I was planning to finally get the lovely but unfortunately-large Jayda spayed this summer. Previously, she had only come in season ONCE (at 15 months) so it wasn’t an issue as far as trial entries were concerned. So guess what she did a few days after our last trial? Yep – came in season for only the second time in her 3 years. Just poorly-timed enough that I’ll have to cancel her entry for Skyline’s NADAC trial – darn!

Both times she came in were after a visit to her “family” in the Albany area. Now it MAY have been that she got the idea from being around other intact girls, but if you’re not planning a family, you may not wanna drink the water up there! Or maybe it was a sign of empathy with her cousins in the UK ?

Here is a somewhat embarassed Jayda modeling her lovely blue gingham panties (note the beige carpet!). They are on much more securely than it looks – she has a very slopey croup, hence the fashionably urban “low rise” look.

Bryce went in for a dental yesterday and came back minus 3 teeth. Two we suspected – both his upper carnassials had slab fractures. How he could have done that and never let on or missed a meal is simply amazing! The 3rd was a tiny molar in the back that was loose and yucky. I think that was a gesture of empathy – I just had to have a wisdom tooth in the exact same spot removed!

So far he seems to be recovering nicely – they said he was standing up looking around just a half hour after they stopped the anesthesia and he’s been eating well (“ravenous” is a good term). He’s still pretty subdued and “loopy”, and the other end of his digestive tract isn’t doing well – poor guy has “the runs” for only the 3rd time in almost 9 years.

It could have been worse – his litter brother had to have TWELVE teeth removed last week!

Here’s a pretty (if somewhat hairy-eared) picture I took of him the other day (pre-dental)

Next, tomorrow I go back to my dentist for part 2 of a miserable root canal … ugh!

I was thinking I really should teach Jayda some formal obedience this winter…

Not that I haven’t taught her anything – I’ve taught exercises in bits and pieces, as a diversion more than methodical, goal-oriented training. Hey – Jayda’s an exceptionally OBEDIENT dog, if not an obedience-TRAINED one :).

I have managed to haphazardly teach her some very nice retrieving skills, so I thought maybe I’d introduce her to metal scent articles ….

BLEH! ICK! YUCK! EWWW! PTHOOEY! You want me to put THAT in MY MOUTH???

Fortunately Bryce is all too willing to retrieve anything (as long as he’s well paid for his efforts) so after a little “monkey-see, monkey-do” training (and LOTS of cookies for Bryce) I had Jayda fetching the metal article. Still not with great enthusiasm – despite the cookies she’s not QUITE convinced that this is “fun” yet. It probably doesn’t help that my articles were sized for Sally’s dainty muzzle. They fit Bryce just fine, but they’re just a tad smaller than ideal for Jayda’s, um, “sizeable” schnozz.

Update 11/27/06: I must have been pretty convincing, because now she’s starting to “table surf” for it! Stands up and “steals” it off the table where I leave it and walks around proudly before bringing it to me. Bryce is jealous – he can’t reach that high!

Here are 2 new photos* of Bryce and Jayda doing agility from the “Fast Pawz” NADAC trial on Staten Island last month – enjoy!

(* Both photos by M. Nicole Fischer photography)

Make that, Baby’s First TWO Q’s, and her first 2 clean runs :)!

At our first CPE trial, “BabyDog” Jayda Q’d in her Standard and Colors classes, taking 2nd place besides! She had a very nice opening in Jackpot too, accumulating 33 points (level 1 dogs only need to get 16 points). She earned herself non-qualifying first place ribbons in that class and in Snooker. I was very proud of her!

Not to be shown up by “the noob”, Bryce Q’d in all 5 of his runs at level 3 (you can choose to start trialing in CPE at level 1, 2 or 3) with an assortment of placements. His standard run was rather naughty – I didn’t think he qualified, but apparently CPE has generous rules regarding faults for level 3 :)!

Colors is a strange game. It’s two nested mini-courses (about 9 obstacles each) and you need to tell the judge which one you’re running before you start. I’m not sure I see the point of it but it’s easy and fun, especially for less experienced dogs.

CPE has no teeter or weaves at Level 1. Not an advantage for Jayda because she loves them both. Level 2 can have them, but yesterday’s trial level 1 and 2 ran the same courses all day. Jackpot had weaves and a teeter on course however, so Jayda got to do them both once.

It also seemed like there were LOTS of jumps on the courses, not very many tunnels. I was glad I didn’t enter Jayda in jumpers – that was the last class of the day and she was tired enough by then. The height cutoffs are different than other registries – Bryce got to jump 12″ all day for a change.

It was an exhausting day for both dogs (and me) – they were crated inside the building and, unlike outdoor trials where they nap between runs, neither one slept the entire day!