Agility

My sister came out again to photograph agility and then swim therapy afterwards. She took so many photos that I am dividing the posts.

I take agility and my obedience class (two different classes) with Seattle Agility Center. So far all the instructors I have worked with have been really great. They are very positive and really skilled instructors.

For puppy agility I have Carrie. She really is good at seeing the lines the handlers run and how we throw the dog off. Also, as Nim while not the oldest is significantly bigger than all other puppies, she is actually really good about understanding his stride and what he needs to make it happen.

Nim is getting better with the table - in that he acknowledges it is an obstacle. He doesn't want to put his rear down.

When he does agility on Thursday night there is another class going on next to him in a very large barn. I think it is actually good for the dogs because it is a fraction of the noise and distraction that happens at a real agility trial. I could tell in the first couple of weeks he was really intimidated by the dog traffic, but he is far more comfortable now.

The hoops are a new feature since I last practiced agility. Apparently there are now courses with them in competition.
He is starting to get a lot more "verbal" in that he is hearing what I say and correcting his misses. I said "jump" too late and he actually pulled up to take the jump he was planning to run by.
We actually had a better session in general this week. Either it was because I walked him prior or he was having a good day. Who knows.

In obedience on Sunday he was a monster. My trainer for Obedience is Monique and she is really good with animal behavior and very patient. Ever positive, my trainer looked at him laying on his back and kicking this past Sunday and said that "sometimes he is just taken with fits of happiness." :) At least it made me feel better.

Growing

I looked at Nim at 6am in his kennel this morning and realized it was time to go up to the next larger size.

He is definitely taller than Rusty now, I am not sure if is heavier yet or not - but it is getting close.

Then I realized he is also getting really big to spend hours in the x-pen while I work.
Today was the most freedom he got while I work. It actually went pretty well except that he still wants to lay under the desk and my feet. At least he isn't chewing the wires.

Although yesterday he did finish off my "hands free" device. (A couple of months ago he chewed off one of the ear pieces).

This photos sums out how I feel about the "hands free" cell phone law:

Nim's first trail hike

I was going to wait until Nim got a little older (presumably with more manners and maturity) before I started hiking him on more mainstream trails, but after a big scare in which my peripheral vision caught a coyote hunting him on the North Fork a couple of days ago I decided it was time to go less remote. Ironically Nim definitely outweighed the coyote, but Nim still looks very bouncy when he moves.

So this morning we decided to try the Winery end of the Rattlesnake Mountain trail. I know it well and I tend to know a fair amount of the regular hikers and dogs. I got lucky, it was a light morning. We did meet one male hiker on the way down. Nim was very suspicious of him, so it is definitely good we will be working more trail socialization now.


I was going to hike him further but when he laid down I did have to remember he is still a baby dog.

Thankfully my sister has been coming out to photograph both dogs on occasion. She is a good photographer and I just don't get good photos.

These agility photos are actually from last week.

Not from this week in which Nim shut down so hard on me for making him do a sit-stay that he rolled over and kicked his legs straight up in the air at me - truly a stunning variation on the rapid kicking on his side. I was impressed with his back balance. Thankfully no one was around to photograph that.

While he was rapidly kicking up at me, I looked down fondly at my little devil and I thought to myself...time to wear you out before agility. I thought other things too but this is a family blog.

Rusty is balancing out pretty well right now between the additional drugs and now acupuncture!
Now he can jump and run faster. :)
Not always a great thing for me. But he is much more happy again. Once he wanted to throw his kong more and rub his head on the ground again I knew he was a happier dog.

Rusty earns himself another report

On Saturday Rusty got away from me for the first time. It was yard waste day which is a lot of fun for him and he was really excited and squeezed past me at the gate. He almost stopped at the door of the truck; then he realized we weren't attached. He also half considered the recall - but then trotted away. I suppose I should be encouraged that he recognized the recall enough to blow it off. At least he thought about it first.

The adventure ended with me tackling him from the side. Good thing we started him on Tramadol last week for his painful and declining back end. He was in sorry shape and pitched a big bucking tantrum as I dragged him back to the house.

I kenneled him. I calmed down. I got him back out and we resumed our trip for yard waste day. He walked out of the kennel like nothing ever happened.

This morning I decided to give him a bully stick. This was an experiment after an unfortunate incident in which he swallowed about 5 inches of bully stick whole and I had to give him a laxative for several days. The key is to give him the stick and leave so he will settle and chew.

I would check on him periodically to make sure he was chewing slowly. Then, I looked out and I could tell he was burying the darn thing! I tried hard to find it after I put him in the house. No luck.

Then I decided to start my pre-winter cleaning and this time treat myself to steam-cleaning the carpets. Yeehaw. This was a new thing for me. But I did the store version rather than having someone come out to the house. I read too many bad reviews, I decided I would rather make a $30 mistake than a $200+ mistake.

To clean the carpets involved moving the entire house into the kitchen including Rusty in his kennel. Rusty doesn't like:

• Change
• Loud noises
• Getting fed late

Since I managed to accomplish all three of his dislikes in my cleaning frenzy he puked all over his kennel because he knew I wanted to wash all his bedding and him today as well.

Then I took him in the yard to dry off and he dug up his bully stick, shook it out, and quickly ate it.

I would say we are done with bully sticks.

Sometimes I look at Rusty and I think to myself what pathetic person gave this gem up? :) Everyone who buys a baby pet should have to rescue a senior pet at the same time. In addition to the social goodwill; adopting a senior will a. remind you what is coming with your pet aging process and b. the full grown poorly trained senior can sometimes make the puppy look absolutely amazing even when it chews the seat belt in the car or lays on its side in dog obedience and kicks rapidly.

Put it another way...I can almost guarantee Rusty will be the first one to have the accident on my newly cleaned carpets.

His and Her sides of the bed

...complete with divider pillow.

Rusty Math

Today I was taking mental inventory of Rusty's progress and what needed work when I realized he has only lived with me 6 months as of August 26 (adopted 5 of those). How did my sisters miss a chance to point out my bad math in a previous post?

Anyway. 6 months of Rusty:

• He doesn't get up every morning hunting cats anymore, but if they happened to cross his path, well...
• He has given up on Pascal entirely - only Pascal knows why.
• He can't see or hear well at all. His vision is really bad at dusk and dark. He also doesn't see curb or storm drain transitions. He got his foot caught in the storm drain last month - it was traumatic for both of us.
  
• A stranger could be chainsawing down the door and he probably wouldn't even get up.
• He is so serious about his leash work that I have a hard time getting him in front of me for a photo.
• He sits at most intersections.
• He downs in public.
• His recall is coming along on long-line or within the fenced area (provided he hears me or there is not something fabulous running from him) but I doubt I will ever trust it.
• I am a better handler because of him.
• OH! Guess who is slowly warming up to having his nails dremelled? Yes, that would be Rusty too.
  

I was thinking of Rusty's progress because Nim starts his obedience one next week as well as puppy agility. If I brought home Nim on July 10th than it is only about a month and a half of Nim. When you think about it that way, I should really give him more credit for everything he has already learned.

Nim can be defiant; but he is also really bonding tight right now. He learns super fast and I am trying to take advantage of it before the adolescent months hit. Since Rusty already broke me, I am really on my training game right now.

Nim is more comfortable with the long-line work on the service roads than the leash work we are doing around town. I probably prefer the service road work with him too; since I am grooming my hiking partner.

This is about as active as it got today for Nim. Seriously Rusty has more energy this past week. Nim is also losing teeth fast now. I think between the teeth loss and the growing, Nim is pooped.

Pups swimming

Nim and Rusty again had appointments at Aquadog spa in Kent with Cindy Hickman.

Supposedly the second visit is supposed to be the worst, but for Rusty, it was the third. I practically had to scrape him off the decking to get him in. :)

Notice Rusty when he swims:

Rusty is all business. He usually is aiming for the wall or the steps; but so peaceful with minimal splashing. His head is hardly wet.

Now notice Nim:

26 pounds of desperate water churning power:
Looking just a little bit better with his soaked little head... :)