end of winter?

I think is slowly coming upon us, at long last! i hope the better weather will pick jak up a little too :) he has some pain in his hip, making it hard to pick him up to take him in the van for nice walks, so for now he jumps in the side door with me giving help using his harness he has commandeered from chase as its padded underneath too. he is happy in himself and this week i had a lovely lunch time welcome of him standing on the sofa pulling his lips up in his silly smile, something i havent seen for a while, so im hoping it means he is feeling better in himself. His prostate was a little large on our last check, and his wee still contained blood, i have changed his diet, as he is such a fussy eater he wont eat dry food, so is on lifestages meat, with a little burns mixer which he is eating with gusto, so hoping he will feel stronger now he is eating more. I have taken Helens advice ( see comment on my last posting) and jak has lots of hugs every day, i just have to close my eyes and i know exactly the shape of him to hold, thank you helen for that :-)

Anyway, enough of depressing myself, back to some thoughts on things! I like to forward plan important things, ie breeding, which to me is important. Good breeding is something you dont see and hear of too often in our sport, and i was lucky enough to have an email and a phone call from a lady i knew of, but didnt know too well, who said i was the 'best and most ethical' breeder they knew of (yeah it shocked me too!!) and could i help advise her, so i did my best, and she seemed to take on board what i had said too, she asked if she could send me something to say thank you for my help, but i pointed out, what kind of breeder, trying to better the bc breed, would want something as a thank you? Just by thinking about the lines, the temperament and the health of the breed is what is thanks enough.


Now i think of myself as a good breeder, not the best i have no doubt there are better than me out there, but i do and always will try my best!
My plan is to breed and keep a red girl pup of my very own, to add to my line, im hoping Jinty and Tigger will make this happen! ( no pressure guys!) I know there is no reason i couldnt go out and buy a red pup, but to be perfectly honest i am fussy now! I also think that as i am having a litter, why not keep one of my own, instead of buying one in from similar lines that i may like.

I have made lots of positive steps this week into finding a field/ venue to train nearby, so fingers crossed it will happen soon, I have some pet obedience classes starting soon here in Exmouth, so things are looking up! I love training, and I love helping people that think they are stuck with issues with their dog/s and finding ways to help them..... on that note if anyone knows a way to make the hoover NOT exciting in the slightest please let me know, chase LOVES it a bit too much at times!!!lol! :)
My guys are doing well in training at the mo, im really pleased with their progress, dai is slowly moving to full contacts, terra is actually jumping and starting to weave at long last, meg is being meg, but slightly more controlled, with some fab directions now too...when i get my timing right!! Lots to work on following our jump/stride/turns workshop on sunday ( thanks Toni) but all things i can put up in our training barn :)
looking forward to friday and putting some into practice!


oh and an extra non doggy note - new Season of Bondi Rescue is slowly trickling onto youtube!!!
yay for the boys in blue ;-)

For the love of dog...

Well not much has gone on this week, Jak is still on antibiotics for what im hoping is just a bladder infection, the vet doesnt sound too convincing, i think she knows how upset i will be to lose him just yet, so im thinking positive, he is getting grumpier, he is eating less and is a lot less steady on his feet, he is also needing to wee a lot more often, whcih is understandable at his age, and he has had a few accidents recently which i know is very upsetting for him, as well as me as i realise my old boy wont be with me forever, as much as i need him to be. We have the vets again this evening to see if the blood has gone, or is reduced as it was last week, his protein levels had reduced, and the amount of blood cells, which is good news. fingers crossed tonight also will be better. He is refusing to eat if i add any joint supplements to his food, so he is just eating meat, from a fork i have to add, with his tablets hidden inside, but it means he eats a full meal!
Jak is my first own dog, in may he'll be 14, he has been through every up and down i have had, and really does mean the world to me, his vestibular was a shock, and it really hit home just how much he has aged recently. For now he is here, he is loved, and is the best boy in the world x

junior in the making??

Harry as you can see is beginning to understand a little more about handling and less about running like a fish out of water with arms and legs flailing about!!
Zig is ideal for him to learn with as she is pretty consistant and has a nice wait already! unfortunatley at shows she is very different and has always suffered ring nerves, so some days she has really 'off' days where she worries her way around a ring, at which point i take her out and we have a play instead, so it means harry gets to have some fun training her, and maybe running her at some uka shows, she is happier with lydia running her or myself and is more confident with us, so shows for harry will be meg and sometimes tigs, and hopefully lynne and amy will remember their offer for ykc run for him at DIN this year too!!lol!