Cascade Training Day

May 19th was another training day for the retrieval club we belong to.. I had received a phone message asking if I would be willing to help with lunch and I was, so when Anne called back the next day and asked if I would help, I said sure.. not realizing the next words from her would be something like this "Oh great!! Well you can fix whatever you'd like, just let me know if I need to pick up anything at Costco for you..." Well wasnt I suprised that I was not helping with lunch, I was planning it! LOL What a great way to trick someone into doing something they were not sure they wanted to do. BUT it worked out great and I planned sandwhiches for lunch.. I had all the bread, meat, condiments laid out so everyone could make their own, plus I made potato salad and had some watermelon.. It seemed to be a pretty big hit, so I was relieved as it was nothing like the typical hamburgers and hotdogs they normally have.

Since we were able to stay all day, we were able to run Cooper in the water and land retrieves, first starting with water in the morning.

Waiting his turn for water...

It was going to be his 1st attempt at retrieving a bird in water so we were anxious to see how he would do. I was skeptical at the distance he had to go, as he was going to have to cross weeds/grass in his swim and I wasnt sure if he would get side-tracked since he LOVES water so much!

Here's the video link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn5WJlwM-Fw&feature=youtu.be

I would say he did GREAT AWESOME SPECTACULAR AMAZING.. we are so proud of our Coopey.. Once again another aspect of his traning has finally started to click and although it took about 9 months to get to this point (post pro-training), atleast we got here!

Look how happy that dog is! :)

He did pretty good on his land retrieves as well in the afternoon.. Here he is waiting his turn behind the blind.He loves his job and we are excited to get him to his first real test to see if we can get him some points and work towards a "Started" Title!

Willie Update

Have to post a couple pics of Willie. He spent about 5 days with Shannon down in Mossyrock WA at a ranch.. He was exposed to cows and did some sorting, apparently he was a little cowy so that is exciting. He also got out on some real tough trails, steep banks, lots of water and he did awesome! :) Shannon is super happy with his trail time, he's a trooper.

He's been getting barn/arena sour is the main issue left in him. Doesnt want to work in the arena, picks areas of the arena he throws fits in, doesnt want to leave the barn area while under saddle, so his training was just amped up a little to accomodate for the latest attitude issues! ;) He has gone up a few times, meaning he is thinking he can rear to get out of doing what he doesnt want to do.. wrong answer! Has he not learned anything the past 7 weeks from Shannon.. lol

Shannon is doing amazing work with him. Funny (well not really) but the damn horse wouldnt even tie when I brought him home.. He pulled so much she had to double halter him and had him in a draft type halter even, just to keep him from breaking it! Now he stands fairly quietly, although he is still getting daily tie up lessons. When I bought him, I never thought he would not be a horse you couldnt tie.. those sellers never mentioned a word about him pulling back, but then again, maybe his life was so cushy down there in OR, he never had reason to pull back!

I'm excited to get him home soon...

His vision is fading fast....

Pour Russell.. I am so sad for him. He has had bouts of eye issues for the past year or two, phases where he doesnt seem to see very well and then his vision comes back again. He's back in a phase of not seeing and actually bumping into things =(

This morning he ran into the gate in the barn, he didnt see that it was shut and then when he was climbing the stairs on the back porch, he didnt see the obstacle that was on the step and ran right into it.. I guess we are going to have to be sure to keep things in order around the place and not have random items left in random spots in the house and yard.

Yesterday he was running around the yard chasing Ellie & Cooper and today he is running into things. I hope his vision comes back again, but I know some day it will become permanent and our little buddy is going to go blind...

Funny Signs

Felt great to be out/about and have an active weekend! Unfortunately did NOT get in ANY riding... The weather was perfect, but my horse was a couple hours south for the past few days with Shannon so he was not around.

The neighbor girls did come over and ride Oakley on Friday. I really need a covered arena!! I would have been able to let the girls ride much longer, but since I need to be there to supervise, I couldnt take the bugs any longer and after about 20 minutes, I had to tell them time was up. It is disgusting!! The little damn no-see-ums were all up in my face and nostrils and behind my sunglasses.. Maybe I will start going out there with an umbrella, those little bugs dont seem to bug ya when you are under shelter... Might have to try that.

Oakley's been a little bit persnickity, his energy level is up and I am not trusting him 100%. The girls are doing fine with him and I'm not worried about him bucking or anything, but he walks pretty fast and doesnt always listen to their light subtle cues.. I want to be able to guide them and teach them how to ride him better, but these damn bugs.... GRRR, frustrating.

Saturday I spent half the day working on the garage and organizing my tack and horse gear.. This is only about 1/2 of the job. Still have more to do, I think I underestimated how much space I was going to need.... Might have to get even more creative on organization as I have to figure out how to fit the rest of my stuff in this small area! Finished picture to come, if I ever get it finished.

I'm also growing tomatoes for the first time ever! My boss gave me 6 plants (Cooper destroyed 1) so I am down to 5, planted them in the topsy-turvy upside planters and HOPE to have lots of yummy tomatoes down the road. My deck looks nice with the hanging baskets, makes me think I should put in more effort with plants and flowers and such! Only time will tell if that will ever happen.

Yesterday I saw a couple hand made signs that made me laugh. As I sat in the truck waiting waiting for Derek at the Storm Lk Grocery, I was glancing at the bulletin board up on the deck and noticed a sign looked funny, so I got out of the truck and sure enough the sign heading (which was hand-written) read "Lawn Work and Lawn Mainenance" So apperantly this guy will come do mainenence on your lawn, whatever the hell that is!

Then later that day as we drove home from a Mother's Day BBQ at Eric/Andreas place, we were on the back roads and as we passed another hand-written sign stapled to a pole, I asked Derek "Did you just read what I think I just read?" We both laughed because the sign heading read "Hand Man".. so I guess if you want to hire a hand man, you can.. not really sure what a hand man does but if you need the # I'll tell ya where to find it!

I just found those to be quite funny.. There are so many people unemployed right now, that the last thing I would do is hire someone that cant take 2 seconds to ensure his signs are spelled properly!!!

This past Wed was our last night of bowling, Derek ended the season on a very high streak and I ended mine badly.. barely able to break 100! Oh well, glad its over for now. Well my brother had called to discuss Mother's Day plans and ended the conversation by telling me that he/Andrea were fostering a Jack Russell. Minutes later I get a picture text from Andrea of a cute little wire haired 14mo female JR! I told her she was evil with the temptations but that we were not wanting to add a 4th dog to our herd! When I mentioned it to Derek, he was very quick and stern with a "NO!"

All I can say is that its a darn good thing that Andrea loves that little Jack Russell girl, cuz the minute Derek saw her, he wanted her! Her name is Cabella (they call her Bella), she is super sweet and cute and LOVES to be held and cuddled.. Derek has a soft spot for those JR girls.. Andrea is 100% sure she is keeping the dog and according to Eric, he is only 25% sure he is keeping her. So we almost could have come home with a 4th dog last night. We, by no means, need another dog, but we just couldnt help but fall for that sweet little girl! Makes me almost want to see if Andrea can hook us up with one of her sister siblings... ;)

Spokane Vaca...

Not sure 3 days is a vacation, but I'll take it.. We headed over to Spokane Friday morning to visit with family and friends, spent the weekend at Rick & Kristens place. Got to see Rob & Alicia as well as Derek's brother Dee and his wife and daughter who happened to be in town at the same time. We attempted to go bowling Friday evening but the bowling alley was pretty dumpy.. the house balls were dented, dinged and scratched SOO badly, they actually made wobbling, warped noises as they rolled down the alley. We started out using our own balls but soon realized they were all coming back with scratches so ended the first game with house balls then left.. it was not a good place!

Saturday we ran some errands, the guys did a little target practice at an indoor range, we met up later with the whole gang to do some bowling at a much better bowling alley, but i'm not sure what was up with me, cuz I bowled the worst I've ever bowled in my life! I couldnt even break 70!! it was really sad and pathetic, I had to go back to my old light ball because the other one was just feeling too heavy. Saturday night we met up with Toni at the races in Airway Heights.. Really enjoyed that track and had a good time there.. It was COLD and Windy, but the races were pretty good and only $4 to get in!!

Visited more with Toni then my x-coworker Greg Sunday morning and then headed back home. A short visit, but much needed time away. One thing we have realized about Cooper (and possibly Ellie as well) is that they LOVE paper!! A couple weeks ago we came home from work to find shreds of cardboard.. there was one small piece that said "Fed" on it, so we knew it had been a fedex priority envelope that was sent to us. As I was not expecting anything, I had to call Fedex to find out who sent me a package, come to find out it was our home loan bank, and upon calling them they had no idea what was sent to me! Whatever it was, it was delicious as there was hardly a trace of it ever existing at our house!! :) And apparently while we were gone, the dogs must have eaten the instructions I had left on the counter because mom said they were there Friday evening, but GONE Saturday morning..