Willamette Toy Dog Show -- Dec 8 - 9, 2011

Echo and Roddy made the trip across the river to Vancouver to compete in the Willamette Toy Dog Club show on Thursday and Friday.

We tried to downgrade Echo from Rally Advance to Rally Novice, judge said no way. He is not as reliable off leash as I would hope, so we will hope for the best.

Echo's Results:
Thursday - qualifying run of 89. Had trouble with the Jump and the Stand from Sit, I'd say my fault for not training enough. So now that we have a qualifying run in Advanced, he can never compete in Novice. We need to work on his reliability, focus and attention.
Friday: NQ. I got his attention at the Start sign and started off straight ahead with the command 'heel'. Echo did a 90 degree turn and headed out gate. Oops!

Roddy's Results:
Thursday - NQ. Got distracted, check the video.
Friday - NQ. Darn, he only needed one more leg to get his title.

Thanksgiving Weekend Wine Tasting -- Nov 26, 2011

Time for the annual trip out to the Oregon wine country for a little wine tasting. Visited these wineries:

Ayres
Lemelson
Belle Pente
Scott Paul

Stermer Vineyard at Lemelson

at Lemelson

Echo & Eric at Roseburg Show -- Nov 17 - 19, 2011

Echo and I entered the Roseburg show on Thurs, Fri, Sat; Nov 17 -19, 2011. In a word, a humbling experience. We have a lot of work to do on focus and attention.

Day 1: 
- NQ in Beginner Novice (his nose hit the carpeted floor and I picked him up and left after 30 seconds).

Day 2:
- NQ in Beginner Novice (nose hit the floor, I just started talking to him and we got all the way through the run, judge said 'nice try'. Not qualified because you can only talk to your dog a couple of times, not 10's or 100's of times.
- NQ in Rally Novice B (nose hit the floor half way through - picked him up and left the ring).

Day 3:
Qualifying run with score of 189 in Beginner Novice - yeah. Had crooked sit on the recall, some tight leash, some excessive # commands. I attributed our success to really, really , really pumping him up with our 'Eye Contact' game during the five minutes before we entered the ring.

Here is Day 1, followed by Day 2:



Here is the qualifying run on day 3:

WooHoo, Roddy & Lynne get Qualifying Run - Nov 17 - 19, 2011

Roddy & Lynne entered Rally Novice A on three days, qualifying on 2 of 3 days, yeah. They spent eight months working towards a qualifying run, what persistence.

Event was held in a heated, indoor pavilion at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Roseburg, OR on a carpeted surface. The carpet proved to be a real bugaboo for attracting our scent hounds, noses, down to the carpet. Umpqua Kennel Club sponsored on Thursday, Friday; Rogue Valley Kennel Club on Saturday. Photos follow the vid...

at least one of the team is exuding confidence

Day 1 - awards presentation

Lynne was entry R61

Yeah, 1st qualifying run

Tuned up for day 3

some kind of intensity

yeah, qualifying run on day three - now have 2 of 3 legs towards Rally Novice title

Veteran's Day Dog Mtn Hike -- Nov 11, 2011

Great fall day for walking on the fallen leaves...

Which way should we go?

ah, Black Cherry Stout

Walla Walla Wine Tasting -- Nov 4 & 5, 2011

Time for our annual trip to Walla Walla for wine tasting. Visited these wineries:

L'Ecole 41
Woodward Canyon
Long Shadows
Buty
Walla Walla Vintners
Rulo
Charles Smith

Tam McArthur Rim Hike -- Oct 23, 2001

One of those 'last great days of summer' hikes, beautiful t-shirt kind of day. Trailhead is at 6550', fairly high elevation for beginning a hike in the Cascades. We hiked up to about 8000', eight miles roundtrip.

Tam McArthur Rim

Final push to the rim, beautiful, open, high country

At the rim

Roddy Dog as we continue up the trail

South Sister from our turnaround spot