The Little One Arrives

Saturday was filled with driving. Early in the morning my friend Merinda and I loaded Dally in my truck and drove 3 hours West to Winslow, Ind., to meet the new puppy for the first time. Upon signing the contract and reading more paperwork, I met the little pup with a nub (no tail, maybe only one vertebrae) that looked like a little bear cub.

Her registered name is Mill Creek's Chyna Rust. She is out of Debbie's first Swedish Vallhund, AKC, UKC CH Pavon Mill Creek's Chyna and by AKC, UKC, CKC CH Minikota Mill Creek's October Rust (Toby). Toby is actually the littlermate to my mom's SV, Smoke, so this would make my pup his niece. I think I'm going to call her LaMesa ("Mesa") for LaMesa, Texas, which is in the heart of Red Dirt Country. I felt it was appropriate because she is the color of red dirt, and it goes along with the name of my Corgi, Dallas Mae.

So far, Dally's not too amused. LaMesa has taken to shadow Dally all around the apartment and outside for potty breaks. We think Dally was hoping she'd be only accompanying us home to go with Merinda.

So far, we have taken a family trip to PetsMart for the first time to purchase a Puppy Kong (which Dally just ate the cookies out of the bone), a puppy tuggie, and Matt bought Dally some more Dingo treats so she could be treated as well. We got a good deal on Eukanuba Selects Puppy food four-pound bag. A misprint meant I got four 4-lb bags for a total of $8...originally listed at $11.99 and meant to be $9.99 (saving $2), however the misprint said "$2.00, save $9.99." Kudos to Matt for finding that!!

As the Stump-kids finish their chewies, I pray for some quiet time. I woke up yesterday with a sore throat and am hit with a hard cold. Plus, the pup decided 3:40 am was a great time to wake up...to wake everyone up...for an hour. Luckily, I was able to turn on the radio around 5 am and get a few more hours of sleep when she crashed again.

And thus the saga of puppy raising in a small apartment begins...

An Introduction

I'm totally new to blogging, but I thought it would be beneficial for myself and others to blog about my experiences in the world of agility...with dogs on stumps.

My name is Megan, and I have been training in agility for almost three years, competing for two years this March. I started out with my Welsh Pembroke Corgi, Dallas Mae (aka "Dally." or Frontiers Honkytonkbadonkadonk CGC, AX, AXJ) doing agility when I moved to Lexington, Ky., as a means to exercise her and her mind, plus give us something fun to do together. After less than a year of training, we started competing in Canine Performance Events (CPE) and American Kennel Club (AKC) trials.

Dally is now 4 years old, and we moved up to Excellent B for both Jumpers With Weaves (JWW) and Standard (STD) last fall. We're now trying to earn enough MACH points and Double Qs for our first MACH (Master of Agility Champion), which is the ultimate goal in AKC agility.

I had always wanted to get a second dog in order to give Dally a canine companion, but I had always wanted to get a male Corgi. This past weekend, I was given the opportunity to co-own a Swedish Vallhund. For those who don't know, a Swedish Vallhund is a descendant of the Corgi. They look very much alike, except a little taller, with smaller ears and a more square muzzle. (You can read more about them here: http://swedishvallhund.com/).

She's currently a 10-week-old red sable female from a line of champions. Her father finished 2009 as the top Vallhund in the nation and is showing in the 2010 Westminster Show. He is also the littermate to my mom's Vallhund, Smoke.

My hopes with this puppy is that I can take what I've learned with Dally (my "Novice A Dog") and improve on things and maybe go farther. It will be a whole new experience and I'm looking forward to it. Check back with photos of the puppy (I pick her up this Saturday) and more on me and Dally's quest for that elusive first DQ (Double Qualifying Score) and hopefully many more.