Why dogs kill their owners, aquatic version

I've been taking my dogs to Waterworkz for swimming.  I think it's good exercise for them, and they seem to enjoy it.  They = Lou and Rex.  Wick stays in the truck and naps.  Until last Friday, that is, when she had a swimming lesson.  Let's just say it wasn't spectacular.  :-)

Wicked bad handling

My trusty partner, Wick, and I had some fun runs last weekend, but man, was my handling bad! In gamblers, I sent her over the jump in a way that made getting the dogwalk near-impossible (and I got to hear her scream about it for a full 24 seconds). Then in Steeplechase, I added a tunnel to the course, just because I thought the run was going too well. Finally in Jumpers, I omitted a jump (perhaps to make up for the added tunnel in Steeplechase?). I scratched her from Standard because I wanted to eat lunch. Her Snooker was lovely, but of course, I don't have that on tape.

Still, there is no dog I'd rather run. She is fun in a loud, fast little black and white body. I can't believe she's 11 (or maybe older - who knows). Run Wick run!

The Two Sides of Rex

There's a lot of talk about breeding for versatility and dogs that can "do it all".  Well, I think the most versatile dog is a well-bred border collie.  Drive?  Check.  Biddability?  Out the wazoo.  Athleticism?  Work all day on a huge mountain, get up the next day begging for more.  Off switch?  Yup, because you don't get to work the big mountains every day.  The whole idea of breeding border collies for agility and flyball just seems weird.

I like to do dog sports.  I started in agility over 10 years ago, but lost interest when I started herding.  Over the past year and a half, though, I've started competing again and I really am enjoying it.  Besides my trusty, loud and crazy partner, Wick, I have Rex.  He is 4 years old, and was raised as a sheepdog.  He competed in the 2009 CBCA/Western Canadian Championships, finishing 4th.  He also ran at the USBCHA Nursery Finals that year, qualifying for the final round.  Then he came home to me where he became a house dog.  :-)

Here are a couple of videos from this weekend.  The first is from Saturday, where the boys practiced their shedding.  The second is from Sunday.  Rex competed in agility trial, where he had 4 qualifying runs, placing first in 3 of them.

More handsome dog photos

What a great little stretch of sunshine we've had!  Apart from drying out my lawn, the sun makes photographing my dogs a lot more fun.

Lou

Did I mention it's impossible to get a bad photo of this dog?

Rex

Just a picture-perfect day :-)