Dylan & Rumor

Agility & the Holidays!

2010-12-14T07:34:00.000-06:00

We have been keeping busy between agility trials and getting ready for the Holidays :)
We just finished a weekend at 1 of my favorite trials of the year, Hounds for the Holidays. We were just there 2 days, but I think Rumor and I had 1 of our best JWW runs to date! It was a very fun, competitive 26" class and less than 0.5 or 1 sec separated 1st through 4th place! Rumor got 2nd by a couple hundredths of a second.

It feels as though we are working together and finally a team. It is nice going to the line and feeling confident that we can get through the entire course, and in good style :)

Dylan has been amazing me recently as well. He now has 2QQs and so I might try and qualify him for Nationals next year, along with Rumor. We are done with agility trials until 2011 so now it is time for some R&R!

DockDog Nationals!

2010-10-18T08:19:00.000-05:00

Wow, what a fantastic weekend! We had the DockDogs National Championship in Dubuque, IA this weekend. To start off the weekend we had an 8 pin bowling tournament... it was awesome and I had a major personal best of 226!!!

Rumor only jumped in the Super Elite Big Air waves as that is the top level to jump so it is against all of the best dogs (mostly Malinois and Labs) in the World... I was very proud of Rumor! My 37 lb peanut did a very good job... he pulled out a great jump of 25' 2" on Saturday with a huge crowd and that got him into the Super Elite Big Air Finals on Sunday! 3 years that Rumor has been to Nationals and 3 years he has made it to his divisional finals -- I was thrilled! We ended up 7th in the Finals... we really had a wonderful weekend and I couldn't be prouder of my little boy!

In addition to jumping well this weekend, Rumor also won 2 awards at the banquet on Saturday night:
Most Improved Dog (People's Choice Awards)
Top Ranked Border Collie for 2010!

Dylan was entered in Express Speed Retrieve and he had a fantastic weekend! He just squeaked into the Finals on Sunday with the 8th position, which I was thrilled about. I was trying really hard to make sure my reaction times were right on... and it was working! In the Finals, Dylan had a new personal best of 7.74 seconds! He gave me everything he had and enjoyed every second of it... we ended up in 5th place -- I am so proud of my black boy! :)

I think it's Fall...

2010-09-29T10:42:00.002-05:00

We had our annual agility trial in Michigan where we play some agility in the morning and the dogs get to play on the beach in the afternoon... what more could you want?!?! It was definitely very chilly this weekend, but Rumor still had no problem swimming and running on the sand.

Rumor had 2 really nice Jumpers runs where he knocked the double in the 1st run and I pulled him off a jump in our 2nd run. We had a clean Standard run on Saturday and I pulled him from Sunday b/c the dogwalk approach was really scary to a slick dogwalk... not worth the risk.

Chris ran Dylan on Saturday and they had a couple very nice runs! Dylan was being a stinker about the weaves, but they did beautifully besides that.

2010 STIHL Dogs & Logs World Championships

2010-09-06T16:11:00.001-05:00

Rumor and I just returned from Salem, OR yesterday from the STIHL Dogs & Logs World Championships! It was quite an event and just an honor to be invited.

We competed in the Big Air division against the top jumping dogs in World and the competition was tough. Little Rumor (about half the size of all the other dogs) held his own and had at least a 24' jump in each of the waves... unfortunately, that wasn't enough to move onto the Quarter Finals... but we still had a blast and he definitely had quite the fans!

I'm glad we made the trip out West and it was a great experience... the toughest competition I have seen at a World Championship yet!

Great weekend for the black dogs! ... and my 1st QQ!

2010-08-30T14:42:00.000-05:00

Rumor had an amazing agility weekend! We have been struggling a little in JWWs, but this weekend it felt like we worked as a great team! I couldn't have been happier with him.

On Saturday Rumor had a nice Standard Q to finish his MX title! To top off the day, we Qd in JWW for our 1st QQ! He blew me away on Sunday when he was clean on both courses again and got his 2nd QQ! All 4 scores counted towards World Team Tryouts scores as well... so it was a fantastic weekend!

The thought of maybe getting 4 more QQs before the end of November to qualify for AKC Nationals seems within reach! It'll be a lot of work, but we're going to give it a shot :)

Dylan also had a fantastic weekend! He was so happy to be back playing... it was fun running him! D had a great start to the weekend with a nice Q in JWW. He popped out of the weaves in Std, but the rest of the run was lovely. On Sunday he bounced out of the weaves (his big head got in the way!) in JWW, but he finished the weekend strong with a great Standard run! WTG Big D!!!

Summer Agility

2010-07-20T07:57:00.000-05:00

The boys and I had a wonderful, busy weekend this past weekend. We were at a great, new facility that was indoors with the a/c pumping all weekend... which was greatly appreciated with all the heat and humidity.

This trial was fun because both of my parents saw Rumor run for the 1st time and my dad hasn't seen Dylan run before either -- I think they enjoyed themselves.

Dylan was a very happy, sassy boy and had a blast running agility again. On Saturday he was a bit goofy in standard and didn't think the yellow would be fun to touch, but he had a very nice JWW run and it was great with just 1 dropped bar. On Sunday, a bar in each class was his only problem as well... so he was a good man!

I feel like Rumor and I are really starting to become a team and it feels great. On Saturday he was flying around the jumpers course and, unfortunately, I didn't support 1 jump enough so he missed that, but the rest was fantastic He also had a lovely standard run so I was happy with that. On Sunday he had another smokin' JWW run and dropped the 2nd to last bar, but I was still thrilled with it. And our standard run was going really well until I got impatient and rear crossed too soon and pulled him off a jump.

Overall, I was THRILLED with Rumor... I pulled him off of jumps in 2 of our runs and he only knocked 1 bar in our 3rd run... the rest of his running was great so I'm looking forward to our next trial!

Aloha Hawaii

2010-07-06T14:03:00.003-05:00

Rumor and I were lucky enough to be 1 of 5 dogs invited to introduce DockDogs to Hawaii with 2 National events just outside of Honolulu. They were very long weekends, but we had a blast! The people we met there were great and I hope they have success with their new club... Aloha DockDogs. In between events we had 4 days off so Rumor got to do plenty of playing on beaches, hiking and enjoying all of the scenery.

Rumor had trouble the 1st weekend in Hawaii because we haven't ever competed at night under lights before and it didn't occur to me, but he wasn't able to see his toy in the water, since I do place and send with him. The glare from the lights made it quite difficult. We didn't start off strong, but we ended the 2nd weekend really well. I found toys that Rumor could see under the glare of the lights at night and it made a huge difference. I was so excited when Rumor finished his Super Elite title since he's the 1st Border Collie to ever earn this National title! In addition to that, he was consistently jumping over 25', which just blew me away. He even set a new personal best of 26'... which, I believe, is the farthest jump in DockDogs for any Border Collie as well -- he just keeps getting better and better!

Rumor AXJ!

2010-07-06T14:03:00.000-05:00

Woohoo! Rumor finally finished his AXJ after struggling with JWW for a while. He had some nice Standard runs too... I feel those QQs getting within reach :-)

A great new facility... and our 1st WT Tryouts score!

2010-06-01T09:22:00.000-05:00

We went to an AKC Agility trial at a fantastic, new facility in Barrington, IL. I loved it and hope that there are many more events at this location in the future.

Rumor and I are still trying to get our last ExA JWW score to finish our AXJ title... we had a fantastic run on Saturday, but I screwed the poor boy up going into the weaves. Oh well, it will come soon enough.

Rumor *did* have a gorgeous Std run on Sunday and it is, officially, our 1st score to qualify for World Team Tryouts. I'm going to see if we can qualify for Tryouts in May 2011. He had a nice Std run at 26" and ran 4.99 yps, so I was happy with that.

Dylan was a blast to run this weekend... he's such a goof. We were SO CLOSE to our 1st (real) QQ... but he popped out of the weaves in Std. He had a really nice JWW Q and was as happy as could be all weekend...

I'm definitely looking forward to another weekend of agility next weekend... trying to fit in as many trials as we can before heading to Hawaii!

Chicagoland DockDogs... FINALLY playing outside!

2010-05-17T09:28:00.000-05:00

Rumor really has been coming into his own and had a lot of fun this weekend. We were in Berwyn, IL for the Chicagoland DockDogs event and it was our 1st outdoor event of the season. SO NICE to be jumping outside! Since I am Vice President of the CLDD club I tried to volunteer as much as possible so neither Dylan nor Rumor jumped in many waves. Rumor had a couple 25' 5" jumps and was 1 of 3 dogs in the Super Elite Finals. Dylan's best judged jump was 14' 11", but he got lots and lots of practice time so I think he was a bit pooped :) It turned out to be a great event and I was impressed that we had 3 dogs jumping in the Super Elite division and 3 dogs in the Elite division...

The Super Elite Finals were quite exciting... Rumor came into the Finals in 2nd place. After all 3 of our dogs jumped 1 round we were still in 2nd. Callie jumped a big 25' 8" jump before us and so Rumor had to give it his all and had a tie... 25' 8" too for the little Rumz! That was a new personal best for him. We ended up winning b/c our other jump was slightly longer than Callie's other jump. For a relatively small event, it really was an exciting Fials!

Dylan and Rumor are both looking forward to spending next weekend in Michigan... a little agility and a lot of time playing on the beach! Rumor is taking a little break from dock diving until next month... when we head to Hawaii!!!

Qualified for our 1st National Agility Competition!

2010-05-10T09:27:00.002-05:00

Rumor is now, officially, qualified for USDAA Nationals! This is the 1st National Agility event we have qualified for and I'm very excited. We finished our last Steeplechase Q this past weekend so now we are qualified for Steeplechase, Grand Prix & DAM Team. Should be a lot of fun... now, to wait until Mid-October :)

Urbana, IL... nice trial... poor sportsmanship...

2010-05-03T09:03:00.001-05:00

I was down at an AKC trial in Urbana, IL this past weekend. It was a very nice facility... 2 outdoor rings with easy crating either inside or from our cars. The club was wonderful and did a very nice job with the trial... I would gladly go back.

The boys and I had some nice runs and had a lot of fun. No Qs for us, but I was very proud of different aspects of each run. I keep learning what Rumor and I have "in our toolbox" and where there have holes in our training. We have had fewer and fewer "baby dog" moments, which I'm happy about and he's really coming along. I feel it... we will "click" soon!

The only unfortunate part of the weekend was that I witnessed some extremely poor sportsmanship. I have a hard time believing that agility can be fun if it is only about getting a Q and not about playing with your dog(s). It is heartbreaking to see handlers getting mad at their dogs for making a mistake (especially when it's the handler's fault) and telling the dogs how bad they are. It is even worse (and extremely disrespectful) to hear handlers complaining and swearing over and over about runs and about equipment. Sportsmanship isn't only while you are in the ring, it is all the time. If I didn't have fun running my dogs in agility all of the time, I have plenty of other things I could do to occupy my weekends. I was so shocked with the poor sportsmanship that I saw, it just made me think... and lose respect for the individual...

A fun USDAA weekend

2010-04-26T11:50:00.000-05:00

I had a blast with both of the boys this weekend at a USDAA trial! Lots of friends were there and although the weekend was long, we had a great time :)

Rumor did not pick up any Advanced Standard legs this weekend... he popped the weaves on Sat and ran around a jump on Sun. The rest of his runs were lovely. The great news is that he DID get a Steeplechase Q and a Grand Prix Q! So, only 1 more Steeplechase Q needed and we are all qualified for Nationals :) I'm so proud of the little man.

Dylan also had a great weekend... he was such a goof and made me laugh the entire time. He Qd in PI Standard both Sat and Sun so he is finally out of PI! Wooohoo... now, onto PII :)

Busy weekend... USDAA & AKC... Happy Easter!

2010-04-06T08:06:00.000-05:00

Rumor and I participated on our 1st DAM Team ever in USDAA. We had a good team (Abby/Grant & Temi/Anne) and Rumor was definitely the 'baby dog' of the group. We had some really nice runs and some runs that certainly didn't help out our team... but, overall, we ended up in 7th place and earned a DAM Q! I was thrilled with that since this was the only opportunity this year I was going to be able to have to try and earn the Q which qualifies us for Team at Nationals.

The 2nd day of the USDAA trial was another long day. I was thrilled with Dylan's PI Std run... he was a very good boy and earned a Q... only 1 more to go until we get to play in PII for everything. Rumor had descent runs in the morning, but with a few mistakes. I was thrilled when we had a solid (but cautious) run in Grand Prix and earned our 1st Q there -- only 1 more to go for Nationals in that tourney! Our Steeplechase run had a couple of errors, but he was still a very good boy.

We also packed in 1 day at an AKC trial... 2 great judges were there so I couldn't miss it. Both boys had fantastic Standard runs with only 1 error each... Rumor and I are still fighting for our last ExA JWW Q... didn't get it this weekend, but hope to next weekend!

Louisville, KY

2010-03-24T06:59:00.000-05:00

We attended our 1st ever Louisville, KY agility trial... what a fun weekend. I have heard so many great things about this 3 ring trial on dirt... and it really was a fun weekend. Lots of friends were there not to mention lots of amazing agility handlers...

Thursday: It has been a while since Dylan has done agility... boy was he all kinds of crazy! Barking and sassing at me in the ring... he was hilarious. We had a blast in both our Std and JWW runs... now Qs, but once he got the kinds out in Std the JWW run was very nice... just 1 bar. Rumor ran 26" this entire weekend and he didn't seem to have problems with it. Our 1st Std run was fantastic... just 1 dropped bar right at the end. Unfortunately, I really mishandled the opening of our JWW course and sent him into the wrong end of the tunnel. I just want to get out of ExA JWW... we only need 1 more Q!

Friday: Dylan started out the day with a great Std run... and the 1st Q for team black dogs! :) His JWW run wasn't quite as pretty, but I was still happy about Std so I didn't care. Rumor had another great Std run with just 1 error at the weaves. He didn't hold his a-frame contact and I was all flustered and really needed to hustle from a-frame to tunnel to weaves so I was much farther behind than I planned on being... but the rest of his run was just what I wanted so no complaints. Another JWW Q that was so close, but so far... a knocked bar and then I got all flustered... bummer! We also got to do our 1st ever ISC Jumpers class... how fun! Rumor did pretty well for a baby dog... only 1 refusal and the rest was clean! Mary, Polly and I were so tired we just brought snacks back into the room... was the perfect dinner :)

Saturday: Dylan's last day trialing... I only entered him in 3 days. He finished his weekend off with a lovely Q in JWW! He was such a good boy this weekend and was having a blast... yea D Dylan!!! Rumor's Std run was kind of a mess... it seemed like the wheels fell off a bit today. After the beginning we pulled it together, but it wasn't very pretty... neither was our JWW run. Oh well. We ran the ISC Std class Saturday night... a couple more errors than the ISC JWW class, but it was definitely our best run of the day so I was happy to end on a high note.

Sunday: Another Std run that was so close... totally clean except he missed the weave entrance - I over handled it and I think that was the problem... sorry Rumz! Our JWW run... we got all of the difficult parts and had a refusal at an easy 180... bummer! Oh well, hopefully we will finish our AXJ in April :)

Great trial... the footing was a little hard, but I definitely want to go back next year!

We're going to Worlds!

2010-03-15T08:21:00.000-05:00

I was so proud of Rumor this weekend. We went to Cedar Falls, IA for another DockDogs Zone Qualifier. I was feeling very under the weather all week and Rumor pulled us through it and had a fantastic weekend at the event! Not only did he win "crowd favorite" each day he also won the entire Pro Finals! Winning this Zone Qualifier earned him an invitation to the World Championships in July for Big Air. I'm very excited... that was 1 of our goals this year and we got it! Rumor's best jump of the weekend was a 25' 2" jump and I couldn't be more proud of the little man... he just keeps impressing me every time we go out!

Dylan got to spend a little extra time with Chris in Iowa, but he came home with me since we have a great agility trial next weekend in Louisville, KY. He did a lot of playing this weekend in Iowa, and made it to the Amateur Finals. Little stinker totally messed up his 1st jump in the finals (jumped after the duck the second I threw it), but ended up in 6th place... what a good boy!

Indianapolis Zone Qualifier

2010-02-22T09:04:00.000-06:00

I took the boys to the Zone Qualifier in Indianapolis this weekend. Well, I took Rumor for the weekend and Dylan gets to stay with Chris for all 10 days! Lucky boy :)

I'm not sure what the deal is with Speed Retrieve, but since DockDogs changed from the DFT to the Flappy, Rumor won't jump. It isn't like he's jumping poorly... he won't jump off the dock AT ALL. So, we're done with Speed Retrieve for the time being -- I don't see the need to mess with his confidence at all over it.

Saturday Rumor had 2 Big Air waves. He blew me away in them... he hit a new personal best of 25' 1"! I couldn't believe it! I was so proud of him. His next wave he hit a 23' 11" jump, which I was still THRILLED with. Before this, his personal best was 23' 3". This jump had Rumor sitting in 1st place for the Pro Finals. Dylan was a very good boy too... he was in Big Air only and had a 16' 1" jump which had him sitting in 7th for the Amat Finals. Rumor also finished his Elite Jumping Title on Saturday, which I was also quite happy about.

Sunday didn't go quite as well as I had hoped, but we still had fun. Dylan DID improve on his jump and got a 16' 7" jump in the BA wave which moved him up in his Finals standings. In the Finals he had his best jump with me of the weekend... 16' 10", which finished him in 4th place :) Rumor and I didn't do as well in the Finals. Sadly, it was his shortest jumps of the weekend... the 1st jump he left the dock about 3' early and the 2nd jump I threw the toy horribly... poor dog. I don't know what the exact jumps were, but I think they were both in the high 21' range. Oh well, was still an amazing weekend for the little boy :)

Rumor's 24" debut

2010-02-18T14:06:00.002-06:00

Rumor did a wonderful job this weekend... his 1st trial jumping 24" and he really did a fantastic job all weekend.

Saturday:
Rumor dropped 1 bar before a tunnel in ExcA JWW when I opened up my big mouth -- oops! The rest of the run he did quite nicely. His ExcB Std run he ran beautifully. He has become much better reading lead-out pushes. This was the first 1st place he has received in ExcB! I was so proud of him.

Sunday:
Little Rumz had a rockin' ExcA JWW run. I was being very careful and made sure to take my time b/c I just want to get him into ExcB so we can start working on QQs :-) He ended up in 2nd place by less than 2/10ths of a second so I was happy with that. He only needs 1 more JWW Q and then we can move up wiht the big dogs

I gained so much confidence in Rumor this weekend. His weaves were fantastic and we were working as a team each and every run... I couldn't have been more proud of the little man. He gave me the perfect Valentine's Day gift... being a blast to run!

Dylan takes a road trip!

2010-02-12T10:48:00.000-06:00

Dylan is spending the week in St. Louis with Chris at a DockDogs event... he gets to hang out and play for 5 days... how great is that?!?! I will say, I really do miss him at home, but I figured it will be fun for both D and Chris.

Dylan is in St. Louis for this event and then is in Indianapolis the next 2 weekends for another DockDog event/road trip. Lucky, he will be coming home in between :)

Agility in Iowa...

2010-02-01T13:22:00.000-06:00

It was a great weekend in Davenport, IA this weekend... lots of friends and a wonderful new facility for agility.

Saturday:
Rumor started the weekend off with a bang. He had a beautiful ExB Std run and Qd with a 2nd place. He ran very nicely... like a mature dog :) His JWW run in the afternoon seemed to have a few puppy moments in it... did make me laugh though. Dylan ran nicely... a great JWW run with just 1 dropped bar and a nice Std run, but he missed his weave entrance. All in all, a very fun day :)

Sunday:
Rumor had a wonderful Std run again, but 2 obstacles from the end I didn't tell him we were going towards the teeter (instead of the a-frame) so I messed up our nice run... but he was still a very good boy. Sadly, I also messed up a JWW run for him that was going very well. That's ok - he was still a star in my eyes :)
Dylan had a pretty funn Std run... he smashed his head into the weaves and I felt badly b/c I started laughing. After that, he was ready to entertain his fans with a "stick 'em up" on the table! It was a hit. D finished our weekend nicely with a Q in ExB Pref JWW :)

Rumor's 1st QQ... kinda...

2010-01-25T08:57:00.001-06:00

It has been quite a while since we actually trained agility (at least, that's how it feels)... Rumor did great this weekend!

Saturday:
Rumor got his 1st ExcA JWW Q and he was a very good boy during the run. He had great weaves and he even would have placed 2nd in the ExcB division, so I was pleased with that. The little man also Qd in ExcB Std! I couldn't believe it... he got 2nd in that class. I know it isn't a 'real' QQ, but he at least Qd 2x in the same day so I know we can do it... now, just gotta get INTO B for JWW

Went out to a fantastic sushi dinner at Swordfish with Whitney, Mary, Polly, Liz and Whit's friend Jennifer... we had a blast! It was a wonderful Bday dinner :)

Sunday:
Rumor had another really nice JWW run. He knocked the double on the line out, but the rest of the run was clean... a bit loopy/wide in spots, but overall I was still very proud of him. Our Std run was a bit more baby-like in a couple parts... Crazy boy started out by doing a couple extra tunnels, but he had a few very nice parts. I was thrilled when I faded quite a bit from the dogwalk to serpentine a jump into the weaves... good boy Rumz!

I'm really looking forward to our trial this coming weekend in Davenport, IA. I'm really hoping to get at least 1 (maybe 2) more JWW Qs and get him into B... starting in Feb, we do 24" for a couple trial and then 26" until Louisville... can't wait for the ISC classes!!!

2010... starting off a new year...

2010-01-04T06:59:00.002-06:00

A 3 day AKC Agility trial at McCook to start off the new year -- not bad! :-)

Fri: Dylan had 2 great runs, but knocked a bar in JWW and bounced off the teeter in Std, which he NEVER does! Besides that, he had wonderful weaves and was LOVING the 24" weave poles!!! I was very proud of him. Rumor also blew me away with his weaves this weekend... Std was a ridiculous weave entrance and I wasn't even trying to make him go for it (I was going to make the approach a lot straighter), but he got it! Couldn't believe it. Sadly, my big mouth made him drop a bar afterwards, but I was thrilled with that. Rumor also had a wonderful JWW run and I even (flying by the seat of my pants) did a rear cross at the weaves and he was great. It definitely gave me a lot more confidence in him this weekend.

Sat: Dylan wasn't feeling the weaves so much today... in both runs he went in at the 2nd pole... I think I might have been over handling them a bit and he doesn't need quite the same amount of help when they are 24" poles b/c he doesn't bounce into them. In Std he and I had a little collision and luckily I didn't go down... as Kelly put it... "Lamberson, you are not so gazelle like" -- it was hilarious! I didn't help Rumor out too much in Std -- when he actually knew where to go he did really nicely, but I was being pretty slow on my cues for some reason... oh well, he still had a blast!

Sun: Just Rumor today... he was having a lovely Std run and then I was behind him at the weaves and he popped out looking for me. Otherwise, the run was fantastic! He had a very nice JWW run too... unfortunately, my handling was less than stellar. I was thrilled that he got a tough weave entrance b/c there was a dummy jump right there and he actually went for the weaves.

No Qs this weekend, but I was so happy with how the boys performed and it gave me so much more confidence in Rumor this weekend... excited for upcoming agility trials!!!

Cleveland Cluster...

2009-12-15T10:45:00.002-06:00

It was definitely not the nicest treck to get out to Cleveland for a 4 day AKC trial, but once we were there... it was really quite a nice weekend. Lisa was showing on Thur/Fri with me so it was really fun to spend some time with her too.

Thursday: Lisa ran Dylan in Std... they had so much fun together! He had some trouble with the weaves, but they did VERY nicely. His JWW run was nice, but we missed the weaves again... Rumor, on the other hand, had some fantastic weaves this weekend! I was thrilled. His Std run was lovely, but I messed up on some handling aspects. Our JWW run was a bit messier.

Friday: I was very happy that Dylan got his last ExcA JWW Q to finish his AJP title! FINALLY! Onto ExcB... again Rumor had another couple nice runs with just a tiny mistake in each... our Std run he even got his first ExcB Q! He ended up in 2nd place... I think the class had 50+ dogs in it. I was proud of him... I think he even got 34 or 36 MACH points... his 1st MACH points ever :)

Saturay: I ran Tractor because Lisa had to fly to Boston for work... T was such a good boy! He is SUCH an honest dog... reminds me very much of Abby (aka Pants). We ended up getting a Q in ExcA Std (2nd place) and also in ExcA JWW (1st place) -- I was so happy with his performance! Always hard for a 'green' dog to run with a brand new person, but he did great. Rumor also had a couple really nice runs with just 1 or 2 mistakes in them.

Sunday: I only ran Rumor today... wanted to get out of Ohio quickly and head home. Our Std run was nice, but I rushed him from the teeter to the weaves (b/c he didn't hold the teeter I got flustered) and he missed the entrance. In JWW he was in the weaves and came out just looking around... not sure if something distracted him or what, but it was a very odd behavior on his part... the rest of his runs were wonderful!

Overall, it was a great weekend... my only regret is deciding not to do the ISC classes -- they would have been above our heads, for sure, but looked like SO MUCH FUN! I'm really looking forward to the ISC classes at Louisville -- and I'm definitely doing them no matter what... won't be talked out of it this time :)

Hounds for the Holidays

2009-12-07T07:34:00.003-06:00

1 of my favorite trials each year... Hounds for the Holidays. Unfortunately, I could only show Thursday/Friday this year because I was busy with Lucy's 30th Bday party and Ilan's wedding on Saturday night! Lots going on.

Thursday:
I was thrilled that Rumor had 2 gorgeous sets of weaves. In each run he dropped 1 bar... my fault both times. The rest of his runs were beautiful. Dylan wasn't feeling his weaves so much, but the rest of his runs were great... including fabulous contacts in Std!

Friday:
Dylan got the only Hounds Q of the weekend in JWW... he was a very good boy :)
Rumor should have gotten a Q, but I was pushing him really hard in JWW and I never slowed up going into the weaves, so he missed the entrance -- other than that, a great run!

Saturday was extremely busy... I went to Lucy's 30th Birthday party at the Racquet Club and then to Ilan's wedding at the Palmer Hotel -- both events were amazing!

A lot to do in 2 days before heading to Cleveland, OH for our last trial of the year... 4 days... but lots to do before then!

Thanksgiving weekend!

2009-12-02T10:21:00.002-06:00

I had a long, but very fun, Thanksgiving weekend!

Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) I was at Chris' house and we had dinner with his entire family at his Grandma's house. Everything was delicious and it was a pretty fun evening. It's one of the only places I feel like the quiet one in the group

Friday I went to Merrillville for a dog show. It has been quite a long time since we actually trained... Rumor was sorta a wild man. His JWW run was marginal and he launched off the dogwalk in Std so we were done... Dylan actually ran a beautiful Std run! I messed him up and caused him to drop a bar, but the rest was fantastic. As pathetic as it is... I missed his JWW run... poor boy. We left immediately from the trial to meet the fam in New Buffalo. Chris brought his quad and we all rode it on the beach -- what a blast! It was a late night, but a really fun time! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year, for sure!

Saturday, I was guilted into not going to the trial... which I *really* regretted. It was a totally wasted day AND I lost my entry fees for both dogs. Oh well, what's done is done...

Sunday I went back to the trial... only Rumor was entered. He had a very tough time in the JWW ring... he really didn't have very good traction for some reason. His Std run was very nice... he held his contacts very nicely and got a pretty difficult weave entrance... he ended up Qing and finished his AX title! :-)

busy, busy, busy!

2009-11-25T07:20:00.002-06:00

The next few weeks are going to be so busy, but I'm really excited about it... Thanksgiving it tomorrow, my favorite holiday of the year Chris and I will be at his family's house tomorrow and then we will go to New Buffalo for my family's Thanksgiving day -- should be a blast both days!

A 3 day agility this weekend in Merrillville, IN. Lisa is going to be there Saturday/Sunday -- can't wait to see Tractor run! I'm hoping Rumor finishes his AX title this weekend... he only needs 1 more Q! But, since I haven't done any training the past few weeks I can't expect too much out of him. I would like to try for a JWW Q or 2 since we still need 3 more of those. After the trial Lisa will come stay at my condo for the week... lots of sushi and fun!

Next weekend will be the 1st year I don't enter 4 days of Hounds... my favorite trial of the year. BUT, it's for 2 very good reasons! On Saturday I get to stop by Lucy's 20th Birthday Party and then head over to Ilan's wedding... both should be fantastic -- what a busy night!

The following weekend is our last trial for December... 4 days at the Cleveland Cluster. It should be fun because I'm sure a number of Rumor's littermates will be there... I know Daisy/Solar are flying in town for it too! I'm sure Linda/Wonder will be there and hopefully 1 or 2 other pups...

Off to go enjoy Thanksgiving weekend!

Agility in Iowa

2009-11-16T08:51:00.002-06:00

This weekend we went to trial in Muscatine, IA... it was the club's 1st trial and it was on dirt -- ended up being a great trial and I would definitely go again. It was nice because there was a small group of us from our area who went and we really had a lot of fun -- everyone was able to see each other's runs (since it was 1 ring) and the crowd really got into it... lots of cheering and "oooh"s and "aaah"s -- was entertaining!

Unfortunately, I had 2 downers to the weekend... Saturday Rumor took a horrible spill going over the triple in his Standard run and he was quite sore for a while. Luckily, he seemed ok on Sunday so we were able to run again. The 2nd bad incident was poor Whitney Rupp hurt her knee again, which sucks. She was having a great weekend (fun with the dogs and always entertaining!) and then she had to leave Sun morning with an injury. Hopefully, she will have a very speedy recovery!

Saturday:
Dylan wasn't feeling his weaves at all on Saturday... he had nice runs, but refusals at the weaves both runs.
Rumor had a nice Jumpers run except he didn't get the weaves... and then his Standard run was going absolutely beautifully until he had his nasty crash :(

Sunday:
I didn't help Rumor at all in JWW... I was so stuck just looking at him to make sure he was sound I didn't give him any info throughout the course. By Standard I felt more comfortable that he was fine and he had a lovely run... he got his 2nd ExcA Q!
Dylan ended up our weekend with a Q in ExcB Std -- not bad for D Dylan

DockDogs National Championship

2009-10-20T11:53:00.004-05:00

This chilly weekend was the 10th Anniversary of the DockDogs National Championship... talk about a blast!

The black dogs and I arrived Thursday evening... Lisa and I went to grab sushi before the crew was finished setting up all 4 docks. When we came home we all went out to the bar -- it was so fun to see friends from all over the country and catch up... plus, I met plenty of new friends there too.

Friday was extremely busy starting at 8am and stayed hectic until late into the evening... Dylan jumped in the Senior Big Air Qualifier (14' 10") and was in the Express Speed Retrieve Qualifier (8.325). I wasn't worried about Dylan and the cold... I was, however, worried that Rumor would have 1 good jump and that was it b/c it would be too cold for him. Luckily, I was wrong! He jumped great all weekend! Rumor had the Senior Big Air Qualifier (21' 6") and the Master Big Air Qualifier (21' 9"). He also had Turbo Speed Retrieve but I was quite the handicap for him on that Qualifier (7.281). The Luau Friday night was fun... Rumor ended up winning an award too! So that didn't hurt :)

Saturday was another busy day... Dylan improved his Senior Big Air jump (16' 1") and hit a personal best in Speed Retrieve of 7.970! That placed him in 8th, overall, so he made it into the Express Speed Retrieve Finals I was trying just the 'chase' method with Rumor in his Senior Big Air jumps and it clearly didn't work... jumped 16' 2"... so, I gave up on my horrible throwing the rest of the weekend. His Master Big Air jump was way better with a 22' 4" jump! We also improved to a 6.431 in Turbo Speed Retrieve, but that was not enough to make it into the Finals. I was just glad Rumz jumped well enough to make the Senior Big Air Finals... I knew we had a good chance there! Saturday night was the 10th Anniversary Banquet... it was a blast... everyone dressed up in formal attire and looked fantastic! It really was a great evening...

Sunday we started off the morning with the docks frozen solid and the pools had some ice in them... uh-oh... I thought that would really bother Rumor. Luckily, by the time it was the Senior Big Air Finals it had warmed up quite a bit. Rumor's 1st jump was fantastic... he busted out a personal best of 23'!!! That allowed me to breath a bit easier... going into our 2nd jump I was 2nd to last so there was a lot of pressure on the last person. Our 2nd jump wasn't as good, but we still won the division -- I was sooo proud of Rumz! Dylan didn't want to be left out so he pulled out another personal best in the Express Speed Retrieve Finals of a 7.818 to finish 4th! I was thrilled with both of them... they did awesome this weekend :)

Michigan... a weekend getaway!

2009-09-23T14:18:00.003-05:00

This weekend was filled with agility, friends and lots of playing on the beach! I was able to have Colby's house in New Buffalo for the weekend and stay there with some friends because there was an agility trial in Buchanan, MI. Friday I left after work to go up there... Kelly and Polly joined -- the dogs all had a blast playing on the beach and we had fun at the house and at Casey's for dinner.

Saturday started at the trial. Dylan had a great JWW run, but I was right in front of him so he couldn't enter the weaves (oops!)... but the rest was very nice. He was really tired for his Std run so I wasn't expecting anything. I'm very happy I decided just to enter him for 1 day this weekend, since he isn't a big fan of trialing outside. Rumor had gorgeous weaves today in all classes! His Std run was great, but we missed 1 dogwalk descrimination... other than that, he looked really nice. A whole slew of us went back to the house after the trial... did lots and lots of swimming... then out to dinner at the Stray Dog. It was a fantastic day!

Sunday was just Rumor for agility. He Qed in Exc FAST and did a very nice job. His JWW run was fantastic, but I messed him up on a part of it (awesome weave entrance tho!). In his Std run I stepped in a hole and the mis-step really hurt my tailbone (that is still not totally healed from flipping the quad) and I had a tough time recovering... but, we finished strong :) Polly, Kelly and I went back to the beach and made sure the dogs were totally pooped! Then we finished the weekend sitting on the deck and heading out to Mexican.

Overall, it was a perfect way to end the Summer :) We lucked out with the weather... had a wonderful weekend... couldn't ask for anything more!

Agility, DockDogs and friends, oh my!

2009-09-08T12:18:00.003-05:00

I haven't updated in a while, but the boys have been keeping very busy! For Labor Day weekend I thought it would be fun for Chris to compete with the black dogs at On The Waterfront event. He can only compete when he isn't working... so I decided to become DockDog Staff on Sunday and he would compete with both boys.... so, in order to keep myself entertained on Saturday, we did an agility USDAA trial :) Lots going on...

So, Friday after work I went to Rockford so that Chris could practice jumping Rumor... he had only jumped Rumz once and that was last August... they did great! He had Rumor jumping 22'+ pretty consistantly... he looked awesome.

Saturday morning the boys and I went to Crystal Lake for a USDAA trial. Dylan got to play and had a really nice Standard run... all perfect except his missed dogwalk contact... bummer! He did, however, get Qs in PI Gamblers and PI Snooker -- I was glad to get Snooker out of the way :) Rumor also did very nicely. He got Qs in Advanced Gamblers and Advanced Snooker... both were pretty good runs, too. He didn't have a great Standard run, but his Grand Prix run (had it not been for 1 refusal at the weaves) would have been clean! Not too bad since I was having a hard time running since my tailbone still hurts a lot. We went back to Rockford Saturday afternoon and watched some friends jump at DockDogs.

Sunday Chris jumped the black dogs and I worked the event. I was absolutely amazed with how well Chris and Rumor did in Speed Retrieve. Until then, my personal best with Rumor was a 6.66 seconds at a club event... and low 7 seconds at a national event. Chris' 1st time out he got a 6.3 and his second jump of the wave he got another personal best.... 6.264! AND he thinks he can really get Rumz under 6 seconds... that would be fantastic. Clearly, Chris' reaction time is WAY better than mine! He made it to the Speed Retrieve Finals... didn't perform quite as well (with a false start), but ended up 8th -- I was very proud of them both! He had nice Big Air jumps with both Dylan and Rumor... no personal bests, but they were 2 wonderful teams.

Now... onto more agility... the boys won't see dock diving again until Nationals -- can't wait for that!

Rumor OAJ :-)

2009-08-24T12:42:00.002-05:00

Little Rumz is *finally* playing with the big boys... I recall doing Open JWW in December 2008, but we finally finished the title this past weekend! Rumor was a very good boy -- besides his weave entrances, he had 4 very nice runs this weekend. Our FAST runs weren't anything to write home about, but his JWW and Std runs were quite nice. On Sunday, he would have Qed in both JWW and Std if he hit his weave entrance... so, I'm happy with his progress. Now, to fix those stinkin' weaves! :)

Dylan ran very nicely this weekend too. On Saturday, he hit 2 very difficult weave entrances! Unfortunately, he knocked 1 bar in each of those classes (1 with his tail!). Sunday he had a harder time with the weaves, but still had a blast.

Next weekend we are back at McCook with 1 of my favorite judges, Dan Butcher! Should be a great weekend -- can't wait!

AKC Agility: Crystal Lake, IL

2009-07-14T12:29:00.002-05:00

It was nice doing agility this weekend with the boys. WAG had an agility trial in Crystal Lake... unfortunately, they have new rules so parking was a complete pain in the butt if you weren't there really early.

Dylan had a fantastic weekend, when it comes to the yellow ... he nailed every contact and event *held* them! Good boy D Dylan :) The great thing was that there were also 24" weave poles... he LOVED those. It was so much easier on his body, it was amazing... he wasn't bouncing off them each time. D ended up with 1 Q in Exc A Std, but had other very nice runs. I was quite proud of him this weekend.

Rumor had some good moments this weekend. He was on restricted activity for over a week because he ripped a huge part of his front pad off and I wanted it to fully heal for the trial. So, he was a bit out of his mind our 1st standard run. His 2nd run was much better when we got a Q in Open JWW... he only needs 1 more! There were very difficult weave entrances all weekend and they never changed them between Excellent, Open and Novice, which is very tough on the baby dogs. Rumz had some nice parts throughout the weekend, but we still have a lot of holes in our training that we will continue to work on :)

The Boys are Back in Town!

2009-06-29T08:38:00.002-05:00

What a fun weekend... our 1st agility trial in over a month! It was a nice break, but definitely felt great to be back running the 2 black dogs again :)

Dylan was such a good boy all weekend. Just 1 error in each run, but he did beautifully and had so much fun. He just looks super happy. He did a fantastic job and held every single contact and I couldn't have been happier. Unfortunately, it was my fault that we messed up 1 of the runs... but it doesn't matter, he still rocked and we both had a great time.

Rumor also did really well. On Saturday he Qed in Open Std to finish his OA title. His JWW runs weren't quite as put together, but he certainly had some very nice parts. It was fun to finally play with the "big boys" on Sunday in Std. He did a nice job. We missed 1 jump (my fault) and he didn't get the weave entrance (tough entrance), but other than that I think he did very nicely. I'm still holding contacts a lot with him so our times are super fast, but I think it will be worth it down the road.

It was a weekend of MACHs! Liz/Ruby, Marty/Kit, Tammy/Lexi all got their MACHs and Jacquie/Flash were 1 bar away. It was a wonderful weekend... lots of nice runs and some great friends/fun times were had. It's good to be back

DockDogs - Dubuque, IA

2009-06-15T07:44:00.002-05:00

The boys and I headed to Dubuque this weekend for the DockDog event there... the weekend was a blast! The weather was a little suspect Saturday morning, but was very nice the rest of the weekend. Made me realize the boys and I all need to get used to the heat/humidity and get into shape!

Dylan had a very good weekend... he did a few Big Air waves and 1 Speed Retrieve wave. For Big Air, he had a jump over 17' that put him in 1st for the Amateur Finals in Big Air. In the Finals, he ended up in 2nd place by 1". I was so happy with him... another jump over 17'... what a good boy.

Rumor also had a great weekend! He had some descent Speed Retrieve times, but his 7.363 second time wasn't enough to get him into the Finals. He did, however, have a new personal best in Big Air of 22' 7" -- woohoo! Seems like the little man has finally figured out what's going on. He had a couple jumps over 20' and a couple more over 21'... but only this one over 22'. The good news is that put him in 8th place for the Pro Finals. That was Rumor's 1st time in the Pro Finals. It was very exciting, but he was definitely the underdog. He jumped just a bit over 21' and ended up in 7th place, but I was very proud of the little guy. As it turns out, the Semi-Pro Finals were much more competative and had numerous dogs jumping 22+ and Vader jumped over 24'.

Overall, it was a really fun weekend... now it's time to get back to agility :)

Ely, MN... vacation and DockDogs

2009-06-10T11:39:00.004-05:00

Chris convinced me to go to the Ely, MN event with him this year... and I'm so glad I did! Since it is 10 hours away, I wanted to make a vacation out of it... so I took my 1st *real* vacation in over 4.5 yrs!

We stayed at White Iron Beach Resort and had a blast there... we BBQed, made bonfires, went pontoon boating, played with the dogs... also saw the North American Bear Center... the International Wolf Center... and saw the Vince Shute Bear Sanctuary in Orr, MN... it was great!

DockDogs Northern Stars put on a great DockDog event in Ely... so many nice people and the event was just a blast. I was very proud of both black dogs! They both had new personal best records... I think all the swimming/conditioning they did really made a difference.

Rumor didn't start out very strong on Friday... he wasn't jumping well... I think his Speed Retrieve was over 9 seconds and his Big Air was under 15'. Dylan, on the other hand, did very nicely! He had a Speed Retrieve time under 8 seconds... and he set a new personal best (by far) in Big Air of 18' 7"! Before that, his best was 17' 11" set 2 years ago.

Saturday, Dylan had another nice day. 1 jump in Big Air over 18' and he was a bit slower in Speed Retrieve... mid/high 8 seconds. Rumor was like an entirely new dog the 2nd day. He stopped doing the "chase" for some reason... he kept stopping on the dock. So, I tried the place and send... he jumped 22'! I couldn't believe it... after that, all of his jumps were well over 20'... most over 21'. I was also thrilled with Rumor's improvement in Speed Retrieve... the little boy busted out a 6.66 and won the wave.

Sunday I pulled Dylan from the Speed Retrieve Finals because his times were getting worse and he was #8... some new friends were #9 and I wanted them to have the opportunity to play in the Finals. Rumor was #1 and so I wanted to focus on him more instead of running between the 2 dogs. Dylan was in the Senior Big Air Finals... he didn't jump all that well so he finished 6th, which was still fine by me. He had fun. Rumor won the Speed Retrieve by a couple hundredths of a seconds and and he finished up 3rd in the Masters Big Air Division... he had a jump of 21' 2". The winner had 22'... a 1st time dog... pretty impressive.

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend! I was very impessed with the DDNS club and they ran a very nice event. I'm so glad Chris talked me into taking the trip... it was well worth it and now I want to go back next year! :)

Smack Dab Agility

2009-05-28T12:24:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it's already Memorial Weekend! With a busy weekend the boys only got to play agility 1 day... they both had some very nice runs tho. The rest of the weekend they were just playing and acting like dogs!

Dylan ran very nicely in both Std and JWW... his *only* problem in each run were his weaves. Big D even hit every contact nicely and never dropped any bars. Our next goal is to get those weaves! He would have Qed in each run otherwise... oh well, he still had a blast and made me laugh -- what a happy boy.

Rumor's JWW run didn't start out on the best foot. He went into the wrong end of the tunnel at obstacle #1! The rest of the run was beautiful... oh well, sill mistakes. His Std run was very nice too. Rumor's consistent problem is the weaves as well...

We're taking almost 1 month off of agility and trials... time to act like "dogs" and play more DockDogs too! When we come back, our main focus will be the weaves... both boys have to improve in that area and it will be a *huge* step in the right direction.

Happy Memorial Day!

Let the DockDogs Season Begin!!!

2009-05-18T07:57:00.002-05:00

This was definitely a great kick-off to the DockDog season this year... I can't wait! Chicagoland DockDogs hosted an event in Berwyn this weekend and the weather was great. Dylan and Rumor both played in Big Air and in Speed Retrieve. They had a blast. It was even more fun because Chris came home from Poland this weekend so he came to hang out at the event and Dylan got to play with Chris too... he loves Chris.

Both boys had fun at Speed Retrieve. Rumor's time was around 7.7 sec and Dylan time was in the low 8s, I believe. Neither one made it to the finals as 6 of the top 8 dogs were in the 6 second range. I really think Rumor can get in the low 7s/high 6s once he practices a bit more. He has only done this 3 times now so I'm not too worried about it.

For Big Air, both boys had some nice jumps. Dylan jumped over 16' and was having a blast. Rumor had a jump over 19' that put him into the Senior Finals. In the Finals, I totally messed up his throw and his 1st jump was only 15'... his 2nd jump was much better.... 18' 8" which was good enough to win the Senior Division -- good boy Rumz!

We had a blast and our friends did really well too. Ollie won the Masters Division... Fergus was 2nd in the Masters Division. I believe Ryder also got 4th in the Novice division -- everyone did a great job!

a little AKC and a little USDAA

2009-05-11T09:55:00.003-05:00

Saturday I took both the boys to an AKC trial in Villa Park. I wasn't expecting much b/c the footing there is horrible, but I had to be around that evening for a Bday party (which worked... was a total surprise!) so I wanted to stay around the area. Dylan had a great Std run and hit all his contacts (A-Frame was close) and I was thrilled with that! He missed his weave entrance, but ran very nicely on the course. His JWW run was also awesome.. he GOT the weave entrance except the little turd ran behind me to take the wrong end of the tunnel after the weaves. What??? Since when does he cross behind me for anything? Oh well, was still a good run. Rumor had a *really* tough time with the footing. In JWW he was trying to turn and took a couple face plants :( it was sad. His Std contacts were really nice, but he couldn't collect and missed the teeter... I was ok with that, I knew he was trying, but it was just too slick for him. They were both good boys.

Sunday we went up to Franklin, WI for a USDAA trial. Rumor needed a Q under a 3rd judge to finish his Agility Dog (AD) title so he was entered in Gamblers, Standard and Pairs. He has only trained outside once and has shown outside once (last Sept) so he was a little crazy in Gamblers. We didn't get the gamble, but he was trying and at least running. Our Standard run was very nice, but I ran down a line (tunnel, tire, chute, tunnel) and Rumor missed the tire and I couldn't stop him before going into the chute... but the rest of the course was great. Very nice contacts and he was listening much better :) Our last run of the day was Pairs and we got our Q there! So, Rumor is now Rumor AD!

The most fun part of the trial was that the judge was Lianne (Lisa Baird's daughter) and I had no idea! She has known Rumor since day 1... when his name was still Forest. She didn't know I was going to be there and thought he was a very nice looking dog when I brought him to the line. I think once she heard me say his name she put it together -- I was thrilled to meet her!

Overall, a very nice Mother's Day gift for me from Mr. Rumz

Dylan OAP

2009-05-04T09:38:00.002-05:00

Dylan is FINALLY back in Excellent for both JWW and Std. We had a fun weekend in Grand Rapids this weekend... I got to run Zane along with both my boys. Dylan's Std Q was our only Q for the weekend, but lots of nice parts to runs. Poor Zaners... he would have gorgeous runs and 1 off course each time -- bummer. Rumor ran beautifully and just had a tough time with the weaves... other than that, he was great!

Rumor: more USDAA

2009-05-01T08:02:00.002-05:00

Rumor got to do his 2nd USDAA trial this weekend. I was a bit concerned b/c last weekend he ripped up his pads pretty badly, but he was looking good so I figured he would be ok to run.

Rumor had some very nice runs... on Saturday he had a long day. Starting out with Starters Jumpers -- he pulled out of the tunnel b/c I didn't wait until he was committed, but the rest of the run was nice. He did his 1st tournament class ever... Steeplechase... we had a tough time with the weaves (he still doesn't feel like hitting the entrance in trials), but the rest was very nice. Rumor got his 1st Starters Gambler Q as well as a Starters Standard Q. We ran in Grand Prix too... it was a bit over Rumor's head, but we got through the course... just wasn't super pretty :)

Sunday Rumor started the day out with a Starters Standard Q so he finished his Starters Standard title -- woohoo! We also got a Starters Pairs Q with teammate Zeke. Zeke did very nicely and Rumor/I almost NQed the team, but we saved it at the end... a Q is a Q :) We finished Sunday with a great Jumpers run! 1 dropped bar, but I didn't care... the rest of the run was really fun.

So, Rumor now has all the Qs he needs for his Agility Dog (AD) title... but we just need to get a Q under a 3rd judge. The rules online under the USDAA site says you need 3 judges to finish the AD title... so, I'm going to enter 1 day at the next USDAA trial we can find and hopefully just pull off 1 Q to finish Rumor's AD!

Rumor's USDAA Debut

2009-04-06T12:10:00.002-05:00

This weekend Rumor got to play for the 1st time in USDAA at a RACE Agility trial in Crystal Lake. Until Dylan gets a CMJ to measure him at 21" (he has 2 regular measurements at 21"), he will just be coming to hang be the entourage.

Rumor did a very nice job at his 1st USDAA trial. He had many baby dog moments, but some very nice runs as well. Saturday he had a couple weave problems, but did much better on Sunday. Out of 9 classes, he ended up with 1 Starter Standard Q, 2 Starter Snooker Qs and a Starter Jumper Q. We had some other close runs, but I was proud of him. He didn't have any issues with the smaller tire or the higher a-frame, so that was good.

It was also fun because Rumor's littermate, Ben, was there doing his debut as well. Ben is a talker just like Rumor They both ran well for baby dogs.

Fox Valley Agility Trial - St. Charles, IL

2009-03-30T09:05:00.003-05:00

It was a fun weekend for agility! Lots going on... a group of us started the weekend by having an awesome, enormous sushi dinner -- it was delic!

Saturday the boys didn't have much of a handler until the afternoon. I didn't help Rumor in Open JWW AT ALL and then I was unfair and tested him way too much on the weaves by fading a ton and that just was mean to ask of him at this point. Dylan didn't have much success with his weaves, but he did have a nice dogwalk in Std! I'll take a good contact :) Rumor also got his 1st Q in Open Standard. It's amazing how helpful it is when I actually DO tell the poor pup where to go. Alex/Grant had a beautiful JWW run and finished their OAJ!

Alex's OAJ was a great reason to celebrate so we all had pizza over at the Rupp's house... lots of dogs were there!
Abby, Alex, Remi & Trapper
Dylan & Rumor
Fergus & Ryder
Zane, Scout & Wisp
Ricochet
Neo
Pretty impressive... 13 dogs playing and everything went quite smoothly! Rumor showed everyone how much he liked watching basketball and playing Wii!

Sunday didn't have any Qs for me, but it had a lot of fun events...
MACH Abby Jo Kickass!!! Whitney/Abby had 2 fantastic runs and they earned their MACH. It was super cool because Whit's grandfather brought her the MACH bar... of course, I started to cry.
We also had a live feed of AKC Nationals... it was fun to watch the Challengers round and the Finals. Lori Sue/Lit made it into the Challengers round and Laura/Bruce made it to the Finals! Deb/Tucker also had a great run and finished 18th in the very difficult 16" class... I think she was only 5 dogs out of the Finals.

A fun weekend!

Smack Dab Agility - Naperville, IL

2009-03-02T08:33:00.005-06:00

It seems like we haven't trialed in forever! Smack Dab had an agility trial in Naperville, IL this past weekend... it was nice because everyone was there. Unfortunately, the way they had the rings/running order set up I barely got to see any friends :( Oh well, hopefully both Dylan and Rumor will be back in Excellent soon enough and we will be with everyone again so I don't miss so many runs....

Dylan sure had fun this weekend if nothing else... he really is such a happy boy running in Preferred at 16". Saturday he didn't get to do much in Standard because he blew his A-Frame contact (which was the 3rd obstacle), so he was done. His Open JWW run later in the day was nice, but he slipped once and knocked a bar... but he was enjoying himself, for sure. Sunday, he got pulled after the A-Frame again... which, sadly, was the 2nd obstacle. Poor D. His JWW run was nice, but he was being a dork at the weaves and it took him a few tries... so, no Q, but he was cruising!

Rumor was a good boy this weekend! I actually had time and made the effort to rent rings the past 2 weekends and actually work and train him. It was amazing what a difference that made... I *almost* felt like we were a team! It really is tough to only train once a week... poor little dude. But, he still had a nice weekend. On Saturday, he got a Q in Open FAST to finish his OF title. His Standard run was going well until he crashed into the side of the chute - OUCH! Poor little guy... I think it really did shake him up. I wasn't helping much in Rumor's JWW run Saturday afternoon... for some reason my back was killing me and I could barely run... with the Open course we had... running was necessary! So, we missed a jump, but Rumz has a really nice run -- I was happy with that. Sunday he didn't have a shot at the Exc FAST send... so, I tested him... he broke his stay... and he got pulled. His Standard run was really nice... I was thrilled with it... the only odd thing is that he crashed into the double. For the most part, he doesn't knock bars... let alone take out jumps. I'm not really sure what went on there, but I'm not too concerned about it. We finished the weekend off with Rumor having his 1st Open JWW Q -- woohoo! He didn't hit the weave entrance so we got 1 refusal, but the rest was nice... I was happy to end on that note :)

Agility: Manhattan, IL

2009-02-09T07:21:00.002-06:00

Another weekend of agility. It got so warm that all the ice was melting and the parking area was one large mud pit... made for a messy couple of days.

Saturday started off with Rumor's 2nd Open FAST Q. He was a good boy. That was his only Q of the weekend though. He DID start attempting the weaves on the first try though which I was thrilled about. Until recently, he has just been running by the weaves with no effort at all. Sunday he attempted the weaves, found the entrance, but then just couldn't stay in. I was happy with that effort.

Dylan only had 1 Q for the weekend... in Open Standard Preferred. After his first run, he decided that he no longer wanted to do 12 weaves... only 10... he thinks 10 is enough. We will be working on this before the Smack Dab trial! Other than that... he was a good boy... he actually never got called for a contact all weekend -- woohoo!

Agility: Kewanee, IL

2009-02-02T08:33:00.002-06:00

I love the Kewanee trial... great facility, awesome footing and so many friends always go!

Dylan was a very good boy this weekend. He got his last Novice Standard Preferred Q to finish his NAP. Actually, this weekend his contacts were amazing! Well, amazing for D Dylan anyways *wink* He never got called for 1 contact in 2 runs which, I think, is unheard of for him. He also got 2 Qs in Open JWW Preferred. He is such a happy boy jumping 16" its amazing.

Rumor also had a nice weekend. No Qs, but he had some great parts to each run. I'm very pleased with his start lines and his contacts. His weaves still need some work, but on Sunday it only took a couple tries each time, which is a step in the right direction :) At this point, I will take any improvement!

Now, back to the grind. But, we have Manhattan this weekend so at least we get to play again!

Vegas Baby... Vegas!

2009-01-26T11:05:00.003-06:00

I went to go visit Lisa in Las Vegas over the weekend and we had a blast! It was great to see her life out there since she has been to Chicago a number of times already. Friday night we went to their local hangout, Torinos, and then headed to the Chippendales for a show -- it was very entertaining!

Saturday I went to go watch Lisa do agility with Tractor and Pebbles... it was fun! Then we had an '80s themed party that night, which was fantastic -- the costumes and games were out of control and everyone really got into it!

1st Dock Dogs event of the year!

2009-01-26T10:54:00.002-06:00

Dock Dogs held their event at the Chicagoland Outdoor Show again this year. It was definitely smaller than in the past, but was still a lot of fun. I was only able to attend Wednesday and Thursday, but that was probably a blessing because the water was SO COLD and Rumor had a tough time with it... jumps were definitely shorter than usual. Dylan could have cared less... shocker :)

I was thrilled because Rumor actually successfully competed in Speed Retrieve for the 1st time! His best time was 8.345 which put him in 2nd for the wave. The waves weren't that great. I believe he did make the finals on Sunday, but I was just coming home from the airport so we didn't compete. His jumping was definitely shorter from the cold water... his longest jump was less than 16', which isn't like him. Oh well, he had fun and still did a great job.

Dylan had a blast, as usual. He could have cared less about the cold water... he just wanted to play! Dylan got to do Speed Retrieve both days... on Wednesday he had a time of 8.723 seconds... Thursday I tired him out a lot and his time was in the mid 9 second range. For Big Air he was jumping under 13', but had a blast -- what more can I ask for???

Chris, Katie and Andy were nice enough to take care of the boys while I was gone for the weekend... so Dylan and Rumor still got to enjoy the event :)

Congrats to Fergus and Ollie! They both did great in the Semi Pro division! I believe Ollie got 2nd and Fergus got 4th... awesome job. I missed their jumps, but Marley and Frankie also had a great time this weekend at the event... always a good time.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-06T06:55:00.002-06:00

2009 is going to be a great year, I can feel it...

The year started perfectly with a 3 day agility trial and Lisa came into town for a visit. It was so fun! A party at the Rupps' house... a night in the city... it was definitely tiring, but totally worth it.

Dylan did his 1st trial at Preferred so he got to run in Novice again! That was actually really fun. He seemed so happy while running at 16" it really was wonderful to see him like that... what a happy camper. He went 3 or 3 in JWW and Katie ran him on Saturday -- thanks Katie! So, he finished his NJP title right off the bat. He missed his dogwalk contact the 1st 2 days, but had a beautiful 2o/2o on the a-frame both times... on Sunday he hit all of his contacts beautifully and got a Q in Standard. I was very happy he had such a fun weekend. Good boy D Dylan!

Rumor also had some very nice moments this weekend. He had fantastic contacts and a perfect startline all weekend. I led out farther than I have in the past and he didn't budge... I was thrilled with that. He got his last FAST Q to finish his Novice FAST title and he got 1 Open FAST Q as well. Still lots of baby dog moments, but definitely high points to each run. It was fun to watch his brother, Wonder, run... he seems way more mature than Rumor does at this point... but Linda is also handling/training him! Sadly, Rumor still doesn't like Wonder :-( They were saying hello to each other and Rumz started to growl at him again... he did it last time they saw each other too... little stinker!

All in all... a great weekend. Happy 2009!!!

photo shoot

2008-12-17T01:37:00.006-06:00

Dylan and Rumor both got to have a holiday photo shoot with Kris this weekend. They both did great and I think their pics turned out very nicely... Happy Holidays! :)

Dylan portrait

Rumor portrait

Dylan's Dock Dogs Holiday pic

Rumor's Dock Dogs Holiday pic

Hounds for the Holidays

2008-12-07T20:09:00.003-06:00

What a fun weekend! Hounds for the Holidays is probably my favorite trial of the year... I went for all 4 days and so many of my friends were there... how could it not be fun? The good news is that all of my friends had some very nice runs this weekend so it was success for all of the pups involved :)

Rumor was such a good boy... I finally realized that I wasn't "handling" him and a baby dog needed more help than I was giving him... He got a Standard Q Thur, Fri and Sat in Novice to finish his NA title over the weekend. I was very proud of him for that. Our Open JWW runs weren't quite as successful, but we did end the weekend with a fabulous run and gorgeous weaves... the weaves have really been a struggle recently for Rumz. So, I could not have been happier with his weekend... his NA title and perfect weaves for his last run of the weekend. I was very proud of him.

Dylan had some nice runs this weekend too. I didn't enter him for Sunday, but he did quite nicely Thur-Sat... I was very happy with his JWW runs... 1 or 2 little mistakes in each run, but he was cruisin', happy and had much nicer weaves this weekend. In Standard we were doing some more training on the contacts so he got pulled a majority of the Standard runs, but hopefully we're making some progress there.

We had so much fun at night in the hotel... lots of Catchphrase was played and it was entertaining because all 3 judges got hooked on the game. It was a great weekend, but very exhausting and I might need some recovery time :)

Thanksgiving weekend - Merrillville, IN

2008-11-30T20:11:00.002-06:00

After all of the eating and drinking from Thanksgiving... it was time to run the boys at the AKC trial in Merrillville, IN.

Saturday: Rumor had a nice Std run where he had a beautiful startline and fantastic contacts. He kinda ran a bit chaotic through parts of the course, but he had some very nice sections and I was thrilled with the contacts. Dylan started the day off with a bang by getting a 2nd place in Exc A JWW and *finally* finishing his AXJ! How on earth has it taken so long? Anyways, he ran beautifully and I was thrilled -- good boy D Dylan! Rumor's JWW started out a bit shaky, but ended quite nicely, so I was happy with that. He is going around jumps less and is starting to read *some* lines... Dylan's Std run was great except he missed the dogwalk contact -- otherwise, I was thrilled with D's day!

Sunday: Rumor started the day in JWW... it wasn't very pretty and once I saw he was giving me NO EFFORT on the weaves, he got pulled. Dylan had a nice run in Std all except for the dogwalk and a-frame... oops! Who wants to touch the yellow anyways?!? I brilliantly almost missed Dylan's JWW run (thanks Polly!) so it wasn't all that pretty, but he was still having fun out there. Rumor's Std run was the last run of the day... his contacts, again, looked really nice... I'm pleased with those. Lots of other things we have to work on in between!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'm really looking forward to Hounds this weekend.

AKC - Manhattan, IL

2008-10-27T09:06:00.002-05:00

Whew, talk about a windy weekend!!!

It was just Rumor this weekend. He had some good moments, but it was definitely noticeable that we haven't trained much lately. Ooops.

Sat: Our FAST class started with not holding an a-frame, so I did more training than anything else. Rumor got the send, but I ended up pulling (which I shouldn't have done b/c I think we Qed) because he just wasn't working with me. Rumor's Std course had some mistakes made by me and some by him... We started well, but I pulled off a panel (twice! grrr) so he pulled off it twice too... that was definitely my fault. His a-frame was gorgeous... his teeter and dogwalk... not so much. He released himself on the teeter and he just launched off the dogwalk! Naughty boy. His 1st Open JWW run was pretty respectable. We definitely worked better together as a team.

Sun: Our FAST class was so windy I didn't want to put Rumor on any contacts. It was an easy send that we got a refusal on so we just did some jumps and left. Oh well. I pulled him from Open JWW b/c it was so windy at that point it wasn't even worth running. Rumor's Std run didn't last all that long... little man got pulled again. He wasn't staying (I should have pulled him) at the start and then he launched off the dogwalk again. That was the end of his run... stinker.

I think it's time I make sure to put some effort in and actually train -- so, I will probably go to class twice this week... both boys could use it.

Dock Dog Nationals!

2008-10-13T08:59:00.003-05:00

We had an awesome weekend in Richfield, WI at Dock Dog Nationals. The weather was amazing and we totally lucked out that it was high 70s all weekend. Whew! I was concerned Rumor wouldn't jump again once he hit cold water. I was going to pull Rumz, but then I figured since I was there with Dylan... I might as well.

Dylan had fun and played around in the water. Nothing spectacular out of him, but he doesn't know that and he just loves the game.

Rumor had a new personal best on Saturday of 19' 11"!!! I was very shocked to find out that kept him in the top 8 (7th seed) so he made it into the Senior Division Finals for Sunday. He didn't jump quite as well in the Finals, but I was still thrilled that out of 94 dogs in the Senior division, Rumor was 8th :) What a good boy.

Andy/Fergus and Kevin/Ollie both did nicely in the Masters division. Ollie was 2nd seed in the Finals and finished 2nd place in Masters. Sadly, I never got to see Kim/Murphy jump, but I did see Katie/Ryder, Katie/Fergus, Mary Beth/Frankie and Jan/Gina -- everyone did great! The Rupps (as always) had a great showing... Abby and Alex both did well in Iron Dog and Remi ripped it up with a 1st in Novice, 2nd in Junior and 2nd (I think) in Cadet EV.

Lisa flew in town for Nationals (without Tractor who has an ear infection) so it was great that she got to hang out for the weekend too!

Manhattan, IL - AKC Agility

2008-10-06T08:28:00.003-05:00

It definitely felt like Fall this weekend at the Manhattan trial. Both of the boys had some nice runs and some not-so-nice runs.

Dylan: On Saturday D got the FAST send, but we weren't very efficient getting points so we didn't get a Q in FAST. His Std run was beautiful all except for that darn A-Frame... the yellow just scares him so much. He *did* get his 2nd Exc A JWW leg and I was very surprised b.c. he normally doesn't run well at all outside. But, he had a nice run and I think the cool weather helped out a lot. Sunday wasn't quite as nice. D just wasn't feeling it so we just went in and had fun... he got to do a lot of hanging out and still enjoyed himself.

Rumor: Rumz got a 2nd in Novice FAST. He was a good kid and the send was very nice for the baby dogs. His Std run was ok, but his contacts weren't as solid as I hoped. He knocked a couple bars in JWW on Saturday, which was very unlike him, but the run was fun and happy. On Sunday Rumor had a hard time with FAST. I think I got really out of sorts once he launced off the A-Frame... that is not ok! His Std run had a very marginal A-Frame, but he had a beautiful start line... his teeter was gorgeous and he didn't hold his 2o/2o for the dogwalk, but he knew it and stopped right on the ground afterwards. Rumor got a Q in JWW to finish his Novice title! He was a good kid. I think he was the first one in his litter to do that... I'm sure that will be his last "first of the litter", but I'm ok with that :)

Now we have a couple weeks off of agility...

Glen Carbon, IL - AKC Agility

2008-09-29T12:00:00.002-05:00

This weekend I went to Glen Carbon with Mary, Polly and the kidlets for a weekend of agility. More time to work the baby dog :)

Dylan was a very good boy this weekend and we were SO CLOSE to getting 2 JWW legs. I was a horrible handler for his Fri JWW run and didn't tell him which end of the tunnel to go in... rest of the run was beautiful. Sat JWW he knocked the last bar (triple) and the rest of the run was great. Oh well... he did get an Open FAST leg on Fri... I think I confused him enough, but he finally got the send. Good boy! He wasn't feelin' Std so much this weekend, but as long as he was running and having fun, I was ok with it. He also got to room with his girlfriend, Rainey! They haven't hung out in ages and they were both very happy. She also really wanted to play with Rumor, but he would get scared anytime she would bark... it was pretty funny.

Rumor ran nicely on Fri, but no Qs for the kidlet. His contacts were pretty good in Std and we worked them again in FAST. Sat Rumor got his 1st JWW Q! He has started having a little trouble with the weaves... seems like he's SO EXCITED to be playing he can't take the time to slow down and weave... we will work on that. He tried killing himself in Std... his a-frame and tire were not pretty... so that is still a work in progress. Sun he got his 2nd JWW Q... he was a good kid. Some parts of courses come together nicely, but then other parts are still a bit chaotic. His Std on Sun didn't last long since he got pulled... didn't hold his a-frame and flying off the dogwalk... not allowed. But, overall, he did a nice job for a long weekend of trialing.

So much fun in Michigan...

2008-09-22T13:45:00.006-05:00

This was a really great weekend in Michigan... so much to do, so little time. At least the weather cooperated!

The boys and I had an AKC Agility trial in Buchanan, MI this weekend. It was outdoors so I knew Dylan wouldn't be all that thrilled, but I wanted a small trial with FAST (just to have an extra class) for the baby dog. Kelly and Mary were there too so we hung out most of the time and had a blast. Barb was there and Chris even made the trip to come hang over his 1 weekend off.

Dylan had some "no effort" runs and a couple pretty nice runs... I never expect too much from him outside when it's warm. As long as he is a happy boy and enjoys being there, that's all I ask of him. I was happy we did have a nice set of weaves in Std even with all the distracting smells out there .

I was very pleased with Rumor for the weekend. He had some really nice parts to every one of his runs. His stays were (for the most part) very good... his contacts were nice... he had some lovely weaves and I think he was getting the hang of things a bit more. No complaints from me... *I* could have handled a few areas better... but he was a very good pup.

The most fun part of the weekend was going to hang out at Colby's house in New Buffalo, MI. Saturday, we had 9 dogs playing on the beach! Everyone was getting along and when Dylan was bothing anyone too much... they politely told him to stop. Chris did a great job of tiring all the dogs out in the water. We all had a great time! Topped the evening off with a dinner at The Stray Dog. Sunday, Kelly and I took the "big dogs" back to the beach and then to an early dinner at Redamak's.

One of the most fun trial weekends I can remember... it really felt like a vacation :)

AKC Agility - Grand Rapids, MI

2008-09-15T10:43:00.002-05:00

This weekend was my first agility trial since June... Dylan was so happy to be back! His 1st run was Std and he had a very nice run. He got his 3rd Q in Exc A (and a 1st place) to finish his AX title. His JWW run on Sat was great except for 1 dropped bar. I was pleased he came back so strong after only seeing equipment a couple of times. Sunday wasn't quite as successful, but he still ran very nicely all weekend. I think this was his 1st time ever getting all 4 weaves this weekend... those were flawless! Definitely a tough feat for D-Dylan.

This was also a very big weekend b/c Rumor turned 15 months old and was able to play AKC Agility for the 1st time ever! I was so excited to bring him out.

JWW: He had a very nice stay and I led out just past the 1st jump (no need to go any farther). His jump, tunnel, jump, weaves were fantastic! He attempted to collect (still went wide) before the weaves... hit the entrance perfectly! I was thrilled right there. After that he ran a little crazy and ran around some jumps, but at least he was hustling and playing with me (for the most part) -- all in all, I was pleased with that for his first run.

Std: His stay was less than ideal... but tire, weaves, a-frame... he missed weave entrance, but got it on the 2nd attempt... his a-frame (2o/2o) was great! I don't think he was focused enough on the teeter as someone had a lovely flyoff! Oooops. He didn't read a leadout push I was playing with from the table... in fact, I think he wanted to take out my knees. But, we ended with a very nice 2o/2o on the Dogwalk. I was really interested in seeing his contacts and, overall, I was very pleased with those!

Next weekend is outside... that should be interesting. I'm excited to play with him again!

On The Waterfront - Rockford, IL

2008-09-02T09:21:00.003-05:00

We had a great Labor Day weekend playing at Dock Dogs in Rockford.

Dylan was *so* excited b/c he finally got to come play again! After 8 weeks off of work, I entered D in 1 Big Air wave on Sat (he didn't put up any amazing numbers, but he had a blast!) and in Speed Retrieve on Sun. He was in the 8 sec range for SR, which is descent for him considering he hasn't done squat and has lost tons of muscle. He was just such a happy boy, I'm glad he was able to play.

Rumor did 4 Big Air waves throughout the weekend... no new personal bests, but he had some nice jumps in the 16 and 17' range... and Sun he jumped over 18'. I was very happy with his performance and he had tons of fun.

There was a great turnout... 3 dogs from Las Vegas came (Lisa, I'm so glad you guys made the trip!) and all did really well in BA, EV and SR. Rumor jumped himself out of the Amateur Finals on Sunday with a jump over 18', but I was fine with that... happy he ended with a good jump :)

Overall, I had an awesome weekend and am struggling a bit this morning at work... want to go play with the boys again! Unfortunately, that was our last Dock Dogs event until Nationals in October. Now it's going to be all agility all the time

Dock Dogs - Eau Claire, WI

2008-08-20T16:53:00.004-05:00

Rumor got to play at another Dock Dogs event alone while Dylan is finishing up his "time off"... the good news is that Dylan finally got the "ok" to start swimming!

We went to Eau Claire, WI for our wonderful weekend of fun with friends. Sadly, Katie/Andy and Whitney/Grant weren't there, but the boys and I had a great time with our WI friends and everyone else at the event.

Rumor started out with a bang and in his first wave he had a new personal best of 19' 3"!!! Wooohoo He was jumping a lot of 16' and 17' jumps for Friday and Saturday... on Sunday he slipped on the dock in the morning and his jumps definitely weren't so great in the afternoon. Rumor did get into his 1st ever National Finals... he was 8th in the Semi Pro Finals. So, for my little baby boy who was barely jumping off the dock at the last event, I was thrilled.

Dylan had a wonderful time of swimming laps around the pool during open dock... D couldn't have been happier just to be playing again!

We are really looking forward to Rockford in 2 weeks... all of our friends will be there... old and new! Fergus/Ryder, Abby/Alex/Remi, Ollie, Marley and a new friend Tractor coming from Las Vegas! It should be a fantastic event.

Dock Dogs - DuPage County Fair - Dylan, Happy 4th Birthday!

2008-07-29T18:55:00.005-05:00

*** Happy 4th Birthday Big D! ***

Unfortunately, Dylan still isn't allowed to do much activity. He can't play agility *or* go dock diving. And the worst part about it was Dylan turned 4 this weekend and he had to sit through Rumor playing while he hung out and just got love from all of his buddies. He has been such a good sport and I feel so badly for him. I go back to Integrative next week so I'm *really* hoping that Dr. Mayer says he can at least swim and start doing a bit of exercise.

Rumor had a great time at Dock Dogs this weekend and I think he's starting to get the hang of this jumping business Most of his jumps were significantly better than last time because he didn't stop on the end and hesitate so much. There was still some slowing down and a couple times stopping, but it was much improved. He even set a new personal best of 13' 7"! :)

Overall, it was a great weekend with friends... Fergus/Andy won the Semi-Pro Finals and Ollie/Kevin won the whole event in the Pro Finals! It really was a lot of fun.

Dock Dogs - Dubuque, IA... Happy 1st Birthday, Rumor!

2008-06-16T14:50:00.004-05:00

A very big weekend for both of the boys... Rumor turned 1 on Saturday, June 14th AND he had his 1st Dock Dogs event! Dylan was kept very busy this weekend too... the Agility Lab Specialty on Friday... Dock Dogs on Saturday... New Buffalo, MI on Sunday. The boys were pooped by the end of the weekend!

Dylan had fun at the Dubuque event... he had a couple waves on Saturday b/c he seemed a bit sore and I didn't want to push it. He got even more sore swimming in MI on Sunday, so he has a bit more time off. Hope the poor boy recovers soon!

Rumor had a very busy weekend... I was so thrilled that he jumped in all 3 of his waves! He got 2 Novice jumps - both at 8' 8". His last jump was a Junior jump at 11' 3"... yea Rumz! It's very nice to actually have a "stay" on the dock ... now why can't he do that at the startline in agility?!?!

Smack Dab - Naperville, IL

2008-05-27T11:45:00.009-05:00

Dylan had a very fun, busy Memorial weedend! We started out at a trial in Naperville... brand new facility and it was great. Dylan had a couple nice runs on Saturday, but no Qs... Sunday he was close in JWW and *finally* got an Exc A Std Q just as it started pouring out and we were already late to leave for New Buffalo, MI! Maybe I was in such a rush Dylan figured he had to be a good boy . So, we just need 1 more Std Q for an AX...

After the Agility Trial, the boys and I headed to New Buffalo, MI and they had a chance to play on the beach!

Dock Dogs - Berwyn, IL

2008-05-21T08:09:00.006-05:00

I had my whole weekend planned to go to the Suzanne Clothier seminar at For Your Canine... I started out well . I went to the seminar on Thursday and it was very good. Friday I went to help Chicagoland Dock Dogs set up their event in Berwyn... and I was starting to feel the dock diving itch. I figured that Dylan would much rather be dock diving than sitting at a seminar, so I gave him to Chris, Katie and Andy for the day... Chris and Katie both jumped D in waves on Saturday and he did great! I left the seminar and went to go watch my boy :)

Not only did Dylan get to play in the water... Rumor was enticed enough to jump/fall in on his own! I think he went in 4 times the entire weekend. Rumor *loves* the Dokken Ducks... odd, my Lab is scared of the duck and my Border Collie loves to "kill the bird!".

Overall, the weekend was a blast. Dylan had his personal best for Speed Retrieve and made it into the finals... he finished in 5th place with most of his times in the 8 second range.

I'm glad I decided to spend the day outside playing with my boys and friends - it was a great weekend!

WT Tryouts & Foundation Seminar

2008-05-08T11:04:00.003-05:00

The boys had a busy weekend!

I took them up to watch World Team Tryouts... my 2nd year going to watch... the level of competition there is absolutely amazing. Kelly/Preacher had an awesome weekend - Preach couldn't have looked better. It was a wonderful way for them to end and it was a pleasure to watch! It was also fun to watch Linda/Super make the World Team... 1st spot!

I went to Linda's Foundation Seminar, which was held at Ann Braue's facility in WI. I haven't ever attended one of Linda's camps/seminars, so it was a great way to start. Mary and I had some time to kill on Monday so we went to the Leinenkugel's brewery, which was fun. Anyways, the seminar was a very detailed explanation of Linda's Clean Run articles and parts of her book. I never knew how to train jumping with Dylan... but you better believe Rumor is going to be a good jumper!

Paw Power Blues AKC Trial

2008-04-21T11:55:00.004-05:00

Paw Powers had their trial in Merrillville, IN this weekend (April 19-20). It was a very fun trial with so many friends there... but we did miss Katie, Andy and the boys this weekend. But, I kept pretty busy with Mary, Polly, Whitney/Grant, Barb, Steve and Marie most of the weekend.

Mary and I stayed at the Red Roof Inn and it was great.... Dylan/Rumor, Abby/Alex/Remi, Zane/Wisp and Tilt/Paige all did lots of swimming at a pond behind the hotel -- they had fun .

Dylan had his ups and downs this weekend... our first Std run wasn't so fabulous... blown contacts and he ran behind me to do an off course... not typical. The rest of his runs were greatly improved and I was most excited about the fact that he had 3 of 4 beautiful sets of weaves this weekend! That is certainly a new record for us :)

Our 1st USDAA Trial

2008-04-15T10:20:00.002-05:00

Dylan and I got to compete in our first USDAA trial this weekend. It was a long, but really fun time. It took a while for me to understand some of the rules, but Dylan had a nice Standard (22") run and if his mom understood Snooker... that would have been a better run too. We also got to run on a pairs team with Mary/Zane which was great! Both boys did beautifully...

There were so many friends at this trial all in Starters so we got to hang out in the same ring and watch tons of runs. I haven't seen so many of my friends' runs in ages. There was no stress and we just enjoyed ourselves all day.... over 13 hrs that we were there on Sat... but still fun :)

Rumor got to see lots of family members! He played with Sonic for quite a while and I was *very* pleased to see that Sonic wasn't all that much taller than Rumor. Susan and Jen Crank both said that he didn't fill out until relatively recently... so there's still home for Rums! Rumor also got to see Wonder... I was happy that he didn't look out of place or way smaller when he was with both Wonder and Sonic. He's a very handsome boy in my bias opinion :)

It was great to see some beautiful runs over the weekend. USDAA definitely has some better handlers. As always, it was a pleasure watching Linda with Stellar and Super. Preacher also kicked butt and got a Super Q and 1 Gambler... now he just needs 1 more Gamble for his ADCH! Hopefully next weekend :)

So much to do, so little time...

2008-03-25T07:58:00.003-05:00

I have been a horrible mom about updating the fun events that Dylan & Rumor have been doing!

Since my last post, Dylan has participated in 2 DockDog events... 1 at Rosemont where he took 4th in the Ameteur Finals and 1 in the Wisconsin Dells. He also got to do Speed Retrieve at both events and his times definitely improved! Rumor even *tried* to participate in the Dells... he and 2 other pups (1 was his friend, Ryder) did a little swimming in the pool, but no jumping. Still, the pups had a blast!

Dylan has done a couple of agility trials, but no real agility practice... so things didn't go so smoothly. He has been injured on and off, but we are definitely on the road to recovery!

Dylan also got to play in Madison at a flyball tournament, which was great! And then both Dylan and Rumor enjoyed the beach at New Buffalo, MI and played with my nephews :)

Overall, it has been a very quiet time since the start of 2008, but things will be picking up and getting busy very soon.

Happy 2008!

2008-01-09T10:48:00.001-06:00

I haven't written in a while so I figured it was time to give a quick update on the boys...

Dylan
Unfortunately, D hurt himself over the New Year's trial @ McCook so he has been doing lots of resting and making many trips to Integrative for rehab. He was taking full advantage of mom feeling sorry for him... he's such a funny boy.

Rumor
Since Dylan has been hurt, I'm trying to do a bit more work with Rumor. He got to attend his 1st agility class Monday night at Kelly's and he was a rock star! I could not have been more pleased with him. Katie was also nice enough to take some pics of Rumor Sunday afternoon.

Overall, the boys have been fantastic. Rumor is finally starting to look like a dog instead of a puppy and he's growing into a very handsome man. Hopefully, Dylan will be healthy enough to do Dock Diving at Rosemont in a couple of weeks. Keep your fingers crossed!

Rumor is 6 months old!

2007-12-14T07:37:00.000-06:00

Happy 6 month birthday!
height: just under 19"
weight: 25.5 lbs.

Let it Snow!

2007-12-05T13:39:00.000-06:00

Rumor has finally been introduced to his first real snowfall! We have had frost in Chicago and have had some light snow dustings, but last night was the first real snow and there were 3-4" (I would guess) on the ground this morning... and more is expected throughout the day today.

I have to say, Rumor and Dylan LOVED it!!! I was so sad I didn't have my camera, but it's hard to think straight at 4:30 am. Both boys were running around with a case of the "zoomies", throwing noses in the snow, pouncing on blowing snow... it was very funny and a wonderful way to wake up :)

Rumor meets brother, Ben

2007-11-28T12:10:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-28T11:57:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-20T09:57:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-14T07:22:00.000-06:00

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

2007-11-12T10:47:00.001-06:00

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

2007-11-08T07:36:00.000-06:00

Height: 17.5"
Weight: 21.5 lbs.

CPE - workin' contacts...

2007-11-05T14:04:00.000-06:00

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

finally... 2o/2o

2007-10-29T12:38:00.001-05:00

Okay, it has been forever since Dylan has had nice contacts at a trial... this weekend at Manhattan, he had gorgeous contacts in Std all weekend -- woohoo! This has been killing us lately and both of his Standard runs were gorgeous. He got a 1st place on Sun... he should have Qed on Sat, but mom didn't tell him where to go so we got 1 refusal -- ooops. He was a good boy. JWW on Sun was nice... he was running beautifully and got all the technical stuff -- he dropped the triple which was giving many dogs a hard time... so I don't care. Sat his JWW run was bad, but 3 of 4 good runs... I'll take that!

Rumor - 19 weeks

2007-10-25T06:58:00.001-05:00

It looks like Rumor hasn't done much growing the past couple of weeks.... so I'm expecting a growth spirt in the near future.

Today he was 20 lbs and about 16 or 16.5" tall.

He has been such a good puppy.... last night we played agility a little bit.... we did some 2o/2o work, ran through a few tunnels and ran over a low a-frame... it was fun!

4 months old - over 17 weeks

2007-10-15T07:16:00.001-05:00

Rumor is right around 16" tall... it's tough to get an accurate measurement from him. He also weighs about 19 lbs.

1st time swimming!

2007-10-05T07:37:00.000-05:00

Rumor is 16 weeks old today! He is over 15" tall and 17 lbs. We have been e-mailing on the Super Natural chat to compare pups. Solar (Daisy's pup) seems to be pretty comparable to Rumor in terms of weight and size. Wonder (Linda's pup) and Phantom are about an inch taller and definitely weigh more. It sounds like Trudy is pretty small, but she is also not a large female.
I took Dylan and Rumor to the beach today! It was the 2nd time Rumor has ever been to the beach... and he actual went in and started swimming. I wore shorts this time so I could wade into the water - last time he didn't really go in at all... but he was swimming up a storm and running all around in the water last night.
This is about as "stacked" as he gets... he won't stand still when I try to stack him on my own. Unfortunately, the ground is sloping so it isn't really the best place to try and look at his structure... oh well, soon enough we will learn "stand" :)

Dylan has been SUCH a good/tolerant big brother. Sometimes I wish he would correct Rumor a bit... but maybe that will come with age. Dylan is *so* gentle when they play together... he is way better than I ever thought he would be.

Rumor has been doing a tiny bit of agility... we are going to have a fantastic start line if it kills me - we have been playing the "ready game" and he is getting very good at it! He also started to do an automatic down on a table that I put on the ground. He loves tunnels and has run over a very low A-Frame a few times.... he is a happy boy and really likes to play this game already :)

Rumor - 15 weeks old

2007-09-27T12:04:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that Rumor is already 15 weeks old... what a big boy! This morning he weighed 15.5 lbs and was just under 15.5"! I was pleased with that... I was looking at Shock's site... ash was 15.5" and 18.5 lbs at this age. Hmmm.... maybe I need to fatten little Rumor up a bit.

I have been a horrible mommy with the beach this summer... poor Dylan has barely had the opportunity to swim. So, last night, Dylan got to go to the beach and Rumor had his 1st beach outing ever. He loved running around on the sand and herding/cheering Dylan on while retrieving the ball. He went in the water once, but never fully swam. I'm ok with that... I don't need to push the issue quite yet. They both had a blast and were pooped.

Tonight the guys have a dull night. I'm having friends over for the Grey's Anatomy premiere so D and Rum will each get a marrow bone and have to hang in their crates.

2007-09-19T11:50:00.000-05:00

back to the grind...

2007-09-18T12:21:00.000-05:00

So, I have decided that I would much rather hang out and play with my boys than be at work 99% of the time... I miss them.

Dylan and I definitely struggled this weekend in Grand Rapids, MI. It seems like the wheels kinda fell off all over the place... which was a bit frustrating. We're skipping class tonight just to get back into the right frame of mind... our private on Thur will be very good. Rumor got to play with lots of dogs in MI... he and Zane were very cute Fri night. Rainey wanted to play with him on Sat, but her play bark was scaring him a bit... he *so* wanted to play, but seemed a bit hesitant. Rumor also got to play with Jim Payne's Sheltie pup... they had fun together.

This morning, Rumor weighs 15 lbs.

Daisy put up an adorable video of Solar riding a skateboard! It is *very* cute!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8ZhDf6OHUw

Shoot, now I need to think of some clever tricks... this roll over and shake business just isn't cutting it :)

Rumor - 3 months old

2007-09-14T07:42:00.001-05:00

Rumor's stats on his 3 months old Bday...
Weight: 13.5 lbs
Height: ~ 14"

I think he is pretty much in line with his male siblings... Wonder is 14" and 15 lbs... Rumor and Solar were both 13 lbs as of last week... I would imagine they're still similar.

D in a box!

2007-09-12T14:05:00.000-05:00

This past weekend I was helping Kelly at Phyllis' camp... it turned out to be a pretty fun weekend, besides all the bugs. Dylan, Rumor and I got to stay in Phyllis' RV, which was pretty fun.

Big D was *so* good last night in class. The course was really tough b/c of USDAA Regionals this weekend in MI. Dylan did not knock a single bar all night long! He was jumping like a rock star... he also didn't miss one weave entrance and had very nice contacts. That was probably our best class/runs in quite a while... he was fantastic!

I have a feeling the cool weather had something to do with it -- he is a fan of chilly weather :)

I'm getting excited to go to the Grand Rapids, MI trial this weekend... Polly and Mary are both going to be there -- it should be a fun trial! Hopefully, we can get at least a Q or 2...

12 week pupdate

2007-09-06T12:42:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that Rumor is 12 weeks old today! He has been such a fun puppy. As of this morning, he weighs 13 lbs (before breakfast) and he is looking pretty lanky at the moment. His legs/tail/snout are all pretty long looking.... I will say, he is quite handsome.

We went to Windy City for the first time last night... the power was out for part of our training time b/c of the huge rain, but I was still able to work the boys. Dylan got to work on weaves and his teeter mostly... we also did a few jump exercises... with D, I never forget about our jump work.

Rumor and I practiced "chase the momma" as well as our stays. His stays have become much improved... so have his sits/downs... he's such a good boy. We put more distance to our stays and he was holding them! We also learned what the table was and did a few really fun tunnels. I had Rumor go over a low A-frame 2x and I briefly introduced him to the "bottom" of a dogwalk. Basically, it was a great time for us to run around and get some energy out :) So, that's what we did!

Rumor and sister, Shock!

2007-09-04T11:49:00.001-05:00

I took Rumor to the Manhattan trial to have Sherry help tape his ear (since it was my first time, I didn't want to mess anything up...) -- it was definitely easier than I expected. Since we were there, Rumor and Shock got to play for a bit... he definitely remembered her :)

Blacksheep Squadron

2007-09-04T11:45:00.000-05:00

Dylan got to race in a flyball tournament on Sunday... he was a *very* good boy... he was the start dog for all of the races. He was running every run under 5 seconds... I think his best was 4.6 and he was pretty consistent around there. Our best starting time of the day was 0.02... he was being fantastic. We were in a good division where we whooped a couple teams, but were *really* tight with another team.... all of our races were won within about half a second, so that was really fun, competitive racing...

In the end, we pulled ahead and won our division! The line-up was Dylan, Sweep, Sydney/Jez (they switched) and Milo was the end dog -- everyone had a really nice day of racing.

On The Waterfront... DockDogs

2007-09-04T10:57:00.000-05:00

I took the boys to a dock diving event in Rockford, IL on Saturday... I knew it was going to be fun b/c it was a perfect day and we were there with Katie, Andy, Fergus & Ryder... we basically spent the entire day cocktailing and having the dogs compete in their waves -- it was a blast.

Dylan was jumping well, but not as well as he did at the last event... I'm not sure what the reason was, but it was still fun and he was having a bast. We ended up with all Senior jumps (for his title) and got 2 3rds and a 2nd place. He had an awesome day and so did mom :)

Rumor was a bit overwhelmed at first with all of the people and loud music. We played and tugged until he got more comfortable... then he was just fine and most definitely enjoyed the rest of his day. He also got to meet plenty of children and he did quite well with all of them.

11 week old puppy updates

2007-08-30T13:24:00.000-05:00

Rumor has been getting along really well with Dylan -- it is very cute. They play tug sometimes and he is very good at checking in with me even if he is playing with Dylan... I like that! I have been dremmeling his nails and I was actually able to do all 4 paws last night. It was a fight for a little bit, then he just gave up and let mom give him a pedicure :)

At 11 weeks, Rumor now weighs about 12 lbs. I tried to measure his height the other day.... didn't work... I was guessing he was about 12", but who knows... his little body wanted no part of standing still for me. It is amazing to me that Rumor has pretty much doubled in weight since I got him... He came home and was about 6 or 6 1/2 lbs... now he is 12!

Rumor is a bit awkward looking, at the moment. His legs have grown quite a bit and his tail is super long. Yesterday, it looks like his snout/muzzle got much longer.... more like an adult face vs. a puppy face. He has 1 ear that is totally pricked now... the other ear is still a hound ear... I'm going to have to fix that. I would be very pleased with 2 pricked ears... but we might have to manually help him with that one.

He is *very* proud of his "down" and "roll over"... Rumor is also getting the hang of "sit", "heel", "crate", "come", "here", "get it" and we are working on our heeling a bit and starting to learn "stay". He has very nice eye contact when we're working with food :) Overall, his attention is good and I'm pleased with his progress. I feel no need to rush into training with him... last night someone was asking me about it and why I wasn't doing more agility with him -- I looked at her like she had 3 heads... the pup is *only* 11 weeks old... we will have plenty of time to play on the equipment.

Thus far, Rumor has been an awesome puppy and I couldn't be happier with him. He is a very funny boy with a great personality and he makes me laugh all the time -- I love having him around.

McCook trial & Rumor's new hobby

2007-08-27T07:45:00.000-05:00

Dylan & Rumor had a wonderful weekend at the Blitzen trial in McCook, IL. It's a brand new facility and absolutely fabulous! Dylan was a pretty good boy... had 2 great JWW runs, but his Std runs had something to be desired. I was very pleased with his JWW runs... so I will focus on those :)

Rumor got a chance to play with his half sister, Shock! She loved to smother him :) Actually, it was fantastic... she would play nicely with him and then if she had too much, she would let him know... or at any time he was inappropriate... she told him. He *needs* that. Rumor also got a chance to be with Ransom... she was also very good with him... told him not to overstep any boundaries -- that was very good for him. Rumor played with his buddy Ryder and another golden pup, Ernie. He was being good with them until he got a bit aggressive -- once I heard the big growls... he had to take a little time out.

Rumor's new enjoyment is sitting at 1 of the windows at my condo and watching the cars go by... it really is very funny. I have a number of floor to ceiling windows so he has a variety of spots where he can watch his cars in motion.

almost 10 weeks old

2007-08-22T14:11:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that Rumor will be 10 weeks old tomorrow! He has been so much fun so far and I'm quite impressed with how well he and Dylan are getting along... that is sorta an added bonus :)

I have been doing very basic stuff with Rumor, in terms of training. We have worked on learning his name, sit, down, come and lots of attention games. I swear to god, on Monday he didn't even look like my puppy -- it looked like his legs grew about 1/2 an inch in 1 day! Very odd.... he also looked like a much fatter puppy than the day before.... my, how they change. I have been playing tug quite a bit with him and working on recalls.... mostly, just basic obedience stuff. Rumor has been introduced to the tunnel, a VERY low a-frame and teeter.... he could have cared less about all of them.... he was just happy it was his turn to play! He is also very good about sitting/waiting for his food while I'm making breakfast/dinner... and when he wants to come out of the crate... it takes him a second, but then he remembers he has to sit nicely before he can come out to play.

His right ear is starting to stick up a bit now.... looking like it will be tipped, at the moment, but still too early to tell for sure. I haven't seen his left one up yet, but his right one will stick up a fair amount now -- very cute.

Right now, I couldn't be enjoying "puppyhood" anymore... Rumor has been fantastic! Most of all, I'm very excited that he's a good sleeper :) It seems that my alarm clock is what wakes him up every morning... which is much better than him choosing when we get up

Air & Water Show

2007-08-21T08:04:00.000-05:00

The Air & Water show was a huge success.... when it wasn't pouring.

Both Dylan and Rumor did *very* well with the guests that I had over as well as the noises from the plane. Both of them could have cared less, which was fantastic. They got to meet Fergus' little brother, Ryder! He is such a cutie and so much bigger than Rumor (only 2 weeks older)... Ryder's legs and eye lashes go on forever Rumor thought it was fun to play with Ryder for a chunk of the day... then, when more people came over for the party -- they both got crated.

Dylan really likes his new little brother. He brings toys to Rumor periodically and he will even go lay by Rumor from time to time... it's really cute. The good thing is that Rumor will continue to keep checking in with me... and mommy still comes first. If they play, I make sure we play and have more fun :)

Unfortunately, it rained most of the weekend and the poor dogs *think* we are living in a rain forest.... poor Rumor looks like a drowned rat most of the time when we're outside. At least Dylan looks normal when he's wet... doesn't have the puffy puppy fur :)

weekend in the burbs

2007-08-13T08:25:00.000-05:00

Dylan, Rumor & I were up in Lake Forest this weekend at my parents' house because we were throwing an engagement party for a family friend. Dylan loves going up there.... they have a fantastic backyard and he gets to go to Open Lands, which is a forest preserve that backs up to their property... Rumor was thrilled to be introduced to all of this.

Rumor attended his first USDAA trial... I figured it was the perfect opportunity to get a taste of the atmosphere, noise, energy, etc. It was an indoor trial and way fewer dogs than the AKC trials around here... so it wouldn't be quite so overwhelming. He was such a good boy the entire day! He was a bit taken aback when we first walked in the building with all the noise, etc... but it didn't take him long to get into the swing of things. Every time he was in his crate he was quiet as a mouse and napping most of the time. He got lots of rewards for being so good in there We walked around a lot and played tug, worked on focus and slowly kept moving closer and closer to the rings. He would continue tugging with me even when we were about 20 ft away from the rings! He was a very good boy. Nothing seemed to overwhelm him at all and he didn't seem stressed, which I was happy about.

Unfortunately, my mom's dog, Duffy, is not really a big fan of the new puppy. Duffy is 8 yrs old and I think he is over all the energy of new pups. When I first got Dylan, they were friends until Dylan was larger than Duffs.... now they just do their own thing. I hope Duffy gets over this b/c he's living with me until Friday... so, as of now, he has been hiding/sleeping in my closet away from Rumor... pathetic.

Dylan always loves weekends up north. We get to play lots of ball and he's happy to just hang around the house. My dad was very impressed with how well Dylan and Rumor got along. Dylan lays down to play with Rumor a lot of the time so they are on a similar level... it's quite cute.

8 week old puppies

2007-08-09T12:06:00.001-05:00

I can't believe the Stellar/Neat pups are all 8 weeks old today! Happy Birthday!

Summer in Chi-town

2007-08-08T09:48:00.000-05:00

It is so hot and humid out... both Dylan and Rumor have a tough time dealing with the heat/humidity. Poor kids don't want to be out long. At class last night, I was jumping D at 16" just to help him get around the course b/c it was *so* humid at the barn. Rumor made his first appearance at the barn (with many more to come) and, of course, everyone thought he was adorable :) He was a *very* good puppy and didn't make a peep while he was in his crate. So far, Rumor has been fantastic to have around and he is getting into the swing of things nicely. He cracks me up when we come into the lobby of my building (that is just pumping with a/c) he always starts to go crazy and run around - it's hilarious. I think he's showing his preference for the cold air vs. the awful heat.

Rumor and Dylan are getting along quite nicely. Dylan has had his "get away from me" moments, but he is being very appropriate with the puppy... which I'm very happy about. Abby & Lucy both came to see both the pups yesterday and they loved Rumor, of course :) Overall, I think Dylan is handling the new little brother very well.

Out of all the comfy places in my condo... Rumor has decided *this* is where he likes to nap most:

Welcome Home, Rumor!

2007-08-04T12:19:00.000-05:00

Dylan and I made the trip to Mt. Gilead, OH yesterday to go get our new family member, Rumor! It was so fun to see 6 of the 8 pups at Linda's playing together... they are SO adorable! Field's new owner took him home while I was there - Linda gave me the opportunity to choose which pup I wanted between Forest, Stone and Meadow. They are all so fantastic and so great... a *very* tough decision.... but, in the end, I had to bring Forest home as my new baby boy. He has been my favorite since day one and he is such a love bug! I knew I would have been happy with any pup I took home, but I have a feeling Forest (now "Rumor") and I will become a good team.

Rumor was in a crate in my car next to Dylan for the whole ride.... I think Dylan was wondering who the little midget was... he's a bit confused about the whole situation. Rumor whined for about 20 or 30 min. after we left Linda's and then he passed out! What a fantastic traveler. I stopped periodically to let the boys potty and then he would whine for another 5 min before going back to sleep. I was quite pleased with our trip home... it went much better than I expected.

On the way home we stopped at Kelly's house so she could see my new kid -- she loves him! Rumor met Kelly along with 2 others... and we introduced him to 3 of her 5 dogs in a 1-on-1 basis... he was adjusting very well. We were there for about 5 hrs... Rumor would play, nap, potty, play, potty, nap and potty :) I figured that was quite a day for the little guy... so we went home and went directly to bed. Rumor cried for a bit, but then seemed to settle in... we got about 5 1/2 hrs of sleep before he started whining again -- so we went out, he pottied and we went back to bed after a little play session... it was fantastic!

Rumor has done well in the elevators as well as meeting 5 new 4-legged friends this morning... plus a little kid... so, he seems tuckered out right now and is taking a nap... Dylan and I had our time together outside without the new little creature :)

I could not be more pleased with my new little boy - I'm very excited for our future together!

Dylan cracks me up

2007-08-01T10:52:00.000-05:00

Last night in class I think Dylan drank some serious energizer drinks - he was hilarious. Jumping around like a crazy man, barking, running... he was a very happy boy who just couldn't get enough agility or playtime. The past 2 weeks he is like a totally new dog (in class) where he has really cranked up his speed a lot and is flying (for him) around the courses.... I even have to run fast in order to keep up :) Now, I just need him to carry that speed into the ring... for some reason, he's still a bit slow at trials - in time, I know we will get it all together...

Pupdate

2007-07-30T09:29:00.000-05:00

I'm very excited to go pick up Rumor this Friday! I can't wait. I believe the pups are now at Linda's so she can spend some more time with all of them, individually.

Cliff has actually gone to his new home... and his new name is Phantom - fits perfectly since he looks like he's from Phantom of the Opera. Field and Brook have been promised to homes and Linda is keeping River.