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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

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!

10 comments:

Johanna said...

WOW !!! You and Zen both look amazing !!!!!

Shetla said...

Thanks for the joy of watching you and wonderful Zen! I miss agility so much when I see runs like that.

And, ah, those two innocent wet babies in that photo. I know that look :-)

Serena said...

So sorry to hear about Pax's illness, Bernadette. What a brave little trooper she is! Just as you say, a little Christmas miracle pulling through this special Christmas holiday! What a wonderful memory photo of your little beauty queen! Hurray on your success with fostering Shimmer and Tickle so that they could go on to their new homes. Congrats and well done! Bernadette the Olympia run had many great moments too!

Diana said...

I went to a trial today. In the excellent class, which had several world team members running in it, had the same set up ( chute staight to a jump). All the dogs kept curling into the handler and not driving out to the jump. It was weird. Im not sure why they were doing it. You guys still look great. Diana

Christine said...

Can I echo what Serena and Johanna have commented as they have summed it up so perfectly?

Karen said...

Zen looked fantastic and I cannot see why she did that either very strange ! x

Mary-Anne said...

I wonder if the noise might have caused Zen to pull off that jump? She would have lost visual connection with you while in the tunnel - perhaps in all the commotion she THOUGHT she heard you say something, leading her to second guess her committment to the jump? Nevertheless, brilliant runs overall!

Glad to hear Pax pulled through the holidays and that your two "houseguests" found homes. Jordan looks great!

Those sure are two grubby little puppies :)!

Lian said...

Zen is an amazing little sheltie in the big atomsphere! I always enjoy watching her run!

Pax is a little fighter!

Acadia Shelties said...

Happy New Year!
Cadie

Anonymous said...

Hello !

Thanks for the video. Nice Run , no idea why she changed direction.
Happy to hear that Shimmer + Tickle have now a home for their own.
Fine that Pax is still on your side.

Happy New Year !!

Margit