Little superstar in the making...

Our AKC STAR Puppy class is incorporating puppy agility and Piper is an ABSOLUTE natural!

So far we've done the tunnel, a low low little a-frame, walking through a ladder, and tonight we introduced a low low dog walk... She charges up that little a-frame like she owns it, and rushes through the tunnel like it was made for her alone! I think I'll be training HER in agility as she goes through and earns her CH as well! Little superstar, that Piper.

More threats to dog-nap from Anita the trainer... she didn't believe me when I said Piper weighed 14+ pounds.... until she picked her up. "She doesn't LOOK that heavy" was Anita's comment... I don't dare ask her how much she thinks Kota weighs (She's only ever seen Kota). LOL

Happy 15 weeks, and some stow-aways...

Piper and the "Charm" crew are 15 weeks this week... here are her 15 week pictures, for what they're worth... I might try for better tomorrow, when it's lighter outside and when the big dogs aren't outside with us distracting her...



and our first stow away - she's just so darned pretty....
not too bad for almost a veteran with a gimpy leg! He still INSISTS I put him on the table and stack him when I put everyone else up there... LOL He LOVES being a show dog.
Chance's pictures turned out not suitable for public... *shudder* I don't know what his deal was, but they looked like crap. I'll try again - especially as his fall show season is due to start in November in Tucson.

(**None of the dogs have had baths in MONTHS.... so take that into consideration!)

Piper's ears are up for good, finally... :) I've never had to work so hard on ears... I can't say I wasn't warned though! :)

Everyone else is good - still no word from Kota's vet, tho a vet friend of mine who consulted with a cardiologist for me after seeing the x-rays said that it's not likely that it's the coil causing the problems... back to the drawing board. *sigh* Chance is a moose - Sedona is a primadonna - Piper is into everything her little puppy mouth can reach and Kota is busy policing everyone... :)

School is in it's 6th week, and so far I'm doing good.

Work is nearing our fall break - we have three half days ahead of us and Parent Teacher Conferences for the rest of the week till 7pm. What sucks is that I don't have many conferences (4), but I have to be there each night just in case. *sigh* After Friday I will be off for 2 weeks! :) I'm thinking of taking the dogs to Northeast AZ to see the pretty fall colors that we don't get here in the Desert....

our night at the vet

I took Piper to the vet for her 3rd round of puppy shots and to have Kota's leg looked at..... he started being intermittently lame back in January. Sometimes he'd be fine, and other times he'd be really light on his right rear leg.. After agility season ended (summer came), I decided to give him a few months of no activity to see if it was a soft tissue injury. Agility season has started up again so I decided it was time to take him to the vet and have it looked at....

Piper looking up at me as she was relaxing on the floor in the vets office waiting for Kota...

Piper being checked out by the vet tech....
more waiting....
Kota's x-rays.... You can see the little coil near his right knee....
a side view - the vet wanted to have a good look at his spine since I mentioned all the folks I knew with Corgi's going down in the back - so she took this 1) to look at the spacing between his disks, and 2) to look at the leg from another angle...

a closer view of the leg
The spacing between his disks is great she said - there's a bit smaller of a space between two disks (disk 3 and 4 in this picture from the left), but nothing she was concerned about in the least...
a closer view of the problem leg and the coil again...

the pair after the lights came back on while we were all chatting... too bad Kota looked away! :(
Dr. Carey (she rules) said she will call me this weekend once she's had a chance to consult with a cardiologist (Dr. Church). I have a gut feeling that another surgery might be in Kota's near-ish future... and if that's the case, I might just have him neutered at the same time... if he's out, I'd might as well! :)

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we look for resolution to this issue - and hopefully he can get back out onto the agility field soon - he MISSES it dearly!!!!

PS: Piper weighed in at 14.2 pounds today. Kota weighed in at 34.6 pounds.

the cloning process....

Seems I've managed to steal away with another replica....
Here is a picture of Piper at 14 weeks, and of Lizzie at 15 weeks that Jeri just sent me...
Amazing. Down to the little bit of white you can see on their stifle!
This is evidence that the cloning process works! ;-)
Thanks Jeri, for sending this along...

14 weeks

I ended up with so many nice shots that I couldn't choose! This top one is my favorite of the whole shoot...

OMG

Is this really the same puppy who had funky puppy butt last week? Uh, can we say "wow"?


I thought this one was pretty, with the exception of the funky ear thing she's doing, and the off side leg... look at that NECK! And that lovely sloping croup.
Showing that it's not a fluke... I did get many nice shots of the kid this week! Wow!

This one was for Gramma Jeri more than anything... oh the tail! LOL
I didn't get as many nice off side shots of her, but this was the nicest of her off side, I think...


A little over extended here, but still - look at the angles and everything (and the tongue too!).
I had a hard time getting a nice front shot, so this is the best it got for her 14 week mark... still, a lovely little front on the kid! I LOVE her bone!!!!!!!
She just keeps getting nicer and nicer... and pushier and pushier ;-)

She's a doll tho - love love loves her mama (*grin*) and playing with the big dogs... she LOVES being outside (regardless of weather), loves mud puddles, loves FOOD, loves crickets (her all time favorite outside past time is chasing crickets in the evening - to the point where I have to close the doggie door!). She's so full of happiness. I can't wait to get this little punkster in the ring. :) She may not be the flashiest of the puppies, but by golly, I think we got a nice one here... :)
Thanks Jeri, for trusting me with the 'naughty number nine', and thanks to Carolyn, Shelley, Penni, and Mandy for making this breeding happen! :) I'm so thrilled to have a puppy from two dogs who I loved as puppies and who grew into their potential. I can only hope Piper grows into the potential she shows right now!

Yea, I think she can stay. :)

sleepy-time cuteness :)

the internet is a wonderful thing...

I was without internet since noon yesterday.... meaning, I've been miserable since about noon yesterday! ;-) The cable guy showed up at 8:15 and is gone... changed out a little connector and wha-la, internet came back up! Hallelujah!!!!! Problem is, is that he came and left before I even had coffee! LOL Going backwards in my day, I went to the Diamondbacks vs Rockies game last night at Chase Field... how AWESOME was that! I had a great time and took copious amounts of pictures!

First tho, let me expose you to CUTE :)

and now onto the ball game.....

the pastor at my church was chosen to play a game between innings... He's in the middle, holding his middle daughter...



and fireworks after the game were good...

and then MercyMe ... :)

Awesome night.... late, but awesome!!!

Puppy Kindergarten Star

Anita, our puppy class instructor (and the instructor I started training with when I started working Kota here) fell in LOVE with Piper! She was always giggling at Piper doing ANYTHING. She even threatened to pup-nap her ;-)

The class is going to be really cool. We're working on basic manners, attending, sit, stand, and she even introduces the puppies to walking through ladders (made of pvc) and low low a-frames.

Because I had gone to classes with Anita before, she asked me to demonstrate many of the things in class for the others - despite my having the youngest puppy in the class (by quite a bit). We have a Miniature Pinscher who is 5 months old, a Border Collie who is 5 months old, and a Golden Retreiver who is almost 6 months old. Then there's little Piper at a tender 13 weeks old :)

They learned about targets tonight too, and Piper thought that was the BEST. THING. EVER!
She picked up on "touch the target, get a treat" REALLY fast. She transfered it from the paper plate target to my hand on the first try... can you say "Will Work For Food?":)

Nothing phases this puppy, and she's loving everything... she might even be an agility star in the making - showing no fear of the low little a-frames or tunnel. :)

I expected she'd pass out after class.... HA. Nah, she's been rolling around with Chance and is currently chewing a stick she just brought in from outside... I think she'd live outside if she could. She especially likes the night time... she loves to chase the crickets!! Goofy kid. :)

the flight has been grounded...

Unfortunately one of Piper's ears fell over night... I taped it this morning.

When I came home from work, the other ear had fallen down.

Now both ears are taped again, and she has to go into public tonight with tape on her ears... poor kid! ;-)

Puppy Kindergarten starts tonight... 6 weeks from now she'll be a superstar.... right?? ;-) at lest her ears will be up (let's hope!) ;-)

lift off....

I split the princess crown tonight - thinking the ears could handle it on their own... I was right....



I was right....
the first view of her "big girl" ears....

And here she is, in all her cuteness... ears and all! Just in time to start her Puppy Kindergarten class tomorrow!

Hopefully they stay up over night!

pushy puppy videos

Piper puppy can be a tad.... uh.... pushy? She will sit and bark at any-dog who is not appeasing her every whim... if they are chewing a bone and ignoring her... or maybe she just likes her own voice??

Enjoy seein' the kid in action...



This second one is even funnier I think... watch for Chances reaction... it was all I could do not to bust a gut as I caught this interaction....

12 weeks and a little bit...

It was killing me that everyone had stacked photos of their puppies, and I didn't! LOL