Our first Rally Trial

A couple years back, I remember talking with a trainer-friend of mine who told me about a hunt test she and her dog had been to the previous weekend.  Her dog had performed beautifully on what turned out to be an extremely difficult test.  She mentioned that her dog's achievement rivaled the feeling she had when her kids graduated High School.  She had a tear in her eye and frog in her throat when he finished his final retrieve.  Just listening to her tell me about it, I could hear the excitement in her voice. 

Non-dog people don't get that.  They think we're crazy.  We probably are.  But only a little.

Truth be told, I'm more excited about my Lilly getting her Rally title than about getting my bachelor's degree.  I realize that in the grand scheme of life, my ability to get a better job and make more money for us is a bigger deal, but my excitement level is not in line with reality.

I'll probably tell you about my graduation when I officially graduate in August; but for now, let's talk about more important things.  ;)

Last weekend Miss. Lilly and I headed to Ixonia, WI for the Milwaukee Dog Training Club's Obedience and Rally trial.  (Let it be noted I now know how to get to Oconomowoc WITHOUT getting lost.)

We were going to head to the campground at Kettle Moraine State Forest on Friday afternoon, but the weather man promised a doosie of a storm.  The weather man pretty much lied.  We left on Saturday morning anyway.

Since I'm already getting impatient and can't hold it in any longer, I'll just tell you how we did:

Saturday we took 3rd place with a score of 94 (out of 100)

Sunday we took 3rd place with a score of 97 (out of 100) 

In Rally, a 70 out of 100 is passing.  I knew my girl could do it, but since she's never even been to a show before I was VERY pleasantly surprised at how awesome we did our first weekend out.  I expected to be "happy we qualified" rather than "I can't believe we placed".

After we collected our first set of pretty ribbons we headed to the campground and got set up.  It wasn't long before Miss Lilly was wondering if perhaps I had forgotten she had not eaten her lunch yet.  I commenced to making some hot dogs after starting what turned out to be a nightmare of a fire.  It may not have been raining, but the air was heavy with moisture and nothing under the sun was completely dry.

I call this my "hands-free" weenie maker.

Miss Lilly was glad to get her weenie.

But for a dog who eats raw meat every day, she sure had some issues.  She kept setting the darn thing down in the dirt.  Then making "the face" because it had dirt and pine needles stuck to it. 

 

I felt bad for her, so I finally brought it over to her mat, and broke it in half so she could figure it out.

After eating I thought she might like to take a walk around the campground so we headed into the tent so I could change and get ready for a walk.  Little Miss was so tired she hopped right up on the air mattress and curled up for a nap.  

After our walk, the poor girl could hardly keep her eyes open.  We went to bed extra early.  I bought a magazine to read in bed, but was far more tired than I thought - I only lasted for about 5 pages.

We got up bright and early for breakfast.

What?  You act like you've never seen bagels toasted on weenie sticks before.

Took a couple pictures.

And headed back to the kennel club for our second day in the ring.

All-in-all it was a GREAT weekend!

Bailey was not fellin' it for the photo op.

Memorial Day - Last Year

This Memorial Day weekend we're hanging around at home.  It's nice and relaxing and relatively tick-free.

Last year we went camping at Dexter Acres.

Here's some pics I FINALLY found in a disposable camera just not too long ago.

That's Brandy with Bailey, she belongs to Dave and Lynn.  They only got into one minor argument all weekend, which I thought was pretty good for two old dogs set in their ways.

Of course, I had to get the "walking down the trail together" shot.  It's kinda my signature.  :)

Have a great Memorial Day!!

Bear Paw with Bobbi Jo

Remember when I said I was going to spend the next three days blogging about fun things I did this summer? And then I didn't do it? Things like A&W Root Beer and greenhouses got in the way.

What can I say, I temporarily lost interest. Sorry. On we go. Here is the second installment.

Bobbi Jo and her little boy, Ethan, were home from Texas in July. On a whim, we decided to spend a Friday night at Bear Paw Lake in Mountain. I love it there. It's quiet, fairly undeveloped as far as camping areas go, and the Lake is small and beautiful. I particularly like to Kayak there.

After we arrived and set up camp, we headed to the lake. Ethan jumped right in.

So did the dogs.

The trip back to camp was not joyous. Foolishly, we walked down to the lake. It was farther than we had estimated. By the time we headed back, Ethan was wet and cold, very cold. We brought no towels, no spare clothes, nothing. So, Ethan (and his sopping wet diaper) rode on my shoulders the whole way back so we could make it back quickly. Unfortunately, Ethan didn't think that was the best way to do things, and he fought me the whole way. There was no other way either of us was strong enough to carry him that far, and if we let him walk he would be a popsicle by the time we got back. Carrying a soaking wet kid on your shoulders a long distance while fighting the whole time to keep him up there is hard work. We walked as fast as we could.

I would officially like to thank my wonderful mutts for their cooperation in this blunder. They marched along with us and didn't give me one ounce of crap about it.

Once we finally made it back, Ethan had fun playing in the dirt.

I hung up my shirt and pants to dry, walking around in shorts and a damp sports bra for a while.

You can thank me later for no pictures of me walking around in my shorts and a sports bra.

Meanwhile, Lilly worked up a monster drool. Lilly never drools. I can only guess this might have been a result of being a little stressed since she has very little experience dealing with toddlers. She did really great, though.

I built a fire so we could eat dinner.
That's right. I am capable of building a fire. ALL by myself.

Wha'da ya mean that log's too big?

It's hard to focus on dinner when there's so much cool stuff to go look at, and so much dirt to play in.

If you're not dirty, you're not camping.

By the time it started to get dark, Lilly was pooped right out.

The next morning, Bobbi Jo and Ethan left early.
Later in the morning it started to sprinkle out so the dogs and I went back in the tent and took a nap. I just love the sound of rain in a tent.

When we were ready to go, it was still sprinkling lightly. I wanted to get going, so I just packed everything up and figured I would just have to set up the tent at home to dry it out. It sprinkled the WHOLE time I packed up.

I was annoyed.

Come on Mom, let's blow this joint already!

We got in the car, pulled out of the campground, and about 100 yards down the road the skies let loose and it down-poured.

I wasn't annoyed anymore.