Karma @ 20 Weeks Old

This evening, I decided to take some pictures of Karma. I'm sorry they are so dark, but my house wasn't built with great lighting....

Hot Springs Show Results

We left Saturday morning to get to the show. We got there about a quarter til 10 and we showed a little after 11. We got set-up and I got dressed for show. My nerves were starting to kick in because I just knew we weren't going to do great. Ellie really pulled us together, took a 94 and 4th place. We got done showing (I'm ecstatic!), and I bought more ear tape and speed sew from a vendor at the show. Let's say since the speed sew, the score stands at Karma's ears 4: me 1! :) We checked in at the Econo Lodge, and it is NOT some where I recommend going to. FIRST, the door wouldn't shut. It would lock, but not actually close. You could push it open without touching the nob. Yeah... Bad...

Once that was fixed, we went to eat at Colton's Steakhouse and Grill. This was truly the best experienced I have ever had at a steakhouse. Tracie (the friend I borrowed for the weekend) ordered some kind of pasta. It looked good, but I was too interested in steak for celebrating Ellie's achievement, so I ordered the 12 oz sirloin (with a salad and steamed veggies). The ranch dressing tastes house made. If it's not, I will really be surprised. The rolls were so nice and hot when they were brought to the table with the best honey butter. YUM!

Went to the hotel and slept. No... I didn't sleep well. The bed was too hard, there was a cigarette burn in my blanket, and the A/C didn't work well. Let's put it this way... I had the unit on all night (started the afternoon before) full blast on it's coldest setting. I had to go out about 5:00 in the morning to potty Ellie and Karma. It was at MOST 55 degrees F. It was nice and WARM in the room. The A/C was still on... It was on because during the day, it was pretty warm. Probably in the 80s.

Woke up the next morning at 7:30 with back pains, I even mentioned my issues to some one in the lobby of how low the standards are for such a community that survives on tourism in front of the receptionist. They allowed an obviously low standard man walk in the lobby BAREFOOT with swimming trunks and horrible hygene. The man actually had the audacity to stare at me when I mentioned the word "bitch" to some one who was also a member of the dog show world speaking of the point scale system. REALLY? ::shivers::

We had the same judge as we did yesterday, and she put up a little bit harder of a course for us. Ellie surprised me again with a score of 93 and 4th place. I'm so proud of her! :) On our way home we stopped at Lake De Gray to get a few scenic pictures with the blues. It was hard work, but we took a few I'm proud of. :) Thanks, Tracie, for your help. I couldn't have had such a smooth weekend without you! <3

Hot Springs

So our next show is going to be Hot Springs. I will only have Ellie entered in Rally Novice. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to get the first two legs of Ellie's RN. I wish I thought about it before and had been working to get Shaine ready to get his first two legs of his RA. Live and learn. Hopefully, next time I update, we'll have a brag or two.

Karma's Page Updates

I put up the training video on Karma's page, and I semi-fixed Karma's logo on the girls' page. I want to build some puppy training equipment to start Karma on in agility. This equipment isn't to teach her the obstacles. The goal is to teach her patience, to listen, and give her an idea of what "contacts" are. I may just lay bars on the ground and let her hop over them when she wants so she doesn't have to be taught too much when she starts actual "hard-core" training.

It's too hot to actually train in agility, but I do need to get out once in a while for about 10 minutes with each Ellie and Shaine to get them started back. I would really like to enter Shaine in the Shreveport trial the first weekend of December. I would also like to enter Ellie at the nationals in April. That's a good goal, though I'm not sure how far we'll get with it considering she's supposed to have a litter of puppies in March.

Karma's Training Progress and such

Karma has really come into her own since she has been here at Anu. She is so smart, willing, and eager that it is just a sinch to teach her anything. Of course, her love for Pup-Peroni is a plus as well. :)



She is really going to be outstanding in agility and obedience. I wish herding was easier to get to than what it is. Then I would be hoping to do that too, but it's going to be almost overwhelming to get her ring ready for Obed, Agility, & Conformation at once. Given, there's about a year's difference between her starting conformation and starting any performance...

I am not able to get PhotoShop back on the computer, thanks to a scratched CD. When we buy a new computer, we're either going to buy the program or make sure the computer already has it and video editing software attached. Maybe even wireless Internet access so I can upload at the nationals? We'll see. Where was I going with this? Basically, that's why the font size doesn't match on the girls' page. There's no way to compare and measure... And I'm pretty much just giving up on that for now. It looks great the way it is.

Have a great night every one! :)

Karma has arrived!

Turned out we didn't go to Little Rock for the show. Instead, we brought home a beautiful bi blue girl with beautiful blue eyes. Karma (Lacewood Bi Fate) has come to Texas from Tricia Harris of Lacewood Shelties. She is out of Ch Lacewood The Star Maker and Akadia Poetry Bi Moonlight. She turned 9 weeks old two days ago, and is the most beautiful little girl. She has a beautiful head and a gorgeous structure. She is learning the ropes of the pack, though she seems to have fit in very easily. It seems the one she is most fond of is Ellie. Maybe because they have similar color patterns, or that Ellie is the Alpha. Her attitude is what I expected, and she isn't even phased by my 2 year old son running around the house.

Entries & Possible Additions

The litter I hope to get a puppy from will be four weeks old tomorrow. She will either be a bi-black or bi-blue. I hope for the bi-blue, but I'm not holding my breath. More information later.

Our next show will be Little Rock. The Black and Tan people are building majors so I, of course, will be there. :) Luckily it only takes 4 to make a major for them.

Thanks for reading,
Jenn

Just Stuff

Ellie came into heat yesterday. She's actually a month early, but this will put her in heat again in early January. I am planning on having the rest of her genetic testing done (i.e. hips OFA, vWD, MDR1, and thyroid) by the beginning of December. This well allow me to get the results in before being bred. She is expected to be bred to Antone (MUSICAL ETERNITY OA OAJ) who is OFA excellent, CERF normal, and thyroid normal. Blues and tris are expected. If you would like to get more information about the litter or the breeders (Darlene Music of Musical Shelties and I), give me a shout.

We also hope to be adding two new members to our family. A sheltie puppy (not yet determined) and a baby girl who's due date is November 13Th.

I hope everyone had a wonderful and safe 4Th of July.

Yours truly,
Jennifer Campbell

The Weekend

Yesterday and today went well. Last night, Luke stayed with Nana Dee, and Terry and I took Ellie, Shaine, and Loretta to Bringle Lake Park to work on some obedience. Ellie is perfecting her newly taught tricks and so we added in beg. We were also perfecting stay, heel, and recall. Terry really needed to work on Loretta to focus. Since she's a scent hound, she insisted her nose came attached to the ground. No... We fixed that before the end of the night. Terry was very impressed with my work. :)

Today we took Luke to see his PawPaw. PawPaw's girlfriend (MawMaw Linda) had recently added a new family member to her household. This little 7 week old wonder is named Pickles, and Pickles is an Aussie mix. She is a real cutie, and very sweet. She fell in love with Luke at first site (making me want an Aussie but we aren't getting into that right now).

After our visit with Linda, we had to pick up some dog food. TOTW is only found at Tractor Supply, so we had to get there before they closed. We bought all the dogs a bone. When we FINALLY got back home, we ended up relaxing, watching Big Fat Liar with Luke, and watching the dogs attack their bones. We hope Tuesday will be a good practice for conformation with Loretta. Erin (Shaine's newly-named handler) needs to practice with Shaine and Zen, so I hope we can make it out. Ellie needs to dust some of her skills off as we haven't worked with her since earlier this year.

Ellie's eyes will be CERF'd at our local show. YAY! That will be ONE less genetic test I will need to worry about. I hope to get the others before her next heat cycle. We may have puppies feet running around either the end of this year or beginning of next (depending on when she decides to come in heat). If I am lucky, I will be having another sheltie addition in the next couple of months. There are three potential litters to get a puppy from, so my fingers are crossed. ;)

Ellie Plays Dead

Earlier this evening, I decided to work with Ellie on some random pet tricks. Not knowing which tricks to start with, I just chose Beg and Stand on Two Legs. When we weren't really getting anywhere, I just decided to give up. While just playing around and scratching her chest, she brought her paw to hug my arm. *DING* Why not teach her to shake? So I worked on Shake and Play Dead. Shake she learned very quickly. I found the "button" I use to teach and remind her to pick up her paw. Play Dead was a little more tricky, and she is still reluctant to work on it. We were able to work on the tricks and put a name to the actions, so that's what we did! :)

Terry and Loretta took the opportunity to work on some obedience (and try out some tricks). After such a short time working and practicing together, this team is really starting to shine. Loretta now knows Sit and Down. She is even learning how to stay. Also, keep in mind, Terry has never attended an obedience class, so the method he is using is from simply watching others teach and natural ability. Of course, Loretta does help him out by being very smart. ;)

Toodles, folks! Have a great night.