Fun agility practice last Saturday!

Gracie and I got to go to agility training last Saturday.

We haven't been for quite a while. As a matter of fact I don't think we've run a full course since our last USDAA trial in April!

So we were super excited to run!

Mum wanted to practice gambles with me, so she planned out to send me to certain groups of obstacles. I didn't do too bad!!! Check it out.

We worked on sending to the tunnel (Mum needs to cue me earlier, duh!), rear crossing into the weaves at a bit of distance then moving out laterally with a send to the jump and table, then sending me to the tunnel again. Fun stuff!

Gracie was kind of crazy after not running for so long. The main thing Mum wanted to do is to help Gracie with her teeter, since this is the place that she got the teeter fear.

So Mum ran her through her favorite things and the goal was for Gracie to eagerly at least put a few paws on the teeter. Then Mum and Gracie went into the back room to work on the mini low teeter. The first time Gracie only put two paws on the teeter, but the second run she went all the way to the tipping point and then got scared. But it's progress!

I had a lot of fun and got lots of compliments on my speed and distance work. We were the only ones working on that, so I stuck out, BOL!!!

Hope you enjoy the video!

Got frog?

We are finding lots of critters around our new cabin!

 The other day we found this guy (guess it could be a gal?) right on our front porch when we went out for our morning business.

 Gracie, silly girl, did that sniff, snoop, back up...sniff, snoop, back up thing that she does when she sees something she hasn't seen before or for a long while.

We weren't quite sure that this guy would be happy in our fenced in yard now, and not sure that he could get out.

But after a couple of weeks, we haven't seen hide nor hare of him! Maybe he got some good it consultant insurance and hitch-hiked out of our little galaxy on the interwebs, poof!


Last night we found another critter, more on that later, stay tuned!

A little garden!

Mum planted a little garden not too long ago. And of course Gracer had to help with the digging!

Gracer gets a little manic when Mum starts digging. See! She's just waiting for that shovel to move!!!

She arroooooos, and then digs at the shovel. Mum has to be very careful digging when Gracie is around, so she doesn't get hurt.

And of course, when Gracie does that, I have to bark and bark and run around her, telling her to stop!! What does she think, that Mum is planting lobster tails or something?

Whew, glad that's over. Now everything is all calmed down now that the the plants are in. Mum planted tomatoes, cucumbers and jalapenos, her fav!!!

After a couple of weeks the plants are doing well, and we've got a little yield coming! Whee!

Baby birds!

Awww....they are so cute!!!

Even though I'm an expert bird herder, I've been nice and have left the babies alone that were born not too long after we moved in.

They have their nest in the rafters of our front porch. It scares Mum because their nest is just teetering on the edge. Maybe we need to add a cotter pin and keep it secure or something!

They are all grown now and flew the coop just the other day. Now the nest is bare. Mum says we're gonna leave it just in case they want to use it again.

Big storms!

We were out on our after dinner romp in the yard, when it started raining one day last week.

Unexpectedly a huge storm came up, so Mum, Gracie and I hung out on the back deck, and we watched Mum scrub up all the bird poo that had accumulated before we moved in. Since the cabin had been vacant for a long time, the birds used it as a resting spot for a long time!

In the middle of her cleaning and scrubbing, all of a sudden a huge CRACK and big FLASH OF LIGHTENING all at the same time!

Gracie and I looked at Mum, Mum looked at us, like 'what was that?!' Mum said, 'wow, that was a big one, maybe we should head inside.' We wagged our tails and headed for the door.

Mum says we amaze her! That crack of lightening was very close to the cabin, yet, we all kept our cool and didn't show any signs of fear or stress. With so many of our friends afraid of thunderstorms, they don't seem to phase us or our kittie bros one little bit! We are luck!!!

Sure hope those businesses down the mountain have liability insurance for small business, very scary storm!

This photo from our deck is that storm after it moved south. Check out those cloud formations!

Gracie's first agility title!!!!

Well, she did it, finally!!!

Gracie got her first title in agility!

Gracer got the USDAA P1 Snooker title back in April, but we got the official certificate in the mail last week!

Mum was looking at Gracie's results the other day. Of the Q's that's she's received in Snooker and Jumpers (all the events she has Q'd in so far), they are all first place! Gracie is on a roll, her future's so bright she's got to wear shades! Maybe rayban sunglasses, BOL!

As Mum says, 'when she's on, she's on! And when she's off, she's really off!' :)

Congrats, sis, you are on your way!

We got to read 'Follow The Dog Home!'

The nice folks at Sweet Tea Books recently sent us the new book, Follow the Dog Home: How a Simple Walk Unleashed an Incredible Family Journey for free to read and enjoy as part of our Summer reading list!

The book chronicles three generations, spanning 70 years, and 17 dogs who are part of the lives of one family throughout those generations.

Throughout those years, one thing is always constant in their lives, the family dog.

The authors are:

• Kevin Walsh lives in Wellesley, MA, is a seasoned sports and news broadcaster with Comcast SportsNet New England and New England Cable News. 
• Dad Bob Walsh lives in Ledyard, CT and is now retired from a forty-year career in the pharmaceutical industry. 
• And, Samantha Walsh, the ten-year-old daughter of Kevin and granddaughter of Bob, who likes taking care of her family's German Shepherd, Beverly, and dancing in ballet performances, and who hopes to one day become a veterinarian.

The Walsh's aren't agility competitors, but are normal loving families who enjoy dogs as part of their life, and care about them as family members.

We enjoyed this little read! Even though their dog life is a lot different than the dog life we have, it gave us insight into how 'regular' dog families enjoy, love and appreciate their dogs. The book includes engaging stories of miracles, joy, and lifes struggles, as Bob, Samantha, and Kevin Walsh share their dog loving journey.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Be extra, extra, extra safe!!! And have a great 4th of July!!!

It's what's for dinner!

Nom, nom, nom!!! Gracie and I get so excited for our raw chicken backs!! See?