and the band moves on

Trying to keep myself busy so I don't dwell over Dei's illness. . .I've been enjoying running her daughter Jenny. .Jenny floats over the field, her movement is effortless as she glides. . it is truly beautiful to watch, even more so the way they had the Best in Event laid out for the Regional. . .the long straight away cut right in front of you and they were close enough you felt like you could touch them as they went by, and Jenny just coasted by like a ghost. I'm so glad Bonnie told me not to sell her. She is the more confident runner of the two girls, Ziva is soft and has a bullseye on her butt for a**hole boys, Jenny doesn't care. . and exudes confidence on the field and off the field.

She has also brought excitement back to the race track. . .since Gossip died, there have really not been close racing, but now she and her cousin Focus are reminiscent of Gossip & Focus's fueding. . it's a guess who comes across the line first, especially since with muzzles on, you have no clue which black face is which as they come barreling down the track at you. We've been joking Jenny's only been winning cuz her head is slightly longer, cuz it sometimes is Jenny literally by a 'nose'. . .those two are usually shoulder to shoulder, like an 8 legged canine version of Odin's Sleipnir, with Focus occasionally eeking out a race win, but not the meet win.

Bella's been coming out, now that she's learned to use her legs. I look forward to getting her out coursing next year. Unfortunately, she's inherited her mother's short seasons, but we'll squeeze as many events as we can in the 5.5 months she's not in season.

We tried GIbbs, unfortunately trying to find the right combo for a test dog scenario is hard. .either the dogs got a better break then him and he didn't get close enough to see, or he got the break and took off. .. we tried him, but he bounced off of Secret and i'm not sure if it was purposeful or not, so pulled him til I can figure out a way to set him up. . .

Frankie got to run, and he's going to be a ball. Such a sweet goober boy, he got away and was pouncing on the pieces of bunny that had fallen off on the track, pieces of plastic about a quarter wide, he then turned and saw me and the OH MOM!! Lightbulb came on. Ran him thru the box, and he wasn't bothered by it at all. We'll work on the box some more this weekend, and he'll go for his QC next month if luck is with me. . in no hurry, he's a year old, I've got 2.5 and almost 2 yr olds to run, but you definitely can tell who he's linebred on.

And then Ms Bounce. . who is a trip, and is constantly making me laugh. Put her in the box, before we got the door down, she was coming out from between her back legs. .. shut the door, she was facing forward, opened the front door, she was backwards LOL But she turned and was off like a bullet tearing off down the field. She is such a sweet easy going baby girl. She and Frankie remind me a lot of grins, so will have to take it easy with both of them

Otherwise trying to acclimate to the sudden drops in temperature. .we froze at the REgional first weekend in October, it was snowing on the way home. .. following weekend it's warm enough for shorts. . yep, fall is here in the mid atlantic region

Uncle!

UNCLE!!!

I feel like we've been transported to the desert, the ground is so dry the babies have ran paws sore, and when the dogs play in the early AM(only time it's really cool to play), the dust is enough to choke a horse.

It is HORRID!!!

And keeping dogs cool has been a nightmare. No central air inside, it's cooler outside than inside some days. Unfortunately, Grins forgot to get the memo that he is not a young whipper snapper and can not do stupid crap like fence race his son when it's warm, so he's been delegated to a crate in the house to keep him calm, a fan helps keep him cool.

The rest of the dogs each have huge wading pools. Really, they're giant horse troughs, and it's interesting to see how each dog interacts with them. Eros & Reba will sprawl out in them, as will the big hairy beast Bagheera, where all you can see is their little eyes over the rim. Gibbs & Ziva will stand in it and splash themselves. In fact, they are no longer flashy irish marked dogs, they are self brown LOL. I'm surprised Tipperary hasn't turned green as much as she hangs around the pool.

Giant craters are dug to help keep them cool. If it keeps up, we may have to put them int he basement to keep them cool . .it's been awful.

What's scary is the performance events that go on. There was a three day coursing trial an hour from here, with temperatures of over 100, I can't understand why people go, or why trials are held in July for that very reason. LGRA & NOTRA meets have been cancelled because of the high temps, but it seems that coursing WILL GO ON. My dogs are outdoor dogs, but I would never course them in temps like this. .the one time I did(not realising how hot it was) cost me $3000 in ER vet bills. . I had hoped to go Saturday, when it was supposed to be low 80s, but once the week progressed, I opted to stay home when the temps ended up being high 80s. .I so wanted to get Ziva's QC and work on Reba's FCH, but cant' afford an ER vet bill. . .nope

Makes training dogs hard, Bella's first show is this weekend, and haven't been able to work with her much, because of the heat, missed out on Rally class this week, cuz of the heat. .blech. Thankfully, the weather is breaking for the shows this weekend, with a frigid 79 expected for Saturday LOL

What I have been doing, is working with Tipperary. . Tipp had gotten into this "You can't catch me" BS at racing to the poitn I've had to pull her. She's a very sweet, decently fast, silly dog, but like her great uncle Eros, when the bunny stops, she has no interest in it. Where he'll come to me or someone for petting, she takes for the hills, galloping gleefully away from me for 5-10mins before she goes oops, guess I should come back. My asthma and nerves can't take her taking this. She's almost half way towards her title, I'd hate to see her never reach it. . unfortunately, this habit has gotten worse over the last few months. She wont' even come when called in the yard.

So, the magic meatballs have been introduced to Tipperary, and it took her a few days, but thankfully she also has great uncle Eros' appetite, and she realised she REALLY likes these treats, and if she comes to me, she GETS these treats. .. we'll slowly wean off the treats to ear rubs (since I don't like giving treats right after a run) She's coming pretty reliably in the dog yard, and Saturday after the show, we'll go to the front field(think that's 8 acres completely fenced) and see how she recalls there. I'm hoping to have her fixed from this issue before the meets this fall.


Otherwise, we're jsut workign to stay cool .. and praying for rain, please rain!!!