I hope this Blog proves to be both fun and educational for anyone interested in Showing and/or Breeding Dogs. Spend some time with us and you will really understand the time and effort and emotions that goes into this hobby. Join me here for the good times and bad times, the joys and sorrows, the wins and losses. Welcome to life at Vista Dei!

I found the directions to the show site last night, (yup SF we showed in Saxonburg) left in plenty of time this morning, pleasent drive, didn't get loss.. no stress, no stress, no stress..  arrive about an hour before I needed to be in the ring, smoooth...pulled into the lovely show site, drove around the full parking lot surrounded by woodland.  Noted that quite a few of the vehicles were parked at the edge of the road in the woodlands.  So I find a great shaded area that was still open and pulled in ~ immediately find the front of my car sunk to the axels in a bog, with my rear end out blocking the road.   Many thanks to Noah, who is Penny's dad from our agility class and a gang of about 15 of his friends and fellow club members who wadded in nearly knee deep to push, rock and lift my car back onto the pavement without the need of a tow truck.. forever indebted guys! Well that distracted me from my ring nerves and I am happy to say that Darby and I finished our Rally Novice title with a 98 out of 100 score.  Got a WONDERFUL new title rosette from their club, wowow.. I will try to finish more titles with THEM!! So we are home and tired, I had entered for tomarrow too, just in case we screwed up today, but I am not going out now that we finished this titles, I could move him up to open, but with the gas prices and such I believe we will just take a well deserved rest tomarrow.. he with his new Chew Stick and me with the.. ummmm Ben and Jerry's Double fudge browney icecream (just a LITTLE container!)

Yeah!! I am happy!

Posted by: Vistadei at 20:49 | link | comments (2)

Today I had Chinese take out for lunch.  In my fortune cookie was this saying "Committment is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism"  I think that is a good thing to apply to dog showing and breeding.  I sure wish I had more energy.  This morning I got up, let the dogs out to play a while, picked up poopies, then got out all the Rally stuff, set up a big course with all the signs and cones and such, practiced the course several time with Darby, picked the stuff for the course all up, put it away  and oh my gosh it was time for me to go to work!  That is awful, I got nothing else done!!  I was tired too!  guess what, I will go home tonight and do exactly the same thing, as we have Rally shows tomarrow and Sunday.  I have to dig out my entry conformation and see where the heck this is located!  I do not even know where I am driving to tomarrow AM! Wish us luck!

Posted by: Vistadei at 14:21 | link | comments (1)

Loosing my mind, I KNOW I read a comment last night from R about my daughter visiting the min pin pup, came on this morning to reply and the comment isn't there?!?!  huh..  Well, got a nice picture of Cricket in the email, and she has GRASS AND FLOWERS in her yard, I am terribly jealous! I guess I am going to go ahead and re-seed, maybe try some of those play ground chips this year in a limited little area and see how they hold up there.

R had some questions about agility equipment the other day, and I didn't have time at home to reply much to her, (it is amazing that I have a few extra minutes AT WORK to post on here!) The question I had for R was are you planning to compete in the future or just play?  If anyone is planning to compete, a couple things you don't want to do is to set up the A frame and tunnels as free play toys.  If a tunnel is left out in a play yard for "at will" use, the dogs will love to go into it and lay there like a den.  On an A frame, they will tend to go to the top and sit up there to survey their kingdom.  Both of those habits will really cost you if you ever want to compete in agility later.  We have trained with dogs who do both, and you can really tell the ones that think the tunnel is a good place to play, vs the ones that know to fire through it, banking the inside turn like a carnival ride and exiting in 2 seconds or so.

To answer your question R, Cricket would jump 16" high jumps at standard heights or 12" high jumps at perfered height class.  The jumps are about 20" wide I think, I will have to measure that.  Weave poles are spaced 20" apart mostly.  They can be up to 22" apart I believe, but you don't usually see that, and shelties sure don't need that extra space.  Right now there are 6 weave pole in the begining Novice classes, and 12 in open classes, but starting in Sept there will be 9 weave poles in the begining classes.

To making a tire to start with, I think if you just want to play a little the easiest was to introduce a tire concept is to make a thing that lays flat on the ground shaped like a capital Letter I from 2x4" then used plummer tape (metal strapping with holes for screws) to attach a child's hoola hoop to the wood. A standard tire is an interesting bit of equipement that tends to tip and spook the dog if you don't get the base right, or the dog doesn't learn to jump it correctly if you don't get the circle just so, also it is one of those things that you can pick up lots of bad habits with if you are ever going to compete (like going around the tire through the frame, under the tire etc) so the hoola hoop is what I would start out with and use for "play"

I am going to try to do some directions and photo's for the blog for different equipment, and for begining practice,so stay tuned!

Posted by: Vistadei at 12:53 | link | comments (3)

The little Min Pin dog has gone to his new home today.  We already got an update that he is doing fine and playing with his new min pin brother "Buddy", and got some pictures of his new owner holding him.  I am glad for happy endings.  My daughter shed some tears after we dropped him off, but we all know that he will get the love and attention that he deserves.  I am amazed that he wormed his way into all of our hearts in just 4 short days, but his old owners cared so little.  Sigh.. somedays you just wonder.  Anyway all is well that ends well, eh?

Posted by: Vistadei at 17:52 | link | comments (1)

Here are some pictures of the little guy my daughter picked up, I think we have found him a good new home, we will know more on Monday!  He is still being a good boy..

Posted by: Vistadei at 09:33 | link | comments (3)

Yesterday on the way home from work my daughter found a small mix
breed that appears to be primarily Min Pin probably mixed with
Chihuahua on the highway, nearly getting hit
by cars.  She circled around, caught him, canvassed the near-by
neighbors, couple of them said he was always running loose and had
nearly been hit by cars on a regular basis and they pointed out the
owners house.  She knocked on the door, woman said
that it was her dog, but they were moving in the next couple days,
and planning on dropping him off at the shelter.  She told my
daughter to either keep him, find him a home or drop him off at the
shelter but she didn't want him back and her husband hated him
anyway and shut the door!!!!  
 We know his name, but not anything else, he looks
about 1 to 2 years old to me, pretty well house broken, though he
has hiked his leg twice in the house in 24 hours.  Always wants to
be held, seems very friendly, is in excellent condition, but is
intacted, about 5 pounds in weight I would guess.
I hope I can find a rescue that might take him, otherwise I guess we will place him ourselves!

Posted by: Vistadei at 22:22 | link | comments (2)

Spent the morning outside with all the dogs running and playing together, all 10, it was a ball.  I raked the yard and started to get ready to re-seed.  I sure wish I could find another surface besides grass for my yard, I keep looking at that pine shredded mulch, but I am not sure how that would be for our agility practice, I don't want a piece pricking up in a foot during jumping.  Gravel is too sharp for jumping, river stone is definately out, the nugget mulch the same, cause I am afraid of turning my own ankles running on that.  Wood shavings would be nice, but I am sure that would be impossible to keep from deteriorating, plus when we are in places with barn shavings for flooring it tend to cling to the coat, which would no doubt cause a mess to be drug into the house.  I am afraid of that shredded rubber stuff, afraid the dogs might eat it and cause a blockage. I have seen giant sheets of rubber matting, like you would put in a horse stall, but I think that might get too hot, and don't know how well it cleans when pee'd on? Straw is what I usually put down on the yard when the grass is sparce, but it is a little slippery for me, but so far the best choice, so I guess I will re-seed with grass.  If anyone that reads this has a better solution, PLEASE post!! 

Posted by: Vistadei at 12:30 | link | comments (4)

Lousy day at the agility Mock trial.. sigh...  I took really really tastey treats and tried to "fire up" Darby before our first run.. oh there was a mistake.  He must have thought I had lost my mind.  Didn't help that the weaves were the second article, and we pushed through all 12, which frustrated him endlessly.  So he started just barking like a fool, runing round taking what ever jumps he wanted.  I stopped and stood there and he just kept jumping here and there and barking.  So we started the run again, cause it was just a mock trial and they let me do that.. ohhhhhh  well, weaves were STILL the second article, and we tried for the 12 again, and pretty much the same thing happened, except this time he decided to run back and forth in a tunnel 3 times, barking his head off.. I finally picked him off the course and crated him till he settled, but that wasn't good because we didn't get to the big equipment that he needs the work on!  The second run was a Jumpers course and I think we did pretty good at that one, he was more focused and we did the course pretty darn good.  Third run was a game called Snookers.. ok.. this is NOT good.. I can NOT play snookers, it requires a massive amount of running, thought I would have a heart attack.  We did get to do the big equipment, and that didn't go so well,  he refused the A frame a couple times, something he has never done before, and he bailed off the teeter.. oh.. my.. goodness.. why couldn't he wait till we finished our novice titles to start getting hanky on me?? LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of work to do!!

Posted by: Vistadei at 21:09 | link | comments

We got some new pictures from the puppys Sampson and Aslan.. thanks to mom Sue, and their  'girls' Mary and Alena..

Aslan sez.. "Hey Sam, heard Momma Sue got us something new and SPECIAL.. think it could be these bags of Chocolate??

Sampson sez.. "Naaa... EVERYBODY knows Chocolate isn't good for dogs.. must be sumthin else!?!"

Aslan sez... "OOOOOhhhhh my GOODNESS... IT'S A LITTLE SISTER!!!"

Sampson Sez.. "Did you see that last post, Drifter sure looked like HE was having fun with a little puppy, we can chase this new little sister alllllllll over the place.."

Aslan sez.. "We could tag team her, corner her, get her all spitty with slobber.."

Sampson sez.. "Yeah, and I will teach her all the RULES around the house.. THANKS MOM!"

 

Posted by: Vistadei at 11:29 | link | comments (1)

Drifter is visiting this weekend, and he has found a toy he likes even better than a frizbee!!  The toy is call "Destiny"!!  They just play and chase and play and chase.. but actually, Drifter grew up here with all the other dogs, so he is used to them being his "elders" but Destiny wasn't born until after Drifter left for his new home with Dave and Denise.  Now Destiny has been living as an "only child" with my daughter, and when she comes to visit, the older ones don't want much to do with her puppy play.  BUT Drifter and Destiny think each other is a perfect match.  She just instigates and runs, and he chases till they are both ready to drop!  He forgot to go potty this morning cause they were playing so much.  I had to catch Destiny and put her inside so he could settle and get down to business...

Drifters says "Look mom and dad.. I want one of THESE toys!!!"

(Note to Dave... your super fast boy seems to be a bit behind! )

Caught you!

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:26 | link | comments (1)

Mamma said there'd be days like this.. sigh.. mud, mud, mud, rain, mud, mud, mud, more rain, more rain, more mud.  I spent about 4 hours cleaning the house and the dogs this morning JUST to let them out to the bathroom, and of course since it was pouring rain, not everyone felt comfortable going potty outside getting soaked, so not only did they track in mud and have to be washed and dried TWICE, some of the heathens also waited to potty till they got back INSIDE.. and one on my bed!! sooooo.. bedding in the washer and dryer, dogs in the washer and dryer.. hhahhahaha nooooo just in the tub and blow dry, scrubbing the laudry room floor and walls (gotta shake!) washing the covers from the sofa.. all so they can go out and go potty!  Yesterday, no rain, but my son was off school and spent about 12 hours with his buddies installing new car audio equipment, and of course testing it at deafening levels, that resulted in about 12 hours of dogs barking!  Since we live where the noise ordinence is no more that 10 MINUTES of dog barking before they come and take them away, I was getting really annoyed.  Yes, you can shut up one dog, maybe even 3, but getting 9 to shut up every few minutes is a real chore.  I was really frustrated.  Destiny is staying over at the house because my daughter's friend was killed in a motercycle accident and they are all going to funerals and such.  So that takes the crew up from 8 to 9 dogs here, and Drifter is coming to spend the weekend tonight, and I am REALLY looking forward to his visit but he is WHITE!! hhahaha  well maybe, hope he still likes baths! So we will be up to 10 dogs for the next 4 days.  Ten dogs and a muddy yard.. where is my bottle of whiskey, have a feeling I might as well just sit back, let them all track in and out and be muddy and then clean on Monday.. naaaaaaa  I just can't do that, I am sure I will spend every waking hour after work scrubbing and washing and drying!!  Welcome to my world in the spring...

Posted by: Vistadei at 12:34 | link | comments (2)

WEEEEEE!!!!!  Oh joy,  I am doin' the happy dance.. I splurged on a new set of proffesional quality weave poles a nice set of 12.. they arrived last night and are even nicer than I thought they would be!  Nice flat steel base, the poles are made of some type of resin, with springs on the bottom of each pole, and those have welded threaded centers and they screw onto the base.  Each set of 6 has it's own carrying storage case, the bases are hinged, and the poles fit in little pockets like pool sticks, and it has velcro pockets inside the case for things, zipper and strapped for transport.  Each set of 6 weighs about 40 pounds.. REALLY nice.. set me back a pretty penny, how ever much you think they were, they cost more than THAT.. hhahhahahah soooo maybe we will work up to doing 12 weaves pretty soon. Fingers crossed!

Posted by: Vistadei at 12:14 | link | comments (2)

I updated Drifter's web page as he too earned his NAJ (Novice Jumpers with Weaves) Title last weekend in Pittsburgh and on his web page, we have a FIRST EVER.. a video clip of him doing the weave poles in some record time..  Check it out and let me know if it is all working properly! (takes some time to load if you are on dial up) http://vistadeishelties.com/drifter.html

 

Posted by: Vistadei at 12:09 | link | comments

I added some more pictures of Regis to his web page http://www.VistaDeiShelties.com/Regis.html Christy sent me another great action shot of him tipping the teeter while on the contact zone, and then I dug out some of his baby pictures and put them up too! Enjoy..

Posted by: Vistadei at 10:56 | link | comments

Thanks to Christy and Tim and Tim's mom, we have a great set of pictures of Regis running in the Agility shows last weekend.. here are a couple, then click on Regis's webpage for even more!  You have to see the one of him and Tim as one big BLURRRR of speed!

http://www.vistadeishelties.com/Regis.html

Posted by: Vistadei at 12:42 | link | comments (1)