Travel Preparations



Madison has handled her age very well, at thirteen and a half, she still has a "can do" attitude!

Dave and I are headed out to Missouri in the motor coach soon for vacation with the dogs.  We will be gone for eight or nine days.  It's the longest trip we have taken the dogs on.   For the most part, Stetson and Maddie travel really well.  However, with age, Madison has a huge deficit in depth perception, along with a little dementia.  Combine those two things with the typical geriatric hip and shoulder stiffness problems, and travel can become uncomfortable for her quickly.

Navigating steps or curbs is a huge challenge for her and creates a stressful environment when we travel in the rig because there are two external stairs and two very steep steps inside.  Every time you leave, or enter, you must use these four steps.  Some days she's fearful of the steps while others she just tries to launch into "la la land".  You never quite know which dog you'll get on the other end of the leash.  It can be scary to manage, so we've learned to keep the harness on at all times to give us a "handle" should we need it.  The stair challenge becomes even more difficult when we are unlucky enough to land in a lot that has a slope off the front of the rig and we have to use the leveling jacks to significantly raise the front end - that can add a good six inches to the already daunting entry.




The final challenge is the steepness of the stairs - the first step into the coach is almost to her chest; it can make for a sore dog over an extended trip

I believe we have two separate challenges here.  First, I cannot remove the entry steps from the coach, they are what they are so I'll have to condition Madison to be able to tolerate the climbing.  We'll begin with getting walks in regularly, regardless of the heat.  It will help her endurance tremendously.  I'll support her further with stretching (as much as she will tolerate, she's my hyper sensitive to touch dog).  I'll also will work on strength training to help support her shoulders and core, which are going to have to pull her up.  I will also work with our Veterinarian support team from Union Hill to make sure I have the right type of medications and alternative support on board.

Secondly, we have the visual problem.  To manage her vision deficiencies, Dave is installing LED lights on sides of the stairs which should help her at least be able to see where she needs to go.  Then we purchased a ramp that we can use to take the outside steps out of the equation all together.  My challenge with the ramp is that she has always loved to jump a contact zone in agility - so I'm actually going to train it like a dog walk contact with the target at the bottom.  My hope is this will keep her from "launching" into never never land at the bottom and crashing. The ramp is a great piece that folds, only weighs about ten pounds and has a really super duty skid proof surface on it.  It is sixteen inches wide, so I'm not going up or down it with her, but I think I can walk sideways up the stairs next to her, with a grip on her harness to make sure she doesn't attempt to leap up or down.



Starting out with a low incline to teach Madison the concept of using a ramp




 

This is the goal - hopefully she will learn to navigate the ramp and eliminate two of the stairs that seem to work on her shoulders and hips.

New Equipment in New Places

My plan has been to take Stetson to a new place once each week to work with agility equipment so he will be adequately "socialized" to various working environments, turfs and equipment by the time we trial over Labor Day weekend.  This past  week, I rented the agility field at The K9 Ranch in northern Canton, Georgia.  The field is really nice, and is very secure with a solid, gated fence around the perimeter.

He had a great time.  As soon as I let him off lead he found the teeter and expectantly took it, looking for the target at the end.  So far, so good.



Teeter Volunteer

He learned about the broad jump, which was a total no brainer for him, I said "go over" and he launched across without thinking twice about it.  I also introduced the panel jump to him.  As soon as I put the panels up, I sent him over and he never hesitated.

The only area we really had an issue with was jump sequencing.  He was just zoning out as if he didn't understand what "over" was, or maybe he couldn't see a jump in front of him until he ducked around it at the last minute. Whatever the source of the problem, he clearly wasn't tuning into the command "over" and that it meant for him to jump the obstacle.  I decided to capitalize on what he already knows and use that to accomplish the jump sequences.  He knows "go" from our work in obedience with the stanchion and learning "go outs".  Not only does he know it, he's fast, fast, fast on the "go" command for "go outs".   I stopped calling "over" and began calling "go" - when I did this he began to get some obstacle focus and very quickly we had a five and six jump sequence going.  Fun stuff!

Here, he's happily resting on the table while I reload bait.









When I released him after a challenging jump sequence, and went to get a drink for myself, he gave me a voluntary Aframe with a lovely target search.















I am so proud of this dog.  We started out eight months ago as strangers.  He hadn't lived in a house as a pet/companion dog before.  I personally haven't seriously trained a dog other than the Siberians and their learning habits are very, very different from a herding dog.  Both of us needed to learn to bond far beyond the boundaries that either of us had ever stretched ourselves to before.  He came into our home assuming that someone here would be in charge and worth his trust and confidence, while I assumed that he'd eventually get over his insistent need for everything to be the exact same routine day after day after day.  We were both right.  The results continue to bring me to a place of gratitude as I close my eyes on another week and dream of the days to come.
 

Closing in on Goals

Today is July 14th.  The Acworth Women's Triathlon is three weeks from today.  The next event will be the Triune Agility trial over Labor Day weekend which is Stetson's debut in the ring.  My second, and last triathlon follows on September 29th.  That's the rush.  Later this fall I'll have the half marathon in Athens, Georgia and Stetson will be entered in at least one more agility trail.  It's become a very busy time of training, planing, and more training, then tweaking the plans and yet more training.

This week I decided to pull Stetson out of group agility classes.  Because he patterns quickly and doesn't appreciate a change of scenery, I thought I'd be better served by training him at home and then renting time once a week at one of the many facilities locally that offer their equipment for use by the hour.  We can fill in on weekends with run throughs at some of the clubs who hold regular run throughs to further support him by getting him used to an environment that will be similar to a trial.

I typically wouldn't put this much effort into socializing a dog I've trained since puppyhood to the environment, except that we have been together only seven months and I want him to know that we can, and will work in any location on any eqiupment.  The other factor that I have been considering is that we're driving the Motor Coach to Missouri for this first trial.  So we'll be on the road for over a day and sleeping in the rig...which he's not really used to either.  We'll arrive on Saturday and I should be able to go to the trial to spectate a bit that afternoon which will help him desensitize to the environment.

A lot of thought and planning goes into things with the dogs, but I've seen really solid hard working dogs fatigue or startle at a new noisy environment and I want to give him every chance I can for success from his very first show.  I should define success here:  happy, working dog.  Period.  That's it.  I love green ribbons, and I think they are especially pretty when presented with a blue one, but I'm being real here; we're a green team and I want a long happy career together.

This week I've focused him on heeling, recalls and halts for obedience.  I know I've forgotten some of my homework from class, but we'll make it up next week.  I'm working him on six weaves with wires during our agility sessions and he's become reasonable with it.  I added a jump yesterday to give him something to focus on.  He's not a great jumper, and I'm glad I've figured that out early.  He doesn't worry about dropped bars, so I'll have to put the time into ground work and some more rear end awareness training.  He'll get it, he always does.

I was touched yesterday when he "offered" weaves to me while I was setting a bar on the jump.  Magic was a crazy weaver.  In his novice days, he went off course a few times to weave.  Thanks for the fun memory Stetson, Magic was an awesome dog.  My boy continues to fill me with giggles, ahs and just plain happy times.

Regarding my personal training, the decision was made this week that I'm not putting my sneakers on for less than three miles between now and the half marathon.  I'm beginning to head back out on my own if Dave and I take the dogs for a short jaunt to get my extra time or mileage in.  The effort will pay off come October 20th.

In triathlon, I had a great open water swim clinic this week and have scheduled two additional one-on-one sessions with the coach that lead the clinic.  I need the experience in open water, the rest of it will come as long as I keep my schedule in the pool during the week.  Tonight I'm planning on a trip to the gym after dinner to get an hour spin in - I'm hoping that one concentrated hard effort per week in the saddle, combined with the three runs and three or 4 swims will be sufficient to hold my legs together on the bike and then follow through with a strong finish on the run August 4th.  I'll know soon enough if the plan is good enough to carry me through the Lake Lanier training too.

Merger

Today has been a nearly perfect day in my opinion.  I took a run this morning with my best bud Sandy Carman, after which Dave and I ran a few errands, had lunch out and then returned home early in the afternoon.  I took Stetson out to work obedience and agility in the yard for the first time in a couple of weeks.  The rain and gooshy conditions have been relentless around the Atlanta metro, so today was a hell or high water day for me - we were going to do something outside together.

We began by working on "go outs" and then some "directed targets".  He just had the fastest "go out" and he gets so excited for any kind of brain work.  "Directed targets" went pretty well, but he tried to break his stay a few times - again, he's fast, fast fast and that I want to continue to reward and build on.  I finished up our obedience work with some "recalls" and then "finishes" both around my back, and also with him bouncing up to my left hand, then pivoting "close".  When we finished with obedience I moved onto the weave poles.

The eyes of focus

He likes agility, but it's not the same level of drive and determination that I see in him for obedience, so I decided to use obedience as our entry to the less interesting weave pole training.  Again, we haven't had the opportunity to use the poles and wires for a couple of weeks - so he really had some issues with 6 poles.  If he'd consistently slipped under a wire or jumped a wire and if it were the same side/pole...I would have been able to fix it pretty quick, but he was all over the board today.  I finally stopped him and put him in a sit so I could think this through.  I decided that the catastrophic results I was getting were simply a green dog that hadn't seen poles enough to really understand them, and then what he did know, we hadn't rehearsed for almost fourteen days.  Fair enough; I pulled three poles and the wires that went with them dropping the set to three.  He quickly skipped over a wire, so I raised it; then he ducked under it, so I lowered it - after those two attempts, he did it perfectly, so he got a small jackpot party.  We repeated the process a few times "on side" (dog entering poles from my left side) and he continued to navigate three and was able to find the entrance from some vairation in angle.  Then I moved "off side" and he was successful again twice.  I put the other three poles back with their wires and he got it right every time for many repetitions both on and off side.  I finished him with a big jackpot on the patio and some good hard rubs.  When I opened the back door for him to go in, he turned and trotted back out to the poles and stood staring back at me, clearly ready to work some more.  I put him up anyway, I choose to say when...and control the work environment as best I can.  But wow, I could get used to this!

Tomorrow is a run day for us.  Hopefully he'll be able to go out with me for awhile on the road, but who knows what this weather will do.  Regardless, I am enjoying the merging of my triathlete and runner lifestyle with some dog sports.  It feels good to have this much balance, although negotiating time between activities can be daunting at times. 

My calendar is a nice mix of Agility Trials, Sprint Triathlons and a Half Marathon this fall.  It has taken some planning, serious priority setting and even saying "no thanks" to some offers that would confict with either my training or his; but now that I've got myself on a schedule of sorts, I am enjoying the mix beyond my wildest dreams.