Happy Howlaween!!

Here are some photos from Howlaween at Scraps.

Who is cuter? Sierra the Dinosaur or Shawn the Berr Driver?

Or Sierra the Chile Pepper?


Or Shiloh the Prisoner with his lovely sister, Sassy?

Or Ryan? Or Teresa the pirate?

Dogs of Scraps, continued

Two of our favorite Bullys:

DozerDirk

Gracie, MX MXJ

At the Hangtown Kennel Club Agility Trial this weekend, Gracie finished her MX (Master Agility Excellent) title, under our favorite judge, Pam Richcreek!! Not only that, but we QQ'd yesterday and Q'd again today under Pam in JWW. We also got to see some friends we haven't seen in a long time. It was a fun weekend, to say the least!

Earning the MX and MXJ, has been my goal for Gracie for a while now. Due to several changes in my life, we have not been training or trialing as often as I would like for over a year now. This was a very satisfying accomplishment; I'm very proud of how far Gracie and I have come.

To our friends who are traveling to Scottsdale, AZ for the USDAA Nationals, we wish you all safe travel, fast and clean runs, and most importantly, lots of fun!

And, finally, while I didn't get a photo of Gracie finishing her MX, we did take a beautiful drive home from Placerville, today. We stopped at Lake Tahoe and got this photo. It was absolutely beautiful in Placerville and all around the Sierra this weekend.

One more picture from the National

Ron Manor took this nice photo of Pogo (Kriskella's Pogonip'd SunTrip, HCT) and Nova (Sizzlin' Supernova Stardust) during the Open Bitch class at the Samoyed Club of America National Specialty 2006. Pogo and Nova were not what our judge was looking for, but they are lovely girls.

While Pogo does look great here (as do Jill and Nova), I post this picture mostly for my friends who have never seen me wear a skirt or make-up. Only for a dog show! Nylons, even!!!

Last of the dog days. . .

As the weather gets colder, I start thinking about snow and snow shoeing and dog sleds. As the bumper sticker says, "My brain turns to MUSH!" It's time to dust off my copy of Running North, by Ann Mariah Cook, for my annual re-reading of this great story of determination, dedication and inspiration. I set my default browser page to the Iditarod, and gear up for my favorite sports season!

. . .but, our friends with H3D are seeing the end of their season. This is the last weekend of the year for H3D at the Sparks Marina. At Scraps, we're sorry to see the end to this sport's season. This year, especially so, because Randy and Mary, and Ka'ua (and Kiwi the cat) are moving back to Hawaii. We've gotten to know them, and to love Ka'ua's famous smile and Randy and Mary's tireless dedication to their dog community and favorite sport. They will be missed at the Marina, and in the Reno/Sparks dog community. I know everyone who attends the HA=HA agility trial every fall will miss their cooking at the Saturday night dinner.

We'll miss you guys!

Aloha!



While we are sad to say goodbye to some wonderful friends, we have a new generation of Scraps dogs coming up. Ace is just about the cutest Chow Chow puppy I've ever seen!

Winter is coming!!

Last winter, I got this picture of a hawk hunting on the hill behind the house.


I love frosty mornings.

Motor City Madness!!

So much for the best baseball team money can buy!!

I loved this line from Tom Withers writing for the AP:

Three years after losing 119 games, they moved back among baseball's biggest cats with an 8-3 victory Saturday in Game 4 over the Yankees, whose $200 million payroll couldn't help them against Detroit's pitching.

Jeeter? A-Rod? No thanks! Rock and roll all night, indeed!!! Dee-troit Rock City is surely rocking tonight. Be safe everyone; don't burn the place down.

In other Michigan news, nobody noticed the UoM spanking of MSU right? Sparty must be red with embarrassment. . .sorry to all the Spartans who will have to listen to the gloating from Ann Arbor for the next year. They may have a better football team than us, but MSU has a much more beautiful campus. . .that has to count for something. . .right??

Samoyeds are not always white. . .

It is a common misconception that all Samoyeds are, or should be pure white. Samoyeds, in fact, come in white, biscuit, and cream, and combinations thereof. All three colors are acceptable in the breed, and there is no preference for one over the other. All of my Samoyeds have some amount of biscuit in their coats. Gracie has the most biscuit of my current dogs. Below are three pictures of Gracie showing off her beautiful colors.

Gracie's sire, Bud (CH Frostipaws Champagne Bud, WSX ROMP) was truly a biscuit dog. I wonder if Grace will be as dark as he was. She, now seven years old, gets darker each year. Below is one of my favorite pictures of Bud. Bud is about 11 years old in this picture; it was taken just shortly after he came to live with us.

Webster, a Bud son, has some biscuit throughout his coat, but not nearly the amount that Bud had, or Gracie has. He has color on his ears and a faint mask around his eyes.


Pogo, a Bud granddaughter, has patches of biscuit on her body, color on her head and ears. Pogo's sire, Midas (CH Kriskella Turns To Gold, WSX) was a cream colored dog.

Sunset at the Marina, 10/03/06

The Dogs of Scraps

Auzzy is Kristi's dog. He's a black bi-colored Australian Shepherd. Black bi's are not seen as often as black tri-colored Aussies. Auzzy loves all the treats Kristi brings home to him from Scraps, especially Solid Gold food, Primal buffalo bones, Wet Noses biscuits and Kong squeaker tennis balls.

Gunner is Teresa's Golden Retriever x Australian Shepherd. This guy is still growing. . .he's all leg right now! Gunner loves Nature's Variety Raw Frozen Food and Nature's Variety Kibble and Primal buffalo bones. He is crazy for his ball.

Another Beautiful Day @ Sparks Marina

Emmitt (above) shows great form.

It was Josie's first day jumping. She's a natural!

The local bike club, Gonads and Strife, had a Poker Run on Sunday, to benefit the Make A Wish Foundation. They all started at The Jib and rode to the Great Basin Brewery. There was a band and brews and a great time was had by all.

Border Collies: Jazz and Panda

Jazz and Panda are my favorite Border Collies! I just found these two pictures of them, so I'm posting them.