Do you think he was bored?????

These pics were taken on Tues. night while at the Nationals. We had a full day of doggie goings on and we were just hanging out watch the Megan. This is a special event that only happens at Nationals. The cardis are broken into their different color groups and then the best from each color goes on to compete for Best Cardigan Welsh Corgi. It's kind of like the Westminster for the Cardi world is the way i look at it! The handlers get pretty dressed up, more than at just a basic show. As you can tell, Charlie goes all out....word has it that this is a new kilt this year. I do have this pic as my desktop at work, it makes me smile! He looks quite dapper if you ask me. :)

Well, Higgins had a lot more down time than he thought he was going to have. Since Ella was the only one of the group to compete at Nationals, Higgins was a little on the disgusted and bored side. By Tues. night, he was showing us exactly how he felt about things. He wanted his OWN chair, and as you can see, the expression on his face tells his side of the story!

Enjoy the pics!

Nationals Rally Novice A

Ok, I am REALLY behind on posting, but I am at a point where I think I need a break from everything that I think I "have" to do. I guess I just need some me time...or maybe just have the "I am bored with everything I am doing" syndrome! It's not that I am not excited about things, etc....but I think I am just on burn out right now. I have really gotten started scrapbooking and my mind is constantly thinking about that...I guess I am needing to "be creative" again. I used to crossstitch all the time and that basically came to a halt when Higgins came along at a puppy over 6 years ago...needles, floss, and beads do not mix well with puppies!

Here is our trial experience story at Nationals, enjoy! Yeah, I know in the pic, Ella is the only dog that is NOT paying attention to her owner! LOL LOL I will have more pics later of the boys...they were really confused that the trip was about Ella getting to do something, not them!

On Monday, I took Ella in the ring for Rally Novice A. Our very first time ever in an AKC event. I had about 5 squirts of Rescue Remedy in me and I am not sure that they ever took effect! I was completely and utterly terrified beyond belief. And we had to wait a really long time to go in the ring, which didn't help.

Well, in we went and off we went. First of all, one word...astroturf! Ella was like what the heck is this stuff, I am a princess and this is hurting my feet! We started out and got to about the fifth sign, at this point I was thinking of excusing myself and Ella from the ring. In my mind there was NO WAY we were going to get thru the course, let alone qualify. So the little leprechaun in my head talked me out of leaving, thank goodness! We made it thru and as soon as I got out of the ring, I gave Ella to Carleen to hold and off to the bathroom I went.

YES, I will admit I was in tears! I think it was mostly just all the stress buildup and then the relief of getting out of the ring. I came back out and made up with Ella, because she couldn't figure out what was going on. **This is a mistake I will NEVER make again, I know it's MY FAULT what happens in the ring, not hers!**

When they finished the class they were calling out numbers (scores were not posted on Monday, someone had forgotten the boards!), I really wasn't paying attention. Carleen said..."They called your number" I was like WHAT??? So, I went back in the ring, not knowing for sure what that meant.

Low and behold we QUALIFIED!!!!! We got an 82 (not bad, considering I thought about leaving!) and took second! Our first leg! The girl that was first finished her title with that run and her score was an 88!! Whoo hoo, we did GREAT!

Tuesday, well...lets just say I forgot the Rescue Remedy because I was busy visiting and got a little nervous because Ella's breeder was watching. I BLEW by a sign and had no idea until the judge told me when I finished the course. WAHHH, but I wasn't even that upset, because Ella did great and she and I were HAPPY during the run. And up until that sign, we only had 4 points off and we only had 4 signs to go...so we probably would have scored higher.

Our plan is to try to finish our title here in Spfld. at our club trial. Hey, I will have 3 tries!

So, my motto is NEVER EXCUSE YOURSELF FROM THE RING! Unless the judge tells you to leave!

It's a Tuesday....

Well, it's Tuesday and I am trying to recover from a fun filled weekend. I had a great time for my bday and thanks for all the bday wishes.

Sunday we had a pet therapy workshop for new members. Luckily we took all the cardis, since we ended up being short a dog for the "meet and greet" station. Higgins usually works these, but this was Ella's first time. She did great...except when the corgi came thru! Our station evaluator laughed and commented that "Ella knew that was one of her kind!" and she behaved with every other dog after that! The Pem was a cutie and reminded me of how much we miss Fannie.

Last night was Rally class. We did pretty good...well, I need some work. I know the signs pretty well, but I have trouble getting my commands out fast enough. Something I need to work on and I know this. And I give Ella hand/finger signals and I need to keep my hand closer into me. I eventually have it to far out and Ella follows like she is supposed to, but it is also too far out.

I am working on ideas for the door banner for Nationals.....So far I know of 3 people that are making one, please join in, I think it will be great fun. There are dishes calling and I need to get them done. Here is one of my fav. pics of Higgins. Car took and and you can just tell he is a fun dog!

Idea for Nationals....

Ok, here's an idea for Nationals...that was spurred by Penni and my boss.

On Disney cruises..people that are "parts" of groups make little hanger type things for their doors on the ship. What about all us bloggers making little "blog" identifiers for our rooms???

If this is a good idea or a bad idea, please email me or leave a comment! It came to me out of nowhere after Penni had sent me an email.

Yeah...and I am trying to find something else to scrap obviously! Thinking of creating another blog about scrapping possibly!

slobbers, k

New Couch, Bathtime and Bored!

Well, today the new couch and loveseat came. Looks like we are going to have to get (or make) a ramp/step up for Miss Ella boo. The furniture is taller than we remember! And since we do try to limit her jumping, this is going to be a priority. Higgins has taken over the main couch....I think he likes it! Jetson, well, he just has springs in his legs and likes to bounce off them!

Everyone got a bath today and at least we smell and look better. Especially since we are going to be hanging out at the pet therapy workshop while the humans are helping! Well, Higgins gets to work doing a station, but Ella and Jetson will just hang out in a crate with me at the table!

Since this post was about Ella at the beginning, I thought I would throw in one of my favorite pics of her. She LOVES to dig...just in certain areas. Ok, so I just realized that I have posted this pic before, but I scrapbooked it up some, so I am using it again! Plus it's in the older posts...so if I had not of said anything, no one probably would have noticed.

Whhheeee....on vacation tomorrow and I think we are going to IHop for breakfast. It's the big 40 for me tomorrow, so I didn't want to work!

poll time...

Check out the poll to the right! And if I haven't added your on the links, I am getting to them. I think I am going to have to rearrange into separate areas (blogs and actual links)....project for another day!

It's Wednesday!

Well, here it is Wednesday night and I am blogging again! WOW! Not that there is much going on right now. Well, the tornado's path apparently went over the house last night while I was working on my background and didn't even know it until this afternoon! All we heard was alot of wind, rain, etc. and I didn't look out the windows. It hit about 3-4 blocks away. An EF1, but hey that's enough to do some damage.

Our new couch and loveseat come tomorrow. Hopefully it will be ok with the dogs. It's microfiber and they say that is supposed to be good with dogs and dog hair. This house will put it to the test! It's a mocha color....we are going to be pretty "brown" around here, but we hope to get a fun colorful accent chair to go with them eventually.

The dogs haven't been up to much, just hanging out and not liking the rain. Since I found a bunch of stuff to make my background, I thought I would make a scrapbook page for each of the dogs. Here's my first attempt. I am not a scrapbooker in real life, just digital! I have more patience with Photoshop....easier to correct errors! This pic is of Jetson last year, around the time he turned a year old. I love the "go get 'em" look on his face.

BTW, if you are going to Nationals, let me know! We are going for the first part of the week. We are staying at the host hotel also.

Wow!!! I did it...sort of!

Well, we have a new look! It's not perfect yet, but my eyes are going crossed trying to get all the code correct.

Let me know what you think....the sidebars will say PartiCardis...I just made it too big to fit! I just need to adjust somethings and play with them.

I made the whole background in Photoshop Elements and with digital scrapbooking stuff. The scrapbooking stuff came from www.shabbyprincess.com and from www.littledreamerdesigns.com.

New look...

Ok, so I am trying out a new look...I think it's a little much at the moment, but I am tired and ready to go to bed.

I found a site that tells me how to change the background and/or make one. Since I have Photoshop at home now, I am going to try it soon! I am a Photoshop freak, since I have to use it at work (and they paid for me to take a couple of classes, so that I would be able to do more!)

We took the pups to Rally class tonight. It went pretty good. Jetson is very sound sensitive...he was doing great until the door "banged" as someone came in and all focus was lost and he was a little chicken. These are things we are just going to have to work thru...I guess I need to cook and bang around in the kitchen more....yeah...those of you that know me! HA HA HA!

The dogs are definitely getting a bath sometime this week after the rain. Jetson's new name is PigPen...he smells like a dead fish! Higgins underneath is not white, more of a smudgy brown color. Ella seems to be doing pretty good...but she is the princess and doesn't really like to stay out side in the cold/wet/rain/mud stuff.

Off to finish my book. I have started a series by Laurien Berenson, The Melanie Travis Mysteries. They are quick little paperbacks that are fun to read, you don't have to think and involves the dog world. The main character shows Standard Poodles! So far I have read two of them, and not in order. :) They are relaxing at the end of a day.

Slobbers!

Just a Sunday...

Just a Sunday here. Wakeup call from Aunt Marla (Ella and Jetson's breeder) to say hi and to catch up. Went to the dog club to work on Rally with Ella. We only have 2 months to go until the Cardigan Nationals, and since we sent our entry in we had better get busy! This will be our first time in the ring for both of us for an AKC event. Hopefully all will go ok and atleast we have some time to work.

If anyone knows how to create your own template for blogger, feel free to contact me. I am looking to change this one to make it more personal, but not sure where to start. I do have photoshop, so I could create some of my own back grounds...just not sure how to do the "template" stuff.

Well off to bed, busy day tomorrow.

computer virus attacks......

Computers and I just aren't getting along here lately. Christmas night, we starting getting strange pop ups...(no...not the porn sites!) So, I rushed the computer to ServiceWorld the next day. (If you have computer problems, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND them!! love them!)

79.00 later......They had found some spyware, removed it and called it good. And it seemed great. We aren't sure where the darn stuff came from...but I was surfing/playing on Facebook at the time.

Forward ahead a couple of weeks to a day at work. I asked my boss if I could get some more RAM on my computer, because I have now become the "art design dept" at my office for our stores. I was trying to work with Photoshop Elements and just needed some more umph in the memory area. So we called the tech and he came to put more memory on it. My computer died and wouldn't reboot. Harddrive was still ok, just the processor croaked.....So YEAH!!! I got a new computer that is a lot faster, more memory and it works great! (more on why I am so excited about this later!)

Then Monday night, I am surfing around and talking on the phone at the same time. I thought I had tried to close the browser and got the "do you want to close all tabs" message....I hit cancel...and poof. Browser shut down, computer rebooted and I knew we were in trouble. Ran Norton scan immediately, it didn't find anything (although it looked a little weird)...but we kept getting a popup that looked like a really fake Windows screen, so I knew better than to click on it. And our browser kept trying to get my to "register" my security software. Yeah, like I am going to fall for that...although, I am pretty savvy when it comes to computers, someone else might see it and think they needed too.

Off to ServiceWorld first thing the next morning. We finally got the computer back yesterday. There were 2 viruses found. They removed them and recommended a different virus protection, because Norton uses up a lot of system resources to run. Apparrently, viruses are running ramptant right now, so be careful surfing out there!

So we are now running Kaspersky and it seems to be working really well. The virus we had gotten was "trojan.vundo" or something like that...is a stinker to get rid of. I looked it up and from what I understood it can (among other things) basically disable Norton, which sucked for us!

We did a clean backup before hooking the internet back up, so we have the pics and documents clean and safe.

As I am sitting here, we have already had something blocked from intruding, so I am thinking we are safe for the moment. I am not sure where we got the virus from....but I deleted my facebook acct....since we didn't seem to have any problems before that....I do miss my Packrat game though.

Jetson's Agility Adventure...

Ok, this event happened in Nov. 08, but since I haven't posted, I thought I would put it on here. I am thinking of entering it for the Crying Towel Award at the dog club we belong to. Warning, it's long, but you have to understand it from beginning to end to realize how funny it is! This picture is from the GOAL fun run that is mentioned in this story...it was COLD that day!

The Trials of Agility aka Let's Run Amuck

We have only been dog club members for a couple of years now, but hearing about the sending in entries for the “Crying Towel Award” had my interest after this last November.

We are not the type of people that want many “letters, titles, symbols” etc. after our dogs’ names, ribbons on the walls, or care how many Q’s we get. We just like to have fun with our dogs and if they get something that reasonable resembles a title fine, if not we had fun and none of that matters at the end of the day as long as they are loved, love being with us, and had fun in anything that we do (except maybe the vet’s, which any dog will say is never fun!)

I, myself, had great visions of training Jetson for agility. Now, we all know that training doesn’t always go the way you plan or want it. Dogs have minds of their own and it’s always trying to find the best thing that works for you and that particular dog. I have watched Carleen train Higgins and they have done well for the short time he has been training. They work great as a team and his focus is amazing. So, I am thinking that “GREAT, I can do this with Jetson and since we are starting from puppy, it will be easy.

Forward ahead to when we are ready to start training safely for health and growth reasons, I wanted to make sure growth plates are closing correctly, joints are not damaged, etc. Corgis are a dwarf breed and caution is needed during the growing up process because of the dwarfism.

Come to find out…I am “Little Miss Chicken” about him doing anything! NO JUMPING (not even 4 inches), NO AFRAME (he might hurt his front), Oh My Goodness, you want him to CROSS the dogwalk and I am supposed to hold the lead loosely and let him get ahead of me some?? At one point during a mini lesson with Marlene and Cindy on the dogwalk, Cindy had to give me a wedgie to slow me down! Quite the surprise, but then I realized that “Hey, he can go ahead of me some and it’s ok.” Side note…Marlene would have had lots of fun helping me train him and had lots of fun laughing at us.

So, we start working on the basics and he does pretty well. Attention isn’t the best, but hey he was still a lot of puppy and has a whole life of learning ahead.

We go to our first agility fun run, which was the UKC fun run at the club. I take him thru on leash (as I didn’t trust him off leash!) and he does well the first time around. The second time pretty good, except during the walk thru I let go of the leash not even knowing that I was supposed to hang on. Rule Number One noted for walk thru hang on to leash. I hear a reminder from the one of the spectators (namely Valeri) to grab his leash. Then Cindy was trying to help and I almost ran over her! One fun run out of the way…more in the future to improve!

Fall comes and time for the GOAL NADAC (another “type” of agility where they have their own titles, such as the difference between AKC and UKC) trial. We had to gather the equipment in one place, so GOAL decided to host a fun run at the same time. This was held at Valeri’s house. NADAC has a great class for those just starting in agility that consists only of tunnels. WHEEEE…what fun for the dogs, they can build up speed and trip you up all at the same time! And no chances of knocked bars or those hard to learn weave poles.

So, it’s finally Jetson’s turn….I, on the other hand, am about to make myself sick…It’s only a fun run…I tell myself. So we get out there and get set up. Ready, go….WOW, he starts flying. Faster than he has ran with me before and this is far more obstacles than he has ever done in a row. And the first time it’s been all tunnels. He does GREAT! He takes the turns and goes the way I want him to and finishes the course! He even does a discrimination turn that some of the seasoned dogs miss. I am delighted! I started getting my confidence up thinking…..Hey, we could enter the NADAC trial here and probably do ok! Everyone is saying I should, it would be a great experience for him and me too! Carleen is saying to enter only if I want and don’t feel pressured to enter…he still has a lot to learn. Well, heck….he just completed a course…he has learned a lot…he could be a contender!

Agility trial weekend…tunnelers isn’t on the schedule until the end of the day…so a lot of sitting around in a crate waiting, oh and howling at the kid next to us that keeps singing to us. The tunneler’s course time has finally arrived…..I am nervous, which in turn everyone knows makes your dog nervous! I tell myself…it’s ok…even if he just does a few tunnels and quits it will be fine…although, it would be great if we completed the course. (you see where this is going, don’t you?) So, Jetson’s time comes….we get set up at the start and GO….thru the first tunnel…..and then let’s run around the arena! Let’s blow by the judge and bark and back again! Let’s run totally amuck and bark at mom….oh wait she is telling me to wait and come…..ok, I will stop and give in to her! Another tip we found out….Do not let Higgins and Jetson run right after one another….Higgins was worried and looking around during his run to figure out where Jetson and I went. And he and Carleen had a beautiful run, but was over course time….because of the looking!

After talking with a lot of people and the judge the next morning while driving him to the trial site, I decided to provide myself with some more punishment and try it again. Mind you, while working the gate, an Elite (highest level) handler comments…awww…was that your dog out there….he was so cute running around….yeah…that makes me feel better! Now, I think it’s quite cute when someone else’s dog is doing this….but mine?? I was so embarrassed!

Round two….Judge tells us to be the very last run of the day…maybe there will be less distractions, can concentrate more, etc. So, I get Jetson out of his crate and think about what I did on Saturday, or more what I did wrong. I am thinking…he wasn’t focused on me and I needed to get him more in tune with me. So, I get him to start playing with a toy, we are dancing back and forth chasing the toy etc…20 minutes BEFOREHAND! I am thinking this will help him to focus more on me. We missed Christie's run with Bentley where he jumped up the concrete wall to get out of the arena, but was told about it. Bentley and Jetson are the same age. So, I thought…hey Jetson can’t jump that high, what else could happen??

We were to find out, 1 second into the run……Jetson doesn’t even take the first tunnel. He heads off to the side, running amuck. I am thinking “happy voice” JETSON COME, JETSON COME! He keeps running…..I call JETSON TUNNEL when he gets near just to get him to go to any tunnel, I didn’t care which one. At that point it didn’t matter just take a tunnel. He gets on the other side of the tunnel and barks at me, wagging his tail……Blows by the judge and stewards barking and trying to get anyone to play with him. By this time I am starting to panic thinking how on earth am I going to get him to come to me. It doesn’t help that one of the stewards moved toward him and off Jetson went running more. I must have the panic look on my face, because Carleen gives Ella and Higgins to someone and jumps down in the arena to help me catch him. Well, Jetson is having none of this…he wants to play. FINALLY he takes the tunnel at the end. Carleen yells, “Cover your end” and we trap him in the tunnel and finally catch him. Everyone was laughing and all I wanted to do was crawl in the tunnel!

It seemed like forever in the ring and I am not sure how long we were in there….thank goodness almost everyone was heading home and not too many people saw it. Of course, practically everyone that was left was everyone I knew. But as Vicky Sullivan told me…it’s better that it happens with your friends around that when you are at a trial and no one you know is there. At least we aren’t laughing at you, we have all been there and now how it is.

I don’t know if this qualifies for the Crying Towel Award or not, but I sure went thru a lot of Kleenex after that trial! We are not ready to trial and may never be, but it’s more about the journey than the title at the end! And hey, Jetson knows he’s cute, he just wanted to show everyone how cute he is!

Past Halloweens

Well, yeah, I know the blog has been neglected. I just haven't been up to the task and work has been crazy. And agility and rally, etc.




Took Ella thru a rally class. She did really well, better than I thought we could do. She is so happy when she is showing off, it's just fun to watch. Good thing class is over though, Mom here used hotdogs and cheese as treats and she gained a couple lbs! Green bean diet is in full swing.



Jetson is still doing the agility thing and is having great fun. He has LOTS of fun when he decides to run amuck (or as corgi people like to call it FRAP, which is Frantic Random Acts of Play) during class. Last week, he and Abby, a lab, tore around the field for what seemed FOREVER for me, but was probably a couple of minutes. He can do the A-Frame at full height now, but looks like a caterpillar with all the hair and the way he slinks down the other side. I am hoping to get Car to get some video of it soon, before he stops doing it that way!



Higgins has just been hanging out being the senior of the household. Everyone is trying to figure out pack order since Fannie is gone now. Higgins is just holding his own. We have to remind him that he is safe and nothing is going to happen to him. Car, I think, is going to enter him in the NADAC trial here this month at least in the tunnelers courses, maybe a couple of other things. He CAN do weaves without guides, when he chooses to, so he has made lots of progress in that area.



I thought I would share a few past Halloween pics, since that was Fannie's favorite holiday. We would dress her up and then she would wait for the doorbell and go greet everyone. She knew when mom came home and put some ridiculous costume on her that the door was going to be her hangout for the evening. She was quite the sport.

Alright off to play on Facebook........

Fannie Girl We Miss You

It has been too hard to post, hence the no posting since April. We lost our beloved Pem, Fannie, on May 25,2008. I am copying an email that I sent out about her here, as I can't really write anything more. Her presence is greatly missed in our house. The house is much quieter and not quite as hairy.

I think this is one of the hardest things that I have had to write. We lost our dear sweet Fannie girl on Sunday morning after rushing her to the emergency vet clinic. She was 15 years old and the corgi that got us into this crazy corgi thing. When she came home as a puppy, within a week she had parvo and proved she was a fighter. This last battle proved a little too much and I think she knew that the Cardis would take care of us and it was time for her to take care of Toby at the bridge. I am fighting back tears as I write this and Carleen and I are taking turns having our moments.

Saturday morning while Carleen was feeding them, Fannie collapsed while eating her breakfast. Carleen yelled for me and it appeared that Fannie was having a seizure or passed out. It was different than you would think of a seizure, but still seizure like. It didn't last long and she came of of it fine. We called our vet when they opened and got her in to see Dr. Nicki.

At the clinic, Fannie was pretty much her usual self. Trying to get behind the front counter for extra attention, treats, anything she could smuggle or con someone out of. Dr. Nicki took a look at her and didn't find anything unusual. We talked about it and decided that if she had an episode again we would run bloodwork then (her next bloodwork was due in July). Dr. Nicki said her heart and lungs sounded good and just to keep an eye on her. As most of you know, seizures are hard to diagnose and unpredictable. Looking back, she probably had time to recover from the episode and nothing was notable to find.

The rest of the day, we ran some errands and Fannie rested at home. That evening when we went to feed them, Fannie did the same thing that she did that morning. It didn't last as long and she seemed ok after coming out of it. She was a little clingy and following us around the house, but that is nothing out of the ordinary for her. That night, I slept on the floor until about 1:30 am with her, just to keep an eye on her. Once she settled in for a good night night, I went to bed.

Carleen got up at 5:15 am Sunday and woke me up, with Fannie in her arms. Fannie was panting heavily and couldn't/wouldn't walk. We decided to take her to the emergency clinic. Once we got there, the vet tech had to take her back for the Dr. to look at her, because the Dr. was in a diffcult surgery. They got our permission to run bloodwork and a cathader on her. When the bloodwork came back, the tech relayed that there was a kidney number that was off slightly, but they felt the problem was with her heart. That is all the tech could tell us at that time, because the Dr. was still in surgery.

They ended up calling the day Dr. in, since the surgery was proving difficult. Once the Dr. got there, he explained that Fannie had an arrythmia and her heart was not functioning properly. When we fed her, she would get excited and that was too much for her heart to take, which explained the "passing out" activity. There really wasn't anything we could do for her. He said we could take her home and spend more time with her, but that he really didn't know how much time she had and she would probably have a heart attack at home.

We didn't want her to suffer anymore. She gave us the "look" and her paws were getting cold. She was working so hard to try to get oxygen thru her little body. We decided to help her cross to the bridge. She laid her head on my shoulder, snuggled in and went peacefully. She did get one last one in on Carleen. As Carleen went to hug her, the corgi hair flew and Carleen literally choked on a mouthful of fur.

Fannie girl, we will miss you greatly. You showed us what living with a corgi "bitch" was all about and how you have to be smarter than the corgi. You showed us that barking is great fun, well at least for you! You showed that you had an instinct for someone that needed special attention even thought you were never certified for therapy. You patiently put up with someone getting the bright idea for Halloween costumes, hats, etc. You raised 3 Cardigan puppies after they came to live with us and showed them the ropes. You even taught Jetson how to raid the bathroom trash and drag it in the hall in just the past week. You taught Ella how to control the boys. You taught Higgins that living here was safe, fun, and just the place for him.

Goodbye sweet Fannie, give Toby hugs and kisses from us at the bridge. The house seems so quiet with you gone. And not having a sable Pem in a sea of blue merle and brindle is a strange sight for us. We miss you so much. Run with Toby and show him you are still boss.

Katrina, Carleen, and now the Cardis 3

Happy 1st Birthday Jetson!

We decided that 3 corgis weren't enough, let's go for 4!! We waited for Jetson for quite awhile. The most important thing was for the new puppy to meld with the household, but we also really wanted a blue merle. If the right puppy had came along that was a different color, the color wouldn't have mattered, but luckily the stars aligned and Jetson was born on April 26th.

Jetson is also from Cardiridge Kennels. We held our breath until we were told that he was ours for sure! The litter was nicknamed "The Big 9" by Diana and Mac from Fernbriar Cardigans in Minnesota. They raised the litter for Marla and did a great job! They had to hand raise the puppies, as momma's milk wasn't good. So they had their hands full with nine puppies!

His offical name is Cardiridge Outta This World. Jetson comes from The Jetson's cartoon!

When Diana first sent us the pics of Jetson after we found out he was going to be ours we noticed something about him that seemed a little different. mmmm....he had the most beautiful coat...mmmm....that could mean only one thing...FLUFFY!!! No, we did not set out for a fluffy and we weren't quite sure what to think when Diana said "I hope you like lots of hair!" LOL We said "No problem, we have a Dyson!" A fluffy coat (long, plush, soft) in cardigans is a automatic disqualification for the show ring. And Jetson not only had a fluffy coat, but a short tail to boot!!! It isn't real short, but more like a half tail compared to a regular cardigan tail. But he does have great bone structure!

We finally got the transport figured out and thanks to Nancy and Maddie, who met Diana and Mac 1/2 way in Iowa, Jetson made it to Nancy and Maddie's house in Lawrence, KS where we picked him up.

The next day a bunch of people came over to meet the little one. Our agility instructors, friends, and co-workers. We took him places on a limited basis, because parvovirus was very bad at that time.

He has been quite the challenge compared to the other 3. All the others house trained quickly, within a week. Well, at 5 months I was wondering if we were ever going to get him trained! BUT, I was part of the problem, after further inspection. I was constantly carrying him outside to potty, which was confusing him. Once we figured that out, the house training became easier.

And bark....goodness, he has a voice and knows how to use it. In many different ways too! We grumble, howl, bark, purr, bark, etc. The barking has gotten better, which is good. I just think he will always be a talker!

He is funny to watch, especially with the hair. It is like he has stuck his paw in a light socket. It gets wavy like an Old English Sheepdog almost. And when he has a bath, he looks so tiny wet. He is all hair! The hair gets comments everywhere we go, so lots of explaining that his coat isn't correct and there is a fluffy gene that appears from time to time in cardigans. For Halloween, we thought it appropriate for him to be the "Bad Wolf" and the other three dress as the "Pigs"! There is a video of that on Youtube.

We have started agility on a puppy scale. With no jumping anything, but maybe 4 inches occasionally, tunnels, low A-Frame, low dogwalk, and following my lead (flatwork). We did do the dogwalk at full height this weekend and off leash. I tried not to freak too bad! This is the first dog that I have trained in agility. Carleen handles Higgins, but I wanted to handle Jetson!

Jetson also loves water. The more water the better. This summer should be interesting, as it will be his first full Missouri summer with the humidity. I have a feeling the kiddie pool will be in use frequently.

Just recently he chewed the door frame that has made it thru the three others without teethmarks! It's not bad and can be repaired easily, we just chalk it up to another Jetson experience!

As I said, we are doing some agility, working on basic obedience, maybe some rally in the future, and therapy work.

Right now, it's more about being a puppy. This one is definitely teaching ME about patience and just enjoying the moments!

Here is a video of him doing weaves this past Saturday. They are very far apart (you can't tell in the video), so that he doesn't hurt his spine since he is so young.

The chute tunnel picture was celebrating his first birthday! The tiny puppy picture was the first night we had him at home. He was so tiny!

We definitely think FOUR IS ENOUGH! :)

Happy 15th Birthday!!

Fannie turned 15 today!! She got to go to work for a little while and hang out for snack day. Then she spent most of the rest of the day resting. It's hard for a 15 year old to have to do that much!

Here are a few of our favorite pics of her!! Sing her Happy Birthday!

p.s. Fannie adds that no self-respecting corgi would dress like this, but she like to indulge her mom at times!

Ella Boo Bear

I know it's been awhile since posting....busy, but really don't know with what! Now for Ella's story.

Ella came to us October 2003. We got an email from Marla G. (Cardiridge Kennels) telling us to go look at the puppy pics on her website, she thought she had a puppy that would fit in with Fannie and Higgins. Now, we weren't planning on a getting a puppy, but had tossed the idea around jokingly. One look at the picture and it was basically a given that she was to come home to us!

Ella is what is known as a mismark in the Cardigan world. She has too much white on her face and also a white spot on her side. So, she is considered pet quality, not show quality. But if she hadn't been a mismark, she would have been a killer personality in the show ring!

From the time we drove out of Marla's driveway, we knew she was meant to be. She wanted to be in the back with the rest of the pack, not on my lap! We were concerned about her and Fannie getting along. Usually multiple corgi males get along better than multiple corgi females. Fannie took Ella under her wing and made her the princess to her Highness. :)

Ella is so laid back and happy. Always a smile on her face. She has definitely been the one dog that hasn't given us any trouble at all. (knock on wood, I hope I am not jinxing this!) We did find out that she has a compressed disc area in her back, so no agility training for her. Well, she does like to run thru the kiddie tunnels we have here at the house. So we decided that she might like therapy work.

We got her TDI certified, but couldn't find a place to visit that worked out. So, then we tested with Pet Therapy of the Ozarks. She passed (thank doG I had the flu two weeks prior to chill me out some!) the test and we have started doing therapy work. One of our visits is Cox Peds. She loves to visit with just about anyone. I think once we get settled into a good routine and get a groove going, she will do awesome. I did buy her an "Elmer Fudd" hat to wear on her last therapy visit. She loves the hat and it was fun to see the looks on peoples faces. We recently acquired (on clearance!) a trout fishing vest/hat combo. She loves the thing. See the pic! Let me tell you, it's hard to fit a corgi in pet attire. They are on the stocky side, but also short.

We are hoping to maybe do some Rally training when we get some time. She loves to work and is happy when she is doing it. Her favorite spot is on the back of the love seat under the front window, so that she may survey all that goes on out front. She is also happy digging when we leave the soft dirt area open.

Here's video of "The Dig". This is her favorite area to dig in. We just fill it back in and let her dig it back out. The video is a little on the long side, but the look on her face toward the end makes it work watching for us!

Well, that's it for now. Enjoy the pictures and I will update again soon!

Fun at the Dog Club

We went to the dog club Sat. evening in a downpour to work the dogs a bit. We took Higgins, Ella, and Jetson. Fannie stayed home to sleep and get a little peace and quiet from the young ones. :)

We worked on controlled heeling. This is where you get the dog to "choose" to come to the heeling position and stay there. Higgins and Ella pretty much know how to do this, if they so choose. This was more for Jetson to have a mini lesson. Our friends: Valeri and her Golden Chase, Cindy and Border Collie Sweetie, and Kathy and her Golden Gus, came along to work with us and help.

Jetson has some trouble with focusing and BARKING loudly. He has to announce that he is there, everyone look at me, and why aren't you looking at me. We are hoping this might fade in time, it did with the others for the most part. He is still puppy, but I am not holding my breath.

Once we got to the heeling, he did pretty good. I understand why people like taller dogs...it's hard when you are tall and your dog is height challenged! (my boss asked me the other day if any of the dogs had actually grew legs yet. LOL ) He is getting better at the come command. He is pretty cute when he is at full speed and hair is flying everywhere.

So after the lesson, we decided to let the place "go to the dogs" so to speak and free play began. Chase decided not to get involved, but everyone else did. Gus is a rescue and doesn't have alot of dog manners yet. Higgins told him he was being rude! Higgins won't tell Jetson to leave him alone, but a dog bigger than he is he had no problem. Guess Jetson hasn't quite lost his puppy license yet, though I think he will soon.

Jetson took on the two big dogs and WON! He managed to get the toys away from them, put them in a pile, and then herded everyone away. There was a moment when Jetson had a toy and Gus was chasing him. Jetson looked like a receiver going for a touchdown, bobbing back and forth and out manuevering Gus the length of the room and back. Then Jetson herded Sweetie around. This was funny as Valeri's Goldens are always the ones Sweetie herds, but she couldn't herd Jetson.

That's it from the corgi gang for today. The picture above was from Dogfest this fall. I will post about Ella soon.

Higgins

Now for a little about Higgins. What a character. :) Higgins was the second of the corgis to join the gang. We had decided that we didn't want a pup, maybe a 2-3 year old dog would be a great age. We applied with Cardigan National rescue to get on the waiting list. Luckily, there aren't many Cardis in rescue, unlike Pems. We heard there was a blue merle pup that had came into rescue. mmmm....blue merle? Now, blue merle isn't rare, it's just not as common. So we talked to our contact and they thought the puppy would fit in fine. We still weren't sure, but had the name Higgins picked out before we even saw pictures of him. ;) We think it fits, don't you?

We were supposed to be able to get him around Valentine's weekend of 2003, but snowstorm after snowstorm prevented that. He was being fostering in Indiana and the problem was getting him from there to St. Louis so that we pick him up. Luckily our contact's vet had to attend a conference in Indiana, so she brought him back the first week of March and we headed to St. Louis that day she was coming back.

Poor Higgins, his ears have been unique ever since we first saw him. They were taped, but it didn't help. We found out that he was very sick when they pulled him from the shelter and his foster mom stayed up 3 nights with him trying to get him to eat and drink. The only thing he would take was wheat toast sprayed with water. So, I am sure the poor nutrition in the early part of his life has to do with his ears some. And his teeth are not the greatest and that can be caused by illness in puppyhood when the permanent teeth are in the developement stage.

He was (is) such a good boy about housetraining and not chewing on inappropriate items. It was our first foray into crate training and we were quite impressed with the way it works! Above is the funniest picture of him when he was a puppy eating at home for the first time. He looks so happy and content!

Fannie took to him quite well, better than we expected, considering she was almost 9 when he came along.

We soon realized after a time that Higgins needed some obedience work (especially after Ella came along 5 months later!). So we enrolled in a Parks dept. obedience class, but that wasn't the right setting for him and it really didn't help. So we found Joan Guertin and enrolled in her Levels program with both Higgins and Ella. They loved it and we were all sad when Joan left. Higgins and Ella both passed the CGC and TDI test before Joan left.

We had talked about agility, but hadn't really looked around. Then we found Valeri at Paws Express and started classes. Higgins LOVED it. He looked so darn cute. Althought cocky was a term thrown around about him also! I will post a video of his beginning classes at the bottom of this. He has ran in two different NADAC trials. No Q's, but he was having fun. This past fall he did complete an entire Chances run, but did not touch the contact correctly. (I swear he touched the yellow, but NADAC has to be more than a glancing blow!) He was the fastest though and it was a great run, considering we had some trouble on him focusing on what we wanted, not what he did.

His confidence has blossomed, which is good and bad! :) He thinks he is the "motion" police at times, but we work on it constantly and work on focus. He does get bored easily, but it's because he is a high drive dog. Repetition he HATES, but most corgis are like that and we work thru it.

He is a Pet Therapy of the Ozarks therapy dog and just started doing regular visits at a nursing home. He has also helped in the PTO evaluations as the station "walking passed a strange dog" He has come a long way and made us love the "other" Corgi breed. He still needs to know he is safe and special, but has came so far from where we started.

Here is a video of one of his beginning classes and I will try to get another of how far he has come once classes start again.

Sorry for delays in posting

Sorry, I haven't posted for awhile. I have been busy and the ice storm limited computer time.