Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day from Jazz and Tess!

Just can't resist this sweet face!

Getting Ready for the Super Bowl

GO STEELERS!

In the Swim

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!!!

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

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!

Merry Christmas

from

Tess and Jazz!

Santa Visit

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!