Giardia :-(

Well, after many truly unspeakable acts on the part of the vet, we have determined that I have giardia. What is giardia, you ask. It is some kind of nasty one-celled parasite that attaches itself to my intestines and basically steals my food while also making me feel yucky and have diarrhea. A nice beagle lady wrote a whole long explanation about it. Because of the giardia, all five of us pups are now taking Flagyl--but we know it as a peanut butter niblet.

Speaking of peanut butter, my person gave Rafe-oaf puppy a stuffed Busy Buddy to keep him busy. Of course, as soon as I could I took it away from him. Then, if you can imagine it, my person got up and took it away from ME and gave it back to HIM.

Here he is just chewing away on it. He is not nearly as skilled as I am at deconstructing the busy buddy. I used to get one every morning so that my people could eat their breakfast in peace, so I got very good at cleaning it out.

I'm pretty sure that he'll leave some of the choicest morsels--the kernals of dog kibble that have been thoroughly saturated with peanut butter--aided of course through targeted salivia delivery, which serves to bind the peanut butter more completely to the kibble.


When he gives up, I'll be waiting. In the meantime, my people lamely tried to appease me with a Kong--also stuffed, but not nearly as much challenge and really not more than a blatant bribe against my being mad at them for taking away my rightful acquistion.

Here I am in the last stages of cleaning out the Kong. I took it to the people's bed so that I could leave a nice peanut butter smear on their freshly laundered comforter. You can compare my skill to Rafe's--note in particular the differences in our grips--the wrist bend makes a lot of difference. Plus, you'll notice that my tongue is completely inside the Kong whereas Rafe is putting his in and out--a completely unnecessary use of energy that obviates the benefit of the additional calories gained from the peanut butter encrusted kibble in the first place.

Believe me, I have tried to explain this to Rafe, but he simply doesn't listen. Indeed, he listens to very little I have to say.

In this picture, I am doing my best to explain that there are serious consequences for staring at other dogs, in particular, for staring at me. You'll notice that he is averting his glance, finally--but this was after several tense moments of showing all of my teeth to him. I really am not sure he will ever be ready to enter the world of refined gentle pupdom, but I will perservere and accept that my lot in life is to try and teach this young rapscallion some respectable manners.
I may at some point need to enlist the services of the great Mugsy, who recently rid a Chihuahua of demons or perhaps William John Gavin can talk some sense into Rafe. I'm just glad that my goofy little brother Hamish is not quite such a project or I don't know when I'd ever get my grooming and napping done.

Today's picture from the puppy archive
Me at 10 weeks with my first ball (it even had a "tail")

Faith restored

My trust in my human companions has been restored (perhaps only briefly, but still baby steps are important steps). True to rumor, we DID go to a Border Collie Picnic on Saturday and we DID go to flyball practice today (and herding last Thursday WAS canceled). AND, best of all, the people DID enroll me in an advanced agility class and it starts tomorrow--wheeeeee.


The picnic was the annual Great Lakes BC Rescue picnic. We love GLBCR because that's how we got Tansy in Feb. 2005. And since Tansy came to our house, my people have also worked pretty hard to help other Border Collies who need new families.

Me and my gang let 11 other pups hang out at our house (not all at once--one at a time thank goodness) while my people looked for new homes for them. That's what people call "fostering". My friends at Dogs with Blogs, the ones who convinced me to keep on blogging, also help pupsters in need by giving all the "dogs with blogs" proceeds to a rescue organization in Australia. There's so many people who don't treat their dogs in ways befitting a dog that it's so nice for all of us to know that there are also lots of people who work really hard to help.

Anyway, the picnic was fun--50+ Border Collies and Border Collies mixes (and a few others who get to be honorary BCs on the day of the picnic--like Billy's awesome Rottie sister, Grace Anne) all running around off leash, doing border collie kinds of things at the Bluhm County dog park in LaPorte, IN.

Flyball was pretty fun too and I got lots of compliments on how I run like the wind. Hamish did pretty well, but he still needs to get a better sense of where his back legs are. He's been complaining that he doesn't have a blog of his own. Right now, he's laying on his back, wiggling around, "talking" and kicking his back legs like a human infant--he is such a goof. I had to take the computer back to my crate just to get away from the embarrassment of it all. I don't think he's quite ready for the big-time world of blogging.

In any case, it was a pretty good week-end and I'm happy that what my people said was going to happen did.

Today's vision from the Pippin puppy archive
Little me in the snow

On being a girl

It's come to my attention that some of my friends and admirers think that I am a boy. I have nothing against boys--I live with three of them (this is not my choice exactly, but the people haven't ever asked me before hauling another one of those scamps into my life)--but I am, decidedly, not one. (I mean really, do you see any evidence of testosterone in that picture of me up there?).

Not only am I not a boy, I am very much a girl--one might even call me a girly girl. A diva. A lady. I give very delicate kisses (unlike my goofy brother Hamish whose kisses can leave bruises on unsuspecting human skin); I watch my manners carefully around people and other dogs (unlike the oaf puppy Rafe who barrels through life as if the world is his oyster); I do not abide any humping and certainly would never dream of such myself (unlike my buddy Renzo who can be most embarrassing in his zeal). Even my gal pal Tansy is a little rough around the edges and barks much more and much more loudly than the mores of refined gentlepupdom really allow.

I think some of the confusion about my gender comes from my name. Thanks to the Broadway muscial and the character from Lord of the Rings, Pippin has been claimed mostly for boys. I myself was named for an apple, however (like my friend Pippin in N.Y., who left me a comment but has no blog for me to reciprocate on and also left no e-mail address). The person who "bred" me has an apple last name (McIntosh). My people had some different names picked out for me: Scout and Spy were at the top of the list, but didn't really fit once they met me. My goofy brother Hamish, who came from the same apple person, also has an apple in his name--Hamish Braeburn.

My people call me all kinds of other things, too. Here are a few of them: Pippy, Pip, Pipkin, Pippy-dip, Pippy-dippy-do, Pip-dip, Dipples, Dippykins, Pip-slip, Pippikins, Pippineaster, Pippin Noodle, Noodlehead, Dippiy-do and so forth (I agree, they do seem somewhat limited in their imagination....)

So, I just wanted to set the record straight about my girlishness since I know it can be embarrassing for anydog to suddenly discover that the pup you thought of as a possible beer-drinking, slap-on-the-butt kind of buddy turns out to be a delicate flower who would never dream of doing anything more than politely lick the top of the beer bottle before retiring to her bed. And definitely no derriere slapping.

Picture of the day from the Pippin Puppy Archive
My first puppy bone

Desperate times call for desperate measures

I can't believe it's been almost a week since I last posted--I kept telling my person, but did she listen? No, of course not. New classes have started at the training kennel where my people take us and, would you believe it, of the five dogs in my house, I am the ONLY one the people didn't enroll in a class.

"We're taking you to another training place for agility since you're a little more advanced," they said. "You've had the most classes of any of the dogs," they said. "Your goofy little brother Hamish looks like a dunce since we haven't taught him much," they said. "Rafe needs some basic obedience," they said. "You still have herding on Thursdays and flyball on Sundays," they said.

Do you think I believe any of it? I *love* training classes and I *love* the training kennel. I'm sure this means my people don't *love* me. Plus, Rafe keeps looking at me and goofy Hamish keeps barking loudly which prompts the people to say "Quiet, Quiet" (I don't know why they think that command means anything to any of us).

So, today, I'm once again distressed and distraught at the people. Last night, just to show my feelings, I rooted around in one of their studies and came up with a paltry Priority Mail box to chew. It's like something Hamish would think of and really pretty far below my normal fare--hardly even worth the bother. (Dear Maximillian the Valiant, my people have been thwarting my every attempt at delectables from the counters. I almost had a muffin this morning, but alas, I was caught before I could make off with it).

Although not my usual challenge, I had resigned myself to the priority mail box when suddenly Rafe appeared from around the corner. In my utter distraction, I lost hold of the box and away it tumbled.















My people didn't even try to make amends by taking down that embarrassing baby gate and getting it back for me.

Honestly, friends, I don't know where this is all leading. I heard a rumor last night that our herding lessons have been canceled this week because the instructor is "breeding" one of her dogs and has to go somewhere to meet the boy dog. They didn't take us to flyball practice on Sunday either--something about needing to clean the house.

On a positive note, I also heard my people talking about a "Border Collie picnic" this coming Saturday, so I'm hoping that will turn out to be something good. They also agreed with each other that if we missed flyball last Sunday, we'd go this coming Sunday.

On flyball, I'm still just working on improving my turn on the right. It's coming along and I have to admit, I have fun doing it. Plus, who can knock the treats and the one-on-one attention?

Today's picture from the Pippin Puppy Archive
The first picture of my ear standing up.

From the Pippin puppy archives

Since I couldn't post pictures yesterday, I thought I'd post some of my favorites from my puppy days.






This first one is from my very first day with my people on Jan. 1, 2004. I was exactly 7 weeks old. I was born in Canada and I howled like a seagull the whole way from Canada to Michigan (about 6 hours).







This one was when I was about 14 weeks old. My ear stood up about 2 weeks before this and it never went back down (and the other one never stood up). Yes, I was truly this adorable.








This is me with my good buddy Fritz the cat. When he first came to live with my people, he was really afraid of dogs, but now he loves us and even calls us to come play with him.







And this is me playing with a squash. I have always been very resourceful at getting my needs met.

Flyball Sunday

Hi friends,

Before I had to run off to play tag, I was intending to tell you about flyball (my person tried to do it on Sunday, but the computer ate my post before it got loaded--or so she says). Flyball in the fall goes right along with football (American football that is) and since both fall and football are nearly upon us, it's time to talk about flyball as football.

We are in the "two a day" practice stage on the flyball front, and working hard on the fundamentals. Since my position shift from left side to right side (on the turn that is), I'm having to really work hard to master the swimmer's turn on the right. I did pretty great at practice, as I have for the last two times. Yay me. My goofy brother Hamish also made some important strides and my buddy Renzo continues to refine his box and run-back. Rafe also joined us (and only looked at me once!) but he was just doing something called "socialization". My people said he did pretty good. We are feeling good for our up-coming match mid-September. Renzo will be a starter, but Hamish and I are still working the bench for now. Tansy and Rafe remain spectators to this great sport.

Rather than posting lessons, I thought I'd post a few pictures from the puppy archives (since I was my people's first puppy, you can imagine the breadth and depth of those archives, too); however, blogger is not cooperating at the moment and my person can't find my flickr information, so I'll post from the puppy archives next time

Tag!!! You're it

I got tagged by Hershey, Charlie Kelley-Church, Boomer and the beagles at Beagledom. I've been dancing back and forth to get my person to finally respond. I never knew there was tag!!

Here's the game:

The player of this game starts with "5 weird things/habits about yourself." Then the player tags 5 friends and list their names. The furries who get tagged need to write on their blogs about their 5 weird things/habits, as well as state this rule clearly, then tag 5 more victims. Don't forget to leave your victim a comment that says "you're tagged!" in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

5 weird things about me...

1. I sometimes don't like to come in the back door

2. I wipe my face after my meals on either the couch or my people's bed

3. I sometimes don't want to go in the car and hide in my crate so they people have to come find me. It's not that I don't like the car--I'm just a homebody.

4. I don't like to eat the "meaty" heartworm pills like all the other dogs and have to have mine coated with peanut butter.

5. I like to herd ants and other small bugs when I can find them.

I tagged Billy, Ayatollah Mugsy, Minou, Sunshade and Moonshadow

Lazy summer day

Well, not much to report from Michigan today. My person has been working on my box training this week, so that's pretty much what I've been doing. Get the ball from the box over and over and over. Cool thing is, I'm actually getting better. My person has gone off to pick blueberries, so I had to hurry and get on the computer so I could write this up. She'll be back soon, so I have to run back to look like I'm napping--then she'll feel bad and do something with me.

Lesson for today
Some days there just aren't many lessons

Woolies

My people surprised me yesterday by loading all the border collies up in the van and driving us to our herding instructor's house. Normally, we go herding on Thursdays, but last Thursday it was storming, so we couldn't go.

When we got there, I got to do an obstacle course. The first picture is me moving the sheep around the "handler's pole". In real herding trials, the dog has to bring the flock to the handler and then take the sheep around the pole. I'm doing a pretty good job of staying back off the sheep so they don't run the instructor over--she doesn't like that very much and often yells "time!!" if the sheep are coming in. The people don't like it if the sheep step on them.

Sheep herding takes quite a bit of concentration--it's not for every dog, that's for sure. The commands involved are "Come bye" (move the sheep clockwise); "away to me" (move the sheep counter clock-wise); "lie down" (stop and if you can remember, lie down); "walk up" (walk toward the sheep); "time" (sometimes also "easy", means slow down); "get out" (don't cut in on the sheep) and, of course, "that'll do" (work's done). If you've seen the movie "Babe", you've seen all these commands in action but with a pig of course. Lots of border collie web sites and paraphenalia also makes goofy use of some of the commands (like "Thanks for coming bye"). I don't really approve of that. This is serious work after all.

In this second picture, I've put the sheep in the pen and am lying down awaiting the next command (which it turns out is "that'll do").

Just like in flyball, there's lots to learn with sheep herding. One thing I have to learn (just like I did in flyball) is to have more confidence. I get a little nervous if the instructor asks me to run too far away to get the sheep and I often just come running back. I think once my person is out there with me, I might feel a little better. When I'm feeling especially worried, I start nosing around for some sheep poop. That usually makes me feel better.

Anyway, back on the homefront, my work with Rafe-oaf continues. I don't know what it's going to take to teach him to stop staring at me. The newest indignity that has befallen me because of him is that he actually thinks he can pounce at me to make me give up a bone I'm chewing. If I'm chewing it, of course, that means it's MINE. I made him crouch on the ground and say uncle twice, but he still thought he could take it away. Then, to test him, I left it on the floor in front of me, but I kept my eyes on it. He came over, but I didn't budge and I showed him all of my teeth. Luckily, he left. Tansy cheered loudly.

Lesson for today
You never know when you might get to see the woolies

Wow--9 comments

I got NINE comments on my blog yesterday--that's more than in the whole previous two years combined. Being a dog and all, what that says to me is that I should quit every day (e.g. some behavior got a particular desired response). My person said I couldn't, though. Human rules really are far too illogical, but since I don't have the opposable thumbs, I'm somewhat at their mercy for some of my creative endeavors (others I am quite good at all by myself, like skillfully removing cat food from the kitchen counter. My people don't appreciate my creative talents nearly enough, however.)

Here's a picture of me with my gal pal, Tansy, just for those of you who love speckle faces (I'm in back)


Anyway, I realize I've gotten a little far from my original flyball focus, so I wanted to explain my training exercise from yesterday. Like I posted previously, since I let the people know that I like to turn right, not left, I have to re-learn my turn. So, my person had me catching the ball off the wall. That means she threw it so it bounced once on the floor, hit the wall and the bounced off and I was supposed to catch it off the wall. That simulates it coming out of the box. She was laughing and having fun, so I did too. My catch off the real box improved some, so that was good.

My other activities yesterday included continuing work on Rafe's education about doggy manners. That boy has one thick skull. Here's a picture of him. My people really like him because he looks so a-typical.

Even the people in the Border Collie rescue group where Tansy came from weren't sure he was a border collie. My people have some papers, though, with a lot of funny names like "Snip" and "Wisp", places like "Isle of Man" and "Ireland", and some marks that mean "International Champion" on them and they say that means he is BC through and through. They have papers like that for all four of us BCs in the family. Like I said, humans are kind of hard to figure sometimes. Does it really matter that much?

BC or not, he is one rude youngster. Just this morning, he laid down right in front of me and just stared. Then, when I showed him my ferocious teeth, he laid over on his side, still staring and actually touched my paw with his nose. Well, you can understand how appalled I was, I'm sure. Tansy was saying "move away, move away, move away" as only she can, but it took a low growl from me to finally get the big oaf to move back to his side of the room. Trying, trying times at my house. Thank goodness for flyball and sheep.

Today's lesson?
Don't try to understand people rules unless they affect you directly. They affect you if the human is holding a toy or food or making a clicky sound or calling your name or giving another dog attention

Big woofs to my new friends

Since I posted in despair about not having anyone to read my blog, I've gotten e-mails from some new friends.

First I heard from Ninja, a very handsome German Shepherd. You can read about him at German Shepherds and Bunnies.

Then, I heard from a very cute dachshund, Copper. He writes about his thoughts on things at JustMeCopper.

Then, just this morning, I heard from a labrador retriever named Opy, who is the original gruff puppy.

You can read about all kinds of dogs who keep blogs at the Dogs With Blogs site.

After all the heat of the last couple days, today is a rainy day. I've been working hard to teach our new friend, Rafe, to stop looking at me. He's kind of dense about it, though.

One of my people has a birthday today--Happy Birthday, Duck-mom.

Lesson for the day
Youngsters take a long time to learn not to stare, so a good snarl is always an important part of any dog's toolbox

Hot day today

It's been blistering hot in our fair neck of the woods and that usually means less activities for us. My silly little brother Hamish overheats very easily and my person is something of a wimp too. Neither of them seem to understand the "under a shady tree" principle for dealing with heat, silly creatures.

I have been working on my flyball box this week. Here's the dilemma: I was trained to turn to the left (the "fast" side) and I have an AWESOME box--tight turn, good spring, all four feet up. But, I forgot to tell them when they were training me that I prefer to turn to the right. They figured it out once they added in the ball, but the dilemma is that my box when I turn to the right is less than stellar--it's more like a stroll and I only go up with my front feet, which, besides being slow and meaning I drop the ball a lot, also means more pounding on my shoulders.

The solution, you ask? More training. My people aren't very smart about doing it either, but I'm reminding myself to be patient and maybe they'll figure it out one of these days. In the meantime, I've decided to revive last year's "lesson of the day" (more like "lesson of the post", but you get the idea).

Lesson for today
Upward pressure on a buckle collar is not really the same thing as a choke chain (yeah right)

I've reconsidered

Well, in addition to the two comments I got from Ninja and JustMeCopper (thanks loads guys), some others have persuaded me that my words are not just disappearing into the cyber-nether.

I went to a training seminar this week-end. Boy did I have some things to learn. Me and my person learned it'd probably be good to go back and do some basics like "watch" and "sit". Kind of embarrassing for her, but it's all tricks to me.

Here's a picture of all the dogs that live at my house. Can you find me? There are four of us Border Collies (and we all look a little different) and my buddy, Renzo. There are also still those three cats, but we don't like to talk about them. Especially not the mean old one.

Not enough fans

Well, I've gotten pretty discouraged about my blog lately. I post my various missives and have been doing so off and on for almost two years; however, I get so little fan mail that I've decided that it might be time to close the blog down for a while. It's been a great run for me and I've enjoyed sharing my various triumphs with everyone (even though I don't know who you are).

I've gotten very busy with things other than flyball, too--herding, agility, running after my brother, keeping up with the foster dogs and now, to top it all off, my people added a new friend to the household and I've got a lot of work just making sure he understands what the rules are.

Since I started my blog, my people have added three more Border Collies to our house (I was the first one and they love me so much that they just keep adding more of us) and have fostered 11. I"m glad they are taking a break on that since it was hard on me, but it was also pretty cool to teach 11 new kidz the ropes.

Anyway, I might revive the blog at some point in the future if enough fans tell me they miss me, but until then

Today's lesson
You have to know when to hold them and know when to fold them.

Bye Bye!!

My favorite things, part II

Hi Everyone,

Now that the opposable thumbs person I have to rely on to type these missives has gotten over her astonishment at my flyball and agility prowess, she's agreed to continue with what I consider to be a much more important mission--namely, my list of favorite things. When I left off last, I'd mentioned some things I like to eat, including wooden spoons. I was lucky to get a taste of one of those last night. Here's what my people found when they got home:


I was bummed because really, I was just taking a little break and intended to get right back to it. Oh well. Here's me doing something I like to do--watch for interlopers while sitting on the couch

You can hardly see me for all the books and magazines, I know--I don't know why the people like that stuff so much and they don't even try to eat it.

So, on to the important list of my favorite things. I'll stick with edibles for now:

sheep poop
pens with plastic lids
pants' pockets, preferably those that once held doggie treats
raw hamburger
carrots
ice cubes
kitty poop

And today's important lesson??

Best to sleep under a tree when it's hot

I still rock

So, after my big day on Sunday with flyball, I had just as big a time at agility on Tuesday. I was really rocking through all the obstacles--paid attention to my person and all that stuff. It's like I'm a different dog. Or that's what my person says, but I've been trying to tell her for months that I was just not ready yet and to be patient--I mean, you don't push a 10 y.o. human child to do what an 18 y.o. can do. At least I hope not. If you do, you really shouldn't.

Lesson for the year

Be patient--this means people too!

I rock

It is true, I do. Really.

As many of my fans know, I've taken a bit of a break from flyball. Really almost a year. I mentioned we were going to start up again. So we did. My person brought her trainer friend over and they worked with me a little bit. They even made a plan. They decided that I was missing some piece of flyball, but they couldn't figure out what.

My person decided to bring me to practice one day and to video tape me while I just ran the course. Mind you, I've never just run the course before, but everyone thought it would be a good idea to see what I'd do and then see if we--or I mean they-- could figure out what was missing.

We did that on Sunday. Here are the video results. I fooled them, didn't I, hee hee.

I guess my secret is out. I've known how to do it for a while, but they never set it up so that I could show them that. Who knows what will happen next. But in the meantime, I rock. Really, I do.

My favorite things, part I

I have some musings on things I like to eat that aren't good for me. They include (in no particular order):

waffles and other fine baked goods
cat food
cat food cans
dog food cans
paper
wooden spoons and spatulas

My goofy little brother Hamish likes to eat shoes and socks. My buddy Renzo and my friend Tansy are perfect and only eat what is handed to them (suckers). The cats, well, who really cares about them?

I'm back

Here is a picture of me doing my newest activity. It's not flyball, but I thought I'd share it anyway.

It's called "sheepherding" and it's what I was made to do. In fact, flyball and agility and games like that were invented to give Border Collies like me something to do in case we didn't have sheep to play with.

I've been having a break from flyball and we're not sure where I'm headed with that. My person started working with me again today and I had a REALLY good time. I also heard her talking to a trainer friend of ours and I heard them say that our trainer friend was going to come to our house to see if she could help my person help me learn to like flyball. We'll see how that goes.

In the meantime, I know that I get to go see the sheep (some people call them the "woolies") almost every week and that's really fun for me right now. I'm pretty good at it, too, but mostly, I just love having fun and seeing my people so happy to see me work.

Oh yeah, there's two other things that happened since I was last posting regularly. First, my people started doing this thing called "fostering" which means that a Border Collie who needs a new home comes and hangs out at our house for a little while--kind of like an in-between place. My person said I should tell you that this is one of the reasons she couldn't keep my blog updated, but she's going to work harder at it now.


The other thing that happened is that my people brought a new friend to our house. He's actually my little brother (we have the same mom, but he has a different dad) and the people call him "Hamish" which is much more Scottish than Pippin. He's pretty fun and he's learning sheep herding and flyball, too.

My people haven't worked as much with him as they did with me, but he doesn't seem to be any worse for the wear.



He's what's called a "red tri", which means he's tri-colored and the dominant color is a reddish brown (in Australia and New Zealand, this color is called "chocolate"). Like me, he has some speckles on his face and legs, but unlike me, both his ears do the same thing. I'll tell you more about him as I continue to post.

Glad to be back. I hope I hear from some of my fans....

Hi Everybody,

I'm back--it's been almost a year, but my person has been very busy.  I'm still working on flyball, but in the meantime, I've started to learn about SHEEP

Only three weeks have past this time

Well, it's me again, writing from cloudy Ann Arbor. My person has been pretty busy these last couple of weeks (that's what she *always* says, but who knows) and I'm sure I"m losing fans because I'm not able to pen my thoughts as easily. Maybe things will look up in the near future--we'll see.

Big news on the flyball front is that my buddy Renzo had a real-live, regular running spot on a team at Spring-Loaded's tournament last week-end. He had a little trouble (but it wasn't really his fault), but I think things are really going to fly for him.

For me, well, I realized that the box is really pretty scary when there is a ball in it and I don't much like it when the ball pops out. I had a perfectly good solution, which was to just pull the ball out of the hole rather than hit the box--kills two birds as it were. I don't have to hear that loud sound and the ball doesn't pop out at me.

But for some reason, all the people seem kind of unhappy with this solution. So, my person and I are working on something she calls "desensitization". I"m not sure what it means, but I know that she carries me (yes, physically, since I won't go to the box on my own) to the box and then when it makes that awful loud sound, I get a cookie. I still don't want to stand too close, but who am I to turn down cookies (especially because they are "dehydrated lamb lung" from Solid Gold).

My person is feeling a little dejected because she thinks I've regressed. But the thing I keep trying to show her is that I've got all the pieces, but I'm still mulling over how to put them together. I'm not as fast to get it as some dogs, but I have no worries that it'll come together.

So, the lesson for today
It all comes together in the end, and that's what matters the most

I'm back

hazelpip
Originally uploaded by Pippin Noodle.

It's true, it's been a while. My person, who I'm dependent on to keep up with my blog since I don't type very well, has been "busy" with whatever it is she does. I try not to make a fuss, but really, it's pretty unfair that she chooses other things over keeping my fans up-dated on what's been going on in my flyball life.

That picture up there is a picture of me with my sister Hazel at the Davisburg flyball tournament in February. She's a cutie, isn't she. Pretty different looking than me--first off, she's a lot smaller and doesn't have quite the fringe that I do (you can sort of tell if you look closely at my tail). She also had a much shorter nose and bigger, rounder eyes. I don't like to talk about it too much, but she also has ears that both do the same thing--stand up.

submissivepip
Originally uploaded by Pippin Noodle.

In that picture, I'm saying hi in my usual way, which is to show that I'm not trying to be anybody's boss. Hazel was a little surprised--I don't think she's used to having someone lower on the totem pole than her. We were both a little wary and didn't really play much.

Hazel's already competing on her flyball team. I'm not yet, but I have learned some new tricks. I'm going down over all the jumps, hitting the box and coming back with no trouble (I've had about 3 weeks off, but I didn't forget anything). Yesterday at practice, we added the ball in. Not sure about that--I thought it was pretty good to just stop at the box and pull the ball out gently and gracefully. No need for all that racousness and banging and loud noises when you can just pull it out. I heard them whispering that that's not really allowed, but to let me go ahead and explore. I hope that I heard them wrong, but I'm a little worried because today at home, my people were having me stand at our box while they popped the ball out. Still not so sure about it all, but I liked grabbing the ball!

So, what have I learned in the last six weeks?
As usual, patience is a virtue

I made the whole run

Well hey ho, yesterday I did the whole flyball run (without the ball, but still, big step). For the first time since I've been learning (which is about 10 mos.), I went all the way down, over all four jumps, hit the box (with a pretty good, tight turn), and came back over all four jumps. Driving pretty hard, too. I rock--anyway that's what my people said.

My buddy Renzo also did just great. He was able to run the whole course with a dog running next to him AND a dog he had to pass. he crossed over the first time, but after that, he understood his job.

Yesterday was really a big day for both of us and it was so cool to see my people so proud of us.

So, what I'd learn in the process?
Going over four jumps is really not that different from going over one or two.

So, being Saturday and all, both of my people were home today and spent a lot of time with us pups. They are working hard to get me to associate playing fetch with tugging. In flyball, it's really good if we have something like a tug to run back to. My buddy Renzo will only run for food--that's fine too, but our team captains say that dogs run harder for tugs. I love to tug as a general thing, but I don't really see what it has to do with flyball, so I"m kind of disdainful of it when it shows up while I'm practicing.

When my person tries to get me tug before she will throw the ball, I usually just look at her patiently and eventually, I just walk away (she tries *really* hard not to give in and throw the ball anyway, but I put her in a kind of a bind--cause it's also not so good for me to decide when it's time to stop playing--something about getting a big head. Whatever, people are kind of weird.

The real thing I've been learning today, though is "be nice". See, I get a little persnickety when other dogs get too close. It's not all that predictable...for my person anyway and she doesn't really ask me what's the trigger, I'm not telling. In any case, the people don't like it, so today we've been working on "be nice"--which basically seems to mean, stop snarling and look at person. When I do that--bingo, a treat. Yay.

And that means today's lesson is:
Be nice, then you get a treat and keep everybody else from snarling

Harnasses are for the birds

Normally when I play flyball, my person holds on to my hips. For a while I wore a harness, but that was back when I didn't have a very good recall and the team capitans said that it would be better for me to learn with a leash attached to a collar (that's for a leash correction--boy, I'm glad I got past those!

Anyway, today my person decided to put my harnass on me again. This is what it looks like

halter
Originally uploaded by Pippin Noodle.

I don't really notice it that much, but when we went to run flyball (yeah, that's right, today is flyball day--yahoo!), my person held me by the harnass--I didn't like it one bit. I'd much rather be held by the hips--you know, a much more hands-on, feel-good touch just to set the right mood for a good, clean run. Much more civilized than being held like a common dog (or, dare I say it, a kitty... my kitties go outside with harnasses--never really though it could come to that for me)

What I learned today?
I don't like harnasses, BUT I really like flyball a whole lot

Big woofs to my pal Renzo, who had 10 pretty clean runs today--and even sort of passed into another dog. He does a good job, but boy is he a barker. Also, licks and kisses to Tansy who is doing a good job soaking in the whole new environment. It would have been great for her and us if she'd been with us from the start, but what matters most is that she's with us now!

What kind of dog are you

I'm out of lessons for today, but here's something fun to try:

What kind of dog are you?

My person is a Keeshound. They look like this

keeshond
Originally uploaded by Pippin Noodle.

She doesn't though....

By Jove I've got it

My person has been working with me over the last couple of months to learn to shut a cabinet door by pushing it with my nose (initial command for that is "touch"). The problem for me has been that I also know about shutting drawers by hitting them with my feet (initial command for that was "push"--that's a flyball command, too).

So, I'm a kind of pawsy gal and think it's a lot more efficient to shut things with my feet, so, while I would touch the cabinet door with my nose, I made it close with my feet.

My person was pretty patient--only rewarding me for closing the door with my nose. And if I just wasn't getting it, she'd back up and reward me for just touching the door with my nose adn once I remembered to close it with my nose, she'd go back to only rewarding that and eventually moving to a variable reinforcement (click here if you want to read more about this kind of dog training or read the book "don't shoot the dog").

Anyway, today I did it right right off the bat. My person could even send me from about 6 ft. out and I'd go close the door with my nose. I'm pretty cool, huh?

So, what'd I learn today?
With enough repetitions and the right kind of encouragement, just about anything is possible.

Poodles

Well, hey, I learned something today...I went with my person for a playdate with a poodle about my age. For whatever reason (my person has been speculating, but, really, sometimes it's hard to know what's going on in our little brains), I was not going to play with her. In fact, I made it pretty clear that i wanted her to stay away.

I was definitely not charmed by her cute butt waggles or her play bows or her jumping like a pogo stick (even though my person was). I'm not going to let my person in on this, but at some level, it really doesn't matter WHY I didn't want to play--what matters is that I didn't. Basta.

I also continue to refine my lesson from Saturday that it's possible to nap while not in a crate. I'm getting pretty good at this lesson and am glad to learn it.

But I digress. Today's lesson
I didn't want to play with the poodle, even though she was cute as a bug.

Some days there's not much to learn

Well, I did a lot today--played with Tansy and Darby, went on a long walk, played with the kitties, played ball, ran around in the snow....but I don't think I really learned much.

Then, what did I learn today?

Some days you can do a lot without learning much at all.

Big woofs to my pal Renzo who ran at the tournament this week-end. Good going buddy--I'll be there to watch you next time.

Darby

Well, big stuff at our house this week-end. First off, we have a visitor, Darby.

Darby
Originally uploaded by Pippin Noodle.

She's a real cutie as you can see. We think she looks a lot like Inji, our old matriarch kitty. She hisses like Inji, too (and in fact, they hissed at each other earlier today). I didn't know dogs hissed--but she's done it several times to me, too. When she got here this morning, she and Tansy both stress-peed on the floor--I was keeping my distance from both of them.

She's the friend of Brody, who stayed with us in October. She kinda looks like him, too. She's a kai inu/shibu inu mix.

Since Darby was coming to visit (she'll be here til March 7th), one of my people stayed home with me and Tansy (who is downstairs playing with a squeeky toy because she doesn't think anyone has noticed--that's the only time she plays with toys) and the other one took Renzo to a flyball tournament. Lucky boy--but he deserves it after this long time when he's been benched because of the dew claws. And I've not had to go in my crate at all today (and once my person finishes channeling me for this blog, we're going for a W.A.L.K.). And that's the lesson for today:

I don't have to be in my crate to take a nap. I can take one just about anywhere.

Tansy is fun

Well, there's nothing like another Border Collie in the house to make life just nothing but fun and games. Me and Tansy have been playing all day long (except for some requisite long naps). She's starting to play with balls and to leap and pounce with joy--just like me. Even Renzo got in to some of the fun today and chased her around and teased her into chasing him.

Here's Tansy and me looking kind of like we're singing and dancing--I guess we are...

piptansing
Originally uploaded by Pippin Noodle.

My person's been pretty happy today too--something about listening to country music (though she also gets happy when she listens to lots of other kinds--today's just been country). She even did some housecleaning while we played.

Lesson for today?
Even a snowy day in late February is fun with Tansy and country music

Hitting the box is FUN

Today was flyball day. Yay!! I love flyball practice. I get to play and I get to watch all the other guys. Plus all my favorite people and dogs are all together in one place. Can't beat it. Everybody did really well today, too, which makes all the people pretty happy.

I did really good. My box is coming along well with a pretty good turn and a pretty quick release. Plus, I'm single stepping the jumps most of the time. Best of all, I'm learning to cock my body when my person says "Ready".

So, what'd I learn today?
It's easier to get a good running start when you cock first.

Ice is slippery

We went for a walk today. Pretty cold, just a little snow on the ground, but lurking underneath were patches of ice. Luckily, when I slide around, it doesn't much bother me, but not so my person. She fell. Twice. I felt pretty bad for her, but what can you do.

What I learned today:
Ice is slippery and when people hit it, some of them fall down

10 days: 10 things I've learned

So, I know I said I was going to write one thing I learned every day. But, well you know that problem of being dependent on someone with opposable thumbs who also has a demanding job as an academic.

I sometimes think I take precedence over her students, research, and other commitments, but these last 10 days, I've been decidedly further down the list. It's not that she doesn't love me, I know. And I know she feels really bad too. So, I'm cutting her some slack (that's the good thing about us dogs--we don't really hold any grudges). But, to catch everyone up, I'm going to write down the things I've learned since Feb. 11.

Feb. 12:
Flyball practice on Saturday throws everyone off schedule
Feb. 13:
There are "valentines". My friend Jake sent me one that he got as part of a fundraiser for Valentine, a foster available from Great Lakes Border Collie Rescue.
Feb. 14:
Some dogs really don't like it when you get near them while they're chewing a bone. Not me though.
Feb. 15:
If you stand up and "shop" the kitchen counters, you often find tasty treats AND your person will pay attention to you (that's the main lesson--the treats are really just a lagniappe)
Feb. 16:
Anything can be a tug-toy
Feb. 17:
People have "birthdays". Dogs have "welcome home days".
Feb. 18:
Three dogs can really wear a single human out.
Feb. 19
Running up-hill in the snow is excellent training for competitive dog sports like flyball (doesn't hurt the humans either).
Feb. 20
Sundays are really no different from any other day if you're a border collie. Except that the people are around more and dress differently.
Feb. 21
When people go away, they almost always come back so there's no need to worry. Even when they're gone for several days.

And the thing I learned today?

Nothing says "I love you" like a peanut butter-filled toy

Still smooth sailing

I just kind of feel like writing in green today. Things are still going pretty well with our new friend Tansy. In fact, I kind of think she might be the dog leader me and Renzo have been needing. All the information about her said that she's timid and shy, but we've found that she's really pretty sure of herself and doesn't care one whit if one of the people call her off something (like a cat). When I get called off, I usually need to go right over and give lots of kisses and butt waggles, otherwise they might stay mad at me (I'm kind of like one of my people that way--though she tends not to do many butt waggles).

On the flyball front, well, yesterday my regular person trainer had to stay at work, so my other trainer person took me instead. I tug like a maniac when I'm watching other dogs play flyball (just not when I'm playing) and so my people thought it might be a good idea to use a harnass so that I don't strangle myself with my own excitement. I found it was just a different way of getting tangled up, but don't tell them or anything. I like to humor them.

I've been looking at some other blogs lately and I think I might be too wordy. So from now on, I'm going to try and write just one screen's worth of stuff. Maybe I'll try with just "what I learned today" (kind of like the guy who is writing about his awful roommate, but nicer).

So, what'd i learn today:
Tennis balls are pretty hard on the teeth when they're frozen

New stuff at my house

So, it's been a while since I posted I know. I've had a couple of flyball lessons since my last post. Right now we're working on moving me to the tug toy as a reward for playing flyball. I'll pretty much do the jumps and the box, but only for food. Now I need to learn that the tug is really fun, too--way more fun than food.

My person's been practicing at home, so we'll see how I do tomorrow at class. I've been doing pretty well at my companion obedience class. This week we had to be willing to give up a tasty rawhide if our person asked us to. That's a piece of cake for me (I know both give and drop it). Then, we also had to ignore other dogs coming around while we were chewing our bones. We also had to do some heeling and staying. Then we got to play the game "My dog can do that"--that's really fun and so far I can keep up with everyone just fine.

On a really exciting note, I've got a new friend living at my house. My people brought home Tansy last week-end. She's a border collie like me, but already 4 years old. The person who had her for the first 4 years really neglected her (she wasn't actively abused we don't think, but definitely deprived of the kind of environment us border collies need. As far as we know, she lived in an outdoor pen her whole life and really never learned much of what dogs need to know if they're going to live with humans.) She's doing great at our house, fitting in just beautifully and even Renzo doesn't seem to mind having her here.

piptanrun
Originally uploaded by Pippin Noodle.

I love it because she wants to play as much as I do! She's going to come to flyball class with me tomorrow just to watch. I bet she'll be really excited.

The words I know

We don't have practice today, so I thought I'd give a run-down of all the words I know (My buddy Renzo knows most of these t0o, so I'm not really showing off). Right now, I know 80 words and phrases (by "know" I mean that I will do the desired action or provide the desired response 80-90% of the time in ideal, non-distracting conditions. For most commands, I will do the action 70% of the time or better with distractions--depending on what they are, of course. My people work with me every day to "proof" many of the commands, especially basic obedience)

Basic obedience commands (15 words):
Sit, Down, Settle, Come, Wait (my people use this instead of "stay"--I don't know why), Heel (honestly, I'm not that great at Heel, but I know what it is), Leave It, Off, Quiet, Back, Yes (I've completed whatever command I was given), No (I've chose something that I really shouldn't), Wrong (I did the wrong command or did something I wasn't supposed to--less serious than "no"); Okay (I can be released from command); Oops (Wrong command--basically synonymous with Wrong),

Useful commands (24 words):
Bring your X, Get your X (synonymous with Bring), Drop It (I'm pretty much 100% with this command), Find (your) X, Where's X (bascially synonymous with Find), Up, Go to Bed (for crate in bedroom where I sleep); Crate up (for crate in living room where I hang out); Go to the Couch; Get in your Boat (my people call the plush bed Renzo and I share our "boat"--I don't know why and think it's a little weird), Easy; Let's go (when sniffing and snorfling around on walks), Come along (synonymous with Let's go), Right, Left, Watch, Catch it, Push (hit something with my feet), Touch (hit something with my nose), Through (just a general command for going through something--I have more specific commands for going through agility obstacles), Tug, Give, Hop up (get in the car), Bring it Here (put something in person's hand)

Things my people call tricks (12 words):
Bow, Crawl, Bang (this is basically play dead), Twist (turn clockwise), Spin (turn counter-clockwise), Left shake (shake with left paw), Right shake (shake with right paw), Wave, Whisper, Speak, Weave (walk in Figure 8 through person's legs), Shut the drawer

Commands specific to agility or flyball (12 words)
Tunnel, A-frame, Walk It (dog walk), Tire, Over, Big over (I'm not sure I really know this, but my person thinks I do--this is for the broad jump), Target, Teeter, Table (again, I don't feel that confident with this one), Jump (this is for flyball hurdles and differs from Over in that I'm supposed to jump flat for this one and jump "hilly" for over), Ready (means something's about to happen-it's more a cue for me than a command to do something), Weave pole

Names of people or things--these words can be combined with "Bring" and "Find" and "Where's" (7 words)
Renzo (my good buddy), Fritz (kitty I especially like to chase), ball, toy, puppy (specific toy), Susan (one of my people), Robin (another one of my people)

Random phrases that elicit a response from me (10 phrases)
Wanna go for a walk, Wanna play flyball, Wanna do agility, There's your friend X, You're o.k., Are you hungry, Want your dinner, Want your breakfast, Want a Kong, Want a cookie

Commands I know by hand signal (7 commands)
Sit, Down, Come, Wait, Bring/Get, Bow (rather than hand signal, I do this when you blow in my face), Bring it here

Words I'm learning now (9 words)
Talk, Loose (for loose-leash walking), Get ready (this is for flyball and means face the course and get ready to run), Line up (synonymous with get ready), Leash, Hold it, Sit up, Shut the cabinet door (with nose), Fuss (heeling on the right),

Words that my person would like me to know but isn't ready to teach me yet:
Roll-over, Roll the ball, Ring the bell, Turn on/off the light, Sneeze, Gather the laundry, Backwards weave, Frisbee

Huck

huck
Originally uploaded by Pippin Noodle.

See this cat? This guy weighs in at over 24 lbs (just for reference, I'm about 34 lbs) and is one scary feline. Actually, that's not really fair, it's not that he's so scary, it's that he and my buddy Renzo have a long-standing disagreement about whether or not dogs or cats take precedence in the Huck's household. Renzo thinks dogs do, but Huck lets him know in no uncertain terms that dogs "drool" (you know, like in that dumb saying, cats rule, dogs drool). Anyway, I tried to stay pretty agnostic on the whole matter, seeing as I was a guest in Huck's house and all. But, once Huck got riled up at my buddy Renzo (who has no fear and so doesn't really care that much if Huck is mad--in fact, Renzo thinks it's great fun to egg Huck on), it was over for all us dogs.

And seeing as I'm a bit of cautious girl, Huck saw me as an easy mark. Basically he terrorizes me everytime we visit. I try to stay out of the way, mind my own business and all, but NOOO, when Huck smells dog, he's ready to rumble.

It's great for my people, though, because Huck keeps me pretty well contained in a room and I don't have much desire to get into mischief because he could really be anywhere...

I'm glad that only one of the kitties at my house is a caninanthrope and she pretty much just wants to be left alone--she doesn't actively seek out dogs to harrass

New flyball class started

Hey, it's me again--two posts in one day, can't beat that. Some of my fans have complained to my person that I'm not posting very often. Luckily, she doesn't try to pin the blame on me, but still it makes us both pretty embarrassed. Anyway, a couple big milestones for me in flyball this week.

First, I've been getting to go to practice all by myself because my poor buddy Renzo had to have his dew claws removed and has been out of commission for the last couple of weeks. Poor guy, but hey, it means I get sole attention from my people at flyball practice (and it's pretty quiet without Renzo barking out his cries of joy over and over and over and....).

So, anyway, last Sunday one of my people decided that we had to try a new strategy for keeping me focused on flyball and not on going to visit. So, she told all the people to be really mean to me (actually, she just told them to tell me "no" if I came over, but as far as I'm concerned, she might as well have told them to kick me in the gut...). And then they did tell me no--I went from person to person, wiggling my whole body, trying to lick and say hi, but they all said "no" adn some of them even stamped their feet at me. I was really confused, I mean, really, really confused--I thought everyone really liked for me to come and say hi and I know that I like it. But all the while my person was also calling come and it was so much nicer to be with her than with all those people being mean to me. So, slowly but surely, I'm starting to understand that I can only go visit when my person says it's o.k., not when I decide it's o.k. Hard knocks, really, but my person hopes that I'll start to see that flyball is really the ultimate fun. I probably will.

Then, I started a new flyball class on Thursday with a new instructor, Pam Shulz from Slammers flyball club. She's pretty cool and was able to keep a pretty unruly bunch in line. I got to run and noodled off to visit, but remembered after just two no's that I was supposed to stay with my person. I did really good on the box-=hitting it hard and coming back to my person. I'm also feeling more and more confident. I think I'll be pretty close come summer, but who knows, life is so full of fun that you never know what might be waiting for you around the corner...

I'm also taking another obedience class at Country Kennel with my good friend Neva. I'm the baby in the class. There are several labs and they are just really different dogs than me. I don't get the whole laying around thing, but that's what makes it such an interesting world--we're all a little different.

Now it's been a really long while

Well, so, my person figured out how to change the text color (and did so in irritating fashion). It's been a long time since I worked on my blog, but that's not to say that I haven't been thinknig about flyball. I think about it a lot. As is usually the case with things like flyball, I continue to make a few steps forward and a few steps back. I had made some really great strides last week and even went over a couple of jumps before hitting the box.

Last Thursday, I was really, especially good and went chasing over the jumps after my person and didn't veer away even once. Good for me.

Then came Sunday. Everything was wrong. It was too early for one thing (we usually practice at 1, but on Sunday we started at 9:30). There were also lots of people there, more than usual and I just couldn't help myself. I just wanted to see them (and really wanted to see them way, way more than I wanted to do flyball).

So, everytime I got brought in, I ran away from my people and ignored them when they said "come." Me ignoring them made everyone else give my people advice on how to encourage me come, but the more they tried, the less I wanted to come. And the less I wanted to do flyball.

So, ultimately I didn't get to play very much and my person was in a bad mood for the rest of the day, which is kind of drag. I know that she was trying not to be mad at me (and truthfully, she wasn't), but I could also tell that she was really disappointed.

I wish there was some way that I could tell her what I need to make me really into playing flyball. The thing is, I'm kind of scared of new things. Like today, we were playing on the box, but I suddenly got scared of it and didn't want to play on it anymore. In fact, I didn't want to go near it at all. I think that I'm in a fear period and nothing is really going to be very exciting until I get over it.

That's o.k., though, because I know that my people are patient and don't want to push me or anything (or only push hard enough to help me build my confidence).

It's been a while

Well, hey, it's sure been a while since I've written. Believe me it weren't for lack of trying--it's just when I'm dependent on someone with opposable thumbs for getting my entries in, I kinda have to go by her schedule and lately that schedule has had little on it but W.O.R.K. I'm glad I'm a dog.

But, the good news is that i'm really starting to make serious progress. Ever since my friend Brody came to visit, I've been getting more and more focused and more and more attentive to my person. In flyball practice (which I have twice a week--once in class and once when my team practices), I'm hitting the box pretty well--mostly always getting at least three feet on the box and getting four up there about 60% of the time. The way they try to trick me to really jump is by putting a really high board (it's got to be about 2 feet high) right in front of the box, angled based on the direction I turn. That way, I have to jump over the box to hit it at all. It didn't take me long before I was doing that, but I can still make that big jump and hit the box with only three feet. They keep working though and I keep getting better.

I'm also able to go back and forth over all four jumps without noodling away to try and visit folks. I'm still a bit unsure of myself and not feeling entirely confident a lot of the time, but I'm getting better. Yesterday, I was so excited to chase my person that I did forget myself and really let loose--I gave a glimpse of the potential I have by really stretching out and single stepping between the jumps. Overall I'd say it was a good practice and I'm getting very good at paying attention to my people (though I have to say, I still REALLY love it when I get to visit--I am just still such a wiggle worm).

Brody

Brody
Originally uploaded by Pippin Noodle.

I guess the biggest news is that I'm starting to get all four of my feet on the box. That's important for two main reasons. First, having your back legs on the box means that you can get a good push off for your return. Second, and probably more important, having all four feet on the box generally means that you're actually doing a "swimmer's turn" and being able to do that makes it a lot less harsh on your shoulders and back. That, in turn, means that you can play flyball for a lot longer and when you do have to retire, you probably won't be as prone to arthritis and other ills that plague athletes of all species when they get older (just think about all the stuff that former pro football players have to contend with...)

I also finished my agility class on Tuesday. For the most part I did pretty good and I didn't have much trouble with any individual piece of equipment--but, boy, did I ever lose my focus trying to go through 13 one right after the other. It was just too much for my 11 month old brain.

The other big news for the week-end is that my buddy Renzo and one of my people have gone all the way to Memphis for a flyball tournament. And, one of our teammates is staying with us in his place. Brody (that's him up above), is a great big boy--he's a pit bull/lab/greyhound mix. His head is about twice the size of mine and he's all legs when he runs.

He's a really nice boy, though and we've already had good fun playing in the backyard. I don't think my person is going to be strong enough to walk him, though.

It's been pretty interesting to see how he reacts to the three cats I live with (and they to him). I just had to chuckle when Inci growled and swatted at him for no good reason other than he was in her line of vision. She does that to me and Renzo, too, and I've just always thought she didn't like us. I guess she just doesn't like dogs in general. Go figure

Where to begin??

A lot can happen in a week....Since the last time I wrote, I had my flyball class, another agility class, went to a tournament and ate a kitchen sponge. It's hard to know which of those make for entertaining reading....My flyball class was pretty fun. There are 8 dogs in the class, five of us have had some initial training and the other guys are just starting out. Our jobs during class were recalls (never really my strong suit at the club) and hitting the box, which I did pretty well, but not nearly as solidly as I do it at home (but that's always the case--home is home and away from home is, well, distracting). My recalls weren't very good because I REALLY wanted to go and see everyone else. I could tell that I wasn't doing the right thing, but I just lost control of myself. By the end, though, I was much, much better and over the week-end, my person worked with me a lot on coming. We'll see what happens at class this week.

At home, we've been working with hitting the box for a tug and my person added a new wrinkle in--she put a traffic cone in front of the box so that I really have to get all my feet on the box and can't just hit it face-on. that's working--most important thing is that I get my tug! I tugged madly while i watched the dogs at the tournament--so hard in fact that it wore out my person's arm. I also got lots of compliments because in addition to being so excited, I'm not bad to look at. Our teams did pretty well. You can see a video of our "A" team doing each of the parts (going over the jumps, hitting the box and passing).

Agility last night was pretty cool--I'm finally getting the hang of the weave poles (though I still don't get the point), and we did lots and lots of jumps, which I love. Plus the weather was really great.

I guess that's it for now--we'll leave the kitchen sponge story for another time...

Flyball and agility

Well, last night I had my agility class (agility is like a doggie obstacle course). We continued to work on the weave poles--have to say they are not my favorite and I don't really get the point of them. My person had especially bad food last night, so that sure wasn't any enticement. Plus, three of the boy dogs in the class kept going after each other and since I like to flirt with all of the, I was just in a dither. Luckily, I was able to check each one to make sure he was o.k. We also got to do some mini-courses. The first one involved going through a tunnel and then over an A-frame and then through a tire jump. that was fun and I really, really liked it (if truth be told, I was kind of bummed that I didn't get to keep doing it). The second course was going over two small jumps and then over the dog walk. that was o.k., but I think the dog walk is kind of boring. Here are some pictures of BCs doing agility.

On the flyball front, my people got a flyball box for me to practice on at home and I'm really liking it. We work on it a couple times a day adn today for the first time, I hit the box with both of my front feet and not just one. I got to tug for a long, long time for that. It was awesome. Running back to the tug is pretty fun (I don't know why Renzo doesn't like it), so I think it won't be that long before I'll do it in practice too. I start my formal flyball class tomorrow and I can't wait. I wonder how different it will be from regular practice....

Things are starting off great this week

zuri.jpg
Originally uploaded by Pippin Noodle.

I just love my fabulous life. I have so much fun and am so excited about all the experiences I get to have. Me and my buddy Renzo just got back from playing at our friends Andrew, Nancy and Monty's house. Our other friend, Zuri, was visiting too (that's her chasing Renzo last winter--they do a lot of that) and we romped and played a lot. I'm still low dog on the totem pole, so I make darned sure that the big guys know that I know my place. Andrew may find me to be a pest, but I sure don't want him to think I'm dissin' him!

Sunday's flyball practice

Well, despite my best intentions, I just wasn't able to focus on the tug at practice. There's just too much going on and so, so many people to see and greet that I lose track of myself. I did run over four jumps back and forth to my people. BUT, the only reason that I didn't run off to greet the other people was that the gating was up so that I couldn't go anywhere but over the jumps. Even though that seems like it should be a pretty easy thing to do, it's hard in such a new environment. I have to keep reminding one of my people that it'll all come together in due course. She sees how good some of my teammates (especially Cap, who grew up on the same farm that I did, but he's a week older than me--we are so proud of how well he's doing) are doing, but then I give her a quick lick and let her know that even though she may not see it, I'm soaking it all up.

tomorrow I have agility class, which I love 'cause I get to show off how athletic I am and be out in the late summer sun to boot. Even better, this week flyball class starts!! To get ready, my person and I practiced on the flyball box at home today. The flyball box is a box with a pedal on it. When a dog hits the pedal, it triggers a spring mechanism and a ball pops out. Having a "good" box is an important part of being a good flyball dog because, just like in competetive human swimming, the turn around can make all the difference. Also, like swimmers, flyball dogs tend to be fastest when they can do a "swimmer's turn". That's not always how it was, though. It used to be that the handlers actually walked the dog up to the box. Here's some more interesting facts in the history of flyball. As dogs have gotten better boxes, world records have also gotten faster. The earliest world record was held around 1985 by Canine Express and was 24.49 seconds. My team, Front Runners, were the world record holders in 1986 and 1987 (with times of 22.96 and 21.48), but now the fastest team is Spring Loaded and they just keep breaking their own records--most recently last week-end when they ran the course in 15.37.

I'm pretty sure that I'll be able to run the course in under 4 seconds--I just have to figure out how to ignore all the lovely people, other dogs, crazy barking, interesting smells and moving tennis balls. But, it'll come...

Flyball tournament

Big news from the week-end. My buddy Renzo ran in his first real race ever and did great (except for the last time when things were hectic and he was stressed--he crossed over the line and went to have a loud conversation with a dog from Pawsative Attitudes--he was mostly just full of hot air, but it sounded kind of scary, so he had to leave--but he'll be back).

The tournament was pretty fun and our teams got two firsts and a third (which was exactly how we were seeded). Spring Loaded broke the world record...again. This time with a run of 15.37 (or something like that). They sure do set the bar high, that's for sure.

My job at the tournament was to soak in the scene and watch some of the other dogs racing. when my person brings me to the ring, I get so excited and hyped that I need an outlet for my energy and she's always there ready to stick a tug in my mouth. I usually tug on that until the race is over and am so tuned in to the race that I tug harder than usual. i think it's as much exercise for my person as it is for me. I can't wait until I can run too--it looks like so much fun.

It was also fun to stay in a hotel--it's like being a camp. My people are very good about taking us with them, so that we don't bark in the hotel (well, we bark sometimes when we're playing, but it's not at night). The weather was pretty good, but it was hot and humid. I didn't mind that much, but I was sure glad when we got loaded into the air-conditioned car!

Our next practice is Thursday night and I'm going to really run after the tug so that everyone sees I'm read to take the next step in my training (or if I don't, I'll at least get to see some of my favorite people)