Happy Birthday Trixie!

Happy Fourth Birthday Trixie Doodle Bug!!!

Trixie and Wotan waited patiently while I unwrapped the special birthday treats.


Trixie figures a little paw action may earn a bigger reward :)




Wotan just enjoys sharing the goodies.....too bad the redeye fix doesn't work on his eyes.

and we are still waiting Mom....hurry up! Nice tongue Wotan.

Jam is having a sleepover at a friend's house while I recuperate from my injury. I'm sure that they are spoiling her and she is loving all the attention.

My Agile Dogs - Trial Update

Yesterday, we trekked down in the rain to Freehold, NJ for the BCDC Aglility Trial. It was an interesting day. You'll have to check Wotan's blog for his exciting news.

Trixie ran in Novice Standard and Jumpers, and had two beautiful runs but unfortunately, knocked a single bar down in each one which is an automatic disqualification. I may have rushed her but overall, I was pleased with how well she ran these flowing courses, getting her contacts and flying through the weave poles. In the standard course, I did a two jump lead out and she stayed solid on the start line and then flew through this course ending up 20 seconds under course time!!!

Jam loved being with us at the trial and enjoyed walking around meeting lots of people and friendly dogs in all shapes and sizes. It was a wonderful opportunity for socialization and not many could resist a cute puppy.

Not sure when our next trial will be due to a handler injury, (see Wotan's blog for the story) but I can't wait to get back in the game and run my fun loving agility dogs.

Puppy Obedience Class

Thursdays are our special Weim pup obedience class. The Great Dane pup that joined us was pretty nice and played well with our crew. Jam waited patiently for the group class to start while I worked Trixie outside on her advanced obedience skills, getting ready for her debut in Open next week. The weather was chilly and a friend decided Jam needed to wear my vest...looks quite fashionable!





Tonights lesson plan included learning hands signals for sit, stand and down. Jam did a fine job demonstrating the down. Of course, our Weim pups found the tile floor too cold and felt comfortable on little beds.


Monty showed off his sit with a little extra special trick - giving paw...precious.


Will work for food! Fortunately for us, all these pups are highly food motivated.


Never one to pass up an opportunity, I attempted to stack Monty to see how our boy is growing up.


Looking good on the table. The steak really helped keep his focus with all the distractions around us.


Another Weim star in the class is Ellie, here with owner Colleen. Ellie waits patiently while we learn the next signal.

Ellie learning the stand command. We want the pups to kick their back legs out when going from a sit to a stand rather than a forward motion.
Ellie and Jam also go to puppy agility class together.

Who is who? Monty on the left, Ellie on the right.



Jam, on the left and Monty, getting a quick time out between exercises.

Jam wins Best Puppy in Match Show!!!

Jam wins Best Puppy in Match show today at the Morris and Essex Kennel Club AKC santioned B match.

It was Jam's first time in the show ring and she was a little star. She held her stack, let the judges examine her and moved around the ring like a pro - we couldn't be prouder of our little girl.

This girl knows how to move! Check out her reach and drive during the BPIM judging. We received many compliments on her movement...

Here we are during the breed judging. Tail up and alert :)


It was 95 degrees out and it was hot for pups and handlers alike.

And even after running around the ring, Jam did her best to free stack for the judge.

Not a bad way to kick off Jam's show career!

Private party or is this really obedience class?

Thursday night was our first gray-pup only obedience class and what fun we had! Jam, her brother Monty, and Ellie, who is about two weeks older, thought class was a private party for Weim pups. I have not seen Monty in many weeks as he spent most of the summer at the Jersey shore, but he looked great and that tail never stopped wagging. Once the pups greeted each other and had a mini-wrestling session, we did our best to settle them down and work on some basic obedience. Leash walking, recalls and teaching them that clipping the leash or putting the collar on are good things, were done outside and them we moved inside for a game of Pass-the- Puppy.



The goal of Pass-the-Puppy is to get the pups used to different types of handling by different people and desensitize them to potentially unpleasant or fearful situations. The handling included taking turns with each others pups opening mouths, touching feet, putting fingers in ears all the time feeding yummy treats. We then did things to simulate what children or adults may do that might possibly scare a dog, such as hard body and neck hugging as well as standing over them to pet them. Again, all done with praise and treats. The pups all did wonderfully and of course, between getting to kiss a new handler, got fed a variety of treats and thought this was a cool game. We also worked on focus or the watch me command...Jam is quite good at this one!


A very tired puppy....




Too bad I forgot to bring my camerato class....maybe I'll remember next time.

That time of year...

I know, it seems like forever since I've updated the blog. The past few weeks have been filled with back to school activities, for my daughter and me (plus starting a new teaching job!), but also for all our dogs. There is something comfortable and nostalgic about all the back to school rituals of shopping, planning weekly activities for our more structured school year routine and reuniting with friends. This is a good time of year to reflect on what's important and set personal and professional goals, including ones for my dogs...and yes, look how much Jam has grown, but more about the pups later...

The big dogs, Wotan and Trixie, are back in their Excellent level Competition agility classes and Trixie began her puppy agility class last night. The class is wonderful and is made up of five pups, including our friend Colleen with her Weim pup and two agility friends with their new pups. It is cool that we've trained together for years with our now older, more experienced dogs and are now embarking our new pups' agility careers together. This class will focus on foundation skills including body language, signals and impulse control. We can sure use some of that, lol!

Trixie has been hard at work training for her Open obedience debut in October. Jam has been enjoying her puppy obedience class and this week, we'll begin a new group class made up of Weim pups - it will by GRAY-T! Monty will be joining us and I look forward to seeing how our boy has grown.

Jam will continue to train for the show ring. Here she is at 14 1/2 weeks practicing her stack. I treated myself to a grooming table and boy does that make stacking and doggie manicures so much easier!



Talking about boys, Ranger came out to visit us at the Newton Kennel Club show and had a blast playing with Jam and Katie, his half sister, and making new friends at the show.

Now this is what I call a Jam-session! Ranger gave back as good as he got from his sister.





Don't hold back Ranger - tell her how you feel!





Let's take a trip to North Carolina - Sky on her first hike at a beautiful place off the Blue Ridge Parkway called Graveyard Fields.

Sky and Debbie scooting across a stream.





They had a perfect day for running through the woods.

A sweet moment of rest for Sky and her mom :)



Queen of the Mountain!




You go girl!




Always helps to have four wheel drive.



This looks like a nice place to rest...

Now, off to Kansas to visit Marshall. What a lovely shot of him.




Marshall and Dylan have become BFFs.











Marshall just continues to amaze us with his lovely conformation. Toni, Laura's friend is stacking him.

Laura just adores Mr. Marshall and he continues to charm everyone he meets...what a mush!