Roxy training diary month 71
April 2009
Apr 21. Here are the Cow Camp-related photos of Sky, as promised.
The picture below is from Sky's very first exposure to cattle. As you can see, he's pretty excited; the cattle, not so much.
He didn't get to herd ducks, but like Roxy, he got to eat a duck. A cookie duck.
Also, as a bonus, this video of Sky and Chico playing at Dad's house in Littleton.
Calm Before the Sky
Put It on My Bill
You're New Around Here, Aren't You?
Blow Me
Sky the Dog, April 2009
Head of the Class
Do As I Say, Or I Will Hurt You
Apr 20. I realized today that I had not posted some of the stories and pictures from our Cow Camp trip. I will try to post up a little each day for the next few days.
Today's episode will be about Roxy's Cow Camp experience. I'll post SkyPix up next time, I promise.
One of the important things we needed to teach the dogs about working cattle — as opposed to sheep — is that their job is to go around to the heads of the livestock. Australian Cattle Dogs are called "heelers" because they prefer to work behind the cattle and push them forward. For the competition arena, this doesn't work.
We spent a lot of time working the dogs outside their comfort zone, which meant deliberately sending them around to the heads of the livestock. You can see some of the results here. Larry seems to be relaxed about the whole thing.
One day, we needed to go to the Family Center in Harrisonville for an errand, and while I was there, I found that they sell damn near everything — including John Deere caps for dogs. So of course I had to buy one so I could photograph the dogs for the RoxyLog.
After Cow Camp was over, the dogs stank of manure and mud, so we took them to a do-it-yourself dog wash for a good hosing off. A herding judge, on her way to a trial, stopped off at the ranch with a vanload of ducks that she was taking to be the herdees.
This was the first that Roxy had seen ducks up close and she was fascinated by them. The dog laundry had duck cookies, half-price, so of course Roxy had to get one. Still, she wanted to work the back of the stock instead of going around to the head.
Finally, on our way back, we indulged in some Annie Nostalgia and re-created a famous picture from Annie's Western Migration.
Roxy Deerest
Duck Dog
Roxy the Dog, April 2009
Annie the Dog, July 2005
Apr 18. I ran the Salt Lake City half-marathon today, and posted a personal record time that I was proud of, 1:49. Even better, I finished 21/97 in my age group. It wasn't much of a PR, just one minute off my 1:50 PR in the half-mary, but I had posted that 1:50 four times and I was getting sick of that number.
The weather was perfect for a PR run, and I started off strong, so I decided to push and see what I could do with it. It felt pretty good, even though I had very little gas in the tank by the end. They changed the course so that when I was going to push to the finish line, I couldn't. There was about a mile of uphill between 11.5 and 12.5 which threw my race plan for a loop. Still, I was able to pull it out FTW.
I'm still not sure what I am going to do with my training calendar as I prepare for the Ogden Marathon. If I don't get my long run and some decent training in, then I may have to walk-run the marathon. That won't produce a PR, but it will keep me from shredding my mind and my legs.
Is anyone reading this doing Twitter? I'm not sure how I feel about it, but if you want to experiment with me, look for me as AgileRoxy. I can't bear the thought of getting interrupted on the phone with updates, but I may get swept into it. At present, I'm just doing it through the web. I am following only one person, and I have zero followers. I had one follower, but she wanted to sell me penile enhancement products and that's not the kind of friend I normally like to keep around, so I dumped her.
Sky videos:
Roxy videos:
Apr 8. Taking a few moments on a painfully slow internet connection at the Flying J Truck Stop in Peculiar, Missouri. We're trying to upload some Cow Camp videos and it's going slowly.
Sky was exposed to cattle for the first time today. It was scary for all of us, but he made it through okay. He did get kicked in the head once, and Roxy took a shot to the shoulder, but neither seems to be any the worse for wear — each is a little more respectful of the stock.
Apr 4. We are on our way to Cow Camp this weekend, trying to dodge weather as we head out to the Kansas/Missouri border.
Yesterday was a better travel day, so we took off a bit early and got to Denver.
Chico and Sky got to meet for the first time, and became good friends immediately. There is a lot of play going on.
Let's Dance
See My Teeth?
