I Caved :)

In one week from today I will have a visitor.
For the first time ever I have agreed to be a foster home for a dog. Not just any dog though, a 10 year old collie, you see, his owner was forced to give him up :(
I won't go into the whole story, but it is awful. This dog pulled at my heart strings as Tate is 9 1/2, almost the same age. I can't imagine being forced into giving him up right now, or how he would feel if I did. At 10 years a collie is already considered old, collies only live for about 13 yrs, 12 is the average. The poor boy will be so stressed. He is now with Joyce, a collie owner who first brought him to my attention. She picked him up last night from his "owner", wonder how that went? did his "owner" cry? did he feel bad?
On Monday he will be travelling with Joyce's son to Saskatoon Saskatchewan, where he will be met by Vicky, who will take him on his journey to Lethbridge & me.
I have always refused to foster as I am way too emotional. I can only hope he gets a family quickly before I become attached, even if he does it will be hard for me to say goodbye, that is just who I am.
His name is Woody & he is beautiful :) I spent the day yesterday getting ready for his arrival. I have made room in my livingroom for a giant crate to keep him in while I am at work. It will be just until he gets used to the house & I am positive he is ok with Tate & Kort. My livingroom is small as it is, it's even smaller now, but that's ok too.
I made a spot for him to eat as well.
Here are some pictures of Woody from his "owner" Feel free to spread the word about him. He will be with the Windy City Rescue here in Lethbridge so you can read about him there as well. Hopefully there will be someone that is willing to give this guy a home for what may only be 2-3 yrs.
Also for my collie friends that are wondering, he has no papers, he was from a backyard breeder who wanted extra for the papers so the "owner" did not buy them :(

Woody......


Woody's new bed...notice Kort's crate is now an end table for the lamp :)

A Picture of Tate !!

Hurray!!! A picture of Tate during the Whoop Up Days Demos!!! Thanks to Amanda S. for capturing it!

Amanda also captured Kort during the barrel racing, he loved this event !!!!

Crazy Week

It has been a busy week. I was doing demos all week long with both of the boys. If I worked until noon I did the 3pm & 7pm demos, if I worked until 6 I just did the 7 pm demo.
Perkins was here all week & left on Fri., then Izzy came . Izzy leaves today & Perkins returns :)
I guess keeping busy keeps me out of trouble anyway LOL!

Here is a video of Tate that I got yesterday, & another picture of Kort & Izzy.
Unfortunately no one got any pictures of Tate :( He was so happy to be doing agility again.

I asked Amanda to run Tate in the Intro loop as my ankles had had enough by the last day, he ran so well for her, except the bugger wouldn't do the weaves for her, brat!......


Kort on the table at the end of our Intro loop......


Izzy can make herself comfortable just about anywhere :)......

A New Visitor

This is Izzy the beagle, we are looking after her this weekend for the first time, she had no trouble making herself at home :)

Whooping It Up !

I have a few pictures from the demos at our Whoop Up Days, the following are ones of Kort, hopefully I will get some of Tate tonight :)

Kort & I getting ready to do our intro loop......

Kort soaking up the attention at the Meet & Greet after the demos......

Kort is all smiles :) ......

They're Baaack !

Last night was the start of Whoop Up Days. I am participating in a number of demos with my GoDogGo Agility Group, as well as my Scenthurdle team No Nonscents.
Last night was the first time Tate has done anything since May, & being neutered a month ago. Kort has done nothing for a month. Both dogs did so well !!!!
Tate flew around the ring & even jumped into the weave poles doing all 12 with gusto, I was so proud of them!!! It was hard to see Tate so sick in May & not even wanting to do agility which his his favourite thing in the world :)
The 9 year old still has it, & Kort never lost it, he just needed a break ♥
The picture above is a picture of the both of them from our triall here last year.

Well Done :)

Perkins is here for the week, this is him outside tonight, I'd say he's just about cooked :)

Kort got up long enough for me to get his picture :)

Whimp :)

Kort won't get his lazy butt out of his kennel so I can get a picture of him after his bath today, so I took him in his kennel, what a whimp, he thinks he's tired LOL!!

Chillin

Tate is pictured relaxing in the yard after having his bath. He took me 4 1/2 hrs to do!!
It is Kort's turn tomorrow so you can look forward to his picture as well :)

She's Gonna Blow!!

Wendy was sure my head was gonna blow off on Sunday I looked so hot, she kindly took a picture to prove it :)

Hi!

I haven't been around for awhile, you have probably noticed :)
Not much has been happening lately, well, not much has been happening that I want to talk about.

Brian ( Perkins dad ) brought me the flowers in the picture above when he picked Perkins up last week, it's been a long time since someone gave me flowers, thanks Brian it made my day !

We had our local trial this past weekend, it was awful not being able to enter my dogs :( I hated it. I kept myself busy by being a volunteer, I did pole setting, coarse building, scribing & a timing! It was fun fun & it kept me busy so I wasn't too sad about not running my boys. I also won an awesome gift bag with toys for the dogs, a cup & a Tim Horton's gift card for volunteering !

The judges were awesome & very nice. We went out for supper on Sat. night & I had the pleasure of sitting across the table from one of the judges, he had tons of stories to tell from his years of judging & he was hilarious!

It was super hot!!!!! all weekend, I got a little sun burned even with sunscreen on as I was out in the sun for 2 days. Wendy took a picture of me on the Sunday & I will post it to show you.

The spirit of the people competing was for the most part positive, you always have those that like to blame the fact that they didn't Q on other things. Some examples I heard were the timer not doing the job properly, a bug was bothering my dog, & the click of the camera distracted him/her.

I was able to watch all the handlers up close all weekend, & wow was there lots of bad handling! I'm not saying I'm an expert but you really get to see the mistakes when you are able to sit & watch closely. Funny how everything else is the reason why the dog didn't Q when most of the time it's the handler :)

There are some awesome videos up on my friends blogs for you to enjoy.
Amanda's dogs did amazing & even Vito came out to play! Unfortunately I somehow managed to not press the record button during his run & there is no video of him :(
Sarah & her guys were wonderful as well, on the last day Sarah did a cartwheel during her run with Kaleb & it was hilarious, so it is a must watch video :)
Enjoy!

Have You Lost Your Smiley Face ?

My friend Amanda wrote a post the other day that I loved. It was about finding your "smiley face" . I need to do that more often, so I am trying :)

Things haven't been going so well for me lately. Our local agility trial is this weekend & I had to pull both Tate & Kort. First I had to pull Tate as he was so ill & loosing weight. He has since been neutered & is well on his way to recovering, as well as putting weight back on, smiley face :)
Kort had to be pulled do to his mysterious pain episodes, he is still on strict rest & I haven't been able to do anything with him except some nice calm walks.
I will however be able to volunteer in everything all weekend now, as well as cheer on all the Go!Dog!Go! gang, smiley face :)
Other things in my life have been crappy lately, things I won't talk about, I am still working on finding my smiley face for those :(
I bought a laptop yesterday ! No comments please. I don't want to hear about how it was an expense that I can't afford, I know that. I don't want to hear that I didn't need one, I know that too. Did I want one, yes, am I glad I bought one, yes , do I feel just a little guilty about it , yes, but I'll get over it, smiley face :)
Next weekend is a CKC trial that I had to pull from as well, I'll put the money I'm saving on hotels to the laptop bill, smiley face :)
Anyway, you get the picture, life would be so much better if we all could just find our smiley faces, thanks Amanda for reminding me of that, smiley face for good friends :) :)

What A Pain In The Neck ! :)

I had previously mentioned that Kort has had 2 episodes, in the past 2 weeks, of yelping in pain, then spinning around, tilting sideways & having his eyes bug out as he was so scared :(
I saw my vet & she found nothing to be wrong except perhaps a mild ear infection, certainly nothing to make him scream out in pain.
I wanted to get more answers so yesterday I made the trip up to Okotoks to see Dr. Catherine Pampiglionie at the Elizabeth St. Pet hospital. She is an animal chiropractor & came highly recommended. She gave Kort a complete exam.
She found his sacrum to be tight, not much movement there. She found 3 discs out of whack at the base of his neck & 3 out at the top of his spine. She adjusted those.
Could this have caused him to have unexpected pain? , she couldn't say for sure.
I have to rest him for 3 weeks & if he screams out again to have his neck xrayed to see if the spacing between his vertebrae have enough cushion between them, or perhaps they are pushing against each other.
Anyway it all just sucks, I have no real answers, I am glad he has been adjusted. I hope that was his problem.
It sucks because he was in a full month of trials & demos & races. Kort loves this stuff, & I love doing it with him, but his health has to come first.
I will make use of the time to do his rear awareness & strengthening exercises.

The Video :)

So here is the final installment of Spruce Meadows :)
This is a video of Amanda who offered to take Kort in the ring when he refused to do anything for me :(
Amazing isn't it !
He got 99/100 & a 2nd place in a large Excellent B class for his 2nd leg.
I also want to note that out of 13 or so dogs in this class, he was the youngest at 3 yrs.

Spruce Meadows, more pictures :)

Just a couple more fun pictures from our weekend, video coming soon :)

Amanda made this sign to identify our Stall :) ......

Inside our Stall, it was so cozy!......


This picture includes Boone as yesterdays did not :)...it is the only one he stayed for!......

Spruce Meadows, AKC Dog Show

The Good, The Bad, & the Really Bad :)......

I am home today from the wonderful Dog Show held at the beautiful Spruce Meadows, I am exhausted, mentally & physically.

The Good....

1) I love this show, it is held on the famous Spruce Meadows Horse Jumping Grounds, & that alone is worth going for.
2) We got to stay at friends Jan & Dave's house, & it was awesome for the dogs, & us, to be able to go back to a house to rest.
3) Traveling with Amanda is an adventure in itself, we always have a ton of laughs!!!
4) Kort competed in Open & Rally, he did not Q in Open, but he got 1 Q in Excellent Rally with a score of 99/100 for his 2nd leg. He was handled in the ring by Amanda who he adores :)
5) Kort competed in Scenthurdle on Sat. night & our team was awesome. Kort finished his Scenthurdle Dog Excellent title!!!!

The Bad......

1) Kort did pretty good in Open for me, but had a meltdown in Rally. He refused to sit, & would not look at me, it was horrible & very painful :(
2) At the afternoon trial today when handled by Amanda again, he started to shut down for her as well, but manged to finish most of the stations :(
3) The mosquitoes :)

The Really Bad......

1) Realizing I have pushed my wonderful boy so hard that he is shutting down in the ring for me :( :( :(
2) While waiting to do his Honour Exercise, Amanda was playing with Kort, he suddenly screamed out in pain & started to freak out, he looked almost like he was having a seizure. This actually happened to him 2 weeks ago while I was in Calgary doing Scenthurdle. I was playing with him & he screamed & did the exact same thing, I am very worried & will be making an appt. for him tomorrow to be looked at :(
3) The judge made Amanda do the Honour Exercise, even though Kort had NQ'd & she had seen his painful episode :( :(
4) While competing in Scenthurdle on Sat. one of the opposing team members started saying some very out of line things about a dog on my team. It was childish & immature, & caused my team member to be upset. That makes me & all of my teammates upset as well, not good at all :(

So that is it, The Good, The Bad, & The Really Bad of the weekend, now please enjoy some pictures :)

♥ Tate & Kort ♥


The gang, minus Boone who wouldn't stay :)
Left to Right, Kort, Tate, Wicca, Pixel, & Vito......


Kort, Over !......


I think my face says it all :) ♥


Tired Kort, Day 3 :)......


My Scenthurdle team
Left to Right, Amanda & Pixel, Sarah & Gyp, Kim & Bosley, Me & Kort, Donna & Swift
Yeah No Nonscents !!!!!


This cracks me up!
Wicca, Pixel, & Vito, Amanda's dogs releasing from their sit stay !......


More pictures to follow in the coming days, thank you Sarah for the pictures of our Scenthurdle team, & in the Open Ring, & Amanda for the rest.