Living with Poodles: 2009

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Moonstone Maybe Tomorrow NA NAJ NAP NJP OAP

11/28/2009 7:26:02 PM

Wow ... look at all the letters Kohl has after his name ... Novice Agility (NA), Novice Agility Jumpers (NAJ), Novice Agility Preferred (NAP), Novice Jumpers Preferred (NJP), Open Agility Preferred (OAP). We picked-up Kohl's latest certificate from the mail box for Open Agility Preferred on our way home from an Agility Trial in Olympia (Washington State Capital) yesterday. Sky and I were allowed to attend Angel

usually we are banned as we have been accused of distrating Kohl in the past!.

Anyway, true to form, yesterday in Kohl's first class, FAST, he was looking around for me when he entered the ring. I was up in the stands with the video camera so when he couldn't see me, Kohl decided to join Stephen! When I say join, he didn't leave the ring but didn't exactly take the course that Stephen had planned for them, luckily Stephen was able to recover the situation and not only did they get enought points to qualify, they also won the class!! Now Kohl has his second leg at Novice Fast Preferred.

Next up was Open Jumpers Preferred and although they had a clean run, it wasn't quick enough to earn them a leg Sad

Finally, Kohl's favorite class, the one he later that day received his certificate for, Open Agility Preferred. Again his run was clean so he got 100 points but there were two dogs quicker than Kohl so he only got third place in this class Disappointed

The great thing is that Kohl ran the course in the Standard time so, at the next event, Stephen is going to continue with Kohl in Open Standard ... you may remember he already has one leg.

That is it for this year ... no more trials for us until the New Year when Kohl and Stephen will be back at Argus Ranch for their next trial. Until then, Happy Holidays!

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Kohl gets his first JWW Open Preferred leg with 1st place!

11/8/2009 7:25:27 PM

Today Kohl and Stephen earned their first JWW Open Preferred leg with a score of 96 (4 time penalties), as you can imagine Stephen was very pleased with their performance

This followed an unsuccessful STD Open Preferred run, caused by hander error going into the weaves

Even with two restarts into the weaves, meaning that they couldn't qualify, they were still within the course time so Stephen wasn't too disappointed, especially as they already have their STD Open Preferred title (see previous entry).

No videos to share this week, maybe next time when they'll be competing the day after Thanksgiving (Fri 11/27) in Olympia.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Kohl earns another title!

11/2/2009 9:10:21 AM

This weekend at the Welsh Springer Spaniel Club of America agility trial at Argus Ranch, Kohl came first in both his standard open preferred classes and earned a new title

Saturday saw Stephen and Kohl enter into Fifteen and Send Time (FAST) Preferred Class for the first time and not only did they qualify but they came first Surprised

The same day they earned their second leg in standard open preferred with a perfect score (100). Unfortuntely Kohl was a little too slow to qualify in preferred jumpers with weaves class but he did have a clean run so Stephen was very pleased with his performance.

Sunday's FAST class didn't go quite so well, they didn't qualify and Stephen thinks that it may have been due to handler error Embarrassed

He needs to study the rules a little more closely before their next competition. Nerd

Kohl excelled again in the standard class and came first with just a few time penalties (score of 86). The jumpers with waves class was going really well until Kohl uncharacteristically knocked a bar off one of the jumps so they didn't qualify Sad

Overall the boys had a very good weekend and we're proud of Kohl's performance Open-mouthed

Click here to see their runs on Saturday Oct 31st.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Methow Valley ... again

10/28/2009 4:58:50 PM

Friday October 23rd - Sunday October 25th

We made our annual trip east of the mountains to view the fall colours last weekend. Instead of a day trip to Leavenworth, we decided to return to the River House in Mazama. We had a good journey along the North Cascades Highway (see map of our route below)

Scenary along Highway 20 ...

Friday evening we ate at the Mazama Country Inn, wonderful comfort food (beef pot roast with parsnip mashed potatoes and asparagus followed by the best pumpkin cheesecake we'd ever tasted!). We were lucky to find the restaurant open, this was the last weekend before their closure until Nov 26th, when they reopen for the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Saturday morning was bright, crisp and sunny so we decided to do the same 12k river walk we did back in the summer. It was really difficult for us to regulate our body temperature as we walked along the valley, luckily we had layers we could add and remove as appropriate. The dogs ejoyed the walk and a dip in the river.

Here are some photos from along the walk ...

As you can see, there isn't nearly as much water around as there was in the summer, we had to walk along the riverbed to find a place for the dogs to have a drink and a dip.

After our walk we headed into Winthrop and Sherri's Sweet Shoppe for sustinance ;-) Following our browse around town we headed back to the River House via Mazama store which was absolutely packed with hunters, hikers and fishermen.

Saturday evening we ate at Freestone Inn which was very much up to the usual standard :-)

Sunday we had to pack up an travel home but not before stopping at the Mazama Store for a coffee and a freshl baked 'little something' to get us on our way ;-) We decided to drivve an alternative route home, see below, which meant that we had driven in a huge circle.

We stopped off inLeavenworth for lunch and to give the dogs a walk so we got to see the fall colours there as well.

A great weekend was had by all and just in time too as there was a winter storm watch for the northern Cascades on Monday warning of the first significant snow of the season and Tuesday there was about 12 inches of snow over the passes. Looks like we were lucky, not just with the dining but with the weather too!!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Only one qualifying run this weekend ... multiple handler errors :-(

10/4/2009 5:16:11 PM

Stephen and Kohl were competing at the Puget Sound Labrador Retriever Agility Trial both days this weekend at Argus Ranch. Yesterday was their best day, although Kohl was slow, with one qualifying score in Open Standard Preferred, at least they did it in style and came first in the class (score of 96, with 4 time faults)!

JWW yesterday Kohl clipped the top bar of the tripple jump and knocked it off as well as being over time. Today, Stephen wasn't on top form and even Kohl couldn't make up for the handling errors ... Kohl doesn't hold it against him :-) Kohl surprised Stephen with his turn of speed and Stephen wasn't prepared for Kohl's new found enthusiasm for the sport which caused them to miss the third jump, Stephen recovered but lost 5 points for the failed jump and acrrued lots of time penalties getting back on track. These errors resulted in a score of only 63 points (85 required to qualify).

Click here to see their Open Jumpers run.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

San Francisco Sept 19th - 25th 2009

9/27/2009 4:10:03 PM

We flew down to San Francisco with Mum & Dad on Sat 19th having deposited the cats with Julia at Kitty City and the dogs with Rachel, Georgia et al at A Canine College.

Flight down was uneventful and we were soon checking into our boutique hotel, The Chancellor Hotel on Union Square. After a restful afternoon looking around the square, we ate dinner next door to the hotel at Sears Fine Food.

The next morning, ater a hearty breakfast in the hotel, we were off on the Ultimate City Tour, Stephen had never been further than the airport before so we thought it a good idea to go on the tour to get our bearings. In the afternoon we went over to Alcatraz and found the self-guided tour absolutely facinating. That evening we ate at Scala's Bistro.

Monday we all took the cable car down to Fisherman's Wharf and then went our separate ways (Mum & Dad and me & Stephen) to explore. We met up back at the hotel later in the afternoon and decided to head back down to the Wharf for dinner at Castagnola's taking the cable car there and back ... to get our money's worth!

Tuesday we had a latish brunch at the hotel and partook in some retail therapy (Union Square and Westfield Center) before going on the Muir Woods and Sausalito. At the end of the tour, Stephen and I decided to stay in Sausalito for dinner (ate at Scoma's), we then took the ferry back to San Francisco (to the ferry terminal) and walked for what felt like miles to get the cable car back to the hotel. The ferry journey was very interesting as we went through some very thick fog and the captain had to have a crew member on deck looking out for other craft as the visibility was so poor.

Wednesday was the day Mum and Dad joined their ship for the cruise back to NZ and ultimately Australia (they flew back to NZ from Sydney). We said goodbye to them soon after breakfast then Stephen and I spent the day in the Golden Gate Park, mainly in the California Academy of Sciences. Afterwards, we made our way to Fisherman's Warf and ate Fish & Chips at McCormick & Kuleto's seafood restaurant as we watched the Sea Princess cruise out of San Francisco bay. It was a real coincidence that we happened to catch the ship leaving the bay ... we waved but I don't think that they saw us ;-)

We arrived home on Friday afternoon having spent Thursday in the Napa Valley on a wineary tour ... beautiful scenary, we especially liked Sonoma, and some wonderful wine!! Stephen joined the wine club at Madonna Estate so next time you're out here you'll be able to sample the wine yourselves!!

(Click on the Photos link on the menu bar to see the San Francisco album)

Western Washington Hound Association show - Marymoor

9/27/2009 3:39:14 PM

Sat August 22 & Sun August 23

Stephen & Kohl competed at the Western Washington Hound Association show at Marymoor Park on the weekend of Aug 22/23. Mum, Dad and I went to watch on Saturday but they were on their own on Sunday.

Saturday was the more successful of the two days, they were placed 2nd in Standard Novice Preferred with a score of 95 (5 time penalties) and 1st in Jumpers with Weaves Preferred with a score of 100. This meant that they could move up to Open on Sunday. They did well in Standard Open, obtaining max score of 100 and 1st place but in Jumpers with Weaves, they missed their entry into the weaves which cost valuable seconds (5 points for a refusal and 30 time penalties) and meant that they didn't qualify.

Click here to see Kohl's runs on Sunday.

Next show scheduled for first weekend in October where they will be competing in Open preferred.

Dog Show at Evergreen Classic Horse Show

9/27/2009 3:22:08 PM

Sat August 9th 2009

While attending the Evergreen Classic Horse Show last month, we were persuaded to enter the fun dog show on Saturday evening. We decided to enter Sky for the experience, we took him home from the show, bathed and groomed him ready for the evening. We watched the final horse class of the day before the dog show started, there were so many entries for the dog show that the non-sporting breeds (all two or was it three of us) didn't get into the ring until it was dark. They had golf carts illuminating the ring but even so it was all a bit scary for Sky who backed away from the judge as she approached him and wriggled all the time she was examining him :-( He did a really nice show under the golf cart headlights but I don't think anyone was able to see him as he's black! On final examination, Sky shied away from the judge again and as a result we were awarded the red ribbon (2nd place).

Now we're working on Sky's socialization skills so that this doesn't happen in the obedience ring.

Orcas Island Aug 30 - Sept 6 2009

9/27/2009 4:05:46 PM

Here's a link to the property we stayed at for a week at the end of Aug/beginning of Sept on Orcas Island with Mum & Dad and the two dogs ...

http://www.vrbo.com/168314

We had a very relaxing time, exploring the island, below is a list of some of the things we did/places we visited:

Eastsound Village
Moran State Park with 5 lakes, hiking trails and Mt. Constitution

Stephen was the only one brave enough to swim in Cascade Lake!

Rosario Resort
Deer Harbor
Kingfish Inn at West Sound has the best fish & chips
Orcas Farmer's Market
Olga Village
Obstruction Pass State Park
Doe Bay including Doe Bay Resort and Retreat

(Click on the Photos link on the menu bar to see the Orcas Island album)

Enjoy!

Monday, July 27, 2009

3 first places and 1 second for Kohl this weekend!!

7/27/2009 5:27:08 PM

Stephen and Kohl braved the record breaking high temperatures this weekend to compete on both Saturday and Sunday at the NW Bearded Collie Club of Puget Sound Agility Trial at Argus Ranch. Despite the heat, Kohl qualitifed and was placed on both days:

Saturday 25th

Jumpers With Weaves Novice Preferred (20 inch) Score 100 Pacement 2nd (beaten by another poodle, Daphne!)
Standard Novice Preferred (20 inch) Score 91 (time penalites) Placement 1st!! (Daphne wiped-out!)

Sunday 26th (Daphne not competing on Sunday)

Standard Novice Preferred (20 inch) Score 85 (lowest possible qualifying score. Lost 5 pts for refusal at the dog walk, missed the entry to weave poles which cost time - 10 time penalties) Placement 1st!!
Jumpers with Weaves Novice Preferred (20 inch) Score 89 (one jump refusal and time penalties) Placement 1st!!

Both 'boys' enjoyed themselves and did really well as there were very few Qualitying Scores/'Clean Runs' over the weekend.

Click here to see their runs on Sunday.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Mazama in the Methow Valley

7/17/2009 6:45:09 PM

We have today returned from 5 nights at River House, a vacation cabin near the banks of the Methow River in the Lost river area 7 miles NW of Mazama (see map here for our route.)

A seasonal river channel, accessed by low bank water front and private river beach, was only steps away from the backdoor -- a few steps further and the dogs played in the year-round Methow River (too cold even for Stephen!).
The River House has breathtaking views of Last Chance Point and Driveway Butte.
Here is some more info, with photos and a virtual tour!

The reason for our trip 'east of the mountains' was twofold, to celebrate our 5th Wedding Anniversary and Stephen's Birthday. We were married at Freestone Inn (Cutthroat Lodge to be precise) and ate dinner in the Dining Room at Freestone Inn, at the very table we ate our dinner at 5 years ago ... pure coincidence! Funnily enough, there were two other couples already in the reasurant when we arrived and they were both celebrating Wedding Anniversaries too!.

(Click on the Photos link on the menu bar to see the Methow Valley album)

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Sky's week ...

6/21/2009 8:35:06 PM

Poor Sky has had a traumatic week. It all started on Monday morning, I noticed at lunchtime that his right eye was bloodshot and slightly swollen, by the time we went to the vet's office in Kirkland, for his follow-up appt from having a tooth extracted ... that's another story, it wasn't looking too good. Dr Matson commented that his eye was red and swollen, I thought it was just conjunctivitis from all the grass pollen around.

That evening when I was training Sky, I noticed that it was getting worse, by the next morning Sky's eye looked awfully red and swollen. Tuesday morning I left a message at Northwest Animal Eye Specialists but they wouldn't see Sky unless he was an emergency, referred by a vet. Stephen volunteered to take Sky to our regular vet's office, Redmond Fall City Animal Hospital. He came home with a steroid/antibiotic cream an Elizabethan collar and a sad puppy.

Sky slept in our bedroom Tuesday evening and, as there was no improvement on Wednesday morning, it was my turn to take him back to the vet. Dr. Erin Maillet cleaned-up his eye and we agreed that if there was no visible improvement by Thursday morning, our next appt, she would refer him to Dr Jones At Northwest Animal Eye Specialists.

Thursday morning there was little improvement, despite having religiously administered the eye cream, so Stephen dropped Sky off as an emergency admission at Northwest Animal Eye Specialists. The first thing they did was to call Stephen right back and ask if they could give him pain meds, when I collected him this evening, Dr Jones said that on a scale of 1 -10 Sky's pain level was at least a 9 :-( When she tried to examine him, he was in so much pain that he gave himself hiccups, she had never seen this before!

To cut an already long story short, he is home with us now and is on the following medications as well as the eye ointment, which has been doubled in dosage and increased to 3 x per day:

Oral antibiotics
Oral anti-inflammatory
Oral pain killers

Dr Jones doesn't know what caused the trauma to Sky's eye and couldn't find anything wrong with it, did I mention it is his right eye. Unfortunately, due to all the swelling, she wasn't able to get a really good look. She'll have another look when things have calmed down. Good thing that we went to see Dr Jones Thursday as she had a medical procedure herself on Friday and won't be in the office next week. However, her techs have kept in touch and we have a follow-up visit scheduled for July 1st.

The dogs have had a busy weekend, Stephen and Kohl were competing at an Agility Trial (see separate Blog) and Sky and I went up to Arlington to an obedience seminar: Sandra Ladwig "Straight Talin' Training". We weren't able to partake in any of the activities but I learnt heaps and took loads of notes. Once Sky's fully recovered he's going to be put to work

We made lots of new friends, there were 2 other poodles and I got chatting to one owner and her groomer. We've done a deal, I'm going to type up my notes for her and she's going to teach me how to clip my poodles :-) A win win situation!

Kohl's got JWW leg in Open

6/21/2009 9:13:47 PM

Last weekend Sky and I travelled with Stephen and Kohl down to Argus Ranch for the Puget Sound Golden Retriever agility trial. All our buddies (both two and four legged) were there competing as well so it was a good day out. Unfortunately, not so good for Stephen and Kohl, as they didn't get a clean run in either STD or JWW. In STD, something outside of the ring distracted Kohl while he was on the teeter totter (see saw to you and me) and he tottered off Sad

startling himself so much that he left the ring, despite Stephen's best efforts to call him back Embarrassed

In the next class, Sky and I stayed at the car so that we couldn't be accused of distracting 'the boys'. Although they had a good run, they didn't qualify, missing the entry to the weave poles and knocking down the penultimate jump didn't help! You can Click here to watch

Yesterday they had a trial closer to home, in Monroe. First class, JWW they had a clean run but were 11 seconds over the course time which meant that they scored 78 points and came third but because 86 points are needed to qualify, they didn't manage to get a 'leg'. In STD both Kohl and Stephen went wrong Confused

Stephen stepped over the end of the dog walk and Kohl jumped off the teeter totter. Today they did much better!! They qualified in JWW with a score of 88 and came third overall Smile

In STD Kohl went into the tunnel the wrong way and then wouldn't move off the table at the end of that exercise so Stephen retired him.

All in all, not too bad ... well done Stephen and Kohl

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Delta Society Pet Partner Evaluation

Delta Society Pet Partner Evaluation‏

6/7/2009 8:24:54 AM

I am pleased to report that Kohl and I completed our Delta Society Pet Partner Evaluation yesterday. We are qualified to visit in predictable environments (no requirements) for another 2 years!

Two years ago we were evaluated by Diane Rich, this time we went to Healing Paws Education Center (Christi Dudzik) and were evaluated by Teri Burke. All in all, I was pleased with Kohl, Teri made a comment on the sheet that we are a very nice team!

Now all we need to do is complete the annual hospice assessment!

Monday, May 4, 2009

SnoKing Agility Trial

5/4/2009 8:19:47 PM

Yesterday, Stephen and Kohl entered their first 'Open' Agility classes at SnoKing Agility Trial. The trial was held outside at Argus Ranch, the weather was kind and no one got wet in the process.

Stephen arrived just in time to walk the course for his first class, Jumpers With Weaves (JWW). He handed Kohl to a stranger, who made fast friends with him, while Stephen walked the course. Kohl was slow compared to all the other dogs but he was quick by Kohl's standards so Stephen was pleased with his first performance. They had a clean run but missed qualifying by just 0.06 seconds :-( They did better in the next class, Standard Agility (STD) and were only 5 seconds over the optimum time, they recorded a qualifying score of 90 points and came second in his class :-)

Stephen reported that only 4 dogs out of around 30 recorded qualifying scores in STD and that Kohl was the only dog to have clean runs in both events, now all he needs to do is speeeeeed up!!!

Our trainer, Laurie Weaver, still thinks that Kohl is going to get faster and encourages Stephen to start thinking about how he will run the course if Kohl takes off. She thinks that all of a sudden Kohl is going to think that this is fun (Stephen already knows it's fun)!!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Sky's Obedience & Agility Training

3/29/2009 1:24:06 PM

Sky and I have been going to competition obedience classes for several weeks now and two weeks ago Stephen was invited to start agility training with Sky. I went with them on Thursday 19th, armed with video camera, to the first training session. I did manage to take a few mins of video but Laurie, our traininer, had me helping out so I didn't get to see all Sky's achievements, such as jumping through the tire. Stephen was so pleased with Sky's progress that he shot off last weekend to train outside in between showers.

This week, Thursday 26th, I didn't go to class as I had to groom Kohl ready for our AAT (Animal Assisted Therapy) visit to Evergreen Hospice on Friday afternoon. However, I heard that Sky did especially well and is probably the youngest and best dog there!

We should really buy shares in A Canine College, Kohl goes to day care there every weekday, Sky and I train (obedience) on Tuesday evening and Stephen trains (agility) both dogs on Thursday evenings. Thursdays are pretty hectic, Kohl's class (Excellent Agility) is from 5pm-6pm and Sky's beginners class is from 7.30-8.30pm. Stephen dashes home between classes to switch dogs and eat dinner!

Another visit to the groomer

3/29/2009 12:50:17 PM

Last weekend Sky, and his cousin Kohl, went to the groomers. We took Sky's crate with us so that Suzie could put him in it while she was grooming Kohl to keep Sky from interfering! Apparently both dogs were good but Sky fidgited a lot. Here are a couple of photos ...

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Sky's first 'real' haircut

2/14/2009 6:47:23 PM

'Little' Sky and Kohl both went to the groomers today, last time (5 weeks ago) Sky just hung out and got brushed. This time he got his first 'real' haircut (at 17 weeks old), I have been brushing the little fella and shaving his face, feet and tail but Sue gave him a wonderful puppy clip.

Here are two before photos:

Here are two after photos ... he's almost lost his white cloud on his chest:

Can you spot Kohl on Sue's Grooming Photos web page ... http://www.suesgrooming.net/aboutus2