Dear Blog...I've Been Unfaithful To You

Yes, I feel like I've been cheating on my blog by not being there to write and I've fallen into the category of dead beat blogger! Life's been beyond hectic and I've found myself stretched to the gills the last month. But the last week or so has me getting refocused, energized and working toward getting back on track.

First, I had Stacy Peardot-Goudy in for a week conducting seminars. I always come away from working with Stacy feeling motivated, with a ton of new ideas and of course encouraged by the progress I've made with my dogs.

In February I wrote about how Rouge's social calendar was overtaking her ability to think clearly in agility and so it is with great pride that I write that in this seminar she never once went to visit and consistently worked with me.

I also had an opportunity to work little Zulu and discovered a few things. First, he has now gained the ability to quickly focus. Second, that he jumps way better at 24" and third, he's going to be a ton of fun!

The next step in my busy schedule has me in Kenai, Alaska judging. One of the best parts about being in the middle of nowhere? The lack of cell phone and internet service. Amazingly, I've happily survived the last 4 days without the pressure of phone calls, e-mails and text messages. Of course the beautiful scenery and wonderful people have made this trip memorable as well.

Colorful Fungus

It seems each time I take pictures a theme emerges. This time the theme is mushrooms! I felt very lilliputian (small in size) next to the gigantic varieties found here in Alaska. Here are just a few pictures of the fungus among-us.

Ugly, but BIG fungus!

Bowl-like Fungus

More Fungus

Frilly Fungus

Alaska has a lot more to offer and here are just a few additional pictures

Fly Fishing in the Kenai River

Kenia Fjords

Lake at the Cross Roads in Alaska

Dan & Lisa at Exit Glacier in Seward, Alaska

Up Close to Exit Glacier

Blue Ice is COLD Ice!

An Update on the Pack

One of the challenges with having 5 dogs is they're all so different! They have different needs, different personalities, different activity levels, different training points and more.

I'll admit, that's part of the fun as well and here is a quick update on each of the pups.

Zulu was neutered on Wednesday and since he had one undescended testicle it wasn't a 'normal' surgery. I'm thrilled with Sumner Vet and how they handled the 'search', which was to utilize ultra sound. This non-invasive method found the testicle clear up in his abdomin and so they were able to make two small and precise incisions which had him up and wanting to run around almost immediately. Here we are four days later and he's doing great! The neutering was just in time because...

Rylee went into season this morning. While the two dogs (Rylee & Zulu) can't be together at this time, I'm hoping for a bit less in the hormone drive from Mr. Z. Rylee will have a bit of a reprieve from agility training for the next few weeks since I've found that my girls in season can be a little moody and out of sorts. I find it easier to just cuddle with them and not to ask to much and definitely not to train new things. Rylee will be in a Conformation show next weekend so we'll see how that goes.

Ru & Burton are doing great, spoiled as ever!

Ru can always be found glued to my side and makes pathetic sounds resembling an alien-gremlin cross if separated from me or can't be where I am.

Burton on the other hand is being reminded of his daily manners and is doing great with that. As usual, he wants to be where Dan is.

Both dogs are now in heavy weave pole training and Dan and I are working together to get our dogs prepared for a show at the end of July. We've brought the channel weave poles into the house (all 12 of them) and they're setup in our hall way. With Dan on one side and me on the other, we split their food between us and let them go back and forth and receive kibble for going down the middle of the training poles. Today was our first day and both dogs did great.

Pinky's still my feisty girl and has no problems keeping the young pups in line. She's definitely aged and sleeps as often as she likes, but she's still my bright and loving sweetheart. She's raised me well.

Zulu's First Agility Seminar - A Success!

Today was Zulu's turn at the seminar experience with Stacy Peardot-Goudy.

Zulu just turned 1 year and I have to admit that I haven't done very much jump work with him (just in the last few weeks), but I have worked his tunnel, chute, table, a-frame and dog walk, which are spectacular, so I felt fairly ready for this seminar. 

As a side note, the reason I haven't bothered very much with jumps is 1) because I wanted him to finish growing and 2) I've had a preview of his natural jumping style when he plays in the yard and I felt confident in his body awareness abilities when it came to jumping.

The terrific part about having Stacy back out here is just watching how she interacts with her dogs. I have to admit that while having Dalmatians has been terrific, Border Collies work differently and it's always nice to observe an alternate way of training. In the past, I hadn't been a big toy person...not because I don't believe in them, but because physically it was painful for me and so I avoided them. Well, thanks to modern medicine, that's not always the case for me now so I'm able to physically interact with my dogs more often and so I've had to learn how!

Zulu learned several of his base behaviors using treats. I'm very comfortable shaping/eliciting behaviors using food, but have decided to break with my own tradition of continuing to use food as a motivator (great with Dals & Labs) and quickly moved Zulu over to toys (balls and best yet, his favorite toy pelt). I started this endeavor a few weeks ago and the first thing I noticed when combining the toy & behavior was that he was CRAZY! Seriously, the behavior went to hell in a hand basket as his love for the toy made him loose his mind.

Two things come to mind. First, I might have introduced the toy to the agility game a little sooner to make a smoother transition and two, I was going to have to give some serious time to helping him understand or remember that he really could control himself, offer the behavior and get his beloved toy simply by doing what he had already been taught to do...after all, it was only the reward that had changed (from food to the toy).

On our first run, I aborted the toy and tried to just use food. It was a disaster and as Stacy said, I was training him like he was Rouge, my young Dalmatian. It was icky, I felt disconnected (handled like a fool) and Zulu was looking at me like I had grown 10 heads and was acting like a crazy person. It was time to collect myself and come up with a new plan or the day was going to be long and painful!

So I pulled the toy back out and with Stacy's guidance, told myself it was okay to embrace Zulu's toy enthusiasm and to go back to basics. In this case, the basic concept was "If you want the toy, then do a jump and earn it!" Sounds simple, but Zulu is an adolescent and as expected, the term "gimme" has started to creep into his aura. That was the case with today and he was outraged when I wouldn't give him the toy "just because" he wanted it. In his attempt to demand the toy he jumped me, pounced on me, zigged when he should have zagged, circled, barked, nipped at my hand (which was holding the toy), and was just plan trying to push me into handing it over.

By the afternoon, he was a rockstar and caught onto the game of jump = toy & play. Seriously, I couldn't have been prouder and left feeling very accomplished as well as having a much clearer game plan on where I want to go with him. Zulu was pretty proud of himself as well. Each time we were done with an exercise, he would jump up onto a chair and I'd tell him how very proud I was of him. He was soaking up the attention and overall, loved the interaction & time spent today.

It was a great day for both of us and I know both Grandma's (Barbara & Felicia) would be very, very proud!

A Tail of Two Furry Friends

Yesterday's antics were provided by Rylee & Zulu and so this blog post is compliments of them and dubbed "A Tail of Two Furry Friends."

These two are perpetually playing. For Hours. And Hours. And Hours!

I'm often sucked into watching them as they loop among the natural landscaping, perfecting the game of chase, wrestling or hide & seek.

During a chase, they gracefully run at full stride and often toss in an abrupt change of direction in hopes of out maneuvering the pursuer. This seems to heighten their senses and add a bit of an athletic challenge to the foot race.

Often times one will start out in pursuit and at some unknown cue the other turns the tables and takes on the hunt.

Chase will often lead to a surprise game of hide and seek when one successfully dodges around a clump of thick landscaping or speeds over a downed tree and is now out of sight. The stalking game begins as each tries to find the other, but the best part is when they simultaneously surprise each other with a combined "I found you!" assault.

When a change is needed, Zulu & Rylee will head on over to our seasonal pond. The game here is to embrace the splashing and mud build up that cakes their fur. I suspect here they feel like real puppy explorers out in the wild, camouflaging their smells and breaking all of the 'clean' rules of the house. I'm envious - after all, who can't resist a good mud puddle now and then?

The fall leaves have added a welcome cushion to the wrestling game where one plays the victim and the other the aggressor. Don't be fooled into thinking one beats up on the other because their roles will morph unexpectedly with a quick body flip or classic head lock action.

It's so nice to see these guys enjoying each other's company and to watch the carefree relationship they have with each other. I just can't help but smile and catch the contagious good mood that they exude.

I'll admit, it's also nice when I call their name and they come running to me with a huge smile on their face. Yes, for all the fun they have together, they still love me : )

Dogs Enjoying Fall, Updates & New Electronic Timers

This year's fall leaves are just beautiful and make the perfect backdrop to take some updated doggy profile pictures. As usual, some of the dogs were more cooperative than others

I'll have to share Spot's picture in another post since I'm limited to 5 pictures per blog, but he's one who isn't fond of cameras. Rouge as well, (can't you tell by the not-so-thrilled look in the picture below). I'm certain she'd rather be running around : )

The Latest Updates

Being Sick: It's been a while since I wrote, but I have been so sick for the last 3 weeks. They're assuming it was the flu of some sort, but as time goes on and my symptoms continue to morph, I'm not so sure.

Ironically, last time I was sick (earlier this year) it also rolled on through a bunch of symptoms and I was convinced it was allergies. Humm....

Clicker Training a Horse: One of my friends/former students has a horse that she would like to clicker train. She didn't have a chance to clicker train (CT) her dog as he is deaf, so this will be a new experience for her.

For years now I've had an open invitation to go out with her to get some horse experience. And now to CT a horse? Yeah, I invited myself along and being the great pal that she is, she heartily embraced my attendance . I'll be sure to write about the experience as I have no doubt it will be amazing!

Seminar: Next weekend I'm out of town conducting an agility seminar, which I'm very excited about. I love doing seminars and there is so much going through my mind on all of the things we could cover. So many choices and only 8 hours to work with them : ) I'll be sure to do a post-seminar write up.

New Electronic Timers: This is a preliminary write-up on the new electronic timers we purchased. While ETs may not sound so exciting, these absolutely are!

First, they're made by a different company and are not your big and expensive trial timers. While those are great for the big events, they take a ton of batteries, require a car trunk for transportation and cost about the same as a used compact car (costs can range from $2,500-$6,000). In other words, not feasible for the average Agility Joe (Josephine) .

Our new timers were made by a different company, AgilityInMotion.com and were designed specifically for personal and class training. They are amazingly simple and a fraction of the cost. We opted for 2 sets (a start & finish set) which also comes with the main console for around $450 (without tax & shipping).

We just started using the timers last night at class and we're working to get a baseline on all of our students' dogs on each obstacle.

Specifically, we've started with the individual contact obstacles, different shaped tunnels and a couple of basic jump sequences. Next week we'll do weave poles and play with different style crosses.

The system is very easy to use, is small and the accuracy is spot on. Feedback from my students has been overwhelmingly positive not only on the system itself (they helped to put the timers in place at each jump height and read the console), but they LOVE the additional information obstacle timing has given to them. It has also brought out a bit of healthy competition among the groups so people are pushing harder, just like they would in a real trial. So many positives!

I doubt this is the last time you'll hear me write about this product (no, I'm not getting paid by the company), but I encourage each of you to check out the details at www.AgilityInMotion.com. Finally, someone came up with a timing alternative for us 'budget conscious' (yet quality minded) agility folks.

Balancing Multiple Dogs (oh yes, and life too!)

Yeap, I'm now the mother of three young dogs!!!!

I have to admit, I'm VERY excited about each of them. This is going to sound so cliche, but each pup is unique, incredibly special and most importantly, they ALL touch my heart. I'm also lucky to have time for each of them because I don't have (nor plan to) have kids.

Three dogs in training works great for my life-style. I'm ALWAYS on the go and LOVE to multi-task - just ask anyone who knows me : )

However, I work very hard to give each dog individual attention and bonding time. A connection with each of them is so important to me. In this case, I follow my very own easy & sensible advice (that I give to my clients) and focus on the small, quality moments.

I want to share some of those personal moments (beyond training time) that are a part of our daily life. These small moments are special to me and I hope you'll enjoy them as well.

I may have mentioned this before, but experience with my old girl, Pinky, has taught me the power of a smile. Dalmatians are one of the few dogs who are capable of a smiling and over the years, Pinky & I have developed a bond where I smile at her and she smiles (a full-tooth grin) back at me. It is soooo amazing to get such a positive reaction to such a simple gesture of warmth & love. I am blessed to have been taught such an amazing lesson! Now, I smile at ALL of my dogs (individually) when I make eye contact with them. The pairing is a powerful message and I have no doubt they KNOW how very much I care about them and it offers them a clear window straight to my heart.

Next, I touch my dogs in a loving manner EVERY TIME I pass by them. I learned the power of touch from personal experience. For example, when my husband is passing by me in the kitchen and puts his hand on my back, it's a great mini-bonding moment and I feel a connection. I think my dogs feel the same way. As I'm passing by them (even if they're laying on the floor or a chair), I'll briefly touch their head in passing, give them a hug or stop, hold their head in my hands and plop a kiss on their forehead. I want my dogs to know that even if I'm busy, they're important to me.

One of our 'family' rituals is to start and end the day snuggling with our dogs. Again, we don't have kids so we have the time, energy and love to share.

The morning routine is the best! Dan leaves for work very early and so he feeds the dogs and then lets them all pile into bed with me until daylight. Just imagine 5-6 dogs snuggling together on one queen sized bed and I'm in the middle! It's very cozy and soooo hard to get up from. Once I wake up, the dogs each come up for their personal attention time where I massage their head, rub their bellies, play with them and cover them with TONS of kisses. They're all so happy, just love the time together and while waiting their turn, they play with each other. What a fun family moment and I just love starting my day this way!

At the end of the day when Dan and I are sitting in the livingroom, the dogs are there hanging with us. Some are with Dan on the couch and some are with me on my overstuffed chair & ottoman. Throughout the evening, the dogs will play with each other, snuggle with us/ amongst themselves or just hang and chew on their toys and bones. We're all there together and the love and happiness is easily felt throughout the room. It's relaxed, fun, cozy and interactive. In the winter, we have the fireplace lit and the Dalmatians are sure to be found inches from warmth!

During the day, it seems that even if I'm home, the dogs chose to spend the majority of the day sleeping! That works out great because they love to hang with me in the office or if the weather is nice, I leave the back door open and they come and go as they please since our yard is fully fenced.

One of the things I pride myself on is looking at each individual dog to see where they excel. For example, Spot is a GREAT traveler and I will often bring him with me when I travel (since Pinky is now too old for that). Zulu is full of energy so I've gotten him into herding (Rylee will soon follow) and Rouge is great company for when I go to the Agility arena to setup (I then work her afterward).

Lucky for me, I love to multi-task, have my hands in several pots at one time and my dogs allow me that luxury. I'll admit, my lifestyle isn't for everyone (okay, the majority of people would run away screaming), but it is so exhilarating for me! As my husband said to me this morning, "You always love a project." He's on to me...

I'd have to say that most of you are just as busy, but in different ways. Some of you are raising children (you are my hero!), some have amazing careers and some are living your dreams. Whatever it is, you too are busy! Remember, rather than scheduling time on a calendar, take just 1 minute at a time to create a quality moment for you and your beloved pet. You'll be amazed at how easy and how successful you'll find it is.

Lisa

Zulu's First Herding Adventure

Things have been busy the last few weeks, but my dogs haven't been neglected.

Today was Zulu's turn for an adventure and so we went for our very first herding lesson. I say 'we' because my prior job while Spot was herding was to be the person behind the camcorder videoing the event!

Today, Zulu and I took our chances together with the sheep and it was a BLAST! He's hooked, I'm hooked and another hobby begins.

Zulu had been around sheep very early in his puppy life and didn't show any interest. This is pretty common and doesn't necessarily mean that a dog won't 'turn on to sheep' later in life.

In the picture attached, Zulu was showing interest in the sheep at the Agility arena, although they're not dog savvy so they don't really give a darn about the dogs and so they don't move or run often. On the other hand, Zulu was showing a tremendous interest in the chickens when they were around so I knew there had to be some type of interest on his behalf.

We started off today by just letting Zulu hang around the area outside of the sheep pen so that he could explore and get a lay of the land. After a time, another herding Border Collie was brought out so that she could work the sheep while Zulu stayed outside. The idea was to see what type of interest he would show as the sheep went by.

Zulu was interested when the other Border Collie went out to the pasture, but as soon as the sheep passed by, he was immediately much more interested in them and let out a squeak of barks. My instructor laughed and informed me that he was now officially 'turned on to sheep' and we could move on to the next level which was going in with the sheep.

After initially being on leash with me, we let Zulu be free and I got to follow the instructor and the sheep while she worked Zulu. He did quite a bit of things nicely and it was really fun to see him work. He circles predominantly clockwise (I need to learn the herding term for that) and so I have homework to work him counter clockwise at home.

I admit, I had so much fun, even though I was just following in the sheep pack and watching my dog work. I was surprisingly comfortable around the sheep and have to thank my sheep friends for that (thanks Dave & Franna!). I've got a herding book I'd purchased quite a while ago and I think it's time to dust that off and read it again.

Zulu and I have another lesson in 3 weeks and I'm really looking forward to it!

What Would You Do on a 106 Degree Day?

Our friends Steve & Laurie invited us over for dinner and fun on their lake with the dogs - a perfect day for it since the high was at or above 106 degrees here! Ah yeah, a new city record...

Any way, the water was wonderful! With all of the hot weather, the water was a comfortable temperature which is good, because I'm a wimp.

I wasn't sure how Zulu would be in the water so we brought bumpers to throw, a long line "just in case" and my bathing suit so I could coax him in if needed.

Well, the joke was on me because little did I know that our little Zulu is a water fanatic! Within moments of spying the water he had me on my butt!!!

It all happened so fast. One minute he was diving in the water to fetch a toy screaming with delight the entire time. As I was checking to be sure my ears weren't bleeding from the high pitch, he came in, gave me the bumper, proceeded to wrap me in the long-line and then before I could calculate my predicament, he dove back in and down I went!

I just have one thing to say...remind me to talk to his breeder on the lack of warning regarding his water fetish - LOL.

After a good 30-45 minutes of hard swimming (I did keep the long line on him the entire time), I went out in a raft and Zulu came up to join me and get some rest. The first picture attached was after we settled in. The second picture was us trying to settle in!

Last, but certainly not least, Burton is pictured doing one of his many water retrieves. He too is a water fanatic!

We're going back on Saturday and plan to bring Ru in the hopes that Zulu can get her to graduate from the baby pool to the adult lake. Should be fun!

Dog Days of Summer

The Seattle area is under a major heat wave with temperatures into the 100's.

While this may seem normal to folks from the South, last night was the first night in Seattle's history that the temp didn't drop back down below 70. Today we're in for another record high of 105+.

So the plan for the week has been to get the dogs out early so they can peacefully spend the day inside with the A/C going.

On Monday, we had an early play date with our friends Dave & Heidi and their pups. Dave is an amazing photographer and all of these pictures are courtesy of him - Thank you Dave!!!!!

The first picture has Ru & Zulu cooling down in the pool, which was also known as 'home-base' for the dogs while playing. They'd run and run and run, then jump in the pool to cool down and then go off to run again.

The next picture is Ru & Zulu playing a great game of tag.

In the third picture, Dylan is a part of the game and witnesses Ru being taken down by Zulu...not that that stopped the fun as they all played for a good 45 minutes to an hour without a break.

Next we've got Zulu & Ru tugging on the Frisbee and last but not least, a picture of Zulu framed in by an Agility Tire. Don't worry, my 6 month old puppy wasn't jumping it, but rather he was standing at attention just waiting for the other dogs to start the next game of chase.

His breeder asked what I thought his ear set would be, prick, semi-prick or a combination. It's so hard to say at this point! There are moments they're as prick as can be, then there are the times they're semi-prick and then there's that lazy left ear of his that just wants to hang around while the other is straight up. It will be interesting to see which way they end up : )

Stay cool everyone. I know I'm going to take advantage of the heat and take a siesta later with the pups.

Update on Zulu 7-26-2009

It's been a little while since I did an update on Zulu so I thought I took a few updated pictures to share.

Zulu's been with us for about a month now and we're still so glad we got him. Unlike in the beginning when he thought Dan was the best, Zulu's since warmed up to me and can often be found acting as my personal shadow. Of course since I work from my home, I have an advantage, but more importantly, Zulu likes to work for me and is always ready to go.

His adult coat is coming in and it's just beautiful. He still looks like a baby coyote, but his face and mannerisms are maturing and his eyes are incredibly expressive and are now a warm brown color (hard to see in these twilight pictures).

This next week our temperatures are going to be in the 100's, which is unheard of in Seattle. Poor Zulu's going to think we're back in Louisiana!

The dog room has it's own A/C unit so they'll be nice and cool. However, with temps like that, I'm probably going to have to cancel my classes as NOBODY is used to such heat, including the dogs. I guess if I'm going to practice, I need to get up at about 5:00 a.m. and get my butt out there!

For Zulu, I've got a 2x12' board inside so we can practice our contacts. I also need to bring a cone in so we can start working on some turn work...see, there's lots to do in the air conditioned house!

Hope everyone has a great week. Stay cool!

Zulu Visits a Ranch & Starts Agility

Zulu's been a busy pup the last few days. Besides his usual play time at home, I've also had him accompany me to one of my client's home.

My client has 2 children, a very intelligent young lady who loves animals and her younger brother who is so curious and loves to be a part of things. Perfect training for them to handle a young and obedient pup and excellent training for Zulu to learn that kids = food!

Today we expanded Zulu's horizons when I brought him with to the arena where I teach Agility. The bonus is that it is on a working ranch so there was a ton for Zulu to check out.

Zulu's favorites were the chickens which are pictured in the first two photos. As you can see, he thought they were WAY, WAY, WAY interesting. Next were the sheep. He was interested when they moved and showed some beginner interest, but since these sheep are pretty tame (they're quite used to dogs and humans), they didn't move so much and were not as interesting as the chickens who were always on the go.

While I don't have any pictures of Zulu's first introduction to Agility, I was so proud of him!

In preparation, this past week I've been working on his body position relative to me. Since Zulu's habit is to come around in front, I'm teaching him to be comfortable next to me so the two of us are parallel and in close proximity. I also did a quick lesson on a flat board for a beginner 2-on-2-off contact performance. He's a quick and eager learner and it's a pleasure to work him.

Zulu has also taught himself the tunnel which was out in our Agility pasture. It's funny how my last two dogs have initiated equipment training on their own...makes a Mom proud!

In the arena, Zulu followed a friend's dog up the very low a-frame (approx. 3' off the ground) and later followed her into a tunnel as well. Ah, Border Collies are so darned easy to train (y'all know I'm going to eat those words later...).

In all seriousness, my only goal for Zulu this evening was to work attention and to see how reved up and excited he would be with the other dogs running about.

The answer was 1) Yes, he was very excited by the other dogs running and 2) He had beautiful attention. Another benefit was that his recall was to die for! When I called him, he spun around on a dime and came in for his treat.

I began some tugging on the leash as well (which had been done previously) so I could fade the treats and have another means to interact with him.

Zulu was very excited to be there and working. He is a very happy dog with us and as expected, we're so enjoying him.

The last picture is of him after he fell asleep laying next to me on the chair. As you can see, he is a tired little puppy!

Night-night Zulu...

Zulu & the 'Big' Apple

Zulu had a fun-filled day yesterday with the rest of the clan. While Dan and I were tending to our yard work duties, the dogs spent 6+ hours outdoors with us having full access to both the wooded and pasture area for the day.

After running, exploring and romping for the majority of the day, all of the dogs were barely able to keep their eyes open by dinner time.

Just as Zulu was slowing down for the day, he discovered an apple on the ground from one of our fruit trees. Of course it's not close to being ripe and Zulu agreed it wasn't edible material. However, it made a GREAT 'ball' to play with and had just the right amount of squishiness to chew on and hardness to withstand his puppy teeth.

Zulu proceeded to take his new toy on top of one of our downed cedar logs to play with. The logs are very large and he was able to easily settle in comfortably to check out his new toy.

Soon, he began to occupy himself by flipping the ball around in his mouth and at times, let it roll off the log so he'd have to go chase and retrieve his new toy.

I'm not sure what eventually happened to the 'big' apple, but Zulu had a great time with his new toy and it allowed me some wonderful photos to add to his scrapbook as well.

Happy Fourth of July!

It's been a few days since I wrote. It's been busy/hectic around the house, but Dan and I have also been focusing on our home, our pups and the wonderful weather. It's a happy time for us and we're really enjoying it.

First, a quick update on Zulu. Simply put, he's wonderful, he's happy and he's become a part of our clan very easily.

Zulu and Spot had a 10 second scuffle yesterday. Basically in play Spot nipped Zulu and Zulu came back at him and Spot grabbed his collar and scared him. The good news is all was forgiven in 1.5 minutes.

Over all, Dan and I are thrilled to have Zulu and it brings us joy to watch him playing, hanging and snuggling with us and the dogs. Today he'll come with over to a friend's house to celebrate the Fourth. Oh, another bonus, thanks to his breeder, fireworks don't bother him in the least - thank you Barb!!!!

So yesterday we had 60 tons of dirt delivered - 6 dump truck loads to spread around our property . I hired 3 laborers to help us and they were amazing. I would highly recommend this type of help for anyone who tackles such a large project like we did. Most of the dirt went out to the pasture area since there were several places that were hilly and holey. My goal has been to bring in dirt to flatten and level a few places, especially in the Agility area. Amazingly enough, I'm afraid we may need more dirt, but we'll figure it out tomorrow when we're done spreading the last 1.5 truck loads.

As for today, we're doing NOTHING! To say we're sore is an understatement. The laborers completely put us to shame on the physical work. Just another reason to hit the gym!

We've had a nice day relaxing and playing with the dogs. It's fun to see Zulu blossom and to see Ru play so much and continue to build muscle. With her body structure and short coat, it's easy to see each chiseled muscle and she looks so darned good! Wish someone would throw a ball for me and ration out my food : )

Any way, Happy Fourth everyone!