I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!

Bayteam Western Regionals!  Four days!!!!

Start out on Friday with some warm up pairs, GP, and Steeplechase.  Last opportunity for those of us looking for that bi into Sundays Finals.

Five rings on Sat.  Five courses to walk in the morning.  Five courses to run throughout the day.  Team Standard, Team Gamble, Team Snooker, Team Jumpers, and then last but not least, the all important Steeplechase round one (I already got a bi for nationals, so it is very good practice).  We end the day in one ring for Team Relay.  Wish us luck!!  Walk at 8:15.  Eight minutes per ring, then move to the next.  Once all the walking is completed, we start to run. 241 dogs, 168 humans - all trying to do the best they can for their team.  There will be cheering, there will be moaning, there will be WooHooing!, and of course, I'm sure someone will need a hug.

Excitement!  Yes there will be much of that. 

Sunday - Steeplechase Finals!!  That will be fun to run and watch.
Monday - GP Finals!  So much excitement in a short space of time!

I'll be there, what about you?

It is a reality

Wow.  We have a sign.  Must be true.  Laura and I now have an agility field AND agility students.  Will we have lights so we can continue classes next week?  Who knows.  But I will say, the field looks mighty nice.

Tazz has been busy boxing up stuff to take to the field.  He is very excited.  I think he believes he gets the job as enforcement officer.  I'm trying to break it to him gently that no enforcement is actually needed, but I know he feels this is his special talent.  Ah well.  I wonder if he would like to be a Walmart greeter instead.  I can see it now.  Person walks into the store and Tazz says, "GET AWAY.  MINE!"

We continue to battle with the ground squirrels.  So far they are winning.  This week they put a freeway intersection right in the middle of our crating area.  Just not practical.  I'm going to have to meet with their planning commission.  There has to be a way that Laura and I can get some input on when they are doing major remodeling projects.  Fortunately for us, so far, knock on wood, the squirrels have left the grass alone.  Maybe that Gopher fencing is going to work after all!

 

 

Butterfly Killer

I have to confess that little Olive is a butterfly killer.  I'm walking along the trail this weekend and my friend says, "On no! Olive." I look down and she is dropping a huge butterfly on the ground.  That quick.  I guess it didn't taste as good as it looked.

Her curiosity doesn't stop there.  Friday evening I'm walking along and she starts shaking her head, I mean really shaking.  I reach down and brush a bee off her face, immediately stomping on it as I have a HUGE aversion to bees near me (I do want you to know that I regularly save bees that have fallen in the pool...it was only a gut reaction to a bee that may sting me or Olive).  I pick Olive up and run over to my friend Katrina and say, "I think Olive just got stung, do you have benedryl?"  Katrina is the person you go to for such things.  If she was in prison everyone would go to her for "stuff."  Katrina and I walk to her car (me still carrying Olive) and she gets her "kit."  She looks at Olive and says, "Oh, poor thing, the stinger is still in there."  I look at Olive and sticking out of her nose is a stinger.  OMG!!!  Get it OUT! I'm screaming in my head.  On the outside I'm like, "Oh Katrina, do you think you could get it out."  She pulls tweezers out of her kit and just as soon as you can say, "I can't look," the stinger is out and Katrina is examining Olive to ensure that she is ok.  Not only did she have benedryl, she also had a "pill pocket."  I said, "I don't think Olive will take that" as Katrina gave it to her and she ate it down.  I guess getting stung gives you an appetite.

One last one.

"Little O" and "Piggy Smalls" were having a wrestling match in the xpen under numerous watchful eyes.  Just as the wrestling was getting really fun, Olive leaps from the xpen and grabs a bully from one of the open crates.  Someone goes to grab her and she takes off.  I jump out of my chair and yell, "Someone get a tennis ball!" (I know if I have a tennis ball she is 100% coming to me...without a tennis ball, the chances plummet).  She is running in a wide arc with about 3 people chasing her and me standing there with my mouth open when she takes a left turn toward the rings.  The rings that she is headed toward are currently engaged with dogs running agility (I have visions of her chasing the dogs running in the ring with the bully hanging out of her mouth).  I yell, "O-LIVE!!" and low and behold she turns and heads back to ME!!  She dodges about four people trying to grab her and runs into my arms still holding the bully stick.  I guess her recall is getting better.

Weekend Update

I love SMART trials. This year found us back at Manzanita Park in Prunedale for the lovely fog and ocean breezes.  85+ at home, 60 in Prunedale.  Very cool weather!

It was a small trial so I didn't get a chance to take many hikes.  Always seemed to be doing something or other.  Sat we had some really great runs.  Got the gamble but ran out of time :( Standard, close but no bananas.  Fin crashed a jump in Standard and then was fearful of the spreads the rest of the weekend.  Poor thing.  But Sunday, she blasted through her courses like a freight train coming home with two first places!

Sunday Gamble


Sunday gamble was a good one.  I executed it as planned and felt so great as she jumped that last jump and knew we had it in the bag!

Standard


In the opening, she started to go around the double and I moved out of position and she redirected over the double...but...that put me way behind.  Finnie made up for herself by getting out and doing that tire.  Good Girl!  The rest of the run was me just trying to keep up.

Grand Prix

I had high hopes for GP, but I faded away too quickly after 3 and just pulled her off of #4.  Couple other mistakes, but some really nice stuff as well.

Things we will be working on this week before the regionals are:

• Contacts:  still getting a running contact when she is super excited.  Need to go the extra mile to proof them.
• Spreads:  Fin has spreads in her future.  All week we will be working on spreads.  Spreads...more spreads

Things that were super extra perfect this week:

• Weaves!!! OMG she hit EVERY weave entry I tossed at her.  There were some really tough ones.

Overall.  Fun weekend with friends.  Close enough to drive home?  Perfect.

Some words without pictures

Oh, I know how you like my pictures.  But alas, no pictures today.  Worked this morning and then packed up and headed to Prunedale for the SMART USDAA trial setup.

I'm on garbage detail again.  I'm also the vendor chair, but with only one vendor, I sorta feel useless in that area.

Put out all the trash bins out and had Olive with me.  Fin finds setup very boring and prefers to hang out at home rather than be in an xpen with no agility.  So Olive and I did our trashy work, helped set up a ring or two, and then had a bit of fun.

HotShot was there and I let them wrestle for 30-40 minutes in the xpen.  All went well until someone (I'm not naming names) jumped out of the xpen.  Then we just tossed the ball and had a great time.  She was EXCELLENT off leash and had perfect recall. 

Not to stretch my luck too far, I put her back on leash before she decided she didn't want to come anymore and headed home.

A few last minute things to get together for tomorrow, a relaxing evening, and then the big show tomorrow.  Getting ready for the Western regional next week!  Can't wait.

Hysterical

Dog Shaming:  http://dog-shaming.com/

I so could submitt my dogs to this!  Today a sign posted in front of Olive would read, "While my mom was on an important call with her client, I bit through the phone cord."  Yes, yes she did.  Give her an inch.....

Olive is 6 Months Old