I'm Nicolas!

Freestyle Workshop by Cassandra

2012-02-28T08:54:00.001+09:00

We had a fun day this weekend,attending a musical freestyle workshop by Cassandra Hartman from Canada.

She is not only a professional dogtrainer, but also a dancer and a choreographer.

She and her partner dog's dance was amazing, and Mom and I have watched her video many times!

Yes, we are huuuuge fans ofher!

So we were really looking forward tothis workshop.

As expected, her workshop was a reallyenjoyable and meaningful one!

And her dancing!!

Such a cool dancer she is!

We really had a blast!

Mom seemed very happy and that made mefeel much happier, too!

At the end of the workshop, she gaveall of us dogs cool bandanas.

Thank you, Cassandra!

We miss her very much already.

Road trip to Gunma!

2012-02-21T15:39:00.003+09:00

cuddle with Mom in our camper

We're having really, really cold weather these days.

I love cold weather,but Mom hates it,

so last weekend, after finishing my training class,

weheaded to a hot spring in Gunma.

Welove traveling in ourcamper, because Dad and Mom are always withus!

Aireally loves Mom
,
so she looked happy in Mom's arm.

Ai in Mom's arm

Lucyknows Mom will give herlots of yummy stuff during ourdrive.

Lucy

Ofcourse we doggies aren't allowed to enter the facilities, so we waited in ourcamper while Dad and Mom were bathing.

Whenthey left us, Mom said,

"Oh..Nico! I wish we could go with you! I missyou!"

Butwhen they came back, I found this photo in her iPhone.

Mom, drinking beer

...Mom,this doesn't look like you missed me...

Thatnight, we stopped at the rest parking area on the KanetsuFreeway and got some rest.

Thisfreeway comes from the North,

so we saw lots of cars coming south with much snow on them.

At the rest parking area

Umm,Mom I'd like to go up north!

Mom?Can you hear me?

Donot ignore me!!

A blooper video of me!?

2012-02-13T20:25:00.003+09:00

Allthe time we practice at Dad's factory, Dad tapes us.

Thosevideos are very useful for Mom to figure out at what points she doesn't say

clearcommands in proper timing.

Weoften make lots ofmistakes and I'm sure most of them are Mom's fault.

But!

Oh,no, Mom made a blooper video of me!!

Mom,I'll ask Dad to make one of you next time!

It's UNFAIR!

2012-02-07T19:26:00.001+09:00

YesterdayMom left us and went shopping, saying,

"Iwill buy lots of stuff for you! Be a good boy!"

Whenshe got home, she had so many shoppingbags.

Isniffed around all those bags and tried to find my souvenirs.

ButI couldn't.

Ifound this instead.

Mom,what's this?

Youjust bought a brand new iPhone 4S, and got an iPad2now?

Youknow one of your friends said you should wait to buy it, becauseiPad3 willgo on sale soon.

Youcouldn't wait?

Oh,no, Mom, it's UNFAIR!

Youalways said to me, "WAIT!"

Ihave to wait to get a new toy,

Ihave to wait to eat yummy treats,

Ihave to wait to play with my pals, etc, etc...

FinallyI found some stuff for me amongst lotsof shopping bags.

Mom, is that all?

UNFAIR! Boo!

OPDES Winter Video Competition

2012-01-31T09:36:00.000+09:00

Theclosing date of the OPDES Winter Video Competition is Jan. 31.

Inspite of that, we didn't tape forit until last Sunday, Jan. 29.

Oh,Mom, we should have taped it much sooner.....

Whenwe arrived at Dad's factory in Chiba, we were dumbfoundedat the view before

oureyes.

snow

There was still lots of snow, and it had turned to ice inspots.

And a strong wind was blowing....

Momthought about postponing the taping, but we had only two days to go.

So we started to dance on icy ground!

Chillyweather always cheers me up, so I danced to "The color of the wind"

(from "Pocahontas") with energy,

" The color of the wind" from "Pocahontas"

butwhen I started to dance to "East of Eden", the wind blew harder,

andMom's skirt flopped over me and really scaredme.

Oh,I really hope everyone who sees my video won't think I'm a coward...

Momalways says I'm a coward, but I'm nooooot!

East of Eden

That day, Lucy was quite on form, so Dad taped her dance, too.

Shedanced to "Don't rain on my parade".

Don't rain on my parade

Allthree routines are new ones for us, so we didn't do well, butMom sent all of them.

Atthe video competition, each of the three judges will give eachcompetitor a JudgeScore Sheet.
(With lots of their comments!)

2011 Summer Video Comp. -Judge score sheets

Itis always helpful for us, so Mom enters video competitions every time even though she doesn't like it.

(Momloves live competitions. Me?

Hmm, both are OK because Dad and Mom give mespecial treats every time!)

We'llenter the live competition in April.

Bythen, I will train Mom hard not to miss so many commands and dance steps.

Tryharder, Mom!

Romping in the snow

2012-01-25T17:19:00.000+09:00

The day before yesterday, we hadsnow, the second time thisseason.

This time, we had much more thanbefore, so when I woke up, I was surprised at the viewfrom the window!

All around was snow!

Usually we leave fora walk around 5:00 a.m., but that morning, Mom took us later than usual because she thought it would bedangerous to walk on icy roads in the dark.

So when we went outside, the snow had started melting and much of it had turned to ice.

It is rareto have much snow in Tokyo, but before I was born, once they had much snow. Momsaid Lucy jumped up and down like a rabbit in the deep snow.

I've never seen such deep snow.

Oh, I'd like to play like Lucy!

Will Ihave a chance to play in the snow in the future?

.... I know the answer is"NO".

Mom really hates coldweather.

Can anyonetake me to the snow country?

Earthquake drill

2012-01-17T09:44:00.000+09:00

Nicolas

Last week, we had several quakes again,so we canceled our short trip to

Ibaraki.

What a bore!

One of them swayed us a little bitstrongly, but none of us doggies noticed it.

Only Mom noticed the shaking and made a lot of fuss.

It got Mom thinking we should do anearthquake drill.

No way!!

Mom put together an emergency kit for dogs after 3.11.

First Mom took that emergency kit andcalled us.

BUT!

No one came except me! LOL...

Marin and Ai feel cold easily, so theydidn't try to get out of the KOTATSU.

(Japanese heat device. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotatsu )

Marin & Ai

Purin... she kept sleeping.

Purin

Lucy..she is hard of hearing because ofher age, so of course, didn't hear Mom's call.

Lucy

Mom got mad...

Oh, Mom, please! I came here quickly.

Mom, take it easy!

It'll work itself out.

Let's go to the Boso Peninsula!

2012-01-10T19:31:00.000+09:00

The new year has started.

Duringthe new year's holiday, we ate and ate a lot.

Whenthe holiday finished, I definitely heardMom say,

"Ivow to diet."

Butlast Sunday, she said,

"Ireally wanna eat something delicious!!"

Mom...

Youate a lot..

Remember?

Anyway, we went to the Boso Peninsula in Chiba to eatfresh seafood dishes.

Therestaurant didn't allow us dogs to enter, of course.

Sowe were waiting in ourcamper while Dadand Mom were eating delicious seafood!

Boo!

Ibet she drank lotsof beer, too.

Butwhen they came back, they brought us some yummy small fishes, so I forgavethem.

Wealso enjoyed walking on the shore.

Thesea was beautiful and there were lots of sea birds.

Itried to chase them, but Mom stopped me.

Boo.

Momsaid,

"OhNico, why don't you swim in the sea instead?"

Oh,no, Mom,

Areyou trying to kill me?

It'sso cold!

Sheis mean to me from the beginning of the new year, asalways.

Sigh...

WCFO Summer Video Competition

2011-12-26T19:19:00.000+09:00

Mom received my results from the WCFO Summer Video Competition.
And....

Yaaaay!

I qualified in the Musical Freestyle, Novice division!

The results were:

Technical Merit : 8.47
Artistic Impression: 8.60
1st/out of 11

I danced with Mom to "Last Dance" by Donna Summer.

This routine reminds me of lots of things.

After the disaster in March, Mom often seemed depressed for no reason and stopped doing all my training.

Sometime after that, she chose this music to shake off her gloom and lift her mood, and to make everyone feel happy with our routine.

Only 5 days left this year.
I wonder what will happen next year.
Make the best of everyday, Mom!

Shippo Festa 2012

2011-12-25T16:53:00.000+09:00

We were at Seibu Dome on Christmas Eveto dance in a show.

I danced with Mom to Bacchanale and thistime, I danced with human kids,

too.

It was my first time to dance with sucha tiny human, but they are so cute

and kind, and I had a blast!

Last Sunday, while I was training, theskin of my hind paws peeled off and

bled a lot.

Since then, until today Mom hasn’t letme walk outside.

At the waiting area of the venue, a plasticsheet was laid on the floor

and there was no problem for me to danceon that.

But when Mom took me to outside on thefallen leaves, they stuck to my paws

and my legs started to hurt.

I started to limp, but after a bit Icame to walk normally so Mom didn't

cancel our attendance at the show.

The show started.

And my turn came.

When I entered the ring, I couldn't runbecause the ring was filled

with artificial grass!

It stuck to my paws and my legs started tohurt again.

At the beginning of the routine, Icouldn't do the bow pose because I was

in pain, but Mom thought it because Iwas nervous in front of the audience.

But after a bit, Mom finally noticed mycondition.

She started to improvise the choreography,but it was too late.

I couldn't dance well but the audienceloved my incredible cuteness and

many humans petted me and hugged me!

I regretted writing a letter to Santa askingfor lots of yummy stuff!

I should've asked him to get my wordsthrough her head!

Maybe next year?

Who ate Mom's banana?

2011-12-19T19:52:00.005+09:00

Most humans love Lucy.

She is gentle, smart, and very nice tohumans.

I like her, but she doesn't seem to likeme.

Hmm.

We know the food on the table is the humans’,not ours.

So we can't touch, lick, or eat anythingon the table.

The other day, someone rang the doorbell when Mom was eating a banana.

She put it on the table and ran down thestairs to the door.

When Mom came back, the banana was gone.

Mom shouted,

"Who ate my banana?"

Every time mom shouts at someone, I runinto my crate,

even if I didn't do anything wrong.

But it made Mom think that I had eatenher banana!

"You ate my banana? Nico?"

Oh, no!!!

I didn't do that, Mom!

Lucy was sitting in front of the fridgewhen the door bell rang,

and when Mom came back, she was still there.

It seemed she had been sittingabsolutely still,

but actually SHE ate it and ran back tothe fridge!

After a bit, Mom found a tiny bit of bananadebris in front of the fridge.

"Lucy, you ate it!?" Mom saidgently.

She never got angry with Lucy.

I asked Mom why, and she answered,

"It's amazing to eat somethingwithout leaving any trace behind!

Don't you think so?

Lucy is so smart!"

Mom....., please....

Siri's feeling

2011-12-14T09:58:00.003+09:00

Finally Mom got an iPhone4S, and shetalks with Siri everyday.

I saw lots of my pals talking about heron Twitter recently.

She must be a popular human!

I asked Dad about her.

He said she is a super capable secretarywho lives in the iPhone4S.

Lives in the iPhone4S?

Hmm, she must be a tiny human!

Actually she is very smart and knowslots of things.

Mom: What's the schedule on Wednesday?

Siri: OK, here are your appointments.

Mom: Send a message to XXX.

Siri: OK, what would you like to say?

Mom: I wanna eat Italian food!

Siri: Sorry, I can't look forrestaurants in Japan.

...it seems that she doesn't know verymuch about Japan.

Sometimes I saw that Siri said,

"Sorry, I don't understand what youmean by that."

I guess it's because of Mom's badpronunciation!

I really understand your feeling, Siri!

It reminds me of our training!

I’m often confused about what Mom wantsme to do!

Her commands are never clear!

Mom!

Communicate clearly! and in an understandableway!

OK?

I asked Mom if she knows my birthday.

And.. oh, no!

Siri doesn't know my birthday!

I complained to Dad that she is not anattentive secretary.

He said,

"she can tell or do only the thingsthat human have taught her."

Wow, the same as me!

Mom, I can not do any moves precisely inour routine if you have not taught them to me!

Do you understand?

Dad taught Siri when my birthday is so now she knows my birthday!

I barked at Siri,　pretending to be Mom,

"Remind me to buy lots of presents on March 15"

Waiting for a fab Christmas present!

2011-12-05T19:35:00.001+09:00

Lucy with a stupid hat

Me with a stupid hat

Why do humans like to dress us in thesestupid clothes and hats?

Yay! December!

At this time of the year, Dad and Mombecome even busier than usual.

They run out to buy presents, go to theatersto see their friends' performances, year-end parties, etc, etc.

It means, yes, we have to stay at homealone for a loooong time.

What a bore!

Mom, I won't dance with you anymore unless youbuy me fabulous presents for Christmas!

The Christmas season is here!

2011-12-01T08:28:00.001+09:00

Marin

The Christmas season is here!

Hi, I'm Marin.

Lots of furry pals on Twitter have changedtheir avis to Christmas versions, and seeing that reminded me of this cutepicture of me taken last Christmas.

So I hacked Nicolas' twitter account andchanged his avi to mine.

Marin

See?

Such a cute photo, isn't it?

I love this season because we have lotsof anniversaries!

Dad & Mom's wedding anniversary,Ai's birthday, Christmas, New Year's Day, Dad's birthday, Mom's birthday, etc,etc...

It means..

Yes!

We can eat lots of pieces of cake andfeasts!

The first one is..

Dad & Mom's wedding anniversary!

(Actually every year, Mom forgets aboutthis day.

Dad... never..
I know he'll be killed by Mom, if he forgets it!)

Cakes

Woohoo!

Looks delicious!
Let's eat!

Audition for Dog Dance Fantasia

2011-11-23T19:51:00.001+09:00

On Nov.23th, we went to Fuchu no MoriPark.

It is a really huge park and the leaveswere turning yellow and red.

They were very beautiful.

But, yes....

We were not there for leaf-viewing.

Mom and I attended an audition for DogDance Fantasia, to be held at Seibu Dome on December 24.

And....

We passed!

Yay!

We danced to Bacchanale.

Yes, the same music we used when wecompeted in Kobe.

In Kobe, we messed up in the OPDEScompetition, so after returning from Kobe,

Mom and I practiced it a lot, especiallythe segment that we didn't do well.

Mom was pleased that we could do that partwell this time.

It will be my first time to dance at a hugevenue like Seibu Dome,

so I'm very excited, but Mom might chickenout.

Mom, hang in there!

Lucy's birthday

2011-11-18T09:19:00.001+09:00

Lucy

November 15th was Lucy's birthday.

On that day six years ago, she came toour house from the shelter.

Nobody knows her actual birthday, so Dadand Mom decided to think of that day as her second birthday.

Until two or three years ago, Mom boughtdoggy birthday cakes for us,

but....

Human's cake?

Mom, this is not a doggy cake.

It's a cake for humans, isn't it?

You always say, “chocolate is bad for a dog'shealth.”

Why you didn't buy a doggy cake?

Mom, you are hiding the doggy cake,right?

Nicolas

Mom, we are waiting for our cake!

Marin, Ai

Mooom, can you hear me?

WCFO/OPDES K-9 Freestyle Competition in Kobe

2011-11-09T11:11:00.003+09:00

From Nov 3rd to 7th, we were in Kobe toattend two competitions and a seminar.

It is a 375-mile road trip, but myhumans always enjoy delicious food at the rest stops and get into the variousOnsens (hot springs).

yummy food

Dad enjoyed the footbath

Of course we doggies get yummyleftovers!

And recently Japanese highway rest stopsare really dog-friendly, and most of them have small dog parks andsell some treats for us.

Lucy & me at the rest stop

On Friday, Mom and I competed in the NoviceClass of the Musical Freestyle division of the WCFO.

And woo hoo! We won first place!

Other furry pals' performances were soexcellent that we couldn't believe we won 1st.

Mom said it was because of our flashycostumes, but I think it was because of my incredible cuteness!

What do you think?

Nicolas

Oh, noooo! Mom not this photo!

Julie, Anna, Andy & me

Yes, this is better! :)

WCFO Results

Novice/Musical Freestyle/Single
Technical Merit 9.5
Artistic Impression 9.6
Total 19.1
1st out of 14

We also won the beautiful trophy for High Technical Merit score and
DVDs of WCFO International conference for Best Costume.

The next day, we competed in the IntermediateClass, single of the Musical Freestyle division and the Novice class, pairs of theMusical Freestyle division of OPDES.

Mom was really freaked out by the resultof the previous day, and got very nervous.

Of course I kept a peaceful state ofmind, but in spite of my condition,

during the routines, Mom gave me totallyconflicting verbal signs and hand signs and I was really confused.

Not again, Mom!

We made lots of mistakes and didn't dowell.

But luckily we qualified in bothdivisions.

Lucky us!

OPDES Results

Novice/Musical Freestyle/Pair
Technical Merit 8.1
Artistic Impression 8.5
Total 16.6
1st out of 1

Intermediate/Musical Freestyle/Single
Technical Merit 9.2
Artistic Impression 9.55
Total 18.75
3rd out of 4

On Sunday, we attended a seminar givenby Julie from WCFO in the US.

She is a really nice human and gave uslots of easy-to-understand information.

We learned a lot!

Her commands were much moreunderstandable than Mom's!

Mom! Try harder!

I did lots of things in these three daysand was totally exhausted.

But we had a blast!

Thanks to everyone who supported us!

Short Trip to Futtsu

2011-10-31T08:35:00.002+09:00

Nicolas

Last weekend, we drove to one of our favorite place to eat delicious seafood, Futtsu in Chiba.

Beautiful Sea!

Beautiful sea

Mom really loves delicious sea food.

lots of seafood

Dad doesn't like seafood, so he ordered this!

Tempra Rice Bowl

Oh, who ate this? No, not me!

leftover fish scrap

After lunch, it started raining.
So we couln't take lots of nice photos.
I'll try again next time!

A Scary Ride

2011-10-26T09:32:00.003+09:00

Nicolas

Mom said she would take me for a ridelast weekend.

But after 30 minutes’ ride, I timidlyasked Mom to let me get out of the car and stay at her parents’ house.

That was the first time she had drivenher new car, and it made me nervous; I was afraid we were going to hit othercars many times!

She said the driver's seat of our camperis high so she can see everything clearly while driving, but in her new car,the low driver's seat reduced her visibility.

Oh, come on, Mom.

Anyway, I got out of the car and Momtook Dad instead of me.

Oh, Dad, you really saved me!

On that day, Cecily and Nana returned totheir home.

Mom's sister took many photos of us.
Here are some of our photos!

Nana, Marin, Ai, Purin, Nicolas, Cecily, Lucy

Lucy

A tiresome week

2011-10-19T09:16:00.002+09:00

Since last Saturday, Mom's sister'sdogs, Nana and Cecily, have been staying at our home.

Cecily

Cecily is a very tiny Chihuahua of thesame age as me.
We used to play together when we werepuppies, but now,
she isn't interested in playing with meanymore and seems to think I'm kind of childish and naughty.

No, no!

You know, I'm such a kind and gentle boy,and I think she is mean and bossy.

Anyway, she doesn't play with meanymore.

Boring.

Nana

Nana, nobody knows her actual age becauseshe came to my mom's sister's house from a shelter five years ago.

At that time, the vet said she was morethan 10 years old, and if so, now she's 15?
Umm, she doesn't look that old.
And she has had heart disease for a longtime, and can't stop coughing and wheezing all day.
Poor Nana.

So of course, she doesn't play with me.

Boring.

Purin, Lucy, Nana

Mom has to change her diaper every twoor three hours and bathe her to keep her clean, and also make her to takeseveral medicines everyday.

Usually mom divides us into two groupsand takes each group for a walk once or twice a day.

But now, there are seven dogs at home soshe has to go out five or six times a day!

Mom really seems very busy and she haslittle time to play with me!

BORING!

Nicolas

Most of my furry pals are jealous of mebecause I live with so many siblings, but I really want to be Mom's only child!

To hear that, Mom said to me,

"Oh, Nico, you liar. I know youlove to be with lots of fur pals."

Ugh, Mom knows everything..

New Car

2011-10-13T09:35:00.001+09:00

Dad and Mom went to a car dealer andbought a small car.

The owner of the car space we arerenting passed away last month, and his wife decided to close their business.

Dad tried to find another parking space nearby,but he couldn't.

So he gave up looking for one, and hedecided to park our camper at his factory in Chiba.

It means...

Yes, we need another car to go there.

Mom chose this car!

New Car

She said she liked this car because it’sshaped like my head!

Oh, no, I don't think so..

What do you think?

Fun Fun Stage 2011

2011-10-12T09:04:00.002+09:00

Last Saturday we headed to Lake Hamanain Shizuoka to attend the Fun Fun Stage 2011.

This is the venue.

It was a really beautiful, huge park andthere were lots of cosmos flowers in full bloom.

Garden Park

This is the stage.

You can see the water passage behind thestage.

We saw some pleasure boats pass byduring the event.

stage

My litter mate, Tiara, came from Osakaand we did the pair routine at midmorning.

Pair routine

In the evening, Lucy and I did our soloroutines.

Lucy

Nicolas

During my performance, I yanked Mom'spants down a little bit accidentally!

Mom was wearing a leotard under thecostume, so it was no problem!

Sorry, Mom!

I didn't mean to!

Lucy and I did well, so we got lots ofyummy treats for dinner!

Yay!

Busy Weekend!

2011-10-04T18:42:00.002+09:00

It was a really busyweekend.

Japan’sevent for World Veterinary Day was held in Tokyo last Saturday, and I did a caninefreestyle demo with my fabulous pals.

Itwas a slightly hot day for our doggies,and the floor was slippery,

soI failed on a jump and hurt my leg a little bit.

Here'sa photo of me at the finale.

Momgave me a piggy back ride.

Mom gave me a piggy back ride

Afterthe demo, I joined in a "Red light, Green light" game with Mom and mypals.

Itwas really fun!

Igot lots of treats! Yay!

OnSunday, we headed to Yamanashi to attend a canine freestyle fun match.

Mylitter mate, Tiara, also went there from Osaka.

Tiara's mom, Tiara, Mom, Me

I know I'm cute

Lucy & Mom

Mom and me

Wereally enjoyed dancing and also enjoyed seeing more than 40 performances.

Atthe venue, I met a new pal.

Hecame to one of my pals' house as his doggy brother recently.

Wow,he was really adorable.

Iwonder if, someday, I’ll be able to run with him in the field?

He'sa Border Collie and I think he must be a fast runner!

Butyou know, I'm a good runner, too!

Youhaven't won yet! WOOF!

Canine Freestyle Demo at Woof

2011-09-26T22:06:00.001+09:00

I attended the canine freestyle demo at WOOF last Sunday.
After returning from Kobe, Mom changed the choreography and tempo.

Oh, no..
Again!

She never learns.

Five days before the demo!
I can't believe it!

In practice, we worked very well, but you know,
in a live performance, lots of unexpected things happen.

In front of the many humans and dogs,
Mom and I became nervous and we made lots of mistakes.

Actually, not me, of course.
I think I did well, but Mom didn't give me clear commands and I was really confused.

Next week, we will attend another demo in Tokyo.
Mom, you should reflect on this and make NO MORE CHANGES on such short notice!

Autumn Fun Match in Kobe

2011-09-21T08:59:00.001+09:00

Tiara & Nicolas

We went to Osaka and Kobe last weekend.

600 km away from Tokyo!

Yes, it was a long road trip.

Lucy

We were worried about the weather,because the forecast said a big typhoon would hit the Kansai area.

But luckily the forecast wasn't right!

So I was able to enjoy running in afield with my doggy relatives from Osaka.

Family reunion time!

These are my doggy dad, mom, and litter mate, Tiara.

Family reunion

Nicolas, Madrene, Tiara

my doggy mom, Madrene and my litter mate Tiara

We stayed on Awaji Island.

Mom loves it there.

It's a very beautiful island.

Here's Lucy and me, with the AwajiOhashi (big bridge) behind us.

Nicolas Lucy

On Sunday, we attended the CanineFreestyle Fun Match in Kobe.

Lucy danced to "Cumana".

She looked a little bit tired because ofthe long drive,

but still her performance was excellent.

Mom & Lucy

I danced to "Bacchanale".

Actually I was not quite on form.

I need more practice!

Mom and me

Tiara and I did the pair routine, dancedto "Pink Lady Medley".

That was the first time we danced it infront of an audience.

We really enjoyed it, and so did theaudience.

Tiara's mom, Tiara, Mom, me

My doggy dad's human mom and grand momand their dance teacher came to the venue and cheered Tiara and me.

Thank you!

Mom, Nicolas, doggy dad's human mom

mom, Tiara's mom, doggy dad's human mom and grand mom

Next day, a canine freestyle seminar washeld there and we attended it.

Mom and I learned a lot!

At the venue, Dad bought lots of treatsfor us.

Achilles Horse Tendons, chicken combs,etc, etc...

Thanks, Dad!

doggy treats

Our enjoyable long road trip ended alltoo soon.

I miss my doggy family.

OPDES/WCFO Video Competition

2011-09-06T09:34:00.001+09:00

Last week Mom received my results fromthe OPDES and WCFO video competitions.

This time, I competed in the HTMdivision, which I'm really bad at.

There are lots of restrictions in HTMcompared with MF, so I much prefer MF because I can dance freely.

In HTM, I have to keep a close proximityto Mom throughout the routine, and no jumps, no distance work.

We can't even weave through Mom's legsor arms in it.

What a bore!

But!

Recently, Mom has changed the trainingmethod and gradually I came to see that walking and running keeping a closeposition with Mom was fun!

Canine Freestyle is a very new dog sportin Japan, so there are only three judges in OPDES.

Every time, the same three people judgeus, and I have competed in every competition since OPDES started the CanineFreestyle competition.

So all three judges know me very well,and they all know I'm bad at HTM.

This time, in the score sheet, I foundthe words,

"You've improved a lot!"

I'm very glad to see those words in it!WOOF!

And they also advised Mom to be creativewith choreography.

Mom, try harder!

The results were:

OPDES

HTM Beginner

Technical Merit 7.73

Artistic Impression 7.93

Total 15.66

Second out of four

WCFO

HTM Beginner B

Technical Merit 8.17

Artistic Impression 8.57

Total 16.74

First out of five

Both qualified!

Yay!

danced to "Maraguena"

Gift from my gramma

2011-08-30T20:52:00.000+09:00

Nicolas

I got groomed!

How do I look?

It always takes more than 6 hours for my grooming.

Yes, long hours...

After the grooming, Mom takes me the cafe next to the grooming salon.

We can enjoy various dishes for dogs at that cafe.

Mom ordered seafood spaghetti with tomato sauce and I ordered hamburg steak!

spaghetti

hamburg steak

When we left our house, it was a beautiful sunny day,

but just as we were about to go home...

What a downpour!

downpour

I got soaked in less than 5 seconds before I got into the car,

and my pretty coat curled!

Oh, no...

You know, the groomer spent more than 6 hours to blow it straight.

Mom seemed to really be upset because she knew she had to blow-dry it straight when we got home.

Poor Mom!

and poor me!

When we got home, Mom found a parcel in the mailbox.

It was from my doggy dad's human mom (it means my gramma!) in Osaka.

She gave me some files and stickers, each with my doggy dad's family's portrait on it.

Here's a file.

my gramma gave me a file

Dad put the stickers on our camper.

sticker-1

sticker-2

Thank you, gramma!

Summer vacation!

2011-08-17T09:31:00.002+09:00

Lucy, Marin, Nicolas, Purin, Ai

The week of August 15 is the Bon Holiday week in Japan, and many people have time off.

Dad and Mom took summer vacation starting last Friday, so we went camping in Nagano, again!

We were worried that there would be a huge traffic jam, so we got up at 4:00 in the morning and left Tokyo at 5:00!

It was the right choice!

If we had left one hour later, we would have been caught up in a 40-km (25-mile) tailback.

At the camp site, I made some friends.

They were very good at swimming and retrieving, and Mom told me I should have learned from them.

No way!

I'd rather go running with them than swimming or retrieving!

The weather on the mountain was variable.

During the day, it was beautiful weather, but in the evening, suddenly the thunder started rumbling and we had a downpour.

Lucy used to be terribly scared of the thunder, but her hearing has gone with age, so she could stay peacefully and enjoy a nap.

Lucy, Nicolas

At night, we could see the beautiful full moon in the sky.

Moon

Eat, drink, run, swim, sleep, eat, drink, run, swim, sleep...

Marin

Purin

We really had a blast there!

Our vacation passed very rapidly.

Dog sports season starts in September.

Only 2 weeks to go!

Mom made me this wreath for my new HTM routine.

We will dance to "Butterfly" by Kaera Kimura.

That is Mom's and my favorite song, and we're looking forward to dancing to it!

Do I look good with the wreath?

Nicolas with Wreath

Nicolas has passed his Bronze Medal MF Pro test!

2011-08-09T20:59:00.001+09:00

Lucy

Hi, I'm Lucy.

Today I'll write this blog post for Nicolas, because he looks ill.

The other day, at the mountain, he seemed to eat some bad thing, and Mom found some creepy stuff in his poop.

She took him to the vet and got some medicine for him.

The vet said, "No problem!"

Mom was relieved.

But the next day, one more accident happened.

When Nicolas was playing ball with Mom, Ai dropped a piece of sausage onto the ground.

As soon as Nicolas saw it, he ran to Ai and snatched her sausage.

He totally forgot that he had a ball in his mouth.

Yes, he ate the ball together with the piece of sausage!

Silly Nicolas!

But then, he didn't notice that he had eaten the ball,

and sniffed around and tried to find it!

I couldn't believe it!

Such a stupid boy...

Early yesterday morning, a loud sound woke us up.

That sound was...

Nicolas was throwing up the ball.

Phew...

Of course, Mom was mad at him.

But today, Mom received an e-mail from WCFO and it said Nicolas passed his bronze medal musical freestyle proficiency test.

Mom was glad and she told Nicolas he was forgiven!

Good for you, Nicolas.

But you need to learn how to behave, like me.

He danced to "Singing in the Rain" for his MF Bronze Medal Pro test.

danced to "Singing in the Rain"

Working as Mom's service dog!

2011-08-03T09:29:00.002+09:00

Mom's back pain has been getting worse from pushing herself dancing last week.

Now she can't bend over and it seems hard for her to walk, so I've been working as her service dog these days.

I'm such a nice boy!

Before I came to this house, Mom read a book about service dogs, and in that book, one clever poodle was introduced as a wonderful service dog.

It said, poodles are clever and we don’t shed, that's why poodles are suitable as service dogs.

It got Mom to thinking of raising me as a service dog!

And she began to teach me some tasks as a service dog.

Actually, Mom is not a good trainer and she is not a patient person,

so she gave it up quickly.

But still now, I can fetch and hand many things to humans!

Look at these!

I'm bringing a pen to Mom.

I'm fetching a cell phone!

There is one thing she never taught me.

That's how to open the fridge.

If I could open the fridge by myself,

I would reward myself lavishly!

I know there is plenty of cheese in there!

Give me special treats!

2011-07-27T08:43:00.001+09:00

dancing to Bacchanale

Mom has been suffering from back pain for over one week,

so we dropped in at the hot spring before my canine freestyle training and demonstration in Yamanashi last Sunday.

There are several hot springs in Yamanashi, and we usually go to a different one, but on that day, we went to "Benishika-no-Yu". It was our first visit.

It's famous for the huge outdoor hot spring bath, and humans can enjoy seeing beautiful Mt. Fuji while bathing on a fine day.

We arrived there just after 10:00 in the morning, but...

WOW! Amazing! So many humans!

Japanese people really love hot springs!

I know there is a hot spring we doggies can get into in Izu, but unfortunately not here.

Mom found a walking trail in the forest near there, so we enjoyed walking around and sniffing before Dad and Mom got into the hot spring.

enjoy sniffing

Before noon, when they came back, I smelled beer from Mom's breath!

Oh, no!

Mom! We will dance after this!

Do you remember?

When we arrived at the WOOF, some of my friends were already there and I wanted to play with them, but when Mom found out some freestylers were experts in backaches, she ignored me and got advice from them about her back pain!

Boo!

That day we practiced both our HTM routine and MF routine.

In our MF routine, I jump over Mom's back several times,

but Mom couldn't duck low because of her back pain,

so I had to jump higher than usual!

jump!

Mom, do not forget to give me special treats!

I deserve it!

Let's go camping!

2011-07-19T19:48:00.002+09:00

Nicolas, Lucy, Ai

Purin

Marin, Nicolas

We went camping in Nagano over the three-day weekend.

The day before we went out, there was a rather big earthquake again,

and Mom was trying to cancel our camping, but!

No way!

It's too hot and humid here in Tokyo!

Mom, let's go!

We arrived at the camp site in the early afternoon.

This site is located 1,300 meters above sea level, so it used to be rare that the temperature would be in excess of over 30 degrees.

But now..

Aww, the thermometer had hit 31 degrees!

But the wind in the grass, the green trees, and the mountain river water were great and we were really relaxed.

river

camping site

Atlantis

We ran and ran in the forest, swam in the water, slept in the camper...

Dad and Mom were always eating or drinking.

Here are some photos.

Mom was cooling some beer in the river water.

beer

Dad & Mom love this Kamameshi Bento.

Kamameshi

Playing in the river.

NIcolas, Lucy

Marin

Time for a nap.

Lucy

Marin

OH, mom when did you take this photo!

I was pooping!

At night, the temperature fell rapidly; it was really cool.

Many stars twinkled in the sky!

Fascinating!

My three-day weekend went by in a flash.

I miss the mountain!

Wordless Wednesday - with Lucy

2011-07-13T15:02:00.002+09:00

Wordless Wednesday - with Lucy

I know I'm smart!

2011-07-12T07:44:00.000+09:00

Most of the humans who have met me just said I'm not like any other poodle.

I'm peaceful, friendly, and not energetic.

This is a picture of my doggy Dad and Mom.

I look a lot like them, don't I?

my doggy dad and mom

my litter mate Tiara and me

They don't cringe or flatter or show emotions.

Me neither.

And my litter mate, Tiara, doesn’t, either.

I think these traits run in my doggy family.

Humans say these traits are good for a nonsporting dog,

but not good for a working dog or an athletic dog.

No way!

I'm a good athlete! WOOF!

The other day, it was really dark in the room and the door that I always use was closed and the other door was open.

So I was confused and I peed on my doggy bed instead of the toilet.

Of course, my human mom got mad at me.

She said,

"Are you really a dog? Don't you have a brain? Your nose is mere decoration??"

Mom is really mean.

Oh, there's one thing I forgot to mention.

My doggy parents are also really smart.

Intelligence runs in my family, too!!!

Will you hear me out?

2011-07-05T11:19:00.000+09:00

Extremely hot and humid days continue.

This summer, especially in the Tohoku and Kanto areas, there are fears of a shortage of electricity because of the recent nuclear power plant disaster.

It means we can't use our air conditioner as in a normal summer.

Everyday the temperature hits over 30 degrees, and you know, we dogs have a low tolerance for heat, so Mom decided to cut our fur very short.

One month ago, the groomer had cut our hair nicely.

Despite that, Mom cut our fur by herself, using her clipper!

Oh, no..

Now Lucy and I look terrible.

Can you imagine a completely short-haired Golden Retriever or Standard Poodle?

Since I was really embarrassed, I wore my old t-shirt.

Can you read the letters on the t-shirt?

These words express definitely how I feel right now.

"Mom, will you hear me out?"

Yes, I have a lot to say!

Memories

2011-06-28T14:15:00.000+09:00

Aura K-9 Freestyle Fun Match

The other day, Mom came back home after midnight.

While Mom was taking a bath, I sniffed her clothes.

That smell reminds me of Kenken.

And I figured out she had met her friend from her school days, Kenken's Mom.

No wonder she came back home late.

Kenken's mom loves dogs and is pretty good with us.

One day she told us that my mom forgets easily, and it's very difficult to talk about memories of their school days with her.

Since I found out about that, I've been asking Mom to take lots of photos and videos of us.

So she carries her video cameras with her wherever we go.

Yesterday we received many photos of the other day's event.

On that day, a professional photographer took photos of us beautifully.

Look at this!

I'm such a cool boy! Yay!

It was nice to have our photos taken by a professional photographer for a change.

Kenken was very tiny, cute Italian Spitz and I really liked her.

Once, we went on a trip with her to Izu. It’s a precious memory for me.

Early this Spring, she went to the Rainbow Bridge.... she passed away.

Mom, if you look at our photos, you'll remember us after we go to the Rainbow Bridge, right?

Well, but I know, even now, she closes her eyes to Momo's photos and videos.

although she's been gone more than ten years.

K9 Freestyle seminar & dog dancing festival

2011-06-21T18:01:00.002+09:00

We were in Yamanashi again over the past weekend to attend the K9 freestyle seminar and the dog dancing festival.

The K9 freestyle seminar began on Saturday morning.

On that day we got up at 4:00 a.m., so I was a little bit sleepy,

but during the seminar, Mom gave me a lot of treats, so I was really happy!

(Actually, ate too much and had the trots the next morning...)

One of the points of this seminar was:

"To become each other’s best partner, playing together is the most important thing!"

So after the seminar, Mom took me to the indoor playground and we played with a ball!

It was raining hard outside that day, but I ran with Mom a lot and had a fun time!

Seminar, Bravo!

At the dog dancing festival the next day, we performed to "Bacchanale" and "Pink Lady Medley."

We are going to enter the competition in November with these two routines.

While performing in front of the audience, we noticed that we need to do more basic training programs and cooperate with each other.

We'll practice more this summer!

"Pink Lady Medley" is a pair routine with my litter mate, Tiara.

Really looking forward to dancing with her again!

Back at home, I found this photo on Mom's PC!

On Saturday night, my doggy sisters and I stayed in our camper while Dad and Mom got into a hot spring.

It was more than one hour, so we were worried about them coming back late.

But!

Oh! what is this? Mom?

In this photo, you are drinking beer and eating yummy-looking Sushi!

Boo!

Bring us next time!!

Aura K-9 Freestyle Fun Match

2011-06-14T18:50:00.003+09:00

This Sunday, I attended the K-9 Freestyle Fun Match, held by Aura Dog Training Academy in Yamanashi, with Mom and Lucy.

There were over 50 entries and Mom had really been looking forward to watching their routines.

I'd been looking forward to....

of course, DANCING WITH MOM!

(Actually I'd been looking forward to seeing my litter mate, Tiara and

playing with other dogs at the venue!

But Mom was staring at me, so I couldn't write the truth!)

As to our performance, Lucy and I were quite on form, as usual,

but Mom was not.

AGAIN!

MOM! It's you!

When Lucy and Mom started dancing, Mom forgot that she was wearing a skirt with big flares, and moved very quickly.

Lucy couldn't see Mom's hand signs because of the skirt,

and she had been left behind her!

But you know, she is a really talented girl and loves dancing,

so, despite her missing some moves, and Mom not letting her do the difficult tricks because of her age, the judges and the audience loved her dancing.

Next, my turn.

I danced to the same music I demonstrated last month, "Last Dance", but!

Can you believe it?

Mom changed the choreography 2 weeks before the event!

I learned how to lift my rear paw up quite recently, and she forced me to do it in the routine!!

Mom likes my new trick, but the first time Dad saw it, he said,

"Oh! Nicolas learned how to pee?"

......

Anyway, the music started.

This time, Mom didn't forget to put her hat on the edge of the ring!

Well done, Mom!

BUT!

Ouch!!!!!

At the beginning of the routine, she stepped on my paw!!

NO WAY!

I got angry and barked at her!

Soon after, she threw a super-delicious piece of cheese in my mouth, so I managed to forgive her!

I'm such a kind boy.

As for the rest, there were some mistakes MADE by MOM, but I think I did well.

It was the fist time I did my new trick 'how to pee' in front of an audience!

BONES

2011-06-06T23:02:00.000+09:00

Mom is now hooked on "BONES".

She has for a long time liked to watch American TV dramas,

but she did not like grim tales,

so I was surprised when she became interested in "BONES".

In every episode, they show us very creepy dead bodies,

and those scenes made me really sick!

But!

Oh!

Recently she watches this drama while eating!

I can't believe it.

I thought most women don't like seeing these grotesque scenes.

After seeing too much dead bodies, I became eager to play dead myself.

See?

Don't you think I look like a dead body?

Bad at swimming!

2011-05-31T20:37:00.000+09:00

The poodle is said to have been bred as a water dog, so many people believe all poodles love swimming.

But now, I dare to say…

NOT all poodles love swimming!

Last week, the rainy season began in Tokyo.

It was earlier than usual.

Actually I don't like swimming and I also do not like getting wet,

so this season is the most unwelcome one for me.

Of course, every time I find a puddle, I leap over it!

This is a video from when I was 2, the first time I went into a pool.

Many humans laughed at me and said,

"Look at the way Nicolas is walking in the water! It's funny!"

I wanted to get out of the pool, and I slipped and fell into the pool again.

It made humans laugh again.

Now I can swim a little bit better.

I asked Mom to erase this video, but of course, she ignored my suggestion.

Well, this summer, I'll ask dad to tape me swimming well and upload that video!

Long-forgotten photos and videos

2011-05-25T11:09:00.000+09:00

Mom finally decided to get a new PC, and she also changed her OS from Windows XP to Windows Vista.

Microsoft made a big change to Windows with Vista, so changing to Vista meant also replacing a lot of software applications which she's using for her business. That’s why she hadn’t upgraded to Vista (or Windows 7) sooner.

And she got the new PC this past Sunday!

When she transferred the data to her new PC, she started organizing our digital photos and videos, and found lots of long-forgotten ones!

Nicolas (1 year old)

This is me, when I was one year old, and had shaved my face!

Yes!

See?

I didn’t have a mustache.

It doesn’t look like me, does it?

And my fur color is so different.

I was really dark red when I was 1, but my coat faded and now it has turned an apricot color.

Nicolas & Sesily (1 year old)

This is Mom's sister’s Chihuahua Sesily and me.

Her birthday and mine are very close, and we are same age.

We don't look like we are the same age.

She is so tiny and I'm big, but, you know, a Chihuahua is a kind of a gangsta.

She used to ride on my back when she was one or two years old.

Mom's sister is very good at massaging, and my Chihuahua sister, Marin, and

Schunauzer sister, Ai, love to get massages.

This is a video of Marin and Ai getting massages.

Look at Marin's face!

It looks like she is about to fall asleep!

Nicolas

This is me when I was neutered.

Before the vet removed the stitches, I took them out twice by myself, so he set one more collar under my Elizabethan collar so that I couldn’t do that.

Most of the humans who saw this photo laughed out loud and said,

"Looks like a bowl of Oden!"

Do you think so, too?

Canine Freestyle Demo at Woof

2011-05-16T23:43:00.000+09:00

This weekend the Dogresort Woof Style 2011 was held in Yamanashi.

It was a fundraiser event for pets affected by the recent disaster in Japan.

During this event, lots of people and pets enjoyed flea markets, K9 games, agility exercises, and some demonstrations.

I did a canine freestyle demo with the super nice members of the Canine Freestyle Club Hocci and we had a blast!

Actually, Mom and I weren't quite on form,

but the other members did fascinating demos and we really enjoyed the event.

Oh, do you want to know how my routine went?

Well...

When we entered the ring, Mom didn't put her hat on edge of the ring.

In this routine, her hat was supposed to be used as a prop.

I told her,

"Mom! You forgot your hat!"

But she didn't notice my words.

The music started...

And she noticed that she had left her hat outside of the ring.

She panicked because, at the beginning of our routine,

I was supposed to run to the edge of the ring and fetch her hat,

and run back and hand it to her.

"Mom! There's no hat over there! What should I do next???"

Mom improvised the choreography, but her commands were not clear!

In addition, sometimes she did totally conflicting verbal cues and hand signs at the same time!

I was really confused!

It was getting hard for me to focus on her and I started worrying about the people and dogs around the ring.

And...

We made lots of mistakes!

But in the last 30 seconds, we recovered our senses, and did our routine as usual.

Next month, another event will be held at the same place,

and we will do the same routine.

Mom, DO NOT forget to bring your hat into the ring next time!!!

Golden Week!

2011-05-10T13:32:00.000+09:00

Nicolas

From the end of April to the second week of May,

we had Golden Week and Dad and Mom had 10 days off,

so we went camping in Nagano.

This camp site is very huge and is a members-only site, so every time we go there, we can enjoy spacious and leisurely camping.

Lucy & Nicolas

There are some strict rules, because it is an eco-friendly camp site,

so humans have to put up with some inconveniences,

but for us dogs, it is a paradise!

We can run and swim without a leash, and sometimes we can meet some wild animals!

Here are some photos of us at the camp site!

Lucy, Ai, Pruin, Marin and Nicolas

Lucy

Nicolas

There is a brook on either side of the camp site.

We can play in the water of the brooks.

Actually I don't like swimming so much--

I don't like being wet--

but Lucy loves swimming and she really looked like she was having fun,

so I changed my mind and decided to play in the water with her.

I am very a nervous and attentive dog, so I won't drink water from a brook,

but Lucy and Purin drank a lot!

Wow, I couldn't believe it!

But Mom said, "it is delicious! Try it!"

...of course, I didn't.

Nicolas

Marin

I saw a mother fox carrying her child in her mouth.

That was the first time I had ever seen a fox. So exciting!

Our happy time rolled by quickly.

At night, we could see lots of stars in the sky and enjoy the silence.

No Emergency Earthquake Alerts, no ambulance sirens, no noisy cars...

But here in Tokyo...

Noisy and busy days have resumed.

I really want to go back to the mountain!!

New Routine - "Last Dance" at WOOF

2011-04-25T22:00:00.003+09:00

Last Sunday, we went to Lake Yamanaka to attend the first meeting and demonstration of the Canine Freestyle Club Hocchi.

It was raining hard on Saturday, but the weather turned pretty nice the next day.

Lake Yamanaka is 130 km away from here, Tokyo, and it's about 1.5 hours’ drive.

We really enjoyed driving.

Especially Lucy was enjoying the drive, seeing beautiful Mt. Fuji, sniffing a lot of things from the window, etc..

Mom opened the window a little for Lucy, because....

Last week, my Twitter friend gave us the opportunity to talk with an animal communicator.

Mom asked her about Lucy.

And she told her that Lucy said,

"I love being the co-pilot; that's my favorite job...the only thing that I would change is if you could open the windows a little more so I can get a good whiff of things as they pass. I promise I won't jump out."

Mom was so surprised.

Usually she doesn't open the car window because our car is very noisy!

And when Lucy sees a car, she always tries to get in it, even if it's not ours.

Once she got in our neighbors’ car from the driver's side, but as soon as she got in it, she moved to the passenger's seat!

She could have stayed in the driver's seat, because nobody was in the car,

but she moved to the passenger's seat voluntarily!

That explained everything.

(I can talk with Lucy in Doggy language, but she had never told me about that!Boo!)

Before noon, we arrived at Lake Yamanaka, and met other freestyle club members at WOOF, the dog-friendly resort hotel.

They have some large fields and an indoor dog run.

We practiced and demonstrated in the dog run.

I danced with Mom to "Last Dance" by Donna Summer.

This was the first time we had performed it in front of an audience,

so Mom gave me a lot of treats during the performance.

I smelled my super favorite cheese on Mom's hand,

and went crazy a little, and missed some moves!

Anyway, we really enjoyed dancing!

After the demonstration, I played with my friends in the field.

I ran a lot and that was super exciting!

Mom called me to go home, but I ignored her.

She went out the field alone, but I didn't chase her!

I kept playing with my friends!

Of course...

Mom got mad at me!!

She is still angry.

I hope Mom forgives me soon.

Sorry, Mom...