Football

Devin's first game of the season. Weather was hot but nice - at least we didn't get poured on. This was a controversial game because they played our Varsity Section 3 and JV team against Manheim Township's Varsity Section 1 team - a good 15 to 20 lbs heavier on average than our team and at least a half an inch taller.

Our boys played very well - they held their own against bigger, stronger players. We lost - the score was 26 to 6. Colin May scored the only touchdown but we had many other good plays. Devin got to play a lot. They put him on the Defensive line as a Defensive End - a new position for him. He played quite well. I thought he would get tossed around by the bigger players but he didn't. He held his own!

Next week our Varsity Section 3 and JV each have their own games so Devin will probably play with the JV. A lot of parent's keep asking why he is on the JV (white) team. Can't answer that one but they were glad to see him playing a lot today and I was there to watch. I had a lot of fun.

Robbie's Relatives

Here are 2 pictures of Robbie's relatives. The first one is Rosanne DeMascio's Seri. I love Seri - she is related to Robbie and the reason that I wanted one from this line. Seri's mother, Pearl is out of Tegwen. Tegwen and Robbie's father, Keen are bred the same - Bob X Lil. Seri also shares the Yankee line with Gusto and Seri acts more like Gusto than Robbie. Robbie is more sensible although still young so remains to be seen what he will end up like down the road. Seri is a wild thing but pretty biddable - love her!

The second picture is Classy - Robbie's littersister. Look at the ears - I call them Wonky, not to be confused with Donkey ears. I need to put a picture of Bob - I'm sure that might be where the wonky ear gene comes from :)

UGH!

In an effort to bring Gusto up to the 26 in height, I have to trial him at 26 and give him time to get used to it. BUT does he have to drop bars in almost every single class; outcome - ZERO Qs.

I know, I know - it's not about the Qs. I tell LuAnn this all the time. It is demotivating to me to show a dog knowing that it will drop bars and not qualify. He ran really really well again but dropped bars.

First class of the day at the Paws in Motion, Freehold, NJ trial was Masters Gamblers. He was great - the plan worked brilliantly. He even got the gamble which was jump, push out to the weaves on the other side of a straight tunnel closer to the gamble line (many many dogs took the tunnel) then 2 additional jumps. Doable but not easy. I knew he could get that one BUT he dropped the bar after the weaves.

Second class was Masters Snooker. Very doable course and I actually liked the challenge of it. Gusto had a great opening (I mis-handled a section because I changed my plan). He kept ALL the bars up - 4 reds, and combinations that included a jump - 4 other jumps. Then got a refusal in the closing at a tunnel - of all things. At least he kept his bars up.

Next class, Masters Standard. Very challenging - spacing was much more like AKC but I liked the course and also looked forward to running it. HE DROPS THE FIRST BAR! I fussed at him to pick up his feet. He nailed all the tough sections and dropped one more bar. Got a tough weave entry so I was happy with the run but the darn bars!!!

Next was Pairs - I messed up the opening and he went off course - to a tunnel but kept all the bars up. Missed a weave entry that was along the ring gating (flags). When I told him weave, he went way wide and was actually looking at the ring gating! So I had to fix the poles.

Last class, Jumpers. Weird angles on many of the jumps - he handled all but one section beautifully and the one section was my fault. He took the jump like it was a serpentine but it was a threddle - I didn't pull his head in to reset the line. I rushed it. He kept all the bars up to that point, dropped one down the closing line.

He did improve as the weekend went along but those DARN bars. OK - enough whining. Time to get on the bike. I had a bit of knee pain because the footing was very undulating. I put my miracle drug on last night and today - no pain.

Robbie at Sharon Nunan's

Here is another picture of Robbie. Sharon Nunan, my herding instructor, is working him here. Trying to get him started off correctly. I worked him at the next lesson. We took a break for a week or so to let things settle in his mind. He will go back for more lessons next weekend.

New Pics of Robbie

Robbie's Brother

Wow - he sure is handsome. If I could justify another dog, I'd take this boy. I believe this is the boy that came back to Diana Gauthier due to the owner's health. Diana is working him on sheep to see what he can do and then will probably sell him as a started dog. I would love to have him because I love this line of dogs.

Great News for Me

My knee doesn't hurt today at all. I cycled, albeit not long and I have no pain. And I increased my speeds slightly and went 1 mile longer. Slow and steady back to cycling. I hope I hope I hope.

Today - training agility with a friend of mine, LuAnn and then I leave for the USDAA show in NJ. I'm only doing 1 day so that I can be home to watch Dev play football - if they put him in the game. He has been doing really well. They are playing him with both the JV and the Varsity Section 3. I think they have him with the Sec 3 kids due to vacations but that does mean he is the first sub they use on Varsity so that's great.

Agility today and tomorrow. Football on Sunday and I will try to ride on Sunday if my knees are ok after doing agility for 2 days. One weekend - 3 of my favorite activities.

Bike Picture

Looks sort of like a moose with my gloves on the shifters. Ivy is in the picture, my little cute deaf girl and my race bike is in the background. Both are Specialized - the race bike is a double and the trainer bike is a triple (that's bike speak). My indoor bike has 1280 miles on it - I've owned it a little over a year. My race bike has 696 miles on it....not all from racing since I only did 2 races but that bike is also my outdoor bike that I used for some club rides, a fund raiser ride and training rides with my team - YBR.

We'll see!

I rode my bike indoors on the trainer, I didn't have time yesterday. Today is a rest day from agility for my dogs - no jump work for Gusto, no young dog work for Robbie. They both had class last night and I will be working them tomorrow - more jump grids for Gusto. Anyway, I had time to pedal, so pedal I did. It was only a short ride - 34 minutes and 6 miles. To think I used to ride 1.45 hrs and go 25+ miles indoors when I was training for races. Today - the 34 minutes were tough.

I thought to myself, "Gee, you've gotten soft. You don't suffer so well any more." I used to love to suffer and today I just wanted to pedal and now I have to wait until tomorrow to see if the cycling bothers my IT Band and knee.

I'll see if I can suffer better another day.

One Faster 7.01

I went back and looked at some of Gusto's other results - he did run one faster but it was an advanced course. Course distance was 154 yards and his time was 21.95 seconds so his Yards Per Second was 7.01!

No wonder he has trouble keeping the bars up sometimes! It must be that wind suck affect dropping the bars - tee hee!

Holy Moly 6.65 YPS

WOW - USDAA finally updated the results from the CATO, NY show in August. Gusto ran the most amazing Masters Jumpers run to date at 22 inches. It was a beautiful run with one wide turn and one slow turn because I was a bit late on my cue. He ran it in 19.09 seconds. I wasn't sure how that would translate to YPS....course distance was 127 so that means he ran that course with a YPS of 6.65!!! I realize there have been some runs that are faster; probably, 6.8 to 7.0 but I've never ever done one this fast so it was a big deal for me.

Yeah for Gusto! He is truly talented, now if he could just learn to keep the bars up at 26 inches, that would be SWELL.

Devin Cracks Me Up

My 9 yr old has quite a sense of humor and he is quite full of himself. He told me that he doesn't like football this year so I asked him why. He told me that it is because the coaches aren't pushing him - they are too nice. Last year, he had the best coach ever named Shane Shillady. We loved going to the practices to hear Shane's booming voice busting on Devin to work harder. He absolutely knew how to get the best out of him.

Last week, I went over to the older group's practice to visit with Jaimie Shillady - Shane's wife. We were talking as the C group went jogging by on their run around the field. Greg and I caught Devin WALKING! Greg said something to him - quietly. As Devin went by me, I said, "you better run Gilligan." He sprinted the rest of the way, smiling cuz he got caught.

I asked him later that night what he liked so much about last year; that's when he said the coaching. I asked him, "Did you like it when Shane busted your chops?" He smiled, sort of sheepishly and said YES.

Basically, I'm a sprinter

I did some rummaging around blog sites today - you can get lost reading other people's thoughts. What I found most interesting is that I kept finding myself on blogs that were mostly written about endurance sports, cycling and other athletic endeavors. I think riding the bike this weekend triggered that old desire to push myself. See - I'm a sprinter. Always have been, always will be. What the bike gave me was the ability to go farther, harder, longer than I ever could do when running or swimming. I'm still no endurance athlete - they fascinate me so much though!

So now that I have recovered from that nasty virus, I will be on the bike again tomorrow. I love dog agility, it's fun. I want to continue to improve and help my dogs reach their potential but it just doesn't cut it for me as an athlete. I need something more and I always will. So it is either swimming, running or cycling. I chose cycling :)

I Confess

I got on my bike again over the weekend and it felt great. I rode indoors on my trainer bike and just did gentle pedalling for exercise and I had NO PAIN in my knee or leg. YEE HAW! I just can't seem to give this up! It runs deep within my blood. I may never ride on the road again, I certainly will not train for races but I will keep trying to ride for exercise and for mental sanity.

Family and Friends

I had a great weekend catching up with family and friends. Had breakfast with a long-time friend of mine, Kathy. We only see each other a couple of times a year but we always pick up where we left off. Sadly, a friend of ours was unable to attend due to the death of a family member.

I went to another friend's house to get some dog training in. Terry lives about an hour and a half away from me so we rarely get a chance to get together but we always have a blast. I worked 2 of my dogs and helped her with one of hers - I was quite tired afterwards but it was such a good tired compared to the exhaustion I had been feeling from the stupid virus I couldn't kick! The sessions were great for both of my boys, in particular, Gusto. He dropped too many bars - taking off too early or just generally blasting around more excited than normal. He did learn that dropping bars is unacceptable behavior - I'm afraid this is a forever lesson with this boy.

Then Greg and I took Devin to Harrisburg to ride the riverboat with my Brother and his family. I haven't been on the boat for at least a decade. It was a nice experience for the kids. Afterwards, pizza at my Parent's house.

I did very little dog training and focused on my family and friends. Trying to maintain a balanced life when you tend to be obsessive is quite a difficult task but a necessary one. One of my main goals in life is to be able to look back in my golden years and have no regrets.

Swimming Memories

Yep - I was a swimmer and a volleyball player and a tennis player and a hurdler and a basketball player and an all-around tom boy growing up. If there was an activity to be done, I was doing it. My biggest problem was that I was a natural athlete - I never had to work hard. Practices were a big joke for me, I never really gave it my all. Because of my natural abilities, I played around at my sports and never really reached my potential.

Except once. One time - I got the Gold.

I wind the clock back to the 1984-85 school year, my Senior year at Cedar Cliff High School in Camp Hill, PA. As I struggled to find my place in the rat race called the "teen-age years", I found it once on the deck of a pool at the Mid-Penn Conference swim meet. If memory serves me correctly, you could only swim in events that you had qualified under the cut off time. I know I swam mutliple events but I can't remember which ones - 50 free and the 4x100 free relay are the only ones I remember. I'm pretty sure I probably swam 100 back too.

I do remember swimming the 50 free individual race because I remember being incredibly nervous. I also remember using my Sony Walk-man (yep, cassettes!) to help relax before the events. The 50 free race was prior to our relay and I didn't swim as well as I would have liked. Actually, I was disappointed with my swim and remember the coach talking to me in an effort to get me to focus on the relay. The relay team was comprised of 3 Seniors and 1 Sophmore. It was the last time we would be swimming together as a relay team. Before the race, we all huddled like you've seen the Olympic relay teams doing in Beijing. We were psyching each other up to give it our best for the team - it was our last swim together and we wanted it to be our best effort.

I honestly can't remember what leg I swam, I only remember the feeling on the deck afterwards. Pure joy! We screamed and hugged each other because we did it, as a team. We got the Gold medal at that event. What a feeling and what a way to top off our swim season which had been a fantastic one.

We didn't qualify for States missing only by a few tenths of seconds but we still had our Gold. It sits on the desk now - as a reminder that goals can be reached but only by giving it your best effort.

Inspirational Stories

There is a whole section devoted to inspirational stories in this year's Olympics. Several athletes have been diagnosed with Cancer and are still competing despites their recent health issues. The stories that I have read so far have all been swimmers - what a great group of athletes. One of the gold medalists - open water marathon - has leukemia, one of the US swimmers has testicular cancer - age 24! And one of the open water marathon swimmers from South Africa had her leg amputed after a motorcycle crash.

Unbelievable stories - go check them out:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/swimming/news/newsid=238014.html#amputee+inspires+olympic+debut

If you can't get inspired by these stories, you might want to check your pulse.

2008 Summer Olympics

I've been captivated by this year's Olympics. Probably more than any other. I've been watching the Summer Olympics since I was 8 years old but none stand out as much as this one. The pictures and stories have been inspiring - I read the stories every day. I look at the pictures and certain ones stand out. I think my favorite picture is the one of Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor on the medal stand, celebrating their win.

Here is a link to some of the photos:

http://www.nbcolympics.com/beachvolleyball/photos/galleryid=241833.html

I honestly didn't think Dalhausser and Rogers, the US Men's Beach V-ball team would also win Gold! What an accomplishment for our athletes.

Sadly, swimming is done but now I can sleep a full 8-hrs. I stayed up late every night to watch our swim team do their thing; ever hopeful that Michael Phelps would get his 8 gold medals and that Dara Torres would also medal. Perhaps the most exciting moment was watching Michael Phelp's out-touch his opponent to the wall in the 100 M butterfly - winning by a slim .01 margin.

I also stayed up late to watch the Women's gymnastic team in the individual event finals. Through the team finals and the all-around finals, I wanted to see Shawn Johnson get her gold but each time, it was not to be - she got Silver in both events. She still had not gotten her gold medal so I watched, sitting on the edge of the bed, holding my breath while she did her beam routine. Finally, her goal had been met - GOLD!

Some people reach their dreams; others remain "In Pursuit".

Scrimmage

Devin had his first scrimmage last night against Manheim Central. We out-numbered them 77 to 30-something. Their poor kids had to play all 3 of our sections all night long. All of our groups played pretty well. Our offense still needs more work on the White team (less experienced group). Devin played on the Black team - we think that is the Varsity Section 3 so we are quite confused as to what group Devin will be playing on. He had some great tackles and many many assists. We were very proud of him. Before the game, we told him to have fun and that we wouldn't put any pressure on him. We told him to play his best and we would be proud. I think that relieved him cuz he got out of the car with more enthusiasm and he did play very well. I just want him to enjoy it, it is a game and it should be fun. So no more pressure from us - our only expectation is that he does his best.

Road Cycling

Yep - everyone who knows me probably wondered when I would get around to this topic. Well, maybe not, I'm a bit obsessive which tends to drive my friends crazy. But this was a passion of mine for what amounted to a "blink of the eye".

How do I tell this story quickly? Well have to think on that. Until I figure that out, here is the long winded version. HA HA, this is my blog, after all.

I bought a mountain bike in 2006 to ride in the park with Devin after he learned to ride without training wheels (that is an interesting look into Devin's mind and will have to write about that later). Anyway, back to the story - we rode through the park all June and I was having so much fun. I felt like a kid again. I decided to start riding out on the road for fitness - to replace running which I stopped due to back pain issues. Let me tell you, slogging a 34 lb mountain bike up slight hills is no easy task. But I loved it so kept at it. I started buying gear like gloves and computers etc because I really started getting into it. I would take the bike to the local rail trail and push myself to see how far and how fast I could go. I was ripping up that trail averaging speeds well over 15 mph - on a heavy mountain bike on crushed gravel.

I started thinking maybe I should buy a road bike; I used to ride my old 12-speed Schwinn for fitness many many years ago so why not give it a try again. I rented a Giant road bike while at the shore and fell in love with the speed and agility of the bike so came home and bought one.

I joined the local bike club after getting my feet wet on the road to make sure I could keep up with everyone. They told me to try a "D" pace ride first -that's for beginners. So that is what I did - I had to slow down to stay with the group so I wouldn't get lost. When the ride was done, the leader told me to try the "C" pace rides cuz I was too fast.

Next time out, I joined the "C" ride. The leader of that group told me to try some "B" rides cuz they would be more challenging for me. I started wondering, maybe I should train for some road races. I started riding in June and by September, I was averaging speeds of 16 mph on long rides that included hills. In November, I found a coach and by January, I was on a training program to begin racing in the Spring.

The workouts were tough! Like nothing I have ever done. I've never pushed myself so hard and felt so good about it. Ray, my coach, had me doing one leg spins, sprint intervals, power drills, mileage work. I was averaging around 150 miles per week trying to improve my leg strength and endurance. And the most amazing part of it all was my sprint speeds - I could hit 36 mph. And that wasn't even full out!

I loved it! I was ready to quit agility to focus on cycling full time. I did my first race in April of 2007. It was tough but I got through the race - I didn't finish last but I had a lot more work to do. I continued to push myself and entered another race, again - I didn't finish last but still had trouble keeping up with the group for the 45 minute race. Mostly, it was an endurance issue. I needed to be able to sustain the higher speeds for longer periods of time.

About the time I started to feel like I was breaking through the endurance piece, I started having pain in my right knee. It felt like someone took a knife and was stabbing me in my leg. It got to the point that I couldn't turn the pedals and had to call Greg to come get me. After doing some research on leg pain, I discovered I was having problems with my IT Band.

Off to therapy I went. They were convinced that running my dogs in agility was the cause of my IT Band problems. These issues are usually associated with running, not cycling. They told me to quit running while we worked out my problems. Cycling was included as part of the therapy - slow easy work indoors. After 3 months, I wasn't getting better so I stopped cycling too. I quit running and cycling in an effort to ease the pain. After a month off from both sports, I started to improve. I added a little jogging in (approved by my therapist) and I didn't have any pain. So we kept up that regiment for a bit. We tried to add cycling back in, the pain returned.

The end of the story goes like this - I have a structural problem in my right hip that causes my knee to rotate inward when I pedal. Therefore, I can no longer cycle without pain. I've tried so many options to fix it - bike fit, new pedals, new pedal extenders. The bottom line is that cycling hurts too much. After being off from agility for 6 months due to this problem, I made the decision to park the bikes (I was up to 3 bikes by this point) and focus on my dogs.

It was a very tough decision. My passion was no longer agility, I had moved on to cycling. But my body told me that it was the wrong decision. SIGH - but I had one great year on the bike and it taught me a ton about myself - how to persevere in spite of great odds. There is no feeling that can compare to making it to the top of the hill when your legs are burning, your lungs are hurting and you just want to stop. But you don't, you keep going, inch by inch until you reach the top and you celebrate and then you ride like the wind down the other side!

Devin and Football

Well, we got the answer last night. While I was home sick with the flu, Greg called me to tell me that Devin in on JV instead of Varsity Section 3. We were both upset about it because Devin is a very good linebacker and can take down even the fastest of kids. We felt that there was some favoratism going on in the decision making process. What can we do about it? Nothing really. We have to look at the positives and make sure that Devin isn't affected by our own wishes. Greg asked him if he cared which team he was on and he said no. What a good sport! At least I will get to see all of his games and he will probably get to play a lot since he will be one of the better players. He truly is as good as some of the players that will get to play on Varsity though so it does upset me. I have to remind myself that this is not Devin's final athletic endeavor. In fact, he probably won't play next year as he doesn't like it as much as he did the first year. But if playing on JV makes it easier and therefore, more fun; maybe he will play another year. That would be fine by me. He needs a sport to get rid of his high energy level.

Hum, Maybe?

This weekend, Gusto and I trialed down in Virginia at TAG. It was his first weekend at 26 and I was a bit nervous because I wanted to do well to set the tone for my future pursuits. A lot of top handlers were there; due to the fact that it had Grand Prix and Steeplechase.

The courses were challenging but fair. Grand Prix was probably the most technical and Steeplechase was fast and furious. My first run of the weekend was Masters Standard and I really wanted to run it well. I was nervous though and didn't execute well. Next class was Grand Prix. I set my jaw so to speak, determined to run it well as a test to my ability to pull one out. Gusto was brilliant, I was decent. We got around the course and he had a fast time but he dropped 2 bars. Gamblers was after that - no Q because another bar came down during the gamble. Again, he ran really well.

Next, on to Steeplechase. It looked like a lot of fun to run as I watched the 22 in class give it a shot. Some brilliant runs and fast times were posted. Again, I stepped to the line with a clear head, focused and ready to execute. Unfortunately, 2 bars once again. I was very happy with our run as a team though. He really is talented and I just need to get my timing down for 26 and stop talking to him right over the bar.

Everyone asked me why I moved him up. That was a tough question to answer. Why did I do it? He is my fastest and most talented agility dog to date and I will kick myself if I don't see what we can do Nationally and possibly Internationally. It comes down to me AND his ability to keep the bars up. My answer was mostly, "why not". If you never push yourself or test yourself, you'll never know what you can do.

I think of Dara Torres, 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist in the 50M freestyle when I write this...."never put an age limit on your dreams". Dara won her silver at age 41 - what an inspiration.

To My Friends

Thank you for your support in so many aspects of my life. Without my friends, life would be less colorful.

In no particular order and I apologize if I miss anyone - this will be based on random thoughts that pop into my head:

To Terry - for listening to me and for helping me accept my strengths and my weaknesses.
To LuAnn - for making me a better person, less prickly, if you will :) And for your positive energy and support.
To Jen - for making me laugh! And for some amazing memories in the early Flute/Ivy years.
To Kathy - for getting me started in dog sports and for helping to cultivate my passion for agility and herding.
To Tinna - for helping me see the light and for helping to build my confidence when I had none.
To Rosanne - for appreciating Ivy for who she was and for helping me reach my goals with her and for guiding me in my future quests.
To Amy - for letting me be me.
To Weeta - for your amazing friendship!

Deaf Dogs

Well on the painful part of this blog. Ivy and her hearing loss. I've already mentioned that she started having some hearing problems about age 4 right as she was about to hit her prime. But unfortunately, she hid this issue well enough that I didn't know she was losing her hearing. When she would go off course in agility or leave the sheep and come back to me or not come when I called her, I assumed she was being stubborn. I also assumed that I, as a handler, was horrible because I couldn't get her around the ring clean. Now Ivy is a fast border collie but she isn't in the same league as Gusto and many other ridiculously fast border collies. She has nice speed and is a beautiful jumper and can cover the ground nicely. There was absolutely no reason that I couldn't run her clean - or at least, that is what I was told over and over again. What was wrong with me? Why was this sport so difficult. I started to question whether I should be in this sport if I sucked so badly that I couldn't get this nice dog around the ring consistently clean.

I was spending gobs of money traveling all over the place to train and trial her. My trial record sucked! I think I Qd one in 10 times with her. So I sat back and started to observe her and started noticing some things that weren't making sense. I started to ask questions about dogs with hearing loss in one ear and had others watch us and give me some observations. I started to think that maybe Ivy was a Uni. Most of our mistakes were all on one side - when I was on her right ear. I started to pay attention to our mistakes and also noticed that indoors, she was much worse.

I found a vet that did BAER testing and made an appt assuming he would tell me that she was a Uni. When he came out of the room, he asked me why I brought her in and what my thoughts were and I told him that I thought she was deaf in the right ear. He said that I was correct BUT that she has severe hearing loss in her left ear too! WOW was I shocked. He told me that he could barely get any sounds to register in her left ear and that basically this dog was considered deaf due to the severe limitations. I took her out to my car after thanking him and paying the fee and cried.

I cried for what I had put her through unknowingly. I cried for thinking such horrible thoughts about this sweet dog and I cried for the loss of our future goals in agility.

After crying my eyes out, I cleared my head and started thinking of a plan. I had goals for Ivy - I wanted her to get her ADCH - Agility Dog Champion title. We were so close to reaching it even with my horrible Q rate. I needed someone who understood how to run and a handle a dog using mostly motion and not verbal commands.

Luckily, I had access to Barb and Rosanne DeMascio. Thank GOD for the DeMascios! They gave me hope that we could work with Ivy's limitations. Knowing what we were dealing with now, we started to change the way I handled Ivy and the way I trained her.

And I got her ADCH - 3 months after I found out about her hearing problems. She also qualified for Nationals every year since 2005 although I never took her back out to AZ. Her best accomplishment was placing 6th in Steeplechase at the NE Regional in 2007. I was very proud of her - she is basically handicapped but could still compete at a decent level once I made adjustments for her. I have since decided to drop her down to performance so I can focus on Gusto. But I will run her in agility as long as she is enjoying it and having fun. After all that I put her through, she deserves to still play as long as her body holds up!

Abbey

I fell in love with this dog due to her incredible heart. She just wants to please me and she wants to do it at 10,000 mph. Unfortunately, her body cannot accommodate her desire as she has back problems and had to retire early. I just didn't want to see this vibrant dog crippled as she aged so made the decision to not show her in agility any more. I did try to put her back on sheep but the weakness in her back made her sharp when working the stock. Any turns that she needed to make on her weak side resulted in diving in and scattering the sheep.

She is now a very energetic house pet who loves to play with Greg and Devin when I am away at shows or herding with the boys. It was a struggle to make the decision to retire her, I just loved working with her. She and I were connected in ways that never happened between Ivy and I. I had to learn to appreciate Ivy but I wanted her to be like Abbey and that was never going to happen, nor was it fair. Abbey and Ivy taught me so much more than just how to train fast dogs and how to work sheep. They taught me about perseverance, patience which I still struggle with and how to appreciate what you have.

Abbey

I haven't really mentioned this girl yet. She is a very special dog and comes with a story as do almost all of my dogs. She is Ivy's littermate and the one I picked out of the litter of 4. When I went to Shalimar's house (the breeder), all of the pups were in the whelping box. Abbey was the first one out of the box and came running to me and jumped on me. So maybe I should say Abbey picked me and it was love at first site. I took her home and was quite shocked to be bringing a puppy home as Devin was only about 14 months old.

After about 2 months, I realized that Abbey was a bit much to handle since Devin was young and mobile and Carac was till young and annoying. Abbey loved to chase anything that moved and bite it which meant Devin. Devin thought it was fun, I didn't. It was very stressful; especially, having just dealt with alot of Carac's behavioral problems. I started to think maybe Abbey needed to go to a home that had more time to deal with her energy and needs.

I found her a good home and sadly said good bye.

About a year later, the guy who adopted her called me and said he was moving to an apartment that didn't permit dogs and he could not keep Abbey. She was about 18 months old at this point. I told him I would come pick her up and find her a home through Mid-Atlantic Border Collie Rescue. I had every intention of fostering her until we could find her a proper place to live.

That was 6 years ago and she is still here :) She is a wonderful girl but she's crazy. Really! I have to go to the agility building to teach so I need to stop here but will be writing more about this girl.

The Guppy

Gusto's nickname is Guppy. How dog's get nicknames is quite an interesting thing, don't you think? You never know which one will stick. He has been called Donkey Boy (due to his large ears), Gustov, Chicken (his bark is quite screechy) and many many more. Looks like Guppy is the one that he will live with. Not because he is a fish, mind you, but because he started out life as "Gusto, the Puppy" which morphed into Guppy. So there you have it.

The Hitman

The Hitman Gilligan is back! I left Robbie's puppy class a bit early so I could get home to watch Devin at football practice. They are working on their tackling and pursuit skills. Teaching the boys to keep an eye on the ball and move their bodies to be in the correct position to take down the receiver or running back. They set up a drill with 2 tackling dummies on the ground to create a lane. The offensive players on one side, the defensive players on the other. One defensive player would run down the lane and face 2 offensive players...one carrying the ball, the other one blocking. Devin's positions requires him to shed the blocker and tackle the ball carrier.

First time up, Devin got stopped by the blocker so one of the coaches explained what he needed to do. The second time up, wham! He got rid of the blocker and took the ball carrier down. It was a very nice tackle. Third time up, Devin and Collin May (very fast agile player) slammed into each other; knocking Devin backwards. The sound of the pads clashing was impressive. Well, Devin never likes to be stuffed. Next time out, he had to go up against Collin again. This time, slam and Collin went down. His Mother was standing with us watching them. She asked which kid was Devin. Right at that point, Devin and Collin were hitting each other and I said - there he is, with Collin. We have come to enjoy talking with her - our boys played together last year and were always on opposite sides due to their individual strengths. Devin and Collin like to go up against each other because they are both quite intense and enjoy pushing each other to improve. It's fun to watch. Her younger son, Kyle, played soccer with Devin several years ago and is one amazing soccer player. But I think he will be playing football next year as he is too young to play yet. So American Soccer loses another bright star of the future to football. Such is life in America.

Back to football - we are still waiting to hear how the teams will be split up. Varsity Section 1, Varsity Section 3 and JV. The Section 1 Varsity is for the bigger, older boys who have played several years already. But there is a chance that Devin will play in Section 3. If so, I will miss some of his games. If he is on JV, I will get to see him play a lot. We may find out tonight.

Herding Pictures

The first picture is Robbie - going slightly faster than necessary. The second picture is Gusto - also going slightly faster than necessary. The last picture is Ivy - being her perfect self. If only she could hear, she is a dream to work on sheep. It's like a dance when working her. I actually purchased Ivy from Shalimar Distler because of her herding talent. At the time, I was working Carac, the butthead who was not easy to train on stock. He didn't want to work with you, he just wanted to do it himself. Ivy, in sharp contrast, included you when working the sheep. Now running Ivy on an agility course - totally different matter. That was not a dance, that was a train wreck in our early days.

My Family Part 2

I can't mention my family without a post about my husband, Greg. He is 6'6 and very bright. Not in a common sense sort of way but in a numbers sort of way. He can calculate numbers as fast as a computer. I used to throw out numbers right before he was ready to go to sleep and he would have to calculate them. It was a fun game we used to play. I mention this because I couldn't be more numerically challenged! Thank goodness for 10 fingers and 10 toes :)

He is a CFO for a company in Palmyra, PA. Not sure if he really loves his job or not but he is a very good husband and father and likes to provide for his family. He seems to take pride in supporting our endeavors. The poor guy is surrounded by balls of intense energy - our dogs, our son and me!

What a supportive guy - he does what he can to help me pursue my dreams. Hense the name of this blog - In Pursuit. In Pursuit of excellence in agility and in pursuit of reaching a lifelong goal of being an international athlete. So it won't be in either of the sports that I thought it would be back when I was 8 years old but maybe, just maybe it will be in agility. He certainly is doing what he can to help me get there. He is very proud of our border collies and recognizes the talent that Gusto, the 3 yrd old has. Now if his handler could just be as talented.....

Thank you, Greg, for your support and for understanding of my obsessions.

Robbie, The Small Pony

I've alluded to the fact that I live with multiple border collies but haven't gone into that much about them yet. I've posted 2 pictures of Ivy, my very first competitive border collie. She is an amazing little girl but we had alot of issues along the way in trying to get her properly trained. She has done flyball, herding and agility. She excels in all that she does BUT I started noticing some very strange behaviors several years ago. Many many people told me that we had relationship problems but I didn't listen to them as I knew Ivy better than they did. To make a very long story short (will go back and add more later), Ivy started going deaf at age 4. It is a genetic problem and it is becoming very prevalent in border collies.

Because of her hearing problems, I decided to get a puppy last Winter. I did a ton of research - pedigree mostly. I really wanted a dog from good working bloodlines this time. In the event that I quit doing agility or my dogs can't do agility for some reason, I wanted a dog that could work sheep and possible trial in the USBCHA type venue. After making a decision on what I wanted, I found a litter in British Columbia, Canada. There was one puppy left but the breeder thought that he might be taken and was waiting a final answer. I told her if the person backed out that I wanted him. Well later that day, I got the email that I could have him. I went to the bank right away to do the international wire to Diana Gauthier and we made arrangements to have him shipped to the States.

My first meeting was amazing. He came barreling out of the kennel right to me with the expression of "Hello World". The long trip didn't bother him at all and he was very confident to explore the new surroundings. He was absolutely adorable and I couldn't wait to get him home. After a very long drive from the Pittsburgh airport (made better by the fact that a young friend of mine, Katie came with me), he arrived home to meet his new family.

He is now 9 months old and very very big! He is over 21.5 inches tall and weighs around 38 lbs and probably is not done growing yet. So I am not sure how well he will do at agility given his larger size. Knowing he may not be the fastest and most agile in the agility ring, I wanted to get his sheep training started. I've been to several lessons now and he is wonderful on sheep. My instructor, Sharon Nunan, thinks he is truly talented.

I did find out that a littermate was returned to Diana recently due to failing health and couldn't take care of a puppy. Sharon is interested in purchasing this pup because she thinks Robbie is going to be quite talented. I got an email from her this morning, she was on the phone with a friend of hers last night and learned that she is running a new dog named, Keen. A student purchased the dog and needs to learn how to work him so the instructor, Carol is running him for her. He is doing very well and Sharon noticed and asked about him. Well it is Robbie's Dad and he is now down in NC! I must do a road trip to see him work stock.

What a small world!

My Family

Anyone who cares to read my blog will know that I live with multiple dogs. My house is a busy, crazy place full of energy and noise. Increase that noise tenfold when Devin is home.

Devin is our 9 yr old son. Greg and I are very proud of this intelligent, athletic, spririted boy. As I write this, they are both at football practice which is a required activity to tire him out and make living with him peaceful, if only for a few hours. This is his second year playing football and it looks as if he will play a defensive position again. We call him "the Hitman Gilligan" due to his natural ability to tackle kids that weigh 20 lbs or more than he does. I do not know what sport, if any, he will continue to play throughout his life but football has brought structure along with both physical and mental challenges. It is more than a sport, it teaches discipline, honor, respect and teamwork. I am very impressed with the coaches in our area and I look forward to his first game of the season.

The picture above was taken this past Christmas. Gusto, my 3-yr old male BC is Devin's buddy. Devin and Gusto look for each other every morning and they have to give hugs and kisses to start the day off right.

Dogs

The main reason that I decided to start my blog was my dogs. Dogs, you say? Oh no, not another crazy dog lady who writes what Muffin ate for breakfast. No, I will not be writing about what Muffin ate for breakfast. Reason being, I do not have a Muffin nor do I care what it ate for breakfast, unless it was my shoe...then I might care.

I live with 4 border collies, 1 border collie/sheltie mix and one sheltie/eskimo mix. I also live with my husband, Greg, and our 9 yr old son, Devin. I'll write about them later.

The picture on my blog is me with my girl, Ivy at the Grand Canyons. Ivy is the first dog that I qualified to take to USDAA World Cynosports in Scottsdale, AZ in 2005. This event is considered the National event for USDAA dog agility. There were over 350 22 inch dogs competing in one event the year that I went. I wish I could say I went out there and set the world on fire. I did not do that but I was very happy with my first big event. She just missed making the finals in Grand Prix by less than one second. When I tell you the rest of her story, you will understand why that was such a big deal for me. It was quite a long journey to get her there - physically and mentally.

My First Post

So I just had to join the blogging generation. I've been reading several blogs and thought this is a great way to express yourself without boring your friends to death with the same old stuff.

Why the heck would I need to write basically a journal of thoughts for public viewing? I guess I am just a writer who missed her calling in life. OK - not really. But I have alot of thoughts that roll around in my head and this is a perfect way to get rid of them so I can move on to other thoughts that roll around in my head. Maybe I will even come up with some brillaint new notion or a famous quote that everyone adopts. So I dream big. Without dreams, you might as well just die. I'm sure that is a quote from someone else.