Googility

Has anyone heard of Googility.com? It is the google search engine for dog agility. I haven't had a chance to really search through it a lot, but what I have seen I like! Check it out!

This is crazy!!!

I could not believe this when I saw it!

Yet another one!

Yes, I will admit it. I started another blog! I am going to be trying to accomplish 101 goals in 1001 days, and needed a place to post my progress, successes, and failures. When this one finished on March 28, 2012 I may start another one. So any suggestions of fun or interesting goals would be greatly appreciated!

I know I am crazy!

I had to laugh that everyone was so shocked that I went to Agility class last night. So here are my reasons for going, heat and all!

• It looked like it was clouding over so I expected it to cool down (never did)
• I paid good money for this class, and wanted to take advantage of every week
• I LOVE playing agility, as does Hobbs - we don't say the word agility in our house unless I am going to play with him.
• I am incredibly disappointed that I can't sign up for the next class.
  
• I want to take advantage of every last second (er....3 weeks worth of seconds) I have of my freedom before I have another human to worry about.
• .....and because I am crazy lol!
  

New Nylabone!

Last week I found a NEW style of Nylabone at the pet store! I still tend to stick with many of the "approved" toys recommended by GDB. This is because the boys destroy other toys too quickly for them to be worth the money. I have to admit though, that the same Nylabone styles all the time get really old. We have more than one of almost every kind there is, so I was very excited to find this at the store:


It was on the isle with the dental things


So far, it has become one of the favorites. I will need to buy another one soon because they both want to play with it so often.

So to all you GDB puppy raisers, check with your leaders and see if this is approved. It seems to be made out of the same thing as solid ones. It is just colored, and textured.

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

I just wanted to say happy father's day to my puppy's daddies. Thanks boys for taking part in giving me the best puppies possible!


Mr. Klondike! Patriot is a wonderful boy, and I am sure he is doing you proud!


Mr. Faust! Calliope is out their doing what she was intended to do. She is a blessing to her partner, and is loved very much!


Mr. David! Hobbs is a one-of-a-kind boy, and I am so thankful he is here with us. Thanks for being his dad.

To all the other GDB daddies out there, have a wonderful day! Hopefully your breeder keepers spoil you rotten!

Hamster Agility

Lol, this is really adorable!

Sunning

Ever sense we moved into this house, Patriot has really loved to go out during the day and bask in the sun. I remember him and my parent's Setters laying in the sun when he was a puppy, and I guess the habit stuck! Almost every day now, he will insist on going outside for an hour or so to lay on the concrete in the sun. Until recently, I would keep Hobbs inside because he would just spend the hour eating sticks, bark, poop, and anything else he could get in his mouth. This past month though, he has started sunning himself with Patriot! I am so glad he is learning just to hang out in the yard without needing to eat something.

I don't have to watch them or pay attention to when they want back in, because Patriot will come to the door and bark, just once, to let me know he is done.



They were both laying flat until I got the camera and came to the window. But this is how they spend their time!

Husbands and Heels

The past week I have been having a really hard time walking due to a bruised (or something) heel. I tried to walk the dogs after a week of rest, made it 4 houses down the block, and wanted to crawl back because my foot hurt so badly. I didn't go to the doctor that night because we hadn't figured out which urgent care/ER we are allowed to use with our insurance. We figured it out the next day but my foot suddenly felt almost 100% better and I was able to not only walk on it but balance on just that heel with hardly even a twinge of pain. So we didn't go. Now it is still pain full, but I can at least walk on it.....most of the time.

Needless to say the dogs have been rather restless without their 1 hour walk they have gotten almost daily for over a year. For the first few days the dog park kept them happy, but they quickly got bored with that.

I don't know if this is going to be how it is until I have Kaylee in just under 2 months. If it is, I am going to be miserable, but I don't want the dogs to go crazy because of me. Robert hasn't been in to walking the dogs, or walking with us, so I thought that was out of the question. But he has decided to try to get in shape enough to run the Ironman in May next year. It is in St. George, so we wont have to travel too far for it!

That is great news for the boys because Robert offered to walk them in the early mornings before he goes to work. Now, not only will they be getting at least 30 minute walks in the mornings, it will be early enough that they aren't walking in the heat of the day. On Monday I am going to try to go with them on an evening walk to see if my foot is improving at all. If it isn't, I may end up making an appointment with an Orthopedist or Podiatrist to see what is going on.

I am really glad that Hobbs and I are still working on Agility stuff that doesn't require me to run! As it is, I want to just sit in a chair and practice sending him out over a jump or around a tree lol!

Little Rant

So, I have been anxiously waiting for April 1st sense we moved up here in November. The reason for the wait? The local dog park is closed in the winter here! And if that isn't stupid enough, it is now April 6th and the park is still closed!

The boys and I were there on April first despite there still being snow on the ground, and it was still closed. The next day most of the snow had melted but it was cloudy and cold. A new sign had been taped up on the gate of the park saying "the park will open when weather permits".....needless to say, I was a little peeved. So I patiently waited until the sun came out for the day yesterday. We drove down to the park and it was STILL closed! There were crowds of people driving into the parking lot just to turn around and drive out.

A bunch of us just let our dogs run loose and play in the baseball diamond next to the fenced "dog" area. There ended up being 6-8 of us there with our dogs. Granted it was Sunday, so I wasn't too surprised that it was still closed.

That brings us to today! It is around 50 degrees F, sunny, and really warm outside.....and the park is still closed. I am SO frustrated with this stupid city! I just can't afford to drive down to Salt Lake City every time I want to let the boys play at a dog park. I don't know what they are waiting for!!

Header....

With a HUGE thanks to Denise I am proud to post the new header on my blog! It looks wonderful, and I love how it turned out. I tried to do one myself over on my life blog, but it is nowhere near as sophisticated as this one. Thanks again Denise!

Blog Header

How do people make their cute blog headers with pictures and things? I would LOVE to have a header with pictures of Hobbs and Patirot, but don't have a clue how to even start! If anyone can help me please do!! You can email me privatly if the explanation is too long for a comment.

Sleepwalking Dog!

I seriously almost pee'd my pants laughing at this video! Enjoy!

Little Bit of a Rant....Sorry!

I am SO sick of winter!! Its bad enough that this city I live in can't seem to build sidewalk on both sides of the road all the way down the road, but now I can't use the ones that are there because they are covered in ice and snow plowed off the road. And the lovely mountain trails we used to use instead are covered in packed down snow that has melted and frozen so many times that it is all ice. So basically we get to go on walks down the middle of the road and just hope that the cars are paying attention!

Half the time we don't go on walks, and just do training inside to get rid of some of the boys' energy. I really really want it to be spring for good!!

Random Updates

So I have a bunch to update about and don't want to make them all their own posts. So here is goes.

Hobbs:
Hobbs is busy learning tricks. His next "big" trick is going to be circling me walking backwards.....that doesn't make any sense so here is a little video of what I am talking about. To see the end result, just go to the end of the video rather than watching how to teach it.



He is also working on his end behavior on contact boards. I need to paint and sand the board I have because right now it is really slippery and he doesn't like to be on it because of that. We are also still working on learning where his hind end is, and learning how to manipulate different parts of his body. He of course loves every second of it, and gets frustrated if I am not clicking something I usually click. He has been practising weaves, but I don't want to burn him out. I am thinking of building another set of 6 so I can send him through 12 every once in a while. I am so glad that Hobbs broke through that "I can't try anything by myself" barrier and now understands how to learn with the clicker.

Patriot:
We went to our second rally class on Tuesday night, and it was much better than the last one! We went through and practiced probably close to 20 signs and Patriot excelled at all but a couple of them. The ones that are hard for him right now are the finish left and finish right signs. The instructor helped teach me better ways to teach him how to do these....with our not being able to use the clicker effectively. Patriot got really tired about half way into the class, but I think it was more mental tiredness rather than physical. I had forgotten to get more treats before we went, so we used the lamb and rice ones Hobbs uses. Patriot LOVES them, but it was VERY obvious yesterday that he is allergic to either the lamb or rice or both. Not even his 3x's per day dose of benadryl could stave off the itching, and his ears got inflamed as did his toes/paws. Today he is looking much better, and we are half way switched to the new food. It is giving him some loose stools so we are doing it more slowly than I normally would. Last night I was on the verge of taking him back to the vet because he was so miserable, but today he is much happier, and much less itchy. So I have been looking into getting some venison treats, or I am going to just try using string cheese. I have to have something that he wants to get him excited about his training.

Other stuff:
Ingrid left this morning, and it is nice to have my boys to myself. Not that she was a bother, but it is always good to just have my dogs. We had another visitor on Tuesday though! I took the boys on a car ride to the bank, and when we got back their was a big black lab hanging out on our front lawn. He was sniffing and marking (he was obviously intact). Patriot was very offended to see some other dog on his property, and started growling while we pulled up into the driveway. The dog trotted down the road a bit so I took the boys inside, although Patriot really wanted to go after the intruder. Then the dog came back, so I decided to see if he had tags. He ran away from me right at first, and came way too close to getting smashed by a car. I called to him, and he looked at me but didn't make a move towards me, so I whistled. That got him running in my direction! Obviously he is a hunting dog. Unfortunately the only tag he had on was a rabies tag.

I led him back into the yard (to keep him out of the street) and took off his collar so I could call the vet that issued it. They looked him up and found that he lived just a couple houses down from me. They gave me the owner's number and name so I called. The guy didn't sound too worried or surprised to hear that his dog was missing, but said that he would send his wife to get him. The poor boy "Max" was really pretty shy, and VERY hand shy. I put a leash on him, and he walked relatively well. The wife came to get him, and said that he has been getting out because he has to stay out of the house because their 13 year old female dog is in heat. She said they had a little baby gate to keep him in the yard, but that he jumps over it all the time. I was VERY sad for his living situation, but at least I got him back to his owners. Stupid, careless, owners really make me mad though!

Last but not least, Silvia Trkman posted a new "tricks" video on youtube. I know I am probably the only one who is completely fascinated by these, but I figured I would share anyways. This one is of her 7 month old puppy who is busy learning tricks until she is old enough to do actual agility stuff. The first part is just her dogs playing in the snow, so you can skip it if you want. The tricks are amazing!!

2008 In Review

2008 was a great year! Here is a look back at what happened to us.

January: We welcomed 4 little balls of kitty fur into our family. Hobbs was wary of them at first, and then became friends with them. Hobbs was10 months old, and still doing ok as a PIT.

February: Hobbs got some puppysitting experience this month, as well as being attacked by our momma kitty. He got to be valentines with Miss Suede, turned 11 months old, and peed on me! It was a great month!


March: Patriot finally came to live with Robert, Hobbs and me! The boys got to know eachother, and learned that being an only dog is not as good as having a buddy. Hobbs turned 1 near the end of the month, and had a wonderful birthday.


April: We moved into a newer apartment, but that is really the only thing that happened!

May: The month started off with Patriot turning 6 years old! That day was also the day I got the phone call that I had been offered the training internship at the Oregon campus of GDB!! I went to a dog show and got the Agility bug, Patriot almost froze to death after falling into a half empty swimming pool. Hobbs had a MAJOR breakdown on a walk, and suddenly everything became a monster. He went to my leader for an evaluation, and got a not so great report. We spent quite a bit of the month without him, and he was finally scheduled for a formal evaluation by our CFR.


June: This had to be the most horrible month of the year...Hobbs had his formal evaluation and was career changed for lack of confidence/fear issues. He got to be a pet, and within a couple weeks had gotten over most of his issues. The stress of being a PIT was just too much for him. Patriot got a heardworm test (negative thank heavens) and helped teach Hobbs how to be a good CC'd dog.

July: This was the best month of the year!! To start off the month, Hobbs finally got neutered, and came home in a lot of pain. I was very worried about him and sadly had to send him away to a puppysitter for two weeks while he was still recovering! My internship at GDB was amazing, and was everything I thought it would be.

August: We puppysat a lot this month, and then took a camping trip to Mirror lake. Hobbs went with us to a cabin in AZ while Patriot visited my parents. Patriot went to the vet for skin problems. The boys also went to a guide dog pool party!


September: The boys both passed their CGC tests, and Hobbs started his Agility class. Other than than not much happened!


October: This was the agility month. Hobbs and I lived and breathed agility every day! The lightbulb went on in his head about weave poles, and we became the weave champs of the class.

November: We moved into an actual house in Ogden and the boys enjoyed having a yard finally. Robert and I found out we are expecting a baby in July. Patriot went on steroids for his skin issue (he actually is just finishing it tomorrow!), and Hobbs and I really missed our agility class.

December: The poor boys were very neglected most of this month due to my morning sickness. They did get to come with us to my parents house for christmas, and got some wonderful and yummy presents. Hobbs and I also went to watch an agility trial and met some nice people!

Anyway there is our year in review! It seemed a lot more crazy and busy to me. We are looking forward to this year which I am sure will be an interesting adventure, especially when July comes! Hobbs get over your hatred of children!

Another 6th Picture

Here I am at my parents' house and I was looking through their pictures and came across this one:

To get the full effect, click on it!

This is the winter of 1995 in Shelly ID. The snow was so deep that our horses would have been able to walk over the top of our pasture fence so we barricaded them in the small corral by the "barn" (really just a shelter). This is what the horses looked like for most of the winter! Don't worry, they had shelter filled with straw, and had already grown winter coats. The wind just blew enough that it coated them in ice and snow. I know it doesn't' have anything to do with dogs, I just thought I would share!

6th Picture

This is a pretty fun thing to do! Go to your pictures folder, then to the 6 folder, 6th picture. Post this picture and tell a little about what was happening in it. So here is mine:

This is the dog park in Bakersfield CA. Robert is standing behind the fence with the black hat on, and our dog "Dodge" is the little black one sniffing the grayhound. I loved this dog park, and we went at least once a week with Dodge....mostly because he needed it!

Things I Like!

I was tagged by Sara to write 6 things that Patriot and Hobbs like. In their own words:


6 things Patriot likes:

1. Cleaning out the almost-empty peanut butter jar! Mom says I may not get to do this anymore because it makes me itchy sometimes:(

2. New Nylabones!! I love puting the first teeth marks in them!

3. Pretending to guide my mom down the sidewalk. Sometimes I get obsessed about it though and get in trouble.

4. PEOPLE FOOD!! Enough said!

5. Sunning myself on the grass in the yard....and eating rotten apples when I find them.

6. Cuddling on the couch with mom, dad, and Hobbs even though I have to curl into a really tight ball.



6 things Hobbs likes:

1. Weave Poles!! Ok, just Agility in general! I love, love, love it!

2. Having the bald spot on my belly rubbed.....I will have to make mom post a picture of my bald spot sometime.

3. Mom, hates this but I LOVE finding and eating poopsicles in the yard! Mmmmm!

4. Doing crazy Labby scoots at the dog park. It makes other dogs chase me though which is scary sometimes.

5. Bugging Patriot until he plays with me....or gets cranky and we both get yelled at.

6. Chewing up little rubber balls...the human puppy toy ones....I don't know how to describe them but I love popping them and then chewing on them

I tag Becky to write 6 things Cricket likes!

Puppy Pool.....

Ok, maybe not quite a puppy pool, but I added a poll to the side of my Life Blog so feel free to add your opinion of what I am growing inside me! I will have a due date pool later down the road next year, once I have an actual due date from the doctor.