It seemed so sad to do agility today without little Slugger. Every time we'd come back to the RV, he'd run to the door expecting it to be his turn. Poor little guy.
Wazzu continued her happy streak! In fact, she was downright silly this morning. She started out her first Regular run going so fast and was doing perfectly.....until we came to a spot where she had to pull into me to do the weaves. I gave her a very clear signal to do this. But she weighed her options and decided the A-frame looked like much more fun. So up the A-frame she went. She knew this was wrong and thought it was quite a funny trick she had pulled on me. So she got a big smile on her face and took off making up her own very creative course! At one point, she went up on the dogwalk then decided that was leading her WAY away from me. So instead of turning and coming back down the dogwalk she just jumped off the top! Oh my goodness! That's something a year old dog does - not an old dog with arthritis! As you can tell, she was one happy girl.
Her second Regular run she was going just as fast, if not faster. In this run you had to do the weaves at a distance. Wazzu was single footing it but was in a big hurry so she skipped one in the middle - she's never done that before! She zoomed through the rest of the run just perfectly. What a silly girl. Good thing there are no weaves the rest of the day!
We'd seen the Chances course twice before and both girls were each one for two. But it was set way more difficult. The judge said the pass rate on this course is only 10%. Both dogs had trouble. Wazzu wasn't quite as fast this run and took an off course and Sparkie knocked a bar. Good thing Sparkie didn't make it as Mike forgot to take her collar off which of course eliminated her. He hasn't forgotten to take her collar off in five years! Weird.
Wazzu was super fast the rest of the day and Q'd in the remaining three runs, getting two 1st's and a 2nd. The neatest thing was just prior to the last run. We were next on the line and while we were waiting for our turn, Wazzu suddenly started playing major crazy dog - on leash! Now that's a happy dog. This is only the second time in her entire life that she's played crazy dog on leash. I was on top of world seeing her so happy.
Sparkie was fast today too. I know, she's always fast. But today she was beating the times of some really great dogs. In her first Regular run, she smoked everyone - unfortunately she missed the dogwalk contact by a hair. But that didn't discourage her a bit. She came back on the second round and got 1st place. She also got a 1st in both Jumpers and Touch N Go. Unfortunately she had an off course in Hoopers and got a little scared. But she finished fast and happy.
There was supposed to be a barbeque at some peoples house tonight and they had been kind enough to invite us. But the weather today turned out to be cold and rainy all day so the event was cancelled. Instead they all decided to go out to dinner. Mike wasn't going to go since I couldn't but I finally convinced him to go without me - first time I've ever been successful in that!
The dogs and I stayed home and drank hot chocolate to try and stay warm in the cold and very rainy weather. I thought California was supposed to be warm.....and dry. I guess no place has good weather all the time.
Debbie
4/20/07
Friday, April 20, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Lost
No, I'm not talking about the TV show.
We were scheduled to leave Carson City, NV at 10:00am this morning to head over to Santa Rosa, CA. But about 8:30 Greg informed us that the bad weather over the mountains was coming earlier than expected so we were all going to leave at 9:00am. That was no problem for us as we were pretty well ready to go anyway. They had filled up with gas yesterday but we were going to fill up on our way out of town so we headed out a few minutes before they did.
When we got to the gas station it was packed with semis. When we pulled in we noticed the station had all their pumps blocked off. So Mike went in to see what was going on. Turns out they had lost power. Not good as this was the last station with diesel before going over the pass. Mike found out from them where another station was a couple miles back. So we drove over to the station exit but there were semi trucks blocking it and just sitting there. Trucks were honking and others where trying to back up. We were wondering why they didn't just leave. Turns out this particular station as an automatic gate - but since there was no power the gate wouldn't open. So you couldn't get out the exit and you couldn't go out the entrance as trucks kept coming in. What a mess!! To keep this from getting too long, just suffice it to say that by the time we got out and got gas we were leaving town over two hours later than planned! Fortunately, even though it was snowing over the pass we made it over before it started sticking to the road.
Since we didn't really have to be to the fairgrounds until tomorrow evening, Mike decided to take the scenic route even though my cousin, Greg, warned us that it was narrow and windy. He was correct that's for sure. But it was very pretty. We went through Napa Valley and saw many beautiful vineyards. My pictures didn't turn out very well though since our windows were really dirty from all the snow and rain we went through. But I'll share a couple of them with you anyway.
When we got close to our destination we got out the directions that were supplied to us. From what it seemed like, we should have been very close once we got off the highway. But we couldn't find the next turn. We kept going and going and going. And as we kept going the road kept getting narrower and windier. It was obvious we were going the wrong way. But the road was so narrow there was no way to turn around. Heck, we could barely even get past the cars coming the other way. The road was lined with huge trees that were scratching the side of the RV the entire way. All the noise from the trees hitting us was scaring the dogs tremendously - especially poor little Slugger, he was shaking like a leaf. There was nothing we could do but to keep going. About an hour later we finally got back to the exact same road we had come on originally. So now we had to go an hour back the other way. Arg.
Just as we were getting to the exit off the highway (for the second time), our friends called to see where we were. We were so lucky they called just when they did as we would have made the exact same wrong turn again. They hadn't taken the scenic route so came from a different direction but the directions from that way were wrong as well. They were kind enough to stay on the phone and lead us to the fairgrounds.
What a day! Our friends, who left just minutes after us, got to our destination over four hours before us. It just wasn't our day - tomorrow is bound to be better!
Debbie
4/19/07
We were scheduled to leave Carson City, NV at 10:00am this morning to head over to Santa Rosa, CA. But about 8:30 Greg informed us that the bad weather over the mountains was coming earlier than expected so we were all going to leave at 9:00am. That was no problem for us as we were pretty well ready to go anyway. They had filled up with gas yesterday but we were going to fill up on our way out of town so we headed out a few minutes before they did.
When we got to the gas station it was packed with semis. When we pulled in we noticed the station had all their pumps blocked off. So Mike went in to see what was going on. Turns out they had lost power. Not good as this was the last station with diesel before going over the pass. Mike found out from them where another station was a couple miles back. So we drove over to the station exit but there were semi trucks blocking it and just sitting there. Trucks were honking and others where trying to back up. We were wondering why they didn't just leave. Turns out this particular station as an automatic gate - but since there was no power the gate wouldn't open. So you couldn't get out the exit and you couldn't go out the entrance as trucks kept coming in. What a mess!! To keep this from getting too long, just suffice it to say that by the time we got out and got gas we were leaving town over two hours later than planned! Fortunately, even though it was snowing over the pass we made it over before it started sticking to the road.
Since we didn't really have to be to the fairgrounds until tomorrow evening, Mike decided to take the scenic route even though my cousin, Greg, warned us that it was narrow and windy. He was correct that's for sure. But it was very pretty. We went through Napa Valley and saw many beautiful vineyards. My pictures didn't turn out very well though since our windows were really dirty from all the snow and rain we went through. But I'll share a couple of them with you anyway.
When we got close to our destination we got out the directions that were supplied to us. From what it seemed like, we should have been very close once we got off the highway. But we couldn't find the next turn. We kept going and going and going. And as we kept going the road kept getting narrower and windier. It was obvious we were going the wrong way. But the road was so narrow there was no way to turn around. Heck, we could barely even get past the cars coming the other way. The road was lined with huge trees that were scratching the side of the RV the entire way. All the noise from the trees hitting us was scaring the dogs tremendously - especially poor little Slugger, he was shaking like a leaf. There was nothing we could do but to keep going. About an hour later we finally got back to the exact same road we had come on originally. So now we had to go an hour back the other way. Arg.
Just as we were getting to the exit off the highway (for the second time), our friends called to see where we were. We were so lucky they called just when they did as we would have made the exact same wrong turn again. They hadn't taken the scenic route so came from a different direction but the directions from that way were wrong as well. They were kind enough to stay on the phone and lead us to the fairgrounds.
What a day! Our friends, who left just minutes after us, got to our destination over four hours before us. It just wasn't our day - tomorrow is bound to be better!
Debbie
4/19/07
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Snow and Surgeons
Tuesday was really weird weatherwise. When we got up it was so warm that a t-shirt was all that was needed. Two hours later it was freezing. And later in the day it was snowing!
Wednesday the weather couldn't make up it's mind at all as every 10 minutes the weather was different. Snowy, sunny, windy - just blink and it was different. We had quite a fun time observing this interesting weather phenomenon.
We spent most of Tuesday finding and going to a veterinarian to try and figure out what was wrong with Slugger's leg. The poor little guy had trouble sleeping last night due to his sore leg. When he got up he was three legged.
After a visit to the vet, we were informed that he has a torn ACL. The poor little guy. He was really starting to LOVE participating in agility. We feel so sorry for him. He's already had ACL surgery on his other leg and had to have two other leg surgeries as well. Seems like he spends most of his time recuperating from surgeries.
We were told that we should get the surgery done just as quickly as possible. With Lin's help, we found a really good orthopedic surgeon that could fit us in this next Monday. So we went to meet with him today (Wednsday) for a consultation. As he started to explain about the rehabilitation process we mentioned that we'd only be here for two weeks. The surgeon immmediately said we should go right home and have the surgery done by the same surgeon that has done Slugger's other three surgeries.
So we will be leaving tomorrow to start our journey home. We'll be arriving in Washington a full month earlier than planned. Sure hope it's warm up there!
During a few free minutes this morning I took Wazzu out to practice agility....in the SNOW! I should have thought to go out earlier before a lot of the snow had melted.
Wazzu thought it was really fun but I was way too cold so we stopped after two reps. Funny - Monday we only did two reps because Wazzu got too hot and today we only did two reps because I got too cold. Now you know another reason we don't practice!!
Tuesday evening we had a very nice relaxing evening having dinner and visiting with Lin and Greg Battaglia - and of course their seven wonderful dogs. Talk about a house full of love! Lin and Greg have just been so nice to us during our stay here. We are so grateful to them for all they have done for us. We feel very honored to have them as friends. You just couldn't meet a nicer couple. Certainly another example of what great folks agility people are.
Debbie
4/17-18/07
Wednesday the weather couldn't make up it's mind at all as every 10 minutes the weather was different. Snowy, sunny, windy - just blink and it was different. We had quite a fun time observing this interesting weather phenomenon.
We spent most of Tuesday finding and going to a veterinarian to try and figure out what was wrong with Slugger's leg. The poor little guy had trouble sleeping last night due to his sore leg. When he got up he was three legged.
After a visit to the vet, we were informed that he has a torn ACL. The poor little guy. He was really starting to LOVE participating in agility. We feel so sorry for him. He's already had ACL surgery on his other leg and had to have two other leg surgeries as well. Seems like he spends most of his time recuperating from surgeries.
We were told that we should get the surgery done just as quickly as possible. With Lin's help, we found a really good orthopedic surgeon that could fit us in this next Monday. So we went to meet with him today (Wednsday) for a consultation. As he started to explain about the rehabilitation process we mentioned that we'd only be here for two weeks. The surgeon immmediately said we should go right home and have the surgery done by the same surgeon that has done Slugger's other three surgeries.
So we will be leaving tomorrow to start our journey home. We'll be arriving in Washington a full month earlier than planned. Sure hope it's warm up there!
During a few free minutes this morning I took Wazzu out to practice agility....in the SNOW! I should have thought to go out earlier before a lot of the snow had melted.
Wazzu thought it was really fun but I was way too cold so we stopped after two reps. Funny - Monday we only did two reps because Wazzu got too hot and today we only did two reps because I got too cold. Now you know another reason we don't practice!!
Tuesday evening we had a very nice relaxing evening having dinner and visiting with Lin and Greg Battaglia - and of course their seven wonderful dogs. Talk about a house full of love! Lin and Greg have just been so nice to us during our stay here. We are so grateful to them for all they have done for us. We feel very honored to have them as friends. You just couldn't meet a nicer couple. Certainly another example of what great folks agility people are.
Debbie
4/17-18/07
Monday, April 16, 2007
Ouch
What a difference a day makes. Today the weather was gorgeous - sunny and 68 with no wind.
We're staying at a friend's house (the wonderful people who put on the Pepper Memorial Classic) and they have a really nice agility field. There is one thing I really need teach Wazzu so I thought this would be a great opportunity to practice. I knew I wouldn't be able to do many repetitions as Wazzu hates to practice. So I got out her favorite ball that she only sees once or twice a year and out we went. Wazzu did two reps, took her ball and went to lay in the shade underneath the A-frame. Good thing the weather over the weekend was cold.
Sparkie really enjoyed practicing. She's been missing a few contacts lately so hopefully a little practice will "remind" her about that yellow part. Little Slugger was the weaving machine. We went out to teach him the rear cross. But he just kept running over and offering the weaves - doing all 12 perfectly and fast. He was so cute! I know I'm a softy but I just couldn't help but give him a big hug.
We then ran a few errands. While out we stopped at Shadow Mountain Park. I won't break it to the folks around here but this was no mountain - it was more like a small hill. The park really was a baseball park but behind the 10 beautiful baseball diamonds and four soccor fields was this hill. We walked on a trail that went around the hill and eventually to the top.
Slugger didn't want to leave as he was enjoying just sitting there watching the world - his favorite hobby next to swimming.
We're staying at a friend's house (the wonderful people who put on the Pepper Memorial Classic) and they have a really nice agility field. There is one thing I really need teach Wazzu so I thought this would be a great opportunity to practice. I knew I wouldn't be able to do many repetitions as Wazzu hates to practice. So I got out her favorite ball that she only sees once or twice a year and out we went. Wazzu did two reps, took her ball and went to lay in the shade underneath the A-frame. Good thing the weather over the weekend was cold.
Sparkie really enjoyed practicing. She's been missing a few contacts lately so hopefully a little practice will "remind" her about that yellow part. Little Slugger was the weaving machine. We went out to teach him the rear cross. But he just kept running over and offering the weaves - doing all 12 perfectly and fast. He was so cute! I know I'm a softy but I just couldn't help but give him a big hug.
We then ran a few errands. While out we stopped at Shadow Mountain Park. I won't break it to the folks around here but this was no mountain - it was more like a small hill. The park really was a baseball park but behind the 10 beautiful baseball diamonds and four soccor fields was this hill. We walked on a trail that went around the hill and eventually to the top.
Slugger didn't want to leave as he was enjoying just sitting there watching the world - his favorite hobby next to swimming.
From the top we could see downtown Reno and the beautiful snow capped mountains in the background.
Shawn and James: In addition to the full sized baseball diamonds at this park they also had regulation size Little League fields. How would you like to play on a field like this!
We'll be back to watch you play again this year - at least I hope your season goes that long.
Later in the day we went back out to do another errand and took a little scenic drive through downtown Reno (it sure doesn't look as new and fancy as I remember from when I used to come here so often when I was little). We then drove through the University of Nevada and found a really huge off leash dog park nearby. While we don't usually go to dog parks, this one looked huge and for some reason most of the people and dogs all seemed to be gathered around one little section of it. So we took the dogs there and went to the lower section where there weren't any other dogs.
Here are three pictures of the dog park. They show three sides of the park - we went down to a lower part (no picture of that part).
We let Slugger off leash as it is so rare that there is a safe area for him (where he won't get lost). The took off just as fast as he could across the field zipping and zapping this way and that to try to keep away from the girls. He probably ran over 100 yards before they caught him. But just before they caught him he did a super sharp turn and his poor litle leg just couldn't withstand the torque and he came up injured. Poor little guy, he was just trying to have fun.
It always hurts my heart so much when one of my kids is injured. I wonder if real moms feel that way about their human kids. At least with human kids you can explain to them why they can't go out and play. Poor doggy kids don't understand that.
Here's hoping for a miracle overnight.
Debbie
4/16/07
Sunday, April 15, 2007
What Generosity
Today was even colder than yesterday! In fact, we had snow flurries throughout the day along with the strong winds.
This made all of our three dogs extremely frisky – especially Wazzu. And it made all the people look like a bunch of Pillsbury Dough Boys running around as we all had so many clothes on we looked soft and fluffy and could barely move. In fact, I had so many hats on that my peripheral vision was non-existent and I found myself trying to push my hats away from my eyes during my runs – amazingly enough I didn’t confuse Wazzu too much with all that extra movement.
People for this trial come from a long ways away. Besides us, there were people from Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, and California. So to help everyone get an early start home they only offered five classes today – much to Sparkie’s dismay!
The dogs all did very well today. Unfortunately, Chances, although not as hard as yesterday, was really hard again today. Well, unless of course you are as talented as little Slugger. Both girls missed it but Slugger did it absolutely perfectly! We’re going to start having to enter him in more things as he is just becoming quite the little star.
Other than Chances, Wazzu Q’d in every run today – getting 1st in a few of them. One of the runs was even Weavers – whoo hoo! I don’t know if it is just the cold weather or if she is also feeling better now that we reduced her meds but she is one frisky little puppy again. Between runs she was actually playing chase and wrestle with Sparkie a lot. It was so fun to watch. She even engaged in play with another dog who we were told never plays with other dogs. But Wazzu was flirting and play bowing and the other dog was giving it right back. The other dog’s owner was extremely happy to see his dog interacting with another dog. Wazzu just seems to have that effect on others when she is feeling good.
Sparkie ran nicely too getting some 1st and 2nd place finishes as well. As always, everyone was very impressed with Sparkie and just loved to watch her run. I truly don’t think any dog has as much fun out there as Sparkie. However, she really thought it was a little cold today. Mike left her on a stay at the start line and she sat there just as small as could be and was shivering really hard. It really did look pathetic. Mike was going to lead out farther but when he looked back and saw her in her tight little sit shivering away he released her. She went like a shot and ended up getting 1st place in that run.
Finally it was Slugger’s turn for his second run of the day – Regular. He really ran his little heart out. The run was beautiful – they had just one little bobble as he doesn’t understand rear crosses (why would he as he never gets to practice) but other than that it was perfect. He ended up 24 seconds under course time and got 1st place. Can you believe it – this run earned Slugger his Novice Regular Title! Way to go, Slug-a-bug. Just goes to show that persistence does pay off. Heck it’s only been five and a half years!
Today they stopped the trial midday to hold the raffle and silent auction. We had bid on a couple things in the silent auction throughout the weekend. Close to the end of the auction someone outbid us on one of the items for which we were actually a little relieved. And someone (another Debbie of all things) kept bidding against me on the other item. But I was relentless – after all, the money is going to a great charity – and put in the last bid with less than 30 seconds to go. We won a couple little things in the raffle as well. I’m guessing there were over 200 items in the raffle. Mike got a big fancy wrench and a bottle of wine. I got a big green monkey. Everyone needs one of those – especially someone living in an RV. Ha ha.
To help give you an idea of the raffle size here are a few pictures - but even this doesn't show quite a bit of what was there.
Near the end of the trial they stopped and made an announcement that it looks like they raised close to $10,000 for canine cancer research just from this trial alone. How wonderful is that. There was a representative from the Morris Animal Foundation there all weekend as well. She stated that if they can raise enough money they believe they will have a cure for canine cancer within the next ten years. Too many of us have had cancer take our dogs away from us way too early. And unfortunately, many more will be taken from us before a cure is found. I urge each of you to start thinking about something you could donate to this raffle/auction for next year’s Pepper Memorial Classic. It can be something big or small – everything helps. Of course, a cash donation is always welcome as well. The judge at this year’s trial donated her complete judging fee to the fund. How wonderful is that.
Other than the announcement of the amount of money raised, the highlight of the day came when they announced the High In Trial awards. They had nice award cups and ribbons for some High In Trial awards (Elite, Open, Novice, Veteran, and Jr. Handler). Our dear sweet happy Wazzu won High In Trial Veteran. That is icing on the cake! First Wazzu is feeling good and looking happy (plenty of an award for me) but on top of that she wins HIT. I am so very proud of my Wazzu Puppy. And what an honor to win it at the Pepper Memorial Classic.
Here is Wazzu with her awards, her amazing handler (tee hee) and Lin Battaglia - the wonderful person in charge of this fantastic event.
The people that put on this particular trial have offered to let us stay in our RV at their house for a while. They are such wonderful people. So after the trial the Morris Animal Foundation rep, the trial organizers, our competitor friend from Idaho, and Mike and I stopped at a Chinese restaurant for dinner. Everyone was pretty worn out so a nice quick but tasty meal was just perfect.
From there it was just over an hour to their house in Sparks, NV. We got in at 10pm – way past time for doggy dinner so they thought!
Debbie
4/15/07
This made all of our three dogs extremely frisky – especially Wazzu. And it made all the people look like a bunch of Pillsbury Dough Boys running around as we all had so many clothes on we looked soft and fluffy and could barely move. In fact, I had so many hats on that my peripheral vision was non-existent and I found myself trying to push my hats away from my eyes during my runs – amazingly enough I didn’t confuse Wazzu too much with all that extra movement.
People for this trial come from a long ways away. Besides us, there were people from Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, and California. So to help everyone get an early start home they only offered five classes today – much to Sparkie’s dismay!
The dogs all did very well today. Unfortunately, Chances, although not as hard as yesterday, was really hard again today. Well, unless of course you are as talented as little Slugger. Both girls missed it but Slugger did it absolutely perfectly! We’re going to start having to enter him in more things as he is just becoming quite the little star.
Other than Chances, Wazzu Q’d in every run today – getting 1st in a few of them. One of the runs was even Weavers – whoo hoo! I don’t know if it is just the cold weather or if she is also feeling better now that we reduced her meds but she is one frisky little puppy again. Between runs she was actually playing chase and wrestle with Sparkie a lot. It was so fun to watch. She even engaged in play with another dog who we were told never plays with other dogs. But Wazzu was flirting and play bowing and the other dog was giving it right back. The other dog’s owner was extremely happy to see his dog interacting with another dog. Wazzu just seems to have that effect on others when she is feeling good.
Sparkie ran nicely too getting some 1st and 2nd place finishes as well. As always, everyone was very impressed with Sparkie and just loved to watch her run. I truly don’t think any dog has as much fun out there as Sparkie. However, she really thought it was a little cold today. Mike left her on a stay at the start line and she sat there just as small as could be and was shivering really hard. It really did look pathetic. Mike was going to lead out farther but when he looked back and saw her in her tight little sit shivering away he released her. She went like a shot and ended up getting 1st place in that run.
Finally it was Slugger’s turn for his second run of the day – Regular. He really ran his little heart out. The run was beautiful – they had just one little bobble as he doesn’t understand rear crosses (why would he as he never gets to practice) but other than that it was perfect. He ended up 24 seconds under course time and got 1st place. Can you believe it – this run earned Slugger his Novice Regular Title! Way to go, Slug-a-bug. Just goes to show that persistence does pay off. Heck it’s only been five and a half years!
Today they stopped the trial midday to hold the raffle and silent auction. We had bid on a couple things in the silent auction throughout the weekend. Close to the end of the auction someone outbid us on one of the items for which we were actually a little relieved. And someone (another Debbie of all things) kept bidding against me on the other item. But I was relentless – after all, the money is going to a great charity – and put in the last bid with less than 30 seconds to go. We won a couple little things in the raffle as well. I’m guessing there were over 200 items in the raffle. Mike got a big fancy wrench and a bottle of wine. I got a big green monkey. Everyone needs one of those – especially someone living in an RV. Ha ha.
To help give you an idea of the raffle size here are a few pictures - but even this doesn't show quite a bit of what was there.
Near the end of the trial they stopped and made an announcement that it looks like they raised close to $10,000 for canine cancer research just from this trial alone. How wonderful is that. There was a representative from the Morris Animal Foundation there all weekend as well. She stated that if they can raise enough money they believe they will have a cure for canine cancer within the next ten years. Too many of us have had cancer take our dogs away from us way too early. And unfortunately, many more will be taken from us before a cure is found. I urge each of you to start thinking about something you could donate to this raffle/auction for next year’s Pepper Memorial Classic. It can be something big or small – everything helps. Of course, a cash donation is always welcome as well. The judge at this year’s trial donated her complete judging fee to the fund. How wonderful is that.
Other than the announcement of the amount of money raised, the highlight of the day came when they announced the High In Trial awards. They had nice award cups and ribbons for some High In Trial awards (Elite, Open, Novice, Veteran, and Jr. Handler). Our dear sweet happy Wazzu won High In Trial Veteran. That is icing on the cake! First Wazzu is feeling good and looking happy (plenty of an award for me) but on top of that she wins HIT. I am so very proud of my Wazzu Puppy. And what an honor to win it at the Pepper Memorial Classic.
Here is Wazzu with her awards, her amazing handler (tee hee) and Lin Battaglia - the wonderful person in charge of this fantastic event.
The people that put on this particular trial have offered to let us stay in our RV at their house for a while. They are such wonderful people. So after the trial the Morris Animal Foundation rep, the trial organizers, our competitor friend from Idaho, and Mike and I stopped at a Chinese restaurant for dinner. Everyone was pretty worn out so a nice quick but tasty meal was just perfect.
From there it was just over an hour to their house in Sparks, NV. We got in at 10pm – way past time for doggy dinner so they thought!
Debbie
4/15/07
Saturday, April 14, 2007
North Too Soon
Last year we headed north and arrived in southern Oregon the first weekend of April. The entire month was cold and rainy. We made a decision right then and there that we wouldn’t head north so soon the next year. Well the next year is here and this time we’re in Carson City, Nevada and it is very cold and windy! Brrrr. We sure do a lot of silly things so that we can compete in agility!
We’re at the 7th Annual Pepper Memorial Classic which is a trial that raises money for canine cancer research through the Morris Animal Foundation. To date, the Pepper Memorial Classic has raised $51,000 to fight this deadly disease that takes too many of our dear friends way too early.
As you probably know, the only thing Wazzu and I really disagree on is weather. So Wazzu is completely sky high and I am shivering to beat the band. I have so many clothes on I can barely move – just like everyone else here.
The day started off bad the second we all looked at the first course of the day. It was Chances. Originally I was excited to see that Chances would be first as that would be good for Wazzu. But the minute all the Elite handlers looked at the course we wondered why we had bothered to get up so early. In the end only two Elite dogs Q’d and only one Open dog Q’d. It was just too tough. My hats off (well, not until it gets warmer!) to those three dogs for sure!
Wazzu is feeling good and the weather certainly agrees with her. It was so fun to run her today as she was fast and spot on. She ended up with four Q’s – two Regulars (1st place), Tunnelers and Touch N Go (3rd in both). There are a bunch of really great dogs at this trial and the Elite class is very large so getting placements that high is tremendous. Even though we didn’t Q in Jumpers it is probably the run I am most proud of. This was a box course but I made an error right off the bat before the box even started. So at that point I figured I might as well try the box. And to my major amazement she did the entire box except the very last jump. It was hard as you had to go from a lead change immediately into another lead change – very difficult and almost no one did it. But Wazzu was amazing. Way to go, Wazzu!
Sparkie, as always, was eager and fast. She ran very nice today and was up against some major competition. Mike and Sparkie set out from the beginning to do the Jumpers box. They were going along perfectly and were about three quarters the way done when Mike had just a split second brain fade and forgot where to go – and that was just long enough for Sparkie to choose her own obstacle. Unfortunately, it was the wrong one. But they looked so smooth and pretty. They ended up going 3/6 and Mike was very pleased with their day.
Little Slugger got to compete in two runs today too. He is really starting to love to get turns to run. His first class of the day was Regular. He was so good…and FAST! He was scooting around the course as fast as his little oddly put together legs could take him. He looks so funny when he tries to run fast that everyone thinks he is just the cutest. Unfortunately, the distance line was just a little too far for him so Mike had to step over the line to help him. Other than that they ran clean and ended up with a 1st place five point Q. He was running so fast in Tunnelers that they had one off course at a very difficult spot. But he was happy and fast! What a little man.
After the trial was over for the day they had a potluck. After an extremely long and cold day of being outside not too many people were interested in an outdoor potluck. But we ran over to the store and grabbed some food so we could make a showing. It was a short affair as everyone was extremely cold and tired. But it was a nice time.
We spent the next few hours trying to warm up! Sparkie and I are headed for bed to get under the nice warm comforter! It’s going to be quite a race to see who can get back there and get the most covers.
Debbie
4/14/07
We’re at the 7th Annual Pepper Memorial Classic which is a trial that raises money for canine cancer research through the Morris Animal Foundation. To date, the Pepper Memorial Classic has raised $51,000 to fight this deadly disease that takes too many of our dear friends way too early.
As you probably know, the only thing Wazzu and I really disagree on is weather. So Wazzu is completely sky high and I am shivering to beat the band. I have so many clothes on I can barely move – just like everyone else here.
The day started off bad the second we all looked at the first course of the day. It was Chances. Originally I was excited to see that Chances would be first as that would be good for Wazzu. But the minute all the Elite handlers looked at the course we wondered why we had bothered to get up so early. In the end only two Elite dogs Q’d and only one Open dog Q’d. It was just too tough. My hats off (well, not until it gets warmer!) to those three dogs for sure!
Wazzu is feeling good and the weather certainly agrees with her. It was so fun to run her today as she was fast and spot on. She ended up with four Q’s – two Regulars (1st place), Tunnelers and Touch N Go (3rd in both). There are a bunch of really great dogs at this trial and the Elite class is very large so getting placements that high is tremendous. Even though we didn’t Q in Jumpers it is probably the run I am most proud of. This was a box course but I made an error right off the bat before the box even started. So at that point I figured I might as well try the box. And to my major amazement she did the entire box except the very last jump. It was hard as you had to go from a lead change immediately into another lead change – very difficult and almost no one did it. But Wazzu was amazing. Way to go, Wazzu!
Sparkie, as always, was eager and fast. She ran very nice today and was up against some major competition. Mike and Sparkie set out from the beginning to do the Jumpers box. They were going along perfectly and were about three quarters the way done when Mike had just a split second brain fade and forgot where to go – and that was just long enough for Sparkie to choose her own obstacle. Unfortunately, it was the wrong one. But they looked so smooth and pretty. They ended up going 3/6 and Mike was very pleased with their day.
Little Slugger got to compete in two runs today too. He is really starting to love to get turns to run. His first class of the day was Regular. He was so good…and FAST! He was scooting around the course as fast as his little oddly put together legs could take him. He looks so funny when he tries to run fast that everyone thinks he is just the cutest. Unfortunately, the distance line was just a little too far for him so Mike had to step over the line to help him. Other than that they ran clean and ended up with a 1st place five point Q. He was running so fast in Tunnelers that they had one off course at a very difficult spot. But he was happy and fast! What a little man.
After the trial was over for the day they had a potluck. After an extremely long and cold day of being outside not too many people were interested in an outdoor potluck. But we ran over to the store and grabbed some food so we could make a showing. It was a short affair as everyone was extremely cold and tired. But it was a nice time.
We spent the next few hours trying to warm up! Sparkie and I are headed for bed to get under the nice warm comforter! It’s going to be quite a race to see who can get back there and get the most covers.
Debbie
4/14/07
Friday, April 13, 2007
Snow and Hoops
Today we made our way over the Sierra Mountains on our way to Carson City, Nevada. It was gorgeous.....at least what I saw of it. I'll let you in on a little secret. I don't really watch too much when we drive as I get so nervous. The RV just looks so wide and the lanes always look so narrow! So I'm always leaning way to the left so that we won't hit things. Needless to say, that doesn't actually make the RV move to the left - it just makes me all tense. So, I just don't watch unless we are on a nice super wide road.
But today Mike told me that I had to look as the scenery was just beautiful. It was hard to get pictures through the windows as we drove - but there was definitely no room to pull over.
But today Mike told me that I had to look as the scenery was just beautiful. It was hard to get pictures through the windows as we drove - but there was definitely no room to pull over.
The white you see in this picture is actually a lake that is totally covered with snow.
It was so pretty! And it looked so inviting. Sparkie was sure it looked like a great place to play. So she kept standing up in the front looking out the window crying. We were sure she was saying "Are we there yet?"
Even though it did look a great place to stop and play we were on a time schedule and had to keep moving along. We kept going up and up to over 8,300 feet! There was a lot of snow.
I was really enjoying the scenery when suddenly I saw that the snow was plowed off the road alright but that meant there was no shoulder. YIKES. You can see in the picture where other vehicles have hit the snow bank. No more looking at scenery for me!
After we got down the mountains a ways, Mike convinced me to take another look. Now that we were down lower there was still some snow but here you could see one of the lakes.
It took us a little longer than we had expected but we made it to Carson City in plenty of time to get all set up at the trial site. Fortunately for Sparkie, there was a Friday evening run at this trial. It was our first opportunity to try the new class, Hoopers.
This is a class that is set up like a jumpers course but instead of jumps there are hula hoops (standing up on end) that the dogs run through. We had never even practiced on a hoop before so this was totally new to the dogs - and to us.
There were a number of dogs here that had done this event before but most had not. We entered Wazzu and Sparkie. Sparkie went first. She acted as though she'd done this numerous times before and ran fast and clean. She could care less what the obstacles are - as long as she gets to play agility with her daddy. The more runs the better.
Wazzu also ran it like this was old hat and ran fast and happy. Personally, I didn't really care for it - it seemed boring to me. Maybe when we progress to more difficult courses it will be more interesting.
Here, take a look at our Hoopers experience. Click on the picures to watch the videos. (Just click one time - that will take you to another screen which will load and play the video - no need to click anything on that screen. To return to the blog click the Back button.) We have loaded two videos so when you return to the blog just click the next picture to see the second video.
When the scores were posted, it seems as though the girls really had done well. Even though some of the other dogs had done this before and ours hadn't, Sparkie ended up coming in second and Wazzu came in third! Well done girls!
Driving is always hard on Wazzu but especially when we go on bumpy and windy roads. Here are a few cute shots of Wazzu sleeping after her rough day.
Sleep soundly sweet Wazzu, we've got a fun weekend ahead.
Debbie
4/13/07
Thursday, April 12, 2007
A Glimpse Of My “Old” Girl
After a very long day of driving yesterday and no exercise the dogs were really ready to do something this morning.
We’re now in Plymouth, CA which is just on the edge of the Sierra Mountains. So, needless to say, we decided to take a hike in the forest. We didn’t want to drive too far up in the mountains as it is cold enough where we are. Even though we didn’t gain much in elevation there was still plenty of snow on the ground at the start of our hike.
I wasn’t even all the way out of the car yet when Wazzu started jumping on me and darting off a few feet before coming back and jumping on me again. This is the Wazzu I used to know!
The last few days Wazzu has been acting like the dog we used to know. It has been 11 and 1/2 months since we’ve seen Wazzu so engaged in family life. For almost a year now, Wazzu has laid on her pillow in the RV and not once played with the other two dogs. She hasn’t gotten up off her pillow when the others are getting treats – she just laid there waiting for delivery (which of course she gets).
But the last few days she has been wrestling and playing tug of war with the two youngsters inside the RV! And she has been coming over and waiting with the others for her turn for a treat. Mike and I just can’t describe how good it is to see Wazzu participating in activities in the RV again.
As you saw from the last few days pictures, Wazzu has been running around playing with Sparkie just like in the old days. And today on our hike, Wazzu looked like the youngest dog. She was darting around doing crazy dog and running full speed ahead – not walking or trotting next to me. The significance of this picture is that Wazzu is nowhere to be found. She’s off in the forest bounding around.
Sparkie looked like the calm dog today compared to the speed and exuberance of Wazzu. And she just kept going and going. Mike said his heart felt so warm seeing Wazzu race around like she used to.
After our visit to the vet in Tucson, she suggested we lower the dose of Wazzu’s medication since we really had hit it so hard to begin with. The vet thinks that it was really helpful to attack the Valley Fever so strong in the beginning but that Wazzu might feel better now if we reduced the dosage to half of what we originally started with. It’s been just about two weeks since we started the lower dose and I’m thinking that maybe that is making a difference. Of course, it’s too early to tell for sure but so far it looks encouraging. Oh we’ve sure missed the “old” Wazzu and are so happy to have her back.
The hike was very nice, but chilly. The forest was similar to those in the northwest but just enough different that it was interesting.
And it was so peaceful. In fact, it was a great place for the girls to hike off leash as there weren’t even any signs of wildlife the whole time. Of course that didn’t stop them from running all around – it just kept them from running off for miles chasing something!
All three dogs loved playing in these low bushes – but we have no idea what they are as we don’t have those in the Pacific Northwest. Do any of you Californians recognize this plant?
At one point in the trail we came to a section where both sides of the path were lined with these bushes that have really red bark. Actually it didn’t look like bark as it was completely smooth to the touch.
As you can see, they are much redder than Slugger.
We then came across these three pieces of log. For some reason they reminded me of the things elephants stand or sit on at the circus. So much to the dogs dismay I had them each get on one of the sections of log. Wouldn’t you know, our very own three ring circus! (By the way, this is as close as you’ll ever see me to a circus – I think it is absurd and cruel to put animals through that. Heck even the dogs weren’t too thrilled about this little version of a circus.)
Of course, you have to have a ring leader too. So here is the highly skilled ring leader!
We didn’t make it down to this meadow but it was so pretty.
I’ll bet later in the spring there will be beautiful flowers in the meadow too. By the time we got back to the car we realized we had hiked three hours! And Wazzu hadn’t even slowed down! How fun is that!
Mike then wanted to visit one of the local historic gold mines, the Sutter Creek Mine. So he dropped the dogs and I off back home and went to see if he could find some gold. Well, no luck finding any gold but he did have fun on the tour. Here's Mike's take of the tour.
This area was a major center of mining during the California Gold Rush and into the early 1900’s. The Sutter Creek mine produced millions of dollars of gold in the past, and is still occasionally worked. They mostly run tours and a gift shop now, however.
For the tour you get to wear a hard hat and ride in a long Jeep type buggy down about 500 deep underground.
The main shaft goes down steeply and is just wide enough for the buggy.
The lowest parts of the mine - below where tourists are allowed- are about 1200 feet down. This sounds deep but isn’t really that deep for hard rock mines. There is one in South Africa that is over 12,000 feet (2 ½ miles!) deep, where the temperature is over 130 degrees. The Sutter Creek mine is a steady 64 degrees all the time.
Down in the mine they showed us some of the drills, lights, and carts used in the past for gold mining, and how they tunnel through the rock to get at the stuff where the gold is.
A drill:
A cart:
Gold is found only in the veins of quartz that wind through the hard rock of the mountain, and the miners follow the veins wherever they go, cutting as little of the surrounding rock as possible. They drill long holes in the rock or quartz, fill them with explosives, blow everything to smithereens, haul it all out, and start all over again. The working areas can be very narrow, barely wide enough to walk through.
It was a very interesting tour even though I didn't find a pot of gold.
Debbie & Mike
4/12/07
We’re now in Plymouth, CA which is just on the edge of the Sierra Mountains. So, needless to say, we decided to take a hike in the forest. We didn’t want to drive too far up in the mountains as it is cold enough where we are. Even though we didn’t gain much in elevation there was still plenty of snow on the ground at the start of our hike.
I wasn’t even all the way out of the car yet when Wazzu started jumping on me and darting off a few feet before coming back and jumping on me again. This is the Wazzu I used to know!
The last few days Wazzu has been acting like the dog we used to know. It has been 11 and 1/2 months since we’ve seen Wazzu so engaged in family life. For almost a year now, Wazzu has laid on her pillow in the RV and not once played with the other two dogs. She hasn’t gotten up off her pillow when the others are getting treats – she just laid there waiting for delivery (which of course she gets).
But the last few days she has been wrestling and playing tug of war with the two youngsters inside the RV! And she has been coming over and waiting with the others for her turn for a treat. Mike and I just can’t describe how good it is to see Wazzu participating in activities in the RV again.
As you saw from the last few days pictures, Wazzu has been running around playing with Sparkie just like in the old days. And today on our hike, Wazzu looked like the youngest dog. She was darting around doing crazy dog and running full speed ahead – not walking or trotting next to me. The significance of this picture is that Wazzu is nowhere to be found. She’s off in the forest bounding around.
Sparkie looked like the calm dog today compared to the speed and exuberance of Wazzu. And she just kept going and going. Mike said his heart felt so warm seeing Wazzu race around like she used to.
After our visit to the vet in Tucson, she suggested we lower the dose of Wazzu’s medication since we really had hit it so hard to begin with. The vet thinks that it was really helpful to attack the Valley Fever so strong in the beginning but that Wazzu might feel better now if we reduced the dosage to half of what we originally started with. It’s been just about two weeks since we started the lower dose and I’m thinking that maybe that is making a difference. Of course, it’s too early to tell for sure but so far it looks encouraging. Oh we’ve sure missed the “old” Wazzu and are so happy to have her back.
The hike was very nice, but chilly. The forest was similar to those in the northwest but just enough different that it was interesting.
And it was so peaceful. In fact, it was a great place for the girls to hike off leash as there weren’t even any signs of wildlife the whole time. Of course that didn’t stop them from running all around – it just kept them from running off for miles chasing something!
All three dogs loved playing in these low bushes – but we have no idea what they are as we don’t have those in the Pacific Northwest. Do any of you Californians recognize this plant?
At one point in the trail we came to a section where both sides of the path were lined with these bushes that have really red bark. Actually it didn’t look like bark as it was completely smooth to the touch.
As you can see, they are much redder than Slugger.
We then came across these three pieces of log. For some reason they reminded me of the things elephants stand or sit on at the circus. So much to the dogs dismay I had them each get on one of the sections of log. Wouldn’t you know, our very own three ring circus! (By the way, this is as close as you’ll ever see me to a circus – I think it is absurd and cruel to put animals through that. Heck even the dogs weren’t too thrilled about this little version of a circus.)
Of course, you have to have a ring leader too. So here is the highly skilled ring leader!
We didn’t make it down to this meadow but it was so pretty.
I’ll bet later in the spring there will be beautiful flowers in the meadow too. By the time we got back to the car we realized we had hiked three hours! And Wazzu hadn’t even slowed down! How fun is that!
Mike then wanted to visit one of the local historic gold mines, the Sutter Creek Mine. So he dropped the dogs and I off back home and went to see if he could find some gold. Well, no luck finding any gold but he did have fun on the tour. Here's Mike's take of the tour.
This area was a major center of mining during the California Gold Rush and into the early 1900’s. The Sutter Creek mine produced millions of dollars of gold in the past, and is still occasionally worked. They mostly run tours and a gift shop now, however.
For the tour you get to wear a hard hat and ride in a long Jeep type buggy down about 500 deep underground.
The main shaft goes down steeply and is just wide enough for the buggy.
The lowest parts of the mine - below where tourists are allowed- are about 1200 feet down. This sounds deep but isn’t really that deep for hard rock mines. There is one in South Africa that is over 12,000 feet (2 ½ miles!) deep, where the temperature is over 130 degrees. The Sutter Creek mine is a steady 64 degrees all the time.
Down in the mine they showed us some of the drills, lights, and carts used in the past for gold mining, and how they tunnel through the rock to get at the stuff where the gold is.
A drill:
A cart:
Gold is found only in the veins of quartz that wind through the hard rock of the mountain, and the miners follow the veins wherever they go, cutting as little of the surrounding rock as possible. They drill long holes in the rock or quartz, fill them with explosives, blow everything to smithereens, haul it all out, and start all over again. The working areas can be very narrow, barely wide enough to walk through.
It was a very interesting tour even though I didn't find a pot of gold.
Debbie & Mike
4/12/07
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
All's Well That Ends Well
(Visalia, CA) Wow, what a rockin’ and rollin’ night. I don’t know the exact strength of the winds here but they are strong. In fact, when we got up to get ready to leave this morning, the campground owner came by and told us there were wind advisories for oversize vehicles on the freeway we’d be on so to be careful and be ready to have to pull over for quite some time. As it turned out, while the drive was a little harried, we didn’t have to stop.
We pulled into Visalia, CA – which is about an hour or so from Sequoia National Park – about 1:00 in the afternoon. We thought this would give us a fair amount of time to go do a short hike.
Mike got out all his trusty maps he’d gotten off the internet and we set off for a fun afternoon. Instead we drove and drove and drove up and down and around all these winding roads out in the middle of nowhere but we never found the hike that was mentioned. After close to two hours of driving we gave up and headed back. Needless to say, we were all very disappointed.
When we got down to the bottom of the mountain, Mike decided to take a slightly different way home. On the way, we came across a park so we decided to stop and at least let the dogs stretch their legs a little before going back to the RV.
What a pleasant surprise! This park was just perfect and the weather was nice and warm.. It was right on a river and while there were a number of people here, they all seemed to stay at the very front section of the park. The front section of the park was full of HUGE boulders – in fact, a lot of the rocks were so big you would consider them more slabs of rock rather than individual boulders. People were having picnics on the rocks and playing around on them.
We pulled into Visalia, CA – which is about an hour or so from Sequoia National Park – about 1:00 in the afternoon. We thought this would give us a fair amount of time to go do a short hike.
Mike got out all his trusty maps he’d gotten off the internet and we set off for a fun afternoon. Instead we drove and drove and drove up and down and around all these winding roads out in the middle of nowhere but we never found the hike that was mentioned. After close to two hours of driving we gave up and headed back. Needless to say, we were all very disappointed.
When we got down to the bottom of the mountain, Mike decided to take a slightly different way home. On the way, we came across a park so we decided to stop and at least let the dogs stretch their legs a little before going back to the RV.
What a pleasant surprise! This park was just perfect and the weather was nice and warm.. It was right on a river and while there were a number of people here, they all seemed to stay at the very front section of the park. The front section of the park was full of HUGE boulders – in fact, a lot of the rocks were so big you would consider them more slabs of rock rather than individual boulders. People were having picnics on the rocks and playing around on them.
Since there were so many people there we pretty much avoided that area and headed on down the river a bit.
We didn’t see a soul from then on and had the entire place to ourselves. We let the girls off leash as usual but they stuck close as they usually do in a new place. Slugger enjoyed swimming although it was really cold. Wazzu did her usual toodling around in the water.
After we walked as far as we could next to the river (boulders got too rough) we headed up the hill to walk along the path.
The scenery from anywhere in this entire park was just beautiful.
In fact, we even found a piece of property that we would LOVE to buy – of course there is no way we could ever afford it but it was fun to dream. If you look in the distance in the below picture you'll see a patch of green grass on a hill. There is a beautiful house on top of the hill.
To the left of the hill with the house is this MUCH larger hill. You can't see the hill with the house in this picture - it is just to the right of this picture.
This picture shows the entirety of the large hill.
We thought this was such a cool property. Very secluded, on a river, and a huge hill for the dogs to hike around every day. Okay, enough of the daydreaming.
Anyway, we walked a ways until we could find a way back down to the river. The current was super strong here. Wazzu pretty much just swam in place and even Slugger had to put up quite a fight to actually make much progress. But they had a good time swimming especially when I found this huge stick for them to chase. I don’t know why but the bigger the stick the better.
They even had fun on land with the stick as both Wazzu and Slugger wanted to claim it as their own. Sparkie tried to join in but Wazzu let her know that she wasn’t allowed in this game.
So Sparkie went down to the water and did a little bit of snorkeling to find her own little twig.
She had to keep her nose under water quite a while so she had to blow bubbles so she could stay under longer. Smart girl.
They still weren't done playing tug of war so Sparkie amused herself by playing in the dirt.
On the way back the dogs were all wet so they were very frisky. The girls were running around so quickly they really stirred up the dust.
We went through this meadow where the grass was very golden, soft, and about knee high. The dogs absolutely loved this grass. Wazzu and Sparkie played tag in the grass for about 15 minutes. Mike and I had a great time watching them as Wazzu doesn’t play with Sparkie all that much but when she does, Sparkie is in heaven.
Sparkie tucked her bottom and run around and around this way and that.
Slugger tried to join in once in a while but it’s really hard to play that game on leash.
What a great find! And a nice way to end a day that started out with a lot of frustration. As they say, all’s well that ends well.
Debbie
4/9/07
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