Saturday, December 17, 2011

Holidays

With the holidays we do not have class for 3 weeks!! 3 weeks - wow. That means we have loads of time for training. Puppies say - thank goodness!!

Wednesday night Irie and Bug both worked on duration in their stays and finished with playing Dog Brick. I forgot to bring my Flip down so did not get to video Irie's first attempt. She found Dog Brick much more difficult than Magic (as she should). She hasn't figured out how to push with her nose yet. She is very oral and tries to pick everything up. Unfortunately these pieces cannot be picked up! She did start to get it, but it took a lot longer than Magic.

Bug needs a more difficult dog game. I might see if I can borrow the difficult Kyjen game my agility trainer has. It is star shapes and I think it has 4 pieces that spin.

Katrin's Monty is staying with us for a few days while his mum attends a wedding. Irie thinks he was invited over just for her and Monty says, "doG save me!!"

Bug had PT on Thursday and, hooray, he was in good shape. Still too skinny though. He has been getting increased calories for 2+ weeks and hasn't gained any weight. I re-ordered some Organic Coconut Oil from Swanson's Health Supplies (they have a great price - $6.79 for 16 oz. and flat $4.99 shipping) and will begin adding that to his diet again once it arrives. I am tempted to do the pancreatic function test because I am not sure why he is losing weight. However, he is not showing the typical signs of EPI, at all (YAY), and I know Dr. F would just say it is a matter of his energy being out of balance and finding a "name" for what is going on will only make me feel better not accomplish anything. Which is true.

All three dogs also saw the chiropractor. The boys were in pretty good shape, but Ms. Irie's pelvis was out. I had noticed her stools were loose, so I am not surprised. This doesn't happen with Bug, but when Ike's pelvis is out he usually has diarrhea. The loose stool started when I started giving Irie lamb, so I am pretty sure it doesn't agree with her. Cheryl (the chiro) is currently doing some advanced schooling in Kansas and one of her classmates is a vet and an acupuncturist. She told Cheryl that Lamb is a "hot" meat, which I knew, and that it should not be given to allergy dogs. This is counter to what "we" are told. Generally people/vets suggest lamb and rice for allergy dogs, so I thought that was interesting.

Oh! I almost forgot to mention - Irie has her 2nd herding lesson scheduled for the week between Christmas and New Years. I can't wait! I think John might be able to come so perhaps we will even have VIDEO!

8 comments:

Holly said...

What a buSy and exciting weekend for you!

Wolfwood said...

Half brother Zen says, "Keep up the good work!" He came to be demo dog for training certain behaviors in the Service Dog 101 class I am teaching. In about a half hour he picked up going to his mat, switching sides while heeling, walk through a crowd heeling, and back to back short sit stays with recalls. He had the hardest time with leave it with so much tasty food on the floor. :)

Kathy Mocharnuk said...

I hope you get video of the herding, I love watching new dogs herding.

theairfilter said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Taryn said...

You are making me feel guilty :-)I've got a break from training too, but must admit I will do no "at-home" work whatsoever. It means Jimmy will be a raving lunatic when class resumes, oh well.....

I find it interesting how often your guys need a pelvic adjustment. My guys have never had their pelvises out of whack at one of their chiro checks. It's always the first rib for them. Do you think it has to do with the individual vets and how they focus their chiro work?

Jules said...

I think it must have to do with the individual dr. None of mine have ever had a rib out. :) I will ask next time we see her though. I am curious!

Ellie said...

Sounds like you have a lot of exciting stuff in store for you and your crew! Would love to see herding video :)

Your newest follower(s),

Ellie (and Cedar, Moss and Scully!)
http://cedesofchange.blogspot.com

Toorgy said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.