What GREAT weather!!

I can feed the dogs their bones OUTSIDE now!!! The world is so GREEN right now! Some of my flowers are blooming, but most have just budded and won't open for a little while. I love it when it's so lush and rich and thick.

Roscoe is off by himself. He would never chew his bone in the company of others!! Colby and Spur are good friends. They would fight over a bone, but they would not look at the others. They respect each other.
I tried to get Rich to take some still shots of Spur on the dog walk. I thought this one was cool. It's like he's trying to touch his front paw with his back paw!!!

The one paw touch down!!!

This was really the shot I was looking for, only not really. Spur likes to flat out jump the up apex and on video it looks really cool. Like he's just floating over it totally stretched out. I think the next stride from this one might have been it, but I'm not sure. We will try again. My camera has a multi shot feature, but I couldn't seem to get it to work. ????

It's a scary time of year to be Jewel

She always seems to have a set back in the spring. And this year is no different. She looks sore. Maybe I let her have too much green grass. Maybe she is just having a flare up of her lyme. I don't really know, but she is now not allowed any lush grass. She has plenty of pasture and short grass to munch but not the thick stuff in this photo.

I have started her on a low dose of doxy again. It obviously doesn't do anything except make her feel better and if it does that, what's wrong with giving it to her???? I am struggling with whether or not to vaccinate. I think not. Last year she had such a bad reaction to the vaccines. I ended up never giving her the West Nile. Have we had any of that around here lately? I haven't heard anything.

It sucks having tons of awesome pasture and a horse that can't be allowed on it for health reasons. I really, REALLY hate that.

I drove my horse trailer around the block and put air in the tires. Damn thing is just rotting, sitting here never used. I think about selling it. If I needed/wanted to go somewhere there are plenty of people I could call to haul for me. But, it's nice having it if ever there was an emergency need or if she starts feeling good enough to make an outing. I don't know, I probably won't use it and should sell it. ACK!!! I never dreamed I would end up with a pasture ornament. Not that it isn't a bad thing, she is a beauty to behold and the sweetest girl in the world and I love her, but it sucks that I can hardly ride. Just plain sucks...............

Roscoe just can't sit still long enough!

To hang in there holding a bouquet of flowers. Miss Colby Carlson was perfect, good little girlie!!!She kept interrupting Spur's session. SHE thinks she can do it better!!!The blue bird babies have hatched and the parents are busy feeding. It's a constant job!
My camera sucks, but that is a tiny worm in his beak.

Our Daily Teeter!

Last winter as I put away my teeter I noticed the plank was rotting. I took it off the base and used it as a running plank for our RDW work. Works fine for that.

But, that meant I had no teeter over the winter. I don't usually, but that might have been a good idea. Either in the basement or the barn, so Spur could keep at it with his teeter work. The lack of that meant several refused teeters at trials over the winter.

So, I painted a new plank in March and put it on my base and have had it outside set up as a precursor to our daily walks. It's right on our way out and I send him and do several before we take our walks. Sometimes I ask for a few bang it games. But, mostly I just tell him to GO TARGET (my cue for the teeter) as we head out and he charges to it each time, good little Monkey Pants!!!! He hasn't refused one since! Yay!! It's a constant issue and probably always will be.

Yum!! The asparagus is up!!

Yum, yum, yum! What more can I say?Been meaning to post these photos of the new lambs. They arrived a couple weeks ago and are RIGHT in the middle of the farm. They spooked the first few times we walked past, but now they hardly react. The dogs are only interested when their fence is moved. Then they find the sheep dung snacks in the previous grazing area. :P I grew up with sheep. I should know what kind of sheep they are, but I haven't a clue. The sheep were not my favorite animals. Dumb, dirty and they could be dangerous. A ram from a mamma protecting her baby could hurt. And feeding in the trough inside the barn in the winter could mean a trampling if one wasn't careful.

Mowed, mowed and mowed some more!

The grass is SO thick and green and the bit of sun we got on Saturday has it REACHING for the sky! Rich mowed the agility yard for me, so I moved the dogs walk. Not an easy feat as it is home made and I have to take it apart and move all my stored jumps and stuff from under it. But, I got it done. Then Rich filmed some RDW's. I did a bunch with the tunnel after, good boy 100%. Then I proofed him without the tunnel and tossed the ball in advance. Yikes!!! Leap, leap, leap.

Silvia said that is very hard for him as he wants to go with two strides and his striding isn't such that he can do that and hit it. We got a couple, very high hits, but it was not very successful. So, I wrote her and asked her advice. She said to stay with what works. "Don't fix what isn't broken" and that she doesn't toss the ball to her Bi because her stride is SO long anyway and she doesn't want it longer. She said I should move a jump after it some and try different settings with him, but to stay with what works. That sounds good to me!

What I would really like are two strides up two at the top and three down. Right now his most common is two strides up, three on top and down.

Notice on the first one with the ball tossed he slipped? Yikes, that's all we need a fall off the DW with little Spur!!!! -

Rich had to make the hole bigger!

So the Bluebirds could fit!!! They now have babies they are feeding!!!

This house is right in our garden about 15 feet from my back door!! So cool!!!!

We saw this Oriole once and that's it. :P The cow birds have been eating the oranges, but have yet to see the Oriole back, darn!

This was taken last week of the asparagus just a week after it was cultivated. Yum!!! Look for it at Jordan's farmstand!!!!

Trying again with the post that got lost

So, we called Kathy to meet out for a walk. She said she'd be right out, so we snap on collars, Pugsley's "Stop Buggin' Me", leashes and baggies and head out. I see someone coming through the woods. Kind of surprised Kathy got out so quickly, but whatever.......I send Spur...."Where's George!!!???". Something I say every time we meet up with Kathy and George. Spur looks ahead immediately, always knowing what I am saying. He starts trotting off and quickly he looks like this......That's not a "Hi George" posture!! That's an alert!!! Big time alert! It was Mary and Pepper, our neighbors. Pepper is, um...., 13 and a big black, grumpy dog. She hates our dogs and they hate her. She is always on a leash and mine are not and since it's our property I don't leach my dogs and we manage to pass them as nicely as possible, but it isn't always nice. Anyway, damn......it! Spur wasn't impressed with my mistake.

I mean, seriously, the posture!! What happened to his neck??? -

However, I do love to see the plume of his lovely tail in alert posture!!! -

We pass Mary, but it takes a while for the tail to settle down.

Then we find George. -

**notice something strange about these photos? No? They show sunlight shining on their coats. Remember that????

Really?? Rain/Chance of rain?

Today
50 °F
Rain Showers
80% chance of precipitation
Tonight
47 °F
Rain Showers
90% chance of precipitation
Tomorrow
52 °F
Rain Showers
90% chance of precipitation
Friday
63 50° F
Chance of Rain
30% chance of precipitation
Saturday
67 52° F
Chance of Rain
20% chance of precipitation
Sunday
67 54° F
Chance of Rain
20% chance of precipitation

We bundled the Pin Heads in their winter coats and headed out this morning. Got to the back field and Colby just stopped, shaking. That short distance and we all were soaked in the mist and drizzle, my glasses were splattered even with my ball cap visor to protect them. I asked her if she wanted to go home.......she turned and RAN back down the woods road. We came home.

Spur? He couldn't understand. I guess I'll take him out later. Right now I have the heat on and may need to order oil soon. >:/

We will learn some new tricks later today. No agility class. Too wet. DAMN..........IT!!!!

The drumming challenge!!

My favorite dog trainer, Silvia Trkman, has put out a challenge to teach your dogs to drum!! Roscoe got it in no time!! He LOVES to drum!!! LOL!! It so feeds into his frantic hyperactivity!! Notice he adds some singing? I tried adding the tambourine, but he seems to prefer to drum.

OK, so here is the deal. Please click to "watch on YouTube" and then click the "like" button. If we get enough likes I win a free DVD!! And please pass along the link to your friends so they can "like" it, too!!! I have until June 5th, so I will be bugging you all for more "likes"!!! :D

I have the heat on, took a shower and filled a glass of wine!!!

It was a cold, wet day! But, I'm home and relaxing!! Hoping that blogger doesn't "eat" this post.

Spur FREAKIN' rocked again this weekend!!! OMG, he is a ROCK STAR!!! Yesterday he won his standard, PSJ and Snooker for a Super Q!!! This was round one of PSJ. I can see he slows down at the jump before the A-frame. He isn't keen on the straight runs to a dramatic decel. Then I kind of lost my way after the A-frame and caused a little slow down, but other than that he ran it great!!! I am very pleased when he RUNS into his weaves. He is such a careful little guy and sometimes goes down to a trot to make sure he gets his entry. Nice to see two sets of weaves where he runs right in!! Good little Monkey Pants!!! -


He ROCKED round two and won that, too!!! -


His standard run. Check out that dog walk and teeter!!!! And some tight turns, good boy!!! I wish she had zoomed in. Must instruct on that feature. -


I don't have his snooker, which was FREAKIN' awesome. Today he missed his first dog walk contact. I tried a blind cross after it and that meant I ran with EVERYTHING I had to get that in and he ended up doing a two strided down, which is extremely hard for him and he just couldn't fit in another stride and missed it. Sigh.........

Today he also won his PGP again!! That's a PGP win two weekends in a row!!! He now has three vouchers for this year!!! And he got a jumpers leg in the POURING ran!! Good little guy!!

Roscoe didn't run. Too damp and I only entered him in gamble each day.

Blogger ate my post!

I had a nice post yesterday about meeting Pepper on the trail and......poof......gone. Then I couldn't get on here at all!! Grrrrrr........

Stay tuned. If I have time I will re-do that post, but the weekend is full with USDAA agility and in-laws.

Tail alert!

Friday I called Kathy to head out for a walk. She said she would be right out. So, we head down the path and I see someone coming our way. "Where's GEORGE??", I tell Spur! He knows what that means and looks and runs to greet George. Only thing was it wasn't George. It was Mary and......gasp.......Pepper!!! Ooops! I did think Kathy was pretty quick to get out already. Pepper hates our dogs and the feeling is mutual.

Suddenly I see Spur's tail up. That's his big, bad ass posture. The one he uses to scare away intruders. Pepper would certainly classify as an intruder even though we welcome Mary and Pepper to walk through.

Love his tail!!!!

Um, could he puff out his chest any more? I think he shrunk his neck???? -
Heeheehee........

Finally met up with Kathy and George -

Babies, babies, babies and one is named Bunny!!

The farm has babies! Babies pigs arrived a couple weeks ago and are SO funny and "cute". They get all silly and jump around when we come by with the pack of dogs. They have the biggest pen!!! Luxury accommodations.

Meet Bunny!!! She was born the day after Easter, so they call her Bunny. She's SO cute!!!!
Mamma got a little nervous about the pack of dogs staring down her baby. She'll get used to us. The dogs are hardly interested. They just want to eat the cow shit.
There are also some new sheep, youngsters, not lambs. I'll get shots of them soon. Many additions to the farm right now. Peas are up, asparagus has been cultivated, so we look every morning to see new shoots. Nothing, yet. We need some warmth!!!

USDAA trial report!

We had a GREAT day on Saturday!! First Roscoe, got the gamble which had a teeter 16.5' away!! He nailed it, good little gamble dog!! But, we ran out of time because the buzzer went off and we were in horrible position on the far end of the ring, damn it!! It was a hard gamble and very few were getting it.

Then he had to run pairs after being pulled from the car during major thunder. His tail was down, ears sagged, I wasn't sure he would run. But, several turkey meatballs later and he ran fine!! Helped a friend get her championship with that run and that felt GREAT!!!! Good little Roscoe is SO consistent I told her if anyone could help her it was Roscoe and he did! She has NQ'ed with a bunch of other partners, so this felt great!!!!! YAY!!!

Now for Spur de Blur!! OMG, he was ON FIRE!! He is blossoming right in front of my eyes! First run was a SMOKIN' jumpers with one tiny refusal where I simply did not support the jump enough. He was FLYING!!!! Then got snookered in snooker, oh well, fun course! Forget the gamble with a teeter 16.5' away!!

Now for his wins! He won standard with the second fastest time of ALL the P dogs!!!! :D He looked great!!!! Love his dog walk on this run!! Just perfect.



Then he also won PGP for a voucher!! YAY!! His first PGP win!!! He wasn't impressed with the teeter third obstacle, but he managed. His time would have been sub 40 had he nailed the teeter. That wee hesitation put his time at 41.07.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Roscoe chewed up his flower. Go figure!

Sorry about that Spur!

I think I am in such great shape. I am not fat, I walk for miles every day as my JOB. I started running again. My 1.2 miles has been brutal, but I have been doing it regularly. In fact, there was a spell last week I did that run 8 days in a row. It's hard, yeah, still not feeling like I can add more mileage, but damn I have been doing it now for about 3 weeks. It should be getting easier.

Yesterday I did a drop in on a Master's class. This class is to push the handlers on hard courses, setting up scenarios doing it one way, then the other, considering all options and seeing what works best for the dogs. Since my dogs jump the same jump height I offer to just run them back to back. I can do it, it will be easier that way, no changing jumps between runs saving us......a minute maybe. OK, I am fit, right? I can do this.

Run Roscoe, who is ON FIRE!! Muffin Heads, he was SO high and running his heart out for me and we did the course CLEAN first try!!! Some very wide spots, especially exhausting WAY wide out of the first tunnel, but I should have been at the exit to show him the turn. Still, dude ran GREAT!!!

Shove him in his crate with cookies and pull out Spur. One small bobble as he chooses the dogwalk and not the tunnel so we redo that, but he also ran great!!! Fast, fast, some really tight turns. By the end I feel my gas running out...........seriously lagging and barely making it to the end. I KNOW he feels that. It affects him as I gasp at the end trying to get out his good-boy cookies. He barks at me.

Sorry about that Spur, I have this image of myself that is a mirage I guess. Damn it!!!! I am not in as good shape as I thought. I was disappointed.

I ran my 1.2 miles this morning. When I got home Rich asked how my run was. Brutal, it was brutal. Seriously, my legs felt like lead, I couldn't do my last bit sprinting like I like to do. I was DRAGGING.

Sorry about that Spur. I am just not in as good shape as I thought. I remember someone saying it takes six weeks to get into shape and only two weeks to get out of shape. I guess I have some work ahead of me. We have a trial tomorrow and many runs for little Spur. I hope I can hold up. He loves it when I can run. I am trying!!!!!!!!

When it's rainy we work on tricks!

Barely got the bottle hold going and now Silvia is challenging us to a drumming trick. OK, for some reason I had an idea Roscoe would like this one. It feeds right into his frantic nature!!! :D



Spur is much more thoughtful -



Colby is doing this, too, but I just didn't get her videod.

And one more session with crazy Roscoe on picking up and holding the bottle. He's sure getting it!!!! Sorry it's blurry -

The boys are so different

And I think it's interesting how different I am with them. So much patience and soft voice with Spur. Roscoe gets less patience and more demanding. Huh.

Learning to pick up the bottle and hold it. A "thinking" trick. The dogs must put together two behaviors. Fun watching them figure it out!!



Roscoe starts with offering all sorts of behaviors, including his flat on the side trick. He's so frantic and quick I don't click enough for his efforts, but that's my attempt to wait him out for SOME stillness. Regardless of my poor clicking he is starting to get it. I bet in one more session he will have it figured out. Spur may take a little longer. He has to thoroughly think things through.

We are back!

Went to Boston for the night. Headed down in time for lunch at Faneuil Hall. It was MOBBED!! And COLD! I couldn't wait to check in and take a hot bath!!

We then headed off on the.....gasp......subway to the 5:00 show if Blue Man Group. Oh dear, my claustrophobia was put to the test in the subway. I did it!!!! I am very proud!!! The show was supposed to be completely changed from when it first came out. We saw it then and loved it. I can't say I loved it this time. It was great fun, but way too much techno stuff. They did a whole routine/spoof on the I-phone and it just kind of bored me. More drumming please!!! Still, it is a fabulous show! We didn't have the greatest seats, either. I kind of thought any seat in that house would be good, but not so. I had to really strain and bend over to see some of it.

Maybe that's why it wasn't quite as good. Last time we managed to get seats in the FRONT row!

We had a nice dinner and headed to bed early. This morning our plan was to head up to Newbury st. to do some shopping. That was all well and good, but it was FUCKING COLD!!!!! So nice and sunny, but just too damn cold. What ever possessed me to wear shorts???? We walked the park and enjoyed the beautiful tulips there. Incredible!!! Then attemped more shopping, but decided to call it quits when I could barely feel my fingers. Am I being dramatic? Hardly, it was COLD!!!!

It seems so nice and sunny, but it's just cold. 55 degrees with a brisk wind isn't warm enough.

Dana did great, her first time house sitting and being with the dogs. Maybe she will be a good resource in the future!!! YAY!!!!