Sports Vision

So what is Sports Vision and how does one get it?  I looked it up on the internet and found this fascinating link with clear explanations and easy exercises one can do to improve depth perception, peripheral vision, eye foot hand coordination, contrast sensitivity, focus flexibility, dynamic visual acquity (seeing fast-moving objects clearly), and more.  These additional skills would probably come in handy in the agility ring and out.  Check it out.

http://www.allaboutvision.com/sportsvision/skills.htm

Upwards and onwards!

Handler Fitness and Agility

These past 2 years of competing in agility, hearing my fellow competitors yell "Run, Michele, run", seeing myself wabble thru my runs with baby steps and no accelleration (thank goodness my dogs have a rock solid start line stay so I can lead far far out),  and mostly avoiding front crosses for fear of twisting an ankle, I've been looking for

• a running coach,
• or at least running tips,
• plus a lower body fitness routine to do a few minutes every day, and
• a short handler warm-up routine to do before my runs. 

Nobody has come forward to offer me these so I've sort of picked up tips and made up my own routines -- not optimal since I don't know what I'm doing but surely better than nothing.  In fact, still no agility handler I've met personally seems to think handler fitness training is important.  Some say "running just comes natural", others say I'm taking the fun out, or over-complicating things.

But . . . . . . . it isn't fun to be unsure on my feet, and running DOES NOT COME NATURAL to me.   I swear, either I am missing some muscles, or maybe they have atrophied in 45 years of NEVER having an occasion to run. I didn't run thru my classroom as a teacher.  I don't run in the grocery store, don't run from room to room at my house, don't run to the mailbox, and I don't run behind my broom, mop or push lawn mower.  I certainly don't run at my computer where I spend at least half my time.

Finally, today, I find Daisy Peel's website of Online Classes, one of which is:

FUNCTIONAL FITNESS FOR AGILITY HANDLERS
This 9-week course is designed to give you some guidance with exercises that you can incorporate in to a new or existing physical fitness program to help you move around a course fluidly. We’ll address the areas of core stability, balance, strength, acceleration and deceleration, and sports vision.

Aha!  I'm not crazy.  Handler fitness training is important!  It's not only about training the dog!  And I so love the sound of "moving around a course fluidly", the phrase has just become one of my New Year's Resolutions.

"Move around the course more fluidly."

But what the hell is sports vision?  Do I have it?  Do I need it?  If I google it will I get answers?  That will be subject for another blog post. 

The more I learn, the more I learn that there is always something more to learn.  "Knowing it all" is a goal "that fades forever and forever when I move" (quote from Ulysses).  Thus, another New Years' Resolution this and every year is to

"Set realistic expectations, so high they require reaching, but reachable with consistent effort

and some luck."

As it happens, I have an eye appointment scheduled for this Thursday afternoon for a dilation and vision screening in preparation for possible cataract/lasic surgery.  Because I have floaters and look through a fog in my left eye and my reading glasses are getting stronger and stronger, and the TV looks blurry, and I need a magnifying glass to distinguish between 3 and 8, between 5 and S, and I squint a lot which makes me look angry when I'm not, and stuggling to see makes everything harder to do and gives me vague headaches, so that is already another New Years' Resolution of mine:

"Get my eyes fixed in 2012, before trialing begins."

Upwards and onward!

Finding Agility Trials To Attend

Yesterday I was given an excellent tip by a fellow club member for finding agility trials to attend all over the USA.  I checked it out and it is awesome.  It costs nothing to use, not even a username/password, so I look at it as an ingenious gift from a benevolent hand.  Please, check it out.

Go to www.agilityevents.net.   Choose your venue (AKC, USDAA, etc.), choose your states (hold down the control button and you can pick multiple states in the drop down list), then click on any trial listed to get to the desired premium.

For AKC events at least, you pick a trial and can type in your information into the fillable .pdf form,  print it out and mail it in.  Better yet, if the actual premium hasn't yet been posted, you get served up a blank form just like the one you see in printed premium lists.  You can fill out all that tedious information online, just once, including the dog's height, class, birthdate, AKC number, breeder info, your name, address, handler name, your phone number and email.  Then, you can print multiple copies for your dog, enough to last the whole year, sign them ahead of time, then when the actual premium comes in, you can just print, cut and staple the first paragraph containing the specific club information for that trial and check boxes for the classes entered each day, onto your pre-filled forms.  Repeat for each dog you trial with. What a time saver!

Reading the list, you can pretty much decide on your whole trialing calendar for the year.

Trialing has become a whole lot easier for me now with this tedious step made so much easier.  I printed out 10 for Maxie, and 10 for Lucky Lucy.  They are stored in my desk.  I was so excited, I grabbed a dozen envelopes and affixed stamps and my return address on them.  I've got the stack ready to go.

Snip, snap!

As my club's webmaster, I'm also considering how maybe I can save myself even more time not having to link to Agility Trial premiums on our club's website as they come in to me.  I can just post the list and refer them to one place for the premiums. 

Is there such a service for locating Obedience, Herding, and Tracking trials?  Anybody know, let me know.

Upwards and onward!

Papillon Puppy For Sale

At 11 weeks, this tri-color male Papillon has the markings and personality of a champion.

This tri-color puppy is out of The Pines Papillons in Myakka City, Florida.  The breeder, Lois Horan, is my cousin, and sometimes sends puppies with me to Louisiana to train and/or sell.  As a dog trainer, I enjoy working with the puppies every day until they find a forever home.

My puppies are usually leash trained, accustomed to being handled, accept treats from my hand, come when called, sit, shake, are learning to focus on handler commands. and we work on house-breaking.  In one day with me, this 11 week old puppy already walks on a loose leash, tugs, fetches, and holds his business until we go outside. He is very people oriented, follows me everywhere.

This puppy is eligible for AKC Full Registration to the right owners. Dew claws are removed and he is up to date on all shots, with vet certification that he is in good health. All paperwork for AKC registration will be filled out at time of purchase.

Both sire and dam of this puppy have ample coat, and no shortage of ear feathers as seen in these headshots below.

This puppy has perfectly symmetrical markings.  He has a very sweet, laid back personality, puts everyone at ease.  Here's a shot taken the first day home with the puppy and our 3 year old cur, Lucky Lucy. Neither seems concerned about the other being a stranger.

Here is a composite video of the puppy at play.  He is alert, feisty, cute, and follows me everywhere I go. With previous puppies, even my Papillons growled for hours, but not with this pup. He was immediately accepted into the pack.



For more photos and my personal observations on this puppy, refer to my previous blog post.  For a 3-generation chart, see below.

I'll post more pix later if I can, but if interested in purchasing this puppy now, contact me:

Michele Fry
msfry@pmnotary.com
I'm located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Here are the particulars:

Birthdate: 10/17/11
Color: Tri-color, Red, White and Black
Largest puppy in a litter of 3 (at 11 weeks, weighs 4.5 lbs)
Pedigree (3 generations back):

Sire THE PINES Coal-N-Ice Birthdate: JUL-19-2005 wt. 6.5 lbs, ht. 10" White & Black	Sire CH.BITTERSUITE MARCEL MARCEAUX White & Black	Sire CH.BITTERSUITE MITE OF HIDAWAY White & Black
		Dam CH.BITTERSUITE'S WHITNEY White & Sable
	Dam MAGIE MOUNTAIN IN DA SKIES White and Black	Sire MAGIC CHRYSMAS ON DA ICE White & Sable
		Dam SIDEKICKS MAGIC MOTION White & Black
Dam THE PINES RAINBOW'S END Birthdate: April 22, 2010 wt. 6.5 lbs., ht. 10.5" White, Black & Red	Sire THE PINES ORION White Black & Tan	Sire NIGHTFIRE'S ESSENCE TO WIN White Black & Tan
		Dam CHER'S FAN DANCER White Black & Tan
	Dam THE PINES SECONDHAND ROSE White & Sable	Sire NIGHTFIRE'S ESSENCE TO WIN White Black & Tan
		Dam THE PINES RITA ROSE White & Red

NOTE: The only full body photo I have of Rain (dam, above) is 6 weeks after she weened her puppies. Thus, her hair has molted and is shorter than usual. She normally has a long beautiful coat. You can see she has good structure, with champions in her bloodline (1 generation further back than I can show here). The sire's bloodline has 13 champions, going back 5 generations. I only have room to show 3 generations in my chart. Thus, this puppy has a solid pedigree and potential as a show dog/breeder.

New Papillon Puppy, "Winnie Pooch"

Winnie Pooch, on Lois's coffee table posing with Papillon Santa!

Before we left my cousin's house today, she and I washed and took photos of several of her Papillons, including the puppy she gave me, and his parents. We dressed a few puppies up in Christmas garb and had some fun posing them. 

Landing in Tallahassee for the night, John and I settled in at LaQuinta with nothing much to do but relax and get acquainted with our new puppy, take more pictures, and come up with a working name for him that matches his personality --  until he finds a forever home and a forever name.

At only 11 weeks, already a natural poser!

I thought of Fuzzball at first because he's so soft, cute, fat and fuzzy, but that wasn't dignified enough for this 11 week old poser.  After hanging with him all evening he reminded us so much of Winnie The Pooh (gentle, malliable, trusting), we shortly began calling him "Winnie Pooch".  He presents little resistance to anything.  Crated for the 6.5 hour drive, he didn't whine.  I put a slip lead on him for the first time at our first Burger King stop, and within a few minutes he caught on and just followed along, and he did his business outside like the other dogs.

When I laid him on his back at the hotel, he just laid there, looking at me with complete trust, giving me time to grab my camera.  Not many Papillon puppies will do that without some coaxing.  At the same time, he is spunky, alert, and catches on quickly, so should be easy to train.

Max and Willow are not the least jealous of him, unlike the previous puppies I brought home.  Apparently they don't perceive him as any sort of threat.  Why is that?  It seems he has a calming influence on all of us, thus the nickname -- Winnie Pooch.
 
The only thing he distinctly doesn't like is being isolated.  We tried confining him to the bathroom tile floor in our hotel room until we were sure he had peed, and he cried without cease until I let him in with us.  He didn't pee, though, until we went outside!

I'm looking forward to getting home and finding this adorable creature the perfect forever home -- before I get too attached.  See more writeup and video on this puppy on my next blog post.

Upwards and onward!

New Years Day and Resolutions 2012

L to R.  Lois, John, Larry, Michele on the alter, clapping and singing.

I believe supernatural things get set in motion based on what we think, what we believe, what we want and ask for -- and where and when. Very powerful stuff!  So for many years I have chosen to be HOME at the stroke of midnight New Years Eve, in the bossom of my family, friends, and pets -- feasting, clapping, singing, ringing in the new year by walking our labyrinth together (dogs included).  In the craddle, so to speak, where my support comes from.

Thus, I was trepadatious being in Florida this holiday, missing my home, closest friends, family, and rituals.  After lunch with my parents at the rehab in
Ft. Myers, FL on New Year's Eve, we headed for my cousin Lois's house in Myakka City, FL., a few hours closer to home at least.  Symbolically, I was heading in the right direction.  John and I had no idea how we would spend the evening -- we felt tired, disconnected, out of sorts. We agreed to stay open to possibilities, however, and ended up attending a bonfire/fireworks/pot luck dinner at the Sandy Baptist Church which Lois's husband pastors, and though we're not church goers, we went back to attend Larry's church service on New Years Day.

Larry describes his preaching as Pentecostal. He believes every word in the Bible as written, preaches from the heart (no script), people in attendance sometimes speak in tongues, and there is hands on healing.  There are only about 20 members, all country folks, and most of them are related (from grandparents to grandchildren) -- all of them jovial and welcoming to us outsiders. Throughout his talk, the 30 or so people in the pews raised their voices to embellish Larry's points or stories, many offering Amens, Praise Jesus, and That's Right.  It was a conversation more than a sermon.  Anyone could join in.  I'd never seen anything like that in church, so it turned out to be an interesting adventure.  And I was getting to know my family!
The wee tiny Sandy Baptist Church, circa 1904, located in Sandy, is the only building still standing from that ghost town, hidden deep in the heart of Florida's cattle country, down a long winding country road amidst huge expanses of cattle ranches and scrub trees on sandy soil.

Larry invited me to take all the photos and videos I desired, so I did what I could to capture the essence of the place. The hand-painted sign attached to a cow fence on the turnoff to the church is quaint and telling. Cousin Lois painted it herself! 

I was allowed to run my camera during the service, too, but that felt so odd and my camera makes such a tinkling noise when I start it, that I mostly chickened out.  I'm kicking myself for that now, but when I get home I'll do my best to put together a composite of what little I got.

I asked Lois if the church had a website . . . . . and she invited me to build them one!  The Lord provides! We spent New Years evening searching the web for any history of the town or the church -- and found nothing except a photo of the old outhouse, since removed.  We also discussed how to get the church recognized by the Manatee County Historical Society, have it declared an historical site, and apply for grant money to repair and refurbish it.   The structure is sagging and needs paint, pew cushions are threadbare, and they barely take in enough offerings on their own to pay the electric bill.  It should be on a list of old historical churches, open for tourists to attend a genuine "old time religious" service and the folksy, friendly, chatty down-home cookin' afterwards.  It's a totally authentic one-of-a-kind rural American experience! Lois wants me to write the grant!

Today, Dec 2, Lois, John and I went looking at Motor Homes.  I found my perfect floor plan for my taste, a 31' Jayco Granite, 2003, in very good condition, with only 16,000 miles on it, for only $39,900, recently reduced to $29,900.  It has been on the lot 6 months, so I made an offer of $23,000 with the requirement they would have to repair some things so I could leave with it by tomorrow.  I was pretty sure they'd turn it down, and mighty relieved when they did, but if they had accepted it would have been a steal of a deal.  Knowing that what I want is out there puts me one step closer to getting one.

Departing tomorrow, I'm also coming home with a Papillon puppy to sell, compliments of Cousin Lois and Merry Christmas. More on that later.

Considering some of my New Year's Resolutions, I think I kicked some of them off to a good start:

• to steel my nerves to travelling farther from home (I'm such a hermit) so I can take Maxie to more trials and attain our MACH in 18 months or less  (can't do that attending only local trials). 
• to strengthen family bonds.
• to identify and acquire the perfect motor home for me
• to raise money to pay for my agility trials this year

Upwards and onward!

La Quinta Inn - Tallahassee

I try to keep a record of our trip statistics, in case we pass this way again.  So, for our trip from Baton Rouge to Cape Coral:
We departed BR at 3:30 p.m., arrived at LaQuinta Tallahassee North (described below), (exit 199 off of I-10) at 11:45 BR time -- 8.25 hours on the road, 435 miles covered, averaging about 53 miles an hour.  We stopped about every 2 hours along the way to pottie Max and Willow, and ourselves, stretch our legs, buy coffee and food.  First stop was the Mississippi Welcome Center, forgot to record the other stops.  We'd have made better time except for taking Florida Blvd all the way to Walker then cutting over to the interstate, to avoid near stand-still traffic from O'Neal thru Denham Springs.  plus lots of 18 wheelers and aggressive drivers riding our rear bumpers, weaving in and out at 80+ mph, and several conjested areas, light rain and fog, where traffic moved at closer to 60 mph.  I kept a steady 75 mph as much as possible thanks to my trusty speed control.  By 10 p.m. we had I-10 mostly to ourselves.  Gas prices all along the route about 3.35/gallon for Regular.

John and the dogs rest in our spacious room, #163.

The end wing, on a forrested slope, where we stay.

Arriving at this LaQuinta Inn is like coming home (we stayed here last year, too).  Friendly welcome, speedy checkin, clean comfortable spacious room and bath, free Wi-Fi, free breakfast including grits and hard boiled eggs (not just the usual cereal, bagels, toast and jelly), large flat screen TV, pets welcome and stay free.   Great price at $54/night (with AARP discount), $60 with tax.  I like 3 p.m. checkin and NOON checkout.  We got to sleep in late and depart leisurely.  Also, up to 6 p.m. cancellation on day of arrival.

Motel style, one can park at your door in most rooms. Our favorite rooms, though, are from 167 - 159, all facing a downward sloping forrested hill (the dogs can pottie right out the door), dotted with camellia and azelea bushes, mounded with pine straw, very charming.  There's a grassy area to the far left, where they even provide a poopie bag dispenser. Parking is at the side and bottom of the hill.  A quiet, homey wing and still not far to lug your luggage. 

I experienced my first "Book On Tape" on this trip, Dean Koontz's Sole Survivor, which my son had given us months before but we never had time to listen to.  Driving, there was nothing else to do but drive, sip coffee, listen.  John operated his little Sony Megabase portable CD player (my antique car only has a cassette player), but he was able to route the sound thru the car speakers with some kind of cassette adapter, and it sounded GREAT!  Along with strong coffee, cigarettes and gum, it kept me wide awake and on the edge of my seat (I do most of the driving).  A very suspenseful, graphic book with amazing descriptions.  That we can pause and discuss interesting facets makes "reading" this way an interactive experience!  We like that.

Max and Willow are awesome travel dogs.  Maxie nestles by my side and never moves, Willow rides in the back window and rarely moves -- unless food comes out.  They are incredibly patient and calm.   Willow knows the difference between me leaving home for a few hours, which doesn't bother her, and us going on a road trip. She screeches horribly, as though seriously injured, if she thinks we will leave her behind.

A few days later I received a La Quinta survey asking them to evaluate my stay.  I got to complain about the lack of a bathtub stopper and no repair offered.  I used a wadded up wash cloth to hold the water in the tub.  I also mentioned about the dog area having too much poop on the ground. I recommended they tell everyone at check-in to pick up after their dogs. (Those who don't make a bad name for the rest of us, so I usually pick up mine and more every time we go outsideI)  got a personal email back from the hotel manager apologizing for the inconvenience, assuring us we'd have the same room on our return trip and there would be a stopper in the tub, and they would redouble their efforts to keep the pet area clean!

NOTICE TO DOG PEOPLE:  We should be keeping the area clean ourselves.  There aren't too many motels that will receive us to begin with, and fewer still that don't charge a pet fee!

We will stay here on our way back home after the New Year.  I highly recommend this place to anyone travelling in the area, especially with dogs.

Upwards and onward!

Christmas Day at the Rehab

My mom, almost 91, with Maxie & Willow

Greetings from sunny Cape Coral, Florida.  Temp 80 degrees.  John, Maxie, Willow and I drove 900 miles to bring a little Christmas cheer to the rehab where my 96 year old Dad is recouperating from a broken hip, and in failing health, and to my Mom who is trying to figure out how to manage him when (if) he comes home.  We'll be here through New Years Eve, staying some with Mom at her condo, and some near the rehab at LaQuinta Inn Ft. Myers, where I have a wi-fi connection and can blog about this unusual experience.  We left Lucky and FoohFooh at home with our good friends, Laura and Portia, who are house-sitting.

Christmas Day we came for lunch, decked out in our Santa hats and ready to put on a dog show.  We managed to lift a few spirits, if only for a few minutes.

Of course Max and Willow always attract attention when they prance side by side, fur afluttering, down the halls of any facility.  Everyone stops to look, some reach out and want us to stop and talk about "the twins".  And trust me, NOBODY showed a preference for Willow's gorgeous conformation quality straight coat and symmetrical blaze to Maxie's "disqualifying" curls and assymetrical blaze, nor noticed Maxie's "professional grooming" to Willow's lack thereof.  In fact, I'll go ahead and declare that eye contact, friendly personality and obedience will trump conformation and professional grooming any day of the week.

John took videos of our "dog show", which I've edited together below. It's very telling.  Even the lady who seemed comatose responded, but mostly my Mom, who went around chuckling, telling people they were her "grand-dogs", Dad requesting special tricks, and Mom going "I can't believe that!" when they did something especially obedient or cute. We got quite a few laughs out of Mom and a few out of Dad.

Here's the video:

Not pictured was the nursing station where numerous staff was looking on and being entertained as well.

Watching my doggies put smiles on a few faces made our Christmas merry in spite of being so far from home!  Laughter is good medicine. 

Dad, especially, wasn't in the Christmas spirit at all when we arrived, but by the time we left he was willing to pose with Mom in our santa hats.  Some photos included the dogs, but this one is the best of them.

Oh, I must report: On the way into the rehab we saw two men sitting on the patio with a male version of Lucky Lucy on leash.  The owner was in rehab, his friend brought his dog for a visit. When I said "I like your Blackmouth Cur", they were shocked! "You know what this is?" "Yes, I have one just like him at home". So we talked for 10 minutes, and their dog was just as gentle, friendly and schluppy as Lucky is. They reported this dog kills possums and raccoons -- the way Lucky dispatches armadillos. He snaps at flies, too. Dogs are great ice-breakers, aren't they? Without the dog there, I would have passed right by.

Upwards and onward!

Maxie's 1st Visit To A Dog Groomer

For our upcoming Christmas visit to Mom and Dad's (in Florida), and anticipating frequent pet therapy visits to Dad's rehab, I decided after 4.5 years of "doing it myself" to take the plunge and have Maxie professionally groomed.  A papillon friend highly recommended her groomer in Watson. I made the appointment over the phone for 10 a.m. yesterday, and was looking forward to it. It was NOT a good experience!

First off, I think a groomer should put you at ease, and having run a day care for nearly 30 years with hundreds of parents leaving their babies and preschoolers off with me, I know what that takes. Groomers should also have some showmanship, some pinache! I was so ill at ease leaving Maxie off with these particular strangers for 3 hours, I nearly threw up.
I've never left Maxie in a strange place with anyone -- ever.  Second, it was way down at the end of a lonely road in Watson, in a ramshackle house with a front yard/porch that reminded me of Sanford & Son.  Inside was old but clean.  The owner wasn't mean but just busy thus perfunctory, her hair was died purple, her daughter's hair was red and fluorescent pink. Next, they never checked the shot records they had asked me to bring, until I offered them the paperwork.  Next, they made no suggestions, just asked me to explain what I wanted, and especially what I didn't want (no shaved anus, bobbed tail, or trimmed ear feathers).  I, being a novice who doesn't know how papillons are supposed to look, was hoping they would examine Maxie and offer suggestions. NOT.  At one point the electricity went out.  Not a good omen.  Then, they said "We'll call you when we're done, maybe around 3.  OH NO, I REPLIED.  YOU TOLD ME AROUND 3 HOURS, AND I'VE ALREADY MADE AN APPOINTMENT TO TAKE MY CAR IN WHEN  I'M DONE HERE.  So the owner offered to "push my dog ahead of 12 others" -- an almost sure way to get a rush job!  I didn't like that.  After I snapped a few "before" photos, they grabbed Maxie out of my arms and disappeared into a back room, and just like that he was gone.  And their last words to me were "the more often you call, the longer it will take us to finish."  In other words, go away and don't bother us.

I drove off heavyhearted and trepidacious, worried about the power, the back room, etc. I called within minutes to check on the power.  Yes, it was on.  I called 10 minutes later because I forgot to mention how I wanted his belly shaved.  Okay, will do.  I argued with myself that I should trust my friend who brought her Papillon there regularly and recommended these people as "excellent".  I decided to call her for assurances, saying to myself that if she answered that would be an omen to leave him there.  (In all the time I've known her she has never once answered her phone.)  She answered.  I tried to talk but words barely came out, then I began to cry.  She talked me through a bawling jag with just enough assurances that I went ahead and left him there.

Nowhere near home, my plan was to go to Wal-Mart in Denham and finish my Christmas shopping.  I walked the aisles for 2.5 hours, with puffy eyes, an upset stomach, and dazed.  When they called I checked out immediately and rushed back.  Maxie leaped into my arms and curled up so close under my chin, when they asked "Do you like it?", I couldn't see his cut at all.  Paid my $40 and left.  Didn't care if he was bald or butchered so long as he was alive and well and back in my possession.  He was still damp, and very nervous.  But he smelled good.  They hadn't pottied him so I took him outside where he peed on his freshly washed paw.  He wasn't himself.

Once home I dared take a look and took some After pictures.  He looked freshly washed.  Yes they trimmed his nails a bit, bathed, conditioned and blow dried him mostly dry.  They trimmed his feet, but not in the rabbit foot cut Papillons are supposed to have, just a round cut.  They shaved his belly but didn't taper the chest hair like I do, so he still can pee on it.  They bobbed his arm feathers in a "straight cut", didn't bother feathering the bob so it looks chopped off, unnatural, and it's still so long he can pee on the bottom hairs.  I have to reshape and feather these.  They did not trim his tail or culottes, which still needed shaping.  They did nothing to solve the whispy hair problem on his back and chest which makes him look frumpy these days.  The anus trim is fine.  The runny eye stain I sent him in with was still there, telling me they didn't bother to wash his face.  In short, he looks about the same as after I wash and fluff him.

Very disappointing, not what I'd call a professional job, not what I was looking for.  I do as good or a better job at home.  It's about the same way I feel when I get my own hair styled.  I ask for a shape and trim and get a whack job I hate.  I ask for a "body wave" and get a pile of frizz that has to grow out for a year.  That's why I just wear my hair straight and cut it myself.  I guess it will be the same for my dogs -- no more groomers for us. Certainly not these ones.  Dog groomers should consider the trauma parents feel leaving their dogs with strangers, and work harder to gain their confidence.

L to R: Laura, John, Nathan, Portia,
Allison, Alex, Audrey. I, of course,
am taking the picture.

5 hours later, my heart still palpitating, face still puffy, I had to prepare for our family Christmas Dinner at Red Lobster, (my treat in lieu of my usual Christmas and New Years parties as I'll be out of town).  I was dragging, feeling stressed.  Once there, we feasted, enjoyed ourselves, swapped gifts, etc.  My son gave John and me a Kindle, there were gift cards, LSU gear, and tasty treats.

Shark Pet Vac

I handed out books, outdoor thermometers, and Shark Pet Vacs (in preparation for the new baby coming to our family), which are awesome for cleaning pet hair off of upholstery (far superior to the Dirt Devil which in my opinion is worthless).  I told my dog groomer story, which got some laughs, and others shared similar experiences about the emotional trauma of boarding their pets.  It makes me ponder . . . . . if I could set so many children's parents at ease leaving them with me 5 days a week, surely I could do as well with dog owners.  What are the ramifications of running a boarding house/school for dogs? I haven't the slightest idea, though I have boarded a few friend's pets and I enjoy the spare cash plus giving them the royal treatment.  John enjoys it too. 

Humm . . . . . my latest fortune cookie says "a new business venture is coming your way" . . . . . and this is an intriguing idea.  We have the room.  Yet the very thought of going into a full scale business again, managing staff, licensing, zoning, inspections, filing quarterly taxes, etc., makes me tired.  I ain't as ambitious as I used to be, nor as young, nor as hungry.

Upwards and onward!

Dog Furniture - My New Armoire

On my birthday last month, touring an antique store, I saw a huge, deep but very expensive antique armoire which gave me the idea of how I might stow my dog gear out of sight, instead of offloading it onto my dining room table (where it's been all year)!  I began searching nearby antique and furniture stores, but found nothing I liked or could afford.  Then I tried Craigs List, typed in "armoire", and up popped this beautiful, almost new 7' high, 4' wide, 25" deep armoire (actually a bedroom entertainment center), that fits beautifully in my high ceilinged den and fits absolutely "everything dog" in it.  It was in a nearby subdivision, too.  Cost $400!  For a solid wood piece, modern, beautifully curved, in pristine condition, that's cheap.

John helped me move it last Friday.  Using his truck and my car, a dolly and lots of blankets, plus lots of patience, planning, and sweat, we did it in 2 trips, 3 hours.  It was a real struggle getting it around corners and up stairs.  Very heavy.  Thank goodness the top and bottom pieces are separate. 

The 3 upper shelves are adjustable and hold everything from satchels to coolers, dog grooming items to ribbons boxes, and my camper food box.  Even my Clean Run magazines, and a box of course maps from all the trials I've been to.

It looks lighter in the camera flash,
but this photo shows how
the wood grain was greatly
enhanced by the wax.

The 3 bottom drawers are huge and hold all my dog toys, collars, coats, sweaters, training aids, treats, meds, and crate blankets.  It's perfect. Now "everything dog" is in one place.

Only thing I didn't much like was the dull finish and dusty grayish overtones that didn't quite go with my other furniture. So last night I put a good coat of Pate Dugay French paste wax on it, Brun Rustique containing a dark stain, and today I buffed it out. My elbows and shoulders hurt but it now has a darker, richer color, more depth and a beautiful sheen. I can hardly take my eyes off of if. It's good to be in love with furniture again.

To fit the armoire in the den, I had to move my antique spinet piano out of the way (which I no longer play), and now I've refurbished that and listed it on Craigs List.

And my table is clear again (oops, now I see I'll have to refurbish the table as well). It's been a few years since I gave it the attention it deserves.

One more way dog training is changing my life, re-arranging my furniture, and dinging my pocketbook.  Merry Christmas, you Doggies!

Upwards and onward!