The Out-Takes

Here are a couple more photos from the portrait shoot that Virgil & Rebecca did.

 

While these show a little more personality (and Stout doesn't look quite so huge!), I do find Porter's tail distracting  :)

 

But then again, that's just the way Porter & his tail are... Love his happy tail!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Brews Brothers would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

May your day be filled with plenty of turkey scraps on the floor & kitchen mishaps (only those working in favor of the dogs...)!

Thank you to Paw Prints Life for the awesome photos! Enjoy your retirement!

Wordless Wednesday!

Santa Photo Time!

It's that time of the year again: Today we take the dogs to see Santa!

 

Who remembers this classic from last year?  :)



 

If you can tear your eyes away from Stout, isn't that just the best Santa ever? We love the Bluegrass Barkery!

We will also be picking up some things at the Barkery for our Cardi Claus recipients!

Well, That Was Embarrassing...

Oh Stout... I don't even know where to begin... 

I had my most embarrassing agility experience (to date) on Saturday at our local NADAC trial. I am still mortified. And still a little angry at Stout.

I'll just make it short & sweet: Stout knocked the wig off a bar setter in the ring.

Ugh. After that, I had no tolerance for his running around:

Throughout all the chaos, Stout did manage to qualify both days in Novice Tunnelers, thus earning his first NADAC title.

Porter almost got both Chances attempts  :(  So we still need 6 more for his NATCH. But we did knock out that last Jumpers Q!

I'm sure some day I'll find this funny. But not any time soon. Little jack ass...

Wordless Wednesday

Happy 2nd Birthday, Stout!

You may frustrate me (and Porter) (and the cats) to no end... But I wouldn't trade you for the world!  :)

Stout Graduates!

Stout, John, & I have been taking a "manners" class with Mandy Eakins of Manners Matters KY.

 

Last year we had Stout enrolled in a bunch of Obedience classes. While those were good, they were not exactly what I was looking for (or needing!)...

 

This class seemed like perhaps it would be a little remedial, but it ended up being perfect!

 

 

 

I've known Mandy for quite some time And knew she had just begun teaching some classes. Once I heard who she had been learning from though, I was sold  :)

 

I figured it would be a good excuse to get Stout out during the winter & work more on his focus/attention. Whatever I can do to help with agility...

 

The first night of class didn't even include the dogs. We talked about training philosophies & practiced using the clicker (yeah, I'm a sucker for clicker stuff!)

 

The class wasn't about heeling & stays & recalls & sitting... We did work on some of those things, but we mostly worked on focus & eye-contact & "leave it" & other shaping type things.

 

And with Stout... we spent A LOT of time on "no barking"  :)

 

Last night was graduation. We've definitely seen a huge improvement in Stout. Stout & John even won the "Longest Sit Stay" competition!

 



 

 

We plan on continuing on in January. The next class builds upon this, aiming toward earning his CGC.

 

Stout just may become a good citizen yet!

QQ #18!

Double Q # 18 for Porter!




Followed by a failed blind cross the next day  :(  Oops.

Wordless Wednesday

And This Is Why...

...Stout has rarely ran in Standard  :)

Check out that spectacular dismount from the dogwalk!

We really have been working on his contacts, I swear! I guess they just weren't quite ready for the ring yet  :)

He didn't too badly, other than that. Only visited the judge, but he really wanted to go see that lady by the tunnel... The 2 missed jumps were totally my fault.

We're getting there. I just need to keep reminding myself of that!

Porter is Peeing Across America!

I found this little link on the Taj Mutt Hall blog. I tweaked it just a little for Porter  :)

I think I got all of them... I'll ask Porter when I get home!

Wordless Wednesday

Oh Stout...

Looks as if we regressed a little...  :)

Porter Is Qualified For AKC Nationals!

In our quest to get qualified for AKC Nationals, we had entered yet another trial over the weekend... And it paid off! Porter got his last 49 points he needed, with 10 extra for "just-in-case"  :)

We started out a little rough, which had me a little worried. On Saturday he failed to qualify in the first run (JWW) but pulled out a Q in Standard that afternoon:

Yeah, he was moving so fast and we were charging down that line in Jumpers, a blind-cross just didn't catch his attention  :)

We had a similar line in Standard, but it had you charging towards a wrong tunnel entrance. 3 times. Porter was correct all 3 times & earned 28 points. Yay Porter! We only needed 21 more on Sunday...

The day started with JWW again:

Oops  :) Not really sure why he came out of the weaves. But he was moving! Notice I didn't do any blind crosses on that run...  :)

And our last chance for those last 21 points:

 

 

Once again, I chose to not use blind crosses, instead pulling out the "Dawn Weaver brake hand" to get some tight turns  :)  It worked! Porter came away with 31 points, tying his all-time point record!

 

Now I can withdraw from the trial later this month. Although it's too late for next weekend's. so expect another trial recap next Monday  :)

In Celebration of Dia De Los Muertos...

I don't think these photos really have much to do with Dia De Los Muertos, I was just looking for an excuse to post them  :)

Thanks to Taryn for introducing me to PicMonkey!