Collie Nationalsb 2012

Here's a post from my new iPad. DH Bikeman got it for me last week. Said I would need it in my upcoming travels north. So here goes---we'll see if it is easy to do...

At any rate, it will not be a waste of money.....playing the game "Water?" is SO much fun on the bigger screen.

I'm here. I'm here in Pennsylvania at the 2012 Collie National Specialty.

Set up day was today. We've got our grooming areas set up and looking SO cool. Brenda ordered ex-pen covers with our logos to match last year's banners. They are just about beyond elegant!

Tomorrow Prosper is entered in Rally Excellent. Thurs we're gonna finish up his Novice. Obedience.

Since we have only been working on Dancing for the past six mos, the next two days should be Quite Entertaining. I'll take pictures tomorrow on this new gadget and post em here.

Dawgs are spread out on the floor like cheap pieces if carpet.

In the meantime, I'm gonna see if I can achieve another level of "Water?". Then maybe read a few chapters if the Hunger Games....More tomorrow.

One

Me:  (after solving a complicated problem together)  We really are one, you know.

Him: Yes, we really are one.

Me: (several days later. I was outside cutting off the dead top of the Pampas grass, getting ready for its new growth this spring)  Thanks for bringing me the garden gloves.  You know, if I were really gonna do this right, I would set this stuff on fire, let it burn down to the ground. 

Him:  And that would kill it for good?! (smiling)

Me:  Nooooooo....it would improve its growth, make it healthier.....

Him:  You know, we really are one......There's just two different parts to the one......


He hates working in the yard....And I adore it...
Adds up nicely......

Prosper (Lochlaren The Plans I Have For You), and his Very Own Cat

The Christmas Season was already upon us, and our local pet store offered “pictures with Santa” the Saturday before Thanksgiving.  My Collies exploded into the building, fur flying, noses chuffing, eyes shining at all the wonderful new sights and people.

The line for pictures was rather long, but waiting is never a problem for these boys.  They will Always find something interesting to occupy their time, and today was no exception. Children were everywhere, so they were quick to offer their paws for treats and pets.  Other pets in line glared at my fuzzy dogs with disdain and despair and downright iciness.  These Collies’ very Presence literally Fill up a room with their energy and electricity. They just do that. They are Collies, and that is their way.

In an effort to “tone down” some of the “bigness” of the boys, I put them on a down-stay and sat on the floor with them to wait for our turn with Santa Claus.  It was then that my blue merle Collie spotted a beautiful blue merle CAT in a cage nearby.  He managed to stay down….but do that “guerilla warfare” crawl towards the kitty. 

Working hard to get close to his new friend, Prosper pushed his long Collie nose into the cage that belonged to perhaps the most beautiful stained glass calico cat I had ever seen.  Their eyes met, and it was obvious that there was a communication going on between them that we mere humans could only dream about.

Pictures done.  Santa suitably smoozed and kissed, we exited the store with Prosper looking longingly over his shoulder to his feline friend.

Back home, I told my husband about the unusual draw that the cat and Collie had on each other.  We had both seen her in the store some months earlier, and had wondered aloud as to Why she had not yet been adopted.  She was so very beautiful, and, seemingly, so calm and sedate and peaceful.  A beautiful cat like that should have found a home very quickly.  Interesting. A mystery. Something that we could not quit thinking about.

So I returned to the pet store on Monday and volunteered to take her home with me, to “foster” over the Thanksgiving holidays.  The Humane Society did not yet know how she would react to dogs or children or, truthfully, any other “established” cats in the home.  So it would be our job to give her these opportunities for evaluation.

As I was signing her out, I discovered, by looking at her records, that she had a “rap sheet” several miles long.  This cat had come into the shelter 4 years ago as a kitten overcome with intestinal bacteria infection and had been in and out of homes like so many juvenile delinquents.  This pretty girl? Surely not! 

Oh, yes, I was told….She’d torn up the houses of her former owners.  She was incorrigible and wild and unable to negotiate with. Perhaps the best place for her, after all, was the institution of the Shelter, for she had no skills for living in a home with humans.   Oh, brother! What had I let myself and my husband and our “balanced” household of cats and dogs in for?!!!

I clipped her nails before we left the store.  Nestled her into the vari-kennel in the van, and drove directly home.

Prosper was ecstatic!  This was HIS cat, and his joy knew no bounds!  For days he was the only one to whom she would speak. Basically she slept in her crate and came out to eat and potty.  So Prosper stayed very close to her. 

When I ran the vacuum, Prosper would stand (calmly) between the vac and her. When folks came to the door, he would immediately take them to see his new kitty.  When he laid on the floor, she would rub up against him and purred for the first time.

She FLEW through the house when un-crated in the mornings. Unbounded and unfettered, her freedom was a thing of bounteous Joy.    She gently touched and nosed everything in the house, making it hers in a very self-possessed manner.  She greeted the other resident cats quite cordially, and gently wooed the sable Collie, allowing him also to become one of her loyal subjects. We all seemed to line up to declare her permanence in our family.

Needless to say, we have failed “Fostering l01” and have come forward with a commitment to keeping this lovely lady forever in our home. She and my husband have bonded unlike any other animal we have ever had. She adores him and insists on getting in his lap anytime he decides to sit down. 

She has been nothing but a perfect lady, reigning as the only female pet in our household. Her name at the shelter had been “Bumblebee,” yet we thought that a more dignified name was befitting such a classic lady, and so her name is “Mrs. Whitworth.”  So named after one of the most charming women in our community.

She’s home. She’s home to stay for the rest of her lives. Prosper?  He’s quite content to have his very own cat to love and care for.  Forever. 

Training for Life

Example of a Really Good Husband:

Me (trying on a costume for upcoming Dog Dancing Competition): "Okay...THIS is gonna be a Double-Spankx outfit...."

Him: "What ARE Spankx? I heard them talking about it the other night on the Golden Globe Awards."

Me: (doffing the costume, struggling with the "compression garment" out of sight of HIM, then re-dressing with the Star Wars costume) "Okay....here ya go!  See! It makes my legs notsofat." (slightly out of breath at the extreme effort to squeeze everything in...)

Him: "I think you look Better without them." (then headed off to take his bicycle outside and ride)

It takes At Least 40 years to train that response.....

I'm gonna keep him one more day.

Catching up???

Time is flying by.  Literally. I look up every week, expecting it to be Monday, and it is Thursday already.  WHAT is Happening?  Is this the way Time behaves when we are 60?  I thought this was our "slowing down" era of Life....

ANYway...This is my *excuse* for not having posted in several months.  I just neeeeed to sit down and write.

 Prosper and I went to several dog shows this fall. Here he is getting a point. We did not achieve our "goal" of finishing this year, but hoping that we will in the next few months.

The Pendergrass Family came over for Thanksgiving. My dear friend, Denise, invited the children out to go horseback riding.

They also went ice skating at our local ice skating rink! Quite amazing to see them taking to it so quickly.

Of course, the boyz and I rang the bells for Salvation Army again this year. We raised over $400 in the cold, winter weather.

 

PetSense offered a picture session for Santa and our pets. The boyz posed like movie stars...Santa fell in love, too...

Christmas, as always, was a wonderful, idyllic occasion, and full of wonderful memories. 

We all converged at Branson, MO and stayed in a very nice house with FIVE bedrooms on the lake! Mostly, we just enjoyed the time together and ate lots of yummy food. We toured a cave, spent an evening at Silver Dollar City, and took several walks in the woods, discovering treasure and collecting rocks.  

Here's my boys solving important problems of the world....And, of course, there is always a Collie in the picture.....

 

 

Kathryn planned on "not getting out of my pajamas" all day.....So far, she is succeeding.












Santa Claus came for the children. The adults' "gift" to each other was the time spent together

"What th HECK is This?!!" they all wanted to know! Itsa sun catcher made out of those big chunks of glass and beads.....Okay, so Mom has too much time on her hands.....

We did not do the "after Christmas" sales as we have in the past.....Instead we went to Talking Rocks Cavern.

As you can see, this was Emily's very Favorite activity. I think she will remember this for years to come!

 







It was truly a magnificent place The Creator built for us on this planet.....I am sure that He just couldn't WAIT for us to see it! Here's hoping He has the same anticipation for us to see Carlsbad someday (it's on my Bucket List). 

Samuel is still pretty little, so his dad got to carry him thruout the tour. Reminded me of my family telling me that MY daddy carried ME thru Mammoth Cave many years ago when I was a baby, in spite of his morbid fear of closed in spaces (he'd been buried alive several yrs before during WWII....drs said he'd never walk again....He went on to father 2 more children---AND earn a living as a postman).



Put Bailey Rose anywhere Near me, and she will do whatever I do....She loved the cave as much as I did......

Grace will probably always appreciate a good cape....or any other piece of costume....

We also took a trip to Silver Dollar City nearby. Stayed till after dark, when the Magnificent light show! came parading down the street! I did NOT want to leave, even tho our hands and feet were frozen solid, and we were all ready for a Good Meal of something besides corn dogs and fry bread. I LOVE Branson at Christmas!!!  The tree is as tall as the one on Rockefeller Square!

 Ah! Yes! Kathryn DID get out of her recliner every once in a while! 

And the Food! OH! I wish I had taken pictures of the burgeoning kitchen! We ate SO well....Mikey got up every morning (well, the first 3 of the 4---last one we were packing up) and cooked breakfast for us all. I had brought several pounds of Blue and Gold bacon, and that is all the incentive he needed to become fry cook! The last day, Grace perched up on her bar stool, and told Uncle Mike she wanted "bacon, eggs, and some chocolate milk." I'm thinking she just got very accustomed to his taking her breakfast orders....after 3 mornings of doing her bidding.

Dances with WOOFS....or the WCFO 2011 National Competition

I love dancing with my Collies.  I love dancing with ALL dogs, even YOURS, if you will allow me.  I truly believe that all dogs love to dance and express themselves thru movement. Dogs were born to run and twist and twirl. Their tails (or the remnants thereof) were made to wag, and their bodies were designed for very specific movements in order to fulfill their designated jobs. 

In this day and age, when everyone wants a Border Collie or a Jack Russell Terrier,  or some breed of working, moving canine, there should be a Disclaimer  that comes along with the potty and crate training: 

If you do not give your dog a job, he will become self-employed.

Yep....you read that right.  A job.  SOMEthing to do besides just dig up the back yard and terrorize the cats.  Agility is a wonderful outlet.  The rush that one gets when completing  a clean run is better than any drug or fine wine....Competition Obedience is also a wonderful goal to achieve. There is a precision there that must be met, and a fine line you must tread in order to meet the requirements for a title. There's flyball and frisbee and tracking and herding, lure coursing, and dock diving---the list goes on and ON with all the activities and titles you can stack up in your repritoire.   Then, of course, there is Therapy work and certainly daily walks and runs thru the woods. 

A fella just neeeeeeds to have a Job!  A tired puppy is a Good Puppy.....

And, so.....in addition to all those other fun activities, We Dance.....

See this?  Recognize the arch on the left?  Yup....St. Louis....And I'm driving my van towards the Big River, enroute to Oconomowoc, Wisconsin....That's where the 2011 World Canine Freestyle Organization's National competition was held this October. We are headed North to dance our liddle hearts out--a big "outoftheComfortZone" endeavor for this Southern girl.  Okay....so, yeh, I'm snapping pictures as I drive...The boyz just were not interested in photography, so SOMEbody hada do it....

And, so we turned northward, driving thru the prairies of Illinois, stopping at Springfield to stay the night. Thursday saw us on the road again, stopping at a few thrift stores along the way.  I found some treasure, including a schnauzer glass container and also a pair of fancy size 11 shoes for my friend Kaity....

We arrived at the host hotel on Thursday afternoon.  I'd come in a day early just so the boyz could become familiar with the surroundings (esp the liddle wolf cubbie who Loves to put his nose down and sniff up all the air in the room), and so that I would not be so dog-tired the next day.  Thank you, Bikeman, for encouraging me to spend this extra cash....

My friend Cyndi came over that evening, bringing snacks of Wisconsin cheese and crackers and some nice wine.  We sat in our room and remembered years gone by, laughed at the Collies, and toured the downstairs ballroom, familiarizing the boyz with the area. 



It all looked so calm and pristine before the Chaos hit on Friday evening! 

Next morning, we made our "nest" in the crating/changing room, along with 40 or so other dogs from all over. The host club was sponsoring a Fun Match (come and go) on Friday night, then a meet and greet the judges in the Hospitality Room.

Here's Prop and me at the Fun Match....I didn't dance his competition routine, just got out there and let Stevie Wonder sing one of his beautiful songs while we played around. 

And here's Cubbie marking our new territory.....

We went for a walk with a New Friend I'd met in the crating room.  Her name is Princess Laughing Water...or, as I like to call her, "The Princess Pat".....Do you know the words to the song?  Well, we sang a very loud duet to the campsong....."The Princess Pat lived in a tree (the Princess Pat lived in a tree)  She sailed across the 7 seas (She sailed across the 7 seas) She sailed across (she sailed across) the channel too (the channel too) And she took with her ....a rick a bamboo.....A rick a bamboo.....Now what is that?.....It's something maaaaade....by the Princess Pat....."  (call me if you want to know more...).

My friend, Princess Pat and our dogs trekked up the ski slope for a bit of exercise after all the sitting in the car we'd done...The view from up top was glorious! 

 And, of course....the Cubbie making SHURE everything was properly marked.....sigh.....

This weekend was James' 9th birthday.  WHERE did the Time go???  Seems like just yesterday, he was a ball of annoying, destructive fluff....Now, HE leads ME around. 

Anyway, the host club found out that it was Jamie's birthday, and so they made a WONDERFUL birthday cake for all the doggies to share....  I've GOT to get the recipe.  I'm telling you, I used it as treats the next 2 days, and it was like Doggie Cocaine...They would do ANYthing for a bite of that yummy stuff!!  (sorta like me and frozen Snickers...sigh)

AND, even More than the yummy cake, James enjoyed the humans' fawning and purring all over him.  THIS is what James does Best----enjoy his "celebrity." 

Back to the room for a Good Night's sleep, rising early in the morning to delicious coffee and bagels. 

The wait that morning was very, Very long.  We did not dance until after noon. Nice, because it gave me a lot of time to watch the other routines, but notsonice because, well, Waiting is a difficult thing to do....The boyz did very well, but did not qualify that day.  The judges' scores were all over the place, so...I dunno....

The final number wasn't until 6:30 pm, and we were all very exhausted. However, the Banquet started at 7, so we hoofed it back to our room, changed into something pretty, fed the dogs, and headed back upstairs for something good to eat. 

Now...Usually I never complain about food.  I'll eat ANYthing!  However, I'm thinkin that these folks up North just have a whole different kind of cuisine than our basic roast beef and mashed taters.....But I'm always willing to taste just about anything. Truthfully....it just did not "do" anything for me.  And I don't think it was just me, either...almost everyone left their chocolate mousse untouched....Coffee was good, tho...And I learned what potato pancakes are (I thought they coulda used some molasses on 'em, quite frankly...).

After we ate, the awards were given out. I had made leashes for each of the Beginner "A" competitors.  They loved them, and some even bought more later the next day! 

I'd also mosaic'd 2 toilet tank lids for prizes, but those didn't go over too well up there....Ah, well...I'll just keep 'em down South where they belong, I suppose! 

A good night's sleep refreshes even the most daunted of spirits, as does the promise of returning home very soon. Sunday morning found us bright-eyed and ready to REALLY perform....The boyz and I took a short walk in the woods, I fluffed and puffed them, donned my costume, and we were Ready to take over the ring!  Today, we danced Early, like SECOND in line!  Nice to finish before we had to wait so long.  Here's the videos from Sunday.  These guys were Stellar!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mfBXa2KemU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0b91K2y7i8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kkJk5R0gvE

There was a Wonderful photographer who took everyones pictures for no charge!  Here's a few "portraits" : 

The ending "counts"?  James qualified in our Heel to Music routine.  Our only "q" of the wkend. However, I was well pleased with how nicely the Collies performed, and they literally had a Wonderful time, prancing and dancing and cking out the audience. Outside the ring, they smoozed and charmed everyone they met.  Seems that most everyone has a "Collie" story from when they were growing up....And it all spills over onto my boyz---they get lots of hugs, tearful kisses, and backside massages. 

This day's competition lasted until after 8 pm, including the awards presentation.  Phew!!!  Now That's a LONG day~!!!

Linda Blanchard donated a trophy for "High Scoring Collie."  It is Beautiful, and, of course OURS!!  What a wonderful surprise!

James and I received ribbons for Heel to Music High in Trial scores!  I was pretty tired and weary when the pictures were taken....Sick humor....Maybe a new costume in the making?

We packed up, said our goodbyes, and Cyndi and I drove 30 miles to her darling "farmette" house in Whitewater, Wisconsin.  There we feasted on delicous cheese sandwiches and soup and laughed at both our Collies getting to know each other. Prosper even tried to make friends with the cat...Cat didn't think it was a very good idea....

A good night's sleep under eiderdown and delicious cotton sheets, and I was well-rested, ready for early departure next morning. Heartfelt goodbyes with promises to see each other sooner next time, and I drove with the sun rising to my left.  It was a delightful visit to a most beautiful state for a most wonderful reason.

The boys have been sleeping (when they are not barking) for days now.  Home is the best place to be.