Unfortunately, my absolutely favorite place to train when the gross weather rolls in is out of commission for the month of December.  What does this mean for me and the beasts?  It means that we have to brave the sleet, the snow and the rain to get our training thing done.  This is fine for me since I can layer up and be nice and toasty, but the pit bulls believe that they will melt because they are made of sugar, spice and everything nice.  Convincing them that they simply will not die when they go out into the cold and the muck is a feat in itself.

The last few days we’ve been absolute slackers.  They’ve stayed in the nice, warm house and run on their Grand Carpet Mill and trashed the house with the massive box of goodies ranging from Wubbas to stuffies to Kongs and everything in between.  Let me tell you, getting beaten by a Mega Wubba is on my list of things I definitely do not like having repeated. (Thanks, Ryker!)

As it stands right now, I’m not going to be able to travel with my friend Jen to Kentucky in a couple of weeks to try again for Ryker’s Schutzhund BH because of the likely possibility that I’ll have to work a crap load of hours the week before Christmas.  I will be glad for the paychecks I get, but it just sucks because I wanted to go and had planned to for weeks because I think we are read – well, Ryker definitely is (my nerves suck!).

Lyric is coming around beautifully with her obedience and I’d love to start working more on it so that we can try for our URO1 in the early part of next year and possibly a UCD the following year if she’s ready.  I’m trying to keep it light and positive with her so she continues to enjoy it.  She is the kind of dog that starts loathing things if they become boring or restrictive because she is such a free-spirited dog.

Mika’s doing well and has the most phenomenal heeling for such a young dog.  We’re not really pushing her very hard because we want her to have fun and not rush things.  Being a title chaser can only be benefited if the dog enjoys what they’re doing and I can’t see the point of ruining a young dog like that for a piece of paper.  I’m very proud of Bruce for what he’s done with her and what he continues to do with her.  The bond between the two of them is amazing – especially since most of the dogs in the house prefer me and if she had to choose, it’d be him and not me she’d run to first. (Traitor!)

Luna and Duo, well, they’re just relaxing.

Luna’s enjoying the fact that she doesn’t have to constantly train and be conditioned for weight pull since I’ve retired her from pulling heavily.  We’re going to attempt UKC Rally next year, I think.  She knows all of the moves, so that won’t be a problem.  We’ll just fine tune those fronts and finishes before we go and be all set.

Duo, on the other hand, won’t be doing much of anything except snoozing with his Grandpa.  He stresses out when he leaves and his reactive behavior around other dogs leaves something to be desired.  In reality, he’d rather just hold down the bed or the couch than travel with his siblings.  The one-on-one time he gets when he stays with Grandpa, I think, is his favorite thing in the planet.  How else would he not look plumper when we return than before…because someone feeds him entirely too many goodies while we’re gone!

Ah, well…with any luck, the weather will clear and I won’t have to spend as much time complaining about the garbage weather and inability to train.  Heck, the possibilities of taking classes this winter very well may make my life a little less not busy (Ha!) and brush up on a few skills and basic behaviors and before the dogs and I know it, spring will be here again!