Giving Thanks

The doggies and I had a very lovely Thanksgiving day - in which I cooked and baked until my back hurt and I couldn't move another inch, and they cleaned plates and begged for food.  We all have our work cut out for us!

Pre-Rinse Cycle....GO!

Should I post the obligatory "I am thankful for..." stuff?  I have a lot to be grateful for but I will focus on my three dogs and how thankful I am for the changes that I have seen in them this year.

Einey... I am grateful for his new found confidence.  This year he went to several picnics and ran around begging for food, oblivious to my existence.  One person was even shocked when I told her that yes, this was indeed Ein.  These changes in a dog that used to shudder at the mere sight of a grouping of two people, they mean the world.  It also means the world that I was able to trial him in agility a few times, I never thought that that would happen.

Molly... Molly is still Molly.  And I am grateful that she is not an easy agility dog. (Huh?!) I am grateful that she takes my every single mistake and magnifies it for all the world to see.  She forced me to go to a teacher that would teach me how to handle, and teach me why each mistake I made caused Molly to do the erratic things that she does.  It was either that, or give up.  And giving up isn't happening.  Molly is still Molly, but we are qualifying more and she is staying with me more.  And best of all, we are learning together every single day.

Perri... This year I am most grateful that Perri feels safe Alone.  I actually just wrote a post for Team Unruly called Peace from Separation Anxiety and it really hit home how far Perri has come since then.  When you are in that situation, you can't see the forest for the trees.  I kept thinking, "This is a mild condition.  She's not as bad as some dogs.  She's not that bad at all!"
She was bad.  But now she's not!  We have accomplished a whole lot this year in dog sports and we have built up a lot of confidence.  But the sweetest part of the trials that we have gone to (for both Perri or another of my dogs.) is watching her lay in a crate calmly for several hours at a time.