Thursday, December 8, 2011

TMT with Laura!!!




Another fun installment of TMT with Laura over at Crooks and Crazies !! How fun!

1. What are your plans for the holiday season?

Enjoy time with the family. One of our favorite family things to do is attend the Anson Christmas Cowboys Ball. It's a blast and we girls all find new outfits just for the ball. We dance and visit with old and new friends and have a great time. I actually think all the kids - Mikkie & Tyler, Mandie & Bobby, Rygh & Lyn and Mollie & possibly Tyger, will all be there this year, plus Mike's cousin Jay and Sharon.  Then we will gather as a family on the 24th and exchange gifts and eat a feast - turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole, green beans (not casserole), wild rice and mushrooms, cranberry orange relish, cornbread dressing, hot rolls, cherry pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, apple pie and chocolate pie. (yep, I spoil my family and make every one's favorite pie!) We usually play games, watch football or movies and just enjoy being together. I'm very blessed!

2.  Do you decorate? If so what have you done so far? 

I love Christmas decorations - especially lights and candles. I also like to cut cedar boughs and disperse in various places, but it was so dry this year that the cedar are very dry. We've had some rain this past week, so it should freshen them up some. We will cut a tree a few days before Christmas and decorate it then, but I do have everything else up. If you would like to see pictures go to my house blog and you can see a sampling of my decor.

3.  a. Favorite recent dog photo.
 
 Would have to be Tate when we had our win.


 The cone was our set out, and Tate lifted well and then took his left flank quickly and efficiently and put the sheep on line for the fetch! I was proud.

Or my second choice would be Pete at State Finals watching the Open Double Lift Finals. He was very interested!!


He had just met Nellie and still he was more interested in the field than her!!

b. Photo that shows your mood right now, (or one word).



4. There's a discussion on BC Boards about "don't train for the novice classes, just train for open and it will all fall in place". What's your thoughts on this?


In my mind I'm working my dogs to make it to the Meeker Sheepdog Classic. Do I think it will happen in one day, one week, one month or even one year? No way, but my goal is to bring each dog along at the rate to achieve that goal. I also want each of my dogs, whether they trial or not, to be able to do the work on the ranch that needs to be done. All in all, they need to be obedient, willing and and able to adapt to every situation that occurs on the ranch or on the trial field. I'm trialing in the lower classes because I'm new at this and need the practice and exposure, as does my dog that I am trialing right now. But, I talk to every Open Handler I can and ask their advice and get their critique on my runs - and they always help me. I try to go to one of their practice fields once  month and practice with them. I need the small stepping stones of lower classes, but someday (my goal is within 5 years) I'm going to go to the post at the Meeker Classic and make a run!

5. What are your five cannot-do-without-them dog items?
 

1. Collars

2. Drag lines

3. Kennels

4. Hay filled dog houses for winter

5. Their companionship and devotion to me and their job.



Merry Christmas Ya'll  

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Aw, I love the picture of Tate! What a cutie patootie!

Unknown said...

Oops! I think I meant Pete, though Tate is looking good!

Laura Carson said...

YAY!!! SO nice to see you gals. :) Glad things are going well. Um... you had me at chocolate pie. lol

gvmama said...

I want to go to the Cowboy's ball!

Tablescapes By Diane said...

Hi lovely lady.
I love your photos so sweet.
Pete is a Sweetie.
xxoo Diane

Kathy said...

Very interesting! Love these questions! I have one. You mentioned hay filled dog houses for winter. Our winters are somewhat mild, but they do get cold enough we bring my son's dog in - we've been keeping her for a while - during the day - we have wood shavings in her house - does hay work better, or does it matter? She's a doberman and we didn't know that they don't tolerate the cold all that well.
Hope you have a wonderful day,
Kathy

Unknown said...

Straw is actually a better insulator because the straw pieces are hollow, which helps hold in heat. For my livestock guard dogs, I put pine shavings in the bottom of the houses mainly for odor control (though there is some concern that the phenolic compounds in pine shavings, and especially cedar shavings, can cause health problems) and then bed it really well with straw.

Doniene said...

Thanks Julie for the info. I use hay (bermuda grass or william love grass) as it is what is most readily available for me. I don't use shavings as my pups eat it!!! and it scatters out of their houses. If I had straw, I would definitely use it as it is the best, but no one in our area had any wheat (or any grain for that matter)last year so no straw. For short hair dogs i.e. Dobermans, you can always add a doggie coat that would cover his core and it would help him to maintain his own body heat.

Kathy said...

Thanks so much! Our Doberman eats - chews everything - I can't leave a coat on her because she'll pull it off and chew it to bits! She even chewed the flap to the cover to her pen! I'll look for some straw and put it on top of the shavings. I didn't realize until we were taking care of our son's dog that Dobermans are such hounds and so territorial! She's barking now - howling at someone walking down the street - 100 yards away!
She's a sweetie though! Thanks so much! Great help!
Kathy