Mr. Popular

(Cottonwood, AZ) Thursday morning, Mike, Boogie, Sparkie, and 2iggie went to agility practice. I sure hope Boogie is making some progress - I guess we'll see next week.

Today was extremely windy but I really wanted to track with Boogie today as it will be his last chance for about 10-12 days. Mike laid two tracks then came back to the RV to get us. Boogie did great on his first two tracks each aged about 15 minutes. Mike laid the third track in a field we hadn't been in before. He noticed there were a lot of stickers in the field. So while the track was aging, we tried to put boots on Boogie to help protect his feet. I wish I would have had my video camera. At first he tried to take a few steps like a cartoon dog. Then he became super silly and was dashing this way and that as quickly as he possibly could. He looked like a tornado that couldn't figure out which way to go. So much for the boots.

So Mike had to lay yet another track, this time in the grove of trees I showed you the other day. Boogie did great even in such horrendous conditions. The things that impressed me most was that Mike accidentally put the glove at the start instead of the end. Boogie went right to the start, sniffed the glove for a bit then picked it up and handed it to me. Wow, what a good dog!

Today (Friday) Mike and Boogie did a very early and very quick agility practice. Then they went to someones house to load up all the tunnels for this weekend's Earthdog test here at the park. Then Mike went and helped dig all the trenches to put the tunnels in. This is a lot of work but this year a good number of people showed up to help so it only took a few hours.

After that, we took Boogie and 2iggie and drove to Sedona to visit some good friends. Boogie has met them before and loves going there because one of his best friends lives there. Meet Murphy. Murphy is truly the gentle giant. His paws are literally bigger than my hands and his head is much bigger than mine. But he is the most gentle happy boy you could ever meet....and a little slobbery at times.




Boogie's "best friend" weighs twice as much as me....yes me! So here is Boogie at 19 pounds playing with his friend that weighs over 150 pounds. Just a little size difference.




When these two play, everyone needs to clear out as they both go all out. 2iggie was very scared as she thought this huge "horse" was going to hurt Boogie. Of course Boogie was having a blast but 2iggie didn't seem to understand that. So she was barking her head off and lunging at poor Murphy. But if Murphy would even glance her way, 2iggie would run and hide behind Mike and bark. Don't know why she would be worried....Boogie's in there somewhere.




They started out playing inside...




But Boogie and Murphy were having a blast. Boogie would grab a whole mouthful of Murphy (all hair I'm sure) and pull with all his might, crying as he did so. I think he was crying because he was so frustrated. No matter how hard he pulled he couldn't begin to budge Murphy.




What you can't tell from my pictures is that they were playing chase around the furniture, over the furniture, and through the furniture! They were really going at it. (That's Murphy's dad, Paul, in the background.)




After much chasing and wrestling, Murphy got Boogie down. (Gosh, he looks so little!)




But isn't wasn't long before Boogie said "I can do that too!"




We decided it was definitely time to take it outside as they were getting more rambunctious all the time.





The action was non-stop. Unfortunately I was having trouble with my camera and couldn't get many pictures. And the ones I did get weren't very good. But you can still tell they were having fun and really going at it.




The scenery all around the house it absolutely gorgeous. I was having so much fun watching the boys play that I only glanced up once to get a quick picture of the red rocks that surround the house.




Just because I looked up to see the scenery didn't mean the boys were going to stop playing.




Finally after a couple hours of hard play, the boys stopped for just a second. I just love how they are looking at each other. Such friends.




I think Boogie's playmate got tuckered out. It doesn't matter where we go, all the dogs want to play with Boogie. He must have some aura about him. He is definitely the popular one.




2iggie seemed glad to leave although she made great strides while she was there with both the people and the dogs. She tried to get brave and sneak up on Murphy but he'd turn around to see her and she'd run around the hot tub with Murphy in hot pursuit. Then Boogie got jealous that Murphy had a new playmate and he barked his head off. Too funny.

When we got home Boogie insisted he wasn't tired at all. But a couple hours later he finally decided it might be fun to dream about this play date. So he got in his normal sleeping position and went off to dreamland. This is one relaxed dog.



What a fun afternoon. Amongst all the playing, Mike and I did have some time to visit with our friends. It was so very good to see them. What a great family...nice people and nice dogs.

Debbie
3/25-26/10

I'm Lost

(Cottonwood, AZ) An update on 2iggie: She is acting a little more herself today. Her tail doesn't work a whole lot better yet but her mood is improving which I'm guessing means she is in less pain. She is doing a lot of stretching though.

Boogie went to agility practice alone this morning - meaning he was the only dog that got to go. Mike said they had a great practice.

Late this afternoon Mike set three tracks for Boogie. It was intended the age of the tracks would be 13, 16, and 16 minutes. In actuality, they turned out to be aged 25, 30 and 35. And instead of being on totally flat ground as in all previous outings, the ground had many small hills every 20 yards or so. The green lines of grass are the fronts of the hills.




The last track was in a grove of trees.




If you look closely you can see the small hills every 10 - 15 yards.




Overall he did a great job but we did have some troubles. Poor guy was trying so hard but he did go pretty far off track a couple times. Probably due to the age of the tracks. But he never gave up. And he was always very excited for the next track.

We've definitely got a long way to go. But Boogie's game that's for sure.

Debbie
3/24/10

Broken Wag

(Cottonwood, AZ) Sunday, Mike took Sparkie, 2iggie and Boogie to Sedona for a nice long hike - after stopping for agility practice on the way.

It was a beautiful day so instead of doing the hike they'd planned, they went on a longer hike that was about three hours. Sparkie got to be off leash the entire time but the two youngsters were on Flexi leads the entire time. Even so they got a lot of running in during the hike.

By the end of the hike, Boogie and Sparkie were tired but 2iggie was still zip-zapping everywhere and was eager to do much more. But Mike thought they'd had enough so they came home.

About two hours later, we took Boogie out to do some tracking. He is doing so well and really loves it. He's progressing well but I'm finding things we definitely need to work on.

When we got home, less than an hour later, 2iggie was in a lot of pain. She moved from spot to spot trying to get comfortable and was crying a lot. We tried to think of all the different things we'd fed her, what she ate on the hike, etc. but we couldn't think of anything that would have made her sick. She was a very unhappy puppy for sure. When it came dinner time, she ate just fine, drank fine, and was doing her business fine. This was good as we figured it meant there wasn't any blockage anywhere. But she still wasn't happy at all.

Monday she woke up and was still not happy. She ate fine but I noticed that her tail was way down between her legs. I figured she must be in a lot of pain because her tail is always up, kind of like a flag pole.

It wasn't until later in the afternoon that Mike tried to lift up her tail. She screamed loud! That's when I remembered somewhere way back in my brain that there was some kind of syndrome when a dogs tail goes limp. I seemed to remember that it usually had to do with dogs that did a lot of swimming or swimming in cold water. But 2iggie hadn't been in the water.

So I called Karen Hunter figuring she'd know about it since she has a doggy swimming pool. She wasn't home but Steve looked it up on the internet (we were traveling so had no access to the web). Sure enough, he found it.

This condition has many names, all meaning the same thing. Of the six or seven names, Broken Wag seemed most appropriate for 2iggie. If you look back at previous posts, you'll see 2iggie's tail is always wagging high up in the air. Here's what it looks like now (Tuesday) at full arousal. All other times it hangs straight down. This is about 180 degrees lower than normal!




It's a little better than a couple days ago but still not the flagpole we're used to. She can't wag it at all. It's just one sad, limp tail.

After researching the condition we found that it is usually found in dogs that have been kept in a crate for long periods of time and therefore have a very low conditioning level. Then they go out and exercise a lot which overuses the muscles. The poor dog then ends up with Broken Way (or Limber Tail Syndrome). It is very painful (as we saw) for the first couple days. It can take a few days to three weeks to heal. The dog is to rest until the tail returns to normal. Poor 2iggie - she had too much fun after a year of spending most of her time in a crate.

Boogie, however, is in fine form! We made the hour and a half drive down to Phoenix Monday for Earthdog practice. At the very beginning of practice a rat got loose in the yard. So they needed a dog to find it. Guess who got called for the job? Boogie!! He was so happy. He took off like a shot and immediately ran to a particular bush. He disappeared into this large four foot tall bush. Just a second or two later, there was no doubt Boogie had captured the rat. Good boy, Boogie. What a hunter. Job well done, back in the car he went. What?! That wasn't what he had in mind at all.

During practice he got two turns (like always). Here he is entering the tunnel at full speed. I find it amazing how far he has to crouch down yet he can make his way the 30' to the rats in six or seven seconds. He even has to go over a roller inside the tunnel and through a constriction.




We worked on his two problem areas and he was perfect! Let's hope he remembers that this weekend during the test.

Here is my attempt at an artistic picture of Boogie at Earthdog practice.




At the end of practice another rat got loose. I don't know how Boogie got so lucky but they called for him again! He was in heaven! He again found the bush where the rat was hiding but this one was trickier. It got out of the bush without Boogie noticing. Mike noticed and called Boogie....who came like a shot. What a good boy! He chased the rat into the next bush where he made the catch. Just to let everyone know - after practice the rat carcasses are taken to the local wildlife rehabilitation center for the animals to eat....well except for the one rat that Boogie ate. Of course right after eating the rat he wanted to give me a big kiss. I wasn't so receptive!

We didn't get home from Phoenix until almost 9pm. Boogie sacked out on the couch in his normal position. Why is it that every time I try to take a picture of him sleeping, he opens his eyes as wide as possible just as I start to push the button.



Debbie
3/21-23/10

Double Fun

(Cottonwood, AZ) Today we took four dogs to agility practice. Wazzu and Sparkie got to go first since I really wanted to get a NATCH picture. I think this one is much better than our last attempt!




Wazzu was in a great mood for some reason. She decided since she and Sparkie got NATCH's together they should do agility together.


They took off together over the jump.




I'm only posting this picture because it shows Wazzu with such a huge smile.




They weaved together.....




did the dogwalk together.....




and ate treats together.



Then Boogie finally got a turn. I think he was exhausted by the time it was his turn as he barked the entire time Sparkie and Wazzu were playing. In a few weeks, Boogie is doing a USDAA trial and will have to jump 16" (he normally jumps 12") so Mike was worried it might be a problem. In this picture the jumps are set at 12". Do you think 16" is going to be a problem?




Not sure this is the perfect A-Frame execution but he's sure having fun.




Finally it was 2iggie's turn. Mike was just going to send her through jump standards to get her used to it as we were told she'd never done a jump. She was perfect and eager. So we set the jump to 8" and had her do jump, tunnel. She did it with ease. I, however, wasn't quite so at ease getting a picture of her for some reason. So here she is...blurry. But I thought her expression was cute.




I thought I would take a few pictures of the place since I've been trying to tell you about it recently.

Here you can see both obedience training rings. And if you look beyond the rings, you can see where I did some tracking with Boogie.

Here are a couple pictures to show the agility area.

And finally, here are some pictures of outlying areas where we could track.

Other than practice, we had a very lazy (and perfectly warm) day.


Debbie
3/18/10

Fun and Fraud

(Cottonwood, AZ) We got up an hour earlier than yesterday so we could get out to practice agility before it got too warm. I'm thinking we're going to have to do agility in the middle of the night for Boogie to be comfortable.

Today we took Boogie, 2iggie, and Sparkie - the three energizer bunnies. Boogie really needs practice on his dogwalk contacts and his weaves at a distance. So Mike started out by putting a touch board at the bottom of the ramp and asking Boogie to touch it with his nose.




He was doing pretty well at that so it was on to the weaves. Why is practice so much different than a trial? He was a weaving maniac.




He was fast and Mike could be very far away.




He was in such a hurry to get to the next obstacle.




Then it was 2iggie's turn to give agility a try. The previous owner told us she hadn't really done too much agility and that she was afraid of tunnels. So Mike decided to start very slowly with her.

He let her loose in the agility area and she just took off, doing lap after lap around the entire area. Mike finally called her and she immediately came! A recall - yippee. Progress.

She then took off and ran full speed through a tunnel...again and again, all on her own. Hmm, I guess she's not so afraid of tunnels. Cool.

But Mike's goal for today's session was just to get her used to going through a hoop. So he stood next to a hoop and just clicked (the clicker) every time she went through the hoop. She paid nice attention to Mike and was very eager.




We did a couple tracks for Boogie at the agility place and then went to a park for the third track. The grass was a little longer and a little greener at the park but there were some dead leaves on the ground... not piles like at the previous place. But the second Boogie got to the leaves he started sneezing like crazy. I just can't imagine what it is about those leaves that causes him to sneeze so much.

From there we went to an off leash park. They had a small and large dog area. We of course went to the small dog area...Sparkie is delicate you know. We were the only ones in the small dog area so it worked out just fine.

Any time 2iggie gets in an open space she just goes....




...and goes.




Not only do her ears flap as she runs but so does her tongue.




The three dogs played together...although to me it looks like they are all going in different directions.




As always, Boogie got hot. He found the only clump of green grass in the area and laid down for a meal. He just kept grabbing mouthfuls of grass and chomped away.




When we got home I noticed I had missed a call. It turned out to be the fraud department of our credit card company. For the second time in just over a year, someone has stolen our credit card number and made fraudulent charges. How the credit card company can notice these charges and know they aren't our is amazing to us. The charges weren't large and of the three fraudulent charges this time, two were at places we have shopped. The other one was coffee....so that one I can understand them picking up on as we NEVER buy coffee!

Anyway, they had to cancel our card and now we have to go through the hassle of waiting for new cards and notifying places that we charged things with just recently and filling out all the forms to state the charges aren't ours. Argg. We'd had this card such a short time that I hadn't gotten it memorized yet...good thing.

It was a beautiful day today - 77 degrees and sunny with no wind. I loved it! It's supposed to be in the upper 60's to upper 70's the rest of the time we are here. Why did I ever agree to go to the PNW so early in the year? This is a beautiful place and has great weather. But we're committed to going back....so start warming the place up for me please!

Probably the highlight of my day was being able to take a nice little walk with Wazzu...just the two of us. She took such good care of me, walking so slowly and stopping to hunt often giving me time to rest. What a good girl. I was even just wearing a single layer! Short sleeve t-shirt!

Debbie
3/17/10

Gesundheit

(Cottonwood, AZ) We got up bright and early....okay 8:00am...so that we could get ready and head over to the agility field. There is a person in town that has a huge yard. A portion of it is set up as an agility ring, there are two obedience rings set up, and there is lots of empty land to do other various activities. If you join their club then you can practice as much as you want for the year. Even though we are only in town a couple weeks a year, we sign up each year.

We took Sparkie, Wazzu, and Boogie with us - Wazzu came along just because she wanted to be with me. Sparkie and Boogie got to do some agility practice but Boogie got too hot in just minutes. (Guess we'll have to come even earlier tomorrow morning so Boogie doesn't get so hot.) So I laid a few tracks for Boogie to practice his tracking.

The ground material was shorter, mostly dead, grass. There was a little breeze but you really had to take notice to know it was there. I decided to set shorter tracks today as I was going to age them and not let him watch them being laid.

Boogie started out great! Look at his little nose right to the ground.




He was perfect, leading me right to the end. Whoops, he went right past the glove. He had his little nose way down in the dead leaves. I could hear him sniffing. He finally found the glove and gave it to me (you can see it under my arm) so he was getting lots of treats.




But then the trouble began. He must have sniffed really hard and got something up his nose. He couldn't stop sneezing. These sneezes were so violent they would knock him over.

So while he was sneezing, I set up another track. He didn't do so well on this one. I'm thinking he couldn't smell because he had something up his nose. So we let him rest for close to an hour before he could stop sneezing. Then I set one last track.

This one wasn't long (neither were the others) but as I was setting it I realized it was going to be very hard. I had to go right over gopher holes and next to a fence where dogs were barking furiously at me.

I was so proud of Boogie on this track. He stopped once to try to dig up the gopher. I let him dig a few seconds then said "Go Track". He immediately stopped digging (wow, that's a first!) and started tracking again. We had about 15 yards to go when one of the barking dogs came under the fence, barking and trying to follow Boogie. He was within two to three feet from Boogie but he didn't pay one bit of attention to the dog. He was completely focused on his track and found the glove perfectly. Good Boy!

2iggie has been learning so many things from the other four dogs. But I noticed that Boogie has picked something up from 2iggie. She always stands with one paw up when she is the slightest bit interested in anything.

So now Boogie is doing that.




Oh, I forgot! Over the weekend at the agility trial in Boulder City, NV, Boogie reached a big milestone. He earned his 2,500 NADAC point award.

Debbie
3/16/10

Hooked on Raw

(Cottonwood, AZ) We finished making our way from Boulder City to Cottonwood arriving about noon. Four dogs immediately knew where we were and they were excited.

We love Cottonwood. It's north of Phoenix (so a little cooler) and about 30 minutes from Sedona (one of the prettiest places you'll ever see). We stay at Dead Horse State Park. It's a HUGE park with lots of places to walk and hike. I think there are over 200 RV spots. We like to stay in Quail Loop. There are trees around each site so it seems secluded. That also helps us get a little shade so it's not so hot. Fortunately the trees aren't tall enough to block the satellite.

Mike took all the dogs, in different shifts, for a nice long walk around the park. They each came back so happy!

It was too windy to try to get a NATCH photo over the weekend so we thought we'd try it today. This is the best of the photos I took. Needless to say, this will not be our NATCH picture!

Since 2iggie has had a chance to get to know us and the routine around the house, and we'll be staying put for 13 days, we decided it would be a good time to switch 2iggie to raw food (like the rest of the dogs eat). She has really been eying the other dogs food ever since she joined the family. She was very excited to get to try out this nummy cuisine.

She dove right in and finished her chicken and yogurt lickety-split. Mmmm, good.




Like the rest of our gang, 2iggie is "hooked on raw"!

Debbie
3/15/10