New Pictures from Corey's WTCH run

It was raining so hard that some of the pictures actually look grainy.

You can see the trial arena was pretty flooded.

Corey is actually a little intimidated by cattle, but you wouldn't know it by his determination to cover them here.

Or here....

"Oh, oh here comes that blue dog."

That's my boy. Keep them moving.

Time to put them away. What a good dog!

ASCNE Harvest Moon Mania and a new WTCH!

We had a great time in Westfield this year even though it poured Friday. We at least beat the rain to set up on Thursday night. Still on the hunt for that last leg to finish Corey's WTCH I didn't have too much confidence watching the arena fill with water and become a lake. Was not so sure Corey would work in all that water. We had spent the previous Monday and Tuesday working in a cattle clinic with Jan Wesen hoping to bring up Corey's confidence and mine as well. Cattle is not my best stock because I do not get a chance to work them very often. Mostly in a trial situation and then I am too nervous and it usually does not look pretty. Corey did a very nice job and got a decent score which finished his WTCH even though I split the cows myself working the center pen. Need more work on cattle, but I was very happy with Corey's performance!

I handled "Layla" for her owner on Friday in altered conformation. They had built a 3 point major in dogs, which is difficult to find in altered. She took Winner's Bitch and then took Best of Winner's, meaning she also earned a major since she beat Winner's Dog. Earlier she was Pee Wee Annaka Miller's dog. That was VERY cute.

Sunday Layla earned her JS-O in agility and also 1 leg  for her obedience CD.

It works out much nicer not showing on Sunday and leaving around noon. That way we can get home before dark and let the dogs run and unwind. We can unpack before we have to go back to work on Monday. Usually we are listening to dogs bark and tear around the house until midnight, staring at a pile of laundry and dishes the next morning while I am trying to catch up with all the work that has backed up since I have taken a couple days off. Much nicer just using Sunday to travel and get organized.

So Many Changes.....

Well, a lot has gone on since my last post. Obviously the economy isn't getting any better as much as they tell you it is...... Roy unfortunately is unemployed at the moment. That in itself had made a big difference in the household. I have had to make some big decisions and cut back and place several of my dogs in order to assure the rest are well taken care of. Five to be exact. Some I really will miss, but they have all gone to some very nice homes. Homes I wish I lived in. Too bad it isn't as easy to get someone to adopt a 42 year old and feed and house me in a house on the ocean.  ;-)

I also have sold several sheep and ducks to lessen the expense of feed. Those buggers eat a lot of grain and I have my hay put up for winter, but did not want to have to sweat for days on end in the loft or pay a fortune for hay. I remember when hay was $1.25 a bale in the field. It is almost triple now. Fortunately I know the farmer and he had his farm boys load my hay. That was fine by me. I am getting to old to be throwing hundreds of those things around. Thanks Lester!

Haven't done too much this year as far as trials. Did the June trial. Puff did a nice job on all three stock. She still needs a lot of work before she can do advanced sheep or cattle work. She is unsure and needs some confidence work in close quarters and at a distance. Corey is still trying to pull of that one leg on cattle to finish his WTCH (working trial championship). Run after run of "almosts". He'll be 12 yrs old with no teeth because the cows have kicked them all out and we will still be chasing that qualifying leg. Sigh....at least he did finish his UKC Championship in July.

The ASCA trial in Maine went smoothly. Although I didn't do that well. Mostly handler error. I guess being in charge of an event, horribly hot and actually trying to compete in it is not something I have the ability to do. I was pretty toasted mentally. Bungee lost his brain and decided to make me pay for runs that end up badly. Corey would not stop going to the heads on the cows and Puff wanted to run the ducks.

Got some nice pics at the June trial though.

Bad, bad girl......

I've been a little busy and haven't had a chance to update the blog for a while. I have a little time to sum up the past few months.

Several of the StoneCircle pups have been out and doing a great job in several venues. Tessa(TJ), Layla and Pearl have been busy. Visit their pages to see new obedience and agility legs and titles as well as flyball.

All of Felon and Tags pups have been placed. Two will remain here. Zig and KD. Ziggy has a promising career as a duck wrangler and KD looks like she will spend her time being "pretty".

Now that the snow is gone we are waiting for all this rain to dry up and mudd season to go away. Once that happens it is STOCK TRAINING TIME!!! Yahoo!

Pearlie Girl Earns Her APDT Level 1 Rally Championship!

Way to go Pearlie! I know she keeps Dana busy, but that is a good thing. Keeps her on her toes. Pearl will make her an awesome trainer. ;-) Those smart dogs keep up humble and once in a while they make us really proud with a nice big ribbon!

Pearl also earned her first leg in Level 3 with a first place! Keep up the good work! I am sure we will see some nice runs in flyball and agility in the future!

BI Boy is a Travelin' Man!

Three Weeks!

The downfalls of dog doors in a Maine winter....

I love my dog door. It keeps me from being the perpetual door person when you have multiple dogs that can't seem to all want to go to the bathroom at the same time. One downfall is Aussies never seem to know which side they want to be on. Also they use it as a window. So when the temps dip down to single digits it's like having a big hole to the frigid outside world open all the time....

Flyball Tournament

Roy and I drove to Portland yesterday to watch a flyball tournament at Happy Tails. Layla was running and Pearlie was doing some practice runs. She is just learning to do flyball. Visited with many doggie friends that I have known over many years. Some from years ago when I belonged to the obedience club when I lived in Southern Maine. Definitely earplugs is a must. There were people actually SLEEPING with all that noise. I have a little bit of a headache today. Too much noise for me. Working stock is much more quiet.

Puppies 1 Week Old!

The puppies are getting big! Tag has been a good momma and is keeping them nice and chubby. They look like sausages now! They are very active and strong for only being a week old. They are funny to watch eat because all their tails stick up in the air and wiggle.

Baby Bi Boy

The little guy continues to improve and is now gaining on his siblings! Go little man! Eat! Eat!

The Puppies Have Arrived!

What an ordeal that was. Going to the ER is never fun, but this was 8 hours of "not fun". Tag unfortunately did not have a very strong uterus and was unable to deliver them naturally. C-section and spay was the end result, but luckily the puppies are doing well after a kind of shaky start. Final Count is 5 bi females, 1 bi male, and 1 tri male. Very pretty puppies. I got my eye on a little naughty girl. She reminds me of her father. Very unusual to get mostly bi's, but I am really excited they are all finally here!

Visitor for the weekend

Ares is staying for the weekend. He can be such a nutjob. It's like he has to go through boot camp every time he comes over. By Sunday when he goes back home he is actually kind of quiet and listens. Surprising when an Aussie just takes the reins and can run the show.

Waiting & Waiting....For Puppies To Arrive

Sometimes the worse part about having puppies is waiting for the day when the bitch starts to show signs of an imminent whelp. Any little sign makes you think "Today is the day!" It has to be even worse when she doesn't live with you. Now I am waiting for the call to tell me they think she is in labor. So any call might be the one!

I have very little work in the lab so these next couple of days would be great timing, but of course I am not in control of when this may be. Sigh.....

Although I am always glad to get that first one out. That is usually the toughest. After that then it is just a matter of waiting for them to arrive one by one. Tending to each one and finally after the last one has been dried, they are all nursing and getting TLC from their mom you can breathe a sigh of relief.

But when that time will be? Who knows?