She Blogs!

Wow, so much for taking a week off!  It's February!  Egads!

Well I knew it had been way too long since I had updated my blog when my mom called asking if I was ever going to update again.  I didn't even know she read it!  Hi Mom!

I have to admit, part of the reason behind the silence is...well...we really haven't been that interesting lately!  We've fallen into a pattern that I have been loving, but it's nothing really to stop the presses for.  There has been lots of morning jogs and evening walks, still a heinous amount of fetch, and even some cuddling thrown in.  But between this cold and rainy winter and my serious homebody tendencies, we haven't gotten out much since Reno.  Here's a bit of an overview of the last few weeks.

First, Theo is still loving agility class.  I got to work with him off leash a bit and he did amazing!  He flew over all the jumps without being hindered by the fear that he would run out of slack on the leash mid-jump.  Where most of the dogs take a leasurely pace going over the obstacles, Theo races!  My trainer is always telling me to run and keep up with him.  He's a fast little devil!  He still hates the teeter totter, but I've gotten him to do it a couple of times.  Like all the other dogs, he treats the yellow area (that's the area at the beginning and end of some of the obstacles, like the A-frame, that the dog is supposed to have two paws touch or it's a penalty) like it's made of acid.

I cracked the whole class up last week trying to get Theo to do the weave poles off-leash.  He was all over the place, going through every pole out of any kind of order, trying to figure out what I wanted so I could give him the treat I was holding.  Hehe.  I finally gave up because he was being too ridiculous.  He's going for class clown.  He really impressed me by always staying with me and responding to my commands.  When we are done with a course, he always makes his way back to our seat without taunting the other dogs still on-leash.  What a gentleman.  I spend the 30 minutes between when doggy daycare closes and when class starts walking him around so he's not quite so hopped up doing class.  That has helped a lot with the barking, but I still have to hold him in my lap for most of class to keep him quiet.   I think we have one or two classes left, but I'm definitely going to repeat the class as long we we're having so much fun.

We've gotten into a nice routine at home.  I've been running with him in the mornings.  He's still nuts about it.  He tries to run full speed the whole way, refusing to slow down to my speed.  So basically he kind of strangles himself.   I can't figure out why he's so intent on it, but I've been trying to work up to running faster so I can give him a bit of a break.   Any command I give him those 10 minutes is basically useless because he won't listen to a word I say.  If I slow down to a walk, he still tries to run...the whole way.  Sometimes my arm is sore from holding on to the leash so hard.  But on our evening walks he's an angel.  He heels great and listens to all my commands, so I try not to give him too hard of a time on our runs, since it's obviously something beyond just teenage disobedience.  

I've been walking farther and faster!  Thanks to a handy iphone app (love it!), I know that we've been walking just about 2 miles a night.  Plus I always run around with him in the little park in our complex so he has a chance to really stretch his legs.  Lately he prefers me to chase him, rather than him herding me.   I can tell when he's tired because he runs in very small circles, rather than all over the place.  Hehe.

Unfortunately, the rain has gotten in the way of a few of our walks and runs the last few weeks.  Don't get me wrong, I love the rain, but I've gotten so used to all the exercise that I feel terrible when I can't do it!  Hehe.  When it's only lightly sprinkling I'll throw on Theo's jacket and drag him along with me anyway.  He really hates the rain, but he doesn't usually complain once we're walking.

I've really been loving our peaceful evenings together.  Usually after our walk I'll curl up in the comfy armchair with a book, and play a little fetch with Theo.  Thanks to our longer walks, the fetch sessions don't last nearly as long.  Usually after just a few minutes he'll be off chewing an antler, and before long he'll jump up on the ottoman and fall asleep on my feet or leaning against my legs.  He's gotten much more cuddly in his teenage years.  I'm totally loving it!

So there's boring old me and our boring old routine.  It may make you fall asleep at your computer, but it makes me happy.

Theo really has been an angel for the most part lately.  We're still leaving him home two days a week while we're at work, and that's usually the only time he really does anything troublesome - not that I blame him at all.  Some days I'll come home to find bits of cardboard everywhere because he got bored and chewed up one of the boxes storing junk in the loft.  Husband was annoyed by it at first, but I told him that if chewing up an old cardboard box is the worst destruction we get, then we're lucky and he's still awesome.  Husband readily agreed.  Last week he had an accident, and again Husband was annoyed.  I asked him if Theo had done his business before he left for work that morning and he said he Theo wouldn't go.  Well it turns out lazy Husband wouldn't walk Theo to the bushes across the street (that's the place he likes to go), and just waited around in the backyard for him to go (he rarely will go in the backyard anymore - it's living space!).  So since Theo hadn't gone all morning, of course he had an accident after being home alone all day!  I scolded Husband instead of Theo for that one. 

I hope everyone's dogs are being little angels too!