Cooper was born!!

Of the above litter, 7 of those are boys & 2 girls.. We are not sure yet which one will end up being Cooper, but we've got plenty to choose from. Remi started having her first pup on Monday evening 9/27 and in about 4-5 weeks, we'll be able to have our pick. Whichever pup is the birdiest or shows the most promise towards the hunting instinct is the one for us.

This past weekend we wanted to drive down to Rainier OR to meet the trainer that Derek wants to send Cooper to for 3 months next Spring. The horse club was staying down in Grayland WA for our annual beach ride so we decided to leave Saturday morning, stop down with the club and spend the night with them and then head down to OR Sunday morning. The plan worked well.. we had a great potluck dinner Saturday evening around the fire and somehow managed to avoid any real serious rain.. until Saturday night when it just downpoured for hours... I was so thankful for having a camper, although I did briefly wonder how Tyler was doing out in his small tent.. turns out he didnt get wet at all.

When we first got to the beach, we could hear the surf, the wind was blowing pretty good. So we asked Scott & Barbara how far to the beach. Barbara says "Oh just over the little hill/burn over there" Scott shook his head and said "its a little further than that!" He informed us that we'd have to take the longer route because the direct route was blocked by a very large 2' deep puddle. So we walk down towards the little hill.. crest it.. well Shit! The beach is atleast a 1/2 mile away and thats via the direct route. So we start following the very soft sandy trail which is running parallel to where we really need to be.. after 10 minutes my lower back was on fire! That sand was not fun to walk in. Another 10 minutes later I stopped and told the guys "f it" I had no idea how much further we would be walking parallel and I could hardly stand the pain, it wasnt worth it. So as I stood there and the guys continue on, I could hear Derek up ahead whistle that he wanted me to continue on as the trail finally turned towards the beach. So I trekked on and after maybe an almost mile's worth of walking, we reached the beach! I found a log, sat for 10 minutes and immediately felt relief. I was glad I walked out there, although I did wish I was riding and not walking. After 10 minutes of sitting my back amazingly was 100% fine and I made it 3/4 of the way back before it started to even slightly pinch. It's hard to imagine it being on fire all the way out there and then no pain practically on the way back..

Derek and I laughed and decided that Barbara's idea of the ocean being just over the little burn is equivelant to Scott's idea of what a hill is!!! :) lol Next year we definately want to bring the horses down.

So the dog trainer, Butch, has a really nice place! His kennels are very professional looking and clean.. he was hosting a Hunt Test trial day on his property that day, which was great because we were able to see a few Boykins work and met with a few people, but it was not good because he didnt have time to focus on us as the point of going down was to get some questions answered. When we asked him what day he wanted us to come down, he picked the day. He did spend about 10 minutes off/on with us, so we basically got what we needed, although we probably got more than half of what we wanted to know answered by his wife when we were getting ready to leave! :) We met up with the co-founders of the Cascade club, which is the newest HRC (Hunt Retrieval Club) starting in Western WA. I had spoken with Anne on the phone a couple times, but had not had a chance to meet her yet, funny we found eachother down in OR! Neither of us knew the other would be there. It was a long day but well worth it for the information we received. One thing we learned that we were not at all aware before, is that our dog will be trained with a collar.. I have mixed feelings about it I guess. He is a GREAT trainer, he is the one that trained Earl (the daddy dog) I just didnt realize this is how many hunting dog trainers do it. So we are going to have to buy the collar.. good thing there is some side work coming in to cover these costs :)

Ellie and I start basic obedience in 2 weeks! As far as commands, I dont think she or I needs the class much, although I'm sure I will get some good ideas and help through the class. But she could use the socialization and forcing her to focus on me when things are "busy" around her. She is getting pretty good now at stopping what she is doing if we call her, she comes when we ask 90% of the time. I took one pic recently.. I have been so out of it on taking pics.. I need to try harder to document the things going on around us.

This pic was taken about a week ago, she is really starting to look the part of the Aussie. Not that she didnt before, but her face is really developing and moving away from the puppy form. She and Russell are hilarious together!! They play and chase all the time, I tried to get video but it was too dark to see. She makes us laugh daily and we are sure that Russell loves having the company and someone to play with. I'm wondering in 7 weeks how much he'll still love us when we bring him another puppy..

Since we put in the gate in our entry way and the dogs now go in/out through the doggy door when we are at work, Ellie has finally figured out that the front door is where she is to go when she needs to poddy! I am so excited, last night was the first time we have had the slider closed (which is almost always open so she has quick access to the outside for poddy business) and she walked to the front door, out the doggy door all on her own and came back in a few minutes later!! She's been accident free for probably a month and now that she's starting to figure out where she must always go for poddy, we can start keeping the doors closed and keeping the flesh eating mosquitos out. We've been waiting for this day for 2 months.. it definately pays to own smart dogs, I dont think I could handle a Marley type dog. :) and in 2 months, we start this process all over again.

So Derek sent me a text this morning, wants to know what I think about naming our Boykin "Leap of F8 Cooper" I love it! If I havent mentioned already, the plan for the future (I'm talking a couple years down the road) is to get a female Boykin with great hunting lines and breed a few litters. So he says he wants to name our female "Leap of F8 Autumn" because our kennel name will be "Leap of F8"! Oh so now we are kennel.. hmm news to me.. LOL But I do like the Leap of F8 name, so I guess it works for this imaginary kennel that someday could become reality.. according to Derek the number of dogs we now own qualifies us as a kennel! :)

The horses are still being ignored for the most part and are still on pasture for now. Edgar is still off on his shoulder, we are hoping he recovers so we can take him to the Winery Ride which we have now paid for already... I am hoping to get someone out today or tomorrow to take out the rest of that Walnut tree, we are putting in the top rails on our fencing tomorrow, things are slowly progressing. My goal is to have the horses home within the next 10 days, good luck with that! I realized this morning that I never made the time to finish painting the house this summer.. hmmm! Good thing its only color, cuz it probably wont get done this year now.. maybe there is still hope, but it is a small sliver.

I have been busy utilizing my awesome craft/sewing room! :) Every morning before work I have about 45 minutes before I have to leave and I used to watch TV during that time. Now more often than not, I am in the room working on a project. I started a new one, cant wait to finish it and be able to post pics. I cant quite say what it is since both projects are gifts but when I can, I will! I've been doing okay at keeping up on the kitchen and not letting it get out of control, and the laundry too.. trying to be a better "Betty Crocker" type person, sometimes I fail miserably!

Oh and on a final note, I am really pissed at myself.. I washed Dereks apron as it was a bit dirty/greasy after our prize ride weekend and then.... I dried it!!!! :( DAMMIT. The canvis type material shrunk and the top layer did not, so now there is all this loose material flapping around, its like it had a massive weight loss and there is just all this loose skin that just doenst look right hangin around! I put it back in the wash this morning, will see if the water will help stretch it back out... :(