Not-a-lot-of-snow Pics
A few days ago, I looked on The Weather Channel to see how the weather would be for the weekend. The front page reads in ominous letters, “BIG FREAKING SNOWSTORM COMING RIGHT FOR THE MIDWEST WHITE DEATH IT’S AWFUL!” (Okay not that exactly, but you get the idea.)
Unfortunately, upon checking our local forecast, I discovered this big snowstorm was actually only going to hit the NORTHERN parts of the Midwest. You know, like Chicago isn’t getting enough snow anyway, right? Of course, it didn’t really give a decent snow when I was IN Chicago, but it sure is snowing there now that I’m back in Central Illinois.
It’s almost mid-January and I’m resigned to the fact that we probably won’t get a good snow here this year. We MIGHT get a blizzard around Valentine’s Day… that happens on occasion, though we had one two years ago or so and I think we’re good for another 8 years until it happens again. So I’m not counting on it.
Therefore when I looked out the window today and saw big snowflakes floating through the air, I bundled up, grabbed the camera, and hauled Auggie outside for snow pictures… less than an inch of accumulation or not.
I attempted some Auggie-running shots, but he wouldn’t run unless I threw the tennis ball.
I shoot action shots on auto-focus, and in the unfortunate case of snow, the auto-focus seemed to be more interested on… the tiny little snowflakes rather than the DOG bearing down on me.
I threw the ball a total of three times; Auggie only retrieved it a total of 2 times. He was far more interested in searching the backyard for rabbit poop and trying to eat it. Therefore all of the rest of these photos are rather static.
“Shake off first, Auggie. Auggie, shake off. Shake off. Auggie…”
Nope. He insisted on going inside with all that snow on.
And now, some blooper photos…
I love when people are like “Oh your dog is so handsome!” No he’s not, he’s an idiot.
I frequently catch shots of my dog burping. Like this one.
Christmas Auggie Photos
I took a TON of photos of Auggie in front of the tree, and only a handful turned out how I really wanted them. But this one is worth the whole photo shoot:
Nabbed Mom into helping me with this shot. Several of these turned out, actually, so I had to pick the best one out.
Most of them turned out like this one… ugh!
He also got a stocking on Christmas morning!
Auggie… no, no, Auggie, no – there’s something sticking out the top – the TOP Auggie – I KNOW WHAT’S IN THE BOTTOM JUST GET THE TOY OUT OF THE TOP… Auggie, the TOP… AUGGIE…
I gave up, took the toy out myself, and squeaked it a few times. THAT got his attention.
I held open the stocking and told him to pull out his next present.
No, Auggie, no… pull it OUT. OUT of the stocking. Auggie… AUGGIE…
I gave up again and pulled the next present out myself again. Okay, so he’s not excited about a new lead, but I sure am!! (I love leads.)
Fine, Auggie – go ahead, get what you’re REALLY interested in…
Yes, THOSE you will pull out of the stocking. You mock me, dog.
These cookies were a gift from J, but I saved them for the stocking.
What’s that you say? You would like one of these? These things that I have in my lap? (Note the DRAMATIC LIGHTING.)
One of these, maybe? Is that what you want? (MORE DRAMATIC LIGHTING.)
The whole haul (still in the DRAMATIC LIGHTING.)
Shot of the haul again. This is a lot less than he got last year, since I couldn’t get it all to fit in the stocking last year and decided to go easy this time around.
Now we play with the reindeer toy!!!
I was setting up his Christmas toys to take a shot and he came over, with his “OH HAI you has cookie for me plz?” look on his face. Or his stupid look. Or his smiley look. Whatever you want to call it. THIS FACE.
This is what he got on Christmas night (no pics because it was way too dark in the house for them to turn out) – a big stuffed bone, and a carousel that has three little squeaky toys (a lion, a monkey, and an elephant) stuffed into it.
Note that Auggie is completely uninterested in me and is walking away in this photo since he found out I didn’t still have his cookies.
And that’s it! We haven’t had hardly any snow at all this year or I’d have some more photos – all we’ve had is ice. And Auggie standing on two inches of solid ice in my backyard doesn’t exactly make for a pretty picture.
Dear Mother Nature: SNOW SOON PLZ, K? THX. Love Beanie.
Auggie’s progress with children
First… I disclaimer this post. I am upset about what happened because of the parenting involved, but also upset because I failed to be watching. It could have gone HORRIBLY wrong and I would be (at least partially) to blame. In hindsight, this was not a good situation to put Auggie in. I screwed up and I’m lucky it didn’t end bad.
On Monday, I took Auggie to the mall to have his photo taken with Santa. There was a young boy ahead of us… maybe 6 or 7. His mom and dad were with him. Ahead of them was a guy and his CUTE CUTE dog, I’m not sure what she was – maybe a mix – but she was a pretty good sized dog.
Kid is being a huge pain in the butt. He almost hit the other dog, he almost stomped on her feet and her tail (while the owner has her in a sit-stay), just generally being an obnoxious brat.
“Great,” I think. This kind of behaviour – erratic, flailing, strange movements – is what Auggie doesn’t enjoy from children. To a lot of dogs, particularly herding dogs, they “see” children a little differently. Their weird movements can startle and frighten them. I have no idea what to expect with this kid or from Auggie as we stand behind them, but I’m pretty much prepared for the worst, and keep Auggie back as far as I can.
Auggie sits down next to me, looking at the kid. His tail is wagging and he’s smiling. At first it seems like everything will be a-okay. The kid starts leaping around – this is where he almost stomped on the other dog’s tail – and I expect Auggie to react, and I get ready to take Auggie on the OUTSIDE of the line and climb back over the wall when it’s our turn… but he does nothing. He just sits next to me quietly and watches, tail still wagging, still expecting if he behaves he will get nice pets and maybe a cookie.
See, this is the result of the careful, positive socialization this summer. Children are a good thing. If you see a child and behave well, you will get petted, you will get praised, you will get cookies. I think to myself “Oh! This is some real SUCCESS!”
And then – and this is my fault, I let my guard down – the kid all of a sudden LEAPS at Auggie, and sticks his face RIGHT into Auggie’s face.
HOLY S***. I FREAK out and take a HUGE step backwards, yanking Auggie back with me – I expected Auggie to react. And it could have been teeth right into that child’s face.
NOTHING. HAPPENED.
Auggie didn’t react at all. He was startled at me hauling him backwards, but he didn’t bark or make any kind of motion towards the kid.
Of course, at the time I was terrified and shaking, but later my mom pointed out how GOOD Auggie did. She’s right – he was wonderful. If somebody had told me a year ago that a small child would leap towards my dog and stick his face into Auggie’s I would have thought the end result would be DEATH for sure.
At that point, I should have gone ahead and stepped over the wall, separating Auggie from the kid… not because of Auggie’s behaviour, but because of the kid’s. But the kid’s dad hauled him back and told him “DON’T YOU EVER DO THAT. Don’t stick your face in a dog you don’t knows face – NOT EVEN WITH A DOG YOU KNOW!!!” He starts telling him that it’s not safe and he could be bitten and not to do it ever ever again.
“Good dad,” I thought, and figured the kid’s dad is watching now, and the kid has been told not to do it. Maybe the kid will settle down a bit?
WRONG. He settled down for a while, and about fifteen minutes later (the line was terribly long) he looks at me, smiles… and then suddenly propells himself forward and LEAPS INTO AUGGIE’S FACE AGAIN.
SON OF A… Auggie, to his credit, doesn’t react again. He keeps sitting.
But get this… the kid tries it a THIRD time, immediately after he straightens up.
This time, the kid lunges straight into my LEG – because I’ve now stomped my leg down and physically placed myself BETWEEN him and my dog. “DON’T do that,” I flatly tell him. I am not about to play nice, this kid has just crossed the line. I was wearing my snow boots, and if I’d stomped down on his fingers with my boots getting between him and my dog… I wouldn’t have felt bed. I was PISSED.
Oh yeah – and that “good dad?” He wasn’t paying attention. Mom hauls her kid back this time (she wasn’t paying attention either, but me stomping down and snarling at the kid apparently got her attention) and the dad scolds him, then goes “Oh, what’d he do?” What you just told him not to do, you big goober!! Dad lectures the kid again.
And then they stand there in line for another, I dunno, probably 30 minutes so the kid can go sit on Santa’s lap. While the kid continues to flail around, kicking the set the mall put up, hanging on things, yanking on things… great parenting at work. Kid does something dangerous, gets lectured on it, does exact same thing TWICE not twenty minutes later, and then gets to go see Santa anyway? Sigh.
Kid is on the Naughty List, I’m telling you.
I moved away from them about ten feet and put Auggie behind me anyway. The people behind me were very nice and understanding about the huge gap in the line.
Seriously, I can’t believe Auggie behaved so well. And I can’t believe how stupid I was to not have trusted my instincts. I could have picked Auggie up and held him, or gone ahead and stood outside the set wall like I thought, or moved all that way back in the first place… and certainly the second time around, I should have done more than just try to move back even further.
I know better. I NEVER trust children around Auggie. I’m not really sure why I did this time – maybe because our socialization was going so well this summer, and because Auggie’s initial reaction was encouraging that I dropped my guard. There was no bad ending… but there definitely could have been.
So, folks… trust your instincts when it comes to your dogs. If you think a situation is bad, it probably is. If you can do something to avoid the situation, don’t wait. Do it.
Hopefully that kid learns his lesson or he’s likely going to end up getting his face bitten off.
REGARDLESS… Auggie saw Santa. Santa loved him. Auggie tried to give Santa kisses. Santa thought that Auggie had been a very good boy (for THAT performance he just gave? He’s a FREAKING SAINT.) and that he wanted a steak for Christmas.
A steak? Well, maybe some raw one way or another.
Secret Santa has come to see Auggie
Auggie and I participated in a Secret Santa swap on the dog forum I belong to, and his amazing gift came today!!
“You say it’s for ME? Really?”
“What’s this? Oh a card… can I eat it? No? Then who cares.”
“Now THAT’S what I’m talking about!!” Peanut butter & blueberry soft cookies – these are AWESOME! They smell delicious and he loves them!
Posing pretty with his packages…
It’s a little sheep for my little sheepdog!! (He was nomming on it until I took the pic; the flash distracted him!)
Hmm, what’s in this one..?
It’s a little reindeer with rope legs… he is OBSESSED with this toy!!
I threw it. He brought it back and put it, for some reason, in all the packaging and things…
Then I threw it again…
…and again… (seriously – OBSESSED with this toy.)
And then – this is the BEST. PART. OMG. This is SO NICE, an AMAZING leash. I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT!
Auggie thinks it’s pretty manly. “Surely nobody will call me a girl dog when I’m wearing this!”
I made him pose with it… I LOVE IT AAAAH I LOVE IT. I’m obsessed with it like he’s obsessed with his reindeer toy.
“And now,” says Auggie, “the best part!!”
NOM A COOKIE!!!
Best Birthday Ever – In Photos
Our day started out pretty good.
Then it became the Best Day Of Auggie’s Life:
OMG, I get french fries?! REALLY???
Yes, really.
Then I made a cake.
It looks really good.
I was going to try it, but then I remembered the peanut butter jar I used is the one specifically marked “DOG.” The one I put a knife in, scoop up peanut butter, stick inside of Auggie’s nasty slobbery goopy Kong, and then plunge back into the jar. Yeah, I don’t think I want to try it.
He’s THREE. So I lit three candles.
Ta-daaaaa!
MMMMMM!!!
Blow out the candles, Auggie!
Cutting him a piece…
I made him wait for it. ON HIS BIRTHDAY. I’m horrible.
NOM CAKE
ALL GONE!
I put half in the freezer and the remainder of the other half into the fridge for him to snack on throughout the week. THAT’S A LOT OF CAKE.
Happy third birthday, my little guy.
Rally-O/Auggie’s Birthday Part 1
This is me at Rally-O:
“A DOWN?? Nobody told me he had to do a DOWN!!”
I don’t know WHY it never occured to me he would have to do a down. We hadn’t been working on that, and certainly not working on it with him at my side (usually he does his sits and downs in front of me, not next to me in heel.)
Oops!!!
Our score was 90, time was 2:16 because we spent probably 20 seconds trying to go from a sit to a down – hahahahahaha! Oh God it was hilarious. And also, there were times when Auggie barked in my face. Rally-O was a LOT different to him than agility. He got out there and thought it was time to go… and then it wasn’t. I think he was kind of confused. “Hey Mom… aren’t I supposed to, like, go over some jumps and run through a tunnel or something?”
But when we crossed the finish line you’d have thought we just won the Olympics or something. I made a HUGE deal out of it and Auggie got super excited. That was the whole point, really: go out there and have some fun, work together, no pressure, and act like he’d just done the best thing ever.
We went out afterwards for the qualifying ribbon presentation, and I thought we’d be getting a Q ribbon – and suddenly he was calling my number for fourth place. “Wait… what? OH!! That’s US!” I told Auggie. The judge was really nice, shook my hand, and then we got our ribbons, a rope bone, and a cookie treat. Auggie tried to eat the ribbons out of my hand, haha. He then got a HUGE chomp off his cookie treat, we packed up, and took off. Crate space was very limited so I thought we’d go home and give some other people some room.
Not bad for a bratty little birthday puppy.
Auggie’s Big Day
Saturday is Auggie’s big day.
First, we are off to our first Rally-O trial. I have NO idea how that’s going to go. It might be short of hilarity.
Second, we are getting pro pics done for the second time.
Third…
IT’S AUGGIE’S THIRD BIRTHDAY!!!
I can’t believe my little guy is almost three.
He’s going to get a very special birthday cake… if I can just decide what recipe to use.
Auggiesaurus
I like knitting – so I decided to knit Auggie’s Halloween costume. I decided on a dinosaur.
So… Auggiesaurus!!
Two Little Puppies
If you’re having a bad day, I challenge you to do this:
Imagine a sheltie puppy. A pretty small one – tightly curled up it’s just about smaller than a volleyball. It’s fuzzy and fluffy, covered in super soft downy puppy hair. They go “yarf yarf!” in little high-pitched squeaks instead of barking.
Got the mental image?
Now double it.
TWO little puppies. Soft and snuggly, they fit so nicely in your arms. One of them is a little snotty and every time you pet her she goes “AAAARRR RARR RARR” like she’s going to bite your hand off with her tiny (but sharp!) little puppy teeth. The other one keeps giving you kisses as you hold her, and you can feel her little puppy tail wagging away in your arms.
This was my yesterday.
It was a wonderful, wonderful evening.
No, neither of the puppies are mine nor will they be. Mom desperately wants one of them, though. She couldn’t stop talking about them all night long. Auggie rode home snuggled up in my lap because I was so very nostalgic for the first day I brought him home, a small fluffy ball of puppy.
I put Auggie down next to them (they were in an ex-pen at first) and let him sniff them through the bars. He wasn’t very interested. I picked one of them up and held her out to him outside of the pen and he still wasn’t very interested. He went off exploring J’s yard, peed on a tree, and looked for forgotten cookies in the grass while we talked about the dogs. I got to touch tiny little puppy feet and itty bitty puppy toenails, look at teeny tiny puppy teeth, feel little puppy ears… oh my God, now *I* have puppy fever.
After agility practice J got the puppies out of the ex-pen and let them prowl around the yard with Auggie. NOW he was interested in them. They were playful and feisty and that got him all excited. He bowled one of them over (she was being called Bullwinkle) playing chase, it was hilarious. I opened his water bottle and started to pour water into his travel bowl, and he was drinking from the stream coming from the bottle (as usual) – and Bullwinkle came over to see what he was doing, and he backed up to let her drink from his water bottle! It was soooo cute, this tiny puppy with her nose shoved into his water bottle and Auggie waiting patiently for her to finish so he could get a drink next…
Now I have a pretty good idea of how Auggie will react once I bring a puppy home. He acted much like I expected… we just have to make sure he plays gentle, because I don’t think he realizes they’re very small and he needs to be careful!
The Auggles Return
For those of you that have George Thoroughgood in your music library, I recommend you put some on now.
I stopped at PetSmart to pick up a tiny harness for The Mythical Harley since they are on sale this month, and while I was there I spotted something that I absolutely, completely, and totally NEEDED for Auggie.
It was this:
So I took Auggie outside, dremelled his toenails, clipped his whiskers and trimmed up his feet, then stuck this shirt on him. Well, the shirt just needed something more… so… I brought out the Auggles.
Ahhhh, my Auggles!
Pretty nice day for a motorcycle ride, actually. A bit warm, but overwise lovely.
“HI MOMMY I HAVE GOGGLES ON.”
Grimly surveys his backyard… I mean, his turf. (Oh God, his dreadlocks… he needs the hair behind his ears thinned out again…)
All is well on the turf! Smile time!
He could do with a shirt that reads “Bitches Love Me” too. Right after I get that one that reads “I’m A Boy Dog.”
People don’t believe me when I tell them “Bad to the Bone” is his theme song – but YOU guys understand… don’t you? DON’T you? I mean, c’mon. Just look at him.
Tuff guy.
This is like some kind of badass Elvis lipcurl. I am related to Elvis, so maybe it rubbed off on Auggie.
He came up on the deck to get a cookie.
Can has cookie plz?
And now I present to you the newest Favourite Auggie Photo/Best Representation Of Auggie’s Personality In One Photo Ever:
There you have it. Auggie in a nutshell.
Farmer’s Market Photos
Well, no Farmer’s Market this weekend. I did take Auggie to a remote for work and could have slapped myself for not taking my camera (I seriously seriously ALMOST took it and decided at the last minute to leave it at home.) There were bales of hay set up and pumpkins EVERYWHERE. Also lots of small children, many of which asked to pet Auggie, and he just ate up all the attention. Some guy took photos of him while I was holding him and asked me a bunch of questions about shelties – then declared “My next dog is going to be one!”
Auggie – Sheltie Ambassador.
Anyway, these are the very few Farmer’s Market photos from last weekend. If the weather stays nice there should be several more weekends of FM trips for us to go socialize and train in public settings with lots of people around.
Waiting patiently while Grandma buys some bread.
Somebody had just said to him “Oh, aren’t you a cute little puppy!”
“Why yes, yes I am!” Auggie says. “Thank you for noticing!”
He kept looking at those flowers, then looking away every time I snapped a photo. Brat!
Positive results from positive training
My little Auggie Doggie is having positive experiences with little kids.
And he’s doing AMAZING.
He still doesn’t like them running around or moving awkwardly, but he barks when adults run around too… that’s likely just herding instinct and I’ll never get it to go away.
BUT… last week we went to the farmer’s market and several small children approached, asked if they could pet him, and were so nice and gentle with him. Towards the end of our circle of the market, two young boys came RUNNING in front of us, bursting through the rows of tables. I nearly freaked out and thought for sure Auggie would lose it…
but he just wagged his tail and pranced forward. He wanted to PLAY with them!! You could have knocked me over with a feather… my little guy wanting to play with small children!
Today I stopped by a remote for work and there were children EVERYWHERE. At first I held him, not sure how he’d react (it was crowded and LOUD) but after being there for a while and he seemed totally calm, I put him down. He did so wonderfully… so many children came up, ALL of them asked if they could pet my dog (!!!!) and they were ALL so nice and gentle. He was just a happy little guy, enjoying all of the attention.
Swung by to grab some Chinese before going home, and I sat outside the restaurant with Auggie. Put him in a down-stay and there he did, indeed, stay, as two small boys slowly approached and politely asked if they could pet my dog.
I’m just so proud… I never thought we could have so many positive experiences so quickly, and have it make such a fast, positive impact on my little guy. He is really getting to LOVE little kids… it’s just amazing and wonderful and EEEE SO PROUD OF AUGGIE.
Farmer’s Market
Have pics but haven’t gotten around to uploading them yet.
Took the Auggie Doggie to the Farmer’s Market this Saturday. It was a somewhat short visit because the Dog Treat Lady was not there, but still a really great visit. (I, on the other hand, got a lovely pecan pie; my mom picked up some sunflowers and a few other yummy treats.)
First we practiced a nice sit and look both ways before crossing the street. (Okay, I look both ways. Auggie just sits there and looks cute, patiently waiting for me to say “Okay, cross!”) Then we met a few nice dogs and had some little kids ask to pet him. Fielded the usual questions about what kind of dog he is, what their temperaments are like, how often I have to brush his coat, and the not-so-usual “How much do miniature collies (*cringe*) cost?” whereupon I very quickly started blathering about sheltie rescue, dropping a plug for CISR. Oh yeah, and we got lots of “LOLOLOL MINI-LASSIE!” comments.
Auggie needs a shirt that says “I Am Not A Mini Lassie” on one side, and “I Am A Boy Dog” on the other side.
Had some very positive experiences. I was standing at a fudge tent waiting for my mom to buy herself some fudge (which Auggie was very interested in) and turn around to suddenly find a large collie looking at my little guy, tail wagging. Auggie was VERY interested in this potential playmate that looked a lot like him, except at LEAST twice his size. This display of Collie + Sheltie attracted some attention from passers-by, including from a few children who were interested in petting both fluffy dogs. Little Auggie could NOT have cared any less about the children, because he was so interested in the big collie, so there went that opportunity to socialize with some kiddos. Whoops!
Still, he learns super fast and it seems he starting to associate little children with “If I sit near this small person, I will get petted.” He headed over to a little kid towards the end of our round of the market, sat, and then looked back and forth at the kid and at me expectantly. Like “Look, Mom, I’m sitting! Now I get petted and you tell me I’m a good boy, right?” Well, it only works like that if the kid is LOOKING at you and WANTS to pet you, bratface. This kid had her back to him and never even noticed he was sitting there. Silly dog.
Pics later if I get around to getting them off the computer… there’s only a couple of them.
Playing in the Leaves
We were going to head out to the Farmer’s Market this morning, but didn’t get to. So instead, we played in the leaves in the backyard!
It’s lovely weather today.
Auggie is rather proud of himself. For what, I’m not sure, but he is indeed proud.
Warning: Dog Never Stops Smiling.
Pounce into leaf pile in three…
two…
one!!
Knuckle Bone For The Knuckle Head
After a lot of consideration and recommendations from other people, I decided it would be a fun treat for Auggie to get him a knuckle bone. He has some tartar built up on his teeth that I cannot get at to scrape off (his top tooth closes over the bottom tooth RIGHT where I need to scrape) and I want to do whatever I can to avoid having him need a tooth cleaning at any point in his life.
So I requested the butcher at the grocery save me a knuckle bone, and I went to pick it up yesterday.
The bone is BIGGER than Auggie’s head – but why should that stop him?
Fancy Auggie gets his raw meat on a plate. (I couldn’t think of a good reason to take it off the styrofoam from the butcher before he started chewing it.)
Auggie says “What do I do with this? Do I… lick it?”
“Ohhhh, I do THIS!!”
“This is delicious!”
“Ommm nom nom nom nom”
“Now I nom on this side of my mouth!” (That’s right, buddy, get those teeth clean on BOTH sides.)
“Sinew is a delectable treat.”
It’s gotten nice and filthy by this point…
Dirt is just like sprinkles!
I gave it to him for about fifteen minutes, then washed all the dirt off it, chucked it into a plastic bag, and stuck it into the freezer. He’ll get it again tonight, and hopefully after a few days he’ll be able to start really getting to work and getting his teeth nice and clean!
Trial #3, Day 2
Early success can be kind of a bad thing.
You sort of start to expect the good luck to continue.
When it doesn’t, you’re not sure what to make of it.
Today’s JWW course was a LOT better for my lame brain than yesterday. A tunnel separated the first third of jumps from the second third; weave poles separated the second third from the final third of jumps.
However, Mister Auggie HIT THE BRAKES on the weaves after doing 10 of them. Hit the brakes! I was prepared for him to pop out of the last jump – he has been doing that lately – but not a complete stop! It might have been faster to pull him all the way back to the beginning and have him start over, but I decided to simply direct him through the last two jumps. However, this took time – time that put us too far over to qualify.
Still a very good run. Auggie is not the fastest dog in the world, and I am really more concerned with accuracy before speed… but there are times that he forces me to change my plan. I walked the course with a front cross after jump – oh, I dunno, 10 or so – and he was WAY ahead of me as he soared over that jump. There was no hustling to get in front of him. The front cross was because an off-course jump was set directly in front and I was hoping to cross and block him off from that jump. Because I did not make my cross, I instead had to CALL CALL CALL and stop him from off-coursing.
And he responded to my call off, which makes me very proud… but not as proud as what happened next, because (and I don’t even remember doing this, but I have seen the video so I know it happened!) I still wanted to be on the inside of the jumps and curl him around into the weaves. So my body decided to do a rear cross over a jump… and rear cross we did. He was fantastic, especially for a dog that really hates to lose sight of me and dislikes rear crosses.
Standard, on the other hand.
He was distracted. He was tired. Two days may just be too much for my little guy right now. Until he matures some, we may not be doing two days anymore.
First disaster: I had two choices – try and do a front cross in an area I didn’t think I had room to cross, or try and rear cross him into a tunnel. As I said, this dog hates rear crosses, especially into a tunnel. I made the wrong choice… I should have tried the front cross. He wouldn’t go into the tunnel. He almost decided to go into the WRONG side of the tunnel. He stopped in the middle of the tunnel bend to take a sniffy-sniffy at the sand bags holding the tunnel. He FINALLY got into the tunnel.
Second disaster: He came out of the tunnel and was supposed to go over a triple jump. He CRASHED into the jump. I do not mean he knocked a bar, I mean he crashed into it. It was actually hard to see if he even really attempted to jump the bars as opposed to just charging right through them.
Third disaster: He skipped the tire jump. Who cares. He already knocked a bar so that’s a NQ. I’m not wasting time when he’s obviously already stressed and tired by trying to get him back around and through the tire jump.
Fourth disaster: He came off the a-frame and crashed into another jump. I slowed and almost stopped. I thought he was hurt. He kept going, so I had to speed up again to catch up.
Fifth disaster: He crashes into yet another jump. At this point, I seriously almost waved to the judge and said “We’re finished, thank you,” picked him up, and carried him off the course. I was VERY concerned, because he has never dropped a single bar in his agility career before, and now he crashes into three separate jumps? Jumping TWELVE instead of sixteen, too.
But he was still willing and was not limping, so I went ahead and did the final two obstacles with him – a set of weave poles and one final jump, which he cleared.
We have lots of theories about what happened, but in the end, he just checked out. He wasn’t interested in running the course. But, as J said, he was still smiling after it all (I was holding him afterwards and giving his muscles a massage to make sure he wasn’t hurt and wouldn’t be stiff the next day – no wonder he was smiling!)
It’s hard to go home with no ribbons for the weekend after so much early success. I mean, a title on my first agility dog after only two trials? And then a Q-less weekend. It’s rough.
But there were lots of positives in our Jumpers run, he did ALL of his contacts on both days…
and, as always – and most importantly – Auggie and I are learning more and more about each other.
Trial #3, Day 1
Our first time in Open Jumpers, and a complete disaster because I’m an idiot! There’s really a certain level of hilarity in sending your dog over a jump and going “OH NO CRAP” while he’s in the air over the jump because you just realized that you went from #6 to #10… yeeeeah that’s not the right jump in the sequence! No Q, because I’m a moron!! But Auggie does remarkably well with an idiot as a handler. His weaves – 12 of them – were just goooorgeous!
I swear, I’m blonde under all this red.
Standard was an interesting experience. I thought it was easy-peasy after all of that goofiness in Jumpers, but then… some guy is sitting near the table, for some bizarre reason, wearing dark sunglasses. Auggie gets into his sit on the table, and then – and he’s never done this before – TURNS AROUND, sees the guy behind him, and goes “Oh hi!” Off the table he goes, and over to the spotter. What the crap!! He has NEVER gone up to a spotter in his (granted, short) agility career! I finally get him back up on the table, and fail to remember that the dog walk was right behind us. I should have been standing at a different location. When I call him off, instead of going over the jump, he off-courses and takes the dog walk back the other direction.
Now, at the very first Fun Run I ever went to with Auggie… he went up the dog walk. Then he went back up the dog walk. Then back up the dog walk. THEN BACK UP THE DOG WALK. It must have been six times or more than he went back and forth over that dog walk. So I’m almost beside myself with panic, imagining this scenario happening again – this time on an actual course. I would just die from embarrassment… DIE.
So PRAISE the agility gods, I called him to me CLEARLY away from the dog walk and took him back towards the table, then away we go, over the correct jump and on to finish the course.
So much for easy-peasy!
A bit of a rough day for many people. It was an EXTREMELY long day because FAST classes were running, and they went first. We’re still in Novice Standard, and for this trial, JWW came before Standard… so our last run was the very last run of the day. We got there around 9AM and were leaving around 5:30PM. Very, very, very long day for the dogs.
The one positive is that Auggie measured “right at 14” and the judge said “Well, this wicket is a little off. What are you entered in? 12? That’s fine.”
So, hey! We finally got to compete at the 12 inch level!
How To Play Fetch With Auggie
A Step-by-step Instruction Manual
1) Have Auggie bring you a toy.
2) Throw the toy.
3) Auggie retrieves the toy.
4) Repeat steps 1 through 3 three or four times.
5) Auggie stops five feet from you and drops the toy.
6) Demand that he bring you the toy because you cannot reach it.
7) Auggie picks up the toy, comes forward one step, and drops the toy approximately four and a half feet from you.
8) Repeat step 7 multiple times, with toy never reaching you.
9) Inform Auggie that you are not going to play if he will not bring you the toy.
10) Begin doing something else.
11) Auggie gets another toy out of the toybox and brings that to you instead.
12) Inform Auggie that you don’t WANT that toy, you want the OTHER toy.
13) Auggie looks at other toy.
14) Tell Auggie “Yes! The dinosaur!! Bring me the dinosaur!”
15) Auggie looks away from the toy, turns back to second toy he got out of toybox, and brings that to you instead.
16) Give in. Repeat steps 1 through 3 three or four times.
17) Auggie stops five feet from you and drops the toy.
18) Immediately inform him you are NOT going to play this game.
19) Go back to doing something else.
20) Auggie gets a third toy out of the toybox and brings that to you instead.
21) Tell him no, that toy is no different. You want the OTHER toy.
22) Auggie looks at first toy.
23) Tell Auggie “YES. The DINOSAUR. I want the DINOSAUR. Get it. GET it Auggie GET THE DINOSAUR GET IT GET IT GET IT.”
24) Auggie picks up the third toy and presents that to you instead.
25) Get up, get the first toy yourself. Shake it in his face. Throw first toy.
26) Auggie retrieves first toy, then stops five feet from you and drops the first toy.
27) REFUSE to play this game and go back to doing something else.
28) Auggie gets his big stuffed puppy out of his crate and brings you that.
29) Tell him no, no, no. Get up and get the first toy again. Throw the first toy.
30) Auggie runs after the first toy, but does not put down big stuffed puppy – that is, Auggie runs after his dinosaur toy while dragging his big stuffed puppy along.
31) Auggie attempts to pick up dinosaur with big stuffed puppy still in mouth.
32) Auggie drops puppy and picks up dinosaur.
33) Auggie tries to pick up puppy with dinosaur still in mouth.
34) Auggie drops dinosaur and picks up puppy.
35) Auggie returns to you sans dinosaur, but still dragging big stuffed puppy along.
36) Give up entirely.
Just in case any of you were ever wondering and should need instructions.
Dog-a
I decided to try out some of the yoga poses on my Wii Fit. I did the downward dog a few times because I apparently wasn’t doing it right – I was putting too much weight on my feet, the Wii Trainer kept informing me. “You are putting too much weight on your feet. You are putting too much weight on your feet.” Over and over in that slightly-chipper, yet slightly-negative Wii Fit voice that makes you kind of want to punch it in the face, were the Wii Fit to have a face. So finally, about the third time through, I adjusted how I was standing – and viola! That was the correct pose!
…and then HERE COMES AUGGIE wanting to see what’s up.
And by “see what’s up” I mean that he walked underneath me, looked up
and PROCEEDED TO LICK ALL THE SWEAT OFF MY FACE.
AAUUUGUUGHUHUHHHHHH
So I’m trying to keep a precarious yoga pose, trying to tell him “NO AUGGIE NO” while simultanously trying to avoid opening my mouth and getting a french kiss, and also trying to flail at him a little and get him to knock it off.
I totally failed.
FAIL.
I had told Auggie that I was going to buy a dog yoga book and we could do some yoga, but this was NOT what I had in mind.
Fry Monster
Last month, after Auggie got his NAJ, I went to Long John Silver’s and got something to eat… and, because he had such a big weekend, I did what I NEVER do…
and gave him some of my food.
He got french fries… they’re little and skinny and not too terribly salty, so I gave him a small handful. It was a VERY BIG DEAL because, like I said, I never ever ever give him people food. But he just got his very first agility title! We were celebrating!
Well, I took him out just a bit ago to go buy some more dog food, and on the way home I decided to pick up lunch. Oh, heck, why not Long John Silver’s, that sounds good…
HE WANTS MY FRIES.
HELP ME. PLEASE.
Hint: if you decide to give your dog an occasional treat, make sure you don’t do it along with something that smells distinct, like FRIED FISH.
In this installment of “Auggie the Snotbucket…”
I took Auggie’s pillow, his stuffed puppy, and his loofa dog out of his crate. I also picked up the pillow in the living room, stuffed them all into the wash, and got to work doing Auggie’s laundry.
So it’s pretty much bedtime for Auggie doggy right about now, but I’m not going to work tomorrow morning so there’s no good reason to crate him and go to bed. I’m gonna stay up late doing some work. The laundry isn’t totally done, either, so the crate is still empty.
BUT, just to prove a point… Auggie goes over to his crate (which I had the door shut to since it was empty) and stares at me until I come over and open the door for him. He then goes INTO HIS CRATE. (Any other time he would be just as content laying on the high pile carpeting… ANY OTHER TIME, I tell you.)
He stares at the hard plastic piece on the bottom. He paws at it a little, he whines and snorfles a bit. He sniffs around to make sure he’s really in the right place.
He lays down.
He stares at me.
He is still laying in there, STILL STARING AT ME, and it’s been almost twenty minutes.
THIS IS A GUILT TRIP, PEOPLE.
Somebody make my dryer dry faster.
Trial #2, Day 2
Our haul from today…
Wait a second!! Are you SURE you saw that right?? Maybe you should look closer.
I am now the proud owner of Sentinel’s The Flash NAJ CGC. That’s right… we got our novice jumpers title this weekend!! And all three of his qualifying scores – we got running 16! Snazzy!
Today’s runs:
Standard run!
He got buggy on the table and that’s what screwed us, but J is almost positive he just didn’t “see” the table as a table. She thinks he saw it like a jump, since it’s so thin and the walls around it are plain white, not to mention the top is pale purple. So we got 1 table fault (two points) and a refusal for that, but it was the time more than anything else that really put us over. I then failed to pull him in enough to get him a straight shot into the tunnel, so he didn’t go into that right away – another refusal! Also, notice that he doesn’t come OUT of the tunnel. I notice he’s not coming, I can’t see the tunnel moving – where is Auggie? I lean over and look into the tunnel… and he’s standing there at the bend, nose to the ground, sniffing something interesting! He sees me, goes “Oh – HI!” and comes running out. What a goofball!
Regardless of the NQ, I watched this a billion times because of how wonderful his weaves are!
JWW – the run that got us our title!
Would have been clean, but he changed my plan on me! I was going to front cross before that blue tunnel, but when he spotted the tunnel he suddenly sped up so I couldn’t get in front. I KNEW he would hate me trying to rear cross him into the tunnel, and sure enough, when he got to the tunnel entrance and I started to try and cross, he suddenly hit the brakes. Refusal! The time it took for me to back him up and put him into the tunnel put us over time. You can’t see them as well here, but he did flawless weaves again here… so beautiful.
Anyway, I came around that last jump and everybody was clapping and going “THAT WAS GREAT!” and the VMO says to me “That was a Q!!” and my mom goes “YOU DID IT” and J goes “YOU DID IT!”
And I say, because I saw the time on the clock as I picked Auggie up at the exit, “But we went over time.”
“It’s okay,” J says. “You’re allowed time faults in Novice.”
I stare at her.
“You get a point off for every second over time, but you weren’t over by that much, even with the refusal. You did it.”
I stare.
“YOU DID IT.”
“Wh…??”
Seriously… it didn’t sink in. It didn’t sink in until I looked at the scores posted and saw, yes, he really did Q. And then I stammered out to the trial secretary that we get a new title ribbon. And even now…
we’re in Open. My dog can run in Open.
I’m in shock. Seriously.
Trial #2, Day 1
His prize, a “Q” cookie for qualifying, and his 1st place & qualifying score ribbons.
These are for JWW – no Q in standard (again!) Not really his fault, though!
I couldn’t get him to relax enough to measure under 14 inches – he was 14 3/8ths (an improvement from 15.5 like he measured last trial!) So we ran 16 instead of 12 again. He didn’t make it all the way over the broad jump, I’m not sure if he misjudged the length of the jump or if I just didn’t give him enough “push” to get him over it. But still… no dropped bars, not a single one, and I JUST managed to call him off an off-course up the a-frame (holy crap did I just!!) Besides his landing on the final section of the broad jump, it was a great run. Not his fastest – we are going to have to retrain contact obstacles, I think – but accuracy > speed, my friends.
JWW was beautiful, even though he missed his first attempt at entry on the weave poles (allowed in novice.) 100 points, and the time was… 39.76 or something? I wrote it down, I do not remember it off the top of my head.
Here’s the video of our Standard run – apologies for my annoying yapping of “AUGGIE AUGGIE HERE HERE AUGGIE HERE!”
Couldn’t be happier, particularly because after they measured him over 14 I honestly was ready to just write the entire day off as a wash. I figured we would totally blow it, because it was indoors and he was in the “wrong” height class… and he had to go and prove me wrong.
Because my awesome Auggie is bad to the bone!
I am a terrible dog owner
>I still had a half-full can of Mountain Dew left from dinner that I’d been drinking through the night. My head hurt, so I decided I’d go take a shower and see if that would help. Auggie comes into the bathroom with me, and when I shower he lays down on the floor – today is no different. The can of soda came with me, too, and I set it on the sink.
I got out of the shower and was distracted, thinking about something. Not paying a heck of a lot of attention, I grabbed a towel and flung it around me… and caught the soda can, knocking it off the sink.
Onto Auggie.
MOUNTAIN DEW EVERYWHERE ON MY DOG. OMG.
He jumped up like “WTF, MOM???” and gave me this horrified look.
And then he proceeded to lick up what had spilled onto the floor.
Even better – I’m frantically trying to mop up the soda with toilet tissue, and Auggie is licking it up while his entire backend is dripping in soda also, and I say to him… because I’m a total genius… “Auggie, if you drink that so close to your bedtime, you won’t be able to fall asleep!!!”
*facepalm at self*
He then got stuck into the shower and rinsed off, and now he REALLY hates me. I’m sorry, Auggie!! I’m such a bad dog owner!
