Snow!!

The first snow of the year arrived in an angry swirl of snowflakes, wind, and cold. We woke up to a winter wonderland. Great fun to play in, not so fun to actually live in. lol

Day 1 over and already I am sick of shoveling...

In anycase the dogs certainly love the white stuff! I debated about braving the crappy roads to run them in the coulees, and when the sun was still peeking out after some housework the dogs and I headed out.

The coulees looks so beautiful covered in snow- and we were the first people to be out at our favorite walking spot! What could be better than fresh snow for photos??!!

Well, maybe snow that hadn't drifted two feet high...

I quickly discovered that a walk wasn't going to happen. The snow was too deep for the shorties. I worry about them bounding through deep snow, especially since both Pixel and Wicca have shoulder problems...

So we played in the parking lot and on the very edge. Where the snow wasn't too deep. The dogs had a great time running and playing. Lots of barking, and wrestling, and chasing. I was smart and wore waterproof pants so was able to sit in the snow and take photos/toss the toy once in a while.

on the hunt...

Look!!! Boone interacting! (his sweater gives him confidence...)

three's a crowd snow version

Wicca gets what she wants

handsome snowy Boonie

maybe if he yells loud enough she'll drop it??

Snow Leo

Proud of his find

a leaping Brit

 I now have a quiet house. Which is good as it is too cold to go out again. Tomorrow is my day off. I may stay in ALL DAY....

Monday Afternoon Excitement!

Well, I just sent off my entries for the Kennel club show in November. I waffled back and forth for a few weeks and today I decided to just do it.

Pixel needs one more leg for her CDX. One more leg. She still has bits and pieces of things that seem to falling apart. So I was really torn about even entering. I know she is capable of higher scores, but frankly my training just hasn't been what it needs to be. So we will just have to take what we get. In any case I entered her in three trials. Two Saturday, and one on Sunday. She has so much fun doing all the little exercises, I just need to put it all together a bit better. There has been no sign of a limp for a week now- so I will go back to doing a little bit of training every day.

I entered Brit in Rally Novice. She has one leg, from a trial last winter. Her heeling has improved a lot since then, as has her confidence. I'm hoping that all of our "obedience is fun" games will pay off! The nice thing about rally is that it is a great stepping stone- I can talk to her, and help her out as much as she needs. It is a good experience I think, and will help to prepare her for Novice.  She is slowly building up duration, so maybe by Spring she will be ready for real Obedience...

And the most exciting part of my entry? Wicca. She needs only one combined Advanced/Excellent Q for her RAE title. It's been more than a year since she has done anything fun (obedience or agility). She is fairly sound now unless she does something stupid like jump out of the van, or go bounding through the coulees. Or fetch. So I am hoping that she will stay sound, and that I won't be making her sore again by putting her in two times. There is a jump. Possibly three if the Excellent uses it twice. But it is 8 inches. And will be at a trot. I've spent the last few months working on teaching her to heel without looking at me. It was hard beacuse she really didn't get it. lol. But I think we've got it figured now. I still don't practice very much but Wicca is easy, and smart. She will remember the second we step into the ring. I'm really looking forward to being back in the ring with her. It's like an old shoe ya know.

So I'm excited, but oddly nervous.

Oh, and possibly Brit will be able to race at least once in Scenthurdle too!!! She is not super reliable yet with excitement though. I find it tough to run a practice and train my own dog. I need to make a point of getting her out for each of the drills and training. She needs that experience for sure.

Vito's Dirty Little Secret

Vito, Vito, Vito...

*and uh, as a disclaimer I was hollering at him as I took the photo.... He isn't allowed to go around humping dogs... But it's funny. Mostly because she doesn't seem to care (she's too busy staring at Pixel...)

Happy Weekend!

A Walk in Photos

Three's A Crowd (they often walk like this all together)

Ever get that feeling???

Vito says Hi!

On the Run.

Wicca, coming over to see why I'm sitting down on a walk...

Leo has the longest tongue...ever.

Happy Brit

and Boone. Who spends the whole walk by himself...

A Gorgeous Fall Day

A Gorgeous Fall Day, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

Wicca stops to take in all the smells that are blowing around. The dogs and I have been taking advantage of the mild fall weather.

Heeling, Heeling, Heeling

I took Brit and Pixel to the Cowley Hall this morning for some Obedience training. It is a busy place on training days- and today was no exception. Two "rings" going on at the same time side by side.

 I put Pixel in a whole routine. Due to her limp we have only done little bits of heeling training wise. It showed. lol. Her heeling was great- my footwork was the only little issue. She did every front and finish, but the she did not Drop on Recall, and She ran up to the broad jump and perched on it. SIGH. BIG SIGH. We already trained through that, or so I thought. But her stays were perfect and her attitude good. Lots of really great things today so I'm happy. Just more to work on...
 

 I did little bits of a Novice routine with Brit. She is no where near ready to do the whole thing, and any mega heeling. But I wanted to see what I got in a distrating environment. We are still using "the spoon" as a focal point to keep her head up (and not swiveled).  So we did a short heeling pattern, figure 8, a stand, and a recall

Watching the video I can see she needs more work on keeping her butt in. She knows how to "get in" but I don't want to remind her all the time so we will have to work on building up the duration of the actual position.  Also my friend Liz pointed out that I need to hold my spoon more still. lol. In the video I can see that wherever it went she followed. So if it moved too far ahead or whatever so did the dog. I may go back and try my armband stick thing, but it was just so uncomfortable. lol.

She had great attitude though- even though the distractions were pretty big! We have never had people as posts for a figure 8 so she was a little confused at first. lol. But the second one was beautiful!! Her Stand is solid, and her fronts are the best of any of my dogs... I think with more training, time and maturity she will be as good of a heeling dog as the corgi girls. I am pretty pleased with her today!!! It gives me an idea of how much we have to work on still.

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

Vito went to the beach yesterday with Wendy. He is still tired this morning. 

Thanks for tiring out my dog, and taking awesome photos!!! 

Trouble

These four dogs in one house spell T-R-O-U-B-L-E.

I am dogsitting Jen's dogs for the weekend. It's chaos. Barely controlled chaos. You have three dogs (Neena, Brit, and Leo) all trying to control one another, and then Scamp standing in the middle a little confused. lol. Four Border Collies is crazy. Just sayin.

So to fend of the craziness in the house we have been walking- a lot. Between all the extra walks, and the "i-thought-i-was-gonna-die" sickness I had on Friday/Saturday I've probably lost a pound or two..

This morning we woke to pouring rain. So out we went. I put rain clothes over my pyjamas. lol. 2 hours later I had some tired dogs. The Corgi girls are mad they didn't get to go. But after the beach run the other day Pixel was sore again.. (sigh.)

Here are some more photos from our wet walk this morning...

Leo in hiding..

Vito in the lead...briefly

plotting trouble.

This is what I see for most of the walk. Zooming Border Collies.

P.S Jenilee I know that Scampie was supposed to stay on leash. But look into these eyes and tell him no.....

A Beach!!!

A Beach!A real live beach. I had heard about this beach from a friend and took a few of the dogs to check it out today. Amanda. S and her little pug Izzie came along, and we ended up seeing Wendy and Marlin there too!

I think it is my new favorite place. Nothing for miles except sand, and water. The dogs had a freaking blast. Even though it was cold and windy they ran and ran and ran some more. It was awesome.

Here are a few of my favorite photos...

I left Boone at home with Scamp and Neena (Im dogsiting.) Because of Boones flight risk I like to scope out a new place before taking him. And I wasnt sure how the honeybadger (Neena) would be with Izzie so she stayed home.

But we will be going back very soon!!!

In a world of his own...

Boonie is the kinda guy who marches to the beat of his own drum. Always off on his own, doing whatever it is he does. He's an interesting guy.

Cute, but quirky. ;)

In the lead.

Wicca is getting old.

She is going to be nine soon. Which isn't old really. But she certainly is starting to act old, and even look old. And it's not fair.

She is getting grey. Her ears, her face, her legs even. It's spreading and there is no way to stop it.
She is way more mellow. Like almost well behaved in the house.

Wicca is not allowed to die. Ever.  So she better stop getting old.

Despite being the oldest dog in the house she is always in the lead. Right where she belongs.

Worst Dog Mom Ever

Today I realised I missed Brit's birthday.  It was September 29th.  

you wha???

 Worst Dog Mom Ever.  

She said I could make it up to her by getting her her own Sheep. 

 

  I got her a collar instead. :)  Happy Belated Birthday to the sweetest dog ever.  <3

Pixel Update

Dreamer 9/12/2012 Pixel, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

Well the update is that she is not visibly limping, but I see an occasional hitch.

We've been keeping things pretty low key. No fetching, no running off leash with the other dogs, just walks (and up until this week swimming).

We are trying to train for an Obedience trial coming up in November but I've been reluctant to do too much heeling as that is where I see it the most. So we've been working on stays, and fronts instead.

I'm going to get Sarah to look at her once more- see if she can feel a difference between a few weeks ago and now, and then a trip to Calgary if I can swing it time wise.