A week with Hank (Beau) and a brag

Hank has been hanging out at Camp Jill for about a week now and it's been a pretty decent week.  The last time he stayed with us they were only 5 months old and things were a lot different in this household.  I do think he's been enjoying himself, he's had a lot of exercise, trained a little and been on the road almost as much as he normally is with Howard.  This weekend we went to our friends farm to play on the agility equipment and today we took a road trip to a breed match so that I could show Stitch who belongs to my good friend Sallie.

Stitch and Hank

There was a slight overlap when I had both Stitch and Hank and as you can see, Hank had fun playing stick keep-away with Stitch.  With Swing he would rather run around and explore which means he's been a bit too close to the road at the end of the lane for my liking (where one goes the other eggs them on to go farther so they've been wandering a bit) or out behind the spring house looking for bunnies.  Thank goodness he will do a recall, especially if Swing responds when I call her (they have had selective hearing once or twice) but if that doesn't get a reaction out of them I can always get a reaction if I say "let's get some cookies!".  We have another week or so to work on that skill along with a few others.  :-)

The brag for the day is that Stitch went to her second match and came away with Best Puppy in Match!  Every time she entered the ring she got better and better and both Sallie and I were super pleased with how she did.  If things keep moving in the direction they have been we could be looking at another Champion in the future.  Here is a shot of the little girl from today's match.

Stitch - Best Puppy in Match, Lehigh Valley Owner Handlers Association

She is two days short of 5 months of age and she handles the ring as if she's been showing in it for some time.

On our way home we stopped by Cabela's to let the dogs out to potty and stretch their legs since all of the adults had only been out of the vans for a short period of time while we were at the match.  The afternoon was lovely, the humidity had broken and there was a nice breeze going.  It was a nice pit-stop before heading home and calling it a weekend.

Hank gets to enjoy us for another 10 days so we'll get more pictures to post and perhaps a story or two to tell.  Stay tuned.

Camp season!

A few years ago I had a house guest when Ziva, my friends Welsh Springer Spaniel, came for roughly 10 days.  Today I have another house guest but this time she's grey.  Her name is Stitch and for those of you that have not met her, well let me introduce her.

Running around the pond

Stitch is my friend Sallie's new addition and her dam is Giselle, a Chatawey dog, who was bred to Summit from Silversmith Weimaraners.  Sallie's plans are to show her in Obedience and Rally but before that she will be shown in conformation.  She's already shown that she may be a nice show dog, at her first official match she got a Sporting Group 2 from a very large 3-6 month entry.  Needless to say we were very proud of her.

She's been getting a lot of exercise while she's here and as we all know, a tired puppy is a good puppy.  As of this morning she has taken TWO dunks in the pond and in both cases she got herself out and was none the worse for wear.  I will admit that the first time she went in I did run (ok, sprint) down to the pond but she was already out of it and shaking the water off.

Shaking it off

Yes, that is Swing's butt in the picture.  I personally believe she pushed Stitch in the first time.  :-)

Stitch will be here for a few more days and the next camper will be our little brother Hank!  Yes, Howard is entrusting his boy to me for two and a half weeks.  His comment when he asked if I could keep him, "Beau may not want to come home!".  That means the next blog entry will be filled with stories and pictures of his adventures while he stays with my crew.  

Now, what is everyone else going to be doing for the next month?  And before I close let me wish all of the moms out there (human and 4 legged alike) a very happy Mother's Day.  

Stitch, Lifeguard in training