Rumor meets brother, Ben

Lisa Pellum brought Rumor's litter mate, Ben, to Merrillville so that Rumor and Ben could play together.

Oh geez, Rumor is tiny compared to Ben. Ben has much more bone, which I knew. I'm ok with that because when playing together, Ben didn't have anything on Rumor. They definitely played like brothers, even if they didn't *look* like brothers. Ben certainly looks more like Stellar. Rumor seems to look more like Neat, from what I have seen in pics.

When the boys were playing outside, they got in a few little scuffles over a tug toy. Rumor, Ben and Wisp later played in 1 of the soccer fields -- they all played much nicer. Rumor and Ben kept running after balls... although Rumor is smaller, he is at least as fast as Ben. They had a wonderful time and Lisa and I had 2 tired puppies! It was wonderful to meet Lisa (she was so nice) and I hope Rumor will get to play with Ben again down the road.

For now, I think Ben is probably the only litter mate we will ever really run into.

Oh, we also saw Sonic show! I saw his Open JWW class -- he has a lovely foundation and jumps extremely well.

Rumor, half-sister Shock! and Ben

AKC Merrillville Trial

Dylan and I competed at the Thanksgiving trial in Merrillville, IN. Dylan was such a good boy this weekend... his mother was not.

Sat Std: Fantastic run. Dylan held all of his contacts nicely and we were doing a great job until the 2nd to last jump mom was night in the correct position... and someone took an off course jump. At least I can chalk that one up to my fault.

Sat JWW: Started out very nicely and hit an awkward entrance to the weaves... I think I was so shocked he got it that I stopped, he popped out and looked at me wondering what I was doing... chalk up another NQ to mom...

Sun Std: Dylan didn't hold his contacts as nicely and after the a-frame I stopped to mark it. I wouldn't have been surprised if the judge whistled me off for training, but she didn't (nor did she call anyone else for training). She did, however, give me a refusal b/c she claimed I was too close to the next obstacle. I don't think I was, but can't do much about it now. The rest of the run was great... Dylan was a good boy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h2Y3sIt_TI

Sun JWW: I didn't support a jump enough and D pulled off of it... so, we just ran fast and had fun.

Overall, Dylan was working very nicely this weekend... it's pathetic when I have to say that I caused him pretty much all 4 NQs. He is working much nicer and I'm looking forward to Hounds and McCook!

Busy weekend... CPE & Lucy's farm

This past weekend the boys and I were very busy! I had Dylan in a CPE trial to make sure that I was 100% confident in his contacts... they're looking great! Whatever issue we had before, I think they're gone... he hit every single contact this weekend and only self released on the 1st one... I was very pleased with that.

For CPE we had 5 classes each day... on Sat Dylan Qed in 3 of the 5... Snooker we NQed b/c someone thought it would be fun to back jump a red... ooops.... it was also my fault :) Our Jumpers run was nice until we knocked 2 bars when I started sprinting as fast as I could... D just has to learn to adjust on his own.

Sun Dylan Qed in all 5 classes.... he had some beautiful runs! It was fun... and he was pooped by the end of the weekend :) Rumor also got lots of play time... we did some focus work near the ring (which didn't go so well) and we did lots of tugging... that DID go well.... and then there was 1 lady who was definitely going to steal him very soon... she loved him. Um, hello? How could you not?!?!

We went up to Lucy's farm for the night... played Pictionary (SO fun... I'm obsessed with games now!) and the boys got to run on loads and loads of open property in the morning... they were in heaven! The only thing better would have been if I actually showed Dylan where the pond was... he would never have gotten in the car to leave then!

Overall, a REALLY fun (but busy) weekend!

5 months old

I can't believe Rumor is 5 months old today. His current stats:

weight: 22.5 lbs

height: 17.5"

I was watching the World Champ video from Norway last night and Rumor was obsessed with it! He loved watching the dogs run (and he wasn't barking at them, so I was ok with it) and he really got excited when Stellar was running and barking... maybe he knew it was daddy!?!? Rumor started watching from my ottoman and then had to move in for a closer look... I sure hope he was taking good notes! He just makes me laugh all the time.

Ann Braue

I took Rumor and Dylan to an Ann Braue mini-seminar that I set up for this weekend with 4 other puppies and 4 other big dogs... it was fantastic!

We spent a total of 8 hrs with the puppies... Ann used her normal puppy seminar stuff and then we just focused on what we wanted to with each pup... lots of clicker training, crate training, relationship building and plenty of play/tug! Rumor was a very good boy when he was out of the crate working... he was offering some really cute behaviors when we had clicker sessions at different stations... it's hilarious to see what he can come up with sometimes :) As good of a boy as he was *out* of the crate... he was a pretty naughty boy *in* the crate. Anytime he wasn't working and someone else was out... boy, did he have a lot to say about it! When he heard clicks, he also had a lot to say about it... basically, he was barking his head off half the time. So, he got removed and put in the crate room time and time again

Dylan was a very good boy. Ann said he looked like a totally different dog, which was great to hear. He was jumping nicely and we worked on jump chutes for a long time with doubles and triples... D was doing well and holding his own! Then we played a game that Ann has done with Linda where D is on the inside doing 4 jumps in a rectangle shape and I'm on the outside... this is really to work on pushes, but it also made me run... plus it was kinda funny :) I think my jumping and contacts will be an ongoing process, but they have certainly improved and I now have new things to continue working and to improve! :)

Ann is absolutely fabulous... soooo positive and makes you feel great about at least a section of your run no matter what. She really is wonderful... I hope to go up there again in 2008 and I will hopefully be able to go to an Awesome Paws camp so she will be there teaching this year with Linda.

Rumor - 21 weeks old

Height: 17.5"
Weight: 21.5 lbs.

CPE - workin' contacts...

This weekend I had 1 goal at a CPE trial... Dylan is going to start nailing his contacts!!!

I had lots of opportunities to practice contacts on Sat... 2 Jackpot runs, 1 Std, 1 Wildcard and 1 Colors... they all had at least an a-frame in them. D didn't hold his first contact of the day... after that, he was fantastic. So, now we have no excuses at our next AKC trial... he knows! Poor boy DID hang himself up on the tire again. He is trying to give me a heart attack! Luckily, it was PVC... I LOVE PVC! I need to handle the tire even more than I was before... I just can't risk him hurting his back/body because of it. Sun we only got to practice contacts once in the Std class... but, D was a good boy and Qed in all 4 class.... 6 of the 9 classes throughout the weekend... and it should have been 7 without that damn tire.

Rumor was a naughty boy :) He didn't seem to want to stay quiet in his crate that was even covered! He had to take numerous trips to the car until he could compose himself again. Oh, AND he lost 2 teeth while we were tugging at the trial! It was really funny... we would tug, he would mess with his mouth a bit... tooth would pop out. He is such a cutie