The Journey

I have heard it said that true pleasure and satisfaction in your goal destination can only come in having enjoyed the journey.  This afternoon I sit at my laptop thinking about how much I've enjoyed the preparation for the Acworth Women's Sprint Triathlon tomorrow.  I am naturally reflective about the beginning of this endeavor, this path if you will, and how many intersections I've come through.  Sometimes I changed direction onto new roads leading me to ever more new places.  Places I either didn't want to go, or didn't realize I would enjoy if I were to go there.

Mira was my first Siberian who didn't have a "show" career of some sort.  We dabbled in conformation, but I really dislike the game and it was easy for me to decide her long loin and pink nose weren't worth the money it would take to finish her.  I didn't relate to the way her brain worked for agility, she questioned everything and it drove me mad after working with drivey Siberians all the years before.  She is the only dog I ever put away because I really didn't enjoy working with her.  Movement on the other hand was a different story, she was a lovely mover and she was light as a feather on her feet.  Those two things made her a fine running partner.  And so it begins, my love of the run.  My love of running with a dog for pleasure and health.


Pretty mover, even in a tracking harness

She never tired of the trail or road.  I learned to trust her to find the solid path on rocky terrain and gently snake around corners and debris.  I built my confidence with her next to me.  I learned how to support myself and a canine partner on both the road and trail.



Always ready to go

  After she was taken by cancer so suddenly in November, I stated "she was the wind beneath my feet" and I will always feel that way about her.  Stetson came into my life so quickly afterward that there were days I barely had time to think about the robbery that had just taken place on my soul.  He has been an open book and I have learned to open myself up to both dog sports I thought I was finished with years ago, and dog sports that I never considered before.

He is a willing partner in all that we have taken on together.  His open heart and willing attitude have given me the courage to step outside of my comfort zone and take some training and push myself to be better than I've ever been. I've challenged myself to condition for this triathlon more thoroughly than I have before.  I hired a coach and have decided to beat the fear of open water swimming that has previously held me to the end of the finish line.  I'm not sure this drive would not have come out for me had I not been forced to turn myself from a shredded mess into a thriving person in the blink of an eye.

 

This race is to honor you buddy. Thanks for showing me how to open up, let go and let in.

 

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.

 

 

Perhaps a New Virtue is Developing

 

 

 



 



 

 

My best friend says about me, "you don't suffer fools well..."  I would add that I don't suffer foolish behaviour well either.  I am a straight shooter, I'm quick to make a decision and I'm quick to respond if I think a decision needs to be made.  Indecisive behaviour makes me crazy.

True personalities tend to come out in a person when they are training or working with an animal.  As a running partner, there's not much that Stetson has to "get" other than move forward, don't pull and don't act a fool toward other dogs.  Building teamwork hasn't been a mental stretch for either of us with regard to running.  Obedience and Agility is another story all together.  My intentions are not casual.  I expect to earn titles in both venues, and intend to do so to the best of both of our abilities.  This expectation and goal requires me to step back and evaluate myself as a trainer/handler as well and my dog.  I'm not too good at looking objectively at things, because well, normally I'm too busy handling them to think about it.

At obedience work, Stetson is at the place in his training that he is "offering behaviours" to me when he doesn't understand what is being asked of him.  This is a good problem to have.  It means I have a dog that is interested in working, interested in being "right" according to my standard and strong minded enough to try "tricks" until I hopefully reward something.  The first problem with this is that I lose my patience if I don't get the "right", (again, according to me), response.  I typically don't spend enough time letting him figure something out before I "lure" him with food.  I never had a dog that offered what they thought I wanted them to do, so I'm learning that I have to be patient (new word for me) and give him a bit of time before I step in and redirect him.  My obedience instructor is working with me to get me to "slow down" and give him an opportunity to give me the right behavior.

Tonight during agility class, these lessons I'm being taught about slowing down paid off while he learned the difference between the teeter plank (which tips and bangs loudly) vs. the dogwalk plank (which doesn't tip and is three times as long).  When we began reviewing the teeter with Stetson tonight, he left the entrance (down side) and popped up on the end of the teeter causing it to crash to the ground.  Creating that kind of noise is normally scary to a green dog, but he is smart and anxious to get the food reward at the end, so he repeated this behaviour several times and when he began to take the teeter correctly, he popped off before it tipped and walked over to slap it to the ground.  I didn't get frustrated with him tonight.  The instructor was pleased with his interest in smacking it down (knowing that he really can be worried about noises and new experiences) and somehow I knew that he wasn't trying to avoid, he was trying to cut to the chase and figure out how to get his reward.  It didn't take very long and we were able to get him going over the teeter, beginning to end...and the results on the dogwalk were even more exciting and faster.

I knew I could teach a four year old dog many, many new tricks; but I'm thrilled that this fifty year old woman is learning too.  I have always heard "patience is a virtue".  Perhaps I'll be known as patient someday.
 

A Personal Best for Stetson

A very calm dog during recovery after our run

Spring is coming in with an easy transition for my running endurance this year.  This is the first time since we have lived in Atlanta (10 years now), that it feels like we're experiencing Spring.  From my own conditioning perspective, I am grateful for the slow transition to warm or hot weather.  It is such a shock to my system to have a run on a 30 degree morning one weekend and the next weekend it is a warm, muggy 54+ degree morning.  It can make for a long, wheezy run that often left me feeling like I had zero conditioning and less than zero desire to put my sneakers back on a couple of days later.  Once I acclimate to heat, it's game on - bring up the temp and I'm out there, but that transition period can feel like starting at nill all over again.

This year, I also have Stetson's conditioning to contend with.  We have only been running together for six months now.  During that period, we've both have down times due to injury and/or illness, so reaching and maintaining a solid level of performance has been a moving target this winter.  He's given me some stellar 6 milers in cold conditions, but heat is something we haven't experienced together.  I decided to take it really slow and work him at mile and a half "warm up" distances and then drop him off so I could continue solo for a period, hopefully sufficient enough to allow him to acclimate to the heat gradually.  This plan was intended with the dual purpose of keeping his safety and comfort as my number one priority, while giving me some ability to determine how far we can target building up to for the season of warm and humid conditions.  Regardless of how far he ends up going into the heat this summer, I'm stoked about some fast and long runs come fall with him with this extra time of conditioning.

This morning it was 54 degrees and we hit the trail at the Hooch for an easy, flat 5K.  I haven't really asked him to do three miles for awhile, so I was prepared to hang back to see if he had any issues.  We stopped at the turn taking us from the river to the "inland" section of the trail to offer him water and he just looked at me as if to say "go ahead, whimp, I'm good".  So we finished without any further attempts on my part to baby him.  I stopped several times to walk and regain my breath, but he was never hesitant to start back into a trot again.

When we finished and I stopped my lap meter on the heart rate monitor, I realized we completed the trail in under 13 minute mile averages.  Madison is incredible for a 13 year old dog, the fact that she runs with us at all anymore is amazing; but our total time difference between the river runs with her this winter (in cool or cold weather), and today is over 13 minutes.  I'm thrilled with that performance and crazy excited about building on it!