Coursing, of course!

On Sunday, we attended a lure coursing event in Gilroy. We brought Mya and Cyrus along and had a ton of fun. Cyrus has decided the car isn't such a bad thing, as long as someone sits in the back with him (that would be me). The dogs that ran were amazing and beautiful (the Irish Wolfhounds were especially regal, as only something that big can be).

Unfortunately, we left the camera in the car and decided not to go back and get it. Now, of course, I wish we had. So, in the spirit of chasing something, here is a snippet of Cyrus hitting the bottle, as it were.

Conformation Class

Wednesday, we went to Cyrus' first conformation class. He was not a big fan, but that's because I was asking him to do things for an hour that I'd never asked him to do before: walking at my left-hand side, standing still while people touch him, being generally unfidgety. He's great for a casual walk around the neighborhood, not pulling or lagging on the leash, but that's a far cry from jogging calmly right at my left side. So we're working on it at home before we go back next week. The above picture is adorable...I wish it was clearer! Below, I think Matt captured Cyrus' opinion of the class. I'm not sure what his expression means, but I'm sure he's emphatic about it.

Groundhog day in Spring?

We have a gopher who's moved in to the front yard. Mya is suddenly channeling generations of badger-hunting ancestors, and is determined to root out the infestation of evil. In the video below, she attempts to teach her eager young charge the finer points of gopher-digging. I think she was successful, don't you?

Family Reunion

Saturday afternoon, Cyrus got the treat of visiting his family - at the breeder's, that is. Jim and Linda kept two of Cyrus' siblings from the litter, a sweet little fawn female named Pearl, and a black and tan male named Rider. They also have the lovely and good-natured red boy, Cody, who still needs a permanent home. And, of course, they have Mama Aria, whom Cyrus was delighted to see. Best of all, Jim and Linda live out in the country and have a huge fenced field where the dogs can run. Since yesterday was one of the hotter days so far this spring, they didn't do a whole lot of running. I still got some nice pictures of the bunch, though, and thought I'd share. Thank you, Jim and Linda, for the wonderful afternoon.

Front to back, Cody, Pearl, and Cyrus, waiting for the lunge-lure to move.

Rider is the black and tan male front and center, Cody is the red pup on the right, Pearl the fawn on the left. Cyrus is standing in the center, and Malik is standing in the back, triumphant after last weekend's show which put him only one point away from his championship. Go Malik!

Those busy dog days of spring

Things have been rather hectic around here, but on the plus side, the end of the semester is in sight. That means that soon, my life will really go to the dogs. We're also eagerly awaiting Cyrus' last shots - we think he'll like Carmel. Mya certainly does.

Mya was sleeping too, until she heard me walk up to the couch. I'm glad they get along so well. Mya is my fierce one, and I thought she would take a while to warm up to the puppy. She surprised me by being sweet right away.

Shoe Fetish

This may be Cyrus' way of asking us to stay home - steal all our shoes and we can't go anywhere. Actually, he seems to like them because they are nice and heavy. When he gets ahold of one of my husband's steel-toed work boots and shakes it back and forth, he wobbles back and forth himself.

Or perhaps he likes the stink.

His other favorite activity is chewing on Mya. She is surprisingly tolerant of him and they love to chase each other around the house. Perhaps its her way of making up for all the treats and chews that she steals from him.