Life Adventures

To bring another dog into the family is always a big decision.  To go up to 5 dogs is an even bigger one.  This is a number I didn't want to reach ever again.  We've been there before, when we brought Braddock home.  That said, Braddock ended up being one of the best decisions of my life.  Braddock is my heart dog.  However, Russ and I were younger then, and for some reason, life just seems a little more complicated now.  Another dog just didn't seem smart. We did desire to look at the puppies.  After all, we were curious to see what Braddock produced.  Also, we are friends with the breeder (Karan) and co-owner of the Dam (Anne Jones and her dog Fanny).  Our first puppy trip was in December on the way back from the Invitational.  Puppies were only 4 weeks old.  Karan and Anne felt I should be interested in Pilgrim, the smallest male.  Yes, he was a busy boy, but we didn't connect like I did with Braddock.  There were...

Karan brought Gracie up to us on Sat Jan 20, 2018. She came with 3 puppies, Hunter, Pilgrim, and Gracie.  It was hard to get a real feel for Gracie for two reasons.  One, Hunter is a menace, constantly biting and rough-housing, so Gracie spent a lot of time fending him off and less time being interested in us.  Once Hunter left, things got easier, but not completely. The second diffuculty was having to keep Pigrlm for 4 days until his owner could pick him up.  Having 2 puppies at once was harder than I had already envisioned.  In addition, the puppies needed some help with some basic manners, like biting inhibition, potty training, and crate training.  The only positive about having Pilgrim here was that Gracie had some company as she adjusted.  When Pilgrim left, however, she was pitiful in the crate.  She just wouldn't calm down initially.  So we ordered a snuggle puppy (which has a pocket for a heart pulse piece and a warm pad). This h...

We have friends who have a lake house on Lake Gaston so we planned a weekend getaway.  We weren't sure about the Thousand Trails campground on the lake as we had heard that the camp sites were not level.  Instead we stayed at a campground in Grand Rapids, NC.  It was called RV Resort at Carolina Coastal.  The sites were very level and had good space between them.  It really didn't matter where you stay, but we stayed in P16.  Next time we might take a site on the end of the row that has the gazebo next to it.  There are no trails, but there is a swimming pool, hot tub, and activity center. However, there is not much else to do around the area for us. Hanging out at the lake house was fun, however Russ and I agree that being tied down to a place has limitations.  This house only had a small view of the water rather than the expansive view of the whole lake.  The family enjoys water sports so it works for them.  We enjoyed swimming ...

It might have been the chilly winter weather that arrived a little earlier this year that intensified my Christmas spirit.  I think it is safe to say that was part of the reason.  I suspect the biggest reason I was so excited for  Christmas is that the whole family is still around to celebrate it with us.  Logan made it through another Christmas and all of our family is still alive.  Life is short and these moments of togetherness won't last forever.  A sobering thought, but one that underscores that this Christmas was one to be enjoyed. I made the gifts special.  Rather than random items of things we wear or collect that don't have any real significance, I chose gifts where we could make a connection between the item and the dog I assigned the item to.  Thus, we got 4 gifts, 1 from each dog. Logan got me measuring spoons.  I saw these folk art measuring spoons from Anthropologie and thought this would be a unique gift.  Etched on each...

My Christmas wish came true.  Logan celebrated another Christmas with us.  This miracle made the holiday extra special for me.  I normally don't get too deep into the festivities, but this year, I soaked up every sentimental drop I could squeeze out of the 3 days we spent at home preparing for the day.  I want to remember every moment and even found myself taking fake photo memories with my hands to permanently etch in my mind some of the magic that happened during this time. First and foremost, on the Christmas Eve walk at Deep Run, Logan ran up the big hill after a squirrel.  Sure, he never reached the point of building real momentum, but the desire could not be misperceived as merely wishful thinking on my part.  He truly was present and he made his presence known.   As we rounded the corner at the top of the hill, the fellow dog walkers approached and Logan has learned that these particular dog walkers are like pez dispensers, disseminating a...

Preamble (Stephanie's Musings): There are those who play short-game well and there are those who play long-game.  I have trended towards the long-game most of  my life.  My doctorate in Neuroscience was a 7 year investment.  It required sacrifice, determination, and always keeping the end goal in sight.  Similarly, this goal, to place in the AKC agility Invitational Finals, was a goal 8 years in the making.  It too required persistence, sacrifice, and constant improvement.  I knew from the first moment I decided to take Braddock, that this goal was the journey we'd be on together. I was fortunate to have a dog like him who was motivated to take this ride with me. Of course, we all hope to achieve our goals sooner rather than later.  We qualified for the Invitationals in 2014, 2015, 2016, and now in 2017.  We came to compete all of those years.  In 2014, on the third round, I forgot the course at the end and we had an off-cour...

As I've started Frye in agility competition, Jen and I have been talking about me coming down to GA for a "Greyhound Training Camp."  Since I was driving back through from the Invitational, we made it work to get together for 2 days to train together and give each other some tips. Frye getting ready for training Jen set up the courses for both days.  On day 1 was a JWW course.  The challenges for me were that she had a lot of wingless jumps and they were 4 foot as opposed to 5 foot jumps.  So yes, as expected, Frye missed many of those jumps, running around them as she drifted on her lines and didn't collect herself up.  I also need to work on my front crosses,  Jen ran Maddie and she ran really well. Jen also ran Riley, who is currently retired, but ran this exercise like the pro she always was.  Look how much fun she is having at 11 years old. And here is Frye, needing a few tries to smooth out the run.  At the end, I work a fr...