Tuesday

Last Tuesday morning it was 6 degrees. This morning it was 60. Ohio weather is very schizophrenic.

We went to class and I don't have much to say. I did alright but wasn't on fire like last week. We did some weave-entry drills and some sequences with special timing of front crosses.

The news of the day is this:

Mom and I went on our usual morning walk in our neighborhood. We were a couple streets over from our house, walking on the sidewalk when we look across the street and see a COYOTE lying in these people's front yard. Dead. But looking like it just fell asleep in the middle of the grass. Now you know, we live in a Columbus city neighborhood with lots of houses and sidewalks, etc. Very out of the ordinary.

Poor coyote. But what the heck do you do with a dead coyote in your yard?


Gotta zoom!

Ricky

This week's class

It was 6 degrees outside when we left for class yesterday! Thank goodness we had something indoors to do.  

To get me warmed up and ready, mom had me do tricks and then one jump and then some tunnels. I had a really good time just doing one tunnel several times in a row. Class was centered around tunnels - including a straight tunnel. We worked on some serpentine handling and some rear crosses at tunnels. I had the best time ever in agility class! At one point, Susan (our instructor) was challenging mom to see if mom could put me in the straight tunnel and beat me to the end to do a blind cross before the tire. And mom COULD NOT beat me! It was funny because she was gasping and all out of breath.

When class was over, I didn't want to leave the ring. Susan gave me some liver treats, and I thought she was my new mom! :)  

Possible secrets to my success: warming up with tunnels got me all excited and no one videoed me! Bring out the camera and you can be assured of getting the slowest performances ever! Haha!

Gotta zoom!


Ricky

Midweek Trip

Mom and I went to visit my cousin Wilson on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. We had not gone to see him in over a year - except for Christmas Day.

Mom and my Aunt Laura had a great time, I guess. They kept leaving me and Wilson to take care of the house. Of course Wilson just fell asleep and left me to stand watch on my own.Those silly Retrievers get tired from all that ball chasing!

He and I get along ok. We both like to bark a lot! He barks to get mom to throw the ball, and I bark to try to keep him in the herd.

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Agility class

We went to class again today! The theme was 180s. We could handle them any way we wanted. Mom has to remember to keep doing anything that will speed me up.

Someone was nice enough to video a little of my turns so I can at least prove I was there! :)



Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Happy 2013!

Happy New Year everyone!

Today I went to my first agility class in a year and a half! It felt like we had never left. I went right in and did warm up tricks with mom. Some of the dogs and people we knew from other classes and some were new to us. The theme of today's class was front and rear crosses on the flat. We talked about how a cross on the flat can really set up a clean line for the dog.

The first sequence started jump, dw, fc on the flat, pinwheel, weaves. I had to go first!! I showed everyone how it was done. My first dw and set of 12 weaves in a long time, but I did them like a pro. I am still a very thoughtful dog out there but I knew what I was doing. :)

Mom had a good time too! I am so glad we are back to classes!

Maybe we'll ask someone to video next week!


Gotta zoom!


Ricky

Agility!

Mom just signed us up for an agility class that starts in January! My first class since May 2011! I haven't done 12 weaves or any contact equipment since then. Think I will remember?


A blast from the past:

Questions to Ponder

Why can't I climb trees like squirrels?

Why don't I get a food reward FOR barking at cars?

Why is 3:00 PM too early for dinner?

Why can't my fur be completely self-cleaning and self-brushing?

Why does anyone ever want to stray from the herd?

Why wouldn't I bark at every single person or dog that walks past my house on the sidewalk?

Why would I want to cuddle - have you seen my thick coat?

Why does mom prefer to walk on sunny and warm days when the cold and cloudy one's are so much more refreshing?

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Thanksgiving Day!

It was absolutely gorgeous here on Thanksgiving Day! We went out to my grandparents' and my Cousin Wilson was there with his family too. After the noontime dinner, we all went for a walk in the fields behind grandma's house. Some people who live back there have alpacas! I had seen them one other time but this is the first time we actually got any video.






Did you see how much that black alpaca seemed to like me?

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

To Each His Own

The other day I was chewing on my bully stick like a good boy when I heard:





Haha! I love brussel sprouts too!


Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Yes

Dawn and Katie wanted to know if I am still barking at the lawn mower in the garage. Well sometimes I don't but usually I do. I still bark at cars too. We used to call these training challenges but now we call them tradition. :)

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Gorgeous Fall Day!

Yes, I am still here! Mom has been too lazy to help me blog and too lazy to take a camera when we go places. We have had some beautiful fall days with blue skies and amazing colors. I got to walk at my favorite park today and I successfully tore mom away from her ipod long enough to help me type and post photos!

Bigify all of them so you can experience them fully! :)

See, pretty tree and sky!

Here I am posing and smiling too. This is a little gazebo in the park.

Another tree!

I am posing and smiling here too! The lighting is a little better in this shot -

But I have a cuter expression in this one!

Not award-winning photos and not award-winning content for this entry, but I hope you all are happy to finally hear from me! :) If I can get my lazy mom away from her ipod again, maybe you'll get to see some of my new tricks! Don't hold your breath though.....

Gotta zoom!

Ricky

Wordless Wednesday

MishMash Monday

Vacation!

Last Wednesday I went to Grandma and Grandpa's for my vacation while mom and dad went to visit dad's parents in San Diego! I had a good time at Grandma's until my cousin Wilson showed up and stole some of my thunder. But I was a very good house guest! Now I will grudgingly give the blog over to mom so she can share her vacation nonsense with you!

I went to San Diego for 5 days - I never want to be away from Ricky for very long. :) My mother-in-law's Border Collies help me to miss Ricky less. This is Kellan - he is a recently retired competitive obedience dog who is just full of life and energy!

And this is his brother Dax who is just two years old! He is adorable and has a very long tongue that he uses all the time to lick you! Weekend before last he got his CD with a score of 200!

This is a panoramic shot of part of the Oak Grove which is near my inlaws place. The fire of 2003 burned lots of the trees here but they have come back. (click to bigify)

At Balboa Park there is a lily pond full of enormous koi and also turtles like this one.

One day we took the dogs to swim at Fiesta Island! I had never been there. It is in Mission Bay and dogs are allowed off-leash all over the island (which used to be a landfill, I think). There is also a huge fenced-in dog park! All 3 love to swim but Dax is the best! The dog in the middle is Kyle - he was the #1 BC in obedience for many years. He retired last year as Ch.OTCH Trumagik Step Aside, UDX 20, OGM - amazing, huh? I love him!

We went to the new Birch Aquarium one day. None of us had ever been to it. We weren't sure what it would be like, but it was fantastic! We were dwarfed by the whale sculpture.

Jellyfish

A wolf eel - reminds me of something out of Harry Potter!

I love tide pools and always want to go to see them when I am at the ocean. There was a full moon so low tide was pretty low. We went to La Jolla Cove and looked at the pools at Boomer's Beach. A long time ago I had seen a reddish-brown starfish near the Shores. So I am always on the look-out. I got lucky - there were many this time. They are carnivorous and like mussels and there were a lot of mussels around.

Upclose view

Lots of anemones (we have a waterproof camera so my husband could take macro shots with the camera under water)!

The millions of cormorants and some sea lions at the Cove

Tide pools near the LaJolla Shores Hotel

My inlaws house - no, just kidding, of course. Actually if you have that much money, couldn't you build something less ugly! LOL!

A kid found a brittle star! So cool!

That's about it. It was a fun, but very tiring, five days! I needed to come home to rest. :)

If you ever get a chance to go to San Diego, do it! It sure is a great place to have relatives! :)

Gotta zoom!

Chris and Ricky

Mish Mash Monday

I give my mom the ugly face when she brushes me. Do you?