Flirty's Saga

Our dear Flirty had a 4th surgery to try to finally fix the odd palate defect she has in her throat.  This has been an ongoing saga since we discovered the hole in her throat when she was about 4 months old.  The surgeons did something a little different for this surgery and hopefully this WILL be the final fix!!

Thankfully Flirty recovers very well from surgery and she was back to her happy, bouncy self within a day of the procedure.  She has a recheck on the 19th and we hope to hear that they repair is holding and that things look good!!

Flirty was sad because we had to miss her last two obedience classes.  She LOVES class and I just love watching to learn knew things.  She has so much enthusiasm and "want to"...it is FUN! 

Oh and Flirty's favorite new toy is a feather...yes a feather.  A long feather came off of Bagheera's cat toy and Flirt fell in love with it.  At first she was play bowing and boofing at it which would make it move and then she would tear around the room in a zoomie frenzy.  Then she would slap the feather with her big feet and try to bite it.  I have to take it away to let the slobber dry after each play session. Weirdo!

So BAD about posting again!

Oy I have fallen off the blog posting wagon once again.  I really want to get back on track again.  I love having blog posts to look back on but I can't do that if I don't post them to begin with!!

So let's see what's been happening...

My fabulous Famke got her CD title in the fall and I was so very proud of her!! She is a joy to trial with and such a happy girl.  We were entered at our local club trial in November for a "security leg" for our CD (we had finished our title at a trial the weekend before) and I was completely blown away by how well she did.  Our run felt really good but when the judge called our number for 1st place I couldn't believe it!  I even double checked my number. LOL It was a big Novice B class...13 entered and 11 showed that morning.  So proud of my sweet girl!

Flirty and I attended the Great Dane National in Topeka, KS at the end of October.  My bestie Shannon joined us for the trip and we had a great time!  It was my very first Dane National and they do it up big! We enjoyed the fantastic vendors, yummy food, fun seminars and lots of gorgeous Danes.  Shannon and I helped out with obedience and rally and it was so much fun to see a line of Great Danes doing sits and downs.  Flirty will be there one day!  

We showed in conformation and I was thrilled that my baby girl got 3rd place in the 6-9 mantle class.  It was quite a rush gaiting around that HUGE ring. :) She showed so nicely for me and we both had a blast!

Currently we are working on lots of training and trying to survive the bitter cold temps!! I cannot wait for warmer weather so we can work and play outside again!! 

Famke is a Coursing Freak!!

This past weekend Shannon and I took the Fabulous Field sisters, Famke and Cola, to a CAT (Coursing Ability Test) in Lincoln, NE.  When we had to have the girls inspected (they have you gait the dog to check for lameness and if your dog is an intact girl they check to make sure she's not in heat) Famke saw the lure and some of the sighthounds out coursing and promptly went insane.  I could not even gait the dog because she was digging in with her front feet trying to move toward the lure. LOL 

It is completely fascinating to me to watch the reactions that various breeds have to lure coursing and being on the field.  Many of the sighthounds are very animated but quiet before their runs and might bark a little at the start line.  Some dogs yip with excitement, some bark, some scream and some (namely Famke) do this awful ear piercing, rapid fire, high pitched bark that makes you want to glue her lips shut.  Once she is in the field waiting her turn, she does not stop yapping until I release her on the line.  She LIVES to eat and will not even take a treat from me when she is in the coursing zone.  Wow...just wow.  

She ran her little heart out and followed that lure like her life depended on it!  I have video but all you can see is a little brown spot running in the distance. LOL She got her third CA leg for her CA title!! So now my little peanut is officially:

Ch Capriole's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun BN, RN, CA, TT, CGC/TDI!!! 

So proud of my sweet girl that puts her whole heart into everything she does!!

Lookit those ears!!

Conformation Isn't for Sissies

Flirty had her first official AKC conformation show this past weekend at the big Des Moines show.  Our local Dane club had our Specialty on Friday so we were able to show 3 times on Friday...two shows and Sweeps.  We have been working on conformation here and there but I will admit that my focus is much more on obedience. :) My main goal for the show was to create a great first experience for Flirty and to have a good time with my dog!

I am happy to say that we were successful with that goal and that is where our success ended. LOL As we were getting ready to go into the ring for our class, 6-9 month old bitches, I realized that I was going to be going into the ring with two of the top handlers in Danes.  Nothing like baptism by fire. LOL Needless to say, I was a wee bit nervous.  Flirty picked up on my tension and was a bit squirrely at first but then she settled in.  We got last in our class...all three shows. LOL Not a surprise by any means but we both got better with each time in the ring.  And Flirty's attitude was AMAZING the whole weekend.  She was her happy, sassy self the entire time.  

We also did "Meet The Breed" on Saturday and Flirty made lots of new friends.  She really enjoys meeting new people and his happy to introduce everyone to the Great Dane lean by swinging her bum into them and leaning on them for lovin.

We will continue working on conformation and having fun together!!

Maybe we'll try some dock diving!

We had the opportunity to take the girls to another Doggy Swim last week and once again it was way too much fun.  I brought both girls this time and I was really interested to see what Famke would do since she had gone to one of the Doggy Swims last year and had fun but would not jump in the pool from the side.  She would wade in and swim but would not jump in.  I have no idea what changed but the minute she saw I had a squeaky tennis ball she was allll about jumping in the pool from the side.  I think she jumped in and retrieved the ball about 25 times in a row!  She was obsessed with it and watching her jump in was hysterical! I was hoping that watching Famke jump in would have given Flirty the confidence to try it but she wasn't interested.  Flirt decided it was her mission to wait until Famke swam back to the side and then steal the tennis ball...every time!  Poor Famke, she is so incredibly tolerant of her little sister. Flirty also enjoyed jumping on Famke and dunking her under water in the shallows. 

 

 "Throw the ball Mom!!!"

 

 

 "Wheeeeeeee!"

 

"Mission to dunk Famke...complete!!"

Flirty the Water Dane

 

Last night one of the local pools had a Doggie Swim night before they drain and close the pool.  I have brought my dogs to these events every year and they just LOVE IT.  It was Flirty's first year at the pool and she had SO much fun. I had to actually drag her out of the pool when it was time to leave.  

 

 

 She did have a bad habit of wanting to steal the other dog's toys though.  To her credit, she would only steal them for a second and then drop them back in the water. She had the most fun chasing dogs that were chasing after balls and such. 

 

 

 Flirt walks on water!! This group of dog lovers were really getting a kick out of Flirty's epic pool zoomies.  

 

 

"Aw Mom can you quit making me pose so I can go back in the pool!!!"

Earning Her Keep!

I am always telling the dogs that they should be doing something around here to earn their keep...you know emptying the dishwasher, doing some laundry, washing the windows...something! Well the request usually falls on deaf ears but I think that Flirty may have actually heard me!

I was Shop-vacing the basement today and Flirty came up and took the hose from me and started to vacuum herself! I was so excited!! Unfortunately, she seems to only be interested in vacuuming a small area.  Hmmmm...if I am really honest with myself I think she is really only interested with playing with the vacuum.  ;) And yes the Shop Vac is actually on in this photo.