Turning a Puppy into a Dog

He's delightful.  Full of energy, spunk, curiosity and a true zest for life.  He is life.  There is nothing mundane about him and running with him began in just that fashion; spunky, excited, jerky, lunging, loping, crossing behind, crossing in front, tripping Stetson...you name any act of excitement and he exhibited it.

Since we began running on the road again recently, Edge has picked up the qualities of a running partner that I desire.  He's not pulling, much, hmmm less than he did, oh heck let's just say it's "better".  He has begun to understand that "left" or "right" means he needs to turn; he doesn't yet understand which way, but at least he knows it means turn.  He doesn't try to pick up odd stuff in the road, rarely attempts to pull off to pee on something and generally has an attitude of let's do this!

Fast forward - I wrote the first two paragraphs of this post a couple of weeks ago.  Not really caring if Edge ever became a really good partner for me outside of dog sports or not.  I have perfection already, I have Stetson.  His stride, mild manner, slightly aloof character and willingness to work with me on the run as well if not better than he does in Obedience was more than I could have dreamed of.  He has taken me to levels of confidence and performance that I didn't know I had fuel for.  Sigh.  He has again come up sore and painful.  I am careful, I am always thinking about performance and conditioning and long term impact/goals.  In spite of my methods, he has been taken out of the run until after stem cell (previously decided upon for February) and then likely on a limited basis as compared to our "norm".

 
Here we are on Hilton Head Island for vacation and I find myself intentionally turning a puppy into a dog.  I have this extra time to work with Edge to meld our two very different styles into a working team.  Dave and I are walking the boys every morning on the beach and they are getting additional potty walks during the day and evening as needed/desired so training opportunities are plenty.  He is so sweet and so willing to please.  I know we aren't going to be great partners yet, but I can see the potential.  I see us coming together every time we are out with Stetson for walks on the beach.

Edge and I will be off to the beach in the morning and headed into a three miler, just the two of us.  Puppy and I.

Happily looking forward, and hoping that what is in my rear view mirror will always be a pleasant reflection of what I intended to create.

Age, Running and Accepting Change

Control FREAK, that's me.  I like to know what I'm doing and get to the doing of it as quickly and efficiently as possible in regard to most things.  I micro manage my time most days.  I'm the one who sets goals each week for each dog and myself in three categories: endurance, strength and skill training.  The journal on my side of the lamp table is where I log training for them and myself.  I have copies of parts of all the journals I've kept over the years with the dogs from Nakeeta, Madison, Magic, Mira (practically zero entries), Stetson and recently, Edge who just joined the club.

Thin enough to see cheek bones, but heavy smoking kept me from true health

Almost every day from the time we began Obedience training there is an entry for Stetson.  Since Edge came along, I've hardly missed any days because we have so much to catch up on before his puppy sponge brain is turned into an adolescent prankster.  Maybe it's just strength and games, but there's something.  I took up this practice since my first seminar with Dr. Christine Zink D.V.M., PH.D. in Topeka Kansas when I first learned of the concept of training for all three aspects of performance, not just skills.  I was training and competing with three dogs at the time, so the journal/log seemed like a good idea. It stuck.  The habit carried over to triathlon training, race training and lastly into Obedience training.  It works, unless you ignore the numbers or quit clocking the time.  About three years ago I added tracking my nutrition and exercise in a great app, My Fitness Pal.  It helped me realize where my nutrition was falling short and rolling into some unwanted extra pounds...  The app became an extension of my logging data for evaluation and training purposes.

October, 2013 - AthHalf starting chute

I should be an lean, mean Elite or Olympic athlete based on all this, don't you think?  Oh yeah, that's right I forgot to mention I turned 51 in May of this year.  Hormones are dragging to a stop and in the process they are taking away my former ability to "sugar" up and then be able to double up on heavy training and cut back on fatty foods for a couple of days and not notice much issue.  NOOOO, not anymore.  I am packing more body fat that I've had in my life right now.  My legs look okay, but my mid section and arms have a layer of fat that I have never seen before.  I have tissue meeting tissue that isn't supposed to be friendly and folding over places it should be kept behind.  If I were a roast, we'd slice that off and toss it away during meal prep, but I'm a peri-menopausal woman and I'm going to have to force it off with grit and determination.

A few months ago I quit using My Fitness Pal and apparently not paying attention to my intake created an enormous opportunity for my body to produce the aforementioned "fat" gain.  It's in all the right areas for cardiovascular disease and obesity related illnesses too (there's a family history, on both sides, with some pretty nasty lifestyle related diseases and problems) which I am in no way intending to invite into my world.  After discovering a few weeks ago that much of my warmer weather work attire AND running clothes (the true pisser here, bless my heart) no longer fit I began plugging my daily food intake back into the app on my phone.  Sadly, I discovered in a matter of a couple of brutally honest food logging days that even though I was putting healthier versions of tasty comfort food together, I still logged excess fat/cholesterol and sugar intake.  Maybe it's the extra glass of wine at night, or the peppermints, or some beautiful and tasty Ribeye...whatever the choice, I wasn't making very good ones.  Not only do I log the food, but I also log exercise - well those entries were more often blank than filled.  On one Sunday some weeks ago, my endurance and strength goals were literally written as follows:  "something, just do something this week..."

I started trying to get things going the right direction again.  I began working out more, harder and recording it to evaluate the value of the time spent and making some choices to cut back on fatty and/or sugary foods.  It's working, I am beginning to notice that clothes aren't as uncomfortable as they have been.  I even wore an evening gown to a Christmas party last week that I'd not been in for quite a while and didn't really think it would fit when I "tried it on" the night of the party.

Surprise!

Happy to fit

I linked my TomTom HRM to MapMy Fitness so that the latter is automatically updated when I log something on the HRM.  I also linked My Fitness Pal to MapMy Fitness so they also sync.   It's only been a few days since I've had this much connection, but I have logged my day today and am for the first time in over a week under goal for cholesterol and sugar intake.  It used to be so much easier.  Those days are gone.  No longer can I ignore a week of food or exercise in order to maintain goals and feel good.  I love to run.  I'll log, and I'll go and run and I'll deal with the body that put the brakes on some habits I rather enjoyed but proved unproductive at this point in my life.

Tomorrow is Sunday.  We will run at the river in the morning.  Dave, Stetson and Edge will take my mind from what I need to accomplish to that happy place where I lose all my inhibitions and let go into the moment.  I won't argue with Mother Nature, she's a beast that needs not be riled.  I will take this moment and rise in the morning to another day, another log and another week ahead to set fresh goals to.

A Whole Lot of Dammit

I know the title of this post seems crass.  It is, I was, and I probably should apologize publicly in some fashion to the other people on trails at Kennesaw Mountain  this morning who likely heard the irritated, breathy muttering (or louder) of the word frequently during the run.

Dog training normally begins with baby steps, toddler steps, pre-teen...  You get the picture, you don't just pick up a dog one day and put them in some performance situation and expect them to know what they are doing.  That's the point of training, using building blocks to create bridges between the necessary skills, one at a time until you chain enough together to perform.I don't do slow well.  I always push the envelope, always have and I should probably quit trying to be surprised when that habit smacks me upside the head on occasion as if I should know better.

Training Edge to run with Stetson and I seems like a good idea. I have laid out the steps I think are necessary to build him to the point of being able to go a reasonable duration on trail.  We began on the road, ventured to the trails at the river which are wide, flat and have very few foot obstacles that require my attention, thus I can focus on the puppy.  Do you see where I was going with this action plan?  Taking the process one step at a time...he has been doing really well and I have begun to not dread taking him with us as he's learning enough that I can actually use a normal stride and be reasonably comfortable with him in hand.

All week I've been planning on a run today, the day after Thanksgiving.  Dave had to work, so I was up and ready early to head to the mountain with JUST Stetson.  It would be so nice to have some time with just my boy and I.  The temperature was 27 degrees and I was really excited as I pulled the truck out of the garage to load.  Coming back into the house, I see Edge in the entry.  Such an eager and happy boy!  I walked into the kitchen and prepared our water bottles and post run goodies, (recovery I swear).  I headed back out to the truck to put things in and when I returned into the house I had two leashes and two collars in my hand.  Oops.  Oh well, I thought. He's been so good and tries so hard, it could be fun, so I loaded both dogs into the truck.  The moment your decision is no longer based on the big picture is the moment you open yourself up to a whole lot of dammit. And so it began shortly thereafter.

It started immediately, just barely onto the trail and out of the parking lot.  I fumbled to find my "hidden" pocket for my keys and both leashes fell out of my hands and to the ground.  Stetson stood by me, but Edge had his nose in the wet leaves and was off like a flash.  Zoomies around the parking lot as I muttered the first dammit and called his name sweetly, another round of zoomies and I began walking the other way hoping he'd at least do a fly by and I could grab or stomp on the lead.  Well he didn't, something moved or fell or whatever in the woods and he stopped dead and put all his energy forward looking intently into the woods.  Okay, now I think I'm completely in more trouble that I can imagine when he glances over to me as I called his name.  At the moment he looked our way, Stetson, my hero, flopped into a play bow and woofed at him.  Edge came flying over and pounced on Stetson and I took the leash in my then frozen hand as if he'd been by my side all along.

I probably achieved the cardio workout intended without having moved ten yards yet, but it didn't end there.  We cross below the Illinois Monument and begin a downhill stretch of path when I realize that this was the first time I'd been out on a trail with my new contact lens, with improved reading capability, but slightly reduced distance ability.  Looking down at the leaves quickly passing beneath my feet, I realize that the path is a bit blurred.  Another curse as I slip on the heavily covered wet leaves.  Okay, let's walk a bit.  Blink, walk, blink, blink and my eyes seem to adjust quickly to the new prescription and we're off again.

It didn't take long to realize that Edge had too much lead to keep him from lunging and pulling in his excitement.  By coiling his leash a couple of times I could keep him close enough to me that a leash correction caught his attention and he quickly remembered to not pull.  At this point, I'm feeling okay.  We've been up a few inclines and walked a few descents when we came to a nice area of flat trail.  I decided to keep Edge in and let Stetson have his full six feet of leash.  Yes, this seems to be working well and I allow myself my full stride for the first time.  Taking a short choppy stride is a defense mechanism I developed when running with Maddie and Nakeeta because it gave me better control to keep myself upright in the event they decided to try to chase a squirrel or pull hard on the lead for whatever reason.  It works to stay upright, but it actually kills my lower back and causes extra strain on my knees.  So letting go felt really good.  Until we approach a horse pile that apparently was beyond temptation for Edge.  Here's the lineup; Edge on my left and barely a shoulder in front of me, Me at full stride, horse poop pile on my right.  One stride into it and he cuts in front of me with his head bending down.  I'll let your imagination take you wherever you wish to go regarding my verbal reaction to this one.  Thankfully I didn't fall, except in good nature.

The rest of the run was pretty smooth.  By the time we hit three miles he was relaxed and into the groove of things.  I don't much like the first three miles anyway.  And then here's this face coming out of the crate at me later.  He isn't trying to get out of the crate to run off, he's trying to get to me with big happy kisses.  Yes little man, it was still much better than "Black Friday" shopping or a day at the office.

Deer Proof and Squirrel Proof

He is smart.  You can see it in the way he watches you, he considers your every request and does his best to comply.  If you put him up, or finish training obedience or agility exercises for the day and the next day you ask him the for the same new behavior he was introduced to the day before, he simply begins to do it as though he had done it many times before.  I will be challenged to not increase my criteria often enough with him.

Run training is not an exception to the way he learns.  The stimulus of nature was pretty intense for him the first time we ran at the river.  He wanted to pee on everything and tried to dart in front of Dave's path on more than one occasion after a squirrel the first day out.  A firm "leave it" and "on by" weren't seeming to get me far, but I was intent on getting my message across.  Then my one of my worst fears on a trail (based on previous experience with Nakeeta and/or Madison), deer.  Two of them.  They weren't peeking at us from behind cover, of course not, they were grazing alongside the trail.  Dave and I estimated the two doe were within ten feet of us as we passed.  Thankfully they didn't start and run, but the excitement was high for Edge.  He stopped and looked, checked in with me and then looked back at them a few times after we passed.  What a good boy!  I was thrilled.

The second time out the squirrels were everywhere.  Darting across the path ahead of us, scrambling up trees trail side and noisily scurrying under leaves on either side of the trail.  A couple of good firm "leave it" or "on by" demands from me and he was done.  Early in the run he began to show attention to them and slow and then move forward and continue on.  Occasionally he would check in with Dave or I, but for the most part he was making decisions on his own.  It is huge that he has this much control.  Our safety depends on good decisions by all of us.

In time, he is going to be a great running partner.

Knowing Your Decision is the Right One

When we determined that Stetson wasn't going to physically hold up well to a career in Agility I sank pretty low.  Yet I knew he wasn't fun for me to work with in the sport.  His cautious personality doesn't fit my need for the rush of the sport.  I rarely enjoyed our time training or competing, so being let down seemed silly.  To my rational self, it actually seemed ridiculous to get wrapped up in it and think of it as a loss.

What I did hold onto though was the rekindling of my love for the sport.  Having brought Edge into our home and beginning agility training him has on occasion given me the temptation to see if Stetson might be able to compete in Preferred and seek his preferred novice titles.  The temptation is however fleeting because doing what is best for him will always be my primary focus, yet it has flitted in the back of my mind for some time.

Obedience has a minimal amount of jumping and, depending on the dog, it is more controlled.  In order to be certain he would be comfortable for a long career in the sport, I began incorporating strength training that targeted his front end, I started over on jump training.  I wanted to ensure he is knowledgeable and using his body correctly.  We began with ladder work, then moved to poles on the ground, uprights without poles and finally jump chutes.  He is retrieving over the high jump and landing more appropriately than he did prior to the groundwork and jump chutes.  I feel like he will always need jump chutes as part of his training every once in a while to keep him mentally on the game.

The past few weeks we've done jump chutes a couple of times a week plus he has been run more frequently.  I have been of the mindset that we put in the work, it was time to test and evaluate our results. The training and reconditioning is paying off as he is stretching out after a workout without trying to pull back on me when I work his front end and today he even let out the long, heavy sigh of relaxation.  He is relaxing so deeply during the stretch that he is going to sleep.

He is recovering to normal respiration very quickly after 3 mile runs.  Before we stepped back and started over on training and conditioning, he would occasionally "miss" launching into the truck to kennel and hit at his chest on the bumper.  I have become so confident in him the past two weeks that I haven't even thought twice about letting him launch into the truck.

Over this weekend we have run almost three and half miles on back to back mornings, not something I would have considered with him only five months ago while we were battling what seemed like one injury after another.  This afternoon I sent him over the panel to retrieve over the high jump twice and he sailed smoothly over and picked up and returned the dumbbell to me smartly.  When we finished working in the yard and I ran my hands over him, there was no heat and no sign of avoiding my handling him. No more questions.  No more second guessing.  Pulling him out of agility was absolutely the right thing to do.

I am not looking back anymore.  I have confidence at last. He is strong, he is sound and most importantly, he is my partner.

New Dog Training

We've taken Edge out a few times to run, but honestly, the run is kind of sacred between Stetson and I.  I'm the most insanely sentimental person I know and what I have been able to accomplish in the past 24 months partnering with this dog in performance events, human and canine, is just not something that I want anything else walking on.

On the way to the river this morning

That being said, Dave offered to run the river this morning instead of going to the gym since it was a chilly thirty two degrees and he knows how much I love to run cold.  I couldn't pass it up.  My scheduled run yesterday with Stetson was cancelled due to my strong dislike of wind, so this was the perfect make up session in my opinion.  So off we went at 7ish this morning, Dave, myself and two dogs.

Green dogs have a way of screaming novice at you no matter the situation and today was no exception to the rule.  Stetson came out of the truck politely by Dave's instruction and gingerly stretched before he gave a quick spin of eagerness to hit the trail.  Edge on the other hand, came out of his crate and promptly sat down as he has been trained to do so I can put his leash on, but when I released him to the ground, he hit the end of his lead hard enough to force a soft cough.  Yep, it's going to be one of those days.

My best running buddy

And so it went for just over three miles - trotting, lunging, stopping to get him collected, trotting, lunging, stop to get his attention, trot, lunge...  My scheduled core and upper body workout at the gym will either be a) unnecessary in the morning or b) I'll be too sore to lift a single weight.

Reward for good work, or work anyway...

All the complaining aside, there were moments of genuine gift out there this morning.  Times that he checked in with Dave and/or myself to make certain things were going as they should.  Times that we needed to walk and he let the lead fall limply between us.  Lastly, the enormous kiss received when he loaded back into the truck seemed to temporarily erase my desire/need to train a new running partner.  He loves to be a part of anything and the moment he thinks he is wrong, his little world crumbles in front of you.  I love this dog, he is everything that I consciously requested when I decided I needed to run agility again.

Keep on trying little man, you melt me every time I catch you watching me, waiting for our next adventure.

Need to Grow Some...

Nerve, and lots of it.

Running trails with Stetson is an amazing high, but I kept slowing down and worrying about falling today when we were out on Red Top.  At Kennesaw and the Chattahoochee River trails I am confident of footing and I know the parts of the system that I use well enough to be able to anticipate footing with a fair degree of accuracy.

Red Top Mountain is an entirely different beast.  The tree roots and embedded rocks sticking up in the trail are in some places as frequent as every foot strike.  And now that fall is approaching, the pine needle and leaf coverage on the trail make can make them dangerously, (for a clumsy toe dragger like myself), hidden from sight.

On more than one occasion I have unknowingly slid my toe underneath one of the roots or slipped off the side of one of the rocks only to find myself hurled onto the ground with torn clothes, bloody limbs and/or hands and bruises following shortly after.  Admittedly those incidents also involved one or more Siberian(s), whose main goal was to run as hard as possible while dragging the dead weight human at the back of the leash along, but the memory still triggers a sense of caution within me as soon as I see the first sign of roots in my path.

The caution is not serving me well for purposes of training.  I need to be going as hard as I can on those trails and I need the variety of locations to keep me fresh.  Red Top ought to be a frequently traversed trail system as I head into the fall and winter months of training for the March marathon.  I'm just going to have to get over it and let go so I can utilize the training time and conditions as best as possible.

Stetson is a steady partner, I can't shrug any of the blame for my fear on him.  The leash is often loose between us and I frequently have to choke up on it to keep the slack from tripping us both.  He has proven himself trustworthy with deer and doesn't insist on hitting the end of the line to try to chase.  Nope, he's not the problem, it lies entirely with me.  I have to learn to trust my own feet and frankly I need to build some nerve.  Hoping experience will foster strength and nerve growth for me because this place is just too serene and peaceful at "O'rise and shine let's get our run on" early in the morning.

View from the bridge going into the park this morning

Hole through tree on the loop going out

Backside of same tree on the return

Challenge is what keeps my eye on tomorrow.  Hoping that experience will foster growth and much needed nerves.