The good, the bad and the ugly.

I figured I should probably kick this sucker off with some goals and obstacles, so that I can come back and mark our progression. I guess we'll start out with the obstacles first...

Obstacles

Numero Uno: Izzeh vs Teh Ball!
Izzy has absolutely no interest in playing fetch. None at all. Zilch! She never has, ever since she was a pup, which never really posed a problem...until flyball came along. It's kind of a big deal, lol. Since we've started flyball, she has started to become more interested in the ball, even if it is only because she gets food for picking up the ball (typical corgi!), but it's a start. We are currently at the point where I can set the ball in front of me and about 60% of the time Izzy will pick it up and drop it in my hand, the rest of the time she just picks it up and drops it wherever. That's what 8 weeks of training has accomplished... *sigh*

"Mom, Iz soo tired from playing wif dis ball!"
(Pfft! Yeah right!)

Obstacle 2: Izzy vs other dogs...sorta.
Izzy doesn't deal well with other dogs who aren't confident and can "talk dog" really well. She doesn't get along with pushy dogs, agressive dogs, or dogs who get in her face. She also acts like a complete idiot when she sees other dogs while we are out walking, though this is more my problem and lack of leadership, then it is hers. She can work in a class situation with other dogs just fine, but if a dog comes up to her she will curl her lip and growl. Thankfully with the amazing knowledge and help from my trainers we are working on this as well. Last week she ran freely around the facility with 3 shelties, a border collie cross, and a border collie who spent most of her time circling Izzy. And she didn't growl once!! I was SO proud of my little brat! :D I know it's a far cry from being able to do well around other dogs she doesn't know, but it's still a big step and I'm more than happy with it!

Obstacle 3: Izzy vs the crowd.
As I mentioned before, she is a therapy dog and she does fine with large groups of people, but when the maniacal, barking dogs are added as well as the general chaos of the flyball scene are added, she can get quite stressed. This I think will be one of the hardest issues to overcome because I have very few opportunities to re-create a setting like a flyball tournament to desensitize her to it.

Now, the fun part!

Goals

Goal #1: Actually flyball :P
I'd like to get Izzy to the point where she can actually complete the whole sequence. I could really care less about time right now, I would just like to see her complete it safely, with a little bunny butt hopping down the lane and a nice swimmers turn. Safety first!

• Subgoal 1 - I'd like to see Izzy actively fetching within the next 8 weeks.

• Subgoal 2 - I'd like to see Izzy grabbing the ball off the box in the next 10 weeks.

Goal #2: Getting in shape!
Izzy currently weighs 18 poune starts activds and is at a pretty good weight, but I'd like to get her down to 16 pounds by the time shely hitting the box and running the whole sequence. Right now she is pretty active, but can get tired sometimes during class when we practice the jumps, so generally getting in shape is one of my main goals right now. With the help of an agility trainer I've made Izzy a little workout schedule (which she so loves, lol):

• Hills, hills, hills! I live right next to a college campus that is located on a huuuge, steep hill. Izzy and I have started walking up the steepest hill up to campus and then on to a hill on top of that hill which leads to upper campus. Lots of work and huffing and puffing on my part, but it's good for both of us (though that's not what I'm thinking while hauling butt up them, haha). We've been doing this on all cool days, and when school lets out (only 6 days!) we are going to be getting up early, like 5 a.m. Eek!, and doing it every day.
  
• Swimming! Probably my newest favorite activity. Neither Izzy nor myself deal well with the hot summer weather...at all. Fortunately, the other day I discovered a hidden little river that spreads out into a lagoonish body of water, and the water is cooooold. It's about a 10 minute hilly walk from my house and comes up to about my thigh at it's deepest so Izzy can swim (yay for short legs!) and I can rescue her easily should I need to. I plan on walking up and down the river with her a few times a week. I wasn't sure that she would like the water, but when we found it she surged right in. Thatta girl!
• Puuuuuull! I've been walking her in her flyball harness as she pulls like a little monster in it, so that should help her build muscle and endurance as well.
• Diet time = much woe. Any of you who know corgis, know that their world completely and utterly revolves around their stomachs! So obviously Izzy was quite saddened by the lesser amount of kibbles setting in her bowl every night...let's take a moment to feel bad...thanks, she'll appreciate that. I've reduced her kibble intake from 1 cup to 2/3 cups a day. She's eating Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream, LOVE IT!

Goal #3: Getting her comfortable.
I'd really love to see Izzy get to the point where she feels more confident and comfortable in noisy, chaotic places like flyball tournaments and other areas where there are lots of dogs.

Well, I have to go let people give me money now :D so I'll be back tomorrow!