The 11th is a happy day and a sad day

Happy because it is exactly 6 months today that I met Davie for the first time and it is my son's birthday. Sad because it is 8 months today that we lost Maggie May, my beautiful Bluetick Hound. Davie has come a long way since the picture below and he has helped fill the huge hole in my heart.

My first view of Davie

Maggie May

Sorry no picture of my son, I value my life too much to post one of him because he would get even with me!!!

Davie, me and the sheep.

So we went to our second herding clinic this weekend. This video is from day two. Day three was even better, Davie had gained so much confidence and I wasn't quite as scattered (good luck). He was up to the challenge of 20 sheep and took no guff from any of them.

http://youtu.be/kYt0hQyR9zs

The herding is doing soooo much for his confidence. I just need to figure out a way to train the commands with out sheep! And no I can't keep ducks or geese either, although it is a water fowl type of year up here! Any suggestions from anyone reading this would be greatly appreciated.

The Perfect Puddle

Davie found the "Pièce de résistance" of puddles today. Lots of water, enough mud and the perfect depth! What more could a guy ask for???

We do actually do some training.

Since most of the pictures I post in this blog are of us running around or in puddles I thought I had better get some of us having fun doing classes. So this morning a very kind person took some pictures of us. Davie has been taking classes in obedience and agility building blocks since about March. This morning was an obedience/rally class. Davie is so much more relaxed in class.

Heeling Practice

The great thing about Davie is he is both food and toy motivated. And if he starts to get stressed you only have to have a play and he is back in "lets go mode".

He does like to tug!

When I were lucky enough to be able to spend a day and a half at Crufts three years ago I first heard of Cani-Course races. It is an awesome way to either hike or run with your dog but still have them on leash and your hands free. It is especially good for hiking hills as you can still use hiking poles and get a little help up the hills. Going down involves a lot of "easy" training. It develops great thigh muscles! Cani-Cross uses a padded waist belt, a special line that has a section of bungee like cord which is connected to a harness with good chest padding. We have been using a sled harness. The equipment very similar to that used for skijoring. I have had Davie in this since about May. There is a Cani-Cross Meet and Fun Run in Quesnel in August. So Davie and I and one of his husky buddies and her person are going to go try it.  This is the first one I have heard of up in this region.

Davie in training for Cani-Cross

Yes we have been in a mud puddle.

It has definitely been a prime year for "Puddle Man".

So Quiet!

Well Catja and Benji have gone home and Davie misses them, even though he gets to walk with them every day. Although I do think he enjoys the fact that no one is borrowing his bed. But we have discovered he likes the bed I had upstairs for Benji. He is a little large for it but doesn't seem to care. His head won't fit but the carpet works as a chin rest.

Huh, what, I do so fit!

Sorry eyes won't stay open.

Davie likes spending time on the deck surveying his domain. It is a good spot to keep an eye on those pesky squirrels

I'm listening to you!

And sometimes it is just a nice place to relax.

 

Crazy Dogs

It has been a blast having Catja and Benji for the past 12 days. Davie will be sad to see them go home on Saturday. We have established a daily routine which is a short walk down the street every morning to see what has happened in the neighbourhood over night, followed by breakfast.  Apparently something really interesting was around last night because there was A LOT of sniffing and checking out places this morning. Way more than normal. Time to set up the critter cam.

We went for a walk with Molly the mini Labradoodle and her person yesterday. It was an awesome walk through some beautiful places that I had no idea existed. We are really lucky in PG to have so many great places to walk. We were going to go the Moore's Meadow, AKA the great dandelion place, but Saturday we saw a huge black bear down at the far end of the meadow and decided to leave him in peace. There is so much lush vegetation around there that the bears are in feast land.

After breakfast Davie and Catja play like a pair of nut cases. Benji watches from either his bed or the couch. They are so funny to watch and also so interesting. It is amazing the amount of Dog language you can observe. I got a short video this morning, sorry it is so poor but I grabbed the closest video device and it was the phone.

This is the closest they have come to knocking something over. The play started again about a minute later and the air cleaner survived it's knock. They also have an up and down the stairs game that I haven't managed to catch on video. I even sat in the corner and pretended to read but when the camera came out they were more interested in me. One is at the top the other at the bottom. They take turns posturing then run by each other and change positions with each other. It is a hoot.

What to do with restless ones on a rainy day???

You go to the centre and do some training then you play!! It is July 8th, 7 degrees and pouring rain. There were three dogs looking for trouble, well really only two, Benji is too dignified and mature to be doing some thing like that. So off we went. We did some obedience work. move backs, wobble boards, mat work and free shaping. then it was time for their free for all.

Not to be left out Benji beat up the coatimundi!! Who says an 11 year old guy can't play!

So now Davie is in his favorite place under the desk, Benji is in his bed and Catja is sleeping in the middle of the king sized bed. I think it may be time to go watch the Tour de France on the PVR and or read! I may have to light the stove to stay warm! But that's okay we like inside days when the lawn was mowed the day before!