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Category Archives for Dog Video Gallery

Agility Teeter-Totter Starting Over Again

Looks like I waited TOO LONG to write about our success completely rebuilding Clover's agility teeter-totter training last summer. It was going so well that Clover even did the agility teeter-totter at our group class in early October 2017. Alas, in recent weeks, Clover has gone back to treating the agility teeter-totter like her sworn enemy (again). If nothing else, dog training gives people the chance to practice patience and creativity. Thank goodness I shot some video of what worked last summer so that I can try the same things again. Cute 1-minute video ahead.

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Celebrating With Silly Holiday Videos

I pay an annual membership fee (to JibJab) so that I can make silly holiday videos (for all major holidays). It's almost embarrassing how much these videos make me laugh. If you need a giggle break amid your own holiday hubbub, don't miss Clover and Tori starring in Elf Fun Factory, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, Super Santa, and Twinkle All the Way. (P.S. I make a cameo in one of the videos!)

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Start of Clover’s Dog Agility Career (maybe)

When Clover was around 7 months old, I put her on a waiting list to get into a dog agility foundations class with a trainer my experienced agility friends recommended. A full SEVEN MONTHS LATER we started taking agility classes (in mid-July 2015). That’s how hard it is to get into a good agility class anywhere close to where we live.  As we approach our second anniversary of agility training and look at taking the next steps (perhaps the start of Clover’s dog agility career), I figured it was time — finally! — to write something about it. (P.S. I’m also looking for some advice on a few things, if you’re so inclined.)

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Loose Leash Boot Camp for Dogs

Over the holidays, I went back to walking Clover and Tori separately. Since cold temps and icy roads kept us home, we mostly worked on our own driveway — with some short stints up to the corner and back. I don’t ask for or expect them to walk at perfect heel, but I do want them NOT to pull so hard that it breaks my natural stride. We did make some progress during our homemade Loose Leash Boot Camp for Dogs.

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Strength and Flexibility Therapy for an Agility Dog

In the last 9 months or so, we’ve seen a couple things in Clover’s body that we wanted to address right away. We’re doing physical therapy or canine rehabilitation (under the direction of our rehab / chiropractic veterinarian) to build Clover’s strength and flexibility to prevent injuries while she is playing agility. Check out the video of our current preventive therapy work. We’re calling it “pre-habilitation.” Continue reading

Where We Are Now in Raising and Training the Puppy-Girls

Everything is a bit of a blur when you’re raising two puppies at the same time, especially two border collie puppies who are just 13 months apart. In the ideal world, I would have had all or most of Clover’s basic training done before we got another puppy, but that’s not how things worked out. So, I’m sitting here with Clover now 2 years old and Tori 1 year old, and I’m taking stock of where we are now on the dog training front. Let’s just say I’ve not reached my goals, and I’m feeling rather bummed about it. Warning — long post ahead.

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Happy Birthday Tribute Video – Tori Turns 1

I’m not sure if I can keep up this tradition of making tribute videos for the puppy-girl’s birthdays for all the years to come, but here is the latest video that celebrates Tori’s first birthday. When we adopted her in September 2015, we counted back 12 weeks (a guess on her age) and picked a date — July 1 — as her birthday. What’s great about that is that we’ll always be able to extend her birthday fuss into the Independence Day holiday. We do the same thing with Clover’s birthday since it always fall close to Memorial Day.

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So This Happened … Again. Welcome Home, Tori Autumn Hawn

Whirlwind of a week, so I’ll have to tell the full story later when I’m not so tired and preoccupied with having TWO puppies in the house. Yeah, you read that right. Here is the short version. Someone at our main veterinary hospital rescued a border collie + Australian shepherd puppy from a bad situation, while visiting family in New Mexico. Our pals at the hospital called early Wednesday morning, asking for my help finding her a home. Tom asked to see her photo. He went to the hospital to meet her and fell in love. She came home with him that day on a “trial visit.” Today, we made it official and adopted her from the veterinary hospital. Photos and one short video below.

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