Trying Again

It’s been over years since I’ve been able to work on my blog.  But I’ve gotten so many requests recently that I thought I would try to do a little here and there.

Most recently, we left home on September 28 to head back to Illinois for the North American Dog Agility Championships.

We had some exciting news on October 6.  Boogie once again became a Proud Papa.

His girlfriend this time was Gidget aka CH OtterEcho Little Marvel.  Here she is just a few days before giving birth.

While most puppies start their life out in a whelping box, these puppies had a Whelping Palace awaiting them.

By the time all was said and done, there was a six pack of girls.  Boogie handed out “cigars” to celebrate the big occasion.

So tiny!

After nine straight days of traveling we arrived in Illinois in time for an agility trial before the Championships start.

All four dogs did very well.  Sparkie went 18 for 20 and earned her NATCH-22!

Boogie went 15 for 20 earning his NATCH-3.

2iggie continues to learn and improve and went 11 for 20.

Wazzu was a crowd favorite running with a huge smile and lots of enthusiasm.  She did excellent going 2 for 5.  What an amazing girl.

Pre-Champs started today.  Only 2iggie competed.  She was excellent in her two runs today.

Unfortunately, about 6-8 months ago, Mike tore the meniscus in his knee.  Since the surgery for the same thing on the other knee didn’t go as well as he would have liked, he decided not to have surgery on this knee.

And wouldn’t you know, he hurt it some more today.  Talk about bad timing.  He waited all year for the Championships and now he’s not sure he will be able to compete.

Crossing our fingers…

Debbie

Journey

(Arlington, WA) Friday morning the guy came to pick up the ten or so piles of brush. Even without Boogie's help, he managed to move the machine around to get all the stuff.

Picking up.

Going over dump truck.

Drop the load then push it down.

I couldn't believe it took them two full days to take away all the branches. That was a lot of blackberry bushes!!

We took off for the an agility trial on Friday afternoon at Argus Ranch.

It was a great weekend. All the dogs did super. I think we were most impressed with Boogie. He was running just about as fast as ever. Personally, I don't care that he didn't Q every run - although he did Q in most - I am just happy to see that he his having a blast and zooming around the course.

Mike made the comment, you could change his breed on the score sheet to read Border Collie and no one would blink an eye. His YPS was amazing! (Yards per second.) In every run, he had the second or third fastest time of ALL elite dogs....even with those tiny little legs of his.

Here's his secret. First, he runs fast. But where he catches those Border Collies (and Sparkie's) is that he is learning to really take great lines. No wide turns or missteps. He is very efficient.

This weekend Boogie earned his Superior Elite Regular and Superior Elite Touch N Go titles.

2iggie is really building up her confidence and it is showing in her increased speed. She is still making one tiny boo boo in many of her runs but she once she fixes that, she'll be a dynamo. For some reason, she'll go around one jump per run....hmmm.

But she did earn her Novice Tunnelers and Outstanding Novice Hoopers titles.

Once again everyone had a fun time - we can tell because they all pouted when we started packing up to leave.

Friday, two of Boogie's puppies went to their new homes. Norman (the only boy) didn't have far to go as he will be living in Seattle.

But one of the little girls had quite a journey.  She flew all the way to Boca Raton, FL.  The person went to the regular airport to pick her up but it turns out the puppy went into the cargo airport.  So a policeman  escorted the lady to the cargo airport....only to find out it had moved.

When she finally found the puppy, the workers had taken it out of its crate and given it water and were playing with it.  How nice was that. So as you might guess, the puppy's name is Journey. How cute is that!

She went straight from the airport to the beach.

Wow, what a difference two weeks makes. She looks like a real dog!  She was just a wobbly romping puppy two weeks ago.  This pup is following in Boogie's footsteps. He too went to the beach right away as we spent his first three weeks on the beach....but on the Oregon coast...not on the nice warm beaches of Florida!

Debbie
9/17-19/10

Need a Smile....

(Woodinville, WA) It's always a good day when I get to spend a little time with Boogie's puppies. They are really starting to get around now. And they are biting much harder and with determination too!

And now that the puppies are moving around more, Boogie is beginning to think they are even more fun. So many people didn't believe me when I told them that Boogie would be a good daddy. But I think you can all see that he is a Champion daddy...in more ways than one.

When we first arrived, Boogie and Weezie got to have some adult fun....oh, not that kind of fun. Well, not because they didn't try! I can't believe that Weezie is still flirting with him - and of course Boogie is happy to oblige. They must really be in love, these two!

They were running around so fast that not only was it hard to keep up with them with our eyes but it was impossible to get a clear shot. So here is my super blurry shot for the day.




After Weezie was completely worn out, she was put in the house so Boogie could concentrate on his puppies. But at first the puppies had no interest in him. They just wanted to eat the herbs.



They make really quick work of these herbs. And it sure gives them really nice breath!



They aren't taking long at all to follow in Boogie's steps....look at this dirty little nose. Well, it's a good start but I think Boogie needs to give her a few more lessons!



Finally one of the puppies noticed this big lens pointing at her. She was very inquisitive and had to come over and check it out.



That got boring very quickly so then she had to use me as a mountain for awhile. I had a fun time with that game until puppy got bored and went to play with Boogie.




As soon as the puppies caught sight of Boogie they all came over to see him....they're all there....one is underneath trying to snatch a drink. Good luck with that little guy!



Boogie was really having a great time with the puppies....as were they with him. Quite a few times I saw him doing big play bows. Unfortunately I never caught it on camera but it was just way too cute.



Never once did Boogie even give them as much as a cross look. Nor did he ever jerk away.



Even when they tried to drink from him, he'd just lean down and lick them.



Finally I was able to get them to ignore Boogie for a few minutes so I could get some individual pictures.

Ah, nothing like your first tennis ball.



Or, your first sprinkler. Huh?!



Puppy 1:




Puppy 2:



Puppy 3:



Puppy 4:



Last time we visited we couldn't get the puppies to calm down at all. But today the puppies had gone to work and had a lot of visitors. I'm thinking we just might have a chance today.

So a little more play time with Boogie.



Or is that chew time!



Talk about a patient dog.



Weezie (the mom) doesn't even let them chew on her like this.



Three down, one to go.



Oops. Where did that one go?




Guess Boogie better go find him while these three start the puppy pile.



Found him. Sweet little Junior looking up at his Papa.



Gosh, could he be any cuter....or maybe I'm biased. Nope, he's downright cute.



Finally, Boogie tuckered them all out.



The feisty little girl just isn't quite ready yet...



So peaceful looking.




How is it that puppies can be so cute?



Well, they are all completely out so I guess this is the end.



Debbie
8/24/10

Family Portrait

(Seattle, WA) Today we went to visit the puppies. The difference was, this time we took Boogie!

(Let me apologize in advance for the pictures. I had envisioned getting all these great photos but something is wrong with my camera and most of the pictures came out a bit blurry. Time to get the camera checked.)

So here was the plan. We'd let Boogie and Weezie meet to see if Weezie would still like Boogie. We knew Boogie would like Weezie....he likes everyone.

These two picked up right where they left off. They ran around the yard at break neck speed for quite some time...exactly like they did the other times they met.



Then just as fast as they started playing, they stopped to try and make more puppies. What?! We couldn't believe Weezie was up for that. But she was just as inviting and accepting as when we wanted it to happen. Needless to say, we stopped that action right away - many times. Not posting those pictures!

But doesn't Weezie have a cute little shirt. She has many sores from the puppies feeding so much so this is to protect her a little.



It was obvious that we'd have to separate these two as they both just had one thing in mind. Boogie was heartbroken. He just stood at the back door and cried and cried and cried.



The next part of our plan was to bring the puppies out to let them meet their papa. The idea was to let them play for ten minutes or so until they were completely tuckered out. Then we'd take the family portrait.

The door opened and Boogie was so excited...he was sure Weezie was coming out again! Wait, that's not Weezie, who is this? Boogie was so interested.



He was so curious and very gentle.



Puppies just kept coming. Boogie was just as curious as each puppy came out. When all four were on the ground, he approached them very carefully...I'm guessing he was trying to be cautious not to scare or hurt them.

The puppies were just as curious...but not nearly as cautious!



Just as I suspected, Boogie was the perfect little boy. He was extremely patient and gentle with the puppies. This event was well covered. I took pictures and you'll notice that they're also being video taped at the same time.




We couldn't have hoped for this much. The puppies would follow Boogie around and when they'd catch him....they're so fast you know!...they would gang up on him and chew on his ears. He didn't care one bit.


They would get a good grip on his ear and then shake their head. Good thing they aren't real strong yet. Boogie was so sweet and just let them play with his ears for as long as they wanted.

One puppy decided to be brave and try to feed from Boogie. No problem. Boogie just let the puppy do whatever it wanted.



After about 20 minutes of playing with the puppies, Boogie was feeling his broken heart and went back to the door to wait for Weezie. We've taught him that if he wants something, to put his chin down on the ground. He stayed at this door with his chin down and crying for a long time. Weezie was on the other side crying out for him as well. These two!



So we turned our attention to the puppies. They were very busy. I brought them a new little toy and they thought that was fun for a while. This is the little boy....




....and this is one of the little girls.



What the heck is that?



One puppy needed a more challenging toy and went for the big ball. The puppy punched the ball, growled at it and bit at the big green monster. It was quite the battle.



All these nice toys we have for the puppies and they decide that shoes and shoestrings make a really fun toy.





Of course sticks are always fun too.



Probably the most popular activity was puppy wrestling. They punched, tugged, pounced, growled, pulled tails and tackled for all they were worth. This should make them tired for sure.



Hey, just like when we were kids. Sticking your tongue out at your sibling!



Finally the puppies noticed me lying on the ground. They thought I made a great mountain!



Finally instead of just a lump on the ground, they realized I was a person and I got some puppy kisses. Oh, what can be better than puppy breath!



After all the kissing I got a really nice hug.



I was feeling so lucky when another puppy came over to give me some kisses.



Ouch! These puppies can bite! How did Boogie put up with all this?




And then she called for reinforcement! Boogie....help!!



Remember how I said the plan was to let them play about ten minutes until they were all tired? Well, it's now been an hour and they haven't shown any signs of slowing down nevertheless being tired.

So we all decided that if we fed them they'd have nice full tummies and then they'd realize they were tired. This was a popular plan!



It even brought Boogie away from his door. But he really wanted to help with the eating.



Poor Boogie.



After all this eating, the puppies got thirsty and decided Boogie was the container. We were all amazed at how easy going Boogie was about this. He stayed like this until the puppies nuzzled under and started sucking on .... well, the wrong thing.

He didn't do anything but move a couple feet.



A couple of them didn't take the hint and followed him to try again.



This is when we decide we'd better give them some water.



Boogie decided to go wait for Weezie some more since he wasn't getting any food. One of his little daughters decides to go with him.



The puppies don't seem to understand the ramp yet.



So they just had to wait for Boogie to come back down.



Now an hour an a half has passed since we arrived and the puppies are still going strong. So much for the ten minutes we thought it would take.

These folks have things to do so we can't wait any longer. We have to try to do the family photo even though the puppies don't seem tired in the least.

It was not even beginning to work! The second we'd set the puppies down they would scatter and wrestle.






So we decided just to have people in the picture. Not at all what I'd planned. I took about 20 pictures and this is the ONLY one that even had one puppy looking at the camera. Weezie and Boogie never looked at the camera...they only had eyes for each other.



Just as we were heading toward the gate to leave, I noticed one puppy had finally conked out. So I called Boogie over and had him lie down next to the sleeping puppy.



Well, I got a picture of Boogie looking happy anyway. Maybe they'll let me try again another day.

Debbie
8/17/10