It's All In The Collar

1. Theo woke me up at 5:30 this morning.  He didn't have to use the restroom, he just wanted out of his crate.  I took him downstairs and he slept on my feet while I watched last night's Top Chef on the Tivo.  As much as I hate it when he wakes me up that early, I love having those early morning moments with him.  He's always so quiet and mellow.
2. I probably should have gone running with him instead of watching tv, but for some reason running before the sun came up just wasn't tempting and my lazy butt got the better of me.
3. Theo was doing just ok in agility last night.  He kept running around the second jump, or knocking the bar down, and on the A frame he totally froze up.  We did the tire jump for the first time and he would not jump through it without me standing really close on the other side calling him emphatically.  Then it finally hit me: I forgot to put on his "it's time for agility" collar!  No wonder!  A collar shouldn't make a difference, but I swear it did.  As soon as I put on his agility class collar we did the dog walk (which he flew across), and the teeter for the first time, which he was totally fearless on.  Ok, he was a little apprehensive about the tilting part, but he did great for his first time.  After about 6 tries (I snuck over while we were waiting to try the other equipment throughout class), he would finally jump through the tire when I asked him to.  Progress!  And he ran straight through the tunnel (last week he kept running halfway through and then turning around and running out when I called him). 
4. Our agility class is a pretty good group of dogs.  They're all pretty good about doing the obstacles, even if they don't enjoy it.  We actually finished early last night because we didn't get hung up too much by dogs who wouldn't do the obstacles correctly.  That's great because it's hard to get around to all the equipment when we get stuck on one thing for a long time.
5. We're taking Theo up to Reno for Christmas.  I was hoping for snow, but apparently the gulf area decided to take all of California's (and Nevada's) snow this year.  Boo!  I should really get to an auto store and buy snow chains for Husband's car (hybrid).  Though maybe with gas prices so low we should just take my car (non-hybrid).  I have snow chains for my car.  With my luck there will probably be no snow, but still very very cold temperatures. 
6. Theo will be in heaven.  He loves it there, and Husband's parents are coming too.  I'll have to remember to walk him before it gets dark (that should be interesting), so the coyotes don't get him.  Apparently in that area it's very dangerous to walk your dog after dark.  I would totally kick the butt of anything trying to eat my furbaby, but it is still better to not take any chances.  I don't exactly have cat-like reflexes.
7. Is anyone tired of these lists yet?  I kinda like 'em.