Dax is feeling better...

Yesterday afternoon I was doing my hip and core exercises downstairs, as I always do, and Dax was helping me for the entire 20 minutes! Usually she curls up in a convenient bed and snoozes for the duration. So I thought, that's weird - maybe she didn't finish outside... But then later outside Dax initiated play with Ceilidh and Roc! Ceilidh kind of stood there with the whites of her eyes showing, like, "What do I do now?" while Dax was play-bowing and bouncing at her. Roc joined in and chased Dax around the yard! Too cute! I was afraid that all this unexpected activity would wear her out before Agility class, but Hope said that Dax was great! She must be feeling better!

Best agility weekend yet!

Absolutely thrilled to report that Dax and I had two (out of four) successful runs at an agility trial last weekend! We qualified in Standard on Saturday (2nd of three required for a title) and in Jumpers with Weaves on Sunday (1st time!).
I'm not going to try to explain the esoteric ins and outs of agility competition - suffice it to say Dax did great and I'm absolutely delighted that we're finally able to work as a team and have some fun and success out there!
We did have a couple moments of sniffing (our friend Julie was impressed that Dax can be running full-tilt and stop on a dime to check out a fuzzy), but Dax stayed with me (no visiting!) and completed every course.
The biggest surprise for me was that French Bulldogs can fly! That's actually not a good thing. For those who're familiar with agility - she missed her A-Frame contact, doing her imitation of Supergirl. We've got to work on those running contacts.
There have been times that I considered giving up competition - dollars and time spent with no sign of success can be discouraging. I'm glad I decided to stick with it - I really enjoy competing with my dog and I'm getting a bit better at it. We may not set the world on fire, but this weekend, we were smokin'!

Dax Loves Harry Potter Too!

I was getting ready for work this morning and Dax decided that my book looked especially enticing. Golly is also taking a nap on my bed. (If you're wondering why I'm so far behind in the series, I didn't want to read Deathly Hallows until I'd seen the movie Half-Blood Prince. Enjoyed the movie. Looking forward to the next.)

Roc's girlfriends

Roc loves television. Really, really loves watching television. He lies on the couch and stares at the screen. Sometimes he yaps his fool head off (at dogs and cats) but mostly he just stares at the screen. So we have a running joke that he's staring at his girlfriends. And we've noticed lately that many of Roc's girlfriends are strikingly similar:

I swear, they're all different women, different shows. But it makes a bit of a statement, doesn't it?

Big-time DUH!

Big news last week! Two separate studies have shown that dogs understand gestures! I wonder how much money was spent on this study? Most Obedience Trials have free admission......

Coming Together

Things are really coming together at the shop. We've managed to put away all our inventory on our new racks. We've put up shelves above our packing table. And yesterday the electricians installed lots of new outlets both in the office and the warehouse, and a couple of ceiling fans in the warehouse! We've ordered the under-mats for our practice ring (because they're on sale), and we're going to call the handyman to do other jobs for us! Exciting times here at Golly Gear!

Dogs on Sunday

Ceilidh

Roc

Golly

Dax and Golly

Naughty Dax

I'm a bad, bad auntie

Fridays are my day off. I have the whole house and all four dogs to myself - my two (Roc and Dax) and Fran's two (Golly and Ceilidh).
I think we've mentioned about 80 zillion times that Ceilidh is a "special" dog. She doesn't like to be petted, she's constantly on the move, she's not good at eating, is hyperactive, etc. etc. etc.
So yesterday, I took the dogs out into the backyard, let them do their thing, sniff some, lie in the sun for a while. Then it was time to go in - I had things to do!
So I call them. Golly goes back to the house. Roc is right on her heels. Dax reluctantly gives up her patch of sun and goes inside. Ceilidh's running around the yard with a stick in her mouth. Ceilidh, who is obedience-trained, ignores "Come" ignores "Go Home" and dashes around the yard some more. I'm getting impatient, so I say "Dammit Ceilidh." At which, she immediately goes home.
So it occurs to me that Ceilidh thinks "Dammit Ceilidh" means go home. Poor Ceilidh.

Quiet Friday at the Shop

Fridays are usually pretty quiet around here. It's a good time to get a lot of what I call "thinking" work done. That's the design work for the Golly Gear website. I keep telling myself it's good for my accountant's brain to turn things around and do something creative. Use the right side of my brain instead of the left - or vice versa! It's not easy and not what I was trained for, but I have to admit, it's lots of fun! Writing product descriptions isn't something I saw myself doing in college. Turning pictures of our dogs - and our customers' dogs - using the products we sell into web pages is very rewarding.

Life with Ceilidh isn't getting any easier

Ceilidh is a dear, sweet Boston Terrier girl. She's also, as has been mentioned more than once, not an easy dog to live with. Her vet says she's not wired right - she described Ceilidh to a friend of ours as living life "double time."

Her two speeds are full and off. There's no in-between with Ceilidh - she's either running a mile-a-minute or crashed. She never just "hangs out."

And it's not getting any better. Ceilidh turned 8 years old in April. And she was diagnosed with a fairly serious heart condition in the last year. And now, as her most recent development, she's terrified of thunderstorms. And fireworks.

Needless to say, this weekend wasn't much fun for her. The official fireworks celebrations were bad enough - we can hear three of them from our house. What was even worse was the neighborhood idiots shooting off illegal firecrackers until the wee hours of the morning. Every time we thought it was over, another one would BANG right outside.

Ceilidh was beside herself. She couldn't settle, couldn't find a good place to hide, refused to be comforted and was generally miserable.

We felt so bad for her - and there was nothing we could do. We tried some herbal/holistic thing, but it did nothing. Because of her heart medication, our pharmaceutical options are limited. I do know that next year, if we're lucky enough to still have our Ceilidh, we'll ask our vet to figure something out. I'd rather she spent the holiday knocked-out sleeping than quaking in fear. Poor baby.

Happy Independence Day!

How great is this! A long weekend to celebrate our nation's birth! The Cubs are in town. Not much rain in the forecast. Steaks ready to grill. We'll set up a couple of jumps and the weave poles in the back yard and do a little agility with Dax and Ceilidh. Golly and Roc will get in the way - that's what they do! Catch up with friends. Sounds good!