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!

Uh Oh...

Hi All - Robin here. I have not "blogged" here before. Betty and Frank are usually the mouthy ones, but I think I have something you should all know about. Deceit. Yep, deceit. Follow along with me here. Mom went to visit my buddy Kruzzy (he's a pretty cool Border Collie and we've been friends since we were pups way back in 1998). Anyway, she brought back some cottage cheese for me! I love cottage cheese! Not really sure why she set it on the floor, but, hey - I'm game for pretty much anything involving food.
Do you think she would help me with this lid? I don't think so. Ah well. Shortly after this, she took my cottage cheese away and put it in the bathroom - weird.

Anyone else that this is NOT going to end well for me? I should have known something was up when she put my cottage cheese in the bathroom... I had my escape all planned...
I was just about there...
Drats - foiled again!!
I really don't think there was cottage cheese in that container.

New Coats!!

My kids wear coats during the winter and when it's cold in the fall or spring... oh... ok - they wear coats as long as it's not blazing hot outside! I am very lucky to have a talented seamstress not too far from my house. I pick out the fabric and supplies and take them to her house and she calls me when the coats are done. I have always done solid color coats for my guys, but a few weeks ago, I got a wild hair and decided that they needed bright patterned coats. Kathy (my seamstress) wanted photos for her records and we really needed to play a bit with the studio equipment, so here are the results. Robin declined to play along - he's a bit of an "Eeyore" in front of the camera sometimes, but his coat is very pretty too - red and blue stars on a blue background. Frank and Betty, on the other hand, see the camera and instantly ooze cuteness. So here's Frank:

and Betty:

The Eagles Are Back!!

Well, the Bald Eagles are back. Every winter, they come south (yep - who'd a thunk it? Iowa is SOUTH!) and fish in our open rivers until Canada thaws enough for them to head back home in the spring. Here in Cedar Rapids, they hang around the roller dam and a couple other places that have open water for them to fish. Right now, things are fairly well frozen and their open water is pretty limited, so they are all cluster around it and have to share. This guy was sitting in his tree Wednesday south of the roller dam along with a couple other mature eagles waiting their turns.

Across the river (hey - they are always across the river - as far away from the camera as possible!) there were quite a few hanging out (you can count nine in this shot):

Now, if you think that is a lot of eagles, you need to check out these photos: http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=118184 The other place they like to feed is an area just north of the roller dam by Cargill. Several geese and ducks have died and are providing some "carcass" feeding for the eagles. These immature eagles have been eating quite well. Sometimes the ice is a little tricky for those big raptor claws:

The crows like to get in on the action too:
This guy was alone and was a little nervous about someone flying above him and possibly chasing him away from his lunch.