The 2009 Canine Caper award results are in!

Please, save your applause until the end. Winners, please keep your speeches short.

Ahem.

The Overall Digger award goes to...wait for it...Capiche!
Capiche managed to dig a large trench (three feet deep and seven feet across) around her house in the dog yard. She enjoyed sitting in said trench and burying her food dish in the huge resulting pile of dirt. We have since filled in the trench and moved Capiche down to our cabin. She hasn't started digging down here yet.

The Non-Sled-Dog Digger award goes to Roy.
Unlike Capiche, Roy enjoys digging long narrow trenches just wide enough for him to lay in. He does so in the short time he's outside. Most of his time is spent on his custom dog bed (old comforters) beside our bed.

The How'd-He-Do-That Escape award goes to Omar.
Omar has managed to get loose a few times with his collar still on and hooked onto a Swedish snap (not the cheaper bronze snaps that the dogs can learn to undo) He's not breaking the chains or the snaps. How'd he do that? Who knows. He runs right down the cabin, though, so I'm not too stressed about it.

The Monkey-See-Monkey-Dig award goes to Alice.
She's just three months but she sees her mummy Summy dig and tip her bowl and does the same. We've reduced Summer's visits to short loose runs with her pups so they learn to come when they're called (Summer is really good at that) and none of the bad behaviour.

The Alligator Appetite award goes to Sipsi.
Of course, this little girl is still eating like a champ. She can't wait for the ladle to hit her bowl before she starts chomping which usually results in spilled food which she quickly hoovers up anyway. Not a bad habit, especially out on the trail.

The Love-Me More award goes to Hitchcock.
This blue-eyed dove is always wooo-woooing for more love. I can spend hours with her and her alone and she still wants more, more, more. Recently, I've been letting her and Roy loose together and they entertain each other.

The Convert award goes to Sister.
Sister is now a house dog. She was spayed last week and hasn't left the couch other that to pee and poop. I tried to put her back in the dog yard, but she wasn't having it. She didn't make the race team last season because she wasn't interested in pulling at all, so, well, house dog number 3 has joined Bully and Roy on the couch.

The Old Stand-By award goes to Bully.
He's my boy and always will be.

Well, that's it for now. Stay tuned for the Fall Training Superstar Awards in a couple months.
It has finally rained here and it smells like fall. Yipppeeee!!! Winter is around the corner and I can't wait.
Peace.