Back Yards...They are FUN

In the past Makin has never been one to play with other dogs. It is clear though that she and Tessa have formed a bond. Tessa is the only dog Makin will play with and they love doing so in the back yard. I think the reason they have not played like this a lot is because when we go to the park there are a lot of things that Makin is more interested in (e.g. birds). Below are a few shots mid tug-o-war and wrestling for the squirrel. The chase game didn't photograph very well with the phone. In the chase game Tessa dominates with speed but Makin can turn on a dime and would make a heck of a fullback with the way she avoids pursuit.






We have also been doing a bit of yard work but have taken a bit of time off as we are waiting to install the new fence and don't want to have things undone during installation. Makin decided that we were slacking and started to tear up some roots for herself.

On another note we had a great agility class with Makin last night. I am actually going to wait to discuss it more once I can "pirate" Blue's drawing of the course (she has been putting them on her blog)! Suffice it to say Makin did well but we need to do more work on switch. Tessa came in and did some jumps and the tunnel and shows much promise. Her foundation course for obstacles begins soon.

Hello again!

Oh my goodness! See that picture below, the one from the last blog about 60 days ago- that has turned our worlds a little upside down. Packing, moving, turning off internet, then holding off a while before turning the internet back on (lael's scheme at saving money to help pay the mortgage....ha!)- all of this is why we have not posted a blog in a while. But now school's back in session, and although none of us are in school and we are only affected by longer commuting times due to bus traffic, we still have a sense of re-organization and motivation. So stay tuned for Makey & Tessa's (mis) adventures!

Today for example, we had a ~good~ agility class with Makin. Actually, it wasn't good in the sense that we did well, but it we learned a bunch. Now that we have a yard, we have to actually start using it for practice!

And, our beloved roomate, Kelly, moved out today, which we are all very sad about. We knew it would happen someday; she's moving onto bigger & better things. Makin & Tessa will miss snuggling in her lap (usually both at the same time), Lael will miss her fashion advice and chit-chat and Neil will miss her cooking camaraderie. But, really she's not too far & better come visit often!

Crazy Weeks

We haven't had much time to make a post in the last couple of weeks. Time has been precious, work busy and keeping the girls active instead of taking time to post has been a priority over posting. So sad. We have some good news though; for us and the girls. We found a house made an offer and it was accepted. We have had the the inspection and are continuing on with the purchase. The only thing remaining is the commitment by the lender but all seems to be in order. The house has a great back yard (which will need a little additional fencing) but will be great. The yard is flat and we will be able to set up some agility equipment. Although I will still be going to the park with the girls a lot we will be able to let them loosen their legs in the new yard. The house is small but perfect for us and it fits all of our needs. I actually can get to work in less than five minutes and Lael's commute will remain almost the same. I will be able to shoot home at lunch and let the girls have a mid day break on most days.



We have had a few communications classes with Tessa. The first class was great but the second can only be considered a disaster. She is a very touchy little thing and sometimes it is hard to determine what shuts her down. The last class she was completely spooked and we could not get her to shake her funk at all. I feel very bad for her and hate to see her so stressed. We need to somehow figure out how to help her.

Makin has had two five directions classes, one of which we missed because we were on vacation. She is doing great though.

Our vacation was awesome. We went to a friends house in Chatham and the girls were able to swim quite a bit which was nice. They do love to swim and the ocean on Cape Cod was quite warm. Again we were on a private beach where we were able to let the girls swim without being worried about getting in trouble.

The Beach

We took the girls to the beach this weekend to beat some of the heat. This crazy heat has made exercise difficult and the quantities of water consumed in the last couple of days has been absurd. Right now we are all basking in that glorious invention...Air Conditioning!

The water was very cold and Makin wasn't interested in a long swim. Tessa loved chasing the ball though. She has a lot of enthusiasm for retrieving and is quite good at leaving the ball for me when she brings it back.

On another note, Makin has been having a bit of the reverse sneezes. Not sure if its allergies or if she caught a bug. She has improved over the last couple of days. We may have to take another trip to the vet though. We can be nervous nellies when it comes to the ladies.

Not sure if anyone will notice but Tessa has put on some weight and muscle. We have her on a higher protein diet and she looks great. I wish we had switched over a little sooner. The weight is making her look less like a puppy.

Below are some beach pictures and hopefully a video. The whining is Kiley the aussie who can't figure out why she isn't allowed to play.

Last Weave Pole Class & VCCNE Fun Day

We had our last weave pole class this week. We struggled a bit unfortunately. All week when we had practiced we had trouble with entrances and the difficulty continued during class. As I had mentioned in a previous post the weave poles will always be something we have to work on but I am happy with our progress. The most valuable thing we learned is one of the techniques for teaching the poles. Makin's next class will be "the Five Directions". This class will teach us to be better handlers and learn things such as front and back crosses as well as a variety of other things. Should be a good one.

Tessa is slated to start her agility work as well. She will be in a class called "Communications". This class will be one of two parts of what is the base for the agility training. Within this class we will work on Tessa's attention and focus on us and our communication with her. Hopefully Tessa will have a little head start as Makin has been through this class and we worked on Makin's homework with Tessa here and there.

We also attended the Vizsla Club of Central New England's (VCCNE) fun day this weekend. The event is a chance to get together with a bunch of different Vizsla owners, view some different activities to keep your V busy and support a club that has a number of very devoted folks who are responsible owners and sometimes breeders. The event is good fun every year. Kim from Forest King Vizslas organized and planned the event and I must say she did a fabulous job. There were a variety of different seminars that you could participate in. Seminars included first aid, intro to birds, agility, flyball, rally and obedience.

We actually ended up running Makin through the agility course which included a dog walk, A frame (we did hit our contacts), tunnel, A frame, pinwheel of jumps and weave poles that Makin actually got through on the first run . We didn't push our luck on the weave poles after that though.

We then had the opportunity to let the girls out in a field with some quail. Tessa was all speed when she hit the field and although she caught the scent of one bird I am not sure she knew what to do so she did a bit of running and very little hunting. Makin, on the other hand, had been reved up for the three hours we had been at the event. The minute we walked up the driveway she figured out there were birds and stared at their location the entire time we were there. She forgot about them only when we were doing agility. Makin was let off the leash and she was off. About two minuted later she found me and handed me bird 1. She took off and brought me bird 2. Before I knew it she was gone again and arriving with bird 3 which laid an egg as it was set at my feet. Crazy! Now I feel guilty that this bird crazy machine is doing agility instead of her dad being good to her and having her hunt. This may have to be another hobby to start into!

A bunch of crazy V folk.

During on quick bursts of rain everyone, including the dogs, tried to get under the tent.

A Great Weekend! Tessa = Canine Good Citizen

We have been a bit quiet on the blog front lately. Things have been busy and I will save the most exciting news for the end of this post!

We had an excellent weave pole class on Thursday. Makin was great and although Lael and I have a long way to go in terms of being considered decent handlers I think we did a good job with Makin this week. I think we both did a better job at being upbeat and keeping her happy. We have to work a bit this week on not having the cages on the poles at the end of the set. Makin has an easier time with the beginning without the cages than the finish. Because the week had been very busy we had not practiced the poles as much as we would have liked. We will continue to practice the poles. We have one week left in the weave pole class but practicing them will be ongoing! Makin's next class is called "the five directions" in which Lael and I will hopefully learn to be better handlers.

On Saturday we went for a wonderful walk in the woods with a bunch of other v's and a lab that thinks she is a v! Tessa loves these walks but Makin is a little more hesitant with all of the craziness. We were out for almost 2 hours and the girls were zonked for the rest of the day.

The v with orange collar is a wonderfully sweet 72 pound v who is 11 months old. YIKES!


Makin looking sedate!

A bumper stuck in a tree with a sad v trying to free it. Only a bumper with quail scent would get that kind of attention!


The freeing of the bumper!

Tessa checking in!

And finally the all exciting news. Tessa passed her Canine Good Citizen test today. She is such a good little girl. Next step, her agility career!

Busy Times

A Good Day

There are many things the girls love. Today, they got to do a few of them- it was a good day.

First, they got to go to their favorite park. Neil got up extra early because he's so good to his girls. They ran like mad- and they got to go for a swim (another favorite!). Tessa loves to do belly flops- we'll have to get some pictures next time. And it's a nice small sized pond so you don't have to worry about Makin chasing the bird and never coming back. (At the beach is the only place were we have to keep Makin on a leash.)

Then, in the afternoon, I was able to take them to a nearby field where Tessa chased her favorite toy (see above) and Makin chased her favorite toy (Tessa). It is totally comical. Makin usually walks around the field totally chill, then out of nowhere she'll dive bomb Tessa. They love it. I'm sure Makin was this playful up at Widdershins, but she's generally pretty mellow around other dogs, so it makes me so happy to see her romping with her little sis.

So, a good day- and a few favorites for the girls!

Ohhh, the crazy dogs...

Neil's only been at his new job about one week and Makin & Tessa are wondering what's going on! Neil (sometimes with me) has been able to take them to some local trails in the morning for some good off lease romping, but then lunch time is just a potty-break in our teeny back yard & maybe a short leased walk, instead of the sprints around Mimi & Papa's yard- and Tessa & Makin are having none of it!

So, I took them for a longer off-leash walk after work- thought it would be a good chance to practice Tessa's Canine Good Citizen loose-leash walking... not so great. It was a "who's walking who" sort of day.

Then, after we came back to the house, I thought I'd practice some weave poles with Makin... another struggle. She loves it and wants those treats so bad, but we've regressed to luring her- not sure why.

And Tessa's got a case of the barks. Very bizarre- and I'm not sure if this is the best way to address it, but I find the only cure is distraction with positive rewards for whatever new thing she does. Probably she needs more exercise too. Still, I hope this is just a phase!

On a positive note, here is a picture of Neil: the way life should be- two snuggling puppies as he works on the blog.

CGC and Agility

We had CGC yesterday; actually Lael had CGC yesterday. I was feeling a little under the weather. Norm Peterson from the TV show Cheers would have said I had the flu. Regardless, class happened. We have a lot of work to do on the loose leash walking and I think reacting to the loud noise could present some problems. We would like to pass the test but the class is mostly about us learning how to teach the girls better. I think the change in jobs is actually going to help us with training. I am closer to home and have more time in the evening to do the fun work.

We have been having a blast with the weave poles. Makin has slowly started adding some speed. For the class we received a handout with days listed and when we should be moving cages. We have not fallen behind yet! We had a fun class last week. We had one run with a number of different obstacles. It was definitely a week were the handler learned more than the dog. I was a little stressed but learned a lot and I think that it has helped a great deal with working in the yard this week. I think I need to focus on my speed to not getting to amped up. I need to slow down and think about Makin and what she needs from me.

Tomorrow we have our second class on canine stretching and massage. We enjoyed the first week and look forward to the second class. More updates to come after Thursday's weave pole class!