HAPPY HOWL-A-WEEN!

Another great weekend with the ScallyWaggs crew at their 4th annual Halloween-themed NADAC agility trial (known, of course, as their "Howl-a-ween" trial). The Silkies rocked, with Abby scoring 11 Qs and Zack 8. Even little Miss Gemma got in on the act and pulled in her very first Q ever on Sunday morning. She almost had two of 'em, but was just 69/100ths of a second over the course time on one of her runs on Saturday. She finished off her Sunday runs with a spectacularly awful Tunnelers run, in which she decided after going through a few tunnels that she had had enough and went off galavanting around the ring, finally ending up in front of the in-coming dog, doing barrel-rolls in the dirt, much to the amusement of those watching from the stands. Gemma is certainly entertaining, to say the least. But all in all, a very good weekend for all of them.

Brianna worked her magic on a few pumpkins to really jazz up our crating area. They were the icing on the cake, topping off a bunch of our Halloween decorations from last year's crate-decorating competition. Brianna's artistic talents most certainly gave us the win this year. Our little crating area also boasted a small "bar" to "warm up" our coffees, which was freely shared with anyone else who needed a little extra "umphh" or a "relaxation aid" before venturing out on the agility course. A very pleasant and civilized approach to hanging out in a cold barn at the end of October, for hours on end.

The agility season is winding down for the year. One more AVID trial to go to in a couple of weeks, and then that's it for my little gang for the year. Then we'll see what 2011 holds for them!

The pet-cousins are about to arrive from next door, as Martha and Joe head off on their 10th wedding anniversary Caribbean cruise early tomorrow morning. Martha's pets undoubtedly think of my place as boot camp, but all in all, they seem to settle in quite well after the first day.