Command Performance

For all those clamoring for more pictures.. here's a nice movement/construction image. Just look at those feet! He's going to be about Fanny's size.

One Smart Puppy

Forget everything you've heard about puppies.. especially kennel raised puppies. Here's a 13 week old pup who'd never had a collar on, never been on leash, never been in a crate, never been away from his siblings, etc. etc. etc.

Chris was at work when we left on Sunday, so we had to capture this kid on our own.. the plan was to take the big food dish to the puppy pen. All the puppies follow the bowl into the pen, which is when we were supposed to grab him while he was thinking about food. Well, guess who figured out something was up, and didn't go with all the other puppies? Un huh. Sandia. He stayed back, out of reach, and when I went to get him, he ran back to the garage, where I cornered him under a workbench, and got his collar and leash on.

He then did the "mule" thing, planting all four and refusing to budge. Not wanting to waste time, and he being a small pup, I just picked him up, took him to the van, and unceremoniously pushed him into his crate. We were packed, and ready to go, so Margaret got the gate, and I hit the gas, with Sandia yelping and screaming like he was being murdered. Fanny told him to shut up, in her inimitable fashion. It worked.

By the time we hit Texas, he was sound asleep. We stopped to walk dogs, and found he'd pee'd and pooped in the crate. After cleanup, he went back in without a problem. At our next stop, in Oklahoma, Margaret got him out of a clean, dry crate and walked him, where he pee'd for about 4 minutes, to much great praise. We slept in the van at WalMart Sunday night, but by Monday night we were feeling grubby, and tired and stopped for the night at a motel in Effingham, IL. By this point he'd kept the crate dry for over 30 hours, but hadn't pooped since we left. He promptly took care of that, twice, after getting out of the van... along with another long pee. He was now also walking normally... if you consider normal trying to trip me, or jumping up on me, or stopping to "sit and think" periodically. And most impressively of all, when we went into the room, he leaped onto the spare bed, curled up on the pillow like you see here, and spent the entire night there... next to a coiled telephone cord that would have sorely temped a lesser dog! Dog's not normal!

"I'm Not Gay!"

...My Gaydar says otherwise, you old Log Cabin Republican, you...

Introducing:

TSH WatermelonMan @ Shotonsite. ("Sandia"). Born 5/18/07. This little fellow wasn't originally available, but once he showed signs of getting a wire coat, he was. You don't have to ask us twice! He caught my attention the first time we looked at the pictures. The eyes have it!

Thank You Chris! Watch this space for more pictures... lots more pictures ;-)

Road Trip...

Dateline: Edgewood, NM
Yup. After weeks of trying to finagle ways to get a puppy from NM to wherever we happened to be at the time, we decided we might as well come out ourselves and actually see the live versions, and make our pick.

Wednesday, we dropped off the Express, and the Escape at Done-Right Auto & RV Repair in Mason, MI, hopped in a shiny white Enterprise Rent-A-Van (bare-bones cargo version... no cruise control!), with all the dogs and the cat and began our 1500 mile trip... which we accomplished in 29 mind numbing, and sleep depriving hours.

Finally confronted with puppies in the flesh, which one would we choose? Would it be "Kiko",

the tan boy we picked from the photos when our original pick was deemed to be "not quite right in the feet",

...or would it be "La Adelita",

that very same black and white girl who now seems to have normal feet?

Or would we like another puppy altogether...?

We're leaving tomorrow morning.. hope we've got it figured out by then! As I've said before... stay tuned.

What Are the Odds?

Ironic, isn't it? As I sit in Starbucks, waiting for the MWCC trial pictures to upload to our website, I'm browsing Slate.com, and stumble on this.

Happy Birthday! (Belated)

"Randir", born August 19, 1996. Keep chasin' jacks!

One More from the Sky

Couldn't resist one more overhead shot from the weekend. This is one of our favorites. Jack Helder's "Rev". If you think you've seen every possible view of your dog, think again!

Anniversary

This week marks the 4 year anniversary of Dan and Margaret's "Full Time RV'er" lifestyle... still relative newbies, we've met folks who have been on the road 20 years and more. How many more years will we do it? It's unclear, as the search for land in New Mexico continues. Stay tuned.

Schedule & Travel Updates.

The MGA trial "up North" was a mixed success. It was on the small side, but was actually bigger than we expected. 7 Ibizans?? Better sales on our end would have certainly been a plus. Most of the dogs here we've shot many times before, but with the overhead perspective from the snow-maker tower, they've never been seen like this before! Talk after the trials was to move the date to October next year, during that northern season known as "Fall Color". It should be gorgeous. And when word gets out how beautiful the location is, there should be more folks showing up.

So.. the travel schedule:

This coming weekend we'll be at the Midwest Coursing Club trials at the Racine, WI kennel club field. We'll apparently be sharing southeast Wisconsin real estate with thousands and thousands of Harley H.O.G. members. Motels are booked 50 miles out, and more, and the rates are doubled! If you don't have a place booked already, forget it.

Next week, the Express, in it's seemingly never-ending need for repair, will have to be left at Done Right Auto & RV Repair to have a cracked exhaust manifold replaced. So, we're letting Enterprise "pick us up", we're packing up the dogs, and we're all going to New Mexico to pick up the Galgo puppy. We think we know which one we're getting, but that could change when we get to see all our choices. So forget everything we've written before. ;) This, of course, means we will not be at the LARC LGRA as previously posted.

Labor Day weekend we will be at the OKIGO ASFA trials and fun runs at Twin Towers Park near Dayton, OH.

September 8-9 is the event we never miss! Wind Chasers Lure Coursing Club ASFA trials at Deep River Park, Hobart, Indiana. Pig Roast on Saturday night! MMMMmmmmm!

Monday through Friday, we may be at the Escapees big Fall "Escapade" in Goshen, IN.

I'm not sure what the rest of the month looks like... we will catch a LARC LGRA and fun trial in Oberlin, OH, and the LCLC trials in Romulus, NY. Other dates to be filled in as we know them. And don't forget the LGRA/NOTRA OB Nationals in Carthage, IN the first weekend of October. (Which means we miss the Loomis (NE) Dog Races.... again!)

Cwazy Wabbit!

This one's getting heavy traffic, but maybe some of you haven't seen it yet. HT to Frank Vignieri in New Mexico.

Or: Don't Cross Wanda!

View from the tower.

A Better Perspective

Here's a more telling angle of the field. The course was only 556 yards, but with elevation change of nearly 70 feet in that distance, it would probably equal a 900 yard soccer field course. Today I shot from the snow-maker tower you see on the right hand side. What a perspective, as the dogs ran directly below! Best crash of the year... coming soon!

Up North

To a native Michigander, that means anywhere above the tri-cities of Saginaw-Bay City-Midland. I've extolled the virtues of Northern Michigan previously on these pages, so you know we're happy to be back here. And this time we're here to work!

A few people from the Michigan Gazehound Association thought it would be fun to host a trial way beyond the ordinary latitudes...in fact we're just 2 or 3 miles south of the 45th Parallel. The location for this weekend's trial is a premier golf and ski resort known as Shanty Creek, and the dogs will run from the very top of the place. This is the view from the top floor of the Summit Resort lodge.

This is also the view of the lure coursing field! Dogs better be in shape! Maybe later this week I'll post a shot or two of the action.

Nature Shots of the Weekend

From Scattergun Reserve. Conneautville, PA....
Plant life. Any botanists (amateur or professional) out there know what this is? It was deep in the woods, next to a small pool, and it had no relatives nearby that I could see. A hermit. It sure is red.

Plants and animals... I know this image is kind of cliche'd, but I don't use my macro lens nearly enough. So here it is.

If you like them, I'd look for these and others like them at our Nature and landscape image website .

EDIT: Well, well, well... thanks to reader "Anonymous", we now know that that beautiful red flower above is known as the "Cardinal Flower". You can look, but don't eat it!

It's Good to be Back in Civilization!

Hanging out at Cabela's parking lot in Wheeling, with a good, strong signal for phone and internet. Been out of sight and out of mind in rural Pennsylvania since last Thursday. Shooting dogs at the 2nd "Ridgeback Rodeo". Got some interesting hound action, but the best part about this is that it's held on a private hunting preserve, Scattergun Reserve, and last night I took the opportunity to cruise the fields and woods in one of the off-road golf carts and got some really cool nature stuff, which I'll try to post.

Nothing much else to write; I just wanted to see if I remembered how to do it!

Schedule Note: Lewisville, Indiana this weekend, LGRA race meet. (Rally's oh-so-close to being ready to rock and roll again), and then MGA's first try at a trial in waaaay northern Michigan at a very classy golf and ski resort.. that's the following weekend. And finally we'll be at Racine Kennel Club for the MWCC trials. After that, I may leave Margaret and the Express parked in Franklin, WI, while I drive out to New Mexico to get Kiko. (That's the pup's name if you didn't get around to watching the video.)

Penn & Teller Give You Some Truth About You-Know-Who

This is more preaching to the choir, I know, but it's too entertaining to pass up. Last month I was killing time, perusing Steve Bodio's Querencia and checking out some of his links to favorite blogs. I found this on the Terrierman's blog... so a big H.T. to Terrierman, Patrick Burns. Warning: Not for impressionable kiddies. Language, you know...

The Boy's Been Named!

It's Open!

Not finished, mind you, but open. This is the very fancy, expensive, new Interstate 280 bridge over the Maumee River in Toledo. The Veteran's Glass City Skyway took 2 or 3 years to get to this point, but the cable-stayed bridges are very cool looking.

Shot this through the windshield the other day... don't mind the occasional bug-spatter.

This, That, and the Other Things

This is known as catching up on the odds and ends.

First, I want to tell you about a fun new group that Sally Papin at Windyglen has started up... (and foolishly made me a moderator of!). It's an old fashioned photography club, and anyone can join, (except for those lonely, or bored, young girls who have recently been sending me emailed invitations to look at their pictures). It's called CanineFoto_Boneanza, and you can just go to the link and join up, or you can email me and I'll send you a personal invitation to avoid the red tape. Any (or no) skill level is welcome, as is any equipment level... there's even a member who claims to have made a pinhole camera out of a pumpkin! Join the fun.. this weekend's project is "feet". Run with it. No pun intended.

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Restaurants and food- Well, we've stumbled on another jewel and, unfortunately it's one most of you will never get to unless you come to a BGCC trial near Columbia, KY. It's a bit out of the way, north of town on Hwy 55. It's a Mexican place called ...and it was surp.. no, stunningly good. Jalapeno's good. (If we haven't mentioned it before, Jalapeno's is our favorite Mexican restaurant in Lexington, KY.. we just stopped there the other day, in fact). When Steve said it was "better" than the other Mex place in Columbia I didn't expect much. What we got were Shrimp and Chorizo Nachos, and a plate of shrimp enchiladas... and the shrimp in both entrees were anything but.. shrimpy. Huge, perfectly grilled, tasty. And, as if it weren't perfect enough, it's all 15% off, all day on Wednesdays! I wish I could tell you I enjoyed it with a perfect margarita. Sorry folks... we'd have to travel 40 miles to Lebanon, or 75 miles to Bowling Green to partake in that, or any, alcoholic beverage. As one unaware couple at the trial found out when they inquired about finding the wine section at the IGA, "alcohol is for sinners!" (Insert appropriate ominous music here)

Our other find on this recent trip was during the trials at Old Fort Niagara in New York: Probably the best prepackaged marinade we've ever tasted. On Saturday night we parked the RV along with a dozen or so other folks at a house out in the country. Our host prepared about 40 chicken breasts to go with a potluck dinner on the deck. The number one question from most everyone who wasn't from the area: What is that marinade? Well, it's no secret now, it's Chiavettas. And Margaret picked up 4 gallons of the stuff at Sam's Club on the way out of town. We did discover later that if you marinade say, pork chops in it, and then you get invited to dine on something else that night, and you get back to the pork chops about 3 nights later? The flavor may be a bit too intense for your palate. Just a personal anecdote there. ;)

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Woes- A bit of our Karmic lustre seems to have worn thin lately. Some wear and tear is beginning to show on the Express. We had to have a mobile repair guy come out to Columbia while we were there to help get our rear view monitor to work, and our steps to retract when the ignition is turned on, and to find out why the front air conditioner (in the humid, 90 degree Kentucky Summer) was only putting out a gentle breeze. Then, when we thought we were leaving Kentucky, we suddenly lost almost all our power on the first gentle grade. Flashers on, get to the shoulder, creep up to the crest and over, then everything was fine again... until the next hill. We stopped, called our very good road service provider, found that the only place that could even look at us within 60 miles was 15 miles back down I-75... the way we'd just come. So it was off to Piles Chevrolet, (imagine the joke opportunities lost because it's not a Dodge dealer... think about it) in Williamstown. Two days and 9 bills lighter, with a new fuel pump, we finally left Kentucky. But not before we dunked the Nikon D200 camera and lens into the dog's water bucket; an event too painful to even go into the details here. It is currently undergoing extreme drying in a home made dehumidifier...

CW says to not even try to power it on for at least 10 days. Of course we didn't read the CW until we'd already broken that rule. It may be toast. I may be able to dry out fruit with this thing if it doesn't work out for the camera. :(

Life on the road. Usually it's fun.