Let sleeping dogs lie

Late at night, on one of those rare occasions that I am home, I sit on my couch and watch movies. Chick flicks to be specific. Tonight is "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2" a story of 4 young college girls and their friendships, turmoil, lives.. albeit a brief glimpse, it speaks volumes of the dynamics women and their relationships with each other, their families and men.

Tonight.. I had two sweet boys curled up next to me, one on each side of me, sound asleep.

When it was just Happy and I, BO (before Oz), I would be on the couch and Happy would be snuggled in his Critter Cube under the chair against the wall. It makes me appreciate the way life is.... Happy was who he was because that is what I needed when I first brought him home. He was a puppy that would take me on walks without fear. He would let me know how much he loved me by staying in the coat closet by the front door all day until I got home and would then greet me with a wagging tail when I came home. Holly called him my closet dog. When I had the second bout of cancer and was gone for an extended time she was quite concerned about him until I came home and then she understood. He would let me have the bed to myself but stayed close by during the night. I can't tell you how many times he's awaken me because I wasn't sleeping right, I suspect a bit of apnea or perhaps I was snoring too loud.. :) Last week, for the first time ever, Happy slept on the bed with me, not just for a while but all night, not just at the foot but right next to me. Did he know I needed him there by my side those 2 nights or was it really just because TomCat had his rocking chair? No, he knew I needed him there. Typically, if Tom was in the Rocker he would go under another chair in my bedroom and sleep there. Not those two nights, he was there next to me.

My sweet Ozman has changed our hearts. He has been goofy, sweet, loving and gentle (most of the time) and turned both Happy and me into snuggling machines. He's showed Happy how to play tug, fetch, be really cute for treats!! Best of all, he's showed him how to lay on the couch and get petted "'til ya pass out"!! AS hard as I tried I couldn't get a picture of them on the couch with me so you'll have to settle for these shots of them sleeping in other places in the living room. I think this weekend has been hard on them.. having me home all the time is hard :)

I love these two little doggies, they are my life, my loves... and tug at my heart all day long no matter where I am.

Sweet Lou is brilliant!

Janice took Lou (formerly Zin) to his first clicker class last night. The instructor said he was brilliant! Janice said there was nothing she could teach him because he already knows it all. (Now there is a scarey thought...a 5 month old terrier who "knows it all"!) We have always known he is very smart and eager to please as with all of his siblings. Have fun Janice and Sweet Lou, a good start to a lifelong love of learning.

He is 8 days old in the picture. His registered name is Crofters Dream Zinfandel O Cairngorm.

Dena is a Grandma..

...and Bill is a Grandpa. Her name is Scout. I am sure Dena will share more pictures later.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PAT!!!

Happy birthday to a wonderful human being! It has been a delightful journey, still enroute.

Hope it is a wonderful day for you and you don't groom too many doggies there on Bainbridge Island at the Bed and Biscuit!

Oh Canada!

My first trip back to Canada since quitting flyball 2 1/2 years ago. I remember that crazy time of flyball, when I went to Canada 17 times in two years. Where did I get the money and how the heck did I have the time???

Tally got to stay at Castle Quarles for the weekend. I'm not sure she noticed we were gone.
Sammy's an old vetern of Canada and handled the border crossing very well. At first I only had a rabies certificate for Mary, so the plan was that Sam would answer to "Mary" at the border, but then we stopped and got a new one for Sammy printed off. Rain's job on the drive was to be quiet and not take up much space (his male privilege sometimes goes to his head....) and he did a fine job of it. We added Pat and her two girls in Seattle. One of them barked at the rear windshield wiper each time I ran it, which gave her some cuteness points.

On Friday when Sammy went BOB and got three points (with only 10 needed) I was thinking, "Everyone says it's easy to finish a dog in Canada, and wow are they right. This IS easy." The rest of the weekend, not even getting out of the Open Bitch class, I realized that it's only easy if you win.

Sammy showed me how much she has matured. She hasn't been shown since finishing in Montana 18 months ago (yay conception of the blog!!). Back then, she bounced off me and around the ring. A squeeky in another handler's hand was a disaster, casuing her to spin and flip. I remember a large Open class in Portland where the judge asked me if the dog ever stood with all four feet on the ground. On the table, she would lean back away from the judge, not because she was shy but because she didn't want her face touched.

This time, I couldn't get her feet off the ground. I started feeding her for standing on my knee simply to get her moving. Table manners were perfect. She free stacked well through the entire class and was serious about staring her bait down. In the large group, she didn't want her tennis ball- this wasn't a game, what was I thinking? Just put the chicken (thanks Val) in front of her face and stand still, like she was. It was a different style of handling her than I was used to, but by the end of the weekend I was appreciating what it is to show a mature, well-trained and well-behaved dog (ahem...... Rain, you're next).

Because we had fun, we decided to do it again immediatly. Chillawick entries close tomorrow and Pat, Val and I will be going again. I didn't really want a job until after Christmas, right?

Hattie is three now!

Hattie turned three while we were in Canada. In ways, it is hard to believe she is three already, and yet it is hard to believe she is only three. This picture is her first day with us. Just barely in the door, she grabbed the bone and dared anyone to try to take it from her!

This is the same dog!

Can you believe this is the same dog? Kona in 2006 (the blonde) and 2008. A perfect lesson in not choosing a Cairn Terrier for color!

We spent the weekend in Canada with Pat Gentry and Rachel Westlund. We had four cairns to show, hoping to finish Kona who needed four more points and Rags who needed a couple, maybe picking up some for Sammy as well. Sammy got the points on Friday, Kona on Saturday and Rags came away empty pawed. Rain (the Malanois) was empty pawed as well. That's a dog show for you. We did some sight seeing and sat through a HUGE wind (gusts 90km) /rain storm on Friday night, had a great time. So, we will all need to go back again. Kona only needs one more point....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KULA!!!

THE CUTEST DOG EVER!! Kula has been stealing hearts and winning friends for 9 years today. She is healthy and happy and ruling the roost. We will run out and have some agility today if the weather holds.

No--I'm not crazy

As most of you know, I have been having a 'problem' with Marty's gait. I see it from above while I'm walking him and he looks very off, almost limping, and he has been getting tighter and tighter in the rear. He used to like rides in the car and that too has been getting really bad.

I finally decided to look up a sports vet in Olympia who I had taken KinLoch's Lone Ranger for therapy because he was 'off.' That was about 8 years ago.
We had our first appointment today. I put Marty out front. He clung to the side of the fence shivering. Poor Marty - he so hates car rides. I put him in the harness up front hoping it would be better. Nope, two hours of shivering, panting and restlessness. I feel so bad.

We go in for our appointment with Dr. Patty Schaefer (the Goddess of pain relief.) She watches him trot in the room while I go to the bathroom. I come back and she sees what I'm seeing. Val gets there too. We talk a bit and she manipulates and stretches his back and rear. He is already feeling better. We go outside and as I gait him I look down and I don't see the funny movement. Oh my gosh!

She gives me exercises to do with him as he has little muscle in his 'drumsticks.' She thinks he has been compensating for an injury as a puppy. Maybe this is why he is so shy about touching his rear. In two weeks - another trip up.

Val and I then groom on Kona for the upcoming Canada shows. It starts raining so I decide to put "Marty" in the car. I put him in his seat belt and no shaking or panting. I thought - it is sure nice he doesn't seem to freak out before we start moving like "Homer" does. But wait, he does. We groom and then decide to go to Cabela's for lunch. Argg poor "Marty" - here we go. BUT - he sits quietly and then lays down. No shaking, no trying to crawl on me, no panting. Could he have been hurting so much that the car ride juggling and bumps made it even worse. I think so.

I kick myself for not taking him sooner and yes we should all go with our gut and intuition. We usually are right about things.

PS - "Marty" is the proud papa of three boys and one girl born on Sunday.

Happy Does It Again!

Vicki, Rachel, Sharon and I...otherwise known as "Happy Heads"...had the pleasure of watching Happy perform once again as Toto. This time the venue was Lake Oswego High School. As always, Happy stole the show!

Beach trip

I took the dogs to Seaside the other day. Might as well make good use of my time before settling in to a "real job."

Rain and Sammy entertained themselves by chasing off every bird who thought about being on the beach. Rain would chase them all the way out in the waves and find himself nearly swimming before coming back. Sammy would get distracted from the birds by the bubbles flying along the sand, and would chase those instead. Sammy also thought the man doing Tai Chai was throwing things, balls maybe, so each time we passed him she had to go over and see what he was throwing. Tally was perfect as always, never out of earshot, never bothered another person or dog, and only rolled in one dead thing.

I was sitting at the computer earlier today, hard at work as always, when I heard the downstairs neighbors say, "Look, a dog!" I haven't met the folks yet, despite them having lived in my basement for over a month (hey, I never said I was a social butterfly....). They haven't met my dogs, and they can't see the dogs in my yard from their driveway and house (the wonders of a daylight basement).

I called out to my roommate to look out in the yard and see if all of our dogs were there. I heard the downstairs folks say, "Let's let it in!" Their slider opened, they called "Here cutie!" and then it closed. My roommate reported to me that all of our dogs were in the yard as they should be, and I wondered what neighbor dog had gotten into the downstairs yard.
A moment later I heard, "This is the cutest dog ever. Oh my god! Give it your crust!" and the other voice, "This dog is adorable! We should keep it."

I stood up from the computer, informed my roommate that Tally was downstairs, and went down to knock on their door. They opened it and there was Tally, eating toast crust and wagging. We introduced ourselves, they said they were facetious about keeping her, and I brought Tally back upstairs and had a talk with her about slipping under the fence.

When my roommate asked how I knew it was Tally down there, without seeing her missing from the yard, I repeated what I'd heard- "cutest ever, adorable, let's keep it." What other dog on earth COULD they have been talking about?
My parents kept her for 10 days while I was back at Montgomory. When I returned, I had a calm, polite phone message from them informing me that they were keeping Tally and I could have some visitation rights- remarkably similar to the message I got from Janice and Bill when they kept her over the summer.

She is truely the dog that people meet, want to let in their house, want to feed, and want to keep forever. But she's MINE, all MINE!!!!