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Nature has no mercy and another plushy toy loses it furry little life.
Struck down at the pleasure of the fierce Australian Cattle Dog, voracious predators to the gentle unsuspecting yellow-footed American Frog. ACDs hunt in pairs, moving so quickly, they are but a blur as they rip and tear the poor plushy to pieces.
Oh dear, I think I better stop watching the Discovery channel. I somehow injured my back. Not really sure how, maybe when I tripped while running Jackaroo at an agility trial 2 weeks ago. Maybe I strained it when I processed 100 lbs of chicken for dog food, or during my last workout. Who knows? But I have been on the injured list for almost 2 weeks now. This has made life a little difficult and boring. This was our last night at the lake and it was simply a magnificent evening.
I usually find moon shots difficult, but this particular night everything was just right.
Uh huh, just perfectly right.
I love it there. So, last weekend we competed at an Agility Trial in Westford MA. Saturday it rained like the dickens. I mean it poured, the sky opened up and dumped on us. I mean it really. really… well look for yourself.
I was raised in upstate New York and I do often miss the rolling hills that surround the valley where I grew up. A couple times a year I do get to visit there. My sister Dlyn, still lives close to where we grew up, so I try to visit her every summer. But I also have a friend who has a cottage on Lake Caroga in the Adirondacks. This year was fabulous. We had a great time relaxing on the dock, laughing until we cried, eating awesome food and even managed a field trip one day. There was a family of loons who entertained us all week. I got some really fabulous pictures of them. I will have more later. I am still getting through them all.
The weather was great most of the week.
There’s that loon again….. We did have some interesting weather too.
Made for great pictures. Mostly it was relaxing and peaceful.
Ah the hazy, lazy daze of summer. Ha! NOT! Summer is soooo busy for us and so, unfortunately, my blog and you my bloggy friends suffer for it. I’ve had lots going on so will try to get in here and tell you about it all. But the main event today…..Scott and I are celebrating out 25th wedding anniversary. Yay us! That calls for the wedding photo again. Here we all fresh faced and happy.
Man that is a lot of hair! You had to love the 80’s. We are off the One Eleven Chop House for dinner tonight. Oh man, I love that place. If you have not been, go! It’s fabulous. Tomorrow, or someday soon, some photos of what I have been up to. Nice to see you all. It’s been a tough couple of weeks and while losing our old girl Tasha, has taken a lot of my emotional energy, there have been some bright spots too. I’m very proud of my little girl Kindle. She’s been doing so well since we started competing in agility last fall. Every time I run her, I learn a little more about how to help her be successful. She has so much confidence and is such a happy girl, sometimes that’s our biggest challenge. She’s having so much fun, it’s difficult for her to focus at times. The challenge for me is to squelch my competitive nature and not de-motivate her. I have to constantly remind myself, I’m building my future agility partner. Even though she may not be meeting the criteria I have trained as well as I like, I know she will get there. I just need to continue to help her to have as much fun in competition, as we have in practice. Compete as you train and train as you compete, it’s key. Memorial Day weekend we competed at a three day show and had an absolutely fabulous time. On top of parking the camper in our friend Christie’s driveway and getting to spend time with her, our dogs all run beautifully. Kindle finished her Novice Standard Agility title with 2 qualifying runs taking 3rd and 2nd place and she earned her first Novice Jumpers with Weaves leg and took 4th place. Just one week later she earned her second Jumpers with weaves leg and 1st place. Great performances for a baby dog who just turned 2 in April. I’m looking forward to years of running with her. Here she is: Wooleston’s Light My Fire AD, NA, IT
We never get to keep our dogs long enough. Last Tuesday Scott and I made the most difficult decision to help our sweet girl Tasha leave us. Her health had been failing and she’d begun to suffer from dementia. We realized the lovely, nuerotic, silly little girl we knew so well, had truly left us already, but it made the decision no less heart wrenching.
We were lucky to have had her for more than 14 years and had it not been for her dominant nature, I may never have gotten interested in dog training, agility, or owned a dog training school. We miss her terribly and the other dogs are at loose ends, trying to find their place without their familar leader. I will never forget the lessons she helped me learn, and how she helped to re-fashion my life. She was my first agility partner and an awesome obedience partner. We enjoyed countless romps in the woods, many seminars, and training camps. We enjoyed trips with our other dog and human friends and so much more. Farewell old girl. Tasha CGC, AAD, OAC, OJC, O-NGC, RS-O, JS-O, GS-N December 15, 1995-June 1, 2010
Last Saturday Scott and I took our little cattle dog girls to a Herding Instinct Test Trial. We are really proud of them both, and, they passed with flying colors. Here’s one of Kindle’s tests: Our instructor Colleen took Kindle in the pen for me. I was really grateful because, I have no idea what I’m doing! Kindle did fantastic considering the last instinct test she was scared to death of the sheep. But she was only 7 months old then. Now, she loves to chase those sheep, and bite the rake. She is definitley a work in progress. Beta is doing very well, and Scott was brave enough to take her into the pen himself. Now that we know they have the instinct to herd we are anxious to learn more and get out and compete with them. Here they are with their lovely ribbons.
Herding dogs rule!!! Did I tell you I went on vacation? In April Scott and I went to Phoenix to attend my brother’s wedding. I have been there numerous times to visit my family, but this was the first time Scott was able to go with me. That little problem of having 4 or 5 dogs sort of curtails our trips. The doggie care can be more expensive than the entire trip, so in the past, he had to stay home and be Mr. Mom. I was so happy he could come this time, and we made the most of it. The wedding was our main reason to go, but we also managed a few side trips. I will post some of those in the next few weeks. I have so many pictures, I’ve not had the time to go through them all. But let’s start with the main attraction. This is my brother Kurt and my new sister-in-law Jean.  Such a fabulous couple! The wedding was awesome and we had a wonderful time. I absolutely love Jean. She’s funny, laid-back and easy to be with. I can see why Kurt fell in love with her. She makes you feel at home the instant you meet her. Welcome Jean! We’re glad you’re in the family. One of the side trips we made, was to the Phoenix Art Museum to see the exhibit of Ansel Adams. It was a spectacular exhibit. We were not allowed to take any pictures because they don’t own that particular exhibit so I can’t show you what’s there, but if you are in Phoenix, its well worth the time. I did snap this while waiting to go in. I love these trees, they are everywhere in Phoenix and it seemed to me the building across the street was growing right out of them.
So much for my career as a photographer. I guess I’ll go do some dog training. Kindle, where are you……. Just have to toot my little one’s horn. My little Kindle is now: Wooleston Light My fire, ADWoohoo! She is officially an Agility Dog. I am thrilled and Kindle achieved this is just 4 days of competition! This last weekend we went to our first outdoor trial this year and she completed her starter agility title in our second run of weekend on Saturday morning. Here is the title winning Standard run, she qualified and took 1st Place. |
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Copyright © 2010 Louise Hinckley - All Rights Reserved |
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