Versa Shelties

Soon to follow...

2009-10-18T20:26:00.000-07:00

The puppies are doing great. All are in their new homes, tearing it up. I'm going to try to keep up with the blog better now that school has started and I have some time. Isn't that backwards? Most students have less time during the school year than they do during the summer. Hmmm... something is wrong with this picture. Oh well.

I kept Bode and renamed him Kai. It is a german name, means ocean in many languages, and is a Samoan god of fire. He is growing like a weed, learning fast, and even got the chance to herd some sheep this week.

Long story short: life is good, dogs are great. Pictures will follow, but for now I have an organic chemistry exam to study for and a presentation to prepare. Note to self - procrastination is bad. Will it stop me? Probably not.

4 weeks

2009-07-06T11:06:00.001-07:00

The babies are four weeks old today, so I thought it would be appropriate to take some new pictures. All the pups have really neat temperaments so far. They are all very playful and incredibly in tune to me. Every time I walk in the door they run up to the side of the pen barking and jumping... yes, they are talkers. They all seem to listen to me and come running when I talk to them. I have put some noisy toys in the pen and all the babies love them, in fact they love them a little too much. I forgot to take one particular ball out of the pen last night and it woke me up with its animal noises (it moos, and crows like a rooster, and screams like monkeys, among other sounds). Anyway, enough talk. Here are the pictures.

Julie

Polo - He is very pretty, but I can't get a good picture of just his face because he is almost too big to hold with one hand and he squirms when he thinks he can get away... little brat.

Picabo
Bode
Polo playing with one of the toys I have hanging on the side of the pen. I like to hang things so the puppies get used to looking above their heads and having something above them. It has turned into stimulation to get them to climb, jump, and tug.
Julie and Picabo playing with the screaming ball
Julie still attacking the screaming ball
Polo always picks big toys. Here he is with the rope, which everyone else chews on and drags around a little... he likes to pick it up and run with it.
Bode taunting his sister with the crab. He picked it up and started running around, jumping on Julie. She deserves it, though, since she always does the same thing with her favorite toy ( a mouse)
Picabo taking stock of the wrestling match before she jumps in. The little green mouse behind her is Julie's favorite toy.

No longer nameless...

2009-06-29T16:39:00.000-07:00

Since Tika's registered name is "Olympic Gold" and Kohlman's is "Steel and Flames", I decided to name the puppies after Olympic gold medalists. All of these athletes have multiple gold medals from multiple olympics, but each of them set records at the Salt Lake City winter games. I am calling the big boy Polo, after Apollo Anton Ohno (speed skater... more medals than any other in history). The little boy is Bode, after Bode Miller (ski jumper). Big girl is Julie, after Julia Mancuso (Snowboarding... first woman snowboarder to get a gold). Little girl is Picabo, after Picabo Street (Downhill Skiing... oldest woman ever to medal in skiing).

Everyone is up and playing now. They all have cute little personalities so far and I am really looking forward to see how the pups grow up. The play sessions are really short right now, so hard to get pictures but I did get a few. Enjoy.

Here is Bode killing the Santa dog...

It's not dead yet...

Julie really wants something on the other side of the fence.

Polo and his favorite toy of the day, the reindeer.

Play hard, then crash.

2.5 weeks

2009-06-25T18:37:00.000-07:00

Here are the latest pictures. The kids are 2.5 weeks old, and I am in desperate need of names. Any ideas are more than welcome!!

Big girl... She is really sweet. She follows me around all the time and nibbles on my toes. When I was building the puppy pen today, everyone was up for about five minutes, but she just kept on sticking with me. She is already climbing into my lap, and when I lie down, she tries to get on my chest to lick my face. Way cute!!

Big girl tired herself out.

Little girl... also very sweet. She was the first to open her eyes, but seems to be the slowest of the bunch in regards to maturity. She is the smallest of the litter, but is now putting on weight like gangbusters. She likes to sit in the crook of my arm, or right in the middle of one of her siblings. Little boy... This boy is a little speed demon. He gets up on his feet and practically runs across the pen until he loses his balance and tips back over.
Big boy... He's a hoot! Very adventurous. He has started playing already. He chews on the puppy toys then turns around and falls over. Then he'll start biting on his feet and tail until the toy catches his attention again. He is the surest on his feet.

USDAA trial

2009-06-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

The USDAA agility trial was this weekend in Salt Lake. This is one of my favorite trials because it is at an absolutely perfect trial site. It is on grass, with trees around the rings, tenting in the field, and camping in the next field up. It always stays cool for crating the dogs, too. Anyway, Gyp got hurt at the seminar on Wednesday so I didn't run much. She gave me a real scare... wouldn't extend off her rear, wasn't jumping or moving right, and was really tender down her mid back.

I took her to the vet that afternoon and he told me that she had significant deterioration of the discs in the lumbar region of the back. He took x-rays and sent me home with drugs and the statement that she wouldn't be able to be active much longer. It crushed me.

Friday, I took a copy of the x-rays to the trial and showed it to people, none of whom saw a problem. Then, I took her to my acupuncture/chiropractic vet who confirmed their evaluation that it was just a sprain. I am resting her and will work her back into shape starting in about a week. She doesn't like this regimine. I ran her in four classes throughout the weekend, pulling from everything else. Saturday, we ran in Grand Prix and Steeplechase (which we won the first day), and the second round of Steeplechase and jumpers on Sunday. I had a lot of fun with those four runs and am really enthusiastic about continuing my training and trialing this year. I am just going to be more careful to be sure that the dogs are in better shape before training.

As far as puppies go, everyone's eyes are open except the big boy's whose eyes are starting to open. All of them are up on their feet already, starting to wobble around. A couple of them are really good on their feet already and can really speed across the pen. I love these babies. They are really nice so far... very, very pretty. I don't have new pictures yet but will post some in a day or so.

Dog shows and more puppy pictures

2009-06-14T17:49:00.000-07:00

I went up to the Blackfoot shows on Friday and Saturday to help Shannalee. I had a lot of fun watching all the dogs and visiting with the people. The weather was nice half the time, but horrible the other half. May I just say that I am so SICK of the rain?! We had a typical Idaho storm with some of the hardest rain I have experienced, lasting for about 20 minutes.

Anyway, I drove back last night in beautiful weather, went to work, and finally got to go home to see my puppies. This morning, I took Gyp out to train a little bit for the agility trial next weekend. It is going to be a huge trial, since this is a world team tryout event. Should be fun!

Not much going on otherwise. Here are a few new pictures of the babies. Enjoy!

Big girl.

big girl on left, big boy on right
little girl on top, little boy on bottom
big boy
Little girl.

Introducing....

2009-06-09T18:44:00.000-07:00

Here's the whole gang.

The boys... Little boy on top, flashy boy on bottom.

The girls...
Flashy boy on the right, little girl on the left...

Little girl - marked a bit like Tika.

Big girl sacked out after a big meal.

Puppies!

2009-06-08T20:10:00.001-07:00

Ok, quick post and some mediocre pictures for everyone.
There are two girls, two boys - all sables.

The puppy with the blaze is the first born girl, the one on the right is the other girl, and the one on the left is the last boy - very flashy.

Busy, busy

2009-06-04T21:23:00.000-07:00

I have been working hard at the farm lately. Last week's major project was spraying and pulling weeds. This week, it has been staining wood, including tables, chairs, and my favorite project, the judge's stand. I love this because it is almost always shaded, and you can see the entire farm from up there. It is breathtaking. The stand turned out looking stunning... it went from looking old and faded to this.

And for the puppy news... I got x-rays taken last week (it was a little early, but the only time I could get in). There are four, maybe five pups. Sorry the pictures aren't better, but I had to take a picture of the x-ray, and it didn't turn out quite as well as I had hoped. Still, kind of cool.

The first due date is Monday, and I am anxiously waiting.

Memorial Day Agility Trial

2009-05-25T16:21:00.000-07:00

Well, we had a four day agility trial this weekend which was absolutely a blast. I am thoroughly enjoying running a speed demon like Gyp. I was really pleased with how she ran, but I was especially pleased with her contacts. She has improved ten fold from what she was doing at the last trial. I can now leave her and trust that she will hit the contact. She is also reading me more and has really tightened her turns, although there is still some work to be done on that front. I also found another hole in the training. Gyp's weave poles need some work... okay, lots of work. She popped quite a few times this weekend and missed a number of entries. So, that is my project for the next couple weeks. We almost got double Qs both Sunday and Monday, were it not for the last class. Sunday, I had issues - tweaked my ankle on the way into the ring and couldn't run. Today, she didn't see the broad jump and hit it. Still, I am absolutely thrilled with the runs! Today in standard, she was 27 seconds under time and in jumpers was way under time, with a 24 second run. I am so proud!

And then there is Tika, who didn't run this weekend. She just hung out at the trial, since she is very pregnant. She is due two weeks from today; I can't wait! I took these pictures at the farm last week and had to share. Yet again, I'm very proud of my girls. Tika will go in for an xray to count the puppies either this Thursday or next Monday. Will keep everyone posted.

That's it for now. Gyp is barking in her sleep behind me, and Tika is passed out on my bed. I think I'll go join them in taking a nap before work.

great day at the farm

2009-05-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

It was an absolutely stunning day today at the farm. Finally, the skies were blue and the sun came out, resulting in a nice, warm day. There was a slight breeze to keep it cool, but I was finally able to enjoy a day in a t-shirt. YAY!!

Anyway, I have been working at the farm a few days a week doing whatever Shauna needs me to do. I have done some sheep work, including worming and vaccinating and the all exciting foot trimming, which was yesterday's task. I trimmed about 90 sheep's feet... wow, 360 feet. No wonder I'm a little sore today. Anyway, besides foot trimming, I have been working on fencing our new pasture. The fence was terrible, so I spent 1 1/2 days pulling fencing up and retying it onto t-posts. Then I spent another day completely refencing, mostly on one side of the pasture, but wherever it was needed. That was today's job. Here are a couple pictures of the farm...

and the pasture I was working on. I kept the sheep with me to graze throughout the day. They were happy, and so was Gyp because I took a few breaks throughout the day to work her.
Anyway, since Tika is resting up being pregnant, she has decided she is the queen of the 4-wheeler. I won't let her run with it, so she gets to ride instead. Although she would prefer to run, she seems pretty content to stake her claim on the vehicle.

By the end of the day, both girls were tuckered out. Tika passed out on top of the 4-wheeler, sprawled across the seat, and Gyp found a comfy spot on the grass in the shade. I couldn't resist the pictures.

I love this one... Tika was trying so hard to stay awake, but she was so tired and started dozing off, just long enough for me to snap this shot.

Gyp, on the other hand, didn't even try to stay awake. Here she is, peaceful as can be. Wouldn't it be nice?

puppies!

2009-05-11T17:58:00.001-07:00

Well, it's official. Tika's pregnant. She is due the first full week of June and boy am I excited. Dad is a gorgeous blue boy Shannalee has, named Kohlman. He has phenomenal structure, tons of drive, and an absolutely amazing temperament. He has a lot to offer, and I don't have enough time to rave about him so, for now a couple pictures will have to suffice.

I'll update everyone on the rest of my going on in a couple days, but for now I have to run.

Warm weather

2009-04-08T20:01:00.001-07:00

I forgot to mention. It was an absolutely beautiful day yesterday. It was sunny and warm - simply stunning! Today it's pouring, but still... I have seen the first sign of summer and am SO excited! Bring on the heat.

2009-04-08T19:49:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a while. I don't have a lot of time but feel the need to give a brief update.
I got a border collie! She is 6 years old, and comes fully trained. Gyp is an AMAZING agility dog and I am really looking forward to competing with her. I'm actually considering trying out for the world team with her this year. Should be fun. There are a couple pictures of her a couple posts back but I will post more soon.
Tika's doing well. She is up in Idaho right now, visiting Shannalee. I miss her like crazy!
I have been staying very busy with school, particularly since our department head is trying to screw up our animal science degree. He wants to combine all of our hands-on production classes (where I have gotten so much experience with sheep, cows, pigs, etc.) into one class with limited to no hands-on experience. It's funny, he thinks you can learn how to care for animals without doing anything. So, a group of us have been fighting it, and there has been a lot of drama - ironically enough, mostly amongst the faculty. We have a meeting next week with the associate dean of the college and we will find out what the faculty thinks of the proposal as well. If they do mess up my program, I may end up moving out of state.
I was also awarded the Undergraduate Teaching Fellow position next year. This is basically the head TA of the class. The best part of it is that I get paid! YAY!
Let me think what else... my ankle is doing great. I've been keeping up with my exercises, unfortunately, I got rear ended Saturday driving home. Some stupid girl was texting while driving and forgot to watch the road. She never even slowed down. The really bad part of it was that I was stopped at a red light with at least 5 cars in front of me for a minute before she hit me. I went to the doctor yesterday with my friend, who was in the car with me, and he said we have some of the worst whiplash he has seen without broken bones. Great...
Oh, but my favorite news... I will be moving in a couple weeks because I found a new apartment. It is a really nice basement apartment with lots of land, so I can have my agility equipment up here. It is back in some trees in the fork between two rivers. The driveway is a dirt road. Oh, and the manager is fantastic. I'll post some pictures when I get moved in.
That's it for now. Gotta run.

I love animal science!!

2009-03-04T22:31:00.000-08:00

I decided I couldn't resist a post about my long, learning filled couple days at the farm (and school).
For a little background.... I am a teacher aide for a sheep production class at USU. Part of this class is to spend the night out at the farm doing lamb watch - taking care of ewes and lambs and fixing any problems that happen during the night. The students go out once every other week or so, but I am on call Tuesday and Thursday nights. On Monday after class, Doc McNeal (the professor) asked me to take on an extra "assignment" as a favor. He wanted me to check on some sows that were due to farrow on Tuesday, so I agreed. Then, the farm manager asked if I could help care for a couple sick lambs by feeding them every four hours throughout the night. Again, I didn't think this would be a problem because assuming the first two feedings went well I could delegate the feedings to the students.
Anyway, I went out Tuesday evening to feed the lambs (went without a hitch) and check the sows. Low and behold, the sow had two piglets already. Throughout the night, I ended up running between the pig barn and the sheep barn to help lamb/farrow seven lambs and 14 piglets (yes, 14 from one sow). In addition to this, we had two ewes prolapse - one was a semi-minor vaginal prolapse which I could easily stick back in and fix. The other was a full rectal prolapse, forcing us to cull the ewe immediately. Anyway, all of this turned out to be an AMAZING learning experience - first of all because I have never worked pigs before so I learned all about farrowing and what is required (for those who don't know, you have to clip the umbilical cord, dip it in iodine, give an iron shot because piglets are born iron deficient, and cut the wolf teeth). I also got to do prolapse repairs which are always good practice. I was at the farm until 5:30 am this morning and got up to go back to the farm at 6:30 am, then studied for an exam which I took this morning.
Tonight I went back out to the farm to check on the piglets and the second sow. She had already had four piglets, one of which had a severe injury to its side. She was missing the skin on one side of her rib cage so I cleaned and bandaged he up and will check on her in the morning (I can't do anything else right now).
So, long story short, I am extremely thankful for the animal science program at the college. I think it provides an ideal environment in which to learn... seriously, where else do you get the chance to farrow, lamb, and fix prolapses all in one night? This hands on learning is FANTASTIC!!!
Now, I'm off to bed - I just hit 48 hours with 1 hour of sleep. Ah, the life of an agriculture student. I'll let everyone know about my exciting news tomorrow... yes, I have a secret.

Physical Therapy

2009-02-17T13:03:00.000-08:00

Just a quick note before I run to sheep class...
I went to physical therapy today and they are so pleased with my progress that I get to cut down my visits to once a week with a couple days at the gym each week. I got a couple extra home excercises to work my knees and a bunch of exercises for the gym. I am so excited because this really gives me the motivation I need to get back in shape. YAY all the way around!!!

Forgot to mention

2009-02-16T22:11:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention, another great part of this week is that I have noticed a difference in my ankle. At Stacy's seminar on Wednesday, there was some pain but no collapsing. Sunday at agility, no pain, no collapsing, no noticing. I have been wearing my brace and doing my physical therapy religiously and am so pleased to be seeing a difference. I go back into the orthopedic specialist next week for a recheck but am feeling quite optimistic.

Busy week!

2009-02-16T20:27:00.000-08:00

This has been quite a week. My car issues seem to be coming to an end, knock on wood. I had a tire explode on my way to shear sheep a week and a half ago, and until Thursday I was driving on a spare tire. I had to arrange a ride for the extra tires to be brought from Salt Lake to Logan. When I went to change the tires, it proved far more difficult than I thought it would be because they were rusted to the axle, but I convinced some friends came to help. Here is a picture of the guys changing the tire - I thought it was funny and couldn't resist. The next day, that tire almost fell off while I was driving... yes, while I was driving. I had lost four of the five lug nuts. However, by following my path I found all of the missing bolts and fixed the tire.

Otherwise, it has been a fantastic week. I had a training day with Stacy Peardot-Goudy on Wednesday which was absolutely fantastic. We worked on nitty-gritty handling issues and I got suggestions on my running dog walk contact. I can start working the dog walk again on Friday at the barn and until then am doing 1-2 jump work in my living room since it's too snowy outside to do anything. Here is a picture of the whole training group and a video of one of the sequences we worked (it's my first try at a video, let's see if it works...). Tika wasn't completely confident but did the sequence very well, once I figured out what to do.

Saturday, I attended a UKC conformation show. I have never been to one before, much less shown a dog. I didn't show Tika... instead, I showed a friend's dog. She did great until some idiot dropped a huge crate by the ring while she was moving which scared her half to death. I felt so bad. Suzi Beacham was also there with her pretty boy Ticker. There were two shows, and he won breed both shows and group once. By the end of the shows he was pooped. Here he is sleeping on the table before Best in Show.

Suzi also had a puppy (a Ticker grandson) at the shows, Shalamar A La Carte AKA Carter. He is 5 1/2 months old, cute as can be, with a fantastic temperament. I had the pleasure of taking a few quick shots of him as well.

Finally, yesterday there was an agility trial I attended. I wasn't planning to run at the trial, but Shauna asked me to run one of her border collies and they allowed day of entries, so I ran. Tika did AWESOME!! She hit 5 of the 6 dog walks and the other she missed because I was moving laterally. She tends to raise her head when I do this, making her just barely miss the contact. I will be proofing this in the next few weeks an hopefully with Stacy's contact suggestions will get it in hand. However, Tika's times were phenomenal. She kept up with some blazing fast BCs and Aussies. Now, as I said I also ran a border collie and had a blast! Gyp is a speed demon and so much fun to run. She stays on the start line with the wonderful impression of road kill but barks up a storm the entire run. It's a hoot. I have never run her before this weekend, so the first couple runs we made some little errors due to not knowing each other, but we qualified in three runs and burned up the courses. I think I'm addicted.

Boycott

2009-02-10T22:05:00.000-08:00

I'm on call for lamb watch duty tonight and was already called to help save a couple lambs and their mother. I just got home (at 11 PM) and felt the need to discuss some news I learned today.
About the boycott... McDonalds is no longer buying American beef, so the students at Utah State University have started boycotting the restaurant. We feel that American beef deserves a place in our own country's fast food restaurants. I have nothing against Brazilian meat, but with as much effort as we put into growing beef it should be served in our own country. We should be eating home-grown meat - just think, it should even be tastier. There will be less processing, less shipping, less hastle, and more money supporting our local agriculture and really the entire economy. So, here I am reaching out to all of you to join the boycott against McDonalds - support American Agriculture.

new pictures

2009-02-06T16:03:00.000-08:00

I was bored today so decided to groom Tika up and take some pictures. She is completely out of coat, but I got some nice head shots anyway. Here are a few of my favorites.

After the photo shoot we took some time off to play. Tika makes that really easy. No toy required, only snow.

More lambs...

2009-01-30T13:13:00.001-08:00

I couldn't resist sharing these picture, which I took yesterday morning. I went down to the farm late Wednesday night because there were a couple ewes having trouble lambing. Since I don't have class until Thursday afternoon, I went down to help. The next morning, I think we had 10 new lambs - unfortunately two of them died.

Anyway, I thought I would share a couple more pictures of our lambs to lighten my mood. I just like this picture of two of the lambs with their mothers. The ewe lamb on the left is only 2 weeks old - she's huge!

I had to share the photo of this little family because there is a story behind the birth of these two lambs. Shauna called me a little over a week ago trying to find out what to do because the ewe was lambing and had three legs and a head out. I talked her through the process of pushing the two back legs back in, then pulling the head and front leg out. It turned out that the little brown ewe lamb was not coming out fast enough for her bigger brother, so he passed her in the birth canal and was born first. She was 8 pounds at birth. He was a whopping twelve! So, there you have a success story.I just thought this last picture was fun. This lamb was playing with the cat - needless to say, the cat was not amused.
Otherwise, it has been a good week. The last couple days have been warm - a whole 40 degrees today! I walked home without a jacket, which was novel. I had two exams today and will have one more on Monday. Lamb watch starts next week for the sheep class I am a TA for, so I will be on call some nights. It can be exhausting but I sure enjoyed all the experiences I had last year. I saw a lot that I probably would never have had the opportunity to experience otherwise.

I have been doing a little bit of training with Tika. We can't do a lot with the snow, but she is enjoying the mental exercises.

Tagged

2009-01-26T20:37:00.001-08:00

I have to write a biology paper but couldn't resist posting my picture since I was tagged.

Every year, my family puts up a Christmas village. We have two villages - the Snow Village, and the North Pole village, which of course has lots of Santas, elves, reindeer, and anything else you would find at the north pole. The village is never the same from year to year. This is last year's set up of the North Pole. This is only about a quarter of the total set up (we went a little crazy last year). The longer you look at the village the more you see - in this little section, there is an elementary school, Santa's workshop and observatory, a sledding hill, a skating rink, and more...

Now, I will tag:
Shout and Friends
Obay Shelties
Erik and Gus
BC insanity

Enjoy. Now, back to my paper.

Christmas Snow Storm

2009-01-17T20:23:00.000-08:00

Darn it, I knew I forgot something else. Over Christmas we had a huge snow storm. As I have said, Tika loves the snow but even this was a bit much for her. She had been outside for about 30 seconds when I took these pictures.

Sherlock

2009-01-17T20:03:00.000-08:00

I know it's late, but I had to share these Christmas pictures of Sherlock. He is my mom's dog - perfect for my parents. He is super sweet, ready to play whenever they are but happy to just lounge around as long as he is near them. He is a little slow on the uptake and somewhat obsessive compulsive. While my parents are out of town this week, he is staying with me in Logan. The point of this post was to show what a good looking dog he can be. Here is the pre-groom picture of him.

Then I groomed him for the Christmas pictures in front of the tree. Yes, Tika was groomed a little as well but not to the same extent, and her transformation was not so drastic. She usually looks nice - I had forgotten how nice Sherlock could look, though. So, here are Sherlock's post groom pictures.

One more thing. You can't really tell from these pictures, but Tika is in AMAZING coat right now. Hint, hint Shannalee...

Kelley Creek Farm lambs

2009-01-17T19:21:00.000-08:00

I am house sitting at the farm in Huntsville right now. I love this time of year because we are lambing. We breed hair sheep, which were specifically developed for meat. Our flock is a mix of three breeds - Dorper, Katahdin, and Barbado. We have chosen this combination to create a moderate body type (not too light, not too heavy), which makes ideal sheep for working the dogs. We are also trying to breed for lots of color - we tan and sell the prettiest hides, not to mention that they are just nicer to look at.
Anyway, that's besides the point. This year's lamb crop is turning out to be particularly nice. This is the first year we have been really careful with our breedings (most sheep operations get a bunch of rams and put them in with all the ewes - we bred this way the last couple years), hand picking which ewes will be bred to which rams. I have really been enjoying this because I can see what each ram/ewe is producing. I am also trying to figure out how color is inherited because no one really knows. So, here are a pictures of a couple of our lambs - taking the pictures proved to be somewhat difficult, so these are the pics that turned out best. Enjoy.

On another note, I have been going to physical therapy twice a week, doing daily exercises, and wearing my ankle brace religiously. Oh, and yes, I have slowed down my activity... slightly (I'm sticking to long walks, rather than runs). I'm hoping it heals up... we'll see.

Quick update

2009-01-07T20:54:00.000-08:00

I just got back from the agility trial in Colorado. Tika did not do as well as I would have liked. Her team qualified for the national and she had some nice runs on Sunday. I had a great time even though I was a little disappointed.
I also reinjured my ankle this weekend and have had some fun getting it checked. The first doctor I went to on Monday told me, "Well, there's something wrong with your ankle." It was amazing... pure genius on behalf of the doctor. Anyway, long story short, he referred me to an orthopedic specialist who I saw this morning. I now have a brand new brace and orders to go do physical therapy for torn ligaments. Hopefully I will start that within the next week. I will return to the specialist next month and hopefully there will be some improvement... otherwise, I will have to have surgery. I am really hoping to avoid that!
Classes started this week. I'll update about that later. For now, I have to go study.

Foot Prints

2008-12-18T21:08:00.000-08:00

I don't know if anyone else likes to look at different animal tracks, but i really enjoy seeing what different animal tracks are around in the snow. I know, I know... I'm a geek. Still, I bring this up because I think it can really show how the animal (or person) moves. In people, you can see whether the person drags their feet, whether they walk in a straight line (for the record, I do not walk straight), whether they are pigeon toed, etc. My point is, you can see a different aspect of movement by looking at footprints. For the first time, today, I looked at Tika's footprints. This is what I found...

So, there you have it, a new perspective.

That's all for now, except a couple more snow pictures from today. It was -5 degrees when I took them. Brrr..

first snow

2008-12-17T19:47:00.000-08:00

So it's a little late to be talking about the first real snow storm. Still, I took some pictures that day and am just getting around to downloading them from my camera. The storm was taking a break while I was leaving Cache Valley and I decided it was too pretty to pass up a couple pictures. So, enjoy.

There is a bit more snow than the pictures show now, but we had a nice warm day today - got up to a balmy 42 degrees for about an hour when I was working. The next storm is supposed to blow in early tomorrow. I already have my winter work bag packed - two pairs of gloves, a couple extra jackets, a couple kinds of hats, coveralls, and an extra winter coat. You can't be too prepared when you work outside.

As I have said, Tika loves the snow and this is the first snow this year. Believe it or not, this was taken in the middle of the parking lot in front of the dorms. Nayda was just getting ready to throw a snow ball when I was taking the picture. Of course, being the clutz I am, I fell over in the process of taking the picture. What can I say, it was slick. Ha...

Quick note on agility - we trained today and I made up a really fun sequence. I'm trying to make longer sequences to get Tika back in shape. She did great - no knocked bars, no stutter stepping (she does this when she gets tired), and she hit almost all her contacts. She missed the first A-frame, but I think it was a little high and the entrance was horrible. She hit all the other A-frames, and all except one of the dogwalks. I am working on lateral motion when she is on the dogwalk - in trials she has been jumping when I move laterally. She lifted her head a little on the first walk where I peeled off and missed the contact, barely. Otherwise, she was WAY down in the contact (between the 1st and 2nd slats). I am thrilled with the progress and am looking forward to the next trial to see how the training holds up.

Bree

2008-12-16T20:43:00.001-08:00

One of my jobs is at a kennel down in Ogden. We just started a rescue this year, which is more specialized than the average rescue. We take in dogs that have exceptional drive, attitude, and temperament of any breed and train them for various purposes. We have trained a few with simple, basic obedience (these dogs were taken to help another rescue that couldn't afford to keep the dogs). We have trained some of the dogs for hunting - these breeds include setters, shorthairs, pointers, labs, etc. My favorite, though, is the training for detection work. The dogs with really high toy and prey drives we train for either bomb or drug detection. We have a variety of breeds come through for detection training, ranging from malinois and shepherds to australian shepherds, border collies, labs and pitbulls (mostly mixed breeds).

With that background, that brings me to the story of Bree. She is a pitbull/lab mis (we think) who was running loose in Logan and was impounded and taken to the vet clinic where I work. I called her "Psycho" when she was in the clinic because she would get SO excited when I got to work to let her out. She would take a running leap to get out of the kennel before the door was either opened, so she would either crash into the door or go flying out of it. She had two speeds - fast and faster, and loved to be around people. When her five days were up for the owner to come reclaim her, the Cache Humane Society decided they did not want to take her and opted to put her down. I didn't want to see that happen, so tested her to see if she had potential to do detection work and no surprise... she did.

Now, Bree lives at the training kennel and is being trained for drug detection. She is still young and is taking a lot of work to settle down and learn how to learn. She is still a really neat dog, but is a lot for the other workers to handle, so she is my dog. I have done most, if not all of the training on her so far (it's only been a couple months). I have high hopes for this dog and am really looking forward to how she turns out.

Break, trial, and finals

2008-12-15T08:30:00.000-08:00

Finals are now over. I had my hardest exams on Monday (Biology and Organic Chemistry), and I did pretty well on both tests. I have never seen such abismal class averages. It was pretty sad. My other two finals, Animal Nutrition and Dairy Cow Production, went really well. I am thrilled with the outcome of those classes. Now I will enjoy my much needed break.

I took some friends down to Salt Lake on Saturday so we could go to the airport early Sunday morning. I didn't want to leave here at 3 am so suggested we spend the night at my parents' house to cut the travel time. I'm glad we did, because it has been snowing like crazy here. We had 6 inches by 10 am Saturday morning and an additional 4-5 inches when I got back to Logan mid-day yesterday. Tika has been having a blast in the newly fallen snow.

Anyway, we decorated for Christmas when we got to Salt Lake. We decorated the Christmas tree and put up the Santa collection. We pick Santas that are unusual or just make you smile. Here are a few of them from last year's display. I need to get pictures this year, but it will have to wait until I go down to Salt Lake again.

There was an agility trial a couple weeks ago and Tika did AWESOME! We had a couple stupid mistakes on my part and a couple dropped bars because Tika isn't quite back in shape yet. She was really running well, though. It seems like her back injury is healed, thanks to some acupuncture and a few months of rest. She was really running most of the time, and I think she'll only get faster as I get her confidence back up. Still, she won every class she qualified in (which was all except two). The most exciting part of the weekend, though was seeing her running contacts. They were amazing! She flies across the dog walk and gets way in the contact. There is definitely a wow factor to the performance. A friend got some videos but has yet to get them to me. As soon as he does, I'll post them.

Anyway, I've gone on long enough and will post again soon.

Last week week of classes!

2008-12-04T10:40:00.000-08:00

It's the last week of classes, finally! I was ecstatic the end of Monday classes when I realized that my monstrous Mondays are over. I only have one more day of classes, plus one class later today. Finals are next week on Monday, Tuesday and Friday. I have started studying but need to do more than I am doing. I did my final presentation for dairy cow class this morning which went well, albeit with some frustration caused by a group member who decided not to show up to class today. Anyway... I'm glad that's over, now I can look forward to the weekend.

This weekend there is a USDAA agility trial - time to see how our contacts are progressing in trials. I trained yesterday and Tika hit every one of her contacts! She was flying across the dog walk and well in all the contacts, so I have hope. She loves agilty and is so fun to run because of it.

Here's the fun news, though. I went to a sheltie club christmas party last night and won a really nice jacket. It is nice and warm, well suited to Logan weather, and fits perfectly. Tika was also thrilled with the treats that were included in the box.

Thanksgiving(s)

2008-11-29T17:21:00.000-08:00

I love Thanksgiving. It's a time when you get to spend time with family, friends, and eat all the food you want without feeling the slightest bit guilty about it.
Thursday, as has become tradition, the family went to the church to host Thanksgiving dinner. I also dragged some Puerto Rican and Dominican friends from school to bring an international flair to the holiday. We had all the traditional - lots of Turkey, potatoes, sweet potatoes, rolls, etc - as well as some not so standard dishes, like corn pudding, cheese grits (my favorite), and a puerto rican macaroni salad. We also had some awesome desserts, suprisingly, though, not many people brought pumpkin pie. I had a fantastic time.
Today, I got to have a second thanksgiving up in Logan. Nayda and her mom cooked a 26 pound turkey, as well as some rice, pasta, bread, and salad - all Puerto Rican style. A bunch of people from school came and ate, and ate, and ate. Tika got to join us too. She was, yet again, a hit with everyone. I'm going to have to keep an eye out or she'll be stolen, luckily, I don't think she would allow that to happen. I'll try to add some pictures from the holiday in the next couple days.
Between all the fun stuff, I worked a lot - I've been covering both shifts at the vet clinic while my room mate is out of town, I went down to the kennel a couple times to train the detection dogs, and I finished my book. I still need to do some homework for Monday and start studying for finals the week after next. Uggh... Well, I can deal with one week of classes and a couple exams. Then it's Christmas time, and a much needed rest from school.

Where's the snow??

2008-11-26T20:35:00.000-08:00

I never thought I would say that.... Usually, I dread the snow fall, mainly because it brings cold weather with it. This year, I keep finding myself saying, "if only it would snow..." It is just so cold, and it seems like snow at least makes the cold tolerable. You know, there is a reason for the cold, be it skiing, snowshoing, etc. I went for a hike today and kept thinking how odd it was to be able to hike this time of year. It has been frigid in the mornings, but I have been acclimating well. Yesterday, it got up to 45 and I was plenty warm in a t-shirt.

Tika loves the snow. I don't think she is outside as much any other time of year as she is during the winter. She likes to sit on the highest snow piles. I take her hiking in the winter and she barrels through the snow drifts, hopping like a deer. It's hysterical. The first snow of every year, she gets the zoomies and rips around the yard with her nose in the snow. The picture is from one of our hikes, overlooking Salt Lake Valley.

College dog

2008-11-23T21:20:00.000-08:00

I was reminded this weekend how lucky I am to have Tika. She really proved herself as a model college dog this weekend.
Why do I say she is a model college dog? Well, you know those pictures where the dog is sitting on a chair at the table with a bunch of people playing poker? Tika could have fit right in. I was staying with some friends, so of course Tika came with me. She tried really hard to convince people to share with her (food, drink - didn't matter). She played with everyone, let everyone pet her, and kept the barking to a minimum - really, she only barked a handful of times all weekend. Those barks were mainly to tell the neighbors off for slamming their doors and stomping up and down the stairs all night. Everyone got a kick out of having her around.
What more can I ask for in a dog? Tika is an awesome working dog, a fantastic hang-out dog, and my constant companion, in a pretty, easy to care for package. I am so lucky.

Time rolls on...

2008-11-19T14:06:00.000-08:00

The semester is coming to an end, with finals only a couple weeks away - I am certainly ready for a break and a new group of classes. I am planning to attend a couple agility trials, hopefully to qualify for nationals (both AKC and USDAA). We will show in conformation occasionally with the goal of winning a couple points - we only need two to get the VCX (versatility excellent title). We keep our fingers crossed on that front but focus on the fun stuff, like herding and agility. Oh, and of course keep plugging away at work.
I don't know how often I'll post but will try to keep everyone up to date on what's going on with me, and of course Tika.