Labor of Love

I am so not a girly girl so jewelry, fancy dinners, and whatever else girls like is not something I want as a gift.  The hubby learned quickly that the greatest gift he can give is unsolicited labor.  For example, he once had his parents come over while I was out of town and together they painted our living room. Awesome! Another time, he filled my freezers with chicken backs... seriously, what girl wouldn't love that?

A few months ago, a friend gave me an aluminum A-frame.  The skins (the surface attached to the frame) had to be replaced.  A few Sundays ago, Stephen and I began the process of attaching the new skins to the frame which had been taken apart and was laying flat on the ground.  We only had an hour so we finished up having attached one skin to one side at the four corners.  A few days later, I returned to my agility field to resume work and discovered that Stephen had snuck back to the field and finished attaching the skins.  I love such surprises and was thrilled to see it done.  As I looked over the work, I discovered that one of the skins had been attached upside down.  Whoops!  My agility readers will understand from the photo above, but for everyone else the yellow contact zone should be at the bottom.

I have decided I am just going to leave it as is as it will always remind me of Stephen when I see it.  Thanks, Snookums! It was a very sweet and appreciated effort.

ORKC Agility Trial

A couple of weekends ago, Riley and I traveled to a 3-day agility trial in Harriman, Tennessee.  We were three for three in Excellent B Jumpers with three first places.  And in her first and third Jumpers runs, she ran them in 5.9 yards per second.  My greyhounds have occasionally run a course in 6 yards per second... Riley having the fastest at 6.14 yards per second once.  So I was excited to see her so close to 6 yards per second in two runs.

However, we were zero for three in the Standard class (climbing obstacles).  Riley was especially naughty in this class by not holding any of her contacts until I released her and blowing past her weave poles.  It is the only time I have ever not rewarded Riley for an agility run.

Later that evening, there was a practice agility course and an excellent opportunity to remind Riley that she is suppose to hold her contacts until she is released.  It paid off.  We were very close to qualifying on this course, but I almost ran into a jump, got in Riley's way, and it caused her to drop a bar.  She was great though.

Lastly, there is going to be a new type of agility class offered at American Kennel Club trials beginning in July (I think). It is called Time To Beat. The courses are suppose to be smooth and fast (greyhound friendly in other words). They had a practice Time To Beat course one evening and Riley won. The prize was a free entry to the next trial. Not a bad deal!

Agility Progress

Although I spend a lot of time working on Seven's weave poles, we do actually work on other things.  Here is Seven working on front and rear crosses on jumps and tunnels.  She has been in training for about 6 months now. 

Face Jail

Recently, Riley was sentenced to face jail.  When it comes to wounds, Riley is notorious for making them worse with licking.  She can turn a small infraction of a wound into a felony in just a few minutes.  In this case, Riley sliced her webbing between two toes.

I am a big fan of keeping wound treatment as simple as possible with cold hosing and air.  Cold hosing is a gentle way to clean a wound.  It flushes it out and cools any inflammation.  I will wash with a gentle soap if necessary, but mostly I allow the cool water to flow over the wound.

Once cold hosing is completed, I dry the wound using a hair dryer on a LOW, COOL SETTING.  When dealing with an area such as between toes, it is especially important to thoroughly dry the wound and to make sure it gets plenty of air. 

If at all possible, I try not to bandage as it often delays healing.  This means you have to protect the wound from the dog in another way.  Some dogs are great and leave their wounds alone (Katie and Reagan) and others are serial lickers (Riley).  One of the many great features about racing greyhounds is that they are accustomed to wearing a basket muzzle without being offended.  So using a muzzle for a few days is a great way to protect a wound.

No Accounting for Taste

Nom nom nom

On Saturday morning, I confirmed that Seven does indeed have a strange palate.  First, she turns her nose up at rabbit as if I was serving her poison, but then shows a liking for something so bizarre.

I had an unpackaged roll of PetFlex "No Chew" Bandage sitting in my First-Aid Kit.  Generally, Seven has not been an inappropriate chewer around the house, but of all things to seek and destroy she chose a bandage roll described as "bitter tasting to discourage your dog from biting and chewing the bandage".  I can attest that it does indeed taste nasty as I could not resist touching my tongue to it the first time I used it.  It worked for me and I did not go back for seconds.  It does not seem to be working as well with Seven...

 OMG this is so good! And you tried to kill me with rabbit!

By the time I found Seven, she was well on her way to making a meal of it.  Funny greyhound!  At least I have learned that in the future, if Seven needs a bandage, I need to skip the bad tasting, "No Chew" bandage and opt to rub raw rabbit on the outside of the wrap. I guarantee she would not touch it then. Ha!

Weave Pole Dilemma - Part 2

Katie, one foot weaving back when weave poles were flexible.

Ideally, Seven would learn the one foot style of weaving.  All of my good weaving greyhounds have used the one foot style of swinging a front leg around a pole and then swinging the other front leg around the next pole. 

Riley one foot weaving - Megan Underwood

The other method is a two foot style where the dog bounces through the weave poles placing two feet on the same side at the same time. 

Travis one foot weaving.

In the last post, I showed Seven working on pulling me through channel weave poles using a mostly one foot style.  I have paired that method with the 2X2 method (I will describe in future post).  The 2X2 method is great for teaching the dog how to enter the weave poles correctly from any angle (left shoulder has to pass the first weave pole for a correct entry).  Seven has been doing very well with the 2X2 method, but when I watched this video, I realized that she is using the two foot style.

Honestly, I do not care which method Seven chooses as long as she can do it well.  So far, she becomes quite jumbled and unable to 2 foot weave when the weave poles are not offset.  This makes me think that the one foot style makes more sense.  For now, I will stick with having her pull me through the channel weaves until she is able to weave with the poles in a straight line.  I hope to go back to the 2X2s and teach her entrances, but would prefer to wait until she has committed to a style of weaving.

Weave Pole Dilemma - Part 1

Weave poles continue to be a mystery to solve with Seven.  There are a variety of methods available for teaching weave poles (to learn more - click here).  It has been quite a journey and learning experience to persuade Seven to drop her horrendous form and adopt one of the more efficient styles.  I think we are making progress, but we still have some work to do.  For reference, here is Seven four months ago: 

Seven would sort of canter and bunny hop through the weave poles.  If I tightened up the poles and reduced the space, Seven would not hop as much, but would lose all momentum.  I needed some feedback so I took Seven to see my agility instructor and get her opinion.  We settled on a new strategy.

First, we taught Seven to pull on her collar and drag me to a target. 

Then we had Seven pull me through the weave poles.  The theory is that Seven cannot bounce through the weave poles if she has to hunker down and pull through the weaves.

I believe I see it working and she appears to be adopting a mostly one foot style of weaving.  More on that in the next post.

Tastes Like Chicken

Well, apparently not! I recently found a local source for rabbit. I was hoping to feed rabbit once a week especially to Riley and Seven, but Seven will not eat it. What makes a very food motivated dog that eats chicken, turkey, pork, and beef as part of her raw food diet turn her nose up at rabbit? Is it really that offensive and different?

I love the idea of supporting a local farmer and friend that raises animals for meat in a way that is healthy and happy for the animals. They care very much about their farm animals' experience on earth. I cannot afford to feed it 100% of the time, but I love directing at least some of my dollars away from the factory farmed chicken I feed to the dogs everyday.  But Seven swears it is poison.

I also offered Reagan a bite and she would not touch it either. Travis shared their sentiments. Over the years, 3 out of my 10 greyhounds would not eat rabbit and I hear similar stories from folks with other dog breeds.  I wonder why that is. Just make sure your dog tries it and likes it before you stock your freezer.

Incredible Dog Challenge - Part 3

Photo by Megan Underwood

Once the agility portion was over, we had a few hours to rest.  We had set up Riley's crate outside of the secure area again as the crate tent was crazy loud with Jack Russell terrorists.  However, Saturday brought a lot more spectators and we soon were swamped by the crowd.  The PIDC staff was super nice and cleared us a spot near their equipment and we were able to move Riley's crate back into the secure area.  Riley rested much better there. 

Great shot of my butt.  Thanks, Stephen.

Riley was not error free in the Weave Pole Challenge, but the little greyhound did 180 weave poles in a span of about 10 minutes.  That is asking a lot from a hound!  We don't do that many in a whole week.  The first pass through the weave poles had all sorts of mishaps for both dogs, but Riley ended up winning the first heat.  Michael had the best view, so here is his video.

Did you notice Riley trying to go into the Purina box at 1:06? Silly girl!

We did not win the second heat. The Lab smoked us.

Riley was then asked to turn around and do the Weave Pole Challenge again immediately for third and fourth place. I said I needed a minute as I had to feed her some filet mignon.

As we were waiting to start the last Weave Pole Challenge, Riley had a weird moment. She did not like the music that came on... notice her freak flag ears. I pressed her ears down trying to muffle the sound with my hands. She snapped out of it once she started weaving.

The DJ used the same Riley-unapproved-music for the 1st and 2nd place heat. I was feeding her steak and she started to freak out and tuck her tail so I rushed her back to her crate which was away from the speakers. She recovered and was fine after that.

We were all very tired and ready to get home after that.  I am just so glad that we did much better at the event than we did in practice.

Thanks again for all the nice comments, well wishes, support, and cheers.  Its been really wonderful.  I will definitely let all of you know when the show airs.

Incredible Dog Challenge - Part 2

What a day!  Riley and I had a fantastic day at the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge.  She was definitely a crowd pleaser and I think the announcer's favorite dog.... definitely the DJ's favorite dog.  The announcer gave her and racing greyhounds lots of good props.

I want to thank Riley's hardcore fans, Scott, Amy, Kim, Kim's husband (sorry, your name escapes me), Terri, John, Lisa, Dave, Michael, Mathew, Toni, and greyhound, Get Em.  They came early for front row seats and stayed until the end.  You guys probably lost a little of your hearing sitting next to that speaker, but it was really special to have some greyhound folks in the audience. And then there were a bunch of friends watching the live streaming online.  You guys were so excited for us!  Glen, Pam, Beth, and Heather were posting Facebook updates. 

I also need to thank my roadies, Stephen and Dr. Toby.  Stephen had to cancel 3 doctor appointments he had scheduled for yesterday.  He carried Riley's things, kept an eye on her set up (since we opted out of the deafening crate tent), and videoed us.  I think he would even say that I was pleasant and nice to him the entire time (I think...). Dr. Toby checked out Riley after her mishaps on the contacts, held onto my shed layers, saved me a place in the lunch line (can you believe I somehow missed being first in the buffet line?), and he helped me carry lunch out to Stephen.

Also, our picture was printed in the Atlanta newspaper.  I ran to the store tonight to get a copy. 

AND we were in a short clip on CNN (a news channel in the USA).  My friend works there and she brought a camera man over to video our runs.  I hope I get to see it.  Thanks, Christy!

So our day started out at my agility field.  I wanted to take the edge off Riley so she would run a little slower and would be safer on the contact obstacles that were not in good shape (recall she lost her footing on the dogwalk and A-frame yesterday in the practice, numerous competitors complained, and I think the Purina folks are realizing it is time for an update).

In the first run, Riley ran very sensible and safe.  Unfortunately, she pulled a bar.  But much better to knock a bar from being over warmed up than to fall off a contact/climbing obstacle.

One of our greyhound fans, Michael, filmed the same run from a different angle.

This is our second run.  Riley knocked the bar right before the weave poles and then fell for the A-frame trap at the end of the course.  So run 1 stood as our best.

We placed third in the Big Dog Agility. 

Riley and I were the best posers. We seemed to be the only two to face the cameras and look good doing it. Ha!

I will post the Weave Pole Challenge videos in the next post.  It is midnight and I am tired.  Again, thanks for all the well wishes, positive thoughts, support, etc. 

Incredible Dog Challenge - Part 1

Today, Riley and I practiced for the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge.  The event is tomorrow.  Unfortunately, I was disappointed that Purina's agility equipment is not in good repair.  I hate to be such a complainer, but the contact/climbing obstacles appear to be 20 years old.  The surfaces needed fresh paint and sand as they were slick and did not provide much traction.  Combined with a tunnel discrimination, both the dogwalk and A-frame were hazardous.  Riley lost her footing on both and had to bail off the A-frame in the first run and the dogwalk in the second. 

Warming Up

Tunnel/contact discrimination (tunnel placed right next to the A-frame or dogwalk and the dog has to determine which one is correct) is not our strong suit and we had two to contend with.  That would be a "Train, don't complain" scenario.  It is something we simply need to work on.

Here is a video of the set up.  Its funny because the field seemed very small for an agility course, but on video and in photos it appears to be huge.  However, the course laid out very nicely and gave the dogs room to run (although the yucky contact obstacles really made running fast risky).

Here are Riley's two agility runs.  We were definitely out of sync.  I did not want her to get hurt so I stopped pushing her to run so that caused her to turn early or miss obstacles.  She was pretty jacked up for the first run as well.  I should have played fetch with her to take the edge off.  Thank goodness for a practice day.

The best part of the day was definitely the Weave Pole Challenge.  Riley kicked butt!  She had to do 30 weave poles, turn around in a tunnel (MIL and Amy were right!), and come back through 30 weave poles.  Riley was one of the few to be error free.

The other highlight was that Riley handled the environment very well.  The setting was highly charged and the music and announcing was very loud in the staging area.  Riley had a couple of moments, but I was ready to entertain and distract with filet mignon.  Stephen had found some on sale and grilled them for her last night. 

Riley definitely approved of the super, high value, steak treats.  We have more for tomorrow as well!

Half way through the day we moved Riley's crate outside of the crate tent because the Jack Russell terriers were so loud.  They were there for the hurdle races.

Lunch for the humans was awesome (you were right, Jerry)!  I am a vegetarian and they had the best portabella mushroom sandwich ever, pasta salad with sun dried tomatoes, fruit, chips, and a cheesy tomato soup.  I was a happy camper.

Think positive thoughts for us tomorrow.  I just want to get her around the course safely.  The course will be the same as it was today so I know what to expect.  She looked stiff tonight so I gave her a Deramaxx.  As luck would have it, my vet is the vet for the event.  I will have Dr. Toby watch her move in the morning.