Happy Birthday Terry!

Today is my sister Terry's birthday. (I can't say what birthday it is as she does not take well to being reminded. ) As I don't have any photos of her birthday party today, here is a photo from 2 years ago when she turned 50.....ooops........

Dogs and agility equipment on your birthday. Ahhhhhh what could be better?

Fantastic weather

We are just having the most fabulous weather lately. Warm and no rain and thus less mud! I was actually able to go out and train in the back garden yesterday and today. Zen and I are getting ready for Crufts!! Go Zenny! Not having trained or competed since August, she is doing remarkably well. Zen is always up for it and is such a joy to train.

This weekend, Andy and Nancy brought Kizzy over to meet Fat Boy. Fat Boy thought Kizzy was a little over the top and Kizzy thought Fat Boy was a plush stuffed toy that needed to be poked with her long nose. Ha. Today, Peggy brought Zoe over and Fat Boy was more confident. Zoe is a little smaller than Kizzy and was a bit more gentle. Rather than poking Fat boy, Zoe instead did huge leaps OVER him! After awhile, Fat Boy started running along with Zoe and actually chased her once or twice. Both visits were good for Fat Boy and I could see him starting to figure out what he needed to do.

Here he decides just to let Zoe win....



Zen is not looking her best right now; her coat is just gone. She is in that awful post-puppy shed. She won't be looking her best for Crufts, so she will just have to stun them with her agility brilliance rather than her beauty! But anyway, I had to get some photos of her with her pups.

Here is Zen and Kizzy.

And here is Zen and Zoe.

And of course, here are some more adorable FatBoy photos. He is turning out to be GORGEOUS! But considering how gorgeous Hob-b is, why am I surprised?

Cute Fat Boy Photos

Fat Boy is doing great. He is a cute puppy, real plush and fluffy! His bad habits include always being underfoot and tugging on pants legs! His cute habits include shaking his toys back and forth just like his sire Chi.

Fat Boy getting frisky with the Bumble Ball

Fat Boy goes to Work

Just to prove that Dennis did do some work today! Here Dennis and Neil consult with Fat Boy about a very important project!


Fat Boy spent the morning at work with Dennis. He spent alot of time in accounting running around and playing. I hope some work got done at Spellman today!

As always I love when the pups go to work with Dennis. It is a great opportunity for them to socialize and see new things. The next three weeks will be busy ones for Fat Boy as we take him to experience lots of new places, sights and sounds.

Fat Boys new owner has tentatively picked a call name (subject to change of course!). He may be named "Spell". So any good ideas for registered names? The theme is "hell"! So far we have come up with:

OBay Helluva Spell
OBay Hells Spells
OBay Cast a Helluva Spell

No Internet!

I haven't had a chance to post to the blog lately as our phone lines have been down for over a week! So no phone..no internet! Right now I am borrowing a friends computer to catch up on some emails and thought I would post this photo. Dennis scanned it from a newletter from the dog food company (Burns) that I use to feed all my dogs! Doesn't Zenny look happy?

Fat Boy is doing great. His growth and weight seems to have slowed down a bit! Thank God! His weight is now about 1 lb less than his sire at the same age. And Chi matured at a solid 15 1/2". Although I still think Fat Boy is going to be a chunky medium agility dog, I feel better that he is not going to be a Large agility dog!

I hope to get new photos of Fat Boy on soon, just pray for the phone lines to be connected soon as I am going crazy with no internet!

Fat Boy and his yellow bone video

We are playing around with video. This is our first try and it just a little clip of Fat Boy playing this morning with his yellow bone.

Click here to watch "Fat-Boy-and-his-bone"

Happy 11th Birthday Jordan!

Happy 11th Birthday Jordan!

Jordan turned 11 this weekend. For her birthday suprise, Lisa took her to a massage seminar and she got to be massaged by lots of students! Lucky girl!

She still is the perfect dog. She is never not happy! She is the dog that everyone wants to own; she is happy and friendly and sweet. Her only bad habit is that she always seems to be laying in front of you and we are constantly tripping over her. This has gotten worse since she has gone deaf and doesn't hear us coming. Oh and typical sheltie, she is always hungry. So she makes sure she lets me know, at least one hour in advance, when dinner is due!

I remember the day I met Jordan as if it was yesterday. We were at a Breed show and I was watching shelties. Jordan's breeder asked me if I could show this 6 month old puppy in the puppy class. Jordan had never been on lead before and this was her first show! Hmmmm... Anyway, Jordan won the puppy class and we went on to place in the puppy group. About one year later, I approached her breeder to see if she would lease Jordan to me for a litter. Well instead she gave Jordan to me and I never looked back. Jordan did give me one litter(Halo and Presto) but was spayed after that. Jordan picked up some breed wins and breed points and finished her Masters title in agility. Since then she has been under our feet and we adore her!

Whizz Border Collie of The Year 2006

MY Border Collie Whizz (well she was mine for a little while!) won Border Collie of the Year 2006 in Denmark. This is a photo of her and all her winnings. Isn't she gorgeous! Whizz will be 11 years old in April.

Great quotes

As we get ready for the next agility season, I am trying to find more of these great quotes!

The secret of achievement is to hold a picture of a successful outcome in mind.
— Henry David Thoreau

and my favorite quote specifically about agility:

The real JOY is in the privilege and ability to step to the start line with your dog by your side, not in the crossing of the finish line victorious over others.

- Gail Storm

I want to finish reading my new book by Susan Garrett called "Shaping Success: The education of an Unlikely Champion" but I can't because Johanna stole it from me. (hint hint) I am hoping it will get me more motivated and focused.

Fat Boy is 2 lbs 13 ounces at 4 weeks old today. His growth seems to be slowing slightly but, then again, that may just be wishful thinking!

We took a photo of this gate while out driving around last month. Isn't it gorgeous and unique! What work must have gone into it! Notice the details to go along with the webbed gates including the mailbox with spider legs and the webbing under the lights. And the gargoyles on the columns! Cool.

OBay Highway to Hell

Well Fat Boy has a new possible name. Thanks to Uncle Tony. This is an AC/DC song which is perfect as his grandmom has a name from an AC/DC song called Hells Bells.

Here are the lyrics of the song. I particularly like the part that says "No stop signs..speed limits"!

AC/DCHighway To Hell (1979)
Highway To Hell

Living easy, living free
Season ticket on a one-way ride
Asking nothing, leave me be
Taking everything in my stride
Don't need reason, don't need rhyme
Ain't nothing I would rather do
Going down, party time
My friends are gonna be there too
I'm on the highway to hell

No stop signs, speed limit
Nobody's gonna slow me down
Like a wheel, gonna spin it
Nobody's gonna mess me round
Hey Satan, payin' my dues
Playing in a rocking band
Hey Momma, look at me
I'm on my way to the promised land

I'm on the highway to hell(Don't stop me)
And I'm going down, all the way down
I'm on the highway to hell

Fat Boys adventures continue with his first car trip with Dennis to the Bisley Target Shooting Range. He got to play with Uncle Tony and Uncle Tim.

Here he is with Dennis posing by the Bisley Sign. Dennis loves to get in the photos......

Here Fat Boy is with Uncle Tim (who is not really insane, he is just wearing the ear defenders on his head) and Hob-b. Dennis took Hob-b along for company for Fat Boy. The first few times he goes out, he needs her for comfort (and snacks!)

Just for Price (who gave FB this toy) here is a photo with Fat Boy and the duck. I am not quite sure what Fat Boy is doing with this duck. But without being overly graphic....let's just say this Fat Boy is very advanced for his age....

Fat Boy Walks!

I am posting this silly photo just to show that Fat Boy can actually walk!

Although he does fall down a lot.......

He has decided that everything deserves to go into his mouth. He has a particular attraction to this little lamb toy.

Only the American readers will understand this. Somehow, in my head, I have hooked up the name "Fat Boy" with the theme song for the TV show "Cops". I can't help but sing it to him.

"Bad boys, bad boys

Whatcha gonna do, whatcha

gonna do

When they come for you"

Just replace "BadBoy"with "FatBoy" and you will see how it fits!

Fat Boy actually may more appropriately be named Bad Boy. He seems quite dominant for just 3 weeks old. He likes to use his weight to beat up toys and makes the cutest little grrr grrr noises whenever he does anything! He is starting to come to me when I tap my hands on the floor and we have him climbing over and under things. I have started to bring out all the musical children's toys to get him accustomed to different noises and different surfaces under his feet.

FatBoy will spend the day on Saturday with Dennis. I am off to a Heelwork to Music sheltie training day. No, don't worry, the world is NOT ready to see me dance with dogs. I am going just to learn some new ideas and some new party tricks. And just a chance to spend the day focusing on Hex and Zen. I will NOT be dancing with my dogs, I will leave that to more coordinated and musically inclined people! Dennis will take Fat Boy in the car (with Hob-b) for the morning while he target shoots at Bisley. The noise is far enough away that it will not scare the pup, but a good introduction to some different noises. And a good chance for a car ride and new scenery for the pup.

Dennis may also take Fat Boy to work on Friday depending on the weather.

Going to train my dogs today

Even if it rains, I am going to train my dogs today! I am such a lazy trainer, thank god I have good dogs! Here is the quote I am following this month:

Arthur Ashe (tennis player): "One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation."

Hex and Zen and I are gettting prepared! I have some sequences in my head that we need to work on. Hex needs work on picking up obstacles that require her to push away from me especially if I am behind. She would always rather curve in towards me and needs work on long straight lines. Zen is going to get some remedial work on her contacts and getting her to send to the bottom of the dog walk when I am somewhere else far far away!

I have heard from some of the pups owners and they all seem to be doing well. Here is a cute photo of Wizz visiting the local library. And a photos of Zeus sleeping with his new border collie brother named Anton.



















Fat Boy continues to do well. I am feeding him mushed up dog food a few times per day and he likes it. He is going to start coming places with me next week as I can't bear him being home alone!

I have thought of a cute registered name for him to play on Hob-b's registered name (which is Akadia Helluva Hob-b at Obay) and to play on an agility theme.

OBay Helluva Good Time! What do you all think? Any other ideas. All of Hob-b's relatives have a "hell" theme! Here mom is Hellsbells and her grand-dad is Hells Ablazin.

Can you find the Fat Boy?

Can you pick out the Fat Boy in the photo?

And I thought I did alot of work with the pups!

http://www.puppyprodigies.org/VideoClips.htm

Wow, I found this link on another blog and couldn't believe it! Poor Fat Boy, I have alot of work to do with him to catch up. Too bad he isn't actually walking yet!

I was really pleased to see this website, as it encompasses so much of what I do with my pups. It is good to see I am not the only one! I am going to sit down and go thru this website tonight and see if there is anything I can add to Fat Boys routine!

Miscellaneous

Fat Boy has now finally opened his eyes! He opened them a bit later than I am used to and waited until he was 14 days old. We were afraid he was so fat that he wouldn't open them! But eyes and ears now open, so my work begins again. But alot easier with just one puppy! We are going to move him into the kitchen this weekend, so that he has more contact with all the other dogs. I can't bear the though of him all alone in his whelping box. We will be calling him Billy-No-Mates soon.

When I started worrying about his "doggie" socialization, I remembered our last singleton puppy "One". One certainly has no issues with other dogs and is probably one of the more dog social pups I have had. So I think Fat Boy will be ok.



I hope I didn't scare anyone....this is NOT Fat Boy! hehehe My friend Eleanor sent me this old photo of "Price" who was her singleton puppy a few years back. Price (aka Priceless....we all know the cost of these c-section singleton pup...yikes!) is now a lovely bouncy Champion German Shorthair Pointer. Very well socialized and very energetic!

Here he is as an adult with his mom, Syndney and the sheltie crew. On the left is one of Jordan's puppies, Presto and in the middle is Joy's brother Dash. The sheltie on the right is Eleanor's latest addition called Ozma. She picked Ozma because she had a very similar pedigree to both Dash and Presto.




In this photo below is Hex's brother Max. Max doesn't do agility or obedience, but he rules the roost at Jill and Tims. Last week, Jill went to visit a friend with young son called Archie. Even though Max hardly ever sees children, he did so well with Archie and can be seen sharing both his bed and his toys! Isn't that the cutest?

Empty Nest

All of the Fab Five are now gone into their new homes. It is very quiet here and I feel a bit lonely. Fat Boy is now 2 weeks; so hopefully in a week or so he will start to keep me busy.

On the plus side, I now have time to start training Zen and Hex again as we are all feeling a bit rusty and out of shape. I have some New Year's resolutions to work on. One of which includes some regular training for Zen, Hex and I. The other includes trying to get fit!

I thought I would introduce all the new owners; each with their own special little hooligan...ooops I mean sheltie pup! I am very happy with all the new homes and hope that the pups give them many years of laughter and joy.

First we have have Andy and Kizzy (OBay Caught In The Act). Kizzy (formerly known as Dot) will be doing agility (and maybe dabbling in other rings) and lives with Andy, Nancy and a crew of Border Collies. Although the biggest of the litter, she still is not really very big and is running on the lower end of height charts. She has turned out really lovely and has a gorgeous structure. When Andy came to choose his pup, she wouldn't stop following him around. It was meant to be! You can read more about Kizzy's antics on her own personal blog at http://hudsondoglets.blogspot.com/

Second we have Han, Adele and Wizz (OBay Catch The Wind). Wizz (formerly known as Black Leg) will be causing chaos in Holland. She is a strong character and needs a firm knowlege of who is really the boss! Luckily Adele and Han are long-time sheltie people and know how to read shelties. Wizz has turned out beautiful and if her ears stay correct, I am hoping they will put her into the breed ring as a puppy. She also will be concentrating on agility.

Third we have Peggy and Zoe (OBay Catch A Rising Star). Zoe (formerly known as Carmella) is joining Peggy and Kelvin along with her big uncle Timmy (and hoping to do agility as well as he does!) and a sweet golden retriever called Jessie. Zoe is the pup I felt most like Zen in many ways. I am lucky that I will get to see Zoe most frequently as they live the closest to me. Peggy said that Zoe settled right in and acts like she has lived there her entire life.

Next we have Mary and Oz (OBay Caught Red Handed). Oz (previously known as Pickle) joins Mary, Dave and a crew of border collies, a lurcher and another sheltie. (You can read about Mary's other dogs at http://www.maryray.co.uk/dogs.html) Oz can be a bit naughty and likes the sound of his own voice, so I think he may drive Dave slightly batty. But hopefully his adorable attitude will win him over! What will Oz be doing? Well Mary does everything, so the sky is the limit. I know that Mary will bring the best out in him and I couldn't ask for a better owner of my special Pickle.

Last but not least, the littlest of the bunch. Kirsten and Zeus (OBay Catch Up). Zeus (previously called Tony) was the smallest but he never knew it. Forever climbing up on things (including full height a-frames in the agility field!) he always tried to be above all his siblings. He was probably the cuddliest of all the puppies, one of the few content to just be held. He joins Kirsten, Gert and a bunch of shelties and one border collie in Denmark. He gets to live on a lovely farm and will have a great life doing agility, obedience and maybe some breed showing. Kirsten lives close to Johanna (who owns the pups dad Tazz and grand-dad Monty) and so Johanna is happy to be able to watch him grow up!

Good luck to all the new owners. Just remember I am here for any questions or just to listen to how wonderful/bad/naughty/cute/fustrating they are!

Happy New Year

Wizz (aka Black Leg) will be the last puppy to go into her new home tomorrow. Her new owners are driving and taking the ferry over from Holland to come and get her. Once she is gone, I will post new photos of all the pups and their owners.

In the meantime, I get to play with Wizz a little longer. So she came with us to a lovely New Years Eve party given by Lesley (my agility instructor extraordinaire) hosted by Leslie and Sarah and their darling son Dylan Zane (see a "Z" name!) and catered by Lyn and Les who are fabulous cooks. The party was mainly agility folk (except for Dennis and Tony who were very patient) and Wizz got alot of positive socialization. She had lots of people playing tuggy with her and taking her around on her lead. She is getting better on lead although it is not her favorite thing right now; she would rather take the lead and go wherever SHE wants!

Ok, she had a few drinks but it was New Years Eve!


But she also got to be held by the great agility instructor/handler Lesley Olden! Hopefully this bodes well for Wizz's future agility career!

And she got to meet her first little child. Dylan Zane at first wanted to put Wizz in his mouth but settled on chewing her lead. Wizz seemed unfazed by him and it was a good experience for her.

This morning on New Years day we went for a great walk thru Petworth Park. Our friends Tim and Marion know Petworth Park well as Tim works at Petworth. We took Zen, Hex, Chi and their mom True as well as Grizz the lurcher on a nice muddy 6 mile walk. They loved it of course!

From left to right (Hex, Chi and Zen).