The Columbia Cup Agility Weekend

This past weekend, September 12th and 13th, the shelties and I went to Ridgefield Washington to play agility with the Columbia Agility Team (CAT) at the Clack County Fairgrounds. The Columbia Cup is a special award given to the team that has the best accumulative score in the four regular classes in Novice, Open, and Elite and is divided between small and large dogs. Kant won the Novice Small Dog Columbia Cup in 2004. Kant did not want the pressure of winning the Columbia Cup again and knocked a bar in Regular Round 1 and then went on to run clean in the other three Regulars. And Echo did not want to follow in her big sisters paw prints and win this year.

Kant had an amazing weekend qualifying in 9 of the 12 classes. She ran great!! We Q’d in 3 of the 4 Regulars, Touch’N’Go, Weavers,

Tunnelers, Hoopers (our first time in Elite Hoopers),

and the greatest of all is the 2 Elite Jumpers Qs!!! It took us 3 years to finish Open Superior Jumpers which we did in May and since then we have earned 5 Elite Jumpers Qs. Only 8 more to go to get our NATCH!!

My big blue Sheltie ROCKS!!!

Echo on the other hand crashed and burned this weekend. She had 8 runs and qualified in 2 of those. But those two were absolutely amazing runs;

one was in Jumpers and the other was in Hoopers. She had pieces of greatness in a few of the other runs and moments of why are we here. I completely lost the start line stay

by the end of the weekend. I know better and will not let it happen at the next trial. Echo had a judge gasping leap off the A-Frame

and I had flash backs of Kant at Argus November 2004. I have a list of things we will be working on over the next few weeks… We will get past this phase and become a team. And there is no doubt when you are watching Echo run that she puts 200% of her heart in to each run

and tries hard but sometimes youth has to come out.

Thank you CAT for putting on a wonderful trial with wonderful judges!! It is always fun spending time with my dogs and agility friends!! Thank you Joe Camp for all the wonderful agility pictures!!

Agility in Reno Nevada Labor Day Weekend

The dogs and I had such a great time in Nevada in July that I just had to go back for 4 days of agility. So Friday morning with the car all packed we took off as the sun was rising.

We had an easy drive to Reno; I went Hwy 58 through Klamath Falls, through California, and in to Nevada. Just past Susanville before the Nevada border there is a tree right along the highway with shoes hanging in it.

I do not know when this started but it sure caught on because

there are a bunch of shoes in the tree.

Kant and Echo started out Friday night very well. Kant finished her Open Superior Hoopers title which also gave her the All Around Open Award, now on to Elite Hoopers. Echo Q’d in both the Hoopers classes earning her Outstanding Novice Hoopers title. The Women’s Sports Complex at the University has the most beautiful grass area that we were running on.

The grounds keepers were a bit worried about not being able to water for 4 days so they water heavy Friday and the grass was WET. We did not have a great day on Saturday, Kant only earned Qs in Touch’N’Go and Weavers, and Echo got a 5 point Q in Regular and a Jumpers Q. Kant had a great day on Sunday Qing in Jumpers, Chances, 1 Regular, TNG, and Tunnelers. The Jumpers run gave Kant her Elite Jumpers title and Elite Versatility Award. Echo has decided to jump when I say it not at the obstacle causing some crash and burns. And in Tunnelers I took my eyes off her for a second and she was around the second tunnel and in the third before I could call her back but she did have some great moments in that Tunnelers run. So we did not have any Qs on Sunday but we did have great start line stays, excellent weave poles, and very good contacts. Monday Echo got another Regular Q in round 1 but could not get the dog walk/tunnel discrimination in round 2; we will keep working the discriminations. I am very happy where Echo and I are and we just keep getting better. On Monday Kant got another Regular Q and had the most amazing run in Chances for a Q. The Chances course had weave poles at 35 feet followed by a jump at 45 feet and Kant did it perfectly never looking back at me. We had not had a Chances Q since July 2008 so I was thrilled to get 2 this weekend!

Over all Kant was 10 Qs out of 18 runs and Echo got 5 Qs out of 12 runs; and they both only got 1st places in their runs so we either excelled or crashed and burned! Life with a fast dog!! It was a GREAT weekend spent with GREAT people, GREAT dogs, GREAT location, a GREAT judge, GREAT courses, and GREAT weather. Lin and Greg’s hospitality was way above and beyond; Thank You!!

With only 4 classes on Monday we were packed up and out of there by 2:30. After a quick stop for gas and something to drink we were headed home. I went home through Susanville to

Mt. Shasta so I could have more hotel options on I-5. We stopped in Medford for the night and I was back home by 11:30 Tuesday. I am already planning the trials I am going to in Nevada next year!!

Oregon State Fair – Too Big to Miss

Tuesday, September 1st, I went to work for a few hours and then spent the rest of the day at the Fair with Tammy, my mom, my aunt, Jordana, and Steven. This is the first year in the past 8 years for me and way more then that for WAG that we were not invited to the fair to put on dog agility demos. The fair had a different feel this year and over all I did not like the fair but I had a great time with the group of people that I went with!
After paying way too much to get in to the fair our first stop was to see the baby pigs;

they are always a must to see. The rest of the livestock barn was mostly empty. There were a few sheep and a few horses but no cows or goats. I think we were there between stock but they could have done a better job of moving them in and out.

There were a lot of miniature horses

including a

very cute baby,

a few Gypsy horses,

this baby wanted to smile for the camera,

some draft horses, and a few carriage horses and one carriage mule but no riding horses. After visiting the horses we made our way across the fair to the building that had all the crafts and stuff. There were Lego exhibits,

lots of great quilts, local writers, county booths,

decorated cake displays, and so much more.

I always enjoy looking at all the talent people have and every year I say I should enter some of my scrapbooking, maybe next year!! You can not go to the fair without going through the building that is selling all gadgets and must haves. They want to sell you things that chop and dice and makes juice and does just about everything else for $20, they want to clean your jewelry, and put lotion on you. There are samples to try and magical fixes for your back, feet, knee, neck, wrist, shoulder, and anything else that is bothering you. I got all the way through there and only came out with a set of sheets! After figuring out that we would all enter the horse arena at one door and have lunch in there while watching the horses we all went our separate ways for lunch since fair food is the best and there is something for everyone. I ended up with a hand dipped corn dog

and a char-grilled ear of corn dipped in butter, mmmmmmmmmm! We all enjoyed our lunch while watch the Gypsy horses being introduced, the big draft horses

competing in a course being driven by kids from 15 to 18, and a couple of groups of carriage riders competing.

They were all such beautiful horses and even a pretty cute mule. The draft horses were my favorite;

they are so big and handled so nicely. On our way to look at the flower displays

and gardens we past by Brad’s World of Reptiles. I was just walking by minding my own attention and Tammy said aren’t you going in to see the snakes. I flipped a quick U-turn

and in to the tent we went. I really do not mind snakes I see first or in VERY secure cages, I don’t like them when you are working in the yard and they suddenly move. And I am a bit weary of creatures with no legs, why were they not given any legs. Almost immediately inside the tent my mom noticed a sign hanging from a limb and it said “do not touch the snake in the tree”, the problem was that there was no snake in the tree and my mom checked every inch of that tree. So she stood in the middle of a clearing where she was sure no snakes could find her while Tammy and I had our picture take with a crocodile.

Yes it is real!

To the great satisfaction of my mom and aunt we finally left the reptile tent and went to see the flowers

but not before I had a very quick

touch of a snake, still do not like them.

After one last stop for dessert we left the fair, I got my hand stamped just in case I came back to the fair that night with Jordana and Steven. Which we did, I had missed the earlier Sea Lion Encounter show and kind of wanted to see it and the kids were willing to go back with me. After they saw the picture of Tammy and I holding the crocodile they wanted to do that so we were going to go there first and have our picture taken. When we were on our way through the fair I saw that the Mutton Bustin’ had finally started, I had looked for it earlier but no one was there. Mutton Bustin’ is when kids ride sheep, they put them in a chute like the bull riders, then they open it and off they go. And when I say off I mean the kids fall off the sheep. I laughed so hard, this is the first time I had ever seen it live. The kids and sheep are safe with people in the ring helping, the kids are wearing helmets, and the ground is covered with a foot or more of wood shavings. Too cute!! We watched a couple kids have a blast and then head over for our picture. I quickly realized the crocodile had been replaced with a snake for pictures. I was done. But Jordana and Steven stepped up and had their picture taken,

Jordana was not thrilled but she did it! That was all I could handle of Brad’s World of Reptiles and we headed to the sea lion show.

The Sea Lion Encounter put on an entertaining and educational show. We paid to have our picture

take with a sea lion and a chance to pet and play, I got the kiss, Jordana got to pet it,

and Steven got to play ball with it.

We did have a good time at the fair despite the fact there was no agility!! I would not go back to the fair next year but I NEED to have my picture taken holding a snake…

Thank you Tammy for sharing the pictures you took so between the two of us the whole fair was covered!!

The end of August

Today is the last day of August and it has been a pretty quiet month. We did not have any competitions and I was home every weekend. I had great plans to get way more done around the house then I did but then that is my life! But I did have a great month with time spent with friends and family, new and old. And I had lots of time to think about what is important and enjoy the life I have!

I love flowers! And this year my flowers and garden of just exploded!! I like lots of color and variety and I definitely have that this year.

The hanging baskets

in front of the two bedroom windows

are huge

and all my pots are over flowing.

And my vegetables have never looked this good

and

we are enjoying all of them.

The dogs were not as excited as I was about the quiet month. They did participate in an agility demo, a fun match, and several practices so it was not like they laid around the whole month. But anytime I thought about sitting down Echo was in my face asking to do something! Echo did have a wonderful herding lesson this month now it is time for me to step up and become the handler Echo deserves and I WILL. Kant and I had a wonderful herding opportunity this past weekend; stock handling at an AKC Collie only herding event at Brigand’s Hide-out in Battle Ground Washington. I was so proud of Kant she worked ducks beautifully which totally de-motivates her but is the price to pay to get to work sheep and work sheep she did. Some of the A course runs did not go as the handlers had planned and Kant had to exhaust the sheep. And Kant got to exhaust B course sheep and she had great outruns and got out around the sheep; these sheep would run if you did not cover them and it was a BIG field for them to run in. Kant and I had a great day and I took home a very tired dog! After the trial was over I asked if a set of PT sheep could be put on the PT course for Echo. This was Echo’s first time to ever herd sheep away from Rocking Dog Ranch. She was wonderful and I was very excited she worked so well with all the new distractions! She had beautiful stands and kept a good working distance off the sheep. She is ready for PT this October. Now I need to get serious about teaching her flanks so she is ready for Started A.

September is looking to be a very busy month for us with a day at the Oregon State Fair, a trip to Reno Nevada for agility, agility in Vancouver Washington, and a week long trip to Klamath Falls Oregon for the Border Collie Sheepdog Nationals. Sounds like a great month to me!!

An Awesome Lunch

A few years ago my friend, Doreen, invited me to an unusual lunch; she had an extra ticket so I asked my mom to come. This lunch was at the Thyme Garden, 12 miles south of Philomath Oregon. The Thyme Garden only serves lunch Tuesday through Thursday, mid-April to mid-August. They also have other special events and host a wedding almost every weekend. http://www.thymegarden.com/ As we were driving and driving and driving to get there from Salem my mom asked if there were restaurants in Salem where we could have lunch and why we had to go over an hour to the middle of no where just to eat lunch. I had never been there but hoped it was worth it because if it was not then I had that hour drive back to Salem to hear about it. It was so worth it and we had an amazing time!! We have talked about going back each year since and just never got around do doing it until this year.

My Aunt was going to be here from Arizona so I finally just made reservations inviting my Mom, Aunt Judy, and Doreen. Doreen invited a friend so she did not have to drive alone from Bandon and at the last minute Doreen’s daughter Briana joined us on her way moving back to Missoula Montana. The lunch adventure starts at 11am with a tour of the property

that started at a butterfly garden where they are trying to get the Monarch Butterfly to visit and get reestablished, a new mushroom garden

that they hope to get mushrooms from next spring

if the wildlife does not get to it first,

a forest where they are working very hard

to preserve

streams

and ponds for fish to live,

and

the

beautiful

herb

garden.

After the tour lunch was served. Today’s Herbal Luncheon Menu started with Herb Flower Salad

with Creamy Dill, Cilantro-Culantro, or Curry Tarragon Dressing,

served with Thyme Wheat Rolls, Rosemary Tomato Baguettes, & Fiesta Cornbread.
Sundried Tomato Pesto Cream Cheese, Salmon Pate,

and Coriander Honey Butter were the choices for spreads.
This was followed by Chicken Florentine – Chicken Breast stuffed with Spinach, Four Cheeses, and Basil with a Fines Herbs Cream Sauce. Served with Savory Quinoa and a Fresh From the Garden Veggie Medley. For dessert – Deep Dark Chocolate Cake with Peppermint Laced Fudge Sauce and a Dollop of Cream. Herbal Refreshments of Jamaica with Lemon Verbena Infusion and Lavender Lemonade were also served. Sorry I was too busy eating and enjoying my lunch to take any more pictures of the beautifully prepared meal.

After lunch there was plenty of time to do some shopping and

take another look around the property! Lunch at the Thyme Garden is well worth the trip and time!!

After lunch we made a stop at a fun Quilt Shop in Philomath where Aunt Judy got a new project and Mom was able to find some more material for a project to soon be started. And I even got a piece of sheep material for a couple more kitchen towels!

Today was a perfect day with the weather and time spent with family and friends!!