Veeeerrry Interesting :)

Liz of Blazingstar Flatcoated Retrievers is doing an article/research on genetic diversity according to pedigree analysis. I am not sure what all that smart talk means exactly :), but I found the results to be very interesting & not what I had expected.
In the 4 breeds pictured above, guess which one has the greatest diversity?
If you said the Labrador you would be correct :) They have the greatest diversity with an effective population size of 114.
Next would be the Flatcoated Retriever with 52, I would have thought the collie !
Next is the Berger Des Pyrennes which is tied with the Collie at 33.
Like I said I really don't understand this but find it interesting non the less LOL!
The picture representing the breeds was taken by Liz, models are... Karma the Labrador, Kort the Collie, Tinbie the Flatcoated Retriever & Boone the Berger Des Pyrennes.

Children's Festival

Below is a video of just one of the Demo's Kort & I were in yesterday at the Children's Festival.
It was a great day & both Kort & Tate were such good boys. So proud of them ♥ In the video, as well as Kort, you will see, Bosley the Bernese Mt Dog, Cava the Flatcoated Retriever, Gyp the Border Collie , & Pixel the Cardigan Welsh Corgi....

Birthday Photo Shoot

Some more photos from Tate's Birthday photo shoot......

Wendy labeled this next picture as " Teddy Down, Teddy Down, what should we do !! " It cracked everyone up as that is exactly what it looks like, it also reminded me of Mr Bill from SNL, he used to get in horrible situations, so to me it looks like Teddy is saying "oooooh nooooooo! LOL!!

Wendy always gets a goofy picture or two of the boys, this one is my favourite :)



Do you think Tate knows what is about to happen ? LOL, poor Tater :)

A List

Amanda suggested I make a list after each trial of 3 things that "I" did well. Not the dogs, just me, myself & I. Maybe this will help me to get over myself :)

So here goes......

1) even though Kort took an off course jump, I immediately let it go & focused on the rest of the run, I was soooo proud of his run & that he downed on the table, & because I let it go Kort continued on without ever knowing he took a wrong jump :)

2) I remained focused on my dogs outside of the ring, I didn't watch the dog before me, or let Tate & Kort stand around doing nothing, I kept them focused on me

3) I've got nothing :)

This is harder then I thought, I came up with # 1 right away, # 2 took about 5 minutes to think of, & I am just drawing a blank for # 3 LOL!!

Herding Pictures

Just a few of my favourite pictures that Wendy took at the Herding Instinct test on Saturday ......

What A Day!

Wow, I am exhausted, mentally & physically. I got up at 4:30 this morning in order to drive to Medicine Hat to compete in their agility trial.

The first course of the day was Starter's Standard with Kort. He did awesome, but took an off course, which in this case means he took a jump instead of the table. There are no mistakes in AAC agility, even at the Starters level, so he NQ'd. It was totally my fault, not only did I not notice this potential "trap", but I held my supporting arm up too long which actually made him take the jump. I won't make that mistake again.
Last year at the May Medicine Hat trial Kort started refusing to down on the table. I have no idea why as he had always done it perfectly. It was also a problem for us at the Oct. Training Troop trial, so much so that he would go over time as it took me so long to get him to down.
We went back to class where Amanda & Sarah helped me with some games to build value back up for the table. I have to tell you, when he dropped on that table this morning I just wanted to squish him I was soooo proud !!! He also aced his 12 weave poles !!

Next up was Snooker, I don't really understand Snooker, I have to admit :(
Amanda & Judy helped me to figure out a path to take. First up was Kort, he was amazing!! Right at the end I had him take a jump I shouldn't have, so we got the whistle. We got a Q anyway, & a 1st place in class, as he did get enough points, but I was so annoyed at myself as he was having such a great run! Next was Tate's turn. This was the only class I entered him in today. He was in 16" Veteran's. He had so much fun , galloping around, he was getting a bit tired as he had to do a tunnel 3 times in a row, he does not like the tunnels very much. Anyway, on the 2nd last obstacle I tried to get him to take the jump at too sharp of an angle which caused him to knock the bar, so he NQ'd :(

I came out of the ring upset, I have NEVER been able to hide my feelings. I look annoyed, then I get annoyed that I look annoyed! I have worked very hard on trying to change my negative attitude. today I just could not get it under control, I cried. I was mad at myself for being overweight & not being able to run quickly, or handle better. It does not help for people to tell me that it is not my fault, when I get like this I need to hide away until I can get a grip. I belong to the best agility club ever!!! Everyone supports each & they are right there to offer words of encouragement. The problem with that is I am not ready at first to hear "great run!" or "it's not your fault" I need to be alone , calm down & focus. So what ends up happening is that I snap at the people I care about, my team mates :(
I worry that I look annoyed at my dogs, when I really am annoyed with myself. Anyway, it's all I thought about on the way home today, should I quit competitive sports with my dogs? Seriously, I have thought about it before, I do not like myself when I get so down. I'm not quitting though, my dogs enjoy it too much, but I need to figure out something that I can do when I get like this.
Amanda ended up making me laugh however. I said if I could just loose weight I'd be able to run better with my dogs.....Amanda said, "but you'd still be old" hahahahahahaha! friggin funny ! Yes Amanda, you are right on that one!

Ok, enough wallowing in self pity....next up was Jumpers. Kort still had no Jumpers Q's, at times it was my fault, like missing half of the course , sometimes it was his fault, like gawking outside the ring & missing a jump....but that is all over! Kort Q'd yahooooooy!!!! He was the only Starters dog to Q, I am very proud of my Korty!

Well thanks for reading this incredibly long post, and thank you to all my GO!DOG!GO! team mates & instructors, you guys rock!!!!!!!!!!!!

Herding Instinct Test

Early this morning Wendy & I hit the road for Okotoks to do a Herding Instinct Test, & Wendy took pictures as well. I was confident Kort would do well, but my confidence lessened after seeing a bunch of dogs fail before me, including 2 border collies, which I just assumed would know what to do.
When it was Kort's turn Louanne asked me if he was soft or hard, of course I had no clue what she was talking about! But then I said, do you mean sensitive? Yes, that is what she meant. I of course said yes, he is VERY sensitive.

Kort didn't start out so well, he sniffed the ground, looked at the sheep in the pen next to him, & came running back to me a couple of times :) Louanne had me come into the pen & he was off like a bat out of hell! After about 5 minutes Louanne turns to me & says, "by the way, he in NOT soft " who knew!! Then she said I was done & to go back out of the way. I was very proud of Kort, he does love his sheepies.
Kort is only the 2nd collie that Louanne has ever passed !
Some people think a Herding Instinct test is just a waste of time, or very easy to pass, but I saw today that it is not the case. Not every dog will sustain interest for very long, or will not bat an eyelash at the flag thudding down in front of them so they will keep their distance from the sheep. Also not every dog will work sheep in both directions.

I learned alot today & saw a lot of breeds I didn't expect to see. There was a Boxer, 2 Bernese Mt Dogs, a Bouvier, 3 Rottweilers, & even a Dalmation/Husky X
Kort is very tired now & sleeping soundly. I am looking at him & all his furnishing covered in muck & sand :)but that's ok, Kort had a good time & that's all that matters.

The Dog, aka Kort ♥



The Certificate, isn't it purdy :)



The Evaluation....
It's too hard to read so I will tell you the results :)

For Style , Approach, Eye, Wearing/ Kort received a check under "Gathering"
For Bark, Temperament,Interest , Power/ he got a check under "Very Keen Interest", & "Sustains Barking" , no surprise there !
For Responsiveness/Control, Group of Stock, Balance, Position/ Kort got a check under "Keeps stock grouped/regrouped



What a Good Boy :) :)

Silhouettes

On Tues night, the day before Tate's birthday Wendy offered to do a "Birthday" photo shoot. Wendy has been working on doing silhouettes & this would be the first time she tried it on dogs with hair, they turned out so awesome!!! I love everyone of them. I will be making some stuff on Cafe Press & Vistaprint with them for sure!
The blog picture at the top of the page, as well as the Picture of the week off to the right on here, were taken that night as well.
Here are more of my favourites, thanks sooo much Wendy!

Tate & I playing ♥......

Tater Dog......

My absolute favourite of Kort !!......

Up, Up & Away !......

Me & Kort ......

Happy 10th Birthday Tate !!!!!!!!

10 years, Wow ! It really has flown by & I have loved every single minute, of every single day with Tate.
How I love this dog ♥
Happy Birthday Tater Dog!!!!



The video is long, 3 songs long actually, but how do you put together 10 years of wonderful moments with a short video ?

Tater Tuesday :)

Today is the last of the Tater Tuesdays as it is Tate's 10th Birthday tomorrow & I have something special planned :)
I picked out some of my favourite photos of just Tate & I for today's post.
Here's my boy ♥......

Easter Sunday At Blazingstar

Liz & Andy of Blazingstar Flatcoats hosted an Easter Bumper Training session yesterday to which I was invited. I am getting my Flatcoat puppy from Liz so I was excited to learn about a new (for me) sport that pertains to this breed. It was fun to watch & I will try it for sure when I get my puppy.
After training we took all the dogs for a walk together, everyone got along great, they all had fun splashing around in the water & getting very dirty :)
Here are some pictures from the day......

The group, L-R Kort, Tate, Kaleb, Tinbie (who never stopped licking Gyp's ear:), the very tolerant Gyp, Puffin, Lupine, Mazie, Kona laying down, & baby Cedar with her mom Sarah.......

Kort in the middle of the action with all the doggies while Andy takes pictures ......

Kort & Gyp admire Mazie the swamp monster :)......

Tate getting Flatcoat kisses from baby Cedar......

Handsome Kort loves the water :)......

Great Weekend

Our weekend was soooo great. I love getting together with my friends & doing dog stuff.
We had Scenthurdling on Friday night, our team was full of team spirit, wearing our sparkly wristbands made by Amanda S, one of the newer team members who came to boxload for us. Boxloading is the hardest job, you have to be on the ball at all times, you have to be fast, & sometimes you have to put up with crap from other teams, thanks Amanda, you were awesome !
Kort came home sporting a new title, SHDCh., or Scenthurdle Dog Champion! To get this title you must earn 250 points racing. Next will be our Scenthurdle Dog Masters title I believe, & that will require 500 points.
I did alot of obedience training with Kort outside the ring, we worked on focus mostly. I won't say it was easy to not be putting him in the ring, I wished every moment I was there that I could be, but I know it's not the right time yet.
I was able to video & watch all my friends with their dogs however. They all rocked of course :)
Amanda put her first CDX leg on Pixel , getting a High Score In Class, & Brit came out with her 1st Rally Novice leg with a 3rd in Class.
Sarah got her CD on Gyp with a High Score in Class as well.
Amanda S. debuted in the Novice Rally ring with Izzie, & came away with her 1st Novice Rally leg.
Kim & Bosley entered the Open ring for first time in 4 months, they did not come out with a Q, but it was a success anyway. Bosley was happy, & focused, & back to his old fantastic working self, & we couldn't be happier for Kim.
So it was a wonderful weekend, even if we didn't make it to the Naughty & Nice show being held next door, next year :)

Scenthurdle Weekend

Tomorrow morning we leave for Red Deer & our 2nd Scenthurdle race of the year. We had a practice last night & the dogs were great ! Kort only needs 10 points for his Scenthurdle Championship which I'm sure he will have no trouble getting, fingers crossed :)
I entered him in Rally Excellent as well. I mentioned in an earlier post that I wasn't sure if he would actually be ready to try for his last Excellent leg. We have been practicing really hard & he has come soooo far.
Amanda set up a mini Rally course for us. I went in with Kort with no treats, none in my hand, none in my pocket, that is the way it is in a trial. I wanted to judge where he was at mentally.
He did every single exercise perfectly, I was VERY pleased, all except for the barking. He pretty much barked his way around the whole course, announcing his displeasure at me for not having treats :)
Barking is also a sign of stress that is often missed, people just think the dog is misbehaving.
Every time Kort barked I stopped walking, when he stopped barking, I continued on. I did not correct him, or get angry, I just stopped working him.
Anyway, even though I was pleased he was able to make it through all the stations the barking tells me he is still not quite there mentally, so we will not go into the ring. Instead I will watch all my friends & their dogs & cheer them on. I will also take the opportunity to work with Kort outside the ring.
With any luck I can enter him in November at our local show. They will be having a Collie Booster & it is the clubs 50th Anniversary!!!
Stay tuned for updates on Scenthurdle when I get back!
Happy Easter!

Tater Tuesday :)

Finally in 2010 Tate became a registered Therapy Dog with St John Ambulance! I say finally because it was something I knew Tate would excel in, he has a rock solid temperament & loves people, but up until 2010 there was no program available where I lived, so when it became available I jumped at the chance. Tate is still working at 2 locations here in Lethbridge with the elderly , as well as Dementia patients. I think this year I will certify him for working with children as well :)
How I LOVE him ♥


In 2010 Tate entered the water for the very first time!!! My first collie Ben loved the water, as does Kort. Tate & Drake never ever would let a toe touch the water, must be something to do with being bred by Mariner Kennels LOL!
It was smoking hot this day, all the dogs were in the water, then Tate decided maybe he needed to cool off, it was so fun to watch, & Wendy got some great pictures!......





In November of 2009 I entered Tate in Specials here in Lethbridge. I had Kort entered as well, so Wendy offered to show Tate for me. Wendy had NEVER been in the ring before & she did a fantastic job with Tate. They both had a great time !......

Slow motion weaving

Wendy came over this afternoon & did some slow motion weaving video, it is sooooo cool, love it!

Nicholas Sheran Park Walk

Out having some fun yesterday morning. I have Pixel forthe weekend. And yes I know I called Kort Tate twice, it's a habit of mine it seems :)
P.S. It took 3 tries to get this video uploaded or it would have been in here yesterday.