Peccary

Boogie woke me up frantically at 6 AM Monday morning. He was sure that Mike had forgotten to set his alarm and that they were going to miss their first run. I had to break it to him that there was no agility today. His little ears went way back and he looked so sad.

To help Boogie get over his sadness, Mike took the three energetic ones out for a three-hour hike. Slugger got to stay here and chew on a bully stick. He didn't get finished but sure got a big smile.

So do you know what a Peccary is? How about a Javelina? For those of you unfamiliar, they are in the pig family.While they can travel in herds of over 100, they typically roam in packs of 8 to 15. They have short straight tusks which they use to defend themselves against predators.  They do eat animals but their preferred food is plants and berries, although they have been known to injure and even kill humans.

Cute, huh?

Fortunately for us, that did not happen this evening.

Usually around midnight each night, Mike takes all the dogs out for their late-night potty walk. Tonight the first batch (the three old dogs) went out around 11 PM. Just as they rounded the bend, Mike saw one Javelina. He stopped and waited for it to cross the road. Needless to say, Slugger was barking and growling.

No sooner had the Javelina stepped off the road into the desert, when eight more started walking toward Mike and the dogs from a distance of about 40 feet away. Mike tried to walk away but couldn't go very fast as Slugger was pulling at the leash to go get the Javelina. The two girls wanted nothing to do with them and were hiding behind Mike.

About that time, the largest one (about 80 pounds) decided to charge. Mike was sure he and the dogs were going to be injured at best. When the Javelina got about 10 feet away, Mike stomped his feet and yelled and waved his arms. Fortunately, the Javelina begrudgingly stopped. He didn't leave, he just stopped. Mike and the dogs slowly backed away.

In all the excitement, Mike dropped his flashlight. He decided just to leave it.

They made it back safely but Mike still had the two little dogs to take out. He decided they would just go to the little fenced-in dog area for a quick potty instead of going on their long walk like usual. I could tell Boogie was none too happy about that decision when he returned as he had a lot of energy and wanted to do a lot of training.

While I was training Boogie, Mike decided to go back out and retrieve his flashlight. I told him to go in the car but he said that was silly. Ha – not so silly! When he got there, the Javelina were still hanging around. He did manage to get the flashlight, but tomorrow he is going shopping for pepper spray!

That's about as much excitement as we need for tonight.

Debbie

Debbie

What a Weekend!

A while back, our club sent out a survey to see why people didn’t work more at agility trials.  As you might imagine, there were many different reasons.  One of the main reasons, was that they are running more than one dog so they don’t have time to work.  Mike is a very good example of how that logic doesn’t make sense.

Like every trial, Mike ran four dogs took care of a fifth, took care of me, and he still made time to work six times a day.  That is dedication.

The weather was absolutely gorgeous again today.  79° and sunny.  While everyone else sat in their tents in the shade, I laid in the grass in the sun.…  And got to watch agility.  I really can’t think of a better day in my situation.

And I was extremely touched.  Allison visited for quite some time with her wonderful border terrier, Grizz, who earned his NATCH-3 and Versatility NATCH-3 this weekend.  She also helped Mike out with his work assignments today when they conflicted with our photo shoot.  Visiting Allison was probably my favorite time of the whole weekend.

And quite to my surprise, Alison and her young baby stopped by to visit.  Alison is the one that showed Boogie for us in conformation.  We hadn’t seen her in quite some time so it was a very pleasant surprise.  Her baby is exactly the same age as Aria.  They’re both such good babies.  Seeing Alison was a very unexpected and joyous surprise.

I also had a very wonderful visit from Jeannine.  She was one of the very first people we met in Arizona on our first trip down for agility in 2005.  She had a dog named Jack that looked very much like Sparkie.  So of course we were drawn to each other.  We have been friends ever since.  Jeannine has since added two dogs, Roy and Jill.  In my perfect fantasy world, Jill would be my number one pick for my agility dog.  Of course that’s just a fantasy as there is no way Jeannine would ever give that dog up. And I'm sure she has a list a mile long of people that would like that dog! Every time Jill ran, I was blown away.

Jeannine has always loved the way Sparkie smiles.  So the two of them visited and did some smiling.…  With a lot of barking mixed in.  Again, it was a very pleasurable visit.  I’m so happy she took time to come to see me as I know she was very busy not only running her dogs but being trial secretary as well.

It really meant a lot to me that the three of them would take time out to come and not only visit, but sit down on the ground where I could see them.  Little things mean so much.

Of course the day was also enjoyable because I got to see all of our dogs run a run or two.  They are all not only doing well, but even more importantly they all look like they’re having a blast.

Boogie continued his amazing streak going five for six today.  His only miss all weekend was one very hard Chances run.  But he got two of three Chances this weekend which I would take any time.  So his grand total was 17 for 18. He ran fast all weekend. Good boy.

He did have something to say about Mike's handling on occasion though!  And he said it loud and clear!

Sparkie did really well today also.  Her only trouble was on her second Regular run.  She ran probably her fastest run of the weekend absolutely perfectly…  except for the very last jump.  Instead of being straight ahead, the jump was just offset a bit toward the middle of the ring.  Mike is used to running straight out of the ring....so he ran smack dab into the jump.  There went that Q!

But they still make a great team.

2iggie ran really fast....but she seems to have borrowed Boogie's Superman cape.  She lost 7 Q's this weekend due to flying off the A-frame.  We really need to find a place to practice before the next trial!

Wazzu made up her own courses today but got loud cheering from everyone anyway.  Too bad she can't hear any of it.

Fabulous weekend.  I told Mike that I'm requesting all agility weekends to be nice and warm just like that.  He said "request denied".  That means we have to go home in the winter.  Brrrr.

Debbie

On the Run

Another absolutely gorgeous day!  Sunny, upper 70's, happy dogs.

Boogie was perfect again today….another 6/6.  That is super great considering there was a Chances run today!

This picture may not look like much but it is actually very telling.  When he has his hind end really low in the weaves, it means he is going really fast.  He was really pushing it today.

Sparkie was running nicely again today as well.  Her only problem was on one of the Weavers courses.  The dogs came out of a tunnel, had to make a sharp left into a set of 12 weave poles.  The sun was directly in their eyes when they made the sharp turn and many dogs just didn’t see that set of poles and ran completely by them….the entire length.  Sparkie was one of them.  So she just missed time.

2iggie continued her great speed.  We are so happy that her confidence has picked up so much that she is running full speed.  That’s a problem sometimes as Mike is so far behind he can’t be there to help her know where to go in time.  But they’ll get it figured out.  Fixing teamwork is much easier than trying to “teach” speed.

Wazzu had fun in her Chances run….although she thought she had a much better idea for a good course than the judge.  Her second run was Jumpers and it came in the late afternoon….right in the middle of her nap time.  She did the course correctly but you could tell she was sleepy.  

What a good girl.  And how nice of everyone to give her such a big round of applause when she finishes.  Too bad she can't hear it.  But I can and I really appreciate it.

Debbie

Taste of Perfection

Today was the first of three full days of agility.  We are at a trial in Phoenix, AZ.  Probably one of our most favorite trials of the year.  Mostly because every year it has been sunny and warm.... while our friends at home are doing agility in the ccccold and wet!

Besides the weather, another reason we enjoy this trial so much is the format.  I’m not sure the exact “real” term used but I think it’s called a two trial format....hmm, that doesn't sound quite right.

There are two rings.  Half the people entered are in group A while the other half is in group B.  While everyone is scored together, you don’t actually run with those in the opposite group.  Generally speaking, small dogs are in one group, and big dogs in the other group.  There is some crossover as people with multiple dogs are never split between groups.    As an example, we have both large and small dogs and we are in group A.  They do their best to make sure there are close to the same number of dogs in each group.

To help explain…..Regular round one will be set in ring one and regular round two will be set in ring two.  Then group A will run in ring one while group B runs in ring two.  When each group is done running in their ring, they switch.  It is really amazing how much this speeds up the day as well.  This trial always finishes faster than any other trial we attend.

There are many advantages to this system.  Main advantage….absolutely no conflicts for anyone!  This makes it easier on the handlers and easier to volunteer to work.   The disadvantage is you don’t see the runs from the people in the opposite group as much.  But you certainly can make the effort if there are dogs you really want to see.  

They always have a really well stocked hospitality tent as well.  In addition, they have a lunch vendor that typically has really good food.  Only problem was today he left so early.  Mike went over at 12:30 to get his lunch he earned for working and the guy and his set up were totally gone.  No announcement that he’d be leaving early or anything….at least not that Mike heard.  So no lunch for hardworking Mike.  He runs four dogs and still managed to work two classes before lunch…..and no lunch.  Too bad.

The dogs were really “on” today.  Boogie and Sparkie were each perfect going 6/6.  Wazzu was perfect going 1/1 (yeah, Wazzu!).  2iggie only managed three Q’s but she was blazing in all her runs and just had very minor errors in her other three runs.  But when she and Mike get their teamwork figured out a little better, they are going to be a force to be reckoned with!  2iggie is FAST!

2iggie had a great time.  She got to see many of her “childhood friends” as well as her former owner.  She seemed to remember all her old friends…..both human and dog.  Amazing what great memories dogs have.  I could sure use a bit of that trait!

Debbie

Thanksgiving All Around the U.S.

Well the turkey hunting was a bust so no turkey for Thanksgiving dinner for us.  Next year I’ll have to remind Mike to schedule this activity a few days earlier!

So even though we didn’t have a good Thanksgiving, other family members did.

My brother competed in his first half marathon - with 12,000 other people – in Atlanta!  I understand it was a pretty hilly course.  Even so, he finished in 1 hour 58 minutes.  Pretty impressive for an old guy.  Ha ha.  He’s going to love me calling him old….especially since he’s four years younger than me!

My dad went golfing in Palm Desert.  Not unusual as I think he golfs a few times every week.  But my dad was extremely grateful today as he got his first ever Hole In One!  Best part was that he had witnesses.  How cool is that!

We were all spread out this year for Thanksgiving…. Mom: Olympia, Dad: Palm Desert, Dave:  Atlanta and me: Scottsdale.  I think Dad and I are the smartest…..we’re in nice warm places.

View from RV window this evening.

Debbie

Boogie Woogie

Every day I get up for two minutes thirty seconds.

Boogie and I got out to work on our dance routine.  We both love it so much.  I don't know that he is all that keen on dancing but he likes doing things with me....and he likes treats!

Look how closely he is paying attention.

How cute is he....here he's high stepping.

And finally, doing his figure eights.

Two minutes thirty seconds sure goes fast.

Debbie

Three Dog Night

Not another song.

Normally 2iggie sleeps on the bed, Boogie in his crate and Wazzu on her bed.  But last night 2iggie took part of Wazzu's bed.  So poor Wazzu had to sleep with her head hanging off.  She was a very good girl to share her bed.

Debbie

Not Much

I'm sure you've all heard the song that starts with the line "Stuck inside these four walls" (Paul McCartney, Band on the Run).  Well that's how it's been this week for me....too many weeks these past few years.

We've only been here five days but it seems much longer....to me anyway.  Daily routine - Mike walks a couple dogs then comes back and takes a couple more, then comes back and takes the last one.  When that is done, he rests a while and then starts over.  Everyday.  I think he and the dogs both miss having a yard.

Today was big excitement.  We received our first batch of mail from home.  Boogie got first dibs on getting to open it.

First you take the strip off....and then start to pull mail out - one piece at a time as grandma instructed.

Ah, forget being dainty.  Let's just go in for it all.

This evening we had our first beautiful sunset.  This is the view from inside the RV.

I hope we have many more!

Debbie

My Cover Boy

When we were here in 2010, we had a family photo taken along with individual photos of the dogs.  One week later we got 2iggie.

So on our wall of individual dog photos, there is an empty space where 2iggie should be.  Today I decided to call the photographer who did the photos so we can get one done of 2iggie.  To call the photographer, I went to her website to find her phone number.

When her home page came up, lo and behold, there was a picture of Boogie on a magazine cover!  Turns out the photographer does a lot of work for different magazines.  For a cover of "Dogs...Naturally" she chose to use Boogie one month!

How cool is that?!  Notice one of the articles is "Road Trip Tips....Traveling with your Dog".  Pretty appropriate I'd say.

On a different note.  Why can't anything just be what it is?  I was so excited to be in warm weather.  It really lifts my mood tremendously.  So why can't it be left at that.  Seems simple enough.

No....there needs to be a flip side.  Two stink bugs in my room today.  Why?  I guess the universe just has it out for me.  Sure would hate to let Debbie have anything remotely pleasurable.

Debbie

Rude Awakening

Before I get started.  Remember I told you about the offleash park.  Thought I would show you a couple pictures since it is unlike any other dog park we've seen.  It is called "See Spot Run Dog Park".  The interesting thing about it.....the surface is gravel.  Seemed odd to me but the dogs didn't seem to mind.

As I mentioned, we were at an agility trial over the weekend in Boulder City, NV.  We, along with four or five others, parked near the field in our RV's.  You had to fill out a form in advance and make payment to the club.

Originally we had planned to leave right after the trial on Sunday, but due to some circumstances we decided we'd like to wait until Monday morning to leave.  So Mike checked with the trial secretary to make sure it was okay to stay Sunday night.  She told us it was totally fine and that there wouldn't be any extra charge.  Cool.

So we had a peaceful evening of TV watching then went to bed.  About 2:30am there was a loud banging on our door.  I was still awake (of course) but it woke Mike and dogs up.  Mike looked out and there was a policeman with his huge spot light on us.

Mike through on a coat and went outside.  Turns out it is against the law in Boulder City to camp overnight.  They wanted to take Mike down to the station.  I don't know if they were going to arrest him or give him a ticket or what.

They called in all of Mike's info (name, license number, etc) over their radio....probably to check to see if he had any warrants out against him.

Poor Mike had to explain over and over that we had permission and had explicitly asked ahead of time if it was okay.  LONG story short, we got a warning and were allowed to stay the night.  Mike sure got a big lecture.  As you might guess, we are going to let the trial secretary know about our little "nightmare".

Monday morning we got up quickly and left town.  Phew!

Stopped for lunch along side the road between Wickilu and Wickenburg.  As Mike says...."The middle of nowhere".

Made it to our destination in Ft. McDowell which is just outside Fountain Hills.  For those not familiar with Arizona, this is near Scottsdale....which is near Phoenix.

This will be our "home" for the next two months.  Weather is GREAT!  Mid to upper 70's.

Debbie

Agility weekend

Had a three day trial in Boulder City, Nevada. We really enjoy this location for a trial. It's at a beautiful park complete with beautifully maintained baseball diamonds, soccer fields, man-made lake stocked with fish for fishing, trails in the desert, a skateboard park, a picnic area, an offleash dog park, and more!

The agility trial is held in the outfield of one of the baseball diamonds.  The grass is very lush and the fields totally flat and level since they are used for baseball.  As you can see, they have super duper lights - which we only had to use on Friday evening.

The grass had just been cut and the dogs loved eating it.  Fortunately, they only ate between runs.....I guess agility even tops fresh cut grass.

Here Boogie is picking up a big mouthful.

Good stuff!

Looks to me like he didn't quite finish....

Compared to other weekends, this one wasn't the best for our dogs on paper.  But they all ran really well and were running fast and with confidence.

Saturday, Sparkie had a beautiful Touch N Go run and earned her Versatility NATCH-19.

As always, there were skydivers right above us both days.  The weather was nice although it felt warmer than the thermometer showed.

I got to go out once each day so I chose to watch Chances since all four dogs do that run.  Between runs I asked Mike to bring Boogie over to see me.  (Wazzu was with me the entire time....sunbathing.)

I was so excited to see him.  All he did was watch for Mike.  Hmmm.  So here is the world from my view.

Finally when Mike came over, Boogie at least faced my direction....sort of.

Debbie

Well Dressed

Even though I hardly did anything on our outing Wednesday to Sedona, I paid big time.  Too much pain....means absolutely no sleep.

While in Sedona, Mike visited the Life Is Good store.  He bought himself a shirt.....and two for little Boogie.

This one is very appropriate for a dog name CH Sunkist Shake Rattle And Roll.

And of course, this one tells of his favorite activity.

This morning we left Cottonwood.....one of our most favorite places in the country.  We're on our way to Nevada for a trial.  Stopped for the night in Kingston, AZ.  We stop at this place quite often on our travels.  The perfect RV park for a quick overnight stay.

Debbie

Seeing Red

Late this afternoon, Mike took me for a ride so I could see some scenery and get out of the RV. Of course this is not much fun without dogs so we took Wazzu and Boogie.

We went to Sedona (only about a 30 minute drive) to see the beautiful red rocks.

It was a beautiful day but was cold.....notice the snow.  Brrr.

The dogs enjoyed going along but totally didn't understand why we'd get out of the car, walk about three feet, take some pictures and get right back in the car.  This was torture for Boogie as he truly hates getting his picture taken.

Here are the "best" ones.  For every one you see here we have 25 of him looking completely the opposite direction from the camera.

There was a huge crow yelling at us at this stop.  This is the only picture we got where Boogie wasn't looking straight up.

Thought I'd see if it was fun looking up.  All I really notice: "how can a person be so white"!

The other thing I notice is that our pictures are not nearly as beautiful as the ones I could get when we used to hike around here.  Pictures from the side of the road just aren't as striking as what you can get when you hike through the wilderness.

More posing...

Finally at the last stop, Mike decided we had tortured the dogs long enough.  So he took them on a five minute hike a short way down into this very steep canyon.  The steel beams you see are that of a HUGE bridge that goes over the canyon.  Long ago we hiked all way down to the river you see below.

On the way home we stopped at our favorite store in Sedona (Wildflower Bread Company) and bought a nice huge loaf of super nummy bread.  Suddenly Wazzu forgot she was bored!

Debbie

Hold On

Sunday was another earthdog day much to Boogie's delight!

From what I was told, only one ribbon was given out all weekend.  I'm thinking the club made it really hard because they were short on money for ribbons!

In Master, the dogs couldn't find the rats.  You know something is wrong if Boogie can't find them.  He was so frustrated.  They were very nice to let a small bit of light in right at the end so Boogie could find his way.  He let those rats know all about his frustration!

In Senior he did his same trick of not wanting to come out.  The judge said she was hoping so hard for him to come out because he was the best worker she had ever seen.  You can bet on that.....Boogie really works!

When he came out I let me him look in the bucket so he could see the rats were in there.  Big mistake!  He grabbed the five gallon bucket and wouldn't let go.  It took four of us to get him to let go of the bucket.

He may not have got any ribbons this weekend but he had a blast.  That's really what matters to me.

It is still so cold and rainy here!  The park makes everyone unhook their water at night because the pipes are freezing each night.  Brrrr.

The monkeys and Sparkie got to go to the offleash park today.  Mike said they had a great time with a couple Dobermans that were there. The monkeys ran and ran letting the Dobermans chase them. Sparkie was really smitten and was flirting big time.

Then Mike went up to the small town of Jerome that was an old copper mining camp.  It's known as "Amercia's Most Vertical City" and the "Largest Ghost Town in America".

It's a quaint little city on the side of a very steep mountain/hill.  At its peak back in the 1920's, the population was over 15,000.  Currently it has a population of just 450.  Now it's just a tourist town and artist community.



Mike enjoys walking around town looking at all the fun little shops.  I used to enjoy that too.  There is a super cool fudge store there.  They make all the fudge fresh everyday.  I don't remember how many "flavors" of fudge they make but it's a lot.  Today Mike came home with Caramel Fudge and Texas Tea Fudge.  They are both so good!

Slugger went to Jerome with Mike today.  He enjoyed walking around town and getting attention from the other people strolling around.  They had to sit in the car at times to wait for the rain showers to pass.  And up at 5,200 feet it was even colder than down here.

Just talking about it makes me crave some hot chocolate.  This will be my last cup as I'm out of my favorite hot chocolate mix.....Ghirardelli's Double Chocolate.  Nummy.

Debbie

Too Smart

When is being smart not such a good thing? When you're so smart, you outsmart yourself.

But before we get into that, I thought you might like to see Boogie and Gidget's puppies growing up.  Sorry for the quality...wish people would send me pictures instead of using Facebook.  Here is mommy and puppy.

They have names....something about after different fables....but I don't remember what they are.

Playing must be hard work!

Today was earthdog in Cottonwood, AZ.  The turnout was much smaller than normal.  Hope that's not a trend.

The weather was much nicer than expected.  No rain, a little wind and once it warmed up (low was 34) it was pretty nice....high of 54 but sunny.

Boogie has figured out that once you come out of the tunnel....your turn is OVER!  So he has decided to just stay in the tunnel and work his little heart out.  He has outsmarted the game.  Fortunately he didn't figure this out until he had earned all his titles.

Problem with that.....   Mike has decided not to do earthdog again until Boogie learns to come out.  In the first Senior round today, Boogie wouldn't come out for anything.  Technically you have 90 seconds to get the dog out.  A lot of people have trouble with this portion of the test.  It can take many dogs up to five minutes to come out.

But not Boogie.  Twenty minutes went by and Boogie was still in there working as strong as ever.  Everyone had given up on being able to get him out so they were going to have to dig up the tunnels!  Nightmare!   Just as they were starting to dig him out, he came out on his own.  Oh, Boogie.  Big sigh.

So in the afternoon run, Mike was going to scratch him.  But I hate to see Boogie miss out on any fun.  So I said I would do it.  Mike drove the car right up next to the tunnels so I didn't have to walk far at all.  Mike carried Boogie and handed him to me right at the start line.

Here we are at the startline....don't blink....as earthdog is not much of a spectator sport!  You can't tell but Boogie is shaking and whimpering as he wants to get to it.  But my fingers don't work so well anymore and I couldn't get the darn collar off!

Boogie went like a shot and went in the correct entrance (in the morning run not one dog went in the correct entrance) so I was encouraged. It doesn't look like he's going fast but he was a flash.

This shot is just to give you an idea of how they fix the site. There are a bunch of hills and branches and rocks to simulate someplace out in the wilderness.

I was sure he would come out for me.  Delusional thinking for sure!  So here I am calling and calling.  I might have as well been calling Wazzu who is deaf!

Nothing doing!  So finally we opened the tunnel and he did his usual trick of backing up so we couldn't reach him.  So I bent down and pretended to dig in the dirt saying "Look...here's the rat!"  Well he couldn't resist that and out he popped!

I just want you to notice the guy in the background - he is called the "rat wrangler".  He is holding a bucket which has the rat cage with the rats in it.

I decided to reward Boogie for coming out by letting him look in the tunnel. He stuck his head in for just a moment and realized the rats weren't there.  But where were they?

HEY!  There they are....can't fool him for long.  (He just noticed the rat wrangler.)  A split second later we were over pouncing on the rat wranglers bucket.

Of course we know he'll never fall for that trick again.  But at least it worked once!

Debbie