Thursday, July 29, 2010

To Bite

Finally I have pictures of my dogs working in SchH. Dottie is much more of a natural than Pie. Pie feels some conflict over biting. Dottie has no such reservations!


Dottie is ready. And very strong for someone who weighs only 42 pounds!



I got it... how is he still pulling on it?





Ready again.


Chomp!


Too fast for the camera shutter. Or at least, too fast for dim conditions.



And still ready.


I knocked him down! (Shhhh... don't tell her that he is a good actor!)


Victory lap.










Next it was Pie's turn.

I try to avoid getting caught up in the line and Pie goes in the find the bad guy. Looking goofy, Pie.


Found him!


Pie does her best to look menacing.


This was supposed to be a "miss." That makes them frustrated, but instead Pie got a hold with her front teeth.





Pie's first time doing the bark and hold. She ran around the blind, and then wondered what to do. He was just standing there... and the sleeve was hiding.


She barked out of frustration....


And gets rewarded with a bite.


Searching the blind.


Biting again.

SchH is so much fun!

Here are some more picture.


Whee! Dottie has fun.


Pie comes around the blind during the search...



After barking at the bad guy he decides to make a move...


And she gets him. Good girl.

Dottie Practices Heeling

I still have vacation pictures to post, but first.... a video of Dottie heeling. Thanks to the training help I've received from the Somis SchH club, Dottie is going to have very nice "head up" heeling. For those in my family who have only ever seen Dottie bouncing off the walls or confined in a crate- here she is showing that she can be a very good girl.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtQjo1c9MZI

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Big Bear Day 4

So... our last full day in Big Bear.

We got some lunch and ate it at the Boat Launch Ramp, then headed out for a walk on the Alpine Pedal Path along the North Shore. First chance we got, the dogs frolicked in the water. This beach was not very nice compared to the one we normally go to. There were some yucky dead fish and the water was not deep enough for swimming. We did not stay long.


Bad Dottie harassed Fancy the entire time.


ffluffy and dogs


It was a very nice walk.


Fancy holds onto the tennis ball.


We went off the pedal path and onto a path that went along the beach.


A neat tree.


On the path.


Pie's ears check out a tunnel on the way to the Big Bear Discovery Center.


Having a drink at the Discovery Center- which turned out to be closed!


We had to wait forever to get this statue free. The other people hogging it took forever taking pictures. The lady counted, "ooooonnnnneeee.......tttttwwwoooooo....." and as she was getting to three, the guy took his sunglasses off and she snapped the picture as he was still fiddling around! He never said, "Wait" and she just kept counting and took the picture. Of course they had to start all over. And when they were done with that, they remained standing on the statue and took pictures of my dogs as we stood by, waiting.


Fancy sat on the foot. I didn't tell her to do that, it is just were she ended up.






I love my dogs!!

Interlude

This blog post is from after the vacation, but have no fear- I will get back to that.

My mom gets a gold star for pouncing on an unsuspecting older woman and asking her if she wanted a dog- with Bacon in mind. She did have a reason to suspect she might want a dog as the previous day she had seen the same lady walking a boxer and then later 2 smaller dogs and then on that day she wasn't walking anyone. It turns out the lady had been dog sitting her children's dogs and then they had to go home.

The lady agreed to meet Bacon and take him for a 2 week test drive. I think they are perfect for each other. My mom spotted her walking Bacon last night and reports that so far she is thrilled with him. I say- What's not to like? He is sweet with everyone and gets along with other dogs, is house trained, and can be left loose in the house. Why am I not keeping him again? Ah yes- because I have three other dogs and he loves attention so much he is not getting satisfaction from me.

As I was loading up the car to take him to meet his potential new home I left him loose to come back to find this.








Alas, I did not let him ride there but instead made him share the seat with Fancy.

Both the lady, my mom and I all agree this home is meant to be for Bacon because the lady almost did not take a walk that day and it was pure chance she met my mom, who happened to speak up on her state of doglessness. All the events conspired for Bacon to find this home! I do not see why she would decide not to keep Bacon, but I will still keep my fingers crossed everything goes well for both of them.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Big Bear Day 3

On our third day we did a hike to the Gunsight. We drove for a while on a dirt road. My non-off road car was a little confused as to what it was doing on a rocky, unpaved road, but mostly we had no trouble. We made it within about a 1/4 mile of the trail head to be blocked by a large puddle. I did not want to risk driving the car through it, so we got out and walked. The first part of the walk was the Champion Lodgepole Pine, a very big tree. Then it was onto the Gunsight. Not to sure what that is. We looked it up online later and found out it is a rock formation, but we are not sure which one it was. The walk started off flat and shady with lots of ferns, water plants and water. Then we had lunch at a rock formation and after that the trail went down hill, the water dried up and it got hot and dusty. Some of the dogs began to get tired so we turned around and headed for home. This was probably my most favorite hike.

The walk was good and long and afterward we had ice cream. We had the repair man come to fix the DVD player and we watched a movie, but I don't remember which one.


The puddle that I did not drive through at the beginning of the hike.



While we were still driving ffluffy spotted this plant and she jumped out to take a picture.


We started off on leash since we didn't know how many other people would be about. I'm not sure how this happened to the leashes, but it took me some time to get them untangled.



At the Champion Lodgepole Pine.


Starting off down the trail to the Gunsight.


At the same stump chair I sat in last year.


All dogs on the walk posing except Bacon.



Fancy in the water plants.


Pie checking in while in the water plants. Very green!


These marks were on a few of the trees. The strange part is the mark is also on the other side of the tree.


It is a great trail.


A pretty flower that I used the extra zoom to get a picture of since it was down a hill and off the trail.


The dogs always wanted to stop to play but it was disruptive and dangerous for the human bystanders so they were not allowed to play for long.



Dottie found this swimming hole and jumped in and began paddling around. She is quite the swimmer now!


Fancy on a log above Dottie's swimming hole.


Fancy and Bacon checking out the trail. Bacon was very good off leash.


A rock formation were we ate lunch that might or might not be the Gunsight.


Dottie hoping I will give her some of my lunch. I see Pie's tongue snuck into the picture.



Bacon lay on my Camel Bac during lunch. I think he figured I couldn't leave without it and therefore he would not get left behind either. He is very much one for laying down and having a nap as soon as we come to a stop.


Pie and Bacon resting in the shade while waiting for us to catch up.


Seems ominous. The trail got hot and dusty after this point.





There was still some shade, but not enough. Notice the trees are now oak instead of pine.



A huge tail.



Navigating the rocks.



Dottie leads the way.



This was a tree that fell on the rocks and is now decomposing. Science at work!


Pie thinks I should walk faster.







Bacon was getting tired at the end. But he kept trotting along. Mostly.



Now we are turned around and are heading back up the hill. It was a long way up. My 3 dogs. And Bacon who is not really mine. Anyone want a nice, small, pet?



On the way back when we hit the watering hole, this is as far as Bacon went in.




Pie of course jumped in and swam around. She also grabbed the branch in front of her face and tried to pull it with her, but is was attached to a tree. I think it is funny how both Fancy and Dottie clearly want to join her, but haven't committed to jumping in yet.



Now Dottie is in but Fancy does not want to jump off of the rock. Most likely she is too polite to land on Pie's head. Too bad for her both Pie and Dottie would not hesitate to land on her head.



After the dogs refreshed themselves at the watering hole we continued up the trail back to the car. Here Fancy wonders if we are getting closer yet.


Posing.



The pale moon was coming out as we finished our hike.



Bacon was very tired and crawled under the car to rest as we packed up the car.



All done and on the way back to the cabin! A super, 5 stars out of 5 stars hike.