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!!!

Meg and Famke is the show ring!

Here is a video clip of Famke and Meg at the Iowa City Show a few weeks back.

Slacking on my blogging!!

I have been awful about updating my blogs, (yet again!), and I'm trying to get back on track here! My baby girl is 8 months old already and somehow gets cuter with each passing day. And it's a good thing because she has a naughty side and she is also doing the typical adolescent pushing the limits stuff.

Since I posted last Famke has been in her first two conformation shows!! I am so very proud of how she has been doing. Especially since I am a terrible dog Mom and I have put almost zero effort into training conformation. We've focused much more on obedience training and since I am such a conformation newbie I should be doing a lot more with that training! Famke was such a good girl at her very first show and was happy, attentive, and showed quite well. I really just wanted for her first experience to be a good one and it really was. It was the very first time in the conformation ring for us both and it was fun! We didn't do any winning but it was still a great time. Thank goodness that our best friend Shannon is always so helpful and kind enough to help me with grooming and getting Famke lookin' all fancy. :)

Our second show was in the same town that two of Famke's breeders (Meg and Kay) live and one of her breeders, Meg, had contacted me before the show and asked if I had any interest in having her show Famke that weekend. I thought it was a great opportunity for me to be able to watch Famke in the ring, and for Famke to get used to someone other and me showing her. It was so cute because Famke was so excited to see both Meg and Kay. Famke showed beautifully for Meg and it was really fun to be able to watch from outside the ring. It was another great experience for Famke and she got a point on both Saturday and Sunday so my baby girl has her first two points! :)

Sleep Over Party!!

Famke taking a brief wrestling break.

Famke..."Haha I got your ear!!"

Tired pups with curled tongues.

Cola getting ready to launch!

Last weekend we had Famke's sister, Cola, over for the night and the girls had way too much fun. They wrestled and wrestled and wrestled some more. It's so much fun to be able to let the girls play together. Falkor was also in heaven...."You mean I get to play with BOTH girls?!!". He adores them!

The girls played hard the entire time and once it was time to sleep that night they both crashed HARD. Ahhh sleepy puppies are wonderful! :)

Enjoying the HOT weather!

Well the hot weather we have been getting in Iowa doesn't seem to bother the dogs one bit. They LOVE to lay out on the deck and sun themselves. Famke's fur will actually get hot to the touch within a few minutes and I have to literally drag them back in the house. I snapped a few pics of them sun bathing together.

Slip N Slide Fun

Last weekend I bought my son Jackson a Slip N Slide and the dogs love it just as much as he does! Famke had so much fun biting the water that shoots out the sides and within about 5 minutes she was completely soaked! After both dogs were thoroughly wet they ran around the yard like crazies and took turns jumping back into the water. I can't wait to find a place to take Famke swimming this summer!

Field Spaniel's make nice pillows!

I caught this very sweet moment between Falkor and Famke the other day. Falkor was using her as a pillow and he was quickly falling asleep as I was snapping the photo. I am just thrilled with how great they are together. The play together all the time and it is a riot to watch Famke egg Falkor on and try to get him to chase her outside. I remember when I first brought her home and he was overwhelmed when Falkor would run in the backyard. Now she LOVES it.

And like Lindsay over at Life with Big Dogs I have a full blown collar obsession now. I have always enjoyed finding cool collars but there aren't loads of them for a giant boy dog like there are for small girl dogs. :) I am also fully embracing my girlie foo-foo side and I am loving finding girlie collars for Famke. I found a really nice leather collar with copper and gold embossed flowers on it at TJ Maxx for $4! They also had a gorgeous pink leather "Life is Good" collar but it was ginormous, and I don't think Falkor would appreciate a pink collar. He's just not a pink guy. ;)

I have been practicing with Famke trying to get her ready for conformation (even though I am a total newbie) and she is coming along with it. She does pretty well letting me stack her although her gaiting leaves a lot to be desired. LOL She thinks gaiting is wooo-hooo lets run around like a nut on the end of a leash. We have a fun match at the end of the month and it will be fun to play show dog with her there.

I think we will also be entering the Fort Dodge trial in June in conformation so that will be quite interesting I am sure.

Pretty New Collar

Hi found this really cute UpCountry collar for Famke at a local doggy store. I just wish it was a little bit wider so you could really see in on her neck. She looks awfully cute in it though. :)

Poor Lil Buzzed Head

I tried to get a good shot of poor Famke's bald spot but I couldn't get one that really showed it. In the photo I took you can sort of see it...it is the darker spot on her head. Her fur grows really fast though and it is already filling in. :)

Famke had a fun filled weekend with me and her brother Falkor at the dog show in Waterloo. She was such a doll at the show and everyone that met her instantly fell in love. The show site was like an exciting adventure for her and she loved meeting all the new people and dogs. We practiced some obedience at the show site and she was so animated and clearly enjoying herself.

This weekend also included her first hotel stay. She did awesome and nothing phased her! The glass elevator we had to take to get to our room didn't bother her one bit. There were lots of people staying at the hotel with their dogs for the show and the random barking and dog tags jiggling down the hall also didn't bother her. And she really enjoyed curling up on the bed with Falkor and me and watching TV. What a good girl!!

Oh for the LOVE!!!

And this is why up until now I have never had a dog you had to actually groom!

Poor Famke...in attempts to get her all ready to meet some dear friends at a dog show this weekend, I buzzed a freaking bald spot on the top of her head. ACKK!!!! Needless to say I need some practice using the clippers.

At least I can laugh at myself and Famke has no idea that anything is amiss. :)

In happier news, I brought her a new UpCountry collar yesterday at the Brown Dog Bakery and it is SO freaking cute. I will snap some pics (along with the dreaded bald spot) and post them later today.

Fun With Family

Last weekend Famke and I went along with Shannon, Cola, and our friend Julie and her adorable boxers, Winston and Jaynie to an obedience and Rally trial in the Amanas. Meg and Kay came up with the Fieldie family including Famke's littermates, Gideon and Elle. The pups had big fun romping in the grass outside in the beautiful weather. I have some video of the pups playing and I am trying to figure out how to get it up on the blog here.

Puppy Playtime

Enjoying the sunshine

Famke was enjoying the beautiful sunshine we've been having lately and she was stretched out relaxing on the kitchen floor soaking up the rays. She is such a pretty girl!

"This is my puppy Famke"

Like I've said before Jackson ADORES Famke and loves to tell anyone and everyone about her. When we take her places Jackson walks up to every person and says "This is my puppy Famke and she is a Field Spaniel". LOL The feeling is quite mutual and it's a lot of fun watching them grow up together.

So In Love

Like I mentioned earlier on this blog I instantly fell in love with Famke the second I met her at Pheasant Fest. Honestly how could you not fall in love with that face??!! But I continue to love her more with each day! She is a such a special pup. She fit so easily into our family and it feels like she has always been here. We have a powerful connection and she is so much fun. We have started two different session of puppy class and Famke just blows me away. She LOVES learning and is a blast to train.

I feel incredibly lucky to have Famke in my life and I really look forward to what the future holds for us!