Tyler's visit

Sitting home alone now, well, me and all the furkids, all of us missing Tyler. He left Wednesday after a ten day visit here. The dogs still think every time they hear something, that it is Tyler coming home.
Time always goes way too fast when Tyler is here, and we had such a great time though! He celebrated Christmas with Mom and I and we all went to visit Dad at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery.
He spent lots of time working on his restoration project: a '46 Chevy truck. He and Lester got it running, having rebuilt the engine themselves. Tyler is sure proud of this old truck!
Tyler had a lot of friends to visit, and I think he got to most everybody. He took in a couple of basketball games at Fair Grove. We also attended the Ozarks Area Racer's Reunion to see our friend, Wayne Bates inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame! Two members of the NASCAR Wallace racing family, Kenny and Mike, were there along with their mother. (Rusty was unable to attend) Kenny is the baby of the family and such a comedian! The three Wallace brothers were also inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
Tyler got my home computer updated with Windows 7. Hopefully, getting rid of Vista will solve all the problems I've had with this computer since almost day 1!
Now I'm looking forward to making a trip to Austin in March. I will be taking Chesney to compete in an agility trial in San Marcos, close to Austin and where Tyler attends college at Texas State. Should be a lot of fun, competing in a totally different area and getting to visit with kiddo while there!
It is such a big change to go from living with your son to seeing him for just a short time every 6 months or so! He is really an awesome kid and I am so proud of him!!

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from me and all the furkids!!

Wow! It's been over two years since I updated my blog! I'm surprised anyone at all looks at it, but I still get 2 or 3 views per week. It has been a long year. I am almost finished with my treatment for breast cancer. I was diagnosed in October of 2010, started chemo in November of 2010, and had a double mastectomy with reconstruction in June of 2011. I still have about 3 chemo treatments left, to be finished in February 2012. As of the mastectomy, I am cancer free!!!

Five days prior to Christmas last year I lost Emin, my first horse, at the ripe old age of 30. It is still hard to believe a year later, that he is not outside waiting for me to come out and feed. He had a long and wonderful life, which we shared for over 28 of his 30 years. His passing was sudden, a suspected cardiac event, and he was beautiful and happy right up until then. I wish he could have been with me to celebrate my beating cancer, but I know he was celebrating up in heaven.

In March of this year, I lost Halid, my stallion, at another ripe old age of 28. His passing was not so easy, as I discovered him having a severe colic episode and had to end his pain. He was a beautiful, wonderful, gentle stallion and also a great friend.

On the other hand, Chesney and I have done a lot of agility this year. She is doing great at trials, and is usually a pretty reliable little competitor. She is up to 14 titles at the novice and open levels in NADAC, and will hopefully be competing at Champs in 2012! She only needs one more Hoopers Q and two more Chances Qs to earn her Novice Versatility Award! Our next trial will be in March in Austin, TX and will be a visit with Tyler as well!

Wishbone is still hanging in there, and will be 14 in April. He is totally blind, pretty much deaf, and a bit senile, but doing great for a dog diagnosed with GME 9 1/2 years ago! He still loves to eat and loves his mama!

This year has seen the addition of a few new furkids to the household/farm. In April, I adopted a Papillon puppy from a lady who brought the litter of three into the clinic looking for homes. She is a totally different type of dog from the Russells, but she is absolutely adorable, and may do agility someday. While recovering from my surgery this summer, I found Naomi, a broken-coated Jack Russell, on a rescue website. She was in a high kill gas chamber shelter in Abbeville, LA. They pulled her for me and transported her here. She is heartworm positive, and though she was treated with Immiticide in Louisianna prior to coming here she is still positive We are treating her with Doxycycline and Interceptor. She is a wonderful dog! Gets along very well with all the other dogs, but likes cats a bit TOO much. I think she will make an awesome Lure-coursing dog, and eventually agility. Then, in September, I rescued 3 Arabian horses from a real estate auction. Two were elderly, the gelding being emaciated the mare being just a little thin, and the third was an overweight gelding about 18 years. They are wonderful old souls, very appreciative of a good home with plenty of proper feed and care. Mecca, the younger gelding is always very concerned about where the older two, Dinah and Oggi, are. I think he will make a great trail horse! He has lost some of his weight and his mane is growing back in. Oggi is gaining weight and looking much better, and Dinah looks great! Last fall, right before my breast cancer diagnosis, I purchased an Arabian mare and colt, and bred back. I was blessed with a filly this year. Both foals were sired by Straight Egyptian Babson stallions and are very nice! My oldest horse, Scooby, is 31 1/2, and though arthritic, is doing very well.

Tyler will be coming home on the 2nd of January for two weeks! I haven't seen him since he was here in June for my surgery. He is doing very well in Texas! He is attending college at Texas State in San Marcos majoring in Business and is working at HEB, a large grocery store chain in Texas. He has been at HEB for 2 1/2 years, starting out as a bag boy, moving to cashier, then on to the business office. He is now in the Produce department and may be entering HEB's retail management training program next year. I am so proud of him!!

Looking forward to Christmas!! Merry Christmas to all!!

Chesney: GOAL agility trial 2009

This was the first run of the weekend at the GOAL trial. As usual, Chesney insisted on visiting instead of concentrating on the course. She's such a social gal! She is improving on this little issue though, as she's finding out that the scorekeepers, the pole setters and the judge are all snobs and won't pay her any attention! Of course, the weave poles were an issue. This is about to change because I brain-stormed the other night and figured out a way to construct an inexpensive set of six poles We'll be working on them all winter long right in the warmth of our own hallway! I'll post a pic as soon as they're finished. Thanks to Deb for the footage of my girl!!

The Greater Ozarks NADAC Agility Trial

Chesney had an absolutely wonderful time this weekend at the trial! She has improved so much since this same time last year. She's much more focused, though she still likes to try to visit the scribes, the judge and the bar setters in the ring. She's finding out that they are all snobs and won't talk to her though, so by the end of the weekend it was becoming not quite so exciting. I entered her in ten runs this weekend, five each day. She had a total of 6-1st place ribbons, 2-2nd place ribbons, and 3 runs were actually qualifying runs. The qualifying runs were in novice jumpers-both days, and tunnelers-the first day. She was eliminated in one round of the standard courses on Saturday, and in the chances course on Sunday. The chances course has a distance line that the handler cannot cross while the dog continues the obstacles across the line with the handler's guidance and strangely enough, Chesney decided not to take the tunnel on her own. Chesney loves tunnels! She did very well on several discriminations where she had to take the A-frame rather than the tunnel or the dog-walk rather than the tunnel. She is listening so well and really watching my body language. I think by the end of the weekend though, she was definitely getting tired. She left the ring on her own after completing the tunnelers course without waiting for me. She was headed back to her crate all by herself! Of course, that is a no-no, but apparently the judge didn't notice that she left without her leash or me. It is all very exciting! I am so proud of my little girl! We've just got to perfect those weave poles! Once we get those accomplished, she'll do very well I think as long as I direct her correctly. Our next agility trial is in Tulsa the first weekend in December. We're looking forward to that one as well!

We also want to extend congratulations to Nicki and Legend who finished a title and got several legs this weekend. They are definitely an inspiration to Chesney and I. And, congratualtions are in order for all of our other classmates at Paws Epress Agility who competed in this weekend's trial

Chesney's First Title

This morning, Chesney acquired her third leg of Rally Novice A in obedience, securing her first ever title! Yesterday morning, she got an NQ for her exercise. She was very distracted and not really paying much attention to me at all. Who knows why dogs do what they do. It might have been that I was really nervous, or that she did not like the mat on the floor, or that many of her friends from agility were there and she thought the whole thing was a social event. What ever the reason, she was much more attentive today while we were in the ring. She did not want to do her call forward finish right again today, though she did it great while we were practicing. And, I think I directed her wrong on one of the exercises, but we maintained a loose "j" shaped lead throughout most of the course and she pretty much kept her eyes on me. We have a lot of work to do this winter, because the next division, Rally Advanced A, will be done all off lead. Right now, we have three upcoming agility trials to work towards, and she is coming along very nicely in class. At our last class, she got ahead of me and actually turned back to look at me to ask"where do I go now" rather than just running amuck like she used to. This is all very exciting and I am very much enjoying the bond that we are strengthening between us. Chesney is an awesome dog!

Emin's afternoon at the "spa"

Tomorrow morning I will be riding my 29 year old Arabian gelding, Rocky Ridge Emin, in the parade at the Fair Grove Heritage Reunion. This will be his eighth appearance. I look forward to the festival all year long. It's a great time to visit with friends that you sometimes see only once a year. It's a time to browse all the wonderful craft booths that have invaded town for the weekend. And I cannot leave out the delicious corn on the cob at the Corn Shack and the cheesecake on a stick! Lots of family activities, demonstrations and music. It all gets kicked off this evening with the "75th Annual Pre-Festival Wiener Roast, Hootenanny and Shoot-Out" at the Sharp Ponderosa east of Fair Grove. Had a sad moment in town this afternoon though. Saw all the high school kids out setting up for parking and got a little teary-eyed because my son, Tyler will not be here for any of the festivities for the first time since we moved to Fair Grove 16 years ago. As most of you know, Tyler moved to Texas in June for college and is living with his Dad and family. Between the responsibilities of his job and school, it was just not possible for him to be here this year. It just will not be the same without him! I will be sure to eat an ear of corn for him and check out to see who has pulled what prank on which teacher in the dunking booth!

Little Orphan Annie Oakly update

Well, Tuesday was a very sad day for me. I made a decision to end the life of one that I had been successful at trying so hard to save. Annie was beginning to grow into an absolutely beautiful cat. This picture is older and I regrettably did not have any more recent ones of her. However, be it the fact that she was bottle raised by me and had no interraction with other cats as I did not want to put her with any of my other cats until I could test her and know she was disease-free, or that she just had a mental problem since she came so close to death. I don't know, but Annie was becoming increasingly more aggressive towards me or any other human. I never once in her short life heard her purr, but she consistently growled and pinned her ears at everyone. In the last week, she had attacked and bitten my finger while I was trying to pet her and then Monday night attacked and left some pretty good scratches on my hand when I reached in to get her food dish to refill it. All this from a 3 pound kitten! What would she have been like when she was a full-grown cat? It was suggested by several that I just put her out in the barn. I feel that it was more humane to end her life this way, than to put such a small, young and inexperienced creature out on her own where she would be very likely to get hit on the road or eaten by another animal. In a way, I feel like I let her down if it was non-socializing with other cats that was her problem. But I also feel that I gave her a very good chance at what could have been a wonderful life with me. I guess God had a plan for her, regardless of whether or not I understand it. She will be buried in my "pet cemetery" with the other cats and dogs whom have passed through my life, and I know that despite her temperment, that I did and will always love her. Enjoy your life beyond the rainbow bridge little Annie.

Chesney's newest "outfit"

Chesney is modeling her new bandanna. Her Mom bought it for her at Cider Days on Walnut street today. She'll be stylin' it at the Fair Grove Heritage Reunion next weekend. Chesney really enjoys going to the festival. While Mom browses all the craft booths and samples the delicious food, Chesney gets to meet all sorts of new friends. Anyone who knows Chesney knows that she loves everybody and never misses a chance to make a new friend. If you've never been to the Fair Grove Heritage Reunion, it is an awesome craft show, with lots of great food, family activities, music, and demonstrations of old farm implements. It all kicks off next Saturday with a parade at 9am. By the way, I will be riding my 29 year old Arabian gelding, Rocky Ridge Emin, for his 7th or 8th parade appearance. I'll post pictures after next weekend.

Agility Class

Chesney had a great night at Agility last Wednesday! Her Aunt Lindsay came to watch her and recorded some of her practice runs. Our instructor, Valerie, said that the course was designed for excellent dogs and had some really interesting turns to negotiate. Of course, on the second half which involved a very sharp u-turn, Chesney couldn't stand it anymore and ran off course to one of her very favorite people, Cindy! Cindy is known for her treats and Chesney just loves her. This video is from the first half of the course.

Saturday, Chesney and I went up to Pomme de Terre lake to visit our friends Lindsay and Jay and their children who were camping there for the weekend. Chesney got her first experience riding on a boat and swimming in the lake. She was not especially impressed about the swimming part, even with her life jacket. She pretty much attached herself to me while in the water. I got her a floatie cushion to sit on , which was ok as long as she could lean against me too. She was also not impressed when anyone in the boat jumped into the water, especially when I did. Lindsay thought she was going in after me, but she just couldn't bring herself to jump in on purpose. Those handles on the dog life jackets come in very handy for putting a small dog down into the water! She seemed to like the actual boat ride though. The campsite was fun too. She jumped right in the camper and made herself at home and enjoyed laying out in the grass near the campfire while those hamburgers cooked. All in all, I think she really enjoyed herself, but was definitely ready to come home and get some rest and recover from her big adventure.

Little Orphan Annie Oakley

Meet Little Orphan Annie Oakley...A big name for such a little girl! But very fitting..she's an orphan and she's also tough like Annie Oakley. I just hope she's tough enough! Annie and her brother and sister were abandoned in a plastic tub outside the front door of the clinic where I work almost two weeks ago. They were flea ridden and Annie appeared more sickly than her siblings. Several of us at the clinic have cared for the trio: I took on Annie, and another technician took on the other two. Annie's sister was adopted out last Friday but her brother passed away on Sunday. On Saturday, Annie developed the diarrhea that had already begun to affect her siblings and her appetite became decreased. A course of medication and probiotics was begun on Monday, but she seems about the same, and just doesn't seem to be able to sleep curled up and comfortable like she had been doing up until the weekend. However, she definitely has an opinion about the baths she gets to clean up and soothe her little bottom! She growls and spits and looks genuinely annoyed with my deciding she needs a bath. As you can imagine, I have become extremely attached to this little girl. I only hope that she keeps on fighting because I know she will be an absolutely beautiful at if she gets to grow up! Keep her in your prayers!

Chesney loves being outside...

It is beautiful outside, sunny and cool! I have the front door open and the doggie door that the dogs created in my screen door is getting plenty of use this morning. Chesney has spent most of the morning outside by herself. She loves enjoying the fresh air and all the smells. I snapped a few pictures of her. I might add, Chesney is notorious for her "sloppy sits", which probably won't earn her any points in obedience. She did do some nice down and sit stays on the agility table for me, without treats, so I could get a couple more pictures. After I get the yard mowed and get all of our agility euqipment arranged again, I expect we'll practice some agility this afternoon. I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful day!

Dinner with Mom

Mom came out last night and we had a wonderful dinner outside on the patio. I grilled steaks and we had potato salad and cucumbers fresh from my garden. It was a wonderful, cool evening and perfect for outdoor dining! Mom is doing very well after her heart attack scare and spending last weekend in the hospital.

Homemade Agility Equipment

Here are a few examples of the agility equipment I have been able to assemble so far...
A teeter compliments of Cheri, weave poles made with rebar compliments of Nicki, a jump, a hoop, a table and a chute made from odds and ends I found in the barn. Nothing fancy, but they work out quite well and give us something to practice on here at home.

Friday night racing in Bolivar

Another night at the races in Bolivar last night. I'm so glad Bolivar has gone back to asphalt! Last night was a bit disappointing though. It was supposed to be a mid-season championship for the modified class, which should have been a really good race. However, a driver who used to race late models at Lebanon when it was still asphalt and has been a successful dirt racer since decided to show up for the race last night, which had a $600 winner's purse. Of course, he blew the doors off all the drivers who have been there every week and won the money. He even passed inspection in the tech barn afterward. All of the regular drivers were very disappointed and rightfully so. The real race was still between all of them and not the one who was many car lengths ahead of everyone else. I think that championship should have been reserved for only the regular weekly drivers and not someone who hasn't raced there all year. My best friend's brother-in-law won his race in the street stock class though, so there was a good moment.

Gardening...

I am making a huge effort to keep up with the weeds in my garden this year. Seems like there is not enough time in the day by the time I get home from work and take care of all the animals. But, this year, I think I'm doing a great job! so far, I'm getting zucchini and cucumbers, some lettuce, and onions. The sugar snap peas are coming on, and so are the green beans. I've got tomatoes on the vine, but none have turned red yet. Lots of peppers coming on too...I've got green, red, yellow, black, and jalepeno. It's looking quite productive and I have to say, I'm pretty proud of myself this year!

Qualified!!!!

Chesney attended her first ever Rally Obedience trial this weekend in Sedalia. Though I was so nervous my legs were shaking throughout the first exercise yesterday, Chesney did great and got a qualifying score of 90 out of 100 possible points. Although we did not actually place in the class, we are still very proud of her qualifying ribbon. Today, I was more relaxed and Chesney did great again. She scored 85 out of 100 points and got another qualifying ribbon. She got a bit distracted on the side of the ring that adjoined the next ring. In that ring, there were about 10 dogs all on a down stay while their owners were out of the building. Chesney became very interested in why those dogs were all just laying there not doing anything fun and was really not interested in doing her call to front/finish left exercise. She sort of did it finally. The exercise I was most worried about was the halt while the owner walks around the dog. She did that one just fine. Probably thanks to the fact that we've been working on sit and down stays on the table while I walk around it for agility class. So now, she just needs one more leg for her Novice A rally title. We'll be attending the Springfield show in October to hopefully get that done! We went with Nicki, Legend and Zodiac and they all did especially well. We were very proud for them too. Someday, Chesney and I hope to be that good, but we are just getting our start! We are having great fun and that is what matters most! The pictures show Chesney's ribbons and the congratulatory new toys I got her today and a very tired Chesney from all of her big debut weekend activities. Oh, and ignore the dates in the pictures, I forgot to set the date in my camerabefore I took pictures.

Chesney's first agility trial

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! Finally I have time to update my blog and tell you all how our first agility trial went. Let me start by saying we had a really good time! Chesney's first course was jumpers and she did pretty good in that one, completing every obstacle but coming in under the time allowed. Of course, that one we did not get on video because I told my "videographer" the wrong way to record on my camera. The next course was tunnelers, and after first thinking she was going to be afraid of all tunnels, Chesney finally completed most of them. The second day we went in the regular course which has jumps, an A-frame, a dog-walk, tunnels and weave poles. She did the first five obstacles and I cut her short coming off the A-frame so she decided to take this opportunity to visit the judge, then the scoring table, then the pole setters. She finally came back and did another few jumps and the dog-walk and pretty much blew the rest of the course in favor of visiting and just running around in general. The next jumpers course, Chesney got distracted again and visited the scoring table, but did most of the jumps. The last course was tunnelers and she did it fairly well, refusing one tunnel altogether, and then after some thought, finished the rest of the course. She is a terrier you know!! And, I didn't feel too bad as some of the elite proficient dogs had moments of distraction as well. We had a great time though, and can't wait to go to another trial. We had our final class for the season last Monday, and we're both kind of sad about that because we've made some great friends between our instructors and fellow classmates.

FUN RUN

It was a veryyyyy coldddd day on Saturday, but Chesney wasn't about to miss her practice runs for agility! She ran in the regular course and did a great job! She wasn't sure about the weave poles-they look a lot different when they are in a straight line with no guides! She thought about trying it, but decided things just did not look right and went on to the next obstacle. She took one of the tunnels backwards, but when Mom insisted, she went back and did it correctly. She did all the other obstacles perfectly! A little later, Chesney ran in the tunnelers course and nailed it perfectly!! Obviously her mom is very proud of her accomplishments and we are both excited about the "real deal" trial this coming weekend.
The other students in Chesney's Monday night class that participated in the fun run did very well too. Chesney is entered for Sunday in the novice regular, tunnelers and jumpers divisions and we've decided to go ahead and run the same courses on Saturday too. We'll see you there!!!

Chesney's a model

Chesney has secured a modeling job! At All Creatures Pet Hospital, we added Lupine collars and leashes to our retail inventory. Chesney received a free collar and leash because we were a new retailer and modeled her new "clothes" for our website. As you can see, she is very proud of her new look. The style is called the "Suzie Q".

Chesney has also received both NADAQ and her AKC numbers so she is now eligible to compete in rally obedience and agility classes. We missed the deadline for rally obedience entries for next weekend, but are planning on entering the NADAQ trial here in Springfield in mid-November. She is continuing practicing and learning at Paws Express Agility and cannot wait for her showring debut!! Lets just hope her mother can keep up with her!!