Category: Dogs

Conformation

Vader and I are going to enter a conformation show in March. Our first one.

We have attended 3 handling classes and had a friend come over once to practice in the barn. Vader is doing well in classes but he finds them pretty boring. 🙂 Except for the treats. He does like the treats.

Kris asked me what my goals are in this conformation thing. I don’t know that I have any other than to not be an idiot in the ring. 🙂 I do want to see what a judge thinks of him stacked up against other dogs. That may be harder than I expect just because there are not many Icies around!

Other than that, just more ring experience and exposure. Gail got to see him tonight and she thinks he looks great. I am hopeful a judge will also think so. I am planning to attend the next few weeks of handling classes to get more practice in before the end of March. It will be here before I know it!

USDAA Clear Mind 2018-01-13

On the weekend of the 13/14th of January I took Twitch and Vader to the USDAA Tournament-only trial at Daisy Peel’s place. Couldn’t beat the view! Chilly mornings but the days warmed up and were stunning for January.

Twitch tried Team for the first time pairing with Heather and Navarre. He did so well! So proud of the little guy. He has been there before but not for competition. He ran well for me and had lots of Qs and gave me a lot of himself. Very pleased with him.

Vader and I did Team with April/Josie and Molly/Moxie. Vader was a rock star! He got lots of points and ran very well. We also tried Grand Prix for the first time. We didn’t Q due to a refusal or two but that is ok. All the rest of his runs were really fantastic. He got first place in Steeplechase and won $10! He did very well in a new place on the nice turf there.

CPE Fleet Feet 2017-12-03 and 04

This past weekend I took Twitch and Vader to the Turner barn for a CPE trial hosted by Fleet Feet. Vader ran a full weekend and Twitch ran two runs each day. My goal with Twitch is to have happy runs. Q or no Q, just happy. I think we definitely achieved that!

Twitch

He ran Jackpot and Standard on Saturday. We did not get the Jackpot because of an extra jump but he was fast and happy! So good to see and run! Standard was lovely, no complaints and it was a nice run.

Sunday was Fullhouse and Standard again. No complaints in Fullhouse though his serpentines need some work. Standard we had an off course tunnel, need to work those threadles more, but the rest was great!

Vader

Saturday was Jackpot, Standard, Colors and Wildcard. Jackpot was a Q but it wasn’t pretty! We had some baby dog moments and some handler lack of handling, which resulted in many giggles from me.

Standard was great! I was late on a blind and he barked at me but was just fine otherwise.

Colors was fine though I over compensated a couple times.

Wildcard was great too.

Sunday

We did Fullhouse, Standard, Snooker and Jumpers. All but Jumpers went just fine. Jumpers was a bit of a cluster. Lol I over corrected or didn’t show the line well enough and he almost took an off course tunnel. He also at another point, tried to jump onto the top of a tunnel! Oi vey!

Overall a good weekend. I figured out the ramp and car situation which is great. Love lots of things about the new car and this was its first trial test.

Next up, December 30 at Fun Fur Paws in Mt Vernon, WA!

Happy Thanksgiving 2017!!

So we had a nice Thanksgiving with the Landes this past week. The Deckers flew out last Monday to Seattle and stayed with the Landes. We drove up Tuesday night and stayed until Saturday. The Deckers left on Friday.

We saw Justice League on Wednesday and made tons of food on Thursday. So. Much. Food!!

It was actually really nice. Lots of sitting around time which was very much needed. Relax and socialize.

Then today was back to the grind. Sigh.

I am going to try to do some exercises on a more regular basis. Breaking my foot last year pretty much killed all that, so time to get the habit back. My small goal is three times a week. Just my crunches, leg lifts and stretches. I hope this will get me to feeling better and get the habit going again. I definitely have more motivation in the AM if I can drag my butt out of bed! That’s the real challenge!

I am also contemplating taking a handling class with Vader. Maybe see how much work I have to do if I want to do this conformation thing. I am not sure I do but I would sure like to know what others think of him. 🙂 I think he is pretty awesome!

Fall Camping

Kris, the dogs and I went camping for one night at Meghann Barger’s parents’ place last Saturday. They had talked about fall camping but had never done it so off we went. One night seemed doable and less work in case it was crappy weatber.

It was Meghann, Caleb and Meghann’s brother Ben and girlfriend Emma. Oh and Emma’s dog Colby. A cute poodle mix that was Vader’s size. All the dogs got along and had fun.

We started Saturday with a tromp in the woods. Some of the folks (including Meghann’s dad Dave) were mushroom hunting but Kris, Meghann and I were just hiking. Dave carved out a switch back trail up a ridge this summer so up we went and then hiked the upper forest. It was really quite nice and peaceful. The dogs had a blast!


Meghann has a penchant for tearing out old trees. Got some great shots of this! Lol

Caleb made a fantastic stew over the fire for dinner. Ben kept the fire roaring all evening which meant I got lots of doggie snuggle time. At one point I had both dogs on my lap!

I went to bed about 10pm but apparently Kris and Ben fell asleep in front of the fire until 4am! After drinking a lot.

Fall camping means damp conditions. Inside the tent was good but outside was pretty damp!

Sunday dawned chilly and Twitch peeing blood. Sigh. I packed up as I went and got stuff ready so we could head out as soon as possible. Stopped at the EVet on Market, got some antibiotics and he seems fine now. He just doesn’t like camping. 😉

I do though. Still want a bigger tent.