Watching a dog do agility equipment in slow motion is an eye opener especially a coonhound. Watch the ears and the tail, you can understand the importance of her tail after watching these two videos.
We received a new GoPro 4 for Christmas so we had to put the Fetch harness on Emmi and watch her patrol the yard. Be warned if you are subject to motion sickness this may make you nauseous.
And don't worry Davie has been busy too he has escaped the videos.
I have been looking for someone who does herding and has sheep for 3 years. I have had leads but always ended in a dead end. I heard of someone in Prince George but couldn't track him down. Well after the AB Herding Dog Rescue workshop at Phantom Ridge I came back more determined than ever. Davie did so good there and was so happy and I was hooked. The stars must have aligned and said, "Okay it's time." because within a month I had found a person who runs dogs and has his own flock. We had a slight delay in weekly trips do to -25 temperatures and some wolves deciding they might want sheep for supper, but we were back out today. There is very little snow this year, so far, which is bad for snow shoeing and sledding but good for herding and tracking.
Here are some pictures from today, they aren't the greatest because it was foggy and overcast. Donna brought Quest out to meet sheep for the first time, he was intrigued.
I guess the summer and fall were just too busy. So here is a quick summary along with some pictures and videos of what we have been up to.
We starting doing some mantrailing training with Emmi. I was contacted
by Kim who has Lila the Black and Tan Coonhound so we finally have a coonie
partner to work with. Both Em and Lila are amazing. Lila and Emmi are the same age.
Emmi, LIla and the Notahound Davie
Pretty Lila
Emmi learned how to swim this summer, she loves the water. Davie will swim but prefers to heard the swimmers.
Emmi went to a couple of agility camps this summer to try to help me improve my skills, especially handling! She is somewhat patient with me although I do get told off. Emmi also entered her first agility trial in August, she had a good Jumpers round, a "It's too friggin hot to do this" standard run and a "I'm a crazy Hound" Gamblers run. However she had a fantastic trial in November, the improvement was amazing. My criteria for the trial was to get her to do six runs with minimal sniffing. She surpassed the criteria by a mile. So proud of her!
This is her Standard run.
So what did Davie do? Well Davie got to go to a herding clinic put on by Alberta Herding Dog Rescue in Okotoks on our way back from Saskatchewan. Louanne was the instructor and she is amazing. I learned so much and Davie was so good. Here are some pictures thanks to Amanda. It was great to see Amanda. She is whom I was lucky enough to get Davie from when he was rehomed. If you want to read the story you will have to go back to the very beginning of this blog.
The best news is that we have found a place to herd in Prince George! After many years of searching I finally tracked someone down!. We are trying to go out every weekend as long as the snow doesn't get too deep. We are sooooo happy. Here are the sheep.
The sheep
A happy Davie!
So life is good, we can herd with the BC and mantrail with the BT until there is too much snow or it is too cold. And we can continue to work on agility skills with Emmi and Davie gets to learn tricks and play at agility. Oh and we can not forget Nosework for both the BT and the BC.Almost forgot about Nosework! I am sooo lucky to be retired and have time to enjoy all these great adventures with the BC and the BT.
We seem to have a plethora of puppies to meet! Davie is such a great puppy trainer and to my delight Emmi has also turned out to be awesome with the pups too. Davie plays and teaches them manners. Emmi is more into playing and lets them get away with a lot more than the Master puppy trainer.
First puppy on the list is Penny the Duck Toller. She is Rune's half sister and a going concern as are most Tollers. She was 9 weeks old in these pictures.
Emmi explaining the finer points of scenting
Pond, Toller yep!
Zoooooom !
Next up is Chester. Chester came to spend the weekend with us while his mom went to a wedding in Alberta. Chester is from the SPCA, his mom was found under an old trailer with 5 new born puppies. The family was fostered and all the pups and mom have been adopted. Chester is a real sweetheart. He is a very laid back old soul who absolutely adores Emmi.He is 10 weeks old in these pictures.
My duck.
Like this Chester, it is really fun!
So gorgeous
While Chester was at the agility trial with us he got to play with Sovi, Penny's sister
Then we have Champ, he is Catja's new brother. Champ is a Moyen Poodle. He is a very nice puppy who has no fear. He is 12 weeks in these pictures.
Champ
Catja and Champ, she is pretending he is invisible
Playing with the BT and BC
And last in the puppy parade is Rollo a brindle boxer. He is an awesome pup and a real character. He is 12 weeks old. He had a lot of fun with my two and they loved him.
We have been busy, weeding, building gardens, planting and now slapping mosquitoes! Here are some pictures of the fun we have been having in the last two months!
