Summer is flying by...

Wow – it sure has been a long time since I’ve updated everyone on my life. Summer is going by so fast. I’ve been a pretty busy blue dog. I have gotten to go to class a few times while The Red Dog was taking breaks. I don’t know what that was all about. Why would anyone need a break from agility. I heard mom say that he gets sore when he runs too much. Serves him right. He should move over and let the poor blue dog get a turn.

I would like to say that I’m a perfect dog when I go to class but sometimes I just get too excited. You know how that goes. Then the barking starts. Bark. Bark. Bark. I try to do the exercises correctly but it’s just hard when I get all revved up. At least everyone is nice to me. I’m sure the laughing is because they know I’m having so much fun. There are some really tough things to practice at class and I always try my best. I don’t know how all of the other dogs can figure out that stuff. I’ll just keep at it when I get the chance and maybe some day it will all make sense.

Mom says that my start line stays have gotten a lot better. I still don’t think it’s very much fun. Why would anyone want to stay when there’s an obstacle RIGHT THERE? I lost my turn a couple of times when I didn’t wait. That wasn’t very much fun so I am trying very hard to be a good dog. I got to go to a private lesson with The BFF. She took up a lot of the time trying to learn something with the weaves. I really wasn’t paying that much attention. Usually when I’m in my crate I’m busy thinking about all of the fun I could be having with mom and the obstacles so I don’t really pay attention to anyone else. I only got to do a couple of jumps each time at the lesson. It was one of those silly exercises where mom thinks I should learn how to turn. I get the whole turning thing. I just don’t want to do it. It is so much more fun to just run around and take all of the obstacles I can find. Come on – I know you agree with me. I hope I get to go to another private lesson soon. Maybe next time it can be more about me.

I’ve done a lot of weaves for breakfast this summer. Not to brag or anything, but I’m getting much better. Mom has been resurfacing the contacts for us this summer so I have also done the dogwalk for breakfast and the teeter for breakfast. You wouldn’t believe how fast I can be when breakfast is on the line.

The Red Dog and The BFF have been busy going to trials. Not the poor blue dog. Maybe some other year. The annoying red dog keeps coming home with ribbons so I guess he’s doing okay. The BFF says she still can’t decide if she wants to do agility or not at trials. Mom isn’t very happy with her when she doesn’t want to run. I love my little sister but I sure don’t get what’s going on in her head. She actually gets to go to trials and run. All of the time. If I got to go to trials, I would RUN RUN RUN! I keep telling her to run as fast as she can. I hope she decides to listen to me.

I’ve been hanging out a lot with The Cowboy this summer. He really seems to like me. I’ve heard rumors that I might get to sleep in his room when he has a real bed. I hope he hurries up and gets a bed soon because I think that would be fun. We could hang out all night and talk. Mom says that I will have to be a good boy and let him sleep. I guess I could let him sleep as long as I get to be the last one to see him at night and the first to see him in the morning.

I Got to Run Again!!!!

I did it! I got to run at a real agility trial again. This time it was an ASCA trial. I went up to Wisconsin with The Red Dog and The BFF last Sunday. There were lots of different classes to run. I watched The Red Dog and The BFF come and go from the car lots of times. I started to get worried that I wasn’t going to get to play but near the end of the day I finally got my turn. Yippee!!!

The courses I ran were called jumpers and the only obstacles were jumps and tunnels. Mom said she was worried I would hurt myself if there were any contacts or weave poles. I think she worries too much about me. I’m sure I could have run all of those other courses. But I’m not going to complain. I got to run TWICE. The first time I was so excited that I ran around a lot of the jumps. I think I dropped most of the jumps that I actually took. I even knocked over the entire jump a couple of times. I don’t know what happened. I was just so excited. Running. Running. I wanted everyone to see me so there was no time to listen to mom or pay attention to the obstacles. The second run I tried to be a little better. It’s just so hard for me. I don’t think I dropped as many bars and I tried to not skip as many of the jumps.

I still don’t have any ribbons. Maybe someday. But mom wasn’t mad at me. She laughed the whole time I was out there. Even though I may not be as good as the other dogs she knows I want to be. I just haven’t figured out how to pay attention and run at the same time. Mom said if there was an award for the most enthusiastic dog that I would win it every time. I think that’s important. I sure wish someone would have an award like that for me. I just want everyone to see how much fun I’m having.

I don’t know when I’ll get to do real agility again. Mom says that I need to keep practicing. When I learn to always be a good dog in practice then I will be able to be a good dog at a trial. That’s all right with me. I like to practice. I get to bark a lot. I’ll just keep trying and trying. Someday it will be my turn again and I will make the most of it.

Busy, busy, busy!

I’ve been a very busy blue boy lately. I LOVE it when I get to go away. Last Saturday I went to an agility trial with The BFF. I didn’t get to run but it was fun to hang out in a crate at a real trial. There were a lot of barking dogs and I didn’t like that too much but the rest of it was fun. I got to walk around with mom a lot and visit with everyone. All of the barking left me pretty nervous but mom let everyone give me treats. I like treats. A lot. When they were changing the courses I even got to go into the ring and play on the warm-up jump. Just like a real agility dog. That was neat. I tried to really listen to mom and wait to take the jump, just like in practice. It was pretty hard to do but when I was a good boy I got to play with my toy after I jumped. I did that a bunch of times. Of course, sometimes I opened my big mouth while we were playing at the jump. I just can’t help myself.

Then on Monday I got to go to class again. I think The Red Dog is really mad at me since I got to go away twice and he was stuck at home. I tried to be a good blue dog and pay attention to the course. It was pretty tricky. I don’t know how The BFF and The Red Dog can do those hard courses. Mom stopped and gave me treats. She tried to fix it so I wouldn’t try to kill myself on the dogwalk. I get too excited sometimes and I don’t really pay attention to where I’m going. Mom is worried that I’ll hurt myself so she stops in the middle of the run and makes sure that I’ll be okay. I did a whole set of weaves. Twice. Pretty good, don’t you think? It was a hard entry and I missed it but once we retried I got the whole set. I just hope that everyone can see how hard I’m trying. I didn’t even drop many bars. I have to confess that I still don’t see the point of waiting at the start line. I didn’t like it when mom tried to walk a couple of jumps ahead of me so I decided I should join her. She wasn’t very happy with that but I really wanted to get moving. The BFF said I should probably think about staying when I’m told to because she has heard that dogs who don’t stay often get walked off the course without ever getting to run. I don’t think that would be very fun at all.

There are some rumors that I might get to try to run at an actual trial again sometime. I sure hope it’s soon!

The Red Dog and The BFF got to run at a trial a couple of weeks ago. The BFF said that she just wasn’t into her runs and that mom wasn’t very happy with her. She finished some title called an OAJ but after that she was done running. I told her that I think she should run hard every time on the course. She said she would think about it. That stupid Red Dog had to show us all up again. He got another one of those QQs. This one was special because he got a giant ribbon and his very own jump bar. Everyone signed it and he said that he got to do a special run around the ring and just take whatever obstacles he wanted. Now he thinks he’s even MORE special than before. It’s getting hard to live with him. To celebrate, mom got an ice cream cake and we all got to eat it. It was GREAT! I really like ice cream cake, even if it means that The Red Dog’s ego is bigger than ever.

We haven’t gotten to play very much lately. It’s been raining a lot and the yard is really muddy. We all like to run and play in the mud but mom doesn’t like all of the mud in the house. I can’t wait until the yard is nice and dry and we can start playing agility out there again!

There's Been a Lot Happening...

There’s been a lot going on around here. The Blue Dog has been a busy boy. I got to run in a barn a few weeks ago. It was really fun and it smelled good. I tried to be a good boy. You know the story. I try to be good but sometimes I just get too excited and I can’t help myself. The barking starts. And it doesn’t stop. I keep telling myself to stop barking but somehow the message doesn’t make it to my mouth. Bark. Bark. Bark.

Still, it was a lot of fun. The courses were pretty hard for me but mom tried to make them easier. I still don’t like to do the weaves in public. I know I can rock those poles but I’m just not ready for everyone else to see them. So I bark. I got to do an extra run because my friend Mary decided that she wanted to run me. It was a little scary to be running with someone else. She gave me lots of treats, so that was nice. I tried to be really good for her. I even stopped barking at the weaves. By the end I was really nervous, though, and I went to find mom. I wanted to make sure that she saw how hard I tried. Plus, I wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss my ride home. That would be really scary. She said I was a good boy, so that made me happy.

The Red Dog and The BFF got to run that day, too. I guess they did okay but I was so proud of myself that I didn’t ask too much about their runs. When I was walking back to the car I saw that some nice horse had left me a special treat so I grabbed it before any of the other dogs found it. Talk about a really good day!

You can see me run on youtube - just click on the link on the right. I guess the others are there, too. Whatever.

The run thrus were to prepare for the AKC Nationals. Ol’ you-know-who got to go to North Carolina to run. He just can’t help being a suck-up, can he? The BFF and I stayed home to keep an eye on the house. It was fun hanging out with her but I missed my Cowboy. I could learn to be a good boy if it meant I could take trips with The Cowboy. I guess that The Red Dog was a good dog out there. He said that he only dropped one bar all weekend and that he nailed the hard courses on the first day. He was oh-so-proud of himself. As much as I hate to do anything to inflate his ego even more, I have to hand it to him – at least he gives us aussies a good name.

Last weekend everyone but me got to go and run at a trial. Yup. Even The Boss got do to a run each day. She said that it was lots of fun because she didn’t have to do the weaves or anything with yellow paint. She’s so lucky. The BFF said that she decided she could do the weaves even faster than usual if she stopped after 10. I guess that mom didn’t think that was such a brilliant idea. It was a fun weekend even though I didn’t get to run because I was able to play with The Cowboy all weekend without anyone else getting in the way.

Then, on Monday, I got to do something really exciting. The Red Dog took a night off from class and I got to go in his place. Well, really I ran in The BFF’s place and she ran in his place. Still, it was very different. There were a lot of different dogs and I tried really hard to fit in. They were all much more experienced than I am. The course was pretty hard for me but mom did it in small pieces. The BFF always talks about all of her friends from class so it was fun to finally meet them. They were very nice to me. I even kept the barking down as much as I could and managed to do a whole set of weaves. Pretty good for a blue dog, don’t you think? Sherry (the instructor – I can call her that because I was an actual student) said that I was a good boy. I sure hope that I get to go again sometime.

Happy Birthday To Me

As some of you may remember, my birthday was last Saturday. Actually, it was my birthday AND The Cowboy’s birthday, too. That was exciting. He turned 1. I turned 3. Mom kept saying that she hoped I would get my brain for my birthday present. I don’t know about that. I don’t feel any different and my head doesn’t seem any bigger.

Mom thought I should celebrate my birthday by wearing a hat. I didn’t want to wear the hat at all. It felt strange. And humiliating. She tried to get The BFF to wear it, too. She didn’t like it, either. We do have some pride, you know. The BFF’s birthday is tomorrow so mom made a cake for both of us. It was really yummy. Since we’re nice little aussies we shared it with The Boss and The Red Dog. Wanna bet that when ol’ you-know-who has his birthday next month he won’t share with us?

Things have been busy around here. I’ve gone to train a few times on the weekends. The place where we go is really nice. The floor looks like grass and has these little rubber pellets in it. It’s really fun to run on it. I just like to be able to run and play on the equipment. I start barking as soon as I get there and I just can’t stop. I bark when I’m in my crate waiting for my turn. I bark when it’s my turn. I don’t know why it happens. I just have no control over it.

It’s been really cold and snowy here. I like the snow – we run around like crazy little dogs and play chase. Even The Boss gets in on the games. I don’t like the cold, though. When it’s really cold I get little ice balls in my feet. That’s not any fun at all. I thought it was going to snow again today. That’s what the weatherman said but I think he was wrong. I’ve been looking out the window all day and nothing. If we’re not going to get to play on the equipment in the yard then at least there should be more snow for us. I can’t wait for next winter when The Cowboy will be able to come out and play. That’s going to be lots of fun.

Uh oh. The Boss needs the computer. She says it’s urgent but I doubt that. Gotta go…

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from The Blue Dog! I hope that everyone is out of the snow and curled up with their families. The Blue Dog loves Christmas. We get to hang out at grandma’s house and she gives us peanut butter. Then we all go to bed and sometime during the night Santa leaves us lots of yummy treats and fun toys in our stockings. The Red Dog tried to tell me that Santa doesn’t exist but I don’t believe him. You all know that he lies a lot (except about that whole breakfast-before-a-trial-thing). I think he just wants me to feel stupid. I know I’m right about this, though. I just wish that Santa would see how naughty he is and not bring him anything good. That would really serve him right.

So far, it’s been a good Christmas Eve. I got to play with The Cowboy all afternoon while the others were in their boxes. That was GREAT! The Cowboy and I had so much fun. He crawled all over grandma’s house and I followed him. When I got tired with that I sat on the big chair and observed the action. I love it when I get to pretend that I’m an only dog. I caught old you-know-who giving me a death stare but I’m not scared of him. Especially when he’s locked in his crate.

I hope everyone has a great Christmas or Hanukkah. If you see Santa before he gets to our house please make sure to tell him that The Blue Dog was a good boy this year. I’m off to sleep with visions of bones and squeaky toys dancing in my head…

A REAL Agility Trial: The Blue Dog Loses His Mind

Sorry it’s been such a long time. I’m still trying to figure out what exactly happened to me the other week. I was right – I did get to run in an actual agility trial. It was very exciting. Unfortunately, it was a little too exciting. You might not know this about me but when I get excited I start to bark. Once I start barking, my brain just kind of shuts down. That’s not a good thing.

Mom took me to a trial in the same building where I went for the run-thrus. It was really different, though. There were a lot more people and dogs and I was really nervous. There was really a lot going on. I got to do three runs both days. I decided the first day that it didn’t really make sense to sit at the start line waiting to go so I just took off even though mom hadn’t told me to go. Plus, all of those other dogs were right on top of me and I just wanted to get away. I know I shouldn’t have done that but I didn’t get in trouble. Mom just adapted and let me run. I really, really, really like to run. Then, I decided that I didn’t need to stop on the contacts. I know better than that but it was all so exciting and I couldn’t help myself. I have to say, I was quite impressed at the amount of air I caught leaping off the frame. Maybe I should play Dockdogs with Fergus.

I really lost my mind at the weaves. I don’t know why but I couldn’t stop barking. It’s on tape. And it’s not flattering. According to mom, I barked more than 20 seconds at the weaves in one of the runs on Sunday. I guess that’s a really long time. It’s not that I didn’t want to do them. I just couldn’t. My brain was all confused by the excitement and I didn’t want to have to think. I just wanted to run around and let the judge see how much I love the game.

It’s hard to say if being at an actual trial met my expectations or not because it’s all kind of a blur. I got lots of cheese and meatballs, so that was good. I was able to hang out with mom without anyone else trying to steal my time so that was good, too. I didn’t know that I would be so stressed about it all. I guess I was just really overwhelmed by all of the dogs, people and noise. I know that mom thought I did pretty well even though I didn’t get any ribbons. I sure wish I would have gotten a ribbon. Everyone else has them. I did get a toy, though. I really like squeaky toys. At least until the BFF grabs them from me and rips them apart. So far she hasn’t destroyed my toy.

I’m not sure when I’ll get to run at a trial again. I know that dad was sad that I wasn’t at home with him and I really did miss hanging out with dad and The Cowboy. I also know that I need to work on not being stressed before I can run again. And I need to keep working on impulse control. I have a feeling it might be a while before I get to run.

As a final note, did you know that you only get half of your breakfast when you go to a trial? I didn’t know that. The Red Dog told me that once but I thought he was just saying it because he didn’t want me going to trials. It’s actually true. For once in his silly red life he was telling the truth. Leave it to him to wait until it’s about something really important. Like breakfast.