Sunday, March 31, 2013

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

All Kinds Of Trotting

Me?
The globe kind.
 
I have been sitting on airplanes and showing my passport to a kajillion people and repeatedly saying, “no, I do not have any fruit” and in the middle of all that I had a little time to spend with my dad and see a bit of southern Spain. Thusly…
 
2013-03-12 07.54.59
 
2013-03-12 07.57.55
 
If you have a chance to go, please do so. Awesome. California weather with friendlier people. Olives and cured meats to die for. Nom!
 
I did not take my camera with.
 
I know!
 
I am not a landscape photo person. Didn’t feel like lugging it around and worrying about it, etc. I can’t decide if I regret that decision or not, but cell phone pics will have to do.
 
2013-03-12 07.53.19
 
The girls?
They had the not so fun kind of trotting.
Of course most people don’t enjoy leaving their dogs, but I have not had to worry too much in the past. They place they go is great. They have been going there for years – comfy with the environment, etc. Something about this trip, though. I was really uncomfortable about leaving them.
 
Apparently, I am psychic, but only when it comes to gastrointestinal distress.
All-knowing when it comes to the poop shoot.
 
They must have gotten a bug somewhere. Didn’t seem stressed at all, just runny. And one day Bella didn’t want to eat. That was a first. And, a little alarming to hear when I am on the other side of the planet. The daycare was great about keeping me updated – got my daily runs email. They were a smidge thinner when they got home but seemed otherwise fine. They just like to keep me on my toes, I guess.
 
I love older dogs, but I am not a fan of aging dog worries!
 
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Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Internationalwho?

Let’s face it, I am a CPE person. We are a little less European and a little more Midwestern, don’tcha know.

Our “International” is generally followed by “House of Pancakes.”

Unless, I suppose, you count the occasional nacho bar at a trial as international? I think it is a rule that when you put jalapenos on something it becomes international even if that thing you are putting it on is Velveeta? I don’t think they are big on canned cheese in Europe but I do feel confident that the Costco 5 gallon can of chili contains no horse meat. That’s European. You USDAA people eat horse meat at your trials? Maybe it would help with all your unpronounceable handling maneuvers? I had a raw pork sandwich in Germany once. I can do that because I am gastrically a badass. I don’t think it helped with agility, though.

I got your backside right here! 600_1475

Also, you should probably stop taking your vitamin D and calcium. You watch those videos of the international people running the international dogs on the international courses? You probably Facebook your agility friends about them. Discuss the moves. The speed. The turning every which way. Me? I just yell at youtube….

Stand up!

Good god what is with the hunchy Europeans? I didn’t know osteoporosis was so rampant in the old country. Probably Obama’s fault.

Practicing ketschker handling. Not comfortable facing her dog
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Can’t we just go eat something?
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If you haven’t noticed, I don’t really care about training handling moves that I can’t spell or pronounce. Bella and I are certainly in the twilight of our agility teams’ career. We just go an occasionally screw around now. Maybe if I get another agility dog at some point I’ll go back to caring about training. I actually wasn’t going to participate in this Dog Agility Blog Event Day at all. I mean, at this point, even calling Bella an agility dog is about the same as calling Velveeta cheese. I figured, however, that I would use this opportunity to ask the international agility community a favor. More specifically the European agility community. See, Americans think just about everything you do is The Shit. Well, maybe not WW2 or the whole David Hasselhoff thing, possibly Bjork, but everything else, yes. Pastries, hair removal, agility moves. It’s all you.

It would be totally awesome sausage if you would start a new trend of only using 4 weave poles. I don’t want to push it, but entry side being optional would be pretty cool, too. We would call them “European poles.” We could even narrow that down to the country that started the great new trend.

“If our club got those crazy new Austrian poles we could have 12 second standard runs, too!”

Thx

One thing we have mastered, though? That thing even the CPE people do?

Jump wrapping
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Look at how close she is to it! 600_1509

Wrapping jumps almost better than eating stale tortillas 600_1506