Garden, or Jungle

Dont look too close at the weeds-there are a few in there. After the last couple of weekends that have been very busy the garden has suffered a bit. But it has also grown. The sunflowers in the bean trellis are head height now! If you look at the peas in the front, there are absolutely loaded with forming shells. Another week and we will be eating many of our meals from the garden.

But there is food in there- quite a bit actually. Num!

Back to training ramblings

Tonight Magic and I are going to venture back to some obedience training, and try to figure out some happy heeling. Most of the various things I have tried with him, work about once, then he is back to hating it. I want him to get his CDX, but that is hard to do when he refuses to heel off leash.
I am trying to decide if I am going to enter Magic in UKC rally. Part of me wants to, but then part of me says why? He already has his AKC RE, and APDT RL1, do we need another venue? But, he likes rally, he likes when I talk to him and we are having fun with the various stations. We are going to be at the show for the weight pull, maybe we should play at Rally? Its the straight boring heeling patterns he doesn't like. I don't know, I have mixed feelings about entering him in another venue for rally. I would love to enter him in the APDT rally trial and go for his RL2, but that trial always seems to conflict with other stuff as well. That weekend there is conformation in lacrosse and local AKC agility that I want to do. I guess I have to sit down and figure out what is more important to me- Peaces conformation or Magics other stuff, local or having to travel?
I was hoping that if I put all this down the answers would come to me-not so far though.

agility photos from Saturday

http://www.greatdanephotos.com/store/index.php?do=photocart&viewImage=89648

If you are interested, you can see Magic freezing on his first attempt on the teeter. That is as far has he got before he jumped off. The gals at Great Dane Photos take the best agility pictures. If you are ever looking for photographers for a trial, check them out. The work they do is really wonderful. They seem to get the dogs expressions so well.
In this bunch, you can see that there is no reason (other than my screwing up that is) Magic shouldn't have his Jumpers title at 12 inches, at least its not that he doesnt jump big enough! I also like that in a couple of these I am no where in view. I may need to get another T shirt made, I just need to caption and select one of those big jumping pics.

NO Q at all!

I can honestly say, the first NQ was totally Magic since he has now decided teeters are evil. But the other was just so STUPID!!! I completely lost my way on course, and Magic the good boy he is ran a SUPER JWW course-just not the right one! Even the judge commented after the trial what a great course we ran, laughingly of course. I have to say, being on the trial committee I was able to spend time with the judges and they were sure super. Its too bad though about the teeter thing. I am hoping that if I can just get him to do a couple he will be fine, he just wouldnt even try this weekend.

I also have to brag on my boy just a tiny bit. He is such a good boy. He has never met a person he doesn't like, kids or adults, he spent most of his(and my) free time this weekend being loved on. Which makes Magic a very happy boy.

Agility trial

Today was day 2 of the NSHGC agility trial. I am exhausted! I worked yesterday starting at 9 am, as we had an excellent only day that ran until ofter 730. Today we arrived at 6, and along with working all day, I ran Magic too. Tomorrow, back at 6 am for the last day.

Today had some really good moments, and a few concerning ones.

Magic made it clear today that after getting bounced off the teeter a few weeks ago, he has no intention of working that again. Nope, not gonna do it. So I guess we have to go do some serious teeter work. Since he wouldnt take the teeter, of course we NQ'd in Standard. That was OK though. The rest of the run, was nice enough. He gave me wonderful weaves. I think I have been so worried about them, that I have been invading his space. Today since I knew we already had an NQ, I just sent him on and he took them like cleanly and with more speed than normal. (In other words, he moved faster than a crawl-LOL!)
In FAST he decided that he would rather take the 2 point jump a bit further out, than the 1 pointer I asked him to take, which was A_OK with me. He did the send beatifully, stopped dead in front of the teeter, so we just decided to skip it. Finished the rest of the run just exactly as I asked, finishing the course under time with a Q! I was very pleased with my boy.
In JWW, he did knock a bar, but otherwise ran nicely and gave me a very nice directional change and really made me happy. No Q but darn, sometimes I just am so proud of him-he does really well with a not so great handler. Tomorrow no FAST class, but I am hoping I can convince him to try the teeter, in Standard. He has his NA so its not a problem if he NQ's until we get the teeter thing resolved.

Garden

Well the garden is growing. the bean runners are as tall as the trellis we built. I knew they were not going to be tall enough. We may have to add something. Not sure what yet, but the beans are also growing up the sunflowers in the corners too. We have peas, some went into the pasta salad for tomorrow. We have bunches of small green tomatos, and some small peppers. the zucchini will flower in the next week. It looks really good, although somewhat jungle-ish!

Follow up to the dog show

It was a really good weekend up here for the Cardigan crew. The judge on Thursday commented to Garrett that she was impressed by the quality of the dogs we had up here. And I think it showed in the results for the weekend, as the points were pretty much shared amongst us all. It was nice to see a ringside where everyone was social, cooperative, kind and sporting. I look forward to more show weekends like this one, where hopefully I can actually stick around and enjoy it a bit more. Congrats to all the winners from the weekend!

David graduated Friday and is now on the job hunt. The graduation ceremony was held downtown in the Pantages Theatre and was very nicely done. The schools culinary students did the food for a reception after, and although we didnt get much more than a taste, it was wonderful. We followed the day with a dinner with my mom, brother and nephew Leo. We were at Benihana which was a riot with a 3 year old.

Saturday morning at the dog show, Peace was WB,BOS for 2 points. Also, her brother Music was reserve. Then we had Leo's 3rd birthday party in the park. Unfortunately I got a bit sunburned in spots. The night was capped off with a nice time at Darryls 40th class reunion. Lots of driving between the travel to all of them, but it was nice.

However, this morning as we were on the road to the dogshow, we have some car issue, and didn't make it. I apologize to the other competitors for the drop in points, but we really were stuck. However, we were able to get the car fixed relatively quickly (about noon) and got home around 1. I dont know how anyone did today and am eager to hear.

Hope you all had wonderful, and maybe slightly less hectic weekends!

Peace, hot weather and a wet mom

I love Peace. She is a sweet, sweet girl. But she is a clingy girl. It's hot and humid today and we don't have air. Peace insisted on sitting on me every chance she got. Up on my lap panting and drooling tongue sweat all over me. Holy moly, I never knew one dog could generate so much heat!

Today at the dogshow, she won her class, but that was all for us today. She would not stop and stand like a normal girl. The judge asked us for several down and backs, because she was either sniffing or she would stop and hold up one foot and lean. Goofy girl! We will see what Saturday brings.

Time for another shower, this one to get rid of Peace spit and Mom sweat. I really dont care for hot weather! Night all!

Busy weekend coming

Well, the busy weekend is coming. Tomorrow we show at 8am so tonight we start to get ready. After the show, I may head in to work, I havent decided yet. I could use the time off, but I am so swamped at work I will have to see how guilty I feel. Friday is Davids college graduation. WOOHOO. So we have that most of the day, with a portfolio show early then graduation in the afternoon and a reception after. Saturday will be crazy busy too. We have the dog show at 8am, then my nephews birthday party at 11, Darryls 40th class reunion at 5 pm. (note, the dog show is an hour+ north of my house, I will have to go home with the dog, then go about and hour northwest of my house for the party in a park outside, then back home to change for the reunion which again is about an hour northwest-unless I figure out some clothes appropriate for both partys or someplacve to change!) Somewhere in there I will also have to get Siren and Peace ready for the dog show Sunday at 8am. So I will wish everyone a wonderful weekend, just a bit earlier than normal.

PUPPIES!

I have puppy fever. I loved having puppies. Look at the darling little ones born this morning. I want puppies!

http://stubbydog.wordpress.com/

Sock Update

So here are the socks, or at least the work toward the socks. This is sock 1 and sock 3 though. Number 2 met with a sad death at about 2 inches. Oh well. These have been fun so far, I was at a yarn shoppe this last weekend and they had the prettiest purple bamboo sock yarn. I am thinking maybe someday purple agility socks.

Agility today

Today at agility was a little different, it was really warm and sunny, unlike the last really cold trial. Magic had a lovely jumpers run, clean-completely clean! that earned him his NJP! Other than one small oops in Standard, that run was lovely too. The oops though, caused an NQ. The teeter tipped pretty fast and caught him off guard a bit, and the bounce sort of knocked him off sideways, missing the yellow completely. Other than that though, he hit the other contacts, followed my lead and had a really smooth run. Unfortunatly in FAST he was leary of the fast tipping teeter, so bailed off it at about mid point, ending our run.

Grace though was really, really a good girl! No, she didnt Q, but that wasn't what today was about for her. She didn't get the send, but that was totally my fault. I tried to handle her like Magic- and she is NOT Magic. However, even without the send she earned 30 points. But the best part was that although she was a little excited at the start (which is where I messed up the send) she got it together and ran really nice for me. AND when the run was over, she ran to the leash and got leashed up! GOOOD GIRL!! She had fun and I had fun and it was a hot day all around. She did get mad though when I dumped her in the pool to cool off.

She is F*in with my head

So tonight, Gracie girl is an angel with a work ethic to kill for. She is messing with me I know she is. Worked away and drove to the second jump. Makes me wonder if she would get the send.... I bet she read the blog that I was considering not taking her....

OH NO, Sunday is coming

Its coming up quickly....Due to the weather (and my laziness) Grace and I haven't practiced at all. Not since her little catch me if you can game last week. She is only entered in FAST, I don't think she will get any send, should I just pull her??? Or should I let her have fun, and most likely make me look more foolish than usual? Will the judge get mad if she is a gooberhead? What to do, what to do????

Garden update

We had a little bit of sun late this evening. It was so nice to see. I think if we get a couple of days of good sun, the garden will take off. But, even with the grey days, the peas are flowering, there is a couple of small peppers and even a small tomato. The radishes are almost done, for the first planting anyways. I suppose due to the colder weather, they are really tasty too, not too hot, but still flavorful. I cant wait for more produce!

Socks!

Well eventually they will be!

Todays Show

Well it was a bit warmer today, although not terribly much. It was a bit dryer, just some mist versus yesterdays rain. But unfortunatly today the judge did not award Peace best of winners so no point today. But thats OK, we have other shows coming and we had a nice time anyhow. Peace made friends with a lady who made the statement that she was the sweetest corgi she had ever met. She was really loving on Peace and actually asked if I was breeding any more like her. Which I think is a darn nice compliment. Good Job Peace.

Seeking A Sock Pattern

I am a beginning knitter, but my goal for 2009 was to knit socks. If anyone can recommend the easiest sock pattern I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks!

Minnesota weather and the dog show

Most of Minnesota and the surrounding states have been very dry the last couple of years, and really dry lately. Many lakes are showing significantly low water lines. We NEED rain. But why, why is it that we get the wonderful full day constant rain along with really cold air. Its overcast, and really really wet today. Its cold, under 50 degrees, with frost warnings in the top 1/2 of the state. Oh, and did I mention, its a dog show weekend- an outdoor dog show weekend? Well, on the positive side, there wasnt a whole lot of point spending too much time grooming. And the areas under the tent cleared out really fast when classes were done, because no one wanted to stay outside any longer than they had too. And it was fun watching handlers trying to convince these wonderful pampered show dogs that leaving the tent to trot around the ring in the rain was a good thing. (There was one cocker ahead of us who simply put on the brakes and would not move out past the tent edge. The handler had to pick him up, carry him into the rain, to get him to move at all, then the little guy rushed back for cover-even the judge laughed) . Unfortunately we hardly had any cardigan entry today, 2 dogs, Peace and one special. Fortunately the judge did award Peace BW/BOS so we picked up one little point. And she commented on what a nice girl she was, and how she was amazed that she had been able to stay so clean in the water, red mud mess!

flowers

training update

Well, tonight's training was interesting. Siren worked on attention and heeling, and got to do a couple of runs through the tunnel. Nice, short just enough to keep the excitement. Peace worked on walking nicely on the leash- no bulldog pulling. She is still terrified of the tunnel, goofy girl.
Magic worked on drop on recall, and retrieves. He loves retrieves, so we proofed some with tosses way to the side of the jumps, and me moving to the edge of the jump. After the first oops, he did really well with that. But, as heelingis our issue, we heeled around in between and he did well once he realized, no heel, no dumbell.
Grace, well, was the typical Grace. Since I need to work her with some space, and my yard is too small, we walked to a vacant lot with the tunnel, a hoop and a couple of jumps. At first she was very focused, and was working really well. But suddenly as she tends to do, she was gone. She decided to play her favorite game. Chase me through the city. (Note, we had a collar and leash on her because she is not trustworthy, but I dont have any place with fences to work her, so she was easily caught, but I can't seem to train that trick out of the little monster. She pulled it several times at class, too, its her favorite game.) Once I caught her, she went home to her crate and I worked all the other dogs in front of her. She was not happy about that!
Stinker!

Training plans

So maybe if I write down the things I need to work on, we will get to them in the next 2 weeks. And I am going to try to post our progress or lack.

Grace- learn the GO command so she can go ahead of me more than one jump. Also, to the side - her first trial is in 12 days and she is only entered in FAST since we haven't learned weaves.

Magic - Begin teaching a left and a right, continue to work on weave entries, and try to set up 12. Also, start pull training.

Siren - Understanding Stay! Working on attention in lots of settings and a little heeling, making it fun, but no real pressure.

Peace- Attention Attention Attention.

So tonight, Grace and I worked on sending to one jump. She will go maybe 5 feet ahead of me, but not much further yet. We ended our session with a jackpot at the one time she went over the second jump without a ton of coaxing. (Note, she will run with me, I am trying for separation for the send) Magic worked on stay while Grace worked. Both Peace and Rinnie got some attention work, rewards for just paying attention.

Heart Award

This is just what so many of your blogs do for me, they make my heart smile. Thank you to my fellow bloggers. Those that post daily, weekly or even infrequently, you all are appreciated.

Enjoy your day knowing that although we may not ever get to meet, I feel that we are already friends.

I have lost my mind

Just in case anyone doubted it. I entered Grace in an agility trial. I have no expectations, but I thought it might be fun for her. We shall see. Wish I had a video camera to record it though. I am sure I will have a lot of laughs to report in a couple of weeks. Surprisingly I guess I no longer mind making a fool of myself. What dogs truly teach us!

On the car note, its not going to be a great dog car-only one crate will fit and that not wonderfully. But it will get me there and it has better gas mileage, so we wil make it work for a while. It might mean though that a dog rides out of a crate.