Going to Gramma's for Christmas!!!

A Very Merry Christmas to All from Florida!!

I got to go on another gnarly (I've been hanging with my Uncle Tim and cousins) road trip.  Mom and I got to bring Dennis and Little Guy with us!  It all started on Friday December 20, 2013.

First thing we had to do was get all of our stuff in the car.  We had a lot of stuff.  Christmas presents for the whole family.  Of course we had to have room for my car seat and my condo and my pillow and my snacks and my leash.  Fortunately we didn't forget any of the very important stuff.  Then I had to look out for Little Guy as this was going to be his first major road trip.  He got to bring his very own Cottage. I was a little jealous as he got to bring a bathroom on board with him!  He found his cottage to be a comfortable place to ride.

I mostly preferred to ride in my car seat.  First I find it a safe place to be, and second I can put my paws up on the window and see where we are and the cars around us.

We went all the way from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Dothan Alabama on the first day.  We had to make several stops.  Some for me to take care of nature calls and some for food for the car and some for food for mom and Dennis.  When we would stop, Little Guy liked to hop in the front see to get a better view of where we were going.  Mom would always say he looked like a sailor saying "Ahoy there!"

The only bad part of Little Guy taking in the scene like this is he figured out he could hop over the cloth barrier between the front and back seats, so me being the 4-legged with road trip experience, I decided to help block the path.  I thought this would be a good way for Santa to see I was a good helper and that I could help teach Little Guy the ropes of car trips.

We got to stay in a hotel.  We were wiped out by the time we got there.  We all just crashed.  The only thing I hate about hotels is they don't understand that a dog like me likes to sleep under the bed and they block that area.  I tried my best not to complain too much and just make the most of it.  I knew it was only for one night.  Once I finally got comfortable in the hotel I heard Little Guy up and exploring....that cat...he went to exploring. I kept an eye on him. He went behind the TV, up on the bathroom counter, all over the place. I tried to alert Dennis but he seemed to think it was no big deal. So I decided I was way too tired and I was going to sleep!

Saturday came and it was a pretty short day in the car.  Before we knew it we were at Gramma and Granddad's Florida house.  Mom and Dennis went to the beach.  Mom said it was Dennis' first trip to the Atlantic Ocean.

Dennis had to go walk in the sand near the water too. I haven't had, I mean gotten (sorry mom) to go yet. I am not real fond of the ocean. It makes lots of loud noise and is rather unpredictable!  Turns out Dennis learned this quickly too.

As the story goes, he was standing looking at the water and waves and everything. Mom was telling him he should take his shoes and socks off (why 2-leggeds wear all that I don't know, but...) but before he knew it the water crept up and splashed on him! He got all wet....I can totally relate.  Even still he was all smiles and thought it was great to see the Atlantic.

We have had tons of fun. I have gotten to see lots of family.  We have played. Tomorrow is Christmas we are all very excited. I am sure I'll have another blog to tell all about it!  But for now, I would like to wish you all a fantastic Christmas!!

Keep your tails waggin'

Boca Bear!

Hello Everybody!!! I have Agility News to Share!!!

Hello! 

I can't believe it's been since August since I've been able to get my mom to do a blog entry.  You guys might want to grab some extra treats because I have a lot of sharing to do.  It's been a busy fall for my mom, and for me too!  Don't get too upset with my mom for not posting regularly, things have been a little nuts at her job (you'll see I went and visited and calmed it all down) and well we are just busy.  

I guess I'll start with some sad news first.  I've lost some of my favorite cat relatives.  My Uncle Orion passed away during his last visit to Florida.  My mom said she knew him since he was an itty bitty kitty, just like she's known me since I was practically born.  My new brother from another mother Big Guy passed away in October.  Here is a picture of he and I just chilling on the couch.  I sure do miss him, but am glad Little Guy is still around.

Then just last week my Aunt Girl Kitty Cat passed away, she was the same age as my Uncle Orion.  It is so hard to lose family members.  We are all trying to deal with it and move on.

In mid-October or so, mom and I went on what felt like a long car ride to a place called Normal for a UKC Agility Trial.  I had 2 legs of my AG-II title and just needed 1 more so mom was brave and entered me in AG-I and AG-II, because once you get your AG-II title then you can start earning points by competing in AG-I and AG-II to earn a United Agility Champion (UACH) title!  And how cool would it be to say I'm Boca a United Agility Champion!!  Well, the first day didn't go so great.  But, I have to say in my defense it didn't go so great for most of the dogs there.  This first day happened to be the day that when mom and I got home, the "big" decision had to be made about Big Guy.  I knew when I left in the morning that he wasn't feeling well and I was just worried all day and couldn't concentrate.  So on Sunday, mom and Dennis and I all drove back down to Norman and look what happened.....

That's right I earned my AG-II title!!! and I got some points on the AG-I course!  How cool is that.  So my next UKC Agility Trial will be back at my home club in mid-February.  Boy, I hope I can rack up some more ribbons and toys and have a great time. 


Then it was time for Halloween.  Mom has had some crazy costumes for me in the past, but this year I got to help pick mine out.  Mom also told me I was going to get to go to work with her that day because the students were getting a little stressed and worn out and I would be a great pick me up.  Well upon my entrance in my awesome: Dog Vader outfit....I did not let her down.  Everyone was smiling and taking pictures.  For a majority of the day I hung out on mom's desk which is my favorite spot because I can watch people walk by.  We even got an awesome class picture this time.  See how well I fit in!

Then it was time for Thanksgiving.  Mom and Dennis went to Hutchinson Kansas and I stayed with Gramma and Granddad.  We had a great time! I helped them get ready for their trip to Florida. I am excited that I will get to go to their Florida house again for Christmas this year and that Dennis and Little Guy are coming too!!!!

But the past weekend I had to put on my thinking cap.  I have been working extra hard in school on my agility skills to finally try to get a qualifying score in an AKC competition.  My two-legged Uncle Pat built and awesome dirt arena at the Super Duty arena and it was time for my competition. I worked super hard.  Mom says I had some great runs.  We have most of them recorded and the links will all be here for you to watch how great I can run.  I am just a little bummed that I didn't lift my back legs up high enough on one jump in each ring and caused a bar to fall down.  If a bar falls it's an automatic non-qualifying score.  BUT!!!! I did get 1 perfect 100 on Sunday morning in my Jumps with Weaves course.  I also ran the course so fast that I was quicker than a 20" dog. I took first place!!!!  Mom was so proud of me for the whole weekend.   Mom had to work the scoring table, and well really all over the place. I took a break to say hi to miss Mariann.  She was my very first teacher at Tulsa Dog Training Club ya know! Can you believe at one point I used to be afraid of her.  Here we are just taking a warm up break below....

Here I am getting ready to run in my first Standard Course on Friday afternoon.

 This is what you do after you worked all weekend at a dog trial...I was exhausted and a little chilly. So came home, curled up and took a nice siesta.

 Here are some video links for you to enjoy my outstanding performances:

Friday Jumps with Weaves Run

Saturday Jumps with Weaves Run

Saturday Standard Course Run (Can You guess where I spotted Dennis??)

Sunday Jumps with Weaves Run (Where I got my 100 and First Place)

Sunday Standard Course Run


With the holidays coming up, Mom, Dennis and I went and had my awesome Christmas cards made! I actually got to go shopping at JC Penney's.  It was fun to walk around the store.

We also hung Christmas lights up on the house...I had a very important role of supervising.

You can tell I am the coolest Santa around! I hope everyone has an awesome holiday season.  I'll be heading to Florida in a little under 2 weeks. Not sure I'll get in a blog entry before then, but I will try to get one in after the big road trip to let you know how it goes!

Keep your tails waggin'!

Boca Bear UAGII, RE, CD

2 Legs in AGII

 Hi Everyone!
I've had a very exciting week and especially weekend!  My future is so bright I gotta wear shades...okay okay I'll try to get serious. But c'mon you have to love the photo of me in my new doggles. I don't know about wearing them all of the time, but they sure are a fashion statement.

I have been continuing to work hard in my classes this session, both Open Obedience and Agility.  Mom told me that I was going to get to compete in an United Kennel Club Agility competition at my school this weekend.   At first I started thinking, am I really ready to compete with 9 weave poles on the course...I started to get a little worried as you can see in my face in the photo below, but then it was time to hop in the car and go for the gold...or in my case Blue Qualifying Ribbon.

Well it turns out that Saturday morning my group was going to go first. Which means I had to get up early (6:15) and get to school by 7:15 so that mom and I could look over the map of where the obstacles were going to be placed.  I was feeling it...I am an early morning kind of dog!  Turns out small dogs were even first in the line up.  The dreaded weave poles were 4th from the end.  I liked this setup. It meant that I got to get in the groove and really go with the flow of the course.  Mom said that I ran the first course like a champ.  As I entered the weave poles you could hear a hush come over the crowd, it's like everyone was holding their breath to see if I was going to be able to get through them or not.  Well I did!  As I finished the course there was such a roar of cheers and clapping I knew I had done just awesome.  It turns out that I had received a score of 199. I didn't get a perfect score because as I was coming out of the box I cut the corner a  little and instead of coming out where the green stripes were, my feet crossed the corner, turns out that is a 1 point deduction.  No big deal, a 199 is still a huge qualifying score. I was so elated, as was my mom!  We quickly picked up my blue ribbon and of course I posed for a picture or 2!

My second run for Saturday didn't go so well with the weave poles.  I was going through them focused and mom thought they weren't going to be a problem so she decided to start going to the next obstacle well it distracted me so I missed one.  When she tried to get me to start over, I was a bit confused and just went on to the next obstacle so it wound up being a Non-Qualifier.  I then got to hang out in my condo at school while mom worked the trial for the AGIII dogs. I enjoyed watching some of their runs from my condo.  All I could think about was, why didn't I just stay focused on my weaves.  I decided that I would get them next time.

Then Sunday came.  Mom told me I was going to have a fan club come to watch.  She wasn't kidding! I had Dennis, and his mom and stepdad, and my gramma and granddad.  It was awesome.  My own group of cheerleaders.  Mom and I got to school in time to watch some of the AGIII dogs run. My group was at the end of the day today. So I had to sit around and wait. I was watching lots of dogs practice the weave poles.  Mom decided that we would go try the weave poles once or twice I went through them like a champ! I think I shocked my mom how great and smooth and confident I looked while weaving.  Just as my mom was about to go walk my course, gramma and granddad showed up. I was glad because I had someone to sit with while mom did her part of agility.  Then before I knew it was my turn to go!  Turns out both my granddad and Dennis video recorded my first run.  I got a little crazy coming off the wobble board and well the weave poles got away from me...mom brought me back and told me settle down, but when you get amped sometimes it's hard to calm down. Here is a video of my not so great run!!

The NON-QUALIFYING RUN (feel free to skip watching this one to watch the good one below)

Mom was NOT happy at all!  I didn't even get a lower level treat when we got back to our chairs. Mom told me that I didn't even make an effort on the weave poles. She told me that I must have left my thinking cap in the car.  I felt a little embarrassed that I had my own cheering squad and had made such a huge mistake on the weave poles.  Granddad then told me that I was going to be able to have a redemption run.  I've heard about these on TV and I thought alright...I can do an awesome job and everyone will be even more super stoked.  So fortunately both granddad and Dennis video recorded my second run from today and you can watch it below.  It's okay if you stop reading to watch this video a couple of times.  Don't worry it's only about 46 seconds long because I'm that fast

The QUALIFYING Run (feel free to watch rewind and watch again)

So I cam out of this weekend's trial with 2 qualifying scores for an AGII title.  I just need 1 more.  I hope mom can find another trial for me to compete in soon. I am feeling confident, pumped and ready to go!

What a busy week!!

 Good afternoon everyone!

I am so excited to share that my family purchased a new "big bed".  From the chatterings at dog school, it is my understanding that some 4-leggeds sleep on the bed.  Mom says that people ask her where I sleep a lot of the time.  In the photo I had to try out the bed, first of course.  I really like the new bedspread it is very soft fabric, but...I prefer to sleep under the bed.  I find that it is the most comfortable there.  When my mom goes to bed, I usually hop up on the bed to wish her a good night, and maybe watch TV a little, but when I am ready to "saw logs" as they say I retreat to my domain under the bed.  The best part about my location, no one else in my house can get there so I have utter and complete privacy.  One of the great things about the new bed is it is super quiet, not noises when mom tosses or turns or has to get up in the middle of the night for nature calls.  Therefore, for the past week I have been getting lots more sleep.  This has been great because I didn't realize that I would be so busy.

Mom has been working with me on new jobs for my "Open Obedience" class at school.  It's TOUGH!  One of the hardest new things I have to learn is to retrieve a dumbbell and 1) not think of it as a toy, and 2) hold it in my mouth until mom says let go.  Yuck and yuck.  But I am trying.  Mom snapped a picture of me and the dumbbell on Tuesday afternoon.  I wasn't really feeling the dumbbell. I mean I would fetch it, but I didn't want to take it back to my mom or use it as a school tool.  I just wanted it to be my new toy.  So it was back to school on Tuesday night for my class.  Well mom was pretty embarrassed that I was twisting and turning my head and putting up quite a "2-year-old tantrum" I think she called it in front of all my classmates.  Well after watching my classmates do cool things like get to jump over a high jump to go get their dumbbells and bring them back I have decided that maybe it's a skill I want to learn.  On Saturday, Dennis took the video included of me doing my best to not be afraid of the dumbbell and put it in my mouth.  This is the first day that I have been willing to take the dumbbell from my mom while being in one place.  You'll hear mom say don't pull it away. I still have that instinct to say "Mine!" but hey baby steps.  Learning is tough stuff!

On Thursday afternoons I have my agility class.  I love my agility class. I am starting to feel confident, and mom and I are becoming a great team.  However, on Thursday afternoons during my break between school sessions, mom started running with Dr. Suzanne.  This past Thursday, mom decided that I could help out the girls at the front desk at Veterinary Associates while she went and ran with Dr. Suzanne so that she could get her workout in before we had agility class.  I was a big hit, and very well behaved. I am trying to earn some "store credit" at Veterinary Associates for a cute haircut or maybe some fun dog treats.  

Once we made it to agility class, mom explained to me that we would be working on some different obstacles.  I am trying to get ready for a competition the first weekend in August.  Anyone that wants to come see me perform, I mean compete should come out to Tulsa Dog Training Club in the afternoon on Sunday August 4th.  Well mom snapped a good photo of me conquering what's called the sway bridge.  She said that some 2-leggeds are even afraid to go across a bridge like this.  You should notice that there aren't any pawrails or guards to keep us 2-leggeds from falling off the edge.  It was a great class.  Ms. Dovie really likes to push us to be better and better. I think she is the bomb! Although my mom sure likes to give her a hard time.

On Saturday, they had the annual summer picnic at Tulsa Dog Training Club.  All of the 4-leggeds were invited.  Mom decided that since I had been having such a great week, and put that silly dumbbell in my mouth, that I could go!  I was the only "little" dog there.  After the 2-leggeds ate some food, (there wasn't any super yummy leftovers for 4-leggeds, but mom snuck me some chicken yummm yummm), they had some games for dogs.  This photo taken outside is me watching the silly big 4-legged dipping their heads in a 5-gallon bucket trying to get a hot dog.  I was laughing on the inside because I already had a bite or two or chicken.  Why on earth would I subject myself to dunking my head in a bucket of water for all of the 4-leggeds to see my beautiful fur after a bath...I don't think so.  Then when all of the 4-leggeds were done dunking their heads for hot dogs they went inside for hot dog races.  Mom suggested that I sit this one out too, as there weren't any little dogs for me to run against.  I am still a little afraid when a large dog comes charging at me, so we just hung out and talked with other members of the club.  It was fun to see everyone at school without having to do lots and lots of work.

Although it was a fun week, I hope this next week is not quite so busy.  Mom says I'll be missing my Open Obedience class because she is going to give a special talk at Oklahoma State on Tuesday when I would normally go to school.  I bet I will still have to practice that dumbbell thing though...

Until next time, keep your tails waggin'

Boca

Finally an update....

 Hi Everyone!
I know it's been over 6 months since I have had a blog update.  My mom has been so super busy. I have been bugging and bugging her to get a blog entry in, but there has been no time.  Finally, today is the day.  She says I will have to give as brief update as possible. So I have tried to pull some pictures that will help me remember the highlights of what all is new and happening in my world.  First in the picture above let me introduce you to "Little Guy", yup that's really his name...there is "Big Guy too, but he pranced too far to my left and got out of the picture.  These two felines now live with me, and I LOVE it!!! I love cats! I know, I know...dogs and cats are supposed to get along, but I ask you why on earth not?  We had to negotiate out rank and order, but we have a 4-legged system now.  Big guy and Little guy's dad also lives with me now too.  It is so fun to live in a house full of boys!!We play wrestling and chase, we cook outside lots, and we are working on fixing up my house.  So far I have gotten the 2-leggeds to cut down a dead tree, make an awesome bird bath, plant an awesome garden that attracts lots of birds that Big Guy and Little Guy can watch all day, plant grass seed in the back yard, cut down overgrown branches of the black walnut tree in the back yard that the squirrels liked to dance on and tease me, and now I have them working on painting the house to match the white in my fluffy tail.  So far they are doing a good job.

 During the Spring session of school, I retook a Novice II obedience class as a refresher.  I also have stayed active in Agility.  I haven't done any shows or competitions lately but I am hoping to compete in an UKC agility competition the first weekend in August.  During this last session of class I have become much more confident in my weaves!  Things are really starting to click for agility.

 I asked mom to pull out a great agility shot so that everyone can remember that I am on my way to becoming a well titled agility dog!  It's such hard work and I really have to focus.  It really is a great time too, and lots of fun once I get it. 

 Even though I didn't compete at the Mid Continent Classic competition over Memorial Day weekend, I went with my mom to help work and support Tulsa Dog Training Club.  They have a table there to answer questions about classes and dog training.  I have a tendency to draw a crowd.  You can see that I felt confident in my abilities to provide information about the Club and mom gave me my own chair.  I had quite a few people come by and I hope that some of them decided to bring their 4-leggeds to TDTC.

 Mom had some major problems with my convertible.  One of the tires apparently had a faulty rim that buckled while she was driving down the highway.  It caused her tire to go flat and she had to call to get the car towed back to the dealership to get fixed.  Fortunately, the cost was covered under the extended warranty but it freaked both me and my mom out as the convertible was only 14 months old with less than 15,000 miles and it should not have happened.  When mom decided to get in our old Jeep to continue on with her days...she discovered that the brakes had gone out on it.  She had to pay to get those repaired.  After a long talk, we agreed that it was time to get 1 practical car rather than 2 cars that left both of us nervous that I wouldn't make it to a dog show or to dog school, or that mom wouldn't be able to go to the store to get me dog treats.  So mom got a Jeep Patriot, it has a moon roof.  When it's a nice day, mom drives around with all the windows open....it's close enough to a convertible for me...

 During the first three weeks of June I got a break from school.  Mom has spent her summer away from the office writing a lot on the computer (hence no blog entries from me).  So while mom was working at home, I decided to really take advantage of summer break and rest up.  So far it's been a pretty decent summer weather wise.  With all of the supervising that I have been doing of the 2-leggeds I have to rest and recover so that I can make sure that they are doing a good job.  Now summer break is over and I am back in school.  This session I am taking a brand new class called Open obedience.  My mom is trying to put this silly white dumbbell thing in my mouth. I like playing with it, but she says it's not a toy it's a job...Bluck to that I say. It is fun to learn new things.  So far I have been to two classes, it is quite hard.  Mom says it's good to keep learning...I was able to stay in a down with all the other dogs while mom left the room for 5 whole minutes....mom was shocked, although I don't know why.  It was past 9PM and I was tired. I was glad for the break.  I am also still enrolled in agility.  You can see from the picture below, even though it's blurry, we are all working and learning new things.  I have picked up right where I left off doing great with listening to mom and tackling those weave poles with confidence.

I hope to try to get back to updating my blog more regularly.  My mom is just really busy with trying to get a lot of writing done as she is up for review for her job in October.  Part of her review requires that she has to show she is "publishable".  I think my blog should help her, but she says it won't.

Until  next time, keep those tails waggin'!

Boca