If the dogs are outside when I drive up, I always have to gauge my ability to open the gate, drive in, and close the gate before they reach me. My only hope is if they’re in the back
pasture and don’t hear me at first. Otherwise, getting safely through the gate and up to the house requires a different strategy. …
It snowed again yesterday. Honestly, it feels like a real spring might not come anytime soon here at 8,000 feet. So, I said, “Screw it.” And, the pups and I made a 3-headed sofa monster
and dozed on and off most of the morning. We made quite a sight. …
This week’s class was at a new dog park that’s pretty far north. Due to the holiday, the group was likely small, but we stayed away. That particular dog park isn’t one of Lilly’s best
locations. We often end up working outside the pen on a somewhat busy perimeter path. And, it’s a pretty long drive to simply stand on the sidelines and play Look Puppies, where Lilly gets rewarded
for calmly being near and watching dogs (some of whom are wild). …
Once we got past her various medical issues, I took Lilly through her initial obedience class in spring 2005. Since then, of course, we’ve been through a bunch of other classes
for agility, rally and all-around pet dog training. With our previous dogs, Tom and I usually took that first (and only) round of training classes together. That hasn’t been the case with Lilly.
That spring Tom worked a lot. He spent several nights per week and many weekends in training. So, I went it alone, and that became the norm. Fine … really. Except now …
Saturday afternoon winds kept me indoors when Lilly and I returned from our usual round of errands and in-town walk. It was warm, enough, however for the pups to poke around outside
alone. I left the tailgate down and Lilly’s crate open since she enjoys sitting up high and watching the world go by in our little valley. Just before dinnertime, Ginko came to the door and asked to
come in, but he was alone. I assumed Lilly slept happily in her crate. I was wrong. …
It was a busy weekend. We had a training date with Betsy and Pitsch. We met and went for a walk with a neighbor and her new puppy, and we ventured to our Sunday class with Gigi, despite
the threat of snow. …
Early last summer, I mused about zingers I could use when people say weird things to me
about Lilly or my training methods. Well, maybe it’s the warmish weather, but it’s happening again. …
Back in January, our blog-pal Cedarfield wrote about a goal-related dilemma. Here’s a link to that
discussion. I’ve been thinking about my own goal problem, which is different from hers.
…
As I mentioned Feb 29, Lilly shutdown doing agility at home with our new pal
Pitsch watching. I waited a couple of days to take her out on her home course for fear of solidifying the negative association with her home equipment. I’m happy to report no problems. She
continues to happily run agility at home, as long as no one is watching. Or, perhaps, I should say as long as no DOGS are watching. …
I know today’s post should be about something GREEN, but a woman here in CO recently got in trouble for turning her poodle pink. The Boulder Valley Humane Society, where we adopted
Lilly, received calls of concern about the pink dog. They made a site visit and delivered a warning. When investigators returned a month or so later, the white poodle was still pink. They issued a
$1,000 fine. The case is going to court. …
