Jimmy's first OB class!

Today I took Jimmy to class with his mom. He mostly waited patiently (chewing on a tendon) but something caught his eye.

Here is Jimmy watching the 'big' dogs fetch the dumbbell.

He was not afraid of any of the dogs and they were mostly really big. But then he has already done obedience (in utero) and both his mom and dad are pretty gutsy.

We started learning a bit of heeling and here he is with a GSD and Zoe, his grandmother.

Below is a little video of his 'come.' Yes, he is brilliant just like his grandfather, Oliver. (The "stop it" at the end was to tell Cindi to stop the video. Sorry Cindi - that sounded pretty harsh.)

Kimberton 2008

I just heard (and hope it is correct) that a club has stepped up to sponsor the performance next year back in Kimberton. The word is the Kerry Blue club is doing the honors. I hope that all of us who are planning to attend and compete will also lend a hand to help make it a success. I just found a yahoo group called Obedience Terriers. The information I got came from someone on that list. I have made application to join, so will let everyone know as I learn more.

Link to Oregon live story about Happy!

http://blog.oregonlive.com/pets/2007/12/dog_star.html

THE WIZARD OF OZ...

...what a fun night. Several of us went to watch our friend Happy in the Wizard of Oz. He did such a terrific job! Vicki, Pat, Cindy, Sharon, Rachel and I went to dinner and then to the high school production of the classic. Happy is Betsy's dog. They are some of the original NW paws group. Anyway, this production was top notch. Happy was on stage a lot and he was awesome. Dorothy did an amazing job handling him and all of the actors were so good with him. It was fun and just another way this crazy bunch supports one another as we do things with our dogs!

Oh by the way...Kona had another qualifying score in rally! Yeah. He is so happy doing stuff I ask him to do.

CHRISTMAS CAIRNS!

VERY

MERRY

CHRISTMAS

FROM

THE

FARTHEST

NW

CAIRNS!

Just a test

I changed my "identity" I hope! Just a test to see if it worked.

Early Greetings

Hi all - this is "Jimmy" (KinLoch's Hole in One). He is the lone 'pod' from Mary the Mothership. He is four weeks old here and with the help of the Paws group was able to get a few good pictures.

These are the rest of the Kids.

HAPPY NEWS~

http://www.eastpdxnews.com/index.php?mod=article_detail&id_art=693

Here is a link about our famous little pal...Happy. Betsy is too unassuming to put this on for herself!

He is now a stage star...what is next? Film?

Way to go Betsy and Happy for stepping out and taking a chance! What fun.

TERRIER PERFORMANCE SUMMIT

Hey you guys, check this out!!!
www.tops2008.net
It is a terriers only performance event! Get training....

Revision on agility match.

Evidently it was last Sunday! I went on www.NWDogActivities.com and they were talking about what a success it was! RATZ!!! I mean TUNNELS!!!!
Well, if anyone hears of one, let us know.

DOGGONE GOOD BLANKIES

My guys all got new quilts from Auntie Barb yesterday. They are absolutley beautiful, each one carefully handcrafted with a theme for each dog! They are shown here sitting on them. Each quilt also has a personal label which you can see in the bottom corner.

Kona went crazy, climbing into the box and sniffing as if he knew some of his favorite people were hiding in there. Kula on the other hand watched him as if he were an idiot! She then went and sat on HER blanket. I am sure she read the label...

I am not kidding, these are so beautiful it is hard to call them dog quilts! I wish I had one for each of my grandkids. Someday when they read this, I am sure they will have a hard time understanding how it is the dogs have such beautiful quilts and they do not! That is unless they are dog people.....

AGILTIY FUNDRAISING MATCH DECEMBER 2

There is a fun match this coming Sunday from 10-2 at Argus. I don't know the cost per run, but Kula and I will be there!

It is a funraiser for a BC who needs a surgery of some sort. Obviously I don't know the specifics, but anytime you can train in the ring, is a good thing.

INCREDIBLE LESSONS

This weekend we had our first agility trial since Kimberton in October. We learned some wonderful lessons.
#1. It is almost always handler error!
#2. Walk the course for the dog you want to qualify! In other words, if you happen to be running both your dog (who the number 1 goal is to stay in the ring) and your mother's dog who you are just worried about stride to obstacles, walk the course for YOUR dog! Otherwise, you might leave the lane to the gate unprotected.
#3. If you leave the lane to the gate unprotected, at this time in her trialing, Kula WILL leave the ring.
#4. If you do not have a straight approach to the broadjump, your dog will likely jump through the side posts, leading to an NQ in standard novice.
#5. If your dog misses an obstacle in FAST, be sure to do another obstacle before attempting this obstacle again! (I actually knew this, thought I did it, didn't).
#6. When adrenaline is pumping, your brain really isn't working on any NEW solutions, you revert to "programming", thus the need for training, training, training.

Some good things.
#1. Kula LOVES agility...as long as Val has her nerves under control...which I did! Leaving the ring was handler error.
#2. Enslow does distance challenges without a problem.
#3. Enslow runs VERY fast.
#4. Val loves agiltiy too!

The fun stuff!

AKC Rally Novice title for Kona!

Kona did an awesome job today to earn his final leg for his Rally Novice title. He had a blast and was so darn cute......this is the really fun stuff with my dogs! Thanks, Vicki, Betsy and Dena for reminding me to have fun in the ring. We really did have fun, even missed the walk through because we were in the conformation ring! Kona scored an 82...who knows what he would have gotten if I had been able to walk the course....big smiles in Monroe today.

Hattie's Big Day

Saturday at Widbey Island Kennel Club show in Monroe Washington, Hattie won her final point to make her an AKC Champion! That means we can start working on Rally and Agility....yipeee, "Not Just Another Pretty Face!" coming up.

Betsy's Little Buddy

This is Clive. Betsy's buddy and the head "foster child" of our adventure. Some might also say the reason for our detour into Missouri! As you can see, she is smitten by his smile and what you can't see is his happy little song...speaking of Happy....could he be jealous? I have heard he is interviewing a high school group. Betsy better watch out...Happy may be contemplating a move to Kansas!

GROUP ONE FOR MARSHALL!!!

The culmination of a busy weekend! Vicki and Marshall got a Group 1 today (Sunday) at the Vancouver Kennel Club show in Ridgefield, WA. The group judge was Kenneth McDermott. Needless to say, Vicki's feet didn't touch the ground as she left the ring! It was VERY exciting.

Hattie won Winners Bitch Saturday and Sunday to win one point each day. She also won Best Opposite Sex. She now only needs one more point to be a new champion!

Cork won Winners Dog on Saturday and Sunday and Best of Winners both days, earning one point each day as well.

Vicki and I both had entries in Rally or Obedience and the outcome in those venues was not as happy, but we will keep trying!

Last night at the Radisson No Pic, just the one in my minds eye.

The last night at the Radison was nice. It's good that we decided to stay Monday night and leave Tuesday, for many reasons, too many to list. We went to dinner with Brad and Tom at someplace Val had been talking about the whole trip. The name escapes me now but it was a nice, down home place to eat and Val had her grits.

Back to the hotel after dinner to start packing. Unload everything out of the van and reload neatly to assure everything and everyone has a place for the trip home. We made several trips up and down with the hotel cart and progress was being made. We went through our toiletries to see what to put in our "in and out" bag and what to put into the suitcase, not to be opened until it arrived home. For some reason I was the only one with body wash left. I had bought it from Walgrens in Philly cuz it is works well for babies with colds. A nice glass of wine and a hot eucalyptus shower seemed to help. I told the girls they could put some of my "special wash" aside for their morning showers if they wanted.

I was pretty tired at that point, still fighting the "epizudic" I'd contracted. V&V had gone downstairs for something,so I had the room to myself. I started a coughing fit and was having trouble getting into control. I was on the verge of purging my dinner before I got it under control. My eyes were watering, my nose was running and my mouth felt like someone set it on fire with diesel fuel. I went into the bathroom to get a drink of water, blow my nose and wipe my face off. I used the glass right next to the sink, I figured my germs were worse than anything V&V had. I ran some water into it and brought it to my mouth thinking; aerator on the faucet works really well, lots of bubbles in the glass" as I sucked it into my mouth. AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGG... IT'S EUCALYPTUS BODY WASH EWWWWW!!! My dear sweet friends had put their "stash" of body wash into a glass and placed it neatly by the sink... gotta love 'em!! After recovering from the next coughing fit that followed I rinsed my mouth out to get rid of the soap, got a drink of normal liquid and blew my nose. I was pretty much wiped out then and went to sit.

In order to see the picture that is in my mind's eye you need to know what our room looked like the moment my mind snapped this picture. We had all "exploded" in the room, meaning all our clothes were spread from one end of the room to the other, not a clean space on the bed could be found. Even though the "big" stuff was out in the van there was crap everywhere. The room was maybe 50 feet from the front door to the balcony door. I was seated in a chair by the balcony end, the bathroom was the right, close to the front door. I got a call from our peep, Dena. I was explaining to her the issue I had with ingesting Eucalyptus and she was trying really hard to be polite and not giggle when the "V's" walk in. Val came in and was, for some reason, standing by the front door when, from the bathroom Vicki exclaims "What happened to the body wash???!!!" While still talking to Dena and maintaining the best voice I could I said, "well, I was having a coughing fit and needed a glass of...." That was all that was needed.. Vicki came out of the bathroom, still on her feet, head first, curled in the oddest fetal position I'd ever seen, red faced in hysterical laughter. Val reeled back and hit the corner wall by the front front door with her back and slid, laughing all the way, to the floor. This, of course, threw me into another coughing fit and Dena, on the other end of the phone, was laughing hysterically also.

I don't remember anything after that, I'm sure there was a peepee dance and some Poise pads involved, maybe even a shower or two. All in all, we had a good laugh over the whole incident... good thing we are all good natured, right???

Moses Lake

Sunset after earthdogin~

A renewed idea

Tracking! I have been interested in training Kula for tracking for a couple of years now. I had a conversation with Sil Sanders (author of Enthusiastic Tracking) last weekend which renewed that interest. You see, I had been disheartened by what I had heard about trialing for tracking. I had read a blog and spoken with some folks who said it was really hard to trial since there are so few slots open on any given trial date because of how long it takes to lay track etc. So, I had let someone else's negative experience influence my desire to do something. According to Sil, at two trials that came to mind right off the bat, there had been slots unfilled for the lower level trials!
The thought also came to me that Greg and I could do this together (do you suppose I can get him to put his money where his mouth is?). Even if he doesn't want to do it, I will find someone to train with and I am going to get a TD on Kula! Then she can have a Versatility title too!

Drive by shooting by DCC!!

Tightly packed and on the road on our way to our first overnight stop in Twin Falls Idaho. I'm in the back seat (my favorite) with my head poked between the front seats chatting with "the girls". We had the Air Conditioning turned up to keep the dogs comfortable and thought we had the air circulation system in our rented van figured out pretty well. NOT!!! The doggies were quite comfy, the driver and passenger typically froze and dressed in layers to keep from going into a hypo-thermia coma. Me, in my middle seat was cold on top but, surprisingly, very hot from my knees down. VERY HOT. I was quite curious as to what all was affected by the heat wave down below so I started feeling around. Hmmmm our picnic bag of munchies, the balance of the short case of diet coke that didn't fit in our little snack cooler, even to big cooler on the seat next to me was hot on the back side next to the wall of the van... Interesting. "Hey girls, I think there is something not right here, everything is way way too hot down here." "OK, we'll check it out next stop." That kept me happy... well, until.. KABOOM!!!! OH MY GOD, I'VE BEEN SHOT!!! I CAN FEEL THE BLOOD...huh, wait... it smells... yes, it smells like... DIET COKE!! One of the cans of diet coke had gotten so hot that it had exploded the end off the can and blown the entire contents all over my leg and the floor of the van!! Now we really had to pull over!! We stopped at the next possible area and in our typical girlish laughter mode unloaded onto the parking lot. My pants were completely dry already, I don't think it had been but 15 minutes!! We figured there wasn't anything we could do right now so a few items were rearranged and we moved on. We would have to repack before leaving Twin Falls, we must have covered some important circulation vents on the drivers side of the van. Our concerns were for all the chocolate in the rubbermaid bin that was for the raffle basket.. chocolate salmon and wonderful Moonstruck truffles, we'd just have to wait and see. If they were discolored we'd either have to sacrifice and eat them ourselves or put them in the basket anyway.

As it turns out everything was fine, the only casualty was my clean pants, one exploded can and the balance of the short case that the V's determined to be ruined.

I must apologize for not knowing exactly what days some of this stuff happens. A combination of many life experiences (no, no illegal drugs were involved) has really made my steel trap of a mind into a muddy gopher hole where things are sucked into but never come back out in their original form. I do my best and we'll just have to write my misquotes off to poetic license.

Riding with Clive

As you've probably read by now, Clive is our first foster child. We suspect his birthplace was the Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island but we got him from the Adoption Agency called Joann's on SE 122nd. Considering what type of area that is we know there was probably some seed abuse and perhaps some vine huffing involved in his upbringing. Clive has a soft personality with an adorable smile that will melt even the hardest of hearts. His joyous voice is what attracted him to Vicki and me. We were in Joanns looking for some shrink wrap and wandered into the adoption area and there he was on the shelf. Clive pleaded with us to take him and another one of his buddies but, alas, we only had room for one. So after some hard good byes we took Clive with us, he sniffled for a few miles but once he met Val and learned he could sing his joyous song and we would sing with him he was fine. His place of Honor atop the Motherships Mary's crate was established and there he sat for most of our trip. In this lovely picture we can see this tight lipped smile as Vicki speeds down the road, I wonder what he was thinking?

Awesome day at Widbey Island

Today we got to go up to Widbey for a practice with the Puget Sound Earth Dog Club. The weather didn't look good when we first got up (northwest rain, rain, rain), as a matter of fact I would have backed out, but Greg was eager to do some training...so off we went.

I am glad we went, it turned out to be a nice day on the island and we got some good training done. Hattie went into the tunnel like a pro and worked the rats like she knew what she was doing. She would have had a couple of legs (maybe a title) had she done this in Moses Lake.

Kona and Greg did some field work and got to do a "Strong dog" hunt. Which is following a scent trail laid down by dragging a stuffed badger pelt through the field. I guess Kona did a terrific job and hunted with Greg as he should have in Moses Lake last Sunday.

There was a "barn hunt" as well. Which allows the dogs to practice finding concealed tubes with bedding in the barn. Kula found all of the tubes and did a great job at that. I guess I really need to revisit the idea of tracking with Kula. Hattie did a great job in the barn hunt too, I guess Kona kind of thought it was beneath him, Greg said he wasn't too interested in hunting in the barn.

If you want a little more information about earth dog you can visit www.croftersdream.com

Room issues

Just in case there is any question regarding our trip next year. In the 12 passenger van will be Vicki, Val, Betsy and Dena....hopefully we can have a couple of cars going. We are thinking that Rachel will want to fly, but it would be fun to have another car full of girls headed east. We are going to try to get the 2 bedroom suite at the hotel so that there can be 6 of us sharing the room expense!

Pennsylvania day 3

Monday, October 01, 2007

We woke up this morning with heat! Yipee, made all the difference in the world, we were actually on the road in a little over an hour. Much better than yesterday! Of course it helped considerably that the outside temperature was far from freezing. Our goal for the day was Cabelas and Middlebury, Indiana (hopefully before 1 am!). The time changes are killing us. We knew yesterday and today would be long days, but we totally forgot to factor in the time changes. Oh well, put that in the book for next year.

The dogs are all doing really well. They have given up thinking there is to be life outside of the van for awhile, so have settled into the routine as good little Cairns. We did switch Kona into a big crate to give him a little room to stretch out like he loves to do. We also are rotating dogs out to get a little cuddle time with whoever is sitting in the back seat. Oh and best of all everyone got a wonderful chewy treat today. Hattie and Mary had theirs gone within 20 minutes, everyone else is spending the day enjoying theirs!

We spoke with the “Delyea Party” Nancy, Susan and Bev, who decided to go to Montgomery as well. They are taking the far northern route and left on Friday. They are going to be in Indianapolis tonight. I think they have 6 dogs with them, 2 baby puppies and the rest older. Susan’s mom lives there, so they will stay with her.

We managed to find a Cabela’s. I got Greg his birthday present and Vicki got her bush pants for earthdog trials. She is very happy! She claims she is going to wear them to the board meeting on Monday since she has to miss earth dog.

The van is wonderful and we are very pleased with it. Vicki and Betsy are not quite as comfortable driving it as I am, but it is considerably smaller than the motor home and quite comfortable to drive. It is quite warm today, so we have turned the air conditioner on for the dogs, so Vicki and I are all bundled up trying to stay warm! Most important, the dogs are happy, so we all are.

We have taken some pretty funny pictures, and will post them when we can download them. (Now that I am home, I just have to find my camera. I think Greg may have left it in the motor home!)

Pennsylvania day 2

Sunday September 30, 2007-09-30

6 am could it really be time to get up? It is REALLY cold out there….not outside, IN our cozy cabin at KOA! Betsy was sleeping in her coat, hood up, inside her sleeping bag. I am awake…it was my alarm…having slept in her clothes, hood up inside my down blanket cozy as a bug in a rug with Kula curled up in her usual position Vicki is trying to pretend she has not been awake since 4:09 when Betsy tried to creep out and go to the bathroom. Vicki had her hood up as well. As it turned out the heater was running, but no heat was coming out. Oh well, it is what it is. On with the day.

The KOA had a really nice fenced grassy play yard for the dogs, so after repacking the car…everything away from the wheel well…morning toiletries, the doggies got to play a bit. There is nothing more cute than cairns running off energy. Ears pinned back, tail tucked, spinning and rolling and jumping in balls of joyful energy.

A relatively uneventful day. It appears Vicki is the jinx for bad roads, when it is her turn to drive we run into construction! She must need to practice controlling road rage or something…not too good at it yet! But, she is getting better.

The scenery is breathtaking and we keep commenting on it. The dogs are not too impressed, but they are excellent travelers. Even Alex has figured out Dena isn’t here and none of us hear her demands!

To catch everyone up. The people are Betsy, Vicki and Val. The dogs are Mary, Kula, Kona, Happy, Hattie, Marty, Cork, Alex and Goren. Mary is pregnant and due the weekend after we get home. Alex, Goren, Cork and Marty are puppies under 12 months old. Happy is almost 3 years old. Kula is almost 8, Kona is almost 3, Alex is a female puppy who has just finished her season (some of the male puppies are not convinced it is over) and Hattie almost 2 (and in season). So to put it in perspective; 2 intact adult males, 3 male puppies and one girl in season! I made a pillow out of fresh lavender for her and little packets of lavender and rosemary for each of the boys crates. No one is howling or whimpering or aggressive, so I think it is working. It is truly an amazing site to see us juggle everyone for potty stops!

Pennsylvania day 1

This is the stuff I had written on the road on my computer....I could not get to it to put it on the blog until now...

September 29, 2007

5 am we were up and excited to get the van. We made it to the airport just fine, then drove around trying to find the place to pick up the van. Betsy ended up taking the shuttle out to the satellite where the Thrifty office was. Luckily Vicki knew the area and knew where the place was, so we got out there pretty easily. They didn’t have the van ready to go, so we had to wait for them to bring it from across the street. Meanwhile the desk clerk told us that to have each of us on the contract it would cost an additional $20 PER DAY!!! So, Betsy it the legal driver.

Things didn’t fit quite as we had planned, but we got everything in! If Dena had come, we couldn’t have made that claim. Maybe scaled down the cooler and not brought the microwave! Happy already told Betsy he didn’t want to run along beside the van or be a hood ornament…maybe we won’t be able to do too much shopping!

We had to stop at JoAnn’s crafts to pick up shrink wrap for the CRCTC raffle basket, while they were in the store either Betsy or Vicki found our “foster child” who is riding shotgun next to Betsy. She is a happy little creature, but a bit demanding for candy!

Between mile marker 223 and 224 on eastbound I84 we saw our first spectacle. A woman jumped out of a taxi on the right shoulder and was chasing a truck and trailer headed the WRONG way back down the hill!

We decided to call highway patrol to report this oddity. Betsy received a bit of a strange reaction, the dispatcher saying that they knew about it. Well, they didn’t realize that the truck was on the eastbound side of the highway, but headed WEST! He finally admitted maybe they didn’t have the full story and they would check it out. Boy would I love to know the “whole story”. Do you suppose if we called and asked they would tell us what was going on?

Catching up

I just got back from Moses Lake last night. After returning from Pennsylvania on Friday, jumped in the motor home which Greg had packed to head over for an Earth Dog trial on Saturday and Sunday. It was being held at the Grant County Fair Ground by Ephrata, Moses Lake Kennel Club. What a TERRIFIC event! The grounds are really lovely, nice grassy lawns, with shade trees, power and water for the RV's. The people were outstanding! Very friendly and fun to hang out with. This event will be one we attend every year. They also host a conformation event and an agility event. I will make EVERY effort to support all of those. I would encourage anyone who wants to experience a positive, enjoyable time to do the same. The fair grounds folks were very accomadating, here comes the rest of the story...

The motor home is still in Moses Lake, facing major surgery. I am unclear exactly what is wrong, but as we came off the freeway Friday night...3 hours and 15 minutes after leaving Kirkland...it was very evident the old girl was in serious distress! Greg and John Schuster and anyone hanging around with any mechanical ability had their heads in the engine compartment, all hoping to find the vacumn hose that had come loose....please.....

Sunday afternoon the decision was made, she would have to go to a garage and have a diagnosis by a professional. AAA recommended a garage (of course they were closed, being Sunday and all). Maggie Johnson and Scott offered to take Greg back over the mountain...turned out Kona and Hattie went too. John and Barb Schuster offered to stay until we knew what was wrong. The fairgrounds was fine with us staying right where we were. So, after changing what garage was going to do the diagnosis, we proceeded to wait for the verdict.

The Schusters were wonderful! It couldn't have been more fun. We went to quilt shops and talked and talked and talked! We got the supplies for a quilt that Barb offered to make for us to sell to help fund our Pennsylvania trip next year....so watch for news of that. The weather held until finally the decision was made that the repair was going to take over a week and we planned the return to the west side of the mountains.

So, I am finally home. I have cell phone coverage and internet and life is slowly returning to normal. Our Pennsylvania trip was fabulous. The three of us traveled like a well oiled machine. I know we have made jokes about all sorts of things, but we honestly like and respect each other and had more fun than we could have imagined (the only way it could have been better would be in Dena had been with us...I would have had to wear a poise pad too!).

Last hours and update on Mary the Mothership

WOW! What a trip - what experiences! What two awesome gals! It was an added bonus that we all like Country music and the same kind of books. Believe it or not, we started next years planning on day two of the trip and now have a page full of new and better planning ideas. We also have a tub designated for "Road Trips."

The last leg of the trip went pretty smoothly....... until it got deep into the darkness. I don't normally drive at night as I can't see very well and can't judge distances. But with Betsy sick on the way home, I would drive at sunset (I was taller than Val and could keep the sun out of my eyes a bit longer) and then a couple of hours into the dark. As always I would hit road contruction with two-way on-coming traffic. Finally I had to pull off outside of Ontario (I think.)

Val took over and of course as usual, the construction was over and smooth sailing except for heavy eyes setting in. Mary started acting a little bit more uncomfortable. The crate between the two front seats started out a good size but two weeks of puppies growing made for cramped quarters. She started panting which had been a sign of the need to relieve herself. We stopped at Baker City to try to wake up, potty, get hight levels of caffeine, and find a book on CD. Unfortunatly another dud of a book. Next year ---> more Dean Koontz!!!!!!!!!!!

Mary was still uncomfortable but would settle down and go to sleep when I put her on my lap. She had eagerly eaten her dinner and would take snacks throughout the night. Singing loud and talking kept Val awake as we limped into The Dalles to meet up with Dena and Bill. Alex was so excited to see Mom and Dad and they her. Mary got out again and ran around in the wet grass. "Wet?" I had forgotten what rain was like. I put her back in the van in Alex's larger crate hoping she would be more comfortable. Just another hour to civilization.

Val pulls off at Troutdale. The signs are blurred and jumping she says. She just needs a little bit of sleep. I said, "Heck-I can drive asleep home from here." I got in, turned up the cold air, turned KUPL up loud and drove the 20 minutes home.

We pull in the driveway at 0300 hours and let the dogs out. I find the therometer to take Mary's temp. OH CRAP -- 98 degrees and I have to be to work in 7 hours. I put her in the 'baby room' and she started nesting in the whelping box. As soon as I started to leave she would follow. I asked Betsy to sit in with her and a bit later Betsy came out and said, "I've never seen a dog have puppies before but Mary is doing" --> and then Betsy grunted. "That would be a puppy coming."

At 0425 out pops out the first 'pod' from the

Mothership. 150 grams.

She decides that this is it and settles in. At about 0830 a c-section was performed to remove a dead puppy. I guess she knew.

The Packing Planning as seen by Betsy

Packing, for most, isn't a huge or difficult task. However, to pack for 3 women of seasoned age, nine dogs from puppy to bitch with "child" for a road trip of about 7,000 miles in 14 days requires some serious planning.

We were to leave town Saturday morning, September 29 but we couldn't pick up our Ford Econoline 12 passenger van until that morning. They told us "anytime after midnight". As I mentioned before, I bow to the experience of Val and Vicki and allowed them to plan to their little hearts content. On Friday night out came the duct tape and tape measure.to tape off the packing area of the van. They carefully measured and taped off the space and began to move items into that somewhat small space about everything was all a nice neat pile in Vicki's canvas covered garage. It was truly a thing of beauty. It fit nicely, all our bags were there, all the crates, food, raffle basket items and other.... stuff we felt was needed. Off to bed without any incidence. Virus Val took the woman eating couch, thank you Val for that sacrifice.

Bright and early in the morning (I think it was about 6) off we went to get our van. When we got to the airport there was a shuttle to take us to the off-site area where the van was located. I rode the shuttle with the nice chatty driver and learned of airport shuttle driving, pros and cons.

It took a bit to get the van, not sure what the hang up was but finally I was on my way driving a tank of a vehicle. Back at Vicki's all vehicles were moved and the van backed in place. Then the task of figuring out how to get the back 2 seats out. Val and I had tools ready.. after about 45 minutes of working the seatbelts through the seats and trying to figure out how to get a big enough hex head wrench inside the hole on the floor where the seat was bolted into... someone saw a miracle. The seats had latches holding them to the floor... go figure, there must have been a woman engineer working on this design!!

With the seats out, "clean sheets" (this being something like a papertowel with light plastic backing) laid out, the loading began. First the crates; 2 huge aluminum stackers and 2 huge and heavy wire stackers, complete with grooming table. Next 3 varikennels (I think that's what they were. That took care of 7 dogs.. we have 9. OK, for the Hattie, the girl in the "lavender pillow" condition, and Mother Mary full of pups 2 special wire crates stacked between the front passenger and driver seat. Again, if they were any more organized it would be illegal!! More and more stuff was neatly and carefully fit into the back of the van, little by little the pile in the garage disappeared and the van got more and more full.

No, Wait, there's more room in here!! "Where's that blanket, I can stuff it in this hole right here!" "Betsy, do you have any more things in space bags, there a little air space right over there!" "Give me that pillow, it'll fit right over there!!" "Oh, My God!! Look, there's room for..... (drum roll please).... THE MICROWAVE!!! AND if we put the top of this huge crate in this way we can use it for a whelping box if needed AND the microwave will fit in it just perfect AND we can stuff towels in it too!!" Honestly, I think we used the darned thing twice but dog-gone it, we had it!!

Important "stuff" like munchies and crunchies went in the back seat for quick and easy access. No eating out for this crew, strictly business. Expertly prepared Talapia and chicken breast specially packaged and placed in the cooler. Never thought I'd eat any darned old cold fish but ya know, it was darned good!! Granola, Luna, LA weight loss bars, apples, pears, string cheese, we'll eat like queens. Ice chest in the back seat too with required diet Coke and water..

OK, all packed and ready to go. Vicki's neighbors are so sweet, they came over to check our packing progress throughout the morning and then wish us well just before we left. They were also kind enough to take a picture for us. Off we go, stop at K Mart for a jacket, Stop at Joann's for shrink wrap (see also the Foster Children story), stop at Vicki's work to pick up a few "Books on CD's" and by 11:30am we're on our way to Twin Falls ID.

Babble from Bacterium Betsy

It’s almost the end of day 11 and here I sit, in the back seat. Vicki is driving and although she and Val now have the concept of “sun sets in the west”, she isn’t real sure what state we are traveling through,. She is trying to convince us that, because we are driving west and into the sunset, we gain an extra hour of daylight… Explaining the speed of light, rotation of the earth in comparison to the speed of our “Mother Ship” just isn’t worth it right now… it’s her bubble, we’ll let her live there until it gets dark. We really should have paid more attention in geography class, all of us aren’t sure in what order we cross through east coast states unless we have a map right in front of us. I won’t be confessing that to my grandsons anytime soon. We’ve been through Pennsylvania,, Ohio and now are buzzing through Illinois. We think. We will change from Eastern to Central time in a little bit… gaining one of the 3 hours we’ve lost in our travels.

Traveling cross country in a van/car is, to my surprise, different than a plane… there is no ‘van lag” that you can complain about. You can’t sleep it off… there’s no time. You are either driving to a destination, unloading, loading, walking dogs, feeding dogs, eating, peeing or laughing. Yes, Laughing… Val and Vicki have taken care of it all. I decided early on that would be the case. No one has the patience for 3 women wanting to do it all their way. We all have different styles and experience levels and me being the bottom rung of the dog show experience ladder, bows to their experience and takes their instruction. Besides, I’m not alpha girl in this pack and they don’t want me to change, not right now. If, however, something would to happen, I’d be the level head 

The time has gone remarkably fast. As I mentioned before, there’s been little time for reflecting on anything other than baser needs and travel… sheer survival of the seatbelt crew. The first night in Twin Falls, Idaho was our first KOA experience. It was bitterly cold when we arrived. Val found a note from the manager with instructions on which cabin we were to inhabit. Although there was a wall heater in this rustic cabin, it wasn’t functioning. Thank Goodness for Kmart, I purchased an inexpensive jacket before we left Portland, otherwise I would have frozen to death. The cabin was adorable, wood logs finished with a shiny, thick coat of varithane, Moving very quickly, to make sure your blood didn’t freeze in your veins; walk dogs, bed them down, unload our :”in and out” equipment. Floss, brush, whatever and dive into the covers, fully clothed. No jimmies tonight, we didn’t want to wake up to Val or Vicki-sicles in the morning.

The east coast turnpikes have wonderful stops called ‘”Travel Plaza”. Beautifully maintained quick in and out potty breaks,, cups of ice, junk food coffee shops (yes Dena, there are Starbucks in some) souvenir and quick marts/ Truly the weary traveler’s answer to all their dreams, most of the time. One night we stopped at one of these marvels to potty dogs and, more importantly, ourselves. Note to self: using short-legged, aging body as a human wishbone getting out of the side door exit of the van causes dangerous giggling fit and uncontrolled body noises and functions not typically desirable in public areas.

After letting the dogs do their usual thing us girls quickly moved to the restrooms to finish what we had started in the parking lot. We each chose different sections of the bathroom; I was alone in my section with the exception of a woman standing by the sinks, back to me, chatting on her cell phone in a foreign language. Now, being a good responsible girl. I am always careful to use the facilities offered to assure the plumbing is never over-taxed by improper disposal of “items”. As I was trying to “deposit” one of these items into the receptacle I noticed something was array. I pulled my hand away from the small depository door and tried again. Yes, my first glance was correct!! There was no depository, it was handy door between the stalls!! Furthermore, there were a pair of shoes, complete with feet, standing on the porcelain stool in the stall next to me!! That pretty much did it or me… I quickly did what I had to do to escape that scary place. I’m don’t care to know the whole story or even what that woman was talking about on her cell phone… just a bit too much info

Look what I found in the draft folder!

Vicki says, "Missouri, I don't remember going through Missouri." Val says; "Missouri, are you kidding me? We are not supposed to be in Missouri!" Frantic searching for the trip tik ensued and we determined we needed to get off and get our bearings. ....a little late.

We made several peoples day as we walked into the gas station convenience store and Dinner Bell Diner to find out where we were. As it turns out we were 60 plus miles south on Hwy 35 southbound....of Hwy 80 westbound. One old guy told us how to get to Council Bluff on the back roads...he was scarey and probably knows a faster way to get to the pass and ambush us. Since the two boys in brown(UPS drivers) were standing there shaking their heads and looking confused, we decided that we would retrace our steps and stay safe.

We have since learned that it was our excitement over seeing Clive's namesake birthplace that caused us to miss our switch at the interchange. 35 and 80 run parallel for a time and then 35 heads south and 80 heads east. We missed the switch. In Vicki's defense, I was riding shotgun and should have caught it too. Poor Betsy, we discovered it as she was driving and she is the omega bitch, so it is ultimately her fault!

This is the kind of thing memories are made of and we are all laughing and glad that we are wearing pose pads.

Missouri?

Vicki says, "Missouri, I don't remember going through Missouri." Val says; "Missouri, are you kidding me? We are not supposed to be in Missouri!" Frantic searching for the trip tik ensued and we determined we needed to get off and get our bearings. ....a little late.

We made several peoples day as we walked into the gas station convenience store and Dinner Bell Diner to find out where we were. As it turns out we were 60 plus miles south on Hwy 35 southbound....of Hwy 80 westbound. One old guy told us how to get to Council Bluff on the back roads...he was scarey and probably knows a faster way to get to the pass and ambush us. Since the two boys in brown(UPS drivers) were standing there shaking their heads and looking confused, we decided that we would retrace our steps and stay safe.

We have since learned that it was our excitement over seeing Clive's namesake birthplace that caused us to miss our switch at the interchange. 35 and 80 run parallel for a time and then 35 heads south and 80 heads east. We missed the switch. In Vicki's defense, I was riding shotgun and should have caught it too. Poor Betsy, we discovered it as she was driving and she is the omega bitch, so it is ultimately her fault!

This is the kind of thing memories are made of and we are all laughing and glad that we are wearing pose pads. (We borrowed them from the boys potty pants!)

KOA or rest area?

We now know which is better for an overnight (or part of a night) sleep. Last night we had made arrangements to stay in a KOA Cabin in West Liberty, Iowa. We called at about 7 Pm, asking how long they thought it would take us to get there from where we were (I can no longer tell you where we were when we called!) Anyway, it was the only thing anywhere close, we knew it would be a push, so we went ahead and reserved the cabin.

Then came sundown and the wind...no, I mean WIND! Vicki did make it about an hour after dark driving. She can not drive after dark because of a depth perseption thing. Because Betsy is still recovering from her horrendous cold, her stamina isn't such that she could man handle the van in the wind...soooo, that left yours truely for the remainder of the drive last night.

We made a stop about 11:30 at a truck stop where Vicki signed up for a book on CD rental program and we got two of those. Bad news, not only was the wind blowing, it was COLD!!!! Vicki bought a really cute sweatshirt. I was a good girl and passed on one....(my gift to you Greg). Anyway, on with the story.

We pulled into West Liberty at 1:10 am so thankful to finally made it. Egged on with stories by Vicki, we purservered and made our goal. I jumped down from the drivers seat and ran up to the door where there was hanging a bag with what should have been our cabin number and key. No....empty envelopes so that a person could rent a camp site...where was our cabin. Oh well, maybe the door was unlocked, we have found that before. There is a row of trailer houses, no cabin. We drove around the camp, well, we must have missed it. So, we went back around....NOPE! No cabin...or so we thought. Okay, make the most of it, we can sleep in the car. It is a nice big comfy van. We got settled in, oops. I had to potty. The bathroom is right over there....ooops, the door has a key pad for a code. NOW WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!?????????? This is not okay. Rethinking. We moved on down the highway 20 something miles to the next rest stop and slept in the van. Luckily not too cold, but there were a bajillion big rigs parked in there. Motors running all night. I slept quite well, Vicki is longer, so she had more of a challenge and I don't think slept as well as I did.

We were pretty mad last night and this morning. We called the KOA and left a message; please call us. Two hours later they did. VERY apologetic. There had been a medical emergency, the gal was so rattled, she had left the key on the counter inside the office. She was very nice and very upset about the mixup. They do have a cabin and it is a good place next to the freeway, so maybe next year.....certainly not that rest stop!

PA Homeward bound Day 1

5:15 AM Tuesday, October 9, 2007….really? Can it be that our adventure is really so close to the end? Well, we do have 4 more days on the road! Am I crazy? That sounds like I am looking forward to them…well, I am….sort of.

The van is loaded except for the “in and out bags”, the dogs and the crates. We had to knock down the folding crates and load them then add the bags and the dogs. Settle the hotel bill, get some gas and check the oil…Betsy did that for us (wiping the front of the van with her shirt)…what a way to start the day. It was 74 degrees at 7:00 when we pulled away from the gas station.

Next year we are going to try to snag a 2 bedroom, ground floor suite for 6 of us to share. I figure if I reserve it right away, and something happens, I can always cancel! Vicki and I plotted how and what we will do next year to refine our journey.

First of all (well, not at this point, since I have already been rambling), Thank You Dena for blogging for us. PLEASE FORGIVE US FOR NOT MAKING A BIG DEAL FOR YOU BIRTHDAY!!!!! Wait til you hear what we dreamed up as we were driving along.

We are so glad that we decided to wait and leave this morning. Even the dogs are exhausted! Mary and the puppy pods are growing with each passing minute. Hope we can extract her from her crate by the end of the trip…we may have to cut it away!
More later.

"Not Just Another Pretty Face"

Several months ago nwpawsacrossamerica decided that we wanted to do something special for the National Specialty at Montgomery County.

We came up with the idea of providing bags for qualifiers at any of the performance events who were Champions of record for either CKC or AKC.

So, we bought plain canvas bags from the craft store. I painted a cairn face on them with the phrase, “Not Just Another Pretty Face”. Then on the back created a watermark with performance stuff and then over that is states; “AKC/CKC Champion Earning a Qualifying leg in Agility, Earthdog, Obedience or Rally. CTCA National Specialty. Congratulations from nwpawsacrossamerica.blogspot.com

Pam McDonald earned one for a qualification with one of her many talented dogs in agility. At rally, Vicki earned one with Mary for a qualifying leg in Rally Excellent (her title). At Earthdog, Chicki Mair earned one with Willow for a qualifying leg in Junior Earthdog, (her title), Val earned one with Kona for his qualifying Masters leg.

We hope that we didn’t miss anyone, and if we did and you read this and want to contact us, we will certainly be thrilled to add you to the list and send you a bag.

CTCA Awards Banquet

It was awesome with all of the awards. Vicki just about had a track worn in the carpet from her chair to the podium to pick up all of her loot. (She earned a lot of stuff, but also went up and picked up the awards for people from the northwest who didn’t come.)

Kari Loken asked Betsy to help her out and sell raffle tickets. You know Betsy, she is awesome at that kind of thing and LOVES a job, so she took it on. In spite of the fact she had this amazing bug gripping her body. She spent most of the time in Pennsylvania sicker than I have seen anyone in a long time. I think she made some sort of record for sales at the dinner. She sold $900 worth of raffle tickets! Amazing.

The basket from Columbia River Cairn Terrier Club was BEAUTIFUL! Betsy did a phenomenal job of procuring donations and putting it all together. Unfortunately, it only sold for $200 which was a heck of a deal for the person who won the bid.

Turnpike Adventures

Did you know that the Pennsylvania Turnpike opened in 1940? They built it using the old railway right of ways and it was the first of its kind in the world.

You go through a gate at one point, taking a ticket and then when you decide to get off, you go through another gate and pay.

Even Oregonians must pay the toll….even if you ask.

If you get on going the wrong direction, it could be as many as 20+ miles before you can get off again.

Sometimes you can do a u-turn just past the gate to go back the other direction if there isn’t too much traffic. (If you have a really nice toll booth person.)

Sometimes you have to go down 3 exits to turn around and go back the other way. (If your toll booth person is a grouchy man who hates his job.)

Sometimes the signs over the ticket taking booth is confusing and a man will run out to hand you your ticket, in which case he will be really cranky and yell at you.

Sometimes you could get confused and think you are on the Turnpike when in fact you are on a “freeway” and get to go all the way to the Philadelphia NFL stadium before you realize that you need to go the other direction…in which case, you can take an alternate road and make a big circle back to your hotel.

Sometimes the Turnpike will run all the way to the border of one state (pay the toll), and then pick up again just over the border (get another ticket). New Jersey Turnpike booths have two levels for dispensing tickets…a 12 passenger van is between these…too tall for a car level and two short for the truck level. The booth decides where it will spit the ticket out, and you will likely bonk your head reaching for the ticket at the truck level.

I have come to the conclusion that toll roads are a good think, but most toll booth attendants hate their job!

Update from afar

Hey, its me Dena. The one they left behind. I now know the reason. Tonight as Betsy was laughing so hard on the phone, something about drinking liquid soap, and Val and Vicki were laid out on the floor from sheer exhaustion... they pleaded BLOG FOR US!

So....here is what I know. I continue to talk to them everyday, with the exception of last Friday. When they arrived they were so pumped and full of energy! Helping set up for the events at the host hotel, busy, busy, busy! Agility and Rally those first few days and then Saturday was the sweeps and the KinLoch puppies were in attendance! Alex, Goren, Marty and Cork. All showed well but their brilliance was missed by the Judge. Must be the heat...LOL Yes, it is hot and very humid there. Seems strange to me here in the Pacific NW.

Sunday was Montgomery and Kona and Mary were entered in the working class. They both won their classes! Seems the idea of a working cairn has yet to become a reality at the Specialties as they were the only ones entered. But that works for us!

Today was Earth Dog. I understand that the event site was wonderful. The 80 degree heat and high humid was not! Happy and Kona were entered. Stories to follow by their humans! Betsy has had a cold, but feels much better today. Maybe it was that liquid soap! Or all that laughing!

Last night at dinner they decided to wait and pack up after Earth Dog and stay one more night in the hotel. Good plan as they are very tired. They will hit road towards home in the morning (Tuesday) after a well deserved night of rest! Back to the KOA's and back to the speaker phone calls from the road trying to hear the words through the laughter! I miss them!

Night Vicki, Night Betsy, Night Val-da-ree.
Drive safe girls. We love you!

PA Day 5 - part 1

The drive yesterday was full of construction but wonderful scenery. We got in late so we decided to go straight to the KOA. We walked the dogs and off to the showers for us. It is quite warm and humid here.
AAA said it was about 15 minutes to Kimberton but I guess that was from West Chester. It turned into about a two hour drive.
Unfortunately Val and Kula missed JWW (Jumpers with Weaves) and we got set up in time for Mary's Rally Excellent run. Val stayed at the van and further set up our 'home' for two days with the 9 dogs. That way they could be in the x-pens.
Betsy and I went up to Rally. The Parson Russell Club hosted the event but apparently forgot to get stewards for Rally....that would be three or so. Well, Betsy can now be the head steward for Rally. We had an awesome judge that will be in Salem next month for regular obedience. :) One of the other Cairn folk watched the stopwatch and another gal was going over to help after her agility run.

MARY DID IT!!!!!!!! I was a spaz but apparently she did pretty good. I think I blanked out in there because I don't remember much of it. With a score of 82 she was High Scoring Cairn in Rally Excellent A/B and got a great CTCA bag. She earned her third leg for her Excellent Title. Thanks to Rachel for all the other legs getting there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I came back to camp and Betsy had lunch with the judge. Val headed up with Happy and Kona and I stayed and did a bit more straightening. That included putting in stakes as the wind came up and the canopy tent started blowing away.

All for now. Please check back on all the posts as we will probably add some pics.

Pennsylvania Road Trip Day 4

Yipee! Today we will make Kimberton! Hopefully before dark to give doggies and 2 foots a chance to get settled and unwind before trialing tomorrow. We have had a wonderful experience so far, and are all getting along famously. Kind of scarey actually. But, we laugh a lot and are kind of silly like that. The Turnpikes and toll roads are wonderful and we are enjoying the beautiful scenery, the leaves are almost beginning to turn and hopefully we will get the full show before we leave next week.

Last night we stayed in another KOA, this one in Middlebury, Indiana. They are great for what we are doing, the dogs are in their nice crates, cozy in the car right outside the door...no lugging tons of stuff in and out! The weather here is very humid and unlike the last two nights, last night we had the fan going to keep some air circulating. Odd what we have incountered in the last four days...see picture. Vicki tried to pick this guy up, we said "No way!", so she settled for a picture.

We added an additional 100 miles on the trip so that we could let the dogs play in the nice play yard at the KOA. (Hopefully won't rue that tonight!).....ask us later what this is all about.

Betsy has just announced she isn't feeling well. We will start an aggresive program of "Airborne" and ask for your special thoughts for her...hopefully virus Val hasn't taken out her buddy!

I have the last three days on my computer and will download them when I can. More later, gotta go take care of Betsy!

Our foster children.

Some of you know of Clive who was found in Portland. Betsy thought he was saying "I've got candy!" When in fact he was saying "I WANT CANDY!"

Sassy and Freaky were found in Dog Pound #3 at a travel plaza east of Chicago. Sassy is from the south and says to the GSMC (not the GSDs) "My, how nice. :)" Freaky came from Africa as he was ousted by the Lion King. They seem to keep the Cairns in line not to mention us. Here is Clive singing to all of us on the Ohio Turnpike. Sorry you don't get the whole song but the blog wouldn't take the full file.

A little history.

To help fund the trip (and to get rid of a bunch of stuff hanging around the last 15 years) we decided to have a garage sale at my house. Val (with dogs) and Dena (with Hunter) came down the Thursday night before. Betsy stayed Friday night on and Rachel came on Saturday and Pat came for the days. Thursday night we set up the 'sale' - 4 pop-ups plus my large Costco canopy was to shelter all our belongings. Here is Betsy blowing up a bowling pin. Her hat and scarf were designed and made by Dena.

Val slept in the baby room and Betsy and Dena slept on the hide-a-bed. Val woke up to Betsy and Dena calling her name only to find the couch trying to eat them. We made $455 for the trip.

The next weekend was Turner for KinLoch, Perrys, Rachel and Betsy while Dena went to Gig Harbor. "Kona" picked up his first Master Leg while "Happy" and "Zoe" earning their Junior Earthdog titles plus of qualifing Into legs. Poor "Hattie" was unable to play due to her LPS (lavender pillow situation.) This first photo is Greg and Rachel with Kona, Oliver, and Sammy off leash in the corn field wiht the sun setting. This was just prior to Oliver catching a scent and running off into the open field chasing birds. It is good to know that Rachel is young, fit and fast. And yes, even the great Oliver is not perfect off leash.

This next picture is Betsy watching Juniors on Sunday. 6 days to go.

Good Cornin Dena and the rest of the world. We are in Nebraska and all two and four foots are fine. This is Vicki typing under Vald-da-ree because I have forgotten my password again.
It is 0830 hours central time and the sun is coming up in our eyes. We are heading to Cabella's and hopefully they will be open. I'm so wanting brush pants. Val has the last two days in her computer and will post at the next Wi-Fi spot.

Last night was wonderful............we had heat! It was so cold the night before as we headed out yesterday morning, the sprinklers to the fields were on and there were icicles hanging from the fences and the dog's noses.

Luckily we had left on Saturday and missed the snow that surprised the Salt Lake and Wyoming area. Around Sweetzer Summit they had had to plow the roads. The mountains and landscape were beautiful. A trucker that I met last night had come from Salem, OR heading to Fort Wayne, Indiana with a load of plywood. He picked up his sister in Utah and had to stay the night because of the snow. But he did say that this route was the best way to get to PA.

The dogs have settled in and we are getting faster at unpacking and packing. Betsy took a shower last night (very good girl) and Val and I did wash our hair in the little sinks. We are much more refreshed. The KOAs are turning out to be really great. Twin Falls had a fenced dog yard so the youngsters got to run and play. "Jack" the Westie from Colorado looked on longing to join them. Between my Noni shots, Virus Val's Airborne, and Puff's with Vick's we will fight off the evil East Coast Virus that Karl Sterns talked about.

Dena - Val has a great marketing scheme when we get back. "Lavender travel pillows -- for that special time in your bitches life." and "Rosemary sachets -- for those hard times in your pre-stud's life. They seem to be working really well. Both the dogs and humans are getting along.

We are at milepost 314, shucks, not only did we miss Cabellas - Betsy was right again. Val did say there were more. :)

Well, by for now. Wish you were with us and we miss you all.

P.S. Greg - Val thanks you for letting her play. What size crate did you want?

Where, oh where, has my little dog gone?

I dropped her off last Friday. I don't think she noticed my leaving with all the activity at the KinLoch's Cairnland. Three of my closest friends began a journey on Saturday to the National Specialty in PA. It seemed like months ago that the planning began. In the beginning it was my hope to also go. In the end it wasn't in the cards and so I have sent Alex with them.

Every day, at least twice a day I look to this blogger account to see if there is a post. I think they travel so long during the day they are so tired when they reach their destination they tend to the dogs and jump into bed.

I have talked to them everyday since they left. Yesterday I received a message about a new mascot they have taken with them. They have promised to post a picture and a story behind it. I do know that it sings and wants candy? Don't we all. Their first nights accommodations at the Twin Falls KOA were fine with the exception of no heat in the cabin. Sounds like today they were traveling another 10 plus hours to reach the next KOA. They traveled through Utah and called from Wyoming. They miss trees. Spoiled by the Pacific Northwest. Welcome to Wyoming!

I, their faithful friend will continue to look for posts from the gang daily. I miss them and I miss Alex. I know that they are all having the best time! just without me.....next time.
Hurry up and blog girls!

Dena

Happy the Junior Earthdog

I love to brag about this tough, lovable "little Black Booger". He has a heart of gold, he's my buddy and life partner. When he figures something out he's on it like white on rice. He is truly a delightful dog, just ask his kitty, Tom.

He'd been to many a ED trial but never really understood. He knew it was fun, he knew there were rats involved but it wasn't quite clear what the big deal was until July 2007 at the trial at the Whalls in Washington.

Saturday he was entered in Intro and Junior but he just didn't understand what to do. He failed...not miserably but failed none the less. Saturday night, after the trial and dinner a few of us did a small "practice" session with some of the other Cairns that were confused about their jobs as Earthdogs. As Happy and I stood, watched and listened to some of the more experienced dogs barking, growling and, in general, making a fuss over their prey, the lightbulb went off over Happy's head!! He finally got it and boy, was he ready to "get those rats". Sunday in intro he Amazed even the judge, he worked like he was a pro and had been doing it for ever. In Junior he did the same and got his first leg with flying colors.

Turner, Oregon, September 2007. Happy is entered both Saturday and Sunday in Junior, no more intro for him!! Saturday he entered the tunnel immediately, to the quarry in 15 seconds and "worked" like a demon for 45 seconds... then, he thought, "Why isn't anyone telling me I'm doing well... I'm going to find Mom and see what's wrong..." and out the hole he came. He looked at me like I was an idiot then was going back in. I called him and told him it was over... I think he was disappointed.. poor thing. The good news is... HE CAME TO ME!! YAHOOOOOO Another barrier bridged!

Sunday the judge was known to be a stickler for detail. No room for error here so we had to be careful. No extra words as you let him go. So while we walked up to the the test sight, under my breath without moving my lips I told Hap that another dog was getting his rats, he needed to stop that. Before I even took his lead off he saw the opening and was ready to go. I removed his lead, put him on the ground and he shot into that hole like a bullet. To the quarry in 18 seconds and worked like he'd never worked before, THE ENTIRE 60 SECONDS!! The judge called me up to the end, she opened the door and he backed up then came forward, rolled his upper body to his side trying to get his muzzle at the rats... GOOD BOY HAPPY! Needless to say he passed with flying colors. We're looking forward to Pennsylvania now, Happy hears the rats are very active and more fun than the Prozac ones here on the west coast!! Thank you all for all your encouragement, We love you!!

Flyball Demo at Hazledale Dog Park

This is a bit late but the video is pretty awesome and so are the pictures. Betsy did a fundraiser for the dog park near her. It was a great day full of activities, demos, and vendors. "Mary" taught a Golden puppy to be more respectful of its elders. She had to tell him twice after giving a warning to get out of her face while the stupid owner watched. When he stepped back and sat I told him "Good dog, what a way to be respectful to other dogs." The lady was clueless.


This is where "Mary" and "Sammy" earned their Canine Good Citizen title. The Oregon Trails End Earthdog Club, OTEEC, had runs for dogs to see their instinct ability and Rachel did a flyball demo. Here is an awesome video and pictures that I took with the camera set on the box.

Marty and Elle's New Best Friend

The neighbor's grandson needed a place for his dog until he moved into his new place. "Trigger" came and stayed in a wonderfully very large fenced yard. "Trigger" is a large Pitbull mix puppy about the same age as "Marty" - 8 months.

The first that I realized that "Marty" and "Elle" had gone visiting was a couple of weeks ago. I heard "Marty" barking ferociously in the back and went out to tell him to stop. Odd thing is that he wasn't in the yard. He was in the neighbor's yard on the far side yelling at another neighbor's two dogs. I started to panic a bit as I am yelling his name but remembered that I had not heard any screams up to this point. As I yelled for "Marty" I saw a little blonde head peering through the hole that had been dug under the cyclone fence. OH, did I mention that "Elle" was in season?

I brought the two back home and plugged up the hole with a brick. "Elle" went to visit with "Tessa" and great grandma "Chrissy" for a week.

A few days went by and "Marty" dug under again. I went to retrieve him and they were chasing each other with "Marty" quite rough by my standards. He would grab a hold of a leg or "Trigger's" side and shake. Being a Pit, it probably tickled. The neighbor, Billy, and I watched them run and play for about 15 minutes. Both tongues were hanging out. "Marty" was slobbered on and another hole needed to be covered.

Another day later.... Some of you know the problem of "Marty" not coming in at night so I wasn't surprised when he didn't come in with the others. I went looking and of course, he is next door. Another hole to be filled. I'm sure all the places are filled now. Apparently NOT.

He's over there again the next day. Both running and chasing each other. That yard is almost twice as big as mine. This time I brought the camera. I go through the gate and blood is splattered on "Trigger's" neck and shoulder. His ear is bleeding. Luckily it was a scrape and I was able to wipe away the evidence. Great, I am now the dog owner that I give tickets to. "Marty" classified as a Potentially Dangerous Dog Level 2. But it was a scrape so it must have been the bottom of the cyclone fence that scraped him. RIGHT? I got some cute pictures of the two of them as they were pretty much done running.

It was interesting to watch the two play. "Trigger" learned to tuck his butt and tail and turn his side away and "Marty" would duck his head left and right when "Trigger" would try to paw at him. I moved some things around and put up an x-pen about three feet away as a second fence. With Val's dogs here, "Kona" and "Kula," it worked well. They thought maybe he shouldn't be next door.

That is until the next day. I called the dogs in for dinner and "Marty" is no where to be seen. How on earth did he get over there? Oh, he can also climb over three foot x-pens. Thanks to "Mary" and "Elle" teaching him. He was stuck between the x-pen and the fence, unable to stretch out to go under.

"Trigger" is now gone and I think "Marty" misses him.

Redmond Washington Show Results

CONGRATULATIONS to Sammy and Rachel. On Saturday Sammy scored 196.5 in obedience...believe it or not, that only earned her a second place!!! That is a whole other story though, and since we are into positive messages, we won't even go there.

Betsy with Happy and Val with Kona in rally both had a rough weekend. No green ribbons....
Rachel with Sammy and Val with Kula in agility again, no green ribbons.....

Oh well. More work for all of us apparently! The normal reaction being to dedicate to more practice! I think the secret is smarter practice....different things on different days and different places at different times of the day...short grass, LONG grass, WET grass. You get the picture.

Kula needs some self confidence building. After her incident with the PWD last week, she is totally without confidence. I am even considering the animal communicator that Katrina suggested!

I am looking forward to pictures and stories about the Cairn-tastic days in Oregon on the 1st of September, sponsored by the Columbia River Cairn Terrier Club.

CONGRATULATIONS

MARY, SAMMY, TALLEY, KULA AND KONA. Sure hope I did not forget any other Northwest Paws dogs! Good work earning your CGC.

CGC AWARDS

Last weekend four of our Northwest Paws dogs earned the AKC Canine Good Citizen Award. Congratulations to Sammy, Talley, Kula and Kona! In two events held in Kent and Portland, a total of 15 dogs qualified for the award. Congratulations to all and good work!

Oh Rats!!!!!!!!

I was saddened to hear last night that Rachel's rat recently died but I would like to introduce two new members to the NW Paws clan. Granted the Greater Swiss (GSDs) probably could care less but all the others I hear are quite excited. Meet ? and ? ----->

The boys were saved from the needle of death at work as they have bitten the volunteers and were just down right nasty. I asked the Kids at home and they said that they would love to have them come stay. The picture shows them in their studio apartment but tomorrow they will move into their new three story townhouse.

Funny, Homie is the most interested in the 'smell' coming from the canopy tent. If he would just stay at the rats and bark or DO SOMETHING he might be able to get a title.

Hopefully in a few days they will have names. Please 'comment' on some good ideas for the boys.

Suns out! finally!

It rained here all morning. But finally the sun came out and I took the dogs out to potty and we played their favorite thing! As you can see both Hunter and Alex like water, but more importantly they like the spray off the hose! Hunter dig's it and Alex bites it. What a team!

We miss our friends!

We are the cairns who live in Kirkland. Kula, Kona and Hattie otherwise know as Crofterkids (clever huh? mom morphed us all into one identity). We really love the pictures of Happy and Mary that were in the last article. Mom tried to get dad to go to agility last night, so he could take some pictures of Kula, but he "had work to do"....I think it may have included a baseball game on TV! It is the big weekend for Kona. His first time to compete in rally. Mom thinks he will get higher scores than Kula did...hard not too and qualify! She really doesn't like that stuff. Maybe if mom would move faster....like she does in agility. Kona is getting really good about the sitting stuff, that is mostly all that novice rally is. Hattie is starting to move through the weave poles better. At first she was afraid of the poles that are on the ground! Silly girl. I think mom is going to set up the fence around the poles so Hattie and Kona will run through to get the treat at the other end. I hope she makes the new set of poles so that Kula still can do them the grown up way! Well, better get off the computer, mom wants to see if Dena is up yet....woof for now.

These Hips Don't Graze

Happy and Mary went to their first agility class. It was great as there are only two other dogs in the class. As you can see from the picture Mary was tired after a day of obedience and agility.

I was a bit apprehensive as I thought the cost was too much and it is on the (evil :) west side of town. But I was pleasantly surprised. The instructor, LISA, was great and got us right to work going over poles in a pick-up-stix style. Happy was the star. The only ‘slow’ dog was a Border Collie mix. hehehehe The other dog is a Keeshond who also does conformation and was not as good as the “CAIRNS.”

I can see now, as I knew before, it will be me as Mary’s downfall. But we will plug away.

We then started on the jumps.
Happy went perfectly and then I did the four-line jump and everyone was laughing. Mary did it all and I didn’t fall down so what was it? Lisa said that Mary had so much energy going over the jumps she didn’t know what to do with it all…... her legs were going everywhich way… another missed photo-op. She then had us work on our position and she said to go down the line with our body straight forward, trying not to turn into the dog and graze the jumps with your hips. Betsy says, “These hips don’t graze.” It is going to be an awesome time with Betsy and Happy in class and well worth the time and money. The other pictures didn’t turn out of the dogs going through the tire so we will try to figure out a different camera. This is of Happy going through the tire if you can make him out.

We just might make it for Montgomery.

NW Paws Across America

(I thought I already posted this.) If you are reading it, you found us again! Yet another name for our little tribe! Dena found another group with the name we had been using....hard to believe that one. Anyway, this sort of says who we are a little more clearly. Be sure to note that our focus is on doing stuff with our dogs!

Has anyone heard my story

about Kula being launched from the rear window of Greg's Camry a few years ago? Well, this afternoon, Hattie tried to one up her. We were all hanging out in the upstairs room that is my little "retreat". It is where I watch TV (not a 46 inch one), blog, IM you get the picture. Speaking of which. The pictures above need some explanation. The one on the left is the screen from the window of the afore mentioned room. That is where it landed when Hattie jumped against it barking at the sound of the neighbor dogs collar tags. She landed just short of it and to the left. Thank goodness we had an awning built last year! I have no idea how I got out the window as fast as I did. Meanwile, Kula and Recee are barking their fool heads off for all sorts of reasons. Number 1; the dog tags that sent Hattie over the edge (literally). Number 2; unauthorized exit by Hattie. Number 3; unorthodox exit by mom! Everything is fine. I am happy to report. I am also quite sure my heart is healthy, cuz it would have stopped from the adrenaline surge!
Now, back to the pictures. All of you who have traveled with me or even visited house or motor home will recognize what those are. They have now found yet another alternative purpose (in their original life, they were organizational cubes. I purchased 24 of them at Value Village for $5.99). It may have been the most useful $5.99 I have ever spent. Anyway, these 3 are now permanently wedged into the offending window!
I sure hope Kona doesn't decide he needs to join the flying club, I have had quite enough.