Five ways to describe Macie:
1. Cute
2. Sweet
3. Curious
4. Excited to meet everyone
5. Loves attention
Five ways to describe Chip:
1. Handsome
2. Bipolar
3. Cautiously inquisitive
4. Irritated by new people invading his house
5. Will tolerate attention on his terms only
Many people, knowing Chip and making assumptions that Macie is like any other puppy, often ask how the two are getting along. Let me tell you, it's been a process...kind of like grieving, at least for Chip:
1. Denial: There's nothing going on. If I never leave the bedroom, I don't have to see this thing that has invaded my home.
2. Anger: What is this thing that has invaded my home? I've ventured out to examine it, and it just seems to make loud noises and disturb my peaceful home. Get it out, GET IT OUT! I have claws and I know how to use them!
3. Bargaining: OK Mom and Dad, let's make a deal: I will be the good pet. I will sleep in your bed again and purr and pose for you. All I ask is that you get rid of that thing. Please?
4. Depression: It's not working. I'm so stressed that I don't have any appetite. I'm just not going to eat and get even skinnier than I already am. *Dramatic sigh*
5. Acceptance: Well, it's not going anywhere. But Mom and Dad still love me and give me lots of attention. And maybe it's not that bad. We're learning to share and be in the same place at the same time without antagonizing each other. Maybe it's even kind of nice. It gave me a kiss the other day...
Actually, Chip is jumping around between anger, depression and acceptance. He's fine most days, but we still try to keep Macie out of his face. For her part, I think she knows he's the alpha and usually ignores him or tries to scoot quickly past him if they are both in the hallway. Oh, animals...
Monday, April 26, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Yankee Springs Time Trial
Racing season is officially underway! Mitch and I, along with many of our On 2 Wheels teammates and various friends, raced the Yankee Springs Time Trial on Sunday. As always, it was a great way to kick off what is sure to be a fantastic season.
But first, let's back up. Last weekend, we met Rick and Nichole at the trail for a little preride. I was a bit anxious about my abilities, because I was so doggone slow up at Harrison and didn't push it at all when I rode Island Lake with my dad. And when I finished my lap at Yankee, I found my time was a full ten minutes slower than last year's race time. Ugh!
Our preride group
It's hard to have "place-based" goals in a class without consistent competition. I can't go out each week, like Mitch, and have a group of people to pit myself against because my class is small and there are often only two or three of us. So my goal for Yankee, which will probably carry over to most of the races, was simply to be as fast or faster than last year.
We left at the crack of dawn, and I was all bundled up because I'd have a few hours to kill in the cold while Mitch raced in the expert class, along with Rick, Nichole and Jake. I brought Macie for company, and she made friends with everyone! She was so good, letting tons of people pet her and snuggle her...though thanks to all the dust, she was filthy by the end of the day! We cheered for Mitch and everyone as they came through on their first lap, and then I handed her off to Mitch's mom while I ate lunch and warmed up.
Such a good puppy!
When I finally hit the trail, I knew it was going to be a good ride. I struggled a bit at the beginning, but hit my rhythm about three miles in and never looked back. I powered up loose, rocky hills that other women were walking and navigated root-filled uphills much better than last weekend. The downhill parts of that trail are just so awesome: fast, flowy and at times a bit technical. I was having so much fun that a few times, I had to remind myself I was racing and hammer harder. I came in strong at the finish, and met my goal: eleven seconds faster this year than last.
Mitch's start - he's so fast!
Mitch also did great; his class was fast and competitive, but he had a good ride and consistent lap times. He won't make excuses, but I know being on medication for a particularly irritating allergic skin reaction all week slowed him down a tiny bit. Still, he was happy with his performance. Friends and teammates deserve a big congratulations, too. Nichole's reluctant debut as an expert racer was awesome, Rick was on fire, and Jake made the jump up, too, and met his race goals.
But first, let's back up. Last weekend, we met Rick and Nichole at the trail for a little preride. I was a bit anxious about my abilities, because I was so doggone slow up at Harrison and didn't push it at all when I rode Island Lake with my dad. And when I finished my lap at Yankee, I found my time was a full ten minutes slower than last year's race time. Ugh!
Our preride group
It's hard to have "place-based" goals in a class without consistent competition. I can't go out each week, like Mitch, and have a group of people to pit myself against because my class is small and there are often only two or three of us. So my goal for Yankee, which will probably carry over to most of the races, was simply to be as fast or faster than last year.
We left at the crack of dawn, and I was all bundled up because I'd have a few hours to kill in the cold while Mitch raced in the expert class, along with Rick, Nichole and Jake. I brought Macie for company, and she made friends with everyone! She was so good, letting tons of people pet her and snuggle her...though thanks to all the dust, she was filthy by the end of the day! We cheered for Mitch and everyone as they came through on their first lap, and then I handed her off to Mitch's mom while I ate lunch and warmed up.
Such a good puppy!
When I finally hit the trail, I knew it was going to be a good ride. I struggled a bit at the beginning, but hit my rhythm about three miles in and never looked back. I powered up loose, rocky hills that other women were walking and navigated root-filled uphills much better than last weekend. The downhill parts of that trail are just so awesome: fast, flowy and at times a bit technical. I was having so much fun that a few times, I had to remind myself I was racing and hammer harder. I came in strong at the finish, and met my goal: eleven seconds faster this year than last.
Mitch's start - he's so fast!
Mitch also did great; his class was fast and competitive, but he had a good ride and consistent lap times. He won't make excuses, but I know being on medication for a particularly irritating allergic skin reaction all week slowed him down a tiny bit. Still, he was happy with his performance. Friends and teammates deserve a big congratulations, too. Nichole's reluctant debut as an expert racer was awesome, Rick was on fire, and Jake made the jump up, too, and met his race goals.
Friday, April 09, 2010
Easter Weekend
Mitch and I had a fantastic, whirlwind Easter weekend. First, we took Macie on a little trip to campus so she could meet some new friends. Everyone loved her, and she did so well listening to me even amidst all the excitement. Then we hit the road for Mid-Michigan Community College in Harrison, where they built a new mountain bike trail last year.
Macie is such a good car dog!
The first six miles of the ten mile trail were pretty rough...in more ways than one! Since it was my first trail ride of the year, my bike handling was definitely rusty. And since the trail was only cut last summer, it's still pretty rough. And since I'm not always very observant and therefore had my front fork locked out in the beginning, it felt like I was riding the Mean Streak at Cedar Point! After I remedied that little problem, though, the ride was a bit more enjoyable. In a few years, it's going to be fast and flowy...they did a great job using the natural features of the land.
We want Macie to be a trail dog and run with us while we ride, but she's not quite ready for that yet. So I rode the first loop, then Mitch went out.
After we both got our rides in, we headed down to Mitch's parents for dinner. Christa, Brian, Mason and Caden were in town for Easter, and it was wonderful to see them. We were especially pleased with how well Macie did with the little boys!
Letting Mason hug her...
...and kissing Caden!
Back home on Saturday morning, we did a little yardwork and dyed Easter eggs. It seemed a little overkill to have nine colors for ten hardboiled eggs, but it's a fun tradition.
One egg for each member of our little family!
Then we piled back in the car, Macie and the bikes included, and headed to my parents for the rest of Easter weekend. In addition to church and dinner with the extended family, we had two goals: take Macie swimming and go mountain biking. The swimming went OK...but when we went to the gravel pit by Bobby's house, it was cold and windy, so Macie was less than enthusiastic about the adventure.
Then the storms rolled in, so we had to scrap our plans to ride Island Lake. But all was not lost - Mitch found out that Jake and some others were doing a night ride at Poto, so he raced down there. Dad and I had to wait until Sunday after church to hit the trail, but we had fun with our quick loop.
Look at that awesome Alma jersey!
All in all, we had lots of fun. It was really busy, though, and the workweek was super crazy, so I feel like I haven't had a break at all! It's Spring Break for lots of high schools, so we had a ton of families visiting campus. It's time to start closing the class, and we have our work cut out for us this year. Go Scots!
Macie is such a good car dog!
The first six miles of the ten mile trail were pretty rough...in more ways than one! Since it was my first trail ride of the year, my bike handling was definitely rusty. And since the trail was only cut last summer, it's still pretty rough. And since I'm not always very observant and therefore had my front fork locked out in the beginning, it felt like I was riding the Mean Streak at Cedar Point! After I remedied that little problem, though, the ride was a bit more enjoyable. In a few years, it's going to be fast and flowy...they did a great job using the natural features of the land.
We want Macie to be a trail dog and run with us while we ride, but she's not quite ready for that yet. So I rode the first loop, then Mitch went out.
After we both got our rides in, we headed down to Mitch's parents for dinner. Christa, Brian, Mason and Caden were in town for Easter, and it was wonderful to see them. We were especially pleased with how well Macie did with the little boys!
Letting Mason hug her...
...and kissing Caden!
Back home on Saturday morning, we did a little yardwork and dyed Easter eggs. It seemed a little overkill to have nine colors for ten hardboiled eggs, but it's a fun tradition.
One egg for each member of our little family!
Then we piled back in the car, Macie and the bikes included, and headed to my parents for the rest of Easter weekend. In addition to church and dinner with the extended family, we had two goals: take Macie swimming and go mountain biking. The swimming went OK...but when we went to the gravel pit by Bobby's house, it was cold and windy, so Macie was less than enthusiastic about the adventure.
Then the storms rolled in, so we had to scrap our plans to ride Island Lake. But all was not lost - Mitch found out that Jake and some others were doing a night ride at Poto, so he raced down there. Dad and I had to wait until Sunday after church to hit the trail, but we had fun with our quick loop.
Look at that awesome Alma jersey!
All in all, we had lots of fun. It was really busy, though, and the workweek was super crazy, so I feel like I haven't had a break at all! It's Spring Break for lots of high schools, so we had a ton of families visiting campus. It's time to start closing the class, and we have our work cut out for us this year. Go Scots!
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Housebreaking
What the Internet and every puppy training resource told me: Crate training is the best way to housebreak a puppy because they won't mess where they sleep.
What Macie taught me: That is a complete lie.
When we brought our sweet seven-week old girl home, we quickly discovered that she had no bladder or bowel control, regardless of the situation. When she had even the slightest urge to go, she simply squatted and went. It didn't matter if she had been outside five minutes earlier; there were so many times we'd turn around to see her leaving a little puddle on the kitchen floor. And when we left and put her in her crate - you know, to go to church or the grocery store or work - she would most certainly do her business right where she slept. Oh, Internet: I can't believe you lied to me!
Maybe it didn't lie. Possibly, whoever writes these things is under the assumption that a new puppy owner has the luxury of not leaving her new dog crated for more than an hour or two at a time. Theoretically, for every month a puppy ages, she can hold her bladder for an hour plus one. So maybe, if we could have put Macie in her crate and taken her out every two hours, we could have made the Internet be true. But there's this thing called work. And this thing called sleep (though we didn't get much of that, since we were trying to do what all the books said and take her out a few times a night). And poor Macie, in a crate that gave her just enough room to lay down (again, per the prevailing wisdom), was spending too much time wallowing in her own waste.
After two weeks of this, we were finally presented with a viable solution from a reputable breeder: make the crate bigger, put her towel in the back and line the front with newspapers. She's smart - she'll learn to have accidents on the newspapers instead of her towel. But that is still distasteful to her, so as she is physically able to "hold it," she'll stop with the accidents all together. This set up will not slow housebreaking, despite the dire warnings on the Web. It is, very simply, the best alternative for working families. And about getting up with her for nighttime potty breaks: stop. Again, she will learn. Just put her somewhere you can't hear her and ignore her cries and yelps, so you can get some sleep.
So we tried it, and our eleven-week old Macie hasn't had an accident in her crate for three days! She makes it all night long, and also through our work day. And we aren't ridiculously tired anymore (though I wish she could distinguish weekends from weekdays)! Thank you, Roger from Brady Kennels, for the great advice!
What Macie taught me: That is a complete lie.
When we brought our sweet seven-week old girl home, we quickly discovered that she had no bladder or bowel control, regardless of the situation. When she had even the slightest urge to go, she simply squatted and went. It didn't matter if she had been outside five minutes earlier; there were so many times we'd turn around to see her leaving a little puddle on the kitchen floor. And when we left and put her in her crate - you know, to go to church or the grocery store or work - she would most certainly do her business right where she slept. Oh, Internet: I can't believe you lied to me!
Maybe it didn't lie. Possibly, whoever writes these things is under the assumption that a new puppy owner has the luxury of not leaving her new dog crated for more than an hour or two at a time. Theoretically, for every month a puppy ages, she can hold her bladder for an hour plus one. So maybe, if we could have put Macie in her crate and taken her out every two hours, we could have made the Internet be true. But there's this thing called work. And this thing called sleep (though we didn't get much of that, since we were trying to do what all the books said and take her out a few times a night). And poor Macie, in a crate that gave her just enough room to lay down (again, per the prevailing wisdom), was spending too much time wallowing in her own waste.
After two weeks of this, we were finally presented with a viable solution from a reputable breeder: make the crate bigger, put her towel in the back and line the front with newspapers. She's smart - she'll learn to have accidents on the newspapers instead of her towel. But that is still distasteful to her, so as she is physically able to "hold it," she'll stop with the accidents all together. This set up will not slow housebreaking, despite the dire warnings on the Web. It is, very simply, the best alternative for working families. And about getting up with her for nighttime potty breaks: stop. Again, she will learn. Just put her somewhere you can't hear her and ignore her cries and yelps, so you can get some sleep.
So we tried it, and our eleven-week old Macie hasn't had an accident in her crate for three days! She makes it all night long, and also through our work day. And we aren't ridiculously tired anymore (though I wish she could distinguish weekends from weekdays)! Thank you, Roger from Brady Kennels, for the great advice!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)