"What a good pup, he's so well behaved... "

That's what we heard on Saturday afternoon... Cooper was a bit out of his element as we took him on his first outing to a Hunt Test Practice in Monroe. There were only about 10 other dogs there, we didnt introduce him to other dogs since they are all there to train, not to socialize. We took Cooper mostly for the exposure of being out and about and the people. He sat and watched patiently at times, other times he was just sniffing around, but he was not his normal obnoxious self! After his initial shyness of greeting new people, he would get excited when they pet him.. He is turning into a really good dog and although he loves to cause business and is still quite the monster at times, he's pretty good too and it showed. He WAS the cutest dog there of course!

A new friend of ours, Anne, who is part of the Cascade Hunt Retrieval Club, pulled us aside and got a dead duck for us to work Cooper a bit. He was all over the bird when it was thrown, he went right to it, but was unsure what to do at that point. He mouthed it, plucked feathers, attempted to drag or pick it up a few times.. He did eventually grab it a few times and attempt to drag it to Derek. After about 15 minutes he was distracted by the train so we quit, you are always supposed to stop with the dog wanting more, never practice til they are bored.

I originally had planned to take Cooper by myself as Derek had to work, but he was able to finish early and get home in time to go with. His new job is going great, the only drawback is the long drive. He really likes his job and that his co-workers all seem happy and like their job too. Unlike most other places where the guys all hate being at work and their employer. He's been getting overtime every week, hopefully it will help to get some projects finished this year around the farm! :)

Derek & I went out for a ride on Sunday at Mann Rd. We initially where riding with 4 others but Edgar was pretty amped up after having gone 4 months unsaddled, so we broke off from the group and had a nice quiet 2 hour ride. Felt good to be back out with Derek too.. My own ManTracker!

My cousin Marc brought over his pup Elvis on Saturday late afternoon. While he took some wood out of the pasture, his kids Jasmine and Caplin played in the yard with all 4 dogs. Marc actually got to our house a few minutes before we got home, so when we got home, Ellie was hiding under the deck and would not come out until I had the kids take Elvis on top of the deck where she couldnt see him! lol I leashed her at that point and we worked on acquanting the dogs to each other and 15 minutes later they were all running and tumbling together.

A friend of ours that is moving out of state, owns a lot up at Cowboy Campsites. CC is a big chunk of property where you purchase a section to be used as your private camping lot. The property borders the Harry O trailhead up out of Sedro Woolley, so there is tons of riding. Many have built small sheds and corrals on their lot, trailer parking pads, permanent fire pits, etc. They are not very big, but you are ensured a place to camp any time you want to get away to that area, as it is a very popular trailhead in the summers. There are some serious money issues going on with CC, so it may not be available for much longer. Our friend is care-leasing her site to us for the summer, we'll see how it goes. It may not be a site we utilize as much as we'd like due to mainly just being busy, but we will take responsibility of it for the year and hope to enjoy it many times.

And to end the weekend on an even greater note, the guy that hit us 2 weeks ago, came through with his promise to pay up and forked over the cash we asked him for to fix the truck. What a relief!