Walking Billboard

Literally!

Sorry about the less than stellar picture!

My Favorites

My favorite shots from our walk yesterday...

Coulee is quite easy to photograph on walks. Despite all her bad habits, she is quite good off-leash. She likes to run and have fun, but she doesn't like to get too far away so she will often stop and look back to see where I am.

I wish Lacey was just a little taller so the grass wouldn't always be in the way!

Vito spent almost the entire time by the water barking at Coulee.

I think one of the reasons I don't really like photographing people is that I find it hard to capture them in a natural moment and still have them looking good. They are usually talking or eating or ... So I really like it when I manage to capture a real smile.

Boone can be very intense when he wants to be.

More Dogpark Fun

Amanda and I went out with the kids again this weekend. They had lots of fun as usual...

Coulee and Lacey play together quite a bit these days.

They were all supposed to be posing at the top of the hill for a picture. I guess I wasn't fast enough.

Coulee was the only one brave enough to actually swim. The other three just stayed on shore waiting for her to bring back the stick.

Lacey really wanted that stick!

Passions

I love it when passions collide.

Along with all the doggie things that I do, I also spin and knit. These were made for Jolene using fur from her Rough Collie Tate, mixed with wool.

And before you ask, no, they shouldn't smell like wet dog when they get wet!

I'm going to start spinning some Sheltie fur mixed with silk soon. I can't wait!

Speaking of Brave...

I'm not sure that I should be proud of this or not, but I love the way Lacey can hold off dogs much bigger than her by calmly showing a little teeth. She's never followed through with the threat, and she's never had to.

She quite likes Harley, she just didn't want him on her chair. He got the message.

Very Brave

When we got out to Alta-Pete's we were in time to watch Scott's dog, bring the sheep in from the pasture. It was pretty amazing to watch.

Then we watched Judy with her dog Sadie have their lesson. It was only Sadie's second lesson but she was doing great!

Then it was Lacey's turn...

Lacey was very brave and showed a lot of spunk out sheep herding. The only time she acted a little timid was when the sheep got into a corner. And I can hardly blame her. The one "whiter" sheep kept stomping his foot at her. It felt threatening to me too. When I was looking through the photos I noticed that it was the whiter one that always seemed to be on its own that Lacey had to try and herd back to the group - maybe that is why it was so ornery. But by the end, she was coming with me into the corners and "shooing" the sheep out. We kept her on a long leash so she couldn't get into too much trouble. She went hard until about the last 5 minutes and it was obvious the adrenaline had run out, and she was pooped. Marlin was Lacey's official photographer for the day!

Just as we were finishing Veronica and Mike showed up with their pups and we got to watch Ozark for a little bit.

All in all, it was a pretty fun day!

Oh yeah, I should also mention that when we got home, COULEE WOVE WITHOUT ANY GATES!!!!! Just once, but we did a pretty big happy dance in the backyard. My neighbors probably thought I was nuts!

Little Herder

The littlest one tried out sheep herding today. We ran out of time for Coulee to try so she'll have to try it out next time. Lacey had LOTS of fun! I'll post more pics later but here is one to tide you over.

For Me?

We had a tunnel delivered to the daycare today. A friend of my mom's gave it to her, who gave it to my sister, who gave it to my dad, who just gave it to me. Phew! Lacey seemed to think it was just for her. Amanda managed to photograph her telling Dozer to back off.

He even listened to her.

Oh Coulee

Coulee does this to all her best friends - Tundra, Tazzie and now Ryder...

She is always pretty sneaky about it so they rarely know she is doing it. She'll often stand just behind them or if she is feeling extra friendly, she'll rest her chin on their back. Poor Ryder didn't have a clue what was going on because she wasn't even touching him. And to be honest, I was so focused on Ryder I didn't notice either for a few seconds!

Lots of Fun...

... and lots of photos! And I mean lots. I couldn't narrow them down more than this!

Vito and Wicca

Lacey enjoying herself in the water.  She got cold before the other dogs did and was looking pretty miserable on the shore by the end.

My favorite from the day

Coulee always photographs quite well when she is wet.  She looks kind of muscular in this one!

Lacey was trying to get Boone's attention.

If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it. Coulee and Wicca bringing back a stick together and they both lived to tell the tale.  Can you hear the growling?

Wicca almost lost it - the look in her eye made us laugh out loud.

Wicca has regained her grip... for now!

There are benefits to being tall and reaching the ground first!

Happy Coulee

Lacey got the stick and was very proud of herself.  (My other favorite from the day)

Wicca has the most expressive eyes I've ever seen.

She's also a pretty photogenic dog.

Moisture doesn't do much for Boone's appearance.  :)

Eat my dust... er... spray

Wicca was pretty focused on the stick

Lacey was much happier in the field than the water

I was trying to get a nice family portrait of Amanda and her pups but Coulee had to stick her big nose in where it didn't belong.

One thing I didn't get photos of was Lacey walking into the barb wire fence. Not once, not twice, not even three times!  Apparently she is not a quick learner!  It was pretty funny watching her spring backwards as she hit the "invisible" barrier. Thankfully she never ran into an actual barb.

We had a lot of fun.  The weather and company were perfect.

Learning to Weave

Coulee has been learning to weave for what feels like forever! I know, it is my fault. We don't practice nearly enough. This week though, I've practiced every day but one - and that was due to rain. We borrowed some poles and gates and have been practicing in the backyard. The first night was a disaster. I know that with any new "trick", location can make a big difference, so even though we were weaving with just a few gates in class, I started back at square one. Coulee acted like they weren't even there and just shoved her way through. I started to get quite frustrated, which didn't help so after 5 minutes we both went inside for a break. After dinner, and a BIG drink, we tried again. Much better!

We went out this afternoon and brought the camera. I set it up on a stool, attached the remote and asked Coulee to weave towards me. It worked quite well.

We had some really good sequences...

And some not so good sequences...

Big Girl

Lacey graduated to jumping 10" last night at agility class. She must be growing up.