I saw a funny post the other day about how we talk to our dog friends vs. our non-dog friends.
My answer to the question ” what have you been up to?” varies based on the audience.
For my non-dog friends, I’ll say I’ve gone on a couple of weekend get-aways to visit friends. I’ve also been going to the beach a lot, trying to get back into a workout routine and researching organizations to start volunteering with in the fall. I try to sound like a normal person that isn’t doing “weird” stuff.
For my dog friends, depending on what I know of their dog activities, I will be more forth coming with my answers i.e. I’ve been training Maisie to be a Therapy Dog and have found an organization that I’m pretty excited about. I’ve gone through my own training with them and I’ll be tagging along this week to observe their program in action. Hopefully we will pass their dog team test so that we can volunteer with them in the fall. We’ve been going on a lot of training walks, in and out of stores and mixing up our destination to expose her to lots of different situations and people.
For dog enthusiasts, I might elaborate a little more. Winn and I have been doing all kinds of advanced training over the last several months and have entered several different types of trials and have earned five titles. Right now we are focusing on Water Rescue training and are having a blast!
I’ve been around water my entire life and for about 10 years I worked at my local YMCA teaching 3-5 year olds pool safety and how to swim. I loved working with that age and I really felt like I was teaching them something that could save their lives. Now I’m exploring a different form of water safety by working with Winn and her natural instincts. It’s just for fun, she’s not going to be a lifeguard or a search and rescue dog, but I love swimming with her and having a reason to be in the water again.
I’ve taken a couple of trips with her to learn the skills needed to enter and pass the junior level Newfoundland Water Dog (WD) test and have been working on a few of the skills included in the senior level Water Rescue Dog (WRD) test. (Last year I volunteered to help at the water tests in my area and wrote about those skills here and here.) She loves the water and has amazing instincts. We work really well together but being in the water is exhausting and I’m reminded that even though she’s a big dog, she’s still young and she tires easily. I’m also getting used to being in the water again so we are both working on building our stamina in the water and knowing when to call it quits.
This week, I’ve been filling out entry forms for water tests put on by different regional Newfoundland clubs. Two are close by, about an hour’s drive and two are further away and would require a hotel stay. I hope to get into at least two, maybe three. My friend who has been doing this a long time and teaches water skills clinics would like me to go to Canada with her so Winn could also try for her Canadian Water Rescue Dog title. I think this year, we will just focus on her American title and consider that in the future. I’ll be thrilled if we get the title this summer, but I’m loving the bond we’ve formed and the fun we have learning new skills. I have high hopes for us as a working team and there are so many possibilities for us to explore!
Everyone there had their own grooming kit and their favorite items. The fun part for me was checking them all out, talking about all of the different choices and trying out some new tools.
This is the amazing set up our friends have put together:
I keep my tools in a tote bag, but I may need to graduate to something bigger pretty soon!
My favorite tool has always been a grooming rake. I bought a cheap one 15 years ago and it worked beautifully on Bailey. I would brush her at night while watching tv, and she would snore through the process. Eventually, a couple of the pins bent and started to snag and I have bought multiple rakes since then trying to find one that worked as well as that one. Even though I no longer use that one, I still have it, comparing it to others while my search continues.
I’m comfortable giving ear and paw trims to keep a neat appearance, but what I really needed help with was what to do with her lion’s mane and her leg feathers. Winn’s adult coat is continuing to come in and I haven’t done anything other than bathing and brushing her regularly. The biggest change occurred with her neck trim. Suddenly, she looked smaller and in better proportion without all of her crazy fluff around her head!
I could certainly keep going with the blending shears, but she looks pretty and now I’m more confident about how to tackle those bigger areas.
maisiethenewfieandcompany 