March a Month for Learning

Almost every day is a training day with my dogs but this month I went to two days of sheep camp and did a five day agility seminar.


Last year I went to Brigand’s Sheep Camp for one day to work with Lynn Leach. During her morning briefing she talked about what she had thought about when she went back to her hotel on each dog and what she wanted to try with them that day. I was sorry that I was only working with her one day. So this year I signed up for two days with Lynn with the intention of working Echo in one session and Kant in the rest. Well things did not work out that way. After working Echo in the morning session during lunch Lynn talked about what she wanted to do with Echo in the afternoon. I did not say anything and figure I would work Echo the first day and Kant the second. Well that did happen either the next morning in the briefing Lynn started taking about what she wanted to do with Echo that day so again I did not say anything and figured I would work Kant in the afternoon. Again that did not happen; I know Echo needed the work way more than Kant and that Echo and I would benefit more but boy working Kant would have been so much easier. I did beg Nancy, the owner of Brigands, to please let Kant put the sheep away at the end of the day so she could at least get in a little work which Nancy was happy to let us do. Kant was so happy to finally get to work and she did a great job!! What a great two days with a clinician that works each dog as an individual and does not force training one way! What did I learn…so much but the biggest thing was that I have a very nice working dog and an incredible herding instructor that has us on the right path!

Over a year ago Sharon Nelson announced she was coming to the Pacific Northwest to do an agility seminar. I immediately e-mail her back to put us on the list. I did not know what the seminar would cover or who I would work but I knew that I wanted to work with Sharon. The details and location of the seminar were finally announced late last year and it was going to be in Monmouth, 20 minutes from my house. Perfect! And it would be two distance seminars, one for Novice and one for Advanced, again perfect! I signed Echo up for the two day Novice one and Kant for the three day Advanced. Sharon and Amanda were there for all of the Novice Seminar and I enjoyed hearing what they had to say. I learned to draw the path and that I look at Echo too much which causes her to run collected. When I drew the path she ran extended and smoother.

After putting Kant in one day of the Advanced I switched to Echo. It was not enough of a challenge for Kant but it challenged Echo and by the end of the two days Echo and I were such a better team. There were a couple of family emergencies, one causing Sharon not to be at the clinic much and to leave early and then Amanda left half way through the last day leaving Arlene to work with us. I have to say I was a bit bummed because I was so looking forward to working with Sharon. Looking back I wish I would have audited the Novice and worked Echo in the Advanced. I want to work more distance with Kant and I think Echo will be a great distance dog but I am not sure where to go from here.

Poor Kant did not get to work much in either camp or seminar this month; it sucks to be a trained dog when there is a puppy in training in the house.

Since the seminar Jordana and I have been learning to “draw the path” and it has made an incredible difference in both Pita and Hershey!

Back to Bandon

My friend Doreen has had a rough few months and I had a free weekend so I decided I would go visit her in Bandon. I brought Kant along as my driving buddy. This is not a hard decision to make because spending time with Doreen is always the best, she is the most gracious hostess and we can find things to talk about for hours. Plus her beautiful home is right on the beach and I am addicted to beach combing!! This weekend was another perfect weekend.

I arrived Friday night and Doreen was performing in a play so I was home alone with wonderful clam chowder that Doreen had picked up for me earlier in the day. I tried to wait up for her but ended up falling asleep and I did not hear her come home.

Saturday morning I woke up to beautiful blue sky so

Kant and I were off to the beach to look for treasures and enjoy the beauty of the ocean.

After a couple of hours on the beach we got back to find Doreen up and ready for breakfast. After breakfast Doreen wanted to go for walk since it had been weeks since they had such a nice day and of course Kant and I were up for another walk on the beach. It was a beautiful day and there were a lot of people out walking,

Doreen and I walked for a couple of hours enjoying the views and talking. When we got back to the house we ended up in her beautiful backyard visiting some more. We had talked about being single and all the things you are responsible for and how some tasks are easier with someone else to talk to like doing yard work. Which I completely agree, having someone there makes the time go by so much faster and the other person does not even have to help but just be there to chat with so since we were both there and we started to some yard work. It was great fun working in her yard where spring was really starting to show. After two nice long walks and working in the yard I was getting a bit hungry so we stopped for lunch. During lunch we got to talking about the Wii Fit Plus which I am addicted to and Doreen had just got one for Christmas. Jordana and Stephen were a great help when we got ours in showing me what to do and Doreen did not have that so I gave her a 45 minute demo. After that I was done with exercising for the weekend!! So we decided we would go for a drive to check out some of the area and end up at a tea garden. After a quick shower we were on the road. Doreen showed me beautiful views of the river and surrounding farmland and we went to a huge cranberry farm with beautiful bogs. The Tea Garden was closed so we decided to drive out to Bandon Dunes Golf Resort to have some appetizers. It was a beautiful afternoon. But our day was not near over, Doreen was performing in the play Sound of Music and I was able to see her performance Saturday night. I have never been to a play nor have I ever seen Sound of Music. The play was amazing I was completely blown away and impressed with all the incredible talent. You would think after such a full day we would come home and crash but that was not at all what happened. We got back to the house just before 11pm and ended up play Wii Play racing cows for almost an hour. I was laughing so hard. WHAT A PERFECT DAY SPENT WITH AN INCREDIBLE FRIEND!

Sunday morning I woke up to another beautiful day

so Kant and I were off to the beach again but this walk was a bit shorter and slower than the one the day before.

After breakfast we went out to do a bit more yard work. I even brought home some plants that had spread out of their designated areas. I love sharing plants, I look at them growing in my yard and it brings back great memories! Doreen had a matinee showing of the play so she headed there and I headed home.

Of course I had to stop at the elk refuge to take pictures of those amazing animals.

There were a bunch of them splashing and playing in the water. I had never seen anything like that and enjoyed watching.

Thank you Doreen for an amazing weekend!

Lambing at Rocking Dog Ranch

In February the lambs started arriving at Rocking Dog Ranch so of course I had to go see!

These ewes look like they could go at anytime.

I love kissing on the babies.

I took Stephen out to meet the lambs.

Now just waiting for lamb races!

Fun at the Park

We finally got a nice day so we packed up the dogs and headed to the park.

Stephen Jordana Slick Pita

Hershey

Kant

Slick

Pita

Echo

Happy dogs!!!!!!!

Fun in February

February 5th, after spending the day shopping at the Scrapbooking Expo in Portland and a late lunch at Chevy’s, Heidi, Lee, I and all our scrapbooking supplies new and old with our weekend bags loaded in the van we headed to Lincoln City for a weekend of scrapbooking with Brenda and friends. Brenda did a great job of organizing this weekend and got us a perfect house right on the beach, well right on the beach after a long set of stairs.

We arrived at the house Friday evening and did not have to leave until Sunday. We got a lot of scrapbooking done between time spent with friends,

great meals, a walk on the beach,

trip to the local scrapbooking store, and even a little sleep. We had to make at least one trip to the beach

because there were tide pools straight down from the house and

Heidi had never seen tide pools.

And of course I had to have our weekend documented in the sand. I got over 30 pages done which involved about 6 months of pictures. I am already looking forward to next year.

The next weekend, Kant, Echo and I traveled to Elma Washington to compete in the Rainer Agility Group’s Sweetheart Trial Valentine’s weekend and Hershey came along for the drive. The blue dogs and I had a great weekend. Kant got 2 jumpers closer to her NATCh only 5 more to go. Echo earned her first Open Q in Hoopers, Q’d in all 4 Novice Regular classes, and finished to titles Outstanding Novice Tunnelers and Outstanding Novice Weavers. I know I am sounding like a broken record but Echo is a blast to run and each time we go to the line we become a better team.

February 20th and 21st was the CAT NADAC trial and Jordana took Saturday off work to come run and I was planning to run both days. But one of the judges that was scheduled to be there got hurt at the last minute and was not able to come so I was given the opportunity to judge my second assignment and of course I jumped at it. I had to pull all my runs and Jordana got to run all the dogs, Hershey, Kant, Pita, and Echo, in the ring I was not judging which turned out to be Regular and Chances. Jordana did very good with all the dogs, had a great time, and learned a lot!!

January

January was pretty quiet with no dog competitions, just practices; Birthdays – Gary, Shon, and Suzie; and a visit from Mom and Aunt Judy. And the PT Cruiser finally grew up and became a Dodge Grand Caravan with so much room.

Suzie hosted a birthday dinner to celebrate Gary and Shon’s birthdays. It was a wonderful dinner and time spent with family.

Look how tall Shon has gotten, stand tall Papa Gary.

Kacy loved blowing out the candles and Suzie was happy to keep lighting them.

Auntie Jane and Kaya enjoying a good book.

Happy Birthday Papa Gary!!

Great times spent with Mom and Aunt Judy!

My first NADAC judging assignment was this month and I had a great time!!

2010 is off to a great start!

The end of 2009

Where does the time go…

It is already mid-April and if you looked at my last post you would think we have done nothing since our Bandon trip right before Christmas. But that would not be true!

Christmas Eve

I had to work Christmas Eve but got off a little early to go to Corvallis and make a stop at my friend Anne’s Open House! Anne runs Border Creek Border Collie rescue and I so admire her for all the work she does for those border collies. I have always wanted to help but with 6 dogs of my own my house was pretty full. After we lost Casey in November it made me want to help even more so we decided to foster a dog for Anne. So I brought home Linguini, a five month old Border Collie.

Now off to McMinnville for the family gathering at the Leathers. I am not sure where this past year went but it went fast and I realized that I had not seen any of the family since last Christmas Eve. Kacy and Kaya are growing up so fast and it is so wonderful to see such happy young families!! It was a great surprise to see Salva Jr. (who will always be Baby Salva to me). I spent less time taking pictures this year and more time visiting. I made everyone give me their address and birthdates since I have so lost track of all that information. I am making my first resolution for 2010 to be a better Aunt and Sister!! What a great start to the Christmas Holiday!!

Christmas Day

Christmas was pretty quiet. Jordana is not up before the sun anymore to open presents but she did get up earlier then usual. Stephen came over to open presents with us in the morning before he went with his family. Jordana and I surprised him with a telescope, that had some assembly required but who needs to read directions. I asked and asked Jordana what she wanted for Christmas and it was all practical stuff…a rechargeable battery unit and a bigger memory card for her new camera. And a shadow box of Casey which I did not want to do for Christmas because I knew she would cry and cry she did which of course made me cry. I got something I have wanted for a year since Christmas Eve last year and seeing Suzie’s wall of pictures; I got two black shelves to hang in the hallway for family pictures. I have been collecting black picture frames all year and now I had shelves to put the frames on so I had Dad help me hang them when he arrived. I am thrilled with how it turned out, most of the frames are in need of pictures and I have requested some and am printing others but I did have a few. We had a great day and a good dinner then Jordana had to go to her house sitting job, Dad had to go home, and I had to collapse; which of course I could not do since I had a 5 month old Border Collie that needed to go for a walk. Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

First snow of the year

Almost a white Christmas just missed it by 5 days. It started snowing while I was at work but then changed to rain and disappeared typical for Oregon. Then right before I headed home it started snowing again and continued in to the evening. The dogs LOVE the snow. They would stay out there until they become pupsicles if I let them. Dad called and said he got 5 inches of snow in McMinnville we did not get close to that, ours just barely covered everything. But it was still snow.

2009 ended quietly with just me and a houseful of dogs but it was a Year of Many Changes

2009 started out slow and steady. I decided to start my NADAC judging training this year and headed to Moab Utah in May for my first clinic. Moab was amazing and I had a great time and the clinic went very well and I became a NADAC judge that month. I had my first assignment in January 2010. I am still working for the Oregon State Treasury, 24 years now. And I am still competing in agility and herding with Kant and Echo and we earned several Qs, titles, and awards with great teamwork and fun.

The Graduate!!!!

It seems like just yesterday that we were celebrating Jordana’s graduation from High School and getting her moved to Western Oregon University but it was 4 years ago. She went to WOU to be a teacher but 2 years in to school decided that was not where her heart was. She continued to stay committed to finishing her college education and graduated June 2009 with a Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies (BIS) degree. I can hardly believe my baby is a college graduate. I am so proud of her and what she has accomplished!!

There was no doubt in my mind that she had actually graduated but because she chose not to walk in the graduation ceremony then we had to wait for the diploma to arrive in the mail. It was a very exciting day with that beautiful diploma arrived; I wanted to open it right away but waited for Jordana to come home and be the one to open it.

In October 2008 Jordana got a job at PetSmart as a cashier. Being a cashier she could not sell or deal with the animals so she got trained in Pet Care so she could work with the animals. Before her 6 month anniversary she was promoted to Lead Cashier. Jordana was asked to become a Dog Trainer to cover the maternity leave of the Lead Dog Trainer and Jordana jumped at this great opportunity to do what she thought she wanted to do for her career. Jordana is having a great time teaching dog classes.

What is next? Who knows when you are 23 years old! Right now she is enjoying just going to work, not being in school anymore, and spending time with Stephen.

My hope for her is that she lives each day to its fullest with a smile on her face and her dreams lead the way.

This year was busy, filled with great trips and times with friends and family. Jordana and I are healthy and happy. Our only tragedy this year was losing Casey.

We are looking forward to 2010 and all it brings.