Don't need thumbs

Scout goes to town on her new rawhide. Meanwhile, Spencer is pacing with his, trying to find the perfect place to hide it.

Tracking Dogs

We got up this morning and headed just down the road to the Chickamauga National Battlefield where we met some friends to do some tracking practice.  Spencer and I last played around with tracking 3 or 4 years ago when a few of us were just trying to figure it out.  A couple of our friends stuck with it and are now working on their TDX and VST titles.  They are graciously inviting folks out on Sunday mornings to introduce dog/handler teams to tracking and to share their knowledge.

Scout went out first.  Bev laid a short double track generously littered with hot dogs.  Scout worked very business-like, keeping a straight line right to the finish.  Her next track started out with her original track, now extended to twice its original length - the first half now triple-tracked and the last half single tracked.  Again she worked very well, moving right down the track with her nose down.  Her third track was longer than the second and single tracked, and it was evident that she was losing interest in the hot dogs and just following the scent right down the track.  Good girl!

Spence was next, and he did very well also.  His style is very different from Scout's.  While she tended to move in a straight line, Spence weaved back and forth across his track. 

We are lucky to live close to areas where there are large open public fields for practice - the national park service has preserved a number of Civil War battlefields in our area.  However, I just noticed on the AKC website that they are testing out a possible new title "TDU" (Tracking Dog Urban) because many potential tracking enthusiasts just don't have access to traditional tracking venues.

Tired girl

Scout has been out chasing squirrels and rolling in leaves all day
long. I just looked over and couldn't resist snapping her sweet face.
It also gave a chance to play with my Photoshop app on my phone.

Cardi Claus has made an appearance!!

See the link to the right!  I will post reports of sightings as I see them!!

G4!

Scout went Group 4 today under Leah James.  Cheryl called me and she is over the moon.  The three who placed ahead of her and two others in the group who did not place are BIS winners.

On the road again

We're on the downhill side. I have turned the wheel over to Eric, Mom is snoozing and in two hours we will be back in CHA.

I am in the backseat of the Element. Have any of you Element owners actually sat in your backseat? It's like stadium seating at the movie theatre - sitting up high with reclining seats and so much leg room.  Eric is 6'6" and even he is comfortable.

It should be no problem getting Mom home in time for dinner and getting back to spring Spence from the kennel by 7:00.

Scout went BOB yesterday and today and we are anxious to see what breeder-judge Leah James does in Group today.

Sent from my iPhone

Crawford and Ethel's kids

We have made it through the main event of the weekend. Mom (seated)
had lunch with her siblings and their families.

Halfway there

And lunch at the Henpeck Market.

Just because I'm missing her . . .

I'm posting some recent pictures of Scout in the ring. Scout is in Montgomery AL with Cheryl. Tomorrow morning Nancy will pick Spencer up and take him to daycare where he will spend the weekend.

I am headed to Athens in the morning to pick up Mom. My nephew will meet us back here and ride with us to Memphis for an early Thanksgiving. This will be our first attempt at traveling with Mom since her stroke 15 months ago. It's a 350 mile trip each way, not counting the 200 mile round trip we will make tomorrow to take her to have lunch with her brothers and sisters.

Think happy thoughts for us, and somebody have a margarita waiting for me tomorrow night.

Holiday Exchange Update - and updated again!

Just to answer a few questions:

Gift or Ornament Exchange?  Ornament!  But of course, if you decide to slip a little something extra or different in your package, that's up to you!

Secret or not?  I guess it would be a secret until you reveal yourself when you send it.  A point of this is to make/renew friendships - hard to do that if they don't know who you are!

Your recipient's address - if my email to you did not include an address, let me know, because I have everyone's address.  Gmail seems to be a little persnickity on forwarding a thread of email, or maybe I'm just dumb.

Is it too late?  - I have heard that some intended to join but missed the deadline, and another beat the deadline but her email landed in the Spam box and I didn't notice.  If anyone still wants to play, email cardibloggerholidayxchange ^~at~^ gmail and I will try to hook everyone up.

Check your email!

If you signed up for the Cardi Blogger Holiday Exchange, you should have received an email telling you who you are playing Cardi Claus for!  Let me know if you did not receive it or if I did something lame like telling you that you are partnered with yourself.

There are no rules here - this was intended to be just a fun opportunity to share holiday fun with other folks who love our short little dogs.  Some have asked if there is a $ limit - but I am just not into having alot of restrictions.  Have fun, and hopefully make a couple of new friends!!  I guess the only rule might be to try to have packages delivered by December 1 to maximize holiday fun.

OK - one more rule - I hope everyone will share via their blogs about their experience!

Just a tad short

We just missed the fancy invitation to the Garden.

It's just been one of those weekends

At least the weather was lovely and the company was good.

We call him Hoover

Spence wants a job cleaning up after the show is over.

What I love about the South

We are in Concord, NC at a cardi supported show this weekend. Cheryl
and I stopped at a roadside market yesterday for provisions. Peach
bread and peach preserves for breakfast, and a quart of boiled peanuts
for snacking.

In defense of my profession

OK - I have figured out the mystery of how my co-workers misjudged my birth year.

One of the women in the department knew that she and I had both graduated from high school in 1978.  Figuring that if I was six when I started the first grade, with a birthday in November, they deduced that I must have been born in 1959.

Math was fine - but they didn't have all the facts.  They didn't know that I was the last kid at home and Mom was ready to have all her kids in school.  So, since I could already read and count and was unusually tall for my age when classes started in September of 1966, she took me to school registration and talked the school into letting me start at 5.  Thus started my school career of always being the youngest and the tallest in my class. (And in a roundabout way set me on the path for criminal activity in the great pumpkin heist of 1978 when I was a 17 year old college freshman - but that's a story for another day.)

Adding insult to injury

Today is my birthday. I came in this morning to find my cube all decorated with "50" balloons and a big party scheduled this afternoon for my "milestone" birthday. Only problem? I was born in 1960. And I work with a bunch of accountants - you would think they could do math!

One more week . . . . .

To sign up for the Cardi Blogger Holiday Exchange!  We've already got a great group of folks signed up to participate, but if anyone else wants to play, you have until next Sunday to sign up!  Click on the Ornament Exchange logo to the right to get more info.

Have I used up my yearly allotment of good luck?

After yet another 10+ hour work day, I stopped at Sonic for a BLT and big diet coke for dinner.  I was chatting with Laura, so I pulled up to a carhop slot and parked instead of going through the drive thru.

After dinner was delivered, I turned the key to crank up the Element - and nothing happens.  Dead as a doornail.  I told Laura I had to get off the phone and deal with this.  I sat for a minute trying to figure who I could bother on a Friday night to bail me out.

Then I remembered - I had the good luck to have my car die right next door to an auto parts store.  I hotfooted it over to the store, they came over and jumped it off for me, then put a new battery in and I was on the way home before the ice started to melt in my coke.

Skywatch Friday

Caught on the phone camera while driving home from Knoxville last Saturday. (I know, but at least I didn't email it while driving!)

I also posted video from Knoxville.  The showsite had grooming upstairs and showrings downstairs (a real pain for the dogs and handlers) but it gave the opportunity to view judging from above for a change.