SUMMARY: Weaves, Jumping, and Weight.
I've been concentrating--CONCENTRATING, I tell you!--on weave entries and staying in the weaves. She's been doing great for the last week and a half at home. That one session in class on the 10th (where the instructor made the whole set of weaves vanish except for 3 poles and then she finally figured out that they had vanished and then on the next try made the entry) seems to have taken her back to Weaving Brain Land, and she's doing some fabulous work. Then--we had NO weaving opportunities in class this week!
However--we proved in class that we can't do rear crosses worth beans, we can't do serpentines worth beans, we can't do pinwheels worth beans--although I blame the last on the fact that the 1-2 of the pinwheel put her facing right into the weaves, and since we've been practicing those so much...
So I'm supposed to be setting up jumping sequences here at home. But that pretty much means moving everything out of the way, and that's a real chore, so I haven't. But tomorrow, I promise.
Meanwhile, The Booster got her annual checkup this week. The vet, all of his own accord, suggested that she could take 2-4 pounds off. The vet! You KNOW she's too heavy when the vet suggests it. (Although he did comment that her rear legs are packed with awesome muscles (or words to that effect).) I think there are enough of us doing agility now to have trained him into what we think an agility dog in peak form needs to feel like. In the old days, I think she'd have been so slim compared so most of the pet dogs he usually sees that he might never have said a thing.
Remember I had asked a couple of people to check her a couple of months ago because I felt that she had an extra layer of flesh where there shouldn't be any, and they agreed? I've cut her meal portions back a couple of times--more each time--since then. It doesn't seem to be making any difference. Dang. With Tika, if I cut back a quarter cup, I see the difference very quickly. I'm pondering what else to do...
It's easy for those rough coated BCs to hide a little extra weight. I kept thinking that Jaime looked a lot fluffier than he used to and almost choked when I weighed him and found he'd gained 7--count 'em--7 pounds!
ReplyDeleteI've cut back on his kibble and have been trying to work him more. This summer I've located a pond where I think I'll be able to swim him on a daily basis. Hopefully that will help when it gets too hot to do anything else (pretty much all of July, August and September).
When Fagan needed to drop weight, we cut back on the kibble and substituted green beans to add bulk. He lost 30 lbs over 4 months or so (he's down to 130 -- which is much better for his hips and rebuilt knee).
ReplyDeleteDani
130 pounds!! Let's see, that would have made him--um-- 160 pounds!!(!!!) Isn't it against the laws of nature for a dog to weigh that much? Dogs who can't sit on your lap without thereafter requiring that you get thigh-replacement surgery just aren't RIGHT! :-)
ReplyDeleteHowever--congrats on the weight loss. That's excellent. Green beans might be a good idea. Works for me, too.
-ellen
We add canned plain pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie filling)to the reduced kibble rations. Makes them feel fuller and you get the added benefit of grossing out innocent passers by with bright orange poop.
ReplyDeleteLOL! It's those certain intangibles that make life worthwhile.
ReplyDelete-ellen
Johann had to lose a couple of lbs after his broken metacarpal this past winter - we did the green beans and pumpkin too, and cut back on kibble, worked really well. Good luck with your extra lbs.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to say I enjoy your blog, sorry if I offended in any way. Not my intent. With my site and occasionally agility lessons given, I'm just trying to earn a little extra cash to run my dogs; cause that's what we really love. Thanks.
Johann the Dog: No offense taken. When I said "someone who has found a clever way to make money out of their blogaholism which I greatly resent" ((here) what I was referring to was that I hadn't found a clever way to make money off of my ludicrous blogging habit. And I was honest about it being a clever way, and I left your post up (I have deleted a couple from obviously purely commercial sites) and gave a link because you give good, nonmoney-making info, too, and little tidbits about yourself. In good conscience, though, I don't want to supply a regular link to a site that does make money off of clicks or advertising without saying so.
ReplyDelete-ellen
WHY is the post before this one, i.e. the only post on which I've tried to comment, the only post on which I can't comment? WHY?
ReplyDeleteHad I read that beforehand, I wouldn't have tagged you, but now that I've read it, I've learned a lot! And the fudgesicle expert is going in my rolodex, because you never know when fudgecicle expertise (or any other kind) is going to be a critical issue.
-- Grant