National Walking Day

Today was National Walking Day.  I participated in a local event over my lunch hour.  I brought my camera and explored the area where I work.

Easter Sunday - Visit to Sugar Grove Nature Center

Hope you had a wonderful Easter!  We celebrated on Saturday with family, so Sunday was open for adventure.  We spent a part of the afternoon at the Sugar Grove Nature Center, which has several trails.  We didn't see many animals - just a few birds - but did spot several animal tracks in the mud on the trails.

We took a lot of pictures.  I have to go thru all of them, but here are a couple of quick edits:

31 Days of Training - Day 13

We got a lot of training in today ...

First, I took Teddy to the club so I could teach my last class for the winter session.  We just had a few minutes before it was time to set up the class course, so Teddy did a couple reps of "ready - set - go" over a set of three jumps.

When we came back home, Annie and Louie were ready and eager to have their turn to play.  Louie worked on the "bang it" game again.  He is catching on quickly.  We also worked "ready - set - go" with the plank and did some weaves.

Annie worked on down/stay first, since that wasn't going very well yesterday.  Today, she did them much better.  We also worked heeling and recalls.  I was playing around yesterday and today and discovered that she knows how to back up pretty well!  We used to practice that against a wall, but now she is getting really good at doing it without the wall right next to her.  What a good girl!

Teddy got another turn to play.  He did "ready - set - go" with the plank and did some recalls and sends thru the weaves.

I was just browsing my pictures folder and found these pictures from several years ago ... just had to share:

Here's a link to a picture of Louie from this past weekend .. he really can fly:  Louie Sunday Jumpers

31 Days of Training - Day One

I created a training challenge on my Shih Tzu Agility blog called 31 Days of Training.  Each day, participants practice "something" with their dog(s) - agility, obedience, tricks, manners.  Just a little bit each day makes a difference and strengthens the dog/owner bond.

Today was "Day One" - here is my training session:

Louie - worked contacts (running on a board) and weaves - channel (six poles) and weave entrances.

Note to self: It's difficult to take pictures (and train).  Just don't have enough free arms.  Use the tripod and the remote.

Teddy: Worked weaves (send thru the channel weaves) using the Ready Treat remote trainer.

Annie: Couldn't wait for her turn.  Was so excited she nearly jumped off of the back of the couch into the training area.  We worked on obedience - heeling and recalls.

Day 1 = Success!  Looking forward to Day 2.

Louie - before the show

I took this photo of Louie right before we were going to leave for a "dog show" - agility trial.  He was so excited to go that he didn't want to "stay" for a picture.  I was able to get this quick one before he raced for the door. 



He qualified that weekend - was 20 seconds under course time.  Not bad for a dog who is almost thirteen years old.

Louie's Agility Run

Windy Westie Photo Day

Yesterday, during the super windy afternoon, I was able to spend some time with my friend Dawn and her West Highland White Terrier, Einstein, for some photos in the park.  We were able to get a few good ones where it didn't look like he was going to blow away to Oz!  (That's a different kind of terrier that does that.)

And here's Einstein showing off how smart he is (he lives up to his name, of course):

It's been a while since I have posted to the blog; I need to share more often.

Happy Birthday, Leapin Louie

Today is a very special day - it's Leapin Louie's birthday!  He's 12 (or three ... depending how you look at it - and that's not the first time I've said that today!)

Louie is my first Shih Tzu and what has got me involved in this "crazy" world of dogs.  I thought this would be a good opportunity to share Louie's story.

I got interested in Shih Tzu when a friend of mine bought one.  Baxter shares a birthday with me and I'm his special Auntie.

THE SEARCH ...
In 2000, when we were in the process of building our first home, I knew that we needed a dog (the cats disagreed).  I started my search in early March.  My original search consisted of a call to my vet for referrals.  This lead to a chain of phone calls which eventually led me to Louie's breeder, who was about two hours southwest of here.  I wanted a male, and she had just had a litter of three pups, one was male.  Something about this seemed "right" to me, so I agreed to put a deposit on him, sight unseen.  What a risky move!  She said that we could plan a visit to see him at about six weeks of age, and we'd pick him up a few weeks later.

It occurred to me after I hung up the phone that the breeder mentioned the litter being born about "a week an a half ago" - which was close to February 29th.  When I talked to her again, I asked the date of birth ... sure enough, leap year pups.

This is one of the first pictures I have of Louie - he's on the right.

THEN CAME THE WAITING ...

In the weeks to follow, I started planning for our "new arrival."  Pets.com had been recently launched and I did quite a bit of my first ever online shopping.  (Louie still has a toy from those initial purchases.)  

We got to go down and visit with Louie when he turned six weeks old.  I borrowed my friend's digital camera and took some pictures.  (First time I ever used a digital camera!)  By this time, we already knew that we wanted to name him Louie, but hadn't thought of a "registered" name for him.

 That's me with Louie.  Ignore my perm.

 Louie is less than thrilled about the basket pose.

 So cute - mini Louie.

 First "Smilin' Lou" photo

Cute puppy belly.

MORE TO COME!

"Is that a real dog?" -- My day at the dog show.

A group of us went to Chicago for the International Kennel Club's annual AKC dog show.  The show includes conformation, obedience, and rally (and VENDORS!).  They used to also offer agility; I showed Louie there several years ago.  I have to admit ... this particular show is much more fun to go there as a spectator rather than an exhibitor.  (Lots of walking involved to get to the show area.  I'd hate to tote all of my show stuff around there.)

This is Chase.  If he looks familiar, you may have seen him before ... he won Best of Breed at Westminster recently (and was on TV for the group judging.)  Chase belongs to a friend of mine.

One of the questions I heard a few times as Chase was waiting in the grooming area for his show time, was "Is that a real dog?"

Self-Portrait

I worked on creating a self-portrait for this challenge on Two Peas in a Bucket.  Since it's pretty much dark by the time I get home from work, I decided to take a try at using my "cheapie" flash - not a Speedlite and not the camera's built in flash.  Better than nothing?  I'm not sure!

I also got a reflector for Christmas, so this was my first attempt at using it.

I set the self-timer, grabbed Teddy and gave this a shot!  (Pun intended!)

Kit lens with flash and reflector.  f/3.5, 1/125 sec, ISO 400

SOOC - You can see where the reflector was place.  I'm assuming that it should have been closer to actually done any good?

EDITED, COLOR -  I removed the stray hair on my forehead and cloned out the shadow on the vase.  Warmed it up too and ran a vintage action.

EDITED, B/W - Wasn't sure how I liked my silver cardigan up against the tan sofa and wall, so I converted the image to black & white.

Breakfast on the move

Normally, Teddy eats his meals in his crate, so he can't go anywhere.  However, over Christmas, he ate his meals in the kitchen.  He gets so "into" eating that he ends up pushing his bowl all over the room.

Seasons Greetings from the Shih Tzu Crew

Deck the Halls

We spent all day yesterday getting the house decorated for Christmas.  Two (artificial) trees again this year ... one in the living room and one in the family room.

For both images, I used a tripod.  I also used my camera's self-timer so that I didn't have any camera shake from pressing the shutter.

 f/22 | ISO 800 | 4 sec

f/22 | ISO 800 | 4 sec

Angry Bird

Louie got a new toy ... an Angry Bird!  It makes sounds, which Louie LOVES.

Sheltie Party!

We are dog sitting two Shelties for the weekend.  Two of my Shih Tzu, Louie and Annie are enjoying the houseguests.  However, Teddy, the baby, doesn't really know what to think.  He's not as happy.

It is nice to have some new "models" to shoot!  Just wish daylight lasted longer so I could have more time to play.

Spare Change

This photo was from my photography club's monthly photo challenge.  It was the first time I've submitted an entry.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to attend the meeting which included the photo judging ... so I don't know how this photo did.  I am pleased with how it turned out.

Sunset in Wisconsin

Photo of the Day - October 9, 2011

Teddy and I went to the TDAA (Teacup Dogs Agility Association) Petit Prix national tournament this weekend in Brookfield, Wisconsin.  We made the finals in 2009 when the tournament was held in Racine, WI.

Unfortunately, this isn't 2009 anymore.

We didn't do nearly as well as we did then, only qualifying once.  Not sure what the difference was, but it just wasn't going to be our year.

Oh well, we still had fun.  We spent a lot of time with friends.  Shopped.  Ate good food.  Took pictures.  Had a vacation day from work (and a bad day at agility still beats a good day at work!)

This was taken on Friday night.

S'Mores!

Photo of the Day - September 2, 2011

I made these wonderful S'mores bars earlier this week.  I found the recipe on Pinterest (see my "food" board - using the link on the right to my Pinterest to get the recipe.)

I will definitely make them again!

Balloon Fest 2011

We went to the Lincoln Balloon Fest today.  Spent a lot of time browsing the art show and craft show/flea market.  Walked around the airport and saw some old planes and a lot of fun kites.

There was only one thing missing.  HOT AIR BALLOONS!  Apparently, we didn't get there at the right time to see the action.  We will keep that in mind for next time!

Photo of the Day

Another beautiful evening to go outside and have some fun with the dogs and the camera.

Teddy demonstrated how he likes to "twirl" for treats.

Annie - who only has to give "the look" to get her treats.

Photo of the Day

Clean Doggies!

I'm working on getting the dogs groomed - baths and haircuts.  Two down, one to go.

Here's Teddy with his new trim.

Even caught him mid-yawn.  Love these yawn photos!!!