MACH Jetta!

Being able to witness a few of the MACHs won in 2009 by local handlers and their canine partners was pretty heady stuff. But the one final qualifying run I wanted to see above all others came in October in Boise. Unfortunately we didn't make that trial, so I can only imagine how nicely Jetta must've run for Leslie -- who surely must've been on the verge of exploding on the inside but was just as surely as cool as the other side of the pillow on the outside.

With that run Leslie Dixwell got her first MACH and Jetta became only the third Swedish Vallhund ever to MACH in the US.

Leslie's MACH is personal for Suzie and I because Leslie was one of the first local trainers to befriend us when Suzie began doing agility with Corky, our first corgi. Prior to Jetta, Leslie had competed with corgis, mostly in obedience but also in agility. In fact, Jetta's MACH might not have been her first but for the fact that two of her corgis, Kela and Bell, had physical problems that forced them into early retirement. Bell once did place first in agility at Corgi Nationals. (And Kela earned a UD, which Leslie says is a close second to Jetta's MACH, as achievements go.)

Obviously I am biased but I believe Leslie is one of the best agility trainers we have in Utah. She's New School in that she regularly trains with Susan Garrett and Greg Derrett, and is constantly bringing new thought and exercises to training sessions. She's Old School in that she'll ride your arse hard (but always with a smile!) about lazy handling or not getting your dog sufficiently revved up to work. Although a MACH is not in the cards for me and Wyatt, the improvements in speed and drive that he and I experienced this past year are all Leslie's doing.

How They Got There & Where They're Going

Jetta is now seven and-a-half. It took two years of trialing to get to her MACH. Leslie says things only started to gel when she began stopping Jetta on contacts -- and when she became a better handler herself. "Most of it is consistency and handling," she says, adding "there comes a time when it is second nature to go around the agility course." (Wonder if Wyatt and his numnutts handler will ever have that feeling!)

If the late-January Golden Spike Obedience Club agility trial is any indication, there may just be a MACH II in their future: at the three day trial Jetta had three Double Qs. They now stand at 6 Double Qs toward a MACH II.

The Ad

Suzie ran point on getting friends and, with Donald's help, family lined up to support the purchase of a full-page ad in this month's issue of Clean Run. The ad is unique to all of those I've ever seen. Thst'd thanks to the graphic design skills of Eric Larson, another student of Leslie's, who donated his time to put the ad together.

Dragonflys, Gallery Expiration Dates for 2009 and PayPal

As if Puccini isn't reward enough for pressing the shutter, on this particular frame (taken at the Great Salt Lake Dog Training Club Agility Trial in September) I was rewarded by what I initially thought was a dust speck. What are the odds? Thanks to Anne Ibach for pointing it out.

(Click on the photo for a bigger view.)

Puccini and friend

On to housekeeping:

To prepare for the upcoming outdoor season, and to make changes to my web site, I'll be removing the majority of Agility galleries from the site at the end of February. This applies to all trials prior toSeptember. The September trials will be online until the end of April.

I hope that's not confusing. If in doubt please visit the gallery in question; each one now sports an expiration date at the top of the page.

And finally: Pay Pal

Because I have had so many requests for it, I am now accepting payments (online) via PayPal.

Kalli and Buddy

The Pearce family is blessed with one adorable group of kids and, well, canine kids. Justin, Trevor and Sophie just couldn't have been more easy to work with. The same for Kalli (the beagle) and Buddy (a doxey). The key to this shot -- which was really, really easy to get considering the number of beating hearts involved -- was that Kalli and Buddy are at their calmest with Trevor. Once we knew that the composition sort of took care of itself.

Thanks to Angie (mom) for bringing the kids over for this pre-Christmas siting.

Hades

(Note: I'm playing blog-catch-up after a very busy 4th quarter and the Christmas rush. I count myself very fortunate to have been inundanted with Christmas cards and portraits. I hope to share many of them in the coming weeks.)

Hades

Hades belongs to Thomas Van Wyngarden, a local attorney I met through the City Pet Club (more on that in another post). At the time of this sitting, in mid-November, Hades was eight months young.

In spite of Hades' dark coat, we decided to see what we might get by going with a dark background. We weren't disappointed! This 'Cute Puppy' look is just adorable. Of the images we printed, Tom tells me this one gets the most comments.

But you be the judge. Here are a few others:

(Click on any of these shots for a bigger view in a separate window.)

All for this post...

A funny thing happened on the way to the pound...

Cisco

I had absolutely no interest in making an addition to our family this summer when I started getting texts, and then photos, about this "adorable" little corgi-heeler mix at the local Humane Society Animal Shelter. Over my dead body, I told myself. Being a good sport (and a wise husband) I decided to go along and have a look, thinking I could come up with some valid reason(s) why we shouldn't bring him home. But a funny thing happened when I spent some time with the little guy that day at the pound.

"We can foster him," was my intitial justification for bringing him home. The very first week we had two offers from friends (who I know would have given him a good home), but I found myself making excuses as to why they wouldn't be a good fit.

Suzie and I have concluded that I suck at fostering.

So the dog then known as Bear, briefly known as Jesse James and now living up to that other outlaw moniker has found a home.

The relationship has not been without its trials.

Those were perfectly good slippers BC -- Before Cisco. And his vocal ablilities rival his demolition skills. Oh, and his relationship with the pack? The Steel Cage Death Match fights with Wyatt were hard to prevent and very hard to take. Josie initially feared Cisco so much she went into hiding. I don't think I've ever been read the riot act as frequently as during those early days. I can now admit that I privately had my doubts about whether it would all work out.

But ever so slowly, things did work themselves out -- maybe because they just do but more likely because we sought counsel from friends and trainers with FAR more experience than us in understanding dog behavior. And we worked with Cisco.

Cut to 6 months after putting the pound experience behind him and Cisco is a pretty happy boy with a pretty good life.

He's still a Bad Ass. Our friends Eric and Mia say that if Cisco had his own symbol, it would a skull and crossbones. I tend to agree. But he's very smart, has serious drive, and wants to work. And the more we work with him, the better his behavior and attitude.

Cisco's also fast, far faster than Wyatt (who can actually get up and go when he wants to). I see agility in his future.

As far as their relationship goes, Wyatt and Cisco get along far better now. (This photo is of the pair, begrudgingly but patiently posing for me over the holidays, which we spent in LA, far away from the cold!)

They mostly leave each other alone but they also play. It's funny how you get to know certain sounds, a certain look or other behavior that can signal that it's about to be 'on.' Having a better understanding of these triggers has made for a much more peaceful existence for them and us.

An unintended consequence of Cisco having found his way to us is that Wyatt -- as jealous as they come -- wants to train more when he sees me working with Cisco.

So I'm really happy with our new addition. On top of everything else, he's also a pretty handsome little guy who mostly doesn't mind being photographed!

(Click on any of these photos for a bigger view)

Christmas Cards Anyone?

Hot of the press, here's our 2009 prototype:

Last year, last minute we produced a Christmas card from a picture of our pooches. We received so many comments that we decided to offer cards this year to anyone who might be interested.

Suzie and I had a blast last night shooting this shot and some long-overdue individual portraits of Wyatt, Josie and Cisco. (I'll post some, and a introduction to Cisco, our Pound Puppy and resident devil, soon.)

I prefer an all-white background but other colors can work too. It's all a matter of personal taste. We searched in vain for Santa-type Christmas caps this weekend but came up empty. It turns out everything is seasonal. So this may not be the image we send out...

Drop me a line or call if you are interested in a card of your pooch(es). The sooner the better as it is already mid-October.

Portrait Gallery Update

It's long overdue but I'm finally posting an updated gallery. If your name is Cesar, Markie MACH, Jessie or Zeus, you'll wanna check yourself out!

That's Cesar up top. I played around with this particular shot a little to try and highlight his spectacular beard and salt and pepper coat. I wonder if Doggy Photographer Heaven isn't a place where you can shoot portraits of Schnauzers and agility shots of Briards, Havanese and different spaniels in flight with their ears floating like they do...