Belated Christmas Party

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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!