Two posts in two weeks? Unheard of! The other week Bernadette over on the OBay Shelties blog challenged her blogger readers to play the “7 things you may not know about me and my dogs” game and it sounded like fun, so without further ado, here goes!

7 things you may not know about me:

1) I was reading books before I was in kindergarten. I was reading music before I was reading books.

2) I have a BA in music (magna cum laude) – concentration in Jazz Performance and Studies. In retrospect, my guidance counsellor should have been stripped of his license for not talking me into something more practical, but no biggie – I eventually figured it out on my own.

3) I’m also an alumni of the GIA (Gemological Institute of America). I may not have or wear a lot of jewelry, but never let it be said that I don’t know my bling!

4) At one point in my life, I had pet hermit crabs. My first one was Spot (because I didn’t have a dog but I wanted one.) I also remember the two called Martin and Maarten (their names, er, had something to do with their point of origin . ) They were actually kind of interesting. If I had one today I’d probably try to clicker train it to do those Breyer agility obstacles or something.

5) The coolest thing I ever taught one of my furkids was conditioning one of my cats to go into “happy cat” mode on cue. She’s kind of pugnacious – I started click/treating her for ankle rubs and eventually put it on cue. I can still use that cue to pre-empt a catfight. (Technically, I guess what she does is better called “begging mode”, but hey – it works!)

6) I’ve been a vegetarian for most of my life. Many people don’t realize this because I’m not preachy about it.

7) I didn’t have a dog as a kid, I grew up with cats. I can’t imagine not having at least one kitty underfoot!

7 things you may not know about my dogs

(this was tough – I could come up with a LOT more than seven!)

1) Raven sleeps upside down, legs in all directions.

2) At home, the loudest and most ranbunctious of my dogs is … Jayda. Silly, bouncy, dorky and demonstrative – everything she’s NOT in public! She’s always wagging her tail with that big Jayda smile on her face.

3) Jayda also spends a lot of time on her hind legs – a LOT of time. Her default sit is a “sit pretty” unless I remind her to put her front feet down! She can easily go from a sit to a stand and back again, she can walk backwards on two legs … I didn’t set out to teach her this, I think she just likes being tall!

4) Lots of people know about Sally’s singing/tune recognition talents, but few people know that Sally was totally amused by the letter “Z”. I used to have this little game I’d play with her: I’d start by asking if she wanted to go to the Zzzzzoooo? To see the Zzzeebras? There was a lot more but you get the idea. By the time I’d used up every “Z” word I could think of, she’d have the Sheltie version of the ROFLMAO giggles. It was too cute!

5) Bryce makes the funniest yodelling noises when he’s in his crate and feeling unloved. (As if!)

6) For whatever reason, cats are attracted to Raven. I mean, they’re drawn to her like a MAGNET! For her part, Raven’s well behaved around most cats but it creeps her out when they rub up against her.

7) Last but not least, some people know about this, but it’s weird enough to bear repeating…

Bryce has a soulmate. It’s not me, it’s not a dog, it’s not a cat, it’s his ducky, aka the Yucky Ducky – a formerly-white, formerly-squeaky, stuffed duck toy that he’s had for a good 7-8 years. At 12 years old, he still takes it out with him when he goes out to the bathroom. If we’re going anywhere he’ll look all over for it to make sure we don’t leave it home.

It’s been patched multiple times and washing only restores it to a lighter shade of gray – even by dog-person standards it’s nasty, but what can I say? Love is a funny thing!

No, I haven’t abandoned my blog (though it may look that way!) Been busy, haven’t had much to blog about, and it’s so much easier to write a sentence or two on Facebook than compose a big blog post. But I do have some catching up to do, so here goes:

Bryce – celebrated his 12th birthday on July 10th, his 3rd since his cancer diagnosis. It’s a sobering thought that he’s now survived longer than some people with his type of cancer! He’s still doing agility – 4 Q’s away from his CPE Jumpers Championship and picked up 40 pts in NADAC this past weekend. I can potentially run him in 2 1/2 more NADAC trials this season and am wavering on what to enter. He needs 105 more points for a lifetime 1000 points. Or, 3 Q’s in Open Weavers would give him his Open Versatility but jeopardize our chances of getting the points, because one missed entrance or popout will put him over time in Open Weavers.

It may seem strange that I still have goals for him and maybe some people think I should just enjoy running him. I DO enjoy every run with my wonderful little guy (and he’s still loving it too), but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having a few more goals! I wish the dance would never end and it keeps my focus off the inevitable.

Jayda and Raven (aka JayVen)The girls are doing well. Jayda is 2 Q’s from a C-ATCH, finished her AKC OJP last May and got her first AJP Q the same weekend. We’re (gasp) doing TWO AKC trials this fall, hoping to finish her OAP and maybe the AJP too. Down on the table problems were the only reason she didn’t get her OAP in May so the rule changes have me feeling quite optimistic . In NADAC, she finished her Novice Triple Superior in May, got her OAC and her first OJC Q this weekend – the girl’s on fire! OK, maybe it’s a slow, smoldering fire, but a fire nonetheless. Love my big Jayd-Jayd !

Raven’s growing up and starting to run really nicely for me. I can’t believe she’s almost 3 already – she’s still very “puppy.” She’s also quite the little Princess, but that’s a blog post in itself! Distance work is an issue – she’s the “stickiest” Sheltie I’ve ever had – but she’s getting better. That’s going to be our winter project. Jayda could benefit from some work in that department too, especially if I want to get her Open Chances title! While NADAC Novice was cake for her, Open’s just a little outside her comfort zone.

Kitties are all doing well. Things got ugly for a while after I brought in Hat, but they’ve finally settled down a bit. Biki still doesn’t like him – nothing personal, just because he’s a CAT and he’s in HER house – but she seems to have resigned herself to his presence. His old BFF Cassie’s become my new porch cat and become pettable! She also likes the dogs, especially the girls, who are disgusted but tolerant of all the enthusiastic PDKA (public displays of Kitty affection.) She’s pretty and petite with a tiny little voice, and once she finally got brave enough to let me touch her she can’t seem to get enough of it! Anyone want a kitty? I hate thinking of her spending another winter outside and would be happier if she were inside somewhere, safe and loved!

I’ve been busy with work and pouting and crabby lately because I trashed my lower back 2 weeks ago. How? Possibly moving storage boxes around earlier in the day, but I really don’t know. All I DO know it that sitting is bad, standing is OK. Fortunately, walking and running seem to be good so I can run my dogs – priorities, ya know! I actually feel a bit better after the trial this past weekend. My new trial job is Gate (because I don’t have to sit or bend.)

It was March 31, 2008 that I got the results of the routine bloodwork that eventually led to Bryce’s cancer diagnosis.

In dogs, Multiple Myeloma has an average survival time of 540 days. We’re at 730 and counting and I’m thankful for every single one of them. Bryce is in clinical remission and as of his latest bloodwork his globulins were about where they were back when he was healthy. For today, life is good.

They say there’s a positive side to everything, so sitting in traffic yesterday seemed like a good opportunity to ponder this. Aside from the stress and vet bills, what has Bryce’s cancer given him and given me?

Possibly the strangest thing that’s come out of this for me is in agility. Sometime during the course of Bryce’s cancer I’ve finally developed … a mental game! Prior to that, I had a long history of getting nervous and screwing up any time something important to me was on the line. And believe me, there’s nothing to put on the pressure like knowing you’re running on borrowed time! But somehow the need to come through for Bryce, knowing that I might never have another chance, has helped me break past that better than any imagery exercises, affirmations or other sports coaching tricks have ever been able to do.

As for Bryce – Bryce is never taken for granted. Ever. Two years of extra attention, extra love, extra cookies … OK, he was always a little spoiled and now he’s gotten REALLY spoiled . But when life’s busy and you have a houseful it’s hard not to sometimes just let things chug along as you go about your silly human business while some illogical part of your brain reassures you that they’ll always be there and there will be plenty of time for them “when you’re done”.

They won’t. And you’ll never be “done”.

I’m not taking my others for granted as much as before either. Or the people in my life.

I think that’s all good.

Hat’s been an indoor member of the family for about a month and a half now. He’s not out in the main part of the house unsupervised yet, but he’s settling in really well and I couldn’t be happier with him – what a sweetheart he is! He’s learning about catnip (loves it), toys (not as good as real prey, but they’ll do) cat furniture (fun to scratch on and climb), shiny reflective surfaces (intriguing but a little scary too) and the Roomba (Whoa – WAY scary!).

I think he still misses the outdoors and his outside friends, especially his BFF Cassie. He’s interested in the front door and I’m sure it’s because he smells all the outside scents wafting in around it. Cassie has been coming by every day. Sadly, I haven’t seen Kit since before Hat came in – I keep hoping that he’ll turn up again one of these days, but I’m afraid he may have used up his 9th life .

Hat’s making new friends inside – he loves the dogs and the dogs love him. And he’s getting along really well with Kacey. I’m impressed – NOBODY gets along with Kacey! Biki’s kind of afraid of him and hisses when he gets too close, but she’s doing better. She gets lots of treats and play time whenever he’s out to try to impress upon her that good things happen whenever he’s around. She sniffed his tail this morning … then he turned and looked at her and she spat at him, but that was pretty bold on her part. Hat would really like to be her friend, but he wisely averts his eyes and makes himself small when she hisses at him. The boy has excellent social skills!

It’s fun observing all the kitty body language that’s going on. Cats have basically 3 ways of marking territory – spraying, scratching and rubbing their head on things. Head rubbing deposits facial pheremones, which signal friendly intent. (Feliway spray, used to calm anxious cats, is a synthetic version of facial pheremones.) Hat is a serious head bumper – the furniture, corners, me, the dogs, even Kacey. He’s making some very pushy statements of ownership … but in a nice way.

Kacey’s very excited about her new subject family member. She also spends a lot of time perched on the highest spot in the room when he’s out – a way cats signal their rank. For a cat who’s used to being “King” outside, Hat’s doing a pretty good job of asserting himself AND sucking up to the “Queen”.

He’s also pretty good at posing, when he’s not climbing into the camera!

After a restless (and for some of us, sleepless) first 2 weeks, Hat’s settling in nicely!

• He’s not having the nocturnal crazies any more (well, just a little bit, but it’s not so bad)
• He’s starting to relax and PLAY!
• He and Kacey touched noses through the baby gate today – nobody hissed!



Isn’t he handsome? I think he’s a gorgeous cat despite his poor little ears. It’s so hard to get a picture of him though – he always has his face right in the camera!

His injuries have healed and he’s starting to act like a happy little house-hat. Sometimes I go upstairs to sit with him – he jumps in my lap, head bumps for a while, rolls over for belly rubs, then takes a bath and purrs himself to sleep. Too cute! Did I mention I LOVE this cat ?

Next on the agenda – introduce him to Ambika (who’s taken a peek or two from the stairs) and start letting him see the rest of the house.

We almost got snowed out! Thursday and Friday everyone in the area got from over 1 foot to over 2 feet of snow. Some people lost power. I had to dig myself out of a snowbank almost up to my waist (plowed in by my town). But then the sun came out, the snow began to melt and the trial was on !

Jayda Narrows the Q-Count

Jayda brought her “C-ATCH Countdown” from 15 down to 9, finishing her requirements in Wildcard and FullHouse and Q’ing twice in Standard and Jumpers. She may also finish a couple of individual class championships before the C-ATCH. The courses were trappy and tricky all weekend and the times were tight so I was very proud of her.

Bryce Beat Jayda by 2″ in Jumpers!

Even though he stopped to shake out his fur following a messy rear cross! Of course this was also the last run of the weekend – Jayda’s 10th and his 2nd – so Jayd was a little tired, but his speed was decent, his turns were tight and he had a good time showing everyone that he’s still “da man” .

Rrrraven Rrrrrocked!

She’s just getting better and better and a little more mature every trial. We had bobbles here and there, but all just green-dog / new team kinds of things. Overall she was fast and attentive, finishing her CL2-F and CL2-H titles, getting her first Level 3 Q (in jumpers), and ended with an awesome 1st place, 53 point Jackpot run.

Not that we don’t still have things to work on – I learned that she has about 2 un-reinforced teeters in her. (I asked for a third one and almost didn’t get it.), our rear crosses stink, and I really need to work on collecting her AFTER she runs (she doesn’t always want to stop and leave!) but she’s starting to look really nice!