Promises Promises

Today it was nice out all morning. I meant to take Izzie for a walk before going to work at noon but I ran out of time between loads of laundry. So I promised her I would walk her after work. Of course I didn't look at weather reports and was oblivious to the snow forecasted for this evening. Bummer, more snow.

But a promise is a promise when it comes to the pug, so as soon as I got home from work I put on the ol' coat and boots and put Izzie's on her too and we headed out.

It was snowy but not really cold so the pug enjoyed it. I think it's the cold she hates more than the snow. 

She enjoyed herself though wagging her tail and prancing around in the drifts. She even ventured out into the deep snow on her own!

Maybe she'll even learn to like snow enough to make doggy snow angels someday!

A Thing for Bling

You all know by now that I really like collars and leashes and sparkly things. So when something comes together that combines those three things, I'm all over it. So when I found out a local(ish) agility person was making these awesome hand stamped, hand dyed, leather martingale leashes I jumped at the chance to have one.   



Izzie's is purple with off set flower stamps all over and purple rhinestones in the centres of the flowers on the collar piece. The leash piece is 3/4" wide and the collar is 1" wide. It fits Izzo perfectly and is just gorgeous and well made! We used it all weekend and it's buttery soft now.






















Hopefully she'll have a website soon and I'll share it when she does.

Snow Days

9/52:. Stranded, originally uploaded by mandypug.

Quite the eventful agility weekend for us!

It ended up blizzarding so bad that they closed the highway home and we were stranded up there. Luckily the Connellys are awesome and took us in and fed us for the night. They're good people for sure!

We got home safely on Monday and the roads were mostly okay, a few sketchy spots and my windshield needs some rock chip repair from the sand being sprayed up. But hey at least they were drivable and I had a driving buddy to follow home. Thanks again Sar.

As for the trial results. No Qs but we had a great Masters Challenge run. Need to work on making sure Izzie knows we're a team out there and that she can't just do whatever she thinks is right and that I need to learn to feel her out there and be more proactive in making sure she succeeds in what I'm directing her to do. Not just watch in slow motion as she makes a mistake.

Always learning something...

What a Pug Should Look Like

That's what Izzie is according to her rehab vet.

No joke, she even took photos so she could show her off.

I've been working hard on Izzie's fitness. I do believe it plays an important part in her endurance and even in her drive. Heck if I wasn't strong enough to do something comfortable do you think I'd want to do it? No way.

Anyway, we've been doing mucho peanut ball work as well as regular walks on and off leash. Hills, flats, fast pace short walks, slow pace long walks, running, etc. Then on top of all that, lots of stretching. I stretch this dog all the time, before and after activities, before bed, when she wakes up. Massage massage massage, stretch stretch stretch. Takes a bit of extra time but so worth it. I can see a difference and it's only been a couple months of doing much of anything.



Izzie's weakness is her lower back and rear end. She muscles in the front well and has always had a skinny little behind and her back has always been a bit roachy. You can see it in photos.

However after I've been working on it more with her, doing exercises that strengthen those things, I've seen an amazing difference. Her back end is visibly more muscled and her core is stronger and a bit thicker (not in a fatty way, if that makes sense) and she even stands more squarely now, no more cheating and standing all crooked and weird. Her back is also levelling out and although it will never be that flat show dog back, it's getting stronger and the roaching in bad places is going away.

As for her energy level? It's increased dramatically. After breakfast instead of going back to bed, she wants to play ball or bitey face or run around. She gets bored with doing nothing wants to go walking and chase birds and bark at frisbee golfers (see, even the pug knows frisbee golf is lame).



Anyway what i'm getting at is conditioning pays off if you work hard at it.

As for the appointment? Well she saw Dr. Devall last month up in Calgary to check out her weird tricep thing, which went away with stretching and crate rest. She had a few adjustments needed and some laser and traumeel. Her whole body was rotated to her left, kinda how heeling makes her turn. So with all that done when i heard she was coming to town i figured it wouldn't hurt to have a follow up visit. Luckily everything stayed put and she only needed a few little things. Her head was on straight and her pelvis wasn't tilted, and she noted that Iz is noticeably more muscular in the rear.

So all in all, she's the picture of health and the poster child of what a healthy, in shape, active Pug should look like.

 

Ya, she's pretty awesome.

First Trial of the Year

I have to say I'm pretty pleased with the Iz!

Izzie did very well this weekend in all her events. She ran her little heart out and even qualified in snooker. That makes 3/4 masters snooker Qs now toward her title. One more! She wasn't feeling the weaving in either standard or challenge but I made her do them in challenge. More proofing I guess because she's been pretty bang on at our barn the last few weeks. In gamble I made a handling mistake and pointed my feet the wrong place so she pulled into me instead of continuing on to the tunnel but I was able to send her back out almost 20 feet to the tunnel from little momentum so I'll count that as a success even if the buzzer did go. We struggle with distance stuff which is why we're still chasing that last advanced gamble Q, but she's improving all the time.

That's about all there is to report, so here's a video of our snooker run.

 

Happy Valentines Day!

7/52:. Be My Valentine?, originally uploaded by mandypug.

Via Flickr:
Izzie wishes everyone a very happy Valentines Day today!

She's my valentine today and I even arranged her chicken necks in a heart for her breakfast this morning. Spoilt little muffin she is.

Sticking it Out

It's no secret that I don't love my job. Even my customers can tell and while most sympathize with me and realize very few people love working in retail, some have complained about how I don't look like I'm enjoying myself at work.

I'll tell you a not so secret, secret. I'm not enjoying myself. It's retail, it's a job.

Stuff gets on my nerves and I'm more often than not pretty grumpy after being asked what the best way to show a dog who's boss is, or how someone can treat an eye ulcer without seeing a vet over and over and over again.

So why do I do it?

The answer is that little dog up there at the top of this post. I work this job because it's relatively flexible in hours (well what few I get anyway), it pays me decently, and sometimes I get to bring Iz to work. It allows me to pay for all the things I do with Iz. To an extent anyway. I wish I could do a lot more for her, and even get her a friend.

It is what it is though and every time I come home bitchy because a customer came in 5 minutes to close and made me stay almost half an hour late, I just cuddle up to my special little girly and remember that I'm sticking it out where I am for now so I can keep doing the activities we love to do together.

If something better comes along and it's meant to be it will happen. I'll continue to search but for now, Izzie is my reminder to keep going.