Christmas 2009 Part 1

Christmas always seems to start with Olympia; so here, finally, is the video clips from our two runs at Olympia 2009. It took me 2 weeks to get up the courage to watch them! I have no idea why Zen pulled off that penultimate jump in the final; she was fully committed to it and at the last second looked like she thought I wanted her to come away from it.

No matter; I was happy to be there with my amazing dog and enjoyed every second. The noise is absolutely deafening and I was so proud at how she handled it all this year. She just has gotten so mature and so much more confident. The courses at Olympia are just so big and she is just so little compared to the other dogs. For the first time watching the video I could see how hard she need to work to run on that surface and jump those jumps. What a little star!



Christmas was a pretty quiet affair for us this year. It would have been nice to go back to New York or get away for Christmas but Pax is not well and we could not leave her. Sadly Pax has bladder cancer and we do not know how much time she has left. We are glad for the time left with her so that we can just enjoy her and remember all the wonderful times with my special girl. Here is a photo recently scanned (from the days of non-digital photos) of Pax when she was younger and I still tried to do breed showing. I cannot say I miss the breed ring! For me there was nothing more boring or semi-ridiculous! I give people alot of credit who do it successfully every weekend because I know they love it just as much as I love agility. But it was just not for me. Pax was such a good dog to show in everything; we did so much together and it seems like we have been together much more than 13 years. But I refuse to get sentimental about her yet; she is still with us and I did not think she would make Christmas this year. She is my little Christmas miracle.



Our other "oldie" Jordan just keeps plugging along as Jordan always does. She never does anything wrong; she just "is" Jordan! Perfect, happy and always hungry! Here she is with her Christmas present: a rawhide shoe. The shelties love it as a special treat because I do not let them have it very often.



Our other little Christmas "miracle": Both Tickle and Shimmer have found new homes! Tickle went quickly as I knew she would. She went home with her new family during the week of Christmas. Shimmer took a little longer and spent Christmas with us. Then I got a call on Boxing day from Sonia asking if Shimmer had been adopted yet. It seems like Bob had finally given in and said YES they could take Shimmer! Hurrah! I think it will be a great match. Below is Shimmer with his Christmas pressies; he enjoyed himself with us over the holiday but I am sure glad he now has a permanent home. As much as I enjoyed having both dogs; I am glad to get the house back to normal.



Our Christmas activities included alot of muddy walks! Itz and Zaz get so much muddier than every other dog; I think because they are constantly chasing each other and rolling around in the mud!



More later!

Some new additions to the household

Well Olympia is over for another year. Zen was fantastic in both her runs; she ran her little socks off over two HUGE courses. I will eventually post the videos but it takes me a few days to be able to watch them!

Meanwhile we have two little additions staying for a little while. Don't worry they are not permanent additions! I have been very careful to keep our little OBay household numbers down so I thought it was time to take in a few rescues for christmas. I have not done fostering for at least 9 years when we used to run the sheltie rescue on Long Island. Back then it seems like we constantly had a foster dog or two living with us and it can get very stressful after awhile. Once I "retired" from sheltie rescue I made the sad decision to not take in anymore fosters. I would support with donations but my own dogs were being neglected and being exposed to alot of disease as I did not have the room to keep them isolated.

Luckily time helps us forget and I offered to take in two rescues last week. I expected to get a little mixed breed and was surprised when the rescue asked me to foster a sheltie! So on Wednesday night I came home with two little foster dogs. Each had their own sad story but I like to forget the sad stories and just help the dogs look to their happy futures. I think dwelling on their past only keeps them down and they need to be happy now.

Meet Shimmer (the sheltie) and Tickle (shitzu x JRT)



Shimmer is only 10 months old. He was badly matted and did not smell very nice when he arrived.


After a bath and a few hours of grooming! Shimmer is a beautiful boy and needs a home. You can contact Many Tears Rescue for an application or for more information.



Tickle is a tiny shitzu x JRT. She is 14 months old and absolutely adorable. She loves to lie on the back of the sofa like a cat. Tickle is also needs a home and you can contact Many Tears Rescue.



Isn't she adorable?

Nordic Championship winner!

I am very proud to announce that Susanne and Unique (OBay Truly Unique) won the Nordic Championships in Sweden yesterday! What a great partnership they are and we are very proud!

Luckily they were able to drive from Denmark to Sweden or they would not have been able to bring home all the loot!

Zaz's 1st full course!

Today we went to a practice show as an Olympia warm-up for Zen. I wanted to only do the agility runs with Zen; so I tried Zaz around the simple jumpers (with no weaves) course. I was amazed at how well Zaz handled the new venue and an entire course of 20 obstacles! What a little star. I drank a few mulled wines during the day and have decided that nice warm Mulled wine is a great beverage to keep one warm at a cold agility show!

Here is a little video of Zaz but ignore the sound as for some reason it did not sync and I cannot be arsed to try and download it again. I regret not bringing my actual video camera as I cannot edit the video from my little digital camera with Movie maker. My digital camera only takes video clips in Quicktime and I just cannot seem to get on with the quicktime-pro.



Karen and Yaz also ran the jumpers course even though Karen was convinced that Yaz could not do more than 7 obstacles in a row. Luckily Yaz showed her that she was ready for the big league and I have video proof! I just have to upload it and I am sure Karen will put it on her blog.

Sadly Itzy did not get to come with us today but will go with me tomorrow to different practice show. I decided to spend one day alone with each puppy this weekend. Of course now I do wish I had brought Itzy today so that she could have had a go also. Unfortunately the practice show tomorrow is a little more "official" so Itzy won't get a run. Poor Itz! She showed her opinion of being left home today by howling during the X-factor semi-finals.