O.D.A (oE.)

sigh

I am grateful for the absence of blood. That cat should never have come into the kitchen, as far as Oda was concerned.

It's a good thing you're so good looking, Oda

Whut?

Is there a problem???

Yeah, whatever!

Places to go!

Balls to catch...

Things to see...

Dogwalking in the Rain

This was this morning's walk with a couple of guest dogs (including Sid from the Manor of Mixed Blessings) and Lynx, Oda, Nike, and Xita.

The song is a lot cheerier than I was this morning while walking dogs in the cold, soaking wet in a coat that is no longer waterproof and in pants that had sucked water up the fabric to about knee height. The dogs only minded the puddles and the rain a little bit, fortunately.

Thanksgiving with Nike

It wasn't all that many years ago when Nike grabbed the thawing turkey off the table on the back porch and tried to run off with it. I was in the house and I heard a loud THUNK!!! and then my dad roared like ... well, like a man whose turkey was stolen.

Dad recovered the turkey and was greatly dismayed by the four smooth puncture marks in it. He washed it off, probably scrubbed it with hydrogen peroxide and salt, too, just to make sure we wouldn't be tainted by any remnants of dog saliva.

And I was trying very, very hard not to laugh.

Dad, however, has been terribly conscientious about leaving meat out on table tops and counters ever since.

Nike, Turkey Thief and Ball Nabber Extraordinaire

This year, Nike did not steal any turkeys, but this girl at 13+, tottering like a happy drunk, stole the soccer ball from the young cousins and promptly popped it. My cousins sounded out the"whoooooooooosh" of the air being let out for me, several times.

I tried very, very hard not to laugh. But really, now, she can't run much faster than a four-year old. How did she end up with the ball in the first place? It's like they wanted her to pop it!

Who me? I would never!

Why I Love Dogs, Reason #214

Peanut butter.

Lynx Does Agility

Entered Lynx today in a USDAA Intro Gamblers class at a local trial. It was the first time in any agility trial for both of us, so I was a bit, "OMG THE SKY IS FALLING" this morning, but after the walkthrough, my nerves went away and we just did it. It was really fun--and Lynx was happy, focused, and listened really well--so well, he got himself a blue ribbon!

I love working with this dog--he's so into anything and everything I throw his way. :)

Best laid plans....

Jubilee has started spotting blood--so she's in heat now too.

No Rally trial for us this weekend.

On the good side.... in a few weeks, I hope to be able to announce the breeding of her and Nathan!

Rally, Herding, and Heat Cycles, Oh My!

I've been pretty busy between keeping up with work and training and traveling. Competed on Saturday for Jubilee's 3rd Rally Novice leg, she got 100 points and 2nd place. The club gave out a beautiful rosetted red ribbon and a squeaky toy for 2nd place, but Lynx ate the ribbon and I think I lost the squeaky toy in the backseat of the truck.

I'm real proud of Jubilee, though, 99, 100, 100 scores for her 3 legs. She had a few moments of spaceyness in the ring on Saturday, but fortunately they were not at moments that affected the score.

Had four fantastic herding sessions with her over the weekend, though. I worked her in the 100 x 200 field and she did some really good stuff. She regulated her speed a lot, and we worked a lot on the "get back/get out" commands as well as "walk in"--really thrilled about that.

It's a boiling pot of hormones around here--Hunter has been in heat for 2 weeks, Macha's been in heat for a week, and Xita started spotting today. Coal is banished t the kennel for the duration--his thought process seems to consist of, "Hey baybeee! Come on over here.... hey baybeee!" Hunter shamelessly seeks to accommodate him, pressing up against the kennel fencing and stropping against the gate like a cat.

Lynx is a little bit better, being somewhat less familiar with the mysteries of the female of the species. Still, he's spent the night breathing on me and whining under his breath.

Jubilee's not in heat yet--hopefully she'll hang on a few more weeks. She is normally on a four month cycle, so I would expect her to start up around mid-November.... Two more weekends to get her Rally Advanced title--hang in there, girl!

I got to watch brother Jedi work sheep in the fading light on Saturday.

Handsome boy he is....