Swim Party at the Dog Park

Today, I took the dogs back to Fleet Peeple Dog Park. http://www.ffpp.org/ This is the dog park closest to our home, but we never go there due to several factors.

In the summer, water that is not spring fed grows some crazy stuff - namely, amoeba. We had 6 deaths last year - all human - but that is 6 too many.

Alligators. Hmm. Coming from Michigan, I am not too fond of swimming in fresh water with animals that want to eat me or my dogs. Call me crazy, but down here, you must assume that in any pond, lake, river, retention pond, mud puddle, etc., there is probably an alligator living there.

The park itself. Now only is is huge, there are areas where your dog can actually swim out past the fence, swim up to the land and be FREE!! Plus, the park is huge. If your dog runs and runs, you can easily tire out. Owners were not picking up after their animals and it was disgusting down at the water where feces, urine and god knows what else meshed with the water. And owners think they can sit on the picnic tables and let their dogs run. Lots of fights.

Last year, each time we went to this park, we went to the vet within the next week - eye infection, ear infection, tapeworm. We then decided it was time to not go anymore.

Glad we went back. The dogs had a blast. Beau has really taken to the water. Finn... not so much. Here are some pics from the days event

5 A.M.

Boy is he lucky he is cute. Because at 5:00 a.m., I am not thinking about how cute he is. I am thinking about the last hour of sleep I am about to lose. Sometimes, he even tries to get me up when there is a 3:00 in the first number when I look at the clock.

Now I understand when you gotta go, you gotta go. But he is old enough to make it thru the night without having to potty. And the remarkable thing is how my husband, whose side of the bed Finn's crate is on, can sleep right thru all the commotion he makes. Uggghhhh. It truly amazes me. I will confess. I think he fakes that he is sleeping so he does not have to get up.

And the usual culprit for this early morning wake up happens to be the cat.

Finn LOVES Toby. Toby has reservations about how he feels about Finn. The cat will wake at 3 am as that is prime time to hunt any palmetto bug or lizard that thinks they can make their way in to his house. And when he gets bored with that, he either howls to see who is going to answer him, or he just comes and lays in the doorway to the bedroom - where little puppy eyes can see him. And that is when it starts.

I must tell you, I am feeling the strain of losing that hour every day. I was never someone that stayed up late, but I can barely make it past 9:00 p.m. I am less motivated at work - of course truth be told, that has been there long before the dog came in to my life. And I have to drink more caffeine just to jump start my self in the morning.

I am hoping that once he is old enough to be out of the crate, he can and will sleep thru the night.

Here's hoping, right?

The life of a dog.

My dogs FINALLY were able to get out in the back yard and run and play. When it rains - and it has been raining non-stop here in Florida - they refuse to let the wet grass touch their dainty feet. Being outside is a much needed break from the indoors where they are ruing one wood floors and leaping on to the couch!

Above you see Finn trying to hide and protect himself under the orange tree from the incoming missile that is Beau. I think it's the orange tree that is going to need to be protected. I love to watch them play, especially when they run after each other. Below is Beau coming off the patio with Finn in his sights. He is super fast and it's

hilarious to see him turn on the turbo jets when he feels Finn is getting too close to him.

On a sad note, Finn's mom, CH Crestridge Kengali's Blondeambition "Kariba" passed away peacefully a week ago. Here are some photos of her. The other dog with her is her daughter - and Finn's half sister, CH Kengali's Caribbean Soul "Sachi"

Lure Coursing

For the moment, Rhodesian Ridgebacks are considered sighthounds by the AKC. This allows them to participate in the wonderful sport of lure coursing. The rules dictate that your dog must be over 1 year old and it's okay if he/she is neutered/spay. To start, you do trials. If the judge passes you the first trial, you can come back the next day and do your 2nd trial ad then, if you pass, you have just earned an official AKC title, Junior Courser, "JC". There are actually 2 lure coursing affiliations - the AKC and ASFA - American Sighthound Field Association. Different rules and different titles.

The object is to chase a plastic bag (bunny) that is whipped around a 600 yard course set with turns and straigh aways and to see who does it the cleanest and the fastest. The dogs will run in the same breed group, then a winner of that breed is declared and finally, at the very end, all the winners of their respective breeds come together and run the Best of Field run and then the winner is Best of Field (BOF). Those points are then added to your already existing points (if you have any) and go toward the next field title, Field Champion. And so on.

On May 18th, we boldly stepped in to the competitive arena of lure coursing with our then 14 month old, Beau. Way out in Altoona (about an hour from us) at Rocking Horse ranch, we met up with some other Rhodesians, tons of Whippets and a lot of not so well behaved Greyhounds. We waited out turn and then went out to dive our field test a shot.

Let me tell you this. Beau got a lot of attention. not only was he the only male Ridgeback there, people were excited to see this tall skinny puppy run.

Well... he ran.

And then he got to the first turn - about 100 yards from us, stopped and turned and came back to Matt. You see. It was the first time he had ever been that far away from us and he was a bit nervous about it. Happens to a lot of dogs, or so I am told. The judge came out from her position to tell us to hang around and come back for the practice at the end of the day as it seemed Beau showed some interest in the sport.

Here is the course he ran (Josie ran the same course at a different time)

We hung out until 4 pm - had lunch in Umatilla, and then watched a few more dogs run. At 4 pm, we went to do the practice and... well... Beau was done for the day. He did not want to run anymore. He was tired and he had no tolerance for the "bunny" He simply refused to run.
Oh well.

Maybe he's too young yet. Maybe he needs more work off leash to feel comfortable being away from his people. We were encouraged to try again by everyone there. Maybe we will.

Oh. When we finally got back to the car and got on the road, both dogs fell fast alseep

The next trials are in December and I think we are going to go.

Toby's Big Adventure

My cat, Toby, has not been outside since we moved to Florida 2 years ago. In Michigan, he used to be allowed out on the balcony all the time. Well, the other day, I was out on the patio and lo and behold, out walks the cat. He meowed and meowed and rolled around on the warm cement and then went and hid in the jungle

He had a grand time tasting all the leaves and the sprouts. He even managed to run after a few of the lizards that were brave enough to cross his path.

Once I took him back inside, he cried and cried at the door and wanted to go out more. I have created a monster.

Hopefully, in the next year or so, we will be getting a screened in porch. The cat will be in paradise after that.

Just thought I would share Toby's adventure outside.

Happy 4th of July

As my husband and his kids brave the crowds in downtown Orlando, I will be seated on my couch watching the same fireworks from the comfort of my own home.

For many years I spent this week-end on the beach at my parent's home on Higgins Lake, watching as fireworks exploded around the lake in at least 5 different spots. Wish I was up there right now.

Enjoy the holiday.

A Photo Contest

I am a member of the Central Florida Rose Society. I know. Yankee girl moves South and joins a garden club. It's really not like that at all. We don't sit around sipping tea and eating little sandwiches.



Anyhow. The Deep South Region Rose Club is having a digital photo contest and I have decided to enter some photos. All I need are my roses to open and cooperate.



Do I have a rose garden? Not quite yet. I have been promised one for a very long time, it just has not happened. So, my 8 roses are still sitting in their buckets out in the back yard






I am hoping that the front yard will be done by the end of August - that is the projected time line. The rose garden is going to go in the front yard - away from the dogs and in to the better sun, which they require.



If anyone is interested, here is the link for the rose contest http://www.deepsouthdistrict.org/index.htm.



I have taken some preliminary photos - before I read the rules and the class requirements and before I looked at the photos entered from the years past.


This is my Mr. Lincoln. The plant blessed me with 4 gorgeous blooms and I am going to attempt to take a few photos of this rose and enter it in the single bud, spray and the class showing the different stages of a bloom. Luckily, I have more buds about to bloom on some other plants.


You can see more of the roses here: http://www.pbase.com/deniseeb/rose_contest_photos. This is where I will stash all of the photos I am taking and thinking about entering.


I just got a new camera a month ago. I don't even know how to work it in its entirety and I am taking a class at the local camera shop next week. It's a Digital SLR, Nikon D60. I am so enjoying the picture quality and abilities of the camera over the simple point and shoots. Don't get me wrong, point and shoots are great - as long as your subject is not a galloping dog or a rambunctious puppy!

Out for now. I have photos to go take.

A Tribute to Finn's momma

I got some very sad news this morning. My Finn's dam is not doing very well and may not be with us much longer. CH Crestridge Kengali's Blondeambition "Kariba" was diagnosed with a mammary tumor with metastases to her lungs.

Kariba was finished and earned her AKC championship at the age of 2. She then became one of the squirrel hunters out on the farm, as Ginny calls her place

Kariba is a mother to awesome dogs, namely Finn's half sister, Sachi: CH Kengali's Caribbean Soul "Sachi"

and Kengali's Jewel of Muzari "Jenna", who will earn her Championship very soon.



Kariba is the mom to many other show dogs as well as pets. Kariba's last litter of puppies was born February 8, 2008 and I am lucky enough to have one of them - Kengali's Leap of Faith "Finn"


I have only seen Kariba once on the several visits I made to the breeder's house. Most Ridgeback fanciers prefer the red wheaten color - but they must have never seen a true light wheaten - a blondie. Kariba was a beautiful blonde wheaten Ridgeback with wonderful conformation and personality. I am told she was an excellent mother to her puppies and just an all around wonderful girl to be around. It is with a sad and heavy heart that her "mother" Ginny, must let her go today - unless a miracle happened overnight.


As I look at Kariba's beautiful son, I have told him that we owe it to his momma to become a champion and win his title. Safe journey to the Rainbow Bridge Kariba.


Denise, Matt, Beau and Finn