It’s been a trip

Hi all,

Daisy’s 10 month old picture

I was originally going to keep blogging about what I’ve been doing with Daisy, and the last time I had mentioned the Novice Trick Dog title was in April. On May 5th, Daisy earned her TKN. I had been going to keep you folks updated on what happened, but I had a complication happen with surgery that caused me to end up back in surgery with an emergency surgery.

So I have not been online to continue writing about the things that have been going on with Daisy and I.  Hopefully we are about to remedy that.

After she achieved her Trick Dog novice title, I enrolled her in a beginning obedience class that was supposed to start on June 19th. We then ended up having the incident happen with the surgery complication, and I now have to have a family member handling Daisy for class.

That’s been okay. She has been doing beautifully with my family member in class, and at the beginning of this last month, I sent off her first competition entry for the event called Fast Cat.

If all goes as I hope, we will be competing in our first fast cat trial on August 31st.

By the beginning of August, Daisy will have completed the akc  star puppy program. I had always wanted to take at least one dog through the STAR puppy program because I’d never done it before. My family member has been trying to help me as well with taking Daisy for two 20 minute walks a day as part of the program.

Off on a walk

After we complete our STAR puppy, I will have the instructor assist me in choosing what class to start next. Right now, Daisy and I have been working off leash in the house on her rear-end awareness and being able to pivot at heel.

I think that about wraps up what we’ve been up to. I will include a link to Daisy’s YouTube page because we have been posting some videos as she’s been working on things with her training on her YouTube page.

Until next time,

Emily and McLaughlin’s Darling Daisy TKN

Life after surgery with a puppy

One of the major worries I have had when I  found out I needed major abdominal surgery was, “What about Daisy?” She’s only 8 months old,  and is in the  rootin’, tootin’ cavortin’, snortin’ puppy stage. The chaos canine stage.

Not an ideal time for 8 weeks off training.  So, what do I do? Well,  thankfully,  I have wonderful family,  and friends plus some amazing contacts. There are several people willing to take turns walking her. Chewy.com has been a lifesaver with bones. A friend lent me a plethora of dog puzzles.

The key is that a busy puppy is a happy puppy. I  absolutely cannot strain my abdomen.  But I  don’t have to between trick training,  and  dog puzzles.  She has learned to use a wobble board in the  last few days, and  she figured out three different types of dogs puzzles.  Currently she’s conquered level four puzzles.  She’s brilliant! Daisy on the level four puzzle

But that wasn’t new. By the time she was 15 weeks old, little girl tracked down a deer that was shot, and  then lost in the woods. No one else could find it.  Daisy did in 15 minutes.

After I heal, we will be doing some scent work classes, and hopefully competing in agility and scent work. 

Random share, but this is something else she’s missing while I heal. Daisy having fun with milking before my surgery

Hopefully we will be back to adventures by the beginning of June.

Until next time,

Emily

A New Page

Hi all,

I decided since we are no longer doing Homesteadingedu, and Facebook rolled out Meta Ai which I hate, I would share posts here on this blog about my horse Captain and my dog Daisy.

So a little introduction is probably necessary and I completely understand if you decide to no longer follow this blog now that I am sharing about my horse and dog adventures here.

Without further ado, an introduction to who these animals are.

Captain is GK Strengthandhonor,  and he is an American Quarter Horse who was born in Oklahoma in 2016. I bought him in utero as my dream horse after 21 years in the saddle on other horses.

In 2018, we faced an awful fight for his life due to a brain eating potozoa called EPM. A lot of people thought he should be destroyed.  He wasn’t giving up so neither was I.

He was finally cured in 2020, but was left with neurological damage that made it questionable whether he would ever be safe as a riding horse. I had a terrible accident on him that required surgery on me to fix damages in 2020.

I chose to send him out to  Shoops horse training in Inola Oklahoma while I recovered. They were successful at helping him become a trust worthy mount. In 2023, we placed 5th in the  5D with Sooner Barrel Racing Association.

This year is  a year of  learning,  and  healing. He still has a lot to learn,  and I just had major abdominal surgery. So it will be June before we are allowed to ride again.

McLaughlin’s Darling Daisy was born in August of 2023. She came home on October 16th, just 6 days after my dear Pixie passed suddenly of kidney failure.  Daisy has been a tremendous blessing to me,  and we are currently working towards our Canine Good Citizen, and  our trick dog novice.  After I’m healed from surgery,  we will be taking a Star Puppy class, and  I  will  blog about that.

I decided to blog about the adventures Captain and Daisy and myself have because I had been using Instagram and Facebook to share their journeys. Instagram became very toxic,  and then Facebook rolled out AI with no way to  opt out.

So, blogging it will be. I hope you all enjoy hearing about our dog and horse training journeys.

Until next time,

Emily

Daisy,  the beagle

Captain running barrels this past year.

Doing a little training with Daisy,  and a nice side picture of her.  WordPress changed how to insert pictures so bear with me while I re figure out formatting.