Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Absence
Although I'm not certain of how many people out there are still reading this blog (LOL), I'm sure that those of you that are--that don't talk to me everyday, anyways--are wondering why I don't post about Moss much anymore.
Sometimes, the best decisions, the RIGHT decisions, really suck. Even when the outcome is better for everyone involved.
Since the end of July, Moss now lives with a friend of mine, we'll call her E, in a town about 45 minutes away from where I live. E lives on a small farm that butts up to acres and acres of rolling farmland. You've seen it, in many of the working dog photos I've posted over the past year or so.
It was not an easy decision to place Moss. I fully expected, and wanted, to keep him for his whole entire life. I never even considered the idea until E asked if we might consider letting her have him. Because of a rather shitty set of circumstances, as well as the fact that I've been focusing mainly on agility for the last few years, Moss and his herding training have been on the back burner. I had a lot of guilt about that, because he is truly happiest when he has a job and work to do every day. I felt that it wasn't fair to keep him a pet, when he had so much talent for herding. But still, he was my dog, and I loved him a whole lot. I still do.
When E's offer came up, I agonized about making a decision for weeks. Ultimately, even though it completely broke my heart, I decided to do what was right for my dog, and stop being selfish about keeping him when he had such a great opportunity. I felt it was only fair to give Moss the opportunity to do what he loves every day instead of occasionally... and with someone who had the time, resources, and ability to take him as far as possible while still keeping him as a pet and member of her family. Basically, he would have everything I gave him, plus a steady job. It seems like the stars happened to align for him right when he needed them most.
When I finally called E to give her my answer, I choked out something to the effect of "I've decided to let you have him" before breaking down and crying so hard that I had to get off the phone. But immediately afterwards, even though I was still incredibly, profoundly sad, I felt a huge sense of relief and peace wash over me. I knew immediately that I'd made the right decision. And that has proven to be the case. E texts me all the time to tell me how he's doing, and she's thanked me many times for him. He adores her, and she him. Sometimes things are just "right," ya know? I know that this is one of those times. I doubt he's given me a second thought...even though I miss my big, sweet, goofy, talented boy every day.
In his new home, Moss gets to work sheep every day. The two of them are currently competing in USBCHA trials and doing awesome, recently placing in the top 5 out of 42 dogs in Pro-Novice, on a tough course with range ewes.
I wish them all the success and happiness in the world.
Sometimes, the best decisions, the RIGHT decisions, really suck. Even when the outcome is better for everyone involved.
Since the end of July, Moss now lives with a friend of mine, we'll call her E, in a town about 45 minutes away from where I live. E lives on a small farm that butts up to acres and acres of rolling farmland. You've seen it, in many of the working dog photos I've posted over the past year or so.
It was not an easy decision to place Moss. I fully expected, and wanted, to keep him for his whole entire life. I never even considered the idea until E asked if we might consider letting her have him. Because of a rather shitty set of circumstances, as well as the fact that I've been focusing mainly on agility for the last few years, Moss and his herding training have been on the back burner. I had a lot of guilt about that, because he is truly happiest when he has a job and work to do every day. I felt that it wasn't fair to keep him a pet, when he had so much talent for herding. But still, he was my dog, and I loved him a whole lot. I still do.
When E's offer came up, I agonized about making a decision for weeks. Ultimately, even though it completely broke my heart, I decided to do what was right for my dog, and stop being selfish about keeping him when he had such a great opportunity. I felt it was only fair to give Moss the opportunity to do what he loves every day instead of occasionally... and with someone who had the time, resources, and ability to take him as far as possible while still keeping him as a pet and member of her family. Basically, he would have everything I gave him, plus a steady job. It seems like the stars happened to align for him right when he needed them most.
When I finally called E to give her my answer, I choked out something to the effect of "I've decided to let you have him" before breaking down and crying so hard that I had to get off the phone. But immediately afterwards, even though I was still incredibly, profoundly sad, I felt a huge sense of relief and peace wash over me. I knew immediately that I'd made the right decision. And that has proven to be the case. E texts me all the time to tell me how he's doing, and she's thanked me many times for him. He adores her, and she him. Sometimes things are just "right," ya know? I know that this is one of those times. I doubt he's given me a second thought...even though I miss my big, sweet, goofy, talented boy every day.
In his new home, Moss gets to work sheep every day. The two of them are currently competing in USBCHA trials and doing awesome, recently placing in the top 5 out of 42 dogs in Pro-Novice, on a tough course with range ewes.
I wish them all the success and happiness in the world.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Oregon Coast Trip 2012
This past weekend, Joe, the dogs and I packed up and headed for Newport, OR for the weekend.
Newport is one of my most favorite places on earth. Rain or shine, it's just good for my soul. My skin loves it there. My hair explodes in frizzy waves of ecstasy. I love to just sit and stare at the ocean.
Ahhh... I miss it now ;)
Speaking of rain...... It rained.
A lot.
In fact, the weather was pretty miserable the entire time we were there. At least it wasn't terribly cold most of the time. In spite of the rain, I'm really glad we went, especially since Ember is almost a year old and hadn't yet been to the beach. (gasp!)
She LOVED it!!! :D
She had a blast running like a maniac and chasing the frisbee. She didn't even seem to be that scared of the waves, which was surprising. In July when we went camping on Lake Pend Oreille, she was scared of the water and barked at the little waves as they hit her feet. ;)
She had a lot of fun running and jumping up and down the little sand dunes, racing Cedar at the shoreline, and tugging with Scully.
Newport is one of my most favorite places on earth. Rain or shine, it's just good for my soul. My skin loves it there. My hair explodes in frizzy waves of ecstasy. I love to just sit and stare at the ocean.
Ahhh... I miss it now ;)
Speaking of rain...... It rained.
A lot.
In fact, the weather was pretty miserable the entire time we were there. At least it wasn't terribly cold most of the time. In spite of the rain, I'm really glad we went, especially since Ember is almost a year old and hadn't yet been to the beach. (gasp!)
She LOVED it!!! :D
She had a lot of fun running and jumping up and down the little sand dunes, racing Cedar at the shoreline, and tugging with Scully.
As always, Cedar and Scully had a great time, too. Cedar absolutely loves the beach and the water. I think she really appreciates the wide open spaces and getting to really stretch out and run. I think she looks awfully pretty < 3
She's such a good poser, too :)
Out of all of us, Scully definitely had the worst time with the bad weather. She didn't want to come out of her crate--ever--and had the most horrible look on her face whenever we'd make her get out to go potty ;).
Except, however, when we went to the beach! Scully LOVES the beach, and after spending hours cooped up in her kennel, she went WILD. Running, barking, whining, jumping, flying through the dunes and chasing the frisbee as hard and fast as the collies.
You could just tell by the look on her fact that she was having the best time :)
I actually like this picture of me and my girls. Wish I would have noticed Ember's awkward stance though... it's the only part of the pic that bothers me, LOL. I promise that she doesn't stand like that normally! ;)
The below picture makes me laugh, not because of the photo itself, but because of the comments I got on it on Facebook. Pretty much every time I post a pic of my dogs posed, someone always asks "how did you get them to sit like that?" I always reply, "I pose them, and tell them to stay." It's true! I love having well trained dogs ;)
It's a pretty picture, at any rate, even though Scully looks like I had to beat her into position. She's never been an enthusiastic poser like the collies, but she does what she's told ;) Gotta love them.
To all my East Coast friends.... I'll be thinking of you as Hurricane Sandy continues to make its way through that part of the country. Stay safe!
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Seasons Change
So yeah, it's been awhile since I last posted :P
I really just haven't felt like I had much to write about. The dogs and I have mostly been taking it easy for the past few months, especially when it comes to competing. We only did two agility trials this summer, and one rally trial a few weeks ago (where Cedar earned her first Rally Advanced leg with a first place).
I am super super excited for the NADAC trial next month in Boise. Not only is it the first agility trial we ever did (two year trialing anniversary ftw!), it will be SO much fun to see all my Boise friends again and compete in our favorite venue! According to my records, Cedar is about 1/4 of the way to a NATCH already.... so I'm thinking about making that our goal for next year. Kind of exciting, eh? She really loves distance, and is pretty good at it, too. I've started teaching her left/right directionals in the hopes that it will help us out with the Elite-level Chances and bonus line challenges. She sure loves it!
Ember is doing really well. She turns a year old on November 26th, can you believe it? She is coming along really nicely with her agility training, and is doing short sequences, front and rear crosses, and learning to read blind crosses. She is so enthusiastic about the game and barks at me at the start line. I just love that little beast <3 br="br" nbsp="nbsp">
She's built pretty nicely, too ;)
I really just haven't felt like I had much to write about. The dogs and I have mostly been taking it easy for the past few months, especially when it comes to competing. We only did two agility trials this summer, and one rally trial a few weeks ago (where Cedar earned her first Rally Advanced leg with a first place).
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| Yeah, she's pretty much the boss. |
Ember is doing really well. She turns a year old on November 26th, can you believe it? She is coming along really nicely with her agility training, and is doing short sequences, front and rear crosses, and learning to read blind crosses. She is so enthusiastic about the game and barks at me at the start line. I just love that little beast <3 br="br" nbsp="nbsp">
She's built pretty nicely, too ;)
In addition to agility, we've been working on some rally and canine freestyle, too... as well as teaching her to follow and catch a frisbee. She is also a first-rate "demo dog" for the obedience and agility classes I've been teaching for the local dog training club up here. She has really great focus, tons of drive, and is the sweetest, cutest puppy ever. Not that I'm biased, LOL. I need to work on her socialization some still, though. She is still a bit wary of some strangers.
Can you believe she'll be 1) old enough to start weave training next month and 2) old enough to trial in AKC in MARCH??? I just ordered her her own custom martingale lead from Rush To Tug. She's getting so big, I can hardly stand it! But she's still very much a kid :)
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| I love this puppy! |
In other news, one of my photos was chosen to be a part of the Border Collies In Action 2013 calendar! Toss, Moss's litter brother, is featured as Mr. December!
This coming weekend, we're headed to Newport, Oregon for a weekend on the beach. It will be Ember's first time at the ocean, and I can't wait!
I know I have been a bad blogger for most of this year.... forgive me? I will make a concerted effort to post more often... especially now that I feel like I have more to say!
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