Taylos 1st day at Obedience Class...

Last night was Taylor's 1st day at Obedience Training Class...

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Obviously I could not take pictures, I had my hands full. So this picture is from their website of another class... significantly farther along than we are.

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I was so shocked when I walked up... there were about 50 dogs of every breed you could imagine already there. A few Labs, a poodle, a Labradoodle, a Rhodesian Ridge back, a couple of bulldogs, a boxer, a collie, a sheep dog, a few mutts... it was quite an array.

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I was so nervous, Taylor does not do well with distractions and this class was all about distractions! That is why they sign up so many at a time... they believe the more they can learn with distractions, the better trained they will be in the real world of distractions.

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Well until we started working with the dogs, we had to sit in a half circle and listen and watch the trainer demonstrate techniques. But don't let your dog touch another dog.

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Okay, easier said than done.

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My puppy can pull 12 refrigerators by herself!!! She is so strong!!!

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My arms are so sore from hanging on to her all night.... I am literally crippled today, and I have leash burns across every knuckle!!

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But the good news is, she did really well and we have already been working and practicing on walking on a 12 foot line and she is no longer pulling me down the street. Now my little Taylor does use the full 12 feet at this point... but it is okay and she is learning!

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I am so excited to have hope of imaging this...

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Off-Leash Obedience
Imagine this: you stroll through a meadow while your dog romps in the sunshine. A rabbit bolts and your dog starts after it. You give a one-word command and she wheels around, bounding cheerfully back to sit expectantly at your feet. Another command from you and your dog heels sedately at your left side. You stop. She sits attentively. You tell her to lie down and stay and you walk off to investigate something. You give the release command and she frolics off to continue your companionable outing together. No leash. No shock collar. No food bribes. No panic. You have full confidence that your dog is under control. At Scotch Pines Dog Training we believe that true obedience must extend beyond the six foot leash. Because gates get left open and leashes slip. Because real life, even in your backyard, is off leash. Our goal is to instill off-leash reliability whether your dog is walking with you along a mountain trail or a city street, whether there are other dogs or children about, or even whether a cat zips by.

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Wouldn't that just be too weird, to have her not rip out of my hands when a cat "zips by"!!!

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There is lots and lots of homework (I hate homework), but if you don't do it, "you and your dog will flunk"! So I guess I am now committed!

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So if you need me, I will be at the park training and bribing kids to distract my dog so she will graduate obedience class!

The Neighborhood Water Issues...

Our little neighborhood has a pump that runs the irrigation water down to all of our houses, and it seems since my strong silent mysterious man who works on pumps for a living moved on the street, he has been silently elected to get the 1st call when anyone notices a lack in pressure, or any water issues at all.

While he is really good at what he does, this just has not been a very healthy situation at our house. It normally comes at the most in-opportune times, and never when he is feeling generous and willing or able to deal with the problems.

Well last week was no exception, he had been working tons of overtime and finally made it home late one night, only to receive several visitors from the neighborhood asking about why the water pressure was so low.

So he walked down to the pump house and started assessing the situation... at some point, I decided to walk down to see if I could help out (yeah right). When I arrived on the scene, there was a very heated argument going on between my husband and another man and what appeared to be his wife who lived down an adjacent street.

Apparently, the valves that indicate how much water goes down which pipe can be manually adjusted and this guy was taking the liberty of moving them to serve him efficiently, not taking into consideration anyone else down the line.

So to make a really long story short... my peace making skills kicked in... and the man who felt like since he had lived when all of this land was pastures and fields, he had control of the water, finally agreed to work with me on a schedule, all was better.

In the meantime, all the lack of water flow had caused a major gush of leaves and junk into our pump, so we recruited another neighbor and they pulled the pump to clean out the filter.

Not as easy as it looks...
Several thousand pounds...Some herkin' tools and straps...
But they got it lifted, disconnected, cleaned out, re-connected... and lowered back in place...
It was a dirty job... hey where is that teenager?
Yeah, don't be thinking your going to get out of working when there is heavy lifting and dirty cleaning to do!!

He was a great help to his Dad... and at least willing this time!

We have so many single ladies on our street, a strong silent man comes in handy!

I am so thankful my husband is so generous and giving of his time and talents in these situations. He is a good guy!

But the word "water" is a touchy subject at our house.

Fathers Day 2008...

Sunday was Fathers Day and Uncle Fred invited us over to Lucille and Waynes, and Tom and Cathy were coming over along with some of Lucilles family.

We had such a good time visiting...
and the food was amazing... Uncle Fred had grilled some chicken and roast.... yum!
We got to play with the baby... and get to know some of Lucilles grand kids a little better.

One of the boys had served his mission in the southern states and learned to make boiled peanuts!!!!!!!!

OMG ~ They are my favorite in the whole world... I thought I had died and gone to heaven!!

These things really bring back memories from my childhood trips to stay with my grandparents during the summers.

He didn't use green peanuts, but roasted peanuts from Costso... and they were pretty good!

Not quite as squishy, but really yummy!!!

Here is Uncle Tom and Aunt Cathy...
And Aunt Lucille...Peggy and her daughter Brooke... (cooling down a sunburn from the day before)
And Peggy with her husband...

I love being with family, and I miss my family so much. It was a great day, and fun to be with family for Fathers Day.