Good Bye Wiley Dog

It is with a very heavy heart that I write this post tonight. My sister Debra had to put her beloved Riley to sleep yesterday. My niece Adrienne was very brave & went with her. 2 days ago Debra noticed Riley had not moved at all during the night, taking a closer look she realized that he was very cold & his gums were very pale. After taking him to the vet they got the worst possible news, a tumour in his stomach, up until this point, Riley was behaving totally normal....aren't dogs amazing?

I loved this dog as if he were mine, my Wiley dog I would call him...such a gentle soul, a truely wonderful dog.....

Riley suffered from allergies all of his life, so the night before he was put to sleep, the family sat up with him all night & fed him whatever he wanted, I'm not sure what all of his favourites were, but I know one was ice cream!.....Riley went to the Rainbow Bridge one happy dog, that's for sure!

Here are some of my favourite pictures of Riley.....

For Riley....

We often lay awake at night when the world is fast asleep

And take a walk down memory lane with tears upon our cheeks

The time we had with you, is worth it's weight in gold

The joy and laughter you gave us, is ours to have and hold

Remembering you is easy, we do it everyday

But missing you is a heartache, that never goes away

We'll hold you close, within ours hearts

And there you will remain,

To walk with us through out our lives

Until we meet again

Goodbye Wiley Dog

Kort's Day Out!

Today was a big day for Kort....it was his first official walk with Tate & I. It was so fun to watch the experience through his eyes...everything & every smell was new. He heard dogs barking in yards, kids laughing in the playground, & saw cars zipping by. The ground smelled so new & exciting, so many things to do!! He took it all in stride because big brother was there, Tate of course had his, oh no, he's not walking with us , is he? look! The hardest part for me was juggling 2 flexi leads, & then having to pick up after Tate. But just as I had expected, I loved every minute of having 2 beautiful collies to walk with!

This is Kort after we got home, he jumped straight in his pool, cooled off & fell fast asleep!

This is Tate when we got back sleeping downstairs...after I snapped the first picture, he looked up at me & I know he was thinking "what do you want now?, haven't you ruined my day already!!!" Nice ears Tate!

Amazing Similarity

I have mentioned before that Kort really reminds me of Drake & I scanned a couple more pictures of Drake yesterday so you can see what I mean.

What is cool is that Drake's father is Kort's great, great, great grandfather!! So there is really some of Drake in Kort!! Check out the V shaped pattern on Kort's brown hair, going into the white on the neck, then look at the same spot on Drake's hair!

Here is Kort at 16 weeks......

Here is Drake at 16 weeks......

My Tater Dog

I miss Tate !! Don't worry, he hasn't passed away or anything!!!, he just doesn't come around me much any more!! We have a finished basement & he has adopted it as his now that Kort is here! Kort is always in his face, & even though I try to stop it, it has to be Tate that does, or Kort won't take it seriously. But, alas, Tate will not. Kort gets his last booster shot this week so I will be able to take Kort out walking too, hopefully that will help. The problem is, that because Tate is constantly "gone", Kort gets so excited when he does show up! Hopefully the walking together will make Kort more used to seeing Tate & he won't bug him quite so much when he does see him.

Tate did come upstairs for 5 min this morning! I was so excited! At least there is also a bedroom downstairs & Tate is quite comfy on the bed, all by himself!

I've been scanning more old pictures & I came across this one of Tate, it was taken on Oct 8 2002 when Tate was 6 months old! As you can see by the second picture, taken just a few weeks ago, Tate still has his squeaky dumbell(minus the squeak)....he is so gentle with his toys, they last & last!

Kort starts school

Kort started dog school last night! He did really well & for the most part kept his attention focused on me. Chewy came in to check things out & that got Kort really excited!

We practised our sits, downs, recalls & played tug. It is so much fun to start a puppy again, especially if they are so willing to learn like Kort seems to be.

I will leave you with more pool pictures, I didn't think to bring my camera last night , but it was probably a good thing that I didn't.......Amanda would have given me that "oh god" look!!!!

Bull Riding

I love to watch bull riding on tv., so when I heard there would be bull riding at Whoop Up days I just had to go.....it wasn't as exciting though. For one thing the bulls where smaller, for another, the guys riding them fell off rather quickly, & the majority of the time was spent watching the cowboys rope the darn things.....the "professional" bulls jump & spin & kick more, so it's way more fun to watch....they also know how to get out of the arena fast. There was a bull last night that had the passive resistance approach, he just laid down!!! He would not budge, it was quite funny, every time the cowboys roped him & started to pull him out of the arena, he plopped down on his side!!! The announcer said it was like trying to move a pit bull with dental floss!!! That was about it!

Afterwards, Brad & I walked around pigging out on anything we wanted, candy floss, candy apples, pizza, corn dogs, tacos, fries, popcorn, & most importantly, I bought fudge!!, 3 different kinds, I'm a happy , happy girl!

Tate & Kort were alone for 4 hrs....which was a big deal for me to leave Kort for that long!, but all was well when we got back....a good night!

Here's some tiny pictures of the bulls, sorry , none have the rider on them, like I said, they didn't stay on long enough to get their pictures taken!

Temperament Testing!

I would also like to add that not only did Kort have fun with his new pool, he passed the air compressor temperament test!!! For those of you who don't know what an air compressor is , it is a VERY loud, VERY powerful machine that expells huge strong bursts of air........Brad was cleaning the air conditioner filter with it this afternoon, & you can see Kort checking it out, & barking alot !!, not at all worried, even when Brad pointed it at him!!!!

Tate stoops to a new low, and Kort gets a new Pool !!

Let's start with Tate's new low shall we?

I live in a very dog friendly neighbourhood, we have a mail carrier here that always has a milk bone ready for Tate wherever we see her on our walk, and, if she sees us walking by her house, she comes outside to deliver it to him in person. There is also an elderly gentleman that actually has a fanny pack filled with treats for dogs that he sees along his walk. He always puts a couple of cookies in Gus's yard( a neighbourhood dog ), if Gus isn't out. Gus has a special spot for his treats, a small dug out portion under his fence. This morning on our walk, before I knew what was happening, Tate pulled over to the fence & gobbled up Gus's cookies!!! Poor Gus, bad Tate!!

Here is Tate's I'm sorry look......

Now for Kort's big news, today he got a pool!! yippee, says Kort! Here he is, trying it out for the first time......

Water Fun

I have not had a collie that has liked to play in water since Ben, and that was 30 years ago, and 3 collies ago!!! So I am very excited that little Kort likes the water.....here are some freakishly similar pictures that I took of Kort tonight.....they are almost the same position of ones that I took of Ben, 29 years ago!!!! Sorry the ones of Kort are blurry, guess I shouldn't laugh as I take pictures!I'm definately going to go get Kort a pool, watch for those pictures, they should be good!....oh, & if you were wondering, Kort has gotten his ear brace out....again!

AHHHHH !!!

Just look at my little angel sleeping on his bed, looking all innocent! It's just an act, believe me! Yesterday at work Kort somehow managed to yank his ears out again......you can imagine what I was thinking! So, as soon as I finish this post I will be putting them back in, again,....... 2 & a half more months of this, oh my!!

Perfecting His Craft!

A while back in a post called "No More Mister Nice Guy", I talked about how Tate seemed to be rebeling at the fact that he has a new brother, by stealing food.......well he seems to be up to his old tricks again!

While I was at work yesterday, my husband was home as it was his day off. He bought himself a pizza, he ate it all except for one piece, which he left in the box. I'm sure you know where this is heading! We just never worry about Tate, seriously, he is 6 yrs old & until now he had NEVER touched anything, never mind food! Sooooo, when Brad went back for his last piece, he was left with just the crust!...all the toppings , cheese, & sauce were all licked clean off! At least Tate was thoughtful enough to leave him the crust, he wouldn't want to be greedy! Looks like I'm going to have my hands full with these two boys! (that's Tate & Kort, not Tate & Brad, LOL!!)

Those Darn Ears !!!

I swear, these collie ears will be the death of me!!! I wish I lived next door to Dave & Shawn, Kort's breeders, then they could do his ears for me!! Of course, I don't, so I have to do them myself! All the necessary adheasive spray & glue finally arrived so I could put it off no longer.....I had to get that darn brace back in to assure Kort has the proper ear carriage.....

I was off to a great start this morning, I managed to get the ears all done & took Kort off the grooming table. Well, my wonderful puppy proceeded to run all over scratching his ears, and rubbed his head all over the carpet until he finally got them out!!!!........ just insert the appropriate curse words here!

Sooooo, back up on the table for attempt #2.....but this time I had a plan!! Brad had a left over chicken leg from last night, so, I held it in my mouth, yes, that's right!, in my mouth! Kort sat & watched the chicken leg while I did his ears....then after I was done, I SLOWLY fed him pieces of chicken until he forgot that there were foreign objects in his ears!! Success!!! Yahoo!!

He has scratched at his ears a few more times today, but so far so good, the brace has held....

Here are 2 pictures of my "angel" tonight with the brace still in (knock on wood!!)

Because I Like Them !!

The post today involves pictures that I just really like of my 2 boys....hope you do too!
Oh how I love having 2 collies in my life!!!......

Tate......

Kort......

Tate Abuse!!

Poor Tate, he had such a peaceful life until Kort arrived!! ,take playing outside for instance....Kort loves to chase Tate while Tate is trying to chase his favourite toys.....these pictures show some of the abuse Tate puts up with!

Tate waiting patiently for his toy to drop, but Kort is lurking nearby!......Here Kort goes for a side grab......

If that doesn't work he trys a tail grab!......

The ever polite Tate, "trys" to get away from Kort!......

If all else fails, Kort just goes for the tackle!......

In the end, Tate still rules, & wins the prize!......

Retrieving 101 !

I have always started my collies to retrieve at a young age.....collies by nature are not "natural" retrievers, but by making it a game they become so. Here are some pictures taken by Wendy of Tate & Kort retrieving a plastic toy dumbell, they both love to retrieve!

Tate running for it......

Coming back......

Poor Tate has to put up with Kort trying to get there first!!

Kort running for it......

Coming back......

Thank you Wendy for taking such awesome pictures of the boys!!