CardiParty

A Little Taste of Heaven

2009-02-15T07:28:00.014-06:00

Have you ever seen such happy faces? We've discovered Canine Country; a little taste of heaven on earth!

First Trial - More Pics?

2009-02-04T20:02:00.018-06:00

Out first trial in St. Louis was a bit of a bust. Saturday I forgot all of my medications for my RA at home; not even a bloody Tylenol - so I spent the day in PAIN. And I had major ring conflicts. I was walking Mikey's Excellent Standard course while they were walking our course in Open Jumpers. And then while we were running our Standard course (which I totally screwed up) they were calling for Mikey in the Jumpers ring. So we literally ran from one ring to the other and ran the Jumpers course (which we also blew) and then I ran to get Holly and ran back and ran the Jumpers course with her (yeah, that didn't go so well either).

Sunday was only marginally better. No ring conflicts, but I managed to forget the Jumpers course with Mikey (maybe walking the course doesn't really me help all that much). I remembered the course for Holly, and she managed to get a 95 and her first Open leg. Yip eeee?

It was a much better weekend overall for both my dad (in Houston, obviously) - (yay, Meg finished her Novice Jumpers title in fine style - 19 seconds and change for first place) and for Nicki (here in St. Louis) over at Borderblog (go here and here). It was really nice to meet Nicki (and Legend!) in person. Nice and. . . strange. Kind of like meeting a character from a book you've been reading. . .

What can I say, a lot of things are just - off - here in St. Louis. Nothing 'fits' or feels comfortable yet.

Here is where the last batch of pics from Christmas (yes, I know it's the first week of February) were supposed to be. I loaded them and then came back to change something, and they're gone. Grrrr! It's time for me to go to bed (I get up at 4:40 am), so I'll try again another day.

SNOW!!

2009-01-28T20:36:00.017-06:00

Mikey, of course, said "Oh boy! Cold white stuff - my FAVORITE!!" Holly, not so much. . .

I promise to actually write something soon. In the mean time, enjoy the pics!

Mmm hmm, the blue one right in front here is mine. . .

Not Dead - More Pics

2009-01-12T17:43:00.015-06:00

Well, I survived my first week at work. Last week actually went pretty well; so far this company seems a lot less rigid and a lot more interested in keeping their employees happy than my last company. This week is getting off to a bit of a rough start, but hopefully things will get better as the week goes on.

I've found a place to do agility; if you're a 'member' you can go and practice anytime, provided there's not a class in session. More on that another time. . .

And, at last, more pictures from Christmas in the Missouri Ozark Highlands. More pics next time. . .

Pictures - First Installment

2008-12-30T08:28:00.019-06:00

Pictures from Christmas Day '08 in the Missouri Ozark Highlands. . .

Starting with our Christmas tree this year - walking sticks from the Frio River in Texas.

Doggy Merry Christmas

2008-12-23T10:33:00.010-06:00

T'was the night before Christmas, and all through the house
The puppies were squeaking an old rubber mouse.
The stockings that had hung in a nice straight row,
Were now crooked, with holes chewed through each little toe.

The wreath that had merrily hung on the door
Was scattered in pieces all over the floor.

The tree was subjected to bright-eyed whims,
And now, though still splendid, it's missing some limbs.

I catch them and hold them. "Be good", I insist.
They lick me, then run off to see what they've missed.

And now as I watch them, the thought comes to me,
That their's is the spirit that Christmas should be.

Can children and puppies yet show us the way,
And teach us the joy that should come with this day?

Could they bring us a message that's written above
And tell us that, most of all,
Christmas is LOVE?

Settling In

2008-12-23T08:13:00.004-06:00

Well, we're getting settled in. I've had a lot of 'what have I done?' moments; moving is never fun, and there's been a few issues with the apartment we're living in (drainage problems and mud on the back porch, washing machine doesn't work, noisy neighbor dogs, etc.) and I've really missed the bayou (sidewalk walking is way too close to zooming cars, but I guess I'll get used to it) and all the unpacking has really caused my rheumatoid arthritis to flare up.

But, I've gotten everything but my books unpacked, and the moving company is coming to pick up the empty boxes today, and I've found a park that's reasonable close for more pleasant walking. I've sent an e-mail and left a voice message with a agility instructor (I think they must be out for the holidays). The back porch is cleaned up, and they're supposed to be bringing a new washing machine today (I hope; they were supposed to bring it yesterday) and we're doing a lot of 'Good quiet get's a treat!' and running to the frig for said treat (wonder how long it will take for them to automatically run to the frig when they hear the other dogs bark?). And I'm hoping that now that I'm essentially done unpacking, and when I get back to eating right and exercising, my joints will start feeling better.

Tomorrow we're off to a cabin in southern Missouri for Christmas. The Cardigrandparents, after following me here for the move, and then driving back to Houston last week, are driving all the way back here so that I don't have to drive back to Houston for Christmas. We're hoping we enjoy the cabin here as much as the cabin on the Frio River in Texas; hiking, birding, etc.

I want to thank all of you that have visited and read and commented this year, and especially the last few months. Loosing my job, and then making the decision to move here to St. Louis was (and continues to be) scary, but it is starting to get more comfortable. You have no idea what it has meant to me to have every one's support the past few months!!!

I hope everyone out in the blogosphere has a wonderful, warm and Merry Christmas and a fun, safe and Happy New Year!

SkyWatch Friday

2008-12-19T07:08:00.003-06:00

Foggy Texas morning. . .

Happy Birthday Holly!

2008-12-17T17:54:00.022-06:00

OMGosh! With all the moving hooha, I almost forgot!

Happy Birthday sweet girl and thank-you -- for so many, many things, starting with my introduction to the wonderful world of Cardigans! Here's to many, many more shared years ahead!

Twinroc Aelwyn Cariad NJP RN CGC

aka Holly Berry, The Diva, Miss Thang, Miss Sassypants

The Eagle Has Landed

2008-12-17T08:09:00.003-06:00

Or rather, the Cardiparty has landed - in St. Louis. . . and we were greeted with ice and then snow and temps, at least one day, with wind chills below zero. A crash course in COLD, and a crash course in driving on ice/snow. My furniture and boxes (and boxes and boxes and. . .) were delivered yesterday. My mom and dad helped unpack some yesterday (and are on the road back to Houston today, safely please), and the unpacking will continue until further notice. We had a few harrowing moments on our way here from Houston, as well as when we arrived, but more on that another time.

Holly and Mikey were unbelievably patient with hours in the car, and different hotel rooms for several nights in a row, and sitting in their crates while the movers brought everything in. We all got a good nights sleep in our own bed last night, and I'm trying to convince myself that we will all settle in soon, and that soon we will all feel at home here. . .

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi' and 'Brrrrrrr!'.

Snow!?!

2008-12-11T06:39:00.003-06:00

In Houston? Is this some kind of cosmic joke? The morning news is reporting accident after accident on the icy overpasses. Houston doesn't 'do' snow and ice.

One more day to get everything ready to go. . . Did I mention the original 'plan' was to have the movers come on Monday, but I might not have gotten my furniture delivered until after the holidays unless they came this Friday instead? I really, REALLY could have used those three days!

Quicky

2008-12-09T08:13:00.003-06:00

Went to St. Louis last week. Found a two bedroom apartment in a nice, safe neighborhood. Relatively close to work and with plenty of sidewalks for dog walking - good bye, bayou :( It was literally the last property I looked at - the 14th. I'm pooped, but. . . the moving company is coming on Friday to pack and load my stuff. Aaaaargh!!! So much to do, so little time! I'll update if, and when, I can.

Also, brrrrrrr! This Texas girl is going to freeze my 'hmph' off in St. Louis (although I suspect Holly and definitely Mikey are going to LOVE the cold and the snow - of course they don't have to learn to drive in it!).

Also, also, huge thanks to Cardigrandma and Alpha for taking such great care of my little diva and my little monkey boy!!

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

"What is this 'snow' of which you speak?"

SykWatch Friday

2008-11-28T08:52:00.000-06:00

The Texas Hill Country.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-26T19:01:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving to All!!

I hope everyone spends their holiday enjoying whatever it is that makes you most happy, and most thankful.

Let the Holidays begin!!

Trial Pics!

2008-11-20T12:05:00.036-06:00

Ok, I had an extremely hard time deciding among all the great photos that Cardigrandma captured, and still had so many to share, so be patient. In addition to Holly, Mikey, and Meg, there are great pictures of some of the other canine athletes at the trial. Thank you Mom!!

Fort Bend KC Trial - New Title!

2008-11-17T19:56:00.010-06:00

Well, Saturday started with a bang; as in my head banging into the hatch on my Cruiser while I was loading the car. D'oh!! The top of my head is still sore.

Great news!! There was an measuring judge at the trial and I did a challenge measure with Holly; he measured her at just a tick under 11 inches! Yippee, she's officially able to compete at 4 inches Preferred! And. . . drum roll please. . . she finished her Novice Jumpers title with first place and a perfect score of 100 and a course time of 33.69 seconds (SCT 46 seconds). Pictures to follow later this week.

Mikey had a dropped bar in Open Jumpers, and got a refusal at the weaves in Excellent Standard, so no Q's. The refusal was my fault; I stumbled a little doing a front-front cross from the chute to the weaves (see the course below) and got in Mikey's way at the entry to the weaves. Take a look at that course. It may not look so bad on 'paper', but it was a tight course; I watched many, many dogs stumble on the hard turn from jump 2 to the dog walk. I really felt sorry for all the long legged and big, heavy dogs, although it ended up being a fun course for my short legged boy. As usual, I was really pleased with Mikey; he always tries so hard, and ALWAYS has a great time. The dropped bars in Jumpers are getting really frustrating; it's really aggravating to have perfect course after perfect course, except for a dropped bar. Grrrr!

My dad's dog Meg did NOT take off and tour the ring in either her Jumpers or Standard courses. Unfortunately, she still ended up with an off course in each, so no Q's for her either.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'

SkyWatch Friday

2008-11-14T07:23:00.000-06:00

Touched By An Angel

2008-11-12T18:13:00.013-06:00

Farewell dear master, yet not farewell.

I am gone, before your face,

A moment's time, A little space.

When ye come where I have stepped,

Ye will wonder why you wept.

Godspeed, sweet girl.

Faison's Confederate Angel MX MXJ MAD CD RN CGC

Bobbie

Memories

2008-11-09T09:23:00.012-06:00

I'm trying to convince myself to relax some today, and wait to plunge into closet cleaning and moving prep tomorrow. I'm feeling nostalgic today. We just got back from our morning walk on the bayou, and as we walked, I was thinking about the hundreds of walks I've taken out there. With two generations of dogs. I've lived in this apartment for almost six years, longer than I've lived anywhere except my parents home; and I lived in this complex, in a different apartment, for almost a year back in 2000. A lot of history, many memories here. The holiday season always makes me feel nostalgic too. I hate that I'm going to be moving in the middle of the holidays.

A little more about the new job. I will be working for a large pharma company called Covidien, as a statistical/SAS (Statistical Analysis System) programmer. SAS programming has been a large part of my work for the past four years, but this is a huge change in my career path. Most of my career has been in laboratory/pilot plants, doing bacterial fermentation (microbiology). I essentially got this last job because my boss was someone I had worked for early in my career, and he knew I would be able to learn the new skills for the job. And the change ended up being a God-send. A little over two years ago, I started having symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, and today, I don't think I could do the work I used to do; large scale fermentation is physically demanding work. I used to jokingly call it blue collar science. I know I couldn't do that type of work now and have anything physically left over to do much agility, or keep up the exercise that have been doing. Although it was initially a difficult transition, from hands-on to sitting behind a computer all day, it's one of those things that seems to have been meant to be.

I don't know if moving to St. Louis is one of those 'meant to be' things, but in this economy, I'm (mostly) grateful to have found a good position so quickly after being laid-off. I don't actually know yet when I'll be moving. We agreed on a start date of December 15, assuming that the whole move thing goes smoothly. Lucky me, the company is offering a complete relocation package! I'll be going up in the next couple of weeks to look for a place to live; I've done some hunting myself on the internet, and the company will be hooking me up with a realtor. I hope, hope, hope! that I will be able to rent a small home or townhouse, since I'm pretty sick of living in an apartment, with people stomping around on my ceiling day and night.

As for dog related activities, we ended up doing a ton of agility last week. We went over to my parents on Tuesday, where I set up a mini course to work on rear crosses. I'm trying to figure out the timing with Mikey that will keep him from dropping so many bars on turns. And Holly's rear-cross is weak, because she's a little bit slower, and I can usually get in place for a front-cross. And then we had class at on Wednesday. Nothing of interest from class, except that classes are getting bigger (too big) now that it's cooling off. And Friday, for my dad's birthday, and since he was off work, we went to Leaps 'n Bounds for some more agility. We had a great time, although it got pretty darn warm/hot. November in Houston! I'm glad we got so much agility crammed into last week, since the forecast is thunder storms Monday through Thursday, and we've got a trial next Saturday (my last trial here, *sniff*). I'm trying to decide whether to enter Mikey at a local show in breed the weekend after Thanksgiving. I'm not sure if I'll have time for for a show, or if I'll still actually be here by then. On the other hand, it would be soooo nice to have him finish. . .

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Since I'm wallowing in nostalgia this morning, here are some pictures of Misty, as a baby, and when she was a seasoned citizen (she almost made it to her 14th birthday). To save any guessing, she was a fawn Doberman with natural ears.

Oh hell, if I'm going to wallow. . . Three generations. . . My mom, my grandmother, and me, plus Misty and Bobbie.

Position in St. Louis Accepted!

2008-11-07T09:05:00.005-06:00

Like the kid in the movie 'Home Alone', I'll keep telling myself "This is it. Don't get scared now!"

Off to clear my mind with some agility!!!

SkyWatch Friday

2008-11-06T11:23:00.009-06:00

You Guys Are Awesome!

2008-11-04T19:47:00.003-06:00

Dog people are soooo awesome! Thank you for all the words of encouragement and congrats, and all the great suggestions! Hmmm, taking this job would mean I would be much closer for the National in Wichita (ooops, Topeka). . . Hmmm. . .

I Got An Offer

2008-11-04T07:28:00.002-06:00

. . . in St. Louis (Hazelwood) Missouri. Decision time. Anybody out there reading this from the St. Louis area?

Sky Watch Friday

2008-10-31T08:29:00.004-05:00

From the Frio River, of course. . .

Blue or Bust - Flash Paws Agility Trial

2008-10-27T16:40:00.008-05:00

That was the theme for our trial this weekend. We either came in first, or where eliminated.

Holly was all blue and no bust! She resisted the temptation to visit ring stewards, and took first place in Novice Jumpers (by breaking score ties with faster times) both Saturday and Sunday. At 8 inches no less! Stupid judge measured her at 11 1/4 inches Saturday morning, which bumped her up into 8 inch Preferred. Looks like we'll have to do a challenge measure at our next trial. I was so proud of my little Holly! When she first starting doing agility agian after a year off, she was kind of unpredictable and soooooo slooooooow; but now she is back to her dependable and consistent agility diva self! And she was running pretty darn fast!! Fast enough to break tied scores two days in a row. Guess those sprints we've all been doing are coming in handy for more than just me. And I always get such a kick out of seeing her have a good time.

Mikey did pretty darn awesome too; his problem was dropping bars. No Qs in Jumpers; I'm starting to think we're never going to get out of Open Jumpers. Worse still, one more Q and Holly will be running in Open too! Aaaaargh! In Standard (Excellent!) Mikey got first place (score of 100!) on Saturday! Excellent is very competitive, in fact I think Mikey was one of only two or three 8 inch dogs entered in Excellent A, all the other entries were Excellent B. On Sunday Mikey dropped another bar in Standard. Other than the dropped bars, Mikey had great runs all weekend. I couldn't have asked for more. I think the dropped bars are partly due to body type, and partly due to handling. All of our dropped bars were on turns. Mikey's got a long, heavy body (hello! Cardigan!) to get over those jumps. He can turn on a dime, but, obviously, he has a hard time turning and jumping and doing it clean. I think I need to work on my handling and figure out how much room he needs to get a clean jump on a turn. It seems like the problem is when I signal for a turn while he's in the air; Mikey is so responsive and reacts immediately to my signals, which I think is causing dropped bars. Nonetheless, I was very, very pleased with how Mikey did this weekend.

My dad and Meg had a similar weekend to Mikey and me, except her problem is getting over excited and running off to take a tour of the ring (resulting in an off course and elimination). On Saturday, she took off in Jumpers and he called her back, excused himself, and marched her right back to her kennel. Later, he took her to a huge open field next to the show grounds and threw the ball for her - for a long time. In Novice Standard, she showed what she is capable of doing, and had an awesome run for first place to finish her Novice Standard title! Part of their problem is that she doesn't take off like that in class, so he's having a hard time trying to figure out how to prevent it from happening at trials. Obviously it helps if she's a little tired, but he tried the same thing before Jumpers on Sunday morning, but apparently it wasn't enough.

The funniest part of the weekend was when I went and sat in the bleachers with Holly and Mikey for a while on Saturday. Holly was semi-interested in watching the people walking back and forth, particularly if she could lure them into coming and petting her (she's such a flirt!), but Mikey was glued to the action in the ring. I'm telling you, he watched EVERY dog that ran, from start to finish, with intense concentration, occasionally letting out a little yip of excitement. I guess he really, really likes agility, even as a spectator!

Good times and fresh air had by all!

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

The Scoop

2008-10-24T07:27:00.006-05:00

The rest of my week since my interview in St. Louis has been relatively quiet. We were rained out for agility class this week. We've got a two day agility trial this weekend. Mikey is in Excellent (!) Standard and Open Jumpers, Holly is in Novice Jumpers, and my dad's dog, Meg, is in Novice Jumpers and Standard (one leg to go in each!) Saturday and Sunday. It doesn't look like there will be any ring conflicts between all three dogs, although finding time for lunch may be a challenge! There will be a Volunteer Measuring Judge at this trial, so keep your fingers crossed Holly gets her second measure at 11 inches or less! (Speaking of which, Holly ran at our last trial in 4 inch Preferred with the little Pembroke that originally gave me the idea last year that Holly might be small enough to run at 4 inches. Seeing them side-by-side while we both waited ring side, yup! they're almost exactly the same size!)

Also, Kate wanted to know if Mikey has finished yet. No. He still needs one more bloody point! And yes, I do intend to finish him. Actually, there was a local breed show this month that I had intended to enter, but the closing date was the week after hurricane Ike, and it totally slipped my mind until the weekend after it closed. There are a couple of shows in November that I'm planning on entering, including a supported entry that coincides with the Bluebonnet club meeting/Christmas party. Honestly, I really don't enjoy showing in breed anymore, but with only one point to go. . .

And please keep my parents in your thought/prayers. Bobbie, their older Brittaney, is not doing well, and hasn't been doing well for a while. They're having 'the talk' this morning. I haven't been talking about Bobbie partly because it's painful (I still lived with my parents, with my old dog, Misty, when Bobbie joined our family), partly because it's not my story to tell, and mostly because it's not my decision to make, and I know my mom reads my blog. Love you Cardigrandma! I'm sorry it's so hard and so painful and I wish I could do more to help!!!

Hug your dogs.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Wew!!

2008-10-21T17:34:00.007-05:00

Home! As in back from my interview in St. Louis. Interviews are sooo much fun Did I mention I HATE to fly?

The good news is that this interview went (or at least felt) much better than the interview in Kansas City. Coincidentally, I FINALLY got an e-mail, this afternoon no less, from the HR recruiter for the KC job. "Thank you for your interest, but get lost". I joke, but that's how that kind of e-mails always seem to me.

I have mixed emotions about the job in St. Louis. I liked all of the people I interviewed with quite a bit, and felt much more comfortable with them than with any of the people I interviewed with in KC. While still a large, stable company, the actual group I would work in is nice and small.

On the other hand, Kansas City seemed like a safe move, since most of my extended family live in the greater Kansas City area, and I don't know a soul in St. Louis. . . And, salary never came up in today's interview. . .

Guess I'll just have to wait and see. And keep on job hunting.

And, last but not least, a big thank you to Cardigrandma for staying with Holly and Mikey last night so that I didn't have to board them! She must have taken really, really good care of them, since I got an underwhelming greeting when I got home, like "Oh, so glad you're home. Ummm. I guess this means grandma won't be coming back to stay with us tonight? Bummer."

Boot Camp - Cardi Style

2008-10-18T10:54:00.008-05:00

The Burn, I Feels It!

Ok, so maybe Mikey and Holly haven't been lifting weights with me, but since I was laid off, we've really kicked it up a notch with our primal exercise schedule. We've been going to the George Mitchell Nature Preserve two or three times a week to hike. The loop is two miles (see the map at the bottom of the page I've linked to) and, depending on how hot/humid it is, we either do one brisk loop, or one loop plus some of the side trails. We love the place; since we've been going on weekday mornings, we usually have the place to ourselves. It's peaceful and beautiful and, according to Holly and Mikey, full of interesting smells.

Holly, Mikey and me have also been running sprints about two times a week (not including agility class/trials). Actually, I added sprints into our schedule several months ago. Sprints are not necessarily something I would recommend for someone with rheumatoid arthritis, but we love it. My joints do suffer afterwards, but I feel so free and powerful, and Mikey and Holly think we're playing some awesome game together. Running full out with them brings back a feeling from my childhood. As an adult, nobody runs just to see how fast you can go, or to see if you can keep up with your four legged friends. What a fun way to get some incredible exercise!

And, it's all totally working. We're all faster and stronger at agility. I don't get winded like I used to, which means that I have breath left over to call out obstacles. Holly's got muscles in her thighs that weren't there a few months ago, which has got to be good for her hips. And Mikey got a great compliment when we went to our vet for bordetella vaccines last Thursday; when she was listening to his heart, she said 'Wow, you can tell he's an athlete'!

Now, if I can just figure out how them to lift weights with me. . .

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Vacation Pictures - Finally!

2008-10-13T16:44:00.000-05:00

New Title!

2008-10-12T15:58:00.009-05:00

Pecan Valley DreamCatcher OAP NJP CGC

Mikey finished his Open Standard title with a perfect score of 100, first place and a run time of 48.69 seconds (SCT was 76 s)!! I was soooo proud of him! He's so fast, but still laser accurate at the same time. It was definitely one of those course runs where everything is so in sync, it feels like you and your dog are even breathing together!!! Such an awesome feeling! The course is below.

Unfortunately, we imploded for our Open Jumpers course. Everything started out well, but Mikey skipped a pole in the weaves, and my brain went. . . pffft. I was trying to remember if we could go back and retry the weaves in open while he finished the weaves, couldn't remember, and went on to the next jump. . . and then went off on a course of my own. . . and then realized I was off course and then my brain really started sizzling, so Mikey tried to fix things by adding extra jumps to the course. . . Oh well. Once we got back on course, we finished well, and we both had a good time regardless.

Now, Miss Holly. First, all those crossed fingers must have worked; her first official measure was exactly 11 inches! Yippee!!! Exactly the right height for her to run at 4 inches preferred. One more official measure and we're safe. Holly did pretty nicely for her first trial. She went around one jump, since I forgot to keep an eye on her for a second (duh! it takes less energy to go around, instead of over, even if the jump is only 4 inches, or so Holly says). And, Holly took a short detour right before the very last jump to go say high to a ring steward. Everything else was pretty darn good. Not bad for her first trial. Of course, trialing with Holly is icing on the cake, I'm glad we can share agility in any form.

My dad's dog Meg did very well. It was her birthday yesterday. She took tour of the ring (twice) during her Standard course, but wasn't wildly out of control. Then, in her Jumpers class, she took first place with a score of 95. Man, oh man! She is one FAST dog!

We had a great day, although I wish it could have been a little cooler. A trick I've learned, in case anyone is interested. My dad and I don't like crating 'inside' with everyone else. It's just so noisy, it's not relaxing for me, and I can't imagine the dogs find it very restful either. So we keep our dogs in the car at trials. Besides two crate fans for each dog, here's my little trick; garden shade cloth. It can be hard to find the right type of shade cloth; it's the mesh type that's a loose enough mesh to allow air to flow through, but still provide shade. Doubled up, you still get good air flow, and I roll all the windows down and close the cloth into the tops of the doors and let it hang over the windows. One long piece along the passenger side of the car, and separate pieces for the front and back windows on the driver's side (so I can get the dog's in and out; I also try to park to that the sun shines on the passenger side, and then I don't have to worry about putting anything on the driver's side). I open the hatch in the back, and use clips to hold a big piece that drapes over the hatch all the way to the ground. And of course I put my normal front windshield sun block in place. The temperature yesterday got up to upper 80's, but the interior of my car was still nice and cool!

We've enjoyed a nice lazy day today; back to reality tomorrow (I've got an interview with a company in St. Louis next week, and no. I haven't heard back from the company in Kansas City yet. I got an auto reply to my voice mail on Monday that my HR contact was out of town all last week; if I don't hear from her tomorrow, I will call again).

Next trial is the weekend of the 25th.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi' and 'We had FUN!!!!'

Rain, Rain

2008-10-07T07:48:00.005-05:00

So much for doing sprints this morning, it's really coming down, complete with thunder and lightening! Although I'm not saying 'Go away', since we haven't had a drop of rain since hurricane Ike several weeks ago, and this rain brings a cool front. The temps won't change much, but the humidity will drop!

I haven't heard anything back from the company in KC; I called and left a message with my HR contact with the company yesterday. I have no idea if it's a good sign or bad sign that they are 'late' in contacting me (the hiring manager told me the day I interviewed that I would hear from the HR contact by Wednesday or Thursday last week).

For the time being, I'm job hunting, studying weak areas in my programming, trying to deal with my medical insurance situation, and spending (lots of) time with Holly and Mikey.

Spending more time with Holly and Mikey is one (the only?) good thing about being laid off. A couple of weeks before hurricane Ike, I found out about a local nature preserve with a great hiking trail, and we've been going there for a morning hike every few days. Since the hurricane, the trail is a bit more primal than it was before. Which is actually kind of fun for all of us; crawling under downed trees, or, in my case, climbing over downed trees if possible, or beating a new trail around downed trees. The coastal mosquitoes seem to have finally died off around here, although there are still plenty of the local boogers. And, in anticipation of the agility trial season finally starting up, we've been going out together and running sprints every few days too. Physically, we're oh so ready. And Holly and Mikey have both been kicking butt in class, so I think mentally we're ready too.

Our first trial is this coming weekend. Yippee! It will be Holly's first ever trial (Jumpers only) and Mikey only needs one leg to finish his open Standard title. We're only entered one day for this trial, since I was still working when I sent my entry; with my rheumatoid arthritis I just can't do two days and then turn around and work all week, the more days I trial, the more and longer I pay for it with bad joint pain (although I'm hoping that being in better shape this year, strength training and sprints, will help with that somewhat).

I have my Frio pictures ready to post, maybe this evening or tomorrow I will have time to post all of them (uh, I've got quite a few).

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Thud!

2008-09-30T18:46:00.002-05:00

The sound my brain made by the end of the day yesterday. Ugh, what a long and gruelling day! Unfortunately, I don't think my interview went very well; they drilled me with questions and actual written exams, much of which were WAAAY over my head. At least now I have some new things to study and maybe I will be better prepared for my next interview. I should hear back from them by Wednesday or Thursday, so at least I won't have to wait very long to find out, one way or another. . .

Interview and Agility

2008-09-28T17:38:00.005-05:00

Well, my interview in KC is tomorrow. It'll be a long day; my flight leaves Houston at 8:35 AM and my return flight gets back into Houston at 8:24 PM. When I get to Kansas City, around 10:30, I will first go have lunch with three people, and then after lunch I will interview with FIVE different people! Sounds lovely, doesn't it? NOT!

On the agility front. So far, all the local trials through mid-October I know of have been cancelled. In fact, this weekend should have been our first trial of the season, and Holly's first trial ever. Facility destroyed, facility being used as a staging area, multiple club board members with their home destroyed; these are all different reasons that I have heard that have caused the cancellation of different trials. Houston/Galveston is a bit of a depressing place to live right now.

On a more positive note, Leaps n' Bounds re-opened classes this week. They still have a lot of fences down (I feel sorry for the residents behind the LnB facility, they've got a front row view, from their kitchen, of all the classes) and of course, like everyone else here, they have huge piles of collected limbs and partial trees. But the rings are cleared and the equipment is whole! Holly, and especially Mikey, were soooooo thrilled to go to class this week. Mikey was on FIRE! I've never seen him run so fast, and it's not like he's slow to begin with! The course was a twisty, turny, challenging, but also fun, course. It's a real mental challenge for me to run two dogs with such different needs and strengths on the same course. We had an awesome time!

Except for the mosquitoes! Which should be a post by it's self! Millions and millions of coastal mosquitoes were blown in by Ike. They're a different kind of mosquito than what we normally have here; much, much bigger, and it actually hurts when they bite! You literally can't go outside without being swarmed, yuck!

Enough for now, I've got to finish getting ready for tomorrow and get to bed early; my alarm clock is set for 3:30!

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

?

2008-09-24T14:29:00.011-05:00

Geez, I couldn't come up with a title, at least not one that didn't involve any bad words.

I was laid-off on Monday. Actually, the entire science team was laid-off. And the company's group insurance plan will be cancelled on the 30th, meaning no COBRA will be available. I spent a good part of the day yesterday on the phone trying to find out about getting an individual insurance policy, but with every company, as soon as they found out I have an autoimmune disease, they said they either could not offer me a policy at all, or could only offer a policy that did NOT cover my rheumatoid arthritis. Texas does have a health insurance risk pool, which I may be able to get insurance through, but still, d'oh!!!

In many ways it was a relief to have been let go, since the company ran out of money months ago and we haven't received our paychecks on time since then. And, good news, I will be interviewing for a position in the greater Kansas City area next week (wish me luck!). And, as much as I am stressed and worried, and stressed and worried some more, you can't possibly live in the Houston/Galveston area right now and not have a sense of perspective. . .

And, I promise I will post pictures from our trip to the Frio soon!

The town of Gilchrist before hurricane Ike

And after

Bolivar peninsula, before and after hurricane Ike

Update

2008-09-16T08:02:00.003-05:00

Hmmm, the police are walking around the building across the lawn from me, I wonder what is going on?

The woman across from my parents who's house flooded during the storm came back from where ever she evacuated to yesterday, and I spent the day helping her boyfriend move furniture and rip up carpet (since there were no other men for most of the day, and I am strong, even with my RA). My working washer and dryer were put to use morning until bedtime, and I have one more load going this morning. Mostly clothes, but also one load of stuffed toys that were soaked, but very important to her little girls. She has lost a lot, but we also managed to salvage a lot. My experience as a mold investigator years ago came in very handy yesterday. Unfortunately, she leases the house from a couple that lives in Singapore, so some of the clean up has to wait until she hears from their insurance company.

This morning I'm off to my parents house to help them clean up the debris in their front and back yard.

I did manage to get in touch with the accounting officer at my work yesterday. Cell phones still aren't working for the most part. I got her husband at home in the morning, and then talked to her in the late afternoon. A group went in yesterday to consolidate our specimens into a single freezer to conserve on gas in the generator, since gas is still hard to find and there are long, long lines at the very few places that have gas. In any case, I told her I would wait for a call from someone to know when I should report back to work. We agreed that until the power is back, there's nothing anyone can do. I'm frustrated that no plan was in place for a crisis like this. I've tried the home phone number for the guy that works for me (the woman that had worked for me resigned two weeks ago), but never got an answer; so many people don't have old fashioned lands lines any more.

I also got to one of the open grocery stores around here yesterday. You wait in a line outside, and they let you in after two shoppers have come out. The stores are on generator power, so it's pretty dark inside. No dairy, no meats, no bread, no frozen foods, and only a handful of produce (a few melons, strawberries, and potatoes, which luckily everyone was walking past, so I was able to get some fresh). Since going on a grain-free, 'paleo' diet, fresh veggies are the mainstay of my diet - canned veggies now.

So, that's the scoop for now. We're all showing signs of stress, including all the dogs. Maybe after the first push of getting things done, we'll have a bit of a breather before going back to work. Holly and Mikey missed their morning walk yesterday when I got the call that the woman with the flooded house was back. I'm going to make sure they get their walk every morning from here out, if possible, since I think exercise/normal routine should help their stress levels.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Power is Back

2008-09-15T07:46:00.005-05:00

At my place only. Based on what I've heard on the radio the past couple of days, I'm one of four in the southeast Texas area to have power.

I came back to my place late Saturday afternoon (I've been taking 'notes' on my laptop the past couple of days, which I will post eventually). My complex came through the storm pretty well, and all of the windows in my apartment are intact, yay! My parents place survived the storm well too, although some of their neighbors didn't do as well; one house across from my parents, a single mom with two kids, in particular, filled with water early Saturday morning.

The power went out at my parents at 6 am Saturday during the height of the storm, and they are still without power. I was amazed when mine came back, since we've been hearing on the radio that Montgomery county would be without power for up to three weeks, because a couple of power stations where destroyed, plus all of the downed trees on lines, plus downed poles.

I'm currently freezing jugs, large tupperware containers, and trays of ice in my freezer for my parents and their neighbors, although I don't suppose many of them still have perishables. I know I hauled the entire contents of my freezer, and all the perishables in my frig (except veggies), out to the dumpster yesterday because everything was barely cool to the touch. On the other hand, my mom has a nicer frig than I do, and some of the stuff in her freezer is still frozen, so maybe that's the case with some of her neighbors.

My dad is coming to get the ice I am making and with the items left in their freezer, plus all of my mom's and my Enbrel (our injectable rheumatoid arthritis drug that has to stay refrigerated). Thank goodness my power came back on before we lost the Enbrel, since it costs a fortune for a one month supply, and we don't know when we will be able to buy more either.

And then I'm off to go help somewhere, since I am one of the privileged few to have power to come home to; oh, and since I've never heard from anyone in my company, I guess I should call someone to find out what is up with work.

I'll keep in touch as I can. Bottom line is me, my parents, and all of our dogs are fine, which is more than many people in southeast Texas can say. Keep this region in your prayers. . .

We Still Have Power

2008-09-13T01:10:00.002-05:00

Yay! It's 1:10 in the morning and we still have power here. The wind gusts are getting ferocious, and we've had some light to moderate rain. The edge of the eye wall is almost to Galveston. And boy! is it a huge eye! We're keeping our fingers crossed that this isn't going to be quite as bad as we had feared. We still have to get through the worst of the winds that are near the eye wall, and honestly, I can't remember what time the eye is supposed to get here. We're all getting soooo tired and sleepy. . .

Battened Down

2008-09-12T20:59:00.004-05:00

Well, I'm over at my parents and we've had dinner (and the dogs have had theirs) and gotten ourselves organized (sort of) and we're battened down. I didn't leave my place until almost 4 o' clock; I had a hard time making myself go.

It's about 9 o' clock now and we're starting to get some really strong wind gusts (according to the news coverage, about 40 mph gusts in this area); strong enough that I'm not letting the dogs into the back yard on their own to relieve themselves anymore, but instead taking them on leash just outside the back door, for fear of falling limbs. Of which we have had none here, so far; however, there was a little boy in Houston killed tonight by a falling limb, so better safe. We still haven't gotten a single drop of rain.

According to the news, the power is out in Galveston and many of the other coastal communities, as well as a few areas in south Houston. Based on the radar, it doesn't look like Houston has gotten any rain yet either. The coastal areas are starting to get bands of moderate rain. The current forecast calls for the worst of the hurricane force winds to reach to this area around 3 in the morning, continuing to around 11 o' clock in the morning, or there abouts. Supposedly, the eye will pass directly over us here, at which time it should become completely calm; it could take up to five hours for the eye to pass over. The winds should be back to 'normal' by around 4 pm.

If things get really bad and the windows start to go, we're going to hunker down in the hallway. We've got water, flashlights, batteries, a hand crank radio, and the dog's crates ready to stuff in there; it will be very, very. . . cozy.

So, that's the scoop. I'm worn out with getting ready, and my rheumatoid arthritis is really flaring up (surprise, surprise - not!). I think the waiting is driving us all a little crazy, particularly because we have had the all the hurricane news coverage on in the background constantly since yesterday afternoon. . .

Preparing for Ike

2008-09-12T11:43:00.003-05:00

Thank you for all the birthday greetings and good wishes!

You can watch live streaming video that I am currently watching on our local abc station, here.

Yesterday we moved all of the agility equipment from my parents backyard to their garage, plus doggie swimming pools and lawn furniture and potted plants and odds and ends; I prepared my back porch yesterday evening. I finished preparing my front porch this morning and started packing to go to my parents house (Misty's ashes, all my hard copy photos, important papers and documents, plus dog food, meds, clothes, etc.). I've moved a few things that I can't take into my bathtub hoping that they will stay dry if the windows blow out. I'm going to get a bite to eat and finish packing shortly, and lastly move my couch into the hallway with the bedroom doors closed and put a few things in the kitchen. Hopefully they will be semi-protected if the windows blow out. We have been told to expect at least 100 mile per hour winds in this area. It's scary to leave everything and not know how long I will be gone, or what to expect when I come back. My parents house is only five miles from my place.

It has just started to partially cloud over in my area in the last half hour; all morning here it has been sunny and pleasant with a light breeze. Galveston island is already beginning to flood. Not from rain, which they really haven't had yet, and not from surge, which is not due for another 10 plus hours, but from high coastal surf being pushed up from the storm. It's hard to imagine how bad it will be when the storm surge actually arrives. One of my old favorite haunts with my old dog, Misty, is Surfside, down coat from Galveston; apparently the entire island of Surfside is already under water.

I'll keep you up to date as long as we have power.

Go Away Ike!

2008-09-11T09:28:00.004-05:00

Guess what I'm getting for my birthday tomorrow? I hurricane!?!

I've got tons of photos from our trip to the Frio last weekend, I will post them as soon as I'm able.

Keep your fingers crossed for all of us here in the Houston area, as we are expecting hurricane force winds as far north as my neck of the woods.

We're Outa' Here!

2008-09-03T18:12:00.000-05:00

I know I haven't been posting much lately. Honestly, I've been trying to think as little as possible the last couple of weeks. Go here to read about it; I'm soooo done with it all. It's time to pack it all away in an air tight box for the weekend.

Yay! Our vacation is finally here! We're leaving tomorrow morning for a long weekend of fun, sun, hiking, bird watching, river tubing, raft floating, reading good books, watching the stars, and above all, RELAXATION! Holly and Mikey have had their food, chewys and blankies packed for days now and we can hardly wait to smell and the new smells, eat deer poop, and jump in the river!

Dog Days of Summer

2008-08-25T18:00:00.001-05:00

That old phrase takes on an entirely different meaning, doesn't it?

Product WARNING

2008-08-21T15:40:00.003-05:00

I'm on an e-mail list from the agility class I attend, and this link was sent to everybody today. The product in question is the Four Paws, Inc pimple ball with bell, which caused such severe injury to the dog's tongue, that the tongue had to amputated. Apparently there have been several other documented instances of similar injuries caused by the same product.

Pretty As A Picture

2008-08-21T14:43:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the great portrait pictures last weekend Cardigrandma!!!

Thud

2008-08-20T10:15:00.000-05:00

That would be the sound my ego made when it landed on the floor. When I found out which movie hero I am. Thanks Ariel.

Of course, I am only 4'11". . .

Find out Which Movie Hero Are You at LiquidGeneration.com!

Help Me!

2008-08-13T11:38:00.011-05:00

Or rather, help Holly.

A month or so ago, I raved about Dr. Bronner's shampoo, and then pulled it from my 'Products I Use' list when Holly started itching a couple of days after her bath. Well, this month, I bathed both her and Mikey with the Chris Christensen shampoo I've been using for years, and then put Frontline on both of them the next day, as usual.

Ummm. . . it wasn't the shampoo. She's really digging at her shoulders where the Frontline is applied. I've washed the area, and I'm currently trying to relieve the itching with alternating internal/external spray on Benadryl. Luckily her coat is dense enough that she hasn't started damaging her skin. . . yet.

First, does anyone have any additional ideas for giving her some relief from the itchiness? Like I said, I bathed the area, and we had (another) pool party this weekend (all right, a pool party is just an excuse for me to lounge around relaxing in the sun while splashing around in the wading pool with Holly and Mikey! sooooo relaxing!), so most of her underparts have been well rinsed. And she's only itching over the shoulders anyway. Please leave your suggestions in comments.

Second, does anyone have some tried and true natural flea treatment suggestions. I'm assuming that either the active ingredient or carrier in the Frontline is what is causing the problem, so I'm hesitant to try another 'chemical' topical. I'm also resistant to anything given internally. I've seen a couple of suggestions on the web about rubbing diatomaceous earth into their coats, or using essential oils (see a couple of recipes below), but living in the Houston area, fleas can become a really nasty problem, so I would prefer to hear from people that have actually used alternative flea treatments and have experienced positive results. So please leave any ideas that you, or someone you know, have in comments.

Orange peels

Grapefruit peels

1 tablespoon fresh rosemary

OR 1 teaspoon dried rosemary

1 pint bottled or tap water

Note: You can often find fresh rosemary in the grocery store, even off season.

Blend all ingredients well in the blender. Strain liquid using cheesecloth or a tea-leaves strainer (a regular strainer will let too many large pieces through, which will clog up the spray bottle)

Pour mixture into saucepan and head over low heat for 20 minutes. Strain liquid once again and put into a liquid spray bottle once cooled.

To use: spray on dogs, rubbing into coat (you do not need to rinse it off). You can also spray dog's bedding and other favorite places. Be careful around the dog's eyes, as it will bother them (and it will go from being a fun thing since they are being petted and rubbed, to a thing where they will run and hide when they see the spray bottle!)

Lavender, peppermint and geranium essential oils repel mosquitoes. Lavender, lemongrass and geranium repel ticks. And lavender, lemongrass, peppermint and citronella repel fleas. Dab oils between the dog's shoulder blades. As you can see, lavender (which also repels flies) is particularly versatile. Other effective natural repellents include lemon, cedar, eucalyptus, myrrh, neem and rosewood .

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Impathy

2008-08-08T14:05:00.004-05:00

Hmmm, change just one little letter. . .

Empathy - Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives; the ability to sense and understand someone else's feelings as if they were one's own.

Imp - One who is playfully mischievous; a very troublesome child; naughtily or annoyingly playful.

'Impathy' - The ability to be annoyingly playful, mischievous and/or troublesome and/or naughty.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Empathy

2008-08-06T08:29:00.002-05:00

OK, most of us already were aware that our dogs have a lot of empathy for us poor two-leggers, but now scientists have proof.

Dogs catch the yawns from people
Your pooch isn't just tired, he's empathizing, study suggests

LONDON - Dogs find human yawns contagious, suggesting they have a rudimentary capacity for empathy, British scientists said on Wednesday.

Although yawning is widespread in many animals, contagious yawning — a yawn triggered by seeing others yawning — has previously only been shown to occur in humans and chimpanzees.
It turns out, however, that man's best friend is highly sensitive to catching human yawns, with 72 percent of 29 dogs tested yawning after observing a person doing so.

Writing in the journal Biology Letters, Atsushi Senju and colleagues at London's Birkbeck College said this behavior showed dogs were skilled at reading human social cues and "may relate to their capacity for empathy."

Tunnel Sucker

2008-07-31T14:23:00.006-05:00

Hmph! I've always been so glad that Mikey was not a tunnel sucker, but he is becoming one. Bummer! We had a heck of a time going from #6 to the dog-walk. Our class was much bigger than it has been the past few weeks, which meant even more time out in the heat. Bleh! So, we're taking the next month off (other that practicing weaves in the dining room, and maybe a little work over at my dad's). We'll start back to class in September, not that September is really any cooler here than August, it's usually just as hot. But I think we all need a little break, particularly since my work schedule has changed and I'm running a bit ragged. My dad and I are planning our first trial of the season in late September, and Holly will be running in Novice Jumpers (please doG she measures at 11 inches or less!) and Mikey will be running Open Jumpers and Standard.

And. . . just 'cause I had to share. . . This little guy reminds me soooo much of Mikey as a baby!

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Tribute

2008-07-28T14:44:00.002-05:00

Nancy across the pond at Hudson Doglets has lost her sweet Abbey; she has posted a lovely tribute video on her blog. Go. Cry. Hug your dogs.

Borough Park

2008-07-27T20:14:00.011-05:00

Well, whether I like it or not, they have changed the work hours at my company (on top of a bunch of other crap). So now we work 7:30 to 5:30 Mondays through Thursdays, have an 8 hour day every other Friday, and have every other Friday off. I do NOT like! Poor Holly and Mikey; too, too long in their crates all last week. So I promised them a nice weekend. Today's been kind of a bust for them, since I have to get housework and laundry and such done before the start of next week. But. We had a nice walk Saturday morning at a local park. Nice, but relatively short, since it's just too darn hot, even early, to take the kids very far. I took some pictures, but most of them didn't turn out very well. Turns out I had my camera set on macro and didn't realize until we got back to the lake/parking area.

Our walk was followed by a stop at a local 'fru fru' pet store. While the place mainly caters to the local well-to-do, they're a good bunch of folks. Holly and Mikey enjoyed a nice sample of some frozen yogurt treats and we picked up some Sam's Yams for later in the evening.

And then we stopped by my parent's for a quick hi on the way home, and talked ourselves into a pool party (no pics; I forgot to actually take pictures, even though I had my camera with me).

I'm pretty sure Holly and Mikey kept saying to each other, 'Is it your birthday?' 'I don't think so, is it maybe yours?'

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Eau de Dead Stuff

2008-07-23T14:08:00.002-05:00

There's no point in asking why - why do they do things like this? why did they BOTH do this at the same time? why today, of all days? why me? - the only thing you can do is dump them in the bathtub - and try not to bonk their heads together, like in a cartoon, much as you might be tempted. . .

As I Was Saying. . .

2008-07-21T11:01:00.007-05:00

Here's a good article from the Canine Chronicle about the very same thing I was talking about just a few months back. . . Except that she says it all so much better than I did.

Some quotes:

". . . in the case of Eight Belles, Parker had seen the same dangerous crosses, lines of known unsoundness triply crossed behind an unsound sire line: a family tree that bore three branches of the brilliant but unsound racehorse, Raise A Native. He was a very muscular chestnut, heavy on the front end, that had won all four of his starts before he broke down in front and was put out to stud."

"Boundary, Big Browns’ sire, had chronic hoof ailments so a genetic predisposition is more than suspect."

". . . referred to Ruffian as “an accident waiting to happen.” Her dam was a daughter of Native Dancer and her sire had broken a leg three times while in training and a fourth in a paddock accident while servicing a mare."

"As dog fanciers, we are historically tied to the Kentucky Derby. It is the only sporting event older than our own Westminster Kennel Club show. The Jockey Club and our American Kennel Club bear at least one similarity; both have closed studbooks. . . Lessons are to be learned from what has developed as a result of breeding for one quality to the exclusion of others. "

"A parallel might also be drawn, however casually, between the early starts of the racehorse and our young puppies. . . Our dogs often begin their show career as cute, beguiling puppies, gaining their championships quickly and frequently disappearing into the woodwork with no opportunity to determine how they might have matured."

". . . as breeders, we must be serious students of our pedigrees. . . it is imperative that we know the health status and structure, not just of the sire and dam, but also of those who came before."

I guess the really painful thing for me in the above posts is over and over and over, the reference to unsound horses (feel free to substitute 'dog' for 'horse') in the breeding shed. The insanity of that that insanity is so clear to anyone looking in from the outside. Destroy an entire breed in exchange for some big wins in your own lifetime? Sounds crazy, doesn't it? And, perhaps, eerily familiar?

Pool Party!

2008-07-20T14:19:00.013-05:00

Actually, we've had about half a dozen pool parties already this summer, but I keep forgetting to bring my camera. Good fun and vitamin D had by all.

Do you like the side door we created in the 'big' pool for the short legged Cardis?

Agility 'Til 'Ya Puke

2008-07-17T14:22:00.003-05:00

OK. So I didn't actually barf, but there was a moment there. . .

I also learned an important lesson about warming up, no matter how hot it is. No, not Holly and Mikey, they always get a good warm up (and I'm continually amazed that most people don't warm their dogs up), I'm talking about me. I usually jog the last couple of walk throughs at trials, but I'm guilty as charged about not warming up at class. The first time I ran this course with Mikey, both of my knees seized up going down that final 18, 19, 20 line. But when I turned around and ran the course with Holly, I was able to run that last line like a champ. Note to self.

I was so proud of Holly and Mikey this week. And kinda proud of myself too. We all handled the tricky parts of this course very well, and even got compliments from E. You only get a compliment from E if you've really rocked it!

Now if we could only magically transport ourselves to fall. .

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Offerings

2008-07-10T21:16:00.005-05:00

I know, I know. I'm sorry.

It's been a looong time since I offered you a course 'map', so first, here's one from last week.

Mikey and I initially had trouble with the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 line, mostly because the first time we ran it I was way off on signalling for a back cross from 4 to 5, and E suggested a front cross from 3 to 4 instead. So Mikey and I struggled and struggled (OK, I struggled. . . to go ahead of him enough to fit a front cross in). Finally, I repeated my first attempt for a back cross, and got the bloody timing right, and it all came out the way it is supposed to.

Holly is steadily improving. I just have to remember to constantly shout out 'Yay!' 'GO HOLLY!' and 'Excellent!' (and I do mean constantly!) while we're on course, since otherwise, running around in the heat is just sooo not worth it for her. Smart little girl! She's definitely going to be ready to trial in the fall.

And speaking of offerings, I have to share one of the kids cardi-quirks! Holly originally started this, although she doesn't do it as often now as Mikey does. And what is 'this' you ask? Well, every time we get ready to go for a walk, twice daily, and occasionally when we go out for a simple trip to use the restroom, Holly and Mikey get very excited. And they want to bring me something, I suppose a little gift to let me know they appreciate their walkies. For whatever reason, they like to run back into the bedroom to look for their little gift. About half the time I get a dog toy, or a chewy. And the other half of the time I get any article of clothing that has been left laying on the floor in the bedroom, mostly socks. And I take whatever they bring and say thank-you and put their collars on.

So if you show up to my place in the middle of a busy week, and I haven't had time to pick up, don't laugh at the dog toys and socks piled all around the entry.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

101 Ways

2008-06-25T08:26:00.005-05:00

To ~~drive your dogs crazy~~, ~~laugh yourself silly~~, ~~flatten a box~~, practice your clicker training using a cardboard box.

Some/most of you may have heard of the '101 ways' thing before (I'm pretty sure somebody had a post about it not too long ago, but I can't remember who); it's a great way to not only stimulate your dogs and practice shaping behavior, but it's also some of the best entertainment around! Who needs tv when you can do this? I think the winner for this event was Holly, who came up with 'bite the box' as a clickable behavior. Oh doG, she was so CUTE!! I must admit, this game is slightly less fun for/with Mikey, since his way of handling frustration is just to sit there and bark at me, instead of offer behaviors. Poor boy; he would much rather have someone just show him what to do, which I suppose is not entirely bad, since it translates to a boy that really, really, hones in and follows directions in agility.

Good thing we didn't get rained out tonight for agility class, so that Mikey could do something he likes, ahem, just a bit more. . .

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Oh Boy! My Favorite!

2008-06-23T14:28:00.013-05:00

We're going to the hill country/river for my birthday in September! I can't wait!

Some pics from our last river adventure. . .

Clean and Minty Fresh

2008-06-22T14:25:00.004-05:00

Well, pepperminty fresh. *New Product Alert* I tried Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap, in peppermint, this weekend. Loved it! Don't let the name put you off. I originally heard about this product from the Pet Connection blog, and then ran into it at a local store in the fru fru (organic soaps, lotions and potions) section. Why do I love it so much, beside it being something both the dogs and I can use? It lathers like crazy with a 1:8 dilution, and rinces out in a FLASH! The worst part of bathing Holly and Mikey is the hours (feels like) I spend trying to rinse all the shampoo out. It was so easy rinsing (and smelled so nice) that I also washed collars and leashes.

In other news, I was vividly reminded today of why there is no trialing in summer here (unless it's indoors). My dad and I went over to Leaps 'n Bounds this morning for a little agility play. We set up an Excellent course from a trial map my dad had floating around in his car and had a great time! But man, was it HOT! We were finished and back on the road for home by 10:00 am, but it was already pretty miserable; my hair was so wet that I looked like I had just stepped out of the shower.

As hot has it was, I must humbly admit that I am starting to kick butt! I haven't talked about it here, but over the past two plus months I have made some huge changes in my eating habits, as well as modifying my exercise routine. I have been following the Primal Blueprint, for the most part, and I am thrilled with the results. I'm running faster and stronger, less winded, and catch my breath more quickly after running a course. My primary goal in changing my earing habits was to have some kind of positive affect on my rheumatoid arthritis, but the improvements in my ability to run agility have been a very pleasant added benifit! I can't wait for the start of the fall season!!

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

2008-06-17T14:29:00.007-05:00

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately; I've been spending most of my time, both physically and mentally (if you know what I mean), at my other blog. As my rheumatoid arthritis has gotten worse, I've been obsessing a bit and spending most of my internet time researching and blogging about my finds.

Plus, we've entered into a more or less down time of year for anything but run of the mill dog activities. Living in the Houston area, summer is just a sucky time to do much of anything outside (I suppose the opposite of Michigan in winter). And this year the temps have blasted up particularly early and it's already as miserably hot as we normally expect in late July and August; high temps in the upper 90's, low temps in the mid to upper 70's, all with HIGH humidity. Bleh!

No more agility trials until it begins to cool down in late fall. Holly and Mikey and I are still going to class, but we will be taking off the month of August, and possibly July too. Partly because it's just so darn hot and humid that class is getting unpleasant (temps are in the upper 80's at class time), but also because it's hard to keep either dog in the best shape, since it's just too hot for any prolonged, intense exercise. Poor Mikey particularly has trouble with the heat.

And no Reliant this year. My dad and I both are taking this year off. None of our dogs is ready, or going to be ready for obedience/rally. And I'm not thrilled with the idea of running Mikey (or myself) on the thin carpet over concrete flooring that is used at Reliant for agility; not surprisingly, there are a lot of injuries in the agility rings at Reliant every year. And I'm not real thrilled with the idea of showing Mikey in breed at Reliant this year either. I don't think he would be very competitive at his age against all the up and coming youngsters, so I'll hold out for something small and local later in the year. I haven't yet decided if I will take the day off (or maybe half a day?) to come to the specialty/club meeting at Reliant. Since I resigned from the Board, I haven't really seen or heard much from anyone, and it would be nice. . .

Well, besides a lot of work related stress (anyone need a statistician/SAS programmer?), that about covers the reasons for my lack of posting. I have a bunch of random pictures that, if I ever get around to downloading from my camera, I promise to post.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Agility Trial Pics

2008-06-03T20:42:00.016-05:00

Better late than never! Enjoy!

I got a kick out of these two. Mikey hardly ever barks on course, but every once in a while. . .

Even though his head got a little chopped in this pic, I love it! Talk about drive! Wow! Work it Mikey!

Something to Think About

2008-05-30T13:41:00.014-05:00

Sorry I've been such a poor blogger lately; too much going on. But -

Many, are boycotting the Triple Crown. I can't say I'm necessarily boycotting, but I sure don't want to watch. . . Nonetheless, I came across an article today about more hoof problems for Big Brown, winner of the Derby and Preakness.

'The unbeaten Triple Crown contender has a slight crack on his left front hoof. . . (and is) being treated by hoof specialist Ian McKinlay for a five-eighths of an inch long quarter crack on the inside of his left heel. . . McKinlay has repaired injuries much more severe before big races, allowing Touch Gold to fight off a leg injury from the 1997 Preakness and go on to win the Belmont and spoil Silver Charm's Triple try in 1997. . . Foot woes are nothing new for Big Brown. When he first arrived at Dutrow's barn in Aqueduct late last year, he suffered an abscess in the sole of his left front foot, which caused a wall separation and sidelined him for 45 days. In January, he suffered the same injury to his right front foot and missed another 45 days. '

Read the entire article here.

And from another article, here, we find out that 'Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown will head for stud at Three Chimneys after his racing career, which the colt's owner, International Equine Acquisitions Holdings, has said will end with his 3-year-old season.'

Hmmmm.

Part of the reason this got all caught up in my mental cogs is because a couple of years ago, right after Barbaro's break down in the Preakness, there was a thought provoking editorial in the agility magazine 'Clean Run'. I wish I could find the darn thing, but the bottom line of the article was that whether it's horses or dogs, breeding exclusively for particular performance traits, having a closed stud book, and ignoring a trend in physical or temperamental breakdown in your breeding population is a recipe for disaster.

What good are faster and faster race times, if the 'best of the best' have to be put down right on the track because of catastrophic break downs, or if their hooves have to be literally patched together to keep them racing? What good is a border collie with such high drive that they have no 'off' switch? What good is a flashy 'flying' trot, when the conformation no longer allows for an honest days work? What good is a head so big that ALL litters are are delivered via C-section? What performance criteria (or breed ring fad) is so important that we fail to achieve OVERALL health? What is the definition of IDEAL performance? When does specialization go too far?

Case in point - American Grand Victor, 1967

American Grand Victor, 2003.

Galveston County KC Agility Trial

2008-05-26T08:51:00.004-05:00

Our first class of the weekend was awesome! Open Standard, and Mikey was SMOKIN'!! 100 points, 45.19 seconds (SCT 77.0) and first place! One of those really awesome runs where you don't even have to think about anything - you and your dog are totally in sync!

And after that. . . we totally self destructed. Mikey broke is stay at the start of his jumpers run, and after three tries, we just had to leave the weaves behind, and he completely destroyed the triple bar ('ya gotta' love the sound of poles flying!). Sunday in Standard we also ended up leaving the weaves without finishing, although the rest of the run really was lovely. And after that we went home.

Some of our problem was the heat. We've been waking up to 80 degree, 90% humidity and enjoying high temps in the low 90's, still with that wonderful humidity. It's really just to late in the year to be running at an agility trial in south Texas. Of course, when I entered the trail months ago, the weather was still pretty pleasant (note to self).

Oh well, there'll be more trials in the fall. I suppose I should put it in perspective; since January Mikey has finished both of his Novice titles, and has two legs on his Open Standard title, which is more that respectable in my book. The best part has been how proud I have been of Mikey, with or without titles. My sweet little boy runs his heart out every single time, and has an AWESOME time doing it. He's fast as greased lightening, but still totally responsive to me. And people get such a kick out of him; he makes friends everywhere he goes, because no one can miss the joy that just radiates from him. . . 'Agility, oh boy, my favorite!' 'People, oh boy, my favorite!' 'Other dogs, oh boy, my favorite!' Life's just one big party for Mikey.

Although, I wish we had ended the trail season on a better note.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Forgotten Post - Will Ferrel and Angilina Jolie

2008-05-02T08:26:00.001-05:00

After a recent post at ManyMuddyPaws, I went to Dogster and I discovered that I have a goof and a diva (no kidding!).

Will Ferrell

The Comedian

Keeping a straight face around Mikey is a cheek muscle-wrenching nightmare. Try as you may, but giggling is inevitable because Mikey is comedian Will Ferrell!

For a while Mikey was just funny on Saturday nights, but that's all changed now that he's taken his act on the road. Whether he's being silly in real life or on the silver screen, Mikey has a true knack for making people crack up. Mikey has even managed to make the crossover to the cyberwebs, where he delivers raw, fresh, uncooked humor to his countless cyberpet fans. A fast runner, Mikey runs marathons when he's not dreaming up his next slapstick routine. Widely talented and able to impetsonate any number of two and four-legged critters, Mikey's fans will be lapping it up for a long time to come.

Angelina Jolie

Traditional Beauty

Just like with Hollywood superhero Angelina Jolie, they broke the mold after they created Holly!

Defying the conventional meaning of the word pawpular, Holly can't scratch behind an ear without it being reported and talked about. Holly leaves pets of the opposite sex blubbering and babbling nonsensically after each encounter, their cuteness and charm receptors bubbling over with excitement. Always one to entice a broad audience, Holly not only loves to strut her stuff on the dogwalk, but digs every chance she gets to make a difference, adopt a pet in need or dish out for her favorite charity.

Exercise Night

2008-04-30T21:31:00.004-05:00

Ugh, I've got a skull cracking headache that I've been fighting since I had a drug reaction on Monday, so I'll keep it short.

I thought next week was exercise night, but it was tonight, so Holly sat out until class was over and then I did some of the exercises with her.

We had the obligatory weave entry and front cross/back cross/wrap handling exercises, and then restrained recalls for the weaves, the A-frame and the dog walk. The first time Mikey and I did the restrained recalls, C just laughed and laughed. She said she could feel his heart pounding and his whole body vibrating while she held him. And then, every single time Mikey was released, he let out this high pitched SCREAM of excitement! Seriously! And he was catching air on the A-frame. He's such a goofy boy; doG knows, he keeps me smiling!

Holly was a little distracted; I think partly because she was a little miffed at having to wait, and primarily because she's been out of training for so long. I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around Mikey being better in agility than Holly; I keep expecting her to react the same way Mikey does since she always used to be ahead of him, having started her training earlier. But after a year off, Mikey has gone far ahead of her.

Oh, and Jules asked what was up with Holly that she's been out of agility for most of a year. Holly has hip dysplacia. I've been really conflicted about what to do with Holly; she hasn't been lame or stiff at all since she's been on Rimadyl, and I've reduced the dose by half. And she loves agility. A couple of years ago I would have never considered running a dog in agility with physical problems, but I have a slightly different perspective after living with rheumatoid arthritis. I do have more pain in the couple of days after class or a trial, but it's worth it (most of the time). I don't know for sure if Holly is having pain after class, I can only judge by observing her movement, which so far looks as free and loose the day after class as the day before class. While I can make the decision to do agility in spite of pain for myself, I can't do the same for Holly. If she ever seems to be stiff or lame after playing agility, I will have to pull her out again.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

That Was Fun!

2008-04-23T21:29:00.008-05:00

And educational! Apparently I have developed some lazy habits while running Mikey that became painfully obvious running Holly.

Holly had a great time and did pretty darn good for a dog that has been off from agility for so long. However, the naughty little thing chewed through her leash the second time I ran Mikey on course and ran out to run the course with us! Guess I'll have to take a crate with me next week. Everybody thought is was pretty cute, and I guess it was; but still naughty, naughty.

You know, I was so thrilled to be able to try running Holly in agility again, but one thing I never thought of. . . After all this time of going to class with just Mikey, I felt like, while I was giving something special back to Holly, I was also taking something special away from Mikey. . .

Crazy I know! I think part of the problem is that I ended up running them back to back because there were no other small dogs in class and felt like I wasn't mentally prepared to run Mikey right after finishing with Holly, so I wasn't giving him everything I could, if that makes sense. Hopefully I'll get better at running the two of them. (And hopefully Holly'll be able to continue!)

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi' and 'Oh boy! Agility OUR favorite!'

Squee!!

2008-04-23T14:10:00.003-05:00

Holly is going to run in agility class tonight and I'm so excited I can't stand it! I can't wait to see the look on her face when she realizes that she gets to play too, not just Mikey! I can't wait to see her little face coming out of a tunnel! I can't wait to see the sparkle in her eyes at the start line! I can't wait for her to bitch me out (no pun intended) for getting it wrong! I can't wait!

Or Maybe Not

2008-04-21T21:18:00.003-05:00

There are three ways to cross our bayou. At the concrete spillway, which usually only has a trickle of water over it, where the street crosses over the bayou, or find a silt island and cross there (if the water level is low) by jumping over the little streams that go around the islands. Does all this make sense? Of course, at this time of year, those little islands are covered in a thick growth of water plants.

This evening we walked on the 'other' side of the bayou for a while and I thought we could short cut back across the bayou on a little island, since we had done the same thing at the same place last week. I made the dogs wait for me to go first so I could make sure they crossed where they wouldn't get muddy. Right as I was ready to jump over to the island, I saw a good sized stick nestled in the plants right where I was going to jump. A stick? Eeeeeek!!! A snake!

Short cut anyone? Maybe not!

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

One More Local Agility

2008-04-21T16:17:00.002-05:00

Flashpaws. Run by Jane Simmons-Moake and her husband (can't remember his name) on Houston's north side. Most people that have been in agility for a while have probably hear of Jane, either has a competitor or author. I guess I forgot about Flashpaws because I've never trained with them, although my dad has on and off for years. FYI for Cait's friend.

Return of the Diva?

2008-04-20T18:29:00.006-05:00

So, for several weeks now, my brain (or heart?) has been tortured because Holly is getting left out. . . a lot. I really, really miss playing agility with her, and I think she misses it too. I know she used to enjoy it, and if nothing else she enjoyed 'working' with me. And I've noticed some slow, subtle changes in here attitude; I don't think her needs are being met. Try as I might to give her lots of attention, it's just not the same as actually working together. And I keep thinking, she's doing really well and is down to half a dose of Rimadyl, and I think she's short enough to run in the 4 or 6 inch preferred. And so, this morning, Holly got to run a course at Leaps n Bounds when I went over to practice with Mikey. Kind of a trial run to see how she feels the next couple of days. If she seems to continue feeling good, I'll put her in Mikey's class and consider entering her in trials next fall. I will only run her in Jumpers classes, since I think the A-frame would put too much stress on her hips. At class, we can just skip the A-frame.

Holly did really well this morning, and quite obviously was having a great time! Maybe my sassy little Agility Diva is on her way back!

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Oh No!

2008-04-15T19:55:00.023-05:00

They've scalped the bayou! I guess there goes the wild flowers for me this year. . . Glad I managed to get some pics of the few wildflowers out there on Sunday.

In other news, I'm not doing so well. I left work at noon and spent the afternoon wrapped head to toe in a heated blanket on high. The good news is that I managed to get an appointment with my rheumatologist next week; hope I can get some help.

Also, Cait asked about agility classes on the north side of Houston. Here are the actual links - Leaps n' Bounds and Dogwood. I took all of my early obedience classes with both Holly and Mikey at Dogwood, and they're really good and have a defined training philosophy and are very methodical. I've been going to Leaps n' Bounds since the original instructor with Rough n' Ready agility club retired. Leaps n' Bounds doesn't seem to have as much of a defined training philosophy and they only do handling exercises once a month (at least in the competition class, it may be different in beginner classes), but I think there is a much more relaxed atmosphere in comparison to Dogwood. Just my two cents.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Capital City Agility Trial

2008-04-12T20:37:00.009-05:00

Compromise was the name of the game. I'm still feeling pretty icky (although no sinus infection, confirmed by the dr), so I decided to just run in Standard and Jumpers and not stay for the FAST class; that way I could get home by 7ish instead of past 10 at night.

We had a pretty nice day, starting out with an absolutely gorgeous drive through the Texas country side. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful today, and all of the trees and the grass were that bright spring green. And the wild flowers! Field after field with every shade of pink and orange and yellow and, of course, bluebonnets.

Our first class was Standard, and except for a little oops at the first jump, it was a lovely clean run. I left Mikey waiting at the start and then made the mistake of looking back to check on him half way to where I wanted to start from and he was off! He came around the first jump to me (I think because he saw the look on my face), but I sent him back around the first jump and it was only a five point refusal. The rest of the run was great, with a score of 95 at 49.86 seconds (SCT was 75).

Our Jumpers run was a mixed bag. Mikey hit a bar on the very first jump, and there was 'something' going on with the tunnel, but over all I was very pleased with our run. The 'something' with the tunnel - the first dog on course went into the tunnel, then turned around and came back out, and then did it again, and again, and finally took the tunnel. Next, Mikey did the same thing, but after he refused the tunnel the third time, I decided I better listen to him and just skipped the tunnel. After we finished our run I stopped by the stewards desk and suggested that they check the tunnel, as Mikey has never refused a tunnel, and the dog before us did the same thing. Well, after four more dogs in a row had the same problem, they finally did check the tunnel, and ended up bringing a new tunnel out and replacing it. I never did find out what was in the tunnel.

I was very please with both runs in that the areas of both courses that I had the most concerns about went very smoothly and Mikey and I both had so much FUN!

Oh, and on the way home I stopped by a honey farm. Unfortunately they were out of chunk and cut comb honey, but I got some great honey roasted sunflower seeds to munch on on my way home, and they gave me the name of someone in my area for honey (if I can find their phone number).

Currently re-reading 'The Clan of the Cave Bear' by Jean Auel.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Some Texas wildflower pictures I found on the internet (and yes, it really does look this beautiful in spring in Texas). I wish I had my camera with me today. . .

Finally! Dogs Get Theirs!

2008-04-10T11:24:00.002-05:00

Go to I Has A Hotdog! Really, Go!

Cr@ppy Course Night

2008-04-09T21:35:00.007-05:00

Ugh! Boy, was I off tonight; had trouble remembering the course, had trouble remembering the names of obstacles ('Mikey, Go Thing!' or 'Mikey, ummmmm?'), had trouble keeping from tripping over myself, Mikey, the jumps, you name it. Good thing I was running Mikey, because when Holly used to do agility with me, my performance tonight would have earned me a serious tongue lashing in front of doG and everyone. Seriously. Holly has no problem telling me off at the top of her voice. Mikey, however is more patient, and mostly just looked confused tonight (until I stepped on him, at which point he did give me a look that clearly said 'Geez, get your sh!t together!').

All humor aside, tonight was really awful. I normally feel energized after class, even if I'm not feeling well physically, but tonight, not so much. I've been really wiped (or whipped, or both) all week and I wonder if I've got a sinus infection setting in. I think I'll try and get in to the docs tomorrow. On the other hand, fatigue is a normal condition for RA, and headaches are a side effect of Enbrel, so it may be nothing.

Right now I'm a bit up in the air about the trial this weekend. This one is several hours away and just the thought of driving there is making me feel more tired, much less the thought of running Mikey in three classes. I guess I'm hoping I've got a sinus infection and that a couple of days of antibiotics will help and I'll feel up to going; the weather this weekend is forecast to be just gorgeous.

Currently reading 'Inside the World of Warren Jeffs' by Dr. Carole A. Western.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Cube!

2008-04-08T20:59:00.003-05:00

At least, that's what we call it at our house. As in, 'Who wants cube?' and then the dogs come running into the kitchen (you know, like ice 'cube'). I had a coupon for Ice Pups and it's been a hit. Since the weather here is already into the mid-80's with high humidity, a nice cold treat after our evening walk apparently hits the spot.

Also, I've got to tell you about the bullfrog we came across on our walk this evening. I've been hearing the bullfrogs bellowing back and forth to each other up and down the bayou in the mornings, but until this evening hadn't actually laid eyes on them. The dogs were lagging a bit behind me and then I heard this little scuffle and turned around to see this huge bullfrog making the most unbelievable leaps down into the bayou. We were at a spillway where large rocks have been used to line the bayou and this guy made the most graceful, flying leaps rock to rock until - plop - into the bayou. Seriously, this bullfrog was big enough that for a minute I thought he was some freaky flying squirrel. The weird animal adventures continue! Wish I had my camera with me!

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Sunny Spring Morning

2008-04-06T09:40:00.012-05:00

What a gorgeous, cool, bright sunny morning! There are only a few wild flowers blooming; I can't wait for everything to start blooming on the bayou.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

And look at this guy at my front windows; barely leafed out, but already blooming his heart out.

Hmmph

2008-04-06T07:42:00.003-05:00

Can you believe I actually set my alarm clock, after all I said yesterday? I must be a glutton for punishment. At least I snapped to my senses this morning. Instead, after a nice walkie on the bayou, I'm going to go to the hardware store (or Academy) and look for a tarp. At the last agility trial I saw a great idea. One lady had a black mesh tarp (the kind that lets air flow through it) that covered her entire car. She had her windows wide open and the hatch up, and had essentially created an artificial tree to sit under. No tent poles or anything, she just draped the entire car. What a great idea for us, since I hate setting up in the crating area; the noise and activity make it hard for me (or Mikey, or Holly) to relax and get some rest.

There are a couple of small, local breed shows in the fall, and I think I'm going to just forget about trying to get that last bloody point until then. It's tempting to pull him out for Reliant, since it's a nice, clean place to show, and we won't be showing in agility there (concrete floor with a thin carpet overlay in the agility rings). Anyone have some advice for just getting over the feeling that I have to finish Mikey. Since he has a couple of health problems that will keep me from breeding him, does it really matter at all? I think I'm just having a hard time mentally with starting something (anything), and not finishing it.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Not The Fun Part

2008-04-05T12:48:00.001-05:00

The problem; I just don't enjoy breed shows any more, and haven't' for a while. And it shows. Mostly in my handling. Poor Mikey. He was a complete sh!t; I couldn't get his nose off the ground long enough for the judge to see his gait, I couldn't get his nose off the table long enough to stack him, and he wouldn't hold still long enough for the judge to examine him. There was nothing for her to judge. And I'm convinced that his biggest problem was that he was picking up on my angst. Mapquest led us on a wild goose chase, so we were late getting there; as in showing up in time to pull Mikey out of the car, put my jacket on, and hustle to the ring and grab my number, watch the first Cardi, and walk in the ring. And the show site was muddy - with red clay. Just a mess of a morning, start to finish. I'm not going tomorrow. And I'm really questioning why I feel like I have to finish Mikey, since I do this for fun, and today wasn't fun for anyone.

Non-Venomous

2008-04-03T14:41:00.002-05:00

Yup, our new resident is a broad-banded water snake. 'Clint the Snake Man' responded today to the e-mail I sent with a picture and confirmed it. I guess the little guy is welcome to stay. Any suggestions on names?

Exercise Night

2008-04-02T21:47:00.003-05:00

Exercise night tonight; honestly I enjoy running courses more, partly because it's not as exhausting. There was only one other person in my jump height tonight, so Mikey and I stayed busy. Poor little Mikey, it's so humid right now and temps were probably around 80 or the upper 70's at class time; he got tired really fast with the heat/humidity and knocked a lot of jumps (plus he looked pretty pathetic).

Keep your fingers (and toes, eyes, whatever) crossed. Mikey is entered in breed Saturday and Sunday. Please doG, let Mikey get that last bloody point!!!!!

Currently re-reading 'Califia's Daughters' by Leigh Richards.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

New Pet? and More About Those Pics

2008-04-01T20:11:00.005-05:00

Ummm, about the new pet - see below. This is not a pet I am really interested in keeping. . . I looked around on the net and I think this is a broad banded water snake; at least I hope it is since it seems to have decided to take up residence in the siding on my front porch! I got the picture Monday morning; he just hung out there, just like you see, all morning. And all afternoon, and all evening, and this morning, and afternoon, and evening. I think I'm going to send the picture in an e-mail to the folks at the above web site. Keep your fingers crossed the little guy isn't venomous, since that would freak me out even more than I already am. You would think with all the coming and going from my front door this guy would find a quieter place to live. . . Anybody know a non-lethal way to get a snake to go away?

And about those trial pictures everybody loves - yes, I'm spoiled to have my own personal photographer! Actually, my mom is becoming a bit famous with the local trialling community as she generously takes pictures of specific dogs if asked and e-mails the photos. At the last trial we went to, she put a print out of photos she had taken from the previous trial at the check-in desk and if someone added their address to the photo, she sent the pics by e-mail. I think she ended up with 20 plus people to e-mail by the end of the day. Mmmm hmmm, my mom's AWESOME!

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi' and 'Something smells funny around the front door, but mom won't let us check it out!'

New Title

2008-03-30T08:32:00.027-05:00

Pecan Valley DreamCatcher NAP, NJP, CGC

Mikey was awesome! He had a great standard run, with 100 points at 45.23 seconds (SCT 73 seconds) and first place for his Novice Standard title! Mikey's first Open Jumpers course was great too, although he knocked a bar. I was thrilled with his Open run; Mikey was sooo responsive and FAST! Our knocked bar was my fault; I have to remember that even though he can turn on a dime, I have to give him enough room to get that long body over those jumps on a sharp turn! I was a little nervous because when we were walking the course I could tell I was choosing back crosses and outs where a lot of people were choosing front crosses, but happily I chose right for our team and Mikey nailed everything I asked of him (wearing his trademark smile the whole way)! And after watching the FAST class, I hope I'm ready to run Mikey in FAST at the next trial.

Meg had a more difficult day; my dad pulled her after the first few obstacles in her Standard run because she decided to go dove hunting instead of playing agility. Her Jumpers run was better, with a little wild running in the first part of the course, but a brilliant last half to the finish; sadly, no Q in Jumpers, but. . . . a Q in FAST! Yay!

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi' and Mikey says ' Oh Boy! Agility trail, my FAVORITE'!

Thanks for the awesome pics mom!!

Dream Come True

2008-03-27T20:31:00.020-05:00

At least temporarily! From Wednesday of this week through Wednesday of next week I am working at home in the afternoons! I've always fantasized about having a job that would allow me to work from home (and I had one years ago that allowed me to partially work from home; loved it). I'm taking a live web course for work and I was pretty sure there was no way in he!! that I could take it at work without constant interruptions; so I am doing the class from my home computer. And Loving It! Holly and Mikey are going to be sooooo spoiled (me too) by the time I finish this course!

Easter weekend pictures. Actually, first came car cleaning (as in how many pounds of dog hair can I vacuum from the inside, and how many pounds of pine pollen can I wash off the outside), but no pictures of that. Then came potting plants. I spent hours the weekend before digging up plants that had not been doing well for a long time and just generally cleaning up the front and back porches. I am determined this year to cut back on the plants I'm keeping, since I just don't have time to take care of them anymore. I forgot to get pictures of the back porch and of the hanging plants I've added to the back porch. The Ty plants in the front are going to be replaced with. . . something, and the black sweet potato vines will go in that pot whenever I decide what to put there. One pot of straggly looking plants that I didn't get rid of are my Bird of Paradise plants that I have raised from seed (although I did re-pot them); I'm not ready to give up on them yet.

And then came agility play in my parents back yard. Thanks Cardigrandma for the great pics!

I mean really! Have you ever seen someone so happy as Mikey!?!

Of course Holly got to play too!

And I caught the moon out early one morning.

It was a great, busy weekend; wish it could have lasted longer.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Bad Blogger

2008-03-27T09:46:00.004-05:00

I know, I'm a bad blogger and haven't been posting. . .

Easter weekend was loads of fun with car washing, gardening, and agility. I'll post pictures later today (at least I hope I'll get to it). We're entered in an agility trial this weekend, but only on Saturday, and wouldn't you know it's supposed to storm on Saturday (but not on Sunday)! I've got a nasty head cold, so I may not actually be disappointed if Saturday is stormy; I really doubt I could run and call out commands and actually breath all at the same time at this point.

Poor Mikey, I stayed home from agility class last night. When mom's sick, it sucks for the kids.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi' and 'Mom's booooooring! (and sound like a frog).'

2008-03-17T16:25:00.006-05:00

More fun agility across the pond has been added to the links list. . .

Plus, I've added a list of links to supplements I use plus a link to Honest Kitchen and Nature's Variety Raw Frozen diets; if there's one thing I can spend a ridiculous amount of time doing, it's researching on the internet about supplements and dog foods, and I'm hoping that some of you lovely readers will use the comments section to let everybody know about your favorites.

I've been feeding Honest Kitchen, plus fresh meats, eggs, fruits, vegetables, yogurt, etc for a little over a year and I have been very pleased with this food. I still think an ideal diet would be all fresh, but between a very limited amount of refrigerator/freezer space and very limited time and energy, it's just not going to happen. Plus, this is a very easy food to travel with.

Ha! Who am I kidding? I'm home sick today and I can't manage to fall asleep to take a nap and I was planning on playing around in Photoshop for a while, but I can't figure out how to export pictures from the new version of Adobe Reader, so I gave up on that and thought playing around with the blog would be a good distraction.

So, while I'm busy making links all over the place, here are some links to some Apiaries. What's that, you ask? HONEY! Yummmm! That's my latest kick, honey. Specifically, varietal honey, or honey primarily produced from a single blossom source, such as orange or buckwheat or blueberry blossoms (to name a few of my favorites). Most of the honey sold in super markets is clover honey, and please don't judge honey from super market honey. I'm also loving chunk honey, which is a jar of honey with a big chunk of honey comb in it. And, I'm trying bee pollen. Who knows if it has even half of the benefits that are claimed?

So, I've received one order from Draper's and I was very pleased with everything I received. I particularly love the Bee Bar Lotion found on this page. I've also checked out Hunter's Honey although I haven't ordered anything from them. Dutch Gold is available at a local super market and the alfalfa honey produced by them comes in a very close second to my favorite so far, blueberry. Oh, and I think I'm going to have to order some lavender honey from Lavender Bee Farm. Doesn't that sound yummy?

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Spring Fever

2008-03-16T20:23:00.003-05:00

To use LOLcats speak, 'Spring Fever, I has it!' Yep, the days are warmer, the sun is out, and I'm getting spring fever. I spent several hours on Saturday pulling up plants that weren't doing well and getting pots cleaned up and ready for new plants. Holly and Mikey hung out on the back porch and 'helped'. Since I have a three day weekend next weekend, this weekend seemed like a good time to get everything ready for a trip to the nursery next weekend. I am definitely cutting back on plants this year; in the past I had dozens of exotic and care intensive ferns and I have lost them all over the past several years because I just don't have that much time anymore (can anyone say young dogs?). This year I'm cutting back even more, but I've still got to pot up a few new plants and have some green stuff around.

My dad and I went over to Leaps n' Bounds today for a very nice practice session, at which I got marks off for being a bad mommy. The first time I ran the course with Mikey, I was trying to set him up at the start line and he just wouldn't lay down, even when I physically tried to make him. Finally a couple of brain cells fired and I thought, hmmm, this behavior really isn't normal for Mikey and I thought to brush my hand through the grass. Argh!!! Bull nettles! Poor Mikey; I felt like such a sh!t. Yet another time that I learn the lesson of listening to my dogs!!!!!

Currently reading 'Daughter of the Blood' by Anne Bishop

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Here's one of my favorite pictures in the wild flowers from last spring. . .

Long Time No Blog

2008-03-10T20:53:00.006-05:00

No, I haven't fallen of the face of the earth, nor have Holly nor Mikey. Really, since the holidays I just haven't been able to get my fecal matter coagulated (in other words, I haven't been able to get my sh!t together). I seem to spend a lot of time rushing around not getting much done. All I know is that I better get it together fast, because the next few weeks at work are going to be a whirlwind, and Mikey is entered in an agility trial the last weekend of the month, followed by a breed show the first weekend of April, and then another agility trial the weekend after that, and yeah, I didn't realized until the other day that means three weekends in a row of showing. Ooops!

Currently reading 'The Queen's Handmaiden' by Jennifer Ashely (of course! there's always time to read!)

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Trial Pics

2008-03-02T13:02:00.022-06:00

I bowed out of the trial today. Not only am I just not up to going physically (yeah, RA sucks), I got way behind last week and never got caught up. For starteres, it really sounds like a good idea to have some clean underwear for the work week. . .

It would have been nice if the cold front due tonight/tomorrow morning had come through a couple of days early; temps were in the high 70's.

I wasn't as mentally prepared as I wish I had been; we had an off course in our standard run because when it was time to call Mikey for a turn, all I could get out was something like, 'D'oh'! And we had a 'refusal' in our jumpers course which was really an of course because the jump was suddenly just there, and I hadn't pushed Mikey out enough to take that jump. Other than those booboo's, we had very nice runs and Mikey had a blast (as if he ever doesn't!). Mikey finished his Jumpers title with two 100 scores (from the last trial) and a 95 (from this trial). The SCT was 48 seconds, Mikey's time was 26.95. Mikey also got his second Standard leg with a score of 95; the SCT was 75 seconds and Mikey's time was 46.8 seconds. Second place for both classes.

My dad's dog Meg has really good runs and got a Q and into the ribbons for both Standard and Jumpers, but she was a little full of herself and in both runs she started to do that over excited, wild dog running around. My dad was also entered in FAST, but my mom and I left for home because the schedule was running so late. My dad said she started the wild running around again in FAST and this time he called her to him, put her in a down, and 'escorted her out the ring and strait to her kennel'. The goofy running wild thing is not something he wants her to make a habit of.

Oh, and I also am entering Mikey in breed at a show the first weekend of April; honestly, I never would have believed he would finish an agility title before getting his Champion, after all, we had a huge head start in breed.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi' and Mikey says 'Agility Trial! Oh boy! My FAVORITE!!'

They had really neat new title ribbons, heres a close-up.

Mikey's First Title!

2008-03-02T09:38:00.005-06:00

Pecan Valley DreamCatcher NJP, CGC

Rocket Man!

I promise to post pictures later today.

Red Hot Agility!

2008-02-24T17:12:00.013-06:00

Hot as in what the heck happened to winter!?! I realize all of you freezing your buns off up north will probably be jealous, but we hit a humid high temp of 82 today; come on! it's February!!

My dad and I went over to Leaps 'n Bounds for some practice before next weekend's trial. I got some awesome pictures of my dad's dog, Meg; but my dad had a little bit more trouble getting the timing right with my camera.

Lots 'o pics, be patient.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi'.

Wew! All done now!

Teaching the Weaves

2008-02-18T07:58:00.011-06:00

Guppy left a comment the other day about teaching the weaves. . .

Well, first let me say that there seems to be as many ways to teach the weaves as there are people running agility, so I encourage everybody reading this post to add to the comments and explaination of how they teach the weaves. Like a lot of things in dog training, there is no one size fits all method, IMHO. I think the most important part of teaching the weaves is to make it FUN. I can't imaginge a dog doing really fast weaves if they aren't enjoying themselves.

I think the two big keys to learning the weaves are 'muscle memory' and that the dog learns that they have to weave to the end of the poles, regardless of how many there are, to 'complete' the exercise. By muscle memory, I mean that the dog learns how it 'feels' to do the weaves, and eventually does it without thinking about it, like learning to drive a standard shift car.

The way I taught weaves to my dogs was inherited from my dad; we use the off-set weaves method. This is one of the two most popular methods, the other method being having some sort of a physical guide that directs the dog in the path they should take through the weaves. These two methods can also be combined. I have some pictures of half (3 poles) of the weaves I use here at my place. The other three are an exact mirror image of the first three. These are pretty easy to make yourself using different lengths of PVC pipes, endcaps and T connectors and some colored electrical tape on the poles for contrast (you can also make home made jumps the same way). A woman that used to be in my agility class had a great idea, if you have a short dog (hello, Cardigans!) and tile or hardwood floors. She bought a bunch of toilet plungers and just stuck them to the floor! Easy to adjust however you want, and easy to put away when you're done!! Just remember that the poles should be 21 to 24 inches apart, and I wouldn't start with more than six poles. Of course, you can always buy ready made weave poles; the Clean Run store is a good place to start. Here is a link to their agility equipment.

So, if your're going to use the off set method, put a wide connector between the two sides of the poles (in the pictures the smallest connector is in place), wide enough that you have a nice channel between the poles a little wider than the dog's body. Then either lure the dog down the channel with a treat or toy, or have some one hold the dog at one end, while you are at the other end and call the dog. If your dog is already target trained, you can also put a target at the end and run down along side as your dog goes through the channel to go to the target. The dog ALWAYS enters the weave poles with the first pole on his left side (I know my dad used some clicker training to teach Meg that she had to enter the poles from the correct side).

Now, if you are using a lure, make sure you get your hand down low enough so that the dogs head stays level, not looking up (this is where having short poles comes in handy if you have a short dog). You want your dog to get into the habit of having their head facing forward and looking where they're going, since later on they tend to pop out of the weaves if they aren't looking where they're going.

Over time, you'll put smaller and smaller spacers in between the two sides, but don't rush it. Now you know ~~enough to get in trouble~~ everything you need to know about teaching the weaves!! Really, I think the one thing that really helps is repetition. If you have a set of weaves (or toilet plungers!) actually in your house or backyard, you can run through the weaves a couple of times every evening. I really believe that muscle memory makes all the difference.

It does seem to take a while for the light bulb to go off, 'Oh, I'm supposed to go back and forth around these poles the same way, every time!' but once a dog 'gets it' the progress gets a lot faster. And remember that long backed dogs can have a harder time with the weave poles, and long backed dogs in particular should never start learning the weaves until they're physically mature. Oh, and make sure you practice weaving with you running along side on BOTH sides, don't let your dog get into the habit of having you on only one side!

So? Everybody, let's hear how you teach the weave poles!!

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi.'

Pretty As A Picture

2008-02-17T14:24:00.015-06:00

It's been a long time since I took my camera with us on a walk. I'm having kind of a strange day, so we took our 'morning' walk around noon.

Gorgeous blue sky today.

Holly's bloopers. She really, really doesn't like to pose for pictures, and doesn't mind telling me about it.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi.'

Course Night

2008-02-14T20:16:00.003-06:00

This was a killer course for the handlers. The 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 line and the 12, 13, 14 line and the 16, 17, 18, 19 line were all ones were the handler had to run like he!! to keep up with their dog, which means by the time most people (me included) got to around obstacle 18, no one could breath. Poor, pathetic humans!

Mikey and I had a little trouble with the 2 to 3 turn and the tire to dog walk the first time we ran the course. I chose the outside line for 2 to the A-frame to the tunnel because Mikey still gets a little insecure with the A-frame and by going outside I could run along pretty close to him and the A-frame, but taking the inside line would have meant that I would have to swing far away because of the tunnel sticking out on that side. The problem was that I would lead out almost to jump 2 and then start running and I kept going out to far before turning to the A-frame, which kept lining Mikey up for the tunnel instead of the A-frame. And the problem from the tire to the dog walk had to do with a little over confidence in my boy. Mikey has never been a tunnel sucker (meaning the dog goes for the tunnel even when you say to do another obstacle because it's fun) and he is normally totally responsive to my verbal commands; so I just expected that the tire to the dog walk would be no problem and kept too much forward momentum and made a sloppy turn, which pushed him into the tunnel.

The second time we ran the course we nailed everything. I turned a little earlier to turn to the A-frame, and I pulled up hard and started my turn for the dog walk right at the tire (in fact I pulled up so hard and turned so sharply that Mikey started to turn back toward me after the tire) so Mikey was right on for the dog walk. We were both really on for the second course; one of those 'feel good' runs were everything flows just right!

Currently reading 'The King's Pleasure' by Nora Lofts.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi.'

Nailin' Those Weaves!!!

2008-02-14T08:53:00.005-06:00

Mmmmm hmmmm. That's right. Mikey NAILED the weaves last night in class. All 24. Twice. Doin' the Cardigan version of single steppin' the poles!! GOOD BOY!!! I'll try to get a course map up tonight.

The Return of the Grasshopper

2008-02-11T20:27:00.001-06:00

Some of you may remember this - well, he's baaa-aaack! Seriously! I opened the front door yesterday night and who should come jumping on in? Mister Grasshopper (only bigger, I swear!). Holly and Mikey were convinced that my squealing attempts to herd him back out the door was a sign that I had finally come over to the dark side and decided that bugs make a good snack. So of course this now became a competition; who can catch and eat Mr. Grasshopper first? Needless to say, both Holly and Mikey were not much 'help' in herding Mr. Grasshopper back outside where he belongs. Poor Mr. Grasshopper. Where do you run when pursued by two ravenous dogs and one demented human? Apparently you grab on to the human and refuse to let go. EVER! Or you at least refuse to let go until you've been trasported (weeeeee! like a really, really squeeky roller coaster!) back outside and are stunned into letting go by a good whack from the demented human, at which time you better hop for your life, because the two ravenous dogs can't believe their snack is escaping.

Exercise Night, Bleh

2008-02-06T21:53:00.001-06:00

Tonight was exercise night; it's not so much that I don't like running exercises, it's that I really, really enjoy the flow of running courses (guess it's a good thing that exercise night seems to be few and far between with these instructors). I missed class again on Monday, but after the second time now going to the Wednesday night class, I think I may switch to Wednesdays, since the class is about 1/3 the size.

We spilit up into groups and worked with both of the instructors and worked independently on contacts. One instructor was working on handling with wrap arounds and tight serpentines, all jumps. I must admit to getting a little frustrated with her, as she wanted me to really get after Mikey for knocking jumps; as in pick up the bar and shake it at him or poke at him. EXCUSE ME!?! Happily she didn't push me much for doing it 'her' way and I just put Mikey on a drop every time he knocked a jump and made him wait while I reset the jump and then made him start over. There is NO WAY I'm going to do anything to take away from the joy Mikey gets out of doing agility.

Plus, I think when a dog is working really hard on technical stuff that requires a lot of mental work on their part, it's just expected that the physical performance may suffer temporarily. And some of it too is recognizing Mikey's physical limitations. He's not a Border Collie (as much as he may act like one). Mikey is very athletic for a Cardigan, and I think it's only fair to realize that even if he can turn on a dime, a slightly wider turn may give him a better chance to set himself up for a clean jump. IMHO.

Currently reading 'Escape' by Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer.

Holly and Mikey say 'Hi.'

A Little Eccentric. . .

2008-02-04T20:51:00.000-06:00

Dog activities boring, work too 'exciting'. Promise to get back to blogging again soon.

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you lovable - even if you don't love them!

You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you

You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil

How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

The Sesame Street Personality Quiz

Agility Trial Pictures

2008-01-28T20:49:00.000-06:00

Be patient, lots 'o pics!

For anyone interested - Novice Standard Preferred Saturday SCT, 81 seconds, Mikey's time - 47.16. Novice Jumpers with Weaves Preferred Saturday SCT, 47 seconds, Mikey's time - 24. Novice Jumpers with Weaves Preferred Sunday SCT 53 seconds, Mikey's time - 25.47.

Meg got a 95 and fourth place in Jumpers and a 90 and fourth place in Standard on Saturday and two eliminations on Sunday.

Mikey says 'Woof, woof!'

One More Q!

2008-01-27T20:05:00.000-06:00

Novice Jumpers with Weaves - 100 points, 25.47 seconds, SECOND PLACE!

Novice Standard - Ooops! Tired boy knocked a pole on the first jump.

More pictures tomorrow.

2008-01-27T05:34:00.000-06:00

Oh doG! I can barely move this morning. Rheumatoid really is a dirty word.