A couple of house shots.  Karma and Poppet hanging around.  

Loretta, Poppet, Karma, Rose... Everyone, really.

Last night I was working with Loretta on her off-leash heeling.  She was doing beautifully.  She does well with sit stay, down, stand, and of course sit.  Much much much I plan with her.


She loves being a couch potato, but makes no move against others when they invade her space or push the cushions away from her.

Karma is my shadow and loves to help keep those chickens in line.  

Rose...  She's just getting older.  She loves to linger and bark.  She's not as active as she once was, but she is still a wonderful old girl.

Shaine loves to play "Catch the Leprechaun" and bounces around.  He's very much a momma's boy and would love to chase the chickens if momma would let him.  Gotta love my boy.  I can't beleive he is 8 1/2 years old.....













Poppet is acting like she never took a class in her life.  Yay!  That means we get to repeat our classes, but this time we'll be going to other places, like the park and such.


She also likes to hide in my crochet projects.  Overall, she is a very happy girl.

       

Freckles is more the kids' dog than mine.  I'm fine with that.  He loves kids, and his best friend must be Poppet.

Getting Stuff Done

Finally! Videos and pictures of us getting our training done rather than just planning. Starting out with Obedience training without working on anything before, Poppet is now staying (no one every said reliably), and Karma is working well too. Karma isn't yet competition ready, but we are getting closer. We are probably able to pass the requirements for an RN, but I'd rather get closer to CD so we can compete well.

Poppet's First Down Stay




Karma's First Run-Through

I am so proud of my girls, I can't even put it in words. Until next week, my friends.

Freckles Has Been Moved

It is true. Freckles has moved to the permanent pages of boys. The right home never popped up for the sweet boy, so I have decided to train him for performance. He has much of his mother's temperament, so we may even fiddle in some herding. As I have stated before, conformation has been placed on the back burner for a while (at least where the shelties are concerned) since I have officially retired Shaine and Ellie returned to Musical. Poppet will be shown in conformation when we get chances, but when we start Obedience and Rally competitions, we'll be out much more. Karma and Poppet are both enrolled in Obedience classes and are almost halfway through. It looks like Karma will at least be able to get an RN by July, though Poppet needs a bit more work. Hounds, you know.... ;) I am taking what I am learning at these classes and working with Freckles and even Loretta, the husband's Black and Tan Coonhound. I may as well add her to my website, but that will be a later project. If I am the one who will train and show her, I should probably claim her, right? ::Smiles::

Reading Fanatic Tries to Win

If you know me, you know I love reading. If you have been to my house, you know I own quite a few books (both audio and hard copies). I'm posting this blog to try and win a Harry Potter themed bookshelf necklace, and one way to get some entries is to (ta-da) creat a post in my blog to the shop. Here it is: www.coryographies.etsy.com I think the whole thing is pretty neat. :) Maybe I can win something. LOL

Rolling Over 2013

The world has rolled into another year, and I have already posted a blog. I suppose this was the blog that should precede the one before, but I don't always think in logical chronological order.

I'm in a depressed state of mind at the moment, and it all has to do with the horrible things that came to pass the previous year. I think losing Skipper was the worst part of all my troubles, and the hole inside feels like it won't ever heal.

I am told all the time of how this year should be a good one. I will have better luck this year. 2013 is a new start. It doesn't feel like it. It feels like I'm started over all right. Good things can and will come out of this year, and I am determined to see it through.

Things I hope to gain, and things you may see in the year 2013:
1. Poppet's Debut in the conformation ring
2. Shaine going to his RA and maybe a CD
3. Karma going to her RN and maybe a CD
4. Poppet going to her RN and maybe a CD
5. Shaine maybe getting his NAJ and NA, if I can help it
6. Anu is moving to Arkansas
7. You'll probably see a lot of pictures of new chickens after the move (yes, I said

chickens. It's going to be a fun adventure for us come April.
8. A new baby is expected (and I refuse to find out boy or girl until born)

As you can see, I have quite a few goals for the year. I hope I can at least get the agility, rally, and conformation goals set straight before the end of the year, so in lieu of resolutions, I have simple goals I would like to accomplish. By next year, I would like to have Karma in agility too, but I am making no promises to it.

Enough

My kennel is downsizing a bit. I have decided not to breed shelties again. My first and last litter were such a heart ache, I don't wish to go through it again. With seven total puppies, five survived, which is a good number for a breeder, but I cannot take that pain again.  The first puppy was turned into a tripod, one puppy was a stillborn water baby, and the one girl I named Jinx passed away at two weeks of age. Duke, the tripod, is doing well in his new home. He went home the weekend before Christmas, and I hear great things from his teenage owner. :) Karma will be spayed soon, and so will Shaine.  Of course, Freckles is still available to an approved pet or performance home. 

I would like to focus a bit more on performance, as I've been saying for a while, so maybe I'll be able to get off my rear and work some. :) Poppet has such a wonderful temperament for a hound to work in performance. I bet she'll wow a few people while we work a bit in obedience and rally. Agility will have to be put on hold for a while until I can actually travel to classes, but that won't be for a little bit yet.

A few last phrases for the new year:
1. Remember to love your neighbors, even if they can be a pain.
2. What other people think about you is none of your business.
3. May your 2013 resolutions come true.