The Thrill of the Chase

Wow!!  What a fun weekend we had.  Friday was dedicated to Blake's Christmas present (sorry Blake, can't have you find out here either!)  Saturday, the Golden kids, Tiffy (Blake's chihuahua), and I packed for the weekend and headed to Harrah, OK for a running contact seminar by my friend Kelsey Kirkpatrick.  We had a blast at the seminar.  Kelsey did a wonderful job teaching all morning and then letting us work during the afternoon.  Jade is really getting to experience the thrill of the chase with our running contact reps.  Running and chasing are some of his favorite activities, so he cannot be more happy that this is part of his new job in agility!  He progressed from running on carpet to his current set up: 2 dogwalk boards against an 8 inch table.  I still have his carpet over the boards to remind him of his job- running!  Jade did fantastic.  He really amazed me.  He hits close to 100% as long as I don't throw like a girl!  His reaches are beautiful, and he hits with top speed.

After the seminar concluded, we hit the road again for Wichita Falls, TX.  It was cold and windy, but none of that seemed to bother Layla on Sunday.  She rocked the agility trial.  Layla got her 10th QQ and earned 30 points that day, including her smoking 14-point JWW run!!  I ran the jumpers run with all blinds to cue speed and extension in areas that called for it.  Layla just keeps getting faster and faster.  We are having so much fun, and we are a much more confident team then this we were this summer and before then.

Today, Jade and I worked running contacts.  We are enrolled in Silvia Trkman's December Running Contacts class, so we were working on some homework.  He is just an awesome boy.  I am so proud of him.  I used the same set up as I was using on Saturday (8 inch table, two dw boards, and carpet).  At first I was a little frustrated because Jade would jump off the table and run to the side of the boards to get the ball.  I figured that I had to point to the boards and delay throwing the ball so he would think more about his job.  I'm hoping to throw the ball sooner for our next session so I can get even more speed out of him.  Jade's hit were nice and deep and mostly rear feet hits (preferable).  The hits that I could not see as well turned out to be front foot hits when I slowed down the videos later.  Silvia Trkman says that rear foot hits are better because they are easier to see, but she still wants us to reward FF hits because the dog needs to be able to hit in many different ways.  The environment will not always favor one type of hit.  Jade did have a few misses when he jumped, but I found out that I should have just quit with him earlier.  When Jade gets tired, he tends to jump because his stride is off.  I adjusted his start point, and he hit again.  Jade and I will practice again on Thursday, and I cannot wait. We are having so much fun!!  All of Jade's exuberance for working got the better of him when he nailed me right in the lip as I was setting him up before one of his reps.  I guess I get what I asked for when I said I wanted a high drive dog!!

The Golden Kids and Tiffy at our hotel in Wichita Falls.  I was watching Tiffy for Blake's mom over the weekend, so she got to join in on the fun!

Sessions 1 and 2 from today

It's a Masters Kind of Year

All of my time off from the regular craziness of classes has made me slack off with posting on the blog. It has been nearly a month since I last posted, and since then I have attended a blind cross seminar by Rob Bardenett, completed finals, traveled back home to Tulsa, celebrated Thanksgiving, and ran at TDTC's agility trial right here in Tulsa.  Break has been relaxing, but I have been doing enough not to get too bored.

The weekend after the Longmont trial, I attended a blind cross seminar taught by Rob Bardenett.  The seminar was conveniently located at the same dog club where I take classes.  Rob had so much insight concerning blinds.  When performed correctly, blinds are extremely effective at allowing the handler to move around the course quickly, but efficiently.  When blinds are put in the right places and timed correctly, you actually wait on your dog to catch up to you.  So despite common opinion, you do not have to be young or extremely quick to use them;  you just have to be efficient.  We went back to the basics and warmed up with blinds on the flat.  Then, we ran specific sequences to learn how to use blinds in several different ways: blinds on the flat (most obvious), blinds in serpentines, blinds on 180º turns, and blind cross wraps.  At the end of the seminar, we ran the same course that we ran at the beginning of the seminar, but this time Rob wanted us to incorporate as many different kinds of blinds as we could.  I used all four that we learned!  Blinds feel so natural to me, so I am always looking for ways to include them in my runs.  The seminar was so helpful and gave me a lot of good ideas (and things that I need to practice!)

After finals, my dad drove from Tulsa to Denver to help me pack up because I simply cannot fit everything I need for about 5ish weeks into my Mini Cooper, especially when the Golden kids take up the entire back seat.  The day before Thanksgiving, I followed him home and completed the longest drive I have ever done by myself- about 12 hours including stops for the kids.  I think I would have had a different opinion about the trip if we would have taken the route we normally take, but because my dad wanted to get home as quickly as possible, we took I-70 through Kansas- about the most boring drive you can imagine.  And to think that I get to do it all again three weeks from today!

This past weekend, we went to TDTC's agility trial.  This trial is only a few miles away from my house at the Tulsa State Fairgrounds.  Layla did very well all three days.  She couldn't seem to get both the aframe and dogwalk in standard.  She was certainly having an off weekend in standard compared to her performances this fall.  Her jumpers runs were fast and beautiful.  Layla picked up her last three legs for her MJB title- Master Jumpers Bronze.  This is one of AKC's new lifetime agility titles.  The bronze title is awarded to dogs who have earned 25 qualifying scores in the Master class (there is an equivalent bronze title for standard).  I am so proud of Layla because she just earned her MXJ at the end of August!!

Other than trialing, I have been spending a lot of time training the Goldens.  I'm getting Jade ready for his first rally trial Martin Luther King's day.  We are spending a lot of time training for agility.  He does all sorts of recalls to heel- I worked serpentine recalls yesterday.  We also worked lateral and forward sends yesterday.  Jade learned the chute yesterday and loved it.  I also opened up the channel weaves as far as they go and had him run through.  I'm not doing anything else with the weaves until he is more physically mature, but I did want him to get a visual of seeing poles on both sides of him body.  He is getting really good at fast automatic downs on a low table.  We have been running a bit on carpet in preparation for Silvia Trkman's running contacts class, which starts Monday.  I am so impressed with what this boy can do.  Never before have I met a dog that makes me smile and laugh so much.  I don't know what I was doing before he came into my life.

This weekend is going to be a busy one full of traveling.  Saturday, the kids and I go to Oklahoma City for a running contacts seminar taught by Kelsey Kirkpatrick.  Kelsey has phenomenal running contacts with her young Border Collie, Legit, so I am excited to see what knowledge she has to share. After the seminar is over, we drive from Oklahoma City to Wichita Falls, TX because Layla and I run in their agility trial on Sunday.  I only entered Sunday because we have the seminar on Saturday.  Oklahoma City is much closer to Wichita Falls than Tulsa, so I thought I might as well pick up one day that weekend.

After I get back from Wichita Falls, I will have less than two weeks until Blake comes home.  And Allison comes home a few days after I get back from the agility trial.  It seems like I have been waiting forever for Blake to come home that now it hardly seems real that I am about 2 weeks away from seeing him.  Nearly four months without him has been very difficult.  We miss each other terribly.  However, I am doing much better than I was at the beginning of the quarter especially considering he has no computer.  But if it was in my power, I would have him home in an instant.  Maybe it is all of the sweet love notes that help. Or mornings like this morning where I woke up to a surprise: a Blake original of him singing a song to the Jademan.  I haven't laughed that hard all week, but I always seem to be laughing when Blake and I are together... he and Jade are alike in more ways than one!  I love that boy so much.  Blake is most definitely my other sweet and silly half.  A couple of days after Christmas, Blake and I will return to Denver because I have a four-day agility trial New Years weekend in Colorado.  It seems like I don't sit still very long, but that is just the way I like it!

And Just Like That...

It's November!  How has it been nearly three months since I started school?  How has it been close to five months since my best little man and I met?  Regardless of how I measure the time I have been here this fall (in midterms, lab reports, agility trials, inches Jade has grown, etc.), the time is flying by.  In two weeks and a few days, I will be ready to pack up to go to Tulsa for Thanksgiving with my family.  Thanksgiving is at my house this year, and that makes me really happy.  My mom always outdoes herself when we host the holiday.  And what's even better is that I always have several delicious vegetarian options to eat.  I am two weeks of class, two lab reports, one prelab, nine days of class, five days of agility class, one agility seminar, two weekends, and four finals away from completing my fall quarter.

I barely had time to catch my breath this weekend.  It all started Friday afternoon as I was finishing up two o chem lab reports while running to the grocery store for veggies and roasting them all afternoon.  My lab reports were due at 4:30 pm on Friday, and I had a "Thanksgiving" dinner with friends later that evening, thus the roasting of the vegetables.  Between all of the peeling, chopping, and roasting, I printed my lab reports at 4:27 and ran out the door.  Thankfully, I live a couple of streets from the science buildings on campus.  In a car, that takes about 20 seconds.  I pulled my car into the first parking spot I found on the street and sprinted across a parking lot, into the building, and up the stairs to the chemistry office.  I made it, but immediately had to tend to my next task.  As soon as I walked through the back door, the timer went off for the veggies.  My friends and I had a fabulous time celebrating an early Thanksgiving that night before any of us were stressed for finals.  We had quite a night celebrating Halloween at a friend's birthday party a bit later.

I hardly make time for myself to shut my eyes anymore, so as a typical weekend morning lately, my alarm went off at 6:00 am on Saturday.  I am so used to the early morning dog show routine, so I zombie-walked from room to room getting everything and everyone ready so we could get on the road as soon as possible.  We arrived in Longmont with just enough time to set up before I walked my first course.  Layla NQ'd in standard on Saturday (I pulled her into the wrong end of the tunnel), but she had a fabulous jumpers run!  Sunday was a great day.  We earned our 9th QQ with a blazing fast jumpers run.  On both jumpers runs last weekend, I got in two blind crosses on serpentines.  We had so much fun.  I get so excited taking Layla to the start line now.  We have made such big improvements in the last few months, so that has given both of us the confidence that we desperately needed.  Just this fall, we have earned all nine of our QQ's.  We are 1/3 of the way to our MACH as far as points go, so I'm hoping for a reason to celebrate before next summer!  I am including a video of my favorite run of the weekend- our Sunday jumpers run.

We are taking a break from agility trials for the next three weekends so that I can focus on finals.  My next trial is in Tulsa since I will be home for four weeks starting at Thanksgiving.  I return to Denver after Christmas with Blake.  He comes home a couple of days before Christmas, which is the best gift I could imagine.

Jade helping me with my O Chem lab reports

Layla gets her MX!!

Today, the Golden kids and I drove to Fort Collins for the Longs Peak Dog Training Club trial.  Despite it being 27º when we left, we were quite comfortable inside the equestrian barn.  This says a lot for the quality of the facility because I am uncomfortable in the low 50s!!  The barn was well-heated.  It was a very nice facility.  Layla did very well today.  She finished her MX in the morning and Q'd in JWW for her 8th QQ in the afternoon!  I really like the judges this weekend.  Lisa Selthofer congratulated me outside of the ring after our class for my standard run.  Dan Selthofer made a really nice flowing jumpers course.  I am glad to hear that these judges are the same judges who will judge a show that I am entering New Years weekend.  I can't wait to get back to Fort Collins and run again tomorrow.  Because I have such a busy schedule with several difficult classes, I do not stay out of town for dog shows during the academic year.  I am lucky that Colorado has enough trials within an hour or so from my house so that traveling is not an issue.  I have been spoiled with close trials.  The 1.5 hour drive to Fort Collins today was the farthest I have driven for a trial since classes started this fall!

I measured Jade at the trial today because I wanted to see if he had passed up Layla in height.  I confirmed that Layla is now the smallest dog in the house!  Jade is about half an inch taller than Layla.  He measured 21.75" today!!  Last week, Jade weighed 47.5 pounds!  I am so excited about my big red boy!  Looks like I am going to get my 24" jumper that I wanted!  Jade has been just soaking everything in that I am teaching him.  It took him 2 ten minute sessions to learn how to pivot to the left (and keep his bottom close to me when I turn into him) and walk backwards in heel position.  We started baby sequences of jumps (bars on the floor) in class this past week.  Jade is sending extremely well.  I am very proud because Layla never had the foundation to work as independently has Jade will be able to.  Jade gets soo excited to work for me.  I was practicing with him Thursday night before Layla's class.  I told him "left, jump" and Jade WHIPPED his whole body to the left as hard as he could and took the jump.  I was laughing so hard because he is so dramatic in every aspect of his life- training included!!  This boy makes me smile so much.  Is it a problem that I feel the need to shower him with kisses every time I come home and see him?  I am having an unbelievable amount of fun with him.  In addition to agility, we are also taking field privates about every other week in Fort Collins with Sandy Whicker.  Jade thinks field training is the best thing ever.  It is so exciting for me to watch him light up when we take him into the field for marks.  Our future together is so exciting.  I am treasuring every little moment right now.  I am so blessed to have such a handsome, confident, and brilliant young man.  As far as I'm concerned, I am living the dream.  I really do have the best dogs in the world.

The quarter is actually coming to an end rather quickly, which I am quite happy about.  This quarter has been difficult, but thank goodness I have my Goldens here to keep me sane.  I miss Blake like crazy.  We do talk regularly on Skype, but it is just not the same.  We are so fortunate that our relationship is so well-developed that we are not having to build it over the internet.   Blake is, without a doubt, my very best friend.  We know each other like the backs of our hands after almost three years of dating.  I can finish his sentences, and he always starts laughing when I begin to say something funny because he knows how I will end my story.  Blake is one of the silliest people that I know.  I cannot think of very many conversations that I have with him where I do not end up laughing.  That has been so good for me because I have learned how to laugh at myself and how to take life less seriously.  I have always been an extremely sensitive person, so being able to laugh at myself has not come so easily.  Blake reminds me that in certain situations in life, all you can do is laugh and move on.   Excluding my parents, I cannot name someone more supportive of me than him. I am so ready for Blake to be back in the States and home.  I am counting down the days.  8 weeks from today, I will pick him up from the airport.  That day cannot get here faster. A part of me is missing when he isn't here.  Luckily, my little man channels Blake extremely well- he is handsome, as sweet as can be, brilliant, and beyond silly!  However, he sometimes sees wrestling with Miles more important than cuddling with me, he cannot cook dinner with me, and he is lacking in the English language skills department ;)

Brighton, my Baby Dog, and Bad Dogs

This past weekend was action-packed.  We had a trial in Brighton Saturday and Sunday.  This facility wasn't nearly as nice as the others I have been to so far in Colorado, but I have been very spoiled so far!  It was really dusty and the surface wasn't fantastic.  Saturday we got no love in either ring.  Layla started off the day popping pole 10, not once, but twice.  I do not know where that came from because she never does that!  The rest of the run was fabulous.  Lay let me get in a blind and FOUR front crosses in a row.  In standard, she had a really nice run except she got called on her aframe.  I wasn't watching her as well as I should have been.  Sunday morning, she NQ'd again in Jumpers.  Lay dropped 2 bars and I was shocked.  This dog rarely drops bars.  She has probably dropped a single digit number of bars during her entire agility trial career.  I watched the video a couple of times and found that the first bar was my fault.  I gave Layla a really late cue for a push, so she dropped her feet while looking at me to tell her where to go next.  The second one was her.  We were racing to the tunnel and she flattened out on the jump before the tunnel- way too soon.  We Q'd in standard.  Whew!  We both needed that.  This was Layla's 9th MX leg, so one more to go.  Maybe we can finish her MX in Fort Collins.

Regardless of our not-so-great as far as Q's go weekend, I am very proud of Layla.  She is so much more confident on the courses- so much so that I did lead outs with her on every course.  This was the first time I have done so in about a year.  She has shown me the past couple of weeks that she is ready for lead outs in practice, so I was ready to give it a shot in a trial.  I got excellent results!  I also found out recently that Layla's qualified for AKC agility nationals just since the end of August as far as QQ's go!  She is up to 7 right now.  We are short on points, but we are really going to try to qualify for 2014 Nationals.  That is my dream: to compete at a National competition with Layla, and I think she deserves to do so if she qualifies.

I am so excited about my baby dog.  Words cannot express how much I love my Jademan.  He is always making me laugh.  He really makes my day every day.  Jade is so funny, but he is also very lucky that he has a mom with a good sense of humor.  He amazes me how far he has come in the short time I have known him.  I am really getting a feel for him, and I continue to learn more and more about him the more that I work with him.  He is a fantastic learner.  Unlike Layla who has to be shown a new skill, Jade offers all sorts of behaviors until I mark the one I want and reward him.  He is obsessed with working.  I have to remember he is a baby dog and that he needs constant breaks.  He would go, go go all day long if I let him.  Jade is making progress by leaps and bounds in his foundations agility class.  We have a great lead out, he does rears by direction on the flat, front cross and post turns on jumps with out bars.  He knows hand signals, has beautiful recalls, and has such a nice natural retrieve.  We are now taking field lessons with Sandy Whicker.  She is really impressed with him.  I am equally impressed with him.  I feel so lucky to have such a phenomenal boy.  I think we are going to do great things together and I am so excited about our future.

Now that I have bragged about my two precious Golden kids, let me fill you all in on our little excitement for the afternoon.  Today was an absolutely gorgeous fall day.  Temps were in the mid 70s, the trees are on fire with brilliant colors, and there was not a cloud in the sky.  I love this weather.  All I want to do when it is gorgeous out like this is to stay outside.  This afternoon, I took the Golden kids on  our daily walk.  We always walk several blocks to a park, walk the loop around the entire park, and then walk home.  I was about the enter the park when we saw a dog sitting in a beat up car on the street next to the park.  I didn't see the owner at first, but then noticed her in the driver's seat.  Her dog was in the passenger's seat with the window rolled completely down.  As we were passing the car, the dog leaps out of the window and runs straight for me and the Goldens growling really aggressively.  I knew things were going to get bad fast.  I was doing everything I could not to get dragged towards this dog because Layla's hair went up on her withers the minute that the dog exited the car window.  I have never seen Layla and Jade be so protective of me.  Layla looked mean.  She was growling and baring her teeth.  She did not want this strange gray dog to touch me.  Layla scared the dog away, and he ran back to his owner's car.  Let me add that the owner watched all of this go on from inside of her car.  She didn't get out to help or call her dog off of us.  Luckily, no one was hurt.  I said to the woman, "You really need to watch your dog.  That could have been very bad."  She replied, "Oh hun, don't worry about it," and then she sped off.  WHAT??  People are idiots.  I am just so thankful I have two awesome Golden kids who are willing to do anything to protect me:)

Pictures next time- I promise!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

It seems as though I only wrote one blog post for the entire month of September.  The one blog post does not nearly reflect my September at all.  I will try to catch up because BRRRR it's cold outside and there's nothing much to do but stay bundled up!

I left off after a perfect weekend in Castle Rock.  The next weekend, Layla and I played agility in Golden, CO- outdoors too!!  Running on grass is just my favorite.  The weather was so gorgeous with plentiful sunshine all weekend.  Layla rocked it on Saturday.  She earned her 7th QQ.  Sunday, we NQ'd in standard.  Lay dropped a bar and that really worried me because she NEVER drops bars.  I would safely bet that Layla has dropped single digit number of bars in trials during her entire agility career.  The opening was chute, hard 90º right turn and then I had to front cross to another jump.  The bar came down on that first jump out of the chute.  I couldn't believe it.  I was so bummed that I didn't watch her contacts at all for the rest of the run.  Unsurprisingly, she blew them.  My friend and I watched the video over and over again and we could find nothing wrong with what I was doing.  I though, maybe I was cuing my front cross too soon, but that definitely was not the case.  It seemed to us that Layla just didn't get enough speed off of the start and didn't have enough time to think about picking her feet up once she turned toward me to find the jump.  That's the neat thing about agility- our dogs really do keep us humble.  We ended the day with a nice jumpers run.  To add to the excitement of the weekend, Jade earned his CGC with flying colors!!  I am so proud of my little man.  He was just 6 months and 1 day!

Last weekend, I worked at USDAA Nationals just on Saturday.  I worked the Grand Prix Semi Finals ring, which was really exciting.  Even more exciting was seeing all of the fantastic handlers (some familiar faces) from all around the country and the world!  I learned a lot helping out and I am so motivated to run USDAA with Jade.  I don't know about Layla quite yet.  We are working so hard on this MACH, so maybe after that.

On Wednesday, the University of Denver hosted the first 2012 Presidential Debate. There was definitely a lot of commotion going on just a few blocks away from my house.  Megan, Toby (her boyfriend), and I walked the three dogs through campus, but much was blocked off. We sure saw a lot of crazy people though.  It is very cool that my school could host such an important event.

Friday morning I woke up to SNOW on the ground.  WHAT??  I am not ready for this yet.  It is only the beginning of October and the temperatures have not gotten to 40º in the past two days.  I am bundled up and usually under covers unless I am moving.  I am so not a winter person and I feel like our beautiful fall was just ripped out from under me.  I was wearing shorts on Wednesday.  All three of the dogs, on the other hand, LOVE the snow.  This was Jade's first time to see snow and he was beside himself with excitement.  He refused to come inside when I called him.  I looked out to find him tearing across the backyard doing all sorts of crazy spins and circles.  He makes me laugh!

Tomorrow Jade and I are off to Fort Collins for a field lesson before my next crazy week begins!

Catching Up

Wow.  It has been far too long since I posted.  It seems as if the excitement of the past several weeks has gotten the best of me.  I will try to fill in as much as I can.

The end of August came too soon.  I knew as those last few days approached that I only had a limited number of days to spend with Blake before he left to study abroad in Germany.  I was very upset as we crammed all that we could into my Mini for our drive from Denver to Tulsa at the end of August.  We planned to drive home to Tulsa so that Blake could spend a few days at home before he flew out of the country, and so that I would have a much shorter drive to the Golden National (in Gray Summit, MO) by myself.  Blake went to Freiburg   for Environmental Science studies.  He left at the very beginning of September and he will not return to the States until December 22.  This will be the longest we have ever been apart since we started dating over 2 1/2 years ago.  It was the most difficult goodbye I have ever had to say to Blake, and even though I know the time apart will fly by and we will be so happy when he comes home, I'm still having a difficult time.  Luckily, I have a fabulous roommate to help me out, but I will get to that.

After a teary-eyed goodbye to Blake, I left with the Goldens for the Golden National at Purina Farms in Gray Summit, MO.  What an experience!!  This was my second National and just like the first, I had so much fun- this time even more than the first!  I crated with the Gaylan's group.  What a fantastic, kind, and hilarious bunch they are!  I got to meet so many who I had only been in contact with online.  The event center was freezing in contrast to the tropical storm outdoors from Hurricane Isaac, but at least the dogs were happy!  Layla had a wonderful weekend of agility!!  She picked up 3 QQ's, 3 MX legs, and had 2 completely clean days (we ran T2B in addition to standard and JWW each day).  I was so proud that she had a perfect clean day on the day of the National.  Watching all of my other friends compete was wonderful as well.  Everyone was so supportive of each other.  On the Tuesday night of the National week, I presented Layla in the Parade of Titleholders for her accomplishments in agility.  She got a beautiful personalized rosette, which she proudly carried on stage!  Jade had a blast playing with his littermate sister Kindle.  We could not get the two of them to quit!  They were a hoot!!  Thursday evening, I attended a field seminar with Jade.  I walked up to where chairs were set up and a couple of vans were parked.  I noticed a chair with "Happydaugh" embroidered on the back of it.  I knew at once that this was Jade's sire's kennel.  The next thing I saw was a gorgeous red Golden laying next to the van.  I asked a man who looked like he may be in charge, "What is the call name of that dog?"  He said he didn't know but he would ask Ann.  Ann told me, "This is Striker."  I replied, "This is Striker's son!" pointing to Jade.  She could not believe that her boy's son was attending the seminar!  We got a picture of the two of them.  It is quite obvious that Jade is his dad's son.  They had the same expression when we got their ears up for the picture.  Jade had tons of fun retrieving a duck at the seminar.  I was told by the instructors that I have a very talented boy on my hands.  I am so proud of my boy and cannot wait to continue work in the field with him.  What an unforgettable National experience!!

I returned to Denver the Saturday night before classes started.  I was greeted by my roommate Megan and her sister who was visiting.  Megan is a wonderful roommate.  We get along so perfectly and I am having lots of fun getting to know her.  I am so lucky things worked out so well.  To make matters even better, Megan brought her Border Collie mix, Miles to live with us.  Both Goldens love Miles, but Jade will not stop playing and wrestling with Miles.  Layla is very happy because this gives her a much-needed break!

I celebrated the end of my first week of classes with an agility trial this weekend.  Our trial was in Castle Rock- such a beautiful town- and the weather was sunny and perfect- so typical for Denver fall days.  I cannot believe how well Layla is running for me.  Layla had a completely perfect weekend.  We earned 2 QQ's and 2 more T2B Q's!!! This brings our total QQ's up to 6 and we have only just started back competing in both B classes for 3 weekends.  I think the biggest change I have made is channeling all of my adrenaline in the right direction instead of letting it get to me and make me a nervous wreck before every run.  Now, I feel so comfortable running Layla.  Nothing tops that feeling. I have another trial this coming weekend in Golden and I am looking forward to it!

Wow, What a Weekend and Memories of Miss Aubrie

Finally, I am taking the time to sit down and write a new post.  This is long overdue.  I have had a busy couple of weeks and just got finished with an agility trial in Denver this weekend.  I planned to post earlier this week, but I could not sit down and write.  I was at a loss for words with the first anniversary of the loss of my first beloved Golden, Aubrie.  

We lost Aubrie last summer to the dreadful cardiac hemangiosarcoma.  Aubrie showed no symptoms until 48 hours before we made the painful decision to let her go.  My parents were on a vacation in Vegas for the weekend.  On Saturday, August 20, 2011, Aubrie stopped eating.  Refusing to eat her breakfast did not greatly concern me as Aubrie had always been a finicky eater, but Aubrie was turning her nose up at everything, even the yummiest treats I had to offer her.  Sunday, she was getting worse before my eyes.  I started to panic because my veterinary clinic is not open on Sundays.  Aubrie would lay down and pant heavily.  She was still refusing to eat and only wanted large amounts of water, which she proceeded to regurgitate.  Layla would not leave Aubrie alone.  I watched Aubrie from our living room couch.  Layla would approach me whining.  She was persistent.  It was very obvious to me that Layla knew something was very wrong with Aubrie.  Since I worked at my veterinary clinic last summer (and the summer before last), I took Aubrie to work with me the next day, a Monday.  I did not expect the diagnosis that the vets gave.  We drew blood on Aubrie.  It was very dark because she was so dehydrated.  We took radiographs of her chest.  I helped every step of the way.  The tech took one look at the radiographs before a vet did and said, "Oh Em, this doesn't look good."  I took a look for myself.  It wasn't good news at all.  Aubrie's heart was extremely enlarged.  It was taking up almost her entire chest cavity.  Dr. Caruso ran an EKG on Aubrie and found an irregular heart rate.  An ultrasound showed a mass in her heart.  Her pericardium was filling with fluid making it difficult to breathe and pump blood the her body.  We administered injectable lasix to make Aubrie more comfortable by drawing fluid off of her chest.  Dr. Smith told me that hemangio was a terrible cancer that is very common in the Golden Retriever breed.  He said he could refer me to a cardiologist who could draw the fluid off of her heart, but this would not fix the problem.  Dr. Smith said it would only buy time, but he could not tell if it would be days or weeks.  I did not want Aubrie to go into heart failure, and we did not want to bring her home if she would suffer and remain sick, so I made the decision to let her go.

To this day, that remains the most difficult decision I have made.  I tried to remain strong in front of everyone at the clinic, including my mother, but I was in so much pain- I still am.  I still feel guilty at times for that decision, but I have to remind myself that I did the very best thing I could for my girl.  I did not want her to suffer and I knew Aubrie would not be happy if she came home but could not chase squirrels, play with her sister, or have an appetite.  Aubrie's loss was very difficult on everyone in my family, including Layla.  Layla had lived with Aubrie every day of her life from the time that I brought her home at 7.5 weeks old.  Layla and Aubrie were pals.  Layla looked up to her big sister and was her constant shadow.  Without Aubrie, Layla was lost.  She lost all desire to play.  She would just lay around unless someone made a huge effort to get her up.  Layla did not find nearly as much joy in training either.  All of this changed when I purchased a little brother for my girl.  Now, Layla runs and plays again.  Jade and Layla love each other so much.  It makes my heart sing to see my kids so happy to have each other.  

This year, August 22 was bittersweet.  It not only marked the one year anniversary of losing Aubrie, but on this day, Jade turned 5 months old.  I cannot imagine life without my little man already.  He is so sweet, such a cuddler, and so very wise.  I look deep into his eyes and see a Golden much older than he is.  I know Jade came at just the right time for Layla and me.  I am so lucky every day I have with this awesome boy.  I cannot wait to fill the years to come with many more memories of Layla and Jade.

Layla just keeps running better and better for me in agility.  We had a nice weekend at the Rocky Mountain All-Terrier show here in Denver.  I am getting spoiled with agility trials in Denver.  There are so many options for trials every month less than an hour from my house.  On Friday, Layla NQ'd standard.  She bailed the aframe and the dogwalk (a problem we have been having for years).  She q'd in JWW with 5 points.  Saturday, Layla finished her MXJ with 6 points for her JWW run.  She bailed the aframe again in standard, but hit the contact on the dogwalk.  Today, Sunday, we got our very first QQ!!!  Layla also got her second MX leg.  We got 14 points in standard and 7 points in jumpers.  Jumpers was an especially tricky course.  Very few dogs ran clean.  It was one of those course where the careful dogs beat out the lightning quick Border Collies.  I saw so many handler pushing their dogs into an off course after a front or rear cross on a  line of jumps before looping around that I decided that I needed a different plan.  For the first time in a trial, Layla and I did a blind cross, and it worked!!  I got great distance on a front cross two jumps after my blind, and Layla gave me great weaves!  I just love this girl!  She got a raw marrow bone and duck necks to celebrate our accomplishments this weekend! 

Tomorrow morning, Blake and I are driving back to Tulsa.  Blake needs a few days at home before he flies out to Germany at the end of the week for his study abroad.  Blake returns to the States in December. I am trying not to think (or write) too much about him leaving because it makes me very upset.  Blake is the best boyfriend I could ever ask for.  My Goldens love him like crazy.  I often find Layla asleep with her head on Blake's shoulder or chest.  I know it will break Layla and Jade's heart nearly as much as mine when they find out we are returning to Denver without him.  On Thursday, the kids and I leave from Tulsa to Gray Summit for the Golden National.  We get to play 5 days of agility, do health testing, go to seminars, watch all kinds of other events, shop, and hang out with other Golden friends!!  It's going to be a blast.  I return to Denver from the National just 2 days before classes start.  The Sunday before my classes start, I have plans to meet Gayle Watkins, Jade's breeder.  Gayle and I have talked many times over the phone or over Skype, but have never met.  I cannot wait for her to see how much my handsome many has grown!  I have some exciting days ahead of me!!

 Mr. Watermelon Face

My baby girl and me 

My favorite boys

Camping, Climbing, and More!

Jademan is sitting in my lap as I write this.  Actually, it took me a couple of attempts to start this post.  Jade loves to snuggle up really close even if that means sprawling across the keyboard and making the computer do some funky stuff before I can scoot my boy to my side.  I love my little man so much.  He reminds me to take a step back from whatever I am doing and just enjoy the moment with those who I love.

Since the last post, Blake and I took the kids to go camping up by Chinns lake.  We had a blast and the area was beautiful.  It was probably the prettiest spot I have ever been camping.  We hiked up the mountain and saw waterfalls.  We camped in an area surrounded by forest.  And the Goldens had a blast leaping across the waterfall, sprinting across the shore, and splashing through the lake.  Let me tell you that I am not nearly as graceful and aware of my environment as Layla and Jade.  They made racing across the muddy and rocky shore look like fun.  After ignoring every ounce of intelligence, I decided to follow.  My lovely attempt at a run along the shore did not look as picture perfect.  I slipped on some muddy rocks and busted my knee.  I was having so much fun chasing after my Goldens that I didn't even notice the injury.  When we got back to camp, one of the guys said, "Wow, that looks like a  lot of blood!"  Really?  I was so blissfully happy I forgot to really check myself when I got up.

Yesterday, Blake, his friend Josh (from our high school), me, and the doggies drove up to Grand Lake to stay at our friend Daniel's house.  Daniel's mom has a house in Grand Lake, such a cute little mountain town.  Daniel is working in Winter Park for the summer, so he switches between living at his house in Denver and at his mom's house in Grand Lake.  His property in Grand Lake is gorgeous.  The town is so quite and quaint.  We left early in the morning for a nearly 8 mile walk in the mountains around the lake.  The kids had a blast.  I am so fortunate that we live in Colorado where camping and hiking is a regular part of my week.  Jade discovered wild raspberries and was thrilled to munch on them during the hike- the bushes were everywhere!  The Goldens were beat by the time we started the car to head home.  However, as soon as we pulled into the garage, the kids were ready to wake up and play more.  They amaze me!

I only had a couple of hours before Layla's agility class, so I didn't have much of a chance to rest.  I was rubbing my eyes as Nicole entered the ring when class began.  I told Nicole that Layla would run, and I would try my hardest to keep up.  Layla did a phenomenal job tonight!  She was super fast and very honest.  She let me know my mistakes every time I made one.  Layla has gotten much more confident on the dogwalk.  She raced across it the fastest she has done since we started training at the club here.  Her contacts are so much improved.  Nicole worked with me on blind crosses tonight- something I had never tried with Layla.  After about 2 tries, we had it down really well.  I was throwing in blinds where ever I could on the course just for fun!  Layla is so much fun to run.  I am feeling the best I have ever felt since we started agility.  I cannot wait to see what we do next weekend at our agility trial.

 Beautiful camping last weekend

 My silly girl's smile on our hike today

 Little Man is all legs!

 My boy

A moment of peace on our drive back to Denver

When I Wish I had my Camera

I apologize for the lack of pictures in this post.  As you can clearly see by the title, I took no pictures today and I did not get any agility runs on film as well.

This evening, my agility instructor Nicole was unable to teach her class because she is trying to qualify for USDAA Nationals at a trial.  Instead of class, I took Layla to do run-throughs.  Jademan came along for the ride.  Layla was just AWESOME!!!  She ran so well for me.  We were getting jump sequences and crosses that ladies who were running very nice and fast Border Collies could not get.  I am really figuring out how to drive Layla.  This means that I have to put in more front crosses than the average handler.  Layla needs all the help she can get if we really want to race around the course.  I was so proud of her tonight.  She had no off courses, refusals, or bars (although Lay never drops bars).  Layla only missed her dogwalk contact once, but that was because I really wasn't cuing her and she was extremely excited.  Nothing makes me happier to see her bouncing to the start line, barking the whole way until I release her.  Running her felt so good tonight.  We were really feeding off of each other's excitement and that drove us to run and push harder.  I was especially proud of the last jump sequence on the last course that we ran.  It was jump, wrap to another jump, front cross into a serp, tunnel, jump into another serp, front cross into chute.  She nailed it both times and many handlers were having issues with back jumping or refusals.  I am very excited about our trial in Denver in a couple of weeks.

I have been working with Jade a lot too.  We are working hard for our Foundations class.  His newest skills are "ready!" (sets up between my legs), place (heel position on left side), side (heel position on right side), speak, and weave through my legs.  He is a great puppy and quite the snuggler.  In another week, he has his first field lesson.  I am really looking forward to it, especially since I have never done any field work before.  Every day is so exciting with a 4 1/2-month-old boy.  I can't wait to see what our future holds.

Tomorrow, we are leaving for camping.  The Goldens will be joining us for the first time.  I cannot wait to see how they like camping.  They were crazy about our hike in the mountains last weekend, so I'm sure they will have a blast.  I will try to get pictures!

I'm including a cute video of Layla's new trick.  I knew she could help me with homework!

Oh Darling, Let's Be Adventurers

I have been neglectful in keeping up with this blog.  The end of July came and went in the blink of an eye and I had so much crammed into those last couple of weeks.  Since my last post, so much has happened.  I finished working at my summer job at OSU's Veterinary Teaching Hospital.  It was a rewarding experience that I will never forget.  Working with great doctors and techs really has inspired me in my own career plan.  It is hard to believe I have less than a year until I apply to vet school.  Also since my last post, I made the big move from my parents' house in Tulsa to my house in Denver.  2 weekends ago, I helped my parents load up the rental van with more stuff than I can even imagine.  Blake and I drove with the Goldens in my completely packed Mini Cooper.  We could hardly see out, and I was pretty much sandwiched between bags at all times during the drive.  On the way to Enid to pick up a few things at my grandparents' house, my dad actually rode with us.  How we fit 3 people, 2 dogs, most of the dog stuff, and some of Blake's and my things into that Mini, I will never now, but we all found it pretty hilarious.

After a long 3 days, our house was finally home sweet home.  I didn't even imagine how much work had to be done, but I am so thankful that my entire family helped Blake and I set up the house.  Last Thursday, I took Layla to her first agility class in Denver.  We had a blast and our instructor is phenomenal.  I have never before really had an agility instructor who is qualified to teach agility at the level Layla and I are at, or even agility foundations for that matter.  I really regret that Layla never had a proper introduction to agility and I never learned how to handle from the beginning, but it looks like things are going to change with this new instructor.  Nicole asked if she could work Layla to demonstrate how she wanted me to drive Layla through the course.  I said yes, but I told Nicole that Layla doesn't really enjoy running with other people besides me.  Well, Layla surprised me!  She blasted through the weave poles faster than I have ever seen her do.  And it was all in the way that Nicole was moving her body.  Nicole told me to really exaggerate my movement during the weaves so Layla tries to race me.  Layla is not a dog that offers a lot of speed and distance by herself.  She just isn't very confident working independently.  I will work with the dog that I have.  Nicole is teaching me to find the best lines to really drive Layla around a course.  I can't wait to see Layla improve.

We didn't get much time to settle into the house because early Friday morning, we left for an agility trial in Dolores.  We drove straight through the mountains- it was the most gorgeous drive I have ever been on.  Dolores was tons of fun.  The Colorado agility people are so friendly, the judge was so encouraging and had awesome courses, and I LOVED running on grass.  Layla went 3 for 3 last weekend (we only ran in jumpers).  She hasn't had a weekend that consistent for a very long time.  Lay didn't run as fast as I would have liked, but it was her first time at altitude and first time running on grass.  Our MXJ leg count is up to 8 right now.  I hope we can finish the title in Denver in a few weeks.

Blake and I really turned our dog show trip to Dolores into an adventure.  We took the dogs to a stream Saturday after the trial.  Layla and Jade had a blast splashing around and the water was quite warm considering our location and altitude.  Later, we took the kids for a 3 hour hike.  We all had a blast.  I let Jade off leash and wondered what he would do.  He really surprised me.  Jade stuck to the trail with all of its twists and turns.  He galloped ahead of us, but every time I called, "Where's my puppy??", he turned around and sprinted towards me.  I couldn't be more proud.  Jade has the perfect combination of awareness of his environment and focus on me.  I really attribute his excellent hiking manners to his breeder, Gayle, who took the puppies on daily woods walks when they were old enough.  Blake took some beautiful pictures of the scenery, me, and the kids during the hike.

Now, I am back in Denver.  Ellie, my freshman roommate and still best friend, stayed the night at our house last night with her friend Jenn.  Ellie and Jenn are in the middle of a road trip from Chicago to California to visit a friend of Jenn.  I had so much fun laughing and catching up with Ellie last night.  I miss her so much because we live so far apart now.  Freshman year, we were inseparable.

Jade has his first foundations agility class tonight with Nicole.  I can't wait to see how he does.  The little man amazes me every day.  He is so stinkin' smart, and I just know he will be a blast to run someday!

Layla helping me pack for Denver 

 Jademan plays hard and sleeps hard!

Our new home 

 Water is so much fun

My handsome man 

My baby girl 

"Where's my puppy??" 

So beautiful 

Having a blast 

Jade loves the moutains 

 My sweetie and me

 One of Blake's beautiful pictures

So much sniffing to do! 

My little deer 

Love running outdoors! 

Front cross

Progress

"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."- Henry Ford.  This is the essence of agility, and all dog sports for that matter.

This past weekend, I attended a UKC agility trial with Layla.  Of course, Jademan came along for the ride.  Normally, I would not have chosen to enter a UKC agility trial.  This venue is just not a favorite for large and/or fast dogs.  The courses are so compact, and UKC even states that they like to focus on accuracy rather than speed.  UKC also has a lot of funny obstacles such as non-traditional jumps, a wiggle board, sway bridge, platform jump, pause box, and hoop tunnel.  However, Layla has always done quite well in UKC.  She is already a UKC Agility Champion (U-ACH) and she lacked 2 legs toward her UKC Agility Champion Excellent (U-ACHX) coming into the trial.  I thought that I would give it a shot, so I entered her both Saturday and Sunday.  If nothing, at least this would give me the opportunity to test Layla's contacts in a trial situation.

It had been 7 months since I entered Layla in a class with contacts.  Layla and I have always had contact issues.  The club that we first started training agility at teaches the dog no behavior on the contacts.  I was a very green handler back then, so I did not know that our lack of training a behavior on the contacts would cause struggles in the standard ring for years to come.  Layla is famous for bailing the contacts, or leaping over the yellow zones.  I have tried so many different things to try to stop this.  No matter what I did, Layla did the same thing.  She would act like she was going to complete the obstacle, but then bark at me and leap over the contact at the last minute.  Entering standard was always a gamble and it was so frustrating.

This summer, I decided that we needed a big change or we could only dream of double q's.  My friend Teresa and I began training just contacts several times a week.  We have basically worked nothing but contacts since the beginning of June.  I wanted running contacts with Lay, but after a month and a half of begging her to run full speed on the dogwalk, I am just going to hope that her speed comes with confidence.  Layla is not a confident dog at all.  Right now, we having what I call a "moving contact"- definitely not as fast as I like, but Layla shows no desire to bail anymore.  We are truly making progress.

It appears that all of our hard work is paying off.  Layla hit every single contact all weekend!  She has never had this record since the beginning of our agility career!!  I cannot be more thrilled with her performance this weekend.  We only got one q this weekend, but nearly every run was because of my lack of using my head.  In the first trial on Saturday, I anticipated a problem that never would have occurred.  In the AGIII level, you cannot step over the 6-foot tape line for the weaves and the table or pause box.  I wanted to be sure that Layla did not miss the last pole and exited towards me so I said, "Come!" before she entered the last pole.  Why did I do that???  I have never ever said "Come!"while Layla weaves.  Guess what?  Layla did exactly what I told her to do.  She popped out of the weaves too early and came in to me.  In the second trial, Lay blew past the last weave pole, but my friends who watched our run saw nothing that I did to cause that.  I took her back and this time ran past the weaves and front crossed while she was still weaving.  That was the trick!  In the first trial on Sunday, we were doing great until a straight line of jumps after the pause box.  My body was facing a window jump off of the line of jumps and Lay took the off course.  I finally got my act together for the last run of the weekend.  It was a clean run and Layla took 1st!  Layla actually had the fastest time in her class every single run that weekend.  Now to find one more trial to get that last leg!  Ugh!

Blake came and watched us on Sunday.  I don't think that Jade stayed in his crate longer than 15 minutes when Blake was there.  Both of my Goldens ADORE Blake and it is very obvious that he loves them just as much.  It was so sweet to see Blake sitting on the floor cuddling with Jade when I returned to my crates time after time.  Nothing makes me me happier.  My kids give me permission to keep him around for a very long time! ;)

We are off to Denver Saturday morning and I am so very excited.  There is so much to be done before we leave, but I am looking forward to getting settled in our house for a few days before we are off to Dolores for our first outdoor agility trial (in the mountains!) and our first trial in Colorado!

Here are a few pictures of my boys.  I love them so much.

 This is still going to make me smile in 10 years:)

 They make my heart sing

Puppy hugs and kisses

On Being Thankful

"Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads."  I love this quote from Henry David Thoreau's Walden.  I could not agree with Thoreau more.  I tried time and time again to begin this post with a witty moment of reflection, but I simply cannot top what Thoreau already wrote.  I am so incredibly thankful for all of the little things that bring me such happiness in my life.  I do not take nearly the number of opportunites that I should to recognize those who support and love me.  Without their guidance, I would surely be lost.

True to Thoreau's quote, I truly believe my life is so full of richness and beauty.  There is so much to be thankful for from the moment I get out of bed until the moment when I fall asleep.  I am so blessed that my parents provide for me.  They not only provide for me, but they go above and beyond to make me happy.  They are my biggest supporters and biggest fan club, even when they know I have not always been right or wise.  I have incredible friends I have made from all areas of my life.  My extremely close friends and I stay in contact despite the terribly long distance that separates us.  Happily, my freshman roommate still remains my best friend.  I still refer to Ellie as my "roommate" even though she is hundreds of miles away in Chicago, and I now have a house in Denver.  We have been through so much together in our short time at Lawrence University.  I know I can call Ellie at any moment of night or day.  She always has the best advice, even if it is something that I do not want to hear.  Ellie has the gift of making me laugh even when I am very upset.  More people should have close friends like her.  My Golden Retrievers continue to make me smile and laugh every day.  I sometimes cannot believe how much unconditional love Layla and Jade have to offer me.  I simply cannot be around them while in a bad mood.  I am so fortunate to have such great kids, and I want to do my best to make them think the same about me!  And lastly, I could not ask for a more loving boyfriend.  Blake is so sweet and extra silly.  He always makes me feel so good about myself.  He has given me so much confidence- something I have not always had a lot of.  I know he loves me for just being me.  He's most certainly my best friend, and I look forward to many many years together.  How did we get so lucky to find each other?

I know that my life is not perfect.  I could dwell on all of the imperfections, but I choose not to.  I have decided to learn from my mistakes.  I take what I can from a difficult situation and move forward.  Life is so full of beauty, but we often fail to take the time to stop and appreciate it. Being thankful is one of the best ways to appreciate life's beauty.  I know I have so much to be thankful for and so many people to thank.  Once I take a little time out of each day to do this, I can really see the heaven on earth under my feet.

The Drama King

Yesterday morning was an adventure.  Every morning, the kids and I have a routine.  We wake up at about 6:30.  I feed Layla, then feed Jade, stand back and watch the tumble and tug matches begin as I eat breakfast.  I might get in a little bit of training and playing while it is still cool before I have to go get ready for work.  At the beginning of each week, I trim nails and clean ears.  Yesterday morning seemed like any other Monday morning.  I went to the garage for the nail clippers in my grooming bag.  Both Layla and Jade followed me into the garage.  Layla sat obediently in front of me as I prepared to clip her nails.  Jade was being his normal goofball self and decided to carry on his game in the backyard.  In the moment that I sat down in the garage, held Layla's paw up, and was about to clip her first nail, Jade hobbles into the garage rather quickly just SCREAMING!  I thought he was dying the way that he sounded.  I immediately dropped the clippers and was trying to calm my puppy so I could see what was wrong.  Jade looked pathetic.  He was hunched over and refused to get out of my lap.  At this point, I was thinking the worst and started to panic.  I scooped him up (not easy anymore at 27 pounds!) and ran inside to call my dad downstairs.  Jade was whimpering in my arms the entire time.  My dad and I put Jade on the kitchen floor and checked his entire body.  My dad said we should try to watch him walk.  Jade refused to put any weight on his right rear leg.  He was even holding it up in a sit position.  I just could not see my puppy in pain.  I was blinking back tears and my dad was trying to calm us both down.  I threw on my scrubs for work and called my veterinary clinic.  I asked for the first appointment and they said to bring Jade right in.  My sister met us there so that I could get on the highway to go to work in Stillwater after the appointment was over.

Jade had the most pitiful look on his face in the waiting room.  All he wanted to do was to be held, and I was worried sick about him.  The Dr. called us back, and she performed an orthopedic exam on Jade. Jade was not refusing to have his leg manipulated in any way and he did not once cry out in pain.  I had him walk for her.  Jade was now putting weight on the leg, but he was definitely favoring it.  We ruled out stings, bites, and torn pads as well.  The vet sent us home with Deramax and told us to take it easy.  I was to call her if Jade did not improve in 72 hours.  I was utterly confused as I handed Jade to Allison so that I could get on the road to Stillwater. When I called home during lunch, my mom said that Jade seemed much better, but still looked uncomfortable walking up steps or getting up from a down.  I drove home with no intentions of going to puppy class.  I took Jade out of his crate as soon as I got home and watched him walk.  He showed no signs that anything ever happened.  I took him to the backyard to get a better look, and the little hellion chose to chase after me, leaping up and down to grab onto my shirt, which he knows is not an acceptable form of play anyways.  I decided that the little sissy boy indeed got his way- he got extra attention from all of us at home and at the vet clinic in the morning.  He caused everyone in the house to drop what they were doing.  Also, he got to go to puppy class in the evening, where he was his normal bouncy self.  I never could figure out what happened in the two seconds that I turned my back to Jade, but he is definitely 100% better as of yesterday evening.  I am sure he just made a typical bold move and jumped from our raised flower beds and landed funny.   Jade was acting very dramatic yesterday morning, and I learned that he has me so wrapped around his paw.  I would drop everything that I am doing for him.  Seeing him cry yesterday morning made me cry.  Our dogs truly become our children.  I would give up anything in the world to make my Goldens happy and to give them the best quality that I can.

The little hellion;)

The best kids anyone could ask for<3