Doctor, doctor, give me some news?

I went to the endocrinologist's office today to review my latest blood test (TSH) results for my thyroid. The T3 is down from 8 to (I think it was) 1.9, which she said is very good. She said the T4 was within the norm but was on the edge so we'll see what it looks like in a few months and I'll continue on the medication as is. It's too soon to retest the Vitamin D. She mentioned that I should consider a B complex with some other stuff that I forgot already but I didn't really understand why. So my next ultrasound and blood work will be in January.

Humiliation Diet

191.5

mini-Wheats with milk and a peach

frozen entree ravioli (it was gross but I didn't have time to go out and get something else) with broccoli

handful each of cashews and Annie's sour cream bunnies (like goldfish)

package of pretzel M&Ms (only 150 calories and they were awesome)

apple and slice of sharp cheddar cheese before class

spinach cake with Drew's salsa

leftover rice with milk, sugar, and butter (sweet rice)

Weave 101

Teka started with the channel weaves, about an inch open; the purpose is to close them. I ran with and sent and called and she was very bouncy, especially on the call and send. I think I make her nervous when I run with unless I run ahead of her, which I've started doing with Cassi to get her to go faster. I've been babysitting Teka through the weaves for so long, I have to break this habit!

Next we did the weave-o-matic to work on focus by using toy torture. We played tug with her "rabbit" toy beforehand and she actually did really well ignoring it for several runs until it was very close and then she popped out and grabbed it.

Next we worked on the two pole exercise, clicking as she turned her head around the second pole. We are now working on distance and my homework is to get her (and Cassi) to 15 feet, with the four positions in the 45 degrees, basically 3:00 to 6:00 and back, with her on both sides of me.

Last, we worked on a sequence in a circle. It was a jump, 6 weaves, tunnels, 6 weaves, jump. D told me to STOP CHEERLEADING, which is going to be very hard since I've been trained to do this with her to keep her going. She said to think about doing a problem while someone is constantly in your ear saying yes that's it, yes that's it, over and over. So NO clapping or let's go, etc. Hmmm, we'll see how that goes. Teka does seem to be gaining some confidence.

Humiliation Diet

Raisin Bran and milk

(I forgot what I ate for lunch by the time I blogged--must have been really good!)

Dream Dinners chinese chicken with jasmine rice and salmon

Humiliation Diet

Low sodium V8

chicken tenders and french fries and root beer

McDonald's cheeseburger and apple pie

leftovers from Arriba and green ice tea

Humiliation Diet

Okay, I haven't been keeping up. Here's what I had in the past week....

Saturday: cereal and banana

Subway 6" ham and turkey with pepperjack, lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, olives, pickles, oil and vinegar on wheat; Sunchips and chocolate milk

2 beef tacos (I made) with green ice tea

Sunday: cereal

1 chicken tender with fries and ranch

Native New Yorker honey hot boneless wings with Ranch

BJ's chicken parmigiana with spaghetti (half order)

shared a Pazookie (cookie and ice cream)--ate about half

Monday: Miniwheats and milk

Wildflower tomato soup and chicken pesto feta sandwich (on Ciabatta; I forgot to change it.)

Leftovers from BJs and potatoes and zucchini

Tuesday: miniwheats and milk

Went to lunch with some ladies from the office--had chicken taco and carne asada taco with rice, beans, and guacamole, and ice tea

half package coconut M&Ms

turkey and havarti on wheat and chocolate milk

Wednesday: D'lights egg mcmuffin and Dutch Bros medium kicker latte

spinach cake with Drew's salsa

2 glasses F&E green ice tea with orange slices

tilapia vera cruz frozen entree

artichoke with mayo

a few bites of rosemary chicken with rice, green beans, and carrots (frozen entree--sucked)

2 scoops chocolate ice cream with banana and frozen cherries

Thursday: Dunkin Donuts egg white and turkey sausage flat bread and iced caramel skim latte

Kyoto bowl teriyaki chicken bowl, 2 California rolls without the wrapper, with soy sauce, and ice tea

chicken, potatoes and zucchini

chocolate ice cream with bananas and frozen cherries

Friday: miniwheats and milk

Fuddrucker 1/3 pound Cheddar burger and french fries with honey mustard, ice tea

salmon and salad with vinaigrette

Saturday: mini wheats and milk

Macayo's (ate half) carnitas enchilada, green corn tamale, veggies and rice, guacamole and cheese crisp slice, 1.5 chocolate mini chimis and mini sopapilla, ice tea

Arriba's (ate half) mixed burrito with beans and rice and sour cream, small margarita

Glass of red wine and some snack mix

Agility Coached Run Through

Today was our first time at a coached run through. There is a fun run on the other side of the facility, where people were running dogs on a standard course without any coaching. The run through is essentially a jumpers course with some extras (a tire, tunnel, chute, and weaves) but no contact obstacles. The course had 17 obstacles, starting with the tire, chute, jumps, and so on. Cassi and Teka each ran 3 times, alternating with the other two pairs running the course.

With the tire being the first obstacle, Cassi's tire issue was on display right up front. For the 2nd and 3rd runs, D had me work the tire (low) with Cassi a couple times, then start the course at the chute instead. After "class," we discussed Cassi's structural issues--I know that she kicks up with her back feet and kicks the tire on top. D says that Cassi is hyper-extending her back too, which is not good for her. Anyway, she said we should work on getting her to put her head down more when she jumps and it will improve (not correct) her jumps. She showed me how to use a low jump to direct her head down by giving her a treat lower than the bar as she goes over and comes back around. By keeping her close and treating low, she will learn to turn in the air and lower her head. She worked with Cassi, who is very food motivated, so she had to sit before every jump.

I also learned with both of them to treat by my thigh when they come into my side (and I want them to). There were 3 places we practiced this. The first was when we had jumps in a U, and after the second, I needed to front cross to bring her back around the jump 3 after taking it to take the jump 2 the other way. Then we sent out to a jump, brought back over a jump, and wanted her to essentially wrap the jump to go to a tunnel. After coming out of the tunnel, she had to come over a jump at an odd angle before going into the weaves.

Teka did really well on the weaves the first time, hesitated the second, and skipped a few near the end on the last try. Now that I've started running out ahead of Cassi on the weaves, she is doing really well. Pretty good overall.

D also talked about lining up the "dots" (tape wrap or stripes) on the jumps and pointing at those. She pointed out that I pointed higher on a jump so they both went over expecting to continue in that direction; by pointing lower, they both collected more afterward for the turn.