Awesome weather!

We have had great weather the past few days (all ending tomorrow with rain and cold)! Mom didn't have to work and we spent lots of time outside. We went twice to the ravine in my favorite park because the wildflowers are starting to bloom down there. Mom is a nut for wildflowers especially in the Spring.

I had to pose again and again. Here I am sitting in lesser celandine. It is so pretty and is just every where!


Miley always poses on tree logs so mom made me do it too! :)

Virginia bluebells are just now starting to bloom - I am sure we will go back in a few days to see them when they really come out!

Lots of dogs walk in the ravine - an entire pack descended on me. Mom didn't save me - she just took pictures. Thanks mom!

More of me and the yellow flowers.

Besides the park, we have been hanging out on our patio a lot. The bullfrog we had in our pond last fall made it through the winter. But we didn't see him yesterday or today and wonder if he hopped away in search of another bullfrog.

We have done a little fun and fast agility - basically speed circles. Just having a good time!

I am working on my retrieve and my tricks while holding stuff in my mouth. Also I am still working on my signals exercise. Mom has been reading about treibball (ball herding) and found a Yahoo Group about it and there are 6 lessons on how to get started. Lots of stuff I already know so mom is going to get me a ball and see how it goes. I would prefer that we get some sheep but mom says No!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Once Again, When One Wordless Wednesday Just Won't Do!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Almost Wordless Wednesday

A darker purple colored crocus is blooming now! (bigify to really see how pretty it is). And I had squirrel fur in my mouth today for the first time ever - that's how close I was to catching one in my backyard!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

When it stopped raining

On Wednesday it finally stopped raining and we got out of the house! We spent the morning doing some much needed gardening, then we did a little tunnel/dogwalk discrimination, and after lunch we went to my favorite park.

Then yesterday mom surprised me by telling me that we were going to go to grandma and grandpa's! We hadn't been there since Easter! We had such a good time!

Grandpa's lawn is so lush and green!

Lots of things are growing in the garden - asparagus, rhubarb, onions, carrots, red beets, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas - the green beans and limas are in the ground - and grandpa was planting zucchini, butternut, cucumber, and tomatoes yesterday. I had my first taste of asparagus and let me tell you, it was delicious! I love my vegetables!

Two years ago it was corn, last year, soy beans, and this year, winter wheat in the field behind the house. You can see the heads of wheat have already formed.

Even wheat is taller than me!

It was a really fun day of running and playing outside and of visiting with my grandparents! Today the weather is still nice and I'm sure we will be out there making the most of it!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Spring Walk in the Park

We're having yet another gorgeous day here! High temperatures are 20 degrees above normal for this time of year. The warm weather has really brought out the flowers and flowering trees and greened up the grass. Dad even had to mow yesterday!

I'm still not feeling 100%, I think. Mom and I went to my favorite park for a walk today and I did ok - I mean no limping - but towards the end of the walk I got tired. Maybe it was the heat? Mom still keeps looking at me and wondering if I am putting all of my weight on my left leg. But I am running and playing like normal for the most part. Oh, I almost forgot - Dawn had asked me if we are still working on my emergency whistle recall - yes, we are but probably not as often as we should. Mom surprised me with it twice today and I went immediately to her. Actually the huge rate of reinforcement has strengthened my everyday recall too!

Beautiful magnolia:

Dutchman's Breeches:
This yellow flower is all over the park at this time of year. You might think it's dandelion but
it's really a wildflower called lesser celandine:
Taking a break (actually not yet - I am posing - when we take a break I lie down under the bench on the cool ground):

Still undecided about my trial on Saturday - guess time will tell.

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Mom's been working

Sorry about the extreme lack of posting! Mom has been working (which is a good thing) and when she's not, we've been outside trying to enjoy the nice weather! We've been to the park and to my favorite pet trail (super, super muddy). We have been practicing some agility in the yard - really short sequences and mom is rewarding me for speed. We're still working on several new-ish tricks and have made a little progress. Yesterday at the park mom whistle-recalled me off bunny fur - I was a good boy! The other evening we had our first barbecue of the year - mom and dad had hamburgers (they don't eat a lot of meat but like the occasional grilled burger) while I had a beef marrow bone! So things have been pretty good!

By the way, if you ever feel like listening to some classical music and want to check out mom and dad at work, the CSO has an instant encore page and you can go there and listen to recent performances and check out upcoming concerts, etc. (The instant encore recordings don't seem to work if you have Chrome for your browser, though, so use something else).

It's finally Spring - our daffodils started to bloom today! So even though we may still get some cold weather (and snow?) at least we are the farthest away from the dead of winter that we will ever be! Happy Spring everyone!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

tRicky T-Day!

We have finally been enjoying some nice weather after such a long and snowy winter! We've had a little rain yesterday and today but the temperatures are in the low 60s and it feels as though Spring is really here! Crocuses and snow drops are blooming in our yard and daffodils are up about 4 or 5 inches now. It's pretty muddy but we have done a little backyard agility this week. And I have been having fun chasing squirrels that seem to have forgotten that I live here - I have almost caught one on several occasions now but some how they manage to run just a tiny bit faster than me and make it up a tree. If I could climbs trees, those squirrels wouldn't stand a chance!

I am working on learning some new tricks that are not quite ready for video yet. The other day grandpa wanted to know if I knew how to turn left and right on the verbal cue alone and mom said "No." So that got her thinking and we worked on it a little this week - I am getting pretty good at it but no where near perfect yet. I wanted to make a tRicky T-Day video so that's the trick we used. You will just have to trust us that mom isn't doing any hand signals - you can't see her head in the video - but seriously, she is only giving me a verbal cue.

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

How do you guys do it?

Mom can't believe how much time goes by between my posts! How do you all do it - posting every day and sometimes more than once a day? I enjoy reading everything you all write but I can't think of that much to say!

We finally got a sunny day today! Mom and dad took me on a walk and it was fun until I lost control at some cars that went by and mom got mad because I was pulling and lunging and barking. She gets super frustrated and I just can't help myself.

Mom and dad got a new gas grill today - dad had one years ago - but in the past five years, they've been using a charcoal grill. So a nice, new gas grill and dad cooked chicken and zucchini on it and they ate outside and everything - just like a summertime party! I continued my theme for the day and barked at all people and most cars that went by our house.

Last night we got to go to our novice competition class - class 6. We missed class 5 last week when mom was at work. Last night it was fun to be back. The theme for the evening was threading through obstacles to go on to another obstacle. Like come out of a tunnel and go through two jumps and on to the a frame. We had mixed success - sometimes I ignored mom and took the off course obstacle and sometimes I listened to her. Any way, something new to work on. Mom thinks she wants to take this same level class next session too. There's still lots of stuff for us to learn from these two teachers.

So any way, hope you all have a great weekend! Mom works all day tomorrow but has most of Saturday off. Hopefully the nice weather will stick around for awhile!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Spring has sprung!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Spring Flowers

We are enjoying really beautiful weather here in Ohio! Yesterday mom had to work most of the day, so I spent a lot of time with dad. Dad took me on an awesome walk at a nearby wetlands and river! Today mom and I went to the park and also did a little backyard agility practice. I am getting to be a maniac on the dog walk and the teeter!

We just took some photos of some of our spring flowers! Hope you like them!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky