HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here's wishing you all a happy and prosperous new year from Zoey, Caitlyn and of course all the cats!

We signed up this year for the annual www.oes.org Sheepie Christmas Card Exchange. We've gotten waaaaaay more than we ever expected! So far, here's what our collection looks like.

Merry Christmas to all!
Vance, Jen, Zoey, Caitlyn and of course all the cats

This is our little reindog...

Caitlyn got a new toy yesterday and now she seems to have an even more difficult time seeing...

Caitlyn's second puppy match

It's been a little longer than we wanted to post this but we've been pretty busy. This past Friday night, Caitlyn and I were in another Puppy Match. This time we were in Columbus, OH for a Match sponsored by the Mid Ohio Handlers Association, . Also at this event were our friends from Cincinnati, Joanna and her little guy, Schubert. Schubert is an OES who is a month younger than Caitlyn. They’re really good friends too. So below are photos that were taken by our good friend Nita on Friday night.

In this first photo, Caitlyn is hiding behind me after pooping on the floor as I walked back to get clean-up supplies. Nita thought this was funny enough to take a photo of it.

The second photo is of me giving Caitlyn a pep talk prior to going into the ring. She actually appears to be listening. Sadly I found out later that she wasn’t…

The third photo is what we call ‘stacking’. This is where we try to get the dog to stand still in the breed’s desired pose so the judge can see certain points of the dog. She was doing really well up until this point.

This is where Caitlyn decided that she'd had enough being a good girl. Each photo after this, things went further south.

The last couple a bit fuzzy as she was laughing at Caitlyn’s antics.
In the last photo, you can see where she actually got my arm and drew blood. It was more funny than painful.

Even after Caitlyn's shenanigans, she still won a ribbon for First in Class. This makes her two for two in Puppy matches. She turns 6 months this Saturday which makes her eligible to show in real shows for points. We probably won't make a bid for those point just yet as someone needs a little more 'ring time'.

This is Joanna and her Schubert... They ended up winning the First in Class and Best in Breed ribbon and advanced to the Group class where they placed a respectable Third in Group which earned them their THIRD ribbon for the night! Not bad for a girl who had to be talked into going to the show to begin with!

Like a walk in the park

So Jen & I were eating dinner last Thursday night and she asked me if I'd seen a friend Cindy's photos of her OES Teddy at the State Park near their home. I said I did and fell in love with the Park. She said that we should take our two Sheepies to one of our local parks. I agreed.

Now, we do have some state parks relatively close, but we have nearly a dozen county parks even closer. The one closest to us is actually a reserve and dam, called Huffman Dam. It's named after Huffman Prairie, where the Wright brothers started working on that crazy flying machine thing. It's a pretty historical place.

This is actually the first time I'd been to this park in about a dozen years. They've closed off the road that leads down into the area right next to the water's edge. The upside is that we were able to walk down to that area on the blacktop that used to be used by cars, without sweating the traffic. Also along the way we found that they've created several miles of grass foot paths. These are about eight to ten feet wide and kept cut down well enough to walk very easily.


Here are a handful of photos from Sunday afternoon.

Scenic view of the reservoir.

Jen and Caitlyn. We found this huge triangle stone and Caitlyn was pretty willing to jump on it for a photo op.

Jen and Zoey ahead of Caitlyn and I on one of the many grass paths.

Me, Zoey and Caitlyn at one of the scenic overlooks.

Jen, Zoey and Caitlyn at the same overlook.

A rather fitting quote from CBS journalist, Andy Rooney - "Dogs are nicer than people." -- from an essay on the true things in life, Dec. 5, 2007

Yet another shot of Caitlyn on her swing. And with the second shot, you can see her collection of playthings underneath. This is a small sampling of what she usually drags out there and has ON the swing with her.
 Under the swing is several stuffies, a giant paper roll core and many sticks her and Zoey play tug with. On the swing is a bone and her new soccer ball like the one that she fell in love with at the dog park several weeks ago.

After our little trip to Delaware for the match, Caitlyn walked, or should I say jumped away with a First place and a Best in Breed! She was having so much fun during our last run in the Breed Class she was jumping and bounding with me instead of trotting like she was supposed to. As we rounded the last turn, I could hear folks right outside the ring laughing, clapping and one person saying 'There's a dog having fun!'. And I MUST concur.

Now the frosting on the cake. When we went back in the ring for Group, we were a group of six dogs and the judge made her decision. In the end, she points to me and said FIVE and thank you. She then pointed to the woman behind me and said six and before she could say any more, Caitlyn decided to show her displeasure and promptly tuned around and dropped big huge POO!!! I was left there doing everything I could to not bust up laughing. It truly hurt, not laughing. This was the first time I cleaned up poo without being mad...

By the end of the night, my cheeks hurt so much from all the smiling I had done since we pulled in the lot. We both had a blast and I can't wait for the next show. I can say that from Caitlyn's behavior throughout the night, she too had a blast. Every time she looked up at me, it was like she was saying 'Again Daddy? Can we go again'. Yes Caitlyn, again. We will go again!

Btw, there are no photos as Jen couldn't get the afternoon off as it is the end of month closing and thats a big deal for the accounting department. This was a Daddy/daughter date. She vowed to be the from now on though.

In the car - waiting for ringtime!

More of Caitlyn on 'her' swing.

Caitlyn LOOOOOVES her swing!!!

We have a free-standing porch swing on our deck and Caitlyn has not only figures out how to climb up onto it, but she's figured out that when it slows down, that she can jump down and jump back up, thus giving her more swing-time. She's one smart little pup!

Watch the below video. It's kinda long as I just set the camera up and walked away and let it run. I will admit that I did prompt her to get up the first time but if you watch it, you'll see how clever she is.

Caitlyn's first show...

Ok, so she was only there to watch and learn. We went up to Urbana, OH to meet up with our mentor and her co-breeder. Unfortunately, neither one was able to make it. While we were there, we saw only two other Sheepies in competition. Both were beautiful dogs.

Here are a couple quick photos of both. Sadly, I didn't get to talk to either owner so I don't know anything about them.

We're very proud of how Caitlyn behaved considering this was her first time in a very confusing and busy place. She was actually watching the other Sheepies run around in the ring! I think she was taking some mental notes... Come December, when she's able to compete, she'll do fine.

Zoey and Caitlyn LOVE playing with sticks...And each other!

Caitlyn is really growing up. In this photo, you can see her muzzle is getting some length to it. This was right after her bath Saturday morning.
And a couple more for good measure...

This is the girls idea of relaxing on the deck now a days...

Zoey decided she wanted to look like Caitlyn. This is how she looked when she came back up to the back door after going outside this afternoon.Crazy dog!!!

Video from the 2011 Dayton Sheep-In

Our new little friend Schubert from Cincinnati is caught on video stealing a kiss from our Caitlyn and she didn't seem to mind. Her big sis Zoey wasn't sure this was appropriate and chased Schubert away.

Dayton Sheep-In Photos!

Here is the link to the photos that we got from this past weekend's Sheep-In.

Sheep-In Photos

We all had such a great time that we're already discussing next year.

This our new friend Teddy enjoying his very first ice cream. I think Jen & I may have created I monster on this one. Teddy loves him some ice cream!!!

Size comparison between the first day and today!

Day one at 8 weeks:

Today, at 15 weeks or so:

She's getting sooo big!

EIGHT DAYS!!!!

Yep, there's only eight days until the greater Dayton's first and only Old English Sheep Dog gathering we've dubbed the Sheep-In. Click here for the flyer.

Contact me for more info if you'd like to attend this very special event.

Sunny afternoons.... Ahhhh...

Fresh from the bath!!! Daddy has a lot of drying to do!