Busy summer so far

Well, things sure have been busy around here.

We have had a few Dockdogs events and a few agility trials as well as a birthday.

My little brother turned 2 at the beginning of June. It was a really good birthday too.

The food people took us to Dairy Queen for ice cream AND they took us out to dinner

where we got to share a yummy cheeseburger on the patio of one of our favorite restaurants.

We travelled to Dubuque, Iowa for some Dockdoggin'.

It was fun, but I just wasn't feeling right.

My stride was way off and I was leaving the dock 3 to 4 feet early.

My jumps weren't nearly as far as usual.

The food people have been trying to figure it out.

Oh well, we still had fun with our friends.

Next up was a 3 day agility trial by Grandma's house.

Now, if you all remember, the last weekend of June has always been very bad for the F dog.

Two years ago I broke my tail and last year I sliced my leg open.

Well, the food people threatened to wrap me in bubble wrap for the weekend.

Thank goodness they didn't. I was very cautious and didn't hurt myself.

So, back to the trial, I ran really nicely all weekend. Lots of good contacts and nice weave poles.

However, that damn propeller tail of mine caused some knocked bars.

My Aunt Kris took the scissors to my tail and made me look like a fancy show dog.

I like it though. I look much more handsome. (I know, impossible, huh?)

Ryder had has debut weekend in the 24" Novice class.

He did awesome.

I am super proud of my baby brother.

He picked up 2 Novice JWW legs and 2 Novice Standard legs.

You should have seen his teeter!! He owned it!!

Way to go little brother.

Fourth of July weekend was some more Dockdogs.

The weather was great, the friends were even better.

My jumping is still off, but I managed to make Senior finals with the food lady and

Ryder and the food man made Novice finals.

It was a fun weekend to just hang out and have fun.

So, this past weekend was more agility.

The food lady had a new plan with me.

I liked the food lady's new plan.

I am wondering why she didn't come up with this sooner.

Want to know what it was?

Get this, the plan was to RUN.

Can you believe that???

We had a BLAST!!!

She needs to stop babying me and just let me RUN.

I only got 1 Q this weekend, but holy cow, everyone was telling the food people

that they had never seen me run like that before.

It felt really good. Just a knocked bar here and there.

I was a very good boy.

Ryder got to play this weekend too.

He did alright I guess. *wink*

He finished his Novice JWW title and his Novice Standard title.

He also got his first Open Standard leg.

I hope he doesn't think he is better than me.

Because he's not. I am still the King around these parts.

But seriously guys, I am really proud of my brother. He is a very good boy.

We have some more agility next weekend.

Friday is Excellent only so the baby brother doesn't get to play. Poor baby brother.

But he does get to play on Saturday and Sunday.

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks.

Ryder was in the Waukesha newspaper:

Then I had to one up him and make the front page of the Dubuque Newspaper the following weekend. I don't want him thinking he is the only one getting any media attention.

Here is Ryder at a trial we did in May.

He kind of looks like he knows what he is doing.

Waukesha, WI Dockdogs

Another awesome weekend. The food people sure are doing things right so far this summer!

We went up to Waukesha, WI for an event put on by the Wisconsin Dockdogs Club.

Lots of great people and we got to stay with my Uncle Kevin and my cousin, Ollie. (OK, Kevin isn't really my uncle and Ollie isn't really my cousin, but who's counting?)

We got there Friday afternoon and helped set up the pool. Sadly, I had to sit in the car and wait. I was not pleased about this. When they finally got done, the food lady convinced the food man that I should get to take a few practice jumps. Whew, it was worth the wait.

Saturday morning we were up and at 'em pretty early.

I jumped the first wave with the food lady and guess what? Yep, I caught it again. We had a personal best of 19' 9" on that jump.

The food man played with Ryder in the first wave and he did great!!

The rest of the day I jumped for the food man. He is doing a much better job of throwing my duck these days which makes me very happy.

Ryder spent the rest of the day jumping for the food lady. He gets very nervous with all the loud music and people, so the Wisconsin people were nice enough to turn the music off and tell everyone to be quiet. Still some hesitation jumping, but he is getting a little faster. Good boy little brother.

Sunday rolled around and we had 2 more waves left to jump. Ryder and the food man jumped a 9' 6" to secure themselves a spot in the novice finals. The food lady jumped me again and we set another personal best: 20' 10"!!! Way to go food lady to not screw me up. So proud of her.

Finals were that afternoon, Ryder and the food man took home 2Nd place in Novice finals and I took home 4Th place in Master finals.

I am being a total show off in this picture.

Oh Ryder :)

Ahem, Ryder is getting some press now too.
He made the Milwaukee newspaper.
I hope he doesn't start getting too big for his britches.
There is only so much room for rockstars in our house.

We are heading out to Dubuque, Iowa on Friday for another Dockdogs event. I can't wait to strut my stuff again. I am good like that.

Lots of updates

Whew, it's been a whirlwind few weeks for everyone's favorite golden and his trusty sidekick.

We have been playing lots of agility and even got do some Dockdogs too.

This past weekend the food people to took us to a trial in Naperville.

It's a very nice facility other than the fact that it was about 1000 degrees inside. Which you all know is WAY TOO hot for the F Dog. But I pushed through and had some great runs.

I picked up a couple of Q's and a few MACh points. The food lady tried some different things with me this weekend and I think they might have worked. She started with me for my runs which I was really happy about. I don't think I like when she leaves me. It makes me a bit nervous. She also didn't baby me with my weave poles. Leave me alone food lady, I got it!!!

Ryder has some really nice runs too. He is doing a great job and having lots of fun. He kept trying to do the teeter, but we all know what a pansy he is and he isn't quite ready for a full height teeter.

Last weekend we did agility at the same place. Again, I had some good runs and some brain farts. But I am assuming all the brain farts will be gone but the time I am 5. :)

Ryder did a nice job last weekend too. 3 of his sisters were there last weekend too. They played agility too. He is the cutest one though. OH!!! I almost forgot. My friend Lori Sue asked the food lady to run her Aussie, Addie. I wasn't happy about this. The food lady should only play agility with me. But anywho, the food lady ran Addie and when they were done, my friend Sue runs into the ring with a fancy, sparkly bar and big huge ribbon. The food lady and Addie were really confused. Apparently this run was for Addie's MACh 6. The food lady almost pooped her pants. It was really nice of Lori Sue to let the food lady "get a MACh". That's what agility is all about, friendship and support. The food lady cried (shocker, I know). Lori Sue really likes me and my brother for some reason. Actually, I know why. When I was younger and much more immature, we were at a trial and I broke out of my crate and ran into the ring when Lori Sue was running Ryder's favorite Border Collie, Lit. The food lady was devastated and crying like a baby. Lori Sue told her it was OK, no harm, no foul. They have been good friends ever since. It's great to have good friends at agility.

Lastly, we had some Dockdogs to take care of. It was a ton of fun and the weather was amazing that weekend. Lots of my friends came out to jump. Dylan, Rumor, Marley, PJ (she jumped!!), Frankie, Ruby. It was fun to see my friends and show off. The food man and I placed 2Nd in the Masters Finals and Ryder took 4Th in the novice finals. The food lady even got to jump me and I caught my duck!!!! TWICE. It was really cool. I love playing Dockdogs. Word on the street is we are playing it the next 2 weekends.

For once, the food lady didn't screw up!!!

YEEHAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ryder doesn't have quite the same jumping form as I do.

NOCI May 2009

What a weekend for the hippy labs!! We got to the trial early on Friday morning. I got to run Standard first. It was a tough course and I decided to take the off course table. I love the table, it was right there, how could I possibly pass it by? The rest of my run was pretty memorable as well, I took the wrong end of of 2 tunnels and I did the table 2 more times. I think the judge's arms were pretty sore after my run. Next up was Jumpers, I was running and running and almost to the end when my propeller tail knocked a bar. Bummer. But that's OK!!

After I was done running, it was Ryder's turn!! He got to run Jumpers first and he did great!! He got his very first Q and a 2Nd place!! Way to go Ryder!! When it was time for Standard the food lady made a quick and easy course for him since he is still a little hesitant on the teeter. I heard he hit and held all his contacts and did a new scary chute!!! So proud of my baby brother.

Saturday morning we headed back to the trial after a sleep over at the yellow labs house. I was pretty tired but somehow got through my Standard run clean. Jumpers was a close one, I was so tired and it was kind of a tight course for a big dog so I didn't make time. Farts.

Ryder ran Jumpers again and kicked some butt!!! He got another Q and a 1st place!!! So happy for my baby brother. He waited a long time and was a very good boy so the food lady let him run all of the Standard course except for the teeter. I guess he looked at it and wanted to do it but the food lady called him off.

Sunday morning didn't start out very well. When we were walking into the building I growled at a dog. That's all though, just a growl, the dog was staring me down and I needed to make sure they knew I was the boss. Well, the food lady felt really bad about my growling and apologized to the lady. She was really mean to the food lady and would not accept her apology. The food lady was really upset and crying. I decided I needed to be an extra good boy to make the food lady feel better. Well, I showed her!! I ran a nice, clean Standard run AND I ran a nice, clean Jumpers run!!! You guys know what that means??? Yep, I got my very first QQ!!!! Everyone cheered so loudly for me after my JWW run. I think I made the food lady very happy. I did the best I could.

Ryder was up next in Jumpers, and the little man kicked some more butt!! He Q'd and got another blue ribbon and finished his Novice Jumpers Preferred (NJP) title. What a good little boy he is. I am really proud of Ryder, he did a very nice job this weekend. His confidence is much better and he is doing great in class too.

This weekend we are heading down to see my Grandma. (You know, the Grandma that likes to share her ham sandwiches with me!) Next weekend we have some Dockdogs and then a couple weekends of agility. I can't wait. Summer is here!!!!

Contact Sports USDAA trial April 25-26, 2009

Another fun weekend with the food people and my dog friends :)

Here is a rundown of my runs (keep in mind it was hot out and I was really tired since I refused to take a nap on Friday, I was too busy working on my tan)

Saturday

Run 1: Steeplechase: This was sooooo much fun. I nailed my entrance on the weaves and moved through them fairly quickly for being at a trial (you all know how much the weaves stress me out at trials) then there were a bunch of jumps and get this, the weaves - AGAIN. What???? I already did these food lady. I missed my entrance since surely I would never be asked to do weave poles TWICE in one run. The food lady sent me back and I finished them. As we were finishing the run the food lady raced ahead of me and I tried to catch and I knocked a bar. That's OK though, it was lots of fun to run

Run 2: Advanced Gamblers: I don't really like this game. Why is the food lady sending me away from her? She worked so hard teaching me stay WITH her now she is asking me to go away? I don't think so food lady. :)

Run 3: Grand Prix: This course was really tough. It was fun though, I ran against some really awesome dogs. As I landed after the 3rd jump I thought someone had dropped some cheese on the floor so I had to check, it was nothing and I continued on. I ran clean but did not get a qualifier. That's OK, the food lady and I worked really well together on that course.

Run 4: Advanced Standard: More weave poles? Come on lady, you should know by now that I only have 2 sets of weaves in me a day and I had already done 3 sets. I sucked it up though and got my weaves, hit my contacts and didn't drop any bars. Q for the F dog :)

After we left the trial we went to my Aunt Whitney's house. Ryder and I did lots of wrestling and next thing you know we are both covered in blood. One of us must have bit our tongue. Oops. We are OK though. Early to bed, we had a big day on Sunday.

Sunday
Run 1: Advanced Gamblers: This is not my best subject as I explained earlier. This time the gamble was a tunnel, teeter, jump, triple. I spent an enormous amount of time on my second Aframe pass. The angle is a bit too steep for me in USDAA and I am not nearly as efficient on this Aframe as the lower one I am used to. But get this, I got the gamble and got my first Advanced Gambler's Q. yea!!

Run 2: Advanced Standard: Another tough course with a hard weave entrance, I broke my stay at the start line (oops, I was just tired of waiting) so the food lady wasn't in position, and I went really wide, I did save the entrance though and got all my weaves. I was running and running and then there was that really tall Aframe again. I spent several seconds mountain goating before my descent and it cost a lot of time. I ran clean but was .22 seconds overtime. Too much farting around on the Aframe :)

Run 3: Advanced Pairs: This game is so much fun. I always get to run with my friends. Today I ran with Remi, Alex and Abby's little brother. We had so much fun, and I really made the food lady mad. I had the Aframe on my half of the course and I didn't fool around this time! Ha ha food lady, that's your payback for making me do all those weave poles yesterday :) Remi and I got our Q and took 2nd place. Thanks Remi!!!

Run 4: Advanced Jumpers: OK, 8 runs? Two days? I was pooped for this one. I ran my little heart out though with the food lady. After my run we ran over to my xpen and I got my dinner. What a great reward for me!!!! I also got a 1st place and a Q.

All in all, it was such a fun weekend. All my friends were there and cheered for me and told me I did a great job. All my dog friends did awesome too.

I think we are going to play agility again this weekend too!!! Ryder gets to play too. I can't wait to cheer him on.

RACE USDAA trial April 4-5, 2009

What are the food people thinking taking me to agility 2 weekends in a row?? Just kidding, I was more than happy to go and play agility again this weekend. The only thing I wasn't happy about was getting up so early Saturday morning to leave.

So, here is a rundown of my weekend:

Run 1 - Advanced Standard: There was an itty bitty, teeny tiny chute. The food lady tried to call me off the teeny tiny chute but I chose not to listen to her. I almost got stuck. Got my weave entrance, didn't knock any bars. I think I had an off course jump at the end.

Run 2 - Advanced Gamblers: I did the teeter twice????? I don't like when the food lady makes courses up. :) The gamble was too much for me so we didn't get it. But it was fun anyhow.

Run 3 - Advanced Pairs: I got to play pairs with my friend Alex again. We always have a good time. However, I guess because I took an extra jump at the end of my half of the run it didn't count. Bummer. Good thing Alex didn't get mad at me. We had fun though. I got my weave entrance and didn't knock any bars!

Run 4 - Advanced Snooker: I really don't like Snooker. It's way too herky jerky and doesn't make sense. I knocked the first red jump and the food lady got all confused and just stood there. Since she didn't tell me what to do, I decided to do some jumps on my own accord. Then the judge blew his whistle and our game was over. Oh well.

Run 5 - Advanced Jumpers; OK, really?? 5 runs in a day??? I was so very tired by the time I had to run. But I mustered up enough energy to run clean and get a 2nd place behind Captain Jack.

After the trial, we went to my Aunt Whitney's. Guess what we did? Yep, ran around in the yard like maniacs. No one told me I had to get up early again the next day.

Sunday Runs

Run 1 - Advanced Standard: Knocked a bar and I didn't get the upside contact on the Dogwalk. I don't know how they expect a big ole dog like me to hit it. Oh well. I did get my weaves though

Run 2 - Advanced Gamblers: this was a fun run but the teeter twice again??? Fun stuff. I decided to hang out on the top of the AFrame for awhile too. You know, take in the scenery. I was still doing my gamble when the buzzer went off, but that's OK.

Run 3 - Advanced Snooker: Alright, I was so stinking tired by this run I barely got through it. I think I had the slowest 1st place Snooker Q in history.

Run 4 - Advanced Jumpers: You thought I was tired for Snooker, I was even more tired for this. I dropped a bar, but that's OK. I was such a good boy.

So all in all the food lady was really happy with how I did this weekend. I had really good start lines (I let the food lady take really long lead outs for once), I got all my weave entrances and didn't pop any poles and I only dropped a few bars.

No agility trials for a couple weeks. Thank goodness. I need to catch up on some much needed beauty rest. I think we are going to Grandma's this weekend so Ryder and I can swim to our hearts content. That will be great. I really miss the lake.

Fox Valley Agility Trial

Another fun weekend was had by all. Friday night the food people took us to my Aunt Whitney and Uncle Grant's house. We got to run wild in the backyard for a couple hours. YAHOO

Saturday morning we got up way too early for my liking. However, little did I know where we were heading: AGILITY. I got to play JWW first with the food lady. I was kind of tired so I wasn't super fast, but I got the job and so did the food lady. I got my very first MXJ leg. Next up was standard. I was running and running, got to the Aframe and I didn't hold my contact. The food lady told me I was very naughty. When I got to the weave poles a couple obstacles later, I smelled something. I had to find out what it was. My eyes bugged out and my nose went a mile in the air. I think it was coming from the judge. I had to check. I waltzed on over to her and gave her a good, long sniff. The food lady was not happy with me. How could she not smell the judge's fart??? That's what it had to be or else she was wearing some pastrami panties or something. :) I finished nicely though and everyone had a good chuckle about the bad smell in the ring.

Saturday night there was a whole mess of dogs playing at the yellow labs house: me, Ryder, Abby, Alex, Remi, Dylan, Rumor, Neo, Wisp, Scout, Zane and Ricochet. We had so much fun running and wrestling in the yard. We were all very tired and most of the humans were loaded.

Back to agility Sunday morning and I was pooped. I decided that I didn't want to hold my start line so the food lady was about an hour late on her front cross and I dropped the bar. However, the rest of my run was really nice and I had really good weave poles. And the judge didn't fart this time thank goodness :) Standard was a little while later and I was ready to run. The food lady once again opened her trap and I knocked the triple. The rest of my run was fantastic and I held all my contacts and got the tough weave entrance. I got a double cheeseburger on the way home

My friend Abby, got her MACh today. It was really special. Everyone was crying and cheering. I am so happy for my Aunt Whitney and Abby. They are a great team and always run fast and clean. Congrats again to my friend Abby Jo Kickass!!!!

Ryder is all recovered and ready to go again. He has 3 AKC trials lined up for May. This weekend we are going to play USDAA agility. Ryder isn't ready for that quite yet so he will get to hang out and eat lots of cheese at the practice jump. Our trainer says Ryder's jumping is getting tons better and they are working on his teeter. I feel kind of bad for him that he didn't get to play this weekend. He will get to play soon and make me proud. I am sure of it. :)