Ranger and agility

Ranger has been back in agility for a few months now. Teddy was just too stressed out by the people, and I felt like I was torturing him, so I pulled him out of class and put Ranger in his place. Teddy was very relieved. He likes going to the place where agility class is held, but only for the treats people give him, not to do any actual work. Last week at class, I was running Ranger on a course, and I heard Teddy bark twice. We were doing the weave poles, and on hearing his brother bark, Ranger stopped in his tracks, looked to where Teddy was, and ran off the course, directly to Teddy, to see what was wrong. He has never run off the course before during a run, so I was a little surprised. I suspect that Teddy was concerned because he couldn't see where we were (a tunnel was right in front of him blocking his view) and he was calling for his brother to help him. I was not happy that Ranger left the course, but when I walked back to them, both dogs had such a happy look on their faces that I couldn't stay mad for very long. We have class again tonight. I hope we don't have a repeat performance!

Teddy's haircut

Teddy got his summer buzz cut this past weekend, and I have to say he is absolutely adorable. Ranger always looks better with his hair a little long, but Teddy gets a 'fro when his hair is long and it makes him look much bigger than he really is. When his hair is long, he looks like a bulldog, or a linebacker, but after he goes to the groomer, he looks so tiny. It's like getting a brand new dog every two months! Every morning as I put his leash on (a process he is still afraid of, by the way) I wrap my hands around his tiny head, and tell him he is so cute that I just want to eat him up. I just wish I could get Ranger and Teddy on the same grooming schedule, but Ranger's hair grows much slower, so he only needs to go every 3 months, while Teddy has to go every 2 months. Poor dog!

Happy Birthday, Ranger!

Ranger is 8 years old today. While I occasionally see signs that he is getting older, he is still the playful little dog he was as a puppy. The play sessions just don't last as long as they used to, and I have to admit, I'm a little relieved about that. Who really wants to play tug-of-war for an hour? And lucky for Ranger his fur has been gray since he was little - he doesn't have to worry about that additional sign that he's getting old, something I've been battling for a few years now. It's hard to believe that I've had him for this long. I barely remember my life without him always being there. Sometimes I wonder what I will do when he leaves me. I can't imagine ever getting another dog to replace him. I adopted Teddy more for Ranger than for me, and while I love Teddy, we haven't had the connection that Ranger and I have. Ranger is one of those dogs that sometimes seems more human than dog, while Teddy is all dog all the time. I've read that there are 'once-in-a-lifetime' dogs, and I think that is what Ranger is to me.

Teddy and agility

As mentioned in previous posts, Teddy started agility this year. I'm doing this not for the glory of winning, but because I'm trying to give Teddy the confidence he needs to live a happier life. I had to keep reminding myself of that at the first few classes, because I felt like I was torturing Teddy instead of helping him. At one point, I asked the instructor if I was being cruel by making him do something he clearly wasn't enjoying, and she said since he wasn't running out of the ring and was still taking treats, I should keep trying. And I'm glad we stuck with it. The first few classes were rough, and I was sweaty and exhausted at the end of the night. For a few classes, I brought Ranger with us, and when Teddy seemed especially nervous, I would bring Ranger into the ring and have him do the obstacle. Once Teddy saw Ranger doing it, he instantly felt more comfortable and would copy whatever Ranger did.

The last class is a run-through of a course, in front of the entire class. I was very nervous about how Teddy would do. We had been able to put 6 obstacles together the previous week, but would he be able to do 14 obstacles, in front of lots of people? Would he move freely from one obstacle to the next, or would I have to carry him? If there is one thing Teddy has taught me, it is to always keep the faith. He exceeded my expectations. The entire class was cheering by the time we finished. No, we didn't break any speed records, and we skipped a few of the obstacles he hadn't been trained on, but he did everything I asked of him. He ran (trotted quickly, really) next to me, went through the tunnel like he had been doing it all his life, and walked on the dog walk like it was no big deal. We had the chance to run the course again, so I did, just to prove to myself that it wasn't a fluke, and he did even better. He seemed to realize what we were doing and did the first 4 obstacles with very little prompting from me. So we signed up for another session, which starts next week. My little champion! We may win a ribbon yet!

10 things I love about Ranger

1. He's a good listener, and he doesn't judge.
2. He loves to snuggle. He's a great electric blanket.
3. He does agility not because he loves it but because it makes me happy.
4. He's never met a person he didn't like.
5. I never have to clean my kitchen floor when he's around.
6. I love the way he tilts his head when I talk to him, as if he understands every word.
7. He welcomed Teddy into our home and became his best friend from day one.
8. He is always ready to play, and he gets me out into the world.
   
9. He has no sense of humor whatsoever, which is an odd thing to love, but his lack of humor always makes me laugh.
10. Did I mention he loves to snuggle?

Ranger is retiring from agility

Lately it seems that Ranger hasn't been enjoying his agility classes. He is slow, unresponsive to my commands, and just looks like there are other places he'd rather be. It's embarrassing to get up in front of the class and do as poorly as we do. I'm starting to think that maybe Ranger feels like he has proven he can do agility, and he doesn't need to prove anything anymore. He's wrong, of course, as he's not that good at agility and has plenty of room for improvement, but that's an argument I'm not winning right now. So I decided that Ranger is going to retire, and Teddy is going to start. At some point, Ranger may come out of retirement, but for now, he's done.

Because Teddy needs lots of time to learn something new, I decided to start working with him now at home, before classes start in January. I have a small tunnel, and I made some jumps out of PVC, and surprise, surprise, Teddy loves it. He learned to jump very quickly, and the joy on his face as he jumps is amazing to see. I didn't think he would like it, as he is built like a brick, and I thought he would jump as well as a tank, but he sails over the bar like he's been doing it all his life. Of course, once we leave the safety of my family room and get to class, he may pretend he's never seen a jump before in his life, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

We survived Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving has always been a large affair for my family - it is not uncommon to have anywhere from 18 to 33 people show up. Ranger, being the social butterfly he is, loves all the people and the food they give him, and all the new laps to sit on. Teddy, on the other hand, is scared of new people and large crowds. I debated for weeks before Thanksgiving on whether I should bring the dogs, leave them both at home, leave Teddy at home and just bring Ranger...But I hated to deprive Ranger of one of his favorite days because his less-secure brother couldn't handle it, and I thought Teddy would not like being left home alone for 8 hours, and would take his frustration out on my shoes, as he sometimes does.

In the end, I decided to bring both dogs and would just take Teddy home if it got to be too much for him. But once again, he surprised me. I arrived early to help my Mom get things going, and brought his favorite toys and treats to help him feel comfortable. Then people started to show up, and he was fine. He let people he knew pet him, and he stayed away from people he didn't know, but he didn't cower, or put his tail between his legs. He watched us all from a distance, sat under the dining tables to catch all the food that dropped (as all smart dogs know to do!) and after dinner, he even let some new people pet him. I had visions of him barking at everyone, and pacing around the house, as he has done in the past. But he did much better than I expected, and made me realize how far he has come in the past 11 months.

So I decided it is time to stop underestimating Teddy. For the past year, I've had no expectations of Teddy, and I just let him do whatever he felt comfortable with. But now I know he is capable of more than I thought, and I think it is time to start asking more things of him. Watch out Teddy - agility starts in January!