Sunday, March 22, 2009

Sunday Afternoon

It started off rainy today, but by the time I arrived at my agility trial, it had mostly cleared up. Now it is windy. Pie thinks all the noises that the wind causes are questionable.

At the agility trial, both Pie and Fancy did well. As usual, in order to keep her excited and not bored with agility, Fancy was only entered in Standard both days. She got a fourth place the first day with 14 points, and a Q the second day with 21 points. I had forgotten good treats for her the second day, but sometimes breakfast items are provided for the exhibitors, so I took some cinnamon type bread and she liked that.

Pie was entered in Standard and Jumpers both days. On Saturday, she did a lot of good things in standard, only to jump off half way up the a frame, which was the third to last obstacle. I gave her a horrible angle to it, due to a front cross in a bad place, and it was easier for her to jump. In jumpers, she got a Q and a third place, which completed the requirements (10 qualifying runs) for her Masters Agility jumpers title (MXJ.) Today, Sunday, a horse was watching our standard run, near the weave poles. More on Pie's attitude towards horses in a moment, but for now I will say I wasn't sure if Pie could weave with a horse 15 feet away. Luckily, she could and did. I was very careful because I wanted her to qualify. Pie's contacts were nice and solid. I held her longer than necessary on the table and teeter so I could get to safe places for front crosses and even though it cost us some time, we did qualify and Pie earned her Masters Agility title (MX.) She also got a Double Q. Only 17 to go!

Two ladies I know who have pulki (which is the plural of "puli" a Hungarian herding dog with cords in place of fur) both have new pulki puppies, born 10 days apart and from different breeders. They are very cute. One is white and one is black. They are 10 weeks old, I think. Or was it 17? Either way, they were very small and fluffy. Pie got to play with the white one. It kept biting her on the nose and face with its pointy puppy teeth, but she didn't care. She was unusually gentle. Maybe it had something to do with me holding her in a down.

On Saturday, Pie, Molly, Mom and I went to the Emergency Expo. Lots of emergency vehicles, booths about being prepared, and one booth about installing swimming pools. I would think he was confused about it being the emergency expo and not the home and garden expo, but he was there last year too. Also the same from last year was the lady with her horse who is on the sheriff's volunteer posse. The horse is an Andalusian/ Missouri Foxtrotter cross (or was it Tenn. Walker?) and very pretty. Also very good with dogs. I would say Pie has a fascination with horses, but I think it goes beyond that. She might want to eat them. I let her sniff him and as the lady promised, he was very good. Pie got more and more excited and I was holding her so she would stop standing up on her back legs and then Pie tossed her head and tried to nip him on the nose! Poor horse. Again, as promised, he was very good and didn't mind, and Pie did no damage to him, but her turn was over. If I am every lucky enough to own another horse, Pie and I will have a lot of work to do to help Pie understand proper horse and dog relationships.

Pie got lots of pets, although most people seemed to think Miss Molly was the prettiest. A tiny boy, who had probably just learned to walk, pet her. It was so cute. He took his two little hand and put them on either side of her muzzle. Like he was trying to hold her mouth closed. Maybe he knew he had to ward off the Tongue of Doom. Then he took his pointer finder and kind of poked around her face. Then he went back to hands on the muzzle. Not only does Pie put up with it, but she enjoys it. It is so nice to have a dog that bring happiness to people, just through enjoying their petting so much. And it is even nicer to have a dog I trust to interact with anyone without a problem, no matter what they do. Maybe when she is really old (and therefore calmer) she can be a therapy dog.

After the exciting Emergency Expo, I took a nap outside, and Pie and Bosco played the entire time. Then Rosco thought they were having too much fun and kept breaking it up and his barking woke me up each time I dozed off. Then Bosco fell in the pool while drinking so I gave up and went inside for a nap. After fishing Bosco out of the pool, that is.

After that I took the dogs for a walk on The Road. Since no one else was around Bosco got to be off leash the entire time. He trotted around and sniffed stuff. Not to much exciting to report there.

Today someone I know from dog classes brought her sister and mother to come see Bosco. She would be the perfect home for him! They all thought he was a nice dog and she is going to think about it.

Right now the landlady's husband is putting around outside trying to fix the broken sprinklers. I don't think he is having much luck, sadly.

So that was my weekend, compressed into a blog post. Now it is Sunday afternoon and I have to finish cleaning the house.

1 comment:

Claire said...

Wow, what a wonderful weekend! I'm so glad to hear about Fancy and Pie both doing such good jobs. Pie and horses sound very amusing! I don't think Moxie has ever met a horse before. Pie, keep being such a good girl when kids pet you. We need lots of dogs in this world who aren't scary and give people good doggie experiences!

Where though is the description of the excellent conversation you had with me on Saturday? :)