Colorful Collars for Collie Boyz!

Check out our cool new collars! More pictures to come...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Good enough!

Not the blizzard we were promised, but we'll take it!

Happy Holidays!!!

Wishing health and happiness to you and yours! Have fun out there!!

The one that got away

No, he's not back--we just miss him... (The human does, anyway.) But who wouldn't miss that face?!

Dr. Tuchuck, I presume?

You can call him Doctor Supah Stahr!! Oh, yeah, brother Tuchuck rocked the agility trial again--he is now a man of letters! They may not be "PhD," but his letters actually mean he can do something (heehee)! To recap: he qualified in all four of his runs this weekend, with two first places, a second, and a third. And, more important, he earned his Novice Agility (standard) title in three consecutive outings. Paging Dr. Tuchuck... we're swooning! Way to go, brah!

As for Narra, that elusive jumpers title remains just out of reach. She was so close today--just one knocked bar away! Oh, well, she still has her blue ribbon from yesterday and is now one step closer. Maybe it'll happen next weekend!

Call me Q... DOUBLE Q!

No, Tuchuck's not "Q" because of a long unspoken affection for Captain Jean Luc Picard... (Haha, kidding! We're not really that geeky--okay, maybe a little geeky) Nor for scientific brilliance in inventing spy paraphernalia! Neither are we the politicized offspring of the Stonewall riots (okay, maybe somewhat).

Dog sports-ters know that "Q" stands for a qualifying score--three of which add up to a title in various AKC (and other) performance events. (Okay, as much as we don't really believe in external validation of this sort, it does feel kinda good!) In agility, the hallowed Double Q is traditionally achieved when a team qualifies in the events of standard agility and agility jumpers with weaves in the same day. And, now, we're very excited to report that brother Tuchuck double Q'd today!!! Our first EVAH! WOOHOO!!! Even sistah Narra with all her agility experience has never accomplished a double Q! And Tuchuck did it with one first place and one second place!

Not to be outdone, however, Narra earned a blue ribbon of her own! She Q'd in jumpers--which has been her nemesis from day 1. We're getting there! Go, sistah, go, sistah! Guess the human's not such a detriment after all. :)

Following friends

As our friends know, our motley crew here has traveled many different paths. At one point or another, however, for many us, our paths led us through the Delaware SPCA. Brother Buko was our first illustrious alumnus from this shelter, and we continue to share our home with brothers and sisters in need from there.

Now we can follow all the comings and goings on the Delaware SPCA's new blog! Check it out, and see all the awesome animals waiting to go home. (We should mention that our best buds over at Wally's blog are helping to get the word out on the shelter's blog as well. Way to go, guys!!)

Here's Clarabelle from the current post--she's a super sweetie!

Fall Frolicking: Fun with the fosters!

Look what we've been up to! (BTW, husky Lucky should be meeting his prospective adopter within a few days; Tucker's adopter comes to Delaware in a couple weeks. Unfortunately, Stormy's adopter fell through--so the boy's still available!)

More fall frolicking from 4dogart on Vimeo.

Wordless Wednesday

How do you turn this thing off??

Can a wayward husky learn the ways of the world from a pack of herding dogs? We'll find out! Foster bro Lucky's finally getting some quality play time with (half) the pack. We got a ways to go, but he's doing great! Might help if he stopped for a minute and let some lessons sink in.

But it's been a beautiful autumn so far, so what more can we ask for?

A new record!

Whew, time to exhale! We've had a very full last month... First, our human left us--again--and we had to be separated. :( As if being left behind wasn't bad enough, bros Tanner and Stormy actually had to go to JAIL, as in BEHIND BARS!! Bad human, BAD! The rest of us were good for our dogsitter Heidi, though--this time--meaning no fights, no jumping the fence, no other types of shenanigans. When we finally got back together, little Theo had become so anxious that he started, well, you know, *leaking* all over the house (again). And before we could even get back to normal, Uncle Kidlat came to visit! (His humans went some place called Turkey. Mmm, sounds delicious to us--we'll take ours ground and raw, please!)So we were TEN again. Operative word being "were"... because in a matter of days, this dude moved into the studio! (Yo, blue eyes, chillax, way too intense! And, hey, what's the hurry?!) His name is Lucky (though he hasn't been of late, or even of early, we suppose), and he's our latest foster bro. (That's three foster bros in the house now, in case anyone is counting.) Apparently, he was a little off the hook in the shelter and needed some place to chill. ("Lucky" for him the weather just turned, haha!) Not like he's any more on the hook here; we haven't even be able to meet him yet because he's got so much to learn still. Maybe someone else out there can teach him?! He's available for adoption through the Delaware SPCA.

Anyway, yes [deep breath, exhale], Lucky makes us ELEVEN--that's a record for us!
Luckily (haha!), our record number ended just today because Uncle Kidlat went home. Finally. He's fun and all, but he was terrorizing Stormy--he doesn't like the longleggers--so we had to do our yard outings in three shifts!
Yeah, well, this is how we should look... Seven. Our number is Seven. (Do you see everyone? Minus foster bros.)
ps
Tucker and Stormy have adopters! We don't know yet when they'll go home, but November some time probably.

Wordless (Window) Wednesday

Bright, sunshiny day!

Stormy! from 4dogart on Vimeo.

Stormy weather

We thought we were in for rough skies, but the forecast says the bad clouds have cleared away. We hope that's true! We don't mind the current conditions, even though it is... Stormy! Woohoo! That's new foster bro Stormy in da house!

He was really scared when he first arrived, but he's starting to come around. He was REALLY scared of the human (haha, how ridiculous is that?!). He was even too scared to walk around the yard. Anyway, he's starting to feel more comfortable, so we're helping him along.

He has a bit to learn about sharing still, but we think he'll eventually get it. Other than that, he seems like a real catch. If you know anyone who might be interested, Stormy's available for adoption through Echo Dogs White Shepherd Rescue. BTW, his Petfinder page says he's in Illinois, but, trust us, he's here!

We're back, we're bad!

He's white, she's mad!
Oh, yeah, sistah's crazy! But wouldn't you be without some serious play for over a year?! Narra hasn't competed in agility since the German Shepherd Dog nationals last fall. And Tuchuck's just getting his agility life under way...
Both had a super fun weekend (well, at least one day of it) at a USDAA agility trial. And, well, in all modesty, Tuchuck kicked some serious bootie. He brought home the booty as well: two blue ribbons! Narra didn't bring the loot, but she always feeds the need for speed!!

[Professional photos by Barry Rosen Photography]

Short-legged Revolution

Discrimination! Discrimination, we say! Yes, little Duncan and little Tucker absconded with the human to Uncle Kidlat's house today, leaving the big dogs in their dust.
What they did there is anyone's guess, but we fear they're plotting short-legged revolution. Our friends the Peppy Sheppys already warned us that corgis seek world domination. Uncle Kidlat may well have joined their ranks and is now recruiting under-30lb accomplices (wait, is Uncle Kidlat under 30lbs?!).

Look, they were practicing paw-to-paw combat! Brace yourselves, these guys mean business!

Wordless (Window) Wednesday

How many is TEN??

What're we, the Hotel New Hampshire?! Who's that lying in our bed?? You might not recognize the little orange ball there (uh, because he's supposed to be GONE), but that's Tucker--from the SPCA--yes, he's still here. That makes us EIGHT in the house. Oh, but he ain't stayin'! We just don't know when he's leavin'...And you remember Buddy (#2), our senior guest. We drove him all the way to his new (foster?) home... And our human was sad. But Buddy made us NINE...
Then there was sweet, little Dulce. She coulda been Uncle Kidlat's new sister, but he didn't play his cards right. In fact, he didn't play right at all. So she made a pitstop at our house before going to her new home. All turned out really well because she was reunited with her brother, and they get to live happily ever after! (Except that she was renamed Bella... and her brother is Edward. Ew. Well, they were never gonna "get together" anyhow.) She made us TEN! Again. (Remember Milo?)
And, as it turns out, Uncle Kidlat just doesn't play well with others. Period. He tried another possible sibling, but that didn't work out either. Well, not for Uncle Kidlat. Turned out pretty well for the pretty baby, though. He doesn't have a name yet, but he has an awesome new home with super sibs and his very own GranNE! And, if all goes right, he may very well be named after an extraordinary John Irving character! (Cast your vote!)
Now the baby didn't really add to our number, he just waited in the driveway...
Okay, you keeping track? Hope so, because see this white blur with Tuchuck? That's Finn. Sometimes referred to as Finnegan. He's half of Finn and Liberty (sometimes referred to as Libby), two overnight guests from Echo Dogs White Shepherd Rescue. They're with us right now, so that brings us to TEN again. But they'll be on their way bright and early in the morning.

Tucker says, "See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya.. Bwahahaha!"TEN again. Begin again... :)

PS
Finn and Libby... They should really be Finn and Rachel--cuz they ain't gettin together either!