My dogs

I took Annie to an AKC trial here in Omaha 2 weekends ago. We only ran in Jumpers with Weaves. I am happy to say that we got a qualifying score on Sunday, her first in Excellent A JWW. Best of all, we ran well together both days. Annie is an agility dog with issues. Handling her is a puzzle that can be an interesting intellectual exercise. There are answers. One of which is that she runs for me. We both had a good time. I'm not giving up. We are doing a USDAA trial in a few weeks, and I entered everything. Back to contacts. At least we are in Starters. I'm hoping for joy and flow in our runs together.

Brynley is looking very grown up. He seems to have stopped growing, and I neutered him this month at 9 1/2 months old. It's time to focus on his career as an agility dog. (like we haven't since he was born) I think he is such a beautiful boy. I know in a couple of years he will still look like this, but with a whole ton of coat added. I'm happy to report that he loves to be brushed, cause he's going to be groomed a lot! I am very happy with how he is doing in Susan Garrett's foundation training. What he has been learning this year is going to make the rest of agility so much easier.

Where to start?

We had such a fun and busy summer. We had many visitors come to see us in Nebraska and it was great!

Nana and Poppa came for a visit. The kids were so happy to see them!
We finished up the summer at the Wings of Freedom Air Show at Offutt Air Base. This is always one of our favorite events. It is well run and always seems to go smoothly in spite of huge turn outs of people.
Some of the California cousins came to visit and the kids had a great time at the Air and Space Museum. This tower got taller!
The kids also showed Nana and Poppa around the Air and Space Museum.
Son worked as a volunteer at the Henry Doorly Zoo and then we enjoyed a fun day at Duane's company picnic at the zoo.

School is back in session now, and it's feeling more like fall. Son is adjusting well to his first weeks in junior high. Daughter loves third grade and is staying very busy with her first year on a competition dance team. Can't wait to see what the change of season brings.

Silver and Gold

There has been a lot happening at our house in the past month. We've enjoyed the company of several visitors from out of town and spent some time enjoying the sights in Omaha with them.

The dogs are keeping me busy. Brynley has been growing and is really starting to look like a grown up sheltie. Okay, a teenage sheltie. He is progressing well in his agility foundation training. He has gone over size and is very distracted at training class these days, so I'm thinking his appointment with the vet for a brain adjustment will be soon! Sad news has been learning that Casey has an insulinoma, a cancer on his pancreas which is producing excess insulin. We have opted to manage this conservatively, which means frequent meals to keep up his blood sugar. He's pretty happy with this plan, but I am sad knowing our time together likely won't be too much longer, months if we are lucky. Thank God for puppies to brighten our day. I am also back to training agility with Annie, and I'm glad of it. I'm focused on all her good points these days, she really has so much to offer.

I'm writing a new blog focused on issues dealing with pets and real estate. Check it out at http://blog.cbshome.com/teresacarlile

Nebraska animal life

Fourth of July Fun

I love our neighborhood on the 4th.  Dogs were tucked away in their crates in their room in the basement.  Then we ate until we were stuffed.  The kids were very impatient to set off fireworks.

My little pyromaniac was the most eager of all. 
Light it and run!
Taking a break to wait for dark.  Break time included ice cream cones!
Let the grown ups set off the big ones after dark.

Dear family and friends,

Have I mentioned recently that I am a licensed real estate agent?  Yes, I live in Nebraska and most of you don't.  Yet, seeing as you are my family and friends, and you're taking the time to read this, I'm sure you want to help me to be successful in my career.  Well, you can!  And as a special bonus, I will be helping you, too. 

So here's how it works in real estate. Say you are moving from Fresno to Clovis, or San Francisco to Washington D.C.  or Fort Wayne to where ever.  You give me a call or drop me an email.  I use my fabulous connections and those of my company to find you the best agent to work with to sell your current house or buy your new one. I interview that agent and make sure he or she is going to do an outstanding job for you, just the same as I would, because you are my family and friends. (okay, I do outstanding work for all my clients)  The benefit to you is obvious.  You don't have to guess or pick an agent at random out of the phone book.  I make sure you get the best.  The benefit to me, is that the other agent pays me a referral fee for sending you to them as a client.  Pretty cool, huh?  It's a win, win for you and me.  So, if you or anyone you know is going to be buying or selling, please get in touch with me.

My email is Teresa.Carlile@cbshome.com and my work phone number is 402- 697-4449.  I'm working for you!

An eye opener

So what do you do when you are on phone duty and the phone isn't ringing?  Finally, catch up on your blog!

Brynley is 6 months old now, and starting to look more like a grown up sheltie dog.  His favorite place to nap is on the arm rest of the sofa, especially if I'm sitting there.  I usually have a sheltie boy on either side.  Perfect.
Daughter had a great time at her dance recital in May.  She has decided, with our agreement, to join a competition dance team this coming school year.  This is a big time and financial commitment, so this will be the main activity of this year.  
Son finished up the year with a successful science fair project presentation and his first big concert as a flute player. He will be playing the flute in the 7th grade band this coming year.
I have been very busy with the real estate business, having the kids home for the summer, and trying to train too many dogs.  This week at foundations agility class, I had an eye opening experience.  Now, you would think if I had a revelation at a dog training  class it would be about dog training, but it wasn't. I had a sudden insight into my son's life of living with ADD. 

Maverick has a major issue with barking.  This week I began using a manners minder at class to work on this problem.  (side note- the manners minder was pretty successful and we are making some progress)  I had class first with Brynley and then with Maverick.  Mav was in his crate with the manners minder and I was using a remote to dispense food rewards when he didn't bark.  Of course, this meant that through out both classes a certain amount of my attention was on Maverick and timing his rewards. I thought that I was doing really well at multi-tasking and listening to the instructor.  Yet in both classes as my turns came up, I would find myself making mistakes, or suddenly realizing that I didn't really know what the instructions were.  Of course, I've done agility for a long time, and I thought I knew what I was doing, right up until I did the exercise wrong. I was feeling frustrated with myself that even though I was listening I didn't seem to be able to "get it right". 

It wasn't until I was driving home that I had a light bulb moment.  This is exactly how my son feels every day in school!  Oh wow!  What a revelation.  I realized that my problem was because part of my attention was always on Maverick and rewarding him, even though I didn't realize it at the time and thought I was paying attention.  But for my son, this is what ADD is like all the time. He thinks he's paying attention, he's trying to pay attention, but when it comes time to do the exercise something goes wrong because his brain wasn't as focused as he thought it was. Wow!  My problem is temporary and easily solved, but for my son, this is his life.  All I can do is be understanding and patient and try to help and guide him to succeed in spite of the challenges he faces.