A Mostly Perfect Weekend

 This weekend was a whirlwind of dust, dogs, blisters, loss and victory.

Friday:
Badger and I were entered in Rally novice. We have never had a chance to work on dirt before so I figured we would need a little extra time to warm up. Although he was being a bit of a pill he still responded well.
We ended up with a score of 92 and our first RN leg.

Saturday:

The morning started early with Conformation at 8:30am. For Phlox's first time in the ring he did very well. Unfortunately he got 3rd out of three dogs. I really felt the just didn't care much about the puppy class so didn't put much effort into judging them.

Abba Showed in Juniors but didn't place at all. She was showing a new dog but still did very well.

Badger was taking advantage of my sick, tired state. I had very little hope of a good run and was keeping my fingers crossed just to Q.
We did our run and I knew we at least Q'd. I headed back to check out the score and saw a 100 where our score should be. So I waited for them to catch their mistake...No mistake! Badger earned his second leg with a perfect score.

Sunday:

Another early morning with Conformation. This time Phlox was all hyped up and ready to go. He didn't show as well as the day before but that didn't stop him from taking first in his class against two other dogs. His very first win!

Next Abba showed in Juniors. This time she won her class and went on to compete for best Jr. Handler.
Abba won best Jr. along with $1,000 towards collage.

My mother was the time steward at the Rally ring so I knew we were in trouble. Badger loves her and was looking for any excuse not to focus.
We started off really well. Badger was focused and working...until we passed my mother. He continued working but we ended up with a 91.
Badger earned his RN in three days.

My friend also earned her RN this weekend. Way to go Trish and Grace!

Grace with her ribbons

Getting ready

Look at that face.

First time in the ring

First Place, Perfect score

What a good boy.

Abba with Diamond

Saturday Fun

I just love this boy.

Growing Up Is Hard To Do.

Tea cup agility started up again after a month off. Phlox was excited to see his favorite obstacle the tunnel. He ran towards it only to come to a sliding halt. The poor guy just doesn't fit any more.
At 19 inches and 50lbs he is now too big for most of the little dog equipment.
We made the best of the class doing the weave polls and jumps but I think he may have to sit that class out from now on.

On a much happier note. Phlox is moving quickly at last.
He has always been a painfully slow mover. I think even slugs have passed him up while walking.
All this week I have been working on speed, fast response time, fast recall, fast heel work etc.
We hadn't made much progress. He would just walk along a few feet behind me with his sad, thoughtfull eyes gazing up at my face. But today his little light bulb came on.

He trotted along side of me, Ran when I did and paid attention to my speed adjustments. It was definitely the break through I have been waiting for.

Videos and photos will be posted next week....I promise....maybe...

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Phlox Finally Has A Name!

Now that Phlox's skin is looking better and showing him seems possible I finally pulled his paperwork out and send it in. I have been avoiding posting his full name any where until it was official. So I am now introducing....

Eden's Perennial Success

He also just hit 8 months old. Here are his pictures from this month

And here are some pictures of Violet :) 

She was NOT amused.

Ok so I didn't end up getting any videos done last weekend. I didn't actually even get to train any of the dogs. 

And I'm Back

I haven't blogged in a while mostly because I haven't had much to put up also because of some health problems we've been dealing with in my son.

On a pet related medical note. The vet finally diagnosed Phlox as having foliculitis. It's an infection of the hair follicles that causes red bumps and inflammation and leads to the hair falling out. He has been on treatment for a little over a week. I can already see a huge difference and I'm thinking that he may look good enough to show in the next couple of months.

Training wise I have been doing a big fat nothing. With everything going on health issues, personal stuff, board and train puppies I have had my hands too full to deal with my own dogs.

Starting today I am really getting started polishing Violet's utility exercises. I promise... I really mean it this time. She has just gotten so use to being a couch potato that its hard to get her up and moving again.
I also need to do a novice refresher with Chuck and start taking Phlox through all the novice rally signs.

I would like to post weekly training updates on my four but I can't make any promises at this point. I'm going to attempt to film the first one this Sunday so keep your fingers crossed.

On a side note Phlox's brother Dylan was in the news paper the other day. It is an article on dock diving www.mysanantonio.com/life/pets/. Good looks run in the family :)

Ignorance is Never Bliss

I have run into so little breed discrimination since bringing home Violet that I some times forget it exists.

We started a new puppy class tonight. Phlox was there like he always is being his usual goofy self.
A family came in with two small children. We love to have children in our puppy classes to help socialize the pups.
We put my son and the two other children in a pen so that the puppies couldn't jump up. By this time I noticed the mom was uncomfortable but I thought she was worried about her children's behavior.
To make the kids happy Phlox and I got in the pen. I have never seen such a look of horror on some ones face. The mom was terrified. I asked if it was ok. She said no. I asked if it was because he was a "pit bull". She said yes.
She quickly took her kids and walked out. Her husband handled the puppy the rest of the class.

It was like some one had come into my home and slapped me across the face while insulting one of my children.  It would be one thing if Phlox were an out of control adult dog who was here for aggression. He's not. He's just a 7 month old puppy who already has his CGC and is training to be a therapy dog.  Well socialized, well behaved and very well trained.
Needless to say we will be addressing breed discrimination next week.

To ad insult to injury they have a black lab puppy.
Here is what a 9 month old black lab puppy did to me a little over two years ago. Just a daycare dog I was walking 100ft to a potty spot.

These pictures don't show all the wounds or how deep they were.

It's a little hard to see but the red spot on my cheek is where I hit when he dragged me to the ground.

 I got very lucky and people responded to my cries for help. It took 4 men to get him off of me. It makes me sick to think what could have happened if there had been no one around.

More Pictures

I came across a few more pictures from this weekend. Most of the pictures were taken by a fellow blogger, Trish. She takes great pictures and competes in rally as well.

I finally found some of Chuck. Here we are waiting for our green ribbon.

I love this picture of Badger. Although I think I've looked better.