5 Dog Days

That doesn't have quite the same ring to it. Here is a family portrait.

And here are a few photos from running on the Navy base the past few days. Fancy and the Malinois all love to roll in the grass. I like to take pictures of them doing it. Not only are they cute but they're enjoying it so much. I have realized / remembered that when you exercise your dogs they are so much less annoying in the house every night. They just lay down and go to sleep rather than roaming around getting into things or pacing or breathing on you or any number of other things that I wish they were not doing. Exercising dogs is important!

Imagine the sound a race car makes here. He runs and runs and runs the entire time.

This morning Pie was upside down and Kipling did not want to get out of bed. 

We played at the Navy base dog park the other day and the dogs got very hot.

I really like the symmetry in this photo. Notice Kip is in the middle.

Salty can never run as much or as fast as Kipling. But he tries.

Old and young.

Pie still loves to run even if she has slowed down quite a bit too.

"And they're off!"

Fun times.

Poodle Hair

I'm trying to manage his hair which keeps getting longer and thicker and wants to matt. In order to try to control it I have started banding it. When the hair gets really long you can separate it and then put rubber bands at various intervals down each section. But since it isn't too long right now I put it in little baggies and wrapped it up. I like this because they can't mat and the plastic also protects the hair from the rubber band itself. I'm not sure I really did it right so I haven't told his breeder I did it. Hopefully his hair doesn't all fell out and she figures it out. She knows all though so even though I didn't tell her she probably knows anyway.

Fox? Or Fancy?

The A̶r̶t̶i̶c̶ ̶f̶o̶x̶ cute old dog sleeps curled in a ball with her B̶r̶u̶s̶h̶ tail over her nose.

Best Puppy in Sweepstakes

While we are still on the subject of Salty, I picked him up from his breeder's today after his show this weekend down at the San Diego poodle Club. He did not get any points so he didn't finish his championship, but he was entered in the non-regular Sweepstake class and he won best puppy of variety in sweepstakes. Since the poodle is broken out by varieties he did not get best poodle puppy in show since there are two other varieties of poodle in addition to his miniature size. I don't know how many other mini poodle puppies were entered but he beat them all! Oh yes, he also won  $6! In the sweepstakes classes they take the entry fees and divide them among the winners depending on how big the class is. Salty is a money earning, prize-winning poodle!

The nice things about the Sweepstake classes is they're only offered at Specialties and they are always judged by a breeder. At regular dog shows most times the judges are not also breeding the same breed they're judging. They are breeding some type of dog but they judge a lot more of the breeds than they themselves participate in. So the breeder judges are generally more respected amongst the dog show competitors in that particular breed. At least that is my understanding of it. Since Salty did better under a breeder judge than an all breed judge, I think that says he is what people truly "in the know" like.

 He was Reserve winners dog both days (second place) so while those ribbons are pretty, because they were from a specialty, I didn't include them in the picture.

More sleeping silliness.

I was caught in the act of taking his picture!

We went straight from leaving his breeders house to his agility class where he did well as usual. When we came home he passed out with his feet up in the air and his head off the bed again.

Yet Another Salty Post

I don't like favoring one of my dogs over the others. You should never take a favorite. It just so happens he has been the most active recently.

He went off to a show this weekend but before he could leave I had to get him ready.

He does not care for baths and he really does not like the blow dryer. He needs two points to finish and he will be happy when he is done so he doesn't have to be subjected to so much grooming.

Grooming is not something I enjoy. Some poodle owners Love it and find it very relaxing. I just do it to get it over with. But he sure does look good at the end!

Before showing him his breeder shaved his face, cleaned up his feet, put his top knot up correctly and scissored him all over. I have the easy part. I just have to wash and blow-dry him.

Sleeping Beauty

I had a break-in posting because they couldn't get photos to post and that's what I mostly use this blog for. Seems like it's working again so be ready for more photos!

Salty entertains me even when he is asleep.

How Does This Happen??

I looked up and Salty had the loop of a tug toy around his tail. Since his tail sticks up it did not fall off and he carried it around like that for a few minutes. I don't know how it got there.

Also, Pie was sleeping cutely.

Super Scooper!

There is a fire in a somewhat neighboring town to my parents. And a Reservoir in the town on the other side of them. The Super Scoopers are flying back and forth scooping up water from the reservoir and dropping it on the fire. They are flying directly over the house, pretty low.  I am so impressed by the pilots skill to skin the surface of the water and scoop it up.

Nice Day for a Drive

Top down, of course.

Kip and I headed out to my parents house to meet my dad and brother for an off road trip in the Jeep.  Some of my dad's friends are going as well. "The usual suspects," he answered when I asked who was going. One couple brought their (long haired) Malimute and the other brought their Labradoodle (small sized.) Tug and Lucy.