Back to snowbiking!

Shyla and I have returned to snowbiking in the mornings after a seven week hiatus while I recovered from shoulder surgery. We are both thrilled!

I'd hoped to be back to biking by Spring, and it happened! Springtime in the mountains is crazy. Fresh snow falls regularly through May interspersed with warm and sunny weather. There was a dusting this morning.

However, when the sun broke through, it was so warm that the snow melted very fast.

It has been such an odd time in my life - being floored almost daily by migraines has forced me to trim back my daily goals. Even on days when I don't have normal migraine symptoms, it feels like my head is buzzing, ready to launch into a migraine at the slightest provocation. Throughout this past month, I haven't kept up with any serious dog training. Indeed, I feel proud that I've managed to keep up with exercising the Duo (although the Runner has covered for me a number of times).

However, I play very easy training games with Shyla almost daily during our morning outings - and it helps both of us immensely because it's so fun. She's become very good at the "balance a treat on your nose" trick. And, she now can flick the treat into the air and catch it about 80% of the time! (The next challenge is for me to be able to photograph her catching it!).

So, we started on a new trick, which I've mentioned before - balancing things on her head. I use nothing but positive reinforcement, which makes training very fun. She now looks focused and confident even when she has something balanced on her head.

To my surprise, she's added her own twist to the trick. "Trick improvisation" is common in dogs trained using positive reinforcement (and no punishment) because they know that they never get "in trouble" for doing a trick wrong. So, today, Shyla tried to flick the toy off her head and catch it in her mouth. Her improvisation made me laugh in surprise - I'd never done anything to suggest this trick to her.

I decided to encourage her new idea - it seems like it could be a very fun trick. She tried about 10 times but hasn't yet managed to catch the toy. She always looked surprised that she'd hadn't caught it.

We'll keep trying that new trick. I love that she has the confidence to make up her own tricks. That's why positive training is so good for dogs - especially sensitive/fearful dogs like Shyla. It helps build confidence that extends to everyday life as well.

When I am finally feeling back to my normal health, I plan to spend some time on training with R. He is so eager to learn new things. However, I mostly spend afternoons and evenings with him (his morning outings are with the Runner). Later in the day is my worst time in terms of migraines. Consequently, his training will have to wait.

I sure do hope that I feel better consistently very soon - I don't want to miss out on anything this summer! I am preparing myself for the fact that it will probably take a little while to dig myself out of this hole so "patience" is my mantra.

I know that summer will be here in the blink of an eye because the birds around our house are singing and calling from the treetops every morning. Ah, the thought of a healthy summer is so enticing!