Christmas Play Date at Nonnie's! Dec. 12th

We had a mini-reunion at Renee Culpepper's (Nonnie's) house on Saturday, Dec. 12th and there was no shortage of puppy love. Elizabeth Armstrong came with Grissom (Little Cisco) and Riggs (National Performance Steeplechase Champion '09!) and were reunited with Polli (Mama) and brother Chief! Here is Gilley saying Hello!, I missed you!, and I love you! all at once to Renee :)

First family posed photo below... Polli, Chief (Spot), Gilley (Big Momma), and Grissom (Lil' Cisco). Can't believe the day before they turned 7 months old. It happened in the blink of an eye!

Below, Gilley and her little brother, Chief are quietly enjoying a moment beneath the tree, just holding hands...hee hee!

Uh oh, I know that look! What are you up to?!!! Just being good, lookin' pretty cute here :)

Below is what we call a "Borderline"...actually, we have a double Borderline going on here! Always the same ranking up front, Grandma Zowie, Great Uncle Bob, and Polli are first, then we have Riggs, Grissom, Chief, and Gilley bringing up the rear (so she can make wide, half-moon circles around everyone....herding).

Zowie, Bob, Polli, and Chief

Just waiting for someone to throw the ball!!!

Grissom (top), Chief (middle), Polli (bottom) - will ya look at these faces? Wish everyone could have been here for a complete family portrait!

We had a GREAT afternoon sharing stories, playing in the rain!, trying to dry off wet, muddy dogs, and watching them tear around Nonnie's living room and trying to remember what it was like when they were little... what a wonderful year 2010 is going to be!

Snow Day! Dec. 4th

"What 'dis wet stuff fallin' on my head? Brrrrr, it's cold!" We got snow here on Dec. 4th, from about 8am until about 4pm... Sugar Land barely had a layer of white, but Rosenberg had a bit more! We took full advantage of Miss Frisky and got some shots...

She's being a statue below... quite cold here, she's telling me to hurry up, get the shot, throw the ball!!!

Pretty shot of her, ready to spring into action for the toy.

Here we are at work, just before leaving for a trial in College Station - she was barely phased by the snow... until the ball froze in her mouth - then she was about done with the white stuff!

Thanksgiving 2009

INTENSE. One word I use to describe her - another nickname... GILLIGATOR!!!! There are times when I am flat amazed at her energy and quickness. I made a very inept remark at about 3 or 4 months of age saying, "I don't think she's going to be very fast." Renee has never let me forget it. I quickly retracted my statement. LA Fitness just sent me an e-mail saying they want me back; perhaps I should take them up on the invitation and get in gear so I can keep up with her!
There is a frisbee under there somewhere!

She may have hair, but you can still see the body forming on this girl. Quite an athletic build, she has, and I suspect we'll see some really nice jumping ability here if I can coach her properly. She is so flexible and has such a nice line - love her length.

Couldn't have made a more agile girl if I had designed her, myself. She's got all the ingredients I like... smarts, drive, speed, sweetness, and a great sense of humor :)

6 Months Old!

Gilley loves to go FULL BLAST FAST. She is having the most fun when she is cutting loose like this and getting to use what she was given... and that includes the tongue!

Somewhere in her registered name should have been the words, FULL THROTTLE, but my honky tonk girl is really very easy going most of the time. It's when you see her near sheep that you really see her shift mental gears though - that is really thrilling. She is quite a girl... and although I usually enjoy the winter months, I admit, I can't wait for warm weather again so I can see her GO SWIM and leap into the pool again... another thing she enjoys so much! My little tomboy.

Brite is a FAVORITE playmate - she has learned so much from her, and I'm convinced that she uses her paws much more from having playtime with her. She is so great with puppies, but does not pull any punches and can put Gilley in her place! Exactly what she needs at times!!!

For as many photos as I have taken of this girl, there have been so many more moments when I have just put the camera down and enjoyed being in the moment with her. As with all of our pets, there are just those things that you can't catch on camera that make them who they are to us, and I have gotten to know her better just by watching her... I could do it all day.

She's always up for an adventure, and I love her for that....among so many other things.

Trick or Treat - Oct. 31, 2009

Well, we certainly have done a lot since posting at the beginning of October, so it's time to play catch up! This particular day, Gilley joined Jill, Pete, Cisco, Smack, Grid, and Beamer for a fun time running in the fields while the dogs were competing at a USDAA show. This was Halloween - so Gilley is 5 1/2 months old in these. She had a BLAST.

Below, she is playing with Great Uncle Pete - he was really cute with her, indulging the little tyke! Some of the action shots were just incredible, showing us things we didn't know our dogs could do! Cisco in a double extended gallop, dogs on take-off from a down stay leaping veritical to the ground, and even the little kiddo digging in and keeping up with the big dogs, using everything she's got! It was one of those perfect moments seeing her lined up with her family members... I think she even felt something special was going on.

She was changing so much here, coming into her own and learning how to rank socially with these guys... I was very proud of her.

Visiting Friends & Family

Gilley and her Daddy - we took a Saturday to tag along on a day trip to watch Cisco do some herding with Kay and Joy. The first half of the day was spent at Kay's place where you see Cisco doing his thing below! Then, Kay offered to let Gilley try, and she helped her out. She definitely has the instinct for it, but we all noticed her impulse control needs some work. I tried to add the video here, but must be too long. If you go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XIyZZAdJn8 you can see her on sheep.

Cisco did some driving work and kept some nice distance and showed great control - he and Renee are a great team... this was a neat experience getting to see them work together in person. A lot of work, a lot of time, patience, mileage.... all worth it to see them doing what they love and excelling at it.

After visiting Kay's, we met Renee C. Bob, and Chief at Joy's and got to visit and stay for dinner. Chief is doing so great and is growing like crazy and so attached to Renee! It was great to see them and let the puppies play again - Chief ran the show!!!

Renee with Chief, Cisco, and Gilley - 18 weeks old.

Beach Day with Renee & Cisco, Jackie, Pete & Jill, and Gilley, Ace & I... another GREAT day! With summer over, we're planning some fall weather beach days involving a fire, blankets, burgers / dogs, s'mores, etc. Why not?!!!

Cisco, Jill, Gilley, Great Uncle Pete

Gilley flying high at 20 weeks!

Gilley at 16 Weeks

We had a mini photo shoot Monday to remember her at 16 weeks, because by the time I wake up tomorrow morning, she WILL have grown. It's insane!!! Her ribcage is getting deeper and she is notably heavier than this weekend... I won't be able to pick her up in my arms much longer without a heave-ho and a bend in the knees!!!

We are doing lots of clicker work this week, shaping, etc. and she is now waving :) Next weekend we are back at Donna's for a trial Fri-Sun and she will get her fill of playtime with the Aussie gang and lots of agility trial sounds. Maybe we'll even get to GO SWIM!!

That tongue... she is very serious when she concentrates with the tongue out.. either that, or she's tired! She gets very fired up at the word, "Ready?" and anticipates some kind of big fun afterwords - and waits for her release word. We have lots of homework this week and weekend that we will work on and lots of playtime between she and I.

Just wanted to check in with you and say Hi!!!

Grace Comes To Visit Gilley!

Gilley and I had company last night when Grace and Stacy came to visit! These two little gals were pals from the get go, and soon enough Grace had a little shadow following her and a permanent fixture underneath her chair at dinner. Aside from a little jumping, Gilley caught on 'pretty' well and listened when Grace gave her the "OFF" command. We had lots of fun watching the two of them - especially when I peeked around the couch and Grace had invited the puppy up to sit with her while they were getting ready to watch the end of Mamma Mia...too precious. Fun girls night... thanks guys for coming over!!! And, thank you for the gourmet doggie cookies... they look way too good to give to the pooches, but am sure they'll love them!!!

Gilley Learns to Jump! 14 Weeks

Tearin' around the pool with Hallie and Mia!! Gilley's first "real" pool party at Rhonda & Crystal's... what fun!!!

Taking notes here and seeing how it's done....

Doing the dog paddle with dear, old Dad.

Gilley!!! If you don't make it as a swimmer, you could be a flying nun!!!

Here she is really getting the hang of this pool thing... much more fun jumping in the water... BIG SPLASH!!!!

Good stuff Gilley girl... you really surprised me!!!

Border Collie Beach Day!!! 8/13/09

We had a great time on BCBD with a big crew... Elizabeth & Emily drove down with their kiddos Riggs, Grissom, Josie & Fillie to spend a great couple of days with Renee and her boys. Gilley & I had a blast with them at the beach sunnin', funnin', and relaxin' :)

Look at the babies swimming!!! Grissom is leading the way with Gilley bringing up the rear! Grissom did GREAT for his first time in the ocean and found his sea legs quickly! It's so neat to see how much he has grown and hear EA's stories... and so cute to see how much he loves big brother Riggs.

Gilley's cut-n-run move here with Fillie... she tried so hard to keep up before petering out after Round 2!! The girl's got gumption, I'll give her that!!!

Here we have Riggs, Fillie, Grissom, Cisco, and Gilley - Josie's probably going long to catch the flying UFO of a frisbee that is hovering above them!

It's a borderline! Except for yours truly who is shamelessly worshipping the Daddy off to the side. There are only about 20 or more photos of her doing this. It was such a beautiful day - and just the perfect way to spend it.