We spent Labor Day weekend at the Pleasanton, CA Scottish Games. The Caledonian Club of San Francisco hosted one of the largest Scottish Games in the country and we were there smack dab in the middle of it. They like to run a small arena sheepdog trial, which is a big draw for the spectators.

We brought all three of the girls, Kate, Tam and Christian. All of the border collies there were constantly being petted by everyone as they passed through our area. In fact, it was difficult to potty them, because people would see the dogs, and walk over to them. Millions of questions later, I hope that some of the spectators realized that Border collies are not very good back yard dogs; they should have a job, to ensure their well-being and their owner's.

Chris was a total magnet, and I mean literally! She was the youngest puppy there at 3.5 months old, and people just had to stop and ask to pet her. She thought everyone was great, and her new found friends. She even met a few dogs also.

Three years ago, when we brought Tam as a puppy, she was a terror. She, being a very pushy dog, was just awful at jumping up in people faces, hard. We struggled holding the leash, when someone would approach, so they would not get accosted. And Tam was just terribly fidgety, not settling down at all. Christian was pretty laid back, and enjoying seeing all of the children. In fact, she would pay more attention on the children compared to the adults. She seemed to prefer them.

We did very well at the trial. Both Kate and Tam were fantastic for me to work, and I felt in complete control. That was a good feeling.

We stayed at Motel 6 in Pleasanton, and had brought Chris' intermediate size crate for her to sleep in. When Tam was a puppy, we were extremely fortunate that we had brought the crate for her, because we even needed it at the trial. We needed Tam breaks. But Chris was so well behaved that we only used the crate for her to sleep in at night.

Chris moved into the intermediate size crate about 3 or 4 weeks ago, and has been good in it. I can't say that for the house though. She is approaching the four-month age when she should be able to hold her urine all night, actually she does now anyway. But with her, we have had many accidents in the house. Thank God for Petastic! That is the only enzymatic type cleaner that I use, and it works. I have tried others, but even though this one might occasionally need two applications, it gets out the mess and the smell. We have been using it so often, that I had to get some more! Maybe she will have to be crated at night a little longer than four months old, because there is nothing more than I despise than cleaning up dog messes in the morning, instead of having a cup of coffee. She has never come up to me to date, and asked me to let her out to do her business. And I have to make sure that I am not so lazy and not let her out at the correct times and often enough!

Christian has also started teething. When we left for the Games, she had just lost one front tooth, now all four are gone, and I have not found any of them. I am trying a new toy for her teething. It is a teething toy for dogs that you freeze and is suppose to make their gums feel better as she chews on it. I am product testing it and will let you know the results with her.

When we got home Sunday night, Chris actually looked glad to be home. Ahh, yippie, home at last! She started bouncing off the walls for over an hour. Play, play, play, they really hadn't done much playing the entire weekend, and she was ready to go!