In early 2007, we began having problems again with Lilly wandering the neighborhood. The snow drifts were taller than our fences, so it was easy for her to get out. This is also around
the same time as the snarking began at our rally obedience classes, which we were doing to try and build ring confidence for agility. Can you say backfire? So, I asked the communicator to find out
what was up. Here are the results. …
In July 2006, about 6 months into Lilly’s agility meltdown, I sought help from an animal communicator. Essentially, I asked her to find out what’s causing Lilly concern at agility
classes and what she needed me to do to help. I did not give the communicator any details on what the problems looked like. I simply gave her a list of pretty vague questions and a photo of Lilly.
She did not meet Lilly, nor did she know much about agility as a sport. Here are the results of their first communication session together.
…
I had a good long cry on Sunday when I read in TIME magazine about the death of the famous parrot Alex who wowed researchers for so many years in their studies of learning and language. Alex was 31.
So, I’m in the shower this morning, and someone crashes into the bathroom door. I assume Tom is rough-housing with the pups and just laugh. But, when I open the door, I find Lilly
cowering outside. …
This was not a particularly good week. I’m sorry to say. Then, again, maybe it’s a focus thing. Just like in the I need three hands entry earlier this week, maybe all the things I
reward fade in my memory, but all the things that go wrong, I remember. …
Lilly likes to play hide-and-seek. But, she’s a total cheater. She often breaks her stay before she’s released, or she sneaks a peek when we slink off to hide. To prevent this, Tom
often hides while she’s outside. Then, I let her in and say “Where’s daddy?” Lilly loves this game. Perhaps her calling is in tracking.
…
After having a dalmatian that could not be trusted loose in the house alone until she was about 8 years old, I’ve alwasy been a little leery of leaving the dogs to run free when we’re
gone (which isn’t very often since we both work at home so much of the time). But, I had to be out of the office all day yesterday, and Tom was gone in the afternoon. He decided to leave both Ginko
and Lilly loose in the house. …
Another border collie gal I know here in CO sent me a link to this photo slideshow from a recent herding trial. Since it has been l-o-n-g day, and I’d better spend time with Lilly
rather than write about her today. I’ll simply share photos of other very hard working dogs, amazing dogs. Enjoy! …
It’s probably still too early to tell if the meds are making a difference. But, other than Lilly showing some disinterest in playing this week, here’s a report on how she did in
different settings. …
There’s a whole community of people who train and run rescued dogs in agility and other sports. It’s a proud accomplishment for any dog once deemed unwanted (or unloved, or whatever).
Many of these dogs, just like Lilly, have some challenges, but for so many people that’s just fine. And, yet, sometimes when you talk about it with handlers of non-rescue dogs, there’s a sense that
they think we use “rescue” as an excuse … that we allow our dogs to get away with things we shouldn’t, for example. …
