The Dalmatian Diaries Blog

I know, I know, I'm long overdue for some photo uploads! I have lots of pics, just haven't had the time to import them. Things are a little crazy around here.

The pups are doing fantastic. Widget started agility last week. She was a little uncomfortable with all the strange dogs, but I think once she gets used to them she'll be better. She did great on the equipment, however! She was a little wary of the tunnel at first, but ended up going thru it. She did AWESOME jumping thru the tire and walking the A-frame.

Browser is being Browser (aka Carl - Brent's nickname for him). He's growing again. I glanced at the two dogs yesterday and I think Browser is actually taller than Widget now (by just a tad). They don't stand still for long so it's hard to tell.

The pups still love chasing bubbles. Widget is an expert bubble popper. She watches them, analyzes their flight paths and then swoops in to get as many as she can before the next round. Browser, well, he doesn't put as much thought or effort into it (even though he clearly is having fun) and he just goes for the closest, easiest ones. The best is when they both go for the same bubble

They are at daycare today so I'm frantically trying to get work done. They are getting better about letting me work for more than 10 minutes at a time, but I still try to take advantage of the "quiet" time when they are not home. They also are getting VERY good about morning naps. We still get up at 5 or 5:30, but after about 20 minutes they want to settle down. They go back in their crates, and I go back to bed - for up to 3 HOURS!!! I love it!

One of Widget's favorite toys is the Everlasting Treat Ball. It's a rubbery ball that you fill with treats or kibble and the dog gets them out by playing with it. Well, Browser got the ball away from her and she obviously wanted it back. She's learned that taking toys away from him can be a difficult process, he's got jaws and determination of steel. She also knows that he always wants what she has. So my smarty pants girl went and got another toy and pranced in front of him like it was just the coolest toy in the world. She then "dropped" it so he'd grab for it. I kid you not, she gave a look at him that clearly said "FOOL!" and picked up the Everlasting Treat Ball he dropped in order to get the other toy. She had quite a proud look on her face after she outsmarted him.

For Widget's bday she started off the day with a nice dollop of yogurt in her food. Next, she'll have a fun day playing with her friends at doggy daycare. Would have loved to have her home today but it's going to be one of those weeks.

Widget is really growing up nicely. She's so beautiful and SO smart! I am excited for her to start agility this month.

Wow time has just flown by. Browser is 6 months old already. He's definitely acting like a teenager too. He loves to pick on his big sister but at the same time wants to spend time with her (sounds like my younger brother!). He's still a good boy and comes when called about 90% of the time. He's learning to retrieve and actually give the toy back. We just got some frisbees (soft kind) to teach the dogs to catch.

Both pups are so good, I just adore them. They are total opposites which makes the pack a perfect balance.

Browser is going to take some time off from group classes this session while Widget goes to Agility. I am going to see about getting him some private lessons to prep him for conformation. He'll still be at daycare a few days a week so he'll get plenty of socialization as well. My schedule has been so tight now that I'm finding it hard to take both dogs to weekly group classes at the same time.

So this is the pups first movie. It's taken on my new Olympus digital camera which has a cool movie feature on it. Expect this to be the first of many videos. Excuse the poor audio, the wind was blowing.