Happy 80th Birthday Don!!

Today is Don's 80th Birthday!!

Don and his "Happy Birthday Bar"

 Don and Tina are still smokin' the courses!

They had a fabulous weekend at ICDOC

last weekend, finishing with a DQ on Sunday!

Don is always fun to watch and talk to.

He's known for his 'Abbreviated' Front Cross, 

and it sure works well for him. 

Of course you can't have a birthday 

without cake!!

Fall Trick Class 2011

We had our First Trick Class this Fall. 

I had a lot of fun, and I think the participants did as well. 

 

Tricks are a great way for .....

 Your dog to learn to learn.

The handler to learn how the dog learns.

To build a Relationship with your dog.

To learn balance skills/body awareness.

Warming up for performance events.

FUN ENTERTAINMENT!

One interesting observation during class was that people tended to migrate to the same 'work station', or location in the room each night.  On 'Graduation' night, they had to come up on front to 'show off'.  Just moving the dog from the 'safety' of their normal work area, along with the handler's nerves of being in front of a group, was enough to impact some dogs performance.  Lesson Learned!  Next time we'll be rotating work stations every class!  This might be something you want to think about in your own training.  

Do you have a 'favorite' spot?

Get out of your 'comfort zone'.

Even at home...do you train in the same room?

Try moving around the house!

Below is a movie of just 

'some' of the tricks we touched on!

WELL DONE Class!!!

Nettle - 8 month picture

 

I haven't had the camera out as much lately.

So, the sun was out, I had a few minutes, 

so headed out to the front yard for a couple pictures.

She'd just had a bath and I 

wanted to catch her CLEAN!!

Trust me, it doesn't last!

We have a couple squirrels hanging around!

Never had squirrels before!

Good news...they are cute!

Bad news...they leave corn cobs around. 

Nothing more dangerous for a dog

to eat than a corn cob!

I always check the yard for them, 

when I let the dogs our front to play.

I found this one, but didn't quite throw

it far enough to get it over the fence. 

Nettle of course was going to retrieve it, 

so, good news...it got her away from me. 

I promptly tossed it over the fence 

after taking a couple pictures.

Nettle's 8 Months Old Today!

Time is just a flying!  Nettle looks like a grown up dog in size, so I need to keep reminding myself that she’s just a puppy.  She’s about 19 ½ inches tall now and 40 lbs.  At this point, she might as well get up to 20 ¾ to help her over those 22” USDAA jump heights.  Although, I might be running at 26” if she keeps clearing those 3’ ring gates.  Lesson learned!  If you’re playing with Seeker, Nettle needs to go in a ‘box’, or over the gate will come! 

 

Related to both Mad and Nina, she shows some very similar behaviors!  She has more “Mad-is-um’s” than “Nina-is-ums”, and unfortunately…the Nina-is-um is the BAD ONE!  Namely Digging!  Of course, with Nina, we always blamed this behavior on Jamie…….but, maybe it wasn’t him after all? 

 

Nettle is a very willing learner, but easily distracted.  That’s okay, so am I!

 

Just like with most puppies, if it’s quite and she’s not in sight….you’d best go look for her!  Thus the reason for the 2 new baby gates.

BTW – The Munchkin Easy Close Metal Baby Gates are awesome!!  Even ‘if’ Nettle jumps over them.  She jumps over our “Rover Gate” too, that’s made of PVC….so, it makes not difference to her!  She’s an equal opportunity jumper!

 

Mad loved to come under the covers and cuddle while I read a book in bed.  One evening, Nettle wanted under, so I thought “Oh…isn’t this cute”…..so, I let her under.  BAD IDEA!  She didn’t want to cuddle at all!  She wanted to rut under the blankets like a pig…ended up pulling all the bedding up.  She stayed under, running in circles, having a grand ole time.  I finally got her out, and remade the bed. She tried it again the next evening….’Um…I DON’T THINK SO!” 

 

She’s very attracted to my cats.  We have 4 ‘farm’ cats, that are ‘freeloaders’…aka – food comes from a bag, why eat a mouse from the barn??  Nettle goes to visit them any chance she gets.  Our 12 year old cat, Chemi, will roll around on the ground, while Nettle sniffs her.  The 9 year old cat, Cher, gives Nettle the ‘eye’, so Nettle doesn’t even try.  The two 4 year old boys, Cougar and Chatter, draw her in, and then swat her on the nose.  Nettle’s caught on to those two, so approaches with caution. 

 

Likes –

 

CATS, Seeker, Kruz, Momma, Poppa (in that order)

Orbees!! 

Chew toys

Stuffed Kongs

ROCKS!!! 

Going for a run in the open fields

Clicker Training – trick training

Jump Bumps

Running ‘dog walk’…aka Carpet

Tunnels and Chute!

Retrieving her bumper

Playing Tug

Sleeping on the bed

 

 

Dislikes –

 

Blow dries

Peanut butter

Potatoes – unless they have sour cream in them.

Waiting her turn for ‘training’.

 

Naughties!

 

Jumps the new 3’ ‘baby gates’, from a stand still.

Chews up EVERYTHING!

Digging Holes in the Yard

Sometimes won’t come inside when called.

Jumping up on us

 

Some Evidence!!

Seeker's favorite Squeaky Ball!

 

Squeaky Ball meets Nettle

 Nettle demonstrates "Global Warming"
on her Orbee Ball....
There used be islands
on the Planet Earth!

The Rock she brought inside
with her this morning.
(Almost a daily occurrence) 
"Trust me...it's a rock!!"

One of her new favorite
Kongs!

Orbee bone ends....
I know the rest of it is around here...
somewhere!  Honest!

Cute little baby toy.
I'm afraid to give it to her anymore!!
Do you blame me??

 

 

Kruz's One Million Mile Check up!

Kruz had his routine check up yesterday.

Everything seems to be in 'working' order....

or as much order as it can be when you're 

a March of 1998 Model.

 

 The only 'concern' was with his BUN and Cre levels, 

so, we'll be looking to make some slight adjustments

to his diet.  I'll continue with 'raw', as we've

fed this since 2000, but do a little research 

in order to find one that might be a bit more

heart and kidney friendly for our guy.  

Overall, he appears to be in 

tip top shape!

YOU GO KRUZ!!!

Fall Feast - N - Kong Fillers!!

Strangely enough, I have a domestic side.

I have more 'hobbies' than most people.

In fact, I can't imagine not having them!

So, yesterday after I did my chores, 

I brought in a couple pumpkins & went to work. 

Doing what?

Making Pumpkin Puree of course!

This is great not only for pies, 

breads, muffins and such....

but as kong fillers!

Simply fill a kong and 

place it in the freezer!

The dogs LOVE THEM!

One large pumpkin makes 3 pies, 

and fills 6 kongs!

One Large pumpkin

from my garden. 

The birds eat the seeds and skins!

Very little waste and the 

"Windy Hill Fowl Farm and Puppy Ranch"!

Yes, the Turkeys survived TG!!

Bake at 350 degrees 

for about an hour.

A fork should easily pierce the flesh

Remove the outside skin.

 Slice into chunks.

A food processor works great. 

We don't have one, but

potato masher and hand 

mixer work great too!

Alas....we are out of evaporated milk.

So....no pie today.  

Best One Yet - Agiilty Dog Potty Dance!

OMG!

Have a tissue ready!

TOO FUNNY!!