A friend & I took her dog Mischa (an 8 yr old Sheltie & Coda's
best buddy), her son (3 yrs) and Coda to a "Dog Fest" today
in support of our local A/C. Bodhi got to stay home today.

It was the first time they'd ever
held the event, and it was pretty fun. They had a good turn-out,
and several fun games.
There was a fun-match style obedience competition, a water
retrieval (throw toy into small pool while dog waits in a stay
about15' away, released on toss & fetches toy), a "cute trick"
contest, an owner/dog photo "look-a-like" contest, and a frisbee
catching contest. They also had a SAR dog and police dog
demonstration.
Coda & I participated in everything! It was so funny, We
placed 2nd, behind my friend & her Sheltie in the obedience,
3rd in the "cute trick" contest (we did the weaving in & out
of my legs trick, ended by a "High-5"! The dog that won
was a huge GSD/Mastiff mix that actually sat up & begged,
it was amazing that a dog that size could do that!), and 2nd
in the owner/dog look-a-like (I take it as a compliment, really! :-))
We didn't place in the water-retrieve, but Coda did it &
thought the pools were Really Cool. The winner was a tie
between this awesome, gorgeous Doberman bitch & a Lab.

But, the best was the frisbee catch. They judged on style &
distance, out of 3 throws. It was a toss-up between Coda &
a SAR BC (that was, I have to say, 10 years old!), and we
had a throw-off to determine the winner. Coda didn't miss
any, while the BC missed one. So we won. I got a cute t-shirt
that says, "Mutts are my favorite breed!" and Coda got
a mini-frisbee & a full-sized frisbee. It was pretty
fun, even thoughg he doesn't get that far off the ground! :-)
Yay! Coda!
And...when he was a baby, I had toyed with the idea of
doing pet therapy with him. He adores people. He's always
been so exhuberant, that I thought I'd wait until he was older &
a bit calmer. Well, our old obedience instructor was there
today and she just loved him. She actually said she thinks
he's ready now to start training. Very Cool.
So...after the Belgian National, I think we'll plan on that with Coda.

Shelly (Who sometimes forgets just how groovy Coda is) & The Boys

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