Texarkana Dog Show

Our local show is this weekend. The counts are 1-6-3-0. No points in boys, but if some specials show up there is a chance Zen could go BOW for his first MAJOR! I'm excited, but trying not to expect anything. I have NO idea who the other ACD's are. I thought everyone was going to San Antonio.

Harley and my mom will probably come watch. A couple of people from work said they might make it out, Liz and her husband will for sure.

I love this show because I get to stay in my own bed. Last year the aussie people all got together at Brenda's house and we had a great time. I'm looking forward to it this year because Zen can wrestle with aussies while the humans talk dogs.

I'm handling Shaine for Jenn this weekend. She's preggers and doesn't fit into her show clothes, plus she's contemplating sending him with me to a show or two. She's buying me sushi on Friday night for my efforts :)

Wool is yummy

Before I cough up the video I need to give everyone a little backstory here. About a month ago Zen and I went herding with a BC trainer that I have been going to for quite a while. We had a really bad experience. Zen had been there before and the trainer was really good with him and my other dog, Rumor. Zen was a little older this time, a little bigger, and a little more eager to do the sheep thing. He did some wool-pulling on this lady's sheep and she absolutely had a cow. She told me I had no control over my dog, that he was totally blowing me off and had no respect for me. She said she wanted me to bring him back on a prong collar. I left in tears.

I know this dog, he's *not* pushy and over the top. Not to me anyway. Does he sometimes push the limits to see what he can get away with, yeah, he's a puppy. Well I e-mailed his breeder and she was super supportive. She had some good advice to offer as well. While I would *love* to be able to spend some time with her to herd, Washington State is very far. Maybe one day when all the stars line up just right I can make it out there to do some herding. Right now, I'm stuck in Texas.

I e-mailed Debbie. She lives about an hour away and has ACD's. I didn't tell her what happened, I just told her that when they get together to do some herding I would like to join. Well, Debbie texted me Friday night and said they were going to worm sheep/trim hooves on Saturday and they would be able to start herding soon after that. I told her I wanted to help. One day I hope to have my own sheep to train with, so I'd like to learn about all things sheep. Debbie said I could bring my dogs and to be there at 7a.m.

After all the sheep were taken care of I was good and sweaty/muddy/bloody etc. She said we could do a quick session. I told her about our experience and told her I wanted her to work Zen for me to see what she thought. Well, he went with her, but ran back to me when she dropped the long-line. So I went out there and he was ready to herd. I will let the video speak for itself.

Zen and Kate + a date!

My neighbor is out of town and I am feeding her dogs for her. I thought their lab, Kate would be a good playmate for Zen so I brought her over the other afternoon. They did play, but Kate is older than Zen and she was more into just chilling out in the pool. It is super hot here. In the 90's everyday this week.

Zen had conformation practice tonight and did really well. He hasn't practiced at all since the Marshall show at the beginning of May.

Zen and Kate's Play Date!

Zen's a Raw Dog

Zen has eaten bits and pieces of raw before, but tonight was his first fully raw meal. I did enough clicker training earlier that I felt he'd had enough kibble for the day. He ate his first raw meal like a trooper.

If you don't like to look at raw meat please, look no further. There ARE pictures!

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Chicken leg quarter and ground turkey. The pill is a B vitamin w/ folic acid and Vit C in it.


He ate the turkey first.


Nom Nom


Yummy.

My big dude

So, I measured Zen again. He can stop growing at any moment! Really. I measured twice and I got 20.5 inches and 20.25 inches. So he's over 20 now. Unless I'm horribly off. I don't see much growth plate (if any) left in the front legs, but I know he's got some filling out to do. I can only hope he stays this height. It would be wonderful if he would settle a bit. Oh well, no matter how big he gets he will never outgrow his nickname. He will always be the little doodles.

















Sorry they are so dark. It was raining outside, so even with the blinds open it was still pretty dark in my room.

Next weekend Zen and Rumor get to go with me to Houston. My cousin is graduating from high school and my brother and I are going to go watch. After the ceremony he and I will probably go to my Aunt and Uncle's house to visit a while, but we want to sneak away early for a beach trip. I gave him a couple of spots to look into and we think we found a beach we want to visit.

Zen will get to go for sure, and depending on how hot it is Rumor and Terra may come along too. BJ took T down to Houston with him when he left for college. She keeps him in line and he gives her some good one-on-one belly scratches. Anywho, it will just depend on if I feel like toting the x-pen and stuff to the beach. Rumor is reactive so if there are a ton of people or any other dogs she would need to be kept an eye on 100%. Terra is just old and doesn't hear well anymore so the x-pen would be for her safety. Would allow her to sunbathe without worry of her wandering off.

Carrie won't be coming with me for a couple of reasons. I'm still waiting to get some surgery done on her leg, so I wouldn't want her to overdo it with exercise. The other reason is that she does not like Terra. While they are fully manageable, I'd like to just relax and not worry about it. I'm sure she will be happy at home with a supply of frozen kongs and bully sticks.

Long time

I should blog more. Really though, school is out now. I am just waiting, waiting, waiting to hear if I got into the nursing program. I can't take any more classes until I get in. So, right now I'm working full time. I feel like I have a little more free time these days because I no longer have to come home and study. The days are getting longer. They are also getting HOTTER! It was 95 degrees today according to WeatherBug at work.


I have some video I'm about to upload to YouTube.

Zen's next dog show is my local show in June. I need to enter him very soon. It would be a shame to miss our home show due to my forgetting to enter. :) They have puppy groups, so since we probably won't have much competition (the San Antonio show is the same weekend) maybe he can make it to the puppy groups. :)

I inherited this really cool camera from my grandfather. Its a Minolta Maxxum 700o. It's a film camera. I haven't used it yet as I have only had it like 3 days, but when I get the money for film I want to see what it can do. It's supposedly the first make/model of camera to come with autofocus on the body. It has a lot of neat things about it, so I'm getting kind of excited to use it. I think I'm becoming a camera geek.

Anywho, pictures of a camera:







Came with a flash and two lenses




And the original owners manual.

This camera was very well taken care of. When I got it everything was in it's individual case and the lenses had their caps on them. The large lense has it's original box with price sticker and warranty card. Each lense also has a filter on it. Pretty cool.

Video!

That uploaded quickly!