All in the family...



Seeker, Jenny, cousin Brynn, breeder Terri, Dandy & Tempo

 We haven't done much travelling this year for agility except for the AKC Nationals back in early April. When we found out that several of Seeker's siblings would be competing at an AKC trial in Port Jervis, NY, we decided to make the 6 hour trip to join them. I haven't seen Seeker's breeder Terri Florentino in at least 2 years, so this was an opportunity to work on Qs and visit with everyone. It was bittersweet for Linda Husson, the owner of Seeker's littermate Dandy and brother Tempo, as their sire Token died suddenly and unexpectedly only a few, short months ago. Token's legacy of agility success lives on and his star is shining brightly in these pups!

Seeker had a stellar weekend earning his first triple Q on Sunday with placements in FAST and Standard and a Q in JWW! He earned double Q #7 and is now just 81 points shy of the needed 750 for his MACH. The courses were tough on Saturday, but Seeker earned some points and a placement in JWW. He imploded on the Standard course, but many experienced dogs did too. It was wonderful for Terri and her husband Ed to see the Meg/Token pups running agility in person, rather than through video.

Also joining the party, was Lynn and her husband Chris with Seeker's littermate Jenny and cousin Brynn. Lynn and Jenny ran in Novice on Sunday, only their second trial ever and did quite well with placements in Standard and FAST. Lynn did a fine job of running Jenny, no matter what she says!

Missing from the party was brother Quid from the repeat 2009 breeding as he was exposed to kennel cough a few weeks earlier and was still quarantined. We hope he can join us another time. With luck, we can all get together again in the future...

Uncle Piper and I had a tough go on Saturday, with an 0 for 3 day. But Sunday, he earned Master FAST leg #9 with a placement and he got a Q in Standard. Unfortunately, he imploded on the JWW course, but I used it as a training exercise working on my handling skills, especially rear crosses! Both boys found the packed dirt footing difficult on Saturday with bars down and slipping and sliding. And I was tremendously off in my timing having not trialled in several weeks. On Sunday, we all found our groove and finished well. Piper still needs 8 QQS for his MACH and Seeker needs 81 points and 13 QQs for his...

We hope that we can make this a yearly trip and that next time more of the clan can join us! There are several sisters also running agility that we hope will come next time and really make it all in the family!

The "dog" days of summer... pun intended!

 Time for the dog days of summer at Applegarth... The dogs love their baby pool and I am happy to be the lifeguard and chief pool refiller. Piper isn't fond of getting his feet wet or digging in the pool like the others, but does love getting sprayed with the hose. Hence the wet look at left...

Ceilidh absolutely loves getting in the pool and digging, biting and playing in the water. That is her annoyed look since I called her name to take the picture. Pffftttt...

Seeker is also a water baby in the pool. He loves to dig and bite at the splashes. And because of that, he is banished from lakes and ponds since he got coccidia two summers ago from pond water. Not to mention he came very close to water toxicity... Goofy boy. His fun with water is now confined to the backyard and the baby pool... Dock diving is NOT in his future.

Gemmie discovered water was actually fun as long as there is no shampoo involved. Her first time with the baby pool had her running and barking in big looping circles around Seeker as he played in it. I picked her up and tossed her in. Once she realized that was fun, she dove in with gusto. Now, she takes her turn with Seeker, but if he tries to horn in on her fun, she gives him her best toothy face and grumbles. When he growls back at her, she apologizes, but stands her ground. They are too much fun together!

I'm sure they will have more days of the pool before the cool days of autumn take hold and the pool goes back in storage til next summer. Until that happens, I will continue my lifeguarding, pool filling, hose spraying and refereeing Clan Applegarth and their pool time fun!