Dog Training Update

Lilly and I haven’t done any agility training for months now. In fact, I should go save our at-home equipment from the winter winds that have bowled everything over. I’m sure both of us miss it, and
I’ll try to find time for a bit of weaving and jumping, wraps and pivots, bounce jumps and tires. Lilly surely needs the exercise and mental stimulation, but I’ve discovered another reason for a
good, all-out agility run now and then. It prevents tripping around the house. …

I’m not sure this counts as a real training update since the ONLY thing Lilly and Ginko are learning these days is to handle us being busy, gone, worried all the time. I really wish I could write
about the terrible things going on right now, but there are many reasons I cannot. So, please just know that we continue to need a constant flood of good wishes and mojo for pretty much everyone in
our family. Those of us, under this roof, are mostly fine, if you don’t count bouts of crying, winter cold germs, unending/unimaginable stress …

Lilly and I went to our last class of the year on Wednesday. And, I’m sad to say she had a rough time. It all started with a young, standard poodle who came charging at us (in play) right off the
bat. We tried walking away, but Lilly ended up having to engage. She did fine at first with a relatively calm (yet stiff) sniff, but when the dog didn’t go away, Lilly decided to show her teeth and
snark. …

I’m not sure this counts as a real training update, but Lilly learned to wear a sweater this week. I’m not big on dressing dogs up, but the seriously frigid temps here this week dictated otherwise.
It turns out that it worked a bit like those fancy dog anxiety wraps. Lilly seemed pretty happy and pretty mellow in her sweater. She looks
cute too. …