MY GIRLS

Each of my 4 girls are so special to me. They are so different in their personalities.

Molly is my heart dog. She was my first dog as an adult. I adopted her in November 2001 from the Humane Society of Pulaski County. As a puppy she was so active! Her energy led us into agility. We trained off and on for about 7 years with 3 different trainers/training sites. She blew her ACL when she was 3 1/2 and had to have surgery to repair it. She also suffered from recurrent UTI's and was seen and treated by a specialist at UT-Knoxville and the specialist has communicated with me that Molly's history and diagnosis is discussed during the urology portion of her vet lectures. I trialed with Molly for a little over a year in USDAA and TDAA earning 8 titles before she decided the crowds and noise were too much for her and she retired herself! She now enjoys spending time patrolling my property and can't wait until I get home everyday so she can start her patrols. She has her favorite people and loves them dearly. She 's not one to be super friendly to everyone. Molly loves her weekly Mommy and me trips to Petco where she checks out the birds and fish and will actually let other people pet her there. When we go my my dad's house, she still likes to sleep in my mom's chair. Molly is the dog that won my mom over and let a dog in her house. It wasn't long before Molly was sleeping with my parents!!

Missy came into my life in 2003 as a foster for CARE for Animals. She was a 2 year old completely potty trained dog that CARE pulled from LRAS. Missy decided my home was for her and every time we took her for 'showings', the volunteers would tell me she didn't 'show' well. She even spent an afternoon with a potential family who called me and said as soon as I left her she became a totally different dog. That they didn't know my plan, but they thought Missy had found her home. So I signed the adoption papers in Dec. 2003 and she was mine! Missy is the sweetest, most loveable dog. She loves people and enjoys being close to me. She loves all of her little beds that are all over the house. She is the first dog to try out any new blanket or bed that she finds in the house. She used to go patrolling with Molly but now enjoys staying in the house with me. She is quite dependent on Molly or one of the other dogs. She prefers to be close to me but will seek out others for some petting.

Marley was adopted in April 2008 from LRAS. She was everything I had said I didn't want. Long hair, blue eyes and a herding breed. She too was an overly active puppy. I couldn't wait to start training her in agility at 6 months, the age the trainer accepted. Marley has lived up to her name. Very active, finds trouble easily, but enjoys life to the fullest. She is now 4 and has trained in agility off and on for 3 1/2 years, earning 13 agility titles, 2 rally titles, and her CD. She is currently on an agility hiatus and will do privates only when it cools off. She went through a phase where she was a 'bad Marley' but a change in training corrected that problem. She loves her Mommy and is very dependent on me. Marley unfortunately has bilateral HD and we will do agility as long as she wants to. I have goals for her but I want to remember each and every run we have together. I never know with Marley what dog I am taking to the start line. Sometimes she's a superstar, paying attention and minding. The next run she may be wild and out of control and then the next run she may walk slower than a turtle. But she's My Marley and I love her and her little quirks. She loves her little sister KK. They spend tons of time playing together. KK has been so good for Marley.

Kalea-Kate was adopted in Jan. 2012 from MO-KAN BC Rescue. She has been a great companion for Marley! They love each other so much. KK started her agility training almost immediately. She loves it and performs it so different than Marley. She's going to be fast and furious! I have my work cut out for me!! We tried an obedience class earlier this spring but it wasn't the right fit for us so we dropped out. We will retry a different class in late August. I learned a good lesson with Marley, I've learned to stand up for my dog! KK needs a gentle hand training or she will shut down. She thrives with positive reinforcement. I cannot wait to start our agility career together. She is totally fearless and willing to try anything. She wants to be like her big sister, Marley.

I love all 4 of my girls. They are all so different but so dear to my heart!!

HOW TO HANDLE

Since it's too hot to do any real agility, I have been working with Marley and KK on their sit/stays and down/stays. Their Mommy finally broke out the Manners Minder and we have been using that to break up the monotony.

I have now drug a jump into my living room. So now I have a tunnel, a jump, and a hokey in my house. Trying to work a little with KK on more that one obstacle at a time. Sometimes Missy gets tired of the noise and chaos and will go get in the tunnel and lay there so we can't practice anymore.

I have also spent alot of time watching 'successful' handlers on YouTube to see how they handle certain obstacles. Especially the teeter. Marley was taught a 2o2o on the teeter but that was changed as soon as we changed trainers and went to running contacts. KK will have a pause/running teeter and 2o2o on everything else. In my opinion, the 2o2o on the teeter is dangerous. I have yet to find any one handler that I would like to emulate. Some are more fluid but I have noticed at lot of jerky, stop n go movements. I have done the jerky, stop and go, and it really hacks Marley off!! I have learned something from each but not enough to change up what I'm doing now.

In a year I will be running 2 totally different dogs so I will have a huge learning curve. Can't wait for the weather to cool off some so we can get back outside to train!!

BABY STEPS

I've been working through my past recently and just felt like sharing some inspirational quotes that I've been posting on my Facebook page. They kinda explain my life at this time.  I am feeling like myself more and more everyday. Don't get me wrong, I still have my days but the good days so outweigh the bad days!

SUMMER BREAK

Marley and Kalea-Kate are on a summer break from agility. Probably won't start back until September. It's just too hot and the potential for heat illness is too great.

My dad got our dogwalk up so KK and I are working on her 2o2o's. KK is also working hard on her teeter. She tends to want to jump off as soon as it bangs instead of waiting for me to give her the OK. Marley even did a fabulous 2o2o and she doesn't even do them anymore in a trial. I think she just wanted the cookie!! :) We will work some on agility this summer but probably not alot. There are so many things I can do with KK in the A/C. Marley and KK love to race doing sits and downs. Always try to make it fun for them. They do agility to please me so they should at least be happy doing it.

I was rethinking Marley's previous agility trials and realized she hasn't even done 20 trials yet in almost 2 years of trialing. I think we did so many trials last year that I thought we had done way more. We've only done a few this year so far and will only do a few more in the remaining months of this year. I didn't anticipate breaking my hip and that really set us back.

I used to be upset when others were trialing and we weren't. Even jealous when others were sharing their victories on FB and we were sitting at home. But my perspective has changed this year. It isn't about the winning, it's about the game and the experience getting there. I have been doing a mental management program and it has helped so much. It has given me a totally different way of thinking about agility and how to be successful and meet my goals.

It's no secret that I left one trainer for another and my new trainer was God sent for me and Marley and now KK. I've still harbored bad feelings about the previous trainer and my previous classmates. I can't help to have bad feelings when every time I watch video of Marley's first agility trial, I hear them talking about us in the background. I have to mute the video to watch it. I left the trainer not my classmates but that doesn't seem to matter. It also doesn't help when they ignore me at trials even when I go up to them and speak. So from now on, I will be polite to them in passing but I'm tired of being the bigger person and trying to get them to be friendly to me. I left for a reason...don't hold that against me. It had nothing to do with my classmates.

SUCCESS IN MONROE

We had a successful weekend in Monroe. Marley finished her Excellent A Standard in 3 out of 3 trips into the ring!! All with 1sts!! She paid attention to me and was such a great girl. I couldn't ask for a better agility partner. :)

Kalea-Kate did great! She was quiet in the motel and at the show site. I walked her around the venue and allowed different people to treat her. She loved it! My friend and I took her out into the lobby and practiced recalls with distractions. She did great. She loves everyone and every dog. She was snarked at by one dog at the motel and by another at the show site but both of those dogs are known to be snarky and always ready for a fight. We always steer clear of them. I won't have my dogs in danger b/c others have no control of their dog!

I opted to pull Marley from the USDAA trial this weekend. My hip feels great but we just aren't ready for that level of agility without practicing. I have also decided to pull her from group classes again. She has a complete meltdown when she's anywhere near a certain dog and I won't allow for her to be threatened. I have worked too  hard on Marley to get her where she's at and I won't have her fall back b/c of another dog.She's a gentle soul who's Momma is gonna stand up for her. Which is something I failed to do 3 years ago and I regret that decision everyday.