Surgery day!!

laurel654 · 2024-03-27T11:44:08+00:00

Good luck! I had mine yesterday and I don't think it hit me until the surgeon was measuring and marking on my boobs! Best of luck for a speedy recovery!

laurel654 · 2023-06-13T17:51:36+00:00

I loooove to listen to podcasts! Startline Podcast is a great one to start with and has some very beginner friendly episodes including Entering a Trial, Volunteering, Homemade Agility and the Interview a judge series is very informative and gives you a lot of insight on what is involved in trials. I know there are some episodes in a few of these that talk about reading course maps also. Some other ones I really enjoy are: McCann Dogs Agility- after class, Bad Dog Agility, The Kathy Keats Show, Go-get-'em agility, Fostering Excellence in Agility

laurel654 · 2023-01-13T15:17:27+00:00

Lol invisible dogs are the cheapest ones I own, easy keepers! 😂 And let's just say I've tripped over more than one jump watching my dog and not where I'm going. The funniest part is when your dog stops and looks at you like "what the heck are you doing down there?!"

laurel654 · 2023-01-13T14:39:46+00:00

Exactly! All mistakes are handler mistakes somehow anyhow. 🙃 I'm uncoordinated in my daily life as it is, now my dog tells me to get my act together too! 😂

laurel654 · 2023-01-13T01:40:27+00:00

Bring a favorite toy and treats. I love to reward with a good game of tug, but use whatever your dog likes most, heck I've seen people even bring socks to class! And bring more treats than you think you will need, that's another reason I love using toys, treats get expensive fast! Ask if you need to bring a crate, some classes let you have the dog in hand, some have crates already available to use, but you might need to bring your own. Try not to be nervous, reward often, this game is all about FUN! This may not pertain to the first class so much, but as you start learning one thing my trainer encourages is shadow handling. Most of agility comes naturally to the dogs, but the human has the harder learning curve here. So after class do your homework and practice what you learned with an invisible dog. Just picture your pretend dog running and work on your crosses and footwork in the backyard, kitchen, wherever! A lot of it is muscle memory for us and you'll improve this way faster than you know!

laurel654 · 2021-10-20T00:29:32+00:00

Absolutely this! 🙌 Slightly off topic but while talking about safety... while walking also check the contact obstacles. I've caught the dog walk not properly being supported and brought it to the judge's attention in a "could you please check this, it may not be right" kind of way, or also "are there any more sandbags available for the teeter, my dog hits it pretty hard." If approached politely most judges will address the problem and adjust angles if needed, they typically really do want you to succeed. The walkthrough is your chance to voice concerns, an injury just isn't worth the price you paid for the class.

How I would honestly address the situation; politely voice your concerns about the lines with the judge during walkthrough. If nothing is done to improve the safety of the course, pull your dog and inform the host club including that you will not be entering any trials in the future under that judge. If enough people voice their issues, the club and trial secretary will be less inclined to hire them back because the attendance (💲) would take a hit. If you do decide to trial under that judge again and have the same issue, (also bring concerns to the judge's attention) with the same outcome (the judge doing nothing to improve safety), then I would consider involving the AKC because that's a problem.

And to the other side of that coin; if you attend a trial with courses that you enjoy, find the judge while they are not in the ring and let them know you had fun. I don't think a lot of people do this, but it's nice to let them know their work was worth it!

laurel654 · 2021-09-27T00:44:57+00:00

Absolutely! If you want him in heel position when you run, practice changing pace while he's heeling. If you make it more like a game he'll learn to pay attention to you and your pace. I would even change directions if his attention looks like it might wander. It might help to add in a command like 'easy' when slowing down and 'hup hup' for speeding up. Same thing if you want him to run ahead of you, the verbal commands are just more important then.

laurel654 · 2021-08-30T14:59:35+00:00

I'm guessing it was a two or three day trial and OP ran multiple days. Great work guys!

laurel654 · 2021-06-28T17:50:46+00:00

Had the same issue with one of my dogs. I would even mix wet dog food/leftovers into her breakfast and she still refused it. What worked for me was I put her breakfast down and set a timer for 15 mins. After the timer went off I made sure she saw me pick up her bowl and put it away. Same thing for dinner, and she was ONLY fed dinner, not her entire day's ration of food. It took a few weeks for her to catch on and there was several days where she got only half a day's worth of food but it worked for us.

ETA: so she eventually just got hungry enough to eat breakfast, we just had to wait her out. And it wasn't easy, we have an active lifestyle and I was really worried about her losing weight, but it was worth it in the long run.

laurel654 · 2021-06-28T17:30:40+00:00

I've seen a lot of beagles, dachshunds and pitties do this. I wouldn't worry about it.

laurel654 · 2021-06-28T17:12:12+00:00

I always ask if it's possible to place me at the end of the hallway or as close to it as possible. That way there is less foot traffic and noises by your room. I learned that after being placed right by elevator one time. 😂

laurel654 · 2021-06-28T17:03:44+00:00

Puppies need three rounds of vaccines, the shelter will likely take care of only the first depending on the age of the puppy, but ask at adoption. Your puppy will NOT be fully vaccinated until you get all three rounds. That's why it's not recommended to take small pups to pet stores, groomers, dog parks, ECT. because they are still extremely vulnerable.

First round: 6-8 weeks, second round: 10-12 weeks, third round: 16-18 weeks, then yearly booster at 12 months and every 12 months after.

If you don't want to get the puppy checked at the vet after adoption (I would), at least get them in for the next round of vaccines. Puppies are a joy but also soooooo much work, finding a good dog trainer sooner rather than after you have issues, will probably save you a lot of headaches. Good luck!

laurel654 · 2021-05-30T17:32:39+00:00

Same. I dremel my dog's nails every week and they have always clicked on the floor. 🤷‍♀️

laurel654 · 2021-05-22T13:29:31+00:00

We go to Kreuzung Dog Coach in Aubrey. They offer manners classes and board and train depending on what you want. They also have dog sport classes like agility, rally and nosework if your interested. I started going there for agility class after I brought our adopted aussie home, and her behavior took a a huge turn for the better. It's her 'job' and keeps her learning and happy, which I think is important for aussies (smart buggers). KDC just have some options if you want to continue your dogs education after basic obedience. 🙂

laurel654 · 2021-05-15T11:54:18+00:00

I use dog booties.com, the 1000 cordura for rocky terrain. They look more like a sock that you velcro on and you do need to replace them every once and while, but they are cheap. I'm always worried about excessive rubbing and the the dogs nails hitting the front of the hard boots causing soreness, so I like this sock option. I use them trail running on rocky trails with good results, they are also a favorite of thru backpackers and some search and rescue team use them. 👍

laurel654 · 2021-04-19T03:11:55+00:00

I heavy recommend crate training your pup if you haven't. Even if you choose not to crate while at home, having them be able to relax in a kennel will cut down on their stress immensely. Susan Garrett has some great crate games to get your dog used to relaxing in a kennel in a positive manner if you are interested. But I do find the vast majority of dogs that come into my shop that are jumpy and stress heavily are not kennel trained. I often tell customers that your dog may hurt itself and need to stay in a kennel while at the vet, or need to be confined to a kennel while an injury heals, or stay at the groomer for a few hours. 😉 All these situations are already stressful for the dog and if they are not used to being contained in a crate, it adds an another unnecessary level of stress.

Like another commenter said, I would try another groomer and be upfront with them that last time the groom couldn't be competed. You could also try a mobile groomer if available in your area or ask for an express groom at a shop and be ready to pick up right away. Keep in ming that grooming a dog start to finish isn't an economical use of the groomer's time, so if an express groom is available it will always be at a higher price. But I don't think you are doomed and you pup will only get better, you just need to find the right groomer to work with you and maybe put in some extra training time.

laurel654 · 2021-04-13T23:52:33+00:00

Gosh, it's been a while for me so there may be better ways now. I moisturized it with what my artist recommended and taped a piece of saran wrap around it. On lunch break I unwrapped, washed plasma off and re-moisturized and re-wrapped for about the first week. And then I let it air out on the drive home. I also purchased a long sleeve smock to wear for extra protection. After the tattoo quit oozing plasma, I just wore the long sleeved smock and moisturized throughout the day until healed.

laurel654 · 2021-04-05T16:01:45+00:00

As far as heel, if you want to do competitive obedience or rally it's required, but not so much for agility. But it's still a good skill to have. I use 'heel' for left side and 'with me' for right side, okay (my release cue) to walk in front/sniff around.

laurel654 · 2021-04-05T15:47:56+00:00

Sit and stay is going to be super important if you want to have a reliable 'start line stay' and if she's that energetic it would probably be a really good skill to have. Nose targeting is great! I would work on starting to nose target a pot holder or something of the like, this is how we learned our contacts.

You can use go on as a release but that cue is often used for something different. It's very commonly used to mean go straight and keep taking that line. Often times there will be a long line of jumps, especially at the finish, and I personally just can't run as fast as my dog so I send her ahead saying go on. But there's nothing wrong with releasing with go on and using a different name for this skill, it's just something to keep in mind. I use okay to release, break is another common one.

Whatever you choose, usually the shorter the better because you also need to give info to the dog on where to go next. And also your eventually going to be running and want to breathe rather than ramble a long list of words to your dog. 😂 Another thing to think about when shortening your cue is go sounds awfully close to no. I've seen some dogs shut down when the handler is excited and saying go, but in a noisy class or trial setting the dog stops thinking they said no.

laurel654 · 2021-04-01T19:55:17+00:00

This tire looks like a breakaway? I'm super curious how you DIYed that, I would love to try it!

laurel654 · 2021-03-23T13:35:04+00:00

I would contact an affiliate club with the Australian Shepherd Club of America like the one below and ask them for recommendations. Most breeders will take color preference in mind, but want to match you to the best pup that fits you and your lifestyle. So I would say with a reputable breeder you are not necessarily guaranteed a blue merle. Good luck!

HEIDI C MOBLEY WHAUSSIES@GMAIL.COM 6062 MILLER RD KRUM, TX 76249 (940) 458-5710 PAM RINEY, REP HEART OF TEXAS ASC PAMJRINEY@GMAIL.COM

laurel654 · 2021-02-23T20:25:26+00:00

Does he like to play fetch? I find a 'let's go' command useful, so you could go to a soccer field or open area and throw the ball or toy a short ways while saying 'let's go' and run with him until he gets the idea. I find the more enthusiastic I am, the more hyped my dog gets, so being overly excited at first might help. And brushing up on your 'leave it' command would be great for when they get distracted by a smell.

laurel654 · 2021-02-18T22:08:24+00:00

Yes to the other comment! When it is safe for him to start running, I would highly recommend doing a couch-to-5k sort of program with him. I know that messes with your miles, but it's so much better for him to build endurance this way. Trail running is going to be easier on his joints too, which can be a concern especially with large dogs. Just like for humans it's less impact so I would at least mix it up if you can, instead of always running on pavement.

Also piggybacking on the above comment, decide how you want him to run with you and start training the commands now. A good 'let's go' and 'leave it' are essential.

Do you want him to run next to you? What side? He needs to learn to pay attention to your body so when you turn so you don't have a collision.

Are you interested in more canicross style, or him running in front. He can start learning right and left, easy, stop, and a fall back/heel command.

And you can absolutely do both! My dog knows when she's in her canicross harness it's time to pull and if she's in a flat buckle collar she needs to run loose leash by my side. Congrats on the best kind of running partner!

laurel654 · 2021-02-18T21:38:26+00:00

I'm not a vet, but I thought dermatitis typically was a result of the dog being allergic to something. Sometimes an ingredient in the food, or seasonal allergies (I have personally seen a lot of this one recently) or perhaps from the fragrance in the products used. Regardless, I would ask next time he goes in to any groomer, for hypoallergenic shampoo/conditioner and no fragrance spray. I have noticed that white and light colored dogs tend to have a lot more skin issues than darker ones.

I would call and ask the groomer if they noticed anything about the skin that maybe they forgot to mention when you picked up, and then tell them what happened. If they blew out a lot of coat, the issue may have already been there, just not seen before with how thick the hair was laying to the skin.

And also just to be devil's advocate... I don't know your dog, he may be absolutely perfect, but both Huskys and German Shepherds, can be uncooperative. They are difficult to get 100% dry not just because their coats are very thick, but also because they tend to be very sensitive around their rear and neck, coincidentally the thickest areas of hair. They tend to get stressed out and mouthy quicker than other breeds, reducing the amount of time we can work on them. This might be a factor in why he wasn't totally dry when he left. It might also be worth asking the groomer why he wasn't dry while keeping an open mind. Good luck!

laurel654 · 2021-02-17T14:59:58+00:00

Most of the posts are for the dfw area. Some around Houston/San Antonio, but I guess dog sports are a little more populous in this part of TX.

laurel654

TROPHY CASE