FitDog Puppy Playtime!

This week we're entertaining one of Rocco's puppy pals, and I'm remembering all the joys of puppyhood ... including potty training, teething and LOTS of puppy energy!

Run Rocco Run!

Rocco at one of our recent agility trials in November

The past few weeks I've been working on recovering data after my computer imploded. Happily, all my data including photos/video were saved and I came across some agility video from last month that I never shared.

AND, since I've got some nifty new video editing tools, I played around a bit with one of Rocco's November agility runs. So today, here's a bit of the agility fun we had this fall. This was one of Rocco's first standard runs in AKC Excellent Standard.  Enjoy!





Happy FitDog Friday! What do you have planned for the weekend?

The fun and games continue every Friday with FitDog Friday, the weekly Blog Hop brought to you by To Dog With Love, SlimDoggy and My GBGV Life to promote a healthy active lifestyle for pets (and their people, too!). Join in every Friday by linking up your FitDog story or visiting the blogs in the Hop.

Snow Zombies vs. Snow Zoomies #AtlantaSnow

Zombie Rocco

Sometimes Zoomies can lead to Zombies, and in Atlanta yesterday that was unfortunately for some… all too true.

If you were lucky enough to be at home when the snow started falling, it was a fun event for dogs and people too. But our hearts go out to all the folks who were stranded on the streets, schools and businesses last night.

Ironically, our pals -- Garth Riley (the dog) and Kona at K9Karryall -- found that Zoomies autocorrects to Zombies!

Bring on the Zombies… I mean Zoomies!



Check out the rest of our pals at the BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop!

Barn Hunt Part II: Finding the Rat!

Rocco is introduced to the rat, who is safely ensconced
in his PVC pipe shelter

Two weeks ago we told you all about our introduction to Barn Hunt at a fun day event.

At the fun day, we learned about Barn Hunt runs and what's expected of you and your dog when you compete. We also got the chance to try a couple of runs and Rocco got his first experience of finding a rat in a tube!

Read more about what Barn Hunt is all about in our last post. Today, we're going to show you how Rocco found the rat!

First, Rocco was introduced to the rat, who is kept safe and snug in a little tube filled with rat litter. To the right you can see Rocco checking out the rat in the tube.

A Barn Hunt course with tunnels, climbs and PVC pipe rat tubes.

Then, Rocco got his chance to find the rat in the Barn Hunt ring. Here's where it gets a bit more tricky.

THREE tubes are placed in the ring -- one with a rat, one just with litter and one that is empty. Not only does your dog need to find the tube with the rat, but then YOU, the handler, must recognize your dog's indication that he's found the rat, and then YOU must declare with certainty "RAT!"

So you can't say something like, "hmmm, I think that may be the tube with the rat." Here's where you must know your dog well enough to recognize his sign of finding the rat. Excellent dog/handler communication is key!

You'll see in our video that first, Rocco gets the chance to see all three tubes and signal to me which one contains the rat. Then, in a second run, he must find a rat that is hidden underneath some loosely piled straw, making things a bit more challenging.



Different breeds and different dogs may signal the rat with different levels of exuberance, In Rocco's case, he paused in front of the rat and then sat. I learned that was his way of telling me he found the rat.

There are lots of guidelines you must follow in order to received titles in Barn Hunt. You can find all the details in the Barn Hunt rules.  One thing that's an automatic disqualification is if a dog eliminates on the course (which is basically anything coming out of your dog that shouldn't be!).

We, a-hem, may have to work on that some. I mean the hay bales look an awful lot like the pinestraw in our backyard!

We had a fun day and got to experience the whole thing with our pals Johann and Gracie and their mum! You can read about their experience here!

We're also super excited to join our FitDog Friday co-hosts Peggy's Pet Place and SlimDoggy for this year's K9Kamp. Held twice a year (January and June), K9Kamp is a blog hop event where you can get fit with your dog! The challenge will be issued on January 24th, so be sure to and stop by to check out the challenge so that you can participate.  Then, at the end of K9Kamp, join our blog hop (co-located with FitDog Friday!) and share your experience. Everyone is invited and we'll have prizes too! 

The fun and games continue every Friday with FitDog Friday, the weekly Blog Hop brought to you by To Dog With Love, SlimDoggy and Peggy's Pet Place to promote a healthy active lifestyle for pets (and their people, too!). Join in every Friday by linking up your FitDog story or visiting the blogs in the Hop.

Happy New Year 2014 from Rocco Havanese!

We took a look back at Rocco's New Year just one year ago and look how much he's grown! In 2013, at just three months old in the photos above, Rocco approached the new year with some hesitation.

This year he's ready to jump right in with all four feet, and so am I!

Happy New Year to all! Here's to the best year yet!

Wordless Wednesday: Falling Leaves

Three Dogs on Deck!

I've been trying to get the perfect photo of Rocco and his two pals Bingo and Codie. Have you ever tried to get THREE dogs to pose! 

We moved from the yard to the deck. Dogs on stairs always seems to work.

How about dogs on chairs?

Or a roundtable discussion!

Or maybe perfect photos don't need to be perfect at all!

Happy (almost)  Wordless Wednesday!

Learning Agility Handling Skills

These photos were pulled from the video footage below. Scroll down to see Rocco in action!

For today's edition of FitDog Friday we thought we'd bring you some rare footage of Rocco running agility! It's rare because at 12 months old, he's just started to put together sequences and this is one of the first agility videos we've shot of Rocco.

In this video, we are practicing handling skills using jump and tunnels.  The idea is for Rocco to stay focused, watch my cues for twists and turns and most of all have lots of fun!  Take a look!

To prepare for these types of handling challenges we've:

• Practiced with Rocco running on both my left and my right
• Approached jumps from different directions and angles
• Practiced front crosses -- where the handler crosses in front of the dog to change direction -- and started working on rear crosses
• Worked on motion and timing -- so that Rocco can read my cues and know when to turn
• Trained at various agility fields, to help Rocco work through all the distractions

We've still got some rough edges to work out but we've only just begun! Learn more about how to get started in agility here.

The fun and games continue every Friday with FitDog Friday, the weekly Blog Hop brought to you by To Dog With Love, SlimDoggy and Peggy's Pet Place to promote a healthy active lifestyle for pets (and their people, too!) and to help combat pet obesity. Join in every Friday by linking up your FitDog story or visiting the blogs in the Hop.

Watch us "Play" on Homes.com Today!

Our backyard is featured as a place to "play" on Homes.com today! It's all part of the Homes.com Inspiring Home Moments campaign.

Some of you may remember that I bought my backyard (and house) so that Cosmo would have a place to play.  Before that, we lived in a condo and it was tough raising an active dog without a yard. That's ultimately why we started doing agility, so that Cosmo would have an outlet and a place to play.

But now, it's been a lot easier raising a young pup like Rocco with our own place to play unleashed. And, we have a place where we can practice agility skills everyday. Short little practice sessions work great, especially with a young pup.

So what's the biggest thing you've ever bought for YOUR pet? Let me know in the comments below. And then check out our home story on Homes.com!

Meetup for a Dog Hike

We love finding new places to hike with our dog hiking Meetup Group.

Rocco takes in the view from our hike last weekend near Atlanta. Want to know where we were? Come back this FitDog Friday to find out!

Happy Birthday Rocco Havanese!

They sure grow up fast, don't they?! Rocco is one today!

He's grown up to be a beautiful boy. Can't believe he was just a wee pup not too long ago!

Here are a few pics from age 10 days to seven months.

And here he is from eight months to today! Look how much his coat has changed.

We can't wait to see what the next year will bring!

Guess why Rocco is flying!

First, Rocco is pretty excited and flying high because Monday is his birthday and he'll be one year old! Wow, how fast they grow up!

Next, he wants you to come back on Friday to find out what he's up to here. (It's not too hard to guess, but we thought a little suspense would be kind of fun!)

Happy Wordless Wednesday! Now let's see what everyone else is up to.

Small Dogs Can Learn to Swim Too!

If you think swimming is best left to Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers, think again!

Small dogs can learn to swim too, but not all dogs or all breeds are suited for swimming.

It's best to know your own dog and introduce him to swimming slowly, so you can determine if he's suited for the sport. That way you can ensure he'll have a fun experience if he does turn out to be a water-lover.

Now 11 months old, Rocco works on his swimming technique!

I first introduced Rocco to the water when he was about eight months old and he took his first swim strokes at about nine months.

Now at 11 months, he's really taken to the water and as you can see above, he's maintaining a nice, horizontal position in the water by using both his front and rear legs equally. He's calmly swimming to the steps and he's keeping his mouth closed so he doesn't take in any extra water.

Dog can learn and build confidence by watching, so Rocco also got some help from his pal Miko who showed him that swimming can be fun!

Of course, it's always safety first in the pool. And the first thing Rocco learned was to swim to the steps. In fact, his first time in the pool all we did was hang out on the steps and play in the water. That also helped build his confidence and his love for the water.

While the pups were swimming, we also had two people in the pool... one to start them out right by holding them in a horizontal position and one to help guide them to the steps if needed. Never leave a pup unattended near a pool!

After some fun in the pool, Rocco and Miko took a quick break poolside...

And then it was off to the races!

There's nothing more fun than following a swim with a wet zoooom!

The fun and games continue every Friday with FitDog Friday, the weekly Blog Hop brought to you by To Dog With Love, SlimDoggy and Peggy's Pet Place to promote a healthy active lifestyle for pets (and their people, too!) and to help combat pet obesity. Join in every Friday by linking up your FitDog story or visiting the blogs in the Hop.

Wet Dogs on the Rocks

Rocco and his pal Miko pose on the rocks after a swim day this past weekend.  Just another reason why a "stay" is so important... read reason #3!

Come back on FitDog Friday for a peak at our swimming adventure!

2013 Havanese National Specialty

Rocco's breeder Carol Croop expertly handled him in the puppy sweepstakes ring. Rocco is second from the right.

Last weekend Rocco and I headed to Chicago for the Havanese National Specialty dog show where hundreds of fabulous Havanese competed in conformation, agility, obedience and rally!

Unlike the dog shows you may see on TV, specialties are held for each breed and you'll find only that breed at the show. There's nothing like hundreds of Havanese in a room at one time!

I took Rocco in the ring for the National Specialty. He looks mighty happy to be there!

Rocco competed in the 9-12 month puppy class in conformation, and he had two chances in the ring -- in puppy sweepstakes and in the national specialty. And while we didn't bring home any ribbons, we had a terrific time both in and out of the ring!

Rocco stacks on the table for the judge

I also had some fun with instagram and you can check out our short video here.

Rocco and his pal Zoe

There was plenty of time for walks and adventure too. Rocco and his pal Zoe, who won Veteran's Winners Bitch (seven years and older), walked around the lovely path at the Westin in Lombard and enjoyed some time by the fountains.

Check out more photos on our To Dog With Love Facebook page.

We're also participating today in Monday Mischief -- the pet blog hop that wraps up the weekend brought to you by Alfie's Blog, Snoopy's Dog Blog and My Brown Newfies.

A Walk Through Not So Dry Falls!

During our recent trip to Highlands, N.C., we took advantage of a short break in the rain to visit four nearby waterfalls. 

The heavy rainfalls made the falls even more impressive than usual. Just a short drive down the road from Highlands we viewed Bridal Veil Falls, Cullasaja Falls, Bust Your Butt Falls and finally Dry Falls.

When we were here last year, the paths to Dry Falls were under construction so we weren't able to view the falls. This year, Rocco enjoyed the meandering trail to the falls ...

... that winds around and passes underneath the falls! He loved the sound and the water, but was limited to getting his zoomies on around my feet. Waterfalls are no place for a dog to run free!

Take a look and listen...

We made the finals! Please vote for us in the Petties Best Overall Blog category. You can vote once daily until July 31 at http://petties.dogtime.com/finalist-voting. The winner in each category wins a $1,000 donation to the pet rescue group of their choice. Please help us help a rescue pet!

Now let's head over to the BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop!





A Dog Walk Through the Newest Piedmont Park Expansion

Rocco, right, and his pal Nicky check out
the newest entrance to  Piedmont Park

Our local city park, Piedmont Park, got even better this past week as the newest section of the park opened, adding 12.5 more acres and an entrance that's easily accessible to my neighborhood.

So naturally, Rocco and I headed off to check out the newest acreage, complete with wooded trails and bridges and paved paths, perfect for all sorts of outdoor adventures! Rocco's Havanese pal Nicky's been staying with us this past week, so Nicky got to come along for the adventure too.

After crossing over the bridge into the park, Rocco and Nicky discovered some new steps up to a wooded trail...

So peaceful, it's hard to believe these trails are right in the middle of Atlanta just a few miles from downtown!

Even though there was lots of shade, remember that dogs can overheat quickly...

Rocco and his pal Nicky take a moment for water break and a rest stop in the shade

... so be sure to play it safe if you're out with your pups this summer:

1. Don't over do it. Take rest stops in the shade often.
2. Bring along plenty of fresh water 
3. Start your walk in the early morning or in the evening during the coolest hours of the day

We started out early and finished our walk through the cool and shady Six Springs Wetland trail, an area that was completely covered in Kudzu and considered unusable just a few years ago. Now look how beautiful it is!

We used the new Instagram video feature to record this video. You can also watch it on Instagram here!

Piedmont Park has come a long way in the last five or so years, and this was just the latest phase in its grand restoration plan. All in all we covered about four miles, a terrific walk to kick off a FitDog Friday!


The fun and games continue every Friday with FitDog Friday, the weekly Blog Hop brought to you by To Dog With Love, SlimDoggy and Peggy's Pet Place to promote a healthy active lifestyle for pets (and their people, too!) and to help combat pet obesity. Join in every Friday by linking up your FitDog story or visiting the blogs in the Hop.

Wordless Wednesday: Pool Time

Rocco beats the heat with some pool time last weekend!





Wordless Wednesday: Running Partner

Running is better with a friend! Rocco Havanese, right, enjoys a backyard romp with his Hav pal Nicky!