stilt-training

Well, Kay's finally back from her ten day buddhist retreat and I must say she's looking pretty calm. Gracie and I have been hanging out with Neil, taking it easy.

Gracie's coat had grown quite a lot in ten days, much to Kay's dismay. They are entered in their first show next weekend, so a lot of 'plucking' has been required. And more needed still.

Gracie doesn't know how to stand and stay like a proper show dog, so she has to do a lot of training. Kay read about this thing called stilt-training on the internet and thought we'd give it a go. The real stilts cost a lot to order, so we just used tins of beetroot stuck to a board.

Here's how they work.


Pretty neat, eh? After they can do this, it's supposed to transfer to doing it on the ground. Time will tell how well it works.

copycat

That Gracie, she is such a copycat.
Everything I do, she has to do, just the same.
No matter if we are just sitting, waiting for a treat...

or tracking down some enticing smell at the park...

or finding a really good stick to play with... grrrr, this is MY stick, kiddo!

She is my constant shadow.

I guess I'm her role model and she's my little mate.

Fozzie's blog

My Fozzie has just started his own blog! He was always a clever boy.

He's had a very eventful start to his New Year - he's broken his leg, it's all bandaged up, the whole thing.

Poor pup - he can't run or play for weeks and weeks until his leg is better.

Go over and see his blog at http://fozziefurbaby.blogspot.com. Make sure you leave him some consoling comments.

For us, we're back at work and trying to get back in shape. I'm going to start doing some trials at Open level in February.

Kay says we still have some work to do until we're ready, so we've been down at the park practicing.

We've also been jogging to get our fitness levels up - phew, on and on we go, past so many good smells.

Gracie is supposed to be learning how to stand up properly for a show dog - she isn't too impressed so far!

She has also been having her coat "stripped" - you know, the proper Airedale way. Also not so impressed.

I got my whole back done - they actually pull your hairs out!

Who thought that was a good idea, I wonder?
It's supposed to grow in looking really good - I'll keep you posted.