First snow

Woke up this morning to this outside my door:





SO pretty! Of course, this meant a photo opp for Cedar, as usual :-P













As I was uploading these photos, I looked outside my window to find Moss's nemesis (aka Larry [or Loretta] the Squirrel), playing around in the branches of one of the big trees in our back yard:





He sure is a fat little bugger...




<3

I Have My Beatcake Back :)

So I finally got Cedar back from Dianne... thank god! I missed her desperately this week. Yes... I KNOW I'm way too attached to her; what ya gonna do about it? :D Dianne said that she worked really well this week, and that she was starting to get a lot more comfortable in small spaces, which was the goal of sending her away for a week. I worked her out in the open field today, and could totally see a difference in her. She was a lot softer, more confident, and less likely to panic and cut in. She did some good sized outruns with me really far from the sheep, and took my "get out!" corrections sensibly. I just have such a problem with trusting her.... I really need to get over that. I don't seem to have that problem when I work Moss.

Moss was most excellent today, as usual. His driving is really coming along; I can walk parallel to him about 40+ feet away, and he keeps his head and does a good job at keeping the sheep on line without me having to say a whole lot. Where we had trouble today was with the outruns; I think he's getting so used to driving that he's forgotten temporarily how to bring the sheep back to me :-P. But we worked on that some today, and he figured it out towards the end. I love when Dianne just lets me loose to work my dogs and figure stuff out on my own. I know my timing sucks, but I like being able to just go out and work.

I really wish I had my own place wish some sheep so that I could do a little of this stuff every day with both my dogs. I think Cedar in particular would benefit from doing a lot of practical work. She's really coming around, though... and I think I will for sure be able to trial her next year. I am so glad to have her back... I can't believe how empty the house was without her here! She's laying at my feet as I type this...

Moss ≥ Awesome

You know those Chuck Norris "fact" jokes that were popular a few years ago? For example:

"There is no chin behind Chuck Norris’ beard. There is only another fist."

or

"If you have five dollars and Chuck Norris has five dollars, Chuck Norris has more money than you."

Pretty ridiculously awesome, right? Well, I got to thinking...if you changed "Chuck Norris" to "Moss"... some of these might in fact be true :D

Moss doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

Moss counted to infinity - twice.

There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of creatures Moss has allowed to live.

Moss doesn't sleep. He waits.

Moss destroyed the periodic table, because he only recognizes the element of surprise.

Moss does not get frostbite. Moss bites frost.

....jk.

All kidding aside (okay, well, most), I'm totally in awe of Moss right now. Real original thought, right? Haha. He is just so amazing though!!! He's ten months old, has been on sheep maybe twenty times, and is already doing a lot of the same stuff that Cedar is. I mean, I know nothing about this sport, but I think that's pretty cool :-P. He's a prodigy for sure.

I got to work with him yesterday out at Dianne's, and had an awesome time! For such a doofus, he listens quite well ;) and all this stuff comes so easy for him. It's really nice, especially for someone as stressed out and foggy-brained as I am right now, to just be able to go out and have fun (and also be productive!) without all the negative. I feel like I deserve it every once in awhile :-P

Cedar's at Dianne's for the week, and I miss her like crazy. Dianne said that she was "wide-eyed" but fine last night... I think this all might be sort of traumatic for her, LOL. I hope she's doing all right. My bed is lonely without her curled up against me at night :(

Agility... maybe?

So, long story short... I've been strongly considering getting Cedar back into agility, but I'm sort of conflicted about it.

We took agility classes from when she was about 4 months (pre-agility)- 13 months old with Mary Hunter. Cedar absolutely LOVES it... in every picture of her, she has the biggest grin on her face.

Feeling nostalgic, I bought some equipment about a month or so ago, and have been doing a lot of drills from Clean Run and whatnot just for fun... it's been interesting picking up where we left off last year. Cedar has matured a lot mentally during her "hiatus"; I think that she is finally stabilizing enough that we could be able to actually do stuff competitively. I would love to be able to trial her in agility next year, I think we could have a lot of fun.

Also, I think that agility is something that she could totally succeed at, unlike herding which is pretty much a constant struggle (not that it isn't fun, of course; it's my passion!). My only worry is that I/we will be doing too much... with school, obedience, and herding, there's not that much time left over for agility. BUT... the classes (7 weeks) are during December and January; most of which I have off for Christmas break.

Thoughts? Should I sign us up for the class?

A few photos from practice today, in my front yard no less :-)...

Dang, it's November Already?

I can't believe I've been a grad student/teacher for almost 3 months. It's weird how time can both simultaneously seem to stand still and speed by in a blur. I've never been so stressed out, exhausted, and drained in my life. Of course, there are some good things happening; I really like the classes I'm taking, and I'm making some great friends. Teaching has been an "experience" to say the least... I have had to deal with a lot of crap from a certain student throughout the semester (she's known as my "stalker"... if that gives you any idea), and I just had to send an email to a (different) student to let him know that he's failing my class. It seems like there's always something going on... oh well, at least my life is never boring, right? :)

This grad school thing is pretty much all-consuming, which has turned me into kind of a selfish hermit. I don't have much free time, so when I do, I mostly want to hang out at my house and do nothing. Pretty much my only "hobby" right now is the dogs!

Moss went to Dianne's for training last Wednesday, and she's been working him every day I think. She says that he's doing great; still very much a "puppy," but that he is doing a lot of really awesome things. I'm so pleased! I managed to get a little video of him this morning... Dianne is handling:



I know it's not much, but it's something! Doesn't my boy look good? I actually have him back for a little bit over the weekend and through next week, as sheep camp is going on this weekend. I can't say I'm sad to have my Mossimo back! :)

I worked Cedar today as well. It was sort of a "mixed" work today, I guess. Some good, and some bad. I'm pretty sure that most of our problems were my fault. I am horribly out of practice, and it shows. She was pretty pressure-sensitive throughout our entire work, and she seemed to have kind of regressed a bit in that area. She was pretty slicy, fast, and tight at the beginning, but I think a lot of that was a combination of her nerves and my oafish handling. By the end, though, she settled down a lot and did some nice, controlled driving and outruns. I think she forgot how to lie down, though. Argh.

Dianne is going to take Cedar for a week on Monday and work on getting her comfortable with pressure. I guess she's going to do a lot of sorting sheep and whatnot. I'm excited to see how that goes...

Counting down the days...

...until Moss goes to Dianne's for training :)

Yeah, I'll miss him, BUT I know it will be a really good thing. He deserves the chance to get sheep time consistently, and with my crazy schedule, I owe him this much. We went out to Dianne's today for a lesson, and both he and Cedar did AWESOME! It was great to be able to work in the big field again after so long.

It was interesting working Cedar after taking over 3 wks off. She was pretty fresh, but good, for the most part. It was nice to see how much her outruns have improved; she was WAY wide and listened to me pretty well. She let me stop her when she started to cut in, and kicked out when I asked her to--from a LONG ways away. I was pretty proud of her, even though she was naughty a couple of times.

Moss did really well. Dianne worked him for me, and I was able to get some really good photos. He's a really fun dog to watch because he is so natural; Dianne doesn't have to correct him that much, and he truly learns from his mistakes. He has already become much more relaxed off the sheep; I can have him sitting by me without him completely tuning me out and fixating on the sheep. Dianne was even able to call him off when the sheep took off running towards the pens. What a good boy! As you will see from the pictures, he looked quite lovely. Dianne even had him driving... quite well in fact! I am totally in awe of this puppy, and can't wait to see how he grows up. I can't believe he'll be a year old in two months!

Some pictures from Moss's work:

Waiting his turn to work :)


(My favorite... <3)




















DRIVING!!!!!!

Dear Moss,

1:45 AM is not morning, play time, or breakfast time.

Neither is 5:45 AM, for that matter.

Therefore, there was no need to bark and wake me up to remind me last night. Twice. I know that you would argue that your annoyingly incessant barking was not only justified, but necessary, but I beg to differ.

Now, I am more than happy to let you out to go to the bathroom if you need it. I understand that sometimes these things come up at inopportune times. But PLEASE, at least pretend like you have to go! Running straight for your tug toy and tossing it at my feet does not exactly give me the warm fuzzies at (not even) two in the morning. At least have the decency to run to the back door and wait for me to let you out. It makes me feel like getting out of bed actually served some sort of purpose.

I don't care if you miss me or if you desperately need some Scooby Snacks.... I just want to sleep!

Bah, I hate being sick.