My Favorite Part

Everyone who knows me, knows I love a big, chunky, greyhound butt.  They are awesome and meaty!  And Seven has a good one.  But my favorite part is her tail.  She has the most awesome, hairy tail.

Some greyhound tails are thin, bony, and missing patches or rings of hair, but Seven has a fox tail.  It is long and covered with thick fur.  It can keep her nose warm.

FitPAWS

Well, darn it!  The last post was supposed to include the video below.  I was away for a four day weekend so I was unable to correct until Sunday night.  If you have already read the last post, here is the video of Riley working on the balance disc that you missed.

My friend, Tamara, reminded me that I can also have her place her front paws on the disc as well and pivot around.  I have a smaller one just for this purpose, but so far I have only focused on placing the rear end on the disc.  Riley and Seven are just so focused on doing stuff with their front paws that it really was difficult to get them to think about moving and touching something with their rear paws.  So they are getting lots of reinforcement for finding something with rear feet for now.  I hope that by using two difference sizes that maybe they will eventually recognize that the larger is for rear feet and the smaller one for front.

Rehab Is Never Done

Due to Riley's rear end injuries last year (fractured hock and a punctured P1/metatarsal joint), I will probably never consider her rehab done.  I always want to be keeping her hind legs strong and flexible.  All in all, I think Riley has done very well, but I have seen gimpy warm ups and shakiness when she is fatigued.

For the stiffness, I have finally put Riley on joint supplements.  I do not use them as a rule since it is expensive if you pursue quality and quantity for multiple dogs, but I also have not had many greyhounds that needed it.  Other than Katie, my others have all aged very well and were active up until the end and showed no signs of arthritis.  But Riley is showing some early signs and certainly has had injuries likely to lead to arthritis so I think its time to be proactive and to keep  her joints as healthy as possible.

For the occasional shakiness, I have purchased a FitPAWS Balance Disc.  The shakiness comes from stabilizer muscles in the leg lacking strength and fatiguing quickly.  The Balance Disc provides challenges that help strengthen those muscles.  Riley has to first find the disc with her rear feet which helps her become more aware of her rear end, in general.  Then I can have her pivot and do a turn on the haunches while balancing on the disc.  I also can ask her to sit on it and then stand back up.  It is just a great way to work on strength without wear and tear.

Photo Dog

 I am always taking pictures of Seven.  She is just so good at posing with perked ears.  She takes her posing very seriously.

I got the following two pictures earlier this summer and they are gorgeous.  I could not think of a reason to blog about them so I am finally just going to .... blog about them.  I posted them to Facebook, but I know not everyone follows us on Facebook.  So here they are:

Both of these were taken with my iPhone and have not been enhanced in anyway.  We were hiking early in the morning as the sun was rising.  The red clay shore was reflecting back onto the water creating all of the orange color.  I did not realize how beautiful they are until I got home.

Another bit of into I posted on Facebook that might have been missed is that I created a profile for Seven on the IMDb website.  The IMDb website is a movie database that has all sorts of information.  Many actors and actresses have their own profile on IMDb, so I felt Seven should be no different.  Click Here to see it.

Wonder Agility Dog

Seven continues to be the Wonder Agility Dog.  She qualified three out of her five runs.  We skipped the 6th to get home sooner since neither hound had a chance for a Double Q.... and a good day for it too.  Our camping buddy, Jerry, and his German Shepherd, Ex, qualified and won the class.  He was glad the greyhounds had gone home early on a day Ex ran very well.

Seven double qualified on Saturday so that brings her tally up to 4 towards her championship (needs 20) and  for the Agility Nationals (needs 6 before November 30th).

Another qualifying run in Standard:

I really am so glad I adopted Seven.  I honestly never would have kept her if I had not been pressured into keeping her.  I do not want to go into the details on the blog, but I never would have kept her without the "other reason".  I knew she would was a worker, but I really really hated (and still do) her anxiety about various things.  Thankfully nothing interferes with her ability to work, but she is very labor intensive to manage outside of training and competing.  She is happiest when she is working and can be very dissatisfied otherwise.  Part of that is because I am so Type A.  She is probably here to teach me to accept the things I cannot change.

My friends would like for me to admit that Seven is my favorite (it is a running joke now)... but I can't.  She might be my best, but she is not my favorite.  But I really do love her and I am glad Seven is here.

Rushed

I have been trying to make up for lost time (Riley's year off from competition due to injuries) so we were recently at another three day agility trial.  It was also Stephen and my 7th anniversary.  He was very sweet to send me 7 roses to the trial with the help of our friend, Jerry.  Thanks, Stephen and Jerry!

Riley did fine.  I think slimming her back down a pound or two helped as she only knocked one bar this time and is doing it less in training as well.  But she did not earn any double qualifiers (need 6 for the nationals and 20 for a championship).  We keep making silly errors.

I am starting to feel rushed.  My gut tells me that she is probably not going to be competing for lots of years.  I am really hoping for two more (she is 6 years old now).  We have just worked so hard, I just want to enjoy it now.  But I am already seeing gimpy days and stiffness.

Periodically, the rear foot that had the punctured joint comes up very stiff, but she appears to warm out of it thankfully.  But lately I am seeing some gimpiness on the right front or maybe I am just paranoid and looking too hard for something.... as I cannot pinpoint anything.  Usually busted toes are my big problems, but hers are in great shape (knock on wood).  I am also very thankful that her healed fractured hock seems to give her no problems, but it sure snap, crackle, pops when I flex it.

I really really hope Riley can finish her agility championship (need 14 more double qualifiers), compete in the Agility Invitational in December (we are qualified and entered), and qualify and compete at the Agility Nationals in March (needs 3 more double qualifiers before November 30th).  But I will always do what is best for Riley.  We will continue as long as she is having fun.

Here is one of the qualifying runs from the trial.

Compromise

Obviously, I cannot improve Seven's It-Is-Not-My-Turn Anxiety by tricking her when we are training close to home.  In a trial setting, tricking Seven has worked very well, but daily training is far too routine for outsmarting her.  So we compromise.

If Seven will stay in her crate, I will leave the door open.  Leaving the crate door open diffuses Seven's anxiety almost completely.  No more screaming, yelping, spinning, or crate chewing.  We have been doing this for couple of months now and she has only come out of the crate twice.... and was corrected for it.  The rest of the time she is rewarded for staying where she is.

The van is positioned so she can see the training field and Riley and I are able to work at the far end.  Riley can now run full courses, slam the teeter, and barrel through tunnels without Seven getting overly excited.  It has been a good compromise.

Trickery

If you can't train em, trick em.  Seven has It-Is-Not-My-Turn Anxiety.  It is the result of Seven having to wait in a crate while I set up courses or while working other dogs.  She screams, yelps, circles, shreds bedding, and chews the crate bars.  She has even damaged her teeth.

I have tried numerous things to eliminate this problem.  We did "Crate Games" (Susan Garrett DVD). I used to stuff Kongs and provide chewies... she just ignores them.  I try to always train/exercise her first.  Have her in view.  Out of view.  Closer to the action.  It does not matter.  If it is not her turn, you are going to hear about it.

I find the behavior stressful at trials because I cannot alter the running order.  If Riley runs first, I might come back to Seven having a fit and then it is her turn.  The last thing I want to do is to reinforce it by returning and getting her out.  In the past, I have actually separated them completely so Seven is not triggered by the sight of me getting Riley out.  But then I feel bad because I cannot sit by them both when I have down time.

So I came up with this solution and it has worked well at two trials.  I cover the top and two sides of Seven's crate so she cannot see Riley.  Seven has a view of a door that leads to the outside and away from agility.  So she is fine with seeing me come and go through this door because she does not think I am doing agility.  When it is Seven's turn to run, I come through the door she is watching and I take her in the opposite direction to agility.  When Seven is returned to her crate, I exit the door she can see, even if I just run around to another she cannot see.

When it is Riley's turn, I come from the direction that Seven cannot see.  Riley's things are always ready to go and I quietly grab her and go.  Seven probably hears the movement, but is not triggered because she does not get a visual. After Riley's run, I quietly return her to her crate (out of Seven's view).  If it is time to get Seven, I will exit through one of the out of sight doors and come through the door Seven is watching.  Make sense?

It is labor intensive, but it has worked really well and best of all, I can sit with both hounds when I have down time.

Perry Trial

Seven had an interesting trial in Perry.  She qualified five out of eight runs, but she also had the worst run we have ever had.  But then she double qualifies and turns in her fastest time to date... again.

 Jump 1 of serpentine

 Jump 2 of serpentine

Jump 3 of serpentine

Here is her worst run and then a very nice redeeming Jumpers run.  In her worst run, it starts out great, but then falls apart at the A-frame.  She exits the A-frame unsafely so you see me asking the judge if this is one of the conditions that allow for a re-do. "No."  I still do not understand that freakin rule. Then she proceeds to go off course and totally loses sight of me and then cannot find me.  It was so loud that she could not hear me calling for her. I think it was a good lesson in her needing to keep her eyes on me.  The second run is very good.

And then on Sunday, Seven double qualifies for the 3rd time (3 out of 20 for her championship and 3 out of 6 to qualify for the Agility Nationals).  Her Jumpers run was completed in 6.28 yards per second.  She is definitely my fastest agility greyhound at this point.  So funny because she started out kind of slow.