rally | Change Is Hard

November 1, 2025
by dawnkinster 25 Comments

An update from Ms. Penny

Hello world!

As you read before Mom scheduled us to participate in rally trials (dog stuff) for two consecutive Fridays in a row! Oh wait. Mom says “consecutive” means the same as “in a row.” Whatever, mom.

Anyway, last week I got two legs (I need 3 to title) with a couple of sloppy runs. Mom was hoping a week off from training would help me settle down. That maybe I was just overtired last week.

Hmmmmm. Interesting theory.

Waiting in my crate for another rally trial!

So yesterday, October 31st, we went to the place I go to school to do 2 runs. Mom thought I’d be more comfortable there and hopfully earn one run and thus my Intermediate Rally Trial title. Mom had high hopes when I seemed happy and bouncy as we were waiting.

And she was happy that the course for the first run didn’t look too difficult.

What could go wrong?

We warmed up in a little room off to the side. I sat and downed and fronted perfectly. At the end of the warmup mom gave me one measly treat.

Then it was our turn.

We walked into the ring and I refused to sit next to mom. She walked me around in a little circle and tried again and I sat. Reluctantly. Mom knew right then she was in for trouble.

So around the ring we went, I’d do any sign that didn’t include sitting or going into a down. There were a LOT of signs that asked me to sit. Eventually I would concede and sit, but mom would have to ask me multiple times. And the down? Not happening, nope, not at all. There were supposed to be two of those.

The lady following behind with the clipboard kept making notes and mom got increasingly sad.

*Mom says this quote was at the park just for her.*

When we got out of the ring mom gave me my jackpot because, she said, I had done the best I could. We ended up with a 79 (you need 70 to qualify) which is my lowest score ever.

But we got my title, even though mom said she wasn’t proud of the way we did it. Then she elected not to do the second run cause I always do worse on my second run, and besides she was exhausted and sad.

So she took me to a park on our way home and we walked around a loop to remember that we loved each other and tomorrow will be another day and we’re going to keep working on stuff together.

Cause we’re a team.

Most of the pictures here were from our post-trial walk at the park.

October 26, 2025
by dawnkinster 25 Comments

Only the sheltie (that’s me) knows

Penny here.

I’ve been very busy, and let me tell you, mom says it’s been a roller coaster ride. I don’t even know what a roller coaster ride is, but I’m pretty sure it’s exciting. Right? I thought so.

*My park trying to scare me. It’s not going to work.*

Anyway, many of you know that I’ve been training in this thing called Rally. Frankly if you ask me there’s not much to it and I don’t know why mom needs all this training. If she paid better attention we could move on to something more fun a lot sooner.

*Me in my basement with all these Rally signs to figure out.*

Basically, she heels around a course and there’s a lot of signs with writing and yellow arrows and red stop signs and stuff and she’s supposed to follow the signs. I go along too, just to make sure she does it right.

Sometimes she reads the signs all wrong. This is not my fault.

Anyway, on Friday we went to a thing called a Trial. I guess it’s a big test to see if mom has learned anything. We were entered in two runs. Mom said she hoped we’d qualify in at least one. We need three qualifying runs to earn a title at whatever level we’re working on. Right now we’re in Intermediate. At that level mom still has to be on a leash because she isn’t reliable yet.

We’re working on it but she’s pretty unpredictable.

Well, Friday we had to wait hours and hours for them to get to Intermediate. No exaggeration. When it was finally my turn I was pretty tired of hanging around and I didn’t want to supervise. In the ring I didn’t want to sit when mom asked me. So I stood and stared at her for awhile while she stared back at me and asked me again. Several times. Then I s.l.o.w.l.y lowered my behind. To make my point, you know, that I was in charge.

We ended up qualifying but mom said it wasn’t pretty and the judge lady was very generous. No matter, I was happy, I even got 2nd place!

*These are my ribbons. I am not sharing them with mom.*

The second run was similar to the first only there was more of me staring at her, pretending I had no idea what a ‘sit’ was. A couple of times I decided not to sit at all and mom sighed and moved on. We still qualified, but had an even lower score.

Mom was just relieved we had two legs toward my title.

That was Friday. Mom and I were exhausted. Saturday we were signed up to do a ‘fun run’ at another dog training facility. This is the place I go to school, so mom figured it would be OK.

And even though we were both tired mom packed me up and we went there and did two more runs, during which I showed my displeasure at having been rousted from my bed to follow mom around some more. I mean, if she hasn’t got it by now, I don’t think making me work on it more is going to help, do you?

THEN, Saturday evening is our normal Rally class, and mom packed me up AGAIN and we went to do what is usually a fun class. But I wasn’t having it. I refused to sit AT ALL at ANY SIGN no matter what it or mom said.

Even when she pulled up on my collar or pushed down on my behind, or both.

Today mom is worried because we’re registered in a trial this coming Friday. Mom thought the hard stuff was over because we only need one leg of the two runs we’re scheduled for, and she figured, since it is in my own school, I’d do better.

Now she doesn’t know if we should even go.

Everybody has advice and it’s all different. Mom is just tired. I’m tired too. Mom says she’s going to work on repairing our relationship cause I was pretty mad at her during class last night. She says we’re not going to train this week, we’re just going to hang out together so that I remember I love her. And she loves me.

Don’t tell her, but as she was typing this I got up off the sofa where I had been napping and came and went back to sleep on top of her foot. That’s because I already know I love her and she loves me. But I’ll let her be nice to me this week. It’s important that mom thinks she’s in charge.

As for what I’ll do next Friday? That’s the mystery, isn’t it.

October 10, 2025
by dawnkinster 23 Comments

October has been busy!

Penny here. Mom has asked me to remind you all about Walktober. She says she’s too busy. What the heck? SHE’S too busy? Really? Let me tell you a little about my day today.

First off, SHE set the alarm for 6:00 a.m. because, she said, we had important things to do and we needed to get a move on.

Right.

When that alarm went off I opened one eye, gave her one half of the typical sheltie glare, and went back to sleep. She just sighed and went to take a shower. I napped some more until I figured I should make sure she had made my breakfast.

Of course she had not. So I stood outside the bathroom door until she came out and attended to me. You can never assume anything. It’s important to keep on your folks about their responsibilities all the time.

Then the next thing I know I’m in the back of the car and we’re driving and it’s not even light out yet! We ended up at a dog training place about an hour away from home. I wasn’t nervous, cause I’ve been there before.

Mom said we needed to work, even though this was called a “fun match.” It’s a way to practice stuff without being judged. No stress! And guess what? I did all the parts of the beginner obedience without getting any treats! I’ve never done that before.

I did gave mom several dirty looks when I did something perfectly and I didn’t get a treat right away. Mom thought a couple of times that I was going to shut down and refuse to move at all, but I grudgingly went along with the her.

This time.

At least I got a jackpot after I was done! I’m beginning to figure out that there will be a LOT of treats after we’re done, but it’s hard for me to wait that long. I’m more of an immediate gratification kind of girl.

And we got to do some Rally practice too, cause Mom registered me for TWO trials at the end of October, both of them in Rally. Mom took these pictures in the Rally ring after we had done it three times.

I even did a jump all by myself without mom asking me too, when we were practicing Rally off leash. I took off across the ring to jump over that thing, just because I think it’s fun. Mom laughed at me even though I’m pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to do that, but she said I was cute.

AND THEN…Mom took me to my regular Friday night fun night walk where I meet up with other dogs and we walk around places with distractions to get us used to scary things like other dogs or loud trucks. We walk in downtowns and parks and stuff. Tonight we went to a small town about 10 miles away from home.

*There were people everywhere dressed in strange things!*

Apparently they were doing some Halloweed festival and the town was full of people dressed up as witches and goblins and lords and stuff. I thought it was kinda scary. There was loud music and noisy cars and lots of little kids.

We walked up one side of town and down the other. It took us a very long time cause people kept wanting to pet me. I didn’t like many of them, they looked weird! A lot of little kids pet me too, some of them were OK, but after awhile mom just told everybody I didn’t want to be petted cause I was getting too nervous.

Mom said it was a lot for me and she’s not sure she’d take me there again, even though she thought it was kind of neat and she might go without me next year.

I think that would be fine. I could use a nap!

*Notice my ears are down. I was not happy.*

ANYWAY, this is all to say I don’t know why mom can’t remind you about Walktober herself. I’m just as busy as her. But she says she’s having trouble downloading photos from her camera and her Walktober pictures are in there.

AND I have to remind her that we haven’t even GONE on MY Walktober walk yet! So we have a lot to do before the end of the month. Maybe you do too, but we hope you find some time to do a walk or a ride or whatever you plan to do, write a post and link it to The Official Walktober Post.

Mom says in early November she’ll pull it all together. I told her she has more than the Walktober post to pull together! But that’s another post.

Your exhausted friend, Penny

July 19, 2025
by dawnkinster 36 Comments

Title!

Hey Peeps! It’s me, Penny! Guess what, guess what, guess what???! Mom and I went to a Rally trial on Friday and in spite of mom I got my first AKC title!

*Where are we going mom? I’m not sure I want to go!*

It all started when mom rushed me into the car in the morning. This was unusual and I wasn’t sure it was going to be a good day. I was afraid maybe I was going to the vet. Or the groomer!

But we ended up at my school and I’m always excited there. I’ll tell you a secret. I’m not excited because I get to hang out with other dogs and do fun stuff.

*Well OK mom! I love school, let’s get going!*

Nope. I’m excited about the cheese. Don’t tell mom, I don’t think she realizes, she still thinks I’m an intellectual dog that’s all invested in learning new things.

Let’s not disappoint her.

Anyway. Mom got us there way too early. We had to wait through a whole lot of people and dogs before we got to go. I mostly sat around and begged other people to share their treats.

Mom kept saying NO! Everybody said I was cute and they all wanted to share but mom was a meanie. Except once when we were all done she let me have a tiny salmon liver thing. OMG! Mom’s cheese is nothing compared to salmon liver!

*Your snack skills are severely lacking, mother.*

Anyway…once it was my turn I was a very good girl and followed mom all around that course. There were lots of circles which are not my favorite but I stuck pretty good, even though mom thought I was lagging behind sometimes.

*We had to wait for almost all these people to do their thing first. I’m in Rally Novice B.*

And we ended up with a 99 out of 100 and first place! And since that was my third leg (you have to get three qualifying runs to get a title) I got my first title too!

*Me and my first place ribbon and my TITLE RIBBON!*

Mom and I went in the back and got our pictures taken with my ribbons.

*Me and mom. She said she was very proud of me.*

But then I found out mom had entered us for a 2nd run. Mom called it insurance in case I didn’t qualify in the first run. But it meant waiting all that time all over again until it was my turn!

*I decided I’d take a nap in my crate while we waited.*

GEEZE mom, this is not fun.

But then my breeder, Mama S, showed up and I was sooooo excited to see her. She’s one of my favorite people, right up there with daddy and mom and she came to watch me! And then we waited and waited and waited…and I was soooo bored. Mom tried to keep me occupied but all I wanted to do was nap.

*While we waited mom studied the map of our next run.*

And when it came my turn, finally, I didn’t want to play the game anymore. I decided to protest by not sitting when she asked me to, until she asked four or five times. I also decided I wasn’t going to circle left at all. And I was going to walk reeaaaal slow. So mom had to keep trying to get me to move along.

I found the whole thing totally boring.

*If that comes with a snack I’ll take it!*

Lucky for us the judge was a nice lady and didn’t disqualify us. I think if we weren’t doing beginning rally we would have been kicked right out of the building! But we got an 89 and qualified and even got a third place ribbon (cause there were only 3 of us in that group) and mom was relieved.

We went in the back and got our pictures taken again, even the lady judge posed with me!

And then mom drove us home. We were both very, very tired. Mom and I took a nap when we got home and today mom’s going to go back to the school to watch the obedience trials. She says we’re going to try that next month! She says I can stay home and rest up.

Cause I’m a rock star. Or something.

*Thinking about my strategy for the next time.*

I think I better rest up!

June 29, 2025
by dawnkinster 17 Comments

A little levity

Penny here!

Mom says she has a whole bunch of camping pictures to sort through and she doesn’t have time to post about my day. So I’ll just do it myself. After all, I am the brilliant, beautiful, competent Unstoppable Pretty Penny!

Ahem.

So as you probably know, since you’re all keeping track of my adventures, my school has been out for weeks. Mom is trying to keep up with my training (and if we’re honest, her own training) by herself and with a lot of help from her friend Diane. But let’s be honest. Mom isn’t always consistant, plus she’s been away having fun and taking pictures of stuff that’s not me.

So she was a little uncertain when today rolled around and it was time to go up to Flint and do a Fun Run or three. That’s when mom and I get to do a Rally course like at a Trial but we aren’t judged. It’s just for practice and mom figured we needed lots of practice.

And guess what ? I did three runs, two at the Novice level and one at the Advanced level! Whoo Hoo! Mom asked the ladies running the show if we could try Advanced even though we haven’t trained at that level yet and they said “Sure! Why not?”

*Staying chill while we were waiting for stuff to get started.*

Did you know Advanced Rally is off leash? YES! OFF LEASH! I got to heel along with my mom without being attached to her! WOW! At first I was kinda excited and started to wander off but mom said “HEEL!” in her school voice when I had taken 1.5 steps away from her and I slapped myself back next to her leg. She smiled and I got a piece of cheese. After that it was all fun, I even got to do a jump! I wasn’t sure what it was at first but then she went on the other side and said “JUMP!” and I did, cause I love to jump over stuff at home! This was fun too. I got more cheese.

*I love school cause mom’s a cheese dispenser there.*

So anyway…mom is a happy camper and she hopes we are able to get my very first Rally title in a couple weeks. I say of course I can do it, the quetion is, as it always is, can mom?

*I deserve this nap with my elephant, I worked hard and did good!*

Stay tuned!

April 24, 2025
by dawnkinster 26 Comments

Lots to report

Shhhhhhhh! It’s me, Penny! I’m trying to give you an update on things I’ve been doing without letting the mom know. Cause as you can see, she’s not giving me nearly enough online exposure. So I’m doing what they call an ‘end run’ around her and getting on here myself.

*Mom has been taking me on lots of walks in my parks.*

She’s sharing lots of stuff about her silly birds, and hardly anything about me and my adventures. All you’ve seen of me is the Easter picture. And to be honest I did that under duress. I mean pink is not my color!

*“Hey mom! I didn’t bark at those bikes!”*

Anyway.

Since I last wrote to you all I’ve been very very busy. I had a play date with Levi at his dog park which is about an hour away from my house.

*Me and Levi. I was watching my mom come back from the car.*

We had lots of fun and I made Levi chase me a few times.

Mostly we did our own thing, you know? He was into running and chasing his frisbee…

…and I was just into running.

Levi is a very handsome dude and of course the moms wanted a picture of the two of us together. And of course, as is stipulated in the sheltie bylaws, we made it very hard for the moms to get said picture.

*“OK here’s the deal. We never both look at mom at the same time.”*

Sit next to each other? No way. But maybe on our next play date we’ll be nicer to the moms. I guess it depends on the quality of treat being offered.

*“Listen, mom, we’re not going to SIT. So get the shot and let us go play!”*

And I also did a Rally Trial where mom signed me up to do two runs. A run is where you and your mom or dad walk around in a ring doing a bunch of stuff at little signs. You’re supposed to take your cue from your mom or dad who is supposed to be able to read the signs correctly.

Frankly it’s a bit boring because they don’t let you have treats while you’re in the ring. And without treats, what’s the point anyway?

*Mom said I did great and she’s proud of me.*

I did real good on the first run, I got 96 out of 100 points and second place in my group. But then mom rushed me right over to the other run without any breaks (and no treats!!) and we were all of the sudden in there walking around and I was sort of more interested in getting out of the ring, and also I forgot what the word “sit!” means.

*Mom says she’s always glad when we make it to the “finish” sign!*

I guess I just had a mental block. I don’t know what the big deal is, mom has those all the time! I still got a qualifying score, 80-something, but I didn’t place. Mom says that’s just fine. She says we have two legs of the three we need for a title in Novice Rally.

I’ve been taking her to doggie school every week to practice reading the signs. Between you and me, this past Tuesday afternoon she couldn’t read much of anything right and I got really frustrated with her. So I decided I didn’t know how to sit straight anymore. Or heel. Or wait. Waiting is my hardest thing anyway.

Mom says we’ll be in the basement working on that stuff this week.

*Come on down, mom! And bring the cheese!*

In fact, talking about the basement, my friend Lance and his folks came over and Mom and I did some work in our new basement, teaching me the tricks of Beginner Novice Obedience! Mom say she has great plans for me. I say I’m all in as long as there’s cheese involved.

*Lance and me being patient with the moms.*

Oh – and on Friday evenings I’ve been going on group walks with another trainer and a bunch of other dogs and their people. We’re walking around small towns and getting used to traffic and other people and other dogs. Mom says it’s working. I don’t go as crazy now when we’re out and about as long as mom has treats on her. She’s pretty happy with me and we have a lot of fun on the walks!

*A perfect evening to walk around an historic little town.*

I just know there’s more news to tell you, but mom’s almost done cleaning the kitchen so I better go inspect. Have I told you that the kitchen is my favorite room in my house? I call it the Food Room. You never know what will appear from hidden places there.

*Mom’s been taking me shopping too. I don’t know what the point is, she never buys anything.*

Talk later, your gal Pen.

June 9, 2017
by dawnkinster 24 Comments

A title earns a retirement!

Katie here.

Today was a big day; I earned my Rally Excellent title! For you guys that don’t compete with your dog and maybe don’t know what Rally is, let me tell you, it’s all about the mama. There’s this big ring, see, and in the ring are all these numbered stations with signs about what mama is supposed to do at each place. I’m just supposed to follow along and do what I’m told. I’m very good at that. Mostly.

This is at my school! It shows what a sign looks like. Mama is supposed to follow the directions.

You have to have three qualifying runs to get your title, and I’ve had two of the three since December of last year. I don’t know why mama waited all this time to get me entered for my third leg. Oh wait. Mama reminds me that she took me on an awesome vacation down to Florida and Alabama and Tennessee and North Carolina last winter. Right. So maybe she has an excuse for procrastinating.

Anyway, this morning when I got mama up at 4 a.m. she didn’t seem to be as ticked off as usual. Just as tired, but not as irritated. Then about 6:30 she started putting stuff in the car. I asked if I could go and she laughed and said “Of course baby! It’s all about YOU!” So we drove and drove and drove for a thousand million hours. Oh. Mama says I’m always exaggerating. It was only ninety minutes. We got to the venue with an hour to spare which is how I like it. That way I get to sniff around and get comfortable. I work better that way.

But it was still hard for me. It was in a big barn at a fairground. And there were noisy trucks outside that I didn’t like. I wanted to wander over to the people at the table too…I figured they’d have good stuff there, but mama called me back and I trotted right over to her. Then I figured out we were supposed to be working, so I paid attention to my mama.

Which was my mistake. Because apparently mama can’t actually read the signs. So we did a couple of things wrong, and I got marked off. I don’t think that’s fair, do you? Mama messes up and I get marked down? Whatever. The good news is we still got enough points to qualify for a leg, and since it was my third leg I got my Rally Excellent title! And a purple ribbon!

This is my title ribbon!

Isn’t it beautiful? The ribbon…the ribbon is beautiful. I know I’m beautiful, but you’re supposed to be focused on the ribbon.

I was pretty excited when I figured out I got my title!

Mama had signed us up for two runs, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. But since we got the title on our first try we stuck around only long enough to watch our friend Peep do a run, and then we left. Mama said she was going to take me to a park. She knew I’d rather be walking in a park than sitting in my crate until the middle of the afternoon. We drove and drove and mama found a park, but when we got to the gate the sign said “NO PETS!” Really? What kind of a park doesn’t allow pets?

Mama was ticked because we’d been following signs for the park for a long time, driving over dirt roads way out into the country. But she got a photo of a cool barn, so she says it was worth it.

A double barn!

Then she found a parking lot on the rails to trails path so we got out and walked a little bit. There wasn’t very much shade though so we didn’t stay long.

This is a boring path mama!

She sneezed and I barked and barked at her. I don’t like it when people sneeze, she should know better.

No sneezing allowed mama!

Anyway, I had a pretty good day. Some of it was boring, and we didn’t get to explore anywhere very exciting. I think mama would rather take me camping than to another trial. She says this was my last title so I don’t have to go in a ring anymore unless that’s what I want to do.

Gee, I don’t know mama. Retirement sounds nice, but I did sort of really love that nosework class last year…

I’m FINISHED with Rally!

December 9, 2016
by dawnkinster 24 Comments

Challenges and legs and ribbons oh my!

Katie here.

I told mama she couldn’t hoard our blog all to herself cause I had stuff to talk about and I know my loyal subjects get impatient if they aren’t kept up to date on my life. As a princess I have certain responsibilities to all of you and I won’t allow mama to get in the way!

Ahem.

So anyway, remember when I told you that mama and I had retired from competition? We were living the life of leisure, lounging around eating bon bons and camping, and going for long walks on the beach. Life was good.

Relaxing in retirement.

And then the days got shorter and colder and mama said that I needed something to do since we wouldn’t be going on so many adventures! No more adventures mama? What are you talking about?

But you know what? It turned out just fine because she signed me up for school two times a week! As you all know I love school. People think it’s because I like to be challenged, but really it’s because I like the treats, and all the attention, and being called beautiful and stuff.

Don’t tell mama, I don’t want her to be disillusioned.

I’m going to nosework classes on Thursdays and rally classes on Tuesdays. It’s a blast. I especially like nosework. I mean, you’d think maybe a dog dreamed this game up. You just go into the ring, sniff a few boxes and stuff, tell your person when you find the scent and get a ton of treats! Really! You sniff a box, get a treat!

I absolutely love this game!

I pull mama into the ring at breakneck speed (OK, I usually zoom past the first 14 boxes, but I’m working on being more methodical) and run around like a crazy dog until my head swings around and I focus on one particular box and then I stare at my mama real intently until she figures out I’m trying to tell her “THIS IS IT MAMA!!!” and if I’m right…I get treats!

Hanging out in my crate. Boring.

So last weekend I went to my first nosework trial. Mama signed me up for two attempts. The first run was perfect, it took me all of 12 seconds to find the right box. Even mama was surprised! But the second run I was overconfident and told mama that two different boxes were the one, when in fact they were not. I was just anxious to get those treats you know, and mama fell for it. She says she learned a lot by that mistake, so it’s OK that we didn’t qualify on that leg. She says we’ll go back and learn some more.

And this weekend she and I went to a rally trial, the first one we’ve gone to in 4 years. We are competing in ‘excellent’ now, the top level, because I already got my title for ‘novice’ and ‘advanced.’ Mama was pretty nervous because most of the responsibility is on her.

She has to read the signs.

I could read them for her, but what would be the fun in that? Mostly I just sit when she says sit and down when she says down and think about following along with her in between. Unless I see something more interesting. Like a jump for example.

She signed us up for two runs this time too, she said she drove too far for us to only do this once, so I had to hang around for a few hours but that turned out to be OK because we met a new friend. This is Jade, she’s really friendly and really smart. Her mom is nice too.

Meet Jade!

Anyway, the first run I was a bit ditzy and wandered around a bunch and I think mama messed up on one sign, but we ended up with 90 out of 100 points and got 5th place, and mama just wanted to qualify so she was happy.

And our second run went even better. OK, not right at the beginning because I watched mama put my leash over to the left on a chair and after the judge lady said “Forward!” and we started out I decided to go over there and sniff out the situation. Cause why would mama put my leash over there? But mama called me back. Twice. And finally after an eternity (per mama) I got back in line and heeled my way around the course with her. We got a score of 98 and 2nd place, only 1 point behind our new friend Jade who got 1st place!

See my beautiful ribbon?

Jade and I each got a new toy!! We were all very excited.

So now I’m pretty worn out and need my princess nap, but I decided to stay up and tell you about my latest adventures instead. I know you’ll sleep better tonight knowing all is well in Katie’s world.

Mama’s going to sleep pretty good too. But don’t worry, I’ll be getting her up early tomorrow just like every day. I’m dependable like that.

Katie signing off for now. Hugs and kisses to all of you.

Mine mine mine!

December 6, 2016
by dawnkinster 5 Comments

Beating back the cold

I don’t always get sick after I fly, but if I do get sick it’s almost always after I fly. So I shouldn’t have been surprised when my throat began to get sore and I started to cough on Sunday afternoon, six days after landing back in Detroit.

It’s a bad week for me to be sick. Katie isn’t happy about it either. As I cough she barks. As I gasp for breath, tears running down my face, she barks harder.

Emphasis on blue

The community band Christmas concert is tonight, we had our dress rehearsal last night. This Friday Katie and I have her first Rally trial after an absence of four years. We had our last doggie school prior to the trial this morning.

Sunday night, and most of Monday I considered cancelling all these events. No one wants someone sitting near them hacking her lungs out. Plus my head hurts and my eyes hurt, and my ribs hurt.

But I’m the librarian at the band, and I needed to organize music, so I went to rehearsal figuring I’d leave early. And a funny thing happened as I began to play. The tickle in my throat receded. The coughing subsided. The music poured over me like a salve, the music beating the cold back into the recesses of my memory. For a couple hours last night I felt pretty close to good.

That’s what music can do.

White holiday lights

Today I’m drinking a ton of water, sucking down cough drops like candy, heating tea, taking cough medicine, and napping. Katie and I fit an abbreviated doggie school into our morning, but mostly I’m saving my strength for tonight’s concert.

Holiday tree

I’m not foolish, I’ll have cough drops in my pocket and a bottle of water by my chair, but I’m thinking I’ll get through tonight just fine.

And our Rally trial in a couple of days? Well, Katie says she’s ready, and if I can get my head straight we might get a leg toward her title. If not, she’ll probably forgive me.

After all, her mama is beating back a cold.

Dripping lights

October 6, 2016
by dawnkinster 15 Comments

School and camping!

I love to run through tunnels!

Katie here. I know! It’s been like forever since my mama let me have her blog to tell you all about me! And as we all know, everything is all about me. Me, me, me, me!

It’s all about me because, as you know, I am the princess. Well, some of you might not know as you are new to my mama’s blog. Just to get you up to speed, I am the center of the universe and once in awhile my mama lets me tell you all about it. I tell her all about it daily. Sometimes hourly. I’m a sheltie you know. We like to talk.

But I digress.

So as most of you are aware, I retired from competition a couple of years ago. I got my CD (Companion Dog) in AKC obedience and I figured that was plenty. Especially because I got my Novice and Advanced titles in Rally too. And mama was all stressed out at work, so we stopped going to school, even though I love school (mostly cause of the treats you know). We never did go get my Excellent Rally title, and mama has always been sort of sad about that.

I didn’t care, because I already know I’m Excellent!

Mama started me up last winter in a nose work class which I loved, loved, loved! All you have to do is sniff a few things and treats arrive from mama’s pocket! It’s the greatest thing since gravy! Then mama and I got all busy with traveling and camping and stuff and we couldn’t make the class. She says we’re going back tonight though! I am stoked! I remember everything about how to do this and I’ll show her that we shouldn’t have ever stopped!

Then, last week we started up another class with my friend who used to come walk me. She’s teaching rally and some agility and some obedience. I’ve been to two classes and mama is amazed that I remember so much! I don’t like to heel, but I never did like that. Mostly I’m having fun getting out and about and seeing people again. Mama is OK, but it’s fun to be told by lots of other people how beautiful and smart I am! I try to look indifferent but secretly I really like it.

Sometimes mama forgets to give me enough attention, you know?

And for even more fun mama and I have slept out in the back yard in her tent the last two nights! It’s been so warm here that we couldn’t resist giving camping one more go before winter sets in. I was very very good and slept straight through the night both nights! I think we get to do it one more time before it gets too cold here. I’m going to miss camping this winter, but if mama keeps me busy with school it will be spring before I know it!

That’s what she says anyway. I’ll believe it when I see it.

So I guess that brings you up to date with me. I know you’ve been wondering. I’ll let you know if we decide to do any competition for Rally or Nose Work. I think I’d nail it.

What do you think?

Hurry up mama! It’s time for school!

Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

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