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!

My Very Own Dog Walk!!!

Well, as you read in my last post, my mom promised to make me a dog walk so I could practice some of my agility class work at home. She went to Lowe's and bought the supplies to make me a dog walk! I helped mom do some yard work around the house this morning, and then it was time for the construction to begin...My mom was feeling pretty confident she could get the dog walk made. First she laid out all the boards and counted the hinges.



I of course walked all around and inspected the materials. They seemed okay to me. I was a little worried about how slippery the boards might be, but mom said she had some ideas so that I wouldn't slip.

Then she assembled the hinges. It connected all three of the boards she bought and made them bendable so that the height off the floor could be changed. My friend Uncle Pat brought over a couple of cinder blocks to start me off on conquering the ramps...

Then before my very own eyes, I had a mini-dogwalk in my room at home!! My mom did good work!!

She even put some wood pieces on the ramp parts so that I wouldn't slip. Then mom decided to try it out. Since Uncle Pat was around my mom had him take some video of me trying it out. After the practice...my mom and I were both a little worn out. Check out the videos below!!!

Attempt Number 1

Attempt Number 2

Mom's gonna make me a Dog Walk!!!

Wow!! My new classes are fun and challenging. I had a lot of fun in my Rally class. It was like solving a puzzle. Mom has to learn how to read the signs better! She kept going left when it would say right. It's the first class though so I wasn't upset with mom. We did lot of turn things today. The teacher said next week they would be introducing cones. I asked mom what that meant and she didn't know so we'll just have to wait until next week to find out! Then it was off to agility.

I was surprised to be at school for so long. I mean my mom has been telling me that I'll be taking 2 classes back-to-back, but tonight I really learned what that means. There are some familiar faces in my agility class. Tyson, who is a german shepard is in my class with his mom. Tyson was in my Novice I class with me. Mr. Jerry and his boxer Jack are in my class. Dovie and her dog are in my class, and Nancy and her dog Mocha are in my class. So it was nice that there were some familiar people. Neither my mom or I knew either of the teachers for my agility class. My teachers are Ms. Jonnie and Ms. Tracey .

The first thing that I got to do was walk through a ladder that was laid on the floor. I was a little nervous at first, but mom showed me part of a pupperoni and I just trotted through the ladder. Even Ms. Jonnie was impressed. Mom and I did that a couple of times, and by the third and last time I had my little prance going and was feeling confident. Then it was time to Jump!! We did 3 jumps in a row. I would always try to skip one just to see if mom was paying attention. Then it was time to try the dog walk...I was terrified of it!! I didn't even want to put my paws anywhere on it. Mom lifted me up and put me on it and I jumped off. The teacher told mom to give me some extra treats...I didn't care at treats at that point..i just didn't want to be on the dog walk! Mom then put me on the top of it and i scurried to the end. Mom said we will have to work on it. Then it was on the the A-frame...the A-frame was flat on the floor and it was no biggie. Then came the tunnels!! I love tunnels. Mom has been preparing me for tunnels though by making tubes with the sheets and I crawl through them!! I went through the tunnels before the teacher could even explain it!!
On the ride home, mom said she was gonna try to build me a dogwalk for the back yard so I can practice and get over my fear. Wow, I'm wiped out! I think this round of dog school is going to be exciting!!!
Mom snapped this photo after being home for 15 minutes!!

Hot Temps=shorter hair cut

Sometimes being so handsome and fluffy has its disadvantages!! The temperatures have turned hot, Hot, HOT!! I have already told mom that I don't want a silly shaved cut this summer like she gave me last summer:


To prevent the silly haircut, I have been trying to hide how hot my fur is making me. I do my best to cool down on tile or wood floors rather than carpet, but I think people are catching on. You see, I typically like to be wherever the action is...and it's not usually on the wood or tile floors.
So today, mom decided she would attempt to give me a shorter, still hip do...She set up a beach towel to catch all my fur she cut off. It took mom about 90 minutes to give me a haircut. I was such a good dog though...with the first sound of the clippers I felt cooler. I was so cooperative and was so thankful that I wouldn't be so hot, and that she wasn't shaving all my awesome hair off. Mom snapped this photo to show how much hair she cut off. Can you believe that? It's like I lost half of me...

Then it was time for the bath part. I am really good about taking my baths, but today's was AWESOME. Mom kept the water nice and cool. I felt so comfortable. I don't mind smelling like a clean dog for today, because I am enjoying just feeling cool, after so many days of feeling hot!
Sorry there is no "after" picture right now...my mom, well sometimes she forgets that part! Now I'm ready to curl up an take a good nap!

Moving on to Agility and Rally and an update on my buddy Thor

Mom told me that I got into the Wednesday night Rally and Agility classes. This will be my first attempt at both of these types of classes. The rally class is supposed to be kinda like my obedience class and the agility class will be my move around class. I am very excited (and a little nervous too as it will be new).

My good buddy Thor has had quite an adventure during the past week. He was out hanging out in his yard with his dad when a loud sound startled him and he hurried to take cover. His mom and dad looked all over for him. He was first spotted by some strangers who claimed he was a black deer. Now I'm not so great with with other animals, but mom said I was correct in that there are no black deer anywhere. Finally a gentleman approached Thor and realized he was an injured dog and called the number on Thor's name tag. Thor then got to go on an adventure to the vet to get checked out and start his recovery process. Thor's mom kept my mom, who kept me updated on Thor's condition. Thor got to head home on Friday! On Wednesday, I talked my mom into taking me to the pet store to get Thor a get well soon card and a goodie. I had fun shopping for Thor. I picked out a hysterical card. I tried to get mom to take a picture of it before she mailed it, but you know how 2-leggeds are they don't always listen. Then I got him some awesome camouflage cookies and a small stuffed dog to remind him of me!

Mom said Thor got the care package and he and Vixie loved it! Thor's mom was nice enough to send us some pictures of Thor now that he's home still resting and recuperating. Here is my good buddy with the great blue dog I sent!! Get well soon Thor!!

So much to tell...

First things first...mom says that there are some people out there (TZ) who don't think I am responsible for my own blog. So I had mom snap this photo of me before I began uploading the pictures for this blog entry. Mom directs the Internet to my blog page and then I do all the dictating for what she types. I make sure to keep a close eye on the whole process..

I apologize in advance for the length of this entry. I tried to get my mom to do it as a couple of entries, but she said there wasn't time. So today you are going to get a recap of my adventures from the past 10 days...and boy was there a lot of adventure and excitement.

I have to start by saying that I got my first qualifying score in Novice A Obedience at the Tulsa Round Up Dog Trail on Sunday May 29! I was so excited and so was my mom!! We rocked it out. Our judge even got around using an electric scooter. My mom thought it would make me freak out and panic, but my day 3 of the trial I was used to how it all worked! I even got 3rd place for my group on that day.

I was dog number 16 so you can see my scores and the official ranking of me in 3rd place. Isn't that awesome!! My buddy Thor was with me in this session and he rocked it out too taking 1st place!!! During the stay portion of the test, Thor kept looking over at me reminding me not to wiggle a muscle. There was a lot going on in the agility ring and whatever was on the other side of that curtain but I just stayed focus on Thor and we both made it through with flying colors!!!

Here I am with my 2 ribbons!! I decided to put on a studious look since I was now in the running to get an obedience title. To get to write my name as Boca II, CD I will have to get 2 more qualifying scores. A qualifying score is a score of 170 or above, with a perfect score being 200!
I did so awesome my mom bought me this great new blanket at the show. Little did I know that I would become very attached to this blanket over the next week! As son as my group ended on Monday, it was off for a big long road trip! Mom said we were going to Florida and that I was going to get to meet my cousins and human aunt and uncle.
We hopped in the car, I got to sit on mom's lap for the first day of the road trip because Gramma drove. The funny thing is we didn't take mom's car or Gramma's car...we were in a different car. I didn't really pay too much attention, I was pretty tired out from my 4 days at the dog show. Then on Monday, it was a really long day in the car. I rode some in my car seat and some on Gramma's lap, mom did most of the driving. Once we got to this place called Florida I was a pretty wiped out dog. I know I met my cousins, Nicole, Megan and Jason and my Aunt Jamie and Uncle Tim the night we got there, but I was so tired I didn't really get to play with them much. We got keys to Gramma's Florida house from Uncle Tim and went to where I would call home for the next 3-4 days. The following morning, mom got up and took me out in Gramma's back yard. The grass in Florida looks and smells so different than at home. I sniffed around everywhere. Then I got this weird kind of bark stuck in my tail. Mom told me it was palm tree bark. I asked what was a palm tree and she told me it was a type of tree that could be found in tropical places. So I told her to take a picture since I didn't know when I would see palm tree bark again.

Later that evening my cousin Megan and cousin Jason came over to Gramma's house to play. We had so much fun!! Mom didn't take any pictures because we were all too busy playing. My cousin Megan loved to pet me and talk to me. My cousin Jason loved the game of fetch. My friend Thor had given me two tiny tennis balls, and mom put them in my condo. Jason would throw one of the balls I would go touch it with my nose and then he would throw the second one. I would carry the second one around while Jason fetched the first one. We did this for about an hour mom said. I was so ready for bed, and slept pretty well in the new house. The first night I was in Florida there were two huge popping sounds in the middle of the night. Mom told me that those were from the space shuttle breaking back through the Earths' atmosphere, they were called sonic booms. It was cool. The next day mom and gramma went out and I napped most of the day. It was nice to just rest for a little bit. Then that evening we went over to Uncle Tim and Aunt Jamie's house.

They had this big bathtub outside. I don't really like the little bathtub inside, so I kept my distance. I didn't need to take a bath in front of everyone. The 2-legged people got in and that's their choice. I explored the yard some, but it smelled the same as Gramma's back yard so I just hung out with mom. There should be a video somewhere in this entry that shows how crazy my cousin Jason is...when Uncle Tim dove in the bathtub, cousin Jason followed getting Gramma all wet too. It was fun to watch.

The next morning, mom said I needed to see the beach and ocean since I was in Florida. The beach was awesome. It was like practicing in the dirt again only fluffier. I liked the beach part! Then I ran into some brown stuff...mom said it was called seaweed...it smelled weird. Then it was time for the ocean. Mom put me in a sit stay and took this cool picture of me sitting on the beach of the ocean. Truth be told, this is as close to the water I wanted to be. Mom made me get my paws wet, and then I was ready to go.

I helped Gramma arrange the furniture in her Florida house and had my own nice little cozy area. I broke in the carpet, and mom got me some steps so I could hop up on the couch easily.

I took part of playing games in the designated hang out room. I liked to hang out in the hang out room while mom was showering or getting dressed too. I learned how to play Apples to Apples. I was on a team with mom and cousin Jason and Megan were on a team, but Gramma had to play by herself. My cousins won...they were really good at the game!

So I talked them into playing a different game. Cousin Jason and Megan set the board up and I studied it.
Of course, some say dogs can't see colors, but I was willing to give it a shot. I don't remember who won this game, but it wasn't me...I had fun playing though!
Then it was time to chill out and cool down. I love the tile floor at Gramma's when I don't have to run on it. It is great to cool down a dog's tummy. Then mom and Gramma started packing the car. Since they unloaded most of the stuff they had in the car, I got to set up my condo in the car. Wasn't the inside of my condo awesome!
Then we hit the road back to Oklahoma. We rode in the car for a really long time one day. I decided that I would rest on the way home so that I didn't get so tired. See how comfy I got!
Once we made it back to Oklahoma I had one day to rest up before my Novice II test at Tulsa Dog Training Club. Mom was nervous that I would be too tired to do well on my test, but I did great. I passed my class with flying colors and got a score of 183. Mom signed me up for two new classes at school She says I get a week off and then I am going to start a Rally class and an Agility class. I'm sure I'll have more great stories to share!

I had to go to the vet this week to get my annual checkup. I am not fond of the vet, but who is. They said everything is great with me and I am a happy/healthy dog!! Woohoo.