I am a bad earth-dogger!

A few weeks ago I found a mouse in my grain bin. Being the savvy trainer I am, I took the opportunity to hold Tally in the air and let her see the little mouse. I then tipped over the grain bin and set Tally on the ground so she could chase the little rodent. Alas, I put her down too late, and the mouse made its escape. Tally thinks I held her too long on purpose, and I'm not saying one way or the other- what would other earthdoggers think of me if they knew I spared the little mouse?

Tonight though, things went a little too far.
The mouse was back, with two friends and a child. THREE adults wild mice and ONE teenage mouse were having dinner in my grain bin this evening. This is totally unacceptable.

I had one terrier in the barn and two more terriers in the house at the time. One is working toward a Master title, one is the perpetual Intro dog who might be pushed into a Q at the Junior level if I can just find the right button, and the other is pretty young but shows a lot of inclination already.

So what do I do- amass the three dogs and tip over the bin, figuring only the fastest mouse will escape to snack again?
No. I lock the terrier (and the Maligator, in case he has any funny ideas) in the tack room, and, having learned from the last time that letting the mouse out in the barn results in it coming back, I carried the bin 200 feet into the woods and dumped the little mice out to make a new home.

Don't tell any of my earthdog friends.

I still love it.

On Wednesday I went to a herding clinic with Roy Sage of Idaho. It is the first time I have been herding since last fall. We gave mom the day as her Christmas gift. Roy is like the dog whiperer of herding. Well actually, so is Dave Viklund, Lynn Leach and Larry Painter. All of the clinicians who were at Brigands Hideaway in Battleground this week. I love herding, it is the simple pleasure of watching the stock move to the command of the dog. Instinct, teamwork, a symphony...simple pleaure.

DENA DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!

OWNER HANDLED CHAMPION CAIRNGORM BOX OF RAIN!!!!
CONGRATULATIONS HUNTER.
Hunter got the two points he needed to finish his AKC Championship on Easter Sunday March 23 in Bremerton.
We are so pleased for the Wolfepack! How about a picture Dena?

American Champion KinLoch Kalil Legally Blonde

I don't have a show picture of Elle yet but this is her on the table getting primped for the show. It was a great day and worth taking the day off of work. Unfortunatly, it was not a major but then again when it takes 12 bitches for 3-points, they don't come along that often. There were 7 bitches and two bitch specials - one in the top ten (yes, I'm bragging.) She went BOW and then BOS. She showed like she actually liked it. Sunday she showed OK but the big tendon I gave her after she won on Saturday didn't really agree with her. It still was a great day as Casey was BOB. Three breeds in the four shows with two group placements. Elle thinks he is looking better now.




Ilene, Casey, Elle, and I headed for the coast on Monday. Ilene is doing reseach (with a few dog shows on the weekends) for her lectures. I took her to Tillamook (had to have some icecream) and we stopped off at Pacific Seafood where the oyster plant is. Then off to Garabaldi. OH, a fish hatchery off the road. Oops - 11 miles up. Oh well, it was worth it. (I will blog and show pics later.)
Then continuing on north to hit Highway 26 to head home and we stopped at Cannon Beach for some dinner, a romp on the beach and then home.

This is Casey and Elle at Cannon Beach after Ilene and I had a great dinner at Moe's. It truly has great Clam Chowder. --->



And here is Elle doing what she loves most... going after birds.

Happy Toto again!

Happy aka: Toto was in another production recently! He is such an awesome little dog. He was at Sunset High School production of The Wizard of Oz. Since Betsy has been too shy or busy or something to brag about her boy, I decided I would. He did a great job and more to the point, our "paws" buddy, Betsy donated her time and expertise to help make this high school production a success. We all know a real dog is better than a toy and much more work to do it right! (This picture is David Douglas High School)

CONGRATULATIONS ELLE!

and Vicki and Ilene. Elle completed her AKC championship this weekend in Albany. It was very exciting. That makes Vicki's 20th home grown champion! Come on Vicki, lets have some blogging!

NO GREEN THIS WEEKEND FOR KONA.

Okay, Kona may be superdog, but I am not superwoman. Moving up to Rally Excellent this weekend, we did not earn a green qualifying ribbon. Saturday, Kona did all I asked of him (we would have passed with a low score). I was marveling about what a wonderful dog he was BEFORE the run was over! That is not a recipe for success...unless you are superwoman! So, I went right past a station and then approached the jump way wide and had to basically make a turn to not go past that one too! So, for some reason Kona was confused....go figure....just too many things wrong to pass. But I was really proud of him. Sunday was just a total team failure. He was not with me at all. We had to honor BEFORE the excercise. He did fine on that, but it is important to have Kona "up" and playful for a successful excercise and that just wasn't happening following an overly LONG honor on down! Oh well, we have Bremerton next weekend to give it another shot and now we know what it feels like to be in Excellent.

Updates

This weekend at Albany-

Sammy, with Rachel holding the leash, showed in Novice B Obedience today with 40 dogs entered. She scored 191 1/2 and earned fourth place!!

Another Cairn friend, Echo, along with her leash-holder Brad earned TWO Novice B qualifying scores this weekend. Only one leg left for her title! After that comes Open! Are you working on retrieves, Brad?

Kona did Rally, Kula sat around showing everyone her deep brown eyes, Dena and Betsy both came down wearing skirts, our friend Ilene came all the way from the East coast, and Vicki set a record for herself by showing JUST ONE DOG all weekend. All those folks should get with it and post their results!

Don't click on the comment!

Sorry guys. Someone "commented" on the last blog about the Yearbook. It is spam, but I can't figure out how to remove it. So............DO NOT CLICK ON IT!!!!

CTCA Yearbook

A sneak peak at the National Club Yearbook. A reliable source has told me that it is back at the printers after having been proofed. They should be printing tomorrow! I am so excited to see all the wonderful dogs inside.

Kudo's to Katrina. I know it will be phenominal.

The vet says....

The good news is that after x-rays of both legs, Kula's left leg has virtually no arthritis (they say that is what starts the degeneration leading to her problem). The injury is to her right leg. There is already arthritis there.
The good news is that Kula is a small dog and easy to carry around.
The bad news is that the surgery ain't cheap, but if she was a big dog it would be twice as much!
The good news is Dr. Iverson is one of the best in the area for this surgery.
The bad news is that we have to wait until the 31st of March for the surgery! Or, maybe April 7! Must be hell to be so good that you have a full slate that far out!
The bad news is we have to keep Kula basically off of it til then, then the recovery begins after the surgery! It is a 3 month process to non-restricted activity! Then 3 more months until she can start training for agility.
The best news is that this has been going on for 6 or 8 months and is probably the reason she has had some agility apparatis issues! (Dr. says it is entirely possible it started when she jumped away from the dog who went after her at the agility trial last summer.)
So that means that when this is all over, she may love to do what she loved to do again!!

Earthdog Educational Seminar coming up....

“DOWN AND DIRTY”
2-Day Earthdog Educational Seminar
April 26 & 27, 2008

2-Day Educational Seminar for Earthdog Judges and Competitors
with AKC Field Representative, Barbara Teigen

Videos, educational materials, rules updates, raffle and door prizes.

hosted by
DAIRYDELL CANINE Doggie Dude Ranch & Training Center
and Connie Bartlett
2575 Adobe Rd. Petaluma, CA

$65.00

I AM A WHAT????????????

I took this silly quiz on Dogster...well I actually took it twice. The first time it said I was a Border Collie! Now that is an okay dog, kind of intense and not really how I see myself. So, I took it again, there were some questions that I vascilated on the multi choice answer. I used the other answer to see the result. It said I was a BULLDOG??????????? What is up with that...read on.

Wow, You're a Bulldog!
Bulldog
The Comedian
You may look like the troublemaker of the pack, but it turns out your tough guy mug is worse than its bite. You're really a softie, loyal to your friends and family and A-OK with meeting new pooches, but you prefer to do so with a high-five instead of a paw-shake. Proud of your great sense of humor, you've got a whole litter of jokes you draw from to keep the mood playful and the positive energy alive. A perfect afternoon for you involves a leisurely stroll with a pal, followed by a little downtime in an easy chair with a frosty can of brew and a remote control within easy fetching distance. You shed accusations of being lazy, knowing perfectly well that you're kenneling the energy you might need for... well... something. Learn more »
FAMOUS BULLDOGS: Ellen DeGeneres, Whoopi Goldberg, Jack Black, George W. Bush
LIKELY PROFESSIONS: Comedian, Firefighter, Racecar Driver, Bartender

Not at all about dogs-

but an effective way to reach a bunch of my friends all at once.
Today I recieved my acceptance letter to Lewis and Clark School of Law. I have been given one of 220 seats in the class entering Fall 2008; over 2,900 applications were recieved and reviewed. Financial Aid awards will be announced at the end of April.

New Senior!

Tally, our very own Albino Cairn Terrier with the droop ears, earned her Senior Earthdog title yesterday at Turner. It was a fun spring day, no rain, enough mud to remind us that we live in Oregon, and many good people. The judge was also superb, although there were rumors that she was a little crooked, when one looks at who the only two qualifers in all of Master and Senior classes which she judged were (Griffin and Tally).

Today Vicki, many dogs, Barb, Betsy and Toto came to join us. The junior and senior dogs haven't run yet, but we have high hopes for our little Man In Black. He is such a trooper, been on stage the last few nights until late, and now he's down in Turner putting those rats in their place. What a boy.

Vicki/Sammy's puppies are doing well, they came down to their first ED event and practiced walking on leashes like little champs. Well, the one looks more like a little chump, but whatever. Vicki has pictures and probably more news to share later.

Great day today in Seattle...at the dog show!

Today was a good day! Kona earned another Rally Advanced leg with a score of 89 and placing 4th. Now the significant thing about this is that in the middle of a BEAUTIFUL run an old lady got pushed up next to the rally fence IN A WHEEL CHAIR! That was interesting to Kona, and I just about had him convinced that I was better fun, when SHE STARTED TALKING TO HIM!!! Let me tell you, I was totally dying, I could not believe it. I finally got him back with me and we finished the run in good form. I was thrilled that we qualified and astounded when our number was called for 4th place. (I think my affirmations book did the trick.) We had a blast. The important thing was that Kona had fun and we qualified!
Also, Susan Harper finished her young mail Jefferson.(Meaning he is now a Champion). Nancy Delyea's, Clark, Jefferson's littermate earned a rally novice leg. Ilene Kaplan's Casey won BOB and 3rd in group.
Really awesome, for you agility fans, Robin K. (Mr.Robin) and his Pap earned their 18th MACH!!! Agility history was made and I was there to see it! So, it was a very excellent day at the dog show in Seattle.

Transportation for Kula

I just bought this for Kula! I am so excited, we will be able to do anything we want...I can even take her shopping! The crate comes off the wheels and can buckle in the car or to use if we are not going to be mobile. Cool!

Counting Blessings

Kula is okay.
Kula blew her ACL today. I am counting my blessings. We live in an area where the surgery she will need is fairly routine. My new vets office has a surgical guy with a good reputation. I had heard a gal talking about him not too long ago, having had the same surgery for her dog.....coincidence? I am counting blessings. We can afford to do this. For the next 4 months Kula is not allowed to do anything except potty on leash. No running, jumping, chasing the ball, weave polls, nothing! At least she has cute leashes.....and best of all. When this is all over.....SHE WILL RUN AGILITY AGAIN!!!!

4 POINTS...EH!

We had our first dog show experience in Canada this weekend...well, showing experience. We went up Oct of 2006 and watched one.

Kona did very well, getting 4 of the 10 points need for a Championship. He got Best Opposite Sex all three days, so that was fun...not as fun as Best of Breed.....(am I ever happy?) We plan to go to Vancouver Island in August and see if we can finish it up. There are 9 shows, should be fun.