Jamie's Family Blog

2008-01-30T18:45:00.000-08:00

Knight's girlfriend Ennvy...she's beautifoo!!

My boys... (yes, we're still in Texas, we haven't moved to Siberia)

Come here! "yo-yo" game practice...

2008-01-24T12:04:00.000-08:00

Pictures coming this weekend, I promise!! It's been TOO COLD to take any good pictures at the stable, and my pups need baths badly. I've decided to do the PNH Levels with Knight, so we started Level 1 last week. He's a smart little horsey and learns very quickly. We've already completed the first 8 lessons of L1, and would be farther along if I knew what I was doing :) Our first lesson is this Sunday, and it's supposed to be warmer, yay!

2008-01-17T06:58:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy week to say the least! My b-day weekend was great!! Little Knight horsey has settled in quite nicely. I've had such a good time playing with him the past several days. He's a goofy boy I'm learning. I think the first day he was just a little freaked out about all the new things, but now that he's getting adjusted his funny personality is starting to show. He LOVES these molasses cookies that I bought him. I was doing some Parelli games with him the other day and rewarded him once with a cookie, and boy did I have his attention after that! :) He loves his pasture buddies, except for these to older grouchy horses. There's a yearling arabian filly that he has a major crush on. When we go to get him and lead him off, they call to each other for awhile, so cute!
The pups are going great also. I've started back up my training with Nemo. He so LOVES to please as long as we can get past his anxiety of new people, places, DOGS.
I promise there will be pictures soon!

I know it's been a MONTH

2008-01-07T11:47:00.001-08:00

I've just not had the energy to post with all of the holiday fanfare :) My parents just left town after staying with us for 18 days and things are just now getting back to normal. We've taken down the last of our Christmas decorations, now to get them back up into the attic. Chloe is back to school today...work is in full gear...all is well.
I am looking forward to the best weekend ever! This Saturday is my 30th birthday, and for some odd reason I'm really looking forward to it. The first weekend alone with my amazing hubby in a month, yummy steak dinner, playoff football, the prequel to the Lonesome Dove miniseries begins (yes I'm a little weird), and guess who's coming home from training camp.........

Happy Birthday to me!

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2008-01-01T07:38:00.000-08:00

A New Year Blessing:

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19

Friday!

2007-12-07T08:56:00.000-08:00

I'm so glad it's Friday! Duh, state the obvious right? I think I'm getting into full-holiday-excitement mode. I love this time of year! It really helps that we have 90% of our Christmas shopping done :)
I'm going to give the kiddos baths this weekend and get Chloe to help me take Christmas pictures. That should be an adventure...
I'm mulling getting Nemo back into an obedience class, just to get back into the swing of things. I really miss it, and I need a class to keep me honest with my training. I think I'll look into it.
I hope you all have a great and festive weekend! Pictures next week!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2007-12-03T06:23:00.000-08:00

I will have to take pictures of the masterpiece that is our Christmas lights. :o) We did some shopping at Grapevine on Saturday, never made it to the ICE exhibit. 3 hours of shopping totally wears me out. Sunday we started the Christmas decorating...oh boy... it was something. Let me detail the saga for you...
**FLASHBACK Christmas 2006** I decided that stake lights were the end-all-be-all of Christmas lighting. After multiple trips to every Target, Home Depot, Lowes, Hobby Lobby, etc. within a 35 mile radius of our house to find clear C7 lights (the most commonly used light) and ground stakes, I finally had my mother import them from El Paso. Apparently they had a ton, go figure. I then spend a whole Saturday attaching lights to stakes and placing them in the yard. They were AWESOME, for one week... Marcus was taking practice swings with a golf club in the front yard (don't ask me why), smacked a light, it rained, shorted the line, no more stake lights.
**Present Day** I unboxed the infamous stake lights on Saturday with a new exuberance. I went through all five lines and found the two that were shorted out from last year. Then I re-staked the remaining "good" three lines, and we struck out to find replacements for the "bad" ones. Two Targets, a Home Depot, a Walgreens, and one Lowes later, no clear C7 lights... we did find an abundance clear C9 lights at our final stop, and decided it was easier to replace the whole lot, rather than continue try to find the evil C7's. Ok, so I un-stake my C7's, and stake all 6 lines of C9's. Excitedly go out to the yard and stake 150 feet of lights into the ground. Yay!! At 5:30, dark, I am SO excited to turn them on and see them in all their glory...plug in... GORGEOUS, for 45 seconds. Three hours, and 6 blown fuses later, we figured out that you cannot string together 6 continuous lines of C9 lights. Moral of the story: You can never have too many extension cords.

2007-11-30T09:02:00.000-08:00

Okay, okay, so it looks like the better team won. Moving on...
I'm so ready for this weekend! I'll be getting done my Christmas decorating, and hopefully wrapping up our shopping. To actually be done early this year would be so nice! I think we're headed to the ICE exhibit at the Gaylord Texan tomorrow, it's supposed to be pretty spectacular.
I got some pictures of a very muddy Knight learning how to park out. He seems to be getting it... :o)

Have a great weekend!

Gameday

2007-11-29T06:33:00.000-08:00

VS

I am SOOOOOOOO hoping that the Packers stomp the Cowboys tonight. I'm sorry, I can't help it. I was raised, being from Atlanta, with a strong disliking for all things Cowboy. I've been so glad to see Favre and Green Bay have a miraculously great season this year.

Ojoe and Kody's tummies are all back to normal. Romper room is back in session :)
I think tonight for the game I'm going to try to make Rachael Ray's meatball pizza and Italian popcorn. Have a lovely Thursday!

HOW DOGS CELEBRATE BIRTHDAYS

2007-11-28T07:29:00.000-08:00

A few more pictures

2007-11-27T07:24:00.002-08:00

I thought these were cute!

This is Chloe and some scruffy puppy that she found when we were at camp:

Here is Marcus trying to give Mya a bath (sorry it's dark, I know):

and eating some hay, for some reason her expression makes me laugh:

My beautifoo and dirty boy:

Me trying to do some Parelli with him, and him wondering "what on earth??":

Okay let's see...

2007-11-26T08:09:00.000-08:00

It's only been a month since my last post (which was indeed a "lazy" picture post), so I guess I have some catching up to do. The holidays have totally snuck up on me, so I figure I'd better get caught up now.
In doggie news... Ojoe and Koda have had tummy problems this weekend, but seem to be a lot better today. I hope I didn't get a bad batch of food. It's probably just a bug they passed to each other. Nemo eats the same food, and he's fine. I'm really looking forward to getting back into training with Nemers. He has become a master fetcher, so I'm hoping to incorporate the ball into training more :) The focus that he has when the ball is involved is really something to see! Ojoe has started this new thing where he growls at Nemo all the time. They don't fight, but it's driving me up a wall hearing Ojoe growling nonstop. Nemo used to be the alpha, but I think Ojoe has figured out now that he's been neutered :)
In horsey news... Knight and Mya will be staying at training camp until January. Marcus is going through a job transition, and my parents will be here for two weeks, so I decided that would be best for now. They are both learning a ton out there and getting handled daily. They got clipped for the first time ever last week (with loud electric buzzing trimmers), and surprisingly didn't freak out. Knight, oddly enough, loves trail rides and behaves very well out there, but doesn't really care for working in the arena yet. He's the kind of horse that gets bored easily, so you have to keep coming up with stuff to keep him busy. Mya is very sweet, and has gotten to be a big, sweet, teddy bear of a baby. I can't wait to see how she develops.
In people news... Marcus and I went to El Paso a few weeks ago for my mother's surprise b-day party. We had a great time, and Mom was SO surprised! Work has been very busy for me, and Marcus has had some crazy stuff go on lately with his work. I'm sure it'll all work out for the best though. We had a nice, peaceful Turkey Day - watched lots of football and complained about the weather. Chloe is bouncing off the walls, ready for Christmas. Her list is anything and everything that she sees on a commercial. Who says advertising doesn't work? I think her "big" gift from us will be a child-size ATV. She'll be able to ride around on the trails while we mess with the horses.
My mission this week is to scrub the house from top to bottom, so that we can get all the Christmas decorations put out. Many of our way-too-eager neighbors already put their tree and lights up BEFORE Thanksgiving! Really.... So now we're being peer-pressured to keep up.
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Update soon....

P.S. Starbuck's Pumpkin Loaf is the greatest food on earth!

Picture post!

2007-10-23T10:57:00.000-07:00

2007-09-14T06:13:00.000-07:00

After Nemo's neuter I decided to just "chill" a bit and let he and I both relax some. It's taken a few weeks, but I've really noticed a big change in him since getting that testosterone out of his system. He's really mellowed out a bunch. I think this will carry over to training and REALLY help! I'm excited!!!
On a totally separate note, meet our newest family member:

This is "Colortown's Royal Knight of Armour" aka Knight! He's a sweet American Saddlebred gelding, only 2 and a half years old. I haven't had a horse since I was a teenager, so I am beyond thrilled! He's at horsey camp for the next couple of months to learn good manners since he is just a baby, and then he'll be boarded at a nice little place in Fairview, only 5 miles from my house. I think I'll be able to do anything I want with this guy. He'll be great for CEP, elegant enough for Dressage (he has that beautiful high Saddlebred head and carriage!), and great for trails. Marcus is looking for a horse of his own so he doesn't have to just sit and watch me, but he is a novice rider, so we want to make sure we get a sweetie pie for him.
Now that Nemo's back in action and we have horse news, look for more updates! I promise... :o)

Happy Birthday Nemo!!!

2007-08-28T05:01:00.000-07:00

My little Nemo pup turns 1 today!

Ummm updates...

2007-08-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

I am so sleepy, tired, bored at work today! Not a whole lot to update on the Nemo front..we've been working on the CU stuff, which he really seems to enjoy. We've not "field tested" it yet, not ready to, other than in a very controlled environment. He did pretty good on the "look at that" game with Jamie and Miss Aspen. Only one reaction and seemed to be catching on to looking at Aspen = treat! He will be in love with Aspen before we are through :)
I've been slacking big time on our walks. It's too HOT!! I almost wish the rain would come back.

Control Unleashed..

2007-08-09T07:59:00.000-07:00

I am reading an AWESOME new book that I cannot say enough good things about. Everyone should read it, even if they don't have a dog with "issues".
I just wanted to share our first night last night of working some of
the CU principals. I first wanted to work on attention with holding
a treat in front of Nemo and *click/treat* when he makes eye
contact. He caught on really fast with treats, and I was quickly
getting consistent eye contact. His ball is a bit tougher..he gets
a frozen eye-LOCK on his ball, so I *click/ball toss* for ANY blink
or eye movement away from the ball. I was soon getting at least a
nice glance from him for his ball. :)
Then I introduced him to that mat. When he checked it out, I
*click/treat* on the mat and continued to treat and praise while he
sat on the mat. It took no more than three minutes of this before
he was FLYING to the mat and diving to a down! He loved it! I was
very impressed!! He was also not breaking his stay on the mat (I
didn't cue stay at all, he was just doing it), until I gave him his
release work "okay". I was already able to add mild distractions,
at which he never broke his stay, and also add the verbal cue for
the mat. Yay!!
Afterwords we had some calm, sleepy time (RP) on the mat. I'm glad
that he liked the mat game, but I hope he's not too excited about
and will see it as a place to calm down. :)
Today I'm looking forward to working on the "Look at that" game and FINALLY a lesson with JH! :)

2007-07-27T08:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was supposed to have a lesson, but half way there it started POURING down rain. We worked a ton on "watch me's" yesterday - I want Nemo to have no doubt what that means when I take him out into the scary world. He did great, I got eye contact up to a minute. Maybe I'm easy to impress, but it seems like it would be tough for a puppy to focus for a minute without turning their head, good boy!!
Hopefully I can get some video of Dakota this weekend to post - she's started doing the cutest thing when we go swimming - she'll jump from raft to raft and paddle trying to get the raft wherever she wants to go - so cute!!
This weekend I'm looking forward to seeing the Simpson's movie :) and munching on some Krystal burgers! That's all I got for today..have a wonderful weekend!!

2007-07-26T05:45:00.000-07:00

We didn't get much done yesterday. I went and played golf with the hubby afterwork, which took FOREVER so we didn't get home till 9:00. My Click to Calm book came yesterday, and it is excellent!! I read half of it last night and brought it to work to finish today. I'll try to work on some of the things tonight in my lesson.

Nemo Bootcamp

2007-07-25T11:21:00.001-07:00

(Nemo sleeping under his bowl 3mos old)

So we met with Dr. Johnson on Monday and started our "action plan" to cure Nemo of his fear issues. In a nut shell it's a regimen of "watch me's" and down-stays, and lots of work on this around other dogs. Also he must learn that every good thing comes from me, so his attention gets more focused on me and less on his enviroment. So our day yesterday went like this:
5:30 am - hand feed breakfast, work on "watch me" without distractions, up to 1 minute
4:00 pm - played fetch one-on-one for about 30mins, but require a down-stay, watch me, or spin before each toss.
7:00 pm - 45 minute walk - moving across the street when other dogs or people approach and request a down-stay and watch me. Across the street is the closest distance for now at which he won't react to another dog or person.
8:00 pm - hand feed dinner, some more watch me's, but some fun stuff to relax too. Spins, rollovers, go on's etc.

He cannot get ANYTHING without doing SOMETHING - sit-stay if he wants to go out, down-stay when he wants to come in, sit for petting, watch me for fetch, etc...

We're going to do some work with JH tomorrow. I'm excited about that! Plus I get to meet her new baby Cheetah (a puppy, not an actual cheetah :)

Everything went pretty well yesterday, the only "incident" was on our walk we were rounding a corner and some people were coming around it whom I could not see. They startled Nemo, and of course they walked right up to him to try and pet him and he threw a fit. They said how cute he is and blah blah blah... Sometimes it stinks having a cute little dog, everybody and their brother wants to pet him - kids are the worst! :) I'm not sure when he got so nervous with people all of the sudden, but there it is...

Today we hand-fed breakfast, and tomorrow I plan on getting up earlier (eeck 4:30 am) and walking him some.

So that's it in a nutshell. There's more but I'm too tired to think of it all right now :)

2007-07-23T06:09:00.000-07:00

Today I get to meet with Dr. Johnson to work up an action plan for Nemo and his behavior problems. I'm really excited to get on a program. I wrote down a bunch of notes and questions and realized that a lot of his issues he's had since day 1. I was really upset with his behavior in his last class, and I know he can't progress until we get through this. It's not enjoyable for him or me right now.
On a positive note, I've met a lot of really supportive dog people who've had similar problems. They've given me tons of encouragement and ideas, and I'm really thankful! Dog people are SO NICE!
I'll keep the updates here on our progress with Dr. Johnson. The blog will be a good way to keep track for me.
Wish me luck with my crazy pup!

2007-07-17T06:57:00.000-07:00

Not a whole lot to update lately.. I've been watching some DVD's, reading Clean Run mag. while classes have been rained out. Luckily the sun has been out for the past few days, so hopefully we'll get a class in this week. From Clean Run I've been working on teaching Nemo to "go on" around a bucket. He picked that up pretty quickly, so we're working from farther and farther away. Clean Run says to get it up to 80 feet, eeck!
I'm excited this weekend I have a private lesson with Patty at DDS, and Jamie at her house. That should give me plenty to work on! Plus I get to meet Jamie's new puppy, yay!! I definitely need to live on a farm. I am a certified puppy addict and three dogs is certainly not enough :)
That's all for now, boring...I know....

2007-07-12T08:24:00.001-07:00

2007-07-12T06:49:00.001-07:00

2007-07-12T06:16:00.000-07:00

Eeeck, it's been awhile since I posted anything...I know I'm a bad doggie mommy! Well there's not been much to talk about really. I haven't had a class in a month now due to rain and the 4th of July hoilday. Here's a video, after screwing with Photobucket for an hour, of a mini-practice while it was raining out. After that video we got to where I could send him to the jump from 6 FEET! I know, ho-hum, but that's big for us!! (:
I also started little sequences in my back yard (with a gallon of OFF on) of sending him to a target over a jump, or jump table, etc. He's doing great and I'm impressed everyday at what this little guy can learn. I'm really glad that I took the couple of months to work solely on his focus and obedience. I loved JH's class but neither Nemo or I were ready for that level. He was a silly puppy spaz!! Maybe soon we will be...
On the home front things are great, but ever busy. We just got back from Myrtle Beach, which was awesome!! Then my mother and aunt were in town for a couple of days. We shopped and shopped and ate and shopped some more! Work has been insane, but what else is new. :) Oh and we got new next door neighbors yesterday, Jamie and Chris (ahh another Jamie!). We met her yesterday, she seemed really nice.
I think that's all for now... I promise I'll do better with the updates! Ta-ta for now!

Guess what I found out...

2007-06-20T07:23:00.000-07:00

Hmm it's amazing how things work out.. The day after I decide to hold off on getting my pup, my friend Cindy emailed me and said that she is going to be repeating her Stella x Leroy cross for fall puppies!!! This cross just produced five gorgeous pups that all evaluated out as show quality. This is the cross that I had my heart set on a pup from previously, but mama Stella didn't have a black tri girl for me. So keep your fingers and toes crossed!
Nemo is doing really well with his new lessons. I'm seeing a lot of progress with c/t everytime he sees another dog. I think the positive association is starting to sink in. I've also taught him to roll over and Lord help me, that's his favorite trick now. Whenever I look at him and he knows I have a treat in hand, he rolls over and pops back up so proud of himself! I also hand feed him his meals and make him do downs, left/right spins, roll over etc. for his breakfast and dinner. It's so funny because now he'll go through a sequence of all those things before I ask him to do anything. He'll down, spin, sit, rollover, down again, all in a row just in anticipation. It makes me laugh and I just have to break down and give him a cookie :)
We're going out of town to Myrtle Beach this week and I hope to start class at BF3 when we get back. I can't wait for some beach time!!!

Ok I give up...

2007-06-19T06:43:00.000-07:00

After three nights of tossing and turning, not being able to sleep, I decided that now is not the right time for a new addition to the family. It was strange because when I told Marcus how I felt about it, he tried to talk me INTO getting the pup, very strange... Anyway, I just never had a peaceful feeling about it, like I was doing the right thing. I'm too busy right now to spend the time with her that I should, and all my spare time is spent working with Nemo. I had to be honest with myself and realize that if I got her, then I would probably wind up slacking off with Nemo, and I don't want to do that with all the work I've put into that little booger so far. Basically my only "pro" was how darned cute she is! **sigh** Oh well, there will be the perfect pup WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT!

Is she the one?

2007-06-13T10:57:00.000-07:00

I THINK that we found my girl...

Silly kids

2007-06-12T09:55:00.000-07:00

Summer is here!

2007-06-07T09:48:00.000-07:00

I guess we've reached the end of our nice, cool, rainy weather. It's been in the 90's the past few days and the mosquitos are now out in full force.
Last night was P3 test and Nemo did pretty great. He passed all the elements required to graduate, yay!! Some of them were tougher than I thought they would be. For the down stay he had to stay for two minutes while everyone in the class jogged in a circle right in front of him. Terri walked one foot in front of him squeeking a toy, and then rattling a treat bag and saying she has treats - brutal!!! Nemo stayed though! :)
He was really cute on his recall.. He had to come to me in between two dogs playing about 10 feet apart AND in the middle of them was a pile of toys, eek! So I took off running and called Nemo from about 30 feet away, he took off for me, but as he passed the toy pile he did a double take but kept running so he almost flipped over himself. He didn't stop though, and came right to me.
We worked more on his tolerance of being near other dogs. He's showing signs of improvement. I'm going to repeat P3 even though he passed, so that we can work on that issue and just make sure everything is solid before going on to beginner agility class.

You know what I mean....

2007-06-06T08:18:00.000-07:00

Somedays training your dog seem glorious and wonderful and you think "Wow, I must have the smartest dog EVER!" and my goodness he gets so many treats and belly rubs, and then there are other days...
I imagine that raising children is much of a roller coaster than raising a pup. That's how I know I'm not ready for kids! :)

Okay FINALLY an update!

2007-06-04T06:06:00.000-07:00

I've been having some serious A.D.D. lately! Anytime I sit down to post an update, something comes up that I have to mess with, ugh.... but now here I am, yay! It has been a crazy summer so far.

Training Nemster has been going pretty well, with some challenges, in between all of the rain that we've had. I met with Terri last night to work on some of his weirdo issues that have come up in the past couple of months (hormones...). On lead he has been going nuts when he sees another dogs, especially a moving one. So we worked with her dog walking circles around Nemo, and C/T everytime he sat calmly. We figured out that his "comfort zone" for a moving dog is 15 feet and 5 feet for a stationary dog. He did great walking directly behind and in front of Roo (Terri's dog), if I held a target stick with some peanut butter on it right in front of his nose. He completely forget that Roo was there, he was so focused on that peanut butter :) So we're going to work on shortening and fading the stick eventually.
We also worked on him walking right past her dog with my giving him cookies as soon as he saw her dog and on up to her, but no cookies after we passed her. So hopefully soon he will learn that another dog = cookies! He's also developed a fear of some strangers - mostly men, he will squeeky bark and try to hide, all the while wagging his tail (told you they were weirdo issues..). So Terri had her son and husband walk circles around Nemo and toss cookies at him. After a while Nemo was eating out of their hands and doing pretty well.

She thinks a lot of this is age and he just doesn't know what to quite do with himself. She said the cases like this that she's seen before, where the dog has been well socialized and has had no traumatic experience, have "outgrown" the behavior by 12-15 months old with continued exposure like this to people and dogs.

OTHER THAN THAT :) he's been doing great! We've been doing mostly flat-work, which I want to have down solid before starting any obstacles, since I have no clue what I am doing handling. He's learned to target great and we're beginning table work. Since he's lost his puppy fat he's gotten tons of energy and is fast fast fast!

Ok so that's all that I have for now! I've been meaning to take some new pictures but... The stinkers all had baths yesterday so maybe I will get to it today.

I promise I'll do better! :)

Pre agility 3 class

2007-04-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

Nemo and I started P3 last night - what a challenge! It certainly didn't help that Nemo was totally wired from not getting out yesterday with all of the storms that we had. We are beginning advanced heeling work, which was fine except that Nemo was much more interested in visiting with the dog in front or behind us, than he was me. I can't really blame him as I was more concerned about them too :) His moving downs and sits are coming along nicely (when he's paying attention to me, haha..). He's also learning to target, longer stays with more distractions, and also recalls with big distractions. Our circle work definitely needs improvement but he's such a smart little boy, I know he'll improve quickly as long as I get my act together!

No cookies...

2007-04-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

Nemo and I both unearned our cookies this weekend. Nemo was so wound up and I was so frazzled...our class did not go well. I think more work on the basics is strongly needed before we're ready to tackle the big stuff! But we did get to meet RUFF...

Cookies for Nemo!

2007-04-12T05:53:00.000-07:00

Nemo graduated from his P2 class last night! I'm so proud of my little pumpkin head!! The past couple of weeks we've been working a couple of times a day and it's really paid off. He had to do a 30 second "watch me," sit/stay for a minute from 15 ft with distractions, down/stay for a minute from 15 ft with distractions, have a verbal sit and sphinx down, perform 3 turns - about, front cross, and flip circle, and recalls from 12ft with distractions. He did everything perfectly!!!
Good boy Nemo! We may actually be able to do this whole training thing. : )

April 17th can't get here soon enough

2007-04-11T12:20:00.000-07:00

Work has been crazy lately with the tax deadline coming up next week. We've had the strangest issues come up with our clients. We're also invested in some wacky canadian stocks, which creates a whole other tax monster.

I'm REALLY looking forward to the weekend. We haven't been able to play golf in I can't even remember when, and I have no idea when the last time I had my Sunday doggie class. I can't wait! Nemers has been doing really well with his obedience lately. He has his test tonight to graduate to P3. Hopefully we're ready!

I think I MAY have found my pup!! : ) I was going to wait until the fall, but I stumbled across this girl yesterday. It's really amazing - she's from the exact same lines as Nemo (grandparents on back), she has the markings I've been looking for, and she's in Oklahoma which saves the expense and trauma of shipping. She was born on Easter. I'm looking forward to seeing how this baby develops! Such a little hampster...

Dirty Dawgs!

2007-04-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

This is the day after our tons of rain last Friday. My piggies found a lovely mud puddle to play in. :)

Update..

2007-04-04T09:13:00.000-07:00

My Nemers has doggie class tonight. I think he's doing pretty well, but the true test is always how he does with all those crazy pups and people running around. :) We'll see!

Have a great afternoon!

Howdy!

2007-04-02T11:14:00.000-07:00

The weekend just zipped by as usual. Friday we went to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sat. we saw the Last Mimsy. Marcus and I did bunches of yard work, well Marcus did most of the bunches but I planted a lot of pretty flowers! Chloe played with her new pack of friends. We've had a lot of kiddos move into the neighborhood, which is so great for her. Chloe and I got up early on Saturday to go get some doughnuts and kolaches, and then came home and got through the next level of Zelda :) Chloe gets bored with the intricate parts of the game, but loves opening all the treasure chests.

We had a downpour on Friday night so I have some awesome pictures of muddy pups to download and post one of these days. There's a very low part of our yard that collects a lot of water when it rains. It had a good four inches on Saturday and needless to say, Nemo and Dakota were both belly deep in it when I put them outside. They were like little piglets rolling in the mud. They had a blast playing and the pictures are cute, I promise! Nemo kept trying to bury his favorite orange squeeky toy in the puddle, said toy is now nasty!!!

Not much news on the training front. I've missed two weeks of class and was cancelled this week due to mud. Didn't have DDS class last week either, Terri took Roo to AKC nationals. Hopefully they did great!

We've been getting some good practice in at home though. This weekend with Chloe we worked on "stays" with distractions, Chloe being the ideal distraction. :) Nemo did pretty good, she walked circles around him, petted his head, took off running, make squealing girl noises, and he didn't budge. He did trip Chloe twice though when I called him to me. He BOLTED towards me right under her feet as she was walking circles around him. She was so perturbed that he had the nerve to trip to her. It was hilarious!

I know it's been awhile..

2007-03-21T09:12:00.000-07:00

There's not much to update... We went camping this weekend, which was some much needed r&r. The pups were glad that we were back though! My little bro was watching them for me and since Ojoe has some weird fear of him, all of them were on edge the whole time. Well, except for Dakota - she'll wiggle her butt for anybody!! ( -:
We missed Wed. class last week so I'm hoping we're not too far behind. I just have to make sure that Nemo is RESTED, or else he has a.d.d.
Oh no new baby.. ) -: Cindy had her litter of pups but did not produce any black tri females. They are all very cute though! Four boys and one little merle girl. I will probably wait on her fall litter.
That's all for now!!

Isn't she cute?

2007-03-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

That's Dakota Bear at 4 weeks old-ish. I just thought I'd post that picture because I was too lazy to download the new pictures from the camera this weekend. ( -:

The pups had fun this weekend helping me with yard work. Marcus and I uncovered the pool on Saturday. He dumped a bunch of chemicals and stuff in it yesterday, so hopefully between that and Mr. Sweepy, the murk will disappear. Dakota is thrilled that the cover is off, she loves to stand on the step in the water.

I wandered around the back yard and raked leaves, picked up sticks, bark, acorns, and other debris that's been collecting since fall. I love all of our trees, but holy cow it's never-ending work!! I also cleaned off the a/c units and swept up the patio. I'm trying to figure out what plants I can put in the back flower bed that are hardy enough to withstand three pooches.

We got to play about 13 holes on Saturday before we threw in the towel. It was too crowded and we were playing too crappy to continue. Sunday evening we hit some balls on the range. The weather was perfect and the grass on the range was pretty plush, which was nice to hit off of for a change.

I was so excited to go to class this Sunday. Nemo had been doing great in our little daily training sessions. He's attention has been improving and his stay's with distractions have been coming a long great. He's been loose-leash walking like a champ, BUT Sunday I learned TIRED PUPPY = ZERO ATTENTION SPAN! He got up very early with me to do yard work, and he and the other two ran wild all day. I could tell when I put Nemo in the car to go to class that he was one worn out pup. We had a good time though, I have to remind myself often that he is still a baby. ( -:

What a looooong week!

2007-03-09T11:56:00.000-08:00

I'm SO GLAD IT'S FRIDAY! I think I've gotten a total of 10 hours of sleep all week. We've been staying up too late watching dumb movies. That's great, unless you have to wake up at 5:00 a.m. every morning, zzzzz.... I'm ready for the weekend!
Nemo did well in puppy class on Wednesday. He handled all of the distractions much better and seemed more focus. His stay is coming a long great, except when I march in place in front of him. He thinks that means "ok let's go!" for some reason. We'll work on it.. His also getting his "sphinx" down pretty well without much of a hand signal. We have class on Sunday, looking forward to applying our new skills. ( -:
Have a great weekend!!

Mondays...

2007-03-05T11:26:00.000-08:00

I'm having a hard time coping with the fact that it's already Monday. What happened to the weekend? Where did it go? What did we do?
Chloe and I did have agility class Sunday, and had a blast! Dakota and Nemo both did pretty well in my opinion. Chloe's mom came and picked her up at our house yesterday, and Chloe just had to show her Dakota's "moves." Dakota must've hopped over her little jump 15 times, with Chloe saying ooooverrrrr... Chloe's mom must think we're weird, but oh well!! ( -:
I tried to talk Marcus into coming and taking some action shots, but he stayed home and watched golf. There wound up being a 4-way playoff, so I guess it was worth it!

Aussie type

2007-02-27T11:07:00.000-08:00

So this is Leroy's (the sire of my potential new pup) profile... I'm learning what true aussie "type" is, in my continuing education of the breed, and apparently Leroy has excellent "type." "Type" is important above all else and you should never, ever, ever, ever breed a dog who does not have good type. See how much I'm learning!! ( -: Of course genetics, temperament, etc. are also of the utmost importance.

On another note, Nemo was evaluated the other day to see if he can "opt out" of Pre-Agility 1 class at Dallas Dog Sports. He did! We need some work on long stays, watch me's, and his toy drive, but otherwise did great! We start P2 this Wednesday. I'm excited to get the extra class time in besides Sundays. I need the incentive to get my tail off the couch. I'm also excited because there are three other mini aussies in my class!

Ugh...I have to get back to work. The entire market has totally tanked today because we got Shanghai'd overnight and the Taliban tried to blow up Dick Cheney. Hmmm... time to put the money under the mattress??

Class Pictures

2007-02-20T08:41:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures that Dori had taken in class this weekend. They crack me up!! I like the one of Chloe and Dakota, because the look on Chloe's face is because she is thinking that Dakota is going to have to jump that. ( -:

Dakota is doing great. She'll do anything as long as she knows there's a treat involved. Nemo is doing pretty well, but I need to be more consistent with his training. I can tell a big difference in his focus when I work with him everyday vs. when I'm lazy.

Nemo didn't have his Napoleon complex this week, so I was happy about that. ( -:

Puppy update

2007-02-15T05:44:00.000-08:00

Cindy wrote me yesterday that Stella (Pockets Some Beach) had an ultrasound done and she is carrying seven pups! We're thinking that surely out of that many babies, there' s bound to be a nice little black tri female.

Pockets Some Beach X Southern Cross What's Your Alibi

2007-02-13T11:01:00.000-08:00

I wanted to post our possible new addition plans. I have been in touch with a wonderful breeder, Cindy Shaykett of Boot Top Aussies http://www.boottopaussies.com. She is expecting a litter March 10 from a great cross of two Champions. We're hoping to get a nice little girl from the litter, who would be an excellent match for our Nemo.

Here is what she writes about the pair:
Pockets Some Beach (Stella) has been bred to Southerncross What's My Alibi (LeRoy) for early March puppies. These "Boot Top Babies" will be ready to go to their new homes in early May. The substance, athletic ability and intelligence of LeRoy can not be put into words! He has got to be the "happiest" dog that I have ever been around. I spent 10 days with him while getting these two Boot Top girls bred and he made me laugh every time I was around him. If his puppies have even a small amount of his personality and their dams willingness to please, they will be truly wonderful dogs that will fill the lives of their new owners with loyalty, companionship, and for those wanting to show, many championships! The pedigree of this cross has the making for a litter that will surpass what the breed has produced thus far!

Dam: Pockets Some Beach

Sire: Southern Cross What's Your Alibi

Growing up...

2007-02-13T10:19:00.000-08:00

Nemo turned 6 months old yesterday. It's amazing how these little guys grow right before your eyes. This is a picture from a few weeks ago of Nemo and Dakota wrestling as usual.

Nemo had some stitches removed on Saturday. He had a nice cut under his eye that, if I had to guess, was inflicted by Ojoe not feeling like being a "sheep" that day.

Ugh the trials of Nemo....

Anyhow, his coat is coming in beautifully. The vet weighed him in at 14.5 pounds. I need to watch his weight some, but I like his size - he has great bone structure.

Dakota and Nemo both are taking beginner agility classes, which are a riot. Dakota struts her stuff out there and Nemo seems to be enjoying it as well. Nemo is a little speeder and totally fearless, so I think he'll do pretty well if I get my stuff together and make the time to work with them regularly. Marcus and Dakota are soooooo cute together, I can hardly stand it! I'll have to take some "action" shots this weekend to post.

Our Girl

2006-11-10T10:42:00.000-08:00

Name: Dakota
Born: 12/05
Features: Red Tri, 9 1/2 Inches, 7 Pounds

Dakota is Miss Wigglebutt! She is our tiny little dancing girl and the happiest dog I've ever met. She is all snuggles and kisses if you have a treat for her. She will be starting agility training, along with her brother Ojoe, in January.

Our Boys

2006-11-10T08:12:00.000-08:00

Name: Nemo - CGC
Born: 08/28/06
Features: Red Merle, Blue Eyes, Son of ICAR Champion Mr. Pickles

Little Nemo is the newest addition to our family. He is a happy, energetic, and independant puppy. He loves to explore and is very inquistive, although he is just as happy snoozing on his back. Nemo earned his Canine Good Citizen (CGC) certification in December at only 3 months of age. We are very proud of the little guy!

Name: Ojoe
Born: 07/05
Features: Blue Merle, One Blue Eye, 11Inches, 9 Pounds

Ojoe was our first Toy Australian Shepherd. We should've named him "Kisses," he has tons to give! Ojoe is our little guardian and my special boy. He is very intelligent and is eager to please.

Marcus, Chloe, and Ojoe - I love this picture!

2006-04-26T11:09:00.000-07:00