Names

I've settled on two names. They could always change of course but I like them both and they kind of stick to the theme I started with "Moxie".

For a girl, Kharma.
For a boy, Savvy.

What do you think?

Or I really like Zen, it meets the short name common a working sheepdog in England. As does Cam, which was my first choice.
Then there is Rooqui (rookie) Made up of dads name Roo and mums name Quiche.
Or Te Quiero, same concept but spanish for I love you. Of course I would call him Te (tay) for short.....

Oh I don't know! GAH! This is hard.

Tagged!

Hiya pups! My friend BadPanda and her super survivor pup Oso tagged me.

Here are the rules:

Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Dogs who are tagged, need to post in their Diary the rules & their 7 pawsome facts. Then choose 7 dogs to tag and list their names.

Here are 7 fun facts about me! Introducing, Moxie!
1. My favorite toy is my ducky. I've had him since the very first day my Mom brought me home from the shelter
2. I hate it when the cats play with the laser pointer.
3. I love going to the mailbox. Somehow going out the front of the house is a whole different outside than the outside thats out the back door.
4. I still have buckshot in my back leg.
5. I am a shameless begger at mealtimes.
6. Sometimes I tell people my mommy hasn't fed me, even when she has.
7. I will do ANYTHING for ice cream.

Pass on the fun...
Love,
Moxie

I choose:
1) Brutus and Rufus
2) Marley
3) Morph
4) Derby
5) Boomer
6) The Poi dogs
7) Cara

Crufts

Crufts 2008 is March 6th - 9th. If all things go to plan and the stars align properly, that weekend will coincide with my new puppies 8th week of life. What does that mean?

I may be in England for Crufts! How cool would that be. Could I be so lucky? Fingers crossed all around!

More Puppy talk

Just came across this tonight. A webpage dedicated to my puppies sire, Roo.
Weircourt Truly Un Roo Lee


Looks like it hasn't been updated in a bit. There are a few fab videos of him running agility. He has a knock out pedigree. I was already sold on this breeding but now I'm even more excited.

I've decided my puppy will be called Karma, if its a girl, and Cam, if its a boy.

Its going to be a LONG six months.

Is it possible to be over prepared?

I've found out the requirements for importing a dog from the UK to the US today. No rabies vaccine required as the U.K. is a rabies free country! This is excellent news it means I can collect my puppy at 8 weeks of age. Otherwise I would have to wait until he was 16 weeks (30 days post vaccination date at 12 weeks). I want to spend every moment possible with my puppy and really bring him up right.

I found an airlines, Lufthansa, that flies non-stop from DFW to London and will allow me to carry an animal less than 8 kilos in the cabin with me. I wouldn't do this if I had to ship the dog below as cargo. I plan to make my plane reservation as soon as the pregnancy is confirmed. I'm hoping to make the reservations at least three months prior to departure date to get a better price. I'm looking at a little over $1000 for the round trip ticket, another $100 for the puppies return ticket. I'll also need to pay for ground transport in England, Lodging and food while I'm there. And stuff for the puppy I'm sure. Probably a vet visit, food, etc. I'm going to buy the travel kennel and ship it to the breeder ahead of my arrival so she can start getting him used to being in it and quiet. I also want to spend a few days bonding with my puppy before the trip. I want to eliminate as many possible stressors as I can. So being familiar with the crate and with me should help him remain calm on what must be a very strange experience for a dog, an airplane ride.

So these are the things I want to have paid for before I collect my pup:

The puppy itself
The trip to England (flight, transportation, lodging, food, extras)
A travel crate
One of those warming toys with the heartbeat sound the keep the puppy calm in the crate.
A soft pad and several absorbant pads for the trip.
A crate for home.
Bowls
Food
Toys/chews
Leash/Collar
A puppy pack at my vet (Inlcudes all puppy vaccines, wormings, exams, flea/heartworm prevention/ and spay/neuter)
$1000 in an emergency account.

Anything I'm forgetting?

Puppy Update!

It official! Im third on the waiting list so Im pretty much guaranteed a puppy as long as the breeding takes. The pups should be on the ground by January 2008. Merry Christmas to me, Im going to England to pick up my puppy!

Dogs make life worth living.

Moxie and I went to Rally class last night. It was fabulous! I can't wait to start competing again.

Here is our run.



She heels like a hurricane. She is so focussed and snappy. I love it! She's a fabulous little dog. I'm so proud of her.

I'm going to skip agility on Thursday night to attend the GTDOG business meeting so I can join up again. The club has really changed since I've been there last. I look forward to taking part again.

I'm in communication with a women in the UK with two fabulous BC's whose careers I've been following for the past few years. She is planning a litter and I mean to have one of the pups. I have a puppy fund in the works.

This is Quiche the Dam, she is two years old this month.




Roo, the gorgeous sire






Mom and Dad together


A video of Roo


Both of these dogs are amazing. They are everything I want in a border collie. I'm going to put my deposite down soon. Hopefully I can save enought to fly to England to pick up the pup and fly back with it.

Moxie - Back in action!

Moxie and I started taking classes again this week. On Sunday night we went to an agility class. I was unsure of how we would do as its been more than two years since we have been active in agility. Moxie was spot on, though. She ran courses like she had been doing agility every day her entire life. I was far more rusty than she was. Encouraged by our success on Sunday, we made plans to go to a more advanced class on Thursday night.

Tuesday night Moxie and I went back to GTDOG, the obedience club we belonged to and trained with many years ago when I lived in Denton. We dropped in on a Rally class and Moxie was a little star! This was the first time we have even attempted some of the more advanced obedience commands in many years also, but Moxie fetched them from her memory banks and performed each task flawlessly! Next week we are running a full Rally course. I will try to get someone to video our run, so I can show you what a fabulous obedience dog she really is.

Last night we hit that more advanced class in Agility and had a blast. Moxie was very excited and charged up. She is super fast and I am super slow which causes problems for me handling her (she has no problems completeing the obstacles). So we will start working on some distance work to see if we can improve our course times and get some clean, tight runs. I like this class so I think I will stick with it. I may pick up another class if I can find one.

Here is some video from last night. Not clean runs, but deffinately fast. Look at Moxie's tail, it never stops wagging!

This is a jumpers course. Both dropped bars were my fault, handler error. Shes just so fast and I have to be faster. I'm jumping her at a low jump height, just 12 inches, because she is coming off that injury, and she is older, and its been a while since we have trained. I may work up to 16 inch jump heights, but I won't ever run her at full height again. I'm going to put her health over what the agility clubs say she should be jumping.


This is a standard course. Would have been fabulous except she kept anticipating the five second pause table, and we kept having to go back and do it again and again until she held her down for five seconds. We missed the entrance to the weaves, but that was my fault too.

Sadness

I'm kind of having depressing day. I think the finality of it all is hitting me. The vulturs are circling to pick away what is left of my responsibilities in Mexico. Won't be long before I lose my email account, and Syl loses my phone number. It just isn't fair. Life just isn't fair. I've worked so hard, for so many years, for so little. It isn't my fault that I had to back off now. I don't want to give up entirely. I've invested too much time, too much of my heart to just walk away. I had hoped to play a smaller role, for a time, and come back when situations improved. Deep down I knew that it wouldn't work that way. With Syl, its all or nothing. Since I'm not 100% in, I'm out. Its only a matter of time. I feel so completely hopeless. I don't even have the energy to fight it. This is it now, this is my life. Go to work every day, come back home, go to sleep and do it again the next day. Never really making any real difference in the world. Just waiting to die and leave a world who will never miss me, inconsequential as I am. I know, at the end of the day, it was me. It was my fault. I just wasn't strong enough to endure. And for that I am ashamed, but at a loss as to what I could have done to make the outcome any different. He always promised me he would never leave me, but even now, I'm a shadow in the rear view mirror. *sigh*

I don't have alot of hope for my future at the moment. The more I study for my GRE the dumber I feel. There is a very real chance I won't get into grad school. Even if I made the grade, I might not be a good match personality wise. I know my personality isn't the best. I have to work at being open and friendly. I have to remind myself to talk to people. Its so much easier to just live in my head. I've never been good at being social. But I think, when it comes to helping people, I'm different. Compassion takes over. I'm in my element when its one on one. When its about pain, that a language I understand. I can't help but wonder if I will be judged for my past history and my current mental health issues.

There is nothing wrong with my life now, really. I like working at the vet clinic. I have free time to spend with my dog. We can go hiking, we can take classes, we can make friends together. We can even volunteer together. We can help people together. I have my family, a comfortable home, a reliable vehicle, a decent income, friends (if only on a very basic level) Really, its okay. Its just not how I planned to live the rest of my life. Its an idea that will take some getting used to. I think this is what "settling" feels like. I've settled on a job, on a level of education, on the depth of my relationship with others, I could probably even settle on a boyfriend if I really wanted to. I remember a time in my life when settling was tantamount to death. I was so on fire. Now I'm just numb, and a little sad.

Of all the things I miss the most, I think I miss my friends the most. I need a close meaningful relationship with other people. All thats left of the last close friendship I had is nothing but tailights now. So I guess thats where I start. If I'm going to pull myself out of this hole, I'm going to need help. Time to start working on my interpersonal relationships I suppose. I've neglected them far too long. I just hope it isn't too late.

Update

So now everyone is on a diet. The cats are fat, I'm fat, and Moxie could lose a pound. The only ones complaining about it more so than myself are the cats. They are not amused. The reduced rations have sent them into some sort of primal hunting mode....they spend their days stalking and consuming....carbs. Thats right. My cats are carb whores. Be it bread, muffins, or cookies, the cats have left no processed grain based product uncompromised in the kitchen. HIDE YOUR ROLLS!

Moxie's social calendar is filling quickly. We are looking at Rally classes on Tuesday nights, Agility, and possibly in the future, flyball, on Sundays. We went to the lake this afternoon and Moxie had quite an audience. Every small child within a five mile radius had to throw the bumper for moxie, and get moxie to do a trick. Shake, wave, roll over, spin, she had the everyone in smiles all afternoon, from toddler to parent. Most of them spoke spanish. How lucky were they that the worlds greatest dog is fluent in spanish. I can't wait to get Moxie's Delta Society papers renewed and get back to our therapy work. My dog was born to be a healer (tee hee).

I got a paycheck! First paycheck I've recieved in quite some time. It was more than I would have made in three months in Mexico. I went straight to Wal-Mart and bought a mothers day present, and a bicycle. Believe it or not, it took me a few minutes to remember how to ride a bike. Its been a few years. But Moxie and I took a turn around the block and I think biking reguarly will be added to our fitness routine. Believe it or not, after two hours at the lake this afternoon and a two and a half mile walk after her bath this dog is STILL tossing her squeaky toys at my feet in expectation of play. Oh, to have that kind of energy.

I'm liking working at Southridge again. The staff is excellent. Really a great group of people. I'm going to an anesthesia continuing ed course next Sunday, and hopefully, a weekend course on Feline Internal Medicine in June. I don't like to half ass anything. Since I am going to be a tech again for a while, I want to be the best tech I can be. I want to suck up the knowlege like a sponge. *slurp*

After rave reviews, I broke down and bought a "Furminator" today. I probably spent an hour, hour thirty working on Moxie and I have NEVER gotten that much undercoat out of her at once. It was amazing. I could probably work on her more tomorrow and get just as much. The dog is a shedding fiend, but the Furminator is a wonderful tool. A must have for owners of shedding dogs. I can't wait to furminate the cats. They don't share my enthusiasm.

Word from Mexico is they have finished my workbook of doom, and are ready for another. I must prepare more torture...I mean, schoolwork. I moved my GRE to the 30th of August to preserve my own sanity and promptly forgot all about studying. *sigh* why do I do this to myself? I need to structure my time off better. Writing Workbooks of doom, studying for the GRE test, and Spanish all needs to find its way into my schedule every week. Bummer. Its so much more fun to spend all my free time playing with my dog.

Kobie

A post just for Kobie. My flawless furry vagabond.