Tess and Jazz

Snow Buddies

2012-01-21T16:59:00.001-05:00

Last night and this morning we had the most significant snowfall since Indy came to live with us. Like Tess, Indy seems to enjoy the snow. Jazz, on the other hand, would much rather be warm and snuggly!

Here's a picture of the three Dals out in the back yard this afternoon. Indy had a great time charging through the snow after his big sisters, but we didn't want him to get chilled, so he didn't get to play very long. Tomorrow we're expecting temperatures in the 40s, so I don't know how long the snow will stick around.

When I Grow Up...

2012-01-15T20:14:00.004-05:00

When I grow up, I want to be just like Jazz!

Lately, Indy seems to be trying hard to be just like Jazz. Since she was a pup, Jazz has loved to lie on the back of the couch like a cat and nap or watch birds out the window. Well, today I caught Indy trying his best to be like Jazz, but he can't balance himself on the back of the couch yet, so he had to do the next best thing and lay just below her on the arm of the couch! The picture is not the greatest because the sun was shining in, but I had to laugh at Indy trying to imitate Jazz.

Here's Indy lying with Jazz in the big dog bed in my office. It's funny how he's been trying to do everything she does lately. Fortunately, Jazz is quite tolerant of having a little shadow following her and imitating her. Perhaps she's flattered!

Indy turned 18 weeks old today. I still can't believe how great he's doing! He's a very good boy in the house, and his training has been coming along well. He had his first puppy agility class this past Thursday, and our instructor was impressed with how long he worked and stayed focused for his age. He also tried a bunch of new things in that class with little or no hesitation. We're starting to introduce him to the doggie fitness equipment, too, and he's done well with the balance disc and balance pod. Indy seems to love trying new things and learning, and he's a quick study, too! I think this little guy is going to be quite fun to train and compete with. He certainly has a sweet personality and gets along well with the girls, and that was the most important thing for us.

This 'n That

2012-01-09T15:57:00.003-05:00

Just a few miscellaneous pictures of the spotted gang:

Here's everyone relaxing on the couch, a typical sight on most days.

Indy thinks Jazz makes a fine pillow...and Jazz is happy to oblige!

This is Indy with Remmy, one of his puppy school buddies, back in December.

This is Indy sleeping upside down in the dog bed in my office while I try to do some work.

We had a very nice time at CPE agility over the New Year's weekend. We stayed in a lovely suite with a fireplace with our friends Mariann and Jim and their Border Collie Sammie, and a good time was had by all. Indy behaved very well, both at the hotel and at the trial. The girls both had great weekends. Tess had another perfect weekend, with a total of 10 qualifying scores, and Jazz had 9 qualifying scores, once again coming so close to that perfect weekend. Jazz is just about finished with Level 4 Standard, which requires 8 qualifying scores, and is mostly in Level 5 (working on her C-ATCH), but she is also in Championship level in two classes now! She is really enjoying agility and has been doing so well. I'll have to get some video uploaded of some of the girls' runs. I'd post some video of Indy, but he's either sleeping or running too fast for me to capture him on tape!!

More Christmas Pics

2011-12-26T21:14:00.002-05:00

All the Dals in front of the Christmas tree.

Christmas is all fun and games until Mom makes someone wear the silly reindeer antlers!

Tess commisserates with Indy over having to wear the antlers.

Ha, ha, Tess...now look who has to wear the funny antlers!

Later on Christmas Day, we went to my sister's, where Indy tried to convince his Golden Retriever cousin Dancer to play with him. The Dals all had fun playing with the Goldens, and we got to enjoy a great meal and some wonderful company!

Indy's First Christmas

2011-12-26T07:38:00.002-05:00

I would say that Indy enjoyed his first Christmas!

Indy "under" the Christmas tree, which had to be placed on a table to avoid puppy curiosity!

What's this?? Did somebody say we put COOKIES under the tree for Santa??!!!

On Christmas morning, it took Tess and Jazz no time at all to teach Indy all about unwrapping Christmas gifts.

Of course, once you get them unwrapped, you have to play with all the new toys!

This Christmas stuff can really tire a guy out! More pictures later from Indy's first Christmas adventure.

Hope you all enjoyed a wonderful holiday!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T07:57:00.003-05:00

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas! Indy is gearing up for his first Christmas tomorrow...presents at home in the morning and then a trip to visit his Golden cousins Dancer and Caleigh for some fun and a yummy Christmas dinner. The little guy has been very good about leaving the presents under the tree. Of course, the tree itself was moved out of his reach this year because we thought that might be a bit too tempting for a puppy ;) Otherwise, I think he will definitely be on Santa's "good dog" list, along with Tess and Jazz.

Happy Holidays!

Puppy Therapy

2011-12-22T19:45:00.003-05:00

Today we joined five of Indy's siblings for pet therapy in Latrobe. For some of the puppies, this was the first time they had seen their littermates since going home. It was so much fun to see the puppies and how each has fit in with their new families.

Here's Indy and Emily. Since Indy was the last to be picked up from the breeder, these two spent a lot of time together and are always happy to see each other. Indy and Emily entertained the residents with one of their wrestling matches and enjoyed the company of their other siblings.

Indy did a fabulous job today, both in his interactions with the other puppies and in his interactions with the residents. If today was any indication, I think he will be a kind, compassionate therapy dog, much like Jazz. He seemed quite comfortable in these new surroundings and made his rounds and greeted everyone individually.

For those of you who followed this litter when they were with Barb, Indy was the puppy known as Dalton. Since the puppies were born on LaDonna's birthday, they were named after her and her family. Here's Indy with his namesake, LaDonna's adorable grandson Dalton. If Indy is anything like Dalton the boy, I'm a very lucky owner!

Here's the whole gang who did pet therapy today. From left to right, it's Deb with Gabe, Millie with Jewel, Mary Ann with Willie, Barb with Emily, me and Indy, and Marian with Andi. We were also joined by several Dal Club friends who helped wrangle puppies and take pictures!

Indy and I had a great time today. I always like to visit this facility. The people there are so nice and appreciative of our visits. It was a special treat to see Indy's siblings again and watch them bring some holiday cheer to the residents.

Agility Trial Photos...A Little Late!

2011-12-19T20:47:00.003-05:00

Two weekends ago, we were at a CPE agility trial at B&D Creekside Activity Center in Latrobe. Between the holidays, the puppy, and work, I've been falling behind on blog posts!

This is a rather busy photo of all three dogs in the exercise pen at the trial with their heads in a bowl of water. I don't think this bowl was ever meant to accommodate three dogs at once, but it seems they all needed a drink at the same time!

Indy and one of his favorite buddies, Toby the Labradoodle.

It was chilly that weekend, so Indy was sporting his new blue camo hoodie!

Indy's sister Emily came to visit us at the trial again, so he had lots of play time with his sister.

This was also Indy's very first hotel stay. As you can see, he thought the accommodations were quite comfortable! He did very well at the hotel and seems to settle in nicely wherever we go.

Believe it or not, we actually ran some agility, too! Both girls did really well, qualifying in eight out of nine runs each. Indy got lots of attention from folks at the trial and got to play with many of the dogs. It's a great group of people and dogs and a fantastic socialization opportunity for Indy.

Trading Places

2011-12-17T20:57:00.004-05:00

For some reason, Tess decided to squeeze herself into Indy's puppy bed inside his playpen. I'm not sure how she squished herself in there, but she was happy to trade beds with Indy.

In the meantime, here's Indy smooshed into the corner of Tess' big bed. The girls seem to be attracted to the puppy stuff and Indy tries out the big dog stuff every chance he gets!

12 Weeks

2011-12-04T19:45:00.004-05:00

Nothing like a puppy to inspire blog posts! Indy turned 12 weeks old today, so here are some pictures of his day.

What a face, huh? Upon meeting Indy, everyone always comments on how much they love his black ears. As Barb says, she couldn't have done a better job if she had painted them on herself!

Indy has mastered the fine art of the play bow. Here he is trying to entice Tess into playing with him. Doesn't take much. Both girls love to romp with Indy.

Here's Indy with Jazz's birdie toy. Barb bought Jazz this toy for her first birthday and it's been one of her absolute favorites, and now it's one of Indy's favorites, too. Believe it or not, this little birdie just turned three years old and still chirps!!

Jim likes this photo of Indy because it makes his legs look so long and his feet look so big. Actually, he does have pretty big feet. Puppies grow in spurts. Last week, Indy looked real leggy. This week it seems like his body has grown so long. Who knows what's in store for this week coming up!

We continue to be amazed at what a good puppy Indy is. We've put away his puppy pen and he's earned a little more freedom in the house. He's learned sit, down, "watch me," spin, twist, and leave it, and we're working on stay. This afternoon the girls were playing what we call the "on-off" game where they use their paw to turn music on and off on a gadget that looks like a Staples easy button. In no time, Indy was using his paw to turn that thing on and off, although he wasn't waiting for us to tell him what to do. He just kept turning it on and off because, well, he could!

Where's the Remote?

2011-12-03T18:20:00.002-05:00

When Indy was a baby playing with his siblings, Barb and LaDonna noticed that he would take a coveted toy and stash it away for his own personal use. Since he's been with us, I've seen the same thing. Just the other day, Indy waited for Jazz to finish playing with a toy that we often fill with treats. When Jazz finished with it, Indy snatched it up and stuck it in the pile of dog toys in his special hiding place. He's also done this with bones and antlers. He never takes the coveted object away from one of the other dogs. He just waits until they walk away and then he quietly stashes it.

Well, this morning, Jim noticed that the TV remote was missing. Although there is an end table right next to the couch where Jim sits, he often leaves the remote on the arm of the couch. Tess and Jazz know that is Dad's prized possession, so they don't touch it. This morning, though, it was nowhere to be found! After searching in the couch cushions, on the floor, and under the couch, I suggested that we look in Indy's favorite hiding place in the pile of dog toys...and there was the remote!!

The remote is sticking out of the dog toys a little more than halfway down the photo on the right side. There wasn't a mark on it, so Indy didn't chew on it or play with it. He just knew that this was a coveted item and he stashed it away for himself!! Clever little boy, huh?

Happy 4th Birthday!

2011-11-30T11:18:00.002-05:00

Today we are celebrating Jazz's fourth birthday. I'm not sure where the years went, because it seems like she was a wee puppy just yesterday, but Jazz has spent her time on this earth wiggling her way deeper and deeper into my heart.

Here's Jazz sampling her birthday cake. Now, I don't think I've ever baked a cake for my husband's birthday, but Betty Crocker would have been proud of this cake! It's made with natural peanut butter and carrots and has a cream cheese frosting. The "chocolate" icing was made with carob powder, so it's all safe for the dogs.

Jazz got a chance to take a couple of licks on her own without the other dogs interrupting her birthday treat.

After Jazz had a good taste, it was everybody's turn!

Indy thought that this birthday business was seriously yummy and wants to know when he can have one of his own!!

So, another wonderful year has gone by with Jazz. This year, she's earned two AKC agility titles, two USDAA agility titles, six CPE agility titles, the AKC Therapy Dog certificate, her AKC Companion Dog title, and, the one I'm most proud of, her DCA Road Dog title. Jazz is so much fun to work with and train, and I look forward to many more years together.

Just Chillin'

2011-11-25T10:11:00.003-05:00

Here's a few pictures of the dogs relaxing over the Thanksgiving holiday!

Indy's big Thanksgiving accomplishment is that he's now able to get on the couch by himself! It's no longer a safe haven for the girls, and Indy has proven that he likes to be as comfortable as the next dog!

Here's Indy relaxing with his Uncle Ray and Uncle Harry at my sister's house on Thanksgiving. Harry is blind, and Indy seems to have a good sense for who could use some puppy lovin'. He was very good about keeping his sharp puppy teeth in his mouth and snuggled right in with Harry for a nap. Indy was a very good Thankgiving house guest, and this was the first time that many in my family got to meet him. I think he made a good impression ;)

Indy and Jazz sharing the afghan on the couch

Tess and Jazz snuggled together on the couch, which is rare. Tess seems to prefer to cuddle with people and not with other dogs, so it was a surprise when I caught her and Jazz snoozing together.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. The girls and I joined our friends Mariann, Jim, and Sammie for a walk in the park in the morning, and then we headed out to my sister's for a fantastic Thanksgiving meal and lots of good company. This evening, we're meeting up with friends for pizza and some agility practice. We are blessed with a loving family, good friends, and three wonderful Dalmatians. Who could ask for more?

Weekend Brags

2011-11-22T12:20:00.004-05:00

It was a great weekend at the CPE agility trial in Latrobe. Two of our friends got their CPE Agility Trial Champion (C-ATCH) titles! On Saturday, Shaina finished her C-ATCH with a joint effort by her owner Lois and Lois' grandson CJ. Lois got the Jackpot run they needed and CJ finished the title with a very nice Standard run. Congratulations, Lois, CJ, and Shaina!

On Sunday, we had another championship day when Mariann and our adopted Border Collie Sammie got their C-ATCH with a great Snooker run. Mariann has had many setbacks with her health, but her goal was always to get back to running Sammie, and she didn't let him down!

On a smaller scale, Jazz finished her Level 4 Fun Games title this weekend. She's now in Level 5 in everything but Standard, where she's still working on the 8 required Level 4 legs. Tess also had a good weekend, coming within seconds of another perfect weekend. She was just a few seconds over time in the last run of the day, but all her other runs were qualifiers in the Championship level.

Jazz flying over a jump

Indy also had a good weekend. Here he is opening a puppy gift from Lois, George, CJ, Toby, and Shaina. They got him a wonderful BLUE fleece coat and a BLUE dog toy. At least now the boy has some things that aren't pink!!

Indy was really good at the trial. He behaved well in the ex pen with the girls and did plenty of socializing with people and dogs. He got to see his sister Emily again when she and Barb stopped by on Sunday for some more socialization. Here's Indy and Tess napping in the ex pen.

Congratulations again to Lois, CJ, and Shaina and Mariann and Sammie! We're proud of you all!

Good Therapy

2011-11-18T06:38:00.003-05:00

My brother-in-law Jack had a knee replaced last week and has been in a rehab/nursing facility for therapy, so Indy and I went to visit him yesterday. This was actually Indy's second pet therapy visit, because he went to a local assisted living facility with his litter when he was just 5 weeks old! Indy was an instant hit with everyone yesterday. In fact, we were starting to wonder if we'd ever get to visit Jack, as we had to travel down a long hallway to get to his room and we were stopped every two feet by someone who wanted to visit with the puppy!

Indy did a fabulous job. He was friendly with everyone he met and did well with the sights and sounds of a place like this. He visited the therapy department and took his first elevator ride. When we finally made it to my brother-in-law's room, he settled in nicely and played and then took a nap.

Indy's favorite part of the visit was playing with Jack's socks! He loved the blue non-skid socks he was wearing, and Jack would wiggle his toes and Indy would play with his feet. Doesn't take much to entertain a puppy!

I was thrilled with how well Indy did yesterday. I was a little apprehensive that he'd get mouthy with those puppy teeth, but he didn't do that at all. The folks there were so impressed with him and couldn't believe he was just 9-1/2 weeks old. So many people commented that they just wanted to take Indy home that we were telling them to take a number! I hope this was the beginning of a long pet therapy career for Indy. Tess and Jazz are both therapy dogs and it's such a rewarding experience to see how much joy they bring to people.

As for Jack, well, he promised Indy that he'd wear the blue slipper socks on Thanksgiving when Indy comes to visit their house for the holiday ;)

Creature Comforts

2011-11-17T07:44:00.003-05:00

I do much of my work at home, and as you might imagine, getting anything done with a puppy around can be tough! So that I could work on some transcripts, I set up a small pen in my office (along with the two dog beds already in there for the girls) and put a little bed in it for Indy. As you can see below, he thought that was a fabulous idea!

It's amazing how many different positions puppies think are comfortable. In just a short time, Indy went from lying in the bed normally to lying with his head out of the bed to lying upside down in the bed and then lying upside down and half out of the bed with front feet straight in the air!!

So, after all the effort to set up the pen so I could work, I didn't get much done anyway because I was too busy snapping pictures of Indy in the little dog bed ;)

Bonding

2011-11-15T15:27:00.004-05:00

Indy is doing well and is fitting nicely into our family. He's doing a fantastic job at housebreaking and he's been a very good boy at night. The pet sitters came for the first time yesterday, and they are in love with him! Tess and Jazz continue to do very well with their puppy brother. In fact, Jazz is totally smitten with Indy and plays with him endlessly.

Here's Tess and Indy soaking up some rays this past weekend.

Jazz and Indy napping on the couch this morning.

Not only has Indy bonded well with the girls, but there's been a fair amount of male bonding going on between Jim and Indy, too! Here they are sacked out on the couch after the agility trial on Sunday. I think Jim is just enjoying having another boy in the house! We're now even in the battle of the sexes...me, Tess, and Jazz and Jim, Indy, and Jim's parrott, Billy. Of course, we all know that girls rule and boys drool!!!

Out of the Blue

2011-11-13T17:14:00.004-05:00

Well, folks, I have a lot of explaining to do and I don't know quite where to start! Our friend Barb at Rim Rock Dalmatians bred a lovely litter of Dalmatian puppies whose Daddy is one of only 8 Dalmatians in the world who have two copies of the gene for low uric acid (LUA). Every puppy he produces will have at least one copy of the gene and therefore also have low uric acid. We have always been impressed with Barb's efforts to improve the health of the Dalmatian breed, even though it is not always popular with many long-time breeders. As if that weren't enough, the puppies were also lucky to have Bizzi for their mother! She's got an International Championship, and both AKC and UKC Championships and Grand Championships, but most importantly to us, she is a wonderful, sweet girl. Check out the puppies' blog at http://www.maks-bizzi.blogspot.com/.

Let me first say that Jim and I did NOT plan on taking a puppy from this litter. Although a third dog was probably in our future, we were planning on it in perhaps another two or three years. As you can see below, all our planning went out the window on Friday evening when we picked up the sweetest little boy puppy!! There were several circumstances that led up to this, but since he really wasn't planned for, we named the puppy Rim Rock's Out of the Blue! His call name is Indigo, but we mostly call him "Indy." Our blog friend Kim has a wonderful Dal named Indy, so we already knew it was a special name.

So although the timing wasn't quite what we had planned on, Indy became a part of our family Friday evening and has spent the weekend wiggling his way into our hearts. He's sweet, funny, smart, and cute as can be!

Like all puppies, he's an angel....when he's sleeping!

Who could resist this little guy? He jumps into the pile of dog toys and pulls out the biggest stuffed critter he can find and shakes and tosses it. Here he is napping on a toy duck!

Indy at 9 weeks

Here's Indy with Tess and Jazz at his very first agility trial. He was awesome! He was very comfortable in the building with all the noises and sounds of an agility trial, and he was incredibly well behaved in the ex pen with the girls.

Indy's sister Emily joined him for some socialization at the trial today. She also did very well in the trial environment and became more and more comfortable while she was there. Here they are snuggled in the ex pen together. By the way, Indy wants me to let you all know that he's terribly embarrassed that all his hand-me-downs are pink!!! He's the first boy puppy we've ever had and he has to suffer through some pink beds and blankets before he can get some decidedly more masculine accessories!

Tess and Jazz have done phenomenally well with Indy, and I think they're going to love having a little brother. His temperament is fantastic. He's the right mix of loving, curious, smart, and eager to please. Even if the timing wasn't quite perfect, he was just too good to pass up! We have known Barb since 1988 when we got our first Dalmatian, and she played a big part in us getting three of the four we've owned, so it's a real privilege for us to welcome a Rim Rock Dalmatian into our home. Thanks, Barb, for trusting us with this special little boy. We look forward to many years of adventures with him!!

Perfection!

2011-11-06T21:04:00.003-05:00

Just returned from CPE agility at K9 Four Seasons Athlete Center in Washingtonville, OH, where Tess earned another Perfect Weekend ribbon. Tess qualified in all eight of her runs on Saturday and Sunday, as well as two qualifying runs on Friday evening that didn't count towards the Perfect Weekend calculation. All of Tess' runs were in the Championship level, which is the highest level of competition in CPE, and all runs must be clean.

Jazz was just one tiny mistake away from a perfect weekend herself! She qualified in seven out of eight runs in Level 4 and Level 5, just one error away from earning her first perfect weekend. Jazz is improving by leaps and bounds (pun intended) with each trial. She finished her Level 4 Strategy Games title and had qualifying scores in all her Level 5 runs. Her only NQ of the weekend was a back-jump in Level 4 Standard, and I think it was because she got excited when she saw the broad jump because we've been working it in our obedience training. Even though she was heading in the wrong direction, she thought she'd show off her broad jump skills ;) Very few judges put the broad jump in their courses, so it's not something Jazz has encountered often in agility and it just appeared at a time when we've been practicting the broad jump exercise in preparation for Open Obedience competition.

All in all, we enjoyed a very successful weekend at CPE agility, as well as a great weekend with friends. We're looking forward to another trial in two weeks at B&D Creekside Activity Center in Latrobe.

2010 Agility Rankings

2011-11-02T15:21:00.010-04:00

My Front & Finish magazine arrived today and it contains the 2010 Bratix Agility Ratings, so, of course, I perused the Dalmatian rankings to see if there was anyone I knew. Imagine my surprise when I saw that Jazz was ranked No. 6 in Novice!! Also in Novice, our friend Susan's liver boy Ripley was No. 8, and in Excellent A, our blog friend Kim's Peyton came in at an impressive No. 3!!

Spotted Dogs Rock!

Sneak Preview

2011-10-29T16:22:00.003-04:00

This morning, we woke up to a sneak preview of winter! I thought I had forgotten to flip a page on the calendar and it was late November instead of late October. Although this is a sight that I don't look forward to, you can see that Tess and Jazz had fun in the snow this morning while it lasted.

Cowgirls

2011-10-12T10:57:00.006-04:00

Yesterday I had the pleasure of sharing my love for riding horses with some of my friends. LaDonna, Cindy, and Donna joined me and my Victory Stables riding companion Lynn and Victory Stables owner Sandy for a trail ride on a spectacular fall afternoon. Donna has just started taking lessons at Victory and Cindy is about to start taking lessons! LaDonna hasn't ridden in quite a while, but she had a wonderful time and says she'll come out again with us sometime.

From left to right in the photo above, it's me on Corey, Cindy on Matthew, Donna on Dianah, and LaDonna on Harley. Ride 'em, cowgirls!!

Wowza!

2011-10-11T20:03:00.005-04:00

It seems that in the past month, Jazz has really come into her own. It started with the Splash 'n Dash USDAA agility trial in late September. Jazz qualified in six of her seven runs that weekend! We were especially proud of her, because we feel USDAA is the toughest competition venue in agility. Tess had an unusually rough weekend, but she still managed a couple qualifying runs in very tough Performance III competition.

The first weekend of October, both girls showed with me at the Westmoreland County Obedience Training Club's Rally and Obedience trial. On Friday, Jazz earned her sixth Rally Advanced Excellent (RAE) leg. She needs 10 qualifiers to earn her RAE title. Tess completed her very first Rally Excellent leg with a very nice second place finish. The girls then went on to earn first place in Rally Advanced Pairs, where both dogs do the Rally course together. We always do well in Pairs, and I think Tess and Jazz like being out there together.

On Saturday, Tess and I stepped into the obedience ring for the very first time together, and she got her first Beginner Novice leg with a third place finish. Tess went on to be High Scoring Dalmatian in the trial, as well as High Scoring Non-Sporting Dog. Not a bad start! Jazz completed the third leg of Novice obedience competition, thus earning her Companion Dog title. She had the best run ever with some very nice off-leash heeling, and it ended up being a first place finish to top off her title. Way to go, Jazz!

On Sunday, Tess got her second Beginner Novice leg and a fourth place finish. She was once again High Scoring Dalmatian in the trial. Although Tess performed very well over the weekend, she lets it be known that this is charity work for me and she'd really rather be on an agility course! Jazz, on the other hand, loves to do whatever it is I want to do and had another great run in Novice obedience. Even though it was an extra leg not needed for a title, she put in a very nice second place performance. Jazz has mastered all the exercises needed to go on to Graduate Novice and Open obedience competition. She loves to retrieve and I'm looking forward to training and competing in the next levels with her. Below is Jazz's official Companion Dog title photo:

This past weekend, we were once again at USDAA agility, this time at K9 Four Seasons Athlete Center in OH. Jazz had another great weekend, qualifying and placing in five out of eight runs and earning her Performance I Jumpers and Performance I Gamblers titles. Tess had a better weekend, earning four qualifying scores in Performance III competition. Way to go, girls!

You may wonder why we compete for so many titles. While it's nice to get all the pretty ribbons, it's really not about the titles at all. It's about the joy of being in the ring with our dogs and reaping the rewards of the training we do with them. A title merely lets the world in on what we already know: We love our dogs and they are awesome! I cannot begin to describe the special bond and relationship we have with our dogs through training and competition. The teamwork between us is one of the most rewarding things I have ever experienced. It is such a pleasure and so relaxing to train, travel, and compete with these two Dals. We've made lots of friends in every venue and almost always stop for dinner with a group of folks after the competition, so there's a social element as well. Our dogs are content and well behaved because we spend time with them and give them something to do. I think they enjoy it every bit as much as we do. Just the level of communication alone is worth the effort. I know many of you who follow our blog train and compete with your dogs, too, so you know what I'm talking about. If you want a happy, well-behaved dog, I'd encourage you to develop a bond and mutual respect through training. Your dog will love you for it!

Corey

2011-09-05T16:57:00.003-04:00

Well, this introduction has been a long time coming! Meet Corey, my 13-year-old Tennessee Walker gelding. I got Corey back in May, but I never get any good pictures of him since I'm usually riding him! I keep telling myself that I need to get some photos, but it's much more fun to ride than to take pictures!!

Back when I started training Jazz for the Road Trial, I was telling everyone that all I wanted to do was get out of this without owning a horse. Well, that obviously didn't happen! I have enjoyed being around horses so much and found the perfect place in Victory Stables. They have made it very easy for me to have Corey. Because I work full time, train my dogs, and try to have a life left over in between, I don't always get to the barn as often as I'd like. While I'm not there, Corey is well cared for and is used for riding lessons and public trail rides. He was a trail horse in a mountain range before he came to Victory Stables. He's sweet, fun, and reliable...and he's wonderful with the dogs.

Here's Jazz hocking with Corey. These pictures were taken at our Dalmatian Fun Day, which we held at Victory Stables to give everyone a chance to try coaching with their Dals. Corey was many of these dogs' first introduction to a horse. He was wonderfully patient with the dogs and the folks who rode him a bit. He was a great ambassador for Dals and horses that day!!

This is Tess and Jazz coaching with Oscar. Oscar was rescued by Victory Stables, and although they're still putting weight on him and conditioning him, he enjoys getting out and pulling the cart. Oscar was also great with the dogs and seemed to enjoy himself.

I'll try to get some more pictures of my handsome new boy. I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying having Corey. We're learning all about natural horsemanship and we enjoy trail rides with the wonderful folks at Victory. I am looking forward to taking Corey to a Road Trial with Jazz in the near future!

Agility Update

2011-08-17T17:23:00.005-04:00

I haven't done a lot of blogging lately, so I thought I'd do a quick agility update on Tess and Jazz.

Tess and Jim had a Perfect Weekend at CPE agility in Washingtonville, OH, this past weekend. The photo above is of the crew who got Perfect Weekends, 8 qualifying runs!! All of Tess' runs were in the Championship class, the highest level of competition, so we're very proud of her accomplishments at this trial.

Jazz has also been running well. She finished her Level 3 Standard at our club's CPE trial two weekends ago and is now running in Level 4 and even a couple classes in Level 5, which means she's offically working on her C-ATCH! She's got some catching up to do (no pun intended), but she's really come a long way and is starting to run more consistently with Jim. With the weather getting a little bit cooler now, we'll get back to our Road Trial conditioning program. We're hoping to do another Road Trial at the end of October.

With the warm summer weather, the girls haven't been doing a whole lot! The Dalmatian Club Fun Day is coming up next weekend and we have a USDAA agility trial in September and then obedience and rally trials in October, so we're going to start gearing up again. In the meantime, Tess and Jazz will continue to be the poster dogs for the "lazy days of summer"!

National Ice Cream Day...A Week Late!

2011-07-24T20:31:00.004-04:00

I can't believe I missed the most important holiday of the year!! As I was tearing off the page of the weekly calendar that hangs on our refrigerator, I saw that National Ice Cream Day was last week.

Now, here's a holiday that Tess can really sink her teeth into...literally! This is a photo of Tess smooshing her face into an ice cream cup to get the last tasty licks of ice cream at Happy Belly Ice Cream (yep, that's really the name of the place) in the Outer Banks.

If you, too, missed National Ice Cream Day last week, feel free to raise a cone in celebration the next time you're at your neighborhood ice cream store. I think this is one holiday that should last all year long!!

Road Trial Pics

2011-07-24T20:06:00.002-04:00

When my good friend Jim mentioned to me at dinner tonight that it had been a while since I had posted to the blog, I knew I'd better get something up there! Let's just say that time flies when you're having fun and it seems like just yesterday that Jazz and I competed in the Road Trial at Dal Nationals.

Anyway, here are some of the photos from the official photographer at the Road Trial:

Jazz's formal win photo.

Jazz and Winchester on the speed exercise. This was technically supposed to be a hand gallop, but because of the wet, muddy conditions in the field where we did the testing, the judge allowed a quick trot.

Out on the trail. While it looks like a nice green field, it was actually a field of standing water!

Jazz hocking with Winchester during our obedience exercises.

This last picture isn't from the official photographer. It was sent to me by Peggy Strupp, and that's her Dal Rad. I just wanted everyone to see the kind of conditions we were dealing with. This was the typical condition of most of the 12.5 miles that we traveled that day!! We had to pass through this section of trail FOUR times, and you can see that Rad is trying to carefully pick his way through the less muddy portion.

The day before the trial, we took a course familiarization ride without the dogs. Our course was convoluted and difficult to remember because they had to make changes from their original plan because of the conditions. I was making notes as I rode along in the hopes of keeping it all straight the next day. By the morning of the trial, they had to change the course yet again because a portion of it that we had ridden the evening before was now under water!!

Now, neither Jazz nor I are big fans of being cold, wet, and dirty, so I still can't believe that we did this...and had a great time!! I've been married to Jim for 26 years, and he said he had never seen me so dirty...and I was the one on the horse, not running through the mud like Jazz did! What a hoot! Can't wait to do it again.

As soon as I get some decent pictures, I have a very special introduction to make to all my blog friends. Stay tuned!!!

DCA Winnings

2011-05-23T17:12:00.002-04:00

Just snapped this photo of Tess and Jazz with all their winnings from the Dalmatian Club of America's National Specialty Show. I'm still waiting for some pictures from the official photographer, but the girls are shown above with Jazz's second place qualifier in the Road Trial, Tess and Jazz's second place in Brace Obedience, Jazz's third place qualifier in Novice FAST Agility (also her NF title), Tess' first place qualifier in Rally Advanced A, Tess' second place qualifier in Excellent B Standard and fourth place in Excellent B JWW Agility, giving Tess a Double Q and her Master Excellent Jumper title. Whew! All that in three days.

The girls continued their winning ways this past weekend at CPE agility. Tess had 6 qualifying runs out of 8 total, and Jazz had qualifiers in Jackpot, Snooker, and Wildcard and finished her Level 3 Strategy Games title. Since Tess earned her CPE C-ATCH at the end of last year, she and Jim have been working on their CPE Agility Team Extraordinaire title (C-ATE). It requires 20 qualifying runs in each of the seven Championship classes, plus an additional 2000 points from any classes of the handler's choosing (qualifiers earn between 15 and 25 points, depending on the class), so it's a big undertaking. Tess has probably completed half of the requirements to date, so although she isn't recording many titles these days, she's working hard towards the highest title in CPE agility...and having fun all the time!

Beach Arithmetic

2011-05-07T20:27:00.004-04:00

Here's a simple Outer Banks math equation for you:

Good friends

Ocean breezes

Playing in the surf

Digging in the sand

2 VERY tired Dalmatians!!!

Hatteras Lighthouse

2011-05-05T15:23:00.002-04:00

The vacation adventure of the day today was to visit the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.

Jazz and Tess at the entrance to the lighthouse.

What a great photo opportunity, huh?

Here's Jazz and Tess on the beach with the lighthouse in the background. The girls had a grand time at this beach and got lots of pets and attention while we were at the lighthouse. We met a young lady at the lighthouse who said she was former military and suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. She visited with Tess and Jazz and said it was very therapeutic for her. She was thrilled to hear that the girls are therapy dogs. It was so nice to put a smile on the face of this woman who served our country.

Beach Buddies

2011-05-04T21:28:00.002-04:00

Here are a few pictures from our vacation in the Outer Banks:

Beach buddies Sammie, Tess, and Jazz on a bench at Okracoke.

Tess and Jazz in the Okracoke dunes.

DCA Update

2011-05-02T21:32:00.004-04:00

Last week, we traveled to Ohio and Kentucky for the Dalmatian Club of America's national specialty show. The main purpose of our trip was for Jazz and me to compete in the Road Trial. Over a year ago, we started preparing and conditioning for this 12.5 mile horseback ride, and that all became a reality last Thursday.

The photo above is of Jazz and Winchester, the horse we were assigned for the ride. This was during a warmup period in the indoor arena. Winchester is a lovely Tennessee Walker, so I was looking forward to a nice, smooth ride. He was a very sweet boy who was great with Jazz.

Here's me, Jazz, and Winchester heading off down the trail for our very first Road Trial. The weather on the day of the ride was fabulous, but the area had experienced a lot of rain in the previous days and weeks, and the mud was horrendous. I actually considered pulling Jazz from the trial because of the mud and a concern that she may slip and hurt herself, but another experienced rider said that she had ridden in these conditions before and the dogs always seem to pick the safest path for themselves, so I decided to see how the first part of the ride went. As it turns out, the advice I was given was absolutely correct and Jazz made her way safely through the muddy conditions. I also thought she'd be miserable in the mud, given her princess-like tendencies, but she was so happy to be out on the trail with the horse that she didn't seem to mind the mud!

Here's what Jazz looked like after 3 hours and 12.5 miles!! Despite the less than perfect conditions, Jazz earned her Road Dog title with a second place finish and a very respectable score of 551. A perfect score is 600 and anything over 300 is a qualifying score. Scores over 500 count towards a Road Dog Champion title, so I was very pleased that we scored so well in our first trial under VERY muddy conditions.

On Friday, we got all cleaned up and competed in Obedience and Rally at the host hotel in Kentucky. The first class we competed in was Obedience Brace, where Tess and Jazz are tied together with a coupler and must complete the Novice Obedience exercises (photo above). The girls had a very nice run and earned second place. Tess then had a great Rally Advanced run and qualified with first place!

On Saturday, we headed out to Clermont County Dog Training for the DCA agility trial. The girls continued their winning ways with a third place Novice B FAST run by Jim and Jazz to earn her Novice FAST title, followed by a second place qualifier in Excellent B Standard and a fourth place qualifier in Excellent B JWW for Tess and Jim, earning another double Q and Tess's MXJ title!!

Thanks to all our friends who followed the DCA results on Facebook and sent their well wishes and congratulations. We had a great time at Nationals and were able to catch up with some old friends and make some new ones, too! Immediately after agility on Saturday, we headed for a well-deserved beach vacation, so stay tuned for some photos of our adventures in the Outer Banks.

Easter Goodies

2011-04-25T07:05:00.003-04:00

Sorry I'm a little late posting this photo of Tess and Jazz with their Easter goodies. It was a hectic day yesterday. Not only did the Easter Bunny leave a basket of goodies for each girl, but they also got a bag of treats and a toy from Aunt Mariann, Uncle Jim, and Sammie! Needless to say, there won't be a shortage of doggie treats in this household any time soon!

Jazz and I took a quick bike ride in between the raindrops yesterday in preparation for the Road Trial this week, but, unfortunately, the weather isn't predicted to be very nice for our ride. I'm asking each of my blog friends to say a little prayer for Jazz's safety as we embark on our first-ever Dalmatian Road Trial this Thursday. Nearly a year of training and conditioning has gone into this, and I'm very excited to go on this ride. Jazz and I have made many new friends who have helped us prepare for the Road Trial, and I have just loved being around and riding horses again, especially when I can combine it with time spent with my dog. It is so awesome to see Dalmatians do what they were bred to do!

Hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Easter holiday!

Just Ducky!

2011-04-23T09:47:00.005-04:00

Jazz has been training hard in the Cozy Inn swimming pool. She has come such a long way! In January when we first took her, she had to be carried in the pool and the tech held her while she "swam" (see In the Swim post for video). Later, they taught her to use the steps to get in the pool, then swim to the other set of steps to get out. After that, she started doing that circuit on her own. Now, drumroll, please....Jazz is getting in the pool and swimming on her own with no life vest!! She now glides into the pool and swims like a duck with her feet paddling under the water, instead of the wild, frothing kicking she started out with. Most importantly, you'll notice that her tail is always wagging. She loves Michele, the technician who has been swimming her, and she is happy the whole time she's in there with her, although she always glances at me through the window when she gets out of the pool!

We're all so proud of Jazz for her swimming accomplishments. It's been fabulous exercise and has improved her confidence a ton. Even though this started out as conditioning for the Road Trial, we're going to continue swimming Jazz and also Tess when we return.

Therapy Visit

2011-04-13T20:06:00.003-04:00

Jazz and her brother Peet made a therapy visit to the assisted living facility yesterday. We were filling in for our breeder and her dog Gage, so the spotted kids had big paws to fill! The residents there just adore Gage. Jazz and Peet's litter visited this facility when they were wee pups, so the folks there are always happy to see them, although they will forever be "the puppies."

We started out by showing everyone how Jazz has learned to retrieve and hold her dumbbell.

All of our dumbbell work came in handy when Jazz decided to become an Easter Bunny in training! We simply transitioned from holding the dumbbell to holding an Easter basket. We started with an empty basket and progressed to holding a basket filled with Easter eggs.

The residents just loved Peet and Jazz in their bunny ears! One resident commented that if you live long enough, you see everything, and she was glad she had lived long enough to see THIS! It isn't every day you see a couple of spotted Easter bunnies!!

Being Easter bunnies is tough work, and Peet and Jazz ended their visit with a little nap after bringing smiles to the residents and staff. We were so proud of both dogs for being well behaved and spreading some Easter cheer.

Happy 6th Birthday, Tess!

2011-04-01T08:07:00.003-04:00

Hard to believe that today (April Fool's Day) is our Tess' 6th birthday. Seems like yesterday that she was the tiny puppy who came to bring such joy to our world. You see, Tess came to us four months after we lost the second of our first Dalmatian pair. At that point, I was hurting so badly that I wasn't sure I ever wanted another dog. I finally gave in to Jim's requests for another Dal, although I told him that I would never love this puppy the way I loved the first two Dals we owned (you see how that's worked out, huh?)

So a series of circumstances fell into place and Tess came to live with us (see "Tagged" post to read how that happened). Tess introduced us to agility and the many friends we've made in the sport. She's a wonderful dog to live with and is as happy and silly as a Dal can be.

Here's a couple of photos of Tess while she was still with her breeder, Joni:

Below is a photo from the day Tess came home with us. She immediately made herself at home and decided that we weren't having enough fun, so she should liven things up a bit! The Dachshund in the photo is Tiny. He was my Mom's dog and came to live with us after she passed away in 2000. Tiny was nearly 16 years old at this point and he was a good sport about tolerating Tess' antics. He was Tess' companion and buddy until he went to join Dottie and Tigger at the Rainbow Bridge when Tess was about six months old.

Happy Birthday to our beautiful Tess, Starwood's Touched by an Angel! I hope she continues to spread her spotted joy for many years to come. Love ya, Tessie!!

Swim Update

2011-03-06T20:07:00.002-05:00

Jazz has been swimming at the Cozy Inn for about six weeks now. While she's still not the smoothest swimmer on the planet, she has improved a lot and is getting a great workout.

Here's a video of part of Jazz's latest swim session. She has now learned to go into the pool via one set of stairs and swim to the other set of stairs to get out of the pool, and then trot on over for another round! She does this circuit for about 20 minutes.

Today, Tess also joined us for her very first swim. Although she is much more reluctant to get in the pool, once she's in, Tess is a much smoother swimmer. We were really pleased with Tess' first effort at swimming.

As usual, Jeremiah and Michele at the Cozy Inn were fantastic. They have helped Jazz make so much progress and have been a big part of our Road Trial conditioning during the awful winter weather.

Early Spring???

2011-02-22T13:39:00.003-05:00

Finally...a year where prognosticating groundhog Punxsutawney Phil DIDN'T see his shadow and predicted an early spring!!

Well, here's how we feel about that old groundhog after being dumped with nearly ten inches of snow last evening. Early spring, my #$&%^!!!! It seems that Phil is no better at predicting the weather than our local weather forecasters, who didn't feel we'd get as much snow as we did during this storm. At this point, I'm ready to join our spotty friends Indy, Peyton, and Derby in sunny Florida!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T21:41:00.003-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day from Jazz and Tess!

Just can't resist this sweet face!

Getting Ready for the Super Bowl

2011-02-04T14:44:00.002-05:00

GO STEELERS!

In the Swim

2011-01-22T14:03:00.004-05:00

Our friends Jan and George, through their training center (http://www.yougolittledog.com/), sponsored a "field trip" to the Cozy Inn for some swimming this morning. Jazz has never been swimming before, but we thought it would be great exercise during this incredibly cold weather when we can't be walking or biking.

The Cozy Inn has an awesome facility, but because of insurance regulations, owners are not allowed in the pool area with their dog. Jazz was fortunate to have Jeremiah, one of the technicians at the Cozy Inn, escort her for her swim session. I knew that Jazz wasn't going to just jump right in the pool and start to doggy paddle. While she and Tess enjoy romping in the ocean at the beach, they both prefer to have all four feet firmly planted on the ground while they frolic in the water. Jeremiah fitted Jazz for a life vest and off they went! I was able to observe through big windows in the room next to the pool, so the pictures are a little fuzzy since they were taken through the glass.

Jeremiah was awesome with Jazz and rewarded her with lots of treats for approaching the water.

Hi, Mom!! Jazz quickly figured out that I was on the other side of the window.

Jeremiah did eventually get Jazz into the pool for some honest-to-goodness swimming. He was wonderfully patient with her and I was very pleased with how well Jazz did, considering I took her to a place she's never been before and then handed her over to a stranger, who dunked her in a pool! By the time our session ended, Jazz was voluntarily getting all four paws into the water on the steps of the pool. She didn't actually swim on her own, but I didn't expect that she would on her first try. Her tail wagged the whole time, and I'm looking forward to another swim lesson for her.

Here's a video of Jazz in the pool:

C-ATCH Tess!!!

2011-01-03T21:48:00.004-05:00

Tess rounded out 2010 by earning her CPE Agility Trial Champion (C-ATCH) title on December 31 in Washingtonville, OH!! Below is the video from Tess' championship run. She had a fairly nice run, although Tess (and my heart) stopped just before the teeter to smile for the photographer who was seated in the ring right on the other side of the teeter! Fortunately, in CPE this is not a fault and Tess went on to finish the course nicely.

It's tradition to take a victory lap after a C-ATCH run, but Tess was totally confused as to why she had to run the course again and wasn't going back to our ex pen to get her treats!! We were fortunate to have many friends at the trial to cheer Tess on, and she earned her title under judge Susan Zimmerman, who is a fellow Dal owner and also a friend of ours.

Here's Jim, Tess, and Susan showing off her C-ATCH ribbon and the awesome bar that Aunt Mariann and Uncle Jim made for her.

To make the weekend even more special, our friends Mike and Einstein also got their C-ATCH and Mike earned his CPE Junior Handling Champion title, too!

As if this wasn't enough for one weekend, Tess and Einstein also finished with a Perfect Weekend, qualifying in all 8 of their runs on Saturday and Sunday. They are pictured above with the other dogs who earned Perfect Weekends.

We had an awesome New Year's weekend at the trial. We once again shared a lovely suite with Mariann, Jim, and Sammie and had the pleasure of spending the weekend with friends George, Lois, and CJ, and Dave, Jill, and Mike and their dogs. No better way to ring in the New Year!!

I am so proud of Jim and Tess for all they have accomplished. They are a great team and a joy to watch. While Jazz had several qualifying runs, this weekend was really all about Tess...just the way she likes it ;)

Awesome Holiday

2010-12-26T14:40:00.004-05:00

Here's the state of the holidays around here nowadays: It used to be that I would ask Santa for jewelry, but now I'm asking for obedience practice jumps!!! Nothing like trading diamonds for PVC ;) Imagine poor Santa trying to lug a five-foot set of jumps down our chimney! I'm afraid I may already be on the "Naughty" list for next year.

Tess and Jazz were a little easier to please. Here they are opening a gift from their Pug cousin, Frank.

Since the girls hardly need more toys, Santa brought them some more practical things this year, like these doggie blankets. They also got self-heating thermal pads for those chilly days at the agility trials.

Tess and Jazz in front of our "fireplace" with the cute Dalmatian draft stopper that my sister made me for Christmas.

Tess and Jazz in the aftermath of all the present opening and paper shredding on Christmas morning. I'm not sure which they like more, their gifts or shredding the gift wrapping paper! As you can see, the girls had a wonderful holiday with lots of fun stuff. Hope you all did, too!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T08:49:00.005-05:00

Merry Christmas

from

Tess and Jazz!

Santa Visit

2010-12-19T15:56:00.004-05:00

When we went to our class yesterday at Misty Pines, Santa Claus was there! We missed our annual trip to the mall for Santa photos because of bad weather, so the girls were happy to see Santa and let him know what they want for Christmas. Santa agreed that both Tess and Jazz have been very good girls this year, so I'm sure he'll leave them lots of goodies on Christmas!

As the holiday approaches, we send our warmest wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy 2011!

Goodbye, Sweet Friend

2010-12-18T10:41:00.005-05:00

Our friends Mariann and Jim lost their dear Rocky this morning. He was 14-1/2 years old and was a good friend and companion for many years. Tess and Jazz both respected and adored Rocky and we will miss him terribly. Rocky was sweet and gentle, yet instantly gained the respect of every dog he encountered. Although we didn't meet Rocky until later in his life, we understand that a humane officer was in the area picking up another dog, and when he returned, there was Rocky just sitting in his truck! After failed attempts to locate Rocky's owners, he was taken to a shelter, where he was adopted by Mariann and Jim and enjoyed doing agility, taking walks in the park, and vacationing at the beach. I think Rocky knew that getting in that truck with the humane officer would transport him to a better life. Even as a puppy, that boy was smart!

Rocky, Jazz, and Tess at the beach earlier this year.

Love ya, Rocky. Till we meet again....

Holiday Therapy Visit

2010-12-15T22:30:00.003-05:00

Tonight was our pet therapy night at the hospital, and Tess, Jazz, and Sammie managed to spread a fair amount of good cheer this holiday season.

Jazz, Tess, and Sammie visiting the 5th Floor at UPMC Passavant.

Tonight's visit also happened to be Sammie's 6th birthday, so I took my first foray into baking doggie birthday cakes this afternoon and made Sammie a peanut butter carrot cake.

According to Sammie, I did okay! He especially liked the cream cheese icing.

Here's Sammie with one of his birthday gifts. You can never go wrong in buying Sammie a ball!
A very happy birthday to Tess and Jazz's Border Collie "brother"!!

While we were celebrating Sammie's birthday, someone approached us and asked Tess and Jazz to visit with her Mom, who used to have Dalmatians. Even though she was not technically in our visitation area, we made a quick visit to Mom's room. Imagine her surprise when two Dalmatians walked in (dressed in Santa suits, no less)! Mom enjoyed seeing Dalmatians again so much that her daughter had tears in her eyes as she thanked us for taking the time to visit. It's times like this that make me so proud of my girls for doing pet therapy. The time we spend volunteering is nothing compared to the comfort the dogs bring to people during difficult times.

I was especially pleased that we could bring some joy to a fellow Dalmatian lover!

Doga

2010-12-13T18:22:00.004-05:00

Our friends, Jan and George Smith, opened a new dog training facility late this past summer (http://www.yougolittledog.com/), and in addition to agility training classes, they've also been offering some fun stuff for dogs and handlers, too. In late October, Tess and Jazz and I taught our fitness ball exercise class there, and yesterday, Jazz and I attended a Doga (doggie yoga) class!

Here are our instructors, Leta and Laurie, and their dogs. Notice how graceful they look!

Here's Jazz going, "Gee, Mom, I didn't know you could touch your toes!!" Notice how not-graceful I look!

This is Jan's little Pom, Regina. Even though she just had hip surgery, she was enjoying the Doga class.

Here's the whole Doga gang. We had fun at the class and Jazz did very well, particularly with the "Downward Dog" position. We learned different stretches for us and our dogs and ended with a nice massage session for the dogs which included placing one hand on your heart and one hand on your dog's heart and conveying all the love you feel for your dog and taking away any hurt or fear they may have. It was a sweet way to end a fun afternoon.

Birthday Celebration

2010-11-30T15:07:00.009-05:00

Here are a few pictures from Jazz's birthday celebration:

Didn't take Jazz long to figure out the birthday cake thing. She was licking at it before I could even get the camera ready! Both girls enjoyed Jazz's peanut butter-banana birthday cake.

Gee, that peanut butter icing really sticks to the roof of your mouth!

Tess politely waited for the birthday girl to eat her cake...

...and then gulped her piece down, too!

Jazz opening a few of her presents.

Come on, Jazz...let's play with your new toy!

Happy Birthday, baby girl...and many, many more!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Jazz!

2010-11-30T10:09:00.004-05:00

Today is Jazz's 3rd birthday! It seems like yesterday that I was holding a little 7-week-old pup in my arms. In honor of Jazz's birthday, I created a slideshow of what we've been up to these past three years. I'm so proud of Jazz and all she has accomplished in the short time we've been together.

Many thanks to Gia and Tolliver for my wonderful little liver girl! I'm also grateful to her breeder, LaDonna, and her "grandmas," Barb and Nanci, for entrusting us with Jazz and for their support in all we do.

Jazz has taken me places I never thought I'd go, from the agility, rally, and obedience rings to riding horses again after more than 30 years! She is a fantastic working dog and a joy to live with.

More pictures of the birthday celebration later!

Happy Turkey Day!

2010-11-25T12:22:00.002-05:00

A very Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family from Lisa, Jim, Tess and Jazz!

Jazz's Obedience Weekend

2010-11-22T12:46:00.005-05:00

Jazz got two legs towards her Companion Dog title in AKC Obedience this past weekend at the Westmoreland County Obedience Training Club trial!! On Saturday, we qualified with third place, although Jazz could have gotten second place if her handler didn't make a 3-point error. Oops! You know what they say...there are no bad dogs, only bad handlers ;) You can bet that this handler won't make that same mistake again!

Our friend Susan and her Dal Ripley came out from Ohio for this trial and stayed with us Saturday evening. We had a nice dinner with a bunch of our agility friends and then brought Ripley home to play with Tess and Jazz. Although he liked playing with the girls, he was much more fascinated with our parrot.

On Sunday, we headed back to the obedience trial, where Jazz qualified with first place! While we still have a ways to go in building Jazz's confidence, I was really pleased with how well she did this weekend. She was comfortable in the trial environment and did fairly well in the ring. Her long sits and downs were solid and she's really improved her Figure 8s. I'm looking forward to continuing Jazz's obedience training and entering more trials in the spring with this awesome liver girl!!

Trick or Treat!

2010-10-29T14:49:00.004-04:00

Our veterinarian's office had a Trick or Treat day for the pets who come to their clinic, so Tess' Elvis costume was once again dusted off and pressed into service, along with Jazz in a pretty pink poodle skirt made by my sister. They had a grand time getting treats and lots of attention from the folks at the vet's office.

The veterinary office is holding a costume contest, so we're asking all of our friends on Facebook to search for Bakerstown Animal Hospital and vote for Tess and Jazz! I'm not sure how quickly they'll get the pictures and voting onto Facebook, but we'd appreciate your support. Thank you...thank you very much!!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Bakerstown-PA/Bakerstown-Animal-Hospital/119295131419866?ref=search&sid=1045583970.3755038094..1

Autumn Splendor

2010-10-26T14:30:00.002-04:00

Just thought I'd share a few photos of Tess and Jazz with some of the fall foliage in our yard.

Rally Pairs

2010-10-17T19:34:00.007-04:00

We've just wrapped up a Rally and Obedience weekend at the Golden Triangle Obedience Training Club trial. This was Tess and Jazz's Rally Pairs debut, and, as promised, I'm including links to the video from their two Rally Pairs runs. Unfortunately, I couldn't get Blogger to upload this video, and when I did it through YouTube, it cut off half the video, so just follow the links below to view it on YouTube. I'm sure this is all because of my lack of video upload experience, so my apologies!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSl8P0OFsHQ

Saturday was quite the day for us. Tess finished her Rally Novice title with a third place finish and Jazz got her third RAE leg, qualifying in both Rally Advanced and Rally Excellent. The girls then competed in Rally Novice Pairs and finished in first place!! To top off the whole day, Jazz went on to finish her Beginner Novice obedience title and was once again High Scoring Dalmatian in the trial. Way to go, girls!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEp3Go9SpWs

Sunday was also a good day. Tess got her first Rally Advanced leg and Jazz got her fourth RAE leg. The girls once again competed in Rally Pairs and had a very nice run. They tied for first place, but the other team had a faster time, so we got second place. We had a great time with Rally Pairs and can't wait to try it again! We may even get brave enough to enter Rally Pairs Advanced, where Tess and Jazz would compete off leash!

Here are the girls with the spoils of their victories! We're actually missing a qualifying ribbon in the picture because the club ran out of them. I LOVE the Rally Pairs ribbons. Because it's a non-regular class, the first place ribbon was pink and the second place ribbon was brown...our favorite colors! We had a successful weekend at the trial and enjoyed spending time with friends and their dogs. I've taken the plunge and entered Jazz in Novice A Obedience in November, so we'll be training hard until then! I'd also like to get Tess into Beginner Novice Obedience, but there are only so many hours in a day...and too many of them are spent working to earn the money to pay for the entries in these trials :)

WCOTC Rally and Obedience

2010-10-04T16:46:00.007-04:00

We had a great weekend at the Westmoreland County Obedience Training Club's Rally and Obedience trial. Friday and Saturday were beautiful fall days, and although it rained on Sunday, we still enjoyed a weekend filled with good friends and their canine companions. I was ever so grateful to have many of my new instructors and classmates from WCOTC there to give me guidance and support. They're a great group of people!

Tess made her Rally debut on Friday, earning a fourth place qualifying score in Rally Novice B. Tess also qualified in Rally on Saturday. Tess was a bit confused about why Jazz got to run in two classes in Rally and a class in obedience, but she was a good sport about waiting for her turn in Rally and worked nicely for me. Good girl, Tess!

Jazz's weekend was a whirlwind of green qualifying ribbons! On Friday, Jazz got a third place qualifying score in Rally Excellent B, along with a qualifying score in Rally Advanced B, earning her first RAE leg. She also qualified on Saturday in Rally Excellent B and Rally Advanced B, getting that second RAE leg. Only eight more to go :)

On Saturday, Jazz made her Obedience debut, competing in AKC's new optional titling class of Beginner Novice. I was a bit nervous about this, as we had a potential conflict in rings for Rally and Obedience, but we finished Rally just in time to walk into the Obedience ring with only one dog ahead of us! I was very pleased with Jazz's run in Beginner Novice. She was happy and confident, and after a run-off with a very skilled Lab and her handler, Jazz was awarded first place with a score of 195.5! Jazz went on to win a stuffed toy for High Scoring Dalmatian in the trial...and then won a large trophy for High Scoring Non-Sporting Dog in the trial!! Wow, what a day!

Sunday was Obedience only at the trial, so it was just me and Jazz, back for another run in Beginner Novice. Jazz was obviously worn down from two days of Rally and Obedience, but she again had a nice performance in Beginner Novice, scoring 192.5. She received a crystal apple-shaped bowl for being High Scoring Dalmatian in the trial, and also got an address book and journal for being High Scoring Non-Sporting Dog in the trial.

I'm very encouraged by Jazz's performance in the Obedience ring. She seemed to enjoy it, and we're looking forward to competing again in two weeks and hopefully finishing up her Beginner Novice title. We'll also be working on a couple more RAE legs with Jazz and trying to finish Tess' Rally Novice title that weekend. The girls will also be competing in Rally Pairs for the first time, so I'm going to try to get a video of that for everyone's entertainment!

Easy Rider

2010-09-10T09:56:00.004-04:00

Every Thursday evening, Jazz and Sammie go to class together. Tess usually stays home with Jim. Yesterday, Jim was in Philadelphia for work, and since I didn't want to leave Tess at home all evening after being home all day while I was at work, she went to spend the evening with her "Uncle Jim." Tess got to go walking in the park with Jim, and since we take my car to class, she got to ride in Jim's van in Rocky's special seat, wearing Rocky's seatbelt harness! I'm sure Tess just loved sitting in the passenger seat facing forward to look out the windshield. She usually rides in the back of my car with a view only of where we've been, not where we're going!

I'm not sure how Rocky's going to feel once he realizes that a silly spotted girl was riding in HIS seat and wearing HIS harness. Rocky is 14 years old, and while his trips to the park to walk may be over, he is still about the coolest dog in the world, which is why I nicknamed him John Wayne! He is wonderfully calm and confident, and both my girls are very respectful of Rocky. Thanks, buddy, for allowing Tess to ride in your seat and spend the evening with your Dad at the park. Thanks, too, to Uncle Jim for taking Tess to the park so she didn't have to spend the evening home alone!

Tess - MX! ** Jazz - NAJ!

2010-09-06T20:05:00.006-04:00

We had a wonderful titling weekend at the Westmoreland County Obedience Training Club agility trial! On Saturday, Tess started out with a 4th place Q in FAST. Then she went on to qualify in Excellent B Standard to earn her Master Agility Excellent (MX) title!! Woo-hoo, Tess!

After working so hard to earn that MX title, Tess took a well-deserved mental vacation and didn't qualify the rest of the weekend. She needs two more legs for her MXJ title, so we're hopeful that she'll finish that before the end of the year.

Jazz had a great weekend, too. On Saturday, she qualified in Novice FAST and got a 1st place qualifying score in Novice JWW! Then on Sunday, she got a 3rd place Q in Novice FAST. Today, she got another 1st place Q in Novice JWW, earning her Novice Agility Jumpers title with three 1st place legs! Jazz also got a 1st place Q in Novice Standard today, with just one more leg to go for her NA title. Not bad for a baby dog!!

Of course, the girls had a fun time visiting with all their friends this weekend. A few of our buddies have puppies, and both Tess and Jazz enjoyed a little puppy play time, especially with Katie, our friend Linda's adorable little Cocker Spaniel pup. While we're sorry to see summer go, we had an enjoyable Labor Day weekend at the trial.

Ohiopyle

2010-08-27T20:19:00.007-04:00

Since most of the summer has been hot and humid and today was predicted to be a sunny day in the mid to upper 70s, Jim and I decided to take the day off of work and take Tess and Jazz to Ohiopyle State Park.

Here are the girls in the falls area of Ohiopyle. You can see part of the falls behind them to the left.

Tess and Jazz enjoyed a fair amount of frolicking in the water below the falls.

Tess and Jazz on one of the large rocks near the water.

One of the big treasures of the day was this large stick that the girls played with. Amazing how a floating piece of debris can be so much fun!!

Tess would even swim out and retrieve the stick!

Jazz with some of the local flora.

After the girls romped in the water, we enjoyed a picnic lunch and headed out to hike on the trails. Here's one of the two large bridges we crossed on the trail. These bridges are actually former railroad bridges converted for hiking and biking on a portion of trail that connects the Pittsburgh area with the Washington, DC, area (we didn't hike quite that far)!

Here's the view of the river from the bridge where we were hiking. We had a most enjoyable day with Tess and Jazz at Ohiopyle. The weather was perfect and the girls enjoyed playing in the water and hiking in the woods. Sure beats going to work!!

Tess' Perfect Weekend

2010-08-09T16:43:00.002-04:00

Tess and Jim had a perfect weekend in CPE agility at the Splash 'n Dash K9 Sports trial over the weekend. Tess had 9 qualifying runs over two days and is now just 3 runs away from her C-ATCH, which is the championship in CPE. Jazz also did well, qualifying in 7 out of 9 runs over the weekend.

To make the weekend even more special, our friend Leslie and her Keeshond Kiwi earned their C-ATCH. Leslie and Kiwi are the first team from Splash 'n Dash, our training club, to get a C-ATCH, and it was so cool that they did it at our trial. Congratulations, Leslie and Kiwi!!

There's a Storm a Brewin'

2010-07-25T13:29:00.005-04:00

Meet JLS Storm a Brewin', "Twister," our friend Susan's 3-1/2-month-old Dal puppy! We were at USDAA agility this weekend and finally got to meet this sweet, handsome liver baby.

Here's Twister stretched out in the cool grass.

Jazz was completely enthralled with little Twister. At first, she was a bit jealous that I was paying attention to him, but she quickly found out that he's lots of fun to play with!

There was lots of play bowing and chewing on each other.

I was really pleased with how well Jazz did with Twister. Although we have no puppy plans, it's nice to know that Jazz would accept a puppy and have fun, too!

While Jazz and Twister were getting to know each other, Tess and Twister's big brother Ripley were running agility at a USDAA Dog Agility Masters Tournament. It's a team competition, and our original team was supposed to be Tess, Ripley, and our adopted Border Collie Sammie. The team name was "Dalmatian Sammich" (two Dalmatians with Sammie sandwiched in between). Well, Ripley's owner had a knee injury a few weeks ago, but she was going to work hard in physical therapy and tape her knee so she could run on the team. Unfortunately, Sammie's owner fell the week of the tournament and broke her wrist in two places, so she couldn't run Sammie on the team. Then the day after she broke her wrist, I ended up in the emergency room with kidney stones! We were a medical disaster!!

Fortunately for our team, a friend with another Border Collie named Seeker stepped in to fill Sammie's place on the team. Since Jan is an EMT and we had had so many medical emergencies, we changed the team name to "Rescue 911"! Susan managed to hobble through the courses with Ripley, who ran incredibly well for having an injured handler, and Tess and Seeker ran nicely and "Rescue 911" came in third place in the team competition, earning a very nice bronze medal.

As for me, I spent the two days at the trial drinking gallons of water, visiting the ladies room, and playing with the puppy :)

Splash 'n Dash Luau

2010-07-20T17:25:00.003-04:00

This past Sunday, our training club, Splash 'n Dash, held a summer luau. We enjoyed beautiful weather and had lots of fun with our friends and their dogs!

Here's Tess in her Hawaiian shirt and Jazz in her grass skirt

Rocky, Tess, Jazz, and Sammie enjoying the sunshine

Everybody in the pool!

Obedience Class Today

2010-07-17T16:00:00.003-04:00

Jazz's Misty Pines obedience class met at Wexford Plaza Shopping Center today for some real-world obedience training.

We practiced heeling with all the distractions of an outdoor shopping plaza, as well as sits and downs. Here's Jazz in a sit-stay at the flower shop. All the dogs wound their way through the flower shop past all the plants, which was probably more of a challenge for the boys than the girls :)

Then it was off to the pet store, where we had to leave the dogs in down-stays in the aisles while we shopped!

Here's the whole lineup of dogs from our class at the plaza.

We ended our class with down-stays at Starbuck's. All the dogs stayed in a down outside while our instructor treated us to a drink at Starbuck's. Jazz did very well with all the distractions and the other dogs and I'd say she passed Shopping 101 with flying colors! It was a great experience to take our training on the road and practice in a different environment. I hope we have the opportunity to do it again soon!

Jazz's RE Pics

2010-06-19T08:56:00.003-04:00

Last evening, I picked up my photos from the Rally trial last week where Jazz earned her Rally Excellent title.

This is sort of the "official" photo, very serious.

Then I just had to have this one, too, because it was so cute. The photographer was making noises to get Jazz's attention...and this is what she got! This is probably more the true Jazz.

It was a very busy week at work and I've got two classes today, teaching folks the fitness ball exercises with their dogs. Maybe tomorrow I'll get around to the video of Jazz's Coaching Certificate test and get that posted.

Jazz Earns Coaching Certificate

2010-06-14T09:49:00.004-04:00

While Jim and Tess were at agility this weekend, Jazz and I traveled to Springfield, OH, to the home of Cindy and Tom Gootee for a Dalmatian Club of America sanctioned Coaching Certificate test.

The Coaching Certificate test is sort of a precursor to the Road Trial and evaluates the dog's ability to coach. Each exercise is only about 200 yards in length, so there is no real endurance involved.

Jazz and miniature horse Clockwork. Clockwork was used to acquaint the dogs with a horse and later pulled a cart.

We met lots of great people and Dals at the Coaching test. Here's the whole group who participated in the test and the fun run. There was also a vet tech available who was taking blood samples from the Dals for the Canine Health Information Center (CHIC) DNA Repository at the University of Missouri-Columbia, so Jazz also became a CHIC DNA donor!

Here's me and Jazz after passing the Coaching Certificate test, with our driver Steve and Monte and Rudy, the team of horses who pulled the wagon for the test. Steve is a very skilled driver, and Monte and Rudy were an awesome team, great around the dogs.

After the test, we were able to relax and enjoy a picnic with everyone. Jazz and I really enjoyed our trip to Springfield and the opportunity to meet all the folks who brought their Dals out for this event.

I have video of Jazz taking the Coaching Certificate test, and as soon as I figure out how to edit and add some descriptions of what you'll be seeing, I'll post it. Right now, though, I have to get caught up on the piles of work that I neglected while Jazz and I were out having fun this weekend!

Tess' Weekend

2010-06-14T09:40:00.002-04:00

Tess had a great weekend at AKC agility in Washingtonville, OH. Despite the heat and humidity, which Tess does not tolerate well, she qualified in Standard on Friday and had double-Qs on both Saturday and Sunday!

Nice job, Jim and Tess!

Kingdom's All That Jazz, RE

2010-06-11T18:30:00.002-04:00

Jazz earned her Rally Excellent title today at the Westmoreland County Obedience Training Club trial!!

Not only did Jazz earn her title today, but she did it with a first placement. All three of her Excellent legs were first place runs, so I'm really proud of my little brown girl. She did a nice job even though we once again had a very difficult honor (the dog running the course thought that perhaps he ought to come and check Jazz out), but Jazz held her stay.

There was a photographer at the trial who took pictures of Jazz with her title ribbon, so I'll have to share those pics when I get them. In the meantime, thanks to my friend Mellissa for snapping these for me to post.

Jazz really seems to enjoy Rally, so we'll probably continue on for our RAE. That requires that the dog and handler qualify in both Excellent and Advanced on the same day and you need 10 legs to earn the RAE title. It's a big investment of time and money, but I really enjoy being out there with Jazz, and I think she likes it, too. I'm also hoping to start Tess in Rally in the fall and eventually want to do Rally Pairs with both Tess and Jazz, so that should be an adventure!

Coaching

2010-06-08T15:57:00.003-04:00

Jazz and I continued our Road Trial training last evening by trying coaching with a horse and cart. We met Doris of Wolfe Dream Carriage at Northmoreland Park and had a wonderful ride with her beautiful and gentle horse Bonnie.

Here's Jazz coaching alongside the cart on one of the trails in the park.

It was a great evening for a ride, nice and cool for both Bonnie and Jazz.

Here's Jazz coaching alongside Bonnie. I would have preferred her to be back by the cart more, but I've spent a lot of time teaching her to hock, and that was the position that she preferred.

After Jazz got over the novelty of being out with a horse and cart in a lovely park (and ran off some energy), she fell more into a coaching position behind the cart, which is very acceptable.

We rode for over an hour, with only a short break to give Jazz some water. Although she was panting during the ride, I was very pleased with how quickly she came back to a baseline after the ride was over. She showed no adverse signs this morning and engaged in her normal play routine with Tess. I think that some of our endurance training is paying off, so we'll continue exercising on the fitness ball, walking, and biking.

I was incredibly pleased with Jazz while we were out with Doris and Bonnie. This is the first time she's ever seen a cart and she was off lead in an incredible park with lots of distractions. At one point, Jazz spotted a little critter scamper down an intersecting trail and stayed with the horse and cart. Even the birds, which are her big temptation, didn't faze her. This was a wonderfully positive experience for us both.

What a pleasant evening it was to ride along in the cart with Bonnie. She is an amazingly smooth horse and the surroundings in the park made for a very relaxing evening. The fact that I could combine this incredible experience with my dog was a real bonus!

After our ride in the park, we went back to Wolfe Dream Carriage to see some of the 20 carriages they have, as well as meet the equine (and canine) family. This is Toy and her 2-week-old baby Razzle Dazzle.

If you ever need a carriage for a wedding or event, I'd highly recommend Wolfe Dream Carriage. Doris and Bill are lovely people who take good care of their horses. Their carriages are beautiful and their horses are well behaved, and they were more than accommodating to me and Jazz. I hope to ride with them again soon.

Agility Update

2010-06-06T20:19:00.003-04:00

We just got in from our club's CPE trial, and Tess and Jazz had what our friend Ron likes to call a "polyester weekend."

Tess qualified and placed in 9 of her 10 runs! She missed a perfect weekend by one second, which happened when she had to stop to sneeze just before the weaves in the last class of the trial. Arrrgh!! We're thrilled with her performance, though, since her nine qualifying runs were in either Level 5 or the Championship level, which are the highest levels of competition in CPE. Tess also Q'd in 7 of 8 runs in CPE agility two weeks ago, and had a double Q and two Standard Qs in AKC agility last weekend.

Little sister Jazz is starting to get the hang of this agility stuff. After a rather dismal 1 for 8 performance at CPE two weeks ago, she got a Novice Standard Q in AKC last weekend and qualified in 8 out of 10 runs this weekend!! Jazz is really starting to settle in and get comfortable with agility and had a really fun weekend. She is becoming less and less tentative and really showing what she can do. She had a rather tough transition from running with me to running with Jim (as evidenced by that 1 for 8 weekend where she spent most of her time in the ring looking for me), but they really pulled together this weekend and made a great team. I've decided to leave the agility stuff to Jim, while I concentrate on Rally, Obedience, and Jazz's Road Trial training. With me now taking riding lessons and doing the endurance work with Jazz, along with our Rally and Obedience classes, it really left very little time for me to work on agility training, not to mention my full-time court reporting business. I really think that Jazz will benefit in agility from having a confident handler like Jim, and I'd prefer to concentrate on Rally and Obedience, along with our Road Trial work.

So, that's our agility update. We have another busy weekend next weekend, and then things will settle down until late July. It's been a lot of fun spending the past few weekends with our agility friends, but not much gets done at home while we're playing...and the work weeks come around again way too quickly!!

Beach Memories

2010-05-09T10:27:00.005-04:00

Well, we're back home again and missing the beach already! We had an absolutely wonderful vacation with our friends and look forward to next year's trip. The weather was fantastic, and the dogs will have a "beach hangover" for the next several days, I'm sure.

Jazz and Tess enjoy the sunrise from the deck of our beach house.

Of course, the highlight of the week was all the playing, wrestling, and digging at the beach, as well as wading into the surf.

Here's Jazz and her buddy Ian on the beach. Ian's family has five dogs, but he's always been partial to Jazz, ever since she was a puppy.

Here's the whole group of dogs that we traveled to the Outer Banks with: Labradoodles Shaina and Toby, Rocky, Tess, Jazz, Sammie, Chocolate Lab Heath, and Border Collies Swirl, Twist, Scorch, and Blizzard.

So after a week at the beach, we ended up with very tired, happy Dalmatians! The girls are still sleeping it off this morning, but they had another fun adventure in the Outer Banks this year.

Road Trial Training...at the Beach!!

2010-05-08T19:06:00.006-04:00

Yesterday, Jazz and I had the opportunity to do some road trial training on the beach in Frisco, NC! I had called Hatteras Island Horseback Riding, because their website said they specialized in customizing your riding experience. Well, what I was looking for was custom, all right! The owner, Jeff, was very interested in the concept of Dalmatian Road Trials when I described it to him (he is training one of his horses for endurance riding events) and agreed to allow Jazz to train with his horse Gus.

Here's Gus and Jazz. Gus is a 9-year-old Norwegian Fjord Horse. He was an absolute delight to ride, and he really liked having Jazz along! They greeted each other nose to nose several times, and Gus even playfully goosed Jazz in the bum, which got tail wags and a play bow from Jazz. I'm absolutely thrilled with how comfortable Jazz is around horses. She has a healthy respect for these big critters but seems totally at ease with them, also.

Here's Jazz on a down-stay getting ready to practice the recall exercise.

Here's our recall...wait for me, here I come!!

You may notice that Jazz is dragging her leash in these pictures. While she behaved wonderfully with all the distractions on the beach (seagulls, people, other dogs), this beach is a federal park and dogs are required to be on leash. Of course, no one said you had to be holding the other end of that leash ;)

Here's me and Gus and Jazz riding off into the sunset (ok, so it was morning, but it sounded exotic) after an exhilarating training session at the beach.

Many thanks to Jeff, Susie, and Alex from Hatteras Island Horseback Riding for "customizing" my ride to include some road trial training for Jazz. It was such a pleasure to meet them and Gus, and we look forward to seeing them again next year!

Ocracoke Island

2010-05-06T21:02:00.003-04:00

It was another beautiful day on vacation in the Outer Banks. We headed over to Ocracoke Island today, where there are awesome beaches!

Here's Jazz and Tess in the back of the car while on the ferry from Hatteras Island to Ocracoke Island. Both girls enjoyed the ride on the ferry and the ocean breezes.

Tess and Jazz on the dune at Ocracoke

Even though we were trying to snap this photo, Tess and Jazz were more interested in the birds just up the beach from us. They had a wonderful time on Ocracoke Island, where there were only two other people on the beach during the time we were there. It was like having our own private beach in paradise!!

Taking a break on a bench at the beach access on the way back to the car for the ferry ride back to Hatteras Island. The girls are now snoozing off their adventure at Ocracoke, but tomorrow's another day and another adventure!

Beach Adventures 2010

2010-05-03T11:12:00.004-04:00

We're back in the Outer Banks at Avon, North Carolina, for our beach vacation. Tess and Jazz were very excited to be here again!

Tess and Jazz on the dune.

Woo-hoo! The girls love to play on the beach.

Tess and Jazz dig the Outer Banks...literally!!

Smelling the sea air.

More Road Trial Training

2010-04-18T20:48:00.005-04:00

Jazz and I had the opportunity to go with our friend Susan Zimmerman and her Dal Ripley out to Ohio to the home of Linda Lombardi to train with Linda and her awesome horse Zippity. Linda has three Dals and lots of Road Trial experience. She was very encouraging and a huge help to me and Jazz today.

Susan and Ripley show us how it's done. These two got their Road Dog and Road Dog Excellent titles in the course of one year!

A big part of training for a Road Trial is focus and attention. Jazz did an awesome job, given that we were in a new location and working with a horse she had never met before today.

Here's Jazz "hocking" or gaiting along with me and Zippity. It's amazing how naturally this comes to Dals with very little prompting.

Part of the Road Trial exercises include a sit or down stay. It is recommended (but not required) that the rider move away from the dog a bit during this exercise in case the horse becomes impatient or fidgety during the stay. When you return to the dog after the stay, you return around the back of the dog and then back into "heel" position, just as you would in obedience. While Jazz kept an eye on me as Zippity and I went behind her, she held her stay and didn't seem nervous with Zip moving about so close to her.

What a thrill for me to ride Zippity and see Jazz hocking along beside us! This is only Jazz's second encounter with a horse and the very first time she's ever tried hocking, both on leash and off. I was incredibly pleased with Jazz's attention and focus and especially with her willingness to work with the horse. Susan noted that her tail and ears were always up and that she truly seemed to enjoy the workout.

Many thanks to Susan for her encouragement and help, and especially to Linda for giving up her Sunday afternoon to allow me to ride Zippity and work with Jazz. Regardless of whether we ever make it to a Road Trial, today was a very enjoyable day that I won't forget soon!

Jazz's Road to a Road Trial

2010-04-16T19:35:00.009-04:00

Believe it or not, long before I became dog-crazy, I was a horse-crazy young girl, especially Appaloosas. My love for spots actually developed before Dalmatians! Recently, I've decided to combine my love for Dalmatians with my long-ago love for horses and start to train Jazz to compete in a Dalmatian Road Trial. For those of you who aren't familiar with Road Trials, The Dalmatian Club of America describes it as a performance event designed to evaluate the Dalmatian's ability to "coach" or follow the horses. Exhibitors compete as a handler on horseback or in a horse-drawn cart or carriage, with dogs off leash. In our case, it would be with me on horseback and Jazz coaching for 12.5 miles! Our goal is to enter the Road Trial at the DCA Nationals at the end of next April.

Obviously, a trek of this distance requires much stamina and endurance. As with any athlete, it takes a lot of training to reach your goals. That's why Jazz and I are starting a year in advance! The first step we've taken is to build Jazz's core strength by working on fitness balls. This will help prevent injuries during our endurance training.

Here's Jazz doing a nice stretch on the fitness ball.

Here's Jazz sitting on the fitness ball. She's now mastered going from a sit to a down and back to a sit on the ball! She can also put her back feet on the ball and her front feet on my shoulders. We keep teasing that Jazz's brown parts must be monkey!! She's just loving this phase of our training, and I think it's also helping to build her confidence.

Jazz and I have also been walking several times a week, and we are ready to start biking. I just got a spring mechanism that attaches to the bike that, in addition to keeping both Jazz and me safe, will teach Jazz the proper position for "hocking" or coaching beside the horse. Many thanks to Mariann for lending me her bike!

So, the one very important piece missing from this Road Trial equation is the horse! Unfortunately, we do not have a horse, and we're about four acres short of being allowed to own a horse in the township where we live. Once again, Jim and Mariann came to the rescue by introducing me and Jazz to their niece Amy, who owns four awesome, well mannered horses. Jazz had her first up close meet and greet with Amy's horses last evening...and she did great! She was very calm around them, yet very interested. We are really looking forward to doing more work with Amy and her equine beauties. Amy is an excellent horsewoman who also owns a cool search and rescue Lab named Murphy.

Say hi to Murphy, who patiently waited in the car so Jazz could concentrate on getting to know the horses.

Here's Jazz getting to know Belle, a sweet, gentle 18-year-old mare.

Didn't take long for Jazz to get up close and personal with Belle, who was as interested in Jazz as Jazz was in her!

Here's Jazz and Ricky, Amy's handsome young gelding.

I don't know if I was more excited that Jazz did well with these horses or just excited for me to be around horses again! We thoroughly enjoyed our visit with Amy and her horses (thanks, Jim, for hooking us up and for taking the awesome photos), and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to train Jazz to do what Dalmatians were bred to do. Stay tuned...we have a lot of work ahead of us to make this a reality!

Komen Pittsburgh Race for the Cure

2010-04-06T13:59:00.004-04:00

I have spent much of the past year raising funds for breast cancer research and awareness through Spot a Cure. Many of you have helped by purchasing t-shirts, sweatshirts, or scarves. Thank you!

I'm asking for your help once again. Two of my friends who are breast cancer survivors are walking in the Komen Pittsburgh Race for the Cure on Mother's Day, May 9. Donations for this awesome cause can be made through the Spot a Cure website via PayPal by clicking this link:

http://www.spotacure.com/donations.html

When designating an amount for your donation in PayPal, be sure to click on "Please tell us about your donation" and type in the word "Race" in that field, along with your name and any text you wish to include so that we may recognize your donation on the Spot a Cure website.

I have learned many startling statistics through my work with Spot a Cure. One in seven women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, so the woman you save by making a donation could be you or someone you love!! Also, three of four cases of breast cancer arise in women with no known risk factors, so please be diligent about those self breast exams and mammograms! Nearly all breast cancers can be treated successfully if found early. When breast cancer is found at its earliest stage, the five-year survival rate is 98%.

Help us continue the fight against breast cancer with your donation to the Komen Pittsburgh Race for the Cure. I know that things are still tough economically, but any little bit helps! I would like nothing more than for Spot a Cure to become obsolete when a cure for breast cancer is found!!!

Easter Sunday

2010-04-04T17:12:00.008-04:00

Happy Easter!

Jazz and the Easter Bunny

Easter goodies

Tess and the Easter Bunny

Tess' 5th Birthday

2010-04-01T16:32:00.003-04:00

Happy April Fool's Day, or, as we know it around here, Tess' birthday! It's the perfect birthday for Tess. She's as happy-go-lucky as only a fool could be. This girl loves life and all it has to offer. Hard to believe it's been five years since she came into our life, but we've been smiling ever since :)

Tess and her birthday cake

Being another year older isn't so tough when you get to munch on doggie birthday cake! Happy Birthday, Tess...and many more!!

WPKA Rally

2010-03-29T20:16:00.005-04:00

Jazz had a great weekend at the Western Pennsylvania Kennel Association's Rally Trial at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh. Saturday's run was a bit shaky, as I immediately started off by patting my leg, which you are NOT allowed to do in Rally Excellent! Fortunately, I caught myself, and although we lost points for it, we were not disqualified. Then I had a "wardobe malfunction" when my nifty new armband holder slid down my arm to my elbow and nearly fell off! I spent the first three obstacles trying to push it back up my arm, and by that point Jazz knew something was up. I finally got myself together and we had a nice finish to the course. Jazz then followed that with a wonderful down-stay honor, despite the fact that there were young children lining the ring gating immediately behind her! Amazingly, we not only qualified but took first place with that crazy run!

Sunday, things were looking a little better for Team Jazz. I was determined not to pat my leg. Friends suggested that I put my hand in my pocket or put my arm in a sling to prevent another mishap, but I kept my head on straight and made it through the course without patting my leg. I also cinched that armband holder up so tight that I nearly lost circulation in my arm, but it prevented any "wardrobe malfunctions" on Sunday. Since I could devote all my attention to Jazz, she had a great run with a score of 93!! This time, Jazz was the only qualifier in Rally Excellent A, so it was another first place and the second leg towards our RE title. None of the other dogs in the class held their honor, which was a sit-stay. We again had quite the audience of young children right at the ring gating, and my friends were enjoying the look of abject terror on my face as one little boy started to reach across the ring gating to pet Jazz as she performed the honor with her back to the little boy. Another Rally competitor saved us by stepping forward and asking the child to move back from the ring gating, but I was already suffering from heart palpitations at that point!

The WPKA show is probably the biggest of the year in Pittsburgh. There is a huge conformation show, obedience, and rally, and many members of the general public attend; hence, the presence of small children at the ring gating. On the other hand, many of our friends were there Saturday to cheer us on, including all of Jazz's "Grandmas": LaDonna, who owns Jazz's mom Gia, and Barb and Nancy, who co-own Jazz's dad Tolliver. Jazz's brother Peet's parents were also there (thanks, Eric, for the sling suggestion), as well as my nephew and his wife, who took some really awesome photos of me and Jazz, including the ones here. Thanks, guys, for all of your support!

Several of the Rally competitors were also friends and students from our Rally class. Karen and Bullet qualified both days and earned their Rally Novice title. Ron and Deb with Bailey qualified on Saturday and earned their Rally Novice title. Nancy and Andy qualified both days and earned their Rally Novice title on Sunday with a first place finish. Sally and Sweet Pea qualified on Saturday, their very first time in the Rally ring. Val and Oslo qualified both days, and Kristi and Izzi qualified on Sunday. Congratulations to everyone and thanks for a fun weekend!

QQ

2010-03-22T09:53:00.003-04:00

Tess got her very first AKC Excellent B Double Q yesterday at the Westmoreland County Obedience Training Club trial! She also received qualifying scores in Excellent B Standard on Friday and Excellent B Jumpers with Weaves on Saturday.

Way to go, Jim and Tess!

Spotty Leprechauns

2010-03-17T07:29:00.004-04:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Remember, on St. Patrick's Day, EVERYBODY is Irish!!

CPE Weekend

2010-03-16T16:47:00.002-04:00

We had a great weekend in CPE agility at Washingtonville, OH. It was a three-day trial, and we had a blast meeting up with our friends and staying in adjoining hotel rooms with Mariann, Jim, Rocky, and Sammie.

The video above is from Tess' Wildcard run on Sunday. In Wildcard, there are three places where there are two obstacles side by side and you must make a choice. You need two of one kind and one of another. Just when you think you have a good plan, the dog can change all that by making an incorrect choice. Tess did a great job on this tough course.

Overall, Tess had eight qualifying runs, three of them in the Championship level and all with placements. She even got to run with "Aunt Mariann" on Friday evening and was a very good girl.

Next up is Jazz's Full House run from Saturday. In Full House, you need three jumps, two round obstacles (tunnel, tire, chute) and a Joker (usually contact obstacles). You also must accumulate enough points to qualify. After the whistle, the dog has five seconds to get to the table to stop the clock. For each second you're late to the table, you lose a point. As you can see, Jazz did a great job on this run and had a fun time with it.

Jazz also had a very nice weekend, qualifying in five runs, with three first place and two second place. She also earned her Level 2 Handler Games title. Go, Jazz!

National Nap Day

2010-03-09T21:32:00.002-05:00

So if the "Opposable Thumbs" holiday wasn't quite up your alley, today is National Nap Day! Now, this is a holiday that I'm definitely willing to celebrate, but, unfortunately, I didn't have that opportunity today. Jazz, however, was in full holiday spirit as she napped on the couch! There's nothing this girl loves better than a little sunshine and a comfy place to snooze.

Silly Holiday?!!

2010-03-03T09:00:00.002-05:00

According to Modern Dog magazine, "March 3rd is What if Cats and Dogs Had Opposable Thumbs? Day, one of the most important holidays of the year. Sit back and think about the chaos your furry friends could cause if only they hadn't been shafted by evolution." I kid you not...it's on page 14 of the Spring 2010 edition!

Well, I've sat back and thought about it, and I can't imagine what life would be like if Tess and Jazz were in charge of the remote (although Jazz does seem to enjoy hockey) and they could text me their demands for a comfortable life (treats, treats, and more treats) or phone their friends while I was at work (Hello...Sammie? Let's get together later for some agility or maybe some wrestling). Although we treat these two as if they were children, there are certain advantages to them being just, well, dogs!! For now, I think we should leave this opposable thumbs business to the humans :)

Top Spots for Agility 2009

2010-02-25T15:21:00.006-05:00

I'm so proud to report that Tess has once again been named one of the Dalmatian Club of America's Top Spots for Agility for competition during 2009!!

This year -- drumroll, please -- Tess was ranked #1 in Open Standard and #9 in both Excellent A Standard and Excellent A Jumpers with Weaves. This is for AKC competition only and does not include her many accomplishments in CPE, USDAA, and NADAC.

Big congratulations to Tess and her awesome handler, Jim!! These two embody all that agility should be...building a relationship with your dog and having FUN. Tess and Jim continue to grow as a team and we look forward to their continued success in 2010!

Early Valentine's Wish

2010-02-12T21:06:00.006-05:00

We're heading out early tomorrow morning for Valentine's weekend at a USDAA trial. Not exactly spine-tingling romance, but, hey, it's what we like to do! Anyway, since we won't be home to post on Valentine's Day, we decided to send our Valentine's greeting to all our blog friends a little early.

Tess and Jazz hope you all have a Valentine's Day that's way cool!!

A Little Bit of Snow!

2010-02-06T12:12:00.003-05:00

We had quite the snowstorm last evening, dumping more than 20" of the white stuff on us overnight!

The first thing we had to do at 5:30 this morning was shovel the yard so the girls could go! It's hard to tell from these photos, but the snow is higher than Tess and Jazz! Tess is 22" at the withers, and if she jumps in the snow, all that shows is her head!

Here's Tess and Jazz trying to dig an escape tunnel. The snow is so high that it's like a natural dog fence!

Tess is sure the yard is under there somewhere.

Agility, anyone? The blue poles sticking out of the snow are our jump standards. The bar set at the 20" jump height is not even visible! You can also notice how much of the dog walk is buried. Something tells me that the girls won't be running this course any time soon!

New Agility Photos

2010-01-28T18:33:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple new agility photos of Jazz, taken at the CPE trial over the New Year. What cracks me up is how serious Jazz looks in all these pictures. When Tess runs, she has a twinkle in her eyes and a smile on her face, but Jazz is all business! Like Tess, the little brown girl loves to jump, and she had a lot of fun on these courses.

Jazz ran so well for me at this trial that we're going to try a couple USDAA runs in mid February. The difficulty level is definitely higher in USDAA, but Jazz has been consistently running well for me lately and we're ready to give it a try!

CPE Trial Videos

2010-01-10T20:11:00.003-05:00

The video above is of Tess and Jim's Jackpot run on New Year's Day. For those of you not familiar with Jackpot, there is an opening period where you do obstacles to accumulate points, and when the whistle blows, the dog and handler must complete the Jackpot sequence, which is done at a distance (there is a piece of orange tape on the floor that the handler cannot cross). In this case, the Jackpot was a wicked sequence of tunnel, angled set of six weaves, then into another angled set of six weaves, and to the table (all of which must be completed in the allotted time period, or you lose ALL your points). It sort of looks easy on the video because of the camera angle, but many dogs and handlers did not complete the sequence properly. Jim and Tess did an awesome job!

Next up is Jazz's Standard run with me. She really ran nicely and did very well until I got dazzled by her performance and forgot about my front cross after the A-Frame (oops) and then I didn't realize how far out Jazz would land after the tire and didn't call her back in time for her to get on the dogwalk easily. Despite my poor handling, Jazz qualified with second place in this run! In fact, Jazz qualified and placed in all four of her runs over the weekend, but most importantly, she ran happy and seems to have gained some confidence.

Tess also did well, qualifying and placing in 13 of her 17 runs over the four days. Our adopted Border Collie Sammie had a perfect weekend, qualifying in all eight runs on Saturday and Sunday (as well as many qualifying runs on Thursday and Friday)! Sammie had a terrific time running with his Mom again, although Jim helped out some, too. He just loves revving up that Ferrari!!

A Strange Kind of Love

2010-01-10T19:58:00.005-05:00

Over the New Year's holiday, we stayed out in Ohio for a four-day CPE agility trial with our friends Mariann and Jim and their two dogs, Rocky and Sammie, in a wonderful two bedroom suite, complete with fireplace!

Now, this may not look like love, but Jazz adores Sammie, and they happily spent their evenings at the hotel playing and wrestling. Despite the violent appearance of these photos, no Dalmatians or Border Collies were harmed!! Rocky, who is over 13 years old, decided to leave the frolicking to the young kids and stayed on his cozy bed in the bedroom during the wrestling matches. Smart boy!

Snow Bunnies

2009-12-29T08:32:00.002-05:00

The girls have really been having fun playing in the snow while we've been off for Christmas vacation. They're going to be disappointed when the visitors stop coming, we go back to work, and life gets back to normal around here after the holidays!

Awesome Gift

2009-12-27T08:51:00.003-05:00

For Christmas of 1990, when Dottie was our only Dal, my sister made me a quilted wall hanging featuring our spotted girl. It was a cherished gift and still hangs in our house today. I remember Dottie fondly each time I see it.

Imagine my surprise this Christmas when Carol gave me this incredible wall hanging of Tess and Jazz! She says her skill set has improved a bit since 1990, but she wishes we'd get another breed of dog...all those Dal spots just drive her crazy!! Of course, it doesn't help that we have very spotty dogs, even by Dalmatian standards!

Here's the photo that Carol used to create her pattern for the wall hanging. Amazing likeness, isn't it? And believe me when I tell you that the photo above doesn't do justice to the actual piece itself.

Thanks, Carol...I LOVE it!!

Christmas Future

2009-12-26T06:28:00.004-05:00

We've visited Christmas Past and Christmas Present, so now it's time to take a peek at Christmas Future.

Meet Ryan, my 7-month-old great-nephew! Ryan is the first baby in my family in nearly 30 years, so imagine how we'll spoil this handsome little guy.

At first, Tess and Jazz were very curious about this new "toy" who came to our house, but Ryan is such a pleasant baby and they warmed up to him very quickly.

Welcome, Ryan! I'm sure our future Christmases will be a lot of fun with you in the family!

Christmas Present

2009-12-25T10:37:00.008-05:00

From Christmas Past to Christmas Present...or should I say Christmas presents! Here's a few pics of Tess and Jazz opening their Christmas gifts today, despite the fact that they were still a bit tuckered out from last evening's festivities!

Merry Christmas to all...and to all a good night!

From our blog to yours, we wish you the merriest of Christmases and a happy, healthy New Year!

Lisa, Jazz, Jim, and Tess

Christmas Past

2009-12-24T07:16:00.003-05:00

This morning, we're taking a trip back to Christmas Past of 1994. The adorable Santa and Elf in the photo above are Dottie (Santa) and Tigger (Elf). Dottie would have been six and Tigger was three. Even then, we had the tradition of Christmas photos of our Dals. My, how that has grown! We've gone from ordering a dozen cards to now ordering 100!! Every year, we can't wait to see the cards we receive...and this year was no disappointment. Thanks for all the great cards with photos of your pets.

We wish you all a very happy holiday!

Holiday Therapy Visit

2009-12-16T22:24:00.003-05:00

Here are a couple photos from this evening's holiday pet therapy visit by Jazz and Sammie to UPMC Passavant Hospital. These two definitely spread some holiday cheer among the patients and staff tonight!

Here Comes Santa Claus!

2009-12-06T21:17:00.003-05:00

We took our annual trip to Pittsburgh Mills Mall to see Santa tonight. This event is becoming more popular every year and the lines were very long, but Tess and Jazz did well. I was especially proud of Jazz, as there were a lot of dogs in a relatively crowded space, and she handled it all quite well and never stopped wagging her tail. I think she was trying to impress upon Santa what a good girl she is!!

Santa was in the midst of a woodland scene, and Jazz was very interested in all the animatronic critters, including this bear in the tree!

Tess and Jazz can rest easy tonight, knowing that they got to visit with Santa and tell him what they want for Christmas and let him know that they've been very good girls again this year. Ho, ho, ho!

Jazz Turns Two!!

2009-11-30T16:04:00.004-05:00

We're celebrating Jazz's second birthday today!

Jazz and her "Barkday" cake

Birthdays are yummy!

A little help from big sister Tess opening gifts

Got a squeaky pink piggie from Aunt Mariann, Uncle Jim, Rocky and Sammie

A new pink leash and a big furry soccer ball

Here's Jazz with her cake and all her birthday presents

Hard to believe that Jazz is already two years old. We couldn't have asked for a better fit into our family. Jazz and Tess get along wonderfully, and Jazz is a great dog to live with. Special thanks to breeder LaDonna King and Jazz's mom Gia for bringing this awesome liver girl into our lives!

Spotty Portrait

2009-11-27T21:22:00.002-05:00

Our friends from Paw Prints Pet Photography were at Splash 'n Dash a few weekends ago for portraits, and I just wanted to share one of the photos they took of Jazz and Tess. As usual, Virgil and Rebecca did an awesome job photographing the various dogs, people, and even a cat who came for portrait sessions. Stay tuned...more great pics to come!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T11:06:00.012-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving

from The Bauers!

As Tess and Jazz are preparing for their Thanksgiving feast of Merrick's Thanksgiving Day Dinner and turkey cookies from the dog bakery, we wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

In addition to our two spotted Thanksgiving blessings, we are thankful for all our "dog" friends, who are like family to us. Thanks for all of your friendship, support, and for allowing us to share in the lives of these remarkable canines who brought us together!