A little update to let you know we're still alive and kicking, just super busy with keeping up with August Running Contacts and Foundations classes ha ha. And ah, a bit on why I don't do so many trials (and no seminars) anymore... - for those who were trying to guess, but failed 🙂

The Beauty, The Beast and The Genious 🙂

So... - Le sure scared me at EO, but looks like it was just a scare. Her orthopedic, physiotherapist and osteopath all find completely nothing wrong with her and think she could be running agility long time ago, but we decided for a more conservative route and kept her on a complete rest for 3 weeks and then slowly added activity, starting with longer walks, cavalettis, downhill backing up and shoulder and core tricks and then also rear end strengthening tricks and sprints. And we even braved our first short agility session on low height two days ago! Le looked great of course, but then, if you're a Super Midget, it's hard to not look great 🙂

Along with Le, Bu is on "building muscles" plan as well. She is 12,5 now and has been losing more muscle mass as I would like, so she got to do double walks (longer walks with the rest of the gang and then another one with Le who I walked separately until just recently since she wasn't allowed to run wild), lots of conditioning tricks and we even started with some agility again, just to make her happy and more active as she is just not a dog who would be active without a little push. - Very unlike Bi who is now 10 and still as crazy as ever and super busy playing with Ta (who is the only one in our house who can keep up with Bi's energy level).

Bu, looking good and having fun at 12,5 years old

Ta is still a bit wild - but a bit less clumsy, so our current project is teaching her to jump better, using her rear end more rather as just using her shoulders! Interestingly enough, she never knocks, but I really don't like her style at all - never had a dog who would find so hard to use her body! - Even though we've worked on body awareness tricks more, more correctly and more systematically as with any other dog! Such a puzzle why this is so hard for her!!! She is like a huge unmatured male... - just that she is a tiny girl!

With To, we've been focusing exclusively on her S's. It's just sooo frustrating that on every course, my first thing to check is how many S's there are and how to avoid them! She has been A BIT better, but it's still crazy hard for her to not knock in that scenario! I'm super happy with fewer bars in all other scenarios though! And of course, with her speed and listening skills! She is really super fit at the moment, but we're nearing her heat now... - that is always followed by her fat and fluffy stage 🙂

And me, well, I'm enjoying some time off trials and looking forward to no trials the whole winter ha ha! I actually wanted to cancel AWC as well, but then they talked me out of it, so I guess we'll still run that. I'm looking forward to running those courses, but I have to admit that those big trials getting longer and longer (AWC starting on Wednesday already this year!) is really hard on introverts like me!!! I tend to enjoy the first two days - and then just want to go home... So... Just to clarify... - if I don't congratulate you after 4/5 days at EO/AWC, it's NOT because I'm not happy about your success. It's just because 5 days without my green empty view is exhausting to me and I just really really want to go home to this view:

And o.k., to this view too 🙂 (And please excuse Bu, she is a bit like me and doesn't crowd with her own species much)

Yeah, agility trials are just not designed with introverts in mind... I wish there was such a great alternative to trials as online classes are to seminars!!! 🙂 You know when somebody puts a picture of a seminar somewhere exotic on Facebook and everybody is "ah, lucky guy". MY feelings are "oh my, poor guy - how lucky am I that I don't ever need to do another seminar again and I can sit right here at my desk, with this view that doesn't include a single person"!

And no worries, I do enjoy talking to people sometimes... - But at times, I really need the silence. And solitude. And my green woods. So when I look big headed and distant to you - I'm probably just exhausted... You know those people who keep a TV on all the time? For me, it would be a torture to have a TV background sound on! And if you really want to know how weird I am: I don't mind the sound of slow-motion RC videos at all!!! 🙂

I was weird already as a kid... - all I dreamed of was a dog! Surprisingly, the hormones did their job right as I actually was surprisingly social and trying to be cool as a teenager, staying out all nights and backpacking around Europe and stuff. I also used to enjoy seminars that I started teaching in 2003.  I sure did LOTS of seminars - things like 22 consecutive days, several times per year. And I really enjoyed it - till the last one I did! And then the next day I woke up and I would do ANYTHING to not have to do another day of a seminar EVER again!!! I guess it's called a burn out. I could easily retire that same day because yes, I really did THAT many seminars. And o.k., because I'm super low maintenance 🙂 (because yes, of course I hate shopping - oh my, people everywhere - and not even dog people!!! - could it be any worse???).

So why I didn't retire? Because I LOVE to help people to succeed with their dogs... Or just have even more fun with them... It's my favorite thing to do! So what now... Online classes!!! Perfect introvert solution! No people, just messages and videos about their progress, newly found joy, wins or challenges that need some brainstorming... How cool is that!!! My dream job for sure!

So now, after I totally scared you off - even introverts enjoy a good old chat sometimes and are happy to see their students in live! We just need a break sometimes. Sometimes all we need is a little walk in the woods with the dogs. Sometimes we need 7 months away from trials.

And while thousands of likes on Facebook can be somebody's dream, you have to understand that for weirdos like me, it can be exhausting. Weirdos like me need breaks from likes and congratulations and people. E-mails and comments on my website are always fine - I never need a break from that! So for all seeing me work on my classes when at trials and telling me I should take a break sometimes... - I AM taking a break - right there, right then!!! I'm doing what I love and doesn't exhaust me... Facebook is fine too as long as I can open and close it when I feel like it and stay away from it for as long as I want. And no, of course FB messages and notifications do NOT go to my phone (what a nightmare would that be!!!)! Phone calls and visits... - well, you better tell me by e-mail with 2 weeks notification notice!!!

The weirdo 🙂

Thank you for understanding and letting me be weird. I know it's weird to you, but that's just who I am. I know most people strive to be recognizable and thrive as a center of attention. But some don't. Some of us don't like attention and find it exhausting to just be surrounded by people. It might be hard to understand and that's o.k., but it still doesn't give you the right to spread untrue rumors. If you are asked about something that you have no clue about it - just say you have no clue about it. It's o.k. to not know everything.