How to Make Your Own Fleece Tugs (Just for CK!)

A Blur Extravaganza



Yeah, we finally had agility after being rained out for two weeks in a row. We doused ourselves from head to toe in mosquito repellent and hit our teacher's backyard. All of the dogs looked like dancing bears, walking on their back legs in their excitement to get to the teeter totter. I just knew I was in for a ZOOMIE night.

After practicing the teeter, we began doing a series of obstacles. Hubby dearest laid down in the dirt and got some pics of Jake sailing through the tire jump before entering a tunnel. It was starting to get dark so the pics aren't the clearest.



Jake did really well on all of the sets, completing them, stopping for his treat and then ZOOOOOOOOOOOOMING all over the backyard. Jake was not alone, though, and all the other dogs thought zooming was a perfect way to celebrate being back in class. One of our teachers has been on vacation for a while so she hasn't seen the change in Jake's focus. She said she was very proud of Jake! Jake hit his contacts well and with speed since we've had plenty of time to work on that the last two weeks on his traveling contact board.



Not only is Jake doing better but I've calmed down over the zoomies. I still hate it when he does it but thoroughly enjoy when someone else's dog does it!

Boo Hoo!

So we were all chanting "No rain, no rain, no rain" but since we're on speed dial for thunderstorms with major lightning every Tuesday between 6 and 7, our chanting had little results. At 6 on the nose, the rain clouds rolled in and the light show began. Sigh. Is it too much to ask for Mother Nature to use the other 167 hours of the week for the sudden thunderstorms?

Introducing No Worries Jake, CGC!

Jake did it! He got his CGC (Canine Good Citizen -- see www.akc.org for further info on this test) on Saturday! We drove to Fort Mill, SC and joined several other members of our Carolina ACD Club and some guest dogs for the testing . The funds raised are going to Tennessee Valley Cattle Dog Rescue. By the time we had arrived I had gotten over my jitters and just figured that I was helping with fundraising. The judge did comment, "Jake always brings the party with him, doesn't he?" Lady, you have no idea!

So without further ado here's No Worries Jake, CGC, taking his test:



Jake, please stop sniffing the ground and pay attention to me! Please for Mommy! Your new nose isn't always a good thing!


Jake's best gal pal Pepper got her CGC, too!


Cinch didn't get his CGC but he wasn't far from doing it! He and his Mommy will be ready for the next time and we know he'll pass it then!


Jake playing ball with the Fun Police Queen aka Luna:


Jake getting in some A-frame practice:


And, introducing Bliss, 4-month-old foster puppy extraordinaire, aka sweetest little girl on the planet (who will soon be leaving for her forever home):


Bliss VERY, VERY tired from playing with all the big ACDs:


We all had a blast letting the dogs play in the field afterwards with squeaky balls, agility equipment and each other. I love every minute of Jake getting to play with his ACD buddies. When the dogs were worn slap out, we humans headed for a wonderful lunch and some shade and fans.

Oh, wait! I forgot to tell you the best part! When we got back to our friend's house where we had stayed the night, our friend wanted some help putting up his fence. Jake was loose in the yard and rolling around in the thick grass. One of the girls helping "supervise" the fence raising started laughing and said, "I love to watch Jake roll in the grass". I turn to look and Jake is WALLOWING IN WHITE LATEX PAINT. He proceeds to zoom around the yard covered in white paint, stopping occasionally to roll white paint on the bright green grass and to decorate me with white splatter as he shakes. Oh, the life of the party! Luckily, it was water-based paint and a nice hose was already hooked up outside.

A picture of the big fat raindrops from my upstairs office window

Agility Class Cancelled Due to Rain AGAIN!

So we had a beautifully hot, humid day until I got in the car with Jake to drive to agility. All of a sudden a big wind swept in and brought with it lightning and thunder. I still hadn't received a call saying class was cancelled so I thought maybe it was just a West Columbia thing. As I drove across town, the black clouds followed me. As I pulled onto the street where our agility instructor lives, a very bright bolt of lightning hit very close by, making the sleeping Jake jump sky high. Our instructor was pulling out as we pulled up. Sooo, we turned around and came home to a beautifully hot, humid evening in West Columbia. Go figure. Jake is so confused after that ride. I took him outside for a little squeaky ball time but it's still really hot outside. I didn't let him play long b/c I don't think he feels well. Heat never helps. Why does it always have to rain on Tuesday nights?

Sponsoring an Animal in Need

My heart always goes out to animals in need. I'm not rich and I don't have the space to foster another animals in the little zoo I run at my house. But I feel like I can't sit idlely by and do nothing. After reading the book Best Friends: The True Story of the World's Most Beloved Animal Sanctuary by Samantha Glen and visiting their website -- www.bestfriends.org -- I decided to sponsor one of their dogs. We're suckers for spots in this house so we chose Allegro:

His description read:
"Can you love me even if I'm shy?"
Allegro seems like he was born a timid guy. He came from Los Angeles, where the local shelter couldn't find him a home. And sometimes he seems like he's resigned himself to being overlooked while the more outgoing dogs get picked. But he's a sensitive, well-behaved boy! He's fully housetrained, he's affectionate, and just about never barks. He loves being taken on walks (and is always super-well-behaved on them) and is so appreciative if you give him a belly rub. He's curious about the world around him and wishes he had a friend. He's six years old and 50 pounds.
Do you think you could be friends with a shy guy?

Today we got great news about Allegro from Best Friends:
"Wonderful news! Allegro the dog has been adopted. A lady in Arizona fell for him, and decided he was a match for her family. He's just joined them, and is settling in well. He has a new dog girlfriend, and cats to play with, and is learning the joys of a forever home. We're so happy for him! As Allegro's sponsor, you know he was a bit shy, which meant he didn't always show his best side to visitors. With time and gentle handling, he came a long ways here at Best Friends. However, he still needed to find someone who would understand his quiet nature, and be able to offer lots of love and patience. And it finally happened! Your support meant he was able to have great care and stay here for as long as he needed. Allegro thanks you for being such a great friend."

They allowed me to transfer my sponsorship to a new animal since I had only recently started sponsoring. We went back searching through their list and just had to choose Jake:

His description reads:
Jake is afraid you might find his photo "ordinary". He knows he's not the most 'different-looking' dog you've ever seen. But please -- read on! Jake is the easiest dog in the world to take care of. He doesn't have a mean bone in his body, and won't give you any trouble with other dogs, with cats, or with anyone. In fact, he's delighted to be around lots of other dogs. He's also housetrained, and in perfect health. However...Jake is rather shy. He's so shy that some trial adoptions haven't worked out because the people reported he just wouldn't interact with them enough. But he does make progress -- it's just slow, and he needs patience. The more he gets moved from one place to another, the harder it is for him to learn how to get close to somebody. But he's always gentle and soft with everybody, and never causes any trouble. Jake just needs somebody who can give him the time and teach him how to be close. He promises he's worth the effort. He's just never had a real chance to learn what 'home' means. You could change his life by giving him a chance!

It seems we have a soft spot for the shy guys. We'll hope that this Jake will find a new home that fits him well soon. Until then we know he's safe at Best Friends!

Class at Last!

For once class didn't get rained out! Jake got his usual squeaky ball time in the backyard and we happily headed to class. With only Gracie and Cosmo and Jake, we got a chance to do lots of obstacle sets. First on the menu was the teeter totter -- Jake raced across (with less padding under the other end) with no fear to get that chicken on the other end. (Insert drum roll please!) Our longest obstacle set yet was our next event -- jump/tunnel/A-frame/jump/jump/dogwalk. Gracie and Cosmo performed with flying colors. We broke it in half for Jake especially since the tunnel always seems to send him over the edge. Not this time! Jake made his momma proud! As we left the dogwalk the second time, our teacher said, "It's almost like he's a different dog!" Reversing the obstacle set (losing the dogwalk and adding the chute at the end) was another matter but I was still floating on cloud 9 from the first set.

And then there was the obstacle set with lots of jumps and lots of tunnels. Do you see where this is going? I'm sure everyone in class wishes they had a video camera for what happened next. My husband had shown up to watch the last few minutes of class and Jake was full of himself, shrieking at the top of his lungs as the other dogs went through their paces. It was his turn NOW! So when it was our turn to go, Jake took off over the first jump and into the tunnel. Jake often stops dead center in the tunnel and doesn't come out. So here I am trying to coax Jake out of the tunnel and I hear laughing behind me. My husband shouts, "Looking for your dog?" I turn around to see Jake buzzing Gracie and Cosmo. He was so fast that I never even saw him come out of the tunnel! It's all those spots -- they blur the vision at that speed. We kinda lost Jake's focus at that point. He wanted to chase me around the course and skip all the jumps. He'd take the tunnels and then run with me to the end. We were able to circle back and try a few more times (obviously not in the rule books but not the point at this time). The weave poles were a disaster this week with Jake laying down full-sprawl as he exited the last pole and putting his head down. He was done for the night. While class didn't go perfectly I think both Jake and I learned a few new things we need to work on.

Jake's 4th of July

Jake's going on a year and a half now so he got to hear fireworks outside the house last year. All he did was bark his head off at them. So this year my hubby and his best friend decide to have a block party and everyone brings fireworks. We drive up to Charlotte to hubby's best friend's house in separate vehicles so I can leave if the fireworks are too much for Jake. Hubby doesn't feel that Jake will be bothered by the fireworks. We stop at yet another fireworks stand for MORE fireworks. A hot dog stand is open and serving cold cokes so I got Jake a hotdog and me a coke while we were waiting. The hot dog was extremely hot so we drove the rest of the way with Jake begging for the hotdog he can now smell on my side of the car. I handed Jake the hotdog when we got out of the car and he carried it around for half an hour. He greeted everyone with this hotdog sticking out of his mouth. It wasn't until I broke it into pieces that he seemed to realize it was something to eat. Before too many people arrived we played some squeaky tennis ball and you can tell from the huge grin on his face how much he enjoys it.

Then we went to rest in the shade and grill some meat. Since hubby and I were both driving, both of us were drinking the nonalcoholic sort of beverages. Joe's favorite drink of choice is root beer. Jake is lucky enough that Joe always saves him the last sip of that coveted root beer.

One must first sniff the vintage of root beer (now that one can smell, everything must be sniffed first):


One must completely plug the mouth of the bottle first:


One must fully extend tongue to catch every drop (the grass doesn't deserve any):


And finally, one must lower the eyelids and ears and enjoy the taste!


One satisfied rootbeeraholic:

Side note: There are no further pictures after this because the fireworks started and I was too busy with the flying, shaking thirty-pound ball of speckled fur in my lap. We left hubby and his fireworks behind and headed for home shortly after. Jake was very happy that his mommy was looking out for him today! Mean ol' scary fireworks!

Sock Thief Caught Redhanded
I accidentally left my sock drawer open and Jake decided to take every last one of them out and organize them on my armchair in the living room. I thought he was being awfully quiet so went looking for him. I started taking pictures of him rolling, tossing and snuggling in his pile of socks before he noticed me.

When he did notice me standing in the door, he got really still and really guilty looking. He was very thankful that his daddy came to the door to distract me from his dastardly deed.