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!

Darby seems to be loving Destiny alot more now, very late in her season.  Got a breeding done today, but I am not very optimistic as it is sooo late, day 18 instead of day 10 like we would normally do.  She just hasn't been swollen, or flagging her tail or anything, this is the first interest he has paid to her, starting last night. I have been leaving them in the yard together for over a week, with no interest at all.  I don't know, they say the males know when the time is right, so we will see.  Talked to Delight's owner, she is still not sure if she is preg and we are down to the last couple weeks here. I hope this in not a puppy-less year for us!

Posted by: Vistadei at 13:53 | link | comments (1)

Kinda a tough day today.  Some of you know, most of you don't... that I have been struggling with a cross roads type decsion this summer.  I was exploring buying a new home with good deal of property with the plan of expanding the dogs, the breeding program and building a training facility.  I have been meeting with planning commissioners, zoning, animal control, banks, etc and all along the way every door was opened for me, the property and home were an excellent price, we were approved for all plans by zoning and planning, animal control saw no issues with us becoming a state licensed kennel, we were approved by the bank, but I just can not handle this large of a project, and so this morning finally called and withdrew from purchase.  It is really tough as it seems like giving up one of my lifetime dreams, but I guess we all have to face our own limitations, and this one was just too much for me to do, so I am a little relieved and allot sad today.

Posted by: Vistadei at 11:33 | link | comments (4)

Destiny doesn't seem to be having a good heat cycle, I am bummed.  She is in day 13 and still not ready to breed, it is looking like no litter for us this year.. sigh..  well I will keep watching her.  Darlin' is a heathen.  She likes Destiny being here, they are playmates, but she also has been lapsing in her housebreaking skills now that Destiny is in heat... Darlin' knows she is being bad, but seems every time I turn my back and she thinks no one is watching, she does a little something then goes and hides....  sigh, hormones.

Posted by: Vistadei at 12:48 | link | comments

Groomed all nine dogs last night, and wow can I feel it in my arm this morning!  I am going to have extra muscle build up on one arm  I think!! hahahahha  I got sooo much hair out of them, they are blowing coat like crazy, just in time for the upcoming UKC shows. Darlin' is looking too moth eaten to bother, she has long hair all over and then alll the undercoat is in my trash bin! I am hoping to hit the Punxatawny ones the first weekend of Sept, and the Randolph ones the second weekend of Sept.  Then we will be at the Neville Island Agility trials the 3rd weekend of Sept, and that is our schedule of events upcoming. Ofcourse I think I will be taking a detour to Westmoreland agility trials that first weekend of Sept to see SOMEONE cross the finish line for a MACH.. I think, huh Regis?  Such a good boy.  He was over visiting a little with his Daddy Darby this weekend at the trial, didn't care for my hot dog treats.. I will have to get Tim's secret of what treats motivated Regis to run like that! 

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And thanks for the Reminder Rose.. a Happy 4th birthday to L2 litter, They were picture perfect back then, and are beautiful girls today!

Left to right is Shelby, Diana, Dew-oh and Cricket at about 6 weeks old.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Posted by: Vistadei at 07:33 | link | comments

Well, we are back already, didn't qualify today, but it was a nice run I was pretty pleased with it.  A bad call against us I believe but I totally understand how it happened.  The course was really nasty angles all over the place, and we had to have a front cross at the end of the A-frame, and I don't do alot of front crosses with Darby, so when I did it, I was WAY too close to the bottom of the A-frame where he was coming down, and he veared away from me so he didn't run into me, and went off the side of the A-frame.  Now I could see him and he was well in the contact zone with his front feet in my opinion, but the judge was on the back side behind us and called a missed contact when he saw him come off the side rather than go to the bottom, so my bad, never make a judge think heheheheh.. otherwise a perfect run with 10 seconds under course time, would have gotten second place if we had qualified.  I was really pleased with some of the moves we made on the angles to hit the obsticles, so all in all a good run with lots of control and still good speed.  We live to play another day.. hahahahhaahhah

Posted by: Vistadei at 13:26 | link | comments

Just about ready to leave for the agility trial again this morning.  This day should be alot shorter cause I am just entered in one run, however....  this is the one run we need to finish a title, so that puts lots more stress on me, and I am trying to stay calm and disconnected!! hahahah  I always do better if I need one run to title and have 2 days of entries, it takes the pressure off.  But I tell myself, if it doesn't happen today, it will come together next month.. yah, keep saying that..yah... so I hope for the best today but I know from experience that the last leg of a title is always the one I will blow because of nerves, so won't beat myself up if we come home empty handed today! Think I will skip the breakfast thing, my tummy is nervous too!

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:08 | link | comments

Back home, really really long day, FAST class went on forever.  Darby and I got a first place qualifying score in Open standard today, and I was soooo proud of him, especially his weaves, just nailed them.  We got a second place qualifying score in Novice Fast, that was a great run too, with one back jump that didn't hurt in the class, so all was good and otherwise went according to my plan when I walked out the strategy, so I was happy there too.  Regis was the only other of our dogs entered this weekend.  I know on Friday he picked up Double Q #17 and today he didn't double Q but was First in Excellent B Jumpers with Weaves and also First for another leg toward his Master Fast.  I will let Christy get me the times and such at the end of the weekend, I couldn't keep up with that.  Great Job!!  Big hand for the dogs, and a nice nap for dogs and handlers so we can do it all again tomarrow! 

Posted by: Vistadei at 21:55 | link | comments

I thought you might be interested in visiting here on a morning when we are going to a show or trial, and that is this morning!  I have the time to write because I only entered Darby in Standard and Fast runs today, skipping the Jumpers with Weaves since it is in an outdoor ring.  I had a knee injury a few years ago and am still afraid to run outside on an uneven surface with grass and gravel etc. so only entered the runs that were held indoors.  Sooooo that allows me a little breathing room this morning, as I don't need to leave until about 8:20 or so.  Last night I brushed and trimmed Darby, I know it is just agility, but still want him to look nice as he is out there running.  I love the van, as I can leave it all set up for the shows all the time and that saves me dragging things up and down to the house packing and unpacking every show like I used to do with the station wagon.  Now there are 3 xpens, chairs, crates for at least 4 dogs, a nice survival kit with roll of paper towels, extra leashes, extra bedding, baggies, dog food, several gallons of water, etc and the pop up as well as shade tarps, all in the van all the time, so packing to leave is very simple.  Today for agility I will just take along a cooler with water and meat treats, it is already packed with his toys too, leash the dog and go.  If I were showing in conformation or taking along more dogs it would be more stuff to pack, I would have to put all the grooming stuff in there too, but this morning is a breeze.  I got up at 5:00 so the dogs could have some time outside to play before I had to leave.  Sometimes depending on how far we drive to the shows, I have to get up at 3:00 am to let them have time out, but since the shows are long I try to give the ones left behind plenty of play time before I go. Darby and I are both having a light breakfast, you know.. eat too much and ring nerves give you a tummy ache, but eat nothing and then have no energy, same for the dogs too as far as I have read, it is good to give them a really light breakfast for energy, but not a full meal so they don't have to poo or get a tummy ache.  I have my music play list on, it relaxes me, can't stand TV anymore so I try to just listen to music while I get ready to stay calm and focused.  It is really important to me not to feel rushed or frustrated as that definately goes down the leash to the dog.  They don't know WHAT is wrong, but think something is, so I have learned over the years that it is really important to stay relaxed and smooth before a show, no rush, no fuss - no muss. Well that is about it for this morning, I am going to hit the shower and get ready to leave, wish us luck!!

Posted by: Vistadei at 07:22 | link | comments (1)

My kids are having a "you love the dogs more than us" fit again.. hahahhaha!  We have a room airconditioner here and I had put it in the livingroom area, but it couldn't keep that large of an area cool.  So.. I moved it to the dog's bedroom yesterday.  Now what is wrong with THAT?  They have the big fur coats, so they need the airconditioning more than those pesky kids, don't you think?  Plus my son is leaving for college in just a couple weeks, and my daughter moved right back in taking over a bedroom and pushing me off to sleeping in the back bedroom with the dogs, so I thought the dogs and I deserve to have the more comfy of the bedrooms!  And that includes US getting the airconditioner! hahahhaha and Let's compair the dogs to the kids..  The dogs are always glad to see me when I come home, if I feel bad they lick my knees, they always make me smile and want to play with toys and keep me laughing with their antics.  They never leave food around the house, nor wet socks in the bathroom, never promise to mow the lawn then forget.. oh sure there is the occasional accident to clean up, but they never leave drink rings on the wooden furniture, they don't beg for money (tho I think they get more than their fair share of the bank account) they don't tie up the phone, or visit rude sights on the internet or date unacceptable partners.  Yeah, the dogs get noisy and bark, but they don't play  hip hop on their car sterio way too loud or bring over a mob of friends after midnight. I am sure if the dogs could open the fridge they would clean it out the same as the kids do, but in the end they are the ones snuggled up with me at night and the cutest furriest faces looking down in my eyes when I wake up in the morning, so I think they should have the airconditioned room.. yeah..

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:46 | link | comments (2)

Hey! We are still here!! this has been one of those summers that I just haven't been inside on the computer much, missing my email buddies and miss writing in the blog, so I am going to make an effort to post a short note with breakfast from now on!

Well, let me get you caught up on events here!  We are still waiting with baited breath to see if Delight (our visitor from Mich.) is pregnant.  It is a definiate "maybe" I am told, some signs look like she is pregnant, some signs not so much. hahahhahahah so we will know by the second week of Sept either there will be pups, or not..

Destiny has come to stay here for a while, and went into heat a couple days ago, she will be bred to Darby this month.  This will be our first breeding in 2007 and if we get a litter from her it will be a year since there have been pups around here, so I am more than ready now!!  I hope during her pregnancy we can get a CGC and TDI on her, she is pretty much ready for those tests, just needs a little brush up on her "stay"!

Dew-oh is pretty much the same as she has been.  She can walk and run around the yard with the other dogs, and she can come up the 3 steps onto the porch herself, but she can't jump up on you or the furniture or anything and sometimes collapses in the rear if she tries to do too much.  She seems to have made no improvement for a long while with the treatments so we have stopped the treatment and just letting her be the way she is right now as her quality of life seems fine, she can do everything herself and doesn't appear to be in pain anymore.  Hopefully someday she will be completely normal, but I kind of think that she will be like she is now for the rest of her life.

All the rest of the dogs are doing good, hanging around, trying to keep cool.  Training has been slow here, as it has been sooo hot outside.  Hopefully we can work the weaves a bit this week, Darby is entered in trials this coming up weekend, at 4 Seasons.  Shawn, is Genni entered in those Trials?  Get your email fixed.. I will send you one to  your home address.

Oh we had a nice report from Christy, Tim and Regis this morning!! Regis had a great weekend! On Friday he had 1 dropped bar on Std, but Q'd in JWW with a time of 29.67 (SCT 44). His streak in FAST continues with another 1st place score of 80 in 33.42 sec, beating two very fast and good dogs. On Saturday was QQ #15 with a Std time of 39.52 (SCT 60) and a 4th place finish, and a JWW time of 26.95 (SCT 38). On Sunday was QQ #16 with a 1st place in Std with a time of 43.91 (SCT 65), and a 3rd place in JWW with a time of 27.54 (SCT 42). We were especially excited with Sunday's 1st, because it was a very challenging course with a lot of really good dogs not qualifying, and he was faster than a few dogs that normally beat him. Yay! As I said, he now has 16 QQs, and we think over 1000 MACH points now.

YIPPPPPPPEEEEEEEE WAY TO GO GUYS!! See you this weekend at the trials!

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