Recipe for making one ticked off cattle dog:

One muddy, rain-soaked yard
One bright red poinsettia
One fairly clean agility jump
Bait bag full of tasty turkey treats
Piles of slick dead leaves
One set of doggy reindeer antlers

Set up plant and jump in back yard trying desperately not to fall down or allow your dog to nose dive in the piles of leaves or roll in the tempting mud. Entice your dog to sit in front of said plant and jump. Use your WAIT command. Treat. Pull out antlers and slip on dog's head. Quickly take picture.



Treat and take second picture. Ignore husband as he pulls up in the driveway and mutters, "That poor dog!" Treat.



Decide your dog looks way too unhappy and take the antlers off. Treat. Treat again just because you owe him big time.



Keep taking pictures and doling out treats until your dog waves at you to stop.



Treat and then practice some agility on the jumps so you didn't drag them out for just pictures. It's makes your dog happier and dumps you in the mud and leaves on your butt which makes your hubby laugh hysterically and your dog feel like justice has been served.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Jake’s agility run was a disaster of Olympian proportions. I don’t even know where to begin. We began the day early by getting there at 7:30 AM to get Jake measured and confirm that he is indeed that short of a cattle dog. We headed home since we don’t live that far away and I spent some time playing ball and practicing his contacts on his practice board at home. I did laundry, answered rescue e-mails, and knitted more on a baby blanket – anything to try NOT to be nervous. My hubby Joe and I headed back to the agility trial at 2 PM so I could watch some of the other folks run and in case the trial was running ahead of schedule. The trial was running ahead of schedule so I set up Jake’s crate, mapped out a game plan for the Novice A Fast course with my teacher Mary, and practiced on the warm-up jump. Jake was fairly calm with none of his usual goose-honking I’m-cuckoo-for-agility singing. I should have known he was just saving up for his public exhibition.
I walked the course with my teacher at my side and felt fairly confident that I could handle the route we chose (you can choose your own route in FAST to accumulate the most points).

I grabbed Jake and we stood in line to run. We were fifth, jumping in the 12” height. I took Jake out to his starting spot, placed him in a beautiful sit/stay, and walked out to past the second jump. Jake began looking over his shoulder at anyone but me. When I caught his eye I yelled “Jump” racing for the third and fourth jumps as fast as my little legs would carry me. Jake nailed those first two jumps, blew on by me and began zooming and zooming and zooming. I can normally get him into the tunnels and finally did get him in the yellow tunnel which is followed by the dogwalk. Jake chose to run beside me instead of taking the dogwalk. Halfway down the length of the dogwalk and at the portion that is as high as my shoulders, Jake thought, “Oh, bleep, Mom told me to get on the dogwalk” and he leaped straight up in the air. All I can say is thank goodness he didn’t make it because I wouldn’t have wanted to see that injury. About this time, the judge blows two whistles (code for Get your dog and get the heck off the course). I would have loved to have grabbed Jake but he was again zooming around the course AND out the gate to go buzz some other innocent canine bystanders. Nothing is better than hearing “Will someone grab that dog?” over the intercom and it’s YOUR dog behaving like you’ve never put a lick of training on him. I’m not really sure if I’m the one who caught him but I wasn’t breathing real well at that point so there wasn’t enough oxygen in my brain to recall that part of it with any certainty. My classmates and my teachers all came out to hug me and try to get some blood back in my face. I'd like to thank them immensely for not running and hiding and for being seen in public with me. Jake got some water and some crate time until my teacher was done running her dogs. She called me over to see Jake’s score of an 8. Wow. An 8. The only dogs that got lower than Jake were the dogs that didn’t show up.

My teacher Mary asked me to work with Jake on the practice jumps again so we could work together instead of it being the Jake Circus Hour. Our goal was to work some randomness into practicing the jump by my treating him with the hotdog pieces at random points in running and jumping. Random is right. Randomly, Jake takes off at a dead run straight for some Shelties playing frisbee. The owner of the two very well-trained Shelties called her dogs to her. Jake took a wide loop run around them and headed back to me. I had to hand Captain Insano over to my husband at this point because I knew the next intercom announcement was going to be “Will someone grab that lady and make HER leave the area?” After delivering some tugs to folks who had ordered them, I got in my car with my wet, muddy lunatic boy (did I mention he ran through the sprinkler and stopped, dropped and rolled?) and headed home. There are no pictures and no video of this historic occasion because everyone was too busy trying to catch Jake and he was too fast anyways. The only proof I have of the day is the armband and some red clay pawprints on my jeans. I’m not angry at Jake but I so was NOT expecting that thrilling of show for the audience since he’s been doing so well in class and rarely zooms anymore. I’ve gotta go give him a bath and get that red clay out before he rubs it all over the couch….

Lending a Paw to TVCDR

On Sunday, two friends and I headed to Tennessee Valley Cattle Dog Rescue (www.tvcattledogrescue.org) to lend a hand with their foster dogs. I got there first and spent a good thirty minutes getting licked by Shadow before someone came looking for me.

I love Shadow's delicate head and sweet disposition:


First up on the agenda for the day was vaccinating and dosing with Frontline and Ivermectin. We began with Katie, the girl that Michael pulled on Saturday from the Ringgold shelter. Despite her nasty-looking spay incision, she was a cuddler from the moment we got her out of her crate. All she wanted to do was climb in Kristina's lap (and try to sneak in licking her incision since the e-collar was off temporarily).

Katie:


Some of the dogs needed their claws trimmed as well and we all know how much ACDs love to have their claws trimmed! Here's Taz and his team of wranglers trimming his front paws:



Many of the dogs needed pictures for their Petfinder listings so I got busy trying to get their ears up and make them ignore the camera:

Gaucho:


Jack (adopted while we were there!):


Skip (surprised us all by begging):


Roscoe (shy and dirty from playing with Star):


Scrappy (starting to lose some weight):


After a yummy steak lunch thanks to our friend with the portable grill, all hands were on deck to put up some new kennel runs in the barn (I have kennel envy -- those were such lovely kennels). Meanwhile, potential adopters that had already had their home visit came to pick out a dog with their toddler girl. Jack grabbed their hearts and Jack went home a happy boy! We ended the evening by walking all of dogs and loving on them all.

Oh, where's Jake, you ask? He was at Crowder's Mountain (near Gastonia) hiking with his daddy! He's still very glad to have his mommy back home!

R

Jake's New Friend

I wasn't planning on giving Jake one of my ACDRA stuffed cattle dogs but he spotted it and he HAD to have it. He jumped clear off the floor and got it from my shoulder where I stuck it for safe keeping. Luckily, I ordered four so I guess Jake can have one.

Introducing Jake's new buddy:



Let's go for a walk:



Don't worry, buddy, I'll make sure no one hurts you:



Let's rest in the pretty, non-poisonous weeds for a bit:



This is a great fundraiser for ACDRA (Australian Cattle Dog Rescue Association). I've been wanting these stuffed ACDs but didn't want to pay some toy store $13 for one. Paying $9.99 AND it benefits ACDRA is awesome! You can visit their website at www.acdra.org and order some for yourself!

Knitting: A New Source of Humiliation for Jake

Taking our winter break from agility was too much empty time so my friend Elizabeth and I took knitting classes for fun. Fun. Hmmm, once we stop crying and pulling our hair out, I'm sure we can label it as fun. Until then, our Type A personalities are trying to figure out this whole knitting thing and not giving up easily! We've got scarves downpat and are branching out into wraps and baby blankets. I've even bought yarn to attempt my first sweater! I needed a model for my red scarf and Jake's the only animal in our house that would hold still for modeling.

April Showers Bring Jake Flowers

I was hoping I could get this spot of the yard before the landlord mowed and it seems that I beat him to it. I have no idea what that stuff is but it looked exotic and deep enough to hide a Jake in. Jake is always willing to indulge Mom in a photo session if it involves mini marshmellows.

Animal Fair

On Saturday Carolina R&R hosted a booth at the Glenforest School's annual Animal Fair here in West Columbia, SC. The school holds the fair each year to allow rescues to raise funds and to help educate the public about animals. One of our goals as a rescue is to help with public education so we signed up and hoped for no rain. The event was to be held outside but with the rain, we all headed indoors to the rather dark auditorium. Since I was first on the scene, I procured two spaces by the front door and unloaded our fundraiser stuff in the pouring rain. I got done in enough time for it to stop raining and for Janet to arrive with her girl Pepper and the tables, display racks, and tent frame. Sara arrived with some festive hats and ACD breed info sheets. I then headed to go get another rescue member who lives here in Columbia, Karen, and her two ACDs, Diesel and Curry.

We got the booth set up in about a half hour and began to try to dry off. That's hard to do when all the dogs are wet and shaking off on you! Jake especially got soaked several times from walking back and forth to the car and taking potty breaks. My shoes were soaking wet from navigating the puddles in the parking lot. Regardless, we were proud of our booth!

Table set up with photos of our rescue at work, ACD breed handouts, and one corner of tugs on display:


Table set up with Buddy Biscuits and second corner of tugs on display:


Prizes for our dog trivia contest and hot dog eating contest (someone bought the remaining stuffed animals so gave away Buddy Biscuits as contest prizes, too!):


We got to see Hank, one of our fosters that got adopted here locally. He's growing like a weed and is only six months old! His new family adores him and we're so happy to see that.

Our gang of ACDs were among the best behaved dogs there and made all of us really proud. Jake preferred to sit on my chair and watch everyone go by. He sat there eyeballing the crowd until he caught someone's eye. He'd then pop up on the table with his front paws and lean forward to dole out kisses and be petted. We thought all the dogs were gonna explode from the amount of treats they were fed and the fierce competition of the hot dog eating contest (won by a little Dachschund actually). And, no, I have no pictures of the dogs. The lighting was terrible in that room and my camera wouldn't even focus on Jake's spots in that bad light.

The auditorium was crowded with dogs and people but the turnout was not the 500 people that came last year. So next year we'll hope for no rain and make more tugs!

Kissing More Cow Babies





Jake and I just got back from visiting my family in the mountains of NC and spending time with Jake's favorite babies, the little cows in the pasture next to my parents' house. Jake sneaks in tons of kissing on those furry, grody noses and this time I got licked by the baby cows, too!

The extra bonus for me was my brother, his wife and their two kids. Jake LOVES babies in all shapes and sizes and my nephews(age 3 and age 1 1/2) are no exception. Jake followed them around doling out kisses and clearing up under the table after dinner. Jake especially liked to lick the youngest until he'd cover up his face with his hands, thereby letting go of the death grip he had on his fleece blanket. Jake would triumphantly race down the hallway trailing blue fleece blanket making the baby scream and chase him -- game on! Jake would do something/anything and my oldest nephew would say, "Oh, wow, that's amazing!" and we couldn't help but laugh. My brother spent hours tugging with Jake calling it a workout. We went for walks in the cove and unfortunately for Jake he cut the pad on his back left foot and will have to miss his first agility class of the year.

March Herding Fun Day

My dear friend Laurey wrote: The Carolina ACD Club held a Herding Fun Day at one of our member's homes in NC. It was great fun to see cattle dogs get out there and do what they were bred to do. The raw instinct I saw was amazing!

The best part was that Carolina R&R was 98% in attendance - all 7 members and 5 foster dogs. Only our Mississippi foster mom Jenni and foster boy Luke were absent. Even our Forever Home dog Shelbi was there with her brother McGee.

Ellen took the time to put 4 of our dogs in with the sheep to see what they could do and, boy, did they impress! We were all very surprised by Piper and Trux, who both looked like they'd been doing it all their lives. Foster Mom Janet was the proud momma, and some of us even had tears in our eyes to see our boy Trux really shine. He's one heck of a dog - the total package. To see Piper in with those sheep was something else. Look out sheepies, here we come!

Trux, R&R's resident Wild Child and Mr. Personality, surprised us all with his natural instinct right out of the gate. I think we were all prepared for him to go wild in there, but he was patient and calm and moved the sheep just as he should have. More than a couple of us had a tear in our eyes watching him work.





DUTCH aka Bucket Boy and Wild Child, Jr. who didn't sit down or stand still at any time during the entire visit to the farm, was more a chaser than a herder, but did finally start to focus on the task at hand. For a young boy with NO training or manners, I think he did pretty good! (Note: We've only had Dutch one week!)





Cassie did quite good with the sheepies. She's young and a little wild as well but she made us proud none-the-less!





And where are my own observations, you ask? I wasn't there to see Trux, Dutch, and Cassie have their turn so I need to "borrow" some words for those three. And now for my side of the story:

I had attempted to hang onto Dutch originally but that boy is a powerhouse and my chiropractor is out of town for a week. So I handed him back over to Janet and opted for the more gentle, sedate Piper. AND THEN (drumroll, please) Piper saw sheep. That was the end of gentle, sedate Piper. Don't get me wrong -- she'd stop between staring at the sheep and pleading to go see the sheep to give copious amounts of kisses and shamelessly ask for belly rubs. I wanted to scoop her up in my arms just like Lolly had Trux -- she is just so dang sweet. Here's our lovebug on the sheep:







Jake had his go at the sheep and did a marvelous job. Hubby Joe went out with Jake while Piper attempted to dislocate my shoulder to get through the fence at those sheep. Jake's report card from his teacher said his drive is excellent but he definitely needs some training to hone those skills. I sure wish we lived closer to Ellen's and we'd be there every weekend working on that. And where are the pics of Jake herding? I don't have a single one. Shame on Mommy, right? I didn't miss one minute of watching him, though there are no pics and no video. When your face is behind the camera, you miss a lot of stuff that happens so I just wanted to watch this time.

Milly

R&R got Milly mid-January from a kill shelter in NC. Milly's mixed puppies had all been adopted and all that was left was skinny, tired Milly. Milly is about 4-years-old and needed a lot of TLC. This picture of Milly was taken January 19th:




And these pictures of Milly were taken yesterday, February 3rd! Wow! Milly is now bright-eyed, alert and filling out nicely. Milly was caught having the zoomies in the driveway yesterday and, in my book, that tells me a cattle dog feels comfortable.







Note posted 2/24/08: Milly was adopted!

January Photo Contest



Jake's photo won second place in the AuCaDo January Photo Contest, where the theme was 8!

Cassidy

I picked up our newest foster Cassidy around 2 today, well, make that 3 after all the paperwork. The great news is that Cass is heartworm NEGATIVE! The first thing out of my mouth when I met Cass was "Hello, Stinky!" My gag reflex was kicking in fast as the smell of the sweetest, stinkiest dog. The second thing was "Oh, my, look at that blue eye!"





Cass is very curious and into everything. She pulls on the leash to look at things but isn't an over-the-top puller. She rode easily in the car and made no complaints. She's energetic but settles nicely for some cuddling and belly rubs. I took her straight to the tub and washed her with an oatmeal shampoo. She whimpered the whole bath but didn't try to escape. She has a short, fine coat with one tail spot and one spot around her right ear. Cass has about five inches of a tail. She weighs about 25 lbs and should weigh much more with her body shape. She doesn't know SIT at all so she is in for some obedience training at her foster home. I think we've pulled another very sweet but spunky girl.

My heart was broken last Thursday when I had to put our youngest rescues to sleep. I was sick over the thought of putting the little girl Kiah down because of a possible neurological defect but when I had to put all four of her brothers down as well today I wasn't sure my own two legs would carry back to the car. All of the puppies had distemper. They kept kissing my face while I carried them in to be put down. I was already in love with them from the moment we saved them. Having spent 24 hours with them only cemented their place in my heart. It was a long five-hour drive home with an empty cage and five little collars. I knew one day I'd have to face putting down a sick foster but never imagined it would be these five six-week-old babies.

Eli:


Seamus:


Kiah:


Kane (right)& Deacon(left):