DIY Saturday! Emergency IDs for car crates

Happy Saturday!!! This is a very rare Saturday for me as I have absolutely nothing planned and it feels pretty weird. So today I decided that I would finally make up IDs for the Variocage I have in my car. Since it varies which dogs are in the car with me I wanted something that was very easy to put on the crate to make it obvious which dog(s) I have with me. The Variocage has metal doors so I thought magnets would work quite well.

Here are the supplies you'll need:

1. Plain sheet of thin magnetic material. I found one at a local craft store for $4. 

2. Sheet of clear single-sided laminate - office supply stores carry these. 

3. Spray adhesive

4. IDs - you can find templates for free online. There are several out there. I used this one: http://dogandcatid.com but I may try to make my own as this one turned my high-res photos to pretty low-res when I printed it. 

As for instructions - just spray the adhesive onto the magnetic sheet, place on the paper IDs and cover with a clear sheet of laminate. Pretty simple and cheap. I like that I'll be able to store the IDs I'm not using inside the little metal flap on the Variocage doors. 

As for tips on what to put on the emergency ID cards - I will always warn that my dogs may be frightened in case of accident, Nari hates other dogs so I put that on her ID, I also guarantee vet costs/reward and never put the microchip number. That number is something I don't make public as it's something that helps me to prove I'm they're caretaker. 

I also have this magnet on my bumper that I got from a fundraiser. 

Wordless Wednesday - a smiley little Beastie!

Nari goes Rhode Island!!

We're in the final stretch now to try and pick up some qualifying scores so that Nari can run at Cynosports this year - we were cutting it close with only a few trials left and of course they had to be Regional Championships where it's harder to qualify at. Luckily we had some great help from Nari's friends and she picked up the Qs she needed to run in the DAM, Steeplechase and Grand Prix tournaments at Cynosports this year!!!

Here are a few highlights from the New England Regional Championships that were held all the way up in Rhode Island (Nari's first time being in Rhode Island).



We had a great time at the event - it was really well run, great turf and everyone there was so very friendly!!! As an added highlight - she got to run in both the Steeplechase and Grand Prix finals and picked up another Steeplechase bye and took 5th place!

Super Buck!!

Feeling lost....

Dr. D giving the girls some treats :)

Nari and Battlestar waiting to get in to the vet's office - they love going to the vet!

We have the most amazing vet in the world - Dr. Donna Raditic. She saved Alpha's life when her kidney's failed, gave Alpha the ability to do agility and run around like a normal dog when many vets told us it was impossible, helped Nari get through a wicked case of mange and help prepare me for living with a super canine athlete like Battlestar. She was always there for us whenever we needed her and helped keep me sane while Nari was super sick and always was there to coach me before a big competition. Sadly she is moving away and I am not sure what to do now - I feel completely lost. She taught me a lot about rehab, first aid, how to deal with little crazy canine athletes so she has done a good job to prepare me for her move but I still feel lost.

Some of us are getting together to celebrate with her tonight so it will be great to see her but it will still be quite sad. She said no gifts but I'll be giving her a framed picture of her with the girls along with Alpha's first title ribbon and a charm that has a short recording of the girls. Dr. D always loved to talk to Nari so I hope she'll like having that with her :)

Sister Steeplechase Semifinalists!

Nari and Starbuck posing with their SF Bye ribbons :)

Well the sisters, Starbuck and Nari, went to the USDAA Southeastern Regionals earlier this month. Nari is still getting back into the hang of trialing again and she is LOVING it! Both girls ran great! Nari picked up a DAM team Q which she really needed for Cynosports. And for the very first time this year the girls made it to the finals round of Steeplechase! We've never made it to the Steeplechase finals before but this year both girls made it :) Starbuck was a super star and also made it into the GP finals round. Here's a video of Starbuck and Nari running in Round 1 and also the Finals.



We had some VERY LONG days - we woke up around 4:30 am so that we could make it to the site in time for the 6 am walk throughs - that's right, 6 am walk throughs! It was good practice for Cynosports. The girls were entered in the local events on Thursday so we ended up leaving on Wednesday evening so that I didn't have to make the 5+ hour drive all on Thursday morning.

Starbuck ended up being pretty tight in the rear on Sunday - she was a little slower than normal in the Steeplechase finals so I'm glad we found the cause. Luckily the girls had their favorite massage therapist to take care of them :)

Hard life - getting treats and massages :)

I was so excited with how well we did - both girls even picked up byes into the semifinals round for Cynosports this year!!!

Some very tired sisters resting up for the big competition! 

Nari is going to 2 more regionals and one local trial to try and chase down some more Q's to get qualified for Cynosports in October. We don't have much time and I have no idea if she'll qualify but we are having so much fun running together again :) 

Project Battlestar! And so it begins….

Battlestar - looking quite sweet and not at all crazy :) 

So, I have this sheltie and her name is Battlestar. I call her Battle for short which is actually quite appropriate as she is super high energy and crazy - she's actually exactly what I wanted in a sheltie! I guess I'm a little crazy myself :)

Lots of people told me that since I was used to training northern breeds a sheltie would be a piece of cake - they were all so very wrong! Battlestar is pretty motion sensitive and can get startled by weird things (apparently random stumps are evil!) so I'm starting Project Battlestar! Oh - and I'm also going to throw into the project getting myself back into shape. I seriously need more exercise and so does Battlestar. 

So - let Project Battlestar begin! I'll be taking her out to lots of places with me. We took an online class at Fenzi Dog Sports Academy on 'Dealing With the Bogeyman' so I'm going to be using what I learned in there to help deal with her fears. We're going to be going to the playground and dog park to work around those triggers. I'm also getting back into my C25K running program and I plan on taking her along for the runs as long as it isn't too hot for her. 

So far her agility training is going quite well - she's obsessed with agility, it's in her blood - she was born to do it :) Here's a little video from her training this weekend:

Not sure if you can tell in the video but her tail color actually matches my pants! We have some agility training goals as well so I might be posting updates on our progress there. I've done a lot of seminars with Loretta Mueller and I'm so excited that Battlestar and I will be working with Loretta again! This time we are doing an online class with Loretta through Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - I can't wait for the class to start next week! Loretta is so much fun and her feedback has been amazing! 

I getting together a plan for Project Battlestar and I'm feeling pretty good about it! I'll be using this blog to periodically post updates on what we're working on and our progress :)