Time to put the agility equipment to bed!

Just put the equipment away on Saturday and boy was it close to being buried in the snow. As I carried it piece by piece to the upstairs of the garage, I wondered how I would work my dogs now. There is such a thing as latent learning in dogs and maybe I can rely on that. Hopefully the break for the winter will be good for them, let them relax and maybe do something a little different. Two of my younger Shelties need obedience training and that is something we can do inside. We could work towards taking the Canine Good Citizen test in the spring.

The upstairs of our garage is not lighted or heated but when the sun is out and bakes on the metal roof it may be warm enough to do a little practicing and heeling up there. I did set up the weave poles and a couple of the jumps so we could practice a little. 

Max my Sheltie pictured on the first page of this blog will be competing two days after Christmas and I will just have to rely on his latent learning. I have not had him on the A-frame or the dog walk in several weeks. He has always been good with the contact zones so I think we will do ok. 

The holidays are upon us and I am looking forward to some down time in the new year. We have been so busy with getting ready, running here and there, that I actually can't wait to have time for myself and the dogs.

I hope to put some excerpts from my book on the blog in the new year. It is so close to being finished. I need to get serious when I have time and complete and publish it. I am pretty excited about the book. It is mostly about the Sheltie but I cover many aspects of owning dogs, rescuing dogs and loving dogs. You won't have to be a Sheltie owner to appreciate the book. All dog lovers will find something of interest in there. I will have a chapter that includes many rescue stories and a chapter of short fiction stories. There is a chapter on the animal welfare versus animal rights problem. I do talk a lot about the heart and soul of the dog. I truly believe that dogs have a soul, and a spirit. In many of the stories you will see the spirit and intelligence of the Sheltie portrayed. I will let you know when my manuscript is complete and on its way to the publisher. This book will be a must have to add to your collection of dog and Sheltie books. 

Hope that all of you have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy the season.

Take a look at these ebooks

Agility Fun: Rainy Rainy Day!! What my Shelties do.

Agility Fun: Rainy Rainy Day!! What my Shelties do.

Rainy Rainy Day!! What my Shelties do.

What a beautiful day, rain, rain, and more rain. Ah, so peaceful, a good book and Shelties curled up all around the house. What more could you ask for? The two young pups playing in the kitchen; a new tug toy that looks like a fox that someone would wear around the collar of their coat. They both want it, pulling and tugging, jumping over each other, grabbing the tail and running around the kitchen table. They are having a blast. The old boy sleeping on the dog bed under the window, where you can here the drip,drip of the water running out the gutter pipe. He is sound asleep, lulled by the rain. He will sleep all afternoon. A brother and sister, three years old, bookends on the couch, snoring away. I sit between them on the couch with a new book, Journey of Souls, so thought provocative. Truly makes me wonder about my dogs souls, surely they have souls! I can't imagine them not going to the great beyond, waiting to be with us when our turn comes. I call them to go out for a potty break, they all jump up,so excited, we run down the stairs to the back door, they go out, feel the rain and stand there. I tell them to go and do their thing and they stand there, eyes squinting, shaking their coats, to get the water off. I bring them in and one by one towel them almost dry. They sure love that, like someone giving you a massage. It is evening now, this quiet, peaceful day almost done. What a perfect day it has been!

VALENTINES DAY IS COMING, SHOP NOW

Time surely flies by! Christmas has come and gone, in the blink of an eye. Go to my Sheltie Shop and get those Valentine gifts for your special dog loving friends. Even for non dog people you can send in a digital j-peg picture and I will put it on any item you wish. We have shirts, hats, mugs, journals, clocks, calendars and so many other great gifts. All I need is to have your picture emailed to me and I can create a design for you.I also have many Shelite graphics you can choose from. Click here to go to my Sheltie Shop. You will be amazed at the variety of gifts that we offer.

Organic garlic for your pet?

To use garlic as a supplement or not? Just had a discussion with a couple of breeders and they said they felt garlic was toxic to dogs and should not be used as a supplement.
I have been using Springtime organic garlic for several months for my dogs and have had no fleas, no ticks and other bugs seem to stay away. I had always believed that garlic was good for the immune system. Not wanting to cause illness in my dogs I contacted an herbalist and asked the question about garlic supplementation. . This herbalist said that garlic has been used for thousands of years to cure many ailments. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juliette_de_Bairacli_Levy Juliette Levy was one of the first to practice holistic medicine in animals and she often used garlic.
I did some research on quality dog food brands and many of them list garlic as an ingredient. So until I can do more research I will continue to supplement with garlic, but will use a smaller dose than recommended on the container. It has been wonderful not having any ticks on my dogs this year. If any of you have any experience with garlic supplementation with your animals please let me know the outcome.

Agility creates bonding with your dog!

Agility is a sport for dogs and people. The bond that is created by working in agility is amazing. You and your dog are learning to do new things together, you are meeting new people, new dogs and becoming familiar with new equipment. You are learning to work together, you run together, you do different movements, such as crosses, rear cross, front cross and blind cross. These crosses are done with many of the obstacles and are used so that as soon as your dog does the obstacle, you and your dog are headed in the correct direction to take the next obstacle. You need to practice these crosses time and time again. Your dog relies on you to send him to the correct obstacle so you need to be confident with what you are doing. The dogs can read your body language so well and pick up on every little move. You will begin to learn to read your dog too. You will almost be able to tell what he is thinking and know how to direct him. Your dog comes to rely on you and you need to be confident and in charge. You will be amazed how close you and your dog become when learning agility. It is a fabulous sport and most all dogs love it. My Shelties know when we are leaving the house for agility class.