Ups and Downs

Ok – so what’s the latest news? I’ll start from the start and see how far we go :p

The Nationals:
Well the gods didn’t decide to be nice to me and Kinta’s season didn’t lift in time. I am sure I provided much amusement for many having my daily checks with Kinta thinking ‘is she out yet’… LOL – methinks I couldn’t have gotten away with it since she was tarting around to anything and everything on 4 legs *rolls eyes*…. Then – as luck has it … guess who was OUT of season by Monday…. *sigh*

Firstly – the Nationals were AWESOME! Sooo much fun – and boy did the Leo run really well! In fact – I now have to re-think his label as ‘the dud’ as I think the tables have turned and he is a ‘dud’ no more :p. Leo had 6 runs over 2 days as I was stewarding on the Friday. In every run it was usually the cause of one small fault (tunnel suck, one bar down etc) that cost us our pass.. I couldn’t be prouder of him. On our very last run of the day (after a good dump of rain) – Leo decided that it was time to gain his 5th leg for his JDX title – not his fastest run I thought – but hey, still 10sec under time! We didn’t place or make it to the finals, but that doesn’t matter… and in hindsight, could be a good thing considering the amount of rain we had during / just before finals started! All in all – a great weekend, and a great dog to go home with J

Work:
Work is still going good and obviously keeping me very busy. I am really enjoying it, albeit making small errors now and again (like accidentally scheduling classes to clash with another :-O!) but on the whole I think it’s going well. Our seminars are doing well and I have some ideas clunking around upstairs and if I get a few seconds to think and air the brain, I might be able to put some into action! Leo adores my new ‘job’ as he gets to come in about once a week which of course means lots of people to steal food from and melt just simply by staring at them and giving them my big goofy grin with a butt wiggle…. Who can resist?!?!! Kinta on the other hand is finding the adjustment a little harder. She has decided in the 18mths we’ve had her that people at shows and in public are an excellent source of food and attention. In fact - her usual style at shows and such is to nab a person walking past with her paw and GLARE until they offer up either food or pats (Leo does this in a much more subtle way of either barking, jumping on them or nabbing them with both paws and licking their face)… Kinta also likes to get them into a false sense of security having people believe the breed is nice and calm, before she turns on her nutso gene! At home, Kinta is also much better, as crating before visitors come and while they settle in tends to get rid of the woofs. At work, she is a little uncertain of the coming and going (just in the office – everywhere else ie: seminars and such, people are GREAT) so we are working on that and helping her feel more comfortable!

Monty:
Well – he is much happier now that the cone is off his head and he can re-gain some self dignity without the tablets being shoved down his throat and such. The wound is also healing nicely. The biopsy results came back to say that it was a malignant tumour, which we were hoping we got all out, but couldn’t be sure. Further tests on the biopsy showed that the tumour was in fact benign so Monty now has the all clear…. Thank goodness for that!

Last Weekend:
This consisted of Croydon’s agility trial where it was Leo’s turn to shine again. Leo picked up his 4th title for this year alone – being his first games title; strategic pairs… This was done in fine style with a 1st place J . What’s more is it was another day of ‘almosts’ – he almost got an excellent agility pass (and 1st place) but he popped out of the last weave. In our first Masters Jumping round, everybody was talking about how difficult it was (and it was!) but I was SO proud of Leo as he almost ran clear and would have, should the stupid handler have supported the jump for just a wee bit longer… not sure if he would have made time though – but still – I was really proud of his efforts!

Kinta had a nice Novice Agility round, but (like Leo) popped out at the last weaver. Her excellent jumping left something to be desired – she was very slow and just didn’t seem fussed/ confident about anything!? Anyway – considering she is still so new to trialing, I can’t give up on her just yet! Having said that….could be a season thing too… LOL. At least it points out where we need to concentrate for both dogs (same problems)… hahaha
Yesterday – we basically spent the day with dad – walked along the new trial near eastlink – from Mitcham to Springvale Rd… was quite a nice walk J and the dogs were suitable exhausted once we got home J …. Sort of (well it lasted all of 30mins!)

Video’s of both are on youtube btw!

Breeding:
Well – I finally got my breeders exam in the mail, so over the coming weeks I will complete this… hopefully all will go well and I’ll have a kennel name soon (one I like please!)… As for actual breeding – we know that Kinta is being bred next season – puppies may be born at home (nothing in concrete yet) and we do have a few ideas for sires, but again, nothing in concrete yet! I guess nothing is set until the deed is done :p

So… that’s the latest… I think! LOL! So excited – I have a few weeks off trials – so am going to see WICKED on Saturday (woot woot!) which I saw almost 2 yrs ago to the day… And the next couple of weekends we might go and do some scouting around at some houses and see what we can find…. I’m so excited that soon I might have my own place!!!