Ambrose's Hair

Niamh, the blog hog, has been dominating the posts since we got back to blogging. This is not fair. And of course I have been sadly neglected while Barbara goes off to freestyle competitions with Niamh. My hair had grown very long and I had a series of bad hair days. Some people even asked Barbara if I was part Afghan Hound!!! Now nothing against Afghan Hounds but I am a Gordon Setter through and through.

It is hard to keep one's hair well groomed when other dogs are chewing on it though. My St.Bernard girlfriend, Bella, likes nothing better than to chew on my ears (well I chew on hers too). I like it but it mats up my ears and Barbara has to cut the mats out.

On Friday, Barbara gave me a big grooming and then took me next door to Max's Dog Wash for a bath. I really don't know why Niamh makes such a fuss about being groomed and thinks that it is torture. She is such a princess. I quite like getting fussed over. I am not fond of the blow dryer but I do like the feeling of being brushed. Of course I get lots of cookies when I am up on the grooming table or in the bath.

What do you think? With my head and neck trimmed you can see all my Gordon Setterness.

Today I went to a canine freestyle class to practice my moves. Of course Barbara forgot to bring the camera. You can tell how neglected I am.

APDT Conference and more

Barbara went to the Association of Pet Dog Trainers annual conference in Spokane WA in October. Because she is on the conference staff she was gone for 8 days. We wthent to K9 Kindercare as usual. We like it there and they always take good care of us. The ladies there call Ambrose "Brosie" if you can believe that! He is always kissing them. They don't realize how many cooties he gives them. Here is a photo of Barbara working with a chicken (and you thought this was a dog training conference).

Evidently training chickens makes you a better dog trainer because it it improves your mechanics and timing. I would like to eat a chicken more than train it. She brought home lots of treats and toys from the trade show at the conference. We always like that part. I will have to do an entire post about that. We just about got back into our normal routine when Barbara left town again. This time she took me with her (Ambrose went back to K9 Kindercare) as we were entered in two days of Canine Freestyle Federation competition. We got to stay in a motel, which I love. I had a bit of trouble with my routine on Saturday - not our fault. We were all warmed up and ready to go and the steward waved us into the ring. I was very focused but when we went to start the judges waved us out again! The silly steward sent us in by mistake!!! I got overexcited with all the confusion and when we were finally let in I wasn't as focused as I should have been so we didn't score all that well. Sunday was much better. I performed the routine very well and we got second place. You can see the medal around my neck in these photos. We won a gift card and I got some nice toys.

I do enjoy showing off in freestyle and getting applause. Everyone said how pretty I looked. Barbara says that I am the best traveling companion.