The Last Few Weeks

So behind in blogging again. We made it to Nationals and back again.  We did not have anything really great to write home about and our videos are awful.  Usually my friend, Jerry, and I will video each other.  But out of a couple hundred dogs, Riley and his German Shepherd, Ex, were surprisingly only a few dogs apart so we both paid for the professional videoing so we would not have to worry about it.  What a mistake!  The quality was horrible and they are frustrating to edit.

Riley, always the bridesmaid, completely bombed the Time to Beat Class. Slightly bombed the Standard class.  She did really well in Jumpers and I made the mistake that caused us to have an off course.  And then finally we ran clean in the Hybrid class. She did do all of the tricky stuff we had been practicing so I was happy about that.

Seven ran clean in Jumpers and Hybrid, but ran past the weave poles in Time to Beat and had an off course in Standard.  All in all, we had a fun trip, but I would have liked to have run better.

Time to get back to just running and finishing their second agility championships.  Riley needs 3 more double qualifiers and Seven needs 6.

Miss Maddie is coming along in her training. Now with Nationals over, the focus has switched back to her. Ever since her first season she has really matured. She just seems so much more grown up now for some reason.  I hope some of the playful puppy comes back.

I think her little boobies are pretty funny. I am just used to my greyhound girls being a bit more flat chested. I believe they should go down eventually.

Here is a video clip of some recent training.  I think Maddie looking pretty good.  She is cautious and does not want to make any mistakes.  I think she will speed up as she gains confidence.

It really is time for us to start practicing at other facilities and on different equipment. We are starting to make some plans for that.

We also have been doing a lot of fostering for Road Trip Home. Right now we have this little yellow Labrador Retriever.

She is quite shy.  She has gotten pretty comfortable with me, but is still very suspicious of my husband and everyone else.

She came from the local crappy, county animal shelter. Road Trip Home pulled all three.  I think she is probably the one in the back of the photo (below).

She will be transported to Animal Welfare Society in Maine on May 9th to find her forever home.

We also fostered this black Labrador Retriever.  Not our favorite foster. I will just leave it at that. She will do great in the right home.

And then a very special foster was a Shar-Pit (Shar-Pei X Pit Bull Mix).  I saw this photo in a rescue album on Facebook for the crappy, county shelter. Usually I am pretty tough and know that we cannot rescue them all, but the fact that this dog followed her jerk owner into the shelter off leash really bothered me. How could you surrender such an obedient, loyal dog?

I watched the album all week.  I offered a fairly significant pledge hoping to tempt a rescue group to take her, but nothing materialized.  Finally it was Monday morning and she had to have commitment by 3:30 PM. So I emailed my friend, Heather, from Road Trip Home to see if we could look at her. The group in Maine had asked that we not pull anymore pit bulls, but that if one was special that we could ask.  So Heather asked and they agreed they would take her if she passed the temperament test. And she passed.

So after being quarantined, she came to our house for a few weeks of fostering. She was so funny, sweet, playful, attentive, and wonderful. Fosters come and go, but the husband and I love her. Just so precious!

I wondered and there was some discussion, but in the end we were able to tell her goodbye about a week ago. She has been up for adoption for a few days now. Hopefully it will not be long before she finds her forever home who will appreciate everything she has to offer.