December 2011 Trip

We've been busy!! We arrived in Orlando on Friday (16th) - we got settled at the RV Park at Bill Frederick Park at Turkey Lake -- it is a beautiful, peaceful place - we'll go back! We attended the Agility Banquet Friday night where Katie was recognized as the #1 Agility Shar-Pei for 2010. Jack and Katie performed at the AKC Agility Invitational on Saturday and Sunday -- not our best year performance wise, but we had a great time. We had family come over to visit and had a great time with them!
Cecil turned a year old on Saturday (17th) - now THAT is hard to believe! He has been a challenging puppy, but is turning into a GREAT dog! He is funny and keeps us laughing.
We left Orlando Friday morning and came to Ocala to spend Christmas with some of Chuck's cousins. It was fun to meet family members that I had never met. We had a great time with them and have eaten a lot of good food!!
Tomorrow we head back towards Texas. We'll end up in Amarillo on Thursday for three days of agility before heading back to Lubbock and back to work!!!

We are on the road - headed to Orlando for the 6th annual AKC Agility Invitational!!

Jack's PAX

I just realized that I never posted about Jack's PAX!! A PAX requires 20 Double Qs (2Q) and we did it in November at the Lubbock Trial. We started the weekend needing 3 2Qs which meant we had to run perfect all weekend (6 runs) and he did it! I can't begin to tell you how exciting it was! Jack is the first Shar-Pei to earn the PAX title and I am so very proud of him. He turned nine in December and is still running strong. He already has 7 2Qs towards a PAX2!!! He is officially: Harv's Apple Jack Be Nimble CGC RA MX MXJ MXP3 MJP4 PAX - GOOD BOY JACK!!!

He continues to be my perfect dog --- even dealing with a bratty puppy that wants to chew all the hair off his neck and bite his balls!!!

Puppies are a lot of work!

Ok! Yes, I am still excited to have Cecil here, but I am also tired!!! I get up at 5:00 each morning to go to the gym and used to take a short nap after work --- those days are over!! He has a very dominant personality and I feel like I'm herding cats around here!! Katie is a very dominant bitch and isn't about to turn her alpha position over to him! He is learning!

Before I go any further, let me say that I am NOT perfect - anyone surprised?! I DO love my dogs more than life itself and the purpose of this blog is to share our experiences with others. I welcome any comments or suggestions, but am not looking for criticism! Now with that out of the way ...

Hubby is out of town this weekend and we survived two trips to Starbucks! Cecil tries to climb out the window and into the drive thru window --- he knows what they have in there and is already hooked!! He has NOT learned patience yet. However, it appears that he has learned to take turns -- J&K always get whipped cream at Starbucks and C has learned he is last when taking turns! Initially he would grab at the spoon no matter who's turn it was, but today he waited patiently for his turn!

He is growing like a bad weed and won't look like a puppy much longer. He starts Puppy Kindergarten tomorrow and I'm excited to get started on his formal education!!! So far he has just been learning the rules of the house. He is learning to wait and not just rush out the door when it's opened. He knows to go in his crate when we are leaving. He no longer stands on the shower door and screams when I'm taking a shower - I guess he has learned I do come back out, so he sits and waits! He is getting better about tormenting the cat!

I have rambled on this post because I'm trying to cover too much. As I stated earlier; we start our class tomorrow so I am going to try and do a better job of keeping up!

Cecil is here!

I decided in November 2008 that I was ready for a new puppy and the wait is finally over! It turns out Cecil is a New Yorker and he got here last Wednesday!! Jack & Katie's breeders did a breeding and the sonogram was last Monday --- sadly she isn’t pregnant. A couple of weeks ago I started thinking about how sad I was going to be if she wasn’t pregnant, so started putting my feelers out. I have waited over two years for a puppy and just couldn’t wait any longer. So, I found this puppy in NY and was waiting for sonogram results to know whether or not he would be Cecil!!! It worked out perfectly because my vet friend Ronda has a friend/client that is a professional handler and she was in NY for Westminster (last Mon & Tues) – she brought him back with her on Wednesday!!! We haven’t had a puppy in nine years, so needless to say we are VERY excited!!