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!

Q!

Our agility drought is OVER - or at the very least, temporarily drizzled upon! Sophie Q'd today in Open Jumpers at SOJAC - a Q with second place! This is leg #2 toward our OAJ.

Very nice judge for not calling a refusal on jump #3 if I do say so myself...

OT - there's amazing wildlife living among us...

So before this post gets started, let me apologize for the image quality... It appears that the 75-300 lens is not gonna cut it when shooting wildlife.

Ok - so wildlife...

There is a crane of some sort (Great Blue Heron?) living in the area. A few days ago, Mr. Cash saw it perched upon our agility yard fence - he stalked it like he was some sort of pointing border collie freak. Good boy that he is, he didn't bark at it and scare it away.

I've also seen it flying in and around the pond. But the other day, I saw it with a partner - a mate maybe? Hope so, cause that would be too cool!

Anyway - I did some stalking of my own and got a few shots of this amazing creature - which stands a minimum of four feet tall - and who knows how big the wing span is! Enjoy - and I'll try to be a better stalker next time!

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...