Agility video

So, Penn is finally over her kennel cough. It only took 12 days. In honor of that, yesterday I drove to my parents to meet up with a friend who is thinking about a Vizzy in her future. She met a Vizsla after she was on house arrest for 12 days& still was considering one at the end of our walk. I'd say that's pretty impressive.. Penny did her very best to run/ swim/ chase birds nonstop. I'm pretty sure poor Sam didn't even get a chance to pat her until we were back at the house. So funny! I didn't take my camera to the beach so I don't have any photos of psycho Penn. Post-beach, though, we decided to stay at the house. We hung out in the yard for awhile and then I decided to setup a course for Penn.

She hasn't seen agility equipment in 11 days so I wasn't expecting much in terms of focus& taking direction. Well, my little girl sure did surprise me! She was a PRO. I am still over the moon. I had mom come out& videotape us just in case it all went well& I was not let down at all. I'm SO excited for the moment she can start trials. I'm not one to wish the winter on us, but man am I excited for February!



Doesn't she look like an old pro in this video? My reward for all her hard work was a pop bottle ..she's an odd dog who works for strange rewards. Pop bottles are cheap so I'm certainly not complaining. Except I have an entire arsenal of other, expensive toys that are just now collecting dust because the red dog works for bottles& balls. And treats. After we were done with all our training, I gave the red dog a break. She ran over to the table& proceeded to just relax. Seriously ..doesn't she understand the agility equipment is supposed to be exciting?! Briar would never relax on the equipment. Briar would never relax anywhere, but that's beside the point!

Linked with Tuesdays, Muse, P52,

I don't mind though because my goodness she looks some beautiful relaxing in the golden light of the sunset! I think you would be hard pressed to find a more classically beautiful dog. Okay, so maybeeee all Vizslas look the same but still. Penn is extra pretty ;)

Considering yesterday was Monday, it was a pretty stellar one in my books! How did you guys spend your Monday? Was it more or less fun than my day?

Kennel cough& marriage

I was so busy the month of July. We had a trial at the end of the month that was a big one so we spent a LOT of time training. A lot. Did it all pay off? Of course! There were 60+ dogs there& we ended up taking third overall in our division. My little brown Border Collie made me so, so proud.

Look at that smiley face& all those red ribbons! The big green one is our giant third place overall. We clearly rocked that trial. There's only 6 months until my red Vizsla is competing& hopefully winning some ribbons herself! I'm so looking forward to our next season with two dogs.

Aside from that, we were supposed to be putting on a show at a local event this coming week on Thursday& Saturday. Then Penny got kennel cough. She got it Thursday& put a serious damper on our plans. She is now quarantined until further notice. She was going to do all her tricks& an agility demo. I'm still going to emcee the event, now it's just less fun because I won't have an actual dog to run in it. Briar will be run by his real owner so it looks like I'm seriously out of luck, unless someone has a random dog trained in agility that they want to lend me?! ..that's what I thought. Oh well, here's to next year! I'm sure someone will snap some photos of us doing agility& I'll pretend when I write about the event that I was incredibly witty& everyone loved me ;) Mostly, I just hope my pretty red dog feels better ASAP and we can get back to our regular life! Sitting at home, staying away from other dogs is definitely the pits for her.. not to mention that completely awful cough. My poor baby.

So, if you're sick of reading about dogs, the next part of this post is about weddings. Every. single. person. I. know. is. getting. married. Seriously. I feel like the only person not engaged or already married. I know two of my good friends aren't married, either, but that is not important. What's important is that every other person beside them is or is in the process of that occurring. I don't even want a wedding. I want what that image above says. To run away somewhere fun with the dog& have a great day with some beautiful photos taken& then BOOM! Mail people these little cards to have a party with blue drinks& boardgames ..okay, maybe no boardgames. I cannot even imagine planning an entire wedding& spending that much money on it. If I'm going to blow 20 grand, it's going to be on one hell of a summer doing agility& traveling! Not a white dress, feeding people I don't even know& having people stare at me while I awkwardly dance with my significant other. I think I'd rather be in the highlands, in the woods. My parents can come and probably the person I marry can have their parents there as well. Then, we can have Miss Penny, a photographer& the person who says the wedding things (officiant?). That is 8 people& 1 dog. Afterwards, I suppose you go out for a celebratory supper& then have a party a month or so later. That seems genuinely perfect.. for me, at least!

So, people would normally say they have wedding fever but I have elopement fever. I don't need to go anywhere fancy& I don't want a huge event ..I just want people who love me& pretty photos! And to have a party with alcohol& a photo booth. Let's be honest. Those are the only parts that matter to your guests anyway. Sure, vows are sentimental (or awkward), the food is delicious (or awful) and the toasts are hilarious (or awkward). So much room for awkward in the parts before we get drunk& dance the night away! Let's skip the awkward and just have drinks on a beach with a ghetto blaster. Because, clearly, I want to get married in 1990. Or, you know, at some point. Soon?

Are you there, Summer?

It's me. Yvonne.

5 points to anyone who can guess what the title& first line of this blog post mean ;) It is SUPER HOT these last three days. I'm cautiously optimistic that summer may have finally decided to stay with us on this little island. I am fully enjoying all the heat because who knows how long it actually plans on sticking around for! My fingers are crossed for a long, long time. I think with all my running/ generally being outdoors/ having some sun exposure, I'm actually getting to be more human colored and less like flour.. or another pasty white thing.

So, I have been so busy since my last post. We went away to an agility trial& we managed to get another first place& pick up another Qualifying run! That means I have 4 altogether now so I, of course, had to start a ribbon wall.

Okay, so it is a pretty tiny ribbon wall so far but considering I've only been to three trials, I'm pretty happy with the end results! More to come before the summer is over I'm sure. Plus, I have about 12 first through fourth place ribbons. I am going to do something really fun with those but only wanted to hang the big ones for now. Do you guys compete in things? Do you collect your ribbons? If yes, do you know of any super awesomely creative ways to hang them? I hope to get some seriously great ones next summer& hanging them in photo frames.

The agility trial we went to was outdoors& considering it was Canada Day weekend, it didn't really go so well as far as the weather was concerned. It rained. Pretty much all weekend. About 65mm of rain fell between Friday evening& Sunday morning. It was also cold. And damp. The field turned into a swamp of mud ..very slippery mud. Thankfully, I managed not to fall. Others weren't so lucky.

The photo above doesn't do it justice. That was at 6AM on Saturday morning so it hadn't been run on yet. It got much, much worse as the day went on but I didn't have time to pick up my phone& snap another one. Take my word for it!

So, the moral of this story is that I had a lovely Canada Day. I hope you guys did, as well, and that you're in the same boat as me- summer :) I am now off to hang out with my pretty little red dog and get ready for another sunny, hot weekend. I know that I certainly won't be complaining anytime soon about this ..I think the weather got us mixed up with a much, much warmer climate. I hope it's a long time before it realizes& goes back to super crappy Cape Breton weather!

Rainy afternoons

These are the worst. The kind of day where it feels like night when you wake up& just never seems to get any brighter. I've been tired since 7AM because of lack of vitamin D. It's only 8PM but I feel like I've been awake for months ..not to mention the fact that it is 10C out. Can you say chilly?! The dogs didn't seem to mind though. They spent 25 minutes at the beach swimming in the giant waves chasing after sticks.

What you just read? That was written yesterday. Apparently, it was such a miserable day I couldn't even bring myself to finish my blog post. Today the weather is more of the same but I have a lot of things to do. We are heading off for an agility competition tomorrow AM& I'm super excited. I am also, however, lacking the motivation to get off my bum. So instead I'm looking through phone photos& remembering when Penny was tiny& cute.

Sweet baby Penny with my sweet baby nephew, Grady! They were snuggled up watching Cars after a hard afternoon playing tug with each other. Now when they snuggle, there's a significant size difference! I guess I'll need to snap an updated photo for comparison.

Well, it seems like maybe today the sunshine will win out over the cold.. which means even worse things for my packing motivation. AND it all has to be done before 6PM because Garret& I have plans for dinner& a movie. It isn't looking too good for an early night. On the bright side, I did manage to get Penn's food packed& my camera charged. If nothing else, at least we won't starve& we'll even have photos of the event to return to you with!

With that, I'm now officially out of slacking time. Off to turn this possibly-sunny day into a productive one and then I'll be back on Tuesday afternoon with a recap of our agility adventures. Anyone out there in Truro want to come visit? Feel free ..as long as you cheer for a brown Border Collie& me ;) Enjoy your Canada Day weekend, Canadian people! You Americans are almost to your national holiday. So keep holding out& maybe wear some red in honour of your northern neighbours!

Post-toast

So, I finished the book I was reading the last time I was here. It was an absolutely lovely book& I would recommend it to anyone looking for a great summer read. I spent the last few sunny afternoons sitting on the deck, patting my puppy& reading! It was pretty much my ideal way to spend the days. I plan on more of the same for the rest of summer ...mixed in with some summer BBQs& drives in my favorite thing- the dune buggy.

Isn't that a great snapshot from last summer? A tourist took it for us& I have to admit that it's pretty much a prized memory. This summer is, fingers crossed, going to be more of the same from last year. It's starting off right ..with mostly sunshine& lots of heat! Along with all my great memories from last summer, I have some big goals to go with it-

1. Train for a half-marathon- seriously. I signed up for Disney& I have a 10k for October that the three girls who are running are doing together so we start in the same time corral in Disney! I am so looking forward to that trip. Does anyone out there have any great suggestions for stuff to do in/ around Disney? Or anyone reading this blog actually run the Disney half? Better yet, write up a blog post about it?

2. Win more ribbons- I wrote a post about the start of my agility love. I am so incredibly lucky to have Briar in my life. He's the best agility partner I could have ever asked for& considering I've only been training for 9 months, I find it hard to believe how far we've come! We have 3 Qs in 2 competitions& I look forward to filling my walls with big ribbons& first places ;)

Okay, it's super hot out& I have a hilarious panting red dog with her nose right up to the fan. I think I'll spend my sunny day off going for a walk, visiting the pet store& later, painting my new agility jump. At some point, I'll make a point to get a photo of my yard setup. With all the gear we have, Penn had better turn into an agility superstar ..and sooner, rather than later! For now, I'll be okay with just having lots of cuddle time& laughing at her silly puppy antics!

Halti.

First things first. Halti. Does anyone out there that owns a dog have a dog that actually likes their Halti?! I took little Miss Penn for a run this AM. I had just gulped down some pre-workout energy& was ready to really rock a 12k run in the not-quite-afternoon almost-sun.

Well, the first 3k were lovely. We did 5:39, 5:17& 5:07 for those. Then it happened. Penn realized she was wearing the Halti. After that, I rotated between having her rub her nose on me, on the grass or on the pavement. I tried running with no Halti. No control. Put the Halti back on. She stopped, laid down, whined, tried to kill me by running in front of me& was just generally awful. I tried to keep running ..not even worth the effort. So we walked the last 2.5k home.  She normally runs in a harness& I know she hates the Halti but the hate has gotten a lot worse! What a waste of my morning run& workout drink. She is, however, contentedly sleeping on the bed so I'm figuring that my goal for the day has been accomplished. She's tired. I guess that makes this photo of Penn invalid-

Thankfully, a lazy Vizsla means that I can get this place cleaned up in anticipation of those little critters who will be coming to visit this evening. Or, you know, I could sit here writing blog posts& watching a little cheesy Canadian television. Oh, Heartland. Why do you have to be on Netflix& be sucking away all my time?! I suppose I even still need to shower ..the woes of being lazy when you have so much to do.

It really doesn't help that the sun has stopped shining, the temperatures dropped& my boyfriend went to work for the day. I could just sit here& snuggle a little red dog allllll afternoon ..I wonder if I can lock the door& tell the kiddies we aren't here?! Kidding, kidding. I should charge up the camera to make sure I have some funny photos for a blog post tomorrow/ to take to the agility field in the AM in case the weather is nice enough for us to go enjoy a run or two! We have been having serious crappy weather ..and we have a competition at the end of June. Time to buckle down& start getting ready for that. We need to come with just as many, if not more, ribbons than last time ;)

So, who out there has a dog& have you tried a Halti on them? Almost everyone I've spoken to has said that their dog either hates the Halti or it doesn't make any difference to their pulling. I have tried everything to convince her it's fun because she is much better behaved in the Halti than the harness, but I can't bring myself to have her wear something she hates so much so I deal with a little extra pulling. Any suggestions to get some Halti love for my pooch?!

Blogging hiatus? Over.

So, I have been super slack when it comes to posting on this little blog. I ended up getting sidetracked& taken away from this space that I love so much! In an honest effort, here's my first (of many) summer post. What inspired this posting? One of my good friends (if you remember, she owns La Quaintrelle) recently started blogging. Her posts are always so happy& well-written ..which will never happen over here so instead I'm aiming for some doggy humour& a little dose of a pretty photo every once in awhile!

My little red dog has managed to survive life with Garret& I as her parents and is 11 months old! It's hard to believe it's been 9 months since we decided to take on the task of raising& competing a Vizsla. I'd say we've done a fine job raising her. Figuring out if she'll be everything I want in my competition dog? We'll have to wait until she's 18 months old for that. In the meantime, she's doing an absolutely stellar job in motivating me to train for that looming half-marathon in January& she gives a pretty great snuggle post-run, too!

Post-5k ..she couldn't run because Cape Breton isn't dog friendly but how great is it for that

 sweet face to be waiting at the finish line?! Talk about a reason to sprint the end ;)

While waiting for my pretty red girl to grow up, I've been incredibly lucky to have the chance to run a very talented (and fast) brown Border Collie. Due to my lack of regular updates, I'm not entirely sure if I've ever properly introduced Briar to my blog people! He's absolutely just as handsome as can be& I adore him. Two weeks ago, we headed off to New Brunswick for a competition. I trained hard all winter to be able to do well this summer& it finally, finally paid off!

We had four runs in two days and we got a Qualifying score (which means a lot in terms of agility ..so feel free to congratulate me) and first place in 3 of our 4 runs. It was amazing. I am still riding that high while also being busy training for our next competition on Canada Day weekend. We'll have 8 runs that weekend& I need to keep up this winning streak ;)

Even Briar looks pleased with himself in this photo! You'd never know about 160mm of rain fell& we were FROZEN!!

Neither rain nor cold could stop us from our sheer happiness over all our hard work!

So, are we all caught up on the puppy business? Perfect! On that note, I know what I should do probably is go for a run. Is that what I'm going to do? Not a chance. I'm planning on spending this rainy, cold Cape Breton afternoon curled up on my couch& getting my daily quota of Penny snuggles! She's currently giving me the stink eye to get over there& make good on that threat!

Oh, before I go. One last thing for anyone out there reading this.. I need some good running music for those long run days that Penny can't make it. Anyone have some good, pump up music for my iPod? Let me know in the comments!