Jet City Tournament: I did good! I was very consistent. I didn’t miss any jumps. I even hit a PERFECT 0.00 start!!! My momma Toni is very proud of me. She is a little unhappy that she didn’t do better. But she is green I will get her trained up! It was really hot – like really hot! We raced in an old airplane hanger and at least there was a good breeze. There were little doggy water pools set up outside so after every race my kid would take me out and splash me down. Mini Me was crated on top of me. She had lots of drive-by visitors. Sigh. I had crate fans blowing on me and that was very nice. And I got to snuggle on mom’s lap every once in a while and give kisses. I raced ALL day long except for about two legs of one race. I was really tired by the end of the day. It was our first day of racing all day. Six races with 5 legs each. But as the start dog, I did a lot more because of all the false starts. Mostly because of mom, but sometimes the other team. Mom says we have to start endurance training – whatever that means. But it has something to do with getting the bike out again and going for rides – I like that idea!
Archive for June, 2008
Jet City Tournament by Sasha
Sunday, June 29th, 2008Taken Aback by Toni
Sunday, June 29th, 2008I was going to write a piece about the flyball tournament but was taken aback by a brief scan off CNN news articles. http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/06/29/us.iran/index.html Like many folks, I have believed Bush-days were ending and he would slink from office without further harm since he has no longer any political influence. Apparently not true if he can get THIS congress to authorize 400 mil for covert Iran missions. Not long ago I was driving Katie to school and listening to a piece on NPR about IRAQ. We were chatting and she causually mentioned “You know, we have been at war over half my life.” That’s only the half she remembers. Before that were all the “armed conflicts” like the Gulf War. There is something terribly wrong with this picture. It is a picture shared by far too many children over the world.
Flyball First Fling
Sunday, June 29th, 2008This is a cross-post from my livejournal entries about the day, but gives my first impressions of flyball:
Toni, Katie and Sasha raced flyball in a tourney in Magnussen park yesterday and I went down to spectate. It was hot and loud – ever been in an airplane hangar with a thousand dogs barking at once? I have to say though, the sport of flyball is a bunch of fun. If you’re curious, go to YouTube and type in the word “flyball.” No wonder we have a new fabulous puppy bred for this. Even though Cricket will be too young to compete for over a year, I must say she drew attention. Sasha did really well – she never missed a jump and got a perfect start in one of her heats. Toni and Katie did real well, too. Note that although there was at least one representative of most breeds there, I have never seen so many border collies in one place. If you have a border collie and you can’t give them sheep, give them flyball.
I hope the dogs or Toni or Katie post more later, and I may add a picture later on.
Sundays with Nix, June 28th
Saturday, June 28th, 2008
Yes, I can read a calendar, and it’s a day early. But the border collies are both off racing and mom is busy tomorow (with the race I helped her train for), so we went back to the dog park. Not as cool as a long walk, but maybe next weekend.
The dog park was really crowded, and mom called me Nixie Who is Not Innocent a few times when I growled at bigger dogs. Buy hey, what’s a gal to do?
Soda (Save Our Dog Area) is down there today selling t shirts and memberships and stuff. Mom gives them her bag donations at Whole Foods.
Pre-Tourney Jitters by Cricket
Friday, June 27th, 2008
Tomorrow is the big Jet City Flyball Tournament and I get to go and be crated with the Club, Unorthodogs! It’s really exciting. Sasha and Momma Toni are on the Unorthodogs A Team and Sash is running in the start dog position. I can hardly wait to smell all the adrenalin and howl with the BIG DOGS – Ruff! Ruff! Someday I’m going to be a GREAT Flyball Dog! Right now I’m just trying not to stress out. I don’t get this “time” thing at all! What are we waiting for?
The Honeymoon is Over, Rover by Toni
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
It happens to all new puppies sooner or later. There is the honeymoon period when the pup first arrives. Unsure of itself, it is on its best behavior. For awhile. And then there comes that moment in time when the pup is confident and settled and the true inner puppy-self emerges. That moment came today. Cricket’s inner self is a BABY ALLIGATOR. Snuggling in my arms one minute – and latching onto my poor nose the next with those razor sharp puppy teeth. My poor nose. Bled like a fountain. I knew it would happen. It happens with every puppy. I try to guard my nose and be prepared. But they always know when you are vulnerable. Back to the kennel! (there is a reason that puppies are so adorable – if they weren’t they would not survive dealing out such abuse!).
Then working on tugga with “equal motivators and being sure to deactivate before activating” – a puppy training game to build tug drive that she loves! Her drive is so strong she overshoots the tug and chomps down on my hand. Blood flows. Gloves from now on.
Time to go night night? Cricket sits in her crate and HOWLS at the top of her lungs. Puppy’s first howl:>)
And sooooo mournful. Solution? I played the “raising Hob Nob Border Collies puppies” video clip from the Hob Nob website. As soon as she heard Grandma Jan’s voice (her breeder) she settled and fell asleep! She was snoring by the end of the clip.
The wonders of technology. I’ve just settled an 8 week old pup with a digital familiar voice:>)
Proud Exhaustion, by Brenda
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008Cricket is adorable. After almost a week of staying up to eleven to wear her black-and-white cuteness out, and waking up about five to take her black-and-white cuteness out, the skin under my eyes is almost as dark as her coat. A week of shuffling feet to avoid stepping on squirmy puppy, of tiny cries in the night and the soft sighs of puppy dreams. A week of exclamations at how cute she is and how much she talks (Sasha did not talk so much). Cricket is adorable. This is a good thing for her, this being cute. Good thing puppies and kittens and human babies are cute. This helps them live. Cricket is adorable. 
Day 4 – Prancing Puppies by Toni
Monday, June 23rd, 2008
Cricket had another awesome day today. She slept through the night AGAIN and AGAIN woke up at 5:11am. Jan, you must have them programmed! Then morning routine and Katie to camp. A little down time and brief play time with Sasha. Then off to the vet – great puppy, great exam. Then to work with me for an hour meeting I couldn’t bump and some maulings followed by sleep in the kennel. Then home for lunch and play, Then off to pick up Katie and dinner and lounging in the backyard. Sash has taken to slowly trolling small jolley balls on ropes thru the yard with Cricket prancing beside her trying so hard to catch up. Cricket looks like a Sasha shadow and Sash controls her gait to stay just ahead of Cricket. It is fabulous to watch. I have some good video and am still attempting to master the technology. You would think my Sony would just upload – but every video reports an error in uploading. So I am challenged but will eventually get this.
It Takes Two to Feed Three, by Brenda
Monday, June 23rd, 2008The logistics of three dogs are different than the logistics of two. At least at this stage. A friend of mine from work says the same thing about having added a third kid a little while ago. At any rate, we’ve been feeding the big dogs Darwin’s, which they’ve been thriving on. But it has to be cooked (it can be fed raw, but we cook it). The puppy gets Canidae all stages, which we’re transitioning the big two onto, slowly, at least for the summer. The hassle factor of traveling with food you have to keep frozen and then cook is huge.
So Cricket wakes up starved and wiggly. If you feed Cricket before Nixie, Nixie the food dog gets snarly (at Cricket – as if it were her fault we fed her). So you have to hold a squirmy puppy and work on a hot stove (not so safe), feed the puppy and protect her from the Nix while cooking a pan of food (not so easy since you can’t just drop Nix outside at 5 AM to bark the neighbors awake), or have one person for the hot stove and one person for Cricket/Nix. I suppose we could leave Cricket in her crate and listen to her scream, but that’s not super palatable either.
And the whole time, Sasha – not snarly – is dropping toys, one by one, at our feet. So we have to try not to trip while doing the other stuff.
We’re both up at five in the morning now.
Sundays with Nix, June 22, by the Nix
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
It’s not all about the Cricket. Sunday’s are special for me. Well, sometimes they’re even more special than today and Mom Brenda and me (the golden momma) go out walking all morning. This morning she was tuckered from getting up with Cricket so she had to nap before we went out. We did get to Marymoor dog park, where we had adventures. But first, I gotta tell you about this dog park. I bet there were 150 dogs there. And we only saw twenty or so. It’s so big I can run acrossiit fifteen minutes without stopping. There’s a slough (that’s water) and grass and trails and trees and paths and bunnies (stupid bunnies – why would a bunny live in a dog park?) and dogs and people and frisbees and balls and an ice cream truck that’s ells dog treats and ice cream.
And grass. Lots of grass. We visited the tall grass. That’s like being in tall cotton for someone from the south. A dog could get lost in that stuff! But I didn’t.
We found a new swimming hole that was almost empty and has a nice entry into the water. We didn’t have a water toy with us, but we’ll go back.
We went by the dog store in near Whole Foods and got more dog food and more dog treats. I’m kind of all about that. Food. Ever need me? Food works.
If anything good happens next Sunday, I’ll let you know. Maybe it will, although mom says she’d doing the seafair marathon, or half of it anyway. And they don’t let dogs go. Maybe we’ll do something Saturday.