Swimmin' holes

Hey check it out! It's rained so much here that I have my very own lake. I'm calling it "Lake Splashy-Splash". It's pretty deep, so bring your snorkel gear.


My own personal lake

Happy Get-A-New-Toy Day!

I got some new toys this morning and also a BIG chewie. I gotta go work on it before Jewel takes it away from me. Hope you got some good stuff too!


Happy New Toy Day! 

PODcasts!

Here is a list of mom's current favorite Podcasts. She is really into listening to them and when she's at work programming, she always has her headphones on listening to something or other. I'm not sure what podcasts are but anyway here you go:

• The ColdFusion podcast, all about Macromedia's ColdFusion, this one is very cool


• Flash Design Dev Podcast, not really about CF but I'm hoping they talk about Flash forms someday.


• WebDevDesign Podcast, Covers Macromedia products, 'cause they are the best you know.


• TWiT, bunch of IT guys talking, a little too much testorone sometimes, but there are good tidbits most episodes. I do wish they would take turns talking though.


• Pod Quiz, a crazy English guy with his very hard quiz. My high score so far: 12/20


• K9 Cast., but sometimes her advice is a little crazy so use a couple of grains of salt with this one

I'm back!

I am feeling much better. My cough is almost gone, and I am back into my nightly training session with mom. That's really good, because I was starting to wonder if that part of my life was all over with.

We worked on heel position (yay!), formal obedience come (yay!), long sit and down stays (yay!), left and right (yay!), 2-on 2-off (yay, the board is back in the hallway for the winter), go to my tunnel (double yay!), and fetch (notso yay). Mom is just not making sense with that dumbbell thing. She says she will reconsider her criteria and we'll try again tonight. yay!

Busted!!

Mom's camera did not work very well on her trip so she didn't have any photos to show us. It may be busted, but I did not do it! She did take this photo, but it is near here. Actually I have never been to this bridge, although I did get to go downtown a while back and almost met the Governor. He used to be some sort of action movie person I guess, but now he just has an office.


Our city 

PS We are sorry to be MIA for so long, we will try to post more regularly! Thanks for all your nice messages!

Just give me a moment

I'm taking a small break from blogging, my mom's off visiting something called the Dog Museum. She says she will be back very soon and have cookies for everyone so I guess it is worth the wait.

Working Weekend

This has been a lovely weekend.

Mom entered me in an agility trial at the beginning of October. She forgot I have to jump 20 inches (that's because I am sooo very tall and BIG). I've been jumping 16 inches in practice. And, I haven't been through the chute at all!

Since I'm entered in Jumpers class, I'll have to go through tunnels (no prob, love 'em), jump 20 inch jumps, and go through the chute.

Because of all this lack of human planning, I have been chosen, among all the other dog in this house, to go to training class twice a day....this whole weekend. This is just wonderful as far as I am concerned. I wish it was like this every single day.

We have been working on jumping in a big circle of 6 jumps at 20 inches of course. I've also jumped through the tire at 20, and I'm learning all about the chute. I got stuck in the chute at one point but it's all good.

I'm a little tired but I'll manage. :)

Just some photos!

Here's my weave poles. The shiny stuff is the water from the sprinkler! 


This is what my homemade teeter looks like. It's just a board on a concrete block, but that's okay by me. 


Hi there! I have got two feet on, two feet off, just like I am supposed to! 

Please help!

Hey, if you or your typists know of any song about dogs....let us know! We are working on on iMix playlist for dog training music! So far we have ten songs. Yes, we already have the Puppy Song (Nilsson) and the Dog Song (Nellie McKay). We even have one by Sting, where he's a Poodle or something.

We need a few more!

Send us your ideas!

PS: If you have iTunes, you can view our playlist here.

If you don't have it, here's our list so far:

1. The Puppy Song.....Harry Nilsson


2. Dog House.....Gary Primich


3. The Dog Song.....Nellie McKay


4. Splish Splash.....Bobby Darin


5. A Dog Is a Dog.....DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince


6. Cruel to Be Kind.....Nick Lowe


7. Walking the Dog.....Rufus Thomas


8. Bad Moon Rising.....Creedence Clearwater Revival


9. Perfect Love...Gone Wrong.....Sting


10. How Come My Dog Don't Bark (When You Come 'Round).....Dr. John

Special Sunday

Tonight the kids from down the street stopped by to see us. They knock on the door, and ask to see each of us. They are two little boys, and they have skateboards. Tonight mom showed them my skateboard, which I've had since I was just a pup, and had me show them how well I can ride.

Mom also played the toenail game with us. That's really fun....all I have to do is hold still while she clips one toenail and then I get a cookie! Geez, humans are so gullible.

We also worked on heeling drills, did some more teeter work, and mom had me do the weave poles for a little while.

Jewel worked on walking up and down the street, and if she looked at mom she got a click and a treat.

Mom's reading a book right now called "How Dogs Learn". Why doesn't she just ask?

Teeter totter!

I'm a big dog now.

Last night at our agility lesson, mom took me on the teeter totter. I was not at all worried, because we have been working for about a year on boards. Some of the boards are solid, some wobble, and some REALLY wobble. So it was no big deal for me. But boy was mom happy. She pulled out the hot dogs for me.

She did say that we only had the teeter on "2". I think that means it was a little low. I hope it gets higher!

Also, I have to report that I am making progress on my weaves. Mom has the channel closed up halfway and I am discovering that I have to bounce back and forth a little, as in parts the channel is a little narrower than me. I'm BIG! So it's all good I guess.

No photos, we had to come in early tonight 'cause the government types are out doing aerial spraying to try to kill mosquitos. They are worried about West Nile virus. Mom says it's a lost cause. Why don't people just take Heartgard like I do?

The Karate Kid

When mom's at work, Jewel and I play a lot. Mostly we do WWF-type moves, but today we worked on our karate chops a little. When mom came home, this is what she found!


Look at what my karate chop did! 

Class report

Monday was obedience class. We are supposed to work some more on left pivots, at least until I know where my rear-y is. We are also working on stays and attention and heeling of course.

After that we had agility, and we worked on weaves. I don't like doing weaves at home. The grass is not as nice as at our instructor's house, and I just know that, at some point in the last two years I have peed there. I know you can't smell it, but I know it's there and I just don't want to step anywhere near our grass. Nuff said.

Tuesday night we had agility again, and I had to do the weave poles some more. Mom has them in a "channel", whatever as long as it is nowhere near pee-grass.

Jewel had freestyle class and she says she worked on "cuts", "passes", and spins. I told her she has a future in country dancing.

PS, just for Cal here is a photo of my Alley-Oop. Mom uses it as a "visible target" for when I have to run somewhere away from her. I know I'm supposed to run to it and touch it the ball on the top with my nose, 'cause that's when she clicks her thingie and soon I have a nice treat. It's not too hard once you understand the rules of the game. Mom likes this one because (1) it is too sturdy for me to break (2) it is too heavy for me to pick up without some trouble (3) it bobbles when I smack it instead of toppling over like the homemade ones and (4) it was relatively cheap.

The Alley-Oop used to be sold by Gary Wilkes, but sadly no more 

They don't make them anymore, mom got it about 10 years ago at a dog training conference. If you hear of someone who wants to sell theirs, mom knows a bunch of people who really want one!

Agility class

Tuesday night is our begining group agility class. Everyone's doing really well in this class. Tonight we worked on a lot of go-outs to our visible target (mom has an Alley-Oop for me to use which is good because I am so enormously strong that I would break the homemade ones). Some of the go-outs were over jumps (4 in a straight line) and some were through a tunnel.

We also worked on shadow handling. I think heeling on the off-side, which mom calls "close", is confusing when done in a circle, 'cause I think it's one of my dance moves, and I try to cut or pass just to liven it up a little.

That's about it, an easy night. Now we are going to EAT, so I gotta go.


Hey it's dinner time! 

Toastin

It's too hot to go outside and play. Yesterday it was 104 and today it is supposed to be even hotter. Mom's outside right now mowing the lawn -- it's 8 AM and already 80 degrees.

I just play in my pool and then we go inside and pant in the air conditioning.

Weekend report

We played a lot in the backyard this weekend. It was very hot, and I'm still a little under the weather, so I took it easy. Jewel worked with mom on her silly little dance routine, but inside. It's a good thing our living room doesn't have any furniture, we have lots of room for dog activities that way.

We got a few good photos -- here they are!


Mike says: "Ugh! I think I swallowed a bug!" Mom thinks this photo is hilarious....


Jewel is meeting the evil Labrador puppet for the first time. You know, he's just a puppet, and he lives in the nightstand, but he's really scary, you have to watch out for this dude.


Here's me (front) and Jewel, we are relaxing after a really tough day in the backyard. We are not actually allowed on the bed, but I've heard it's better to ask for forgiveness than get permission ahead of time.

Woof woof [cough] woof!

I'm a little sick. I have a cough and my nose is running. Usually my legs run but right now I just like to curl up in my kennel and doze. Mom got me some yummy antibiotics that she puts in my food bowl.

I got to go to the Vet yesterday. They gave me 5 cookies! I just love those people. When I got out of the car and figured out where I was, I started drooling right away.

Pretty much we have not trained at all, since I just want to take it easy. Mom is training Jewel to go in circles around a plumber's friend. Mom says it's the start of Jewel's dance routine, but so far it's kind of lame if you ask me.

Agility report

Monday night at agility was great.

We did a mini jumpers course. There were 12 hurdles in all. I mostly did them right. Mom confused me a little at one point, but I covered for her error. There were some rear crosses, front crosses, and some layering, where I take a jump but there is another jump between me and mom. I do not like the layering thing. I have an invisible leash on my mom and it only extends so far. Anyway she has the treats so why would I go out that far?

Treat report: we had HOT DOGS. My oh my! This is not your usual diet kibble.

Just some photos

The outside of St. Francis 


St. Francis 

Report from the field

The field at my instructor's house that is.

Last night was our beginning agility group class. We all worked on "self control" issues which will be very important once we start trialing.

We did stays, restrained recalls (I just love those, you should see the crazed look in my eyes), walking on a wobbly board (like I care if it wobbles, I was bred to jump in BOATS), and the bending game which I am very good at even though everyone thought I would not be able to -- I am very limber.

On the food front, mom had diet kibble for me. However, there were lots of mosquitoes and I ate a couple.

A word about diets

I'm on a diet.

Mom says I have to lose some weight before I can start jumping a lot in agility. I think I look pretty good just the way I am.

Anyway for the last few weeks, she's really cut down on my dog food. She gives me pumpkin and green beans to try to cover up that I'm on short rations but I am not fooled. Plus (this is a little embarrassing), all those veggies make me a little gassy. I hear these mini explosions near my tail but even though I jump around real fast I can never figure out where they are coming from.

Mikey, on the other hand, just got some new dog food, it is called "K/D". He's kind of sick, and she says he probably won't be getting any better and that we just have to make him comfortable for the time he has left. Sure, he's comfortable, he gets plenty of dinner!

So today, I opened up the cupboard door where that yummy food for Mike is kept and helped myself to a snack. Mom was pretty annoyed with me, but it was so worth it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. She put a child lock on the door though, so I'll have to borrow a thumb somewhere. I'll let you know how this works out.

My new name?

I guess my name changed on Sunday.

I was a very good dog at the Rally trial and I finished my Rally Novice title. So now my name is "Toastin's Puddle Jumper, RN, CGC". You can still call me Splash. We took some photos while we were there. Jewel came too, and she got to see Nell, her mom. Nell told Jewel to behave.

PS: No, "RN" does not mean "Real Nuisance", it means "Rally Novice".


Here we are doing a left turn into the serpentine. Our judge, Mr. Eng (he's nice!) is in the foreground. 


Jewel likes going to the dog show too! 

C_C

Last night we went to C Bar C Park. Mom thinks it used to be someone's ranch but now it has a big grassy area, a dog park, and 4 softball fields. We practiced our rally moves a little.

I had a little more fun than on Wednesday, but I was still kind of a putz. Anyway, for the record, here's our log:

Heel, right turn, left turn, left about, right about, 270 right and left, 360 right and left (oooh I'm dizzy), call front - finish left - forward, call front - finish right - forward, moving side step right, schutzhund turn, call front - 1,2,3 steps back, moving down, heel - down - forward.

Boring!

This a poster of ME when I was a little tyke. 

Last night we worked on our Rally moves. I'm so bored by all that stuff. I didn't even want to work for a cookie. Can we just do agility instead? Or maybe flyball? Hunting? Lure coursing?

[Sigh]

PS this all has mom kind of worried because this weekend we have some big thing.
W-h-a-t-e-v-a!

Agility TUESDAYs

Woohoo, now we have agility on Tuesday also! We joined a newly formed beginning group class. Last night we just got to know each other a little and show our teacher what we can do obedience-wise.

There me of course, and an Aussie, a Bernese Mountain Dog named "Zipper" (she's cute!), a Border Terrier named "Chert", a Pembroke Corgie named "Bella" (Bella is a fluffy but we think that just makes her extra cute), and a little Sheltie who is a bit timid. She thought I was kinda big....I AM!

I am in a Rally trial on Saturday and Sunday so tonight we have to practice our moves.

Agility Mondays

Hurray for agility! I got to do some long sequences last night. I also had to do some plank work (two on, two off), and I got to do two totally fun restrained recalls. I just love chasing mom, she is so slow.

Here's what we did:

June is birthday month

We only did a little training this weekend, so I don't have much to report. Mostly I got petted and I got to sit on the sofa for a while, so that was nice.

I do have some major birthdays to report.

• May 13th - Mike's 13th birthday


• May 24th - Lucy's 12th birthday. (Lucy is Mike's sister)


• May 26th - MY 2nd BIRTHDAY. I LIKE FRISBEES, COOKIES, TENNIS BALLS, COOKIES, TUG TOYS, and COOKIES, IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING


• June 15th - Jewel's 6 month birthday

Happy Birthday everyone!

PS: I have lost about 3 pounds so far on my diet. Mom says a little more, but I just don't see how that is possible. I might faint from hunger.

Summer's here!

Yeah whatever....can we go outside and play now?

It was 90 degrees today and we went outside for a while and worked in the garden. Mostly, I am supposed to help by not eating the plants.



Our back yard


This is the Peace rose, another plant that I am not allowed to eat.


Here I am chasing Jewel around the back yard, this is a very fun game!


Jewel tends to monopolize the pool.


The water is almost the same color as Jewel is!

Dogs can too dance

Today my best friend produced a video of me doing my dance routine to my theme song. It's in Windows Media (this time) so if you don't have that, you are outta luck.

Here you go!

Sticks!

Mom was watching this video she bought on impulse at a dog show. It's called "Dancing with your Dog". She thought it was pretty good.

She talked to our obedience instructor about one part where the lady uses sticks to help her dog learn where his rear-y is. That dog was pretty long, and I am too. I know that when you have such a long train it is hard to keep track of the caboose.

So now we have new homework -- I have to learn to move away from the stick. I have to learn that it is NOT a touch stick. (That may be tricky). Then mom will use the stick to help me think about that caboose when I am coming in to front.

Right now when I come to front I am usually a little crooked. I just don't get it, so maybe this will help.

Hey whatever --- oops gotta go the lawn sprinkler just came on WOOOHOOO gotta get WET

Visits

Yesterday we got up early (for a weekend) and we all got in the car. We ate first though. We drove a long way. When we got out, we were at a nice place with lots of dogs jumping and weaving and going through tunnels and over dog walks.

And guess what? My grandma was there! Boy was she glad to see me. I was very happy to see her, and I saw a bunch of other people I knew as well. I had a great time. I had to do a little attention work but I did not do very well because there was so many great things to look at.

I got measured by the AKC Rep (who know what THAT means, I don't). I'm 22 inches on the dot. That means I have to jump 20 inch jumps.

Jewel got to walk around a lot too. She met a cute 3 month old Vizla puppy dog. They got to play a little. She also met three 12 week old Rottweiler puppies, but they were kinda scary because there were so many of them. So Jewel didn't want to play with them. However, Jewel also was not afraid of the building, the teeter noises or all the barking dogs. Just the Rottie pack o' pups.

Mom says my Auntie is coming to visit soon. I listen to her talk on the phone sometimes, and sometimes we web-chat. I just snuffle into the phone and she understands. She's smart! She moved a long ways away, but I still remember her, she is one of my all-time favorite people.

Guide Dog Brogan

This post is from Mike:

I'm coming up on my 13th birthday in two weeks. That got me thinking about some of my brothers and sisters. My mom raised my litter herself, along with my real mommy, Holly. Holly left us a couple of years back. Holly had two puppy-sets. I was in the first set.

The above photo is of me when I was just a little guy (I'm in the middle!). Holly is on the left, and Chuck is on the right.

Anywho, I was thinking of one of my little brothers. One puppy from the second litter was purchased by Guide Dogs for the Blind. They named him "Guide Dog Brogan". Being Internet-savvy, I went ahead and Googled him. I found a nice story about him!

Read all about Brogan and his human!

Here is a photo of one of the puppies in Brogan's litter, at four weeks of age. Mom knows it is one of the four boys, so it may well be Brogan himself.

Zen and the art of "stay"

I've been practicing my stay lately. I've been doing a nice straight sit for one television commercial. Then I get to lay down for 2 commercials. (Mom lost her stopwatch so now she just uses the tv to time me)

Mom throws dog food past my nose when I am staying but I already know that's a trap so I just keep all Zen and don't fall for it.

Jewel says she is also working on stay but not for as long as me. She's also learning to walk next to mom on leash. She says that is very hard because mom walks slower than we can run.

Jewel and the pool

Today I'm posting a link to some video mom took of us playing in the back yard. Mom says be sure to have your sound level high enough to hear the commentary, otherwise it won't make sense.

Anyway, remember I'm the big one, Jewel is the little one, and Mike is the old and slow one!

Download the video here!

Happiness is....

I was reading an old Charles Schulz book last night (okay really I was chewing on it but work with me here). "Happiness is a Warm Puppy".

That made me think about what makes me really happy. So I started a list:

• the smell of a freshly opened bag of dog food
  
• that last turn when we are in the car and suddenly I know we are going to agility
  
• tortilla chips that land on the floor
  
• any other food that lands on the floor
  
• the smell and sound when a new can of tennis balls is opened
  
• walks in the park
  
• quiet evenings at home with everyone grouped within 3 sq. ft. of each other even though the house is plenty big and we could spread out a little more
  
• watching Animal Planet, but not the 2 reptile guys, just Animal Cops and Funniest Animal Videos. Oh and I like Lassie on Nick.
  
• frozen greenies
  
• frozen bananas
  
• following mom absolutely everywhere around the house just in case she gets lost although she claims she will be just fine
  
• visiting the Vet to get more cookies, I do love those people
  

The Upside (down)

This is me when I was younger, and I'm upside down! 

The Game

Jewel is getting pretty big now. At last weigh-in, she was 36 lbs. That's about 1/2 my size. She is a worthy opponent now at the "Comparing dental size" game. I just love that game. We play for hours on end.

Usually Jewel is on the top, since she's smaller. You can tell which one I am. Jewel is very dark yellow, I'm a little lighter in color (and I'm BIG), but I have a dark yellow racing stripe down the middle of my back!


The "Comparing bite size game", pt 1 


Pt 2 


Pt 3 '

All work and no play.....

In case you thought we were slacking (well we were a little), here's our homework for the next four weeks.

1) Work on faster sit. Get attention, say sit, reward only fastest ones. PLAY! Reward criteria must change. "Beat the dog" / PLAY! / Attenion / SIT

[Ahem....we Labs really enjoy being thumped on the side when we are good, in case you were wondering about that last part. I personally like being thumped with my tug toy, but that's my own little fetish.]

2) Attention with heeling. If Splashy is in correct position he should be able to catch the toy when drop from under arm. PLAY!

3) Mom must pick ONE AND ONLY ONE release word and practice using it.

4) Play "Ready Steady Go" when on stay, releasing to my wonderful awesome very cool tug toy. I just adore this game but Jewel says she does not get what go means.

5) Work on attenion when dog's name is said. Reward fast response only. This one is for Jewel too.

Green, redux

Today I finally asked my mom to buy me some Greenies. You all have been talking about them so much. Well, she bought me a bag of "treat size" greenies. Because, you know, mom and I are on diets.

I have to report that they are okay....but not as good as fresh veggies. Or bananas. I really love bananas. Greenies are nice though if there is nothing better around.

Jewel, however, is very pro-Greenies. In fact she ate hers AND mine. Jewel does not like veggies yet, but she will when she is older. Anywho, she will take any available Greenies, just give her a call.

So, I guess that shows it takes all kinds to make a world.

Cookies, they are magically delicious

Tonight we went to Petco to practice my heeling. Our next lesson in Monday and we've only done our homework once so far in almost two weeks. So we are a little behind.

I was very good, though. We heeled with attention while a family came in with a Springer Spaniel. The dog was so out of control, and the man was kind of embarrassed. But it shouldn't be such a big surprise for him, 'cause you should have seen the kids! When they couldn't get their dad's attention they started yelling "Dad Dad Dad" and running around the store. The little boy was on roller skates and almost ran into me. If those parents can't train the kids, no wonder they couldn't train that poor spaniel. Actually the spaniel was better behaved than the kids.

Anyway, despite all this, I just looked at my mom while we walked around. She says I am very good and reasonably smart too.

Then, we bought some cookies, one bag for big dogs, and a small bag for puppy dogs. I guess Jewel gets the small bag.


Yum! 

Green!

We got a green ribbon! We didn't score very well, but hey the wind was up, it's spring, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping....anyway, we qualified and got our first Novice Rally leg.


Waiting in the car 


Here's the course all set up 


I won a green ribbon! 

Tally-ho Rally-O

Today mom and I are very busy getting the (new) refrigerator fixed and packing up the car to go to the dog show. Mike's babysitter is coming to stay with him. He's having a bit of trouble lately with walking and standing up, so it's better if he doesn't have to get in and out of the car. Jewel, annoyingly, is coming with.

Here's a couple of photos, the first is me doing a stay (I do hate that flash), and the second one is me summer before last when I was about 8 weeks old. I was much cuter, smarter, and nicer than Jewel, if I do say so myself.


I have a good stay, as long as there's nothing better to do 


This is me when I was a puppy, in case you were wondering what I looked like 

Rally-O

Last night mom and I locked up the other dogs in their crates and went for a walk. We really should do that more often.

She's a little worried about my heeling, since we're entered in a Rally trial on Sunday. But I showed her how well I remember everything. I really like Rally, because mom talks to me the whole time. A guy needs a little feedback, you know?

Hopefully tonight we will practice some more. I'll try to get a photo.

Gamesmanship

I like to play games with Jewel. I don't always get to, because I'm so big compared to her. But she's growing fast (see chart at right). One of our favorite games is tug o' war. I let her win sometimes.


Tug o' war (right to left: me, Jewel, Mike who is annoyed by the game in general) 


Still playing..... 

Training report follows:
1) worked on go outs to the Alley Oop target
2) worked on that darn dumbbell thing. Now I'm totally confused, so we went back a few steps. Just don't get that. I think it has something to do with backing up...?

Jewel says she is going to the Alley Oop about 5 feet away. She is working on NOT biting mom when she is following mom. Also, she had two accidents this morning. Next she is going to work on "go to your place". I think that one's dumb, my place is next to mom, so I was never very good at that.

Party all day

We are very tired. Yesterday was Sunday, which is not a mom-work day. We slept late and got up at 5 am when Jewel woke everyone up because she had to go out.

Then, because the weather was so nice we worked in the yard. Jewel got to play in MY POOL.


Playing in the pool 

Still playing 

Still playing......! 

Later I played with Jewel under the coffee table. Note to the guy at Starbucks who said I was fat -- I can still fit under the coffee table. I prefer to think of myself as sleek.

Under the coffee table 

My to-do list

Last Monday we had both agility and obedience. That was great. Afterwards, mom made me cookies.

Here's our list of stuff to practice:
Obedience
(1) Heel in big circles with varying number of steps so I don't know when the click will be and so I have to work real hard
(2) Come in to front, but now I have to come closer and bumping mom is okay now but before it wasn't so I'm a little confused by that. I think mom is too.
(3) Stand up from a sit with mom at my side. That's dead simple.
(4) Stays for about 20-30 seconds with major distractions like when we are outside the Starbucks and everyone is noticing how handsome I am and they are right of course.
(5) Mom has to figure out what exactly she wants from me regarding the dumbbell. She says she has to think that one over so we are taking a break from that game, although that game is one of my favorites.
Agility
(1) Mom has to move the big heavy board to the back yard and set it on the PVC bump so I can work on 2O/2O some more because I seem to have forgotten where my back end is. I can start near the end of the board if mom says it is okay.
(2) We also have to set up the weave poles now that it is spring so I can go through those.
(3) Jewel has to start on the tunnel now that she knows all about the bobble board.

Clicker games

Lots to report, I'm a little behind. Monday night there was no agility class as the facility was too wet from rain. But I got a special invitation to come and play, provided we brought Jewel so our instructor could play with her. Fine by me. I got to play frisbee with mom, and I caught quite a few. We also played 2 on, 2 off of the wobbly board. I was beat after that, and so was Jewel. Mike waited in the car.

Last night mom and I played the clicker games in the kitchen, as it was raining hard. We are playing this game, haven't quite figured out all the rules as they keep changing, but it has something to do with the dumbell and me picking it up. Thought I had it cold, but now I have to hold it? I'll let you know what I figure out. Mom says I am very good at clicker games, so it shouldn't take me much longer.

Jewel says she went to the target plate at arm's length (whoa don't strain yourself there), did left and right, and demonstrated she knows what the clicker sound means. She also got to sit in MY BED in the office while mom did email, photo evidence below. Note this is MY BED.

Jewel likes the hammock 

Almost summer now

It's starting to get pretty warm around here! Watch out Cal, we have not forgotten our bet. The spring flowers are already fading, and the grass is growing very fast. Mom's not happy about that.


Tulip tree 

Damage control

There was toilet paper available to chew up today. But for some reason, it tasted like cayenne pepper. I prefer the plain kind.

So instead, I got down the box off my mom's dresser. It has lots of nice things in it. I chewed up some clickers, a pen, a tube of lipstick, and some car keys with the electronic thingie on them. I like the car very much and I like the car keys too. I don't know why I destroyed them. I guess I just miss mom when she's at work.

Now she's talking about x-pens again.


The evidence 

Rude dogs and their people

Tonight we went to the park just before dusk. It's nice there then. Usually it is pretty empty and we can practice our heeling in peace and quiet.

Last night though, there was a lady there with three dogs. All of them were off-leash. This is not a dog park. Dogs have to be on leash at all times. I'm on leash.

The lady told mom, as her dogs were running up to our car that her dogs were "friendly". I don't think "friendly" means what the lady thought it meant, because the dogs started barking and growling at mom. Mom shut the car door so we were safe, but she was outside still.

The lady never said anything, not "I'm sorry", or, even better "I'm sorry I'm a stupid idiot and my dogs are aggressive after all and I should never have been allowed to have them if the world was just", or something to that effect.

She also didn't clean up after her dogs, we saw the whole thing.

Oh, and here's another photo of the doglet:

Zowie! we got the zoomies

We got the zoomies.

Last night Jewel got fatally happy and she started zooming around the room, with her ears back, eyes bugged out, and bottom tucked under. This happens to me all the time. When I saw this, I joined in, and then we had to take a time out because mom was worried about the big glass door.

Later we worked on straight fronts. I do not like to sit straight, nor do I like to get as close as mom wants. We also played the "sit or down" game, and did some go arounds on both sides.

Jewel says she worked on sit for attention, down for a treat, go to the target plate where there are treats, and touch the hand that is also holding a treat.

Mike got to be brushed.


The game 

The game 

Agility is so cool

Monday night we went to our agility lesson. Mom's getting a little worried that we never have time to work on contacts or weave poles. I don't care, 'cause I like to jump.

It was raining and a little muddy which just makes it even better.

Jewel came with, and she almost got run down by us when she ran in the way. I think she needs to learn some manners.

Here's what we did: