Batten Down the Hatches!

Happy December 11th! Let me tell you, getting two dogs who are overly enthusiastic to play with their balance balls, to hold still in a specific position, together, is tricky! Originally I started out with the giant orange ball and was going to have them propping themselves up on the ball with me in the background. As soon as the ball hit the floor it was a race to see who could get their front paws on the ball first with both threatening to leap on top of the ball. I could barely control the ball with two dogs manipulating it (go figure since I usually use a wall to help prop it up when I'm working with them INDIVIDUALLY), so I figured that the egg ball would be better. Not nearly as impressive, but you get the idea. And getting Santa hats to stay on both dogs heads while they held that pose was just beyond me! And hooray for fully functioning ball studios!:)

Today has turned out to be quite a day. I worked the dogs on heeling and starting to do automatic sits this morning. Cold as all get out, but I think that we've adjusted to the temperatures. The dogs don't seem to mind. Granted they're bundled up. It definitely helps that there wasn't any wind! Heffner's doing really well with his heeling. His sitting still leaves a fair amount to be desired, though it's hard to assess that when it's so cold out that I can't blame either dog for not wanting to sit their cold naked butts on the even colder pavement. He does have a tendency to back up a step or two when sitting.

Bess is doing great with the heeling and automatic sitting. I just need to calm the velociraptor down when she's taking the treats. I have to give them to her one at a time with a flat hand or else she tries to swallow my whole hand. Seriously. Her sits are great though! She stays right close to me and is definitely catching on to the idea that when I stop, that means she should sit.:)

Then it was off to work for a VERY stressful day. I've got a lot of things that I'm trying to juggle, correct, organise, and prepare for and it just sort of all exploded on me this morning. Thankfully it's looking like it's getting under control. In large part due to the awesome crew that we have in the lab who are always willing to pitch in and help each other out. Without them, this task would be impossible!

Having such a stressful morning that sort of stretched through the day, I felt pretty drained by the end of it. Tonight was supposed to be our last night of agility league, but I decided to cancel. Two main reasons. 1) I'm drained and wouldn't really be in to it. 2) It's freaking cold out there! 3) We're supposed to have a little winter storm coming in this evening and I don't want to be driving over two bridges around Portland on my way home and have to deal with any ice, snow, sleet, or freezing rain! I decided to just play it safe and rejuvenate at home.

Speaking of the storm, batten down the hatches and let the games begin!LOL The most hilarious part about living in the Pacific Northwest and specifically the greater Portland area of Oregon is how an inch or two of snow can COMPLETELY shut down the entire city. I should qualify that by saying that it's funny for those of us who don't mind driving in the snow and have vehicles that are reliable in those conditions. We're expecting 1-3 inches of snow over night and I'm expecting Hillsboro to come to a complete halt. Unfortunately, some of the people who venture forth during these times, probably shouldn't. With that said, I'm ready to hunker down and stay inside as much as I can. I've got the ball studio in working order so I'll probably do some of that with the dogs tomorrow. As part of their Christmas presents, I got them two DVDs that we can break out. I got Susan Garrett's Crate Games and Pilates for Pooches and I'm really excited to watch them!

My goal for this winter is to go back to some foundation work with the dogs and really solidify their agility skills. I'm completely guilty of getting a little too overly excited when I started both dogs out and moving through the foundation phase a little faster than I probably should have. It's just so hard to hold back when your dogs are so willing!:) There's a few other DVDs on my Christmas list that I'm hoping to get that will also help us out with our foundation work. AND I can do all this stuff inside! Total score!


I have a pretty good feeling that I'll get called in to work tomorrow. That's the downfall of being the closest person to campus who also has a very reliable vehicle. I am thankful that we usually go up to the mountain so much during the winter so that I actually get used to driving in this stuff. Though those roads are usually a little better maintained! But if I do go in to work, that means that I'll be taking the dogs along at some point so that they can go get some off leash time to have snow zoomies in their favorite field! A definitely plus. With all this advanced planning on my part, it probably means that we won't get anything, but we'll see.;)

Today I am thankful that my dogs can make stress go away with lots of kisses!