Prepping for a Regional (puppy news too!)

I've never shown my dog at a Regional. I have to travel too far and I just can't afford it (time or money). BUT, this year I was asked to judge one day of the Bay Team Regional in San Jose, CA. I was also told I could bring my dog and show her the other days if I so choose. Well, I "so choose" so that's what I'm gonna do!

I am judging the Grand Prix Round 1, so we won't be able to run in that (phooey!) BUT, we will be able to compete in Pairs and Gamblers...2 legs we need towards our ADCH. We'll also run in a Standard class and the Steeplechase. I will be leaving very early Monday morning to catch a flight home for a BBQ with the family.

Jam and I have been working hard on gambles. She is now about 90% on her "outs" so hopefully we'll be able to capitalize at the show. She's running real well, though we haven't seen a whole lot of contact equipment lately. I ran her over an a-frame Tuesday night, but no teeter (I'm too lazy to drag mine out!) and no dogwalk. I think we'll be OK though (cross your fingers!).

PUPPY NEWS! :)

The puppies turn 3 weeks old today! Their eyes are open and they're getting more active. My friend (Toller friend) went and saw them today and confirmed that the smaller girl (Ms. Yellow...though she has on a green collar now) seems to be the most adventuresome. The breeder posted a video link that showed her escaping from the whelping box...so cute!! Here are some more pictures:

Ms. Yellow (or green...whatever!)


Ms. White (what a FACE!)


Puppy Pile!!

Junior Handlers (agility...for non-agile folks!)

I just had the pleasure of judging a Junior Handlers (JH) trial tonight. Our club (Good Dog Agility) hosts 2 JH trials each summer. Normally they are fairly well attended...tonight we had only 2 handlers and 5 dogs. A very small trial, but boy...did Good Dog have the turnout in terms of workers! The JHers were treated to a nice crowd of people watching them work through the courses.

I'm not entirely sure why the turnout was so low. Could be that the heat was too stifling? Or maybe folks were just plain busy or out of town? I don't know. What I do know is that it's a cool program that allows Juniors to compete against kids rather than against adults or "professional" agility handlers. The courses at the Beginners level are fairly simple, but once they progress to the Senior level, the courses are much like what I'd put out for the Starters class in the "adult" version.

I do enjoy watching the Juniors and hope that they come out in droves for our next trial which will be held in June.

My own little Junior Handlers were spending time with Lisa, our ex-Nanny. This was most likely the last time they'll see her as she (the Nanny) is moving. We'll miss her as she is GREAT with the girls and they love her and her son. I'm glad they had the chance to see her once again.

Time for puppy news!!! They are 2 weeks, 2 days old today. Their eyes are starting to open and they are whimpering quite a bit. I have pictures, but I'm too lazy to post them tonight...maybe tomorrow night! I also have made my flight arrangements for "project puppy pick-up." I am judging a show in Michigan the first weekend in October...since the pups are in Illinois, I am going to pick them up on my return trip home. I've scheduled an almost 3 hour layover at O'Hare and the breeders wife will bring my pup to me. I can't wait! :)

Sad and tragic news

My sister-in-law earned her pilot's license last year. She grew very close to her flight instructor, Doug Kinneard. Tragically, Doug died this past weekend in a plane crash. He and another young couple were attempting a take-off, when their plane apparently stalled and came down hard. The young couple survived, but are badly burned (see cjanerun for details).

The young couple (Stephanie (NieNie) and Christian Nielson) have 4 very young children. Their road to recovery will be long and arduous. My ex-husband's nephew was burned when he was a kid. He was burned over maybe 10% of his body and his recovery was long and painful. Christian is burned over 30% of his body and Stephanie over 80%. Their medical bills will be HUGE. The family has set up a bank account and is accepting donations. You can click the following button to help:

My sister-in-law is grief-stricken, as are all of Doug's friends and family. Doug himself leaves behind a wife and 4 children (ranging in age from 13 - 25). Luckily both families (NieNie and Doug) are very strong in their faith and have a huge support system, so hopefully they can hold strong to their faith and make it through this tragic time.

Gonna give it a go!

Tonight is the night of the first PTO (Parent-Teacher Oganization) meeting for Dani's school. I usually have agility class Tuesday nights, but class got bumped to Thursday, so I figured I would go.

I went to exactly ONE meeting last year (at her old school) and hated it. The cliques were insane. I am NOT a cliquey person, not to mention that I don't want to talk about kids/babies/potty training/domestic things all the time. I have a life outside my kids and am much more comfortable talking agility talk.

Since I do typically have agility class Tuesday nights, this'll most likely be THE only meeting I attend. I want to go mostly to see if there are any activities I can volunteer for...like book fairs, festivals, etc. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to stomach the "mommy clique."

In other news...I FINALLY got those courses done...hallelujah! I had to immediately move to revising courses for the huge Bay Team trial, and then design Junior Handler courses (for 2 handlers and 5 dogs) that I'm judging this weekend.

No new puppy news. I guess the breeder has been busy, though I hope he sends new pictures soon! I'm still searching for a name. I like Rum, or maybe even Cat (short for Catamaran...?)...how funny would that be...a dog named Cat?! Crap...I don't know. For some reason I'm having the hardest time ever with this pup whereas with the others, I had names lined up long before I met them!

HELP!

Another week, another show, and puppy news

The weeks are flying by. With the girls in school and show season just around the corner, it's just gonna get busier (more busy...whatever!).

Dani is doing GREAT in first grade! She is the youngest in her class by a pretty big margin, but she's doing just fine. Her teacher told me that she would never have guessed that she was only 5! :) She even got 100% on her first spelling test! The work seems pretty basic so far and Dani is having no problems doing it, so that's good.

Erin is also doing fabulous in Pre-K! Her teachers said that she is the role model for all the other kids. She is attentive, a good listener (imagine that!) and is always wanting to please. That is such good news!! We always worry about Erin as she can have her "Erin moments" but perhaps we're moving beyond that now? Let's hope so!

I judged a show in Oregon last weekend. I was a tad bit apprehensive given the fact that the last show I judged I ended up in the hospital!! Luckily the weather for this show was very nice (though we had a bit of rain Saturday morning) and I had no issues. I wore my new hat and drank my Propel and ate some salty foods, so it all went well. Nice club too! All-in-all, a good weekend.

As for the puppies, they are doing great!! They did lose a girl last week though :( I'm not entirely sure what happened, but they tried to save her and couldn't. The breeder was pretty upset about it...and it is very sad. He (the breeder) has been pretty good about posting pictures and videos on his site. The puppies are 7 days old today...here are some pics!

This is one of the girls...she is so CUTE!!


And here is a boy...


And the rest...the other girl is in the middle...


Looks like momma is feeding them well!

This weekend it's just me 'n the girls. Jeff is going diving in San Carlos...IF they let them into Mexico! Hopefully they will cuz he is itching to get in the water!

I'm in course design hell right now. Course design is by far the worst part of judging. I'm trying to design all new courses this year, but dang...my creative energy is just not there right now. Hopefully it'll come back soon cuz I'm already a day late on submitting 11 courses to my reviewer. Blah.

Help me name my puppy!!

Just found out that my next pup has been born! This officially puts the birthdate as 08/07/08! :) Aren't they CUTE??


Ember (mama Toller) had 3 girls and 3 boys. I'm hoping for a girl, but it really all depends the temperament. I'm lucky to have a friend who has and knows Tollers and agility nearby (the breeder that is) to take a look at them for me and help me out with some testing.

Here's a close up of a couple of the pups...

Now I need help with the name!! I usually have a name long before I get the puppy, but this time I'm stumped. Names of previous dogs include:

NEA - named after the National Education Association (Beagle)
Saavik - named after a character on Star Trek (dobe/shepherd mix)
Fred - named Fred cuz I liked the name! (Italian Greyhound)
Chakotay - named for a character on Star Trek (Italian Greyhound)
Rysa - named after the "planet of pleasure" from Star Trek (Toller)
Jam - named after the country of Jamaica (Toller)

The Star Trek names came when I was married to my ex...he is a major "Trekkie." I would like to veer FAR away from those type of names, thank you very much!

I'm thinking my new theme is the Caribbean. Anybody got any suggestions for me?? The kennel name is Lakota, so that'll have to factor into the "formal" name.

I'm so psyched!! :)