Monday, September 6, 2010

Training Challenge #5

Our training challenge for the past week was 5 DAYS OF TOTAL SEPARATION!!! Talk about outside of our comfort zone! Since mom got me, we had not spent a night apart - I came to live with mom and dad on April 7, 2007 and mom left me on September 1, 2010. Can you believe it? Mom and I are huge homebodies and we love being there and being in our own routine and everything. But dad's parents live in San Diego and mom hadn't seen them in four years so this year she flew out there with dad. She was a nervous wreck - worried about me, worried about the plane trip, worried about leaving our house - I mean the list goes on and on.

I went and lived with grandma and grandpa for five days. I love them but when I first got there, I wondered where mom was and when she would come in the door. I laid around a lot the first day. But after that, I settled into a new routine with grandma and grandpa and I had a good time. I got lots of treats, I did recalls in the backyard from grandma to grandpa and back, I watched cars go by at the end of their driveway and some dogs too. Apparently I was a very, very well-behaved house guest! I want to thank them so much for taking such good care of me!

Mom had a good time on her trip. She got to see lots of stuff and go lots of places. They went to the desert, the mountains and the beach all in one day! She went to the zoo and also went walking in the chaparral. And my dad's parents have three dogs - mom played a lot with the two Border Collies (Kyle and Kellan - we blogged about Kyle and my grandma Catherine before and they are going back to the NOI for a 4th time this December. Kyle is 7 years old I think and just got his OGM Obedience Grand Master title and he is a UDX17 dog!) - and while she was there, they got a new BC puppy (unexpected timing) - so she even got to play with him! She says she missed me a lot, but I have my doubts! :)

Here are some photos from my stay at grandma's and from mom and dad's trip:


La Jolla:
Sea lions at La Jolla (dad thinks they should be called sea dogs because they bark all the time):

Mom and dad at Point Loma:

A view from Cabrillo (the marine layer was over the ocean each time they went to the beach no matter what time of day it was):

While they were taking in the beach, I was hanging out:

One day they got up very early (4:00AM) and drove to the Anza Borrego Desert - the park is actually closed most of the time from June to October because it is just too hot there. That's why they had to go so early. Even at 7:00AM, it was already super hot. Mom had never been to a desert before - look at this jackrabbit:

In the spring, the entire area is covered in wildflowers and the park is crawling with people. No one was there the other day and everything is dry. Cactuses are about the only plant around:

The mountains look like this:

Dad was enamored with trying for panoramic shots - here is one that looks like a postcard:

Mom got to watch part of my grandma Catherine's lesson that she was giving and here is mom helping to proof sit/stays - she pulled on the collar of the dog and said, "Let's go!" and unfortunately the dog broke his stay!

Dad took some amazing underwater photos in a tide pool - they should be in National Geographic magazine! This is a sea slug:

And a sea anemone:

Meanwhile I was in grandma's kitchen hoping for something tasty to come my way:

This was the beach at Torrey Pines at 4:00 in the afternoon - see all the marine layer? When mom and dad left grandma Catherine's it was 102 degrees. When they got to the beach 45 minutes later it was 67!

Mom sure doesn't look too sad or like she misses me here playing with Dax the new puppy!

He flew by himself all the way from Sioux Falls, SD!

Me again - waiting to go outside:


So we survived our biggest training challenge ever! Mom got back late last night and we spent all day together doing a few little tricks and going for a nice walk at my park and getting back into our routine again. Tomorrow we have class! I haven't done any agility since last week's class. We tried to keep up with reading everyone's blogs but we're sorry if we missed some. We'll get back to normal soon though. Hope everyone had a good long weekend!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

12 comments:

Sara said...

Wow Ricky, that was the ultimate challenge! Glad you survived!

It has been years since I've been to California. Your mom's photos make me want to go there now! So,so pretty.

Dawn said...

Sounds like you all did just fine! I bet it was a bigger challenge for your Mom than for you! Wonderful photos!!

Dawn said...

Oh - I forgot to ask...when were you born? Cause we got Katie March 31, 2007! Just a week or so before you went to live with your Mom and Dad! Isn't that weird?

Chris and Ricky said...

Hi Dawn - I was born Feb.15, 2007.

Nicki said...

Sounds like everyone had fun. We went to Point Loma a few years ago when we were in CA!

NAK and The Residents of The Khottage Now With KhattleDog! said...

Isn't five days like FUREVER?????

Thanks fur sharing their great trip -

The pikhs were pawesome - Mom gets all geeked about the panoramikh shots too - humans are so easily amused!

Welkhome Bakhk!

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra

Marie said...

What a challenge! I'm glad you and your mom both survived.

That is just so cool about your Grandma Catherine and the N.O.I. I can't even imagine being invited once, let alone multiple times!

Diana said...

What beautiful pictures!!! It looks like you guys had a great time. Diana

Kathy Mocharnuk said...

WOW TALK ABOUT CHALLENGES! That was some challenge. What great grandparents Ricky has...it looked like he got some great care while you were gone. That looks like a GREAT vacation, and the desert looks like where I live! What kennel is the puppy from, way cute! Glad everyone did so well with the challenge, that had to be hard to leave Ricky the first time!

Sagira said...

WOW! I bet your mom missed you very much Ricky. My mom has only been away from me for a day when her Grandpa was sick. Hopefully you don't have to do that challenge again, right?

Those pictures are beautiful and the BC puppy...how cute!

Morganne said...

Awesome photos! Loved reading about the trip. Its so hard to be separated but it sounds like you enjoyed your stay at Grandma's house.

Johann The Dog said...

Looks like you survived Ricky!!! What a good boy and you stayed with the bestest folks :) Glad you all had a great time!