Merry Christmas to me - part 1

Back in November I ordered a new grooming table... it finally showed up today. :) :) :)

Isn't it COOL!!?!??

Don Glenn makes them, and Sarah Keth told Jeri and I about them.. it's a dark green coating on the table, with the Cardigan sprayed on in white then covered in whatever covering Don used... :) Definitely a table that no one else around these parts will have! :) The best part about it? (aside from the Cardigan painted on it) IT'S LIGHT!!!!!

So up went the dogs... they had to all test it out. :) Here's Pipey on the new table...
OMG - we have a (almost) level topline!!!!Yee haw!!!!! And look at the pretty curves!!! :) Ahh how I love the puppy! :)

And LOOKIT the front! Not a great shot, but you can see her pretty little front :) (note the waggy tail behind her ;-) )

Chancey wanted up B.A.D! So he went up. He looks SOOOOO LOOOOONG! Chris (Armstrong) said to me "is it just the picture, or is Chance big?" No. He's big. with a capital B :)
Next was Kota... he still LOVES to play show dog... it's so cute :)
Sedona preferred to lay down rather than stand nicely... little priss. :)
Our new dryer is coming any day now too... That story will be saved for when it gets here! :)

Sedona, CGC & Chance, CGC

We took our CGC tests last night at our training facility... my poor trainers... they didn't realize that I had two more at home! They've met Kota,who I started with there over a year ago, and of course Piper, who is training there now. When I walked up with Sedona and Chance the lady who owns the place looked bewildered. :)

I took Chance out and worked him for a bit before the test started - he's never had ANY sort of formal training aside from going to dog shows. Not a puppy class or anything for the boy. I am VERY proud to say that he performed like a champ. Sit, down, stay, recall, no reaction to strangers, or strange noises... no jumping or acting like an @$$. The ONLY time that he acted like an @$$ was when we did the activity where the dog stays with a stranger while the handler goes out of sight. He barked. And barked. He does this at dog shows too, so I knew it was a high probability he would do this. It ALMOST cost him the CGC. Because he calmed down and otherwise did SO well, the evaluator let him pass (thank God!).

Sedona has had 1 puppy class, which was when she was a puppy... She's much quicker to sit and down, though she doesn't like to have to stay... she'd rather be with me. We worked on a few things while walking a rally course they had set up and she impressed me. She did SO well in the actual test, just as I expected she would. She was an angel through the 'staying with a stranger' part, which was a welcome relief after her brother was an @$$. :)

All said, I walked away with two new titles for two dogs in one night..... I'm so proud!

Baledwr Desert Sunset, CGC
Farpoint's Takin' Chances, CGC

And what last night ALSO taught me, is that they both can EASILY get their Rally Novice titles... So guess what's up next?? ;-)

The day after Christmas.....

You'd think the kids were on tryptophan highs or something... they were lazy daisies the day after Christmas, which makes for easy photo shooting ;-)

Sedona being her normal princess - can't lay on the floor ;-) Kota on the other hand, LIKES laying on the ground - it's cooler!
Mister Pants and his pretty colors being lazy near his sister and brother (see Kota's foot in the upper right corner)
lazy Kota - starting to show his age..
Piperdog being lazy in another part of the living room
I've always loved taking photos of Chance - his coloring and markings are so striking and make for good photos :)
the face of an angel (who occasionally wears horns ;-) )
my pretty pretty princess - *swoon*
Sedona trotting up to me to play...
and proceeding to roll on her back and make Corgi noises...
I think this is Piper's nose who ruined my picture of Chance playing ;-)
this is a good angle of Kota's ear... weird, huh? :) He's getting better, but still not 100%....
That night I went to the Nutcracker with my friend and her daughter. This was the scene from the balcony - one of the dancers was reading the story to the kids down in the main floor.
I accosted a stranger and asked him to take a picture of us together... Rachel and I went to school together since we were in 7th grade - and her daughter is now a sophomore in high school!
This was our view from our seats to see The Nutcracker.
We had a good night - despite there not being a live orchestra, which there was supposed to be... Rachel and her daughter said that they didn't enjoy it as much as they had in years past, but since I'd never seen it before, I enjoyed myself and had nothing to compare it against. I will see it again.