Vizsla Shock

Why the face, 7?

Oh, that's why.

The bitchier Abby is with him, the more enamored 7 gets.

The more enamored 7 gets, the more Abby likes to bite his face.
Abby likes the boys that don't give her the time of day. It's all about the thrill of the chase, right?

"I WUV the thwill of the chase!!"
Different kind of chase, Ryan, you wouldn't understand.
Ryan doesn't even understand how to pant while keeping his eyes open.

Maybe it's because Abby broke him. 7 is lucky he doesn't have a sister. He won't get used as a tug toy.

Can you find Ryan's nose in this picture?

These pictures were actually taken on Ryan's birthday.

Abby's telling 7 he'd better not even think about touching the cake.
Ryan watched the cake cutting very carefully.
Dogs' 'leave it' faces are funny.

Happy birthday to yoooooouuuuuu!

Tug Practice

for the upcoming flyball tournament

A Very Happy Birthday

to the World's Happiest Dog

3 years old...but still a puppy at heart (and head)

Stinky Mutt...

...still stinks! The skunk smell is still in full force whenever Abby gets wet. It won't go away. I have washed her more times than I can count now. I tried a new skunk-off solution today along with some of my shampoo afterwards. The result? Still stinky. I am so glad it's only Abby though and not Ryan too.
We went to a trial yesterday. Ryan Q'd in his standard run (moving him up to advanced) and in advanced gamblers. He was great - stuck all his contacts again and had perfect weaves. Abby got a jumpers Q ..but none in standard. I have to stop thinking about those 2 elusive Qs that we need for her AtCh or we will never get them. The jumpers run was beautiful - I should just concentrate on that! Leaping off the contacts in standard is not quite as beautiful but do I sacrifice the run every time to make her stick her contact? I don't know what to do. Her contacts are great in class since they are reinforced so often, but she knows that I let them slide in the ring. I did go back and fix her sit at the start line every time and that was much better this trial.

I just moved into an apartment for the first time - no yard for the dogs and it's taking some getting used to. We're on the ground floor at least and Abby and Ryan are doing very well with the move. The only issue is that Ryan recognizes the sound of my car pulling in and lets out some "woo woo wooooowoooooo!"s when I get home. I don't think there is much I can do about it...by the time I'm at the door he is quiet and I'm fairly sure they don't bark when I'm not home. He also barks sometimes at noises outside but I've been throwing him a cookie whenever there is a sound and that's working well...same deal when the front door phone buzzer goes. Abby is so quiet inside - she never barks, even when people come in the door. They were both good for the cable guy this morning. I made them stay in my room but with the door open when he came in and fiddled with the tv for 20 minutes. They stayed in the doorway quietly the whole time. Good dogs!

Wordless Wednesday: Ball is my Business

(not quite wordless: look at how long her stride is - no wonder it always looks like she's on a mission)

Weave what?

Note to self: Need to take a step back and work on Ryan's weaves again. Last night in class he lost his mind somewhere around an offside weave and could not figure them out again. He was popping out at the 2nd to last pole, then missing the entry, then skipping ever other pole, then running alongside them brushing the poles with his cheek. I would try and settle him down for a second before sending him in but I could tell he wasn't thinking *at all*. He's not much of a thinker when excited, that Ryan dog. So my plan is to go back to 6 poles for a bit and work "around the clock" again with a jump. His weaves are better when he's going independently than when I'm running with him (especially on the off side) so I will have to work on that.

The good part is that although I was joking about wanting to strangle him, I actually felt very little frustration at his sudden lack of weaves. That surprised me - I expected to feel frustrated! Maybe it was because he kept trying and trying and I know that it had nothing to do with him not listening; he genuinely didn't know what was expected of him and that is all lack of training on my part.

Another new development last night was Ryan starting to anticipate the release from his 2o2o. He left the teeter twice before I released him so I worked on running past, going back and rewarding and then releasing him while in motion.

Flashbacks

Oh baby Ryan, where did you go?? I can't believe he was really this tiny.Matching grins. Getting Ryan was the best thing I could ever do for Abby.

Such a little fluff ball! With that tiny tail. He's pretty much had the same personality and mannerisms from day 1.

Seven pounds of pure evil :)

While looking at old pictures of Ryan I noticed just how much Abby has changed. She was 9 months old when I got her and since she was pretty much the same size as she is now, I forgot how different she looked!

Scrawny teenager body.

Such a dark mask! Now she's so gray (the graying started really early)

She also had more black guard hairs when I first got her.

I don't think she knew what hit her...from a crowded shelter in LA to hiking in BC?