I can't see...

I think Pixel needs sun glasses. :)

Out of the dungeon...

For the past four years I've lived in a basement suite. Yeah. Although it is not as bad as it sounds, it definitely has it's drawbacks. The suite itself is huge- lots of floor space, big windows, etc. But it's still a basement. There are 16 stairs. I have a constant stream of new upstairs neighbors. I am supposed to have full, private use of the yard but somehow that doesn't get relayed to the new tenants upstairs. I can never just leave my dogs outside unattended, even for a moment. I worry all the time about my dogs at home alone- are they barking? And then the upstairs people themselves- in the past four years I'd say there have been 7 or 8 tenants. Each of them weirder than the next. The current tenant is actually pretty good. She has a nine year old daughter who is very polite and good with the dogs. Better than the two demon boys that the last tenant had!

In a few weeks I am moving to a full house. All for me and my dogs. I am beyond excited. Seriously, I really, really am looking forward to having my own space and not having to worry about upstairs people. It is a very cute little house. And by little, I do mean little. But it has two bedrooms, and a huge yard. The yard is quite private, and is heavily treed. It will be perfect.

I'm definitely counting down the days!

untitled

"Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine."
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

My Hero...revisited

Back in October I had a mouse problem that was going from mildly annoying to disgusting. So I got a Cat.

I figured there must be a few cat lovers out there who are wondering how Bruce is doing....

Unlike dogs, cats do not adjust quickly and it took a few months for him to be comfortable in the house with the dogs. He attacked them any chance he got, and was just a big jerk about it. He spent most of the winter in the spare room, and only allowed to have free reign at night when the dogs were locked up.

In the past few months he has really lightened up and no longer reacts to the dogs at all- he still bullies them if they make the mistake of entering his personal space bubble, but he no longer attacks them for no reason. He wanders the house at his leisure and spends most of his time sleeping in the window sill.

He has destroyed my couch, and will be sporting a fancy pair of soft paws if he doesn't knock it off. I bought him a cat post and he ignores it- preferring the feel of leather I guess....

Other than that he is a pretty great cat- he is not demanding but expects his pats and cuddles at the designated time each day. He is polite about telling me that he can see the bottom of the bowl and can I please fix the problem. He has never had any bathroom accidents and is a perfect gentleman. Unless you are a mouse. :)

I no longer have a mouse problem.

Agility

I took the girls agility training this morning and had a great session. I have very specific things to work on with both of them and I managed to do everything on my list for today.

Wicca- we've gone back to basics, literally. No more than 4 obstacles in a sequence. I've been working at home on rebuilding, and making sure that Wicca and I are on the same page handling wise. Today I worked on one jump stuff, I did some lead outs, worked on her a-frame, and did part of a tough weave exercise everyone else was doing. She had great jumping today- all the work seems to be paying off. She only knocked one bar the whole session. I struggled with some timing and focus on my part with a push through to serp exercise but I persevered and we did get it. I feel that we are starting to get some of our working relationship back. I think that I am on the right track with what I am doing. Right now *I* need things broken down so I can really see what is going on with my handling. I was talking to my friend today on the way home about that- in the past we rarely run clean the first time in training. I would say 90% of the time we have errors the first (or second) time running a long sequence. How then do I expect us to have our shit together in a trial setting? So yeah. I am feeling good about my plan. I plan to challenge myself every session, and above all else stick to my own set criteria and plan.

Pixel did really great today. I've worked hard on pumping her up each time she does agility and it is really paying off. She is excited EVERY time she has a turn- which is what I want. I did about 10 repetitions on the a-frame, not always a full frame, but used the hoop and manners minder every time. She really doesn't understand what I want at this point. And I can really see that I've rushed through training on that. (bad me). Her dogwalk was awesome though- each time she nailed it and was fast and focused ahead. I am very pleased with her progress. I did just a few little jump exercises with her and she did well. She still is not as fast as I'd like- but I think that is in part to her being unsure still of some of the handling. I broke things down a lot for her and used the tug and ball as a reward. The weaves were great- she is getting quite speedy, and is able to find an entry and maintain that speed the whole way through. I am not helping her at all and he is focused ahead and not on me- which is perfect. And I spent some time on the teeter, I've decided I want her to stay on the teeter until a release rather than just a run off...so we worked on that for the first time.

So yeah, all in all a pretty wonderful morning!

On the training front...

I've been trying to work the dogs every day in Obedience. It's going well- when I have time to do it!

Pixel continues to be a star. I am planning her debut for the fall Lethbridge show in Novice Obedience. Her fronts are coming along although she tends to be a bit creative. She is the most drooly dog I have ever owned. Seriously- you say cookie and the spit start dripping. We've been working hard on fronts so she totally knows there are cookies coming and yeah, my feet end up covered in spit. It's pretty icky.

Wicca is just fine tuning pivots and the dreaded back up for Rally. And we've been playing around with signals and go outs. If we ever manage to get her CDX she will be ready for Utility.

I have Boone entered in Rally in a few weeks and he hasn't done any obedience in a while- so we've been refreshing his memory about what heeling is. :)

And Vito says that Obedience is for sissies, and he'd much rather roll around on the floor. Thank you very much

Out with the old...

My blackberry died the other day. The little roller ball would just NOT stay in, rendering the phone pretty useless. So I went and got a new shiny one. Except I didn't get another Black Berry- I got something better!



It is a 3G, not a 4 as those aren't available in Canada yet and I couldn't wait any longer. But I totally love it. Very fun, with lots of great features. I missed my BB for like two minutes.

oh, and Sarah said I am way cooler now. :)

Tall, Blond(ish) and Handsome...

Kort is staying with me a for a few days and already has made himself right at home...he has been lots of fun to have around, and has proved himself to be quite a useful Collie.



He brings me my slippers...okay, maybe not exactly true but he does like to carry them around.



He has scared all the neighbors into silence with his fierce barking...again, a slight exaggeration. ;)



He is a big, tough guard dog who would attack anyone who entered my yard. Attack! That's right....lol


This is the uh...leg bone of the last person who tried to get in my yard. (in fact it's an old bone that nearly met it's demise when I ran it over with the lawn mower)


He entertains Pixel for hours on end. That is true. Pixel adores Kort, and the feeling is pretty mutual!


Oh, and he most definitely falls into the cateogory of Tall, Blond(ish) and Handsome. :) He's certainly a pro at the stand and pose for a photo....I've been calling him the "Super Model"....

Bad Blogger

I'm a sucky blogger this week.

to distract you all from that fact, here is a cute photo of Vito doing agility. This is not recent, but he still pretty well looks the same. :)



I promise to be a better blogger tomorrow. I'll post about my visitor...he is tall, blonde (ish) and handsome..

one last photo from mosquito hell....

Moo....

Moo...., originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

Drew is my parents Rottweiler cross. I have never seen a dog eat as much grass as he does. Seriously almost every photo I took of him this week he was eating grass....lol

He's a pretty cute cow I must say. :)

More Camping Fun.

Wicca, Pixel, Boone and Vito (And my foster dog Missy) all think that camping is pretty fun- what could be more fun than swimming, fetching, barking, chasing gophers (and one bunny!), and laying around eating stuff.









They were all VERY tired yesterday when we got home. Which is good 'cause I have a few days of laundry to do and my cleaning fairies apparently took the week off aswell so my house is as messy as it was when I left.

Kate

Nearly 12, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

One of the great things about camping this past week was al the time I got to spend with Kate. My parents camped most of the week with me- so I had lots of one on one time with the original bossy pants. :)

Kate hasn't changed at all and is still bossy and opinionated at 12 years old. She looks pretty great for an old shepherd, although is weak in the rear and isn't super stable on her feet. It didn't stop her from enjoying herself though- she swam and chased sticks for lots of the time.

Stick

Vito thinks that sticks are the best. Of course he only wants the one that everyone else has!

Random Camping Photos

Camping was so good. It was a well needed break and the dogs all had a blast.

I have LOTS of photos so thought i'd post a few together in a general post before getting to the good dog ones. :)

This truck is ancient- but still manages to pull the equally ancient trailer. I couldn't resist taking a photo of the rust, although my dad then made fun of me for like half an hour...


This is my parents trailer that they let me use over the week. Old, but it works!


The river that the dogs played in every day. It was so peaceful- there were only a few other campers all week and we never once ran into anyone at the river. It was pretty wonderful!

The dogs set up. I started with two expens together to give them the most space.


and then the mosquitos came....so up went the screen tent and the xpen was condensed. i don't think they minded though- better to be bug free!


oh, the jack in the photo is my foster dog, and no- I'm not keeping her. just so you all don't ask. :)

Campers Best Friend...

Campers Best Friend..., originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

The dogs and I are home....

I have more photos of course, but this one tells the best story. :)

More Boone

here are a few of my other favorites from my picnic at Park Lake on Saturday. Boone seriously had a blast paddling around in the water. He's so strange. :) I really struggled to choose my favorite for the 52 weeks project. A few of these are too fuzzy to be contenders, but I love the head shot, and the nose...lol (i was shooting from the hip and laughed out loud when I saw the pic the first time...)







anyway- enjoy! I will be getting many, many photos of all the dogs during my camping trip this week.

Classic Summer 26/52

Classic Summer 26/52, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

Today was a pretty great day- and tomorrow will be even better!

Today my rescue (WCCR) had our first annual Bark in the Park and it was a huge success. We had all sorts of demos, a BBQ, a raffle table, the whole works. It was lots of fun.

This afternoon I went for a picnic with my parents out to a nearby lake. I took Boone along and he had a blast playing in the water, sharing my ice cream and just being a goof. :)

What could be better than that?

Tomorrow I leave for a weeks holiday!

I am packing up the dogs and going camping. Just us. I had such a great time last year. I expect that this year will be fun too. We are going somewhere new- but there is a river so the dogs will be able to swim as much as they want!

I am pretty excited about it. I really need a break. And what's better than sitting by yourself for a week?!

Needless to say I won't be blogging- although I have scheduled a post of photos for tomorrow.

Have a good week everyone!

oh, and congrats to Julie and Bug on finishing his Championship!
Yay Bug! :o)

Memories

All of us have something- a smell, sound, or sight that triggers childhood memories. For me, it is Kenny Rogers. Serious.

Are you done laughing?

I was packing a few boxes (more on that later) and had the TV on for background noise. And then I heard this.



and instantly remembered being a kid- in my parents car on my way to my grandparents house. My parents were big kenny rogers fans. Especially around the holidays. Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton were ALWAYS Christmas time favorites.

Anyway, it totally brought back all of those memories. They are just total classics- not something I listen to often, or own any CD's of...but I may just put a few of his songs on my iPod....

Oh, and it made me wonder just how old Kenny Rogers is?! Apparently he just turned 70! Crazy. He still sings the same- and oddly enough looks the same. :)

Spotted Dog on a Log 25/52

Spotted Dog on a Log 25/52, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

my photo from last week for the Flickr project.

:)