More Silvia homework!

We worked on course 2b, which we had only done in parts before. He looked good! The only thing she said was I could use my wrap cue on 5, but he did fine without it. I SO struggle with getting my verbals out!
She said to keep working on his tunnel/dw discrimination and the little wrap set up. She loved his weaves! I think he gets all excited because I use my jackpot voice when he nails that entry! Not his favorite side, but he sure does fine! Go figure! :D







And, OHMYGOD, just to show you that cats CAN be trained, check this out............



SO awesome!!!!

Beautiful birds, munched my sunflowers!

This first shot is a photo of the swallows doing a strange swarming on the tree the other morning. They would flock and gather in the hundreds, then suddenly take off in both directions. They did it time and again and we were mesmerized. No idea why they kept doing it????

This little yellow warbler was elusive. It kept "hiding" behind a leaf, damn it. They are not as plentiful around here and I really wanted it's picture. This was the best I could do........

 See the other one? It's butt?

Pretty, pretty birds!

Damn it, the leash chased him!!

Rich had Spur on the flexi and dropped it. Of course, then it zipped up close to him and he took off with it dragging behind him. Chasing him!! This happens on occasion with a leather leash, but not quite as scary. Still scary, once it happened after I first got him home and he RAN FOR THE HILLS!! Seriously, scared. This morning he was seriously scared, but he had his wits about him enough to come to us for rescue. 

Poor little buggar sure has his worries. But, this time he also recovered really quickly. We unleashed him and gave him cookies and told him how brave he was. Then headed on our way. 

Yesterday I was tossing him his ball and he was doing his "ball dance". I thought I could get it on film, but nope all I manage was him barking or in play bow. Still cute. He's ALWAYS cute!! :D

 Kind of not the best lighting, but oh well........

 The flash went off for this one. That's a happy smile!

Spur's weekend trial! Nicely done Spur-minator!

Two Double-Q's with very nice runs! Only have two on video. My friend Don said he got Sunday's standard, but it wasn't there. Did he turn the camera on? He must have how could he see anything in the screen if it wasn't on. So, what did he do? He didn't take a picture, there isn't a picture? I don't know, but I now know for Don I will use my iPad. He had an iPad and is quite good with it. In fact, at lunch he gave me a tutorial of iPad use. Awesome, really, some GREAT apps I loaded and some fun ideas of what to do with my iPad. Don is..........well...........at least old enough to be my father! He's very hip. Runs two dogs in agility and had more apps on his iPad than anyone I know! I have known Don for years, he is the nicest guy and he LOVES his dogs. Fun spending time with him at trials. I sure hope that I am doing what he is doing when I am his age. He is certainly fun to watch, his dogs are very fast. Great fun trial!!!

Spur ran REALLY well. Still not breaking 4 yps on standard or 5 yps on jumpers, BUT his starts were awesome and we felt connected the whole time!!! He placed in every run. Placements are 1-4, so if the THREE National Champions all qualify we MIGHT get fourth. That is if Jones isn't there. Jones can't beat Race, but he can beat the other NC's. Max the Invitational Jack Russell often beats us, Max is really fast. It sure seems like Spur's class now has some INTENSE competition. Spur was not 10 seconds slower than Race, but only 6 consistently all weekend. He was only 3 seconds behind Sparkle, last years NC's. So, it was a GREAT trial.

Another fun thing at this trial - I kept getting comments from strangers. People I don't know coming up to me and saying how awesome Spur is and how fast and happy and fun to watch. That just makes my heart SWELL!! Entering the ring in jumpers yesterday one of the ring crew at the table, some guy I have never seen before, says to the others at the table........."Oh, I LOVE this dog!! He is so much fun to watch!!". I could not beam with more pride!!!! :D That is truly what it is all about!!!

Here are two runs.........


What was fun about this trial is how happy he was the WHOLE time. I never felt he was really bummed about anything. AND notice on his standard I am not asking for a thing on the table. This is AKC and they don't have to do anything. My latest plan is to just de-stress the table and NOT ask for a thing for a while. Even in USDAA I am going to not qualify by not asking. Of course if he goes down I'll celebrate, but he hasn't offered that. I am not even looking at him. In this standard you will notice his butt start to go down, then he stands up again. So, he THOUGHT about it!!! That's pretty bit! All by himself, he thought about it. His table at home.........fast down now. Awesome at class, really fast downs. Auto-downs. We have it at home now. I'm grasping here, but whatever, it FEELS better not to ask for anything at trials. I HATE having to yell at him to go down. We have our five standards in USDAA for his championship, so whatever. If he never does another down on the table, whatever. I am at that point. I HATE how hit hurts our relationship and I totally own the issue. I made it, I own it. I caused this stress and here we are in this situation. So, whatever. It felt GREAT not to ask him for anything and he sure was happier! Thank you AKC. Damn you USDAA. I did write them and only heard back from one person.........."It was how it was done when the sport originated in England". I wrote back.........."If we never changed anything, how boring life would be".

USDAA the ONLY venue in THE WORLD requiring a down on the table.

Poor Roscoe has a bladder infection

Kept me up all night Wednesday night. Up to pee every two hours. Brought a sample in first thing in the morning. OK, so here's the thing.......male dogs don't usually get bladder infections. So, why? My friend Karen's MinPin Kuna just passed away this summer after a battle with bladder cancer. Huh. This sounds a bit similar.

We are going to do the two weeks of antibiotics, then three days before testing his urine again. They might be able to see cancer cells in the urine, but maybe not. Then further testing would be needed. I'm thinking this could have been going on a while? Why was he sore and grumpy this spring? Why did the metacam help so much and even get him hiking Sugarloaf? Maybe it wasn't soft tissue, but his bladder? Metacam is one treatment they use for bladder cancer. Kuna was on it for a year. He lived far longer then they expected. Roscoe is old, so this is a concern. He already seems better so far after three doses of antibiotics, but if it is cancer we have a bit of work to do to help him somehow. Sigh...............old dogs..................

Very, VERY busy work week!!!

Lots of extra kitty visits this week as people are doing their last vacation time, I guess.

So, for now you will have to settle for watching my idol, Laura Dolan and Racer, at AKC World Team practice this week in California. We did team with them at USDAA Nationals last year. Race won the Performance Championship, and then this spring he won the 12" AKC Nationals. At barely three he is a triple National Champion! Amazing fast team. Laura is maybe the best handler I know. She knows exactly what her body is doing at all times. She can run FREAKY fast!!! Love watching her run! Race is amazing, too, but Laura is the one I watch first, then sometimes I watch Race, LOL!!! That she ran that opening line just blows me away! WOW!

The ladies almost stumbled from their bindings

What? The very large breasts of a young girl we met on our morning farm walk.When Rich asked me what I was talking about I almost choked. Nate burst out in laughter and looked me in the eye with brows raised. Yep, Rich just asked me what I meant. I was trailing behind them and had a good view, because I had the boys to attend to as she was passing us with her old sheltie. Of course, she has to pass us and not take the long way around and avoid us, so I am stuck with two asshole dogs ready to go OFF on her nice sheltie. She bent over to pat George before passing along towards us. I had a good view, probably better than the guys did. The ladies nearly didn't hold!!! Seriously, I thought............OH.............MY.........GOD.........they are busting out in one second, either now or as she stands up. Then what? What would we all do??? Nate knows her from driving the school bus. I only recognized her dog, who her mother usually walks. 

Is it the hormones in the beef? Milk? Why does that happen to young girls. She is very pretty, but damn I would not want to tote those around my whole life. However, at her age, with her obvious choice of .......clothing......she very much appreciated her girls. And trusted them to stay put. I didn't. I was quite impressed they stayed put. WOW!!!! As she ages I really think she won't appreciate them as much as she does right now. Her back will hurt, her pocket book will suffer from the cost of bras. Damn. Of course, Rich points out that my tiny tots are just fine (as tiny as they are......OK, so he didn't say it like that) and he didn't need them that big. I do believe him because seriously he would not want me buying bras to hold up those ladies. Those are not cheap bras! Was she wearing a bra? I am not totally sure. Coverage was minimal and control was iffy, that is for sure. Yet, she seemed unconcerned and never even straightened her top.

Goodness!!!

OK, enough about the nearly naked ladies. I didn't get a photo. It all happened so fast.

Here are my California poppies closing up for the night. Love them!!!!

 I don't even remember taking this photo of Colby, but it is kind of artistic and cool.

We practiced our ball rolling. Just not quite getting it, yet. She gets the idea to stand on it, but rolling it isn't quite in her understanding at this stage. She sure thinks it is a fun game, though!!

I supposed bonking it with her nose was just to try something else? "What do you want, MA, stand on it or touch with my nose?" I don't know, why she did this........

Spur wanted a try. He always wants a try on the ball.

He pushed her off and she then tried targeting it with her hind foot. LOL!!!

She got it back..........

And was QUITE clear that it was HER ball and to "buzz off Twinkle Toes!!!"

Stella had her try, but she was NOT a happy camper. The riffle range was active. Totally ruins her day.

Roscoe decided his best course of action was to grab some treats from Lisa's bag while she was busy with Douce. I think he was successful!!

My poor garden

It seems like it was simply a bad year for bugs. First, I must have some cut worms as several plantings of beets just never came up. Strange thing, though, it was only the beets. Oh and some of the swiss chard. I can't even grow swiss chard???? Now I have vine borers in my zukes and cukes. The cukes are managing to continue to produce some, but they look sad. So far, they have not reached my summer squash, but probably that is just a matter of time. My friend calls them "maggoty culprits". Yep, that's what they are, disgusting grubs that turn the base of the plant to mush. Gross.

We did have plenty of cukes. Enough to toss the dogs some. Not sure why Spur has to make such a face when he eats cukes. Roscoe just EATS them. It's funny, really, you would think I just tossed him some steak, he gets all excited and chomps it down. Spur.........makes this face...........

Catching my breath!

Company has gone and no more in sight. YAY!!! Love our family, but boy does it get old having people in the house needing attention. We are just not used to it. Roscoe is such a pain, and the barking starts to really get old. He does fine, no one gets bit, but it is a constant battle to keep him quiet and relaxed and the chaos just starts to wear on us.

Plus, my house needs cleaning. Clean before, clean after. I am always cleaning these days. Company just means more cleaning, plain and simple, more people, more dirt, more laundry. And the dogs need baths and nail trims. They have all be enjoying good rolls in worms lately. It's raining, again. No baths unless it is sunny for drying outside and fresh worm rolling. Maybe this weekend, dog baths.

 Spur very much enjoys a good worm roll. He drools. So, not only does he end up smelling like worms (which isn't so bad, they are just digested dirt, right?), but he gets covered in drool. His mouth foams. It's an odd process, but in the end, isn't he pretty?..............

The Pin Heads don't drool, they just roll.

Will my house get cleaned today? Nah..........instead I am off with my sister and niece to go clean a friend's house whose husband is in the hospital. People are bringing her food, but I am not much of a cook, so I offered to clean instead. I have some time this morning before my walks, so off to clean her house. Will 16 year old niece show up? Hmmm, I wonder.

More company!

We had Rich's brother and girlfriend for the weekend. Packed them up yesterday and Rich's folks arrive today for two days. Phew, laundry, cleaning, event coordinating is wearing us out!! But, I did get the afternoon yesterday to do some agility with Spur. We haven't trained in ages because it is TOO DAMN HOT AND HUMID around here. And too wet. Goodness, I sure would like to give some rain to the mid-west. WE are saturated here. Our sump pump is going off. That is SO unusual in August????? Everything is damn and moldy and "rotten". It is definitely getting OLD and I am very much looking forward to fall AND, yes, even winter. I know how to get warm. I don't know how to stay cool. And I am SO out of shape from not jogging any because of this weather. I simply and NOT the type who will head out there no matter what. Yeah, I know, warm is good for the muscles, but I just melt in the heat and humidity. I hate it. So, I was VERY disappointed in my lack of breathing capacity running Spur on this course. I tried like heck to be more upbeat and motivating the second time and it sure did help him, but then I could barely breath, damn it! I submitted this to Silvia for our course work. Waiting to hear what she says. I think he does better the second time, but I am not so happy with how I end up so far ahead and then standing still. I need to adjust MY speed better for him. He is learning to handle that OK, but still the more I can be WITH him, the better. I think my cues are early enough and all that, but I am TOO early with my position and then I end up just static at the next obstacle SO often!! Oi! I ran in my rubber boots which wasn't a good idea because the ONE place I was not too far ahead (before the frame) was because I was in rubber boots and could not get traction on the damp grass. Idiot.

I have a new respect for our trial photographers!

Action shots are HARD!!! 

 Curious that the ball seems in focus?????
 

 Barking with his head forward? His usual is head bend almost backwards, LOL!! But, he didn't want to take his eye off the ball!!!

 A rare miss!!

Company arrives tomorrow, again. OI! My list? Clean, clean, clean and clean some more and then.......mow, mow, mow some more. Hopefully, Rich will help. Just spent WAY too much money at the grocery store. It has been two weeks and we had NOTHING to eat except for some stale cereal. I threw that away. There might be some stale crackers, too. I probably should test them before putting out crackers and cheese this weekend. :O The humidity is ENOUGH ALREADY!!!

I don't relish rain for the weekend, but I am glad to get it after reading about the farmers in most of the country. Very sad situation. I feel very bad for the cows and other livestock. Nothing to eat and no corn being harvested. It is going to be a very tough situation.

No farms, no food, no rain, no food. Our farmers are sure struggling right now. Be nice to your farmer and pray for rain in the middle of the country.

Froggie!

 A progression of a froggie croak.

Notice how the water shimmies when he croaks. The frogs seemed to move. They were always in the small pond, but yesterday they were in the big pond. I don't remember them in the big pond. At least, certainly not in the numbers we say yesterday.