Christmas is coming...

Wow - it's been awhile since I've posted anything!

Christmas is coming WAY to fast. I'm no where near ready and it's 8 days 'til Christmas, but family will be here in just 6!!! And being gone all this weekend is NOT going to help.

Being the good dog mom that I am, I got Mya a santa outfit for Christmas. Being an even better mom, I had to try it on her already "just to make sure it fits." Now it's wrapped under the tree and I will be using my powers to resist opening it before Christmas Eve. Now, if we do end up going on another TDI visit before then, we might just have to break the rules... ;)

We were hit with a blizzard last week and then yesterday got dumped with about at least 8 more inches of snow. Some of the drifts in the yard are over 4 feets high! Mya's been having such a blast running through the snow. She loves it!
I love it when she runs through the snow because it tires her out so much faster than just running. :)

When the windchill was below -35 the other day she only got to go out for quick potty breaks, so I had a crazy dog with so much pent up energy. We played lots of tug/hide 'n' go seek games and did a lot of training as well. I dug out her Kong, too, and that's been a lifesaver with keeping her busy! A little ham, some shredded cheese, and kibble soaked in water then frozen does wonders!

Most likely my next post will be after Christmas, with pics of Mya in her Christmas outfit of course. ;)

High Energy Dog vs. Rabbit Den

Mya is just insane lately. A week and a half ago she found a rabbit den in the backyard. Before we could get to her she ate one and killed two, leaving two more. So she hasn't been able to free run for hours like she is used to and she's going crazy (and so am I)!

Since Mya is Invisible Fence trained, I put 50 of the white flags around the rabbit nest which seems to be working for now to keep her away, but I don't trust her running around without something else to do. So for 10 days now the only running she's gotten is some while playing fetch and when she gets the zoomies in the house. I've been running her on lead and we've been taking her with us when we go places more than usual. I've also been training and playing games more than usual but she just needs some flat out running time!

Only 3-4 more weeks until the rabbits grow up and move! Yeah! I can't wait until they're gone (even though I'm a serious rabbit lover). Grow up fast little cottontails!

Pegetables

I'm going to start this off by asking where the barfing emoticon is.

I ended up storing a whole case of Pegetables at my house when taking inventory of what treats we had for a foster network/low/no cost spay neuter group I work with. In the end we haven't had an event we can take them to to hand out and have nothing else to do with them so I tried giving some to Mya to see what they were like.

I am disgusted at the fact that they are made with VEGETABLES. Dogs are CARNIVORES. (Although they are oportunistic carnivores and can survive but not thrive on other things, that's another post) And the package says veterinarian approved which really means nothing, yet it's sure to get people to buy.

And about the Guarenteed Delicious and #1 in taste - what dogs did the testing? Mya eats almost anything including lettuce and other vegetables. She even takes her heartworm pill by herself! But I took one out of the package and she ran off. I coaxed her to sniff the small piece I cut off (I wasn't going to feed her a whole one after reading the ingriedients) and she spent a long time sniffing it before trying it, then she spit it out a few times before actually eating it.

When I first took one out I thought it had to be plastic since it was obviously molded into shape, was super hard and difficult to cut without microwaving (don't worry - the package said you could microwave for easier cutting!). It also had numbers imprinted on it from the mold much like the bottom of tubberware containers. And it was super shiny and smooth. Blech.

Basically, they smell like garbage, look like garbage, apparently taste like garbage...so that's where they're going! If you/your dog likes them, good for you but I won't be feeding those to any dog I know anytime soon.

Anyone else heard of these or tried them? What do you guys think?

County 4-H Show

In everything except rally we took champion and in rally we took reserve champion!

Rally, obedience, agility and Four Dog Team were red ribbons and showmanship was our blue ribbon. We're going to the state fair at the end of the month in showmanship, four dog team and obedience (couldn't go in rally or agility).

Super excited to go! I get to go the both days of the show...it will be interesting for sure. Hopefully we'll get blues and if we get a blue in obedience we can move up next year so I'm not competing against my friend and her dogs in anything except showmanship next year.

4-Dog Team

It looks like Mya and I will also be a part of a 4-Dog Team through 4-H! We haven't actually practiced with dogs, yet, since our dogs all know the obedience exercises, but we just practice stepping with the right feet and turning the right way and speaking at the same time with cones as imaginary dogs. The funniest part is when our trainer says what the judge will say so we can practice, when she gets to the end and says, "Exercise finished!" We all start to praise our "dogs" automatically. :)

First TDI Visit last night

Last night was Mya's (and my!) first ever Therapy Dog visit! I went so well!

It was place for the mentally ill. We went around and visited and talked to people and they petted our dogs. Then we did heeling and everytime we stopped we introduced a dog. Then each dog did a trick (Mya did sit pretty). Then we did recalls and stays. Then anyone who wanted to could do more tricks with their dog, so Mya and I did wave and roll over (thinking back, I could've done spins and a backstall if I had worn a t-shirt and not a tanktop, but I was nervous and couldn't go through Mya's over 80 tricks!). Then we visited with people again.

All in all, it was about an hour of visiting/demonstrations. It was so fun and Mya just did such a great job!

Off to another visit tomorrow morning! :)

Alex and Mya CGC TDI

Agility got cancelled...

...because the weather was way too hot! It was in the upper 90's at 7:00, and since we run outside in the sun we cancelled. That was a bummer! But OB and Show went well, we skipped Rally (not enough people so the trainer left that night). But it was a good training week anyway!

First TDI Meeting

Last night was my first local TDI meeting. It was a bring a snack and bring a dog meeting (we met at a local pet resort with indoor and outdoor play areas, a swimming pool, boarding, training, and daycare), although Mya had to stay at home since we worked at a fundraiser starting at 11:00 and waiting 7 hours before the meeting started would be to long for pupper. I got to meet everyone's Therapy Dogs and learn more about them. Now I can't wait to start visiting!!! :)
I might be taking Mya on her first visit next week! SO excited!


Alex and Mya

Annie is visiting!

My uncle's chocolate Lab is at our house while they are on vacation and Mya is so excited! I found a way to hook the double clip end rope around my waist to take them on runs and they both LOVE to play fetch...

Twice the amount of fun with two dogs!

Alex and Mya and Annie (the chocolate Labbie!)

Show, OB, and Rally classes

For the first night of Showmanship and Obedience this year, and the first night ever of Rally, Mya did so well!

In showmanship she did pretty good with staying stacked (except when people came near her...but we're working on that) and her gaiting was excellent tonight! The trainer commented on it several times.

We ended up not having a huge break and joining the more advanced class in between since there weren't many people at the first night. Mya actually was a very good listener. This year heeling is the only thing on leash, and except for when we did heeling Mya was off leash the entire class. She just laid down right next to me and waited (without me telling her too!) even when other dogs did recalls and things like that. She also didn't break her stay when the "popper," a kids toy that makes popping noises that is in the "distraction box," was rolled right in front of her. She did not want to stay standing for the stand for exam, though, as she wanted to go and greet people! I'm actually quite happy about that, though, because last year she was afraid of her reflection in the mirror there and she tucked her tail when someone wanted to pet her and she slinked around. So this is a great improvement!

Then we had rally, which went great as well! She has a great head start since she is the only one in class that knows both finishes (left and right). And by that time she was tired enough to heel so much better!

And that night she was tired after me running her and exercising her mind all day, then almost 3 hours of classes.
Now I know that if I want a tired dog (and not exhausted, just well rested!) that Mya needs to run for about an hour, play fetch, do many tricks each day, have two dogs come over to car pool to class and have the excitement of seeing them, then go to a new place with many dogs coming and going the whole night and to train for almost 3 hours, then come home and be well rested.

And I know she was able to rest because she let me sleep in until 8:30! :)


Alex and Mya

AKC Canine Partners

Mya's registration form was just sent off today!

AKC is pretty much the only venue outside of 4-H in our area with OB and Rally. The 4-H rules are also slightly based off of the AKC rules. Since the start of the Canine Partners program, I've been super excited to sign Mya up. That way we should be able to get more practice showing in different places in!

Her "registered name" that I listed is No Joke Memorial Day Mya May. What? Why's that?
The reasoning behind the name is this. No Joke comes from her being born on April Fools Day. So it's a time for fooling around and joking, hence that part. Memorial Day comes from us getting her on Memorial Day 2007. Mya is obvious, and it's Mya May because we got her in May and she needed a middle name as a puppy when she got in trouble ;) and also because May is Mya with two letters switched. So, put together in a order that sounded somewhat good, you get No Joke Memorial Day Mya May. Plus it sorta rhymes!

Signing off for now, to go run and take even the slightest edge off before classes tonight,

Alex and No Joke Memorial Day Mya May

Class updates

Last night was agility class, and tonight we have obedience, rally, and showmanship classes.

Agility went so well! Even though it's outside, Mya was able to run without me holding her leash and remain focused. Once again, though, Mya did everything perfectly but it was ME who messed up! Not paying enough attention (we didn't do walkthroughs), I kept taking routes that had me do a rear cross. So my trainer had me repeat it several times until I was able to stay on one side! Our mini course started with a jump, then a tunnel, the two jumps, one to the left and one to the right. Our course went jump, tunnel, left jump, 180 turn, right jump, tunnel, jump. I crossed behind Mya after entering the tunnel on the backside, and another time after the second jump. Although I managed to plan ahead (for once!) and stay to one side. Who says it's dog classes? Shouldn't it be owner-learning classes? :)
The reason I had to learn to take a course without rear crosses it that it slows you down, and Mya is a VERY fast dog. So no short cuts can be taken here!

Then tonight it's on to a showmanship class, and then we have an hour break to hang out at the training center before out obedience/rally class starts. Mondays and Tuesdays will be busy for the rest of the summer! Later on this year, then, we'll show in Show, OB, Rally, and Agility at the 4-H county show. Hopefully we also can make it on to the state level. I hope to do some invitational shows this summer for practice.

Alex and Mya

M-U-D

Tonight Mya and I were outside playing a tennis ball game...when she decided she needed to cool herself off in the big mud puddle in the middle of the driveway. She had fun in it, though! She didn't like having to be wrapped up in a towel and carried through the house to the tub, and then having to wait in the tub for her bath. But afterwards she got the zoomies and kept throwing her toy all over the living room and into the wall at one point. Pics and a video below!

"Look at muddy Mya!"

"That mud feels so good!"

She gets so curly after a bath!

MUD!

A video of her craziness after the bath...

Alex and (the once muddy) Mya

RABBITS!

Tonight we spotted the first cottontail of the year nibbling on dandelions out the window. As we are all watching it, Mya decides, as she always does, that if we are looking out the window something interesting is out there. Usually it's nothing, or a squirrel, and she watches it with the occasional whine to go out and get it.
But OH MAN was she fit to be tied trying to get the cottontail! Pawing at the window (which I've never seen her do) and actually HOWLING to get outside and chase it! She was shaking with excitment and "talking" to us like she does when she is happy. It was even more fun when another rabbit came hopping out of the woods! Back and forth between the windows, and she is just now settling down...oops, back at the window as I write! At least the howling and trembling has stopped...

So much for trying to show her about the Kong we got several years ago that I just finally re-found...that couldn't compare to a rabbit! Maybe tomorrow she'll be more interested in it... :)

Alex and Mya (who is busy hunting the wascly wabbit!)

Picture Fun

I was taking pictures of Mya this morning...and had to share this one:

I had her sit on our piano bench and and I sat under her. I put a treat on the ground and she was watching it, making her ears fall forward. She happened to close her eyes at the moment I took the picture...