"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom."

I have this bad habit of trying to cram a ton of stuff into a single weekend. This one was a good example. I was hired to judge a hunt test way up in central Michigan. I figured since I was going, might as well bring Noodle and run her in the one master hunter test I wasn't judging. Then I figured if I am heading all that way up there maybe I should find something to do along the way. A rally trial was conveniently on my way in Ann Arbor on Friday. Let's do it all!

The rally trial went surprisingly well. I was kicking myself when I had to get up at 4:30am, but it wasn't bad since I entered the second trial so it started a bit later. The master course had a recall over the broad jump and I have never done with with Noodle. She has a history of walking across the broad jump in rally as it looks nothing like an agility broad jump...with the planks solid white and all pushed together it looks like a board to walk across in her eyes. She actually did pretty well on this one! We ended up with our highest score yet in Master with a 99. We went on to score a 99 in Excellent and Advanced also! All in all it was a darn good stop on the way to the hunt test.

We got up bright and early for the hunt test (after Noodle kept me awake all night being restless in the hotel). I was surprised that she didn't run very big, I expected her to be a bit wild after being cooped up all day yesterday, but she didn't range out very far. So unlike her, but I guess this is her 'new normal'. We hit the bird field and then she was on fire. We had three beautiful points and retrieves, and she was perfectly solid on all 3 birds. Two of the retrieves were blind retrieves as the cover was up to my shoulders and she was not able to mark the bird. However, she went way out as I directed and found them rather quickly! I praised her with a "good girl!" as she was coming back, and was promptly told to 'shut up' by one of the judges. Since when am I not allowed to praise my dog? The third retrieve was a hard one as it was really really far, and fell into high cover, She managed to find it fairly quickly and got it back to me. After that, all I needed was the honor so they set up my brace mate so we could honor. At this point, she knew the routine and was sticking rather close to me so it was hard to get her to go out and stop on her own, but we made it work.

Came back to look at my scores and they ended up failing us - gave us a 4 on the retrieve...we did THREE retrieves to hand! Apparently the judge nailed me because I wasn't supposed to talk or praise her. Since when? Where is that in the rule book? Just another example of judges wanting handlers and dogs to act like robots for tests. Ridiculous! It's irrelevant to me as she already has 36 MH passes, and as hard as she worked for me I'll be damned if I wasn't going to let her know she was doing a good job. That's how our relationship works - I never force her or punish her, I let her know when she is doing right and she thrives and tries to please me. I chalked this one up as another experience to add to my book, and a good reminder of exactly why I became a judge.

I had a blast judging, as usual. Saw some beautiful dogs, the weather was gorgeous and surprisingly cool for this time of year. After the judging was done on Sunday, I was able to let Noodle loose to burn off some steam before our long drive home. It didn't take her long to go on point on a leftover bird. Man, I love this girl.

I should mention that Friday and Saturday evenings I took Noodle for a walk around a really pretty quarry/wildlife area. Of course I took plenty of photos. It was beautiful out, and nice to spend some one on one time with my girl.

All 3 dogs had class today as I am leaving tomorrow for an agility trial in Tennessee. Noodle ran pretty good, Dolphin was a complete slacker, but the true star was Pizza! This was courses week, so we ran three difficult courses in class. My instructor had everyone come out in the ring for each of Pizza's runs - we had various people sitting in corners acting as bar setters, a leash runner, and a judge that followed us around. She even used the 'Go' button over the speakers like they do at trials. This was a very good experiment as this wasn't her regular class, so all of the dogs and people were unfamiliar to her. She ran all three courses PERFECTLY with zero visiting! She was focused, enthusiastic, and nailed it. I think that was extra awesome considering she was deep in season today and pretty hormonal (which for her isn't much, because she stays pretty even when she is in season). I was thrilled! We are getting closer to hopefully being able to do a trial. I don't want to rush her or trial her before she is truly ready to come back, but man, I am so eager! Hopefully we stay on this path and continue to improve.

Mark and I headed to Murfreesboro, Tennessee with Noodle and Dolphin for a 3-day agility trial this weekend. It was the first time we were able to travel together in the motorhome in well over a year! Traveling with Dolphin is easy-peasy. Traveling with Noodle...well, it's a challenge! She handled the travel day pretty well, and I was able to bribe her to eat with some prescription wet food mixed in with her dry food.

This weekend was a pretty major success! We started off Friday with FAST, only Dolphin was entered. For some reason he was a little freaked out by the big dirt rings, and he was very scattered and unfocused, which is SO unlike him. We ended up missing the send (which was jump-tunnel=A Frame) because he cut over to me and missed the A Frame. However, he redeemed himself in Time 2 Beat with a nice smooth run and a win in the big 24" class! He wasn't running his full-out crazy self, but he did run and was accurate and clean.

Standard was first, and Dolphin was still a little distracted in that ring (same ring as FAST was in), he wasn't super fast and en ended up knocking the triple for an NQ. Noodle laid down a really nice standard course for a Q - her very first time in the agility ring since 6 months ago and her down time from her injury! Jumpers was next, and Dolphin laid down a pretty nice course for a Q. He was looking around a bit, so his turns were pretty wide, but he stayed on course and kept the bars up. Noodle, however, was very very slow, actually went over to visit the judge in flow (hasn't done that in a long time!). She was clean but ended up over time, so NQ. Overall a decent day.

Saturday was a spectacular day! We started off with FAST - Dolphin had a nice Q (send was tough - 2 jumps and tunnel with the line being really far from the second jump) and ended up 2nd place! He then laid down a really nice Time 2 Beat Q and another 2nd place. It was small to tall today so Noodle went first in Jumpers and Standard. She didn't do very well, just kept stopping to sniff the dirt and wouldn't keep moving. She was obsessing over the dirt in that ring. After she went past a jump, I walked her out. Dolphin was slightly distracted on course in jumpers but he ran well, The course had a lot of off-course options, so I was super happy with his focus on me. We had a really nice Q! In standard, Noodle had another decent Q (apparent;y she likes that ring better than the jumpers ring). Dolphin ran awesome! I wimped out on a front cross and almost pulled him off a jump, but he listened and got it from a weird angle and saved the run. It was a beautiful Q, and best of all this was a QUADRUPLE QQQQ today! Double QQ #11, we have finally passed the halfway point towards our MACH!

Sunday was only standard and jumpers. Dolphin ran standard really well. It had a tricky 180 wrap with off course options on either side, but he did it great! It was a nice Q. Noodle also had a nice Q in standard. Jumpers was the last class. Dolphin ran fantastic, but knocked a bar (looks like he flattened out and bumped it with his chest). Noodle started obsessing over the dirt again (what IS it with that particular ring???) and ended up going past the weaves, so I walked her out.

Overall a pretty amazing trial for us, I do say! Dolphin got a quadruple QQQQ one day, and was one bar short of a double QQ the other two days. I am a little worried about Noodle and her lack of energy. I may have my vet run some blood tests to see how her levels are, because this is really unlike her.

Noodle and I keep plugging away at that RACH title! Today we hit a rally trial in Dayton. It was a great trial because rally started later in the morning, so no 4am wakeup for me!

Noodle rocked the Master class and earned our very first perfect 100 score! We tied with the only other 100 in the trial, but placed second because we were a tad slower. We then came back and earned another perfect 100 score in Excellent, and another 2nd place. She messed up a sign a little bit in Advanced, so we scred a 97, which put us just ONE single point short of winning High Triple. So darn close! We are getting closer to that RACH title, I see it in the horizon. As long as my girl stays healthy, we will hopefully get it!

In between rain storms, I was able to get some bird work done with Pizza in the field this morning. She was stellar as always! It's funny - on the first bird, she moved slightly like she was going to grab at it as it flushed, and then she stopped herself and looked at me like "oops!" After that she was rock solid on her birds. It was a nice morning together. I am hoping to finish her Master Advanced title this fall, as she only needs 2 more passes.

It's been a bit of an overwhelming week. Things didn't happen as planned, then other things happened, decisions were pondered and made, and I am at peace with my decision...I think. Stay tuned!

Yesterday I took Noodle to my vet to pull some blood and look her over to figure out why she has such a major lack of energy. He also took a urine sample, because our fear is that her Lymphangiectasia has progressed to the point where her kidneys may be leaking protein in her urine, which would be horrible (but would account for her lack of energy). I pray pray pray this isn't so. I should know results tomorrow. I have noticed her energy going down for the past 6 months, and the past 2 months it has been pretty drastic.

That being said, Noodle had agility class today and she was fantastic - she ran the best she has run in probably 6+ months! She ran great the entire class. I am really scratching my head on this one as I really thought today's class would have been really hard on her. I took her to class thinking I would let her energy and desire decide how much I was going to do with her, and she ended the class as strong and happy as she started!

I will wait for her blood and urine results before getting too hopeful, but this was definitely a mood-lifter today.

Well, I got Noodle's blood and urine test results back today. The good news is that everything is normal. No signs of protein were found in her urine. Her blood tests look great, and her Albumin and protein levels were the highest they have been in years! Of course, this leaves us still with the mystery of her lack of energy. I started to second-guess myself as she was really good in agility class yesterday, but I remembered that I have been seeing her energy steadily and slowly declining for over 6 months now. She has spourts of good days, but overall it is not what it was just a year ago. Right now I will keep watching her and see how she does in the next month or so, as we really don't have any idea where to go from here.

I am so happy to report that Pizza had another perfect agility class with ZERO visiting! She ran fantastic! I am starting to get a bit excited about our future. I have a great instructor who is really taking the time to delve into her issues and come up with a training plan. Dolphin also ran great in class today - full of energy and jumping great (only one knocked bar the whole class). It was a great day!

What better way to spend my birthday than in the field with my bestest boy! I set out 4 pigeons for Dolphin to work. It was pretty darn hot, and he did fade pretty fast in the heat, but kept up a good hunt. The second bird was a bit iffy for him as it flew right over his head and he leaped up to try to grab it. I was pretty unprepared for that, as he was solid as a rock on his first bird. I scolded him and that's all it took. He was perfect on the next two birds! He gave me some gorgeous points, as usual. All in all it was a pretty darn good birthday (topping the day off with dinner at Carabbas with Mark).

Today was all about the Pizza Pie. I trained with a friend and his young Brittany, and he did some shooting for me. Pizza was, well, she was Pizza - Practically Perfect! She ended up having to honor FOUR times today. The first three were her usual amazing honors. The fourth one she was like 'oh hell no, not again' and tried to blink it. I can't really fault her as that is a LOT of honoring in one session. It was another incredibly hot and humid day, and by the end of the hour we were both exhausted.

The BEST thing about today's training session was her retrieve. Not only was she absolutely rock solid on her birds without a millimeter of movement, but she did both her retrieves beautifully to hand. Her first bird she put down once very quickly, and the second bird was straight out and back. I praised the HECK out of her to let her know she was perfect! We have been doing occasional retrieves in the yard with bumpers, and she has been doing great. I am working on keeping her enthusiastic. She wants to please me so badly, her biggest reward is my joy when she does well, soI make sure she sees it!