Who trained this animal?

We survived another agility trial, though Lou says the boredom made him want to throw himself in front of a bus.  Luckily, he is too lazy to walk all the way down to the busy road.

Wick continued to show that she is the undisputed Top Agility Dog in Collie Nation.  She smoked all 3 of her Standard runs and had a very fast Steeplechase too.  Her first Jumpers was a little messy but she Q'ed it.  Her second Jumpers was GORGEOUS but we had a run-by at the second-last obstacle.  The gamble wasn't to be ... still need two more.  As usual, no video of Wick's awesomeness because of my deep-rooted superstitions, but trust me, she was fab.

And then there's Rex.  My thoughtful, careful agility dog has become a screaming, bouncing big ol' mess!  Seriously, who trained this dog?  Despite the chaos, he managed to Q four of his classes, so he is now in Advanced Gamblers and Snooker, and he finally got a Starters Jumpers Q.  His first Standard run was his nicest of the trial, even though he jumped off the table.  Oh, and he finally missed a dogwalk!  This was probably the 12th dogwalk he's done in a trial, so it was about time he missed one.  Was starting to think the running contact thing was too easy.  Here's a video of some of his runs.



And in an "awwww" moment, Rex now has his own AAC Trial Results page.  All together now ... "awwwwww".  :-)

Dances with Collies

Life is pretty tough when you're a working sheepdog.  Sometimes, you just need to blow off a little steam.  Here are four competitors (Gin, Creed, Rex and Lou) from the World Stock Dog Championships, enjoying time at the river behind the Saddledome.

Live like you were dying

For the fourth year in a row, I made the trek to the Calgary Stampede.  There was a field trial immediately prior, so of course I had to go to that too.  I'd heard so much about the mosquito situation that I'd spent the couple days prior to departure clearing the stores of the various skeeter repellents.  These things were awesome:

As I keep reminding myself, I won't have Lou to run forever.  With this in mind, then, I went to the post each time with joy and pride in my trusty partner.  Unfortunately for him, HIS partner didn't hold up her end at the pen.  But the beauty of being a dog is that you don't dwell on things.  You go out, move the sheep, sometimes you put them in the pen, sometimes you don't, and generally someone buys you fries.  Lou knows the drill.

Here's a little video slideshow of our trip to Alberta.  Live like you were dying!

My name is Lou, and I am a border collie

Only Canadians are going to get this.  :-)
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Hey, I'm not a heeler, or an aussie, or a lassie collie
I don't bite people, or dogs, or cats
and I don't know the dogs from Babe
although I'm certain they're really really nice.

I have eye, not a bark
I respond to whistles, not yelling
And I cast wide, not run up the middle

I am welcome on most farms
I can lie quietly for hours, until it is time to work
I believe in calm control of my sheep, not brute force
And that slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.
A flank should bend nicely,
And lie down means stop.

We are the world's premier stockdog
The smartest dog in the dog world
and the shepherd's best friend.

My name is Lou
And I am a border collie!!!