Agility Trial

A nice trial this weekend.  Pie got a QQ (and 2 firsts) and Dottie got 2 Qs but only 1 on each day.  On Saturday in Standard Dottie had the fastest time of all the dogs in all the heights!

Beef Bones!

The only grocery store in my new town didn't have most of the food I wanted, but the butcher next door had just what the dogs wanted!

Dottie couldn't be bothered to lay down!

Muffin's bone was almost as big as him!

Happy Mardi Gras!

Pie says, "Laissez les bons temps rouler!!"

Of course this is a genuine Mardi Gras mask bought when I was in Nah Lins (New Orleans) on Mardi Gras a few years ago.  I had beads as well but a certain young girl pulled on them and they broke.  Pie doesn't need beads to let the good times roll though.  The good times are always rolling for Pie!  She had an especially good day since she got to practice agility in the yard after Dottie's session, then went on a long (3 miles, so not long at all if you are my mother) walk with me and the other girls looking for the Post Office.  We never found it and when we made our way home I drove to it instead.  However, on all the outgoing boxes there the pick up isn't until 5 pm!  I have something that has to be post marked by tomorrow so who knows if they will post mark it after 5, or just pick it up.  I decided to not take any chances and after all of that I will take it to a different city tomorrow.  The old post office building was neat though, with teller type windows, a metal radiator and old wood work.

AKC Nationals or Bust!

So.  We are going this year after all.  You may remember I entered Dottie, but decided I couldn't go because I didn't want Missy to have to go to a different foster home while I was gone.  So then my trainer M was going to take her and I was going to pay for her flight, Dottie's flight and 1/2 of the cost of her rental car and hotel and the person she was traveling with was going to pay the other half.  After that plan was made, I bought my house and suddenly no longer had cash to burn.  And on top of that, for some reason the travelers could not find a direct flight and the cost of the flight kept going up.  We all came to a decision to not go/ not send Dottie and I got to save my money for the new house.

Several weeks in the future (now) things have changed.  One of my FB friends was posting how he just got a direct flight so I asked him how much it cost.  Between his ticket and his dog's ticket (the dog costing slightly more) the price was mostly affordable.  I contacted AKC to see if I could un-withdraw and they said yes.  So I booked the same flight as the FB friend and we are going to AKC Agility Nationals!  The friend and I will share the rental car driving from DC to Harrisburg (in order to get the direct flight we had to fly into Dulles) and most likely I'll stay with ffluffy or another friend who might have more room.

I contacted some Aunts who live in PA.  Some live closer to Harrisburg than others.  Some may be able to stop by and say hi and some may not.  We shall see.

This will be my first time flying with a dog.  I hope all goes smoothly.  We are flying from Weds into Thurs, and our first walk through is Thurs at noon.  We arrive in DC at 7.  The friend feels we have plenty of time. I guess that will add to the excitement of the weekend!  The best news is the Monday we fly back is a CA state holiday: Caesar Chavez day.  That means I get it off of work and I won't be charged leave for the weekend.  I only will have to take 2 days off of work since we are leaving so late Wednesday.  Score!

I got motivated to practice since I have the big trial coming up now.  The yard is still not fixed up but at least there are no standing puddles.  Here is the little course I set up.  I could practice not taking the tunnel, tricky weave entries, backsides, pull throughs, 180s and of course keeping the bars up.  I found a dangerous weakness.  Dottie is confused between backsides and rear-crosses.  I hope I can clear that up for her.

February Agility

I have two videos of Dottie from our most recent trial.  Pie also ran but wans't filmed.  Pie would have had a QQ but I was too tired to run all the way to the table (I need to eat more at trials) and then I got confused between her and Dottie and Pie needs a down command if I am going to lead out from the table.  I didn't tell her down and she jumped off.  Our only mistake!

Dottie's only mistake was knocking the last bar in standard.  At first I thought it wasn't my fault, but now I think I should take some credit.  I didn't feel like I pulled up too soon, but I should have been running harder in the end.  Oh well.  In jumpers she was clean and in first place.  There is a lady who moved here from TX, I think, who runs fast border collies.  One is a 24 inch dog and if both Dottie and her dog are clean we can't beat him.  If the course is tight enough, Dottie does turn better, but if it is a wide open course, he will win.  Dottie got first in jumpers since he knocked a bar.



Standard, friend didn't know how to use the zoom.



Jumpers.

Storm Watch Twenty Fourteen

It's a joke around here that any time some rain is predicted, all the news stations start "Storm Watch: Insert Year Here."  Then when the rain comes they go out and film flooded intersections that probably wouldn't have flooded if the trash had been removed from the storm drain opening ahead of the rain.  The news anchors probably go around blocking the drains so they will have something to report on.

This time was different.  We have been so long without rain that ANY rain actually would be news.  And we were being promised a big storm.  I was excited but also really hoping my roof doesn't leak!  The home inspector said to keep an eye on it due to evidence of ponding.  I have a flat roof.  All the flat roofs on base leak, so I was somewhat worried.

The big storm arrived as promised.  In previous years it would rain in the winter and I'd look out the window in the morning and see it was raining and think, "It's raining again."  An inconvenience because I'd get wet, the roads would be dangerous, and dog training might be canceled.  When I woke up to the rain I realized how absent it had been because it should have just been an ordinary sight, but instead it seemed extraordinary.  And it was impressive in the amounts we were getting.

My back yard turned into a slippery, goey mud puddle and my roof did not leak!  However, upon inspecting it I saw it was not ponding, it is a pond!  Lots and lots of water up there.  Perhaps I should get a taller ladder and get up there with a push broom and push some of it away.

I took a short film so all the people who live in places with real weather can snicker that I took the time to film this.  But the rain!  And the wind!



Now the rain appears to be over and we are still in a drought.