My trip to the WAO

What a great trip!  I've been back for a week now & of course I'm sick from airplane air.... seems to happen every time I go on a big trip.


Hotel ter Brughes



We had about 5 days to sightsee before the competition began, so we saw Amsterdam, Bruges (Belgium), Aachen (Germany), Maastricht (Belgium).  Europe is just so different from Canada - people seldom worry about many things we seem to get uptight about.   Dogs are allowed everywhere & are seldom neutered.  People are responsible for their own safety when walking on the streets - it's a little scary in the big cities - there are trains, cars, bicycles, all driving fast & the intersections are almost every man for himself!

If you ever get the chance to visit Bruges, you must go - it's such an interesting old city (I think it's a city). The hotel where we stayed was built in the 1500's.. updated of course, but very interesting.

We saw a beautiful cathedral in Aachen, gorgeous stained glass everywhere...    We had a great bunch that travelled together - 7 of us in 2 vehicles! 


The event was held at a huge equestrian facility.  There were 2 outdoor rings & 1 indoor ring.  It's a little confusing to know what is going on - we did have running orders for the individual events but not the team events.  The courses were very tight for the large dogs, the double jumps were huge - as wide as they were tall - many of the dogs crashed but got better as the days went on...

There were some amazing dogs & handlers - some interesting handling & some slower dogs as well....  Canada did well & we did earn some medals....  I think the experience was awesome & it was great fun to go with no stress & just be there to cheer on the team! 

My Big Adventure!

Well, I am off to cheer on the Canadian team at the WAO in Belgium... just 2 more sleeps!
It will be nice to have a break from all my responsibilities, but I'll miss the dogs like crazy...
There are quite a few team members from Alberta, so it should be lots of fun!  Hope to do some sight-seeing as well.

It is only a short time until our Regional competition, but I'm hoping the break will be good for all of us.
Bizzie has been licking obsessively again - still not sure if it is allergies or stress or just habit.  She hasn't been running very well at the past couple of trials - starts the course then stops suddenly & just looks at me.
My thoughts are: 
  - she's hurting (has been to the chiropractor)
  - she hates Blast (ran fine when I took her to a Wee Wed trial by herself)
  - she's jealous of the time I spend with Ditto
  - she has allergies (now on raw diet)
  - she was upset because Critter was in heat

Other thoughts - She runs awesome at practices,
                        - She sleeps more than the rest of the dogs
                        - She only plays with me apart from the other dogs
                        - She's just a princess?

Anyhow, she will have quite a nice break while I'm away so hope it does some good.
I'm going to have a blood panel done again as soon as I'm back just to rule out anything physical.
If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears!

help I can't keep up!

New technology is driving me crazy - everytime I buy something new I have to strain my brain to learn how to use it!  Finally got used to my iPhone now I bought an iPad...  I need to keep a young person around at all times to help me!  'That's my rant for the day!

On the dog front, we've had some successes & some not so great results... 
Blast is somewhat of a loose cannon - never too sure what I'll get in a trial situation.  I've started giving him some flower extracts to relax him but haven't had many opportunities in trial situations to see if it's making a difference.

Bizzie remains a puzzle.  We did 3 days of trials on 2 different weekends with lousy results.  She would start off running then suddenly stop completely... never did a set of weave poles  in any course.  Then I took her by herself (no other dogs) to a Wed evening trial & ran her FEO & she ran just fine.
I really suspect that our other female being in heat is really affecting her even though she is spayed.  I don't think there's any science to support that, but it's my gut feeling.  I'm giving her a break right now which is a little scarey since we won't have any more trials before Regionals to see how she is...
She is still licking her leg a lot, which is driving me quite crazy...

Ditto is now 14 months & doing great.  I took her to a fun match last weekend & she behaved quite well. It was her first time outdoors & she ran happy, held all her contacts & was relaxed enough to play. 
She's a happy little girl & loves to work so that makes training her tons of fun!