Bodhi Tales

My buddy Cooper came to stay with us while his family went to Honolulu for the weekend. I’ve known Cooper since I was a pup. Cooper is 5 years old but he still lets me play with him.

I like playing tug of war with Cooper because he doesn’t say “drop” like Alpha does. We can keep tugging as long as we want.

We did a pack walk on Walua Road. I wanted to run ahead but Alpha insisted that we heel.

The next day, we did a pack hike in Kaloko. Cesar would have been proud.

It was raining and muddy on the trail so Alpha gave us baths. I’m a wash, shake and go kind of dog but I had to wait for Cooper to get brushed since he’s sporting a longer do.

Time to rest.

Time to play again. Oh come on, Cooper, get up, you’ve slept long enough. Game on.

I’ll just have to go back to trying to get Banyan to play with me.

It’s hard to believe a year has gone by since my first conformation match. I was just a wee one then and don’t remember much except a nice lady named Melisa was my Handler. This year, Alpha decided to give it a go and be my Handler. Usually Alpha and I run, bike, swim, do agility runs, but lately, I’ve been having to practice standing still which is really hard for me.

This morning I jumped into the backseat of the car for another adventure. I didn’t know where we were going but I knew it would be somewhere fun. We went to the vet a few days ago and that was fun too. Even before I got out of the car, I smelled all the other dogs at the match. I got very excited to meet everyone. That’s my favorite thing to do – greet people.

The match started and my first time in the ring wasn’t that fun. It was just me because I was the only Vizsla in the match. The judge tried to look at my teeth and feel my balls. I was fidgety and couldn’t stand still as we practiced at home. I got Best in Breed anyway since I was the only V. Now we had to wait until all the other dogs had their turn in the ring. I had to sit in my crate. I don’t mind sitting in my crate because Alpha brought my duck to keep me company.

OK, it’s time for us to get back in the ring. This time, I am with all the best of breeds in the Sporting Dog Category. Alpha and I are ready and we have our game faces on.

I like it better when other dogs are in the ring with me, that way I can watch what they are doing and follow along. It’s more fun running around the ring with other dogs.

Here is a clip of my performance in the ring:

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Alpha was so shocked that I got third place that he started to leave the ring and the stewart had to call him back. We got our picture taken with the winners. Here I am with my third place ribbon.

I don’t know how far I will pursue my show career. But I do know that I enjoy the victory lap and the applause.

We had a visitor over the New Year weekend. His name was James. He is Mary’s brother who lives in NY City. They refer to this location as the “big apple.” I like apples!

See how closely I can watch alpha eat the apple, I even get the core if I’m good.

It is a long drive to Volcano National Park but I like driving in the car because I always get to meet new people and new smells.

I usually get to have the whole back seat to myself, but this time I had to share with James.

He is a nice human, he gave me lots of loves and feed me when alpha was not looking. The volcano was stinky. Lots of fumes coming out of the ground.

I did get to clear my nose with the smells of some rain forest plants like these…



while we walked down an old road that was closed after a large earthquake. Some of the road fell into the caldera.

I had a great time with James at the Volcano, I hope he comes back so we can share the backseat again and those treats while alpha wasn’t looking!

First day at agility class! Alpha was nervous, I can tell. I was ready to show the older dogs what I can do!

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Every Friday I walk Kailua-Kona town. Sometimes we go by the beach. Sometimes we just walk by the shops. All these strangers come and tell me how beautiful I am. One time a police car stopped by the curb and pack leader became nervous (I can tell). I think pack leader was afraid he was doing something wrong… The nice police officer just wanted to tell me how good looking I was and if I had friends like me on the islands? I said I’m Australian. I like Fridays because we get to walk in town with all the nice people and I also get to watch tai chi class (it is slow and boring, but there are so many people who love to pet me). I also have met a lot of Hungarian people. They always know what breed I am.

Today I drove with my pack to Waimea to the Kona Coast Kennel Club dog show match.

How exciting to see all the dogs that don’t look like me. Wait a minute, nobody looks like me… As we waited for my turn to go in the ring I practiced being calm by sitting.

I learned soon after that my pack leader was not going into the ring with me but this really nice lady would be my handler. She had a sweet encouraging voice and yummy treats.

She encouraged me to stand with a yummy treat while the judge touched and looked at me. I had to do this a lot, and I had to prance around the ring too.

I’m so glad the nice lady named Melisa handled me, because my pack leader does not have the good treats and the happy voice.

I was so glad to get out of the ring so I can be me. Then I find out that I won best in breed! I was so excited that I won, but my pack leaders were laughing because I was the only vizsla. Oh well, I like it better when I can roll around in the grass on my back while chewing on koa leaves anyway. Then there was all these applause, and I quickly look at the ring to find out that Oliver, my class mate at AKC CGC won the show!

This dog show stuff is fun, for the first hour… Can we go home now?

I mean it, can we go home…

Pack leader said that I might have to go into the ring again. He was right, and the nice lady Melisa took me back in the ring one more time.

Here I am prancing about the ring!

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Today was my first day at school. The class I’m taking is AKC Canine Good Citizen. This class is eight weeks long. At first I was a little nervous with all the new people and dogs. Then pack leader was really strict and didn’t allow me to meet the other people.

We did all these walking drills and this funny exercise where the pack leaders stopped and talked but I had to sit and watch them and the other dog.

Not fair!!! When do I get to sniff? Then we played the watch me game. Pack leader had a smelly treat in his hand and he moved around with his face. I had to watch.

How long do I have to do this to get the treat? We also practiced the command come on a long rope. I thought it was silly exercise, why wouldn’t I come, I get treats and praise when I do it, so I chewed the yellow rope when nobody was looking waiting my turn. At the end of class some dogs and pack leaders practiced for the dog show match in Waimea tomorrow. I was invited to participate too! At the end of the class, I was so tired that I fell asleep in the car.

Today we swam at Kailua Bay after a short walk on Wailua Road.

Here is a movie of me fetching a train from the surf.

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I went to my first parade! I sniffed all kinds of funny smells. Heard all kinds of loud noises like rock bands, motorcycles, firecrackers, and sirens from police cars and fire trucks. I was brave and didn’t flinch at any of these noises. I also met big people, little people, people in strollers (which I had to be very careful with), people on stilts that were very tall, people in funny costumes and lots of people who just thought I was the cutest and wanted my picture. I’m thinking they must be mistaking me for a movie star…

I had a meet and greet party. My pack leaders read all these books and said that I needed to meet 100 people before I was 12 weeks old. Something about socialization… It was great fun though, everyone who came over brought a toy or treat. I also met some of my kind too ( Cleo, Gracie and Shadow).

After everyone went home, my pack leaders tried to stack me and take a photo. Boy are they poor handlers…

Today was family photo day in the back yard. Of course I had to be uncooperative…

Eventually they got me.

The next day we went on a short walk on Wailua Road. All these new and exciting smells of tropical flowers and plants. My nose was in heaven… After my walk it was nap time again. I impressed my pack with my retrieving skills. They were so excited that they filmed me. Take a look…

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