Christmas 2016

Out tiny tree this year

Christmas is over for another year.  I had a lovely day with Brad, this year he didn't have to work which was so awesome!  We had our chicken and stuffing on Christmas Eve then had yummy sandwiches on Christmas Day while we spent our time watching movies together.  It was so cold we didn't go out anywhere so the dogs are going a bit crazy.  I could take them but their feet freeze up so fast.  Today is Boxing Day and it's supposed to warm up later at which time I will go out with the dogs.  They will enjoy that . 
I am off now until Dec 29 & 30th, then off again until January 3, 2017 is fast approaching! Brad has to work on New Years Eve, the price of having Christmas off.  That's ok, I will ring in the New Year with the dogs for company.
Hope all of your holidays have been Merry and Bright so far :)

Presents!

Keep on Smiling

Those first smiles are the best, especially coming from such a precious little boy :)

Christmas Craft Day 2016

Craft Day is over for another year.  This time we made wooden tea light holders.  I am not at all a crafty person so I am very excited how nice these turned out! good for me!

Liz made her famous peppermint mochas as well as a spinach and ricotta quiche.  It was snowing outside and we had the fire place going as well as Christmas music playing in the background.
A perfect day ....

December

Dawson met Santa last week, while he slept through it all it was still a great picture to treasure.  What a wonderful Christmas it will be for my niece Sherri having her first child to help her celebrate!

We are having another quiet Christmas, just Brad and I, makes me wish we had children but that was not in the cards for us.  I am however looking forward to my Christmas holidays, I work until the 23, then am off and don't work again until the 29th and 30th, then off again until January 3rd, so a nice little break.  Brad is off for Christmas but not New Years, that's ok, I would rather he be home at Christmas anyway.

Yesterday I picked up a little tree, I will decorate it after work tonight.  tomorrow is craft day out at Liz's, this is something we do every year and it is so much fun.  A bunch of us get together to make something for the house, this year will be wooden candle holders, can't wait.

Grand Championship!

Well we did it! Lync is now a Grand Champion and he did it in style by going Best of Breed over 4 other Specials and 4 class dogs! 
To be a Grand Champion the dog must get 20 points including 1 Best of Breed. Lync is finally looking mature, he has gained weight and is in great shape.  I am so very proud of him!!
The other 2 days we took Select Dog which also gave us points.
Now I will concentrate on getting his American Championship, I've never owned an American Champion! , as well as starting him in Obedience. Looking forward to it!!

2 weeks

Dawson is a whole 2 weeks old now and cuter then ever !

Still Tracking !

I have still been tracking with Ash every weekend .  I think he is catching on a bit more, he does keep his nose down but he still does some spinning and staring  me for instruction occasionally . We will keep at it though, see where it takes us :)

These pictures were from yesterday......

Welcome Dawson

On October 24 2016 we welcomed a baby boy into the family!
Welcome to Dawson Reid Brahn, weighing just 6 pounds 4 oz, he is so adorable!  This is my niece Sherri's first child and it makes my brother a grandfather and me a great aunt!  He is perfect in every way and brings so much joy into or lives after all the sadness we have experienced in the past year!

my sister in law and new Grandma

Sherri and Jake, proud parents

my brother , the new Grandfather

Tracking Again

Another fun morning spent tracking with Ash.  We did 2 straight footstep tracks aged about 15-20 minutes.  He takes a bit to get started but then he realizes there is food in the footsteps and off he goes.  I am enjoying my time with Ash, I think he likes the individual attention as well.

This is my favourite picture from today......

21 Years!

Today is Brad and my 21st Wedding anniversary!!
It is really hard to believe its been that long, I feel a little old!!  Brad works tonight so we will go and celebrate on Saturday night.  It will be a combination celebration for our birthdays as well.  I think its a good thing that we can still go out and have things to talk about!  So many times I have seen couples sitting in a restaurant staring off in opposite directions, not talking throughout their entire meal.  I hope we never get to that point in our relationship.

Enjoy a few pictures from the happy day 21 years ago!.....

Tracking

I have started tracking with Ash, I've gone out twice now and he is slowly catching on.  It is difficult at first to help them realize you want them to follow your scent on the ground, but once they make the connection it is so much fun! I had originally started Kort and Lync but thought Ash needed something to do with me as we don't do anything together.  He seems to like it too!
Here are some pictures from his first attempts......

56!

Today is my birthday, Happy Birthday to me.  As  sit here with my dogs I think back on past birthdays,  the parties when I was a kid, the parties when I was an adult!  Today I am working for the first time, only till noon, then I'm going to go out somewhere special and do something just for me.  Not sure what that is yet but I'll figure it out.
Hope everyone has a great day , party like it is your birthday too, it feels good :)

Saskatoon Dog Show

The entry of Flatcoats for the Booster

I am finally getting around to posting about my Dog Show trip to Saskatoon.

Lync took Select Dog on the first day only giving him another 2 points toward his Grand Championship.  He is now up to 16 points and needs 4 more.  His next show wont be until November now so it will take me awhile to get those 4 points I think.  Now that I am working it is harder to get to the out of town shows.  Lync is out of coat right now anyway so waiting for a bit is probably a good idea.

The trip was also a good learning experience as we had a lot of dinners out with some of the pillars of the  breed like Hans and Margareta Berin from the great Prairielight Kennels.  I loved listening and learning from such experienced breeders.

All in all a great time and will look forward to returning next year!

3 years!

3 years ago today Lync was born!  He is my constant companion and I can't imagine not having him to share my life with! Happy Birthday Buddy!!

Saskatoon

Next weekend I will be at the Saskatoon Dog Show with Lync.  I have never been there so I am really looking forward to it!  I will be travelling with Liz so we will have some great conversations along the way as it is an 8 hour drive!
The entry is great ! Show 1, there are 11, Show 2, there are 14, Show 3 which is also the booster we have 16! and Show 4 there are 15!  I of course am hoping to finish Lync's Grand championship, I need either a Best of Breed, Best of Opposite or a Select dog on a couple of days, here's hoping!

Work- Month Two

Lots has changed since I started working.  I have gone from 5 hours a day to 6, from Tuesdays off to working them and from just bathing and drying dogs to being a groomer!  I swore I would never groom again but here I am grooming.  The bathing didn't work out because of my back pain, I just couldn't take the bending over the low tub all day. 
The good thing about grooming is the raise, I got a 30 cent raise on this cheque so I can't complain!  I am still nervous though, every day is new dogs for me.  At my own shop I knew all the dogs and how to groom them, but here I feel like such a beginner.  It will take time, I'll get over it , hopefully soon.  I always bring on extra anxiety that I don't need to so I am trying to just trust my talent and go with the flow.
Everyday I am getting more comfortable and my boss is doing everything to make me feel that way .   

Versatility Dog Award

Yesterday I got the plaque Lync earned for having gotten 3 titles in 3 different categories from the Flatcoat Club of Canada.  He has a title in Conformation - his Championship, in Field - his Working Certificate, and in Obedience - his Rally Novice.  This is level one of the Versatility Awards, the next level you need to earn 5 titles I believe.
 I am enjoying training Lync, right now we are working toward the next level in Field work as well as getting his Companion Dog title in Obedience . 

Training with Lync

Yesterday morning I went to Keho Lake with Judy and Liz to do some Retriever Training with Lync. I am loving learning this new to me sport.  Lync has his novice title , or WC, already and I would like to get his Intermediate title as well, or WCI.  Not sure we will ever get to the master level but you never know!!
I don't practice at all during the week so he is not a sharp on marking as he could be.  Marking is watching where the bumper has dropped when the thrower throws it.  At times he goes off to the side or past where it has dropped.  I am going to try hard to practice more. 
After training all the dogs got to play together and Liz took some great pictures of Lync. I rarely take pictures of Lync as it is hard to get good ones of a black dog.

Bubbles Grooming, 1 month

It's been a month now that I have worked at Bubbles.  I am no longer bathing but grooming!  I like it much better .  Some days are great, some days harder then other especially with the number of big dogs that come through the shop!  Most days I am happy to get up and go to work as well!  I am still working every other day which is good.  I do want to go to full time at some point though.  Maybe in September I will .  Karen, my boss, told me I am getting a raise after my probation period is up, yippee!,  Groomers get more money, so hurray for that. 
Who would have thought I would return to grooming after 8 years, but I am glad now that I found the job.  That is another story, how I found this job.

I had been looking for a couple of months, put in a few resumes but nothing ever came of them, joined a job agency that helped people find jobs even.  Anyway, one morning I was on the computer and decided to check out kijji jobs, I never had checked out kijji before but decided to for some reason.  This job was posted in the top 5 on the first page, rather then leave a message I grabbed a resume and went down there to talk with the owner in person.  I am glad how everything fell into place, just looking and being in the right place at the right time, so cool and lucky :)

Week Three , continued

Well Day 1 back to work after holidays went well.  I was able to "rough" in a few dogs before bathing , it will take a bit to feel comfortable grooming again as it has been 3 years since I used clippers to groom a dog.  I did some bathing as well as the grooming as we were down a bather  but I feel like my back is getting into shape as it wasn't as hard as it was on my first day there. 
I have my own grooming table set up and just need to tweek things a bit to get them the way I like them.  Every day does seem to be getting better and I am feeling more and more comfortable. 
I am anxious to meet the new bather tomorrow as well.......things are looking up.

Week 3

Tomorrow I go back to work after a week off......not sure what I will be doing though.  Before I left on holidays my boss and I talked about me helping out with the grooming , she was going to hire someone else to help with the bathing.  I am back to being nervous all over again as I don't know what to expect and Karen grooms different then I do.  Wish me luck!

Home

Vacation is all over, back to work on Monday.  We enjoyed our time in Sherwood Park, looking forward to going back at some point.

Out at the Olive Garden....

Vacation Update

Having a great time on vacation.....relaxing, the dogs are also doing great according to my dog sitters.  I have been getting updates and lots of pictures of Lync, also one picture of Kort and an update from a friend about Ash.  That alone makes me relax!

Yesterday Brad and I went to the West Edmonton Mall for a few hours, then later met up with my sister Debra, and Gene, Adrienne and Aaron at the Olive Garden for supper.  After we went to see my niece Adrienne's new apartment.  We got home and passed right out, we were beat!

Tonight we are at a barbecue with the family at Debra's house.  I am looking forward to that as well.  We have decided to spend an extra night here just to chill, go swimming, have a hot tub.  Then will be heading back on Thursday and picking up the boys on Friday.  I have to drive out to New Dayton to get Kort, I will be sick of driving by then .  I did all of the driving to Edmonton and even to the mall yesterday.  Brad drove to the Olive Garden though.

Here are a couple of pictures of the boys ........

Ashley and Lync

Kort at Amandas

Vacation

It's a strange feeling being in the house with no dogs!  I took them all to their sitters yesterday evening as Brad and I are leaving early this morning for Sherwood Park and a few days of vacation.  We haven't had time together for a few years now and we are looking forward to it!  Looking forward to time with my sister as well, we have grown so close now that it is just the two of us. 
Better get myself moving, want to be on the road by 9, Happy Travels to us!!!

End of Week Two

Things are going well as I end the second week of my new job.....I had to talk to my boss and go to three days a week instead of five however.....the low tub is doing me in I'm afraid, the bigger dogs are putting a  huge strain on my lower back.  I still hope that as time goes on this will improve, fingers crossed this will happen.  Yesterday I did a border collie and after that I could not bend at all, I was glad it was my last bath of the day.  I am working 4 days this week, filling in for another's day off, so I hope my back can handle it.

The dogs seem to be ok as well, Ash had a few days of diarrhea but I think that has cleared itself up now.  It is stressful to be going to work and having to leave  dog home sick. 

This Sunday we leave for Sherwood Park, a nice dog free holiday for Brad and I, Lync goes to Ashley from Jog My dog, the young girl who has been jogging him, Ash goes to the kennel he was at in April and Kort goes to Amanda's house. 

That's about all for my update, got to go to work now !

Bubbles , Day 1

Day 1 at my new job went well, except when I got to the last dog to bath, it was a big dog and my back couldn't handle it .....the problem is not so much me but the tub itself, it is only slightly higher then a regular bathtub, my back will either adjust or it wont, in which case I will have to find another job.......sigh, I just need to keep some sort of job, so frustrating

Bubbles

I landed myself a new job!  I happened to see an ad for a bather/brusher on kijji so I took a resume down to them and voila! they called me yesterday and offered me the job .  I start this morning and am nervous even though I know what I'm doing.  I still wonder if  I am going to keep up with the pace seeing as I haven't worked really in 3 years. Wish me luck!

Monday

This morning is my meeting with Joblinks, an agency that will help me with my quest to find a job.  They help people with disabilities , whether it is physical or mental.  I am excited to get the process started, although I did bring my resume to a grooming shop on Friday.  I had a good feeling about it when I left so hopefully they will consider me to work there.  It is just the bathing and brushing of dogs, which is really all I would want for right now, my grooming days are over I think, but I will never say never, who knows??  Then this afternoon I go for vaccines, eeek! I am not looking forward to that and hope they don't make me sick.  I have to get them as I have no proof I got them as a child.  These are so I can volunteer at the hospital, but, if I get a job I will not do the volunteering.  Or maybe I could volunteer one day a week, that's doable if I work only part time.  So it's going to be a busy day for me as I also bring Ash back to daycare.  He is into his second week of antibiotics for an infection, he missed all last week so he needs to go back and get some exercise and to give him some mental stimulation too.

Chaseability A New Dog Sport

I tried something new yesterday afternoon.  It is called Chaseability.  It is just like lure coursing where the dogs chase what is referred to as the "bunny".  The bunny is a few white plastic bags tied to a rope then pulled along a series of pullies around a course.  The difference between Chaseability and Lure coursing is it is not a race between dogs, rather the dog runs the course  by himself.   To pass the judges are looking for sustained interest from the dog throughout the entire run. 
I tried it out with Lync and Ash.  Ash chased it the first time but the second time he was more interested in just running in the field then chasing a white plastic bag!  Lync thought it was great and he did 3 runs perfectly, getting better each time at taking the one corner they had set up.
On the last run he dove for the bunny right at the end and face planted into the ground quite hard.  I was really worried as he has just recovered from a leg injury earlier this spring.  He is ok, thank goodness!  but it has me thinking that the game could be an accident waiting to happen.  Lync runs full blast and then there are the sharp corners they have to take. I have also heard of dogs getting caught up in the line.  So even though Lync loved it I am not sure I will compete with him, really need to give it some thought.
Here are pictures taken by Wendy of Lync and Ash during their runs......

Prairie Fun

Yesterday I headed out to Lync's breeders house and we took all the dogs for a run and then a swim in the river, it was great fun and the dogs were so content afterwards.  We will have to do it more often,

Some pictures from the day......

Memorial Necklace

This is the necklace that my sister in law had made from Joannes finger print.  After Joanne passed away we took the prints in some moulding clay to save for this purpose.  The lady lives in Thunder Bay that makes them.  It turned out so nice I ordered one for myself. 
I am grateful to my sister Debra for having the presence of mind at such a difficult time to get the moulds of her finger done.  I am anxious to have mine and have a piece of my sister to cherish forever.

Happy Friday

Where have all the bloggers gone?? Seems like no one blogs anymore, guess people are busy living their lives and such.  I blog mostly as a diary to have that record of what has gone on in my life.  Right now nothing is going on, I am totally and completely bored, I am however looking for a job. I think if I could just work 3 times a week it would be so good for me, at this point I'd even take full time.  Some days I am so bored I feel crazy. 

I have had my first interview to volunteer at our local hospital.  I will be glad when all the criteria is met and I can start, it takes about 6 weeks before everything is said and done though. I even have to update my vaccines.  I have no proof of getting them when I was young so I have to have them again.  I am hoping for office work for my volunteering shifts, that way I can also get some experience in that department. 
I applied at PetSmart the other day, they are looking for groomers.  I thought I had put my grooming days behind me but because of my increased boredom it is back on the table.  I have applied there before for other positions and never heard from them, I am wondering if it is my age???

Anyway that's about it for this Friday, have a good weekend everyone ! 

Well Meaning Neighbour?

On Friday I got a visit from the local Animal Welfare.  Apparently one of my neighbours called concerned as my dogs were barking, they wanted to make sure I was ok.  While this was nice of them to be concerned it has turned out to be a pain in the ass!  I don't know who called .  I am not sure when they heard the dogs barking.  I think it was when the young girl came to take Lync for his jog, Kort and Ash bark like crazy as they are blocked off from getting to the door.  The officer was super nice thankfully.  I wish people would just realize that sometimes dogs bark, they are dogs after all and can't be silent all the time.  I have been working on keeping the dogs quiet but it is hard, especially with the Collies.  They bark all the time.  Anyway, I hope they don't call again!

7 weeks Wheat Free

Day 1

Day 58

It's been approx. 7 weeks since I've been wheat free, I have had the odd cheat , having rice for instance, but no bread or any other grains.  My most exciting day was when I found out I could actually have ice cream!  I also can have the full fat variety too, when eating wheat free you are encouraged to have fat in your diet, butter for instance.  Of course it doesn't mean I can go out and eat a bunch of fattening products, it just means I can eat full fat in things like butter, ice cream, yogurt etc,  I have found adding these things has helped with my hunger cravings too!

The picture above was taken this morning, it is the first time in 7 weeks I have noticed a difference in my face, I can see less of a double chin from Day 1 !  So good for me!  It has actually not been as hard as I thought it would be, I don't miss bread, but I do miss pizza!!! So, once every few months or so I am going to reward myself and actually have pizza, I could make wheat free pizza crust but I want the real thing :)

New Title!

with judge Lionel Whittiker

Lync and I competed in a trial this past weekend.  It was Lync first trail and he came home with his Rally Novice title with a perfect score of 100 and High In class, a 98, and a 86 due to my handler error loosing us 10 points! he worked really hard for me but we have a long way to go before competing in Advanced.  I will take this year to train and maybe do next June.  All in all a fantastic weekend!!!

Volunteering

I received a call yesterday morning from the local hospital that I applied to for volunteering.  I had applied awhile ago so was surprised to hear from them!  They finally have some openings so I have an interview with the coordinator next week. 
One of the positions is helping the office staff, I like the sound of that one so I will see what it involves.  I am still looking for a part time job but this will fill in some of my time in the meanwhile.  I am excited but nervous .  I am finding my anxiety is really showing up lately so that's bothering me a lot.  I'm not sure why I am anxious, its not a job, but I still feel worried I wont be able to carry out my duties.  Crazy I know, but not being able to keep my last job still plays heavily on my  mind.
I will just have to try and take it one moment at a time .
It will be about 2 months before I will start anyway.  There is a criminal check I will have to get plus go through orientation.  They want you to commit to 6 months or 60 hours as well.  That shouldn't be a problem, I hope!! If I do get a job I will have to cross my fingers I can work in between volunteering.  See how I worry about things that haven't even happened yet! 
Bottom line, I am very excited to be doing something during the week, it is getting much harder to fill hours in my day so this is a good thing!

Regular visits

Once again Ash did great at the local dog daycare.  I can now book him in for regular visits.  I have decided twice a week is good for now so he will have regular visits on Mondays and Wednesdays.  Ash is very happy about this :)

Not all dogs can go to dog daycare.  some dogs get intimidated by the volume of dogs there.  Some are just happy being at home laying around.  Ash is a very busy dog, he plays with any dog who will play with him and he plays the entire time he is there.  He was a tired happy boy last night and that makes me happy too .

Dog Dogare Day & other stuff

Ash goes to dog daycare again this afternoon, getting into a routine of Ash at daycare and Lync going for jogs, now I just need to get out walking with Kort , then comes riding my bike!  I will go by myself first then will hopefully be able to run a dog with me as well, fun times.

In other news, I am still battling low motivation & depression.  I fight it everyday.  I wish more people would talk about depression, I feel so alone as I talk about it as it seems like I'm the only one.  Anyway my anti depressants have been increased so  hopefully only good days will be coming my way.

The weather doesn't help, its been raining for the last 2 days, even though we need it, I need sunshine.

5 weeks

It'd been 5 weeks since I have been wheat free, I have been taking pictures of my face to see if there is a difference, not sure I see one yet but here is Day 1 and Day 40

Well??? What do you think?

Doggie Dayare

Today I dropped Ash off at Dog Daycare.  I will pick him up at 5 and if all has gone well I will continue to bring him a few times  week.  The problem at Daycare is the fact he is not yet neutered.  They have only had one successful dog there that has been not neutered so I have my fingers crossed he behaves.  I think it will be good for him at his young age to get out during the week for play sessions.  I feel it will make him a happier more content dog at home if he has more regular exercise.
When I came home I walked Kort and Lync, it is so much easier for me to walk two dogs so they are happy now as well. 
So I have Lync scheduled for two jogs a week and hopefully Ash in for 2 or 3 days at daycare.   

First Jog

This morning Lync had his first jog with Jog My Dog Pet Services.  He did great Ashely reported and could have probably kept going but they don't rush things.  Right now he does about a 15 minute jog with a warm up and cool down at the beginning and end.  His next jog is Friday. 
He is happy and laying down now, lucky dog!

Mother's Day

So I got through my first Mother's Day without Mom.....it was hard but I chose at the start of the day to only remember the happy times, no dwelling on the fact that she wasn't here, rather think of good times.  I got through the day and it was a great feeling.

Shopping

Feeling better then I was during my last post.  I ended up going out clothes shopping and got myself some capris that fit and a couple of shirts.  I didn't give in and start eating wheat again so that is a  good thing. 

Frustrated

So incredibly frustrated today by my Wheat Free Diet .....today is one month that I've been eating this way.  It is not easy, it's hard on me as I really am a fussy eater.  I am overweight because when I do eat I choose to go for high carbs rather then healthier things. 
This morning I went to get dressed and grabbed a pair of capris , they were too small , they fit me last year.  I am so upset, frustrated and just plain angry.  To be working so hard to try and loose weight , only to be brought down in an instant.  To stay motivated I need to see results and I just don't,  others say to me they can see some loss in my face, but I need to see the results and I just don't.  Not sure where I will go from here or what I can do differently, just needed to vent......

8!!

Kort at 2 years

Today Kort turns 8 years old!! Happy Birthday Kortie!!!

Kort at 8 years

Jog My Dog!

It's no secret that I am having difficulty getting enough exercise for my dogs.  I find it a struggle to walk all 3 at once, Lync being the big problem with his pulling , he is so strong!! 
I can walk the 2 collies together but it is craziness if I try to leave Lync behind, yes my dogs are that spoiled.  But then I just have to come back and walk Lync , I just find it too much . 

Last night I had an interview with Amanda from Jog My Dog Pet Solutions.  Twice a week I am having one of the team members, namely a young lady named Ashley, come and jog Lync twice a week!  I am really excited about it and I think Lync will also enjoy the exercise.  They of course know all about starting slow, maybe a 2 minute jog followed by walking etc, cool down and warm up, so it sounds great.  If I ever get a job I will get Ash in for group runs a couple of times a week as well.  I didn't want Lync in with the group runs, he just not a social as Ash is.  I am also hoping this will build up some more muscle on Lync and get him in top shape for the National which is this July :)