Welcome Spring

...you've been dearly missed!

With today being the second day of Spring and the weather being sunny and warm, there are a few things I am so looking forward to over the next three months:

• Getting to train the boys in sunshine rather than rain ( I won't lie, standing in a field all day in the rain working dogs with birds is NO fun)
• The smell of flowers on my  daily walk with Odin and Loki
• Blooming cherry blossom trees on my drive to work
• Opening the sunroof for the first time in months
• Green trees lining my yard
• Being able to start opening the windows and enjoying a breeze throughout the house
• Leaving to go to work when it's light out, and returning home while it's still light
• Putting my peacoats away and knowing that soon, I won't have to wear a coat at all!
• The need to wear sunglasses
• Attending Sounders games

But most of all, Spring means anticipating the arrival of Summer (my favorite season), and all the fabulous things it brings

It' Soccer Season!

Tuesday night we headed to Qwest Field to watch the Seattle Sounders vs. LA Galaxy for the MLS First Kick of the 2010 soccer season. The Sounders have been fortunate to host the first game of the season for the last three season so while the weather was cold and wet it was great to see the team back in action.

We upgraded our view this season by moving to section 106, row l which means we get a much better of the play field and to be a part of the rowdiness that comes with Sounders soccer. It was also nice to see that Tammy (my little sister) can see all of the action since that was a bit of an issue last season for her in our old seats.

While the Sounders suffered a 1-0 loss to the Galaxy and we were thoroughly soaked at the end of the night we are definitely looking forward to this season and the addition of teams in Portland and Vancouver for the Northwest rivalry.

Dog Handler Debut

This past weekend we headed to the Seattle Kennel Club dog show with both Odin and Loki for another round of showing. Odin had spent the week with his handler, Kevin Chestnut in preparation for the shows so we were looking forward to seeing him and bringing him home for a few weeks before the next round of shows.

We had hoped that this would be the weekend we would finish Odin's championship title since this weekend pulled major's on both days and that is what Odin needs to finish. Sadly Odin took third in his class both days and will now be heading to shows in Oregon in April in pursuit of his major's.

This weekend was also a big one for Loki and me asI made my dog handler debut. I've decided to give dog showing a whirl and show the little man myself. Saturday we did quite well for my first handling experience and took 1st place in our puppy class despite my missteps with stacking him for the judge. Sunday we took second place since Loki was a little wild and wound up for no reason other then he's a puppy.

Next up is the Peninsula Dog Fancier's Club show in Bremerton on the 27th for Loki's next show so we'll see how that goes and then both boys are headed to the Chintimini Kennel Club shows in Albany on April 2nd & 3rd.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I hope you all have a festive, fun, and safe St. Patrick's Day!

Mr O Turns 3!

It is hard to believe our little puppy is now 3 years old, which according to this site, is the equivalent of 28 years old in human years. Geez, he is getting old!
This year has been filled with lots of highs for our Odin. He started competing in hunt tests and even though he didn't achieve his Senior Hunter title he did great and proved he is a great bird dog. He also started working on his show championship and currently is two wins away from finishing and becoming Champion Odin. Odin also got to take his first airplane ride to Rapid City, SD where he got to go hunting in snow drifts and a blizzard. But best of all he got to become a "big brother" to the newest addition of the family Loki in July.

We celebrated Odin's birthday by being in the Seattle Kennel Club dog show and then came home and took a nice long nap. This evening he got to have his birthday treat- a milkbone with peanut butter.

Happy Birthday O!

Back to the Field

We were up bright and early Sunday as we headed out of the house in the snowy weather to officially kick off the training season in preparation for the spring/summer hunt test season with a trip to Eagle Creek, Oregon to Double Gun Ranch for training with Chris. We were lucky and the weather seemed to get better as we got closer to Oregon and ended up snow free even though it was cold and windy.

Since it was only Ben and I that made the trek we were able to get about 3 hours of straight training in with the boys. We were able to get Odin out pointing and holding birds which nice to see that he hadn't lost his touch or skills after having the last few months off and being in the show ring. We worked with Loki on his hearing and his pointing planted birds. We aren't working the retrieving or too much with planted birds with Loki right now since he is at the skill level needed for the junior hunter level so we used the most of the day to work with Odin since he is going for his master hunter title. 

Loki pointing a planted bird

 We were also able to get some work with Odin on honoring another dog's point since this is an area we had a lot of trouble with last year during the tests. Hopefully with some more work on this skill we will be able to replicate it during a real test this year.

Odin honoring Jazzi"s point



Onto another weekend of training and seeing the boys evolve into good little hunting dogs.