So popping around the net … wasting time as I sip on my morning coffee and blink the sleep from my eyes (woke up at the horridly late time of 10:15 am lol) and thinking of some new designs for our Zazzle shop. Fun fun!

We bought Toby a new pool last night – since we decided to NOT show him this weekend due to his spraining his paw last Sunday – we figured we’d do something nice for him. We would have taken him to the lake … so he could get his first experience with a LARGE body of water (we really want him to have it be a POSITIVE and GOOD experience, as we think he will ADORE dock jumping) but that seemed as dumb as showing him considering he just had a bad sprain.

Outside of his old kiddie pool, he’s not really had much experience with bodies of water really. His breeder has a pool, and she says every litter always has every puppy fall in lol, but Toby was the one that didn’t. Smart boy LOL. Anyway, I think he’d do best with his first adult swimming lesson if it isn’t a sharp drop off on the edges (like a pool) with only one easy way out (the stairs in the pool), but rather a slope, something that eases into the water gradually, like a lake or river.

Well the rivers around HERE – are cold vicious little killers with hidden and fast undertow currents – many adults, kids, and dogs die in our rivers every year … so yeah … it’s not going to be a river. So it will be the lake. But not this weekend. So anyway we’ve been meaning to replace his old pool that finally died the good death this year – but hadn’t had the money when we could find the pools and when we found the pools we either didn;’t have money or if we had the money and found a pool it wasn’t the right kind (the ones with a slide built in) or the right size (PetCo and PetSmart were selling some TINY pools this year what gives with that? lol).

But last night, driving to WalMart, I made the usual drive by past the garden area, looking to see if maybe finally they had some pools and they DID!! And for only TEN bucks too! WOOOO HOOOO!

And we also replaced his lost beloved soccerball! We gave him that last night – and man – he just LIT up. He kept checking on it to make sure it was still outside ALL NIGHT LONG. Gave me the giggles. Such an earnest boy! we’d have given him the pool too, but it was already dark and that really is a daytime toy lol.

So later this afternoon we will surprise him lol – put it out and fill it up and then let him play. Should have the camera too as I bet he will be so cute!

Fun fun!

Oh and while I was puttering about the net this morning, came across this video … and was complewtely charmed by it and thought I would share! Enjoy

Now you can contact everyone you need ito in ONE easy step!!!

Click here: http://saveourdogs.net, and fill out the form and send!!!

As easy as that!

I have started a group at gratefulness.org for us to light candles and speak out against BSL while remembering those dogs and families that have felt the direct effects.

The group initials are NoBSL.

I’ve also grabbed a customized URL from tinyurl for this group to make it easy to tweet or pass along to others:

http://tinyurl.com/NoBSL-Vigil

Please feel free to pass this to ANY dog lover and keep the vigil alive until BSL is no longer a gthreat to our beloved and gentle dogs.

Oh thank the gods …. Toby is walking on his foot today. Still looks like he is favoring it off and on though – not sure we will show him this weekend, just a bit nervous with his foot or leg or ankle or shoulder or whatever it was that was making him limp for nearly 2 days that trying to show him for three days is just asking a bit much out of him.

Besides there is another month next month, right? Better to have him all healed and healthy!

So now he is under my watchful eye and under orders to rest – though he is already chafing at it — active boy that he is.

Hoping that it keeps improving.

Toby however is crushed. Why? Because right before he did whatever he did to hurt himself, he lost his beloved soccer ball. You never saw ANYTHING so sad and forlorn in your life. Ray threw the ball, basically lobbed it up high in the air, and this time, Toby jumped up and tried to grab it in the air, resulting in doing like a volleyball move with his snout, and the ball snapped up even higher and there it went right over the fence.

Just like that.

And he was just crushed. Kept going to where the ball was and peeking through the fence slats and then back at us as if to say – Fix it, daddy mommy, fix it, I done lost me ball, right it is RIGHT THERE I can SEE it, get it will ya please huh?

Sadly – it is a lost cause. it went into a “no man’s land” of sorts. Pretty much doomed to styay where it is… so we will have to buy him a new one. Cuz every day several times a day he’s looking at his beloved ball and begging us to “fix it”.

Gods what a sweet baby. lol.

As for me, I’m just glad he’s not truly broken. Whewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

I knew this would happen one day but OMG!!! Seeing it was so scary!!

We were playing with Toby in the backyard and all a sudden – we noticed he was limping. And limping BAD.

I mean REALLY bad. Like almost enough to make you freak out and run to the ER in the blink of an eye bad.

No idea what he did. His foot doesn’t look quite right, I am scared to death that he broke it!

WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH …. my doggie is all brokededed!!!

The foot looks like it’s flat – he isn’t bearing weight on it, but he isn’t flinching or yelping when I try to see if something is broken, but wahhhhhhh – my poor baby is all hurteded!!

We have him all wrapped up in a big blanket in case he is in shock and resting, so I guess all we can do is wait and see, gosh I sure hope it’s just a bad sprain. ::crosses everything and knocks on wood::

Wow, not only did Toby get his last needed major for his Championship, he did VERY well today!!

He got Reserve Male under Al Orwin for the first show and then on the second show, he got his first Champion major towards his Grand Championship under Debbie Orwin – w00t! Only 4 more to go!

You know they say that dogs not only should have good structure and movement but that they need to have a good temperament and personality as well and you know … he could be a little less happy (you should see him WIGGLE,OMG! LOL!) in the ring, but he just LOVES meeting new people and loving on everyone within reach and has such a strong and joyous personality that affects anyone near him that I think the judges no matter what – have to see all that personality Toby has in SPADES just bursting forth from every cell.

He is an amazing dog – and just has SO much love and happiness in him that he just spills out to everyone and is just a charmer, but then I am soooo biased too LOL!

Anyway – it was a great show and Toby had a ball! He even played with a few Greyhounds and got a crowd cheering when he did his little tricks with allll these great distractions – he just did very very very well this weekend.

And boy … are we all POOPED. Thank god we have tomorrow off to just die and recover – LOL!

We hit the show again today for both shows, and MAN was it hot! Really liked the spot this time though – those trees kicked BUTT and really saved the day – as soon as you walked out from the shade, it was like entering a desert, LOL!

Toby did very well, and though he didn’t win anything the first show, he did get Reserve Male under Judy Jones for the second, so that was cool!!

Yayyy!!! Toby got his LAST major under Rebecca Harris and is now an UKC Champion!!!

We are SO jazzed!!!!

We are just beyond thrilled and Toby just LOVES being in that ring and prancing around, he justalways has such a blast going to shows and being in that ring!

So we brought out the flirtpole today and snapped some pics of Toby enjoying it. It remains one of his most favorite toys.
Going to need to replace it soon though I bet – we seem to go through one a year just about.

Anyway, look at how our boy has blossomed – he is now a beautiful adult. We weighed him at the vet a couple of days ago and this is him at 62.6 pounds (ok ok ok I’ll round up and say 63, LOL), and he is looking GOOD.

Sure hope Apryl thinks so! ::crosses fingers::

Anyway here he is going after his flirtpole!!

Flirtpole Mania

He LOVES the flirtpole – one of his uber-favorite toys of all time! Look how intent he gets for that little piece of leather LOL.

Tracking it …

Look at him … all focused and ready to get that leather. hehe! He’s just so durn pretty!

Can’t get past me!

He is ready for the ol switch-a-roo trick … yes sir! Not going to get past him, no way!
(I know it is blurry but I just love this shot anyway hehe!)

Look at him GO!

He goes ALL OUT for his flirtpole til he can’t “go no more”. Even though this isn’t in focus, I love the way the shadows show off his muscles, lol.

Got It!

Once he gets the thing in his mouth he LOVES to just run in a circle with it, exactly like a horse on a lunge bar – cracks us up but it REALLY exercises him without killing us lol.

And the Result …

… a VERY tired and happily grinning and panting boy!