New class New instructor

Tonight I took Toby to his new class. Much to my surprise the class was with dogs that have never done agility. The instructor was very surprised also. She told me that Toby was nothing like what the other instructor had described. She thought that Toby was a dog with no skills in agility and totally out of control. She was looking for a wild Sheltie. Anyway I spent most of the night working on obedience and toy drive while the rest of the class learned how to get their dog excited with the crate. We work on some of the crate games also. However, Toby and I have already have been playing the crate games so we were one step ahead. They also worked on coming to the hand or side. We worked both sides for a while then went back to toy drive. The last thing they worked on was how to jump. We worked on that a few times and then went back to obedience. I am going to stick this class out. For one I have already paid for it and it was not cheap. Toby can always use foundation work. I just hope he doesn't get too board with this. I was told by the owner after class that I will be moved to a more advance level after we work on focus work. So I guess it is not all that bad. I just think that the first instructor just did not want to take the time to help us. Plus her attitude towards us was not all that great. The instructor I have tonight is wonderful and she has me all excited about doing agility with Toby. She says that there is nothing we can't fix. Keep your fingers crossed.

Things are looking up!

Yesterday was an awesome day! First of all for all those who have been rooting for me, I got a Dental Hygiene License for the state of Ga. What a huge load off my mind. Now all I have to do is find a job. This may be a little harder since there are 1000 more active hygiene license than active dental license. But I am going to remain positive. I am also going to look for a job that is with special needs. This has always been what I was most happy doing.

The second thing that happened yesterday is that I found a trainer that is excited about helping me and Toby get to our goals. No zoomies! Her name is Melissa and she teaches at Sirius Dog agility. She was contacted by the instructor I had last week. Melissa emailed me yesterday and asked me to email her with the entire back ground of Toby's training and personality. I felt as if I wrote a book on Toby. A little later on in the day I received another email from Melissa. She told me that she was excited to be working with us and that there was hope. She even stated that I had the perfect agility dog. I get to meet her tonight. We will be in her class on Tuesday nights from now on. We will also be doing some privates with her. She gave me a lot of hope. There is nothing better than to have an instructor that is excited about working with a wild bratty dog.

Off to update my resume!

Giving up

I thought I would never say this. " We are giving up agility" After two almost 3 years and not getting past a pre novice level I Think it is time to quit. Toby had his first agility class tonight and it was a total disaster! The instructor told me that we needed to do privates and she did not have time for privates. She said she would ask around but I just don't feel like being a burden on anyone and that is how she made me feel. Toby is just way over the top out of control. So once again I am being told that he is not ready for class. So I think I am done!

Pictures!

Well let just say that I am not a very good photographer. I will see if I can do better on Monday. Monday I plan on taking the camera to the dog park. I will work very hard at getting better quality pictures there. For now here are some pictures of our Tempory home. We have already started looking for a house. Apartment living is very hard to get use to.

Peach Tree

I know Georgia is known for their Peaches but There comes a time when Peach Tree can be over used. Example: There is a Peach Tree Road. Peach Tree Lane, Peach Tree circle, Peach Tree Blvd, South Peach Tree, Old South Peach Tree, Peach Tree Industrial Blvd. I don't think I have listed them all but I think you all just might get the idea. No wonder I have a tendency to get lost around here. Today Dave and I went for a drive. He is so ready to be back in a house! He got lost. He turned down Suwanee Dam Rd when he should have turned on Mcginnus Ferry Rd. So he thought that he could just make another turn and get to Mcginnus Ferry Rd. At least if the streets ran the way you and I would think they would run. The funny thing is he now believes me when I tell him you can not use the compass on the car. He told me I was nuts. Well! guess what. Much to his surprise when he looked at the compass it said we were going north. How could that be if we were heading west and made a left turn? We had to pull out the Garmin to get home. You would think that by now he would at least listen to me just a bit!

Another Fun Day at the Park

Toby had a blast at the park today. Today there must have been about 15 dogs at the park. Toby has started playing with another sheltie named Rocky. He is so cute! Rock is about a year old and loves to be the one! His mom brings a camera with her everyday and takes pictures of all of the dogs playing. Yesterday she brought me a couple of pictures of Toby. She took one picture of Toby running and having a great time. 3 of his feet were off the ground and he was barking. Today she brought a picture of Rocky and Toby. It was so cute. It looked like Rocky was whispering in Toby's ear. And of coarse we are going again tomorrow. There are about 6 of us that meeting there every morning. We will be loosing one because she has found a job and will be starting next week. I think all of us are looking for jobs. So one by one the group will break up.

I went on line today to check the status of my application for a Dental Hygiene licence in Georgia. They still did not have my test scores from either the National Boards or the Regional Boards. So I called them to see what was going on. All they would say is that I needed to give them 10 days for mailing and another 15 days to review. They could not tell me if the scores had made it to my file. Just after 5:00 this evening I went back on line to check the status one more time and low and behold my National scores had been completed. Now all I am waiting on are the Regional scores. They should be posted by the end of the month. Then I will need Board approval and if that happens I will be able to work as a Hygienist in GA. Keep your fingers crossed. The Regional scores my not be accepted by the Board because they are from the Western Regional Boards and GA says they will not take them. We will see.

Watched my friend Bill and Star on "Greatest American Dog" They did great! Go Get them Bill!

Found the Perfect Dog Park!

Today was a wonderful day! I found a dog park that I can get to with out getting lost. It is amazing! Last night I met some more people in the apartment complex. They told me that there was a dog park just a few minutes away. So this morning I took the Tobester our for a ride. Low and behold I found this dog park and I did not waist 1/2 tank of gas and it only took us 10 minutes to get to. What was even better was we did not get lost coming home. After about 20 minutes at this park Toby started running and playing with the other dogs. It was a wonderful site to see. However, there was this one dog that was very dominate and he got rough with Toby. This dog ran full force into Toby and made Toby yelp. Needless to say this dogs owner wasn't watching her dog. I think that next time if this dog and owner at the park I will bring Toby home and go back when they are not there. This dog park is very large with lots of grass. It has an area with trees and lots of shade. It also has a mini dog walk, a mini A-Frame and a red metal box set up like a jump. I was so happy to see this. I think Toby had a wonderful time there and we are going back every day so he can met some friends. Two of the dogs that were there today reminded me of Toby's bestest buddies in Dallas, Bosco and Boomer. I think Toby really misses his buddies. The dog that reminded me of Bosco was a Red Border Collie. Very sweet! The Red Border Collie has a sibling that looked and acted just like Boomer. I hope we get to see them again. Toby liked playing with them.

I will be so glad when my foot heals. It is still very sore and stiff. The swelling has gone down a lot but now it looks like a golf ball instead of that soft ball. I think it is going to be OK for our first agility class on Aug. 11Th. I think if I wrap it I can get through class. I am hoping anyway.

I have just about found a place for everything we kept out of storage. It has been tough but we are getting there.