Weekend Project: Organizing Agility Equipment

Over the years, our agility equipment has slowly taken over our backyard.  With the recent addition of our $40 jumps, we had to do something to get everything out of the grass.  The pieces of equipment that posed the biggest problems were the weave poles, the tunnel, and the two new jumps.

 We needed to keep them somewhere dry, and preferably off the ground, to prevent mold and spiders from living in them. The happiest option would have been getting a special shed just for agility equipment and dog related training tools, but that was also the most expensive option, and we had a limited budget.

After walking around the yard, we decided that the best spot was the wall next to the back door.  This wall is under the porch overhang, so it provides protection from the elements, and is in a convenient location for us to be able to access our agility equipment.

So, with a quick trip to the hardware store, our dream came to life.   Here is what we did, and how we did it.

Materials:

• A screw gun, with a drill bit and a Phillips head screw driver bit
• screws
• a level
• utility brackets, these came with screws
• bicycle hanging brackets, these ones have foam padding

Total Project Cost: $20 (we already had the screw gun, screws, and level)

We decided to hang the tunnel first.  To mark where to hang it so that we could easily reach it, we slipped the bicycle hanging brackets into the tunnel and spaced them so that the tunnel sat snugly in them.  Then, Olivia heaved the tunnel up and held it in place, while I quickly marked the holes for the screws with a pencil.

The next step was to drill the pilot holes into the wall at each pencil dot.  Once that was completed, Olivia held each bicycle bracket in place while I put the screws in the wall.  Once the first screw is in place, the bracket can be scooched back and forth until it is level. Don't worry if they aren't 100% level, remember: you're hanging agility equipment, not artwork.

 

Now that we had the tunnel happily in place, we moved on to hanging our new jumps.  We hung these much the same way as the tunnel, except that instead of needing one person to hold the jumps while the other marked the wall, we each took one bracket.  With one jump across the brackets, we held them against the wall and put a level on the jump to make sure it was hanging flat.  Then we each marked the spots for the holes and drilled.  We then screwed the brackets into place and hung our jumps.

 

The last problem we had was how to secure the weave poles.  We wanted to be able to leave the stick-in-the-ground end (if you don't know what I'm talking about go here) on the poles, but scratch up the porch. And, of course, we wanted them to fit prettily with our newly organized tunnel and jumps.

So, we hunted around until we found this! It was originally intended to be an umbrella stand...

When we bought it, it was a mottled red-black, but we didn't like it, so we spray painted it robin's egg blue. Now we have a nice, neat back porch and our agility equipment can stay safe when it rains!

-- Emma & Olivia

Meaty Monday: Raw Cat Food Resources

In all our research, the web has definitely been our best resource-finding tool.  To begin learning about raw feeding cats, we searched for others who switched their cats and kittens to raw food.  Our favorite site we stumbled across is rawfed.com. Through this we were able to find information on raw feeding both dogs and cats.  Following the link to rawfedcats.org, Linda Zurich's website about the ins and outs of feeding cats a biologically appropriate diet. Being a cat aficionado herself, Zurich understands and addresses the difficulties of switching cats from kibble, or "doom nuggets" as she calls them, and gives a step-by-step guide to converting your cat.  We also searched through Amazon.com to find any raw feeding book specifically for cat owners.  The only one we found was Whole Health for Happy Cats by Sandy Arora.  In this book, she gives an in-depth explanation of not only feeding raw, but also providing holistic care for your cat.  Arora provides numerous recipes and colorful pictures to make the book an interesting and fun read.

Meaty Monday: Freezer Organization

With five dogs on a raw food diet, we have to stock pile meat and veggies, unless we want to go on daily visits to the grocery store to feed our dogs.  We decided that we did not want to have to go to the store weekly, either, which means that we can not simply refrigerate the dog food.  So, that means that we buy in bulk and freeze the dogs' meals.  In the books we read, the recommended method was to buy a big box of meat, stick it in the freezer, and chip off the parts we wanted to feed every day.

Since a giant 40-pound block of chicken backs will not fit in our tiny freezer in the laundry room, and the kitchen freezer was declared "human food only", we couldn't freeze the way the books taught.  We also wanted a way to facilitate feeding, and so we would remember what to feed who and when, so Olivia came up with what we dubbed "the bag method." This consisted of having a baggie for every meal of the week for each dog.  Then, we put the bags in containers labeled with the dogs' names and stuck them in the freezer.

 This method sufficed for a little while, however there were some pretty prevalent issues that could not be over looked.  First and foremost, this method took up wwwwaaaaaaayyyy too much room in the freezer.  There was also the problem of the meat freezing to the bag, so if we ever forgot to thaw the dogs' breakfast or dinner, we had to pry the meat off of the plastic while praying that we didn't rip a giant hole in the bag and have to replace it.  We also had to wash the bags by hand if we didn't want to spend a gazillion dollars buying plastic baggies.  This meant that at the end of each week we ended up with a sinkful of dirty bags that no one wanted to wash and dry.
So, that left us stumped. We wanted a simpler storage method that also had an easier washing solution.  Ideally, we could toss the meat into containers and stack them in the freezer. But how could we make the RMBs not stick together? 

Here is our solution:

Chicken wings are Tucker and Spryte's favorite RMB!

When we buy the food, we grease two of our "dog" cookie sheets with olive oil and lay out the meat so that it freezes in individual pieces. That way, when all of it is put in a container, it doesn't stick together.  The first day or two is spent freezing all the meat, but once it's done, it will last for three or four weeks! After freezing, we pull the trays out of the freezer and quickly dump all the RMBs into their designated container.  Daisy's RMB's are too big to fit in any of our containers, so we still use baggies for her.  However, instead of putting individual meals in the baggies, we use them as mass storage devices. Usually, we can fit 4-5 chicken leg quarters or 6-8 chicken backs into one gallon-sized freezer bag.

We found an old dry-erase calendar, wrote out the feeding schedule with the amounts for each dog and stuck it to the front of our freezer. Now, we just check the schedule and pull out the pieces we need as we need them.  Then, when a container is emptied, we can just throw it in the dishwasher and grab a different one to fill! Our freezer is also now spacious enough for the all important half gallon of ice cream that can't fit into the kitchen freezer.

So much more room!

 Eventually, we removed the ice maker to create even more space, and now we can fit in enough meat and veggies to last us almost a month and a half!

--Emma

Meaty Monday: New Research Opportunity!

In June our local animal shelter hosts a huge cat adoption event called KittyPalooza, and my aunt Laurie adopted a little tuxedo kitten!

Meet P.K. (that stands for Poor Kitty)

Recently, Laurie was over at our house and we started to talk about P.K.  Emma and I had mentioned raw food to her before, and she was interested when we started our dogs on their new diet, but she decided to not switch P.K.  She started to complain about how terrible his litter box smelled, which turned into the perfect segue for persuading her to switch P.K. to a raw diet.

Why?  Because feeding a raw diet for both cats and dogs results in smaller poop that has an extremely low odor.  As in, almost no smell.  We usually can't even tell if one of the little dogs has had an accident inside until we see the poop!  (OK, that's pretty gross, but it's the truth.)

After hearing this, Laurie decided to try out a raw diet.  The only problem is that neither she nor I has any experience with feeding cats raw.  It's the perfect (or should I say, purrfect?) opportunity for more research!

I'll keep you updated on my progress!  :)   

--Olivia

Meaty Monday: Adventures in Raw

Seven years ago, Olivia and I traveled to Houston to pick up Brego from his breeder. When we got to her house, she introduced us to all of her Papillons and told us about Dr. Ian Billinghurst's B.A.R.F. diet, which she fed to her dogs in patty form. She encouraged us to keep up with the diet and included Dr. Billinghurst's book The B.A.R.F Diet in Brego's puppy packet. 

We ordered some of the patties and fed them to Brego for the first few weeks, but the patties were expensive, the book too science-y for us at that age, and Brego seemed too picky. Since Brego liked the kibble that the Labs were eating better than his B.A.R.F. patties, we switched him to dry food.


One year ago we started feeding raw.  Here is our story and what we've learned along the way:

After battling Brego's bad teeth and breath, fondly referred to as "death breath," Olivia and I decided to look into a raw diet once more. We were inspired by a few of our agility, trainer, and breeder friends who swear by a raw diet and by the fact that our expanding pack of five all had different health needs: seasonal allergies and dermatitis, gingivitis and bad breath, lack-luster coats, not to mention digestive "issues". So began the long, exciting, stressful, time-consuming, fascinating, and over-all successful venture into raw-food land.

The first mission on our raw quest was to acquire as many books on the subject as possible. Being college students, we decided to take another crack at Dr. Billinghurst's book and found it to be a fairly easy read. Anyone with an understanding of basic biology should be able to easily comprehend everything in Billinghurst's book.  The other books we acquired are: Work Wonders by Tom Lonsdale; Unlocking the Canine Ancestral Diet by Steve Brown; Raw Dog Food by Carina Beth Macdonald; and Raw & Natural Nutrition for Dogs by Lew Olson.  Lonsdale's book was a very easy read but he promotes a "prey" driven diet that was not conducive to how we wanted to feed our dogs.  Steve Brown's book proved to be fairly interesting but very tedious to read, it also focuses on supplementing a kibble diet rather than feeding raw.  The last two books on our list proved to be the most helpful.  Carina Beth Macdonald is not a veterinarian or a nutritionist but her insight and instructions prove to be the most helpful.  She explains everything in plain, simple, straight forward terms--there's even a chapter about poop!  The second most helpful book is Lew Olson's Raw & Natural Nutrition for Dogs.  Olson is a canine nutrition specialist.  She lays out nutritional values for various proteins, supplements, etc.  in tables that make figuring out portions a breeze.  She also outlines diets for several types of dogs from puppies to seniors.

And so, we delve into the world of raw food and BARF diets. We'll keep you posted on our progress. :)

Weekend Project: Cheap & Easy Agility Jumps

A while ago, Emma and I decided to build some practice agility jumps to use for backyard practice.  Since this project was successful we decided to share it with you.  Here's how we made two jumps for about $40.

We went to the home improvement store and bought 3 1" PVC poles, 2 3/4" PVC poles, 12 1" pole caps, and 4 1" tees for about $20 (all our PVC is Schedule 40, if you don't want to have the bar codes and item numbers on the pipe, go for furniture-grade PVC. However, this tends to be a more expensive option).  The other $20 we spent on 4 4-way tees that we had to special order from Clean Run.

Whenever we being a building project, we make a checklist of all the parts needed, and work our way down the list checking off items as we go before assembling the obstacle. Here is what we already had:

• PVC cutters
• hacksaw
• tape measure
• black marker
• clamps
• cutting board (not the kind you use in a kitchen)
• vinyl electrical tape, optional

Here is what we needed:

• 2 poles of 1-inch PVC measuring 48 inches
• 4 poles of 1-inch PVC measuring 36 inches
• 12 poles of 1-inch PVC measuring 12 inches
• 4 1-inch  PVC 4-way tees (we ordered ours from Clean Run)
• 4 1-inch PVC tees (these are the normal ones from the hardware store)
• 12 1-inch PVC caps, we like the ones with the rounded look, but you can get the flat ones, if you want
• 2 poles of 3/4-inch PVC measuring 48 inches

Note: you can use PVC glue to adhere all the pieces together. We chose not to, because we wanted our jumps to be collapse-able for easy transportation and storage purposes.  If you want water tight jumps use a PVC primer and glue on all the joints.

Now that we had the list, we could buy our products. We found two 10-foot lengths of 1 inch PVC and one 10-foot length of 3/4-inch PVC to be sufficient for this project, along with all of the fittings we needed, of course.  

So, we cut all of the pieces down to size. It is very important to note that you should measure and cut each piece individually as you go, because you can lose a little bit of pipe when you cut. Next, we separated the two jumps into their components and began putting them together. 

Once the jumps were assembled, we set about making jump cups. A simple solution would have been to buy a set of jump cup strips from Clean Run, but a cheaper solution was to make our own! Since all of our dogs jump 16" or less (for now, at least. Tucker will jump 20", but he is still building up muscle), we only made two sets of cups for each of the jumps. To do this, we clamped a regular PVC tee to a 2x4 board that we straddled between some cinder blocks. Then we went to town with the hacksaw to cut the tee in half and provide us with two cups. To make the cups snap on and off the jumps, we also cut just less than half of the back off, creating a clip-like portion on the tee. pic of cups - on right side, make this section wrap We repeated this process three more times, and, voila!, we had jump cups!

The last step was to align the jump cups and set the bars in between them and admire our new practice jumps! We also decided to stripe our jumps with electrical tape so that they matched our weave poles.

To download and print complete, detailed instructions with more pictures, visit: http://howtomake.allearsagility.com/practicejumps.pdf

HAPPY JUMPING!

-- Emma & Olivia

We Like: Smartwool Socks

Smartwool socks are the best socks ever.  Seriously.  If I could replace all of the socks in my sock drawer, I would buy nothing but Smartwools!  There is nothing worse than having bad socks.  One reason I love Smartwools is because they are thermo-regulating--they keep your feet warm in the winter and cool in the summer.  There are many different styles of Smartwools designed for everything from skiing to running.  For agility the best socks are the PhD Running socks.  They are ankle length and super lightweight.  The PhDs are especially made for high impact movement and do not slip down into the toe of your shoe!  All Smartwools also boast that they are blister free.  I have never gotten a blister while wearing my Smartwools--even if I'm wearing new shoes!  The only downside to Smartwools is that they are on the slightly expensive side ($12.50 for socks?!?), but I believe that they are worth every penny.

--Olivia

Trial Time: 03/04-06/2011 - NADAC Trial - Saturday

This morning Olivia and I left the house half an hour later than planned. As we were driving to the trial arena, Olivia was worrying that we would miss Brego's first run, while Brego snoozed away in my lap. When we arrived at the trial, Olivia jumped out of the car to check her runs, and I took Brego to the grass to tinkle and started unloading the car. It turned out that we had made it in time for the judges' briefing, just before Olivia had to walk the Tunnelers course. Brego and I finished unloading the car and setting up our crate space while Olivia walked the course. We also collected Brego's 1st & Q in Open Touch 'N Go from last night!

The two rings were running opposite for the first two games:  Tunnelers in ring 1 running Novice to Elite; and Weavers in ring 2 running Elite to Novice.  This seems like it would be a good system, but Brego runs Elite Tunnelers and Novice Weavers.  After Olivia walked the Tunnelers course, she had to go back and forth between the two rings to make sure she didn't miss the Weavers walk through or have a conflict with ring 1.  I set up the video cameras at the Tunnelers ring, but ended up moving them to film Weavers first. Luckily, the Novice Tunnelers class was huge, so Brego didn't end up having a conflict.

Elite Tunnelers was the only run the entire trial where there were NO mistakes.

Novice Weavers--Brego's first Weavers Title!!!

Elite Regular Round 1 (Round 2 is not up because we did not Q)

--Emma

Trial Time: 03/04-06/2011 NADAC Trial - Friday Night

Blocking the view helps keep Brego calm

Tonight was the first night of the Austin K9-Xpress Dog Training Club spring NADAC trial.  Olivia and I arrived at the trial site at 6:00 pm, just as they unlocked the gates to the parking lot.  Olivia and Brego jumped out of the car and ran into the trial facility to secure us a good spot with a power outlet nearby.  Luckily, we were able to snag a spot directly in front of our ring (the trial is divided into two rings) and there was a power outlet right above us, so now we can plug in our fan and charge camera batteries.  We unloaded the car in record time and set up our area--which is more involved than it sounds.

First we rolled out our pretty awesome, colorful mat that is made out of recycled plastic bottles and looks like an area rug; then we set up the x-pen in a circle around the mat clipped to Brego's crate at the back of the area; the x-pen got covered completely with towels to block the visual stimulus and reduce stress; and then we set up folding chairs and tables.  Overall it sounds like a lot, but we've got it down to about 5 minutes of set-up, and then it's just a whole lot of comfortable relaxation (well, as much as possible) for the rest of the trial.

The inside of our set up.

Before heading home for the night, Brego and Olivia ran their Open Touch 'N Go course:

-- Emma

We Like: The Viewtainer

Do you have a toy motivated dog? Consider yourself lucky.

None of our dogs are what I would call toy motivated, although occasionally I can convince Brego to run for a squeaky ball or rabbit skin. However, for us the excitement of a toy wears off very quickly. Luckily there are several toys and throwable treat containers available. Our favorite is a Viewtainer. Viewtainers are spill-proof containers made to hold nails, screws, nuts, and other bits and pieces of construction hardware. Little did they know that agility people would get hold of their product! Super simple design makes the Viewtainer super simple to use—both ends come off which makes cleaning a snap. One end has a slit that you squeeze to open it and dispense treats. We started out by filling the Viewtainer with treats and letting the dog (Tucker is the only one who uses it) sniff it and get excited about it. Then after getting his excitement up, Emma would roll it a short distance and praise Tucker for chasing it. Little by little we worked with him until he started to pick up the Viewtainer. Once he started retrieving it reliably, it was ready to use for agility training! It is especially handy for getting his speed up on obstacles like tunnels and the weave poles.

--Olivia

Wutt's in that Mutt? : Tucker

Tucker has no idea what's about to happen.

 

For Christmas I had asked for a DNA breed test for Tucker.  However, since we had never used Tod's Canine Heritage XL Breed Test, I got the go-ahead to use it on Tucker.  At the beginning of January, we took Tucker out back and shoved the swab in his mouth as per the instructions.  The instructions also said to wait for at least half and hour to avoid getting food debris on the swab, but it did not say what to do if you've waited for two hours and the swab comes out with a leaf stuck to it. Anyway, I swirled the little plastic bristles around in his mouth for about thirty seconds and I'm pretty sure Tucker thought he was dying.  After the flailing and swabbing was over, Olivia and I ran inside and put the swab and test submission form into an envelope and headed out to mail off Tucker's test. 

So, here are Tucker's stats, let's see what you think he is:

• Color: Black with white patch on chest and white toes
• Coat: Rough and shiny, medium length, dense-ish, double coated, sheds more than any dog I've ever seen, even sheds more than Daisy (our Lab)
• Weight: 25 lbs.
• Height at shoulders: 20 in.
• Eyes: Brown
• Ears: Prick, left one "broken"
• Other: face and build are delicate, bushy-looking tail, completely pink tongue and gums
• Personality: laid back, will work if he has to, or if there's a chance Brego might get the treat instead
• Energy Level: Moderate, he loves to get up and play, tug and zoomies are his favorite, but remains clam indoors and sleeps a lot
• Intelligence Level: Quick learner if you can get him invested in whatever you're trying to teach him, very short attention span
• Other: Can be mouthy if he doesn't like what you're doing, i.e. holding his tail (but, only to people who aren't me), resource guards his food dish and bones from dogs he doesn't live with. LOVES to bark, barks all the time, sometimes just for the sake of barking, does not know how to howl

At Town Lake Animal Center, his kennel card said Border Collie mix.  After getting to know Tucker, I'm not sure any of us agree that he could be a BCx. Our best guesses so far are: Sheltie, Labrador, and maybe Schipperke. 

So, what do you think is in Tucker?

-- Emma

Meet Hank

My aunt got a new dog from the animal shelter during a "Name your Price" event (minimum price $25).  Unfortunately, after having the dog for about a month she decided that her two-year-old daughter "was not good with" the dog because he nips at things he doesn't like.

So meet Hank:  the newest member of the pack.

I speculate that Hank is a Miniture Pinscher/Italian Greyhound mix.  He is about 15.5 inches tall and  weighs 13 pounds.  The vet thinks he is about two years old. 

He nips at things that he thinks are scary or weird.  He spends most of his time up on his hind legs.  He barks and makes high pitched noises when he's excited.  He resource guards bones (only bones--nothing else).  He doesn't seem to know any basic obedience.  And he has the attention span of a gnat.

So, meet Hank.  He needs a lot of work.

--Olivia

Sometimes, Brego hates Winter

Here in Austin, Texas it rarely snows in the winter.  It gets cold rapidly (picture 80 degrees one day and 30 degrees the next) so it ices here.  Brego loves the cold weather--he spends more time outside, gets really energetic, and finally consents to cuddling on the couch.  However, when it gets cold it also becomes very, very dry.  These two things combine and create massive amounts of static electricity.

Static + Papillon =

 Fortunately, Brego has taken up meditation to deal with this problem.

--Olivia