Sunday, April 27, 2008

Ikey P Update and Onion Practice

Yesterday morning did not start off grand. I had to take Ike to the vet (again!) to repair his bandage. Fortunately they have Saturday hours and only charged me $20.

The vet said I could redo the bandage myself if he pulls it off again. I think they are sick of me. :D The vet tech recommended a collar that looks like a clown collar and is made of foam board - It sticks out straight from the dog's neck so the dog looks like a flower. I have tried searching on line for this and can't find it. If anyone knows where to look, please let me know. She said she was afraid the BiteNot collar wouldn't stop Ike. I will be trying the BiteNot and E-collar if I can't find the clown collar. I need to order it before the bandage comes off!

Before I even get into the Carmie-part of this post I should say I have great in-laws. They let me build my own veggie garden in their backyard, take over their perennial garden, and take over their backyard for agility whenever I want, assuming it is dry. They even help me clean up equipment since we don't trust the neighbors' spawn.

I set up Carmen's practice course in an area of the yard I would rarely chose to use because it is relatively narrow (but it was dry!), between the neighbor's garage (on the right) and the veggie garden (on the left -my FIL and I built it 2 summers ago - it is 12 x 24 raised bed).



Carmen was really hesitant to enter the cages on the weave poles at first. I think we will be practicing this A LOT (as we should). Per Katrin's instructions I didn't start our runs at the weave poles - I started at one of the two jumps or the tunnel. Every time Carmen would run by the poles and I would call her back. Once she committed to the poles she drove through them nicely.

Carmen had difficulty with the curved tunnel at Erin's, so that is why I included it in the practice session. I also made sure to incorporate some lead outs and front crosses so I could practice treating Carmen between the jumps. As I mentioned in the post about Carmen's lesson with Erin, the onion is forcing me to work harder on my handling!

It was a really good practice session. The air was cool, Carmen was responsive, and fast. Ike was absolutely BULL that I was playing with Carmen. He was standing in the window making all sorts of noise. Hopefully this will be good for Ike and increase his desire to play with me!

4 comments:

Blue said...

Is this the collar?

http://www.bonafido.com/page6.html

This website has the best photos, but I saw it for sale a few other places (amazon was one) so you could order it somewhere else.

It looks like you have a great space for practicing!

Jules said...

I think it must be! THANKS! I'll have to order one now so I have it - he has started working on the bandage AGAIN!

I am very lucky I have such tolerant in-laws!

Urban Smoothie Read said...

i wonder how's d clown collar looks like...i've seen b4 e-collar only...

thanks 2 blue for d link... i shld check them out.

ann-and-partner said...

Julie, What breed of dog is "spawn"? hehe