Surfing the Net!

I was just surfing the net and coincidentally ran in to Cyrus. Talk about a big ass Pit Bull or what? You can see more pics of him and his kennel mates on http://www.ironmanpits.com/

I also discovered this weekend is Wango Tango in LA, on May 10th to be more specific! I WANT TO GO!!! I've had a blast there in the past! Anyone who has the opportunity, get tickets... go see it! I seriously doubt you would get disappointed. You get to see all the most popular artists/singers as of today perform 2 or 3 songs each. And it goes on from morning to late at night!! Lots and lots of fun!!!http://www.kiisfm.com/pages/wtdaily

Splash!

We went to a lake last night for the dogs to enjoy themselves. My parents came with, as did my grandfather who lives in the area. The dogs had a wonderful time, even old man Alih ran around like as if he was 2 years old again. This evening also turned in to a big night for young man James. He took his first swim!!! He has taken a couple of dips before but never swam. Water was splashing around him like as if he was some sort of elephant. We laughed our butts off... he looked absolutely hilarious! It was my dad who through his ball too far out in the lake ... and Jay wanted his ball back badly. He whined for awhile and was almost about to give up, when all of a sudden he through himself in the water and started swimming towards the ball. I thought I would have to run in and get him, I did not think he would be able to stay above water but he did. It was nothing smooth about his strokes AT ALL, but he did it! With lots of practice this summer, the baby blue will turn in to a superb swimmer, you watch!

Tonight was our obedience class which was much more successful than last week’s as there were no female dogs in heat tonight. We learned a few new things, so overall we had a great evening! It is such a nice and rewarding feeling when one can tell we are progressing. I believe James has great potential as he is both bright and eager to work.

Tonight I also learned that I can be tougher on him. I don’t know why I haven’t been as tough on him as I was with Alih and Carlos. I think it might be because he is so much smaller, I fool myself thinking he is a sensitive little man, when in fact he’s a tough man who can deal with a firmer hand. I have always been very consistent with him but as our instructor explained tonight, he is older now and he should know these things, therefore I should be tougher on him. When I changed my tactics, he did excellent. He was very alert and would not miss a step or move I made.

Other than dogs, dogs, dogs I am currently working hard on getting the thesis done. We have a couple of more weeks to go until our first thesis defence, and after that, another week until our final examination defence is being held. It is going to be so darn nice when this is over. I am dead tired of it by now.

Well good people, I am signing off for tonight. Please enjoy some pics from last night.

Bye, bye.
l.e.w.

Picture Bomb

James: "Hellooooo, hiiiiii, can anyone see me???????????"

Below are a couple of pics of my athletic son... he's a soccer player, or so he thinks! =) Needless to say, it only took him a few minutes to destroy that ball.

Above pic: Soooo Adorable!



Above pic: "Why are you laughing at me?? What's wrong"???


Above pic: Me, looking like a freak, trying to stack James at the show.

Above pic: "I may be old, but I am still a very handsome man".

Above pic: And the super cute little Vilma. My friend's 4 months old Kerry Blue Terrier.

That's it - you survived the picture bomb! =) Later 'gator!

Dog Show

We had a rather good show weekend; however a very bright and early one as we got up at 4:30 A.M. on Saturday and at 5:20 A.M. on Sunday... it sure is rough when the alarm goes off but once up, it’s alright. After a shower I was all awake and ready to rumble. =)

Saturday:
The ring judge was Senor Alberto Valesco and the Amstaffs were set to begin, which meant that James was first up. As we were “warming up” our handler said James ran well with me and that it would be better if I showed him myself. First I was like: “hell no”... but after a few seconds I felt like: “well, I have to have my first time at some point”... so I decided to do it. I felt alright as James and I entered the ring but the “OK feeling” was pretty much gone once it was our “alone time” with the judge. I did a horrible job stacking James. I mean, I am not claiming to be good at it at any time, but I sure can do it better when not nervous. It is called Lack of Experience, people!!! Ahhhh, I could feel myself not doing what I should have done, or what I would have done at home, and of course it effected James. Since I did not stack him properly his top line was off thus the comment (see further down). Had I not messed up, my Gorgeous Baby Blue would have won (I believe). But oh well... what to do. It does feel good that I have one show under my belt (it can only get better from here=)). We finished 2nd with the following comments:

“excellent head, good moving, can have better topline”

Sunday:
In the last minute the show program had changed and the Amstaff puppies were to be in another ring (than the rest of the Amstaffs) but they were not due until after all the Bedlington Terriers and all the Staffordshire Bull Terriers had been shown which meant that 56 dogs were ahead of us. This translated to a long waiting time for us, as we still came to the show early considering it is excellent training for James. Upon arrival we set up at ring 3 where the other Amstaffs were going to be shown. Our handler had 2 other dogs to show in this ring so we watched them, and both did well. Congratulations!

Since the ring had changed for us, it also meant we got a different judge than originally planned. We got a Finish judge by the name of Tuire Okkola. My God was this woman meticulous and thorough; she had the measuring tape out and took her sweet old time with every single dog. Sure, it is good she takes her time (unlike the Spanish judge yesterday who rushed through every dog in no time) but come on... I am sitting here waiting... =) Well by around 1 P.M. it was finally James’ turn to enter the ring. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our handler (Marina) did an EXCELLENT job with James. For a while he looked a bit timid as he was stacked in front of the judge's table, but Marina took her time with Jay so he could relax and she got him stacked perfectly. He looked so good, my perfect little baby! =) James came 1st (well I have to be honest, he was alone in his age group today which kind of sucked but it sure sounds good saying he won!!!) LOL. The judge really liked James but felt he was a bit too high (he measured 51 cm). Some judges are really picky with the height, but comparing James with other Amstaff puppies he’s shorter than most (he’s our little low-rider). But oh well. All judges are different and look for different things. As the judge spoke Swedish we got our critic in Swedish so first comes the comments in Swedish, with a translation in English underneath:

“Välutvecklad 8 månaders hanvalp som redan nu är över idealmåttet. Välutvecklad kropp. Huvud i bra balans med kroppen. Stora öron, fint bett. Fin blå, djupblå färg. Fina tassar. Rör sig utmärkt för åldern. Välvisad. Bra benstomme”.

And in English it sounds like this:
“Well-developed 8 month old male puppy who is already now over the ideal height. Well-developed body. Head in good balance with the body. Big ears, nice bite. Nice deep-blue color. Nice paws. Moves excellent for his age. Well Shown. Good bone-structure”.

I would like to give our handler, Marina, a big THANK YOU for being so nice and for showing James the best possible way. He looked fabulous in the ring! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

A very dear friend of mine came to the show today as well... she came to see us and to show us her little puppy. A little 4 months old Kerry Blue Terrier by the name of Vilma. She was so adorable and so tough. James liked her but considering Jay is quite rough with his play, we were careful that he would not scare her. Not that I believe he could have, as tough as that little lady was! =) It will be fun for James to play with her as she gets older. We are looking forward to that, and thank you Gabbi for coming today. Hope to see you soon again!

I have not had time to go over any pics yet, if there are any good ones from the show I will post them tomorrow. That’s it for today, folks! I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend, wherever in the world you may be. Take care... Ciao!

Country Living

We are still in the country... and the dogs love it!! This morning they got a chance to play in a lake, and when we got home they continued entertaining each other with a leash. =)

James will get a big old bath tonight because tomorrow is the Dog Show. I will have to get up around 4:30 A.M if I will have time to take James for a nice walk, get myself ready, before hitting the road. It is a little bit closer from here (the country side) to the show grounds, than from our home to the show. So that’s good.

Cross your fingers for the blue one, please... Here are some pics from this morning...

Above: "I know if I try really hard I can dig myself all the way back to L.A. Or hold on, what the heck is this I found???"

Above: Beaver = Alih?

Above: (Jay) "It sure is nice when we hang out together old bro"

Above: "Helloooo. What is this I see....gotta check it out."


Above: "This sure is life, being able to lay on the back with the paws up in the air"

Above: (Jay) "come on old bro... faster, faster"

Above: (Alih) "I will show this little kid ...boooy you just wait."

Above: (Alih) "Booooy, I already told you... I will show you."

Holiday - Valborgsmässoafton!

We are getting ready to leave for the country (to my parents house) due to it being a holiday tomorrow. But the actual celebrations will take place tonight. It is an old tradition called "valborgsmässoafton" celebrated in Sweden along with some other European countries. Now-a-days the tradition mostly means that we are celebrating the arrival of spring... we light a big bonfire and then we stand around and look at it. Hihi..sounds like lots of fun, eh?! But let's not forget, today is also the birthday of the Swedish King, so all the flags are flying high. Happy Birthday King Carl XVI Gustaf!!!! =)Anyhow, I thought I share some pics of Jay's brother Atlas today. Is he not adorable??!!!!! He's a real cutie. And very calm too ... not like crazy James at all. =)

Sharp Pics

It was Jay's obedience class tonight but it was not the best of nights, I'm afraid. Two of the female dogs were in heat, so a certain man got a bit distracted. Not out of control but just sniffing and generally unfocused. =( Oh well!!!

I think we found a training partner though. I started talking to this girl with a springer spaniel .. and it turned out she wanted a "training partner" too. So hopefully we'll get together sometime and train with the pooches.

Before heading to the obedience class I finally got a chance to use my new camera. I thought I share some samples with you. Don't they look sharp? At least I think so ... so I'm a happy camper! =)

Bye bye!
l.e.w.

Congratulations!!!

James and family would like to Congratulate kennel Stand Strong for their wonderful placements in this past weekend's Dog Show. Well done!


Above: Jay's mommy Nova. She came 3rd in her group.

Above: Diva. She won her group & received a CK (Champion quality)

Above: Izor. He won his group & received a CK (champion quality)

Graduation Gift

Nikon D40 - 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera - Black

This camera is an early Graduation gift I received from my parents. I will be done with my "Swedish" Master's Degree (ekonomiemagister) by the end of this semester if everything goes accordingly. Not to confuse anyone, I will continue studying until the end of the year to get my International Master's Degree (equivlent to a 2-year Master's Degree in the US). After that I am DONE!!!! How fabulous is that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, with this camera I should be able to take some cool pics... mostly of my babies probably. hihi...

Anyhow, gotta make it short today, as it is time to watch the Cashmere Mafia ... it's instead of Sex & the City. =)

I thought I include a couple of pics from a hike we did a little over a week ago. We went with some friends of ours, and my parents came along as well. We stopped and BBQ some hotdogs midpoint.


Above: The little family minus Alih. He's too old to go on this long of a hike.

Above: My mom catching a ride with my dad, trying not to get her feet wet =)

Next weekend is a big one for us!

This is James' gorgous father; SUCH Alta Carya Chief Quanah Parker

It is time for James 2nd and 3rd Dog Show/Conformation Show on May 3rd and 4th. He will be competing in the Puppy Class for dogs between the ages of 6-9 months. For any Swedes who may be interested, the show will be held in Forshaga, Värmland. It is Värmland-Dals Terrier Club that’s celebrating 30 years, thus the show being a 2-day event. Two Spanish judges will judge/critic the Amstaffs, and we are registered for both days. I am starting to feel the excitement already. James has only been to one other show, at the age of 6 months, and it went really well at that time. He came 2nd with an “HP prize”. I do not know what it’s called in English (if there even is an equivalent) but it means that he has champion quality. My Gosh, Mr. L and I were so darn proud of our little blue one! It was James' breeder who showed him for us, and she did a wonderful job!

The handler this time around will be the owner of James dad. That extremely handsome man you can see on the above pic. The owner, Miss M. has lots of experience showing dogs so we are crossing our fingers it will go really well. Soooooooooooooooooooo exciting! James dad (Chief) will also be competing at the show... but not in James’ class of course. =) He’s a Champion and will compete against other Champions.

Yeah, so as you can hear it is going to be a big weekend for us coming up. Please cross your fingers for Mr. James. Knowing this you may also understand why we keep getting worked up when James gets scratches. He cannot come to the show looking like some undomesticated...hmmm, Dingo. (LOL) He has to be as pretty as can be!!!

I believe James' mom along with the breeder’s other dogs, are at a Dog Show this weekend as a matter of fact. They live far, far away from us. Pretty much as far north as you can come in Sweden... (ever heard of the Ice Hotel? Well, that’s their neck of the woods). Due to the distance the show is not anywhere near us but hopefully we get some updates tonight or after the weekend on how it went. We are obviously crossing our fingers for all the dogs, but a little extra for James' mommy. =)

We came back from our tracking class a while ago and it went well, at least the last 2 tracks. The first one was a little so so...Our instructor had laid tracks for all of us before we got there, and it was a track with an angle. James is not really ready for that just yet. But we did find “the end” eventually. The other 2 tracks I laid for him, he did excellent. I am very proud of my son. He’s getting better and better. =)

Anyhow, that’s it for me today.

Take care ya’ all. Ciao!

Above pic: Jay's Daddy



Above pic: Jay's mommy (Nova). A very pretty lady!