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 💓
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.
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.
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.
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 💔
