Dig-it Fetch-it Herd-it: October 2011

Monday, October 31, 2011

No Costume Necessary.

Happy Halloween, originally uploaded by sarah ....

Happy Halloween ...

... from the dog who is dressed in costume 365 days of the year ...

Saturday, October 29, 2011

her day

her day :: 10/12/Jane, originally uploaded by sarah ....

Via Flickr:
i love taking Jane out for her won excursions without the other dogs. She moves alot slower than they do, and this way it is just us, like the old days :)

Ii's nice to just hang out with her and let her do her "Janer thing" ... which involves sniffing, peeing on things and watching the world go by.

Where's the cookies woman? I'm not gettin' any younger here!

Friday, October 28, 2011

another little thing ...

OK a couple of little things ...

Jane, originally uploaded by sarah ....

Jane, feeling spunky ... and enjoying the little things like trotting through the crunchy leaves.

There are only two ways to live your life.
One is as though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle.

- Albert Einstein

Somehow Jane keeps beating the odds ... keep on truckin' little Janer. keep on truckin' ...

Monday, October 24, 2011

my dogs ... love 'em.

Another weekend of Agility is behind us. I travelled up to Calgary Friday, had a herding lesson, taught 6 hours of Agility ... it was a gooooood day!

The pooches ran in 6 classes and they were great. It was the first indoor trial of the fall season - and the footing was sure different than what we were used too over the summer running in grass - very loose deep mix and my guys popped out of weaves, and also got stuck in the deep surface while weaving - interesting ... but anyway, they were great, and super fun challenging courses. I really pushed myself and I had the best time doing it. Gyp and Kaleb are so different - like almost a different species ... but I love running them equally ... it's hard to explain, but I love them both for their little quirks and unique personalities :)

Our group did so amazing, the more we all hang out, the more like family we are. It is really awesome. We all had a good group cry session over the loss of one of our own, Sniper. He will be missed, a great dog, taken too young. We are such a tight knit group, it is so nice to celebrate achievements with them, and when you need a shoulder to cry everyone is right there for you too. I've never been involved in such a cool group of unique and diverse people, and I am proud to call of them my friends - and their dogs are like extensions of my own.

Enough of the sappy stuff ... here are a couple runs from the weekend ... and for the record ... Gyp's Tug Toy still works just fine.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Certified Kid Friendly

I know for some people it isn't important to have a dog that is friendly with everyone - but for me, it is VERY important, my dogs are in public places alot, as well we have a large family that has people of all ages. Some dogs you have to work at it with ... others seem to come that way. My dogs are a combination of a bit of everything, but I am proud to say, they are pretty unflappable in just about any situation I put them in - while knowing their limitations - ie. not putting Jane with small Children and being careful with other dogs. But in situations like pubic places, busy parks, elevators, other peoples homes ... they are pretty good.

Gyp was very shy when I first got her, and quite afraid of men. She has always loved kids and is very gentle with them - and if they can throw a ball - she will fetch ... it's quite simple really.

This past weekend, we had the opportunity to Certify for Children Pet Therapy. You have to be Certified already in the program a year, which we are, and I thought it would be fun to work with kids - she loves the elderly, but kids, as you know have a different energy.

The tests we have done for both certifications, are rather stressful!!! They really do a good job of testing dogs temperaments and how they deal with stressful situations.

The tests inlcuded:

Ring around the Rosie: 10 people including kids, singing and holding hands while circling us, then they all fall down on the floor at the same time. Gyp was curious, and went up to each person individually to meet them ... funny girl.

Play time: Kids playing on the floor with Toys and a Stroller, laughing and being loud, once again Gyp went up and met them all and tried to entice them to play.

Running at the dog: one at a time the kids ran towards Gyp then fell on the ground laughing or screaming .... Gyp thought it was weird - but just sat at my side and by the last falling child, tried to get them to play with her when they were on the ground.

Meeting the dog: the kids came up to pet her one at a time - of course she was fine with that.

Mob: we stood in the room, and all of the kids and people swarmed her, talking and petting, laughing ... again she thought that was pretty cool - hey kid, throw me a toy.

So we look forward to our next level of Therapy Dog work ... we will see how much we like working with the Kids, it will be much different than hearing the fun stories of the elderly, but should be just as uplifting.