Mindless Chatter - Moanday

We had a "dusting" of snow on grassy areas around here but according to the traffic reports there was a lot of black ice around metro Detroit. Quite a few major highway closures due to the ice or accidents. So here I am in my Explorer driving to work be conscious of the possibility for ice. I see 4WD trucks too driving carefully (not 90 mph) and I see Mustangs, and Grand Ams driving like idiots. Why do people insist on thinking it can't happen to them?

Yesterday Art cleaned our carpets, they really needed it. This AM we wake up to Maxine barfing ON THE CARPET!!!! Why do dogs insist on puking on carpet? I can clean it up easily off our kitche or bathroom floor. She went into one of the spare bedrooms  She does have a tendancy to try to "hide" it. sigh!

Max's Mom I thought of you yesterday when I happened upon Dock Dogs on the Outdoor channel!  They were doing extreme vertical. Very cool, do you do that with your dogs?  I had never seen the vertical jumping.

We are supposed to get rain today!  Yeah, we desperately need it.  Went to Lost Maples State Park Saturday, the trees were breathtaking.  Hiked around for almost five hours.  Lots of people brought their dogs.  Saw way to many poop piles right on the trail, idiot dog owners!  Sigh.

JackieG

Max's Mom I thought of you yesterday when I happened upon Dock Dogs on the Outdoor channel!  They were doing extreme vertical. Very cool, do you do that with your dogs?  I had never seen the vertical jumping.

We are supposed to get rain today!  Yeah, we desperately need it.  Went to Lost Maples State Park Saturday, the trees were breathtaking.  Hiked around for almost five hours.  Lots of people brought their dogs.  Saw way to many poop piles right on the trail, idiot dog owners!  Sigh.

No I have not done "EV" with my dogs. Everyone who saw Belle when we first started said she was a natural, She has natural "pop" off the dock gets really good height with her big air jumps...when she jumps. But we couldn't get her to look up at the bumper. My friend has a lab we are going to try EV with this weekend for the first time. I also have another friend a few years back whose dog broke the world record and jumped 7'4" at EV. His record has since been broken. But that was pretty cool!  We can't try vertical with Teddi because of her hips.

Actually I have a "little" problem with the big vertical jumps. While it is very cool, I really worry about the dogs angle going into the water and the water depth. Most pools are only 4', and these dogs drop straight down. Some land on their backs. I think they need to have a physicist look at what they are doing, and make sure there is no risk of injury to the dogs. I think they need a deeper pool. 

We have a new game around here called "fetch it" where the bumper is suspended "out" (opposed to up) over the pool. It is not much different than the normal jumps but the dogs who do well do jump up more for the bumper and they can end up getting up to 2-3 feet more distance on their jumps. I want to try Teddi at this but the bumper would have to be close to the pool. She is not a big jumper. Her personal best is 14"10" so far. I think she will break 15' soon. 

Maxs Mom

Actually I have a "little" problem with the big vertical jumps. While it is very cool, I really worry about the dogs angle going into the water and the water depth. Most pools are only 4', and these dogs drop straight down. Some land on their backs. I think they need to have a physicist look at what they are doing, and make sure there is no risk of injury to the dogs. I think they need a deeper pool. 

 I just checked the UAD page and they are full for this weekend! I was thinking of signing Neiko up for Novice, just to see how he would do. He will jump in to my sisters pool from her dock....How far in advance do these things usually fill up?

Bev is testing with a local therapy dog group Wednesday afternoon.  I just made the decision this morning, so we don't have tons of time to prepare.  I'm trying to decide if I want to test Shooter at the same time.  If all goes well, then Bev is going to try his hand at grief therapy at a local funeral home.  It's kinda morbid, but I think that he'd do great in that type of setting.

BEVOLASVEGAS

Bev is testing with a local therapy dog group Wednesday afternoon.

What a good idea, never heard of a therapy dog at a funeral home but definitely would help some people deal with a difficult time.  Test Shooter too, that way you can switch dogs if needed. 

Aww, I think Bev will do a great job!!!  And you think that's morbid?  Maddie and Zack have apparently been signed up to have their pictures taken to be put on brochures about a pet cemetary opening up in one of the larger cemetaries my brother works for.  yeck!

 I think doing grief therapy with Bev is such a good thing.  I'm sure he'll be able to provide comfort to those who have just lost someone.  And I think you should definitely test Shooter too, more therapy dogs are never a bad thing.

I'm off today, and am VERY excited about it.  Work has been totally insane lately, and I really need this day off today to decompress.  I'm just going to hang around the house and spend time with the doggies.

Infiniti

 I think doing grief therapy with Bev is such a good thing.  I'm sure he'll be able to provide comfort to those who have just lost someone.  And I think you should definitely test Shooter too, more therapy dogs are never a bad thing.

I think of that little girl in your vet's waiting room, crying on Bevo who naturally went over to comfort her.  I think it would be great for him to be a grief therapy dog! He's got a stable temperament.  All the obedience he has plus his stable temperament is all you need.  Practice a good "STAY!" under big distractions and that's about all you'll need. (In our TDI class, we had to practice catching a falling patient, which meant placing the dog in a fast stay while we rushed to catch the "falling elderly patient.";)

I bet Shooter would be great, too.  I'd want to smooch that little face! :)

Julie - for herding in IN winters I highly recommend Carhartt quilted overalls. ;)  You'll fit right in with the farm crew and they are the BEST at keeping you toasty warm even with high winds; much better than long johns ime.  I got mine on sale for about $70 and they were worth every penny.  I do suggest the stonewashed (?) version with the duck material already broken in as they're easier to move around in. I tell people it's like walking around with sleepign bags on your legs. ;)

My day's been uneventful - slept in since it's my day off, vacuumed, paid my ridiculous cell phone bill, watched tv while curled up with Z, and I'm about to go scoop the yard and work Z on some jumping exercises before walking the girls and getting ready for SAR practice at 6:30pm. Yay for days off.

I'm currently counting down until Z's new Ruffwear stuff gets here - it's scheduled for tomorrow, but I wish it would get here today since it has all sorts of stuff for SAR and new collars for her and Mags both.

 So, I finally received Nike's AKC PAL registration in the mail today....and they spelled my name wrong...argh.  They spelled my oft-mispelled last name correctly, but decided to change "Lisa" to "Lias".  Charming.

 Does anyone know if Becca's surgery was today?  Hope it went well.