Zac Turned Seven on December 1st

Zac turned seven Tuesday. He's the first dog I got as a little puppy and the first I've trained past a couple of Obedience classes.

When I got Zac, I really wanted a dog who was dog-social and I could do sports with. Poor Zac had to be a guinea-piq for everything I wanted to try but had no idea how to do...to maintain his dog-socialness, I dragged him to the dog park where the big dogs bowled him over. We tried Rally, canine musical freestyle, flyball, agility, herding, traditional obedience and disc. We should try skijoring this winter, and maybe weight-pulling, because I don't know anything about those two either.

His favorite sport is toss and catch. It's right up there with chasing a turned-off laser light, but I'm afraid it comes up a distance second to eating.

Zac is not the most high-drive nor the most energetic dog, but he's definitely a heart dog. When I think about how much I love him, it almost stops mine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Another silver grey sky. It was sleeting yesterday, yet it's dry so far. After several days off, his tendonitis even had a chance to clear up, Jeff is will be running with the gals this morning. I'll get the sweet potatoes started and then get Zac out. We'll be seeing family today, some we don't see often.

I've ben thinking about yellow the last couple of days. Yellow, for the solar plexus chakra, yellow for fire, self-confidence and the ability to act. Every other color had paraded through a list of favorites; blues and greys, reds and oranges, purple with all its variants, an occasional touch of green and of course, the obligatory black phase. Yellow, the hot color of the sun, has always left me cold.

But now it's yellow's turn.

The Upside of Denial

Denial can be a good thing. For example, the reality is I'm never going to be a good disc-dogger. I'm just too uncoordinated. But I kid myself that the Crossfit workouts and a little disc practice are just what I need to join the top ranks. Yep, I'm delusion, but what's the downside? I'll wind up being better than I'd be without the workouts and practice. Yep, I could wind up being disappointed, but hey, I'm a big girl. I can take it.

But denial can be dangerous. So many people kid themselves about just unhealthy their diet and stressed-out sedentary lifestyles are. How can these people be encouraged to face reality and dump denial?

Abby, Like Whiskey, Mellows with Age

The sky is a silvery grey and a cool mist permeates the air, although the temperature is mild for the end of November. Sable-colored oak leaves, the color of Abby, the color of whiskey, still cling to trees. Abby could get lost in them.

A car streaks by. Abby checks in with me; does Mom have a treat ready?" Yes, I do, and Abby sits and impatiently waits for it. I give her the treat, she bites my fingers to get it and she leaps, spins and barks at the receding car.

OK, she hasn't mellowed entirely, and yet for years, Abby woke up promptly at 5:01 a.m. and wanted to go outside. Now she'll sleep in until 8:00. I think back, trying to remember, when did that change? She can now be off-leash in the house. She's able to be recalled from scorching off in a sable blaze to the kill the cat we've had for four years. Another subtle change.

Yes, Abby, our little whiskey-colored girl, is mellowing with age. And though life with her is smoother, it makes me very sad.

Intriguing and inspiring, the Hindu Temple in Maple Grove supplies a mini-vacation to an exotic location. The larger temple is filled with smaller, intricately carved concrete temples, each of which houses a Hindu goddess or god. The goddesses and gods are carved from marble, granite or wood, and garbed in colorful silks. Incense scents the air, and priests perform ceremonies in melodic languages.

What a difference a disc (or two) makes

The past few weeks, Zoey and I have practiced Freestyle using seven to nine discs, because we were going to participate in UFO and AWI events. The MNDDC is having a Skyhoundz format comp this Saturday, so I thought we should practice with five. Now I don't know if being killed in Crossfit over the lunch hour was a factor, but I basically stood in the middle of the field with Zoey, wondering what the heck to do next when I had no discs to work with!

It's not looking good for Cattail days...

Still coming back to reality after two great weekends of disc-doggin'. Huge competitions and perfect fall weather.

Zoey, Zac and I went to Naperville over Labor Day weekend for a UFO Major and the Ashley Whippet Invitational. Yes, I'd hoped Zoey wouldn't freak out and chomp one disc, but we might actually be able get through our oh-so-simple Freestyle routine. Despite my threats to drop her off at the Naperville Humane Society if she didn't cooperate, she still chomped and she is still with me. Well, we had fun anyway, and as a personal "victory", I didn't buckle under the pressure as I had in Colorado at the Quad.

Zac did good for Zac at Toss and Catch --- we did get one scorable catch, and a few non-scoreable ones. He certainly is top dog when it comes to being excited to be out there.

The MNDDC held its Minnesota State Championships last weekend. Zoey and I competed in Freestyle Saturday, and though we rocked it at the park the previous Thursday, she was once again a little chompmeister when competing. Zac and I did Catch 22 and Zac had three of five catches, which is a recent record. The practice has been paying off!

Ghost Hand Punch and Blurry rocked the campground Saturday night --- awesome bands.

Sunday offered some unique events --- UFO style longshot and fastest dog competitions. Zac and I led off the Women's division, and he made the 10 yard catch the first throw, so a great way to start out. With the Sofflites I use for him, I pretty much max out at a 20 yard throw, and we struck out that round. Jeff ran Zoey ---- they did quite well and hung into the final four.

For the fastest dog, Zac competed in the small dog recall event. He brought home some hardware with a third place. (There may have been only three teams competing.) Abby and Zoey competed in the small dog chase event, and Abby took third, while Zoey took second. I think that event did actually have more than three competitors.

Two very fun weekends, making it very hard to get back to the reality of school and daily life.

Freestyle Addiction in the Making

Life's been good. I've had numerous chances to demo Freestyle disc with Zoey in the past couple of weeks, including a gig at the Hennepin County Government Center, an agility fun day, and the Minnesota State Fair.

We've got a big comp coming up this weekend, lots of big names. Yes, I wish I had a few more weeks or months to get ready, but I'm feeling pretty good about it. We may come in last. That's OK. If I do my best, and work with Zoey through her one-disc chomping obsession, and both of us go on and off the field with smiles on our faces, we'll have been successful.

Starting Crossfit

As I wasn't suffering enough between running and swimming, I have joined a crossfit gym. A local gym held an open house on Saturday, and along with that, offered a special when joining that day. Well, I love to save money by spending it, so of course I had to join.

As part of the open house, the newbies did 100 reps of wall balls, where you hold a weighted ball, squat, and then stand up and launch the ball against the wal, 9 to 10 feet up. It really doesn't sound that tough, but the muscles in my thighs have been screaming ever since, and I'm kind of dreading going back today.

On the plus side, the soreness from the wall balls did not seem to noticabley affect swimming---I made it through 10 laps on Sunday at my typical glacial pace.

Ramblings on Running with Dogs, continued

Today, I just ran with Zac. Though I felt kind of stiff and under-par (late night, rich food, capped off by chocolate cake), it was much better dog-running than yesterday. Jeff finds Zac frustrating to run with, but he is perfect for me.

All I can say is that I am *so* grateful Jeff doesn't mind running with Zoey, because she drives me nuts!

Anyhow, we got in 2.16 miles of running, which included a couple of sprints up hills, and exceeded the "recovery" pace I was shooting for, so it's all good.

Ramblings on Running with Dogs

Frustrated this morning with running with dogs. I had to swap groups, and each group had its challenging dog. It's early and quiet in the neighborhood, until these rumbunctious beasts are let out, and virtually shrieking with excitement. Each group also seemed to pick the most inauspicious moment to poop. Do they lie awake nights and plot how to make things as annoying as possible? And forget doing my program's suggested drills; I'd be pulled right on to my kiester.

I was thinking how nice it would be to have a dog-free run!

Wag Walk & Run - Helping Paws 5K

Jeff, with Abby and Zoey, and I with Zac, did this 5K yesterday. Lovely day, at the lovely Purgatory Creek park in Eden Prairie.

Lots of service dogs in training, especially Golden Retrievers. Zac helped socialize a pup to Shelties, and was a credit to his breed. He does not like puppies, so I was really happy that he didn't curl his lip when the little guy got in his face. Zoey also helped socialize, but we kept Abby away.

At the start of the run, we were bunched up a bit. Jeff, Abby and Zoey chose to go to the end of the runners, where it was slightly less chaotic. Zac and I hung with Clara and Scooby at the start, and they are good runners, so we started near the beginning of the running group. Not that we stayed at the beginning once the race started! Because of crowding, we needed to start out at a pretty good pace, yet as it spaced out, we slowed down somewhat. For us though, we kept a solid pace all the way through the race and did not walk at all. Just had two pit stops for Zac, and a little water. Zac started out a little concerned about all the dogs and people, but he soon settled down and assumed his trademark running smile.

This was a really good mental motivator because the excitement of the race kept us at a pace much faster than our typical one. It's just what I needed --- now I know we can do it. We did a sprint to the finish, which we both love, and we still had some left on the tank.

Post-race, we hung with Clara, who loved up Zac and Zoey (Abby had no interest) and had a few snacks. We did listen to a canine police officer, who mentioned he was really happy when he was not assigned a Belgian Malinois. That made us laugh.

Great day, wonderful experience for our first race. Thank you, Helping Paws.

Running with Dogs

Awhile ago, I started "running", if that term can be used for moving at a pace equivalent to a Sunday stroll through the park. I've been taking Zac with me; he's good company, and he needs the exercise as much as I do.

When trying to follow a running program though, having a dog or two along can require a flexible attitude. Yesterday, I'd found a perfect location for hill repeats, but perfection fell apart when someone let her dogs out, and everyone barked and barked. No contact, but lots of noise, and it would have seemed tacky to keep running up and down in front of the woman's yard.

If I become serious enough about running, there will be a point where the dogs will have to stay home, but that's no fun for any of us. I suspect it will be a long time before I reach that point.

Can Dogs be Hypnotized?

In my Mind-Body Connection class tonight, we reviewed hypnosis. For many people and situations, it can be very effective. I wonder if any Animal Communicator has ever successfully hypnotized a dog? If so, I want to talk to him or her and schedule an appointments to our crew could get some suggestions: "Zoey, you are relaxed and seldom bark, Zac, you always hit the contact zone, Abby, you are friendly and submissive to other dogs." Think it would work?

Amazing, a quick Google, and up pops a link to the Hypnosis for Dogs site. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Blondes have more fun?

I colored my hair blonde today, and happened to wipe some of the color on to a towel. Somehow, little Miss Zoey got a hold of the towel, and licked the color, right before I was going to leave for class. I called my vet's office, and was recommended to call Poison Control. Which I did, for 60 smackeroos. Poison Control wanted her to be given Pepid AC and Mylanta or Maalox. I called Jeff and he agreed to pick up these items. He got home and said they cost $27.00.

Zoey would take the Pepcid AC tablets just fine. However, she will not take the Mylanta. Here's a dog who cheerfully and joyfully licked hair color, but refuses Mylanta...

We are getting excited around our house...in about a month or so, we are planning to do some excavating, and will create a little doggie play area from what is now a useless hill. It will be small, but we should be able to get a few pieces of agility equipment (teeter, yes!) and have room to practice close-in disc stuff.

Lately, we've done very little disc play. It's been kind of muddy at the local field, and we missed a play date today to visit Jeff's new nephew. The dogs have been getting lots and lots of walks and runs, so that should help conditioning.

I've done a little training in the basement. I'm still not letting Zac even see the discs, but we are keeping our trick skills up. Zoey was transfering and tugging a little, and also doing a few tricks. It's not like being outside though.

Run Faster?

Zoey had an agility lesson today. I was informed I need to run faster, sprint training was mentioned. Zoey seems very happy to lope along at the same pace I do. I was hoping she'd be a dog willing to drive far ahead of me, but that might not be the case. Ouch. I would love to able to run --- in the past, the pain has always stopped me. The acupuncture and resistance trainging may help, but I'm not sure it's enough. Is the pain that bad, or am I that wimpy? No answer right now.

All three dogs got a little training session in the basement. I got Abby to bite the disc twice. Tried to let her "win" though she did not bite hard, so it was tough to impart that winning feeling. We then went on to a little trick trainng. With Zac, worked a little on holding a dumbbell, which seemed pretty stressful for him, though it's only pure positive training, and some other Obedience stuff plus some tricks. He did not even catch sight of a disc. Zoey was wild enough for discs, so we played some transfering games, and then did some trick training, and a fair bit of tugging with some rope toys. I had two toys, so got her to transfer her attention.

Typical Tuesday - but Flipped

Tuesday is Obedience and Rally day at TCOTC for Zoey and Zac. Zoey has been in Obedience, and is doing fine there. Zac has struggled mightily, not because he can't hadn't the work in Rally, but because the manufacturing business on top of TCOTC starts rolling its carts around the facility like rolling thunder. Zac panics. Disturbingly, his anxiety seemed to be deepening, rather than lessening. So, I had a brief chat with Zac's Rally instructor last week, and we decided to try flip-flopping Zoey and Zac.

It went very well. Zac seemed to enjoy Obedience, and there were few rolling carts to freak him out. Zoey wondered what the signs were doing on the floor, but she did fine and seemed to enjoy the change. When I'm no longer taking Monday night classes, I'll get Zoey back to Dog Works Inc., but this seems to be fine for the meantime.

It was another nice day, not as spectacular as yesterday, but great to be outside. Abby and Zac enjoyed a walk---though Zac seems to want to stay as far away from Abby as he can...Zoey was extremely well-behaved on her walk; she likes being walked by herself.

With class, Zac and Zoey got their quota for training in. Abby, poor little Abby, got nothing. I did walk her, of course, but also, I needed to get in When Pigs Fly Yoga and an hour long resistence routine. That, along with Biggest Loser, took precedence. Poor little Abby.

Arghhhh!!!!!! I know better!

So, after yesterday's disc dog clinic, Abby traded discs, and showed she has freestyle potential. Ever eager to nurture this, I brought her downstairs to our little training area, and yes! I got her trading, trading and trading, until she got bored and stopped playing. I KNOW BETTER!

Zac showed no interest at all from the git-go, and even walked off. I think I'll just let disc go until we can work outside, and then see how he does. He was super-happy at agility last Wednesday and did very well, so I don't think his issue is physical.

Zoey was pretty interested, though I was working her during her dinner time, and she did need to get fed.

On the plus side, it was so nice and warm today! Got out for about 80 minutes of walking. I checked the little park where we often go play disc, and it's still quite soggy, so did not play disc outside.

MNDDC's Spring Break Day of Disc Doggin' 2009

What better way to launch into spring break than to go to visit Rochester, MN for a day of dogs and MNDDC friends?

The facility; Leashes and Leads, was superb. Warm, clean, with' nice, thick mats. The instructors, Abby of Pawsitive Vybe, Roo and JG, were first-rate too. Fascinating to use jump cavelettis in disc. That's going to be great for Zoey, who is very athletic, has great freestyle potential, but is unaware she has back feet.

Crabby Abby also amazed us. She might become a freestyle dog after all! She typically likes to head out, far out, for Jeff to throw a pass to her, but Roo had Jeff and Abby tugging and transferring discs close in, and Abby was doing great.

Zac shut down. That's a problem he's had indoors lately. The consensus is that he is confused about just what he should be doing. I'll work with him to stimulate his prey and bite instinct (just need to remember, there are NO suicidal rabbits!) with discs, and hope he comes around. If not, I'll just steal Zoey from Jeff, now that I know he and Crabby Abby can do freestyle.

It's peaceful now; the three dogs all are sleeping. A six-plus mile run that Jeff took with Abby and Zoe seems to have quieted them down, as did a 3 mile walk for Zac.

Jeff and I are looking forward to a Spring Break Day of Disc Doggin', to be held in Rochester tomorrow. A new season soon begins, with it all the attendant hopes and promises of new accomplishments---I hope the promises lasts longer than the typical politicians'. It is the promises I make to myself and my disc team members; practice more, throw better, train more effectively, and most importantly, to promise to keep it fun for the furry guys.