Fabric Binge

A few months ago (well, when the after Christmas sale emails started flooding in) I went on a bit of a fabric binge. I just couldn't resist the great prices!! I bought quite a bit at eQuilter and some oilcloth from Mendels. My apologies that some of them are wrinkly, I didn't feel like ironing until later. Yes, I pre-wash and iron all my fabric. I know that's kind of a sticky subject for some people (especially quilters) but it's years of home ec lessons I can't shake.These two are destined to become skirts for next fall. I just LOVE the veggie print, won't it make a fun skirt?!
Next we have some halloween fabric (Halloween apron, I'm thinking), some Katy Jump Rope prints I will work into my scrappy log cabin quilt and really cute Schol Day Fun which I think will make an adorable centers for quilt blocks, such lovely muted colors.
These are Christmas fabrics I bought to restore my holiday stash. I made a lot of reusable gift bags this year and nearly ran out of red and green! The ornament print is also going to be the back of my wall hanging made with the blocks from a swap I was in for ornament pieced blocks.
And here is my bargain of all bargains. I got this Pampered Pooch quilt kit on ebay for a song! It has everything you need to make the 64" x 64" quilt top, including two jelly rolls, fabric for all the borders and extra for placemats. I have always loved this fabric line, it combines two things I love: dogs and retro prints! And here is what I have completed so far. I know, not much but I'm working on it at my leisure!

And while I was taking pictures around the craft room, I thought I'd take a picture of the bulletin board with all of Sully's ribbons. Now that we are in more advanced classes in our shows, we don't get quite as many blue ribbons as we used to in the easier classes that we aced frequently, but Sully still manages once in a while to win himself a ribbon and a toy

Last dog show of 2008

Our dog show season for 2008 has wound down to its close. This past weekend we were at our local club for their AKC rally and obedience trial.

Friday Night:
Rally Excellent B- perfect score! We were handed a second place ribbon. But, oh tragedy or tragedies, they had forgotten another person with a perfect score and better time than us so we exchanged it for a third place ribbon. Fine by us! A Q is a Q! Easy course, quick times. Friday is always casual and it was a nice time.

Saturday Morning:
Rally Excellent B- Not so perfect score but there were NO perfect scores in that class that day! 96 or out 100, not bad, but not good enough for a placement. I won't tell you the story from Saturday because it is a not-so-nice story about the judge and I don't want to sound like a grumpy Guss. A green ribbon is fine with me! Tougher course and the honor was in the MIDDLE of the ring, surrounded by the working dog's path!

Just one more leg to our RE title. Sully has to be in the B class because he already has his CD title. Therefore we are up against all the dogs that mainly already have their RE title and are working toward their 10 double Qs for their RAE. We aren't in any regular obedience anymore, mainly because I'm lazy and haven't started any distance work or retrieving. Our goal for next year will be to enter the Graduate Novice class at our Corgi Specialty. That may or may not happen though, depending on what Sully feels comfortable doing. It's not of great importance to me to continue on in obedience with him so if he doesn't like dumbbells or directed jumping, we might just skip it.

Pup Pal of the week!

oooo, i am sooo sad, i think i will cry (says rani macaw) (3 of 3)
Originally uploaded by sansanparrots

This lovely fluffy Corgi girl is Kali corgi (with her pal Rani macaw). Doesn't she have the prettiest face? She is also quite talented in agility and has a blog of her very own! And Sully is very honored to be her featured Pup Pal of the Week this week! Thank you Kali corgi (and owner SanSan), we love your blog and are extremely honored to be your Pup Pal any day of any week!

Home again, Home again, Jiggity-jog.

We're back home and we had a fun time! Sully earned a second place in his only class. First place went to Sully's foster mom and her lovely little boy, Carl. This being Sully's third leg of his Rally Advanced title, he put a new abbreviation after his name. He is now:

(That means he has his Companion Dog, Rally Advanced, Rally Level 2 (APDT) and Canine Good Citizen titles.)
After the show, we visited family in Wisconsin. Here we are in front of a cow, of course.

Before we left for our trip, I had the brilliant idea that it would be fun to go to garage sales in a different state! So on Saturday morning, we checked the paper and headed out! I got some neat stuff like vintage beaded fruit:

And these three aprons for cheap! I never find aprons so this was a super find!

The one on the left is commercially made and has a tag that says "WISCONSIN HOME CRAFTERS" so it's also a souvenir!

Dog show weekend

This weekend was an APDT Rally Trial weekend for us. Sully and I compete in both APDT and AKC competitions but anyone who competes in both will tell you they enjoy APDT much more because of the friendly atmosphere and camaraderie. I won't bore the non-dog people will all the details but Sully was his usual star self, earning a third place in one trial and a qualifying score (but no placement) in the other. Later this month we will attend our regional Corgi specialty and compete in AKC rally's second level , which is called Advanced.

Belated post

There were several great posts in celebration of the late Tasha Tudor's birthday last week including this wonderful one from Cathy of The Christmas Corgi Blog. I was introduced somewhat late in life (I'm only 27, so how late could it be? But I didn't know a thing about her until a few years ago so what do I say? Middle-off in life?) Having corgis predisposes you to Tasha Tudor exposure. Tasha items are quite popular for auctions that benefit corgi causes such as the yearly Corgi-Aid auction. Her drawings remind me of my mother's, untrained but with an unhesitatingly honest and gentle, and with a humble knowledge of the world behind them. And I admire and aspire to her work ethic and simple lifestyle. I think she would like this picture of Sully all dressed up in a fairy saddle and flower garland.

I never got a hand-drawn card from her like Cathy was lucky enough to get! But Sully got a letter from her corgis!

One of Sully's hobbies is writing to famous dogs (especially corgis) and waiting to see if he gets letters back! Tasha's corgis were one of the few dogs to ever write back. Do you know of any famous corgis or dogs that he could write to next? He has written to several politician's dogs, including Barney and Miss Beazley, those famous Scotties, and Jackson and Dave, the VP's labs. The queens corgis did not respond, sadly. And neither did Stephen King's corgi, Frodo. Martha Stewart's dogs' people wrote back a boring canned response, I bet they didn't even notice it was a dog writing to them despite his own stationary with paw prints on it!

Home baked dog treats-cranberry and cinnamon

So, I've lost faith in most products for dogs, especially commercial treats. You never know what's going to be found in them or how harmful it will be. So I've decided to bake our own treats about once a week so we always have a nice supply. Sully gets a treat every time he goes in his crate and we also dole them out liberally when training and throughout the day as rewards.

I also LOVE baking but baking dog treats is even better than baking human treats because I get the fun of baking without the calories! For me, anyway. Today's batch was Cranberry-Cinnamon, very fall holiday-ish! They're inspired by some treats we got from my mom that both the dog AND the cat went gaga for! There is a fair amount of sugar in these (honey and sweetened cranberries) so they will be an occasional treat. Here's the recipe:

Cranberry-Cinnamon Treats

1/4 cup of margerine (1/2 stick)
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup honey
2 eggs
2 tsp cinnamon
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cups unbleached flour
3/4 cup dried cranberries, try to find unsweetened but sweetened will work (if they are large, chop into smaller pieces.)

Mix margarine, vanilla, honey and eggs together. Then add flour and cinnamon. Stir in cranberries. Roll out on floured surface and cut with cookie cutters or use my snap-making technique with a pizza cutter. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes, remove and let dry completely.

Weekend in Review

Lakeshore loot!
Originally uploaded by Corgipants

We are back from our long weekend of dog show and visiting family. Here's the breakdown:

Thursday:
Drive up-fine until terrible, dead-stop traffic due to an accident on 294 or somewhere thereabouts

First destination-Hotel where the dog show was being held. Awesome welcome goody bag with tons of dog food samples, a free Frontline Plus application(awesome!), food, toiletries, a leash, an ice cream scoop, giant bag clips for dog food bags, bandanna, dog toys, and more!

Small incident with the crate when Mike and I were at hospitality party, Sully has minor freak-out and busts through mesh door of soft-sided crate. Emergency trip to Target for shoelaces to lace mesh back together. Not a problem since. Mike has head cold so we pick up Sudafed (the good kind) while at Target. Bed is extremely hard.

Friday:
Dog Show-Sully gets his first leg toward CD title (1st place), first leg toward RA title (2nd place) and a 1st place in Rally Novice B. (See pic of loot.) Very happy!

Shopping at Mitsuwa-Grocery list includes: Panko breadcrumbs, fresh pastries shaped like crabs and pumpkins, Rement miniature sets!!!, much Japanese candy and tiny bento box paper cups

Bed is still very hard.

Saturday:
We discover a nail in our tire, Mike very nicely offers to sit at Walmart getting it patched while I watch tv and pack up.

Drive was scenic and much more exciting than our normal route to WI!

Next destination-Hotel in WI, bed is much improved! Room has two fireplaces, but no real fire in either.

Dinner with in-laws goes well. Sully meets three new dogs and hangs with them fairly peaceably.

Jenna now has Mike's headcold but has softer bed to recuperate in. Herbal tea, whirlpool bath, soft tissues help too.

Sunday:
Ate in a mine shaft-themed restaurant for lunch.

Dinner at in-laws, dogs behave, things are good. Nice to relax, no to-do lists, no email, no phone.

Today:
Long drive home, 6 hours as usual but seemed longer because the drive up was broken into two relatively equal chunks.

Goodwill, scored a skirt for my Halloween costume and a new (to me) wool coat. I can't stand to pay $50 or more dollars for a coat when I can get one every year or so at Goodwill for $6!

Sully, the YouTube Star

Inspired by Corgi Tails' cute videos of the week, here is our own contribution to cute corgi videos on the internet! We made a couple, you can see the rest if you go to our YouTube page.

Tutorial for Dog Tie

Oc-Tute-ber Tutorial #7 for:
Dog Tie (or Cat Tie, I suppose, if you are so inclined)

This week, all of our tutorials will all focus on our furry friends.

If you like the idea of dressing up your pet but you have the challenge of owning a male, it can be hard to find cute clothes. You can go the khakis and t-shirt route and have people think you actually think your dog is a furry child. Or you can go the sailor suit/biker costume route but I think those are just silly. Unless you're a sailor or a biker. One fashion accessory that can be dressed up or down is the tie. You can have a goofy light-up, plays music Christmas tie. Or you can have a snappy gray on gray silk tie. I'm fond of really tacky 70's ties so I scour garage sales and my husband's tie rack. :)

What you'll need:
a tie you don't mind cutting up
thread and needle OR sewing machine
scissors



First, measure your dog from the point of the collar to where you want the tie to hit. Corgis are, of course, a little short so ties are much easier to make for a taller dog, more dangle room. Sully measures about 6 inches from collar to where I want the point of the tie to be.

Double your measurement. This will be how long we will cut the tie from the fat pointed end. (Unless you are going for the 80's skinny tie look, then you can cut from the skinny end.)


Finish the cut end by folding the edges in and then pressing the two corners inward to create a slight taper on the end of the tie. I hope you can see that in this picture. Sew directly over the end of the tie, catching all the layers.


Now from the skinny end of the tie, cut a piece about 5 inches long, cutting off the point if there is one. Stitch the ends together, creating a loop. This will be our "knot" in the tie. Turn so the raw edges face the inside.

To put the tie on, fold the tie over your dog's collar with the pointy side on the outside and the flat stitched end on the inside. Then thread both ends through the "knot" loop. If your dog is very vigorous, you could stitch your "knot" loop to the back of the tie so it doesn't fall off but I find it stays on pretty nicely and I like the assurance that if it gets caught on something, it can just slip off with gentle pressure.

Retractable(brain) Leashes

This morning Sully and I had a run-in with what The Willa Woman calls a "Stupid "Pet" Dog Owner With a Flexi-Leash". I think there are definitely different levels of dog ownership and "pet" people are those people who have a dog, for whatever reason, but are not actively involved in its care beyond feeding and maybe walking it. They may know their dog has some bad habits but have no idea or no gumption to find out how to fix them so they just live with it or get rid of that dog and start over with a new one. These people are a major pet peeve of mine and a major reason I could never professionally teach dog training or be involved in any other business that deals with these people. At least right now. I know I should want to educate them and help simplify their lives and their dogs lives but they just annoy me and I don't have the patience.

So lady walking two dogs on two seperate flexi leashes. How in the world do you hold two flexi leashes and then pick up dog poop/carry poo bag/treat dogs for being good or anything else that would require hands? Answer-you can't. She fumbles with keys/poo bag/flexi leashes and drops one, dog rushes at us, I grab the dog's harness and return dog to her.

Then she drops it a SECOND time! At this point I am probably noticeably disgusted but make nice because accidents happen. But they wouldn't happen if people didn't insist on using those darn flexi leashes.
5 reasons not to use Flexi leashes:

1-As demonstrated by this lady not once but TWICE, they can severely cut your hands if you grab the leash part when trying to restrain a dog. Which you will invariable do because you will NOT be able to grab the handle while it goes flying after your dog. And the handles are VERY easy to drop/slip out of you grip.

2-You have no control over a dog that is 20 feet in front of you. If your dog sees a squirrel teasing him in the street, you will NOT be able to stop him from darting after it and possibly getting hit.

3-People like them because it lets their dog run a bit without them having to really work. Maybe if the dog needs more exercise than you can provide, that's not the right dog for you. And maybe the right dog for you is a cat.

4-Dogs walked on Flexi leashes learn to pull when on a walk. Try to transition them to a normal leash and you'll have a terrible habit to break and most people aren't willing to spend the time to break it. Who in their right mind thought up a leash where the DOG is in charge of how far they go and how fast they get there? Does that sound like a recipe for a healthy, obedient pet? I will acknowledge that if you have a large area with no one you might bother and nothing to get wrapped around, the flexi leash is admissible. But a 20' training line would work just as well and it's much less gadgety and much less likely to slip out of you hand and go careening after your dog, scaring it to bits.

5-A flexi leash is not a substitute to training. A lot of people get them so their dog can roam free on the side walk and not tear their arm off pulling after every little thing. It takes much less time and effort to pop into your local pet supply store and pick up a flexi or for that matter a halti, an easy walk harness, an anti-jump harness or any other substitute for proper, positive training than it is to work with your dog consistently and intelligently.

Pet dog people and their Flexi leashes, just two of my many pet-related pet peeves. Also on the list- dog parks, people who don't spay and neuter their pets, the "disposability" of pocket pets, dogs tied out in back yards, people who buy puppies at pet stores, people who always carry their small dogs, and designer mutts. I'll try not to rant about them all at the same time.

Smallpants

Sully in the pants
Originally uploaded by Corgipants

The corgi from CorgiPants wears Pants! Sully is such a good sport, he posed for this photo wearing not his pants, but the CAT'S pants. That's right, here at CorgiPants there is also a cat. You'll have to visit my Flickr to see pictures of the cat shunning his pants. But these pants are my entry for Crazy Aunt Purl's Cat Sweater Sweepstakes. Not that they are a sweater or that I got the cat to actually wear them. But what the heck! Here's the story I emailed her about the pants:
Ok, so here's the story. I wanted to make my cat a pair of pants, like you know, lounging around pajama pants. Where I got the idea that I would EVER get pants on my cat, of all cats, is beyond me. Red is a terrible cat, truly, he loves no one, smells (found that out today trying to put the pants on him one last time), bites and scratches when unprovoked so don't even start provoking him! Anyway, I made the pants. With a little tail hole that closes up with Velcro and everything. Back when I originally made the pants, maybe two years ago, I respected the cat too much to try and force them on him other than a cursory try. But today I tried again, in earnest! Because the cat has screwed me over enough times for me to know he is a true adversary and if he doesn't want to wear the pants, he won't. But by God I'm going to try! I got one leg in! Then I thought the smartest route would be to get the tail in to sort of lock them on and then shimmy the other pantleg onto the other leg. But the tail was the hardest bit. The cat HATES having his back end touched. The tail is off limits and every time I bent the tail to get it in, he made terrible gurgley hissing noises and let off a real stink, which was coming from under his tail. (Sometimes, out of spite, the cat leaks on the bed and leaves a little poo stain on my pillow and right about now, he was leaking onto the pants.) I got the tail in not once but twice but once the tail was firmly in position with the velcro gripping it at its base, he would shoot away from my grip, gasping and hissing and throwing up his back legs in horror! Once I saw the stain on the pants, I knew it was time to quit. Sully (our ever-loving corgi) glanced at me, knew what I was thinking and sidled up to me slowly. "Yes, ok, I will wear the pants. To please you and because I've never really seen you so riled up, please calm down, you're scaring me." 30 seconds later, the pants had been on, I had taken a picture and the pants had been removed. Gotta love an obedient dog. The cat on the other hand, I suppose I love him too. Not sure why though.

Dog Show Report

Sully's newest additions
Originally uploaded by Corgipants

Thank you so much to everyone who wished us well and good luck for our trial this weekend! It was a great feeling to know people were hoping the best for us. And all those "break a legs" worked! We got third place in out Level 1 class and first place in our first Level 2 class! He ignored the foodbowls like a pro, excelled at both bonus exercises, and was a generally good boy around all those strange dogs all day!

Our second Level 2 class of the day didn't go so well, with Sully opting to not jump the jump until the third time I told him "over". But by that time he was tired and a little fed up with the rain. It rained (poured!) all day Saturday! Our trial was indoors but inside a Morton-type building so it was echo-y and loud.

Each time you place, you get to pick a toy out so Sully picked a spiny ball that honks and a squeaky cat with a fluffy tail. Check out my flickr for a picture of why next time I will be opting out of the free toy if we place again. Too many toys taking over the living room floor!

Dog show Days of Summer

covered up
Originally uploaded by Corgipants

I am so mellow right now from Yoga tonight. I need to keep this mellow groove until Saturday for our first dog show of the season. I tend to get really antsy, nervous and over think everything before a dog show. But when it's all over, I remember that it's only a dog show, no one will die, no one will make a life-altering decision or face some terrific challenge. It's supposed to be fun and relaxing, it's my own free time, no one is forcing me to go. And I do enjoy it, mostly, except for those couple of days beforehand when I dream up every possible terrible thing that could happen and play them through my mind. So this time I'm trying not to do that. Sully is a great dog, we have worked hard and come a long way. We practice all we can but if something goes wrong in the ring, it goes wrong and it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. As long as I still have a great dog afterwards, maybe we learn something new, maybe we get a ribbon, maybe we don't, it shouldn't really make a difference. He doesn't care, I can tell you that. Saturday night, after our classes are over, he'll still want dinner and a walk and he'll still zonk out on the sofa and his mind won't be cluttered with should haves and would haves. To keep this mellow mood, here is a picture of a sleepy, snuggled Sully.

Our Furry Child

shirted sully
Originally uploaded by Beastbunny

The corgi in CorgiPants is Sully, our furry son. Yes, I know he's a dog. And we do treat him like a dog when it's important to. But it's easy to treat such a well-mannered, gentle dog like a furry little kid. He gets a cookie at bedtime, has a boatload of toys, goes on vacation with us and is in general one of the most pampered corgis you're likely to meet. He deserves it, not only because he is a gentleman but because he spent three years of his life in less-than-ideal conditions. We adopted Sully from a Pembroke Welsh Corgi rescue. He had been part of a breeding pair surrendered by the owner who failed to make money on his backyard corgi operation. From what the person who picked him up saw, Sully slept outside on straw with no collar, no toys and no mommy or daddy who make sure he gets his afternoon snack before his nap. He's moved on up (to the east side) and never looked back.

Sully is not just our pet, he is my partner in competition. He has impeccable manners and is in general very reserved and gentle. He has his Canine Good Citizen certificate and two Rally Obedience titles so far. We are now competing at the second level in APDT and AKC Rally and have started dabbling in freestyle (dog dancing).

Sully has a Dogster page. You can visit him by clicking the Dogster button over at the right.