Well, two weekends in a row now we've hit conformation shows. This time out, we decided to try UKC. A couple other Westie ladies talked me in to going to this show but then backed out about a month ago due to another committment. So I decided to try it anyways, though I assumed no other Westies would be there. It was definitely a different type of environment than AKC. Some people wore jeans and tshirts. Some dogs were clearly not use to the show ring. Breeds I'd never heard or seen before. As Westies are normally buffed & puffed a lot for the show ring, it's kind of weird to go in to the UKC ring without any powder, hairspray, or other gunk in his hair. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I washed his head the night before so he didn't have his usual texture to it, making it look flat and he also got a part right down the middle. I don't think he looks his best without a little stuff in his head hair. I think he might like it too. . .he thinks he looks all cool with a big old head of hair. ;) He doesn't like the teasing part but he does look impressive when it's all puffed out. . .anyways, I digress. . .
So Rhys took WD, BOW, BOB, as quite frankly, there wasn't any other option. ;) But then the more surprising part happened when he went on to group. He took a Group 1. Then we went on to Best in Show. And apparently, as we found out firsthand. that they award a reserve best in show. So that was pretty awesome. First UKC show and up we pop with a reserve BIS. He also took a group 1 in both the next shows too. So he is pretty dang close to being a UKC champion. If there was one more westie there, he would be a UKC champion in one weekend. But since there wasn't, we'll have to find a show somewhere else. Now I've got a goal of going BIS. UKC will probably be my only chance for acheiving that so why the heck now. ;)

We went to the Muncie shows for the first time this past weekend. He took WD, BOW on Thursday, but since all the other regulars pulled, we had no competition which equals no points. Saturday he took RWD to Betty's cutey Duffy. Sunday, after a VERY early morning start, we found a judge that apparently liked us enough. She gave Rhys WD and then when we went back in, BOW at the Anderson Kennel Club show.
I'm not sure how I feel about this. One on hand, I'm horribly glad to get that first point over with. I've been starting to worry that it would never happen and have been stressing over whether it ever would. By Saturday afternoon, it was getting pretty bad. ;) On the other hand, I have decided I do not particularly care for winning over a friend. It just doesn't seem right when you are going up against someone you respect and is just as deserving as you are. Both dogs obviously have their own (yet different) advantages but also their own respective disadvantages. Maybe this will get better with time, or at least a bigger show where there is more competition.
What was proved to me this weekend quite clearly is that some judges like smaller dogs while another will like bigger dogs. Funny that it should come down to something like that, but whatever. It has always cracked me up that something so clearly written as the "standard" can be interpreted in innumerable ways. Guess that means that I'm going to have to be very diligent about keeping track of who likes what and show my dog to those that would appreciate him the most. Anyways, a big YIPPEE that the first is done. I'm hoping someone will tell me the first is the hardest but I'm thinking that is so not going to happen. ;)

So I had to share something funny. I bought a whole bunch of blueberries at the grocery store last night, as they were on sale. I was cleaning them up when I thought "Hey, blueberries are good for dogs" and I know lots of other dogs who eat them. So I dropped a few in to Rhys' food bowl, as he was laying there in the kitchen. They intrigued him, he picked one up and took it in to his crate, where he proceeded to kind of eat it. Came back, got another squished it around in his mouth, then spit it out. This went on with like 6 or 7 blueberries, till he finally gave up on them. So I held one up to him and he ate it. . .kind of. . .
I finally figured it out. . .he was squishing them in his mouth, eating out the flesh, and then spitting out the skin. I was highly impressed! I just couldn't believe he figured out how to basically skin a blueberry! Now that's talent! ;) It makes sense though. . .the skins can be a bit tart or acidic so he apparently decided to skip them and go straight for the good stuff.
Riley wouldn't have anything to do with them . . .she's getting more and more picky, which is odd. Who knows, with that one!

To finish up yesterday's report, Rhys did well. . .that is, up till we got to the A-frame. He didn't get very high up it and then kind of gave up. I ended up giving him a boost over. I figured it was better to have him complete it successfully and get whistled off then have him figure out that he could back off of it. He had a good time so that was fun. After waiting like 7 hours, his steam was running pretty low so it didn't surprise me.
Today, Rhys got another jumpers leg. He did a nice job. Didn't take time to stop and look at the crowd like yesterday, so he was only 3 seconds over time. I thought that was pretty nice. So that's leg number two. Crossing my fingers, we'll get that final leg next month and it would make him a Versatile Dog with the parent club. Then we can go back and work some more on the basics (i.e. weaves). I rushed him a bit on this, so most of the stuff is my fault for putting him in those situations without the confidence to complete them as accurately as they could be. But he's done quite well considering. Especially an improvement since last weekend too.
Riley. . .(sigh). Enough said. We just came off the standard course. Every thing was pretty good. She was a bit slow but that's kind of to be expected on the third day of a three day trial. Can't fault her for that. The only, teeny tiny little bobble in the whole course was a missed weave entrance. But that's enough to do us in. Sucks. I even went out of my way to give her an on-side entrance and she still didn't take it. Oh well. Another chance in jumpers coming up. It's gonna be pretty sad if we go 4 trials in a row with only 1 Q in a run. That sucks. As Karen said to me, we think she's doing it on purpose, just to irritate me. ;)

Well, I'm very pleased to announce that Rhys has earned his first leg in agility. By no means was it pretty, but he certainly has made progress since the last go round. In fact, thinking about it, he actually really did quite well. I'm very pleased with it. His speed was a little faster today. . .he was still over time but not nearly as much. And some of that was eaten up by admiring the photographer and also a stop to see what the heck all those people are staring at. ;) Course, we obviously have to work on weaves still. Let's see what he does in Standard. . .crossing my fingers on the A-frame. ;)
Oh Riley. . .why oh why, do you do this to me? ;) It's always something silly. We get through the tough part of the course only for her to blow something stupid. Yesterday in JWW, she missed the entrance to the weaves, while in Std. she got through a really tricky section, hit the weaves nicely only to run past the bloody A-frame. So far today, she got the tricky bits in Std. again only to miss the weave entrance. She gained speed after tunnel and hit the wrong side of the weave entrance. You fix one thing, she finds another way to NQ. :) She's been here almost 5 hours so I needed to wake her up a bit more before we went in to the ring than I did. Oh well. We'll give it another shot in JWW.

When we still had Champ, he and Riley would "co-hunt" for moles. They were quite a team. Champ would watch the ground and listen for the little buggers to move. Then he'd pounce on the correct spot and dig it up. It was amazing. That dog could move some dirt. Well, then once he got the mole, he didn't know what to do with it. Cue Riley. . .she'd take it and "dispatch" of it with a quick flick of her head. Done! Poor Riley can't really move much dirt so moles would escape her. She's got tiny little feet and it just doesn't work like having 100 pounds behind Champ's big paws so this was teamwork at it's best. It cracked me up. The tag teamed moles on a regular basis. Well, now that we no longer have Champ, mole hunting has been a fruitless endeavor for the little white dogs.
Last night, Riley and Rhys were scopeing out my mom's front yard. Riley is drawn to this one particular area and then just stops. She glances around and does the head-cocked, listening intently thing. Then all of a sudden she pounces and starts digging like mad. Well, she dug and dug and I had all but given up on her and was about to call her off, when all of a sudden she runs by me with this big ol honkin mole. Oh it was priceless. I swear this thing was almost as big as her head. . .well, at least half it's size. Flick, shake, flick, and done. Then she spit out a whole bunch of dirt and grass that she had to accumulate in the catching of it. Much praise was had for ridding us of the evil vermin. She did perfect earthdog form-minus the barking but I can live with that.
So why is she like the only terrier that will hunt above ground but not below? She is a "go to ground" breed. . .but apparently, she doesn't know that.

Well, I took Riley down to Kentucky for a weekend of trialing at a new facility. Much better than when they hosted this same trial before. . .outside. . .in Southern Indiana. . .in late May = way too hot and too long of a drive for that crap. ;) Anyways, indoor on astroturf was really nice.

Saturday were some good runs. Standard was clean and working really nicely until I didn't think she was committing to a tunnel very well. Riley is like the only terrier I know who doesn't really like to go to the tunnel. Who would have thought? So when she did go in, I said "Good job". Well, apparently, she was like "Oh really? Did I do a good job?" and popped right back out of the entrance to check and make sure that she was doing good. Dang it! Why can't I keep my mouth shut sometimes? So that was our only problem with that run. . .a stupid handler. We finally broke our streak of NQs in JWW with a Q on Saturday. Pshew! That one had really been annoying me so I'm glad we worked that out. Only 3 more Q's till MXJ. . .oddly, that title is coming so much slower than the MX. . .who'd have thunk it?
Sunday was a of a different story. I've noticed that very very rarely can Riley string two good days together. I think it's the excitement of the trial that puts her over the top. . .she knows what's happening the second day and builds up all this anticipation before she goes in. So anyways, in a freakish thing, she broke her start line in Standard, which I knew was going to happen as soon as I left cause duh, another handler error. . .didn't enforce it when I knew she was gonna blow it. So she jumped the first jump and then decided to blow off the a-frame. . .an odd occurence to be sure. Think she was just too excited. . .she just likes to flat out run & screw those things that get in her way. So then I was all flustered cause couldn't believe that just happened and ended up taking a pin-wheel twice. . .hey, it looked like a good idea at the time. ;) JWW was again not successful. She pulled around a jump and then botched her weaves.
Oh well. Another weekend to give it a try this weekend. Just hope it's not too hot (or monsoon-y like it was last year).

Boo hiss! No Q's in earthdog this weekend. That's alright. . .I really shouldn't expect ANYTHING at all since we don't really train for this. Became apparent to me that we actually need to do some before we try it again. I also came to the conclusion that I was very VERY lucky to get a senior leg a month ago. . .still not sure how that happened but it did. So to wrap it up in a nut shell, Rhys on Saturday, missed the entrance. He's not apt to use his nose in earthdog. . .I think he gets to revved up and just wants to get to the rats as quick as possible, not thinking hey maybe this rat scent will take me to them quicker. So he shot over to the judges to check them out and see if the rats were there. Then he meandered back and hit the false entrance, worked the rats fine, but at the recall, he just laid at the den and wouldn't come. Better on Sunday. I scratched the grass a little to get his nose down and he got a whiff. He took off, almost bypassed the entrance but then made it in. Worked fine again. Recall. . .same deal. This time, he laid just out of the peephole viewing area of the judge so the judge thought he was gone, but he wasn't popping up any place. So when time was up, we peeped in and yup, sure enough, just sitting there waiting for those ratties to come back.
Saturday for Riley wasn't very helpful. This judge didn't do hardly anything to get the dogs interested in working. Without reassurance, Riley doesn't work. So both junior and intro were a loss. Sunday was better. This judge really got down and was trying to get the dogs all jazzed up. Funny, since they are a husband-wife team of judges that they have such different styles but that's the way it goes. Anyways, she really got in to it in intro. Junior not as much but she did make an attempt.
The good thing out of the weekend, that after a LONG seminar, I passed my judges test so the first step in becoming an earthdog judge is now complete.

Alright, so as you may have noticed, I'm really bad at keeping this blog updated. I tell myself "oh I'm going to wait on getting these pictures uploaded" or something like that so just keep putting it off longer and longer. Anyways, I thought making one all-inclusive update would be better than nothing at all. Since the last update, we traveled to Champaign, IL where Rhys wonderfully earned his first Senior Earthdog leg. I had all but given up hope that he wasn't going to come for his recall when all of a sudden, his head popped up right in front of me and scared the crap out of me. I made a grab for him, which scared the crap out of him, and he yelped. Either way, it means we got leg #1, and 2 more to go. I was just so tickled and couldnt' keep a grin off my face that whole day.
The weekend of April 25th, Rhys and I headed to Michigan for the Westie Club of South East MI speciality. Rhys' breeder, Dawn Martin, and her breeder friend Jane Sajban were there. They took Rhys in hand and made my grooming mistakes somewhat managable and presentable. ;) They also provided many tips and tricks in to this showing world that is new to me. Bless him, Rhys won his class in Sweeps. The judge went back and forth between him and his half brother, Granite, for BOS in Sweeps but ended up picking Granite. Then Rhys came in and won his class in regular and also took RWD. We were thrilled! That's the best we've ever done in confirmation to this point. Well, not officially, but it's the best we've done when actually having competition and at a speciality too. I say it's cause he looked so pretty from Dawn and Jane's ministrations but I've learned from them too to relax in the ring and have fun with him, which helps. I think that really helps him relax too and make the show ring a game to him. . .or at least a place he gets treats for tricks! ;) Now, I just might be addicted to specialities. They give you good stuff there and have good food, etc! Just a lot less hectic than all-breed shows!
Last weekend was the first outdoor agility trial of the year. Riley was super pumped but that did not work to our advantage. ;) I've come to notice that she runs so much faster outside or on padded flooring but hates dirt or wood chip surfaces. Anyways, she takes off like a bat out of hell outside. There were some definite handler errors this weekend. . .I had to jump a jump with Riley cause I stupidly didn't get a front cross in with enough room. Then I fell again on Sunday. . . graceful, I'm not. Luckily, neither of these follies was caught on video! ;) I don't think we hit the weaves on the first try for any of the runs. Pat Kay came up and stayed with us to join the fun. As she said, "it wasn't a good weekend in Westie-ville". Between the two of us, we went 0 for 8 runs! Blah!
That's about it for a summary of our last month or there bouts. So this coming weekend, we are heading to Roscoe, IL for a big earthdog trial. Hopefully, fingers crossed, I'll have good things to report about later! ;)

So we (Riley and I) ventured south this weekend to try out rally at the Hamilton club. Never been there before but the facility was nice and people seemed nice too. Left the little man at home cause he'd just be bored all day and I think Riley likes the alone time. Anyways, so this is the first time we've done rally since, oh let's say November. Bless their hearts, why do I make my dogs do these things? I put them in situations they aren't used to then expect them to focus? Geesh, what kind of dog owner am I? :)

Anyways, moving on. . .so Riley pulled off Double Q #6 for her RAE so I'm thrilled with that. Rally is not nearly as fun to her as agility. . .Susan says Riley thinks it's too slow for her, she likes to go fast, which I had kind of figured out myself but it's nice to have confirmation. The show always starts with excellent, which is usually our sticking point. I know part of the reason is that I'm more tense about Excellent so that goes directly to Riley and also another part is she's usually a little keyed up from the car ride, new facility, new smells, etc. Excellent started with all the signs we don't particularly care for. The moving down was the first one. That actually went pretty well and once she was down, she stayed down which is a huge improvement. Before she'd always pop up once I started moving to her left. The back up three steps, though she was practicing it well before we went in, she got pretty crooked on when in the actual ring. There was something about the back corners that she didn't like. . .at all. I could see her tense up about them when we got close. Apparently, she thinks there was some bad mojo going on back there. Didn't help that someone tried to open the back door right as we were walking by. And she had a great honor this time too. There was this novice golden retriever that kept trying to stir stuff up with other dogs so he went off during the honor. Riley's ears were flicking around like crazy but she stayed right where she was. I tried to use some of the advice from Lynn Reagan-Hull about creating a relaxed posture and it seems to help both me and her. Score wasn't spectacular but what should I expect since I haven't practiced with her. Deb of Deb's Dog Blog graciously offered to tape our runs. I'd never had the ability to review our runs before and it put some stuff in to prespective. It really didn't look as bad the second time as it felt the first time. Let's see if I can post the link here.

Advanced was a little better but still not as happy as I would have liked her to have been. I've figured out that she likes the sit pivot right sit sign but not the one to the left. It wasn't till yesterday that I figured out that I gave the wrong command for sit-pivot left. . .no wonder she didn't know what the heck I was talking about. We had a sit-stand-walk around that she nailed. She has always tracked me a little with her head when I go for the walk around but she stayed right there this time, which is huge to me. She took a moment to scratch (stress) before a swing. She actually moved fast for the fast sign in Advanced but not so much in Excellent. Here's the link to the video of this one. Let's see how our success hold up this weekend when we do a three day rally trial.

So my mom keeps my dogs during the day while I'm at work. She will stop by my house once I'm home to drop them off when she goes out to do the chores, and usually rings my door bell to let me know they are on the back porch. So last night, she did that except door bell didn't ring-maybe due to the cold. I just happened to hear the screen porch slam close on her way out. So I go out to investigate and yup, there's the little white dogs looking at me and doing their happy-to-see-you-dance. They get excited as they normally do and as I go to open the door, Riley starts screaming bloody murder. I mean, really screaming her head off. Ear breaking, heart wrenching, adrenaline pumping screams. I throw the door open and see she's got her foot stuck between the door frame and the flooring below it (the house is 90 years old and has settled so they don't match up totally). We are all totally freakin out cause I can't get her foot out. Eventually I figure out to push down on the flooring to make enough space to get her foot out. She hobbles around, holding her paw in the air and whimpers for minutes after that. I tell you, my heart was breaking and adrenaline was pumping! Oh my gosh! Still thinking about those horrible screams now. . .it was awful. She still hobbles around on it for a couple more minutes. I run and get her a baby aspirin in hopes that it will keep any swelling down and ease the soreness. She wouldn't let me touch it for a little while but she hates having her feet touched any ways so this didn't totally surprise me. After a half hour, all was forgotten and she decides to jump off the bed, about giving me another heart attack cause it's really high and onto hardwood floors. So all is right again in the world and I'm definitely gonna have to do something about that gap beneath the door, though I'd be surprised if that ever happened again cause she's gonna be super leary of it from now on.

Rhys' first birthday was on January 24. . .yeah, I know, just getting round to blogging about it now. I still can't believe he's a year old already! How crazy is that! It's been so neat to watch him grow up (and keep growing and growing. . .your suppose to be a "small" dog). Bless his heart, he's such a good boy! He is such a sweetheart and loves to cuddle. I call him my little lovebug cause if you sit down, he wants to be right there touching you. I always say Riley has had to put up with my slow learning curve, but apparently Rhys is falling in to that same category too. Unfortunately, he's had to deal with my ineptitude as a show groomer and conformation handler, and performance handler so he's another "trainer dog".

So in honor of this milestone, I had gotten these little "pupcakes" from Three Dog Bakery and tried to commerate the moment with pictures, etc. However, I attempted to borrow my mom's camera, which did not go well. It apparently is extremely sensitive to movement so most of the pictures did not turn out that great. However, this is one of the better ones I got. Cheryl pointed out to me a couple weeks ago that I should make training sessions out of meal times (another duh moment) and make them wait for their food. . .sort of builds control, etc. So they've really picked up on it well, as can be seen. In the second one, if I make them wait for any length of time, Rhys kind of poops out and figures "why bother stressing about this, might as well take a nap".

I finally gave up on taking still pictures and used the video function on the camera. Again, don't expect high quality footage as a) I'm using a little point and shoot camera and b) I'm also trying to hold a cake in my other hand.

Ah man! Deb has found my secret blog! ;) I got the idea from you anyways, Deb! I found yours via Holly, I think, and thought what a great idea it was. I needed some place to write down my adventures in the dog world so borrowed your idea. I have stuff to say but no where to say it. However, I'm always kind of self-consicous about . . .well me and stuff I do/make, so haven't really gotten around to sharing it with anyone. However, since I started leaving you little notes on your blog, I think my commando sleath moves have been found out and sublietly is over. ;)

Unfortunately, I'm not as good about posting as you are. Problem one is short term memory loss. Something about running agility, probably more than a little adrenaline, and how fast it is and, frankly, results in my having no idea what the heck just happened. Hence, I can't write more than "boy, that was a nice run" or something along those lines. Problem two is, the things I think are significant, no one else does so I talk myself out of writing them cause no one really wants to read them. This theory is really kind of silly, since a) I haven't published the post to any one so no one is reading it anyways and b) that's the whole purpose of a blog is to basically to write about whatever is on your mind.
You've also made me realize, I've really got to invest in a video camera. There are tons of people taping runs and now, like a duh moment, I realize that I really need to do it too. It's made me realize that Riley is a great dog and is not the problem. . .I am. I've got to tape and figure out what the heck I'm doing wrong. I feel like my limbs flail around when I'm out there so I need to figure out what kind of signals that is sending. Maybe one day I'll pull it together. ;)
Anyways, thanks for the inspiration and the thoughts from your blog.

By the by on a totally different subject, had been reading the blog of Susan Garrett's (found once again via you via AgileGold) but hadn't seen the one about the Kleenex needed. And I really did need Kleenex. . .breaks my heart to think about that subject, though I know some day it will come. We lost Champ in November, our first "house dog" and I could never actually write it on the blog cause every time I did, I'd start crying. Not something particularly desirable when one is at work. Riley, if you haven't noticed, isn't a very well bred Westie and came from a backyard breeder in Bedford. I have worried for awhile now that her life will be cut short due to some freakish genetic disorder or malady or injury so this subject is kind of in the back of my mind a lot. We know a couple of dogs who've died unexpectedly under anesthesia for routine work so how can I not worry. Then I kick myself cause she's only 3 1/2. . .will be 4 this year. She's still so young and has so much life in her left. I can't dwell on stuff like that. . . geesh, you can't live in the "what ifs". But still, your heart breaks just a little at the thought that one day, the sweet brown eyes won't be there to look in to your eyes any more. Oh pull it together. . .see I'm sniffling again about this! ;) Anyways, thanks again and I'll see ya sometime soon.

What a fun weekend! Riley blew me out of the water this weekend. She had back to back double Qs on Friday and Saturday! This has never happened before! That was amazing and an absolute 180 from where we were in November. She had some really great runs and I'm totally proud of her.
Friday was such a stress relief. I skipped out of work. Had a minor cold so didn't want to go anyways. Lots of my friends were there at the trial and Riley was raring to go and we were ready to do some agility. I have a horrible short term memory when it comes to running my courses so don't remember exactly what happens. All I know is that I planted my foot when trying to send Riley to a tunnel, and next thing I know, I'm pitching forward on to my hands and knees. I was worried I was totally going to land on top of her and with that, Splat, there would be no more Riley. Amazingly enough, I missed her, she committed to the tunnel and then she's gone. I scramble back up and try to beat her to the end of the tunnel, which I barely did, still off balance but manage to send her over the next jump. Amazing but miraculously no refusals were called in all of this mess and we were clean! We got a LOUD cheer when we finished and I took a bow. Geesh! Thanks for rubbing it in, yall! ;) Riley got lots and lots of cookies for that one.
Repeat great performance on Saturday (minus the falling and me making a fool out of myself). Sorry, can't remember any further details than that.
Sunday, courses were a lot tougher. . .understandable, as they can't always be easy. We've got to do a little more table work. I'm thinking she's developed some stress over it, so we need to make it fun again. Too much time jacking around on it, trying to get her to sit. I gave Riley a really bad entrance to the weaves in her standard run so she missed the entrance. I put her back in and then she started popping a couple poles. I didn't bother correcting them. She'd done them fine all the rest of the weekend so why bother. Jumpers was a different story. Hit the weaves fine, did the next couple jumps and sent her in to the tunnel. As I moved to the cross to the other end of the tunnel, I waited on her. And waited . . .and waited. Called her name. Thought crossed my mind that she was pooping in the tunnel, though I know she didn't have to go. All of a sudden, I look down and she's right behind and had been there the entire time. Good grief! Well, now what! ;) I look up and the judge is cracking up and so is the crowd. Take her over the next two jumps and try to send her back in to the tunnel again. Still a total refusal. Oh well, now we're done and make a quick exit. What can I say. . .after two great days, I can't blame her for blowing off some steam. She thinks it's funny (and it was) and I knew there was no way we could double Q three days in a row. She just can't be serious all the time and just wants to run for the sake of running (skip all those silly things we have to do, let's go now!).
She's such a fun little dog to run. I've finally figured out what she needs to be sure of what we are doing and how I need to prep her before we go in. She hates having to wait to go in so I timed it just right this weekend, with getting her out right as the 8 inchers start (she was dog 7 or 8 the whole weekend). Too much time waiting = stress in her book. She even wanted to play with her toys after the run, which hasn't happened in a while. Covering her crate is also making a big difference too, as she can relax and take a good nap before and after each run. Oh and leaving her little brother at home helps a lot too I think (unfortunately). Sweet little girl! I'm so lucky to have her in my life.

Alright, so I've been a little lacks in posting recently. A lot of stuff happened and I couldn't bring myself to write about it for a multitude of reasons. One was too painful. . .we lost Champ in November and I could never bring myself to write down the words as it hurt so much. Others I was just being lazy about it and others still seemed unworthy of writing about.
So I'll just start with the most recent stuff and call it even! ;)
Riley wowed me again this weekend with another double Q. I had stressed about it for so long that I was just hoping for a single Q, let alone a double Q. She has such a freakin good time out there and just goes nuts so our Q rate was minimal, at best, on some days. So not only did she double Q this weekend but at the last trial we went to too. Unfortunately, I think she double Q's on the days she doesn't feel the best. That's sad to say. . .cause it might mean that we are going to have to get a MACH through her feeling lousey. Hm, course we haven't double Q'd enough for me to validate that theory but the ones we have so far are definitely for that reason. This weekend, she had me freaked out cause she jammed a toe in practice on Thursday and was still limping occasionally even when we got to the trial. However, as soon as she figured out why we were there, she forgot about it. ;) The little stinker. Either way, I had Dr. Bonnie check her out and she was all jammed up in a bunch of different places. I could see a huge difference after Dr. Bonnie worked her magic and she was moving with so much more fluidity and relaxation. Anyways, maybe that was a bad thing, cause once she was all fixed up and feeling great, she blew me off on Sunday and made her own course! ;) Oh well! We are fast approaching getting over the 100 point milestone (the first I've set for us). In fact, we're only 6 points away. . .another reason why I was bummed about Sundays performance but water under the bridge. We just have such a good time with this stuff and I am just glad that we are lucky enough to be able to do this. We met another Westie (& handler) from Illinois this weekend. I'd actually seen her at Merrillville but we didn't meet so it was nice to officially meet her this time. And Beth & Betz were up from Cincinatti so we had 3 Westies there, which is like unheard of in central Indiana. Pretty cool.