The cat must be pumping iron...

I've talked before about Katie's cat, Isis, and her disdain for the poodles. She generally has nothing to do with them other than occasionally joining in for a portion of the eternal poodle zoomies that take place in our house.

This morning apparently having a bee in her bonnet due to roughhousing with Katie, Isis was nose to nose with Cash when she grabbed him by the neck with her front paws. (don't worry, she's declawed in front). She was play biting him on the head when she just FLIPPED him off the bed. She then peeked over the edge of the bed as if to say, "Oops."

Cash got back up on the bed and laid down eyeing Isis warily when she LEAPED on top of him and used him as a springboard off the bed.

On another note, Betty went to her first conformation class last night and was a very good girl. No screaming to play at the other dogs and even gave me pretty good attention. She was a little spooked on the table the first time, but did much better the second. We left shortly after that having spent about an hour there as I didn't want to stress her out. It was good experience as the class was crowded. She was between a Bulldog and a Bull Mastiff. The mastiff weighed 182 lbs. and was a total wuss. She did think about joining in with the barking of a Newfoundland puppy but decided not to. Good girl!

She's a TREE climber, I tell ya!

Betty has found a new *ahem* skill. She has decided she is either a cat or a squirrel and should be able to climb trees.



OK, not TREES, but a fairly tall and sturdy yew bush next to our garage. I suppose it's about ten feet tall judging by the picture and where the top of the garage door meets the siding.


It all started about 30 days ago. Apparently she heard the birds that sometimes rest in the yew and decided to investigate by standing on her hind feet and searching the yew. She went so far as to stand on her hind legs and pogo straight up to try to see into the bush. She was fixated on the birds and was very reluctant to come back inside.




It's Nebraska. It's COLD... I shaved her butt into a Continental. You would think the girl would figure it out. Anyway for the last 30 days or so we really haven't ventured far from the front door when the dogs need to go out, and I thought the birds in the yew were forgotten.



WRONG!



Yesterday the temperature soared into the 30's, the driveway was dry and the three of them needed a walk. Off we go and as we rounded the corner to go down the driveway Betty bolted for the yew. Bouncing around on her hind legs to see if there were birds in there.




This activity wasn't getting her where the action was, which was about 3/4 of the way up the yew.




I could actually see the cogs turning in her brain as she thought this through. She dropped to the ground and backed up a few feet, glanced at me, back at the yew and did the algebra in her head.




"So, if I go X fast and launch Y high, I should land where the birds are."




"Okay, I need to back up more and go REALLY fast!!!"




And Annie Clark said poodles would just be a fourth at bridge and tell naughty stories!




When she was about 20 feet down the driveway Betty slammed it into fourth gear and hit the afterburners. She literally vaulted into the yew about five feet up. To say the least, I was shocked and laughing hysterically. I watched as she poked her head in here and then there to find the birds. Suffice it to say they all flew out the other side when she sprang into the bush. She was clinging to the outside of the yew with her hind feet braced on a couple of those sturdy branches while grasping the upper branches with her front feet. After a few minutes of her looking and not finding any birds, I figured I had better help her out of the bush before I had to explain to Belinda how Betty broke her leg.




Life with Betty is never dull.....

First snow of the season

Betty saw snow for, I think, the first time in her life. We just got a dusting that stuck to the grass. Big, fat, fluffy flakes were coming down pretty good this morning. I took her outside to potty and she looked at where the grass had been earlier and then looked at me. She looked up at the flakes coming down and back at me as if to say, "What gives?" Then it was off to the races flying around the yard in leaps and bounds!

Been awhile.......

We've been busy with classes lately, and trying to unsuccessfully get Cash's last leg for his Rally Advanced title. I think the scare he got back in July at the NKC show (train went by and blew it's whistle when I had him out to potty, followed by a LOUD squeaky dolly carrying 6 crates of yapping MinPins just as we were ready to start) settled into his little psyche more than I thought. I think I'll wait until Spring to try for that last leg and in the meantime keep working with him in classes.

On the good side, Friday night was the last rally class for this session and we had a little competition among the class. He came in second and got to choose a toy. Of course it was the biggest squeaky tug toy that Zoomies makes. Since Betty accompanied Cash to class and Thursday was Betty's first birthday (Happy Birthday, little silver hooligan girl) she also got to pick a toy and chose the second largest squeaky tug toy.

Betty's last agility foundation class is tomorrow morning. Oh yeah, THIS morning. Insomnia sucks, BTW. I digress. She's doing great in class and tries everything asked of her with much enthusiasm. Belinda said she needed a job (besides beating the crap out of Cash all in fun, don't cha know) and boy, was she right!

Cash's agility classes finished this session last Wednesday but I still haven't been told if we graduated to Handlers class yet. I sure hope so since he is now slamming the teeter while holding his contact, has solid contacts on the A frame and dogwalk and can do 12 weaves consistently. I'm taking him to Kansas in mid December for a NADAC trial to see how he does in a trial setting. Should be interesting.

Update:
Back from Betty's class. She was on FIRE today! I bought her a new tug/treat bag and she loved it. She tugged with me 40 feet from her crate to the plank, hopped up on the plank and drove to the end and then tugged all the way back to her crate. We had a big jackpot treat party at the plank and her crate. Also she was driving through a partially stretched out tunnel after only seeing the tunnel for the first time last Sunday and it was all squished up. She is just amazingly smart! Now my only hope is her handler holds up her end of the team. Melissa, our instructor, told me she is kicking us out of Foundation 1 and we move on to Foundation 2 when classes start back up in January. Yay!

Microchipping is done....

Katie and I just got back from Lincoln, NE where we took Betty and Katie's cat, Isis, to be microchipped at the Missouri Valley Boxer Club's microchip clinic which was held at an all breed show. Yes, they chipped a cat! Isis was stoic and didn't make a sound even though the chip clinic was set up in the midst of the grooming area. Smart cat, knows when to keep her mouth shut.

Betty, on the other hand, screamed, cried and carried on as if she was being killed. That did my heart no good as I sat nearby very close to tears. So much so that a friend patted ME on the back, telling me it would be okay. The vet techs that chipped her tried to make friends afterward and she gave them a cold stare and turned her head. She wanted nothing to do with those rotten people!

Everyone is now in nap mode.

What FUN!!!

I had a hectic late afternoon. Left work early to get home and grab Betty and Cash and race to the vet for Betty's "well puppy" checkup. As I was getting ready to leave I tossed their leashes on the floor. Denny got my attention and said, "Look." There was Cash with Betty's martingale leash already on. I swear I tossed it on the floor and heard it hit, but somehow he had managed to get it on, and properly too. Too funny. Betty's heartworm test was negative, hips and stifles tested out great, fecal negative, heart and lungs sound great, eyes and ears clear. Yup, she's just about perfect!

And then off to rally class. Cash was his usual happy, generally focused guy. Not as much sniffing tonight, yay! Toward the end of class he tends to get somewhat disinterested and wants to go play on the agility equipment. Wrong night, buddy.

BUT, after class was the fun stuff! Cash and Betty got to race and run with the other smaller dogs and chase tennis balls on the padded floor with all the equipment cleared out of the way! They had a blast and what a great way to burn off some energy. There was Griffon (papillion) and his housemate, a little puff Chinese Crested whose name I can't recall, Milo, Levi, Lily and Otis (miniature schnauzers), Frisco (rescue pom/pap mix) along with Cash and Betty. The tennis balls and dogs were flying. Otis is only about 12 or 14 weeks old, but held his own with the "big kids" and decided that Cash's tug rope was just the ticket. I'm totally annoyed at myself that I didn't bring my video camera, but I'm sure we'll do it again. All of the furkids are now crashed in their crates for the night.

Last night of this agility session

Last night was our final class for this session of agility. I took both Cash and Betty and got there early to acclimate Betty. Not that I needed to by any means. She is a social butterfly and loves everyone. She greeted humans and dogs alike but it is clear she was well raised by her Mamma to be respectful of older dogs. I don't think she has ever met a person she didn't like.

I put both of them in a large crate while I helped set up equipment. They just laid there quietly watching people and dogs arrive and the activity around them. All that changed in a heartbeat once the first dog was flying through the course. Betty leaped to her feet and started SCREAMING to join in.

I was very grateful Katie stopped by to watch the class and asked her to take Betty with her and sit on a chair in the far corner so she could still see what was going on. I gave Katie some chicken from last night's dinner as a treat for Betty if she sat quietly. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me because the look on Betty's face from across the room was priceless. She had her eyes lasered in on every dog that ran. Katie said later that although she couldn't be heard from more than a few feet away, Betty was quivering with anticipation and making a high pitched, although quiet, squeal. Me thinks the girl has DRIVE!

She's going to be fun to train! She has already learned sit and down in just the short time she has been here, sleeps all night in her crate (THANK YOU BELINDA!) and is just a joy to have around. She will be accompanying Cash to rally class tomorrow night.

Although Cash had awesome weaves with several difficult entrances and solid contacts, he will once again be repeating the Obstacles class and not moving on to the Handlers class because he has teeter *issues*. Sigh......

I was disappointed for about a minute but decided that I would rather have him SOLID in all aspects than move on and have to go back and retrain something in the future.