Poor Summit

It's been awhile since I posted on the blog. The weekend of the USDAA trial (and four days after his Chiropractic adjustment), Summit was dropping bars even more frequently than at the previous trial. He also missed two straight forward easy weavepole entries. So after having Stacy watch his jumping for me (he was pulling with his front again), I scratched him for the rest of the weekend. However, I was in charge of hospitality for this trial so I had be at the site from 7:00 a.m. until the last class ran. AND on top of that, I was really sick (flu, fever, and then head and chest cold by Sunday). So not the best weekend. I did play with Soleil ringside and we practiced our heeling and turns on the flat in a very busy exciting environment.

Summit saw a rehab vet the following Thursday for a complete work up and the prognosis is a pulled hamstring muscle (probably from compensating when the hip was locked). So that is actually good news that it isn't anything more serious and that he'll only be off work for about four weeks (although I may cancel his entry for a trial that is five weeks out just to be conservative). He is getting once a week PT appointments and at home, stretching, icing, and ball work.

Soliel is continuing to run the plank with only a couple of jumps (one was when I decided to try carrying the toy in my hand and throwing it as she exited the plank. Won't be doing that anymore). I've also been working on her heel work and turns using the binder clip idea from Mary Ellen's Foundation DVD. I was amazed how quickly Soleil caught on to nose targetting the binder clip. In one session she went to offering to nose touch the binder clip in my hand to walking at my side and targeting the clip on my pants.  What a smart girlie.

*Note to self - if you train heeling with binder clips in the morning before work, don't forget to take them off your pants. It really does generate some strange stares and comments from students and faculty.

Here are a couple of videos of our heel work with a couple of recalls to side.

She is so much fun and she loves to train.

Monday she attended her first agility class. It is an advanced level foundation class. She was very focused when we worked even though there were several puppies in the class who she knew and played with as well as her sister, Belle. After the class, we let Soleil and Belle off leash to play (indoor building).

This week I will continue the heel work (switching to the smaller binder clips), more running plank work (I'm going back to using a stationary target at the end of the plank - food and toys), and working turns on the flat (emphasis on rear crosses), and simple sends around a jump stanchion (followed by a FC or Pull).

Last, here is a cute video I took while sitting at the kitchen table and just happened to have my video camera handy. The tall cupboard is where the dog's toys, treats, brushes, etc. are kept. I noticed the tennis balls were out of the cupboard the other day and two of my Border Collies were carrying them around. I wondered how they got them out of the cupboard.... well here is the culprit. Except this time, it's not tennis balls she's stealing.