Flying dogs

Even though Gideon may be an "un-disc dog" he still would want to let everyone know about this event...The Canine Flying Disc World Championships are coming to the Chicagoland area! As part of a two day event over Labor Day weekend, the best disc dog teams in the world will compete for the title of 2009 Ashley Whippet Invitational World Champion.

Saturday, September 5 is a UFO Major event for World Cup points and Sunday, September 6 is the one day AWI World Championship event. Both days will run from approximately 9am-6pm at Centennial Park in Naperville, IL (500 West Jackson Avenue). Also taking place that weekend is the Last Fling festival (website) along the Riverwalk downtown Naperville. The festival and disc dog events are great fun for the whole family. Bring a lawn chair or blanket and stop by the park for this great FREE event! Well-behaved dogs on a leash are welcome in the park.

For more information or to invite people/share the event on Facebook, see the open event listing here. Please pass on the information to anyone that may be interested in seeing these awesome disc dog events in person. Hope to see you there!

Hiatus

Last time we took a break from regular blog posts there was no notice. That is not Gideon's fault, but the people who help him get the adventures photographed and typed up often have hectic schedules. Gideon has been assisted by Jenny at the Gilbert Media Group for a while (since it was her crazy idea to write about his adventures in the first place). Unfortunately she is off working on other projects and is not living with Gideon and his mom right now. That makes it difficult to document his adventures firsthand! We hope to bring more of Gideon's adventures to you even if they are not in regular daily blog posts. Thanks for supporting Gideon and his family (mom, Gracie and Bella) by reading and sharing his stories with others.

Part deer

We just got back from the beach. Well, the lakefront path next to the beach actually. Jenny has been working on "NE revisions," all day (whatever that means). We went to sit at one of the benches facing the lake. She worked for a bit and I chewed on sticks. I met a GIANT Newfoundland and a tiny Chihuahua named Pepe. I tried to play with Pepe, but he wanted to eat me. The Newfoundland was friendlier and his owner even asked if I was part ridgeback. I am! I've heard Jenny talking with mom about how I could be part deer too. I guess cause my legs are long (see that photo above of how I'm sleeping on the couch earlier today). I'm kind of the same color as a deer too. If I saw a deer I'd try to make friends with it if it would stand still long enough.

Jenny says for her the funniest part of our evening walk was when I went to investigate a stone turtle statue in a garden on our way back home. I didn't know what it was so I had to approach it with caution.

Crazy cats

When last we left our kitty friends a few months ago, they were fairly normal in their craziness. The above photo is from May. Now they appear to be off the wall insane. Just a few days ago the photo sequence below took place with Bella climbing into the refrigerator. Checking out the goods...

hopping in...

and trying to climb the door to get to more refrigerated goodies...

In writing the post this morning, they have just finished a round of chasing each other (for no apparent reason) and hiding under the area rugs. At random moments one will stalk the other and pounce, or mount an attack on whichever other happens to be enjoying the open window and view from the kitty city furniture. Bella is very cuddly now and Gracie tried to eat Jenny when she showed up, because she associated her with Gozo from his brief visits. They have also been eating a ton this week. Even though they act crazy a lot I still get along with them really well.

They try to cuddle with me all the time.

I also have to share space on the couch with them. Gracie is on the blanket in the upper left corner and Bella is cuddled with Jenny on the other end of the couch in the picture below.

Un-disc dog

So I probably won't be a disc dog. Why? Well, I just don't have that crazy drive to go after anything. I mean, I like sticks. I like sticks a lot as a matter of fact. But if I was chewing on a stick and I saw, let's say, a person or a dog, maybe even a shiny flash of light, I'd probably get distracted from the stick and need to go investigate. So the idea of chasing down flying discs just doesn't seem to be my forte.

I did see a cattle dog going after the "flying squirrel" toy the other day and thought it looked like fun. Mom has gotten those for me before. I just don't think I want to compete the way the "big dogs" do in the sport of disc doggin'. I was happy to chase rollers for Jenny this week, but even then I only wanted to do that for a few minutes before I found another toy I liked too. I have gotten to see the clips of Tony and Rory on TV. That is pretty neat! I don't think I could jump (vault) off of anyone though. I'm way too big for that. I have heard about some moves that Roo does with Wallace and he's pretty solid. Anyway, I will still follow along with Tony and Rory's progress on TV. I know they will be on again soon and I am ready to vote right now! You can keep up with them on this supporter/fan Facebook group too.

Chase

Tonight I went on a nice long walk with my friend Chase. I kept forgetting to get our picture taken together even though I said I would get some of us at the beginning of the summer. We didn't really get any good ones tonight, but at least you can see what Chase looks like finally. He is a beagle/lab mix that's about four years old. It's kind of hard to get "action photos" with the BlackBerry, but it was the only camera we had...

We met a bunch of other dogs on our walk including a little 12 week old miniature schnauzer puppy. We saw Daisy the yellow lab by the lakefront park again. I got to give a lot of kisses to a dog named Darby at Baker Park and even saw some neighbors from our building on our way back home. It was so much fun having Chase along on the walk. He got to play with all the new dogs too. He barks really loud so it's good enough for the both of us and I don't have to make a sound. We still wish there was a fenced in area nearby where we could play off leash. I was so tired when I got home I took a nap before I ate my dinner. Now I am resting again, but on the couch this time, while Jenny helps me write the blog for tonight.

Updates

Ahh, Gideon's blog...Where has the summer gone? It seems like forever...or two months...since Gideon has been able to get some updates online. Everyone has had such a hectic schedule, we neglected to write about his adventures with him. Have no fear - Gideon has had plenty of adventures all summer long! Jenny had to stay with Gozo and missed out on what Gideon was doing, but there was some fun stuff that Jenny and Gozo did and wanted to share here too.

Not too long ago they spent some time scouting locations for FDP filming in August. The East Quad on campus seemed like the best spot.

After all that work, Gozo took a nap under Jenny's desk while she had some work to finish up in the office.

They did get to check in on the cats when I was staying with Lucy a while ago. Bella was interested in Gozo...Gracie definitely was NOT.