Obsession

I took the dogs  to a new park today and was excited to see that there was a nice dock.  A nice empty dock!  I had brought along a toy for Vito and decided to try some dock diving practice.  We got in one fun rep.

And then on our 2nd attempt Vito landed right on the toy and it was enough to sink it under the windy waves.  :(    Moment captured in bluriness....

Saddest Toller.  Really Sad Toller.  Obsessive Toller.
Luckily Vito did recall back to shore without the toy.  Something that just a year or two ago I would have been terrified of Vito spinning in circles in the middle of a lake forver and ever until he drowned.  But recall he did.  And then immediately went back out.  Repeat until I finally got him away and tried to go for a walk.

Will a stick make you happy?  Ahh,  crazier face!  And then right back to looking after having obsessively fetched it.

And then Vito went feral.  Well maybe not fully feral, but only semi domesticated.  Wanting to range far and looking frantic.  Recalling, but still no brain to stick around in his allowed range distance.  So we turned back.  And eventually needed to be put on leash for our return as now we were headed back in the direction of the lake and his long lost toy.

Sorry buddy.

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Getting Outside

I love going to parks with the dogs.  They have so much fun running, sniffing, and if you're the corgi then also peeing on all the things!  I am also extremely lucky that since moving close to the edge of the cities suburbs there are quite a few unpopulated parks around here and depending on what neighboring little town I'm in there often aren't even leash laws- just dogs under control.  Which is good as I just don't do leashed walks anymore other than the occasional neighborhood walk.  I just love watching the dogs get to run and sniff at will.  And dog parks I find terrifying plus the fact that with Vito's ball obsession it is out of the question anyway.

Now that I'm home with Netta I'm trying to make our walks more than just a weekend
thing.  Trying to master the art of babywearing.

With the weather warming up now I would love to get to daily romps with the the tollers and a few times a week with the Corgi also coming along.  He loves going to the parks to run but his legs shake once we're home and he sometimes limps.  More limited visits work for him.

There are 2 skills that are a necessity for my trail walks.  One is a recall and the second is a stay.  I realize that when I do come across people on the trails they're not usually expecting to see 3 off leash dogs.  So the instant I see a person I call the dogs and put everyone in a sit on the side of the trail.  Just as I don't want to be bothered by others, I don't think it's fair for my dogs to go up to people or other dogs even for just a quick sniff.  People who let their dogs wander up to other people and other dogs are my biggest pet peeves, no matter how polite the dog seems to be.  You're not in a dog park.  Your dogs do not have the right to "say hi" and invade others space.  I admit I've failed this on one of our park walks this week.  My dogs were gathered near me and knew not to approach the person at a distance but I wanted to get a little closer before having to stop and wait with everyone.  When the nice person shouted out in greeting to me the dog's immediately rushed to "say hi."  I learned that their impulse control on greetings isn't as strong without that stay!

Visiting dogs get the long line until they prove themselves.  I love my biothane long line! I try to give a warning or a recall before the dog hits the end of it in order for them not to become reliant on the leash tension being the cue to check in.

The other part I need to figure out is how to babywear and still use my fun camera.  I don't quite have the solution yet!

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Club Donations

The weekend didn't get to go quite as planned.  With Zumi not being able to attend the trial due to being in heat, just Vito and I trucked it up to St. Cloud.  I had thought he was fully recovered from his minor shoulder injury that was effecting him at the UKI trial 3 weeks ago.  Vito had been on full restriction for not quite 2 weeks and then just limited (no toys, no agility) for another week and was looking great.

But sadly he didn't seem his normal (whatever that means for Vito) self at the trial.  Jumpers was his first run and he knocked 4 bars.

There was a vet there doing massage therapy and I took Vito over for a visit.  Still very stiff in his right shoulder.  She did some work and thought Vito looked afterwards.  We discussed running him in standard to see how it would go.
In standard Vito looked better and was certainly very happy, yay!  But knocked 2 bars.  I scratched him from the rest of the day and knew we wouldn't be back on Sunday.  Vito just likes to make nice donations to clubs now.

So today we went off to get in a chiropractic appointment which actually went pretty well and the vet was pleased with how he looked afterwards.  We will hopefully do a few sessions of laser therapy in the next few weeks and hope that a little more active approach will fix it.

Since I wouldn't even know about any remaining issues he's having if it wasn't for the knocked bars, I decided to just keep him on minimal restriction status for now.  Vito's trips to the parks aren't anything like crazy Zumi's trips.

Why won't you throw something!!!

The Mountain Lion was a good girl!  She came every time I called and checked in frequently on her own.

Cougar follows Zumi everywhere, while Zumi tries hard to follow Vito.  Zumi had a harder time losing her shadow than Vito did losing his.

Group shot!

Oh, hi Corgi!  I didn't see you there ;)

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Cougar in the Wild

This weekend the little Mountain Lion went on her first park adventure with my crew.  It was a disaster.  I forgot that Puma's are wild things and aren't meant to be in captivity.  Cougar said it was the moment she had been waiting for.  Within 30 seconds of being let free she managed to find something and run around with it.  I thought it was a stick.  I was wrong.  The Mountain Lion found her first catch, although since she is still a cub it was already dispatched for her.  Squirrel?  Gopher?  Something decently sized at least.  And Cougar was not going to let anyone near her prize.

The other dogs were good.  They all listened and stopped chasing the crazed wild lion and pretty much stood frozen, stunned at her bravery.

Pleading with the lion didn't help, nor did giving the other dogs treats.  We almost got her cornered in some thicker brush but alas she scrambled just inches out of reach.  It took her quite a while to down her large find as we watched helplessly.  I kinda figured she would just lick her lips and we would resume our walk together.  But with the taste of blood she realized that didn't need us humans after all and the cub just sauntered away.

Luckily Adam was along so he could stay put with the good dogs.  And after I realized she wasn't coming back for nothing and was completely oblivious to all my recall tricks, I took after her.  She exited the park completely and while my mind was picturing her being run over by a car, I was also grateful that a lion in suburbia would be easily recognized and could perhaps be tempted to come visit.  I lost track of her as I stood in the driveway of the direction she went and then I luckily surprised her as she came around one of the cars and ran straight into my feet, cursing her bad luck.

Since we had really just arrived at the park and it was too hot to leave the wild creature in the car, I reluctantly snapped her leash back on and proceeded to drag her around on our walk.  Cougar got to watch the other dogs frolic but I'm pretty sure she didn't regret her decision one bit.

Sunday we visited a smaller park and this time she donned the long line of shame.  And she needed it, at first.  While I did not use the long line to ever reel her in, her first few recalls she tried to strain at the end of the line.  And then she realized she really liked cookies after all.

Slowly she earned a bit of freedom in being allowed to drag her long line.  

And really she redeemed herself on day 2.  Of course it helped that she didn't find any tasty snacks on our walk this time.

And now we need to work on that stay too.

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Spring for a Day!

For one day it was spring!  I still have a surprisingly amount of snow in my yard compared to everyone else I know, but it was almost 60 degrees on Saturday!

Took the dogs to the park!  Way less snow there.  And of course I made them pose on things.

Gives me hope that even though it's going to be in the high 20's tomorrow that it won't be too long before I can start putting back out my agility equipment and actually train the tollers outside.

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November Swimming

Best fall ever.  In the 50's today.  Mid November.  Minnesota.  It almost makes me not hate this state!  The dogs have gotten to go swimming or at least splashing around so many times this fall.

And the even better part is that my agility equipment is still up!  It's going down to the 30's this week though so next weekend might be our last shot.  Wouldn't it be nice though if I got to continue to train the long Thanksgiving weekend?!  Fingers are crossed for no snow for just 2 more weeks.

Photo dump from this month!

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Finding New Parks

The Duck got to be an only dog this morning as I scouted out some parks I've been wanting to take a look at.  Vito got to stay home with Dad as he doesn't take too well to car rides, plus multiple park trips I think would literally give him a heart attack.  We were on a mission to find

1. Interesting trails.  More than just back and forth.  Bonus points for nice paths cleared in the woods versus just paved paths in open areas.
2. Odds low of finding other people, or at least within the first 5 minutes.  Vito gets highly over aroused when going anywhere and does best when he can be let off leash to run and sniff right away.  Other people means on leash or a stay and Vito is like a can about to explode.
3. No areas where it looks like dog people might stop and throw balls with their chuck its.  Lower chance since I'm not visiting dog parks, but it does happen at one one the parks we visit, it's just easy to avoid that area if I see the activity.
4. Water access as a bonus.  But huge negative marks if water can't be avoided.  Vito will OBSESS about water and if for whatever reason he can't be given permission to go swimming (too many people around, too much brush) then his head explodes and I'm constantly calling him back every 2 seconds.

We visited 4 parks in the morning with miles of walking done and one park that we found a swimming creek under a bridge.  Just a little bit of brush to go through.  Zumi ran and ran all morning.  Got home and passed out for maybe half an hour before she was back shoving toys in my lap.

So a few hours later I decided to go back to the park with the creek with both Zumi and Vito.  Goal was to get him tired before the firework celebrations.  Although I don't recall it being super noisy in our neighborhood last year.  We will wait and see.  Left the Corgi at home as while he's not really on restriction, he's not holding up well to longer walks.  I think the facial stuff on both sides now is limiting his ability to pant.  Also hard to tell if he's a bit off with his coordination again, although he is able to still do side stepping pretty well.  Goes to the neurologist on Tuesday.

Sadly we did encounter 2 people resting at a bench shortly upon entering the park and Vito's head exploded.  But I think we discovered a better entrance to the trail system that might be better if we go again.  
Eventually Vito got to swim.  Vito's been on restriction from ball throwing and thus running for the last 2 weeks. But since it's been over a week since his last occasional wince, and over 2 weeks since the "incident" I haven't been restricting him otherwise.  Today has been the most exercise he's gotten as Vito doesn't really run for the sake of running.  Time in the yard or the earlier park visit to the woods is mainly sniffing time with a bit of trotting for him.  Monday he visits for a massage and checkup to see how he's healed.

Happy tollers.

 Difference in swimming style.  *Sigh* Vito.

Group pic of course.

Continuing our walk.  You have to leave the water Vito.

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