Possibility increases Probability

I remember when I first started playing the agility game (7 years ago now with Murphy) I watched so many excellent B dogs and excellent B handlers with amazement. I saw consistency,  those team made mistakes but they were so minor - run after run those dogs nailed weave entries and contacts. I saw finished teams and I saw competitors who were superstars inside and outside of the agility ring. They were admirable competitors and they were just good people.  That spirit of good sportsmanship is something I try very hard to maintain for myself and foster in others and it's one of the things I love most about this sport.

To that end, I often stick around to watch the novice handlers, the struggling in open handlers and the excellent A handlers. If I'm sitting ringside watching I clap for every run - if I'm sitting near the out gate I almost always will tell the handlers "Nice Job", "Nice Try", "That was great!", "That was awesome", "You guys rock" - because I know that in some cosmic universe the roles are now reversed. I'm the seasoned competitor with lots of experience, most people know that I'm an instructor and in their perception I've been doing this 'forever'. 

Cheeseburgers seem to help probability too :-)

There's a point here - truly. This past weekend I sought out a competitor who has over the last 6 months or so moved up from Novice A to Open to Excellent A - her dog is running beautifully, but a bit inconsistently in Excellent with the new questions asked of dogs and handlers on excellent courses. I noticed they had two beautiful runs that day (two Q's!)  and I congratulated her on her double-Q. She blushed and said "it's our first double Q, but it's not a real double Q, we're still in A so it doesn't count".

My reply to her? "Of COURSE it counts!!!" And there's my point: Sometimes knowing something is possible increases the probability that it can (and will) happen again. The achievement of a double-Q is the same in A as it is in B. So she needs to earn a couple more A legs before she can start collecting MACH points - but the achievement is the same, two clean fault-free runs in the same days. Two NAILED weave entries, approximately 30 jump bars that weren't knocked, three yellow down-contacts touched, 40 obstacles negotiated and navigated as a team, a hundred distractions ignored and two souls out there running with the same heart.

Agility is so much more than running the course with your dog - there's the training, the relationship, the love of the run and the joy in the game. Remember back to when you first started and your dog sauntered through his first tunnel? That was when the possible became probable. That first time your dog nailed a weave entry with speed - the possible became probable. Your first run at a real-life trial - the possible became probable. That first Q - that first green ribbon when the possible became probable and then probable became reality.

So my message to newbies, to folks that have been out there forever and to folks who maybe are just wondering if they ever could be 'good enough' to play the game: Don't ever forget the milestones along the way that made the theoretically possible a reality. Every step counts, every moment counts - make the most of them and don't ever let anyone (especially yourself) tell you that they don't count. And for the folks that have been around 'forever', remember that your sportsmanship sets the tone of the sport for people who you don't even know - and if you see someone really shining - or struggling step up and offer a pat on the back, a 'nice try', a 'that was a great run' - or a smile. It'll mean a lot.

Busy Saturday...

After my week oncall with the pager we needed a good sleep-in this morning - very pleased that my perfect dogs all slept until 9am this morning giving me approximately 11 hours of uninterrupted sleep - after 10 straight days of sleep in 2 hour increments, it was much needed!

1/28 - Family Portrait
Teller (5), Kipling (9 months), Murphy (7.5)

After all that sleep we hit the ground running! First to partially thaw, separate and re-package 60lbs of duck necks and 20lbs of chicken necks. Then I decided I'd had enough of furry ears and grinch feet so all three dogs got tossed up on the grooming table for brush-outs and trims. Off to the barn to work Teller and Kipling - great sessions with both - and some video to post tomorrow of their sessions.

Then we headed off to the school where the entire pack had a playdate with the absolutely adorable and totally handsome Gusto! Another rare (though certainly pretty common this winter) 40 degree January day, it's been so icy lately that the boys just haven't had the chance to really get out and run. With temperatures hanging above freezing for the last 72 hours there was some ice leftover from storms but mostly just MUD, MUD, MUD - so home we go where all three dogs got bathed (rinse, shampoo, rinse, shampoo, rinse, conditioner, rinse, towel dry, blow dry) to get all the sand and grit out of their coats and nether regions don't recall the last time I had to spend so much time rinsing just to get all the grit out from the undercoat!

Then it was my turn to hit the treadmill for two miles - done, done and done! I don't feel like I got to sit down at all today - until I sat down to edit and tweak photos of course.

Some pictures from today:

1/28 - I told the boys not to run on the ice..I left out the part
about doing so with grace.

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1/28 - Murphy

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1/28 - Teller staying off the ice

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1/28 -  Two CLEAN goldens eh?

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1/28 - Yellow dog is now grey.

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1/28 - "Alright white-boy, you're goin' DOWN"

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How Kipling rolls....

Or...how to make a 2.5 hour car ride FEEL LIKE a 10 hour car ride:



Thankfully we were able to divert his attention with a couple of baby carrots and the squeak-a, squeak-a stopped shortly there after. Gee, it's too bad that my puppy is so stressed on long car rides eh?

Happy Birthday Teller!

His nobs at five years old.

My perfect Teller - my heart dog, my best boy turned five yesterday. Where does the time go? It seems like yesterday I was there as a newborn, trying to keep you from climbing out of an incubator while you screamed at me for my efforts :-)

 Happy Birthday Teller-Woo - MACH, Canadian Champion, CD, RN, NAP NJP NF, CCA, CGC, CGN...In honor of your birthday Mother Nature gave us sunshine and 57 degrees - how thoughtful of you to share it with us :-)

Keeping dogs fit in the cold

Probably the hardest thing about living in Vermont are the temperatures and snow-cover. OK, all of the things that tourists and 'true' Vermonters cherish, just make it tougher for me to get the dogs out and properly exercised. Agility in and of itself is not conditioning - it's training, it's an activity, it's fun for the dog and it is exercise - but agility requires fitness and you won't get and stay fit training agility alone. In the summer, 90% of conditioning around here is in the pool - without a local underwater treadmill or indoor doggie aquatic center we have to work a little harder to keep everyone in shape.

I've (we've) been super lucky this fall and winter - we've had a grand total of 8-10" of snow (in about three storms) here in the valley, followed by warm spells into the 40's and even 50's. The ground is not yet frozen and the snow has melted quickly. Oh, true winter will (and to some extent HAS) come soon enough with highs in the single digits and lows well below zero.

Air Kippie out for a run - Murphy grazing in the background.

Case in point:  Monday morning before breakfast, the dogs went for a run in 40 degree temperatures. Monday afternoon when we trained and I was out teaching it was 36 degrees, bright sunshine, no wind - perfect winter weather as far as I'm concerned...By Tuesday morning it was 12 degrees, Tuesday at 5pm it was 2 degrees and this morning (Wednesday) it was zero. Too cold to take the dogs for a romp - they'd go, they'd probably still have a blast - but I don't want the dogs exerting themselves when temperatures are so cold. Cold air isn't great for our lungs, it 'ain't' great for dogs' lungs either.  

So, what do I do to keep three very active golden retrievers fit and happy all winter? Well it's a lot of what I do to keep three very active golden retrievers fit and happy all spring, summer and fall.

Pretty typical 'free' gallop. Murphy in the lead.

First, when temperatures are above 20 degrees (and not raining, sleeting, dumping feet of snow on us), I aim to get the boys get out for a run every single day. That's my goal anyway, in practice with early darkness and busy mornings they end up getting 4-5 days a week for 45 minutes to an hour - on the field, on the turf, on the trail, etc. 

As much as I can I want them to self-exercise, their own play. Gallop, bitey-face, gallop, wander, trot along after a good scent, gallop, chase, be chased, wander, etc. When time is of the essence to get dogs exercised, I do break out the bumpers and chuck-it for retrieve sessions which leads to sessions that are more gallop than anything else. Even my fittest dog (Teller) will be tired and panting after 20 minutes of long retrieves. I don't generally run them when there is deep snowcover on the ground, but snow settles and packs pretty quickly around here and I found a place to run them outdoors, on grass that is well-plowed down to the turf.

Kipling working out on the ball...

On the days that we can't get out for a run, the boys take their turns with ballwork - initially pioneered by Debbie Gross Saunders in her "Get on the Ball" series - there is an entire line of ball products by FitPaws. We have the pods and the peanut - we generally work on the peanut, but we travel with the much more portable pods.

If you're thinking about getting on the ball there are a few things to know - first you need to make ballwork safe. Nails should be trimmed (dremeled is preferable), the ball, peanut or egg needs to be stabilized when the dog is on it - so that the ball is stable and that the dog doesn't hurt himself getting on or off the ball.

You can start small with a fit-paws disc, or a donut. I find that the peanut is very easy to control with the aid of a coffee table or a sofa and my feet. 

Good Job Kippie!!

Start with really short sessions - this is hard work! Initial sessions include just getting the dog's front end on the ball and then building confidence, stamina and skills from there. 

Lastly, and I can't emphasize this enough - before you go out and get a peanut or a ball (etc) order the "get on the ball" DVD so that you can learn to use the tool correctly. If you order your product from fitpaws they do include an instructional DVD with the peanut and eggs - watch it.

Oh what a year...

Late December back in...oh wait! It's RIGHT NOW! I always take a look back at the past year before looking forward to the next, so in the class tradition:
My 2011 goals for Teller:

qualify for the 2012 AKC National Championships in Reno, NV. 
I wanted so badly to qualify for the 2011 championships in Virginia, but things just didn't come together for us. To qualify for each year we needed 400 speed points and 6 double-Q's (QQs). This year Teller had all of his QQs by the end of March and we officially wrapped up those speed points in May.

I really wanted to button up his MX (Master Excellent Standard) title and finish the year with half of our QQ's towards MACH.
Teller finished his MX on May 8th and finished his MACH on November 19th. For the year he earned 22 QQ's and just over 900 MACH points

Photo Credit: Sharon Pica

That last CDX leg
Here's one we didn't accomplish. There were a couple of shows I was going to enter (Syracuse Cluster and Thanksgiving Cluster) but in both cases I didn't make the decision to enter in time for closing - in the case of the Thanksgiving cluster I had fully intended to enter and missed the closing by an hour. No worries - if I really wanted to make it happen I would have made it happen. 

A puppy - specifically a Teller puppy.
I'd been approached to use Teller on a number of bitches - none of them were a good match. One had clearances and some nice starter titles but she didn't have a history of clearances in her pedigree - there were other reasons too, but that is a biggie for me. In general, people crawl out of the woodwork wanting to breed 'fluffy' to titled dogs. A lot of stud dog owners look the other way - have dozens of litters sired by their dogs that will never show up on www.k9data.com, some aren't even AKC registered. The check clears so they breed their studlies to BYB 'fluffy'. Anyhow, back to reflection :-)
I was absolutely thrilled when the possibility of what is now Kipling became a possibility. The pedigrees looked great on paper, the timing was right for all involved and we got four beautiful puppies. Beautiful, smart - so uniform in their temperament testing, personable, biddable, good looking dogs that will excel in whatever they're asked to do: agility, obedience, conformation, counter-surfing, playing ball in the backyard, climbing Mount Equinox....With any luck there will be some more Teller puppies in 2012, but - this is the looking back post not the looking forward post!

Starting and finishing the year with a happy, healthy golden retriever - fit in all senses of the word.
Mission accomplished there too.

Murphy's 2011 goals were a bit less tangible:

Certainly starting and finishing the year fit and happy.
Keeping Murphy fit has always been a challenge, perhaps the early neuter, perhaps just who he is - but he's never maintained the muscle tone that Teller seems to maintain so naturally. Murphy scared the heck out of me a couple of times this year healthwise.
The first was that damn tick-sized lump on his hock. We were really sure it was nothing - but if it got bigger, removing it was not going to be nothing. So surgery for Murphy to remove the lump on his hock, which turned out to be benign - but evolved into an infection, torn sutures, another infection, another suturing back together again, another infection and finally staples and glue. All told that round of 'life' cost Murphy 45 straight days in a cone....

Murphy - 10/12/2011

The second scare came in October with a spot on his muzzle. I thought he'd rubbed it - then he was scratching at it, I treated it like a hot spot, but it was clearly no hot spot. Diagnosis was Demodex - not a big deal, that's treatable - BUT what the heck is going on with his immune system to cause a mite issue. Cancer? Lymphoma? Cushings? Some kind of auto-immune issue? MMS? So many possibilities. Murphy has been hypothyroid since he was about 15 months old and medicated since he was 18 months old. We'd upped his dose back in May after his senior panel looked a little low. I pulled another senior panel in November to see what we were dealing with - bloodwork negative for cancer, negative for lymphoma, negative for addisons/cushings - thyroid low again. OK - THAT I can deal with. Now nearly 2 months later, the hair on his face is back, his thyroid is still a little below optimal, but we're going to watch him for another 30 days and pull another test before doing any more adjusting of medication.

Therapy dog work for Murphy
Technically whilst Murphy is eating raw he's unable to make therapy dog visits, reading with kids, etc - it's a silly rule (I mean really some dogs eat poop (of all models of origin), dogs eat dead things in the woods, dogs lick their butts, dogs lick patients in hospitals who have dirty hands - how is a piece of raw chicken, consumed hours before a visit really a threat to anyone? Anyhow - I follow rules (I'm a rule follower) - force of habit - and that means that Murphy didn't get to make any visits to the nursing homes this year. I'm bummed - but it is what it is.

Kipling's Goals:
Kipling got off easy, since he didn't exist in the beginning of 2011 - he didn't have any goals. BUT he accomplished a lot:

He got to be a puppy

Teller on his way to a best of breed puppy 

The best thing I ever did for Teller - just be a puppy. Kipling got to be a puppy too. His training sessions were short - focusing on learning to learn, life skills, socialization and attention. If he has those things I can put anything else 'in' at any time in the future. Kippie traveled with us everywhere, he made his own roadtrips from time to time on local errands.

He got to go into the conformation ring
and have a good time, no pressure - no expectations. Trot around, have chicken, have fun and get some mileage. In the process he picked up a Best Puppy in Breed at just over 6 months! Well done.

He learned stuff
Plank work, walking on a leash, gaiting, stacking, stays, waits, tunnels, how to play with a cat without getting scratched, jumps, tables, how to wait patiently for dinner, dogwalks, teeters, retrieving, tricks, coming when called, how to chase squirrels, how to play bitey-face, that bitches are in fact, BITCHES :-) In the process he got his CGC (AKC Canine Good Citizen). All good stuff!

Our Year in Review:

Your charitable dollars...

We've reached the end of the year and many folks (like myself) are looking at year-end charitable contributions for tax purposes. We all see so many tug at heartstrings commercials on TV: starving children in Africa (for seventy cents a day...), the creepy Dixie Carter tilted head commercial and of course the 60-90 second spots for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

It sure looks like those HSUS folks are saving animals doesn't it? Why, look at all those scared animals in the videos - HSUS saved them from deplorable conditions right? If I sign up for a yearly membership (billed monthly at $19.99) they'll throw in a fleece jacket AND an all-purpose tote (reusable grocery bag) and I can feel good about all the animals that will be helped with my renewable donation right? See, there's the problem - and don't feel badly, I think their celebrity spokespeople have been duped as well.

HSUS is a legislative lobbying organization - it is not an organization designed to actually help animals. Surprised? Read on.



What if the American Cancer Society operated like the Humane Society of the United States?

less than 1% of your donations would go to cancer research, however ACS' mission statement would underscore the importance of cancer research and cancer prevention.

ACS would offer consulting services to non-profit research labs - how to run your cancer study - at a considerable fee to the non-profit lab.

The vast majority (99.99%) of cancer research programs and initiatives wouldn't receive even a penny of funding.

Death rates would be inflated and clinical data (other people data of course) would be manipulated in advertisements and donor sheets in order to procure more donations out of the well-meaning public.

ACS would spend two-thirds of it's operating budget sponsoring and driving legislation that banned everything that might even remotely contribute to cancer: do you like cheese? People who have cancer ate cheese - CHEESE CAUSES CANCER! BAN CHEESE!!!

ACS would 'pay' itself first, with 1/2 of total operating budget going to compensation packages.

Would you still write that check to The American Cancer Society every December?

So what does the HSUS want to accomplish with your hard earned money?
Mandatory Spay and Neuter:
If every dog and ever cat is spayed and neutered (HSUS advocates pediatric spay and neuter) where are you going to get your next puppy?
Kennel Fees and Kennel Licensing:
HSUS is working very hard in all fifty states to institute state-wide licensing for all breeders. National registration, subjection to unannounced home inspections, etc. At first blush this sounds like a great idea right? What if you're a responsible breeder of say...golden retrievers. You have waited three years to plan this perfect litter. Both the parents have health clearances, and a pedigree complete with such clearances. You've planned for healthy and happy puppies. A kennel license will cost you $500/year for that one litter and you will be inspected twice a year (a'la health inspectors). Listen, I take good care of my dogs - but having dogs and breeding them responsibly should not subject my premise to unlawful inspection. Oh and now that we're policing all these breeders, who is going to pay for the inspectors? Who is going to enforce compliance? If a backyard breeder wants to breed puppies without clearances in unsanitary conditions - what makes you think they'll step up and buy mandatory kennel licenses for all of their breeding stock? Or stick around to pay the non-compliance fines?
Elimination of domesticated animals:
“We have no ethical obligation to preserve the different breeds of livestock produced through selective breeding ...One generation and out. We have no problems with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding.”
Wayne Pacelle  Animal People News, May 1993

So what can you do to help actual animals?
Start small and start local - your local shelter might be called "something-something Humane Society", but it is not affiliated with the HSUS. Remember HSUS doesn't operate a single shelter. That local shelter of yours has needs that you can help them meet: they all need towels, blankets, paper towels, cleaning supplies, dog food, dog toys, cat food, cat toys, litterboxes and cat litter - the list goes on and is endless. Local shelters need volunteers too - go help out one Saturday a month, take some dogs for a walk, groom a cat, answer the phones. Want to be a real hero? Write them a check. You'll get the same feel-good tax-deductible experience and your dollars will make a difference to the animals and to your community too. Can't give cash? Be creative, those ugly purple towels you spot at a yard sale for $.25/each will be put to good use at your shelter.   Walk in a fundraiser and gain sponsorship from your family and friends.

Some links:
HumaneWatch:
http://humanewatch.org
HSUS Donations to shelters: http://humanewatch.org/index.php/the_humane_society_of_the_united_states_and_pet_shelter_giving/
Fun Quotes from Waybe Pacelle:
http://activistcash.com/biography_quotes.cfm/b/3366-wayne-pacelle
ActivistCash:
http://activistcash.com/organization_overview.cfm/o/136-humane-society-of-the-united-states
Center for Consumer Freedom:
http://www.consumerfreedom.com/?s=HSUS&submit=Search


Extra Credit Reading - Here's PETA:
http://www.petakillsanimals.com/

A Christmas Addendum

Or perhaps a new tradition around here. Many of you know that we (my dogs) celebrate things around here with cheeseburgers - for really no other reason than it's a rare treat. Like kids who eat very healthy all the time and LOVE chicken McNuggets - my gluten-free, grain-free raw fed dogs love a good (or even sub-average) cheeseburger every once in a while :-) 

This year Teller received a gift card in the mail from his daughter Jordan (who saved up several weeks of her allowance) with instructions to take the entire family out for cheeseburgers - what better timing for a treat than Christmas Eve?

As a thank you to Jordan, the whole family poses with the gift card...oh the anticipation!!!

So Christmas Eve afternoon, after laundry, housekeeping, a photoshoot and some napping (naturally) - Teller and I made the trek to McDs:

With Ma in her kerchief (I mean fleece covered in dog hair) and with DOG as my co-pilot, off we go to the drive-thru. We also stopped at the convenience store around the corner for lotto tickets - so 'Ma' can dream of retirement and visions sugar plums dancing around a big beautiful agility facility in the heart of Chittenden County :-)

Teller delivering the 'goods' back to the homestead. Three cheeseburgers for the boys and one very delicious non-fat peppermint mocha treat for me (not pictured).

And tonight for supper the boys will be served a traditional Italian Christmas Eve dish - the feast of FIVE fishes! On the menu: ground lobster, ground salmon, whole capelin, whole mackerel and whole sardines (all from our friends at Oma's Pride). Lucky dawgs!

It's official!

Finishing an AKC MACh is like running a race, crossing the finish line in first place, drinking the gatorade and then heading back home to wait a month while the race results are certified...You keep compulsively checking the race results and find out that the officials are still tabulating the metrics. This week I sent in my first MACh Teller dog show entries, that was cool - even cooler was the trial secretary who updated her records (without notification) to send out show confirmations already addressed to MACh Teller :-)

All great things, but I still had to wait for the American Kennel Club to catch up (there are a lot of events, a lot of entries, a lot of results - all these things take time). Well now - three and a half weeks later, the results are finally in - AKC has officially recorded Teller's MACh. We're official!

AKC has even started our countdown to MACH2 (I'm not so sure about that). When AKC catches up we're at 1 Double Q and nearly 200 points to the MACH2 - that's a long way to go! I do need to go back for that last CDX leg though!

Orvis Cover Dog

Every year the Orvis Company (Vermont based source of fishing and hunting gear, AWESOME dog beds, clothing and homegoods) holds a contest to find their next cover dog. The best part of the contest is that all the money raised goes to canine cancer research - a cause near and dear to the hearts of WAY too many pet owners.

So here are our submissions for the 2012 cover dog contest:

Kipling	Teller
Teller	Murphy

Here's the official Orvis Cover Dog Contest page:
https://coverdog.orviscontests.com/contest.html?contestId=5