Three Cheers!

My apologies for the outdated photo.  This is Emily on the left and Indy curled up on the right.  This photo was taken the weekend we brought Indy home in November 2011.

We are so proud of Indy's sister, Rim Rock's Raise Your Glass, "Emily."  Today, in her very first AKC dog show, she was selected as Winners Bitch for a 3-point major toward her Championship and went on to be chosen as Best of Opposite Sex!!  Although we're not too savvy about conformation, we understand that judges don't often award majors out of the puppy class, but Emily's charm, good looks, and fantasic movement earned her the top spot among bitches.

To make this win even more special, Emily is a normal uric acid Dalmatian.  Her owner and breeder, Barb, has put the health of these wonderful dogs above all else, which is why we wanted Indy, and today she and Emily proved that good health and good breeding can certainly come together for the betterment of all Dalmatians and the people who love them.  After years of controversy, LUA/NUA Dals were finally able to be AKC registered in November of 2011.  In fact, Emily and Indy's litter was the first full litter of LUA/NUA puppies to be registered.

So, tonight we'll raise our glass in a toast to Barb and Emily, with our congratulations and best wishes for continued success in the show ring!

A Fond Farewell

Indy gives everyone a last look at a certain part of his anatomy that he will part company with at the vet tomorrow!

Couldn't resist this photo of Indy's sleepy grin.  While our little guy probably won't be grinning tomorrow, we are hoping for a speedy recovery and a marked increase in brain function and powers of concentration!  In the meantime, we'll spoil him with lots of love and snuggling as he recuperates.

Skateboarding

Another part of our puppy agility training has been to teach Indy to ride a skateboard. Since he gets on the skateboard with his front feet and pushes with his back feet, it gives him better rear-end awareness, and it also teaches him that it's fine for things to move under his feet.

 

Here's a short video of clips of Indy skateboarding in my neighbor's driveway yesterday afternoon. You can see his tail wagging constantly. He loves this stuff! We are going to get him a bigger skateboard so he'll learn to push off and put all four feet on the board.



Jan and George at You Go Little Dog, where we do our puppy agility classes, are always looking for new ways to challenge Indy. Last week he was backing his rear feet up a ramp until he was doing a "handstand." Great shoulder strengthening! I'll try to get some photos or video of that when we're at class this week. Indy is ready and willing to try about anything we ask him to do. He is so much fun and such a smart little guy. As much as I wondered if adding a third Dal was the right decision for us at the time, I can't imagine our life without Indy.

Happy Go Lucky

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here's a photo of Jazz and Indy taken earlier this week as they were doing a pet therapy visit to the assisted living home.  These little leprechauns entertained the folks at the home by showing off their newest skills:  Jazz demonstrated a little nosework and Indy showed the residents some of his box work and also how he rides a skateboard.  Keep wanting to get video of the skateboard thing, but today was so nice that I spent the day at the barn riding Corey!! 

Thanks to LaDonna for inviting us to visit the assisted living facility where she and her Dals do pet therapy...and also for the great photo!

Agile Puppy

Part of our puppy agility training is for Indy to learn to collect himself in preparation for jumping.  To teach that, we started with him getting into a copy paper box and then progressively smaller boxes until we've gotten down to this blue bowl, which is about 10" in diameter.

If you think this is good, our puppy agility instructor Jan has an even smaller bowl, and Indy had all four feet in it for the first time at class last evening!

We've having a blast at the puppy agility class, which involves a lot of body awareness training and flatwork in preparation for agility.  We also do some trick training in that class for conditioning, and Indy is loving it.  Stay tuned for video of his latest "trick"!  (I'm waiting for some good weather so we can go outside and get good video.)



Daily Exercise

Part of our routine every day includes time on the doggie fitness equipment.  

Here are Tess, Jazz, and Indy, all with a paw or two on the big blue balance disc. The problem is not getting the Dals to do these exercises, but to get them to do them one at a time! Each dog is anxious to be the one working on the fitness equipment. 

Step aside, Indy. Mom said it's MY turn!

Indy has been doing great with the fitness work.  He's learning rear end awareness and he loves a new challenge.  Here, Tess decides to stay out of the crowd.  I literally have to take the fitness equipment and one dog into a room and keep the other two dogs out of that room so I can work with each dog individually.  Tess, Jazz, and Indy all love this conditioning and it's a great confidence builder, too!