Aki Unconed

   Tonight when I returned home from work, I could tell Aki was feeling better (even if her wounds still look a little gnarly). So we headed to our agility class--the last one of this series. Only one other student showed up, perhaps due to the heat, so Emma & Max, and Aki & Taylor & me, took turns and ran the course for an hour ourselves. Suddenly we could feel all of the 94 degrees! But the dogs did pretty well despite that, and we had fun, which is the whole idea. Aki did fine without the cone and it was fun to see her bouncing around unhindered again.

   She and Taylor ran laps in the dog park after class (too fast for my camera!), chasing each other, exploring, & hunting by running zig-zags to canvas the entire area. (We saw a large groundhog on the way in tonight.)

Hiding in the shadows...

   Afterward I resisted the urge to just stand & bask in the afterglow of my superclean garage, got the weed wacker started finally, & trimmed the whole yard. After that, and dinner, I'm ready to crash! Good night, internets!

Agility Hounds

   On Thursday night I took the dogs to Swanson's Streamway. A few weeks ago, frustrated with Tay's destructive behavior (due to lack of exercise—from my bum ankle, and being crated to keep him off the kitchen counters), it occurred to me that an agility class would be a great way to wear him out. I wasn't sure that Aki would enjoy it enough to actually perform, so I just brought her along to observe.
   It was a huge class—14 people with their dogs!—so I tied Aki's leash to the fence in a far corner, to keep her out of everyone's way. Rachel, the instructor, had us all introduce ourselves and our dogs, and as we went around the circle, the crescendo of cries from Aki's corner became louder and louder. Everyone was amused. Mary Coleman and her husband were there with their dog, Tucker, a young bearded collie. (Tucker was gorgeous and more interested in flopping over for belly rubs than agility—a real doll!)
   First we practiced going through tunnels, which Tay was already very good at, since he's practiced a couple times at Happy Tails park. Then we attempted to teach our dogs to weave around the 12 weave poles, one of the hardest stations. There were guide wires in place to keep the dogs in line, but it was still tough to keep them from jumping out of the path. But Tay did great! Meanwhile, Aki cried and cried.
   When the class ended, Rachel came over to me and suggested that Tay & I join the intermediate class next week, since he's progressing faster than the other beginners. I was so proud of him! We went over to retrieve Aki, and she did a victory lap around the ring, running so fast her ears were back and her tail went straight behind her. The two goofballs buzzed all over the dog park together, overjoyed to be reunited. I love her happy, squinty face and huge smile!

   I thought, she wants to do this too—so I'll start her in the other beginner's class on Sunday! (Later I remembered that when Aki's original owner surrendered her to MSIR, she took Aki to a vet's office very early in the morning and tied her leash to the door... and abandoned her. I think that's why she got so upset... she was crying, "OMG—Don't leave me here!!!", and maybe not "I want to do agility too!") No matter. I had already decided it would be good for her.  ;)

   There was a large picnic table in the dog park, and with no more than saying, "Up!", Tay sprung up easily, right to the table top. This dog's back legs are springs. He was MADE for this! I wish I would have started him soon after I adopted him, in July 2008. Have you ever seen a bigger smile?

   Today we were back at Swanson's, with only 8 other teams, so Aki got a lot of practice running through both tunnels, and then weaving. She moved rather slowly much of the time—not nearly as excited as Tay was—but she knew what to do and did very well. I really liked a couple of the other women in the class, and we shared treats with each others' dogs and had a ton of fun. Not all the dogs wanted to go through the tunnel, which was part of the fun. Poor Ellie!

   After the class, Rachel invited Aki & Tay & me to stay and practice on the equipment, and Taylor learned the chute (he did it perfectly on his second try), the dog walk, and the see saw (he did both perfectly on the FIRST try!), the jumps, the tire, the table, and the TALL A-frame... nothing threw him! Aki, not to be outdone, was slightly more tentative about each obstacle, but also breezed through it easily. Who knew that stubborn Shibas would perform so well?

   After TWO HOURS of practice (they had a blast!), Aki posed for her own picnic table portraits and we headed home.

   About thirty seconds after we hit the road, I snapped this pic. (Tay was slumped so far over the seat, I'm surprised his heavy head didn't fall off. And that IS Aki's tired tail, at mid-curl, on the right.) MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Training Day

   Today was nice and I felt like my ankle could handle a bit of a workout, so Kelly went out to Happy Tails Dog Park with me to do a little pre-work for Taylor's inaugural agility class. The park was crowded with big, wild dogs (mostly labs), so it was even more of a challenge than it should have been. Despite that, both Tay & Aki took to the equipment, much like their other attempts (first / second). Their favorite is the A-frame: they love to climb!

"This is easy. Got anything harder?'

Tay's in the tunnel...

Now it's Aki's turn...

"All together now!"

"This is FUN!!!"

"Put 'er there, pal!"

   Then things got interesting. A big, CRAZY lab wouldn't leave me alone. He knew I had treats and he kept throwing his whole body on me, practically knocking me down (yeah... ankle surgery... bad idea!). So I decided to fight fire with fire! You want treats? You'll have to WORK for them, buddy! And suddenly I was training three dogs at once.

   The dog's owner was guy about my age (who looked surprisingly like my buddy, Dave D) who barely noticed what was going on. He sat on a park bench over 100 yards away and played with his phone. No wonder that dog is nuts! I'm not a big fan of labs because most of them act like this, but I'm even less of a fan of that type of dog owner.

Troublemakers, Reformed!

   My dogs have a lot of energy. There's a reason we run together 2-3 times a week, and visit the dog park once a week. And why I have Mary Ann come over periodically to spend time with them. And confine them to the kitchen during the day, so they don't go on a mission of destruction in the house or chase Gypsy while I'm at work. They go wild when I return home, whether I'm gone for ten minutes or ten hours. We have a lil' howl-fest in the kitchen every day; that burns some energy. And while they sleep in their beds, they are leashed up to the nightstand, so they don't go on a nocturnal rampage. 

   ...And all this on a normal day, when they don't have all kinds of pent up energy from being sedentary during the excruciatingly slow process of letting my ankle heal.

Arooooooooooooooo!!!

   While I was in LA visiting Kelley, Brett graciously came by and picked them up for a long hike in Shawnee Mission park, which they no doubt loved. But two weeks of very little exercise was creating a ticking time bomb. And it went off this week!

   I came home Thursday night to find that they had torn into the bag of recycling that was hung on the door. It has been there every day for weeks, and they've never touched it. There's nothing to eat in it: just junk mail, newspaper, bits of plastic. No matter: they used it to make confetti and have a party in the kitchen. I was not overjoyed to find it, but their expressions cracked me up. I posted this photo on Facebook and it got a ton of likes and comments. I was amused.

   Friday night, however, when I came home from work, I was no longer amused. Taylor (presumably) had reprised his dog-burglar role from December, in which he used the handle of the stove to scale the countertops, snatching a plate of cookies and cake and gorging himself. (Not to mention leaving telltale claw marks all over the handle, which Mary Ann repaired beautifully!) This time he snatched an unopened newspaper and shredded it. Now, I can't argue that the KC Star is probably better shred than read, but this was just bad behavior, and it has to stop.

   I wasn't sure yet what to do, as I am not yet up to more than a little walking, much less running. But today I needed to run to the east side of town to pick up Gypsy's prescription food and medicine at the vet, and that gave me an idea. I loaded up the brats and...

   NO, I didn't drop them off at the animal shelter!!! We drove to Happy Tails dog park in Lee's Summit so they could run to their hearts' content while I stood around. The park has a flat, circular, paved path all the way around, so I knew I could take it easy.

    Happy Tails also has several pieces of agility equipment, and I had brought a pouch full of small treats. I couldn't run, but I walked between obstacles and led the dogs around and around, scaling the a-frame, walking the dog walk, jumping through the tire, traversing the tunnels, and jumping over the bar. Over & over again.

   Aki had fun. And Taylor... is a NATURAL at agility! He flew through the obstacles excitedly with little hesitation, and he even hit all the contact zones properly. For a beginner, he was fantastic. Turns out that being full of energy and being HIGHLY food-motivated is a boon here!

   We spent a full hour at the park, and for most of that, the dogs were attentive, despite being off-leash, and despite the dozens of dogs and people milling around. They had their share of running and playing, but were amazingly focused while I was working with them. I'll need to start training them one at a time, but I think they both will be really good at this!

      And okay, they may not be completely reformed yet... but this was great progress! Hopefully after a few more weeks of healing, I can look into an agility class for my boy. And read my newspaper, unmarred again.