Best Friends

Lacey and Ruby pretty much grew up together at the daycare. They often play with other dogs, but they definitely play the most with each other. They are incredibly cute together.

Missed My Pups

I went to Cranbrook this weekend (more on that in another post) and I can tell I missed my pups...they are the only ones I have taken pictures of today!

Border Collie

At first glance, Coulee looks nothing like a border collie but when you watch her move, you can see the border collie shining through.

Home Internet

Well it has been a while but we finally have internet at home again. Marlin isn't a big e-mail kind of guy and I was never home, so we cancelled our internet probably about a year ago. I've missed it! Now I can blog at all hours of the night! Well not all hours - I'm usually in bed by 9 p.m.

Amanda pointed out the problem with blogging at home - no pictures. I'll have to figure out a convenient way to get my personal photos from work home. But in the meantime, I thought I'd share some wedding photos as our three year anniversary is just around the corner. Don't worry there is a picture of Coulee so the post isn't completely off topic. :)

We had a very casual wedding down at Popson Park. We had a morning ceremony followed by a brunch and then in the afternoon we had everyone over to our house for a BBQ dinner. Thinking back, I don't think I would have changed a thing!

I think this is my favorite photo from the whole day.

This picture shows exactly how my niece Alison felt about Coulee!

Cuteness

Weekend Fun

Sorry, I know I'm a little behind schedule but...

The girls and I met Marja and Tundra for a walk on Sunday. They had so much fun! Coulee and Tundra ran through the grass and through the water while Lacey was the typical little sister. She spent her time desperately trying to keep up. It is hard when your legs are 1/3 the length and you can't see through the long grass. She kept doing little hops to get her bearings before running off again.

Lacey also went for a bit of a swim - not on purpose mind you. The big girls ran through a side "puddle" next to the river - Lacey tried to follow but before she knew it she was swimming. She looked confused for a bit and then just turned around and came back. Apparently following in Coulee and Tundra's footsteps wasn't worth the effort.

Funny Gait

Lacey doesn't have a funny run. What makes you think that?

Apparently her back legs have to move together when she runs. I think it adds to her cuteness.

An Apple a Day...

...keeps me entertained!

Guess what we got on Friday?

You gotta love a company with a sense of humour.

Ho Hum

Coulee is feeling a little blue because we've kept her out of daycare for a few days. I noticed she was developing a bald patch above one of her eyes. We went to the vet today and while they aren't sure which of 2 things it is, they are sure it isn't contagious so she is playing again this afternoon. Poor girl, first a sore on her leg (hence the t-shirts) and now this!

To cheer her up, we went for a walk this morning before work. I'm not sure who had more fun - me or the girls. It was great being in the coulees again and just watching them run. Coulee got the zoomies a few times and Lacey did her best to keep up. It is pretty funny to see her trying to hop through the tall grasses. I really wish I'd had my camera with me!

Could it be?

http://www.northamericanheelers.net/about.html

I am sure it is too rare for Lacey to be part Lancashire but they sure look like her!

The Big Four Oh

We went out to a friend's place yesterday for his 40th Birthday Party. They have a beautiful acreage just north of Mosseleigh that I've been jealous of since the day I met them. It is just far enough off the highway so that you can't see it or hear it but close enough that it isn't a big bother in the winter. You can't see a single home from their house - unless you count the beautiful old buildings crumbling to the ground across the road.

What acreage is complete without a few horses,

a barn cat named Bill,

and of course a pot-bellied pig!

We had a great time just hanging out, eating great food, admiring the amazing cake (A friend of theirs is a chef and she made the cake with her sister's help. It tasted as good as it looked.)

and of course oohing and ahhing over their new baby boy Elijah.

I'm a Big Girl Now

Guess who has spent the last 2 nights sleeping on a pillow outside her crate?

And not a single accident. Yippee!

Puppy Photo Shoot

Nothing is more fun than a new puppy and Jolene's little Kort is no exception. I went over last night to take some pictures of him. Here are a few favorites. I'm sure you'll find more on Jolene's blog in the days to come.

It's Arrived!!!

Amanda's big surprise has arrived...it is the first three years of her blog as a book! How cool is that? You can check out a few of the pages here by clicking on the book preview. I got it made at Blurb. They take your blog and all its associtated pictures and "slurp" it into a book. You then have to play around a bit to arrange the photos the way you like and do a bit of editing but it is really simple to use their templates.

I also got a book made for my Barking Mad blog (my original dog walking company) and I've just ordered the first year for Paws on the Run (it was actually just shipped today so I need to wait another week or two for it to arrive). They also have templates for photo books, guest books, year books and more. Marlin and I are thinking of putting together a wedding album as we never printed many of our wedding photos - they are all digital.

Everyone's tired

I think everyone is tired (and a little sunburned!) after the weekend but it was worth it. Coulee's last run was Jumpers and while she decided to visit a pole setter and a couple of women with strollers outside the course, she did really well. I was able to get her focused again after her "visiting hours" and she flew through the second half of the course.

We got a Q!

It was Coulee's first agility trial and I am sooo proud of her. She has done everything I've asked and done it well.

Our first run was gamblers and she was bang on. We gathered lots of points and should have easily nailed the gamble but she went around a jump instead of over it because I pulled off too early.

Our second run was Standards and I knew we would never get a Q because Coulee can't weave yet so no matter what, we were going to have some faults. Man is it ever easy to rack up a bunch of faults. We ran it quite clean. Aside from the weave poles, the only other bobble was her stepping onto the teeter (or maybe it was the dog walk, I can't remember!) akwardly so I called her off and we approached it at a better angle - that left us with 30 faults. But aside from what the number of faults says, I think we ran great.

Our last run of the day was Steeplechase - a really fast course with weave poles so again no possible Q. Coulee was having issues focusing before we even got in the ring - she kept searching the crowd for Marlin. He was trying to stay out of sight in case she spotted him from the ring and decided to go visit. Big mistake. All she wanted to do was figure out where he was. Even at the start line I was having trouble getting her to look at me and do basic commands. Regardless, she ran quite well except when I lost my way and she didn't know where she was supposed to go. The minute we were finished, she hopped the fence and went looking for Marlin.

Today we started with Standards (again there are weave poles so we couldn't get a Q) and we didn't quite have our act together. We bobbled a bit and she knocked a pole or two which really isn't like her. I realized after that I hadn't given her a food treat all day as I had been rewarding with a toy instead during warm-up, and I think she didn't connect as well with me because of that.

Our second run was Snookers and we got a Q!!!! Don't ask me to explain the game...I barely understand it myself! Apparently that doesn't really matter. Amanda and I mapped out a course so that we could get the points needed with out having to do those dreaded weave poles. And it worked. She ran GREAT! She was slower than usual (I think!) and I was able to keep up with her and give her directions before it was too late.

And then to top it off, she won "Judges Choice - Starter Dog"! Yeah for Coulee! I am on a roller coaster ride of emotions with agility - some days are great, other days...not so great. This weekend though was absolutely fabulous and was just what I needed. We have one more run to do - Jumpers and even if we knock every bar, we'll have had a great weekend. I'm so proud of her!!!

Everyone else with Go! Dog! Go! has also done great but I won't steal their thunder and I'll let them talk about it on their own blogs - Many Muddy Paws, Dig-it, Fetch-it, Herd-it, and Life with Berners (see blogroll for addresses).

All the pictures were taken by Amanda - thanks Amanda!

Stylish

Coulee has a sore on her upper "arm" that she was worrying at so is has been sporting different t-shirts to daycare. I've got an agility one set aside for her to wear between runs at the agility trial tomorrow. Hopefully it will bring us luck.

Amanda's Big Surprise

So I ordered something for Amanda the other week. For the week prior to ordering it, I managed to keep it a secret and I ordered it in secret. And this was no small feat. For starters, I was REALLY excited and second of all it is hard to keep something a secret from Amanda when I have to do it on the work computer as she seems to always be here - she is here during the day and she is often here in the evenings teaching classes.

Unfortunately, the secret is out. Not what it is, but that there is a secret in the first place. I was ordering one for me this holdiay Tuesday (I came in at 6 a.m. to do it) and she caught me at the daycare on the computer. I had a heads up that she was coming so was able to turn the monitor off so she couldn't see what I was ordering but it was in the middle of the order so I couldn't turn it off. So now, she is harassing me constantly about what it is. Apparently she has no patience. Anyway, I thought I would tell all of you that there was a secret so she didn't feel all alone.

Hopefully it will come this week (it was shipped last Friday from the States) so she can stop with the constant nagging.

Weekend Hike

My back has been feeling so much better that I decided to risk going on a hike this weekend. It was fine! I'm so relieved.

Dad, Shelley, Marlin, the girls and I headed out to Forum Lake for a quick hike. We were a little surprised to find snow (I guess we should have read the trail report!) but the lake was mainly open with ice chunks floating in it. We saw lots of flowers while driving to the trail head but not many on the actual trail. We also spotted a momma bear and her tiny baby (about Lacey's size) on the side of the road. I didn't get a photo though as it probably wouldn't have been a good idea to stop.