Happy Birthday

Well, time just flies by.  I can't believe it's already been 2 years since I had to call my friends at 2 in the morning to come over to help whelp puppies (and by help, I mean do all the work, and teach me about puppies).   It brings back such fond memories, of carrying the laundry basket full of puppies downstairs in the morning to take them outside.  All the cuddling, and the puppy kisses (and of course, cleaning up all the little puppy poopies). 

So, here's a few pictures of Smokee.  I decided to do a before and after shot since I was reminiscing.  Every picture of Smokee that I see, I'm just amazed at the amount of beautiful hair - still waiting for Heidi to grow some undercoat.

Smokee (and the boys) Then

Smokee Now

Another shot of Smokee Now

Dock Diving

The USDAA nationals were in the Denver area this past week. In addition to the agility trials, they had many other dog activities. I took the girls down one afternoon to try some out. My friend Donna went with to help hold dogs and run the video camera.

First up was dock diving.
Izzy went first.  They had the beginner dogs use the ramp that is used to get out of the pool to start out.  I would toss the ball in and let them swim in to get it.  Then, they would use the ramp to get out of the pool (this way they also learned how to get out of the pool after a "dive").  After a few tries of this, we went up to the platform.  The platform is a couple feet above the water, so it's a bit scary for the dogs.  Izzy accidently just jumped right in.  (see video below, and watch the reaction of the nice man that was helping).  When Izzy came up, she had a look of terror in her eyes.  I ran down to help her find the ramp, which she didn't quite locate.  Another nice person that was taking photos of the event sacrificed his dry-ness to help grab Izzy and pull her out of the pool.  After that, Izzy really didn't have any interest in jumping in from the platform.  She did, however use the ramp to go back in.

Heidi  then took a try.  She loved the ramp.  After her tries with the ramp, she went to the platform.  I tossed in the ball, and we encouraged her to get the ball.  After thinking about it for a few seconds, she jumped in.  Heidi was able to find the ramp and get herself out of the water for a second jump in from the platform.  She didn't really get any distance, but she did jump in twice, so pretty good for her first time.

Heidi gets used to the ramp

 

Izzy jumps in

 

After the Dock Diving, we went over to give lure coursing a try.  

The course was setup with short orange flexible fencing seperated by about 3 feet to make a course then weaved around.  There was a wire that went around the course near the ground, and a furry toy was attached.  The dogs then chase the furry toy around the course to the end. 

 

Heidi went first, since she seemed the most motivated.  As we watched, Heidi became very interested in the fast moving furry toy, which we told her was a squirrel.  By the time she got to the start line, she was ready to run.  We got the "go", and released her.  She shot out like a dart and took off after the "squirrel".  She quickly ran the course and finished.  At the end, she decided she wasn't done, so instead of letting Donna get her leash back on, she jumped the fence still trying to catch the "squirrel" (OK, she actually jumped the fence a bunch of times before we caught her).

 

Izzy's turn.  Izzy didn't seem quite as interested in the toy.  I let her go, and she went out about 15 feet and turned and came back.  They moved the toy back and forth, but Izzy just wasn't into it.  We were about to swap dogs to give Heidi another shot at it, and the very nice man running the controls said we could do both dogs at the same time.  Awesome.  We put both the girls at the start line and released.  Heidi took off like a shot after the toy.  Izzy decided she would go ahead and run with Heidi.  They both made it around the course and this time we were able to grab both dogs before anyone jumped the fence. 

 

Heidi said that she would like to try both sports again.

Izzy Joins in the Fun

Izzy decided to give swimming a try.  At first, she still seemed hesitant, so I waded into the water with her and stood beside her for moral support.  As I stood there, she paddled her way over to the ball.  After that, there's been no stopping her.  If the ball is in the water, she's going in after it.  If we play ball in the yard, and she gets to hot, she takes the ball, drops it into the water, then swims in after it.  She then just stands in the water until she cools off.  I'm going to have to invest in more towels.

Izzy the swimmier

We Have a Swimmer

Well, it didn't take Heidi long to start swimming.  I think she got tired of waiting for Ken to fish out the ball, and she figured that if she didn't go get it, Izzy might.  So, in she goes.  She now seems to enjoy tooling around in the water.

Bobbing for Tennis Balls

After a couple days, the girls are getting a bit more adventurous with the pond.  They'll now go in up to their chests.  They're slowly working out how to actually get a tennis ball from the water. 

I'm not going in there

We got moved into our new house.  We were in a rental home for a month and a half, which luckily had a fenced back yard.  It was small, but at least the dogs could go outside off leash.  So, as soon as we closed on our new home, we took the dogs to their new backyard and let them off leash.  They ran and ran delighted with the amount of space (we now have an acre).  Then had much to investigate, including 2 water features that include little streams the dump into little ponds.  Ken tried to coax the girls into the pond by tossing their favorite tennis ball into the water.  The dogs wanted no part of it.

Disc Dog

Back in May, Izzy and Heidi attended their first disc dog tournament.  It was a wicked cold, windy, rainy day.  Someone was kind enough to share their tent, so at least we stayed mostly dry during the day.  When it was time for the beginners Toss and Catch competition, the wind kicked in which made throwing virtually impossible (well, at least for me).  Izzy caught a few, which placed her in the top 5 or so.  People were super nice, and despite the bad weather, we got to see a bunch of nice teams perform.  In the next field, there was a dock diving competition going on.  I watched a bit of that.  I think Heidi might like to try that someday.

Izzy's first disc dog tournament

Finally got my old computer up and running so I could download pictures and video - after searching in box after box for the keyboard, I finally just went to the store and bought a new one.

So, back in March, Heidi went to her first U-Fli flyball tournament, where she was entered in Pre-flight.  Pre-flight lets the dog run by themselves without the distractions of other dogs in the lane.  Heidi seemed to really enjoy herself, and she had some super fast times.

Heidi's first flyball tournament

Smokee Pics

I know  it's been a while since I have posted updates.  In the next few days I should be posting some new videos from our new house (ok, actually from our new backyard).  We have moved cross-country to the foothills area of Colorado.  We are safe from fires, but can occasionally see the smoke plumes. 

To tie you over until I post my updates, here's the latest picture of Smokee - I know who got all the fur in the family.  You would think that he could share with his sister Heidi, seeing that he has enough fur for about a dozen dogs.

Smokee

Puppy Match & Disc Dog

Saturday our club held a keeshond puppy match.  Before the match started, we did a mini disc dog class.  Since I've gone to 2 classes, I was the "trainer".  Everyone worked on how to properly hold and throw the disc, then we brought out the dogs individually to play.  For the dogs that weren't used to catching the disc, we threw rollers (throw on the edge of the disc to the ground, so it rolls quickly across the ground) - very fun chase game for the dogs.  Izzy and Heidi then got to show off their moves.

After the disc dog fun, the puppy match was held.  Heidi was entered in the adult category, and won best of adult.  Tug also participated and received best of opposite adult.  Heidi and Tug got in some good practice time in the ring before the show season begins.  There was also time during the day for a lot of play time with the other dogs - lots of fun.

Izzy heading down for the catch

Heidi doing a flying catch

Heidi showing off her freestyle flip

Heidi doing a freestyle catch

Heidi & Tug's first agility trial

Today was a big day for Heidi and Tug - their first agility trail.  I entered Heidi in all 5 runs, and Crystal and Tug were entered in 2 runs. 

The first run of the day was Full House.  I call this a run-a-muck game.  You have a time limit to collect points by performing obstacles in any order that you choose.   Heidi started the run by heading over to the table, which normally stops the clock.  Lucky for us, the clock had not started, so we didn't get zero points - not really a great start to the day.  She then did a few obstacles, then jumped on me, barked at me, and snapped at my legs.  Hmm, she doesn't do that in class - guess we were wound up.  Tug started out about the same, except he didn't snap at Crystal's legs.

After that, we were entered in Jumpers.  This is a marked course, with only jumps and tunnels.  Heidi had a slighly better run, only barking and nipping at me a few times.  Tug's run started awesome, until the ninth obstacle.  After doing jump number 9, he decided he had enough.  The audience entertainment then followed as Tug went into zoomie mode.  Maybe not so fun for Crystal, but very cute to watch, and Tug sure seemed to enjoy himself.

Heidi's third run of the day was Standard, which is just that, a standard agility run with a numbered course.  Heidi was awesome - just like class.  No barking or nipping, just a nice run.  At this point our weekend was successfull.  Heidi received her first qualifying run.  Go Heidi.  We completed the day with 2 more runs, one of which was a qualifying run.  All in all, a very fun day. 

Heidi's First Agility Run - Full House

Tug gets the zoomies

Heidi's much better Standard Run

Flyball Izzy

Izzy and I participated in a U-FLI flyball tournament this past weekend.  Izzy had an awesome time - what's better then racing other dogs, getting a tennis ball, AND getting treats!  Izzy received 2 new titles TF-1 and TF-2.  Izzy's team also got 1st place in their division.

Since the tournament was over 2 hours away, we decided to stay up in Euclid for the weekend.  We shared a room with a friend who brought her miniture poodle and her Hungarian Mudi puppy, who is 4 months old.  At first, Izzy & Heidi were playing with each other - of course on the bed.  The puppy was getting upset because he couldn't get up on the bed to join in.  I helped him up, and he joined right in the fun.  He quickly learned how to get up on the bed himself so he wouldn't miss any of the action.  They had a great time.

Dodger, Trophy, Izzy, Yippee