We've had another extremely cold week with little opportunity for good, long walks. The week started out with a couple "warm" days where we got in a couple miles each day, but we only totaled 7.05 miles this week.
It was nice to be able to walk for more than .5 miles at a time. Barley was so excited to have a chance to sniff around and watch a few squirrels frolic. We even got a couple walks in without boots!
I don't care if your face is freezing--there's something amazing here and I WILL sniff it. |
Then the cold came back. We weren't able to get a walk in before agility class, which is never a good thing. (Does anybody else in the world have to wear out their dog BEFORE taking them to agility class?!)
We started a new session two weeks ago, so we had a new classmate joining us (this adorable beagle mix). That always adds a little excitement to class since Barley takes a while to warm up to new dogs--and doesn't hesitate to let them know if she doesn't like their behavior if she gets the chance. Our trainer is great and any time Barley's off leash she has any new dogs go into the crate room or behind a fence before Barley's turn, so she can't go check them out, which helps me relax more and then helps Barley relax more. But the excitement of a new dog always amps Barley up a little more than usual, regardless of whether she has a chance to see them or not.
Combine the excitement of another dog with the pent-up energy of no walk before class and you have one nutty Barley dog. She started out focused--we did some heeling exercises around the training floor before class started. But on her first turn, she lost her mind almost the second the leash came off. She was supposed to go into a tunnel, come out and go to the table, then send to a jump, turn to go through a tire jump, and go back through the tunnel for our first few obstacles. I set her up for the tunnel and as soon as I said tunnel, she took off and flew onto the table. She hit the table with such force that it started rocking and almost flipped over. Then she flew of the table, ran a few laps, and hit the table again. She did this a few times before deciding she was tired of that and ready to come back to me. (Again, thank you universe for giving us the most patient, kind classmates ever!) We quit trying to get the sequence and started doing some focus work for our turn. Then we put sandbags on the bottom of the table.
In addition to a little craziness in class, Barley's been extra crazy at home. We were playing with her toys one day this week since we couldn't get out for a walk. If I stand against one wall in the living room and toss a toy towards the kitchen, Barley can run the length of the apartment to chase it. Usually, I'll squeak the toy to get Barley to come stand in front of me to make sure she has as much room to run as possible--she'll come around the couch to get to me. When I squeaked a toy this time, she poked her nose up over the back of the couch. It was adorable. I wanted a picture of her peeking over the couch. When I tried that, I got this instead:
That's right. My crazy dog jumped over the back of my couch. Not once. Not twice. Three times. I decided it was time for snuggling before something (or someone) got broken.
Spring please hurry!
Despite the craziness, we're still right on track for meeting our goal for the year. Last year by the end of February, we were at 96.01 miles. This year, we're at 109.02 miles, so I can't complain. Rumor has it, we're going to get back up into the 30s next week, so hopefully we can have better numbers to report next Friday!