I'm in AZ Again

I'm here visiting ffluffy. We went to a fun run on Friday night and there was also a BBQ. Dottie got some good training and ffluffy ran her once which was fun to watch.

On Saturday we did some training in the morning then loaded up the van and headed out to Tuscon for a Cash for Agility Show on Sunday. I'll be sure to report how that goes. We have the possibility of earning a little money if we do well. Not very much, I think.

Tonight we are spending the night at a house in the desert in Benning with ffluffy's vallhund breeder. It is windy here. I watched some vallhunds herding.

Here is a picture of the Mals snuggling in their shared crate in the cargo van. Very cute. It makes it so easy that I can crate any of my dogs together.

Beautiful

I had these on my desk all week and got many, many compliments on them. They are from my mother's rose bushes. The white one is the Pope John Paul II rose. Pie ate the original bush (that was a while ago, soon after I got her,) so I bought my mom a replacement and it is doing well. It has a nice scent. The deep red one has a very strong fragrance also. It is possibly Mr. Lincoln or maybe Mr. Amazing or something like that. The one with the yellow and orange together is called About Face. We don't know the name of the huge pink ones and I don't remember if the yellow one has a name or not. I'm also unsure about the orangish one. I wish the photo came out better of the About Face. It got the most comments because the inside and outside color of the petals is different and it is most striking on the edge where the 2 colors meet.



They brightened up my desk and the aroma was almost over powering at times! I didn't want to leave them sitting all weekend being unappreciated so I am bringing them to AZ with me.

In the 2 non-Disney versions of Beauty and the Beast I've read (actually by the same author which was interesting) roses played a big role. Because I liked those stories so much and because roses are so beautiful, I would like to use the name Rose or Rosie as a dog name some day, but I dislike names with Rs in them, so that is probably out.

Thanks for cutting me such beautiful roses Mom! You do a great job with them.

Poor Dad!

Some people say bad luck comes in three but I am always wary of that since "they" don't give a time limit. If it is true, hopefully our family has had our three now.

1) Dad was driving younger brother's car and was attacked by a double trailer big rig gravel hauler and the Aztek was drug by the trailer resulting in that vehicle being totaled. Dad was ok and younger bro now has a VW Golf. Truck driver had Mexican DL, spoke no English, attempted to flee the scene, and gave bogus insurance info (the company he said he was insured though had never heard of him.) The $ from Dad's insurance did not cover the cost of the used Golf. This happened while I was in MS. You can read about it HERE. And a picture HERE.

2) My accident. No on hurt, inconvenience, unknown the repair outcome on my car.

3) Today Dad was riding his bike to the train station as he does every work day, and suffered an accident that resulted in a concussion, broken collar bone and bad pain. Poor Dad. I hope he has a speedy and quickly pain-free recovery. Of course, like all good Dads who lead by example, he was wearing a helmet so the head injury was not worse.

I hope this means our family is due for some good luck now.

Crash!

I was on my way to work yesterday, driving normally. I was going straight through an intersection on a green light and the other driver was making a left turn on a green light with no green arrow. I'm mad I didn't see her earlier to apply the brakes sooner- I didn't see her until it was too late and usually I'm much more aware than that. I was not distracted by anything other than my thoughts of selling the trailer, which goes to show that if thoughts are distracting enough to cause me to not drive defensively, how much more distracting it is to eat, do the radio or text or even surf the internet. So by the time I saw her and hit the brakes, I was able to stop so she did not T bone me on the driver's door. She hit the front bumper/ fender right where it curves.

The damage does not look very bad at all, which is why I was surprised the car wouldn't go. I was right in the middle of the intersection, so once she got her head together and backed up out of my car and I tried to drive out of the way, I discovered the car wouldn't go. It was as if the e-brake was on. So I got out and looked but with just a cursory glance it looked ok. I debated the further possible damage to the car vs. blocking traffic and possible causing another accident and gave it more gas and rolled in spurts off to the side of the road.

The other driver said it was her fault and we exchanged info. Then a cop showed up and asked me to move the car, which I told him I couldn't. The good thing about the location is the lane I was blocking started right there. So no one had to move over to get around me. They just had to wait to get past me before they pulled over into the lane I was blocking. The location was right outside my first apartment. Then a second cop showed up. Then a third. It is nice to live in such a safe city were 3 cops can show up for a non-injury accident. I don't even know who called them. I didn't have my cell phone. I was 3 min away from home when I remembered I didn't have it but decided not to go back for it. I had to use the cop's cell phone to call the base to tell them I would be late. It was a very rugged phone.

The tow truck driver gave me a ride home because the rental place wasn't open yet. I called my insurance to report it and they told me I could wait for the other insurance to accept responsibility or go through USAA. I called the other insurance and the driver had not reported it yet. I did a report with them from my point of view. Later I called USAA back to go through them since I trust their body shop and know they will get after the other insurance company to take responsibility.

The rental car place couldn't come get me for over an hour so I rode my bike there. They gave me a Chevy HHR and I was able to put the bike in it. I went home to get the stuff I took out of the car for the trailer (table legs) that had to go to work with me but couldn't go on my bike with me. Then I was off to work and got there by 9:15. Elapsed time- just over 3 hrs.

My car is sitting in the indoor tow yard just waiting now. The rental has unlimited mileage on it so I can drive it to AZ as planned this weekend.

I just had an alignment done while I was in Mississippi. Wasted that money. I'm hopeful the car will be repaired. I don't think there is any damage to the engine. Damage to the axle maybe. The passenger side tire (opposite side from the impact) was turned funny but straighten out when it was put on the flat bed. The other car's entire bumper was falling off.

I think I heard her say, "I thought she was going to stop." Never, never assume the other driver will do anything! That is why I'm mad at myself. I should have seen her coming and stopped in time. I've avoided lots of other accidents by driving defensively. I think what probably happened is I did see her- you know how people making left turn hang out in the middle of the intersection? My brain probably saw that and didn't alert me until it became obvious SHE wasn't stopping. I know that is why you can't be distracted (even by thoughts.) Because your auto-pilot brain is not as safe as your full brain. It's a dumb accident. There were no other cars around. How do you hit someone making a left turn? She was thinking it was a green arrow maybe? It was so dumb the first thing I did was look up just to make sure I had the green light- thinking maybe I had done something very stupid and was at fault. But no.

So that is what happened. No injuries. When driving you are relying on everyone else on the road not to be an idiot and it seems a lot of people are, so I am lucky not to be injured. I've always been surprised there are not more accidents every day, based on how stupid some people are.

After work I took the HHR to the tow yard to pick up crates and other training stuff I keep in the car and will need before the car is fixed like my tracking line, tracking articles, scent articles, dumbbell and favorite motivational toys. Plus, I grabbed my x-pen, chair and "wheels" (ie- cart for lugging all this stuff around.) One crate fit facing the rear hatch and the other crate fit in front of that facing the rear doors. Kind of a T configuration. The wheels and x-pen went next to the crate facing the back. The car is too short to fit anything on top of my crate. The Buick is so tall you could stack 2 crates on top of each other. I have always felt the Buick is a great dog car, which is why I bought it. If the worst happens and my car gets totaled, I will buy another Rendezvous- hoping I can find one- they don't make them any more.

When I picked my stuff up I got a better look at the damage. There were scratch marks on the driver's tire and the tire was pushed in and touching the wheel well. The front bumper where it curves was heavily damaged. But I did not see any hood buckling which hopefully means the engine is intact and everything is repairable for a low enough cost that I get to keep my car. Yes, it has over 100K miles (the adjuster asked me that) but that doesn't mean it isn't worth saving!

Because I was hoping to sell the trailer at lunch, the dogs had stayed home, which is rare these days. Usually they come to work and hang out in the cool car in the shade then we go tracking at lunch. The accident was low speed so I think everyone would have been ok but getting the dogs home in the tow truck would have been a pain. They would have had to ride in the car, then I guess jumped down from the high flatbed tow truck?

I have not yet heard if the other insurance is accepting responsibility, although I don't think it will be a problem since the other driver told the police she was at fault. There was a hold up with my car not being released from the tow yard, even though I told them twice it was ok to release it. It might still be there, since by the time I got it straightened out this afternoon, it was getting late. I will call them tomorrow.

Be safe driving!


The Bonnie crate behind the driver's seat.


The Pie/ Dottie crate. Yes, 2 mals are a little squished in this crate, but I think they would agree there are worse things to endure than being a tiny bit squished. Isn't it great they can ride together? Actually, everyone (permanent party) is able to ride with everyone else, but usually Fancy is not subjected to riding with Dottie. Fancy rides in the front seat. I moved the chair off the top of the crates today. Even with the bungee it wanted to hit me in the head. Which reminds me. I had my crates strapped down in the Buick using that orange strap on top of the blue bag in this picture and the ring it was attached to in the Buick broke in half. Bad. Not only because if the accident had been more high speed the crates could have gone flying, but also because now I will have no way to keep the crates from sliding around in just normal braking.


In case you could not picture the HHR. It is small and I even feel cramped up front. However, the young boys next door (the white SUV belongs to their mom) thought it was very cool. I heard their exclamations of appreciation when they spotted it. I think this car helped me realize another reason the Buick stays so cool with the windows rolled down. The windows furthest to the rear (in the area that would be the cargo area if the seat were in) are very small. So the amount of glass that does not roll down is only the windshield and the back hatch. In most other cars, such as this one, those windows are larger, allowing the heated air to get trapped back there.

I do give this vehicle props for getting 30 mpg according to the Internet. I will appreciate that on the way to and from AZ this weekend. The Buick is closer to 20-22.

I Sold My Trailer

I only had it for 6 months. Used it twice. Planned to take it to Mississippi but that didn't work out. I sold it for more than I bought it for, which I was sure I would be able to do when I bought it, which was one of the reasons I felt it was ok to spend a good chunk of savings buying something I didn't need.

Read on for the full details: (some people got the email- you can stop reading now.)

The first guy who contacted me bought the trailer today. I had it advertised on Craigslist for a day when he first contacted me. He paid the full price, but tried to talk me down. (I was firm.) He pulled it off in his Jeep, although that won't be his normal tow vehicle. He has a daughter and a Portuguese Water Dog, in addition to the wife. Hope they all fit. He seemed happy. I think it is a good trailer, so it should work out well.

I am sad. We (ffluffy and I and 7 dogs) had 2 good times in it. But I made money selling it and due to my Buick not being a real tow vehicle, there were places I was uncomfortable pulling it, like up to Big Bear or the camp ground in Santa Barbara. The Buick pulled it ok but I was always nervous about the engine over-heating. Because I bought it for so cheap, I knew if it didn't work out I could sell it without a loss. I thought about keeping it for the future if my circumstances changed (such as buying a bigger car) but then I worried I might have to pay some maintenance costs on it. Plus, I don't want a bigger car due to gas mileage.

I had wanted a trailer or RV for a while, but I knew the gas cost (meaning you don't really save money) was a concern. Since I had planned to take it to MS so I could take the dogs, that justified the purchase. That and the cheap price. I wasn't taking a big risk buying it since the price was so low.

My gas mileage went down by ½ while towing it. It was good because we (meaning ffluffy) could cook in it and we set up right at the trial, but some trials make you pay a lot to park. At Long Beach it was actually more (twice as much) than Motel 6. That is because people have their huge motor homes that are bigger and nicer than my house. They stay in those and they wouldn't stay in a dinky Motel 6. Plus, they set up around 10 x-pens for their dogs and leave them outside a long time. We take a lot of dogs to Motel 6, but they are pet dogs and know how to behave inside, unlike some show dogs. Usually it is closer to $25 a night at a dog show.

Anyway, that's the scoop. It was a nice trailer and I wish my car could tow it easier without having a bigger engine and more gas cost. I would like a motor home someday. I wish someone sold a small RV on the body of a Ford E-350 van. I've seen them on E-450 or larger but those RVs are at least 20 ft. Something like the old Dolphins on the Toyota body. Something where you get more than 10 mpg. And it doesn't cost an arm and a torso.

Agility on Saturday and Some Running Contact Thoughts

I was entered Sat only due to Sunday being Easter. 3 dogs in 3 levels again. Pie was first up in Excellent and ran in Standard first. I thought the course was tricky, but we got through one tough part that involved a tire in a serpentine. I didn't want to serp the tire because since a big dog can't slice a tire, I'd be in her landing area, and even though she can't knock a tire, I'd then be behind for the next jump. Instead I did 2 front crosses and that worked well. We made it to the next hard spot which was a tunnel to the triple then the dog had to go back on their line to get a panel behind them. I sent Pie to the tunnel, ran for the other side of the triple and was waiting there when she came out. Coming from the tunnel the dogs picked up speed and the triple caused a large jump. I then had to make her change directions fast. The grass was wet and the feet went out from under her and she was skidding on her face. Trying her best, she cleared the panel, but while we were in the air over the next jump I heard the triple come down. In the 24 inch class, if the dogs did not knock the panel as Pie did, they took down the next bar. I wonder if a rear cross on the panel would have worked better? I think my next agility dog will be small... most of these courses are too tight and bordering on unfair for a large dog. Maybe it is just a phase in course design that will go away or maybe it is an AKC thing and I should do more USDAA. I know ASCA is known for nice wide open courses but there are hardly any of those out here.

In jumpers Pie was very good. There were lots of 4 jump pinwheels and I "ran the corners" meaning instead of standing still in the middle I ran into each corner in the imaginary box of the pinwheel. This helps the dog see the turns (you have to be ahead) and also keeps them motivated since they are chasing you. The judge in this course said she runs big dogs and hoped the course reflected it. It was a flowing course were a big dog could pick up some speed. Thanks, Judge! Pie came in third in a large class. The second place dog is a dog that almost always beats us when he runs clean. He is a 20 inch dog running in the 24 inch class and that is somewhat frustrating to me because a smaller dog can turn tighter and consequently put down faster times. But no use complaining. AKC thought about changing the rule and making dogs jump in the height they measure into, but decided not to.

Dottie ran in Open after Excellent was done. The jumper's course was very similar, minus one pinwheel. I ran it the same way. Dottie tried to break her start line but I yelled at her. Maybe not good training, but it got the job done. Dottie ran fast and read my deceleration before a tight turn before the weaves beautifully. She knocked the triple coming out of the tunnel. I am guessing one of 2 things caused it. 1) I almost blind crossed (as I did with Pie) then chickened out so my front cross was late and spastic. or 2) I was far ahead and she wanted to catch up and just wasn't thinking or caring about keeping the bars up and just knocked into the bar. Then she ran around the last jump which seems to becoming a habit. I've never gone back and fixed it since we have always NQed by then, but it seems like maybe I should address it. Here is our run, the only one that got filmed.




In Standard Dottie was a mess. She did the a frame then ran all the way to the last jump, and managed to take the back side of it, with me calling her the entire time. Then we got through the same double front cross in excellent. After the dog walk she ran around the jump before the weaves then ran past the weaves. Then after I reset her up she missed the entry. Then after finishing the weaves she ran around the table. And this wasn't "I'm too excited/ happy to listen" running around stuff. This was ears back, slow canter or trot around stuff, looking away from me the whole time. We were not having a productive run or good experience so I scooped her up and left. I gave her a pat and a "good try" as I put her leash on, then put her way in her x-pen to contemplate how she can improve next time (I can hope that is what she is thinking about in there....)

Fancy ran in Jumpers later in the afternoon. I managed to NQ my Mach 4 dog in a novice course by not making sure she was committed to a tunnel and running off to get that same pesky blind or front cross in and she came with me and took the jump behind me. No off courses allowed in jumpers no matter what the level. LAME on my part. I should just be taking it easy, getting into Excellent and qualified for the Nationals as quick as I can. Instead I wasted a $20 entry fee trying to go as fast as possible, thinking how fun and easy and fast Novice is. In standard she was perfect.

Bonnie came out and walked around and did better than I expected with lots and lots of strange dogs around.

Now I've been typing for a while and don't have time to finish up with running contact thoughts. I will save that for another day. For now I will say it isn't going well, and just like last April I find I'm spending too much time on it when I should be prepping for our upcoming obedience trial or working on dowel work with Dottie (teaching a calm hold on the dumbbell) or tracking on all three. I am pretty sure I am giving up (again) due to lack of time and knowledge. If I wasn't also training in obedience, tracking and SchH I might be willing to spend a little more time... but there are even other things in agility I need to work on, such as weave entries.

Happy Easter!

I had a very nice Easter with my family and the dogs. I got up and took the dogs (my 3, Bonnie the foster, and my parent's 2) on a short walk. Then we went to Easter mass, took another walk (minus Bonnie and with the parents,) struggled with my computer to get Facebook to work (I'm downloading some Adaware now since McAffee didn't find anything. The Internet is working slowly, but I can't really get Facebook to work at all.)

We also took some Easter Pictures.


The Good Easter Dogs.


The Not So Good Easter Dogs. Except for Fancy, who is always good.

Then we ventured to the backyard where it had stopped drizzling but was still chilly to try some photos with me...reminiscent of the photo from a few years back, seen here. (2009.)

Easter 2009
(See Mom- we usually do have eggs and bacon on Easter...)

Yes, I'm wearing the same shoes- I only need 1 pair of high heels. Yes, the yard decorations are mostly the same. I purposely did not wear the same dress- I want to pretend that I own some nice clothes! Besides the dress, the only thing that did change are the dogs. Minus Bloom :( plus Dottie. :)

As almost always, getting all the dogs and myself to behave in the picture was a task of epic proportions. The photographer had some fun and documented the sequence of events.

I present: Photographing Malinois, Tibetan Terriers, and a Caucsian Female of German-Irish Decent on Easter Sunday Afternoon in Southern California on a Cloudy Day in April, the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Eleven, At Around Approximently Thirteen Hundred Hours in the Afternoon: A Photographic Journey Experience Essay by Mary Kernan.


Dottie will not sit on the step where I want her.


Dottie tries to escape.


Dottie is put into a new position.


All dogs in position except Dottie is hiding behind Fancy.


Fancy gets fed up and decides she has had enough but is snagged before she gets too far.


My feet are placed in the ready position to stabilize myself in case I need to quickly nab a fleeing dog.


I think Pie's eyes might be closed, but it is hard to tell with her. It is annoying Blogger messes some photos up (doesn't save the rotation.)


Fancy contemplates another escape attempt.



The dogs look good but the photographer catches me with my eyes closed. The dogs have worn me out with their mischievous ways.


Finally!

I think it should be noted how good Pie looks in all the pictures. It is almost impossible to take a bad picture of Pie. All you have to do is say cookies! and she points her ears and cocks her head. Good Pie!

Dog Bathing Fail

Fancy does not fit in the sink for a bath.





Fancy does not want to be in the sink.


Poor Fancy.

Today's Video

Using the contact trainer a la ffluffy. Pie gets a turn also. Dot does better with me ahead. Pie with me behind.

I had to fix it because it was pointing at the shed and I put the toy off to the side and she kept running off the side- which is to be expected. I don't think you can really see it in the video though.

I did lots of dog training today. Obedience with Dottie at lunch at the close park. A tiny track with Fancy and Pie. Came home and did the video, plus 2 weaves with Pie.

Then I did my run and got a good time. Now I'm off to agility class then I'll bag my raw when I get home. Another busy day!

The second video from today.


Dottie was great in class today. I worked on rewarding her more and she stayed fast and happy. Fancy was fast and happy as usual since I have a hot dog in my hand.

I didn't finish bagging all my raw since the chicken backs and turkey necks were still completely frozen. I think once they unthaw everything will fit.

Dogs, Dogs, Dogs

This is why Fancy tends to be grumpy. Always being squished by a Malinois.





It is hard to type with a Malinois head in your way. Sometimes various heads type for me, but I wish they wouldn't, since it is never what I want typed.


More squishing and notice Bonnie curled up next to the crate in the background.


And even more squishing!


I bought the dogs around 280 pounds of raw food today. It should put weight back on the Mals. Everyone was back on kibble while I was gone and Pie especially was not digesting it well and lost weight.

I hope it all fits in my special dog food freezer. I had to get turkey necks as they were out of duck necks. Fancy is picky with her raw and might find the larger necks too much work to eat. The Malinois seem to get satisfaction from tough chews, or, if it is too tough, they just swallow it, which isn't ideal.


Investigating and tasting.





Yummy. For Dottie, not for me.


Another running contact session today. It is getting worse. Her striding is back to one jump down the down plank, then one jump off. Jumping is bad, running is good. It isn't called a jumping contact, after all. This is the same striding I was getting on a flat board a year ago. I would go back to a lower height except for this is the same striding I get at the lowest height (no height.)

I might go back to just downsides, not the entire dog walk. That way she has less speed and it is harder to jump. I can get lots of rewards in for the correct behavior and when I go back to the full dog walk and she jumps, she might realize what gets a reward and what does not. Her reward is running to the toy which is set far away from the end of the dog walk and then we tug. If she is wrong we don't tug, I just make her out and leave the toy there.

Here is the video from today.

Watch.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Hope it is a great year for you. I'm glad we were able to have lunch together today. Your fellow employees are very pleasant, I'm happy you work in a nice place.

Here are the pictures from my camera from the cake last night.



The birthday Dad. Great cake Mom. Nice candle too!



I left Roscoe in the picture.

More Running Contacts

This morning I got a quick practice in before heading off to SchH (were Pie is doing very poorly, I am sorry to report. Horrible munching and won't hold the toy while running.)

It did not go as well today. My yard isn't quite long enough to get enough room at the end to throw the toy out far enough and have a good run up to the dw. So I used a curved tunnel to simulate a longer run up. I know speed at this point is not important, but it seemed maybe her striding would change based on the length of run up.

I was having trouble determining if she was jumping or not. I think I rewarded some that were jumpes based on her back legs being together and her rear end coming up higher than her head. I think the last 3/4 were all good but most of the ones before that were bad. I think I rewarded lots of bad ones.

Watch.

Possibility

This was one year ago this month. Watch.

This was today. Watch. It gets especially good at the end.

I don't know what made me think about trying the running contacts again. I do know that I know more about them now that ffluffy has successfully trained her BC to have great running contacts. For example, I now know more dogs will jump on a flat board and a bit of height actually helps them not jump.

But knowledge isn't enough. Do I have the dedication, the time, the willingness to not show in standard until she is ready to show with a full height running dog walk? At this point I'm not sure.

We haven't been Qing a lot recently so not showing would save some $.

Most likely I will give it a few more sessions and see how it is going and see if my enthusiasm holds up.

Dottie actually turns tight if I remember to cue it. With a tight turning 24 inch dog and running contacts and new, improved faster weaves... we could maybe be competitive. Except I forget myself. I have to remember who she has as a handler. Maybe after Sept when we try for our SchH1 I'll send her to ffluffy and ffluffy can be competitive with her since she is a good handler.

Of course, "competitive" is a relative term. Pie has many, many first place runs in agility. But I suppose I don't consider us competitive because after 2 runs (1 day) of the Invitational, we were in 11th place with clean runs. We had no where close to a 1-4th place run. A truly competitive team (because it is my training and handling also) would have higher placements at a National event.

Pie's biggest downfall is her inability to turn tight and her medium speed weaves which may be caused by her back. Despite not being competitive on a National level, Pie is always fun to run! No, you can't have her.

Bonnis is Doing Great

Bonnie is tiny! But very well proportioned (unlike string bean Dottie) so she makes Pie look like a lummox.


She is very comfortable around my dog now. She plays with Dottie and tries to play with Pie. I can leave them together unsupervised and know everyone will still be in one piece when I return.

Bonnie has house time and is doing well with that too. She chews on bones, lays on the dog beds (sometimes on the couch) and for the most part, stays out of trouble.

She is very submissive if one of the other dogs (ahem, Fancy) snaps at her or is "mean" to her in some other way. She is not a resource guarder and is friendly with strangers.

Today I had her in an x-pen with Pie and Dottie during an obedience practice and I think having the other dogs as a role model showed her there was nothing to fear. She accepted cheese while standing right next to a strange dog and I put her on a flexi lead and she even played with a ball in this new environment. One of the ladies at the practice who has 2 rescue mals was very tempted by her small cuteness but is worried her older female might bully her.

Bonnie is a very nice dog. Based on her old owner's reaction when I said she'd be in the house I thought she was going to be a terror, never settling down, shoving anything she could find in her mouth and climbing the walls. Not so at all. Oh, and her housebreaking is going great. No accidents since one on a dog bed in an x-pen in ffluffy's house. A nice difference from the last dog I house broke that took several months- Dottie.

Yep, someone will be lucky to have Bonnie!


Dottie having a snooze after the obedience practice and a rare trip to the dog park.

Photos

Here area few of the better photos I took using a friend's extra fancy camera this weekend. When I was able to pre-focus on the dog the background blurred out, and those pictures were the best. Such as the fist one. The quality of the photos was even better, but they had to be shrunk to be uplaoded, and to save room on my blogger account. The clarity was super before that.

Mum Mondays

My most special girls!



PS- Pretend this is me not talking.... I got my taxes done today, went to the dentist, and attempted to buy a new belt for my non-working washing machine, but was unsuccessful.

Videos from Ventura Trail

The really good news is I didn't get injured this weekend, unlike the lady who fell in a hole while running and broke her ankle (wish we got to run on those perfect indoor soccer fields!) and another lady who twisted her knee. Ouch.

These are the videos. I like the embedded feature but it wasn't quite right last time because you couldn't see the right side. So follow this link instead. Click here.

Trying embedded below.


Nope, still can't see the whole thing. Use the link "click here" instead.

2 Qs for Pie- no QQ. 2 Qs for Fancy from only 1 day. No Qs for baby Dottie but she had some really nice pieces! Not so nice but still impressive was an attempted bounce jump. She didn't quite make it. I think I need a smaller dog. Or I should move to Europe where the different sized dogs run totally different courses with different spacing between the jumps. Take that, small dogs. You don't have mile between jumps to turn and call off the off courses like you are used to now. And the big dogs might actually get to stretch out and get up to full stride before collecting for another turn.

Tomorrow is my 1/2 day and I have to go to the dentist and get my taxes done. I might as well sleep on a bed of nails tonight and eat a sword for breakfast. Not my idea of a fun 1/2 day off.

Another...

I love my dogs Post!

I had so much fun at the agility trial today.

After being sick on Friday and fighting to stay awake at my computer, (even with eating a bag of Skittles and going outside for fresh air), skipping lunch and staying late due to work that had to be done before the weekend, I came home and went right to bed. Then my Mom called at 9pm and woke me up from a dead sleep. I had my revenge on her by confusing her. After answering the phone I asked her what time it was "there." (We both live in the same state- about an hour from each other so this question made no sense). She told me it was 9 and asked where I was. I told her I was in Arizona. Later in the conversation, I told her my trial this weekend was in Ventura (CA).. The part about Ventura was true, the part about Arizona was not. I have no idea why I thought I was in Arizona, and by the end of the conversation it was determined I was not in fact in Arizona. I'm glad we were able to clear that up.

Back to the trial. Beautiful weather on the beach today. I got to hang out with all of my dog friends I haven't seen for 2 months. I got to run all of my dogs, one in each level. Pie was in Excellent. She had 2 off courses in standard but was perfect in jumpers and got first place. Dottie was in open and with her new faster weaves now needs faster weave entry work. She also drifted wide around a jump then didn't take the tunnel. Nice and fast, which is really my main goal. In Standard she had weave issues again then missed the last jump. No Qs for baby Dottie. However, this was also a nice fast run so I was happy! The cool weather helped, I'm sure.

I was going to try to get her qualified for the AKC Nationals next year which may or may not be in Reno next year. But she is still a baby and isn't ready to Q consistently yet. I don't want the pressure of trying to get her qualified. I want to enjoy my baby dog runs and take success when it comes. I want to find pleasure in the little things, and not be obsessing about Qs. So I called ffluffy and she agreed to come with me to the Nationals in 2 years when they are back in Oklahoma. That is the Dottie plan for now, but I also suggested the plan is allowed to change- for example if ffluffy gets a different job and isn't available to take time off work. I just wanted a preliminary conformation so I could look forward to maybe taking her in a few more years. I think eventually Dottie will be a successful agility dog, but we aren't there yet!

Fancy Pants was moved down to Novice Preferred 16 inches so she can run 16 inches at the Nationals. Is it better to finish 23rd out of 200 dogs, as we did last year, or possibly make it to the finals out of 30 dogs? The finals are always fun, but there is no guarantee we will make it. We could make a mistake, or we could be clean but the border collies who beat us in 20 inches and who are now in 16 will probably still beat us! But in the mean time Fancy loved novice because the course are so wide open with no tight turns. She can run full speed and not have to slow down to turn. She got 1st in jumpers and one of the other dogs was a BC! (He is around Fancy's same age and is a super nice dog, but not your typical speedy BC so don't be too impressed.) This club had really nice toys for first place. Both are now destroyed.

This club had a worker's raffle and I won! The prize was $50. Nice!!! More entry fees. They also had a yummy lunch of El Pollo Loco and home made cupcakes of which I had one. And only one.

After the show was over I took a walk on the path that runs along the beach down to the pier and past the hotel. My dogs were all walking at the end of their leash ahead of me as they always do. The difference is the number of people doing different thing was much greater than we normally meet on our walks. This is one more reason I love my dogs. Bikes came from behind with no warning. Joggers passed us silently. We overtook other dog walkers, people pushing baby strollers, recumbent bikes, a contraption that seated 4 people peddling, toddlers... all of this my dogs passed without a second look and had no reaction when they came up behind us with no warning. A dog like Dottie with her high prey drive and desire to chomp moving objects I might think I would have had to have her in heel position on a short leash. But she was totally relaxed and understood none of these things were in her sphere of influence. It was almost as if she had blinkers on and couldn't see anything except directly in front of her. Pie and Fancy are more seasoned. Fancy would not pay any attention any way, and Pie has been trained with leave it commands. But I was so very impressed with Dottie.

Now Fancy is curled up with her head somewhat on my lap, wearing Bloom's old sweater to keep warm, Dottie is sleeping on the other side of the love seat with her rear end a bit on top of Fancy's and her paw over her nose, and Pie is on the foam dog bed with her head on the ground. Bonnie is in Dottie's large create with her head smashed up on the side as if there is not enough room for her to stretch out, but since she is about Fancy sized I'm not buying it.

A great day today! Now I just need to get in bed at a decent hour so my sickness does not come back.

2 Short Videos

From yesterday:
One of Bonnie playing.

And one of the 3 Dogs being silly.


Isn't it cool that I "embedded" these videos? I will have to do that more often.

Agility Practice

Some agility practice. Watch here.

Thanks to ffluffy for fixing Dottie's slow weaves! She also sped her dog walk up considerably and Dottie runs it even faster for ffluffy. I think I'll have ffluffy run Dot this summer when she comes to visit. ffluffy is an amazing handler.

Fancy is wearing Bloom's old blue sweater because she was shivering. It fits her well but someone nibbled a hole in it sometime in the past. My guess is Dottie since no one else is a nibbler. I think it will keep her warm even with the hole. I went for my jog a bit late tonight and Fancy wore the sweater. I felt a bit silly jogging with my 2 fearsome Malinois and a small, skinny white dog wearing a blue sweater. But Fancy seemed happy and that is what matters!

Another 6 Years

Now that I completed my training, the commander signed my enlistment paperwork. When I'm done with this enlistment I'll be at 16 years! I just hope I pick up TSgt somewhere along the way. I just heard that someone who was either a SrA or SSgt (I can't remember every random person's rank from 10 years ago) when I joined was just selected as a new Chief. Congratulations to her. Did it help that she is married to a Lt Col?

Bonnie went on her first full length walk last night. Everyone came. She did not pull on the leash at all- mostly she lagged. A few times she was in heel position on a nice slack leash. I got up early and biked with the dogs (minus Bon-Bon) the past 2 mornings. Tomorrow I might run in the am and bike when I get home because it is easier to bike when hungry than run. Especially since Pie does all the work.


Bonnie hanging out in the yard with everyone after the regular dogs were done with agility training.


Fancy pouting because she was yelled at for being a jerk about the toy.


Relaxing by the borrowed channel weaves. After play was over, all three mals had a roll in the grass.


Dottie and Pie playing their favorite game- see who can slime who with more droll while tugging. Pie always ends up the wettest, but somehow I think it is her own drool.

Beach Trip

I am pretty much blogged out for the day so I'll take the easy way out and post the link from Facebook. Click here to view all pictures.


Here are just a few of the best. Really, none of the picture are amazing (sadly.)

Also, even though it is not related at all, the agitation on my washing machine is not working.












Same photo as above but uncropped.



Dottie being annoying- as always.


Pie Power.





I told Fancy to get up and this was her solution. She backed into the only spot she could find.


Interesting how much the collar moves around as Pie runs.



Your host here at Three Dog Days and the Three Dogs. The workout skirt is very comfy.