the shots that didn't make the cut...

I've been working on taking pictures for our holiday greeting card over the last few days. These shots did NOT make the cut, so I thought I would share the funnies...

Sophie says, "Momma - PLEEEEEEZE don't make me where the stupid hat!!! Can't you see you are killing me???"

Now - this is cute - but we've got better so this shot of Sophie and the candy cane didn't make the cut...

Cash says, "YESSS! New tug toy!!!"

Jesse says, "Momma, why don't you have the camera? I'm looking right at ya, take the picture already!"

And da momma says "I AM smiling! This is so much fun, just can't wait till next year!"

Another bath day...

Cash and the girls all got baths today. Things went fairly smooth - until Cash got out of the bath and went running crazy through the house - rolling all over the place!

An intelligent owner would stop the madness, not grab the camera... but he is so cute when he's being naughty!
What happen? It wasn't me! I a good boy - just sitting here all pretty and clean :)

Didn't want to go there.... but....

Ok - so I didn't want to turn this blog into the story of Cash and his intestinal issues, but here we are starting the 5th month of the "issues"... He has had these "issues" on and off since July 15th. The assumption at this point is that the "issues" are caused by food, but they come and go, so who knows.

This week finds us working our way back onto dog food after a very bad weekend that resulted in the loss of about 5 pounds and the little guy being restricted to a diet of only canned pumpkin. As you can see, he looks pretty scrawny these days :( But so far, so good as we work on this transition to food. Lets keep the fingers and tails crossed, shall we?

Sophie's HVGRC Golden Only Trial Results

Lets do good news first...

Sophie and I entered FAST for the first time this weekend. We were entered in Novice B and took FIRST place on Saturday and THIRD place on Sunday. Nice job considering I didn't have a clue what I was doing! Thanks to Mardi & Clyde for your advice on this game!

This is video of our FAST run on Saturday - First place with 66 points and 24.78 seconds.

This is video of our FAST run on Sunday - Third plae with 52 points and 26.56 seconds.

And now the not quite good news...

In our Open standard and jumpers runs things were not quite as joyous. Sophie had a bit of the sniffies on both days and in both courses. No Q's but I had fun and learned a bit more about how to handle my girl. As I reviewed the videos, there were some really nice moments in there...

This is video of our Open Jumpers run on Saturday - NQ

This is video of our Open Standard run on Saturday - NQ

This is video of our Open Standard run on Sunday - NQ

THis is video of our Open Jumpers run on Sunday - NQ

This was our last trial of the year - and it was such a nice way to end the year! Golden Only Trials RULE! HVGRC did a great job of organizing the trial. And the weather could not have been any better!

It must also be said, that I love my GOLDEN Family :) Fast-Traks, Pine Run, and all the 'adopted' members...you ROCK!!! The support and the kindness offered by all of you was appreciated more than you know. It is so nice to be a part of such a diverse and amazing group of people.

And to the 'adopted family' team of Bill Gates and Cider - thanks so much for taping us all weekend - you did a great job and we enjoyed talking with you so much! I hope our paths cross again soon! Cider is awesome!

Pictures from the National by the wonderful Karen Hocker Photographers!!!

All pictures in this post were taken by the wonderful and amazing Karen Hocker Photography photographers :) We love them very much - partly because they take great pictures of dogs in action, but also because they (Karen) helped to make Cash a part of my world :) Karen is Cash's co-breeder and owner of his momma - Flyte.

The pictures were taken in Warwick, RI at the GRCA National in September.

First we have Sophie on the return from her Retrieve over the High in Open. Nice hold on the dumbbell!

And over the jump to get back to the momma! Nice work little girl!

This picture is from one of her Open Jumpers runs at the National. She looks so happy and determined to me here! And I love the fly-away ears!

Thanks Karen and Kris for taking such beautiful pictures of my girl :)