When bad things happen to good dogs

Rex's world goes dark, a photo by voteforbear on Flickr.

Happy birthday, Rex

20/52, Today is my birthday, a photo by voteforbear on Flickr.

5 years old. How can my puppy be 5 years old?!?

I believe I can fly ...

I believe I can fly ..., a photo by voteforbear on Flickr.

This is really all you need to know about Rex. :-)

Spring means lambs

I love lambs.  I love most sheep (except the ones with wool on their faces - they give me the creeps), but I especially love lambs.  Here. then, is the 2012 crop of Keepmore Farm's mixed hair sheep flock.

They kinda look like a street gang.  An adorable street gang.

Don't you be getting all up in my grill, dog!

Ewe's not that tough

Every year, there are at least a couple bottle-fed lambs.  This year, it's Billie and Flower.

Lou will work anything, even bottle-feds.

Some sheep wear their hearts on their hocks.

And finally, here is your shaky video for the week.

... but what I really want to do is direct.

Still over-the-moon happy with the new camera.  One of the things I was looking forward to trying was the video.  So far, I've not been disappointed!  Today, a friend played around with the camera while I tried to get the dogs to do something interesting.



I sure hope the weather holds this weekend, so I can get some video of the lambie races.

New addition

No, not another dog.  But the next best thing, perhaps!  A new camera!

It's really big and pretty and it shoots so well in low light.  This is, get this, ISO 12,800.  Crazy!

Speaking of crazy ...

So to reiterate ... no new dog, yes new camera.   Dogs = 3.

Wick says perhaps that is 2 too many.

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 :-)

The Dogs Who Stare at Sheep

It's been over a month since the dogs worked sheep, I think, what with the snow, the general apathy of their handler, and the odd agility trial.  The boys were happy to see the sheep again.  Not sure that they sheep were as enthused.

Lou.  I really don't think you can take a bad picture of this dog.

Rex.  I think he's figuring out that when the camera is out, he doesn't need to take his stops.  This might be the last series of photos for a while, until we get that sorted out!

Video post

When you're too lazy to blog.  :-)

My girl, Wick, at the K9 Cliffhanger trial last weekend.  Didn't get the gambles, but still lots of good stuff from my crazy dog.

Lou and Rex swirling around in slow-motion.

And the Rexxon Valdez, also at the K9 Cliffhangers trial from last week.  Or, as he is more formally known, Rex ADC SGDC.  Yes!  We have achieved alphabet soup!

Welcome to 2012!

Happy New Year!  May it be your best year ever!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!!

Two days of awesome at Fido's Farm

The dogs and I headed south to Olympia, WA, for 4 hours of lessons with Scott Glen.  The lessons were held at Fido's Farm, a literal doggy paradise with huge fields, small pens, and everything in between ... and lovely, not-dog-broke sheep!  North Country Cheviots, to be precise.  I love their bunny ears!

The traffic was non-existent, so we got to our lesson over 1.5 hours early.  The dogs had a nice run in one of the fields.

When two worlds collide:  Hello Kitty meets Alta Pete - Aim High versus Do What You Can!

One of the highlights of any trip - Red Lobster!  So good, I couldn't even save a biscuit for the dogs.  

Lou was zonked from his lesson.

Wick was zonked from ... who knows what?  But it's always a good thing when Wick is sleeping, so we won't analyze root cause.

At the end of our lessons on Tuesday, Scott was nice enough to pose with the Hello Kitty stick.  He is an awfully good sport.

Wick got to do a little agility in the sun.  At 11 years old, she still has a ton of go.

The collies bid farewell to Fido's.  What a glorious sunny day!

Seattle's skyline always makes me smile.

Scooby Snacks make me smile too!

And perhaps the biggest score - massive sale on Coach bags at the outlet store!

It was a fantastic two days with Scott.  His understanding of dogs, sheep, combined with his timing ... let's just say he can make my dogs look pretty good.  I've got some things to work on with both the boys, and hopefully we're turning the corner on Rex's angst/tension driving.  Lou and Rex really enjoyed practicing shedding on the lovely, sheddable Cheviots.  It doesn't get much better than private shedding lessons with a man who OWNS the shed.  If you have the chance to attend a clinic, or take lessons, I can't recommend him highly enough.  I understand that he will be the next instructor for the Online Sheep Dog Training Course and I am so signing up!

Oh, one of the fun things about Fido's is that they've got agility equipment too.  I rented one of the rings and ran Wick and Rex through a few sequences.  For Rex, it was his first time seeing some of the equipment (slatted dogwalk, rigid tire).  Even though he must have been tired after his sheep lesson, I thought he did great!  Even ignored the sheep in all the paddocks surrounding the agility ring.  What a good little dog.

TMT November 3

1. What are you thankful for this week?This week, I am thankful for miracles and Good Samaritans.  My boss and his wife were in a horrible plane crash and they literally were pulled from the burning wreckage by people who jumped out of their cars and ran into the fire.  Because of these brave men, my friends are alive and should make a full recovery.
2. How do you deal with a squeaker/shrieker/noisy dog?My Bear dog was a bit of a squeaker.  I guess I dealt with it by sighing deeply.  :-)
3. What would you say is ONE skill or attribute needed to be successful? I think that you need to be prepared.  Like a boy scout.  Was it boy scouts that were prepared?  Or was it the cubs?  Beavers?  Brownies?  Mmmmm .... brownies .....  What was the question again?
4. What are your favorite games?My dogs like Charge of the Light Brigade, where they storm out of a door and run in a straight line AS FAST AS POSSIBLE.  Then they return to me, their benevolent dictator, and line up, waiting to be sent again.  It's a stupid game but they like it.  I like Texas Hold 'Em but I giggle when I have a good hand, so I'm pretty easy to beat.  I also am not good at holding my cards in a discreet manner and often get reprimanded by the dealer.  I should probably only play online.
5. What are some of your strategies for dealing with winter?My strategy is living in a place that doesn't really have winter.  In Vancouver, we have "it's raining" and "it's not raining".  We've entered the "it's raining" season, and my coping strategy is to cover up the white leather couch with a series of unattractive blankets.  Hopefully, this will see us through to next July, when "it's not raining" starts.

May the Force Be With You ... always

Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi

She's lost her mind

Ashamed, I am.

Do or do not.  There is no try.  Though I am trying really hard to go to my happy place.

Come to the Dark Side!

We have cookies!

Even Lord Vader needs to nap.

Falling into Fall

It must be Fall on the West Coast.  The leaves are turning, the grass has been cut for what I hope to be the last time, and we've got only one more agility trial this year.

At the last trial, Rex missed two dogwalks (gasp!), so I thought I'd run him over it a few times, as well as work on a few other things.  Hopefully, he remembers some of this stuff at the trial this weekend.

Today I am thankful for

Happy Thanksgiving!  Before I leave for my brother's to gorge on turkey, I will take a moment to give thanks for my canine blessings.

First, to my crazy girl, Wick, who continues to blaze around like a 3 year-old.  Wick must be around 11, and shows no sign of slowing down.  Hopefully, we'll be able to finish that ATChC soon, and then we'll work to get tuned up for regionals and nationals next year.

Second, I am thankful for my good dog, Lou.  He just laid down two pretty nice runs at Paxton Valley this past weekend.  We missed too many panels to get a decent score, but his outwork was, as usual, just beautiful.  I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching him lift sheep.   It's just ... perfect.

And finally, I am thankful for Rex.  He has been the opposite of Lou for me - he's tough, head-strong, and has a temper.  I've thought about quitting herding with him more than once, but I'm glad I didn't.  This weekend was the first time I truly enjoyed running him, even though we earned letters on both runs.    Rex tries really hard, and the least I can do is try with him.

RIP Steve Jobs

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Steve Jobs 1955 - 2011