Christmas Eve

Sitting here trying to find the motivation to make my stuffing.  I like so many people my age just go through the motions at Christmas time. The older you get the more family you loose.
This year I am trying hard to stay in the present and not dwell on the past.  I just miss my family so much.  I have a brother in Thunder Bay and a sister in Sherwood Park.  My sister is just a 5 hour drive away but she has her own family.
I am reminded how fortunate I am to have my husband, my health and my dogs.  So many losses this year for people. One of my co workers died 3 days ago after a short illness.  I feel for her family.  My good friend lost her husband recently and I'm sad for her this Christmas. Another friends life was lost tragically recently as well. How sad for her family .
So hug your loved ones tightly, never miss an opportunity to tell them how much you love them.  Life is short so make the best of it.

A Twiggy Wreath

Today I spent the day at Lync's breeders house making wreaths from twigs, and sage and grasses and other stuff I haven't a clue about!  I am not a very crafty person but I gotta say my wreath turned out pretty darn good! I think I'll hang it outside on our gate and hope it doesn't blow away in the Southern Alberta wind.

O' Christmas Tree

The past few years I haven't been in the Christmas spirit and I certainly did not want to put up a tree.  This year Brad wanted a tree. I  was reminded by a good friend of mine that I was fortunate to have someone to buy gifts for or set a tree up for.  My friend lost her husband this year so has no one to celebrate with.  It was a good reminder to be thankful for what I have. So on Friday night Brad and I went and picked out a tree then decorated it together yesterday.  I didn't put all of my ornaments on it but it still looks pretty.  I'm glad it's up now and we can enjoy it together.

Betty

On Monday November 25 my friend Betty was waiting at a stop sign when an impaired driver lost control of his car and broadsided her, she did not survive.  Betty was on her way to dog class with her corgi Sadie.  A year ago Betty bought an impact crate for Sadie, I remember how happy she was to have it, it was purple, Betty's favourite colour.  Sadie survived the accident because of this crate.

I am  having a hard time wrapping my head around her death.  I am no stranger to death, I have lost my mom, dad, sister and many aunts, uncles and cousins.  Betty's death was different, sudden and it didn't have to happen.  This man decided to get behind a wheel and drive while impaired.
I keep thinking that if she had just left home 5 minutes earlier or later she would have lived.

I trust there is a reason for everything, at least I hope so.  Maybe Betty's death will help the impaired driver get the help he needs, who knows.  For now I will mourn the death of a special friend and wait for the healing to begin.

Birthday Fun

Yesterday was my friend Judy's Birthday.  We took our dogs out to Lync's breeders house for a nice long dog walk and then we had a Birthday lunch.  I couldn't take Kort as I can't get him into the van by myself and the walk would have been way too long for him. I miss him so much on days like this, I wish so much he could join us.
The weather was perfect!  It was sunny and warm with no wind, just like Spring .

Enjoy some pictures from the day......

Ash, Lync, Puffin, Westin & Areo

Kort

A young Kort doing Agility

Kort is now 11 1/2 years old.  He is not doing great.  His legs are arthritic, his feet have gone flat, he is overweight.  I am working on the weight but it takes time.  I know that getting weight off him will help with his problems. He is also unsteady on his legs.  If he turns around quickly, or sometimes for no reason, he stumbles , it sucks
.
Yesterday he fell down the last 4 stairs in the house.  He splayed at the bottom in a way I didn't know his hips could go :(  We have only one door in the house and he has to do stairs to get out.  He was already hesitant to go down them and now it takes him even longer to try.  It's not bad when I have days off but when I am working its not good.
Otherwise he is alert, eating and interacts with Brad and I and the other dogs.  I question his quality of life at times and I am sure it's not time yet.
I am scared however.  I can't lift him so I have been looking for ways to make his doing the stairs easier.  I am going to price getting the stairs carpeted to see if it is a feasible solution. I am not sure it will make any difference but it might.  A ramp is out of the question as it would be too steep and there is not enough room to make it more gradual. I even tried a harness around his rear end once but he totally freaked out so finding a solution has been difficult.

Kort has been such a good dog, we had a rough start as he was very reactive to other dogs and weird things like roller blades, but he ended up being an awesome performance dog for me.  We did conformation, obedience, agility, rally, and scenthurdle.  Its sad to see him go downhill with age.
I can't see the future but I am hoping to have Kort for quite awhile longer.

Kort doing Weave Poles

Helena Dog Show Results

Lync and Areo both take a 5point major!

4 point major

What a great week I had in Helena, Montana at the Dog Show!
Lync was a good boy and won 2 Reserve Males and 2 Winners Male , Best of Winners for a 5 point and a 4 point major!!!  He also got his Rally Novice title with scores of 96. 97 and a perfect 100 and High Score in Class!  I can't wait to go back to finish his American Championship but that won't be until next year now.

Road Trip!

Tomorrow Lync and I are headed for Helena Montana for Lync's very first American Dog Show!! I am very excited for this 4 day show and the opportunity to get some American points on him.
Wish us luck!

Modern Science

2 weeks ago I took Lync to a collection clinic in Calgary.  The clinic doing the collecting was a well known one from Red Deer and that is where the collection will be stored.  It is something I have been meaning to do for a few years now and I am relieved we got a great sample.  It amazes me that I will be able to get a puppy from Lync even if ,God forbid, something unforeseen happens and he is gone.  We got 4 breeding from the collection so 1 will be used by me one day,  Isn't science wonderful!

Talent

I loved the picture that I got of Lync winning Select Dog last week at our National Specialty.  I didn't like the background however!  I contacted a talented lady by the name of Wendy Reyn and voila the background is changed! Here is the new background, see last weeks post for the original...

Great weekend!!

Wow, what another fantastic Flatcoated Retriever National Lync and I had!!!

This past weekend I drove to Trochu AB which is 3 hours North of Lethbridge.  The judge was Karen Joyce of Stranfaer Flatcoats in England.  She picked Lync as her Select Dog.  That means her 2nd choice for Best of Breed, it's a huge deal to be chosen.  There were 30 Champions competing.
I am just so thrilled! What a good boy he is :)

Kort and Ash were looked after by a dog sitting service.  They also had a great time and I was happy they were cared for so well.

Furless Fun!

Ash and his friend Areo

Last weekend I brought Ash and Lync out to Lync's breeder house.  The Oldman River runs behind her property so we took the dogs down for some fun after they tired themselves out chasing each other.
It was nice to see Ash running and splashing about and not having to worry about his coat being full of burrs or getting matted!
The pictures were taken by Lync's breeder Liz of Blazingstar Flatcoats.

A New Look

On Friday June 28 I finally shaved Ashes coat off!   I have been wanting to do so for quite some time and finally bit the bullet.  I'm sure there are some people going to say hurtful things because I did it, they already have on Facebook .  Those people have no idea the struggles I had with his coat.  Since he was neutered it has tripled in size.  The neuter hair was horrible to keep and matted easily. His rear end and neck were the worst.  To keep him up I would need to bath and dry him every 3-4 weeks and I didn't have the means to do so. Ash also did not like to be tugged at. I work in a grooming shop and had been bringing him there for bathing as I cant do it myself anymore.  He started taking longer and longer to do and my employer had finally said no more as it was taking my co workers away from doing the paying customers.  In order to have him fully bathed and brushed out I was looking at paying about $100.00-$150.00 which I couldn't possibly afford.
He looks like he is shaved to the skin but he isn't , there is a layer of fluff there.  My plan is to now grow him out for 3 months then keep the hair in a fluffy teddy bear groom about 3/8" long.
I think he looks super cute and Ash loves it!  He's been acting like a puppy since it was done.  This morning I was able to take him and Lync swimming at Lync's breeders house.  If he had his full coat he would have stayed at home.  He had a blast and is happily sleeping now :)
So that's the story behind the shave, Ash is the first Collie I have owned that didn't have a coat that was easy to keep.  He is my 5th Collie.

New Title!

Lync and I attended our local trial last weekend entered in Excellent Rally.  We already had 2 legs from last November so were hoping to get our last one.  We did it! Lync passed in both trials on Saturday to earn the title RE and qualified for a bonus leg as well.   Unfortunately there was a blizzard Saturday night so we didn't take the chance on driving on the Sunday.
Lync got all 3 Rally titles in 3 straight trials, what a clever boy! He is now Gr CH Blazingstar Galwey WC CD RE RATI RATN CGN HIC !
Super proud of him !