10K

(Oceanside, CA) Nope, we didn't run...that would have been a much shorter journey. And I'm sure we wouldn't have met nearly as many people!

After a week of rain, the weather brightened today as did all our moods. It was a perfect day for agility. We actually found a day where it was cool enough for Wazzu and yet not so cool that I was cold! A great day indeed.

This trial is being put on by the Ups N Downs Agility Club and is being held at Skydance Ranch in Oceanside, CA. The views from the ranch are really beautiful.



I'm not sure what they were growing but they had a lot of workers out there picking something most of the day.



The property, besides being someone's home, is used for dog sports and horse boarding and sports. I didn't count the stalls but I'm guessing there were probably 40 indoor stalls as well as an indoor area. This is one of the horses that was being boarded there.



The barn where the horses are kept is above the agility field. Here you can see the agility field and the farming fields in the background.



We were parked in such a way that we could see out the window to the agility field so we could usually figure out when our next class was starting.



The field is just slightly sloped but not bad at all. However, it was very bumpy and the surface was a bit "squishy" so you did have to be very careful. I found myself spending much more time during the walk-thrus planning my route than the dog's route.

Probably one of the biggest variations we see between clubs is the hospitality table. The last few trials we've attended have had so much food out that you wouldn't need to eat the entire week following the trial. I don't often succeed but I try to choose the healthy things to eat. So this club really made me laugh. They had breakfast items out. You could choose either a whole donut or half a banana! How did this make sense? Bananas are cheaper and are better for you. But even I can't get full on half a banana....so you guessed it, I had the unhealthy donut - much to Wazzu's delight! No wonder Americans are overweight.

Sparkie picked up right where she left off at the last trial. Her results weren't as good but she was certainly running just as well. Her two Regular runs were spectacular. The Jumpers course seemed to be set a little unusual with a number of "flat" jumps. But Sparkie handled it all just perfectly. There was a spot on the course where the dog had done three straight obstacles in a row: jump, tunnel, jump. Then they were to turn to the right - away from the fourth obstacle straight ahead. Mike forgot to call Sparkie and she sped straight ahead thus going off course. But they got back on track and finished very happy. Sparkie didn't get her Chances run but it was in no way her fault. It just called for a skill she has never been taught. In fact, it called for a skill most dogs hadn't been taught, as very few dogs succeeded on this course. But poor little Sparkie tried so hard to figure out what Mike was wanting her to do. You could see her thinking and thinking but she just couldn't figure it out. But Mike did some fun stuff with her to make her think she'd figured it out - and then she got lots of cheese, so all was good.

Little Slugger was in top form...most of the time. He had his little head bop move going today - so cute! His Regular run was super fast other than his weaves which were a bit slow but he did them correctly. I just can't get over how cute he is when he is concentrating so hard and bopping that little head up and down as he tries to run fast. He started off super fast in his Jumpers run as well. But when he got to the first turn he got distracted by something (as a lot of the novice dogs did at this spot). Unfortunately Mike felt as though he needed to touch Slugger to get his attention back. Once he did that, Slugger's full attention was back on agility and he did the remainder of the course as fast as he's ever done any course. It was so fun to watch. We are very proud of him.

Wazzu was excited to do agility today! Even though she didn't get her Chances run today (it was just too hard for us...and most others as well) she probably ran as well as she has ever run. She even did her weaves super fast. Moving her back to Novice was the best thing I think I could have done for her agility-wise. Now that she only has to do six weaves she is loving agility again. I was worried about my footing on this surface but it didn't really matter as Wazzu let me pretty much stand still and she went out and did all her courses at such distance. It was really fun and gave me a little glimpse of what I hope it will be like to run Boogie someday. Wazzu was beating course time in Regular by over 30 seconds and had the fastest time of any dog. I know it's just Novice but even so - that is FAST!!

Her last run of the day really made me laugh. There had been a gopher on the course that kept popping its head out of its hole. It seemed to be getting very brave so just before Wazzu's turn they held us up and the judge went over and covered the hole. But you can't fool Wazzu that easily! She was again running with great speed and great distance. However, I had such a hard time not laughing as she ran. Every single time she would pass a patch of dirt, not just her eyes but her entire head would turn and look to see if there might be a gopher popping up. I was surprised she could do so well on the course when her mind was obviously on gophers. Such a silly Wazzu!

To match her great speed and happy face, Wazzu brought a huge smile to my face as well today. We reached a goal that, a couple years ago, I thought would not be possible. Once it became evident that Wazzu was such a consistent dog I had made a goal of earning 10,000 points in her career. We were well on our way, when suddenly Wazzu got extremely ill a year and a half ago. At that point we were just hoping she would live and we totally forgot about our agility goal for quite some time. So for her to reach that goal today in grand style was so fun. Even though the run itself was perfect - for me it was the journey....not the actual monumental run.

We don't know anyone here very well at all so there was no celebration - not even within our own little family as Mike wasn't feeling well. But when we get back up to the PNW I hope to celebrate with our friends and family.

So here's to you my sweet Wazzu puppy. Thanks for the really fun ride. I'll keep letting you playing as long as you're happy doing so!

Just before we all left on Saturday, they announced that everyone should park facing out in the morning as it is forecasted to rain (hard) all night and all day tomorrow. They also said they'd have a large tractor with a heavy duty chain to pull people out should they get stuck.

Sure enough, about five minutes after the last dog finished running, the rain started coming down...hard. And wind - we were rocking and we could see canopies blowing over. It was a nasty night. I couldn't sleep as I was so worried about us getting stuck. That happened to us once at an agility trial and it was an expensive tow.

But by morning the rain had stopped. We immediately saw the difference between southern California folks and PNW folks. Just the forecast of rain caused most people to stay home! I'm not kidding - only about 10% of the dogs showed up on Sunday. That was fine with us as we wanted to get done and get to the RV park before it closed for the evening.

As it turned out, while it wasn't warm, it didn't rain at all while we were running. I really couldn't believe how few dogs were there. But it definitely did help things move along during the day.

Sparkie was running very nicely again today. She has been so fun to watch recently. While her Regular runs were beautiful, her Chances run was spectacular. It wasn't that it was an extremely difficult Chances run but Sparkie ran it so smoothly she made it look like something she could have done in her sleep. Hmmm, I wonder if she does agility in her dreams? I would imagine so. Mike and Sparkie had a great weekend and had a lot of fun together.

Slugger was so fun today. In his Regular run he was a head bopping agility pro! He ran the most perfect line and get this...he even collected at speed and did the weaves perfectly. Mike and I are absolutely positive this is the best run we will ever see out of Slugger. He was head bopping fast, without a wasted step at any turn, and did his weaves so nicely. Way to go, Bumpkin!

Slugger's other run was, well, interesting. It's rare we enter him in Chances but he was entered in that today. We thought even though it would be really hard for him that just maybe he could do it. The first thing you had to do in this course was to call the dog off the A-frame after the first two jumps. Slugger's favorite obstacle by far is the A-frame so Mike was worried about this. But Slugger did that perfectly. After going in a tunnel the dog then had to go out and do three jumps. The first jump was at quite a distance which we thought would be beyond Slugger's capability. We couldn't believe it - he went out to the jump! Yippee. He runs right up to the jump and stops in his tracks. He just stands there smelling the bar. Huh? Mike is telling him to jump and he's just sniffing and sniffing. Mike's waving his arm to get Slugger to go over but Slugger just walks entirely around the jump smelling the bar. When he got all the way around then he just stopped and stood there like he totally forgot where he was or what he was supposed to be doing. So Mike went out to him and tapped him on the head saying "hello in there!" It's like that tap brought Slugger back into the present and he then continued on and did the rest of the course just fine. You just never know what to expect from our little Slugger!

Wazzu was super happy again today. She was doing distance like it was her favorite part of agility. It was a blast....and astonishing to me. She sure let the cat out of the bag this weekend. All these years she's been making me think she doesn't know how to do distance. But she sure showed me this weekend that she can do it - I guess she just usually doesn't want to do it. So I'm really excited for our Chances run as it doesn't look all that difficult compared to most. So she does the first two jumps and I called her off the A-frame by saying "here." But she takes me totally literally and comes right to me. NO!! I just wanted her to come toward me but then do the jump. Now I have to try and get her back out to the jump. So I'm telling her to go out to the jump. She looks around and heads back to the jump she came from. NO!! She looks all around and heads over to the A-frame. NO!! She looks around, wanders to the opposite side of the jump. Oh no! Please don't backjump. She continues walking around and FINALLY takes the correct jump. Then she takes off like a rocket and does the directional and distance portions of the challenge like it was baby stuff. Gads, she sure makes me work hard for these Chances Q!

The last run of the day was Wazzu's Jumpers run. She made the crowd (what little was left) roar. It’s not usually a good thing when people laugh, by the way! So like with her other runs, Wazzu was doing beautiful distance. Just as she went to take off for one of the jumps, a gopher popped his head out of the hole…right in front of the jump!! Wazzu was flying so fast, but her instincts told her to get the gopher. So she jerked her head down (but was going too fast to stop), the gopher zoomed down into the hole, and Wazzu knocked a bar. Amazingly enough, she continued on and still ended up with the fastest time of any dog. What a girl.

The second we got off the course we ran to the RV and drove out of the parking lot - and we didn't get stuck. We stopped in the street to hook up the car. Just as Mike stepped into the RV the sky opened up. Talk about good timing!!

It was a really fun weekend for all....except poor Boogie. But he was a really sport. Someday he'll get to play too - we can hardly wait!

Debbie
1/26-27/08

Rain, Rain, and More Rain

(Santa Paula/Oceanside, CA) Last night the rain started. And it wasn't any little light rain - it was coming down in buckets! For four full days! Thursday we even had thunder.

The park we're staying at is full of peacocks. They just walk around everywhere. (Let me apologize upfront for the peacock pictures. I had to take them through the windows so most of them are blurry.)



They really seemed to like our spot. Here's our picnic table.



This is right in front of the RV.



Right outside our door is the gate leading out to the main road. It didn't seem to matter what time of the day it was - there was always one or two sitting there.



I guess it turned out to be a good thing they were always around as that was our main activity for the week - watching the peacocks.



Sometimes it was a family activity and other times it was just Slugger.



In fact, I think that's all Slugger did all week - and he seemed totally happy with that.



The peacocks don't totally care for the rain either I found out. I looked out the kitchen window to find a whole group of them sitting under the trailer next to us.



On Tuesday, as the weather began turning wet and nasty, I (Mike) took some time to visit the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in nearby Simi Valley. A couple of years ago I went to the Truman library in Missouri and found it very interesting, so I wanted to see how they compared.



The Reagan Library certainly has a nice facility and beautiful location on a mountaintop overlooking the Simi Valley and the surrounding hills.



The inside was very classy also, but a little thin in real content however. Just my luck, the current temporary display, which seemed to take up a third of the museum, was about seemingly ALL the dresses Nancy Reagan wore as First Lady. Good Grief, who cares.



After racing through that I finally got to the life of Ronald Reagan, starting with his school days in Dixon Illinois,



his radio career, his film career, his marriage to Nancy, and his long leadership of the Screen Actors Guild. This was pretty well done, especially about the movies he made, but it kind of glossed over his support of the 50's Red Scare in Hollywood and hardly mentioned his first wife Jane Wyman and his divorce.

This superficial and uncritical point of view continued throughout the sections about his years as Governor of California and President. Not unexpected, but disappointing compared to the depth and balance of the Truman Museum. There was no mention of his failed primary challenge of Ford in 1976, only an oblique reference to the Iran-Contra scandal, and curiously almost nothing at all about his second term as president. But there was a lot about his good spirits and joking after being shot, and constant claims that he was almost singlehandedly responsible for the falls of communism and the Berlin Wall.

But the museum did have one thing no other presidential library has, an actual Air Force One!



There was a big building, with a huge all glass wall looking out over the hills, that contained the Air Force One that was used from the 70's until about 2002.



It was fixed up inside as it was during the years the Reagan's used it and made an interesting exhibit. I forgot how skinny those old 707's sure were. The building was a bit dishevelled because it was full of boxes of TV lighting and equipment that will be used to put on a presidential candidate debate on Jan 30 (Republican I would presume).

After the plane, the tour went past the apparently required Oval Office replica,





some more stuff about Nancy Reagan and a few displays about their post-presidential years on the ranch and president's Alzheimers.



He is buried is a courtyard outside the main building.



Overall a worthwhile visit but it was stronger on admiration than information.

It has not been a fun week for me (Debbie). I only went outside one time and it wasn't pleasant - but not for the reason you're probably thinking.

It's been a long time since we've been near grass and I've really been wanting to practice a little agility with Boogie. So Mike braved the weather and set up the weaves poles for us. But in order to practice I had to wait for the rain to slowdown a bit and for the peacocks to leave. Trying to get those two things to happen at the same time just was not working. And I certainly didn't think we'd have much luck trying to have Boogie practice his weaves off leash with all these peacocks within just a few feet of us.

We waited until the rain slowed a bit and finally sent Mike and Slugger out to take a walk around to "encourage" the peacocks to move on. It kind of looked like this peacock wanted to learn to weave too.



We thought all the peacocks were gone so I took Boogie out and started walking near the weave poles waiting for Boogie to potty before taking him off leash to practice. Just about the time I was bending over to take his leash off, a peacock started racing toward us. Really!! No, he wasn't strolling by, he was charging straight at us!! Stop laughing - I heard enough of that from Mike! We took off running as fast as we could and raced into the RV. That was it. I wasn't going outside any more with all these killer peacocks surrounding us! This is the nasty guy that chased us.



And the noises these things make. It scared all of more than once. But they really are pretty. Sorry this is blurry but I still think you can see how pretty their head's are.



Due to the constant rain, we never saw any of them with their feathers all opened up. One time when the rain slowed down we did see this one open up a teeny tiny bit just for a moment.



We all got rather bored this week and did a lot of lying around. But even so, this can't possibly be comfy!



Finally Friday came and it was time to leave this wet place! Since I hadn't left the RV since we'd been here I hadn't seen our surroundings at all. As we were driving out I noticed there really was a pretty view.



I also noticed a bunch of peacocks sitting under someone's awning. If these people plan on having a picnic I think they need a few more place settings!



So we say good bye to all our peacock friends - who weren't all that interested in getting out of the way as we were driving out.



After driving for a couple hours we arrived at this weekend's agility site. The best thing about it - there wasn't any rain at the moment! Even Wazzu enjoyed the momentary sunbeam.



The spot we're parked in is really nice. The view out the front window is really pretty.



And out the side window we have just enough of a view of the agility field that we should be able to see when we need to get out there for our runs.



Sparkie is already telling us it's time for her turn!

Debbie
1/22-25/08

Snow, Sand, and Fun

(Santa Paula, CA) The weather is predicted to be rainy and cool all week. But when we awoke this morning it was sunny. So we decided to do our sightseeing trip today.

We headed up into the hills to take a little hike so that the dogs would be a little exercised before we started sightseeing. The drive up into the hills was very pretty. We were getting high up above the cities and the views were beautiful. Finally we found a place where we could get out and take a little walk. There was an actual trail but we decided to walk on the gravel road as we could see Boogie easily. We didn't want to take any chances of a mountain lion getting him.

We let the girls and Boogie off leash. Oh man did Boogie ever need to run! It had been quite a while since he'd been off leash and he'd stored up a lot of energy. He raced up and down the road at full speed. Wazzu was in a great mood and she ran back and forth with Boogie attacking her for all he was worth. It was great to see the two of them so happy. When we got to the top of the hill there was a very large flat field. At that point we let Slugger off leash too as there really wasn't anywhere for him to disappear.

Up here, there were about 50 of these huge long white concrete road barricades. I suppose they each weigh a quite a few tons. Anyway, the dogs had a great time sniffing around and under them for rodents. Here's an interesting shot of Slugger at the end of a couple of the barriers.

The dogs had a great time romping around looking for critters. I don't think Boogie slowed down the whole time.



It was freezing and very windy and neither Mike nor I had dressed for cold weather. Originally we had thought we'd hike for an hour or two but there was no way we could stay outside that long in this weather. It actually started snowing on us!! Brrrr.

So what does silly Boogie do? He zooms around playing then runs over to a small pile of dirt and digs a little trough to lie down in....just like he does when he's hot! How can he be hot when it's blustery and snowing?! He's crazy!



Now that we had the edge off the dogs we felt comfortable taking a little sightseeing drive. We went to Santa Barbara and drove through downtown and up the coast. This is the busiest downtown we've ever seen. It's a beautiful downtown area - and the people are very friendly.

We were driving slowly and Mike was looking from side to side as he was trying to find a place that we could eat with four dogs. There was a Verizon truck ahead of us that pulled over to the side of the road. I didn't think anything about it but then a couple blocks later he was in the lane next to us. He yelled out and asked if we were okay - he said we looked lost. Mike said we were fine. The guy then yelled back saying he loved our dog - he was talking about Slugger as he was the only dog that was visible. I can't tell you how often we get that! The law may not like Slugger but we get more people saying they love him than all our other dogs put together.

After driving around a bit we found some shops at the harbor. We found a little restaurant there called the Minnow Cafe.



It is such a little place that after we finished eating, Mike said this was the smallest restaurant we've ever eaten at. But the food was GREAT. Since we were right on the water we both decided we on Fish N Chips. It was the second best Fish N Chips I've ever had. Super good!

There was no indoor seating - just little tables outside. This was perfect for us since we had dogs with us. They seemed to be enjoying the lunch too. While we were eating a gal stopped and wanted to pet the dogs. Wazzu was closest and started to nuzzle up to the gal but the gal totally ignored her and went right to Slugger....just like always. Everyone loves Slugger.



In the above picture, if you look just to the right of the white garbage can and to the left of the light blue door you see a little dark area - this is the entrance to the restaurant. The opening is about four feet wide. After entering you walk in about five feet where you order at the counter. That's it! Now that's a small restaurant.

After we ate we walked around the harbor on the pier. We couldn't believe the number of sailboats in this marina. And the backdrop was so pretty as well.






On the opposite side of the pier was the ocean. The colors were so pretty and the water looked so peaceful. It really was a beautiful place to walk.



At the end of the pier was a low statue of a dolphin head and neck. Boogie was scared of it and would bark at it and run away. Strangely enough, Wazzu was scared of it too. She slowly walked toward it and then turned her head way to the side and walked away giving it a very wide berth - exactly like she did with the rattlesnake! Very weird.

From there we loaded up in the car and drove to an off leash dog beach. We thought this was going to be a great place...but so did about 300 other people! When we first got on to the beach we found a rather empty little area so we thought we could let Slugger off leash to chase a stick.



He loves that more than anything and always stays right near us. So Mike threw the stick and all four of our dogs went full speed after the stick. What Mike didn't realize was that there was a deep pool of water between the dogs and the stick. All the dogs paths took them beside the pool except for Wazzu. She feel into the pool at full speed and must have done three complete somersaults. I didn't think she was ever going to stop. One somersault was completely under water. It all seemed like it happened in slow motion. I was so worried that she had broken her neck or a few other bones. But somehow she came out of it with no broken bones - but she was very dazed. Poor Wazzu.

Slugger got the stick and brought it back. Unfortunately, as soon as Mike threw the stick this time, two big labs came flying out of nowhere. This makes us very nervous as Slugger never looks at another dog as he just wants to play with his stick. But he doesn't like it if another dog tries to take the stick from him. So the poor guy had to go back on leash right away. We just don't want to take the chance of another dog trying to steal the stick. But he took it all in stride and spent his time staring in the various pools of water.



But the much bigger problem was Boogie! He is a social butterfly. It didn't matter if the dog was three pounds (yes, we saw a couple dogs that small) or 130 pounds (yes, we saw dogs that big), he wanted to play with them. And he did...no matter how far down the beach the dogs ran, he went right with them. I'm calling and calling and he's playing and playing...suddenly he has gone deaf!

He had absolutely no fear. He went from dog to dog, chasing, playing, barking, jumping, etc. And all the dogs loved him! Every single dog he met played with him. He finally found one dog that played like our dogs play with him...it chased him and knocked him down over and over and over. If it would have just been on the sand it wouldn't have been so bad - but there were large rocks that he was being slammed down on. I must have tried for 20 minutes to catch Boogie...but they were much faster than me - oh and remember, Boogie is deaf. FINALLY, I caught him. And as you might imagine he was put on leash!! I've don't think I've ever seen him have more fun. It was a good lesson for me - he needs a LOT of work on "come" when there are other dogs around. Sometimes he was hundred yards away from me...and he didn't seem to even remember I was on the beach.

So he had to give me this pathetic little look which I'm sure said "Why did you put me back on this leash - I was having such a good time!



I did let him off leash again when I found an empty pocket of beach. He was still full of vim and vigor as you can see here. Wazzu sure is a good big sister to put up with this.



Everyone seemed to have a great day....but boy do I have a lot to work on with my little social butterfly who now wants his dad to buy him an off-leash beach full of dogs.

Debbie
1/22/08

Suit For Sale

(Ventura/Santa Paula, CA) I couldn't sleep - don't know why. That meant I was wide awake when the dogs started barking...at 4:00am. Why are people getting up so early! Fortunately none of our dogs were bothered by the barking and they slept right through it. Good thing because Boogie needs his beauty sleep!

Border terriers were first thing this morning and we were feeling really good about our chances today. Joe met us a little early and he got Boogie all in show mood. Ha ha. But Boogie was very frisky just wanted to play when he saw the other borders. One lady with a little girl puppy did let the two say hi.

So the two puppy boys went into the ring. Boogie was trotting up on his toes doing the perfect gait. He looked really good!



He stood perfectly still on the table while the judge did her thing. When it was the other puppy's turn, he was skipping and jumping...and he was choking on something. On the table he wiggled all around. Now we're pretty sure we got this point in the bag. The judge does the pointing stuff and can you believe it - she points at the scrawny little dog. Within a matter of just a couple minutes we're done for the day. Huge bummer. Even though Boogie didn’t win, he sure smells good. Every time we get him back from Joe, he smells so good. Boogie was never out of my sight so I know Joe didn’t spray him with anything. I guess Joe’s cologne must just rub off on Boogie. Boy does he smell good – and so does Boogie!!

After watching the rest of the class, our handler says he thinks this particular judge prefers the smaller dogs so MAYBE this was our problem today. Mike says he doesn’t care what anyone says - Boogie could beat up that scrawny little dog any day! But of course he wouldn't as he's a lover not a fighter. But in all seriousness, what little I know about border terriers, I think they were bred to work. I'm positive Boogie could run with the horses all day or hunt all day or whatever might be asked of a working dog. I don't think that other dog could do that at all. But that dog is a sweetie. And he has a loving home. And really that's what is important.

So before most people in the U.S. are out of their jammies, we are done with our day. Problem is, they have the RV’s so packed together in here that we can't get out until others around us leave. It looks like we could be here a long time.

But I will say, this was a very nice place for a show. Nothing was far away, as far as the show went, and it was so nice being right across the street from a very nice beach. You could easily walk to town – and it was a very nice little town. Erle Stanley Gardner’s office was even there. I’m sure you all know that he was the guy that wrote all the Perry Mason stories – my favorite all while I was growing up.

While I did some cleaning up, Mike took Wazzu and Slugger for a nice walk along the pier. When they got back then we took the other two for their walk. It was a really nice day and the pier (or boardwalk or whatever they call it) was super busy.

In addition to the many people and dogs walking, there were also many cyclists. You could rent these little cycle buggies and we saw a few of these today as well.



There were also a couple street musicians. The guy playing here took a little break so I snapped a picture of his view. Not bad, huh?



There must have been a surfing contest today as there were hundreds of surfers in the water. Here you can see a few of them paddling out to the waves.



There were tents set up where they were making all these announcements about the various surfers.



There were some good wipeouts but I didn't capture any of them with the camera.



I don't know much about style either but they all looked as though they were having a good time.



Even those on the land looked like they were having fun. Boogie thought they were scary looking so he barked at them.



Shortly after we started walking there was this large grassy area that was enclosed on three sides. As we were walking on the grass, Boogie found a tennis ball. He's never been interested in chasing stuff before today we was full of vinegar and wanted to play. We threw the ball for him and he actually tried to jump in the air and catch it! His mouth is too small so he never did catch it. But he did track it down and run around with it in his mouth, growling the whole time. Then he'd run around teasing Sparkie with it. They had a great time playing with this ball....until another lady with a little doggy came toward us. Then all Boogie wanted to do was chase this dog. He was so good with this little dog. By the time all was said and done, Boogie was hot! His little tongue was all curled up. He thought this was so much more fun than standing around looking pretty. And frankly, Mike and I agreed with him. It was so much fun watching him play.



After resting a bit he wanted to chase the ball again. He was go, go, go and then crashed and fell asleep with the ball in a matter of seconds.



This is such a pretty place to walk. But before we had gone much further, Sparkie spotted these giant squirrels. There were a lot of them and most were scurring around eating and playing chase. This one was sunning himself. With nothing next to him to give you a sense of his size - I'd say he was easily as big around as Boogie's waistline.



The squirrels were on the other side of a railing and Sparkie was beside herself wanting to get at them. At one point she had both front paws and her shoulders entirely through the fence.



Sparkie was screaming and jumping up and down and looking over the fence. Boogie couldn't figure out what was so exciting as he couldn't see over the fence.



Finally when we got to the slotted fence, Boogie spotted a squirrel. He thought these were the biggest rats he'd ever seen. He wanted to stare at them but he didn't show any interest in getting any closer.



Sparkie on the other hand was screaming bloody murder. She was doing everything she could to get through or over the fences.



This squirrel seemed to know that Sparkie didn't care one iota about the birds so he tried to sit nice and still and look like a bird.



We couldn't get her to move on.



We would have let her go down there to chase them but it was so rocky we were afraid she would hurt herself. Finally Mike decided we really did need to move along. As you can see, Sparkie just couldn't help taking a peek once in a while.



As we continued on we came to this little place in the walkway where there were water fountains shooting up from the ground. Sometimes they would shoot up very short, other times they would shoot taller, and sometimes they stopped all together. We knew Boogie was thirtsy so we went over there to see if we could get him to drink. He was such a clown. He was attacking the water shoots. It didn't matter whether they were short...



or tall...



he attacked them all.



And when they disappeard he was very mystified and would stick his nose down in the holes trying to figure out where the water went.



Then suddenly they'd shoot up and get him so he'd attack.



I think he could have played there all day. Sparkie thought it was stupid....she wanted to go back and chase squirrels. We figured we'd had enough of both activities and moved on. As we walked away from the fountain we saw this very interesting tile in the ground. I guess they do like dogs here.



As we continued on, we had a very nice relaxing walk. All for of us were enjoying the wonderful atmosphere and Mike and I were enjoying the beauty around us. Little Boogie was being so cute. And since I've had a lot of requests recently for more pictures of the little guy, here you go!



Just too cute for words!



That's my boy.



And so was our time in Ventura. Off we go to Santa Paula. We'd planned on going down to the San Diego area today but the only park that will take Slugger is full. So we're going to stay in the L.A. area this week instead, where we found a park that likes ALL our dogs.

Debbie
1/20/08