My. Dog. Has. A. Problem.

My dog has a problem... maybe it's an addiction. He loves balls. Squeaky balls, rubber balls, plush balls, Chuck-it balls, Hole-e roller balls... he doesn't care as long as it's a ball and there's someone willing to blow out an elbow throwing said ball for him.

His newest, brightest, best ball is a Christmas gift from Tammy. I think this was meant as a torture device for the humans connected to the dogs. Everyone got one - no one was spared. Fortunately, the ball Vinnie got was a bit shy in the squeaker department (thank you God!!). He loves his ball - it goes with him everywhere. I think the egg babies are being neglected. That's fine by me. The egg babies get stuck under the furniture. This results in said Poodle scratching at the side of the offending furniture until I can't take it anymore and move furniture to get an egg baby - and it must be THAT egg baby. Never mind that there are TEN other egg babies scattered about the house. But I digress...

Here is the newest addiction in the house:

Martha's Fault...

Don't worry about Martha... she'll take the blame for poor Vinnie's addiction (ok... it's the best toy ever!!). When he was a poor innocent little puppy (yeah right) she gave him an alligator with these yellow "eggs" in it's belly. I don't think Vinnie has ever played with the alligator, but he has loved those eggs for the last year and a half. A couple of them have "died" and gone to egg baby heaven. He carries those eggs everywhere and panics if they get under the couch or dresser. He will pace and scratch at the offending furniture until the egg baby is rescued from the grips of rabid dust bunnies.

Today, after finishing up some Christmas shopping, I came home to some boxes on the porch (love UPS!!). Sitstay had been delivered. Did you know they make egg baby refills? Someone was thinking!! The funny thing about this video is that Frank NEVER plays with toys...

ICDOC 2010

ICDOC (Iowa City Dog Obedience Club) had another successful trial. It is always a great trial with lots of good friends, food and FUN!! This year our days were color coded. Friday was orange. Saturday was pink. Sunday was red. Saturday's pink was for breast cancer awareness. Jeff made some fantastic agility equipment (I REALLY REALLY wanted the weaves, but they went to Tony O. in Minnesota - I offered to store them for her, but she declined) and they made over $1000 for the Susan G Komen foundation!! Here's a little sample of our weekend:

Moley Moley Moley Moley

I don't post much - I am a baaaaaad blogger, but some things are cause for celebration. I have captured a mole that has been wrecking havoc in my yard. I am NOT one to have a glorious, gorgeous golf course perfect yard, but I don't want to be tripping over mole mounds and staring at all the little trails they make around the yard. Those little mounds and trails also make it difficult to make my jumps and weave poles sit up straight.

At agility class Wednesday night, I was explaining my dilemma to Bill and he offered to let me borrow one of their mole traps. I got a lesson in setting the trap and headed home to begin my quest. Unfortunately, memory being what it is, I forgot about the trap in my van until last night. I checked the yard and it looked like Mr Mole had left for greener pastures (aka my neighbor's yard). I stomped down his trails and put the trap next to my fence so if he decided to come back into my yard, he would... well... not get very far.



So.... look at your own risk...



He's not pretty...



You've been warned...

LOL - that scene always cracks me up... so here is MY mole:

Evolution of a jump...

I had two jumps. Well, I DID have three jumps, but one died a tragic death this spring when we were getting the agility equipment out for the summer. Oh well - it was time to make more. The plan was to make three more jumps for a total of five. I ordered six "five way" joints from CleanRun and bought some goodies at Menards. I cleaned the PVC and marked where everything needed to be cut and drilled and let Brian do the rest. I have everything glued and capped, so hopefully no bugs or water will get inside them. I had the dogs try them out to make sure they met with their approval:

When it's too hot to play outside...

I have had a few folks ask me if my dogs notice the fish. My tank is in the bedroom and almost right next to the bed, so just at nice eye level for the dogs. They've all looked a bit, but Vinnie (of course!) seems to pay the most attention.

The white-ish fish that you see darting around (they are feeding) are my Bosemani Rainbows. They'll get color when they are older. The little bottom feeders are Black Sail Cory Cats (the big ones with the spots), Emerald Green Cory Cats (the baby green ones) and Otos (the skinny ones with the black stripes). They are all after an algae wafer.

Fish!!!

I love my fishies - they are fun to watch and are very peaceful. I decided that I hated the "fake" look and wanted to go with real plants and driftwood. This is the before (before the fish were even in the tank - they were in another tank).

And this is what I have so far. I have been buying a few plants here and there (real plants are much cheaper than plastic/fabric and they will spread - as long as they are happy).

I am sure some things will need "re-arranging" as the plants grow and spread. They don't come with little tags like the perennials (no idea on height and width). The fish really seem to like the new plants and driftwood. They seem much more relaxed and like to play in the plants. This is one of my Otos on a Crypt plant:

My tank inhabitants are:

7 Bosemani Rainbows (I suspect one is actually a Turquoise Rainbow)

6 Black Sail Cory Cats

6 Emerald Cory Cats

6 Otos (they eat algae - good fishy!)

One grumpy Dwarf Gourami

Ames Video

Frank was such a good boy this weekend and went 3/4 - Here are a couple of his runs - the jww run was 4.09 yps, which is REALLY good for Frank!

Plants are finally in!

The plants are FINALLY in. I have had them sitting in their "positions" in front of the porch for a couple weeks now - trying to decide if they will like their new home. Well, it looks like there is enough sun and shade for everyone involved. Of course it started to rain when Brian and I were planting... oh well. So here is a little before/after video... I love when they do those on TV. Next year, this will really look nice and filled out!

Did a quick training session with Vinnie tonight. His teeter is really coming along nicely - it needs to go up one more to get to regulation height. The second teeter is my favorite - nice speed almost to the end. He is doing well on the dogwalk. I only have a "little" dogwalk - eighteen feet, so we'll see how he does on a big boy dog walk in class.

flowers!

I FINALLY got some flowers planted in front of the house. The back yard is off limits - that belongs to the dogs and the agility equipment. Here is the "before":

After planting eighteen Coleus and nine Sweet Potato Vine:

This is the Coleus - I cannot remember what it's called, but I think it looks really nice with the green Sweet Potato Vine.

Three more Coleus and six black Sweet Potato vine next to the door.

This was a little different, but I could not resist the Lantana - I LOVE Lantana. Hopefully it will get along with the pink Wave Petunia! I think they'll have enough sun next to the driveway.

Aren't they cute?

Leftovers...

After the bunny ears were so well received by Vinnie, I decided that he needed to start a hat collection. At agility trials, we usually have a tub of neat goodies to choose from. It's one of those "One toy/treat per dog entered". I had Frank entered at a NADAC trial a couple months back on a Sunday. Apparently all the "good" toys were gone when I went to choose Frank's toy. Well, this cute little hat was left and I had just the fella to wear it!! Now I am on the hunt for more Vinnie sized headgear!

Happy Birthday Robin!!

Where does the time go? It seems like only yesterday I was driving home from Wisconsin with him...

Robin and his best buddy Kruz a few days after I brought him home:

Robin today... 12 years old and enjoying retirement.

Sunshine!

It is SO nice out this weekend!!

From the Easter Bunny...

hmmm... I guess you could call these the "out-takes" or maybe the "after-takes"?

It's time for my monthly post...

Yep... I finally got around to posting again - I am not a responsible poster!!

Frank and Vinnie and I went to the DMOTC trial last weekend and Frank did really well. He was VERY brave (no Betty to rely on for moral support - she stayed home). I picked out a couple of my favorite runs - Frank really does seem to be getting braver (is that a word?) the more we go to trials. He only gives the crowd a little look as he gets close to the fencing and the people and is getting faster as he gets more confident. What a good boy!

Vinnie was also a VERY good boy. His focus is getting SO much better. He is still very easily distracted, but recovers and gives attention much more quickly. He's getting there!

His scruffiness:

Run Forest... Run!!

Frank and I went to the Quad Cities Sunday for a NADAC trial and were lucky enough to have Michele to video us (thanks Michele!!). His first run was jumpers and he ran REALLY well (5.22 yps). He ran well in both regular runs, but had a little misdirection by me (oops!). I think by tunnelers, he was ready to go home!

Grooming... AGAIN!

I thought it would be fun to take some photos (not good ones for sure!!) of Vinnie as I groomed him yesterday. He was NOT amused and thought we should just get on with it so as we were wasting a perfectly good sunny day.

1:45pm - Scruffy Dog:

1:52pm - all brushed out:

2:19pm - bathed, conditioned and towel dried:

2:47pm - dried and brushed (his big hair look!):

4:00pm - All done!

I took a couple of head shots and had some fun with them:

Scruffy:
Groomed:

Eggs... revisited...

Remember the eggs that Vinnie loves so much? Martha gave them to him waaaaaay back over the summer for a puppy present. He absolutely adores his eggs. There are five of them that pop up at random around the house - usually when I am moving furniture. Most of his stuffies only last a day or so, but all five of these eggs are still intact - they may not squeak, but Vinnie loves each and every one!

It's very rare that I cook - I am NOT, repeat NOT, Martha Stewart, Paula Dean, Rachel Ray, Cat Cora, or any of those other brilliant TV chefs. I enjoy watching THEM cook very much (usually while munching on some non healthy, pre-made snack food!). Today was one of those rare days. I got this recipe from a co-worker and since it sounded, well, me-proof, I gave it a shot. The dish starts with BBQ chips (seriously!)

Two boneless chicken breasts, split and trimmed:

and some melted butter:

Crush up the chips - Next time I do this, I will crush them up a bit more - they were a bit coarse and didn't stick to the chicken as well as I would have liked.

Coat the chicken in butter and roll in the chips - note there are only three pieces here to head for the oven... There was not much room in the pan for the last piece, so it got cut up for the dogs... YUMMY!!

After an hour in the oven at 350 degrees: It was pretty moist and very tasty. You could also try this with regular chips and add some different seasonings to them. Martha will probably try this with her weird vinegar chips!! Ewwwwww!!!

Bad to the Nylabone...

I wanted a Flip to use for training - watching my agility runs and all that, but... I have been having more fun just filming the every day stuff these guys do.

What NOT to do... don't teach your puppy that slippers are a fun toy. Vinnie LOVES these slippers. I would feel more inclined to put a stop to the behavior if it carried over to other shoes or he did it when I was actually walking, but he only shows interest in them if I am sitting down or if I am not wearing them. Really, a behavior like this could turn into a very bad thing... Tammy, you know which dog I am thinking of... I'd have to keep treats in my pockets :-)

From yesterday... another fun time was had by all (well... Vinnie) in the snow:

Thanks for the toy Auntie Michele!!

Gotta luv the Wubba! Thanks Melissa - it doesn't squeak!