WOW...

3 days with Jen Pinder, Rhonda Carter, Rachel Sanders and Jennifer Crank...my brain is so full I can hardly function :)

Headed down to Illinois to the Contact Sports Summer Agility Camp and had a BLAST!

All 4 ladies were amazing, great instruction, challenging courses and I can't wait to bring that all home and try to put it to good use. Andy and I WILL be going back next year :)

Also got a ton of good info on running contacts (thanks Jen and Rhonda!!)...handling, training, trialing expectations etc. Which was PERFECT...

Rhonda even spent a few minutes with me one of the mornings and looked at my running contacts and gave me the thumbs up on them, and a few things to start working on to help me out in handling etc. How nice is THAT? She didn't have to, and I really appreciated the feedback :) Oh...and Lynn has a 5 strided dogwalk...never thought to count them :)

And Jen helped me understand how Lynn's first several trials might go since she will probably miss some and that is OK...

Learned a ton of stuff, got great things accomplished with Lynn and she ran GREAT :) She LOVES the rubber coated contacts! I thought she might be put off by them, nope :) Didn't care. She ran her contacts like it was no big deal, everyday thing, and honestly worked like a grown dog :) I was so proud of her! Lovely jumping, lovely drive, great focus and such fun to run! My friend LV ran her after one of the days, just to see if Lynn would run for her, and she did great! Looked at me until she was put on the startline and then OFF SHE WENT :) Flying!! I am a HUGE believer in, your dog is a reflection of you as a trainer, you can blame so many things, your class, your instructor, the fact that you don't have equipment, etc etc. but the bottom line it is always comes down to you. And I have really put a ton of time into that little split faced bugger and to see her working so well just makes it all that more awesome :)

She hasn't been an easy dog for me to figure out...but boy has she taught me a ton...love that girl.And apparently so do many other people that were there this weekend :) I had an allergy attack (something in the food we ate) and my two friends that were with putting dibs on Lynn in case I kicked the bucket :) LOL

I wish I would have entered Lynn in the trial down here in IL this coming weekend, inside, ac, great rubber coated contacts, same facility, same equipment, it would have been an awesome experience for her. But I didn't :( We are going to a local trial this weekend, but that is OK...my only goal for her is to have fun, let her figure out her contacts and ensure she is successful. If it rains, she won't run. I won't put a baby dog in that situation...she will just be pulled. So lets hope for no rain!

It will be good to actually go home and STAY home for more than 3 days! WOO HOO!!!!!!!!

If you ever have a chance to see any of those gals in a seminar, DO IT!

And onto Even :) She is having 9 sessions of PST (Pulsed Signal Therapy) and her stitches came out today! She can now start 5 minute walks along with her Passive ROM...she is about 10 percent less on that right elbow flexion, so we will be working on that. She can also go back to doing begs and stands on her back legs...she has lost a bit of muscle in her back end...so we can work on that. And I will also be putting in 5 minutes of walking in chest deep water. And slowly building on that...She looks great, walking very well, no limp that I or Dr. Jurek from TOPS can see...so she is healing very fast and well :)

She might just be a real dog someday!! :)

I am also in the process of putting up a round pen...I need one for Lynn and I have a few people who are wanting to come work their border collies on sheep. Donna with Spot (Zip's pup) and another gal with a Border Collie...all of them need round pen work so I hope I can get that put up soon...crossing my fingers it can get done asap.

Agility building...working on it :) We have lots of good news so far :) We will know 100% yes or no in probably about 2 weeks. IF things line up, it will be heated and insulated...and right outside my door :)