Warning

This video is not for everyone, but I thought it was important to share. I'm not interested in scare tactics, making people feel guilty, or making more out of something than what is true. This is one of those things that goes on every day, and is indeed a significant problem in many places. We will never be able to save every dog, and not every dog should be saved but we can all try to do a little something to help.

Jake Hits the Spotlight with Supporting Actor Sam

Here are the boys doing what they do best, fetch!! Both live to play ball. Thankfully Jake is great at bringing it back, Sam needs to do a few victory laps first!

Back from Vacation

We had a wonderful time, despite missing camp and not one but TWO agility trials! Our adventure up north was well worth the agility rest however, and we are ready to begin training in earnest once again.
Jorja is working on her weaves, she has to weave for her breakfast every day now. It seems her work ethic leaves a little bit to be desired in the weave department (ewww, these things touch my FACE, maybe if I just run beside them that will work?). I struggled a bit with this one, she did beautifully with the poles right up until it came time to have them close enough to TOUCH her, then it was like they were the plague and she had never seen those sticks before! We have hit upon the jackpot with breakfast though, it is her happiest time of day and she is now slamming into those poles with gusto (and a little Jorja elegance as always :) ).

Mollie managed to consume 30lbs of dog food in one sitting while I was away, but in typical Mollie fashion she was quite okay (maybe a little fat). Note to self: do NOT teach the dogs to open and close cupboards and the fridge, this has haunted me now for ten years!

Marty is perfect as always, he came with us on our adventure and had much fun playing with the kids, chasing squirrels and receiving tidbits from Grandma.

Cai, well, what can we say about Cai? He is busy policing the house and ensuring that puppies do not get to have toys to themselves, and that all other dogs must be kept away from *his* girls.



Toque is a superstar. :) She won top starters dog at the DogOPogo trial, despite only running half the courses (I was judging). I was very proud.

SoBe is about the cutest little aussie you ever did see. She has mastered jumping on the kitchen table in a single quiet little bound. I pluck her off the table and crate her (bad baby) at least once a day, sadly I am laughing on the inside and she knows it. She has the funniest little impish grin on her face all the time. I can't wait to get her back to classes this week.

Ah but what about Heidi you ask? Well, she came along on the northern adventure (of course!). So much socializing, what a great trip for a baby. Her social skills are fantastic, she loves people.

In rescue dog news:

Trixie fell down the stairs twice this week, she is getting close to the end. She still has more good days than bad days though, and enjoys her chances to tell off the puppies in good collie style. She'll be off to the groomers soon to get her fur cut down, she drools in her beautiful mane (not so pretty).

Jake has an adoption pending, he is such a wonderful dog. I don't want to jynx it though until all the work is done. I'll be posting some Jake video soon (hopefully later today if the rain stays away!).

Moo is still Moo. He has found his voice! Moo's morning consists of: Bark at 5:20 a.m. high pitched and loud (yo dude, it's time for breakfast!). I get up, kick him outside with the now awoken and whining Heidi. "Moo it is NOT time to get up yet." Back inside at 5:45. 6:00 a.m. Moo starts pulling things off the counter/table and letting them crash to the floor ("yo dude! Gimme my breakfast!"). Like the dishtowel, with ALL the clean dishes on it!! Moo gets locked behind the baby gate at the back door. "Moo it is NOT time to get up yet!" 6:20 a.m. Moo starts barking behind the gate. One high pitched loud bark every three to five seconds. Bark!.......Bark!.......Bark!...... "Yo b*#ch! Breakfast!!" I get up, kick out Moo, Marty, Cai, and Mollie. Ah silence until a respectable 7:30. Moo is too busy peeing on everyone else's pee to bark. Breakfast is momentarily forgotten. Moo really loves breakfast. Once it is over he spends all day asking for supper. Now? how about now? now? I refuse to feed him on a schedule so he never knows when it is coming, hoping that he will quit asking from 11 a.m. on. So far, not so successful, we may have to change our tactics.

There is a new addition, Sam , who is a deaf aussie. He is currently being assessed, stay tuned for more info in a couple of weeks.

Mini aussie puppy mill update: court date is this Wednesday. Hopefully the dogs will be released then and we will at last get them up and settled. I hear that they are doing well though.

Summer antics

Just for fun!
Here is Toque attacking the lawnmower (she gets put away while I mow for obvious reasons!) and Toque, Jorja, Sobe and Jake with the hose. The barking is Mollie and Cai who were stuck in the pool. :)

Good Nite!

Nite has found his place in the world. Thank you John and Kelley! I look forward to hearing all about how the boy is doing in his new home. Lucky fella gets to have all the attention to himself! All the best Nite, may the squeak be with you......

Heidi the yodelling princess is getting bigger; 6.95kg up from 5.5 in just six days. This baby is growing! She is doing fabulously with her socializing, she has decided she likes starbucks coffee thank you very much. Watch out Toque, you have coffee competition! Heidi wants to eat...everything....as quickly as possible. So to torture her I give her turkey necks, she is forced to CHEW. Listen to her whining...she can't stand that she can't just EAT the thing!

For those of you who may have heard, here is the news story on the mini aussie puppy mill bust in eastern Washington. The aussie rescue of BC group will be bringing up ten or so of these dogs once they are released legally.

That was easy

I did a little shaping session with SoBe today. I was lucky enough to win an "easy" button at the last Kamloops trial (thanks Mary!). Gotta love the clicker! SoBe is coming along nicely with her shaping skills, she is doing less and less sniffing around after every treat. Here she is.....

In other news, Nite has an adoption pending! He went with me for a home visit today with his new family. He gave Kelley and John two paws up! He is packing his bags and can't wait for Thursday when he can have two of his very own belly scratchers all to himself.

Moo and Jake are still waiting...anyone?

Okay, so June was a blur....

And now it is almost half way through July! Time to update for sure. The summer is flying by so quickly. The dogs and I spent a fabulous week in Kamloops with great friends, competing in agility and attending a seminar. Then it was off to regionals. The dogs did well, smarty Marty is a superstar. Marty was seventh overall in his division, pretty awesome for an eleven year old dog to still be competing and Cai is spectacular as always and quite the crowd pleaser (lots of ooh's and wow's as he skids off the side of the dogwalk from going too fast!). Then we were off to Vernon to judge. Toque got to play quite a bit, she is doing great for a baby dog and even won the "Top Starters Dog" award. I couldn't have been prouder! Her first little bit of hardware (and mine too). :) Then it was off to Quesnel for the 10th annual clear sailing trial. Hard to believe I've been to the last eight years of that trial. What a wonderful group of people and friends. Agility folks are the best!

Here is Marty (Photo by Sheldon Pineo)

And the Cai-kenstein (photo by David Greenberg)

And here's baby Toque (David Greenberg)

Maverick has been adopted. He has a wonderful home, look out for him on the agility field in a couple of years! Here he is with his new family:

For those of you who know me, I have a soft spot for deaf dogs. The dog at the top of the blog here is BoPeep. She was my deaf border collie who died last year very unexpectedly at 18 months old. I've been a little lost since her passing, my hearing dogs still have to put up with my ridiculous thumbs up signs, I never did stop with the hand signals. Anyway, not that anyone could ever replace Bo, but I do have a new addition to the household. A rescue that is here to stay, this is Heidi. I've branched out a little, not so much a herding dog, Heidi is a deaf Great Dane baby. She will be learning rally and agility as she grows up.

That's all for now. Jake, Nite and Moo are all still looking for their forever homes. I'll put up some new pictures of the fosters sometime this weekend hopefully. I am looking forward to a weekend at home!