Willow "Officially" Begins Agility Classes ;o)

Since 8 weeks old, Willow has been exposed to various Agility equipment both at home and at various training facilities ;o)

This Tuesday she began her "official" structured "Intro to Agility" class with Kathy at AK9C ... there are 4 dogs in her class and of course even at 9am she thinks every new dog is potential chance for some "playtime"!

A ring that takes up 1/2 the inside training area is just packed with various colored straight & curved tunnels, many low 10" jumps, 2 baby see-saws about 6" off the ground, a 4' square purple tippy board mounted on a 4-6" ball in the center, a red-white-blue tire 10" off the ground, and a 12' long elevated blue "dog walk" about 3' off the ground with ramps at either end ... next week there will also be a low A-frame!

• With a hand-clicker and many, many, many soft treats, Kathy started everyone teaching their dog to "TOUCH" on command and with a CLICK & TREAT upon success ... first each of our hand palms and then a paper plate on the floor (that's our homework)
•  then we moved on to encouraging our dogs to get on a low see-saw, a tippy board, going through a straight tunnel and a low tire ... followed by a quick CLICK/enthusiastic PRAISE/yummy TREATs

Willow has the advantage of having been on/around Agility equipment and was quite successful in her first class ... she loved it all ... she's such a HAPPY girl to train and seems to catch on very quickly ;o)

This week's Teacher comment: "You have a very energetic pup there"  ;o)

PRACTICE...PRACTICE and more PRACTICE ... but in short sessions!!!

Sutter Starts Tracking Lessons ;o)

In February of 2002 a "wee Wild Child" called "Pinkie" was born the lightest golden color of 6 puppies on a Leyden Massachusetts farm outside Brattleboro Vermont ... her mom "Emma" a very sweet docile dark red Golden dam ... her dad "Mac" an exuberant dark red sire ... from her dad, I'm sure that Sutter inherited her uncontrolled "wildchildism"  ;o)

Since her "Puppy Kindergarten" classes, Sutter has loved to snoop, explore and steal toys from training bags of her classmates ... without possibly breaking this special girl's joyful spirit (and believe me many have suggested different positive & negative ways), it's been a long journey using only positive reinforcement training ... I've always thought that she would be a great "drug sniffing" or "tracking" dog, but since we were invested in training the fun/fast dog sport of Agility, a dog's nose to the ground is strongly discouraged!

While Sutter and I love her weekly Agility training classes together, she just isn't a reliable Trial-competition dog ... in the blink-of-an-eye, she can unpredictably lose concentration and be over the ring fence and off exploring! Interestingly, we took a "Tracking" seminar many years ago and the presenter said that Sutter was a "natural", so as Sutter approaches her 9th birthday, we're starting Tracking lessons together!

"find it"



"what did you find"



• place one flag at the start
• tramp the grass at the flag
• place a 5 cent size treat
• scuffle along
• after each 3 footprints place treat
• at 12 foot mark, put glove/treat down
• place 2nd flag a foot after the glove

I now get Sutter from the car on a 6' leash & buckle collar ... with a long rod to point out each treat, I say "find it" and we proceed slowly to the glove, where I tell her to "down" to acknowledge the glove ... TREAT, TREAT ... "WHAT DID YOU FIND ... GOOD GIRL" ... TREAT, TREAT, TREAT ... "GOOD GIRL ... GOOD JOB" ... TREAT, TREAT, TREAT ... and then we do 2 more of these short tracks!

Now it's our job to practice, practice, practice on different grass areas and increase the distance ... eventually corner turns will be introduced and then a stranger will start laying the same sequence of tracks ... hope it stops raining soon !!!  ;o)

*** IMPORTANT (lesson learned)
Instructor flag suggestions ... kind used by Electric company or Invisible Canine Fence ... Brilliant idea, I have plenty of white "IF" flags because we have 10 acres protected by Invisable Canine Fence!!!
*** WRONG (lesson mistake)
Sutter sooo respects her white "IF" boundry flags at home that she very reluctantly approached the white "IF" flags that I was using for Tracking ... she was visably uncertain what to do!!!
"Smart Girl Sutter" ... so I got some orange flags and she's OK with those ... she's already pulling me along the track faster than I can point out the treats along the track ... I'm having to slow her down ;o)

Challenges of an 8 Month Old's CGC Test ;o)



Thank You Linda for the photoshoot ;o)

    On a crisp 46 degree "last day of Summer" morning, the girls and I are off at 8am for Willow's 10am "Canine Good Citizen" (CGC) test!
Our 6 weeks of classes have been awesome with teacher-Ann, her "canine assitant Erin" and human assistants Linda & Cathy ... I'm not feeling over confident but feeling that Willow has learned all her lessons well and in fact all 6 dogs in class have shown great improvement ;o)
We got there extra early so we could play in the "Dog Park" and use up any excess energy ... Hah, an 8 month old with excess energy!!!!
On entering the training center, a new full wall mural is being painted on the wall over our class ring, the class movable partitions on wheels are arranged differently, it's unusual that the bustling Puppy Agility class isn't going on, training individuals aren't practicing and "Private" obedience sessions also aren't happening ... WILLOW IS TOTALLY DISTRACTED ... this is not a good sign and I'm beginning to feel my nerves on end :-0
We do some "healing" (walking at my side), for fun we quickly slip thru some Agility tunnels in the ajacent ring and then greet class assistant "Auntie" Linda (Golden owner of Willow's dad & cousins)!
Didn't know that we'd have to fill out a CGC form (darn, I don't have my glasses!)
First 2 dogs pass their test and Willow is next:

• Willow sits calmly at my side on leash at the ring entry ... I smile down at her, give her a lil' ear scratch and a soft "good girl" ... "Are you ready" teacher/evaluator Ann asks?
• "Forward" walk in and "Sit" to greet/shake hands with Ann ... Willow walks right past and no sit on command! 3 tries and she finally sits near me!
• "Forward" and Willow decides to say "Hi" to a poodle now practicing in the neighboring ring ... with much encouragement Willow is once again walking at my side ... we turn right at the big orange cone and continue walking, do an "about-turn" to greet assistant Cathy & dog Erin ... Willow does not sit and proceeds to "wiggle", greet and lick Erin "Oh Erin, so glad to see you" ... again with much encouragement and several retries, Willow finally sits, the handshake happens and we're walking again ...whewwww! I'm really feeling that we've "flunked" our test by now!!!
• Next, it's walk by my side as we pass assistant Linda with a moving cart ... Willow has had this senerio in past weeks and successfully ignored it ... NOT THIS WEEK ... she breaks her walk to examine the cart ... again needing much encouragement (no leash tug allowed) to return to my side and we continue our relaxed walk!
• Next it's move to greet Ann for Willow's "body exam & brushing" and the sit/down/recall on 25 foot leash ... done successfully, whewwww :o)
• Last part of the test is to approach evaluator Ann sitting in a chair, have Willow sit then lay down, hand Ann the leash and I leave the ring "out-of-sight" for 3 minutes (seems like forever!)
• Willow got up after 10 seconds but stood calmly beside Ann's chair ... that's allowed as long as the dog isn't frantic and pulling Ann off her chair!
• "Return to your dog" Ann calls out and the test is over ... "Congratulations on passing your CGC" and we receive our gorgeous Rosette and ex-large dog biscuit ... OMG, I couldn't believe it (our worst performance together in the 7 weeks!!!) ... it felt soooo bad  ;o)
• It's all about the dog being calm, friendly and under control ... I'm sure having just come off a long 3 night 7p-7a work weekend, Willow could sense my fatigue and increasing nervous state of mind!

So those are the happenings during our "CGC" test ... Sighhhhhhh  ;o) 

and next we'll move on to "Intro to Agility" in October ;o)

IT'S ABOUT THE JOURNEY TOGETHER and NOT JUST the FINAL DESTINATION ...

GOOD GIRL WILLOW and LOVING HAPPY 8th MONTH BIRTHDAY :o)

Golden Embers Blog Book Came Today!



Front Cover

It is certainly exciting to feel the thrill of being a "published author" once in one's life ... the Golden Embers Golden Retrievers Blog site has been made into a "one copy" 71 page soft cover book and it came out sooo well ... all the happenings and special photos saved ;o)
Since I started this blog on December 15, 2009, I've had many encouraging and supportive comments (both in the excitement and the grief) ... while it may have been therapeutic, my love of taking photos of the "Golden Girls" adventures certainly has made this a journey of LOVE  ;o)

Back Cover

I've enjoyed it ... thanks to all who "Follow" us ... I'm excitedly looking forward to the girl's Volume II adventures ... it certainly started with a BANG with our Ocean vacation ;o)



"Hey Sutter, we're in this book"  ;o)



Wonderful Ocean Vacation :o)

We've arrived  :o)

WOW ... this is FREEDOM is AWESOME!

                   Lookin' Pretty :o)

                                My Ball !!!!!

         

Running free before the rain ;-)

Footprints in the sand :o)  

Getting the beachsand off in the outside shower!  

 

This place has EVERYTHING!!!

Bone-chewing on our very own bed ... GREAT!!!!

Mom's inside LL Bean getting us new "bumpers" to toss at the pond at home .... Oh Boy!

Bye Old Orchard Beach Maine ... we'll definately be back ;o)

Thank You GOD for our wonderful vacation time together enjoying one of your natural beauties   :o)

As September Starts!

As 90 degree days usher in September 1st and folks sequester themselves in home-work-car air conditioning, I enjoy a steady breeze flowing through the wide open house ... the sun disappears earlier and earlier every evening, but I start my vacation by enjoying sitting at the picnic table under the 2 huge Beech trees, with a wondrous breeze, peeling my 3rd year of small but "juicy" peach crop, both for the freezer and crisp/cobbler ... the girls sit right close for those "bruise" spots ;o)

• The trees are turning their wonderful Fall colors and the berries are gone, but Willow can still be spotted hunting under the bushes for a last berry or two ... there were 22 apples on our dwarf tree and I can pick a "fresh" eat any time I want (15 left)!
• the school buses pass at the crack of dawn and at day's end!
• sitting on the pond side dock where the kayak and rowboat are tied, I can look down and see various size tadpoles and tiny sunfish enjoying the sun-warmed water ... and I wonder if they'll make it through the upcoming Winter ... can they go deep enough in the pond to survive ... I want to hear those Bullfrog croaks join the Peepers serenade and watch those moving black clouds of "bazillion" Hornpout babies next Spring ;o)
• the "veggie" garden struggled but with pond water pumped up with the submerged "sump pump", it produced just enough tomatoes, cukes, green beans and summer squash for us ... the "potted" lettuce is approaching an interesting flowering stage ... can't wait to see the flowers!
• Willow is shedding her 2nd crop of "puppy" coat and I'm sad to see all that soft hair go ... it's being replaced with slightly darker and coarser feeling hair :-(
• Sutter sheds some but nothing like our 7 month old girl  :-)
• all day long, the Woodpeckers and Nuthatches feed at the suet-feeders outside the kitchen window ... I place just a small piece of suet in each feeder during the heat of Summer and it's adorable watching each mother bird teach her baby to feed ... the babies are quite vocal  :o)
• since the berries have gone, I haven't seen the "now grown" Wood Duck youngsters feeding the pond edges for dropped berries morning and evening ... started with 9 ducklings and at last sighting there were varying numbers as they ventured out on their own ... I'm sure the Snapping Turtle and the Hawk cut their numbers!!!
• last night as Willow and I came in from our nightly kayak paddle around the pond, there were close to a dozen huge beautiful green & turquoise Dragon flies flying around the yard  :o)
• I'm hunting for an audiotape of Owl calls, to identify the night sounds that I hear through the open windows ... fascinating to hear one calling to another and getting closer to each other ;o)

The girls and I have enjoyed time away from home this Summer visiting friends/family in Kennebunk Maine, Washington NH and Wolfboro NH ... all visits seem to have the same enjoyable WATER theme ...

See Willow learning to "Dock Dive" .... OOOOOhhhhh!

LOOKING FORWARD TO MORE FALL ADVENTURES :o)

Life is Sooo Short ... What Brings Happiness?

Being a lover of  fulfilling time spent with my "golden" girls and the relaxation enjoyed here at my lil' piece of heaven at "Golden Embers", I've unusually been "mind" wrestling recently with various thoughts & feelings ... questioning if they are spiritual or menopausal responses ?

• making the time to return to Church after a brief hiatus ... I sooo love the hymns & spiritual songs :o)

• to retire or keep working while I'm still physically able ... don't want to outlive nor leave the retirement $$ that I could have enjoyed more ... but on the other hand, working keeps my mind sharper and I enjoy my co-workers ... humm,  3 more years to the most profitable retirement age!

• the wonderful "common interest" times that have been enjoyed with family ;o)

• the fun & happiness that comes with feeling included with like-minded  friends :o)

Sooo ... what's my answer to

DON'T POSTPONE the JOY!