It’s official. Winter has set in in some places or it did a little bit yesterday. We’re back up to 45° again today for some reason. Mother Nature really can’t decide on what she wants to do. The dogs were glad for a bit of romp time in the chilly weather, though and I was able to take some fun photos of the kiddos in the snow. Enjoy!
Well, we’ve got the entire week off from work and decided that it was time for a mini vacation away from home. After some thought and discussion between Bruce and I, we decided on a destination that wasn’t too far from home in case someone in the family needed us for some dire emergency – Monroe, MI.
We’ve been down here, it seems, every single New Years weekend for some dog event or another. This will be the first time that we come here and there is absolutely nothing dog related in the works. We’re staying at our favorite hotel, Red Roof Inn. They’re dog friendly and have loads of room for the pups to romp around the room without being a pain in the rear to the neighbors. We opted this time, thanks to coupons, for the suite. Let me tell you this…it’s huge. Two rooms, king-sized bed (perfect for the pit bulls, let me tell you..they’ve already tested it out!), kitchenette, and a ‘living room’. The dogs (and Bruce and I!) are in seventh heaven.
We’re going to be here until at least Thursday, although we’ve been whispering back and forth about staying into the New Year just to ‘ be away’ for the rolling in of 2012, but we’ll see how that goes in the next 24 hours. Tomorrow, if the weather isn’t absolutely horrid, we’re planning on taking a drive down to Luna Pier and taking some photos and letting the dogs romp on the beach for a bit. They don’t seem to care if it’s cold, but we’re going to bring their Fido Fleece jackets just in case they get too chilly.
All in all, we’ve got a nice little mini vacation planned – even if the weather continues to stay gross and we stay grounded to the hotel. Plenty of local flavors we can enjoy and places to go that aren’t too far from ‘home.’ I’ll post more updates later on since I get to go be the fun police to two brats that keep ramming themselves into the back of my computer chair like sumo wrestlers!
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!
Patience is having your idiotic ‘brother’ use you as a pillow. Luna, sweetie, you have the patience of a Saint to have that lug on you.
However, things change when I switch the dog I’m working with. In this case, Lyric. She frustrates me sometimes because she is always thinking. My friend, Jen, said it best. I’ve been giving her mixed signals when I ask for something and while she wants to please me, I’m confusing her. I feel like a complete idiot in this aspect and it’s good friends that help me see that I’m flat out being stupid and that it’s not the dog…it’s me.
Lyric is, and always has been, a thinker. She’s forever analyzing a situation and trying to figure out which way will best make me proud of her. When I get frustrated, I handle myself and her horridly wrong and I feel like a jerk after the fact – especially when someone I highly respect tells me I’m being a jerk (in a more elaborate example). I just need to reassess how I handle her and I think the first thing we need to do is go back to the basics – more for me than her. To do this, we’re going to enroll in a basic obedience class.
Now, Lyric has much more knowledge than what she’ll get in the basics class, but for me to remember that I have to work my sensitive little monkey in a better fashion. She’s not like Ryker who will go, “Whatever you want, mom!” and do it in the fashion I ask. She’s also not like Mika or Luna who will do anything for that toy. She wants to please me and wants me to be happy with her and to do that, I have to change who I am with her for her.
I’m still feeling like a complete idiot from today, but knowing that I can admit to myself and to her that I screwed up makes things a whole lot better. Tink (Lyric) – I love you, even when you do some of the stupidest things you make me laugh and I promise I’ll get better when we work together. I hate seeing the doubt in your face when I get frustrated.
What an experience we had today! If our good friend Jen Rainey at Vom Haus Huro German Shepherds had not alerted us to the Metro-Detroit Schutzhund Club’s trial today, we would not have had the pleasure of taking our first baby steps into the fun and challenging world of Schutzhund.
To say we passed with flying colors would be far from the truth. In all honesty, we bombed pretty badly and while my goober boy had something to do with it – most of the problems lay on my shoulders. As a good friend of mine once said, “It’s easy to train the dog, but sometimes it’s the handler who needs the real help.” That is absolutely the honest truth right there. Ryker felt my nerves right through every step I took and every move I made since we are so tuned in to one another as a team and we both screwed up – including me second guessing when I was to return to him on the long down and going too soon.
Sadly, it meant we didn’t get our BH title. That being said, it was a very valuable lesson. The lesson that no matter how much you train. No matter how hard you work, you and your canine partner are still prone to error – be it large or small – and at the end of the day, your dog will still look up at you with complete adoration because that dog still had fun. That dog still doesn’t care about that little piece of paper or the pretty ribbons…he cares about you and you alone.
While I am sad I let him down, I’ve realized that there is always next time and we’ll both go in with much more confidence and experience under our belt. Heaven knows I’m not perfect and neither is my wonderful Ryker, but we can strive to embody it every time we go out…even if we fall smack on our faces!
And on an ending note, I have to give my thanks to those who have been there for me – training with me, rooting me on, sharing silly stories of trials past. I owe it to you guys for getting Ryker and I this far – Howard, Beth, Wayne, Jen, Doty, Gabby, and the love of my life, Bruce. Without my wonderful support, I don’t think Ryker and I would have even come this far.
On Saturday, August 13th we went to Birch Run. Why did we go all the way up to Birch Run? Well, for an AKC fun match. But it wasn’t just the AKC fun match that drew us there, it was the ability to have two of the five dogs tested by a Therapy Dogs International evaluator to see if they were suitable to become official therapy dogs and be able to visit libraries, nursing homes, etc. and share their vast supply of canine snuggle with folks.
I admit, I was incredibly nervous. I wasn’t sure how we’d do since the dogs are overzealous when they haven’t been exercised that morning and since we had to be up and at Rebecca’s house by 8am, that nice morning walk or a jog on the treadmill wasn’t going to happen since I hadn’t gone to sleep early enough that previous evening. (Bad, dog mom!)
However, I was quite wrong in my concerns and the dogs did very well. I had all the faith in the world in Luna. She is eight years old and has been extensively trained to know how to behave in a public setting. It is her job after all. She was beautiful with everything – especially the three minutes she spent with the evaluator schmoozing it up and grovelling for love.
Ryker, even at five years old, is the most rambunctious, live-life-to-its-fullest dog I have ever met that I almost expected him to fail because he got TOO happy. His defensive behavior toward other dogs was also a concern. I was pleasantly surprised that he was also very well-behaved. The only place we almost failed was the Beggin’ Strips treats in a bowl. Since that is not a normal treat in the house, he was all for wanting that. A firm “Leave it!” was all that was needed and we went through the rest of the test like it was second nature – he even play bowed at the neutral dog before that portion of the test!
I’m very proud of the dynamic duo. I have no doubt that, when Mika is mature enough, we will have a third dog for our Therapy Dog crew and a fourth whenever Lyric decides that drive can meld with an off switch. Ha! (Did I mention Lyric runs in two speeds – fast and warp twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week?!)
So, I can proudly introduce Luna and Ryker to the TDI brotherhood and we will begin our journey of being helping ‘paws’ with these guys.
It’s been a busy past few weeks, but one of the highlights of that was the 2011 United Kennel Club Premier and All Star Invitational. Ryker and I were invited after competing in numerous weight pulls over the 2010 weight pull season. Ryker came in #5 in the Top 25 American Pit Bull Terriers for that year (with the Top 5 dogs being Michigan dogs!).
Ryker took 5th overall at the Invitational and we’re incredibly happy with how well he worked. He pulled 1,836lbs (36.72 times his body weight of 50lbs) and gave me everything when I asked – especially considering wheels are not his finest surface. He’s definitely more of a snow or rail surface lovin’ dog.
Regardless, we had a wonderful time. We stayed until Saturday to root on friends and other APBT competitors in the show ring and then went to the Showdown In Motown APA weight pull that Saturday where Ryker took 3rd place overall in his class and Luna took 4th place.
I’m so incredibly blessed to have my home filled with some of the sweetest and most hard working dogs imaginable. These dogs have filled my heart with joy and shown ethic I couldn’t imagine having in any other dog.
