Tucker

Hey there! I am Tucker. My mom is finally giving me a chance to say hi. She says I am a silly dog, and wasn’t sure I could do this. About 5 1/2 years ago when I was 8 weeks old my mom came to take me away. It was no big deal to me, but she seemed really surprised when I slept through the night and never cried. I also met my big brother, Milo. He didn't seem to like me too much at first, but I just kept at him until he finally accepted me.

The first thing you need to know is that I love to run! My mom and I do lots of agility, which is great because I can jump and run really fast. I also like doing all the obstacles although sometimes at trials I get so excited I cannot stop myself at the end like in practice. The only thing I don’t like is the thing she calls the table. It is really boring. Sometimes I just stand on it so I can watch mom do all sorts of funny things to get me to lie down. But she has gotten wise to me lately and just stands there, which is no fun. My first trial was at the Aussie Nationals at Purina Farms with my idol, Sheffield. Sheff is a big red Aussie, and I hope to be as good as he is someday. He got a big title called a MACh last year. I am not sure what it is, but everyone was really happy so I want to get one too. My mom says we have to practice a lot so she can get better telling me where to go. That is fine by me since I get to run and eat lots of yummy treats. She says I am a crazy red dog but doesn’t seem too upset about it.

There are other running games I like such as lure coursing. Sure it is just a plastic bag, but boy does that bag move fast! In the end it always gets too tired to run away from me and stops so I can rip it apart. Flyball is also great fun even if I have to bring the ball back to get a treat. We also play tug and mom throws a tennis balls for me. I am not so sure about bringing the ball back. After all I just ran to get it. Why should I give it up? It would be so much more fun if my mom would chase me to get the ball. Chase is a great game!

I love my big brother Milo. He has taught me many important things like barking at other dogs when we take walks, protecting our home against invisible enemies, warning everyone to stay away from the car, pulling all the stuffing out of toys, and taking up as much room as possible on the bed. We used to run together and he would chase me, but he doesn’t want to play as much anymore. Milo owns all the toys in our home, but he will let me play with them. Sometimes I grab the toy away from him when he isn’t looking to try to get him to chase me.

My mom said I cannot write a regular diary like the big dogs, Fergus and Nayland. But maybe if I am really good she will let me talk to you again.

Milo

Hello. I'm Milo. My mom asked me to share information about myself, but that is hard because I am a bit shy. I live in Evanston with my mom and my bratty little brother, Tucker. I am now 11 ½ years old, but when I was young I found the world to be a bit overwhelming. At 5 ½ months I came to Chicago from the country, and it was very scary! There were all kinds of loud sounds and big moving things that made me very nervous. My mom tried to help me so we did lots of obedience training. Then someone suggested that she try agility to help build my confidence.

Agility was fun, and I got lots of treats. Everyone thought I did really well when I climbed on things and jumped, and my mom was so pleased. My mom and I went to our first trial with my friend Addie and her mom, Barb (you can read more about Addie at the Blue Dog Diary). Addie was so good! She even got something called a Q in her first trial. I tried really hard, but it was tough with so many people watching. And then I ran off the end of the board that tips. Boy was I scared! It was months before I would do that again, and I still don’t really like it. These days mom says I am semi-retired from agility. I still get to play once in a while, and I have lots of fun playing with mom. Last month we went to a place called Michigan to compete in the CPE Nationals. It was so much fun because I only had to jump 8”. Mom was so pleased with me and told me I was such a good boy. She said I was awarded High in Trial Poodle, whatever that means. All I know is that she kept getting water in her eyes when she talked about it.

My very favorite activities are lure coursing and fetch. My mom doesn’t let me lure course much anymore because I get very tired. But I can still retrieve the ball! I just love to run after the ball and bring it back, even if it goes in the water. The only problem is when Tucker tries to steal the ball so I will chase him. Doesn’t he know Poodles are retrievers? Although he can be a pain, Tucker is a good little brother. I let him think he is tricking me when he takes a toy. I just wish he would understand that I don’t want to wrestle or chase him around anymore. He really is a bit crazy.

That’s my story. It turns out it wasn’t so hard to tell you about me. Maybe I will share some more stories another time.