The Ziva invasion & measuring

We have a "guest" at the house.  Her name is Ziva and she has her own blog.  Well it isn't HER blog, but it is a way to keep her owner in touch with her while she's across the pond visiting friends in England.  So feel free to click on the link to read about her adventure at what I'm calling "Camp Jill".

Since we have Ziva most of my effort has been put in to writing about her.  But life isn't all about her in my house, Swing and Dodge and Dirk are still my main pups and let me tell you, they are all very good with Ziva.  I am very fortunate that my dogs have always accepted other dogs that I've brought in to the house.  I believe it is a testament to good temperament and great personalities.  Swing is having a great time with this new playmate.  She has to be reminded to go a little easy on her in the yard since she's use to wrestling and slamming in to Dodge.  But she's doing much better and I think she'll miss the red and white girl when she goes back to her owner next weekend (yep, she's with us for almost 2 weeks).

The EZ Wicket that I ordered a month ago finally arrived last night and I just couldn't wait to use it.  It's a very nice piece of equipment, lightweight and very durable looking.  I wish I had it the night before because Howard wants to know exactly what Beau's height is.  We'll get that measurement next time we see them.  In the meantime Swing's height is 25 1/4 inches at the withers and hopefully she'll drop a little once she comes in to heat and her chest drops.  Dodge stands 26 1/8 inches, definitely not the 27 inches that the official agility VMO measured him at (and if obedience required height cards you can bet that I'd have him re-measured).  Ziva is too short to measure since the smallest height this wicket can register is 17 inches.

My guys are on a short break from shows at this time.  Swing will show in a couple of weekends at a small show outside of Allentown and then Dodge will take center stage for a few weeks playing in the obedience and agility rings.  My retraining, or should I say re-working, of his ring confidence and attitude in obedience continues and we'll be showing in Beginner Novice to get us through this bump that turns out is much bigger than I realized.  Once again I hope to have him back in the Open ring this fall to go for his CDX.

Good luck to all of Swing's siblings in whatever adventures they are embarking on.  We'd love to see you guys again some time.

Ella updates!

We haven't been doing much in the heat.  I'm working on getting Ella to stand for an exam like the Novice stand which is good practice for the breed ring. She's entered in her first match the end of the month & then hopefully at least one day in a small outdoor trial before the Wine Country Circuit in late September. 

We've been focusing on weaves - entries specifically. Helene has a very different method from the way I taught Stanford. She really focuses on their commitment to always put the first weave on their left. We began with only 1 weave, then moved to 2 & just added a third. We work around the clock and I also vary my position & speed. I am in no hurry so I want to be sure she is very solid at each step before moving forward.

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Let us know how she does at the match Ann and thanks for writing!

Milo's many travels (the New England tour)

I wanted to send a brief note.  We have been traveling since Wednesday.  We drove to Vermont to see Gogol Bordello, a punk rock group, in concert.  It’s a long story.  Today we left for Maine and I am writing this email from a hotel in Bath, Maine.  Milo is sleeping on the bed. 

On the way from Vermont to Maine we stopped at the Dog Chapel.  I had heard about this place and had even bought t-shirts with reproductions on them from the artist who created the Dog Chapel.  It was a fun place to visit.  People come there and post pictures and letters about their departed pets.  This is the first church I have ever visited that welcomed dogs.  The gift shop has lots of cool stuff and Milo now sport a very trendy bandana, with the artist work “Bad dog” on one side and “Good dog” on the other. 

Tomorrow we visit Bowdoin College Art Museum to see William Wegman’s show.   One of us will be outside with Milo, who will be outside signing autographs.  Then on to the Bar Harbor area where we rented a house for the week. 

In the last month,  Milo has  become ball crazy.  All he want is for us to throw him the ball, over and over again.  He can go on for hours.  Certainly longer than we can.  When we want him to stop we tell him the ball is tired and that is his signal to stop playing.  He is a funny guy and a great travel companion. 

    

One year later...

Believe it or not it has been a year since Swing came home to live with "the boys" and I.  Whew, time sure has flown.  We've done a number of things over the last year, attended a puppy agility workshop, Fit to be Tricked workshop, a couple of obedience seminars (as both an auditor and a participant), traveled to Orlando to debut in breed at the cluster before the Eukanuba show, showed in a few matches, went to agility trials (to keep Dodge company), made numerous visits to Amy and Michael, and the list goes on.  We continue to take lessons from our friend Nancy in Harrisburg and this fall she will see the breed ring a few more times before getting back in to tracking.

One reoccurring theme here seems to be this - Swing is one well traveled gal!  Born in New Orleans, the litter made its first trip at the tender age of 5 weeks when they were driven up to Knoxville TN by their co-breeders where Amy and I met them before bringing them back to southern PA.  They spent a few weeks at Amy's, growing and being stimulated by toys, visitors, other dogs, etc. and finally at about 9 weeks the majority of them headed to their new homes.  I believe Gracie Dot traveled the farthest to her final destination in St. Louis MO.  I was fortunate because I got to see all of them every weekend and it was so much fun watching them grow and develop.  Gracie Dot always brought a smile to our faces with her spunky attitude and just plain "cuteness".  Beau, who was the bruiser at first, to this day loves to play keep-away with sticks and toys.  Ella, the sweet one, came out of her shell after moving to Rochester to join Dodge's brother Stanford (I told Ann she and I are cousins since we own littermates from two litters) and Milo sprung up and is now much taller than Beau.  Speaking of Milo, I know he has logged a number of miles too making a few trips to FL and back in his first year.  Travel is definitely something these guys are comfortable with!

 Ella @ 6 weeks

Swing @ 6 weeks

Swing @ 13 months

Gracie Dot @ 7 weeks (didn't I tell you she was cute!)

For those of you that have never seen our puppies grandfather, here is Mia's daddy Mason who is co-owned by Mary Ann and Laura, co-breeders of our litter!

Mason

Swing and I have had a great year and for me personally, owning a little girl after 20+ years has not been as bad as I thought.  I make no bones of the fact that I love my boys and perhaps she will be my one in a million (hopefully that will not be the case but...).  The ride has just begun and my plans for her are lofty.  She's starting to show in conformation (we've been trying to let her grow out as she's been somewhat slow to develop) and as I mentioned above, I'd like to pick up tracking again in hopes of following in Dodge's footsteps and making that her first performance title.  The effort I put in to her foundation work seems to be paying off in obedience training and once she's steady on stationary skills we'll start to work on some more agility skills.  Lots of time to accomplish that discipline as I like to get my guys in the obedience ring before heading down THAT path <wink>!

So what about the rest of our siblings, send me your reflections on the last year and your goals and hopes for the future of your puppy.  Swing and I hope to see sister Ella and brother Milo soon (shows and matches, right guys?) and of course the dastardly duo will be up to their own shenanigans, especially if I have anything to do with it (I'm always coming up with something for them to do together be it a seminar or workshop or just a get together with our friend Helen and her fluffy samoyeds Ravi and Spice).  Until next time...