Play Ball

Mom and dad had an adventure last night. It was without me, but since mom had so much fun, I guess it was OK that they went solo for once.

First stop was dinner at this place:

http://www.princelebanesegrill.com/index.php

They heard about it first when they were watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. It looked delicious, and since it was on their way last night, they checked it out. The food was as good as they'd hoped, and the portions were HUGE!

Where did they go? To a Rangers game!!! Mom LOVES baseball, and hasn't lived near a major league team in about 20 years. When they moved to Fort Worth, she knew they had to go see the Rangers play. The game was great. The Rangers won. And the beer was cold.

The ballpark is really cool. It's new, but looks like an old-time stadium. Behind center field are a bunch of businesses that have balconies that look out over the field. How cool is that?

Right next door is Cowboy Stadium. Mom took a picture of the dome from the ballpark.

Not sure when they'll get back to a game. But it's pretty handy to have all kinds of sporting opportunities about 15 minutes from home.

CPE Agility Videos

As promised, a recap of our agility weekend, complete with video for your viewing pleasure.

First up: Snooker. I'm in Level 3, and this run finished my title.

Snooker explained - there are 2 parts to Snooker; the opening and the closing. All the equipment is on the course, and they have different colored/numbered flags on them. There are 4 jumps that have red/number 1 flags on them.

For the Opening, you must take a red/1, then a numbered obstacle. Then another red/1 (different from the first), then a numbered obstacle (can be the same as your first). Then another red/1 (different), then a numbered obstacle. Now you're ready for your Closing.

For the Closing, you take obstacle number 2, then 3, then 4, then 5, until you finish or the whistle blows, whichever comes first. Then you run to the table, and that stops the clock.

You qualify based on how many points you get. You get points for every obstacle you take, and the point you get is whatever number is on that flag. If you take an obstacle that is not the correct one in your sequence, the whistle blows and you must leave.

Here's my run:

http://youtu.be/i4O9Q_XAkA4

Here's the tabulation for my run:

Opening

Red/1 - jump

Obstacle/4 - tunnel

Red/1 - jump

Obstacle/6 - aframe

Red/1 - jump

Obstacle/6 - aframe

Now on to the Closing. The hard part is NOT taking any obstacles that I'm running past, until I get to number 2.

Closing

Obstacle/2 - jump

Obstacle/3 - double jump

Obstacle/4 - tunnel

Obstacle/5 - weave poles

Obstacle/6 - aframe

Obstacle/7 - combination jumps

I didn't cross the last jump in the #7 combination, so I didn't get the points for that obstacle. But I had enough points to qualify, even without that obstacle, mostly because we did two #6 obstacles (the aframe) that gave us a lot of points. I ended up with 39 points (I needed 32 to qualify). I also got first place!

Arnie ran the same sequence that I did, but he jumped over obstacle 7 before the whistle blew, so he got 46 points. He's in Level 4, and also got first place!

Arnie's run:

http://youtu.be/i29DmOV8AVU

Hope this made sense. And if you have any questions about agility or snooker, let me know.

Tomorrow: Arnie's Fullhouse run, and my Standard run.

Goal Setting

Mom's been hitting the walking track every single day. The people there think she's a nutjob, because she got bored with the Monkees, and started listening to podcasts of Armstrong & Getty. If you've ever listened to them, you'll know why she's laughing. If you haven't, just trust me. They're a riot.

But anyway, mom's been on a tear, getting in shape. Because she has some big goals for the next year, and she needs to be ready. And by ready, I mean doesn't need oxygen at the end of a run.

Here is Puck and Levi, back in the day, when they were winning all kinds of ribbons.

Mom's decided that I'm going to win some awards in the next few years. She's been prepping me all spring, getting up into Excellent agility, so I'll be "ready".

Goal #1 - Qualify for the AKC Agility Invitational in 2012. The qualifying time is July to June, so once July hits, we'll be aiming for that.

Goal #2 - Qualify for AKC National Agility Championship in 2013. It's in Tulsa, which is pretty close to us.

Goal #3 - Make the top Agility Pug award with the Pug Dog Club of American in 2012. Levi was in the top 5 JWW in 2005, and she really wants either me or Arnie (or both) to get an award when we go back to CA for the Nationals.

We can make it happen, God willing and the creeks don't rise......

Out with the old

And in with the new.

Mom got a new camera for her birthday in August, and she's been playing with it ever since. Now she says it's time to sell her old camera on Ebay.

It's a old fashioned, 35mm camera. It served her well, but she's moved on to the digital age. She hadn't used it in years, but hated to part with it until she got a new digital version.

She's also signed up for some classes at a local camera store. They have all kinds of quickie classes, on how to light things, and composition. So she's going to start checking those out. First one is in 3 weeks.

And lastly, she's started the 365 project. http://365project.org/screamink9/365

She needs some motivation to get her butt in gear and just start shooting. So she's committed to taking at least one photo every day. The goal is to see improvement. After 365 shots, she better improve.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas, and a wonderful New Year. See you in 2011.

Weird Pug

Arnie here: Gracie has a very strange habit. Mom adopted her when she was 2 years old, and she had this habit when she came to live with us. Gracie likes to hide behind the curtains. Not all curtains, just the see though kind. And she doesn't just hide there, she sits so that she's looking through the veil. And just sits there. For hours.

Do any other pugs have this weird habit? Gracie won't say why she does this, but I'm wondering if anyone has any insight into this?

Here's a photo of her just sitting there:

Some get it, some don't

Gracie here: my mom has a toy that Arnie and Puck go NUTS for, but the rest of us just don't get it. It's called a laser pointer. It's looks like a lipstick thingie, but a red dot shoots out the end and goes onto the floor. She uses it to exercise us in the backyard. But I can't see it. Neither can Snap or Levi. We just look at the 2 goofballs, and wonder what makes them love the thing. But we chase them while they're chasing the dot, so we all get exercised.

Arnie and Puck can't stop looking at the spot. They chase it, scratch at it, and obsess over it. If they even hear the jangle of the chain the thing is attached to, they start looking for the spot.

In case you're wondering what I'm talking about, here it is on video. The one looking at what appears to be NOTHING is Arnie. The one watching him make a fool of himself is me, Gracie. Enjoy.....

Whew - we went to class

Gracie here: Stacey pulled in the driveway, right on time. But her car was in the shop, too. So we drove in a car. I don't think I've ever ridden in a car. It was kind of weird. We still rode in a crate (mom says we always have to ride in a crate in a car. It's safer for all of us. We're protected in case of a crash, and we don't get into trouble running loose in the car) but the crate was sideways. It took some getting used to, but Dobbie was next to us, and told us that the woozy feeling would go away. And when we got to class, we got out of the side of the car. I wasn't even sure that you could DO that.

Class was a blast, as always. And I was the star, as always (not counting Toby, who's always perfect. And Kelli, who is really fast. And Blazer who tries SO hard. And Bella who listens to her dad every time. And Dobbie, who runs like a sports car. And Jack who runs with enthusiasm.) But I was DEFINITELY better than Arnie. We worked on front crosses, mom's least favorite handling move. But she likes to work on them in class, to make herself better at them when we show. I'm pretty good at them, if she would just get out of my way, and tell me BEFORE I'm past the jump which way to go. But she does try.

The worst part of class was working on "stay". We work on that a lot, because mom says I'm so crazy I need a "stay". I don't think I need one, because they're SOOOO boring. I just sit there, waiting. I'd rather be running and spinning. But I get cookies if I sit for a few seconds, so I "stay". But I don't have to like it.

I'm so glad we got to go to class. And even more glad that the van will be done tomorrow. Back to riding straight in the car, and getting out the back end.

The van is sick

Arnie here: Mom says the van is sick. Not sick like when Gracie eats too many treats and pukes all over the back of the couch. Not sick like when Tango couldn't walk for a long time before he died. But sick, like WE MIGHT NOT GO TO AGILITY CLASS TONIGHT!!!!

The van stopped working out of the blue, and it's the transmission. Mom says it will cost a lot of money to fix, and we might have to cut back on our showing a little for a few months. It will get fixed in time for our show next weekend. But it won't be done until tomorrow, and we have class tonight. If Stacey doesn't go to class, we won't be going. I can't stand the thought of that. What will I do if I can't hang out with my friends in the 7:30 class? Who will run in the 12 inch group with Jack if me and Gracie aren't there? Who will show them how to run the fastest? Jump the highest?

I'm trying not to think about it too much, but I'm mentally preparing in case we can't go. And trying to think good thoughts, like mom says we should. Even though the van is dead, she says it could have been worse. We could have broken down at a show miles from home. Or on our way to class at 10 o'clock at night. Or the day before a show, and we wouldn't be able to go at all. We have another car, but we can't fit with 2 dogs and all our gear. So I'm trying to think positive. I could be missing class because I was hurt or sick. But it's hard when you love class soooo much. So I'll just keep hoping Stacey pulls in the driveway to pick us up.