Top of the World

(Las Cruces, NM) We discovered White Sands National Park a couple years ago – although if Mike could see out through his mommy’s tummy he actually saw the park over 50 years ago. Oooh, that seems weird in writing – 50 years, that's half a century! Oops, I digress….badly.





The dogs love it there so we took a little field trip to see what Boogie thought about it. Interestingly enough, the weather has been totally different each time we’ve been here. Our first time was so windy we couldn’t see the dogs at the end of the leash – truly. The second time was windy but we could see the trail markers if we really concentrated hard. The third time, there were still spots that were flooded from the very unusually wet winter. That was the dogs favorite time as they could zoom down the dunes and then splash through the water.

Today was clear, sunny, dry, and no wind at all which made for a very hot day…and we were there fairly early. I thought since Boogie had just been stripped he wouldn’t get so hot – but that didn’t seem to be the case.



If you go to the backcountry of White Sands there is a marked trail through the dunes. And believe me, you need to follow the trail markers which you can see here with the orange tops...



...as once you get out in the dunes it is extremely easy to get lost since it is just a sea of dunes no matter which way you look.





Boogie checked out the trail markers right away so he’d know the correct way to go.



Then he had some playing with Wazzu to do.



After wearing Wazzu and Slugger out...



...Boogie then tried to keep up with Sparkie.



You can sure tell how hard Sparkie is trying.



And how much fun she is having.



What a funny look on her face!



Sparkie had fun playing on the dunes with the dogs but I think she enjoyed running up the dunes with Mike even more.



When we go hiking, Boogie is a perfect little boy and stays right on the trail. But here there was no visible trail. You truly have to follow the markers. Since there was no trail, he just ran all over the place with the other dogs. He got much farther away from me here than he ever does on a normal hike. But he was good and never got out of my sight. I sure hope he stays this good as he grows up.



The big dogs remembered this place right away and off they went. They chased each other up and down the dunes and had a great time.





Boogie ran up and down the dunes for a little bit but he spent most of his time digging troughs and then lying down in them.





He'd rest there until we were a ways ahead of him and he’d come running to us just as fast as his little legs would take him. Then he’d dig a trough and down he’d go again. I really think he got hot from all the digging, not the sun!



We had to stop for water breaks often as there was no shade to be had anywhere.



Boogie’s nose was so sandy that I think he got more sand in the water bowl than water in his mouth. But he didn’t seem to care – he was a happy little boy.



Slugger stayed really close after the first 15 minutes or so as he was too hot to wander off. He had a big smile the whole time – but this was definitely a “hot” smile.



Running up the dunes was hard work and since it was so hot we only had Slugger do it one time. He was a gamer and gave it everything he had. You can see how hard he had to work to make it up.







After that big climb, Slugger needed a break. So Mike took a little break with him until he had caught his breath a bit.



Slugger couldn't quite make it up one dune that was along the trail and he just plopped down.



The dune was steep and after a couple minutes he was about ten feet farther down the dune. I don't even think he realized that he had moved.

With the dogs hot and wearing down a bit, I finally had some time to take some pictures of the beautiful scenery. Most of the time it was just a sea of beautiful white sand dunes. But there were two formations we came across that were very interesting. One looked like a little volcano.





The other looked like stump with white sand all over it. Of course it's not a stump as there are no trees out here at all.



In the middle of all this white, I think your mind can go to places it doesn't normally go. For instance, when I saw this I thought "this must be what a golf divot looks like to an ant."



As we continued along, we came across this tiny little dune.



Boogie decided this was a perfect place to make a little ledge. He dug and dug and just as he was ready to lie down, Slugger dashed over and plopped down in the nice little ledge Boogie had created.



Boogie was totally okay with that and just went to work creating another ledge next to the original one and took a seat.



After a couple minutes he was just too hot and plopped down in the sand.



I don't know why, but he didn't seem to mind sand in his nose.



He was lying down with his chin on the sand when Slugger stood up. This caused the sand to go over his nose - but he didn't move.





Every time he would breathe out, the sand would spray up into the air. It looked so funny. We wondered how he could breathe at all under all that sand!


The dogs may have been hot but they still felt on top of the world - and at times it looked like they really were.





While watching the others climb to the top of the world, I was noticing the different sand designs on the dunes.





This looks like a river flowing through the dunes - but it's not. It's just a flat spot.



Here are some shots of the dogs enjoying the scenery. Slugger enjoyed the scenery at a slow meandering pace.



Sparkie did it at a much faster pace....and farther away.



Boogie enjoyed the scenery while lying down.



We decided the dogs were too hot to make the entire loop and we weren't even half way around yet so we turned to head back. We were just about back when Boogie decided to make another trench....his best ever! He dug and dug throwing sand quite a long ways.





When he was finished he looked very comfortable - and quite the accomplished trench digger I must say!!



Even though the dogs were having a great time, we had other things to do today so it was time to head home.



The dogs all slept very well on the way back. And it’s a good thing Boogie did as his day wasn’t over.

When we got back it was time for the puppies to have some rat training. Harriet arrived with the rats and we got the tunnels set up on top of the ground. Boogie, his sister Mimi, and two other dogs got to participate in this little practice.

Boogie got to practice with a corner as that was his trouble spot at the test last month. Harriet held him at the start and he was very eager. He knew just what the game was. When Harriet let go, he was off like a shot.



When he got to the rat, he really worked it. He was much more aggressive than just a couple weeks ago. I think it was very helpuful that Meg moved the cage around rapidly. You work it Boogie!



To help Boogie develop a prey drive for the rats, they let him have his rat after he worked it in the cage for a while. The rat was really fiesty and bit Boogie as he picked it up. They said that was really good as it made Boogie mad and helped him want to go after the rat.



Boogie had a great turn and we could see that he is making lots of progress even in a short amount of time. He is a little greedy though as he wanted all the rest of the turns to be his turns too! But the other dogs certainly didn't want to give up their turns. They all had a great time.

Wazzu was really sad as she watched out the window. She didn't like the dogs hurting the rats. She wanted to come out and make friends with the rats. Guess she wouldn't do real well in this sport.

Phew, what a fun day for everyone! Boogie is one tuckered puppy.



Debbie
11/7/07

Meet Leroy

(Las Cruces, NM) We took Monday and Tuesday pretty easy. Sparkie and Slugger got to take one of our favorite hikes in this area while Boogie got to work on his agility skills.

As you know, they have a lot of border terriers here. Tuesday afternoon we got to meet a new one. His name is Leroy. Is he cute or what?



Harriet came over late Tuesday afternoon to groom Boogie for us. They put him up on this grooming table and got him all hooked up. I think he knew it wasn't play time! He got this sad little look on his face. But overall, he was a very good little boy.



Harriet worked and worked and worked. During this time we had a great conversation and learned a lot. We are so lucky to have gotten a puppy from Meg and Harriet. Besides knowing what they are doing, they are both the nicest people you could ever hope to meet.

After Harriet had worked on Boogie for a while, it started to look like there was more dog on the ground than on the table.



About two hours after the grooming started they presented us with the new Boogie. I'm telling you, if we hadn't been right there watching we wouldn't have believed that the dog they presented to us was indeed Boogie.

In fact, he looks so different, we now call him Leroy. Tee Hee. He used to feel so wirey. Now he feels like the softest little teddy bear you've ever felt. But he looks so old. He looks so different. Mike and I both are sure that if we hadn't seen Boogie go up on that table and we hadn't have been out of sight for one second, we wouldn't believe they gave us the same dog back.

Meg was really nice and made all of us a scrumptious spaghetti dinner. While we ate, Boogie and Mimi had a great time alternating between begging and playing. When it was time to leave I couldn't find Boogie. Oh yeah, that's right, I now own Leroy...not Boogie.

Debbie
11/5-6/07

Sparkie Causes Celebration

(Las Cruces, NM) This morning we made the short 20 minute drive to the trial site. As expected, it was a small group of people but all people that we know well with the exception of one newcomer. A giant Sparkie showed up!

We really enjoy the Las Cruces trials. One of the many reasons we enjoy them is that they are definitely the most casual and laid back trials we've ever attended. There is no stress at all - none!

In prior years, we've always attended the March trials and enjoyed our time here. This is our first time here in November and we like this even better. The weather is a little warmer and there is virtually no wind - unlike in March when they have to cancel runs due to the strong wind. From what they tell me, it is about five degrees warmer than it usually is this time of year. You won't hear me complaining. The only thing is that since it's so warm they haven't had their first frost/freeze of the year. This causes a couple problems. The first problem doesn't affect us directly. This area has the largest pecan growing crops in the U.S. The shells don't open until the first freeze so the harvesting is getting a very late start this year - they are still waiting. Second, and most concerning to us, is that the flies haven't been killed off. Since the trial is held at a horse site, the flies were abundant. Actually the flies were downright obnoxious.

We worked out of car. Next to the car we had a couple x-pens set up and a crate next to that. We started out in the car and since it was so warm we had to have the windows down with shade tarps around the car. There were never less than 50 flies in the car at one time. Our dogs freak around flies (long story). We didn't have the windows down super far as we didn't want Boogie jumping out - not that he would, but just in case. One time we were out walking the course and suddenly Sparkie comes walking into the agility area. She wasn't near the course but we had expected she'd be in the car. She was slinking toward us as she knew she wasn't supposed to have jumped out of the car. We didn't trouble her as we knew she was spooked by the flies. We tried leaving the dogs in the x-pen but the flies were just as thick there. The only "safe" place was in the crate. But we didn't realize the flies were going to be such a problem so we only had one large crate and then Boogie's little crate. Interestingly enough, the flies didn't go around Boogie at all - just around the big dogs. There didn't seem to be nearly that many flies on the agility field. My guess is because there wasn't horse poo on the agility field but there was lots of it in the parking area - that's because the parking area is in the field where the horse is normally kept.

From this picture you can see how large the field area is. This is a full size Tunnelers course and it looks so miniature on this huge field.



Okay, on to the actual agility! Saturday started with two Elite Regular runs. I loved these courses. They were actually way different than courses we usually see. Very fun! That's not to say they were easy by any means. There were some real traps and some interesting challenges - doable but challenging. Just plain fun to run and fun to watch.

Wazzu did both courses extremely well (although parts of them she did a bit on the slow side)....except when it came to the weaves. She would not weave. The first run she was moving right along until it came to the weaves. She walked so slowly - but that's okay with me. She got to pole 10 and stopped to sniff the ground and just followed her nose out of the poles- she has never done that her entire life. (I later found out the horses had been out on this field for a few days recently - but even so that shouldn't bother her at all.) I had decided that I wasn't going to let her get away with not completing the weaves as I think she is now doing that on purpose. So I took her back and tried again...three times! When weaving forward she'd go so slowly. But one time as I was calling her back to start over she started backweaving and went really fast. HUH?! Go figure that one. Needless to say, we were about a day and half over time! Second round.....same thing. I told Mike that if Wazzu did this the next trial then I was going to retire Wazzu from Regular.

Sparkie's first run was perfect...and fast. A lot of dogs had trouble with this course but Sparkie made it look really easy. That's Sparkie for you. The second round was tough too and Mike didn't quite give her enough direction at one point and she took an off course. This worried her a little and she went into her scared whippet stance but Mike got her going again very nicely. He's done a great job with that the last couple weeks.

Now it was little Slugger's turn to try the Novice Regular course. He wasn't speedy like he can be since he was hot (he'd been sun bathing - his favorite activity) but he did run and completed the course very nicely. The distance portion was a little bit too far for him so Mike had to cross the line but he did nicely and got a five point Q.

Next was a very interesting Elite Jumpers course. I was anxious to run the course as it looked like a lot of fun. I was on my way to get Wazzu when for some odd reason (that I still can't figure out) it suddenly popped into my brain that there was no reason to make Wazzu run the longer more difficult Elite courses any more. For quite some time I had toyed with moving her to Skilled so she could jump lower (even though she is showing no signs having trouble jumping) but I didn't want to do that as then she couldn't work toward any more NATCH's. And moving her to Skilled wouldn't help with the weave issue - she'd just have to retire from Regular. It totally dawned on me that I could move her to Novice in all classes but yet still keep her in Elite Chances - the only thing she needs for any remaining NATCH's she could possibly earn. But this way she could still play - and most likely have a lot more fun. Why hadn't I thought of this earlier. I'm still trying to search my brain to make sure this won't cause any problems for us - but I don't think it will unless I'm overlooking some rule that I've forgotten.

So I went over to the scorekeeper to see if it would be possible to move Wazzu to Novice starting tomorrow. She was extremely nice and said there was no reason to wait until tomorrow and changed Wazzu right then and there to be in Novice starting with the Jumpers run.

Sparkie started off the Jumpers run very nicely. But at one point she started to go to an off course jump. Mike was able to stop her in time but this worried her (most people don't realize how soft Sparkie really is since she puts up such a big attitude with all her barking) and she got just a tad bit whippety. But Mike got her going once again and she finished nicely and ended up getting first place.

One thing that has been getting increasingly hard for me is to remember the courses. I have to walk them over and over just to try to remember them - and once in a while I get lost. I quickly noticed on the Novice Jumpers course that I could remember it quite easily - in fact, I only had to walk it once. I did this change to Novice to help Wazzu - but it turns out it is a big help to me too! This type of course is much easier on Wazzu's body as it has more flowing turns (easier on her back) and is shorter. Everyone said Wazzu looked so much happier - and that's exactly what I was wanting. I just want Wazzu to be happy.

The Chances course looked very doable - or so I thought. I knew it would be challenging but I really thought we could do this. Well, most of the dogs didn't seem to agree with me! This was much harder than it looked. For one test there was a large arc of jumps way out around a slightly arced tunnel. The dogs seemed to find this very difficult as the Q rate was much lower than I had expected. As you might guess, Wazzu was one of the dogs that found this just a bit too challenging. Sparkie on the other hand did it nicely, but even she took a look at the off course tunnel before understanding what was really being asked of her. Nice run, Sparkie!

That just left two Touch N Go runs. The Mason family went 100% there going 5/5. Way to go little Slugger!! We did pretty good on paper today. Wazzu went 3/6, Sparkie ended up 5/6 and little Slugger won the prize going 2/2.

We got done nice and early on Saturday finishing somewhere around 2:00. Last year, if you were following our blog/website you saw pictures of the pecan trees with no leaves and the ground flooded with water (on purpose). Really pretty pictures if I say so myself. Well, this time of year the trees are in full foliage and loaded with pecans. The trees form this beautiful arch over the road for a stretch of a couple miles. It is quite a beautiful sight.



We of course had to stop at Stahmann's. This is the store of the largest pecan producers in the world! They sell many different pecan items as well as various flavored pecans, candies, pies, cookies, etc. In addition they sell some really good ice cream. Since it was warm today, we decided to get some ice cream. This was Boogie's first time to have ice cream. His little eyes got so big as he took his first bite. He decided ice cream was really good stuff. It's hard to tell what Boogie's favorite food is as he likes everything! But I've never seen his eyes get so big when he first tasted something like he did with the ice cream.

The pecan farm here is really amazing. The average age of a bearing tree is fifty years old - talk about having to plan ahead! The orchard has approximately 180,000 trees and they produce eight to ten million pounds of pecans a year. It's amazing to me that there is a need for that many pecans each year.

Sunday morning we were off to the trial once again. It was even hotter today than yesterday which seemed to bring out the flies even more. It was pretty much impossible to work out of the car as the dogs were covered in flies. This just seemed inhumane to me so we took three of the dogs and laid on the grass in the agility area. We left the other dog safely in the crate. Before we did that, Sparkie was so afraid of the flies that she crammed herself into Boogie's little crate. Problem was she then couldn't get out. Boogie just barely fits in the crate so can imagine all of Sparkie crammed in there. Had it not been so pathetic it would have been really funny.

Today we started with Jumpers and both dogs had very nice runs. On the first Regular run Sparkie ran the perfect run. There were no bobbles of any kind and she was running fast and confidently. It was the picture perfect run to earn her NATCH-10! Mike is so very proud of her as not many mixed breeds accomplish this. Sparkie is a great partner for Mike. Pretty good since they very rarely have gotten to practice for a few years now.

The rest of the day went very well for our gang. Wazzu ended up 5/5. She seemed to really enjoy the Novice courses and even rose to the occasion and got a Chances Q! Sparkie had another 5/6 day, and Slugger was 1/2. Weavers was at the end of the day and he was well into his nap time. He did the course correctly but was well over time.

To celebrate Sparkie's NATCH-10, Mike got some steaks and cooked them outside on the barbecue, while I prepared a Caesar salad and baked potatoes. Meg and Harriet (Boogie's breeders) ate with us and helped us celebrate the momentous occasion. Meg even bought some sparkling cider (it was super good!) for a nice toast with desert. Sparkie even got to come into the house for the toast. She enjoyed that and as usual was very well behaved. Of course, all the dogs got some steak scraps - that was a big hit for sure! It was really nice to have friends to help us celebrate. It just seems a bit more special when you can share your good times with others.

So pick up your glasses and toast with us! Here's to NATCH-10 Sparkie!

Debbie
11/3-4/07

Boogie Sees Family

(Las Cruces, NM) We left Carlsbad this morning for the trip through Texas on our way to Las Cruces, NM.

Boogie always just sleeps until we stop the RV. But today, when we got about 1/4 mile from our destination he started fussing and crying. Amazing! How did he know we were on the street where he lived for the first 11 weeks of his life?!

I love the gate they have that leads to the gorgeous house - the home of Sunkist Border Terriers.



I guess you could say we are out in the country - but we aren't that far from town. On two sides of the property are huge pecan orchards. The third side is a very large piece of property with horses and cows. Beyond this agility area you can see the large pasture that is next door.



The final side is a house that is located way back from the edge of the property. The field you see here in the distance is entirely fenced and another place where the dogs can run around and play.



The view of the Organ Mountains that you can see in the distance in the above picture is beautiful. What a perfect piece of property. It's also nice and flat so the entire property (three acres I think) is very usable.

There are many fenced areas here which makes the entire property very usable. Here you can see some of the adorable borders that live here. In the distance you can see a pecan orchard.



And what a nice place for Boogie to start his life. He had lots of space, lots of socialization, lots of introduction to various activities such as agility and earthdog, lots of little doggies to play with, and definitely lots of love and tender care.

How nice of Meg to let us stay here during our time in Las Cruces. The yard is totally fenced, there is a nice spot for Boogie to practice a few little agility things, and there is even an RV hook-up. Totally perfect.



We had a really nice pizza dinner with Boogie's breeders, Meg and Harriett. You sure couldn't meet two nicer people - no wonder Boogie is such an amazing puppy! We feel so lucky to have received a Sunkist puppy.

Oh, I forgot to show you Boogie's Halloween costume. He went as the devil dog - however that's just a costume since he really is a little angel. What do you think?





In reality this wasn't really a costume. This is how Boogie looked after his partial stripping this past weekend. Perfect time of year for this hairdo though, don't you think.

Here's Boogie checking out his yard to see who's been here since he left a little over three months ago.



Debbie
11/2/07

Daddy Goes Down!

(Carlsbad, NM) Today I (Mike) went back to Carlsbad Caverns to take some tours that are too hard for Debbie. First I went down into the caverns by walking down through the natural entrance instead of using the elevator. I was surprised by the size of the entrance – it was huge, about 100 feet in diameter. There was a paved but very steep trail right down into the big hole.

Looking down into the entrance.


Looking up from inside the cave.


A few hundred feet down you start getting past the range of daylight and reach the Bat Cave. No Batman and Robin, but in the summer it is the home of hundreds of thousands of Mexican freetail bats. Then I continued down the one mile trail to the main caverns, about 800 feet deep. It is hard to show in pictures, but it was very eerie to descend so steeply in such a big dark hole, especially since I was alone most of the trip.









Then I got down to the Big Room where Debbie and I had walked the day before. Since I had some time before my guided tour I took some more pictures of the incredible formations.






And had lunch in the lunchroom that had been carved out by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930’s. The ham sandwich I had seemed to date from about the same time.



Next I joined the guided tour to the King Palace area of the cave, which is closed to the public except for two ranger-guided tours each day. The guide was a girl from Poland who came to this country just because she loved Carlsbad Caverns and the other big caves in the Guadalupe Mountains of New Mexico. She also liked telling stories about caves, so a tour with about 30 minutes of walking lasted an hour and a half. We went into an area called the King’s Palace, which had been used for meeting and weddings as late as the 1970’s, but was now restricted to protect the delicate formations. The rooms and formations were beautiful but difficult to get good pictures of because you were so close to them compared to the Big Room.



























After leaving the cave I took the scenic dirt road through the desert out of the park and stopped at a little trail that went past a small pond to a rock overhang that had been used as a shelter by Apaches and other Indians. There was one very pretty male Wood Duck in the pond who seemed lonely and out of place.



Mike
11/1/07