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