Happy 12th birthday Miss Colby Carlson!!

She has been the nicest, sweetest, easiest dog we have ever had here!! No doubt, Rich's favorite!! :D

Born in a puppymill in MI, shipped to a RI pet store, bought by a college kid. He wasn't bad to her, but he got back to college and couldn't handle her energy level. She is one major terrier, hunting constantly and she needed a LOT of exercise for a tiny dog.

She was my first agility competition dog and took us all the way to the AKC Invitational in Long Beach CA. She hopped on a jet plane with us, it was AWESOME!!!

She has her MACH and a CD and is trained through utility and loves that routine (I will not put her in out of sight stays, though), and does lots of cool tricks. She has been through Mast cell cancer surgery, lyme disease which took two years to cure, knee surgery and recently her eye removal. She has been on expensive little dog!!

At night Rich tucks her in between us and covers her with the throw. She is spoiled beyond spoiled and we love her very much!!!

Today she got a big beef neck bone to chew on and spent her morning hunting the snake in the rock wall. She will work that wall all day, if I let her. She had grilled chicken for dinner.

I want this day to end

And it's only just started. :( Colby is at the vet's probably now getting her pre-anesthetic and catheter set up for surgery. It was a TOTAL bummer handing her over to them. Poor, sweet little girlie. I have only five walks today. They don't start for another hour and I just don't know what to do with myself. I feel sick. It just totally sucks. I need a time warp to take me to the end of this day so I can snuggle and comfort her while she recovers. I know her knee surgery was FAR worse and recovery after that was horrible, but still I just want it to be over. I want this day to end.........................

**Since I needed something to do before my walks started, I made a little movie of Spur's recent running dog walks. Good little Monkey Pants. He should only get faster as he gains confidence and more experience on different dog walks.

Enucleation

Yep, the eye must go. The drops were not doing the job managing the pressure from her glaucoma. Bummer..............

Monday surgery is scheduled to remove the eye.

She is such a pretty girl and will look very different. But, I sure hate the way the eye looks today. And she will be pain free after it's gone and that's a very good thing. She will have to retire from AKC Rally Obedience, though. No handicapped dogs allowed, damn it. She can do APDT rally. They even allow dogs in wheelchairs. :D Not sure how one judges a sit or a stand from a dog in a wheelchair, but they do! It's cool, the dogs still enjoy the work, so why not. It's not easy for Colby since it is her left eye, the one closest to my leg for heeling, but she has been managing/adjusting and she does enjoy the work.

One thing the loss of the eye will not affect. Her hunting..........She can hunt by sound and smell alone. And that's one of her most favorite things to do! She still has good sight in her right eye, so hopefully that will continue for a very long time.

Why do all the bad things happen to sweet Colby??? Why not to Rotten Roscoe? Although, imagine having to put drops in Roscoe's eye twice/day??? Hell, pure hell, that would be!!!

Oh, this eye is going to make me crazy!

Yesterday was our one week check of the new drops and how it is handling controlling the pressure. I had a feeling, just by looking at it, that things were not good. It wasn't constricting any more, barely any iris showing. It looked kind of foggy.

And she was squinting some, so I think it was hurting a little.

Yep, pressure was up from 30 to 45/50. :( NOT good!!! In fact, bad enough they said it could be damaging her optic nerve. So, we were to try BOTH drops. I put in the new drop, waited 15 minutes, then put in the old drop. Then waited for three hours and returned for my vet to check the pressure again. YEAH!! It was normal, about 13. Phew!! Because had it not come down they wanted us to head down there so the emergency vet could drain some of the fluid. ICK!!!!

This photo is from about a half hour after both drops this morning. She is getting bored with all these photos, I think......

And this one from an hour later.

Yay, almost looking as good as her "good" eye!!! What a relief! Except, of course, that BOTH meds are extremely expensive!!! Ugh!!

Damn!!

Can you tell how tiny this bottle is??? It is 2.5ml. It is TINY! And it cost me.......drum roll please..........$95!!!!!! >:O I wonder how old people on fixed incomes can afford this medicine? It is to treat glaucoma, not an uncommon ailment as we age.

The ophthalmologists says this is a hereditary disease common to MinPins. Huh? I do MinPin rescue and in our organization we have hundreds of dogs, between the ones coming into rescue and our own dogs, and I don't know any others with glaucoma issues. Bad knees are common, but glaucoma? Not that I know of. And nothing about it in any of my MinPin breed books, but I didn't argue with him.

They called yesterday to tell me "REALLY great news!!!". The generic just came out and it should be only $10! Um, OK, except that what I got on Thursday IS the generic. She suggested I call around. I did and Walmart had it cheapest at $69, my pharmacy said "Nope, it's $95. Not about to go down $85 in less than a week". Of course, Canadian pharmacies have it for $30, which is probably how I will go.

I called the girl back and reported my results and she said the pharmacists were "stupid and they don't know" and she would check with the vet and get back to me. I haven't heard anything, yet. It was kind of an unprofessional comment from her. This from the same vet tech who told me she would call in the prescription to the pharmacy so it would be ready when I arrived and she forgot. Hmmmm...........I am not having much confidence her $10/bottle story will pan out. But, at $30/bottle through Canada that is tolerable.

Her eye is still doing so much better, so it was worth it!!!! I bring her to my vet on Thursday to check the pressure after a week on this new med.

Colby's eye report

We saw the ophthalmologist yesterday and he was glad we came in early. She has had more deterioration and the lens is now starting to luxate through the retina with the pupil being completely dilated all the time. And the pressure was increased in that eye, unfortunately, so the current treatment wasn't doing it.

This was taken two days ago. You can see the pupil is completely dilated and her eye looks bigger than the other one -He prescribed a different eye drop and with in one hour it was SO much better. Partial constriction!!! You can actually see more of her brown iris now!! And the eye is not so huge!! YAY!!!However, the drops are OUTRAGEOUSLY expensive. I thought the other drops were expensive, but these are even more. Sigh......off to order through Canadian pharmacy again. I am so pleased, though, because he said sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't and if it doesn't work the options are limited. Surgery, to then remove the lens because as it luxates it will press against the cornea and cause pain. Or remove the eye all together, which I am sure is what some folks do who can not afford the drops or the lens removal surgery. The lens removal surgery is very touchy and he said not always successful, even though they do it quite well, so if we can avoid that I am all for it.

He does feel she has pretty good sight left in the eye regardless of all the issues going on. And even if she had to have the lens removed, she would then not see near, but would see pretty OK far. Not the greatest visit, but it could have been worse and I am pretty happy with the results of the new drops.

I took more frost heave photos this morning. They are pretty dramatic right now........

This particular section will eventually start to almost float. The whole path will raise up and it's pretty funny feeling underfoot. Dangerous for the horses, but I can just ride to the side.

Colby is SO happy the snow is disappearing!

Look, it's bright and sunny and here bad eye isn't even squinting that much!!! YAY! The snow glare has been so hard for her to navigate. Much nicer on bare ground!!!

And the hunting!!! The rodent nests and tunnels are exposed and everywhere now!! She LOVES this time of year for hunting!!!

Returning from a squirrel chase!!!
Today is our final day on the metacam. I hope her eye continues to be OK. Last time we stopped that it inflamed more. The sclera is still redder than the "good" eye. Oi!

Collie Club trial today at the Marriott!

I first have to walk six dogs and hope I can make it over there by 3:00. Then decide if I scratch Colby, or not. She still doesn't seem quite right and I didn't take her to class last night. Her poops are better, but she just seems off. I know, a simply Rally-O routine isn't a big deal, but not if she isn't feeling great.

Roscoe, he was awesome last night!!! He's ready and I can only hope he can hold it together. Last year he was SO high in that room. I don't know why, but he was NUTTY!! I am happy that he gets happy doing Rally, but really some self control and calmness is good, too. He is entertaining and we entertain everyone, but calm and cool is OK, too. We shall see. Lots of friends entered, so it should be really fun!!!

The only glitch in our training is I realized last night he doesn't really know "moving stand". That might come up today. We worked on it last night and since he is brilliant he got it no trouble so long as I say STAND STAY. But, it isn't something I have trained, for some stupid reason. He didn't continue the regular obedience work into Utility like Colby did, where that is a regular part of the Utility routine. So, for some stupid reason I haven't trained that with him. Maybe it won't be there today. It sure isn't solid.

Colby gave me another scare!

She started squinting that eye. The sclera was red, it looked swollen and definitely not right. Again, they got all freaky on me at the eye doctors and made us rush her down there. Rich took the duty again, good guy! Her pressure was fine, thank goodness, but she definitely had uveitis going on. He thinks we stopped the metacam too early. So, he now wants us to finish the bottle.

She felt crappy all day. She had the runs that seemed to go along with this issue. But, the vet thinks it is OK and the metacam will keep helping. So, we opted to have a nice long beach walk. Sad for her though, because the sun was pretty well right in her face on our way out. The boys had a BALL, but she seemed down and unhappy. Feeling crappy. I carried her some. On the way back she seemed better with the sun behind her.

Poor thing, on the way home she whined. I yelled at her to STOP IT, she does that at times, whines to get home faster which isn't anything I can do. I yelled at her again. Finally, almost home I look at her kind of shaking there next to me and wondered if maybe she had to poop. Poor thing, gets out of the car and has a very runny poo right there in the driveway. She felt crappy. Not the best day for her, but at least she still has the eye. That's my biggest worry. This eye will some day have to come out and her sight is limited already. So, she has the eye and this morning seems to be feeling better.

I apologized for yelling at her, but then told her she has "cried wolf" too many times before, so how was I to know it was real this time!!!!

Colby's eye is much better!

She had a recheck with her regular vet this morning to see if there was any more inflammation and to determine if we continue the Metacam for another week or can stop it. No inflammation seen, so we are stopping the Metacam. She is still on the two eye drops until next week's eye doctor appointment. YAY!

I'll tell you one thing I can be totally certain of........Colby will be one happy girl when the snow disappears. It makes the glare so bright and she has to squint SO much and navigating the world in the snow is not much fun for her. I am right there with her, I long for green grass and open pastures!

Glaucoma? Oh NO!

Sweet little Colby was in a LOT of pain yesterday morning. It came on so quickly. She seemed fine for breakfast, then about an hour later came looking for me shaking and looking all cramped. At first, I thought it was a belly ache, but then I noticed her eyes were nearly closed. It was obviously her right eye. That is her worst eye as far a the retinal atrophy AND it's the eye that was hit by the chuck-it ball a couple weeks ago. :( That photo was taken in 08 and you can see her right eye's pupil is more open. That's part of the retinal atrophy.

I rushed her to my vet and she tested her pressure. Right eye was 68 and left eye was 18. Oh dear. Glaucoma is when pressure builds up in the eye itself and it is very painful. I had already given her metacam for the pain before heading to the vet. My vet consulted with the ophthalmologist in Portsmouth and he said we really need to get her to him ASAP, or if the pressure continues to rise we could lose the eye. WHAT???? I couldn't clear my dog walks and get there until around 3:00. My vet looked at me and it was clear this was really an emergency. I called Rich, but he had meetings scheduled. I started calling my clients and then Rich called back and he said he could take her. I am very proud that he would drop everything for little Colby!!!! She is his favorite, for sure.
I kept my phone with me all day and got regular updates. Thankfully, and a little strangely, the pressure was down by the time she was seen by the eye doc. He said that's unusual, but not unheard of and he suspects it has something to do with the trauma from the ball. Of course, there is no knowing if that was the cause or if glaucoma was going to happen anyway. In a way, I hope it was from the trauma because then there is a possibility it will heal and repair whatever it is that caused this pressure build up. We are treating aggressively for the inflammation and to control the pressure.

The eye drops are INCREDIBLY expensive! I can't imagine if she needed them daily for the rest of her life! :O I am off to research Canadian pharmacy prices. OI!!!!

She is our princess, our most wonderful first MinPin. She is the best girl!!! As a MinPin should be, she is friendly and sweet and social and uncomplicated. She and I were a lovely agility team. She was my Invitational dog in 07 and flew with me to CA to compete at that event. I love this dog with all my heart, she is my special girl and worth every penny. She has been our most expensive pet! It seems like she is fragile and gets so many health issues. She seems so tough and rugged and a big time hunter, but she is SO fragile.

She hates her eye drops, they might sting a little, so poor thing has to endure torture now four time/day for a while. She was SO good at the vet's, they even noted on the sheet "Colby was an excellent girl for her exam today!".......and Rich said she was perfect. But, she already had eye anesthetic applied from my vet and was resigned to her eye being tested and looked at. At home, she isn't resigned, she is ready to fight, but we get it done and hopefully, she will get better about it.

We go back for a recheck in two weeks.

Love comes early, since these guys don't know the calender.

I tried to attach a "handle" to the valentines, but they never hung right. They drooped down too much. Maybe if I had attached the "handles" lower. I wanted the dogs to look like the hearts were attached to their noses, but that really didn't work out.....

It just worked better having them hold them from the tops.
Colby wishes I had closed the shades, so her eyes wouldn't water and have to squint so much, but she's a good little girlie and held firm to her heart!!!!

Um, strange photo. Colby looks like a vulcan, poor thing, and about twice the size of Spur. He's actually three pounds bigger than she is. Weird optical illusion going on.........The sun was so nice and warm on a very cold morning, the last thing I wanted was to close the shade, but poor little Colby. She squints so much in bright sun these days, she pretty much has to just close her eyes. Sucks. Sucks to have your sight going. She's not even 12, yet, and in great shape in every other way. Why couldn't her hearing go first? Anything, but the eyes. It's such a bummer.

Yeah, yeah, where's Roscoe? Holding things in his mouth stresses him out. Why? I haven't a clue, but he isn't happy about it. He does "put away yer toys", if he has to, but he doesn't like doing it. He will pick things up VERY gingerly. He does play with toys, but he is particular about it. Tugging only occurs with JUST the right toy and just the right force and at just the right moment. He's a funny guy. I did teach him a formal retrieve with a dumbbell, but it took maybe a year before he was really solid about holding it. And even then he would tend to paw at it. Anxiety, I guess. He's pretty cute about retrieving it, he charges out and returns FAST, but holding for any length of time he stresses. He would not hold a heart. Hmmmm.........

Bored on a snow day!

I can't believe it, MORE SNOW! Just when the snow mobile trails were getting good for the wee dogs, more snow. UGH! Must get to the beach for some EXERCISE!!! It's just been too darn cold and at this point GETTING to the beach means trudging through the deep snow, unless we go to the popular beach and that just ain't happening with my wee dogs and Mighty Mad Spur.

So, we handle the boredom with silly tricks. I decided to just see if Spur would bring me a Kleenex when I sneezed. He retrieves well, so why not Kleenex? Yep, not an issue he got it! Roscoe? Hates to hold things in his mouth and the tissue grossed him out. Wierdo. Colby wanted to tear it up, but I think with some work she would have it pretty good. Spur, he got it. :D

I have been working on Spur with the suitcase trick. It's easy and fun and he was getting it. He is nervous about it, so we have worked a few sessions slowly. Roscoe? OMFG.....it's a trick made for him. The first session he had it down. Second session I had to hold him back!!! LOL!! He is a peice of work, that Roscoe!!!! And Shannan asked for video of his "Rev Yer Engines", so we stuck that in there. His signature move!!! :D

Helen did more photos......this past spring!

Ultimately, I was trying to get some new photos for my business cards and business info sheets. I wanted all three dogs and Jewel, but the trouble is Colby squints now in any bright light, so we did the dogs in the shade. Not sure how those will do on a business card, but I may do a template and see how it looks. She took some of us in the fields with the buttercups, too.



OK, the trouble wasn't just Colby squinting, getting all three dogs to hang out with me and Jewel in the field wasn't easy. You'll see as you scroll down! I saved the best for last!



Jewel is THE most photogenic horse!!!

Spur - he just can't control his LICKER!!!

Yum, that cat shit you just ate tastes SO good on my lips!

I may settle for one of these shots with just me and Spur, although I think the shade just diminishes the definition in his adorable face? She is sending me a CD with many more and she said she can lighten up any ones I like.

Is he not THE cutest dog in the world??????

OK, this one cracks me up!! I mean, NO, we didn't have a wind machine making my hair blow like that! Who does that sort of thing?? Do I LOOK dressed like a fashion model???? That's a bait bag on my butt, for cryin' out loud! And cargo pants??? Oi! At least I had that nice hat on! Brought that hat out the other day for Evelyn's service and found a HOLE on the edge!! Damn IT!! I LOVE that hat.
Helen lightened my face. I just think it is corny and dorky looking. Helen loves it! She can pretend she brought along her fancy wind machine. Yeah, that's it, cuz my friend Helen has a wind machine!! Yeah, RIGHT!!!

Now, drum roll please................THIS ONE FREAKIN' CRACKS ME UP!!!!
No caption needed, Roscoe is saying some very bad words!

I title this one......"The good (Colby), the bad (Roscoe) and the beautiful (Jewel)."

Deliriously happy!!!

Delirious!!!! -

We spent the weekend at a friend's camp on Sebec Lake. Miss Colby Carlson was DELIRIOUSLY happy!!!

Full report to follow with more photos. It was a deliriously happy weekend! At least, that's what Colby told me! The camp was steps from it's own little, sandy beach. Water was 72 degrees. The loons fed their young right in front of the camp all day. We had a GREAT time!!!!

BARK weekend trial report!

I know, a little late, but you have to understand how I feel in the heat...........I HATE IT!!!!

OK, so this was a slightly rugged trial. First, it is a three hour drive there. Second, the heat outside was BRUTAL. Yes, we stayed in an AC hotel, we ran agility in an AC sports arena, but STILL we had to walk and potty the dogs and get our stuff in and out. It was HOT! Third, it was not a good weekend for dad's.

Friday we arrive and set up and have dinner. We leave the dogs in the truck with it wide open. We can watch it from the restaurant. At some point we all notice something strange. Our friend Nicole is sitting on the pavement next to the truck. Her car is there, too, but it's strange that she and her friend are sitting there. Turns out her dad had just died unexpectedly. Poor Nicole, it was very sad and very hard. She just lost her mom three months earlier. I guess he couldn't live without her. Nicole stayed for the trial, but the poor thing, it was so hard.

The next morning we arrive and are getting going and I get a call that MY dad had a heart attack. MY DAD? He is a hard working organic farmer? But, he is 73 and these things happen when you are that age. He is fine, but that call was FREAKY!!!! It was pretty crazy. Stress, stress, stress.........

We set the dogs up in an x-pen. First time doing that. Douce (shih tzu), Roscoe, Colby and Spur. We line the pen with covering so it's only open on top. It seems more comfortable, they can move around more and stretch out. Easier for us than bringing in four crates. Howeverrrr.............The Spurminator had other plans. By the end of the first day he figured out how to escape. It happened once while I was there organizing my treats. Next thing I know I have a dog in my arms. Guy next to us says....."Nice catch!". Um, thanks, but dude that's not a catch I wanted. BAD Spur, back in your pen!!!

About a half hour later I am watching the Master's ring and Pam comes along with the Spurminator in her arms. This is a THREE foot tall x-pen! Little buddy, that's a BIG jump!! Crate time for The Spur Man!!! >:/

The next day Douce escapes! DOUCE! He's an 11" tall shih tzu. Surely he didn't jump it???? We are thinking he climbed it. Crate time for The Douce Man!!!! >:/

Roscoe ran great for a few runs, then looks a little sore. I am thinking he "pogo-sticked" too much at the x-pen. That would be jumping up and down each time I came over, in hopes I would pick him up. He can't do that in a crate, so we'll see next time. He just seemed a little sore by day two.

OK, so the x-pen was a good idea. In theory. In practice - NO! Crates all around, next time!!

It seems it was a "run-a-way" weekend. This was Spur's last run, jumpers and he takes a WEE detour to say HI to the judge. "Hey there judge, watch ME run!!!! YAY for ME!!", she just stood still. I squeek out "SssspuRRRRR" and we continue. Yeesh! I knew that would happen one day. He's SO loves his fan club!



Even with all these strange events this was a VERY fun trial. AC worked great inside this place. In fact, at one point I had to put a coat on Colby!!! The hotel was LOVELY and relaxing. The trial ran very smoothly as BARK trials always do. Spur finished his PII title, so he is now in PIII completely. Those are MASTER'S classes!!! :O OMG, Baby Spur in Master's classes?? He ran his first two standard PIII, with a nice Q in his Sunday run. Saturday we had some issues. It's harder. The in-gate is WAY busier. The courses obviously harder. It will be an adjustment for us.

Spur - PII dog! We still need to get more speed and confidence, but I see that coming.........slowly and methodically, it will come. As with everything Spur-like, these things will take time. He did have two iffy dog walk contacts. One was called the other was not. I need to re-group and go back a little in my dog walk training with him. As with all things Spur-like, this will take time. We take August off from trialing, so I have time to get some good work done with it.

What do I learn from these trials? That no matter how well or how crappy we do, I think my dogs appreciate our teamwork and that I do this super fun sport with them. They may leap out of x-pens and pogo-stick themselves sore, but they are not bored, they are not home living sedate lives curled up on the couch, they are mentally and physically involved in my life to the fullest and they work for me and with me and we work as a team and I think they appreciate all of it. I think they enjoy it and are fulfilled and certainly NOT bored. Maybe I am seeing my world through Rose Colored Glasses, but I LOVE those glasses, they fit me well and don't hurt the bridge of my nose!

And besides, they get tons of turkey and chicken and cheese and I KNOW that's really, REALLY important to ME!! I think it's the same for them! Especially the cheese! I love cheese! Turkey, chicken, cheese, baked potatoe, pizza crust, waffles, meatballs, egg sandwich, cheese covered enchilladas........Roscoe even likes his radishes! Yeah, we eat well at dog trials! I didn't bring radishes.

Wow, what a week!

OK, I could have had some nicer weather. HOT isn't MY favorite. Um, let me rephrase that.....HOT SUCKS!!! I was so unhappy to see such heat coming for my week off. Three days at BARK camp with 99 degree weather and nearly 100% humidity wasn't fun. I wanted to work Spur some, but working that little paw wringer when I am not at the top of my game isn't a good idea. I only brought him out a few times when I could make an easy course for him. Roscoe worked his heart out, good little bad dog!

Then over the weekend we did the Riverside USDAA trial. Spur FREAKIN' ROCKED!!! I am SO high from his last two runs!! We did have some down runs, too, though. I can't just forget those, he melted down a couple of times. Running fine, but not with his Monkey Pants on. Who knows what gets him, but my gut says it's all me and he reads my mind/emotions so keenly. His down runs were Gamble (I am not good at handling gambles, it took a long time for Roscoe to be good at gambles) and pairs, which I usually like OK, but I was worried about it a little because it was his first run of the day after looking pretty scared about the teeter the day before. I realised later, as you will see in these runs, that I had nothing to worry about!! :D

Colby finished her MAD with Jones - YAY!!! I haven't had a chance to load that run. It wasn't pretty, I wanted it CLEAN so she wouldn't have to keep trying. I wanted it with Jones and it took us five tries to get it, so this was really sweet!!!

This is Spur's Standard run yesterday to win his class and be the fourth fastest of all the heights of dogs in that division!! He ROCKED!!! His dog walk was perfect and we could have taken a couple seconds off his time had he gone down faster on his table. My table at home needs replacing, so I can't use it. Rich just cut me a new board, but it still needs paint. Gotta get that done!!! -



This was his Grand Prix fun. LOVE his teeter in this run!! Just perfect and the teeters at this trial were very loud and scary, but he just got more and more comfortable!!! GOOD LITTLE MONKEY PANTS!!!! -

Weekend AKC trial report!

Wow, The Spurminator was a ROCK STAR!!!! He got more and more comfortable as the trial went on. We both did. I started to relax and feel like it wasn't such a worry for either of us. He NAILED his contacts, until his last Open standard run where it was down hill and he hit it with his back feet only. Funny, that's the only contact I worried about all the others I simply ran with confidence and he ran all the way down. Good little Monkey Pants!!!!

We set up ring side and he could watch me run Roscoe and Colby and he SCREAMED each time. I think that was good for him......sorry neighbors......he watched it all, all weekend.

Roscoe he was pretty good for outdoors, I have to say. Not great, but pretty good. I took him off only one time for being shut down. The other runs were OK. He actually placed second in two runs, so he wasn't THAT down. Colby had a GREAT time, her first time running since I decided to retire her. The sun was high enough in the sky and the lighting obviously OK for her and she was happy to run. We just did jumpers and she placed second each time.

Spur won every class he qualified in, except for Nov. FAST one day where Mo the freakin' awesome terrier got more points. He NQ'd on one Nov. FAST with the wrong tunnel opening and he NQ'd on his first Open Jumpers run with an off course tunnel. HE didn't know he was wrong on that one and ran like a champ, good little "cutest dog ever!!". The judge LOVED him and commented during his measuring about how cute he is. Then his first run we get to the start line and the she says....."OH, here comes that CUTE dog!!!". Then his last run on Sunday, as we finished she yells out......."If that puppy goes missing, don't look in MY suitcase!!!!" :D I think my heart swelled and was about to burst out of my chest right there!!! What a great feeling, especially since Spur was one of only two mix breed dogs at this AKC trial.

Spur's Novice Standard -


Spur Open Jumpers -


Spur Novice Standard -


Spur Open Standard, back feet only in that contact...yikes! -


Roscoe Excellent Rally routine that we RAN to do and barely made it. They had JUST finished the last Excellent dog and I had to do the course by just reading the map. I couldn't walk it and barely knew where I was going. Roscoe did GREAT!! We got a 96 and the 4 points off were for crocked sits and I think, two double commands? It was our worst performance to date, but I have to give him extra credit. We haven't practiced in...what?...over a month and went in without me walking the course or knowing my way. Good little obedience dog did GREAT, regardless!!! Poor guy he had just run his standard and not very well and I pulled him out of the ring because he was looking down. He simply isn't doing well at outdoor agility trials, but obedience on dirt seems to be his thing!! Go figure? -


Colby's Excellent Jumpers. Second place and one of only 4 dogs in her jump height to run clean. Good little girlie!!! She's so consistent and easy to run. Not at all complicated. -


It was a very fun weekend, really. Roscoe had some pretty good runs, which unfortunately we didn't get filmed. The weather was great, the company was awesome, it ran well for an AKC trial. No dreadful long walk throughs or hold ups like AKC can sometimes have. It was a nice trial. And the Spur Man ROCKED!! I am SO happy with him, he is getting more and more confident!!! YAY!!!! His teeter was awesome. He put his big boy pants on and was a STAR!!! He is always a big hit walking around the grounds, everyone wants to know what kind of dog he is and we get so many comments......"What a CUTE dog". He has a HUGE fan club!!!

What a lovely day!!

We had a private with Lo Baker today. It was LOVELY! Hot, but not too, too hot. Always awesome to get a private with Lo. Rare, we have to drive to Alton NH to do that and I rarely have the time. But, I try to fit it in a couple time/year. I often share with someone, but this time was all me and it was really nice. Roscoe was a ROCK star!! He was all pumped after being Captain Roscoe last night and being the only dog along on our evening boat ride. I try to make sure he gets special time and he loves the boat WAY more than the other two. They get kind of nervous, but Roscoe, he LOVES it!! It fascinates him, the water, the bouyes, the birds, the seaweed. We forgot the camera, unfortunately, because it was a BEAUTIFUL night. We watched a seal find a rock outcrop in the water and balance on it as the tide lowered and exposed it. Very cool, magical evening on the water!!

Spur got his turn and Lo seemed pretty pleased with out work. After the lesson I took the dogs to her lovely pond and let Colby hunt frogs (she never catches them, but she "works" that pond relentlessly!!!) and chippies while Spur swam. Roscoe hung out hoping for some treats, HE doesn't swim. Spur hasn't been the most confident swimmer, but TODAY he SWAM!!! He leaped into the water, swam to the middle of the pond and had a GREAT time!!! -You can barely see his tiny head, he's that far out!! Good little retriever......Then he had to have a good roll!!

Hmmm, when he is wet those EARS look even BIGGER!!

We then headed into the woods for a nice hike!! I put on their orange vests so I can see them when they head off to chase chippies!!

Colby also almost caught a baby chippie!!! YIKES!! It got away, but she nearly got it!!