Dog Life

  • Too darn hot!

    I took the day off to volunteer at an agility trial today. I haven’t seen the news, but I suspect the temp hovered around 100 degrees. It was brutal. I don’t know how the dogs even ran. Just a couple quick notes … Being a worker bee that few know or notice is an interesting experience.

  • No camp this year

    After much consideration and feedback to “Take my poll, please,” I’ve decided to skip this summer’s agility camp in Colorado. I really want to go. Yet, I’m torn. So, I took the advice I often give my single friends about relationships … “You either know, or you don’t.” Waffling, any on-again-off-again tendancies, signal a problem when it comes to love (and marriage). Maybe it’s the same with agility training, or any kind of dog training for that matter.

  • Panic Attack

    Lilly had a full-blown panic attack during an outing Saturday night. It doesn’t happen as often as it used to, so it caught me a little off guard. Thankfully, the clouds rolled in, dropping the temperature a lot and making it safe to crate her in the car so that she could calm down. Looking back on the chain of events, I think I understand the triggers.

  • Rainy day survival

    It’s been raining nearly all day, and Lilly is going mad. This is Colorado not the Pacific NW. When it rains, it’s usually just part-time thing. I’m going to bundle up one more time and see if I can get her to play. But, I can’t keep this up. C’mon sun!

  • What’s that smell?

    There are no sissified city dogs at my house. We have rough and tumble mountain dogs around these parts. And, that means, they get into all sorts of really gross situations. So, come with me my friends, and let’s play as David Letterman would say, “fastest growing quiz sensation” … What’s THAT smell?

  • No praise for you

    Being a full-time freelance writer means working from an internal stash of motivation and drive (and lots of chocolate) because there certainly isn’t anyone popping by my home office giving me pats on the back. In fact, most of the feedback I get from day to day, week to week, is about what needs improvement. That *is* editing, after all. So, it’s not like I’m the kind of gal who needs a lot of hand-holding. Yet, early in our agility career, derision felt like the norm in training. And, it wore me down.