We had a very unexpected, very sweet surprise in our mailbox today. Cooper got a fan letter from Leicestershire in England: The message inside said: “Congratulations Cooper — what a star you are! All good wishes for a bright future and very well done to both of you too!” It’s really a fun card, complete [...]
Archive for January, 2011
Cooper gets fan mail!
Posted in life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, tagged chocolate dogs, dog card, dog greeting card, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS on January 29, 2011 | 3 Comments »
He asked to see her eyes
Posted in dog grooming, Stanegate Second Thoughts, tagged dog, dogs, hunt training, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, IWS grooming, Parkdale Kennels on January 29, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Tooey has been with Butch at Parkdale Kennels for (a long) 2.5 months now, and I think he must have been feeding her — she grew out so much coat! (Also, as a side note, I really know he’s been feeding her because she’s fat. I understand that problem completely. Too bad I don’t have [...]
Thoughts on Cooper’s championship
Posted in dog shows / conformation, friendship, life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, tagged conformation, dog, dog shows, dogs, Irish Water Spaniel grooming, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, Rose City Classic 2011 on January 25, 2011 | 11 Comments »
We asked for a pet, and we got Cooper. Like other excited puppy “parents,” we sent lots and lots of pictures to Rosemary. When Cooper was about 14 weeks old, Rosemary sent us an email saying something like, I think we sent you a show dog. Rosemary told me that Cooper would get his championship [...]
Champion Mr. Cooper!
Posted in dog shows / conformation, life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, tagged conformation, dog, dog shows, dogs, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, Rally Novice, Rose City Classic 2011 on January 24, 2011 | 5 Comments »
We did it! Yesterday, Cooper took 1st in the Amateur-Owner-Handler class (not hard, since he was the only one in that class). That turned out to provide a kind of a good omen. After we ran around the ring for the last time in that class, the judge pointed her finger at Cooper and said, [...]
Portrait session with Cooper
Posted in dog art and photos, dog grooming, dog shows / conformation, life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, tagged dog, dog model, dog photos, dog portrait, dog portraits, dogs, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, IWS grooming, photographing a dog photo studio, sporting dog portraits on January 21, 2011 | 8 Comments »
This week, Cooper has been getting ready for his 3rd appearance at the Rose City Classic dog show here in Portland, Oregon. He is one win away from his AKC Championship, providing that his final win is a major competition. So several times this week, he has been going from field training in the driving [...]
Dog show dream
Posted in life with dog, tagged anxiety dreams, dogs in dreams, dreams of dogs, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS on January 11, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Finally had that dream. You’ll know which one I mean. Everyone has had some version of it. I am at the fair grounds in Monroe, Washington. Running madly through vendors, pushing my way through exhibitors, gawkers, dogs on leashes, all of whom seemed to magically get in my way as soon as I get to [...]
Hunt tests are a team sport
Posted in hunting / hunt training, Realta Rosario Cooper, Stanegate Second Thoughts, tagged dog, dog training, dogs, hunt training, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, Lower Columbia HRC on January 9, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The Lower Columbia HRC had a training day today in cold but sunny weather. The training scenarios were set up to simulate the land series of an HRC hunt test. (Way too cold for a water series.) Our house entered two teams — Team Cooper and Team Tooey. And, no doubt about it, hunt tests [...]
8 weeks of training for Tooey, more for Cooper
Posted in hunting / hunt training, life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, Stanegate Second Thoughts, tagged Butch Higgins, dog, dog training, dogs, hunt training, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, Parkdale Kennels on January 8, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Tooey did her first double marked retrieves today, at the end of her 8th week of training. In a double, the dog watches two birds fall, one right after the other, and then goes and brings back the 2nd bird first, and then the 1st bird second. For these retrieves today, the birds fell about [...]
2010 in review
Posted in Uncategorized on January 2, 2011 | 1 Comment »
I am very grateful to all of you for reading my blog over the past year. It’s one thing for a writer to write — that’s mere self-expression; it’s entirely different when people actually read it, too — that makes it communication. Your writing comments on the blog is the real icing on the cake [...]
