bcgirls

Northwest Regional is to be held at Argus Ranch in Auburn, WA again for the 2010 season.

Remember the qualifying year has changed to the end of August instead of mid September. With the possibility of the Cynosport games being the end of September pending approval of the new location.

Pending final approval for the NWest Regional:
July 9-11, 2010

Judge confirmed:
Dave Grubel

Come and join us for another great season, the trial was run very efficiently last year and there is plenty of room for more exhibitors this year.

Why not make it a week of Regionals, Bay Team's SW Regional to be held in Calif. the weekend before RHR's (July 4th weekend-SW Regional)

Contact myself or Jill Crawford with questions.
blynnb@mindspring.com
my3sams@comcast.net

Happy Holidays and besafe in your winter travels

Mother & I (boy that sounds like I’m 12) attended a xmas party at Sumner Vet last evening. They do a great job at making the matted area look “partyish”.

The caterer who does the main dishes did an exceptional good job on the food this year. A new chef? do not know but much nicer than years past. Roast Beef, Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy and the appropriate sauces to go along with it and staff bring the side dishes, Yummy!

Before the xmas dinner, I dropped mom off at the near by Fred Meyers, it is one of the mega stores, food, clothes, electronics, photos etc. She held out there while we went over curriculum at IADW.

When I picked mom up she had gotten one of the electric carts and had become scarily adept at maneuvering it around the store. Knew every aisle she could get thru with the electric cart. I was quite nervous watching her drive it though especially into the electronics dept. We looked at digital cameras, hoping my possible year end bonus will cover not only a set badly needed tires and a digital camera. Hope the surprise is that there isn’t one this year:-) Okay, I could do without the camera but the tires really are not Elma in December driving condition.

I did look at Les Schwab tires on Saturday, got a recent tire quality lesson as was planned and priced new wheels (nope that won’t happen) and left for more to do’s on a Saturday with mom. It was kind of bitter sweet. She does not get around too well on her feet these days and is pushing 80 so each year gets harder and harder for her. I am very thankful I can bring her up the last few winters to stay for a long visit. While it is the cold part of the seasons it is when I can offer her a “house” to hang in while I am away for work and teaching. Thanks to Lisa’s around the world trips in December each winter. Her home is very lovely and I got to tell yah again, the doggie door is heaven

FEBRUARY 6-7, 2010

USDAA® Sanctioned Tournament Event & Agility Test

Grand Prix of Dog Agility® World Championships &
Performance Grand PrixSM Championships &
Dog Agility Steeplechase® & Performance Speed JumpingSM &
2010 Qualifiers

Standard and Non Standard Classes
Championship and Performance All Levels
Argus Ranch Facility for Dogs
35612 – 212th Way SE
Auburn, Washington 98092


INDOORS ON DIRT

Judges
Scott Bartley
Sue Eastman * Supervisor: Sandra Katzen

ENTRIES CLOSE AT 5 PM, JANUARY 18
Secondary closing for advancement in level only, no later than 5 PM, Mon., Feb. 1.


RING 1 – SCOTT BARTLEY

PIII/Masters● Gamblers
PIII/Masters ● Standard
Perf Nat’l Std/Grand Prix
PIII/Masters/ ● Pairs


RING 2 – SUE EASTMAN
PII/Advanced ● Standard
PI/Starters ● Standard

PII/Advanced ● Gamblers
PI/Starters ● Gamblers
Speed Jumping &
Steeplechase Round 1

PII/Advanced ● Snooker
PI/Starters ● Snooker

RING 1 – SCOTT BARTLEY

Masters/ PIII● Snooker
Masters/ PIII ● Standard
Steeplechase/Speed Jumping

*****Round 2 ******
Masters/PIII ● Jumpers

RING 2 – SUE EASTMAN
Advanced/PII ● Standard
Starters/PI ● Standard

Advanced/PII ● Pairs
Starters/PI ● Pairs

Advanced/PII ● Jumpers
Starters/PI ● Jumpers


Not much else needed for now. Premium still in approval process but Jill said to go ahead and let folks know.

Jill got both judges lined up so it looks like this one will happen!

So if you need to plan time off this is what they are looking at.

Sorry AKC clubs RHR is double booking on Feb 6-7/2010.

Still pending USDAA final confirmations.

All Titling classes including Grand Prix & Steeple Chase (No TEAM)

I told the girls last night that whom ever got the DQ first today could (maybe) go to AKC Nationals in 2010....Kitt got it, Little Gemmie just has too much fun releasing herself at the start line, I couldn't save it.

Maybe next year for the two of them.

Took the girls herding at Fido's...thought Kitt may be sore afterwards and she is. But she thanked me over and over for going.

Good day at Trails end, hear it may be the last time there since its in foreclosure or something drastic!

Kitt had a smokin run in standard for a q. She is so hard to run other than all out. Pulled her off a jump in JWW but beautiful jumping she or they both did.
Called very hard over a jump on Gems run, and she couldn't keep it up. Anxious to see Gems time tomorrow on the sheets, she was moving pretty good. Gem broke her start line in Std and went off course. Then AFrame that I thought I would pay for I did. She got the yellow but may need to actually train running contacts to make me feel comfortable with them:-)

One more day this year for the girls to get their last DQ's for 2010 AKC......

Since mom dosen't celebrate holidays but like me she does like food. So I kept us home alone (At Lisas for another 3 weeks) and made or should I saw bought a ham from Trader Joes. Got one before a few years ago and still has a nice taste to it. They have the orange cranberry sauce and good pumpkin pie.
Mom made turkey sandwiches for the dog show today...we ate them for dinner instead.

After the trial in Olympia, of which Gem got dq #5 and some nice placements to boot. Poor Kitt think I will need to stop trialing Gem to make those last 3 dq's we need to happen. Will contemplate that one. Kitt had a great std run going when the 2nd bar of the 180 came down. I think she actually stumbled and couldn't get her self lifted high enough. The soil was loose just too loose right there. Her JWW was great take out the beginning and ending. The jumping in between was lovely I don't usually push her like that but she did lovely.
Gem did great, released earl on the AFrame, probably won't pay for that. But she is running like a little trooper and just barely 3 she is:-)

Back Sat & Sun, mom sat there all day today. Reminded me of my horse show days as a teenager. Mom near by. She does not get around very good at all. Uses a cane and is hunched over a bit. Runs very cold and yet she still comes along.

I asked her to go on a short hike near my office with the dogs Thursday, she did. I told her now I can tell you "I went on the hike again today, you remember the one:-)

What a great week of agility fun!

The weather was perfect for the dogs all during the competition week.

It was a bit chilly Saturday evening during Steeple Chase Finals, but we managed with our tall lemonade drinks…lol.

The event is one of my favorites at this venue. Seats are reserved via left over blankets duct taped to the benches for their favorite viewing. USDAA has added canopies over a section of the seating. Which is great during the day for protection from too much sun.

Thank goodness Jester was traveling in my group because his “noises” seem to make the airline staff deliver him and his traveling companions promptly. The dogs were waiting for us when we went to collect them at the Phoenix AK airlines freight area. Sweet. The trip to Oklahoma in 2008 was a long wait for all the dogs, this was very nice.

Not such a quick delivery back at SeaTac but still fairly prompt. Daisy says it happens all the time when she travels with Jester.

The house was great and by weeks end each of us had a dog contribute to wear and tear on the house…I was feeling smug for a while until 3:30 am the morning we left for Seattle. When Gem decided my trip to the bathroom was less important than hers out the back door even though she had been out 4 hours earlier. Thank goodness for a washable doormat and tile floor.

Having not been to Cynosport in 2008 with Kitts toe ligament injury. We had not experienced the longer than usual walk from kenneling to the rings. I did like the set-up this year better in that it was all in the same square mile It was still a walk back and forth with two dogs running in the same groups. I snagged an unused closer than my kennel space on Sat/Sun to accommodate my runs more easily.

The girls run great for me all week except for Kitt’s GP ¼ finals run…had not had that many errors on the same course in some time. All in all I handled the pressure better than years previously…yippee.

Got both girls into Steeple Chase Semi-finals starting with qtr finals, very happy about that. Kitt did miss an AFrame contact ( missed a few this week) and just barely squeaked in with the added time of the 5 sec fault…shes still quick enough for that to happen.
Gem ran lovely in Steeple Chase and earned an 8th place. She saw those big jump bars and popped up a bit higher than usual (good girl) to clear them.

Steeple Chase Semi’s, both girls were spot on other than Kitt’s 1st bar drop and Gems 3rd bar knock. When Gem reached me at the 3rd obstacle I saw out of the corner of my eye two people scampering off the course just to my right, my eyes twitched and Gem tried to change direction and down came the bar.

Team Jumpers, both girls knocked a bar. Kitt lost the first bar, Gem the 3rd bar, I sent Gem too far away from me on the 4-6 line and she needed to come back in a bit. When I paused it was not long enough and moved over the triple bar, everything else was great.

Team Standard on Friday was a nice fun course, not too tricky but enough to be interesting. Kitt missed her AFrame again but ran just lovely. Gem had several errors but stayed on course. It was down right amazing we stayed on course. Very shortly into the run I realized I had not zipped my zipper and reached to cover up myself for the rest of the run. If I could only remember what color everything was as to blend together and keep my head while running (amazing how much can run in your head in a very short tome), 2 refusals @WP and a r/c to a jump. Pretty good recovery for me. They did not match btw.

Team Snooker, Kitt did great nice and smooth 1-5-1-6-1-7 then closing, missed the last 7 due to me getting so excited we made it that far and rushed the 7a off the 3 obstacle closing. But very nice work. Gemmie, little darling was set-up to do the same course and she knocked the first red, fortunately for us I jumped back to my original plan and went from there. At least one or two places on course I stopped her to recheck where I was at with the delays in figuring out where to go next the buzzer went off on the final closing obstacle, but we recovered and did nicely for the team anyway.

Team Gamblers, Kitt was just terrific smooth and clean went for the 10 point gamble with both girls. Gem did really well too 37 points instead of Kitt’s 39, not sure what we left out maybe it was the one extra tire Kitt got for 2 points.

The Team Relay was fun mostly cause I didn’t yuck up in my first “Finals” run! It would have been nice to have some Finalist ribbon like is given out in GP & Stpl chase, but I have memories of a great week.

The European runs were fun, I pulled the girls out early on the WP exits Sunday ..huh wonder what happened there? But they just ran well with all the info. they were provided by me.

Gem blew her start line on Sundays European jumpers…sit, sit, stay, sit “I’m coming” was her expression. Hard not to smirk at her as she was coming.

A great week would love to do it all over again in 2010, but sounds like it will be in Philly or Kentucky, so not sure it will happen. I am so happy to have been able to take them both and not “yuck up majorly”.

Thanks Teddy and Daisy for a great week in Scottsdale!

You tube:"blynnb44" for Steeple Chase 1/4 finals video.

I entered the girls for only one day this weekend to be able to rest, relax on Sunday morning, do laundry, organize the van for Wednesdays shuttle of 4 dogs to the airport. Wash their nice fourpawrun leashes and harnesses for the trek to Scottsdale. That kind of stuff.

The 2nd rising was at 9am and I headed over to the trial to watch friends run and celebrate their successes. It was nice to sit there and think to myself " wish I would have entered...nope". I do get very happy and excited for my friends when they achieve milestones and stepping stones in their mental game, dog training game etc. It was just as fulfilling to watch for half a day (yes I ran back and forth with the whole laundry thing) and then go about my business.

Kitt Q'd in Standard with a nice moderate paced smooth as could be run.
JWW was just as smooth other than dropping two bars. I was told I was a bit late on the f/c for the first bar but the 2nd bar there was no f/c or r/c involved but I was further ahead of her than usual. It was mentioned she was squealing over the first dropped bar and again with the 2nd which is what Kitt will do when I get ahead of her in the weaves "squeal" so note to self good to be ahead but not too far ahead for her at Cynosport.

Gemmie darling, broke her start line in std and I was not rotated yet for my lead out so when I turned around she was coming thru the tire and I was still too close to the jump and my rotation and all that caused her to do a hard bar knocking, drat and I did not pull her off.

So with an extra verbal sit command or two...Gemmie had a bang up JWW run on Saturday!

The weaves were the 2nd to last obstacle and it was straight out to a jump after that.

So half way thru the poles this little black shaved poodle came running across the ring towards the weave poles. I think if I had not stopped Gem may have continued on thru the poles. But we stopped and a horrified poodle owner apologetically called for her poodle.

The judge was talking so fast and so concerned that Gem may be scarred with the weave poles now that she said to put her back thru them before rerunning the course. Gem could care less but it was very nice of the judge.

So I reran immediately and handled exactly the same as the first run (which is hard for me) and little Gemmie won the class by half a second and that was beating the fast mature dog times. Granted she knew the course already but for that little pip squeak to have that time on the 2nd try she wasn't too shabby the first try.

So the little black poodle helped us out, not only to try the start line again and be successful, I handled the same and did not get nervous and Gemmie got much needed dbl points to help in qualifying for 2010 AKC Nationals...if we go:-) Thanks little black poodle!

Nice weekend,

Sunday was simply gorgeous!

Saturday was interesting…poured and it was windy thru Friday evening. I think the rain let up around noon-1pm.

I put my 3 person swing bench on craigslist for “FREE” it just needs a new home. Ok it’s a little discolored; well a lot discolored from the weather but is highly comfortable and seats 3 people or one medium tall person horizontal…lol.
Still both women that called and made plans never showed up and did not say they were not coming, not too polite. Good thing I was captivated all day thus not waiting around for them to show up.

I do have a dog kennel 4x8 to give away as well. It was passed along to me and I still don’t need nor use it. It is extremely sturdy and heavy. It is 3 sided the back side is open and designed to attach to a wall, indoor/outdoor garage wall or the like. A 4x8 sheet of plywood would work as well. It can be made into two 4x4’s and each with their own door for doggie access. FREE as well. Just needs a new home.

Sunday we Donna for Alaska has been down for a couple of weeks and a couple more to go. It is so nice having her there on the property and to share a meal with now and then. Donna and I were invited for dinner Sunday after the trial.
We wanted to hike with the dogs but now with one hour less it was going to be tricky getting much time for the dogs. We headed to Mud Mtn Dam the non-smelly side as DP named it. And it was just getting too dark so we stopped on the South side of Pike’s Peek. There is a gravely road still steep but nothing, I mean nothing like the North side of the Peek. Talk about torture, seems like that side is a straight up climb. A great work out though. Coming down is no easy task either.

So after Donna waited for me several times while I caught my breath. We made it to a tiny little plateau and hung a little while till just dark. Passed a few hikers coming down the road and confirmed what Peek we were on.

David made dinner again. We had salad along with some great wine choices Donna made at Safeway, some chit chat and a coconut soup, Thai style. Tom Ka or something close to that. Very delicious.
Lemon bars for dessert a board game and the evening was complete. I was sleepy and the wine put me in one of those “where is my blankey” mode. I had a hard time adding up my score so pulled out the cell phone and calculated. Good news was my last score was better than the first but still lowest score. Being average is not something I aspire to, but seems to follow me in many ways.

The Dog show, ok Gem and I are not communicating at one or two places on a course I suspect its mostly because Kitt is very near her MACH and my caring factor is just low with her right now in AKC that is, plenty of time for Gem in the future. Start lines and contacts are her major requirement at this point.

Kitt has 3 DQ’s to go, got #17 on Saturday and a JWW Q Sunday. I rotated late on a f/c in standard. Completely my impatience that made the bar come down. There was a delay for the judge to move across our path (yes you Jill :-) and while the dog was on the table the wait for her to go past seemed forever and then to move into position I was just too rushed and should have paused a smidge longer. So I caused her to drop a bar. She is running really nicely, looks healthy and sound very nice girlie. Thanks bubbie!

DonnaK ran Kitt in Time To Beat and won the round. First time Donna has run someone else’s dog so it was very nice for her to be successful.

Ok, one day at Sno-King, then rest, pack exercise dogs, do laundry and finalize packing on Sunday…yippee. Really looking forward to the dry warmer weather. I have never felt this strong about the cold, damp air in WA before…sounds like a moment of reflective appreciation is needed….()*&*%&^ nope…lol, maybe another day. Enjoy the day looks like another clear one.

Gosh I am very lucky to be at work this morning!

Yesterdays hike on a trail head off H169 the west side proved to be one of those re-centering glad I’m a live experiences.

Mind you I would go back again, but stay on the main road and when I diverted off not walk as far and reconnect with the main road more often. A compass and or GPS would be very useful tools and a hiking buddy to get lost with.

First clue in a ways was there was surveyors tape everywhere on the trees as trail markers. I had just purchased some in anticipation of going to this location. To mark the dogs collars tails etc for an easy visual for anyone to see them and identify them as beloved pets. I had also purchased 10 bags of play chips for the dog runs, which was to be the afternoon project.

The main road which was gated off with a pipe type gate was a normal road. There were many offshoot trials immediately but did not go there because it paralled the hwy and wanted to let the dogs loose asap.

We walked for a ways on the main road then took some off trails on the North side of the road. Kitt kept popping off the main road and showing up down on the main road a ways up. So the trails obviously circled back quickly. Didn’t know about the obvious message the surveyors tape would provide yet.

The trail surface was fabulous, loose soil, twigs some rocks, roots, trees to jump over and between fallen branches, (underbrush varied cleared and not) trials quickly went up hill and down hill again and again. The path proved to be terrific exercise for the dogs (and myself ) using all parts of their body for a nice balanced workout.

About 30 minutes into it I started to think about returning to the van. When I was serious about leaving and heading back , my attempts to follow the same trail out was clearly becoming futile. In hind sight I was heading further into the forest west which was the wrong way. I noticed the surveyors tape had disappeared, not a good sign. The girls were still running about, Gem is so endearing when she looses sight of me, she really gets nervous and searches very hard (as I watch from behind a tree). When she finds me she hangs around for a while, one of those nice to have pets moments.

Kitt finds me quickly but moves out again. Kitt has quite a long range when hiking, anyway Kitt and Gem were hanging tight, Nikki had not returned for awhile. I whistled for her and she eventually came near to me. At that point I could tell she was “looking” for me but couldn’t see, hear me about 40’ away. I called and called and she flipped away from me going deeper into the woods, is she chasing a bunny. I’m calling, whistling etc. she keeps going. I had already become turned around in the woods and would not be smart to go further unless absolutely necessary, which it was not yet. I continued calling and listening for any sounds of her moving about, nothing. I picked up a stick and whacked a tree for a while. Then hey I got Kitt she can bark…that proved fruitful, Nikki appeared shortly all smiles. When they got disoriented I love giving that pet twith a tone of hi sweety your safe now. They all stayed a bit closer for awhile.

We continued back and forth for quite some time. Eventually came to an open field area. It had been mowed, hay or govt. property that was being maintained. We went across the field and along a well used logging road. I just didn’t know if I was heading in or out of the property. I walked for half an hour or so and called some friends that take 98% of their vacations to go hiking, the Grand Canyon several times. I asked for advice on how to manage my predicament. Mike was ready to head out to the trail head (they had been here a year earlier and understood why the problem). We talked a few more times thru out the hour. And I decided to go back to the surveyors taped trails.

As I did very shortly into the taped trails, Nikki spotted a very large tree trunk that had fallen. She literally back tracked and hopped up on it. It was 8’ or so from the ground and as she perched there I snapped a cell phone pic. When done and I got her to go back to the low end to jump off, I turned around and there was this man on a bicycle staring at us. I was very much on edge at this point due to my predicament and his quite presence really startled me. He had a BC as a kid and was intrigued by my 3 girls.

So I asked and the question. He didn’t know either how to get out. He said when he bikes in here he just rides until he gets out somewhere  ugh.

Shortly there after another couple appeared and the man told me to go to this direction and at the mound of personal affects turn left, go till a flat ridge appears and at the 4 way juncture turn right and follow it straight. It must have been a mile plus. We walked and walked seeing other people way ahead in brightly colored clothing criss crossing our trail and heading away from us a few times. So we walked on, eventually on one of my 360 turns to view behind us there was a man and a dog walking quite some distance back. We kept going forward. I could hear the hwy traffic noise getting louder so I was feeling much better. Then the traffic noise was getting quieter, that’s not right but he said to go straight which probably would have gotten us to H169 but way further North. So I turned around and walked back to the man and asked the question. Fortunately just 50’ back and left turn would put us on a ½ mile trial to H169…and it did.
But not without one more scare. It was not a ½ mile it was much shorter…which all sounds good but the dogs were not on leash yet. Kitt had ventured off and was not coming readily when I called. Nikki, Gem came and on leash they went. Since I could now see the tops of vehicles passing swiftly up thru the brush. I called and called for what seemed like 20 minutes. Waiting on pins and needles to hear brakes screeching, god I hate that. Gem kept pulling to go on an off shoot trail but again did not want to get off the main trail. I stood and continued to call with a few swear words mixed in there. She eventually came but from behind me. So I still don’t know which direction she came from the road or trail.?

We got to H169 and there were a couple of guys there and I asked what was which way on the road? (I was not at the entrance by any means) He recommended to go South so we hung a right and walked along the road probably ½ mile +. The red mini-van never looked so good.

Piled the girls in and they were exhausted, Nikki’s legs were wobbly. We went just a short distance to the doggie u bathe place and soaked Gem for quite some time to get the muck off, dirt just kept pouring out of her. Kitt was not as muddy but definitely dirty. Her tail collects and there was a bit of pulling going on to get them out. Nikki some how was quite clean but gave her a rinse anyway.

I chucked the eat soup plan for dinner and ordered good garlicky pizza. Got the girls some dog biscuits and fed them a good handful, they had to be famished too. Picked up the pizza I ordered and headed home to my couch. “We” didn’t move for hours. Ate way too much pizza…but hey I walked it off right?

I did unload the 10 bags of play chips around 9pm. Dog runs will have to wait till later November to be completed.

Gosh I’m glad to be at work this morning. Nikki is with me to recover, Kitt & Gem are enjoying the fresh play chip base in the dog run.

RHR USDAA Dec 2009-CANCELLED, USDAA says they are too busy to work with RHR without more lead time, Cynosport and web issues are capturing their attention these days.

I am very sad...pass the word

Sunday was a lovely day. Daisy and I were to go hiking. She offered to come to Argus to help me get started on rearranging the dog runs and then head out for a romp (it will give the dogs a lot more space when its completed. Holly, Ricky had the barn roof extended over the dog runs a few weeks ago, how sweet was that..:-) )

I really did enjoy the experience comments are only for entertainment purposes

Sunday was a lovely day...until we went to Mud Mtn Dam, we took a more Eastern entrance to get to the river bed. Well it was much less of an effort and descent then I thought it would be to get there. The other entrance we typically go to is at a much higher elevation and a bit scarey when looking down the cliff.

Anyway got the dogs out of the car and to the trial head that allowed access on a private road. As we began to descend...I of course was thinking about the return trip up. How long and steep is that going to be?

Daisy took pictures of all 7 dogs on a stack of logs (hopefully those show up on LJ) and other locations thru out the journey. We get towards the bottom and Kitt, who has quite a long range on her seeks out the river and come to find out other things as well.

We get lower and closer to the river and this smell came over the area, I'm thinking bear? Wait what is it?...well it happens to be the lost valley of the dead salmon runs.

By the time we make it to the edge above the riverbed Kitt is gone for some time. I become concerned for her but she soon appears afte some calling and whistling.

Over the edge of the bank it looks too steep for even the dogs, but is made of very soft material and the dogs loved digging in and descending and climbing back up again. We of course were not going there.

Looking over the edge and down below Sugar found old or rather new dead Salmon on the banks and you know what happened next. Kitt was just down stream doing the same.

Several rolls in the salmon later by Kitt, Sugar, Gem and they were double crated in the back of the van (Daisy took Sugar in her truck) as to not get mine overly stinky, other the the obvious aroma that filled the air. I was not certain having the windows open was an advantage since it stirred up the air so much. There was one stoplight that was "aaahhh its normal air now" but did not last long until we moved again.

It was a wretched smell. Hopefully Lisa's Oxi clean will get the smell out of the crate bedding:-)

Daisy had a great idea to stop at her place on my way to Browns Point to bathe the dogs. Since I had mentioned that all the Sunday self bathing places would probably be closed by then. If I used the tub I would have been on a back stretcher for a few days:-) She has a doggy bath outside with warm water.

Yes I bathed 4 dogs fully and Nikki had just the top side bathed. (Daisy's dogs were thrown in between mine on rotation to clean their undersides) I have no idea how Nikki managed not roll in it for that is a Nikki thing. Her sniffer must not be working too well. She stays fairly close by on hikes these days so she can see, hear her way more safely I suppose.

Daisy felt pretty bad about the smelly dog thing since we were going to the other entrance and she passed me by in the truck and said "trust me" (follow me) as we drove past where we were going and headed further east.
She hung outside with me until I was done bathing all the dogs, that was nice.

David ended the smelly adventure with some homemade Enchiladas and home made green sauce for dinner, that was delicious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MamKYytutIs

ok Im really a newbie at this, hope its accessable

What group are you in?

Nikki was glad to be back with the pack Sunday when Dan brought her to the fairgrounds. Found tick on her back as I reached to pet her and welcome her back. I worked hard to get it out, no winching from her at all.

After the trial “we”, all ten: Trek, Zephyr, Lark, Echo, Ceilidh, Tai, Sugar, Gem, Kitt and Nikki went to the East side of the fairgrounds for a last romp on a nice open grassy area shown me previously in the weekend.

Except for the cat crap that a couple of dogs tried to roll in on the way to the grass it was uneventful. That many knuckle heads running about can be a little unnerving.

On the way to the grass Nikki made a very simple step from the raised grass edge along the pavement down to the pavement. Her back legs did not adjust well for the change in elevation and she tumbled on to her right knee. Her rear barely lifted her up to keep from completing dropping, it was very sad to see happen. She drug her back right knee on the pavement. I hurried over to give it a good rub to get the ouch out and then she went on her merry way. Later chasing Frisbees and her purple leash that I tie in one knot and toss for her to retrieve, she loves the game.

On the way back she walked across a rather large metal grate in the pavement and dropped again on her rear not like before but just weird old dog stuff…god she’s killing me with this aging thing. Did she see it… not too certain she did. Her eyes look quite clear but not all peripheral works these days, at least that’s what it appears to be.

She thoroughly enjoyed her play on the grass though, chasing her leash and a Frisbee when it was tossed in her direction and she felt brave enough to go after it with all those dogs around (never use to think about not diving for it except this past year or so).

Go girl, I may put her in the November Old dogs Retirement group at the Thanks Giving AKC Trial in Nov P JWW at 16” for fun.

Calendars and dates are getting full so this is what we found for a date.

RHR is putting on another USDAA trial to be held at Argus Ranch in Auburn, WA 2009. Come bundled up bring your mittens and hats and join in.

All classes except Pairs/Perf. Relay will be offered including Grand Prix & Steeple Chase for the 2010 qualifying year. (No TEAM event, come to RATs trial the following weekend for classes and TEAM in Elma, WA)

The premium will be out soon when Jill has some down time, judges will be Sue Eastman (Supervising judge, Sandra Katzen) and Tammy D.

Without Pairs classes it will help keep the schedule a bit lighter and an earlier evening for all of you getting to those Christmas parties in December.

Premium will be out soon so keep tuned.

Contact Jill Crawford my3sams@comcast.net

Baby dogs Ruled this weekend in the tournament classes!

Open big dog’s in Grand Prix and Steeple Chase were all won by 2-3 year olds!

Very cool for the pupsters.

It was a great weekend, very chilly in the bldg. in the mornings. I am not usually cold but I was this time, a nice change for me.
Great friends sharing in a hobby we all love!

Weather was clear and grass was green. Lots of vendors and excellent accommodations for me and the girls.
Christine Schulman made a wonderful Pot Roast Saturday with nummy vegetables and a belated chocolate b-day cake for David on Saturday evening. The Pinot I brought was delicious.

Nikki stayed with x-hubby, her poppa for the weekend, she seemed happy to see him when he showed up to get her and happy when she was dropped off, that’s all I need. She hides nothing in her little personality so I’m good with it all.

Kitt ran well when she followed me…lol. She was a little wild hair this weekend 3 runs she just went off and found some equipment she would like to do. Broke a start line and blew any chances of a CUP.
While at the moment it’s a bit frustrating she obviously was feeling excellent…go girl!

Kitt, earned a Masters Standard Q2nd, Masters Snookers Q5th and a SQ too, Masters jumpers Q1st.

Her Grand Prix run was lovely, I said her name over a bar for no reason and did not know until I watched the video and heard loudly “Kitt” on the bar before the chute, lovely, lovely run though and a lovely time. Good girlie.

Gem, and her partner Roo earned a Masters Pairs Q4th (I think), Masters Gamblers Q, and the little darling surprised me and won a run off for 1st in Grand Prix 22", we got it done. Thanks Daisy for being such a great competitor! It was very fun to do the run off and not loose it under pressure. That and a GP Q for 2010 very happy with.

Steeple Chase was a total bust for me and the girls, oh well there will be more of those to come.

Very happy for some friends whose young dogs did awesome this weekend, Tai for his first SuperQ 2nd pl and 2nd in Steeple Chase, Echo first Masters Standard Q4th, Epic for winning 22” Steeple Chase, Solar winning GP & Stpl 26” and Teddy with River for going 8/8 runs this weekend and 3rd in Steeple Chase…sorry if I didn’t mention someone else I know.

Daisy it was pretty funny watching your face in Masters Jumpers when you realized you couldn’t get that f/c in with Solar after the 1st tunnel…plan b and it worked.

CAT fun trial, it had a more relaxed atmosphere and yet everything got done, I hear your thinking of rubberizing…super!

Nikki was my demo dog in Pet Dog Obed II last evening. There is an x-pen in the training bldg. a lovely fluffy mat, treats in a kong etc. All for her comfort until she is called upon to perform.

ok she is 13+ and as a puppy living in an apt. and a previous owner of many Shelties...she was debarked, twice. Not proud of this but it was done.
So last evening while waiting impatiently for her turn or to be tossed more kibble over the x-pen wall...she barked...but this sounded like a harsh smokers cough. Sounded horrible.

She does have the lung x-rays that showed considerable cloudiness a year ago. Anyone with older dogs and what happens to their lungs as they age, vet says no heart issue, fluid etc. going on.
Maybe someone that has had a debarked dog...could be from her voice box area, don't know.

Any comments appreciated even the anti de-bark ones...lol
Blynn