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

Pumpkin Carving Fun!!

Happy Fall Everyone!

I have been enjoying the cooler weather.  It still gets quite toasty with this fur coat during the day, but I can feel cooler weather coming.  Mom decided to mow the lawn today and then I wanted to go out and inspect it all.  Mom decided that we would carve a pumpkin for Halloween since it was so nice outside.  I had no idea what this meant as we haven't done this before.  I had mom take some photos to show the process.

First I got an upclose look at what mom called a pumpkin.  I liked that it was in the same color hue as my fur.

 I go well with pumpkins don't I?  Then mom said she was going to cut it up, that's what the word carve means...Hmmmm...I wondered if I was going to get to eat pumpkin.

 Ewww....The insides looked like a whole lot of spider webs.  I sniffed it, but moved away too quick before mom could get a picture.  I left the rest of the operation up to mom, but went and stood post so no one could see our secret mission.  I wasn't going to get my paws all gooped up in that stuff.

I told mom she needed to do something clever.  So we decided to put a witch on the pumpkin because it would be hanging out next to the ghosts in the front yard.

Mom snapped a photo of me on guard duty.  I made sure to get as close to the street as possible, but yet still a safe distance, so mom's work was top secret.

This is our finished product.  We can't wait to see it at night!! I liked pumpkin carving (except the sticky stuff).  I think mom should figure out how to carve a Boca in a pumpkin!

Send me good vibes on Friday, I'll be competing in Rally Excellent at my Dog club around noon!! Eek I'm a little nervous but trying to hold it together.

Keep those tails waggin'!

Boca

Doing "Boy Stuff"

Last weekend my mom went to run a long way somewhere else, so I got to spend the weekend at Gramma and Granddad's house.  I love hanging out with them at their place.  It used to be that when I spent time at their house, I would get to spend time with Gramma working in the garden.  Gramma is like me and likes to take in all the plants and water them and everything.  I think my way of watering them is much more efficient, but Gramma gets a long cord of some sort and attaches it to the house.  Well this past weekend, imagine my surprise when Granddad had a big project for us to work on!  They recently went out in the party wagon (well that's what my family calls a moving house of sorts).  So Granddad said he had some cleaning up and organizing to do. I, of course offered my superb assistance and supervisory skills.  It was great! We left the doors open so I could hop back and forth between the party wagon and the yard and keep tabs on everything just as a good supervisor should do.  Gramma was smart enough to grab a camera so I could share some photos of our hard working weekend.

First thing I did was assess the situation, that's what any good problem solver would do.  I shared with Granddad that I thought he had a real mess on his hands.  Granddad seemed a little discouraged, but I told him through teamwork we would get it taken care of.

 I then started thinking of a plan (or maybe it was a treat). Granddad could hear the wheels turning in my head I think so he leaned in for a closer listen.

Granddad looked utterly shocked at the brilliance of my plan (or maybe it was the amount of the work he was responsible for).  I, on the other hand never lacked confidence that it would work and that the mission would be complete.  Once I got Granddad started, I mean once WE got started, Gramma went back to doing Gramma things and we didn't get a picture of our finished project.  You can bet though that it looks fantastic!!!

Until next time, keep those tails waggin'!


Boca

Fall Festivities

Good morning audience,

Well it has been almost a month since my last entry.  Mom and I have been pretty busy.  My mom also has been battling some illness, so I have had to serve doctor duties, and didn't want to press my luck with asking to do a blog entry.  We have been enjoying the cooler temperatures.  I especially have been enjoying riding around in my convertible.  I always find it funny that all these 2-leggeds point and giggle when they see me going down the road.  Then I figure it must be because they haven't ever encountered such a cute dog.  Mom says I definitely know how to turn on the charm. 

I hope that I get to continue to go for fun car rides throughout the fall season.  I get to go to dog school three days a week.  Now some of you may think, "wow Boca, you must have a lot of homework to do".  Not really!  My mom is apprenticing to become a dog teacher.  So on Monday night's I get to go and be a "demo dog".  This is a lot of pressure!  All the dogs in the ring and their 2-leggeds are staring at me waiting for me to do something amazing!  Last week, I think I clowned around too much though.  You know trying to make my performance filled with humor to hide that I was nervous that I would mess something up.  I have to own my smartness, and that mom and I have worked hard for me to be able to enter, compete and even win some dog trials.  Speaking of which, my mom entered me into two Rally Excellent trials on October 26th at my school and then two more the following Saturday November 3rd in Joplin.  I can't believe that I am already up to an "excellent" level.  Wish me luck!  I also get to go to dog school on Tuesday mornings to practice and learn my Rally Excellent skills.  Then on Thursday mornings I go for Agility.  My mom tried to get a video of how much I have improved in agility during my last class, but the 2-legged operating the camera hit the wrong button.

In addition to my school outings, I have been hanging out with a new 2-legged family.  Mom said that they heard about me and wanted to meet me.  So, I am always game to meet my new fans, and any chance for a car ride is a fun!  So during my last visit with Jill and Hal, mom snapped some pictures of how good I am at making any place I visit comfortable.

I really like their carpet as I think it matches the color in my fur specatcularly.  I don't get the purpose of hard wood floors.  I have a hard time walking on the hard wood no less jumping. My new friend Hal sits in a cool chair, so I asked my mom if I could sit in a chair too so that I could be closer to eye level with Mr. Hal.  She agreed and helped me into a chair (I couldn't jump myself because it was on hard wood).

 Even the chair matches my fur! I go nicely with their home!  Mr. Hal and I had a nice chat session.  We agreed that neither one of us would share with mom our discussion. Sometimes conversations are meant to be shared with "just the guys".  Mr. Hal uses a cool talking computer to talk to mom!  I wanted to get a closer look, and Mr. Hal was okay with me hanging out in his lap for a little bit.

We are quite a handsome pair.  Mr. Hal even dressed to match me!  I think I could figure out how to use his talking computer....well if I wasn't so wiggly.  It has been so much fun to make new friends.  Mr. Hal said I was even cuter in person.  This man knows his stuff!


Mom and I hope to get some new pictures of me in action at school soon.  Until then, keep checking back!

Keep those tails waggin'!

Boca

Redecorating

Hello everyone!

It has been a pretty uneventful week for the most part.  My mom hasn't been feeling so good.  She keeps talking about allergies or something like that.  I have 2 weeks of vacation from school, so I decided to follow in my mom's paw prints and redecorate my room of the house.

I had a small event happen this week too.  My mom came home from work one day to say hi to me and make sure all was well.  Well....I freaked her out a little. I somehow cut the top of my left eye and well it was a little bloody.

Fortunately mom is friends with a veterinarian, so she snapped this picture and sent it to Dr. Suzanne.  I told mom that I was fine and it was no big deal.  She got a damp wash cloth and cleaned me all up.

And then I was good to go!!

I then convinced mom that I needed my car seat cushion repaired or remade.  It was getting in very sad shape.  So mom went to a fabric store and picked me up some new foam and some cool dog friendly fabrics.

I think that we did a great job! I can hardly wait to put it in my cool wheels and go for a ride around town.  I think the dog bones will go nicely with my seat covers!

Then came today's project of getting all of my awards rearranged in my room.  I have started all of my agility endeavors and won a bunch of ribbons and got a "degree" from UKC.  So here is what the walls of my room look like now.

 This wall has all of my family tree on it, as well as my Most Improved Dog and Handler award.

 This is my wall of Rally titles!  I have my Rally Novice and my Rally Advanced titles and ribbons.  I also have some fun pictures up.

 I have started my Agility wall.  I am proud to show off my UKC agility Degree and ribbons.

This wall as my regular obedience title "Companion Dog" and ribbons.

I have quite a bit of space in my room again now that mom has moved her office stuff out of it.  I am hoping that she'll get me new carpet in my room for my birthday in November.

Until next time...Keep those tails waggin'

Boca!