Instant Karma MX MXJ NF CGC

(Photo by Rosemary Strasser)

With the puppies here, I think I've failed to talk about my brilliant baby border collie.  Karma turned 3 on March 15 and finished her MX title on May 9, 2010 with this run http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evQ3vyclWnM .  This was a course that I didn't think we'd successfully run. I was particularly worried about the line from the table to the right side of the tunnel, knowing I'd have to leave her on the table for a decent lead out.  She read it much better than I thought.  She followed that up by finishing her MXJ the following weekend with the fastest jumpers run of the day with this run http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8D6xBPBLs0.  I was pleased with the run except for being a bit too far behind at the end causing her to almost miss a jump. We did recover in time to fix it though.We repeated that the following day with another great jumpers run, again, the fastest of the day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4TuMzgkLGA. 

It''s particularly sweet to run Karma as she was a rescue.  Not knowing exactly what I'd adopted, I feel very blessed to have such an amazing dog.  Never did I imagine that I'd be seriously thinking about attending and competing at the AKC National Championship and now, that seems like a reasonable goal. 

Not only is Karma a delight to run, she's wonderful to live with.  She never tries to herd the little dogs and what I can't do with them (canicross, bikjoring and skijoring) I get to do with her. 

The Fun Part!

The girls just turned 9 weeks old on Saturday and have officially (IMO) hit the most fun stage.  They have been doing fabulous on house training and are now completely weaned onto a diet consisting 100% of raw meat (and yes, even a raw meaty bone in the form of chicken wings).  They got their first vaccinations on Saturday and traveled in the car beautifully.  They have changed a lot over the course of the past several weeks and all just shy of 2.5 pounds...they are still small enough to fit through the fence and are superb at finding the holes.  Shelby is still her father's daughter but has turned out to be the prettiest conformationally. 

http://www.youtube.com/user/cdikeman#p/a/u/0/SH7nSKwE_H4  Not only will she be great in the showring but she is a little lover as well.  Shadow is still our naughty puppy only from the standpoint of the fact that she's the first to tackle everyone else.  She loves to explore new things and I hate to admit that while I was playing with the others and turned in horror to see her racing over the dogwalk.  Yes, indeed folks, this one will make an agility pup and she already has a great recall that can be seen on this video http://www.youtube.com/user/cdikeman#p/a/u/1/JR-U7N8WNfQ  Then there is my puppy...Leia.  She is a very elegant little dog and pretty darn fiesty to boot.  While Shadow may start the fights...Leia won't let them end until she's won.  http://www.youtube.com/user/cdikeman#p/a/u/2/9_N3CSI2URs(pictured from top to bottom: Shelby, Shadow, Leia)

The Busy Dustcloud

Hard to believe the last two weeks have just flown by.  We have been a very busy dustcloud indeed! The girls are now 6 weeks old, eating great, miraculously are either pottying on their indoor potty or outside (hard to believe), and have the most adorable personalities.  Shelby is her father. The way she plays, looks at us, and even wanders off on her own, is so characteristic of Keegan.  Shadow is our naughty puppy. She loves Danny, already picks on the other dogs, and loves to get into stuff.  Leia is a very playful, yet laid back, and super sweet puppy...yet loves to tug on pant legs.  They don't seem bothered by anything. They got to meet their first new people this weekend and thought they were fun new obstacles to jump on.

Huck (we still have the darling foster boy) has turned out to be the sweetest big brother to the girls. He absolutely adores them and his patience with them is truly amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb0ztzB7hXQ

Keegan has picked up 3 more Double Q's, now putting us at 12 toward MACH2.  Pretty spectacular since he's only not double Q'd 3 times out of 15 days of trialing.  He's become such a fun, fast, consistent boy.  Last weekend he had his fastest Standard Run to date which makes me even happier that we are beating our best times.

Karma finished her MX yesterday with a really great Standard Run.  We have some consistency to work on, but for a 3 year old border collie, I'm pretty jazzed! She only lacks one leg to finish her MXJ...maybe that will happen this coming weekend in Omaha.

Little 4-Lb Trinkit was put on the team this weekend and entered in Open Jumpers with Weaves.  I wasn't expecting her to qualify as she's not seen 24-inch weave poles in training to date, nor does she really like running longer courses (after all, why on Earth should a tiny Princess have to work so hard?). She surprised me with 2 perfect scores both days.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCi62B-iEyk

More from the Dustcloud soon! Cheers and Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful Mom, Debby and grandmother, Beau!!!!