Definitely perk of getting a purebred puppy from a good breeder is being able to see the relatives.  You can see the resemblance in all of them, but they are also so clearly individuals.

Zim, formerly known as Bootlegger (who is enjoying his freedom again)

( Read more... )

Just a quick post, my schedule is about to get crazy again.  3 days of showing this weekend, there's a chance we could be all qualified for Morgan Hill after it, which would be cool.  I may have broken Vic's turns with all our "just go forward" practice, but it's still so novel to watch him go off-course.  Rich is doing great.  We've moved to a ( Read more... )

Tuesday was my last day at Julie Vanoni's.  I've been teaching there for over 8 years, the equipment wasn't always the best, sometimes the lights were difficult and yet, I loved my Tuesday nights.  The group has always been amazing, the most fun group and since we're moving to Happy Dog, I just hope the magic that was Julie's wasn't what made the ( Read more... )

Maybe it's happened before, but I can't remember if it has.  I know we've had 100% days, but I'm not sure if we've had a 100% Q rate for a weekend before, but this past weekend we did.  Oh, I did an epic fail on rehabbing contacts, but I was a having way too much fun for that.  ;-)  Of course, the most fun run on Sunday wasn't filmed.  :-(  I just ( Read more... )

Dog show today, I don't think I'll ever be a fan of early mornings, but so it goes.  Vic is lightly ready, we revisited some broad jumps this week, did some gnarly weave entries and I resisted the urge to worry about turns.  Goals are simple ( Read more... )

Been awol again, Bay Team was fun, picked up the Steeplechase bye, but still skipping Tenn.  The next week, I helped host Jim Basic down at Happy Dog for 3 days of seminars.  He is so good, master of the dark arts, I'm really good at Snooker and Gamblers, but knowing how good Jim is at teaching them, leaves me too humbled to even try.  Watching the ( Read more... )

As of Wednesday, we are in the 8th month of Rich.  And as is often said, it's hard to believe he's that old!  He is in a bit of a regression.  Hates my shoes again, as demonstrated by the destruction of another pair and the attempted destruction of a couple more.  Last Saturday, when we were getting ready to leave SMART, I said "come" and he turned ( Read more... )

Today is my last day up at Gentle Touch.  I'll continue to go up there on a regular basis to teach weekend workshops, so I don't have the guilt of completely abandoning my friends/students up there, but it's time and yes, I still feel sad and a little guilty.  Ah that Catholic upbringing and my Socialist tendencies make it so hard to do what is ( Read more... )

USDAA's new jump heights, so damn disappointing. I understand there's no making everyone happy, but it is impressive how few people think these were good ideas.  More frustrating is being heard or maybe what I'd like is to feel acknowledged by USDAA.  I don't know, I feel tired and let down and I know I'm not alone.  And it doesn't even affect me, ( Read more... )

7 months old, how did that happen?  Since the shoulder thing started I haven't been keeping as much track of how big he's getting or how he's changing.  I know he weighed 30.7lbs when he was x-rayed nearly 2 weeks ago, he's taller than Starlet now, so probably around 20", but most of my puppy viewing is spent waiting to see if he's going to show me ( Read more... )