So, many plans have fallen aside in the dog plans this summer, but there are also new exciting additions! First of all, Argus' CD is on hold for a little bit. I hope to get him in a class this fall and start trialing in the spring of 2011. The reality is - I don't train enough on my own. Never have.
Impulse started an exciting new venture, that of conformation shows. The first weekend out she was a bit bored, but played along. Second weekend out she realized how incredibly cool this game was, all you gotta do is stand around and get pets and cookies. What could be better? Well, she wasn't thrilled about the necessary bath/blow dry prior to. First two days Impulse took the back burner to her brother Gunny (Turner's littermate) who took breed both days. The next weekend there was actually bitch competition and Impulse took WB for a point the one day she was entered. She has matured nicely and looks pretty darned good out there. She'll hit the ring again this fall at our local show in October. Less than two weeks till our trial and hopefully Impulse finishes her HS with nice scores. We've been working on take pens and I think we both finally feel comfortable with this exercise. She's working really nice lately and I'm excited to get out of started and move on to the next level.
Turner is...Turner. He is also entered in the CKC herding trials in a week and a half and has also been doing take pen work. Turner is also doing really nice work...though I think his sister is consistently a better worker. I'm also hoping to finish his HS with a nice score, it would be nice to finish it with one more High in Trial so he finishes with three HITs, however I know there are going to be a lot of nice working dogs there this year. He is one of them though, so you never know!
Porter. Well, Porter's full name is Porter Piddle Pants, so that should give you some idea how he's doing in the potty training department. Good for the most part, but he and I fail and reading his body language to tell me when he needs out. The result is a puddle on the floor. Sadly from this, Porter has picked up the nickname of Piddle, or just Pid. Between Pid and Pants he is rarely called Porter anymore. The plan was to get this kid in the conformation ring maybe this summer, but he has gone undershot which is a dq in our breed. This is HUGELY disappointing as he won't be able to be shown and is a nice nice little boy. It also eliminates him from my breeding program. Porter has been on stock a couple times and he is going to be a firecracker! I'll wait until spring likely to get him started for real at the first clinic of the year next year. Porter is a sweet boy and I enjoy him more and more as he grows up.
I had a few big decisions to make this spring, and one decision helped the other. The first was to not go to Nationals in the fall. This was an extremely hard choice to make, but we're in an awkward spot for MVA (not ready for agility or obedience, both dogs done their HS but not ready for HI), and I have no one competatively ready for conformation. It just seemed like a lot of money to go out and visit with friends and be surrounded by aussies for a week. I also decided not to go to the ASCA trial last weekend and will focus on ASCA next year when I can do conformation and stock in one weekend at a couple shows in WA. I'd also like to have the dogs ready for OTD so they can move up as/if they qualify.
The next decision was a dog decision. Porter wasn't to be my next show puppy, and so other than Impulse who may be tough to finish - we'll see - I had no one to show. Also, Argus will not be bred again, Impulse I'm trying to decide and Porter will be neutered. So, with the emergence of nearly half the Argus x Impulse litter being undershot I'm at a crossroads with what to do with my breeding program. I'll likely breed Impulse one more time, but I may not. So, I was trying to decide if I should start looking for a show puppy or try to find an older bitch. I looked at a few litters and ultimately decided that I did not want to do the baby puppy thing again so soon. Maybe next year, but not right away. I would have much prefered to find an older bitch puppy. But who ever lets go of their quality girls? Also, did I really want five dogs? I inquired on a couple that either ended up being not available or just weren't quite what I was looking for in the end. Until I sent a quick msg to a fellow aussieboarder about her red merle girl that if she were ever serious about placing her to please send her to me! Well, arrangements were met, and we welcomed Cat (Shalako's Hello Kitty) to the house last month. I have loved Cat forever in pics and I would have MADE the timing right for her to come here. She's made having an extra dog easy and has fit into the pack really well. She is an awesome dog, absolutely drop dead gorgeous, works stock like a hot damn and is just a cool dog. I am still in disbelief that Cat is here to stay! She and I will take some time to get to know each other and she'll likely get her start on stock this fall at the next clinic. We'll fit conformation in there sometime when neither of us have nothing else to do. ;)
So, life continues on this summer same old same old. Busy with dogs, looking forward to trials and advancing in levels in the "older" dogs and getting some young dogs started in the months to come.
The entire crew enjoying a "swim": From the back and clockwise: Cat, Impulse, Porter, Argus (in the middle), Turner.
