Stout's Weekend

Stout's weekend was not quite as glorious as Porter's was... But it was still pretty darn good!  :)

Stout made his Open JWW debut on Saturday. We have been practicing 12 weaves for a long time now, ever since he learned to weave, so there was no trepidation there. But I was worried about the increased number of crosses I'd have to do & the probability of having to do some of them as rears (those tend to send him off into the great unknown - otherwise known as the ring crew)  :)

I only entered him one day (with his usual one run) at this trial. Why? Well, he's only ran on dirt once before, which didn't seem to be a problem, but I didn't want to risk a lot of sniffing. But I was also starting to get a little discouraged with our trialing experiences  :(  Maybe not "discouraged," but definitely frustrated! I thought being frustrated just one day vs. two would be better.

So we took a little break (Porter ran at NADAC Champs during the break, but Stout had a little more down time) and really worked on some stuff. This was Stout's first trial back since mid-September.

And I think we may be improving! See below:

We had a start-line stay! He weaved all 12 poles! And the most impressive of all: he didn't run off!!!

I kind of chickened out on the start line, not leading out as far as I should have. Which made it impossible to push him out to that blue jump  :)  I guess I could have done a cross somewhere down that line (like I did with Porter), but I chickened out there too, thinking he would run off...

But did you see him turn really hard to get that jump in the 180? Good Snouters!

Then, I, umm, went off course  :(  Yeah, I shouldn't have taken the tunnel. It was that jump, then into the weaves. Oh well, I don't think Stout noticed.

But we wouldn't have qualified anyway since I didn't fix that blue jump at the beginning. And then he missed the weave entrance. He was jumping up for my sleeve and didn't even see the weaves the first time  :)  But he flew through them when I got him in there!

All in all, I am soooo proud of the little guy! All the mistakes were mine. And he didn't run off!

Yay Snouters!

Wordless Wednesday: It's Official!

A Good Weekend: The Porter Edition

Maybe I should have titled this post "A Very Good Weekend"  :)

The Brews Brothers traveled to Springfield, OH, over the weekend for an AKC agility trial. Porter took a huge chunk out of his PACH & Nationals countdown...

On Saturday, he earned QQ #16 and 42 speed points:

I'm not sure why it's so squashed... Go here for better video.

I'm definitely getting more comfortable with blind crosses  :)

On Sunday, Porter earned QQ #17! And 45 speed points!

Squished again... Click here.

Porter was on fire for that standard run! The JWW run started out a little slow, but he picked it up at the end.

So the secret to Porter's weekend success?

Smoked Mussels from the Dollar Tree  :)  Cardi approved!

We are now sitting just 49 points away from qualifying for Nationals! We have 2 more weekends of trials coming up to earn them (and a possible 3rd if we don't get the points beforehand!)

Canine Olympics: Finally Meeting Winston!

While at the Canine Olympics, we finally got to meet our friend Carson's new little Cardigan!

Say hello to Winston!

He was such a sweetie! Is there anything cuter than a corgi puppy?

Carson & Winston weren't just there to visit though, they came to compete!

Here they are in the Friendliest Dog / Best Kisses contest:

All that kissing did not go unnoticed by the judges: Bronze Medal!

We are at an agility trial this weekend. Hopefully chipping away at those points & Q's needed for Nationals...  :)  We'll have updates on Monday!

More Photos From the Canine Olympics

 Just a little bit more from the Canine Olympics  :)

While we did debut our costumes in the contest, we did not win  :(

See that little lion/tiger thing behind us? It won.

It seems that John was correct, I didn't quite gauge my target audience correctly. Or maybe I should say, the judges were not in my target audience range  :)  All the teenagers there loved them. But the judges were... confused.

I had taken a photo of Miley Cyrus & Robin Thicke at the VMA's, just in case. Yep, still confused  :)

Oh well. Even if the weird little tie-dyed lion / tiger hybrid won, my friends came in 2nd & 3rd:

The Duck (Tolling) Dynasty member & a (Swedish) Minion!

Poor Mesa...  :)

And our friend Jodi with Maya & Dezi also won in another costume division:

The 3 amigos

Stout - Bringing Home the Gold! (and Bronze)

 Porter was not the only medalist at the Canine Olympics...

Stout won the Gold Medal in the Cookie Toss & Bronze in the "I'll Eat Anything" contest!  :)

Gold Medal Winner!

Yes, Stout surpassed his bronze medal last year to bring home the Gold!

He caught & ate 18 cookies in 30 seconds  :)  There was a huge tie for second, about 7 dogs (including Porter) all caught 13. Stout smoked them!

All the 13-cookie dogs had to have a tie-breaker and unfortunately Porter did not make it  :(  He didn't care, the tie-breaker competition just allowed him to have even more cookies! Actually, John said Porter dropped the very first cookie (then proceeded to waste time by sniffing around in the grass for it), otherwise he would have beat Stout... I don't know, Stout is young & hungry  :)

Bronze in "My Dog Will Eat Anything."

At the end of the day, Stout competed in the "I'll Eat Anything" contest. 

Last year he ate almost everything, except for the lemon slice (with peel). Believe it or not, he did not medal  :)

So I was a little worried when we were given our plate & it included an orange slice, also with peel. It contained: pretzel, shredded wheat, broccoli, cauliflower, sour gummy worm, green pepper, & a couple other things that I can't remember  :)

Well, Stout ate them all! He didn't even think about it. I just tossed them to him and he swallowed. And kept begging for more!

We were one of 6 or 7 dogs that ate it all. Our tie breaker was... a chunk of grapefruit, with peel! The first one to swallow, wins  :)  We were third. I'm still a little shocked that he ate that...

So all in all, it was a great day. We love the Canine Olympics :)

Porter - Silver Medalist in the Outfield Catch!

Now that you've all seen the costumes, it's time for the rest of the Canine Olympics results! 

Porter won the first medal of the day: a silver in the Outfield Catch (with a cookie)!

John chose to handle Porter in all the day's activities. You can see the proud puppy-daddy above on the podium  :)

The Outfield Catch contest consists of tossing a cookie to your dog. If your dog catches it, you take a step back & throw the next one. You keep stepping back & tossing until you are the last one standing.

I held Porter to prevent him from creeping toward John (cheating). I think John was a good 15 feet away before Porter finally missed.

Click on the photo to see it larger

And here was the final toss that knocked Porter & John out of the competition:

Ah, the agony of defeat!

But he still had a belly full of biscuits  :)

Thank you to Jodi for the photos!

The Big Costume Reveal!

So do you remember the big hoopla a couple months ago about the VMA's? You know, Miley Cyrus twerking on Robin Thicke? (I apologize if you are watching that link for the first time!)

Well, I decided to recreate it with corgis:

Do you see the resemblance? :)

Notice the (corgi-size) foam finger?

All we were missing was the twerk!

I do have to say that Porter looks AWESOME! The resemblance is uncanny:

 Stout was a little upset that he had to be Miley. But that's what little brothers are for!

"Why am I always the girl?"

 I couldn't get the tongue action for the photo...

 Happy early Halloween!

Countdown to the Canine Olympics: Part 3

Ready for the greatest costume of all time?

In 2010, Porter became Corgi Gaga:

Yes, the infamous meat dress from the VMA's. I also added the hair bow  :)

He won the Gold Medal at the Canine Olympics...

But even better than that, the photo went viral  :)

I entered the photo in the Daily Corgi's costume contest. I think that is where it all began...

Because then he showed up on Obsessive Corgi Disorder.

He's shown up in 2 different Buzzfeed posts: "90 Corgis In Costume" & "26 Things You're Forced To Wear When You're A Corgi"

I found him on HumorSharing.com & some other site with a Goat Gaga. 

And someone's blog who declared him the "best Lady Gaga EVER!"  :)  

How about "The World's Geekiest Corgi Costumes?"

And "Cute Corgis Are Even Cuter In Costumes"  :)

And finally, I even entered him in TMZ's Celebrity Costume Contest:

Thank you to Google Image Search for allowing me to track down everywhere Porter's photo was posted  :)  I knew about some of them, but not that many! He really was a (small) internet star!

Oh, and on a lot of those sites, you can also find Jimmy in his ram costume  :)

Countdown to the Canine Olympics: Part 2

 

Before the Canine Olympics, way back in 2007, I made Porter a dinosaur costume:



 

 

"Roar."

I think John's mom had just gifted us a sewing machine. So of course, a dog costume was the first thing I made!

 

The craftsmanship & sewing wasn't great, neither was the fit  :)  But it was a start!

I had to adapt a regular pattern to fit a corgi. Not easy!

 

I don't remember if Porter wore it at the Canine Olympics or not... That may have been before the Olympics began...



But I do know that the costume was recycled and worn by Stout at the event last year:

"I hate you."

 

In 2008, I modified the pattern to make Porter a skunk:

 



 

Yes, his tail is inside the skunk tail  :)

 

Even the cat was in awe...

 

I took a couple years off from the epic costumes (except for the one in tomorrow's post!), until last year.

 

Introducing Chia-Port!

Please note the terracotta legs...

This was a mess to sew!

Tomorrow we will talk about the best costume to date :)

Then we will debut the newest ones on Sunday!

Countdown to the Canine Olympics! Part 1

It's that time of year again! Canine Olympics!  :)

I've been racking my brain for weeks now, trying to come up with the perfect costumes for Porter & Stout. 

I've gotten the sewing machine out, I've bought my supplies & accessories, I've done test fittings... 

I'm always trying to top the previous year. And this year I think I may have done it!  :)

Will Porter & Stout go viral, much like the infamous Corgi Gaga year? I think they just might...

To build up the excitement, we'll take a look back at some of their previous costumes. We'll debut this year's epic portrayal on Sunday. Stay tuned!

Stout's first costume experience: Easter!

Derby time!

This was just a teaser. Tomorrow we'll have the better (less lame) costumes  :)

Wordless Wednesday: Fences