And an action shot for good measure!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Finally going to register my dog!
I figure its about time to get Groovy registered with ASCA (and Jam too for that matter - though most of the delay with her was the breeder not me). As a result I have to take some pictures. You'd think that'd be easy considering how addicted to taking pictures of dogs I am... but taking pictures of them stacked from the sides and the front isn't my idea of fun so it hasn't gotten done. Two out of 3 angles were successful yesterday with Groovy. Still have to get acceptable photos of Groovy from the front and Jam from all sides. Below are the two "good" ones. I definitely should never show in conformation!
And an action shot for good measure!
And an action shot for good measure!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
MIA!
Where the heck have I been? Sometimes I'm not even sure. Basically though the past 3-4 weeks have been pretty insane. First my mom's dog AJ passed away at too young of an age due to heart failure (Ruckus' half brother). Very painful for all of us. Then my dad got a bacterial infection in his blood and landed in the hospital. Got sort of better and came home then quickly landed back in the hospital again. He had surgery on 12/23 and finally came home this past Sunday. Needless to say that leaves little time or wanting for me to blog. It does however remind me how important family is! Also my Facebook "family" was tremendously supportive with prayers and good thoughts... all were much appreciated.
The dogs hung in there... between lack of daylight and our crazy schedule they haven't gotten loads of attention but still have gotten enough.
Tali has trialed quite a bit lately. At a CPE trial earlier in Dec. she Q'd 9 out of 9 runs - all in level 4 or 5. She finished as the runner up in the Super Sport division of our Canis Major competition. Recently she finished her Novice Std title and Open Jumpers title in ASCA. A great month for her overall!
Jam - is well Jam. An awesome pet and occasionally a good performance dog. Maybe someday she'll want to do more but we'll see. Like I said though - she's a great pet and excels at that job! :)
Mickie and Ruckus are aging with dignity. Ruckus still goes all out for his discs - I have to remind Jack that the boy is 9.5 years old and to take it easy sometimes. Mickie is a wonderful snuggle bug and constant couch companion. She'll be 11 soon - hard to believe.
Groovy is... well... most often lately we call her "Destructo Dog". She continually finds new ways to get into trouble. I remind Jack that difficult puppies often make wonderful adults (Mickie is our case in point). We'll just keep our fingers crossed that is actually true. She is doing well in agility class and we've started herding recently and she's quite the natural. We are still working through some fear issues but she is slowly doing better.
Well that kinda catches us up... below are some of my favorite pics from December.
Herding photo by Sarah Duke
The dogs hung in there... between lack of daylight and our crazy schedule they haven't gotten loads of attention but still have gotten enough.
Tali has trialed quite a bit lately. At a CPE trial earlier in Dec. she Q'd 9 out of 9 runs - all in level 4 or 5. She finished as the runner up in the Super Sport division of our Canis Major competition. Recently she finished her Novice Std title and Open Jumpers title in ASCA. A great month for her overall!
Jam - is well Jam. An awesome pet and occasionally a good performance dog. Maybe someday she'll want to do more but we'll see. Like I said though - she's a great pet and excels at that job! :)
Mickie and Ruckus are aging with dignity. Ruckus still goes all out for his discs - I have to remind Jack that the boy is 9.5 years old and to take it easy sometimes. Mickie is a wonderful snuggle bug and constant couch companion. She'll be 11 soon - hard to believe.
Groovy is... well... most often lately we call her "Destructo Dog". She continually finds new ways to get into trouble. I remind Jack that difficult puppies often make wonderful adults (Mickie is our case in point). We'll just keep our fingers crossed that is actually true. She is doing well in agility class and we've started herding recently and she's quite the natural. We are still working through some fear issues but she is slowly doing better.
Well that kinda catches us up... below are some of my favorite pics from December.
Herding photo by Sarah Duke
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Tali NA, NAJ!
This past weekend Tali and I went to our first AKC trial in a while. Going into the weekend we needed 1 standard leg and 2 JWW legs to finish those two novice titles. We also were entered in FAST for the first time as a team. Well it was a great weekend! We went 4 for 5! On Saturday Tali Q'd and got 1st in FAST, Q'd and got 3rd in JWW. Our standard run was OK - a super slow down on the table and a missed aframe contact (which is a first) kept us from Q'ing. Sunday was a great day - Tali Q'd and got 1st in JWW and also in standard! Woo hoo! Standard was really nice too - one of those runs that felt good the whole way through. Thanks to my friends Sarah and Bev for videoing for me and for Sal and Bev sticking around to watch Tali earn her NA title!
Friday, October 23, 2009
Groovy Girl
I haven’t really talked in depth about how Groovy is doing in a little while so before I forget to chronicle some of the stuff that’s been going on I better do that. This whole blog thing has come in handy for being able to look back and see how she was acting at various times in her life so far.
As I mentioned a few weeks ago she has re-entered some sort of fear period. It’s right on time for her age – though her last one was not “textbook” in its timing – it was late. It started the day we left for Skyhoundz (Sept. 24th). An hour into the trip I got her out of the car at a stop we made and she started woofing at a man across the parking lot. That was new. Then at the competition she got freaked out a few times and at the hotel she’d woof at people on and off. We missed agility class that week due to me not feeling well. The following weekend we had a trial down at Palmetto and as I mentioned she did OK on Saturday but didn’t even want to leave her crate on Sunday. Hmmm… That Monday in class she was scared of the teeter noise and of the chute noise but otherwise was happy to be there and to see everyone. She did pretty well on our road trip to USDDN. A few freaked out moments but more “good” moments than bad and she even played a little disc off to the side with Jack and had a blast herding ducks. When I walked her I walked her with Mickie who LOVES every person she has ever met – I think that helped Groovy be more confident. Monday night in class however was a bit of a disaster. She was good at first – happy to be there and see everyone. We did a lowered dog walk twice and she liked that. Our first “station” however was next to the teeter bang game and that did it. The first bang came and she wigged out. Wouldn’t play with toys at all anymore and would barely take food within 20 feet of the teeter. She would take food further away and did well on the stations where the reward was food but would not play with her toys at all. I left feeling really down and out. Luckily the next session doesn’t start till 11/2 so we don’t have to go back and continue experiencing that and I have a little time to work on the issues away from class.
This past weekend was a CPE trial up in Groveland. I took Groovy along on Saturday. Jack came too. I only walked her by the ring 2 or 3 times and she did well. She woofed at a few people but would eat treats from them and be happy about them after that. She’d play disc with Jack in the field and did pretty good considering there was sheep poop all over the field. So as to ensure we ended on a good note I left her at home on Sunday.
Yesterday Groovy stayed the day at Sarah’s while we were at work then afterwards we went to Bev’s to work on Groovy’s teeter issues. Groovy was cautious in Sarah’s backyard and got spooked by a folded up patio table umbrella in the neighbor’s yard. She sort of got over it. She was willing to play disc a little so that was good. At Bev’s she started off quite scared of the teeter noise (had another dog working the teeter while Groovy and I stood 20 or so feet away from it). After some time and rewarding with cheese by the end of our time there she was making the teeter bang herself (it was raised about 10” and she’d put her feet on it to make it go down). Hooray! She enjoyed playing with Kate and trying to play with VooDoo. We’ll be returning to continue working on that. In the mean time I found some YouTube videos of dogs playing the teeter bang game on aluminum teeters. I think I’ll play those at random (and loudly) while she is playing with the other dogs in the house. Not sure if it’ll help but I figure it can’t hurt.
At home she freaks herself out on occasion – not sure at what but she finds something to be scared of and bark at for a few minutes and once the other dogs get all upset, go investigate and find nothing out of line she eventually calms down. I figure I’ll just let her work through that stuff on her own… that’s pretty normal for her age… even Jam went through some of that around this same age.
The good news about Groovy is that her disc drive is growing daily and she can catch and return 10-12 yard throws on occasion. The other day she caught two in a row! She’s so funny – when Jack or I come in from working a dog in the front yard Groovy runs to the back door and stands there staring at us with this look of “OK – it’s my turn!”. She doesn’t get it isn’t her turn EVERY time one of us comes in though we’re so thrilled by her excitement we do indulge her much of the time but are always certain to end each session with her wanting more (which sometimes means she gets carried in the house because she doesn’t want to come in yet). We even played disc with Groovy in the front field last Sunday without her being on a long line and it went quite well! Last time she was out there not on a long line she went and found her own fun so her listening skills and willingness to work with us are increasing too! Below is a link to some photos of her playing "long line free" in the front field!
http://picasaweb.google.com/HiFiAussies/GroovyFrisbee101809#
As I mentioned a few weeks ago she has re-entered some sort of fear period. It’s right on time for her age – though her last one was not “textbook” in its timing – it was late. It started the day we left for Skyhoundz (Sept. 24th). An hour into the trip I got her out of the car at a stop we made and she started woofing at a man across the parking lot. That was new. Then at the competition she got freaked out a few times and at the hotel she’d woof at people on and off. We missed agility class that week due to me not feeling well. The following weekend we had a trial down at Palmetto and as I mentioned she did OK on Saturday but didn’t even want to leave her crate on Sunday. Hmmm… That Monday in class she was scared of the teeter noise and of the chute noise but otherwise was happy to be there and to see everyone. She did pretty well on our road trip to USDDN. A few freaked out moments but more “good” moments than bad and she even played a little disc off to the side with Jack and had a blast herding ducks. When I walked her I walked her with Mickie who LOVES every person she has ever met – I think that helped Groovy be more confident. Monday night in class however was a bit of a disaster. She was good at first – happy to be there and see everyone. We did a lowered dog walk twice and she liked that. Our first “station” however was next to the teeter bang game and that did it. The first bang came and she wigged out. Wouldn’t play with toys at all anymore and would barely take food within 20 feet of the teeter. She would take food further away and did well on the stations where the reward was food but would not play with her toys at all. I left feeling really down and out. Luckily the next session doesn’t start till 11/2 so we don’t have to go back and continue experiencing that and I have a little time to work on the issues away from class.
This past weekend was a CPE trial up in Groveland. I took Groovy along on Saturday. Jack came too. I only walked her by the ring 2 or 3 times and she did well. She woofed at a few people but would eat treats from them and be happy about them after that. She’d play disc with Jack in the field and did pretty good considering there was sheep poop all over the field. So as to ensure we ended on a good note I left her at home on Sunday.
Yesterday Groovy stayed the day at Sarah’s while we were at work then afterwards we went to Bev’s to work on Groovy’s teeter issues. Groovy was cautious in Sarah’s backyard and got spooked by a folded up patio table umbrella in the neighbor’s yard. She sort of got over it. She was willing to play disc a little so that was good. At Bev’s she started off quite scared of the teeter noise (had another dog working the teeter while Groovy and I stood 20 or so feet away from it). After some time and rewarding with cheese by the end of our time there she was making the teeter bang herself (it was raised about 10” and she’d put her feet on it to make it go down). Hooray! She enjoyed playing with Kate and trying to play with VooDoo. We’ll be returning to continue working on that. In the mean time I found some YouTube videos of dogs playing the teeter bang game on aluminum teeters. I think I’ll play those at random (and loudly) while she is playing with the other dogs in the house. Not sure if it’ll help but I figure it can’t hurt.
At home she freaks herself out on occasion – not sure at what but she finds something to be scared of and bark at for a few minutes and once the other dogs get all upset, go investigate and find nothing out of line she eventually calms down. I figure I’ll just let her work through that stuff on her own… that’s pretty normal for her age… even Jam went through some of that around this same age.
The good news about Groovy is that her disc drive is growing daily and she can catch and return 10-12 yard throws on occasion. The other day she caught two in a row! She’s so funny – when Jack or I come in from working a dog in the front yard Groovy runs to the back door and stands there staring at us with this look of “OK – it’s my turn!”. She doesn’t get it isn’t her turn EVERY time one of us comes in though we’re so thrilled by her excitement we do indulge her much of the time but are always certain to end each session with her wanting more (which sometimes means she gets carried in the house because she doesn’t want to come in yet). We even played disc with Groovy in the front field last Sunday without her being on a long line and it went quite well! Last time she was out there not on a long line she went and found her own fun so her listening skills and willingness to work with us are increasing too! Below is a link to some photos of her playing "long line free" in the front field!
http://picasaweb.google.com/HiFiAussies/GroovyFrisbee101809#
Monday, October 19, 2009
USDDN Finals
The weekend before last we drove up to Cartersville, GA for USDDN finals. Tali was qualified with Jack in freestyle and in D&A with me. Ruckus was qualified in D&A with Jack. Groovy and Mickie came along for the ride and Jam stayed home with grandma for the first time.
The run down...
Tali and Jack finished the National Freestyle finals in 16th place out of 44 teams (the cut was at 15). We were pretty disappointed they didn't make the cut but oh well they did awesome regardless! Well the next morning we found out one dog had to withdraw due to illness (last I heard the dog was going to be fine) and so Jack and Tali made it into the finals. Another person dropped out after that and two more teams made it in so there were 16 teams competing in the international finals. Tali didn't have as strong of day on Sunday for the international finals but still managed to come in 14th place. Not bad for her!
Tali and I competed in the national D&A finals. I had no hopes or dreams of making the cut to the international finals - just was proud to have qualified and wanted to go out there and do my best. Well I met that goal for sure with a 15 in round 1 and an 18 in round 2! That put us 23rd out of 37 teams! I was very happy with that! Tali was awesome and caught everything I threw!
Ruckus and Jack had an awesome weekend. They came in 5th in National Toss N Fetch finals and 8th in International TNF Finals. Not bad for a 9.5 year old dog that is a good 3-5" shorter than most of the dogs competing in that division! :) Red Dogs Rule!
Groovy had a good time on Saturday when we tried our hand at duck herding! They had a little instinct test set up at the event. Groovy did great!
Below are links to videos from the weekend... enjoy!
Tali and Jack - National Finals Freestyle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4C8pqnhFmg
Jack and Ruckus - International Finals Toss N Fetch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Wct2HzhiI
Groovy herding ducks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dNZOVEtdb0
The run down...
Tali and Jack finished the National Freestyle finals in 16th place out of 44 teams (the cut was at 15). We were pretty disappointed they didn't make the cut but oh well they did awesome regardless! Well the next morning we found out one dog had to withdraw due to illness (last I heard the dog was going to be fine) and so Jack and Tali made it into the finals. Another person dropped out after that and two more teams made it in so there were 16 teams competing in the international finals. Tali didn't have as strong of day on Sunday for the international finals but still managed to come in 14th place. Not bad for her!
Tali and I competed in the national D&A finals. I had no hopes or dreams of making the cut to the international finals - just was proud to have qualified and wanted to go out there and do my best. Well I met that goal for sure with a 15 in round 1 and an 18 in round 2! That put us 23rd out of 37 teams! I was very happy with that! Tali was awesome and caught everything I threw!
Ruckus and Jack had an awesome weekend. They came in 5th in National Toss N Fetch finals and 8th in International TNF Finals. Not bad for a 9.5 year old dog that is a good 3-5" shorter than most of the dogs competing in that division! :) Red Dogs Rule!
Groovy had a good time on Saturday when we tried our hand at duck herding! They had a little instinct test set up at the event. Groovy did great!
Below are links to videos from the weekend... enjoy!
Tali and Jack - National Finals Freestyle:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4C8pqnhFmg
Jack and Ruckus - International Finals Toss N Fetch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Wct2HzhiI
Groovy herding ducks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dNZOVEtdb0
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
From USDAA to USDDN
The dog world sure is full of acronyms... let's see how many I can fit in.
Last weekend I took my ASCA/AKC aussie to a USDAA agility trial to work on her AD and a Q for the DAM team "TRD" - we earned several Q's and a couple of NQ's. This weekend I am taking my ASCA/AKC aussie and my non ASCA/AKC aussie to USDDN in GA to compete in disc dog events that they Q'd for at previous USDDN events.
Or in English...
Tali and I had a great time at the agility trial last weekend where she did very well and did a good job of helping earn a qualifying score for her team "Tuff Red Dogs". She did not earn any qualifications for her Agility Dog title however but the team classes were more difficult than the regular classes so it's great she could run the harder courses clean.
This weekend coming up Tali, Ruckus, Jack and I will be competing at a disc dog finals event in Georgia. We all had to qualify at previous events in order to compete this weekend so it's kinda cool that I get to compete too!
In Groovy news... we have most definitely hit a full fledged fear period again so we are doing our best to work our way through it. She didn't do too bad at the trial on Saturday but was totally overwhelmed at the trial on Sunday. Hopefully the road trip this weekend won't be too much for her but I feel safer having her with me knowing what she is experiencing than leaving her home not knowing what she is experiencing. We shall see how it goes... maybe I'll get lucky and this will only be a 2 week fear period and she'll be over it by Friday?!? :) I'm not holding my breath...
Last weekend I took my ASCA/AKC aussie to a USDAA agility trial to work on her AD and a Q for the DAM team "TRD" - we earned several Q's and a couple of NQ's. This weekend I am taking my ASCA/AKC aussie and my non ASCA/AKC aussie to USDDN in GA to compete in disc dog events that they Q'd for at previous USDDN events.
Or in English...
Tali and I had a great time at the agility trial last weekend where she did very well and did a good job of helping earn a qualifying score for her team "Tuff Red Dogs". She did not earn any qualifications for her Agility Dog title however but the team classes were more difficult than the regular classes so it's great she could run the harder courses clean.
This weekend coming up Tali, Ruckus, Jack and I will be competing at a disc dog finals event in Georgia. We all had to qualify at previous events in order to compete this weekend so it's kinda cool that I get to compete too!
In Groovy news... we have most definitely hit a full fledged fear period again so we are doing our best to work our way through it. She didn't do too bad at the trial on Saturday but was totally overwhelmed at the trial on Sunday. Hopefully the road trip this weekend won't be too much for her but I feel safer having her with me knowing what she is experiencing than leaving her home not knowing what she is experiencing. We shall see how it goes... maybe I'll get lucky and this will only be a 2 week fear period and she'll be over it by Friday?!? :) I'm not holding my breath...
Friday, October 2, 2009
Wow - I suck at blogging!
:)
Well if you are a friend on Facebook then you know what I've been up to... if you aren't and you care what I've been up to lately - well join Facebook and read over my profile for the last few weeks! ;)
OK - just kidding (sort of) - here is a quick run down of the highlights.
Canis Major #1 - rained out twice - 2nd time produced some awesome dogs playing in puddles pics. http://picasaweb.google.com/HiFiAussies/CanisMajor5InLakeOtisAndrew# One highlight was Groovy choosing to play disc with Jack for about 10 minutes instead of chasing dogs - and she was off leash!
Trip to Skyhoundz Worlds - Chattanooga, TN: (Facebook has a photoblog of the weekend)
Thursday - left for trip - took 4 dogs - Mickie stayed home with grandma. Groovy puked an hour into the trip but that was it for the whole weekend so maybe she's getting better about that. We stopped in Calhoun, Georgia for Groovy to try her hand at herding. Took her a while to catch on but she did good! We met Donna and Tony Padgett of Coosawattee Aussies - SUPER nice people. I should be able to post the video soon. It became apparent on the trip up that Groovy is re-entering a fear period which she is right on time for according to many books so not unexpected at all.
Friday - Open Qualifier - Tali kinda sucked - wouldn't drive towards any of the discs on one side of the field. Ended up placing 40th or something out of 60+ teams... far cry from last year's finish around 14th or so place. Oh well... even dogs are allowed to have bad days! Ruckus was a superstar - he was entered in Expert and Masters (for dogs 9 and over) D&A. In Expert he placed 15th out of 149 dogs. In Expert he placed 1st (out of a handful of dogs). The neat part is that had he had his 2nd rd 1st he would have made the cut for Expert and his total score would have put him in 2nd place in Expert and he would have qualified for Worlds in D&A. Not bad for a 9.5 year old dog.
Saturday - Freestyle Worlds - we weren't qualified so slept in late - by the time we got going they had already called the competition due to rain so we spent the day in the hotel and at Walmart. Went to the banquet that evening - very nice event as always!
Sunday - D&A Worlds (and the rest of Freestyle) - Tali again had an off day - she did well but dropped the disc on two returns in the 2nd round which is very unusual for her. This caused her and Jack to not get in a 5th throw which caused them to be 1 place out of the cut for the 3rd round. Overall she placed 13th - so not bad at all considering she was competing against the top D&A teams in the world (Skyhoundz World) and it let us head home early as the competition didn't end until 3 hours later (7 or 7:30pm).
Groovy's fear period kinda acclerated on Sunday and she totally freaked out when we walked her without another dog with us - if we had other dogs with us she was fine. Hope this fear period ends soon and with no emotional damage as she was doing SOOO good before it came on.
This weekend coming up we have USDAA agility with Tali! We are running on a DAM team with our friends Sarah (with Java) and Michelle (with Sheltie - Tuff). Our team name is "Tuff Red Dogs"! Tali is also entered in starters standard. We have our Q's in all the other starters stuff so that'll be it for the weekend! Looking forward to it!
Well if you are a friend on Facebook then you know what I've been up to... if you aren't and you care what I've been up to lately - well join Facebook and read over my profile for the last few weeks! ;)
OK - just kidding (sort of) - here is a quick run down of the highlights.
Canis Major #1 - rained out twice - 2nd time produced some awesome dogs playing in puddles pics. http://picasaweb.google.com/HiFiAussies/CanisMajor5InLakeOtisAndrew# One highlight was Groovy choosing to play disc with Jack for about 10 minutes instead of chasing dogs - and she was off leash!
Trip to Skyhoundz Worlds - Chattanooga, TN: (Facebook has a photoblog of the weekend)
Thursday - left for trip - took 4 dogs - Mickie stayed home with grandma. Groovy puked an hour into the trip but that was it for the whole weekend so maybe she's getting better about that. We stopped in Calhoun, Georgia for Groovy to try her hand at herding. Took her a while to catch on but she did good! We met Donna and Tony Padgett of Coosawattee Aussies - SUPER nice people. I should be able to post the video soon. It became apparent on the trip up that Groovy is re-entering a fear period which she is right on time for according to many books so not unexpected at all.
Friday - Open Qualifier - Tali kinda sucked - wouldn't drive towards any of the discs on one side of the field. Ended up placing 40th or something out of 60+ teams... far cry from last year's finish around 14th or so place. Oh well... even dogs are allowed to have bad days! Ruckus was a superstar - he was entered in Expert and Masters (for dogs 9 and over) D&A. In Expert he placed 15th out of 149 dogs. In Expert he placed 1st (out of a handful of dogs). The neat part is that had he had his 2nd rd 1st he would have made the cut for Expert and his total score would have put him in 2nd place in Expert and he would have qualified for Worlds in D&A. Not bad for a 9.5 year old dog.
Saturday - Freestyle Worlds - we weren't qualified so slept in late - by the time we got going they had already called the competition due to rain so we spent the day in the hotel and at Walmart. Went to the banquet that evening - very nice event as always!
Sunday - D&A Worlds (and the rest of Freestyle) - Tali again had an off day - she did well but dropped the disc on two returns in the 2nd round which is very unusual for her. This caused her and Jack to not get in a 5th throw which caused them to be 1 place out of the cut for the 3rd round. Overall she placed 13th - so not bad at all considering she was competing against the top D&A teams in the world (Skyhoundz World) and it let us head home early as the competition didn't end until 3 hours later (7 or 7:30pm).
Groovy's fear period kinda acclerated on Sunday and she totally freaked out when we walked her without another dog with us - if we had other dogs with us she was fine. Hope this fear period ends soon and with no emotional damage as she was doing SOOO good before it came on.
This weekend coming up we have USDAA agility with Tali! We are running on a DAM team with our friends Sarah (with Java) and Michelle (with Sheltie - Tuff). Our team name is "Tuff Red Dogs"! Tali is also entered in starters standard. We have our Q's in all the other starters stuff so that'll be it for the weekend! Looking forward to it!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Growin' up!
Groovy and Jam in June 2009 (Groovy 8.5 weeks old)
Groovy and Jam in Sept 2009 (Groovy 24 weeks old)
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Washed out weekend and the trick worked!
Well so much for our first Canis Major competition - it was cancelled due to rain. Funny thing was it hardly rained up here. Oh well - it's been re-scheduled for this Sunday I think. As a result of it being cancelled Groovy, Tali and I took a trip up to Groveland to watch a little of the CPE trial. Groovy had never been there before and she did very well. She was happily greeting everyone - men and women alike. Even men with hats and glasses - large men too. She was the welcome wagon lady. She did not care for the dogs barking in the kennel (there is a boarding place on this property) but it didn't keep her from functioning normally - just made her a tiny bit jumpy with other noises but not enough that she couldn't hold her sit stays and down stays we were practicing. Towards the end of our visit I went over to an open area away from the rings and threw a few short tosses for Tali then a few rollers for Groovy. Groovy did great (Tali too of course)!
Sunday it did actually rain up here so we didn't do much. Late afternoon we did get to go outside and play some frisbee with the dogs. They all did great - especially Groovy who did a few real catches (5 feet or so) and Jam who caught her first real back vault!
As for our mat trick - it actually turned out quite well. Last night was class and it was time to show what we had taught them. I did my little spiel about teaching her to read, set the mat down and after looking at me for about 5 seconds she "wiped her paws"! Hooray! The instructor thought it was quite cute. Hooray Groovy for cooperating! LOL Maybe I'll attempt to get it on video sometime...
One of Groovy's catches!
Mickie's Border Collie impersonation
Jam's first back vault with a catch! (I swear there is a disc there and
that she caught it! I did not however "catch it" on film!)
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Been a while...
What have we been doing... um... let's see.
Labor Day weekend was pretty busy. Saturday we went to a disc dog practice at a local park. We took Tali, Jam and Groovy. Had a good time - the girls had fun too! Groovy was letting all of her admirers adore her and loving every bit of it - even with Chris who she hadn't seen since Florida States and who she wouldn't let near her at that time. Oh how times have changed... Jam was officially off of restriction from her spay the day before practice so Jack threw a few short tosses for her and she did quite well.
Sunday we took 4 of the 5 dogs dock diving. What fun that was! Jam stayed home because she doesn't like water at all - only swims at the beach if we make her so we figured jumping into a pool was not going to be up her alley either.
Dog by dog run down...
Mickie... thought that the sign sort of floating at the pool edge was solid ground, went to step on it and was the first one in. She didn't voluntarily get in again after that which surprised me because she likes water a lot.
Ruckus... the star of the day to some degree. He would go in for the ball. Now I didn't say jump in... just go in. Like slide off the edge into the pool. Not bad though for a dog that hasn't gone swimming in several years. He'll be returning.
Tali... she's so biddable. She'd go in because we asked her to. Not for a toy... just because we called her enough. It's like you could see her say... "Well OK - if I have to... but only because you are asking me to". She'll be returning too.
Groovy... this was Groovy's 2nd time at the pool. The first time she was scared even though she swims like a fish. She wanted no part of jumping into a pool that is 2 feet below where she was standing. This time she still wasn't going in for a toy but by golly have Tali go in and 2 seconds later Groovy jumps in. And yes - I meant to say jump... probably a good 2 foot jump too! She'll be returning as well.
On Sunday evening Sarah came over for agility foundation practice... then on Monday we didn't do anything but hang out around the house. No agility class due to the holiday but we sure did have a ton of homework. Hopefully we've practiced enough this week but somehow I doubt it!
One thing we are supposed to have done was to shape a trick using a prop. I'm attempting to teach Groovy to wipe her feet off on a doormat that says "Wipe Your Paws" however it's not going all that well. I'm thinking maybe I should have gone for a trick that is about carrying things instead... that seems to be more her thing. We'll see though... I thought it'd be amusing to say I taught her to read... hold up the mat to have her read it and then put it down to have her wipe her paws! :) It'll more likely be she'll just go stand on it and move her feet a little. Oh well! We are doing well with some of our other exercises at least!
Tomorrow is Canis Major #1 which means frisbee season has officially started - hooray!!!
Labor Day weekend was pretty busy. Saturday we went to a disc dog practice at a local park. We took Tali, Jam and Groovy. Had a good time - the girls had fun too! Groovy was letting all of her admirers adore her and loving every bit of it - even with Chris who she hadn't seen since Florida States and who she wouldn't let near her at that time. Oh how times have changed... Jam was officially off of restriction from her spay the day before practice so Jack threw a few short tosses for her and she did quite well.
Sunday we took 4 of the 5 dogs dock diving. What fun that was! Jam stayed home because she doesn't like water at all - only swims at the beach if we make her so we figured jumping into a pool was not going to be up her alley either.
Dog by dog run down...
Mickie... thought that the sign sort of floating at the pool edge was solid ground, went to step on it and was the first one in. She didn't voluntarily get in again after that which surprised me because she likes water a lot.
Ruckus... the star of the day to some degree. He would go in for the ball. Now I didn't say jump in... just go in. Like slide off the edge into the pool. Not bad though for a dog that hasn't gone swimming in several years. He'll be returning.
Tali... she's so biddable. She'd go in because we asked her to. Not for a toy... just because we called her enough. It's like you could see her say... "Well OK - if I have to... but only because you are asking me to". She'll be returning too.
Groovy... this was Groovy's 2nd time at the pool. The first time she was scared even though she swims like a fish. She wanted no part of jumping into a pool that is 2 feet below where she was standing. This time she still wasn't going in for a toy but by golly have Tali go in and 2 seconds later Groovy jumps in. And yes - I meant to say jump... probably a good 2 foot jump too! She'll be returning as well.
On Sunday evening Sarah came over for agility foundation practice... then on Monday we didn't do anything but hang out around the house. No agility class due to the holiday but we sure did have a ton of homework. Hopefully we've practiced enough this week but somehow I doubt it!
One thing we are supposed to have done was to shape a trick using a prop. I'm attempting to teach Groovy to wipe her feet off on a doormat that says "Wipe Your Paws" however it's not going all that well. I'm thinking maybe I should have gone for a trick that is about carrying things instead... that seems to be more her thing. We'll see though... I thought it'd be amusing to say I taught her to read... hold up the mat to have her read it and then put it down to have her wipe her paws! :) It'll more likely be she'll just go stand on it and move her feet a little. Oh well! We are doing well with some of our other exercises at least!
Tomorrow is Canis Major #1 which means frisbee season has officially started - hooray!!!
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Another full circle moment...
Groovy is growing up for sure and not quite a puppy anymore. We had another "full circle" moment this week. The first was at the trial last weekend. This one was last night when my sister and brother in law came over to the house. It's the first time they've been over since I had them over for dinner about 2 months back. At dinner Groovy would not go too close to Randy and was scared any time he talked. She was only moderately friendly with Laurel but still very reserved and fearful overall. This time however she greeted Laurel like a long lost friend and was quite friendly with Randy. Somewhat cautious or maybe submissive is a better word but still very eager to see him and get to know him. I asked them "So how do you like my new dog?". They both agreed she was a totally different dog. Needless to say I was beaming ear to ear. The other night at agility class this gal that took puppy class with Groovy commented on how different she is now as well (this is as Groovy is pulling me to get to her to say hi). I've got my fingers crossed that at least some of this outgoing'ness (is that a word?) sticks. At minimum that the new level of confidence sticks! She doesn't have to love everyone (though she's so cute when she wiggles at people it'd be nice) but indifference with confidence is OK too. We'll see... she's still so very young but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Here she is on a day when both ears were cooperating - the rest of this week it's be one "normal" and one rose ear!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Gang symbols?
Do we have a new gang starting here at the Fahle Ranch? And to think we moved out to the country to get away from all of that type of influence!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
CPE Night trial - Tali and Groovy news
Last night we (Tali, Groovy and I) went to a CPE night trial at Pasco Paws in Zephyrhills. We had a lot of fun even though we didn't get home until 3am in the morning! SOOOO glad we aren't entered tonight.
Tali had a good night - Groovy did too but more on that later. She was very focused and as the evening cooled off her speed increased. She's such a good girl now! We NQ'd our first run which was Gamblers. She came out of the tunnel and crossed behind me which made me almost step on her which made the whistle blow before I was ready which put me way to close to her at the gamble line too soon. Oh well...
Next was Wildcard. She did awesome and we Q'd and got 2nd!
Standard followed and we had a beautiful run with nice weaves. I screwed up and forgot to front cross in the beginning which caused a bobble but we stayed on course however the next to last obstacle was the teeter and Tali flew right off of it despite me gearing down and telling her "Easy" because I could see she was going too fast. My fault for never training a solid "you stay on it until it goes down" teeter. It's her first fly off in a long time though so no big deal in the overall picture of things.
Next was colors - another beautiful run with a Q and a 1st place!
The last run was snooker. Not sure why snooker at 2am is a good idea but it always seems to come last on these night trials. I tried something I've never tried before and that was 3 - 7's in the opening and the 7's were weaves! (6 poles) Tali didn't get a good entry on the first set but nailed the other two and the weaves in the closing. It was a lot of fun and we Q'd and got 1st!
As for Miss Groovy Girl - she did awesome! This is the "same trial" that all of Groovy's fear issues started. That was 9 or 10 weeks ago. What a difference some time makes. Last night she got out of the car happy and bouncy. She greeted everyone with wiggles and affection - men included. It was like a whole new dog! At the end of the evening I even pulled out Kelli's wobble board and ladder and she was tugging like a maniac on the wobble board and did good work on the ladder. I've got my fingers crossed that this Groovy is more of the "real" Groovy because I sure do like her! :) There were a lot of aussie people there and she was a hit. I got to see her brother Seven. He is much bigger than her though we never had them side by side to see an up close comparison. Overall it was a great night for all 3 of us! Next trial isn't until the first weekend of October but disc season is starting in mid September! Woo hoo!
Groovy at 10 weeks
Groovy 2 weeks ago at 19 weeks
Friday, August 28, 2009
Jam's doing good!
Jam's spay went well and she is recovering nicely! Her hips look good to the vet and they look good to me. Hard for me to see what is going on between the ball and the socket in terms of space but everything else I know to look at looks really nice. We'll see what OFA says. I never count my chickens before they hatch when it comes to orthopedic issues! Keeping her on R&R for another week is going to be a pain in the butt but she's doing really well with it so far.
Tonight is a CPE trial with Tali - should be fun - just hope we don't get too rained on!
Tonight is a CPE trial with Tali - should be fun - just hope we don't get too rained on!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Jam's "big" day
Tomorrow is a big day for Jam... she'll hate every minute of it though since she is getting spayed and her hips xrayed. Why is she getting spayed at the same time she is getting her hips done? Because while she is an excellent pet and companion and is absolutely adorable she just does not have the focus and drive to be what I consider breed quality. Maybe someday she will but even so - do I really want a pup from her and have to wait 3-4 years for the focus and drive to kick in? Nope... I don't. I bet she would have made a great mom - she's doing a bang up job of being a big sister to Groovy. I've known for a long while though that I wasn't going to breed her so that part of it isn't going to be hard on me tomorrow. The hard part for me will be the anticipation that 1) everything goes safely and 2) to see what her hips look like. So say a little prayer for Jam Jam that all is well tomorrow... we love that little red headed airhead!
A pic of Jam in one of those moments of focus and drive! Maybe someday she can sustain these moments for more than 30 seconds at a time! :)
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Groovy graduates and more...
This week was a busy week for Miss Groovy. On Sunday she went to the park with us to watch Jack practice frisbee with Tali and practice pairs with Gary and Bayer. She had a nice time practicing her behaviors for her Puppy K graduation that was coming up on Tuesday.
Monday night was her first agility class. It's a foundation class that is safe for young dogs to participate in - no jumping or anything until they are old enough. This week we just talked about playing with our dogs, tug, etc. We had to get up in front of the class and play with our dogs without any toys. That was an easy one with Groove - just run away from her and a game begins! Then we had to get up in front of class and tug. This I was worried about because while she likes to tug she is hit or miss in strange places in addition to the fact that she is losing teeth. Well she tugged and even more impressive is that she tugged with our instructor who she didn't know before that evening! She was a very good girl and I was so very pleased!
Tuesday night she graduated her Puppy K class! She graduated in the top 13! (that's a joke - there were 13 in the class and the instructor kept telling folks that) She did sits, downs, stays and loose leash walking with flair and success and her "pattycake" trick was a hit. Even more impressive though was her saying hello to the small children and men and not minding at all when Mike the instructor put her graduation cap on her head. I was shocked and surprised. She's like a whole new dog lately! Hopefully it sticks!
Monday night was her first agility class. It's a foundation class that is safe for young dogs to participate in - no jumping or anything until they are old enough. This week we just talked about playing with our dogs, tug, etc. We had to get up in front of the class and play with our dogs without any toys. That was an easy one with Groove - just run away from her and a game begins! Then we had to get up in front of class and tug. This I was worried about because while she likes to tug she is hit or miss in strange places in addition to the fact that she is losing teeth. Well she tugged and even more impressive is that she tugged with our instructor who she didn't know before that evening! She was a very good girl and I was so very pleased!
Tuesday night she graduated her Puppy K class! She graduated in the top 13! (that's a joke - there were 13 in the class and the instructor kept telling folks that) She did sits, downs, stays and loose leash walking with flair and success and her "pattycake" trick was a hit. Even more impressive though was her saying hello to the small children and men and not minding at all when Mike the instructor put her graduation cap on her head. I was shocked and surprised. She's like a whole new dog lately! Hopefully it sticks!
Thanks to Sarah and Jack for the photos!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
I'm a copy Kat - Vote for which of my Hi-Fi Aussies is your favorite!
My friend Sarah who is the one who got me to blog to begin with put up a poll on her page to vote for which of her dogs is her readers favorite. I thought it was a cool idea so I put one up too! So go vote and feel free to leave a comment about who you voted for and why! I'm curious to know!
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Interesting week...
It's been an interesting week for Miss Groovy. Tuesday was puppy class 5 of 6. Groovy was so well adjusted and "Miss Social". She was giving kisses and love to the guy sitting next to us... yes - I said the GUY! She was totally at ease the whole class - didn't even mind when I handed her leash off to the instructor to do a recall.
Today was dock diving. I think Jack and I had visions of it going a lot better than it did however as I know with other dogs of ours - just because you love water at the beach doesn't mean you love it in a pool. She wasn't about to jump off a dock that's 2 feet off the water for a toy or even for cheese or even for me or Jack. We worked on her just swimming from the top step instead. We'll have to build from there. There were still some very "braggable" moments today though. For one Groovy was again "Miss Social" yet she has never been to this place before or been around any of these people before. She was loving up on everyone and had no reserve at all after about the first 5 minutes there. Amazing and wonderful! The other great moment was after the class was over Jack played a little frisbee with Tali (who we took as a "backup" dog but who never tried the dock diving today). Groovy was totally into what they were doing so when they were done Jack put Tali up and did a few rollers with Groovy. She did amazing! Woo hoo! :)
This week we start a new adventure too! Beginner Agility on Monday nights! Tuesday is puppy class graduation as well. She had to learn a trick for graduation and our trick is "patty cake". Will have to get it on film once it's perfected. It's a trick I taught Mickie but haven't taught anyone else. Groovy got it pretty quickly! She's a smart girl!
Today was dock diving. I think Jack and I had visions of it going a lot better than it did however as I know with other dogs of ours - just because you love water at the beach doesn't mean you love it in a pool. She wasn't about to jump off a dock that's 2 feet off the water for a toy or even for cheese or even for me or Jack. We worked on her just swimming from the top step instead. We'll have to build from there. There were still some very "braggable" moments today though. For one Groovy was again "Miss Social" yet she has never been to this place before or been around any of these people before. She was loving up on everyone and had no reserve at all after about the first 5 minutes there. Amazing and wonderful! The other great moment was after the class was over Jack played a little frisbee with Tali (who we took as a "backup" dog but who never tried the dock diving today). Groovy was totally into what they were doing so when they were done Jack put Tali up and did a few rollers with Groovy. She did amazing! Woo hoo! :)
This week we start a new adventure too! Beginner Agility on Monday nights! Tuesday is puppy class graduation as well. She had to learn a trick for graduation and our trick is "patty cake". Will have to get it on film once it's perfected. It's a trick I taught Mickie but haven't taught anyone else. Groovy got it pretty quickly! She's a smart girl!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Things are never simple with the Muck Man
Well it doesn't look like it's a cracked nail so they did xrays. The Xrays showed degenerative changes in the foot (this is a foot he hurt previously so we have other xrays from 2 years ago). It doesn't appear to be a bone infection or cancer - so that's the good news. The specialist is somewhat concerned about the soft tissue inflammation though. What it is and why his toenail was bleeding we have no idea. So... anti-inflammatory, antibiotics and rest are the course of action and we'll reasses in a week.
The good news is that as of last night and today he isn't limping hardly at all. So maybe he just hurt his toe and had I given it a few days he would have been fine but since we xrayed we saw the degenerative changes and only think it's something worse. We all have our fingers crossed that with a couple weeks rest he'll be good as new and ready for the Canis Major season and for USDDN Finals in October! At 9.5 this is very likely his last season competing in toss n fetch (he's already retired from freestyle) so we were hoping to make the most of it... we shall see. The most important part is that he stays healthy and happy!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Tiny Bubbles
Jack and I were at my nephew's 5th birthday party today. They had bubbles for the kids and had tons left over so I brought a bottle home to see what the dogs thought. The only dog even remotely interested was Groovy. She couldn't figure out where they went when they "disappeared". Pretty cute! Ruckus in the mean time found a tennis ball and proceeded to bark at me to throw it. Um... no hopalong - you can't play ball if you can't walk good on all 4 feet!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Poor Ruckus...
The poor little man cracked a toenail while playing ball yesterday morning. :( We took him to the vet today and since it is at or below the base Dr. Hooks recommended removal for a faster recovery. Frisbee season starts in 5 short weeks after all! So on Tuesday Ruckus will have his nail removed and a dental. Hopefully the poor little dude is feeling better soon.
Monday, August 3, 2009
New use for a Chuck-it?
Groovy is slowly getting the concept of fetch... in the mean time while the other dogs run off after the ball this is what Groovy sometimes stays to do! I never really thought of it as a good tug toy... 
Thursday, July 30, 2009
So easily excited!
When you are an owner of a new puppy it takes only little things to get you excited... for instance - Tuesday night at puppy class our loose leash walking work was not so good however the reason it was not so good was because Groovy was wanting to visit the people we were walking past! I found this to be VERY exciting! Who needs a dog to walk loose on a leash anyway when you live on 10 acres? Another for instance... at our informal pup class that we have at rotating places Groovy took a treat from TK (someone she's been VERY scared of since she was 10 weeks old) - this I found very exciting as well! And today's exciting moment - Groovy went out the doggy door on her own and went poop unattended! Woo hoo! That is huge as she has not wanted to be out there on her own quite yet. Nope... doesn't take much to make me happy. The good news is this is true of most "dog people". Example? Sarah's excitement today at finally getting the giraffe toy in her Happy Meal so Kate and Java could have it! :)
Here are some pics taken by Sarah on Sunday and Tuesday. Thanks Sarah!
Groovy and I at the beach
"Shake Your Groove Thang!"
Puppy class friends - Groovy, Kate and Blitz (via cell phone camera).
Want to take a guess at how many pics it took to get this one?
(I don't know the answer but Sarah might)
Groovy and Kate
Monday, July 27, 2009
Beach Baby and Run Run Run!
What a fun weekend we had! Saturday was our disc dog club’s annual picnic that is held at Ft. Desoto which has a dog beach. We always have a good time at this event and I look forward to it every year. Our eldest dogs are not “dog beach friendly” and Tali and Jam only somewhat enjoy themselves there so while it’s fun for me the dogs would probably be just as happy going for a hike or something. Well with the addition of Groovy that has changed. She LOVES the beach. Someone suggested that of course she should – it fits her name. Works for me!
When we arrived it was just about lunch time so we sat and ate with everyone. Groovy was quite comfortable in the group of people – more so than I expected her to be and than she has been. Even with 2.5 year old Kiera around there were no woofs or anything. Kiera did get a little warning when she got into Groovy’s space too much for too long but in all honesty Groovy did awesome with her compared to her last few kid outings and was more curious about her than fearful. After lunch we walked down to the dog beach. I left Groovy’s short leash attached to her in case she went running off or something. We set our stuff down, walked towards the water and Groovy walked right in and started swimming around as though she had been at the beach 10 times before. Jack and I looked at each other in amazement. The more interesting thing is that Groovy would swim up to complete strangers to say hello (men included). Again, Jack and I exchanged looks of amazement – especially when she proceeded to do this on land as well. What dog was this? We didn’t know but we didn’t care and certainly hoped to take this “new” dog home with us. Tali came with us on this outing as well and swam more than she normally does. I think she’d love the dog beach if it were only dogs she knew – it’s all the strange dogs that kind of wig her out but it’s good for her to experience. The day was so much fun. Here are some links to a slideshow of pics and a video. Folks will think I was deluded when speaking about Groovy’s aversion to men when they see this because she is so confident and friendly in the video. The difference was amazing. Needless to say we’ll be going back to the dog beach soon!
When we arrived it was just about lunch time so we sat and ate with everyone. Groovy was quite comfortable in the group of people – more so than I expected her to be and than she has been. Even with 2.5 year old Kiera around there were no woofs or anything. Kiera did get a little warning when she got into Groovy’s space too much for too long but in all honesty Groovy did awesome with her compared to her last few kid outings and was more curious about her than fearful. After lunch we walked down to the dog beach. I left Groovy’s short leash attached to her in case she went running off or something. We set our stuff down, walked towards the water and Groovy walked right in and started swimming around as though she had been at the beach 10 times before. Jack and I looked at each other in amazement. The more interesting thing is that Groovy would swim up to complete strangers to say hello (men included). Again, Jack and I exchanged looks of amazement – especially when she proceeded to do this on land as well. What dog was this? We didn’t know but we didn’t care and certainly hoped to take this “new” dog home with us. Tali came with us on this outing as well and swam more than she normally does. I think she’d love the dog beach if it were only dogs she knew – it’s all the strange dogs that kind of wig her out but it’s good for her to experience. The day was so much fun. Here are some links to a slideshow of pics and a video. Folks will think I was deluded when speaking about Groovy’s aversion to men when they see this because she is so confident and friendly in the video. The difference was amazing. Needless to say we’ll be going back to the dog beach soon!
Pics:
Video of the social swimming butterfly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjzEE21bNwo
On Sunday Tali and I attended a 5 hour small group lesson with Wendy Pape. The group consisted of us, Sarah, Gary, Bev, Sally and Kathryn. It was a good time. We all learned a lot and ran our butts off. It was even not too bad of weather for the first few hours as the rain kept things cooler than normal for a while. Tali did very well on some very difficult courses. I didn’t do too badly either! Wendy was able to help us with our 10th pole popping issue and showed me I could be places I wouldn’t have thought I could be. I was also glad to see that 2 or 3 times when I wanted to handle something differently than most it was actually the way Wendy would handle it. Good to know my brain can still function well as it relates to difficult handling. Haven’t been on tough courses in a long while since Mickie has retired and Tali is still at the beginning levels in most venues (Not that any venue has courses as difficult as the ones that Wendy makes up!). Hopefully by the end of this trial season coming up Tali will be at the upper levels but we’ll see how it goes this year!
Ear update? I untaped them for the trip to the beach – one advantage of using this method! By Sunday we had 1 rose ear and 1 “regular” ear. As of last night we have 1 ear taped and 1 ear not. We’ll see what happens!
On Sunday Tali and I attended a 5 hour small group lesson with Wendy Pape. The group consisted of us, Sarah, Gary, Bev, Sally and Kathryn. It was a good time. We all learned a lot and ran our butts off. It was even not too bad of weather for the first few hours as the rain kept things cooler than normal for a while. Tali did very well on some very difficult courses. I didn’t do too badly either! Wendy was able to help us with our 10th pole popping issue and showed me I could be places I wouldn’t have thought I could be. I was also glad to see that 2 or 3 times when I wanted to handle something differently than most it was actually the way Wendy would handle it. Good to know my brain can still function well as it relates to difficult handling. Haven’t been on tough courses in a long while since Mickie has retired and Tali is still at the beginning levels in most venues (Not that any venue has courses as difficult as the ones that Wendy makes up!). Hopefully by the end of this trial season coming up Tali will be at the upper levels but we’ll see how it goes this year!
Ear update? I untaped them for the trip to the beach – one advantage of using this method! By Sunday we had 1 rose ear and 1 “regular” ear. As of last night we have 1 ear taped and 1 ear not. We’ll see what happens!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Marshmallow head!
She's so cute with her marshmallows on! :) (Why is it spelled mallow but everyone says mellow? Anyone?)
Yes... we've established I'm vain. But to be honest - had she arrived at 8 weeks old with rose ears I'd have left rose ears as I don't have any issues with rose ears. However - her "new" rose ears don't suit her as well so that's why I'm taping. We'll see what happens!
Monday, July 20, 2009
Splashin' Sunday
Yesterday we started out with puppy “class” at our friend Kathryn’s house. It was puppy pool time and child socialization time. Groovy had a TON of fun playing with her brother Seven, a BC pup named Cab, Poppy the adorable swimming Corgi, Pixie the Chinese Crested and assorted IG’s. To be honest – most of the playing occurred with the herding breeds as the CC and the IG were too busy bumming food off of the humans to play with the pups. I am VERY guilty of indulging them in their wishes too – they are just so darn cute and seem so polite when begging since they weigh next to nothing when jumping up on your leg and looking at you longingly… much different begging style than the aussies and clearly I was not immune! I have a few new doggy friends though!
Groovy did really well with the puppy mom’s, running around to say hello and greeting them all. She was rather confident for not having ever been there before, etc. She did OK in the big pool. Wasn’t petrified but wasn’t having fun either. She and I just hung out in the pool together with me holding her and letting her swim and get out on her own. There was a baby pool as well that she, Cab and Seven enjoyed playing around. Notice I said around… Seven and Cab were in and out – Groovy was pretty much just around with no real desire to get in (more on that later). The cutest though was watching little Poppy swim and seeing her tail/nubbin’ spin around like a crazy rudder… SOOO adorable.
Groovy was not comfortable when Tristan (Kathryn’s son) came out. He is 3 but a very dog savvy 3 year old (living with 6 dogs of his own). She woofed at him a little while he was in the pool and some when he was out of the pool. She would eat treats from him though which is something new for her. Normally with men and children she steers so clear of them she won’t eat treats. She even ate treats from Kathryn’s husband as well. She didn’t “like” him but was at least willing to get that close to him. That’s progress! Problems come with this progress however in that now that a little bit of her fear is gone she is what I *think* is curious and aroused by small children. Not a good combo of all three feelings for a little 15 week old brain to deal with… fear + slight curiosity + arousal… gonna have to work out a plan in that regard for sure. The good news is though that she was willing to do behaviors and play with the other dogs with both of them around.
The puppies played for around 2 hours with very little resting. We were amazed. It was actually not hot out (due to continual threatening rain – though luckily it never actually rained). I think the pups were enjoying the reprieve from the heat. It was fun to watch little Poppy do a body dive on top of the pile of 2 aussies and a BC – all of which were more than twice her size. No fear in that little one! I’m not sure that Bev thought it was as fun to watch! :)
After the playtime at Kathryn’s I took Groovy over to our friend Sally’s house who lives literally just 5 minutes away. Groovy and Tex love each other so I figured it was a good chance for her to go somewhere else new and have fun. Turns out she was a little too tired to hang with Tex (no surprise after her busy morning) so we only let them play for a short little while. After Tex went back in the house Sal got some treats and coaxed Groovy into her baby pool. It worked! Not that I hadn’t tried that several weeks ago at Kelli’s but Sal must have good pool kharma! After that Sal and I stood around talking while Groovy explored her small yard that has the pool in it. I actually watched Groovy get bored/run out of ways to entertain herself. She NEVER gets “bored” in our fenced in backyard which I guess is a testament to how distracting the place is thanks to all the woodland animals that come through. It didn’t take long though and Groovy began entertaining herself with the zoomies which promptly included jumping in and out of the pool and biting the water. It was SO hilarious and Sal and I were laughing out loud watching her antics – of all the times to not have my digital or video camera! I guess Groovy finally figured out the fun of water and why her brother Seven is so obsessed with it! I guess I better get a baby pool before the “season” is over!
Groovy spent MUCH of the rest of the day sleeping with a little bit more playing in our yard with our dogs and finding ways to get in trouble in the den while Jack and I watched the last episode of Dexter. I thought it’d be good to have her hang just with us and just chill. No other dogs… no real activity going on. Well needless to say we had to pause several times to remove things from her mouth – things we didn’t even know were in the den (AKA “The Mancave”)! She is definitely a 15 week old pup through and through! :)
Below are some pics of her from Saturday evening… Enjoy!
Groovy head
Shake it!! (and that rubber heart is pretty darn heavy)
Groovy did really well with the puppy mom’s, running around to say hello and greeting them all. She was rather confident for not having ever been there before, etc. She did OK in the big pool. Wasn’t petrified but wasn’t having fun either. She and I just hung out in the pool together with me holding her and letting her swim and get out on her own. There was a baby pool as well that she, Cab and Seven enjoyed playing around. Notice I said around… Seven and Cab were in and out – Groovy was pretty much just around with no real desire to get in (more on that later). The cutest though was watching little Poppy swim and seeing her tail/nubbin’ spin around like a crazy rudder… SOOO adorable.
Groovy was not comfortable when Tristan (Kathryn’s son) came out. He is 3 but a very dog savvy 3 year old (living with 6 dogs of his own). She woofed at him a little while he was in the pool and some when he was out of the pool. She would eat treats from him though which is something new for her. Normally with men and children she steers so clear of them she won’t eat treats. She even ate treats from Kathryn’s husband as well. She didn’t “like” him but was at least willing to get that close to him. That’s progress! Problems come with this progress however in that now that a little bit of her fear is gone she is what I *think* is curious and aroused by small children. Not a good combo of all three feelings for a little 15 week old brain to deal with… fear + slight curiosity + arousal… gonna have to work out a plan in that regard for sure. The good news is though that she was willing to do behaviors and play with the other dogs with both of them around.
The puppies played for around 2 hours with very little resting. We were amazed. It was actually not hot out (due to continual threatening rain – though luckily it never actually rained). I think the pups were enjoying the reprieve from the heat. It was fun to watch little Poppy do a body dive on top of the pile of 2 aussies and a BC – all of which were more than twice her size. No fear in that little one! I’m not sure that Bev thought it was as fun to watch! :)
After the playtime at Kathryn’s I took Groovy over to our friend Sally’s house who lives literally just 5 minutes away. Groovy and Tex love each other so I figured it was a good chance for her to go somewhere else new and have fun. Turns out she was a little too tired to hang with Tex (no surprise after her busy morning) so we only let them play for a short little while. After Tex went back in the house Sal got some treats and coaxed Groovy into her baby pool. It worked! Not that I hadn’t tried that several weeks ago at Kelli’s but Sal must have good pool kharma! After that Sal and I stood around talking while Groovy explored her small yard that has the pool in it. I actually watched Groovy get bored/run out of ways to entertain herself. She NEVER gets “bored” in our fenced in backyard which I guess is a testament to how distracting the place is thanks to all the woodland animals that come through. It didn’t take long though and Groovy began entertaining herself with the zoomies which promptly included jumping in and out of the pool and biting the water. It was SO hilarious and Sal and I were laughing out loud watching her antics – of all the times to not have my digital or video camera! I guess Groovy finally figured out the fun of water and why her brother Seven is so obsessed with it! I guess I better get a baby pool before the “season” is over!
Groovy spent MUCH of the rest of the day sleeping with a little bit more playing in our yard with our dogs and finding ways to get in trouble in the den while Jack and I watched the last episode of Dexter. I thought it’d be good to have her hang just with us and just chill. No other dogs… no real activity going on. Well needless to say we had to pause several times to remove things from her mouth – things we didn’t even know were in the den (AKA “The Mancave”)! She is definitely a 15 week old pup through and through! :)
Below are some pics of her from Saturday evening… Enjoy!
Groovy head
Groovy butt
Groovy "killing" her toy
Shake it!! (and that rubber heart is pretty darn heavy)
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Saturday chillin'
Not much on the agenda for today... Jack and I went to our nephew Nathaniel's 7th birthday party and then back home. The fur kids have gone out several times to play ball and such and now all are taking a nap. A nice relaxing day... as promised some pics of Groovy's current earset. Also a nice pic showing how well Ruckus is tolerating and is getting more comfortable with his new little sister! I measured her today - she's around 15" tall at 15 weeks old.
Friday, July 17, 2009
A good week!
Well I wasn't feeling well when I got home from work today so we didn't make it to the NADAC trial this evening... :( That's OK though - there is another one in August and we'll be sure and hit that one!
Groovy turned 15 weeks old yesterday and weighed 18.2 #'s at the vet on Wednesday. She's growing up fast!
Monday we went for a walk with her and Jam and stopped along the way to see the miniature horse. On the way back dad was coming down the road and stopped to chat. I wasn't sure how Groovy would do with this as she'd never seen a car on our road, had never seen a person talking from a car and still is a little unsure about dad. Well the car didn't phase her, the talking head sticking out of the car didn't phase her and once dad opened the door to say hi to the dogs Groovy took Jam's lead and was very happy and wiggly to see Grandpa! Hooray!
Tuesday was Groovy's first puppy class. She did very very well! Of course she already knew everything that we learned but she's there more for the social aspects anyway. Our teacher is a male - I planned that on purpose! She did great with the VERY full class of people and dogs. She'd hide under the chair a little if a man or child got too close (within 3-4 feet) but other than that was doing her sits and downs like a pro. She loved all the other dogs and I think having them around helped her feel at ease. Groovy also got to spend the day at Duke's Doggy Daycare (Sarah's house) and got a good report card for the day! :) Oh and for an extra bonus - she didn't puke on the way to Sarah's, on the way to class or on the way home (and she had a ton of treats at class)!! Woo hoo!
Wednesday was her big trip to the vet. She did great! Wasn't running up to greet the techs but was not scared either. Didn't puke on the way there or back and enjoyed watching the kitties in their cages up front!
Monday and Wednesday Groovy was "evil puppy" in that if I called her she'd look at me and go the other way. Grrrr... so we've hit that stage have we? Wednesday she ducked under the barbwire fence and out into the cow pasture. She had no intention of returning anytime soon but a baby cow decided to check her out and that scared her enough to come join me on the other side of the fence! The cows were way closer than they normally are and she was actually scared of them at first. I put her on her long line and we just sat and watched them for a while then she was fine. She is officially on "long line lockdown" any time she is out front now.
Thursday was a whole new day for Miss Groovy! Mom was over at the house during the day and told me how well Groovy had listened to her out in the backyard. Then Thursday evening I took her out in the front yard on the long line to watch the other 4 play frisbee (one at a time). Every time I called her name she turned and ran to me - without even having to pull on the long line or anything. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised! :) She also chased a few rollers too!
So overall a good week... not much planned for the weekend except our puppy playgroup/class on Sunday. It's swimming pool and kid socialization day at Kathryn's. Should be interesting!
This is a pic of Groovy from this past Sunday... her ears had gone "rose" a couple of weeks back and after a week of not going back to "normal" I taped them for about 5 days - intended to do it for longer but one fell out. Yes - I'm vain and I know rose ears are acceptable but she is just so much cuter with "regular" aussie ears. Well these ears seen in the picture stuck around until yesterday... now the rose ears are back with an occasional higher set button ear (note the singular there - the other ear stays rose). Interesting... I'll give it a few days and if the rose ears stay it'll be back to tape again I think though I have to say this round of "rose ear" is better looking that the last round... will have to get a pic of the current state of ears sometime this weekend.
Groovy turned 15 weeks old yesterday and weighed 18.2 #'s at the vet on Wednesday. She's growing up fast!
Monday we went for a walk with her and Jam and stopped along the way to see the miniature horse. On the way back dad was coming down the road and stopped to chat. I wasn't sure how Groovy would do with this as she'd never seen a car on our road, had never seen a person talking from a car and still is a little unsure about dad. Well the car didn't phase her, the talking head sticking out of the car didn't phase her and once dad opened the door to say hi to the dogs Groovy took Jam's lead and was very happy and wiggly to see Grandpa! Hooray!
Tuesday was Groovy's first puppy class. She did very very well! Of course she already knew everything that we learned but she's there more for the social aspects anyway. Our teacher is a male - I planned that on purpose! She did great with the VERY full class of people and dogs. She'd hide under the chair a little if a man or child got too close (within 3-4 feet) but other than that was doing her sits and downs like a pro. She loved all the other dogs and I think having them around helped her feel at ease. Groovy also got to spend the day at Duke's Doggy Daycare (Sarah's house) and got a good report card for the day! :) Oh and for an extra bonus - she didn't puke on the way to Sarah's, on the way to class or on the way home (and she had a ton of treats at class)!! Woo hoo!
Wednesday was her big trip to the vet. She did great! Wasn't running up to greet the techs but was not scared either. Didn't puke on the way there or back and enjoyed watching the kitties in their cages up front!
Monday and Wednesday Groovy was "evil puppy" in that if I called her she'd look at me and go the other way. Grrrr... so we've hit that stage have we? Wednesday she ducked under the barbwire fence and out into the cow pasture. She had no intention of returning anytime soon but a baby cow decided to check her out and that scared her enough to come join me on the other side of the fence! The cows were way closer than they normally are and she was actually scared of them at first. I put her on her long line and we just sat and watched them for a while then she was fine. She is officially on "long line lockdown" any time she is out front now.
Thursday was a whole new day for Miss Groovy! Mom was over at the house during the day and told me how well Groovy had listened to her out in the backyard. Then Thursday evening I took her out in the front yard on the long line to watch the other 4 play frisbee (one at a time). Every time I called her name she turned and ran to me - without even having to pull on the long line or anything. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised! :) She also chased a few rollers too!
So overall a good week... not much planned for the weekend except our puppy playgroup/class on Sunday. It's swimming pool and kid socialization day at Kathryn's. Should be interesting!
This is a pic of Groovy from this past Sunday... her ears had gone "rose" a couple of weeks back and after a week of not going back to "normal" I taped them for about 5 days - intended to do it for longer but one fell out. Yes - I'm vain and I know rose ears are acceptable but she is just so much cuter with "regular" aussie ears. Well these ears seen in the picture stuck around until yesterday... now the rose ears are back with an occasional higher set button ear (note the singular there - the other ear stays rose). Interesting... I'll give it a few days and if the rose ears stay it'll be back to tape again I think though I have to say this round of "rose ear" is better looking that the last round... will have to get a pic of the current state of ears sometime this weekend.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Florida States and a Groovy recap
This past weekend was the Florida State Disc Dog Championships. Jack had been out of town all week in Kansas. He literally arrived at the airport at 11:40am, arrived at the house around 1pm and we were leaving by 1:20pm. We had to be in Jacksonville by 5 and literally showed up right at 5pm. Thanks to our friend Colleen for registering Jack and Tali for us so they could play.
It was a fun competition but felt very frantic due to us arriving so close to the start time for freestyle, etc. Tali and Jack made the cut to the top 10 for toss n fetch but Tali was “off” and did not play either TnF or Freestyle like she normally does. Oh well – it was still a good time.
I guess we are due to catch up on Groovy… well let’s see… She’s growing like a weed - up to 17.5 pounds at 14 weeks. She’s getting along SO well with the pack. This past week I’ve allowed Ruckus and her to interact some and while it’s clear he doesn’t care for her he is tolerating her nicely. She is doing an excellent job of steering clear of him too.
On the socialization front… over the past two weeks Groovy has been to DACOF, Florida States, Petco, Petsmart and to my mom’s – meeting my aunt Barbara and playing with mom’s kittens some more. She’s a busy little girl! She did OK at DACOF. The event was indoors and there are dogs and people everywhere. She was pretty scared about some loud noises when folks were moving stuff around and she was scared of men once they talked. She greeted most women very happily. She did well walking around the place with Jack, Tali and I visiting the vendors and meeting some new people and dogs. She also did well just hanging out with Jack in the stands watching the activity below. She did pretty good at Petsmart though she wouldn’t take treats from the manager or a boy that was there. She would at least take treats from me while standing near them. She did well at Petco too. At mom’s house she took a little while to warm up to my Aunt Barbara but once she did they were good friends and she was doing tricks for her. She’s becoming more and more comfortable with my dad too.
She did pretty well at Florida States. She didn’t really want to greet anyone except two teenage girls and our friend Kay. She also was totally freaked out by the speaker system when we were within 20 feet of it and a man’s voice was speaking. She was totally fine with the music though which I found interesting. She did get over the men’s voice on the speaker issue by the end of the competition though so that was good! More good news is that while she didn’t want to greet anyone or take treats from them (though I did get her to eat baby food from a woman or two) she also was not petrified when men standing near talked. She was comfortable greeting dogs “attached” to men and being in their general vicinity while they were speaking. This is progress! By the end of the competition we were hanging out with a group of friends and she was totally comfortable doing so. She wasn’t loving up on any of the people but was completely OK just hanging out with them and their dogs. She has excellent dog skills and definitely feeds off of the dogs around her which is a good thing since all the dogs we hang around are confident at competitions, etc. The best part of the day though was when I took her over to watch Jack practice his routine without Tali. She was very intrigued with him playing disc by himself. I let her run over to him and he started playing with her a little doing short rollers and running around with her. She loved it and had a blast. We were very impressed that she’d play with him in that environment (granted we were a good 100 feet away from the crowd, etc.) not to mention these were full sized discs!
We are still hit or miss with the motion sickness while in the car. She got sick on the way to Petsmart, on the way to Petco and on the way home from Petco. She did not however get sick on the way to or from DACOF or Florida States. An empty stomach seems to be the key to preventing puking – unfortunately that is not something I can always control – especially for evening outings as I don’t know when she’s eaten the treats in her frozen Kong during the day. In the mean time we travel with extra towels in the car! *sigh*
This week Groovy starts a puppy class on Tuesday night at a new place she’s never been and we’ll be at a NADAC night trial on Friday. Speaking of the night trial… little Jam will be running in tunnelers and touch n go. We’ll see how she does! Some folks may call it a debut but I just call it a test. Also speaking of Jam… she rocked at her Frisbee practice last night and we actually happened to be videoing their practice so hopefully I can put a link up to that video later on. If only she played like that every time! She’ll get there though!
It was a fun competition but felt very frantic due to us arriving so close to the start time for freestyle, etc. Tali and Jack made the cut to the top 10 for toss n fetch but Tali was “off” and did not play either TnF or Freestyle like she normally does. Oh well – it was still a good time.
I guess we are due to catch up on Groovy… well let’s see… She’s growing like a weed - up to 17.5 pounds at 14 weeks. She’s getting along SO well with the pack. This past week I’ve allowed Ruckus and her to interact some and while it’s clear he doesn’t care for her he is tolerating her nicely. She is doing an excellent job of steering clear of him too.
On the socialization front… over the past two weeks Groovy has been to DACOF, Florida States, Petco, Petsmart and to my mom’s – meeting my aunt Barbara and playing with mom’s kittens some more. She’s a busy little girl! She did OK at DACOF. The event was indoors and there are dogs and people everywhere. She was pretty scared about some loud noises when folks were moving stuff around and she was scared of men once they talked. She greeted most women very happily. She did well walking around the place with Jack, Tali and I visiting the vendors and meeting some new people and dogs. She also did well just hanging out with Jack in the stands watching the activity below. She did pretty good at Petsmart though she wouldn’t take treats from the manager or a boy that was there. She would at least take treats from me while standing near them. She did well at Petco too. At mom’s house she took a little while to warm up to my Aunt Barbara but once she did they were good friends and she was doing tricks for her. She’s becoming more and more comfortable with my dad too.
She did pretty well at Florida States. She didn’t really want to greet anyone except two teenage girls and our friend Kay. She also was totally freaked out by the speaker system when we were within 20 feet of it and a man’s voice was speaking. She was totally fine with the music though which I found interesting. She did get over the men’s voice on the speaker issue by the end of the competition though so that was good! More good news is that while she didn’t want to greet anyone or take treats from them (though I did get her to eat baby food from a woman or two) she also was not petrified when men standing near talked. She was comfortable greeting dogs “attached” to men and being in their general vicinity while they were speaking. This is progress! By the end of the competition we were hanging out with a group of friends and she was totally comfortable doing so. She wasn’t loving up on any of the people but was completely OK just hanging out with them and their dogs. She has excellent dog skills and definitely feeds off of the dogs around her which is a good thing since all the dogs we hang around are confident at competitions, etc. The best part of the day though was when I took her over to watch Jack practice his routine without Tali. She was very intrigued with him playing disc by himself. I let her run over to him and he started playing with her a little doing short rollers and running around with her. She loved it and had a blast. We were very impressed that she’d play with him in that environment (granted we were a good 100 feet away from the crowd, etc.) not to mention these were full sized discs!
We are still hit or miss with the motion sickness while in the car. She got sick on the way to Petsmart, on the way to Petco and on the way home from Petco. She did not however get sick on the way to or from DACOF or Florida States. An empty stomach seems to be the key to preventing puking – unfortunately that is not something I can always control – especially for evening outings as I don’t know when she’s eaten the treats in her frozen Kong during the day. In the mean time we travel with extra towels in the car! *sigh*
This week Groovy starts a puppy class on Tuesday night at a new place she’s never been and we’ll be at a NADAC night trial on Friday. Speaking of the night trial… little Jam will be running in tunnelers and touch n go. We’ll see how she does! Some folks may call it a debut but I just call it a test. Also speaking of Jam… she rocked at her Frisbee practice last night and we actually happened to be videoing their practice so hopefully I can put a link up to that video later on. If only she played like that every time! She’ll get there though!
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
DACOF 2009
DACOF 2009
This past weekend Tali and I competed with fellow teammates from Pasco Paws at the 2009 Dog Agility Competition of Florida (DACOF). This agility competition is different than all others in that there are no “Q’s”, no individual titles to be earned, etc. It is one where you compete as a team. Three dogs from each level form a team (for a total of 9 dogs). The top 2 scores from each level count towards the team total. It’s based on time and points. Two teams represented Pasco Paws – Achieve and Believe. Tali and I were on team Achieve. This was my 2nd time running for Pasco Paws – in 2007 Mickie and I ran on team Achieve which placed 2nd overall (out of 30+ teams). This year was kind of sad not being able to run with Mickie but I was excited to give Tali a chance to run. Fortunately for us and for Pasco Paws Tali has not being doing a lot of AKC or USDAA and had no novice or open titles from those venues. Even in CPE she just finished her Level 3 standard titles a few weeks ago. All of this means that she was able to run as a novice dog at DACOF.
I wasn’t sure how Tali would do. She’s never been in an environment like that (indoors, on dirt with stadium seating and 3 rings running at one time). Well I couldn’t be prouder of my girl. She did phenomenal! She had one millisecond of spacing out in her first run and that was it. The rest of the weekend she was focused and ran clean minus a few missed weave entries (which luckily don’t count in novice). Out of her 5 runs she placed 1st in one, 2nd in one, 3rd in two and 4th in the other. Even cooler than that she won High In Level Novice 20” dog! What a shock and surprise! Even cooler was the fact that our team Achieve placed 2nd again this year and the other Pasco Paws team Believe placed 3rd! J
I find DACOF to be very enjoyable – I love the team camaraderie and the atmosphere. Who knows… maybe I could be a flyball person if only it weren’t such a loud sport!! ;)
Here are some pictures of Tali and I with our loot from the weekend…
This past weekend Tali and I competed with fellow teammates from Pasco Paws at the 2009 Dog Agility Competition of Florida (DACOF). This agility competition is different than all others in that there are no “Q’s”, no individual titles to be earned, etc. It is one where you compete as a team. Three dogs from each level form a team (for a total of 9 dogs). The top 2 scores from each level count towards the team total. It’s based on time and points. Two teams represented Pasco Paws – Achieve and Believe. Tali and I were on team Achieve. This was my 2nd time running for Pasco Paws – in 2007 Mickie and I ran on team Achieve which placed 2nd overall (out of 30+ teams). This year was kind of sad not being able to run with Mickie but I was excited to give Tali a chance to run. Fortunately for us and for Pasco Paws Tali has not being doing a lot of AKC or USDAA and had no novice or open titles from those venues. Even in CPE she just finished her Level 3 standard titles a few weeks ago. All of this means that she was able to run as a novice dog at DACOF.
I wasn’t sure how Tali would do. She’s never been in an environment like that (indoors, on dirt with stadium seating and 3 rings running at one time). Well I couldn’t be prouder of my girl. She did phenomenal! She had one millisecond of spacing out in her first run and that was it. The rest of the weekend she was focused and ran clean minus a few missed weave entries (which luckily don’t count in novice). Out of her 5 runs she placed 1st in one, 2nd in one, 3rd in two and 4th in the other. Even cooler than that she won High In Level Novice 20” dog! What a shock and surprise! Even cooler was the fact that our team Achieve placed 2nd again this year and the other Pasco Paws team Believe placed 3rd! J
I find DACOF to be very enjoyable – I love the team camaraderie and the atmosphere. Who knows… maybe I could be a flyball person if only it weren’t such a loud sport!! ;)
Here are some pictures of Tali and I with our loot from the weekend…
Friday, July 3, 2009
OK - so it appears I stink at keeping up with blogging. I suspected I would be! :) For weekly pics and stuff Facebook is the place to go - I'm good about posting photos there at least!
Well... let's see...
Last Thursday my sister, brother in law, mom and dad came over for dinner. When is the last time we made dinner for that group? Um... maybe never? Maybe 10 years ago? :) The things having a new puppy will do to you! Randy and Laurel were very accomodating to work with Groovy. Groovy, as suspected, found Randy to be very scary. He's big, he's got a deep voice... she was quite scared. Mickie is our "never met a stranger dog" so I let her be out with Groovy and that helped some. What helped even more was having Tali come out and play with Randy. Groovy warmed up to him some and definitely relaxed as she became willing to walk near him and sniff him and stuff. Good progress... Dad came over a bit later. This somewhat set Groovy back a little but she just hungout under our chairs while we ate. All was going well until something fell off the buffet and made a loud noise. Groovy was back to eyeing the men suspiciously. *sigh* By the time everyone left she was doing better again but not like she had been earlier. Not a success but not a failure... we definitely have some work ahead of us...
Sunday we had our first puppy class. Our friend Kelli who owns Groovy's brother Seven had the idea to have a rotating puppy class. There are several of us who have pups right now so the plan is to have class every week and half or so and have each class at a different person's house so the pups get used to working in a variety of environments. The first one was at Kelli's. The pups (2 aussies, 2 BCs, 1 Corgi, 1 Chinese Crested and 1 Rat Terrier) had a great time interacting with one another and working the various stations Kelli had set up. Groovy did ladder work, wobble board, a short tunnel, etc. Kelli also had her husband TK come out to do some socialization with men. Groovy wanted nothing to do with TK though when Seven was playing with TK she was willing to be near TK. Gary was there too - she doesn't mind him one bit though. He falls into the same category as Jack - a "safe man". Overall though I was pleased with how she did. She was friendly with the ladies and did well with the dogs (minus one spat with the Rat Terrier but they quickly made up). She tugged and chased a roller or two. Overall a good experience. Next class is out here at our place!
This week we spent several evenings at my mom's house. Mom just got 4 new kittens and so I took Groovy over to meet them. She LOVES them - especially the little black one named Amalie. She did very well with dad on Tuesday and Wednesday and is starting to greet him happily. Good progress there! Wednesday my nephews were over. She wasn't too sure about them (they are going on 5 and 7 years old). She woofed at them when they did something too "strange" but otherwise kept her distance and hung out with us. Not great - but not horrible. On Thursday they were still there as was their parents (my brother and his wife). She did very well with Nathaniel (the older boy), sniffed him and generally didn't mind him being near. She was scared of my brother's voice and was very cautious of what Josiah was up to. Every time Josiah came near she got some peanut butter (which she loves) and the boys did pretty well at staying calm around her. She pretty much just sat on the couch between Jack and I watching the whole scene. It worries me that she gets so stressed and worried about men and small children but we'll continue to work through it. I'm hopeful that with continued exposure and no negative experiences she'll at minimum be able to just ignore men and kids. She doesn't have to love them... she just has to be non reactive to them. Frisbee is full of both men and kids so getting to that point is a big priority.
Other than the socialization issues she is doing awesome. No accidents in the house for several weeks (though I'm very good at managing it). I haven't taught her to use the doggy door yet but will soon now that she isn't eating every thing she can find in the pee yard. She LOVES her toys and is doing great with her disc work and retrieve. I've posted some video of her taken on her 13 week old birthday (yesterday).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hl-AkxjcRI
This weekend we have DACOF (Dog Agility Competition of Florida). She'll be coming along one of the days so it'll be interesting to see how she does with that environment! Tali is on Pasco Paws team Achieve. It should be a fun time - I love the supportive team environment of DACOF and we have two really great teams this year. Hopefully I'll have some video links of Tali's runs to post come early next week.
Here are some photos taken over the past week or so... Enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/HiFiAussies/Groovy12Weeks#
http://picasaweb.google.com/HiFiAussies/Groovy13Weeks#
Well... let's see...
Last Thursday my sister, brother in law, mom and dad came over for dinner. When is the last time we made dinner for that group? Um... maybe never? Maybe 10 years ago? :) The things having a new puppy will do to you! Randy and Laurel were very accomodating to work with Groovy. Groovy, as suspected, found Randy to be very scary. He's big, he's got a deep voice... she was quite scared. Mickie is our "never met a stranger dog" so I let her be out with Groovy and that helped some. What helped even more was having Tali come out and play with Randy. Groovy warmed up to him some and definitely relaxed as she became willing to walk near him and sniff him and stuff. Good progress... Dad came over a bit later. This somewhat set Groovy back a little but she just hungout under our chairs while we ate. All was going well until something fell off the buffet and made a loud noise. Groovy was back to eyeing the men suspiciously. *sigh* By the time everyone left she was doing better again but not like she had been earlier. Not a success but not a failure... we definitely have some work ahead of us...
Sunday we had our first puppy class. Our friend Kelli who owns Groovy's brother Seven had the idea to have a rotating puppy class. There are several of us who have pups right now so the plan is to have class every week and half or so and have each class at a different person's house so the pups get used to working in a variety of environments. The first one was at Kelli's. The pups (2 aussies, 2 BCs, 1 Corgi, 1 Chinese Crested and 1 Rat Terrier) had a great time interacting with one another and working the various stations Kelli had set up. Groovy did ladder work, wobble board, a short tunnel, etc. Kelli also had her husband TK come out to do some socialization with men. Groovy wanted nothing to do with TK though when Seven was playing with TK she was willing to be near TK. Gary was there too - she doesn't mind him one bit though. He falls into the same category as Jack - a "safe man". Overall though I was pleased with how she did. She was friendly with the ladies and did well with the dogs (minus one spat with the Rat Terrier but they quickly made up). She tugged and chased a roller or two. Overall a good experience. Next class is out here at our place!
This week we spent several evenings at my mom's house. Mom just got 4 new kittens and so I took Groovy over to meet them. She LOVES them - especially the little black one named Amalie. She did very well with dad on Tuesday and Wednesday and is starting to greet him happily. Good progress there! Wednesday my nephews were over. She wasn't too sure about them (they are going on 5 and 7 years old). She woofed at them when they did something too "strange" but otherwise kept her distance and hung out with us. Not great - but not horrible. On Thursday they were still there as was their parents (my brother and his wife). She did very well with Nathaniel (the older boy), sniffed him and generally didn't mind him being near. She was scared of my brother's voice and was very cautious of what Josiah was up to. Every time Josiah came near she got some peanut butter (which she loves) and the boys did pretty well at staying calm around her. She pretty much just sat on the couch between Jack and I watching the whole scene. It worries me that she gets so stressed and worried about men and small children but we'll continue to work through it. I'm hopeful that with continued exposure and no negative experiences she'll at minimum be able to just ignore men and kids. She doesn't have to love them... she just has to be non reactive to them. Frisbee is full of both men and kids so getting to that point is a big priority.
Other than the socialization issues she is doing awesome. No accidents in the house for several weeks (though I'm very good at managing it). I haven't taught her to use the doggy door yet but will soon now that she isn't eating every thing she can find in the pee yard. She LOVES her toys and is doing great with her disc work and retrieve. I've posted some video of her taken on her 13 week old birthday (yesterday).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hl-AkxjcRI
This weekend we have DACOF (Dog Agility Competition of Florida). She'll be coming along one of the days so it'll be interesting to see how she does with that environment! Tali is on Pasco Paws team Achieve. It should be a fun time - I love the supportive team environment of DACOF and we have two really great teams this year. Hopefully I'll have some video links of Tali's runs to post come early next week.
Here are some photos taken over the past week or so... Enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/HiFiAussies/Groovy12Weeks#
http://picasaweb.google.com/HiFiAussies/Groovy13Weeks#
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Groovy 11 weeks - Pt 2
Just a link to some pics of Groovy from this week. The first few are of her playing with her red sister's the other night. Tali LOVES to be the "momma" to Groovy. It's very cute. The rest are of Groovy's visit to meet Dawn and her family. We got to work on her "men issues" with Dawn's husband Mark. That went pretty well. Then Groovy got to play with Tucker and Dawn's daughter Lacey. She loved every minute of that!
http://picasaweb.google.com/HiFiAussies/Groovy11Weeks#
Tomorrow night my sister and her husband come over for a puppy socialization dinner! I figure we need to let her see that people other than Grandma and Grandpa do occasionally visit the house - even if rarely!
http://picasaweb.google.com/HiFiAussies/Groovy11Weeks#
Tomorrow night my sister and her husband come over for a puppy socialization dinner! I figure we need to let her see that people other than Grandma and Grandpa do occasionally visit the house - even if rarely!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Groovy 11 weeks
Well funny how one doesn't have time to blog with an 11 week old puppy around!
To catch up... Groovy did get to have a play date with Tex and Sally. She wasn't too sure about Tex at first but once she realized he was a nice dog she and he were best buds. They really had a fun time playing - Tali and Jam did too! Pics of the afternoon can be seen here.
Groovy weighed in at 13.6#'s for her 11 week weigh in. At first I thought this was huge since I really only have Jam to compare her to but after comparing with some other aussie friends of mine this actually isn't big at all. We'll see if that correlates to her size as an adult. I know I shouldn't obsess over what size she'll be but smaller is better around here to a certain extent. We are hoping for around 18-19" and no more than 40#'s. We shall see but we'll love her regardless!
As for Groovy's week... well she was struggling with "down" on strictly a verbal. Not sure why - sit on a verbal was a breeze! She's starting to get it now though. In the mean time she's learned the beginnings of shake, leave it and roll over with record speed!
Magic happened this week. Sal and I were observing Groovy's independent nature on Sunday a week ago - then Monday she magically started listening and coming to her name! Not sure why the switch flipped but we'll take it and reward it HIGHLY! :)
And finally... this past Friday and Saturday we had a CPE night trial. Groovy came along to socialize. Poor thing still gets car sick and threw up 3 times on the way over. She wasn't feeling all that cheery and playful when we got there. Not to mention it was SOOOO hot. She also was not at all happy with all the dogs barking. Kinda surprising from a dog that sleeps through the vacuum cleaner! She worked through it and by the end of the evening was hanging out ring side having a good 'ole time. She got to play with her brother Seven a little and her favorite "aunt" Kelli. She also got to meet her Aunt Liz - though since Groovy is Rory's Aunt maybe that's her niece Liz? ;) Saturday went even better as she didn't puke on the way there and came out of the car happy as a clam and ready to greet the world. She had a fun time playing with a Papillion pup and a Mudi pup. What a hoot they were to watch. I noticed some fearfulness of men while there so we are going to work on that but the good news is the 2nd night the dogs barking hardly phased her at all.
Oh... and not to leave Tali out of course - Tali Q'd 7 out of 9 runs this weekend and finished her Level 3 Standard title! Woo hoo!
To finish... here are some pics of her on Sunday at her Grandma's house.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Groovy 10 week old pics
A few pics of Groovy at 10 weeks old...
The rest can be seen here....
http://picasaweb.google.com/HiFiAussies/Groovy10Weeks#
The rest can be seen here....
http://picasaweb.google.com/HiFiAussies/Groovy10Weeks#
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