YEP IT'S GERIATRIC CENTRAL

As of next weekend I'll be adding another oldie moldie to the pack.  Temporarily of course.  It's a lovely old gal named Willow who will be here as a foster for MWCR.  Poor baby has to travel all the way from MO--more info on her after she arrives and settles in.  Let's see...how many more bottles of glucosomine will I be needing...

Until next time...

CALVIN AND HOBBS

It's a comics explosion here on the farm!  Hobbs came to become a permanent and much missed blue dog a while back.  Hobbs will be out as a special in 2012 and my first attempt at getting a Grand Championship.  He is a gorgeous, big boy with floating movement and a headpiece to die for.  He is also a velcro dog and while I thought he was bad about being sucked to me before we started obedience training, he is worse now.  I'll take it for now, it will make getting that RN this fall easier and I'm sure once he figures it all out he will get off my feet so I can remain upright.
Calvin is joining the Maiwae gang as a temporary resident while his mommy takes care of some medical stuff.  He too is a blue boy, big and as Deb likes to say "rather Jam like".  Calvin is better known as Ch. Anstett's Rising Star.  He needs one leg to finish his RN so we'll do some polishing up and get that finished while he is here.  Calvin will be an intermittent addition so...fingers crossed...he'll get his CD next year.
On a sad note for me and me alone, Beijing goes home this weekend.  I miss him already, he is a good boy and we have had a fantastic ride this year, RN and HT on my end, his TT with mom Sahra, and we will get him back out in 2012 for that CD.  With puppies coming soon and Sahra and John's move, along with the seemingly limitless bad stuff happening here in the past couple of months, I had to table it.  I just have not been in the mood to work with him.  I tried to keep him but dang it! John didn't "forget" he was here!  
More news on arrivals and departures to come...
Until next time...

FALL

Yep it's fall.  Harvest has begun and the shoot is back in prep for the cows going bye-bye.  The air is crisp, but warm this week which is a good thing.  I am dedicating this afternoon to dog baths.  This may be the last time for outdoor dog baths and I want to get everyone clean before winter.  Once we have to move bath time inside only dogs that are showing get a bath.  My back just can't take doing them all in the tub.  Speaking of tubs, I love my booster bath.  It has saved me countless hours of back pain. :-)  Earlier this year I even hooked up the hot water faucet from the basement and in the spring we had warm outside water. 
This morning I dedicated to getting a few groceries in the house and a quick run to the Goodwill in Independence for a drop off.  More dog laundry on the line drying and after a short break I'm moving fencing again.  I have a couple of panels and doors to repair (thank you Glitter--that'll do) and need to move where the doors are for winter.  Fingers crossed I can still use the 2 yards down below once the snow flies.  Snow...ugh. 
Outta here to enjoy this lovely fall day.
Until next time...

AWCA

In going through the dog's info last night I found that Spice and her son Reid now have enough points to qualify for the AWCA's Versatility Certificate!  AWCA is the American Working Collie Association, a wonderful group that promotes the versatile working Collie.  AWCA has titling programs in versatility as well as social dog, therapy dog and backpacking just to name a few.  I guess I had better pick up a new black ink cartridge so I can copy the certificates and get my point slips sent in.  Now to tackle the CCA's versatility award program...

OUR FIRST HT!

I am pleased and proud to announce the first Maiwae HT dog!  Yesterday at Camp Bandy in Amherst Junction WI, "The Baby" earned his second HT leg!  Otherwise and now known as Int/Ntl Ch. Maiwae's Allstar Singular Sensation, RN,HT,HIC.  Huge thank yous to his co-breeder/co-owner Sahra Jola of Allstar Collies for her dedication to training and trialing Reid.  And to John Wentz of Big Yellow Boots Stock Dogs who put his own blood, sweat and tears into training Sahra and I to train our dogs. 

REID - New HT!

HIC

Yesterday I loaded the car up and we went herding.  Did a little subtraction/addition work at the Jola household and Sahra and I were off with 6 dogs to the Collie Club of Minnesota's Herding Instinct Certificate testing.  It was held at Joanna Yund's place and I give her top grades for her set up and her livestock.  The sheep were perfect for entry level dogs and some very lovely puppies that Denice Gray brought.  And no, I did not stuff one of them in my coat to bring home, tempting as it was, love that sable boy...
I am very pleased to announce that Spice, Declan and Reid all passed along with John and Sahra's crew of Bryce and Musca.  Amy supplied a few of the Oak Knoll Collies and I got to watch pieces of Lyra, Gibbs, Booth and Gideon perform.  Gideon was fabulous, that boy might not heel, but he sure herds.  :-)
Reid and Bryce were entered today in a herding trial up in WI, Sahra was off to that by herself as I had to go to IL to place of the rescues in his adopted home.  Matt now has a home and kids of his own.  I'm still waiting on results of the trial .
Amy Ross took some great photos and video and I've bootlegged both to post here.  Thanks Amy!
REID 
SPICE
DECLAN

"DECLAN"     Oak Knolls Riverton, HIC

"REID"     Int/Ntl Ch. Maiwae's Allstar Singular Sensation,RN,HT,HIC

"SPICE"           Int Ch. Oak Knolls Pumpkin Spice, RN,TT,HIC

                                           
Spice is Reid's mom.  I'll be breeding Declan to Spice in early 2012 for some more awesome "do it all" dogs!

Until next time...

UPDATES

As many know I lost two dogs recently.  Lost as in missing.  It was my fault, I have become a bit too comfortable with living in the middle of nowhere and daily walks with dogs off leash to the mailbox and back were routine.  All it takes is that one time for things to go badly and it happened.  I had Declan, Kit, Beijing and Matt that day, all of whom were well versed in the daily chore.  Did they have 100% perfect recalls?  No.  Was I complacent in the vague knowledge that my verbal command and whistle would be enough to keep them safe? Yes.  Matt and Beijing responded, I didn't have any leashes with me to put on them to go after the other two and Declan and Kit did not respond.  I suspect they chased some animal into the corn field.  Ultimately Declan and Kit appeared two days later at my "neighbors" property which is one road over directly north of my property as the crow flies and about 3 miles as the road goes.  Before I could get there Kit was spooked by the large equipment that was mowing the waterways.  I was able to claim Declan.  Kit remains lost and it's now been three weeks.  I suspect the worse and hope for the best.
This happened shortly after Jam's untimely death and the placement of two more of the rescues.  As pointed out to me by dear Sahra, that's a lot of loss.  Yes it is and no I have not dealt with it that well at all.  The new arrivals and guest dog have helped and Spice has tried valiantly to fill the hole Jam left behind. 
On the good news side of things, Lymmy and Hobbs have transitioned grandly into the mix.  Glitter is here as a guest, Calvin will be coming for a visit and to finish his RN and we have winter vacationers coming to stay later this year.  Lolli's puppies are due in a month give or take and I'm so looking forward to their birth.  Okay Lolli and Bryce--I want a tri rough girl.  No more boys thank you very much.  There are only four rescues to place and I'm contemplating foster failure with one of them and adopting one permanently.  So new happy events will soon overshadow the depressingly sad past events. 
So onward we go, again.
Until next time...

TIME HEALS

I miss Jam terribly.  I thought that after a week it would get easier but it really hasn't.  There is a huge hole in the house and in my heart.  I'm sure as time passes it will get better, but right now I just miss my buddy.  On a happier note, Abby and Joy were adopted this weekend to fantastic homes.  If I had sent in a custom order I couldn't have done better.  Now to move on and find homes for the remaining four.
Never one to return home empty handed, I brought a visitor and a couple of new additions to the family.  Glitter will be staying here for a brief visit while John and Sahra work on their new country home and Lolli has her babies in late October.  She made herself right at home and sometime during the night ended up in the bed much to Maddy's disgust and Spice's pouting.  Actually I'm not sure if Maddy was really disgusted, just disgruntled at being woken up.  Spice is definitely pouting, definitely. 
Our new arrivals are a senior citizen retiree, named Lymmy, a lovely smooth Collie lady who moved right in and found the comfiest dog bed.  She and Tori worked out a few kinks and I explained to them that along with Maddy (who frankly could care less unless it comes to feeding times or disturbing her sleep) they are the senior set and need to band together to keep the youngsters under control.  I'm sure Tori thinks that is a great idea as she already has taken control of all of the boys, Lymmy looked at me like I was nuts (?), I mean after all, she doesn't "work" anymore, thank you very much, take care of the youngsters yourself.
I brought home a new "Hobb-y" for myself.  Peppi was kind enough to offer to share her Hobbs with me so he'll be a permanent resident.  I'll have a specials dog for the first time since Ripley, so look for us to be out having fun after the first of the year.  Pictures and/or video as I find time.  Seems I'm always short on time.

JAM

JAM

Ch. Oak Knolls Strawberry Jamboree, RN, RA, TT, CGC

12/28/04-09/03/11

ADULTS AVAILABLE

I have two adult male rough Collies available pending being neutered.  This is where my breeder side wars with my non-breeder side.  I have had to push myself to make decisions based on a few facts:  not every dog is supposed to be in my breeding program; not every dog wants to be the member of a large pack of animals;  I can only keep so many dogs that are not part of my breeding program.  Would I love to keep every dog that comes into my home?  Yep!  Can I or Should I? Nope!  So with a heavy heart I offer up two wonderful dogs that will bring unending joy to another family:

Harold is a 3 year old sable and white rough boy.  (His birthday is 9/4/08). He has his RN and U-RO1 but I have found he is pretty much stuck at that level.  This makes him an excellent companion dog as he is obedient and knows well the basic commands of life-sit, down, stay, come and he walks like a dream on leash.  He is also pretty good off leash and has learned to come to a whistle with about 75% accuracy.  He is a Collie though and will chase anything that zooms past him.  Harold loves kids and does well with other dogs except extremely over the top dominant males.  He runs with my other boys, both intact and neutered and is fine because they are not looking to cause trouble.  He is good with cats too.  Harold is housebroken, crate trained and a well behaved house dog.  He loves to play with toys, especially tug and fetch, and will cuddle up for a good snuggle.  His one bad habit is his barking.  It's one of those annoyingly high pitched barks and he does it when I leave him in the kennel or out in the yard and walk away where he can see me but can't be with me.  If he's out alone, he's fine.  It's only when he can see me and would like to be with me that it's a problem.  Harold is up to date on vaccinations, is heartworm negative and on monthly preventative and microchipped. 

Kit is a nearly 5 year old tri rough boy.  (Birthdate 12/23/06).  He is a fairly recent addition having been acquired in late May this year.  Kit is very bright and learned quickly, he is housebroken, crate trained and can be found snuggled up on my bed more often than not.  Kit arrived with some medical issues.  He had a very bad hookworm and whipworm infestation and was grossly underweight.  The worms are gone and he also has had a clean panel of bloodwork. He is also heartworm negative and on monthly preventative as well as being microchipped.  However, Kit continues to have weight issues.  I have tried various foods including cooking for him and he is still only 61lbs on a frame that should be 70 lbs.  Since he is physically healthy on vet exam and testing, I feel that neutering him to see if having a shift in his hormones, is the next step to getting him completely back to normal.  Since I cannot show nor breed a neutered boy, Kit will be seeking a new home.  Kit is so loving, very gentle and craves attention.  He is a velcro dog, so he will need someone that likes having a shadow following them around.  He is good with kids and other dogs as long as they don't attempt to be aggressive with him.  Cats are an unknown so I am saying, no cats for Kit.  He has no formal obedience training but is great on a leash and I think a fun obedience for the home class or even an agility class would be a great thing for Kit.  Kit would probably make a good 4H dog as long as the family is willing to put time into his grooming.  And here is the negative about Kit, he has a soft coat.  It requires brushing a minimum of once a week and for a companion dog I would recommend keeping it shorter.  NOT SHAVED, just trimmed shorter so that he is not so prone to picking up things and getting tangles.  Unlike Harold who you can run a brush through once a month or whenever he picks up a burr or stick and it pops right out, Kit's hair will pick burrs and turn them into knots. 

If you would like information on either boy please contact me via email at:  k9krazy10@msn.com or by phone at 563-927-1430.  I do require references as well as a signed contract for purchase.  Both Harold and Kit will be ready to go upon being neutered.

JAM IS SICK

Jam is sick.  My best friend is sick.  It pains and embarrasses me to admit that in his time of need I can't help him by myself.  It's been 11 months since I last worked and I just don't have the money to take him to Iowa State University's Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center.  He needs a neuro and ophthalmology consult and while I could take him into Cedar Rapids for the eye exam, it's actually less expensive if I do both consults at ISU.  I scheduled Jam to be seen at ISU on Monday Aug. 29 and am going on faith that I'll be able to pull it off.

The folks at Minnesota Wisconsin Collie Rescue have been so supportive and Deb has put together a website for Jam that tells about his problems and also asks for donations towards his consultations and possible tests and treatment.  Pushing embarrassment aside I publish that link below.  Your prayers for Jam would be greatly appreciated, he is my rock and it's heartbreaking to see him so not himself.

Jam's Medical Expenses

Judy

AND THE ANSWER IS...

Seven.  A ridiculous number of large dogs in the back of a Chevy Trailblazer.  :-)
So, good news, Maddy made it thru the trip with flying colors, I bless Rimadyl.  She's 14 and very arthritic so I decided it was worth it to put her on as much long term Rimadyl as needed to keep her comfy.  She was positively radiant this weekend.  This is the first trip in a long time that she was able to go on and not be totally crippled after.  Great news, two of the rescue Collies met with their new adopter and so far it's going well. 
Bad news, although it wasn't really bad, Declan did not win any points and Beijing needs more work.  This was one of those rare weekends I can come home and say, the depth of competition in Smooth Collies this weekend was awesome!  There were 9 class dogs and not a bum in the bunch.  Kim finished her girl on Sat. going Best of Winners.  I took the Winners Dog back in with the intent of helping the judge decide to award that crossover major by putting the girl up BOW.  It wasn't hard, the dog didn't like me.  I had to pout about that.  I seriously was bummed, all dogs like me damn it.  Watch out Mario, I'm on a mission here to MAKE you like me.  On Sunday I repeated my handler duties taking the lovely sable WD in for breed, again with the intent to convince the judge that she should crossover that major to the girl.  At least Kori liked me.  He's a pretty nice dog so I added a little spin to my repetoire and purposely didn't pay attention to the judge, asking more than once for her to repeat her request.  Not sure I can go back to her for a while, haha, but whatever, I did my part and the major crossed over.  I like to tease that I put 2 majors on girls this weekend and didn't touch a one of them.  If only this were a career option.  :-)
The weather held except for a downpour on Sat morning, my dogs at home didn't get out, get hurt or die. Josh stopped on Sat. after cattle chores to check on water buckets and topped them off as he promised. I love that kid.  Plus he is educating me on farming and cattle.  I'm not sure where I'll put that info to use at his late date in life.  Maybe we'll herd some cows one day--uh maybe not.
Until next time...

HOW MANY DOGS...

I'm attempting to answer the age old question - How many dogs can you fit in the back of a Chevy Trailblazer?

Yep, the Maiwae gang is off on a road trip to Albert Lea this weekend for some showing and lots of fun!  Declan will attempt the breed ring provided I can find my other shoe.  Beijing will attempt the obedience ring provided I can find his testicular ridden brain.

Much fun to be had by all--report to follow~

WHY IS IT

Why is it...that after 20 years of showing dogs I still forget how much work it is to pack the vehicle?

Why is it...that bathing 4 dogs always feels like it was 8?

Why is it...that I can only find one of my show shoes?

Biting Off More To Chew...

As you can read in previous posts, the garden has been a productive enterprise so far this year.  I've had many salads and fresh veggies and have 8 meals of zucchini as well as 4 bags of diced stuff for stews and such, in the freezer.  There are many blossoms and teeny tiny new ones on the plants so I expect more to come, which means next weekend I'll be forcing, uh giving, away the over abundance.  I gave the whole garden a strong shot of Miracle Grow yesterday, I have a bad feeling about that.  This is the first year in ages I've had peppers that have taken off.  This is a warning and a reminder to myself:  do not plant 4 jalapeno pepper plants.  I have jalapenos everywhere, on the plants, in the refrigerator bin and now strung up in the kitchen window.  There is just no reason to waste a single piece of good food so I "Googled" how to dry peppers.  This method involved me stringing them up and putting them in a sunny window.  Apparently it takes a longer time to dry them this way, but now I'm feeling positively Susie Homemakerish.  I went out on a limb and strung up a bunch of banana peppers too.  There are only 2 plants but again, they are full of veg.  If all goes well and these peppers actually do dry out I'll be able to leave them whole or grind them up for use in soups, stews, sauces, etc. 
I'm looking at tomatoes that if they all ripen at the same time will bury me alive.  In particular the Romas. This is a good thing since they are the base for canning sauces and SALSA!  I wish I could add little maraca sounds to this blog.  Ole!
A bit ago I dried an oven full of herbs and had the chance to use both some of the basil and oregano today.  I had a group of sad looking green tomatoes that would not ripen and were looking like they wanted to rot at any moment, so they are chopped up stewing now with onions and green peppers from the garden.  I have no idea what the mixture will end up as before it is frozen, but it has my dried herbs in it.  I'm thinking of calling it Green Tomato Sauce Base.  At some point this winter when I actually give in and attempt to use it, I'll report back.  I need another trip into Manchester tomorrow as I forgot an important ingredient, and tomorrow my plan is to do a little canning of what I'm calling "Wild Apple Jam".  And I think I may have enough pickling cucs to take a run at some bread and butter pickles.  Say a prayer to Julie Child.
I'm excited to report the appearance of several butternut squash as well--again, if they can get to the right size before this next weekend I'll be shoving them in a bag for my MN and WI friends.  Hmm...I wonder if next year I could double my efforts and set myself up at dogs shows as a vendor...
Until next time...

BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED

The dogs get free run of the farm about twice a day, in small groups so I can keep track of who is off doing what.  It never fails that at least some of the dogs head out to the cows.  After all they are herding dog breeds.  Two of the younger dogs are usually the best behaved around the stock and are easily called away.  Charlie just turned 8 months old and is just starting to really show interest in stock.  He can wiggle his way under the gate and up until the past few days has mostly spent that time nosing around and eating cow poo.  The cows pretty much ignore that behavior.  Trace has shown mild amusement at the other dogs and their various approaches to the cows.  Most of the dogs have had exposure to livestock or are in herding lessons, and for the most part ignore the stinky things.  And yes, for the record, when the wind is just right and especially in all the humidity, they stink.  You get used to it, but they stink. 
This early evening run brought surprises in the form of Charlie AND Trace picking out cows to stare down.  Followed by going into the pen and backing the cows off and then into the other part of the yard.  The cows for the most part just mosey on, but there are a couple of really crabby ones in there, an angus and a brown one (yea, I'm not up on my cow breeds).  The brown one challenged Trace and he went after the cow's nose and when the cow turned he grabbed a leg.  The cow took off and Trace seemed very pleased.  I almost hyperventilated.  I decided to praise him effusively instead of reprimanding him given that he called off once I said "here".  I ran to get the video camera and found out the batteries were way LOW--dang it!  I did manage to catch a couple of short clips, but missed the really good stuff. 
Trace is headed back to herding lessons ASAP!  Such a good little short dog! 
Until next time...

A WHOLE LOTTA NOTHIN'

There's a whole lotta nothin' goin' on here.  Oh sure, the daily chores, the ever present lawnmowing project, the Iowa Amazon (aka garden), but other than that, not a whole lot to be said really.  Beijing and I have been working steadily to train for his upcoming attempts at both this BN and CD titles.  Once he completes those titles he'll be heading back home.  I have attempted to make John forget he left Beijing here and was hoping he wouldn't request him back.  Yea right.  I am only placated by the promise of a Beijing baby down the road.  :-)
Some of my best laid plans for the summer kinda went south with the addition of the rescue Collies.  I put a few of my dogs on the back burner to get the others housebroken and some general manners.  That's been accomplished and now that all but 3 are spayed/neutered they are all officially available for adoption.  Now, I move on to my dogs.
Jam is an unbalanced dog with 2 BN legs, 1 U-RO1 leg and 1 RE leg.  Apparently my "puttering" has affected my ability to complete titles before moving on because now all he need is to perfect his stays and Jam is off to the CD ring.   Spice is also off balance with 1 BN leg and is actually ready (again) to attempt that CD.  With Spice it's always a tweak this, tweak that, try this, try that type of training.  It would have helped the poor girl if her mom didn't try and do trials before the dogs were truly ready.  Bad dog mom.  Then there are Harold, Reid and Trace just waiting in the wings for more rally and perhaps trying that BN.  In reality Trace only needs a solid stay and he's ready for CD work as well.  Reid is back in WI teaming up with Sahra to work on his BN--thanks Sahra! I've been dabbling with Declan and Charlie towards those RN titles.  But I'd like to get some more points on Declan before I switch gears and put that money towards rally.  Fingers crossed--it's 5 pt majors in Albert Lea--I'm not greedy, I'd settle for one--hahaha!   Charlie can't do anything until I get him registered.  He has a ABCA registration but I need to get him done in AKC and UKC.
If everything works out I'd also like to get Spice's U-CH and an Int. CH on Harold this year.  Hopefully as the rescues get adopted out I'll have more time to work with my kidlets and make some things happen.  But at the end of the day, with or without titles I sure am blessed and very happy to have the crew that I have. 

So while there is a whole lotta nothin' going on, there is a whole lotta too much going on as well.  No wonder I'm tired.

Until next time...

NOT MY BEST SIDE...

Yes I know--it is not my best side.  I treasure this picture of myself and Ben taken last year.  We had a blast at the zoo that day--this was taken during what I'm sure was an intriguing discussion of monkey antics. 

YEA FAREWAY!

The Wal-Mart here may be one of the originals--you can walk from one end to the other in approximately 12.6 seconds--but the Fareway store is the best!  Again, it's not one of the newer and larger Fareways, but the employees are helpful and courteous, the meat counter is superb and they have the best deals.  I capped off my day with a trip to the Fareway armed with my coupons for specials on pop (6 - 12 packs for $10!) and found next to the soda, a special on Honey Nut Cheerios - 3 Family Size Box on sale for $3 a piece.  Yea, I have enough cereal to last me until 2012.  Yea!

ANOTHER FINE MESS

During a pleasant chat with my aunt this afternoon I had an epiphany of sorts.  We were discussing the heat (of course), the air conditioner's attempting to keep it cool and the fact that I haven't been outside for more than a few minutes since Monday.  The epiphany was more of an "oh crap".  Who loves the heat more than Sahra? ;-)
The garden.  Uh oh.  Thoughts of way too much produce by the weekend floated thru my brain.  I forced Jam out the door with me and went in search of vegetables. 
I call it "The Iowa Amazon" aka my garden plot.  Even in a good year I hate weeding.  This spring I had great intentions and did all the good prep work to keep weeds to a minimum.  Those good intentions ended up being only that I'm afraid.  There are weeded areas of the garden, just not the whole garden and definately not the pea bed.  Jam took a look, gave me his "no way" face and trotted off to dig around in his version of nirvana...the burn pile.  Let's just say I will never be afraid of being homeless and penniless.  As long as Jam is around I am sure he can dumpster dive with the best of them.  He's had three years of practice digging around looking for that one teeny tiny piece of edible whatever that was not incinerated.  Now back to the rest of our story.  It was a mess, but the garden yielded another round of yummy veggies.  I think I may have picked the last of the peas, the vines nearly screamed at me "Hey--we are COOL weather crop you idiot--turn down the thermostat".  I think I may have been a bit overcome by the heat, because the garden and I had a lovely conversation while I navigated my way through picking here and there.  I got to pick my first big cucumber!  Yea!  Beets, the peas, another mess of pickling cucs, a zucchini and because I am a klutz, three onions of really good size, because I stepped on them.  The landlords are on a short vacation since fair is over and the school year looms ahead and I was told to use up some of their garden so it doesn't go to waste.  Lettuce and carrots are courtesy of them for tonight's salad. 
After the success this year I have decided to triple my herb production for next year.  The chamomile has taken off and I harvested more flowers for the dog's herbs.  I think I may have enough to harvest to do some herbal tea mix to add to the Christmas bounty.  It's worth that trip thru the Iowa Amazon and so far--no snakes!
Until next time...

GARDEN PARTY

I have to begin with the fact that we had drenching rains and winds that rivaled the force of a jet engine on takeoff.  If I had been sleeping I may not have noticed anything at all.  But then again at the present time there are three storm phobic and two storm sensitive dogs living in the house which pretty much makes sleeping through a storm impossible.  Of course two of the dogs are in crates in my room and the other is loose, so make that definitely impossible.  I didn't get the opportunity to awake to a large Collie head panting in my face and shaking the bed because Pixie is on prednisone.  Bless her heart she made noise in her crate twice last night, once being the 4:45 a.m. wake up call, to be let out to potty.  This is when I saw the lightening and turned on the t.v. to flashing Thunderstorm Warnings right in my back yard.  Now that you know that bit of seemingly useless information let's talk garden.
Jam and I trudged out to the garden around noon-ish because I knew there would be zuchinni and peas ready again.  And you know those zuchinni, once they start growing they apparently do some weird vegetable mitosis and can reproduce themselves almost magically overnight.  Just a hint to my Minnesota friends going to the Lake Elmo show:  bring a bag or two, I'll be begging people to take produce off my hands by then.  But I digress (and often) the garden took a bit of a hit.  My poor peas were soaked and laying en masse around the ground.  This did not stop them from producing another pea harvest however and I am hoping this afternoon's warm weather will perk them back up.  A handful of the beets were totally uprooted so I picked those.  They are a bit small but it's okay, I'll put some of the tops in my salad.  Other than that the garden is thriving.  I'm still iffy on the beans.  The tomato plants are loaded now with fruit waiting to grow up and the peppers have oodles of flowers so my fingers are crossed for a them.  I need those different types of peppers, my onions and the roma tomatoes to do my salsa.  The zuchinni as predicted were there and I picked two and there are two more that need another day.  But no more or they will develop into baseball bats.  That is one of those magical zuch tricks too.  Oh and the pickling cucumbers are producing!!  Yipee!!  I cut some more oregano and chamomille flowers along with basil and sage to dry.  Next year I want to really expand that herb garden.  Did I mention my poor catnip died?  Yea, it was my fault, I pulled it up when I was weeding.  I was so irritated because it was doing great and I hoped to not only put it in cat toys for friend's cats for Christmas but it's also a great bug repellent plant.  Dang it!
Until next time...

FUN!

Sahra and John traveled down from La Crosse this weekend with Lolli and Gwen and I had a blast!  It was basically just a relaxing weekend with just a trip into the local farmer's market.  The best parts of that trip were the blackberries and pecan caramel rolls along with a successful meet and greet of two of the rescue dogs.  Hope and Joy made their public debut at the marketplace and were a hit.  It always surprises me when the first person that sees them says "oh look, a Smooth Collie".  Alot of people don't know what they are or assume they are shaved down roughs.  Joy was hesitant at first but caught sight of a kid and drug Sahra over to say HI.  With every kid she met she relaxed just that much more.  Hope was the one I was concerned about especially with her limited eyesight.  Once again I am proven wrong by a dog.  Hope was the social butterfly and all but turned herself inside out to see the booths, the people, the kids and oh yea all those people.  She loves people and attention.  They made a fantastic impression, we got to tell the story of the nine rescued Collies and I gave out some business cards to people that may consider an adoption.  One especially wonderful lady who just lost her old dog was interested in becoming a foster home and I can't tell you how much rescue organizations of all breeds need more foster homes.  For breeders it's a great way to give back to the breed we love and from personal experience I can say that the dogs give me back so much more than I give them. 
We got to enjoy a few of the pecan rolls while watching the full first year of NCIS on DVDs.  Yep, a marathon of Mark Harmon and forensics interspersed with long walks, shaving poor Kit's testicles (it's to keep him cooler) running groups of dogs in the yards and kennels and oh yea eating.  I love it when Sahra visits.  She cooks.  Nuff said. 
We also celebrated Beijing's birthday that is on the 14th.  Three years old and celebrated with a candle in a meatloaf.  Yep, the dogs had a good time at the birthday.  You can see pictures on the Allstar Collies Facebook page.  We managed to shove Beijing, Gwen and Trace into party hats and onto kitchen chairs at the table. 
Oh and the garden is starting to produce!  We had zuchinni, onions and pea pods sauteed with our own meatloaf.  And today we put my fresh thyme in the swiss steak.  I see tomatoes getting ready to ripen and definitely more squash and peas to be picked tomorrow.  Oh and got to harvest some of my German Chamomille flowers to dry for the dogs. 
Until next time...

SOME IOWA CITY PHOTO OPS

Here are some photos taken by John Jola and his various assistants (me and Jean!) from the Hawkeye Kennel Club shows June 25/26th.

INT/NTL CH. MAIWAE'S ALLSTAR SINGULAR SENSATION, RN, 1 Leg HT

INT CH. OAK KNOLLS PUMPKIN SPICE, RN, TT, 1 Leg BN

             

SPICE

U-CH, INT CH/Gold Cup Winner ANSTETT'S ALLSTAR IS BRYCE, CDX, RE, TT, 1 Leg PT

LOLLI AND SPICE - THE NAKED SISTERS!

INT CH. OAK KNOLLS LOLLIPOP, RN

REID again - a pictorial of proper movement for those bloggers that need a remedial course in Collie Movement 101 

UNAUTHORIZED

Jam ate an unauthorized burger for his dinner.  He doesn't look one bit sorry about it either. 

A FEW MORE THAN ONE

I just cannot let the day go by without complaining about it being HOT.  I realize that I live in Iowa and that having summer days like these isn't unusual.  I realize that once the heat is gone and we are back in the winter deep freeze that I will complain about it being cold.  Perhaps it's just human nature to complain about weather extremes.  Are we just not happy unless it's perfect outside?  Yes, that is it. 
The alarm clock was set for 3:30 this a.m. in the hopes that the daily low of 77 would be here and the dogs could run for a few hours.  Not so much.  It was somewhere around 84 degrees with a 94% humidity level.  It sucked the breath out of me when I opened the door.  And there was no breeze to be felt at all, a strange event at the farm.  Dogs went out in groups for an hour each and then back in.  They are fed now and I'm going to move them to the kennels for an hour or so while I run to town for groceries.  I'm thinking popsicles. 
See, it was a few more than one word.  Until next time...

ONE WORD

HOT

FOLDED LIKE A CHEAP SUIT

Yep, I folded again, just like a poorly made suit.  90 degrees and climbing steadily, dew points in the oppressive category, a breeze that makes no difference and I can't get a deep breath outside.  Let's just say that there is no lack of dog crates in my home today.  Trace, Charlie, Kit and Reid all got moved to the livingroom and I managed to squeak another crate into the space between the doorway and the loveseat for Pixie.  Poor Joy is in season so she is pushed up against the pantry door in the kitchen by herself.  The remainder are in the dog room and everyone else is without crate.  But I can divide them all up and it's okey dokey.  Mealtime and potty breaks will be a mess for a day.  I am praying it will get better by 11 p.m. and I can put dogs back into outside kennels for the night.  Those insulated igloo dog houses actually keep them cool as well as warm. 
Thankfully I got up at 5 a.m. this morning and cycled all of the dogs into yards for a good 3 hour run before it started to warm up.  And I managed to finish the mowing by 7:30 a.m. for the same reason.  After a quick run into town and refilling water buckets with cool water for the 2nd time, I just couldn't stand it.
So I'm a weenie...sue me...
Until next time I'm off to take a short nap...

FOUND: ONE GARDEN

Eureka!  I have discovered the garden!  It only took 3 hours of weeding this a.m. so I call it a success.  The beans as I thought are a loss.  Rabbit.  Bad Rabbit.  I have placed a Wanted Poster in the dog room--dead or alive (preferably dead) rabbit, reward will be one extra large chicken thigh in your dinner.  After all, the dogs do sometimes need an incentive.
The garden surprised me today.  The tomatoes that I had pretty much given up on are enormous and flowering--yippee!!  And the beets that the rabbit ate the tops off of are actually growing although they look a bit sad on the top.  The peppers, peas, squash and cucs are flowering and of course my onions had been going great guns since they were first planted.  My hopes of being able to put up pickles, tomatoes, sauces and salsa may actually turn out, fingers crossed.  The peaches will be ready to get as of July 1 and I have plans to can them and make some jam.  Oh and the herbs I planted are lovely.  I picked thyme, rosemary and oregano to put in my roasted chicken tonight.  The lavender is close to being able to start some small harvesting and drying.  It's going to be a homemade Christmas my dear family and friends.  I promise not to poison anyone or make any of Aunt Bea's Kerosene Cucumbers.  ;-)
Oh and this past weekend Jean spotted a huge asparagus patch that I didn't know what it was.  In fact I thought it was just another bunch of weeds along the field fencing.  So I guess next year asparagus gets harvested too.  The apple trees had a nice amount of blooms this spring so I am hoping that I will get apples to pick this fall for something.  Jean slices and freezes hers for pies, etc.  I might have to try that one.  Or maybe I can dry some of them and put them with the lavender for potpourri...hmm...ideas....
Until next time...

IT WAS A GOOD DAY AT THE DOG SHOW...

Actually it was a good weekend at the dog show!  On Sat. Jean's baby Cardigan, Hoover was Winners Dog  for his first 3 pt major!  That's made 4 points/1 major in just two days of showing!  My Declan was Reserve and John's Musca also was Reserve.  But Splash made up for it by going in and taking another Select with John.  Rough Collies went well, the baby looked like a long legged, very out of coat baby and was last in his class.  Daddy Bryce with Sahra won the Open Sable class.  The ladies, Spice and Lolli duked it out in the Open Sable girl class and came out 2nd and 3rd respectively to a nice bitch owned by Michelle Struble.  Poor Lolli looks like she has been plucked by chickens, she desperately needs to regrow her coat for the fall shows.
The weather was dreary but not hot and we got a bit sprinkled on.  Jean and I took turns attempting to take pics with John's camera.  As usual I took 600 shots and got 2 good ones, which I might point out is a pretty decent average for me. I think I inherited my mom's talent for cutting off the head's of people.  Although I sure got the dogs into the shot, so there!  :-)
Local shows are always so much fun with exhibitors that I know from other breeds that I get to see only at local shows.   And I got to reconnect once again with old friends.  Time goes by but it's comforting to know that overall things don't change much and I believe most people that know me well understand that I tend to drift out and back into their lives. 
Today was another stellar day--the sun was shining and the day was hot but not humid.  A blessing for sure since Iowa City tends to be stormy and humid most years.  We began the day with Smooth Collies and Declan was Winners Dog and Best of Winners for 1 point, followed by John's Musca in girls with Winners for a point.  That put's Muscas at needing 2 points to finish.  John once again piloted Splash to a win, and came out with Best of Opposite Sex to Cody showing Carson for Best of Variety.  Onward to Cardigans where John showed Slick to Reserve Winners to the major.  Not to shabby for a dog with no coat at all and a happy tail.  I loved it when Slick decided every 20 feet or so to sit down and try and scratch off his collar.  Roughs were early this afternoon and I was dragging along.  Reid again was 3rd in his class but as usual had a blast showing.  Is there anything more endearing than a Collie that loves everything??  Our friends, Kellie and Roger Barry finished their boy, Refund, at the show today going Best of Winners to take the crossover major!  I was so happy for them and send huge Congrats again!  Rough girls was a repeat of Sat. but gosh Spice and I had a blast!  I love her so much and she and I have finally clicked together, which I think is because we have spent so much time working on obedience and agility together.  It's paying off with her breed ring performance for sure.  Mary Ebert had her girl Tanzie out in open blue class and won the class today!  It was Tanzie's first show and she handled it grandly.  Tanzie is a daughter of the much beloved, Toby and I can really see his movement and Tanzie's great granny, Crystal, in her.  I think Mary will have a good time with her for sure.  I also heard that our good friends up Minnesota way had a terrific time at the shows in Cambridge MN--way to go guys! 
It was a good couple of days at the dog show!  Now back to reality and off to clean kennels and mow lawn.
Until next time...

Why?

Why does it keep raining?  That just makes weeds and grass grow.  Between bouts of showers I managed to weed the cucumbers and zucchini.  Tomorrow--more rain forecast. 

Why must all the dogs visit the barn on rainy days?  That just makes wet, muddy and of course stinky dogs.  Which leads to dogs confined to crates to dry.  Which leads to more towels for the laundry.  Tomorrow--more rain forecast.

Why does America's Got Talent draw so many outstandingly horrifically weird performances?  I use the term performance loosely here.  On the other hand, there are plenty of truly interesting and talented acts.  It's a little like bright pieces of sunshine between severe weather outbreaks.  Tomorrow--more rain forecast.

Why do I blog about inane items as above?  Maybe it has something to do with rain...

Until nex time...

HITS AND MISSES

According to the latest edition of A Dog's Eye View at Maiwae, it was a hit and miss kind of day.

Hits:  Sunshine, good breeze, cool water, hours of play and nap time in the yards, being hand fed chicken (the REAL stuff!), hugs and snuggles.

Misses:  Walking around on a leash (what are we, dogs?!?), standing on a tall table (might be considered a hit since we got to watch the cows), the EVIL dremel and being hosed down with listerine (okay, it isn't a hose, but still...).

Seeing as we had a quorum a vote was in order.  It has been decided that more chicken and snuggles must continue to be presented upon demand.  We will continue to tolerate the hosing of smelly stuff with only minor grumbling, but the dremel has got to go!

The Dogs

PLOTTING...

TRACE AND CHARLIE

Show News

Spice and I headed out to Ft. Dodge this morning in the fog.  I'd like to thank the weather angels for giving us a rain free and cloudy day.  Jean arrived first and got prime shade parking just yards from the building.  Charlie and Trace road along for a bit of torturous "be good" time.  They were perfect gentlemen and I got the cutest pic of them pouting in the crate together.  It's difficult to determine which one of them is the instigator of mayhem and which one is the follower.  I guess it doesn't matter, they have each others back.  Trace ducks between the gate and the post and Charlie flies over the fence, both to freedom.  But I digress. 
Spice was Reserve Winner's Bitch today and I was tickled!  I haven't shown her much and try to leave the grooming to Sahra so that Spice actually looks good, but today I was on my own for grooming and showing.  In a way I am grateful that she is out of coat, it is certainly easier to deal with.  I felt she looked glorious albeit a bit bare, and wow it felt great to move her out in the ring.  She is a fun dog to show and I look forward to spending more time showing her this year.  Jean had a terrific day with her Hoover puppy in Cardigans and I brought home 10 frozen homegrown chickens.  The dogs have backs and necks and the gross stuff like hearts, etc.  I have awesome cut up chickens to cook.  One is thawing for Sunday dinner.  And yet again off topic, the garden is yielding some darn good onions right now and my herbs, with the exception of my basil, is looking great.  I picked thyme and lavender the other day, put the thyme in my salad and the lavender is still on the window sill.  It smells like spring and once it is dried, well guess what everyone I know is getting for Christmas this year?  Along with my own pickles and homemade salsa if the stupid tomato plants every pick up the pace.  The pepper, cucumbers and squash all look good.  The rabbit(s) have about taken out the beans.  Bad Rabbit.  The peas are hiding in the weeds.  Bad Judy.
Next week I'm off to the local Iowa City show with Spice and Declan.  Declan is about as ready as he is going to get at this point without me waiting indefinitely, he has leveled out and his head is good again, so we will play.  I'm going to try and show him myself.  Let us pray.
Until next time...

IT FIGURES

It figures.  Enter one hairy dog in a show.  Said dog then blows all of her coat.  It figures.

Liking This New Toy

It's only a $25 Vivitar from Walmart with a $10 memory card added in, but for $35 it's providing some real fun for me.  This is a video of Harold and Kit in one of the new play areas.  I wanted to get some video of Kit's movement to pass on for review.  It's not Oscar winning videography but it'll do.

MWCR

What is MWCR?  It is Minnesota Wisconsin Collie Rescue, a simply wonderful organization that works tirelessly for Collies in need of new homes.  It's been a very long time since I did rescue in any form, whether it was fostering or transport and when this opportunity to lend a hand came up, I had to pitch in.  Right now I have all the time in the world to work with and care for the extra dogs so with a little extra work in obtaining kennels and putting them together we were ready to go.  My heartfelt thanks go out to Sahra and John Jola for pitching in.  Sahra groomed all 9 dogs including the horrid shave down for old Rosy and John spent the holiday weekend designing and putting together the kennel spaces and new huge running area for the extra furry kids.  Here are the dogs that will soon be available for adoption through MWCR (with the exception of Rosy, who has her own video posted on the blog previously).  Please go to MWCR's website for updates and to see the Collies there right now that need homes:    http://www.mwcr.org/     

TORI - AGE 8

ABBY - AGE 8

GEM - AGE 5

HOPE - AGE 3 (BLIND IN LEFT EYE)

JOY - AGE 3

MATT - AGE 6

NESSA - AGE 3

PIXIE - AGE 3

Rosie Video

THE WAR

It's hot hot out.  Not normal summer hot, but that blistering mid-July hot designed to make a person long to be up to the ears in a shaded, cool swimming pool holding an ice cream cone in one hand and a cold beer in the other.  So of course today is the day that Charlie and I begin our War.  Charlie is a sweet, loving, definitely a suck up for attention, a typical Border Collie doggy.  He has been very obedient for the most part until just recently.  This is my fault.  I let some behaviors slid and now I have to gain back some of the territory he has pilfered in the pre-War maneuvers. 
Today we fought the Battle of Here.  It started on the way out of the gate to go and get the mail.  It was the day for Trace and Charlie to go with me and I should have known it was not going to end well.  Apparently Trace is Swiss and decided not to side with either army of one.  He was obedient and listened and ignored all the other commotions.  Trace has probably handed off the information gathered to Spice who will no doubt form some type of fact finding committee and head up the peace talks.
Charlie dislikes a leash.  I have a feeling he finds it somewhat degrading, but more likely he just does not want to give up any image that he is in control.  To keep him from racing the dogs in the yard on the way back from the mail box, I asked him to "here" so I could put a leash on him.  His retreat was stunningly expedient and I knew the battle had begun.
The other dogs were put in the house.  I put the leash away.  The I hunted the little bugger down.  He thought he was entrenched and hiding under the LP tank.  His camouflage was spotty and I pulled him out by a hind leg and his tail.  We had the "name, rank, serial number" talk along with, I said HERE.  Dropped him where I had called him the first time and he took off for the gate to the house yard.  After 14 (yes 14!) skirmishes and 20 sweaty minutes he finally caved and did a "HERE" from 20 feet. 
I won the battle, but the war will be hell.
Until next time...

SLEEPING BEAUTY

This is Rosy.  She will be 11 years old soon.  She was an indoor dog who has spent the past 2 years outside in a kennel in not the best conditions.  Sahra, bless her, came and shaved her down.  She was matted to the skin and most of it came off in a "pelt".  She and her kennel mates all had to be treated for hookworms and whipworms so she had to spend the past week in quarantine here on the farm.  But after another bath and blow out today she is now in the house enjoying her stay here as one of the old dogs.  She's better off than Maddy, Rosy can still get on the sofas to sleep.  Poor Maddy can't make that anymore because of her rear end.  But that's okay because she has a fluffy dog bed and of course I put her into my bed at night.
Once Rosy's intake is complete she will be available for adoption through Minnesota Wisconsin Collie Rescue, as well as the other 8 dogs she was with.  I'll post more on those later as they are all here in foster care.

Yep

You know you live in the middle of nowhere when you can hang out laundry at 6:30 a.m. in your nightie and work boots. 

Bits and Pieces

There isn't much news to report, but the news is great!  Beijing (GRCH Oak Knolls Olympic Games, RN) now has his HT!  All he needs is that CD and he will have his CCA Versatility Award.  Beijing is owned by John Jola/Allstar Collies and his breeder Peppi Anstett/Anstett Collies.  Plans are for Beijing to spend some quality time down here on the farm so we can have some more bonding time and work together for that CD.  I'm so excited about Beijing, of course he is a tri smooth boy and those are my favorites.  I can't wait to have a little Beijing of my own some day.

Our baby Reid (Int/Ntl Ch. Maiwae's Allstar Singular Sensation, RN) earned his first HT leg with co-owner/co-breeder Sahra Jola/Allstar Collies.  He is just 11 months old and it's hard to believe he has done so much this first year of life.  If he holds coat he'll be out showing in June in the breed ring.

On the home front spring had sprung and then winter butted back in, followed by a preview blast of summer, and now we are sort of back into spring.  The garden is almost in.  I put the beans, squash and cucumbers in today.  The onions, peas and beets are peeking thru, although I think I lost some of my onions to possibly a mole or two.  Pesky buggers.  Oh well at least it's not a groundhog.  The tomatoes and peppers have to wait a couple of days.  We had a frost warning on Monday night for heaven's sake.  I have some plants that I started from seed that are doing well, except now I can't remember what I planted.  I know there are some shasta daisys and purple coneflower, but I'm not sure what is what and there are some shade perennials in there too.  Yep, that was a new project this spring.  The dogs have pretty well destroyed what grass was under the big tree in the front.  So I put up fence and a gate and have decided it is a shade garden.  There are a few new plants and I divided hostas again.  Some of it is doing well, some of it hasn't come up yet. They are probably afraid to wake up and face the chilly mornings and evenings.  Of course now that the dogs aren't in the area now I have grass coming in too.  Not sure what the heck to do about that.  I believe I will table it to the "later" pile in my mind.
I am pretty proud of one accomplishment so far this spring.  I changed the oil, the sparkplug and the handle-tightening thingys on the mower.  And it actually started!  I feel for this mower.  This is year 3 of mowing around an acre of land and this isn't a riding mower folks, it's a pusher.  Tonight I finished about 1/3 of the big field.  Speaking of the big field, I finally got kennel panels moved down there 2 weekends ago.  I had enough to go within 20 feet of covering the entire back side!  Yippee!!  Dave has fence for me that I will put out there and then I'll have to see what I actually have to buy to finish the yard.  I spent a good deal of time planning out the area and now it appears to be one really huge yard and a 25 x 50 run near the building under a big tree.  I'd still like to be able to split the big yard in 2 or 3 sections, but I also don't want alot of fence running and right now I don't want to loose my giamongus agility area.  Speaking of which, still need to complete that project. 
As usual we are in training mode, or my version of training mode.  This mostly consists of brief bits and pieces here and there, some during the daily walk to the mail, Mondays at herding, and the odd visits here and there.  I am awful.  I should have a schedule, but I can't get into that.  Our next adventures in training will consist of walks in downtown Manchester and along the trails.  Seems Spice needs practice doing her obedience thing in different places.  With gas at $3.85 a gallon those trips to Waterloo, Dubuque and Cedar Rapids for Petco visits are shelved.
Hmm..sheep...I digress.  See above mower comments to catch up.  I am tired of push mowing the acreage.  The lawnmower is tired of push mowing the acreage.  This is another reason to get the fence up around the field.  It will be dog and SHEEP friendly.  I'm not talking a herd, just 3 sheep to keep the grass here and across the road at the empty farmstead thru the fall.  Of course this means I also have to find the resources to put up a round pen to work them in. 
So much to do!  I'm excited about this year, I think that's a recurring theme in my posts.  The furry kids and I are hoping to get out to a couple of June shows, I'm hoping to get Spice back out, Declan is on hiatus until he stops his current growth phase, there are various dogs that need one leg of something or another, Sahra will have Reid out showing too.
So until next time...

Confessions: Charlie Hoarding

Charlie is a hoarder.  There will soon be an Animal Planet show dedicated to him.  At first it was toys in the corner piled high.  Now it is bones, in a row.  So he may also be OCD.  Is there a 12 step program for Border Collies?

And so it begins...

I got my week of rest post-National and now we are rolling again.  Monday brought herding lessons.  Bryce and Sahra looked really good and she's started naming the directions.  Beijing and I had focus issues.  I don't want to say which one of us was worse, but he did manage to settle in and do some nice turns.  It's mostly on my part being quick enough to block him so he learns to turn with a more subtle cue, then I can start naming his turns too.  Baby Reid was all go with a nice stop at the end.  We are going to work on WAIT and some kind of distinct signal this week.  If it would stop raining. 
And where are we off to next?  Spice and I are off to a UKC Conformation show to dip our toe into another venue.  Followed by a weekend of herding with Bryce, Beijing and Reid.  Time to finish off those first titles, as Declan re-starts classes next week.  And I still haven't tried Harold yet.  Charlie won't start until August, so that gives me time to get another dog or two on the road for HT's before I start yet another.  I desperately need my own stock. 
The local UKC club is doing a rally/obedience trial the next week but I have some plans and while I hope to enter date of show on one day, I'm disappointed that so much always is on the same weekends!  Ugh, I need to be two or three people LOL!  Good heavens, Key City is after that and I haven't figured out who is doing what.  No breed ring stuff, just some obedience and rally that weekend if I can swing it.  And we haven't even looked at June yet.  Although I have a couple of ideas that could make the month pretty full. 
Now I need a good dependable "kennel" sitter.  There are just some shows I cannot drag all 8 dogs along for.  So the search is on for someone willing to come and do chores twice a day and/or stay at the house especially for Maddy. 
Sahra and I have a breeding planned for late fall, check my webpage for details.  I am so looking forward to more babies.  Of course I already know what I want, a nice tri rough girl to call Nan, or maybe Fran.  Which means I will fall in love with another "ugly brown dog", no doubt white factored and male.  I guess the only plus to that would be the nice brace it would make with Reid.  But then again, showing Reid and a his counterpart might be a bit on the terrifying side.
Until next time...check back for updates...it's gonna be a busy year!

COLLIE CLUB OF AMERICA NATIONAL SPECIALTY 2011

We survived the week at the Collie National Specialty in Tulsa OK!  It was an absolutely wonderful week and I cannot wait to do it again.  This is a photo that John took of our display table showing all the rosettes the dogs won during the week.  There is one missing, John's dog Beijing (GRCH Oak Knolls Olympic Games, RN) was a Versatile Collie qualifier and received a lovely green on green rosette.  The table also included a photo slide show of our training and showing over the past 6 months as well as updated photos from the events of the week.  There are an amazing number of professional quality photographs that John Jola of Allstar Collies took during the week on the Facebook page for Allstar Collies.  The photos are available to see by anyone that is interested.  You don't have to be an Allstar Collies friend to see them.  I encourage you all to go and look. 
We began the week at herding.  The location in Ponca City OK at Linda Holloway's was perfect.  The sun was shining and the wind was typical "sweeping down the plains" type.  The three of us were sun and windburned, alternately too hot and too cool but the dogs had it perfect under the EZUp.  The herding Collie community is so warm and welcoming that I am totally hooked on trialing now.  We had so much success for our first outing with green dogs!  Bryce earned his first PT leg and Beijing earned his first HT leg!  Baby Reid came THIS close to both HT legs.  See Bad Judge on day 1 and Handler Error on day 2 for more info LOL!
After herding we moved 2 hours down the road to Tulsa and unloaded the trailer.  The show site was fab--drive in unloading within 30-40 feet of our set up area.  Which was good because we were already on the tired side.  Day three brought Declan in 12-18 month puppy class.  He showed like an old hand under John and managed to behave and look like a show dog.  I was very impressed with him as usual.  Of course I love him.  Bryce and I did not qualify in agility.  This was my fault, gee who would have thought that??  I also learned that fast at Amherst Junction COULD become faster in Tulsa.  The judge had super courses that allowed for alot of build up of speed and Bryce turned on the SSTs!  The next day while Musca was being prepped to show, Bryce ran agility again and this time I am blaming him.  The bugger missed the first obstacle--well he jumped it, but it was the tire and he jumped thru the side.  So technically I'm sure Bryce feels he fullfilled his part.  :-)  I love that dog!  Musca also showed her heart out.
The next two days were a blur.  Sahra showed Bryce in Open A and Rally Excellent B and q'd in rally for his RE title!  She also showed Musca and Lolli in Rally Novice B and q'd both for their RN's!  Then there was the big rush to get both Reid and Lolli ready for showdog.  Reid was in rough bred by and was the first dog into the ring.  I cannot express how overwhelming it felt to have such a quality dog at such a young age (10 months) showing in bred-by!  Reid put on his work face and made it look easy. 
Good heavens--what day are we on?  I don't know they all blended together after a while.  I kept saying "weekend".  Apparently there was not enough caffeine flowing.  Second obedience/rally day brought more q's with Bryce in Excellent; Musca in Novice, Lolli in Novice with a 4th Place! and baby Reid in Rally Novice with a q and his new RN!  Bryce also earned his CDX with a fourth place!  Woo-hoo!!  I didn't get to see it because I was hurrying to do finish grooming on Beijing so he could go into Best of Variety class.  By now the rosettes are piling up along with the legs and titles!  To put the icing on the cake, Beijing qualifed as a Versatile Collie at the National Specialty showing in Best of Variety, qualifying in Herding Tested and Rally Novice!  He was the ONLY Grand Champion qualifier! 
I am so proud of our dogs and all the hard work that has been put into them to perform so well at the speciality.  On the way home plans have already been made for this year's goals.  We need to finish up some herding titles, get some new dogs started and finish up agility and obedience stuff.  Declan is out of breed showing for a couple of months so I can work on other stuff, Musca needs 3 singles to finish, baby Reid has COAT and will be out showing as well as Lolli until she blows her coat out.  And Spice still has coat, so she is off to find a few minor points and do some other stuff too.  Jam needs one BN leg and 2 RE legs.  Harold needs to get out and do some APDT rally.  Oh my---we have work to do!!! 
Stay tuned for further updates...but first a couple of days of rest...

I CAN SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD....AND OTHER THINGS THOUGHT ABOUT AT 4 A.M.

Another "bright" idea gone horribly awry.  Sometime way back at the end of last summer I said, "Let's go to the Collie Club of America National Specialty show".  I was sure we would all have a great time even though it's a long road trip to Tulsa, OK.  "What should we enter?" I asked.  (This is where Sahra and John should have been smart and run for the hills).  That question quickly snowballed from a couple of dogs in conformation, to several dogs in rally and obedience, to Bryce in agility and finally in one last desperate act to completely separate my brain from my body, herding.  Oh yea, that's right, it will be a totally all week event for the three of us.  I have been reminded frequently that it is all my fault.  Bright ideas and all that.
So I sit here on the computer at what is now 5 a.m. after being up all night doing final packing, checking off lists and tripping over dogs that KNOW I have lost my mind.  My motto--I can sleep when I'm dead, or after the National, whichever comes first.  I am still pretty amazed at how much I can condense into various totes.  By the way, thank you to the inventor of the rubbermaid type tote.  Oh yes, and the inventor of duct tape.  A story for another time.  Oh, did I mention that in order to save on driving, we are all going in the same van with 7 dogs and had to rent a trailer for the mountain of stuff?  I get nauseous when I look at the staging area (otherwise known as the garage).  My prayers are with John who gets to pack it all in. 
All kidding aside, I am totally tickled that we are almost ready to hit the road.  I can't wait to get there and see some people I haven't seen in a very long time.  There are new dogs to look at and a first time try for Sahra and I herding with the Collies.  I am also honored to be running Sahra's Bryce in agility.  So what does a week at the Collie National entail?  Sun/Mon--herding with 3 dogs, move to show site Monday after herding (why is herding always 2 hrs away from the show site?)  Tues--conformation and agility followed by the welcome party and gifts!  Wee ha!  I hope it's something sparkly!  Wed--more conformation and the round of 1 dog in open obeidence, 1 in novice obedience and beginner novice obedience, 1 in rally excellent, 1 in rally advanced and 4 in rally novice.  Lather, rinse, repeat on Thursday, where there is the likely possibility of conflicts.  Which means I may have to show Bryce in rally.  Friday is a fun, easy day with one dog in Best of Variety.  Then a day of watching on Saturday and fingers crossed, at least 2 of the dogs qualifying for Most Versatile Collie at the specialty. 
I'm saying prayers for no more annoying problems and roadblocks, good weather, safe travel, sticky goats, sturdy knee braces, the economy sized bottle of ibuprofen and a few rosettes, ribbons and titles along the way.  My grateful thanks to everyone that was roped into watching the other kids while Spice, Declan, Reid and I head "where the winds come sweeping down the plains"--Jean who has a very pouty Trace, Deb and Scott with Jam (who I hear excels at taking up real estate), Chrisy and Nick with Harold (EGADS! It's a rough!), John who took back one only slightly overspoiled Charlie, and Lance who has fallen for Maddy.  I am particularly happy that Maddy is staying with someone who loves her and not in the kennel for the 10 days. 
Okay, time to do a final checklist sweep and move more stuff to the staging area.  We circle the wagons on Saturday!
Until next time...

DECLAN

Poor Declan hasn't gotten much blog time and Amy sent me pics from the CC of MN shows.  So I figured a quick blog post to give him his due.  Declan just turned 11 months and will just be 1 year old at the Collie Club of America National Specialty in April.  At his vet appointment he weighed 62 lbs and that is nothing but pure muscle.  He is at this time, the fastest dog on the place.  He has a huge stride and is structurally so sound that he is like watching a gazelle.  Add to that his sweet, bouncy attitude and a drive for herding that makes me think he'll be going far in that arena.  I can't wait to watch him continue to mature and see what 2011 has in store for him.  He is shown in these pics with his handler, John Jola.

I love his reach and drive!  With that head level with his back he looks like he could work for hours without a break.

Where's the chicken?

10 months old