The long road to the National Finals...2011

Colorado in view!

We set out for Carbondale on Thursday afternoon. The first day is a short jont to Yermo, Ca. The reason we have to set out and go 200 miles is 1. You cannot get out of San Diego efficiently on a Friday morning. 2. We have a very hot desert to cross and we gave to hit it early. Thursday afternoon was the major power faux pas in San Diego, it was an alarming situation however our place is in the capable hands of Leon. When I called home he already had the house on generator power and was filling reserve tanks of water!Now we have 1000 miles...let's get started!

My idea of traveling light!

We are traveling light on this trip (well if you don't consider the 18,000 lb trailer in tow!!) so what I mean is we only have 6 dogs on board..(well 5 1/2 considering chip is 9 weeks)! So few dogs means a luxurious ride in the backseat instead of the trailer!

Luxurious ride!

The only trouble so far is Ron's diva I mean bitch Jesse. She feels the need to tell everyone where to lay, how to lay, and how many times each can take a breath! What she doesn't realize is they are ignoring her!

Beautiful Utah!

The drive in many spots is boring plain desert; however there are sections of the drive that are just plain breath taking.  Utah has always been one of our most favorite spots.

We have nothing to report from the National finals so we had to rely on the great scenery for entertainment. The finals at Carbondale was fantastic. The sheep were even (but tough) the fields were perfect and the set out of course was #1! You couldn't have asked for a better place to be at a dog trial. The weather however...is weird!

A brief "gee what happen to her dogs" statement goes like this

"Soot" - sheep were a snap for her..HOWEVER..the type of sheep caused Fetch Deafness..a new disease that rarely occurs at 150 yards or less...(Naughty girl!)

"Sly"- sheep were heavy (as they were for all) . She listened, got around well, but a brief "sheep refuse to go around the post epidemic" struck as we really needed those minutes that were wasted away trying to convince the sheep "all was ok"!

"Callie"- Goal was met we didn't kill a sheep..she acted trained..however was basically run off by the wolf savvy beasts!

"Lace"- Outrun was Baaad...sheep were skeered due to the poor introduction of k9 to Ovine..

so that said..it's a long road home!! Prior to our leaving we added this to our madness

Moss the Mountain

Moss too quite a bit more real estate in the back seat...well more than Jesse the biotch was willing to share but after about 300 miles he settled in for the long road home.

Day 1 on the road was a long 10 hour day ending up in plenty of drama..a dog attack, a flat tire so...needless to say day 2 on the road wouldn't start as early as we had hoped. 9 hours was about our limit...I suggested we take a side trip then day 3 would be four hours home...a cinch and no traffic!!

The side trip we took is one we have always wanted to do. We decided to take a stab at the 'Ol Calico Ghost Town!

 Calico Ghost Town

Train Ride

All Aboard!

We walked around this town for hours..we had a blast, went on a train ride, mine tours, cold beer, and many laughs!

Adorable...well the town too!

We even took the time to travel back into the 1800's ourselves...

REWARD!!

After a nice afternoon of walking and sight seeing...we settled into a nice quiet camping spot where the K9z could run loose and burn off a little steam!

No neighbors!!! 

So after the side trip it was an uneventful 4 hours home the next day!! We are still trying to get back in the swing of the daily life and jobs..we look forward to the next one..as for now  we'll keep training (and clean the wax out of Soot's ears!!) As the old saying goes "there is no place like home!!"

Parched pastures welcomed the rain..shortly after our arrival!!!

Under the weather..is "Stretch"ing it...

Personal talk about the hill field in Zamora, and well "the lack of performance"!

Suede (aka: Stretchy noodle) is one of our special boys!! This photo is one of his normal poses! (hands are on this dog all the time) Not only is he great on the sheep, he is the sweetest most laid back boy in the group. Sunday morning at the big field down the road he was what I would call absolute perfection. I was complaining to Ron GEE I WISH HE WAS QUALIFIED...He didn't make the cut for the nurseries this year, was born bad date wise, but is going to be a hell - of  - a - dog! Sunday afternoon we were on a walk with the dogs..when Ron noticed a HUGE (grapefruit) sized lump on his side. Of course immediately we think he is dying. All those weird thoughts go through your head like "was that why he was so good on the field this morning", is "this why he is such a love" ...anyway..trying not to hyper-ventilate, I simply say that feels weird, I am taking him in.

Well long story short...of course I cannot get into my "regular" vet, so I have to see a new one in the 8 doctor practice. We didn't hit it off that well with her, however clinically she seemed to  be doing the right things. We agreed that this needed checking, both cellular and surgically. The cytology showed just some bacteria and white blood cells. So the chances of him dying of cancer were slimming. I decided to leave him there for the afternoon and they would do the surgery. It was apparent this needed draining.

side view of his LUMP-Removal

Close up of the pretty stitching job!

Numerous calls later to the vet..at 8:00 pm she still hadn't done the surgery. I was quite frank on the phone..stating I would have brought the dog back the next day had I known she couldn't do it...anyway I was annoyed to say the least. At 11 pm she called to say she had done everything, he was awake and fine. The mass was an abscess that was surrounded by granulated tissue (hence the hardness of the lump) no foxtail, no foreign body, just an abscess.

Stretchy is now laying around in my office and is being put on house arrest for a few weeks. I guess things work in mysterious ways..had he been qualified for the nurseries he couldn't have run...aren't things bizarre?

Son of a Gun and Jules little Mint..

Captured for crate time!!

Our newest addition'(s) have arrived from Georgia...These 2 pups are grand babies of our lines. We were privileged to have sold K9znewe"Gunner" (Sweep x Jesse) to Matt Cook in Georgia. These pups are out of Matt's good bitch Jules and sired by Gunner. When Matt told us of the new litter we had to have them. This is a repeat breeding  of our little Kori. Kori is very keen, has a great temperament and has been a lot of fun to raise. We are really happy to have had a shot at getting these cute little one's. For now we are calling the little girl "Mint" she was brought over for someone else (HOWEVER...I am hoping I can keep her!) Name still pending on our boy!!!

Our Boy!! 

The two-some!!!

Ewers Last Chance to wrap it up....

We had a nice quaint trial at the house over the weekend. 60 dogs a day ran (30 in Open, 20 in Pro-Novice, and 11 in Nursery) We got fairly lucky with the weather, we had heavy cloud cover so it made the high humidity bearable (or well almost). We furnished lots of shade and cold drinks for the handlers. Seemed like everyone had a great time.

Handlers enjoying a "potluck" handler's dinner!!!

Some of the standouts of the trial that come to mind was our own K9znewe"Lace" who won the nurseries both days. Lace is a young nursery dog that will be running at the National Finals.

K9znewe"Lace"

Another stand out team this weekend was Jesse (Mom to Lace) and Ron. Wining both days of the pro-novice!!

Ron and Jesse!!! WINNERS Sat and Sun. at "Ewers Last Chance SDT"

After all this little girl has been through, she felt good enough to to run at the trial. (she hasn't been worked in 6 months) She has battled to stay alive on more than one occasion. Being that the trial was at home I thought  I'd give her a shot at running!! Callie ran a nice course on the first day settling in the middle of the pack. Day 2 Nursery Callie had a nice run only bobbling at the first drive gate. She ended with a score of 78 good enough to qualify for the National Finals Nursery!

Callie...Gets qualified!!! 

We have not decided whether she will run at Carbondale or not, we are not certain her damaged lungs can handle the elevation and or whether we can get her schooled enough to be competitive...but none the less just getting her this far is both a goal and a miracle!

Sly was another standout of the weekend, with a strong 3rd. place finish in Open on day #2.  A bobble on the the outrun (so much for home field advantage) kept her from winning!! I am happy to have gathered the last few point we would need to put us in a more solid slot in the finals list of entries. I will be competing with her in the Open at Carbondale, along with Soot..(who did not trial this  weekend!)

A few other standouts of the weekend were Bob Dias with his veteran dog McCloud winning the Open on Day 1, he had a nice clean run, and a well deserved win for he and his partner! Sara Goodman had a good weekend coming in 3rd. in Open 1 and 2nd in Open 2..surely there is a good partnership forming with this young pair. Day 2 open was won my Mike Meredith with his good dog "Gus". Mike and Gus are a winning combination! Some other good runs this weekend were Tricia Guidry and her 2 good girls "Tipper and Tara" , Jeff Blackstone and Dusk,  and Terry Parrish with Zula. The Nursery had a strong roster as well, and the Nursery dogs had to be on their best behavior, and like I mentioned above they were!! Pro-Novice had a strong group running also. Ron to win both days with Jesse and 4th. with Sweep on day #1. Others in the pro-novice included, Karen smith with a nice run, Albion Urdank with a nice solid run and many others!

A big thanks to Angela Akers who was an outstanding Judge! The sheep were really really nice, not as easy as everyone thought. There was a different spin on the word "farm flock" when many of us failed to pen and single in the open on day #1!! The Open class ran on rambouillet's and the Pro-novice/ Nursery ran on dorpers.

It was a really fun weekend, very few whiners (YEAH!!!!) no complainers! A nice relaxed atmosphere!Thank you to everyone who came and helped out, we really appreciate the volunteers!

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger..

July 20, 1991 was a tragic day for our family. My brother Tim (18 years old)  had gone to the desert with a friend to ride ATV's. They were on a leisurely ride, when my brother's axle broke on his bike. The axle severed his femoral artery and he bled to death. There was no alcohol, no drugs, just quite simple a tragic accident. For those of you who don't know the story that is it in a nutshell. That day will never be forgotten, nor will our parents ever be the same. It's the one day in my life I will never forget where I was, or what I was doing, time stood still. How were we going to make it through? But more so than that how would my mom make it through. Well she has struggled and struggled over the years, and will never make it through to the point where she is healed. The scars are forever there and the heart is forever broken. My father is stoic and strong..but really doesn't need to be. Our family is so close yet was torn apart. Mom and dad separated and everyone had to pick themselves up and do it.

The tragedy changes the way you view life..it lessens the way you love. There is always guard there, trying to cover the wound that is open for eternity. No one's problems seem big enough to really matter, these are the daily struggles you deal with in a loss like this. I have tried to soften my approach in life to make people feel like their problems matter, but it has been a struggle.  There are family occasions, weddings, parties, babies, puppies, and ALWAYS someone missing. I would give anything for him to have met Ron, for him to have met the dogs, the nieces, the sister in law. It's easy for some to say he is always there, it harder to believe it. As I have watched my mother struggle over the years, I have learned to endure the pain, and to quit the fight. Life is too short to sweat the small stuff, too short to be in bad relationships, too short to be unhappy, too short to work with people you don't like. It is simple ...Life is too short PERIOD. We get caught up and complain, about this and that, but frankly the truth is I wish my brother was here to bitch about with me...unfortunately he never had the opportunity. So just remember when things seem tragic, or hard...there is always something worse, or someone suffering more. It's easy to lose perspective of what's important, so maybe this was the lesson from the tragedy, we need to try hard and love deep, and don't forget to just say the three simple words I LOVE YOU daily. I remember when my brother was leaving for the desert that day, we passed on the stairs and said BYE have fun...I never thought that would be the last time, but I'll tell you there is never a time when Ron and I part that we don't say I LOVE YOU ..because God knows...it may be the last time.

The grass is always greener..or taller

We just returned from a dog trial in Tremonton Utah. The grass was too tall really to have a good trial, but the field was nice and the people even nicer. The range ewes were savvy and quick to outwit the over grassed border collie. Open didn't fair well with 17 scores the first day out of 50 dogs.

Our stars of the trip were K9znewe"Lace" taking second in the nursery where she got a qualifying leg.

BUT ...Our even BIGGER STARS were Ron and Sweep and Ron and Jesse. You really could see the open dog experience coming out in these dynamic pairs. The grass was no problem and the fetch even less of a problem. You could see the experience shine through and there was no way Jesse and Sweep were going to let those sheep go!! Ron did a good job handling on the drive and an even better job when he and Sweep got to the pen. I knew in my head Sweep would get the job done if Ron could keep him calm. Sweep has always been a good finisher but Ron had never been to a pen with Sweep!! As a team would they got the job done!! Ron had a 5th place finish with Jesse in round 1 and had a 5th. place finish with Sweep in round 2 not too shabby considering he has gone to the post with Sweep once! I was so thrilled for the three of them and Ron was too!!! Good job baby!! Open is not too far off!!!

Phase 3 of the "Raising our own" campaign!

We decided this year we were going to raise our own food. This would consist of a beef, a bunch of  cornish hens and a pig! Angus the beef is  3 weeks out of the freezer. 2 weeks ago the cornish met their maker, and in the freezer they went. This weekend our new girl arrived. Meet Babe!

Babe gets a bath!

Babe plays in the dirt

People think we are ridiculous and crazy that we have these animals to raise and butcher for food. After Raising the beef "Angus" we will have approximately $4.00 per lb. into all that meat. Let alone the quality, have you tried grocery store meat lately? Have you seen the cost of food?? We are so fortunate that the ranch next door with the exception of the cornish hens has all these animals for sale at various times. We have somehow been able to stagger the animal raising in a way that we have never been feeding all of them at once. When one species was ready we would butcher and get the next. The cornish hens were at full weight in  approximately 4 weeks...at .92 per bird how can you go wrong!! So all we are saying if you have a chance to raise your own food and have it processed your way...do it.. it's worth the reward!!