New Year 2021

So here we are at the beginning of 2021.  We all know that 2020 was a shit show.  Even without COVID there wasn't a lot that was great about it for lots of other reasons.  Although we have been so lucky in Western Australia thanks to a State Premier that doesn't mess around and kept our border closed.  Other than the initial outbreak and ongoing travel restrictions our life is pretty normal and we can do most of the things we would always do.  On the other hand work has been so busy and incredibly stressful.  We have multiple projects all with tight deadlines that are almost impossible to meet.  There are many things I really enjoy about my job.  It's interesting, challenging and in many ways rewarding.  But this last six months I've woken up on plenty of days thinking that there must be more to life than this.  Of course there are many that don't have jobs thanks to COVID so I am grateful to have a safe job and no financial stress that has been the case for so many.    

The dog side of things has been interesting.  I enjoyed the COVID enforced agility trialling break because it meant we did other really cool things like hiking.  We would head out for all day hikes with friends and it was so much fun.  I honestly didn't miss agility trials at all.  With WA's hard border and no community spread of the virus we were back trialling in agility by the end of August.  We got straight back into it but we were no where near ready and it showed.  If it wasn't for the State Trial I probably would have waited.  Given how badly we did anyway I guess I should have!  I found trialling mostly frustrating and made a total mess of our runs until probably November when things started to come together again and we managed a few Q's.  I think when things start going wrong it's really easy to lose your confidence and stop believing in your skills.  Rain is such an honest dog, she goes where I tell her.  And if I'm wrong most of the time it really doesn't help her at all.  It felt good to get at least a couple of Q's although so much work to do to improve.  That list is long, but Rain makes it fun with her boundless enthusiasm.  

Obedience went a lot better.  Rain is such a natural it continues to amaze me how good she is.  She does the sort of heelwork that makes people stop and watch it is so powerful and animated.  She had multiple classes where she got a perfect score for heelwork, including the State Obedience Trial but then we would completely botch one of the other exercises.  A bit frustrating but we are both learning.  She managed her first pass in Novice at the last trial of the year but her worst score so far thanks to her barking around her entire heelwork round.  She just enjoys it so much and wanted everyone to know about it apparently... We have been working hard on her working through the arousal and keeping a lid on it.  I'm really looking forward to doing obedience this year.  I'm slowly working on the Open exercises so we aren't completely unprepared when we get through Novice.  I don't think it will take her too long if I can get the barking under control.  Utility is another matter altogether.  We'll leave that for a bit later.

I'm holidays now until 18th January.  I was beyond ready for some downtime especially after cancelling all my leave in 2020 thanks to COVID.  With Christmas and New Year out the way it is all about trips to the river and beach to enjoy time with the dogs relaxing with some horse riding thrown in for good measure.  It's been really hot so it's been hard to do a lot of actual agility training.  I was trying to get in one running dog walk a week to keep Rain's skills fresh, plus things like cue checker, driving forward over jumps and especially driving ahead of me.  We have also made a start on see-saw training.  But anything we do if any is pretty short and sweet because it's often still over 30 degrees at 6.30pm.  I'm looking forward to doing some sequencing again but its going to have to wait until it cools down a bit.  But mostly it's about relaxing and just enjoying the less stressful things in life 😁  

Sonic has had a tough few months.  He has been mostly going really well.  He is relatively strong for a dog of thirteen going on fourteen and has been really enjoying himself just running around and having fun.  But he's now had two vestibulitis episodes in the last twelve months and has been diagnosed with stage 1 kidney disease.  The kidney disease appears to be under control with a move off his raw diet and onto a prescription kidney diet that is easy for his kidneys to deal with.  Unfortunately it has meant he's put on a few extra kilos but nothing serious.  The vestibulitis has knocked him around.  I feel so sorry for him when he's stumbling around like a drunken sailor.  Nothing much we can do but give him anti-nausea tablets and wait for him to come good.  I really do hope we have him with us for at least a couple more years yet.  

Post Pandemic Life

After three competitions for Rain it all came to a grinding halt thanks to COVID-19.  Who would have thought.  While it was a bit depressing after waiting so long to be able to trial again, the enforced rest was probably a bit of a blessing.  Rain hyper-flexed her carpus at some point.  Possibly caused by A-Frame training, despite me waiting until she was 17 months old to train it and being super careful 😒.  I wasn't 100% sure exactly when it happened or that it was even resolved despite no obvious lameness after physio treatment.  So with everything cancelled I decided to get her spayed and give her rest a nice long rest.  If everything hadn't been cancelled I'm not sure her wrist would have held up to States and Nationals. 

Serious Rain

Comedian Rain

I had always planned to get Rain spayed after the Nationals but once it was cancelled it was the perfect time to get it out the way.  It didn't quite go as I'd hoped.  During surgery they had trouble with Rain's blood not clotting and she bruised up really badly from the clamps.  The surgeon had to take much longer with the surgery just to be extra careful.  So Rain came home very sad and sorry for herself.  Then she had a reaction to the fyximol tape when I took it off and came out in a massive rash.  She couldn't be exercised at all until after the stitches came out as she was so sore and I had to leave an Elizabethan collar on her well after the stitches came out because her skin reacted so badly and she was itchy all the time.  I was constantly having to put ice on the rash to help give her some relief.  Fortunately through the whole thing she was happy to rest and have quiet time.  I was so relieved once she had healed and it was finally behind us. 

Hiking with friends

Rain had a full eight week break from all things agility and decided it was time to do some other things.  Thanks to the pandemic we have been doing lots of swimming, hiking, had a first go at sheep herding and have been playing with some obedience.  It's been a lot of fun and while I do miss agility her love of everything we try makes everything fun.  No matter what I do with Rain she throws herself into it with 110% enthusiasm.  The most surprising thing has probably been the heel work.  She just loves it  and the power she puts into it feels amazing.  I feel like she deserves for me to invest time in obedience training so I can compete with her.  I've had a lesson with Sue Hogben one of our top local obedience trainers because I don't have the experience to fix issues.  Lets face it, I really don't know what I'm doing when it comes to obedience.  And we will be back for more lessons as soon as I have some time.  I can't see us in the ring anytime soon but I have no doubt that it will happen.

The WA Kerodan girlies

I have restarted Rain's agility training.  She is wearing a carpus brace for now to protect her wrist as I just don't want to take any risks.  She is jumping but I'm keeping the jumps low.  We've also restarted her running dog walk, stripped back to basics.  Our agility trialling doesn't restart until September so I have a few months up my sleeve to make it better.  The mat is back, the dog walk is low and she is looking really good with her hits.  I plan to leave the dreaded A-Frame and weavers until last.  Those pieces of equipment are going to put the most pressure on her wrist joint and I really don't want to do anything that will risk doing any damage.

I took Rain sheep herding for the first time a couple of weeks ago.  I walked into the pen with the sheep knowing it would go one of two ways.  She'd either completely ignore them or enjoy it.  Fortunately it was the latter and she thought it was the best fun ever.  She kept trying to drag me back into the sheep yard to do some more.  I'm not so worried about herding titles but I want to give her the opportunity to do different things that she finds fun so we'll definitely be out there again and do some more.  

Princess pappy

It looks like our first agility trials will be in September.  I'm disappointed that I miss out on two judging appointments over east, one in Hawkesbury and one in Melbourne.  But everyone is optimistic that they will go ahead next year instead.  With all the extra downtime with no agility commitments I decided to sign up for the OfCourse Online Course Design course.  With Petr Pupik, Tamas Traj and Jan Eigl Eide as the teachers it is too good of an opportunity to pass up.  So I'm looking forward to coming up with more exiting course designs once everything kicks up again, including judging the Masters Jumping final at this years State Trial.

Competition Time!

It's hard to believe that since I last posted we have achieved our first big two goals, Rain's very first agility competition in Albany shortly followed a couple of weeks later by the Western Classic.  And what an amazing first two trials Rain has had!  In her very first run ever, in Novice Agility at Albany, she went clear and achieved her first ever qualifying run.  Then at the Western Classic she not only went clear in Novice Agility but won the class against some extremely talented border collies including one of her best buddies and fellow Kerodan superstar Bella!

Albany - February 2020 

The Albany trial on the Saturday was a pretty tough day.  It was super hot and by the time I'd set up Masters Agility the sweat was pouring off me.  After finishing judging we were straight on to Novice Agility so it was a bit stressful making sure that Rain was adequately warmed up and ready to go after sitting in the car for most of the morning.  One of my fellow triallers pointed out that I looked mega stressed so for Rain's sake I took some really, really deep breathes to make myself relax.  I really didn't care about qualifying, just getting her around safely so that it was a good experience.  So I really did need to lighten up... Anyway as it happened Rain was amazing.  She just did absolutely everything I asked her to.  It wasn't super fast, I could see watching the video back that she was cautious.  But at a new grounds on new equipment and with a flustered owner she was incredible.  I forced myself to not interfere with her weaver entry and she made it look easy.  

Albany - February 2020

We had Novice Jumping the next day was a much more relaxed affair. The weather was much nicer and I was judging the second round of classes so I had plenty of time to walk the dogs and chill the hell out... her run was so much more confident than the day before but I didn't manage a turn very well and she went past a jump.  Then she knocked a bar towards the end.  But overall it was an fantastic debut from a young dog who has a huge future in front of her.  I was so super impressed with her attitude not to mention level of maturity and how she managed on her first travels away from home to compete.  

Four very happy dogs - Albany 2020

I was really looking forward to the Western Classic because I wasn't judging and could 100% focus on running Rain.  We had Novice Agility first up and Rain was amazing again running the most beautiful, flawless round and going clear.  She made a weaver entry that many masters dogs wouldn't have managed and actually corrected herself to make it.  She was so happy and excited with a lot more confidence.  She trains at the Dogs West grounds and really loves being there.  As soon as I get her out of the car she is so keen to get out and do agility.  When I count her down as part of her ringside routine to let her know we are about to go into the ring her face is one of pure joy that it's "her turn" 😍  Funnily enough in Novice Jumping we had exactly the same result as in Albany, one jump run past and one bar down.  The classes got held up due to a person injury in another ring and I think that by the time it was her turn she wasn't really at optimum focus.  It's a long time for a baby dog to be hanging around.  Anyway, it doesn't change that I am so proud of this wonderful dog and feel incredibly blessed to have her in my life.

Paddle boarding fun - January 2020

We have a couple more competitions coming up in March which I'm very much looking forward to.  I've lightened up her training a bit to give her body a break.  Those last couple of months before she started trialling was full of AF and weaver sessions.  She still has lots of skills to learn but for now we are throwing in some obedience training to keep things different.  I'd really love to do obedience or rally with her at some point because she is a dog that loves to do heel-work.  From my experience that is not a common thing so it would be a shame to not do something with it.  And of course because Rain is such a happy easy going dog we are continuing to make sure she has lots of decompression time with weekly river excursions whether its on the paddle board or just a leisurely walk.  They are some of my favourite times with her.  It has been a long time I have been excitedly looking forward to the next agility trial 😊   

The clever Kerodan girls

Baby Dog Milestones

Swimming with friends

There are so many milestones to reach with a baby dog.  Now Rain has turned 16 months she is learning all these really cool things as part of her agility dog journey.  Her natural ability knows no bounds with her love of training and willingness to learn new things.  I started her weaver training when she turned 15 months old and 4 weeks on she is doing 12 straight.  She still has to concentrate very hard though!  She picked the concept up really quickly and just naturally seems to know to look for the next opening.  Makes my life much easier.  Her running dog walk is going well and I'm happy where we are at with it.  The good phases seem to be happening more and the less good phases less often.  The dog walk is about three quarters high now and my goal is to have it full height by January.  I feel like she understands the concept.  We had a couple of weeks that were just a disaster, had a break and then came back to it a couple of weeks later.  When we came back to it her hits were really good.  So possibly a lesson in there somewhere.  I'm still adding in different things, I've just added the tunnel underneath etc.  Not sure if it will be ready for February but we'll just see how it goes.  My aim was to get the A-Frame out once I'm happy with the full height dog walk.  So possibly January all going well.

The hot weather is playing havoc with getting a lot of training done.  Most evenings at the moment we only get five minutes in before we are both too hot.  Apparently 40 degree days are the new norm for Perth this summer.  For the evenings that are stinkers I just pick something quick and easy that we can work on, even heel work for something different.  Rain doesn't care as long as she is doing something.  During the week when I'm working if is pretty difficult to go down the beach so we try and make sure to get to the beach or river every weekend for decompression and relaxation.  Having a dog who has such a wonderful easy going temperament has meant going to places where other people are dogs are is something we can do again.  And I'm so glad.  Being able to meet up with friends and take the dogs to interesting places is something I have really missed.

We had a great time at the Dave Munnings seminar back in October.  Dave is such a good presenter and I love his enthusiasm and passion.  Rain was amazing again and blew me away with what she was able to put together.  It was a really warm day and the sessions were short with swims in the dam in between.  Each time it was her turn to work she gave me 110%.  Those foundation skills make all the difference.  We rarely do jump/handling work more than once a week yet her understanding of the different maneuvers is pretty amazing.   Dave's partner Dan Shaw is here in May next year so looking forward to more really fun seminars with Rain in 2020.

The milestone for Rain to have her first trial is inching closer.  She was officially measured this month coming in at 52cms.  Pretty much what I thought she'd be.  Rain is quite touchy so I did quite a lot of work leading up to getting measured so she was used to having something go over her shoulder.  Like the perfect girl that she is she stood like a statue.  At this stage I hope that her first trial will be in Albany in February.  Simone and I are judging so I will enter Rain the classes that Simone is doing.  Then I know Rain's first novice courses will be awesome and not tight and horrible.  Then probably the Western Classic in March.  She'll definitely be entered in Novice Jumping and I guess we'll see about Novice Agility.  Either way I can't wait to compete with this super special girl 💓

All Grow'd Up

Sometimes it is hard to fathom how life has gotten so busy.  I can't remember it being like this five or ten years ago.  Now it just feels like there is never enough hours in the day and between the hours of 5am and 7pm I'm lucky if I sit down for 10 minutes.  This is with a household of dogs that I consider pretty easy to manage in comparison to what we were dealing with only eight or nine months ago.  Finding half an hour to sit down and update my blog is almost impossible.  But I'm determined to squeeze it in even if it's only happening every few months.  Maybe I just need to give up work 😉

My beautiful Pooh Bear

So young Rain is officially grown up at 13 months of age.  The puppy fat has gone and she is looking lean, mean and ready for action.  She is quite the character and is loving agility, which is the best although I could do without the crazy barking.  She is slightly mad which I believe I can blame her mother for....lol!  The big highlight over the last couple of months was the Tamas Traj seminar back in July.  I was a bit overwhelmed going into the seminar.  While we were in a novice group, that group consisted of some of our top young dogs and our best handlers so I was thinking we may be in over our head with our skill level!  I felt quite nervous for our first few sessions but as the day went on Rain showed me over and over again just how much she has learned and how good her skills were for a dog that was not quite 12 months of age.  There is certainly no downside to placing importance on putting in the foundation skills.  Before the seminar she would have done no more than three obstacles together so for her to run a challenging course broken down into three pieces was pretty amazing.  Tamas was great.  Such a lovely guy with a great sense of humour while being direct and straight to the point.  I loved the "just run faster" and "do it better next time".  It was a great group and so many laughs.  So important to not take yourself seriously and laugh about it whether it was good, bad or very ugly!

1 year old

Tamas's course design lecture was fantastic.  It was the perfect accompaniment to what I have already learned from Jan.  You always have different takeaways from these things and I think the information I got from Tamas has meant that I feel more confidence when I design a course.  Before I would design something and then worry about it until I saw dogs running it.  Now I feel like I can look at it and know that it is good.  I finally judged my first classes on Sunday since doing Tamas's course and the courses ran exactly how I knew they would.  Everyone loved them and so many smiles coming out of my ring whether it was clear or otherwise.  That felt good and it certainly gives me a level of confidence that I didn't have before.  Tamas really places an emphasis on a dogs take off and landing spot and that has really crystallized my thought process.  I think more judges need to understand the full impact of a dogs take off and landing when they are designing courses.  There is huge gap there in a lot of what I see. 

Goof ball

Since Tamas was here I've signed up for Dave Munnings online handling course as an auditor.  It means I regularly get new sequences to work on and the people who have working spots post their videos so plenty of information there to help work through them.  I enjoy having new and interesting things to work on.  I get bored trying to come up with stuff.  I had started actual jump training with Rain but I've put it on hold as she has strained her calf muscle on her left hind leg.  Nothing major but she wasn't using it to power off properly so obviously she feels sore.  She is going to physio to help it heal and we'll wait until Leigh gives us the all clear before we get back into it.  Before it happened she was jumping 500 like it was nothing so I'm not overly concerned and no rush.  The break from jumping has given us a chance to spent more time focusing on her running dog walk.  We lost a couple of months as I had to get my dog walk resurfaced.  It had been sitting out in all weather for about six or seven years so it was well overdue.  The training process hasn't all been easy going, it has taken quite a while to get the concept across with rear feet hits on a mat.  But I think we have made some good progress over the last month and she is becoming more consistent.  Once we get through some proofing on the low dog walk it will be time to start making it more real.  She absolutely loves the dog walk and when we are in the agility arena you can barely keep her off it.

Sonic loving his underwater treadmill time

We are also now at the three month point post Sonic's total hip replacement.  He is somewhat fat after eight weeks of inactivity and good eating but we are now starting to make a dent in that to get him back to normal.  He's been going to rehab every week and with the help of the underwater treadmill he is getting stronger and stronger.  We are up to two half hour leash walks a day plus his exercises.  Even better he is off all his meds except the Lyprinol which is a supplement rather than a pharmaceutical as such.  So feeling really happy with the outcome of what has been a pretty challenging few months.  I'm sure that Sonic must be feeling pretty happy to have his life back and even more so that he can toilet by himself and not have me following him around on the end of a leash!  Seeing him happily trotting around makes me smile in a big way.   

Returning to Agility

It has been a busy couple of months for us with lots going on.  I had quite a few judging appointments which I really enjoyed.  The courses worked so well and I saw some of the most stunning runs which were a delight to judge whether the dog and handler qualified or not.  The overall highlight was when international judge Jan Eigl Eide from Norway was here for the second time.  I feel really privileged to have had him as a mentor for my course design since he was here in 2017.  Having him back in Perth and receiving his feedback in person for my course design after working on improving over the last eighteen months was amazing.  Then to have him say that he liked my courses when he came over to check them out pretty much made my year 😌  Gosh he is just the nicest person.  So lovely to talk to and discuss course design with and he makes course design look so easy.  It's disappointing that Australia is still so far behind Europe and in many cases people are strongly resisting any change.  It is challenging for us being so far removed physically from the international competition scene.  But I don't think we can continue to use that as an excuse as the only thing of any importance is our dogs health and safety and too many courses we see here force our dogs to use their bodies in unsafe ways.  There are so many options now for learning and improving.  All you have to do is go to FaceBook.  You just need to be open to doing better.  I really do wish that some of our other long time competitors would consider being judges.  We so badly need a greater injection of new ideas and allow for a greater evolution.  That people won't is an ongoing frustration for me.  It always seems that it is the same people who are prepared to make sacrifices for their sport.  That is one of the things I admire about Jan, he reminded me that it only takes one person to initiate change and he is totally prepared to step up and take it on.  I need to keep reminding myself of that every time I get disheartened.

The pappy is still cute as a button

Rain and I had so much fun doing our very first seminar with Jan.  She was only nine months so we couldn't do anything particularly complicated, but it was a start.  I have got loads to work on and she is loving it, which means that I am loving it too.  At the moment we are working on handling with the bars on the ground.  I'm going to teach her a running dog walk so we have started the foundation work for that as well.  The downside of a running dog walk is it is pretty time consuming but of course all the foundation work is not on the equipment so it's all pretty easy.  She is definitely getting the hang of it so I recon we aren't far away from moving onto planks.  We have really good sessions mixed with average sessions but we are getting there.  I'm still doing lots of obedience and trick training with her.  We enrolled in obedience at one of the local dog clubs.  She came in season for the first time right at the start so we lost a few weeks of class but of course we have just been working away on things at home and she picks everything up so quickly.  Not sure where we will go with it but good for building on our relationship even if nothing really comes of it competition wise.

Rain and her little friend Harli

Next up we have Tamas Traj from Hungary coming to Perth in July.  Tamas is probably the top international agility judge in the world at the moment.  He has a gift for course design that is just mind blowing.  I am always in awe of what he comes up with.  I will be really interested to see what he designs when he is in Australia.  To be honest I don't think that agility in Australia is up to his level of design but it is a wonderful opportunity for people to push themselves.  I only wish Rain was old enough to compete so I could run his courses.  Instead I will have to just make the most of our seminar spot and I'll be doing his course design seminar as well.  Rain will be twelve months when Tamas is here so we should be able to do a bit more than when Jan was here.

Rain's first agility seminar

I've signed up for the Jumping Gymnastics course run through Fenzi with Sarah Stremming and Leslie Eide which starts in June.  Rain isn't old enough to actually do the course as yet but I'm keen to have it in my library so we can start some of the conditioning work and then be ready to do it in our own time once Rain has finished growing.  Rain has a tendency to get over the top and then loose her mind a bit which has me a little concerned about the potential for bar knocking.  I'm really keen to make sure I teach her how to jump properly right from the start and that she is physically ready in both her growth and the right physical condition to be successful.  I'd rather do it right the first time rather than trying to fix something later.   Plus I have great respect for both Sarah and Leslie and it's another great learning opportunity.

Sonic one week post THR

Poor Sonic has not had a great time of it lately.  His hip dysplasia had been managed really well for many years with medication but over the last few months I had thought he looked like he was showing signs that he was less comfortable.  He was still fairly active and going swimming regularly.  But then one afternoon when he was chasing the other dogs out to the agility arena he slipped and ever since has been non weight bearing in his rear left leg.  So after multiple trips to Murdoch and an MRI Sonic received a total hip replacement of his left hip.  A lot of people I have spoken to were really surprised that I'd spend that much money on an eleven year old but I can't see how I couldn't.  My other choice is to leave him and then when he can't walk anymore I would have had to put him to sleep.  I just can't stand by and watch that happen and he certainly doesn't deserve that.  I have an opportunity to give him another four or five quality years of life and I want to give him that.  The operation went perfectly.  I know it's going to be a tough eight weeks through to six months as we go through recovery and rehab but it's the least I can do for him. 

Sonic's crappy left hip pre-THR

Sonic's new hip

Time to Heal

It has been three months now since we said goodbye to Ve.  I still think about him every single day.  He was such a big part of my life that everything I do is a constant reminder that he's gone.  There are so many things about him that I miss.  But I can't regret the choice that we made.  Since he's been gone I have slowly seen the other dogs come back to life.  Fizz running through the house with a toy, something she hasn't done in years. Cassie attacking my pants when she gets excited.  Rain blossoming and forming such wonderful relationships with the other dogs.  Being able to have chew toys lying about everywhere and watching them all share.  Cassie and Rain licking peanut butter out of the same toy.  Cassie eating properly.  The list goes on.  The whole house, dog and human were suppressing our behaviour for Ve's sake.  We tiptoed around constantly, modifying even day to day things to try and prevent Veto from needing to react.  The other dogs modified their behavior to protect themselves.  When I think about it Ve was not dissimilar to an abusive partner.  He controlled everyone else's behaviour by physical violence.  If it wasn't physical there was always the threat of physical violence if the other dog did not stop doing what they were doing or give him what he wanted.  It was a horrible way for all of us to live.  Including Ve.  I can't imagine what demon's were in his head to make him feel like he needed to do that.  Home was where he should have felt safest.

Out on the river

But it is time to put what happened behind us and start a new chapter.  Nothing will ever change how much we loved him.  But now we have a chance to remember what it should be like with everyone co-existing peacefully and living a life where they are safe.  It has been good for me to take a step away from agility and remember how many other things we can enjoy with our dogs.  Rain and I have been spending a lot of time relationship building while finding new fun things to do.  We've been out stand up paddle boarding, going down the beach, visiting friends, going to cafes, doing some scent work classes, going on puppy play dates and just basically having fun.  Just like her registered name "Here Comes the Sun" Rain seems to bring a smile to everyone's face.  She has the most endearing, happy, loving temperament and I feel like I've hit the jackpot.  Not only is she a joy to have around, she has allowed me to recover some of my confidence.  When things go wrong with your dog it is so easy to blame yourself and feel like a total failure.  It is very hard not to believe that you've caused their issues and your a bad dog trainer.  Having a dog like Rain is a reminder of just how important temperament is and that you can't always overcome genetics.  Rain makes me feel good no matter what I do with her because she just wants to do whatever you are doing.

8 months

Rain is eight months old now and is a rather tall girl at 52cms.  She is built like a brick shithouse so being on the tall side is much better than being short and stocky.  Its taken her ages to become good at the body awareness exercises, I'm assuming because there is just so much of her for her to learn to use.  I take her to physio every few weeks to make sure that she is developing properly and that I'm doing the right exercises for what she needs.  We are taking things slowly and just mucking around with different skills and enjoying foundations.  I could even see myself doing some obedience with her because she just loves training, no matter what you are doing with her.  Doing the scent work class with her was a real eye opener.  She just loved it and I couldn't believe how quickly she picked it up.  It's definitely something we want to do more of.

Scream - Rain's Dad

Dart - Rain's Mum

Murphy - Rain's great, great, great Grandfather

Be brave, be strong, be free

Saturday 29th December started like most other weekends.  I was still tired from a busy Christmas plus I'd worked Thursday and Friday so I was looking forward to a sleep in.  I got up at 5am to walk the big dogs followed by our usual all in play session before breakfast and back to sleep.  Everyone was happy to chill but as the morning went on they were getting a bit restless, Cassie winding everyone up as she likes to do.  She kept yapping at me which was getting the others over excited so I finally decided to get up.  The pappy pants was right at my feet giving me a merry move along when I clapped my hands at her and told her to shush.  Before I knew what was happening, Veto flew in and went for her.  Because I was right there I was able to step in and grab him straight away.  He bit me but as soon as he realized it was me, he let go.  Cassie was understandably shaken so I got him outside and Cassie and I had a cuddle on the lounge while our heart rates returned to normal.  I was so relieved that she was OK.  I had come out of it worse than her but I would much rather that any day.  I was pissed off at myself for forgetting that I can never treat Ve like a normal dog.

Mid morning Rain had a physio appointment so I took her, Cassie and Ve out for a drive and to hang out while Rain got treated.  Colin and I were going out for lunch and I knew a trip out would help to settle them all before we went.  While we were there I was keeping a close eye on Ve.  Once he's had a reactive episode the likelihood it will happen again is much higher and there is always lots of food around during a physio session.  He was fine but looking back there did seem something a bit not right with him.  He was distant and unsure of himself.  At the time I just put it down to me being extra paranoid after what had happened earlier and I was watching him like a hawk.  All went well, the dogs were fine and we headed home so Colin and I could head out to lunch.  Ve got his usual lunchtime dose of Trazodone which he gets every day as part of his anxiety treatment before we left.  The Trazodone had been working really well to keep him much more calm and relaxed.

We were only gone a couple of hours but the dogs are always crazy with excitement when we get home, like all normal dogs.  Everyone went outside to toilet and settle which is our usual routine.  I wanted to make sure they were all OK so I went outside to see what they were doing.  I am always mindful of being on the ground because Ve can resource guard me so I was leaning back against a table while they wandered around.  Ve lay down on the ground a few feet away and Rain went over to him to see if he wanted to play.  She wasn't over the top or in his face, it was a very gentle, playful nudge.  Something she had done countless times since she has joined us.  Normally he can't resist and off they go for a play.  But whatever issue was simmering under the surface in Ve's head that day went off with a bang.  He went for Rain with a vengeance and full on attacked her.  Rain was as shocked as I was and she started screaming.  In a couple of steps I was able to grab him and pull him off.  I got bitten again but I didn't care.  Colin came rushing out and helped Rain while I got Ve away where he could calm down away from the others.  Poor Rain just wanted me.  She was so upset and there was blood everywhere.  With the ferocity of the attack and amount of blood I was panicking and thought he had seriously hurt her.  Once I had cleaned her up I was very relieved to see that the damage was only to her ear and then quite minimal.  The mental scarring is another thing all together so I tried to support and comfort her as best as I could while she calmed down.  
  

It was at that point that Colin and I realized that this could not go on any longer.  We could not continue to put the other dogs at risk, never knowing when he was likely to snap.  Veto's fate was sealed, there was no turning back.  I am fortunate to have very supportive friends who assisted me to make arrangements to have him put to sleep the next day.  I had to do everything by text because I couldn't bring myself to actually say the words.  It had to happen the next day otherwise I knew I would have backed out even though I knew there was no other option.  That night was horrendous.  I didn't get any sleep at all.  I took him for his normal walk early in the morning.  I felt like I needed to spend some time with him.  But at the same time I was so angry with him for what he'd done.  He didn't feel right that morning.  There was a reservedness about him that I don't normally see at home.  Whether there was something else going on I will never know. To say goodbye to my old dogs when their time has come has been sad and emotional, but they have been old and lived a long and wonderful life.  To say goodbye to a physically healthy not quite four year old dog is another thing entirely.  It broke my heart and I don't think I'll ever be the same.

I hear people say "you don't always get the dog you want, but you get the dog you need".  I don't agree with that on any level.  I wouldn't wish this experience on my worst enemy.  To bring a puppy into your life, to love and cherish them with everything you have.  Then watch things fall apart, totally out of your control, piece by piece destroying them has been soul destroying.  I worked so hard with him and spent so much time trying to work through all the things that made him worry and be scared but I still failed him.  I admit that I learned more than I ever could have imagined.  I thought I was an OK dog trainer before Veto.  I can certainly teach a dog any trick you can think of.  But there is a whole other side of dog training, knowing when they need you to step in and support them, how to read them and be their advocate.  But the cost of what I learned, the price Veto had to pay just isn't worth it.  I would rather never own another dog than ever go through this ever again.

Living with a dog like Veto was like living with a ticking time bomb.  He was so volatile all of the time.  We spent most of our time feeling like we walking on egg shells to keep him happy.  The house was run with military precision.  There was an order to how everything had to be done to keep the peace.  The order they went in and out of the house, the order they could go into crates, have meals, get walked etc, etc.  My goal every single day was for Ve to have no reactive episodes.  Sometimes we managed it and other days we didn't.  It might have been something so simple like one of the dogs walking past the glass sliding doors when he was outside which would cause him to rush at the doors and react.  It might have been me brushing one of the dogs which would cause him to go for one of the others who happened to be standing nearby.  I had to rush Rain and Cassie to bed every evening past the doors in case he saw them from outside while he was toileting.  Never being able to have Rain lose in the house when he was around was sad.  The only time we could allow it was when Ve had his evening crate time.  I could never let any of the other dogs come up to me while I was sitting down for fear that he would go for them.  You could never leave anything lying around that he might go for one of the other dogs to get.  The list just went on.  But when he played with Rain outside I had never seen him happier.  Which is why this has been so hard to get my head around.  My greatest fear was always for Cassie. I knew that if he really went for her he could easily kill her.  I'd long had a sense of foreboding about that. There was so many things that I saw Cassie do herself because she was worried about him.  We did everything we could to protect her and make sure that she was safe but it only takes one moment or lapse and that could have been it. But we suffered through it because that is what you do.  Even with all that we loved him and he was part of the family. The one comfort I get from all of this is that now all the other dogs are safe. They don't have to worry about him hurting and scaring them anymore.

I've pulled out of most agility things for the time being.  I have three or four agility judging appointments in April and May but I won't be accepting anymore for the time being.  I am also taking a break from teaching.  I can't stand there and teach other people and their puppies with a smile on my face. Rain and I are focusing on doing other things that are just fun and simple with nothing to do with agility. It helps me forget for a while and remember that dog ownership can be fun.  I feel so disillusioned with the sport and where it has taken me.  This experience has really changed everything. I'm sure I will be back.  I am still doing seminars with the two European handlers we have coming out.  But taking a step back for now is what I need.  If Rain wants to do agility then we will see how it goes.  If not we'll continue to do all the fun stuff that we have already started.  The choice will be hers.

I'm sure I will be judged by people for the decision I made with Ve.  But I can't regret it.  I can't feel bad that my other four dogs ae safe and that they now get a chance to live normally.  There is a peace at home now that we haven't felt for a long time.  But we will always miss him and it doesn't change how much we loved him.  I just hope now that he is finally at peace in a place where he doesn't have to feel fear any longer.  Goodbye my beautiful boy 💔

Kerodan Here Comes The Sun

I'm still waiting for confirmation but I'm hoping that Rain's kennel name will be Kerodan Here Comes The Sun. It is perfectly fitting for her because she is my little ray of sunshine. Rain is four and a half months of age now and has been with us for 10 weeks. I always chuckle when I'm referring to her as the "perfect puppy" but right now she really kind of is. She is very much "Mummy's girl" and I'm always number one on her list. She chooses to play tug with me rather than chasing the other dogs who are tearing after their own toy, and wouldn't even consider sniffing and checking out her environment when there are games to be played with me. I'd love to give myself a pat on the back for this but this and pretend it was all my awesome dog training skills but at the end of the day this is just her lovely personality. So really I just feel lucky. I know she hasn't reached adolescence yet and that can see the appearance of the furry finger, but to be honest even if she does have a few teenager moments I can't see her personality changing.

It's been fun watching her quirky little character develop over the last couple of months. She is great with the others dogs and absolutely loves playing with Veto. They have formed a really lovely friendship and I've been encouraging them to play because its so good for him as well. Rain can get too much for Cassie so I have to keep an eye on that and I rarely leave them together if I'm not around. Rain thinks its great fun, Cassie not so much. Rain loves to carry things in her mouth. This started right from when she joined us. On our daily walks she generally carries the udder tuggy with her the whole way. If that isn't in her mouth then it will be her leash or a stick or banksia cone that she has found. I don't mind at all because if her mouth isn't occupied it often means that my shoes or pants cop it.

Training wise it's all very basic. Her food drive has only really kicked in over the last few weeks where she is pushing me to work for food. Up until then she was much more interested in a toy. We've been working through some of the Fenzi Engagement course and now she is pushing me all the time to do something. She has learnt a start button is and is happy to use it all the time when she wants to do something. At this stage we've been mucking around with body awareness, recalls, retrieves and single wraps. She shot up really fast and has these lovely long legs which she has had no control over what so ever. She was quite reluctant to really engage her back end at all. It has been fun watching her figure it out and now is getting on the Fitbone with all four paws without falling straight off again! Rear end pivoting has also not been easy for her but she is getting the idea. Her recalls are awesome. Retrieve is OK, she was keen on a game for one initially as are most puppies but she is now racing off to get her toy and come back to me, often with a little growl thrown in as she gets to it. It's just the giving it to me that isn't quite there yet. She tends to want to bring it back but then lie down on the ground and chew it as is often the way. I've taken the opportunity to take a play course through Fenzi this term. I'd like to learn more about being a better play partner for my dogs. I'd already figured out that tugging for very brief periods with Rain before letting go means that she is more likely to bring it back for more but I'm keen to learn more skills in that space. 

She is really confident away from home. People are a no brainer for her and we've had to start working on her asking permission before she launches herself at anyone who might be passing by. She's not overly confident with dogs she doesn't know and tends to be on the cautious side, rolling over onto her back. I actually don't think she really cares about meeting the other dogs too much and hasn't shown a lot of interest in going up to dogs at all. She is far more interested in cuddles from people. I'm really not bothered if she's not interested in other dogs as long as she's not worried about them. Veto (to my untrained eye) appeared confident with other dogs as a puppy too, but the other extreme where I could never let him off leash because he'd shoot off to the closest dog. Rain definitely does not have that same interest. 

Managing Veto is hard. After about three or four weeks of the puppy being here I had no choice but to medicate him. Living with him was a nightmare. He was this volatile ticking time bomb and you had no idea when he was going to go off, just that it was going to happen at some point. The stress and emotional rollercoaster we were on was just awful. I didn't realise just how much I could dislike one of my dogs but when he's at his worst he is an absolute nightmare to live with. He's been on the medication for almost two months and it has definitely helped. More often than not he is OK and he is able to relax and keep a lid on his over arousal. But every now and again we still get a few days where he is unpredictable and frustrating as hell. I am trying to find a pattern so we can manage those times better but at the moment they seem really random. There must be triggers that get him to that point but I don't know what they are at the moment. He is very, very hard to love when it happens. Right now I'm just thankful that these periods don't seem to last long. On the other side of the chaos he is a lovely dog. There is a part of me that struggles with having to medicate a dog to it's eyeballs in order for it to function. But if there is an alternative I have no idea what it is. It means agility is completely off the table, I would never do agility with him while he is on this amount of meds but at the end of the day we have to live with him. It's another frustration as we have a couple of top European handlers coming to Perth this year that I really wanted to work under. But that's life and agility just has to become very secondary. 

I am letting him and Rain play as much as they want to. I think it has been great for both of them. Considering what an arsehole he can be he is incredibly appropriate with her and lets her jump all over him. I keep an eye on them but from what I can see he is doing all the right things. To see him relaxing and de-stressing while he is playing is wonderful to see. I've got all these photos of him where he just has this huge happy grin on his face. Things that would stress him out normally he doesn't even notice when he is playing with her. And she has an outlet for her youthful exuberance!