Christmas, Naughty Black Dog and more

First up - I hope everyone had a great Christmas. It has been very busy here with parties Christmas Day, Boxing day and thereafter ;). My brother came home from Sydney on Boxing day so have barely had time to be on the computer etc (shock, horror, there is a life away from here!). Went to the beach on Friday when it was about 35deg and generally just been having a good time out in the sun etc. Went down to the Kepala Pet Resort again today and both the dogs and I had a ball. We weren't too naughty either ;). Not too much 'in your face' etc.

Over Christmas we had quite a few families over, some with young children (eldest at 7yrs) so kept the dogs downstairs separated from the kids. All of which are used to dogs, but having smaller, *very* tolerant dogs doesn't mean that the kids are dog proof, but rather the dogs are kid proof ;). I was *very* happy with both dogs. Kinta gave a few *woofs* when people came outside, but was quite confident to come up and say hi. With the exception of one. I completely forgot about one of our family friends who is epileptic and loooves animals. She went to 'grab' Kinta (there is no other way to describe it) and Kinta got the begeezers scared out of her.... Thankfully in about 5 mins they were good friends again and Kinta's confidence came right up again when I pulled out the clicker ant C&T each time she went to say 'hi' to someone. We also have a few *woofs* at one of the kids' scooter on the decking (makes a funny noise) and the 2yr old (on Boxing day) climbing up the stairs as 2 yr olds do. Nothing major as a simple "enough" or "don't be silly" from me stopped her from continuing. So all in all I was over the moon, as home-turf seems to be where Kinta maintains her reserved behaviour. We did have a few drama's though. Once on Christmas day - I had the dogs briefly up with me and the young kids. These kids live with dogs, but given that theirs are smaller and less excitable, started to get quite excited. I was watching Kinta and somehow one of them (I thought Leo, parents of girl thought Kinta) got a little too excited and knocked her over. 5 mins later all was forgotten and just to make sure both parties were fine I got the dogs out (one at a time this time!) with the girl so that they could have a pat, do some tricks, get fed etc. All went smoothly then, and also gave me a good moment to point out to girl that getting excited around doggies is not a good thing as they get excited too (she was getting really excited at the tricks they could do!). So I was pleased with that!

What *does* annoy me though is that on Boxing day the relo's brought their dogs over too (not the annoying part), one of which is an 11 yr old Pom who wouldn't like to be mixed with the rambunctious puppies! So I kept her upstairs and the other dogs downstairs. Enter 2yr old toddler, also lives with a dog. She loved the look of Brandy (Pom) and tried to grab hold of her.... Brandy was not all that appreciative and tried to bite her.... but it was me who has to watch kids and dogs, not the kids parents or the owners of the dogs (enter annoying part!). What's more frustrating is that if a small dog snaps at a toddler, parents see it is 'nothing' and the dog didn't mean it/ won't do any harm... but as soon as one of mine *might* do something like that (even so much as 'bark' etc) then they are ones to *really* watch as they are dangerous etc..... *sigh*. I'd trust my dogs over 90% of little dogs thank-you!

Anyway - back on task - Christmas was really good and a great catch up with family. The Sunday before we had an agility meet at a friends place (full agility course) which was heaps of fun for dogs and family! I'm also proud to announce that I *can* bake!!! hehehe! I made a lemon tart from scratch - base and all and it turned out really well! Even the base! I was surprised as my mum, Queen of all cooking sometimes struggles with the short crust pastry, but for some reason, this recipe worked!!! I also made Caramel Slice, Shortbread and Brownies for the Christmas festivities! All seemed to go down well ;).

Since then I've had a couple of lazy days at home, travels to the beach and Kepala Park, and movies/ shopping with friends. Tomorrow night i'm off to Phillip Island again for NYE. Looking forward to it! I also have a stack of photos I took over the week (given clean dogs!).... Just look at Kinta.... *finally* some nice stacked shots:






And some candid shots I took mucking around:



Leaping for the ball:



Jumping for Joy!



and the main reason why my dogs hate me:



'nother great stacked shot of Leo (I think I'm getting the hang of this now!)




As for the Naughty Black Dog?! As many of you know - I have had tendonitis in my wrist coming up to 3mths now. It's a royal pain in the bum and *finally* has been on the improve. I am to wear my wrist out of the splint as much as possible and do various tendon strength exercises etc,etc. All was going well and I was marvelling in the car today (driving to Kepala) how much improved my wrist is etc,etc. Enter Kepala park and 2 hooligan Aussies. They were getting a bit much and running through the centre of people etc. I tried to call Kinta to get her to settle and come she did - *SMACK* right into my sore hand (I was seated) and the pain shot through it! When I tried to move my thumb again I couldn't! I swear, the pain was soo bad I was almost in tears! I couldn't even move my thumb!!!! I tried again and then *plop* somehow my bone slips back into joint!! She had dislocated it! Don't know which one, don't know how, but she had! Now I'm back to square 1 with the sodden wrist as I can barely move it again so back in the splint it goes!! *very BIG sigh*!

ETA: Exciting news - I had Kinta booked in on the 27th to get her hips and elbows scored - now waiting until the results come out! Next step in Feb is for her MDR1 DNA test :)

AWOL

OK - there is a reason for the lack of posts - mainly the fact that I've been away for the past week in Tasmania for our family holiday (minus big-brother ;-) ). So beware - shis is going to be long and jam packed full of photos!

We left for Tassie last Friday - just for a holiday in general, but also because Mum & Dad wanted to take me around to see where we spent our first few years etc. We were based in Hobart (one of the RCI resorts) but basically traveling around a little each day. The resort itself was relatively simple as resorts go (most usually have quite a few facilities such as pool, gym, tennis courts, squash courts etc) so there wasn't much to do around the place. Doesn't matter too much as we were never going to be home, particularly on this trip, but Mum and I usually like to spend a day or 2 at the resort doing nothing but reading, watching TV and using the facilities ;-). Didn't have any time for that here though!

Saturday:
Went to pick up car so wondered around Hobart for the morning (and had a glorious sleep in.... can't remember the last time I did that!). Took the car up to Russell Falls (can't remember the actual name of the park) which was a nice, easy walk, although a little disappointing as by the sound of it, the falls should have been fabulous, but because of the lack of rain/ drought, it was a little more than a trickle.







These are 2 different falls (the smaller one being Russel falls), but I can't remember the name of the 2nd one either!

Some photos throughout the walk:


(Giant tree!)



I think every night pretty much we ate some form of seafood or another - it's so fresh over there! Some were a little disappointing but most were delicious!

Sunday:
Went to the Tahune forest where there is a 'airwalk' or basically a suspended bridge that you can walk across for some decent views and admire the trees etc ;-). Swinging bridge is a highlight of Mum's considering she has a fear of heights... thereby a 'moving' bridge is not exactly the most enjoyable trip :p.



Monday:
Monday was our long awaited trip to Wine-Glass Bay! I think we walked about 15kms in total - and it is NOT an easy walk - you are literally 'climbing' up the mountain on rocks and a few steps here and there. Then of course we weren't sure where the next track was (to go the longer walk back to the car) so walked ALL the way across the beach only to find the starting point of the track was back where we started *sigh*! NO, I wasn't the one navigating! I highly recommend this walk to anyone going to Tassie. Stopped the night at Bicheno so that we could go visit Orford and Triabunna the next day.


Exhausted after the climb up the hill


View from the top!



Along the way we also came across some wildlife who weren't at all afraid of people so we could get quite close. I'm pretty sure this is a Potteroo being smaller than the avg Wallaby (sorry, 3rd yr M&M has slipped from my head... permanently!). We also saw an Echidna but the piccies didn't turn out!



Tuesday:
Started the day in Bicheno (after a lovely seafood dinner the night before!) and then trekked down to Triabunna, where M&D spent 4yrs and Scott and Myself were born.


View from Bicheno.

Triabunna is a teeny town about 1hr out of Hobart. Doesn't sound like much by Melbourne, Eastern Suburbs standards (with Cranbourne or Pakenham being that far out, if not more), but Triabunna is *really* small with a tiny supermarket, one butcher, baker and hardware store! Orford is the next closest town (5mins) and although smaller, apparently more popular! We certainly had scenery plus as everywhere you turn had ocean views and lovely beaches..... pity that it will never be warm enough in Tassie to enjoy it! Since we had some extra time, we made a surprise visit to one of M&D's old friends.... was great to see the utter surprise on their face as we had told no-one we were coming, lest we not have enough time to pay a visit. On the home journey, we stopped off at Sorell (about 20mins out of Hobart) to visit an older couple who used to baby-sit my brother and I. I was surprised how much I remembered of them as they visited us a few times in Melbourne. Was kinda nice remembering what I used to do with them when I was a kid ;-). I think we made their day, stopping by to say hello. As for what I remember of our house and Triabunna? Absolutely nothing!


Our old house with the 'ocean view'



Wednesday:
From all the travels of the past few days, we canceled our plans of another early start to head to Port Arthur and instead decided on a much easier drive to the Cadbury factory and Richmond (quiant old town). Cadbury factory was great and got the tastebuds reeling.... all that chocolate! And I was happy to 'proove' to my parents (and everyone else who didn't believe me!) saying that their seconds went to the pig-feed! so HA to all those who didn't believe me and thought I was joking (me? joke? NEVER!).


Richmond was a nice little town and we basically just had a quick amble around. By the end of it I was pretty tired (my poor little legs!) so wasn't the best company around ;-). We did go to the Richmond Gaol though.


Thursday:
Home time. We spent the morning visiting the Womens Factory (convicts and where they went before assigned to a 'job') as well as the Cascade Brewery. Both were very interesting tours, particularly the Womens factory. I think we made it a 'first' at he Cascade tour though as out of a grp of about 12, only 3-4 actually drank beer!!! That couldn't happen too often ;-).

Was a most enjoyable holiday - but all in all - it was great to come home to this:










And - what would a post be without some stacked shots of the dogs ;-) (Mind you, I *really* like Leo's one!)





Now - how was that for a long post! Hopefully all the pics didn't conk out your computers!!!

As for what I've been doing the rest of the time?! Some very in-depth research into the world of Grey's Anatomy and Gilmore Girls (the final season!!)..... all thanks to the wonderful people at Amazon! Of course this has involved many late nights (2am!) and considerable yelling at the TV (mainly for GG)....

End of the 2007 trialling year

Well - this has been quite a year for me and my crew. So this will be basically a brag post - summing up the year:

Leo
Starting off with 2 CCD passes for Leo and aspirations for agility. Kinta was the start of my venture into showing also. I think at the end of last year, I said that I wanted 4 titles for Leo - CCD, CD, AD & JD.


Obedience
First obedience trial of the year, and we are off to a good start - CCD in the bag - and some beaut work by Mr Leo. Glad to say he didn't stop there. Within 3 weeks of starting CD - he had also gained this title with some lovely scores too! I didn't quite expect him to get his novice so fast! In under a year, Leo had gained 2 of his obedience titles, which I was thrilled about. Rather than rush through, I decided to take time out of obedience, train him up for open, which also gave me time to concentrate on Agility and Kinta. We didn't enter obedience again until 17th November. First trial in Open (which is quite a jump from Novice) and we come away with our first pass (albeit, not that great) and 173. Today, we had our last obedience trial of the year. Considering the heat (30 deg) and that it was my first time as Trial secretary, I wasn't expecting too much from him. We ended up pulling off another pass, score of 189 and highest scoring Croydon member in trial!!!!! I couldn't be prouder of him, and considering the comments others have made about him, I should be ;-). So he has made a great end to the year, and set the bar high for our next trialling year!






Agility:
2007 marked the start of our agility career. Off to a shaky start, we had to scratch from our first trial due to Leo being lame. So we hit the rings in March sometime I think. First trial we did no good, but what can you expect! From there - we have pulled away one pass from each trial bar 1. Leo is a steady, consistent jumper, once he learnt to lift those legs (still a continuing issue!). By July he had attained his JD title in about 4 trials I think. Agility was a little harder as we like to do only ONE thing wrong ie: knock a bar, refusal etc,etc. As the saying goes, he does it great at training, but likes to stuff up at trials! Saturday was our last agility trial of the year and we didn't get off to a good start.... off with the fairies and just basically not focussed. A good novice agility run, but 2 bars down. PM was a bit better and we pulled off a Novice agility pass about 30 seconds under time!!!! I was even happier to hear we got 3rd place against some very tough (and fast!) competition!!!!

So we got 3 out of the 4 titles wanted, and some excellent foundation laid for next year - only one more pass to go for both our CDX and AD titles... and Leo is getting better and better for JDX too - so not far off for that! Every pass we have received has been a place! I'm just so proud of this boy.... for a 'dud' he isn't doing too bad ;-). Our hopes for next year? Lets set them high eh? CDX, AD, JDX, possibly ADX and some Games titles (SD, GD). Don't know if we'll get there due to the fact i'll be running 2 dogs! I'd love to be ready/ trialling in UD by the end of the year too ;-).

Kinta:

Showing:
Interesting start for us as it is a completely new venture. Filled with highs and lows. Everybody keeps telling me how nice she is looking etc,etc, but it was a long road before the points started rolling in. It wasn't until Kinta hit 15mths that the judges really started looking at her, but I feel it isn't far off yet. I have every confidence in her as I do think she is lovely and well 'designed' for a multi-talented career! Our year has included a:
Minor Puppy in Grp
Puppy in Grp
Junior in Show (ASCV Open show)
1st in Non-Champ sweepies
Reserve Challenge at our ASCV Open show
AND we finished the year with a 9pt BOB! Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come!

Obedience:
Although we haven't entered a ring yet, I couldn't be prouder with what I'm getting from her. She is a very enthusiastic, precise worker and is a lot more focussed than Leo. I feel we still need some exposure around unfamiliar areas/ crowds (summer project!) but I have high hopes for her. I am most proud of her heel-work (Thank-you Sarah!) and hopefully we'll be starting our obedience stint at the start of next year.

Agility:
Only started a few months ago and is going well. She is a natural at it, and while I think she will be 'competitive' I don't think she will be top-dog material. But who knows. I find with Kinta that her speed comes through confidence, and she isn't quite there yet ;-). On the 'known' she is quite a fast worker! I can't wait to get her out there competing!!! Seriously - though she is frustrating when she is just out of season (flat as) she is just delightful to work and live with at other times.

My hopes for Kinta - Hopefully - Aust Ch, CCD, CD, AD, JD. We'll see how we go ;-).

Adapting life to 2 dogs
Long story short I love it! I don't think i'll be a sole-dog owner again, I just love how these two get on - they really are best buds. I've found it a little hard to divide my time, as I really want to give each dog individual attention, and at times I find it slipping, but am able to pick up again real quick. Kinta has been a great addition - I just love her sweet 'mummy's girl' temperament, but at the same time, Leo suits me too - he just loves everybody and is so happy about life! Seriously - 2 great dogs!

Ok - I'll stop gloating now, but I just wanted to sum up my year :D :D!

Burning the candle at both ends!

As the saying goes - that is pretty much what i've been doing.... hence the reason for lack of posts.... so this will be long - and filled with photos!!!

First up - here are the photos from the ASCV Specialty show - they are blurry because I shrunk the photos (in photoshop) too small before transferring!

So since my last post - it has pretty much been go,go, go from both ends - work is insane with deadlines looming and a million things to do - so that has kept me out of mischief pretty much! Then add to that I also agreed to be trial secretary - so entries have been flowing in left, right and centre for me to enter in my somewhat limited time.

Last weekend I had off trialling/ showing - so went to visit Ana & Ben and their 13 gorgeous puppies *vbg*... spend the afternoon soaking up puppy breath and the usual stuff - was a heap of fun.... but boy - I miss puppies.... just not enough to have another ROFL! Too much work!

Sunday - I went down to Kepala Pet Resort - silly as it sounds - it's basically just a huge 'off lead' park for the dogs including a lagoon pool, big grass run, sand run and a mini-agility course... the dogs had a blast (we met up with some online friends and their dogs) and well worth the trip. Photos from the day:








This week just gone was pretty much the same - busy as ever. Small brag about Leo - at agility practice Tuesday night - Leo ran a blinder Masters Agility course (we are only competing in Novice - Masters is the highest!)... clear round too! It involved a discrimination between tunnel and dog walk and layering the weavers (I'm on one side, dog on the other) as well as outs/ins with jumps touching each other! So I was extremely pleased that he ran this so well! Instructors comment?! "You made it look so easy" :p :)

Saturday I had entered Leo in Southern's Double Obedience trial - our first stint at Open. It was *suppposed* to be 24deg, but it certainly wasn't - it was hot, muggy and a zillion flies were everywhere! I think partly because of this and the fact Leo hasn't been at a trial for 6+mths (since his CD title) he was not 110% focussed. He also might not have been feeling well as he did vomit just before going in the ring in the PM trial?!?! Seemed fine though!?

Anyway - AM trial we had a lovely judge - who claimed I had a lovely heeling dog! I told her that that was shocking/ abominable heelwork etc,etc... but she was still impressed :P. Q score of 184 (should he hold stays) - 30 seconds left in the sit - stay and he dropped :-(. I'm a big fan of out of sight stays though as they aren't 1/2 so nerve wrecking!!! LOL.

PM trial - I think the judge was a lot tougher (but still good!)... Heeling was crap again.... Retrieves were a bit all over the place (we liked to look around, possibly eat a fly or two before picking it up and bringing it to me :p ).... ROH - Leo did the retrieve fine, then 'forgot' what 'heel' meant!!! *sigh* - so that lost us a few marks! Q score of 173 should we hold the stays..... which he did!!!! So 1st open trial and we walk away with 1 qualie and a 2nd place.

Although the score isn't great - considering the heat and that 90% of dogs didn't perform well, I am proud of him... I just wish his heelwork was better!

I am interested in investing in one of those cool coats expensive - but apparently they beat the pants off anything else on the market. Everyone i've spoken too also sings their praises.... so i'm seriously considering one as they'd be good for shows/ trials :)

Anyways - today we had a show down at KCC park. Not many dogs entered - and a lot scratched coz of the crazy weather (raining and muggy!)... luckily they moved us indoors! Anyways - I am pleased to announce that Kinta got Bitch Challenge, Best of Breed, 9 pts and shortlisted for grp!!!!!! YAYYYY!!! Judges comments was "Lovely bitch, love her type, but would like a little more bone"!!! He repeated this to me again when he gave another dog Junior in Group (also in Grp line up.... *sigh*).... so obviously the boning was important to him :(. So that leaves us with...... 85pts to go ROFL!

I think that's about it from me.... next week is pretty quiet - other than the Mornington Pet Expo where we are going to be doing some tricks for the ASCV :)

Random shots

Absolutely Exhausted!!!

OMG What a tiring weekend!!!!!! To say the least!!! I have been off work since Friday, but have been busy showing Sat - Tue... with lots of travel in- between, so you can imagine how tired I am!!! I think i'm going to work tomorrow to *relax* :p LOL!

OK - so Friday I spent the afternoon giving both Kinta and Leo a bath for the ASCV specialty show on the Saturday. This is one of the few times per year Leo gets to show and I love bringing him out. It is also a good chance to see some of the interstate Aussies and make up your mind about what you like / don't like. The entries were around 70 or so I think?!

Saturday consisted of an early start for the 9th ASCV Champ/Open shows. Kinta didn't do too well in the Champ show (Canadian Judge) who placed her 5th/ 5 in her class :(. LOL. I was a little dissapointed, but what can you do! Kinta was still a little out of sorts (ie: not feral, crazy, bounce off the walls Kinta) but she is/ was getting better each day. Much to our pleasure though, Logan - Leo's brother was awarded Dog Challenge - meaning that he was the best dog there for the day!!! Needless to say - everyone involved was thrilled :).

Next was the open show - which means that no points are awarded, but it is a chance for aspiring judges to practice etc,etc. I was really pleased when Kinta was awarded first in her class, beating 4 other girls (Marli, Summer and two NSW dogs - Tolazrun Knls)... I honestly didn't expect her to get anything further, due to the huge entry for these shows. So it was to my great surprise when the judge awarded Kinta Reserve Bitch, ie: 2nd best bitch.... this was out of a total of 24 bitches entered, so to say I was thrilled is an understatement!!!! Kinta then went on to win Junior in Show against the Junior dog!!!! Woo HOO!!

But wait, there's more. I had entered Leo in the de-sexed sweeps, which he won. I also entered Kinta in the Non - Champion Sweepstakes also - there were about 10 dogs/ bitches entered. Again, I was surprised when Kinta was awarded 1st in these sweepstakes!!!! So I was very proud of my girlie!

Sunday entitled another early rise and a 1.5hr drive to Lancefield for another show there. Stumbled out of bed and into the shower. It wasn't until I got OUT of the shower that I heard the rain pelting down. By this stage I was wide awake and decided it pointless to stay home and go back to bead (stupid idea I know) as I thought that as soon as I did that, the rain would stop! So, Murphy's law - I went on my way and the rain kept falling... by now i'm starting to question the worth of me going up, since I don't have a tent or anything of that sort and I was fairly sure Ana and Ben weren't going given that they were exhausted from organising the day before! Again, I decided it pointless to turn around given that if I did the rain *would* stop ;-). Well... I got there and it rained the whole time we were showing :-(. First time I was ever glad to loose (2nd out of 2 bitches)... this meant I could go home, drop the dogs off and do something MUCH more sane such as shop/watch a movie with the girls ;-).

Monday I was off to Lancefield again - this time in much nicer weather. Japanese judge today - who placed Kinta 2nd out of 4 - behind Marli. I was quite happy with this result. He went on to award Kinta's 1/2 brother (Cricket) BOB and Runner up in Grp which was great. All in all an enjoyable day out. Got home late and flomped on couch/bed.

Today - went off to Sunbury for the cup day show (and the last one!). Greek judge. He placed Kinta 1st in her class (out of 4) but after that Kinta had had enough and was a stubborn little mule after that! She didn't want to do any of this showing business and was only 1/2 hearted about her gaiting and such. Pity - coz I think the judge liked her initially :). So we didn't get any further :-(. Again, a lovely day out, but i'm glad to be home and off to bed soon!

I was really pleased with Kinta's behaviour and you could see that as each day passed, she would become more and more feral/ back to her usual self! I can't wait for her to be totally out of these post -season blues, although we are pretty close now ;-)

Cya!

I never thought i'd say this......

I actually never thought i'd say this, but by golly I miss my psycho feral nut! Kinta really seems to mellow post season.... just more sooky and cuddly. I don't think it is lasting as long as her first season (about 4-6wks!) as she seems to be coming more to herself now(2wks later).... but still... the way she acts just out of season makes you think I'm making up the whole story about her being a feral wild child!!!

Geez I miss the psycho! On the other hand - Leo is a complete nutter.... HE is fun, when she is around season time ;-)

Is that a......!?!?!?!

Hmm... well no luck in our shows on the weekend unfortunately! Miss K wasn't acting her best due to post-season blues etc... she seems to get a bit sooky about 1-2wks after her season ends and it lasts for about a week or so. For that reason, she wasn't really showing herself off etc :-). It was a double show and we did manage to pull off a RBCC (out of 4 or 5 girls) in the afternoon. In the morning, she didn't deserve anything as the judge wanted us to walk around the ring, so Miss K thought it heeling time!!! Or at least focus on 'mum' time :p.

Funniest thing happened the other night. I was going along walking the dogs when this car pulled up in front of me. Here I was thinking that she was going to start yelling at me coz I cut her off or something (I'd just crossed a driveway).... Nooo.... she got out of her car and said to me "Are those Aussie Shepherds"? ROFL! Well I never! Whenever I see someone walking an Aussie I always have an impulse to do that, but I've never had the nerve!!!! It turns out she has one of her own - a black tri, 10.5yrs.... Storm's litter brother!!!! Jay I think his name was. Anyways we got talking and it seems that she used to show him a bit, but he is a big boy, taller than Leo (who isn't short!) and Storm also. One comment she made was that at least I don't have 'issues' with my two.... I asked her what she meant.... she said that her boy doesn't like other dogs, particularly if they are bigger than him etc,etc. That surprised me! I'm so used to hearing about Aussies being the typical, easy going, carefree dogs etc,etc.... although I know that isn't the case for all Aussies.... but still :p.

Life is pretty much as per usual at the moment - dog training, work and other stuff. Leo ran great last night at agility training. This weekend will be a BIG weekend with shows from Sat - Tue - i've taken some time off work etc. The ASCV specialty is on Sat - so beware of photo overload!

On a side note:

Apparently this is ladylike....


And Leo thinks this:

So close.... but no cigar

Seems that this weekend was a weekend for close runs, but not quite there! I had a great night Friday catching up with a couple of friends from Dogzonline one of whom has a litter of 7wk old Goldie puppies which of course were in dire straits for some attention and social work..... So 'we' provided the Pizza/ drinks, and Jenny provided the puppies ;).











Saturday consisted of an agility trial - and boy - what a weekend of hot, sunny weather we have had (perhaps a touch too hot!). After watching the In Focus Need for Speed DVD and listening in on Gina O'Keefe's seminar - my main aim for the day was to get 4 fast, enthusiastic runs. I certainly achieved this!!! Leo ran really well for me, not dropping off speed at all and doing quite well. I was a little dissapointed with him as for some reason he got confused with my FC (no idea why!??!?!?) and wouldn't follow through and ended up on the wrong side.... never done this before, and he hasn't done it since!!

AM Agility (Novice): Great run - one knocked bar - nice easy course

AM Jumping (Excellent): one tricky bit involving a tunnel ;).. I decided to do a 3 bar lead out which then made the course a nice easy run.... Tyre was first up. Leo *should* get it, but as luck would have it, when I looked back to see how he was set up, his butt was straight and his front was slightly to the left.... result - he ran (tentatively) around the tyre. I kept going and boy did he run a blinder. Apart from the missed tyre, lovely clear round.

PM Jumping (Excellent): Very hard course and very confusing - involving many circles and a serpentine, but to do this, they had to refuse a pinwheel.... ie: it looked like we would be asking the dog to do a pinwheel.... Leo did well, but I took him round the wrong half of the course *bangs head on brick wall*

PM Agility (Novice) - best run of the day - really fast and flowing (he did one stupid thing I think!?) but there was an evil discrim between the tunnels - 2 flex tunnels next to each other - call off far entry of tunnel to enter the correct side.... but the 2 entries to separate tunnels were facing each other - dog took the wrong one :(.

Overall I was really happy with his runs, despite not being able to take home the prizes :)

Sunday - Show with Kinta. Our honeymoon might be over as Marli and Hondo have now joined the ranks of Junior EEK!.... Anyways - we got RBCC out of 4 bitches, one older.... and a good look at for Junior in Grp out of a huge line up! But, we just didn't quite get there!

So - all weekend.... so close, yet not quite :(

I am sooo over this!

I never knew how important the good 'ol opposable thumb was until I can't use it!

For some time now i've had a sore wrist.... really sore.... weird thing was it would only hurt night and first thing in the morning. Anyways - went to the docs about 3-4 weeks ago and she suspected I tore a tendon in my wrist from too much computer work (understandable, I am on all day ;) ). Had to go get an ultrasound done..... didn't hear back from the docs and by the way the u/s was going, my thoughts were that nothing but a little extra fluid was found - so I didn't worry over it too much and figured the pain would go away in time.... It didn't and if anything was getting worse.

So I cracked it, and went to the physio. Sure enough - torn/ strained tendon. So I now have to wear a splint that covers my thumb and part of my wrist. Ugly thing and it makes life difficult! I have to wear this for 4 weeks non-stop (yes, even sleep in it!), go back in 2 wks to physio for exercises etc.... then after the 4 wks, wear the splint for another 2-4 weeks while weaning off it.... but I want it off NOW- before 24 hrs is even up!!! I'm in for a looooong 6 wks!

On a side note- came across this awesome toy for the hounds in the hard garbage the other day..... a giant whale!!!



What the dogs thought of it....












In the meantime - a recent message that came through to me.....

NEVER,
NEVER
NEVER,
NEVER,
NEVER,
NEVER,
NEVER,
NEVER,
NEVER,
NEVER,
NEVER,
NEVER,
NEVER,
NEVER,
NEVER,
NEVER,
NEVER,
NEVER,
EVER...



...fart in a wet suit!