Marge Goes to New Jersey

I believe today was Marge's first out-of-state trip since her long voyage on a bus from Georgia. Though it was only over the bridge to our neighboring state, New Jersey, it's still a big deal considering how sensitive she is to everything.

Our first stop was the site of our upcoming agility trial. I had contacted the Parks Department in the area, and they informed me that there were no events going on at the park until the day of the agility trial. So, save for a couple of park workers, there was no one there.

After nearly an hour in the car - thanks again, Louie, for schlepping your highway-phobic girlfriend (gotta get on the highway.. and soon!) and her everything-phobic dog there -Marge was totally thrilled to be outside and run around. She took to the big field like she had been there a thousand times before. There were a plethora of things to sniff and plenty of room to run.


She also did OK when two workers drove up next to us in their pickup, informing us that the car had to be moved to a different lot. She did get scared, however, when she witnessed them perform the very scary acts of taking down the flags and talking on their radios.

The rest of the time, we just mozied in the park, Marge's body language fluctuating wildly between "this is so damn cool" and "I'm interested, but I'm on guard, too."

Here she is in the small patch of woods behind the park. Despite noises of some sort (construction/tow trucks/along those lines) she was pretty good until we got too close and she gingerly decided that walking the other way would be more fun.


The visit also reminded me that Marge is not thrilled with the sound of Port-O-Potty doors, a hard thing to avoid at many locations. A stark contrast to the beautiful scenery of fall behind her, Marge's body language here shows much more apprehension and tension. I'm just glad she didn't stay that way the entire time we were there.


I was taken back to a happy time in my life, too. Since the site is also home to horse shows, the horsewoman in me was easily able to spot the vestiges of their competition in the form of hoofprints and horse poop. It inspires a sense of nostalgia in me, and I thought to myself about how the pawprints being created as we walked through a freshly plowed arena were hoofprints, in my world, only a few years ago.


And that was it from the park. Next stop.. agility lesson at Marisa's.

Suffice to say, Marge was freaked when we first got there. Barking dogs (both in her yard and in surrounding yards), a new place, and the temperature steadily climbing (NEVER conducive in Marge's world to running agility). It took her a good ten or fifteen minutes to settle down and get out of panic mode. Strangely enough, though, she actually seemed less comfortable when the resident dogs were brought inside away from her. They were originally in a pen outside, so they could not interact with Marge fully, but she at least got so see that they were there. It further enhances my suspicion that under-control dogs that aren't jumping all over Marge or forcing social interaction with her do wonders to calm her down, part of the reason why she generally does so well when we go to watch at trials.

Due to Marge's attitude about the whole thing, we, admittedly, didn't get a whole lot done. We did one small sequence - jump, jump, farside of tunnel, serpentine, weave - and spent the rest of the time working on the A-Frame and teeter. Though she was less than thrilled with the A-Frame work (not really sure why), she finally seems to be holding her 2o2o at the bottom of it. Looks like it's hasta-la-vista to running contacts.

She really enjoyed the teeter work, as usual, despite the fact that she still has her reservations about the noise. Marisa speculated that her fascination with the teeter is due to how much reinforcement we have done with it. It could be a consequence of operant conditioning vs. classical, but standing there and repeatedly banging it and trying to feed her treats really didn't do too much for her.

She is going over it, now, without much hesitation at all. It seems like her biggest problem is when it clunks after she takes her weight off and it goes back into position.

All in all, private practices are probably just something that Marge will get used to after repeated visits. I know for next time that I'll need super high value treats, and LOTS of them - peanut butter didn't really seem to be doing much for her, but the little bits of hot dog that I had helped a little more.

Needless to say, we're all pooped now. What an adventure! I wish it was a little less stressful for my girl, but I think that next time around it will probably be a bit better. Two new places in one day is a huge deal for her.