Wordless Wednesday

 

Snookered

We went to our first outdoor agility trial of the season yesterday.  It was overcast with a breeze but not too cold. You needed a jacket when you weren't running but it was warm enough to run without one. I brought Teddy along so he didn't have to stay home by himself yet again. I don't think he much cared for the collapsible crate, next time I'll bring the really big crate and they can both hang out together. 

Liam was in four events starting with an Advanced Gamblers. In Gamble, you plan your own opening to collect points, each type of obstacle has a point value. The judge can include mini gambles that you can do from behind a line to earn double the points.We had an opening that included a send to a tunnel, Liam got it twice. The main Gamble also had a send to a tunnel but Liam thought "been there, done that" and incurred a refusal on the tunnel. 

Our next event was an Advanced Snooker, if you've read my blog for while, you know Liam has an eyesight issue that makes it hard for him to judge the take off point for a jump and consequently he takes down quite a few jumps. In this Advanced Snooker, obstacles 5 and 6 were combinations and both used the same jump as part of the combination. Obstacle 7 was the teeter and I knew Liam was unlikely to do it so I had to plan a course that gave him the points he needed before we had to do number 7.

Advanced Snooker

I had planned a bit of a risky course. I was using obstacle 5 twice and obstacle 6 once before running the closing of the course, obstacles 2 through 7 as numbered. Liam needed to complete obstacle 5 successfully in the close to have enough points for a qualifying score. That meant he had to do jump 5b four times without knocking the bar, and really he couldn't knock any bars or we wouldn't have enough points. We had a nice clean run and Liam had just put his feet on the teeter when the buzzer sounded for time. He needed 32 points for a qualifying score and we got 39. It was the only event of the day where he didn't knock a bar down.

Our next event was a Standard run. Liam refused the dog walk so again I put my finger in his collar and just coaxed him along, no pressure, just verbal encouragement.  We didn't get to the teeter before the time ran out so after the trial was over for the day I asked one of the club members if I could put Liam on the teeter. He did it just fine, once on leash and once by himself. I should ask at the end of every trial if I can do that. Our last event was an Advanced Jumpers, it didn't look nice on the course map but walked and ran fairly nicely for Liam and me. Some of the handlers of fast dogs had issues with off courses because the dogs didn't turn tightly. Liam seemed rather pokey but our time was quite respectable, we had an allowed course time of 60 seconds and we ran the course in 47.89 seconds but unfortunately we had one bar down.

I think Liam was a little snookered by the time we did Jumpers but we did have our Snooker Q so I was happy with that. Liam now has two Advanced Gambles and two Advanced Snooker, one more Q in each of those games and he'll move to Masters.  

The trial ran quickly as there were two judges and they used two rings so no waiting around for course builds and walk throughs. We were home by around 3:30 pm usually it's much closer to dinner time. Our next agility trial is on 6 June, and we have a virtual Hoopers trial on 30 May.

There was a photographer at the trial. She takes nice photos. I am planning to buy some but it's so hard to chose. Which would you chose? Link to Liam's pictures below.

Znlens Photos - Liam

Advanced Gamblers

 

Liam and I went to an agility trial yesterday. I always say any trial where we have a Q is a good trial. They are especially good when Liam gets a Q (qualifying score). That boy tries so hard and I do think he enjoys agility.  Yesterday's trial was at a location where I know he does not like the teeter at all! Our first run was a Gamblers where you get to plan your own opening run and the Main Gamble was the A-frame and two jumps so I decided we would not even try to do the teeter or the dog walk.  The dog walk has the same angle as the teeter so dogs often think it might be the teeter. 

I planned our opening going up the right hand side of the ring. We did the 4 point jump, the tunnel to the left, back again through the tunnel to the 4 point jump. I had intended to push Liam to the backside of the jump so he would be jumping towards the A-frame but he was too fast for me and took it on a slice which worked out just fine. After the A-frame, it was off to try the back mini gamble (labelled a,b,c). Liam did the tunnel, came in towards me and when I sent him back out he took the jump on the side labelled B, then he back jumped the side labelled b. You can only do an obstacle twice for points in the opening so now we couldn't get the mini gamble. In any case, I had him do the tunnel under the dog walk twice and then the buzzer for the end of the opening time went. I got him back and over the A-frame, I really didn't expect him to stay out to the first jump but he did and he also stayed out for the second jump which really surprised me. I wasn't sure we had made time as he stuttered stepped to both jumps and I wasn't even sure if I'd had stepped over the gamble line or not. The Gamble line ended at the dog walk, sometimes judges will tell you that the line goes to infinity but for this course the judge said the line ended at the dog walk so you had to treat it like a handler's box. With a handler's box, you can't cross any of the lines until the dog is past the point of faulting so for a jump, when their 4 feet are past the jump bar. I was so excited that he did the gamble that I thought I might have crossed the line while he was still jumping.

Luckily, I hadn't. Liam got a qualifying score with 25 points in the opening; he needs 16 as a Veteran dog. And he was well under the Gamble time, in fact even was he still in Specials, it still would have been a Q

Our next two runs were Standard agility runs. In the first run, the dog walk was the second obstacle. Liam didn't want to do it at all thinking it might be the teeter. The dogs can wear a flat collar now so I just put my finger in the collar and talked him over it. Our time ended before we got to the teeter so we didn't get to try that. In the second run, the teeter was the 6th obstacle. Liam again did not want to do it, so again I put my finger in his collar and coaxed him up and over. We got a round of applause when he finally did the teeter. For both Standards, the parts of the runs he did do, he did very well and he only had one jump down in all three runs. 

I'm not exactly sure how to work with him about this teeter, he does other teeters pretty well. I am going to try and weight mine so it drops faster and put a piece of plywood under the end so it bangs a bit on the drop.

But all in all, it was a good trial. We didn't have to get up too early, we were home before dinner time, the weather was good and Liam got a qualifying score. One more Advanced Gambler Q and he'll be in Masters Gamblers. 

Quilt Ribbon Balls

After 20 some years of competing in dog agility, I have many ribbons stored away in boxes, never to be seen. Only title ribbons are displayed and even then most Nationals Qualifier, Regional and National placement ribbons are boxed away. 

Just one box of ribbons

One lady I know from agility, who is very crafty, had made some Christmas ornaments last year using her dogs' ribbons.  This year she offered to host a workshop to show us how to make them. She prepared a tip sheet and the styrofoam balls for us.  We had a nice afternoon learning how to make Quilt Ribbon Balls.

My first Quilt Ribbon Ball

I decided I would decorate my little porch tree that I put in my sun room so I bought a package of balls, some ribbon, tassels, straight pins and craft glue. I originally intended to just make two more balls but now I've already made four more. So as there are six styrofoam balls in the small package, I'll likely end up making another two.

Multi-coloured

All Canadian

Royal Purple

Traditional Christmas

You can also make some simpler ornaments using the rosette from the ribbon. Several of these brought back memories. The green rosette ornament is made from two of Tucker's qualifying score runs in Advanced Team, one with a Border Collie named Meg and the other with a white Boxer named Cassius Clay. One of the white rosettes was from one of Ceilidh's Master Gambler runs. Not sure if it was a qualifying score, but the back of the rosette said it was her first run after surgery. She had surgery to remove a Mast Cell tumour in Jan 2010, we started back in agility in Mar 2010 but I had to let her go in May of 2010. 

I would say for me the hardest part of making these ribbon balls is marking the ball. My first one had lines going off everywhere. You don't have to mark the ball but it helps keep things lined up. 

Cutting the ribbon squares is easy to do but I'll admit it was hard for me to cut that first ribbon. I'm sure I'm not so careful as I should be cutting the squares so I've become somewhat of an expert at trimming the ribbon squares. You have to trim the squares if you're starting the reach the equator of the ball when doing the first half.  You don't want too much bulk where the rows will meet or the band of ribbon that hides the final row's raw edges won't sit nicely.

The link below is the video we watched to learn how to make the Ribbon Quilt balls. The lady in the video is using 2 1/2" fabric squares so it only takes three rows to cover each half of the ball. 

Fabric Quilt Balls

Our ribbon quilt balls use 2" ribbon squares as that is the width of many of our dogs' ribbons.  Because we are using a 2" square, it takes four rows to cover each half of the ball. That means pushing in a lot of pins, three pins for each square needed to cover the ball. You need a thimble or a chapstick tube to push in all those pins or your fingers will get sore. I find a chapstick works well for me, using the recessed end the actual tube to set the pin and then using the cap as a thimble to push the pins in.

My little porch tree is now decorated with my agility ribbon ornaments which is so much better than having them hidden away in boxes.

So many memories now decorate that tree!

Leaping Liam

Liam turned five in June, where did the time go? Anyway, with the Agility Association of Canada because Liam has been in Specials for over a year I could move him to the Veterans class at five. This means he gets more time or needs fewer points for his qualifying scores.

I ran Liam at a trial as a Veteran just days after he turned five. In the two Standard courses he ran, he was well under the veteran time, but had he been still in Specials he would have been over time in both runs. We didn't get a qualifying score but did have one really nice run with only five faults for refusing a tunnel.

This past Sunday we went to another trial. It was stinking hot and in the afternoon, it poured rain. They delayed the trial until the worst of the rain was over so we didn't have to run in the rain but we sure were soaked. Liam was in four events, a Standard, a Gamblers, a Snooker and a Jumpers. In his first run, the Std, we had a beautiful run, clean until the dogwalk, the second last obstacle when Liam decided to bail off of it. I think he thought it was the teeter again; as he sometimes gets spooked by unfamiliar teeters. Our next run was a Gamblers; as a veteran, Liam now only needs 16 points in his opening and gets more time to do the Main Gamble at the end. Liam knocked one bar on this run but we got 24 points in our opening. On to the main gamble, marked 1, 2 and 3 at the bottom of the picture, Liam did the jump and the first tunnel beautifully but he stopped at the second tunnel, after some verbal encouragement I got him to take the tunnel. I thought we had a refusal so was surprised to see that we had a qualifying score.  Liam's first Advanced qualifying score.

Advanced Gamblers

Our next run was a Snooker, this is a very unforgiving game as you can get whistled off very quickly. I had planned to do R4 (a red jump), then tunnel 6 to R2 where I would do obstacle 7, the same tunnel twice, followed by R1 and obstacle 7 again before running the close, obstacles 2 through 7 as numbered.  We got the first red jump done and obstacle 6, then Liam knocked the bar on R2 so we had to go on to another R (red) jump. We went for R3 and did obstacle 7. I then thought that by doing R1 and 7 again we would be back on my plan for points but again Liam knocked the bar. Most of the close as you can see in the picture is jumps and I was sure he would knock another bar before we had enough points. But Liam ran the close beautifully, I was just sending him in the tunnel the second time for obstacle 7 when the buzzer for time sounded. As a veteran, Liam only needed 32 points and we got 35. The red jumps are worth one point and the number of the other obstacles is the point value. Liam's second Advanced Qualifying score.

Advanced Snooker

Our last run was a Jumpers, it walked really nicely and it was a good course for Liam with not too many straight on jumps, most were angled or he had to take the backside that he likes to do anyway. We had a really nice run; I thought we had another qualifying score. Then the gatekeeper told me he had dropped a bar, the judge told me later that it was really late dropping, that Liam was already on the ground when the bar dropped. It was a bit disappointing but we were happy with the day anyway. I always say any day with a Q is a good day and overall Liam ran well.  Snooker was a bit of a mess but in his other runs he only knocked two bars.

So Leaping Liam is enjoying being a veteran dog, our next trials won't be until the fall, possibly even not until winter as I'll be away when the next outdoor trials near me are being held.

Oh and I should mention that Liam also went to a real Hoopers trial and managed to get two qualifying runs there too. Unfortunately, the trial host isn't planning to run any more trials this year. It's too bad as they just revised the rules and fewer points are now needed for titles so Liam probably could have gotten his first Hoopers titles with another couple runs.

Whoop Whoop

I've been doing Hoopers classes with Liam for about a year now. Canine Hoopers Canada (CHC) has been doing virtual trials since there aren't a lot of qualified judges yet and so they can build the organization by getting people to play who otherwise wouldn't be able to. For the first time, they included a smaller space option that could be done at the facility where we take our classes. There were six events, two of each of the games. I entered Liam in one of each, two other students also entered so we got together Friday evening to set up and run the courses. 

With CHC, you can run the courses with your dog like you do in agility and get a qualifying score. Each qualifying score is awarded points and titles are point based. Each course will have distance challenges using either a Challenge line (CL) or a Distance Handler Box (DHB). If you have a clean run and have successfully completed a distance challenge you are awarded extra points, so the titles will come faster if you can work at a distance. 

Our first run was a Hoopers course. It had two Challenge Lines, a 10 point line and an easier 5 point line. Not sure you can see the lines in the image, the 10 point line runs across from the number 2, the 5 point line is just above the number 1. I didn't think Liam would be able to get out to the barrel at obstacle 6 and 13 with me behind the 10 point line so I ran it from behind the 5 point line. You can click on the link below to see our run. I did try it from the 10 point line, twice, and while Liam did go out the the barrel for obstacle 6, he wouldn't go back out again for obstacle 13. 

Beginner Hoopers 1

Our next run was a Parkour, very similar to Hoopers but it uses all the equipment permitted by CHC so there was a gate and a bottomless tunnel as well as barrels and hoops. This course had a handlers box; the judge had allowed two options for extra points, run the whole course from the box or just get the first three obstacles while you were in the box. You can't send your dog from the box to the first obstacle to start the course so your dog does need a sit stay to let you lead out to the box. Let me tell you getting obstacle three while in the box was harder than it looked as Liam wanted to wrap the barrel or he took obstacle 4 turning in the wrong direction. 

Beginner Parkour 1

Our last run was one called TunGO, it uses just barrels, tunnels and gates, with a hoop as the starting obstacle. The other students, who were with me, were doing all six runs so it was getting rather late. As a result, I decided to not even try this one from the distance lines but just run it with Liam.  Again the distance lines are not really visible in the picture. The 5 point line runs from obstacle 3 to obstacle 6. The 10 point line is about half way back from that towards obstacles 2 and 7. Perhaps you'll see them in the video as we were using red and blue plastic tubing. 

Beginner TunGo 1 

You're allowed to practice the courses at a virtual trial, For our Hoopers and TunGO runs, it was the first time Liam did either course. I did try the Hoopers two more times afterwards to try and do it from the ten point Challenge Line. For the Parkour, Liam was a little high and we had to start this one three times before we got a good run. You only submit what you think are clean runs to be judged. I uploaded our runs to YouTube and put the link to each run on the virtual trial's FaceBook group and waited for them to be judged.

Whoop, whoop, Liam got a clean run on each of our courses! We also got a 5 point bonus in the Hoopers course and a 5 point bonus for the Parkour. I wasn't sure about that one, I had to move out of the box so quickly to keep him in line for the next barrel that I thought I might have stepped out too soon. 

So whoop whoop, now Liam is on his way for his Hoopers titles. For those who've seen him run agility, look how smooth and steady he runs the courses. Now we just have to work more on our distance skills. For those agility handlers out there, come give CHC a try, your agility dog will learn the obstacles quickly, they know the body language already and you can work on  distance over time. 

Posthumous Wordless Wednesday

 

Advanced Standard Qualifying Score

Liam got an Advanced Standard Qualifying Score, a Q, this weekend.  I was a little bummed when I saw the course maps and saw that he had to get two weave entries on each course. In Advanced, they have to do 12 weaves. I thought, oh well, it's good practice. In his first run, he did get one of the weave entries but also came around the first jump to take the backside of it, something he doesn't usually do, but other than that the run was pretty good. The second run was nearly the reverse but the weaves were moved a bit.

I knew I couldn't lead out too much or he would just run around the tire. This was a pretty good course for Liam not too many jumps in a row and those that were there weren't in a straight line. I knew our problems would be the weave entries and keeping jumps up, especially 9 and 10 and 15 and 16. Liam broke his start line but did the tire and since I hadn't planned to lead out much I wasn't caught out of place. We were clean going to 9, I handled the jumps with a front cross between 9 and 10 which gave him an angled approach to 10. Then a front cross after 10, that meant he was doing off side weaves and so had a better chance of getting the entry. It also meant that I could push him into the tunnel at 12; the handlers that opted to do onside weaves ended up with their dog going into the wrong end of the tunnel. Liam got the second weave entry and was still clean going to the dog walk and the final jump but I know that it was still possible to fault. He didn't, he got the dog walk contact and left up the final bar.  

I gave Liam a jackpot without knowing if we were over time or not as he works hard at his agility.  He was under time and not just by a second or two but by over 9 seconds. Considering, he stops to take nearly every jump that was really a nice run.  

Unfortunately, the club's Q ribbons are on backorder so we had to take our official photo with a first place ribbon. Liam didn't care as he got more hot dogs and Charlie Bears for the picture taking.

A satisfied grin

Starter Games Dog of Canada

Liam and I went to an agility trial yesterday, the first in quite a while since we were away on an East Coast adventure. I'll blog about that trip soon.

I entered Liam in four events, two Advanced Standards, one Advanced Jumpers and one Starter Snooker. Our first event was an Advanced Standard, it was a train wreck. Liam knocked about every second bar, refused a tunnel and missed his weave entry. I was quite disappointed and wondered why with his eye sight issue that we were still doing agility. 

Next up was another Advanced Standard, Liam did much better in this run. He only had 5 faults for knocking one bar. Our third run was a Starter Snooker. Liam needed a qualifying run in this event to get his Starter Games title. 

It was a good course for Liam. No contacts, only six weaves, and not too spread out. I did worry about all the jumps. In Starters Snooker, there's no refusals called so we would just be wasting time if he argued about doing the tunnels or the weaves.  You have to get 37 points in 60 seconds to get a qualifying score. All the red jumps are marked with a 1 and they're worth one point. The point value of other obstacles is their number. I planned to do red jump by the start line (marked with a d), then the number 7 jump, red jump by the weaves, then the weaves, red jump in the middle, then again to number 7 going right into the number 2 tunnel to start the close. With that opening I needed to get through to obstacle 5 to have enough points.

It all went as planned, Liam was actually rather fast especially for him and we finished the course in 36.50 seconds. He kept all the bars up, didn't argue about doing any tunnels and got his weave entries. We finished the whole close, that's obstacles 2 through 7 for a total of 50 points.

Doesn't he look proud of himself! Our last event was an Advanced Jumpers. There were so few dogs in Starters and Advanced that I basically had to put Liam in his crate and walk that course right away. We had the qualifying score I wanted so I was pretty relaxed. Liam did well in the Jumpers, he kept up all the bars but decided to do the backside of one jump for an off course but he was running pretty well and would have made time. 

So we ended the day ready to keep playing at agility. Liam likes to play and even if he'll never be a great agility champion, he tries hard. 

Downs and Ups

I think I've posted before that Liam has an eyesight issue that makes it hard for him to judge his take off point for jumps. It's believed that either the dog is near sighted or has a depth perception issue. I think Liam is near sighted. 

When we first started competing in agility he always tried to go to the back side of a jump. I think because then he was close to the jump and could now see it clearly. With time and letting him figure out what worked best for him he became better at doing the jumps from the correct side. In Dec, we were at a trial, and he reverted to going to the backside of most jumps. Needless to say, I was very discouraged, he tries so hard, and he does love to play, but I decided we needed a little break, and I didn't register for the January trial. I made up my mind if he did the same thing at this past weekend's trial we wouldn't register for any more indoor trials.

Yesterday, Liam did very well. He did all his contacts although his two on two off wasn't really there, he did his weaves, got the entries and didn't pop out and, for the most part, took the correct side of the jumps. In his first event, an Advanced Standard, he took down the bar on the last jump but other than that it was a very nice run for him. 

The next Standard wasn't as good. Liam got a refusal on a tunnel and an off course for taking the backside of a jump when he should have taken the front side. He still had nice contacts and didn't hesitate on the scary teeter.

Our last event was a Starter Snooker, since there was no teeter and no weaves, I knew Liam should be able to do this if he could only keep the bars up. Snooker is a game where you have to successfully take a red jump before taking another obstacle, you have to do this three times using a different red each time and then you run the numbered obstacles 2 through 7, and at Starters you have to accumulate 37 points in 60 seconds or less to qualify. We did red, then the A-Frame, obstacle 6, then red, then tunnel obstacle 7 then a red and the tunnel again before beginning the close. My only worry was getting Liam by the frame and to tunnel numbered 2. But he was a very good boy, he came with me and kept all the bars up. 

Liam - Starter Snooker Video

We got a qualifying score with 50 points. Liam now only needs one more Snooker for his Starter Games title. 

So, it was a shame about the one bar down but good news about all the bars he kept up. Liam and I will keep trying and having fun playing agility, although we are thinking about giving Hoopers a try. 

Tunnel, Tunnel, Tunnel

Well, I got home from my river cruise last week, but more about that trip later, this post is about the our last outdoor agility trial of the season. I entered Liam in three events, a Starter Gamblers, and two Advanced Standards. 

Starter Gamblers

When I saw the main Gamble, I knew Liam could do this one. For those that don't know, Liam has an eyesight issue that makes it hard for him to judge his take off point for jumps. As a result, he stutter-steps or comes to a complete halt before jumping. This, of course, uses up valuable time which in the main gamble is really limited. 

We started with the progressive mini gamble, the tire, the dog walk and the tunnel. I thought Liam had missed the dog walk contact but knew that even if he only did the tunnel with me behind the line that would be 8 points just for the tunnel. As Liam came out of the tunnel, I heard the judge call 18, so he must have had a toenail in the yellow contact zone. I tried to get him back in the tunnel from behind the line but had to cross the line to get him in the tunnel for another 4 points. I then went up the middle doing the jump, A-frame and the jump before tunnel 3 of the main gamble. I had planned to do tunnel 3 twice going back to the jump before the A-frame but during the judge's briefing, a question from another competitor reminded me that we could do the main gamble obstacles backwards, so I decided to do the tunnels in reverse order. We did the panel jump after tunnel 1 and I was trying to get Liam into the weaves when the buzzer sounded. I put him back into the tunnels and just kept running and shouting tunnel, tunnel, tunnel. We had 18 seconds to do the main gamble, we did it in under 12 seconds. A 35 point opening for our second Starter Gamblers qualifying score.  Liam now moves to Advanced Gamblers and now needs two Starter Snooker Q's for his Starter Games title. 

His next two events were his first Advanced events. Liam ran really well, although it helped that there was no long line of jumps on the courses and in some cases, we were doing the backsides of jumps which helps Liam figure out his take off point. In our first Advanced event, we missed our weave entry and Liam bailed off the dog walk, perhaps thinking it was the teeter, but his run was nice, and we were nearly 12 seconds under the standard course time. In our second Standard run, I thought Liam might bail on the teeter, but he did all of his contacts nicely; his only fault was missing again the weave entry. Independent weave entries are in the cards for our practices now. Liam still ran well and was nearly 10 seconds under the course time. Liam won't ever be the fastest dog on course but if he can keep the bars up and listen as well as he did this past weekend we should do fine with agility. 

Advanced Standard 1

Advanced Standard 2

Our next trial will be indoors in Nov. I registered Liam for two Advanced Standards and one Starter Snooker. Hopefully we'll have another good day of agility.

Wordless Wednesday

 

K9 Kup Starter Standard

Wordless Wednesday - Liam - Agility Dog of Canada

Liam - ADC (first title)

Score sheet

 

Travel Plans

Looking for summer

Well, it's that time of year when I get rather tired of winter and when reservations open up to book campgrounds.  I hope to do more agility trials with Liam this summer, so I looked at all the posted trial dates and decided which ones I would likely enter him in, that showed me what date windows we would have for camping.  

Then my sisters and I found some campsites in New York state parks. I've always wanted to go to Watkins Glen but since dogs aren't allowed on the Gorge trail, I'd never gone. Hopefully, since I'll be with other people, we can take turns doing the trail or perhaps the dogs can stay with someone back at the campsite. Like many provincial parks here in Ontario, the New York state parks fill up fast, by the time we booked at Watkins Glen there were only four electric sites left. My youngest sister and I took the two sites that were side by side with my other sister booked the site just down the road. For me, this will be quite a long drive and you never know what kind of delay there will be crossing the border, so my youngest sister and I will stop at Westcott Beach on the way down and Selkirk Shores on the way back. We're already looking at wineries and breweries that we can go to when we're at Watkins Glen as the Finger Lakes region of New York is famous for that. 

I have been to Letchworth State park in New York where the dogs were allowed on the gorge trail. Letchworth is called the Grand Canyon of the east.

Beckett at Letchworth

Keltic at Letchworth

Letchworth canyon trail

Letchworth Falls

So, it will be a trip to New York in June. This morning, we got up early to try and book at Bon Echo Provincial Park for Jul; we didn't get the sites we wanted but did get two sites in the park. It's crazy that it's so hard to get camp sites, Ontario has even reduced the number of days you can book from 23 down to 7 days, but I'm not sure what measures they have to ensure you just don't do back-to-back bookings. We stopped at Bon Echo on our way back last year but couldn't even get two nights in a row, so it was just a one-night stop. Bon Echo has a nice little dog beach, so I hope this year to really be able to take the dogs swimming there.  

Mazinaw Rock

Bridge over to the dog beach

In Aug, I have dates where I can get some more camping in, but we'll have to wait for booking windows to open up for those dates. Who knows maybe Vermont, although, their state parks now charge $2 per dog per night. What's up with that? I don't mind pet fees but per dog per night; like really what extra service is provided for that fee, free poop bags? The Lake George or Lake Champlain regions of New York could be another option.

But the big travel plans are in Sep when we've booked a Danube cruise starting with a land portion in Bucharest and Brasov, Romania and ending with a land portion in Vienna, Austria. Vienna has always been on my bucket list. The trip is of the lower Danube so apparently while there's a lot of history, we won't see fairytale villages. We'll be sailing again with Amawaterways. We did a Rhine River cruise with them in 2016 and just loved it.

Amacerto on the Rhine River

Riquewihr, France

Afterwards we're planning to take the train from Vienna to Prague where we'll stay five nights. This part of the trip will be on our own. Our flights have been booked and a hotel in Prague is already reserved.

So, you can see why I'm eager to see the end of winter. It can't come soon enough but I know we probably have another month or so to go.