Massey's 6th Birthday

Today is Massey's 6th birthday.She got 2 presents, I wonder which one she'll enjoy more?

A woolie bone?




or Crawford?



Happy Birthday to my crazy wing nut aussie.

Bonding

Massey and I have been doing a lot of bonding lately. This has included just lots of nice walks, and fun short training sessions.
It's hard to beleive that her birthday is coming up next week and she will be 6yrs young!

Massey and the Go Dog Go seminar/funmatch

This weekend Massey and I attended an agility seminar on how to do games(snooker and gamble) followed the next day by a fun match.
Here are the pros's and con's of the weekend.

Pros's

-Learned about how to play these games. (i love snooker, and it would seem so does Massey)
- day spent with great people and their dogs, and got to meet some new dog/handler teams
- day out with Massey working on our teamwork
-once I have Massey working with me she is fast.
- homework that I have been doing with my treadle, 180's, pinwheels, and serpentine ques are paying off.

Con's

- learned that Massey can still get stressed at start lines/mid course if I do not have a "flowy path" and start sniffing.
- Massey needs work on distance ques, she really doesn't like to take direction to work away from me

Plan

- work more on distance
- practice her warm up routine and the ready, ready game in a variety of new places.
- reward more often


So basically what I have learned is that I put too much pressure and expectations on myself and when as a team we do not live up to these goals I am disappointed and upset that I was not a better teammate for my dog (which really really makes me angry at myself, because I know better and I let her down).
I can make excuses about how all the other crap going on in my life right now got in the way, but the truth is I was not what Massey needed from me.
If I look back to where we were this time last year I can not help but be proud of all that we have accomplished together and how far she has come and I truly need to remember this on a daily basis.

Live each day the fullest you can, not guaranteeing there'll be a tomorrow, not dwelling endlessly on yesterday.
Author: Jane Seymour

Max's Bath

Max has been needing a bath for some time now, last sunday all systems were ago, I had the time,motivation and weather on my side.



Before



During




After

Carlos 3rd Birthday

I first must start out by saying that I am sorry for not blogging on a more frequent basis, lately my mind has been elsewhere and keeping up my blog has not been at the foremost of my priorities.
Last week marked the 3rd birthday of my donkey, I had planned on taking pictures on THE day but on THE day we were having a torrential downpour and Carlos was not looking his best (although even now it is debatable as he is still shedding out his winter coat) so here he is a week later.
Happy Birthday Carlos.

something to smile about

I like to buy things that make me smile and/or laugh.
When I saw this dog toy I just had to buy it.
My dogs agreed it was a good choice.

Whale watching

My head is finally getting back to normal.

So now is the time to start with semi-regular updates on my blog.

On the ship our first port of call was the island of Mauii, we were there for 2 days, and has Connie new the island well, the first day we rented a car and drove around ; we went up a volcano, and went to an a aquarium. Honestly on that first day we may have done more but as far as I can recall that was the first days highlights.

On day two on Maui Connie and I decided to go on a whale watching tour w/the Pacific Whale Foundation. It was great, I don't think words can describe just how great it was. The humpback whales are all giving birth right now, and we were lucky enough to see a 10d old calf (the size of a ford escort) breaching 12 tx's in a row, a very rare sight to see so we were told. The calves mother was also one of the 14% of whales that can re-conceive while still nursing , so at one point their were 4 males viaing for her attention ( aahhh boys) with much tail and flipper slapping.

We were on a boat slightly bigger than a catamaran, and had wonderful seats right up front to view all of this behaviour, at one point we were even surrounded by all these whales and the boat was unable to move. bliss!

I for one love being on and around the ocean, so the 2 hour trip was over too fast for me, but it was great.

It reminded me of another humpback whale trip that Connie had taken in Tofino off of Vancouver Island, in a zodiac where we were lucky enough to see transient whales.

Many thanks to Connie for taking these pictures with her awesome camera. :o)