Happy Canada Day 2008! Jet has used her wiley charms to score a pillow for her comfort while away for training with Scott and Jenny Glen. In this photo, she is telling me that I had better find something just as nice for her because she will have very high expectations when she comes home!
Jet was born with a big white "V" on her forehead. You can still see it in this photo! I spent a week trying to think up "v" - names, but after watching her dart around at high speed, Jet was the perfect name and stuck right away.
Jet is a working girl when she's not on her pillow, so she earns this comfort most days...
I just had to put this on my blog when I received it from my friend Ellie. This is her Aussie Myna climbing a tree!! Myna is a Tucker Creek Aussie (see link in the sidebar menu), related to new TCH "Jasper" and Penny TDX (and multiple other titles) owned by Karen Boyes. These are working aussies and very driven, as you can see. Myna did some goose patrol work last year, and is also a beginner tracking dog.
Ellie writes:
"Myna is very birdy!! She takes off from the deck and gets a running start at the tree, and starts to climb....She's pretty funny........I guess she thinks she can scare the birds away, and squirrels too:-) I've seen her climb higher, but she only went this far tonight when I caught her with the camera...
Thanks Ellie, for sharing this great photo and story!
What a face! He looks like a thinker...
Here is the mystery man again, with his sisters and brothers - visiting with their pop - "Diesel vom Schulmeister, SchH I, AD."
For more information on Mystery Man, visit Kleinen Wiese German Shepherds at http://www.kleinenwiese.com/HerdingGermanShepherdsOfKleinenWiese.asp
1 day and 12 hours to go...
It's the mystery man again, this time with a wooly friend...hey, who is bigger?!
6 more days...stay tuned!Last week I applied for a Passport (finally) and like a good tracker, I scouted the area for an urban track. It lacks enough veg for a test, but thought it would be a great place to train on lots of non-veg. Since it was a federal government holiday today, the parking lots were nearly empty. I laid a track for River that was nearly 500 metres with LOTS of articles - gloves, cloth, plastic, metal and wood. While it was aging, I laid a track for Ted at the College and made it harder than anything he has done all winter.
I went back to run River' track and she was primed to get going (in drive!). I carried water today for the first time in awhile as it was so warm I wasn't wearing a jacket and had no gloves.
River literally ran parts of her track, often with her head up. She overshot one corner, and to my shame, it was to head to a leg well beyond a corner, where I had come back to close the box. Clearly she knew there was track over there (you can see it in the map above).
Once Ted reached the third turn, he was quite torn about taking the leg or crossing the road. I had to hold my ground and finally he chose the leg. It turned to cross the road and once reaching the other side, Ted's head was high and he was on a mission. I realized, by how he was tracking, that he had winded the final glove from well back and was just trying to get there. We had a tremendous play session afterwards.
And it's a good thing, too, since our May tracking test is only 8 weeks away! Days are hovering near 0 degrees C (32 F) and parking lots are clear of snow. Some dead grass is appearing here and there.
Yesterday afternoon Julie and Austen came out with me and River to take advantage of the warm afternoon. We decided to lay blind tracks for each other, with no obstacles and not too complex. We wanted to evaluate where we are at to form a plan to take us from here to the test on May 24-25.
Earlier this winter we found that by using more articles, our dogs get their nose down more and stick more closely to the primary track. We aged both tracks for just over an hour then ran them - River first, then Austen. I ran Ted on Austen's track immediately after for some good motivation for Ted on a fresh urban track. We were very happy with how they did.
Above - River's track: Julie put more articles on River's track than I did for Austen and you could see how dedicated River was to finding them. She also deliberately put some near to corners as we have decided to work on things that could happen in a test - shorter legs and articles on short legs and nearer to turns.
It is tough in urban tracking, when a dog has to resume tracking and almost immediately find a turn after an article. I don't mind it the other way - having an article after a turn! However, yesterday River cut one short leg to get to an intermediate article. She overshot her last turn on the parking lot. Part of our plan now is to follow our dogs to some degree, to practice actual test handling. We want to get that feeling of "not knowing where the track goes" and reading when our dog is off. Even though these were blind tracks, we made sure the handler knew if they were past a corner and which way it went so we could observe our dogs. River decided to come back on her own, and trotted towards me. I saw her look with her ears up several times in the direction of the turn. It was a great experience!
Above: Austen's track: Austen's track started on a very narrow boulevard - we have decided to try different types of starts such as the "narrow boulevard" which can cause some quartering as scent flows off the edges - another urban peril! At the midpoint of Austen's track a man going for a walk came up and offered Austen a cookie. Julie and I were asking him not to, and Julie lunged and grabbed the milkbone before it reached Austen. As we were trying to ask this man to leave us alone, Austen was working despite OUR distraction! He literally pulled Julie onto the parking lot and just nailed his right turn to a metal article. It was a brilliant moment and we laughed later because the moment when the intense focus lightened up was the moment when Austen was able to track more freely. We learned a great lesson from that.
Of course, people can come distract your dog in a test and this was good experience too. Like River, Austen overshot his last turn too - the prevailing wind was going in that direction. He worked his way back to the last glove, but not before he stood in a spot on the snowbank looking fairly perturbed. From my position I watched him then give a shrug and make his way directly to the last article. Later, I confessed to Julie that where Austen had been standing was where I originally ended the track. I even placed an article exactly where he stood. I decided that the last turn made him go through a big puddle, and that his track was long enough if it ended on the parking lot, so went back to the last turn and put the article down. The distance was not far enough to have been whistled as the last leg was only 40 metres.
I feel slightly sheepish today for having done that. It made a false leg and dead end for Austen. I did not tell Julie about it, and when she heard what he had done, she was doubly proud of him for working it out. As his handler, she trusted him and followed to the end. This would hopefully not happen on a test day. It shows how even in cold weather on an aged urban track, our dogs are able to smell things such as a placed article which sat on the snow for only seconds.
Ted rushed through the track Austen had just done very happily, only skipping the metal article which was no surprise as he is just at the TD level. Since it was so fresh this was mostly motivational for Ted, who is quite a clown at articles now, but more willing to resume tracking until we reach the end. This is not a skill he needs for TD, but of course, I have set my sights higher than that for him so give him lots of good experiences while making sure he doesn't lose his confidence and motivation.
All in all, as usual, we learned alot!
A few days ago I wrote about our everyday routines here at home. Here is one more: Each night, I bring the dogs to bed and they each get a "night time cookie" in their own special spots. From the time River was a puppy, I would toss her cookie on the bed. But she never jumps right up on the bed for the cookie. She always just puts her front half on the bed and eats her cookie that way. After she eats her cookie, she stays like that for a few moments. I think she is waiting just in case I throw another one. However, it looks like she is saying her evening prayers!
Every night, when River does this, I join her in our little prayer and we say "Thank you God, for another good day."
Maybe she is saying thanks because we went tracking today, and she did a nice job - or I should say - *I* did a nice job following River - on a blind track!The way she just hangs on the bed every night is very sweet and is a reminder to me to say thanks to God too. I often remark that my dogs are such good teachers, but they are also good spiritual guides, reminding me to find happiness in everything, and enjoy each day without dwelling on the past or future.
The Collie Club of America National Specialty has been going on in LaCrosse Wisconsin all week, and there was some big news tonight...
Nancy Anstruther from Innisfail Alberta won Best of Breed with Am Can Ch Tallywood Transcendental!
In this picture, Ted is expressing sheer joy as he tosses his favourite big blue horse ball as part of his greeting ritual every day when I come home.
Donna tries to work on the computer
Donna comes home from work
It is amazing to me, to see Shaman continue to do so well. Two weekends ago he had his annual vet check. We did not give him any vaccinations, because he is 10.5 and has a tumour. However, my vet could not really find much evidence of the tumour. Shaman is doing OK - sometimes he is a bit confused, and he has lost weight, but he is enjoying life and is fighting that cancer diagnosis. I have him on some supplements - maybe they have helped him!
Getting ready for the annual vet check
Take the toy to the kitchen to barter for cookies
And how did that blue ball get in the house, anyhow?
That is another part of the routine - inside toys are always making their way out, and outside toys make their way in. Here is a picture of Ted at the door, asking if he can "sneak" his ball in. Notice River watching carefully...
...and look who gets the toy after Ted does all the work!
I call the look on River's face her "serious lip." She has a funny way of sticking out her bottom lip when she is really contemplating things, like how many cookies she will get for the toy.
You can see why her nickname is "the Princess!"
