Been a While...

Sorry it's been a long time since the last blog.  I just haven't had time to sit at the computer long enough to type!  Its been crazy, busy at work, trying to keep up with stuff at home, training like crazy, throw in a couple road trips and I am done!

We went up to the Piedmont Specialty a couple weeks ago.  Katie handled Cat.  They looked so good!  They won the class both shows.  The first one was a nail biter!  The judge spent a lot of time going back and forth between Cat and another bitch.  I was dying!  In the end, she went reserve.  The other bitch was nice too, so we aren't being sorry losers.  She was a little older than Cat and more...mature looking.  The judge had a tough time between them.  I was SO proud of Katie.  She was a bit nervous, with all the breeders and handlers there...but I think it is awesome for them to go reserve at a specialty.  I was very proud of the girlies!

This weekend is the Atlanta shows...wish us luck!  We decided to try and hit some conformation shows.  I NEED to get Cat out and finished.  All the while, training for open!  Wish us luck!

Happy Training!!

Life's Little Joys

We are not sure what is going on.  The humans are wrapping stuff, there is paper and boxes all over the house, including our sleeping area.  There are wrapped boxes with shiny ribbons that Cat likes to pull off.  I prefer the boxes.  Chewing them and pulling stuff out.  It is great fun.  The humans don't seem to appreciate it though.  I'm not sure why...they put them on the floor, under the tree.  The cooking cave smells great.  We are on constant patrol for clean-up duty.  My female human always slips us a tasty tid-bit.

Oh, I didn't mention the glorious tree!  They brought a useless tree in from outside.  You all know how I feel about trees, they do nothing but shed their coats.  They don't move, even if we bark and bark.  They put sparkly lights on and then placed all the "toys" for us under it.  You know what trees are for don't you??  I thought the humans just didn't want me to have to walk all the way outside to pee on a tree...WHY are they yelling at me??

Happy Collie-Days!
Flash~

WOW!

We went down to Orlando last weekend to the Eukanuba shows.  What an amazing weekend.  There were 11 rough collies entered and 27 smooths, usually those numbers are in reverse.  I think about 24 smooths showed up.  Tough for the judge, SO many nice dogs!  Deb placed 4th with her bitch, which was very impressive.  I also got to see Cage.  I totally love this dog he is beautiful and smart!  You and Cage looked good out there Babbi! 

We watched some agility and some dock diving.  We saw a couple collies in agility, I saw one VERY fast smooth dog fly!  The Meet The Breed displays were awesome!  Some of them went all out.  It was a pretty cool thing to see.

I, of course, spent the best part of the day watching the NOI.  What an awesome thing to see!  I saw some of the top teams from all over the country!  I did find it a bit confusing at first, but between Curt and Susan, I learned the flow.  It takes a special dog and person to be able to handle stress at this level.  Really got to see some amazing stuff. 

I had a great surprise, in that Curt took the time and sat with me, (something I didn't expect..he was competing!!) telling me the ins and outs, pointing out all the top handlers, and previous years winners.  We sat and watched the judges, handlers and dogs.  I learned a lot, took lots of notes and all in all had a great weekend!!  Even the "dog hater" had a great time :)  We are SO going back next year!!

The Blues

Thanksgiving is over, family went home.  I am feeling better, looking forward to getting back to training.  I have made a decision to just wait till the new year to get back in the obedience ring.  I'm not back to regular training, Cat is in season, and I have a couple things to fine tune.  Can't get up to Curt's till probably January, so it just makes sense to hold off. 

I am training at home with her, Leslye is still not back to normal either, hoping she feels better over the next few weeks too.  We are both going crazy sitting at home! 

Not looking forward to going back to work Monday!  I have been out for almost 2 weeks.  One was planned vacation time, the other was for my "suprise" surgery.  It will probably take me a week just to dig through the piles of paper that must be on my desk!  YIKES!!  Job security.....right?! 

Thanksgiving

It's almost here.  I love Thanksgiving!  Time for family, friends and eating! 
My sister and her family will be here tomorrow.  It will be extra special because my nephew is coming too!!  I miss my "widdle" Mattie-poo! 
The baking is almost done, I have done it over the past couple days so I am not doing too much.  Ingrid has made several dishes for me so I could take it a little easy.  I am very happy about that!  It is different for me though...I feel like I'm not doing enough.  Stupid surgery!  I really thought I'd be back to mostly normal by now...though today, I actually feel pretty good.  I usually don't let anyone bring anything and do it all myself.  So it has been hard to sit back and let others do some cooking and thank God for Marty and Katie!  They have cleaned the house, so I didn't have to!

Just a few last minute things to do.  Everything is coming together.  Hoping to be able to get back to training soon too.  The doctor told me to lay off for a couple weeks, postop appt is next week, hoping to get the ok for normal activities!!  I miss working the pups!

Feeling Better

My surgery went well, recovery has been a little painful, but not unbearable.  Hoping to be mostly back to normal in a couple days.  I have to be!  Got a crowd coming for Thanksgiving, no time to be laying around this house! 

Poor pups.  I haven't worked them much over the past couple weeks.  Since I haven't been feeling very well.  I have been tossing the dumbbell from bed for Cat.  She is such a good girl.  I think I will enter the Sawnee Mtn obedience trial IF I can get back into training mode in time.  Grad novice for Cat and Flash.  I think I will enter just one day, to see where we are. 

I can't wait for both Leslye and I to be back on our feet again and back to normal training.  We both miss it and I think the dogs do too.  I imagine a couple weeks before I am 100%, hoping Leslye will be there too.  Then we will be back at it. 
Happy Training~

What Kind Of Dog Are You?

Try this....let me know how you do!

I came up as a Puli!

http://www.gone2thedogs.com/  then click "game" on the left.

Whatever!

I am SO glad I didn't enter the AOC trial...Cat DID come in season. Bummer for me, I was headed to TN for a private lesson this weekend.  No problem, I have a "back-up" dog....Flash gets to go!  He will be happy about that.

Poor Cat.  She is ok for about next week or so, then she has to be on lockdown!  Both of us hate it.  However, I think the separation is good.  She misses going different places and training.  Don't think we won't be training, we just will have to work from home for a few weeks. 

Her next "season" we will probably breed her.  So, with any luck, there will be puppies Surfside in the early summer!

I'm Back!

Hopefully, I will be able to blog more frequently.  My laptop died, and I don't like to type a lot on the ipad.  My "IT Guy" just got me a desktop computer set up so here I go!

Leslye is feeling better, still has a few weeks before she gets the ok to go back to regular activity.  We are both looking forward to hitting our training hard again.  I have not been a slacker, but I have missed her, and it is more fun to train with a friend!

Cat is doing great.  IF she isn't in heat next weekend, I am going to TN for a private lesson, if she is, then Flash gets to come.  I am very excited.  It is always amazing when I go up there!

Well, gotta run, headed to get a bit of training in at the building!  Catch ya later!

Happy Training!

CAT Test

Yesterday we took Cat for a CAT test.  She failed.  However, I am going to try it again, next chance we get.  It was SO much fun and I think she can do it.  I had never watched any lure coursing, and found the whole process very cool.

Just to watch the dogs run, with such full on joy and focus was a treat in itself.  There was a couple sight hounds that were breath taking to watch.  Whenever I see a dog doing what it was bred for,  it takes my breath away.  The terriers faired pretty well too.  A little toy poodle, a couple american bull dogs, an english bulldog, and most amazing to me a basset hound passed the test.  They were a delight to watch!

Some of the herding dogs would actually try to herd the lure, staying to the side, watching where it was going and actually try to cut it off.  Some dogs were running so fast, when the took a turn, would do it too fast, fall, and roll, get back up and go after it.

We had 3 collies run.  Monique and Bren, Trudi and Sophia, and me and Cat.  Sophia was amazing.  She almost made it, but when the lure took a corner, she didn't see it, and got focused on the line.  It was funny to watch.  I didn't get to see Monique's run, I was back in line and couldn't see her.  The dog before me and Cat took about 10 minutes to catch after his run.  So all the drive I had built up had gone :(  Then when we went in, she tripped over the line and that freaked her out.  We took a minute to regroup, I tried to pump her up again and we started.  She did what I thought she would.  She bolted out after the lure for about 20 feet, turned and barked at me.  I ran out telling her to get it....again she would go out a bit and bark for me.  I guess she thought it would be more fun if we did it together, and maybe it would have been!  I will try this again, I think she could get the hang of it, and it was fun for both of us!  :)

Happy Training~