ups and downs

The Ups: this weekend Sweets hung out with her new Cattle Dog friends, Lilly and Forrest (Forey for short). Besides the excitement of just having new fur in the house, Sweets embarked on probably her most adventurous trip to date- chasing (and nearly killing) a chicken that happened to live near a public hiking trail (a trauma her mom will never forget). The Downs: Hannah (ferret), Sweet's older sister was buried today. Though their relationship as mostly of the "can I steal your kibble" nature, Hannah was quick to correct her new house mate, nearly 2900% bigger. She was a spunky, joyful girl, michevious, and really seemed that every nook and cranny was a newly discovered day in and day out. She gave us all an appreciation for really "livin" and she will be missed. She was suffering greatly and no doubt lived a long life. We will forever miss her goofiness. Love, Sweets

Jack: part deux

Yesterday, Sweets surely earned her kibble! What a long day it was. Playing with Lib and Stelley in the morning, meeting Miss Boo through a fence to practice her self control around dogs...(especially dogs behind fences). Ok, she did have a nice long afternoon nap in the a/c. Then off to work with Jack and Maria in Old Town.

Jack is a dog that will bark and lunge at other dogs and Maria has been doing great work with him, seeing a reduction in the frequency of his behavior. So, Sweets is there at session three to practice walk bys. We're working on practicing with a 'live target' which isn't hard to come by in Alexandria. However, Jack is keeping it together, as we walk in and out of view. Then we go for it with a nose to nose greeting...drum roll...

And Jack does awesome, no aggression. All that barking and lunging appears to have started with wanting to say hi, not having access to other dogs, and heck, he doesn't look friendly when he's barking. These two walked together, sniffed, rolled in the grass together, went to the dog park to sniff and play a bit. Jack even invited Sweets up for a drink after their date. She gladly drank her water on the rocks and took full advantage of the cool kitchen tile.

So, kudos to Maria and Jack and we're hoping that this positive interaction will carry over and mean more social interaction and doggie friends for Jack. Look for Jack and Maria soon on ABC News Channel 7!

ground hog fight

Yes, it has been quite the dramatic turn of events. Yesterday Sweets (as per usual) was sniffing like a mad woman near the bushes in the back. I saw her point, saw those eyes get big and thought I heard some chirping. Then game on- the groundhog dashed from the den and all I could see were rustling bushes. She chased him into the pasture, then muzzle punched him up against the fence. "OFFFFFFFFFFF!" "NOOOOO!" "OFFFFFFFFFF!" I'm screaming. I jumped over the fence, the gound hog dashed away "WAITTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I screamed. She stopped.

"Wait, wait, wait..." I grabbed her collar and we walked out of the pasture. No harm done to dog or hog, thank goodness. Today we purchased pepper oil deterrent, sonic gopher be-gone stakes and a live trap, if need be. Power to the Porker. Yikes...

little brotha'

Piglets or puppies? What's cuter than that? Soon Sweets will be a Big Sis to a Lil' Tater Boy. I did assure her that she will never lose her Queendom.

diva dog genius!

Sweets had her big on set debut for the Dog Genuis taping for National Geographic. She made me proud. We arrived at 10 am for an 11 am shoot, and actually started taping at around 2 pm (lots of time to kill). Long story short, she filmed three scenes- 1. sniffing around a bunch of blocks 2. pushing the letter "S" to spell the word "Genius" and sitting 3. laying down near the blocks and doing her infamous "Diva" dramatic head cock.

At first I was very green on the set, nervous maneuvering behind cameras and concerned that she would flap. Then, I settled in, we worked nicely as a team and she acclimated to the swinging overhead camera that spooked her a few times. Diva did me proud (and now she has a resume). Move over Diana Ross...

pva-a-palooza '07

10 jumps, 2 tires, 2 pause tables and 2 sets of weaves later...whew it was a long, working weekend. My dad and I made wobble tables and boards for classes and fun, fun, fun with the dogs and it was all good. Our first few hours working together were disjointed, a yell here and there, but by the Saturday afternoon, we were like clockwork. After a few trips to Home Depot, (where apparently my father is like a local celebrity), he ran into at least 5 other people he knew, swapped fishing stories with an old high school buddy, and then we filled the back of the Ford with...you guessed it...more PVC.

Sweets on the other hand napped, ran, barked and practiced a for our bit on Nat. Geo. This morning I took her into the neighbor's woods where she flushed a deer, that just looked at us for a few minutes. I held onto Sweets and we let the deer do her thing, then returned to the trail. Much to her delight, we found a genuine turkey feather to shred back at the homestead. Life is good!

gorillas in the mist

It's pouring rain and Sweets is looking out the back door intently. I say, "I know you don't wanna go out there, it's pouring. Here..." The second I open the door, it dawns on me how arrogant I am! :) She bolts down the back steps to chase a rabbit, that she'd been eyeing up (and I stupidly missed). Gone, outta sight into the woods. I'm feeling like Diane Fossey in Gorillas in The Mist, getting poured on, flip flopping around with my "great recall" not at all working. Dogs keep ya humble, and about that "great recall" a few posts back, it's time to go back to work. There is a happy ending, she did come back in a few minutes and ran right to the door (so that work has paid off!)

road trip

Sweets and I will be heading west to my hometown, Washington, PA to make agility equipment with Pappa Morgan, (my dad). We'll get in out sniffs on local trails while where there, and perhaps even chase a duck or two at the local dam. Who am I kidding? She'll redecorate the clean sheets with dog fur and get fed pepperoni on the sly from Grandma and Grandpa (after her trail runs, of course).

Making anything with my dad is always fun...and abusive. My dad is a master carpenter that does not use positive, reward based training when working with his daughter. We've collaborated on two house rennovations, but never agility equipment. This is usually how it goes...

Dad, "You cut it"
Leigh, "Okay"
Dad, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING? YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG. You've GOT to do it like this, here gimme that..."

We yell, we laugh, we make stuff. That's always how it's been. He asks me to do something, I start doing it my way and get corrected. Not the most effective training technique, (just ask my 2 year old nephew). But it really is in good fun.

Tuesday we're off to National Geographic to have Sweets perform for the cameras for the first time. Wish us luck and let's hope that lamb lung treats do the trick on set.