Not Our Most Organized Day...

... You know how some days you just want to rewind and start over? I am thinking yesterday was one of those days! Well, at least after 12:30 pm.

We went to the Lake St. Louis shows for a couple of reasons. Laura was entering with Carly, our co-own pup. I wanted to see them both, and Carly's brother Sherman was also entered. I haven't seen him since August . I also wanted to get Hawk back in the ring to practice and keep up his attention. I wanted to enter Syd just so she can DO something outside of agility practice and conformation classes. And, finally, it was time to take a deep breath and show Kane in Open B obedience again. If he's going to enter at the CWCCA specialty, we have to get some practice in. It's been two years since he trialed (at the CWCCA specialty May 2006). I had to search for his dumbell and wash all the dust off! Kane and I practiced very little before the weekend. Like going to ONE drop-in class three weeks ago. That's how "little" we practiced!

Kane showed on the dirt floor of a horse barn yesterday morning, and I got a jolt when I strolled up to the stewards table and discovered that the 4 dogs ahead of us in line were No Shows. EEEK. With a smile, the steward told me calmly that I had about four minutes and then we'd be up for our turn in the ring. I took Kane out, we played a bit in the practice arena, and off we went. Anyone who knows Kane in obedience knows that we have had on and off lagging issues in heeling. I worried that Kane would be flat and stressed. The first exercise was Drop On Recall, and, well, Kane blew the drop. He took off out of his wait like a shot, and when I gave the drop command, he slowed, lowered his head, but kept creeping. When the judge finally signaled that we failed the exercise, I gave a second command, Kane dropped like a champion, and the judge was kind enough to finish calling the front and finish. It was actually nice to blow it on the first exercise, because the rest of the run was stress free, and great practice with my dog. Second was retrieve over the high jump, and that was great. Then came heeling and figure 8. I felt a bit nervous, but hoped for the best. Well, Kane did me proud, and he was happy, up, and heeled with me beautifully. I could only see his smiling face looking up at me, but friends outside the ring said his heeling was great, and his tail was up and wagging. That made my day! He even forged a bit on the outside turn of the Figure 8. We didn't even practice this once before the trial. Kane completely blew off the Broad Jump, which was no surprise. I realized (as we were walking over to set up for the broad jump), that we had not done any practice in a LONNNGGG time. Good boy, Kane, you gave it a try! Sits and downs were perfect, so I was really thrilled with how well Kane did, considering his mother did NOT prepare him for the trial.

So, obedience was over by 11:30, and conformation was not until 2pm. We went to lunch, walked the dogs, etc. For some reason, I was walking out to pick up armbands and some liver, and I looked up to see the ONE class Cardigan dog already in the ring. ARGH. Hawk showed before Cardigans, so I completely blew his ring time. And Carly was in the first puppy btch class, and I sprinted back to grooming, grabbed her from Laura, and took off. It was close, and I arrived just as the other 6-9 puppy left the ring. SORRY LAURA and CARLY! Poor Carly thought some mad-woman had taken her lead, the way we were running. I will say that once we were at ringside, Carly was pretty animated and alert from her big dash to the ring. Nothing like having all day to putz around, and missing a 2pm ring time! We'd been at the show since 9:30 that morning. I swear... I guess it's just another day, another dog show! I'd like to say it's because this was my first dog show, but that probably wouldn't fly. :-)

Take a Boe-Woe, Nick

Nick deserves to take a Bow-wow, or in Nick's case, a Boe-Woe. One night this week, everyone was sound asleep. Nick usually sleeps at the foot of my bed, unless he's snoring in my ear, sharing my pillow! On this night, I was sleeping soundly, and did not hear any commotion until Nick alerted. I awoke to those sounds we dog-moms identify immediately as "not the normal bark." Not only was Nick barking, he had jumped the gate from the hallway into the living room, and he was standing on the back of the sofa (yes, all 95 pounds of him perched on the back of the sofa like a cat). He had pushed the plantation blinds out of the big front window, and his entire body was taking up the window. I could hear the window vibrating back the low growling and barking. I did not know what time it was, but it was still pitch black, so I knew it was definitely before 6am, and something was not right.

I had not heard anything prior to Nick's barking and growling, so I eased up toward the front door, ready to peer out the two small windows at the top of the door. I anticipated seeing a wayward dog or cat, even a raccoon in the yard, or something equally as dangerous, like a trash can lid blowing through the yard with our heavy winds!

Instead, I had a major adrenaline rush when I tiptoed up to the front door windows and found myself eye to eye with a man standing on my front porch. EEEEKKKK. I hollered through the door, asking who he was looking for. In the end, it turned out to that he was looking for the same house number on the next street over, but it was still scary. And after all was over and I was way too alert to go back to sleep, I figured out that it was 4am. I never heard the man knock or ring the doorbell at all. But thank goodness Nick did, and I am definitely glad to know the Big Dog is around to watch out for us.

Zen and Zzzzs

This afternoon, Kane, Giz, and Syd went to see their favorite vet. The dogs love to go see Dr. Perkins because she is their chiropractic/acupuncture veterinarian. This is always the most relaxing time for the dogs (and for me). Aunt Jacque gave Giz the best Christmas present ever. She gave him a gift certificate to go see Dr. Perkins for an acupuncture visit. Kane and Sydney had chiropractic adjustments. Kane gets a little hitch in his giddyup sometimes, and Dr. Perkins gets him all back together. Sydney is just fine, but since she's getting serious about her agility training, I want her to keep up with maintenance to be sure she stays healthy and happy.

Gizmo always gets his needles when he visits Dr. Perkins. Then his needles get hooked up to some electro-stimulation, and it's Lights-Out for Gizmo. The office has some really great relaxation music playing, and it's quiet and peaceful. Once Kane and Syd had their adjustments, they sacked out while Gizmo had his acupuncture.

Gizmo looks like he's mad, but it isn't because of all the needles. It was because I was trying to get a photo and he was fighting to keep his eyes open. For a dog who can't sit still for two seconds, the dog is a wet noodle (a snoring wet noodle) during and after his 30 minutes of acupuncture.

I was afraid that Giz might fall off the table today. He was completely asleep, arm and head lolling precariously off the edge. I always love the needles in his head. The first photo shows his Tinky Winky needle, and this photo shows his Antennae needles. :-) Notice the semi-comatose Kane snoozing on the floor.

Syd learned very quickly that the second chair in the room was much more comfortable than the cushioned flooring. This is about as serene as this little girl has ever been! I admit, I even take the time to relax and I often close my eyes and take advantage of the peace and quiet.

Happy 10th Birthday, Nick!!!

Boe-Woe! Nick's 10 today!

2005, with his favorite tennis ball, minus the grey face.

You might be grey, and you might have to stretch a little bit longer when you wake up in the morning, but without a doubt, you are still a puppy at heart!

Good boy, Nick. You're a kitty's best friend.

P.S. We *think* Nick may share his birthday with a new baby from Sullivan, MO, but we are not sure exactly what time the text message arrived. :-)

Wordless Wednesday

Mom loves you, Kane!

Congratulations, Kane (only two years late)

Woops, I have no idea how I did not know this, but my laziness alerted me to yet another proud mom moment. I looked at the calendar and realized that there are only a few close-by opportunities to get Kane brushed up on his Open B obedience. I plan to enter him at the specialty in April, just to support the club, and hope he qualifies! His CDX and obedience trials are 2 years behind him. So, as I'm entering him in the Wentzville show and trying to remember his registration number, I am too lazy to actually leave the computer or go through the tedious steps to log in to my account at the AKC website to look it up. I opted to Google his name, hoping one of his show entries would pop up and I could get his registration number.

One of the Google listings was the Front & Finish obedience rankings for 2006. I opened the link and did a search through the document for his name. Kane trialed 6 times in 2006, two days in March and four days in May. He finished his CDX in 5 trials, placing 4th in Open A (class of 25 entries), and the last day winning a run-off for 3rd place in that same class of 25 entries in Open A. The 6th trial was bonus, at the CWCCA specialty, where he won 1st place in Open A. So it never occurred to me to check rankings or anything. What I discovered Friday is that Kane was ranked as the #4 Cardigan in obedience for 2006, with only 6 trials to his name that year. Huh, imagine that! :-) Good boy, Kane! I think I owe you an extra cookie, and it's only 2 years late.