Life is Better with Sheltie Hair

Shelties Like Scratches!

2011-01-15T17:31:00.012-06:00

Hi everyone,

I know, I am a horrible person and have been slacking off on the blog-front for a LONG time now! I do have some good excuses, we've been super busy around here lately. Just no time to write anything worth reading.

The PhD project is coming along well.
Gio and Romeo are both happy and healthy, no issues with seizures for a long time now!
I'm now a certified CARO Rally-O judge and am eager about my first judging assignments coming up soon!
I'm still teaching Rally-O classes for Hub City Kennel and Obedience Club.
I've been traveling a LOT for school, and the boys are loving the quality time they get to spend with "gramma" when I am away.

Why am I dusting off the blog today? Because I've entered the boys in a really fun photo contest and I would LOVE if you could maybe help me out with some votes!

The contest is being run by the Western Canada Lottery Association. 10 winning photos (2 from Saskatchewan, where we are) will be selected to appear on Scratch-n-Win tickets! How hilarious is that?! Shelties LOVE scratches, so a Scratch-n-Win ticket is the perfect place for them to be.

I've entered the max of 10 photos into the contest and would greatly appreciate if you could all swing by there and give them a rating. I don't think this is a "vote every day" thing, so just once is enough! I'm trying to find the fine line between asking politely for votes and being so obnoxious so as to turn people off from helping me out. haha

Below are the photos. You can rate them all, or just pick your favorites. I think the voting is only open to Canadian residents.

VOTE FOR THIS PHOTO HERE

VOTE FOR THIS PHOTO HERE

VOTE FOR THIS PHOTO HERE

VOTE FOR THIS PHOTO HERE

VOTE FOR THIS PHOTO HERE

MISSING!

2010-09-27T16:09:00.005-06:00

Boone from Many Muddy Paws is MISSING!

Anyone in the Lethbridge, AB area, please keep an eye out for this boy! Please crosspost.

Blast From the Past

2010-09-06T16:37:00.003-06:00

"Past" being June, anyways!

Back in June, SAA held an AAC agility trial and I had Romeo entered in a couple of runs. That weekend he earned a Starters Standard Q and a Starters Snooker Q. A friend video taped Romeo's Standard run, and this weekend gave me a DVD with the video!

For the little bit of agility that we do, I'm very proud of my boy for how well he does! He had a bit of a bobble at the weaves (was his VERY first time EVER seeing 12 weaves in a row), and he still isn't super strong on the tunnels, so some of my handling is a bit awkward to ensure that he takes the tunnel.

ROAD TRIP continued

2010-08-25T18:51:00.005-06:00

So we're home now, settled in and rested up. Life is back to normal.

Last weekend the dogs and I went on a road trip to attend a Sheltie Party! WOOHOO! Circle of Sheltie Friends has a yearly summer party for members. Not all of us are from the same area, so this year there were Sheltie Parties spread across the US and Canada. I attended the party in Edmonton, which meant about a 6 hour drive. Took a couple of days off, packed the car with dogs and presents, and headed out!

The party didn't start until Saturday, but the hostess was gracious enough to let me bunk at her place for the weekend. She has two stellar Shelties, Luka (9 years) and Cullen (2 years). All of the boys got along very well; Romeo and Cullen chased each other around the house while Gio and Luka stood back and barked at them. Perfect match!

Gio and Romeo especially loved the resident children! The young boy was a ball throwing machine, and tossed toys and balls for the dogs for ages. Easy way to win over the heart of a Sheltie ... balls and food.

The party on Saturday saw 13 dogs (12 Shelties and 1 Collie), plenty of food, loads of kids, and some great company! It was a great time had by all!

Remember the two ways to win over a Sheltie? Here is the second one! FOOD!

I guess, in lieu of food, scratches are acceptable, too.
And kids can supply ball throwing, food, AND scratches! WOOHOO!

Gio made a new buddy in Jake, the other super-sized Sheltie at the event. I think they are the most handsome super-sized Shelties EVER! Even down to their matching front leg markings.

All of these festivities resulted in plenty of tired Shelties.

We hit the road again on Sunday to come home. One pit stop along the way ... Vegreville!

Vegreville is between Edmonton and Lloydminster and is home to the world's largest Pysanka (ie. Ukrainian Easter egg). This has always been my favorite roadside attraction. I have an odd love for those giant statues or sculptures that many towns have and would some day love to go on a road trip and visit all of the big monuments, statues, and small town museums that I come across! Some day ... when I have more money and time than I know what to do with.

I have a photo like this from when I was much younger. Thought it was only appropriate to get a picture of the dogs with the egg as well!

ROAD TRIP!!

2010-08-19T20:24:00.001-06:00

The boys and I are going on a very special road trip!

But you'll have to wait to hear details and see pictures until after we get back. ;)

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

2010-08-17T18:09:00.004-06:00

I found this on the Many Muddy Paws blog and just HAD to re-post it here!

WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?
(Dog Trainer Version)
Author: Unknown

Pavlov: we fed the chicken on the opposite side of the road each day at 4p.m. until the chicken’s autonomic system actually began causing the chicken to cross the road at 4 p.m. without even questioning the “why.”

B.F. Skinner: on prior occasions when the chicken voluntarily crossed the road, this behavior was followed immediately by a reinforcing consequence.

Cesar Milan: I bullied, chased, poked, and intimidated the chicken until it raced across the road, because I am a strong leader.

Barbara Woodhouse: You just say, “Walkies” with the right accent and place a crumpet on the other side of the road.

Karen Pryor: by associating R+ with road crossing and P+ withstanding still, with a VR schedule, and offering a reward in keeping with the Premack principle, we increased the intensity and frequency of the road crossing behavior.

Bill Koehler: a few well-timed pops on the choke chain and the chicken was cheerfully to crossing the road.

Nicholas Dodman: I gave the chicken fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, carbamazepine, and azapirone and then it was happy to cross the road.

Patti Ruzzo: I crossed the road, pausing every step to spit a treat out of my mouth like a human pez dispenser and the chicken followed along catching the treats.

Electric Collar Advocate: whenever the chicken does not cross the road I give it an electric shock. But do not worry, the shock is no more than you would feel if you walked on a carpet wearing socks and it does not bother the chicken at all. The feathers standing up and the smell of burning flesh mean nothing. In fact, they are happier having nice clear communication than they would be otherwise.

Yuppie: chickens are just like little people in feather jackets, and if you love them and give them diamonds and feel sorry for them all the time, they will be happy to cross the road for you.

Paris Hilton: Because I put it in a Gucci bag and carried it.

Shelter director: Any chickens that do not cross the road will be euthanized for their own good, and the others we will ‘adopt’ out tomorrow for only $200 each. Please send us money so we can keep doing more of this important work!

HSUS member: I do not know anything about animals, I have never been around animals and am not really fond of animals, but we passed a law mandating that chickens be kept without cages because animals belong only in the wild and cannot be happy coexisting with man, so now they are walking wherever they want.

PETA member: chickens have the right to live in world without roads. Any chicken that lives within a hundred miles of a road is suffering an inhumane existence and might eventually be hit by a car so we should kill it today to ensure that it does not die tomorrow.

In Reverse

2010-08-15T14:30:00.002-06:00

I've received some requests via my Sheltie Hair Facebook page for videos explaining how I do my training.

One request asked for a demonstration on how I train a "back up". So here it is!

And, while I was at it, I made a video showing how I train a backward heel. There are more techniques to clean up the backward heel once the dog has the basic idea, but this video shows the very beginning steps with a STRONG focus on heel position.

Happy 4th Birthday Romeo!

2010-08-01T15:17:00.005-06:00

Today is the little shit's 4th birthday!

I can't believe he is 4 years old already. Boggles the mind, it does!

I still think of Romeo as the little puppy. He's the young one, the little one ... not the adult dog! It's so weird!

But, while he certainly cannot be called a pup anymore, at least he still acts like one! Definitely not a mature bone in this little turd's body.

Just to convince myself that Romeo really is a big boy now, here are some pictures of when he first joined the family at 9 months old.

The first meet and greet with Gio. Gio assumed the "maybe if I ignore him, he will go away" expression on day 1 and has maintained it ever since.

Romeo hid under the coffee table for most of the first evening. Gio continued to assume the stance that if he didn't look at Romeo, he would just go away.

But they both lightened up once they realized there were tennis balls involved!

And became fast friends.

The scrawny little puppy, affectionately named "you little black bugger" ...

... has turned into quite the handsome little man!

With plenty of *sproing*!

Happy 4th birthday, little pig!

More From Watrous

2010-07-27T21:04:00.004-06:00

Here are a couple more pictures from our agility demo at Watrous last weekend. Thanks Greg and Andrea for taking them! Love to see my boy at work!

Catchin' up

Bad crop ... but the uncropped version with me included looked like I had a pole wedged
in my butt crack.

Weeee! Tunnels! At least this picture makes it appear as if he has tunnel drive ... he doesn't.

My bouncy little guy. This must have been his ONE set of nice weaves all day.

Weavin' is serious bizniz. (The finger keeps him in there ... we're working on weaning it out.)

He loves that tire now.

Chilling in the shade, waiting for the next demo to start.

A slightly better angle on the group shot from last post.

Remember Us??

2010-07-24T18:26:00.007-06:00

The summer is just so darned busy, I've been letting the blog slide. I've been taking on a lot of little projects, plus the dog stuff, school, upkeep of the house and yard ... Blogging is getting neglected. I'm sorry.

So here is a little catch up of what we have been doing the past couple of weeks!

Beginning of July was Pets in the Park. An annual fun day put on as a fundraiser for the Saskatoon SPCA, New Hope Dog Rescue, and SCAT Street Cat Rescue. Local pet related businesses set up booths, local dog clubs put on demonstrations, and groomers and vets offer cheap nail trims and microchipping. It's always a great time, and this year was no different. We luckily had beautiful weather and there was an awesome turnout! The boys and I spent all day at the St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog booth and organized a couple of talks about the therapy dog program.

While we have had plenty of rain still, there have been a few really gorgeous days to enjoy the summer weather! Lots of running at the park and frisbee catching.

Plenty of frisbee missing, too.

The Flickr challenge for last week was "action blur". Of all the blurry (and often humorous) action shots of the boys playing frisbee, I chose this one. I just think it is so much fun!

While there was plenty of barking and running at the park this week as well, it was a more subdued experience. Gio ventured off to explore the grounds.

While Romeo ran around me in circles "talking" about how awesome he thinks the park is.

All that circle running and talking makes a boy tired and hot. That is when the Monster Tongue makes its appearance. It never ceases to amaze me how he can fit that humungo-tongue in his teeny little head. Might account for the lack of brain power some days.

I was pleasantly surprised that I caught a shot of Romeo running towards me WITHOUT his mouth hanging open and that obscenely large tongue flapping around. See, he CAN look cute!

On Friday the boys and I participated in a Therapy Dog demo at a local care home. The residents always love to come out and watch the dogs do tricks and entertain them. But visiting time is the best!

As always, Romeo collected a new friend and admirer.

Here is our snazzy looking collection of doggy entertainers.

And finally, today was an afternoon of agility demos out in Watrous. Watrous was having some sort of car show/farmer's market/bands and entertainment day. I'm sure it has an official name, but we will go with that. Apparently SAA (Saskatchewan Agility Association) has been going out to Watrous for this event for a number of years now. This was my and Romeo's first time tagging along. The demos were a lot of fun with a great turnout of specators and talented doggies alike!

Romeo had a great time and made yet another new fan. This time a young girl who was absolutely smitten by him. Her mom (grandma??) got a really cute picture of them together, but I wasn't fast enough to grab my camera. I had just placed Romeo in a stand stay beside the kneeling girl and turned to walk behind the photographer so I could get Romeo's attention. When I turned back around, the girl had poor Romer in a headlock, held tight to the side of her face. He's such a trooper, and put on a big happy face for the camera despite the clearly uncomfortable situation.

And for that, and all the hard work he did running in the three demos in the scorching heat, he deserves a little nap.

Sheltie Hair Review: Nina Ottosson Interactive Dog Toys - Finder and Casino

2010-07-16T14:56:00.000-06:00

As a continuation to my previous review of Pawsitively Purrfect, here is my review of the Nina Ottosson dog toys, the Dog Casino and Dog Finder.

This line of toys has been out for a number of years now. I discovered them online a couple of years ago and have been lusting over them ever since. There are very few retailers in this area of the world. Yes, I could have searched online for a retailer that would ship, but I just never got around to it. Finances were always an issue, so I continued to put a purchase aside.

I finally got around to purchasing two of the Nina Ottosson toys this past weekend: the Dog Finder and the Dog Casino.

The basic premise behind the toys is that the dog is encouraged to use their nose and paws to manipulate moving components to reveal treats. The toys are rated at difficulty levels of 1, 2, and 3, with 1 being the most easy and 3 being the most difficult.

The Dog Finder and the Dog Casino are both rated as 2/3, meaning that they can be adjusted to make the puzzle more difficult to solve.

I find it very difficult to judge the size and quality of the toys from online resources. My primary concern was that the removable pieces would be too small and pose a choking risk. Or that the plastic would be thin or flimsy. Having seen the products first hand, I am very reassured! The plastic is thick and hard, but textured so as not to become slippery once it is drooled on.

A brief description of the two toys that I purchased is as follows.

The Dog Casino

Purchased for $40 CDN

This is a flat slab of plastic with 8 small plastic drawers along the side edges. The drawers slide out quite easily and smoothly, and have a sturdy handle that can be manipulated with a paw or the mouth. On the top of the body of the toy are 8 holes, one corresponding to each drawer. A plastic bone-shaped peg can be fit into each hole that, when in place, locks the drawer closed.

The bone-shaped pegs are thick and sturdy. They are small in comparison to dog toys we are used to seeing. For a dog the size of Romeo (average Sheltie-sized) they are not too much of a concern. Gio (a large Sheltie, average Border Collie-sized) can handle the small pieces well, though I have had to remind him with a "drop it" once or twice. A larger dog or one that has a harder mouth may have difficulty manipulating the pegs safely. Below is a picture of the bone-shaped peg in the palm of my hand and next to a house key for size reference.

The quality of the product is fantastic! Both Gio and Romeo have climbed on, scratched, bitten, and stood on the Dog Casino and it holds up very well.

This is a toy that should be used under supervision only! In addition to the safety concerns, you will need to encourage the dog to work certain areas of the board and you will also have to replenish the treats.

I noticed, in perusing the different Nina Ottosson products, that some toys are designed to be better for "mouth dogs" and some are more suitable for "paw dogs". Having one of each (Romeo uses his paws while Gio uses his mouth), I wanted to get a toy suitable for each. The Dog Casino requires a dog to use his paws to open the drawers, while it seems to be easier to pull the pegs out of the top with the mouth. Gio manages to open the drawers with his mouth, though he has to learn some finesse to excel at this. He particularly LOVES pulling the pegs from the top. Romeo pulls the drawers open with his paws and is struggling slightly with the pegs. He will push the pegs aside to get the treat underneath, but doesn't always remove the peg completely. I'm confident that he will figure this out in time.

As for difficulty level, I like the 2/3 split of the Casino. Romeo figured the drawer thing out in about 15 minutes, and is now quite adept at that portion. After two play sessions of roughly 15 minutes each (after which, both dogs were completely exhausted!!) he is still learning how to pull the pegs. Gio figured the peg thing out nearly instantly, though the drawers took a bit longer (about 15 minutes). Neither dog has yet figured out that the pegs lock the drawers, so there is still room for them to explore!

Here is a video of the boys playing with the Dog Casino.

The Dog Finder

Purchased for $40 CDN

This is a flat piece of plastic with a number of channels molded into the top surface. Each channel is narrower at one end and wider at the other. Plastic bone-shaped cups fit into each channel and slide smoothly back and forth. When the cup is slid to the narrow end of the channel, it cannot be removed. when the cup is slid to the wide end of the channel, it is possible for the dog to nose or paw the cup out and reveal treats underneath.

Like the Casino, the plastic base of the Finder is sturdy and well made. The bone-shaped cups are larger than the bone-shaped pegs of the Casino. Definitely not a swallowing risk for medium-sized dogs, though a large/giant breed may be a different story. Below is a picture of the bone-shaped cup in my palm next to a house key for size reference. As well as a size reference between the peg from the Casino and the cup from the Finder.

As always, supervision is important. For safety, encouragement, and treat replenishing.

The Finder appears to be more suited to dogs that are prone to using their mouth and nose to manipulate things. Gio easily slides the cups along the channels with his nose, and is learning how to scoop them out of the channels with his nose as well. The shape of the cups prevents him from pulling the cups out of the channel with his mouth, though another larger dog may have more success with this approach. Romeo has attempted to play with the Finder with his paws to varied success. He can move the cups back and forth along the channels with his paws, and some vigorous scratching will displace the cups when at the wide end of the channel.

The Finder, like the Casino, is rated as a 2/3, though both Gio and Romeo seem to be finding it more difficult than the Casino. The difficulty is increased to a 3 if extra cups are placed in the channels to prevent the treat cup from sliding. The extra cup must be removed before the treat cup can be displaced to reveal the treats.

A nice bonus is that each cup has a small hole in the top. This can be used to thread a thin rope through to assist in lifting the cup out of the channel (I have no yet tried this). It can also facilitate scent games, where all of the cups are placed in the channels, though a treat is only placed under a few cups. The dog must determine where the treat is hidden and then work to reveal it.

The big down-side of the Finder is that there is a long opening along the sides of the channels at the narrow end. I assume that this is to allow the cups to slide smoothly, but I find that it tends to allow the treats to fall through the base onto the floor beneath. Perhaps once the dogs become a little more skilled at removing the cups without shaking the toy around too much, this won't be an issue. You could also use larger treats that don't fit through the openings or spread some soft treat (wet dog food, peanut butter, etc.) on the inside of the cup to serve as a reward.

The boys have each worked with the Finder for two sessions of about 15 minutes each. They have had varied success and understand now that they must remove the cup to get the treat. They have not figured out that the cup can only be removed from one end of the slot yet. Both still need some practice at learning HOW to remove the cups.

After the Storm

2010-07-10T20:00:00.003-06:00

Thursdays are officially cursed.

I have been TRYING to hold my regular Rally-O classes on Thursdays for the past month and a half now. In the summer, I like to hold my classes outdoors. There is a fabulous field near by that we have been given permission to use with the dogs. It cuts down on costs for me, so I can offer my classes a little cheaper than when I am training with Hub City. But nearly every Thursday since the beginning of June we have been hit with a thunderstorm or torrential downpour of some variety. Up until this week, I have only been able to have one class outdoors. The rest have either been postponed or moved to my fall-back indoor training facility. Reasonably priced, available at very short notice, but too small and not an ideal space for training.

This week, we were finally able to get outdoors again! Made it all of the way through Beginner class before the downpour hit. I waited to see if any of my Advanced/Excellent people would show up for drop-in practice as I watched the storm clouds roll in. Taking shelter under a tree (I am safety conscious during thunder storms!) the boys and I, and one die-hard student decided to see if the storm would pass quickly. After 10 minutes or so and no sign of the rain stopping, I declared that I was going to pack up the car and head home. Of course, because I was eagerly optimistic, I didn't wear appropriate shoes for wet weather ... only a pair of Dawgs sandals, which are super duper comfortable, but not at all grippy when wet. Carrying a huge Tupperware container of my "Rally-O Crap" to the car, I had to straddle-hop a low fence to get into the parking lot. As soon as I found a tenuous foothold on the wet ground in my slippery sandals, and swung one (pork hock) leg over the crotch-high fence, it decided to hail. HAIL HARD!! Sure sure, just pea-sized stuff. But being pelted unaware by small frozen peas still stings a little!

In between gasps of laughter and squeals, I glanced over to see the brave and wonderful Sophie holding a blanket over top of the X-pen that my dogs were in, trying to shelter them from the hail while getting pelted herself. And two very soggy and very un-impressed Shelties glaring out at me from under the blanket canopy.

Tossing the bucket of "Rally-O Crap" into the back of the car, I raced back (as quickly as slippery sandals will allow) to release the dogs from their captivity and allow them to "sprint to freedom". Apparently "sprint to freedom" means different things to different dogs. To Gio, it meant high-tail it towards the parking lot, leap gracefully over the low fence and take shelter in the relatively dry car interior. To Romeo, on the other hand, it meant run frantically in circles, freaking out whenever he left the shelter of the trees and got pelted with rain/hail, eventually give up and pout in a soppy little Sheltie puddle to wait for me to rescue him and carry him to the car.

Of course, as soon as everything was loaded into the car, the rain immediately stopped and the sun broke free of the clouds.

The asphalt in the parking lot was covered in a sheen of water, the hot sun making steam rise in a few areas. I just couldn't pass this up to take a couple of pictures. Heck, the dogs and I were wet enough already, what's a little more puddle splashing, right? Romeo decided to remain in the car and pout over his miserable wet-dog existence. Gio was more open to a photo-shoot.

Thought this one was just too cute. Gio checking himself out in a puddle.

This one really shows the rising steam nicely! I love the reflection of Gio in the puddle an the bright sun shining through his fluff.

Despite how much I loved the other two pictures, I kept coming back to this one as my favorite. The sun flares and rays are just too awesome! It is our submission for our 52 Weeks for Dogs project this week.

If you would like to see Gio's entire (so far) 52 Weeks for Dogs project, check out our set on Flickr.

Happy Canada Day!

2010-07-01T16:54:00.003-06:00

I wanted an appropriately Canada themed photo for this week's 52 Weeks for Dogs Flickr photo project. Unfortunately, I seem to have misplaced my flag. So I had to make due with a luggage tag and a stuffed beaver. Yes ... that brown thing is a stuffed beaver. They really don't have much of a shape to them, sorry.

Oh ... don't forget the cheesy photo editing for the background!

To make up for my lack of Canadian flotsam to take pictures with, I am drinking a fine Canadian beer and listening to Neil Young while preparing this blog post.

I think last year I posted some YouTube videos ... probably the "I am Canadian" beer commercial (never gets old!). To keep with tradition, here is some Classified. Love it!

Sheltie Hair Review: Pawsitively Purrfect

2010-06-29T11:06:00.003-06:00

The boys and I are going to start a new aspect to the Sheltie Hair blog, a review section! In our various travels and adventures in all-things-dog, we often come across products, services, or businesses that really make an impression. As we discover these items, I'm going to make a point of posting a review here. If the Shelties approve, maybe your dog will, too!

The idea for a review section of Life is Better with Sheltie Hair came to me this past weekend on a trip to Brandon, MB for a CARO rally-o judge's seminar.

This first review is really a DOUBLE review ... so to avoid being too long winded (more than I normally am, anyways), I'm going to split it in two.

I have been attempting to get my hands on some Nina Ottosson dog toys for quite a while now. An online acquaintance from the USA started her own pet boutique a while back and last year started stocking the Nina Ottosson toys. Wanting to support a new business owner, I decided to order some toys from her, risking potentially higher prices or shipping fees to help out a friend. Well, 9 months later and multiple e-mails back and forth ... still no toys.

Since no one (to my knowledge) stocks Nina Ottosson toys in my home city of Saskatoon, a training buddy recommended a place in Regina, SK called Pawsitively Purrfect. Knowing that I would be traveling through Regina on my way to Brandon, I checked out their website and saw that they have LOADS of really great stuff! I sent the owners of Pawsitively Purrfect an e-mail asking about the Nina Ottosson toys and they promptly replied with what they have in stock. Last Friday I stopped in at Pawsitively Purrfect during a break for lunch and a refill of gas in Regina. I was very pleased with what I found!

The store appears quite small, but this is likely due to the hoards of product that they have on display. Everything from high quality pet foods (grain free and raw ... none of that grocery store Purina crap or, even worse, the "vet recommended" Science Diet BLECH!), to toys of all sorts, grooming supplies, and health supplements. They have a couple options in the line of corrective training collars and electronic devices, which I would rather not see associated with a business that seems to be on the right track in all other aspects. But I guess you can't have it all. Also to be mentioned, an on-site grooming salon that is WIDE open to the store. You can see exactly what is going on while the dogs are being groomed, no question about whether your pup is being treated well after you hand them over!

I didn't have the amount of time I would have liked to browse through the store, but on my quick run-through, I encountered a couple of the employees. One employee was on the phone with a customer giving food recommendations based on what appeared to be some very specific requirements on the part of the customer. Selecting the perfect brand and agreeing to have it all packed up for the customer when they arrived. Another employee helped me find the Nina Ottosson toys (to be discussed in an upcoming review article), indicating that he recalled my e-mail earlier in the week. I purchased two Nina Ottosson toys, both of which were very well priced, and he threw in a baggy of PureBites liver treats (sure to go over well with the dogs!).

A point that definitely begs mentioning ... THEY SHIP! I was assured that, should I ever want anything else, they would gladly ship it out to me.

In summary, Pawsitively Purrfect is a lovely pet supply store with friendly and helpful employees and an apparent real concern for the health and total well-being of your dog!

Sheltie-Hair approved!

Back At It

2010-06-20T19:09:00.003-06:00

Agility, that is.

Romeo started trialing late last summer in AAC agility. And by "trialing", I mean that he was entered in a couple of trials, not that we are particularly ready for trials. We had limited success in the two trials last year, earning one Starter Jumpers Q and a bunch of ring experience.

We took a bit of a break over the winter (due to the group we were training with at the time upping their class prices), and got started back in classes with this spring with Saskatchewan Agility Association (SAA).

When SAA hosted their spring trial, I decided to give the ring another shot and see where we stand. Since agility is not my primary focus (that belongs to Rally-O), I'm taking a very laid back approach to it. We'll do some local (or at least provincial) trials, play around, have some fun, and hopefully earn a few Q's along the way!

On Saturday, I helped out as ring crew and gate steward all day. Then on Sunday Romeo was entered in two Starter Snooker runs and one Starter Standard run. I had never tried Snooker before, but with some help from some awesome agility friends, I was able to figure it out. Have to say, Snooker might be my new favorite agility game! It was so much fun! I really like the strategy involved, and being able to improvise if your intended course doesn't go completely as planned. And the class moves along very quickly, so not a lot of waiting around, which is a big bonus for the impatient people like me.

Romeo totally rocked it today! He earned his first Starter Snookers Q and his first Starter Standard Q (that one with a 1st place in his division). He was doing awesome on his second Starter Snooker run, until I stuck myself a little too close to a jump and forced him back over a previously completed "red jump" (a no-no in Snooker). My fault completely. So three really great performances from Romeo, and two passable performances from me!

I didn't get any pictures, apart from this one of Romeo's private abode.

It was SUPER HOT this weekend (I have the lovely patchy red sunburn and vague outline of sunglasses on my face to prove it), so much effort was made to build a shady cool spot for the pooch to hang out in between runs. There was, of course, a doggy paddling pool available for cool-downs, but the little princess doesn't like getting wet, let alone sharing bath water with other dogs, most of which weren't even Shelties ... FOR SHAME!! So the watery cool-downs were forced, usually consisting of me trying to lure Romeo into the pool, then resorting to picking him up, dunking him in the middle and slopping water over his back before he made a mad dash for freedom. Little drama queen.

A friend got an awesome video of Romeo's Standard run. I'm going to try to get my hands on a copy, and will, of course, post it here when I do!

On Strike!

2010-06-18T19:04:00.004-06:00

Past tense.

Blogger was being a stupid-head and wouldn't let me post pictures the past few times I tried. So I went on strike. That, and I have been super uber crazy busy lately and this is my first free moment for blog writing.

So, a summary of the past few weeks ...

Rain.

Rain.

A brief pause in the rain, in which I frantically shot a couple of pictures for Gio's photo project.

Rain.

More rain.

Another rainless hour or two for another photo.

Rain.

More rain.

Then there was today, when the clouds finally parted for what we HOPE is longer than a day!

I took the boys out to visit Romeo's breeder again, where we were greeted by 5 MONSTERS!

These monsters were VERY mean. They taunted Romeo until he cried.

Except for this little monster. He is the Cutest Puppy in the World!

GRABBY HANDS!

Meet Charlie. No, he is not mine. I wish. He is just the cutest puppy in the world, and he stole my heart as he ate my face.

Prior to our puppy visit, Gio had his monthly therapy dog visit to Stensrud where he shows off for his ladies. He felt the need to reiterate that he really is a Super Dog.

Rally-O Videos

2010-06-06T14:54:00.003-06:00

At the CARO Rally-O trial held at Paws n Train in mid-May, we were fortunate to have Sophie Brunet available to take some video of the performances! I always enjoy seeing my boys working, and videos like these show me a completely different perspective to their performances. I get to see what they are doing well, and what I miss when we are actually working.

So HUGE thanks to Sophie for putting these videos together for me!

Gio

Gio was entered in one Excellent round and two Novice Team rounds.

Here is his Excellent run, qualifying with a score of 197/200 AND completing his RXMCL title!

Here are Gio's 2 Novice Team rounds. This was our first attempt at Team events, and they are a lot of fun! How they work is that a normal course is split into two roughly equal halves. Two dogs/handlers are paired up, with each dog/handler taking one of the two halves. The first dog completes the first half of the course, and then the second dog completes the second half. They are scored as if they were one dog, with a qualifying score being the usual 170/200. In CARO, there are Team events at the Novice, Advanced, Excellent and Versatility levels, but both dogs need to have earned the appropriate level title before attempting that level in Team. The Team category is quite new, and this was the first time that it was offered in Saskatchewan. So everyone was starting out at the Novice level!

Gio was paired up with Buddy, a poodle-y type mix. Buddy is a super fun little worker, so they were a great team!

Novice Team round 1

Novice Team round 2

Romeo

Romeo was entered in 2 Novice Team rounds, 1 Excellent C round, and 2 Versatility rounds. Since he qualified his first Versatility round of the weekend, he was able to complete his RV title and the second Versatility round counted towards his C Stream Gold title.

Here are Romeo's Novice Team runs. Romeo was paired up with Bent the Border Collie. I have to say that Bent is probably my favorite Border Collie. Ever. Ever ever. Super sweet little dog and really fun to watch working! Romeo and Bent were a great team, taking a perfect 200/200 score on day 1 and a still respectable score of 190/200 on day two.

Novice Team round 1

Novice Team round 2

Here is Romeo's Excellent C run. The qualifier goes towards his CARO C Stream Gold title.

And finally, some Versatility runs! Versatility is the 4th standard level of competition in CARO. It consists of all of the Novice level signs, plus weave poles and tunnel, in addition to 7 new stations that direct you to switch heel position from left to right. So the dog must be able to perform all stations on the left and the right, while switching back and forth between left and right at least 4 times.

The first video only shows part of Romeo's run. And, while the title of the video says "Novice Team", it is in fact Versatility. Mistakes happen, deal with it! Anyways, this run wasn't beautiful ... Romeo was having a drama queen moment. But it was good enough to qualify and earned his Rally Versatility title! HOORAY!

This second video is a much nicer Versatility run! The qualifier goes towards his C Stream Gold title.

Okay! Okay already!

2010-05-29T17:42:00.005-06:00

It's wet. We get it.

Good on the rain. But enough is enough! It's been raining nearly constantly for weeks now. And no, that is not an exaggeration. My driveway has yet again been converted into an outdoor swimming pool, so that I have to back into the driveway to ensure that all doors of my vehicle have decent access to relatively puddle-less surfaces.

This is part of the reason that I haven't been posting for the past while. Really haven't been doing much of anything worth writing about! The regular therapy dog visits, this time toting along a towel to dry off fluffy puppies after our mad dash from the car to the building. A lot of sitting around and being depressed because of the grey weather.

Don't get me wrong, I love rain. Give me a good booming thunderstorm and I am a happy happy girl! But this is quite enough of the downpour. I believe the radio informed me the other day that this is the wettest spring that Saskatoon has seen ... ever. Or, at least since people began keeping track of these things. I'm sure things were pretty soggy after the glaciers melted after the last ice age, but really, I wasn't around then and didn't have $100 worth of bedding plants in the ground that would REALLY appreciate a good sunny day or two!

Last week's 52 Weeks for Dogs photo op was dampened (*pun!*) by the rain.

This week saw a similar situation.

The boys are both getting very antsy with this rain business. They don't mind thunderstorms, neither are sound-phobic, but they are suffering from some serious cabin fever. We've been working on scent games and some new tricks to keep furry little brains busy, but it just isn't the same as their regular walks or runs in the park. The dullness of it all has turned Romeo into a pouty lazy bones. He just flops from one doggy bed to the next, not sleeping, just laying there in his own depression. Gio, on the other hand, is taking the opposite route. He's the gurfy pacer, wandering from room to room puffing and sighing, or as he is doing right now, standing at my feet and staring up at me from under the computer desk, hoping beyond hope that I will somehow make this rain stop so that he can get outside again.

Mr. Weather Man says that it is supposed to break next week. Let's hope, for the sake of all our sanity, that this is true.

Can I have a Weekend Yet??

2010-05-17T09:42:00.003-06:00

Despite the lack of posts, I can assure you that the boys and I have not been merely lazing around and neglecting our duties online!

The weekend after the Sheltie National (and our last post) was the River Runners' flyball tournament. I'm still a member of River Runners, though I don't currently have a dog competing in flyball. So I still put in my time at the tournament. There were a lot of great new successes at the tournament. One of the fun things about the River Runners' tournament is that it is early in the running season so a lot of the teams bring out their new "green dogs" for their first tournament warm-ups and runs. I love seeing the new kids playing the game!

This past weekend was a CARO Rally-O trial at Paws n Train in Saskatoon. They offered the relatively new "Team" option in CARO Rally-O for the first time in Saskatchewan, so a lot of people were eager to give it a try. Team is a lot of fun, actually! You are paired up with another handler and dog (either choose your own partner or leave it up to random draw) and the course is split in half. The first dog does the first half of the course while the second dog waits in the middle. Once the first dog is finished, the second dog begins the second half while the first dog waits in the middle. Sort of a relay-race pass-the-baton situation. The course is scored as if it were one dog completing it, with the regular requirements of 170/200 to qualify.

Novice level Team was offered this time around, so I had both boys entered. It was a lot of fun, and I am excited to try to run Advanced, Excellent, and Versatility Team once we and the rest of the province progress that far! Gio was paired up with Buddy and they earned their first two legs of Novice Team. Romeo was paired with the cutest Border Collie of all time, Bent, and they rocked it as well, earning their first two legs of Novice Team. One of those runs was a perfect 200/200 score.

In addition to Team, I had the boys entered in some other levels. Romeo was entered in Versatility again, after the very surprising qualifiers from the KAOS trial last month. Romeo, continuing his streak of surprising me (I really should stop being surprised when Romeo is a superstar), completed his Versatility title and earned another Versatility and Excellent leg in C Stream to apply towards his CARO Rally Gold title.

Romeo earning his Rally Versatility (RV) title under judge Jeanne Shaw.

Gio was entered in an Excellent run as well, which he qualified with a lovely score of 198/200!! This finally FINALLY completes his Excellent title, with Magna Cum Laude! HOORAY!! This title has been nearly 2 years in the making. Silly boy just couldn't put it all together enough to Q, despite some really nice runs. I realized that it has taken Gio nearly as long to complete his Excellent title as it has taken Romeo to earn ALL of his CARO titles. Gio finished his Advanced title and began working on his Excellent title at nearly the same time that Romeo entered his first Rally trial ever. So in the same amount of time that Gio took to complete his Excellent title, Romeo has finished his Novice, Advanced, Excellent, Versatility, Bronze and Silver titles. haha Oh Giovanni, such a silly man! But he always has so much fun competing and showing off, so it was worth it all the way. Now we get to play in C Stream while we start training Versatility!

Gio earning his Rally Excellent (RXMCL) title under judge Jeanne Shaw.

And yes, we are still participating in our Flick photo project!

Last week, I started another leg of my career journey. I started my PhD at the University of Saskatchewan looking at canine color genetics and gene interaction. As such, I've taken a pretty significant pay cut, going back onto a student stipend. So I told the boys that they have to start earning their keep. Gio decided to do his part by parking himself in front of the neighborhood convenience store and look pathetic in hopes of donations.

And this past week there was a group challenge on the Flickr project stating simply "Pop Culture". I struggled as to what I might do to represent pop culture. I don't even really know WHAT pop culture is, the definition is pretty vague. When I think of what pop culture is, I think of things like poodle skirts, The Beatles, and Andy Warhol. But what is pop culture in 2010? Fifty years from now, what will the teenagers of 2060 think of when someone mentions 2010? Will our pop culture be reality TV shows, big brands, and social networking? Kinda scary actually.

CSSA 2010 Sheltie National Specialty

2010-05-02T19:55:00.006-06:00

First things first, sending a BIG shout-out to the people that approached me this past weekend having recognized Gio and/or Romeo from the blog! It's very humbling to realize that real people actually read this blog! It was awesome meeting you all. Sorry I couldn't chat much, but I was working hard on literally running my feet off.

This past weekend was the Canadian Shetland Sheepdog Association 2010 National Specialty in Saskatoon, SK. Of course, I just HAD to enter the boys!

With well over 300 Shelties entered, it was quite the sight! The Specialty offered conformation, obedience, Rally-O, and agility. I had both dogs entered in Brace Obedience and Rally-O, and Romeo entered in conformation.

Despite the really long days, we had an awesome time! It was so amazing to see all of the Shelties there doing what they do best ... looking cute and working hard!

Since the Specialty was offered in conjunction with the Hub City Kennel and Obedience Club show, I was also signed up for obedience and Rally-O stewarding the whole weekend. I think this played a significant part in the less than stellar performances that the boys showed on Friday, but even so, they did really well!

We were fortunate to have Michel Calhoun judge the obedience and Rally-O trials. He is an awesome judge and so much fun to show under! Definitely added to the experience, even if he did tease me mercilessly the entire weekend (good-naturedly, I hope!).

This was our first attempt at Brace Obedience, and while it wasn't perfect, it looks decent on the video and was enough to earn us a score of 190.5/200 and 3rd Place!

Rally-O went along the same vein, with both dogs entered in Advanced B and Excellent B. They finished off their CKC Rally Excellent titles last year and, since I wanted to enter in the Specialty, I decided to try for a leg of their RAE titles (even though I have no real intentions of pursuing it very far). Romeo had two scores of 99/100, one earning him a 3rd Place spot in Advanced B. Gio had scores of 95/100 and 97/100. To give an idea of what the competition was like, I will state that there were 11 Shelties entered in Advanced B and 15 Shelties entered in Excellent B. Of the bunch, I believe there was only 1 non-qualifying score, 2 scores below a 90/100, and the VAST majority of the scores above 95/100. In fact, in Excellent B there were 2 dogs tied for 1st place with perfect scores of 100/100 and a 6-way tie for 3rd place with 6 dogs earning 99/100! It all came down to who could make it through the course the fastest. That is the most intense Rally-O trial I have seen, with a lot of fabulous working Shelties from across Canada!

Romeo and Gio earned 3rd in Class in Brace Obedience, and Romeo took 3rd in Class in Rally-O Advanced B, under judge Michel Calhoun.

Rounding off the weekend was Romeo's first adventure in the conformation ring. He was neutered long ago, but probably could have finished his Championship had he been allowed to keep his boy bits. I entered him in the Altered Class and his breeder, Brenda Newlove of CanyonView Shelties trotted him around the ring for me, where he took Reserve Winners Dog! I always knew Romeo was a good looking dog, so I guess his success didn't come as too much of a surprise. But that doesn't dilute how proud I am of his accomplishments! Huge "Thanks" to Brenda for primping and preening my little man and putting in the leg work to show him off for me.

Romeo took Reserve Winners Dog in Altered Class under judge Judith Kelsey.

Now, on to the fun stuff!

Our obedience/Rally-O judge, Michel Calhoun, asked a favor of some of the Rally-O dogs after the trial on Friday night. I missed most of the story as I was running to my crating area to get my camera, but it is something along the lines of promising to do a favor for a class of children at a local school. He is carrying Flat Stanley (a colorful paper doll of sorts) around with him and documenting Flat Stanley's travels in photographs. So, to prove that he was at a dog show this weekend, he wanted a picture of Flat Stanley with a Shaggle of Shelties*. So here are just some of the dogs entered in the Sheltie-only Rally-O trial, with Flat Stanley front and center. (Sorry I couldn't get a better angle, but it was difficult to elbow my way through the throng of handlers urging their dogs to "stay" ... you try keeping that many Shelties sitting so close together without them spontaneously breaking out into zoomies and play bows!)

Just a moment of serious stuff, now. I have to share a pet peeve of mine with you all. Well, maybe this is a little more than a mere pet peeve. It is bordering on downright disgust! There were a lot of dogs in the trials this weekend, Sheltie-only as well as All Breed. And, with pressure running high and crazy competition, nerves flare up for both handlers and dogs. In cases like this ... shit happens. Literally. There were a fair number of dogs having accidents in or around the rings this weekend. Some newbies and some seasoned vets. And, while really stinky and not pleasant for your friendly neighborhood ring stewards to have to clean up, it happens. We all understand it. What I CANNOT stand is a handler chastising or blaming their dog for soiling the ring! It is NOT their fault! If you want to scold someone, smack yourself upside the head because it is your own darned fault! I do NOT want to see you leaving the ring yelling at your dog and yanking the hell out of their collar all because they had to do a number 2. It is YOUR job to make sure your dogs are pottied before they enter the ring. It is YOUR job to monitor their diet and their nerves before and during a trial weekend. And if, after all your efforts, they still end up soiling the ring, the proper procedure is to quickly apologize to the judge (and stewards for good measure, as it is them picking up your dog's droppings) and rush your dog outside to finish its business without causing a scene. Scolding your dog for doing what it has to do, especially when it is clearly attempting to PREVENT soiling in the ring as you dawdle around trying to finish your performance while blatantly ignoring the dog's distress, is the very LAST thing you want to do. Both for your dog's sake and the sake of your own reputation. I know I'm not the only person tasting bile after witnessing you jerking your dog around after their accident. Smarten up people!

There. That feels better.

Following the "Sandwich Protocol", begin and end with something positive while sticking the nasty bit in the middle, this weekend was absolutely awesome! Lots of great successes from the Sheltie side of things as well as the All Breed side. HUGE congratulations to everyone on their accomplishments! When my feet stop throbbing and I catch up on some sleep, I will post more pictures of the boys with their prize haul. And I have heard rumor that there are some ring-side pictures of Romeo's conformation debut floating around. When I get my hands on those, I will certainly be sharing them here!

* For the definition of a Shaggle of Shelties, check out this previous blog post.

The Big Boy Turns 8!

2010-04-27T19:27:00.004-06:00

Today is Gio's 8th birthday!!

Happy Birthday to my big man!

As a treat, Gio got a big bison RMB for dinner. He had to work for it though, no breaks on birthdays for this boy, especially when "mom" is a blogger! So the work in this case involved candles, balloons, a (homemade) party hat, and a good "leave it" command.

Of course, Gio takes "leave it" very seriously.

Like this.

So in order to get him to appear as if he is enjoying this photo shoot experience, I need to use words that will make him prick up his ears. Words like "cookie", "hungry", and "what's that?". These words, when coupled with a lovely hunk of raw bison-y goodness, result in pictures like this.

So the "ear prick" words were punctuated frequently with "leave it" words. "Leave it. Cookie? Leave it leave it! What's that? Where is it? Leave it! Are you hungry? Leave it leave it leave it."

Oh, he's such a good boy.

By the time I finally got a picture that I liked for our 52 Weeks project, poor Gio was literally quivering from the effort. I removed the flaming candle from the vicinity, and Gio was happy to indulge in his reward without worrying about the hat and balloons.

Busy. Can't talk. Eating.

Happy birthday my big boy! Let's say we plan for many many more of these, eh?

Slip Slidin' Away

2010-04-24T14:31:00.004-06:00

On our walk the other day, we stumbled upon an empty playground. The sun was so bright, and the clear blue sky, fresh green on the trees, and glaring red slides were too hard to pass up. The boys humored me by posing on the play set.

I really wish that this double slide was on the OTHER side of the play set so that I could have better taken advantage of the bright sunlight. But regardless, I love the colors and swirly blue lines.

Just to the West of the park is a group of apartment buildings. There is a chain link fence that separates the school yard from the parking lot. Leaning on that fence the entire time we were taking pictures was an older man. He was either giving me the long-distance stink eye for having dogs on the play set, or was just horribly confused about what I was doing. Possibly a bit of both.

This picture cracks me up every time I see it. Romeo is just so silly!
Always a happy dog. Always.

Gio is such a trooper. He was having a hard time keeping his grip on the slide, but was still able to spare a smile for the camera!
This was Gio's 52 Weeks for Dogs entry for this week.

A Shaggle of Shelties

2010-04-22T19:02:00.005-06:00

These are pictures from last week. I'm just getting around to posting them now. OOPS!

Anyways, I took the boys out to visit a friend (who also happens to be Romeo's breeder) one evening last week. She has a varitable shaggle* of Shelties, and a huge property just made for Bark 'n Chase. So after I squished the cootie-wootie 5 week old babies inside (sorry, no pictures ... but imagine fluff and pointy puppy teeth), we took the bigger dogs out back for a romp.

This is Gio's submission for the 52 Weeks photo project for last week.

Gio leading the charge!

Flying Sheltie!

Breaking out the gallop.

If you fail to get the ball, then the game becomes making it back to the tosser first.

And if you DO get the ball ... run like hell!!

There was much running and barking. And in the end there was much slobber and lolling tongues. Fun was had by all!

Once Romeo was sufficiently worn out, we (read: Brenda) got to work on Project Extreme Makeover. See, next week is the 2010 Canadian Shetland Sheepdog Association National Specialty. It is being held right here in Saskatoon, so there is no way that I wasn't entering the fools in for some fun! Romeo is going to be making his debut in the conformation ring in the No Nuts category (more appropriately named Altered Class). For this, he needs to pretend that he isn't a goofy little fluff ball and play Big Boy for a while. Brenda put me on strict No Trim orders for the past couple of months so that Romeo would grow enough hair in the right places so that it can then be trimmed by a more skilled hand. This was very difficult for me ... apparently I have a thing about toe hair. Rogue toe hair drives me CRAZY! While the show, at the time, was still 2 weeks away, Brenda agreed to give Romeo a bit of a trim for me before I went nuts. I had already been grooming Gio's feet overtime to make up for the lack of trimming on Romeo. There were fears that poor Gio would wind up with completely shaved poodle feet if Romeo's tufts weren't tamed soon.

So after a bit of a primp, we wound up with a significantly tidier Romeo. There is still the fancy beauty pageant grooming to come, but that will be closer to show time. For now, though, I can (reluctantly) tolerate the *almost* Hobbit Toes.

Such a handsome boy!

* Shaggle: the totally official I-just-made-that-up term for a bunch of Shelties.

Bonus points if you immediately thought of Templeton the Rat from the Charlotte's Web movie at the mention of the word "veritable". All together now ... "Oh the fair is a veritable smorgasbord orgasbord orgasbord, after the crowds have ceased! ..."

On Cloud Nine!

2010-04-11T20:35:00.003-06:00

The boys and I just got back from a CARO Rally-O trial and seminar in Regina, hosted by KAOS Dogsports, and judged by Laurie Albright.

As always, KAOS did a wonderful job in organizing the event and Laurie is a blast to work with. The seminar on Saturday covered the basics of all 4 CARO levels (Novice, Advanced, Excellent, and Versatility). I like to take in seminars like this to learn new ways of training certain obstacles so that I can pass them along in my classes. It's also nice to get an inside opinion on how certain performances are judged.

Sunday included two CARO Rally-O trials, one round of each level. I had the boys entered, of course!

After a significant stagnant period, Gio finally broke his streak of NQ's and earned his 2nd Excellent level leg! Only one more leg needed for that elusive RX title! Not only did he qualify one of his Excellent rounds, but he also took High in Class, bringing home a snazzy rosette and a big bag of toys and goodies. The second Excellent round was beautifully done, except for one measly little sign. As is the case with Excellent, one false move and you are done for. In Gio's defense, though, this was honestly the HARDEST Excellent course I have EVER seen. EVER! Head's up students ... guess what is going to be making an appearance in class one of these days!

Romeo was a little show-off, as usual. I had him entered in 4 rounds, 2 Excellent C and 2 Versatility. He qualified his first Excellent C round with a score of 199/200, successfully finishing off his CARO Rally Silver (CRS) title. Two the best of my knowledge, Romeo is now the FIRST dog from Saskatchewan to have earned his CRS title!

His second Excellent C round was qualified with a score of 195/200 and High in Class! This leg goes towards his CARO Rally Gold (CRG) title.

The C Stream titles are CARO Rally Bronze (CRB), CARO Rally Silver (CRS), CARO Rally Gold (CRG), and CARO Rally Master (CRMCh). Each level requires a dog to earn a certain number of Advanced, Excellent, and Versatility legs with scores of 190/200 or higher. No re-dos are allowed and the handlers are only allowed 3 minutes to walk the course prior to their run. Romeo was the first dog from Saskatchewan to earn his CRB back in October of 2009. There are currently (as of the date of his post) 2 dogs from Saskatchewan with C stream titles, Romeo being one, and the other a crazy cute little Schipperke named Taz.

Versatility is a level in CARO Rally-O that requires a dog to work both on the left and right side of their handler. They perform an altered Novice level course, switching from left to right and back again in a variety of ways, at least 5 times. Romeo and I have been doodling with Versatility stuff for a while now, but certainly not what I would call "serious training". I had entered him in these two Versatility rounds just to get a bench point mark of where he is at and where we need to go. Essentially "just for shits and giggles". Well let me tell you, I was certainly giggling after that was over! Not only did Romeo do VERY well in his Versatility rounds, he qualified BOTH legs with High in Class! Scores of 198/200 and 196/200. I am THRILLED! He only needs one more qualifying leg for his Versatility title. This was VERY unexpected this weekend!

I will say, though, that Versatility is a serious challenge! I found myself questioning my ability to count, my knowledge of left versus right, and, at times, my own existence. This is not for the faint of heart. But, despite my confusion and aimless wandering around the course, I found myself really enjoying the challenge. I look forward to our next attempt at the chaos and confusion that is Versatility!

Romeo after completing his CARO Rally Silver (CRS) title.

In addition to a literal stack of rosettes and qualifying flats, the boys also brought home 4 big bags of toys and treats, prizes for High in Class wins.

Gio's winnings. A High in Class rosette from Excellent B.

Romeo's winnings. A High in Class from Excellent C, two High in Class from Versatility, and a New Title rosette.

We had a fabulous time. The boys have, yet again, inflated my ego. I am not only floating, but bouncing up and down on Cloud Nine!

Romeo is Weird

2010-04-09T07:52:00.003-06:00

I've said it many many times. And I don't think people really "get" how weird he is. Yes, he is an incredibly smart dog, flamboyant, eager, and animated. But he's just really REALLY weird, too. He does things that are just strange. Things that, I'm sure, other dogs do. But while other dogs may do a couple of strange things, he seems to do them all!

From snorkeling in water dishes to bathtub jumping to taking his frustrations out on his rage pillow.

Since people just don't seem to believe me when I say that I have the weirdest dog ever, I've decided to make my way through his list of oddities and put each one to cue. I'll make a video of each training attempt, and can then take his weirdness on the road to prove to the masses how strange he is!

So here we go, Parts I and II of "How to Train Your Dog to be Weird".

Romeo Blowing Bubbles

Romeo doing an Elvis Impersonation

Spring Cleaning

2010-04-02T17:33:00.003-06:00

It's the Friday of the Easter long weekend and I woke up to a bright sunshiny day! Blue skies and wonderful weather. So decided it was a good opportunity to get out in the yard and start sprucing things up. There were a lot of leaves left over from the fall, and just random debris that collected during the winter.

The boys were thrilled by the clean-up efforts because it unearthed a lot of long forgotten toys that had hibernated beneath the snow all winter. So while I raked, the boys took turns dropping their newly re-found toys onto the pile of leaves, which I would then kick, to the utter delight of the Shelties, so that they didn't become buried again.

Romeo's favorite re-find was definitely his basketball. He will push this ball around and around and around the yard, ad nauseum. He kept it up for a full 2 hours while I was raking and bagging.

Kinda like this ...

Gio entertained himself with the various other balls that were unearthed, but soon tired of Romeo's obsessive "round the yard" game, mostly because I wouldn't let him bark while chasing Romeo and the ball. So instead, Gio found himself a bright sunny patch to lay down in and scratch his brain.

And supervise my labors.

I wound up getting *most* of the leaves collected, filling a grand total of 7 garbage bags. PHEW! This effort was promptly followed by a nap. I love long weekends!

Spring has Sprung, the Grass ...

2010-03-27T15:00:00.004-06:00

... is ... uh ... still brown.

But it's warm! Most of the snow has melted, the birds are out, and the roads are now dry enough for me to justify washing the car!

To celebrate the beautiful weather, I took the boys over to the park for a mud bath (aka. run). Little did I know, not only does spring make the puppies happy, it also makes tongues happy!

Gio was able to control his tongue for the most part. But Romeo's tongue was just SO HAPPY that he couldn't keep it contained. It kept sneaking out unannounced.

I now have two very muddy dogs. But they are happy!

Happy (Belated) St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-18T17:59:00.004-06:00

Yeah, so this is a day late. But really, this is probably a better day to post my St. Patty's Day rambling, because you were all out drinking green beer yesterday so wouldn't have remembered this post anyways! See, I'm smarter than I look. (Not that it's hard, really.)

Anyhoo ... On Monday Romeo had his regular therapy dog visit at Saskatoon City Hospital, and since it was the week of St. Patrick's Day, I couldn't very well pass up the opportunity to embarrass him. So we pulled out the plastic hats and sequined green bow-ties, and VIOLA! Embarrassed Sheltie! (And Ceilidh, the Cairn Terrier, who is well beyond "embarrassed" and is bordering on "homicidal".)

The bow-tie was deemed "acceptable", and was allowed to stay on for the duration of our visit. But the hat was just no good, and Romeo was very reluctant to been seen by his ladies in such a ridiculous get-up. For the majority of the visit, I carried the hat around, only sticking it on his head as we entered the rooms of the patients we were going to visit. Then they got to laugh as Romeo frantically pawed and shook in attempts to dislodge the hat ... more often than not resulting in an Irish Pirate situation.

Oddly enough, Romeo felt that this Jolly Green Pirate imitation was tolerable, so would give up his attempts at de-Leprechuan-ing himself once the hat covered his eye, and was more than happy to walk around with a green eye patch. Thus we know the answer to the age old question: Pirates are sexier than Leprechauns.

Best. Challenge. EVER!

2010-03-16T21:11:00.003-06:00

We had a kick-arse evening tonight at Rally-O drop in.

Started things off with Gio's photo shoot for our 52 Weeks for Dogs project on Flickr. A challenge was issued this week stating simply "favorite toy". Well, Gio's preferred toy is a tennis ball. But his FAVORITE toy is a PILE of tennis balls!

So I "borrowed" our flyball club's plethora of tennis balls and literally buried Gio in them.

Gio would like to say that he LOVED this challenge, and would appreciate it if we could do this one again. Soon.

Following the tennis ball extravaganza, I ran the boys through some Rally-O drills, which they ACED. The past couple of weeks they have seemed a little off ... a bit of a tummy bug or Gio having seizure issues, or Romeo being a jack-ass. You know ... the normal. This evening, though, no such problems. They were superstars! I even got to try out the new coupler that Karen so speedily made for me, and the boys are rocking the brace obedience experiment. I have no fears that we will be ready to strut our stuff at the Sheltie National at the end of April.

Then, to top the night off, as if it wasn't good enough already, Romeo got a new girlfriend. Concept is a sweet little Pomeranian, and Romeo thinks she is fabulous! The first few attempts of this fluffy-dog shot included Romeo's nose burrowed deep into Concept's fluff. And the resulting "Ewww Cooties!" glare from Concept.

All three dogs were sporting the Laser Eyes of Doom look, due to the horrid fluorescent lighting in the training building. I tried to dim things down a bit, now they just look like zombies. Oh well ... the amount of fluff in this one picture more than makes up for the zombie eyes, in my opinion.

Eye To Eye

2010-03-12T08:28:00.002-06:00

Here is the 10th picture for Gio's 52 Weeks for Dogs project. I can't believe it is week 10 already! I have a feeling that if we keep counting weeks like this, the year is going to seem to go by awfully quickly.

I've been planning on doing this particular photo for many weeks now, but other opportunities always bumped it back a bit. Finally got around to it yesterday and I'm very pleased with the result! I think that this one photo pretty much sums up the relationship between myself and Gio.

I got to play around with the custom timer settings on my camera, so even though I am still using the auto function, I feel as if I am learning how to use that darned thing a little bit better.

I did struggle with one surprising hurdle, though. For a dog that NEVER takes his eyes off of me, it was incredibly difficult to get a photo of him looking at me! I got plenty of nice photos of him smacking me in the face with his paw, and even more of him looking at the camera while I made funny faces at him to get his attention. I finally had to settle for putting Gio in a "stay" in his "head down" position, and then wriggling my head into position so that he wound up looking at my face. And then trying again so that my hair wasn't in my face and my fat arm wasn't covering the whole shot.

But, I think the struggles were worth it. I'm very pleased with how it turned out!

I originally took the photo in color, but decided that the greyscale version was more to my liking.

Birthday Surprises

2010-03-10T20:07:00.003-06:00

Today is my birthday. A whole 26 years old now. Though some days I feel twice that!

"The boys" surprised me at work with a huge bouquet of flowers. My favorites, Gerbera daisies! Oddly, the card that came along with the flowers appeared to be signed in my mother's handwriting. Curious indeed.

Initially, I had thought that my mom was trying to be silly and send me flowers for my birthday, pretending they were from the dogs. Seems like something she would do. When I got home after work, though, I knew that, in fact, the flowers did come from the dogs. They wanted to send me something that smelled pretty for my birthday.

Because the house certainly did NOT smell pretty when I got home!

It appears as if the boys have picked something up from the Sports and Leisure show on the weekend. Romeo has been a little ... umm ... loose since Monday. Though nothing serious or concerning. The scene that awaited me when I got home, on the other hand, was certainly concerning! What a mess!

May I say, thank Dog for crate training! The crates were a fine sight easier to clean than the carpets/walls/ceiling would have been.

PEEE-EWWW!

I am assuming this is a bug or something from the show. They really haven't been anywhere else or eaten anything strange that would cause this.

So, despite the pathetic "I'll perish without sustenance" looks they are giving me, the boys are on a fast at least until tomorrow evening. I'm hoping the night goes by without much trouble, though if things are still ... err ... messy in the morning, I'll likely cart them off to the vet's on my way to work.

I'm thinking I should go to bed now, as I anticipate a night punctuated by frequent potty trips and bum-washes.

Emotional Therapy for the Masses

2010-03-07T17:40:00.004-06:00

This week has been CRAZY! In addition to our regular Monday night therapy dog visits and Tuesday night Rally-O practice, this week we also had Thursday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday shifts at a booth at the Saskatoon Sports and Leisure trade show. The show organizers approached one of the agility groups in town, Saskatchewan Agility Association, and asked them if they would do some demos in exchange for a free booth at the trade show. Since the agility club is pretty small in numbers, they agreed to take the booth and demos if they could split the work with one or two other non-profit dog groups. So the agility group approached St. John Ambulance therapy dog program and the Hub City Kennel and Obedience Club to join in the insanity.

Since I love trade shows, and am a member of 2 of the 3 dog groups involved, I volunteered to put in a lot of time at the booth and for demos. So in the past 4 days, the boys and I have put in over 21 hours at the show. PHEW! My feet are killing me, I have a sore throat, the dogs are exhausted, and I'm behind on laundry and groceries. But it was a great time (if you are a masochist)!

In addition to the agility and Rally-O demos, we spent most of our time in "therapy dog mode". Of course, the boys just lapped up the attention. Even after an 11 hour shift on Saturday, they were eager* for more again Sunday morning.

I suppose part of their enthusiasm could be explained by the fact that out booth was located directly across the aisle from the sausage and jerky stand. People would swarm to the stand for their fix of delicious meat products, turn around and notice the puppies. Then swarm over to them, meat in hand, for scratches. Romeo seemed equally thrilled with the people as with the proximity to the meat. But Gio definitely showed more excitement over the potential for accidentally dropped goodies. He deserves a commendation, his exuberant optimism never wavered the whole 4 days. He was just as sure that a sausage would be dropped for him on Sunday as he was on Thursday.

There were plenty of kids around, which helped ease the aching for a nibble of jerky. You see, children are often coated in good tasting goop, so choosing to cuddle up with them instead of staring down the meat cart can hardly be deemed a sacrifice.

Gio and Romeo made a lot of little fans on the weekend. This little boy being one of the biggest.

He had a t-shirt with the print of a husky on the front, and his face was painted to match. When he saw the boys at the booth, he rushed over, put them each in a headlock and hauled them in for cuddles and kisses. His mom pulled out her camera for a picture, so I asked if I could snap a shot as well. I had yet to have taken a picture for Gio's photo project, so was hoping to get something good at the show. I think this picture is really cute, despite the fact that it appears as if Gio is trying to escape the death grip that the boy has around his neck. In reality, someone had walked into the booth with a piece of sausage, and while Gio loves his therapy dog job, he loves food just a teensy bit more. I would normally have reset him or tried to get his attention for another shot, but the boy's mom was shooting me the stink eye, so I decided to remain satisfied with the one shot that I got.

This week is decidedly less busy. I am definitely looking forward to that.

* Okay, maybe "eager" is a bit strong. "Not adamantly apposed to" might be more accurate.

Go Canada Go!

2010-02-26T09:03:00.004-06:00

So I actually have a good excuse for not writing for a while. The Olympics has been taking up all of my time. Now, I know you are all asking, did I win Gold? Where can I find coverage of your amazing championship showing? Silly you! I know I can easily be mistaken for an Olympic athlete, and my physique rivals those fabulous Olympians, but the spotlight just isn't for me. So I leave it up to those who enjoy competing in front of the whole world, and I man my position on the comfy chair in front of the TV, cheering them on from the anonymity of my living room.

Anyways, I've been glued to the Olympic coverage for the past 2 weeks and that, combined with my already busy schedule, results in no blog posting.

The boys and I are busy busy busy! There is a BIG trial coming up in a couple of months, and I am aiming for a "Big Ribbon". The Canadian Shetland Sheepdog Association National show and trial is being held in combination with the Hub City Kennel and Obedience Club's annual show April 30 - May 2. Shelties from across the country will be gathering in Saskatoon to compete in obedience, Rally-O, conformation, and agility. Of course, I will be focusing on Rally-O, but may also dabble in a couple other venues. But details aren't nailed down yet, so I'll keep those plans secret for the moment. As of now, the boys and I are amping up the practice for Rally-O. They are already 100/100 scoring dogs, so we are now aiming at increasing the speed of execution. Fast, precise, and consistent. If I can nail those things down, then we are in a good position to take a "Big Ribbon". *fingers crossed*

Therapy dog visits are continuing as normal. Gio continues to visit his ladies twice a month, and Romeo patrols City Hospital every Monday. This year, Saskatchewan St. John Ambulance therapy dog program is focusing on child certification tests. There are two levels of tests in the therapy dog program: the base level adult certification test where dogs are tested to visit adults, and the child certification test where dogs are tested to visit pediatric wards, day care centers, schools, or anywhere with children. There are two child tests planned for Saskatoon, and two for Regina in 2010. Since I am the one doing the evaluations in Saskatoon, I can't very well test my own dogs. So the boys and I will be trucking off to Regina in a couple of months to be tested (and hopefully certified) there.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Gio has been having some more trouble with seizures. For a while, he was having one seizure about every 4 months. That is a level that I can accept. But recently he has been having one seizure every couple of weeks. I don't like that frequency, so last Friday I took him back to the vet for some blood work to see where things are at. Everything looks good, so we are just going to bump up his phenobarb levels a teeny bit and see what happens. So far so good!

And, of course, the photo project is continuing!

From last week:
Last Monday was Family Day, a random long weekend holiday that some Canadian provinces have picked up. The going theory is that it was added in the middle of February due to the increased suicide rates in that month. Regardless, it is a long weekend and I love it! Since the sun was shining brightly and the weather was actually kinda sorta warm, I took Gio to run at the park behind our house. The park was empty, so Mr. Run and Bark could run and bark to his heart's content. And that he did!

And from this week:
I have had plans now for weeks to do a particular shoot, but it keeps getting pushed to the side. I've now been lured by the sunlight two weeks in a row. Yesterday I got home from work full of plans to set up the shoot that has been backburnered for a couple of weeks, then I saw this beautiful square of bright bright sunlight on the wall and plans changed. During the winter months, it is generally pitch black when I go to work in the morning, and pitch black when I come home from work in the evening. So this sunlight on the wall when I got home from work made me very excited. First real sign of spring!

I quite like this picture. The only thing I would change would require home renovations. I wish I had a large window that would be at the right angle to catch this beam of sunlight that didn't have that extra bar down the middle. But that is a minor complaint on my part.

Don't Look at Me! ...

2010-02-11T11:18:00.002-06:00

... I'm HIDEOUS!!

It is week 6 of our 52 Weeks for Dogs project. This was supposed to be last week's picture, but when the group challenge was introduced, this got pushed back to this week.

A couple of weeks ago, I took the boys over to a friends place for a visit. I had some business to discuss with my friend regarding an upcoming therapy dog test, and the boys needed a play date. Two birds!

All 4 dogs, my friend's two Miniature Poodles, Gina and Katie, and my two guys, are therapy dogs. Well behaved, well mannered, well trained dogs. And they all get along quite well. But, as dogs will be dogs, Gina has one rule that she insists upon. One rule that Gio was not aware of before.

DON'T STEAL MY TOY!

Gio now knows that Gina has a rule. He's a fast learner.

So, in light of Gio's new manly nose scar, I set up a photo shoot to tell the story.
The idea was to create a photo that suggests the nose scar (and the imagined emotions that might go along with that), without saying "Look! Nose scar!" So I took one of Gio's favorite tricks, "Are you sad?", and played around with the angles to give an impression of shame or embarrassment about his "horrible disfigurement".

I was quite thrilled with this week's submission because it required very little editing! I enjoy playing around with GIMP and learning all the tricks to making a photo look its best. But having taken a photo that didn't require any special touches is a pretty cool feeling! Just a slight adjustment to brightness, not even any cropping. *chuff*

And, before I sign off for today, thanks to everyone that sent good wishes to Gio after his seizure on Monday. He's feeling much better and there have been no more seizures since. He still seems a little dopey or head-shakey, but nothing has manifested from it. I'm still going to try and get him into the vet for some more blood work updates next week. Want to give it some time for his phenobarb levels to even out again, as I doped him up pretty good after the twitch on Monday.

New Look

2010-02-09T14:28:00.003-06:00

Yes, you are in the right place. Same crazy Shelties, same copious amounts of Sheltie hair.

Gio has been having trouble with seizures again (think it is time for another vet visit to check on the status of things), and last night was no exception. I was jarred awake by the sound of a Sheltie hitting the closet doors at just after midnight last night. Gio had fallen off the bed and was having a seizure on the floor. I don't know if he fell off the bed because of the seizure, or if the fall triggered the seizure. Regardless, it happened. And it took a good long time for him to settle down again. By the time he was able to lay down and go to sleep, it was nearly 5am and I had long since written off the idea of getting some shut-eye and putting in a full days work today. So, since I was awake already and Gio seemed to be settled down without too much twitching, I trudged off to work much earlier than normal, put in a couple of hours, and headed back home for a nap. Seems as if the world is trying to prevent me from sleeping though, as the phone started ringing about half hour after nap-time started. I ended up getting a couple of sleep sessions in, but now, at about 2:30 in the afternoon, I have discarded that idea as well.

Normally, I would be happy for the extra daylight time to practice some photography. But with my main subject still out of sorts mentally, I hardly think a session under the bright lights is suitable today. Hence, the change of decor around here! I had to fiddle with something, and as Life is Better With Sheltie Hair is hovering around it's year and a half mark, I figured it was time for a bit of a change.

So here it is ... enjoy!

Finally ...

2010-02-06T15:55:00.005-06:00

... a blog post NOT related to the 52 Weeks for Dogs project!

It seems like the only blog-time I have allotted myself over the past few weeks is to keep you all updated on the photography project. As much fun as that is, that is not what this blog is about! It's about the crazy antics that my boys get up to.

So ... back to the crazy! And by "crazy", I really mean "your average run at the park". Sorry to get your hopes up.

The weather is beautiful here today, despite the overcast gray-ness of it all. It's warm enough to venture out to the park without worrying about frozen paws or frostbitten camera trigger-fingers.

The boys were thrilled to get to run at the park again. It's been either too cold or too hectic to get out for runs as often as they would like. And luckily for us, despite the fabulous weather, the park was pretty empty. Apart from a couple of kids tobagganing down the hill (read: small mound) and a couple more having a snowball fight in the distance, we had the whole place to ourselves. I like this park because it is usually pretty empty, and whatever kids we do happen across tend to either ignore the dogs or want to throw a ball for them. Both of which are perfectly fine with me! The park is also big enough that the barking fool (ie. Gio) can bark his fool head off all he wants, and while I am sure that some of the surrounding houses can hear him, they are far enough away that it isn't too distracting or annoying. (I hope!)

So, there was lots of running ...

And for Gio, running = barking, so there was lots of that, too ...

Then Romeo wanted to play "King of the Castle" with the snow piles, a game that Gio finds no real joy in and grudgingly tolerates ...

I was occasionally throwing snow clumps for the dogs to chase, when one magically turned into a stick!!
This resulted in more running ... and barking ...

So what, you may ask, is the eventual outcome of all this barking?

Glamorous spittle strings, that's what!

Where Dogs Shouldn't Be

2010-02-04T17:07:00.003-06:00

This week of the 52 Weeks for Dogs project included an optional challenge. The challenge: take a photo using the theme of "Places Dogs Shouldn't Be".

I initially had a totally different photo idea in mind, but when the challenge was issued, I couldn't pass it up! So my original idea got back-burnered until next week, and instead I started wracking my brain for unique ideas that play into the challenge theme.

I decided to take a little creative liberty in the process and finally settled on: Dogs should not be used in place of ...

Flower Vases
(only one flower was harmed in the making of these photos)

I liked the idea so much, that I had to take a couple more shots that included both dogs. I really liked how this one turned out, with both dogs glancing at the camera out the corner of their eye.

52 Weeks - Week 4

2010-01-31T11:52:00.003-06:00

I took this photo earlier in the week, just haven't gotten around to posting it here until now.

Last weekend was a CRAZY winter storm that dumped 20 inches or so of snow on the city. And, despite shoveling the driveway out (multiple times, due to the wind blowing the snow all back in again), I was still unable to leave for work on Monday morning. SHAME!

The plows had not made it to the residential streets yet, so while I could move around comfortably in the driveway, I couldn't get anywhere on the street. So it was a SNOW DAY holiday!

I was excited to take advantage of this rare opportunity, where I wasn't otherwise engaged during daylight hours, to try for some outdoor action shots with Gio. But, while luck was allowing me to have a long weekend due to snow, it would not grant me any decent sunlight for action photos. I got a bunch of dark blurry romping in the snow shots, but nothing worthy of the 52 Weeks project. Instead, I opted for this photo.

Normally, I greatly dislike "shooting down at the dog" photos. They tend to look really amateur to me, so I hope that isn't the vibe with this photo. I love the big goofy grin and the snow all over his face from Sheltie Snow Plowing through the drifts. When the snow piles up between his eyes like this, I always think that it makes his eyes look so tiny and silly!

Snow Day

2010-01-24T12:09:00.008-06:00

It appears as if the snow has finally stopped falling. Or, at least has tapered off to a light sprinkling. But the destruction left in its wake is pretty intense!

I live in a city that is used to snow. We're right smack in the middle of the Canadian prairies. We know snow. We know winter. We have the infrastructure to deal with such situations. Weather will rarely stop the city from running as usual.

This morning, the buses stopped running. I have heard tales that, of the 28 buses that were scheduled to be on routes this morning, 12 of them were stuck in snow drifts by the time service was canceled mid-morning. When Saskatoon buses stop running, you know it was some serious weather!

Luckily, it's not too cold out, just snow and wind. So, trying to be optimistic, it could be a heck of a lot worse. Like 40 below kind of worse.

These are the kind of snow days that I like! Enough powdery white stuff to cancel regular plans (like my Sunday afternoon Rally-O classes), but not cold enough to keep us housebound! So out we went to shovel the driveway, the workout from which I am now recovering. Who needs the gym when you have a thousand* pounds of snow to move?

I didn't actually measure how deep the snow was, and the "before" pictures I took didn't look very impressive. So I have called on my handy-dandy furry measuring sticks!

Gio is roughly 19.5" at the shoulder. Romeo is about 14" at the shoulder.

Here I have tossed some of the snow into a pile along the side of the driveway, edged by the neighbour's house. You can see the "smooth" bottom layer and the "chunky" top layer (yes, I thought of peanut butter, too). The smooth layer is where the snow fell, while the chunky is what was tossed on top from other parts of the driveway. The fallen snow layer is about 3" below Gio's shoulder, so one could estimate that there was about 16" of snow on the driveway. It wasn't consistently as thick across the whole driveway though, thanks to the wind.

Of course, the most fun is jumping through the BIG pile of snow near the fence!

I love a good Snow Face!

* May be a slight exaggeration.

It's Snowing

2010-01-23T16:48:00.004-06:00

Really REALLY snowing!

The boys are loving it. I also love snow, as long as I don't have to drive in it and it magically disappears from my driveway without any effort on my part. Unfortunately, those things rarely come along with snow. But I do love watching it fall and blow from the comfort of my living room!

This snow storm is supposed to last for the next two days with a predicted 15cm (~6in).

52 Weeks - Week 3

2010-01-22T20:34:00.003-06:00

So it's a couple of days late ... sorry. This picture was posted to the Flickr group a couple of days ago, I just haven't had the time to put it here yet. So without further ado ...

WEEK 3

My goal this week was to try and capture Gio's goofy side. I bought this toy ring a while ago and he is absolutely nuts over it! He insists on carrying it around over his head like this, instead of like what most would consider "normal". Even if he does pick it up normally, he will stop and toss his head around until he "fixes" it (ie. loops it back over his head like a gomer).

The ring, if anyone is curious, is something I picked up from a locally owned pet store here in Saskatoon. The label said it is "water buffalo leather". I can vouch that it is really leather ... whether that leather came from a water buffalo or your run-of-the-mill cow, I cannot say for sure. But whatever it is, this thing is like cat-nip for the dogs! They are crazy about it (and were really hoping that Gramma might buy them another one for Christmas so that they didn't have to share).

On a side note, though arguably more important than a silly picture of Gio with a ring on his face ...

DONATE TO CANADA'S HAITI RELIEF FUND

SUCCESS!

2010-01-12T17:29:00.003-06:00

Or ... at least, we are getting closer!

I made a second attempt today to capture the picture that was in my mind for LAST week's "52 Weeks for Dogs" photo project. I was aiming for a simple portrait-type picture. Something to showcase the dignified, handsome, regal image that Gio likes to portray to the general public. My first attempt failed, and instead I wound up with the "Sheltie-Mind-Meld Hover Ball incident".

I am MUCH happier with the result of this week's attempt!

Thanks to everyone that posted tips and comments last week! Keep 'em coming.

To see the whole project to date (note: it's only week 2 of 2010 ... so guess how many pictures there are so far?), CLICK HERE.

Belated Christmas Party

2010-01-10T18:06:00.006-06:00

Today we had our (very belated) Christmas party for Hub City Kennel and Obedience Club. It was originally scheduled for mid-December, but some people thought it was too cold for a party (welcome to Saskatchewan, it is always cold in December!), so the date was bumped until today. Granted, it is much warmer today than it was on the originally planned date, but seeing as the party was inside, I don't see how it makes a difference. But, anyways, on to the party!

The kennel club Christmas parties generally involved lots of food, letting the dogs run around and bark at each other, some games, and a gift exchange. The biggest part of the event is watching the dogs play together, because really, we all joined initially for the dogs anyways!

While the club seems to be overrun with Shelties and Cairn Terriers, there is a really good amount of diversity! It's really neat to see so many dogs of different breeds playing together, and they have a blast at it, too.

For any of you that know Gio, you will know that he really isn't big on playing. He will play with people that will throw a ball for him, and he gets excited to work with me. But he doesn't really engage other dogs in play, apart from chase n' bark. So I was thrilled today to see Gio actually honestly PLAYING with Elmo, the Norrbottenspets! He's totally useless at playing and doesn't really "get" the motions, but he was trying and Elmo was humoring him. So exciting for me to see!

Elmo, sandwiched between Gio (on the right) and Painter (on the left).

Romeo, of course, is a total breed snob and really only interacted with the other Shelties. He had a good bout of zoomies with 7 month old Lacey, a blue merle Sheltie pup, while we were all doing the gift exchange. And he did take a notice in Zara, one of the Salukis, who was right in the middle of the Shelties playing and chasing with the best of them.

Piper, Cairn Terrier, modeling some ribbon from the gift exchange.

Tetley and Emmy, English Cocker Spaniels, running off with a jar of treats.

After the regular portion of the party, a few of us stuck around to participate in what we hope will become a fun new club activity! The husband of one of our members is a judge and instructor for Scottish Country Dancing. Since our club participates in a large number of demos each year, we thought it would be fun to organize a sort of dance with the dogs. Similar to Freestyle Obedience of days gone by. So Claude put together some music and a simple dance pattern for us and we gave it a shot! For a bunch of dog handler non-dancers, that makes for a LOT of left feet! But we were able to put it all together, and at the end of an hour and a half, have a semi-decent dance organized. It will definitely take some practice and tweaking, but it is looking promising! Our next demo opportunity is in March, so we are going to aim to have something worthy of showing the public by then.

And, of course, when we get this many club members and dogs together, we can't help but take a group picture!

From left to right:
Standing: Jill (with English Cocker Spaniels, Emmy and Tetley), Dayna (with Shelties, Romeo and Gio), Claire (with Havanese, Petey), Jeannette (with Cairn Terrier, Piper), Jae (with Cairn Terrier, Rascal), Verna (with German Pinscher, Julie)
Sitting: Gisele (with Miniature Poodles, Gina and Katie), Julie (with Belgian Shepherd, Zorro), Jan (with Salukis, Cygfa and Torc), Robbie (with Saluki, Zara), Elaine (with German Shepherd, Harley), Judith (with Shelties, Ace, Lacey, and Painter), Dante (with Norrbottenspets, Elmo)

Poor Romeo is

2010-01-08T23:12:00.003-06:00

a very reluctant model.

Since Gio is my 52 Weeks for Dogs subject, I have decided to do my practices on Romeo. That way, I can't be mad that I ended up getting a better picture of Gio later in the week after already submitting that week's photo entry.

I tried a new lighting set up today and played around with a few new techniques in Gimp. I'm very happy with how the pictures turned out this time.

Thanks also to everyone that has posted pointers on the last post!

52 Weeks for Dogs

2010-01-06T20:51:00.004-06:00

One of my personal desires for 2010 is to become more practiced and skillful at photography. The technical points as well as the processing afterward. It will be a HUGE learning process for me!

Lucky for me, I found a great group of people on Flickr. I first learned of this group through some of my favorite dog-bloggers, Dig It, Fetch It, Herd It, and Many Muddy Paws. The "52 Weeks for Dogs" Flickr group is a project based group where the members strive to post one really great picture of one dog every week for a year. Such a great group of people, and so much talent in one place. I jumped at the opportunity to join for 2010!

Despite having been "taking pictures" for years, I'm a far cry from what anyone would call a "photographer". To me, a photographer is someone who understands how cameras work, how to manipulate their surroundings and the light to capture a really great image. Who understand the art of intriguing photo composition. And who don't rely solely on the "auto" function of their point-and-shoot camera!

I don't claim that I will be a "photographer" by the end of the year ... but I certainly hope to improve my skills and learn a little sumthin-sumthin about photography!

So, if there happen to be any photographers reading this blog, I value all CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, pointers, and tips! I'm using a Canon Power Shot SX110 IS and I have a tripod ... that is the extent of my equipment. Please do keep in mind that I am a single gal with a house loan and a student loan to pay off, therefore please do not suggest that I spend hundreds of dollars on fancy flashes or kits. I would, however, greatly appreciate affordable do-it-yourself ideas!

I'm using GIMP as a photo editing program, so to all you GIMP geniuses out there, HELP!

I would love pointers on everything from photo composition, to the technical aspects of actually taking the picture, to different photo editing options.

Anyways ... without further ado ... here is my first submission for the 52 Weeks for Dogs project!

WEEK 1 - Gio-centric?

This photo is not at all what I had in mind for week 1. I sat down hoping to gather a serious, dignified, thoughtful expression from Gio. The type that he so often wears in public. Alas ... I got crazy Sheltie-Mind-Meld Hover Ball things happening. I "like" it, but I'm not thrilled with it. I know the editing could have been better. It's just a little TOO bright and vivid. Also, the composition is a little off, the crap on the shelf behind the couch is a bit distracting. But I am happy with it overall, knowing that I will improve as things progress!

Like any good junky, I had to try my hand at this picture taking business again tonight. I'm decidedly more happy with tonight's image! Though, it is too late to submit this picture in my 52 Weeks project ... very strict rules about only ONE picture per week, and the picture must be taken within the allotted week, no diving into archives. So, for this one, I need to be happy with it solely for its quality and the tricks I (somewhat successfully) attempted in taking the picture and editing it.

If you want to follow along with our 52 Week adventure, check out my Flickr photostream for the project.
52 Weeks of Gio

(Don't get too excited, if you are reading this during the week of January 4th-10th there is only one picture there!)

Wrapping Up 2009!

2009-12-31T17:52:00.003-06:00

It's nearly here. 2010. The New Year. Where the heck did 2009 go?! It's been a crazy one, that is for sure.

I'm not really big on setting resolutions. I always end up breaking them. Instead, I like to have a general idea of the BIG picture goals for the next year.

Last year I set some goals, so let's start off by revisiting those and see how we did, shall we?

For 2009, our goals were ...

Gio
- finish his CARO Rally-O Excellent title
- begin working on his CARO C Stream Bronze title
- finish his CKC Novice Obedience title
- begin (and finish) his CKC Advanced Rally title
- continue on with therapy dog work

Gio did not complete his CARO Rally-O Excellent or C Stream Bronze titles ... there were only 3 CARO trials in the province last year, and we had to miss one because Gio ended up having a bad bout of seizures right at that time.
He did complete his CKC Novice Obedience title, though.
He also finished his CKC Advanced Rally title, as well as his CKC Excellent Rally title, again with a handful of High in Class ribbons along the way.
He continued his therapy dog work, as planned, with a total of 38 visitation hours in 2009.
In the midst of this, Gio had a horrible battle with pancreatitis induced by his epilepsy medication. I nearly lost him in March, the vets were not giving him a good chance of ever coming home again. Recovery took months, so there was quite a long down-time in there where we were only focusing on improving his health. My boy is such a trooper!

Romeo
- finish his CARO Rally-O Excellent title
- begin working on his CARO C Stream Bronze title
- CGN test (if there is one offered locally this year, there weren't any last year)
- begin (and finish) his CKC Advanced Rally-O title
- continue to train towards competition in agility (master those contacts!)
- continue to train towards CKC Open Obedience title
- continue visiting as a SJA therapy dog

Romeo completed his CARO Rally-O Excellent title with Magna Cum Laude. He also completed his CARO C Stream Bronze title and earned 4 legs towards his C Stream Silver title (one more leg to go).
There was no CGN test in the province again this year, though I hear rumor that there is one planned for spring of 2010.
He completed his CKC Advanced Rally-O title as well as his CKC Excellent Rally-O title, with a handful of High in Class ribbons along the way.
We continued to train for AAC agility, and he has some really beautiful contacts now! He competed in his first trials at the end of the summer of 2009 and earned 1 qualifying score in Jumpers with a 1st place in his class.
Open Obedience got put on the back burner when Romeo advanced so far through CARO Rally-O. Our focus was switched to the next level there, Versatility.
He also continued volunteering as a therapy dog with a total of 67 visiting hours in 2009.

In total this year, the boys collected 7 new titles in obedience and Rally-O and amassed 105 total volunteer hours for St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Program!

Goals for 2010:

Gio
- keep plugging away at that CARO Rally-O Excellent title
- continue therapy dog visitations
- get out tracking more and aim towards competing for a tracking title
- keep the seizures down to the low frequency that we have achieved at the end of 2009

Romeo
- finish up the CARO C Stream Silver title
- begin actively competing in CARO Rally-O Versatility level
- continue training in agility, improve the weave poles, and try for a couple more qualifying legs
- continue therapy dog visitations

Normally, I don't like to make specific goals, as in "I want to get a perfect score at the Rally-O trial in June". Rather, I make goals I strive to complete by the end of the year. ... This year, it is a little different, though. There is the Canadian Shetland Sheepdog Association 2010 National being held in conjunction with the Hub City Kennel and Obedience Club (the dog club for which I am a trainer) being held here in Saskatoon in April/May. They are having Sheltie-only trials in obedience, Rally-O, agility, and conformation, in addition to the all-breed competitions that go along with the normal show. I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to take a High in Class with at least one of the boys in the Rally-O trials at the Sheltie National! I'm still contemplating whether I want to go for the Most Versatile Sheltie award with Romeo by competing in obedience, agility, and Rally-O. I think we might pass on that one, though, and just aim for Rally-O. Both dogs routinely get perfect scores in CKC Rally-O, so it is just a matter of being the fastest dogs to do so. So our training regime is all about SPEED in addition to precision.

Now that we've tied up loose ends in terms of goals, let's take another glance back at 2009. This time with pictures and music. (All together now ... "oooooooohh!" ... nicely done.)

And finally, our wishes to you!

Thank you for traveling with us through 2009.
We sincerely hope that you will stop by for a visit again in 2010.
Wishing you a year full of happiness, good health, wet noses, and warm toes!
Oh, and don't forget, lots and lots of Sheltie hair!

Christmas Continues!

2009-12-28T13:56:00.002-06:00

This year was my first year participating in the ornament exchange from the Circle of Sheltie Friends message board. It is sort of organized like a Secret Santa ... except it's not really secret and you exchange Christmas ornaments instead of presents.

Today, our ornament arrived from Binx and his owner!

So cute! I love the personalized snowflakes. Thanks so much Binx!!

Christmas With The Shelties

2009-12-25T21:20:00.004-06:00

First things, first.

Happy Holidays to all! Regardless of whether or not you celebrate this time of year, we want to take this time to wish you and your family (furred or otherwise) health, happiness, and prosperity now and throughout 2010!

This afternoon I took the dogs to some of the nursing homes that they visit regularly as therapy dogs. Many of the people there don't have family in town or aren't able to get out to celebrate the season, so it is nice to take the boys around and spread some holiday cheer. Gio and Romeo were both decked out in their holiday outfits, complete with jingle bells, faux fur and sparkles. Out visiting buddy, Lily, was also stunning in her festive bells. And with her quick trot, you could hear us coming clear down the hallway!

After visiting our favorite ladies, I took the boys over to my parent's place for Christmas supper. After I whooped some butt at cribbage, the boys supervised the carving of the turkey.

They got their own special supper afterward. Consisting of the raw turkey neck and innards, as well as some sides of mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts, gravy and cranberry sauce. Christmas and Thanksgiving are the two days were we deviate from the regular Raw diet and the boys get to indulge in some tasty treats.

Gio, always the carnivore, goes straight for the turkey neck. Romeo, on the other hand, prefers the special sides and chowed down on the gravy and cranberries first.

Of course, both boys left their veggies for last.

I hope you are all able to spend some time with friends and family this holiday season. Wishing you all the important things in life ... wet noses, warm paws, and an unending supply of toys and treats!

Christmas at the Hospital

2009-12-21T16:01:00.004-06:00

As I have mentioned before, Romeo visits the Transitional Care Unit at Saskatoon City Hospital every Monday evening. We received an invitation last week for the unit's patient/staff/volunteer Christmas party ... and the therapy dogs were invited, too!

There are 4 St. John Ambulance therapy dogs in that unit: Romeo and Ceilidh visit every Monday evening. Kaibo, a Toy Poodle, goes on Wednesdays, and Oscar, a Golden Retriever, visits on Thursdays. In addition to Romeo, Oscar and Ceilidh were able to make it to the Christmas party as well. Kaibo's owner has a bit of the flu, so wasn't able to make it out to celebrate with us.

The party was a great time! All of the unit's patients and their families gathered in the staff cafeteria. Presents were handed out, carols sung, and some great local musicians played some fun festive tunes. And, of course, there was food!

The dogs had a great time, dancing (spins and twirls) to the music, getting scratches from all of the party-goers, and trying really REALLY hard to ignore all the crumbs dropped on the floor.

Oscar had to leave before I could get a picture of him, but Romeo and Ceilidh were happy to pose by one of the Christmas trees.

Ceilidh's owner is also doing some fundraising for the regional agility team this year, so she has been selling fancy dog collars that she has made. Romeo has much too much hair to show off a fancy collar, and it mats so easily. But Gio's hair is short enough that you sometimes catch a glimpse of his collar through the fluff, so I thought I would do my part to support the team and purchase one. They are really pretty, after all!

Secret Santa

2009-12-20T16:27:00.005-06:00

Every year I do a Doggy Secret Santa with a group of dog-friends online. We all met because we feed our dogs a raw diet, but we then found out that we have so much more in common. It's really become a close group of friends, so it's nice to have these little traditions to share.

At Christmas, we have a Secret Santa exchange. The boys' present just arrived today. I must say that our Secret Santa went above and beyond this year! All of the gifts are home-made, and she is incredibly talented in the knitting department.

The boys inspected the package, but it was so tightly taped up that I had to take a knife to it to get it open. Puppy teeth just were not going to do the task in any timely manner.

Inside were two super cute boxed and a card. The card indicated that one box was for me and one for the boys (of course, the BIG box is for the dogs).

The boys got a bag of ZiwiPeak treats which was quickly pushed aside in favor of the two AWESOME home-made wool toys! For these dogs to pass over treats in favor of toys is a HUGE deal.

They didn't waste any time in breaking in the new toys. Gio went for the chub toy first.

But then Romeo started tossing around the tug toy and started a vicious game of shake-n-growl. The tug toy is super long, so it was difficult getting it all in one shot ...

So here are the blissed out puppers on each end.

And my present ... the best of all!! Hand-made socks and a super cute knitted toque! They are perfect, and I can't wait to test the toque out in the morning. Needless to say, the socks are already on my feet, and they are toasty warm.

The boys and I say a HUGE "Thank You" to Rondo and Gretta, and their very talented owner.

And, now, some more "breaking in the chub" pictures.

SORRY!

2009-12-18T17:16:00.004-06:00

Apparently there has been some dissension among my loyal followers. I have indirectly heard complaints that the "coffee ladies at the mall" are appalled that I haven't written on the blog for over a week.

SORRY, LADIES!

I believe that some people are under the impression that upkeep on a dog blog is of more importance than upkeep on the actual dogs in said blog. With our normal doggy activities, the frigid weather, the holiday season, and my trying to gain what I have heard people refer to as "a life" ... the blog has taken a bit of a back seat. I do promise, though, that as soon as something exciting and blog-worthy happens, it will be posted here! PROMISE!

In the mean time, to appease the masses, I have some random "playing in the snow" pictures.

I will precede the pictures with a statement, a wish, if you may ...

This year for Christmas I wish for dogs that play normally.

At the present moment I have dogs that play like vicious beasts. It most often looks like a blurry blob of fur and fangs. Like this ...

And to accompany the flying fur and fangs are ear-splitting war cries. Gio, the big burly dog that he is, has a substantial and believable "I'm gonna eat you" war cry. Romeo, on the other hand, has a war cry that could more easily be interpretted as "Oh my God, I'm dying!". Together, it sounds, and often appears, as if big nasty Gio is tearing poor helpless Romeo to shreds. Though, if you hung around long enough, you would notice that it is Romeo that emerges from these play sessions with hair stuck in his teeth. Honestly, I swear it people, my dogs are not eating each other. They really do play like this ... REALLY! No need to walk swiftly past, shooting glares of disgust my way for having vicious baby-killing long-haired Pit Bulls*.

I often have to intercept such play sessions with my own "I mean business" war cry to get the vicious beasts to settle down and play quietly before we are kicked out of our "no dogs allowed" vacant school park by the residents of the surrounding apartment blocks.

Quiet play sessions are short, and frequently interrupted by barking "I'm gonna eat you" play sessions. But when they do happen, they are enjoyable.

Gio snurfles around in the snow, often breaking into a gallop to skim through snow drifts with an open mouth. Commonly referred to as the Sheltie Snow Plow.

Today, during one of Gio's snow plow excursions, he CAUGHT A BIRD! And by "caught" I really mean "found" and by "bird" I really mean "the leftover remains of a kitty snack that had a couple feathers still attached so I can be reasonably secure in saying that it was once a bird". He was very proud of his catch and tried to disguise his frantic crunching by turning his back to me. Despite first appearances, I actually am a little bit smarter than that. Luckily, we play the "drop it" game a lot, so I was able to trick him into dropping his prize by excitedly saying "drop it". Usually this means that he gets a cookie. Usually.

Recognizing that he was thwarted, he left his prize and sulked off to survey his land.

And what, you may ask, was Romeo doing this whole time?

This ...

Romeo finds no joy in exploring. Though maybe it is because he hasn't "caught" a "bird" of his own yet. So until he does, he spends most of his park visits playing "I'm gonna eat you" with Gio. And when he isn't doing that, he stands in front of me and stares. It's a little disconcerting at first, but you get over it quick enough.

* Please note, I adore bully breeds (in the capable hands of the proper owner) and have swooned over a number of them in my time. The sentence to which this footnote refers should be read with the utmost degree of sarcasm. Throw in a good ol' eye-roll for good measure.

Pet Health Survey

2009-12-11T16:11:00.002-06:00

Hello faithful readers!

Have a spare minute on your hands? Looking to procrastinate for a bit? Then fill out a survey!

Lacey Crispigna of RawFitPet.com has compiled a survey for pet owners.

Earlier this year, she hosted a survey for raw feeders that came up with some pretty awesome results.

This new survey encompasses all types of feeding (commercial, kibble, canned, homecooked, raw, etc.) and general health of the pets on those diets. She's hoping to get an equal representation from each feeding style, so everyone is welcome to participate.

The survey is relatively short and will only take a couple of minutes to fill out. So GET ON IT!

CLICK HERE!

Cold Weather Fun!

2009-12-08T19:26:00.003-06:00

The weather has been NASTY here lately. Well, I guess I really shouldn't complain. It is "normal" weather for this time of year, but we were very spoiled by an unseasonably warm November. Now that December has hit us full force so suddenly, it's a little uncomfortable.

-30C to -40C windchills mean that we aren't getting outside very much lately. Potty breaks are conducted in record time, then back at the door ready to come in and warm up.

But, no fear, we have been keeping busy!

I've been working on holiday cards for a couple of card exchanges that I participate in. Notably the Dogs With Blogs card exchange, but also a Sheltie card exchange and a Dogster card exchange. And a Doggy Secret Santa exchange that I do each year with a group of online raw-feeding friends!

For the raw-fed dog Secret Santa, I thought it only fitting that I package the gifts in a raw food box! Sorry, fuzzy giftee(s), there is no raw meat in that box. But some other goodies that you will hopefully enjoy! All items have been Sheltie-Approved.

Gio offered to donate his football/rope toy. But, as you can see, it is well loved. So I convinced him that he would be sad if we gave it away.

Romeo, the eager pooch that he is, helped hold the stiff cardboard wrapping paper in place for me to tape.

The boys were very proud of their wrapping job ...

Until I informed Romeo that we were actually giving the goodies away. He didn't take that piece of information very well ...

We have also been playing a lot of indoor games to keep the boys entertained and me sane. Here is one of our favorites.

Spreading Christmas Cheer

2009-12-05T14:56:00.004-06:00

It's that time of year again. The tree is up, the wreath is hung, the egg nog is stocked in the fridge ... and the Dogs With Blogs Christmas cards are starting to arrive!

Our first is from Indiana, Shingo, Molly, and family.

And a beautiful one from Sugar!

Big Boy Coat!

2009-11-28T20:04:00.004-06:00

This afternoon I spent up to my elbows in the tedious job of petting puppies. I evaluated a bunch of prospective therapy dog teams ... and am proud to offer congratulations to 8 new St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog teams in Saskatoon and area! Wonderful job, everyone! Fantastic dogs that, I am sure, will be bringing smiles to many faces very soon.

This evening, I was again up to my elbows in puppy fluff ... this time bathing my own dogs. Yes, it is that time of year again. I've heard rumor that some cities in the South of the province have been getting snow the past day or two, so it is likely headed up this way soon. Can't complain, really. We are normally snowed in by the end of October. But, regardless of when it comes, the "before the snow flies" bath must happen. I don't like bathing the dogs when there is snow on the ground as it is usually SO cold and the boys take SO long to dry, outdoor potty breaks pose a serious risk for pup-cicles.

Neither dog is amused by baths. Gio toughs it out like a man. Where Romeo follows the "passive resistance" route ... hanging his head down so that the water runs over his face as if to say "You try to bath me? FINE, I'll just DROWN myself then!" Yeah, he's full of drama like that.

What I noticed during the bathtime, though, really shocked me. Romeo definitely has his big-boy coat now! I've noticed he's been filling out these past couple of months. As you have probably seen in recent pictures, that fur really gets flying. But I guess I never really noticed how much hair he has until it is all slicked down by water and I'm trying to part it to get the suds out from his undercoat. It's NUTS! He definitely got his dam's coat, it's HUGE! I attack it with the FURminator, Coat King, and traditional slicker ... and can't even make a dent. None of my other Shelties, past or present, have had this much coat.

In other news, thanks to everyone that offered words of sympathy for my ankle. It is getting better. I can walk *almost* normally on it. The worst part is the random and sporadic muscle twitches. They come up out of no where and hit like a jolt of lightening! HOLY FRICK! But the bruise is really sexy, currently lovely shades of maroon and pea-soup green. Yeah, I know, you're jealous. And who doesn't love the artificial club foot look due to copious amounts of tensor wrap?

And, because I greatly dislike a blog post without pictures, here are some pictures from a few days ago of the dogs eating FREE trout.

"Mmmm Trout-y goodness"

Gio does not like trout.

"I only eat this because I like to uphold the image that I am starving to death."

"I DO! I like trout! I'll have his portion, too!"

Have I mentioned that Romeo is a weirdo?

'Tis The Season

2009-11-23T13:29:00.005-06:00

Normally, I hold off until early December before pulling out the Christmas decorations. But this year, with my own house to decorate, I just couldn't wait any longer!

The holiday lights went up last week, and yesterday evening I pulled out the Christmas tree and adornments.

Now, I don't really do the religious Christmas thing. No baby Jesus, or anything like that. I'm just not a religious person. But I LOVE this time of year! The holiday season tends to bring out the best in people, and it's the one time of year that I tend to defrost a little, too. Don't get me wrong, I still hate crowds and society in general, but my Scrooge-ish ways tend to melt away a little and I find myself enjoying interaction with Joe Public a bit more. The feeling in the air around the holiday season is fabulous, so it is THAT that I partake in. Sincere well-wishing, sharing time with friends and family, and spreading some festive joy.

Decorating for the season is always so much fun! The brighter the better! I tend to go more for the garish, finding individual items that scream with glaring festive colors, sparkle and glitz. Then pairing it all together to form one big mess of crazy holiday clash!

The boys helped, of course.

Romeo gave his expert opinion on my color choices.

"Neon green? REALLY!?"

While Gio just wanted to get busy building the tree.

"Put down the camera and get to work, you slacker!"

Romeo helped match the letters on the branches to the ones on the center support.

"Yup, room for another F branch down here."

But that was as far as he would go. Decided it was safer to stay out of the way of "the crazy lady with the tinsel".

"Much safer back here. Much."

Gio was significantly more help, ensuring that the lights were evenly distributed around the tree.

"More lights needed!"

I was able to wrangle both dogs into helping hang the beaded garland, though!

"To whom it may concern, we HATE that you taught us how to 'hold' stuff. Signed, the dogs"

I never know how to take pictures of a Christmas tree with lights. If the flash is "on", then the tree looks crappy (ie. plastic ... which it is) and you can't see the lights. But if the flash is "off", then the picture turns out blurred. Despite the blurriness, I thought these pictures were kind of cute! Of course, I could be biased because of my most beautifulest boys.

"So festively blurry!"

Then I shattered my ankle.

Okay, so maybe "shattered" is a bit of a harsh word for the situation. I'm possibly being a little dramatic. But it hurt like a sonofa! And, FYI, apparently I turn into a trucker with Tourette's when I am injured. I am surprised the neighbours didn't call the police with the profanity being screamed in my driveway last night.

I rolled my ankle off of a concrete paving stone, heard/felt a "pop", then went down like a ton of bricks. Spent a couple of cozzy minutes in the driveway willing myself not to vomit, then crawled my way back inside.

This morning, mom took me to minor emerg to check things out. An x-ray verifies that there is no fracture, just the mother of all ankle sprains. So I am home today, the reluctant invalid that I am, practicing what the walk-in clinic doc called the "RICE" protocol: Relaxation Ice Compression Elevation. What does that spell? FUN!!

Gio is such a great helper, always right there to lend a hand.

"What do ya need ma? Advil? Ice? Alcoholic beverage? All of the above?"

While Romeo maintains his "stay away from the crazy hobbling lady" position.

"Much safer over here. Much."

We Need Your Help!

2009-11-20T08:27:00.004-06:00

Romeo has been named as a finalist on Dogster's 5th Annual World's Coolest Dog and Cat Show (phew, that is a mouthful!).

The picture of him keeping an eye on some sheep has placed top 5 in the Working Dog category. The top 5 dogs of each category then go on to open voting for Best in Show! While the winner of each category is selected by a panel of judges.

We would LOVE if all of our Dogster friends would please go and VOTE FOR ROMEO for Best in Show!!

VOTE HERE!
(Romeo's picture is near the bottom.)

CARO Rally-O Videos

2009-11-19T20:32:00.004-06:00

At the HCKOC CARO Rally-O trial on October 3rd and 4th, a friend was able to get some video of many of the runs. She was kind enough to send me copies of Gio's and Romeo's runs. They both did SO well at that trial, I am thrilled to have their performances documented!

Gio - Excellent B - Round 1
If it weren't for that darned jump redo he would have had a perfect 200/200 run!

Gio - Excellent B - Round 3
Again, an NQ, but some of the individual elements were really nice!

Romeo - Excellent C - Round 1
Final score 198/200

Romeo - Excellent C - Round 2
Final score 197/200 and finishing off his CARO Rally Bronze (CRB) title

Romeo - Excellent C - Round 3
Final score 200/200, first leg of his CARO Rally Silver (CRS) title

Huge thanks to Sophie Brunet for taping the runs and putting the videos all together!

World Travelers

2009-11-15T16:34:00.006-06:00

Okay, so not really "world" travelers. But it seems like I haven't been home in AGES!

Last Monday I hopped onto a plane headed to San Francisco to attend a conference for work. While there, I was fortunate to be able to meet up with a couple of friends from Dogster.com; Veronica (of Ollivander and Sabrina) and Sonja (of Jolanda and Josephine). I never did make it to Dogster HQ, located in San Francisco (sorry Lori!), so will have to put that on the list for "next time".

They toured me around Fisherman's Wharf before we indulged in some fabulous Thai food!

The Bay Bridge, all lit up.

The Ferry Building at night.

I was able to find time later in the week to get back to Fisherman's Wharf and do some souvenir shopping and picture taking in the daylight outs. This small-city kid is very proud of herself for braving the BART train all by herself! *chuff*

The sea lions at Pier 39. (Awesome to see, not so awesome to smell.)

That's a LOT of sea lions!

I really (really, Really, REALLY) wanted to go on a tour of Alcatraz. But apparently the "good tours" book up weeks in advance, and I just wasn't on the ball. So this is as close as I got to the island. Still pretty amazing to see.
I got back home on Friday morning, picked the dogs up from mom's place, loaded them in my NEW Sheltie-mobile, and headed off to Regina for a Rally-O trial hosted by KAOS Dogsports.

Yes, that is right, there is a NEW Sheltie-mobile!

Found this cute little car sign at Le Beastro in San Francisco. For you dog lovers out there, if you ever find yourself in San Francisco, head to Fisherman's Wharf and check out this store! TOO COOL!

Well, the car is not really "new" in the traditional sense of the word. But new to me, anyways. It's a seafoam green (ooo retro!) 1999 Ford Escort wagon. In pretty good condition, low mileage, and fit my available price point. I figured a trip to Regina with dogs in tow would be a good way to break in the new transportation.

The main selling feature ... the ability to fit both dog crates in the back of the car! WOOHOO!

The Rally-O trail was great. KAOS always does a really good job hosting trials. Romeo got 3 more legs towards his CARO C Stream Silver title, taking two High in Class awards. He only needs one more leg! And Gio tried really really hard! He nailed the stations that normally cause him problems (namely, the weave poles and broad jump), but there were a few other tiny things that resulted in NQ's. At Excellent level, everything has to be pretty near perfect, so it is very easy to disqualify a course. But good ol' Gee, he never gives up or loses enthusiasm. Just keeps giving 110% each time. One of these days we will put it all together, then WATCH OUT! But, until then, we'll keep showing everyone how to have some fun in the ring.

We got to see a bunch of friends at the trial, which is always nice. Romeo got another opportunity to flirt with his girlfriend, Niki.

While Romeo was busy flirting and playing coy with Niki, Gio was smoozing up a friend's new Miniature Poodle puppy, Mab (Queen of the Fairies).

OMG! Too cute, right??
This puppy has NO FEAR and doesn't think twice about trying to take your nose off. She is going to be a LOT of fun ... and by "fun" I really mean "real handful"!

Romeo got a couple of prizes for the High in Class placements. Mostly cookies and treats, but there were a couple squeaky tug toys thrown in as well.

The toy, as you see it here, lasted long enough to be thrown across the hotel room
exactly 3 times.

The boys decided that the toys were best as EITHER squeakies OR tugs, not both at once, so they remedied the situation quite quickly.

The squeaky went to Gio.

While the tug went to Romeo.

Now we are all home at last. Exhausted and worn out. The laundry is done, the dogs are fed ... and I am contemplating when is "late enough" to go to bed!

To Grandmother's House We Go

2009-11-08T16:40:00.004-06:00

I'm leaving on a jet plane tomorrow, headed to lovely San Francisco for a conference on qPCR (aka "work stuff"). I always have a hard time leaving the boys behind, I stress out so easily. But they are staying with my mom, so I know they are in capable hands and will be absolutely spoiled and pampered all week.

I've packed their over-night bag of all the important things ... toys, food dishes, leashes, and treats ... Romeo helped.

"What's all this for, ma?"

"It's all going in the bag? And the bag is going to grandma's!?"

"What? We wouldn't want you to forget ME at home!"

I have one day to do touristy stuff. The rest of my trip is booked up with the conference and workshop goings-on. I was hoping to book a tour of Alcatraz, but when I checked their website they are all booked up for the evening tours ALL WEEK! *pout* So I think I will head down to Fisherman's Wharf and take in some festivities there. Seems like that is the location of most of the touristy stuff anyways. Has anyone been? Any recommendations for a good sea food supper?!

Tub o' Trout

2009-11-03T18:10:00.003-06:00

I love my job! For many reasons, actually, but the focus of today's adoration revolves around the surprise gifts of meat.

See, I work at an Agricultural college. As part of the college, there is a research farm including beef and dairy cattle, sheep, pigs, chickens, and an aquaculture center. Occasionally, animals from any one of these areas need to be cleared out. Sometimes they can be sold commercially, but often they are deemed "research animals", even though the research that is done is all nutritional (so no funky disease or chemical research), and they cannot be sold commercially. The college then sends out an email to the employees and grad students in the Animal Science department offering to sell the meat for SUPER CHEAP or, in some cases, give it away for FREE!

Today there was an e-mail for FREE TROUT! Intestines removed, but everything else intact ... just the way the dogs like 'em.

So I stopped by after work and picked up about 40lbs of trout.

The car rental place is going to LOVE me! First, 25lb of raw bison in the trunk. Now 40lb of whole trout. The contract I signed said not to smoke in the car ... but it said nothing about not hauling around tonnes of raw meat in the trunk.

The boys love these days, too. Especially when the meat is frozen into large lumps and must be thawed in the bathtub before repackaging.

"What do you mean? We have to wait until they are thawed?"

"But they are so close. Just riiiight there."

"If I just stretch a little ..."

"... Stretch a little bit more ..."

"JACKPOT!"

Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend

2009-10-31T20:01:00.003-06:00

The Sheltie-mobile

2001 - October 31, 2009

Today, I said "good bye" to the Sheltie-mobile. My little Chrsyler Neon made its final journey this morning.

My little car has seen many things in the past few years. Its tiny back seat reluctantly accommodating two excited Shelties on trips around the province for various trials and competitions.
Lugging around countless pounds of raw meat. (Including dog toys and tracking stakes on the floor.)
Toting all forms of "dog stuff", including awkward test props for therapy dog evaluations.
And galantly braving the crazy Saskatchewan seasons.
Today, it performed its final haul. On the way back from picking up a load of raw bison RMBs, some idiot, in his exuberance for a Big Mac, decided to snub the laws of physics and cut across my lane. Little Neon tried, but just couldn't stop in time. We rammed the back wheel well of the McMonster Truck, buckling anything bendable on the front end of the Neon ... and barely scraping the mud off the rear hubcap of the gas guzzling male ego booster.

All opinions point to my little Neon being written off. The police were called and the independent witness vouched for the McIdiot being in the wrong. The insurance company has been notified, and my little Neon towed away.

I can only be thanksful that the dogs were not with me in the car and that no one was injured. Well, no living being, anyways. My poor little Neon will never be the same.

Good bye, little Neon. You were a good car.

Halloween Hooligans

2009-10-30T16:32:00.006-06:00

I love Halloween. Have I mentioned that already?

This year we've had many Halloween festivities. The first of which included our regularly scheduled therapy dog visits ... WITH COSTUMES! I had purchased two costumes, an angel and a devil. Both "human" costumes that I then modified for the boys. "Modified" meaning that I used twist ties to fasten things to their harnesses and hoped for the best. I had intended for Romeo to be the devil and Gio to be the angel ... you know, to fit their personalities. But, as it turns out, Romeo is just too darned cute in the angel wings and the devil horns fit on Gio's head better. For the therapy dog visits, though, they both wore the angel/fairy wings (slightly more appropriate for visiting the aged). The costumes were a big hit! We got so many giggles and grins with the angel wings, and all of our practice with "hold it" really paid off when it came to the fairy wand.

Gio and Lily at Eamer Lodge

Romeo and Ceilidh at Saskatoon City Hospital

In addition to the therapy dog visits, we had a pumpkin carving party a couple of nights ago. Complete with goodies ...

... for the people ...

... and the dogs ...

... and the guinea pigs!

Of course, silly hats were involved.

Don't have too much fun, Tash. You wouldn't want to hurt yourself.

I was a little more ambitious this year with my proposed pumpkin designs than I have been in years past. More often than not, my jack-o-lanterns end up with the traditional "triangle face" known and loved the world 'round. This year, though, I really tried to step it up!

A free-handed wolf silhouette

And a Sheltie design I found online

I'm quite proud of how they turned out. Even more thrilled with the flashing multicolored pumpkin lights I found at the Zellars!
And, in the dark is even better.

Of course, the boys were their usual helpful selves and were eager to assist with the clean-up.

"Did you know pumpkin is good for puppies? You do love me, right?"

"Food? Where?!"

By the end of the night, we had a good batch of stunning jack-o-lanterns! The two on the ends were carved by Judy. In case you have been living under a rock, the one on the far left is Carol from Where the Wild Things Are (awesome movie based on a fabulous book! Read it, watch it, love it). The two in the center were carved by "Epic's mom", author of Jacked.

Tip: Those little pumpkin carving kits you can by for $5 ... TOTALLY WORTH IT!

So, HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone! Hope you all have a fabulous night tomorrow with lots of treats and a few good tricks!

Halloween Dog Safety

2009-10-27T14:30:00.006-06:00

It's that time of year again ...

HALLOWEEN

I love Halloween. Definitely one of my very favorite times of year.

But amid all the festivities and frivolity lurk some potential dangers to our fluffy friends. Here are a few points to keep in mind this Halloween to ensure that everyone has a good time!

The most obvious danger is the plethora of chocolates and candies! Keep all candy and chocolate away from prying noses. Secure your loot in high cupboards or behind secure doors. Ensure that bowls and platters of sweets are kept out of reach. The caffeine in chocolate is very dangerous for your dog, and candies, wrappers, or sucker sticks pose choking hazards.
Provide a safe and calm environment for nervous pooches. With all of the knocking and doorbell ringing sure to ensue throughout the evening, even the most laid back dog can get a little anxious. If your dog is one to get worked up over visitors at the door, they would likely be happier confined to a back room or basement with their own Halloween treat (a stuffed Kong is a great option!).
Watch out for door dashers! Whether due to excitement or fear, a dog dashing out of the door while you are handing out candy is a very real danger. Traffic often increases in residential areas during Halloween as parents follow their children around. And while drivers are (hopefully) extra vigilant about children and pedestrians this particular night, a darting dog can easily be missed. Confine Fido to a separate room, tether him so that he cannot reach the door, or use baby gates or an x-pen to give him a safe area to watch the fun without getting too near the door.
Even if your dog enjoys visitors and doesn't pose a threat of dashing away on you, be aware that not everyone else loves dogs as much as you do. Even the most well intended dog, large or small, can frighten some children. So to avoid these situations, it is best to keep your dog away from the door no matter how safe or well trained you perceive them to be.
Costumes can be very cute, and some owners even argue that their dogs ENJOY wearing costumes or outfits. But costumes should only be worn when you are able to supervise your dog. Do not leave a dog unattended while wearing a costume, as they can easily become entangled or caught up in the extra accessories. Bits can be chewed and swallowed, posing a choking or blockage risk.
Do not leave dogs outdoors unattended on Halloween, or the weekend surrounding it. Halloween is on a Saturday night this year, so be extra vigilant. While most Halloween goers are just out for some fun and candy, there are individuals out there that define "fun" in a very different way. Pranks abound around this time of year, so do not leave your dog vulnerable to these sorts of activities. Outdoor dogs should be brought indoors or secured in the garage or an enclosed dog-safe building.
After Halloween is over and before letting your dog outdoors again, make a perimeter check of your yard. Ensure that all gates are still securely closed, and check the ground to make sure that no one has tossed treats, wrappers, or garbage over your fence. This holds true for walk times as well. Be aware of dropped candy or garbage that your dog might scoop up on their next walk.

By following these few simple guidelines, you can help ensure that you and your dog celebrate many more Halloweens to come!

These are a few of our favorite things ...

2009-10-23T16:29:00.003-06:00

Inspired by our buddies over at Jacked, today I thought I would showcase some of the boys' favorite things!

Gio's favorite things are pretty vague, really. Most of the items in the picture merely represent a wide array of things that Gio loves! His food bowl represents food in general, he doesn't actually TASTE anything that goes in his mouth. So he loves it all the same. And the tug toy represents the act of tugging. He'll tug on anything, this is just one of the many options. The sheep, though, is a special toy. He loves that squeaky above all other squeakies. The leash, is the object of focus at any time. He knows exactly where his leash is at any moment of the day. Because leash = going somewhere, and that is ALL GOOD! And the clicker is very much like the leash. The clicker = training, which again is ALL GOOD! And finally, the tennis ball. That is self explanatory. Nothing more needed there regarding the tennis ball obsession that is Gio's life.

Romeo's favorite things are equally vague. The bag of treats representing any treat-like substance or any edible item given as a treat. The clicker again representing training, which in Gio's words, is ALL GOOD! And the ball representing any ball of any texture or size. As long as it rolls, can be thrown, and is therefore chase-able. Peanut butter (also synonymous with Cheez Whiz in Romeo's world) is a very specific love. Likewise with the squirrel (of which we have three getting equal rotation) and the large rubber pig.

So ... what are YOUR favorite things?!

7 Groups

2009-10-16T21:38:00.003-06:00

Our Berner buddies over at It's a Berner-ful Life had a neat blog entry today that I am SO STEALING!

The idea is to go through each of the CKC (or AKC) dog breed groups and pick the breed from each that you would choose to own. You CANNOT pick the breed that you currently have.

Group 1 - Sporting Breeds
While I admire the looks and personalities of many sporting breeds, I don't know if I would ever choose to have one myself. They just don't mesh well with what I am looking for in a dog. But if I HAD to choose (and for this game to have a purpose, I do), I would pick the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever. I know a couple of these dogs from Rally-O and agility, and they are a lot of fun! A nice size dog, very athletic, and the ones I have met have a really nice drive-y work ethic. A little more "serious" compared to other retrievers, as far as I can tell, too.

Group 2 - Hounds
I have the pleasure of knowing a lady with a couple lovely Salukis, and I have become somewhat attached to the idea of a sight hound. I don't think I could handle a scent hound, but I would be happy to share my couch with a sight hound. And Salukis are absolutely gorgeous dogs, full of character. They don't really offer what I am looking for in a competition dog, but it would be fun to try anyways!

Group 3 - Working Breeds
Would have to be a Doberman Pinscher from that group. Again, great athletic dogs, wonderful work ethic, and so full of spunk! Quite a bit less hair than I prefer ... but I'm sure I could deal with that.

Group 4 - Terriers
These dogs truly terrify me! It takes a very special person to own terriers and be able to provide them with the structure and purpose that they need. The "terrier people" that I know have to be some of the most laid back people I have met. I think that is because you HAVE to be calm and laid back in order to happily live with a terrier. If you try to control them too much, they will just try harder to resist. You have to just take them in stride. I don't know if I would be brave enough to undertake the task of loving a terrier. And though I have met many terriers that I truly enjoy, I can only handle them in small doses. They make me anxious and twitchy! So, I will choose this breed based solely on appearance. I would choose a Border Terrier because I think they are absolutely adorable. There, I will leave it at that, and back slowly away from the terrier group.

Group 5 - Toy Breeds
I would pick Papillion for this group. Again, a nice agile dog, and the couple that I have met are very successful in various dog sport activities. With the right approach, they can be hardy and enthusiastic workers.

Group 6 - Non-Sporting Breeds
A Standard Poodle, definitely. While very ... er ... poodle-y, they can be fabulous workers! I've met some seriously drool-worthy obedience Std. Poodles, so these dogs make it onto my "some day I would like to own" list.

Group 7 - Herding Breeds
Can I take them all? This group is definitely my comfort zone, and I would gladly take home MANY of these breeds! But if I had to choose just one, and if I were not allowed to pick Shelties, I would grab onto a Belgian Tervuren. Just like a great big Sheltie ... but crazier, and more drive-y. Like many dog enthusiasts, I have a list of "someday dogs". Breeds that I would love to own at some point in my life. Along with a shaggle of Shelties, Belgian Tervurens are right up at the top of that list!

Look Ma, No Glasses!

2009-10-15T12:13:00.003-06:00

I know, I have been absent from the blog world for the past while. Truth is, I have been on holidays for the past week. YAY! First honest to goodness, "I actually purposely booked time off of work", holidays ... um ... ever. But, true to form, I'm didn't actually GO anywhere to enjoy the time off. Rather, I booked an appointment to get laser eye surgery done. Equally thrilling in its own right.

I've had glasses and/or contacts for about the past 12-ish years and I've had enough! Enough fogging up in the winter time, enough speckles of rain, enough Sheltie nose prints. Since the house purchasing experience earlier this year didn't end up digging into the savings I had set aside for a down payment, I decided it was fair to dip into that for laser surgery.

The procedure is really cool ... if you can get past the suctioning your eyeball out of your head, running a sharp blade through your cornea and burning your eye tissue away with a precision laser part. No, really, the description is a million times worse than the actual process! In reality, it's about 10 minutes of minor discomfort followed by 24 hours of REALLY SEXY SUNGLASSES!

I had the surgery early yesterday afternoon, and the remainder of the day was blurry and uncomfortable. But after my prescribed naps (yes, the doctors actually prescribed at least a 2 hour nap after surgery) my vision was much better. And then this morning after a decent nights sleep (during which I had to keep the sunglasses on so as to prevent rubbing my eyes unconsciously) I can see BETTER than I did previously with my glasses on! This is amazing!

So during the past 24 hours that I have spent sitting in the living room wearing my sunglasses with the lights turned down, not allowed to read, watch TV or use the computer (AAAAH!), the boys have been playing Nurse.

They both are taking the job very seriously. My lap has not been empty for longer than the couple of minutes it takes me to replenish my eye drops every couple of hours. Gio is keeping me warm during nap times, and then when I wake up the dogs switch off and Romeo cuddles up on my chest.

A visit to the doctor for my post-op check up this morning discovered that there is a little more blood around the surgery site than they would like to see. Apparently this is present in about 50% of cases, and no you can't actually SEE the blood on my eye so I don't look like a freak or anything (apart from the REALLY SEXY SUNGLASSES being worn 24 hours a day). So I am to continue the rigorous eye drop routine for a couple more days than usual. No biggie ... and it means that the dogs can continue their very important job as fuzzy nurses.

Rewarding Behaviors

2009-10-10T11:09:00.004-06:00

I have received a great honor. Casey Lomonaco of Rewarding Behaviors Dog Training has asked me to be a "guest expert" this week on her RBDT Forum. My topic of discussion is building drive for the purposes of dog competition.

If you want to check out the discussion, here is the link.

Even if you do not want to check out the discussion, you should really browse through the forum! Lots of great information there about positive training for all dogs (and non-dogs, too!).

Powdery White Stuff

2009-10-08T17:50:00.003-06:00

We had our first snow fall of the year today! A bit earlier than is the norm in this area, but not totally unexpected. I really do enjoy the winter, though I wish we had had more of an autumn this year. But there is still hope. I doubt this first snow fall will stick around long, as we are supposed to be back in the positive temperatures next week.

Best thing about the first snow fall ... Fresh Snow Zoomies!

HCKOC Rally-O Trial

2009-10-04T15:42:00.003-06:00

The trial went off without a problem! Thanks to everyone that helped out, and to all the people that participated in the trial. You helped make HCKOC's first CARO Rally-O trial a great success!

The boys were entered in 3 rounds each. Gio in 3 Excellent B rounds, and Romeo in 3 Excellent C Stream rounds.

Gio, the wonderful dog that he is, worked his little heart out, but wasn't quite able to pull off any qualifying legs. Excellent level in CARO is quite tricky to get, as it should be, and while Gio is a fantastic worker, we have trouble putting it all together when the judge is watching. On Saturday, he would have pulled off a perfect 200/200 score had it not been for one station that resulted in an NQ. He loves working so much, so I can't make myself be disheartened. He had a great time and pulled off some really nice stuff. So we will keep playing and eventually get that elusive Excellent title.

Romeo pulled off another stunning weekend of performances, finishing up the last two Excellent legs of his CRB (CARO Rally Bronze) championship title with scores of 197 and 198. Also earned the first leg of his CRS (CARO Rally Silver) championship title with a perfect 200/200 run. This dog is blowing my socks off!

The trial was held at Sondog Agility, out some backroads Northwest of Saskatoon. The facility is surrounded by lovely fields that we just couldn't pass up.

A great weekend, all in all. The dogs and I are exhausted and quite ready for life to get back to normal ... whatever that is.

For Sam

2009-10-03T16:00:00.003-06:00

SAMSON

It is with extreme sadness that I write this.

A good friend lost her best friend today. For those of you that have had multiple dogs, you know that each one holds a special place in your memories, never to be forgotten, impacts you in some way. But you also know that there will be those rare few dogs that not only hold a spot in our memories, but also in our hearts. These are Heart Dogs, and they are truly marvelous animals.

Sam is a Heart Dog. Forever staking claim to a small piece of his owners heart.

Very recently, Samson, an 11 year old Border Collie, was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma. A large tumor had formed on his heart. He spent a number of happy days at home with his family after the diagnosis, but collapsed today and was helped to The Bridge.

My heart breaks for his "mom". Know that, as much as Sam has taught you and touched your life, your efforts and dedication to him matched step for step. Heart Dogs have no past-tense. They live as long as the heart they have touched continues. Sam is an amazing dog.

Delegator Dilemmas

2009-10-02T12:06:00.002-06:00

I have learned something about myself in the past couple of weeks ... I really suck at delegating!

Hub City Kennel and Obedience Club is hosting their first CARO Rally-O trial in Saskatoon this weekend. Last year some time (or maybe it was only earlier in the spring of this year ...) I had agreed to look up the information needed for hosting a CARO trial. And, while I was at it, I decided to check into judges, and book our judge, and check into buildings, and book our building. And, just because I had all the information at hand, I wrote up the premiums and entry forms, advertised them online, and stupidly put my own name down as trial secretary to accept the entries. With that, comes the task of doing all the paperwork required to deal with the entries. So really, I've essentially organized this whole trial! No, that is not bragging, that is me beating my head against the wall. There are many fabulous, talented, and very capable people in the club that have all offered to help out in any way possible. But somehow, in my mind, it is easier for me to just do the job myself than to hand it off to someone else to do. STUPID! So, as a result, I am absolutely exhausted and just want this trial to be over with NOW.

My excuse (read: what I am telling myself so that I will feel better about being an idiot), is that now I know exactly what needs to be done. So I will be able to confidently delegate NEXT time, without worrying about overlooking anything. I can't very well lead a project when I don't know what has to be done, right? Right?! Okay, I will stick with that explanation.

In the mean time, the dogs are getting dusty with their Rally-O. We've had the past couple weeks off since my classes ended for the summer, and I really haven't been doing much with them. Some people have noted that Gio has been absent from the blog for a while. And he has been ... no denying it. Gio is doing wonderfully health-wise. No more seizures, and his pancreas seems to be holding up well after our scare a couple months back. He is back onto 100% raw diet, which he much prefers to the veggie crud or, even worse, the canned yuck. He's adding weight on again, so not looking quite so emaciated. He's still been going on his therapy dog visits, but I've been too busy to take him tracking as much as he would like. Romeo's agility adventures and this darned CARO trial have been eating up all my time.

If anyone is wanting to come out and check out some CARO Rally-O, our trial is being held out at SonDog Agility on October 3 and 4, 2009. Take highway 16 Northwest of Saskatoon. Swing a left on Lutheran Rd., then left again on 3070. Take your 4th driveway on your left and you are there. It's about 15 minutes out of the city, not too bad. Spectators are welcome, though please leave dogs at home that are not entered in the trial.

D&S Jumpers Trial

2009-09-27T17:27:00.004-06:00

The D&S Jumpers Trial was held this weekend in Saskatoon. Romeo and I participated and it was a lot of fun! Great turn out, I think they said that this was the biggest AAC agility trial (apart from Nationals) held in the province EVER! Very cool, and a great way to celebrate D&S's 10 year anniversary (congrats Shirley and Diane!).

Romeo had a rockin' Starters Jumpers run on Saturday, taking his first Q and 1st place! Our Starters Standard round on Saturday was less than stellar. Romeo did great, but I wound up pulling him off a tunnel by turning too soon. It was all downhill from there. But these things happen, right? He did really well for the first half of the course, so we will take that success.

Today, Sunday, we were entered in two Starters Jumpers rounds. No Q's again, but Romeo pulled off some really nice stuff, nonetheless. The first Jumpers of the day would have been glorious, but again more tunnel woes. We are definitely going to be working on tunnel value over the winter!! Unlike most dogs we run into at agility, Romeo is not a tunnel sucker. Good in some cases, but very bad in others. I can easily pull him back out of a tunnel with just the slightest movement, and he will happily choose a jump or a contact over the tunnel, as happened in the second Jumpers round on Sunday and our Standard round on Saturday. Not cool. So we are going to work value value value over the winter!

I've heard rumors in the past about Saskatchewan having the nicest agility folks around, and I definitely saw proof of that this weekend! I'm lucky in that I know a lot of people there from other dog sport venues, but all of the new people I met were so helpful and friendly, fun to joke around with, and just really great to spend a weekend with. The weather SUCKED on Sunday, very very gusty and cold, but all of the participants were cheery and upbeat despite the frigid temps and winds that sent jumps, pylons, and plastic chairs flying across the ring at inopportune times.

All in all, Romeo took two 1st place ribbons and a 2nd place ribbon, with one qualifying round out of four. Not bad for our second weekend out! Definitely a lot of successes to be proud of, and a great trial to introduce us to the world of competitive agility! Thanks to everyone for helping us out, explaining what the heck Gamblers is all about, showing me tips on teaching directional cues, cheering and clapping after our runs ...

... and especially to Mike who took these BEAUTIFUL pictures of my boy!

TABLE!

TIRE!
A very fluffy SPREAD!
FRAME!
CHUTE!
HUP!
Another SPREAD!
TEETER!

Holy Flyin' Furball

2009-09-22T22:17:00.002-06:00

A friend, Rebecca, caught some pictures of Romeo at a recent agility class. We were practicing jump work, so she really caught the fur flying!

Beautiful pictures, Rebecca! Thanks for sharing them with me.

Romeo's 1st Agility Trial

2009-09-20T19:01:00.003-06:00

Today Romeo and I were entered in our first AAC agility trial! The club that we train with offers an annual Starters Trial, with only Starters rounds, to encourage new dog and handlers to get started competing in an environment that is somewhat less intimidating. No crazy Advanced or Masters dogs around to make us feel like fools!

I had Romeo entered in two runs, a Standard and a Jumpers. I knew going into this trial that whether we qualified or not would be completely in my hands. If Romeo were in charge, we would definitely qualify, no problems. But I hold the handicap in this team, and my handler skills are seriously lacking. Sure enough, Romeo did beautifully in the Standard round, but I was in the wrong place with the cue for a tunnel and Romeo ended up trying to take the dog walk instead. He went exactly where my body language was telling him to go. So I can't fault the boy. In the Standard round, everything Romeo did was awesome! He nailed all his contacts, took the teeter like a champ, and even got his weave pole perfect on the first attempt! The teeter and weave entries are our sticky point at the moment. We ended up taking 5 faults for the tunnel-dog walk snafu, but wound up placing 2nd in our division!

The Jumpers round wasn't quite as nice, but again Romeo held up his end of the bargain admirably. I wound up pulling him off the tunnel ... TWICE ... by starting my turn before he was completely committed. We took 15 faults, but it was good enough to get us 3rd in the division!

To make it all even better, Romeo pulled off these great debut performances in the most nasty weather! It rained all day long, not enough to reduce visibility or safety enough to warrant me pulling him from the trial, but just enough to soak you through to the bone. Add the frigid temperatures and wind on top of it and it was a nasty NASTY day! We've been home and in dry clothes for an hour how, and I am still shivering.

Despite the horrible weather that made me into a whining, grumbling she-beast, it was a lot of fun and a very positive first adventure in agility trialing! Now, we get to rest up and do it all again next weekend at a huge Jumpers trial! We'll be aiming for qualifying scores this time.

You Are My Sunshine ...

2009-09-19T21:16:00.004-06:00

Just one of those days where all you want to do is find a nice patch of sunlight and have a nap!

Beatrice's New Friend

2009-09-18T17:47:00.003-06:00

Meet Gertrude!

Gertrude was originally Guinness. Guinness had a piggy friend that passed away recently. Then her owners had to move to a condo that didn't have enough room for Guinness and her paraphernalia, so Guinness was rehomed to a friend of mine that teaches grade 5. Guinness was to be a classroom pet, and was renamed Bugsy. But one of kids in the class had horrible allergies, so Bugsy had to go. My friend knew that I had Beatrice and asked if I was planning on getting Bea a friend. I was, have been talking to a local lady that does small animal rescue and rehoming, and have been waiting on a good match for Beatrice to become available. So Guiness aka Bugsy came to me this afternoon and became Gertrude.

Gertrude is about 3 years old ... and has a bit of a weight problem. She was loved ... really really loved in the way that guinea pigs appreciate most, through food. But her super long coat is in great condition and her nails are nice and short, so I know she was doted on before an unfortunate series of events lead her to me. Gertrude will go on a bit of a diet now, if that is even possible. I guess portioned and measured feedings? Though with two guinea pigs in one cage, I don't know how I will monitor who eats what. And I have a feeling that Gertrude is going to hog all the food for herself. Might end up being Beatrice that goes on the diet!

The piggies had some floor time and a nice treat of mixed greens while we introduced ourselves. Gio and Romeo are perfectly fine with the guinea pigs, and Gertrude took the introductions like a champ. At least Romeo isn't terrified of Gertrude like he was with Beatrice in the beginning. The Shelties have just accepted that I am insane and take the new additions in stride.

In their cage, Gertrude and Beatrice aren't getting along swimmingly just yet. They were happy to eat together on the floor, but in the cage they are trading off teeth chatters and whining. And, so the interweb tells me, these noises are noises of unhappy piggies. Apparently a little bit of animosity is normal with introductions, so hopefully they will sort it all out between them soon. They are currently both resting in their individual hidey-holes, but Gertrude keeps venturing out to check that the food supply is adequate. That draws Beatrice out, and the chattering and whining begins. It has escalated to Gertrude chasing Beatrice around the cage a couple times, but nothing more than that. I have hope for them!