Sweet, Beautiful Slick 12/15/03 - 7/21/11

Weathermans Black Ice CGC S-TN-O OJC S-TG-N O-HP-N (12/15/03 – 7/21/11)

My dear Slick you dropped in to our life on a temporary basis when you were 15 months old which quickly became permanent and changed our life. You certainly had your issues and the most serious was your seizures which finally took your life this morning.

You fit right in with our pack and added nicely to it.

Kant was always your favorite and you looked up to her;

she misses you too.

You were not the most exciting agility dog but you were so excited to run with me and I loved every run with you.

Your last trial was the wonderful weekend in Newport at the Willamette Agility Group’s July NADAC trial;

you had 6 runs and qualified in 4 of them, getting you Open Jumpers title. I never taught you to weave so you only got to play in classes without them.

That never seemed to bother you.

and you loved contacts.

I knew you would never earn a NATCH-S but you have been running so well I set a goal to get your 1000 Lifetime Points Award.

We did not get there but you had an incredible 570 Lifetime Points!!

I know I have other shelties at home to help fill that huge void you are leaving behind but I miss you my sweet corky boy.

I will miss that de-barked bark of yours;

my shadow on walks at the park;

how you could get so panicked at the littlest of things;

your love of life,

Jordana,

and me;

and that beautiful sweet face and dark eyes.

You were a great house dog and loved to go wherever we went.

But when we were away from home you were never comfortable potting if anyone was around so we had many middle of the night or early morning visits outside. And when nature said you could not hold it any more we had marathon potty sessions including the unforgettable one in the ring in Medford at the RCA trial last April.

I miss you every day!! When I take the dogs outside I keep looking for you, when I go to feed I miss your enthusiasm, and when I go out the front door I miss you racing me to see if you are going.

Through my tears I can smile at all the wonderful memories you have left me with!! I know you are now running seizure free with Casey!! I love you Slickie and miss you terribly!!!

I have heard from lots of family and friends that know what we are going through and knowing they are thinking of us and you gives me some comfort.

A common description of you is that you had a kind soul; so true!! Thank you everyone!!

Slick I miss your kind soul!!

June NADAC Fun-raiser in Corvallis

Arlene Courtney works very hard to bring NADAC Fun-raisers to Corvallis each year and NADAC folks thank her by entering and filling the one ring trial. Most of the Fun-raisers across the US are small, laid back, and don’t start before 9am. Not Corvallis it is full and starts at 8am. I missed the first one this year because I was judging in Reno but I was entered in the second one. Arlene did EGC on Friday night and that was a ton of fun. There is no room for handling errors!!

The blue girls and I saw EGC for the first time at Champs in September. I only entered them in the Extreme Tunnelers (now known as Extreme Gaters) and they both did excellent. Both of the girls’s runs scored over 100 points each. In Corvallis Kant scored in all 6 Extreme runs getting here Extreme Gaters Novice title. Echo and I had a complete meltdown in Extreme Chances, that is what happens when your handling sucks and the dog gets confused but she was great in the other 5 classes also getting her Extreme Gaters Novice Title. I like the Extreme Game Challenge but would not drive across the country to run it like I would a regular trial.

Since Arlene and I were the only NADAC Judges at the Fun-raiser and we were both running dogs, we were very busy!!! The Fun-raisers do not have a formal running order which works better for a smaller trial. It is very frustrating to be waiting for the jump height to end, seeing there is only a couple of dogs in line so you go to get in line and a dozen people show up to cut in front of you. I love agility and will attend the fun-raisers to help out but it is too frustrating on me to run that way and that frustration goes down the leash to my dogs who did not ask to come there. The girls did great and we had a blast!

When I was at the Judge’s Clinic in Gillette I met a wonderful lady that was there to become a judge. She has a wonderful personality, is a hard worker, a quick learner, and would make a great judge, she just needs more experience. Semi-jokingly I told her she needed to come to Corvallis Oregon and work the Fun-raiser. I did not think she would do it since she lives in Montana but after thinking about it for a bit she said she was coming. AWESOME and plans were made!! She started her journey to Oregon on a Thursday and arrived in Salem Friday morning. And the whirlwind started. After a quick hello we were back in the van on the way to the Pacific Ocean.

We had a great lunch in Lincoln City

followed by a walk

on the beach.

We drove down the coast stopping in Depot Bay for salt water taffy before turning away from the coast at Newport to head to Corvallis for the Fun-raiser.

Saturday morning did not start out very well and got worse. My friend had a pain in the lower back and it was not getting better and she has a high tolerance for pain. We finally made it the fairgrounds for the fun-raiser but the pain was getting worse. At a point mid-morning I went to find her and could not find her anywhere; I finally found her lying in the back of the van unable to move. Thank goodness agility if full of helpful folks some in the medical field; after asking one to look at her we were sent to Urgent Care. Urgent Care was close and awesome; they quickly got her in a room and asked her if she had ever had gall stones which she had not. She sent me back to the trial since there was nothing I could do at Urgent Care so I left after I made sure everyone had my number. She called a couple of hours later and it had been confirmed gall stones and there was nothing Urgent Care could do so they were sending her to the hospital. My mom was at the trial so she transported her from one to the other for me. After much teasing from friends about breaking my friend and if I thought she would not make a good judge that there was easier ways to tell her and my freaking out about her here in Oregon and how she was going to get home; of course she could stay with me as long as she needed. She called again late afternoon and it was all over and the hospital was sending her home. So my mom went and got her and she walked in to the fairgrounds pain free, amazing!! How something so small could cause SO much pain and then go away so quickly. I was so relieved to have not broken my friend! Sunday she was MUCH better and I still think she would make a great judge!! And I hope she comes back to Oregon to visit so we can see more of Oregon and less of the medical care!

Thank you Arlene for bringing so much fun to Corvallis, WAG for supplying the equipment and all the wonderful workers, and Marie for making that trip from Montana to come work with us!!!!

Tipping toes and paws through the tulips

I have always wanted to take the dogs out to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in Woodburn Oregon

and every year I would forget until I saw other’s beautiful tulip pictures.

Years ago I did the annual volkswalk through the fields during the tulip festival and have pictures from them. I thought it would be fun to have pictures of the dogs with all those tulips. This year I remembered but was afraid the weather would not clear enough to go get pictures. One afternoon it cleared and I grabbed the dogs and Tammy and off we went.

It was a blast and we got lots of commits about the dogs and I actually had a lady take a picture of my dogs.

What a beautiful group!!!!

Hershey

Kant

Slick

Echo

I just love that they let me put them anywhere and just put up with me and my camera. Of course when it was all over we had to have a play session since everyone did so well!

Thank you Tammy for going with me and take such great pictures while I managed the dogs!! This might become an annual event!!