A Sad Day

Well, today the last of Bizzie's puppies is going to her new home. She's 9 1/2 wks old now, so I've become quite attached to her. I'm sure she is going to be an awesome little dog - she's very brave & smart!

I think Biz will be quite happy to see her leave now -Mika's been tormenting Bizzie by grabbing her ear fringes & yanking on them!

It's been great fun raising a litter of pups - I learned a lot, and I was very proud of my little Bizzie for being such a great little mom!

Here's one last photo of Mika! Such a pretty little girl!

Wee Wed Trial

I was quite excited about the Wee Wed trial last night - it offered Starters classes, so it was a good opportunity to get Blast & Bizzie out for a run.

We hadn't been to Wet Ck for about 3 months because of the shavings that were so deep - I was worried about the little dogs getting wood chips in their eyes.

Anyhow, because it was so warm, they had the big back door of the arena open, but had barrels closing it off from the horses outside. Of course that was something my dogs hadn't seen before.

The standard course started off with a straight line heading straight for the back door ( I don't know why a straight line is supposed to be easier for starters dogs!! Not so for fast dogs with old handlers!) Blast ran first & did a lovely 2on 2off on the DW, then ran directly to check out the barrels & to see if he could get out the door... he did come back without zoomies, & did a pretty good job until the weave poles, which he thought he'd never seen before. He did finish off nicely, but it wasn't our best showing, that's for sure.

Bizzie, who hasn't done anything for 4 months due to having puppies, was back to her usual self - broke her start line & ran like crazy down the DW to the barrels, just like her brother. She had some great moments, was really fast - especially in that tunnel vortex where she had to get a couple more tunnels in, would not stay down on the table, but had a nice finish. So many opportunities for training!

I also ran Biz in the jumpers course, & had it not been for her stupid handler sending her over the wrong jump, she had a great run.

I took Mika along for socializing, she met lots of new people, barked at the dogs that got in her face, & had a good time watching some of the runs - she will be leaving on Sunday for her new home.

I have the dogs entered in 2 trials in sept, so I have lots to do before then!

I still have to figure out how to get Blast to weave at a trial - he does awesome weaves at home or in more controlled situations. Any suggestions?

Mika

Mika is the last puppy to go to her new home - she'll be leaving on Sunday for her big trip to Mexico! What a fun puppy she is - she was the biggest pup & the first to do everything. She's now almost 9 wks old & she thinks she is one of the big kids now - she zips around the house, trying to get the big dogs to chase her, she is sleeping all night in her kennel, & she loves to be outside!

Bizzie's Back!

So Bizzie has been out of commission for about 4 months - 2 months pregnant & 2 months puppy rearing, so I was unsure of what she would remember about agility...

Apart from doing 6 weave poles in the back yard she has done nothing. Anyhow, I took her out to a friend's place where she had the Nationals jumpers 2 course set up for us to practice & Bizzie did really well. Other than our timing being off, I was very happy with her runs. She even held her startline! I have her entered in a couple of trials in Sept, so I was a little concerned about how she would run. Of course in a trial setting there are many more distractions & excitement,

so anything can happen. We'll try the Wee Wed trial this week & see how that goes!

Mini Me

Bizzie had one black & white puppy - a girl called Zip-r.

She reminds me so much of Bizzie when she was a little puppy.

Here's Zip-r

Here's Bizzie as a pup, but a little older

Do you think they look alike?

Zip-r also has many of Bizzie's mannerisms - she makes a funny little panting noise when she runs really fast, & when she barks at you for attention, she slams her little front paws on the ground. Boy, I'm really going to miss this little one!

Puppy countdown

Well, the puppies are almost ready to leave for their new homes. They are so much fun right now (& so much work!) Who knew puppies could poop so much!

They love it outside, they love people & have met many new friends over the last week.

I have an Ikea tunnel outside & they love to run through that & tear around the yard.

I also borrowed a tiny wobble board from a friend & they play on that & have no fear.

Hopefully I've done everything I could to make sure these are happy, healthy, confident pups.

Here's some photos of them in the back yard..

I Love Puppies!

The puppies are 6 wks old now & are just full of energy!

Here they are wanting out of their pen.

































This is Wee Willie with his Monkey
























I think she fell asleep with the toy in her mouth























The little black & white girl is going to look just like Bizzie!

2009 Nationals is History

We just got back today from the AAC Nationals in Ottawa this past weekend.

It was a pretty interesting weekend - the weather was hot & muggy on Fri & Saturday, then we woke up Sunday to rain.

Thursday we did a warm up run & after all our teeter practice, (which went well), Boo didn't like the teeter, so we practiced it a few times. Unfortunately, we couldn't take toys or treats into the ring. (well, some did, but that's another story)

Friday we just did one Steeplechase run - Boo ran clean & placed 2nd; I was pleased with that since I know he doesn't like to run in the humidity.

Saturday, our first run was jumpers & we had a refusal when I didn't pull him in quickly enough to the tunnel, so he approached a wrong course jump, but he ran pretty well. Our second run was Gamblers, which has been our most difficult game to date. He ran really awesome, got the mini gamble twice & got the final gamble & placed first! Pretty good for a little velcro dog I thought! Our last run was the standard & it had a very tricky opening. It was a tunnel/ DW discrimination & just when I thought he had the DW he scooted into the tunnel - not a great start... he then missed a weave pole entry, which doesn't happen too often; anyhow we placed somewhere at the end of the class in that one. I was surprised to see that we were in 3rd place in the aggregate after day 1, even with the bad standard round.

Sunday, our first run was gamblers & it started to pour just before we ran. Boo did the first couple of obstacles, then ran into a tunnel & sat down - he finally came out & got 32 points, but the final gamble included the dreaded teeter, so he bailed, which didn't surprise me.

This is Boo after his first run!

Our second run was standard & he was clean until he ran right through the weave poles like he didn't see them, so we had 5 faults. Not too bad, since it started to pour again right before the little guys ran. We finally had a clean run in jumpers, but he wasn't moving very fast, so we placed 4th.

In the end, we placed 7th overall, not as good as last year, but respectable. We were very happy that our friends Amanda & Wicca placed 2nd overall since they are such an awesome team & really deserved it. I found the courses quite difficult compared to what we're used to, but I guess that's what Nationals should be!

This was our benching area on Sunday, after the rains - oh look - it's Shannen in a HAT!