"If you want to succeed you should strike out on new paths, rather than travel the worn paths of accepted success."

Dolphin and I headed to Erie Pennsylvania this weekend for an agility trial. I should mention that yesterday in class we worked on difficult weave entries, and Dolphin nailed every single one of them! One would think he would nail them at trials when they aren't that hard, right? Well...

It was a fun day at the trial, although not as successful as I would have liked. Here is a recap of today's events:

FAST: Dolphin had the easiest send to a tunnel and he completely bypassed the entrance. Not sure why, but his training pal did the same thing, so either those two boys got together and planned their mistake, or there was something off about the setup that I didn't catch.

STANDARD: Dolphin missed his weave entrance, and EASY one...ugh! He also knocked a single bar, and knocked the top bar of the triple. On the plus side, he did have a good stop on the dog walk.

TIME 2 BEAT: Finally some success - a clean run and 1st place! This completes his points needed for his title, he just needs one more Q!

JUMPERS: UGHHHHH Dolphin mised a pretty simple weave entry! Other than that he had a beautiful clean run that was FAST. Poop.

The trial got done early, so we headed to the beautiful Presque Isle to let the dogs walk and play a bit on the beach. It was wonderful being back on Lake Erie. Gorgeous, sunny evening, Dolphin had fun grabbing sticks and trying to pull me into the water.

I always start out the day with so much optimism. Ending it, I usually feel a bit differently. Today we ended strong, which made for a better evening. Here is the recap:

FAST: We FINALLY got a FAST Q, I think it's been 2 months since our last one? We ended up with 2nd place, not bad since I tend to go for the minimum and not get point crazy in my run.

JUMPERS: Flipping jumpers...GAH! We knocked the triple that was set on a curve in a pinwheel. I know what I will be working on this next week...it was SUCH a nice run other than that!

STANDARD: Booyah! Clean run! We also set a new personal record for the number of MACH points earned in a single run. The course felt great, and Dolphin was ON. Great way to end the day.

We headed back to Presque Isle in the evening to catch the sunset. It did not disappoint! I am a little bummed I didn't bring my good camera out, so these photos were shot with my phone. It was a wonderful evening!

Last day of the agility trial! This was such a nice trial, we were done each day by early afternoon so not a lot of waiting around or down time. No pressure, but I had TWO titles on the line today. I need one more Master Jumpers Q for his MXJ title, and one more Time 2 Beat Q for his T2B title. Here's the recap:

FAST: Call me the dodohead of the day, we were having a perfect run and I forgot the third jump of the SEND bonus. We exited the ring celebrating, and then realized I screwed up...GAH!

STANDARD: I redeemed myself in Standard where we had a very nice Q with good points - one point short of our record we set yesterday. Not bad!

TIME 2 BEAT: DANG it, Dolphin missed his weave entrance. However, since it is Time 2 beat, there are no refusals so we re-did them and got it done. I had a heartbreak at the end when Dolphin wrapped a jump and back-jumped it on the way back, 2nd obstacle from the end. Ugh.

JUMPERS: I swear I can't get a jumpers Q to save my life! This one was a hot mess - knocked two bars at the beginning, then missed the triple on my rear cross (Dolphin wasn't feeling it, and had less forward motion than I had anticipated). We did a fix and go to practice that line into the triple, and he nailed it the second time.

So, no titles this weekend! Maybe next time. I will say, this weekend was certainly better than the last few travel weekends we had. Knocked bars and weave pole entries continue to be our nemesis, yet he generally nails both of those things in class and in training, so I am not sure how to fix it? We will keep plugging away, and try to make both problems SO rock solid that they cease to be problems anymore.

Wednesday I had my usual morning agility classes - Noodle and Pizza. The important thing was that this was Noodle's first time back in class since her surgery on July 5th! I have been getting her back in shape at home and she has been doing really well. She did great in class. Not the fastest, but definitely faster than she was before her surgery and the change in food and meds. I have hope! She is entered in an agility trial on Saturday, just doing one day to see how she is.

Pizza was pretty good in class. We are working on weave entries, and weave entries from speed. She kept her focus pretty well and had some good speed and drive. That's all I want at this point.

Thursday was Dolphin's class. He was wonderful! Really fast, and his speed caused him to make mistakes, which is GOOD...better to train when they make the same mistakes in training that they do in the trials. I had an opportunity to do an afternoon drop-in class with Pizza so I grabbed it. We did similar exercises as yesterday, but slightly different. INterestingly, she made a lot more mistakes today, and she lost focus (ground sniffing, running over to the instructor and trying to interact with her). Maybe because this is a different class with different dogs? Doesn't make sense since she went to Noodle's class the whole month of July, which is different. I can't figure her out, but my whole goal is to just make her have fun, zero stress, and enjoy the game. Oh, and wait her out when she leaves me rather than calling her back to me. That's a hard one!

I took Dolphin field training with a friend of mine. We brought out the launchers again. I worked on his honoring the other dog (first one was ok, second one was much better). His first point was super close, but he was running and practically ran over top the bird and stopped...it was hot and the scenting conditions weren't good so I give him a pass at that one. The second bird he did point from a good 3 feet away, which is better. I noticed the minute I said "Whoa", he wanted to move sideways and re-establish his point. I need to shut up when I am working him! Yeah, that's a hard one for me. Baby steps!

In the afternoon, I got Noodle out and noticed she was limping. Say what? Once again it was her right front - she didn't seems to want to put much weight on it. I gave her a 1/2 a Carprofen pill, and by evening she looked fine. This weird little lameness is so darn infrequent, and goes away almost as fast as it appears. I wish I knew why, but after thousands of dollars in tests, the vets are stumped. I will get her out in the morning and see how she is before I make a decision to go to the agility trial.

Noodle looked 100% in the morning (4:30am...ugh), so we headed to Dayton for her first agiloty trial since her surgery and diet/meds change. I left home with such hope. I returned with a hell of a lot less.

The morning started off with jumpers, and she knocked a bar on jump #3 so we were already on an NQ from the beginning. She was VERY distracted, she swung wide on several of her turns as she was looking at other people (shades of the old Noodle of 3 years ago!). She ran the rest of the course OK, but her pausing to look around cost her a bunch of time, and of course the knocked bar killed us.

Next was FAST, and I actually had very little hope for this one as it had a very difficult send with two jumps to a tunnel with the send line pretty far back. It took some convincing, but she got it! We ended up with a nice Q and 2nd place.

Last was Standard. I had such plans for this run, these courses were really nice. Yeah, she knocked jump #2 (the triple) and then literally crawled her way around the ring. I could tell she really wasn't feeling it. Did she just not feel well, or was her leg hurting? I don't know. She wasn't limping, but she just didn't look comfortable. It's hard to tell. We ended the run on a positive note, and headed home. She is going to get some rest for a few days and then we will re-group. This is killing me, I want my old Noodle back! I have a sinking feeling that wit this disease she has, possibly the old Noodle is gone forever. My heart hurts. She means the world to me, I want her back to feeling good. whatever it takes.

I started off the morning with some field training with Dolphin. We put out 6 birds in launchers, he was able to honor at least twice (fair to middlin') and he worked 3 birds (one accidentally got released on it's own). He ran past one and the bird got launched and he stopped - good whoa to flush training! It was so freaking hot that his pointing and scenting were kind of crap. So I left this morning feeling kind of beige - not super happy about the training session, but also not really upset. We got a little bit done, and some things didn't work. Keep on keepin' on!

In the afternoon I did some scent work training outside on exteriors at a local school. Dolphin did awesome - he really used his nose (even in this heat!) and was able to source the scent every time...quickly! Of course, not having to RUN in a hot field helped - he was panting but not like he was this morning with the heat. He does have a darn good nose.

I am kind of spinning my wheels today. My motivation has flown out the window for some reason. I am not really excited about anything. I am worried about Noodle. I think I need a good night's sleep, and then tomorrow will feel better.

I took Dolphin field training today, we had an opportunity to shoot over him. Today's bird of choice was quail, in launchers. His Brittany bracemate went on point first, and Dolphin did one of the nicest honors I have seen out of him - he stopped all on his own a good distance away and stood there, and kept facing the dog on point. Yay!

Dolphin soon went on point, never moved an inch even as I approached from behind. I was smart this time and kept my dang mouth shut. It seems as soon as I caution "whoa" to him, he moves sideways. This bird was handled to perfection. I released the launcher, he stayed put, bird was shot at and fell, he stayed steady until I released him. I don't think the bird was actually shot, it was just a bad flier and went down into the heavy cover (who am I kidding, it was ALL heavy cover!). Dolphin went on the hunt for the bird and when he found it, he paused and looked at me as if to question whether I wanted him to pick it up (since it was alive). I gave him the "Get it" command, and he picked it up, brought it 3/4 of the way to me and put it down, spit out some weeds and feathers, and picked it back up and brought it to me almost to hand. I did make him pick it up at my feet and bring it another step and hold it until I commanded "out". It was a decent retrieve, but not his crazy fast excited retrieve he does with his toys at home. Not sure why? I think maybe I need to get him more used to the warm dead bird and feathers in his mouth.

His second honor was OK, he saw the dog and stopped, and after a moment he turned towards me and took a step to me, and I was able to stop him and turn him back to face the pointing dog. This is a habit of his that we are slowly working through. Dolphin's second point was fairly close, but by this time he was hot and didn't catch scent until the last second. He was a bit confused as to where the scent was coming from, at first he went on point facing the wrong way. I kept quiet as I approached and I let him figure it out - he then turned around and pointed the actual bird. He stood steady once again, bird flushed and was shot at and missed, and Dolphin held steady through all of that. YES!!!

I am going to hold off on any more retrieves until it is cooler outside. I think the heat and his panting have a lot to do with his sloppy retrieve. I want him to stay enthusiastic and happy!

Well, I tried to keep my optimism squashed, but dang...I had such a great week of training! All 3 of my dogs were pretty darn awesome in their agility classes this week, and I did some training on Friday night on courses in my agility yard with Dolphin, and he did pretty well - was super super fast but knocked a lot of bars.

Well, today was a bust to put it mildly. Dolphin knocked a bar in Time 2 Beat (although the rest of the run was pretty good!), then strangely missed TWO jumps in jumpers...just ran right past them as if they weren't there. On a plus - he didn't knock any bars! He knocked a bar in Standard, took the wrong end of a tunnel, and misread my rear cross and pulled off a jump. Trifecta! In FAST, he actually got the send bonus but took too long and was over time. Big fat goose egg for the Dolphinator.

Noodle had been really sparky all week causing trouble, so I know she was feeling better. Her poop was finally solid (OK, solid for HER, anyways), so I was hoping I would see a difference in her today. Quite the opposite. She had zero energy. None. Oh she was mentally sparky enough to look around and think about causing trouble, but physically her energy was at zero. She knocked a bar in Jumpers, managed to Q in standard but with zero MACH points so it was a pointless run (literally!). She was so sluggish in standard that I opted to pull her from FAST. I could tell she definitely wasn't herself. This damn disease is stealing away my girl and I don't know what to do about it. I feel my heart breaking into a million pieces.

To top off my dark cloud, Pretzel had his annual vet exam on Friday and the vet found a small tumor in his mouth. Oral cancer can be somewhat common in dogs, and it's never a good thing. We will hopefully schedule it to be removed and tested next week. Noodle also had her blood test done to see if her albumin levels have risen. I should know something tomorrow. I am sick with worry. That phrase is such a common one, yet I can honestly feel it now...I am so worried my stomach is upset, my head hurts, and I just ache all over with stress.

Hopefully tomorrow my dark cloud will lift. Let's hear some good news for a change!

Noodle's blood tests came back and her albumin levels have DROPPED to 1.9. I am sick with worry. I have this horrible feeling that I can't shake. My vet is going to consult with the internal medicine vet to see what our next plan should be. Pretzel is scheduled to have that mass removed from his mouth and tested next Tuesday. So many things are piling on me, between this and other things. It's like drowning, but without the water. Can someone drown on air? That's what I feel like at times.

My friend and I took our weim boys to a ladies' bird dog clinic for three days in Wisconsin. I have never been to Wisconsin. It looks a lot like Ohio but with different weeds LOL!

Well, I will try to refrain from ranting about the clinic, but let's just say it was NOT what I expected. Dolphin spent a lot of time hanging out in the van, mainly because there were things they did that I did not agree with and refused to put my dog through it.

You know, there is a lot of training noise out there. It's hard sometimes to figure out which voice to listen to when all these people are telling you how you should train your dog. When in doubt, listen to the voice in YOUR head. If it feels wrong, if it looks wrong, if it makes you feel a littel sick in the pit of your stomach, LISTEN! I saw a lot of things I did not agree with, not because they were methods that I didnt think would work, but they were methods I found cruel and abusive. It was an easy decision for me - my dog was NOT participating (my friend held fast also, our dogs stayed in the van). I watched several women succumb to peer pressure, and then afterwards had tears in their eyes because of what their dog had gone through. One even kept saying to me over and over, "I know my dog needed this, I know he had to go through this to be trained, but it was hard to watch!" Um...NO, my friend. You ALWAYS HAVE A CHOICE. None of my dogs were ever trained in this manner. I can look myself in the mirror, I can look in my dogs' eyes and know I did the RIGHT thing by them. It probably took me a lot longer to train, and maybe my dogs make more mistakes than others, but damn! Does it really matter if your dog gets "broke" fast?

I debated what to write about this experience, because honestly there are things I witnessed that made me cry (thank God I was wearing sunglasses!). There were things I saw that made me sick to my stomach, and make me sick when I relive it in my mind. I know a lot of people train this way. I know a lot of people believe as this trainer stated, that "Dogs don't really love us, they just respect us." I choose to refuse. I know my dogs love me. I love them. I will always always always try to do right by them, even if it's the longer, harder road.

That being said, the clinic wasn't at all what we expected, but my friend and I did have a blast taking our dogs at sunrise each morning, and in the evenings to the Buena Vista Grasslands to do some wild bird hunting. Dolphin's training partner found a wild turkey, Dolphin had a nice stop to flush on what looked like some sort of dove, we had a couple nice backs, and one really solid point where I knew he was on a bird but it was on the other side of a barbed wire fence so I collared him off rather than risk having him break and get tangled. Letting them run on the grasslands was so much fun. The cover was really thick in some spots, it was a great workout for all of us. Was it worth 10+ hour drive? Well, maybe not, but every experience teaches me something and I definitely learned a lot on this trip...just not exacty what I thought I was going to learn.

Pretzel had surgery today to remove the growth/tumor in his mouth. My vet is sending it away for testing, and we will see exacty what it is. Results in probably 7-10 days, so now we wait. On the good side, Pretzel has ZERO effects from the surgery. He acts like nothing ever happened! Just 3 small stitches in his mouth that he doesn't seem to notice. That makes me glad.

I went ahead and had Pizza's blood panel done because I am a paranoid person and I wanted to make sure her albumin levels were good...they are as picture perfect as can be. Whew! As for Noodle, I had a long talk with my vet and we have outlined a new plan. I am switching her back to the prescription low fat food, and she is starting a daily dose of micophenolate. Micophenolate is very slow-acting, so we won't see that actually take effect for 6-8 weeks, but the change in food should start working quickly. We will schedule a blood test in a month (to see if the food is helping) and another test in 2 months (to see if the micophenolate is working). Meanwhile, Noodle has been acting good, seems to be somewhat normal right now. Fingers crosed...

Today Noodle was wonderful in agility class! I haven't seen her run with that much enthusiasm in a while. I think she is definitely feeling better. The true test will be to see how she does next week in class, to see if this lasts.

I took Dolphin field training today, it was a little cooler out (mid-70's). The situation was not good - the training grounds had either crazy high cover or loads of foxtails, which makes me very nervous. The situation had to be so tightly managed, it wasn't a good training session. Dolphin was all over the place, not very steady, messy retrieve, it just wasn't a good day. I have to admit it brought me down a little bit. I swear, my brain goes up and down like a freaking roller coaster. I wish I didn't care as much, it would make things a lot easier for me.