Loving the Pool

This was a pretty typical afternoon....Xylo climbing into the pool over and over from the step, Ryan waiting to jump into the pool from the side and Abby screaming at both of them at the top of her lungs.

I didn't think any of the dogs would go in the pool without a lot of coaxing.

I was wrong.

Ryan jumped in from the side after a ball on the first day. Xylo climbed in minutes later and it was close to impossible to keep him out after that. Abby, who has been nervous of the pool edge since her first day home from the shelter (4 years ago!!) saw the boys swimming and started coming in to retrieve rings.

After grabbing a ring she would run to certain spots in the yard to put it down, pick it up, run back, put it down, pick it up, etc.

Dog Torture then Dog Paradise

On our drive down we killed some time at a Petco while I got new tires put on my car. The best section for doggy torture was definitely the clothing aisle.

Xylo gets the tough black hat. Xylo has Addison's disease - that is why he looks so stiff and boney. He is 8 but he is stiff and arthritic like a much older dog. He still acts his age in every other way though, including having tons of fun running around with Abby and Ryan.

"Real men wear pink"
...suuuuure Ryan.

All three modeling. People must be used to seeing very badly behaved dogs - we got quite a few comments about how good our dogs were just by having them sit still for pictures in their shirts.And then, on to doggy paradise! This is a big dog park in San Francisco called Chrissy Fields. When we arrive the Golden Gate Bridge was invisible due to the fog. Eventually it started to clear but never lifted completely. What an amazing dog beach! Later in the trip we found a baby Great White shark washed up dead on the beach in Oregon. Abby better never swim out deep enough to be shark bait - she thrashes so much while swimming that she'd attract shark attention for sure! ;)
Three happy tired dogs at the end of a good run.

Abby says...

HI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wanna see some pictures of my trip to LA?

First....here is Ryan learning to weave with the 2x2 method. He almost has it! This is the beginning with 2 'gates' - the 2nd step or so. We are now on one of the last steps. Just have to add another 'gate' to make 6 poles and turn the first 'gate' slightly more to make a line of poles. I love this method of teaching weaves!

And now, onto the trip pictures.

Oh Abby, you look *beautiful*!

More pictures to follow...the internet has decided to be way too slow to upload pictures!

Vacation time!

We are leaving today on a road trip to LA for 2 weeks! I am so excited. This will be Ryan's first trip to LA. We're going to drive through Portland and stop at the Oregon Zoo, then on to San Francisco and finally LA. We did a trip along the Oregon coast back in March and the dogs had a great time on the beaches. They are the nicest beaches imaginable - sandy and wide open as far as you can see.

I never wrote that Ryan had his first agility trial! He's been in class for about 6 months now and he is doing very well. He nails his contacts every time and doesn't break until he's released. I have him jumping 26" for now but I will probably drop him to 22" regulars for his next trial. In his first trial he did Jumpers and Gamblers and Q'd in Gamblers with a beautiful opening (both minis twice) and a perfect gamble. I will have to put the video up soon. His jumpers run was very nice, no knocked bars, but I pulled him off a tunnel entrance too soon. It's hard to remember that he is a baby still in agility and doesn't read me like Abby yet!

In some ways he is easier to run than Abby. He barks less, for one thing - he only barks at the beginning of class when he is excited to be out and running. I did much more foundation work with him so it's nice to be able to trust that he will stop on his contacts. He also runs at a more manageable speed than Abby, even though I think he actually is faster. I don't know how that works. Maybe he commits to obstacles earlier so he is more predictable and feels more manageable? Abby can go over a jump with a bounce, sideways, while turning in midair, from a standstill. That is both a good thing (if I screw up handling) and a bad thing (if I think she is committed to a jump and I turn, and suddenly she pulls off the jump).

I really need to upload some recent videos of Abby too - I have become a much better handler and she has really improved recently!

I love my dogs. Ryan is the cuddliest, sweetest guy. He is always happy and he is so good in every situation. He recently met a sea lion at work at after 2 barks he was fine and was just interested in the herring that Hazy (the sea lion) was getting. Abby is so much better than she used to be that sometimes it's hard to remember just how 'bad' she once was. I don't feel like I'm restricted in what I can do with her anymore - maybe I've just realized that not every dog is right for every situation. I won't, for example, take her to a crowded beach full of screaming children and crazy dogs in the middle of a weekend. She is a very special dog - definitely my heart dog.

Just a few pictures