had a great weekend doing fast CAT with jean grey. she was getting PR after PR, with her best being 8.68 seconds (23.57mph / 37.93 kph). we have another event september 20-22, and i'm pretty sure she's going to earn her second title there! she's been phenomenal around other dogs lately, which is a 180 from how she used to be: barking, lunging, and growling at them.
autumn
joined 2 years ago
my older dog, loki (11 year old australian shepherd), has been on prozac most of his life due to anxiety issues, so i'm quite familiar with its use in dogs! basically it allows them to chill out a little bit. both of them are high strung rescue dogs, so the medication definitely helps after i've exhausted all other training routes.
Quite the feat! What’s your trick?
honestly, i keep a pack of cards with me to shuffle through (and sometimes play solitaire with) when i'm bored. i also still have audiobooks on my phone, but i play music from a separate digital audio player. it's nice not to have the compulsion to open mindless scrolling whenever i pick up my phone to do something i actually need to do. most of my time on my phone is now spent using maps for directions, hah.
echo (border collie) started fluoxetine (prozac) last weekend for her anxious tendencies and obsessive behaviors. she also has her urban canine test on wednesday, which i think we'll pass with flying colors, so long as there isn't a leaf blower she can hear.
we've had a couple of chilly nights, but i know we're going to have at least one or two hot weeks before it starts to actually cool down for good.
i've been spending a lot of work days at the coworking space, and i'm making a lot of progress on my latest project, so that's nice. forgot how much that helps me get in the right mindset. probably helps that i dumbed down my phone quite a bit recently, too. no more safari, email, social, or needless apps. down to about 1 hour of phone screen time per day, which is pretty good considering my old averages were around 4-5 hours. 😳
i'm sorry you're in so much pain!
unsolicited advice
are you able to see a physical therapist or get a referral to one? they have helped me eliminate pain that my doc only ever gave me muscle relaxers for.
i believe so! there were a couple of them styled like that; really cool stuff.
spent the weekend with a friend in the mountains. we saw a bunch of bonsai trees (a couple of my favorites below), went to a couple of breweries, and stayed up too late playing video games. 10/10 weekend, would do again.
also: give them good things to bite! i always had toys handy when i had my puppy. (i do not miss those days.)
it was a blast! i highly recommend it if you enjoy big group rides, street festivals, pie, and beer.
howdy! 🤠
i finished riding across iowa a few days ago. now need to return to “normal” life, which is so much more complicated than waking up every day to ride my bike 40-80 miles.
i’m on day three of riding across iowa. it’s so nice to worry only about riding to the next town. i’ve eaten so much pie.
we had graduation last night! we did some rally practice since all the dogs had already passed all the test items, and echo loved it. could not get her to look at the camera because she loves to look at me always, haha. very proud of this rescue pup who has exceeded my expectations when it comes to training. she really is the dog i've wanted since i was a teenager. ❤️
this was always my goal with her, so i'm pleased as punch! i remember my agility trainer giving me the most "what are you doing with this dog?" look so many times, haha.
the canine good citizen test consists of ten items:
- accept a friendly stranger
- sit politely for petting
- accept ears and feet touched, plus a brush
- walk on a loose leash
- walk through a crowd
- sit, down, and stay
- come when called
- react appropriately to another dog
- react appropriately to a distraction
- stay with another person for three minutes
this is something i try to get with all my dogs, but my little dog definitely did not pass back when she took it as a yearling. very proud of how far echo has come since she's come to live with me—hard to believe that was only about three months ago!
her fastest time this weekend was 9.56 seconds (21.40 mph). i’m so proud of her for running despite the cold (and rain on the first day). we wrapped her up in a towel right up to the gate the first day because it was so miserable, and on the second day she had her sweater plus i held her inside my fleece, hehe.
we should get the professional video back in a week or two!
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