I cannot tell a lie

I am not sorry to say good bye to this year (actually started in the fall of 2008)






One CPE agility trial for ONE day and one day of a judges clinic and that was IT if memory serves me right for agility


Losses like I have never seen - human, cat, dog, rabbit - everytime I turned around someone I loved or cared about was getting slammed in some way ...




I'll do some goal setting soon - but all I can say right now is GOODBYE 2009!!

Brody ...

is aging ...

I can feel his backbone

and after having a year + off agility I worry about bringing him back - I guess all I can do is start slow conditioning and cross my fingers he's fitter and younger feeling than he's looking right now ...

I hate this part of living with, and loving, other species ....

wow - long time no see ...

My fall is always busy but this has been insane

I'm taking a course every other weekend in Kingston ..Saturdays and Sundays and while it's good it's made for a very long three months

we lost Hank, 3 cats (one 12 year old who was born here- 2 fosters - one after about a year with us the other after 2 weeks here) and 2 rabbits. They all died in a very short period of time - and while each death was awful and tragic non was preventable or predicatable.. it was a rough couple of weeks ...

I ended up with more rabbits here - just don't ask ... but I think I'd better get bunny agility going asap ...

we also have a new farm dog - Sampson. He's a young golden retriever .. and while he has some bagage he's a dear fellow and working very hard to learn basic manners ...I feel terrible that life has been so busy lately he's pretty much had to swim with the big dawgs ...
Tom is taking him to class and they are doing great - Sally and I go along for fun and the trainer hasn't figured out yet that Sally already knows everything she is teaching plus a whole lot more - too funny!
My father in law fell last week - he's still in the hospital and Tom and I live closest of all the kids so we are spending a lot of time with him .. never fun ..if it takes awhile to get another update I hope you'll understand why.

another dog who will NEVER do agility ...

This is Kismet

He isn't old but he is "special". He is blind (mostly); he spins in circles; he can't wear a leash; and he is one weird and wonderful litle dude.

He needs to find a new forever home that will love him to pieces and let his real personality shine. He is getting more confident and more affectionate day by day. Sometimes fostering is pretty darn rewarding.

Full circle?

we may have a new dog .. a golden retriever .. did I want a golden? not really but sometimes fates conspire and things just ARE ..
Sampson appears to be a just is

WE have loved sporting dogs as a family for a long time .. our first dog was an irish setter, my aunt and uncles have lived with spaniels and goldens and my first dog as an adult was a golden .. a sporting dog with a love of running and a soft malleable temperment suits us it seems .. smart but not nearly as smart as a herding dog (SALLY!) active but able to relax in the house.. keen but not desperate .. I'm hoping Sampson fits in well for many years

does a golden do agility?
don't know and don't care
Brody is coming up 9 so probably won't play too many more years but Thea at 6 and Sally at three both potentially have lots of years left to train, compete and play .. if Sampson is a good agility dog that's awesome but I'm no rush - I have lots of work left with the three that do have some training ;)

ICE your phone

I've read this many times and thought oh good idea - but today Terri at Clay Hill farm posted the following ... and I'm passing it along ...(and I finally took the time to do it too!)

I was just reminded of this by a friend, so I pulled this explanation from another website. Please ICE your phone today!

Paramedics are asking that everyone add at least one additional entry to their cell phone contacts list. Please add an ICE entry. ICE stands for In Case of Emergency. This number should dial the person in your family that can respond to medical decisions if you are injured or incapcitated.

If you are in an accident, paramedics know to check your phone for your emergency contact information. Imagine taking a look and trying to figure out who to call out of the twenty or more numbers on your phone. By adding a contact entry that's designated as an emergency contact number (ICE), you can make their job much easier and possibly save your own life.

So program an ICE entry on your cell phone today, as a matter of fact, pull it out right now as you're reading this article. If you have more than one person the paramedics can contact in case of an emergency, you can add additional ICE numbers to your list. Your primary contact should be listed under ICE, then you can add the other contacts under ICE1, ICE2, ICE3, etc.After you program ICE into your phone, have your spouse, your kids, your parents, and your friends do the same thing. If there are people in your life that you care about, they should all have ICE on their phones.

poor poor dogs

the real world hit us all this week - HARD
back to work - early in the am and meetings after work everyday too - GAH
Sally's allergies are bugging her - and I left her meds in PEC
My dear husband is on a two night business trip - Hank is SAD
There is little sun - Thea is cold
the bunnies are out of sight - Hank is bored
no walks on the beach- everybody (me too) misses them
no playing agility - Sally is sad, Brody is missing treats and Thea just wonders why


poor dogs must wonder what happened

so they sleep and sleep and sleep (and eat!)

Judges clinic number 3

8 judges - 2o some odd dogs - a hot sunny day - lots of laughs and hugs - it was good to be back amoung friends ..

Sally was SILLY - OH my SILLY - missed a dog walk contact, did beautiful teeters and tunnels I have to say - we didn't do weaves at all .. she was fun and not too sniffy mostly

Thea scared me half to death - she did a teeter fly off from the very top of the board .. as I was calling her off - she did great aframes and tunnels and the chute too - YAY

Brody was hot and walked quite lovely courses - he is too funny sometimes
he was under 12 inches at both measuring stations so I am going to have him remeasured ...

lots of fun - made me sad actually - I wish I could figure out a healthy balance of agility and life for us all

for Lucy and Walters Mom and anybody coming to Prince Edward County

I'm revealing a secret here .. a pretty well kept secret so it's a good thing this blog doesn't get a ton of visitors ;) But my dear blog buddy over @ http://muttsandaklutz.blogspot.com/ asked for more info on "my beaches"





These beaches are usually so quiet I can take wildly reactive to dogs Hank with me and let him run off leash ...there are great spots to wade and paddle, and swim and picnic and teach dogs to swim






Its the Point Petre (pronounced Peter) area of the county - right at the south western tip ...




There are paths through woods you can walk on (just listen for the odd atv) and it's just a lovely spot

you drive down 24 (Point Petre Road) past the first land we owned in the county .. and when you some to a possible left turn onto Army Reserve road you have options - you can go straight then hang a right along any of the tracks you see or you can go left then right along any of the tracks you see .. if there are people at the end of the track at the water you can park and say and walk the dogs or you can carry on to another spot

Be careful if it's really wet - you could get stuck and I can't imagine how CAA would ever find you :) Camping is illegal but you may find some folks camping (we never have and I don't recommend it) .. everybody gets along down there - at least when I've been and tries to leave the place a little cleaner than they found it ..

alternate titles for this blog...

Brody the Rockstar

because truth be told, he is

there is nothing he can't do and nothing he won't do if asked nicely -media interviews, playing a variety of dogs on tv including a female (with a PINK bow I'll have you know!) digging ina garden (with 5 minutes to teach that trick!), nursing homes, agility, playing at a farm dog you name it he does it and he does it well .. even if he is a little cranky to wake up :)


The Misadventures of Miss Sally

fitting of course because so much of my life the last three years has involved Sally and her trials and tribulations

• saving sally in the first place (hours of writing in that story)
  
• training a brainaic
  
• dogs that are smarter than they should be


• dogs that eat VERY bad things


• dogs that do very crazy things


• living with such joy in your life

My Boring Life

not boring to me but somedays it's hard to think of what to write ..especially when I've had a break from agility for far too long!

I Wish I Was Playing Agility

well that could just be the theme song for the last year :)

GOOD DAWGS

Dogs are good for lots of things: entertainment, love, companionship, an excuse to exercise - many many things. One aspect of living with dogs I don't often consider is the value of protection.
Many years ago I was dog sitting my aunt and uncle's dog Jenny and was walking her quite late at night through a local park. Now I was young and quite often out and about late at night so this was really nothing special. However, that night, Jenny who was just a sweet lovable lab type mix was very alert to the chap walking behind me in the park. She hung behind me, made hard eye contact with him a number of times and grumbled at him. He followed us for a little but then quite suddenly gave up walking on the lot path and struck out across the park on the rough grass (not a way to get to anywhere). I'm still not sure if we alarmed so much he's still lost or if he had nefarious thoughts- either way I'm grateful to Jenny for protecting me- at least in her mind.

Two nights ago I let the dogs out a little later than usual. Sally silently took off FLAT out for the chicken coop. Weird I thought in the 1 second of peace I had. Then Brody and Hank started to run for the same location except they were growling and barking. By the time we got out there all seemed calm except a pair of nail marks on the side of the coop and the latch for the door being knocked down. Scary. I'm even more sure that the dogs averted a disaster (to us and the chickens) Friday night than I am Jenny saved me.

What good dogs!

pictures

on a different computer than usual

which has very cute sleeping dog pictures on it and my favourite "portrait" picture of me at a beach I love with some of the family around me

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDVZV4dTZl5Y43mOEG2t7SCUlHiMzeql4Lq6dVDkeKXgklIbNBBBB8NVTDL7qmfskMnNGcd4dau8v9hPXNum0fH40F4sOkw-g0YdSg5GxBxw-J3HQi270oQ92XZEYUfO2vkC3EWpO1xjGc/s1600-h/P1010416.JPG">
Hank chillaxing after a hard day at the farm




Hank and Sally sharing a corner of the couch pretending they are much smaller than they are




Hank, Brody and me at Point Petre ..

this is training at it's best

out for a walk - see a ball - send Sally to a tunnel and a good ball toss for an ocd tunnel
out weeding - realize I have cookies in my pocket - work weave entries with Brody twice and carry on
collecting forage for the chickens and rabbits - work on stay and wait with everyone
washing something at garden hose- practise table with Thea

geez if we keep it up we may not completely embarrass ourselves if we ever get back out in public ;)

yah - right now - life is good

Super Sally...

yes it's true Sally can be a goof ball

barking at people standing still, leaping off a deck, climbing shelves to get chewing gum, opening fridges...just a few of her adventures that make me go ACK

Sally is a little drivey- she once had her nose rammed onto a touch plate so hard she couldn't eat her reward ... she will slam into a touch on the stairs if I look at her when she comes down.. I can send her to tunnels from 50 feet out when she's ON.. she's a lot more drivey than I'd choose if truth be told ...

but sometimes Sally is just SO MUCH fun

take today I had one jump set up and a fairly straight tunnel off to one side and away from it

like this maybe:

t
u
n
n
e
l

jump

we practised jumping the jump from all kinds of angles, then jump and tunnel (either end) then tunnel and jump ... out, over, tunnel, here,
she just NAILED every jump and every entry ... she really is a little super star ... she was freaking SAILING over the 26 inch height .. she's all of 18 inches at the shoulder ;)
the jump was a single bar she could easily have run under .. it was skinny .. she was awesome

Happy Late Father's Day

to all the fathers out there - most especially my own ;)
A special guy with a heart of gold he has tolerated, and supported, my animal habit for many many years even as he pretends he doesn't like most animals (the ones in his house have always been much loved - even he'd admit)!

Toronto City Workers are on strike - why would this matter to me you might well ask? Well it directly affects my ability to play agility as I'm spending my lunch hour today moving 31 or more animals around then supporting the foster homes they end up in. The picture is of one of my charges... a ferret with no name yet..

I hope the staff are right and they aren't picketing the animal control buildings today. I don't like crossing picket lines for a whole lot of reasons.

Brody is staying with mum. I think I may take Thea to Aunt Judy for the week too. Tom is away. It's the last week of school so it's crazy.

Ah well a lovely long summer lurks just around the corner and will happen no matter what else happens too :)

a little of this; and then a little of that

Imagine this for me if you will... I actually occasionally visit non agility blogs ... mostly introduced to me because of my other great non-people joy in life (that would be our Prince Edward County farm). Shocking I know - bit some of you might be glad as Terri over at Clay Hill Farm is having a give away of a very cool necklace (and earrings)

Right on the necklace is a great quote "No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." Aesop . Fitting for so many of my agility friends ...


On another, unrelated, note Sally jumped off our deck this week. It was about a 7 foot drop. She landed upright and kept going but I tell you my heart STOPPED. Talk about bold .. and crazy and such a Sally thing to do. Of course it was the short cut to her ball - nothing like an obsessive bc (mix in her case) to demonstrate drive! She didn't stop for a second to think about it - grabbed her ball and raced back to me - I was careful to throw it obviously down the stairs for the rest of fetch time.

brace yourself - the dandilions are scary

.
.
.
here is her drop - she didn't even touch the railing - just flung herself over it ... YIKES

back at it .. what fun!

Spent yesterday @ Absolute Agility at a CPE trial.
Really have to say I do not get why so few people attend our CPE trials
What a great venue to start a young dog, play with an old dog or just enjoy a great day with your dogs.
I like AAC games just fine (snookers and gamblers) but CPE has such variety - jackpot (the rules can change from game to game), Fullhouse, Wildcard, Colours, Snookers too - and jumpers and standard of course.
I like the variety a whole lot!

Apparently the dogs do too - Sally earned 2 Qs ... one jackpot and one wildcard - GO SALLY GO - jackpot was truly a lovely run - listening, working hard and so much fun ... it's amazing to run a dog you can send from half a ring away to an obstacle!
She did a brave teeter in another class... happy, confident and nice to see.
She did get a little sniffy and loopy in the middle of the day but all in I coudn't have been much more pleased with her than I am.
My only goal with Thea was to have fun - we did have fun and we blasted through many courses too - she worried a little about jackpot and snookers but SMOKED the jumpers run and earned a nice tidy Q in wildcard too!
Brody was amazing - he earned 4/5 Qs only missing the last one because I didn't want to demotivate him with a hard call off once the whistle went for the last jackpot ... we just enjoyed the course ending on our own terms. He earned 27 points in Fullhouse (the only one of my dogs to do that game). We've only done Fullhouse twice before - once with 27 points and once with 21. Fullhouse is weird - you have to do three singles (jumps), 2 three point obstacles (6 weaves, the double, the spread and tunnels) and 1 5 point obstacle (aframe, dogwalk, teeter) not all obstacles are out on the course and you have to do more than that to get to your point total generally.
Wildcard is a cool game where at three places on the course you have to pick what obstacle you want to do (like maybe a tunnel or an aframe; or weaves or 2 jumps). Thea ran the course in 27 seconds with 47 allowed for her height and Sally ran in 45 with 43 allowed for her height. It was a good warm up for both of them.
Then we had jumpers - it was a lovely figure 8 course - fast and long ...
Thea ran in 35 seconds (with 61 allowed); Sally in 50 seconds with 56 allowed; Brody took 30 seconds with 56 seconds allowed.
The two jackpot rounds were fun - they give you time in the opening (40 seconds) to rack up as many points as you can then some weird thing to do in the closing (though sometimes you can do the "gamble" part at any time apparently - I've never seen it). Yesterday for one class you had to do a 1,3, and 5 point obstacle after the whistle and boot it for the table; in the other class you had to get through 3 of 4 tunnels. You only have 17 seconds from the time the whistle blows til you have to hit the table and stop the clock. It's a bit tricky to figure out. The tunnel jackpot was the last course - and all my guys had fun on it. Sally was amazing scoring 42 points in 55 seconds to Brody's 28 in 51 seconds and Thea's 45 in 72 seconds (I'm not sure how she got so many points and was so overtime - but we had fun!)
The snookers course was BRUTAL ... the reds were in tough spots and there weren't a lot of ways to get big points though Brody got 34 points somehow (I'd be hard pressed to explain how). Thea got 19 points - not quite enough for a q though she was very brave. Sally got me membership in a very exclusive club - the zero point club as it's known. She blasted past the red jump she was set up to take and hit a tunnel at a hundred miles an hour. I was glad snookers was in the middle of the day. It would have been a sad note to end on :)

finally ...

a trial in our future!
Taking Sally, Thea and Brody to a cpe trial on Sunday

oh my!

entered everything for everybody so we should all be exhausted :)

pompeii is back :(

This little wee dog who should have had a few years of happy being spoiled came back into our lives. His forever mom was evicted and returned him. Words can't express how saddened I am. He stunk of urine, was matted, has a bacterial skin infection, is blind, deaf and has lost almost a kilo (a LOT to lose when you only weighed 3 kilos to start with).

He is now clean and matt free but he spends his waking time slowly spinning circles. Doggy dementia is not kind.

Hank was THRILLED to see him. Knew who it was instantly and has been gentle and respectful all along. Sally is curious but alarmed by the spinning I think so has given Pom lots of space.

His orginal name was Matty as he was such a mess the first time he came into my life, we renamed him Pompeii as he had an explosive bark and lots of Pomerian character ..he has lots of character and is very dear ...

gearing up to work

Building a shed today and grabbing moments in time to run weaves with Brody and Sally.
The floor for the shed was a ladder of sorts so all the dogs did some footwork.
Miss Sally worked on wait and GO. She also decided the shed side up against the woodpile made a good stand in for the aframe and went up and over the wood pile. Crazy girl!
Everybody had fun leaping on and downing on the table. I lef tit very wobbly on purpose and it didn't phase anybody for one second.

It was nice to be fooling around with equipment a little. Brody LOVED it. 6 weaves as if he'd been working them all winter. Amazing really.

What do you value?

Food above everything? Being warm and cosy?

perhaps a sheepy tug toy on a bungee cord?

if so you'd relate well to either Sally, Thea or Brody. They are so different to each other it's astounding! (In case you are new to this blog - Sally is the toy worshipper, Brody thinks anything is worth doing if you get paid in food, and Thea is all about creature comforts!)

I was working Sally a little today with the fleecy and wow - talk about a motivator .. I had to actually alternate with kibble as she was TOO ON.. especially with the little bit of table work we did. Ran the 2x2 a couple of times - BAM WHAM flying through them - tomorrow I'll have to get 6 poles up for both Brody and Sally if the weather holds ... Sally's enthusiasm motivates me!

We worked wait - she wants the fleecy so badly she'll even let me tug with Hank with it and hold her stay ... AMAZING.. or maybe she's finally growing up?

It was fun to work a little .. actually great!

Looking forward

missed trials this weekend - just couldn't organized for overnight trips in time - sad but as the weather was DISGUSTING I suspect the dogs were just as happy ;)

May 16 and 17th there is a CPE trial in Harrowsmith which I AM GOING TO - there I wrote it down so I'll have to do it :)
Sally can do 2 fullhouse rounds on Saturday and 2 jackpot rounds on Sunday
Thea can do anything either day - maybe colours Saturday :)
If I can get a practise somewhere with her I can do standard too maybe
Brody can do whatever ... I'd like to finish his level 2 titles -I think thats a jackpot class and a fullhouse and maybe a jumpers or something like that (must look it up.. must look it up)

June 13 and 14 Acton has their cpe trial too - I should go to that one as well ... July 4 and 5 too but tough weekend for me to leave family as it's a traditional holiday

AAC wise I'd like to get to Kingston for the May Morningstar trial - it would be my anniversary of sorts - knowing me I've already missed the date though ... should look it up ...yup entries closed march 4th - DOH

weaving mania

set up one pair of 2x2 s to see what Sally thought of them - she saw them and RAN a straight line right past them - looked at me and I must admit I LAUGHED at her. She thought for a second then flung herself through the poles properly and barked at me.
She did it again without the bark and I rewarded her fast.. then she did it again and again. I had to take the poles down to stop her. Her obsessions fascinate me.

another break ends

and it was a good holiday - restorative, balancing and much needed

We haven't solved the problem of Hank - I know what my solution would be but am not willing toimpose it on my husband. We have had a wonderful week; working outside, walking, visiting, eating well, sleeping, reading ~ it's sad it's coming to an end.

Sally is looking good - time off agility has put some weight on her or maybe she's just maturing - hard to believe she was at death's door two years ago.

Brody is feeling great - though he overdid it yesterday and was lame when he got up from his nap. He walked it off quickly though so fingers crossed it was a one off thing.

Toting stuff?

I know when I play agility I always seem to have more stuff than hands - trips back and forth back and forth - car set up spot and back again ...

Terri over at Clay Hill is giving away a HAND MADE tote - how cool is that?

I think a LOT of agility people could use a hand made tote ..



http://clayhillfarm.blogspot.com/2009/03/farmers-market-tote-giveaway.html

agile dogs and lazy days ...

Nice to be on holidays - been a long time since I've just been able to chillax (as my students say).

Sally is a MONSTER - her ability to be agile must never be questioned - today she was standing on top of a mounting block like a circus elephant - all four feet on it spinning slowly around to see everything she wanted to watch. Yesterday she crashed through and over the brush, rocks and ice dams down at Point Petre. Her life is agility no matter if there are official obstacles in front of her or not!

Brody is feeling much better and tearing around even with his cone on. He ABSOLUTELY will not leave his drain hole alone so must coned pretty much 24/7. He is a hardy boy though (despite being a drama queen) so as long as he's with us he's pretty cool with it all.

Thea is staying with her aunt Judy until we sort out the Hank piece of life. I miss her.

I am amazed at how dry things are already - we were up checking out the site

of the of the new agility yard yesterday. I can't decide how big a training ring should be. 50 X 50 feet? 100 x 50? I really don't know. Input more than welcomed actually as I get ready to mark and mow the area.

awesome idea

a box of awesome as a give away - how cool eh?



check it out http://decourseyproject.blogspot.com/2009/03/first-giveaway-come-on-who-doesnt-like.html



also neat to see the posts (90 now- yikes) from what people would think is awesome



cannot WAIT for March Break next week ... cannot WAIT

the hardest thing in the world

about loving someone or something is losing them ...

it hasn't happened yet but it looks like we are losing Hank ....

he has slowly been getting more and more erratic with the other dogs and he nailed Brody last night - badly enough that Brody probably won't be doing agility for three plus months but hopefully he'll be back to normal soon

so so hard to know what is the best thing to do but we owe it to Hank to do what is right by him ...

he is a GOOD dog in so many ways ...

Farm Style by Clare: Love and Gratitude

Farm Style by Clare: Love and Gratitude

I was reading this post and thinking there is a core of truth in the idea - a gratitude list may help put some of the sadness and grief and anger that is a little overwhelming at times into perspective.

I am grateful for my crazy dogs including wild Brody who is dancing and yipping up a storm lately - he drags me out of any pity party I might want to indulge in
(all of the animals in my life are blessings- they all remind me to get up in the morning and care for and love something beyond myself)

I am so thankful for my family - it is tiny but it is mighty .. sometimes a mighty pain - but I love em anyhow

I cannot imagine life without Tom and Mum - they are the bedrock upon which I rely and depend

Thanks must be offered for all that I have had and lost , loved and lost ..without having "had" I wouldn't know how very grateful to be

My health and wealth are terrific assets I don't count nearly often enough ..

spring is in the air

and I'm still not finding time for agility

latest crisis has my step-dad in hospital - and me there nearly daily
crisis @ work too (stupid people crisis - just annoying and a making too much work for me)

between the two and the no time between crisises to get a plan for agility in place and I haven't even brought the 2 x2 s in from the truck yet ...

oh well - I'm eagerly looking forward to the new normal ...whenever that can get started...

Aldwin has a home

cross your fingers and your toes but little darling, dear, sweet, easy to live with Aldwin is in a home



he has a stay at home mom and other dogs to love so hopefully all (and Oll) will be well!



been a little crazy around here - a decided lack of sleep and not as much as I want is unpacked but sometimes them is the breaks ...



Thea came home today (her first day in her new home!) and she's soundly sleeping ...nice to have nearly all the family back together...

well we are moved

..life isn't nearly back to normal but the end might be in sight

we have a double garage so once our dear friend and contractor has finished installing some doors to separate the living room and dining room from the main living space I'm hoping I can, at the LEAST, get my 2 x 2 weave poles set up in the garage

Getting my teeter set up would be awesome too or the next time Brody sees either of those things may be at regionals the way this year is going

I like quotations

and some of them resonate strongly with me

I was hunting for quotes for a slide show I had to organize for work and tripped across some I thought fit agility well. So without further ado - for your reading pleasure:

(in some places you can exchange the word men, people etc with dog...you'll see where I think)

"Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly, and they will show themselves great." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." Henry Ford

"The nice thing about teamwork is you always have others by your side" M. Carty

"It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts." Robert H. Schuller

"Never give up, never give in, and when the upper hand is ours, may we have the ability to handle the win with the dignity that we absorbed the loss." Doug Williams

actually did a little work with Sally

yesterday - worked on right and left (for the first time probably in 6 months) she NAILED each and every one as I rotated around her - which meant we were actually working on stay (wait) too- something she struggles with ..
She is looking good - not too too skinny, not too too raw and pink
She gets cold and shivers easily
Her gums are red - so Tom has offered to start brushing her teeth when they snuggle and watch tv - that would be great!

Our cancer kitty died Friday - she fought death valiantly and for a long time - I hope she's having fun tearing up the Rainbow Bridge now. Longer post over at the cat blog.

looking to 2009

with some eagerness for agility and life..
but it will be a sad year as my aunt Ash died on Christmas Day and to be quite honest my world will never be the same. She was an aunt, a big sister and a dear friend - just 12 years older than me I always knew she'd have my back. She was my advocate and my defender. She encouraged me to do things that I might think crazy without her support.

I can start planning agility a little again though - after a long break of not being able to truly be certain I could be anywhere at any time to be able to plan will be great.
Sally is maturing into a wonderful dog. Maybe she'll more than 1 Q in 2009.
Thea needs some work on chutes and teeters - if I cna get that done I'd love to take her to regionals.
Looking forward to hopefully having Brody at regionals too, and maybe nationals as well if all goes well.
Sad not to be doing CPE this year but I'm going to finish the qualifications for the nationals then move him down a height level anyhow - hopefully he can qualify for 2010. I really enjoy CPE.
Fitz's new hme seems to be sticking so those are all the agility dogs I have to worry about for now! Plenty of work in each of them actually.