We're heading to the mountains today.. to one of our favorite (and dare I say annual) stops of the summer.... Storyland!!!
First stop... (to fill our tanks, as Reagan would tell us)... the Miss Wakefield for breakfast... and Abi, or course has to have her photo taken with the moose....
This is little Calvin's first trip to Storyland, and I know he won't remember this, but one day he will be able to say.... "I've been going to Storyland since I was....."
Ok Cal... here we go....... next year you can ride the rides.. but for today... this will be the only ride you can officially do....
Course, for Baby... the day must begin with the photos in the frame.... I know the grands don't quite appreciate this... and we have to move quick.. because little ones are anxious to begin their day...
but for me......
and now that those are done.. the day begins... We just love this day together, to watch the grands run from one thing to the next, and just have one of those amazing memory days....
Abi said that we should have this hive for our bees.... that would store a lot of honey for sure.....
and what's that line.... "put her in a pumpkin shell and there he kept her very well"....
sadly this pumpkin shell won't stop them from growing up......
My fav.. the carousel... and this year Reagan was big enough to pick out his own horse and ride on his own.....
Cal says wait til next year and you have to keep up with me.... he watched as Abi and Reagan got to do so many things....
Including driving the parents around in the cars... or should I say tractors....
Here at Storyland... even whales can fly....
I finally got Calvin's little quilt finished and brought it to Kass this morning as we were heading out. Turned out to be a perfect idea, because when it was time to take a little break, Cal was able to stretch out and check out his new quilt.....
It's not going to be all that far away when this will be a real photo.... Reagan driving Mummy somewhere...
the thing about trips like these, especially taken on yearly basis, is you really begin to understand just how quickly life goes by......
and all the more reason to take the time... to ride the train... hop on the carousel and I for one say thank you Storyland for reminding us to slow down once in a while and go back to the world of childhood...
This is the last night... test night.. for the CGC Community and the CGC Urban classes... and what better place to take a test based on urban community than the city of Portsmouth. The day has been showers, and the streets were wet, and a few showers rolled threw.. but everyone came to take their test. Logan wasn't testing tonight, but it never hurts to do some training and Kathleen was more than happy to handle her.
It was a big night for Wanda and Solo... they don't go to the city much so this was huge for him. Wanda had to take some extra time and get him settled in and used to the idea of it all
Livy, on the other hand, took it all in stride.. which was very helpful to me, because not only was I testing her for Urban.. but I was trying to 'be there" for my students, plus help our tester, Annie with the paperwork and keeping everyone in order.
Annie is one of our trainers at NEADS.. and I thought it would be fun for her to come and do the testing. She has never met any of our dogs, and she certainly "know" dogs, so who better. It was nice that we could duck into the parking garage to wait for everyone to come and to get out of the rain when it passed threw....
There's a lot that goes on inside a parking garage, especially from a dog's point of view... this spot alone was a good challenge....
Sandall and Oliver taking some time to settle in and get into the working mode....
Logan was thrilled to see her buddy Koal.... and since neither of them were testing tonight, it was OK for them to have a bit of fun together.....
Justin and Melissa were curious about the test, so I invited them to tag along... Koal will soon be testing for his CGC, so this gave them a good idea as to what to expect when its time for their test. Koal handled the city very well.. and I know Annie was pretty impressed by the behavior of this 9 month old puppy....
Belinda too, was interested in this training, and she had never taken Little Bits into the city... so this was super good for them as well. Bits is a real country dog, so she had some troubles settling in to the whole idea, but Belinda did a nice job handling her. It is one thing I encourage my students to do... get your dog out into all sorts of environments and show them all kinds of different things.... you never know when you might have to go somewhere that is new and strange, and the more your dog can see and do... the better...
With paperwork done.. the community class was ready to go.....
Here Annie tests the dogs on "walking nicely on the street"... which means no pulling on the leash, not picking things off the ground, not being too distracted by other people, dogs, or whatever could be moving on the city street....
Sandall working Oliver.....
This is such a nice picture of Logan.. and it says so much to me. Her relaxed body, quietly taking in the hustle and bustle of the city... watching it all go by... shows that she has had some good city training.....
Like wise with Livy.. she kept a very cool head.. listened well and proved that the work I have done with her is really paying off well....
Course, getting hugs and pats from "strangers" always makes for a good night. Guess Livy thought she might as well put her therapy dog work to good use while she waited for her turn to test.....
Little Angel shows that she can do a proper sit stay in the city... on wet ground to boot...
And there we have it... our new CGC community dogs!!!!!
Annie was very pleased (and perhaps even a little surprised) at how well everyone did... she said to me that I certainly expect a lot from my upper level students... I hadn't really thought about that before..
but yes... I guess I do....
Then it was time for the Urban class to test. Here Judy now works Kingston. The Urban test is a bit different from community, in that the dogs have to handle more "city" type things... like sit to wait before crossing streets... loading and unloading quickly and on command when it comes to cars... walking not only on the streets, but up and down stairs... riding in elevators.... and handling even more city distractions...
Daisy sits nicely while Sonya fills out her paperwork.. and actually that is one of the things on the test.... that the handler can be distracted with something else and the dog just politely waits....
Annie testing Mary and Storme.... in the street cross exercise....
while Logan works the crowd.......
Livy's turn...... and even though there are no photos (forgot to ask someone to take them)... I can say she did a beautiful job and I was very pleased with her work and attention....
Urban dogs must also be calm and quiet around foods... so this outside cafe was a perfect setting for this part of our test... (they all did perfectly... technically Solo should not be in Wanda's lap .. but since he was not testing for Urban, he got away with it).. dogs need to be on the ground, preferably under the table and out of the way....
And, everyone passed the Urban testing... since it's the first time that I have taught this class.. it was a very proud moment for me too... here we have Mary and Storme.. Judy and Kingston... Livy and I... Karen and Roxie... Annie is there with her Maddie.. and Sonya and Daisy...
another fun summer of dog training.. how can I be so blessed to have this sort of thing be "my job"!!!!
