I got a message from the trial secretary for the Nooksack trial (Jan 19th) and learned that we are now 1st alternate for getting in the trial. So if anyone else drops out, we're in. Naturally we haven't done anything nosework for almost three weeks, so I sure appreciated the heads up. I'd planned to take Gimme for a walk on the fort, so stopped nearby and set 4 hides.
Then Gimme and I went to the fort and walked 3 miles. She had a great time and is getting really playful again. I think she's getting close to giving up psuedo-motherhood. She was playing a little with me last night... though later she went weird and couldn't even play because she had to have her baby. But then after that she brought me her new toy to play. She's leaving the baby more of the time. She checks where it is, but then may just leave it there. And, she didn't take it to bed last night - poor little baby slept on the hall floor all night.
After the walk we drove to where I'd set the hides and the instant I got there she started carrying on. She recognized where I'd set hides 90 minutes earlier - even though we've never done nosework there or a place remotely like that. I'd set four hides, in two pairs 8-10 feet apart and all low. She did a fabulous job finding them all in 2:39.23... Given the time it took me to reward her AND hold her back while picking up odor, I'm pretty pleased with that time.
When we got home from walking on the fort and nosework practice -- she just had to find baby... but then just left him there. Ninety minutes later we left for our first agility class at Rochester. Class didn't start until 7pm and its a full class, so by the time we got out of there... we didn't get home until almost 9:30.
Gimme did very well for her first turn. She was distracted at first, but then got her focus going and was doing a lot of very nice stuff. My new classmates had very complimentary things to say about her. For our second turn, she started out more focused, but then halfway through lost her focus and I actually had to put her on leash to work with her a little bit to get her brain back. Then took her off leash and Blynn had us run a nice sequence to end on a good note.
It didn't help that I didn't have any peanut butter with me. The jar in the car is EMPTY! That's probably the first time that's ever happened - me being without PB. Though I did decide at the fun run that I want to bring her generic Nutter Butter cookies to agility, I just forgot them. She is almost as crazy about them as she is about real PB, but we won't have to wait for her to lick her leg after them.
I thought maybe her loss of focus reflected a need to potty, since she hadn't done anything before coming in the second time. However, when we went outside, it took awhile before she peed. Now that we are home, she has baby and is being clingy. So, now I'm thinking that even though she's getting close to giving him up, it was just too much time away from baby all on one day. I also think I may need to make it a point to give her evening supplements to her before leaving for class, even though its early. We'll just have to wait and see how she does next week.
So now its time for some couch time.
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