New Year and back to training!

Boy, it's been a tough few weeks without flyball or agility to distract the dogs!  All's I can say is that Pepper and Taz are much happier now that we are back to the sports!  They also seem happier now that mom and dad are back to work during the day instead of being home where they have to keep an eye on us.

Taz got to try his paw at agility again.  He has joined the Just For Fun league at D & S Dogs of Course and he had a blast!!!  I have found out that he is MUCH faster than Pepper and will require a lot of handler focus.  Could it really hurt in the end?  I don't think so!  I believe that getting him back into agility will help with his reactivity.

At this same JFF night, Pepper decided that being a hound was better than running the course.  The course is on used carpetting and it smells ooooo so yummy to her!  She just had to stop mid run to sniff the ground.  It's too bad as she would have had a smoking time and no faults.  Instead she got 5 faults and her time was a bit long.  The next JFF night is in a week.  I am hoping to have the video camera there and have someone record Pepper and Taz's run for all to see!

Now that we are back to flyball, it seems like the countdown is on until the next tournament.  Lloydminster, here comes Pepper!  Taz likely won't be ready until the fall as he needs more proofing but he is coming along quite nicely!  He still gets really excited but his focus on me and the tug is much better.  He loves running against Candy.

Gizmo (the inmate cat) has gained two foster brothers.  Their names are Riki and Rebel.  These guys are long haired black kittens with yellow eyes.  Foster mom has to take some pictures and put them up here for all to see.  These two are feral kittens who are coming around to the human touch.  Rebel does not mind being picked up and carried a few steps.  He definitely is more trusting than Riki.  Riki was the first to come out, however, to meet Gizmo, Pepper and Taz.  He came nose to nose with a dog and survived (so did Taz... no scratches yet)!!  They get the run of the upstairs during the day and play with Gizmo.  They have not broken anything yet... knock on wood!  Taz is happy to have more things to chase around the house!

New to Blogging

Pepper and Taz figured that if Spike and Sophie had a blog.... they could get one as well.  They decided that the inmate cat (hereby named Gizmo) did not deserve to be added to their website!  He might get a picture up here.... he might not!  It all depends on how generous Pepper is these days!!

Anyways on to some sports related info! 

Pepper has been playing flyball for two years now and acheived her FM (Flyball Master) title this year.  She has worked very hard (and so has mom) to earn this title in a year.  She has been learning agility for two years now and has not gotten a single title yet.  She knows that it will take more work to be successful at agility than flyball (especially if mom keeps out of her path on the way to obsticals) but she is willing to work hard!

Taz has been learning flyball for a year and a half now and has acheived his FDCh (Flyball Dog Champion) this year.  He has a long way to go to get his FM like Pepper and will likely be another year before he hits the lane full time.  Taz was running in agility but found that it was WAY to exciting to concentrate on so we have backed off on his training.  He is planning to hit the jumps and contacts again in the spring of 2010!!

Both Pepper and Taz got the opportunity to try their paws at herding sheep this year.  They passed with flying colors and definitely have the desire to work sheep.  Now to find a flock closer to home is our next goal so we can continue to hone their skills!