Trick or Treat?

Did I mention that I'm not a fan of Halloween?

Well, that's because there are all kinds of scary pumpkin headed spotty monsters roaming around...





Who get mad when you laugh at them for getting a fake pumpkin stuck on their head...



Really mad...



And then there's Peyton, who is very sad he didn't get to go trick-or-treating...



And still can't believe his mom didn't get a "real" pumpkin this year.



But that's because last year's pumpkin sat in my courtyard until almost Christmas...and it would probably still be there if it didn't finally deflate into a mass of nasty pumpkin goo.

The spotties lucked out this year - no silly costume humiliation. But just for fun, here's a Halloween pic from 2 years ago. Peyton was only 6 months old...funny, he still has that same baby face. :)

Shopping!

The spotties love cleanrun.com...every time I go shopping for just the one item I *need* (using that term loosely), I always end up getting a few extra fun things for them.

Peyton thinks the toys are cool, but the box opening is pretty fun too... :)



Ooooh...for me?



Yay!





He's gotten pretty good at opening boxes...



Look, there's a snake in the box!



I-want-I-want-I-want...



NOW!



Please?



He decided there *had* to be more for him - naughty spotty. :)



I think Peyton has a new favorite tug...he *loves* the snake bottle wrapper. I also got him one of the new tugs that you stuff food in - I tried it with a little swiss cheese, but I don't think he knew what to do with it. I'll have to experiment with some different yummies and see if he get's the idea. :)

Chilly!

It's really been chilly the last few days here in sunny Sarasota. I think it's been in the low 60's today and was only in the high 40's overnight. Burrr - that's cold in my book!

My friends from Indiana are probably rolling their eyes about now, but hey - one of the reasons I moved down here was for the warm weather. I admit it...I'm a cold weather weenie and am currently bundled up in a hooded sweatshirt. At least I turned the heat off...for now. :)

I think the spotties are enjoying the cooler weather. I need to get some pictures of Pongo's mini zoomies in the backyard, but for now here are some pics from this past weekend of Peyton looking especially cute...

Last Class This Session

This week Peyton and I had our last two agility classes of the fall session, and overall he did great...especially in tonight's run-through class, which also happened to be our last class at our club's current location.

I was a little nervous because we had a lot more dogs tonight than usual, and a few that Peyton had never worked around. And even though he doesn't really care about any dog in class other than Riley, new dogs can often change the class dynamics and I wasn't sure if it would add to our focus issues, which are already challenging enough.

I think he proved me wrong! For the first time in a long time he didn't have his usual first run zoomies, and better yet - he actually ran the nested standard course quite nicely. Our second attempt was a jumpers course and I did manage to lose him at the start to Riley, but we took a little break and he was much better on his second attempt - not as good as his first run, but that was mainly because I was sending him all over the place - bad handler. :)

I'm really, really happy with how much he's progressed this session. While we still have our wild moments, his focus has improved so much, and I'm really pleased with how he's running. The "no mistakes" plan seems to be working - he's showing great speed, good jumping form, nice contacts (although I need to do some more a-frame work), and really great weaves. Now if I could just learn how to handle him...

It looks like we'll have a little break before our next round of classes begin at our new location, so hopefully I can get him out to a few other agility fields in the area. He's only worked at one location other than SOTC, so it will be interesting to see how he does in a new environment.

Oh, and I can't forget Indy! She came tonight and had some really nice runs too. I've not had her in class much this session, but we still play at home quite a bit. We've got some trials coming up in November - it's going to be a busy month!

Hot Dog!

A few more pics of my favorite weenie dog, Lucy...

Sunday Fun!

It was a beautiful day today and the spotties enjoyed some time outdoors.

Peyton ran...



And grazed...



And played some agility...







While Pongo begged for treats...



Indy looked pretty...



And then played with Lucy in the dirt...



And ended up with a really dirty tongue!



What a perfect day!

Boo!

Since Halloween is now just one week away, I thought it would be fun to share a few old pics of the spotties all dressed up.

And although I'm not much of Halloween fan, I have to admit that I do find some humor in putting silly costumes on these guys once a year.

These pictures are from 2004 - Indy was just 6 months old and Pongo was 10. I haven't decided if the spotties will have to go through the Halloween costume torture - I mean fun - this year. I guess it just depends on how good they are this week. :)

Pongo doesn't mind much - he'll do about anything for a cookie...



And then there's Indy...not.at.all.happy.

Ups And Downs

When it comes to training, it often seems like every time you take one step forward you then take two steps back. In fairness, I think Peyton and I have had a lot more forward progress lately, but sometimes it can be frustrating when you lose that momentum.

In Monday's class, he did pretty well after his first run, which was a zoom-fest. We worked on some challenging tight sequences and he really handled them pretty well. Now that I'm starting to get more focus, he's really running with a lot more speed and intensity, which is good, but it forces me to react quickly and really *think* about how I'm handing him.

Last night's class was not so good. Right when I got him to the start line for our first run, two of our classmates walked in (one who Peyton just loves) and I completely lost him. Our first three or so attempts at running were a disaster - he was all over the place. Once he settled down a bit, he actually worked pretty good, but in hindsight (I say that a lot here) I shouldn't have even attempted to run him while his brain was in spotty-land. :) *Sigh* one of these days maybe I'll learn.

I did some more experimenting with adding his mat our start line routine, and I think it definitely helps with setting him up for his run, but it didn't prove to be so helpful with his early zooming. I think I'll keep working on it though and maybe once we get a better routine down, it will help him relax a bit at the start.

The really funny thing is after class I gave him the opportunity to play with his friends (who he desperately wanted to play with at the start of class) - and he didn't even really want to. He is so much like a kid - he only really wants something when he knows he can't have it. :)

Silly spotty boy...

Two Sweet Red Dogs

And finally, a few shots of Kensi and Carter together. They really do make a good couple. :)

A special thanks to their mom for inviting me to come meet these two...they were both so good, and just a pleasure to photograph!







This last photo cracks me up... :)

Meet Carter!

I think Carter gets the award for the funniest non-spotted boy dog I've ever photographed...some of his expressions just make me laugh out loud.

But like Kensi, he was also super sweet and very well behaved for his age.

He definitely had no trouble warming up to the camera...in fact, I think he wants to be a canine supermodel. :)