Saturday, March 29, 2014

Our new Bandanas


Guess what we gots in our mail yesterday. Bandannas from our blog friends Lassie and Benji, their mom made them as a thank-you to those who sent congratulations to her niece.  Isn't that really nice.

The bandannas fit over your collar so Mums doesn't have to keep tying them up.  They were sent with a nice Thank-You card too. Mums put them on with our leather collars that we has for special occasions and tried them on us right away.


Card and Bandannas

We is looking kind of  frazzled as it was pouring rain out so we was a little wet when Mums put them on us.  We didn't keep them on very long as what with the rain Mums didn't want to get them all dirty.



Mums played a nasty trick on us this morning, we gots up early and she said we was taking a car ride.  Well that part was true but it was a car ride to the groomers.  That wasn't a nice way to start the weekend.

Now that we're all cleaned up, Mum put the bandannas on our regular collars and we've been wearing them all day.


Thank you Lassie and Benji's Mum, we loves our bandannas for our collars!

Lots of licks,

Beckett and Keltic.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Wordy Wednesday

Well this past weekend, we finally got the 2014 agility season under way.  We were supposed to have a trial the first weekend of March but stomach flu followed by a kidney stone made it impossible for me to run.  Feeling much better now, thankfully. I hope never to have another kidney stone, stomach flu is bad enough.

This weekend we trialled at Dream Fields which is the closest facility to us but it's still a 45 minute drive in good weather. Well, wouldn't you know it Saturday morning we were having a spring snow storm with a snowfall warning of 15 cm having been issued. I didn't have to be at Dream Fields until 2pm but I decided to go early and have my lunch there; so after clearing the driveway I took off at about 10:30 am with Keltic. Beckett stayed home.  We arrived in good time as the roads weren't all that bad. Spring snow is wet and with the traffic on the roads it melted quickly so the roads were pretty clear.

Keltic was entered in four Starter events, Jumpers, two Standards and a Gamblers.  He did extremely well for a little guy who hasn't practiced much.  He has decided he can't do weaves and that one teeter a trial is his limit, so our Standards were a bust but those are things we can work on. His Jumpers run was just awesome. He ran the course in 26.65 seconds, 4.85 yards per second. I thought that would have been good enough for first place but a little black dog named Widget beat him by less than half a second.





Keltic also had an awesome Gamblers run.  I may have stepped over the line for the mini gamble of tunnel, dog walk, tunnel but the judge gave us the points for it. Keltic did that mini pretty well but then wouldn't stay out to do the two jumps that were the other mini Gamble.  I finished the opening in good position and walked to the gamble line letting Keltic settle down. It worked! He was off like a flash and I don't think I could have called him off that tunnel.  




Both of these qualifying scores were his second in each of these game events so now Keltic moves to Advanced in those events. And he now only needs one more Snooker Q for his Starter Games title.  

On Sunday, Beckett had four events. I didn't enter the first two events of the day so we got to sleep in a little as our events didn't start until after 10 am although they always tell you to arrive at least an hour before. I figured they couldn't get that far ahead after only two events.  Beckett had a two Masters Standards, a Masters Snooker and a Steeplechase to run.  Beckett's first Master Standard was a train wreck. He knocked two jumps, took an off-course at the a-frame (we were supposed to be doing the chute there), then took a tumble from the A-frame and then a non completion on a tunnel when I did my blind cross too soon.  




Master Standard 2 was much better but I didn't handle the tunnel dog walk discrimination well and Beckett took the tunnel. You can see after he rounds the jump he's pointing directly toward the tunnel and I don't give him anything but a verbal to which he obviously wasn't listening. I should know that as he is so attune to my body language.




Next was Snooker, Beckett ran well but knocked a bar on obstacle six.  I wasn't using my head. I should have tried for the fourth red jump but as I had done three red jumps, I started the close. Beckett decided not to do obstacle 2, the tunnel but rather obstacle 3, the single jump in the wrong direction. Tweet went the judge's whistle, we were done.



Our last event was Steeplechase, no video, I'm afraid.  People were starting to pack up, as Steeplechase was the second last event.  I told Beckett he could redeem us, he loves Steeplechase and so do I with no refusals we can just go for it and if we're fast enough can usually make up five faults.  And that's what happened, a beautifully smooth fast run with one bar down. The course time was 46 seconds, Beckett ran the course in 37.06 seconds so with our five faults we had a score of 42.06. I was very happy with his time as many of the 22" dogs (border collies included) were running it in around 36 seconds so my little Beckett boy was close on their heels. That is our 21st Steeplechase qualifying score, four more and Beckett gets his Bronze Steeplechase title. 

So all in all it was a good weekend, I was feeling great, Keltic did awesome, Beckett did awesome and  more importantly wasn't hurt by his fall and we had fun.  The other thing that was really nice. You might remember our blog post about an agility competitor who passed away at a Dream Fields trial. Well, her partner, Dave, was at the trial this weekend running their dogs. He decided that the dogs enjoy agility so much he should give it a try so here he is basically a Starter handler trying to run Masters courses with these dogs. It was beautiful to see, he got a big round of applause after each run and while he found the Jumpers course too much to remember, he did manage a couple Qs in Steeplechase. That's how agility should be run for the joy of being with our dogs.  Life is too short to worry about the small stuff.

Monday, March 17, 2014

It my Birfday!

Hey dere everyone, it's me Keltic.



I be TWO today! Mums's says now I beed all growed up. This be my mature pose. It took Mums a lot to get dis picture as I was hamming it up. She made me wear dis bowtie. Least she said it was a bowtie, I thought it said hair ribbon on da card though.

We celebrated my birday yesterday. After we had breakfast, we took a nice drive, not dat I'm very happy bout taking car rides, and went to play some gility. I gots to see my buddy Sam. Sam be only a few days younger than me.  Then after we got home we had some lunch and then I gots to open my pressies and have some of da special cookies Mum's made.



Mums made us wear dese stoopid hats, being born on St Paddy's day is some times embarrisin!



The fox stuffie squeaks and CRINKLES. To tell da troof, I be a little ascared of it. The flyer thingie also squeaks. Mums says we can has it as an outdoor toy once da weather is nicer.  The tag for my collar says Stud, that be da troof. Our neyboor has two little Cairn girls, Micha and Pebbles and dey is always fighting to see who gets to wrestle wid me.

We also gots to eat da big cookies in dis picture. I would a eaten more but Mums said I'd get a tummy ache and wouldna eat my dinner. I ates my cookie really fast but Beckett, he ate da icing first and den he ated the cookie.




We had to wear some more stoopid hats afore we gots to eat our cookie. Mums tried to video us eating da cookies but she hasn't had da time to puts it all together.

It was a fun day. Mums says next Saturday at da gility trial, I will get my first measurement dat dey will write on my card. She hopes I haven't growed none.

Well dat's all dere is to say. I enjoyed my birfday celebration, got some swell pressies and some really good cookies. Too bad we didna has more birfdays, but Mums says I'll get more of dem Peanut Butter Bacon Dog Treats ; dey was real good. I hopes Mums makes dem again.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Birthdays

So last week, my sister Annette and I went to Moncton to spend some time with our Mum. Another of our sisters Karen came over on Wednesday and we all spent the afternoon with Mum. We brought her in lunch from Dairy Queen as she likes burgers and fries. I told Mum it sounded more like a birthday lunch for an 8 year old not an 80 year old but I have to admit the strawberry shake was good.

Mum enjoying her hamburger.
After lunch we had invited my mother's cousin and his wife over; it had been quite some time since we had seen them probably not since my Dad's funeral. After Mum got up, we opened her presents. She got a blouse and slacks, a picture frame, a tole painted plaque for her door and some red slippers.  Last summer, Mum had wanted red shoes but we couldn't find any she liked. So when I saw the red slippers, I told Annette, who hadn't yet bought a gift, that they would be perfect.


Mum and Karen

Mum and me
The red slippers

Karen had also brought me a gift for my birthday, a gift card and a set of snowmen salt and pepper shakers.

Opening my gifts.
My sister Juanita and her family had me over for a dinner for my birthday.  Seafood lasagna, salad and cake; all very good!.  My youngest sister had sent a very nice bouquet of flowers and there were gifts from my niece and my sister and brother-in-law too.

Flowers from Maureen and Steve

Ceramic flower from Jessica, Zini and Adrian

Cookbook from Juanita and Joe and salt and pepper shakers from the Frasers.
  Considering that I had stomach flu and passed a kidney stone during the first week of March, I was lucky to be well enough to go see Mum and to enjoy my birthday. Now tomorrow it will be back to work.

Next up is Keltic's second birthday but more on that later.