Snow-Fun

 Nettle had her first experience with snow on Thursday. 

To say she 'LIKED IT' is an understatement!

SHE LOVES IT!! 

Unfortunately, it clings to her like burrs, 

so she needs to hit the tub when we come in.

Yesterday we took the dogs for a run in the fields, 

and she had an unbelievable amount of snow attached to her.

 

It was a mess!!

She had a lot of fun anyway. 

I don't think she understood why Seeker was

running just as fast as ever, when she wasn't.

Of course, she was probably carrying an extra

10 lbs of weight by the time we got home. 

Although we only got a few inches of snow, 

we had high winds which conveniently blew it 

into our normal walking area.  

Our walk consisted of just a dusting of snow, 

to drifts upwards of 6'.  It was fun watching Nettle

try to run up those drifts, only to find out she was stuck.

They were nice and tired by the time we got home.

 

Spam-O-Lious Party!

Yes, we had a Spam-O-Lious Party!

I debated on putting this on the agility blog, but since the party did actually result from a conversation at an agility trial, I thought it fit the necessary requirements.  It's amazing the things you talk about while you're waiting for your class to begin.  There are times you have several hours of down time, and with our group, NOTHING is off limits.  

At the DMOTC Trial in October, the discussion somehow turned to SPAM.  No, not the e-mail variety...but the 'food' variety.  (If you can call SPAM food that is)  I believe Marsha's parents, Linda and Harry, started it.  Then Liz jumped in and pretty soon we were talking about having a SPAM party.  

I can honestly say I'd never eaten SPAM before last night, nor do I ever plan on eating it again.  The joke last night was that we were eating a product we would NEVER consider feeding to our dogs.  

But I digress!

It's amazing how many SPAM Recipes are available, and the group did not disappoint.  

I tried to get pictures of most of the items.....some Non-SPAM foods as well, before the vultures (that would be us humans) swooped in for the 'kill'. 

Missing is Rilda's SPAM dip, which didn't sound like it had much SPAM in it, 

but was still able to have that classic pink SPAM color.! 

Also, Meg's beans and SPAM!!

Very YUMMY!!

(SPAM Pizza!  Totally eatable!) 

(SPAM Quiche - not bad! Ham next time!)

SPAM-chiladas! 

(Impostor Cheese-chiladas in foil)

Sauce was a GOOD thing for SPAM!

 (SPAM bacon wraps)

Tasted like BACON!

(AKA - SPAM on a stick!)

 Liz's favorite - Fried SPAM!!

SPAM Puffs

The recipe claimed they won her

first place in a SPAM cook off.

Very Scary!!

 

The 'non SPAM' table

 

The Fruit Kabobs were AWESOME!

(Non-SPAM)

A loaded PLATE!!

It all looks good enough to eat!

 

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/spam-puffs/detail.aspx

If you're every in a SPAM bake off, 

I've listed the recipe above.......

Here are the ingredients needed.

SPAM shreds very easily!!

Add cheese and baking mix. 

 Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350.

They look ALMOST the same going in the oven,

as coming out.  I found that a little disturbing!

 

More SPAM-O-Lious Fun coming on 1/19/2012!!

STAY TUNED!!

Who Wants to Make a Movie!!

Just Plain FUN!!!

On Line Courses - Are They Right for You?

As technology evolves, so does the way in which we can 

take classes, seminars, or even private lessons. 

On line courses are becoming more common place, 

yes, even in the area of dog training. 

Who would have thought?

As with everything else, it started slowly, 

but now it seems like almost everyone is offering them.

Are They Right for You? 

There are of course, pros to taking classes on line. 

*  Save travel time.

*  Save money on gas.

*  A wide variety of instructor choices. 

*  A wide variety of subjects.

*  Some are 'study' at your own time.

On the flip side, there are cons to on line classes. 

* Getting lost in the crowd. 

*  Getting the personal feedback as you need.

*  Not understanding the concepts of the exercise.

*  Poor technological equipment (on either side of the computer)

*  The need to video tape your training sessions. 

*  Social aspect, visiting with your friends.

*  The ability to communicate in written form, expressing

not only your needs, but understanding what is being written.

I'm sure there are MANY more pros/cons.

I have taken on-line courses, a seminar, and 

some private lessons on line. 

Most I've thoroughly enjoyed.

How about you?  Pros/Cons??

9 Month Old Nettle

Yesterday we finally got around to taking

our 'X-mas' picture. 

Okay, so it's January and I'm 

a little behind! G

You might not realize how difficult

it is to take a picture of a 'white' dog, 

and a black dog, together. 

Trust me, it's a challenge!

Luckily PhotoShop E allowed 

me to lighten up Nettle a bit. 

I'm going to guess that she's done

growing now?  

I haven't measured her in quite awhile, 

but guessing she's about 19.5". 

She can keep growing, as long

as she stays under 21" for USDAA. 

At this point, I'd say we're safe. 

We're continuing to work on recalls, 

they are better, but might be something

we struggle with for awhile. 

We've work a few obstacles (agility), 

but not a lot. She knows what to 

do with the 'running dogwalk', which

is still carpet.  I'll have to get her

on a plank soon I suppose. 

Continuing our trick training. 

Our newest challenge is for her to 

jump on the bottom of my shoes, 

while I'm laying on my back with 

feet in the air.  Not sure this is 

wise??  But we're having fun playing

with the idea anyway. 

She's the opposite of Seeker when 

it comes to moving obstacles. 

She could care less. 

Our retrieves are coming along. 

Just started working our float line. 

Alas, I won't be able to trial her in

water this year, as I've water judging

assignments the weekends of MN/IL

water trials.  Poor planning on my

part I guess, next year will be fine. 

It's all about the TOKENS!!

I don’t know about you, but I LOVE TOKENS given at trails. 

Ribbons are nice, but let’s face it, 

what do you do with them after awhile.

Last weekend Seeker got a Super Q in Snooker.  

That alone is great…but then we got this cool BOOK MARKER!!! 

It was totally awesome!

Okay..so now I have to get a book, 

I've been reading on my nook for almost a year now. 

I'm on the library 'book' waiting list

 for 11/22/63....(1963), it might be

11/22/2063 before I get it!

My strategy for Saturday’s snooker was to complete 4 reds 

you have a choice of 3 or 4 reds) reds are worth one point.  

So, the plan was, red to 5 combo, red to 7 (aframe), red to 6 combo, 

red to 6 combo, then the closing (2-7).  

(If I can find the course I'll post it...UGH!!) 

We made it through successfully under time for a total of 55 pts, 

second place and a SQ! 

YIPPEE!!!

No Resolutions - DAM Team - Qualifier-12/30/2011

After a few last minute changes, 

which resulted in moving Seeker to 22"

for the weekend our team ended up being:

No Resolutions

16" Kai - Border Staff & Laura Slusher

22" Bomber - Australian Cattle Dog & Angie Fink

22" Seeker - Border Collie & Tammy Etscheidt 

(Qualified in 6th place)

DAM TEAM = Dog Agility Masters = 

three-dog teams that compete in five classes of competition - 

Standard Agility, Snooker Agility, Jumpers, Gamblers Choice

and Three-dog Team Relay.

Just to make it interesting, the rules are 

a bit different than the 'regular' gamblers 

and snookers rules.  Jumpers also 

includes weave poles on DAM Team day. 

A qualifying score shall be awarded to competitors 

who compete in all five classes and whose team scores are 850 points or more, 

or within 25% of the average of the total points earned by the

top three teams after the fifth and final class, whichever is greater.

(I obviously just wait for the results to be posted!)

Here are the Friday's Courses!
(Double Click on them to make them larger)

(Gamblers - with 2 closing options)

(Snooker)

(Seeker and I completed 2 - 7's and a 5 to the 

closing, he was perfect!!)

 Standard

 Jumpers

(Seeker won the class)

Team Relay

(Bomber, Kai, and Seeker as anchor)

 

What a great time!

Looking forward to another

Team Event in February!!