Christmas 2011

We all had a wonderful Christmas this year.

Our Family

My lap can hold 2 sweet Westies

or one big Glen!

Winston says "where are my presents?!"

Winston loved opening presents! Here is a clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNcYjoOl77A&feature=youtu.be

Look at all the toys!!!

Santa brought the dogs 2 toys each, plus Aunt Annette, Aunt Toni and Aunt Anna also gave the dogs toys! WOW! Thanks for all the toys!

Elliott checks out the toys. 

Carly checked out the goalie bag present Uncle Scott received. She was not thrilled with all the excitement.

Where is Winston?

Huge loot haul for the doggies this year!

Better test these toys!

"Hands off !! This one is MINE!"

Mark and the kids

The dogs also received new food dishes from Santa. 

Santa was good to us all and we had a merry Christmas!

Hasten and Barclay, my sister's dogs

Hasten and Barclay were also here this holiday. They did not get to play though since Winston did not seem too happy to meet Hasten. 

We hope you all had a joyful holiday season!

Winston and I went bell ringing for the Salvation Army via the Five Flags Dog Training Club.

Winston held the bell and  helped fill the kettle!

Our friend Mary and her Border Terrier, Laz also rang the bell with us. The little elf was a hit!

Winston celebrates the Festival of Lights

Winston has sugar plum dreams!

"I've been good all year!"

"Do these antlers make my butt look big?"

Winston : "I hope I get a baby brother!"

Carly: "I want squeaky toys in my stocking!"

Elliott: " I dream of stockings stuffed with dog biscuits!"

Winston and Carly: "Let there be peace on earth!"

Happy Holidays to all our friends near and far.

2011 AKC Eukanuba National Championship Weekend

We traveled with Winston to the AKC Invitational dog show this weekend in Orlando. Winston was an ambassador for the Glen of Imaal terrier at our "Meet the Breeds" booth.

The show is a whirlwind of activity and only the top dogs are invited to compete in confirmation, agility and obedience. The show offers many vendors and also has a "Meet the Breeds"area where people can meet different breeds of dogs and learn about the breeds in a hands on experience.  This was our first big event like this with Winston and we had a great time!  Carly and Elliott had a "Winstonvacation" with Auntie Annette while we were gone.


I am adding a few photos of our activities from the event.

Mark and Winston at our booth

Mark and Winston in a "time out!"

What Winston REALLY wants for Christmas! LOL!

Winston and Peach

Mark and Winston at the convention center

Miss Peach had so much attention--what a face!

Winston is excited to represent his breed!

Winston and the badger!

Peach aka: Tipperary American Pie for Glenbride; sweet pup we met at the show

Visitors at the booth--Winston spies his dad!

Winston with his dad, Riley...chip off the ole block

Winston and Riley

We were also able to meet Kizey and her mom, Lynn. Kizey was the only Glen in agility at the show! Mark took some great photos of their runs in a slideshow. I am attaching the link to the slide show.

http://vimeo.com/33941840

One of the things I loved the most about the whole trip was seeing all the dogs in the hotel! Our hotel does not usually allow dogs but they did for this event and it was so cool to see dogs all over the lobby and in the common areas!  From the  huge mastiffs to the small chinese crested, we saw so many dogs in the hotel.
We want to thank all our friends and helpers, too: Mary, Maggie, Tom, Noreen, Jo, Marty, Laura, Andy, Michael, and Vance.  It was a glendicious weekend.

Tuesday night training...

We are still working on obedience training most Tuesday nights. Winston had a great night this past Tuesday and he has made a lot of progress in the last few months.  Here are a couple of videos of some of Winston's work!

In the morning we leave for Orlando where Winston has a job at the Meet the Breeds booth for the Glen of Imaal terrier. We are hoping Winston will be an excellent ambassador for his breed. Pics to follow!

Santa Claws 2011

We took Winston to PetSmart today to see Santa Claws. We had the same Santa Claws as last year and he was awesome!

"Santa, I have been a good boy all year!"

"I want a reindeer for Christmas, Santa!"

...and a baby brother!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

My little pilgrim.

"I smell turkey!"

"Happy Thanksgiving! "

"Now, where is the pumpkin pie?!"

Alabama Earthdog Weekend!

This weekend was a big Earthdog weekend. On Friday, the Alabama Working Terrier Association(AWTA) had their Earthdog event in Fairhope, AL. Mark and I were in-disposed on Friday but Winston's Aunt Becky took him the trial on Friday. It was a big first step for us and Winston since we have never had Winston attend an event without us! We were all nervous! Winston was a perfect gentleman Glen but he did not make it into the the den to see the rats. He gave a valiant effort though. One caveat AWTA has that AKC events do not, is that the dog must be carried to the start line. This was interesting for our friend who handled him, as she is used to her miniature dauxies and not a 40 pound Glen!

Mark and I took Winston back Saturday for the Alabama Border Terrier ED events. Wow! There were lots of Borders! We also found out that Winston had made a rather "large" impression! We had a few attendees tell us that they had helped "lift" Winston on Friday!

It was a perfect day for a outdoor event. The weather was spectacular and there were lots of eager doggies.

Winston made it to the rats and engaged them in the intro to quarry class. 

Mark encourages Winston to work the rats and praises him as Judge Kim looks on. 

Winston and Mark await the awards. 

Judge Kim awards Winston with his IQ qualifying ribbon. 

Winston says "I love rat chasing!"

After the IQ, we tried Winston in Junior Earthdog--there were two opportunities.

Winston had the drive.

Winston really wanted the rats but he did not enter the tunnel on his first attempt.

One his second attempt in Junior, Winston DID enter the tunnel....

But he did not want to make the first turn. 

Winston showed great enthusiasm for the event but we need more tunnel practice!

Winston had a lot of company with dogs who also did not want to enter the tunnel. In the Junior class 29 dogs were entered and only 6 Q'd.  We had a great day outdoors with Winston and we know that we our own ED tunnel and rats at home to get more practice!