Sunday, August 28, 2011

Wow!

Today we dealt with Hurricane Irene. My first hurricane in my new house. My house that is in a pine grove. Pines have shallow roots. Gulp.

We are in the armpit of Massachusetts and our area was targeted for high impact winds. Let me tell you, it was scary as all get out. I do not know how people do it. Watching our pines sway and sway really stressed me out. It doesn't help that the limbs breaking and falling kind of sounds like gun shots.

We lost one really large limb, some moderately sized limbs, and of course a gazillion small limbs. We have a decent sized clean up job ahead of us. However, the gods were with us and nothing landed on the house, cars, barn or fence. Phew!

I did discover my corgi that can sleep through thunder storms of any size is not a fan of high winds. Bug was a wreck all day. He followed me around panting until I finally sat down. When I sat he was pressed as closely against me as possible. He alternated between head in my lap and hiding behind my legs. John thinks some of his stress might have been because I was really stressed watching the trees sway and sway. It is possible - Bug and I are very tightly bonded. John jokes that Bug thinks he is the husband in the house!

Hush and Ike could have cared less about the high winds or the momma stressing.

Things quieted down around 3 pm and it has been misty raining since. Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful. I sincerely hope others fared as well as we did. I think the last hurricane that really impacted MA was about 5 years ago - I am hopeful we go at least 5 years before we have to deal with another one of these. It is a little too nerve-wracking for my taste. :)

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Puppies!

I helped Katrin with the puppies tonight and got to "chill" with them for a few afterward. Hah. The puppies swarmed me as soon as I stepped foot in the pen. They are darling!

Happy Birthday, Hush!

Hush is 1 year old today! To celebrate she got to enjoy some soft serve from Commonwealth BBQ.


Sunday, August 14, 2011

Coursing Ability Test

Today Bug and I took part in a AKC sanctioned Coursing Ability Test hosted by the Empire Saluki Club. This is lure coursing, where the dogs individually chase a lure (plastic bags in this case) that is on an electric powered drag lure machine.

The course is 600 yards for large dogs, and 300 yards for short dogs. If your dog has never done it before you are allowed to run with your dog for up to 10 steps to help kick them into gear. Some dogs that aren't sight hounds have trouble leaving their humans.

I had no idea what to expect. I hoped Bug would enjoy it as he is prey driven with small critters and adores chasing chipmunks.

When I took his leash off, when the field secretary said "Tally Ho" (the signal to start), he did not know what to do. I started to run and off he went! It was AWESOME to see him "turn on." It is just like with sheep - you see the little light bulb over their head when they realize, "Hey, this is fun!"

Bug was really fast and his tail was moving the entire time. The test is Pass/Fail and Bug passed! Which means he earned his first Qualifying leg (of 3) towards his Coursing Ability title.

If Bug is not overly sore as the day goes on I think I will pursue his CA with him. He had a BLAST.

We watched a few runs before his turn and he was all eyes and ears. There was some barking, but he didn't really know what was up. After his turn, when he saw the lure being moved into position for the next run he was wild! He wanted to run again!

John videoed our run. Unfortunately the Flip does not have a digital zoom, so the quality kind of sucks. You'll get the idea though.



 Bug before his run - he didn't realize the fun in store for him!

 All the Qualifiers!

Me and Bug with Judge Elaine Johnston (and the lures!)

Friday, August 12, 2011

"Buppers"


John is like George W. Bush when it comes to nicknames. Almost everyone – human or animal – gets at least one nickname from John, if not 35. Recently he has started calling Hush “Buppers” with more emphasis on the first syllable. For some reason “Buppers” sounds like a very preppy, weekend in the Hamptons nickname to me. I suppose this could make sense – Hush is very demure and lady-like….maybe? :)

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Bug is a Turkey

Frapping Bug and Hush. Little does Bug realize - as soon as Hush gains some confidence she is going to leave him in her dust!

Fetch!

I do not play a lot of fetch with Bug, even though he loves it, because I do not feel it is good for him structurally. However, I wanted to share this short video which shows Hush *contemplating* joining in!

Friday, August 5, 2011

Empathy

About 7 months ago I started to feel when my dogs need an adjustment. I will literally feel as though my pelvis is out, or whatever is wrong with them. Now I occasionally feel when a human I am close to needs an adjustment or has local pain. I also feel my dogs’ GI distress (this is more recent – as in the past few days)!

It is very confusing and I have had a difficult time differentiating my pain and the dogs. It is only by going to the chiro and realizing absolutely NOTHING is wrong with me, but Bug’s/Ike’s/Hush’s pelvis is out that I have I made the connection.

More recently I have started to physically feel heat in areas that are sore or need an adjustment when I am massaging the dogs or doing TTouch.

In hindsight it seems this all began shortly after I finished the mindfulness class. I suppose it is possible that the focused meditation opened me up to a different energy level.

Regardless of how it came about, it continues to happen and to happen with dogs I do not know as well as my own two. I have decided I should consider doing something with “it.”

The three things that immediately popped into my mind are reiki, TTouch, and massage. I spoke to Bug’s acupuncturist, his chiro, an animal communicator who does a lot of reiki, and of course my friends. I decided against reiki, which leaves TTouch and massage. The cost to become a practioner of TTouch is roughly the same as the cost to become a certified small animal massage therapist (perhaps less since there is a great school in my state).

I am intrigued by the behavioral applications of TTouch and it is something I really want to pursue at some point. However, I think there is more hope of being able to parlay small animal massage into some sort of career. Due to the new home it is likely not something I can pursue immediately. However, I think it is something I would like to find a way to pursue.

I know it is really weird. I have had mixed responses from the few people I have told. Some, who are very open, think it is very cool. Others just say “really?” and move on because they are not comfortable. I am still adjusting to it and trying to sort out how to recognize my pain versus my dogs’ pain, my agility instructor’s pain, or my mum’s pain (just an example of who’s pain I have been feeling).

Bouncing Bug

Wow, Bug is amazing sometimes.

Saturday at his rally lesson he was very bug obsessed (this has been a *thing* lately). At one point he went after a bug, all four paws off the ground, twisted, and landed on his hip/side.

::cringe::

Drat, I hoped his pelvis wasn’t out – he has surprised me in the past. I did notice he was moving a bit mince-y and was slow on the stairs to the bed. When massaging him I noticed heat on his mid-back. This is a new development for me, feeling heat where the dog is hurting. It is a post in itself.

We saw the chiropractor last night and…..his pelvis was in!! AMAZING!! His pelvis was out on the stair position and he was seriously tight, but holy cow!

He held his pelvis in a stand.

I was deathly afraid he might have re-injured his iliopsoas. The fall and twist is very similar to what he did when he originally injured it. I will absolutely count my blessings!