Upcoming shows

Upcoming Agility Shows, please come watch us!

Mar 13-15 Tri-State Kennel Club, Carthage, MO
April 3-5 Golden Retriever Club, Gray Summit (Purina)
April 10-11 Greater St. Louis Agility, Glen Carbon, IL (The Game)
April 24-26 Show-Me Agility, Columbia, MO
May 1-2 Australian Shepard Club, Gray Summit (Purina)

We are also still thinking about the National Border Collie Specialty. This year it is being held in October in Jefferson Wisconsin, but wow is it fun to go to a show with hundreds of border collies. And winning at your dog's national specialty is quite a thrill. (I guess that is sort of counting my chickens before they are hatched). Last year we brought home 2 blue (first place) ribbons and they are hanging in front of all the rest.

Anyone want to go with me if I decide to go?

page is loading funky...

This page doesn't seem to be loading right.... maybe Maggie's Jumpers course made the computer dizzy.....

Agility video

Thanks to our friends Carol and Chris, we have some cool videos of Maggie running agility courses. Today I've edited last weekend's run into a clip for posting here on the blog. Processing video took about all the memory my poor old computer had, but I think it worked. The bad news is that I will probably be computer shopping before the week ends....

Let me know if you can see the video and if you would like to see more.

She's Home...

... and all is right with the world.



In my daughter's eyes I am a hero

I am strong and wise and I know no fear

But the truth is plain to see

She was sent to rescue me

I see who I wanna be

In my daughter's eyes




In my daughter's eyes

I can see the future

A reflection of who I am and what will be

Though she'll grow and someday leave

Maybe raise a family

When I'm gone I hope you see

How happy she made me

For I'll be there...

In my daughter's eyes

~ Martina McBride

(I received this via email from a friend. Author unknown)


Here in this house...


I will never know the loneliness I hear in the barks of the other dogs 'out there'. I can sleep soundly, assured that when I wake, my world will not have changed. I will never know hunger, or the fear of not knowing if I'll eat. I will not shiver in the cold, or grow weary from the heat. I will feel the sun's heat, and the rain's coolness, and be allowed to smell all that can reach my nose. My fur will shine, and never be dirty or matted.


Here in this house...


There will be an effort to communicate with me on my level. I will be talked to and, even if I don't understand, I can enjoy the warmth of the words. I will be given a name so that I may know who I am among many. My name will be used in joy, and I will love the sound of it!


Here in this house...


I will never be a substitute for anything I am not. I will never be used to improve peoples' images of themselves. I will be loved because I am who I am, not someone's idea of who I should be. I will never suffer for someone's anger, impatience, or stupidity. I will be taught all the things I need to know to be loved by all. If I do not learn my lessons well, they will look to my teacher for blame.


Here in this house...


I can trust arms that hold, hands that touch...knowing that, no matter what they do, they do it for the good of me. If I am ill, I will be doctored. If scared, I will be calmed. If sad, I will be cheered. No matter what I look like, I will be considered beautiful and known to be of value.


I will never be cast out because I am too old, too ill, too unruly, or not cute enough. My life is a responsibility, and not an afterthought. I will learn that humans can almost, sometimes, be as kind and as fair as dogs.


Here in this house...


I will belong. I will be home.

Our friend Addie

I always said that I hoped I lived long enough to own one of every breed of dog I ever wanted. Unfortunately, the time is slipping away faster than I had anticipated, and I have wanted SO MANY dogs, that it just isn't going to happen. However, I've learned to live vicariously though my friends who own some pretty awesome dogs. So I thought I'd feature some of them now and again so you can meet them too.

This is Addie, and we met her and her mom through agility training. Addie is a Wiemaraner, which is correctly pronounced with a "V" sound in the front because it is a German breed, though to be honest, you rarely hear anyone say it that way unless they own Weims, or you are at a dog show. Though Weims are true athletes, you don't see too many of them running agility. Perhaps their owners are doing field work with them (they are bird dogs), maybe there are not that many of the, or perhaps it is just too much work to put of couple of these big dogs and all their stuff in your car and drive to a show. The ones we do see do very well in agility, and they look beautiful doing it with their shiny coats and big ears flapping in the wind.

But, despite her appearance with her large and athletic body, Addie is still a puppy inside. She enjoys running at you full speed until you believe you are about to be killed and then she veers off, wagging her tail and laughing at you. This is probably what I love about her the most... that and her big smoochy face...

Weekend News

J: = Jake
M: = Maggie

J: Mom is too tired to type, so Maggie and I will update the blog
M: I had a great time at the agility show! Friday we had to be there early (My friend Addie's Mom said we were there at the "butt-crack of dawn") But I didn't mind because I was all excited to run. Maybe too excited because Mom pulled me off of our first run half-way through. She said I was being crazy and not paying attention. Dang it.
J: I had to stay home. Dang it.
M: Anyway, I was much more careful for our next run (Jumpers with weaves) and we took first place. The only bad thing is that it was over in 25 seconds, but Mom thought that was a good thing. It was a long time before our next run so I went outside for a while and ate some duck poop.
J: I love duck poop.
M: Our last run of the day was FAST and Mom said the send bonus was really hard. I guess she forgot how smart I am, because I breezed through it and took first place.

M: Saturday I was excited to see my friends from Arkansas; Ben and Pin-head and their mom. (Pin-head has another name, but I don't know what it is, because his mom always calls him pin-head). I love when they are here because they always bring good treats. Mom told her to stop, but I told Ben that mom is just kidding, keep bringing the goods. That was the high point of Saturday, though, because I did a spin on the standard course and the judge called a refusal. (I wasn't refusing, I was just spinning around to see what was keeping mom so far behind) On the jumpers course I was running too fast and couldn't make my weave pole entry... so no ribbons.

J: Where are the treats from Pin-head's mom? I didn't get any.....????

M: Sunday morning was another butt-crack of dawn day.
J: But this time I got to go! Yipee! I love the equestrian center... it smells like horses and everythiing is dirty and there are dogs barking everywhere and there is lots of duck poop to eat! (except I didn't because there were also DOG TREATS!)
M: There were dog treats because it was my friend Addie's birthday. She turned 3 on Sunday and her mom brought stuff for everyone. Addie is a Weimaraner, but her mom says it like there is a "V" in front because Addie is an honest-to-goodness Champion.
J: I just say "Weim" because it makes me sound cool. (I LOVE Addie)
M: Our standard course went really well except I knocked one little bitty bar down. Mom said that was okay 'cause I hardly ever do that.
J: I was in the crate eating snacks.
M: Our jumpers run was like Friday... it was over in 27 seconds, but Mom seemed real happy and we got a blue ribbon AND a fancy title ribbon because that was my AXJ title.
J: I got to walk around and meet people, but I did get tired of hearing how wonderful Maggie is. I know she's my sister, but come on.... I'm the "lady's man"... look at me!

M: Mostly, it was a very good weekend except for one sad thing.
J: Our friend Gretzky passed over the rainbow bridge and everyone was pretty sad about it.
M: But we know that Gretzky will be there waiting for Kim, and until then, he'll probably be playing and doing all sorts of fun things.
J: Like eating duck poop.