Rally Level 1 Title!

We have been trying to keep cool in the hot weather. Our landline/DSL line got cut in the driveway again so our internet has been out. Ambrose and I have been doing interesting things but it has not been easy to post of get on your blogs. I sent Barbara to the library to use the wi-fi there so she could post this exciting news for me.

I earned my APDT Rally Level 1 title this weekend!



We entered 2 trials yesterday and one this morning. I qualified in all of them to earn three legs and my RL1 title. More letters after my name!

I like doing Rally. The courses are fun and your person can talk to you and praise you the entire time. It is work though and I had to have a little down time in my crate between runs.



Of course Barbara gave me lots of treats for being such a good, smart girl. I got 4 ribbons and was allowed to pick a toy from this big box. I selected a tug toy snake. I am not going to let Ambrose touch it as he will get cooties all over it if I do. He can get his own toy snake when he gets a rally title!



I hope our internet is better soon so we can read all your blogs and post more.

The Trust Experiment

The nice researchers at the Duke Canine Cognition Center requested my help with another one of their experiments. Barbara says it is just because my name came up in a random sampling of their data base but I know that they really like me there and that they think I am very smart.



This experiment was to see if I would eat a treat near some one I didn't know or would prefer to eat one near some one that had been nice to me. Now I am an equal opportunity treat eater but I was very happy to participate.

The first part was wonderful. A nice Duke student named Isabella sat on the floor and petted me for 23 whole minutes!! She scratched my ears and then gave me a butt rub.



I thought this was so nice that I let her rub my belly too. She talked very sweetly to me. You can see how much I enjoyed all the petting.



She even let me rest my head on her leg! You should all try to get in this experiment if you can. 23 minutes of non-stop petting is wonderful.



After the petting marathon the students moved some screens around the room. I was very curious especially when some little trays came out from under the curtains and Mary put treats on the trays. I was tested to make sure I could take the treats off of the trays, which of course I could. Some dogs are afraid of the trays but not me.

Then Mary put more treats on the trays and a some one came out from one side of the curtain and sat near the tray. Sometimes it was Isabella and sometimes it was a student I didn't know.



When Mary said ok, I was allowed to race to one of the treats and they marked down which side that I went to. We did this 16 times so that meant I got 16 treats!



Camilla, Isabella and Mary were very nice to me and even gave me a Duke diploma!



I am always happy to advance scientific knowledge about dogs and get lots of treats at the same time.

Do You Have C.L.A.S.S.?

I was so down when I heard that I was not selected for a dream date with Mango. To take my mind off of my disappointment Barbara has had me training for C.L.A.S.S. That is the new program from the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) and it stands for Canine Life and Social Skills. You can read all the details at www.mydoghasclass.com.




There are three levels, BA, MA and Ph.D. It is always good to have letters after your name. The tests are practical skills that all good dogs should know. The exercises get harder in each level.

A group of us got together at Paw In Hand to practice all the BA exercises. Next week we are going to have a "mock test" in preparation for the real thing in August.

Here I am practicing the Wait for the food bowl.




My BFF Ayla is doing a great job with the Settle on her mat.




Jade is only 7 months old but is doing well in her down stay. In the BA level you have to do a stay for 1 minute. Your person is right next to you but the evaluator talks to them. In the MA level your person is 15 feet away and other people walk around dropping things and acting as distractions while you stay.




You can do a sit stay if you prefer. My Drill Team buddy, Teddy, is demonstrating that.



There are bonus exercises so you an earn your degree "with honors". My boyfriend Trotter is saying his prayers for the bonus trick exercise.



There are several other exercises in the BA including loose leash walking, leave it, come and leash manners, give and take etc. Check out the program. Trainers in your area will be offering it soon. The APDT promotes education for trainers and reward based training which is a good thing for dogs.

I had a fun time at the practice and it took my mind off Mango for a while.

Ambrose will not be posting today because he is a very bad boy and it is doubtful that he will ever have any letters after his name! He stole some Burt's Bees soap from the bathroom counter. He ripped off the paper and ate 1/2 the bar before Barbara caught him. Disgraceful!!

Hope you and your families have a Happy Independence Day!

I Want a Dream Date with Mango!

You know that I am a very social setter and that I have quite a few boyfriends. However none of them are Relentlessly Huge or brindlie handsome like Mango.

Mango is running a contest and the winner will be squired around town by the Mango himself. I couldn't resist the opportunity to spend some quality time the Relentlessly Handsome big guy.



Why should I win this contest??

1. People tell me I am gorgeous and I know Mango has an eye for pretty ladies. Barbara has said that if I win the contest she will subject me to extreme dog grooming torture so that I will look my best on the date.

2. We are both afflicted with annoying, cootie-covered little brothers who are always embarrassing us. It would be so great to leave Ambrose and Dexter in their crates and have adventures without them. While we are on our date we could plot ways to have them kidnapped and then we wouldn't pay their ransom.

3. Mango and I love to dance. Mango has some great moves and you can see a video of me dancing here.



I am sure that many lovely girl dogs will enter this contest but the Mango and I have so much in common that we are made for each other. Yes, I do have some other boyfriends, but none of them have blogs so they will never know!

My Work is Never Done!

I really don't know how Barbara would get anything done without me. Recently she started a lot of new classes and of course she needed me to be her demo dog at the orientation for each class. It is a lot of work I can tell you. I had to show off all my skills to the students. Then I had to eat a lot of treats (very difficult) and then get petted by all the students (exhausting).

When it was all over I had to take a nap.



In an effort to give me a break she brought Ambrose to be the demo dog for one of the classes. What was she thinking??? He actually did alright until the mat work demo. Now to be fair, Ambrose is usually good on his mat, but not that night. Instead of lying there quietly he barked and barked at Barbara. Disgraceful.

As tired as I am she would have been better off bringing me. See how I can rest on my mat without barking.



With all my demo work I have also had to inspect the driveway. See that wire? It was our phone line until a tractor cut it. We were without phone and the internet for four days! Ugh!



Gordon Setters are known for being hard workers so I will keep on doing all I can to help Barbara with her work.



Ambrose here. In my own defense I wasn't barking on my mat to be bad. It was to encourage Barbara to be more generous with her rewards. I wanted her to set a good example to her students so they would give their dogs lots of treats!

Last week I got to go to Fearrington to see the Belted Galloway cows. Look how still I sat to try to get the cows to come to me.



They did come almost up to the gate but I got so excited that I gave the cows a big play bow and they went away.



I really wish they would be my friends.

I Finally Get My Birthday Ice Cream

After several days delay I finally got to celebrate my 6th birthday with a trip to Maple View Farm to eat ice cream. We stopped on the way to pick up my boyfriend Trotter and his person. Trotter had to ride in Ambrose's kennel in the dog-crate-on-wheels. I hope he didn't get any Ambrose cooties.



We left Ambrose and Trotter's little sister Scout at home. I don't even want to think about the havoc they would have created if we brought them along. Maple View Farm would never have been the same.

We waited on the porch with Trotter's person while Barbara went in us our ice cream. It was pretty hot but we knew the ice cream would cool us off.



Barbara bought us each a cup of Honey Toasted Almond ice cream which was so delicious I can not even describe it. It was so creamy and sweet.



Look how nicely Trotter ate his ice cream. He is a very polite guy.



Here is a close-up of me making sure that I lick every delicious drop off of the spoon.



Barbara let me lick the cup when it got down to the end. I can barely get my muzzle in the little cup but don't worry, having a long tongue is very useful. I didn't leave anything in there.



You can see that I have a little bit of ice cream on my chin.



Even though it was a belated celebration it was still a great treat for my birthday. I am so glad that Trotter came with us.

Barbara says that now that I am 6, I am middle aged!! Very rude of her especially when you consider how decrepit she is!!!!

I Am Six Today

Today is my birthday! I am six years old. I was supposed to celebrate by going to Maple View Farms and getting some ice cream. My boyfriend Trotter was going to come along. Unfortunately we had torrential rains all afternoon and really bad thunder and lightning so the outing was cancelled! I am so disappointed.

I don't like the rain. I don't like to get my feet wet and the rain makes my fur all frizzy. Instead of a fun outing Barbara sang "Happy Birthday" to me. You can see what I thought of that!



I hope the weather clears up so we can reschedule the birthday ice cream trip.

Yappy Hour

Can you believe it has been over 5 weeks since I have blogged?? It is disgraceful! My person has been very slack and I think that I am going to advertise her in the paper "Free to a good home". Of course she has her excuses about work and her modem issues blah, blah, blah, blah. I have been doing many interesting things, training and playing and I wanted you to know about them and find out what you are doing too.

This week we went to a very fun event called "Yappy Hour". It is a fund raiser for Chatham Animal Rescue and Education. Dogs are allowed to eat and socialize on the patio at the Carolina Brewery in Pittsboro. When I say we, I mean me and Barbara. We left Ambrose at home since we didn't want to create a commotion. Of course he cried his eyes out when we went without him.

Here I am at the entrance to Yappy Hour. Barbara paid $10 and I got a big biscuit, she got a drink and chips and a Tshirt.



I sat politely next to our table waiting for some food.



She ordered a barbeque sandwich. It smelled great but Barbara wouldn't give me any because she said it was too spicy for me. I don't believe that - I think she just did not want to share. I did get most of the french fries though.



There were about 15 other dogs there, most of them very well behaved.



Look at this cute little guy under the chair.



Of course many people admired me because I was so well behaved and I did hear a couple of people refer to me as "gorgeous". I got lots of petting. One of the waitresses gave me a good ear rub.



I had a great time at Yappy Hour and of course was glad they raised money for the dogs and cats that CARE fosters. The next Yappy Hour is Monday, June 20th from 5:30-7:30. I plan to be there and if you are in the area, you should come too.


AMBROSE HERE. Yes, I was highly insulted to be left out of Yappy Hour especially when I smelled all those french fries on Niamh's breath when she got home! However I have been busy taking a tricks class and playing with my girl friend Scout.



After chasing around we always wrestle and play bitey face.



I hope Barbara will take some pictures of me doing my tricks. I have learned to beg, spin in both directions, circle around her, crawl and roll a log. It is a lot of work but I don't mind since I get bits of hot dog for doing the tricks.

Glad to be back blogging and we will check in with all of you this evening.

Your friends,
Niamh & Ambrose

Spring is Here

Spring is in full bloom here in North Carolina. It is sunny and warm. Barbara thought that it would be a good idea to get some pictures of me in front of the flowers. I did not agree.



I really don't see why she wanted to ruin a perfectly good walk with shoving that flashing box in my face. I refused to do a sit stay in front of the flowers because it was interfering with my sniffing. Everything smells so good right now and I didn't want to miss a scent.



Finally she gave up and let me enjoy the smells in peace!


To celebrate spring I do have a new ruffled bandana from Jing A Ling Dog Bandanas. I like the polka dots. I think that I look quite fetching in it.



It is reversible and has dog bones on the other side.



Ambrose here. I thought you would like to see some good bitey face photos. My girlfriend Scout and I like to do this after we have had a good chase.



Of course it is all in good fun. I even throw myself to the ground so that Scout can pounce all over me.




Last night was another Puppy Kindergarten graduation at Paw In Hand. Look at the cools shoes that Lulu's mom wore to class.



I wonder if Barbara could find shoes with Gordon Setters on them??

Goat Babies and More

It was bad enough last weekend when Barbara came home and had Riley smell all over her. She was invited for wine and cheese and I was very miffed since I was not. Evidently Riley (who is my boyfriend) fawned all over her and showed off his tricks.

But last night it was even worse. She came home smelling of goat babies.



One our Drill Team friends has some goats and Maggie had twins named Sugar and Spice. You can see that Barbara is cuddling Spice which is why her shirt smelled so good.



I love goats! I am always fascinated by the goats at the farm at Fearrington and I behave very nicely around them. I never try to chase them or bark at them. I just like to look at them and take in their wonderful aroma. So why wasn't I invited??

Maggie is a very good mom to the twins and keeps the other goats away from them.



Here is Thelma on top of her dog house. I had no idea that goats could sleep in dog houses!



I could not stop sniffing Barbara's clothes and shoes - they smelled wonderful. She says the next time she goes to visit them, I am invited too. I cannot wait. Of course we will not bring Ambrose for fear that he would traumatize the little goat babies.




Goat babies are cute and they would be fun to chase but I have lots of fun chasing my girlfriend Scout. Barbara filmed us chasing each other during the winter and forgot to post it on the blog! See how she neglects me.

Anyway, here it is now for your viewing pleasure. There are lots of shots of the grass because Scout and I run so fast that she couldn't keep up with us. The best part is the very end.





We always have great fun racing around together and really tires us out.



You may have noticed that there is not a single picture of me, Niamh, in this post. This is a disgrace. Barbara is always forgetting to take her camera with her to my activities. I have freestyle practice tomorrow and I hope that she will finally remember to take the camera so you can see some of my moves.