Liz and Breeze graduate Handlers Plus class

We ran a super fun course this week in Deanna's class. It was a course based on an excellent course that Ann Croft did. I loved this course and I ran it the way that I first planned, which I noticed everyone else ran on the other side of the Aframe and had a lot of different choices, but I felt pretty confident. It turned out really nice. Deanna changed the course to go into the tunnel the second time around, but in the original course it called for going over the dog walk, through the tire and then around the three jumps to the teeter. That is how I wanted to try to run it, and the first time I yelled thinking that I would need to get Breeze off the tunnel, which made her drop the bar on the next jump. I retried it and just used deceleration and of course Breeze got the turn perfectly....TRUST YOUR DOG, right??? LOL. On the really plus side Breeze was doing marvelous on her contacts, AND SHE IS RUNNING THE DOG WALK AND KEEPING HER FOCUS AHEAD, we might be trialing in standard soon after all.

I have been really watching when Breeze will drive ahead and when she spins and stops and one thing I an considering is could this be because of the path being into fences or areas where there are chairs, or things like that? She understands so well how to go on sometimes and then sometimes will just STOP, and this week anyway the two places she would not drive ahead were the table that went into chairs/crates/the fence, and the last triple which had a chair/crates and some dogs. OK someone has told me I need to throw the toy more and do it BEFORE Breeze turns around or have someone else throw it-because my timing leaves a lot to be desired, so I am going to try that. I had Deanna throw the toy and Miss Smartie pants ran all around the two obstacles and tried to go over the triple, because would that not be the fastest way to the reward? So...we had to hide the transfer of the reward when I had someone else throw it, sometimes it is not such a great thing to have a smart doggie! LOL.

My instructor Deanna was trialing a lot when Breeze's dad was young, he still trials a lot. But anyway, Deanna loves him, and has always talked about how much she likes him. So she did come up to me after class and say it was so neat to watch Breeze run because she reminds her so much of her dad Blew. I consider that a very big compliment.

Isn't it cute, Deanna gave the little Lizard Liz her own honorary diploma. I have never seen her do that before, so I was really touched by that, she is such a nice instructor. Liz sort of shared the class with Breeze and Deanna has always been so wonderful about letting me do my own thing with Lizzie and accommodating her needs.

My one gripe of the day is a "friend" felt it necessary to call me-on my cell phone during class no less.....(I leave the phone on in case the girls need anything), but she felt it necessary to call me up to tell me that someone told her that a lot of the dog club people were commenting on how Liz/I have a difficult relationship, and if you really want to see a bad dog and feel good about your dog, then check out Liz. And guess they were very concerned because we all know that what sort of goals could I have anyway if I have a dog like that? WHAT???? First off I doubt that is true, I think that was probably said by one person, who knows nothing and has only seen Liz once or twice for a split second, so who careswhat they think, but I would really rather not know about it? My beef is why would someone feel compelled to share that with me knowing that it would be a really hurtful thing? I really work hard with Liz and I do not expect everyone to understand her or me or our relationship, but they do not have to, but I sure do not need smack talk especially when I do my best but I am not always sure I am doing all the right things with her, but she has come a long way, I have learned tons, and I love her to death. ANYWAY, that is my gripe for today.

More Puppies-welcome to the world

On Friday I had to go pick up meat for the dogs from the co-op, then went to the beach with Breeze and I thought about calling Karen and seeing if they needed any help because I knew Gabby was in labor. Gabby is a daughter of Blew, who is also Breezes dad, so a half sister to my Breeze and of course is a Contact Point Border Collie dog. Gabby is a pretty blue merle with a lot of white on her. Anyway, so when I left for the meat pick up it looked like the birth was pretty close, so after I was out all day I figured the birth would be over and everyone would be tired and I did not want Karen to think I was going to stalk her on all her puppy deliveries so I went home and watched the going ons on the web cam. I was surprised when I got home that there were no puppies, I kept watching and thinking the birth had to be any minute so I ended up staying up all night waiting for the pups, LOL. I did snooze off for a little bit here and there but mostly I kept saying I would give it 15 more min. then another and before I knew it, it was 5 am.

Talk about being a lucky duck, at 5 am Karen asked if I would like to see a csection. WOULD I???? Of course I would, so she said to meet her at the vets office. I threw on some clothes and raced out the door. I used to work in labor and delivery for YEARS, and also attended several home births as a helper (I was not delivering the babies just helping), so I am really interested in labor and delivery, and since I have not worked doing that in the last few years I really enjoy being a part of such things.

When I got to the vets we were brought back once the surgery had started. OMG, they got the uterus out and it was sitting on little Gabby's tummy and I have seen pictures but I had no idea it was so big. You could see the little shapes inside and those were some BIG puppies. Gabby had two pups on the way to the vets, and was still expecting five more puppies. The vet made the incision into the uterus and sort of squeezed out the little pups, one at a time. The pups came out with the placenta still around them and the sac still intact- the staff would grab each pup and take them to a table to stimulate them. I really learned a lot watching the staff stimulating the pups, you could tell the staff there was a well oiled machine and were very used to such situations.

The little pups were placed in a warmer once they were all awake and doing well, and they sewed Gabby up. Hard to believe with that big incision that they do not have to worry abut them biting on it and they can nurse right away and even the pups kneading and jumping all over it does not seem to bother it.

Next they brought Gabby who was still obviously pretty drugged and very tired from the long labor and all the pushing, and coming out of the anesthesia and shivering and shaking a lot. As soon as Gabby was a little more awake they brought in the puppies and she still looked pretty out of it but it was obvious right away that Gabby was going to be a great mother. She looked very much in love with her little pups right from the start and the pups were very vigorous, big and healthy looking and seemed to be very good nursers. The little family bonded instantly and this picture is one Karen shot just a few minutes after the family was put together.

The pups are adorable, very cute and flashy. I thought there are some very pretty blue merles, and there is a tri black split face female----OOOH I LOVE split face dogs so much-that is going to be a very cute dog. I got assign names to this litter-Karen had the names but gave me the honor of putting them to the pups. ;-)



Gabby & Mike had 7 puppies by cesarean section on July 25, 2009. To learn more about the pups and their parents visit www.bordercollie.tv and dogsportphotos.com .

The theme for the names for this litter are terms/names associated with themoon landing anniversary.

Pup 1 Buzz - black tri male with black over both eyes .36 kg at birth
Pup 2 Moon - blue merle male black patch on rear and left leg .37 kg
Pup 3 Lunar - black tri female with white face & black dot on head .35 kg
Pup 4 Apollo - blue merle female with black dot on head .40 kg
Pup 5 Eagle - blue merle female with light and dark patches on left side .35 kg
Pup 6 Eclipse - black tri female split face left .39 kg
Pup 7 Orbit - blue merle female with black patch on right side .38 kg

So since the babes were born, poor Gabby does not seem to be making enough milk, so the pups are getting supplemented with goats milk from a goat that Karen got.

As I was leaving the ranch, Karen loaded me down with the bounty of the ranch. I had fresh squeezed orange juice from oranges Karen picked that morning, and she sent home a bunch of oranges, tomatoes, zucchini, egg plant, a ton of duck eggs and some goats milk home with me. Yesterday I made some yummy zucchini bread and am making some yogurt with the goats milk, and we have really been enjoying the tomatoes and corn, all that and getting to take part in the birth, how much better could that deal get?

Friday July 24, 09

On friday I was going to pick up meat from the co op, it was just me and Breeze in the car, it was a hot day so I deceided to head to the beach.

I forgot to say that one of the greatest things about going to watch the puppies being born was that I got to see Cherry. Cherry was with us for almost a year and it was so good to see her, she looked really good, and happy to see EVERYONE, so I am not sure if she was really happy to see me or she just loves everyone. Right before it was time to leave I was sitting on the couch with my legs curled out to the side of me and Cherry came curled up on my legs and laid down with her head on my thigh, just like she always used to do, I really do miss her she is such a nice doggie. I did get to take her down to do some agility and there were sheep along one of the fences, and Cherry has a really high herding instinct, but she chose to stay and play agility with me, she was doing awesome and really did not pay any attention to the sheep once we started playing.

My first puppy fix last wednesday/thursday

My one dog Breeze, the blue merle BC comes from Contact Point Border Collies, Cherry that was living here for awhile is also from there. Last week Karen, who owns CPBC was nice enough to let me come and help out (watch actually but we called it helping, LOL) while her dog Nel had her puppies. Nel came from the Netherlands last year and was bred to my Breezes half brother/littermate Zing. Humm, so guess Breeze would be these puppies Aunt? Anyway, Nel has been trialing in herding-she is a really pretty black tri color with pretty wavy hair toward her hips. A really nice dog, she has nice structure and an awesome temperment from what I have seen. I also met one of her pups from last year Bean at some trials recently and he is a really nice pup. Zing the dad trials in agility and is AWESOME. He is a gorgeous red/white, which is my favorite color of border collies. We knew this litter had very little chance of red/whites because both dogs must carry the red gene to have red pups and it was not that likely that Nel carries any red. Sooooo, back to the story. Nel was expecting at least 10 pups, so a huge litter for a little border collie, Nel is really not a very big dog. Last year Nel had a litter of 11 pups before she was imported to CPBC.

Karen let me know on Wednesday she thought Nel was getting close. Nel was chewing on the boards in the whelping box, and nesting and did look ready to have her pups. Another CPBC owner Laura was also coming down for the birth. So we both got to the ranch and spent most of the day watching Nel and visiting and waiting for the birth. About dinner time Russ made us the most awesome cheese/tomatoe grilled sandwhiches and Nel held off long enough for us to have dinner before things started to pop.

The first pup, which is the pup I have my eye on...... is named Ginny (and I named that one that name because I could actually keep that name, LOL), a big black/white female with a lot of flashy white markings, was born at 6:30 pm. Pups kept coming at pretty regular intervals until I think about 1:30 at which time there ended up 11 pups. 6 girls and 5 boys, a few black and whites and a bunch of black tri pups. There were some medium size pups and a couple of little puppers.

Nel was such a trooper, that was such a lot of puppies, and at one point there were like nine pups and they are wanting to nurse and Nel was having contractions....what a good girl, and that had to be such a long night for her, but she handled everything so well.

It was really neat to see how Karen handled all the deliveries, you can tell she has done a lot of deliveries and has a good feel for how things are going. Before the delivery I had enough time to read some newborn puppy care books Karen had, so I feel like I learned tons! It was actually a pretty uneventful delivery except for the number of puppies and all the puppies came out looking really good and healthy. It was awhile after the last pup until we could all get a quick nap, it takes awhile to get everyone nursing and settled in and make sure all the puppers and momma were doing ok. We talked about how many pups must be lost when the mom delivers in a barn, unattended. That would be sad ;-( .

This is from the puppy web came and Laura and I got to name the pups ;-)!

Nel had 11 puppies on the evening of 7/22/09 through the early morning of 7/23/09. Introducing the "Harry Potter litter".

Pup # 1 female b/w full white collar "Ginny"
Pup # 2 male blk tri - spot on head, full collar, white front legs "Lupin"
Pup # 3 female blk tri - narrow blaze and collar, white foot "Luna"
Pup # 4 male black tri - dark pup with blaze and lightning bolt on back of neck "Harry Potter"
Pup # 5 male b/w - lots of white, white head "Huffle puff"
Pup # 6 male blk tri - lots of black, white diamond on shoulder, 3/4 collar "Sirius"
Pup # 7 female b/w - lots of black, narrow 3/4 collar, 1/2 white muzzle "Hermione"
Pup # 8 female b/w - lots of white, spot on head "Hedwig"
Pup # 9 female b/w - lots of black, small white spot under tail, black spot on tummy "Fleur"
Pup # 10 male blk tri - 3/4 collar right side "Fang"
Pup # 11 female blk tri - lots of tan, tan on inside right elbow, 2 white front legs "Fluffy"

Character name description at www.dog-paw-print.com/harry-potter-dog-names.html


I was very grateful for Karen letting me come to the ranch and participate in such an exciting event. Things were so busy though after the pups started making their appearance that I was only able to get a picture that was not that good and after everything was pretty much finished, but it does show the new family.

KIDS!!!!!........LOL

My youngest daughter really HATES that I feed my dogs raw food. She hates the ground meat, she is grossed out by the veggies?????, and she really hates when I feed fish, which was what was on the menu this evening. She always tells me that the dogs should be on kibble, and I tell her that there is the same things in kibble that the dogs are eating,....so they would still be eating chicken, and veggies and fish. So after the fish meal tonight she brought me in a paper to tell me why dogs should be eating kibble, LOL. She of courss says when she grows up and has her pomeranians they will definately eat kibble and she says she will find a good kibble, but it will be kibble...to each his own.

I have had a really terrific week, and some GREAT experiences, and I will post about them tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

Lizzie and the sheep

I think the Liz had a very good border collie weekend. She got to pay n play agility on Saturday morning, followed by the beach and on Sunday morning she got to go herd the sheepies. My friend Carrie has been doing herding since last November and has been telling me I should take Liz because she thinks it will really help her, and it sure could not hurt. Liz was a little unsure of herself and not sure if it was OK to actually chase the sheep and it was not helpful that as soon as she really got going one of the sheep laid into her and got her good. The really funny thing is that when she would leave the sheep I would tell her, READY (her cue to get excited for agility) and she would whirl and go find the sheep and my marker word YES works for more then tricks, LOL. This was the first time she has ever been in a bigger field with the sheep. Deanna will not have classes for awhile because she is having her knee operated on, so......I think we will do a little herding with Liz in August, and work on our big list of things to train. I did make another video with the full herding session and I am really anxious to see how much difference I am sure there will be at the end of four lessons when Liz gets a little more confidence.

Pay/Play a trip to the Beach and Raw Feeding

I have been raw feeding for a few years now, and at World Team Tryouts I got to talking to Julie and Daneen who are HUGE raw feeding resources. Julie is so terrific and said she would hook me up with her raw feeding co op and make sure to bring down my dog food bills which would make a new puppy much more doable. It is really neat, they have three places they get food, so my base food has been some chicken backs they can get that ran 35 cents a pound this last pick up, I grind those and mix them with fruits and veggies. I give these great chicken leg 1/4's that run about .65 cents a pound and are almost all meat, or pork brisket with some soft bones in the evening. They get this great organ blend at 1.35 cents a pound, they get that once a week, and once a week they get some tripe and they get whole fish that run about 1.50/pound for sardines, and of course they get things like yogurt and eggs. It is terrific stuff and has cut my food bill down so much and the dogs are getting a better variety. In the morning their food is half and half meat and fruits and veggies.

This batch of food Alicia and I got together and picked up tons of fruits and veggies-spinach, green beans, parsley, bananas, berries, peaches, apricots, garlic, tons of carrots, mystery squash, sweet potatoes, just tons of good stuff. We had my food processor really working and surprisingly when we tasted the goop after we finished mixing it was actually pretty good, and the dogs kept sneaking into the bucket we were mixing it in, so guess they liked it too. For their deserts Alicia made some yummy pupsicles with yogurts and fruits, my dogs think they have died and went to heaven.

Anyway, thanks to Julie and Daneen I am finding it way easier to keep my dogs fed, and the price is really reasonable, and having Alicia to split cases with is helping so my freezer doesn't end up overflowing too bad.

Saturday we went to Happy Dog Agility and did their Pay and Play. Breeze did ok. Lizzie and Alicia's dog Hunda practiced some walk abouts, just walking them around the new area and clicking and treating for their checking in with us. Alicia showed me how to work with Liz in a smaller area and just do tricks while she sort of got desensitized to that area before I let her do any agility and that was really helping her keep her mind on agility when we did start our sequences, that was a good tip.

Next we went to the beach. I have to tell you that watching Lizzie on the beach is an experience that just makes me feel so good. Lizzie does the zoomies and runs off so she can not be off leash a lot for her safety. I do my best to find lots of areas she can be off leash and she is getting better but she is not trustworthy. On this particular beach though there is no where for her to go and she can be off leash. She runs around with a look of just pure joy and freedom. Liz loves to jump into the waves and she runs through the water, and I can truly say it is the most happy I have ever seen her. I love taking her to the beach.

There were almost no dogs on the beach so we could let all the dogs go at one time, Pickle, Lizzie, Breeze, Hunda and Moose all had a great time, and so did I. After the dogs got done at the beach we went to a great little fish and chips place for lunch where they were having a Pirate weekend. It was a very good day.

LAST THURSDAYS PRIVATE -Those converging lines crop up AGAIN

It has been a busy couple of days and I am a bit bummed AGAIN because I had thought my ultra great instructor was going to quit teaching the class but was going to stay around and I would still get to work with her even if it wasn't in the class, BUT then she broke the news she is really trying to move out of state. She came back for one lesson last Thursday and she just helped clear up so many things so quickly that we were having trouble with while she was gone and I remembered again how much I love working with her.

The really sad thing is that Alicia is a great friend and I will really miss having her around, I might gripe about losing my instructor but actually I will mostly really, really miss having a friend who is so much fun, who is interested in so many of the things I am interested in and someone who as a big added plus understands Lizzie and loves dog training. Not sure what I will do to continue our training because I am not feeling horribly confident that we are at the place we can work by ourselves and then go and arrange lessons with other people that can help us tune up, which would be the plan if we were a little further along, and of course I live out in the middle of nowhere so any of the good places to train are over 2-3 hours away and gosh that is not going to work really well to do when Bill goes back to work after the summer and I have to worry about kid care.

Maybe I will just take some time off and just do some herding or something, I just don't know. I want to at least complete what we have started with Breeze, but I am afraid this will be the end for Liz since there are so many places she just can not work yet. I will really miss her if she ends up going, so hopefully....it will not work out that way.

ANYWAY, back to the lesson, so one thing Alicia has really stressed is that I should not be running a lot of straight lines, they give the dog less information and I should be running U shaped lines, and V's and converging further along the path like in this exercise, I keep trying to converge at the first place Breeze's line where there is the first turn in her path, when I should be heading for and converging on her line much further down the path, right before the jump where I am going to again change her line to catch the opposite end of the tunnel from what she will see.

I posted a video because I want to remind myself of what to look for, so it is a bit long but will be helpful to me in the future if I ever get this whole thing into my head.