Sand Castles

Ok, a return to photos from our vacation!

The boys enjoyed playing Godzilla & destroying sand castles up & down the beach.

I won't mention how many they peed on...

As an Ohio State alum, John was pretty impressed with this sand creation!

An Anniversary of Sorts

 

 

3 years ago today, I had my final surgery rendering myself cancer free!

 

I don't talk about it a lot. Not because of any special reason, but because it seems like a lifetime ago  :) 

 

I don't remember a lot of the details. I can't even remember what kind of cancer it was specifically, just that it was breast cancer. And it doesn't really matter in the end. I survived. And I've thrived.

 

I lived one day at a time for 10 months, through 6 chemo treatments, 6.5 weeks of radiation, numerous surgeries & tests... I was bald & boobless :)  But I survived. And I continue to thrive.

 



My first trial after my first chemo treatment.

I remember pulling out chunks of my hair as we drove the 3 hours to Zanesville...

I wore that hat for over 10 months, it was my favorite one.

The following day I had my 2nd chemo treatment.

 

 

I continued to trial Porter throughout my treatment. It was fairly easy to schedule around chemo, I just had to plan in 3 week increments  :)

 

We earned 15 titles during that time. We attended our very first herding trials. And we qualified for NADAC Championships.

 

But I couldn't have done any of it without Porter's support. Or John's. Or my family. Or my friends...

 

Thank you to everyone who helped me through that. Like I said, it seems like a lifetime ago. And I don't remember much. But I do remember the love & support that I felt!

 

Tomorrow we continue with the beach photos!  :)

My celebration cake

Hanging Tobacco

Another Kentucky themed post  :)

 

It's that time of year: cutting & hanging tobacco. I couldn't hardly take photos inside the barn, the smell burned my nose & eyes. So I didn't want to make the dogs stay in there too long either!

 

 

Stout Videos!

I thought we'd take a little break from vacation photos & post a couple Stout videos!

First, here he is playing with his newest girlfriend Dezi, a Portuguese Podengo Pequeno puppy.



(http://youtu.be/VxifEobvvPc)

Dezi held her own pretty well. Occasionally she would run under the bed to get away. That did not deter Stout, but it did slow him down considerably... Stout had quite a few "time-outs" too so to give her a break.

And I continue to work on Stout's agility foundation skills:

(http://youtu.be/ioLibxyKDkg)

I had the jump chute set up for the class I teach, but thought it might be fun for Stout if I put all the bars on the ground (kind of like stride-work for him). I was really pleased that he chose to run down the chute instead of coming out to jump at the toy (or hump my leg).

We also worked briefly on our pre-homework for our Agility Foundations online class with Silvia Trkman. Class doesn't officially start until October 15th, but she gave us a few assignments already to prepare us for class.

I was working on the "burst of speed from a restraint" (my lame phrase, not hers). As you can see, it didn't go too well. He's not supposed to back out of my restraint  :)  But I'm not real comfortable with having a collar grab meaning that it's time for him to pull against it. So I thought a chest-type restraint would work better. Maybe not a good idea either, especially for a short dog...

Wordless Wednesday: Sunset at the Beach Edition

Lighthouse

Do you know how hard it is to photograph a lighthouse & a corgi at the same time?

 

 

 

 

Beach Friends

Stout made some friends at the beach while on our vacation in the Outer Banks.

The beaches in Duck were very dog friendly. In the evening when all the people would leave, it turned into a sort of dog park. While all the other dogs were off leash, we made Stout drag a long line, just in case he took off after a sea gull or something  :)  He hasn't quite earned the same trust as Porter yet!

 

 

 

 



(http://youtu.be/KzR3Ks8SNyc)

 

Stout found out crabs were not friends!