Life After Facebook

So back in January, hackers tried to hijack my Facebook account with the end result of my account being locked down. After almost 12 years, you cannot find me on Facebook anywhere and there doesn't appear to be anything I can do about it. I mourn the loss of everything I've posted and everything I'm missing from my friends. No one thinks to tell me anything, they just assume I saw it on Facebook -- not!

However, it's much quieter in my head now, and for that I am grateful.

In the meantime, I am still training the dogs. There's a rumor that Tator may be making some competition appearances finally. First I have to learn to get my big feet out of the way and not trip over her. My, is she fast! Larry seems to be benefitting from my training with Tator as well. We'll find out next month at his next trial.

Tator, Larry and Arizes

I'm continuing to work on piecing and quilting. I made my first piece that I did all the work from piecing to quilting to binding all on my own. Just a table runner, but I like it and I had to start somewhere.

I finished the last two quilt tops from my classes and the workshop I took with a friend.

Quilting Class 104
Half Square Triangles Forever!

Quilting Class 105
HSTs, Combo Units and Flying Geese

Pre-Cut Workshop
Using a Layer Cake (10x10 squares)

And now I am working on a small quilt from a workshop I took with one of my classmates from the original quilting classes and a Quilt-Along/Block Challenge. It sounds like a lot, but this is about two months of information!

And finally, after Covid related delays, most of the materials came in for the online canvas-work class I signed up for back in December, so that is starting (right on time for warmer weather and flowerbeds and ponds that need my attention)

This should be interesting!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! 🍀

Let's do the Time Warp Again

Wow - two years since I posted - oops!

So a lot has happened in the past two years ... and not so much.

Larry finished his Grand Championship and Rally Advanced. He's gotten a couple AKC JWW and Fast Novice Q's, two USDAA Starters Q's, and a couple titles in CPE (although we're still in level 2 Snooker ... sigh). He's finished in the Top Ten NOHS both years and traveled to Orlando for the finals.

2017 is looking up - We have semi-regular agility lessons and next month we're heading to a conformation handling seminar. Competition-wise we've scheduled a day of AKC agility in January and a weekend of CPE in February. And in the meantime, our friend Cathy got a new toy and we get to play on it:

It's hard to see, but his tail is swishing back and forth in time with his stride - he still does adorable very well!

And Agility Gets 'Real'

This is the last post I started back in February 2015

Larry was entered in his first agility trial this past weekend, to test the waters, so to speak, but it turned out that the waters tested me!

Here is Larry's first run of the weekend - Level 2 Fullhouse

'Nuff sed

Some Notes from January ... or The Winning Weekend

January 24-25 was the Erie Kennel Club Shows and Larry's third outing as a "special."

On Saturday, he was pretty bouncy, but settled down enough to get Select (for his first major) and OH BOB. There were three group competitions (regular, BBE and OH) and I was a bit confused as to which was going on where and wound up racing rather unprepared to the OH ring. It went so fast none of my friends made it over to see us show, but Larry settled down fairly quickly and took FIRST PLACE!!! Wow - a visit to the OH BIS ring. In the meantime, Sunny Bear won the regular herding group. Our new friend Robin helped us get ready for the BIS ring - it's amazing how much experienced people can do with very little, and how fast they can do it! Larry looked like a star as we headed into the ring. This was a pretty long day for the little guy, and I could see the minute he was done with all this hoopla. No misbehaving, just a bit of a droop in his demeanor and posture. The win went to the Norwegian Elkhound, but I was pretty impressed with how well Larry did. Then we all settled in to cheer for Sunny Bear, and it must have worked, because he won! First Pyrenean Shepherd to win a Best in Show and I got to be there to see it. What a great feeling!

Sunny Bear - BIS
(the ribbon is bigger than he is!)

Sunday came and Larry showed better than Saturday - settled in a bit faster - and again got Select and OH BOB. It was easier to keep track of the groups this time, although it did stall a couple times due to the judges not being available as expected (one of the breed rings ran over and threw everyone's timing off by about 10 minutes, which can feel like forever). We were in the ring behind our new friend Robin, who thought the judge was really looking at Larry, but it turned out she was really looking at her Collie who won the group. Larry got second place - still an awesome achievement for him!

In addition to all our successes, Sunny Bear got another group first, Huey and Clive finished their Championships and Jolie Fauvette finished her Grand Championship. It was an exciting weekend all the way around!

Let's Look Ahead

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. ~ Ellen Goodman

So according to the above quote, I'm doing okay - Larry doesn't have any flaws to find (of course, and if you think any different, don't bother telling me, I won't believe you!). Potential, on the other hand, well he has acres and acres of that!!

So what would I like to see in this bright new year?

Enough Agility proficiency to compete and possibly title in at least the Novice levels

More work on competition level Obedience, a CGC, RN title and possibly BN as well

Grand Champion and Owner Handler points

An introduction to sheep

And all without getting so focused on the end results that I forget that we're doing this for fun! Wish us luck (and don't expect to see us at home on the weekends very much - this is quite a list!)

Happy New Year!

Let's Review ...

Larry's First Full Year!

Many, many things have happened over the year. He started with a lung injury, spending two nights in an oxygen crate and three weeks on crate rest. Wow! Lots of room for improvement after that, but Larry never let it get him down.

He made lots of friends and discovered the joys of snow

BFF Gordie

Klaus and Larry

He went to the Pyrenean Shepherd Nationals in Georgia 

and placed 2nd in the Puppy Herding Group

He made his official show debut in May at the LEAPSS specialty at the New Castle shows

He got his first major (3pts) at the Canfield cluster

Two majors (5 pts) and a BBE Group Placement at the Chagrin Valley Classic

 (and was disappointed to not be allowed to roll in the mud!)

And finished his Championship from the BBE class at Waseon

Then we took a little break from showing in conformation and took a Fido FUNdamentals class

And survived another Thanksgiving dinner

Then we went to Florida, where he met back up with his sister Genevieve (for about 30 seconds!)

and won a Best Bred by Exhibitor award

All in all a very busy year - and this doesn't include agility training, squirrel chasing, saving the insoles from the shoes that try to swallow them or rescuing socks from forced marriages!

What will 2015 bring? It's hard to say, but we'll try in another post. In the meantime we hope your holidays were happy and wish you well as we ring in a shiny new year full of hope and promise.

(Mostly) Wordless Wednesday

Hailie (6), Cindy, Larry and Aiden (4)
Thanksgiving 2014

Moving Forward

Week Two of class is under our belts. We're expanding on sits, downs and recalls. Larry worked very well with a barky? aggressive? larger dog next to us. The class started the first week with solid barriers marking each dog's work area, and this week was regular ring gating except for the one next to us who isn't ready to see the other dogs yet. I was happy that Larry, although aware when the other dog would react to him, would quickly return to working with me.

I'm happy to say we are developing a training rhythm at home! I have been years out of practice of working at home and it was harder to restart than I expected, but we seem to be on the right path now. Let's hope I can keep it up through the holidays - that will be the test.

We're still working on the weavepoles. I finally managed to get a charged video camera down to the building with me and get someone to hold it. We have closed the poles down to about 2"  - this is his second session on them and there were many, many distractions happening, so he's not driving ahead like he has been, but he is working

I've gotten out my jump at home and as long as the class homework keeps going well, we're going to work some single jump drills in the living room (my hubby is less than pleased) to hopefully improve our communication skills and keep cabin fever to a minimum!

And Now With Class

Larry and I started a class this week. Fido FUNdamentals. It's a clicker-training class for basic behaviors and a few simple "tricks." Of course, they're all tricks if you want to look at it that way.

There's 8-9 dogs in the class, including Teddy B and Malachi. The first week we worked on sit, down, staying, recall and walking nicely on leash. Larry had quite the good time, but by the end was a little over the top and nipping at my fingers when taking treats - a very unusual behavior for him.

It's very exciting to learn stuff!

I was very happy with how he did, especially how quickly he got over all the distractions available. Very nice for his first formal class setting. And it already looks like a new environment and some outside encouragement has given us the kick that might actually lead to a stay!

You mean I don't have to bounce off Mom
to remind her to give me a cookie??

The instructors suggested that I bring the treats in faster and lower (oh, my aching back!) to try to keep the leaping to a minimum, and it seems to be helping. (They were all quite impressed with the height of his vertical leap.) The help and advice on my clicking/treat delivery may make the class a success no matter what else happens!

And although I didn't write up another chart to track our progress this week, with clear goals in mind and knowing that we want to go back next week showing improvement has made me more focused on what we want to accomplish and more consistent in what we're working on.

In the agility front, the weavepoles went down to a two inch channel, and he's still driving ahead of me. I really had to stop myself from closing them down further. Baby steps, baby steps. I don't want to push too hard and wind up back at square one.

I call "Do Over"

Sigh ...

This blog is supposed to help me keep track of Larry's progress in training. So far it has shown me how lackadaisical I am in keeping to a training routine! I guess that's something, but it really wasn't what I was aiming for.

This is one of the motivational signs I have hanging on the frig. It's to remind me to work on the little details and be happy with small steps of progress. I've decided that daily notes on a blog aren't enough, since I've been getting to the end of the day with nothing concrete to note. So ...

No - not really my handwriting

Now I have something else to post on the frig. It will stare me in the face, breakfast, lunch, dinner and midnight snack. Hopefully next week, I will be able to post it again with marks, notes and progress. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

To translate: We will be working on heeling. Mom showed me an interesting behavior chain suggested by Susan Ailsbey that looks good, so we're going to try it for a couple weeks and see how it works. We're still working on the three finishes from Denise Fenzi's blog - I have a terrible time getting the cookie out of my hand. It's probably my worst transition point. Weavepoles are on-going entertainment and will be for a while, but we are going to start closing them down this week, but the tire looks to be trouble. "Someone" figured out that he can go under it, so back down to the floor it goes. Stays are actually up to an occasional 5 seconds (trust me, that's a lot! He's just so excited every time we're doing something structured I wasn't sure we'd ever get this far!). I'd like to get it to 10 so I can back down and add movement (mine) into the mix.

Week 2: Looking for a little more effort (from me!)

Saturday - Conformation show in Wauseon. Larry showed well, less bouncing than class, and took best of winners for the point he needed to finish his championship. Yay! Much driving and crate time, but no training - boo!

Sunday - Practice agility trial. Left dogs at home. Did work some random sits in the evening, but that was all I had the energy for.

Monday - read Denise Fenzi's blog post about finishes and decided to try her method. Only one short session, but I'm liking it already.

Tuesday -

Totally lost track this week. My efforts to turn it up could not stand against the craziness that real life threw at me this week. <sigh> On to week 3 ...

Week One (oh how generic!)

Saturday and Sunday - Larry and I spent our mornings at the Medina Swarm WCR Rally Trial. Larry played on three Puppy level courses - and I mean played! Much bouncing (almost shoulder high. Lots of people commented on his vertical leap) and tail wagging, but very little heeling or paying attention. Obviously we haven't been training consistently, and I'm thinking there may be some adolescent brain freeze going on, since there were more than a few looks of "What ever are you talking about? I've never heard the word sit before in my life!" When he did sit, he would come around in front of me, so we've been doing a few too many of those recently. Due to the trial and other RL commitments, we didn't do any training either day.

To work on: sit and down at my side (right and left), finding heel position :-)

Monday - worked sitting on my left and on my right sides. No acknowledgment for a sit in front. I turned after each sit about 90° so he was behind me and lured with food. Also worked on brushing. Got a little further back before he turned, managed 15 strokes.

Tuesday - Conformation class. Very excited, bouncy, couldn't hold still for the first 20 minutes. Once he settled down, free stacked nicely.

To work on: stacking on table, making sure rear left foot stays back

Wednesday - Bath-a-thon with Patricia took up most of the evening. Larry thought the water was acid ... added to the "things to work on" list.

Thursday - rough day at work, too sore to even throw a toy

Friday - worked stack on table. Improvement? I don't know, it's not any worse at least ;)

Getting With the Program

So a couple friends convinced me to start a blog. I love to read them, but it turns out that when I write, I am obnoxiously opinionated, and no one is interested in that! So the poor lonely blog has sat empty as I've written and discarded many entries before they went public.

I've decided to try a new tactic and focus on the ups and downs of training my young dog. It can serve as a record of what we're doing, and a motivation to keep me moving. See, my little dog is just so darn cute it can be a little difficult to be serious about the whole training "thing" when most everything he does is just adorable.

Through circumstances mostly beyond my control, I've been sitting on the sidelines instead of competing for the last several years (years? how did it become yearS?), so I have high hopes for my little Larry. I hope we can do everything! Obedience, rally, agility and maybe even herding.

Here's where we're at. Larry is 11 months old. He knows sit and down and (sort of) stand. Has a recall with mild distractions. Will usually walk on a loose lead. Can (but doesn't always) perform all agility obstacles with the exception of the weavepoles and teeter, and is showing signs of footwork in the open weaves.

What we're working on:

• Obedience - Stay - he has springs in his butt that set off as soon as I move my feet
• Obedience - learning heel position
• Grooming - holding still for longer than 10 seconds
• Manners - keeping his feet off the table
• Agility - weavepole practice, distance tunnels and sequencing jumps

My goal is to practice at least 10 minutes per day and post once a week on our progress. Maybe not the most exciting read, but hopefully it will keep us on track. And there may be the occasional non-training post just because.

Oh, and here's Larry:

Isn't being this cute challenge enough without having to learn stuff too?

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

Eighty percent of success is showing up.  ~ Woody Allen

Monday Moan

Does your town have Monday Moans? They are a time to air those little grips that are momentarily irritating, and then forgotten until the next time. I'm not sure what's going to happen with it here, now that John Lannigan is retiring this weekend, but I'll share mine with you - I'm not really the type to call the radio station anyways.

I went to grocery store, at a non-busy time, but no one could park in the first few parking spaces due to abandoned shopping carts.

Really? We're so lazy now we can't even push the carts back to the store or into the cart corral?

Back in the stone age when I was a kid, my sisters and I fought over who would get to push the cart back into the store. Possibly from the back 40 of the parking lot (cart corrals would have been laughed at then). Of course, nowadays, we're too busy texting at 30 mph down the parking lot lanes to allow children the small responsibility of putting something back where it belongs.

Today's attitudes of It's Not My Job / I Don't Feel Like It / Let Someone Else Deal With It just gets under my skin. Yes a shopping cart isn't a big deal, but the big deals in the world are made up of a bunch of little deals and how we handle those colors everything.

Once Upon a Time ...

I used to hike ... a lot. Nothing too hardcore, backpacked a few times, picked up a few items here and there that are only useful for hiking, but nothing too over the top. I just liked walking in the woods, or fields or anywhere "away" from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, enjoying whatever nature chose to present me with that day.

I hiked a lot with my mother. We used to make an annual trip to the Smoky Mountains National Park every year, usually in the spring. It started with a photo on a calendar of a burbling stream flowing over smooth, moss-covered stones. I showed it to my mother and told her that I would really like to see that in person, and she asked, when did I want to go? Just like that, we started planning a long weekend in Tennessee that turned into an annual trek. The caption on the photograph was just Smoky Mountains National Park, TN, so our excuse for going back every year was that we hadn't found the place in the photo yet.

My father once asked why we kept going back to the same place. With over 850 miles of established hiking trails, it wasn't necessary to set our feet down in the same place twice, but we often did. Either way was enjoyable - discovering new things, rediscovering things we had forgotten, finding new things in old places. I like waterfalls and my mother enjoys big rocks and since these two things are usually found in the same general area, we didn't disagree much about which trails to follow.

Twelve straight years we made the trip, until life got a little too complicated. Which is a bit ironic, considering that the point of hiking is to get away ...

A Stroll Down Memory Lane

Smoky Mountains, April 2009