on the hill

You may recall some photos last fall of the dogs on a giant pile of dirt. This 'mountain' was the result of digging the pond. Finally - this dirt is leaving our property! But before it is totally gone, I decided to shoot some new photos of Cash and Sophie on the hill - which makes for a mostly sky back drop.

First image - we have the boy we all know and love looking goofy as usual...

However, the young man can occasionally put on a more serious demeanor to appear regal and handsome...

Really love this one - so peaceful and dreamy...

However - the silly puppy comes back quickly for a roll in the grass :)

Now, Sophie on the other hand, had one mindset while on the hill - freaked out. There were very few shots of her that didn't make her look like a total crack head. Here's two that weren't terrible...

I like the angles on this one - its a bit French Vogue - ha ha!

Cash-man WEAVES!!!

Mr. Cash is now a weaving fool!

This was his very first set of 12 closed poles :)

I started the official weave training on August 12. And on August 29, Cash was weaving 12 closed poles with nice footwork! 17 days may not be impressive to the "professionals" who manage to train poles in one week, but for me, its huge! Jesse took several months to figure out the poles and Sophie and I spent over a year butting heads on this skill - and still butt heads to this day over the poles!

I trained the poles a bit different with Cash. With the girls I kept the poles totally isolated from all other things in the agility world. This created trouble when it was time to add the poles to a sequence. So for Cash, I started adding 'stuff' to the poles from day one. As soon as he realized his job was to go through the channel, I added jumps, contacts, tunnels, front crosses, rear crosses and distance to the poles. Cash accepted all of these challenges and continued to do his job - go through the channel. I gradually closed the poles - a 1/2 inch or so a day - but EVERY day, the poles closed. It was really interesting to watch him learn to collect as he entered the poles - regardless of how far open they were - because of the previous obstacle. Collection is something that causes Sophie and I trouble - so its very cool to see him getting it at this early stage of training.

What's more exciting to me than the time in which he learned this tricky skill is the attitude he brings to training it! When I release him into the agility yard, he runs straight to the poles and offers them on his own! He appears to enjoy this obstacle and really tries his hardest!

and yes - I'm training him in a skirt... I had a willing videographer and didn't want to miss the opportunity to tape this monumental day!

Afternoon at the pond

Our summer started out really cool here in Jersey. No humidity, temps in the 70's, breezes galore and minimal storms. Well, those days are over and now its 90+ daily, HUMID and it storms almost every night! YUCK! The dogs aren't thrilled with this change in the weather because it means less fun time outside for them. So I decided it was time to make use of the pond and let them cool off a bit. Here's Cash's version of the day...

"Woman, PLEEEEEZE! Do you really expect me to look at the camera when there is an entire flock of geese behind me in the pond??? Sorry, just can't do it!

"Now that's better. Throw this bumpy again when I get out, K? I love my bumpy!"

"Hang on a sec, I gotta shake it!"

"Woman, just because I'm wet does not mean that I will now LOOK at you! Camera's are so stupid and you really need to recognize that. THROW the DAMN BUMPY!"

"Ahhhh... Thank you Momma!"
"OK, I'll look at you now."

"But I prefer the profile shots cause then I can still see what's going on out on the pond."

Posing Pups with Pansies

OK - so the flowers aren't pansies... but it made for a cute title!

The Kids - Left to Right -

Jesse, Cash, Sophie

My girlie-girl, Sophie, LOOKS so pretty with the flowers even though she is the toughest thing in my house.

My uncooperative girl, Jesse, says "I will not look at your face with that thing in front of it." She hates the camera some days...

ALL boy - Mr. Cash says NO WAY to posing with flowers! He much prefers the shrubs!

Very handsome boy - as he alerts to the chainsaw noise in the distance...

Then, off to Allentown, to see the C.W. Corgi Princess - Miss Summer!

I am so glad I got this shot - I wanted a 'sniffing' shot all day with my kids and they wouldn't cooperate!And peaking - how cute is that puppy???
HEY! Those might be PANSIES!

one day late...

Better late than never...

Happy 4th of July!

And Mr. Cash says ...

I'll take any extra picnic food that is left over - I'm ready with my bib!

Cash looks like a dog

He's SO not a puppy anymore!

All the goofy stuff is coming together nicely ...

well, sort of...

Congrats to the Cash-Man!

Mr. Cash would like to announce that he is no longer just a 'dog'.

He is now (drum roll please....)

an official Canine Good Citizen of the American Kennel Club!

He passed the test with flying colors on Sunday, May 31st at the Bayshore Companion Dog Club agility trials in Freehold, NJ. I truly believe that Cash KNOWS he is special now and that his behaviour should reflect that specialness... why you ask? Well, I fell asleep on the couch last night with him loose and (gasp!) shoes on the floor! I woke up and he too was asleep and (gasp again!) DIDN'T EAT THE SHOES!!!

Congratulations Mr. Cash - you're growing up!

Lenape Specialty & Trenton Kennel Club News

The Lenape Golden Retriever Club Specialty is held in Mercer County Park - about 15 minutes from home. I try to enter this show yearly because it is a Golden Specialty and because its CLOSE! This year, I entered Jesse in Rally Novice B in hopes of getting her second leg. And, on a total whim, I entered Cash in Rally Novice B - in hopes of him not totally embarrassing me and to support the club! If Cash's entry comes as a surprise to you, GOOD! I didn't tell anyone about Mr. Cash being entered in a show for the first time because I really didn't know what would happen!

So - its a lovely Friday in May, drizzle, cool, grey and blah. Not a fun day to be out and about with the dogs. I got to the show site and prepped the kids for the ring. They both seamed uninterested in the entire thing...JOY!

Cash was first to go. He was so happy and bright it was ODD. I'm not used to a dog that 'up' in obedience settings. It was very cool. He was not perfect and did a few silly things, but all in all, he held it together and we made it through. The judge even complemented us on our heeling - and I promptly informed her that he was just 1 year and 1 week old! She was impressed :)

A very few dogs later, Jesse got her shot. She also did very nicely and cooperated fully - even on the dreaded DOWN. She was as bright and happy as the J-dog can be.

At ribbon time, Jesse was awarded 3rd place with a score of 93. Cash scored a 90 - which was 5th place. I was very impressed with Jesse's score - I do not train this dog at all anymore and her idea of fun is the couch. Cash pulled off a nice score as well for a very young dog who has never been in a ring with Rally signs or done half the stuff you have to do in Rally! Add that to the fact that he is really just learning to heel and WOW - 90 is a great score for a baby-dog!

Jesse's picture from the show...

Mr. Cash's picture from the show...

Photographs by Asheby Photography of Gilbert, PA

On Sunday, Jesse and I returned to Mercer County Park in the torrential rain to compete in Rally once again. We entered the Trenton Kennel Club Show in hopes of completing the RN title in 3 shows. Jesse is a bit of a princess, like her Momma, and did not think much of the wet grass and disgusting weather. Despite Mother Nature's attempts to foil our plan, Jesse managed to qualify in Rally Novice B again, completing her RN! I am not too proud to admit that this was a miserable, slightly mortifying experience, as Jesse refused to do the majority of the exercises and earned a score of 70 (which is the minimum score you must obtain to qualify). Oh well, it's Jesse, the dog I don't train, the dog who doesn't like to 'work' and the dog who was never expected to compete in anything again - let alone earn a single ribbon - after the doctors at Penn sealed her fate with their reports on ALL her joints. She did more for me in earning those 3 Rally legs than I ever hoped for. Thank you Jesse for being my partner for those three entries! You don't have to ever leave the couch again!

Thank you Momma - I like the couch much better than I like competing :)

My boy turns 1!

Here is my boy - about a year ago - when he went by "Wally"...

Photo taken by Gerry Clinchy - I think :)

and here is my boy on his first birthday!

Wishing Mr. Cash a VERY happy first birthday - a few days late :)

He's such a lucky boy! On his birthday we went swimming and played with his presents - a big mallard duck dokken and a bunch of new bumpers - big boy sized bumpers! No special treats, as his guts are still weird from time to time, but a great first birthday for a boy!

updates - long time coming!

Sorry for the lack of posts - been a little distracted and busy during the month of March. After the snow at the start of the month, I enjoyed a week with the stomach flu. Then, my Momma fell ill, with what turned out to be a ruptured appendix! Then, my Papa came down with shingles. Not much time for photography and puppy stories with a month of illness! The good news is that Momma is on the mend, Papa's shingles are almost totally cleared up and life is getting back to normal for everyone!

So - what's happened since our last post?

On March 18th Jesse turned 6! I can't believe she's been in my life for 6 years... She is such a peaceful creature.

On March 21st and 22nd Sophie and I trialed at Dream Park again - SOJAC trial. This was a special trial for us for many reasons. First, our judge for the weekend was family! Clyde Closson - owner of Cash-man's grandma "Rosie" was the judge. This was Clyde's first official judging assignment and he designed some beautiful courses! Sophie Q'd in his Open Standard course on Saturday (Q#2 for OA). Then she Q'd in Novice Fast to finish her NF title - taking Second Place! On Sunday, Sophie took Third Place in Open Standard to finish her OA title! (Her time was actually the fastest in her class, but she lost points with a wrong course and refusal, so she came in third) Our Jumper's runs were not bad, but not worth talking about either...

On March 27th and 28th Sophie and I trialed in Freehold - Afghan Hound Cluster trials. Our Friday Open Jumpers run was AWESOME! We took first place and had a beautiful run. She was fast and connected to me. The run felt 'right' - a great feeling! We also ran in Excellent Standard - but fell off the table and couldn't manage the tricky weave pole entry. Saturday was also a great day, but no Q's. Excellent Standard was another amazing run, but a handler error sent Sophie into the wrong end of a tunnel - NQ :( Open Jumpers was at the very end of a long day and we were both shot - not our best effort and another NQ. Either way, showing on Saturday was a great way to spend my birthday.

Cash started a 'super star' puppy class on the 16th with one of the area's premiere obedience instructors. What a great class this is! He and I are learning so much - and its so nice to be starting off on the right foot!

This coming weekend is a big one - Lorie Jolly Field Training seminar at my house hosted by New Jersey Pine Barrens Golden Retriever Club. This should be a really cool experience and to make it even better, Cash-man's family is coming to visit again :)

Sophie's rear cross froze over hell...

And now we have almost a foot of snow! Thus, more snow pictures...

Thanks Sophie - Mamma needed a day off after getting up so early all weekend for the trials!

This might be one of my favorite pictures of Miss Sophie Dog... She is such a pretty red girl!

Under all that snow is the Jesse Dog. She likes to roll in snow, nuzzle her face in snow, run in snow, eat snow, etc...

Snow makes the Jesse Dog a very happy red girl!

Then there's that blonde thing...

The dialogue for this portion of the pictures sounds something like this:

the Mamma: "Mr. Cash - look! Cash-man, wanna cookie? Mamma has cookies!" big sigh...Cash wanders off...
the Mamma: "Mr. Cash - COME! Mr. Cash - COME NOW! You little %#*$-er, get your @$$ over here NOW! Cash-man, COME COOKIES NOW!"

the Cash-man: "Mamma, calm down. I'm here now. Pictures are stupid in the snow, but I'll sit for a minute. You better hurry up though..."

the Cash-man: "then I gotta go... It's far more fun to run and play in the snow than sit still for stupid pictures! Ready girls... Let's GO!"

Chaos begins, as the Mamma shuffles into the house to warm up and get more cookies... muttering aloud,

"Stupid %#*$-ing dogs... Please let spring come soon!"

If you too are having a snow day, we all hope you enjoyed it!

What a weekend!

This was the first weekend of agility trials for the area. DCKC trial was held at Dream Park in South Jersey - awesome indoor site!

Cash's family came to visit - Uncle Nikon, half-sister Snapshot, and brother Trey. Kris and Karen Hocker drove them down to compete at the trials. It was great seeing Cash-man's family. This put some real perspective on just how big the youngster has gotten! He dwarfs his brother! Karen took some shots of the boys together - I'll post them as soon as I get them :)

The trip was a great one for Karen and her kids. Huge congrats to Uncle Nikon for going 6 for 6 in Excellent B to complete his MACH 3! And huge congrats to the baby dog - Snapshot - for finishing up her Excellent Titles, earning lots of MACH points, and earning her first double Q toward her MACH! Me thinks Karen and the kids should come down our way more often! We loved having them!

Sophie and I entered for Saturday and Sunday. I really wasn't sure what to expect since its been so long since we last trialed - since NOVEMBER! I spent the week feeling nervous and unprepared...

On Saturday she played well, but had a few moments that blew the Q's. On Sunday though, she pulled it (almost all the way) together for a Q in Open Standard - one wrong course, but her idiot handler sent her there! There are no videos of the qualifying run at the moment - as I had a superstitious moment and realized our last Q was the last run we DIDN'T tape... so I didn't 'officially' tape the run, but some friends taped it anyway! We'll try to link to that video later... Sophie took 2nd place in her Standard run - nice job for the rescue kid!

For now, here's video of the NQ's on Saturday. There are some moments of brilliance in there (look carefully - I swear they're in there!).

OMG - did anyone see that rear cross? Lora and Sophie did a rear cross! No wonder we got a foot of snow today - it's usually a cold day in hell when we pull that move off!!!

Damn table - gotta work on that!

What a fun and memorable weekend! Can't wait till the next trials!

more snow!

"Before this gets started, let me just say, that I think its NONSENSE. These two run around like idiots. Don't they know there's work to be done? Skills to practice? All this running, chasing and (ugh) playing...its disgusting...

I mean, the poles are still in the yard guys! We can still train! Stop the sillyness!!!"

"No way Sophie! The boy isn't as agile today - I can actually CATCH him when the white stuff is on the ground!"

(insert sound effects... 'BANG, CRASH, BOOM!' ...think Batman cartoons)

"WHOA Lady! Its called 'playing'! Fun, remember???"

That's right Cash-man, shake it off. The girls are very serious sometimes.

Respect your elders and you will live to see your first birthday.

Family Pictures ... The Reincarnation of an August Shot

It was requested that I re-do the family portrait taken in August. The 'baby' is huge now in comparison to the girls, so it was time for a re-shoot.

In our first image, we have the kids cooperating.

Though Miss Jesse Dog refuses to smile...

Left to right - Cash, Jesse, Sophie

In our next image, we have Miss Jesse Dog showing her true emotions toward her canine house mates...

"I can't stand these two beside me... One day, I will get them..."

And in our final image, we have Mr. Cash attempting to show Miss Jesse Dog his love.

If she strained her neck much farther away from his kisses, I think her head might fall off!

Tug of war...

Sophie and Cash played tug of war in the snow...

Actually, Cash was playing, Sophie was all business...

Too bad for Sophie - Cash out weighs her by almost 20#s!

Cash says "Mine! Mine! Mine!"