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)

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!

Secret Santa

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.

Cold Weather Fun!

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

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!

'Tis The Season

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."