This n That

Today it is finally raining. We have needed rain for a long time, since my yard resembles a dustbowl right now. The weather is cooler, and the dogs have been absolutely insane in the cool mornings. Even the old girl Bailey has been ripping around the yard like a puppy again. They seriously enjoy this weather. I wish I lived in a cooler climate sometimes. I do not enjoy the heat of the summer, and neither do they.
 We had some very good runs last weekend on some technical courses. I thought all the courses were very nice. I enjoy technical because it makes me think and work very hard to be consistent. Moxie got her 4th QQ for AKC Nationals, which is both thrilling and also puts an enormous amount of pressure on me to get the other 2 QQs before November 30th. She is capable of getting them and doing well, but sometimes she needs to get out of her own head and just do the course like I know she can. She blew 2 standard runs on weaves, so needless to say, we are weaving a LOT this week. Sally was a rockstar in preferred, with 2 novice std Qs for her title and an open std Q, plus one novice jumpers Q, and 2 novice jumpers NQs which were beautiful with one bar down. Oh well, I am enjoying novice with her while I can. Maybe next year we can get her to AKC nationals in the preferred class. Its been fun running her with less pressure, because I realize how far our teamwork has come. Sally is like that comfy sweater you love to wear, it just feels good. It feels so good to run with her. I have such trust in her abilities and I know she will always try her hardest for me. I absolutely cannot describe how great it feels to have that kind of a connection. I feel like thats what I need to build more with Moxie. Not that we dont have a wonderful connection, but I think Moxie needs to feel that she is a rockstar in her own right. I did notice getting her out earlier for her runs last weekend and walking her and spending some time with her seemed to help. She was definitely running as good as she has ever ran, with the exception of the 2 weave pole bobbles.
 Hustle is doing well in training. I take him to trials and work him over the jumps, since, for whatever reason, he is a maniac about tugging at shows, and he could care less at home! His jumping is looking good, and we are stringing 2-3 jumps together now, all with turns and no side changes. I am bouncing him between 20-24-26 inch jumps, and he looks good at all 3 heights. He is working on 2x2 weaves (which admittedly I need to work harder, it was a busy week!) but he is getting it pretty well. His aframe looks GREAT! I think I will keep it as a running. I am undecided on the dogwalk, since I started working a low teeter and that took up more of my focus. He should be ready to show early next year. No rush with him, as I think he was slow to  mature and I also think he will be a fantastic little agility dog.
Nothing else to report, except I am painting and caulking trim, trying to get my office set up and the rest of my house done before fall so I can just ENJOY the fall weather!
OH! How can I forget. My students looked AWESOME at the trial last weekend. I have to say, very unbiased I may add, that my students looked far more advanced than the other novice handlers I saw running. I was very impressed with all the TNTers and can't wait to see more from them at the next show!