So Cal days 1 and 2

Piper and i have been having a good time in Southern California for the last few days...

She's REALLY showing SO much better inside than she did outside in Palm Springs a few weeks ago. She's gained a TON of confidence and has been moving with her head up most of the time! :) HOORAY!

Piper went 3rd in her class of 6 in sweepstakes (under Vivian Moran) and won a pretty square glass container, and then was 2nd of 2 in regular classes yesterday (under Leah James). The girl who beat us in classes yesterday went on to win Reserve right behind Bobbin.

Today Piper won her class (over the girl she lost to yesterday) and got a STRONG look in Winners, and we were even asked to move again, but in the end, Dorthy Collier chose Bobbin for Winners Bitch, and the 2nd place Bred-by bitch as Reserve. I was bummed, but I know she got a good look, so her time will come. She's butt-high right now. D'oh! :)

Kim and I took the girls shopping after we ate brunch, and now they are chewing meaty bones on the floor, Kim is napping, and I am being a dork on my computer! :)

I have taken pictures of us just hanging out, and of the girls playing, but unfortunately I forgot my cable to upload, so that will have to wait till I get home....

I had the chance to sit and chat with Vivian Moran yesterday at the Banquet, and she was full of compliments about Piper... She said "bring her to me at the Nationals in Houston, and I'll promise she'll be a different dog". I have no doubt that is true, since that'll be a little over a year from now :) Everyone was very full of compliments on the little goon... the nicest compliment I kept receiving over and over was about her movement... I LOVE hearing that! I don't think it will ever get old! :) Someone else even said "don't take this the wrong way, but she's the nicest dog you've had yet". :) I didn't take it the wrong way... she IS nice. I'm very fortunate. (Thanks Jeri!).

Tomorrow is yet another early show day (8:30am) - wish us luck :) As long as Piper is enjoying herself, I am enjoying myself :)

the wild wild weather

So I know most of you will probably laugh - but we had a week worth of rain last week... and a few tornado warnings and watches.... and more rain.... and some wind. On my way to work on Thursday (the worst storm), I took these pictures.



This is a normally empty "overflow" area - it was filled to the rim!

I LOVED the weather.... not so much the tornado stuff tho! There were confirmed reports of a funnel cloud touching down in North Phoenix/Scottsdale, and unconfirmed reports in Gilbert (much closer to me). That sort of stuff doesn't happen in Arizona, for goodness sakes! LOL

Photographic evidence

Chance's Picture arrived today, and Meg Callea is MY HERO!! Dixie told me to trust her - that she'd get a great photo, and I'm SUPER pleased with the results!!!

Now to wait for the AKC to update... they're updated through the 8th (of course he finished on the 9th!). It made it real all over again! :) *happy dance* :) Now to work on those girls!! :)

a come-back...

Sedona looks GREAT right now... She's bodied up and is in good coat right now... so I went ahead and did it. I entered her in the shows on 2/6 and 7.. Lost Dutchman and Saguaro in Phoenix. The last shows she was entered in was May of 09 I think, when we went to Albuquerque... I just can't give up hope on my beautiful orange faced girl. She's grown up some, so maybe her time will come.

Piper is entered also... in case inquiring minds wanted to know :)

This show is a week after Piper and I go to San Bernardino for the Southern CA Specialty and the Orange Empire shows...

Bring on the dog show season... :)

training updates

Piper is doing really well in her new class.... our biggest challenges are 1) keeping her nose off the ground and 2) stay. We're working on NOT having her sit unless she's in the heel position... She's well loved by her instructor :) She's doing great. There is a puppy match (conformation) at the local conformation training facility, so I think we'll be entering... Couldn't hurt. :) From there, we're entering the shows at the fairgrounds (I think entries close tomorrow - show is the weekend after SoCal) and then the Fiesta Cluster in March... April has shows in Tucson, then no shows till June in Flagstaff.

Sedona realized last week that training was FUN... she's excited to go tonight, already! She's a good dog, tho she does sit and think "what is the purpose of doing this". If she doesn't see a purpose, I have to work harder! LOL She will sit and STARE at the other agility field... I think that's where she LONGS to be....

Now that Chance is finished, we are going to try our hand at Rally this spring I think. I think he should be able to earn a Rally Novice title fairly easily. He did a walk through of a course the night he earned his CGC and he did great!

Kota will start back in Rally to get those last two legs for his Rally Excellent title... after that, we MIGHT go for an RAE... we'll see ;-) I started Kota on Glucosamine today... I'm going to see if that helps his leg any...

Lots of dog goals for the next year... we'll see how close we come to reaching them! :)

Champion Chance and Piper's first show weekend

We travelled the 4.5 hours to Indio, CA for the Kennel Club of Palm Springs shows this past weekend. We had majors - thus my travel ;-) Finding majors has been the most difficult thing in finishing Chance... I don't remember majors being a problem when I was showing Kota. They just sort of happened, and honestly, I think I picked up my first one without even knowing it was a major! HAHA.

I tease that Kat is Chance's "girlfriend", but she's been a great friend and dog-sitter when I've been in the ring with the other dog I'm showing.. she loves Chance for the obnoxious terd that he can be... ;-) Well, I say that because she was the one who was kind enough to snap these photos for me over the weekend...

Chance in the Breed line up.. Dixie followed behind with new Champion Annie (an Alex daughter). Camille was ahead of Chance and I.
The go around (get your HEAD UP, Chance! Shesh!!)

Best of Breed went to Slick, Best of Winners was Chance, Best of Opposite was Camille and an AOM went to Harvey....
And this weekend was Piper's debut... she did a decent job for the silly goon that she is. She didn't move in the ring as I know she can... We'll work on that.

Piper after the down and back, saying "hi" to the judge again :)

And Sunday's judge... I'm not liking the angle that she had Piper's neck tweaked at here... I don't even remember it being like this... this judge was SERIOUSLY tall!

So all said and done we came home with a new Champion and a new show dog... Once AKC confirms, we'll have Champion Farpoint's Takin' Chances! I'm so so proud of my kid, and it's nice to know he's a champion! I might let him grow up and let him play as a special... he sure moves like a dream!

We had fun, tho as like most dog show weekends, I found muscles I didn't realize I had... Piper finally realized that peeing outside in the grass wasn't a bad thing... :) That was a challenge! Our next show (for Piper) will be the Orange Empire shows and the Southern California Speciality on the 29th, 30th and 31st. :) The other kids will be staying home with a friend who will house/dog sit for me.... :) Wish Piper and I luck.... :)

"why are you doing this to me?"

That is the look I got from Sedona on more than one occasion tonight. I took her to her first training class since she was a puppy... she did NOT understand why I was asking so much of her. The most that's been asked of her is to stand stay, and to look cute.... oh yea, and to move her cute little fanny off the pillow! She's lived a pretty charmed life. I hope next week she's a little more into it... At one point she put her head down and sulked. Literally sulked. Spoiled little princess dog. LOL

Big baby.

She did well though - heels better than any dog I've had and sits (when she wants) super quick. towards the end, she was understanding 'front' and 'swing' and 'around'. She'll be able to do a Rally Novice course without any hitches whenever I choose to get her out. :)

I saw a flier for some local obedience matches holding Rally that I think I might just enter the kids in, if money allows. :)

new year, new toys....

When my dryer did a dive off the table, I started searching online for dryers... the cheapest I could find a Double K single speed dryer was $155 before shipping. I was discouraged, but prepared to accept the hit to the check book because well... I had to. I was googling "Double K dog dryer" and came across a Craigslist listing. It was based out of San Diego. The person advertised that it had been used just a few times and that they were asking $100. There was no specific information on it, and the person never sent a picture (despite my request). She (I'm assuming it's a she) finally shipped it after I agreed to Priority shipping ($20.45). I sent the money PayPal and received it today. I figured I was getting a good deal, but i had no idea.

This is what I pulled out... (placed nicely next to my other fun new dog show toy).


I looked twice and did some research online on this dryer.... I was shocked at how much this dryer sells for!!!!

OMG I got a SMOKING deal!!! It's in GREAT shape - just a few scratches on the bottom of the unit where it would sit on the ground, and a few scratches on the nozzle... I turned it on and tested both speeds (against the dogs better wishes). It works like a charm.

I'm SO excited to try out my new dog show toys! 2 weeks from now we'll be in Palm Springs using our new dog show toys! :) Yay for good scores!!!

2009 in review

January: Start mortgage application process after finding out the rental home I was in was foreclosing.
February: Get all mortgage paperwork turned in, got grad school paperwork turned in, Chance turned 2.
March: Dad passed, was denied for mortgage.
April: put on wait list for grad school
May: was accepted into grad school, my first year as a school based speech pathologist ends - SUMMER VACATION begins! Chance got 1st major in ABQ.
June: started working for the summer doing preschool speech evaluations, Dakota turned 6, Sedona turned 3, Piper was born.
July: House was sold at auction - officially given notice. Continued with the preschool evaluations, went to Ventura in hopes of finishing Chance - didn't - but came home with a nice scar on my forehead! School starts - new assignment at Jack Barnes Elementary.
August: moved into new house 2 weeks after school started.
September: Piper came to live with us.
October: FALL BREAK
November: 11 years since Tanya passed. Saw mom and crew for Thanksgiving.
December: I turned 34, WINTER BREAK!

I have high hopes for 2010 - many things I'd like to accomplish.....
-lose weight
-finish Chance
-put points on Piper
-get last 2 legs of Kota's RE
-get Chance's RN
-get Sedona's RN
-have grass in backyard
-fix up front yard (grass, bushes, trees)
-prepare to buy house in 2011


I look forward to another year - hopefully 2010 holds wonderful things for you and yours - I have high hopes for the upcoming year! :)