Say Hi!

Say hi to Lark!

Larky is learning all kinds of new tricks during her stays here but we couldn't be all serious and learning all the time so we went out to play.

Lark and Dazzle were pretty good at sharing

Most of the time...

They really did play together nicely. Maybe because Lark doesn't keep jumping over and on top of Dazzle like some un-named Aussie!

Such goofy girls!

Woof in Boots

Dazzle blistered and then cut open her pads while practicing agility the other day. Poor thing. I knew full well that keeping her inside until she was fully healed was not an option so off to PetsMart we went to pick up some booties.

She actually doesn't seem to mind them at all, as long as she got to keep playing!

If anything, I think she was playing harder than usual.

Now, overshooting the ball is normal - but to do it every single time? Good grief girl, slow down!

It looks like she managed to get this one right? Nope. She just couldn't quite slam on the breaks fast enough.

This one?

It ended in her doing something resembling a summersault....and still missing the ball. .
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Despite the impressive air display on this attempt she was, yet again, a little over the top:

Surely you can guess by now, but in case you still need help - no. she did not catch this one either.

Then, right as I was beginning to loose all hope, she made a catch. :)

And boy was she proud of herself!

With that catch, we decided to quit while we were ahead and turn back to home.

Better luck next time!

ShakeShakeShake!

While we were in Canby Oregon for the USDAA Regionals, and the temperature hit 115 degrees, we decided to leave the agility rings behind that afternoon and go find some place to cool off. In doggie-terms means "BEACH!".

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I brought Lark, a two year old girl belonging to our agility trainer, along as well because her family was still competing in the afternoon events and she really needed to cool off. So no, in case you were wondering, Dazzle's ears did not suddenly stand up and nor did she turn tri - it would be Lark you are looking at in those photos.

In case you didn't know...

Dazzle. Loves. Water.

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Time for some shakin' photos (tell me, can you take your dogs to water and NOT get some shaking photos?! I don't think so)

A cute series of Lark:


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You gotta love the Bully in the background looking at Dazzle like "dude, what the heck?"



"oh Hai!"
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This is a Dazzle pounce:

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And this is a much more graceful looking pounce by Lark:

I think Lark is just all around more graceful than Daz....actually...I am sure of it.

"Look ma look! I gots me a stick!!"

Kersploosh

A rare shot - me with the pups. This was taken before I sucked it up and brought my camera out into the water. I am very happy to annouce that the camera did indeed survive the expirience

Dazzle, the hunter. What is she hunting? I have no clue, but she looks very cool doing it.

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"We come play in big water again sometime, yes?"

Walkin' on the Sun

So, for the first time I really got to experience what if feels like to run agility on the surface of the sun.

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The Northwest USDAA Regional in Canby Oregon was H-O-T. Friday wasn't too bad, but Saturday....it was 110 degrees in the shade. Dazzle has never even been in such heat, let alone run in it.

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Except for the crazy heat, it was actually pretty fun. For the first time in nearly 6 months, I got to run. Well, as long as I did straight lines only, on level ground, not too long, and not too fast - but hey, it was still running and that's what counts! So in the video you may notice a slightly different (IOW - "way better") brace on my knee .

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Our runs were not spectacular, but there was some good pieces that I was very proud of. We did PVP on Friday with Ali Johnson and her crazy noodle dog Taiko. That was really fun, despite our...um...very sad placement. Then we ran in Starters (okay, so it's only our second USDAA trial) on Saturday and Sunday. Miss Daz got 4 Qs and didn't knock a ton of bars, which was our main goal. She also got some fancy placements with those Qs.
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Joe Camp, a photographer, took some great photos of Daz that I can't help but share:

I didn't take a ton of photos because with four rings I was busy a lot of the time. Most of these are from the Grand Prix finals. I would have taken some of the Steeple Chase finals too but the skies broke loose and, sorry, but I wasn't going to sit out in the rain and thunder and lighting taking photos. Anyway, here are some of the highlights from what I got:

It was a long drive, and some crazy weather (we actually saw what can only be described as a tornado on the drive home, I am not kidding), but totally worth it. Hopefully next year, fingers crossed Dazzle and I stay injury-free, we can actually go and be a little more competitive...