Nosework (3/17), Agility and More

Gimme continues in her false pregnancy.  For awhile I thought it was going to pass without any real affect, but then we ran out of one of the two homeopathic remedies.  To make matters worse the store was out and it was 6 days before I found another place to get them.  So Gimme got a little needier during that time, but now that we are back with both remedies she is steadily improving.

Nose work class was at a local Home Depot.  The searches for the class were nothing special or even particularly challenging.  One hide 8 foot from the start line Gimme found in under 2 seconds.  To say she is fast is an understatement. 

This was our last class with Joyce.  I won't go into detail... just suffice it to say that the differences between her approach to training/instructing and what I would do is substantial in many ways.  No one who was present for the actual situation can really figure it out what made this particularly troubling to her.  I have my own thoughts, but they aren't really a proper topic for the blog.

In any case I have already found a class with another instructor and we start with her on January 6th.  Both of Dorothy's nose work dogs are fast, enthusiastic and confident like Gimme.  She has a number of students that are doing quite well and their dogs seem equally fast and confident.  Dorothy is well known and well respected in the nose work community.  Because she is used to working with faster dog, I think it will be a good match for us.  The only downside is that because so many of her student's dogs are fast - Gimme won't stand out like she has in the past.  She will just have to bring her game up to new levels, eh.

We also went to an agility fun run this week.  Gimme was very distracted for the first run in this totally new location.  The second run she was much better and the third run was nearly flawless.   I don't know if I've mentioned that Blynn is going to be teaching classes here every other Thursday night.  This will be wonderful for us and I'm very excited.  We are currently going every other week AND class in this location will cut an hour off our drive (each way).  I can hardly wait.

Plus Chris is going to start a two night a week agility handlers fitness drop in class.  I'm going to go at least once a week.  I think it will be good to have someone to be accountable for about fitness and weight loss.

Also after the first of the year I will be trying a new massage treatment for my foot called Gua Sha (pronounced gwa-shaw).  This technique is used to break up scar tissue and reduce inflammation.  While my plantar fasciitis has improved a lot with the new orthotics and better shoes, its not resolved and probably won't be until I lose some weight.  I can't lose weight without more exercise and can't get more exercise while my foot is so bad.  So I'm caught in a catch 22.  My chiropractor and I hope that Gua Sha treatment will help enough for me to get back to exercising like I was before.

Also after the first of the year (its going to be a busy and change-filled January), Gimme and I will be trying Barn Hunt.  We are going to Oregon on January 11th for a private lesson and group practice day.  Then we'll be doing four trials the last weekend of January.  I'll sign Gimme up for the instinct test both days, as well as two novice runs a day.  She already has a strong interest in all things rodent as evidenced by her fascination with enlarging the entryways for all the mouse holes on the Weir prairie where we walk.  So I'm sure we'll pass the instinct test.  Amy is pretty certain that we'll be able to get a novice title that weekend as well... Gimme needs to qualify 3 out of 4 novice runs.

We are 12.3 miles from our annual walking goal.  Gimme thinks we could/should do it all tomorrow.  I think we need to spread it out over several days.