The typical way it starts is with a little chaos!

Then everyone settled into their walk, except that Penny’s nose took her into a sagebrush. Deep into the sagebrush. LOL I don’t have a clue what she was looking for.

Then Dare had to stop to pose for me at the top of the hill. I guess she was actually just watching all the other dogs waste their energy, but it was a nice pose for me with the mountains behind her.

Hmmmm….this group just looks like trouble. Watch out world!

Twist and Dare taking in the view. Aren’t the rocks in the background cool?

Happy Raven face!

I think everybody’s having a good time.

Lucy loving the water

Zoe NOT loving the water. Might have had something to do with the fact that she’d just found a disgusting dead deer to roll in and so I thought she could use an impromptu bath before the ride home.

Dare is such a poser.

And the walk ends much the way it began, with Layla barking at the dogs to keep going! She might be telling Raven to “put down the prevera wrinkle cream grandma, and run, run, run!” Or maybe not. LOL

And then here are some from yesterday. After the obedience trial we took Twist, Dare and Layla for a hike before we drove back home. You can see it was a beautiful, much warmer day! Yay!

Anyway, I am just taking Zoe and Dare with me this time. Dare is going to be trying to get her CGC this weekend, and I also still needed to get her microchipped. So we’re making a stop at our friends with Sheltie Rescue of Utah and chipping her this afternoon, and then we’ll head on up to the trial. I’ll try to get video of whatever I can throughout the weekend, but no promises that I’ll get it posted before I get home Monday night. No promises for Tues either, since after I get home from the trial I have to turn around and drive to Cedar City for an appointment with our accoutant to get the taxes done.

Anyway…I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

They all were excited to get started….

As we went further, no one had walked on the trails yet, so we had to make our own.

Eventually most of us decided that we’d let my husband make the trail and we’d just follow.

You’ll notice that the exception to that statement is Lucy. She just can’t stand to not be in front of everyone blazing her own trail. Then Layla soon decided that she was too big to waiting for someone to make a trail for her either and broke out of the formation. Here she is making the leap….

And then sinking into the deep snow. What a silly girl!

Here’s my favorite bridge on this walk….

and Dare coming back over to check on why I’m not coming…

And a little sheltie “family” picture….

And then the races as we went back to the truck. Penny was the judge, and obviously Twist got distracted at the startline. What a shocker!

Looks like Zoe is the winner, and…..Twist is still distracted. LOL

And finally the best place to be when you get home from a cold winter’s walk…

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I’ve had the Sheltie’s crates (where they sleep and eat), spread somewhat helter skelter throughout the house. It really bugged me. The obsessive/compulsive side of me wanted it better organized, but I couldn’t figure out how to fit 5 crates into one room nicely. Twist already slams himself into the closed wire door about once a week trying to get to his crate quicker. LOL Plus, I’m not much more coordinated than Twist and the thought of 5 open/swinging doors in one room presents quite an obstacle course for all of us.

So…I’ve been eyeing these Pet Gear Other Door crates and I love the design of the “garage door” that folds up into the top. I finally gave in and bought them. Then I decided that the room wasn’t nice enough for the new crates, so I pulled everything out and repainted in there too.

I have to say that I’m absolutely one of the worst people for breaking in the middle of a project to take pictures, so there aren’t very many before, and during pictures. Sorry. You’ll just have to imagine that there were three mismatched wire crates under that one window one the short wall, and a canvas ex-pen for the pups along one of the other walls. I still haven’t decided whether to put it back in there or not.

Here’s my favorite picture of Dare checking out the new room. Hehe, she’s such a cutie. I still have a bit more to finish up. I need to buy a new light fixture, get some new window shades and then finally replacing some of the old pictures on the walls with newer ones, but all in all, it’s done. Yay!!!

Another year has come and gone. It was a year packed with lots of memories. Some I’ll cherish forever, and some I wish I could forget. LOL Looking back though, I can honestly say that I’ve learned something from all the experiences, both good and the not so good.

First of all I don’t know what direction to go with Zoe. Zoe and I have tried a variety of the different agility venues that are out there. NADAC/ASCA, USDAA, DOCNA and AKC. In recent years we’ve focused mainly on AKC agility, with a little DOCNA sprinkled in here and there. I just can’t decide whether to continue doing AKC with Zoe, in hopes of getting her MACH2. She’s already 9 1/2. In looking back at what it took for us to get her MACH, I think we’d be looking at the liklihood of it taking two years of trialing to be able to finish a MACH2. She’s got the speed points, but she needs 18 more pesky double q’s. In two years she’ll be almost 12. I don’t even like to think about her getting older! Even though I’d really like to think that she could still be running in two more years, I don’t think I’ll want to jump her at full height at that age. Thus the debate…In my fantasy world where I have unlimited funds and time, I’d say “yes, who cares if you get the MACH2, just keep running and see what happens”. In my real world where there is a very real limit on both time and money, I think it really doesn’t make sense to spend both on a title that is probably not within our reasonable grasp.

Then Layla…I had hoped that she would be ready to enter in Novice agility in March for the Sheltie Nationals, (since they are in AZ this year). However, I never expected that she was going to come up lame and we would lose more than 2 1/2 mo. of training time this fall. Now we are behind where I expected to be with her training. It’s also the worst time of year for training more than just pieces, since we’re mostly training in our barn now. So, I can’t decide whether to try to enter her anyway…or just bag my plans for Sheltie Nationals this year.

Lastly, Raven. Raven just goes crazy to do agility and obedience at home. She has an absolute hissy fit if you go out to train one of the other dogs and she has to wait inside the house. When she gets to the trials though, she’s a totally different dog. She acts like she needs a cheerleader to get around the course. All the confidence and speed that she has at home is lacking. She just doesn’t have the temperment that handles the trial environment well. That having been said, she still has been able to get to Excellent and earn one leg towards both her AX and her AXJ. I’d really like to finish those titles and then just let her do agility at home and forget about trialing with her. It just seems so odd to me to have a dog that is just coming up on 5 years old that I wouldn’t be trialing with.

Anyway, the decision is coming up the quickest for the crew here is for January. There is an AKC trial that I’d like to enter, but I don’t know who or what to enter. LOL I think it’s a waste of funds to enter Zoe, but I can’t imagine going to a trial and not running her. I’d like to enter Raven and hopefully get closer to finishing off that AX and AXJ. And…I’m toying with the idea of entering Layla in Novice FAST, just to see where she’s really at, but I also think it’s just rushing her. Any thoughts??? Besides that I’m crazy. LOL

Here is the video of Zoe’s NAC run and then a picture of Zoe and her ribbons and then of all the girls…