Training Troop Trial and Week 2 picture

my week 2 picture theme was Innocence.... I kinda cheated because this was taken Sunday instead of Saturday but I am ok with that :)

To me there is nothing more innocent then a kid playing with her dog. I love to watch Lexi run, she has fun and just loves the game. She could care less about world team, missing that contact, or if she should front or rear cross... she just wants to run. This weekend she received the judges choice award from Sarah for advance handler. Her comments were that everyone should take a little piece of Lexi home this weekend and end each run with their hands up in the air cheering like she does. I love my kid, she pretty much always makes me proud, but she also makes me want to be the handler she is.

the weekend...

Lexi, Lisa and I headed up to Calgary for the January Training Troop Trial. I love trialling in Calgary, I love seeing everyone and I enjoy indoor agility (no birds for my naughty springer to chase)


Lexi and Blossom had their first full trial weekend. They started their weekend with a starters gamble q, leaving Lexi needing just one more to get her games title. Then they ran the rest of the weekend running with Lexi under regular handler rules instead of JR rules. They got a Q!!!!! We figured out Blossom's issue that as long as I am not in the area they are awesome together! So they earned an advance Standard Q. Their other advance standard course had 5 faults as Blossom back jumped the second last obstacle, I was so impressed, Blossom runs great with Lexi and weaves beautifully for her, they are going to make a great team!!!

Ava and Lexi also ran this weekend in the JR handler category. They had some great runs with just a blip here and there. But they got their last needed Advance Standard Q to get Lexi her Advance Junior Handler title!!!! My plan was to retire Ava, but she was doing her runs almost 20seconds under time and still having fun running and Lexi is very excited to try out Masters, so I guess Ava will play a little longer :) I don't think she is quite ready to retire yet anyways!

Then there is my Storm... She is just turning into a great partner :) We made our weekend with a jumpers Q to get her Starter Game Title (I thought we would be in starter jumpers FOREVER) and this was her first trial in Advance Standard and she got 2 Q's!!!! one more and we are off to masters, that is a little scary!!! And she also got a advance snooker q! I am having so much fun with her!.

but no more trialling for a bit, Lexi has dance season coming up and it is going to get busy around here. So I guess we get in more practice :)

Photo Challenge- week one

So I have decided to do a once a week photo challenge for the year, James bought me a new lens for Christmas and my birthday so this way I will play with them and hopefully be a pro at using them before Hawaii in July.

Week 1- week ending Jan 4- resolution/goals

Storm... 

she is my goal for this year. With just having one dog to work and run, I want to see her go as far as we can. She is such a great little dog. I love her to pieces. I have yet to have a dog get their ATCH, I want her to be the first, and if she keeps up her hard work and drive it won't be an issue!

Reflections of 2013

here it is 2014....


2013 was as always a year full of ups and downs.

Then end of March brought Miss Clover into our lives. There were moments when I had no idea what we got ourselves into with this border collie puppy, but she is the love of Lexi's life and has brought so much joy to our lives.

The spring was Lexi's first venture into competitive dance. Her first competition season was awesome with many medals and fabulous performances. I look forward to watching her solo this year!

Summer started out very hard losing James's grandma. Most days it still doesn't feel real for her to be gone, but I know she was ready to go and is in peace and no longer in pain.

August brought our amazing road trip to California. So many memories.

Fall was sad and happy, I sent my baby to kindergarten which was tough for me, I still find my days lonely without Bella home. Lexi turned 7 and Bella turned 5, I don't know where time has gone.

Then end of November we made the tough choice to put our two cats down. It was hard to say goodbye, it makes me realize Ava's aging which has been hard for me to face.

December of course was busy busy busy :)

2013 for Bella showed such growth in her. She has been with her hearing aides for almost a year. The change in her speech and understanding has been incredible. She loves school and is doing amazing with her printing and understanding letters and their sounds. I think she will be reading very soon.
She still enjoys dance and started piano lessons this year as well.

Lexi... oh my Lexi :) She finished grade 1 with amazing marks, and is overachieving in grade 2. James and I couldn't be more proud of her and she just loves school! She is doing well with cello and will be playing 2 pieces in festival in 2014. Dance is still her love and she has a solo for the 2014 competition season. And then there is agility.. I couldn't more proud. She is such a great handler and has such confidence and understanding of the sport. I enjoy all the compliments I get on my girl <3 And her and Clover are working hard!

For us this year has been great. James and I are just enjoying life. He loves his job, my business has had the busiest year yet and I love being home and able to do whatever the girls need of me. Agility has been great this year and I look forward to trialling more with Storm and seeing what that girl can do!




2014 will be 15 years of James and I being together and 10 years of marriage. I look forward to our Hawaiian vacation in July and exploring more of the world with our beautiful girls. Life is good and I am thankful for every moment.

Merry Christmas

the craziness of December grooming is over and I am enjoying time off with my 6 girls.

Merry Christmas to everyone! Have a Safe and Happy Holiday season!

2 X 4 trial

It has been a crazy work week and I finally have a few moments to sit down and write about last weekend.

Lexi and Ava

This was my first weekend not running Ava so she was a little worried heading out with Lexi every course without me. They did a lot of good things.
In Lexi's Advance Jumpers run they executed a flawless blind cross. I was a pretty proud Mom. The judge came off the course after Lexi ran to compliment her on a beautiful blind cross. I was excited to see her pick up things from the seminar a few weeks ago.
In Standard they had a few bobbles here and there, but they did get a Q in one of the runs. They are now one away from Lexi's Advance Jr Handler title. I think once they get that Ava will play a bit in snooker and jumpers but will be pretty much retired.

Blossom

Oh my little rat!!!! She no longer wants to play agility with me :o( She kept running off the course to find Lexi, so I let Lexi run her as a regular handler and she stayed on course and ran fantastic for Lexi. So Lexi has a new dog. I won't force Blossom to play with me and she is so happy and has fun with Lexi, and they will do well together.

Storm

OMG!!!! The switch has been flipped!!! What a dog! The seminar with Stephan changed our relationship so much. I wasn't nervous I wasn't frantic and she was a rockstar!

Jumpers- I wanted this one for her games title. But I messed her up, I front crossed where I should have blind crossed and sent her to wide for a jump. Oh well, it was a nice run, no barking, fast and flowed well.

Gamble- what a good girl! nailed her dog walk contact at a distance (I forgot to release her from it and took off to the other side of the arena and noticed I was missing a dog still waiting like a good girl on her contact) then she went out to the weaves at 15ft in the gamble, she missed her entrance, but she went out, I was so proud of her!

Standard- SHE GOT HER ADC!!! Three clean standard runs in a row!!! All beautiful, fast, quiet runs! Nailed her contacts, nailed her weaves, was just an awesome dog. I wanted to cry. It felt so good to run her for the first time. I am so proud of this little girl, she is just so much fun! Then we ran one more standard as starters because we couldn't move up yet. WHAT A GOOF!!! There was a snow pile in the back of the barn and she decided she could go play in it :0)  She gave everyone a good giggle.

Snooker- OI!!!! Let me tell you that dog made me work! I set her up a beautiful path with 2 aframes because it is her favorite, well nope she kept changing my course making me replan everything! Then on a straight away to go finish the little bugger took me out at the knees!!! I was face first in the dirt, everyone had a great laugh. But we finished the course and Q'd!!!

I am pretty excited to just have Storm to run and put my time into her. We have a great bond and she has a lot of potential to be a pretty amazing dog. It was nice to get so many compliments on her over the weekend, we have worked hard and it finally feels so good!

It was a great weekend. I love the 2 by 4 trial. It is a nice weekend away in December to break up my crazy work schedule.

1095 days....

1095 days ago I was at Shane's house watching 9 beautiful springer spaniel babies come into the world. If you would have told me that day one would be living at my house I would have told you were insane.

Happy Birthday to my beautiful Storm today :0) I have a special bond with each of my dogs, but Storm and I have something different, when I am happy she is happy, when I am sick she is quiet and calm, when I am frantic and acting like a nut, well so is she, may be it is because I have known her since she was less then an hour old.

I was raised with springers my whole life and always knew I wanted one, James on the other hand not so much. But with some convincing he let me choose my Storm and our love for each other has grown from there <3 That is how she got her name, James told me hell would freeze over before there was a springer in our house (he felt they were way to big) so the joke is there was a snow storm in hell because I got my girl.

She has been a love in our house, she is amazing with the kids and has been since she was very small, she has never chewed a toy, never wrecked anything, doesn't get into trouble, and is always ready to go with the flow of our crazy house.

She is my agility friend and challenge, I have never had a dog that has wanted to work so hard to please me before. I love her to bits and we are getting there. Storm is enthusiastic and full of drive, sometimes we just miss aiming it in the right place.

This sweet girl is full of so much heart. I look forward to our future.

Happy Birthday to our 9 amazing babies that have all grown into their own special unique selves. Autumn and Justice made us a lovely bunch of crazy!

baby Storm <3

it's coming....

Where did November go??? I can't believe December is almost here. I am so unprepared for Christmas this year, in past years by now I am done shopping, done baking and I am just sitting back and relaxing when my work days are done. Not the case this year!

It was report card week at school and parent teacher interviews. My girls are both doing great and I couldn't be more proud. Both of their teachers were very positive about how the girls are. I am so happy that Bella is adjusting so well.

Bella had her last hearing test in Calgary on Wednesday!!! YEAH!!!! The lady in Medicine Hat feels that she is able to handle Bella's needs without us going to Calgary, I couldn't be happier, one less Calgary trip for us!

Last weekend Stephan Henry was here for a agility seminar and it was amazing! I worked with Storm for the weekend and I think we have finally found our groove. I am looking forward to a trial Lexi and I are going to next weekend in Calgary and see if we can make it work on course :0) I have to remember to trust my dog!!! Lexi worked with Blossom for the weekend and they were so cute! They are going to make a cute little team.  They worked so well together, and Blossom was so confident! I am proud of Lexi that she could work and listen so well in a seminar setting, I hope to get her to more seminars to continue her learning.

All in all life has been good :0) now to prepare for a busy 3 weeks, lots of grooming, but a fun agility weekend breaks it up nicely!

my Storm <3 she is so much fun to run!!