Gyp, the Busy Body

so many gyppie's ... so little time.

SEE IT BIG!

We are off to our last Agility Trial of the year and I hope I can keep up with Gyp :)

Most of our group didn't get in to the Trial, and they have a huge waiting list ... but Jolayne and Tag; Kim and Maggie and Bosley; and me and Gyp and the K-man are heading up bright and early tomorrow! Should be a fun weekend.

Jane fans ... she is going to have a great weekend ... BOTH of her Grammy's will be in town .. she better not be fat when I get home ...

All about Kaleb

Pete, Kaleb and I headed out for a morning of hunting. Just me and my best boys.

Kaleb does a few things when he is in pursuit of a bird

... he stalks ...

See it BIG on Black

he points ....

he stalks. some more ...

he runs, and runs ...

Yes K, you did a good job!

We didn't get any birds today, but he flushed about 8 Sharp Tailed Grouse, but the season for those ended at the end of October, so they had to stay. He didn't seem to mind, he was just as happy at the end of the day!

I think these guys knew where the pheasants were, but they weren't talkin'

I can't believe you left me at home. You think the Timbits make up for it? If I don't get to go hunting next time, you'll end up like Ernie, remember that.

3 dogs. 3 VERY different agendas.

... all 3 dogs had a great weekend, as always, they enjoyed it for very different reasons ...

Jane and Gyp had a great day at Alta-Pete Farm on Sunday, some friends from Calgary made the trip down to have some herding lessons with their dogs too! It was great day!

Dog 1: AKA Jane

Ya, "I'm In Charge", my shirt says so.

OBJECTIVE 1:

Find sheep shit, and some possible dead stuff. Roll on it. Repeat as necessary.

SUCCESS

what you lookin at? can't you see i'm rollin' here?

OBJECTIVE 2:

Discover what it's like to floss my teeth with wool, see what all the fuss is about.

mmm woolly goodness

yoink

grrrrr yoink grrrrrrr

ack, gag, gag, this wool is making me thirsty.

DOG 2: AKA Gyp

OBJECTIVE: Herd some sheepies

SUCCESS!

Gyp had her best lesson yet! She didn't get pouty or sulky at all, she was level headed and had FUN! She even layed down fast a few times, with no pouty face. Scott showed me some ways to increase the FUN and make more of a game out of having her switch sides. It worked well and she was very keen even when I applied the pressure. We worked with me on the fence, and the sheep between me and her. She would work up and down the fence line with me switching direction for her. It was fun and fast and she loved it! We did some baby outruns which she did good on, on both sides off of me. At our last lesson, she had a hard time on her "Away to me", she would default all the time to "Come By", this time I would say she was equal on both sides. YAY for Gyppie!

This herding stuff is fun :)

DOG 3: AKA Kaleb

OBJECTIVE: Get birds.

K and Pete had a couple great days hunting, I hope I can go next time, so I can get some photos! It probably looked something like this:

SUCCESS!

1976, made in Japan.

I was inspired this week to bring out my k1000 (made in 1976, it was my mom's camera), first I had to remember how to load film, advance it, and rewind it ... I haven't had so much fun in a while ... how lame is that. I have to mention my K1000's light meter has NEVER worked, I still to this day go with my gut as far as exposures ... I went through years of school with this bad ass tank of a camera.

Not having shot with this camera in YEARS (since Jane was a pup), I realized how much I missed this camera:

• the rush of not knowing if what you took turned out (no preview screen people)

• not being able to post-process it

• shooting with only 24 frames

• and most of all, I missed film grain.

• The only other thing I wish I could have done is develop and print it myself, I miss that, I miss the harsh chemicals.

Anyway ... here are the best shots of my 24 frames ... you should be able to click on the photos to see them bigger, and see the grain. My fancy X thousand dollar DSLR camera has nothing on this old school metal monster.

Can EFFORT be measured?

Yes it can. And in Kaleb's case, effort is a measurement of the length of the tongue. And as you can see he always gives 110%.

Yep, he's been workin' hard.

Still goin' strong 3 hours later...

Even huntin' dogs need to take a break ...

Note the lack of tongue on the subject to the left. It is safe to assume the subject on the right did most of the work.

There is nothing better in the world seeing a working dog work, doing what they were bred to do. Nothing tops it. Well except for having a really good weekend at an Agility Trial :) that is a close second.

*editors note: you must think he consumes alot of water hunting? You're right, I would say 2 or 3 litres ... and someone has to carry it ... my name is Sarah, I am a pack mule ...

Porcupine 1. Jane 0 ...but there's always next time.

"If I wasn't in the comfort of this warm vehicle, you would be mine sucker. I could get you if I really wanted too. You should Just know that. I can climb trees too, you know."

"Ferdinand, you are just a bucktoothed, bad-hair-day, overgrown rodent. Your quills don't scare me."

* editors note: I for one, hope we don't run into Ferdinand any closer than this.

I hate to play favourites ...

BUT, this is one of my favourite dogs in the whole wide world.

Jazmin ... AKA "Jazzy Flat-coat" see it large

Besides my own dog Jane, the only dog I have known longer, is Jazmin. She is a very special dog to me. She is 11.5 years old and she is still bratty, sassy, spunky, independant and perfect.

She helped confirm the reason we wanted a flat-coat when we were looking for a second dog.

The first time I met Jazmin, she had her head burried in a snow bank with her butt in the air, acting pretty much how she does now - 10 years later.

I would love to be running my dogs in Agility at the age of 11, like Jazzy ... and still with the same spunk as a youngster. It's amazing what an impact a dog can have on us ... and she's not even mine!

I think her personality is a part of what keeps her so young at heart. She barks, she bounces, she ALWAYS has fun. I love telling people how old she is, and I love it when they say "really??"

Jazmin (middle) and her apprentice's, Kona (l), and Roxy (r)