Getting my Swagger....

Since earning my CD (Companion Dog) title, mom and I have been working on lots of home improvements. The first thing that I told mom we needed was a lawn mower that worked. I have been doing some contract work with my good buddy Pat. He has been cool enough to bring over his fancy lawn mower and follow my instructions to get the lawn looking good. You know, people sometimes judge a dog by his yard. My mom and I had our own lawn mower, but it hit the ripe ol' age of 27 and well it had lived a good life. So, mom granted my request and bought a nice new pretty red lawn mower. My buddy Pat had to see it for his own eyes, so I he started pushing it around and I grabbed my toys to keep them safe, and started my supervisory duties. My buddy Pat did a good job, then mom took over and finished the yard. Mom didn't listen to my instructions and requests as well as Pat does while mowing, but hopefully after repeated practice she'll get the drift of how I like the grass to look.

After watching mom mow the lawn, I found out it was time for dog school. I was pretty worn out from all the supervising I had to do, but I gave it my best shot. My rally class went pretty well. It's a little bit boring, but I am learning to really pay attention to my mom, and she says that will be really good if we go on to "open obedience" or even in agility. In my agility class, I went across the dog walk at 3 feet tall without any nervousness or quivers. I was feeling great! I really like going through the green tunnel and over the A-frame. Although, I really think the A-frame was taller this week than last week. I still was nervous about the thing they call the "chute". Mom says it's a tunnel, but it gets really dark and there is this cloth thing that brushes the top of my head and well, I just don't know if I like it or not. We had to try to get on the teeter totter again....it didn't go well. I don't really want to talk about the teeter totter. It makes me feel scared and nervous, and well that' s just not really cool. Fortunately, I only had to try to get my paws on it once tonight and the teacher said that was enough. Thanks Goodness!! I went home after school and crashed! I even crashed most of Thursday. Then it was time for the weekend. My mom did her normal running things and then she said it was time to get our new front door put together. I thought this was awesome!! After all I did help pick it out and all. So around 3 o'clock on Saturday some of my friends came over and installed our new front door. Before it all began, mom took this picture of our old front door.


Then it was demolition time! I think TZ had a little too much fun destroying things and tearing them apart. He even brought some really loud tools with him, that I really disliked A LOT!
After about 2 1/2 hours of taking out all the old stuff and adding wood pieces and lots of other noisy jobs, it was time to bring in the door. It was good that TZ, Pat, Paula, and Dana all came over to help. Two-leggeds need a lot of help sometime. They form packs just like us dogs, so it all made perfect sense to me. The door looked pretty heavy so I had Paula join me in supervising and managing TZ and Pat.

Paula was doing such a good job that I told my mom to give her some treats. Fortunately Paula likes chips just like I do. Once the door was upright, the living room was darker again.

The hinges were on and everything seemed to be a go. I took a step back and admired the new window in the door.

Then it was time to hang our new glass door. Mom says it's called a storm door. I don't really want a storm to come, so I just called it the glass door. Everyone seemed to know what I was talking about. Mom almost tricked me with this door. I forgot that the new door we picked out was glass all the way from top to bottom. When she opened the front door I almost ran head first into the glass door. Fortunately my mom said woah, and I happened to be listening, and saved myself from a very embarrassing moment.

We wrapped up the door project around 9PM. All of the two-leggeds did such a great job, I told mom to give them all a treat. They all left and mom said she treated them all at dinner. I guess next time I need to be clearer that "I" wanted a treat too. The new door looks great. I hope not to have to hear or see any power tools in the near future as they kinda freaked me out. Mom says she hopes to get new windows someday (which I would like too), but that would involve power tools again. I may have to trust mom on that job and see if I can hide away at Gramma and Granddads house on that day!

On Sunday, mom wanted to get some work stuff done. I told her I wanted to go to work with her, and she said it would be okay for the day. So we went into TU and got busy doing paperwork. I really don't understand two-leggeds and their paperwork. In dog world paperwork usually involves learning to be potty trained on paper. I decided that I would help mom organize her days on her desk calendar.

I have to say that I did some stellar work. Mom's stuff was so boring though, that after a little while I decided that I would take a little nap. The desk was nice and cool and so I had a power nap.


My friend Pat, who calls me his little buddy, had a birthday on Tuesday. Pat is my mom's running partner, and she thought it would be great to get him something running related. I gave my input that Pat is a one of a kind and should get something one of a kind. Mom had a crafty idea, and I thought it was great. I told mom I would help the best I could. My mom and Pat are training for a 50K run in October...that has to be at least like 7 trips around the backyard, and they both seem a little nervous because it's a long long way to run. So mom thought she would make Pat an "In Training" shirt for it. Mom bought a running shirt and worked hard at getting the logos and sizing them and getting it all printed just right. Once it was all printed mom cut everything out and starting laying it out on the shirt. I helped.

Once I liked where everything was, I gave mom the paw of approval to start ironing it all onto the shirt which would make it permanent. Mom did a good job on her part, almost as good of a job as I did. The shirt turned out great, and we got it done and delivered to Pat on his birthday.
It has been so super hot here, it's no fun to be a long haired dog. Last summer my mom gave me a horrible summer shaved haircut, so when mom told me I was going in for a summer spa day, I was TERRIFIED!! I heard mom tell the groomer not to shave my hair, but that it needed to be shorter. I am not real fond of "spa day" as my mom calls it, but the groomer did a good job of cutting my hair short, but not shaved. It is much cooler, and once I get over being freaked out from being at the groomer, I'm sure I'll love it!
After going to the groomer, I had dog school classes again. I was so tired...but I pushed through it, because that's what all the cool dogs do. I did okay in Rally. We ran a couple of courses, and mom and I seemed to do okay. I think mom is getting the hang of reading the signs, but she still needs to learn to tell me what I need to be doing. Then it was time for agility. Oh I can't believe I forgot to mention....before the door was installed, mom built me a small teeter totter for at home. I HATE IT! So we go to school and I can hear mom telling the teacher how I have been practicing on the teeter totter at home and I hate it. The teacher tells my mom to quit practicing the teeter totter at home. WOOHOO!! Go Teach! We were on different equipment in tonight's class. The teacher said that we were on "UKC" equipment rather than AKC equipment...it all looked the same to me. I went over the dogwalk no problem...I went over the A-frame no problem. I got on the table no problem. Then we had the tunnel...the teacher said something about a 90 degree tunnel, at first I went in it and came back out. Then my mom threw a piece of cheese in it and through I went to find that cheese. I don't know what I was nervous the first time, it then became no problem. I did pretty good on weaving the poles for my 3rd week of class. Then came the teeter totter. Mom had to hold me pretty much as i walked across it...I went all the way across twice and then was told I didn't have to do it anymore. I got to practice jumps today too. I had mom take a video of Tyson ( a German shepherd in my class) going through the course we had to run at the end of class....I really did great and everyone cheered for me!! Today, I am going to sleep sleep sleep... Not sure what mom has in store this weekend, but I hope that we get to work in my back garden some.

HERE IS MY AGILITY COURSE VIDEO!!

Woof Woof til Later!

Boca II, CD!!!

Hey All!!! Do you like the title of this entry??!? I'll explain it later on. I have lots to catch you up on! First, I had my Rally class and Agility class on Wednesday evening. Mom snapped a picture of me in my classroom on Wednesday. We got to do all kinds of twists and turns around the orange cones. It was pretty fun! I like it. I have to pay attention to mom but get to do some of the fun stuff I like to do. Mom improved on her reading skills this week and we really knocked out the course.

Then it was time for agility! I practiced and practiced on the dog walk mom made for me at home and it really paid off!! Lots of 2-leggeds have been asking how long the dog walk is. I don't really know (I'm a dog and it seems really long to me), so I had mom take a video of Mr. Jerry and his dog Jack going over it. When it was my turn, I aced it! The teacher even said that I looked so confident and sure this week! It was awesome.




Then we moved on to the A-frame. It wasn't all the way flat on the floor today. It was up one level. Mom took a picture of it before it got lowered down. I had no problems or worries on the A-Frame.


We also started on "weaving" during this class. I think this is going to take some getting used to. I don't like when things are touching me or poking out on me. We ran through it a couple of times and well...it's just gonna take me a little while to get used to weave poles I think.


Then it was time to get ready for my Obedience Trial I was competing in at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City. I hadn't ever been to Oklahoma City and well...mom and I have been slacking a little on practicing my Novice A Obedience skills. So Mom went and ran with her friends on Thursday evening and then came home and we "crammed" for my trial on Friday. Mom said my group was scheduled to go at 10:45. Mom and I got up on Friday morning, went for a walk, packed up my school stuff and hopped in the car. The Cox Convention Center was very very quiet...kinda like my school. I didn't feel nervous or anxious or anything. I was calm, cool and collected. Mom and I had about an hour from when we arrived to when my group went. I was the first to go in my group. Mom and I practiced a little bit, but not overly much. I enjoyed getting the treats. The best part about Obedience Trials has to be the treats! I did well on my individual portion of the trial...then it was time for the sit/stay and down/stay. I was so cool, mom didn't even look nervous that I wasn't gonna stay. I stayed and got my second qualifying score. It was a score of 183.5. All you need is 170 or better out of 200. I placed second in my grouping. It was a very proud moment, and loads of fun!!!

I have been telling mom we need to do some home renovations, and I think we should start with a new front door. Anyone that has been to one of my home gatherings knows that there are issues with our current front door. So, on the way home from the dog trial we stopped at Lowe's as a reward for the great day at the trial. When we walked into the store, the employee knew that I was a VID (Very Important Dog), and immediately greeted me and told me that the dog treats were on aisle 3. So I made sure mom went by there to.

I didn't see any treats that I had to have, but it never hurts to look! Then it was off to the door section of Lowes. Mom showed me a couple of the choices she had narrowed it down to. And I made the final decision. I don't like the green color, but mom said that we could get it in white. I think white will go great with my fur coloring don't you?

Then we went home and rested. Mom told me that we had to get up and do the same thing on Saturday morning. So we just hung out and took it easy. I went and shared my stories with gramma and granddad. Saturday morning we got up and did the same thing. I was a little sleepy on the way down to Oklahoma City, but was all smiles and excited to go try to get my 3rd qualifying score.



I had some fans come cheer me on today. Okay, not really fans well kinda fans..my gramma and grandddad drove down to Oklahoma City to come see me compete today. Last time they came to watch it didn't turn out so well. I didn't want to disappoint them, especially after bragging the night before about how great I did and how easy it was to compete at the Cox Center.




It was great to have Gramma and Granddad there. They were nice enough to take video of me during the individual part of the trial.

CLICK HERE to see me compete with mom. You can sneeze or cough or something during the off-leash heeling part...I got a little distracted by something on the floor. C'mon...like that hasn't happened to you? I made an amazing recovery though and got right back focused.

Then it was time for the stays...Granddad took some video, but the 3 minutes feels like forever, so I'm having mom put just a very short clip of my down/stay HERE. In case you want to see how cool and cute I looked. I wound up with a 3rd place finish, and my 3rd qualifying score!!!



The judge said that this was one of her best groups of Novice A dogs she had judged in a long long time. The other dogs in my group were amazing. I was so excited to get this qualifying score! I got to show off in front of my gramma and granddad. I was the only dog in my group to be earning my "Companion Dog" title through this qualifying score. This particular trial was great...in addition to our ribbons, the winners got new toys!!!


I got a pink bird kinda thing, but I love it because I earned it! I was so excited and my mom was so excited. It was a great day! A good trial. I was exhausted, but mom and I went through the vendors and I picked up a couple of cool magnets that I convinced mom to buy and put on the back of our car!!



So, as you can read I have been very busy during the past week. I will receive a certificate of title saying that I'm recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC) as a "Companion Dog". That means that any time I registered for a trial or anytime at all my "official name" is Boca II, CD. It's like getting a bachelor degree for dogs! Pretty cool huh? I will keep you all posted on my rally and agility classes and how they are going. For the rest of the holiday weekend though, I plan on taking it very easy!