Home Safe and Sound....

 I had a great time in Florida!  I easily made myself at home at Gramma and Granddad's Florida's house.  I had fun chasing lizards.  The first one I spotted in the evening hours made me jump a little, but it is just because I wasn't expecting it to come crawling out at me.

 Mom made sure that I got to see the ocean and play on the beach.  Last year the sound of the ocean made me a little nervous, but this year I was a lot more brave.  I left lots of paw prints in Florida.  I almost put my paws in the water, but it still seems a bit scary.  Maybe next year!

I made sure to get in some game time with my cousins.  Megan got a great new fun game called Fibber.  The 2-leggeds had to wear some crazy glasses and put these plastic things on their noses when they got caught telling a lie.  I did my best to keep their secrets and not let on if I knew they were fibbing.

 I made sure to get in nap time whenever possible. It was WARM in Florida. I have grown lots of fur for the Oklahoma winter, so I was a little hot in Florida.  I enjoyed the cool tile at Gramma and Grandad's.

 Christmas day was loads of fun!  I got some great new toys and treats.  Mom got some great new toys too and some pots and pans to cook yummy food with.   It was soon time for us to hit the road and head back to Oklahoma.  Mom tried to prepare me that the weather would get more and more cool as we traveled and returned home, and man oh man she wasn't kidding.  I made sure to have mom take a picture of my view as we headed through Tallahassee Florida.  We took a slightly different route on the way home.  It turned out to be about the same time in the car.

 I was pretty lazy during the first day of travels. I had played hard with my cousins and with Gramma and Granddad. I was also so excited about all the Christmas goodies that I got, that I just needed to rest and recover for a bit.  When mom and I drove through Gainsville, we encountered some serious rain that made it very difficult to see.  Other than about 30 miles the rest of the first day of driving was nice weather and smooth sailing.

 It took us about 6 hours after leaving Gramma and Granddad's house to cross a state line, but finally we saw the "Welcome to Alabama" sign.  The weather had already dropped about 20 degrees at this point.  Mom told me that we would only cross one more state line into Mississippi on this day of travel, so I continued to rest.



On the start of our second day of travel, we would be starting from Tupelo, MS heading towards home.  We ventured from the hotel and drove about 90 minutes before stopping to fill up the car with gas and grab some breakfast.  As we hopped out of the car to my surprise there was SNOW on the ground.  I LOVE the snow.  I sniffed and played in it for as long as I could until mom was getting impatient and was ready to continue on our car journey.

 
Then as we came into Memphis we hit just enough stoplights that I could watch all of the loading station crane's at BNSF loading and unloading train carts.  I think it's so fun to watch and listen to all of the trucks and trains moving at the same time.

 Next thing I knew we were in Arkansas!  And what do you know more snow.  While we were in Florida, we had heard on the weather channel that Little Rock had a lot of snow.  We got to see the remains of the Christmas Day snow storm with our own eyes two days later and it seems they did indeed get a significant amount of snow! I was glad I had rested most of the day before so that I could be awake to take it all in.

Mom stopped at a rest stop and I rolled and played in the snow, and even collected some snowballs in my fur!

I even had some snow left over on my face

 As we left Russellville, Arkansas, mom's jeep hit a major milestone of turning 100,000 miles.  The car was still going great, and I knew that we were very close to home.

 Since we were so close to home, I decided that I would try to catch a little dog nap along the way.  I spent some time moving my blankets and things around so that I could be warm and comfortable.

 Then, as I woke up, there was the "Welcome to Oklahoma" sign.  Mom said we had just under 2 hours to go.  I started to get antsy. I could smell home in the air.  I love going on trips, but it is always nice to get home too!

Once I returned home, I was glad to see all my toys and things and have spent the past couple of days resting and recovering.  Mom says that my agility class will be starting in just over a week or so.  It has been nice to have a break but I am ready to get back at it!

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year!

Until my next post, keep those tails waggin'!

Boca

Christmas Road Trip!

Hey Everyone!

Well before I share with you all my road trip adventures. I have to start with my latest AKC title arriving!

My mom completely forgot that this was on its way, so we were both surprised when the mail came and there was a large envelope from AKC. Low and behold it was my Rally Excellent title:

It's always exciting to get that new title in the mail. Now onto my last 48 hour adventure! It's that time of year where mom and I head to Florida to celebrate Christmas with Gramma, Granddad, my 2-legged Uncle Tim, Aunt Jamie, cousins Nicole, Megan, and Jason, and of course my 4-legged Aunts Girl and Hanna, and Uncle Orion. Last Christmas, mom and I drove Granddad's car to Florida and then flew back. I thought I would be glad to drive both directions this year, but we will see. Mom and I began our journey leaving my house at 6:15 on Wednesday morning. We had a plan to stop every 90 miles or at least every 2 hours to stretch our legs. Mom had prepped me that it was going to be a long 2 days in the car. We decided to take the Jeep rather than the fun convertible to have more leg room and be better prepared for potential weather on the way home. Well our first stop was an Oklahoma rest area. Mom and I took this as a photo opportunity to start our adventure. I should also note that I had mom start the odometer at 0 as we were leaving the house.

As we exited the rest stop I decided I should take my role in the co-pilots chair seriously and look over the printed directions. I was pretty excited that mom grabbed the green pillow that I love so much. She said that my cousin Nicole got it for her many years ago.

Then before I knew it, we were crossing into the state of Arkansas. Mom told me that her friend Suzanne shared that when crossing into a new state that you can pick up your feet and make a wish.....this may work for the 2-legged out there, but it was quite challenging for this 4-legged!

We made a couple of stops in Arkansas because there were all kinds of signs warning us that there was going to be this massive construction with an extensive delay and that we should consider an alternative route. Mom made sure that our bladders were empty, the car gas tank was full, and our tummy's had stuff to put in them and we stuck to the planned course. The construction wound up to be no big deal and a short 6 1/2 hours after we left the house we were crossing into Memphis, Tennessee.

One of the coolest things about going into Memphis is that I got to cross the Mississippi River on a really cool looking bridge. Mom was so awesome in that she rolled down the window and let me hang my head out the window while going across the bridge on the highway!

We weren't in Tennessee for long before we crossed over into Mississippi. At this point, I was starting to get a little bored with my navigator duties. Mom said that I could take a little nap, so I tried to get comfy and take a little rest. This was easier said than done. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could think about was Christmas and seeing family and hanging out with everyone and I would get so excited that I would get fidgity!

Then before I knew it we crossed into Alabama. This would be where we would stay for the night in a city called Montgomery. Mom and I were so grateful to get to the hotel that we both forgot to take some photos of our accommodations and just called it a night.

This morning we left the hotel at 6:15 central time and headed on our way. We crossed into Georgia (we were on a dinky little road so there was no "Welcome to Georgia" sign). Then about 3 hours later we were crossing into Florida. I knew once we got back onto a major highway (Gramma and Granddad led us on a more a "scenic route" through Alabama and Georgia) that I could be off duty for a little while and mom could follow 75 for the 200+ miles to the Florida turnpike.

Winter Break!

Good morning everyone!

I know it's been a while since my last post, but my mom has been super busy.  I have been pretty busy myself.  I competed in an agility trial last weekend.  I got to do 2 runs in the same day on different kinds of courses.  I still get overly excited while running an agility course and lose count of how many weave poles I've gone through so I keep skipping a couple.  Mom says I will be spending most of my next session in school working on weave poles...oh boy!  Here's a great picture that was taken of me doing the last weave pole during the trial last Saturday.  You can see by my face that I was having a great time and really in the groove!

  There was a great photo opportunity set up at the dog trial as well.  Mom took advantage of it, even though I wasn't scheduled for grooming until the Tuesday after the trial.  Here are some of my 2012 Christmas photos

 

 Mom and I are getting ready for the holidays with the family in Florida.  Mom says I will get to go on a long road trip again.  I hope that we get to take my car!  I am glad that my mom's work schedule is starting to slow down a little bit, she's been very busy lately.  I will send an update after our road trip.  Happy Holidays to you all!!

Keep those tails waggin'!

Doing Big Things

Good morning everyone!

Wow I have some great things to share! I'll start with today and work backwards. Mom and I got up early this morning to head to Joplin, Missouri for a Rally Excellent trial. I told mom that I was a little worried to wear my KU name tag while in Missouri since I'm a diehard Jayhawk and have barked Boo Mizzou many times during basketball season. Mom assured me that dog trials aren't that intense and that I would have to change into my obedience uniform anyway. Of course, I think she forgot that my obedience collar is all KU Jayhawks! Well it turned out this trial was in a hotel. I have been on road trips before and am very experienced in hotels. All of the guests of the hotels spotted me and of course commented on my cuteness. I was feeling it today. I was ready to be flashy and kick butt! I was the second dog to go. I think mom was feeling calmer after the first dog made quite a few errors and it build mom's confidence that she knew what she was supposed to do and she trusted that I would pay attention to her. I worked very hard to stay focused on my mom and not on the floor of the audience that was staring in amazement at my abilities. Mom says I get to go back to Joplin tomorrow for another Rally Excellent trial. If I score a 70 or better than I will have earned my AKC Rally Excellent Title.

I took 2nd place in the Rally Excellent Division with a score of 94!

I also competed in a Rally Excellent trail last Friday at my dog school. It was in the afternoon. There were two separate trials on the same day. The first one wasn't too bad. It was similar to today in that I was like the 3rd dog to be in the ring the whole day. The hard part came in having to wait for the entire first run through to be done and wait for my turn again. Everything wound up being way behind schedule by over an hour. In dog time, that's like at least several weeks maybe even months. Mom was starting to not feel so good. When we went into the ring for my 2nd course, mom was a little woozy. Well I could sense that her head wasn't quite right so I started walking on her right side. Well mom was looking for me and I guess she lost some of her vision and we left the ring before we finished the course. I wasn't mad at mom and she wasn't mad at me. Stuff like that just happens sometimes.

I got a score of 76 and received a qualifying ribbon

Mom and I working the ring.  Look how good I'm paying attention to mom!

Mom finally got someone to record me during agility class. I am really starting to get the agility stuff down. I think my mom is too! We are starting to work as a team. The video that mom took, well...feel free to watch it...you can observe my excellent jumping skills! Now I feel like I should share that I did not do my best on the weave poles. The instructor, Miss Dovie, said that she noticed my feet were slipping so I'm sticking with that as an excuse. I really can do all 12 weave poles without my leash, but I wasn't feeling it on Thursday. Click below to see the youtube video!

MY AGILITY CLASS ON November 1, 2012!


Wednesday was Halloween. My mom hangs out with this cool kid named Joel. He thinks I am the coolest dog, who can argue. Well he got me a great "fall" costume. It was so nice of him to think of me and get me the pumpkin outfit. I tried it on. I didn't mind the collar, but I could live without the hat. It's always nice when I'm thought of!

Last weekend I went by Gramma and Granddad's house.  They are hanging out in Florida.  I told mom I would help sort their mail.  I should have looked at the pile before I volunteered.

I hope you all are doing well.


Keep those tails waggin'

Boca