Zippy

I so wish I could say that Zippy and I are well on our way to training for agility, but I can't. My husband does not want him in the house. He wants him gone. Zippy has been just fine, but my husband closed his mind right after "the bite."

I fought bitterly to keep him, but it's either the husband or the dog. Tough decision...trust me. I am a DOG person. I do not give up on dogs. I just don't. To do so goes against every grain. I am extremely peevish about the whole thing. Extremely. I am also very sad because Zippy truly is a sweetheart. He has some annoying habits (like ripping apart every single dog toy) but otherwise he's a very good dog. The girls just LOVE him. They grab him to hug him and he doesn't bite or nip at them. Honestly, I think he's an awesome fit for the family, but husband does not.

We actually got Zippy under the premise that we would foster him for my friend (she has about 15 dogs at her house right now and needed the space freed up!). Eventually I figured we'd be keeping him. Not. So my friend is going to put him up for adoption after all and hopefully he'll go to a great home. I personally think he's in one right now, but I must give up on that.

So, husband is now opened up to the idea of getting a puppy from the litter of Border/Staffy's that were born about 3 weeks ago. I reminded him that puppies can and do nip...will he want to get rid of this pup too?? I reminded him that dogs are NOT disposable and any puppy that comes into this house STAYS in this house. He's on board, so we'll see how it all pans out. I know I'll be the one responsible for everything with the new pup, and I'm OK with that.

Just wish Zippy was gonna stay too. He's a sweet, loving dog who just wants to please.

Scorpions suck

Erin got stung by one yesterday. I had no idea the effects scorpions have on young kids. It was awful. Erin was inconsolable. The venom was spreading through her body, causing pain every where. At the ER, they tried to put the IV in her right arm but the vein kept rolling. She was screaming. They had to put it in her other arm. I had to leave the room. She didn't even know if I was there or not...she was in her own little pain-filled world.

She was given sedatives and Benadryl. She finally calmed down, but was spasiming on and off. After about 4 hours, they were able to give her the anti-venom. We spent another 4 hours in the ER for observation, but she slowly got better. During that time she was pretty dillusional...she was telling the dogs to get off her and she kept calling me by her teacher's name.

By the end of the ordeal, we were singing songs and she was chowing down on popsicles and Oreo cookies. My husband brought her a cheeseburger from McDonald's that she happily ate.

All in all, a terrible ordeal, but Erin is just fine, thank God. The scorpion was in my Nanny's house, not ours. My Nanny had her house sprayed yesterday so I'm now the primary caregiver for the girls.

I hope to God we don't have another incident like this. It was simply horrible to watch your child go through what she went through. Thankfully she really has no recollection of the awfulness of it all. I do, but that memory will fade too.

2008...weren't you supposed to be great?!

2008...gonna be great, right??

At this point, 2008 has been so-so. Here's the low-down so far...

January: not much happening. I had a show or two and we went on our 6th Caribbean cruise, so not bad.

February: Jeff got yet another hernia. Ugh. His operation was at the end of the month. I had a HUGE show in which I was secretary for. It went well but was seriously exhausting. The girls...I have been trying to figure out where Dani will got to school next year. It's no small task. I do not want her to go to her "home school" since it's just not a great school. There are a couple options...1. get her tested for the gifted program (CATs), she'd then go to Conley school and be in CATs at a Kindergarten level, 2. hopefully get into Sanborn, a really really good school, and be in 1st grade...she'd be one of the youngest, if not THE youngest in her class, so it's not optimal. Erin has just been Erin...we thought her fits (tantrums) were getting far and few between, but they still rear their ugly heads every once in a while.

March: Jeff is in recovery mode. Karen does everything...EVERY thing...ugh. Dani took the gifted test...we now wait 6-8 weeks for the results. Why does it take so long to score a bubble test? I have no clue. I head to another show in Albuquerque. On the way, I meet my next dog. Which brings us to...

April: The new dog is here, but Jeff and he do not get along. Since I've been home from the show, he's been doing just fine. I, however, seem to have an extremely short fuse when it comes to the girls...need to work on that. Jeff is going to get the boat tonight with his sister (we kept it up at the lake...time for some maintainancing before the season begins) so that'll be nice. Just wanna get back out on the lake... the girls love it and so do we!

Course, I've been taking pictures, so here's a few of the girls, etc...

Some trouble in paradise

I was gone for 4 days judging a rather large agility trial. 4 days. Hot sun. LOTS and LOTS of dogs. All in all, it went just fine, but by the last day, I was fried...mentally and physically. Just fried. I was quite happy to climb on a plane and head back home, where there was some trouble brewing.

Zippy, the new addition, apparently had a tough weekend. He ended up biting every member of the family, which of course, is NOT good. He must've been in a situation previously in which the male member of the family did some bad things to him, cuz he does NOT react well to Jeff at all. If Jeff tries to discipline him he growls at him. This past weekend, Zippy kept climbing into the girls laps at dinner time. Jeff went to put him in his crate and he started growling. Jeff got him in a submissive position and was petting his tummy. When he went to pick him up, Zippy went postal on him and bit him. NOT good.

Then while my younger daughter was playing ball with him, he bit her cheek. Now, I think he may have been over-zealous and actually jumped up to get the ball, but missed and got her cheek. I have no clue...but he did bite her. Apparently, a similar thing happened with my older daughter as well.

I'm getting all this over the phone, so I have no Earthly idea what the heck is really going on! What I DO know is that we picked him up on a Sunday. I left that same Wed. night for 4 days away. In retrospect, I should've had my friend hold on to him until I got back today.

At this point, I'm going to watch him and see how things play out. I know my husband is ready to give up on him. I must admit that after hearing about the bites, I was ready to as well. BUT, I wasn't there and I didn't get to witness everything that went down. I need time to see what's up and see if I can work with him on these agression issues with my husband. I'm not too sure how long I'll give him, but time will most certainly tell.

Meanwhile, I'm trying to get back into the routine and get on with it. Easier said than done!

Our New Addition!

I wore my hubby down and he FINALLY agreed to open up our home and our hearts to a new addition!!

Zippy, the mini-Aussie I mentioned in my previous post, will be joining our family on Sunday! I am over-the-top excited! There's going to be some adjustment for the Princess (aka, Jam) and the girls will undoubtedly have some adjustment time of their own, but in the long run, I think this is going to be a great addition. Here is a picture of him...

Isn't he CUTE?! :)

He's slightly smaller than Jam so he'll be jumping 16" in USDAA-style agility. He has MAJOR ball drive and tons of enthusiasm. At first his training will consist of foundational work...hand games, target games, etc. Eventually I'll start introducing him to the obstacles, but I'm going to take my time. He's about a year old...we'll most likely put his birthdate as April 6, the day we pick him up. That'll make him eligible for competition October 6. We'll see how he progresses.

The girls are very excited as well. They've seen his picture and can't wait to see him in person!! What fun! :)

The Funk is Gone!

I had a great time in Albuquerque...my funk is gone! :)

Jam and I traveled with our friends, Jane and Tizzy to the show. I haven't been to Albuquerque in 4 years, so I was really looking forward to going and seeing friends I hadn't seen in forever. When we got there, it was just like old times. I talked, laughed and cried with people I hadn't seen in a while, and it was great! A couple of my friends have young kids, which is a rarity in this sport, so we spent tons of time comparing notes on our wee ones.

The entire atmosphere of the show was very laid back...very nice! Jam and I had our successes, and of course, our failures. We started out with a completely out-of-sync Masters Gamblers run. I wasn't handling her properly and we were all over the place. We put that our of our heads and headed into Masters Standard. We SMOKED the course and took first place...woohoo!!! Next came the Grand Prix. Again, we smoked it and ended up taking 2nd to a VERY fast Sheltie. In Masters Pairs, Jam had a tunnel/a-frame discrimation in which she had to take the tunnel. You can set ANY obstacle next to an a-frame and Jam will take the a-frame 99.9% of the time...this run was no exception! Oh well...better luck next time. We ended with Steeplechase. Jam found an off-course that I never would've expected, so yeah...no Q for us!

Sunday I set a goal of going 3 for 3. We started with Masters Standard. She did 1-14 beautifully!! I was so proud!! Then came 15...she had to come out of the chute to a jump, then to the dogwalk...there was a tunnel under the dogwalk so I had to pull her towards me to get her up the dogwalk. I think I moved too soon to pull her and she went around the jump. Pooey...there went our goal!! Next was Masters Snooker. I NEED a Super Q, so I planned a course with one 6 and two 7's in the opening. We were moving...did the 6, did the first 7, then on our way to the 2nd 7, she pulled the Red and before I could even react, she was already in a tunnel...TWEET!!!! Game over. None of the 16" dogs Q'd so we left a Super Q on the table. We ended with Masters Jumpers and Jam came away with her only Q of the day.

On the way back, I had to drop off my friend. She does Aussie rescue work and has about 6-7 Aussies and Mini-Aussies at her house. I fell in love with one of the Mini's, Zippy. Zippy is adorable!! He has attitude to burn and LOVES the ball. He is too cute for words. We introduced Jam to him and Jam at first was OK but then went into "bitch mode." My friend is really good with introductions, so she taught me what to do in these type of situations. By the time I left, Jam was tolerating Zippy, but there's still a lot of work to be done. Next I have to convince my hubby that we NEED this dog!! I do have a prospective puppy coming to me early summer, but I would be happy to give that one up for this one. I really, really like this one. There is something special about him. I'm talking my hubby into fostering him, and if he works out, we'll keep him. Cross your fingers for me! :)

Our Easter and other ramblings

We had a decent Easter. We took the girls to a community egg hunt Saturday morning. Essentially, they get their faces painted, look for a dozen eggs and eat candy. Guess it's pretty typical! Sunday we had our own little Easter egg hunt with Jeff's mom and sister joining in on the fun. It was windy enough to fly a kite, so we did that too!

Saturday night a friend from Texas came over with her two children. A few other friends also came over and we had a great time chatting and catching up. I really miss having her around (the Texas friend) since she's one of the very few people I know who has kids. Our roots were in dog agility, but then her and her hubby had kids and we followed that pattern. Not many folks who do dog agility have kids (except for Wishy of course!) so it's always a treat when you're friends with someone who not only shares a common bond in the sport you love, but who also can talk about poopy diapers and potty training...all in the same conversation! :)

I'm still in somewhat of a funk. I can't seem to shake it. My Hubby and I aren't communicating well lately, which adds some stress. Work is OK, but still kinda weird. The girls are fine, but they are definitely picking up on this funk. I HAVE TO shake it. I'm hoping that the Albuquerque show this weekend will help to lift my spirits. It'll be some much-needed bonding time with Jam and the good people in Albuquerque. I'm really looking forward to it.

I think another thing contributing to this funk revolves around a friend back in my home state of Wisconsin. I've known her since 2nd grade and we were extremely tight in high school. Essentially, she's my BFF. I may not see/hear from her for weeks, yet when we get together about once a year, we're able to pick up where we left off. It's so comfortable. Well, I haven't heard from her for a few months now and I'm worried. Typically when I send an email, I'll get a response within a day or two. I've sent three emails in the past three months and have heard nothing. I'm really worried about her and hope she's OK. I'll have to search for her phone number and give her a call.

Ugh. I hate funks. I need to lose this one and fast.