt' find anything major though- just a little soreness on one side that seemed to work out with massage.

Vito got to play in two runs, a standard and a snooker. In the standard he was so funny. Ran like a speed demon, but missed the tire, the chute, and the weaves. He actually had to duck to go under the tire... He was having such a good time I didn't bother to fix it. He Q'd in Snooker though! Even though I didn't walk it, had no path, and was the first dog up. Vito likes agility in small doses, so I was really happy to get in a few runs with him.

And the most exciting part of all- Boone came out to play. I ran him FEO in a Starters Standard and he was smoking fast. His weaves were brilliant! Who knew he could weave like that!!! He was a little stressed, but didn't leave, or disconnect, or poop, or pee. So I was thrilled. Boone did agility a lot a few years ago- he got up to Masters pretty quickly, and then it was like a short circuit in his brain every time we tried a masters course. It became pretty apparent that he couldn't handle the stress and pressure of it anymore. So it was really nice to have that back for just one run. It was the cherry on top of a good weekend. ;)

Brit did some obedience training, and Leo worked on social skills. He did great- and is getting better and better. Soon he will be ready for a home of his own!!!

All in all a pretty awesome weekend. Great dogs, great company, fun courses, and friends. What more could a girl want!!!

Strength and Friendship

"You never know how strong you are until strong is your only option"

I am strong, I don't back down.  I stand up for what I believe in. I will always support my friends. I will not be bullied. I will not be intimidated. And although it is difficult I will always keep moving forward, one step a time. Head held high. Believing in myself. 

I refuse to let a few angry people ruin me, and what I stand for.

I will be taking a blogging hiatus for a bit- until things settle down as I do not wish to tarnish this space with garbage. 

Thank you to those that have supported me, and Windy City, and Nilo. It is appreciated more than you can imagine. 

I leave you all with the ever adorable Vito. <3 Today is a hug sort of day. 

 

Super Models

Wendy needed some models and Brit, Pixel and Boonie were more than happy to participate. They brought their best "moves" to the photoshoot. ;)

Thanks Wendy for the awesome photos. You rock.

Driving

We've spent the majority of the summer working on outruns. Outruns, Outruns, Outruns. I think it's the most exciting part. The speed, the dog watching, learning about pressure, how far is far enough, when do the sheep feel the pressure. It has been interesting to learn about.  And we have  a LONG ways to go still!!!

Now and then we have also work on driving. Driving is where the dog is driving (or walking in a straight line) behind the sheep generally away from you. This is done with you (eventually) completely out of the picture. It is almost directly opposite of what they have been learning (bring the sheep is now drive them away). It is complicated- but thankfully it is something that Brit really enjoys doing and does it pretty naturally.

Our lesson this morning at Phantomridge was spent doing mostly Outruns, with a bit of driving near the end. Next time we will start with the driving- which will be more challenging when she is "zippy." I have to remember to pair my "There-Walk Up" together. So that she doesn't flank out to bring them to me. At this point she does not have reliable "inside flanks" (direction NOT in relation to me) so I am using her name, to get her to turn to me, followed by a "THERE" to get her to walk in to them at the right spot, followed by a "Walk Up" to get her to not think about flanking. It's complicated for my brain.

My friend Cindy came with me today. So I have pictures, and even some video! She worked her Kelpie "Pike" and kept me company on the drive. Although it may seem ridiculous to drive an hour and fourty minutes one way to go for a lesson it makes me happy. So I do it. As my dog zipped around the field this morning- happy, tail wagging, and tongue hanging out I felt totally content.

Louanne's young dog Gus showed us all up when we arrived. So handsome!

Trying to teach Brit that steady is a better pace than fast!

Driving definitely DOES NOT require running. Brit didn't believe me

that's better!

Butts!

thanks to Cindy for the pictures of Brit working!!

September Already!!

September has snuck up on me this year! I can hardly believe it. I LOVE fall. It's my favorite season except that it brings my least favorite season one step closer.... in any case today is all about celebrating the cool mornings, the soon-to-be falling leaves, and that crisp feeling that can take your breath away!

These are some of my all time favorite "fall" themed photos. What can be better than the color of fall, and a baby Pixel! Two of my favorite things. :)

Look how cute those stubby little legs are!!! OMG. I wanna smush her little puppy self!

-----

Photos are by Brian Burke of Back in the Pack. He was doing photos at an agility trial and I snagged him for a few candid photos of Pixel. I didn't have my own camera back then so had to rely on friends, and borrowed gear to get photos....


ps. no, her eyes were/are not THAT blue. He got a little carried away in the editing department but I still love them!

V

Perfect Morning

waiting for the word

catching the run-a-ways. keeping them in the field is a challenge sometimes!

wishing for a bigger bucket. lol

Togo giving her words of advice. Maybe about patience and pace?

Steady.

Sarah and I headed out to Altapete this morning for some Sheep fun. And I remembered my Camera!!! We had a good time- the sheep were cooperative mostly, the weather perfect, and we have very good dogs. Brit seemed to remember our lesson from yesterday and we had some good square outruns from start to finish. Not always perfect, but getting better!! I am happy with the progress!

Tomorrow is the last day of my holidays. I will miss the dogs! I've been pretty much hanging out with them all week. But we've got one more day left- I think we are going to head down to the river tomorrow for some swimming fun.

Herding Update

The past month has been pretty hectic but I've managed to get in a few lessons, and a few drop ins. Brit is doing well, although we've had to go back to some basics to fix her outruns.

I had a lesson with Jenny (Altapete) a few weeks ago and she showed Sarah and I how to "hold" sheep for each other. That way when we go out to practice on our own we can work on our outruns, and the holding part is also a good exercise in control. Brit of course didn't do so well at the holding. It took a few times to get the hang of where to stop her in relation to me and the sheep. The idea is to create a path for the other dog to get around. She really needs to steady her pace, and give the sheep more space. I need to start getting after her for that more. It is hard sometimes with the "real farm work" we do when we drop in- it teaches her bad things. lol. Sometimes getting the job done is all that matters. Hopefully this winter will be more structure and we can get those bad habits under control.

Today I had a lesson with Louanne (Phantomridge) and it was great. I think I have a more clear picture in my head of what the outrun SHOULD look like. Louanne had me actually face my dog and put direct pressure on her to get her to square off from the beginning. If/When she cuts in at the top (usually at 11 O'Clock) I am to lie her down and give her a firm "get outta that" in a gruff/scott glen sort of way. lol. I struggle with the accent. Ideally I should stop her at 9 O'Clock so that I am preventing the slice to begin with. But after a few repetitions she is wise to that and doesn't slice in any more so I can let her continue on.

One of the other things we did today was vary the distance, some short, some long, sometimes two short and a long, or whatever. When it is short I have more control and can make her succeed. Also it really sunk in to my head today that I don't always need to reset and start over. If she is past ten feet or so I can give her a lie down and a "get outta that" right there. Work with what she gives so that the lesson is to the point.

I didn't take any photos today, or really anytime related to sheep lately. But my friend Jenilee made me a canvas print of my all time favorite photo. Sarah took the photo so the actual photo credit is hers.

The Canvas is stunning and I love it. I look at it every day. It helps me to stay focused even though it's hard.  It feels for every step forward we are taking a step back but I have faith in my dog and in my trainers that we'll get it! Practice, Practice, Practice is the name of the game.

Dummy

Pixel LOVES her dumbbell. It's probably her most favorite "toy" ever. So it always makes me wonder why in the ring she is weird about it. She always goes out to get it, but the last few trials doesn't bring it TOO me. In any case we've been working on it- every single toy/fetch/thrown item is returned to my hand in exchange for yummy treats. The payoff so far has been MUCH faster retrieves, and hopefully it will transfer to "bring the dummy back to mom" in the ring...

Brit and her Woolie

she wants it. bad. you can almost see the buggy eyes...

happy with the woolie

here!!! throw it again

maybe you'll throw it if I bring it closer...

itz stuck. but i wont give up!

the woolie ring is the bestest toy ever according to brit. 

this dog makes me laugh every day. <3

Happy Birthday Boonie!!!

 9 years young!!! Time Flies when you're crazy! ;)

Despite his challenges I really love this dog. 

We celebrated today with a walk in the rain, and an extra giant cookie. 

Happy Birthday Boonie!!!

A Comedy Of Errors

Just like group photos, life doesn't always go as planned. ;)

 (but unplanned isn't always bad, just look how cute Boone is trying to kiss Brit...)

On Tuesday afternoon my sister and I tried to leave to go camping for five days. On the way there a storm blew in fast and furious. After seeing the destruction at the campground we decided to head home and come back in the morning. Setting up tents with 7 dogs, and a three year old didn't sound like much fun in the rain and wind...

Wednesday morning comes around and all is good and peaceful. The campground is completely deserted and awesome. Lots of trees, grass, and quiet. By supper time Nolen has announced he wants to go home like 20 times. By bed time he is having a tantrum of epic proportions. My sister tries to get him to sleep, and fails... I end up going in with him and tried to tell hims a story (which had the opposite effect of sleep as he had lots of questions about my story...) I ended up counting him to sleep. Serious. I got to 200 before he was asleep. The wind picks up and its cold and miserable. My sister and I head to bed early around 10. (after some super delicious smores...). Middle of the night I wake up to Nolen crying about monsters, and his fan at home, and how are his fish going to live, and the fact that he wants to go home.... We make it to morning and Nolen is up bright and early. And not very happy. It is windy, and cold. Even the dogs are chilled. I attemp to cheer everyone up with breakfast. Which ends horribly after the fire keeps going out. Eventually I did manage to cook some eggs and bacon but it had lost it's charm by that time.



By twelve we decided to go home. Rain in the forcast for tomorrow was the kicker. I cant' even imagine how miserable we would all be in the rain, and cold, and wind. My dad is awesome and came out to save us and help pack up our weeks worth of crap. It was a lot of work. lol. For one night. But the two days we had had some good stuff! It was still fun mostly, and I enjoyed the time with my nephew. Despite being a little naughty, and whiny. He really is pretty awesome. A funny little guy who is always up for a walk, or playing with the dogs, or a bit of roughhousing. . Cute, but Naughty. It's kinda how I like 'em. And he makes me melt when he calls me Auntie

The dogs had a great time, and were awesome with Nolen (except Boone who I didn't trust for one little second...). They had fun in the river and are all tired tonite as they sit at my feet. They got in lots of playing, and had a huge "yard" made up of four xpens.

Now with the change of plans I've got a few extra days to fill in- but I'm sure we'll find stuff to do! Maybe a trip to the Pass for a hike? Or play tourist in my own corner of the province? Or a few trips out to the sheepies. ;)  Endless Possibilities!

We threw her in a dog pool...

Go! Dog! Go! hosted our first ever agility camp- Go! See Spot! Fly. It was a spectacular weekend- lots of laughs, lots of awesome people, and lots of learning for everyone.

It was hot, hot, hot. Like 32'C. That's hot. Barely a breeze. Hot.

With the help of super awesome helpers we were all kept hydrated with water, shots, and icecream. ;) There was much cheering, and singing all weekend. We gave all the groups cool names and made them come up with a song. ;)    Oh, and we went through 12 bottles of wine, and nearly 30 cans of beer.... The food was awesome- what camp do you get steaks and baked potatoes at!!! Terry did the cooking of those babies and they were really delicious!

The agility portion of camp was also great. I didn't work Pixel except for two small bits in Terry's class. Just to stretch her legs so to speak!  But we got some great feedback from all that participants- each session had lots to offer and I think people came away from the weekend feeling refreshed, and successful. My session was called Mind Games. And I really did put their brains to test. ;)

The trial was short and sweet- we offered three classes only and it ran smoothly and efficiently. It was also Pixel's 6" Specials Debut. She was cute, and happy, and bouncy. I screwed up the Snooker, and the Gamble. lol. So I let Jolayne run her in Jumpers. Obviously my brain was not functioning. Jo did a great job- 35 seconds and a Q!  
Go Pixel!

I bet you are wondering about the title of the blog post... I think Sarah learned the biggest lesson of all this weekend.  Don't let Terry Simons and Amanda corner you. ;) Despite her screaming and flailing we deposited her directly into the dog pool, and then dumped the other pool over her. It was fantastic. ;) For us. lol. Thankfully her Iphone survived the ordeal.

It was a fun, but exhausting weekend. We couldn't have done it without the help of our GDG peeps- from setting up rings, to loading and unloading the trailer. We are very lucky to have such awesome people in our group! The Team Spirit all weekend was fabulous. Dog people are the bestest!!!