Training Day 1

Connected with my triathlete friend, Scott, Monday morning, and he got to meet Ember for the first time.  He pronounced her a dog he can work with, and one that will be great for me.

What did he do with her?  Observing that she's both overweight and strong, he took her leash and took her for a run to wear her out.  Then he tested her sit, stay, and retrieve (with a dummy).  She did well for him, and other than wanting to bring the retrieved dummy to me, rather than to him, passed the initial test.

The plan is for him to work with us on Mondays and Wednesdays when the weather is good for it.  He can do this after his swim (and chiropractic appointments).  He's willing to just do this to help me out!  OMG.  I have seen what the locals charge for field dog training, so this is a big deal.

Here's Scott with Ember working at her identification of this new human.  Threatening to eat his beard, while she's at it.

Yep, she needs to be fed less.  One cup kibble morning, and one cup evening.  He recommends Salmon and Sweet Potato formula.  He was using it for her training treats today.  He says add green beans for volume.

Scott took a selfie of the two of us, as well.  Sunny day with breeze in our hair.
Scott is blessed in his life and willing to help out a friend.  When my brother died, he was one who reached out to me while I was still in New York state helping my niece with arrangements and things.

He is also the one I mentioned in an earlier blog, who lost his hunting dog, and then his buddy left a hunting dog behind and now the two are together, the man who lost his dog and his friend, and the dog who lost her favorite human.  Meant to be, one might say.

Scott promised a play date at some future point for Ember and his own overweight lab Miley.  Miley, though, is 12 years old, and Ember is still a young dog, so we simply must get her in shape.  The plan is to get Ember whistle trained, one tweet to send her out, two to call her back.  This will help in open field training, where my voice might not carry far enough for a recall.

I'm kind of hoping I will get a little more jogging fit in the process, too.  Lots of dummy fetching, too, says he.

Tuesday at the vet

Ember got all her shots today, in addition to the Bordetella squirt up the nose.  I had the vet look over a couple of spots on her coat that I was a little worried about, because this kind of coat issue can be many different things.  She confirmed it is NOT ringworm, so, whew!  

She weighed in at 93.5 pounds, which is 3 1/2 pounds up from when I had her at the vet in December.  The vet approved of Scott's recommended diet, and of my new plan of "five fetches to earn ONE training treat".  Bottom line, she has been pronounced fit to train.   

I left her there to play with her doggy friends and came home to clean and do things I usually do on Tuesdays.  Life is proceeding as life does, and it is good.  Spark on!