Monday, December 31, 2007

The last day of '07

and Leo decides we need to move away from having a landline. We've been using Road Runner for phone, internet, and cable for over a year now. Well, we still had the phone box on the back of the house (which is now accessible since the deck has been added). Notice I said "had the phone box" in the sentence above. Leo decided this morning while out and about in the yard, that since it was almost a new year, that it needed to go. So, he gently removed the box from the back of the house, but was smart enough to not chew through the wiring. Lucky him and lucky us. Leo was also thinking last night that it would be nice to get a new sofa for the new year--- but I stopped him before he could chew through the leather cushions. This is not the year for a new sofa-- when the kids (and Leo) are older and not in destructo mode that little ones seem to stay in, then we'll be in the market for a new sofa. Until then, we'll keep sewing up the ripped seams from all the rough housing that sofa has endured for the past 7 yrs!

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

We survived

Christmas 2007 with a puppy in the house! WOO-HOO!!! Leo didn't knock over the tree (chewed on the tree skirt a little), and didn't eat all of the kids new toys. Cosmo found in his stocking, a thick and chewy fleece tug that Santa must have gotten from Cosmo's Auntie Melissa. She makes them and the money goes to ACD rescue ( see the right side bar for the link). He and Leo were pretty cute playing with it. Santa also left them three oversized tennis balls and some chewies. Wasn't long after all the playing and chewing that they took a long winter's nap in the kids new bean bag chairs (maybe they thought those were THEIR new beds??).
Since it really and truly looks like Leo is going to be staying here with us, I decided it was time to sign him up for some handling classes. I'm sure he's going to like being thrown into school and being coaxed into standing still "and looking pretty". I figured since agility Tuesdays were out, might as well take the opportunity to enroll Leo so we can start his training. We're still working on Leo's registered name, but I did come up with something as an old episode of Star Trek was on the other morning. We'll just have to see if the AKC will let it slide through or not.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

The last class of agility for awhile

It's with bitter sadness that we had our last class last night, for about 6 wks or so. Part of me is glad because it was cold as heck out there last night. Part of me is really bummed because Cosmo did really well out there last night, and I hate him not continuing on for a couple of months. The teeter has been lowered some more, and we're almost doing a full teeter. That's a really big deal for the class. We ran the teeter, then added a tunnel before the teeter. Cosmo did it each of the three times. However, on the last time he didn't stick his two on/two off and didn't quite move his rear end quite enough out of the way, so when the teeter was going back up, it lifted him up right under his tail and his feet came up off the ground. We all got a good chuckle out of that one.
I took Leo with me last night, and put him and Cosmo in the ex-pen. Leo tried to dig out. Both ended up escaping once (Cosmo got it unlocked and took off towards the equipment because he wanted to go again). Leo proved to be a great distraction to Buttons the Boxer and Susie the German Shepherd. Both kept running over to check him out, instead of doing what they were supposed to be doing. Poor Buttons got put in time out because she wanted to investigate and play with that little fur ball.
OHHH.... forgot to mention that our agility Christmas party was on Saturday. We've not had rain in AGES, and are over 20 " short for the year. So, when they forecasted rain for Saturday we were all like "yeah, right". Well, about 30 min into the party it started raining. So up went the E-Z up tent, and under went all the scrumptious food and all the wet and totally dedicated agility people. Then it wasn't just rain-- it was a monsoon. Several of us had water dumped on us from the top of the tent where it had pooled and then a large gust of wind blew through. It was so cold out there and then to get soaked on top of that just wasn't fair. Still, we stayed huddled, ate great food, and will always remember the party of 2007 where we stayed huddled and then were crazy enough to go out in the freezing rain to run a crazy course that had been set up as part of the games. Fortunately, Melissa's husband Joe, braved it and ran out in the rain to take a picture of us all huddled under the tent having fun. I'll see if I can "borrow" it and posted on it here. It was a good thing he snapped a picture, because as I was unloading Leo's crate, holding onto Cosmo's leash, and lugging in some food I brought home with me all onto the porch of our house-- all while being totally frozen and drenched, my husband called to see where I was. Somehow I don't think he ever would have believed me that we stayed out in that mess, unless I had a picture to prove it. So, thanks Joe!

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Hiya!

Welcome to Cosmo and Leo's page. Cosmo, a blue roan ECS, will be 2 on January 23. Cosmo is pictured above with all of his brothers (a litter of six), and is the one on the right hand side. Leo, who is either going to be an orange roan or red roan (still undecided on that one), was born September 29, 2007 , and is 11 wks old this week. He is from a litter with three brothers and one sister (who looks like him).

I had a cocker spaniel, Freckles, growing up, and she was the best dog a kid could ever have. And I think my son and daughter are going to say the same thing about these guys. Cosmo is the first English Cocker I have ever had, and he's just a great little fella. We have been taking agility lessons for a year now, and as soon as we master the weave poles, we'll be out trialing with our buddies in no time!

Leo is technically on loan to us, until his breeder decides if he is show quality or not. If he's not, he'll go back with his breeder and be placed in a pet home (which will stink because he's mighty cute and he's been doing really well with the housebreaking the past 2 days!). He's looking like he'll be staying, and we'll know for sure on Jan 25 when his breeder comes by to evaluate him.

Both of my guys have Ch parents and I think it will be great to try them both out with agility and Leo with both agility and conformation.

If you are wondering why on earth anyone would want an English Cocker Spaniel (and I know who you are) it's because not everyone has one and I like being unique out in the agility ring and because they are the greatest unknown secret. They are such loves and great little guys. Thankfully, they are not plentiful in rescues/shelters because they are still a pretty rare breed here in the US-- and the ECSCA and I hope it stays that way!