Zaz and Itz Training November 2009

I am pretty confident that Zaz and Itz are done growing. They have both been in season and they both seem physically grown up. So now agility training can really begin and it is such an exciting time for us! This is the stuff that I just love; the feeling that all our foundation work is coming together and the obstacle training itself is just a bonus.

Each puppy has their own little agility class during the week as well as our own training right here in my back garden. I am so lucky as both Zaz and Itz's agility classes are small and safe with friendly dogs and we get so much done in each class. I do most of my "real" obstacle training at home and use the classes to train around distractions and work on jumping sequences. I also try to take both puppies to private lessons with Lesley whenever I can. In between Nancy has been a great help to me with both puppies; a great sounding board because she has been playing around with running contacts also. :-) This past weekend I took Zaz to her first training day with Nancy and we had a great time. A puppy agility class with three shelties Zaz, Yaz and Wish; what could be better? And, no it wasn't a noisy class at all!

Since today was so beautiful we just had to be outside. When Dennis got home from golfing I grabbed him to do a little video of the pups obstacle training to show how they are progressing. After that we had a great walk with all the dogs and enjoyed the beautiful November sunshine. What a gorgeous day!

It was Bonfire night on Thursday and we have been so lucky not to have fireworks nearby. I feel awful for the dogs that have to put up with the fireworks all weekend. Lucky has come to stay with us for the weekend because the fireworks are so loud around his house. Lucky (Zen's brother) has been such a joy to have around and it has been a nice change to have a dog that likes to sit on your lap when we watch TV at night. Unlike my girls who are always scattered around the floor or in other rooms, Lucky loves to cuddle.

Anyway enjoy Zaz and Itzy's video and don't laugh at my constant "good girls"! I just cannot help it as they are just so GOOD and so cute and I just love both of them!

ArchAngel Halo Extraordinare

I just wanted to share a note I received last month about one of my pups. Halo is Jordan's baby girl; one of only two pups that Jordan gave me those many years ago. Halo was to have been my dog; the sable girl I had been wanting so badly. But things were not meant to be and Halo went to live with Karen in New Jersey almost 9 years ago. I know that these things always happen for a reason and I think that reason was that Halo was diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago. Karen fought as hard as Halo and with determination together they came through.

Can you believe the size of that Rosette?! I think it is appropriate that our Angel "Halo" (O'Bay Say a Little Prayer) has been awarded the title of ARCHex.



From Karen:
Just a quick note

Little miss Halo, the miracle dog fought cancer and has achieved more since that battle than many pups without her handicap. 2 years ago we could only hope that Halo would live to have a quality life after her battle with cancer. And, although she is somewhat challenged by the scars left by the radiation and staph infection, she has gone forward with the class and determination that is Halo.

This past week-end she earned her ARCHEX (APDT Rally Champion Extraordinaire). To get to this point she had to earn 10 QQs in Rally levels 2 and 3 and do so with scores of 195 or better for each Q. The ribbon we were awarded is bigger than Halo, but can't compare to the size of her heart. She is truly the apple of her mother's eye and loved to pieces. I have never had a dog like her and probably never will again. I've attached a pic of Halo, the judge under whom we earned the last qualifying leg, the ribbon and me. .

Gotta love this dog to pieces. Now we're back to some serious work in utility and herding. Yes Bernadette, Halo is back to herding along with Kismet. Halo's leg doesn't seem to be able to handle agility with the zeal that Halo likes to move, but she does very well with the sheep. She's not wild, listens and loves to work.

Thanks Karen for giving Halo the best home and a helping her recover from that awful cancer. Even though I cried all the way there and back; I think I made the right decision when I drove her to your home all those years ago!

Happy 3rd Birthday Kizzy, Wizz, Zoe and Oz (and the blog!)

It is hard to believe that it was back in September 2006 that this blog was started to keep everyone up to date on these potential puppies! Three years ago today Zen gave birth to her first litter of pups. Happy birthday to Kizzy, Wizz, Zoe and Oz.

The very first "Z" litter! Gosh what a hard time I had getting those owners to give their puppy "Z" names. I finally had to compromise and let them just pick names with "z" in the name instead of starting with "Z" as I really had preferred. Meanwhile the 2nd Zen litter had very obedient owners who named their puppies Zeki, Zinna, Ziga and Zev! They must have really wanted their puppies!

Here is Zen with her first litter.



Three years later and this blog has been a fantastic way to keep in touch with the growing OBay Family. I find it hard to believe that we have had over 190,000 visitors to the blog from 100 different countries! How fabulous is that?

Thanks to everyone who reads the blog and makes such lovely comments. I feel like I have so many more friends in so many different countries and maybe one day will get to meet everyone in person!

Blogs

I have some favorite blogs; ones that I look at everyday. I find them almost like reading the newspaper in the morning, entertaining and educational also. Some blogs I only check once and awhile; they are the ones that are mainly outlets for brags. There is nothing wrong with those blogs, they are just different, not as interesting for me to read everyday, but I like them to keep up with what friends and acquaintances are doing. Then, of course, there are the blogs of my own pups and those I like to check all the time!

Some blogs just make me laugh or cry as they are so honest. It seems as if the blogger is just chatting with me,the reader, from the other side of the world. You will see many of those blogs on my blog list. They are there because I enjoy reading them.

My favorite blogs discuss training and my most favorite ones discuss puppy training. I love to watch the blogs that bring on pups and their training right from the start up until competition. Ones like Elite Forces of Fuzzy Destruction. This blog details training and competition with videos AND she has a new puppy! With some of these blogs I can see what worked and what did not and it helps me decide what I might like to do with my own dogs. Those are the honest blogs, the ones that tell the bad and the good! Actually many of these blogs have shaped my training over the years. When you train on your own often, like I do, it is nice to watch how other people train and handle. I liken it to training days; I sometimes get more out of watching other people and what the trainer advises them than I do when I run my own dog. Watching videos and reading training discussions on blogs can be done in my own time and when I have few distractions. That is why I enjoy it so much.

Anyway another one of my favorite blogs is The Dog Blog!. (As an aside the blogger, Sassie, is getting a new puppy soon and I look forward to watching that puppy grow and learn as she is an interesting trainer!) While I like to watch her training and competition videos; today I just wanted to share a blog post from Sassie that for some reason just hit me as particularly insightful and I thought some of you would enjoy it. You can read it at
Want some Advice?.

Since I find any blog post without video or photos boring; here is another Pink Croc Bed photo! This time we found Pax asleep in the croc.

Supadogs Final 2009

Last weekend we competed at the Supadog Final. The other day I was looking at the videos that Dennis took of the runs. I was very pleased with Zen's performances but I laughed when I saw the end of the video. Thank goodness Ian kept his dog on lead! I never even noticed what nearly happened nor did Zen even show that she noticed. A good reason to have the start and finish line further apart I think!

Zen won this class and it was great to be out running her again. She has been on a break since the World champs and her last show before that was nearly 2 months ago!