Whistler!!!

So this was the very first time our team routine to Grease was done in public. This was the calm before all hell broke loose.

In this photo, we are doing a thing where we go forward with our dogs and the dog goes through the legs of the person we are passing. We are supposed to repeat this part twice with the reduced team size. Right after this part, Tess and Ali do a very cool thing where Lydia and I are doing a jive together and Tess is circling us counter clockwise and Ali is circling us clockwise. It looks very cool WHEN it goes right. Both of the dogs LOVE this move and begine to get very excited in anticipation of doing it. You can see Ali and Lydia right behind me with Ali straining to get going already. When we broke away for the jive part, Tess was circling us barking like crazy while Ali was running in HUGE circles around the entire group. We were cracking up, the audience was cracking up. I'm sure they thought it was all part of the routine except every once in awhile you could hear Lydia saying quietly but frantically, "Ali!! Ali!! Ali!!!!!!!!!!" It was hysterical and a real hoot. Everyone loved it.

Ok, so sometimes having a dancing dog has it's little perks and it's not always about the dog. While we were up at Whistler, we were put up free of charge in a wonderful place. The Nita Lake Resort is a new "boutique hotel" and spa in Whistler. This bottom photo is the view from the deck off our bedroom. Yes, that is SNOW and yes, the lake is frozen.

This is Nita Lake and yes, it's FROZEN and so were we.

This is Sonic and Tess lounging in our little sitting room in the resort.

This is another of the sitting room with a view of the fireplace and the 40 inch LCD television. That made Charlie happy. There was a television in the bedroom too. He thought he'd died and gone to heaven. A remote for each hand.

Tried to take a photo of the vanity and sink in the bathroom but the flash was picked up in the mirror. Guess I should've figured out how to prevent that before I took it. Oh well. I didn't say I was a professional photographer.

The bathtub was wonderful. It was round and HUGE. We could've gone scuba diving in it and the dogs could've had a much warmer place to swim. The louvered doors that you see on the far side actually open up into the bedroom and gives a wonderful view of the lake and mountains.

I tried to get a good photo of the shower in this place, but none of them turned out. It was huge and all slate tiles. It had a built in bench. The bathroom was probably as big as some hotel rooms.

I would go back to this place in a minute. The rooms were very reasonablly priced (even if we would've been paying for them). Maybe because it's very new and parts of it aren't finished. I don't know. It was wonderful to be able to step out of the lobby and get on the Valley trail to go towards Whistler Village or the other lakes. It was much quieter than staying in the village.

I'm hoping to get some photos of the after demo party at the Holiday Inn in Whister Village. Of course, maybe I won't be allowed to post them cuz after all, what went on in Whistler STAYS in Whistler.

Our Club Members

I thought it would be a fun idea to start introducing some of the other members of our dog dancing group.

This little fellow here is Chaps. He is an 11 month old Portuguese Water Dog. He is just starting out his dancing career and will follow in his big brother Blitzen's pawprints.
This is Snowie, a standard poodle. He looks very elegant, but secretly enjoys "bad" girls. He's taken a bit of a shine to Sonic.

This pretty lady is Breeze another standard poodle. She and her mum, Jan are quite new to the group. When she first started, she wasn't motivated by toys or food. Now she has been known to sniff out stray cinnamon buns in purses and chow down. Way to go, Breeze!

There are others that I will get to when I have more time.

Right now, we are gearing up for the big Whistler weekend. It's all very exciting for us. We get to stay in a fancy hotel WITH our dogs. It should be interesting as the weatherman is calling for possible SNOW?? Isn't this April on the west coast? What's going on here? I'm so glad that my routine doesn't consist on a skimpy costume or you wouldn't be able to see me through all my goose bumps. Oh yeah, did I mention we're preforming OUTSIDE?? Weatherman is wrong a lot, so lets hope he's wrong about this.

Tess and Charlie Chaplin

I was very pleased with Tess for her part in the routine. It's too bad the first part of the routine didn't get caught. Oh well. I'm glad to have something of the 2of us. Now I just have to try to perfect that Charlie Chaplin walk.

Sonic's First Dressage Routine

This is a little bit rough, but I was very please with Sonic. She did fairly well with all the distractions and FOOD crumbs all over the place. It's all good experience for BOTH of us.