Phil wasn't fibbing!

Ole' Punxy Phil was right on with his prediction this year.  Winter came with a vengeance shortly after his 6 more weeks of winter prediction.  The landscape has been white for weeks now and I've found a few muscles that haven't been used in a while from digging out the drifts that have formed on the lane (and that is one of my projects later this morning, more digging).  I'm not complaining though, part of living in the sticks as well as learning what the weather is like over here.  I've already decided that one of my purchases this summer will be some good old snow fencing (and Murphy's law means that once it is up next winter the snowfall will be nothing like it's been this year - and I heard that collective cheer everyone just made!).

Earlier this month Swing and I went to two trials and finished her Beginner Novice (BN) title.  Our first leg was earned back in December and I'm very proud of how she improved every time she entered the ring.  It's been a learning experience for both of us, me adjusting to a new partner and she learning to perform in a ring that requires focus and attention for an entire test (which equates to about 5 min for Beginner Novice and 7 minutes for Novice).  I think all of us will agree that focus and self control is something that requires constant work with our pups.  It is one thing that makes them fun to train but frustrating when it comes to competition.  Swing can hardly contain herself when the judge approaches for the exam (sit in Beginner Novice, stand in Novice) and at our last trial she held it together until the last exercises when she exploded from heel position just as the judge said "exercise finished"!  Yeah, we'll work on that one.  :-)  Anyway, I'm looking forward to her Novice debut which I'm hopeful will be at the Washington DC Weim club Specialty in April.  

I had the opportunity to add a little boy to the household but decided to take a pass when he wasn't measuring up to my standards.  Rachel Page Elliott, who was on the forefront of analyzing canine gait and movement (she wrote two books and produced a video that studied canine gait and movement using xray's, something that had never been done), says that what you see at 8 weeks is what you will see as an adult.  With that in mind most breeders base their decision on what puppy to keep/show by what the puppy looks like at 8 weeks.  I really liked this one puppy and probably would have taken him IF I didn't have my wonderful Dodge's 8 week old picture as a comparison.  I will have the opportunity to watch his sister, who is basically the spitting image of the boy I was considering, grow up because my good friend Sallie finally got the puppy she's been waiting for.  I'll find a cute picture of her for everyone to see but for now trust me when I say that she's as cute and smart as our pups were at that age.  As for my next boy, the wait continues.  

For those of you in the PA, MD and VA area I wanted to let you know that the DC Weim club will be having an agility fun day on March 22nd and a ratings test at the beginning of April (http://dcweimclub.org/wcwdca.php).  Look in the right hand column for more information.

Swing and I hope to see some of you in our travels this spring (which IS right around the corner).  Oh and I noticed Milo's Rally Advanced (RA) title was published in the February issue of the WCA magazine, congrats!  Art keeps mentioning that they will eventually try agility once Art's handling gets better (Howard will agree that keeping up with these guys is the biggest challenge to running them in agility which is why Swing isn't going to see that ring until she's further along in her obedience work).  I have heard from a classmate of his that they are doing well so I have no doubt that when Art and Milo do show they will be successful.  Sister Ella continues her training now that she has been transplanted to Colorado, I hope Ann sends us an update soon.  And we cannot forget about Gracie Dot!  How has it been out there in the middle of the country?

Until next time!