This blog was a labour of love. Please visit the new blog http://blackthornworkingdogs.blogspot.com

My name is Donna Brinkworth. Four years ago I moved to Alberta from Northwestern Ontario. I recently completed the requirements to be a CKC tracking judge for TD and TDX and will now work on becoming an urban tracking judge, as it is one of my passions. I've also become involved in the sport of Schutzhund as a member of the Calgary Schutzhund Club, and my boy Caden is showing a lot of promise in this exciting sport. All I need is some land and sheep for the Border Collies to be completely happy in Alberta, and we are working on that! This blog honours tracking, herding and life with the dogs who are my teachers and who bring so much joy into my life. It started out as a training blog for my tracking students. You can check those archives, back in 2005. Over time I have used this blog to journal my own training, share information, and most recently discuss my personal journey since moving here.

All content and photos are copyright Donna Brinkworth (Smith), 2005 - 2012 unless otherwise noted. Please use the private comment function after each post to contact me with questions or comments.

To find the Spiritdance Tracking - Your Tracking Coach, my other blog, click the photo in the left menu bar.

This blog may have come to an end, but I hope you will still find good information in the posts from over many years. Thank you for visiting, and enjoy your journey!

30 July, 2011

Lovely Summer Day

I had the most wonderful day today, sitting on my back deck in the sun, drinking sun-brewed green tea over ice and listening to music. It was just one of those awesome summer days, I made tremendous progress on 'the book' - with my December deadline looming. Getting into a nice routine with Jet and Benjamin and regular feedings. Walked all four dogs in the evening sun. Lovely.

AND FINALLY, A DAY WITHOUT RAIN!!! (Susie, this is a blog response to your blog over at Birch Bark Hill...)

Jet in the sun with Ben. Jet is trained to look at the camera, in case you think she never looks at Ben. She sees me point the camera and dutifully stares until she hears click! If you give a Border Collie a job, they are really obsessed with doing it right - and to Jet, having her photo taken is like a job. Even if I raise the camera, she will stop walking and stand still for me. It makes it hard to capture some things, but is very cute as my very first GSD Hawk did the same thing - striking poses for the camera.

And of course, here is Big Ben... his nose is filling in with pigment and so are his pads. I have already cut his nails twice! It is crazy how much I love this puppy... only day 9, in a day or so, those eyes will be opening...


Mind you, Big Ben does not look that big when I back up and take a picture of him in his whelping box. He is in his favourite spot, cuddling with his friends, Washcloth, and Hot Water Bottle.

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