Toby's World

Yesterday I took Toby for his adjustments. That dog sure has it made! I wish someone would take me to have acupuncture and chiropractic adjustments done on me. He has such a life. Gets to act like a brat most days. Has fun at school and a cabinet loaded with yummy treats! Life just couldn't get any better!

Any way, I had to take everything that goes in, on, and around Toby to the Vet yesterday. I felt very weird when I walked in with three bags and my purse loaded down. Much to my surprise I did not hold the record for the most indulgent pup. I guess you can say I am proud of that. As most of you know Toby gets what he wants when he wants. Well, back to the events of the day. Dr. Ave did the arm thing again. Very freaky! Out of all of the stuff I took there were only 4 things not good for Toby. Clorox II, Nupro joint supplement, Hot shot detangler, and some all natural treats that had carrots in them. Everything else was OK for Toby. Including the cheese wiz and the Bill Jack. The Bill jack was very surprising! Bill Jack is junk food of all junk food. I don't like it! But sometimes you just have to do what will get the job done. Plus Toby only gets it for training about once a month. Dr. Ave explained to me that just because it is junk food doesn't mean that it doesn't agree with Toby. So there you go! She was very happy with all of the choises I have made with Toby's diet. Once again I need to thank Dori and Jamie for teaching me good nutrition for Toby. Thanks Guys, I could not do it with out your help!

As far as the acupuncture and the adjustment, I am not sure Toby was real pleased about that. He reacted to the pokes with needles in his feet and there was a place on his back that made him react just a little. I thought for sure after all of that that he would have a perfect straight sit in obedience class last night. But no! That was the last thing he was going to do in class.

Obedience class went so so. I do have to admit that is was very warm last night. You all know how Toby hates it when it is hot. We struggled with his sits all night long. He loves to roll back. I think that it is just more comfortable for him. I have been told other wise. Everything else was great!

Well this is Friday morning and Toby gets a day of barking in the back yard. He is not allowed to do it every day anymore. I have put a stop to most of the self rewarding behavior he likes to do. So Friday mornings I let him bark until it gets hot out side. He then has to be quiet or come in the house. This seems to be working. I spent some time watching his run this morning. It looks like he running is a lot smoother than before we started the Chiropractic work. All in all Toby seems to be very pleased with his life.

Temper-tantrums

Last night was Toby's first private with Windle. We got a lot done. It seems that Toby loves to throw temper-tantrums when he doesn't get his way. What a brat! The first thing Windle had us do was go over two jumps and I was to call Toby to me. In front the the two jumps was a tunnel. The tunnel had a gate so Toby could not go in it. Well, after Toby got to the end of the two jumps I call him to me. Toby had already made it to the tunnel and saw that he could not go in there. He got pissed! Sorry for the potty mouth! Toby proceeded into a zoom all around the building. When I finally got him back Windle told me to take Toby over to the tunnel and stand in front of the tunnel with my back to it and take Toby in the other direction over the jumps away from the tunnel. I was to call Toby to me when he finished the second jump. Toby was an angel! So we repeated this again. When Toby got to the Tunnel he once again got pissed because he could not enter the tunnel and once again went into a zoom. Next Windle moved the gate form the tunnel and we allowed Toby to run a short two jumps and a tunnel. What an angel. So then we moved to the other side of the building. We had to be very careful not to upset Toby and we both know that if I ask Toby to do something too many times he gets upset. So we changed things up for the Tobsters and Toby had a great class. We also took my handling out the the picture. I did some recalls over a couple of jumps and Toby's recalls looked beautiful. Even Windle complimented us on them. So then we worked some sends and moving away from me and coming back. It was a great class. Thanks Windle, I really, really appreciate your help!

Not much going on here!

Not much going on here! We think we are still moving to GA. Don't know when just yet. I have stopped investigating how to get a licence to practice Dental Hygiene in Ga. So far it looks like I will have to retake the boards. Maybe I can get one of my friends ie Dori or Jamie to be my patient. lol

Toby is doing great in basic obedience. Thursday night we had a wonderful class. His sits are getting better by the day. He no longer looses focus towards the end of class. Last night I was so proud of my boy. There was somebody over in the next parking lot squealing tires and revving an engine up to the max! Toby was very nervous about the loud obnoxious noise. I went on it seemed like hours. This was the first time I have heard all of this racket. My class mates told me that this goes on pretty frequent. Any way. Toby was very nervous but remained in his sit stay. His ears were pinned back and his neck had turned to rubber but his butt and feet did not move a bit. Very Nice Tobes! I think the obedience class is paying off. Today Toby was out side barking at someone using a weed eater. I went to the door and called Toby to come get a cookie. Toby stopped barking and come inside to get his cookie. Man that was a change. Most times Toby would not have heard me or much less listen to me when someone was mowing or weed eating near our back yard.

Monday night Toby and I will have our first private with Windle. We are going to be working on Toby's zoomies. EE is also helping. She told me that she has given Windle some suggestion to help us. At some point I will be able to have privates with Both Windle and EE. It is going to be great! I will be able to have more privates working with both of them and they will be on the same page. Maybe by the time we finally get moved Toby will be in the show ring. Keep your finger, toes and paws crossed.

New adventures for Toby

Thursday morning I took Toby to a new Vet in Plano Dr. Ave. I have heard stories about her arm thing. I really did not know what they were talking about until I experienced it for my self. Wow! I was totally amazed by everything that went on in her office. I was drawn in by her and the things she taught me. Toby was very relaxed and I think he rather enjoyed his visit. He even gave her kisses! Not many people get kisses from the Tobsters. I very rarely get them and I am the one who feeds him. Anyway back to what went on. I took Toby to Dr. Ave to see what we can do about his allergies and try to get him off of the benadryl. This is when the arm thing took place. Dr. Ave went through some Cases of things and pulled what looked like to me small bottles of things at random and placed them on the floor beside her. Then one by one she took the bottles and placed them on Toby. Then she placed these bottles into two different groups. She moved one group off to the side. The other group she had me place the bottle on Toby with my left hand and then hold out my right hand. I was to not let her move my right arm. This divided the bottles up into a smaller group. Then she placed some acupuncture needles into Toby. Then she had a couple of syringes and gave Toby some shots in different parts of his body. Once that was done she touched Toby's back lightly all the way down to his tail numerous times. It was so strange. The last thing she did was some chiropractic adjustments all the way down his back. There was one area that Toby let out a little sound. She said that that area will need more work in the future. All the while she was talking to me. She told me that Toby was very self confident. She said that most shelties go around there entire life with no self confidence. She also told me that Toby was very centered and calm. The whole time I was thinking" you have not see him on the agility field doing his zoomies." We talked about food. She was very impressed that Toby was on The fish formula of Orjen Thank you Jamie! Also thanks to Jamie, I learned that Grain free was the way to go! Dr. Ave also told me that treats that I give Toby are very good. I feed Toby duck and sweet potato. She said that both of these are foods that cool the dog down. I guess dogs that have allergies are hot most of the time. Their bodies produce a lot of heat. She told me that I should buy a box fan for Toby to keep him cool. She said that ceiling fans work a little but box fans were much better and cheaper. The entire time I was there I could not figure out what to think. Was this a quack or what. Well, let me tell you. I liked her and I think Toby is doing great today. He seems to be feeling great. His eyes look clear and he has not been scratching as much. Dr. Ave seems to think that the space behind Toby's right ear was not big enough but after she adjusted him he had more space. Yes, by the time I got home his eye had stopped draining. We are going back in 3 weeks for more adjustments and I guess acupuncture. Oh! she did give us some herbs to take. I also found out that although Toby is on fish food he still needs the omega's from a capsule. It seems that the minute you open the dog food that has the omega's in it they start to break down and are no longer good. So I have to go pick up some when I go the store tomorrow. What a morning! This was truly an experience. And I must say Toby did great in obedience class last night. I just hope that it carries over to agility class.