Cowley fun obd/rally fun match

On Sunday there was a fun match for both obedience and rally-o in Cowley. Allot of my dog friends were going and I thought that I'd take my 2 along just for fun.

While I know they are no where near ready to compete it is always good to get them out in new places for training.

I entered Esmae in novice obedience and I was pleasantly surprised with how well she did, I decided not to do the whole exercise as I did not feel she was ready for the stand for exam.

I was very pleased with her healing, although looking back at the photos I can see she is lagging a bit. I am really looking forward to competing with this dog
Thanks to Sarah for taking the pics
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I entered Massey into the novice rally-o, I was getting myself nervous as I don't really know the rally-o signs, like at all!, so to begin with Massey was a little distracted, but once I calmed down in the ring and she realised we were really just healing she did very well, we even got a nice healing comment on our score sheet from the judge.
I have always wondered if I would ever get an obedience title on her but now I think that it is in fact possible.

grooming time

The other day I gave Esmae a much needed bath.
Not only does her bff "Rupert" lends his support in the bath tub he also likes to make sure he helps w/ the blow dry after.

playing around

So I LOVE my new camera!
I am finally able to get good photos of Massey something I've been trying to do for a long time.
I went to the dog park and took lots of photos, met 2 other photographers there too, they also had a canon rebel.
One of them even took lots of photos of Esmae.
I was just playing around in photo shop and am quite happy with this picture of Massey.

New camera

I got my new camera yesterday.
I had to really think and think about buying it, it is a great camera and comes highly recommended both from reviews online and through my photo savvy friends.
It was however not cheap and I have had a lot of big purchases lately, plane tickets to Texas,Hawaii and horse mats to name but a few.
The deal was a good one and I thought that I'd really regret going on holiday w/out a good camera, so... I bit the bullet and got it.
The camera is a canon rebel T1I.
I love it! I took it out today to get some pics of the dogs and even though I haven't really acquainted myself w/ it, i think I got some decent photos, much sharper images than my old point and shoot.
I took so many photos that before I knew it my card was full, I will have to buy and bring a spare w/ me every time I go out on a photography shoot now.

Scousie

My husband has been away the last little while, this is usual for his job, and it has given me time to go through some photo albums , and in doing so I came across this photo I had taken of my Old English Sheepdog "Scousie", this particular picture I took while we were on one of our beach walks, I think of it as the windy day photo shoot.
Little did I know what real winds actually felt like, on Vancouver Island we didn't get winds as bad as southern alberta does.
My family has always had a dog, an OES, to be exact, my dad used to show ours in conformation.
I still love the breed and would have another one in a heartbeat but I don't feel that they would fit into my lifestyle at the moment, maybe one day I will have another one.

Park Lake walk

Today I took the dogs out for their walk, even though it was -18 it was very enjoyable.... at first.
Then the cold set in and I decided it was time to head back to the car, I didn't realize how far we were from the car... did I mention it was -18?
By this point my nose was running like a river, my bra strap had broken, and my socks had come off in my boots (both of them), it's - 18!
So I start to run back to the car through the ankle deep snow, Esmae thinks this is great fun and jumps at me from behind.
I fall down.
Now I'm covered in snow with all the above problems still happening, and am almost at the car, warmth is coming at long last, I can unfreeze my poor little tootsies, oh but look there is a man on the ice, drilling, ice fishing? anyway he comes over to make small talk about how cold it is today... really? it's -18
However, I do enjoy walking at Park Lake in the off season as not many people go there and the dogs can run off leash, as well it is a nice change from the usual scenery.
I will have to make a point of walking there more often, especially as it is quite close to me.

Fire

Recently Don has installed a pellet stove into our home, it is one many home improvement we plan to tackle in the future ( ripping up the blue carpet beside the pellet stove is also on the list lol).
Since the stove has arrived the cats are rarely seen in other areas of the house, they have become the fire worshippers.

Happy New Year

Yesterday was New Years day. Lately I have become really excited about taking pictures of the pets. Here is my photo shoot w/ the dogs yesterday morning.
I am looking forward to getting my new more advanced camera and then taking a photography course in the near future.
With this I hope to get more candid shots of the dogs, especially Massey as I find her hard to capture in a posed shot.
I also find my horse Max difficult in photo shoots, so expect to see more pics of him in the upcoming months.
On another note I am super excited about this upcoming year, I have recently found my niche among a great group of doggy friends, as well Massey and Esmae training is coming along great.
I am super pleased on how Massey is focusing better on me and the job at hand in both agility and obedience.
Esmae is coming along great in obedience, I am pleased w/ her healing , need more work on her sit stays, though I am confident it will come soon. as for her agility she is still a young to be doing a lot of but in that too I am sure she will do great.
Now I just need to find my horsey friends and life in here in southern alberta will be pretty much perfect.
Any one know any horsey people I can connect with?