Back On Track

I want to apologize for not doing a post in so long.  Rascal's death hit me hard and I became stressed and depressed really bad.  I'm trying to move on and I've been getting things lined up for working the puppies who are coming of age to be trained in obedience and some herding commands.  I will be working Sadie and Wrangler in this mainly for right now and in another month I'll be working Daisy and Luke with the same things.  This month I'll also begin training Cassie in flyball.  So I've got some things figured out.

Some other things that have changed is (1) the name of the blog.  I decided to change it to match my blog for my kennels and rescue and of course to already gets things lined up for my training center which will be nice, but not ready until in maybe 10 years. (2) I'm going to be doing an online course to become a vet tech.  I've decided that this will give me something to learn and have fun with, but I'll also be able to use it the rest of my life.

I currently can't think of anything else that has changed or is currently going on, but I'll post them when I can remember.  I have also decided though, that I'll be posting more pictures more often and doing posts a lot more often.  I want to try to show you guys the stuff I'm doing and some of the training techniques I've learned and also get comments from you guys on some of them.

I'm also trying to stay on track with my kennel/rescue blog too. Still got things to switch around and change and what-not.  But I will be working on it and this blog and be doing a lot more updates.  Well, I guess this is bye for now.  I'll hopefully have a post on flyball up in the very very near future.

# 14: Snow Buddies

Molly and Buddy's puppies live in Washington and love sports just like their dad. One morning, while in an attempt to play hide-n-seek, Butterball discovers an ice cream truck. Rosebud and the others follow him inside in order to stop him from eating himself sick. The puppies climb in, but before they can escape, are locked inside the truck which is shipping to Ferntiuktuk, Alaska.

After falling from the sky, the Buddies meet up with an Alaskan Husky named Shasta. Shasta's 11-year-old owner wants nothing more for Christmas than to follow in his dad's footsteps and win a dog-sled race. The Buddies agree to help Shasta and his owner pursue their dream. Unfortunately, Shasta's parents are dead and there is no one to help teach them how to be sled dogs. But Shasta finds out about a legend stating of the Greatest sled-dog, Talon, living in the mountains. Shasta and the Buddies go and visit Talon and Talon agrees to help them, not for them, but for Shasta's dad.

Shasta and the buddies train super hard and do everything Talon tells them. When Talon thinks it's time for the boy to know, Shasta shows Adam (Shasta's owner) the buddies and Adam knows what to do. Adam builds a new sled and starts working with the pups on pulling and turning a sled. Talon watches the pups pull the sled and the effort that they all put into it. But the older racing Huskies in town try to stop the Buddies by telling them that Shasta's parents died during the race, when they fell through the ice. The Buddies are scared, but they are still going to help Shasta and Adam win the race.

Meanwhile, back in Washington, Buddy and Molly discover Budderball's football on the back of the ice cream truck and follow the same route to Alaska.

Talon calls the puppies to the mountains one night to show them the Northern Lights. He tells Shasta that he has learned everything he needs to know and will be a great lead dog just like his father was. The next day, Adam enters them in the race against Jean George.

Buddy and Molly meet up with Bernie, the rescue dog, and he tells them of the race. Adam's dad also discovers that Adam is racing and goes looking for him.

The team makes it to the midway checkpoint without much trouble, but a storm is setting in. The sheriff checks his emails and discovers that the Buddies are from Washington. Adam's dad gets his truck stuck in a snowbank during the storm and has to go with the sheriff to the finish line. Jean George has started cheating. He is sabotaging other racer's sleds. Adam seeks shelter during the storm, in a igloo owned by an Inuit. They start back on the trail the next day.

Adam and Jean George have a run in in which Adam is injured. Adam recovers and continues in the race. Jean George's dogs crash through the ice within sight of the finish line. Jean George abandons them and leaves them their to drown. Adam can't bear to see the same thing that happened to Shasta's parents happen to these dogs, so he hooks the puppies up to Jean George's sled and pulls the dog out. Jean George sees that Adam has gotten them out and he climbs back on and takes off to win the race.

But the Buddies won't give up so fast. They start off, running as fast as they could. They wanted to win this race. Jean George's dogs realize that the pups had risked their lives to save them and Jean George had left them. They decided to give the race away to Adam and the pups. Adam's team goes on to win the race.

Adam meets up with his parents at the end of the race and the Buddies meet of with their parents too. The Sheriff has made arrangments for the goldens flight home.

The Buddies say goodbye to Shasta and Adam and head home with their parents. At the end of the movie Shasta has his own sled-dog team and Shasta is still the lead dog.


4.5 out of 5 for family friendliness

#15: 101 Dalmatians

This is the classic story adapted from the book written by Dodie Smith. This story involves romance and adventure between humans and even their dogs. The love that animals have for each other shows from beginning to end. This furry movie will have you laughing and crying while you watch the best actors-both human and canine- display their colorful talent.

Plot (Caution Spoilers)

This story starts with the meeting of Roger and Anita in the park one day. Roger, played by Jeff Daniels (Dumb and Dumber, Speed) and Anita, played by Joely Richardson (The Patriot, Nip/Tuck), fall in love and get married and so do their two Dalmatians, Pongo and Perdita. Roger designed video games while Anita designed clothes for a well known fashion person, Cruella De Vil played Glenn Close (Sarah Plain and Tall, Air Force One). Cruella falls in love with a design of Anita's that would look wonderful in Dalmatian puppy fur and when she finds out that Pongo and Perdita are going to have puppies she plans on buying them. The puppies come, but Anita and Roger won't sell. Cruella gets mad and fires her and then threatens them.

One night, Roger and Anita take Pongo and Perdita for their walk and come back to find that the puppies had been stolen.. The police stated that they would do their best, but Pongo wanted to help. That night Pongo sent out the twilight bark. The next day, a message came back and they took off to find their pups. Meanwhile, some other animals are trying to help recover the pups. One dog, an Airedale Terrier, helps get them out of the mansion where they were being held, and then a Old English Sheepdog hides them in a barn.

Roger and Anita are still waiting for word on their puppies and now Pongo and Perdita. Anita realized that it had been Cruella that had stolen them for their fur. Pongo and Perdita meet up with the Sheepdog who takes them to their pups and the other 84 pups that Cruella had stolen. The police now know that they are looking for Cruella. They trace her to the barn where the puppies were at. She was trying to find the puppies, but had pigs, sheep, dogs, horses, and even raccoons trying to stop her. Pongo and Perdita start taking the pups back home. The police pick Cruella and three of her henchmen, but they were still looking for the puppies. They finally find them and took them all back to Roger's and Antia's place. They counted 101, but only 17 were theirs. None of the other puppies had identification tags and no one contacted the police about missing puppies. Anita and Roger agree to keep all the puppies.

Roger makes a video game based on the story and it becomes a best-seller. They move to a big place. The dogs have their family and Roger and Anita start their own.

5 out of 5 stars for family friendliness.

Lots of Things

First, Rascal's breeder has a litter of puppies out of Rascal's Dad. So of course they'll be great pups. Visit his website here. So get a puppy before they are all gone.

Second, I just realized how much Rascal looks like his Dad.



This is Rascal's Dad (OBryants Red Rebel Drifter).




This is Rascal. Isn't he pretty?






Third, I saw this video on k9Performance and thought it was really cool. Wish I could train Rascal like that.