Dog Musings

  • Back Off, Baby. Back Off!

    It intrigues me that when people see Lilly and I training in public they invariably ask, “How old is she?” They assume Lilly is a pup. I
    quickly dispel the myth that training is a limited-time endeavor for us, but I often also see people watching us struggle — when something scares Lilly, and I’m helping her work through it or
    at least move on without hurting herself in an attempt to flee. (On the off chance the lady near the BBQ behind the Golden Hotel is reading this, it was the BBQ lid slamming. That’s what scared
    …

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    Derision & Dog Food

    I’ve written a fair amount about canine nutrition in my career. I even went to a weekend-long international conference a few years ago with a couple hundred specialists in dog
    allergies. I learned a ton about the role of the digestive system in causing and treating allergies from contact, inhaled or eaten sources. I like to think I’m fairly versed in what’s good about dog
    foods. …

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    Lilly & Pitsch Train and Play

    We haven’t worked with Pitsch, Lilly’s “Control Unleashed” training buddy for a couple months because he and his mom Betsy were busy trialing. Gotta say, he’s been on FIRE. We’re
    waiting for the official list, but it looks like Pitsch cracked the list of top 25 Aussies. We’re hoping to see his name in the top 10. How neat is that? … said the girl with the dog who won’t get
    up off the ground.
    …

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    Schwag? What schwag?

    OK. So, it’s not like it matters to me really. However, Lilly and I are sans schwag, completely without. Our invitation to take part in that videotaped interview recently included a
    promise of stuff. That’s totally NOT why we did it. But, it was promised and not delivered, which I find a bit amusing considering how such media machinations typically work. …

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    What’s your mantra?

    While wallowing last week over setbacks, I posted a plea elsewhere for ideas on what to do when you get discouraged. My question … How do you keep your spirits up? The discussion
    included the concept of mantras. I’ve been using a couple phrases in my head relating to work. (Remember, I get things stuck in my internal audio easily.) So … I figured how about one for training?
    Here’s what I wrote. What do you tell yourself? …