Bristol Sassy Pants here! Rain has turned my backyard into a sloppy, soggy mud puddle. I don't mind, but my mom got tired of washing the mud out of my fur and decided we could take a break. She really wanted to continue to work on my weave poles -- I think it's a lot faster if I just skip the first weave pole or two to get to the end, but she says that I need to do them all. :-(
She also tells me I need to "love the yellow" contact zones. I have a running contact, you see, and recently, I found that we can save some time if I SuperMan off the end! It's so much fun and I think only mere mortals worry about getting a paw in the yellow! Mom loves that I'm aggressive with my contacts, but wants me to get at least one toenail in the yellow contact zone, so we've been working on that, too. Not nearly as much fun to go to the very end, but I get a whole bunch of my favorite treats if I do it like she wants me to.
We're going to an agility trial in Knoxville, MD next weekend she's a little nervous and says we should be practicing for at least 15min every day and thinks the lackluster weather could be putting a quick halt to that paln. She worries for nothing, you know. She always worries! Crazy agility trials don't phase me one bit! I love to play and I love to show her how fast and wonderful I am.
Taryn here...
So, my plans for agility practice were further altered when I wound up dog sitting a Shiba named Zero for a friend of mine in the 11th hour. She had a family emergency and she's dog sat Bristol for me at least a dozen times; it's high time I returned the favor. Up until very recently, Bristol was hit or miss with other dogs. She became increasingly more reactive when she hit her maturation milestones at 6mos, 12mos and 15mos ... to the point that behavioral specialists were called. I've done a lot of work with reestablishing the line of respect in the sand, reading Bristol's body language for signs of stress and stepping in to handle situations so that she doesn't have to. No one was more surprised than I was that she and Zero have been coexisting peacefully together since Saturday ... it's even reaffirmed that with the right dog, we could consider a second dog in the future. Not sure how well my cat would take it, but rushing into a second dog isn't on my list of priorities.
Here's what I've forgotten: dogs under the age of 2 = high energy all the time! His breed in particular is notorious for it, whereas Cockers tend to drop and take a nap after a rousing game of fetch.
So my agility plans for the week have been shot, but that's okay. We'll do the best we can this weekend. I just need to remember to support 270s, threadles and our weave entries a little more than I usually do -- I don't expect her to perform these with minimal practice.
:-). Here we go! I desperately need a practice session before Saturday, but I'm excited none the less.
