Crazy Wind

I'm sitting here watching things blow into the pool.

There's got to be a song here somewhere:

The chair goes, the wind blows
The house shakes, my agility dog quakes

No one wants to go out to play

Oh, crazy wind, crazy wind, you've got stickers under my skin.

The sun shade is down
The trees pound into the ground

oh look, a sage bush has come to stay

Oh crazy wind, crazy wind, you've got stickers under my skin.

A fire is raging,
two hillsides away

My van is ready if needed today

Oh crazy wind, crazy wind, you've got stickers under my skin..

Ok, I know, I know...it's the best I can do.

Party dogs

Well it is almost party time! Fin got a special breakfast and has lots of training time with the Momma today. You only turn 1 once!

Lots of Milestones Today

Today a number of milestones have been achieved. First of all I must say that Kel and I have been married 20 years! The time just flys by. We are looking forward to another 20 for sure.

In addition, our little Fin "HiMarks Holy Mackerel!" turns one year old today. We can't believe our little baby is a young lady.

And lastly, our cruise tickets arrived today. We are really going!

It has been a busy week. Sat Kel and I took the pups for a walk and then headed down to Monterey for the day. I originally had imagined going down and taking the pups for a walk along the ocean and Kel imagined a romantic outing just the two of us...we did what he wanted to do. In the end I really enjoyed the time with Kel. It was fun to "practice" our upcoming vacation. I even "dressed up" and wore makeup. Imagine that...maybe I should add "wearing makeup" to the milestone list.

Fins training is going well. We went up to powerpaws for our regular privates with Nancy Gyes. Fin was amazing. She was a good girly and did EVERYTHING asked for. We started her on the A frame and she was AMAZING. She really enjoys flying through the air. I'll get some video up later in the week. She is ONE amazing dog.

Our milestones are fun, but they are just stepping stones in life. I truly enjoy this journey I'm on and every stone I step upon is a memory.

How to identify agility dogs

Really fast agility dogs can sleep in the comfort of the bed on your high priced linens as easily as... in the dirt...actually, they first sleep in the dirt and then they sleep in the linens, just so you know that they are dirt dogs.
Smart agility dogs claim the most comfortable chair for themselves.
Easy going agility dogs sleep in their own bed, but require down comforters.
Mamma boy agility dogs sleep under mama's desk. Mama boy agility dogs don't want to be outta site of the mama.

Where does the time go?

June 2007, I had an idea to go on vacation with my husband for our 20th wedding anniversary.

He is a good husband. A loving man who quietly goes about his life letting me do whatever the heck I want with very little complaint. So last June I was feeling quite loving toward the man and thought I'd plan a "big" vacation for he and I to "get away."

At first I thought we could rent an RV and with all the dogs, travel for a week. We could go from one National Forest to another hiking, reading, bar b quing.... His sad face said it all. The man wants to "get away" and I can see the definition of that is "no dogs."

In the end, we choose to do a cruise. Peg and Rich are going and cruising is a great way to travel when you are traveling with another couple. It is also less expense (given the Euro to $$ ratio) than getting a car and going around Europe on your own and it has an elegance and luxury about it that is relaxing and rejuvenating.

That was last June.

It is now May 2008. The reality is that I'm going to "get away." I'm excited about the trip (no doubt about that) but nervous about being away so long. We will be gone 16 days! My stomach does a little lurch when I think about it. How will the pups handle it? Is it too much to ask my sister and friend to watch them? What if something happens? What, how, why, ohhhh. I'm sure once I'm on the plane I'll be fine.

June 12-15 we will be in London visiting with our good friend Julie and her husband Nick. We will be visiting the Natural History Museum, the Tower, going to a musical, strolling along the Thames, and taking a ride on the "eye."

On June 16 we go to Harwick and board the Jewel of the Seas.

Kel and I have a "balcony," room and I'm looking forward to spending time just hanging out there. Although it is a full itinerary, we will have plenty of time to relax and "hang out." We'll have special dinners and romance. And best of all, Kel will "get away" and we'll be able to dance and hug without four youngsters barking at us.

I will be taking my computer with me (so I can download pictures each day). I will also try to update the blog a few times while we are away.

It will be fun and I'll miss the dogs, but it is good to spend time with ones husband and family. I'm thankful to the individuals who are making this possible and helping me with the pups so I can go have fun.

A new Series! Agility Video Reviews - Start Lines and Impuse Control

I'm going to start an irregular series of blogs on agility videos. Today is the first so I'll include a brief introduction.


The truth is that I like to think that I have a specific methodology to my training. The truth is that no body knows it all and everyone can learn. This is why I beg, borrow, and purchase dog agility videos for my own education.


The one thing that I've learned is that if the trainer (presenter) on the video does not train in a similar methodology, that I don't learn much. It isn't that the handler isn't a great handler with great dogs that has something to teach, it's that if I decide to train their way I'll have to start over.


A good example of this is the Jenny Damm videos. She is a great handler, been on the world team, her dogs are amazing, I've met her and she is a nice person. However, her handling style is so unlike my own, that watching the videos was not really for me.


I watch alot of videos. In no particular order, I'll preview them for you here on my blog.

I've been watching the Susan Salo Jumping series, but I'm not done with it. I'll wait and do that one when I'm finished.


The first one will be...ta da....

Start Lines and Impulse-control Games - Julie Daniels
Available through www.cleanrun.com (or you can always borrow from me:) )


This video was taken during the 2007 Clean run instructor camp. Julie Daniels is nationally recognized instructor and seminar presentor. I found her to be entertaining. She had a demo dog that she demonstrated, but most of the video was her speaking.


Basically she uses the methodology of operant training (clicker training) in that the dog is constantly asking what's in it for me? She wants the dog to think that their behaviors are resulting in them getting what they want.


The basic idea is that you start with the release and work backwards to the "hold position" (basic backchaining). I thought the video was interesting, but did not blow me away.

My recomendation is to "borrow this one" and view when you don't have much else to do.

Fun Times

A fun weekend and a clean pool. What more could one hope for.

Tazz and I went to the Bayteam two day show with our buddies Laura, Wynn, Havoc, and Brazen. Special appearances were made by "my husband" on Saturday and a surprize visit on Sunday by "Trish."

Some might think that the best part of the weekend was my "FOUR!" qualifying master runs, or my TWO 4th place finishes with Tazzie in our first weekend in all Master classes. But the truth is that having my husband hang out with me and my sister pop in for a visit was more uplifting than all the "Q's" in the world (although they sure help...keep it up Tazzie!).

Tazz is now an official "Master Jumper." I thought he was a master jumper a few weeks ago, but I didn't realize he needed 5 "Q's," I thought he only needed 3. Now he can hold his tail up high as he got his two jumper q's in one weekend.

Fin stayed home this weekend with her daddy, Rocks and Maddie. She has had too much fun running around the pool and has tore off one of her pads. Little gimpy girl hung out with her dad on the sofa chewing on bullies and watching sports on TV.