December turned out to be very busy for the Munro household. With all the agility and flyball classes, the saying you can sleep when you are dead rings true! Taz was given the opportunity to run a full course at Ebon Stables for the "last class before Christmas" event. I must say he sure did surprise me! He was able to work at least 20 feet away from me for a series of jumps. We do not yet have collection with motion but that will come with more practice. He continues to make great strides being non-reactive during agility class. I always ensure he gets the chance for a break. Working for an hour with him sure tires him out!! He continues to progress in flyball as well. Today, he actually initiated contact with two male club members! He was also composed while being handling by another male member who wears a ball cap. We have been working hard at him going past a stationary dog next to the racing lane without making a peep. I have figured out that the tuggie must stay up until he is right next to me otherwise he growls at the tug. This can be mistaken for him growling at another dog, which we do not want to happen! The clicker has come out quite often to mark all the positive behaviours from him. For a dog who had issues with children, he was quite close to Kade without any issues today. I am still very vigilant but wholely believe that his allergies tend to make him uber grumpy and not wanting to deal with anyone/anything. Taz now takes a 24 hour allergy pill every day. I believe it is truely making a difference!
Pepper has enjoyed the time off around Christmas. She gets to lounge around and just relax! With moving to a new house, there has been enough excitement for a couple of weeks for her. I think she is happy to back to practices. She does enjoy flyball! Today she decided to bark at Rudy when he snuck up on her in the other lane. It sounded like "holy shit.... where did you come from? You aren't going to pass me.... no no no.... no passing me!"
Riki and Rebel are enjoying the new house as well. There are plenty of ledges and areas to get into that they really shouldn't. They are both still making great strides! Each morning they love getting scratchies. They both have a unique purr and meow! They love to play with Gizmo and can be heard running around at night. Riki actually likes Taz for the most part. He will come up to Taz and give him a little rub under the chin. The more Taz does not chase them, the more relaxed they are around him. We work hard at Taz not chasing the foster kitties in the mornings.
Gizmo had a bit of an accident on moving day which has resulted in one and a half inches of his tail being amputated. He is now sporting a lovely green bandage for two weeks. The vet said that he cut it on something and it was not a cat fight. Thank God it was not a cat fight!! His new nickname is Stumpy and Short Stuff. I have not seen the shorter tail cause any problems for him of late. He still has the same balance as before. It is just less tail to get caught in a door!
This year will prove to be just as busy with trials and tournaments as last year! We wish everyone a Happy New Year and good luck for all our trialing friends!
