Big News, Big Changes

Well, a lot has happened since I last posted almost a full week ago.  Whoops, where did time go?  Very little happened, training-wise.  I have been avoiding course work and have instead continued on speed building exercises by combining Secret's play time with agility equipment with the hope that some of that enthusiasm will stick when it comes to trialing.  She continues to do well with figuring out how to keep herself together and negotiate obstacles at speed, so that's a good thing!  Her weaves (all 12) have been absolutely phenomenal.  This evening she sent ahead with me in a stationary position and completed all twelve poles WITH SPEED.  She is even, get this, pushing the unstaked 2x2 poles out of position!  Miss Pris has always been known for weaving in her oh-so-delicate manner, not liking to push the poles with her body.  I was excited to see that tonight.  She was displacing the poles about as much as Luke does!

What else has happened?  Well, Wes (and Lexie) came by for half the day on Friday while my parents made a trip down to Madison.  Secret decided to claim him straight away that morning, which was to Wes' benefit as it kept Kaiser away from him.  Secret had to go and get distracted by playing with Luke, though, which left poor Wes wide open to an "attack" from Kaiser.  Kaiser then got to spend some time in a crate and in his harness with a leash on.  Everyone does really well in the house, but Kaiser is just the play police outside and pounces on Wes when he starts getting playful.  We went through the same thing with Lexie, so hopefully it will pass quickly.  Secret thinks he's a pretty fun play thing, but Wes isn't so thrilled with the way Secret bats at her playmates.  lol

What else.  OH YES.  ;o)  I got a job!  A real, honest-to-goodness professional-type job.  The only downside is that it requires that I drive all the way to downtown La Crosse every day (about 45 minutes in decent traffic), but the upsides far outweigh that.  One upside would be the offer they made me -- an offer that should allow me to eventually cut back to ONE JOB in the near future, should I choose to do so.  Either way, I'm cutting back on hours at the Humane Society.  I won't be able to do the weeknight shifts any longer and I hope to cut back to only about two weekends per month, max.  I figure I should continue to work myself to the bone for a bit longer to try to get some bills paid off.

But now it's time to celebrate!  And how do I celebrate?  By spending copious amounts of money....  Aside from all the money I've been giving to Goodwill lately to build up a semi-professional wardrobe (shelter shirts won't cut it!), I've decided to splurge and add a day of fun to my Labor Day weekend trial trip to the Cities.  It's too late to add Saturday to my USDAA entries that weekend, but it's not too late to enter a NADAC trial in Burnsville.  Because I am not any definition of responsible, the entries are in an envelope next to me and the hotel room is booked!

This should be interesting, going from NADAC on Saturday to USDAA on Sunday.  I don't think Secret will have a problem going from 16" to 22" one day to the next, but I do worry a bit about Kaiser going from 8" to 12" with his jumping issues.  Both trials are outdoors on grass -- another negative, as I don't really want to set up my tent and take it down two days in a row.  Maybe I'll get lucky and get to crate out of the car.  Luke will enjoy getting to come along to play, and hopefully he'll be fine with sitting it out on Sunday since he gets four runs on Saturday.

Either way, I'm totally looking forward to a full weekend of agility playing in both organizations!  :o)

A big life change for the dogs starts tomorrow.  I've been home with them for two weeks now, but starting tomorrow morning they are on their own for full days seven days a week.  Poor dogs.  I see lots and lots of ball & frisbee play in their future....  And Kongs; they will be happy to see those return.