What A Winter!

FYI--I am not Marcella--this is her mother writing--she has been so busy with work and playing with the dogs, training the dogs, helping me with Ellee's service dog training, and teaching at the club--I am helping(?) her out with this!  We are adding some pages, one about agility training and issues and another information source page--dog illnesses, canine health issues, local referrals like groomers and dog day care and vets, etc.  Thee pages are under construction but some of the referrals are in my posts to her blog.        

Well winter didn't really start till late this year as we were actually boating on Lake Cumberland until the end of November....the jumping in and out of the water was pretty quick  by the end of October, but the boat rides and runs on the shore didn't end till later!  The dogs learned to ride on the wave runners and take slow tow rides on the tubes,,.always supervised with vests on and safety factors in place. It was one of the best years of boating ever  for me (and that covers almost 60 summers on the lake)  all because of the boatin pooches!  Tulla and Boo absolutely loved playing fetch in the water, We had great fun at the Red Roof Inn in Somerset, who always made our pack welcome. Steele and Kodi were always up for a swim to the shore, and Ellee loved every moment of any of it!  When we lived on the house boat we placed a  big piece of sod in a plastic shallow storage bin and it made a  on board potty for late at night.  The dogs were good about barking when they needed a break  Though there was the time Ellee started barking and looking at the shore--and all of us on the boat kept looking at the shore and trying to see what she was barking at, until finally she turned around and looked at us--then walked over and started to go---you never saw so many people put on life jackets and head for shore so fast!  Ellee also taught Kodi how to chase Butterflies--it actually looked llike she was teaching him! And they learned pretty early on that when we went to the dock there was a treat, ice cream or popscicles, or some kind of reward.  Obviously they drew attention which ever dock we went to gas, whether they were on the boat or riding in on the wave runners, people noticed.  Chasing waves was another great game as  summer rolled into winter.  Ellee did give us a scare as she caught her paw in the bar around the rail on the ski boat--not jumping around or rough housing--just went to shift position and slipped--we drove all the way home to be sure she had the best of care, even though I was sure it was just a sprain.
( I absolutely love the quality of care the animals and families get at Animal Referral and Emergency Center.)  Since she works as my service dog, I needed to be sure she was alright, and an x-ray and some rest later--- She was ready to go the next weekend without any problems.  By the time we pulled out the boats out of the lake for the season,  it was Thanksgiving and time to plan for the holidays--so this year instead of the usual decorating I opted to buy each animal their own stocking and fill it--no gifts for the people, just the grrand pups, cats, and bunnies.  It was great fun for me, finding exactly the right stocking for each personality...even a bunny one for Cinnabun.  And what would the Holidays be without a HOLIDAY COMPETITION!  New Years Eve pertying got cut off just after the toast as we needed a good nights sleep for the comp the next morning..although they always start an hour later the morning of January first.  Our party was short  but fun--playing pool, dancing to beat the WII and enjoying the super stuffed pretzel!  Even the dogs wore party hats--check their galleries!  And then we (well Marcie and the dogs) were off running, earning more ribbons and spending lap loving time with each dog between runs.  My favorite part of comps is to watch the people walk the course during planning time, pretending they have their dogs with them, directing the imaginary dogs over jumps and through tunnels.  They are so funny, but serious!  And the dog runs that don't go well, while disappointing to the runner, are often the best to watch....the dogs who visit the judge (Kodi), who ones who bark the whole run, Tulla-who spins and spins between obstacles, runners who get lost in the run plan, dogs who get sucked into tunnels and forget to run the rest of the course!  SO many MESSUPS--SO MANY LAUGHS!  It is great live entertainment.   Then it was the end of January and time for Ellee's very first Show and Go run!  yeah!!  We had fun!  Unfortunately for Ellee, training as my service dog has taught her to be more of a slow runner, waiting on me, so Marcie has placed her into her Agility Level II class and runs with her as the class demo dog to help her learn speed.  She seems to be learning quickly that wearing the service vest or my holding the leash means slow work and entering the agility ring means go faster.  Hopefully that will work...over the next few post times I will discuss our quest for day care and grooming,  allergy plls, tick checks and the value of swim lessons! Nice to meet you all!