Can I Bring the Dog?

Oh my, it has been a week since I wrote anything here. Chico and Lucy and I have been so busy, and I make daily updates to Lucy’s mom, so this blog and its readers have been deprived of information.

Lucy is learning how to be shaped into a new activity, which means she needs to try taking the initiative and that is not her first reaction to a confusing situation. Her first reaction to confusion is to freeze and look pretty. Looking pretty is her first job, but when she retires from breed and starts agility, initiative is going to be a good thing. She’s meeting different agility obstacles in class and workshops and the back yard. She’s refining her “come” and we’re adding value to handy things like collar-over-the-head and go-to-mat. She’s learning to go between two uprights, that will teach her to look for jumps, and also is the very beginning of weave poles. She’s done some ramps too.

Chico is learning to be tolerant of Lucy’s presence, he’s eating better, he’s running faster in the agility ring, and he’s still the one who gets to sleep on my bed.

In a few days we’ll all pack up and go to Springfield, MA for the Thanksgiving Cluster. I’ve talked about it before, it’s the east’s largest dog event with breed, obedience, and agility. There’s four rings of agility and our group, the dogs that jump 16 inches is about 100 strong. Of that most will not be in the preferred group (dogs that are tall enough to be jumping 20 inches but are excused to a lower height due to their age), but we’re still not likely to be the fastest, even when we can run clean. But those qualifying runs count even if we don’t get a colored ribbon. Chico needs to more qualifying runs in Standard at the Excellent level to move to masters, the highest level. The courses don’t change, but it’s a goal. We’ve been in Master’s Jumpers for quite a while, and it would be nice to reach that in Standard as well. After that, the next big achievement is a PACH, which means qualifying in both Standard and Jumpers on the same day – twenty times. I don’t trial enough to reach that goal, and I think at this point, neither Chico or I wants to step it up and go on a strenuous, both classes, both days, every weekend campaign for a PACH. We’d rather go hiking most of the time, and trial when it is convenient.

The house is finally getting close to completion. After weeks of searching and calling and getting samples of things that were out of stock for the next eight weeks, I located my cork flooring and it has been delivered. Doing the downstairs in cork eats up my entire flooring budget, so upstairs flooring is painted plywood; clearly I am willing to compromise. The painters are doing final coats, the cabinetry is almost finished, there will be toilets and sinks in the bathrooms this week; I could be moving in by the middle of December.

along the Bearcamp River today. Further than I have been before,  but still not all the way to the Community School.
Stopped on the way back to enjoy a nice flat rock by the river.

Lucy got a great case of the zoomies. She must have run full speed for two minutes.

Lucy was having so much fun, Chico even joined on for a few moments. He played with her. That was the first time.

Now, both dogs are sacked out. Chico on the couch and Lucy in the door yard.

We walked around at Great Hill Pond the other day.

There was a really neat bird’s nest hanging from a bush.

It was a good long walk and when I got home, we all managed to be on the couch together.
And I could get up and take this picture.

Chico is not fully relaxed,  Lucy certainly is; but she doesn’t have a past like Chico’s.

Lucy on the other hand is still a puppy, so when the cork tile sample fell on the floor, and I wasn’t nearby, she couldn’t resist.
I don’t think too much of it ended up inside of her.
And of course as I’m writing this she has discovered chewing the fringes of one of the area rugs. Gotta run.

Several weeks ago, Chico and I finished his P1 title in Snooker; two weeks ago we managed to get thrown out of the ring because I touched him on course after getting flustered by something in the weave poles, AND finish his P2 Pairs title. Last weekend, we had only one run, Standard, and he was slow off the line, I heard the second jump go down (which, ahem, I ought to have seen, I was disconnected and maybe that’s why he knocked the bar), and thought, “OK, nothing to lose now, let’s go.” The weaves were toward the end of the course, with two or three jumps after. The first time we came to them, Chico blew right past them. I brought him back (we’re already not gonna Q) and tried again. He was brilliant. Fast and sure. I remembered to stay beside him until he finished the last poles, then I did something I have rehearsed in my head for months, I shouted “Good DOG! Cookies, cookies, cookies! Let’s get your cookies!” And ran out of the ring. The closing was pretty much straight ahead, he probably did the last three jumps, but I really don’t care, I was able to reward the weaves in competition. The time between finishing the weaves ad my declaring and delivering rewards was short enough that he was paid for the weaves, not for finishing the course. Hope he knows it.

I’m armed with Lucy’s breakfast and some of Chico’s kibble.

Chico is not eating the kibble,  Lucy is. Once in a while Chico closes his eyes. If I move the device to take a pic, he open his eyes because he senses my motion and fears missing anything. 
Chico,  master of upping the ante,  does consider a Charlee Bear an acceptable reward. But kibble,  no. That’s not a treat. He’s got me trained.

and bright. Two pretty relaxed dogs at my feet.

She’s going to be something if she ever catches one.

Chico likes to be on his own, he doesn’t adore Lucy’s help with sniffing at things.

He will accept her presence, just not too close most of the time.

Lucy, working herd to catch up to Chico.

All of our adventures this week are taking place in a setting of stunning fall foliage.

Here’s a little video of how the walks go. Chico is interested in something until Lucy is, he gets ahead, she catches up, he turns (most likely with that warning look in his eye), and they go their separate ways.

This is what happened the first time I pointed the camera at her:

“Hey, what’s that thing? Let me smell it.”

Right now if I get close to her she wants into my lap, and that’s fine, but it’s hard to take a picture of a dog that’s on top of you.

She matches the kitchen floor well, don’t you think?

She’s a pretty, sweet, smart, dog; responsive to training, respectful of Chico; I am sure that her time with us is going to be a great growth experience for all three of us.