Dream Weaver Dalmatians

When Belle turned 14 years old last month it put me in  reflective mood. I started thinking about all that has happened in my life during those years and how much I have learned because of these three spotted dogs who share my life. 

Belle....my heart dog...my "thinker"...my first dalmatian.

She is also the first dog I ever competed with and the two of us learned so much together!

Belle taught me...

that I could dream BIG and accomplish those dreams:

that anything is possible with the right motivation:

that there is great beauty and wisdom with age:

Jiggs

......he came along and I had so many dreams for him! He was going to be the one that did it all...with titles on both ends.  Jiggs may not have any titles on either end of his name, but he has taught me a great deal in his nine years...He has taught me...

That when you fall, you pick yourself up and smile:

That great things DO happen when we all work together:

That in the end, it is not about the titles and ribbons but what we learn along the way that counts  and that you need to have TRUST and let go of the leash to find your  true potential:

Laci

the newest addition....in her short time with me there are already valuable lessons being learned.  Laci has taught me that...

Sometimes the RIGHT puppy picks you:

Even when you are little you can dream BIG:

That life is too short to sit still...you have to move fast or opportunities will pass you by!

It's been a while since I've added an entry to this Blog! We are all doing well...Jiggs is much better after his most recent back injury but will no longer be competing in agility. We ARE going to get back into rally and finish that novice title and then maybe even try for a CD.

Belle is doing great! She will be 14 in a few weeks and although she has some trouble getting up and down the stairs, she still has a twinkle in her eye and a spring in her step!

Laci is growing up into a beautiful girl and is EVERYTHING I could have asked for in a dal! I am so excited about her show career (check her page or the brags page for details!) and I'm also going to enroll her in a beginning agility class soon!

I thought it would be fun to start blogging about Laci's training! Right now, she is enrolled in a "Puppy Prep" class at Jumpstart Dog Sports to get her ready for her future performance career and we are also continually training for her upcoming show career. Laci is so much fun to work with...she is smart, energetic and very enthusiastic!!!

Her breeder, Carrie Jordan, let me borrow her set of Happy Legs to help Laci learn how to stack.  I try to work with her on them at least once a day and she gets all excited when I take them out and start setting them up! They are really helping her learn to keep her feet still...and we are also working on her learning to let me bring the bait to her...not her reaching out to grab the bait. That part is hard for her! LOL!!! She IS doing great with the wating part though...I got up to the count of five today...which is HUGE! LOL!!!! Ok, so here are the pix. You can see how it looks like she is up on pedestals...those are very strong magnets and you set them up inside the box which is lined with metal.

Here she is getting the bait:

and here she is waiting......notice that she is still stretching her neck out trying to get the bait...she should not be doing that but we are working on it! She is keeping her feet still and having fun!!!!!

So much has gone on since my last blog post! Of course the addition of "Laci" (Nspird Dream Weaver Irish Lace) is the biggest news. She already has her own page here on my website and I know she will have plenty of brags in the future!
Right now she is fitting in perfectly here with my other two dals. It took several weeks, but finally Jiggs decided that she really IS fun and the two of them are a joy to watch playing together!

Laci is now finishing up her "Puppy Kindergarten class" and starting training for the breed ring! She is going to be SOOOO Much fun to show and train!!!

Speaking of training...Jiggs and I have finally really clicked in agility. He is awesome to run and we are having a ball!! In class we are working on upper level courses and he is nailing them...and his weaves are now pretty much consistent too! YAY!

Here is a pro pix taken at the last CPE trial in Costa Mesa. No "Q's" again but some of the nicest runs he's ever done!

Kyra Sundance who made the Dog Trick DVD that Jiggs was in, has just finished the manuscript for her new book called "101 Things to do With Your Dog" and she contacted me last week to see if could bring Jiggs up to L. A for a photo shoot for the book! I brought Jiggs up to the studio yesterday for an

hour of camera time. She used Jiggs to demonstrate the show stack, stretches, grooming (including brushing, ear cleaning, brushing teeth and nail trimming) and then he got to have fun doing some tricks! He did spin of course (his favorite) and jumping through a hoop. It was a lot to do in that hour...between set changes and wardrobe changes (even Jiggs had to change his bandana five times! LOL!!!) but Jiggs was a real trouper and the photos I saw looked stunning!

looking forward to the book!

Here are a few photos given to me by Kyra!

Me and the spots headed up to Norco for an agility and rally show n' go and we had a ball! It was so much fun doing rally with Belle and of course running  Jiggs in agility is always a blast!

Here are some shots taken by our friend Rhonda:

first, this is Belle giving rally a try for the first time!

and then these are shots of my wild spotted boy in action on the agility course:

Last weekend, me and Jiggs met up with some friends and headed up to the mountains to enjoy the snow! At first Jiggs was unsure about all the cold wet stuff under his paws...and he was a bit put out because I wasn't letting him run off leash like the other dogs. Eventually, he did get his chance to run free and he LOVED it!!

Here are some shots I got of my gorgeous boy in the beautiful snow filled landscape!

and here are a few shots taken by my friend Rhonda:

and here is a short video my friend Lauralyn took of me and Jiggs enjoying the beautiful winter wonderland!

click here to watch!

we can't wait to go back up the mountains again! 

We had an awesome day! The weather was beautiful and Jiggs did fantastic!!! The photos are by photography by M!

At the SCAT CPE Trial on June 14th...we were lucky enough to have not one but FOUR professional photographers! I've had a difficult time deciding which pix to purchase! I just can't thank these talented photographers enough for capturing so many wonderful shots of my spotted boy!

These first two are from Peggy Mundell & DogBreedz.net:

and these next ones were taken by Marty Barrett of "Photography by M"

I guess his nickname should be "Jiggs-saw" puzzle! :-) And finally the pieces are starting to fit! We competed at the SCAT CPE (Canine Performace Events) agility trial on Sunday, June 14. For the first time EVER...Jiggs and I completed a standard run! He had one too many refusals so we didn't qualify...but it felt so  good to cross that finish line! In CPE, you can still "place" even if you don't qualify and Jiggs came in third. We ended the day with a "colors" run and again...completed an entire course! YIPEEE!!! No qualifying (we skipped a jump) but he actually managed to come in first place!

Here is a shot Rhonda took of him posing with his ribbons! There are more photos on the "News and Brags" page!