sheepies

Today we did something different...something other than agility or swimming or just hanging out being dogs...today we did sheep...

The first time Triumph saw sheep was last January...and he wanted to play with them...seriously, I walked him up to the round pen with the sheep in it and he fell to the ground on his back...when we actually put him into the round pen, the head ewe, sized him up, stomped at him and he actually did a play bow...really????  yes, he really did a play bow! 

The first time Burn saw livestock he was 11 weeks old...he went in to the round pen with a complete stranger, broke them up, got into their faces and tried to bite them!  He was 11 weeks old...

photo by Becky Nicholas

photo by Becky Nicholas

Burn got his PT title at 10 months...he loves it and I'm told he's an an incredibly talented herding dog...but I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing...I didn't 7.5 years ago when I first took Burn out to play with sheep and I don't now...it's too gray for me and I just don't get it...it frustrates me...but both my guys seem to like it...so we do it on rare occasions and I'm thankful to live close to a herding person who is so patient and a really good instructor.

Burn was fabulous today and I so wish I would have gotten his time in the round pen on film...an hour after we got home today, he had a mild seizure...he hasn't had an episode since April 2, 2009, and I so thought he'd never have another...damn it...it's the most heartbreaking thing one could ever experience...you are completely helpless and there is nothing you can do to help your dog...it really really sucks...

Triumph never did go belly up to the sheep today and he acted like a real border collie!!!  Well sort of, he did want to play with the paddle :))  

Triumph...he's such a joy and makes me smile no matter what he does :)

Giving Thanks...

So much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving...my family, Marc, his son, Marc's family, my friends, my wonderful dogs, my health, my home, my job, the list goes on and on...so much to be thankful for not just at the Thanksgiving holiday, but every night when I get in my nice warm bed and go to sleep and every morning that I wake up...so blessed am I!!

We're off to New Smyrna Beach shortly today for the fun day - yeah we get to work on impulse control AND start lines :))))))

I love this quote...taken recently from a Tribute written on Dan Weldon - the young race car driver recently tragically killed in a firey crash...


..."the more you love something, the more it will make you cry, but the harder it will make you laugh and the broader it will make you smile"...

So much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday!

a mixed bag

This past weekend we showed at Dog On It's local 3-day USDAA trial...while we had some really good runs and some bits and pieces of brillance in other runs, we also had some not-so-good moments...

Friday night was jumpers, snooker and Grand Prix...Triumph had a great jumpers run with a Q and a 1st place...

Then we ran snooker earning our second Super Q and a first place...I could not breathe after this run but it was fun and worth it for that Super Q...

Third class on Friday was Grand Prix...I so want a Grand Prix Q but that didn't happen as I left the ring with him after he completely released himself from the aframe and dove into a tunnel...BAD DOG...this of course was after he had pushed his start line and I let him go anyway...ME BAD...I actually deleted that run off my camera!!!!

Saturday morning snooker was first and Triumph earned his third Super Q AND his master snooker title!  Master pairs was next - our pairs partner had the first half and went off course at the baton pass but Triumph ran clean and I was very happy with it - we can do half a course beautifully!!!!!!  No standard Q either day as he took an off course on Saturday into the weave poles and then got a refusal at a jump on Sunday. 

Saturday ended with a nice Steeplechase run earning a Q and a 2nd place with less than a second off the 1st place dog - who is a very experienced, very accomplished, fabulous dog - so I was quite happy with that run!  He definitely pushed the start line and hit the first aframe a little harder than I'd like - notice how I have to dodge the juge at the first frame - and he did over-jump the double coming out of the tunnel, but all in all, I thought his jumping was pretty good...

The gamble class was first Sunday morning...yeah I love that...sat him in front of a tunnel and lead out, turned around and there he was, so we left...boo I hate that!!!!  He gave me a lead out in standard but we got a refusal at a jump and then steeplechase round 2 started out pretty nice but he landed on the broad jump so I decided not to finish the course...jumpers was a very challenging and VERY tight course with very few clean runs...we took an off course at the 4th jump but again, I was very happy with his jumping.

This Saturday we get to go play at an agility fun day in New Smyrna.  It will be very trial-like - guess what we get to work on????!!!!!!! 

THE STARTLINE :)))

Below are some pics taken this weekend by Kristie Moser...so nice to see her and Hemi this weekend...and I found this little decal on my van when I left Sunday...thanks Marc :))



All photos by Kristie Moser



I love this shot!!!

STAT

Meet Stat...one of Triumph's littermate brothers...the other red merle in the litter...while I have never met Stat or his mom, Margaret, in person, I love them...

Margaret and I have a common link and we have become friends via the internet - email, facebook, our blogs, etc...as you can see, Stat does flyball...and has a very similar jumping style to his red merle brother...wow!

Stat and Margaret live in Arizona...where they compete in flyball and agility...this run was from a USDAA trial on November 5th...

Great run - especially love his re-start into the weave poles...I showed it to Triumph and made him watch his brother's perfect sit stay at the startline :))) 






This was a novice jww run from an AKC trial they did this past weekend...hey Margaret, I didn't think there was grass in Arizona!!!  I LOVE this run too...

genetics is an amazing thing...so many similarities with these guys in and out of the agility ring not only in their looks but in their desire, motivation, temperament, attitude, etc...it's just so cool

p.s. Margaret show your videographer where the zoom button is! :))

I hope to meet Margaret and Stat some day in person...actually I hope to meet Martha Healy and Frank Lafata who own two other litter brothers, Trek and Rush, in person as well...until then, we will continue to share our stories, brags, videos and our love of these boys!

How cute is he???!!!

Princess Pauli

This post is about my little Pauli...my 14-year-old Jack Russell Terrier...the best little dog ever, ever...who has started to become quite needy as the senior citizen in our house...our life and home pretty much revolves around Pauli, which is totally fine with us.

Pauli cannot jump up on to any of the furniture in my house anymore, so I pick her up and place her wherever she wants to be.  Lately, she will not jump off of anything I place her on - she will just sit there and bark and scream at me to come and get her off.

Pauli came to live with us when she was 6 weeks old...at the time I was married to Marc and he insisted that she sleep in a crate...being the dog trainer I was, I was like, sure no problem, she will sleep in a crate...that first night she barked and carried on so that Marc and my Rottweiler, Jake, finally left the room and went to sleep in the guest room...as soon as they left, I opened up the crate and put her in the bed under the covers and she never made another peep and this is where she has slept like a little rock for the last 14 years.

But lately, she does not sleep so well and can be pretty restless...I've worried that she will fall off the bed in the middle of the night and hurt herself.  So last week I decided to re-arrange my house.  I moved the futon bed that was in the guest room into my bedroom as it is much lower to the floor and moved my bed into the guest room.

My bedroom has french doors that lead out on to a patio into my backyard and I've been folding up the futon into a couch and have so much room now in my bedroom - it's kinda like a second living room!

This is the guest room now - Bosco has no problem getting up on anything these days!

Pauli had no problem getting up and off the futon bed while it was in the guest room...however, once I moved it into my bedroom, all of a sudden, she was not able to jump off of it...really????  So I had to make one more adjustment for Pauli...

how cute is she???

new beds for everyone...

and everyone seems pretty comfortable, for now...

Good news!!!!!

Just got back from the orthopedic specialist with Burn...oh good news!!! 

Burn had a complete physical and orthopedic exam - his entire body - the ONLY thing the specialist could find was a very old injury to the third toe on his right rear foot that had a 30% decrease range of motion but no inflammation and no pain.  On movement, he could see that Burn took 3 or 4 mis-steps on that right rear, so he said that whatever he did, is about 90% healed.  He suggested I give him another 7 - 10 days of no activity and when his gait is 100%, he can start to resume normal activity.

So I've pulled him from Dog On It's upcoming local USDAA trial in 3 weekends and will shoot for the USDAA trial coming up next month in Jacksonville.

SO RELIEVED!!!!!!