Days of Kids and K9s

hanging out at the zoo

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 20:19:00 +0000

Welcome, Twenty Ten!

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 20:19:00 +0000

In keeping with my current interests for the new year, look for more photos and less words (hmm, I think I've already been doing that). Anyway, I'm pretty sure the three people who actually look at my blog just want to see pictures. You will continue to have to put up with pictures of the dogs as well as the kids. Happy New Year, and new decade!

Christmas with family

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:21:00 +0000

Christmas Blizzard

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 01:11:00 +0000

Christmas 2009 in Omaha will be remembered for the blizzard that brought lots of snow, and huge drifts. Being snowbound with family, food, and fun was not so bad.

Happy Birthday, Brynley!

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:01:00 +0000

I can't believe my puppy is one year old today! It was a year ago on Christmas that I began my search and wait for my Jusdandy puppy. It makes December extra special that it is Bryn's birthday and my birthday, as well as Christmas this month. We are moving on to exciting things in Bryn's agility training now he is a year old and fully grown. He has started learning to jump and soon we'll be starting weave poles.

I got to spend Brynley's birthday home with him as we have had a snow day with a huge snow storm coming through today. The kids and I have spent a quiet day, reading, playing video games and watching movies. The snow has been coming down all day. This is the view out our front door this morning. That's actually the street out there somewhere.
Compare to the amount of snow this evening! It's a winter wonderland in Nebraska this week. The lights are so pretty reflecting off all the still clean snow.

Keeping busy

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:06:00 +0000

Guess what our son's latest activity is? Yes, it's Rhys under that fencing mask! He seems to be enjoying his new hobby. He's not the most natural athlete, but he seems to have a knack for winning his matches.
The rock star and the ninja went trick-or-treating and brought home an absolutely ridiculous stash of candy. The scariest part is how quickly that huge bowl of candy has been vanishing. I, of course, know nothing about it!

After a cold, wet, and even snowy October, we have finally been enjoying some pleasant fall weather. I got to spend 4 days last week at an agility seminar with Tracy Sklenar. It was awesome! Annie and Brynley both did well, and I came away with a good idea of what I need to be working on for the next few months. I ran outside with the dogs this weekend to snap some quick pictures in the sunshine.
Casey asked for me to take his picture, too. Which, of course, I did because you should always take opportunities to take pictures of your dear old dogs.

more pics from the pumpkin farm

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:56:00 +0000

Finally, the Pumpkin Patch

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:31:00 +0000

Sunday afternoon, we finally made it to the Bellevue Berry Farm and Pumpkin Patch. With the weather this month, I was beginning to wonder if we would get there. It was cool, windy, overcast, and muddy, but we still had a good time!

These guys must be the unofficial welcoming crew. They were so cute, I kept taking their picture!
The hunt for pumpkins! Stay out of the mud.
Lots of the pumpkins were ruined by all the rain, but the kids found a couple to bring home. Always going for the biggest one you can (almost) carry!
Then it was time to play.
And last of all before coming home, a stop to warm up with hot chocolate. Yummy!

October Snow!

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 18:44:00 +0000

We were supposed to running Annie and working at our club's USDAA agility trial this weekend. Unfortunately, we woke up to a little surprise this morning. The weather forecasters had said no accumulating snow. Hah! Our outdoor agility site looked like this! No agility in Omaha this weekend.

The plants and trees look like fall buried in winter. Most of the leaves haven't even turned color yet.

Brynley doesn't mind. He loves playing in the snow!
The kids thought it was pretty neat too, even though it wasn't a school day.

My dogs

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:08:00 +0000

I took Annie to an AKC trial here in Omaha 2 weekends ago. We only ran in Jumpers with Weaves. I am happy to say that we got a qualifying score on Sunday, her first in Excellent A JWW. Best of all, we ran well together both days. Annie is an agility dog with issues. Handling her is a puzzle that can be an interesting intellectual exercise. There are answers. One of which is that she runs for me. We both had a good time. I'm not giving up. We are doing a USDAA trial in a few weeks, and I entered everything. Back to contacts. At least we are in Starters. I'm hoping for joy and flow in our runs together.

Brynley is looking very grown up. He seems to have stopped growing, and I neutered him this month at 9 1/2 months old. It's time to focus on his career as an agility dog. (like we haven't since he was born) I think he is such a beautiful boy. I know in a couple of years he will still look like this, but with a whole ton of coat added. I'm happy to report that he loves to be brushed, cause he's going to be groomed a lot! I am very happy with how he is doing in Susan Garrett's foundation training. What he has been learning this year is going to make the rest of agility so much easier.

Where to start?

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:38:00 +0000

We had such a fun and busy summer. We had many visitors come to see us in Nebraska and it was great!

Nana and Poppa came for a visit. The kids were so happy to see them!
We finished up the summer at the Wings of Freedom Air Show at Offutt Air Base. This is always one of our favorite events. It is well run and always seems to go smoothly in spite of huge turn outs of people.
Some of the California cousins came to visit and the kids had a great time at the Air and Space Museum. This tower got taller!
The kids also showed Nana and Poppa around the Air and Space Museum.
Son worked as a volunteer at the Henry Doorly Zoo and then we enjoyed a fun day at Duane's company picnic at the zoo.

School is back in session now, and it's feeling more like fall. Son is adjusting well to his first weeks in junior high. Daughter loves third grade and is staying very busy with her first year on a competition dance team. Can't wait to see what the change of season brings.

Silver and Gold

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:05:00 +0000

There has been a lot happening at our house in the past month. We've enjoyed the company of several visitors from out of town and spent some time enjoying the sights in Omaha with them.

The dogs are keeping me busy. Brynley has been growing and is really starting to look like a grown up sheltie. Okay, a teenage sheltie. He is progressing well in his agility foundation training. He has gone over size and is very distracted at training class these days, so I'm thinking his appointment with the vet for a brain adjustment will be soon! Sad news has been learning that Casey has an insulinoma, a cancer on his pancreas which is producing excess insulin. We have opted to manage this conservatively, which means frequent meals to keep up his blood sugar. He's pretty happy with this plan, but I am sad knowing our time together likely won't be too much longer, months if we are lucky. Thank God for puppies to brighten our day. I am also back to training agility with Annie, and I'm glad of it. I'm focused on all her good points these days, she really has so much to offer.

I'm writing a new blog focused on issues dealing with pets and real estate. Check it out at http://blog.cbshome.com/teresacarlile

Nebraska animal life

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 21:02:00 +0000

Fourth of July Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:58:00 +0000

I love our neighborhood on the 4th. Dogs were tucked away in their crates in their room in the basement. Then we ate until we were stuffed. The kids were very impatient to set off fireworks.

My little pyromaniac was the most eager of all.
Light it and run!
Taking a break to wait for dark. Break time included ice cream cones!
Let the grown ups set off the big ones after dark.

Dear family and friends,

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:42:00 +0000

Have I mentioned recently that I am a licensed real estate agent? Yes, I live in Nebraska and most of you don't. Yet, seeing as you are my family and friends, and you're taking the time to read this, I'm sure you want to help me to be successful in my career. Well, you can! And as a special bonus, I will be helping you, too.

So here's how it works in real estate. Say you are moving from Fresno to Clovis, or San Francisco to Washington D.C. or Fort Wayne to where ever. You give me a call or drop me an email. I use my fabulous connections and those of my company to find you the best agent to work with to sell your current house or buy your new one. I interview that agent and make sure he or she is going to do an outstanding job for you, just the same as I would, because you are my family and friends. (okay, I do outstanding work for all my clients) The benefit to you is obvious. You don't have to guess or pick an agent at random out of the phone book. I make sure you get the best. The benefit to me, is that the other agent pays me a referral fee for sending you to them as a client. Pretty cool, huh? It's a win, win for you and me. So, if you or anyone you know is going to be buying or selling, please get in touch with me.

My email is Teresa.Carlile@cbshome.com and my work phone number is 402- 697-4449. I'm working for you!

An eye opener

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 14:13:00 +0000

So what do you do when you are on phone duty and the phone isn't ringing? Finally, catch up on your blog!

Brynley is 6 months old now, and starting to look more like a grown up sheltie dog. His favorite place to nap is on the arm rest of the sofa, especially if I'm sitting there. I usually have a sheltie boy on either side. Perfect.
Daughter had a great time at her dance recital in May. She has decided, with our agreement, to join a competition dance team this coming school year. This is a big time and financial commitment, so this will be the main activity of this year.
Son finished up the year with a successful science fair project presentation and his first big concert as a flute player. He will be playing the flute in the 7th grade band this coming year.
I have been very busy with the real estate business, having the kids home for the summer, and trying to train too many dogs. This week at foundations agility class, I had an eye opening experience. Now, you would think if I had a revelation at a dog training class it would be about dog training, but it wasn't. I had a sudden insight into my son's life of living with ADD.

Maverick has a major issue with barking. This week I began using a manners minder at class to work on this problem. (side note- the manners minder was pretty successful and we are making some progress) I had class first with Brynley and then with Maverick. Mav was in his crate with the manners minder and I was using a remote to dispense food rewards when he didn't bark. Of course, this meant that through out both classes a certain amount of my attention was on Maverick and timing his rewards. I thought that I was doing really well at multi-tasking and listening to the instructor. Yet in both classes as my turns came up, I would find myself making mistakes, or suddenly realizing that I didn't really know what the instructions were. Of course, I've done agility for a long time, and I thought I knew what I was doing, right up until I did the exercise wrong. I was feeling frustrated with myself that even though I was listening I didn't seem to be able to "get it right".

It wasn't until I was driving home that I had a light bulb moment. This is exactly how my son feels every day in school! Oh wow! What a revelation. I realized that my problem was because part of my attention was always on Maverick and rewarding him, even though I didn't realize it at the time and thought I was paying attention. But for my son, this is what ADD is like all the time. He thinks he's paying attention, he's trying to pay attention, but when it comes time to do the exercise something goes wrong because his brain wasn't as focused as he thought it was. Wow! My problem is temporary and easily solved, but for my son, this is his life. All I can do is be understanding and patient and try to help and guide him to succeed in spite of the challenges he faces.

Foundation

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:34:00 +0000

This month has been so busy, I can barely stop to think. I got my real estate license on May 1, and have been on the go ever since. I am working with CBSHome Real Estate in the Omaha area. This company has a great education department, and that is where I have spent this month. I am really enjoying being "out in the real world", so far. And I'm sure I'll eventually find time to clean my house and do some laundry again! I feel well prepared as I make plans to get my real estate business going.

Meanwhile, my darling aussie, Annie has come back to be my dog. She made it pretty clear, and in public fashion, that at least when it comes to agility, she is a one person dog; mine. I have to really commend my husband, Duane, for not taking it too badly when the dog that was supposed to be his publicly declared that it wasn't to be so. Of course, when the time comes that we can add a dog to the family, it will be his, and I get no say whatsoever in who that dog is! I can't argue with that. So now, I am training my baby Brynley and Annie. Duane is tasked with training Maverick for our daughter.

Annie and I are going all the way back to foundation training to work on her issues that have been building up over the years. She is such an anxious girl. I am convinced that it is not that she doesn't like agility, she just worries a lot. I feel confident that going back to Susan Garrett's foundation training will help her both in agility and more importantly in every day life. Expect to be hearing more as I put in the time to retrain and help my awesome, anxious girl. And thanks, Duane. We love you.

Odds and Ends

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 19:13:00 +0000

I'm sitting here listening to the thunderstorm as I write this. April has been such a busy month! I took and passed my Nebraska Real Estate Salesperson exam, and am joining CBS Home Real Estate. I heard so much about how hard the exam was that I basically had a panic attack the morning I took it. Fortunately, I did well. Is there a profession that pays well for being good at taking tests?

Brynley is maturing into a very handsome fellow. He is so smart and is learning so quickly. We are going to a Tracy Sklenar seminar this week, with a working spot in Monday's puppy session. Tracy is one of Susan Garrett's trainer's, so I'm really excited about this!
Son got his braces on early this month. He is doing well, and we are looking forward to junior high in the fall.
Duane finished painting the living room. Here is the accent wall. On to the kitchen next, with lots of taping to be done and priming over the bright yellow before the new color can go up.
Brynley did some product testing of our Petlane items. So far, he really approves. This is his hide-a-squirrel toy. It is a favorite.
Solara, our almost 11 year old cat also got in on the product testing. She loves this kitty toy! This is the kitty calisthenics toy. Anything that can get this fat, old cat jumping around and playing like she did, gets a big thumbs up from me!

Home Makeover

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:53:00 +0000

Big, white walls are no longer white, hooray! There is a lot more to go, but painting is off to a great start!

Stylin'

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 23:15:00 +0000

We girls went and had our hair cut to update our style.

Then I found these kids in my tree!

Puppy Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:01:00 +0000

I love how this reinforcement stuff works. We brought the pause table into the living room (everyone does, right?). I have yet to actually do a formal training session on it with Brynley, but I frequently give him a treat for getting on it, just a charlie bear from my pocket. I've progressed already to holding out for a down. He gets on it all the time, just to check if he might get something! Meanwhile, all the dogs like to play on it, and Brynley has decided it's a pretty good place for a nap, if only Mom wouldn't disturb him by taking pictures!

Here's a couple of pics of the growing boy at 15 weeks old, on Monday. He's a little oversize, but I can hope, can't I?

Cycling

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 21:35:00 +0000

I'm dedicating this post to my brother. Today, we headed out on our first family bike ride of the year. We made it 5 miles. Both kids just moved up to bigger bikes. Son is now riding a small adult bike! Eastern Nebraska and western Iowa are great areas for bike riding (weather permitting). We have literally hundreds of miles of bike paths. The only issue is that being in the plains, the wind always blows. Head winds, cross winds, both together. I want to point out that the prairie is not even close to flat. This is the only place I've ridden where somehow you can be going uphill, into a head wind, both coming and going. Seriously! Ride it and you'll believe me. The weather today was so perfect, it seemed like everyone was out on bikes. We saw people and bikes of all shapes and sizes. Families, kids with training wheels, serious roadies, and even a couple on a recumbent tandem. I wish I could manage to take pictures while I'm riding, but I'm not that good!

Here's Duane and the kids on the bike trail not far from our house.
Moving up to bigger bikes.
Daughter loves to ride her bike. She is so thrilled to have inherited Brother's last bike.

Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 21:45:00 +0000

We are enjoying some very nice, springlike weather today. I dusted off my bicycle and went for a short (very!) ride. I also took dogs for a walk. Brynley has had a major growth spurt this week. I took the camera outside and followed him around for a while. All my pics looked like this! He seems to think he is a goat rather than a puppy.

Casey enjoyed the warmth, and is feeling much better.
Brynley has learned how to lay down and relax and take a nap without being confined to a crate, hooray!
Maverick was checking out the view.

Troublesome Toy

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 20:00:00 +0000

This is what happens when dogs eat things they shouldn't. Two weeks ago, Casey got sick and was vomiting blood. We took him to vet emergency, where he spent the night and had a series of x-rays. The vet thought she saw a foreign object. The next morning, we transferred him to our regular vet, who was less sure it was a foreign object and thought he might have a tumor. The condensed version is, that they got him feeling better, and he came home. Fast forward to this past Monday. Casey again threw up, and I took him straight in for an x-ray. The apparent foreign object had not moved. Tuesday, he had exploratory surgery. The object was located and milked out of his colon. Casey came home, and has been feeling very sorry for himself. He has slowly been recovering this week, and seems to begin to be in less pain.

A 10 inch incision, no wonder he came home in a lot of pain.
The source of the problem, a little helmet from a Star Wars stormtrooper, no bigger than a penny. It is only slightly squashed and discolored after a trip through Casey's digestive system.
Not a happy dog. He is feeling better today.

Brynley's Busy Day

noreply@blogger.com (Teri) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 00:31:00 +0000

Friday I flew to New Jersey to pick up Brynley. I was only a couple of hours late getting out, due to the snow storm. I had a wonderful visit with his breeder and met his sire and dam. I particularly fell for Brynley's sire, Gnat. Yesterday, Brynley and I flew home. Fortunately, the weather cooperated, and we travelled without incident. He was a very good puppy the whole way! Today was his first day at home, and he had many chores to do...

The jackets had to be put away
Teddy needed looking after
"Uncle" Casey needed visiting with
And he had to practice searching for avalanche survivors

It was a very busy first day in his new home. My new boy is here, and I think he is the perfect dog for me!