Bed Bounce!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bed Bounce, as with other activities in our house that we seem to have no control over, originitated with Hershey..."The Queen". It started years ago with just the 2 girls, on Saturdays, when we had a chance to sleep in late. The morning would creep in, and one of us would yawn, or stretch, and Bed Bounce was on!

Bed Bounce consists of the dogs, one at a time (sometimes together) jumping up onto the bed (usually onto the human inhabitants of the bed). Then, pushing off of said human lumps to leap off the other end. This is followed by a pause to see if we are ready to get up and serve breakfast.

Bed Bounce was not embraced by Boo. His preferred method of protest of delayed payment of breakfast is to curl up as close to the mother figure as possible and breath sighs into the ear. But, once Bed Bounce gets into full swing, Boo finds himself on the wrong end of the bouncing, thus joins in with the other two.

Hemi, on the other hand, has taken Bed Bounce to a whole new level! He doesn't just perform the bounce, but his burrows his head into the crook of the male human's neck and proceeds to lick and nudge. All the while the other three are leaping on and off of the bed.

The rules of surviving bed bounce are few but simple:

1.) The fetal position is the safest position- this prevents internal injury when a 40-50 lb poodle lands on the soft spot (full force) of the human gut.

2.) Stay as quiet as possible- if you acknowledge bed bounce, game over, you lose.

3.) Protect long hair- any long hair trailing on the pillow will be stepped on by poodle feet.

4.) Bury your face in the covers- this protects the face from being drowned by one or more of the poodles.

It's best to end bed bounce as early as possible, or better yet, prevent bed bounce by rising early on Saturdays.

Greater Collin County AKC trial

Well, we thought this would be our big weekend. With all of the "big dogs" in Tulsa, this was a small trial. Both days, we had run and were headed home before noon. Unfortunately, the Q's and MACH points were not as free flowing as one would have hoped. Despite the Q percentage (25% for the weekend- 0% of that for Boo)- we had some VERY nice runs! The blue line with #7 (which should NOT have changed the numbering- not sure why it did)- is closer to where the weaves were set up, not how it was on paper. It did give a much nicer entry off of jump #6.



I didn't get any tape of Saturday's runs, as we've been having battery issues with our video camera, and the battery was dead. A friend taped them, but she, too, had technical difficulties and somehow managed to delete all the runs and photos from her camera! (Story of my life! LOL!) Gene managed to get the JWW runs from Sunday taped. Here is the course map from it. Gene said that the actual built course was different. The weaves were at a more direct line from jump #6 to the tunnel.

How can you tell when a 7 year old standard poodle has had ENOUGH of a pesky puppy?

Hemi's agility Class- I forget what week!

The first video is a short sequence involving the A-frame (including touches). Hemi is doing REALLY well, and loves the A-frame! He is also doing well with his start line stays- and following Gene's directions.

The next video is one a short sequence including the tunnel- notice the distance- Hemi is going out to the tunnel- I just LOVE it!

In this sequence, Gene pre-cued the A-frame, and Hemi took the jump in between the tunnel and the A-frame. (Of course, it does help that he was a little bit pattern trained, but I'll take it anyway I can get it!)

This last sequence is Hemi's footwork on the weaves- I just LOVE the footwork developing here! He just shows such concentration!

Aunt Karen's visit

Well, the poodle crew got a long awaited visit from their Aunt Karen over this Easter Holiday. Hershey thinks that Aunt Karen is hers, and made sure the others knew it.

(The room Karen was staying in is behind the gate!)


However, I think Hemi was by far the most excited to see his Aunt- what do you think?

Easter Agility!

Well, today was a cold cloudy day with threats of rain throughout the day. Since the store was closed, and we didn't get in the 1 agility trial in the area, we decided to head out to the training property and play some. I wanted to get some photos and some video of all 3 of the kids for the blog, but as with many things in my life, the equipment did not cooperate- the cameras battery died before we got most of the photos we wanted, and the back up batttery lasted long enough for about 2 photos. The video camera's battery was just dead. Period. But, we started with Boo, and we got some good dogwalk photos.
Including this one when the wind caught him, and I thought he was going off the DW again- notice the right rear leg is on the very edge, and the front left toes are curled, trying to grasp the dogwalk! Poor fellow- he finished though, and even got back on!
We got a couple of jump photos- with the cloudy skies, they didn't really come out REAL clear, but he does look happy, doesn't he?
I did some major touch-ups on this one, and it does look better!
Gene pulled Kyra out to play- she was REALLY happy about it! They didn't get breakfast since we headed out fairly early. If we feed them, then get in the car, Hemi gets sick- and Boo gets sick if he has a full tummy and then runs agility. Kyra was ready to eat, and knew Gene had food!

The channel weaves were set apart, and Kyra didn't bother wasting footwork on them!
Gene got out Hemi- look at that concentration and jumping style! He doesn't have any trouble with 12" jumps- let's hope he is a typical poodle and doesn't have any trouble with higher ones. We're a little worried, however, because he attacks everything head on- and doesn't let anything stand in his way- when the jumps go up, will he decide that it's easier to go through them then over them? YIKES!

Another good one of him jumping, AND paying attention to his Daddy- what a good boy!
He is just learning the A-frame in class- but I really like his form- we'll see if it holds as the frame goes up. He leaps the apex, just like a running contact- his touches are REALLY steady- for now.
I loved this butt-scooting photo- it's not in great focus, but it gave me a snicker!
So, all in all, it was a fun day! The furr-kids got to play some agility, and we got to practice a few things that we had been trying to find time to. If only the video camera had been working, so you could see how well the all did! Maybe next time! (Let's see, the next holiday the store will be closed will probably be Thanksgiving- only 7 months away!)

52 years.....and counting!

52 years ago today, Jim and Betty took that vow that would change their lives.

They would start their family immediately
They would continue to grow closer
And be a role model for their children.
I can only hope that my marriage will be as strong and as happy as theirs has been.

I love you, Mom & Dad! Happy Anniversary!