A New Coursing Title!

Saber here! Last weekend Mom took me and my girl to Argus Ranch in Auburn, WA to do some more bunny chasing. It was really exciting! At first, I didn't know what we were doing there. I thought Mom had lost her mind, taking me out and walking me in a big field while it was RAINING. I live in the desert. I do not like rain. These little drops of cold water come flinging out of nowhere, from above it seems, and hit me in the eyes and ears. I do NOT like rain getting in my ears! So when Mom was walking me in the rain, which she NEVER does at home, I was wondering what got into her. And then, on the way back to the car, I heard it! The whizzing sound of BUNNIES!!! Actually it was the sound the string makes as it whirrs around the course in the field, but I knew that sound meant bunny chasing and I perked right up and got so excited that Mom had to stick me in my crate. Boo!

"Hello? I do not belong in here!"

Finally I did get out to run in the rain. My Mom wondered if I would run because I hate those pesky drops of water in my ears (which, by the way, are NOT the same as getting water in my ears when I dock dive. Not the same! Rain is pesky!) but I did run, I ran fast, and I got my 10th and last qualifying course for my CAA (Coursing Ability Advanced) title. I am so proud! I also ran again in the afternoon and qualified (both runs were exactly 60 seconds!) Since it was so rainy and wet, Mom did not take any pictures of me running, but here I am with my ribbons once we got home.

Now, something rather humiliating happened between my runs. I almost was not going to mention it, but it is something I did because I love my Mom, so here goes.

There was a Halloween costume contest around lunchtime. This is what Mom put on me.

Yes. A shark. She said it suits me. Sadly, I did not win the costume contest. I did not get any prize at all! I think if she had just left me in my natural state of beauty, I would have won just because I am so stunning. Alas, I had to wear this thing. At least it kept the rain out of my ears for awhile.

After we were all done chasing bunnies, Mom had a special surprise for me! She and her friend rented a huge agility arena for an hour so we could practice agility! I haven't done much agility since spring, so this was great fun! Mom was amazed that I remembered so much. We practiced weaves, jumps, tunnels, and chutes. We also practiced the tire, dog walk, A frame, and teeter! I am also an expert at the table. I can't wait until Mom starts training me to compete in agility trails. What fun that will be! Anyway, I got loads of treats and played with my friend Vera the Dragonslayer. She and I course together all the time. We went to the dog park together, too, but that's another story (and review) for another day.

Back in the hotel room, Mom gave me my own bed for the night because I am such a good girl.
A queen in a queen:

On our way home, we stopped at the Norm and Nellie Byrd dog park in Yakima. I've been there a couple times before and already reviewed it on my blog. But there was something new! Look, a pavilion! It is a shade-only pavilion; it has no roof right now anyway, but it was not raining so I didn't mind.

I love fall! Gorgeous, huh? Why thank you. The leaves are kind of pretty too.

I got to fetch my Frisbee for awhile...

... and then I got to play with my girl. She had a branch she was swinging around above her head and I was circling and chasing, making her giggle and laugh. I have such great focus!

After that, we headed back home. It was a fun trip, but it's always good to be home. I'll share some new dog park reviews soon! Bye!

Saber Reviews: Grandview Dog Park, Seatac WA

Hi again! I am back with another dog park review for you, and this was a great one. Grandview Dog Park in Seatac, near Kent, is a HUGE dog park: 37 acres! There is something for everybody here (except cats). You will love it!

Here is the view of the entrance from the parking lot. You can see that there is not actually a closing gate here, although the park is fenced. So you do have to be a good puppy and not run off. I am a good puppy so my Mom can take me here.

Really, it is such a huge park with so much to do that you'll forget all about that open entrance! There is a porta-potty for your humans right there inside the fence, see? And all through the park there are poop bag stations with poop bags for your Mom so she can collect your poop. I am not sure what Mom does with all my poop, but I must be very special because she never leaves it behind. She must have a massive poop collection somewhere, but I have never seen it. She sure does love me a lot!

After you go through the entrance, there is this big gravel path that goes all around the park. Your family can walk on it while you run free and sniff!

After awhile, the path winds around and down to a lower area with lots of space, trees, and grass.

There is even a big pavilion with picnic tables! Mom was in awe of the "grand view" as we came around the corner. I must agree I do look stunning. Also please note Mount Rainier in the background.

Once you get down to the bottom of the path, there is a great big "all weather play area" that supposedly does not get muddy in bad weather. Darn.

But look! I found a Chuck-It Person! If there is a Chuck-It Person in a 37 acre park, I will find them!

After a rousing game of fetch-someone-else's-ball, Mom took me over to this area: agility equipment! Very cool!

There is an A-frame, a dog walk, some tires, jumps, and weave poles. I love agility. I am, in fact, somewhat of an agility expert. I will have to tell you about that sometime. But it was a very hot day and I was getting tired from our long walk, so I just did the A-Frame a few times.

After that, it was time to go. There are some nice stairs to get back up to the entrance area, so we didn't have to walk all the way back up that long path. This is a great park! I hope we can go back again sometime soon. I highly recommend it!

Saber Reviews: Norm and Nellie Byrd Dog Park, Yakima WA

You may remember that way back in August, Mom took me coursing in Enumclaw. On the way there, we stopped at a few different dog parks to try them out. I wanted to share what I thought of each one, so here's the first in a series of four new dog park reviews! I know you're excited, so let's get started!

The first park we stopped at was the Norm and Nellie Byrd Off-Leash Dog Park in Yakima. It's a fenced area within the Sherman Memorial Park and the parking lot is right beside the Humane Society. It was kind of hard for Mom to find, but if you take the Nob Hill exit and go right, then left on South 24th and left again at the T in the road, you'll find it. Just park near the Humane Society and walk across the field to the dog park. Here is the entrance:

The park is double gated, has trash cans, a bench, and a picnic table. It's actually a lot smaller than I thought it would be; I'd guess between one and two acres. It's smaller than our home dog park, but still nice and a great place to stop and run or play a game of fetch on the way to Seattle! There are plenty of shade trees and lots of grass to sniff.

There's even a cute little wooden bridge over a dry ditch. This was fun to run back and forth on and I loved running through the ditch, too! I wonder if it gets muddy when it rains? That would be even better!

In all the pictures, you can see the fencing around the park. That should give you an idea of the park's size.

All in all, we liked this park for a stop on our long drive. It was nice to get out and stretch our legs a bit. It's a bit small, and there were no other dogs here, but we'll still come again sometime if we happen to be passing through Yakima.

Smell ya later!

More Coursing, Of Course!

Two weeks ago Mom took me coursing again in Spokane, where we've gone coursing before. It was lots of fun watching the sighthounds race around! We were there for two days and of course I passed both of my runs with flying colors. We finally got to see another German Shepherd running the course! We have never seen one at any of the other lure coursing events we've gone to. Sadly, she didn't qualify, but I made up for it and redeemed the breed with my super fast runs!

Mom didn't take any pictures of me running this time, but here I am wearing my two new ribbons:

(Mom loves my color so much that she built a new deck on the back of the house to match me. See?)

And here I am wearing my lure coursing collar. It has a quick release latch on it so that when the coursing person shouts "Tally Ho!", Mom can set me free in an instant! I have to run naked. It's the rules.

We also went to Riverfront Park on our trip where I got to play in the fountain! I love water.

Nom nom nom!

Hmmm, what should I do next?

I know! Nom nom nom!

I was very tired after all the racing and nomming, so we went back to our hotel for a rest.

I love going on trips with my Mom! Hopefully we will go on one more coursing trip before the season ends. Stay tuned!

Coursing, Round Three

Way back in August Mom took me on a trip to go lure coursing again! We had a great time and visited several new dog parks (and I'll tell you about those soon!) but the very best part of all was running free across the vast green fields chasing bunnies! Okay, they were not bunnies, but I can pretend, can't I?

Here I am ignoring the speed limit sign:

Bunnies!!!

I am super fast! My best run was 54 seconds.

Ohhh look, I almost have those bunnies!!!

I got 'em! Nom nom nom

Ahem. Afterwards I gathered myself for a dignified picture with my new ribbons from all four qualifying courses.

And then we went back to the hotel.

We'll be going coursing again soon. Only three more qualifying courses to get my Advanced title! Thanks for reading!

Back to Tracking

Yesterday morning Mom took me out tracking for the first time since spring! I was so excited when she started cutting up string cheese and steak bits (usually I track with hot dogs but with short notice, she had to share her steak with me!). We drove to a big local park to meet a couple of friends and their dogs, and then I got to watch the other dogs track first. I could hardly wait my turn! Mom is using Sil Sanders' book "Enthusiastic Tracking" and the Field Cards that go along with it. We had been in section 3 last spring, but were mixing it with a bit of Search and Rescue stuff. So Mom and her trainer decided to go back to basics and start me over with straight tracks and go through all the beginner cards again as a refresher course for me. That's all good! More hot dogs for me!

Yesterday I did one long, straight track laden with food. Mom introduced the down at the beginning of the track and as an indication when finding an article. I did great and Mom is going to take me tracking on her own a few times a week as well as meeting with her trainer as we progress. We are working towards an AKC TD title but the trainer likes the Schutzhund tracking style of footstep to footstep tracking and a deep nose. I think if she wanted a "deep nose" she should have seen me jumping in the river at Dock Diving practice! My nose was really deep then!

Mom didn't take any pictures of me tracking yesterday so here is a picture of me in stealth mode. I am very good at hiding. If you look really hard you might be able to find me in this picture!

Bye for now!

Herding Lesson #2

On August 19th, Mom took me back to visit those giant treat dispensers sheep at Ewe-topia in Roy. I had a herding lesson and it was lots of fun! These lessons really bring out my inner shepherd. Just look at me: I'm a natural!

Round 'em up:

Hey, get back over here!

Bringin' 'em back:

Time to put the sheep away!

Herding is exciting and also great exercise! I highly recommend it for my fellow herding breeds. We don't have herding lessons very near where we live, so Mom says it will be awhile before we get to go again. But in the meanwhile, I am having lots of great dreams about sheep.

Splash!

Mom got a few more pictures of me getting my title at DockDogs at the fair, so I wanted to share them.

Look at that mid-jump focus!

Flying puppy:

And here I am perfecting my Squint technique:

Thanks to Darrell for taking these photos! They turned out great.

I will be back later to tell you some more about my summertime adventures. Woof!

Blue Ribbon Puppy: DockDogs at the Fair

Here I am again, with another update about my week! Mom took me back to the County Fair to play in the water some more. I had a great time catching air into the big DockDogs pool. Check out my form!

Nice, huh? Well, I did jump pretty far a few times. My best jump was 14' 8", right near the top of the Junior Division of Big Air. Here's a few more:

I also have a great technique of squinting right before I go into the water. I don't even need goggles this way! Smart, right?

Thank you Suzanne for taking these pictures!

I had a great time and met lots of awesome dogs and people. The best part was that every time Mom got a latte, she gave me the whipped cream off the top! I know she did that because I am a very good dog. That's also why she kisses me on the nose.

In the end, I got five ribbons: Three First Place ribbons and two Second Place ribbons, all in the Junior Division. This earned me a DockDogs Junior Jumpers National Title! The DockDogs guy says I could go to the Western Regional Championships in Las Vegas this fall and jump in the Junior Division, but Mom says we don't need to go that far. I agree, since we have a perfectly good river to jump in just a mile from our house! Mom says I am a Champion every day.

Signing off for now. Happy jumping!