Helping Our Peeps Workout

Lady and Man have been working with a personal trainer. In a few months (19 sessions but who is counting) they are going to be transferring to working out at home. They are starting to collect gym equipment and practice at home.

We are working on being excellent coaches to try and replace their coach. Lady says we are nicer but perhaps we need to work on not being in the way. We don't see a problem. 

Thank you for leaving this mat out for me

Chew one, two, three

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In other news, this is a picture from our from yard last night. Even with all the rain, there is still going to be snow in the yard today. Today was the first day picked in our contest. We appreciate Molly's optimism for the end of the winter and are sorry she isn't the winner. Thanks for playing Molly!

The New World Order

I really don't know where the time goes, but here we are late Saturday morning just getting around to a post!

I have started experimenting with a new work schedule this week since I am my own boss and can do this. As mentioned earlier, in general I am not a good boss because I never say no and I don't set clear work boundaries. I am hoping by publicly stating my goal it will help. My goal is to work 4 days a week. I am flexible on which day I don't work and understand there may be times that one week I can't make this happen.  Ideally at least 2 weeks of the month one of those days will be from home, meaning I only leave the house 3 days for work. I always have a lot of paperwork to do (I spent 7 hours on it on Thursday and still had more) so I would be very busy on my day at home.

The problem with this schedule is that it has me out of the house 14 hours a couple days a week, which means on work days I have less time for the things I love (like reading all your blogs). This week I was able to visit a lot of blogs on lunch or break times but not comment. So don't be surprised if we are commenting less than we would like.

Don't worry about Lee and Phod on my long days. They always get their long walks. The man works shorter days, so they aren't alone that long. Also, I am making sure to give them extra love and exercise time in the evening. After all, we have 3 acres we hardly use. This week I added strolls through our own bush in the evening. The dogs love this and climbing up and down the hill behind our house adds exercise. Plus I am using this land I am working so hard to pay for!

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Thank you to everyone for their advice on what to look for in a breeder. My friend is on her way to check the place out this morning, armed with all your info. Will let you know how it goes!

Lupul and Panda also thank everyone for all their birthday wishes.

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A very special thanks to Millie and Walter for this pawsome award. We feel so loved!

Dealing with all this mischief

As yesterday's post indicated, last week was NOT a good week for me and the pups. Besides the running away incident, someone peed on the guest bed, Hailey peed on the floor out of spite while Phod was at the vet, and 2 times they got stuff from the counter and destroyed it.  We got to practice patience a lot. I really need to start to get this under control now as starting Sunday, this is a 3 dog house . . . . .

The plan:

1) Increase exercise. We haven't been walking as much because it is winter. Now that it is getting warmer, it is time to get more exercise in. We are going to double our walk time.

2) Increase mental exercise. While we are doing some training, we could be doing more. I am going to make a chart [I love a chart] and work in at least 3 training sessions per day. 

3) New toys: I am going to look for new things that will keep their minds busy. 

4) I am going to remember to breathe.

This is by our front door . . . .

The accidental health benefits of dog ownership

Note: Since I last talked about a bad walk yesterday (one we are pretending never happened), let's talk about the positive aspects of walking.

I have been working with a natural path for the past 5 months to address some health concerns I have had. While we haven't solved everything, the sacrifice of limited dairy and no gluten has made a big difference in my life for my overall physical wellbeing. I have discovered in my mid-30s that it is not normal to live with gut pain!

Man, I am tired after that walk

During my last visit, my natural path asked me if I had lost weight. I said I didn't know, I don't own a scale and I am a person who is completely oblivious to my own and others weight loss. It has to be the biggest loser type dramatic difference for me to notice . . . .  so she pulled out her scale and I am happy to say that I have lost 10 pounds and am now 1 pound over my ideal body weight. My % of body fat has dropped 6% and is now the top of acceptable and I have added 3% muscle mass.

The doctor asked what I had done to achieve such great results. First, I had taken out dairy and gluten, which does eliminate a lot of my favourite not so healthy treats (oh how I miss Mars bars and most types of chips). I also am making sure to eat my veggies. But I think the biggest secret to my success has been my dogs. I think moving to the country where I can't have a dog walker (Stephanie we do miss you - especially at 5:30 am when we are out walking), getting a second big dog, and not having a place where they can go outside alone has me walking more. And  when wild life goes by and I am holding on for dear life, I get my strength training.  I attribute much of this success to them. 

So since I don't spend much time in the ditch, all this walking is good for me. Let's hope we can lose that last pound . . . .

Note: Hailey has lost weight too. We are upping her food as we think she is getting too skinny!