Such a Bad Dog Mom!!!

How have I not updated this blog since January!!!?? I'm a terrible dog Mom. Good thing that Famke can't get on the computer and see how neglectful I've been! ;)

Famke is a year and a half already and just cute and sweet as can be. She is such a fun dog and we've been having a blast!

We've been to a few more conformation shows and Famke now has 6 points towards her championship. It is very exciting for me and she absolutely LOVES showing. I plan to just show her sparingly for the next year so she can mature a bit. Now that we are out of the 12-18 month class she looks very puppyish next to the more mature bitches. We went to a supported entry show in Toledo in June and there were 25 Field Spaniels entered!! It was such a treat to see that many Fieldies in one place.

We have been concentrating heavily on obedience training and we are both enjoying it. I am hoping to trial a bit here in the next few months and finish Famke's Rally Novice title and Beginner's Novice title at the Field Spaniel National in September. I think it is an achievable goal. I am SO excited about the National coming up. It will be my first National for any breed and I can't wait!

Here are a few pics of Famke that my best friend Shannon took for us at a show.

"Her name is Famke...She was a Show Girl!"

This past weekend we were entered at the Central Iowa conformation show at the fairgrounds. Famke's breeders came out from Iowa City with Famke's brother and sister, Gideon and Elle, and her local sister, Cola, was there as well. It was a family reunion!! If her brother Hobbes from East Coast and been there it would have been perfect. The pups were SO excited to see each other and Famke was thrilled to see Meg and Kay as well.

I am a total conformation newbie. Famke is my first conformation dog and before this weekend I had only been in the ring with her at one other show when she was much younger. Meg showed Famke for me last summer and she got her first two points at that show. I feel like I need about 20 arms and that I am fumbling through everything when I am in the conformation ring. I still have so much to learn, but most importantly I just want to have fun with my pup.

I will also admit that I don't put nearly enough time into working on conformation with Famke. I think part of that is because I am still so new to it. I would love to go to a handling seminar sometime soon.

So this past weekend was Famke's third dog show and only my second time showing her myself. We were entered in the 12-18th class with Famke's sisters, Cola and Elle. I felt like Famke was showing nicely (even with my fumbling ) but I was completely shocked when the judge pointed to us for first place. I was shaking because I was so surprised and excited. Famke really seems to enjoy showing and she totally struts her stuff.

On Sunday Famke's lovely sister Cola took the class for her 3rd point as well. It so great to be able to be out there with friends and having such great experiences with the girls. Fun stuff!

Happy New Year!!!

I can't believe that it is 2011 already!!

I have been thinking about that goals I have for Famke for year and I'm not completely sure what they are yet. She is still such a puppy to me that I feel like we are just beginning. She is so much fun to train and she really seems to enjoy it too.

I think we will shoot for at least Rally Novice and Beginner's Novice by the fall. But I'm not going to put any deadlines on anything. We'll just see how things go.

CGC/TDI Test!

I am such a proud Mom!! Famke passed the CGC/TDI test yesterday morning. She did very well on the test and the only part of the test I was a little concerned about was the "leave it" portion for the TDI test. The dog has the walk within 3 feet of food on the floor and not try to eat the food. Famke is a food spaniel and lives to eat! She watched as the evaluator's helper put the food on the floor and I immediately thought "uh-oh". Luckily when I gave her a firm "leave it" by the food she did. Phew!

Proud of my little girl dog!!

Lots of fun new stuff!

I've been a terrible blogger again! Poor Famke is the second child and is already getting less "press" than her brother. LOL Since I posted last we were trying to survive Famke's first heat and we all made it through unscathed. Falkor became a little unhinged once Famke was in standing heat. He was obsessed with her and that wasn't much fun for anyone. Luckily once the heat was over everything went back to normal and now they are best buds again.

Famke and I are in our second session of intermediate obedience and having a blast! I am really lucky because Famke has some super attention while heeling. I can't take ANY credit for it at all she just seems to do it naturally. Obviously we are just at the very beginning but we are having so much fun.

We do need to work REALLY hard on nice, tight sits. Famke tends to sit sloppy so we are working hard on that. She is so smart so I'm sure she will catch on quickly.

We also starting taking agility classes at the club. What a blast!! I think she will be a fun lil agility dog as well. She seems to especially love the tunnel and chute.

Fun!!

My baby girl is becoming a woman.

If you guessed that Famke started her first heat you are right! I noticed last week that she was acting a little different and had a little bit of swelling. She started bleeding on Saturday and wow it sure is fun...umm not. We were lucky that Jackson's older underwear actually fit Famke perfectly so she has been sporting Lightening McQueen and Wall-E briefs. Unfortunately, Falkor things the underwear are a super fun toy and loves to pull Famke nearly off the ground by the waistband. :) So I spend a lot of time putting the underwear back on again and again. Famke has been acting totally normal otherwise and I am very interested to see if act differently as her cycle continues.

I'm bummed that we had to stop the intermediate obedience class we were taking at the club. She is doing so well! But we can train and home and we'll get back into class soon.

Blog Slacker!!

Wow I have been a neglectful blogger here on wee Famke's blog!! We haven't been doing anything too exciting but we are continuing on with our obedience classes and having a blast. Famke is such a happy lil dog to train and she just loves to learn. Last night was the graduation from our Beginners class and we did a few fun games and contests to demonstrate everything the dogs have learned. We had 3 Beginner's classes combined for graduation last night so there were about 30 dogs there I think. One of the contests was having the dogs sit at heel when we halted during heeling. They gradually weeded the group down by taking away leash corrections, voice commands, treats and hand signals. At the end you couldn't do or say anything to get your dog to sit except to halt. Famke was such a good girl and was actually the last dog remaining at the end!! Woo-Hoo! :)

We are still working on her wanting to do silly puppy sits, but man she plops down that little bum quick! They also had longest sit stay and Famke lasted for a long time until one of the instructors walked over and attempted to pet her...she jumped up and kissed the instructor on the lips. LOL

Last weekend was our huge local dog show at the Des Moines Fair Grounds and on Sunday our local club did a Meet the Breed booth and I signed up to bring Famke there. The building they have the show in is HUGE and very loud, crowded and hectic. Famke strolled right in without a care in the world and was thrilled to get treats and attention from strangers wanting to know about Field Spaniels. She was such a good girl and we both had a great time.

Our local obedience club will be holding a CGC/TDI test in November and I plan to enter Famke in that test. It is right after her first birthday so it is perfect timing since the dogs have to be a year to certify for TDI.

I am so happy that fall is here and now we can enjoy spending time playing and training outside!!!