Dock Dogs and a New Toy!

 This past weekend was the "Paws in the Park" Dock Dogs event in Pasadena TX. My friend and Red were entered, as well as some of Red's litter mates, Mojo and Gitchi. Being there, in person, was a ton of fun, I had only ever seen dock dogs on TV, so I was really excited to go. Everyone there was really supportive of all the other competitors and everyone was just having fun.

Red wasn't quit sure about this whole jumping thing! He had only jumped off the side of a pool (which he did with no hesitation), so this whole dock thing was a little scary. But the little guy over came his fear and jumped with..... style?.... grace?.... nope, he jumped with heart and humor!

 Red's second jump

Red's final and best jump of the day. He jumped 4 ft! I'd say he was getting the hang of it :)

One of Red's brothers, Mojo.

 Mr. Mojo got 1st place in novice, with a jump of 9 ft.!

Red's sister, Gitchi. She was by far the most confident.

I'd say it was a great debut for the young pups and it was so much fun to watch! 

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On the way home we got a new toy for Riley and Grace, one of those treat dispenser ball toys (our old one has seen better days). I don't remember the name of the toy, I threw away the wrappings already.... I know real convenient. But anywho the dogs love it and they got to take turns playing with it.

Riley is a pro at these treat balls. If rolling it isn't giving him treats, he kicks it, that doesn't work, he throws it, and as a final result he will throw it down the stairs and gather the treats that fall out as he goes down.

Grace is a little more delicate, for now. She will just nudge it around or chew on it.

I put the difficulty level on easy for them the first time, and they both figured it out dang quick!

Contrary to popular belief...

I have not fallen off the ends of the earth! I am still here! YAY!

It has been some time since I last posted.... about anything....sorry :( But you know how it goes, life just kinda gets going and it takes forever to catch up. Now I feel that things have settled down and I can take a break (for now).

Hummm, lets see, what has been going on around here....

Hubby is in the final stages of his fish tank! This has been a looong process, some of the items can be expensive and time consuming (or at least the way he wants to do it haha). So we've been doing it in stages.

We bought the stand and canopy unfinished because we wanted to stain it the color that we wanted, versus what the store offered (only 3 colors).

Stained! Rocks and sand in place.

Down to the final stages. Plants and stick added.

The tank now has water and is cycling to grow the bacteria the tank needs. Hopefully soon we will have fish!

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Grace had her first small road trip with us :) Hubby likes to go off road biking and compete in races, here and around Houston. The first race of the season was 2 hours away, at a cattle ranch that we have been to a few times with Riley. Grace was pretty overwhelmed at first. We had to go into the heart of the event to register, and the crowd, bikes, weird noises were just about too much for her. But, we had 2 hours until hubby's event, so we went back to the truck and ate lunch and chilled. I think that really helped Grace relax.

Riley was wonderful and I think he was kinda a big brother for Grace. Showing her there nothing to worry about.

 Second time was much better! She was much more relaxed and was able to realize there was POOP! COW POOP! DOG POOP! and who-knows-what POOP! Needless to say she had a blast smelling ALL the different smells and was able to enjoy the trip and help me cheer hubby on :)
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Agility practices have been going great, Riley and I are learning so much! The other people at practice have said that we have progressed a lot since the start and they just love how fun and happy Riley is. His tail is constantly wagging and just wants to have fun. We might not be the fastest, but we are sure having fun out there :)
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In other news, a few weeks ago husband and I went on a ski trip with some friends. One of the most amazing  things we did (besides the skiing) was dog sledding! It was so much fun! We got to meet the dogs, help hook them up, drive the sled, and feed them afterwards. It seemed like chaos at first, all the dog barking, jumping, lunging, but the second we were off... complete silence. It was one of the most peaceful moments of my life. Seeing the dogs be so happy to do what they love, run and pull, was just amazing.

One of the greatest things about this facility was, they are a rescue. They take in unwanted/rejected sled dogs and give them a job there. They don't do any breeding and once a dog decides it doesn't want to pull any more, they try to adopted them out to good homes.

The team lead dogs

Second


Third

Fourth

Here is a short 40 second clip of my 10 minute "shift". I was the first to "drive" the dogs and I was so nervous! Hints why I say "I'm gonna die!" at the beginning of the clip LOL :) But it was AMAZING!



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So over the past few weeks we've been busy, but things are settling down and getting back to normal again :) Just in time for spring!

We are embracing this lovely spring weather with smiles and wagging tails!

 HAPPY SPRING!

Mr. Riley and Miss. Grace!