Those eyes.....

Last night I was at my computer quickly checking something. Caillee came by and sat down on the couhion/pillow next to my desk. She was looking up at me, I looked down at her. Those eyes, Caillee was looking so serious. That's not my Caillee's face. I reached down, rubbed her chin and thought, what could be wrong, why does my little Caillee have such serious eyes right now. What ever could be the matter for my little baby darling. After a second she was all back to smiles and the Caille look I have come to know and adore, then I saw a puddle on the doggie pillow - DAMN, I just praised her for peeing on the pillow!

mom

Don't burst Josie's little bubble....

Cailleach is off at yet another dog show this weekend. I had already paid for the entry fees so she might as well go and work this weekend. I hear she loves it so it’s all ok with me.

I hear from my husband that Josie is happy that Cailleach is gone off but she will be mighty disappointed when she finds out that Cailleach is coming back Sunday night. I won’t burst her bubble for now.

Josie will also be disappointed to find out that she will also be getting a long needed bath too this weekend. I am not sure about tonight though – lucky for her.

mom

Ch. MystykalSky's Cailleach Bheur

As of this weekend, my Little Miss Caillee will forever be known as Little Miss Ch. Caillee. That’s right, she has finished her championship. I don’t have any photos from the event but the photo on your left is the only show photo I have of Little Miss Ch. Caillee so far. I am really sorry I didn’t get a show photo of her when she got her first point – I’m still learning.

Last weekend at the Calgary Kennel and Obedience Club she earned her final championship point and was moved up to Special. And, she got Best of Breed all three days. Way to go Caillee.

According to Laurel, the handler, Caillee loves to show and has tons of fun at the dog shows. Now that’s a true show dog. Well, now that Cailleach is a champion I think I would like to start concentrating on obedience and I know she will do just as well at an obedience ring as she does at a show ring. I sure would like to see a little ‘Nov.’ as the end of her name too. No pressure Cailleewaillee!

Picture of Cailleach - Crocus Show 02/06

Here is a picture of Cailleach at the Crocus Obedience and Kennel Club in Brandon Manitoba last month where she received her Reserve Best in Show award. I hope to see more pictures likes this one.

Judge: G. MacGuaig
Handler: Laurel Skuba
Photographer: Images by Inge

Cuddles

Here is Cailleach and I getting a few cuddles yesterday before she heads out to Calgary for the Calgary Obedience and Kennel show; and I am heading out to Ottawa this weekend. I dropped her off today with the handler and I hope she has fun there without me. Today and tomorrow will be just me and Josie. I hope in some way Josie misses Cailleach.

Josie sleeps on the duffle bag

What’s this? A duffle bag it looks like. I think mommy is going to be off somewhere. There are already some pajamas in there already. Perfect, it sure makes a nice little bed for me. I will just lay down here a moment; she won’t mind.

This bed is sure nice and comfy; I wonder where she is going? I wonder if I am coming along with her. I love taking air planes rides with her and seeing all sorts of new things and meeting all sorts of people. I image that I would be going off to a tropical place, just me and my mom, on a beach perhaps. Gee, that sure sounds nice.

Mom’s calling! We’re going for a walk. Maybe we’re not going away today.

Josie

Mommy has a cold and we benefit from her company

Mommy has been sick for a few days and hasn’t been doing much at all but sleeping. It has been great for me; I have been getting to sleep on the bed all day with mom and Josie. Josie got the one side and I got the other side, I got to curl up beside mommy.

At one point mommy thought it was a good idea to give us each a bone to crew on; hoping the bone would keep us occupied for the afternoon while she continued to sleep. I was OK with that idea but I just had wish Josie would make up her mind of which bone she wanted. They were both very fine bones in my opinion; one had more meat on it but the other one seem to have more marrow on it. It’s a hard choice but I would have been OK with either one.

Well, since mommy has been sick, daddy has been taking care of us. I like it when he takes care of us; he never bothers with vitamins and omega whatever. He even lets us have whipped cream and other stuff that mom would never approve of. The only thing he asks is that we don’t tell her; it will be our little secret.

Caillee

Agility with my Bolognese Josie

NADAC Sanctioned Trail June 2004
One of my favorite things to do with Josie (my Bolognese) is too curl-up with a good book or watch TV on the sofa together. When we are not relaxing together on the sofa, we enjoy other fun activities like dog agility.

I have been loosely involved with dog agility since Josie was six or seven months old. At the time, I did not know that I should have waited until she was two years old before participating in Agility. Many local canine obedience schools offer agility classes and that is how we got started. It was a great outlet for Josie to show off and to be the center of attention. Since then, we have been taking agility classes at a local agility club.

Josie has learned to jump over jumps, run through tunnels and tires, master the titter-totter and conquer dog-walks and walls. Josie needs to learn how to do the weave polls and someday she will. Agility has helped her to build-up her confidence for other activities like adventurous hiking. In addition, it has been a great way for Josie and me to socialize with others.

Though we are new comers to the sport, when we appear at events, Josie and I have managed to raise a few eyebrows. We always skip the weave polls but manage to complete most everything else with great speed. For a small size breed that was historically a lap dog of the nobility, they have speed. My little pumpkin girl is not unique. I have heard from other Bolognese owners who have seen their Bolognese run at fast speeds too; sometimes running circles around other dogs.

You do not have to sign up for an agility class or to join any agility club to enjoy this sport. You can do some of these activities in the comfort of your backyard. For example:

o Use an old coffee table as the table equipment. I use ‘table’ as the command to have her jump up on the table and then I have her down or sit for a few seconds.

o Use two empty ice-scream pales (turned-over) at either end with a broom handle balanced on them. I use ‘jump’ as the command.

o Unless you have several broom handles on hand, you could purchase dowels from your local home improvement store. Five or six should be more than enough to start. Press the dowels into your lawn so they will be able to stand up on their own. Have them in a straight line and about two feet apart. I use ‘weave’ as the command. Starting from one end of the weave poles to the other end, I try to get her to weave in and out between the poles.

If you are interested in participating in agility classes, then check out local canine obedience schools in your area for informal classes or look for local agility club. Here is a list of a few national agility organizations, which you may find a list of member clubs:

o North American Dog Agility Council, Inc.: www.nadac.com

o United States Dog Agility Association: www.usdaa.com

o Agility Association of Canada: www.aac.ca

This article first appeared in the Bolognese Club of America quarterly newsletter, The Band-Wag-On June 2005.