Belle & Dora are going to be competing against each other this month! I have them both entered in a Novice Obedience trial. Dora has one leg taking a second place and Isabelle is the rookie. I will be handling both of them so it will be interesting to see how it comes out. Dora is a mommy's girl always willing to please but when she gets stressed out she can tend to freeze up. Belle on the other hand can be a total nightmare and make it look like she has never heard the word heel before, give kisses to the judge, or pretend like why do they not have the agility equipment set up in this ring. But then Isabelle can also suprise me like she did and take a 98/100 in her first trial without a leash! Needless to say, it will be interesting to see who does what!

Amanda

Isabelle makes a new friend! While Dora has never met a toy she didn't like for at least a small amount of time. Belle doenst like much. However, when she does make a friend, it is a friend for life! Belle's newest friend is a blind tiger whom she graciously helps around the house. We might just have to take this guy to CA :)

Squirrel?

Isabelle's father decided to make up for having a girlie dog. He thought it would be cute to teach Belle how to hunt. She takes this job very seriously and all you have to do is say "squirrel" and she is out on the lookout for anything that moves. She will resort to chasing birds if that is all there is around. Dora knows the word "squirrel" means Belle is out to run around and it is a game!

How to prove you are a good dog mom...

Your dog gets so exhausted from all the parties that she actually uses the $70 embroidered bed that you purchased 4 years ago for the other dog! For once it isn't a cute toy holder! If anyone else actually has a "Good Dog Belle" let me know because we accidently purchased your dog bed!!!

Birthday party and fun weekend!

Belle & Dora had a friday night grill out and a Borzoi birthday party this weekend! Lorris was just turning one and he already comes up to your elbow! Watching these breeds play like Belle & Dora do was hilarious! Unfortunetly, I was too busy laughing to take some pictures! Anyway here are some of the shots!

It is park time!

If you are ever in Columbus, make sure to stop by the park of roses! The girls love this place as much as we do :)

Weaves finally clicked for Dora!

Moving can be plain exhausting!

We sold our house very quickly and had to move-Isabelle was such a help!

DOGGY BAG?

we have been tackling the dumbell again!

Dora has now gotten to be a big girl and realizes the dumbell isn't going to bite! However, she is also not willing to pick it up off the floor. It has been a very slow process as we have decided to not do adversives- well I decided and Dora concurs. But how cute is this....

Rescue Run

We had a very fun day with a lot of our fur friends and their mommies and daddies! Our good friend Sabine the standard poodle showed her Mommy Darla how to use a digital camera (yeah it sucks being such a bright dog with a rather slow mommy but she is patient!) and took some adorable photos of us.

Also we found out Mommy is a hero! One of our friend's mommies decided to try and eat the pavement. Notice there is a photo of her chin with a bandaid! Thank goodness her doggy is a trained therapy dog. She was later visited by the vet on board!

I love a good action shot, especially when they involve my furry princesses!

Everyone loves cute puppy dog shots!

The above photos were taken at Daddy's work!

Isabelle received her first performance title at our training club's trial. She did absolutely wonderful and the second day we bumped her up offleash! She amazes me all the time. How a dog so cute and so little can be smarter enough to jump up and grab a donut on the chair and me not realize it! Let's just say Belle had her victory reward and dance before we entered the ring!

Belle & Dora raise money for pet promise

It is the yearly pet promise run time. Belle & Dora are raising money and doing a 5K run again! Pet promise is an amazing group that saves all kinds of breeds of dogs and cats. Our good friend Mona is involved and has fostered many pets. Since we have moved to Columbus, we do this rescue run and help raise money for all kinds of puppy dogs that don't have a great home like Belle & Dora! Last year Daddy & Belle ran the 5K while Mommy & Dora walked and then mommy carried Dora a good party of the way (she was only a year old and it was hot!) We then had strawberry ice cream together afterwards!

If you would like to get involved please find information here:

http://rescuerun.com/

If you would like to help rescue please do so here:

http://www.firstgiving.com/belledora

What kind of weirdo takes their dog out in the yard and make them pose for photos?

I swear this is what my neighbors had to be thinking as I was yelling stay and making my husband click the camera!

Belle's & Dora's Rocking Weekend

Isabelle made her first performance debut this weekend at Central Ohio. She scored a 92 and a 94. Not bad for a little fluffy princess! Belle was absolutely dynamite

Dora had her first performance in Novice Obedience, Mommy was so nervous and Dora didn't understand why. She was there to show off! On the heel offlead, when mom did the about turn and stopped and paused so did Dora. Mommy wasn't sure if she qualifed but Dora knew better! When we were clapping for all the dogs taking placements, the judge called a number, and then had to say "havanese" for mom to understand. Dora was ready to rush up and take her bright red second place ribbon! Not bad for our first time in the Obedience ring!

Dora also took her first RAE leg on Sunday! Both the girls celebrated with squeeky smiley face balls, roast beef, and quite a few belly rubs!!!

Way to go Belle & Dora

Pet Apparel with Pizzazz

My dear friend Carolyn is at it again! Taking a lot of her signature artwork and creating wearable works of art!

Not seeing what you want? Send Carolyn an email and she might be able to create a work of art with your furchild! http://carolynangusphotography.com/

If you remember, Carolyn created a work of art making Dora a calendar girl. Dora is Miss March & Miss May! www.lulu.com search for the havanese calendar to order your copy!

How to convince Daddy we need a brother...

There is an adorable havanese puppy that is looking for a home. He was going to be a show dog but he is a little too small. Isabelle knowing that smaller is better can completely understand- hey, you can fit out of fences, run faster, hide in the agility tunnel from Mom when you don't want to listen. Dora- also thinks smaller is better! Smaller dogs are easier to wrestle with, don't have as much hair to brush, and they can be like book ends to cuddle with.

Well, if we can't convince Daddy to let Vinnie come to our home, bring him to yours!
He is an adorable little guy! Take a look at www.cynadohavanese.com and click on Vincent!

Motivation

Last weekend, I went and watched the AKC Agility Nationals. It was absolutely amazing. Watching dogs who are on that day is like a special dance. I was able to see 3 havanese that were absolutely charming and then captivating in the ring. It gave me motivation to truly know that although I don't have agility breeds, we could still be very successful and we have a long way to go! Unfortunelty, I didn't get to see any maltese run... I am not sure if there were some entered or I just missed them.

Isabelle is taking some time of from agility and we are going to concentrate on obedience and rally. In agility, she has really not understood the concept of teamwork. I have to figure out how to be more clear to her. But she is having more fun in the obedience ring. It is amazing when you put faith in your dog, what she is capable of. When you doubt your dog, they really do read this in your body language. I recently had an attention class and at the end of the class we take our dog offleash and walk. I was pretty nervous since Belle finds everything to be amusing and interesting. I did it with confidence and by all means, it made me look silly! Isabelle heeled like she has been doing it forever!

Dora on the other hand, is working on weave poles. We have been concentrating on fast and fun weave poles and enterances. This has been a work in progess but is going along nicely. Now I just have to convince Dora she doesn't need the wires!

Well have a Happy Easter!

Isabelle adds another duty

If saving the world from the evil squirrels wasn't a full time job in itself. Isabelle has calmed down enough to add therapy dog to her duties. She is officially a TDI dog now!

We are looking into local venues for Belle to visit on a regular basis

If Dora hitting the obedience Circuit wasn't enough....

Isabelle Brown is making her first Rally debut with her Daddy! Look for them in the ring in April! I hope Isabelle does Jim proud and then he is bit by the performance bug! That would expand our training budget a lot further, let alone our showing budget!!!

I am not sure who I am going to be cheering on the loudest!

Our little girl is sure growing up! Go Dora Go!!!!

She is now officially entered in her first obedience trial. We are okay if either of us NQ's as we are both very green. Over the next month, we truly are going to train like crazy. So I don't do a left about turn during the heel and Dora doesnt down on a sit. She truly doesn't understand why there has to be two people working one dog. If the judget walked around with his own companion, she would be a lot happier!

Getting ready for Spring Trials

Next month are the two local trials in Columbus. Boy, do we have work to do! Last year, Dora did extremely well finishing 3 Rally titles! This year, Dora is going to do a few RAE legs (that is the highest Rally title there is!) and probably a CD leg. We have a lot of work with Stand for Exam and heeling still. Worst case scenario, we go in the ring too early and NQ. Dora tends to sit on the SFE when she gets nervous and the ring does bring a lot of nerves! I have truly realized heeling is something you ALWAYS are working on! But she is so smart, she picks things up rather quickly. I have learned to change my footwork to que Dora better.

Isabelle is also going to make her trial debut! We worked last night and did pretty well offleash. I was proofing her to not run over and bark at the judge. When Belle is offleash, she often thinks it is social time. She wants to visit with everyone. When she ran to my pretend judge- he yelled "go to your mommy" and she came running! I was very happy with her heeling. She is really starting to understand not just with mom but we are a team in the ring. I am still working on Belle's Daddy to show her in Rally Novice. I even offered to match her bow to his outfit ;)

We will also probably look for some summer trials that are only an hour or two away. It will be nice to have them playing in the Rally ring together so both can trial together.

Dora adds another wall fixture

My training club Columbus All Breed had their annual party. We took home a nice plaque with Dora's CGC, RN, RA, RE title attached. It was a pretty special event. I was there with a good friend that I started in puppy class with. Margaret is mom to Gizmo a black pug. We started in class together. Our girls are about 2 weeks apart in age so they have grown up together.