Happy Birthday Robin!!

Yesterday was Robin's birthday - He turned eleven years old. It seems like only yesterday that I went to pick him up from his breeder in Wisconsin. Time sure flies! So... because it's his birthday, we had to take pictures. Robin tends to "melt" a bit in front of the camera when we set up formal photos, so Betty and Frank were more than willing to play a bit while we got everything set up just right for the birthday boy... One of the things that I have always struggled with is getting my IGs to lay down on the table when we are running agility, so I've had to be a bit creative. I can't get something this nice at a trial from Frank:

So... I taught him to lay on his side: Betty was a little different... and she is NEVER this adorable at a trial!! With a little patience, a clicker and a LOT of food, over the winter we have really been working hard on her down. She is supposed to tuck her front right foot under her chest and this is what I get: About that birthday boy... he was perfect for photos today!!He just gets more handsome the older he gets!!

WARNING!!! (seriously!!)

Ok - this is your official warning - the photos in this post are probably offensive to some folks. I feed raw to my dogs - they love it - I love how they look and act on it. They wolf it down in about ten seconds flat (seriously) and the poops are tiny. Gotta love that. So... there are different types of raw feeding. Personally, I feed a pre made mix from Nature's Variety (www.naturesvariety.com). The dogs do fantastic on it and it's easy to find.

My folks were in Florida for the last two months and brought back a bunch (120 pounds!) of raw for their dogs and ours. I got a case and there is some thawing in the refrigerator right now. This is Blue Ridge Beef (www.blueridgebeef.com). The lean beef is supposed to be a favorite, so that's what the kids will get to try first - not that it really matters to them - I think a ten second meal really doesn't allow for a whole lot of tasting. Another type of raw feeding is whole carcass feeding - use your imagination - it's just what it sounds like.

So... back to the gross part (Brian - stop reading here!!!). I came home from work today and let the dogs out while I changed out of my uniform. I checked on the dogs and noticed that Frank had something hanging from his chin. Now there is never really anything in the yard, so if they think there is something good enough to eat and it's big enough for me to see across the yard, I tend to get a little frantic (I'm paranoid about the thought of something unsafe getting in the yard). I calmly (yep - totally calm) went out to the yard to see what Frank had. It was fuzzy and blowing from his chin like a little goatee. I look at the ground and there is "something" laying in front of Frank - a body part of some sort. A closer look... it's a bunny leg!! Yuck and it's NOT fresh! So now I have three dogs that want the bunny leg and one bunny leg that needs to be disposed of. Ugh - I pick up the bunny leg and take it to the yardy. Whew...

Then I get thinking (I'm not always very good at this!). Bunny legs rarely travel on their own... Ugh. The fuzz, bunny leg and Frank were all in front of the wood racks - we have a fireplace and Brian has a really nice set up in the back yard for the wood - doesn't it look nice? There's a ton of wood under those tarps! So, I decided that a look around for the rest of Mr Bunny was in order... (this is your FINAL warning - Brian - stop reading!!!!)Yep - it was behind the wood racks - the dogs like to race around them and there is just enough room for them to get between the wood racks and the fence. It looks like something (NOT the dogs!!) got the bunny or it died under the wood racks over the winter and the dogs got it out. He had two lucky feet, but they weren't working!!
V8 headslap here... this would explain the bit of bone that Frank threw up a few nights ago... it looked a bit large to have come from the ground mix that I feed. So... I think maybe I have been doing some whole carcass feeding and I just didn't know it.

Busy Day...

Well... it's 9:20pm and I'm ready for bed! It's been a busy day for sure. I started out leaving the house at nine this morning to shoot an Easter egg hunt. Ashley (a co-worker) was taking her daughter to the Easter egg hunt and I asked if I could go along to take some photos. Let me tell you, these things are NOT for the faint of heart! Those parents (yep, the parents) are serious! I saw at least a couple moms and dads dragging their kids by the arm pointing out the candy and eggs to their kids. The whole thing took about ten minutes from start to finish. I got lots of great shots of Olivia hunting for the eggs. Then we all came back to our house for Ashley's maternity shoot. She is 7 1/2 months pregnant and perfect for photos right now. We have been planning this for months! (more about that later...). After Ashley left, we put a couple steaks and some spuds on the grill - YUMMY!!!!!!! We decided after gorging ourselves, we ought to burn some calories, so we cleaned out the flower beds. Here's the before:

And the after - this took about an hour - and there are plants under there!!

We even found a couple flowers!
Now... about that maternity shoot... Brian was in charge of lighting and I was the shooter/poser. I am so stinkin' proud of these photos!! Here's one of my favorites. You'll have to go to my website to see the rest: www.inflightphotog.com (look under portraits).

Blogs...

• I really enjoy reading people's blogs. They are very entertaining - kinda like reality TV, but online.

• My friend, Tammy, lives in the country and has lots of adventures that I would be afraid of - sometimes I think she goes out looking for them!! Her blog is: http://gotsygyzy.blogspot.com/ . Tammy also started a blog for all of her agility students: http://smoothsailin.blogspot.com .

• We have been whining, crying and generally begging another friend, Melinda, to start a blog... she is a very talented writer and REALLY should write a book (Martha - are you paying attention???). Well, she just finally started a blog this week: http://exercisefinished.blogspot.com/ . Very entertaining stuff.

• Another one I really like to visit is Susan Garrett's blog - she always has some awesome training tips: http://susangarrett.wordpress.com/

• I also enjoy Patricia McConnell's blog - very interesting reading about dog behavior: www.theotherendoftheleash.com

• And, of course, what would a post from me be without a shot of one of the dogs...
  

Well... yesterday was nice...

Well, yesterday was really nice (today is grey and rainy)... I had to work in the morning, but then I got some grocery shopping done, ran some errands, cleaned out my van from last weekend's agility trial, and took the dogs for a walk. Then, I decided that it had been too long since I took shots of the dogs in the back yard. So - here is what the dogs did on their nice day outside...

1. Defended the perimeter against imminent attack (this is NOT Betty's best side!).
2. Held secret meetings to overtake the world.

3. Shiny object.

4. Stalked the camera.
5. Attacked the photographer.
6. Betty: "Can we just talk about how PRETTY I am?"

Robin Coursing Video

Robin has not lure coursed in quite a while - 2005 was his last year - the year he finished his Field Championship. He was almost eight years old and I thought that was plenty old enough to be coursing. He was very fortunate during his career to never be seriously injured. He has a small scar in the corner of his right eye from lure coursing, but that's it.

Anyhoo... I was going through some old videos - getting them named and organized and came across some fun videos of Robin that I thought you all might enjoy...

This first one is Robin going to the start line. For those of you that know him from agility and what an "Eeyore" he can be sometimes, well - this is his other side. Turn up the volume - that is him you hear squealing to get to the line. I wish he would show this enthusiasm for agility!!

And this is Robin coursing - he's the one in pink (yes... real men wear pink!!)

Thanks Carrie!!!!!

I learned something new this weekend - my little Sony Cybershot can shoot video! Yipeeeee!!! I was thinking of getting a Flip Video Camera, but this will work just as well. Thanks to Carrie (who has a very similar camera), I now know how to work it - so here's a cute video of Frank and Betty playing on the bed at the Motel 6 this weekend - Robin decided to play referee!