Friday, February 10, 2012

Is it Friday already?

The last few weeks have been busy and exciting.  Plus the new puppy has interfered with our sleep cycles just a bit.  So much so that I slept through an alarm clock going of this morning.

This past weekend was AKC obedience in Folsom, Louisiana.  I have to say I hope our performances in the ring at that show will be the low point of our collective obedience careers.  The previous weekend we looked good and on top of our game in Alexandria.  Introduce one bouncy yapping 7 month old puppy into the pack and chaos ensues.  I'm chalking our poor performances up to sleep deprivation on my part as well as Bern's and Grace's.  This week (puppy week 2) we are getting more sleep and, therefore, seem more awake and alert.  Truly I did not know it was possible to snooze through a healing pattern but Bern managed it on Sunday morning (UGLY!).

Our Tuesday night not-quite-ready-for-prime-time agility class finally got started after a series of delays.  Two students made it out and we had a great session.  Both of them are eager to try some new ideas with dogs who are easy to work with.  This 6 week session should be a pleasure to teach.

Thursday night was week 5 of 6 for the beginner obedience class.  Tracey, Mike and I are all pleased with every one's improvement.  Next week we will will set up a rally style course outfitted with some extra signs (perform a trick, etc) as well as the agility equipment the dogs have seen (tire, tunnel, jump, etc).  This is always a fun week because the folks realize how far each team has come in the last 6 weeks.

Spice is fitting into the family well and will be joining the Meadowood Ranch pack permanently.  I have added her to the pack blog page.  Spice has participated in the pack outings this past week including a walk around the neighborhood.  She continues to improve with each outing but is still very reactive when on a leash outside the house.  Spice is now sporting her new color (ice blue) with her new collar.  There is an agility slip leash, an obedience slip collar/lead combo, and a walking leash on her peg in the kitchen  - all ice blue.  She has a tracking harness fitted for her in the tracking box.  Next she needs a dumbbell and a set of scent articles.  However, until she learns better leash manners she will be sporting a loner pinch collar in public for a few weeks (Thanks Jedi).

The exterior of Meadowood Ranch is getting a face lift, the front landscaping is almost in and backyard planting material is being planned and  purchased (photos soon).  For the house interior, I am looking into possible options for an indoor dog training floor.  The flooring front runner is Dri-Dek.