15.......... training

The builders were gone and agility equipment was once again out on the lawn = new scary stuff for Mac. He wouldn’t go anywhere near even a crossbar on the ground. Light bulb moment reminded me how he ran with Border Collie Heaven’s pack after the tennis ball, so I started throwing them near to the equipment. He would stretch himself as long as possible to get the ball without making contact with the equipment but eventually picked up a ball touching a cross bar!

Over the weeks this progressed to running between 2 uprights to get the ball, then over a cross bar lying on the ground and eventually jumping over it at the lowest height, but if anything fell/touched him/made a noise - he would dash for inside.

OK – so this could take a while and the weave poles even longer so they needed to be tackled sooner than later. Using a tennis ball, I used the “old method” and thread him through just 4. Once he was doing 4 on his own, I gave him 8 then 12. Mac had found his passion. He loves the weaves and with his very own special style, was “nailing” them, on both sides, within 3 months.

February 2009

His down came from nowhere and took me completely by surprise. It is instant and the further he is away from me, the better it worked!

At the club he was no longer dashing off and enjoyed all the dogs that were willing to interact with him. (Huge sigh of relief to know that a young dog with limited history had no “issues” with other dogs). Equipment noise was still an issue and if we had to hammer in the tunnel (metal hoops) he made a bee line for the boot. Desperately wanting the tennis ball one sunny day, I got him through a straight tunnel. I had discovered his mode of motivation – tennis balls!

He was training with Lindsay in Wynberg as well as at Agility Academy. He had no idea what was expected of him and knew exactly how long my arm was. If he got confused, he would just stand still. I was unable to physically position him and had to just keep running with a ball to place him correctly for exercises. This gave me the foresight to teach him directional commands so that he was able to work away from me, his preferred method. His left and right is awesome!

I was unforgiving with his start line behaviour and within reason, it’s pretty consistent. Away from the start line his stay was pretty good too.

Contacts were trial and error and I had to make do with whatever he would give me. Once again he wouldn’t allow me to work close to him so distance training was the norm. Bonus?
The clicker must have been deafening as he was unaccepting to any treat if I tried to use it.

"Shutting down" was often and when there was “nobody home”, no happy voice, nice treats or even the tennis ball would work. I would just let him retreat to the boot to give him some “it’s OK time”.

Mac loved playing with all other dogs and chasing a tennis ball, but his blue eyes lit up most when he saw agility equipment, so as challenging as all this was for both of us, as soon as he was eligible to compete officially, I decided to begin competing just so that he could show me what else was going to attack him!

Mac and Me

C’est la vie

14.......... rehab diary

“Consistency, consistency, consistency” - how often has this being my opening speech to beginner handlers? Carrying Mac up and down the steps has got him waiting at the bottom/top of them to be carried! Week 3 relieved me of not having to carry him up/down the inside ones. 2 in-out of study; 2 in-out of lounge; 4 to road outside (cul de sac) or 6 to get to our own garden. My back can’t cope with the steps onto our lawn so it’s out the front only which he prefers anyway.

It wasn’t difficult turning into a slob. No dressing up or makeup, except twice when I’ve been coerced into attending dinners/drinks. Living in Hout Bay is a bonus due to most locals “just coming from the stables.” And the kg I lost, I didn’t lose it - I gave it to Mac!

(New diet plan for the interested: single Weetbix in the morning, slab of chocolate/smoothie for lunch followed by the compulsory evening meal and don’t forget to carry 16kg up and down 4 to 6 steps at least 5 times/day.)

The monster collar is history, but I still use it if I need to go out - it slows down his intention to move around too much.

He has hardly had to be crated but I still consider his “crate training” a success. He goes into it on his own and that’s where he gets most of his treats. Considering he still has metal issues, every time is a “yay!” moment.

House arrest has presented other yay moments: he’s supporting himself on his bionic leg to wee, yay! he’s using it to scratch himself, yay! I have had the advantage of being able to spend most of my days keeping an eye on him and he has become so much more relaxed within the house. He’s not walking away from his food when we move around, yay! he’s allowing us to walk past him in the passage, yay! he allows me to cuddle him while I put him through his exercises, yay! and exactly 1 month post-op, WE were given permission to go for a walk. Twice a day!! Big YAY! Only to “security” and back. (I live on an estate and it’s probably the distance of a “block”.)

He’s allowed to play “catch” while stationery, and as long as he doesn’t bounce on the repaired leg. This has much improved his eye/mouth co-ordination from shocking to very good and he’s no longer afraid of the squeaky!

And one noise he is not sensitive to - the noise my laptop makes when it shuts down! Action!

As for all this idle weekend time.....is there a judge looking for a non-competing scribe? This Saturday morning shopping is killing me. OK, I score, but did I really need another pair of shoes?

Into the 6^th week and the progress is obvious. He has a spring in his step and started presenting me with a few night time walk training behaviours. We have been given the all clear to go swimming - breaking new ground - or should I say water.

Mac and Me

C’est la vie

13.......... accepting change

So I starved him. One of the toughest things I’ve ever had to do and it lasted for more than 48 hours.

On the 3^rd morning, while working at my desk, Mac stood up without invitation and accepted a piece of bread from me. (I had been told that bread (dry) was a “comfort food” for dogs). This was it - I just burst out crying. It was the 4^th September 2008.

Unfortunately, a week later the builders arrived and the very next day Stefan and a very pregnant Nicolette arrived back from the UK and moved in. (I can’t even remember where Victoria was asked to sleep). Building alterations included the study where Mac was hiding as well as extending the patio leading to the lawn. I allowed him into our bedroom, and today that is where he creeps into when he’s feeling the slightest bit threatened. It also meant I had to get him out the front door, up the driveway to the lawn in the cul de sac. This time there was no carrying, I literally dragged him the first few times after which he followed meekly on lead. Once loose he would dash into the overgrown indigenous verge to hide before I retrieved him to get him back inside.

I wanted to give Mac a “nicer” outing on one of these occasions, so put him into the car and drove to the dam at the top of the Estate. He mostly just hid in the bushes surrounding the dam but getting him back was proving easier as he was using the boot as an alternative to the study. So as long as I parked with it open and stood back he would jump into it. (He did try and jump into it on two occasions when it wasn’t open! - a Garfield moment). The car is today one of his favourite places, albeit only the boot section.

A long month later Nikki and Stef moved into their Bantry Bay home and the builders limited their noise and movements. (Behind the scenes I became a SADAA judge).

This also meant Mac could go back to the study and back to our own lawn. He started relaxing outside during the day and even half-heartedly attempted to run with Emma when I threw the tennis ball for her.

In the background of Mac’s arrival, me house hunting for Nicolette and Stef, coping with builders and playing chauffer to help Nicolette furnish not only their house but a nursery too, Emma was doing what she wanted to do – concentrate on herself and become a KUSA double champ at her retirement show!

On the 4^th November, Matthew and Jake arrived.

Mac once again took advantage and took a back seat while I was once again on the go...........

Mac and Me

C’est la vie

12.......... tough love

Every day was a scary day for Mac as he was introduced daily to something new.

He never objected to wearing a harness and even anxious, allowed me to lead/carry him to the lawn. Once loose on the lawn he would freeze and look up into the sky as if something was going to fall on him. The wind was his enigma (still not comfortable in it) and the bamboo rustling was definitely out to get him! Being Winter didn’t help and it was a sad sight to witness every time he went outside. We noticed that he would freeze at doorways. We would open doors wide and make sure there was no one in his eye line. He would then rush through the doorway to get back to the study. This went on for more than 2 years, but hey - he was finding his own way back to under my desk. Was he kicked walking past someone or walking through a doorway? Was his pen door slammed on him?

One thing was obviously clear: he had NEVER been inside a house and the slightest noise sent him into a nervous shiver. Pots and pans, telephones, voices, footsteps as well as thunder and lightning to name a few. After hours there were visitors to discuss plans to do building alterations on the house. I asked everyone that came into the house to just ignore him. Easy, he didn’t really make himself visible.

Just 2 weeks after Mac arrived - my Gran passed away. She was 94. My gran raised me, because my mother wouldn’t/couldn’t; (another story for another time; Charlie says if he’d read the book, he probably wouldn’t have married me!) I decided then to give Mac my Gran's birthday - it was a close enough guesstimate of his age. A week after that, Victoria left for USA to visit her American boyfriend and his family in Atlanta.

During the day it was just him and “miserable me” and he didn’t move from under my desk until I decided he should. (This was definitely meant to be, because my normal animated self, would have probably have been “too much” for him. Eating time was still forced and mornings were no different from the first one. Needless to say, he was not gaining any weight.

Once again, I knew I could rely on my AA partners for and support and decided it was time to take Mac out of the house and into the big world!

Never being out the front door, I carried him outside and put him into the boot. The splayed legs action again. At the club, he jumped out and bolted! I followed in hot pursuit across 2 rugby fields, retrieved him out from the bush and carried him back to the car. The happened a few times until the Agility Academy ladies stepped in and would not allow me to carry him anymore but helped herd him back to the car.

This was kind of the way of things for his first 2 months. There was zero eye contact. He had the most beautiful blue eyes and they were vacant; there was nobody home. The nicest treats were ignored. At an “agility workshop”, a well-meaning handler intimated that “he needed to show me that he actually wanted to live or I should consider putting him down”!

Mac and Me

C’est la vie

11.......... a messy beginning

8^th July 2008. The day after my return from SADAA Southern Cape Regionals, I went to Border Collie Heaven to collect Mac. (Victoria had come up with the name: Mac - it’s a makeup range and he looks like he’s sporting eyeliner). Karen had already left for a film shoot so it was up to me to find and catch him. Let me paint the picture: pouring rain…zero lawn, terrified and incredibly muddy mutt…wellies with no traction. I eventually had him cornered him in a pen, picked him up and put him into the back of my station wagon. No fuss at all - he just “scuttled” as far back as he could - something he still does today and points out his first “issue”:  he always needs to have his ‘back’ protected.

I thought the drive home was uneventful, but the boot revealed a different view. Too much vomit for such a small shivering pup - a combination of nerves and being sopping wet. I picked him up and put him straight into the bath. Only objection I got was him splaying his back legs to stop me getting through the door. I bathed him twice and cut the dreadlocks from his “pants”. Rightly, not considering using the hair drier, I carried him to a continental pillow under my desk where he “disappeared” against the wall.

He remained there until I decided he needed to wee. No response to my coaxing meant I had to fish him out from under the desk; I carried him out onto the front lawn where he dashed into the nearest hedge. I had to eventually follow and drag him out and carry him back into my office where he claimed his previous spot. At supper time, the same scenario, fetch and carry him to his designated eating spot. Not yet grasping that he couldn’t relax in an open space; I left his back exposed to the whole open-plan area. I sat on the floor next to him to stop him bolting back to the study. (He scared himself silly the first time he tried, not realizing that running on laminated flooring doesn’t get u very far and the noise scared him witless; it still does.)

Eating was a messy sight. The pellets seemed to be falling out of his mouth?! He gobbled everything up just so he could disappear back to my office. (It was later discovered that his teeth are under-developed and he can’t hold pellets in his mouth properly. Surmising, he’d been fed on mush since he was born? (It’s like that today still, but at least now he cleans up the pellets that spill out of his mouth). I also use metal food bowls and had no idea that this was a huge issue for him.

Not a sound from him during the night, but I was greeted by a sight that was repeated many, many times. The mess was huge and the smell overwhelming - thank goodness I get up before my husband and thank goodness for laminated flooring. Obviously frightened in his new surroundings he had relieved himself of everything (and more,) he had eaten. Talk about force feeding!

Time for him to wee again …………….and day 2 .....

Mac and Me

C’est la vie

10.......... Agility Academy

During all the 2008 mayhem; Agility Academy was taking shape.

Whilst being very happy agility trainers at Cape Province Dog Club, we were losing out on personal training time and needed to solve the problem. Lindsay King, Chantal Holmes and I decided it was time to branch out on our own.

Norman Henshilwood High School was passed on to us and we were based. The principal, Mr David Millar, welcomed us with enthusiasm and has become our best supporter. The caretaker, Hennie, has been amazingly co-operative in opening up for us, sometimes at 6 am on weekends and the school tuck-shop is now available to us as well.


  Lindsay's always great ideas gave us the name and the colour scheme. The logo improved to what it is now.



We started off with a single evening of classes, and a year later when Marlize Matthee joined us, included Saturdays and a second evening.

4 years on, we reached our goal of being a “competitive training facility”. We are officially affiliated to SADAA (South African Dog Agility Association) and host all Western Province Club Trials as well as Regional Trials. We have a regularly updated website and a facebook page.

As partners, we have gelled each with our own field of expertise and choice. I am happiest with beginners, Lindsay is an ace at training weave poles and contacts and Marlize and Chantal excel at training advanced handling skills.

These 3 partners were also the support team that I desperately needed after losing Amie and have been involved from the very beginning with Mac’s rehabilitation and eventually agility training.

Thanx Guys!

Please visit us at  http://www.agilityacademy.co.za/

Just Me

C’est la vie

9.......... decisions, decisions .....

I was inconsolable after Amie’s death and focused on Emma who never even noticed Amie was missing!

The next few months were hectically crazy and seemed to pass in a blurry haze.

April:  Exactly 4 weeks after Amie’s death, my daughter, Nicolette and her husband skyped us from the UK, to announce they (modern wording) were pregnant - with twins!! The very next day my younger daughter’s horse had to be put down due to post op complications. Water Warrior (he was actually scared of water when she got him), was our largest family pet, Victoria had had him for 10 years and he was the love of her life.

I took on a new client who needed Pastel Accounting. (Bought the programme, did the course, the whole toot - ugh - chucked it and the client a year later). I got a “dog paw” tattoo in memory of Amie - oh yes! Husband was not impressed, especially when Victoria followed suit with getting a tattoo herself.

Searching for an "answer", I also wasted hundreds of Rands visiting a kinesiologist.

My miserable attitude must have gotten to Lindsay (I get to her a lot), because she offered K-Oz to me. This Aussie and I share a special bond, so I brought her home on appro. Unfortunately, my husband couldn’t cope with her “space issues”, or lack thereof.  Living up to her name, it was nothing for her to get to me via the couch and through Charlie. If only we could share a piece of her wonderful world!

May:  Victoria’s USA Marine boyfriend came to visit, Emma had dental surgery, Lindsay disserted me briefly to compete overseas and at the very end of the month, Cape Town hosted SAAC at The Good hope Centre. Emma (I was unable to complete all qualifying rounds to qualify), was invited to be the white dog in memory of Amie.

June:  At the final KUSA show of the SAAC weekend, I mentioned to Karen Vermaak (Border Collie Heaven), that I might be considering getting another BC, but it had to be completely different to Amie. She immediately mentioned: (#1) a male, (#2) he was a tri-colour, (#3) he had 2 blue eyes.  She also mentioned that he was mentally in a very bad place (if any place at all). A local farmer had literally left him and his father caged, neglected and forgotten, he had a gaping hole at the top of his head (hair has never grown there), compliments of his father. She had already had him for more than a month, was going away soon for 2 months and was concerned about leaving him.

I went to visit him the same week and was not overwhelmed. I’m so used to dogs (most dogs) being happy to see me, especially with my always enthusiastic greeting. This skinny, 8-month, tri-colour wouldn’t make eye-contact and jumped as if he’d been shot at when I closed the container with treats he had already refused. There were other BC’s being very attentive, pleading: “take me, take me”. Karen put this skinny 8 month old pup with her pack, where although remaining at the back did run with them chasing a tennis ball. I left with no thoughts to go back.

During the rest of the month I visited a fellow handler’s Aussie puppies, had dogs offered to me (at a price), considered a “skemonkle” at DARG and my family sensing my pain, came with me to visit Border Collie Heaven for a second time. This visit was no different and we left without being able to “see” this dog that wouldn’t even come within arm’s length.

I will never know what prompted my decision, but that same week I confirmed that he was still available and said I would collect him on my return from Knysna.

I was a long way from wanting to train another dog but maybe …… just maybe…………

Just Me

C’est la vie