Dancing with the Doggie Stars!

As regular readers of this blog will already know, we are going to be giving 'canine freestyle' a go for Honey's Dancing with the Doggie Stars competition. Honey and her person, Hsin-Yi, as well as other new followers have all asked for some practise footage so here it is, Barbie working on her moves.

Bender fetched his ball for about 4 hours yesterday and is still too tired and grumpy to do any work, so there's no video of him yet. But enjoy Barbie's!

We are going to try and do 'marching paws' as well but Barbie is insistent on offering just one paw! I think her balance isn't as good on the other side.... but once she gets used to walking on her back legs I think her balance will be better.

A night of training/play in our house

I generally do about 5 to 10 minutes of training every night with the dogs, and then take them on a half hour walk. Tonight on our walk, I spotted a white thing running across the road. I realised it was a dog by it's gait, and it was hassling another pedestrian on the other side of the road. It's owner stormed after it yelling it's name over and over... 'ROXY ROXY ROXY SIT STAY ROXY ROXY!' I realised that it would probably run to us but was hoping that he would get it back under control. He got it back into the park and I thought he would have the sense to put it on a leash. Then I saw it running after someone else in the park, barking and yapping at this person. The owner was yelling at the dog like he was going to kill it. Then it noticed us and came to us. It has a really aggressive demeanour and Barbie was having none of it. She barked at it, and when she did it darted away. I went wide so that if it ran it would only run to the park. Eventually the owner's yelling convinced the dog to move away from us and it zipped back into the park again. I told the guy that he needed to take her someplace with a fence or keep her on the leash. I hope she doesn't end up in a shelter, or worse get killed by a car. He really had no clue.

Barbie got to run offleash quite a bit in the previous 5 days, and I think more off leash time makes her more feisty. We didn't go out at all last night because I was busy doing other things, and she decided that she would just roll around on the carpet talking to try and convince me.

When I get home she now does the same thing as Bender, she goes straight for her toys! Anyway I decided to harness that energy. Who would have thought a greyhound could crawl so fast?



I then bought Bender in for some work. Bender demonstrates his version of 'commando' - Barbie does a great down/stay with distraction (considering how much she loves to commando herself), then Barbie does roll over and Bender does a spin for good measure.

Crate Training - Progress with the Princess

So Barbie got her way, a little, the crate has been moved into the bedroom. Now she quietly whinges when she finishes her crate-treat, then woke me up at 4.30, let me go back to sleep, and I let her out at 5.30. Progress.

I also gave her a little water bowl, the kind that you use for birds that hangs on the side of the crate. Wow, her drinking is loud at night!

I think we are now making better progress. Yay. For the first time in a week I feel like I will make it through the day at work without staring blankly at my monitor.

Take me to the river.... dunk my face in the water

Today, we visited Riverside Gardens, an offleash dog exercise area near the Swan River. Barbie wasn't off leash the whole time as she kept trying to wander off, but I let her have a bit of a run. Here is a small fluffy trying to figure out why this strange dog is plunging her head under the water.

Barbie doing her 'plowing her face through the water' trick. She dips her head right under and then 'pops' out of the water, jumping up, and then sprinting out. I am yet to successfully capture this maneuver!

This staffy thought she could catch Barbie. Big mistake!

Oh, and I took some video at the beach yesterday. Bender is no slouch when it comes to running but Barbie can smoke him easily. Watching these two run around makes me think other dogs are moving in slow motion!

Warning: Kangaroos Crossing

We spotted a kangaroo crossing at the beach today....



Maybe she gets called 'roo dog' because she looks like one, not because anyone expects her to catch them.

The beach was very quiet today because of the overcast sky.



Though Barbie and Bender did find a young black puppy to join them in their games.



Barbie did a bit of running in the surf, but because it was not very warm outside, she tried to avoid getting her paws too wet...



Bender's ears flapped in the wind as he chased his ball over and over again



Bender's sandyface on the way home....

Finding voice...

Since I have been making Barbie sleep in her crate, and she has decided to whinge about it... she has become more vocal all round. I'm not sure if I like this new trend.

Last night she started up a conversation off her own bat. We were watching TV, having just finished eating our dinner, and Barbie was lying on the carpet near my feet.

Barbie: Hey, I think you have forgotten something
Me: I am really getting sick of the sound of your voice, Barbie.
Barbie: Get your ass off that couch, there is something you are meant to do before you get too comfortable
Me: Are you sure there is nothing wrong with you? The way you are carrying on, I might have to take you to the VET!
Barbie gets up off the floor and moves to the spare couch, groaning loudly as she flops down.
Barbie: You humans are so damn LAZY
Me: Do you want to go out then?
Barbie leapts up off the couch, ears swivelling into full antenna mode, and begins dancing in front of me.

We took them out for their walk although it was very windy out. They were both a bit on edge because of all the strange noises and smells. Barbie was also quite disappointed that we went on our usual boring route, so she dragged her feet, or heeled perfectly expecting treats. She wasn't that interested in sniffing the world around her.

I think they are both looking forward to summer and more daylight, which means more off leash exercise, and trips to the beach and the river. I suppose to make them more satisfied I could always get up early and take them out at dawn, but am I that devoted? Not so sure!

As for the crate, well, Barbie still hates it and refuses to accept it without a whingefest. I put some classical music on for her to keep her company and she still whinged a little after she was bored with her peanut butter stuffed Kong. She went to sleep after that, only to wake up and whinge at 2.30, then 3.30, then 4.30ish, then 6. This was the 7th night in the crate. She is as stubborn as ever. I am not sure she is ever going to accept being crated overnight at this rate. It is a great pity because I thought it would be a really handy thing to get her used to. I also think it's the only way to ensure that she is 100% house broken, though we are going to rip the carpet in the living room up soon - maybe once the stinky carpet is gone she will stop peeing on it!

A greyhound and a golden retriever pup....

Last night I got a nice draft all the way home from three cyclists who were riding together. Two guys in boardies, one riding a mountain bike with big fat knobblie (noisy) tyres and a woman on a road bike wearing lycra. They kept up a pretty good clip for most of the way, so I got home with energy to spare.

I then took Barbie to a local park for the first time last night. I left Bender at home because I felt it would be too much to keep an eye on both of them. This park is massive, and it belongs to the local soccer club. It is almost entirely fenced except for the big gate that leads to the car park. I also discovered there is a small gate around the back that is probably closer for us to enter through, I will probably go that way tonight. As it is a bunch of soccer fields, it is mainly flat, and the grass is dense but soft. Perfect for a little lady like Barbie to accellerate and turn. I let her off the leash and told her she could go. She sprinted straight towards some billboards that marked the edge of one of the pitches, and I had my heart in my mouth, but she neatly popped through a gap between them. She ran full speed at a railing as well but avoided it deftly. There were 3 other dogs there. One was a medium-ish fluffball, and Barbie sprinted past it trying to entice it to chase. It realised very quickly it was beaten. Then Barbie and I spotted a young golden pup prancing around. I took Barbie over to see him, and say hi to his owners. He was 5 months old and very cute. Barbie ran circles around him, and he ran around and around an inner circle trying to keep up with her. She sprinted up and down the park a few times. Then she lied down. The pup went over to her and kissed her on the muzzle. She was very gentle and tolerant with him. She definately gave him more leeway than she would with a grown up dog! The owners of the GR were about my age, maybe a few years older, and they were interviewing me about Barbie and greyhounds in general. The only negative, I told them, was her tendency to be whingy. That and having to be on alert when she is off leash due to her pure speed. They were both in awe of her running and a little anxious for her. I think they felt better when I reassured them that this perfectly flat grassy place was a really safe place for her to run. Her recall was great (though she came in too hot and ran past me a couple of times), and she was appropriate with all three dogs s. I was very happy with her.

I didn't get any photos of them together but I will next time. It got dark far too soon and the mosquitoes came out to play. They were trying to eat me, but they didn't seem to be bothering Barbie. We jogged most of the way home. Barbie did OK with the trains going past, but she was a little hesitant over the level crossing. It seems that her train-fear is most intense around that crossing where she had that first scary overload experience. We crossed at a different point of the track on the way to the park and that didn't seem to bother her.

When I got home, Bender was quiet. I was expecting him to be doing his 'I'm alone and abandoned' bark... which goes ... 'WOOF'....(10 seconds)....'WOOF'. I was very happy with him too. He got extra cuddles and extra play time.

I went to bed at 10 last night, and all whining (that I noticed) had ceased by 10.30. She started up again at 5, so I let her out for her wee and she was really thirsty... I really need to get her a bowl that I can hang up on the crate side so she can drink, but not knock it over herself. Then in the morning while I was eating my breakfast she went back into her crate and curled up in there. I definately think we are making progress and I am not quite so exhausted today.

Maybe tomorrow when they wake me up at 5am I will get up instead of going back to bed. Maybe.

You can buy Frosty Paws in Oz

I spotted these in Coles while I was shopping today. For my Aussie followers you can probably buy them - but $4.99 for a pack of 4? I don't think so!

I just bought a massive jar of peanut butter instead for the same price. I will make the puppies frosty paws when it is cold enough, but for now I think they would prefer warm treats!

Barbie was very unhappy about being in her crate last night and howled from 10.45 (when she lost interest in her Kong) until past midnight, and then started up again at 4.30am.

I took them to the park at 9, but didn't take any photos because I was feeling too sleep deprived to handle both dogs and a camera as well. Barbie tried to get a Great Dane to run. He was a particularly big Great Dane and galloped like a horse in slow motion. His owners were stressing because he wasn't meant to run too much. Barbie was running at his shoulder and poking him with her muzzle. She barked a little too. I think she was trying to get him to run faster, but I'm not sure he could!

Everyone at the park knows Bender's name. His habit of giving his ball to strangers has won him some friends, but others are not backwards in telling him to go away. Not that he listens to them!

I had a bit of a nap today to prepare for another night of whining!

Slow with the crate, but she still hates it...

When I first got a crate for Barbie she was downright afraid of it. I had gotten her to the stage now where she goes in there on her own and just chills out in there for a bit. Anyway, last night was her first full night in the crate. She whined for the first hour, then she slept for 6 hours and woke up at 5.15am or so. I let her out for a wee in the morning at about 5.30 after she had been quiet for a whole 5 minutes. She was very happy to be out of there. She is being crated at night for two reasons - 1. She still occasionally pees on the floor inside at night and I'm trying to eliminate that, and 2. I want to be able to crate her when we take her out camping instead of just tethering her like we used to do with Bender.

I think she'll be OK in a few nights. She will probably still whinge a bit. I want to get her to sleep until 6.50am in the crate and I will be happy with that.

On our walk last night, we had to walk over a piece of orange mesh that someone had strung across the footpath. Bender walked over it fine, but Barbie hesitated. I said 'over' and waited. Barbie thought about it for a little while and I didn't think she would do it, but then she executed a beautiful (if over the top) leap over the offending plastic and we continued on our way. We also stopped in a local park and I got them both to down/stay. I did two very short distance down/stays because Bender looked as if he was about to take off. Barbie never took her eyes off me.

Bright Sunny Morning in Whistlepipe Gully

I contacted the agility club we were supposed to be visiting on Friday night and they were on holidays!!!!

On Saturday we went to see the Fremantle Dockers (my Aussie Rules team) beat Hawthorn in the preliminary final. Their first final since 2006! And they WON! The dogs got a long walk that afternoon, but we decided we had to do something special for them today.

First though, we went out for breakfast. The dogs weren't allowed to come for breakfast because of previously mentioned 'no dogs in cafes' rule.



Then we drove up to the hills and went for a walk in Whistlepipe Gully. It was about half an hour, and Bender spent the whole time huffing and puffing. He didn't recognise the route and was pretty excited to be going somewhere new.



Barbie started off slow, while Bender attempted to drag Nic down the trail. I think Bender needs a backpack to slow him down a bit. Lovely Barbie decided to poop very early in the walk so we had to carry it the rest of the way. I tied the poop bag to her lead.



They both enjoyed some yummy smells on the trails. Probably rabbits and kangaroos!



There was some nice fresh water trickling down the gully, making for some cute little waterfalls.



Barbie went wading a couple of times to cool off. She loves water. She likes to dip her whole face in. I haven't seen her swim yet. Being so lean I think she will have floatation issues.

We came across two large logs that had fallen over the trail. They were probably about 80 cm tall and Barbie leapt over them with minimal encouragement. A very big improvement from last time we went hiking in the bush!

At the end of the trail there was a house. Barbie was convinced we should go in and visit. The woman who lived there came out with her old German Shepard and they said hello to each other. The GSD was barking at first but then it's body language softened as the lady grabbed hold of it's collar. It took treats to lure Barbie away from the house.



On the way back we met an adorable Border Collie pup with a blue eye and a brown eye. I think he was about 6 months old and he played a short wrestling game with Bender. Barbie said a brief hello then I held her back because I got the feeling that she was going to turn into the fun police and tell them off for wrestling.

The view from the top of the hill was quite stunning...



although I think it was lost on the dogs.



Barbie did well with the walk and we made it back to the car with minimal paw-dragging.

We dropped in to City Farmers on the way home to pick up more kibble for the dogs and the kittens. Barbie was cool as a cucumber because she has been there a few times lately. Bender found the environment very very stimulating. He tried to steal the tennis balls, and then perked up his ears and looked around when he heard someone squeezing a squeaky. He also discovered the fish in tanks at the back of the store and left nose prints on the glass. The staff gave both the dogs treats, though Bender was a little snappy with them!

Midday we got home and now Barbie is sleeping in her crate and Bender is outside in the sun. I think they had a good day.

Stays with distractions

At Barbie's last obedience class, after everyone had done their test and passed (some took longer than others), we played a little game.

We were each given a stick of dried kangaroo, and a plastic cone. We had to put the roo under the cone, and then get the dog to down/stay 10 metres from it, and then walk to the cone, get the roo, walk back to the dog. Barbie didn't move. Her stay was as solid as I've seen it. I was very proud of her.

Then I realised that in the class there are probably less distractions than at home! I do down/stay practice with the dogs together. The cats are always around. Barbie is usually the one to break but she is learning quicker than Bender did when he was young. I think it's reinforcing Bender's stays as well. I can see he has deliberately planted himself on the ground. All his muscles are tense but he doesn't move.

Last night I had them both in a down stay and I was about 10 metres away, but still in sight. Mittens was dancing around in front of them and headbutting them but they did not break!

It will be very interesting to see how Barbie goes with all the activity at an agility class. She still has her timidness to overcome. I have been asked to write an article about Barbie for the Greyhounds As Pets newsletter. They haven't updated their testimonials page for a long time so I'm not sure if they are going to put it together, they will probably just wait for my article. I think I'll write it for her Gotcha day.

Barbie passing level 1

(Barbie and Mittens chilling)

Barbie passed her level 1 test today. I am so proud of my little greyhound. She still didn't want to go with Desma when she led her away for the recall. I found a bigger tunnel today and Barbie actually put both her front feet into it. It's still not as big as a competition tunnel. The two little dogs went through the tunnel a lot. There is a little mop called Bowie who is still a pup, food motivated, toy motivated and loves the jumps and tunnels. They have joined up with Cloverdale agility club and I am looking forward to seeing him in action. Barbie was even sitting for the other people in the class. She is familiar with them all now and was willing to take direction from them!

Bender, Barbie, Nic and I are going to check out a local club on Friday night. Hopefully the Level 2 course will start soon, and then Desma is planning on holding the first Canine Good Citizen course in Western Australia (and Barbie will be the first WA Greyhound with a CGC). We need to suss out the club first in case they don't want a greyhound in their midst while the stupid laws are still in place. I won't be quoting the Dog Act to them though.

My ankle is healing up OK, and I can walk like a normal person. My finger is pretty gross looking, but I've adapted to typing with 9 digits instead of 10. I am looking forward to checking out the local agility club.

jumping practice

This video came at a cost! I twisted my ankle jumping over that first jump (not on the video)! I also haven't posted because I smashed my finger in the car door on Saturday so I can't really type.

Jumping video!

Bender is actually a top class jumper. I think he will jump full height (I think he's a 60 cm dog) already. He got a bit sloppy after a few goes and knocked the old mop down so we stopped. He was getting a bit manic. I am going to try him out with jumping. It depends how he pulls up after doing a full course. He does have issue with his wrists after an hour of chasing his ball, so I'm not sure if jumps are doable for him or not.

Barbie can jump, she just doesn't when she has to think about it. Before I put the mop up, I saw her jump down from the retaining wall, take two steps and then jump the length of a xxlarge trampoline type dog bed. We'll get there. She approaches it all with a good attitude.

Teaching the dogs to salute

I was puttering around on the internet late yesterday, waiting for someone to come up and see me or respond to an email or something, and I googled 'cute tricks to teach your dog'.

The first one that I found which I was interested in was to teach them a 'salute'. The method was to put a piece of not-very-sticky tape on the dog's head and then ask them to sit. They then lift their paw to get the tape off their head, and you click, then treat.

Seemed pretty simple and I thought it would be a good trick for Bender because his sits are solid as a rock.

Bender is a strange dog though, and sometimes there's no accounting for his reactions!

I called Bender into the bedroom first, and shut Barbie out. I attempted to put the tape on his head. It really was not sticky as I'd stuck it to my jumper first. I told him to sit. I went to put the tape on his head. He ducked and dodged. I tried again. He ran away, put his tail between his legs and started grovelling.

Oh, dear.

I can't teach Bender salute that way, then.

I swapped dogs to give Barbie a go. Barbie was almost the opposite. I got her to sit, put the tape on her head, and it was like she didn't notice it was there! I touched it a couple of times, and she lifted the paw and swiped it off. So we got 3 successful salutes, click, treat. Then she stopped noticing it was there at all. I took it off her and we did some 'commando' just to finish on a positive note.

'Touch' is coming along OK. Bender is actually better at it. Barbie seems to lose interest. It's not challenging for her. I think we shall progress to touching objects.

The week that was - big plans that don't eventuate!

Due to an unforseen injury on Thursday morning, agility obstacles were not fabricated on the weekend ::sadface::

I had a very sore back. Now Barbie, bless her, has not yet mastered the art of jumping. She won't jump into my 4x4 because it's too far off the ground for her to contemplate. She will, however, scramble her way into the back seat of Nic's little Honda Civic which is probably a massive 30 cm off the ground if I throw treats in there.

When it came time to go to dog training on Saturday morning, there was no way that I was lifting the little princess into my car, so we took the Civic. Desma had a jumpy little dog with her, which I didn't think was one of hers. Turns out it was rescued from death row at the Gosnells pound. Desma asked for name suggestions and she got two - Bambi & Gremlin. I thought little Gremlin was adorable and looked like a 'small' variety 'camp dog' from the Goldfields. Desma thought she had Basenjii in the mix. She had all her adult teeth and was pretty snappy for treats. My hands smelled like the polony that I had been giving Barbie so when I tried to talk to Gremlin, I got a nip on the finger. When I got home I washed it out with disinfectant but it looks pretty gross at the moment. I thought Gremlin was adorable - I have a soft spot for high spirited dogs. I don't think Barbie shared my opinion, however. When little Gremlin started bouncing around too close, Barbie let out a bit of a warning growl. She doesn't put up with any nonsense, my Barbie.

Bender did better being left home alone this time. There was no crying or barking that I heard. When I got back I wasn't up to taking him out, but they both got a walk together in the late afternoon.

Sunday we went to the dog park. They didn't go last weekend and all their hiking was on-leash so they were both super excited. Bender was so excited that he escaped from the car and ran up and down the car park 3 times before I could talk sense into him. He also was so excited that he forgot to watch where his ball went when I threw it! I had to go after it too and find it for him. Gah.

Barbie took off for some blistering laps. I practiced her recall a bit - it's not 100% - she ignored me once (the chase was too interesting).... and then when I called her she trotted up to another woman, who was closer and similar in height to me. I think she was confused momentarily. I was like 'Barbie, you are meant to be a sight hound!' and everyone at the park laughed. She played chase with a young boxer pup, and it ran into the fence. Barbie almost hit the fence too. The boxer pup didn't seem too perturbed about the whole thing - it came back to her for more, but I told Barbie to leave it and she did.

The Huskies as usual were wrestling and making a lot of noise. Barbie kept zooming past them, passing centimetres from them and half speed - trying to distract them and get them to play her game. Some of the guys laughed at her for that too. She does provide a lot of entertainment.

I saw some sharpeis coming in the gate at one point, and the younger one was barking and snapping and carrying on, so I held Barbie gently by the collar. I didn't want her to get involved. They went for a lap around the park. Bender was getting other people to throw his ball, as usual, and wasn't in the slight bit interested in me. Then Barbie took off and the young, barky sharpei took of after her. He gave the best chase of the day, and he didn't give up but Barbie well and truly burned him off. Then I realised that the older, tan sharpei was Betty! Betty belongs to a friend of mine, who I hung out with a bit in Kalgoorlie. It was cool running into them, and I barely recognised Betty because she was walking a lot better than she used to. Poor Betty had a few mishaps as a pup that involved broken legs - but she is on glucosamine and fish oil and it's done her a lot of good.

The young sharpei's name was Frank. He didn't seem to like Bender very much (because Bender was ignoring him). He was great with Barbie though.

After an hour and a half, we called it quits. Bender was being silly and pulling on the lead on the way out. I think because there were two dogs waiting to come in who always harrass him. I trod on Barbie's foot and she let out the greyhound scream of death. Then she got tangled in her lead and she screamed some more! I told her to stop being silly and somehow managed to untangle her while keeping hold of Mr Boof Head. Everyone thought she was being murdered. She hasn't really screamed at the park before.

She's better than she used to be. She used to scream if you took hold of her collar! She knows she won't get sympathy from me. Although I did apologise for standing on her foot.

I choose you!

My Sweet Dogs!

Last Sunday we spent many hours down at Riverside Gardens awaiting the paddlers finishing the Avon Descent. The paddlers last year started finishing at about 11am, but this year because of the very low water levels, the paddlers were finishing at 1pm. The dogs were very well behaved, mostly.

We walked about a kilometer to the river, and Barbie walked very slowly. We put her muzzle on because there were City of Bayswater Rangers around and I didn't fancy being fined. Bender realised we were going to the river, got excited and started pulling like a freight train. Nic had trouble holding on to him for a while. When we got there he kept looking at us.

"Where's my BALL? Why are all these people at my park?"

It took him a little while to 'get' it. We even walked past the 'horsie' rides and neither of the dogs reacted to the horses. Which is good, because Bender is slightly freaked out by all farm animals. He hates cows the most, but he isn't a fan of horses either.

There were a couple of guys dressed up as sea captains, with boats they made out of foam hanging off their shoulders. They stopped to talk to us, and both the dogs dealt well with these two strange people waving these weirdly shaped pieces of foam around.

We found a spot to settle down in. Barbie decided she wanted some nearby people to pat her. She is a sweetheart. She will just stand next to someone and wait quietly for them to notice her. Then they do, and give her a scratch and she wags that long tail of hers. A 12 year old girl pretty much launched herself onto Bender while he was minding his own business. I think he gave her a kiss. She came back a second time. He loved her.

Bender also found a little scrappy dog, and crawled on his belly into it's family group in order to interact with it. The fluffy dog's family loved on him. Had a few hairy moments when Bender spotted soccer balls and footballs nearby. He lunged towards one and got his front feet on it. Nic managed to pull him away before he put holes in it!

After a while, they both settled on the blanket. Then Barbie found a comfy spot in Nic's shadow, and slept for an hour or so. Bender got a bit grumpy and started barking at dogs. We went home before the powerboats made it over the line. I think the doggies did really well, and I was very impressed with how confident Barbie was with so many people around. There were quite a few people who stopped us to tell us how unfair they thought the muzzle laws were.

I also got a letter this week from the Minister for Local Government. I had written to him about the muzzle laws. The letter stated that he would be drafting legislation to allow for retired greyhounds to go muzzle free by the end of the year. Good news for Barbie!

Unhinged?

I have a photo post on it's way, but last night I got distracted.

I opened up Photoshop and started playing with a photo of Barbie. Somehow this photo took on a life of it's own and became a 'design'. I decided to see what it would look like on t-shirts, and jumpers and the like, so I logged into my unused Cafepress account. I placed it onto several pieces of merchandise, but then I realised that the bank balance wouldn't stretch to an order then and there.

Now I'm thinking about it - is wearing a jumper with an image of your own dog printed on it a bit too much? It's not as bad as wearing a jumper with an image of yourself printed on it, I suppose. I wonder if people make items of clothing with their children printed on them? I can't imagine any child being as pretty as Barbie, though. Maybe I'm biased as I tend to enjoy canine & feline company more than the company of humans.

In other news, the coordinator of Greyhounds as Pets here in Western Australia (Kerry) told me that she is going to put a youtube link and the stories I have told her about Barbie on their 'testimonials' page. I will post the link when it's done. She was particularly impressed with how I trained the 'sleep startle' response out of Barbie. The method, for the record, was throwing treats at her while she is fast asleep to make her start, but then realise it's raining food. It worked really well. I can't remember whose blog I borrowed the idea from! Manhandling her while teaching her to roll over has also helped. She doesn't mind if I drape myself over her now. She used to hate it!

I also sent Kerry a link to Jen's blog about her wonderfully versatile dogs. She really got a kick out of it.

While I am a beginner in these things, I have the support of my local dog trainer, Desma, in introducing Barbie to agility obstacles (she bought jumps and a tunnel in to class last weekend). I think teaching her to cope with agility obstacles will make Barbie a more confident hiker, and hopefully teach her how to use those gangly legs and powerful muscles of hers for movements other than running! We don't have a lot of space in our yard, but I am going to build a couple of jumps to practice with at home. I am now more confident in my ability to gain and hold Barbie's attention, while I am still learning her limits, I believe that we are not far off being able to do off leash agility training at one of the local clubs. I think I need to take her to an agility night just to see how she reacts to it all. We are going to start some target training tonight.

Day One of the Avon Descent

Oh, we're in the car again?

We went for a drive out to Toodyay to watch the poor suffering paddlers who took on the race down the Avon/Swan River despite the pathetic water levels. There were no free rides today and I think a lot of the paddlers appreciated the puppies watching them.





We walked along the river for an hour or so, checking out new vantage points...





It was very fun! Barbie had already been to obedience class for an hour, and Bender had been to the river closer to home. By the end of the day the Greyhound was most tired!