Our Christmas

We just wanted to send good wishes to all our Corgi friends on this Christmas Day! We got our gifts from Santa Paws.
It was pretty tiring opening all the gifts--we helped our humans too. And we did think more might still be hiding in the wrapping paper.

Merry Christmas!
Porter and Murphy

Herding News by Murphy

Hey everyone,

Sorry me and Porter haven't posted in a while. Things have been a little rough for our family and we have been working on keeping them entertained as only a good Corgi can. Mom told me that I should post about our weekend trial.

I got to herd four times last weekend. It was so great and I showed Mom and all those other people just how hard a Corgi can work. Mom kept being told how good a worker I am and that I have great drive. I think I heard Mom mutter something like "he's great at driving me crazy," but maybe it was "better he has drive than being lazy." I can hope, right?

Even though Mom and I got some practice in for the trial this summer, I had a rough time in our first class. Mom had me moving the goats around a pole and through a chute. She kind of gets weird when gets to the panels as I don't think she knows how to make things work. I just want to keep the goats with her. We were heading across the field again and she was telling me to stand. I was worried about them goats and then Mom started running a little--so I thought I needed to hurry too. I was wrong--but I saw her get a gate open on a little pen. Between the two of us, we got them penned.

Here is where it went a little weird again. Mom had me stand outside the backside of the pen. I could tell she was getting a little confused--she opened the pen and the goats just stood there. A couple were staring me down through the pen. Mom was trying to get me to move a bit to see if the goats would leave. I thought she was trying to keep them in there so I ended up blocking them a few times. After a bit of time, Mom was told to stop due to time being up. I know she was sad that we did not get to finish. The judge lady gave her some tips as well as some friends who know a bit more on things to try the next day.

We had another class just a bit later. It was easier for us and Mom did much better on figuring out what to do with the panels. The only problem we ran into was the goats decided they don't like mud. Mom is so used to the stock wanting to get through the gate, but it was so sloppy there. Poor Mom was slipping and sliding, the goats were balking and Mom was giving me a bunch of things to do to try and encourage the goats through the mud. It took a little bit but they finally went through. Mom got a sheet and I got a couple of ribbons--one said "Qualified" and the other "First Place." We were the only ones to run that class with goats--but Mom was so happy that we qualified.

We did the same things the next day. I think Mom tried thinking a little too much again. We finished the first class but Mom kept saying it was sloppy. I know I was a little pushy and not all the goats went through the chute. Mom tried something new at the panels and it went poorly. She thought if she stepped to the other side at least most of the goats would go through the panel...nope they went around with her. But I was kind of blowing her off on her stop commands--sorry Mom.

These goats decided they did not like the pen. Mom was able to get the gate shut on two of them. Lucky for us, those two wanted out with the others bad enough we got through that part of the course really fast. The hold and penning was easy for me to do for her then. I got two ribbons for this class then...a "Qualified" and a "Third Place."

We also did the other simpler course. It went about the same as the day before. We got them penned pretty quick. I received two ribbons again. Another "First Place" ribbon as I was the only one to work the goats. Actually there was another dog to try the goats that day in the experienced class. I felt bad for him--the goats kept trying to butt him and would not move at all. His mom wanted to give him something other than sheep as he works really hard and she thought a change might be good and get him to think things out more. Boy--he really had to think.

So Mom gave me lots of love and pats for being a good dog. I was told that I earned my HTD I on goats and have one leg of my HTAD I on goats. She bought a picture of me driving the goats. She says to let you know when the photographer puts up the images online--we will let you know so you can check them out.

We did go for a lesson today and she let me work sheep. We did the course that we had trouble with, although things were a little changed around already. The pen was still there. Sheep like to come out more than those goats do. We are still working on me keeping farther away from the stock, but it is so hard for me to do. But the sheep-goddess (Mom calls her trainer) told her that I am coming along really well. It just takes time and practice. Lucky for me, Mom likes to practice at least once a week.

High Paw and Out,
Murphy

Our Trip to the 2008 Cardigan Welsh Corgi Nationals

Well we survived traveling together. Murphy got crabby with me. He thought that he should have a larger area to lay down. Oh and any food items were his and his alone. Mom told him off and I got to have my own special spot for traveling. I'm supposed to let Murphy tell his tale first and end this note. Mom said it was only right.

Oh Boy, Oh Boy! We went on a trip and it was mostly about ME! I got to herd some sheep two days in a row! It was a long trip and I was nervous about where we were going and I might have taken my nervousness on Porter. Luckily he is a forgiving brother. Oh and somehow Mom forgot our FOOD! Can you believe that...what were we going to eat! She did find a store on the way down and got us some food. Not what we get at home, but it sort of tasted like it. She was worried that we would have upset tummies, but we did really well the whole trip.

We got to a weird bedroom place at someplace called Kentuckee. There were a couple of beds and a little room that Mom would sometimes go hide in away from me. She let me in once and I jumped into a tub. No worries--there was no water in it for a bath. (Although Mom says I'm weird cuz I jump in for my baths...I do love water.) There were lots of weird noises that night. Porter and I tried to make sure that those noises knew we were there and ready to protect our new bedroom space. You'd think Mom would love to be so protected, but she YELLED at us! Ok, she may have loudly said "SETTLE! It's okay." or "QUIET! Go to sleep!" But she didn't hear the weird things we heard...they might have come and eaten us or something.

We didn't get much sleep that night. All of us were a little cranky in the morning but we headed out for the farm. When we got there it was really windy. Porter and I loved the temperature--it kind of was a warm drive the day before. Mom and da Aunts kept saying it was a little chilly. It was great running weather for me. Oh and I got to meet some of my relations. I met my great grand-dog, Sam. He was a red dog like me. And I met my Aunt or Grandma Ginger...my Mom got confused when it was explained to her. Oh and other cousin like relations--Conner and Moira...they were all RED! It was cool. Aunt Janet thought Conner looked a bit like me only with shorter hair.

I tried really hard to be patient, but I kept seeing all these other dogs get to work with the sheep. We did get to meet a lot of cool Cardis and other breeds too! I played with a Cardi named Dudley. He had a Pem sister, Taffy. Taffy didn't like me or Porter. We even got Dudley all excited he started to zoom around so much his Mom took him off for a run. At one point I was so excited as Mom was talking to Moira's mom that I jerked the leash too hard and got away from her. I got to run up to the fence, but the sheep were gone! So I came running around and went up to Moira and Conner. Mom got teased by some of the other owners about me. She said that I was naughty for doing that but good for letting her come up to me and getting my leash again. I guess I was a little bit crazy and barky a few times. Mom says I need to work on better patients. I'm not a doctor, Mom!

I finally got to work with the sheep and I think I was a little wound up. I kept those sheep moving and maybe pushed them too hard. I wanted to show Mom how good I was at keeping them with her. I even got to go after one that got away from the others. I heard the judge lady say we passed all parts of the test but I was almost harassing the sheep. I didn't mean to harass them so much but I don't think I was thinking too well then. Mom got a ribbon for my test and I got a toy. We went back to our bedroom space and settled in for the night. Porter and I did our best to protect us again but Mom and da Aunts were not happy with our protecting them. Girls just don't understand!

The next day we slept in a bit and then ran to the store to get some more things we needed--like biskits! Yeah, Mom pretty much forgot any of our food things. She felt so bad for us, but we didn't get any extra food for it. Hrmphf! Anyways, we got to the farm just as they were having lunch. I didn't have to wait as long to run my test. Problem was it was kind of rainy off and on. Mom was really worried about falling down. It was kind of slippery. When we went in for our test, I heard Mom tell the judge lady that if I was as pushy as the day before she would pull me from the test! The judge lady was worried that the stock or us could get hurt cuz it was kind of raining again and the ground was slippery. Well I showed Mom and the judge lady that I could do the test without pushing the sheep. I think Mom was surprised at me. I do admit, I tried blowing Mom off on my recalls on both tests. Mom is smart though and refuses to let me keep working the sheep. Since I know she wanted me to do well, I came to her when I was supposed to at the end (after running away from her and the sheep--I wasn't going to make it easy for her!) The judge lady said nice job and gave Mom some pointers to keep me from blowing her off on stops/recalls. We'll see if I decide to learn that... I'm supposed to let Porter take it from here.

Sorry about Murphy, he does like to chat a lot. Kind of like how he likes to run a lot. We got to leave the farm earlier than the day before which made Mom and the Aunts happy. We were supposed to take a picture of the Red Dogs but da peoples were all kind of miserable in the cold wet weather. I was starting to not like it either. We got back to the hotel room (I know what it is as I traveled to Washington with my family and stayed at many different hotel rooms.) Mom was pretty pooped out and we all relaxed that night. The next morning we were loaded back up for another trip. Murphy was a little nervous again but didn't get as crabby with me this time.

We got to a new hotel room. It was weird as we had to go through about of hallways to get to our room. We got to go exploring a little bit and we got to see Dudley again! It was so cool. Taffy was not happy to see us, but Dudley wanted to play again. We settled in for a little bit and I got to go off with Mom to a big room. We had to wait a bit. Mom and I watched some Cardigans do OB stuff. We even got to see a class called Brace. Mom was cheering and laughing with others as two Cardis worked with their person. There was one pair that were doing really good then they started to rough house. It was kind of funny. I hope Mom doesn't think about trying it with Murphy and me. I think it could be even messier with Murphy. He loves to pick on me sometimes.

We waited a long time then finally got to do a test for me. Mom was filling out paperwork and I kept hearing a loud noise so often. I didn't like it as it reminded me about thunder. Mom and I finally got to do our test. It was no big deal. I got petted and touched. I had to walk by some biscuits and that was hard to do. It was near supper time and a Corgi has to eat! It was hard at one point when Mom hid on me. But she came back and was told I passed the tests! So I guess both Murphy and I will have some extra letters after our names. Murphy will have an HT and I will have a CGC. Mom was very happy. I was happy, hungry and tired. We got back to the room and Mom fed us. I settled in for a good, long nap, so did Murphy. Mom was even happy when we had a play session in the room.

The next day we packed up again. We got to say good bye to Dudley's mom as they were packing things up too. Instead of getting on the road for a long trip, we went to a big dog park. It was awesome. We got to meet a young German Shepherd Dog and play with her. Murphy and her played tag. He was a little too fast for Mika, but she surprised him a couple of times. We even got to play on some agility stuff. Mom was jealous of the dog park there. She wishes we had something like that at home. I kind of would like something like this park too. I think Mom is really smart. She made Murphy so tired that he went right to sleep in the car. He couldn't be crabby if he was sleeping. So I got to sleep too without worrying about him getting cranky at me.

We had a really long trip home and Mom said she was happy that she didn't have to go to work the next day. It was so nice to be home and sleep in our own sleeping spots. We all slept late the next day....wait that was today. Mom was pretty tired today. We were too. She did get us out for a good walk, but she is kind of in a zombie mode. Our cat brother Twitch is not sure if he is happy that we are home or not. I think he missed us but won't admit it. I think he is trying to get Murphy to play with him but not sure he really wants to play with him. Cats are weird.

So here we are...Mom is tired and happy. Murphy is tired but can't sit still for long. I'm a little tired but that's because I got Mom to play some ball with me. She's a good Mom and I'm glad Murphy and I ended up with her. Hope you enjoyed our adventure. Murphy and I didn't want to share how humans travel together. They can be just like us...sometimes they got cranky and other times they were just acting weird. All I know is we made it to Kentuckee and back home without any major problems. Thank Dog!

Oh and you can check out pictures of the trip here.

High Paw,
Porter and Murphy