Dylan,  Kim,  Mollie,  Rio

Odd Little Muffins

Both the younger dogs are still settling into their post-Mollie lives. Dylan is not his usual self. We’ve had a bout of sulking brought on Thursday evening, when we took Kim and Rio to Rally and Dylan got left home alone for two hours. He’s taken a few days to come around from that.

Rio feels a bit soft, but she has since her season finished. I don’t know where her edge has gone, but gone it has. I’m hoping that it’s just a case of settling hormones. Everyone told me that spaying before a first season made for soft dogs — I know this isn’t true, look at Kim! — but this is not what I signed up for. It could also be a reaction to the stress of Mollie being gone and Dylan being an ass, but Rio usually reacts to stress by becoming more loud and sassy. I’ve never seen her quiet down as a reaction. I hope her bounce comes back soon, I miss sassy Rio.

All the dogs are also getting fitter again, including Lady Jane herself. She goes walking with the youngsters in a morning now, and she berates them loudly at every opportunity. Dyl is also walking to the next village and back three times a week, about 3.5miles. I send him on his own He walks with my dad, and Rio goes on Sundays too.

Kim, Rio, and I have our first Rally trial in a few weeks, we still have a lot of training to do. Rio works well but has a tendency to get distracted, and our left turns/pivots are shaky at best. She also keeps obsessively offering a down instead of a sit on finishes, which we need to work on. It’s cute, but not good! I think she’ll qualify, barring any major distractions/disasters, and it would be fun to put a Rally title on her. It will depend on if there are any more trials in this area, and if they clash with agility or not!

Kim is just incredibly awkward, she does not see the point to obedience and she likes to tell everyone loudly about it in between exercises. When she’s working, she’s quiet, unless she feels we’re going too slowly. Then we get told. She also has the most crooked sits in existence, and so whilst she can do pivots, they’re not pretty. The best way I can think to describe them is to imagine a clock; dog and handler should be facing 12 and pivot to 3 or 9 together. With Kim, I am usually facing 12 and Kim is facing 3, so when I pivot left, I end up facing 9 and Kim is then facing 12. Technically she’s done the 90d left pivot, but we’re still not facing the same way. We are working on this! I don’t think she’ll qualify, but it will be fun.