Reagan

Confession...Reagan does not live with us anymore. I honestly was not going to post about it figuring the readers would forget about her eventually. But she is doing so awesome and has found her place to really shine. I just have to blog about it.

Long time readers will remember that I adopted Reagan straight off the farm as a 10 month old pup back in 2008. She was extremely talented in agility, but her career was cut short because she became terrified of my van that stem from noise sensitivities and phobias. As you know, I tried everything from counter conditioning with a Manners Minder, to insulating the van to reduce noise, medication, consulted a behaviorist from Tufts University, and considered selling the van, but then she showed the tendency towards other vehicles. It was just not to be. Unfortunately, that meant no more trips to the training field or to competitions. No more hikes or weekend trips. She would hide from me when I started to prep the dogs for an outing.

At the time, that was okay. My husband had three senior greyhounds that stayed home with Reagan. Stephen drove a vehicle that was more acceptable (she still would shake and hunker down, but at least she would jump in willingly) and he would take the four dogs to a hiking spot 10 minutes from our house.

Over the summer, Stephen lost his last two greyhounds, Stacker and Allie. Suddenly, Reagan was home alone... A LOT. After work and on the weekends, Riley, Seven, and Maddie load up into my van and we go hiking, training, or competing almost every single day so Reagan sat home missing all of the activity and fun!

Well, my awesome friend, Stefanie, and her husband, Tom, often babysat Reagan when I was away at agility trials. Stefanie often joked about us not picking Reagan up. "Reagan who? There is no Reagan here." I finally asked one day... "You are joking, right?" She said no. So after some discussion with our husbands, I did not pick up Reagan the last time.

And it has been great! We all knew that Reagan fit in well at their house and got along well with their greyhound, Wilson, but I think none of us had any idea how great of a fit she would be for them and vice versus.

For one, Reagan has Wilson as a companion and never has to be alone, but I think it has become evident that her personality really comes through in a smaller group. In a larger group at my house, Reagan did not play with toys and she was protective of her space, often growling at the others. Now she plays with toys and is silly and goofy. She is also allowed on the furniture and she has become quite the cuddle bug.

Reagan gets to take walks around the neighborhood, but Stef also drives a vehicle that Reagan finds bearable and takes her to the barn she boards her horses at. Stef had been hesitant to get a 2nd greyhound because she wanted a dog that could hang out when she fed the horses. The pastures are fenced, but it is 40 acres and a lot of space to not have control over a dog that explores and tests fence lines. Well, Reagan is not very prey driven, sticks close to Stefanie, and happens to be extremely well trained. Reagan pretty much follows Stefanie around the farm as she does her chores and gallops a couple of loops in the pastures.

Stef also has some agility equipment in her backyard so it is very cool that Reagan gets to practice some of what I taught her and that someone has fun and use for her training.  Sometimes we still get together so I can show Stef what Reagan knows.  Probably time for another session, Stef!

So that is a glimpse of Reagan's new life. I still get to see Reagan on a regular basis. She comes back to my home when Stefanie and Tom are out of town and Stefanie and I hike with all of our hounds a couple of times a month. Plus Stef regularly texts me funny stories and pictures. I am just so thrilled for her new life!

Thank you, Stef and Tom, for loving Reagan so much!

Indoor Games

So what is a hound to do when temperatures are freezing and snow is on the ground? Play outside?

Playing outside wore off quickly. Good thing I stuffed 21 Kongs the day before and froze them. I believe it is a mixture of kibble, canned pumpkin, and cottage cheese.So now what? As part of Katie's rehab for her neurological problem, I have been very good about continuing her cavaletti work. The cavalettis make her step high and flex all of her joints. A good exercise for a dog that was once dragging her left hind leg.It has been too cold and muddy outside so I cleaned off my broad jump boards and brought them inside. Unfortunately, the only room with carpet is our little office. So I flipped up the mattress the dogs lie on to create a small work area. Normally, we do cavalettis in a straight line, but this little room gave us a new variation.

You probably remember the wobble board from a past post. Katie still hates it and probably always will. I did find that stuffing blankets underneath it to reduce the tipping even more helped both Reagan and Katie to work it. Reagan is very comfortable on it now.

I also taught Reagan and Riley about the Roll-A-Treat. As they roll the ball, pieces of kibble fall out of the hole. Unfortunately, it appears to be discontinued because I could not find a link for you. However, a Buster Cube is very similar.

Lastly, find a sunny spot and soak up some warm rays of sunshine.

Tracking Is Tough On Marriage

Stephen and I did some tracking on Sunday with Reagan and Riley. This was the third session for the girls. It was very cold and windy. Stephen was not properly reading my mind :-) and it was frustrating being that it was bone chilling cold and I was trying to track a greyhound who is cold even in our climate controlled house (Reagan). I needed to get her moving and tracking ASAP. Of course, if I had bothered to give Stephen clear instructions before getting Reagan out of the van, it might have gone smoother and faster.

Here is one of Reagan's attempts. I am following the training plan in the book Enthusiastic Tracking. All in all, I think Reagan got the short end of the stick that day due to our poor planning.

Like I said, it was very windy. We laid the tracks into the wind as suggested, but she still did a lot of casting from side to side.

I think Riley did a little better for Stephen. It probably helped that I was laying the tracks I wanted myself.

Anyone with tracking experience, please feel free to comment. I do not know what I am doing. :-)

Thanks Grandma!

Reagan would like to thank her Grandma for her new, snugly, elephant fleece made just for her. It is so soft and warm... and just in time for the election. As you may guess from Reagan's names, I swing right and tend to be conservative.




Maybe one of these days the Republicans will actually have a candidate that acts conservative. I am against big government. I do not like government run programs like Social Security. I do not like our complicated tax system. I am for freedom and free enterprise.


Maybe the Libertarian party will eventually take the place of Republicans. I like the idea of the Fair Tax and so do many Libertarians. But like the Republican party even the Libertarian party is afraid to take a definite stand for it. Its annoying to me that the conservative political parties seem so wishy washy about taking a stand for something that effects us daily (like taxes). Yet will take a firm stand on an issue like abortion..... something most people probably don't even think about unless the car in front of you has a bumper sticker about it. I would suspect half of the folks that consider themselves conservative would also consider themselves pro-choice.

Freedom is really important to me. I do not want the government to tell me how many dogs I can have or which breeds. I do not want the government to take away my friend's right to occasionally breed a high quality litter of puppies. But it is happening everyday across this country. Bit by bit, rules are made, laws are passed, and our freedom is squeezed a little more.


In Georgia, we are very lucky to have the Georgia Canine Coalition on our side. They act as a watch dog for dog owners and fight laws that infringe on your right to own and enjoy dogs in the state of Georgia. I urge you to join if you live in Georgia. Membership is just $15 a year and it helps to pay for a lobbyist who works on behalf of Georgia dog lovers. The GCC is one of the most successful clubs of its kind in the US.


I try not to take for granted that I get to participate in "silly games" like dog agility. There is probably a small percentage of people in the world that get to have the kind of luxuries that we in the U.S. have. Even when times are tough, at least in my little world, the shopping centers are still full, everyone is still driving around, and the biggest complaints I am hearing are "I'm having to bring my lunch instead of eating out everyday." and "We are taking less vacations this year." Not my idea of a hardship. I don't doubt that there are people truly going through tough times right now. The economy goes through cycles and we are definitely on a down cycle. I suspect lots of people are still living beyond their means. Hopefully this is a wake up call. As a financial planner, I feel blessed that people need me through all cycles, so my job remains very steady.


And what about this stock market? All you need is a little cash and courage to benefit from this huge downturn. Being diversified has not protected portfolios this time. Everything has been hammered. At this point you could pretty much throw a dart at investments and pick anything. If you like stocks, buy good companies. Right now high quality companies are under priced and on sale. Don't buy companies that struggled during the good times as well as the bad. Sometimes I hear "it can't go any lower". Well, yes it can. The stock price can go to zero if you pick a company that goes belly up. If you prefer something that doesn't require much thought, just buy an S&P 500 Index Fund.


For those of you saving to retirement plans and are a good 10 or more years away from retiring, smile and be glad you are getting such a deal on investments. Bump up the savings if you can and take advantage of the big stock market sale. Like every other time in history... the stock market has always recovered.

Reagan's Mom

Reagan's mom was adopted recently............... no not me! Her real mom, Task Spring Buds. Guess which one in the photo..... the fawn one of course :-). She is obviously living with several other greyhounds. I could just kick myself for not taking any pictures of her at the farm. She was on the premises when I looked at the puppies, but time was short and I had to focus on picking one out. Lots of luck to her and her new family!